To Die Without A Name

by MMBK

First published 30th of September, 2023

After the successful incursion against the infected bunker, Black Scope sets off to tend to some long awaited, unfinished business.

After Hollow had trained him growing up, he sought his nemesis out for blood, but to no avail. Up and down the west, he wandered in the years gone by, until Hollow brought him back into her mission with Charger.
A month after Elder Bristle's bunker was overrun by White Noise and Joy's numbers, and the rift was opened, Charger returned, and with him, so too did some of Scope's friends, one of whom had a lead on his target's whereabouts. He was told almost immediately upon their arrival to Dead Sector, and from that point on, it was all that was on his mind.
After the war against White Noise was - hopefully - concluded, and things began to settle down for the time being between the other factions while they rebuilt, Scope saw his company wasn't needed at that time, and set off east to finish his mission.

To Die Without A Name

Author's Notes:

This is a gift commission for Dravakiirm.

Lightning lanced across the stormy midnight skies, accompanied with the ear splitting blast of rolling thunder, like something tearing into the fabric of reality.

A heavy downpour of rain washed over the land, threatening to flood the surface and its dwellers.

There were no stars, nor moon, for the heavens had been snuffed from those without wings in the eastern lands of Equestria.

Cast in the dim, flickering light of a campfire underneath an arched boulder sat a figure draped in a black cloak.

Hugged in both forehooves, as he huddled, was a tin can of beans, and enveloped in a deep blue light was a spoon, which dug in periodically to shovel some of the contents out for consumption.

After every bite, the survivor would let go of the eating utensil, letting it rattle around in the can for a moment as he sat silently. Thinking. It's what he had done most of his life; think. What was he to do next? How was he going to act? Set his plans into motion?

The light of the magic illuminated the space under his hood. From the darkness within emerged a black faded muzzle attached to a grey coat of a unicorn.

Beside him, resting against the same boulder as he, was his sniper rifle, barrel up. The fire's dancing illumination was captured in the worn, but still reflecting chrome of the gun.

Another spoonful gathered the last of the can's supply, and with the last bite, he set it aside, allowing the rain water to pool up inside. After licking the spoon clean, it joined the tin scrap.

It was then after that he got to work.

From his saddle bags, which sat next to the fire for a quicker dry, he pulled a variety of items out.

A box of nails, a flashbang, duct tape, string, a speaker, and the most unusual of all, a series of multi-colored, retractable toy snakes.

There was a time he would have never considered using these for anything. It wasn't until the recent job he did for Dead Sector and the company he was around that he started thinking outside the box. Still too ridiculous for his tastes, but... perhaps there was something to it.

(((((((◉)))))))

"Is this it?" Scope asked with hesitation in his voice.

"Yep." Bullet replied as the two of them looked down at the item that sat on the table before them. "Why? Is it not what you had in mind?"

"... I..." He paused, studying the label on the pendant. "I don't know, it's just... it says..."

"Yes?" She smirked.

"... T-there's a heart over the i..."

"With love, from you!" She beamed, before patting him on the shoulder. "Trust me, it's fitting!"

"Where'd you even get it...?"

She chuckled. "I braved the ruins of Portlandia. There was a little sex shop that held this fine treasure."

"I expected something more intimidating." He muttered.

"There ya go." She stuck her tongue out playfully. "It's not only intimidating, but humiliating too!"

"More humiliating than inti..." He paused and shook his head. "Alright, you know what? Fine. Yes, it works. I'll take it. So long as it gets the job done."

"Atta boy!" Again, she patted him on the back. "Hope you enjoy it!"

Charger trotted into the empty council room of the house, bypassing the sound barrier that was fitted within, courtesy of Hollow's tech. A puzzled look etched his face as he regarded the two, and then the item.

"Hey, what's going on in here?"

Scope hastily slid the item off the table, away from his sight. But it was too late, as he had noticed the sorry attempt of discretion.

He stopped a distance away from them, raising a brow.

"Whaaaaaaaaat?"

"It's just something I needed from Bullet before I set out to find him."

Slowly, he nodded.

"And... you can't show me? C'mon, I'm your brother. You can trust me."

"It's not..." Scope sighed, closing his eyes. "It's not a matter of trust... It's a matter of you not pestering me to have it... I know you."

"Eh?" Charger cocked his head to the side. "Okay, now I'm even more curious. What is it?" He took a step closer.

"No." Scope took a step back. "Nooo no. It's not for you."

"Pleeeeeeeeease! I wanna see it!"

"Charger." Bullet stepped between them as he continued to approach. "It's his business. Please..."

"But now I wanna knowwwwww!"

"God damn, you're worse than a baby..." Scope groaned. "If I let you see it, will you shut up about it? No more questions, and especially no asking for it. No taking it, it's mine. I need it. Not you."

Charger stopped and nodded.

"Okay. Show me."

Scope, with another exasperated sigh, tossed the item on the table for all to see. Charger leaned in and read the label.

"Oh. My. God..." His eyes lit up as a sharp grin formed. "There's a heart over the i!" He looked up at his brother with that same grin. "I want it."

"Well, you can't have it!" Scope swiped it off the table, leaving his brother to pout.

"What about after you're done with it?"

"When I'm done with it, it'll be long gone. And I don't think you'd want to wear it, after where it's going to be."

"Gah..." Charger slumped in defeat. "That's a waste, if you ask me... But you have your reasons." Sincerely, he smiled and nodded to Scope. "Well, I wish you luck on your mission... Please come back home."

Scope smiled back and nodded in turn.

"You know I will."

Wolfheart, in a mass of black smoky tendrils, slithered into the room.

"Hey, dad! We're about to play pin the tail on the rang-" He stopped at the sight of the small get together. "Hey, what's going on in here?"

"I'm leaving." Scope stated. "I just needed Bullet to get me something before I left." Knowing full well curiosity was going to get the better of Charger's son, he tossed the item back onto the table with a roll of his eyes. "And before you ask, no. You can't have it."

Wolfheart's neck stretched across the room to get a closer look at it, before his shadow fanged mouth curled into a wicked grin, cast by the bright white light within him.

"Oh my... There's a heart over the i! Can I-"

"Rngh, NO!" Scope again swiped it off the table, leaving Wolfheart to recoil and pout.

"... I'll t-trade you..." He then asked timidly.

"It's mine." Scope resumed defensively. "I have to go..."

"I'll see you out." Bullet stated as he began to make for the exit.

(((((((◉)))))))

He laid atop a hill roughly five minutes out from where he had set up camp, his body stained with mud from head to hoof. His gun was now camouflaged with moss and leaves, sat on its bipod and overlooking a decline.

Dangling from one ear, under cover from the storm's wrath via the hooded cloak, was an ear piece as one eye stayed glued to the scope of his rifle, looking out into the night.

Specifically, a farmhouse. The windows were lit with lantern lights and candles.

From here there was no sound but the howling icy winds, the piercing rain, and the explosions of thunder. But playing in a very tin audio through the ear piece was screaming. Pleading. Beating. Rhythmic grunts and cries. Barely muffled through the door.

He knew what it was he was hearing. He lived it. It haunted his every waking second. Haunted him in his sleep as nightmares that played on loop. Whenever he closed his eyes, he saw it. Heard it. Felt it. The claws digging into him. The horn crushing under the weight of a hoof. The wailing of his mother as they took turns.

His struggle to escape the confines...

He survived. Sometimes he wished he hadn't. But he had. And that - his experience - filled him with purpose. Shaped him into what he now was.

Not just a survivor, but a hunter of the wicked. And with the intel he was given by Destrier when he arrived to Dead Sector, he had big game. The game he sought so long for.

When he had heard of his whereabouts, he wanted so badly to give up everything. To let Charger fight his own war and get the closure he sought most of his life for. To put the wicked down.

While he was glad he stayed, the worst of the battle in the west was over. At least for now. He wasn't going to waste his time sitting and waiting for something to kick off again.

Now that the hive was gone, and the western factions were rebuilding, he couldn't think about anything else but a dark brown coat, a darker mane, yellow eyes, and a cracked pony skull for a cutiemark.

After all this time, he still didn't have a name to go off of. Nor did he need one. Only a description.

A sour taste met his tongue at the sounds he received through the ear piece. He clenched his jaw in response.

Something wiggled against his forehoof, causing him to instinctively dart his eyes to it. Writhing against him was an earth worm. Two times its natural size, on account of the radiation.

He picked it up in his magic, levitating it before him by inches to watch as it thrashed helplessly in the restraint of his horn's use.

With a quick motion, he popped it in his mouth and swallowed before looking back through the scope at the can of what once housed his dinner, upside down and set before the front door, resting on a rotting wooden porch.

From where he stationed his little project, he couldn't make out what was being said, or how many were in there. But he didn't need to. Destrier's memory orb gave him a good count of the raider's crew.

"-in five minutes." A gruff voice of a stallion said through the ear piece as the door began to open, revealing to Scope, an earth pony dressed in spiked leather padding, at the bare minimum. Not the ideal choice of armor, but it protected some areas of the body.

His crosshair hovered over the raider's head as he stepped out, popping a cigarette in his mouth. He was about to light up with a zippo, but upon seeing the can on the porch before him, froze. His head then rose, scanning the distance for anyone out there.

Scope switched from his magic handling the gun to his forehooves, so as to not give his position away. Silent, still, he watched, waited.

"Hey, over here!" The raider called out, looking back down at the can.

Immediately, Scope recognized the voice. If he wasn't filled with anger before, his blood was on fire to the voice of the raider that nearly took him when he was a kid.

He was going to enjoy his sealing fate...

He knew now for certain that he was right where he needed to be.

Two other raiders stepped out, looking down at the can. They scanned the darkness for any sign, but with nothing to see, quickly went back to the item before them.

"Pick it up." One of them said, looking at one of his primary targets.

"Fuck you." He sneered with a shove. "You pick it up."

"For fuck's sake..." One of the two arrivals stepped up to it. "My dick's gettin' cold out here, I don't have time for this." He rested a hoof next to it and proceeded. "Three. Two. One."

And with a kick, the can knocked over for the release of a series of toys often used as a prank in the pre war.

