Traveling in the Wasteland wasn't Romt's favorite thing to do. The trots were long, usually hot, and all he ever got out of it was one night's rest in a town before doing it again to the next town where help was possibly needed. He wasn't overly bothered by it, but over time it had gotten less special and more tedious. Especially when the critters came out to play, looking to stab, bite, and claw him to death by any means necessary. Most of the wild life in the Wasteland wasn't that bad, but occasionally you ran into something nasty that was more persistent in it's goal of ensuring your death. When Romt thought about it, that was how his race used to be seen as entirely. Nasty, terrifying beasts that wanted nothing more than to kill ponies. They weren't like that now... Well, mostly. There were still hounds that attacked ponies, but slowly they have began thinning out. Romt didn't like the idea of his brethren dying, but knew that they brought it upon themselves by being stubborn. Stuck in their ways, which sadly were negative ones that would lead them down a path of destruction. There weren't many Hellhounds as it was, and having some throw their lives away fighting ponies because of what happened during the war was, without a more polite way to put it, stupid. It would probably take awhile for the Hellhound race to have a fair population, but eventually they would be more stable and be able to possibly make more settlements. It'd all aid in the rebuilding of civilization, though it'd take time. Thankfully they were nowhere short of time, so they'd be able to work through the process, even if it was slow. Everything would eventually be alright; That was the thought that kept a lot of ponies going, instead of just surrendering to the madness of the Wasteland. It was a positive thought, one that was true, as well. Slowly the world was piecing together, though Romt feared danger would always exist. There'd be no changing that. But they could always fight it back, protecting those who can't quite protect themselves. Ponies, and others, with good, honest hearts. As long as they existed, there was a chance of the world making a turn for the better. Of course, even heroes fall. It was just the nature of ponies in this day and age; Certain things could just have a slow, but life-changing effect that'd lead to a once respectable individual becoming just another bandit, preying off ponies they came across. It was depressing, but that didn't change that it was a fact. A fact that, no matter how hard they tried, was not going away. "You're real quiet." Freya's words caused Romt to look down at her, noting she seemed to be content. There was a small smile on her face as she kept focused on the path ahead. The attempt at conversation caused Romt to think for a moment about how much time he spent just thinking. There wasn't much else to usually do during his travels, and being loud wasn't ideal unless he wanted to attract trouble, so it just came naturally for him to keep quiet. Slowly drifting his gaze elsewhere, Romt eyed nothing too out of the ordinary. Dead plants, dirt, rocks... When he thought about it, the Wasteland certainly was a plain-looking place at times. Could perhaps use a little more color... "Sorry. I tend to think to myself a lot." He explained briefly, continuing to look around, his eyes sharp and focused on any possible dangers. Though for the moment they seemed safe, he wasn't going to let his guard down for a long period of time. The Wasteland was unforgiving for those who did. "Oh, really?" Freya sounded intrigued, eyeing him curiously. "What about?" "A little bit of everything," Romt answered. "Mostly about Work... Survival... Home." He worried somewhat about Ponyville at times. The hounds would be fine, generally, but occasionally ponies that hated their guts came along. Made trouble. It was problematic, but he figured after awhile they'd be too scared to come along. The killing looked bad for them at times, though. Even if it was in self-defense, it served as a reason to be disliked by outside sources, as well as a bit of fuel for the fire of shunning ponies. Thankfully the elders were smart enough to not let those groups get inside their heads, which in turn kept the other hounds in line. "What's that Hellhound Sanctuary like? I've heard about it, but I haven't really ever thought of going there." Freya wasn't exactly comfortable with the thought of being surrounded by Hellhounds, even if they were more peaceful than the murderous ones she'd heard of. She was surprised ponies had the guts to go in there with their caravans and sell their wares. When she really thought about it, though... It was possibly more impressive they had the caps to spend. Considering Romt being out and about though, maybe it wasn't too impressive. There were surely more like him that went around, and probably brought caps and supplies back for Ponyville. "We aren't that different from other settlements, honestly. We trade whatever we manage to collect and scavenge to ponies, And offer our repair services to those who need it. We don't have as many talents as you ponies do, though we are slowly expanding and learning more from those who pass through." Romt wondered if they could one day be as varied as the ponies, but doubted it in his