Chapter 9-

The Wasteland

“I don’t want to set the world on fire...”

Ponies have always tried to come up with reasons to justify the wasteland in their heads, and make up excuses for what it is. Although the general consensus as of late seemed to be: Wasteland bad. Civilization good.

I’d always wondered, especially after coming to Dodge City, what it meant to me back then. Ponies would always tell me about what an awful hell the wasteland was, and then became extremely confused when I didn’t fully agree with them. More often than not, I was always too busy trying to pick fights with random ponies to think about dumb philosophical things like the great question. “Why do we exist? Who cares? I just want to kick that raider’s ass for fun!”

That night I had the same dream that I often did, but it was marked with a burning desire for what was to come.

Following a long night of I don’t know what, Hotshot agreed to meet me back in the saloon later where we could convene for strategy. It was best to carry on as if we didn’t know each other. That way, Jagged Knife wouldn’t find out he was in the city and we’d still have the element of surprise. Hopefully, Brandy wouldn’t make a fuss about him staying in my room. I still didn’t fully trust him and barely knew anything about him, but those were little details I could sort out later.

The Ironclad Firearms factory loomed over the rest of Dodge City, like a giant black wartime edifice dressed up with cheery propaganda posters.

I learned that Dodge City originally came from a Stable’s population, made up of war-time government officials and high-profile businessponies. No doubt many were interested in the technology, alas, the stable had been stripped for parts a long time ago. All that was left now was an empty hole out in the middle of the desert. Their descendants settled in Dodge and used that technology to start a life for themselves in the wasteland, but it was controlled by the Dodge City Gang now and sought after by ever wasteland scumbag this side of the San Palomino.

A pair of ponies in dusters and cowpony boots led me through the steel double doors of the Ironclad Firearms structure and onto the factory floor. Almost immediately, an exciting orchestral piece began blaring across all the loudspeakers over the lower level.

Who made the guns that won the West?

Yippe ka yay!~ it's Ironclad!

Steps up to the test and beats the rest?

Yippe ka yay!~ It's Ironclad!

One of my escorts, a red coated stallion, grumbled to himself in annoyance, “Ugh...sorry, this damned song’s rigged to play whenever we open the doors. We can’t do nothing about it.”

Donning a rugged set of burgandy leather armor over my normal jacket, with a recently acquired pair of aviators and an old cowpony hat I found laying around, I had my mane tied back into a ponytail, all figuring it’d make me harder to recognize. I was trying to pull off the rugged mercenary look. Based on other ponies’ reactions, the disguise seemed to be a success.

I went into the gunstore prior to coming here, but everything was too expensive. I got into an argument with Brass Casing, the owner, over his ridiculous prices. Then I got myself kicked out when I threatened to punch his face. I was joking. How was I supposed to know I still had to pay bottlecaps? So I was stuck with this same service rifle for the time being. Thankfully the ammunition for it was plentiful, albeit pricey, and I did manage to fit it with some upgraded springs at least. I also worked on Jack’s battle saddle to be more loose with a wider range of motion, since I liked to move around in combat.

As I followed closely behind them, I was silently trying to recite and remember all of Fair Trade’s rules for when I met with the mayor face-to-face.

The music echoed throughout the building as I climbed up the metallic stairs that led to the factory overseer’s office. Each step made a clang and the whole metal structure squealed, but it seemed to support our weight just fine otherwise. As I looked down at the ammo presses, belt assemblies and heavy ordinance scattered over the factory, it came as no surprise to me that not even some Steel Rangers might think twice to screw with the Dodge City Gang. I’d rarely seen weapons that big before. None of them the Enclave weapons I had been looking for since I came to Dodge City though, which left me further wondering.

“Yeehaw partner! I'm Cherry Jubilee, owner and CEO of the premier weapons manufacturer this side of the San Palomino Desert and all over Equestria! All us ponies are doing our part to fight the war, but we can't fight the zebras without some BIG firepower. That's where we come in! We've got the biggest rootiest tootinest shootinest guns around! So make sure you purchase all your civil defense needs from Ironclad Firearms, at your local firearms dealership! Help support our troops!”

Defenses like automated turrets complimented the armed pony guards, hanging from the lofty ceiling. I imagined them trained on me as I took steps across the metal catwalk over to the mayor’s office. It was a long drop to the factory floor below.

I was looking all over for any hints of Enclave weapons, but there were none. Not even guard ponies were using them. “Am I even in the right place?” I asked myself.

“Mayor Mare will see you now. She’s just this way.” the stallion leading the way gestured at the metal door ahead.

“That’s Ironclad Firearms! We ain't sellin' Cherry Shooters here!” the speakers boomed.

The chorus repeated as they led me to the steel door, opened it, and ushered me to go inside. As they shut the door behind me I heard a muffled, “And don't forget! Guns are also useful around the home!”, leaving me standing alone in the office with a dusty-rose colored older mare with a peach colored mane. She was dressed from head to hoof in fine clothing, a white blouse dress and jacket with boots and a white hat. The mare didn’t say anything to me, not even a hello. Instead she sat dully going over paperwork.

The factory overseers office had a window that overlooked the factory floor, which was hard at work producing ammo as she sat at an antique desk going through paperwork. It felt nice and upscale in comparison to everything else I’d seen of Dodge City. Framed pearl-handled revolvers, and weapons sat inside display cases in her office. Framed portraits and newspaper clippings of that same mare from the Lucky Sevens club decorated the room, except now I could see her more clearly. A greying mare with a beehive manedo and beauty-mark below her eye. Most of the photographs displayed her making deals and having meetings with prominent figures back during the war that destroyed Equestria, including with Applejack the Ministry Mare of the Ministry of Technology. This pony must’ve been quite the shrewd businessmare back in the day.

A cybernetically-enhanced Griffon was standing in the corner of the room. He had a mechanical right arm that ended in sharp vice-grip talons and prosthetic left eye. He didn’t say a word as I entered, but I could feel his cyber-eye following me.

I waited in silence, unsure if she even noticed I was standing in the room with her.

I could hear the faint whirring sound of the griffon’s cyber eye zooming in and out, and looked over to see him studying me. I felt like I had to resist fidgeting, even though I was beginning to grow stir-crazy. Like how still I could make myself stand was going to make or break my chances here.

After what felt like too long, much longer than I was comfortable with, my hooves began to itch from standing in a single place, but I continued to stand at attention. I was beginning to feel like she was almost intentionally ignoring me.

“Are you supposed to be the new hire?” The mayor finally asked, breaking the silence.

“Yes, ma’am!” I answered hastily.

She mumbled something in acknowledgement, not even looking up from the magazine she was reading. The mare lazily turning the page of the pre-war pornography magazine as she multitasked on her paperwork, barely giving me a second glance.

Outside I heard hoofsteps echoing up the metal walkway. They approached the door then stopped, and I could hear muttering about being unable to find something outside. Then the door slowly pushed open, and I barely even breathed as I watched the stallion take a step through the doorway. The black-plumed griffon stared over at the figure entering the room.

Taking slow easy steps, he made his way over to the wall to hang his coat up. I followed his faded snake-green hooves up to his coat and caught a flash of his icy blue eyes as he walked straight past me. He was a middle-aged unicorn stallion with parts of his dark-blue mane greying and a white mohawk stripe running through the middle of it; his goatee was of similar coloration.

The mayor looked up from her paperwork and greeted him, “Ah, Jagged. There ya are, ya slimey piece of bloatsprite spit. Where’d you get off to this time?”

This was him. Jagged Knife. The pony I’d been searching for. I swallowed, feeling something burning down my throat.

“Sorry, Miss Mayor. I was gone a bit longer than I expected. Sorting out some business n’ all.”

I tried to find it in myself to breathe as he took off his coat, which was a tattered old rust-colored jacket with a pony skull and a knife sewn onto the shoulder, and then hung it on it the wall-hanger. He spoke as he dusted himself off carelessly.

“Business, huh? Hope you enjoyed your little vacation, because while you were out n’ about, I’ve been up to my ears dealing with the Merc’s Union, and Gawdyna Grimfeathers is up my ass in negotiations! You’ve got one job! I need you here to help keep the other gangs in the city in check, until I can get my hooves on everything I need in order for my plans to move forward. Also why the hell are you wearing that old jacket? Didn’t I already tell you to never wear that trash in front of me again?!”

He bowed his head, delivering a half-hearted apology as he removed the jacket from the coat hanger and hid it from sight. “Aw gee, I’m real sorry Miss Mayor… Don’t be mad. Must’ve slipped my mind is all. I’ve just had it for such a long time, y’know? Brings back memories of the good old days. The history of it n’ all-”

“Burn it.” she demanded callously, cutting him off mid-sentence.

“Right... Of course. I’ll get right on that...” He nodded, stuffing it away. I watched him completely floored by the way he was acting. Was this seriously the Jagged Knife? The raider boss I’d been tracking halfway across the wasteland?! The pony, whom I’d been searching this entire time, was finally within my grasp... but he seemed like a total pushover! I didn’t know whether to be angry or feel pity for the poor bastard.

The mayor continued obliviously with her impromptu rant, “That little brat might spoil everything I’ve been working towards! By the way, I think that Peregrine feller could be getting close. Figure out a way to deal with it. Just make sure it look like an accident, like one of the townsfolk did it. Shouldn’t be too hard. They all hate New Canterlot anyways."

Inside my head, I was appalled at listening to them so casually discussing their assassination plans, but tried to appear unfazed. They had no reason to doubt me. I felt like a fly on the wall of the office, still debating to myself on whether or not warning the old bird about this was the best move for me right now.

“Sure thing Miss Mayor, I’ll get right on that… although I did manage to bring you back something special for your troubles.” he said while at the same time changing into a button up dress-shirt.

She grunted, slumping sideways. “Great, what is it?”

He draped a fancy black-duster over himself and then began to search for something else in one of his inner coat pockets. “This old audio log I picked up,” Jagged put the old recording on her desk in front of her, “from the lost audio logs from the late Radar the Dashite.”

She lit up and a diabolical grin crossed over her face. “Now that is what I’d call interesting… Why thank you Jagged deary. I knew I could count on you.”

“That’s why I’m here, Rubi. I know what you like.”

I nearly stopped breathing when I heard that name. As she pressed the button on the recording and I heard a hoof knocking on a door, then a familiar grandfatherly voice spoke through the holotape. “Luneshine?” I recognized that voice. My heart rose in my chest and I felt something gripping at my ribcage.

“Luneshine, is the doctor in today?” he asked.

“Ah. Radar... I wasn’t expecting to see you back again so soon.” came an older mare’s voice, dripping with false sincerity and concern. Although, she sounded as though she had been caught offguard. “Especially, not in your ‘condition’...” she finished flatly.

