The icy blast of the wind blowing snow against my face was of little comfort as we wound along the mountain road, the last few notes of Vera's song still ringing out in my ears. The bright lights of Jumper Cables' factory cut through the gentle storm ahead, Minty providing a bit of light between us from his horn as he levitated the heat lamp, the chill only being subsided mildly by the small thing. I let off a shuddering breath, glancing down at my Pip-buck as we walked along - the indicator on the EFS hadn't popped up yet, but every now and again you could hear a faint click emanate from it. The wiggling needle on the dosimeter hovered gently above 130 rad, remnant from... no, the storm, it's just the radiation from the storm. Oh, don't start blubbering again...

"Twintails? Are... I mean..." Minty stepped up alongside myself, shuddering breaths and whines escaping me every so often. I sniffled in, looking over at him for a moment and lifting my head back up, giving it a shake. Snow was melting and freezing up in my mane, giving it some momentum and causing it to tug at the roots. Ow... the wasteland really hated everything, didn't it? Maybe I should just forget about NEAMO, find somewhere in Mooscow to settle permanently... no, wait, pegasi were evil. Maybe Hi-fi and Neighrer would- oh, what am I saying? Just find something to focus on, you little two-tailed blubbering freak of a foal. A pair of orange hooves seemed to buck that last thought into dust the moment it popped into my head, the statuette in my front pocket seeming to warm a bit.

'Would you quit putting yourself down? You're not doin' anypony any favors.' That hay-maned mare in my head did have a point. I shouldn't let... let that get to me. Ponies do that all the time in the wasteland, billions of ponies did it at once a little less than two centuries ago. Our- the song, the song was even older than that! But... why... oh, she wouldn't have known. Couldn't have. That was just a coincidence that that song came up on the radio right after the broadcast went up, a very emotionally crippling coincidence that she pulled out Vera Lynn to play. Be strong, goddess-damnit, be strong. The mare smiled as I stood myself up, looking ahead. The factory, then NEAMO. One step at a time.

The factory loomed over our heads, what remained of the lot in front now illuminated as well, the doors leading to the lobby having been replaced. Well, at least it'll be warm inside. A robotic mare approached us as we stepped inside, a digital smile across her face. Robots were weird... and Minty had that look again. Don't even think about it, you battery-powered unicorn, you're weird enough. No programming sex droids.

"Welcome to RobronCo factory one-eight-three-three-four, established two centuries ago for the production of wartime emergency protection robotics. Would you like a tour of the facility, or are you here to see about one of RobronCo's many possible investment opportunities?" The robot had a rather tinny voice, but it definitely was that of what I suppose was once a pretty mare. If I'm gonna have to use that Balefire Egg to make sure Minty doesn't try to ride that garbage disposal...

"We're just here to see our friend Jumper Cables. Is she in?" I put a hoof up against Minty's chest - down, boy - stepping forwards. The greeting mare kept the smile on her face, her digitally-displayed eyes flickering as she stared at the both of us. She seemed to nod forwards, taking a whirring step backwards. I looked over at Minty, him still making that googly face at the oblivious robot greeter, eliciting an eyeroll from myself as I wrapped my hoof around his neck, starting to lead him along.

"I do not have a 'Jumper Cables' listed on my employee dossier. Looking it over, in fact, all of the employees that -are- on my programmed employee dossier are deceased. Many of them on the same day, even! Isn't that peculiar?" She smiled as we passed by her, Minty not once looking away. Right, note to self, smack some sense into that battery-powered unicorn... or at least find something to give him a rude awakening. They make explosives that mainly affect electronic parts, right? "If you're certain that your friend 'Jumper cables' is here, I suppose there's nothing I could do to stop you from finding them. I was regrettably never built nor programmed for anything other than greeting and secretarial work. Don't injure yourselves!" She cheerfully trotted away, Minty giggling like a dumbstruck fool as I pulled - dragged, more like it - him along. Come on, we still have those charge cells or whatever to get for your goop guns, lover-boy.

"Hehehe... pre-war robots can be pretty beautiful..." Minty trotted alongside myself, heading up the stairway up to the main offices area, his eyes all starry-like. Yeesh, I chose this guy to travel with? If he starts sleeping with that new goop rifle of his, I'm out of here. Hiding my thoughts behind a quiet sigh and eyeroll, We soon were trotting by rows of cubicles and file cabinets. Ponies and robots moved about idly, tending to whatever they tended to, I suppose. It was rather pleasant to see this taste of life before the war, even if it was decayed and otherwise unkept... and all the ponies were walking around armed to the teeth with their own goop guns and other boxy strange weapons. I'll stick to knowing about my own cartridge weapons, thanks.

"Just to be clear, if I wake up and see you getting friendly with a toaster, I'm moving in with Tom and Hi-fi." He paused for a few minutes, snickering, an assistant-bot carrying several satchels of electronic parts about passing by behind us. Jumper Cable's office, according to the posted signs, was up on the fifth floor of the factory; well, time to wait for the elevator, I guess. I pressed the button, Minty still laughing behind me. "What, what's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing. How would I even do it with a toaster, anyways?" He chuckled, the elevator dinging as it arrived on the second floor. An earth pony and robot shuffled out, carrying a few terminals between them. Minty, wearing a smirk, stepped in with myself, turning to face the door and pressing the button. We stood in silence for a few moments, waiting for the doors to close. "...A space heater and my plasma rifle, on the other hand..."

---

We arrived on Jumper's office floor, Minty rubbing the side of his head where a very curious rifle-butt mark was left against it, grumbling silently. The wastebaskets were littered with shattered soda bottles and coffee mugs, the sound of a mare shuffling papers around and mumbling to herself, cut in every now and again with the sound of idle sipping. I pushed aside the heavy door that separated reception from the main office, being greeted by a rather spacious area with wide, large windows facing out in the direction of NEAMO. In between, on the supporting column, was hung a large, faded portrait of a very dapper-looking stallion, hair slicked back and mustache trimmed neatly, standing in front of a massive metal... hoof? Huh, well, I suppose stranger things are out there. Jumper Cables sat hunched over her desk, steaming cup of coffee in one hoof and papers in another, her eyes glazed over and half-opened. She looked up as Minty trotted in, his augmented hoof banging heavily against the floor.

"Oh, heh, nice to see you two again. Feels like... what, two days? A week? Ah..." She paused, taking a sip of her coffee and shaking her head, rubbing at her baggy eyes with one hoof, her shaggy mane falling in her face. Sleep, girl, you need sleep. The orange mare in my head seemed to hide behind her stetson, an embarrassed smile on her face. "...buh, anyways, just stopping by, or something? Ooh, looking for an extra companion, we're working on pack units to help with caravans, extra thousand pounds worth of storage..." She let off a big yawn, her head lowering onto the desk. "...space... nnh..." We watched as she nodded off right in front of our eyes, snorting awake and splashing what was left of the coffee in her mug on her face. Um, er, well, that's one way to wake up, I guess. She shook her head, rubbing her eyes again as a weird hovering ball-robot flew over, picking up the empty mug and replacing it with a full one. Working yourself to death like this is not a pleasant way to go, I would think.

