Chapter 2

We walked during the day and slept through the night till we finally reached our first stop over. Looking through the distance, one could see the faint silhouette of a busy wasteland town, where many major paths converge and where our fist pit stop would be. From my point of view, as we walk through a dirt path and towards the town, I could see a large concrete wall that seemed to surround the town. Its concrete walls seemed to be sturdy and strong and its height could give the defenders and advantage during an attack. It looked as strong as the walls that we had up in the Enclave, which were some sort of specialized cloud that hardens when introduced to chemicals. I would like to explain more about them, but I really don't know much other than that. Bolt told me that the town was known to be a major trading post in the area, where travelers and caravans pass to rest and trade goods. It would be a perfect place to buy equipment, by trading our newly acquired stuff, and find a place to rest. For me, this place was more about the rest, since my body felt sore from sleeping on the cold ground. The thought of sleeping on a bed again seemed nice, even if it wasn't the cloud like beds we had in the Enclave.

We trotted closer and closer with each step, even with the weight of our packs and weariness dragging on us. As we got closer I could see the faint shape of the entrance, which was a large concrete and steel arch that had its two large doors open. I could see the shape of a pony near the entrance and concluded that he was in charge of guarding the gate. But when I saw him asleep on job, I realized that guards may not be needed. If a guard was sleeping on the job, that either meant he was lazy or not much action happens in the area.

Entering the town, I noticed that it was filled with ponies from almost every corner of the wasteland. (Or at least I like to imagine that they were from all over the wasteland.) Ponies of all colors, from earth pony to unicorn, were walking all over town. Shops and inns were filled with ponies, as caravans walked through the streets, heading to places and willing to trade their merchandize. There were so many ponies there that I was starting to worry if we were ever going to find a place to sleep. So as we reached the town center, to see that more ponies walked around, I turned to Bolt with a worried glance.

"You sure there would be space left for us here?" I asked him. But he looked back at me with a confident and cool expression on his face.

"Don't worry…" He said. "…I've been here dozens of times before. No matter how cooped up it looks like, there is always a place to stay in. In fact I'm going to go look for an Inn right now.

I nodded, seeing that he seemed to know what he was doing. At least he looked like he knew. Besides, he has been in the wasteland far longer than I have been, ever since he was born actually, while I have just been here for five days. His experience is something that I won't gain for a long time.

"While I'm at it, why don't you go look for a place to sell some of our stuff." He said. "There are many stores who would pay a lot of battle caps for the scrap metal that we have." He then turned around and started heading towards another direction. But I called out to him, with a questioning look.

"Wait!" I said. "If we split up, then how would we find each other again?" It wasn't that the town was very big, since it seemed like the size of an average Enclave town, but with all its corners and busy areas it would be hard to find somepony through the crowd.

"Easy, we'll just meet up in front of there…" He said, pointing his hoof towards a large three story building, which had many carvings on it, that I assumed was the town hall. "…just before it gets really dark. Now if you excuse me, I have an Inn to find."

I nodded as I watched him trot away, but before he got far he turned his head around and said:

"By the way, I want you to stay out of trouble. You already look suspicious; being an Enclave Pegasus and all, better not attract more attention to yourself."

I growled lightly as I rolled my eyes. Of course he still doesn't trust me to be responsible. What does he think I am a little filly? With those last words in mind, I stomp off, trying to look for a shop that would buy the junk I was carrying with me.

I walked out of the shop with a satisfied look on my face, as each step I took had a gleeful hop. Earlier I had entered the shop and found that the owner didn't want to buy any of the junk we had. But seeing that this was the last shop left, I don't know why the others didn't want to trade, and our last hope in selling the junk, I had to try my best. I should probably stop using the word junk since it makes it sound invaluable. How about merchandise, yeah that would work. Anyways, seeing that he won't buy it, saying that it was a waste of bottle caps, I decided to change my battle tactics. So I used my charm and quick wits to… Oh, who am I kidding, I didn't do that. Instead, I might have used a more aggressive approach, which may or may not involve slamming my hooves on the table and nearly breaking it, to convince him. Before you say that it is basically forcing somepony to buy it, I would like to say that I didn't force him. I just encourage him. Now I know I said I was a peaceful pony, which I truly am, but it doesn't mean I don't know when to use force when needed.