I felt something trigger in me immediately, as my heartbeat began to rise rapidly, it felt like it was beating out of my chest. My breathing became shallower making it harder to even swallow air. I tried to hide it, but I felt helpless like a small filly.

“Should I trust that your research is going well?”

She didn’t respond at first. “You made your disinterest known last time, but you should remember that my work is important to entire wasteland, Radar.”

“Yeah, that’s the problem. Anyways, enough with the pleasantries.”

The mare sighed to herself, “I supposed it’d be too much to hope for, that you’d finally come around to my way of thinking…”

“Not a chance, Luneshine. You and I need to have a little chat, darling. You know full well why I’m here. I flew here from Friendship City as soon as I heard.” He sounded furious about something. Much angrier than I remembered. “I know about everything!”

“Radar?!” I blurted out as soon as I heard his voice, and then immediately swallowed my tongue as I came to my senses. Suddenly everyone else went silent and I had every eye in the room looking at me.

The Mayor promptly paused the audio tape and squinted at me with suspicion. She stood up at her desk, looking straight at me. “What was that mare?” she asked. “You know something about Radar?!”

Realizing what I had just said I came to focus on the mare staring fixedly at me with ever-increasing suspicion. “Shit.” I thought. The longer I stayed silent, the worse I was making it for myself. Taking a glimpse between the others, Jagged’s ice cold eyes laid upon me now, showing me his killer. They were completely different than they were moments ago. He hadn’t paid me much notice prior, but now he was measuring me up for all I was worth. The griffon was watching me carefully as well from the corner of the room, his cyber-eye focusing on my every move. They were all waiting to see how I’d respond. “Damn me and my stupid, dumb mouth...”

“You look like you got something to say, mare,” the mayor demanded. “So spit it out!”

Uh, oh, I was in deep shit. “I dunno... I heard he was famous or something once...?” I answered hesitantly, trying to sound as clueless as possible.

That seemed to satisfy them, thankfully. The mayor appeared somewhat relieved by my answer, and the tense atmosphere in the office lifted as they all lowered their guards. “Phew… don’t scare me like that you damn fool!”

“Sorry. M-my mistake…” I apologized. I had dodged the bullet, thankfully.

All except for Jagged, who said, “Heh, you should be careful about who you mention that name around, kiddo. Even so much as breathing that name in the wrong company is a good way to get yourself killed.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I said, taking the advice to heart and breathing easy again.

“No worries. Simply chalk it up to inexperience.” he seemed to reassure me as though it were no big deal, although the fact that he was curiously eyeing me now seemed to suggest otherwise. I didn’t relax though. Not even a little. It felt like I might have caught a glimpse of the real Jagged Knife right then.

I cursed myself internally, “Dammit, I had to go and make things more complicated.” I wished that I had the power to read minds so that I could know what he was thinking about me. Remembering everything that this particular pony had put me through though, made me feel the rage beginning to build under my skin. If they hadn’t taken Sunny, nothing would’ve stopped me from killing him here and now.

After my little outburst, I kept my eyes focused ahead on the mayor, but I couldn’t be sure if I caught him staring back at me every now and then. My instinct was telling me that we both knew something. The occasional quick glance and a brief locking of eyes confirmed it.

Swooning back in her antique chair, the dusty-rose colored mare put a hoof to her breast. “Now Radar, ‘he’ was a stallion!” she pined. “Celestia-almighty, I wish he could’ve put a baby in me back when I was still a young mare, and my baby-maker was still ticking like normal… Or even that Red Eye feller, Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Handsome himself! Oh, what a charmer that pony was!” she squealed like a schoolfilly.

Griping to herself as she rose from her seat, she let out a small sigh, taking distinguished hoofstrides towards me. “Anyways, time to give you the once over.” the older mare grumbled. She paused in front of me, before tossing my hat and sunglasses off and undoing my manetie. Then she held my chin up in her hoof, so that we were forced to make eye-contact, and began turning my face from side-to-side, examining my every feature. “Those are real nice… red like rubies. I like em… Gamble sure knows how to pick em,” she admired. Then she circled around me, and briefly examined my flank and hindquarters (taking special interest in my cutiemark too)!

Finally finishing her ‘inspection’, she demanded, “Get yourself a haircut mare, all cleaned up and looking real nice. See my mane-stylist as soon as you get the chance. Your mama wants you looking pretty as a peach, deary!” the mayor released me after giving me a small peck on the cheek and smiled like a dear old mother.

“Y-Yes, ma’am.” I promised, while the other two chuckled to themselves.

“Jagged?” she called over to the stallion, who raised his head. “You’ve got some work to do, I imagine? Figure out a use for her.”

Glancing down at my hooves then back up at my face, he nodded. “Follow me, kid.” he gestured, pushing open the door to the office with his telekinesis. I followed him with caution.

He intentionally walked out the main set of double doors instead of the clearly marked side-exit, causing the song to play throughout the factory again as we both left. I kept following behind him.

I was feeling a knot in my throat as I followed along silently without so much as a word between us. Until finally we were out of earshot of the others.

As I set one hoof in front of the other, I continued to watch him and wonder about this pony. I smelled a snake. This was the pony I’d been looking for. For now, just had to lay low and wait for the right moment. We both stopped for some unknown reason, and he turned to face me.

His ice cold eyes were upon me now, sizing me up from head to hoof as I glared back wordlessly. I had a few guesses as to what he was thinking, and I clenched my jaw in anger. Waiting, I guessed which of us would be the first to speak.

With a wave of his hoof he began muttering some nonsense, “So maybe talk to the railroad forepony, whatever-his-name was, run around and clear out a few salamander nests with that rifle of yours or whatever. The rail line is how most ponies come into town so the mayor will get awfully cross if it goes out of commission. I’ll see you later.” He dismissed me, and continued strolling away towards some unknown destination he likely had in mind. He had given me what sounded like a job apparently, and sent me on my way.

“So this was just grunt work.” I realized, somewhat irritated. Perhaps I had imagined all of that back in the mayor’s office. I wasn’t done yet though, so I continued to follow behind him towards whatever unknown destination. As I did so, I began to grow bolder, but right as I was about to say something, he spoke first.

“I see you’re still following.” he noted.

“Yeah, I’ve got some questions.” I replied.

Jagged Knife didn’t say anything at first either, with only the sound of hoofsteps in the dirt and the hustle and bustle of Dodge City in the background. “So how do you know the old horse?” he asked me out of the blue.

I almost stopped trotting. “Wh-?” I began.

He cut me off before I could even formulate a proper sentence. “Radar,” he affirmed with a short glance back at me. “I saw the look you gave when I spoke his name. Did you really ‘just hear’ about him, or did you know him personally?”

Not sure if going down this line of questioning was the best idea or not, I replied hesitantly. “He’s someone I met a long time ago. Mostly heard stories growing up. Never really knew him.” Then I added in an attempt at sounding distant, “Heard he died recently.”

“I see. That’s… interesting.” he mumbled to himself, keeping his eyes forward as he walked.

“What’s it to you?” I asked him.

“Well you could say I have a bit of history with that old pegasus. Enemies might be a little generous, but we weren’t friends.”

Letting out a small sigh of relief, I speculated if perhaps his gang hadn’t told him anything yet. Maybe he still didn’t know. Nothing was in the clear though, until I knew for sure that Sunny Hymn was safe.

“Kids these days are too quick to worship any newcomer in the wastes that does a few good deeds… Suddenly, they’re calling them the “Lightbringer.” he mentioned her name with a slight hint of contempt. I couldn’t tell if he was staring over at one of the towers in the distance.

“Well, she did bring the sun back and beat the Enclave.” I shrugged.

“I guess she did...” he muttered in seeming-contempt, also appearing to glare up at the singular SPP tower overlooking Dodge as he said it. It was difficult to tell if he was playing mind games, but it was getting annoying. Jagged let out a wistful sigh “Radar the Dashite was always a cut above the rest. At least in my humble opinion.”

“What do you know about him?” I asked.

“You don’t look like one of Rubi’s usual hires. Been going around asking some questions about me, haven’t you?”

My heart skipped a beat. “What are you on about...?” I asked, trying to keep up the act.

He smirked, grinning like a devil. “You might’ve managed to slip by Rubi with those eyes of yours, but not me.” My heart felt like it might’ve almost stopped beating, save the odd palpitation to remind me that I was alive. Then a wicked smile stretched wider his face and he replied, “Normal ponies don’t have eyes like yours… You’re the little filly who botched that job and cost Sting his left eye.”

Fuck. This had gone from bad to fucked-up-beyond-all-reason in a matter of moments. The question hanging around the back of my head was asking ‘what happens now?’... I dropped the facade as well, shooting a red hot glare at the old raider and his stupid facial hair. “So what if I am? It wasn’t my fault that those jerk-off assholes targeted the wrong courier.”

“There they are...” he laughed in amusement. “That fire in your eyes... So was it revenge you’re after? Are you here to kill me?” I felt my blood boiling just looking at him.

“You know why.” I growled. “You’d better give me what I came here for, unless you want me to rip that dumb goatee off your face.”

“I see… In that case, how about we wait until high noon and duke it out with pistols like in the old cowboy stories? Or maybe we can fight to the death, mono-a-mono, as though we were back in the wasteland. That strike your fancy? You kill me, save the town, and all the ponies worship you like a hero? About what you had in mind?” he suggested. Then he gave a slight smirk and started chuckling to himself. He laughed louder, but he had said it with a face so straight I almost couldn’t tell that he was joking. “Most ponies wouldn’t come straight out and confront me like that. You’ve got spunk, kid.” Then Jagged let out another chuckle to himself and kept walking.

I blinked twice as I watched him pace away from me. “Huh?” I was totally unprepared for that. After regaining my composure once again, I quickly followed after. “Hey, wait!” I called from behind, “Shouldn’t you be a little pissed off? You took Sting’s eye over it.”

“Suppose, he should’ve done the job right then. If I didn't stab a pony every now and again, others might start to think I’ve gone soft.” He said. "Look, no hard feelings, kiddo." Not at all the answer I was expecting, either. I sure wished that I could afford to be so cavalier about things.

Screwing my face in annoyance, I pressed further for answers, “How about you? I’ve heard a lot of rumors about how you’re supposed to be some sorta badass raider warlord. Aren’t you supposed to be the Jagged Knife? So far, I can’t say I’m all that impressed.”

“Maybe not all of the rumors are true... but I don’t pretend to be anything I’m not. It doesn’t matter anyways, I’m retired now.” he said, the news coming as something of a shock to me.

“Retired? So that fancy geddup isn't just for show?” I asked, pointing to his suit. Although, I found his claims doubtful for obvious reasons.

Jagged chuckled to himself in amusement. “This is what ponies like you and I have to look forward to.” he answered, sounding cynical as he gestured around the slum of the city. Beggars, thieves, and junkies in the streets were huffing down what looked like Cloud Kiss and other chems in the darkened alleyways. The sight of some old beggar mare sitting on her own made me feel a bit down. “We were all better off living in the wasteland, if you ask me.”