"Actually, we're here because Minty needs his mental processing unit checked, I think he's in love with your secreta- Ow!" Coffee mug bashed over the head, yeah, I think I deserved that. I rubbed the porcelain out of my mane, my head ringing a bit as Minty smirked coyly. "Er... spark batteries and energy cells, I mean. Son of a parasprite..." Aaaand that was a clipboard. Stupid unicorns with their stupid magic and stupid ease with bashing stupid ponies over the head. I dropped to the floor, rubbing the back of my head, Jumper Cables looking down at myself in a bit of surprise, coffee still dripping in spots from her face.

"Ah, well, uh, sure. Um, you two aren't planning on heading off anytime soon, right? That storm outside... isn't looking like it's going to be slowing down anytime soon." I stood myself up, blinking a few times and keeping a hoof against the back of my head as she trotted around her desk, glancing between the both of us and the windows outside. Minty looked up at the portrait, seeming to study the stallion in it... or maybe he was just gawking at that giant robot leg or something... somepony turn off the doorbell, please. Stupid concussions.

"We have a prior engagement, have to get there soon as we can. If you have enough spark batteries to spare, we'll manage." Minty pushed his glasses back and tapped his metallic horn, smiling at Jumper Cables as everything finally got back into its proper focus for me. She blinked a few times, looking over to me with a look of confusion and concern. I blinked a few times, shrugging idly and trotting over beside Minty.

"Battery-powered unicorn, what can I say? I might as well be traveling with a robot." Alright, credit where it's due... rifle butts applied at velocity to the cranium REALLY friggin' hurt!

---

My head thoroughly mummified in healing bandages after a quick stop-over in the factory infirmary, myself and Minty were following Jumper Cables over to the storage area, moving past several deconstructed robots. Minty seemed to be blushing rather profusely as we stepped by the secretarial assistance droids, though for the sake of not having my head bashed in any further I kept my tongue held. The little orange mare in my head seemed to cover her face with her hat as we passed the security robots, myself spotting inscriptions on some of the metal parts that made up their armoring; Ministry of Wartime Technology. Oh yeah, that's right, the Stable history textbooks had her picture - well, an older picture of her - listed on the page, one of the Ministry Mares of pre-war fame. Wonder why they all were chosen, though... ah, I suppose the princesses had their reasons. That, or I just managed to sleep through those particular classes. Can you blame me, I really only enjoyed the lessons about the escalation of the war up to the use of megaspells and balefire bombs. Those things were just pretty, is all. The mare didn't seem to particularly agree with me on that, from the way she rolled her eyes.

"Here we are... recharged power supplies and reclamation section, feel free to take all you can carry." Jumper Cables yawned profusely, unlocking the door and letting Minty step inside. "We'll make more, don't worry. Just... mmh, just don't go electrocuting yourselves. I've gotta get back to my office." I held open the door, watching as she turned and began trotting back through the factory at a slow gait, her head drooping as she took each heavy step. Again, it really, -really- can't be healthy to work yourself to death like that. Stepping into the room, I was met with a spark battery to the head, Minty digging through the piles gleefully and lining his saddlebags.

"Oh, COME ON!" Yup, my head was ringing again. Man, those damn things were heavy... My augmented friend looked up from his dig, a length of copper wire held in his mouth, looking at myself curiously as I slumped back against the wall, rubbing my forehead tenderly. At least I had the bandages on this time. He chuckled weakly, stepping out and trotting over to me, setting the wire down. I sat on the floor for a while, watching as he levitated some of the batteries out and started wiring them up in series, terminal to opposite terminal, making a big ring of them. Well, at least I didn't have a broken leg this time...

"Ah... eheh... sorry..." Minty seemed to blush of embarrassment, levitating up the two end wires of the rig and taping them together, separated from each other by about an inch. I picked up a few of the spark batteries and energy cells myself, dropping them into my saddlebags - hey, they could be useful things to pack in the event of a snowball fight or burst of inventiveness - turning to face him. He let off a sigh, looking up at myself from his hobbled-together power source. "How about we agree now to not make fun of whatever either of us might find pleasurable, or get us excited, alright? Not going to last long if we keep beating each other up... partners?" He raised his non-augmented hoof, looking at myself with a little smile. Well... if it meant I wouldn't have to deal with more ballistic brunt-force rebuttals against my head, it wouldn't hurt. I bumped my hoof up against his, returning the smile.

"Partners... even if you do like an inferior soda brand." I let off a chuckle, Minty grumbling and eyerolling as he lifted up the wires from the rig. I wrapped a leg around his neck, hanging onto him as he readied to teleport, smirking coyly.

"I thought we agreed to never speak of that again." The air smelled of ozone once again, Minty making the connection and sending a buzzing tingle through my body, my head not exactly liking the extra voltage running through it. Electricity was weird. A brilliant flash encircled the both of us, the mare in my head even hanging onto her imaginary stetson as we made the jump from the back storage room of the RobronCo factory all the way to the front door of... ah, ponyfeathers. Red lights lit up on my EFS, first the warning that the area was irradiated - not just from the snowstorm, which was still kind of light - and then a series of red bars around us. A third indicator flashed up, this being a new one for me; Moonlight Crater. Thanks, Minty, you managed to miss NEAMO and drop us both in a bomb crater instead! The fourth thing of note, and regrettably the thing that made me very happy that NEAMO had functioning clothes washing facilities, was a very familiar, freakish, unequine scream.

This was going to be a looong night...

---

Remember when I nearly blew my eardrums out picking that lock with Gamma's pistol? Well, apparently firing a pair of light machine guns and having a preexisting headache is not a winning combination at all either. At least the six or so ghoul ponies around the crater weren't impervious to either .30 caliber rifle bullets or concentrated energized goop, thankfully. All that just left the trek over to NEAMO itself, then, which apparently wasn't all that far away from it as it was. Oh, hope that being teleported twice didn't fry those talismans up too bad... I stumbled along behind Minty, following him towards the facility all lit up by the strange greenish arcane lanterns, the snowstorm blowing around us in the frigid cold wind. Are we ever going to arrive back here when it isn't completely miserable out? A large gust of icy cold wind blasted in my face as we passed over a snowbank, my head stinging as the frigid cold pushed against it. That's another thing, are we going to have one day - just ONE day - where I'm not coming here injured!? A masked unicorn stallion wearing aged combat armor approached us, carrying his signature long-barreled magnum at his side, stopping on top of a large snowbank cut over by barbed wires.

