FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter Six

Dear Princess Celestia, Fate's Just a Bunch of Bullshit, Right?

"'Cross my heart, Hope to fly, Stick a cupcake in my eye.' ~ Pinkie Promise"

The Everfree Forest. It was not a good place to be.

I watched the darkness through the trees. During the day, the intermittent sunlight from above could look quite welcoming as it played through the branches and leaves. Charming even. It would dazzle you with colours that were vibrant and ALIVE with gold's, and reds, and green's. In the bleak wasteland, the colours made ponies hope. They'd hope their way till their death.

The darkness of night hid the colours and showed the forest's true nature though. Trees swayed in the darkness, tricking the eyes into seeing things. Made you feel like you were being watched as something hid somewhere beyond the first line of trees. I shivered at the thought.

We sat on the edge of the forest, less than thirty feet from its borders staring in. Well, I was staring. Staring and shivering. The night was cold. This night I didn't have the comforting thin walls of a tent to keep me warm, I'd given that up for the miserable filly. She'd sniffled herself to sleep over a few hours, Futurity had fallen asleep across from her in his own tent, and our feather-brain Pegasus snored louder than a ghoul. Did all Pegasus snore when they slept? Ugh. Stranger and I were the only ones up. His deep azure eye scanned the horizon for the smallest mote of a threat.

Sonnet started sniffling from my tent, and even her crying and whimpering had a melodic cadence... which was irritating. I sighed as I picked myself up and slipped into the tent. She was curled up in on herself and kicked the blanket from her body in her sleep. I slipped it back over her, tucking her in properly. Then I slipped back out and walked up to Stranger. My prosthetic clinked against a rock as I flopped down on my stomach beside him. I nudged the rock idly, letting the slight clink echo quietly around us.

"I'm terrible at this parental business, aren't I?" I mumbled. Clink. Clink.

"Yup." He answered.

I was glad he'd answered. Stranger kept his mouth shut most of the time, but he always seemed to know when it was right to speak... when I needed him to... Celestia, I was pathetic.

"I know you, Tome." He continued. I'll admit it, I jumped. "You're not a hero," gee, whoopee, "but you're not a bad pony either." He turned to me, and somehow, through the bandages that wrapped his muzzle, I thought I saw the faintest creases of a soft smile. But hey, maybe it was just my imagination.

I pulled a face, "I prance-kissed a filly."

"Yup, probably could have handled that one better."

My brain stalled and I shot him a look. "Did you just mock me?" I asked. He didn't answer, and instead stared at the Horizon. The smile I'd thought I'd seen wasn't there and his expression was as stern and unemotional as ever... but I swear I could see the glint of mischief in his eye. "Don't go silent on me." I said indignantly. He refused to respond, instead he stood up and began to move away from me. The mother-fucking git...

*** *** ***

I hadn't slept. I imagine in hindsight that was probably a big mistake. But it's difficult to sleep when your brain is telling you how much of a horrible person you are, whilst simultaneously defending yourself through ever more desperate rhetoric. The worst part was, I'm pretty sure both voices were right.

I may not be a good pony, but I am not an evil one. And even though what I'd done to Sonnet was abusive and disgusting, it WAS for her health and survival. But, do the ends justify the means? "No" my mind whispered... I buried that whisper.

The sun was starting to rise, evidenced by the golden tint on the clouds above. I pushed my glasses up my nose with my forehoof and stood up for a stretch.

Then I took stock of Stranger's position. My musings had kept me in my head for the last few hours so I'd sorta lost track of things. I found him about ten meters away, staring at the horizon still.

"Tome." Futurity's called. I turned to see him giving me an expectant expression and I raised my brow in response. "I just want you to know that I don't think you're a monster." He said.

"And you figure this because?" I asked. I didn't consider myself a monster either, but I was curious why he thought that.

He shrugged, "what you did for the filly, it was the correct thing to do. She needed to eat and you were limited on your options." He gave me a level look. "It was commendable."

I barked out a laugh. "Well, I'm glad you think so." I turned away from him to walk away, but a thought stopped me. I looked back over my shoulder. "This Stable of yours?"

"Yes?" He answered.

"Is it safe?" I asked.

He seemed confused. "Why wouldn't it be?"

It was an important question. Stables were oft to be horror shows. I'd heard of Stables filled with monsters, with ghouls, with killer robots and machines. I'd heard of ones with plant-like ponies, others that seemed empty but were in fact full of invisible creatures, and just a few that were either poisoned, or containing chemicals that made you crazy. There were even a few that seemed normal and full of ponies, but those ponies were crazy and cannibalistic.

"Most Stables," I tried to explain, "are not safe. Your Stable, as you said, was designed around the superiority of Earth Ponies, but these weren't the only experiments Stable-Tec did."

Futurity nodded, "I'd assumed as much. Can you give me some examples?"

I bit my bottom lip. "I'd rather not. Suffice to say that many of those experiments, no matter how well intentioned, went wrong. Stables are reputed horror shows. So I need to know she's going to be safe."

Futurity chuckled, then nodded, "fine." Then smiled as though he were humouring a foal. "Cross my chest, hope not to die, stick a knife into my eye." He swore as he crossed his chest with his right hoof. It was the pinkie promise, but not as I'd ever heard it before. Must be his Stables own version. But humouring or not, it was good enough.

"Thank you." I said. He shrugged and turned, heading back to his own tent. I continued to Stranger, padding up to him before sitting beside him. I scanned the horizon as he was. "So, Captain Sass..." I began, about to chastise him for his earlier mockery, even though I was secretly impressed. Seriously, Stranger, making a joke... that like, NEVER happens-

"Someone's coming." He interrupted. My brain stalled as it tried to process what he just said. Thankfully my adrenal glands kicked it back up. I angled my head, trying to pick out what Stranger's crazy eye did. Then I realised a singular pony was approaching. At first I thought it was Lucky returning to us after his breakdown, but I noticed the gait was wrong. This pony held their head up high; they walked with confidence. They also wore armour, though indistinct as it was, I could tell it wasn't shit armour even from this distance. As they approached, I saw a deep lavender coat, a shock of violet mane, and I was almost certain they were a mare.

She stopped five meters from us. A tactical distance. Close enough to get a good shot, remain casual in conversation; and far enough to dodge if required. The mare, as I'd predicted, was smiling. Gleefully at that. She had gorgeous carmine red eyes that I definitely wasn't staring at, and her mane, even though raggedy, was surprisingly clean and shone beautifully in the light and- Okay-

I gave myself a mental kick. Yup, she was pretty. Plenty of pretty assholes in the wastes. I reigned in my hormones and focused on the mare, slipping my brain into logical non-stupid-stallion mode... but seriously, she was hot.

"Hey~" She purred. She had a gun on her side, but she didn't seem inclined to using it, or maybe she didn't think she'd need it. The armour fit her snugly and though well put together, was still made of scrap. The snug fit told me that it was custom made. Which meant one of two things, either this mare had some caps on her, or she had friends who did. Maybe both. That or she somehow made it herself, which I suppose is a third option. I glanced at her hooves next. If the Keratin on her soles were thick, that meant heavy use, not just for walking. But I couldn't tell, they were booted up and the boots were worn in, armoured but dirty and fraying at the edges. So she probably wore them often. This mare travelled a lot.

I looked from her hooves back up to her eyes, and balked when I noticed she was looking directly at me. Quizzically at that. Until, of course, I realised I'd just been staring at her for almost a full minute. I'd be confused in her position too. My brain kicked into gear... again. This mare was friendly, she seemed to want to speak to us or maybe get our aid, or maybe she was interested in something else. The Gentle-stallion approach was probably the best. "Nice to meet you," I greeted warmly, taking a step towards her. Her back left hoof twitched and slipped into the dirt by the barest of an inch. "Can we help you with something?" I asked. Her smile widened, almost imperceptibly. Her brow also furrowed. She was trying to maintain her current expression... she was smiling... but hiding a smirk. Fuck.

She chuckled and shook her head at my question. "Nah, I'm just a distraction." Her smile was infectiously warm. I found myself starting to return her smile before my brain caught up with her words. FUCK FUCK!

I dived to the side as the first shot rang out. A bullet lodged into the ground where I had just been. Moments later I heard Aero's saddle-canons. If the camp wasn't awake, they'd be now. Then, in less than five seconds, our encampment turned to shit. I saw Raiders, a LOT of them, almost twenty, running in, firing off their guns, a LOT of guns... did I mention there were a lot of raiders? There were a lot of raiders. Triple Fuck!

I drew my pistol and shot the nearest one in the head before a bullet decided to use my right shoulder as a nice place to nest. I groaned through my pistol as I took aim at the next raider and fired. The bullet sliced through his throat and he fell to the ground gurgling blood.

Stranger stood next to me as his rifle fired off three hot bursts as fast as he could reload... seriously how the fuck did he reload that fa- PING! I yelped as a bullet clipped my prosthetic hoof. Seriously? Going for a cripple's aid? Fuck you guys!

Then Aero was above them. He flew high, raining fire down on the raiders. But the idiot was making himself an easy target by hovering in the air. Bullets pinged against his armour as they ricocheted off. Then one sliced through a thin spot on his left wing and it gave out. He plummeted. Feathers-for-brains worked his other wing furiously, trying to regain control of his flight and it worked... kinda. He stopped flipping end over end just before he hit the ground. He crashed, rolled once, then sprawled into an awkward heap. Shit, there went our artillery.

A mare took aim at Aero to finish him off but I put a bullet through her skull before she could. Her brains exploded out of her head as the raiders around her followed suit when Stranger's bullets found their mark. Each boom of his gun was followed by a dead raider. Boom. Boom. Boom. SNAP!

_ _

What was that?

_ _

I turned and Stranger was looking at his weapon curiously... I looked down at it too. Shit. The firing mechanism had broken entirely.

I gave my hoof a petulant stamp just as a Unicorn jumped over a tent and landed next to Stranger. She shoved her shotgun right against his throat. Damn. I started turning, but I wasn't going to be able to fire before she did. She had him dead to rights and she knew it. She smirked as she bit down on the trigger. Then a blur jerked the mare and her shotgun blast erupted into Strangers shoulder. Winter swiped at her again as she raised a hoof to defend herself. The mutt's claws sheared through the hoof, and the mare screamed. She tried to run, but only manage to hobble. Though she was moving surprisingly faster than I could on three legs. A small part of me was strangely annoyed at that.