A lot of what he was saying was going over my head. Words like ‘retired’ and ‘future’ didn’t generally cross my vocabulary, nor did they linger there too often. Weren’t most ponies supposed to want to live in peace and harmony as opposed to a megaspell-blasted apocalyptic hellscape, Gawd or no? “I have to admit, you weren’t exactly what I was expecting,” I said.

“And what were you expecting?” he asked, maybe out of amusement.

“I dunno, somepony more vicious and…. generally sorta ‘raidery’?” I shrugged in confusion. “I heard that you had a run-in with the Stable Dweller not too long ago. So from everything I heard about you, I came here expecting to find a cold-blooded killer, not some old pony acting like a whipped dog in front of the Mayor.”

“Would you feel a little better if I flayed a pony alive and decorated a small shack with their internal organs?” he joked. “Things were a lot simpler back then. Only the strong survived. If you were weak in that world, then your sentence was to die and become sustenance for the strong. It was the one truth of the wasteland you could rely on. Alas, times they are changing. This new world is all about power. You don’t know what you’re fighting for half the time.”

I wasn’t one for discussions on philosophy, let alone with an alleged former raider boss. “Never thought I’d hear a pony getting nostalgic for the wasteland,” I scoffed, “but I think we both know that’s not true. You can drop the whole retired old grandpa raider schtick.”

“No idea what you’re on about darling.” he replied dismissively. “Like I said, I am retired.”

There was no way he was retired. Just no way. “That’s brahmin shit and you know it.”

Changing the subject on me, he asked “So why go through all the trouble of trying to track me down?”

For a moment, I hesitated. “What do you mean?” I asked.

The old pony raised a questioning eyebrow at me, “C’mon, you roll into town, join up with the Dodge City Gang, getting immediately hired on Gamble’s recommendation. You aren’t looking for revenge? How stupid do you take me for? Only a pony who’s really got their sights dead set on something would pull off a crazy feat like that... So now that you have me in front of you, be a dear and tell me what you want.”

I paused in my own mind. If he was asking that, then maybe really didn’t know why I was. Apparently, he still didn’t know about Sunny Hymn. That was a relief, but I was becoming more and more confused by the minute. Contorting my face in anger, I shot back, “That’s what I want to know!”

That seemed to catch his attention a little. He came up to me, stopping so that we were standing face to face as other ponies walked around us, completely ignorant of our conversation. “Nope. It’s no joke, kid.” he stated, “I’m really retiring. I plan to finally hang up my raider colors and live the rest of my years out peacefully.”

I scoffed.

“Believe me or don’t. That’s your prerogative.” Then he wheeled around and kept walking again. I followed. “Now don’t you have a job to do?”

Dammit, I was expecting that to work. Was he putting on an act or something? Nothing was making sense anymore. Either way, I was beginning to get annoyed.

“What kind of joke is this?” I demanded, but no response. There was a voice in the back of my head that was unsure if telling him my true intentions was the best idea, but there was another echo in there too that kept telling me otherwise. “Sometimes you have to take a gamble…” it repeated. “The Enclave.” I said loudly, and that grabbed his attention again. “Those Enclave weapons and whatever that doohicky was that you showed Professor Mercury Switch. Where does a raider get their hooves on that type of high-end weaponry?”

Jagged Knife stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned his head, walking up so that he was practically breathing on me. “What are you talking about? Mercury Switch is dead.”

“Nope. Still alive and kicking, last I checked. He told me everything he knew.” I assured confidently. “I have to admit, giving those weapons to Papa Bighoof was a stroke of genius. You have everyone completely fooled.”

He huffed, shaking his head to himself. “Alright, so before we go further,” he said, “I want to know what you aim to get out of our little relationship?”

“Those things are way too advanced to be standard issue, and if Professor Mercury Switch didn’t make them, then I wanna know who did.”

The old raider licked the scar above his lip and smacked his lips in curiosity, attempting to get a read on this mare who had just shown up out of nowhere with these accusations. “What makes you so interested in the weapons in particular? If it’s not payback for the caravan raids or whatever you think I’m planning in your head? What are you really after? Did the N.C.R. put you up to this?”

I smirked in confidence, “Nopony worth noting. I’m just your average wasteland mare looking for some weapons. Tell me what I want to know and we both go our separate ways.”

He chuckled again, “That’s one hell of an odd reason to track me across the wasteland, kid.”

“Ponies are dying. That’s all the reason I need.” I replied.

“Thought you’d come here and play hero, did you? The wasteland doesn’t work like that anymore, kid.” Before I could even speak though, he had already turned and was walking away again at a spurred pace. I followed after him.

“Are the Enclave remnants still out there? If they are, I need to know about it.”

“Not here,” he said. “Go tell the head of the Merc’s Union that I’m rescheduling our meeting to a couple days from today. He’ll probably get right pissed off at you. After you’ve finished that, meet me up at Cherry Hill Ranch. Then we’ll talk.” I watched him as he took his leave towards wherever he was going, and made an unflattering face behind his back.

“Courier work again? Great…” I scowled to myself. After he was out of earshot, I finally let out a breath I had been holding in. “Bastard...” I muttered.

Making my way over to the trainyard, I reminded myself, “It’s for Sunny Hymn,” I repeated in my head. The thought of getting her back motivating me to get through this task as expediently as possible.

Their headquarters was located in the middle of the railyard, surrounded by mercs and a fortress of derelict train cars. A makeshift stairwell led up to a particularly fancy first-class sleeper car that served as the office to Boss Haggard, the head of the Merc’s Union in Dodge City. Made slightly less threatening by the fact that they were all unarmed, but I was feeling an itch in the back of my neck reminding me to keep alert around them.

“How tough could the Merc’s Union be?” I asked aloud.

Pony mercenaries stood guard at the door, but let me through as soon as they found out I was on official business. “One coming in, boss,” the stallion said. Past them, the inside of the train car was carpeted and sparsed with old world decor, and a thin layer of smoke hung around the roof of the car. A table with an old pony sitting behind it at its center. An assortment of oxygen canisters, healing potions and a load of medical talismans were laid out in a secluded corner.

Then I heard a ragged old voice from the pony sitting at the center of the room. “You ain’t Jagged Knife, youngin’. Who are you?”

Boss Haggard was a skeleton of an old earth stallion who both looked and sounded like he smoked twelve cigars a day with a toad-like rasp and he was flanked by two of the roughest hired muscle he could muster on either side. The old pony shifted back and forth in his chair constantly as though trying to stave off back pain and muscle aches. One of the his attendants must’ve doubled as a nurse.

“Name’s Roulette.” I deadpanned. It had been a while since I’d dealt with mercenaries proper, but I learned from the best so I was no stranger to how they operated. “Jagged sent me to inform you that he’s moved your meeting to two days from now.”

He shouted, cursing as he threw his cigar on the ground, “That no-good sonovabitch! Where does he get off, disrespecting the Merc’s Union like that?!”

“Search me,” I shrugged. “That was it, so I’ll be going.” I said, but as I turned towards the door to leave, another large pony stood in my way. The cock of a pistol rung behind my ear and Boss Boss Haggard chuckled course laughter. “You don’t think you can trot on in here after telling me that, and then get out scott-free, do ya?”

I glared back at the old pony who was lighting up another cigar, and answered, unintimidated by the old pony and his goons. “Pretty much, that’s exactly what I was thinking.”

He rasped and blew a puff of smoke in the air. “You must a new hire, so let’s have a little chat. I’ll tell you how things work around here.”

I waited impatiently to hear him out, barely-so-much-as cocking an eyebrow. “We’re the Mercenary’s Union, and we represent ponies’ interests to work contracts in this region.” he rasped. “We get paid for our work and we do what we’re paid for.”

That mantra the old pony spoke caught my ears, and something clicked in my brain. “Hold up, I’ve heard that line before.” I said.

“Is that so?” he inquired, smoke pouring from his lungs and out the roof of his mouth.

“Yeah, it was one of the things this old pony I knew was always telling me back in the day. His name was Fair Trade.”

The old pony growled and he clutched his heart in anger and one of his aids went to bring him over an oxygen canister. Haggard put his hoof up to let them know he was alright before coughing and speaking to me again. “We’ve been around since those damn griffs came to Equestria during the Mercenary Wars of ‘72! Comparatively smaller and slightly less impressive compared to some recent events.... But we formed in order to protect Equestrian born business interests from being driven out by the griffons. In fact the only thing we hate more than griffons, is the Enclave! For driving them here in the first place!” he shouted, pounding his desk on the word ‘Enclave’. “Fair Trade used to be one of us, before he went and threw in his lot with that bitch Gawdyna. Damn traitor is what he was. So how about you?”

“I’m a free agent.” I scoffed. “What does it matter if I knew him or not?”

“Wrong answer.” he laughed in between coughs, and then he took another soothing puff from his cigar. “Between Miss Mayor and New Canterlot, our interests see to it that lone guns don’t last long around here.”

“What do you want from me then?” I demanded.

“What would say you to becoming an informant on behalf of the Merc’s Union? I want to know what Rubi and Jagged are up to. I need ears on what she’s negotiating with New Canterlot. There’d be a nice cut in it for you.”

I scoffed. “I’d tell you to suck on brahmin shit, because I don’t roll that way.”

The old stallion laughed aloud like gravel, stifling coughing. “You must be new to Dodge City then, because that’s not how things work here. You don’t want to make enemies with the Merc’s Union kid, I promise you that.”

“I’ll take my chances.” I said, turning to stare down the barrel of the gun pointing at me. I nonchalantly pushed it out of my face and continued out the door, giving the death glare to one of the guard ponies standing outside which caused him to flinch backwards. I could still hear the old stallion’s coughing as the train car drew further away.

I was in more of a hurry now than before, subtly increasing my gait speed as I made my way up to Cherry Hill Ranch. I had to resist my urge to run up there. Trotting down mainstreet, I passed by the saloon again where Hotshot was waiting for me. I groaned, imagining him racking up a huge tab for me. As I passed it I peeked inside, but I stopped and growled as I caught a glimpse of another familiar set of brown wings. I immediately turned and marched towards the saloon.

I barged my way through the double doors, seeing the same familiar sights as last time, and I saw the mohawked pegasus sitting at the end of the bar. Then my eyes immediately fell upon the griffon with a big crowd gathered around her to watch her chug an entire jug of moonshine, all cheering collectively when she finished the last drop and finally came up for air. Brandishing her massive revolver openly, she held little to no regard for Dodge City ordinance. I groaned in annoyance.