Several dozen multi-colored snakes lunged at them as they recoiled, shouting from the surprise a variety of slurs that only seemed decipherable to a raider.

Once the shock wore off, they started laughing, not realizing what really happened.

The hunting sentry ripped the ear piece away from his ear, exposing it to the hostile conditions without a care, just before it happened.

With a flash of light and a distant pop that was barely audible through the storm, the three raiders recoiled. It was presumed they were trying to call out, but it was futile, as the moment that grenade went off, the laced nails that struck them from the blast sealed their fate.

A fast poison. Remarkably fast. Just a drop alone would shut down the nervous system within seconds. And it was so.

One of the three had been a bit stronger than he appeared, but it didn't matter.

For when he turned and tried to run back inside, his brain painted the doorframe; nothing was left but the bottom half of his jaw as his body fell.

With the door still open, he got a good enough view of the inside. Two more raiders were charging for the exit as he loaded a new round in the chamber, a smile curling on his lips at the imminent deliverance he was to bring down upon them.

With another shot, the next raider's chest burst inward, only for their gut to blow out from the exit point at the bottom of their barrel; his intestines spewed out like spittle coming from a frothing mouth, with which he collapsed on, screaming.

Scope was more than happy leaving him in that state.

The bullet had burrowed into the floorboard at the raider's hooves behind the injured, causing the other to quickly divert their course for cover.

Another round in the chamber.

At the very least, they knew the general whereabouts of his nest. One more shot, he would have to disperse to throw them off, and that was assuming they hadn't already spotted the muzzle flash from his last.

His ear flicked to an intrusion, and slowly, he took his eye away from the sight, looking over his shoulder at where the guttural screams of a feral horde came.

Behind him, through the brief flashes of lightning, he caught sight of two figures running in his direction.

Next flash, five.

More than he was comfortable dealing with alone.

He waited, still as a statue as he watched. If he didn't move, the cloak would give the illusion as part of the terrain to them, on account of the storm's aid.

While it helped reduce their sight, it didn't completely mask the screaming, gunfire, and grenade.

Petiole said to him once that ghouls could taste blood in the air.

He was starting to realize that as truth as he stared at the growing numbers that rapidly approached by the dozens now. If even one tripped over him, it was over.

He rose to his hooves, wrapping the rifle's strap around his chest, and before taking his leave, slid a present out from his saddle bags with them in mind.

He set it down in front of him, tapped the top, and ran to the right with the idea to circle the house at a distance upon an orange light flashing on.

The feral's undead howls grew near in mass.

Raiders, he could handle, no sweat. Much of the wasteland's ranks, even. But feral ghouls, in massive number? He heard what happened in the apartment towers.

As much as he loved a fight, he was glad he was not a part of that one. He sought to stay out of one like that. More so, after hearing how two of his friends died there.

He stopped beside a boulder at the rupture of an explosion in the air, accompanied with his shadow briefly captivated in the orange glow of the blast.

Without an ounce of hesitation, with his back pressed firmly to the rock wall, he slammed a rear hoof down on the detonator lever he stationed prior to his assault, and upon doing so, a small flash of light burst in the distance, left of his now infested nest, courtesy of the pistol he wired and jury-rigged to throw anything off his trail.

They may have set up camp here, but he built his kill box around it. They got too comfortable where they were, and it was his world now.

It seemed they hadn't noticed the ferals closing in on the house as they took shots at the general area he had activated his decoy.

The ghouls that survived - and there were plenty - were attracted to the sound of the gun fire, of the blood he had shed.

He brought his gun forth and looked down the sights at the farmhouse.

Two raiders dragged in their unconscious allies while the rest directed their attention to the incoming horde.

While his crosshair overlaid them, he refused to pull the trigger at this time, but instead, watch and wait. For a killing bullet was far too quick for the likes of them.

As the raiders retreated for the safety behind the walls, he eye'd one that had a bit too much fun gunning the horde down, staying out longer than he needed to. His accomplices shouted for him once they were safely inside with the others.

He turned to make a running entrance once he had enough. The ferals had reached the base of the hill by that point, and were level with the farmhouse.

Scope delivered a shot to the raider's leg, crippling him. He screamed, laying there in a puddle of rain, mud, and blood.

As he hastily loaded the rifle, one of the raiders ran outside to retrieve him, only to suffer the same fate.

The ghouls were seconds away from reaching the porch at that point. The raiders within slammed the door shut, likely barricading it with anything they could use.

The two injured screamed for help as they fired what little they had left at their imminent end.

Scope watched as they were vastly overwhelmed. Flesh torn and stretched by the gnashing of rotten teeth. Bones snapped, intestines pulled, eyes gouged and eaten. Their cries of anguish as they were ripped apart at the seams had Scope smiling.

A howling raspy scream drew near, and with an abrupt roll to the side, he dodged the hefty strike of a ghoul's pounce.

Their head struck the boulder, leaving their irradiated brain to splatter, only for the storm to wash it away seconds later.

The body hadn't fallen yet, before he jumped back up on his hind legs and fired at the next incoming threat; their head blew apart in visceral gore. The body tripped over itself and came to a sliding stop before him as his magic enveloped the rifle to load the next round in the chamber just as it was taken from his physical grasp.

In a flash of red and blue light, two figures appeared behind the next ghoul before him.

Two blades - one red, the other blue - cast in flame were conjured on either side, swinging inward on the ghoul as if it were a dance, and cut it in two before it could reach him.

In its place, stood two unicorns. One red, a mare, the other blue, a stallion. Both without any armor or weapons, save for the blades they summoned.

Scope raised his rifle to one of them as they spun the blade around, twirling it in the air as if it were a game to them. He understood that sentiment, to a degree.

They stepped away from one another, flanking either side of him from a distance.

"My, my, dear brother." The mare purred with sadistic delight. "It would seem someone has a revenge kick for daddy."

The stallion then jumped in with mockery.

"Did someone hurt his childhood, I wonder?"

They both chuckled, swinging the blades around, before the mare spoke again.

"This'll be fun."

"On that..." Scope started calmly. "We agree."

They glanced at each other, not with worry, but excitement for the challenge.

"Love to hear it." The brother stated.

Scope fired a shot at her, only for her to vanish within the blink of an eye. Her brother charged, swinging the sword to his left, primed for a swipe to the right upon meeting his target face to face.

Scope rolled to the side, firing a blind round as he did. But upon the hasty regathering of his surroundings, he found them both gone.

He kept his wits about him, his surroundings constantly in check as, through the storm, through the massive horde of ferals, he could hear them laugh in the not so far away distance.

His shot, he realized upon scanning the overrun farmhouse below, drew more attention than he would have liked...

A brief flash of red casted his shadow on the grounds before him, and with his only split second warning, jumped back as a blade of neon fire pierced into the earth he once stood, scorching it outright.

His rifle, still in his telekinetic confines, swung around over his head and fired.

Laughter left in another red flash, and in a near instant, came Blue, standing before Scope at a distance.

"Oh come on now!" He shouted without a care as a big branch of the horde closed in from behind. "Where's the fight we were promised? We're going easy on you!"

He swung the rifle back to the front and fired, only for Blue to dart to the side in a stream of his signature.

Again, he fired; Blue darted to the side again, this time coming closer.

"Really not living up to the-"

Boom!

"-Spirit of revenge, Sapphire!"

Click!

With his gun empty, Blue laughed, charging forward. Two blades of fire in his color were conjured on either side of him, swinging outward and ready to strike for the kill.

Scope hastily ejected his clip and with his magic, dug into his saddle bags for one freshly loaded as Blue advanced.

His competition moved swiftly, even without their magic. Perhaps their magic had a part in their agility, but if that was the case, they were good at not showing it.

He slammed a new clip home and loaded a round in the chamber as his enemy made a leap, blades aiming down over Scope and coming down as he did.

His eyes widened as he looked up, for a moment, fearful.

He jumped aside, and not a moment sooner.

A sharp pain ran across his cheek, and a warm liquid ran down his face like the rain that washed down his cloaked form. His horn, his mind, they lost focus of the gun as the pain lingered.

Red mixed in with the puddles of mud, quickly overwhelmed and dissipated, courtesy of the heavy rain.

He looked up as Blue stepped up, smiling down at him as he put both blades inches away from his neck.

"Red and blue, dead and true." He chuckled. "Too easy."

His sister then appeared in a flash with the same cocky attitude, her own blades twirling in the air upon her appearance.

"Best two out of three?" She questioned, glancing over at her brother. "I want to have a little fun with him before we end his sad little story."

Blue looked behind him for a moment, studying the incoming numbers. Upon coming back with that snarky smile, he spoke.

"Count me in... Best two out of three... assuming, of course..." They both bowed their heads, committing to a curtsy as if it were the end of a theatre performance. "... He survives..."

In a flash, they were gone, bringing his focus on what closed in at an alarming rate. Seconds away now, was the horde.

He jumped to his hooves and picked up his rifle with his magic, holstering it to his back before running the other direction. He still had one last trick up his sleeve, but it was risky. Initially meant as another decoy for the raiders, it was now to be well put in use for the ferals. Hopefully as a means to aid him in his effort.

The ghouls were close behind in the pursuit for more meat in their insatiable hunger.

His mind was set on one thing now. Getting to high ground. Someplace they couldn't get to him. And in scanning the perimeter and setting up his kill box, he had just the place in mind.

They weren't going to take this from him. No one was.

He leapt up atop the heavy inactive armor. His belly pressed firmly to the tank's fortification as he crawled frantically away from the edge. Lucky for him, there weren't any fliers in the horde that soon surrounded the inactive vehicle, relentless in the attempts to grab him and pull him down.

He kicked his rear hooves against them as he crawled for the turret. His fores locked around the cannon's barrel, and with a safe distance away from them, he found himself laughing behind his panting breath.

He arose to his hooves after a moment and climbed atop the turret. From there, he pulled the hatch open and crawled inside.

Within was a series of speakers all bound to a bundle of wires to make one stem, ready the final touch to be added.

He pulled from his saddle bag, a pipbuck, gifted to him before he left Dead Sector for his mission. Though he didn't use it for its intended purpose to aid him in battle, he had a different use.