"You two actually came back? You're either as determined as the Doc... or just plain goddess-damned nuts. I'm gonna save you the trouble and just go ahead and assume the latter. Well, come on." He grunted, helping lift Minty up over the wire as I flew myself over, my head pounding like somepony started up the war again inside my skull. I slid down the snowbank, White Thunder getting a glance at the pair of rifles on my sides as we started making headway to the facility's actual entrance. He seemed to be a bit surprised, actually. "Now where in the name of Celestia did you find a piece like that? Heh... I knew a Lieutenant who carried a pair of rifles like those. Wildcat, think her name was. Was stationed up at an airbase to the far northwest, 48th flying scout wing. Base probably's gone now." He chuckled, looking up, letting it die off in the wind. "Wonder whatever happened to her, anyways..."

He opened up the door, leading us both back down into the significantly pleasantly warmer facility, which seemed to be buzzing with more livelihood than when we first arrived. The ghoul nurse looked over the both of us, smirking and eyerolling - so -those- are the muscle groups that move your eyes around - before continuing onwards, her faded clothes swaying idly over her flanks and covering what remained of her mane. Minty trotted ahead, stepping into Megaspell Mary's chamber almost gleefully, his saddlebags already opened up and the multitude of talismans levitating out of them. The familiar ghoulified earth pony in the labcoat and armored vest looked down from the upper terminals on the gun, smiling widely as we stepped into the chamber with a veritable cloud of functioning targeting talismans levitated over us.

"This going to be enough, Doc? Was all that we could pull out of the targeting maneframe in the first silo, other ones were sealed, or collapsed, or something. So, when are we gonna be able to start wiping that striped scum off the planet?" Ah, Minty, still delightfully racist as ever. The Doc seemed to cringe a little at that comment - no, wait, that cringe was just from landing after jumping from one story up - as he approached us, grinning widely and chuckling.

"Oh, my boys, you've made me the happiest ghoul in the entire wasteland! Megaspell Mary will fire again!" I managed a smile, feeling a banging in my head again. Stop kicking that gong already! The orange earth pony in my head opened her eyes in surprise, looking back at her rear hooves for a moment before shrugging. Alright, so if you're not playing gongs, then who the heck is firing artillery in my head!? Minty levitated out my share of the talismans and began following Doc's orders on where to place them in the maneframe, myself dropping to my haunches and rubbing at my head. Oh, somepony stop playing that damned overture...

"I'm gonna go... find a cot. Friggin' headache..." Minty and Doc huddled by a hatch for the maneframe as I trotted back down the hallway, breathing heavily and going by the lines on the walls. Med bay was down this hall and to the left... or, was it right? Or the next hallway down? Was there a door I had to go through as well, or was it just a straight shot? Buh, note to self, get a goddessdamned map of this place drawn up. I found myself wandering a bit, head still feeling like somepony sat on it with bricks in their pockets. The hallways seemed to blur together in a mess of greens, blues, and grays as I stumbled along them, stopping in front of an open door and peering in. Lots of pre-war posters with red 'X's through pony faces and weird writing, not medical bay. Wait, what? Oooh, head... save the mysteries, I need to find a bed.

After a few more minutes of wandering, the ghoul nurse bumped into me - or, I bumped into her, I think - and I finally made way down into the infirmary. She didn't seem to be one much for chatting, but at least she knew what she was doing, re-mummifying my forehead in new bandages and helping me out of my barding. It's kind of a shame she was stuck here, come to think of it. Not many ponies like her out in the wasteland; then again, may be for the better. Haven't seen all too many ghouls outside of here and Quebuck, and with the majority being of the zombie-ghoul type... apt to shoot first and ask questions later. Even balefire bombs and megaspells can't kill prejudice, I suppose. She gave me a light nod as I layed back, resting my sore head on the pillow, the nurse trotting out back into the rest of the facility, probably to let Minty know, maybe. That'd be nice of her, she seemed like the kind type. The mare in my head gave a small flicker of a smile, my eyelids weighing heavy as I shuffled to a more comfortable position, tails wrapping around my midsection and serving as an impromptu blanket as the sweet bliss of sleep fell over myself again. Today was a long day...

---

The warm wind blew around myself, rustling the soft green grass and moving the flowers gently, the sun shining brightly in the sky like a distant megaspell explosion. I rested on a blanket layed out, my wings dropped to my sides and legs under my head, napping and watching as my friends played with each other down the hill. A young mare, barely in her thirties and with a mane a vibrant bright green, broke away from the group and made her way up the hill towards myself, a gentle smile on her face. I kept myself layed out, taking a deep breath of the gentle, warm air and stretching idly, lifting my head up as she came closer. She was humming a soft, familiar tune, one that we both knew very well - our song. She sat herself down beside me, myself rolling up onto my haunches and wrapping one of my wings around her back, turning and smiling at her.

"Nice day today, isn't it? Not a cloud in the sky..." She let off a soft sigh, hugging myself close, nuzzling into my mane lightly. Hers smelled of a faint perfume of coolant fluid and oil, masked by the fragrant aroma of flowers and grass all around us both. I shuffled myself closer to her, smiling and looking down into the valley. The ponies below - pegasi, unicorns, earth ponies, all happy as they could be, frolicking and playing in the wide fields with each other, nothing to worry themselves with other than enjoying each other's company.

"Yeah... it's good to see you again, Gamma." I smiled softly, squeezing the unicorn beside myself tightly, feeling as she hugged back. A warm breeze rustled the trees around us, birds chirping idly and animals scurrying about, the creek below bubbling as it flowed along. This place was so peaceful, so tranquil, so untouched by the hooves of modernization... it was a perfect haven. And, most importantly, Gamma Ray was here. I never wanted to leave.

"Love seeing you too, Twinnie... heh, and your little friend there, as well." She giggled gently, sticking out a hoof at a small orange mare with an appropriately size-matching stetson resting on my shoulder. The tiny mare hopped onto Gamma's hoof, drawing both our attention as she seemed to hop around nervously, looking around in a panic. I leaned back, Gamma scratching her head in confusion as the little earth pony pointed to the sky, using one hoof to hold on her hat. We shared a glance, turning our gazes up at the wide, blue, sky, the sun shining bright in our eyes. I raised a leg to cover my own, noticing a small glint trailed by a long line of smoke coming down from the sky.

"What the hec-" The sky lit up white, the screams of laughter from the valley turning into screams of terror. Gamma threw herself on top of me, her face nuzzling up next to mine as a pulse of heat rushed over our bodies, the screaming from the valley being silenced by a deafening roar that filled what gaps were between us. Everything burned. Gamma wasn't moving. My vision was turning white. In the distance, somepony was screaming for me. I cuddled Gamma's body against myself, my vision bleached and ears recovering from the roar, the screaming growing in volume.

---

"Twintails!" I woke with a jump, breathing heavily and being greeted with Minty staring myself in the face, his hooves on my shoulders holding me against the bed. The bandages around my head were damp, as well as the sheets on the cot, my feathers sticking to the soaked fabric as I lifted myself up, taking gasping breaths. Minty took a step back, the nurse mare looking on from the other side of the cot, both of them sharing concerned looks as I leaned forwards, regaining myself. I was fine, it was just a dream... Gamma was still dead. Wet wings falling to my sides, I sniffed, rubbing at my stinging eyes.

