Prologue

I felt the pain before I woke up.

I floated in space for just a second, then I came crashing back to consciousness, feeling cold concrete under my back. At first, I couldn't locate the pain, I just felt that it existed. When I opened my eyes, I was blinded and quickly screwed them shut. I heard somepony groaning nearby.

Oh, wait... that was me.

I found the source of my pain and my left hoof went to my side. I felt blood. I'm wounded.

I opened my eyes again and let my eyes adjust to the one bright light from the ceiling above me. I looked to my side hesitantly. Oh, it looks like a stab wound. It wasn't too deep, but it hurt like hell and blood was flowing too quickly for my liking. I turned my head to look to my right and saw a saddlebag next to two books and some sort of machine.

Let's see: I'm bleeding and in pain, so I don't think I'm going to be reading any books. What's in the bags? I tried to concentrate hard enough to levitate the bag next to me, but I didn't have it in me. Much like my blood...

Alright, moving. I dragged myself over to the saddlebag and checked inside. Oh, blessed Luna! Healing bandages! A potion! Med-X! There were other things, but I focused on the medical supplies, as they were the only things in the bags that I needed right now.

I poured a small amount of the healing potion into the wound before drinking it. I could feel the hole closing as I drank the potion. It wasn't until then that I noticed some parts of my body were sore. The gash didn't close all the way because it wasn't the only part of my body that needed healing. I then elected to use the bandages as well. Rather unprofessionally, I layered the bandages tightly over my stomach. Finally I stuck myself with a needle of med-X.

Then I just lay there. I lay in a pool of my own blood, breathing deeply, waiting for the pain to subside to manageable levels. The wound in my side seems to have been ripped open instead of cut.

It took me a while, I don't know how long, to gather my thoughts enough to roll onto my stomach and look around the room. It was a small rectangular room with concrete walls, floor and ceiling. There was one singular light on the ceiling, but it was bright enough to light the entire room. I lay in the middle of the room along with the small puddle of my own blood. Ahead of me was the door that lead out. Well, at least I thought so, given it was the only door here. To my left lay the books and the saddlebags. One of the books looked new. Looking around the room again, I decided that it was pretty out of place. Nothing looked new. The walls were clean and all, but here and there, you could see stains and chips that denoted their age.

My sky-blue magic surrounded the newer book and levitated it in front of me. The title read: The Lightbringer. It wasn't a hefty book, but it certainly couldn't be read in a short amount of time. I set that one into the saddlebags and lifted the more worn looking book. The cover had no title, as it was faded by time. I flipped the book open to it's first page and read that it was a manual of some sort. I couldn't find out what about, as it wasn't just the cover that had faded, but I did find a mouth-written message on the inner cover of the book. It was three messily scribbled words that I couldn't help but know in my heart to be true.

You are Demi

Flipping through the book, skimming the pages as I went, showed that there were no other message in the book other than whatever it was the book was trying to teach the reader about. I tossed this object aside, as it proved no purpose to me right now, and moved on to the weird device.

The device looked like something you wore, but had a screen and buttons. It's like a terminal one could wear on their foreleg. The device was sleek and smooth looking, and on one it said: PipBuck - Omega.

Against my better judgement, I put the device on my right foreleg, just above my fetlock. As soon as I closed the device, there was a small blip in my vision that would have made me fall over if I had been standing. The screen on my device said, in cyan, 'loading...', so I figured it was booting up. A second later then... stuff appeared in my vision. It didn't obstruct my vision, but I could certainly notice it. One thing I clearly recognized is the compass. The other stuff I simply couldn't explain. My mind, suffering from both exhaustion and blood loss, took a while to deduce that the information in my vision was a result of the PipBuck on my leg.

I decided to check what was in my saddlebags later, levitating them onto my back, and find out where I was. I felt steady enough to try my hand at standing, and pulled the feat off. Then I stepped towards the door, opening it with my magic. I did not expect to see what I saw next...