He set it down next to the wires and pulled the cable from it, wrapping it around the bundle's copper and tying it off.

He tapped a hoof to the screen, which then flashed to life in a green haze. He navigated to the files that Bullet, Charger, and Tuner filled the device with and selected a random, only for a voice to blast over the speakers at an ear deafening volume.

"SEX! SEX! SEX! SE-"

"Damn it, Charger!" Scope screamed as he worked frantically to change the song to something more appealing. Something electric in the sound waves. Something for what was to come.

With that, he climbed up the ladder to the top of the turret, ready for the fight to commence. He knew it would come with the music.

Already, his competition raced in distant circles around the crowded tank in streams of red and blue; that, without a doubt, was assisted by their magic, making them far more experienced in that field than he. His horn wasn't able to conjure more than telekinesis. His magic was forever crippled the moment a raider - a monster - crushed his horn. Had it not been for the sapphire that replaced it, he wouldn't have been able to use any of it. Not without endangering himself and everything around him.

Intently, he watched, aiming down the rifle's sight at Blue and leading his target with intent to extinguish that destructive flame. However, at the speed in which he and his sister were both going, it sent Scope in a daze as he moved in a circle. He wasn't able to hit either of them, not like this.

So he watched and waited for his opportunity to arise.

In a flash of lightning, he saw just a glimpse of more of the horde coming over the terrain in the distance.

It was then that Red and Blue changed course, darting straight to the tank on either side and equal distance in the neon streams of their making.

Scope looked from one to the other before quickly taking aim at Red. Upon firing, she darted abruptly to the side and continued in that direction.

He spun around to find Blue had done the same. Together, they raced around the vehicle, closing in as a spiral.

Scope saved his efforts in trying to shoot them, knowing they would just dodge his rounds with little to no effort. The best thing he could do was wait for a window to open that might give him the opportunity to take at least one of them out.

Just before reaching the horde that surrounded the music blaring tank, the two jumped over the vessel, blades out and ready to swing not at Scope, but instead each other.

It was now that Scope was almost having regrets not using the pipbuck that was given to him. SATS would have made this an easy fight. He wasn't one to rely on technology as much as others, however.

Red and Blue met over the tank, and on the impact of the four swords of neon fire, a burst of energy erupted and expanded from them in a shockwave.

Scope was left stunned as his body laid atop the turret, his ears ringing. The ferals around him had been knocked back by the blast, some left in pieces.

Shakily, he arose to his hooves, feeling a stinging leakage from both ears and a migraine to accompany behind his eyes.

He looked to his surroundings at the carnage that followed with their dance, tasting the distinct iron on his tongue.

They now stood on opposite ends of the tank from where they were prior to the leap, both smirking and reveling in the act they committed.

"Too easy, sister!" Blue called out.

"Should've practiced something more than a rifle." Red remarked. "Seriously, it's such a pussy weapon."

"You think I can't fight without a gun?" Scope spat blood to the side. "Bring it on. I'll show you what I can really do."

They both looked over at the next horde that ran for the music, before breaking into laughter.

"Sounds good to me!" Blue grinned. "One more round, to the end!"

"Or something worse." Red added. "I'm gonna fuck him first. Do what dad couldn't."

The blades came back like a rift tearing into reality, warping and wrinkling the atmosphere around them as the two approached in calm stride.

Like a mirror, they moved identical to each other. Two swords stabbed into either side of the tank's armor as their fores found the plating that protected the treads from overhead assaults. From there, they flipped upside down, standing on their fores before coming down in an artistic motion. One hindleg, then the other, before standing upright.

"Show offs..." Scope muttered.

"Ooo, jealousy!" Red laughed. "I love it."

"Hardly." Scope tossed his hood back, looking from her to Blue. "Let's get on with it. I have a date with your dad that I really don't want to be late for."

Blue leapt for him first, swinging a hoof for his face.

Scope swung around his assault, dragging the tip of his rear hoof along the slick steel of the tank's turret; a trail of water drifted behind his trace, and as he twirled, Red lunged, swinging her head upward so as to use her illuminated horn as her new weapon. Magic was too easy. They wanted it to hurt. They wanted it to last.

He jumped back, and as she came down, he rose his hindlegs, delivering a swift and sharp buck to her gut.

Had she not recovered as a unicorn and teleported elsewhere, she would have become a snack for the ghouls below that now encroached the tank's surroundings in larger number.

Left in the wake of her disappearance was her fire to engulf the ghouls in the vicinity, taking the time to devour.

In the upper peripheral, as Blue came back for another strike before him, came the flash of Red, glowing brighter at the passing millisecond.

Scope somersaulted to the left, moving along the cannon barrel with ease as two hot blades of fire thrusted deep into the now melting steel of the turret where he once stood. Blue, meanwhile, flipped over Red's attempt to kill, before swinging around and running along the barrel after his target.

Scope, upon reaching the end of the gun's barrel, spun around, shooting daggers through his gaze at the two; Red stayed atop the turret while Blue made his turn.

Below them was the insatiable violent hunger of ghouls, snarling and growling as they relentlessly tried reaching up for them.

"Nowhere to run." Blue said behind a spiteful grimace.

"Does it look like I'm trying to?" Scope replied, keeping his scowl fixated on him. "I meant it when I agreed that this would be fun."

Blue stepped forward, conjuring his blades once more, with which he brought to either side, twirling them around. Scope stood his ground in wait, not phased by Blue's means to intimidate.

"I'm giving you the chance to walk away with your life." The hunter stated. "If I were you, I'd take it. I seldom let raiders live."

"Then why let us?" Another step closer he took.

"Because someone showed me people can change. I'm giving you that opportunity."

Red laughed first. Then Blue.

"Enough of this. It ends now."

The two swords came down, not on Scope, but the space in between him and the raider; and with ease, they together cut through gun's barrel with intent to drop Scope to the ferals below.

He lunged forward, flipping to his fores, hinds, fores, hinds along the barrel's length. In the midst of his travels along it, he slammed Blue's body down, who, for a brief moment, was left staggered as he clung tight to the barrel so as to keep from falling to the gnashing teeth below. He recovered quick with a flash of teleportation elsewhere.

Red swung her blades, ready for his arrival as he swiftly danced along the gun. Upon reaching the turret, she swiped both swords inward toward each other to snap in like a bear trap and cut him in two.

As they closed in on his left and right, he ducked and rolled along the cold steel, his lower back left to ram against her chest. Without a moment to lose, he delivered a swift, hard kick to her face, stunning her. In that shock, he locked both hind legs around her neck and threw her body to the turret's surface, switching the roles between them and now sitting atop her chest. In the stagger, she had lost focus on her weapons.

One forehoof came down on her face as he slowly suffocated her between his legs. Then another. Another.

Blood began to shed.

Another.

Her eyes widened with the realization she was actually beginning to lose the battle.

"W-wai-" She let out a choked rasp as he tightened his grip around her neck.

Another.

A flash of blue ruptured behind him.

Quickly, he pressed his fores to the turret, lifting his lower body up and Red with it, throwing her off the tank with ease before hanging off the side of the turret to face Blue, who had just lodged two blades where he once sat a second ago. Red disappeared in a flash behind the hunter.

With that, he lunged up to deliver an airborne strike to Blue's face behind a swinging forehoof.

His reflexes, however, were underestimated. Blue twirled around Scope's assault, dancing around his form to appear behind him.

Scope raised his rear legs up for another kick, but Blue grabbed hold of both and swung him around, only to release a second later upon facing the barrel.

Scope's back struck such, and as he fell beyond it, a forehoof grabbed hold. He yanked himself back up with ease, standing atop it once more.

Blue's blades began to spin wildly in streams of such color as Scope then began to charge for him.

A flash of red burst to life in his left peripheral. Before he could react, his body stilled, enveloped in the aura of an intensifying warmth of red.

"You fucking prick..." She hissed. "Didn't your momma teach you better than to not hit girls? Oh, wait..." She chuckled. "Nah, she couldn't of... Well, what he did to her, I'm about to do to you..."

Scope's body slammed down to the steel, all limbs spread apart.

"Cheating..." Scope hissed behind clenched teeth. "Not a fair fight..."

"It's to the death, dumbass. Not meant to be fair."

Blue chuckled.

"I got dibs on that tight ass of his."

Scope's tail lifted by his forehoof upon stepping behind him. His horn lit up briefly before the music shut off.

"I wanna hear him screa-"

He froze upon looking under Scope's tail, and a sickening grin grew on his face.

"Holy shit... you're a virgin."

"Eh?" Red took a gander. "Oh, damn! The reward is richer than I thought!"

"Savin' it for somepony special." Scope replied in a deadpan.

"I'm honored, then." Blue jumped in with a small laugh. "You don't seem all that scared, pretty boy." He traced a hoof along the scars across Scope's flank. "You should be... We're going down memory lane tonight."

Scope rolled his eyes.

"Can't begin to tell you how many times someone's tried raping me... and failed. Got nothing to be afraid of if nothing's gonna happen."

"Oh yeah?" Red smacked a hoof against the back of his head. "We'll see about that! Gotta admit, though... never had a guy do that to me before... Got me all weak in the loins..."

His rear legs spread farther apart.

"I'll hold him down." She continued. "Dig in, brother. Make it hurt. Then it's my turn. We'll leave what's left to dad. Sure he'll want to finish what he started..."

Blue laughed under his breath as he began to mount.

"With pleasure..."

(((((((◉)))))))

"One of these days, I'm gonna get you to do it." Bullet smirked.

"Doubt it." Scope deadpanned.

"If you need help, you'll do it." Her smirk became a grin as she kept her eyes locked on him.

"I'll do everything in my power to not need help then."

"We'll see..." She leaned in and held him close. "Be safe, Black Scope..."

"I'll be back." He replied with a caring nuzzle into her neck. "You know I will."

"SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPE! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIT!"

"Ugh..." He knit his brow to the demonizing screech of Wolfheart as he flung himself across Dead Sector. "I better be going now, otherwise I'm not gonna hear the end of it..."

Letting go, she nodded.

"Get out of here. I'll hold him off for as long as I need to."

"Thank you..."

With that, he started his canter eastbound.

