Moments after the events in Ponville, Pine Needles had received word from one of his recruits that a transmission was waiting from Commander Maple Leaf. Maple’s family had been the ones who started up the Green Mountain Colts after the mega spells were dropped in Equestria. They helped keep the Wilderness together long after Celestia and Luna died, and from one member of the family to the next, they had manage to keep the Wilderness separate and out of harm from the Wasteland.

Out of the other two commanders, Pine Needles was the one Maple trusted most. However, a transmission coming straight from Maple almost never happened. He prefered to talk face to face with others rather than the usual and was liked highly by the ponies he protected. No doubt if he wasn’t coming to talk in person with Pine Needles it meant one of two things. Either something had come up suddenly that he had to use the radio in order to communicate it in time or it was something the public couldn’t know about. Usually it was the former of the two.

In order to keep it out of public reach, the radio station at Stallion mountain was placed at the very top. The only way to get to it, if you didn’t want to take a good long hike, was the gondola at the base of the mountain. The only ponies allowed on the gondola were members of the Green Mountain Colts. That was currently where Pine Needles was, in one of the gondola cars heading to the top. The only pony accompanying him was the recruit who had told him about the transmission.

“Did he tell you what he needed to talk to me about,” Pine Needles asked, speaking to said recruit.

“No sir,” The recruit replied, shaking his head. “All he said was that it was important and you were the one I was to tell it to,”

Pine Needle stared out the gondola and into the distance. He saw a sight that always made him uncomfortable when riding, the wasteland. He could feel his heartbeat quicken just looking at it, old memories tried flooding there way to his mind. He shook his head, clearing the thought out of his old life. That wasn’t who he was, he was a pony of the Wilderness and he always would be. He had never seen a pony from the NCR, but he hope they were as considerate as the offers they made suggested. He wouldn’t take any chance in dealing with them, however, that was Maples affairs and not his.

The gondola came to a stop as they reached the top of Stallion mountain, Pine Needles getting off first followed by the recruit. He was saluted by the pony in the station, but ultimately ignored it making his way to the wooden building not far away. It looked like a treehouse, in fact if it wasn’t for the large antenna on the very top it would have been one. This was the radio station, placed up here out of public eye and in range of any and all radio stations from the Wilderness to Manehattan. He had heard some of his recruits talk about the Manehattan radio station, but not enough to get him interested.

He climbed the stairs and walked in, the recruit standing outside in ordered to give the higher up some privacy. Pine Needles sat down at a desk on the far side of the room and put the microphone close to his muzzle. Turning to a small radio like machine, he turned the dial as it tuned in and out of multiple radio stations, most weren’t even in the Wilderness. After a small amount of turning the dial he finally found the signal he was looking for.

“This is commander Maple to commander Pine, do you read me?” The radio station came in crystal clear, and most importantly they were the only ones that would be able to hear it. “I repeat, this is commander Maple to commander Pine, do you read me?”

“Loud and clear sir,” Pine Needle replied with a smile on his face. “Been awhile since I last saw you sir, let alone since you used the radio. It’s nice to hear you again,”

“It’s good to hear you too Pines,” Pine Needles could hear his fellow commander laugh a little as he spoke. “Heard that we have two new stable dwellers from stable 17 in the Wilderness now. I assume you made sure other ponies have been treating them with respect, wouldn’t want to make a bad opinion,”

“Well the first one that came out definitely seems to be fitting in rather well,” Pine replied, his manor shifting to a more serious tone. “The second one however, I will admit she makes me a bit nervous. She’s got a good head on her shoulders from what I see, but something about her just makes me uncomfortable. Also sir, I should tell you that everypony else in Stable 17 is dead. Apparently they were attacked from the inside,”

The radio fell silent for a second, a common move that happened whenever Maple heard something he couldn’t fully grasp at first. Pine Needles couldn’t blame him, who would have ever heard about another pony in a stable killing the others. It reminded him of stories he heard about a pony in the Wasteland. He shivered as he thought about it, he didn’t want to here the stories of that time again.

“I… I see,” Maple was in complete disbelief on the other side of the radio. “Listen Pines, she came to you to talk about that, it’s only fair that you deal with that. She came to you, not me, understand?”

“Of course sir,” Pine Needle answered.

