Sharp Eye Chapter 1

Sharp Eye: Chapter 1

By: Knight-of-Luna



Light filled my eyes as I lazily rolled over on the dirty mattress I was laying on. For a moment things seemed peaceful as I buried my head in my pillow but suddenly realization struck me. My eyes went wide as I pulled my revolver from its foreleg holster and scanned the room. My EFS came up and I checked the compass for any red flares. Finding none I breathed a little sigh of relief around the mouth bite of my revolver. I reholstered the weapon and looked around. I was still in the same little office I now called home. It was small and a little cramped but suited my needs fine. I was on the fifth floor of what had once been a private office before the war. I had found this little hideout completely by accident. I had been flying and had ducked in here to get out of the rain one night and after finding the only way in was a small hole I decided to set up shop. There are few other pegasi in the Capital Wasteland so it would be extremely difficult for anyone to get up here.

When I had found the place there had been a desk, an old office chair, a terminal, a small safe, two filing cabinets, and some miscellaneous garbage. There was a small window overlooking the city below and I had pushed the desk up against it and stacked a filing cabinet on each side to make myself a little sniper position just incase I had to defend myself. Over the course of a year I had dragged enough stuff up here to cozy it up. My mattress sat on the floor in the back right corner of the room just opposite the window. I had begun stockpiling everything I found useful and even a few decorations along the way. I had a model airship hanging from the ceiling and a few tanks and boats on the two wooden shelves that hung above my bed. There was also an assortment of pre war posters and pictures plastering the walls  and a few strings of Christmas lights strung up across the ceiling. Surprisingly the building still had somewhat reliable power so I was able to run the lights, terminal, and my little radio with no problem.

I stretched out and quietly went to the window. Pulling aside the curtains and moved one of the boards a little to find it was still dark but the rumble in my stomach said it was breakfast. I stumbled into the little hallway that connected the only three accessible rooms on this floor. The office directly behind my room I used for food storage, a little workshop, and a place to cook. I had jury rigged an electric stove powered out of a working outlet. It wasn’t pretty and I was always worrying it would catch fire but so far it had worked. Opening a crate I found two cans of beans and cut them open with my knife. I flipped the switch on my little stove and the two bent metal coils began to glow a soft orange like the highlights of my mane. I carefully set the two cans down and waited for them to cook. While I waited I turned to the desk that I had pushed up against the wall. Atop it was my disassembled bolt action rifle. I had been working on it for a couple days trying to make it a little easier to carry. With one last cautionary look at my stove I went across the hall to the only other surviving room, the janitors closet. I kept all of my extra building materials and all the broken weapons I kept for parts. I grabbed an old bolt action firing mechanism, a role of duct tape, and a role of nylon cord and walked back to my little workshop.

Thankfully my stove hadn't caught fire while I was gone so I set to work on my rifle. I pulled the heavy screws out of the broken rifle's mechanism and then went to work getting the spring out of the internal magazine. After getting it out I dug in the desk draw for a screwdriver to fit the screws I had salvaged and began screwing them into the bottom of the stock and fore grip of my rifle. I then cut two sections and began weaving myself a sling. I used the spring and the magazine housing from the broken rifle to make a buckle I could adjust and attached it to the rifle. I slung it over myself to test the fit. I was able to hit the buckle and it would drop low enough for me to scoop up the mouth piece and get it on my shoulder but was still strong enough to hold the rifle when I let go of the mouthpiece. With a simple pull of the end of the sling it tightened right back up under my wing and stayed out of the way. Satisfied with my work for now I sat by the stove and checked my food. Little wisps of steam were coming from the tops of the cans so I shut of the stove and carefully lifted them off. Digging in a small metal tub I pulled out a clean bowel and spoon. I dumped the contents of the two cans into the bowel before throwing the cans into a makeshift garbage can.