"W-what's up? We going to head out again?" I sat up, rolling off of the bed and giving my wings an idle flap, sending a few water droplets splashing around. I hate night terrors. The nurse carried over my barding and helped me slide into it again - oh, how I loved the feeling of freshly-cleaned pants - as well as fit me into my battle saddle, both rifles snug against my sides, underneath my wings. Minty looked over at me, still keeping that concerned look on his muzzle.

"Yeah, but... are you sure you're alright? You... you were saying something about Gamma Ray... and then you started screaming." He trotted up in front of myself, looking into my tired eyes and placing his non-prosthetic hoof up on my shoulder. I let off a sigh, looking to the bed beside us, examining the large damp mark on the sheets. When was the last time I had night terrors like that? Goddesses... has it really been that long since I first left? Putting a weak smile on my face, I looked back up at Minty, nodding idly.

"It was just a bad dream. I'd... I'd rather not talk about it, really." We looked at each other for a few moments, Minty taking a step forwards and wrapping his hooves around my neck gently. I smiled softly, patting his shoulder with a free hoof, himself releasing the hug and watching me as he turned for the door.

"I just want you to know that I'll always be here for you. C'mon, we've got a long hike ahead of us, we're heading to this place called Trotisk, well past Quebuck." He smiled, adjusting his glasses and stepping out the doorway. I slid into my saddlebags and followed behind, my bandaged head finally beginning to not hurt as much. Glad somepony found the volume controls for that damn artillery barrage...

"What about the storm? Can we at least see in front of our faces without being blinded by our own glowing eyes?" I chuckled lightly, Minty looking back at myself with a smile, the stairwell leading up to the door coming into view. "Or was I out for -that- long already?..." Minty levitated out a small map, holding it up for me as we trotted along. A line was drawn across it, leading up over past Moonlight Crater and looping widely around past Quebuck.

"Storm should be heading to the southeast, we keep north and we should be able to make it there in a few days. Who knows, maybe we'll find your Vera there and her and Tom can do duets~" He chuckled, folding up the map and sliding it back into his saddlebags, the door to the outside swinging open easily enough. Gentle snow was falling over us both as we trotted along, heading to the snowbank we passed over last night, White Thunder giving us a wave of the hoof as we passed by.

"Har-dee-har. What are the chances of that happening twice? I mean, that'd be amazing, but at the same time I don't think I'd like my legs broken again." I rolled my eyes, hopping the barbed wire and following along behind Minty as he sank into the soft, new snow. At least we wouldn't have to kill those freaky crater-ghouls twice, I suppose - still couldn't help but wonder why it was called Moonlight crater. Obviously wouldn't have predated the war, being a missile impact site, and all. Maybe the Pegasi are afraid of covering the sky somewhere, so when the moon comes out it always shines into the crater bowl? Who knows...

"Bah, you're one to whine." Oh, great, playing the 'I had to get a replacement leg because I couldn't have seen the fragmentation mine in a snowstorm at night' card. We walked by the rim of the crater, red indicators and ticking coming up on our EFSs. Least the dosage was low around here. Minty seemed to stifle a snicker, glancing back at myself. "Hey, you don't happen to have an empty soda bottle, do you? I think I've got another bottle ready for you, you wouldn't mind it fresh, right?" Fresh Sparkle-Cola? What the... oh you son of a striped changeling parasprite.

You know, it's funny how easy it is to collapse a snowy overhang with auto-rifle fire.

After a rather colorful exchange of remarks, goop fire, and finally boiling down into ballistic snowballs, we continued over the crest of the ridge that the crater resided on, looking down at the frigid rolling wasteland that lied beyond. Straight ahead was a large crescent-shaped scar in the earth, where thin trails of smoke floated up out every now and again. The view beyond was obscured by the dense snowstorm, the wind blasting into our faces, and carrying with it the omen of things getting worse either way. We charged forwards, tumbling, rolling, and leaping wildly, the snowfall beginning to thicken around us as the depth of the ravine became evident. Fires flickered at the bottom, the wind blowing snow through it and making it almost whistle.

"Right, best option, get out of the storm before our flanks freeze off. Let's hope those fires are from non-zombie ponies..." We rushed down the side of the ravine, hiding behind the rolling snowdrifts as we moved forwards, looking up and seeing the storm raging above. Equine forms milled about at the bottom near the fires, adorned in rather skimpish clothing. Maybe it was warmer near the bottom, or something? Certainly seemed like that was the case back in Stable 34, deeper levels when the conditioning units went out were just unbearable. Could be worse...

"Yeah... keep your guns out, just in case." I looked down at the hoof holster that held Gamma's... my, pistol, fitting the bit for the twin auto-rifles in my mouth. Please don't be a horde of radioactive zombies who want to stomp us into a fine paste... we trotted forwards, slowly, a unicorn with quite a... um... -interesting- cutie mark of what Long-Dick Johnson got his first name for. This was going to be fun. He wore a smirk, a rather interestingly large-bore rifle rested on his back as he approached us, eyes manic and wide.

"Well, lookie what we got here. Frostbite, what d'you reckon this fresh meat is?" Oh, that was a voice that could grate on nerves. Minty glanced over at me, his big goop rifle being encompassed by his magic. An earth pony mare with spiked mane and cutie mark of, well, I'm going to go ahead and assume that's frozen bear meat, stepped forwards, snorting and spitting to the snow beside.

"Pair of Stable newbies, probably will squeal like fillies. Oh, look, one of 'em's even got a metal leg! Hey boys, we got a cripple over here!" A small group had begun to emerge from behind the snowbanks, each of them carrying blunt objects or small-caliber guns, all eyeing us with -very- disconcerting looks. In retrospect, losing skin to a snowstorm would've been a much nicer alternative to the band of what I think are ponies about to use us like improvised dildo-testing machines. A laugh sprouted from one off to the side, Frostbite and the other earth pony stallion leading the group and moving us both backwards.

"The yellow one's a pegasus! What's the matter shorty, got captured by that cripple to be his bitch?! So much for the fuckin' Enclave, hah!" The bottom of the chasm was a swarm of these mentally unstable and apparently severely sexually deranged pony-like creatures, each one seeming to eye over the both of us wanting quite especially to have a piece. Forty-eight rounds plus whatever Minty has...

"...we're gonna need more bullets." A cry went up from the group, both of us turning tail and running - well, flying/teleporting - up to the top of the ravine, both of us jumping as the ground exploded between the snowbanks we opted for cover. Minty's horn was glowing orange - oh, that can't be good - and he was doubled over, his guns dropped in the snow as he searched around for a spark battery. I peered up over my snowbank, feeling a pulse of warm air supplemented with an icy chill as the ground exploded in front of us again. Damn, I wanted a gun like that! Hopping up for a brief moment, I swept the crowd with both of my rifles, watching as some of them fell and were trampled by the rest. Definitely going to need more bullets.