“In any case I guess it’s about time I got down to business and explain exactly why I’ve called you over transmission,” Pine could hear Maple let out a breath on the other side of the radio, an action that Pine Needles already knew meant something bad. “The reason I’ve calmed you is because I made a deal with some ponies, and I won’t be able to show up to greet them when they arrive. We are still dealing with the ghouls and Hellhounds here in Troster and until we have them cleared out I won’t be able to. That being said, I ask you to not judge me for the action I took,”

Those words unsettled Pine Needles. He knew fully well what his fellow commander was talking about, but he couldn’t believe it. “Excuse me sir but… exactly who did you make a deal with?”

The radio fell silent again, this time Maple was simply preparing to answer. He was unsure of his own decision, even though in the end he knew it was the only available option. Pine Needles waited patiently for Maple to respond, having often seen this when discussing rather difficult matters with Maple. He was aware of what Maple was probably doing before and during this. Maple was most likely very tense at the moment, pacing a little unsure of exactly what to say. Of course, Pine Needle knew his fellow command would give the answer sooner or later.

“I made a deal with Fluttershy of the New Canterlot Republic,” He finally admitted. “She is willing to offer us temporary defense as we build up our army, her advisors are also willing to help in that area as well. In exchange, we open up trading routes with them and allow export from our home to there’s. Pines, this is the reason I needed to ask you to do this,”

This time it was Pine Needle who feel silent. This wasn’t something unnatural for Maple, to take a risky idea or more often a risky decision. It was unnatural for the idea or decision to be this risky however. He had almost thought he was making stuff up when he heard those words, but no matter how much he hated to admit it they were true. While he personally had nothing against the NCR, many of the other ponies in the Wilderness did. If they were to step in, it could potentially lead to another war. That was not only something Pine Needles didn’t want, but was something he knew they couldn’t win.

“I-I’m sorry sir but would you mind explaining to me this,” Pine Needle asked nervously. Honestly he didn’t want to know the answer in case his guess was right.

“I can understand why you are nervous,” He heard Maple start on the other end of the radio. “Truthfully, I was unsure about this decision myself. In the end though, we don’t have the military or political force to really make any say in much. Imagine what might happen if we are taken over by another country we aren’t even aware of, we don’t have the military force to hold them back. Besides, we have to remember that while we may be different countries now, both the NCR and the Wilderness were part of Equestria. If we didn’t except this things will only get worse,”

In truth, Pine Needles guess was wrong, and he realized that what Maple said was true. The past few years had been proven to be a test against the Wilderness and there power as a separate nation. While EQ over the radio talked about the heroic actions by killing a dangerous creature or stopping a group of raiders (which he was sure he would hear about the actions in Ponville later on) they struggled to keep up their recruits. They had a low population, one of the lowest populated areas back when Equestria was fighting the war. That hadn’t changed, if they were to combat an enemy it would need to.

“I won’t argue sir,” Pine Needle said, knowing that it was impossible to change Maples actions. “But other ponies in the Wilderness will. We both know how they think about the NCR, and no doubt they won’t act well because of it. Don’t you think that might be a problem?”

“I’ve already thought of that,” Maple replied “We both know that ponies from the Wasteland have come here in the past and have been welcome, so I asked Fluttershy if she knew anypony that has. Luckily, she has a personal connection to a rising star that has performed multiple times here. I think you know who I’m talking about,”

“You mean Feline?” Pine Needle asked.

“Yes,”

Anypony in the Wilderness would know Feline by this point. She was a gryphon, and a shockingly nice one compared to most of her kind. Feline was a singer, and a rather talented one at that, having played in parts of the NCR and across most of the Wilderness. She had gained a bit of fame from her performances, but she was more well known in the Wilderness, her fame in the Equestrian Wasteland being overshadowed by Velvet Remedy.

“I don’t exactly get what your plan is,” Pine Needle replied. “She’s a singer, not a politician. How do you think she can help us?”

“It’s not exactly Feline that is going to help us, but Fluttershy is sending her over to us with some information on how to get started,” Maple explained “Besides, she feels like it would be best if the NCR stayed low key at first to not attract unwanted attention,”

“So why are you asking me to help out?” Pine Needle asked.