Clenching the end of the bowel in my mouth I trotted back to my room and laid back down. I sat there eating in the early morning silence bathed in multicolored lights. I checked to make sure the section of wall I had pushed up against the hole was still there and secure. It looks like the piece that was originally blown out but it didn’t fit back in all the way. I had rigged it on old door hinges and used rebar to lock it in place. It wasn’t the most secure thing ever but it looked like just another collapsed wall and wouldn’t draw attention five floors up. I reached over and pulled my saddle bags up and rummaged through them until I found a book, a DC Journal of Medicine, and continued reading from where I had left off the day before. This copy was on how to mend broken bones. While I knew the basics it was a little more comforting knowing the right way to do things when it came to fixing myself up. Medical supplies and ammo were the two things I was constantly low on and I knew I would have to make another run to town.

A little to the north was a little town called JunkDoor populated by about thirty ponies. It was a nice enough little place nestled in an old little shopping center. The existing buildings made a U shape with a parking lot in the center. The citizens had built up a wall to close it off out of old cars and junk they managed to stack up and fortify. They were good ponies and had always been friendly to me so I tried to help them how I could. The leader of the group, a big blue buck named Lance, had even offered me a place to stay their but I had turned him down. I knew my wings made me valuable but I didn’t want to stay near such a populated area. I knew raiders occasionally attacked the town and I knew one day they would probably find a way in or get bigger guns and wipe the small town out. Some call me antisocial but honestly I'm just a bit paranoid. I'm always waiting for the next attack or the next big raider gang to go out on a murder spree like they tend to do at complete random. I swear those damn ponies get enjoyment out of raping and killing innocent folk. They sicken me and whenever I have a chance to kill a small group away from my house I always try to. Only good thing about them is that they are usually carrying chems which tend to sell for a good amount in comparison to their weight. Out here it was a constant battle of how much you could carry to how much what your carrying is actually worth. I have so far managed to get a little fortune going up here so I felt a little safe but I always looted where I could.

I finished my beans and stood back up. Looking at the PipBuck strapped to my left foreleg and remembered today was Sunday and that meant I needed to take inventory on my stock. I thought for a minute about the little computer strapped to my arm and my thoughts drifted to my father. This was one of the only things he had been able to leave me and I couldn't argue with its usefulness out here. He had told me my grandfather was one of the ponies who had fought in the Great War and that he had gotten it from him. It was a bit clunky and a little heavy but you ended up getting use to the weight. It took a special wrench to take it off so I always had to worry about loosing the little thing. Not many other ponies had PipBucks so when I need it fixed I usually have to fly all the way to Friendship City. Friendship City was one of the safest places in the Wasteland and ponies were constantly flocking to it for protection. The city was set up on a pre war monument which still had many of its defensive guns working from wartime. The place was heavily fortified and the only access to the island was a retractable bridge that only operated from one side. I was one of the few who was actually able to get to the city when the bridge was retracted. The place had become so prosperous their market was considered the best in the Wasteland and it was a good place to sell off a good score.

I trotted back into my kitchen and tossed my plate back into the washtub I had pulled it from and promised myself I would clean it later. I started pulling boxes out of their stacks and checking through them. I had enough food to last me at least another two or three months so I put that at the bottom of my scavenging list. Restacking the food crates I moved on the water. I had two crates of bottled water for drinking and my small storage tank was only at half full. The water in the tank wasn't clean enough to drink in anything but emergencies but I used it to wash dishes and take small showers. I know it may seem like a waste but I liked being somewhat clean and I could always siphon more water out of the pipes running across the ceiling of the janitors closet. It was slightly irradiated but there wasn't anything floating in it yet so it was good enough. I put the two crates of water back in their place and moved on to the luxury items I had. I had a crate mostly full of Sparkle Cola and Fancy Buck snack cakes. They were one of my guilty little pleasures and I would only eat them on special occasions. I closed that crate and stuck it to the side before moving to the last one. Opening the lid I found myself looking at a collection of thin bottles filled with amber liquid. Smiling I pulled one out and bit the cork out. With a swing of my head I took a long swig off the bottle before setting it down on my desk.

"I really should stop drinking." I muttered to myself as warmth spread through my body.