"Twintails!" I dropped behind the snowbank, for now ignoring the seeping warm sensation and bruises from behind my vest, both rifle barrels smoking in the snow. A black egg-shaped object flew past my vision, dropping from Minty's magic and landing in the snow. It kind of hurt to look at for a long time, but... oh, ponyfeathers, how did I forget we had that!? Minty levitated up his plasma rifle and was blind-firing over the snowbank, the ground between us exploding again as light arms fire whizzed past us. He nodded towards the massive group, pointing a hoof at the egg. Say no more, my friend - it's going to be my pleasure.

"Hey assholes, hi there!" I smacked the top of the egg once, carefully picking it up and carrying it in my hooves as it began to hum. Snapping my wings, I bolted up like a rocket - no, wait, missile - bomber? - arcing overhead and listening to the bullets screaming by my ears. The group looked so tiny from up here. Egg held against my body, vibrating at a rate that I was embarrassed to admit felt -really- good, I began my dive, feeling my wings slicing through the cold air. My EFS popped up with a note - Moonlight Ravine - some in the large group beginning to turn tail and run. Didn't blame them, buut... I was faster. The egg dropped away as I peeled up, feeling a tingle run through my body as somepony spiked the contrast and began blasting a recording of a thunderstorm in my ears. Balefire, baby! The whole chasm seemed to shake, myself being thrown up and over into the wall, getting a fantastic taste of the local sediment before falling into a nice, comfy snowbank... with a boulder in it. Hey, who turned out the lights?

---

The room was dark. Too dark. Somepony-shut-down-the-reactor dark. I tried to look around, not feeling myself there, but- okay, that was a wall. And that's the floor. And that was... a unicorn's horn sparked in the darkness, illuminating the area. Gamma's light-blue magic filled the room, herself looking at me with those amber eyes of hers, a solemn look on her face.

"Wake up, Twintails. Wake up. Please, please wake up..." I reached out to touch her - but I couldn't see my hoof. Even with her magic, I couldn't see much of anything. And, weirdest of all, her voice sounded... tinny. And male.

Dreams are weird.

---

"Wake up!" That tinny voice rang in my ears again as I rolled in the snow, my wings, back, face, chest... my everything aching and freezing, eyes cracking open to the sight of a very weird parasprite-shaped robot hovering silently overhead. I blinked a few times in disbelief, before scurrying backwards at the sight of the laser it had mounted on it's undercarriage. It hovered backwards a bit as well, looking down at myself.

"Uh... hi?..." I blinked again, reaching out a hoof at the weird robot, sprite-thing, before righting myself again. Oh, right, head injuries do not like being aggravated! "Oh, fuck me with a fuel rod, what happened?" The sprite-bot hovered in silence as I rubbed at my head, looking up at... a giant snowslide that filled the chasm completely, multicolored hooves, torsos, heads, manes... among other things... jutting and spilling from the snow. I blinked, dumbfounded, staring at the carnage, the sprite-bot hovering beside myself idly.

"You are the most mentally insane non-Enclave pegasus I have ever encountered." I rose to my hooves, shaking my head free of ice and snow, still surveying over the damage. The sprite-bot hovered behind myself in silence, save for the buzzing of it's wings. Slowly I approached the base of the pile, looking up at it. One balefire egg did all this?... Goddesses, I need another one of those things!

"I'll take that as a compliment. I can't believe it..." I smirked, sitting down at the base of the pile, prodding at it idly. Some snow shifted around, uncovering the remains of some poor wrecked small-caliber pistol and smashed hunting rifle, landing with a thud at my hooves. The sprite-bot looked up at the summit of the pile, hovering silently.

"Stable 34... you're a long way from-"

"I set off a balefire egg and didn't even get to see the explosion!" With a groan of annoyance, I fell back into the snow, looking upwards at the storm that was passing over the top of the ravine, making day seem like night. The sprite-bot looked down at me, seemingly in a mix of surprise, disbelief, and... oh, stop shaking your head, er, body like that! I wanted to see the detonation...

"Ah-... you-... I bu-..." The tinny stuttering was getting to be somewhat grating - who was this guy anyways? "...you are the single most utterly insane pegasus I've ever encountered." Again with the compliments? Yeesh, you'd think this guy was coming on to me. Oy. I rose to my hooves, looking up at the sprite-bot with a smirk.

"Sorry, I prefer ponies who aren't completely robots... nice job trying, though~" The sprite-bot went silent, myself giving my wings a flap and hovering up the hill. The familiar teal mane of the augmented unicorn popped up as I reached the summit, landing atop it with a wide smile. Minty let off a light chuckle as we met, his expression changing as the buzzing sprite-bot followed behind me.

"Dude, that was just creep- ah..." The voice on the other end of the sprite-bot died off, Minty seeming to blush as he looked at the hovering robot, stammering softly. I looked between them, grinning coyly. The sprite-bot turned towards me, hovering silently in confusion.

"Minty, this is my new friend, uh... what'd you say your name was?" The sprite-bot hovered backwards, looking between myself and Minty, both of us looking up at it/him. Minty sniffed in, biting his lip and covering up his muzzle with his augmented hoof, his cheeks a rosy red.

"Um... Watcher... but... Oh, would you look at the weather reports, gotta go!" The sprite-bot rushed off, the voice feed sizzling out and being replaced with an upbeat marching tune that rang throughout the ravine as the robot bounced along in the air, floating along idly. I blinked a few times, shrugging and turning to Minty. A slow drip of red flowed from his nose, cheeks a vibrant red blush as he swayed uneasily. I stifled a snicker, watching him stumble about before catching him. Come on, he couldn't have sounded THAT dreamy...

"Come on mister Roboto, we've still got a long road ahead. Trotisk is still pretty damn fa-" For somepony who has a nosebleed at the voice of somepony else broadcasting through a sprite-bot thing, he sure can run fast when he wants to. I tumbled down the hill, catching myself and hovering up just in time to see the poor spritebot hovering for it's, uh, circuitry I guess, my augmented friend in hot pursuit. And that Watcher-guy thought -I- was the insane one...

"Wait up, ya circuits-for-brains!"

---

I finally caught up with the lovestruck augmented unicorn, racing him over what looked like another massive open field in the wasteland. He dropped his head, losing sight of the sprite-bot, finally deciding to take a resting stop - ouchie, my wings. Oh, do not fly long distances with an aching everything. Minty seemed to be looking around idly, trotting along as I landed next to him.

"Woof... could you at least give -some- kind of forewarning before you go running after a robot again? Sheesh..." I huffed out a warm breath, the two automatic rifles at my sides clinking together as we trotted along through the snow towards Trotisk. Our EFSs flickered, a light snow falling around us, the day beginning to slip over noon as I took to examining the various large holes about - weird, they were all completely conical in shape, and they didn't seem like they were bomb craters. I couldn't help but feel like I'd seen them before...

"Ah... uh, it's complicated. You'd probably think it was silly..." Minty let off a cloudy sigh, blushing softly and turning away. Um... what happened to trust between us? Besides, chasing robots was already pretty damn silly as is... stop snickering, your friend is going through some depression here, you moron.