Hawkins slammed the jug down on the table after having gone through the entire thing and spat at the bartender. “Bring me another.” The brown plumed griffon demanded. Hotshot hid himself, attempting not to be noticed as he inconspicuously leaned away in the opposite direction and and ducked down in his seat. He quickly saw me approaching and drew a sigh of relief.

Cursing under my breath as I walked up to her, I snarled, pushing my way through and slammed my hoof on the counter next to her. “What the hell are you doing here? I’m busy!”

“Oh there you are...” she spat, wearing a tiresome scowl on her face as she turned her head to look at me. “And ain’t you a shit sight for sore eyes?” she scoffed. “Do you have any idea how hard it was for me track your sorry ass down Dirt Muncher?”

The crowd around her quickly dispersed, reading the tone of our conversation. “Tell me what you want and then get the fuck out of here,” I demanded. “and quit calling me a ‘dirt muncher’, unless you want to go for round two, cunt.”

“Real friendly of you Dirt Muncher. Are you just puffing out your chest to look tough?” Hawkins spat back sarcastically. “I’m on official N.C.R. business actually.” It had only been a day or two. I was surprised that she managed to find me so fast. I guess she wasn’t joking about keeping tabs on me from now on.

“You sure about doing this here in the open?” I questioned, gesturing at the other patrons. “Someone might be listening. Pretty amateur-ish if you ask me, Skyranger.”

“Relax, I’ve already ran background checks on all the regulars. The only pony I don’t recognize is that mohawked-boy sitting suspiciously over there in the corner. Besides, this won’t take long and everyone here is too drunk off their asses to give a shit. ”

“Don’t worry, he’s with me.” I huffed, staring vacantly at the pegasus. Hawkins glanced in his direction as well, and he seemed to get the impression we were talking about him.

The griffon turned back to me slowly, sounding rather grim and with a hint of humorlessness in her voice. “Well I’ve got some bad news for you, Colonel Peregrine didn’t actually have the authority to hire you under N.C.R. contract on this “mission” of yours. The brass found out about your little deal, so I’m taking over this investigation. Henceforth, turn over all the details you’ve gathered in relation to this Jagged Knife character over to me, and you’re gonna get back on that train and go back to New Canterlot to answer some questions. ”

“Wait what?!” I challenged, almost shouting. It was infuriating to me that they would try and involve themselves again in my business and claim it as their own. “Like hell! I’ve been yapping my brains out about this guy for the last two days, and only now does New Canterlot start to give a shit?!”

She spoke through her teeth glaring angrily towards the wall, as though out of embarrassment. “I went to give my report to the top brass. Everything was going good until I name dropped that Jagged Knife asshole you mentioned, then all of a sudden things were flying at me from every direction, and I was ordered to track you down immediately and find out what you knew about him. I had to spend the last day-and-a-damned-half looking for your sorry flank!”

Then I felt something odd that I’d barely had any of over the last few days. Satisfaction. An enormous smirk stretched across my face, feeling overly smug at finally being vindicated. “Sorry, I dunno if I heard that right. Could you repeat that again?”

“Fuck off! I don’t have all day. For the record, I blame you for all of this.”

“Oh no you don’t! This is my investigation! When I warned you all about this guy, you told me to fuck off. Now you think you can come crawling back and tell me what to do? I don’t think so.”

“You don’t know when to stop butting into N.C.R. business, do you?”

“They took Sunny, so this is just as much my business as it is yours.” I squinted, leaning in close to her so she could hear me perfectly clear. “And I’ll have you know, since I’m not ‘technically’ with New Canterlot I can do whatever-the-hell I want to.” I added, making air-quotes with my hooves.

“Maybe start off by telling me what you were talking about with Airworthy. Knowingly conversing with a wanted fugitive? That’s reason enough to bring you in.” she threatened.

I screwed my face at her. “We didn’t discuss anything interesting,” I insisted. “You’re already damn well aware of what happened, bitch, so I dare you to try and make me.”

She didn’t appear at all satisfied by my non-answer, but sat back and seemed to accept it anyways. Hawkins muttered to herself in annoyance, “The old bird folded pretty quickly, but he did warn me that I’d likely have to deal with you on my own. Dunno why I’m surprised, I bet you just can’t help that annoying personality of yours. I’m sure he planned it that way.”

“Gee, you sure sound disappointed.”

“I could think of better horses to bet on... Needless to say, you’ve drawn the eye of those at the top. They want to find out what Jagged knows and then bring him in, and I expect you to fully cooperate.” She rest her massive Talon revolver on the bar to make her point clear. Kingfisher revolvers were a griffon design that chambered huge .45-70 rounds. I remembered vividly how effective they were on the night of the raid.

Scoffing, I told her what I knew. How I had overheard a conversation between Jagged and the mayor, in her office. “She was mostly shouting at Jagged over how incompetent he was, but they discussed a few things like assassinating Colonel Peregrine.”

“Noted.”

“She also was pretty interested in an old audio-log from Radar the Dashite, and some other stuff. I wasn’t paying too close attention to her.”

Hawkins perked up at hearing that name. “Radar? What about him?” she asked.

I cocked an eyebrow at her, “Nothing of interest.” I replied. “Anyways, I confronted Jagged Knife about the weapons when we were alone, but I didn’t get anything useful out of him. That’s it. I’m still investigating. The weapons are my only lead so far. I’ve got a meeting with him up at Cherry Hill Ranch in a short bit.”

She laughed out loud, “Wow, Grade A detective work there.”

I went red in the face in anger. It didn’t take me very long to remember my intense dislike for her, but I shrugged it off with a huff. “Apparently he’s saying that he’s retired now,” I informed her.

Hawkins stopped and blinked twice. “‘Retired’? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” she nearly shouted.

I scoffed back and replied, “His words, not mine.” Then I looked at her, trying to reassure myself. “I mean, clearly he’s up to something.”

She spat indignantly. “Of course! That’s a load of horseshit. You can’t just kill and murder a bunch of innocent ponies and then suddenly decide you’re gonna sit down someplace cozy and live in peaceful retirement! It doesn’t work like that!”

Honestly, I didn’t buy it either. After everything he’d supposedly put me through up until now, that he’d just give up and lay down his gun? It was way too hard to swallow.

“The guy’s bad news. Obviously.” I agreed. Then I paused as a stray thought crossed my mind, reminding me how most of us left alive after Sunshine and Rainbows running things since had lived in the wasteland as well. “Wait... does it work like that?” I questioned. Hawkins fished around in her head trying to search for a good response but couldn’t give me any reason that felt particularly satisfying.

She took a swig of ‘thinking-juice’ out of frustration and beat her chest. “I’ve got orders, so that’s all the justification I need. Ponies like Jagged Knife don’t just ‘retire’. It’s not in their nature to change. All it is, is a matter of time until they go back to their old ways.”

“Says who?”

“Says experience. That’s the way it is now.” she replied. Her response, I found bothered me quite a bit for some reason. It seemed like a rather bleak outlook to me, that ponies who couldn’t grow out of the wasteland were all eventually to be disposed of in her eyes. “Must be nice to always have orders to fall back on. You don’t have to worry about owning up to your mistakes.” I said.

“Contract is all that matters. The top brass wants him, so I’m gonna deliver. Even considering everything that happened in the wasteland, if he’s still organizing raids on caravans and making trouble for the N.C.R. then that’s good enough for me.” Hawkins seemed sure of herself. That part I agreed with, so at least we had an understanding in that regard. Admittedly, It seemed like a moral quandary that I wasn’t terribly eager to go down myself for the moment.

Jagged was my enemy. That much I could both be sure of. All I needed was to keep on the task at hoof, until I could figure out what he was up to.

“Honestly, I’m starting to get a little curious about why you want him.” I eyed the brown griffon with squinting suspicion. “By-the-by, you didn’t mention before that New Canterlot was also in the market for Enclave tech.”

“That’s classified.” she answered annoyingly.

“You know something that you ain’t saying, birdbrain?” I pressed raising my voice slightly.

“Classified.” she repeated.

I blew a puff of air out of my mouth in irritation. “Can’t you tell me anything useful?”

“That’s classified too.”

“Arrgh!!” I shouted out, beginning to grow increasingly frustrated. “So you don’t have anything useful then? Whatever. If you won’t tell me, I’ll just get my answers straight from Jagged.”

“Look, dumbass. I’m trying to look out for you. There are things going on back in N.C.R. that are way above your paygrade. Things that I’m not allowed to talk about. So you’re gonna have to trust me and take my word for it if you don’t want to end up at in a jail cell. This is stuff that could spell big trouble for the both of us.”

I snarled back. “That’s what you call help? All you ever do is get in my way and act like a huge bitch!”

She rolled her eyes showing her teeth, “You’re always galloping headlong in danger, acting like a reckless moron! It’s a miracle that you’re not dead already.”

“I can take care of myself just fine!” I countered. “Besides, aren’t you only here because you didn’t take me seriously to begin with?” I reminded her, and as expected I received no answers. “Yeah, I thought so. So was that everything lil’ miss Skyranger?” I was beginning to grow accustomed to being given the run-around by everyone, blowing a puff of air out the side of my mouth, I relented. “Fine, be that way... I’ll do it without your help. So tell me, what’s all this N.C.R. nonsense about?” I asked her trying to hide my own embarrassment at not knowing.

Hawkins snorted in response. “Tch, that’s what they’re calling it now. The ‘New Canterlot Republic’. Pretty impressive name, right? Gawd made a big speech about it over the radio a few days ago.” she sounded almost proud saying it.

“‘Republic’, huh…?” I grunted. “Sounds dumb.”

The griffon stood up in offense, “It’s not dumb!” she shot back. “And why don’t you pay attention to anything?!”

“That’s because nobody ever tells me anything!” I complained, standing up too.

She puffed indignantly, “It’s not anyone’s job to tell you!”

Unsurprisingly, we were back at each other’s throats again. Hotshot appeared between us, forcing us apart. “Ladies, please!” he interrupted, having finally grown tired of listening to the two of us bicker. “I preferred it when there was just one of you.”

“Don’t compare me to her!” Hawkins and I both objected simultaneously. We turned back to look at each other in mutual discontent.

Hawkins glared at him as he sat between the two of us and she took a seat beside him. “Finally decided to join us then, mohawk-boy?” she huffed.

“Call me Hotshot, sister.” he said, introducing himself. The pegasus grinned trying to act mysterious, as he leaned closer to her against the bar, “I guess you could say I’m a random street grifter-”

“Lemme guess, are you Enclave?” the talon guessed immediately, causing him to choke and start coughing uncontrollably. She wore a deadpan expression, looking unimpressed. “I could tell by your posture and how you were sitting over in the corner of the room. Also how you kept eyeing me despite having plenty of other eye candy in the room to gawk at. To be honest, you seem like the sort who’d fuck anything that moves.” she leaned into a cocky smirk. “So who did you get on the wrong side of in order to end up in Dodge City?”