I left the room and entered the second floor hallway of a building in the middle of a ruined city. The almost every building still intact enough to be called one had lost almost all of their windows, if not every single one. Rubble and destroyed chariots littered the streets where entire fallen buildings did not lay. Some buildings were short, and some were tall, but in this area of the city, no building was a single story. At least, not originally. Every building was in extreme disarray. The building I was in was missing most of the wall in this part of the hallway, allowing me to see out into the rest of the city.

When I opened the door, I hit something on the ground: a glowy, crystal-looking orb. I was too late to make a grab for it before it fell over the ledge and into the rubble below. Whatever it was, I would never find it now. That is, if it hadn't broken in the fall.

I had more important things to worry about than a dumb orb. I had thought so at least. Had I been careful and grabbed it, this entire story might have gone differently.

I had a feeling deep in my gut that something was coming. I don't know why or how, but I knew I didn't want to be here when it showed up. I tested each leg individually and found that I, maybe, had one real gallop in me before I had to give my legs a long rest. Why was I so exhausted and my body so sore?

That's when the questions came.

Why was I wounded? Who wounded me? Where am I? Why am I here? What happened to make the world as it is now? What is this thing on my leg? What is this thing in my vision? Where is everypony?

Who am I?

I could only really answer that last one with confidence. I am Demi.

The other questions will be answered later. I needed to leave. I looked right and left before deciding to check left. It came to a corner, turning left again. Before trotting down that hallway, I took a peak. It looked just like the other hallway behind me, sans large hole in the wall on the outside. I hadn't taken two steps down the hall until I saw the fire escape out of one window. I poked my head out and noticed that the whole thing seemed a bit rickety.

I wasn't exactly in my right mind, so I elected the structure good enough and climbed out of the window. The creaking nearly made me jump back in, but I noted the platform held. I climbed down the metal stairs to the bottom platform and made a short leap to the ground. The force wasn't much, but with my sore body, it was enough to force me to my knees. I laid for less than a minute before getting up and trotting down the alley further into the ruins.

While trotting steadily, though with haste, through the streets of the city, I noted that the destruction seemed to be from a fire and explosion both. It's as if the city was engulfed in one single giant explosive flame. That said, many of the buildings seemed to have been constructed by a god of architecture. I'm no architect myself, but I had to assume that a building standing with only its windows blown out was constructed many times better than the completely demolished structure next to it.

More and more buildings seemed to be worse and worse condition as I went along. The PipBuck thing on my leg clicked every so often as well. I wasn't sure what that was all about, but I noticed the pattern. An increase in destruction directly related to an increase in clicking from my PipBuck. Now, what does the clicking mean? I didn't want to find out, so I changed direction.

I was walking slower now, as I felt that whatever was coming had already passed. After walking for a couple hours, my PipBuck no longer clicking unless I stepped in the occasional puddle, I came across actual ponies. Well, I thought they were ponies. Most wore large armor that seemed to make them invincible. There were some unicorns that only wore ropes, but they all seemed to wear the same emblem. While the details of the emblems differed as though they were painted over another emblem by different artists, they all had the same core design: three red apples.

The whole dozen or so seemed to be coming from someplace inside the city and heading to the broken bridge I could see yonder. I sat on the side of the road and watched them. If they all didn't intimidate me so, I would probably have went to talk to them then. Instead, I watched them pass me by and onto the bridge. Of course, I did earn myself odd looks and a couple looks of pity from a few of the unicorns.

This means I had two known options to head if I wanted to interact with other ponies. The first was to follow the intimidating armored ponies. I wasn't quite sure how they would react to that. The second was to go where the intimidating armored ponies had come from. That might lead to more intimidating armored ponies. If given the choice, I would like to deal with less intimidating armored ponies. Oh, look at that: I had the choice.

I caught up to the group of ponies and they stopped before I could get within spitting distance. The armored ponies all turned around and I heard the clicks of guns readying. I stopped in my tracks and sat in place, eyes wide and staring at the maws of each gun at once.