"Minty, chasing after a robot because you heard somepony's voice on the other end is silly. Being depressed when you have a friend to talk to is silly. Come on, let's hear it. Least that you can do for me, I want to help you with this." I smiled, looking over at him and wrapping a hoof around his neck, hugging him a bit. He turned his head, the faintest bits of a smile wavering over it as he took a breath.

"Alright... well, see, it's just that... since we rescued your Stable, I haven't really been able to stop thinking about getting back in contact with Cross StWOAH!!" The snow seemed to give underneath our combined weight, both of us tumbling and falling through. My EFS popped up with a note, finally telling us where we were, and bringing a surprised smile to my face - 'Snowdrop Megaspell Test Range.' History was made here! A high-pitched whining was the second thing I noticed, following the fact that I had a nice soft augmented unicorn to land on. I lifted myself up, being greeted with the very boxy end of... some kind of energy rifle, I guess. Past that, a very surprised, shaking unicorn in some weird all-metal armor stared down at the both of us, the rifle aimed squarely at my face. First I don't get to see the balefire egg going off, and now we're being held at energy gun-point for accidentally dropping in?

"Oh, ponyfeathers."

“D-don’t move!” I heard a new voice stammer, my face still buried in the snow. I stood up, shaking the dirty snow off of my body, only to be facing a unicorn, levitating an AER9 standard issue laser rifle between us both. The navy blue pony was shaking slightly, the tips of his orange mane being blown by the small breeze that blew in from the hole in the roof. He flicked the laser rifle upwards a bit, indicating for us to relinquish our weapons. His eyes flicked back and forth between Twintails and myself, or more specifically, my horn and leg. “W-what’re you doing here? Were you the ones that set off the explosion?” I levitated out my plasma rifle, but I didn’t drop it. I may be willing to give this guy the benefit of the doubt, but there’s no way I’m leaving myself unarmed.

“We may have. There are a lot of ponies around here, and a testing facility like this one isn’t exactly unfamiliar with explosions...” I said. The pony just kept pointing his rifle at us. I scanned the pony’s body, fixating on his armor. I froze, my heart picking up… No way… that’s… I squealed, leaning in for a closer look, completely disregarding the trigger happy wearer. “OhmyCelestiathat’saT-51BPowerArmorsuitwhereinEquestriadidyougetthat?” I was grinning giddily. Power Armor had to be the best thing behind plasma; there’s no way a bullet’s getting through that thing!

The pony looked at me, his nervousness changing to a bit of surprise and confusion. As I inspected his armor he traded glances with Twintails, who only shrugged. Ooh what I wouldn’t do for a set of that armor. It’d definitely mean less concussion induced naps. Well, barring an Electromagnetic Pulse of course. The pony still looked a little confused, but holstered his rifle (I suppose I could do with one of those too), figuring we would’ve fired by now if we were going to shoot him.

“So… what do you guys know about what happened?” He asked. He shifted his weight a little, his suit releasing air to lower pressure and allow him to lean. That hiss of air probably got me a little more excited than I should have been. Twintails raised an eyebrow at me as I stood myself straight up again, before turning back to face the power-armored unicorn.

“There was a camp of raiders holed up in the ravine,” Twintails said, the other stallion pressing a small button near the collar of his suit. A red light began to flash as a soft crackle of static was heard. “We gunned a couple of them down, but we were running low on ammunition as more were approaching. We climbed out of the ravine... I think... and lobbed a Balefire Egg into there. The explosion knocked me out, I didn’t see what happened afterwards, except a giant snowslide where the group was.” Twintails ears lowered a bit, looking disappointed.

The unicorn squinted a little. “That sounded and felt a heck of a lot bigger than just a single Balefire Egg. You sure you didn’t ‘accidentally’ find a Megaspell warhead around here?” He asked. I bit my lower lip a little, partially afraid to disclose the information to the unicorn and partially not wanting to disappoint Twintails even more.

“Well… I may have seen… some kind of large metallic object buried in the ravine before I chucked the Balefire Egg in.” The unicorn squinted a little, looking upset. “I swear I thought it was some kind of mainframe!” I said, not wanting to anger him any more than I already had. He pressed the button on his collar again, the light stopped its flashing and the crackle of static was heard again.

“Alright, but I want you two out of here, now. And if I hear another explosion, my superior’s won’t be happy.” He ran off to investigate the canyon, leaving Twintails and me standing in the small room made out of a big depression in the ground. Twintails looked over to me, raising an eyebrow a little before we started to climb out. I pulled out my Pipbuck, finding we were only a bit east of the Quebuck ballistic defense base. Well, I suppose that at least makes sense.

“Superiors? Who do you think he’s working for?” Twintails asked as we trotted across the test site, many craters dotting the landscape. I watched Twintails’ eyes dart excitedly around the place, wide as dinner plates; sheesh, they’re just irradiated holes in the ground. “You don’t think he’s with the Enclave, is he?” He started to drift towards a small shack near a fence. I only rolled my eyes and followed him.

“It’s unlikely. He was a unicorn after all, and I don’t think Enclave use T51-B model armor. It’s good, but there are better models out there.” I said as we approached the small shack. “Heck, that suit wasn’t even winterized; He’s probably freezing in it.” I chuckled a little. Twintails ignored me, walking up to the shack. He tried the door, the hinges creaking loudly as it swung open. He trotted in and I followed, Twintails already on the look for any sort of explosive device, I could guess. “Are you sure this is a good idea? I don’t think I’d like to have that guy’s friends swooping down on us.”

He dug through the various junk surrounding the room, tossing aside empty cans of beans. “Oh relax, we’ll be fine.” He said, moving from the shelf to digging around in a locker. “Are you kidding me? An emergency shelter on a test bed doesn’t even have an instruction manual? C'mon, pre-war Civil Defense, I though you were better than that...” He tossed aside a burned up book. I started to dig around in the garbage as well - who knows, maybe there’ll at least be some microfusion cells around. I came across a safe, pulling out my set of bobby pins and trusty screwdriver.

For a testing facility, the lock was surprisingly simple, just a quick jiggle, turn, and click! I opened the safe, expecting just some old bits and perhaps a few caps. Instead, there was just a lone, faintly glowing sphere in the center. I levitated it out, staring into it. It looked pretty fragile and the glow pulsated slightly. “Hey, Twintails, any idea what this is?” He looked over to see the object I was holding in my magic, studying it for a moment.

“I think… yeah, that’s a memory orb! Minuette at the museum in Mooscow told me about them.” He stared into it a bit more. “I wouldn’t touch it to your horn, though, she said you’re kind of stuck watching the memory until it ends... and this isn’t exactly the best place to do that.” I nodded and lowered the orb into my saddle bags. “I think we may as well head out, there’s nothing here.” He said, letting off a sigh, still looking a little glum.