So anyways, I was walking out of the shop, happy with my accomplishment and the saddle bag full of bottle caps, when I suddenly ran into somepony. Somepony I wished I didn't bump into.

I was about to apologize, seeing that I bumped into him (Probably shouldn't walk around with eyes closed in satisfaction.), but was cut off by an angry growl, that made it sound like a dog that was ready to attack and tear you apart.

"Watch where you're going!" It said. "Some of us here ar…" He suddenly stopped when his eyes fell on me, and for a moment I felt shy under his gaze. He stared for a couple of seconds more, making me uncomfortable at both his gaze and the silence we were both it. But he soon broke this silence, when a long hiss escaped his mouth. "You…"

Looking up, I saw a grey earth pony that looked tall and well built. His green eyes looked down at me with tremendous anger, which I assumed was not just because of the bumping earlier. He was breathing heavily, as his breath filled the air in front of him, giving it the scent of beer and other kinds of alcohol that could be ingested. Even though he was a stranger, I couldn't help but feel that he seemed familiar. But from where? I looked at him, trying to figure out why he seemed familiar while at the same time, thinking why he was so angry.

It took me a while to finally realize it, but it soon hit me like bullet. The realization went through my brain as my eyes went wide as I stared at him. Looking at his eyes, with his looking at mine, he could tell that I finally realize who he was. For a moment the anger on his face was replaced by a small grin, as he slowly moved forward. It was him! He was the pony who was in charge of guarding us back in the camp. What was his name? It was…it was…ummm…Golden Shot! That's it Golden Shot! But what was he doing here? Where was his armor and the rest of his armored hooligans?

All this thoughts raced through my mind as I felt fear rip through me. Being somepony who escaped from them, I knew that they won't be happy to see me free and walking around. Especially when I am the one they said had the highest price, remembering the quote of one of their members. So they are most likely angry at me and would do anything to get me back. Seeing the expression of the one in front of me, my theory seemed to be on the right track.

My first reaction would have been to run away as fast as I can and get to Bolt for help. But this idea was soon crushed when he suddenly leaped towards me, causing me to fall, before pinning me on the ground. I let out a short yelp of pain, as it surged through my body. The impact of landing on my back crushed my injured wing, sending the painful stinging sensation all over me. The pain was as intense as the time I got shot, but I tried to control it. With my back to the floor and face staring at him, I could do nothing but be left under his mercy. I couldn't even reach for my gun, which was in my saddle bag.

"Do you know how much trouble you caused me?" He said, as he kept his hooves on my chest, making it really hard to escape. I got to say, this guy is heavy!

I knew that what he asked was a rhetorical question, but I couldn't help but say 'no' seeing that it was the only thing I could do at the moment.

"No, well I'll tell you. Because of your little escape, my group has lost its expensive catch. The boss was outrage and demanded the pony that was in charge of guarding the prisoner, which was me. Seeing that I was drinking on the job and not doing my duty, they kicked me out. Taking my armor and leaving me to fend off for myself. All because of you and your friend." He said as he shifted around, trying to get something from the saddle bag he had.

"But now…" He said as he moved his right hook in front of me, revealing a sharp knife that looked like it could shave a pony clean. Its edges were thin, while the entire knife looked smooth. He hovered it in front of me, making sure that I could see it, before moving it towards my neck. "I'm here for revenge!"

"Please don't…" I pleaded, feeling tears stream down my eyes. The combination of fear and pain was taking its toll on my emotions. I have gotten so far. Having escaped them and survived for five days in the wasteland. To me, this was a great achievement and it was now going to end with a flick of his knife.

"Oh, but I will. I can finally exact my revenge and you could do no…" His sentence was cut off by a loud and commanding voice that came from the side. It echoed around and during that moment, it sounded angelic to me.