“Dammit, was I really that obvious...?” he fussed, “and it’s ‘Ex-Enclave’,” he corrected. Hotshot tilted his head backward and sighed in defeat. Deciding to come clean, he told us his story. “Somehow I ended up in the remnants,” he said, “ I didn’t really know what was going on most of the time, and I felt like a machine. Even now the memory is still fuzzy. Something caused me to finally open my eyes as to what was going on, and I deserted not soon after, right as the Enclave Wars were reaching their climax. Obviously, I couldn’t turn to New Canterlot for help, so I ended up here. I drank and gambled my way into debt. The Dodge City Gang found out I was former Enclave and blackmailed me with it. Jagged offered to wipe the slate clean if I did one job for him, and I was dumb enough to take him up on that offer. Not really the most ideal of circumstances.”

“Sounds like you’ve had better days.” I snorted.

“Ain’t that the truth?” He casually grabbed Hawkins’ jug of moonshine and bummed a swig of it, before she greedily snatched it back.

Cocking an eyebrow, “‘Somehow’?” she asked, sounding skeptical. “You don’t just ‘somehow’ end up with the remnants. Weren’t good enough for the dashite mark, were you?” she took on a mocking tone. At least it wasn’t only me who found his story a little off. Then taking a shot in the dark, she asked him, “So if you’re wrapped up in all this, do you have any idea what he’s planning? Anything about the state of the Enclave?”

“Are you trying to get a confession out of me?” he jeered, squinting suspiciously.

She blew a puff of air, “No. I’m just making conversation, dumbass. Ya never know, it could help your case.” Hawkins made a shrug and went back to sipping on her alcohol only to scowl at realizing he had drunk the last of it.

The pegasus rolled his eyes and shook his head. “All the usual channels went dead months ago. Sorry, I’m as much in the dark as you are.”

I watched the pegasus, still not fully trusting him at his word. He told me his story and had agreed to help me, but something about him, including the fact he was former Enclave still didn’t sit right with me. Not to mention there was still a whole lot I didn’t know about him.

Hawkins groaned, “Why am I not surprised? You’re just as useless as the dirt-muncher.”

Sadly, the pegasus didn’t quite take too kindly to her repartee. “Gee, you don’t pull any punches do you?” he admitted. “But at least I didn’t make a mistake of overlooking obvious details, resulting in me having to foalsit some crazy action mare out on the ass-end of the desert.” He gave a sly smirk to which Hawkins ruffled her feathers angrily.

“Don’t think I’ve ever met an Enclaver whose special talent is coming in second place,” she snapped back.

“Can we please get back to business?” I made an exasperated plea, “I’ve got somewhere to be already.”

Brandy came back with another jug of moonshine for the griffon, which Hawkins picked up immediately. “She said that she was a friend of yours and to put it on your tab.” Brandy groused. Then the mare contorted her face in disgust upon noticing me wearing the colors of the Dodge City Gang. “If I knew you were just going to join up with the mayor, I wouldn’t have treated you so nice yesterday.”

I reassured her, “Don’t worry. This isn’t a permanent thing.”

“Good to know. And how exactly do you plan to pay for all this?”

“I’ll cover it,” I promised.

“You’d better...” she warned and trotted off, making a backhoofed comment about being forced to serve N.C.R. in her own bar.

After chugging several big gulps, Hawkins puffed to stave off the liquid burn, beating her chest in elation. “Good stuff! If nothing else, you ponies sure know how to make great liquor!” she cheered, then she set it down on the counter next to her rolling her eyes back over to me. “So are you going then?”

“Yeah,” I grunted. “I’m going.”

“So you’re heading up to Cherry Hill Ranch now? I was there once before. The place is built up like a fortress. Your best chance at finding your friend would be up at the big mansion, if you manage to get inside. If not there are a few other places she could be.”

I nodded along. “I’ll figure it out, thanks.”

“Do you still have my stealthbuck mk II? We could team up and use it to sneak in and run some reconnaissance? You shouldn’t go alone without backup.”

“Nah, it got stolen.”

“You’re kidding…” his face sunk, “Do you have any idea how hard those things are to come by?”

“No.” I answered disinterestedly. Hotshot appeared hesitant as though something else were on his mind. I looked at the pegasus impatiently and waited. “Yeah, what?” I urged him.

Following along a line of logic in his own head, Hotshot told me something I really didn’t want to hear. “You mentioned before how your friend came here with the raiders and then got here in less than a day. Then after that, she was immediately hired up by the mayor, all taking place before you got here. Can we trust her?”

I was offended by the mere implication, like he had just smacked me across the face. My face contorted into a scowl, “She’s a friend. That’s it.” I informed him, taking on a forceful tone and stamped my hoof.

“Are you sure about that?” Hawkins asked. “She is you-know-who’s daughter, y’know… I know it hurts to think about, but you can’t completely rule out the possibility-”

“Don’t you dare!” I snarled, pointing my hoof at her, cutting her off before she coulld finish.

Hawkins was the absolute last person I wanted to hear that from. “Sunny isn’t like that.” I insisted, “End of story!” I pounded the bar so hard with my hoof it almost caused the jug of moonshine to spill over and they went quiet. Some of the other usual patrons looked up from their card game and had turned to look at me. There was a long awkward silence between us, until I finally raised from my seat, and began to pace towards the double doors of the saloon. “We’ll pick this up later...” I mumbled.

She took on a grave tone as I stood up and began to walk away. “Careful,” she warned, her voice lacking any hint of sarcasm. “I’m not gonna watch your back forever.” I couldn’t tell if that was a veiled threat, but I didn’t bother glaring back at her. “Where the hell are you going? Do you expect me to just sit on my ass here with this joker?” she asked jabbing her talon in Hotshot’s direction. The usual card players looked up from their game to see what was going on and watched me as I paced up to the double doors of the saloon.

“Do whatever.” I replied, and she went back to drowning herself in the bottle.

“Hey, wait!” Hotshot put up his hoof to try and stop me from leaving. I groaned internally, rolling my eyes as I briefly turned to look at him. “What do you want us to do?” he asked, the doors open.

“Stay here and keep a low profile. I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone, but I’ll try to be back here in a few hours. Try to stomach her as best you can. I’m sure you’ll both hate each other...” I muttered under my breath. It was probably best to do it on my own anyways. Less ponies to get in my way in that case. So much for strategizing.

As I paced away from the saloon, I left him standing in the center of the floor while Hawkins continued to drown herself in liquor out of boredom.

Brandy called after me as I pushed my way out through and walked outside, “Hey mare! If your friends are staying in your room, I’m charging you double!”

Part of me wanted to take off galloping, as I was unable to help escape the thought now that I had a ticking clock hanging above my head. As soon as I got up there, I’d slip away and search for Sunny at the first opportunity. I grit my teeth in anger. “If even one hair of her’s is out of place, I’ll shoot up this whole Luna damned ranch!” I promised the imaginary pony inside my head.

I shook the unwanted doubts lingering in my mind. “No, there has to be a reason.” I also still owed her an apology. I had an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach and gulped at the thought. Killing raiders was simple, but dealing with my fucked up emotions? Taking on the entire Dodge City Gang single-hoofedly sounded easier.

Metal barricades and barbed wire surrounded the whole estate as I trotted up to the old timey sign that read “Cherry Hill Ranch” at the front gate. It was written in ruby red cursive font, situated between two sniper towers where two ponies with rocket launchers kept their weapons trained on me, and a makeshift heavily armed guard barracks sat at the rear of the entrance. Perhaps the decision to not go in guns blazing was the right call for once. Ponies here were armed to the teeth and then some.

A pony in a black duster stopped me. “Oh, you must be the new hire. I heard somepony would be coming up,” he drawled, signalling to the others that I was okay to pass. “Jagged said to show you around the estate.”

“Yeah, thanks. That’s alright, I can show myself around.”

“The boss insists...” he said, implying that it wasn’t a request. Under his clothing I managed to glimpse a tattoo of Jagged’s mark on his neck beneath his shirt collar.

Seeing as I had no choice, I followed behind the dustered pony for an expedited tour of the estate, and I immediately found myself being brutally assaulted by the color green while being led past the front gate, seeing fields of grass and pink cherry trees scattered everywhere over the property. The orchard was accompanied by high-tech irrigation systems and radiation purging talismans. Similar systems existed inside of some stables, but I’d never seen a setup like this before. Especially outdoors.

The dustered pony led me up the path to the big mansion on the hill, but we first passed through a small village, with bunk houses and a general store for the property arranged in a circle. A closed barn that looked like it was formerly a cherry sorting and shipping plant sat just behind it. Now it was anyone’s guess what they were using it for.

As I dragged my hooves through the villa, I could see a lot of unsavory-looking ponies. Ponies with missing eyes. Ears. A scar above the eyebrow. One curious detail I noticed was how a lot of the ponies with scars had them on the same side of their face, on the right. I was starting to question to myself who was really running the show around here.

It didn’t matter whether or not I was technically with the Dodge City Gang. Here I was the newcomer, and I stood on a razor’s edge.

I felt my blood start to simmer as I spotted another familiar unwelcome face. Sting again. He spotted me come into the villa and grinned annoyingly. “Shit.” I didn’t say anything at first, choosing to follow along and act like nothing was wrong, but then he began following behind us.

“Hey, who’s the fresh blood?” he mock-questioned the pony leading me, clearly aware of who I was. I clenched my jaw in anger, trying to play it cool.

“This is Rubi’s new hire. Gamble said she had an impressive record as a mercenary and proper work ethic. The mayor took his word for it.” replied the pony in the brown duster, barely paying any attention to the effeminate raider stallion.

Sting snickered, “Is that so? Nice to meetcha, girly.” His laugh was grating that I had to make a concerted effort to not want to punch him in the face. To be fair, I wanted to do that anyways.

“Blow it out your ass. Don’t you have somewhere to be?” I asked getting agitated. It was exceedingly difficult to both search for traces of Sunny Hymn and possible Enclave weaponry on the side, while also ignoring his snide remarks.

“Why all the hostility? Not too friendly of you,” he admonished, making mock-offense. The other pony walked ahead.

“Tell me where?” I snarled in a low voice so that only Sting could hear.

“Oh she’s here. She might not be too happy to see you though… Funny, your friend was actually a huge help to us. I was totally floored by what a competent operator she was. She managed to convince a sky carriage to take us to Dodge City all on her own and everything. You might’ve beaten us getting here if not for her.”

“Shut up.” I muttered. Despite not wanting to, I couldn’t not acknowledge that there was at least a tiny possibility that what they were saying made some small modicum of sense, but I shoved that thought to the back of my head where I smothered it to death.

“That mare of yours makes you look like a total amateur by comparison, Girly. If you came here thinking you could take on Jagged by yourself then you’re even dumber than I initially took you for. What’s the matter? Struck a nerve?”