A yell pulled my attention to my left. More raiders were coming. A backup group... they'd distracted us, then took us down with not just numbers, but waves. The bastards were smart.

"Tome!" Aero yelled. I turned back to him. A stallion was aiming his shotgun at Aero. I couldn't make the turn to save Stranger but this turn I could make. I blew the stallion's throat out.

I galloped over to Aero. "I got ya." I said before I helped him to his hooves. But, we both dived back to the ground as bullets peppered the ground around us.

"No," Aero yelled over the gunfire as he waved me off. Then he pointed to the forest. "Sonnet ran in!"

I stared at the forest as my eyes grew wide. Did I mention shit?!! We didn't have a choice now. "Into the forest!" I bellowed. Then I ran. I ran and hoped they'd follow me. Stranger caught up to me quickly. He had picked up a shotgun and a pistol from somewhere and he was dual wielding them with his magic, blasting any pony that came close. Aero was the next to catch up, pulling alongside me just as we entered the forest. He had his injured wing folded tight to his side. Futurity was ahead of me, he and Winter both. That was everyone but Sonnet, good... kinda. Brush, branches, and leaves swatted at us as we ran. I felt a heavy thump against my back as branch swung back on me, and pain shot up my spine. I ignored it and kept running with the others.

The tree's closed around us, and the raiders didn't follow.

They were smart ponies after all.

We ran until we could barely breathe. Or at least until I could barely breathe. After only five minutes of running I was starting to lag behind the others.

I stumbled a little and had to call out, "wait... need... a break." I said as my vision swam. The tree's around me warped a little, and my brain felt prickly. Adrenaline was starting to ease off now and I was feeling pain. Everything ached. My head, my hooves, my shoulder and my back... my back? I looked over my shoulder and saw three holes in my barding. Oh... Well that can't be good. Did they go through the barding? I think they did.

Then the adrenaline completely fell away and I felt very heavy as I stared at the wound. A red drool oozed from them. Oh yup, I was bleeding. Ooooooh, that thump hadn't been a branch. Gotcha, hadn't seemed important at the time. I'd been shot... I chuckled. Yep, I'd been shot... I cocked my head. That was actually quite a lot of blood. Bugger. And why was I so tired? Guess I should take a small... little... nap...

*** *** ***

This mare knew her way around a stallion. Her red eyes bore into mine as her lavender mane bounced. My god I could almost forgive her for trying to shoot me. She gave me a wicked grin then pulled me in close. Our lips locked and our tongues danced and twisted together.

She pulled back and... she kinda looked like Aero?

It was weird waking up to seeing three ponies staring down at me. Aero was giving me disgusted looks while wiping off his tongue, Futurity looked something between concerned and amused, and Stranger was... well Stranger. Ugh... Did I have something on my face? Did I have an erection? Was I laying in shit? I better not be laying in shit. I would be very upset if I was laying in shit.

Aero was the first to speak. "We've ehm... We've got a problem."

"Am I laying in shit?" They stared back at me blankly. Ok, so maybe it wasn't shit. "So what's the problem?" I snapped. Then it hit me. Oh... right. I'd been shot. Sonnet had run into the forest. The Everfree Forest. I sat up abruptly. "Where's Sonnet?!" Ugh. Bad idea. Hot pain lanced through me and I started coughing. Something also started burning inside me. I looked up at my friends (were we friends?) for answers. It was Futurity that laid the details out to me. They'd given me a healing potion while I was unconscious but... the bullets hadn't punched through me; they were still inside me causing damage. "Shit." I replied softly. "Have we found Sonnet yet?" I asked as I slowly and painfully pulled myself to my hooves.

"No, but..." Aero looked confused. "Shouldn't you rest? You almost died."

What else was new? "We need to find Sonnet." I answered.

"Fuck that filly." His words stopped me mid-step. "We need to get outta this place. This be dangerous. If she wants to run away, why do we need her? She's baggage anyway, she won't even feed herself."

Stranger stepped between us just as I turned around to kill the git. I stared Stranger down before addressing Aero.

"Just like a Pegasus." I spit. "A cowardly little shit that wants to run away from all danger, abandoning everyone." I stepped closer but Stranger cut off my approach again. "Let me help remind you, to give you some beneficial incentive to shut your fucking cock-hole." Aero took several steps back when he finally saw my face. "If that filly disappears, our need for you to help her mother disappears. So our need to have you around disappears. If you want help with your daddy issues, find that filly."

A lot of things irritated me; the ever increasing prices of produce in the Wasteland, running out of my favourite snack cakes, finding a really good condition book that was missing the last few pages of its contents. But Pegasus's being Pegasus fucking infuriated me... I'd grown used to Aero in the group -partially anyway- I'd nearly forgotten he was a Pegasus every once in a while. But the selfishness was just so... Pegasus. Pegasus... they were the only ones that decided to be selfish as a WHOLE FUCKING SPECIES. Closing off the damn fucking sky and pretending they'd be alright up there while we all suffered down here... hiding away from the dangers... fucking cowards.

I snorted at Aero and forced myself to start walking. One hoof in front of the other. He hadn't replied, which was probably the smartest decision he'd made since I met him. I was suddenly conscious of every clop of his hooves in the dirt, every breath he took. I found myself gritting my teeth more, trying desperately to think of anything else. I made myself focus on my surroundings. Beautiful coloured plants flowered on ivy that wrapped around the tall tree's.

"Aero." Futurity began, moving into step beside the armoured pegasus. "Is that your birth name?"

"..."

Aero didn't respond. I wish the idiot had. I had a feeling the name was bullshit; no parent was that uncreative. Then again, Lucky's parents had named him 'Lucky'. I couldn't describe how common that name was, especially with Horseshoe's as a surname. Variations of it were all over the Equestrian Wasteland, parents hoping and praying to Celestia that their child would live up to the name and be 'Lucky' to survive. Idiots.

"Where did you grow up?" Futurity continued. "Cloudsdale?"

Futurity still wanted to study our Pegasus companion. My guess, was that he was starting conversation to get information on Pegasus society. I had an urge to tell them to shut up as a part of me did not want to hear about the so called 'plights' of the Pegasus. Fuck, who am I kidding, a sizeable portion me didn't want to hear it.

Aero snorted. "Cloudsdale's a radioactive no-go zone. It was the first place to be hit by a Megaspell."

"I didn't know that. We don't have good records of what happened in the war... So, if not Cloudsdale, where?"

"A click off Pegasdale... aboard the 'Titan's Folly'."

I had no idea where Pegasdale was, but my memory flashed and I remembered it being one of the places listed on Futurity's monitors. One of the places he'd been spying on in Whitetail Prison. My curiosity was taking over, damn it.

"Aboard? As in 'aboard a ship'?"

Aero was about to reply but fell quiet as we entered a new area. The forest looked... strange. Like it had become twisted. We passed a gnarled tree that was contorted and bent. Then another, and yet another. It was as if something had rent them to its desire, bending them into shapes without breaking them. The grass had turned from a luscious green to a greenish-blue colour. The air felt thick and had a slight tang to it. I shivered as the hair rose on the back of my neck. The place was giving me the chills.

"Do you feel that?" I asked. Stranger walked up beside me, his eyes fixed ahead of us. He did.

I continued and Stranger stepped forward without me. He walked up to one of the twisted tree's, his eyes moving along the branches. He reached up and pushed aside some of the vines that had tangled around the length of its bark. I couldn't quite tell, but I thought something was carved there. He let the vines fall back into place, and walked around the first load of tree's, disappearing from view. I followed him but found my way blocked by a curtain of vines. We stepped through.

We stood in a clearing. The tree's around us were the twisted kind, the ground below us a downy luscious green grass. The canopy above cast a shadow over the grove while Celestia's light shone from above.

The grass was springy, sturdy but soft, unlike any grass I'd ever felt. I leaned down and sniffed it, and my mouth watered. I opened my mouth to take a bi-, my mouth snapped shut. A purple aura surrounded my muzzle. I looked up and Stranger had his eye narrowed at me. He shook his head before releasing my jaw. But, I was acutely aware of just how hungry I was now. When had I last ate? I considered trying again before my mind snapped back at me. What was I thinking? This wasn't normal. I shook my head stubbornly, dismissing the thoughts.... though my stomach growled at me in protest.

Stranger stepped forward into the wider part of the clearing. The tree's around us formed a perfect circle, as though the forest radiated from this hidden vale. In the centre of the area was a small ring of stones. They weren't large, just rocks of average shape and size. They just so happened to be placed in a circle, and within the circle was an array of unassuming mushrooms. Twelve of them. Stranger's eyes ran over them, then upwards to the canopy overhead.

"We should not be here," he said. "We should leave."

Then I realized how quiet the grove was. The sound of the forest had been a constant before. Now, there were no animals twittering or growling in the distance or the gentle rustling of leaves as the wind blew through the trees. I couldn't hear anything from the canopy above.

"What is this place?" I asked.

"The heart of the forest." He answered.

"We didn't travel that far," I countered, entirely sure we'd barely been walking or running twenty minutes, "we can't be in the heart so fast."

"It's heart, not it's centre." He clarified. "It will not want us here."

"What are you on about?" Aero asked in his helmet distorted voice. "I thought this place was a bunch of tree's?"

"The Everfree Forest is one of Twelve locations of converging magic in the world." Stranger said as he stared down at the circle of stones. "It is a lay-line intersection."

"And that means?" Futurity asked before Aero could open his mouth.

Aero glanced at Futurity before pointing his hoof at the stallion, "what he said."

Stranger turned from the stones and started back the way we'd come, passing us. "It means it's alive, and it does not like us."

We moved back through the vine-curtain and as I passed through it I could feel the grass clinging lightly to my hooves, as though it were trying to keep me there. Upon leaving the strange place I shuddered and my coat stood on end. I could hear something slithering, I was sure of it.