“You're originally from the Wasteland,” Maple answered. “I think it would be best if we sent a pony with some experience dealing with Wastelanders. I would also recommend asking the two stable ponies as well. I heard one of them was an Overmare and they are just as much leaders as you and I,”

It was impossible to not see some of the reasoning behind what Maple was saying. Broken Record, while chosen at random, was an Overmare and seemed like she was willing to make a difference. If Carrot Cake and Broken Record were willing to help out like he believed, then they wouldn’t hesitate to help. He also realized that it would help in showing the coming politics that they do care about stable dwellers, something that he knew the NCR would probably not be okay with.

“I’ll ask them to help out,” Pine Needle finally replied after a slight pause. “Oh, and the Overmare you are talking about, Broken Record, she told me that a machine killed the other ponies in the stable. I think she referred to it as Experiment 17, in other words we can rule out either of them being a spark,”

“I never believed they were,” Maple replied. “I’ll leave this to you Pine, make sure this plan succeeds,”

“Of course sir,”

------

The apartment that Carrot Cake had rented was already unpacked from the night before. She had to thank Pine for loaning her the money to buy it, as she had no idea about what the currency in the Wilderness was. The apartment was relatively small, but it did have a second floor that contained a bedroom and bathroom. The main floor held a living room that seemed to double as the dining room, with a kitchen in the back. It wasn't much, but she figured she wouldn't be spending a lot of time in here anyways.

She sat down on the couch and pulled out a map, putting it down on the coffee table. In most cases she would have used her PipBuck, but its map wasn't very detailed. The map showed a overview of the Wilderness, the very edge of it showed Equinox mountain. That was the edge of the Wilderness, everything after that was all either dead or somewhat irradiated. There wasn't many big cities on the map, the biggest one she saw was the city of Trutland which she had been told had been abandoned. It really made her wonder what was there that had made everypony abandon it. No stable could house in entire city, she knew that.

“So if I travel through Ponville into Marechester I can get to Trutland,” She said to herself. “Yes, that seems like it might be the best route at the moment. Guess I just have to wait for Ponville to be clear of those raiders,”

Carrot Cake got up from her seat and made her way over to table holding a light and small radio next to it. She went up to it and turn it on, finding nothing better to do it the given moment. The radio made a loud buzzing noise and she was forced to turn it down as it hurt her ears. As the volume was lowered she started shifting through the frequency till she came to a radio station, one that was different than the one she heard on the Wilderness radio station.

“That's right everypony, the NCR and Wilderness are actually going to be meeting in a week to discuss issues. I think we can all agree on how shocking this news is, considering how they have seen us in the past, but who's going to complain with having allies?” The voice had the same kind of high energy and excitement that the pony named EQ did, but the tone seemed different. Not only that, but it seemed like she had somehow manage to get ahold of the Wasteland radio station considering the way this pony was responding. “Now the NCR has said that citizens won't be allowed to crossover yet, and from what I heard they will be there in a week. Also concerning the Wilderness I just heard from the Star Gryphon Feline Grander that she will be doing a show there tomorrow. All of you wastelanders who are fans of her will no doubt want to see that show, which if my good friend has told me correctly will be at the Sprixie bar in Marecheseter. We will be streaming the event so I hope you are all excited to hear some incredible singing,”

As the pony on the radio finished she heard the singing of an unfamiliar pony, which gave her the time to try and register what she had heard. If she was thinking correctly, this must have been the Tenpony Tower radio station she had managed to grab ahold of. The voice, whoever they were, seemed to have some sort of connection with EQ, if the word ‘friend’ was anything to go be. If that was the case then it was no wonder she was able to pick up the radio channel, obviously EQ and this pony had some sort of connection.

Then thing of course that interested Carrot Cake the most was the name of the so called ‘Star Gryphon’ that she had mentioned. There was going to be a concert at Marechester, and from what it sounded like this was big deal. Carrot Cake had never seen a gryphon, she had never even seen a concert in her life. It filled her with excitement, she had to see this. It was a kind of excitement she had never felt in Stable 17, nothing big really ever happened. In fact the earthquake was the biggest event she ever remembered before she left.

She was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door, looking back. She ran to the door and opened it to see Pine Needles standing in front of her. “Hello, Carrot Cake. I ‘m sorry to interrupt you but to speak to you quickly?”