I didn’t say anything, instead shooting him back a cold glare that startled him into silence.

“Pfft, you’re no fun.” he spat and trotted off. The less I had to hear his annoying voice the better, far as I was concerned.

At the top of the hill I had a moment to look around the estate. The trail led back to town and I could see Dodge City below, sprawling across the desert. I also spied an old fashioned structure sitting on the northwest end of the property. It was out of the way and hidden in an orchard, making it immediately suspicious to me. “Could that be where they were keeping the Enclave weapons?” I made a mental note to myself, wondering if anything interesting was sitting inside.

Inside the mansion felt like it still existed in the back-when-times, trying to evoke an appearance of class and status for the owner, but to a pony like me it just came across as pretentious. Apparently, it belonged to that same wartime businessmare who had all the pictures taken of her in the mayor’s office. Due to the bad-blood between the Ministry Mare and her biggest competitor, Ironclad Firearms ended up being awarded a majority of the military contracts during the war. She ended up using that capital to put Dodge City on the map and wanted to turn it into the next Fillydelphia, sort of like the current mayor was trying to do now.

They led me into the foyer and up a grand flight of stairs. There were so many doors and creaky hallways, a directionally-challenged pony could easily get lost in this place. My eyes darted between slightly cracked doors, trying to peek inside inconspicuously for any traces of Sunny. Many of the rooms were empty, remaining untouched since the war. Now it belonged to the mayor and the Dodge City Gang.

The pony in the duster led me down a long hallway, at the end of which was a door which ushered me through. It was a dark room with shut blinds, that doubled as a home office for work. Filled to the brim with old antiques and other photos much the same as the mayor’s office The door locked behind me.

Jagged was staring out the window at the singular SPP tower overlooking Dodge. He immediately noticed me as I came through the door, and he flashed his plasma gun. Similar in design to the other enclave weapons I had seen before. I took a headcount of the ponies in the room besides me. There were four of them in total. I was confident I could take that many on my own, but the weapons put me a little on edge.

“Why all the secrecy?” I snarked.

“Sometimes it’s hard to know who you can trust.” Jagged replied stoically.

Muttering in response, “I can relate.” I replied.

That big white pony with the eyepatch and playing cards for a cutie-mark was standing in the room with us, along with another pair of dustered ponies guarding the door, although now he was wearing a buttoned vest and bowler hat. I couldn’t say that the new outfit suited him, but whatever. We made eye contact, both well aware of why I was here. As I glanced between them, I made a few quick calculations on the best order to take them out in and a possible escape route for if things went south. I had about a dozen questions waiting for him in the back of my head, but I was here for Jagged Knife, first and foremost.

“Sorry, we’ve not been properly introduced,” the eyepatched pony tipped his bowler hat. “It’s Three-Card Monte, ” his deep voice rumbled, “Don’t worry about happened before, you’re still in good company here.” He seemed to be subtly implying that Sunny was alright, for the time being. At least that was the message I took from him.

I scoffed and shot him a dirty look. “Yeah. No hard feelings...” I snarled.

“So you have something against the Enclave too then, Red?” Jagged Knife asked, making small-talk at me. “It’s okay, most of us surface dwellers carry similar sentiments.” The other ponies nodded silently in affirmation.

“Let’s get on with this.” I groaned, not interested in sharing stories. “Whatever you’re planning, I want in.”

“How about we start with a name. Your ‘real’ name.”

“Roulette,” I answered looking off to the side, and Jagged mock-bowed his head in response.

“Jagged Knife. Now that we’re properly acquainted,” he replied, glancing over his shoulder at the SPP tower outside. “You want in on the plan? I need ponies who I can trust.”

I scoffed. “What’s the matter, you and mayor Rubi aren’t seeing eye to eye?”

Jagged sneered and gave a slight chuckle. “Something like that… but I need to know who you are first. What the hell do you want? Who are you?”

One of his ponies tapped Jagged’s shoulder, then leaned in close and whispered to him, “Dunno if you were already aware, Boss, but I saw Hotshot is back in town. Figured I’d let you know.”

He nodded and replied, glancing between the stallion beside him and myself. “Huh, figured he’d have flown half-way ‘cross Equestria by now. Thanks for letting me know, Hoosegow.”

Just then, something in the office caught my attention as my eyes were drifting between the photographs of the pre-war businessmare. It was an inconspicuous photo hidden among the portraits, looking completely unassuming. I looked closer. Standing next to Cherry Jubilee was that one turquoise pegasus mare I had seen in the memory. She was dressed like a government official and they were both standing together in front of Dodge City like they had made some sort of historic deal. Who the hell was she?

Jagged’s voice drew my attention again. “So, onto business...” he said. “I have something you want, but you have nothing to offer me in return.” He frowned, briefly losing his composure. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t just kill you where you stand, kiddo.”

I smirked, cracking my neck sideways “Guess what? I’m easily worth twenty of your guys. So you’re gonna need a lot more than four of you to put me down.” I warned, glaring back at the ponies hovering for their guns. “You needed strong ponies on your side, right? All I care about is the Enclave, so if you give me that then we can work together, no issue. But I guess, I could always go to the N.C.R. if you’re not interested?”

He wore a devilish grin, clearly liking that answer. The aging raider stallion smacked his lips.

“How about this then? You run a job for me. Something we can build on. When the time is right, I’ll tell you everything I know about the Enclave, and you can do whatever you like with that information. Sound fair?”

I hesitated briefly, thinking it over. “How do I trust you’ll hold up your end?”

“You came all this way just to back out now?” he questioned. “What if I did you one better though? If I told you that the Enclave remnants were still out there hiding? And I could give you a lead on their whereabouts. I’ll even tell you all about Radar while I’m at it. I guarantee you, it’s more than the N.C.R. would ever be willing to offer. All you need to do is help me on one job. Deal?”

“I’m thinking!” I replied as he waited impatiently .

“Y’know as bad as you make me out to be, Rubi would be far worse for the Wasteland in the long term. All that matters to her is bottlecaps. The corruption in Dodge City flows from her, to the gangs, down into the streets and out into the wastes.”

I rolled my eyes in disbelief. “Oh right, you’re a real philanthropist.” Scoffing, “So you’re worried about your ‘retirement plan’?” I asked.

“I’m just one lil’ ole raider. Rubi is the queen of Dodge City. I had my reasons for attacking those caravans, but those attacks still benefited Rubi most of all with what she’s been planning. I’m a scumbag, I won’t lie about that, but even raiders have standards.”

““Former-scumbag” you mean, right?” I corrected, cocking an eyebrow.

A sly grin stretched across the aging raider stallion’s face, showing me the killer in his eyes, and he gave a slight nod. “Exactly.”

I glanced at the white pony with the eyepatch and clenched my jaw. Then my eyes flicked back to Jagged Knife. “I heard that the mayor hired a new caretaker a couple days ago. Is she one of yours?” I asked.

“No.” he answered. “Nice girl, but she doesn’t run in our circle. Not like you or I, but she’s got her uses.”

So Jagged Knife really didn’t have any idea about Sunny. “So why the hell am I here then?” I thought, my eyes narrowing at Three-Card.

“Okay, how the hell do you know about the Enclave?” I demanded “Do you have some hidden connections with the remnants? Tell me.” Although it was much to my frustration, when his only reply was a devilish grin and a worrisome glint in his eye.

“Not so fast, kiddo. You still need to take the test,” he said.

“What was that job from before?” I protested.

“That was the test to take the test.”

“Of course it was…” I deadpanned. Clearing my throat, I asked him, “Alright then, what job do you need done ‘boss’?”

“There’s a popular hangout for ghouls and mutants, located right outside of town in an irradiated mineshaft. They call it, “The Rot”. I need you to retrieve a package of mine. Talk to a ghoul named Fester and find out what he did with it. Do this for me, and I’ll consider letting you in on the plan. Sound good?.”

The offer was tempting, but sounded like an easy potential setup for a trap. I still didn’t trust this pony as far as I could throw him. He could see me hesitating too.

Growing steadily more impatient, the old raider pony watched me almost unblinking. “Prove that you can handle yourself, I’ve got no use for you otherwise.” he said.

“You don’t need to worry about me. I can handle anything you can throw at me.” I insisted. “A package, huh? Sounds simple enough. Fine”

A sly toothy grin stretched across his lips as soon as he heard my answer. “That’s what I wanted to hear. One of the boys will take you there, you handle the rest.”

“Uh, hey, could I get a better gun in that case?” I asked. “IF-15 service rifles are fine at taking down normal ponies and wasteland scumfucks, but it might help me out a little if you let me use something bigger.”

He laughed under his breath in amusement. “You said you could handle anything, didn’t you?” So much for that. You couldn’t blame a pony for trying though. I nodded and one of the ponies standing guard at the door unlocked it and let me through, allowing me to leave on my own.

Grumbling to myself as I walked the strange hallways of Cherry Hill Estate, I was having a hard time finding my way around. “If only I could get to the stairs again.” Just then, a familiar tone caught my ear and I stopped. My ears perked up. I knew that voice. “Sunny?!” I blurted out, looking all around.

It wasn’t immediately obvious where the voice was coming from, but I rushed towards the source of the noise. Nobody else was around down either of the hallways. Looking both ways to check if it was clear, I tried the door, jiggling the handle. It was unlocked. Slowly, I pushed open the door and slipped inside. There I found what looked like a small playroom with toys and bright colored wallpaper, with clouds and sunshine painted on it. Inside was an apple-green filly silently staring up at me. She had an auburn mane tied into a single braid and no cutie mark.

“Uh, hey kid. Did you happen to catch a pegasus in here? She’s got a blonde mane like sunshine and a pretty seafoam coat...”

Her eyes kept on me in silence, not saying a single word. I looked down at her and could see she looked scared. She shrunk back as I approached her.

I sighed and smiled, crouching down next to her so we were nearly eye level. I reached my hoof out to the little filly. “Don’t be scared kid, everything’s alright. I’m friendly, I promise.”

For a moment she looked at my outstretched hoof, and then up at me. She slowly raised her foreleg and stretched it towards me, then without warning punted me right in the shin. The filly stuck her tongue out at me in contempt. “Nyeeh.”

“Ow! Luna, you little- !”

She scrambled out of the room screaming and galloping as fast as her little legs could carry her. I spun around after her but then I came face to face with a familiar seafoam pegasus mare looking frantic and apologetic.

“Roulette!” Sunny blabbered, trying to calm me down. “Oh my goodness, I am so sorry about that! I promise that Accolade didn’t mean it, please don’t be mad at her!”

I stared back at the pegasus mare bafflingly as though her comments felt unwarranted, “Um… I’m not angry? She looked like she...-uh, nevermind.” She seemed more than a little surprised by that response.