"Wait." I said. The others stopped, almost immediately. A small part of me enjoyed the synchronisation of our small group. The rest of me was trying not to panic as warning bells went off in my head. I looked around, trying to find the source of the noise.

"What?" Futurity asked. Then his breath caught and his ears pricked up. Something was moving over soil. Winter growled as the sound got louder. It was coming towards us.

Something blue lashed out from the undergrowth to our left and I dove forward. I rolled, stumbled, and fell flat on my ass with a grunt. Something tore inside me as I suddenly and acutely remembered I still had bullets lodged in me somewhere painful. I coughed violently, and I tasted blood. I spat it out. Then looked at the blue thing. It was a umm... I think it was a plant?

It was a green vine wrapped covered with beautiful blue flowers. And I could smell... spiced honey?

It laid there as though it had always been there, despite recent memory arguing otherwise. Warning bells blared in my head as I stared at it dumbly. It was familiar for... Oh... Shit. I knew what this was.

"Killing/Poison Joke!" Futurity and I exclaimed. We looked at each other.

"Killing Joke?" He asked curiously.

I opened my mouth, but the vine twitched and I jumped back several feet.

"An interesting change in moniker, is that due to any evolution of its state or- UGH!" Futurity was yanked backwards. His back hit the ground and he gasped as the air was struck from him. A blue vine tightened around his neck, then snapped into the air taking him with it. Futurity kicked and struggled to free himself as the vine held him suspended. I froze as I tried to figure out how to help. I couldn't touch the vine or else it'd kill me. Hell I half expected Futurity to explode any moment now. Thankfully, Winter acted before I needed to. The cybernetic dog severed the vine using its mechanical limb and Futurity dropped to the ground. He coughed violently as he struggled to draw oxygen in. His throat was red raw and indented. Damn... the vine had almost crushed his oesophagus.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I galloped to him.

"Y-yeah," he croaked, "I don't think it had time to do anything to me. I think I'm fine."

Then I heard more slithering as the undergrowth rustled around us.

"You've been in and out of these Forests, you must know safe routes!" I yelled.

Futurity nodded, "It um, grows in hotspots." He massaged his throat as he looked around. "Follow me." He croaked as he galloped off. The rest of us weren't far behind.

We travelled over trees that were scorched by what had to have been lightning. Then down into what I can only assume had once been a lake, but now only resembled a damp ditch. We ran across the muddy bottom then climbed up the other side. My hooves slipped in the dirt as we made our way up.

"I thought Earth Ponies were good at this stuff." Aero chided, as he flapped his wings.

"Most... of us... have four hooves." I grunted. I wasn't bullshitting either, my prosthetic wasn't digging into the ground. Without feeling I couldn't tell where the hoof-holds were or how sturdy they were. I yelped as I slipped and started skidding rapidly down the slope. Then I stopped with a lurch that almost made me lose my stomach. I hovered about a foot from the muddy ground. I grumbled. "Put me down Stranger." I did not enjoy being cradled in magic like a babe.

Then I heard slithering. "Never-mind! Up! Up! Up!" I yelled. Stranger took my request to heart and threw me up the hill. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I squealed. Futurity joined me, having been tossed in a similar manner. Though he didn't squeal like a filly and seemed thoroughly amused. Aero landed not long after, also looking amused. Then Stranger reached the top, having crawled up the long way.

I glanced across the ditch. Blue vines slithered along the edge. They'd stopped approaching, they weren't even trying to cross. We were safe... I think.

"Okay... let's take a break." I said between pants. I collapsed against a nearby tree and sucked in as much air as I could manage. The stupid bark was uncomfortable.

"You don't take breaks in here." Futurity said firmly. "There's a reason I'm in and out as fast as possible. We need to go North-East for my Stable, we should head there now." He seemed antsy.

"No." I said. I was pretty sure it'd be the death of me if we stayed any longer, but I wasn't about to leave without finding Sonnet.

"We could get help, a force that could scour the forest with us to help find your filly. I just need to requisition one from the Overmare." That... is actually a good idea.

"How long would that take?" I asked.

"We could be searching for Sonnet as early as first light."

"No deal. We don't leave the forest till Sonnet is with us."

"Why do you care?" He wasn't being judgemental or condescending, it was just intellectual curiosity. Didn't stop from snapping though.

"Fuck off asking me that!" I yelled. Everypony dropped silent and staring at me. I glared back. A silence descended on the forest, interrupted occasionally by the gentle rustling of leaves in the canopy overhead. "Breaks over." I growled as I stood up. I stalked off in a random direction, assuming the others would follow.

I stamped by hooves as I walked. Aero had pissed me off bad enough, and now Futurity had my temper broiling. I forced myself to think of other things, but Sonnet kept coming to mind. My anger was being eaten by worry. Pain was playing a part too though, my insides felt like a blender had chewed through them.

My prosthetic clicked on the ground as I walked and I forced myself to breath in and out in tandem with it.

Clink, in. Clop, clop, clink, out. Clop, clop, clink, in...

Then my lungs seized as I coughed violently, spitting blood everywhere. Shit. I did NOT need a coughing fit right now. I ignored the others, but I could still feel their eyes on me. Every few steps I wiped my mouth off. My hoof was covered in a new coat of blood every time. If I didn't get these bullets out of me-

"Hey Futurity."

"Yes?" he asked.

"How good are the medical facilities in your Stable?"

"Excellent. We have a fully trained surgical staff."

I nodded, "Good. I'm probably gonna need it." I took another step forward and my prosthetic echoed loudly as it struck a rock. As the sound reverberated the foliage near me rustled. I froze. A light flare of hope blossomed in my gut. Maybe? "Sonnet?" I asked hopefully.

A vicious growl broke my train of thought. Not Sonnet, Decidedly NOT Sonnet.

WHOOOOoooooOOOOOooo!

"Timberwolves!" Futurity yelled.

_ _

What the fuck were Timberwolves?

*** *** ***

Timberwolves were apparently made of wood, held together by glowing green joints and veins, and at least twice my size. Timberwolves were also fast. Very fast. And agile. They could jump and cling to tree's, they moved like a blur and their claws were extendable and could grow to the frightening length of a sword. And each paw had four of these. Oh, and did I mention there were HUNDREDS of them?

But... that's not the worst of it. Nope. Did you know that bullets are basically useless against wood? Ya'd think otherwise wouldn't ya. But nope! Ya wanna know what bullets do to creatures made of wood that don't die unless you break them apart? ABSOLUTELY BUGGER ALL!

To punctuate my point, I blasted a hole right through one. It was nice neat hole through its torso. Sappy blood splashed the ground too! But nope, I might as well have thrown my gun at it for all the good it did! Hell, there was an idea. I smashed the muzzle of my gun into the head of the beast trying feast on my prosthetic hoof. The creatures head gave a satisfying crack before its whole body turned into kindling.

Huh, take out the head and it falls apart... got ya. I slipped my gun away and fumbled around under my coat and pulled out something I hadn't used in a long time. My nice big knife. Well... it wasn't so big. It was 8 inches, but hey, it's not the size that counts! And I was confident in my ability to find the right spot to penetrate. I turned and lashed out at a Timberwolf. I tore through its frame easily and grinned triumphantly as the creature's small frame fell apart... wait... had that one been smaller than others? Was that a puppy Timberwolf? Did I just kill a puppy?

...

Damn it. Now I felt bad.

A bigger one came at me then but now I had something that worked! I turned, ducked under its swipe and thrusted up into its neck. TAKE THAT! The blade sank in heavily. I pulled the kni... Wait... I wriggled my muzzle, gripping the handle of the knife tightly. The knife was stuck. Oh... that's a thick neck. Oooooh, yeah... bigger Timberwolf, made of bigger parts. That made sense.

Then I was aware of a glowing green eye staring at my own. Huh, this close I could see a strange magical swirl in the eye... It would have been pretty if the beast wasn't trying to use me as a scratching post; and I hadn't been busy squealing like a mare and clambering away for my life.

I tripped over the tatters of my barding and roots as I ran. Stranger, Futurity, and Aero took their cue from me and hurried to catch up. We galloped as best we could through the undergrowth as the heavy footed paws, and the growls and howls behind us made it difficult to not shit ourselves. Or myself. I was definitely feeling something in the bowel department.

Branches slapped my face as we ran, which hurt, but not nearly as much as my chest. I felt like something was tearing inside me. "Healing Potion please!" I yelled out. Stranger passed one over with his magic as we ran. I grabbed it, yanked the top off and downed it as fast as I could. It felt better as my insides knit nicely back together. Much better.

"We can't keep running forever!" I yelled as I dove under a fallen tree only to have to vault over a boulder. Sadly, though my glasses enhanced my terrible vision, they didn't give me any sightly superpowers so I couldn't see THROUGH things; which is why I didn't notice that directly behind the rock was a hill slope. And we were at the top. Diving over the boulder was an interesting experience. The vertigo of suddenly lacking a ground beneath me. The slam as my back met a rock on the slope. The sudden and frightening slide down. Then the world became a hazing blur as my glasses flew from my face, I was stumbling and tumbling, and I think I felt one of my legs snap. Yup, there's the pain.

I landed on my back and the air pushed from my lungs on impact.

For a moment, everything seemed peaceful. The ground turned soft. I breathed in slow repetitive cycles, and unconsciousness felt nice and comfortable at the edges of my mind.

The world around me wavered and slowly pain numbed my brain. I heard whimpering. I turned my head. Through my blurred vision I could make out the shapes of Stranger and Futurity. Stranger seemed unconscious, but Futurity was stirring. I had to find out if Stranger was okay, if his head got bashed open on the way down he could be...

I tried to rise, but pain lanced through me and I had to fight the urge to throw up. Both my hind legs were broken. I began crawling; I used my forelegs to drag myself forward. I shook him when I got close.

"Stranger... wake up you asshole..."

My voice was weak. I felt a roiling in my stomach again and I wasn't sure if it was fear, the bullets, or something worse. Plenty of options to choose from.

As I tried to decide which one was more likely -the bullets winning out so far- I heard whimpering again. It wasn't coming from Stranger or Futurity either. I turned to my left and saw her hiding in the undergrowth and relief poured through me and for a moment I forgot the pain. I saw the small dirty face poking out of the bushes, Sonnet. She was shaking and clutching her fore-hoof. She was hurt... and I needed to help her.