"Who are you?" rumbled one of the armored ponies. It might have been a mare, but it was hard to tell with her voice distorted as though through a radio.

Oh great, a question that I know the answer to. "I am Demi."

"Okay, Demi. Why are you following us?"

That question seemed simple, but... why was I following them? Well, I was wounded, but that didn't feel like the reason. I was lost, that could be it. Or rather, quite simply, "I need help."

"Unless you're sick or dying, we can't help you right now," she said, relaxing her stance.

I stayed tense when I replied, "I don't know where I am."

That one seemed to get her. It also surprised the others, more clearly visible on the unicorns. One unicorn mare, brown in coat and tan in mane and tail, stepped forward. I didn't notice until then that, while the unicorns also had weapons, they were being guarded by the armored ponies. She stepped to the front of me and looked me over. She seemed to wince at my poorly wrapped wound. Then, her eyes stopping on my PipBuck, she asked, "You don't know where you are?" I shook my head in response. She firmly planted her hoof into her face and said, "You're in Manehatten. Just down the road from Bucklyn Cross." Then I said something that shocked everypony further.

"What's Manehatten?"

The mare in front of me whipped her narrowed gray eyes from my leg device to my face. After a moment of silence, she asked the same question as the other mare. "Who are you?"

"I am Demi," I responded.

She thought for another moment and then asked again, "Who are you?"

"I am—"

"Not your name," she interrupted. "Who are you?"

That's when I realized something I wouldn't have noticed unless she had pointed it out: I don't know who I am.

Who am I? I thought I had that question figured out. I don't... Think, Demi. Think! I am a white unicorn stallion, with a mane and tail as blue as the sky and his magic, named demi... That's it. That's all I could come up with. I have no memories of any second before today. I could feel myself start to shake. My breathing deepened, and my eyes focused on nothing. Fear nearly overtook my battered body's ability to stay conscious, but the mare softened a bit and put a hoof on my shoulder. My eyes focused on her, but my other faculties betrayed me still. I finally swallowed heavily and said in a shaky voice, "I don't know..."

I don't know. Those were probably the three words I didn't need to hear from myself right now. The mare looked back at her friends before turning to me and asking, "Do you know where you are? What ponies call this place you're in?"

"Manehatten...?" I answered hesitantly. She shook her head. "Bucklyn Cross?" Wrong again. I thought for a second, searching my mind for a single word that would mean the place I'm in. I found nothing, so I shook my head in defeat.

The nameless mare now looked worried. A sort of motherly look that she passed to the faceless mare in the armor. It wasn't apparent at first glance, but this mare was starting to get up in the years. She then asked, "What does the name Equestria mean to you?"

I searched my mind again and reported, "It has some meaning, the name itself, but I don't know what it is."

That was the one that did it. The motherly unicorn took me in her forelegs and brought my head to her chest. I was startled, so I stiffened and listened to her heartbeat for a moment. I relaxed eventually, but didn't know weather or not to embrace her back. Before I could decide, she released me and looked at me as if to say 'you poor thing.' The unicorns behind her looked at me with faces ranging from surprise, to pity, to annoyance. The armored ponies looked uncomfortable, and I don't think it was because of the armor.

I looked, bewildered, from one pony to another. My eyes eventually fell upon the kind mare in front of me again. She looked me in the eyes and asked, "Where did you get your things?"

I looked to my PipBuck and back to my saddlebags and bandages. I then replied, "I found them earlier today in the room I woke up in."

The brown unicorn looked as though she was going to ask another question, but was cut off by the armored mare who spoke to me before. "Scribe Maud, we should really get going. We're late as it is."

"Can we take him, Paladin? Please?" I looked from the armored mare to this Maud character and back. Take me? really? You want to take the amnesiac? Well, I won't complain.