We headed out of the shack, finding our way to the frozen gates of the site. We trotted down the road from the testing site towards Quebuck. The path from the site to the military outpost was pretty uneventful, only the occasional bloatsprite needing a shot of plasma and .45 Auto rounds to the face - I really ought to tell him how overkill he is sometimes. We passed by the defense complex, myself having to practically drag Twintails away from the doors to the silos - no, the missiles aren’t going to magically reappear Twintails, let it go.

We crunched through the dirty snow through Quebuck, hoping beyond hope more ghouls weren’t eyeing our flanks. “So… what were you saying about finding old world tech earlier?” Twintails asked, keeping his voice a little low. I mulled the idea over in my head. Admittedly, there were a lot of reasons, salvaging parts, improving augmentations being just a couple.

“Well, probably for the same reason you’re obsessed with explosions.” I chuckled a little, Twintails rolling his eyes. “After all, what’s not to love about robots and computers?” I asked. He smiled, shrugging a little. “And… well. I know it’s a long shot, but on my way out of the Stable, I grabbed instructions on how to convert the one way radio in my Pip-Buck to a two way transmission radio. I was hoping, maybe Cross Stitch and I could stay in contact.

Twintails looked at me as we continued through the city, approaching the demolished limits. “I tried to convince him to leave, but he didn’t think he’d survive. I knew I couldn’t stay, I just hoped he’d be willing to go with me.” I lowered my gaze, a little disheartened. “And after seeing your stable destroyed, I’ve gotten really worried mine might…”

Twintails put a hoof on my shoulder, smiling softly towards myself - there was a faint tinge of pain behind his eyes, but he was hiding it well. “We could always stop by Stable 76, if you need to.” He said. I smiled at him as we exited the city limits and continued along the road. It wasn’t much, but the option comforted me. I pulled out a bottle of Sarsaparilla, popping open the cap, checking for a star. Aaaand... nope, nothing this time. I took a swig as Twintails made a gagging noise, the drama princess he is. Giving an eyeroll, I tossed the cap at him, smirking at the satisfying *ping* as it bounced off of his head. He grumbled a little, pulling out his own bottle of Sparkle-Cola, shaking it up and pointing it at me. I did my best to cover my face, but he still managed to fire the cap at my exposed cheek. Ouchie, geez, yeah, that stung. Yeah… yeah, I guessed I deserved that. He chuckled a little before starting to drink it down. As we headed along, a large figure started to come into view from over the horizon to the west. It looked like a city, a fair deal smaller than Mooscow, but containing still a fair number of houses.

As we came nearer to the settlement, it was easier to see it was surrounded by several crashed train cars, a few lying on their sides. We approached one of the train cars which had its doors cracked open. Twintails slid them apart and stepped through, revealing a small collection of buildings. We trotted in, a few ponies wandering about, a couple sitting at a small shack serving food. A small rusted sign was placed in the dirt, the words “Welcome to” in peeling paint, with the word “Turnpike” spray painted beneath it, the larger word covering the “Welcome” a little.

A large, grey, muscular stallion in a parka trotted by as I started to head towards a small building with the words “Stockcar Supplies” spray painted on the side of a large red boxcar. Jeez, you think they’d at least get the type of car right. I looked back when I noticed Twintails wasn’t following me. His gaze was following the stallion, his eyes unfocused, and seeming a bit distant, almost as if... I rolled by eyes and grabbed ahold of his tails with my magic, dragging him to the store. “Come on, lover boy. You can make googly eyes at the locals later.”

We entered the car, the place lit by a few lanterns hanging from the ceiling. A brown earth pony was repairing a 10 millimeter gun at a workbench. She waved to us, lifting a pair of goggles up over her black mane. “Ah, hi there! Welcome to Stock Car Supplies. Anything in particular you need?” She asked. “I got all sorts of ammunition, weapons, armor, you name it!” She said. We browsed the stores, Twintails collecting a few bags of Rad-Away and .30-06 rounds for his rifles while I scooped up some Microfusion cells and health potions. She rang up the items. “Alrighty, that’s… 137 caps.” She said. I counted out the caps and slid them across the counter.

As she collected the caps, Twintails slid his purchases into his saddle bags, and I slid mine into my own. We turned to leave, the mare going back to her repair. “Ah, we've been doing a lot of walking... think we could rest here tonight?” Twintails asked as we left the store. I saw him scan the area, no doubt in search for that stallion from earlier. Sheesh, if all it took for him to have the hots for somepony was a blue mane and grey coat, where'd he get the right to question my love of robotics from?

I pulled up the map on my Pip-Buck again, looking at the distance between the Turnpike and the marked Trotisk. “C'mon Romeo, it’s not too late in the day, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be much longer of a hike.” I said. “Besides, we don’t need another reason for you to go running after whoever that was.”

Twintails stuck his tongue out playfully at me. “Aw, come on, I was hoping we could have a three way.” He smirked, myself chuckling as we left the settlement. Alright, you got me on that one. We followed the road yet again, the wasteland just as empty as ever. My mind was clawing for something to fill the silence. Umm… A… brax…o. Yeah… I remember the jingle tune, but of course the only lyrics I remember were the childish ones from school. Great, now that’s stuck in my head.

Abrax-O, makes your mouth turn green.
Abrax-O, tastes like gasoline.
Abrax-O, for a clearer head!
Abrax-O, for a you that's dead!

I shook my head, flipping on the radio to find something to overpower that song. A crackle of static and a familiar voice appeared. “Hey all you wanderers out there, it’s time for another news update from your favorite little Turtle in a Stable! Remember, Turtle, not Tortoise!” Hi-Fi’s voice came on, just as enthusiastic as ever. “There’s something strange going on out in Pripytrot. Haven’t heard any sort of broadcast coming from there in a few days, and no one’s been going in and out. So, just a warning to all of you, you better be careful when visiting that area, who knows what’s going on out there? And now, the weather, with our brand-spankin' new weather stallion, Tom Neighrer!" Well, looks like Twintails'll get to hear Tom a bit more often, at least. An entire city gone silent? That was just plain weird, even for the wasteland...

"Thank you, Bertie! Our sensors predict will be a 100 percent chance of radioactive snow tomorrow, followed by more snow, and just to change things up, clouds, and snow the day after! I'm no meteorologist, but I'm pretty sure warm clothes are very highly recommended...” The ghoul-pony said, chuckling, Hi-fi - ah, Bert the Turtle, I mean - coming back on.

"Sounds like sound advice far as I can tell! Now, to tickle all your listening ears, here's a nice soothing melody from one of Tom's collection, put your hooves together and put down that machine gun because it's National Brotherhood Week on CONELRAD radio - all classics, all the time!"

I looked over at Twintails as we trotted along, turning down the radio volume. “What do you think happened at Pripytrot?” I asked. He shrugged, kicking a chunk of ice along, the frigid wind blowing in our faces. The song continued on softly, being intercut with static every now and again as a big gust picked up a wall of icy snow. I guess the reception on these things aren’t quite as good as I thought.