I began crawling towards her. I came within a few feet of the filly and began grabbing leaves and brambles from the ground. I dragged them close to me, bunching them up before pushing them towards her. The overgrowth above her would block any view from above and this small wall would hide her enough... I hoped. "Stay quiet." I told her, my voice barely above a whisper. "No matter what happens, stay quiet." I stared at her eyes. Even with blurred vision I could see how scared she was. "No matter what." I reiterated as I turned away from her and began to crawl in a different direction.

"Mas-Tome, w-wait? I'm sorry." Her voice was shaking, it sounded weak. Probably fear.

I looked back at her and put my hoof to my lips, shushing her as the first Timberwolves came into view.

It was all just a blurry mass to me, my head was swimming with pain. I could barely see the shape of the Timberwolves. Their glow painted my view, like a sickly glowing mass of growls and wood. Their claws dug into the dirt as they began to surround us. We must look like quite the enticing meal. Did they eat ponies? Did they even need to eat? I chuckled as the nearest one approached me, its glowing green eyes staring down into my own. Was that a glint of metal near its... oh, that's my knife still in its neck. The way it growled at me felt personal. So they held grudges. That was an interesting titbit of knowledge... and their blood seemed to be a form of magical sap... and then there was their pack nature. It was all quite interesting... or at least it was to my addled brain right now. Though I had a sneaking suspicion this was just my brains mental reaction to terminal fear.

I pushed the thoughts away and stared up at where I was pretty sure it's eyes were, I could hear the growls and his eyes were quite glowy; but to me they blurred together.

"I hope you choke on me." I spat at it.

Yup, as final words go, that'd have to do. Its growl increased in volume. Ooh, it sounded angrier, well if I am about to die, might as well go out doing what I do best. Pissing something off.

I can't count the amount of times I'd been told that my attitude would get me killed. I think I owed said people money. I mean, they were right after all... Then pain erupted from my side. I tried to scream but my throat felt strangled and hoarse. The only sound that escaped was a dull grunting groan. I felt my barding tear and lacerations scour my flesh.

Now I screamed.

Bile and blood poured from my mouth, strangling my voice. I vomited a mixture of blood and what meagre stomach contents I had as the heavy sickly feeling of my insides exposed to the air overwhelmed me. I was nauseous and feeling on the verge of passing out.

I heard her on the edge of my mind, like a soft breeze caressing my face. For a moment I couldn't tell if it was real or not. Somehow over the din of my timely death, I heard her voice. She was singing. Crying as she sang, but it was still a song. A beautiful song. I hadn't realised how beautiful her songs were. I part of me wanted her to keep singing because it was nice to hear something so beautiful through the pain and darkness that began to overtake me. But another part of me begged her to stop... begged her to stop because if she was singing, the Timberwolves could find her. Sonnet... please stop.

I felt the Timberwolf stop chewing on me. He pulled away as I tried to groan, to get its attention back so it'd just continue. Come on boy, tasty meat here... please, just stay with me. Just me, just kill me, not her.

But it ignored my mental pleas. I felt it step over my body towards the singing. I heard the footfalls of its fellow Timberwolves. They were going to take her... they were going to kill her.

I remember feeling cold after that. But even in the cold and the numbness that spread through my body... I cried.

I knew I'd fail.

Something exploded nearby.

*** *** ***

I've never been dead before. It's weird. I think there was music. But that might have been Sonnet. There was definitely something, something that spoke in the darkness... like the notes of a musical instrument. I saw lights too, lights that swirled in the vortex before they collided together and erupted into a huge star. That star then began spinning and creating things. It drew in rocks that crashed together before forming planets. They spun with the star. Life brewed on the planets as they spun. Things grew and a strange sort of energy poured from those lives into the star. The star had given them life and in turn, they gave life to the star.

That was until I woke up and the bright light I'd seen as a star turned out to be a REALLY bright lamp that burned my eyes the moment they opened.

The first thing I said was, "Gah, fuck!" The first thing I did was to cover my eyes with my hooves. The second thing I said was "Ugh!" And the second thing I did was empty my stomach over the side of the bed I was lying on.

"Easy there." A mare said, her voice soft and comforting. Her hoof stroked my head and I admit I leaned into the touch like a dog might. It was comforting. I tried to remember what had happened, why I was waking up in a strange place...

I got a flash of it. The blurry green and brown Timberwolves, the feeling of jaws in my flesh, the feeling of my insides being ripped out in the beast's jaws...

I threw up again. Though this time it was more dry heaving.

My head hit the pillow when I was done and my throat burned with the acids of my stomach. I grunted at the still blaring light. The mare must have got the hint, because the damn thing finally turned off.

I turned to my left. Across from me, through a clear screen I could see another medical room, joined with this one by a window and a door. The blinds weren't pulled, and I could see Futurity on his own bed. Free of his barding he looked smaller than I remembered. His black mane dishevelled around his face. My eyes travelled down his red coat to his exposed rump, to his cutie-mark, or at least, where his cutie-mark should be. There was no cutie-mark. Just a large horrific scar, as though the mark had been burned from his flesh. That was the last thing I remembered before I drifted back to sleep.

I slept for what felt like another few hours. When I regained consciousness I was felt better. Not great, my stomach churned, my head ached, and I thought I was gonna throw up again, but still, stronger than before. The mare from before was nearby, looking over some paperwork.

"What-" I was about to ask what happened, but that was a stupid question. I remembered what happened. Then I was going to ask where I was, but even without my glasses I noticed the mares clean clothing and the clinical metal walls that surrounded me. I saw blinking lights of many machines I didn't recognise but seemed to be of medical use. I knew of few facilities which had the resources for such things, so my brain stumbled to the conclusion that we were in a Stable, Futurity's Stable most likely. Which left only one question I could ask: "Is she okay?"

"The filly? She's fine." The mare answered warmly. Her sureness soothed my worries for the moment.

"Stranger? Futurity? Aero?" I asked, trying to discern her facial expression through the blur. Seriously, where the fuck were my glasses?

"Stranger's fine, we found a way to help him. Though never aided a Ghoul before, your friend Aero is the one that brought you all back here, so you should thank him for that. And Red's with the Overmare."

Aero saved us? Huh. Then again, I didn't remember seeing him on the ground with us, and I suppose falling down a hill is less of an issue for somepony with wings. And then there was the explosion, probably Aero's canons.

"Red?" I gave her a confused expression, though I'd expect it was because of his red coat. His coat- the scar. His cutiemark scar. I gulped at the memory.

She gave a nervous chuckle. "Oh, Futurity. It's a nickname." She smiled. I couldn't see it, but I heard the smile in her voice. I could also hear the edge to it, was she blushing? Huh... maybe she was Futurity's special somepony.

"I need my glasses." I told her.

"Oh, you wear... erm... we don't have them. But we have some spectacles that we should be able to get for you, let me get the box." She began humming a merry tune as she headed for the door.

She was much too chirpy. I didn't like her. I breathed in deeply and the place smelled... clean. I didn't like that either. This place felt like a dream, barely real. It felt like it was suspended in time, ignorant of reality. It felt like a fantasy.

I was almost missed the Stable horror stories. Somehow this place's ignorance seemed worse.

The mare returned after a few minutes with a blue box. She popped the lid and rooted through it. "Do you know your grade?" She asked.

"Grade?"

I couldn't hear it or see it, but something told me she was biting her lip. "Well, I guess we'll need to do some exploring then."

It took us half an hour. 'Grades' seemed to be how bad my eyes were. They had a system that allowed them to get the right spectacles. Apparently glasses used to be very common, but not for a while since the advantage of something she called 'cybernetic ocular vision enhancements', which in lamens terms sounded like 'robot eyes'. She recommended I consider asking for it, but I refused. While not having bad eyesight would be lovely, I wasn't ready to have my eyes taken out to have new ones put in. Eventually, we found a pair that worked, and better than my own had, which wasn't surprising. I'd grabbed them from an optometrist store in one of the big cities up north. I'd changed the pair to new ones over the course of a few years as my eyes got steadily worse, but it wasn't like I'd ever had somepony in-the-know give me a 'prescription pair'. But here I was, finally being given a pair that worked for me. Turned out I was an 'O' grade. Which is apparently around the same grade as a pony twice my age. How nice of her to tell me.

I put the glasses on and took a good look at my surroundings. The sudden clarity I was seeing was jarring, everything had such sharp angles, I almost missed the blurry softness. The mare I'd been talking to was crème coloured with a brown mane and... was that a cybernetic ear? It was painted the same colour as her coat but...

She touched her ear when she noticed I was staring. "Birth defect," she said, "got it fixed when I came of age, I'm due for an upgrade actually. There's a new one that can pick up outside broadcasts. We don't get much of that down here, the place is well shielded, but this one patches into a special relay system in the Stable that connects to another relay outside to give us channels we don't otherwise get down here." She spoke like Futurity. Big words that to her sounded casual, but to everypony else seemed advanced. She was a nurse but she obviously understood electronics and some cybernetics. I had a feeling this Stable was going to piss me off.

Apparently I'd undergone surgery. They'd removed the bullets, fixed up my insides, administered healing potions and put me back together properly. They did have one slight bit of worrisome information for me. Apparently I had three large growing tumours. One near my liver, and the other two on either side of my stomach. I knew where the roiling was coming from now at least. Healing potions weren't gonna affect them because tumours weren't an injury, they were an explosive growth of cells. If anything, healing potions were making them worse. The weird thing is they were more upset about me having the tumours than I was. I already KNEW I was fucked. At least now the tumours gave me a bit of hope. If they killed me before I mutated into... whatever it was the taint had planned for me, then I was happy to have them. Hello friendly tumours!

Because of the tumours, they hadn't administered a second healing potion when they sewed me up, they'd insisted on normal healing. I downed one of my own the moment they showed me to my things. The crème nurse mare looked at me reproachfully as I drank the thing. What was she, my mother?