“Oh… of course,” Carrot Cake responded, letting Pine Needles in. He nodded his head in thanks and made his way inside. “What is it you want you talk about? Did you learn something about what happened in Stable 17? Is Broken Record okay?”

“Your friend is alright,” He reassured her. “Don’t worry. In fact I have received news that the raiders in Ponville has been dealt with,” Carrot Cake let a reassuring sigh as she heard this. “Actually, I was hoping you and the Overmare could help me with something important. We have some ponies coming from the wasteland,”

“The NCR members?” Carrot Cake asked. “I just heard about that on the radio. Did you know it was possible to obtain the radio signals from the Wasteland over here?”

“Yes I do, it’s how EQ receives her music,” Pine Needle explained, grateful that she already knew. “Some of it at least, certain artists such as Velvet Remedy and Sweetie Bell have been given to us by short visits from the radio mare over there. Goes under the name of DJ-PON3, only EQ knows her real name. That being said I am getting off topic. I am asking you to come with me to discuss the matters,”

“Sorry Pine Needle but you're not talking to the right pony,” Carrot Cake responded. “I’m a cafeteria mare, I don’t have experience being a leader like Broken Record. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not the right pony for this job,”

As she spoke, Pine Needles eyes caught onto something that interested him. On a shelf he spotted an old hat; A stetson hat to be specific. Something hit him, seeing that hat. He should have realized it as soon as he had seen Carrot Cake’s name on the registration form. It was something he couldn’t believe, and he honestly didn’t even after seeing the hat. He had to check to make sure.

“Carrot Cake,” He said as he took the hat down “Is this your hat by any chance,”

“Yes it is,” She answered, nodding her head as she spoke. “My mom told me that it was a gift from to our family by one of our ancestors. My family had connections to the Ministry of Morals, very directly in fact. They were told by a Stable-tech pony that the Zebra Empire had launched mega spells and to leave. My family was given this hat by the Stable-tech pony, to remember them by,”

“That Stable-tech pony,” Pine Needles replied, he turned around and held the hat. “If she gave you a hat like this… it must have been Apple Bloom,” Carrot Cake’s body suddenly felt cold as Pine Needles mentioned the name. She recognized it from school in the stable, of course everypony in Stable 17 knew about Apple Bloom and Stable-tech. “Apple Bloom was the one who oversaw development of the stables here in the Wilderness. She was involved in Stable 17 the most out of all of them. It makes since now, the Cake family, the ones who minister Pinkie Pie use to work with, must have come here,”

Carrot Cake never even thought about it, and who really would have. She knew that her family had a close relation to the minister, but not that close. Not only that, but the she never even thought of the hat as anything else other than a heirloom. The very fact that it belong to the sister of the Minister of Wartime Technology, even just the fact that it came from somepony as important as Apple Bloom made it much more than an heirloom. She suddenly walked up to Pine Needles and snatched the stetson from his hooves. She put it on her head, feeling as if she was somepony else as she did. Her mind felt as if she was being played by Pine Needles, which it actually wasn’t, but she honestly didn’t care.

“I change my mind,” She said, the hat falling forward as it was a little big on her. “I’ll do whatever I can to help, I promise. Trust me when I say I have never broken a promise in my life,”

Pine Needles was thrown completely off guard by this sudden change in attitude, taking a step back. He always had an interest in Equestrian history, and he was just making a wild conclusion based on what Carrot Cake had said. He wasn’t going to say anything against Carrot Cake suddenly wanting to help him however. He gave her a smile as she adjusted the hat back a bit.

“Well we should make our way to Ponville,” He said. “It’s going to be dark soon and we have a ways to walk,”

------

The past few hours in Ponville had been rather busy, and Broken Record once again found herself in the leader position as she help with rebuilding. This time, however, she was fully okay with taken the role. It wasn’t like being Overmare, where everypony went to her to complain about every little thing. Instead she found herself actively participating with the activity around her. Taking down the barricades, helping in burying the bodies, help those who the raiders had injured, this is what she always expected to be doing as a leader.

Leaf Peeper on the other hand had grown more and more concerned about her sister. It wasn’t the kind of concerned where Leaf Peeper was concerned about Mints choices, it was the kind of concerned where Leaf Peeper felt something was being kept a secret. It had gotten to the point where she had actually asked Broken Record to help her. Broken Record assumed that all it would take was a quickly talk to Mint and that was it.