"I'LL GIVE YOU ANYTHING YOU WANT! I'LL BE YOUR SLAVE, ANYTHING! INFINITE POWER! BLOWJOBS! RICHES BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS! JUST PLEASE LET ME HAVE IT! I HAVE TO HAVE IT! THERE'S A HEART OVER THE I!"

(((((((◉)))))))

Scope sighed, before muttering under his breath.

"Can't believe I'm doing this..."

"What was that?" Blue pressed his head into the turret, screaming into his ear. "Speak up, fuckface!"

"H-harder, daddy!" Scope let out in a moan. A feeble one, at that.

The two of them got quiet as they stared for a moment. Simultaneously, they turned to each other, at first in confusion, before bursting into laughter that almost drowned out the surrounding ferals.

"Think dad gave him brain damage when he shattered his horn!" Blue quipped through his laughter, not so subtly beginning to grind on him.

"Better run..." Scope said calmly, despite what was soon to happen to him... or so they thought.

Unbeknownst to them, a beam of white energy lanced across the wasteland with an electrical current to accompany.

A distorted voice screamed as the light darted to the tank, growing louder in rapid succession before it began to clear itself as the voice of a mare.

"... sssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEX!"

Before the two of them could figure out what was happening, she appeared before them in a curtsy; two blades of glowing baby blue crossed before her face as two more stayed beside her on either side, pointing down and away.

She lowered the crossed swords over her face to her chest, shooting daggers at the two raiders behind one eye, the other of which was covered by an eyepatch and a holographic overlay of an X; it being the same color and shine as her weapons.

"Sex!" She then exclaimed, standing upright with an ecstatic grin.

"Who the fuck are you?" Red glared.

"Your death, if you don't back the hell off my friend."

"Alright, that's it..." Blue drawled, getting up off Scope. "Double the options, double the-"

Before he could finish his witty little remark, his tongue fell from his mouth in a bleeding, gurgling mess. His eyes widened in horror as he stared down at it, resting atop Scope's back.

"What the fuck!?" Red jumped back as Bullet tapped the tip of one of her swords ever so lightly against his nose.

"Nnnnnnno." She then said in a playful, scolding tone, smiling all the while.

Red swung both of her swords at the white coated mare, and without breaking a sweat, as she yawned, all four of hers deflected the attacks and furthermore shattered her weapons like glass.

White electricity danced around Red's horn as she collapsed in a screaming fit of agony.

"Got three seconds before I start cutting off other parts and feed you two with them." Bullet stated as her aura glowed betwixt Blue's legs.

Blue wailed something incoherent before his horn flashed to life. In a near instant, both Red and him vanished, courtesy of his magic.

"Something tells me..." Scope arose to his hooves, regarding her. "... That I'll be seeing them again."

"It'll be their death sentence." She replied with a faint smile, before nodding once to him. "You okay?"

"Mhm. Though... I hate that I had to fucking moan to summon you."

She giggled.

"You call that a moan? Ya really gotta put some soul into it, my dude. That said..." She leaned in, grinning. "I told you I'd get you to do it. Which brings us to the next part of the agreement."

Scope rolled his eyes before leaning in, with which he pressed his lips lightly to hers for just a moment, before pulling away.

"There." He muttered.

Again, she giggled, sticking her tongue out playfully.

"Thank youuuuuuuuuuuu, cutie!" She leaned in a little further and spoke in a near whisper. "It'll be our little secret."

"Are you drunk?" Scope asked, knitting his brow.

"Close." Again, she giggled. "Your brother and I were hotboxing before you called."

"Is that all you two were doing?" He raised a brow in question. "I know how you two are to each other."

"And you also know how my wife is to him." She quickly stated. "If she catches us again, she's gonna try to kill him. I don't want to take that chance."

"Surprised she hasn't already tried."

Bullet's eye shifted to the surrounding ferals that didn't let up their rowdy behavior, and in annoyance, her horn ignited in pale fire. In an instant, each head of the horde burst like a balloon, their bodies left to fall in a heap of gore.

"If you had any plans with them, sorry about that. But they were giving me a headache."

"No worries." Scope cracked a smile. "Thank you, by the way. For all of it."

Sincerely, she returned that same gesture.

"I'm happy to help a friend in need."

Scope turned back to where he had come from, looking longingly into the dark horizon that only lightning would reveal in brief flashes.

"Hey."

Scope turned back to her upon the request of his attention, to which she grinned, pointing a hoof to her eyepatch and the holographic X over it.

"Like the new cosmetic? It's temporary, at least until I get a new eye. But at least I'm crippled in style, right?" She giggled, sticking her tongue out as she cocked her head to the side.

"It's a good look on you." He replied with a wan smile.

"Thanks!" She beamed, but only for a moment, as she knew something bothered him.

With that curiosity, she tapped into his psyche for that answer and sighed upon receiving it.

"Scope..."

"Bullet." He replied dryly, knowing full well what had just happened.

"Raiders don't change..."

"Bullshit."

"They don't." She snapped. "Giving them the chance to 'change' is just giving them another chance to hurt someone else. It's not worth risking your life or anyone else's to try... They don't change, I would know... They can't." She hung her head down.

"You changed." He stated. "Charger changed. You both taught me that they can."

She closed her eye, standing still.

"... We weren't true... We didn't enjoy what we were. We were only surviving what was given to us. What you're facing... they enjoy causing pain."

"And Titan?" Scope jumped back in. "He used to enjoy-"

"Change is important." Bullet interjected, glaring at him. "But some are too far gone. Some are defined, controlled, solely by their actions. Don't let others suffer by trying to reach out to something in a monster that doesn't exist."

He stood in silence as the rain pounded into them. It wasn't until after the flash of lightning and rolling thunder that he nodded.

"Alright..."

With that, he turned back to where he had come from, before looking over his shoulder.

"To be fair... I was only trying with the two that were here. I saw... potential. Everyone else's fate in his group is sealed."

Bullet nodded.

"I know."

Once more, he turned back to his destination.

"Are you sure about this...?" Bullet proceeded to ask before he could take his leave.

"Yes." He replied simply as his magic enveloped his rifle, housing it rightfully on his back.

"I'll be here until first light." She resumed. "If you need me-"

"I won't."

"... If you need me... say my name. I'll hear it. I know it's your fight, but I don't... want to lose you..."

He was silent for but a moment.

"Thank you, Bullet..."

"I love you."

A faint smile curled on his lips, even through the anger that was reigniting for his enemies. He glanced over his shoulder.

"I love you too..."

"Good luck."

Not another word was exchanged before Scope hopped down off the tank, running back for the farmhouse. The hardest part was hopefully now over.

Now it was time to claim his reward.

Upon reaching the top of the hill, he looked down at the farmhouse from afar. There was still plenty of the horde surrounding it, trying relentlessly to break in.

Through the windows along the side of the house on the first floor, he saw movement.

Scope got down on his stomach, slipped his hood back on over his head, and equipped his rifle.

Looking through the sight of his accomplice, he saw panic festering between two through that window. An argument, by the looks of it. Presumably to figure out what to do about the ferals. They were trapped, and while Scope's plan didn't initially involve ghouls, he was finding amusement in the fear of his enemies. Leaving them crippled for the ferals to devour - to rip apart while they were still alive to feel it all - was satisfactory. He could work with that.

But the leader of this group? Only he was allowed to touch him. Anyone - anything else that did would be put down. That included any of his victims. Maybe it was selfish. But it was his pain.

He hovered the crosshairs over a small orange light in the middle section of this side of the house that he had deployed in the set up of his kill box. By his understanding, it was to the next room over from the one the two raiders bickered in.

With a shot, a decent chunk of wall blew inward, granting him and the horde a new entrance.

What he hadn't suspected was the raider that had been behind it, now pinned to the ground under the debris.

While the other two raiders in the next room over raced to see what had happened, the ferals began pouring in.

Scope watched as they ripped into the pinned raider, whose screams, even from here, the storm, nor the horde could drown out. That was, until his vocals cords had been torn out. There wasn't much fight left in him after that, but Scope could see he was still alive and slowly drifting away through blood loss as they continued to pull him apart.

Upon landing a new round in the chamber, he pointed his gun to the raging heavens and pulled the trigger.

He then worked the strap around his body, holstering the rifle to his back as he stood up and waited, watching from afar.

(((((((◉)))))))

Ferals howled in guttural screams and snarls as they pushed into the breach. The door to the room had been broken through, granting the undead access to the ground floor's hallway.

The staircase had been hastily blocked off by a couch and a grandfather clock, both perched near the base. Many of the ferals sought to reach the ponies that stood at the top of the stairs, watching in silence. Empty shell casings littered the floor around them, and their guns were left unprepared. Their actions that had led to the depletion of their munitions resulted in several fallen radioactive bodies at the base, with which their own kind clambered over for their next meal.

In calm, slow stride, quiet in the step, walked his cloaked and hooded form. Blood and guts soaked into both his apparel and fur, and over his head, he wore the face of a feral.

With his disguise and masked scent, the ferals paid him no mind. They had a mutual interest in ridding the world of monsters, whether it be for personal reasons, or to eat their fill.

There was an irony to it all. The world harbored many monsters, but the ones he walked amongst were the lesser of those he hunted. And yet, the hunted couldn't fathom their evil.

Ghouls went off instinct, to eat their fill. Radiation rotted their brain, and they were controlled by instinct. But raiders? The real monsters lived under that title. They killed, tortured, and raped for sport. Just as Scope hunted them.

The ferals wandered the lower floors as he did. Few joined the feasting on the fallen that laid strewn about. Scope's only regret was not being there to see it for himself. But he would make up for it, for as he passed by closed doors, he would turn the knob and push them open just enough for the ferals to do the rest.

Some rooms were truly empty, but some held someone in hiding, which upon the door opening, was expressed with panicked gunfire.

They created their own downfall, as the ferals became agitated and rushed for the kill in mass.

Still, he walked the hall, listening as the raider was torn limb from limb, screaming as their face was eaten, their stomach a rift of gore.

He was sad to have known two friends of his, Blaze and Tezu, had died in a similar fashion back in the apartment heist. But at the same time, he was glad ferals could exist to do the same to others who deserved it.

At the end of the stretch, he halted at one last closed door.