“Who knows?” Twintails said. “Raiders, undetonated Balefire bomb, dysentery outbreak, anything could do it, really.” He said. I tilted my head to the side a bit. That’s true, death wasn’t exactly uncommon. It’s just weird an entire city would go out. “Or, heck, maybe their radio towers just all lost power and they can’t send a message... at the same time...” He said. We continued along the road, myself looking south, in the direction of Pripytrot as it's icon showed on my Pip-leg map. Nothing seemed off, except the clouds were a little darker than normal. I suppose that could just be a storm though, maybe the antenna idea wasn’t too farfetched.

That dumb Abraxo song still stuck in my head as we walked along, despite the plethora of songs we heard during that time. Another city appeared over the horizon as we walked, this one much larger than the one made around the Turnpike along the highway. We walked up to the edge of town, this one not barricaded off as Mooscow and the Turnpike had been. We followed the roads, ponies milling about in the cold. Thankfully there was a motel near the entrance, as the sun was starting to set in the sky. We headed into the main room, a golden stallion standing behind the counter. “Hey, got any free rooms?” I asked.

The pony nodded, lifting a key off of a hook and spitting it onto the counter. I picked it up and stowed it in my saddlebags. “First time in Trotisk?” He asked. Twintails and I nodded, as he let off a grunt. “Well, if you want to know anything about this place, I’m an open book.” He said. “There’s the general store on the south side of the city, pretty much everything not weapon related you can find there. There’s a Gun Runner’s station just across the street from them. Let’s see… medical clinic on the north side, food pretty much everywhere in between… Oh, and of course the Plasma Spaz. Best energy weapons shop in the wasteland.”

My ears perked up when I heard the name of the store. A store specializing in energy weapons? That’s on the top of my places to visit before I’m mauled by a bear list now. I looked over at Twintails, grinning broadly. He chuckled, rubbing his eyes a little. “Tomorrow, Minty. It’s really getting late, now.” He said. I let off a sigh, following him out. I suppose it could wait. Sleep is more important than Lasers, Minty. We walked up the stairs to our hotel room, slipping the key in and unlocking the door.

We walked into the room, Twintails gently sliding off his saddlebags and machine guns, doing his best not to ding them up. I set Bloodbeak’s heat lamp on the bedside table, levitation off the metal chunks of my armor and saddlebags. As I did, I remembered the memory orb we’d picked up earlier. I lifted it out of the bags in my magic. “Hey, Twintails, did you-” I stopped short, already seeing Twintails had flopped down into the bed, settling himself down. I looked into the orb, curiosity starting to gnaw at my insides. It couldn’t hurt just to see what it was, right? After all, I doubt these orbs could hold a large memory, it was barely the size of my horn. I lifted it up, bringing it close to my horn, resting back in the bed beside the gold-coated pegasus. I paused for a moment, not sure if I really should go through with this... oh, you're in a locked bedroom, aren't you? Twintails would wake up if he heard screaming... wouldn't he? I gulped a bit, and pressed my horn into the glass-like material. Everything seemed to fade.

I found myself riding in the back of a carriage being pulled by two large stallions. I bounced in the seat, but when I tried to take a look around, I found myself unable to move my eyes... were these my eyes? There were a couple ponies sitting beside and across from me, all in advanced suits of power armor. We passed by a large wooden sign on the side of the road, which read in big red paint “If you wouldn’t tell the stripes, don’t tell anypony.” Oooh, this seemed official. The carriage bounced along the dusty road for a few minutes before coming to a slow halt. There were a few trenches dug into the dirt, two mares in thick jackets standing in front of them.

I felt myself stand up, hopping out the back of the trailer and walking over to the aging mares, saluting with a wing... ooh, that felt weird. Is this what a pegasus feels like? The purple unicorn nodded, and I felt my host - that seems like the right term, right? - stand at ease. An orange earth pony with blonde mane flowing from beneath her wide stetson started to pass out dark goggles and ear muffs. The mare seemed strangely familiar, but for whatever reason I couldn’t remember where I’d seen her before... the purple unicorn turned to face myself and the other ponies.

“This is the first air activation of a self-contained megaspell. You must wear your eye and ear protection at all times. This is a highly classified test, and is not to be discussed with anypony, regardless of their status, or whether or not they are present here. There will be a siren sounding at thirty seconds before detonation. At this time, one should double check their gear is properly secured. After the detonation you are to remain in the trenches until ordered otherwise by myself.” The orange pony returned, and the purple unicorn hopped onto the carriage and started to head towards a steel bunker a ways up the hill. Yeesh, that mare could just go on and on and on in a lecture, couldn't she? At the same time... well, she seemed like she knew what she was talking about.

My host walked to one of the trenches, settling in as a few other ponies joined us, the others sliding into the one behind me. He slipped on the goggles, both of our vision darkened, followed by our hearing muffled as he pulled on the ear muffs. We simply stood in the trenches for a while, a few of the ponies looking around, unsure of when something was about to happen. I looked off in the distance, seeing the faint shadow of a tower and some strange, brightly metallic object hanging from it.

I thought about what was going on… the secrecy, the object, the mare who talked as much as my old teacher… wait… I thought back to the ravine earlier. That metal sphere… was that? My heart wanted to pound faster, but it remained its steady beat as a siren started up. Thirty seconds. The siren was a bit quiet through the ear muffs, my gaze fixed upon the object swaying in the breeze. This couldn’t be happening. Twenty seconds. I tried to run, to scream, but I was simply stuck staring at the tower as the siren continued to blare. Ten seconds. No, this close to a Megaspell detonation? What were those ponies thinking?!

Five. The siren started to die down, the air seeming very quiet in comparison. Four. I wanted to cower down into the trench, but no matter how I struggled, nothing moved. Three. Oh no. Two. This won’t be good. One. The silence was deafening, time seeming to slow to a halt before... there was nothing for a moment, then there was a very, -very- bright flash.

It must have been like looking into the sun, I thanked Celestia I had the goggles on, or I’d have likely gone blind. There was a low rumbling as the flash dissipated, a cloud of dirt and snow starting to rise into the air. Suddenly, the rumbling grew louder exponentially, then a shockwave slammed us into the side of the trench, an ear shattering explosion ripping through the ear muffs. The host gained his bearings, moving forwards and staring back to the explosion - a fiery cloud rose up, the top starting to expand outwards, forming a mushroom like shape. I looked up at the cloud, my vision going dark.

I shook my head groggily, trying to get my bearings. I found myself sitting in a room with no visible doors or windows. The floor, walls and ceiling were made of some soft, puffy material. I tried to move, but I looked down, finding myself bound up in a jacket. My left foreleg felt especially short… was I missing my leg? And is my horn gone? I groaned in pain, suddenly noticing a mare cuddled up to me. She nuzzled me a little, before noticing I’d woken up. “Oops, I don’t think you’re supposed to be up yet!” She pulled a syringe out from her pocket of her saddlebags, jamming it into my neck. Ooh… geez that hurt… My vision went dark again as I heard her giggle, herself snuggling up to me again.

Oh, I knew that was a bad idea...