The Paladin stood a second before turning away and continuing on to the bridge. She called back, "Don't let him slow us down. He is your responsibility, Maud Pie."

Maud Pie smiled and motioned for me to get up and follow. I pushed myself to my hooves with some effort and attempted to trot in pace with the other ponies. Bucklyn Cross grew larger in the distance as we closed their journey. As we marched, Maud Pie occasionally glanced to me and I to her. I didn't know what her motive was for bringing me along, but I followed the best I could. Maybe they could help me regain my memories or something.

Suddenly, gunshots roared from the right of the group. The armored ponies, much more quickly than I thought possible, rushed in front of the unicorns. The bullets from the gross-looking ponies on the hill barely affected the thick armor. These ponies looked unwashed, dirty, caked in blood that didn't look to be their own, and their barding was covered in spikes. Though they seemed incredibly inefficient in the way they attacked, they did prove to be dangerous all the same.

That is, to normal ponies. These armored monstrosities picked them apart, quite literally in some cases, one by one. I felt I was about to vomit, so I averted my eyes and tried to hold it in. The only comfort I received from anypony was a hoof on the back from Maud Pie. I looked to her with wide, frightened eyes. She simply smiled worriedly and shrugged. It seems this isn't the first time she's seen something like this.

Blood still flowed from the bodies of the ponies as the group walked over to the corpses, I following after I settled my stomach enough. Then they started checking them for stuff. I gaped at the sight. They stole from the dead. I guess, logically, it was fine since they had attacked us and they were dead, but it still didn't feel right.

Maud noticed my appalled look and smiled again, this time with a hint of sadness in her eyes. She finished her looting and trotted over to me. She wiped her hoof on her robe, bloodying the garment further, and set the hoof on my shoulder. Then she whispered softly, almost apologetically, "Welcome to the wasteland, Demi."

The group slowed down not long before we reached the river. While it seemed the armor on the armored ponies allowed them to move much longer distances faster and with less effort than normal, the unicorns didn't have such a luxury. Apparently, they had all come a pretty long way even before they crossed paths with me. At some point, the group stopped next to what seemed to be an abandoned supermarket. The sign was broken, but I could guess that the word 'Horseshoe,' was part of the name of the store.

Two armored ponies went into the building to check for danger. One came back with his helmet off and motioned for the rest of the group to enter. The armored ponies filed in, some removing their helmets as well. It was about then that my head started to clear up and my thoughts organized themselves easier. That's also when I noticed that only earth ponies wore the armor. I guess it made sense, as unicorns couldn't wear it with their horns and pegasi couldn't with their wings.

I stayed outside as everypony else went to check out the super market. The unicorn, Maud Pie, was about to go in, but I saw her stop and look back to me. Our eyes met. She motioned for me to follow. I looked to the sky for a second. The sun had passed its highest point a while ago, but the light hadn't dimmed yet. Little to no clouds floated between my eyes and the blue sky. I looked back to Maud and saw that she, too, looked to the heavens. Though, she had a happy smile on her face this time. I, not wanting to keep her waiting, trotted to the motherly unicorn.

When I approached, her gaze fell back to me. Her smile wavered slightly, as though she was taken from happy thoughts. She entered the building and I followed her. Her tan mane flipped as she looked side to side, probably searching for a more private area.

I looked around as well, but for a different reason. I noticed that the store looked ransacked. It's as if the place had been raided a long time ago. The market was dirty and the wallpaper was peeling. Posters, some half-torn from the walls, were faded beyond my ability to read. Shelves were empty, and those that weren't were covered in moss and fruits and vegetables that looked to have been rotting for hundreds of years.

Maud Pie started to move, so I followed her. She lead me to a room in the back that was locked. She produced a screw driver and a bobby pin from somewhere under her robes and picked the lock. She seemed to do it effortlessly. Either that, or the lock was a poor excuse for security. She trotted inside, followed by me. This room seemed to have been an office of some sort. Papers and pencils littered the room, but they seemed of little importance. Maud quickly checked the desk in the center of the room with practiced ease. After she found nothing that she deemed useful, she walked behind me and sat on a sofa I hadn't seen yet.