Whiskey had always been a close friend of mine and I had used it to get through a lot of hard times. It was also something that had almost destroyed me. After my fathers death I had slumped into a deep depression and had drank myself into a stooper. It took me a good month to recover and I was never really the same afterwards. I had always had problems trusting other ponies but after that I lost almost all faith in others. I had stopped drinking for a time but had went back to it at a safer recreational level. I closed and tucked that box away in the back corner and moved on to medical supplies. I had four metal first aid kits and one by one I went through them. The first was packed with radiation supplies and I had enough there to hold me over a little while. The second was full of healing potions. I rarely used them so I had a good little stock of them and felt comfortable with how many I had. The third box was filled with bandages, medical braces, and other basic medical equipment. There was a good bit here but I knew I could always use more healing bandages to I put it on my list. The last I scooped up and brought back into my room. I knew it was full of drugs and chems that I refused to use so I tucked the box into my saddlebags to sell when I got to town. I saw what chems did to raiders and I wanted nothing to do with it so I always just packed them away and sold them.

I  started going through the ammo boxes I had in my room to see if I need anything. I only had about fifty rounds for my .45 revolver so I wanted to get more of that. I had about one hundred twenty rounds of .308 for my bolt action so I but that towards the bottom of my shopping list. I also had an assortment of other ammo that I didn't use but I never sold it just incase I found a good gun that needed it. Going through it I found I had a good bit of pistol ammo, a small amount of high caliper rounds for some type of sniper rifle I had never seen, a box of 12 gauge shotgun shells, and some 5.56 rounds for an assault rifle. At the very bottom of the box I even had a couple energy cells for a laser pistol but I had no use for them.

Satisfied with that I went to my little terminal and logged in. I kept it locked even though I knew I was the only one who can get up here but it helped put my mind at ease. After inputting my password  the terminal opened up and gave me full access. There were a few text files in there from the previous owner but most of the terminals memory was taken up by my journal. I never really knew why I felt the need to write about my life but I always had. I guess it was just a way for me to get all my feelings out when I had no one to talk to. Pushing the thought from my mind I scrolled down to the bottom and disengaged the locks to the safe next to me. Pulling it open I looked at my little fortune; one thousand three hundred bottle caps. It wasn't a lot of money but it was enough to get me through rough times. Also inside the safe was a 10mm pistol, about 60 rounds of ammo, and a blue crystal with a leather cord around it. I pulled the crystal necklace out looked at it.  It had been given to my mother by my father many years before I was born and when I was old enough to go off on my own she had given it to me. She always said it matched my eyes and she would always cry when she tried to tell me how I wasn't meant for this world. Sadly I placed it back down and grabbed a little tin marked three hundred and tucked it into my saddlebags.

Closing the safe I went through my saddlebag to see what I had. I always kept a few healing bandages and some healing potions in there just in case. I packed an extra box of rifle and pistol ammo inside with the first aid box and tin full of caps. I trotted back to the kitchen area and went to my work bench. I grabbed a 9mm sub machinegun I had rebuilt and refurbished to a pretty good working condition. Going back to my room I tucked it into my bag to sell at JunkDoor. I checked my PipBuck and found it was only six o'clock so I settled back down on my bed and flipped on my little radio. There was a moment of static before DJ Pon3's voice came through the speakers.

"Good morning Capital Wasteland! This is DJ Pon3 here to wake you up and dull the pain of another morning. We got a lot of news today but first lets get a little music goin' to wake everypony up. Here's Sweetie Belle singing The Dark Days Are Over to remind all of you there still might be something good out there."

Soft music began to play through the little speakers and a mares voice began to sing. It was a happy tone that gave me a sense of peace at I laid there. It was nice to hear a mare sing so sweetly in a world so destroyed and terrible. I knew the songs DJ Pon3 played were just recordings from a long dead pony but it was so vivid it seemed like she was singing it live. I let myself relax and take another pull off the whiskey bottle before returning to my book. It was amazing how little literature still remained in the Capital Wasteland. I would buy or borrow every book I could find but there were so few I often ran out of things to read. I had a small collection stacked next to my mattress, most of which being technical and medical books, that I had read through at least three times. I had learned a good bit from them but by now I knew all they could teach me. I sat there listening to the radio and reading for another two hours before closing my book and getting ready to go.