After seeing a basic map of the place on the nurses PipBuck I left the medical wing. The smell of disinfectant had burned my nostrils enough. The corridor outside of the clinic was exactly as expected. I'd only seen the inside of one Stable before, and that was one I'd stupidly wandered into when I was about fourteen. Nothing much had happened, I got as far as the first corridor, heard something bump in the dark and ran out screaming. Never stepped hoof in one since. But I remembered the look of the walls. Closed, claustrophobic walls that seemed intent on keeping everything trapped inside. I mean yeah, I knew that Stables were designed to keep the bad stuff OUT of them... but looking at these pristine walls I didn't get the impression of a sanctuary. It was more of a gilded cage.

I walked through this cage now. The air felt stuffy in my nose, like it was just... wrong. I felt pressure too, like I were under a mountain. My hooves echoed in the corridor as I padded down, the lights filtered down and something about them hurt my eyes so I looked at the floor. I padded down and turned left, passing a mare and a stallion who'd been giggling cutely to each other. The moment they saw me, their conversation stopped and the mare averted her eyes. Like she was afraid of me. The stallion pulled the mare to him as they walked by. He didn't give me a bad look, in fact he smiled at me and nodded his head. But it was tight, like he was trying not to upset me. These ponies must have heard horror stories of those from the Wasteland.

I found an open arched doorway with no door, it led into what looked to be an eating area. It was large enough to seat a few hundred ponies, but the height of the ceiling is what did it for me. I'd been in buildings of course, grew up in one my family had called 'home' for a few years. But this felt different. The low ceiling, the walls that stopped my vision when I was so used to seeing a horizon...

It was a few moments before I realised I was panting and my heart was pounding. Okay, a panic attack? Really? I've crawled through building maintenance tunnels before to gather scrap, I am NOT the claustrophobic sort. So why did this Stable make me feel so... uncomfortable.

I closed my eyes, relaxed myself and began taking a few deep breaths.

"Excuse me!" A mare shouted from behind me. I yelped and quickly moved. I was blocking the doorway, a blue mare with a red mane much too big for her head sauntered past me with an ego much bigger than that of her station.

"Don't mind Lilly." Futurity's voice commented with a soft sigh. I turned and saw him to my left. "She's in training to be the next Overmare. The Overmare we currently have is a bitch, but at least she can be reasonable at times. Lilly's just a bad egg."

I tried not to let my eyes drift to his flank. He was wearing Stable barding now, so I wouldn't be able to see his cutiemark -or lack-there-of- anyway. He looked better, like he'd had a good rest. Maybe it was just the comfortability of being back in a Stable. I can imagine that growing up here could make it difficult to spend time on the outside. "Where's the others?" I asked him

He shook his head. "We can go find them in a minute. They're fine. You need food." He guided me into the cafeteria without letting me respond. But he was probably right, my stomach was churning.

We got food at the counter. It was served by a multi-limbed robot. I almost shot the thing when I saw it. Of course, I'd seen robots before in the wasteland. Simple Sprite-Bots blaring their fun anthems as they bobbed along the wastelands countryside... and then there were Brainbots. Ponies brains shoved in robots that were designed to blast and kill and murder. Sentrybots that blocked doors and tunnels of the old world from entry with a barrage of bullets against those that came too close. Foalbots. Cute little robots that looked like metal foals. They'd once been designed for play, now held deep in the darkest reaches of old mental institutions, their AI having gone crazy in the many years of neglect and their only existing programming was to hunt down the screams of children to silence them with friendly hugs... hugs that cracked spines and crushed skulls.

So you can imagine why I might have yelled and pulled out my gun at the thing.

Futurity's voice had broken through my panicked reaction and his waving hooves distracted me enough to hear sense. "Mr Hoovsies okay! He's okay! He's just a cook!"

"I do apologise, sir, if I startled you." The thick Trottingham accent on the robot was a disconcerting feature.

I was panting again. I wasn't feeling very much in control. I was jumping to conclusions and making an ass of myself. This was not like me. Well, yes, making an ass of myself is EXACTLY like me, but usually I'm at least _intending_to. Here I'm just fucking up.

I put the gun away. "I'm sorry." I closed my eyes and tried to gather myself. I need to make myself calm.

Futurity sighed, his hooves rubbing his temples. "Maybe it wasn't a good idea to let you lot keep your guns." He mused to himself

"So why were we?" I asked as I tried to control myself. Not that I wasn't grateful to have my guns, I'd feel exposed and more vulnerable without them. But honestly, if I was running this place, I'd take the guns. Best to keep the place safe after all.

"Well," Futurity began, "first they tried taking Aero's canons away, that proved difficult, what with the armour. And then they tried taking away Stranger's rifle..." He bit his bottom lip at that.

My brow rose, "pony in the infirmary?"

Futurity shrugged apologetically. "I'm sure he'll recover. Anyway, I vouched for you all and you were given a bit of leeway. Just, try not to bite any triggers."

We grabbed the food and sat down. The food was shit... kinda. It was fresher than most things I've had before, a side of green leaf stuff I think was supposed to be lettuce and a weirdly brown apple. It was tasteless. I did my best not to complain.

Once I was fed I leaned back in my seat and breathed deeply. Okay, so I had a full stomach. That was nice. I had my guns. That was nice too. And I'd been healed up by some nice surgery ponies. All of it is good. Everything's good... Damn it all. Celestia, I felt like killing something.

"Where's the others?" I asked again. This new dynamic was annoying. Out there, I felt a distinct level of control over Futurity. We were helping him, but he was a hairs breadth from being our captive. Inside here, I felt like the captive.

"Big place," Futurity answered with a shrug, "last I knew, Aero was in the armoury getting parts for repairs. Stranger was down in the reactor room soaking up radiation to heal and Sonnet was in the Library."

An armoury would be a good place to visit, but I couldn't go see Stranger yet if he was down in a reactor. But maybe Sonnet if she was in... my brain honed in on the last word. I looked to Futurity and breathed out slowly. "You have a Library?"

Futurity gave me a curious expression. "Yes..." He admitted hesitantly

"Lead the way." I said quickly, standing up from my seat. The others could wait. I made myself calm down. It was just a Library. That's all.

Futurity rose his brow but obeyed. He led me out of the cafeteria as I tried not to vibrate. I've been in a few libraries before, small libraries in a few towns. I'd tried the Ponyville Library once, cleaned that place out of everything that was readable, and then there was the Manehatten Library. I'd gotten close to that, but Manticores blocked me from getting inside. And I'd also love to get into the Canterlot Royal Library but pink cloud prevented that. Most small towns had a library and I'd picked most of them clean. But this was a Stable Library, untouched by the ravages of the wasteland. But, I shouldn't get my hopes up. This was, after all, just a Stable. Sure they'd have more than I was used to seeing, but my home collection was probably better anyway. They probably wouldn't have much variety and I doubt they'd have filled the place before the bombs- HOLY MOTHER OF LUNA...

I stepped through the door to the library and a choir of voices sang out, I swear! The room was as big as the cafeteria but with a ceiling twice as high. The metal floor was covered mostly in a large warm rug, comfy armchairs were present, warm lighting came from above. The furniture was a deep dark wood that seemed varnished and just aching for my hoof to stroke over them slowly, to just feel their smooth firmness. And then there were the books. Those gorgeous shelves that housed volume after volume. Not just a lot... but hundreds. I think I was weeping, was I weeping?

"Tome?" Futurity's voice broke through my fixed watery gaze.

"What? What?" I asked as I wiped my eyes and cleared my throat.

"You just squealed."

"I most certainly did not." I defended, because I could NOT remember squealing... had I? My eyes caught the title of a book. "Is that-?!" I dove for it and pulled it from the shelves. IT WAS IN PRISTINE CONDITION! Not a dog-eared page in sight. I placed it on the nearby table. I then moved down the aisle and saw another I wanted. I pulled that down too and placed it on top of the first one. I then moved on. Oooh, this is a good subject. Ah, this one too. And of course, I can't leave without reading this. And then there was that book, I've actually read that one, but might as well again, my old copy sadly got used for firewood. What a dark day that was. The memory made me pause and shiver.

"Tome-Master-Sir?"

I forgot the books. Her barding was gone and she wore a simple white gown. They'd given her a bath. Her brown mane looked like it had been freshly washed and so did her coat. She was standing beside one of the book aisles and from her stance, her hoof seemed fine now.

"Hey." I said to her. Umm... damn. So... what was I supposed to do here? Hug her and tell her I'm glad she's safe? Spank her for running away and almost getting us killed? Was I allowed to spank her? I think I was allowed to spank her. Then she was against me before I realised what was happening. She was hugging me, and she was crying. Yup, definitely crying. Her face was buried in my leg, her sobs racking her body as she clung to me.

Was she okay? "What's wrong? Are you hurt?" I asked, looking her over as best I could from my angle.

"I thought you were dead!" She screamed at me.

"Oh. And that would be... bad?" Ouch. She'd just hit me. Well... not ouch, of course I could take a punch from a fill-OUCH, stop hitting me!

"You're a FUCKING idiot!" She squealed. Wow, okay, well at least she was using the word in the correct context. She finally went lax against me.

I was silent for a little while as she sniffled into my leg. I had to ask though. "I thought you hated me." She'd had moments where she almost seemed to like me, and then moments where she detested me... I had no idea which one I'd prefer. At least if she hated me, when I failed her, I'd only be living up to her expectations.

She looked up then away. "I... I do. But... Just shut up." She mumbled in a low voice as she turned away. Suddenly she didn't want anything to do with me. She sat in a chair, grabbed a large book and used it to hide her small frame as she tried her best to stop crying.

I grabbed the first book on my quite large pile, sat beside her and opened it. I read beside her. Or at least I tried. I was too aware of her at first, but her sniffles died and the silence stopped being so awkward. Eventually I drank the words on the page. Even as my mind delved into the book, I was still aware of her next to me. Reading. It was... peaceful. I absorbed the words, mulled them over in my head and my imagination spun wildly as it conjured up mental images. I'd read many books, but today was different. I'd never sat in a library like this before, I'd never sat beside a pony with their own book. I'd never sat in content silence and just read a book while enjoying the company of another reader. I glanced to her, her eyes met mine and she looked away hurriedly. I smirked at her petulant attempt to stay upset, she tried her best to keep up her grumpiness and her attempt was valiant. However, a smile began to break through. It felt so bright to me.