Maud Pie patted the cushion next to hers, clearly asking me to sit down with her. I climbed onto the seat and looked at her. She cleared her throat and then said to me, "I'm sorry, I haven't really introduced myself. I am Maud Pie VIII. Please, just call me Maud." I nodded in return. "If you have anything you would like to ask, I can answer some of it. I'm sorry, but long answers will have to wait until we reach Bucklyn."

I nodded again, then immediately asked, "Who are you ponies?"

Maud stood and showed me the emblem on her robes: three red apples. She smiled proudly and said, "We are Applejack's Rangers. We collect technology from all over the Equestrian wasteland and use them for the betterment of the people of the wasteland. We also protect some settlements, caravans and travelers we see walking alone from the likes of raiders, gangers and other various bad ponies."

I nodded as Maud sat back on her haunches, her hooves hanging off of the sofa. I understand that those words probably meant what I think they meant. A few caught my ear though, so I asked asked, "What are raiders and the like?"

She frowned and then stopped to think. Then she asked, "You know those ponies we were attacked by earlier?" I nodded. "Those were raiders. Most are simply mad and just wish to destroy your life and body as much as possible, but there are a few who simply want to destroy your life and body as much as possible, but are entirely sane. It's a horrible end, but that's how a lot of wastelanders seem to end up."

That was a horrible thought. What in this world could be so fucked up that ponies would go crazy? Well, there were apparently those that simply wished to ruin your life. I gulped, dreading my next question, but I had to ask, "What... what is the wasteland?"

Maud's frown deepened. She shook her head slowly and said quietly, "That's one of those long answers, Demi."

We sat in silence, and I dreaded to ask any more questions. I decided to see what was in my saddlebags. I had overlooked a few things earlier, as I was bleeding out, so I thought I should know what I had. Hopefully something to defend myself with, as it seemed like I'd need it. I floated my saddlebags from by back to in front of me as Maud watched in silence. I opened the bags and peered inside. I pulled out that book from earlier: The Lightbringer. Mauds eyes gaze drifted to the book and she said, "That could answer quite a bit about this world, Demi. And it's true, from what anypony can tell. Especially the end." I looked to her and nodded in understanding. I set the book beside me and looked back into the bag.

There were a few boxes in the bags with faded lettering, but I could make out the word 'ammunition.' Sure enough, there was also a gun in the bag. I removed the gun from the bag and showed it to Maud. "That's a .44 caliber magnum revolver. It's a very powerful handgun. The Littlepip had a similar weapon, though her's was custom made by Applejack herself." I didn't recognize those names, but I understood most of the sentence: It was a decent weapon to have. I set the gun down on top of the book and looked back into the bag. There was a few boxes of something else and a couple bottles of water, but that was all that was in the bag. I showed Maud the boxes, and she informed me that these 'Sugar Bombs' were a cereal.

Yay, I had food. I opened one of the boxes of cereal and began to pour some down my throat. They tasted deliciously sugary and crunchy. I offered the box to Maud, and she partook in the tasty treat. I levitated a bottle of water and unscrewed the cap before taking a drink. It was clear and pure and refreshing. I offered my companion the bottle as well, but she shook her head and showed me she had her own canteens of water. I didn't think I'd want to drain myself of all my water, so I only drank a small bit of the bottle. When Maud had her share of sugar bombs, I resealed the box and replaced it and my book into my saddlebags.

A box of the .44 caliber rounds came out in their stead. I emptied the contents of one box into a side pocket of my right bag and placed the revolver into a side pocket of the left bag. I tossed the box back into my saddlebags. Waste not want not. I levitated the bag back to my back and felt a little more prepared for this world. Maud watched the whole thing in silence. Not until I was done did I notice the smirk on her face.