"Stop what you are doing and put the knife down!" The voice said. Turning my head towards it, while trying to keep the knife from scrapping my neck, I saw two earth ponies. They both wore helmets and other kinds of barding, while wielding shotguns on their battle saddles. Pointing them at Golden Shot, they moved close so that they could remind him who had the guns. "By the laws of Saddleburg, no pony is allowed to cause fights or hurt another within the walls. Anypony who breaks these laws would immediately be shot." That was when I realized who they were. They were the constables, in charge of keeping order and guarding the place. To think, earlier, I said that this place didn't need any guards. Thank Celestia that I was wrong.

"This is your final warning…" One of the constables said, as he I heard him ready the gun. "…put down the knife and get off of her or be shot."

Golden Shot let out a hiss of annoyance before throwing the knife of to the side, letting it land safely on the ground. When I heard the sound of the metal land on the ground, I let out a sigh of relief. Maybe I wasn't going to die today, I though happily. But when he looked at me with a cross look, I knew that he had more planned in the future.

"This isn't over…" He hissed. "…I will find you again and when I do, you won't be so lucky." Standing up and getting of me, he let out a loud grunt and turned around before trotting of. I just lay there watching him, as he moved away. Deep inside me, I knew that this would lead to something bigger. I don't know when or where I would meet him again, but I knew I will, and when that happens… Let's just say that the images that were running in my head weren't a pretty sight.

I stood near the town hall, waiting for Bolt to return so that he could take me to the Inn he reserved for us. As I stood there, contemplating on how to tell Bolt about the encounter with our former captor, the sight of a large group of ponies gathering towards a building caught my eye. Looking towards it, I noticed that it was a box shaped two story building, which was mostly made out of wood. A long line of ponies (Who had excited look on their faces and were mostly stallions.) were gathered in front, while a guard shuffled them one by one. Above the door a large sign hang saying 'Greedy's Entertainment Bar' while below it, it said: 'Give us the caps and we'll give you the Buck'. I looked at it with a confused look as I studied it with curiosity. Up where I came from, bars were a common sight. But for some reason the one in front of me looked different. The sound of music echoed out of its windows, yet at the same time the faint sound of satisfactory screams escaped from it. This got me really curious about the place.

"Well it looks like you aren't useless after all." The sound of Bolt's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. Looking towards him, I saw that he was already back from the Inn hunt. "Looks like you manage to sell them all."

"Yeah… Yeah…" I said, my words drifting as my attention was still focused on the bar. Bolt seemed to notice this and followed my gaze. As his eyes fall upon the bar, they immediately went wide before looking back at me with a narrowed look.

"You aren't planning to go there are you?" He asked me.

"What do you mean, why?" I asked, even more confused. "Do you think I can't handle my drink? Because I can assure you…" But I was cut off when Bolt waved his hood to dismiss my reply.

"You don't know what that place is, don't you?"

"It's a bar?" I asked hopefully, since to me it looked like a bar.

"Well in a way…" He said. It seemed like he was trying to avoid explaining it to me, but a long stare from my end got him to do it. I didn't know why he was trying to avoid about it in the first place, it's not like there is anything special about the place, is there?

"It's an entertainment bar…" He said flatly. "…a place where a stallion goes in and takes a couple of drinks before picking a mare for his 'entertainment'."

"For his entertain…" My mouth suddenly closed as my cheeks turned into a light red color. I tried to look for a hint of a joke on his face, but saw that he was serious. So that place was for a stallion's entertainment where they use mares to… Well that would explain those pleasured screams at least.

"So they pay for….for entertainments?" I said in disbelief, while Bolt only nodded his head in reply. At the Enclave, there were no such bars like this. In fact, a bar like that would be banned, seeing that the Enclave likes to keep the population controlled, so that supplies won't be over stretched trying to feed a large population. For pegasi up in the Enclave were told to keep a small family. So the thought of Stallions bucking mares for entertainment blew my mind.

"So, the mares allow themselves to…" I couldn't continue the sentence, since the thought of this was still making my head spin in disbelief.