I slowly began to realize who I was looking at. “Sunny, is that you...?” I asked hesitantly, and she nodded with a cozy smile on her face. “Am I dreaming?” I asked myself, poking her to make sure it was real.

“Ow! Yes, it’s me.” she chided. It was the same old Sunny.

I wasn’t sure what I should say, but before she could do or say anything else I pulled her close into a big hug. “I’m sorry about what I said before… I screwed up bigtime.” I wasn’t good with these sorts of things. Swallowing a lump in my throat, the words that came out of my mouth felt all screwy and unfamiliar, but I felt her hesitant caress around my shoulders.

“It’s okay. Really…Alright, cramping.” she pained, and attempted to push me away awkwardly.

I released her and then hung my head, trying to figure out the right words. The mare blinked expectantly. Apologizing was hard. That must’ve been why I avoided it all the time. “What I said before… I didn’t want to lose anyone else, so I pushed you away. Then all that other stuff happened, I got caught up in the craziness, and I thought-” I paused, as though something were caught in my throat. “I thought I was going to lose you too.”

“Oh. That’s alright,” Sunny said.

I gave the mare a funny look. “Alright?” I repeated. “Are you alright?” I asked in bewilderment.

“Yeah.” she nodded. “I mean, we both kind of got caught up in things.” Something felt off. She was acting strange and this was going a little too well. I glanced around to make sure it was just us.

Then I put a hoof on her shoulder and huffed awkwardly, “Okay, we need to have a serious talk about your dad.” I said, trying to lighten the mood a little.

“Huh, about Daddy? Okay, what about him?” she just looked confused. I was afraid of that... She was probably fooled by his dear old dad routine too.

“Okay, I dunno how to tell you this, but he drugged you out cold and got into a standoff with the soldiers.,” I answered. “He called me a wingless freak, Sunny.”

She gave me a baffled look like I was talking nonsense. “Nuh-uh, Daddy isn’t like that,” she insisted, like she was the one speaking reason here. “Don’t worry, the only reason he got the drop on me was because I was unprepared. I won’t let it happen again.” Then the seafoam pegasus shook her head and brushed my hoof away, “Wait. No. What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to save you… duh.”

“No. I mean okay, but we’ve only known each other for like a day! Why did you follow me?!” I tilted my head. She went red with frustration, “I’m on my own now. I have to make these calls for myself!”

I shrugged, “I mean, we’re friends still. Right?”

Her sunny disposition turned cloudy, and her eyes fell off to the side silently. ““You said we weren’t friends anymore… After you didn’t get what you wanted, you told me to get lost. To be honest, a part of me didn’t think I was ever going to see you again. Then suddenly, I woke up and dad was gone. I was being held hostage with a knife to my throat. You were there, and I didn’t know what was happening-”

“Sunny, c’mon-” I began, but she just shot me a look as though she were offended by my very presence that felt almost out of character for her, and I closed my mouth shut.

“All I could make out was you standing there, across from me and the raiders. You looked angrier than I’d ever seen you, and it was scary. You were scary.”

“Sunny… I didn’t mean any of that.” I pleaded with her. “Look, forget about the Enclave. I came here to get you back. That’s all, because I wanted to say I was sorry.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment, almost at a loss for words. Then she managed a weak little smile and held her hoof to her breast, but her eyes kept staring at the floor. “Don’t worry, I didn’t hold it against you.” She sighed, “All of this happened because I tried to go searching for dad while I was still too inexperienced about the wasteland. I went and dragged you into it, and I took advantage of you. The truth is, you were right to push me away.”

“Well of course I did, you idiot.” I smiled, but it waned slowly when I saw that she wasn’t smiling back at me. “Besides, if you hadn’t done that stuff, I never would’ve met you.” This apology really wasn’t going anywhere near as well as I thought it was going to. I felt so stupid. The comfort I experienced from being around her just felt like a complete misunderstanding now.

The mare’s tone was pensive, with barely any hint of joy in her voice. “They wanted to use me as collateral to get to you, but I convinced them that I could help. It was easy. Truthfully, there are moments when all that Enclave propaganda they circulated above the clouds feels almost true, but it’s almost more complicated than that.” Her words hurt to listen to.

This wasn’t sounding like the Sunny I knew at all. All I could manage was a contorted frown, but I was still curious to hear her side of things, so I allowed her to continue. “Yeah?” was all I could think to say.

“The N.C.R. wants my dad, and they’ll use me to get to him if they ever get the chance. He’s still out there somewhere, I’m sure of it.”

“I won’t let them hurt you.” I promised.

“The corruption runs deep down here, Roulette. Deeper than it did even up in the clouds. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but the truth is, I don’t need to be saved.

‘The only pony you can ever truly rely upon is yourself’, I think that’s the lesson my dad wanted me to learn here... he would’ve wanted me to find out about what’s going on at the center of these events, then come to a decision and act accordingly.” she said, thinking to herself aloud.

Eventually, I got fed up listening to her talk like that, and interrupted to try and talk some sense into her, “What are you even saying? Then we’ll figure it out together!”

The pegasus mare began reciting words to herself aloud to help her think, although to me it just made her sound like a spastic training cadet. “Always keep sight of the mission objective. You are your own eyes and ears on the ground. Observe, learn, act, and report, etcetera, etcetera…” she repeated, breathing. “Only problem is, I’m not sure what the mission is supposed to be here. Dad left that up for me to figure out on my own.” It felt like I was trying to reason with a brick wall. Although, I was getting the feeling that maybe I hadn’t given her enough credit up until now.

“You don’t have to be a scout Sunny!,” I said. “You don’t have to follow in your dad’s hoofsteps. Once you throw away that part of yourself, you can’t get it back… and to be honest, I like that part of you best.”

The mare scoffed, her voice filled with derision, “Well, what am I going to do? Go back to the N.C.R.?” she chided.

“C’mon, don’t be ridiculous. You’re not Enclave. You’ve done nothing wrong!” I raised my voice in frustration.

“I’m the daughter of a famous Enclave scout, Roulette.”

At that moment, I suddenly realized that it wasn’t going to be as easy as just taking Sunny and leaving. I was really, really, beginning to hate Dodge City.

“And haven’t I? I helped the raiders already. That makes me an accessory to their crimes. It doesn’t matter anyways, they’d try to use me against my dad somehow. Even if you can’t understand how I feel, I won’t ever allow myself to be used like that.” She gave me a stern look of disapproval, clearly not appreciating me rolling my eyes at that comment. “I did what I had to in order to survive. That’s what the wasteland is all about, right?”

“That’s not what the wasteland is at all! It’s…” I paused, suddenly realizing that even I couldn’t come up with a good answer for her that she would listen to. My whole life up until some months ago, I’d always treated the wasteland like my personal playground, never really concerned about the constant struggle others faced. I only really caught a dose of reality on that day, during Operation Cauterize. “Well, it isn’t that!” Unsurprisingly, she gave me a deadpanned look in response. “You haven’t killed anypony at least, have you?” I asked.

She was almost hesitant to answer, but I was thankful when she responded with, “N-no…” and I breathed a small sigh of relief. “But regardless, over the past two days I’ve proved that I can stand on my own without having to rely on you or my dad. I’ve got a better grasp of the situation than you do, and I can take care of myself just fine. If you were my friend, you’d respect that. So you don’t have to worry anymore. You can leave. I’ll be okay. Bye!”

“Sunny…”

She groaned, and let out an exasperated sigh. “This is a complex political problem, Roulette. You just showing up out of nowhere does nothing to help me! Ugh... Things don’t work like you think they do anymore! We’re not just fillies playing around in the wastes! Nowadays there are consequences for everything, even if you haven’t done anything wrong. Why are you doing this now...?” Sunny crouched down to the floor, covering her head with her wings. “Jeez, why did you have to come back?” she whined.

“Because that’s what friends do,” I jabbed her lightly, “C’mon, you should know I'm no good at this civilization stuff. There are all these rules, and taxes, and things. It’s all really stupid and complicated.”

“You got that right.” she snorted and looked up at me again. “You’re a good pony, Rou. Even if you are a bit of a hot-headed idiot at times.” she laughed lightly. I did too, eagerly agreeing with that assessment, but then the laughter trailed off. She looked at the ground wearing an expression in between shame and conflicted. “… I’m happy to see you, really, but I can’t leave.”

“What do you mean? Quit talking nonsense… Sunny, you’re all I’ve got right now.”

“Roulette…please don’t say that.” she begged.

I put my hooves on her shoulders to try and make her come to her senses. “You’ve got to snap out of this, Sunny! You’re in danger here. Jagged Knife and the Mayor. These ponies are bad news! You’re just repeating all that stuff your dad put in your head. If Jagged finds out, something bad could happen to you and then I’d never forgive myself! Let’s get the hell out of here. Just you and me. Fuck this place, and fuck the N.C.R.. I’ll protect you. We’ll go to Las Pegasus or something.”

Sunny Hymn struggled to even look me in the eye. There was a heavy silence between us, as she searched for the right words to say. I was content to give her as long as she needed. “I’m sorry, I just can’t...” she confessed.

“Why the hell not?!” I shouted, almost losing my temper.

“Because Accolade needs me more,” she finally said, sighing aloud. I released her and the mare walked over and looked out the solitary window of the small filly’s room. “Things are different here. She’s just a scared little filly who has nobody else. I promised her that I would. I even did the weird hoof thing,” Sunny pointed to the underside of her hoof and showed it to me. “I’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry, I promise.”

“You might be in over your head with this, Sunny. Jagged’s bad news.” I warned.

“Jagged Knife is a rogue actor. Nothing more. I may not fully understand what he’s planning yet, but the mayor likes me, so she’s not going to let him do anything. My role here is too important. Like I said, it’s under control. I just need to be sure of a few points.” She glared into my eyes. “You’re just going to have to trust me,” she answered. “It’s the NCR who are the real problem here.”

I groaned in frustration, "Have you seen the rest of Dodge City?!" I asked her in disbelief. “The place is a freaking slum!”

“Exactly. A lot of the ponies here are just trying to survive after being driven out of New Canterlot territory. I kind of understand what they’ve been going through and I want to help. I think I know how. You wanted that big hero moment, right? Well, now’s your chance.”

“Ugh! Sunny, what the hell are y-?! That’s freaking…!” I was at a total loss for words. She was really dead set on this though, and I was beginning to realize that no matter what I said, I wasn’t going to change her mind. If this was the only way to break through to her... I breathed in deeply and held it in for a moment, before exhaling a big sigh. “Alright, fine. You win,” I relented. “We’ll do this your way. I mean, if that’s okay with you?”

Her mouth hung open looking taken aback, as though that was the absolute last thing she was expecting to hear out of me. “You mean it?” she asked in disbelief.

If this was the only way, then I’d help her as best I could. I nodded, “You clearly know more than me, so yeah. Let’s do this.”