"What?"

"You honestly have no idea how to use that thing, do you?" She pointed to my PipBuck. I already forgot it was there. I raised the screen to my eyes and shook my head. Now I inspected the machine with a clear mind. The cyan screen lit up, as thought detecting that I was looking at it. I heard Maud say, "It doesn't look like any PipBuck I've ever seen before, but it should function like any other. It should have a spell that organizes your belongings and catalogues them as well, so you won't need to dig through your saddlebags for everything."

"Perhaps it's this middle button captioned 'items,'" I said, tapping it with my hoof. Sure enough, a list of items replaces the screen telling me what bad shape my body was it. The wheel on the side of the device probably would have scrolled through list had I more stuff. I tapped the first button, 'stats,' and the screen went back to my body. The third and final button was 'data.' This seemed to be the main storage area of the PipBuck, holding files, folders, applications and the like.

I could have continued playing with the device for a long while more, but the pink Paladin pony poked her Lavender maned head in and said, "We're moving out. Like I said earlier, Maud, we're running late as it is."

Maud and I jumped to our hooves and trotted out after the Paladin. She stopped only to put her helmet back on and left the supermarket. The rest of the Rangers followed her, Maud and I being the last ponies out.

The cross shaped building was annoying me. I could see it in the distance, given the fact we were uphill, but It didn't get bigger anymore. In fact, the group turned away from the remains of the bridge and headed upstream. I was under the impression that this Bucklyn Cross place was our destination. According to maud, it was, but we were making a little stop before we get there. Other than that, she couldn't tell me any more. Information for Ranger ears only, apparently.

That didn't bother me though. My mind was stuck on my PipBuck. I wanted to see what else this machine could do. Item organization and health monitorization. It couldn't just have those two kinds of spells on it. Well, there was also this thing in my vision. I asked Maud what it could be, as we didn't have to stop for me to voice this question. It wasn't Maud who answered my question rather than another earth pony Ranger.

"That's called the Eyes-Forward Sparkle, or E.F.S. for short," he said through his armor. "It's quite handy. That compass can also sense the presence of other... I'm not sure about the criteria for it, but it detects other lifeforms and robots. It can also tell you if their hostile. Don't ask how. Not everything Stable-Tec made is still understood completely today, even with their archives."

Maud nodded in agreement. Then she added, "It should also have a section that gives you general information about your health so you don't always have to look to your leg. It should do something similar with your weapon, telling you how many rounds you have loaded and how many rounds for that weapon you have in your possession."

I could only utter a simple awestruck and foal-like, "Whoa," in response.

On the bottom right corner, I saw, what I guessed to be, a heart monitor of some sort. I could also see a few darkened icons. One was a broken bone. which was pretty obvious. Another was drop of water, which probably meant dehydration. Next there was another icon of a ponies stomach so empty you could see its ribs. That was probably starvation. Then there was a horn and some squiggly lines coming from it. It was a poor representation, but I had to guess that was a burn out. Finally There was another symbol that was fancy be the general shape resembled a triangle. I didn't know what that one could be. I'd have to ask later.

I then looked to the other side and, sure enough, I could see numbers in the bottom right corner of my vision: 0/66. That meant I had about sixty-six .44 caliber magnum rounds in my saddlebags and none in my weapon. I corrected my mistake and watched the numbers shift to 6/60. I grinned, replacing the revolver into the side pocket.

The armored ranger joined the conversation again. "If you think that's cool, wait until you first use S.A.T.S. That's 'Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell.' You can use it to increase your accuracy and target specific points of an opponent."

That lead me to ask, "How do you know all of this? Do you guys have PipBucks?" I hadn't seen any of the unicorns wearing them, and I don't think PipBuck could fit under that armor.

Maud shrugged and said, "As a scribe with Applejack's Rangers, it's my job to know about any kind of technology that's out there so we know how to combat it if it falls into the wrong hands."