His magic slowly turned the knob before a forehoof lightly pushed against the obstruction in his path, leaking light into the darkened bedroom.

The bedframe was on its side, pressed against a corner to act as a barrier. The mattress pressed against the springs, and while Scope focused on it, the head of a mare poked out. Raider apparel was the first detail he took in just before she levitated a pistol out from cover and pulled the trigger, only for it to click.

Fear set in her face as she glanced at it, then back at him.

Scope clicked his tongue three times as he shook his head.

A whistle followed in three notes. First, low. Second, high. Third, halfway between the first two. Long and slow, they came into the atmosphere.

Ferals charged past him, pouring into the room as his magic then pulled the bedframe away from her.

She screamed in terror as they grabbed a hold of her and threw her into the center of the bedroom. Upon landing on her stomach, she sought frantically to get back up and make a run for the exit in which Scope guarded and watched from with murder in his eyes.

Hers were of mercy as they locked on his.

She had no time before they ripped into her back and pulled her limbs from their sockets, sinking irradiated rotten teeth into her flesh all the while.

Her screams escalated as they ate of her, and with her fate now sealed, Scope calmly turned back the way he came and began to walk in slow stride. The ferals that ran past him bumped into him relentlessly without a care, ignoring him completely as he did them.

Upon getting back to the other end of the hall from whence he came, he joined the occupation of the ferals that snarled and howled up at the remaining raiders that stood at the top of the stairs.

They didn't take immediate notice in him, but after some short time had passed, all eyes were on him as he stared back with scornful fire.

One of them spoke softly to the one beside them, keeping an eye on Scope all the while as he leaned in to do so. At once, the pony beside them departed for the bedrooms down the hall, out of Scope's view.

Still, he stood in pondering wait, studying his foes as they him.

The ceiling over the infested hall creaked and groaned as detritus fell from it in sprinkles. Accompanying it were the heavy steps of power armor.

Still, he held his ground, despite his heart now racing. His flank burnt in memory of what happened to him when he was a kid just at the sound of it.

One of the raiders turned to the source; their eyes widened.

"Cook, no! We'll all-"

"LIGHT 'EM UP!" Interrupted a metallic, deep voice, masked by the respirator of raider altered power armor that stomped into view.

The others retreated for cover as he looked down through the visor of a welding mask, infused into the helmet to become one.

Scope's eyes darted to the arsenal strapped to their side, pointing down at the horde, before immediately hoofing it back to the hallway beneath the brute just as the weapon began to hiss. Just before volleys of fire slung out from the massive gun in rapid bursts the equivalent of napalm.

Upon impact with the ghouls below, they erupted in outward expanding waves of fire.

The force of the continuous blasts knocked Scope off his hooves, sending him tumbling down the hall as the ghouls around him did.

One of the many landed atop him, staggering his recovery. He stilled himself in a moment of worry for what could come next, but instead of ripping into him, it thrashed about, rolling off.

Scope jumped back to his hooves as the other raiders shouted in protest.

"Cook, you fucking idiot! STOP!"

Upon looking back at the scorched pile of rotten and irradiated meat, the same protesting raider screamed as their body plummeted to the pile, leaving to them no time before they were set ablaze to become one with the scene. While their screams escalated from fear to anguish, it didn't last long.

The raider that went by the name of Cook - a name Scope reminded himself to wipe his memory of when this was all over - slammed all fours down atop his burning ally, leaving innards to spill out from the pressure of the heavy mass of steel as splinters of wood from the overhead railing rained down upon them.

Out from the flames, he stepped as his weapon then began to hiss hot air once more.

Scope turned and ran through the recovering horde, some of which had already began charging for the raider.

Volleys of fire soon to combust and spread spat out from the gun, igniting a vast majority of the stretch in an inferno. Many of the ghouls melted, blistered and cracked to the heat, taken out of the picture for good.

Scope was nowhere to be seen amongst the mess, but one of the many red blips on his E.F.S. had to of been him, he thought.

While he was correct, he knew not which one was him. Some moved around, others were stationary.

Scope stood silently in the dark room, back end pressed to a corner flanking the open door. Across from him was another little project of his, hastily put together in a last ditch effort.

The room was empty, save for the mare he let get eaten, and one last feral. His tool.

Burning flesh squelched and splattered beneath the step of the juggernaut as they traversed the hall to the bedroom at the end. His focus was solely on the two red blips on either side of the door within.

"DON'T PLAY WITH FIRE UNLESS YOU'RE PREPARED TO FEEL THE BURN, SAPPHIRE!"

Still, he silently stood in darkness, staring intently at the feral across from him, thrashing about in the binds he applied. Duct tape firmly covered its mouth, so as to subdue the growling and guttural snarling to something more reminiscent of groaning. Something to sound like enduring a grave injury. While it wasn't exact, the storm would help obscure the details.

"That's right!" Cook resumed, stopping just outside of the bedroom. "We heard the stories! You and your momma were one of his favorites! Now he can have even more fun with you, assuming I don't first!"

Scope smiled with acknowledgement that he was here, or at the very least, in the area.

"Come on out, coward! Let's have some GOD DAMN FUN!"

With the hissing of air, Scope braced himself moments before volleys of fire shot into the room, one after the other in rapid succession. Within seconds, a great deal of the confines were engulfed and ever spreading.

The heat singed at his fur, letting the gore cake and dry into his form. Still, he stood in silence, scowling at the ghoul across from him as it fought tirelessly to escape.

"Don't make me come in there!" Cook shouted seconds after he ceased fire. "You got the count of-"

"I hear cowardice." Scope said calmly, just loud enough to know he'd be heard, to which there was pause. "Your actions show me your fear. Fortune favors the bold. You want me? Come get me."

Without a word, he stormed in, immediately turning to the feral as his gun began to hiss. Just as quick as he stormed in, he began to turn toward Scope, who had already begun to charge him from behind.

He leapt up just as the gun began to spit fire - not yet aimed at him - and proceeded to kick his hooves off the wall to his left for extra height, almost clearing the raider's head.

Heat beamed on his rear legs as his lower half came to a landing atop his armor clad head, and without a moment to lose, applied his magic to the core buried in the slot in the suit's back.

Cook threw his body back in hopes to crush his opponent under the bone shattering weight of the armor. In the midst of his flip, Scope lunged off his form, diving to the ground just before the feral. In his landing, he rolled and spun around, paying no heed to the contained ghoul at his six.

Hovering before him was the core, enveloped in the blue glow of his magic. The raider remained still.

"You're an idiot..." Scope said softly as he stood up straight, regarding the suit. "Like I said. Fortune favors the bold."

He then pocketed the core and approached the exit, before coming to a stop and looking back down at him.

"Your destruction will be your demise, and the beginning of your erasure. You will cook in there. You will feel every living second of it, and it will hurt. You'll beg for death."

"You're a natural..." Cook said, muffled further behind the respirator. "He should've just killed you and be done with it."

The wall fell away, weakened by the fire, to which strong gusts pushed the downpour in, dousing the flames.

Scope regarded it for a moment, pursing his lips in mild frustration that the flames were going before turning his body around and passing the raider to approach the breach. His rifle slipped off his back, cast in the light of his magic before the barrel pressed against the raider's temple.

"His mistake."

A bullet drilled through the plating of the helmet, splattering the inside with red.

Returning the rifle to himself, he stepped outside into the storm and looked up at the second story, where an opening he earlier noticed resided. It was small, but he was nimble.

He jumped up, and with both fores, grabbed hold, pulling himself in with ease; his sniper still in his telekinetic grasp, followed him inside.

Through the tight crawlspace between the walls, as he advanced, listened in on the raider camp. Not solely as a means of gathering intel, but for pleasure in their fear.

Through the mixture of voices screaming profane vocabulary, he heard that which he sought.

This was ending tonight, one way or another.

"I'll be back." He said. "Keep your guard up and shut your mouth. All of you..."

A set of hooves left the room on Scope's right side as his units quieted down, though they still bickered on about what to do about the situation they were in.

The floorboards creaked under Scope's weight as he shimmied through. It wasn't until the argument on the other side of the wall began to escalate again, that one of them took notice in something amiss.

"Hey, everyone shut the fuck up! Listen..."

The room quieted down, and Scope ceased motion, listening now intently.

The slightest lift of his fore as he pressed his ear to the wall sent the floor creaking again.

"Holy shit..." Another raider said softly. "He's in the walls... HE'S IN THE GOD DAMN WALLS!"

"SPRAY IT!"

Scope flattened himself to the ground as best he could, dropping his gun just as lead pierced through in rapid efforts to meet him. Light from the bedroom leaked through the holes, dimly illuminating the crawlspace he was in as detritus rained down on him.

Upon the guns eventually going at a cease fire, he heard some get a fresh magazine. The room was otherwise silent.

"Do you think we got him...?" One of them asked almost in a timid manner.

"You." Another replied. "Go check."

"What? Hell no! You check!"

"Fuck. That."

"For fuck's sake, he's just one guy! One of you check, or I'll put a bullet in you myself. Go. Fucking. Check. He's outnumbered."

"Have you been present within the last hour? The numbers don't mean shit! So if you're gonna shoot me, do it! Because I'm not check-"

He was quickly interrupted with a single gunshot and the drop of a body.

"Anyone else?"

There was a brief silence before he resumed.

"You. Check."

"If you're not scared of him, why don't you check? Why are you sending others?"

A tension grew between them as silence came back to the room, but it was very brief, intruded with another shot and another fallen corpse.

"FUCK YOU, THAT'S WHY!" The raider screamed. "CHECK! THE FUCKING! WALL! YOU HEAR SO MUCH AS A MOUSE, START SHOOTING!"

"On it..."

A set of hooves began to approach. A flash of lightning casted Scope's shadow before him.

Thunder rolled almost directly after, shaking the building's bones from the proximity of the strike.

He took the opportunity to flip over onto his back, rip off the ghoul mask, toss it aside, and lift his sniper with his magic, only to bring it into his forehooves to grasp. He kept it aimed at the wall, watching as shadows passed by the holes.

The hooves stopped at the other side and the light that had poured through gave where he stood a wide berth.