I'm not sure how long we sat there. Long enough for me to finish one book and start on the next. This one was about locomotion. I'd learned about these on my tapes. The coal and fuel industries biggest enterprises before the war were trains and the like. I read about the first set of track carriages being pulled by ponies, and how those trains were made and conducted; and as I read the book I found myself smiling. I hated this Stable, but it had given me this moment. Maybe it was just me, maybe the moment was lost on everyone else, but as I slowly turned the page I glanced to Sonnet and smiled to myself. She was reading a book about PipBuck's. An interesting choice. I'd expected her to be reading something fictitious, like the adventures of Daring Do, or the Trials of Mare-Do-Well. But like me she wanted to read facts, she wanted to learn. I think I was starting to feel a kinship with this filly.

"Don't you know about PipBuck's already?" I asked her. After all, she had a PipBuck, and she'd lived in a Stable for most of her life.

She gave me a look. "I wasn't taught everything. I learned plants, not fucking PipBucks." She said.

I sighed, "you don't have to colour every sentence with that word. It's best used sparingly."

Then, as if on cue, Aero burst through the Library door. "Where the fuck have you been?!" Fucking feather-brain. "I've been lookin' everywhere for ya. Oh hi filly, you doin' okay? Why'd you run off like that? You almost got us killed."

Whatever affinity I and Sonnet had built in our companionable reading was buried by Aero's words. Sonnet turned away from him and her eyes bore into the rug below, no longer interested in books or me.

"Aero." I began through gritting my teeth. I was about to chastise him. To tell him he'd went too far. That Sonnet was too sensitive right now to take his shit for what happened at the camp and in the forest. I was about to tell him to go fuck himself. But my words were halted by a gun in my face. Not pointed at me, mind you. It was just shoved under my nose and it seemed in perfect condition. I barely recognised it were it not for the scratched inscription above the handle. I could make out only the first letter of whatever had once been carved there. It began with the letter 'R'. "Why do you have Stranger's rifle?"

"He finally let me have a crack at it." He grinned. "Think he'll like the result?" His grin was cocky; he was just itching to show off his work.

I snatched the gun from him and placed it on the table. I unhitched the latch, pulled open the furniture and checked the barrel, I checked the spring system inside, the magazine and the bolt lock. All had been cleaned, oiled and shined. He'd even replaced some parts on it entirely, the cartridge guide and the spindle valve. This was really good work.

"Where'd you learn to work a gun like this?" I asked. This was a feather-brained idiot; he was a total fuck-up... but this was REALLY good work.

"Duh, first thing we learn up there." He said proudly.

"It is?"

He nodded, "we don't have much in the way of factories up there, we get by on old gear. When the homes you live in and the ships you ride in and the guns you carry are two hundred years old, everypony gotta do their part to keep it in check. Repairin' shits the first thing they teach us. All Pegasus learn it." That made a lot of sense.

"So what can you repair?" I asked. This was the first interesting conversation me and Aero had ever engaged in.

"Oh, pretty much anythin'. I can repair power armour that ain't too badly damaged, I can get Vertibirds to work, I can maintain anything from a small sky-wagon to a Raptor." His grin was infectiously proud. He paused for a moment and put a hoof to his own chin as he thought of an amendment to his boasts. "I can probably do a Raptor better now that I think of it, grew up on one. I mean, I always had problems with the weight calibrations for a Vertibird-" He was trailing off and losing me here.

"Okay, so you have some uses." I concluded. He didn't seem to appreciate my comment.

"Yeah, well," he replied stiffly. "Consider my work a bribe."

"A bribe?"

"For you to get off your ass." He stepped towards me and surprisingly I found myself stepping back. Since when had I ever found feather-brain intimidating? "These past few days have been shit. I have busted my ass for you lot, now you will do right by me. Get what I need from Futurity." He spoke through grit teeth.

I nodded.

"Fine. I'll go grab Stranger, and then we'll go face Futurity." I looked around the Library. Futurity had led me here but I hadn't noticed his departure. "We'll find him after I find Stranger. Has he finished in the Reactor?"

"Yeah, about an hour ago. He met me in the armoury." He gestured with his head. "Come on, I'll take you."

I glanced to Sonnet and shook my head. "Just show me on the map." I asked. I moved to the corner of the room where a map of the stable was taped to a wall beside a notice board. From what I'd seen, there had been one in each room. Aero pointed to a spot on the map. It was down a set of stairs and over a few corridors, but not that far away.

"Keep an eye on Sonnet." I turned to the door but paused and turned back. "And don't talk about the forest and her running away." I turned back to the door, only to turn back again. "And just, don't upset her in general." He nodded as I turned away before I paused again and once more turned back. "And if you even so much as dog-ear a single page, I'll kill you." I turned and stepped into the corridor before I poked my head back into the Library. "Seriously, not. a. page. If I find a book damaged in here, it's your ass. I'll carve up your hide and feed you your own cutiemark." His face turned pale as I left.

The corridors were monochromatic. Grey walls and grey floors with grey ceiling above. The light was white and each pony's coat seemed washed in the glare, even my own coat was desaturated in the light. Though I had to admit, I'd never had such a sheen to my coat. I was practically glowing. They'd washed and conditioned me before and after the surgery. I also felt lighter. It's kinda gross to say that the caked on dirt and blood felt like a part of me, but I felt naked without it. The only saving grace was that they hadn't cleaned my barding. It still stuck to me in places. However, it was in tatters. Several metal plates could be seen through the torn leather. Some of the plates had even been completely ripped from the fabric. Needless to say, I needed a replacement.

Celestia, I probably made it sound like every Wastelander was disgustingly filthy. What I mean is, well, we're never entirely clean. I'm almost never stuck in towns drinking the nights away or hanging my metaphorical hat in a cosy home. I'm something of a hermit in that respect, always on the move and always outside of the city walls. I get my bits by odd jobs and bounty missions, so go figure I get quite dirty. I guess I'm just not used to actually being clean.

I stepped down a set of stairs then down another corridor. Then stopped at an intersection that had a few signs painted on plaques;

'Reactor'

'Maintenance'

'Armoury'

'Security'

I turned down the corridor labelled 'Armoury' and padded to the room with the same label. The door was open.

I'd expected small, and I was right. Outside in Military bases, armouries took up entire warehouses. Guns upon guns, and gear upon gear, the problem was getting past the defences. This was a small room. The first thing that greeted me was a desk, defended by a mesh wall with a slit that allowed weapons to be passed through. It was built like a cage and had a mesh door that allowed the authenticated ponies through. This door, however meant for security it was, had been left wide open. Inside were three ponies, two of them wore the standard Stable 101 barding and were looking very nervously at the third. Stranger. He looked whole and well, I think, I mean, he's wearing bandages, not sure how I'm supposed to know if he's well or not, I usually just took indication from the look in his eye, which at this point was bright and attentive as he looked over a particularly well kept sniper rifle.

"Find something you like?" I asked him as I stepped through the mesh cage.

"Can you ponies stop just walking back here?!" One of the stallions said. He had a beard and a yellow moustache that looked ridiculous against the deep colour of his green coat, but it was surprisingly well groomed. He also looked annoyed. His head dipped as he looked at me, a habit usually reserved for those that were used to wearing spectacles. Which was probably a safe assumption, his left eye was closed and scarred. Maybe he'd had to wear glasses before having the eye taken out.

"The doors open." I countered.

He bristled as he pointed accusingly at Stranger, "that is because _HE_opened the door without permission! Unicorns shouldn't stick their bumps where it ain't welcome."

He wasn't yelling or anything, but he was loud and gruff. He struck me as the sort of pony that had a habit of complaining about anything.

I shrugged then looked to Stranger. "You feeling better?" I asked. The bearded stallion grumbled something underneath his breath about 'outsiders'.

Stranger didn't bother answering me, but his magic moved the sniper rifle he was looking at under my nose. I let out a long appreciative whistle. It was sleek black and chrome. The furniture on it wasn't wooden like most stocks, it was pure... metal maybe? It looked it but felt too light. The Sniper wasn't cumbersome to hold and it had a sling that would allow it to fit securely on a ponies back. It utilised a hoof trigger rather than a mouth one, which might be an improvement. Sniper rifles often had a nasty kick that I'd known to chip a few teeth. The barrel and some parts seemed strange, like they'd been modified to fit the gun, rather than made for it in the first place. Either way, it was extremely clean and looked badass. "This is good, well maintained too."

"Thank you."

I turned to whoever had spoken and finally took notice of the other stallion. Though I suppose 'colt' would be a better description. I mean, he wasn't actually a colt, he was an adult, but young. Younger than me anyway. Kid couldn't have been older than his early twenties, maybe even late teens. He had a blue coat, an orange well styled mane and bright sapphire eyes. He was cute. He had a light one-inch-long scar on his left cheek but it only gave him character.

"You work on this one yourself?" I asked curiously.

"I made it." He grinned proudly, pointing to the butt of the stock where the insignia of make and model should have been stamped on, it had instead been painted over. "I call her Frankenmare, ya know, after Frankenstallion, the-"

"-Yes the book I know," I interrupted, "So she's what, an amalgamation of parts?"

He nodded. "We had an old IF-3 Groningen; yeah, they were prone to jamming but their stock was really buff so I-" He then began to go into detail about all the different guns he'd taken apart, modified, and put together into this final gun that was more powerful and more reliable than any of the others it was made from. "After that I just grabbed the standard guard screws and plate catches and locked in an AES-12's barrel for the rifling." He shrugged with a chuckle as though it were an almost comical thing to say. I didn't get the joke, but Stranger nodded as though it had all made perfect sense. Gun nuts...

I looked over the weapon appreciatively as the older stallion scoffed.

"Twas a waste of parts, boy."

"They didn't work anyway." The younger one defended. He turned back to me. "Besides-" He leaned in close and in a not so subtle whisper said, "they were boring as they were." I couldn't help but chuckle. He may be a tad over-talkative, but I think I liked this kid.