mind. No matter what the task was, there was always a pony that could get it done. It was impressive, in Romt's opinion. "I see..." Freya nodded, taking note of what he said. Thinking to herself about the subject of how well put-together they actually were. She didn't think it could be going too well, but she also knew that she'd been wrong on more than one occasion. It'd be for the best to avoid the place as long as this uncertainty remained in her mind. Which, by her own guess, would be for quite some time. She "Well, I might have to visit the town sometime. Get some of my gear repaired. Maybe a little shopping, too-" Before she could continue speaking, she was stopped as Romt put one of his arms in her path, his ears perked as he looked around. Freya looked up at him with an eyebrow raised at the sudden pause. "Somethin' wrong...?" She questioned, and after a moment, Romt nodded. "I think I heard something. Think it's over the slope there..." Romt gestured ahead, Freya cautiously following his hand and looking at the small slope. She listened carefully, and could faintly hear something. It sounded like chatter, but she wasn't absolutely sure. "What do you suggest?" She asked, and Romt lowered his arm, his hand keeping close to his revolver. "I suggest we take caution. In case there are ponies who won't take too kindly to our presence." Freya smirked. "Got it. Let's see if we can't get the jump on them, eh?" "Right. Dispose of them if they are a threat, leave them be if not." Romt replied, beginning to quietly climb the slope. Freya followed, and the two were at the top and able to peek out within a minute or so, able to see a jagged rock formation near the bottom with a campfire nearby. The voices became a little clearer; That, or they were shouting louder. There was no way to really tell. From what Romt could tell, there were two ponies standing over a corpse. Both seemed rugged, with shaved manes, cuts, and enough spikes as accessories to be deathtraps by themselves. "Looks like raiders," Romt commented quietly, as they observed what was happening below. --- "Heheh! You hit that zombie bastard right in the back of his rotting skull!" One of the raiders, a Unicorn, shouted. Laughing loudly at the sight of the ghoul laying at their hooves. The poor pony seemed to have taken a dangerous blow to the head, leaving it in what seemed to be a dead state with it's face in the dirt. at least, the raiders thought it was dead. Romt couldn't say he honestly thought the pony was alive, either. "Heh, I know. Son of a bitch thought he could just trot around lookin' like a damn corpse. Serves 'em right." The other raider, which was an Earth Pony, replied. Seeming proud of his kill as he glanced down at the bloody murder weapon; An average run-of-the-mill hammer. "Wait, how do you know the fuckin' thing was a guy?" The unicorn questioned, and the Earth Pony stared at him, as he didn't really know for fact. "Well with a voice like that I couldn't assume it was some chick, yeah?" He argued, the Unicorn sighing. "They all have those weird-ass raspy voices!" The yelling from the Unicorn began angering the Earth Pony, who glared down at the body. "Let's just check it, then. If it's a guy it would have it's stallionhood, right?" "Not if it rotted off." The Unicorn scoffed, smirking at his point. "Screw you. Just flip it over." The Earth Pony demanded. "Fuck no, you do it. I ain't touching that thing!" --- "We really ought to take them out while we have the chance." Freya whispered. "I agree, but they are too far away for us to really get a shot in from up here, considering our weaponry." Romt replied, staring down at the raiders. "From what I can tell, only the unicorn has a gun. If we can take him down, the second one shouldn't be a problem... We'll be out in the open if we move, so being fast is ide-" Romt stopped before he finished, his ears picking up a sound that wasn't coming from in front of them. It sounded familiar, his world almost feeling like it froze as he processed what it was. Yes, the sound was indeed familiar. In fact, it was something he'd heard many times. And it was a sound that meant they weren't alone. When it hit him, words flew through his mind as the realization was necessary. [Center][I]'That's the sound of somepony cocking a gun...!'[/I][/Center] --- As his world seemed to unfreeze, the hound quickly lunged forward over the small amount of stable, flat terrain off the other side of the slope, using one hand to push Freya with him. The mare yelped as she heard the sound of a shotgun firing behind them, with a laugh following it, but was more focused on the ground as they were currently diving down towards the raiders they had planned on quickly disposing of. Both tried to gain their footing, Freya using her wings to help her, managing to stop and not plummet down towards the raiders. Romt was naturally good with the terrain, managing to catch himself using his hands by clawing the slope on his way down. The two glanced at each-other, not liking the situation. Looking up, Romt noticed the pony that had just tried to creep up and shoot them; A raider with a shotgun in his mouth. He seemed amused and smug, trying to aim down at them to fire again. Romt was quick to reach to his side and pull out his revolver from it's