"And a lot of PipBuck features, like the E.F.S., S.A.T.S. and the item organizer spell were put into this power armor," the ranger said. "Since one of the three Stable-Tec founders and Applejack were sisters, it makes sense they could implement Stable-Tec spells in the armor."

"Who are those ponies?" I asked.

Maud patted my back and said, "Believe it or not, that book you have explains more about that stuff than we ever could." Just how much does this book explain?

I nearly got a muzzle full of armored flank when the Rangers stopped. We seemed to have stopped at what looked to be an old abandoned wharf. Next to the rotting wood docks was a large building that didn't seem as abandoned. It didn't seem high-profile either. The warehouse still looked very run-down, but all the doors and windows were closed and the windows were also covered from the inside. While closed doors and windows didn't seem odd at all from what I've seen so far, why would the windows be covered from the inside? Also, for a second, I thought I saw a red dot on my compass from the direction of the building.

The Rangers started gathering away from me, Maud stating she'd be back, and talked about something. Probably that 'Rangers ears only' thing we were here for. I didn't try to listen in, but I did pick up a few words without meaning to. Steal. Scout. Remnants. Dangerous.

This little meeting was interrupted by a thnk-thnk-thnk-thnk-thnk coming from the warehouse rooftop. I heard the weapon before: one of the rangers had one. It was a automatic grenade launcher of some kind! All eyes turned skyward as the small apple-shaped death-balls fell towards us. They fell slowly, almost unmoving.

Wait... They weren't moving. And neither could I! I nearly panicked, but in the corner of my vision, I read 'S.A.T.S. activated.' I could have sighed in relief if I hadn't known that as soon as whatever was happening was done, I'd be blown to pieces. Then I noticed activity on the left side of my vision.

Detecting abnormal files in /SATS

Abnormality debunked: SATS-D Modification installing...

SATS-D Modification installed

Compatible spells detected in User's knowledge: Upload to SATS-D Database?

Y/N?

I wasn't sure what some of it meant, but I mentally replied 'Y,' out of curiosity. Was this thing searching through my mind? Was it checking my memory for spells? Well, even if I didn't have memory of events, I apparently had knowledge of things, like spells. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to levitate anything. Why didn't I notice that earlier? Having no memories is weird.

After the PipBuck understood that I input 'Y," the text continued:

Uploading spells...

Uploaded

activating SATS-D program...

I still didn't know what was going on, but I just went with it. Pale cyan lines curved down through the sky. I realized that these were the projected paths of the grenades as well as estimated paths of yet-to-be-fired rounds. They weren't there before, where did those projections come from? Then, suddenly, time went back to normal. I braced for the impending doom...

But, while I heard the explosions and felt distant heat from them, I lived. I still heard the firing continue, but I still lived. I opened my eyes to see something that felt familiar to me. Blocking each grenade in mid-air at safe distances away were small, sky-blue hexagonal shields that broke after hit. They kept appearing and breaking and appearing for each grenade fired from the warehouse. The barrage of grenades were met with a barrage of tiny shields. These blue hexagons resembled my cutie mark, that's why they felt like a familiar sight.

Activity just above the weapon information in my E.F.S. lead my eyes to a meter that was rapidly decreasing. If I had one guess, that would be the energy of S.A.T.S. At the rate it was going, S.A.T.S would be down in a matter of seconds. I tried to shout over the barrage of explosions and pointed to a group of buildings downstream and away from the warehouse, most likely out of range from the grenade machine guns. I couldn't even hear myself, but the Rangers caught on and retreated, myself backing up the group.

That one good gallop I had left? I used it now and poured on all the speed I could. We might not make it out of range before S.A.T.S. died and the shields stopped. I was right, and I hated it. Seconds before we left the range of the falling bombs, my shields dropped. My E.F.S. still showed my the paths of the grenades, so I tried to cast the spells manually, which was more difficult and tiring than my PipBuck made it look. Leave it to a machine to make spellcasting look easy.