The three ponies, Leaf Peeper dragging Mint with a rope due to reasons, made there way to a building that was empty. Broken Record immediately realized that this was more than just a simply problem. That was only cemented as Leaf Peeper bounded Mint to a chair leaving her unable to escape. Broken Record felt that Leaf Peeper had gone a little too far at this point.

“Um… Leaf Peeper?” She turned to the unicorn with worry. “I think you may be taking this a little too far,”

“For what I’m doing this would probably be considered going easy on her,” Leaf Peeper replied, “Besides, this wouldn’t be the first time I’ve seen some pony come back from the dead. I need to make sure this is really my sister talking to me and not something that’s pretending to be her,” Leaf Peeper turned back to her sister, Mint, and walked up to her. Mint knew exactly what was going through her sister's mind right now. “Mint, if that really is you talking to me right now, I want you to show me some evidence that this isn’t a Spark or Changeling I’m talking to right now,”

“Two years ago you and me went into Trutland to find some replacement raiders that had been attacking Marechester,” Mint said, Leaf Peeper’s gaze on her showing that she wasn’t fully convinced. “They hurt you really badly, but that unicorn, Kip I believe her name was. She and that machine save us from them. They helped you get better, I remember that was the first time you and I came in contact with Small Fry, you wanted to kill her badly,”

At the name of the unicorn, Leaf Peeper’s gaze soften a little, bit still was stern. She let out a sigh as she spoke. “At least I knew it's you and not a Changeling, but that doesn’t prove you don’t have a Spark inside of you. Listen to me Mint, I want you to tell me the truth of what really happened during the attack. A pony from here managed to escape to the mountain village and said that you got shot in the head, yet here you are standing in front of me. Please Mint, tell me that they were wrong, tell me you didn’t die,”

“I told you what happened,” Mint replied. “I got locked in by a raider, I think they were trying to hide me for some reason. I don’t know why but they did. I think that raider might have been saving me for something Small Fry had planned, what that is I don’t know,”

Leaf Peeper was silent for a second, her mind scared at what she realized must have happened. “Mint,” She said. “You don’t even know that’s in you, do you?’ Mint’s eyes showed how scared she was and Broken Record was getting increasingly uncomfortable with where this was going. “I heard that one of the raiders that was in this town called themselves V, a single letter just like the rest of those Sparks,”

Leaf Peeper went into her bag and took out a lighter, and held it close to Mints face. It was there that Broken Record finally snapped, rushing forward and knocking the unlit lighter onto the floor. She pushed Leaf Peeper away from Mint, completely unaware of the sudden glow in Mints eyes. Leaf Peeper did see it however and stared past the Overmare to her sister.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Broken Record yelled, trying to stay calm. “This is your sister and you go ahead and lift a freaking lighter up to her face? Answer me Le-”

“Mint,” Leaf Peeper said shakily to her sister, who was looking at the ground ashamed. Broken Record looked back to see the same thing on her face. “Please don’t tell me… what did you think was…”

Leaf Peeper couldn’t finish a single sentence, and Broken Record simply looked back and forth between the two. She couldn’t understand what was going on at the current moment, and why Mint looked so ashamed of herself. Mint was scared, though her face didn’t show it. Her sister had found out what truly happened, and what had really happened to her during the initial raider attack.

“I’m sorry Leafy,” She said quietly, Leaf Peeper just barely heard her. “I did get shot, and I did in fact die. Not long before the two of you arrive I woke up again, and I knew what had happened,” She started crying as she thought about what would happen if anypony else found out. “Please don’t tell anypony. Please don’t kill me, the Spark seems more interested in just letting me live then taking control of me. I don’t want to die, the Spark doesn’t want to either. It promises to not hurt anypony if it has to take control,”

Leaf Peeper just stood there silently, Broken Record looking to Mint instead for an answer. “What’s this Spark your talking about?”