holster, delivering two shots upwards at the raider. The first bullet hit the pony in the neck, a gasp escaping him as he dropped his weapon and staggered back, blood spouting out of the wound. He did not move fast enough to avoid the second bullet, which found it's way going into his head, getting lodged in somewhere. The pony's eyes rolled back as he fell over limp to the left, leaving his shotgun rolling down the slope. Romt stopped the gun as it approached him, picking it up and figuring it was better in his hands than in the hooves of the raiders below. "I think this is going pretty well." He commented, Freya having simply glanced between Romt and the raider during their sudden and deadly encounter. She shook her head, snapping out of the state she was in. "Right. Don't forget there's two more below us. I'm taking to the sky, you do... Well, what you do!" "That's not really a plan-" "It's good enough!" Freya shouted, spreading her wings and quickly taking off, not leaving much space for an argument. Of course, as likely as Romt thought it was for them to see the pegasus as better target, the unicorn was focused on him and had opened fire with what seemed to be a pistol, from what Romt could tell. He quickly pushed himself up the slope, eyes wide as the bullets surprisingly connected very close to where he had been. "Damn, that's some accuracy!" He spouted out, somewhat impressed. Though the fact he was being shot at by said weapon made him truly hate it. "You should be shooting that pegasus!" The Earth Pony raider shouted at the Unicorn as he was attempting to reload, the magic-using raider glared downwards as he responded. "That's a Luna-damned Hellhound! It'll kill us if it ends up getting close! You deal with the pegasus!" "How am I supposed to do that?! You're the one with the gun!" The Earth Pony shouted irritably, picking up his hammer. "Improvise, idiot! At least try and do something instead of standing there!" As the Unicorn finished reloading, he could hear gunshots from up above. This sent him and his Earth Pony partner into a panic, causing them to take cover behind the jagged rock formation that the camp was built near, cringing as bullets hit the dirt and rocks. Freya seemed to have an easy enough time pinning the raiders down, allowing for Romt to descend and get on even ground to aid in the fight. "Alright, you might have a point! This bitch has to come down." The Unicorn managed to say, aiming up at Freya as she began circling around to fire down upon them. He tried to take precise shots at the mare, but she was moving too fast for him to follow and hit. The sound of paws stomping behind them caused the Earth Pony to look out at what was coming. And to no surprise, it was Romt. "The Hellhound is coming!" He spat, still in a panic after nearly being hit by a rain of bullets. The Unicorn took another shot at Freya, but missed again, getting irritated. "Well- I... I don't know! Fuckin' bust his skull like you did that ghoul!" "That's a terrible idea!" The Earth Pony disagreed. "At least you don't have to fight the pegasus anymore." The Unicorn replied, as he continued shooting up at Freya. Thankfully for them, putting her off course and buying him time to reload. Though he was running out of ammo, so he knew he needed to make one of these shots count eventually. "Shit, man... This just isn't my day." As Romt approached the rocks, he kept his revolver aimed and ready. Not wanting to be taken by surprise. Though not wanting to be surprised didn't mean it wouldn't happen; as he hadn't expected the Earth Pony to charge out at him with nothing but a hammer, screaming through his gritted teeth. Romt struck first by swinging the butt of the shotgun he picked up, smashing it directly into the muzzle of the stallion who decided charging a Hellhound was a good idea. This strike was enough to knock the pony down, blood squirting out onto the ground from his nostrils as he screamed from the pain. "Y-You motherfucker!" He cried out, hooves on his face as the hammer fell out of his mouth. His eyes managed to lock onto Romt, the hound pointing his revolver downwards at him. A few scattered pleas followed, a gunshot not long after. Leaving the Unicorn to assume his remaining backup was dead. He wasn't certain about taking on a pegasus and a Hellhound at the same time, but knew if he didn't do anything, he'd be dead for sure. He focused on pegasus, narrowing his eyes as he aimed ahead, attempting to predict where she was going. Though she began opening fire on him, he fired, the bullet soaring into the sky and piercing one of Freya's wings, as her bullets didn't have a real chance of hitting the raider; they instead scattered about around him, kicking up dirt. She cried out from the sudden injury, the Unicorn watching as she began struggling to keep in the air, her descent beginning within seconds, though she tried to slow her fall with her remaining good wing while fighting the pain of her injury. Romt noticed Freya struggling to keep herself from falling, the injury to her wing obvious by the red that clashed with her usual blue, even from this distance. He holstered his revolver, running forwards and jumping up to get a grip with on hand on the top of the jagged rock the Unicorn was hiding behind, pulling himself up and