Scope's horn illuminated in blue, grabbing hold of three guns in the room. Two from the fallen, and one magnum off the raider that was seconds away from spotting him.

Bullets immediately went flying, and while they didn't kick off on Scope's cause, he joined the rampage at the opposing force, firing the guns he gathered in his magic blindly as he simultaneously pulled the trigger on his rifle.

The raider on the other side dropped with nothing left of their head but the bottom of their jaw.

With the others distracted by the floating guns that fired in any given direction on his mental command, they hadn't seen their ally fall, and therefore knew not that Scope was still in the same spot they had predicted prior to the one sided firefight.

Amidst the panic of it all, they opened fire on all the walls while at the same time, trying to evade the rapid shots coming now from the center. When one body fell, their gun joined Scope's cause.

By the time all guns ceased from lack of ammo, only one raider remained alive, moaning over his body pains as he tossed and turned.

Scope stood up, switching his grasp on the sniper to his horn's power before ramming his right shoulder against the wall. In three tries, it gave in, and he stumbled over the corpse that had been lying on the other side through it all as he moved into the room. A slight limp carried in his step as blood leaked from the same shoulder he had used to ram through the wall with.

Upon the downed raider noticing his injury, he laughed despite the pain he was in.

"What do you have to laugh about?" Scope asked as he loaded a new clip in his rifle, slowly approaching his foe.

"Lucky shot wasn't lucky enou-AUGH!"

His body tensed to the sudden, careless pressure Scope applied to the raider's gunshot. Blood oozed out from beneath his hoof.

"Don't die yet. I still have use for you."

Frothing at the mouth, hissing behind clenched teeth, he glared up at his opposer, shaking as he spoke.

"Fuck. You. AUGH! SON OF A!"

Scope continued to press further down on the injury with a catatonic look about him.

The butt of his rifle slammed against his head, knocking him out cold in one go.

He then took his hoof off him and stepped back, looking to the door that his main target had gone through back when he was still trying to take a stealthy approach.

Their victims he heard earlier weren't amongst any of the bodies he saw thus far. They must have been somewhere else.

Because of that, he was expecting a hostage scenario. He had hoped it wouldn't come to such, but if it did, it wouldn't stop him. To them, the bullet was merciful.

To Scope, it would foil his more sinister desires, and would be unjust for the monster he was hunting this night.

Heavy rapid stomping and the working of hydraulics sounded close by and closing in. Scope aimed his rifle at the door, waiting to shoot at the first thing he saw move beyond the room.

Nothing came of the hallway he stared down, yet the volume only increased and became clearer on a drastic level. That was when he realized and spun to the right, lifting two more guns in his magic to aim them and his rifle at the wall he now faced.

A charging mass of rusted steel burst through in a flurry of splinters.

As his guns fired at him, only to bounce off the hefty plating, he covered his eyes with a foreleg so as to avoid anything getting in them.

Just as he began to lower it, he was struck and thrown back against the wall, losing focus on the guns, which then dropped as he did.

His back ached terribly as he crashed through the wall, across the crawlspace he had been in, and through the next. He rolled along the room's floor before coming to a stop, and yet despite the pain, he flipped backward in a quick recovery as the raider went in for round two.

The jagged steel claws on the forehooves of the power armor drew into Scope's focus as, with each racing step, they cut into the ground.

He knew them well. His body bore the experience he had with them. Long ago, the blood of his former self stained them, as did his mother's...

This was the guy.

There had since been an upgrade to the armor that haunted him, as between each claw was a buzzsaw, spinning via the motors they were wired to, which fed from the power core in the suit's back. The motors were inside the armor, so shutting them down wasn't going to be possible.

With each heavy racing step, the floor beneath was torn up and ravaged.

Scope looked to his surroundings.

To his left, the door. To the right, a window, glass broken. Both were heavily barricaded, and the skeleton in the corner of the room gave an idea as to why, regarding the recent circumstances with the feral ghouls.

Resting beside them was a weapon coated in a thick blanket of dust.

Upon spotting it, he immediately lifted the sawn-off in his magic, aimed at the charging steel, and pulled the trigger.

Lead bounced off his form, but he didn't cease.

Scope darted to the side, with which he then slid along the floor in attempts to stop and redirect his path. His body slammed into the wall, and with no effort, crashed through it to be left to the outside elements.

Scope was given acknowledgement with a massive thud that shook even the second floor he stood on.

Shaking his head, he took a moment to close his eyes and breathe before stepping to the breach.

The land from this view was left bare of any bodies, save for the few ferals that had been dismissed before they could have made it inside. His target - his monster - was still around, as he expected he would be. He hadn't expected however, a recovery as quick as that in something as bulky as power armor.

He whipped the barrel of the shotgun open and both shells popped out empty, clattering hollow on the floor. With a sigh, he slipped two 12 gauge shells from his bag, popped them in with ease, and snapped the gun shut after.

From there, as he heard the raider walking around the house on the ground floor, he moved back to the room he slaughtered in order to retrieve his rifle.

Calmly and with gentle stride, as the two guns hovered on either side of him, he moved to the center of the room and faced the door. After a second of staring, he sat on his haunches, lowered the guns to the ground before him and used his magic to gently close the door before closing his sight of the world.

A roll of bandages slid out from his bag and began wrapping around his head, covering his eyes by several layers so not even the light could get through. His magic then crushed the bulb that illuminated the room, casting him to darkness as he did to his sense of sight.

He sat in wait, like a statue. Blindfolded, eyes closed, ears open. Every heavy stomp, the snapping and cracking of floorboards, the splintering of furniture, he took in the detail and volume of.

His magic slowly tugged the hood from his head, and the cloak slipped from his form, landing behind him in a bundle of fabric.

Rapidly, the stomping of steel clad hooves pummeled into the corridor outside in race of the door.

In a wave of splinters, the door washed over him. Still, he sat and listened to the grinding blades against the floorboards, the screaming claws, the approach.

One way or another, this was the end.

(((((((◉)))))))

His back was pressed to a soft, yet scratchy surface, his body stripped of all belongings.

His hooves were firmly bound to each corner of the bedpost.

Upon opening his eyes, he found the room - an attic - was cast in dim candle light, and his wounds were dressed with the bandages he once used to blindfold himself; wrapped around a haunch, his torso, and a patch of some spare against his forehead and cheek.

Upon turning his head to press his left cheek into the pillow his head rested on, his eyes widened in shock. Anguish. Tears began to well as he lingered on the fractured sapphire ornament that was once his horn.

When he had first lost it, a vital part of him died. Something that he would never get again, even with the replacement. His confrontation with the monster he sought to put an end to had history repeat...

... Or begin to.

"Hey..."

A hoof rested on his chest, and he snapped his head around to meet the sorrowing gaze of Bullet as she looked down at him, sitting at his side.

"I-Is he...?"

She shook her head.

"No. He's still breathing. And no, I didn't intervene. You didn't request my aid. This was all you..." A wan smile curled on her lips, sadness dwelling deep within emerald eyes. "You know I wouldn't dare." She paused, pondering on him. "Do you... remember anything?"

With the shake of his head, he spoke.

"I think I blacked out."

"Rage'll do that."

He closed his eyes and faced the ceiling once more as the tears broke free.

"My horn..."

"I know..." She whispered. "I'll... do what I can... but it might be some time..."

Scope made an attempt to move a foreleg, forgetting for a moment that he was bound. Knitting his brow, he looked up at the bindings.

"Yeah... Sorry about that..." Bullet sighed as her horn illuminated in white to undo the restraints. "One of the girls didn't trust..." She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "... Yeah..."

Scope rolled onto his side and curled into a ball.

"Thank you, Bullet..." He murmured. "You can go..."

Her mouth opened to speak protest, but she stopped and closed it soon after. Only for a moment, however, as then a faint smile curled on her lips as a forehoof caressed his foreleg up and down.

"What, and miss quality time with you? Not a chance in hell."

He spoke nothing, made no motion, no reaction.

Bullet's smile faltered as she casted her eyes down in a sigh.

Without a word, she climbed into bed, lied down behind him and wrapped her forelegs around his body, holding him close.

He closed his eyes to her warmth, shielding his blurred vision of the shattered horn before him as the tears trickled out. Finally, a deep breath escaped him.

"Thank you, Bullet..." He again reiterated.

"I will fix your horn..." She whispered into his ear, before lightly leaving a kiss to his cheek, followed with a tender nuzzle of affection. "I promise you..."

"I know..."

A moment of silence hung between them as he took in her embrace. The storm was still as rampant as ever. Rain pounded heavily against the roof as thunder roared seconds after the flashes of lightning that beamed occasionally through the attic windows.

"He's waiting for you..." She said after some time had passed. "Whenever you're ready."

He remained still a small moment longer, before inhaling deeply.

"Let's get it done..."

As he began to rise, groaning from the extensive body pains he had to endure, she released her hold of him and rolled off the bed to accompany him.

"Right this way." She said softly, taking the lead through the attic towards a door at the far end.

Halfway across the floor, a mare in a disheveled state arose from the hatch, having been in the second story of the farmhouse. Her eyes immediately darted to Scope in alarm.

"If we were a threat, you'd already be dead." Bullet stated. "He saved you. Show some fucking appreciation."

"If you want to be my enemy..." Scope started calmly, looking to the mare with tired eyes. "Then know we're enemies with a common interest."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Do what you will... But stay away from me." She looked to Bullet and continued. "I have to bury my dad. Are you helping or not?"

"Not after that. Dig his grave yourself, asshole."

A scornful glare descended the ladder with her without a word. Bullet sighed upon her departure and shook her head.

"Sorry about that..." She said, slowly moving to the door that housed their prisoner.

"It's no problem." Scope replied, walking beside her. "They're all on edge, I imagine. I can't blame them, after what they went through."

"Mm..." Bullet nodded. "Well, on the bright side, she's the only one being a cunt. The others are thankful."

"Others?" Scope raised a brow.

"Later." She nodded to the door as her magic enveloped the padlock.

She began to unlock the mechanism, and upon the door opening, she stepped aside to reveal his monster bound and captive, secure in place.