"So how much?" I queried, watching as the boy's expression dropped in shock.

"Oh," he began, looking at his rifle with a longing expression, "ya mean you want to... oh, I dunno. I never thought of sellin' it."

I shrugged and laid the rifle on the table. "Well how's your girl gonna lose her virginity if she don't get to penetrate something fleshy?" I asked lewdly.

The boy's cheeks turned so red that I thought he'd pop. I also noticed his eyes flicker down my body for the fraction of a second. Oh my, was he having thoughts? I gave him an almost seductive grin.

"Get out!" The bearded stallions gruff tone cut through what thoughts I was having. "I don't want no horn-heads in here any longer!" He demanded.

"I'm an Earth Pony." I challenged him, not enjoying his tone as he said 'horn-heads'.

"Outsiders neither. Get!" He all but pushed me and stranger from the armoury. We obeyed and walked out, but I glanced behind me at the boy and gave a wink. I watched him gulp a little, and if my eyes didn't deceive me, there was a certain something poking out from below him. Maybe this Stable had more to offer than I thought.

As we were walking down the corridor back the way I'd come, this time with Stranger by my side, a pony poked his head around the corner ahead of us. "There you are." He sighed with relief. "Please come with me, we need you to wait in the Library, the Overmare will wish to speak to you soon."

I raised my brow, but I shouldn't have been surprised. Outsiders in her Stable, the Overmare probably had questions. One of them being 'how soon could we leave'. Truth be told, I had expected our welcome to have worn out much sooner than this. The freedom they'd given us was quite surprising.

"Have you been treated well?" The stallion asked nervously as he lead us down the corridors. The stallion was yellow with an orange mane and wearing the same Stable barding as everyone else in here.

"We just got kicked out of the Armoury, but no harm done." I commented.

"Oh, I am so sorry," he said, looking both contrite, and fearful. An odd combination. "Spanner is old and grumpy. I will have him spoken to immediately, can't have that sullying our relationship." He said, giving me a bright and hopeful smile while his eyes were practically beginning me not to hurt him.

"Relationship?" I asked curiously, was I missing something here?

"Yes, well. We'll do what we can on our side. I'm sure the Overmare will be able to figure out something for you in terms of trade." He smiled confidently, though the note of anxiety remained in his voice.

"Stop." I said firmly. And he did, he obeyed me instantly and glanced back at me, his eyes wide. His muscles were tight, and he seemed to be trying really hard not to pull himself into a ball. This pony was terrified of me. Was that because I was an outsider? Or something else? "Relationship? Trade?" I asked curiously. "Why do you think we are here?"

I was missing something and I had a feeling that this was why we'd been given such a wide birth and freedom of the Stable.

"T-to... to form an alliance, of course. Futurity said you would trade your services with us, help us... did... did he lie?" This concept seemed to terrify him. He even glanced around to make sure the corridor was empty, or maybe he was hoping that somepony else would actually be around so he wouldn't have to deal with us alone.

So, Futurity had lied to them. But it did make sense. When we were first brought in, he'd need to get us healed. We were unknown quantities to the Overmare. He probably spun a story about an alliance to get us help. And then we were allowed free rein to 'look around' and inspect the place. If we went against this narrative, Futurity would be in the shit, and suddenly we'd find ourselves very unwanted guests in this Stable. The Overmare might simply kick us out, or she could have us killed. If we were kicked out, we couldn't get the information Futurity promised, if they tried to kill us... We couldn't take out a whole Stable easily, lots of ponies would die, maybe even some or all of us. But if we agreed to this, they would have tasks for us, requests for our services that we'd probably be manipulated into holding up. Futurity had used us. He'd forced us into a decision that would benefit him and the Stable. I began to wonder for just how long he had he been planning this. When he'd first woken up after Whitetail Prison? On the way here? Before or after the Raiders attacked? Me and him were going to have words. I don't like being played.

"No." I lied, answering the stallions question. He showed a visible sign of relief, releasing a breath he probably hadn't realised he'd been holding. "I was just wondering how much he'd said." I spoke with a warm smile, but I wasn't sure it was reaching my eyes. I was going to deck that red stallion.

I walked into the Library, the scent of the books instantly improving my mood, and saw Aero sitting sullen in the corner with a bloody nose. Sonnet however, was smiling as she read a book, humming to herself. She seemed chipper.

"Erm... what happened?" Was I going to like the answer?

"He dog-eared a page, so I hit him." Sonnet replied proudly. I was so proud of her right then.

I looked to Aero and he flinched.

"She used her PipBuck." He said quickly, as though it were a defence.

"Hurts, don't it?" I couldn't help but grin. I'd deck him myself for doing that to a book, but if Sonnet got to him before I did, well, best not give him two doses of punishment, because that PipBuck REALLY did hurt. I wonder if being used as a club was in their original design. I wouldn't have put it passed Stable-Tec to do something like that.

Stranger walked past me, used his magic to grab a random book from the shelves before he sat down and started reading. I turned to the stallion that had lead us here. "What now?" I asked.

"Futurity Champron is currently being debriefed by the Overmare." He informed me.

"I thought that happened earlier, I was told he was with the Overmare then."

The stallion shook his head and gave me a kind smile. "That was a lecture and information on you and your friends for this Alliance. This is a debriefing on his mission and voyages into the outside." He glanced at all of us, his eyes lingering on Sonnet and Stranger for a fraction of a second longer than it did on any of others. I noticed the smallest tighten of his jaw. Futurity hadn't been kidding when he said his Stable was prejudice against other races. They probably thought Aero was an Earth Pony since his wings were hidden under his armour. "When the Overmare is ready for you, you will be fetched. Please remain in here."

He then left us alone.

I did the only thing I could think of and grabbed the nearest book. Ooh, it was a book on cybernetics. Probably written by somepony in the Stable. I opened to the first page:

'The father of Stable 101 cybernetics, Weser-Hoof Endleberger, began development in nerve-cybernetic synchronisation in April, 3rdSG. His theorem, which has been expanded on many times by the minds that inherited his work, was that the pony nervous system, could be ran, incorporated and communicated with-'

I let my mind absorb the words.

I have no idea how long I sat there. I didn't know what Stranger or Aero were doing, and as for Sonnet, I assumed she was reading like me. It made me long for the quiet moment we'd shared only an hour or so before.

I'm a fast reader. I finished the entire book within an hour. I'm certain it had only been an hour because there was a handy clock in the corner that told me so. I put the book down and stretched.

"Well," I began, "I'm bored." I got up and glanced at Sonnet. She looked up as I stood. She was leaning forward a little as she held her book, I wondered why before I remembered the bulky collar around her neck, it was probably uncomfortable to lie against.

The door opened and a mare stepped in, it was the nurse that had helped me before. "Oh, hello there." She smiled. "May I borrow Sonnet?" She asked. "I wish to give her a health check-up, being out in the Wasteland can't have been good for her." I nodded and glanced to Sonnet, jerking my head towards the mare. Sonnet nodded and put the book down before following the mare out the door.

"I am going to find out what's going on with Futurity." I announced. Stranger put down his book and moved to follow me. Aero moved to follow as well, but Stranger stopped him. He looked confused, glancing between Stranger and myself.

"Somepony needs to stay in case they come to get us. Just say we got bored and wanted to explore." I shrugged.

"And what am I supposed to do in the meantime?" He asked, his hooves spread wide in an exasperated gesture.

"Try reading a book." I advised with a chuckle as me and Stranger moved down the corridor. I had no idea where the Overmare's office was, but I did know where Security was.

We moved down the corridor, turned left, went down the stairs and found ourselves heading past the Armoury again. At the end of the corridor was a door marked Security. I knocked. Because, of course, I was a polite pony.

"Yes?" Asked the mare that answered. She yawned, not seeming the least bit surprised. Though she'd probably seen me and Stranger approaching through the camera systems. She had a deep cobalt blue coat, and a white mane.

"The debriefing between Futurity and the Overmare. Is it being recorded?" I asked curiously. The mare gave me a lazy nod. "Can we watch it please?" She opened the door wide. Wow, this Stables security was shit.

We were led to one of the nearby monitors, she pressed a few buttons and as the live security footage of the Overmare's office popped up on the screen, she turned her attention back to a different monitor. It was showing... were those moving pictures... that were drawn? I'd heard of the Cinema industry but had never found much about them. I think what she was watching was called a 'cartoon'. She sat with her head in her hooves, looking bored and glum at the screen, paying us no mind. She was kinda cute. I turned to the debriefing and began to listen.

"-you have found nothing that is of value then." The Overmare said, sounding unimpressed. "Red -sorry- Futurity-" She corrected herself, but the sneer on her expression told me the correction had been deliberate. "-you were given this assignment because you asked for it, and because as long as you are out there, you are not in here causing trouble. But now I find you are bringing trouble back with you."

"I told you, they can be great assets." Futurity argued. "Tome, the leader, alone, is extremely smart and capable. His command of the group makes them excellent for completing tasks." How sweet of him.

"Yes," the Overmare began dryly, "I have seen Winters recordings, most impressive how they almost killed you when against you, and almost got you killed when trying to defend you."

Futurity's jaw visible clenched. "The start was a bit... rocky. I'll admit. But I might not have made it back alive without them."

"Why not?" The Overmare challenged. "You've been out there before, and each time you came back safe. Why would this time be any different?"

"Safe?" Futurity seemed boggled by the assumption. "I have almost died every time. This time I was shot at by a Raider ambush and grabbed by Killing Joke. Aero saved me from the Raiders and Tome saved me from the Killing Joke. Aero is a Pegasus, by the way, in case that fact interests you." He spoke bitterly.

"Oh yes, I saw the wings on the recording, most impressive of a Pegasus to shoot some thugs so you didn't die. And who, may I ask, was responsible for the Ghoul breakout at that Prison complex?" Her brow was raised expectantly.

Futurity's eyes narrowed. "Are you saying you don't want their help?"

"No, I don't." The Overmare seemed very firm on this issue.

"But we need it." Futurity pressed.