noticing the Unicorn beginning to peek out in search of him, only to see the dead raider that was once his companion. "Where the fuck..?" The Unicorn glanced back, checking to see if he was behind him. He wasn't there. Though, on the ground, there was a large shadow. The raider followed it and noticed Romt on top of the rock, shotgun in hand. It was surprising, and as Romt jumped down, the Unicorn was quick to back away, attempting to take aim at him. He wasn't fast enough to avoid the butt of the shotgun the hound was still holding, hitting him hard enough to ruin his levitation spell, causing the gun to fall to the ground. The raider retaliated by attempting to stab Romt with his horn, but the attack was foiled by Romt stepping back and dodging the forward thrust. Only to respond with another swing of the shotgun, hitting the raider hard enough to not only knock him to the ground, but to knock him out, as well. Possibly with a skull fracture that was fatal. Though, as of now, making sure he was dead wasn't Romt's biggest concern. He threw down the shotgun, and glanced up at Freya, surprised to see she had managed to slow her fall somewhat. She was still falling, but her landing wasn't going to be bad enough to break anything. At least he hoped it wasn't, as she tried landing on her hooves and ended up falling over, thankfully folding her good wing up before doing so. Romt rushed over, staring down at the mare and her injury. "Is it serious...?" He questioned, not exactly knowing how bullets effected the wings of shot pegasi. Freya slowly managed to sit up onto her flank, looking at her wing with narrowed eyes and a scrunched up face. "Ngh... The bullet went through, but even with a potion I'm not going to be flying for awhile. I can't believe that shithead got a shot off on me." Angry, but accepting of what happened, she sighed. "At least I'm alive." "You'll be fine. You can take more caution on the ground, anyways." Romt explained with a small smile. Freya chuckled, nodding. "I guess. Let's hurry and collect the spoils before there ends up being more trouble." Her suggestion was one Romt could certainly agree with, though he figured she needed to focus more on her wound at the moment. He was certainly glad he had bought those potions back in New Appleloosa, otherwise she'd be in more trouble. He reached into his bag and felt around for the potion, his finger rubbing against the bottle the liquid resided in. He gripped it and pulled it out, handing it to Freya, who happily accepted it. "Heh, thanks. With this, I at least won't have to be worrying about any infections." "Don't mention it." Romt replied, turning to go and check the raiders for supplies. "Take a minute to rest up; I'll check the bodies." "I guess you deserve dibs on the goods. Feel free to share the wealth, though, yeah?" --- Romt noted the shotgun might be a nice addition to his arsenal, but had a bigger focus at the moment. He trotted over to the Unicorn, crouching down to search the small saddlebag he had. "Let's see... Some Buck, what ammo he didn't end up using... Was this food?" Romt stared skeptically at the skewer, unsure of what it was. He decided to leave it, but to take the ammunition and Buck. The latter not for his use, but it could make for decent trade. After he was done looting, he stood up and walked over to pick up the pistol the raider had been using. It was small, but nice. Seemed too clean for a raider to have. Did it belong to that pony they killed...? "Speaking of which..." Romt trotted around the rocks, approaching the body of the victim. As he approached, he glanced down at the Earth Pony he had killed; He had no saddlebag, and the hammer didn't interest him, so Romt moved on and got a good look at the pony. He could confirm it was a ghoul, the blow to the back of the head certainly was the blow that left it like it was. He was clueless about the gender. "Not moving, and judging by what they said, it's probably dead..." He muttered, not wanting to disrespect the pony by searching it's corpse. He sighed, slowly turning around. "Guess I'll grab the shotgun and we'll get going." He said to himself, trotting back towards Freya to see how she was fairing. There was nothing else for them here. [Center][B]"Oog..."[/B][/Center] A sound caused Romt to turn his head, and his eyes widened as he saw the ghoul stand, though it's legs were shaky. He remained still as the pony turned it's head, revealing it's confused and somewhat peeled face. It's eyes locked onto Romt, seeming to observe him silently. The two simply stared at each-other in an awkward silence, one not knowing what to say to the other. Freya, after having drank the potion Romt had given her, stood up and managed to trot past the rocks, wondering what he was doing. "Hey, what's taking you so long? I feel like I've been waiting forever alread- ....y." She stopped as she noticed the scene; Unsure of why they were staring at each-other. Though that pony was alive, that was something she could note as of now. It lead to three of them staring awkwardly, nopony exactly sure of how to speak up. It wasn't until the Ghoul fully turned was a word spoken; By it, no less. [Center][B]"...Confused, I am. Pony and dog, work as team? Dispose of raiders, they have. Rescued me, is certain."[/B][/Center]