Then she smiled and nodded back, “Thank you…Rou. "I need this for myself.”

“Maybe I still don’t fully understand what’s going on, but I’m gonna fix this. I’ll take on the entire N.C.R myself if I have to, and that’s a promise. So, uh...friends again?” I stretched out my hoof awkwardly.

She took my hoof with her own and held it tightly, wearing a big grin. “Friends again.”

Having that moment between us gave me a small sense of relief that everything was going to be okay, even if we weren’t out of the fire yet. There was still a lot to say between us, but I was just happy to have the Sunny I knew back.

Sadly, that moment was short-lived.

I felt a tingling along my spine. We both looked around, suddenly on high alert. Sunny’s ears perked up and her eyes darted around. At that moment, another irritatingly familiar voice came from one corner of the room. “Aw, sorry to interrupt your touching little reunion, muchachita.”

My eyes zipped over to Angel Eyes and I lowered my stance, ready for combat. I could’ve sworn he wasn’t standing there a minute ago. “There you are, piss-for-eyes. Great, I was wondering when I was finally going to get to kick your sorry ass into next week.” I growled.

Standing in the middle of the doorway, was also the white stallion with the eyepatch, blocking our only escape route.

“I was hoping that it wasn’t going to come to this.” I snarled. Wearing a cocky smirk, I added, “Aw, hell. Who am I kidding? I’m totally down for a rumble.” Sunny didn’t appear at all threatened for some reason.

Sunny swiftly stood in front of him, shielding him with her body. “No! Roulette wait! Monte’s not a badguy!”

My guard slipped a little as I cocked an eyebrow in confusion. “Monte...?”

The stallion tipped his hat and nodded. “Three-Card Monte. Don’t worry, It was nothing personal back there. We aren’t looking for a fight.” My guard slumped, feeling totally lost all of a sudden. Was I the only sane pony here?

“Funny how every time we meet though, we’re on opposite sides of the firing line.” I snarked. He grunted in response, clearly aware of the irony. I looked back at the only other mare in the room. Did that mean that Sunny was already in on everything? I complained to myself inside my head, how it felt that everyone always knew more than me.

Angel Eyes glanced at the larger stallion with the eyepatch as he closed the door, “Is everything clear outside, Three-Card?” and the other raider looked out into the hallway with his good eye, then nodded. Angel turned back to me. “Glad you could make it. As you can see, I’ve held up my end of the bargain. Unlike you. What the hell was up with that memory orb you gave me, you stupid bitch?!”

“I gave you what I had. You jerk-offs were the ones who kidnapped Sunny and forced me to come here.” I fired back.

“I had to take a hostage, because you wouldn’t have come to Dodge City otherwise!” Angel lamented.

“Yeah, you’re damned straight I wouldn’t have come here. This place sucks!” I agreed. “By the way, who even was that mare? I saw an old photo of her on the wall while speaking with Jagged Knife. Is she important?”

Angel Eyes shuddered his head, not having any idea either. “Dammit. Because of you letting Sting survive, I’ve been up to my neck dealing with shit. He’s been a major thorn in my side, y’know that?!” he pointed at me in accusation.

“If he was going to be such an issue, then maybe you should’ve taken care of him. He isn’t exactly my favorite pony in the wasteland either.” I argued. Sunny groaned at feeling left out of the conversation.

“There hasn’t been a good time since we were up on that hill... That phase spell of his makes him a real pain in the ass to deal with, unless you get the drop on him first. We’re gonna have to play this by ear...” he whispered. I noticed his eyes were constantly checking over his shoulder and around the room.

“That sounds more like your fault, not mine.” I retorted.

Sunny tried to mediate. “C’mon, we’re supposed to be working together. Right?” she suggested, the only one sounding somewhat reasonable. It was good to have her back, even if the circumstances were weird.

“Since when are we allies with them?” I spat at the ground, “Jagged doesn’t seem all that tough. So what do you need me for? Why not shoot the bastard and be done with it?” I suggested, feeling like that was the obvious solution. “Also are you gonna tell me what I want to know already?”

Angel Eyes cursed, spitting sideways. “Perra estupida! Jagged is a snake. Don’t trust him for a minute. Listen up, shit’s about to get real bad, and I’m gonna need your brand of loco runs-across-a-battlefield guns blazing craziness!”

“Patience. This isn’t the time or place for that.” The white stallion with the eyepatch replied. “We don’t know who’s listening.”

“Monte’s right. Not here. I know a small hole-in-the-wall joint across the street from the Fight Gauntlet, where we can talk in private. Meet me there. Tonight. I’ll let you in on everything. As per our arrangement, your marefriend will be safe. Careful who you talk to in the meantime.”

Sunny blushed hotly, upset at being spoken of like she wasn’t in the room with us. “She’s not my marefriend!” she protested, trying to hide her face.

“Just do the job for now.” Angel urged and I nodded. I grumbled in annoyance at being constantly jerked around, but ultimately agreed. One step closer to getting what I wanted. Turning to the seafoam pegasus mare whose cheeks were still colored bright red, the mare stopped, then looked back up and blinked at me, calming herself down.

“Sunny?” I asked, and the mare looked back expectantly, “Try and see what more you can find out. Are you okay with that?”

The mare smirked, flashing a hidden stealthbuck under her sleeve and nodded. “Oh, you don’t have to worry about me.” She flipped it on and then off again, causing herself to go temporarily invisible. “I got this.”

Just then, there were three loud knocks at the door and it slowly creaked open. “What’s going on in here, are you girls having a tea party? You know the mayor doesn’t like us being in this room.” We all turned our heads as another annoyingly familiar voice greeted us. It was Sting, wearing his loose fitting raider gear marked with Jagged Knife’s insignia with a small filly accompanying him.

“Nothing you need to worry about...” Angel said, content to do the talking.

“I brought the squirt back.” he grouched, ushering Accolade ahead of himself into the room. The small filly timidly looked back at Sting, who pushed her forward, sending her running over to Sunny Hymn where she hid shaking behind her. Sting’s eyes flicked over to me, as though briefly questioning my presence here, before losing interest and yawning lazily. “Angel, the boss said he wants to have a word,” he huffed.

The brown-coated raider spat, “Fine. Tell him I’ll be right there.”

His reaction prompted amused laughter from Sting. “Pffft, you aren’t still cut up about the Boss’ plan, are you?” he snickered.

Angel muttered as he passed him out into the hallway, “It wasn’t right what the Boss did.” he said, speaking with a tinge of regret. “Doesn’t sit right with the old ways. Papa Bighoof deserved more respect.” Angel glanced back at me, but I already knew better to keep my mouth shut at this point.

Sting just snickered to himself as he watched him disappear down the hall.

Then Sunny Hymn puffed her chest out and stamped her hoof. She stood tall, gesturing towards the door with her wing, “Pardon me, Mr. Sting, but would you mind kindly leaving us? Poor Accolade’s getting scared, and you wouldn’t want the mayor’s little ‘investment’ to be too scared to remember her password, would you?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. The mare spoke confidently as though talking down to an unruly child while she unflinchingly addressed the raider. The scrawny stallion shot her a dirty look and flipped his mane, but did so without a fuss. I felt as though I’d just gained some newfound respect for her.

The small apple green filly clung to Sunny’s hind leg, peeking out from behind her wing at me. Sunny Hymn then asked me leave as well, the both of us communicating with a subtle nod while the rest of us gathered in the hallway. Although I didn’t like leaving her behind, we each knew what we had to do, and I trusted her to do it. I could hear soft cooing as she comforted the small filly from past the closed door.

As soon as we were alone, I glared at Sting, who was closely watching me out of his singular eye. “What was that about?” I threatened.

“What do you mean?” he sneered, “I was bringing the little brat back to her room. You shouldn’t have been in there, girly.”

“I mean, why didn’t you tell Jagged Knife about Sunny?” I snarled in a lowered voice. “What are you after?”

He gave me a funny look as though he were surprised that I would ask, which turned into a wicked sneer. “Isn’t it obvious?” he asked. “Because I want to hold this over your head... I want you to know that I can tell the boss at any time, and if I talk, nothing's gonna keep her safe. Not Angel Eyes. Not Three-Card. Not even the friggin mayor. That’s right. You’re under my hoof now, girly.”

I should’ve figured he wasn’t being charitable. “If you so much as-” I growled, feeling fire licking at my insides.

“You’ll what? Maybe I’ll have to reconsider telling Jagged after all...” he said, donning an extremely nasty yet punchable smirk, and I stopped myself short of a threat. “Aw, where’s that snappy mouth of yours, Girly?” he mocked. Every ounce of me was having to resist punching that smug look off his face. “I know you’ll do whatever I say in order to keep your little marefriend safe, because that’s your weakness. See? No matter how tough you are, I can watch you squirm around like the little bloatsprite maggot you are. Consider it payback for my eye. Now beg me to keep her safe, if you want the bitch to live...”

I muttered curses, but managed a, “...Please,” eventually.

“What was that?” he asked in mocking laughter, “I couldn’t quite hear you...”

I growled under my breath. “Please, I’m begging you…” I said, trying to keep myself calm enough to say it. Even though it was humiliating, I wasn’t about to let anything happen to her because of my dumb mouth…

“Again.” Sting laughed like a sick colt who’d just found a new plaything. I could see why he hung around with these scumbags. We were interrupted by a low rumbling stallion’s voice, saving me from any further humiliation.

It was Three-Card again, standing over him. “Sting, quit fooling around,” his voice reprimanded . The raider stallion stopped and quickly turned back to look at the white earth pony with the eyepatch. “She’s got work to do.”

Sting whined, “Aw c’mon, Three-Card. I was just having a little fun...”

“Later.” he insisted laconically, walking ahead of us. Why did he do it? He seemed to be the only pony here who really struck me as off, leaving me pondering what his motivations were.

“Fine…” Sting complained, sounding disappointed. “Com’n get moving, Girly.”

I stopped short at the edge of the irradiated mine, nothing but desert and more mineshafts around us. The mouth of the cave looked like any other of the many mines in the area, except for a wooden sign, with “The Rot” crudely spelled across it, was hanging above the entrance. Another one read: “Smoothcoats KEEP OUT!!!”. Various remains of mining equipment lay strewn about randomly, including a big earth movers, all belonging to a group called the Seapony Mining Company.

There was a subtle glow about the place. A salamander crawled out from under a nearby rock and on top of one of the earth movers, then it cocked its head at me and scurried away. “There are a lot of these little buggers out here.” I commented. The others stood, waiting for me to go inside. “Wouldn’t it be good to put on a suit or something first, to protect from the radiation?” I asked.

Sting gave me a funny look and then snickered to himself. “Now why would we waste a perfectly good environmental suit?” he sneered. “If you do the job right you won’t have to be in there long.”

I groaned, making a quick glance at my shoulder with the