"Yes we do." The Overmare nodded. Futurity glared at her. "You see, Red Eye-" the moniker seemed to make Futurity flinch, "-I am not selfish like some ponies I know." The words were accusatory. "I do not want their help. Only one is an Earth Pony, and while he seems rational, the others are unknown quantities. And I am not comfortable putting this Stables future in the hooves of Unicorn and Pegasi." Her voice was raised in anger. "However," she calmed, "my personal opinion must take a back-seat. Because we are decidedly out of options. This is why I agreed to let them recuperate here, let them have the run around of our facility; against my better judgement I have done all I can to extend the olive-branch you desire me to. So yes, I will accept this alliance so long as their terms are fair, but..." Her eyes narrowed. "You are responsible for them. Their actions will reflect on you. Do I make myself clear?"

Futurity nodded, his gaze had become a smouldering anger. "Crystal," he grumbled.

"Now," the Overmare said, the tone of the meeting shifting to a more business like one. "Tell me of the chemical composition you extracted from these Ghouls, this 'Pythia' as you called it."

Futurity breathed out and contained his emotions. "I started looking into the development of Ghouls -how they're able to heal themselves through radiation- and came across the Ghouls in Whitetail prison. Because of their advanced regenerative capabilities -much beyond that of the Ghouls residing in the Canterlot ruins- I thought that..." Futurity suddenly went still. "Th-that..." He seemed to be trying his best to continue. He was staring at the Overmare who herself was looking confused.

"Red?" Her brow raised curiously. "Red?" She asked again, this time louder, waving her hoof in front of his face. I could see Futurity's hooves shaking. What was happening? "Futurity?" The Overmare actually seemed concerned.

Futurity finally moved and the Overmare breathed a sigh of relief. "What was that about?" She asked as the red stallion reached lower and pulled out something from his barding. Was that a knife? "Red?" The Overmare's voice was small now at the sight of the blade.

"What the?" I commented, confused at what I was witnessing.

I watched as Futurity's eyes looked down at the blade in his hoof. His eyes were wide. I watched as the other hoof unzipped his barding, showing off his chest and stomach in front of the Overmare. She moved her chair back in an effort to put more distance between them.

"Now Futurity, I'll call security if I have to, what are you doing?" She demanded.

If he were a raider, I'd say he was about to dive on her and rape her, what with undressing and holding a knife. But... he looked terrified. Slowly he brought the blade close to his chest and my eyes widened as pressed the blade into his own flesh. Futurity carved down his own chest diagonally, only to cross it again from the other side.

"What the fuck?!" The Overmare shouted, echoing my own thoughts. Futurity was panting, hyperventilating even. The blade pulled away and blood drooled down his chest. He stared at the blade as one might look down the barrel of a gun, terrified of what was to come next. The blade moved closer to his face. The sickest feeling broiled in the pit of my stomach as I watched.

"What the fuck?" The mare behind us said.

Futurity seem to struggle with himself, his hoof stopped, the blade a few inches from his own face. He said something. A single word. He said it small, like the whimper of a child, "help." Suddenly his head lunged forward. The blade plunged into his left eye and blood erupted over the table.

Futurity screamed.

*** *** ***

He had been in surgery for almost four hours now. I didn't think it would take that long to deal with an eye wound, but they were earth ponies after all. They didn't have the benefit of magic to heal their injured. Though, I didn't know of any unicorn spell that could fix an eye.

We were in what seemed to be a 'waiting room', or as close to one as they had. It was just an adjacent room with a few chairs that weren't very comfortable. Sonnet sat beside me, she was snoozing gently against my side. She'd been animated at first, worried about Futurity and shocked at the news of what had happened to him, but after two hours of waiting she'd dozed off. Stranger was beside me, and Aero sat by his lonesome in front of us.

"Why would he do that to himself?"

"Please stop asking that." I replied softly. He'd been asking the same question in ten minute intervals for the past two hours now.

The answer I'd given him so far, was that I just didn't know. And that was technically right, but I did have my suspicions. In fact, I was almost certain I was right. But I wanted to speak with Futurity first.

The door to the room opened and the nurse mare walked in. I had a feeling they were strapped for staff in the medical department, because she was so far the only medical staff I'd met since waking up in this place. As she walked in, I stood up and approached her, waking Sonnet in the process.

"What's going on?" Sonnet asked as she rubbed her eyes.

The nurse looked from her to me and sighed. "He's stable, and he'll be fine." She said, but she looked worried. "We were unable to save the eye. But as the wound is new, we were able to perform an enhancement."

"A what?" Aero's voice came from behind me, he hadn't yet got up from his seat.

"Oh, we gave him a robotic eye. He'll be able to see through it fine, and even receive PipBuck HUD data of a much more comprehensive nature than a PipBuck usually provides. It can be quiet convenient-"

"Miss," I interjected, her voice trailing off at my interruption. "If this is such an improvement, then why are you giving me the feeling there is bad news with all of this." She looked away from me as she shuffled her hooves. She hopped from one to another momentarily before she sighed.

"I'm afraid, any plans you or he may have had, the fact is... he will never be able to leave the Stable again."

Her words surprisingly affected me. I'd made no such plans, but maybe it was the loss of Futurity's dream or mission that I had at least grown to respect. Either way, I felt saddened by this news. "Why?"

She sighed, "the medication. He'll be needing injections and medication to keep his body from rejecting the cybernetics. He'll need them for the rest of his life. We have the facilities to create what he needs here, the Outside does not. I'm sorry." She looked genuinely contrite. She turned away and headed for the door. "He'll be awake within the hour."

*** *** ***

His hoof moved first, raising up as though to touch something or someone in front of him. He then spoke. "Water." I handed him a cup that had left nearby. Only after drinking a full gulp from the cup did he finally open his eye. Any sign of his trauma was marred by thick bandages, he didn't sport it as well as Stranger did. He looked up at me and smiled a little. "Hey."

"Hey." I answered back, sighing softly, "you okay?"

Futurity shrugged, the soft smile never leaving his face. "Not bad, I mean, I've had worse I think. Can't name anything right now but a knife in the eye? Foals stuff. You get the point. Well, I suppose I got the point." He joked. I chuckled, but not out of any actual humour, it was just to make him feel better. He sighed softly and looked up at me and the mirth vanished. "I couldn't stop myself. I tried... really hard but... I knew what I was doing, what I was going to do, and my body just... did it." He gulped fearfully.

I just nodded. "I know. I was watching on the cameras." I didn't know if I could really say anything that would make much of a difference.

He looked at me, closed his eye and breathed out slowly, visibly working to relax himself. "What happened?"

I had heard his account now. I had planned to ask, but his offering made things easier. I was pretty sure I was right about my theory now. Sure enough to share it. "'Cross my heart, hope not to die, stick a knife into my eye.'" I recited.

His eye opened and he stared at me, and confusion slowly turned to realisation. Realisation turned into hysteria. He laughed. It was a dry and breathless chortle that eventually devolved into giggles. "Killing Joke." He confirmed; I nodded in reply. "Wow. Well that is unfortunate." He breathed out a sigh, as though he were almost relieved. "So was Sonnet hurt then? Because the promise was about that."

I shrugged in response, "not hurt. They took some blood, she said 'ouch' at the needle apparently."

He nodded, sighing again. He was doing that a lot I noticed, usually a sign of depression. "So Killing Joke's joke on me was making me keep my word over a foalish swear." He pulled himself into a sitting position, swung his legs off the bed and began pulling out the IV's and other assorted tubes they'd put into him. Machines beeped as he did this, but he ignored them, heading to the nearby cabinets, a mirror occupying the door of one. "At least she's fine." He said, staring into his reflection.

He seemed generally at ease with everything that had happened, which was unnerving. He wasn't wearing anything, so I got another look at his flank. I hadn't dreamt it; he really did lack a cutiemark. A large burn scar was there. I wanted to ask him about it, but I was hesitant to do so, this was probably not the right time to bring it up.

He was staring at himself in the mirror. His good eye narrowed as he reached up, slowly feeling over the bandaged area. A silence descended in the room as I just watched him. I watched as his indifference turned to anger. His expression smouldering.

"I wasn't born perfect," he said. "Behind my left eye the arteries didn't develop properly, too small. A congenital defect." He was speaking logically now, as he had when I'd first met him. "I was a sensitive foal, late getting my cutiemark and always crying. I used to rub my eyes raw and when I did it to my left eye it would fill with blood due to clots. For a year they called me 'Red Eye'. A stupid foalish tease." So that's where the name came from. "When I got my cutiemark it was worse though." He opened a drawer and pulled out some pens. He picked out a black and a red one. He lifted the black one in his mouth and drew a quipped ellipse on the mirror, the shape of an eye. He then picked up the red one, and drew a large 'P' in the centre. The circle of the P took up the inside of the ellipse and the straight bottom of the 'P' hang down below the ellipse. "I'm a mathematician," he announced, "I created an algorithm. It's called a Predictive Angle. It's a mathematical formula, that, when numerical values are placed into both input points, can predict patterns in future numerical values associated with it. I designed it and got a cutiemark in it." He looked it over, his expression becoming bitter. "I should have chosen better colours. Because when everypony saw it, they just thought it looked like an eye." His voice was almost venomous now, anger boiling beneath the surface. "A 'red eye'." His hoof lashed out and smashed the glass of the mirror. I jumped at the sudden crash. "The name stuck after that." He turned to me and grabbed the bandages and began unravelling them. They fell to the floor in a bloody pile. He looked at me. His red coat contrasted against his jet black mane, his good eye that usually shone with a radiant blue now felt steely and cold to me. And his other eye... metal covered his brow, small blinking lights here and there, and there in the socket was an orb, metal, menacing, and glowing a dangerous red. "Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony."

Footnote: Level Up.

New Perk: Horseshoe's and Rabbits Feet- You are one lucky S.O.B! Your friends are there in the nick of time! +5 to Luck during combat against more than ten opponents.

_ _

_ _

(Authors Note: FINALLY!!!! Sorry about the wait. It's no one's fault. Between military duty, irl drama and everything, my editor, and even myself, have been very much incapable of getting this done anytime sooner. But I thank you all for your patience and I sincerely hope you've enjoyed this latest chapter. I look forward to the reviews, they make this all worth it!

Comment and subscribe. J)