I pulled my old brown jacket on and re-strapped my revolver holster over it. I drew out the revolver and bit down on the button to drop the cylinder and with one eye checked all the slots were loaded. Satisfied I flicked the cylinder closed and strapped it back into its holster. I grabbed my bandolier and slung it over myself before doing the same with my rifle. After settling my saddlebags over my back and slipping my wings through the straps I trotted over to the window and looked out. Scanning the surrounding buildings and the street below me I found there was no one who would be able to see me exit my little home. Pulling my black cowpony hat on I went to my makeshift door and pulled away the rebar brace and pulled it open. I carefully stepped out on the little ledge left by the hole and pulled the debris back into the hole.

I turned away from the building and took a deep breath. Confidently I spread my wings and jumped. I fell two stories before enough air caught under my wings and I started to glide. I gave my wings a few hard flaps to get higher and began soaring over the buildings well out of easy range of raiders. While they could still hit me their aim was so bad it would take a lot of luck at this height. I started flying north towards JunkDoor and figured it would take me about fifteen minutes to get there.

As I flew I looked over the broken and destroyed city that had once been at the center of the nation. Manehattan had been a major production center during the war and had been hit with a megaspell so most of it was in ruin. I was on the outskirts of the city so it wasn’t as irradiated and destroyed as the center but the area was still pretty bad. Stretching out all around me were collapsed and damaged buildings that had once been home to thousands of ponies. Now there were only a few trails of smoke signaling that some life still clung to this broken land. As I flew I saw a small group of what looked like traders strolling towards JunkDoor. One of them spotted me and raised a rifle but after realizing I wasn't attacking them quickly lowered it and gave a friendly wave. I gave a friendly and understanding nod and kept flying. I didn't like having weapons pointed at me but I understood their caution. At least with a pony on the ground you could get to cover if they attacked you but with a pegasus there were few places to run. It was common practice in the Wasteland to get a gun on someone before trying to talk to them out of fear and distrust more than anything.

I could see JunkDoor in the distance and small smoke trails rose into the early morning sky. I could see a small group of ponies on the roof tops patrolling and watching for trouble. One of them spotted me and a few rifle barrels came up in my direction. I stopped a hundred yards from the front gate and flew two large circles. This was a sign I had worked out with the town guards so they knew it was me and after completing the second circle they relaxed and a unicorn buck waved me over. I recognized him as the commander as I flew up. He was a well mannered but a little rough around the edges.

"Mornin Brewer." I said as I landed near the tan buck.

"Mornin Sharp." He said with a nod. "What brings you this way?"

"Just got some stuff to sell and I could use some more ammo." I replied casually.

"Well everypony is just opening up now. I'm sure they'll be happy to help ya." He said still keeping his eyes on the horizon.

"I'll go talk to them. Have a good one Brewer." I said with a tip of my hat.

"You too Sharp. Stay safe." He replied as I walked down the stairs towards ground level.

The market here was small but had all the essentials  you could ever want. You could find all your basic supplies and equipment here and have a lot of your existing stuff fixed up to working condition. I trotted up to the third stall on the left and sat there waiting for Lilly to come back outside. She was a pretty blue mare who was about six inches shorter then me. Her coat was such a light blue it was almost white and it always amazed me how she kept it clean. She had a young green colt that she said looked exactly like his father. Sadly the little unicorn would never get the chance to meet his father. Lilly told me he had been killed by raiders while she had been pregnant and she had been on her own since then. I had always felt bad for her and her son but she always tried to be happy and upbeat. She was polite and had always treated me nicely so I preferred to do business with her. A couple minutes went by before I saw her pop out of the little building she called home. Seeing me she dropped the basket the was carrying and trotted over.

"Mornin Sharp." She said warmly. "How are you today?"

"Alright ma'am. Yourself?" I replied with a smile and a tip of my black hat.

"I'm doing good. I haven't seen you in a while." She said a little concerned as she brushed a line of light blue mane out of her eyes.

"Ya, I found a good bit of food so I didn't need to restock last week." I explained.

"Well I'm glad you're alright." She replied with a smile.

"How's your son?" I asked her.