"He's all yours. Tongue removed and bodies delivered, as per your request." She leaned in with a sinister smile. "Left a little something inside your saddle bags for the poetics. It's inside. Have fun..."

With a slow nod, he turned to his waking play thing and stepped into the small confines of the room, closing the door behind him.

The now mute raider, realizing the predicament he was in, tried breaking out from his captivity, only to give up seconds later when he saw the futility in trying.

Scope regarded the saddle bags resting in the corner, along with all the bodies of his fallen allies before it. The present inside sent a hint of a smile on his face as he lifted it out, only to toss it on the raider's chest.

He looked down at in horror, before his eyes met Scope's.

He then reached into the bag once more and tossed a second severed tongue to him, with which landed beside the first.

"One of those are what's left of your son. Couldn't find anything else of your daughter. Ferals got to her before I could, sadly."

His eyes glued to it, and a pathetic whimper barely escaped him.

"What's the matter?" Scope raised a brow as he cocked his head to the side. "Knife got your tongue?"

Finally, his victim looked up at him again.

"Do you remember me? Word around your camp says you do." He tapped a hoof to the jagged tooth that was left of his horn. "Maybe this'll jog your memory."

His lips began to quiver in fear as he stared on. Tears began to well.

"No? Maybe, then..." Scope stepped forward, towering over him, before sitting atop his stomach as he picked up one of two tongues on his chest. "... This will..."

He forced the raider's mouth open and shoved the tongue in as he fought. With all his diminishing strength, he worked to spit it out and get away. Scope slammed his mouth back shut and kept it so as he scowled down at him.

"Eat up. Taste your son as I did my mother. Take it all in."

As tears broke out and spittle between his pursed lips, he reluctantly swallowed, whimpering all the while.

"Good boy, goooood..." Scope lightly patted a hoof atop his head.

He stood up off him and took the spare tongue back.

"We'll save that one for later. Let your food settle."

As he backed up to the corner where the corpses resided, he tossed the tongue back in his bag and spun back to his victim.

"So. In case you still don't remember. I was a kid when we first met. You took turns raping my mom, you made me watch, you gutted her, and you made me drink her blood and make out with her. And then you shoved my tiny little form inside her gut and sowed her up. I had to eat her rotting corpse and the maggots that joined in just for a fighting chance to stay alive. From that point on, I had been training not just to stay alive, but for the moment I'd see you again. And now we're here, old man."

He sat hard on his flank, pausing for a moment as he thought.

"Sadly, I can't shove you in anything. Too big. But the other events are still available to peruse. I won't kill you. Not for some time, anyways. You will eat of your friends. It will take days. Months even, with how big your numbers were. They will rot. You will still eat them. And when they're all gone, anything you shit and piss will be going down the hatch as well. And will continue to do so. Over. And over. And over. And over. Eventually, infection will take you. It will hurt. You will... heh... or rather... you would beg."

He pointed a hoof to his victim.

"You're probably wondering why I had it removed. Usually, vengeance tells that someone wants to hear the other scream. Cry. Beg." He then shook his head. "Not me. First few hundred times, it was cute. Now it's just annoying."

Again, he paused momentarily before reaching into his saddle bags to pull out a bronze plated pendant bound to a red leather band.

"In all my life hunting raiders, I never once bothered to learn the names of them. That includes yours. Never gave you an alias, nothing like that. The description of your appearance was enough. Hard wired it into my brain. That was all I needed. See, a name is for someone worthy. Someone important. To not be forgotten. To me, every raider I've killed was just another asshole. No names rattle my brain, and the memories of them are obscured. Abstract, a fog, and will be forgotten. Have been."

Scope then smiled.

"To die without a name leaves one forgotten to the world. Everyone you've known is dead. I imagine everyone you've robbed, beaten and raped is dead. No one will remember you. You're just another face. Another asshole. And you will be abstract and vanish in the collective list of other faces I've forgotten. I'm not just killing you. I'm erasing you. Though..." He chuckled. "I suppose that's the least of your worries now. And don't worry about your most recent victims. They all agreed to have their memories wiped of you when this is all over."

The last bit, while it was a lie, also carried a grain of truth. Willing or not, he was going to have Bullet wipe their minds clean of his victim and anything he did to them.

The raider slammed the back of his head against the floor repeatedly as he cried out.

"Hey! Hey! It's not all bad!" Scope looked down at the item of apparel he held in his hoof. "I got a present just for you! With love..."

He stood up and approached once more, putting the choke collar around his neck and buckling it, making sure it wasn't too tight, so as to not block air flow.

"... From me." Scope finished as he read the label on the bronze pendant, which read one word.

Bitch.

With a heart over the i.

"It looks very good on you." He then stated. "You're now my bitch. You're my pet. And we're gonna have loads of fun together. Get used to the face. Cause it's all you're gonna see from this point on."

He turned back to the door after lightly patting him on the cheek twice, with which he began to walk.

"I'll be back in an hour, maybe two, for your next meal. Don't bother trying to escape. The more you fight, the tighter the rope gets. I had it enchanted by a unicorn. You know..." With a smirk, he looked over his shoulder. "Those things you hate."

He pushed the door open, and his smile widened into a grin.

"Name's Black Scope, by the way. But try and think of me as your God, yeah? I'm the only one that will deliver mercy to you... though even that is going to take quite some time... And is it really merciful?"

The raider let out a series of gurgles and cries as he screamed in his best efforts. And with that, Scope strolled out, closing and locking the door behind him.

(((((((◉)))))))

Upon sliding down the ladder, was Bullet there to greet him with a nod as he turned to face her.

"Thank you." He said softly, to which she smiled in turn.

"You already thanked me."

"But I didn't thank you for everything." He returned the facial gesture. "From the moment we first met, way back when I was a kid. For being my friend from the start. For helping me with this. Everything you've done. Thank you."

She hesitated a moment before giving him a single nod.

"I would do it all again if I had to."

"As I would for you." He stepped closer, wrapping a foreleg around the back of her neck and holding her in a tight but loving embrace, to which she reciprocated.

"Do you want me to ease the pain?" She asked in a near whisper.

"That's not the freelancer way."

"Good thing you're not a freelancer yet." She quipped.

"Thank you, but I'll pull through."

Ever so lightly, she tightened her embrace for but a moment before releasing him, to which he did in turn.

"Bullet! I need-AGH!"

They both turned to a filly that had run up the stairs and into the second story corridor, who stopped and stared at Scope in surprise.

"He's awake! NO!" She stomped a forehoof in frustration as she pouted.

"I can go back to sleep, if you want." Scope replied dryly, but with a cracked smile.

He took a glance at Bullet, who then elaborated.

"This is Ruby Wing. She was making breakfast for you as a thank you. And, uh..." She giggled. "Was building you a new horn."

"Actually, it's done!" Ruby beamed as she reached into the saddle bags she wore.

It was then Scope took notice in the missing wing that had long since been removed from her. Whatever happened to it, the raiders had no part of. At least, not this group.

She pulled out a deep blue cone - a party hat that she had colored herself, judging by the distinct scent of paint that came with it - and held it out.

"Ta-da!"

Scope's mouth hung open as he raised a brow, observing it.

"Take it!" She exclaimed. "My hoof is getting tired!"

He looked at Bullet, who was grinning at him as well, before she nodded her head to the filly.

Looking back to Ruby, he lowered his head, to which she plopped the blue painted party hat over what was left of his horn before putting the thin rubber band that came with it around his head, so as to keep it from falling off.

"T-thank you... Ruby..." Scope said timidly as he stood up straight again.

"No, no! Thank you!" She grinned, looking up at him before her eyes widened. "Oop! Your breakfast! I'll be right back!"

With that, she turned and bolted back for the stairs.

"Well, that happened..." Scope spoke under his breath.

Giggling, Bullet began to move for the same set of stairs, glancing back at him for a moment.

"C'mon!" She said cheerfully.

As they descended to the bottom floor, Scope took notice that the worst of the storm had passed, and a soft rain rumbled and pattered against the roof of the house.

"How's Charger doing?" Scope asked.

"He's a walking horny nightmare to the other factions, and a spot light stealing party animal to Dead Sector. Wolfheart's got competition."

"So nothing's changed."

"Pretty much." She chuckled.

"Don't let him get out of control."

"You know I won't."

He raised a brow in skepticism.

"... Okay, maybe a little." Bullet smirked.

Scope rolled his eyes and smiled, but before he could reach the bottom step, Bullet stretched out a foreleg across his chest, hindering his movement to a standstill.

"There's still one last part of the deal you've yet to fulfill." She whispered, biting her lip as a petri dish materialized before them, summoned by her magic.

"And I'll fulfill it." Scope said sternly. "But I'm not having sex with anyone, and I'm giving it to Dreamcatcher."

"Aww, why!?" Bullet whined.

He stared flatly, his ears pressed back against his head in annoyance.

"Because last time I donated my sperm, you fucking drank it."

She licked her lips and chuckled.

"Delicious, too."

He sighed, planting a hoof over his face as he closed his eyes.

"I'll give you a baby. But Dreamcatcher is handling the seed. Not you."

"You're no fun." Bullet pouted.

"You and Charger were made for each other..." He muttered, turning his head.

Together, they stepped into the hallway that was now torn apart by bullets and the rampage of power armor. The bodies had all been cleaned up, presumably by Bullet, but the blood remained.

"Do you miss it?" She asked tentatively. "What we had?"

"And what did we have?" Scope replied. "I didn't fuck you then, I'm not fucking you now. As far as I'm aware, apart from status, nothing's changed between us."

Slowly, she nodded, coming to a stop in the middle of the hallway, just before the door to the living room. Scope stopped at her side.

"You know why I left, right?"

He nodded.

"Because I wouldn't." A small smile then curled on his lips as he looked at her. "I hold no resentment, regret, anything like that. It was fun while it lasted, but I couldn't give you what you wanted."

He leaned in, kissing her lightly on the cheek. Her eyes widened in surprise, and as he pulled away, her eyes locked on his, stuck in the moment.

"You're my best friend." He continued. "That's where our compatibility stands, and my love for you hasn't changed."

Her eyes lingered on his for a while longer, before a smile crept forth as she did. Her foreleg wrapped around the back of his neck, their chests pressed together, hearts beating.