"No…" Bolt said grimly. "…the mares are usually slaves and have no say on this. They are forced to go at it with some stallion, which they may or may not like, and are left to clean themselves up afterwards. It's a dirty business, one that I highly disagree upon. But it keeps the stallion in the town entertained."

The thought of that boiled my blood and made me angry. The thought of mares being forced to do unthinkable things made me feel sad, as my heart filled with sorrow, and angry at the same time. I wanted to barge in there and demand the release of those poor mares that are being forced to make love to somepony they don't know. But seeing the large earth pony guard, who was still shuffling 'guest' in, I knew that a fight, right now, with them is something I won't win. So I decided to do a daring plan instead.

I hid in the shadows, as I snuck myself in the bar. Earlier, during the darkness of the dawn, I left the Inn which we stayed in with the intent of freeing the mares who were being used as slaves. I didn't inform Bolt of my plan, fearing that he wouldn't understand the reason of me doing this or that he would stop me. But this meant that I would have to conduct this all on my own, which would make the task even more difficult. At least it made sneaking around easier, not that it was hard seeing that everypony in the bar was drunk. Including the guard, who lay slumped near the entrance. I'm getting really luck with the fact that every place I'm sneaking in, or out, off always had drunk ponies. Life must not hate me after all, at least not that much.

Walking in the bar, trying to keep my hoof steps as quiet as possible, I could see ponies asleep everywhere. The bar looked like any bar, with bottles gathered up in one corner and tables all over the place. Memorabilia hung on the walls, showing of the achievements of the ponies who survived the wasteland. Drunken stallions who were lying on the ground or on the tables, as their snores echoed inside. The smell of alcohol was strong and I found it quite difficult to breath. It was so strong that match could have lit up the entire place and blow it up to the moon.

Making my way through the large room, I soon found a long hallway the lead towards another section of the building. So I head towards it, careful not to bump somepony and wake them up. Some I trotted gracefully between anypony who blocked my way, avoiding their bodies and keeping as far away as possible. I soon breathe a sigh of relief when I finally reached the hallway, since there weren't any ponies there to block my way. I continued to walk down the hallway till I reached the end, which was a T intersection. In the middle of the intersection, heading straight was a large glass window, which gave a great view of the rest of the town. If I wasn't doing an undercover mission, I would have sat there and enjoyed the beautiful view of the town during night.

Looking towards the left, I could see I gold painted door that was well kept and clean and had a sign saying: 'Mr. Greedy's Room of Wonders'. (I don't even want to know what kind of 'wonders' happen in there.) While looking towards the right, I saw a dirty worn down door, which was rotting from age. Deciding that the old door looked easier to open, seeing that either the lock would be broken from old age or the door easy to knock down because of it rusty screws, I went towards it. Touching the door, I was surprised to see that it swing open from the gentle touch I gave it. Well that seemed easier than I thought. Seeing the door swing open, I stepped inside to see a horrible sight that would forever stay in my mind.

All over the room where mares tired and exhausted from countless of hours of work. They were laid all over the room, while a small matt for each acted as their bed. The room itself was no place for them to stay in, since it was dirty and covered with dust that covered every corner. The foul musky stench of hormones filled the room and I had to wince as it entered my nose. The smell of alcohol was also present, as I noticed the pile of bottles piled over the corner. Those poor ponies, they must have drunk all their pain or sorrow away, hoping that they could escape the terrible reality that way.

One by one they started to wake up as the sound of my hooves entered their ears. At first they gave a terrified look at me and cowered behind, but when they noticed that I wasn't a stallion, their eyes lit up in hope. Maybe it was a good idea not bringing Bolt along, since they were terrified by the sight of a stallion.

But even though they weren't terrified at me anymore, none of them seemed to move up and greet me. Maybe they were in disbelief or just confused and don't know what to do. So I knew that I had to conduct the first move, before somepony from the bar wakes up and notice us. I'm still surprised that I got this far without anypony noticing me.

"Listen, I know that this may sound unbelievable, but I'm here to help you all." I told them, with the most confident voice I could muster. Even though I wasn't at all that confident that I could get them all out of this place.