"He's doing good. Just turned six last Tuesday." She replied with a smile.

"Wow, six already? Next Saturday is my birthday." I said with a small laugh.

"Really? You never told me that." Lilly said happily. "How old you turning?"

"Twenty five." I admitted.

"Well you're close to me. I turn twenty six in a few months." She said.

"I'll keep that in mind." I said with a smile.

"So what can I help you with today?" She asked.

"Well I got more chems I pulled off some raiders and this 9mm I rebuilt." I said placing what I had on her little table.

"Well I'll give you the standard rate for these." She said emptying the small vials, inhalers, and bottles of pills out of the small medical box with her soft blue magic. "And as for this I can offer you one hundred fifty caps."

I knew the sub machinegun was worth about two hundred and fifty caps but it would have to pass through a couple hooves before it found a new owner and everypony along the way would want their share of the profit. I figured she would probably sell it for two hundred so I figured she was giving me a good price on it.

"I can do that." I said with a little nod. "Got any .308 or .45 ammo?"

She looked under her table and dragged out a small ammo box with her telekinetic grip. Opening it she pulled out two little boxes and set them on the table. She opened them and counted out how many rounds were in each.

"Well I got twenty three .308 and forty one .45 rounds. You want them?" she asked.

"Ya, any good water you're willing to part with?" I asked.

She looked under her stall and pulled out two bottles.

"Sorry its not more but I have another mouth to feed." She apologized.

"It's not a problem. I keep a little on hoof just in case anyway." I told her.

"Anything else you need?" She asked.

"Find anything that might interest me? Any books?" I asked.

"Well I have a fully charged spark battery. Could bring power to wherever it is you're living." She offered.

"Well the place I'm at still has a little power but getting a backup going wouldn’t hurt. How much?" I asked.

"Well I was asking sixty but for you I'll do fifty." She said.

"Well then I might as well. Never know when I'll need it." I said.

"And as for books." She trailed off looking through her stall. "I don't think I have any here."

"Damn, almost done with the one I'm on now." I said sadly.

"I've known you over a year now and I never knew you were an avid reader." She said curiously.

"Well I am. Got a small stack of books back home." I told her.

"Well I don’t have any books to sell you but if you're willing I can lend you some of mine." She told me.

"I would appreciate that. If you want I could lend you some from my collection too." I offered.

"Sure. I'm always looking for a good read. Wait right here." She said before trotting back inside and emerging a moment later with two books levitated next to her. "I have an electronics book and an adventure novel I just finished."

"I'll take both. My next trip over I'll bring you some of mine." I promised as I tucked the books in my saddlebags.

"Take your time. I know you'll be back." She said happily. "So lets figure out what I owe you."

After making a few mental calculations she said. "If my math is right I owe you twenty three caps."

I though for a moment and agreed. She dug under her stall an passed me the caps I was owed and tucked away the things she had just bought from me. I tucked all my belongings into my saddlebags and slipped the caps into my little tin.

"Well I'm going to go check with the doctor if he has any radiation supplies. I could use some more." I told her.

"Alright. Well hopefully I'll be seeing you soon." She said. "Take care of yourself out there Sharp."

"I will. You take care of that little colt." I said with a smile.

"He's all I worry about." She said happily as I walked towards the doctor stall.

I ended up buying two healing bandages from the doctor for sixty caps and browsed through the market for a little while. I got myself a little snack while I was there and sat at a vacant table eating when I heard the main gate opening. Looking up from my bowl of noodles to see the group of trader I had seen earlier stumble in. They talked with the guards for a minute before heading into the market. The one who had pointed his rifle at me earlier saw me and carefully made his way over.

"Sorry about earlier. I was just worried about my family and ya caught me off guard." He apologized.

"Don't worry about it. I'm use to it." I said understandingly.

"Thanks. If you're interested in buyin anything you can talk to me or my wife." He told me.

"Well it depends on what you have. Everypony needs something." I said pointing at the bench across from me.

Sitting down across from be he pushed me one of his saddlebags. "Anything in there. My wife and brother are carrying more."