I was only watching the paths in front of me that would hit the Rangers. I didn't pay attention to the grenades that would land behind me. Many of the explosions missed my body, but my ears still suffered and shrapnel still tore at my hide, making me seeth in pain, but I kept running. I knew that if I stopped, I would fall and I wouldn't be getting back up.

We all just barely made it out of range before I tripped over my hooves and landed in a heap meters from where I originally lost my hoofing. Fortunately, our attackers didn't pursue. Unfortunately, while my body was done and wouldn't move at all, I was still conscious. So I was able to hear when the Paladin mare spoke in a voice that clearly denoted that she was calmly furious.

"Damn. Rangers, there's been a change of plans." I couldn't move my head, so I didn't see why she paused. "We'll set up a temporary outpost in that office building over there so we can ensure they don't move. To prevent radio interception by the remnants, two of us will withdraw, under cover, to Bucklyn Cross and request reinforcements. Understood?"

I heard some ponies stomp, and some say "Yes, ma'am!" I could guess that some also nodded as well.

"I'll go, Paladin," Maud said. "Demi looks hurt anyway, and he's my responsibility."

"Demi can't move, Maud." She was dead right on that point. "Besides, I need you here. You're the best medic we have right now. If somepony gets seriously injured before back-up arrives, we'll need you."

I then was enveloped in a soothing warmth and a grey field of magic. I could feel the cuts from the shrapnel heal themselves. My breathing and my heartbeat slowed to reasonable levels and my muscles started to react to my commands. Once I stood up, the light diminished. I looked at Maud, who looked to the Paladin, frowned and nodded in understanding and agreement.

Now that I was back to my hooves, still breathing rather deeply, I could see that I was getting quite a few looks. While I couldn't tell how the earth ponies were looking at me, the unicorns looked at me with either mouth agape in awe or eyes narrowed in a glare. More specifically, they didn't look at me, but rather at my PipBuck. I awkwardly covered it with my left hoof and shied away from the group slightly.

The Paladin ended up selecting one unicorn and one armored earth pony. They left the group, taking back alleys instead of going through the streets. It'd probably take longer that way to get to Bucklyn, but this way these 'remnants' won't see them. I hope they get that reinforcements.

"Now, everypony," The Paladin turned to face the group. "Let's get into that building. Knights Archer and Broomstick, keep one floor ahead of the group and clear out any hostiles. Non-hostiles should be asked to vacate. Everypony else, once a floor is cleared, move in and set up defenses. Barricade any windows we don't need and keep eyes on any window facing the warehouse. Buck down walls if you feel it will aid our line of sight. Once the rooftop is cleared, I want Junior Paladin Brimstone and Knight Archer to keep watch up there. Let's use their own tactics against them if we have to." Now she turned to face only the unicorns. "Scribes, set up a medical room. Hopefully we won't need it, but just in case... We all know darn well what we're up against here."

I didn't. Nevertheless, the Rangers saluted and said their "yes, ma'am"s. Then they all went off towards the indicated office building, including Maud and the Paladin. I stood alone for a second and then trotted lethargically after them, wondering what in the world had I just gotten myself into.

Compiling Data...


Name: Demi

Sex: Stallion

S.P.E.C.I.A.L.:

Strength: 4

Perception: 7

Endurance: 9

Charisma: 4

Intelligence: 6

Agility: 6

Luck: 4

Traits:


Alicorn-tier Magic - The bare power and endurance of your magical ability rival that of the alicorns', both of old and new. It's difficult for you to burn out your horn, but takes longer for you to recover from a burn out as well as lowers all S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attributes by one during a burn out.

Wasteland Challenged - Waking up with little to no knowledge of the Equestrian wasteland will make your journey difficult for you. Skills related to S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attributes (excluding Luck) 5 or under are reduced 5%. This trait allows unique dialogue options. Effect null when you obtain the Wasteland Educated perk.