“Sparks were a secret project by some ponies a few years ago, not long after the NCR formed if I’m correct,” She explained. “When they die, they have the ability to take over another body. They have the option whether to let the ponies soul still control the body, or whether to take complete control of it and expel the soul forcefully. This Spark, Mark V it calls itself, it wants me to go on living my life. It’s jealous of the relationship I have with Leaf Peeper from the memories it’s seen. However, she knows it would also be unfair to ruin that relation between us,”

Leaf Peeper’s fear started to fade, her emotions taking over as she realized it was her sister talking. Without a warning she pushed Broken Record to the side and gave her sister a hug. She undid the knot around the chair and the ropes fell to the ground loosely, giving Mint the ability to hug Leaf Peeper. Broken Record simply watched as this unfolded, a tear falling down her face and under her muzzle.

“I’m so glad it’s you,” Leaf Peeper said as the two stopped hugging. “I-its just… most Sparks want to simply kill us ponies. I don’t fully understand why this Mark V is different but I don’t need further proof to tell who it is standing in front of me,” She turned back to Broken Record. “Sorry to bring you into this, but if you hadn’t interfered who knows what I would have done,”

“I’m just glad everything is okay now,” Broken Record replied. “Anyways we should probably get back to the other ponies in case they need our help with anything else,”

Leaf Peeper and Mint nodded their heads and made their way out of the building.

------

The pegasus was still on the tree watching the busy town of Ponville as it got back on it’s hooves. He let out a small smile at the work going on, even though he still couldn’t get his mind off of how similar Broken Record looked to somepony else. That being said the actions between the two were so different that he simply played it off at the moment as a coincidence. He sat there comfortable, having heard Homage’s announcement of the NCR coming to the Wilderness. He was happy to hear it in a way, it was hope that these two “nations” could work together, and the last thing he wanted was to start another fight.

He watched as two ponies entered town, one had a stable garb on while the other was easily made out as Pine Needles. He watched as they approached Broken Record, Leaf Peeper, and Mint with curiosity. He was too far away to hear what they were saying, but could tell that it must have been important. He hadn’t seen Broken Record’s stable garb earlier that day, which had completely cemented that she was a different pony then who he was thinking of. He simply watched from the distance as the scene played out in front of him.

------

“This is a risky move Maple is making,” Leaf Peeper said after hearing what Pine Needle had come to talk to them about. “It's not that I disagree with his actions at all, the very opposite in fact, it's just not a move I would call safe,”

“I'm just as worried as your are about this Leaf Peeper,” Pine Needle said reassuringly, “But we need ponies who can make a good first impression. Thats why Im asking Broken Record and Carrot Cake to be our ambassadors of sorts. I would like it if you and your sister stayed here to help with reconstruction if you wouldn't mind,” Leaf Peeper nodded in reply at this and Pine Needles shifted his attention to Broken Record. “I'm sorry to put this onto you so suddenly but I really don't think I have a choice. Besides Carrot Cake here had told me about how you use to be the stables radio mare and I thought it would be nice for you to meet EQ,”

“I don't mind at all,” Broken Record told Pine Needle. “In fact I was actually interested in meeting this EQ anyway. I like the energy she gives off on the radio and if there really is going to be a concert held at the same time the NCR is coming I wouldn't want to pass up the opportunity. Besides I told you that I was willing to do anything I can to help, I'm not about to turn my back on this small country no matter what happens,”

Pine Needle was impressed by Broken Records enthusiasm. I wasn't like the one he saw in EQ, but more like the one he heard from the ponies who came onto the wasteland radio from time to time. She had a feeling of hope inside of her, and if that could unite the ponies of the wasteland then it could save the ponies of the Wilderness. It wasn't something most ponies would have wanted to hear him say, but the hate for the stable dwellers were usually more passive compared to that of the NCR.

“Well we should get there as soon as possible,” Pine Needles explained. “I've seen how fast Feline flies, and no doubt she will be here sooner than anypony expects,”

With no objections Broken Record bid farewell to Leaf Peeper and Mint before heading with Pine Needle and Carrot Cake out of town.

------

“It's going to be nice to finally meet you Homage. We’ve been talking to each other for so long this way I didn’t think we would ever get to meet,”

“Well it’s going to be nice seeing meeting you as well, never met a pony who shared the same kind of radio spirit before. Not to mention that it will give me a change of scenery, I’m kinda tired of seeing the same thing over and over again,”

“I can only imagine. I move around the Wilderness so much that I never get bored. Must not be the same living there,”

“Actually the main reason I was calling was to ask you a question,”

“Really? What is it,”

“Do you think the Wilderness is going to respond well to the Concerts ‘special guest’?”