"You're wonderful." She whispered.

"As are you, Bullet." He replied in the same volume as he reciprocated her gesture of affection.

"I am honestly curious though..." She pulled back with a cheeky grin, locking eyes with him again. "Are you a virgin? For real?"

He nodded.

"I don't really go seeking to fuck, but it doesn't mean I can't."

"Well, whoever you choose, they'll be damn lucky to have you. Mare or stallion?"

"Both." Scope replied with a wink and a smile. "Not gonna lie, I was starting to eye Charger for a bit before I left. Just a little bit, anyways."

"God damn it!" She broke into a brief laughter. "He's outslutted me! I'll have to step my game up."

"No, you won't." Scope chided. "You're married."

She sighed and slumped, averting her eyes.

"Yeahhhh... Damn Nekkra and their sexy breeding practices..."

Scope opened the door to the living room and stepped inside, to which Ruby, now with a detachable wing made of such, held up a packaged Fancy Buck cake with a red bow atop it to show it as a present.

"Breakfast!" She beamed. "I don't part with my sweets easily! But I'm willing to share with you!"

She grinned happily as she looked up at him. Her tail wagged side to side.

"Take it!"

With a pleasant smile, he took the snack and nodded to her.

"Thank you, little Ruby."

"No, thank YOU!"

Scope and Bullet both turned to the mare that sat in a recliner in the corner of the room.

"Both of you." She continued as she regarded the two of them. "If it wasn't for you, we'd all be..."

She paused for but a moment, before shaking her head clear of the thought.

"I'm sorry we had to tie you up, and for whatever bullshit-"

"Language!" Ruby barked, glaring at her.

"-Sorry. Whatever spite she threw your way. We're all pretty... on edge..."

Scope nodded.

"I don't fault anyone for being such."

"Thank you..." She paused before taking in a deep breath. "My name is Ivory."

"Scope. Though you probably already know that."

Quietly, she nodded as Ruby sat back down with the rest of her 'breakfast.'

Scope glanced at her for a second before turning back to Ivory.

"Did they... um..." He nodded his head to Ruby.

"No. No..." Ivory replied quickly. "Thank Celestia... She was hiding. They didn't know about her."

"May I ask what happened to her... wing...?"

"Only if I can ask what happened to your horn." Ruby jumped in, to which Scope directed his attention to her as she did him. She was no longer smiling.

Scope sat on his haunches and sighed.

"A very bad man took it... when I was little."

"The piece of sh-"

"Language!"

"... That thing in the attic?" Ivory corrected, to which Scope nodded.

"Yep... Took a lot more than that..." He looked back down at Ruby. "So what about you?"

"Ferals..." She looked down, tensing up. Her real wing twitched sporadically as her face turned sour.

Then her fake unfolded and stretched out before her as she ran the tip of her hoof along it. It was much larger than her other.

"I can't fly, but... a little bit of unicorn enchanting lets me move it like it's a part of me." Her eyes lit up as she looked back up at him. "Maybe my sister can teach you the spell!"

"It's really simple." Ivory stated. "When you get your horn back, I'll be more than happy to show you."

Scope smiled softly before turning to Bullet.

"Did you talk to them?"

"Yep. They're still talking it over with each other, but we'll get an answer hopefully before you finish your business here."

"And Charger knows?"

"He does." Bullet nodded.

"The thing we're hesitant on is the war that's brewing over there." Ivory jumped in, before twirling a forehoof in a circular motion. "And this... Nekkra virus thing or whatever I keep hearing about. Charger sounds like a piece of work."

"It's under control." Both Scope and Bullet said in unison. She then continued.

"There's food, shelter, safety."

"Community." Scope filled in. "You'll be under protection."

"Hey, for the most part, I'm on board." Ivory replied. "But it's not me you need to convince."

"Count me in!" Ruby beamed.

"Just gotta get my sister to agree. She's..." She sighed as her ears wilted. "Stubborn as all fu-"

"LANGUAGE!"

"... She's stubborn."

The door flew open to reveal the talk of the group, looking panicked.

"Look alive! Something's coming! Something big!"

Just as fast as she appeared, she bolted back to the exit.

Bullet's rifle was conjured in the grasp of her magic, and Scope's was materialized before him by the same source as the lot of them began to run out to investigate.

He slid the strap around his body and followed.

Upon rushing out through the front door, Scope came to a stop at the familiar sight that approached from afar; each step shook the earth like a distant thunder.

He stopped a ways away and observed the group as they did him. The new ponies in horror, but Scope and Bullet in surprise.

"Titan, what...?" Scope spoke softly for a second, before raising his voice. "What are you doing here?"

"Wait, you know that thing?" Ivory asked in utter disbelief.

"Same as you." His voice replied through the suit's speakers. It was pleasing to know he had shut off the weaponized audio that he had once felt in effect. "Righting wrongs. Saw a group that needed help. Was trying to figure out how to kill their captors without killing them. You came along. Now I can move on. I just wanted to thank you before I left."

He tilted his head as he studied Scope further.

"You're... wearing a party hat..."

Scope couldn't help but crack a smile before taking it off. Bullet stifled a giggle.

Titan then lifted his head to the horizon.

"Carry on, Black Scope. Bullet Storm. Send Bristle my best. There's still much to do. For all of us..."

With that, he turned to the left and began walking again, circling the property to resume his journey east.

"See what I mean?" Scope smiled, looking over at Bullet. "Anyone can change."

SIX MONTHS LATER

The bobby pin that Scope held in his magic snapped within the lock he was trying to bypass, causing him to recoil with a sour look as he stared down at it.

"Damn it..." He spat, pulling another from his inventory.

"Yo, Sapphire!"

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that." He replied in a frustrated tone as he stared the lock down, working carefully on the mechanism within that kept the safe sealed tight.

The bobby pin again, snapped, and instinctively, he recoiled with an exasperated groan. He reached into his saddle bag once more to retrieve another pin and got to work.

"Never." She giggled. "We're all just a bunch of gems in a world of shit. Diamonds in the rough, as it were."

"Ivory isn't a gem." Scope replied with a knit brow, trying to focus on the lock.

"Ah, whatever buzzkill."

"Is there something you need?"

"Just checking in. Seeing how you're doing." A small smile crept forth on her lips. "Plus, I like nagging you."

Snap!

"Damn it!" He tossed the pin aside and backed away from it. "I'm not as good at this as I was with my horn." He turned to her and sighed. "That was my last pin..."

"Shame..." She said as she sat down. "You seem pretty good with your hooves."

"Yeah, in other departments."

Her smile widened.

"What?" He snapped.

"Maybe you can pick my locks..." She winked. A dark shade of red enveloped on her dark, almost black, purple cheeks.

"After what happened...?"

She shrugged. "Unfortunately, it wasn't my first rodeo... I'm... used to it."

Her smile vanished for but a moment. Upon its return, she continued.

"There's a reason I like sleeping next to you."

He raised a brow, remaining otherwise emotionless.

"Hm..."

"You're my sexy little Sapphire."

"Stop calling me that." He deadpanned.

"Never."

"Hey, Sapphire! Check out what I found!" Ruby shouted with an ecstatic grin as she trotted into the bedroom.

Scope sighed at the nickname, but gave in, regarding her.

"What's up?" He asked as she stopped before him.

She reached into her saddle bags and pulled out a six pack of Sparkle Colas with both wings.

"I'm gettin' wasted on sugar tonight!"

"Oh no you're not, young lady." Obsidian chided. "You'll be bouncing off the walls all throughout the night if you drink those, and you'll be pooped out by the morning."

"Worth it." Ruby stuck her tongue out at her sister, to which she reciprocated.

"You won't be saying that in the morning."

"You're right, cause I'll be pooped out." Ruby then grinned at Obsidian's shock.

"Smartass..." She mumbled.

"Language!"

Scope chuckled at the exchange between the two of them before turning back to the safe.

"Guess this is a bust..." He muttered, kicking the side of it.

"Need a wing?" Ruby asked happily.

"Eh... sure." He replied, still staring at it.

Within a second, the ruby bladed appendage pressed against his chest firmly.

He looked down at it, and the tiny hoof that kept it there.

"Here ya go!" She giggled as he narrowed his eyes to hers. Her stump twitched a little, but otherwise, she paid no mind to it being removed.

"You're a silly filly." He smirked.

"And you're a grumpy wumpy." She responded as she took her wing back and attached it to her stump once again.

"What's a wumpy?" He cocked his head to the side in question.

A hoof reached up and bapped him on the nose, leaving him wide eye'd and crossed.

"You!" She then replied on impact.

With that, she proceeded for the safe, examining it closely for a moment before bapping her wing against the side of it. It cracked open instantly, leaving both Scope and Obsidian with their jaws dropped.

"H-how...?" Scope whispered.

Ruby spun around, waving her wings in front of her face.

"Magic!"

"What's inside?" Obsidian jumped in, leaning to the side in attempts to look past her little sister.

Ruby spun back to the safe and swung the door open, to which she gasped.

"Whoa, cool! No way! Heck yeah!"

"What is it?" Scope asked, curiosity eating away at him as he too, began to lean to the side, trying to peer in.

She then spun back to them with a wide grin plastered on her face. In both wings was the item that captivated her intrigue.

"A comic book!"

Silence festered in the room as they stared at it. Off in the night, crickets chirped in the distance.

Ruby flipped it open and began reading intently to herself.

"Is that... all...?"

"Hm?" She looked up for a moment, before going back down, waving a hoof behind her. "Oh, yeah. There was a revolver or something in there. All yours. Don't bother me, I'm busy!"

"Dibs." Obsidian trotted to the side and retrieved it.

"Not arguing with that." Scope nodded. "Always need more guns. Do you know how to-"

She popped open the chamber and looked inside as she spun it, then snapped it shut before looking back at him.

"That answer your question?"

Slowly, he nodded.

"Hey!" Ivory trotted in. "Soup's on, don't let it get cold. We got a big day tomorrow if we wanna make any progress on Dead Sector." She nodded to Scope. "I'll take first watch tonight. You got second?"

"Of course."

"Just hoping those two don't get any wise ideas..." She muttered, turning away and leaving the room. "... Again..."