Taking it carefully I rummaged through it looking for anything interesting. At the bottom I found a book and pulled it out. Looking at the cover I saw it was a book on gun maintenance. I set it on the table and passed the buck his saddlebag back.

"Anything else you think I could use?" I asked him.

"Wait right here." He said and trotted into the market.

He returned a moment later with a yellow unicorn who greeted me and passed me his saddlebag. Looking through it I found an old battle saddle rig. It wasn't equipped with any weapons but I could see all the pieces were there. It was in rough shape and I could see it was a salvaged rig but I knew I could make it work.

"How much for the two of these?" I asked setting it next to the book.

"For those two I would say three hundred caps. Battle saddles are getting hard to come by." The merchant replied.

"Yes but this one isn't in good shape by any means. It'll take a lot of work and money to get this thing working and armed." I replied. "What about a hundred and fifty?"

"Two hundred." He barganned.

"One hundred seventy five." I offered.

"Alright. I can do that." The other buck said giving in.

I counted out his caps and tucked away my new stuff. After our business was done he disappeared back into the market with his brother. I finished my food and was about to leave when I heard somepony calling for me. Turning I saw Lilly trotting over.

"Hold up a minute Sharp." She said running up to me.

"What's up?" I asked a little concerned.

"I got something for you." She said and dug a small cardboard box out of her saddlebags.

She placed it on the table in front of me with a smile. Looking inside I found four Fancy Buck snack cakes and a Sparkle Cola.

"I know you love those things so I figured you would enjoy them on your birthday." She said happily.

"Thanks Lilly. You didn't have to do this." I said a little choked up at the kindness.

Out here kindness was such a rarity something like this was overwhelming. I got up and walked around the table.

"You really didn’t have to do this." I said giving her a small hug.

She threw both her hooves around my neck and gave me a little squeeze.

"No problem Sharp. It's nothing big." She said with a bright smile.

Releasing her I tucked her little gift into my bag. We said our goodbyes and she went back into the market to tend her stall. Glancing at my PipBuck I found it was already eleven o'clock and I decided to start heading back home. I climbed back up the staircase and waved off to the guards before flying towards home.

It took me fifteen minutes to reach my building and I carefully slipped inside. I drew my revolver and pulled up my EFS just to make sure no unwanted guests had dropped in while I was away. My EFS showed no activity but I did a quick walkthrough just in case. I knew it was silly to do a manual check when my EFS wasn't showing anything but I had always learned it was best not to rely to heavily on technology. Settling down in my bed I began to unload my bags and started sorting through my new things. I took my three new books and laid them next to the existing stack I had and decided to read the electronics book first. I began packing the ammo, food, and water away save for a Fancy Buck snack cake I left by my bed for later. After packing everything away I grabbed the battle saddle rig I had just bought and set it on my makeshift workbench. I started disassembling it into its main sections and ended up with four main parts; the harness, gun racks, reloaders, and the mouth piece. Pulling the harness over myself I found it was a little big and would need some patching up but it was otherwise ok. Pulling it back off I decided to start with the mouth piece. It had a few different buttons you could bite down on to fire, reload, switch guns, or turn the safety on. The bit was dirty and there was no way I was putting that in my mouth anytime soon. I carefully began taking it apart piece by piece until it was down to bare circuit boards.

Looking at it I wondered how nice it must be to be a unicorn and able to float things around and manipulate suck small objects; us pegasus were stuck with mouth tweezers and bench clamps. I could use my wings to help me work but there was no real holding strength and they were extremely sensitive so their use was limited. I spent three hours cleaning it and trying to get all the small pieces working but it was a slow and frustrating process. I had to use some whiskey to disinfect the bit so I could put it in my mouth and test all the buttons. After moving my bite strength around and hitting all the buttons I was satisfied it would work and began cleaning the supporting rods that connected it to the harness.