"H…help us?" One of them said, with a weak and weary voice.

"Yes, now follow me if you want to get out of this horrible place." I said as I motioned for them to get out of the room by waving my hoof towards the corridor. At first they didn't move, not sure if they should trust me or not. Nut soon, one by one thy filed out of the room and onto the hallway. I counted each one, as they left, and ended up with the number twenty. I then asked them if they were other mares in the building, they responded with a 'no'. I was actually glad to hear that, since I didn't know how else I'm going to find a mare that is hidden somewhere in the building.

Moving through the group of mares, I started to lead the way to their escape. I knew that I couldn't bring them out through the main entrance, since it would make too much noise. Added to the fact that most of the stallion, who could wake up anytime and find a bunch of mares escaping, where there it made the main entrance a terrible escape route. So I decided to look for another exit.

As we reached the T intersection, I noticed the large glass window once more. That's when I got the idea. The window looked big enough to fit a pony, and it lead outside where not much ponies could see them. Since it was still early, and dark, they could escape and hide, while giving anypony who searched for them a hard time.

So I headed towards the window and tried to push it open. It was sealed tightly and proved difficult to open, as I poured all my strength to fulfill the task. But no matter how I tried it just wouldn't open. I felt my heart sink at that, as I had no other escape route planned out. Looking down at the ground, I was ready to give up. But that's when I notice one of the mares move towards me.

"Umm…excuse me, but I think you pull the window up not push it. She pointed out.

Looking towards the window, I notice that the window was indeed supposed to be pulled up. Slamming my hoof on my face, making a loud slapping sound, I let out a long sight. I can really be stupid sometimes…

Bringing my hooves towards the window again, I pulled it up, opening it and letting the cold freezing wind come in. I shivered as it made contact with my skin, but shook the feeling off. There were far more important things to worry about, other than the cold wind.

"Alright, go and get out as fast as you can. I can't help you anymore once you get out, but I suggest finding a place to hide. If any of you are planning to get out of town, I suggest you gather some supplies first. " They seemed to understand it well, as they nodded quickly.

They all soon gathered at the window, as one-by-one they jumped out to freedom. I actually felt proud of myself as my heart pumped in joy at the sight I saw. I was helping them. Helping them enjoy freedom, from what looked like years of slavery. Now they wouldn't have to endure the terrible happening of this place. Now they were free to do what they want, without anyone controlling them.

As the last mare stood at the window, ready to jump out, she looked at me with a thankful expression plastered on her face. I looked at her eyes, as hers looked at mine, and noticed that there were tears streaming down them.

"Thank you… Thank you…" Was all she said as she sobbed, before she jumped out towards freedom. This was a moment that I would never forget, not because of its horrors but because of the feeling joy. The joy of knowing that I had helped them have a better future in a better place.

Moving towards the window, I prepared myself to jump out and return to the Inn, when the golden door to my left. I didn't know why, but at that moment my body froze. I know that I should have jumped out, but my body somehow did not permit it, leaving my on the edge of the window and staring towards the door. It slowly creaked open before it revealed a green unicorn with blue eyes. Looking towards his cutie mark, I saw the image of bottle caps. Remembering the sign on the door, I concluded that he must have been Mr. Greedy, I noted that his cutie mark suited him.

He looked towards the opposite door, where the mares escaped from, before looking towards me at the window ledge. His face was natural at first, but when he realized the situation, it soon changed to anger. He then raced towards me, at full speed, as he shouted at the top of his lungs. "Hey wait! Stop!" I was pretty sure that it was enough to wake everypony inside the building, but I wasn't going to stick around and find out. So I jumped out and landed on the ground before racing off. I could hear him call for me through the window, but I ignored him.

I know that this was going to cause some consequences later, but at the moment I didn't care. All I cared about, during that time, was the fact I saved the mares. I gave them another chance at life, to live the life they wanted. Since everypony deserves a second chance, no matter whom they are or what they have done. But I would later learn, though my journeys, that it wasn't always the case.