I glanced at by PipBuck and found it to be two forty seven and decided to take a break. I strolled back into my room and began to undress and get comfortable. Taking my cowpony hat, jacked, and bandolier off I felt a little more comfortable but I decided to keep my revolver strapped to my right foreleg. I settled down on my mattress and picked up my DC Journal of Medicine and started to finish it up. I decided I would give this to Lilly first in the hopes it would prove useful. I figured that little colt would be going on all sorts of little adventures around town and was bound to break a few bones exploring. I laughed a little at the thought of him running around and pretending to be a hero from one of those pre war comic books I had loved so much as a child. I started to let my mind drift back to my childhood but after a moment I clenched my eyes shut as a tear ran down my cheek. Reaching over I found my bottle of whiskey and took a long swig to kill away the memory. It was still to painful to remember all that.

Clearing my mind I focused on the book and forced everything else out. I read for a few hours until I felt a small rumble in my belly. One of the downsides of being a pegasus was having a high metabolism and needing to eat more then the other species.  This is one of the reasons most pegasus who had been on the surface when the clouds were closed had died. Another big drawback was our skeletons seeing as they were weaker. We had evolved to have lighter, less dense bones so we could fly easily but they were easily broken and took longer to heal.

Strolling into my kitchen I decided to grab the spark battery I had just bought and see if I could rig my little stove to run off that. After about fifteen minutes at the work bench I had it working pretty reliably. I carried it back into my room along with a small pot, bottle of water, and a box of mac & cheese. Setting it all to cook I settled back into bed and enjoyed a warmth I had never been able to have in here. The little office quickly warmed up and felt more comfortable than usual.

I lay there and read while by food cooked and basked in the heat given off by the little stove. Winter was on its way and I had a feeling it would be a bad one this year. As I added the noodles to the boiling water I couldn't help but worry this might be my last winter. I wished there was somepony here with me to reassure me but I knew there would never be. Ponies didn’t like me and after what happened to my parents I didn't know if I could ever trust somepony else again. Shoving the thought from my mind I went back to cooking and tried to think of other things but it always went back to loneliness. I wished I had somepony who would just care about me and my thoughts drifted to Lilly. So far she was the only pony who ever showed the slightest sign of care for me but I shook my head figuring it was just in her personality to be really friendly. I sat there sadly and stirred the cheese powder into my noodles after draining out the boiling water. The water I left out to cool so I could drink it later and I flipped off my little stove. Worried about it shorting out or powering back up I disconnected the battery and set it to one side before starting to eat. Half way through the pot I finished reading and tucked the book in my saddlebag to give to Lilly.

I flipped on the radio next to me to enjoy some music while I ate. As I flipped it on I heard static for a moment but it found the signal and soft violin spilled through the speakers. I found myself softly swaying to the melody and absorbed into it. Suddenly it seemed to dim a little and get quieter. Opening my eyes I started looking over the radio to see what was wrong. Listening carefully I realized the left speaker had finally burned out and stopped working. I had jury rigged it twice before and it had finally given out. A little sad now I shut the radio off and disconnected the speaker. I now had to make an early trip to JunkDoor but I figured it would be good for me to get out more. I settled back down and thought about using the radio in my PipBuck. I rarely used it because the speakers weren't too good but it would work. I decided against it and made a mental note to search for a new speaker for the radio and possibly a new ear bloom for my PipBuck. My previous one had been lost when I was flying over Fillydelphia and getting shot up by raiders. Anything PipBuck or Stable related was rare and expensive so finding a new one was unlikely. Remembering the money I had spent that day I dug into my saddlebag and pulled out the tin of caps. After counting them out I frowned realizing I only had eighty eight left from the three hundred I had took that day. Opening my safe I tucked the caps away and locked it again.

I was worried on how I was going to survive winter on just one thousand and eighty eight caps. I had enough food for a month or so but I would need a lot more to get through winter. I knew I would need to go scavenging again and I needed to find a good location that would be relatively untouched by others. This meant high places or places that are inaccessible to others. I had been scoping out the police station early last month but I hadn't had time to go back. It had looked like the third floor had collapsed into the second so I had wondered if the top three floors had ever been looted. I set my mind to it and decided I would do that tomorrow morning early before most others were up. I set an alarm on my PipBuck for four AM and decided to settle in for the night and read myself to sleep. Picking up the electronics book Lilly had lent me I began to read and at around eight thirty settled in for another night and prayed to Luna I would wake up safe in the morning.