• Published 27th May 2012
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Fallout Equestria : New Roam - Delvius



The city of Roam is tortured by ambient and open hostility. Finally, a Praetorian arises to protect the city like the Legionnaires of old, and nothing will stop him. Nothing but himself, that is.

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Chapter 6 - Departure

Chapter 6
Departure
"Let's get this party started!"







It was several hours later when we had arrived back at Road Town. Now, I know what you're thinking: 'But Goldwreath, you were in the super-fast hovering, talking APC. How would you know what I'm thinking all the way out here in the ass-end of nowhere?' Nah, you probably weren't thinking that. Thing is, I guess I just didn't know the way back as well as I thought. Anyway...

Most of the town's residents were asleep, save for the guards and Conductor, who was still awaiting our return. We got out of the APC away from the town, after which Zaita started moving around the town slowly. I guess even AI's want to sate their curiosity. But I was still annoyed that we had to haul all of our salvage to his office ourselves.

As we sat down on the chairs before Conductor, we finally started speaking to each other.

"Well, what did you find out?" He asked nervously, sweat dripping off of him.

"Relax, Conductor. We got them all. And you were right; they were working with the Legion." Instead of calming down, he seemed more nervous than ever.

"Ah, okay. That's... that's good. A-are you sure you got them all?" Okay, something was up. I could smell it... or maybe that was just his sweat? Ick.

"Yes, I'm quite sure. We did a quick sweep of the area before we left. Nothing. Well, there was a group of bestials, but they ran off. Aside from that though, nothing." Seriously, I had thought this guy would be happy we did this for him. We had all nearly died doing this!

"Ah, ok. Good, good. And, uh... the vehicle?" Oh, so that's what he was nervous about!

"The vehicle is under control. Hopefully. It promised to help us out, at least. I just hope it keeps it's promise." Hopefully Zaita wouldn't betray us or something. It was kind of hard to imagine a machine being dishonest, but anything's possible.

Still, Conductor continued sweating profusely. He cupped his head in his hooves, not minding all the sweat on it. Okay, that's it. What was going on?

"Conductor? Is there something you're not telling me?" At that, he pulled his face away and looked at me straight in the eye. He looked to my other companions, before he gave a resigned sigh. He picked up a piece of paper and wiped his face with it before speaking again.

"Look, there's... something I need to tell you. Something happened while you were away." Okay, I did not like the sound of that. But I had been near death at least twice today, I could take it!

"What happened? Were you attacked?" Myst asked in concern. Of course. She had lived here, she should be concerned too. Skyfire, though, just kept quiet. Well, it was better than giving some wise-ass remark.

Conductor turned to Myst with a sad frown before answering, "No, thankfully. It was something else." He stopped and looked at me. "Something involving you." Me? What did I do? Did I accidentally kill someone or something? Oh, no... don't tell me Bane sang something about me that made me look bad. He made it up, whatever it was!

“And just what was it?” I asked, finding myself the focus of the conversation. I really hoped it wasn’t THAT bad…

“It’s… um… well… ugh, why isn’t this easy? I spent hours trying to prepare for this…” He trailed off, grabbing his head and shaking it hard. “Ok, look, there’s no easy way to say this so… so I’ll just say it.” He took in a deep breath, and continued. “You can’t stay here anymore.”

Whaaa--?

“What do you mean ‘he can’t stay here anymore’? This guy nearly got us killed, and nearly died himself, doing this! We come back after a few hours and find out we’re getting kicked out of here, how fucking wrong is that? Why, I’m gonna grab a pipe and shove it up your-” Skyfire started screaming, but I stopped her with a hoof.

“Enough, Skyfire. Conductor, you have some explaining to do. And I hope the reason is good.” I warned him, and he looked at me with an even more nervous expression than before. Still, despite looking like what Myst would be around twenty people, he managed to continue.

“Ugh, uh… look, the Legion came by earlier. They know we helped you out. They said if they see you with us one more time, they’re gonna wipe us off the streets. If they DON’T see you with us, there’s a small chance they might pardon us. It’s a small chance, but I need to take every chance I can to protect my people. I’m sorry.”

Well, as much as I was disappointed by Conductor and severely pissed off by the Legion, I guess I did have to leave at some point. And I didn’t really establish that much connection to Road Town, anyway. Really, the only ones here that I would miss if they stayed behind were Myst and Skyfire, and perhaps Kira. And, strange as it was, maybe even Bane. No matter how crappy his songs were.

“Well, that’s… some bad news.” I said, putting it lightly. Great, so where were we going to drop off all of this salvage? Zaita might have been able to carry it all, but I needed some caps. Kira might have been kind enough to trade for favors, but I doubted that many other merchants I might find would be.

“Oh, well, you don’t have to go now. You can take the load off here for the night. And I’m not ungrateful; there will be some recompense for your actions. You simply can’t come back here after you leave.” He said matter-of-factly, and somehow that eased me a bit. But I was still very much worried about what implications this might have on our preparedness for departure.

“Uh, thank you Conductor. W-we should go. Myst? Could we stay at your outpost again?” She nodded, and we excused ourselves from Conductor’s office as we started dragging our sacks of loot over to her outpost.

* * * Magnus et Potens Roamanus * * *

“This is bullshit!” Skyfire yelled as she paced back and forth on the second floor of the building, where I was lying down on the same mattress as the nights before. Myst was still outside, where she was laying what seemed like more camouflaged explosives.

“Calm down, Skyfire. We’re not leaving yet, and we can still stay at most until noon tomorrow. That leaves us enough time to tie up any loose ends here.” I tried to make her see reason, but she continued pacing back and forth, muttering obscenities under her breath.

“Yeah, I know. But it’s just… I can’t believe how ungrateful they are! We nearly died several times over and they kick us out? Stupid, degrading, low-lifed-” I stopped her in mid-sentence, which seemed to be becoming a habit of mine whenever she spoke.

“It isn’t their fault, Skyfire. This is the Legion’s doing. Conductor’s just doing what he thinks is best for his people, and I can respect that. And they aren’t ungrateful, to some extent. We’re getting rewarded, at least.” She thought about that for a moment, but shook her head.

“It’s not really about that. It’s…well, uh, about…” She continued stammering, but I think I knew what she was talking trying to talk about.

“Your squad?” I said, and she stopped in her tracks before hanging her head low. Clearly, this was what she was trying to say, but she didn’t like it any more because of that.

“Yeah,” She said is a small, fragile, voice with a very uncharacteristic tone. She approached me and lay down next to me on the mattress. The move caught me off-guard as I involuntarily moved away a few inches.

“How do you handle it? You left your stable, lost your loved ones, and yet you willingly help out a town you haven’t even heard of before. And then when they kick you out, you take it so well. Just… how do you do it?” She asked, and I had a sense that she wasn’t quite feeling as put-together as she tried to show in most of her interactions with us. She certainly looked confused, too. Confused and lost.

“Well, I don’t really know. I mean, I lost my parents years ago and I’ve more or less gotten over it. My recent loss weighs much more heavily than the loss of my parents, actually. But, I suppose you could say I ‘handle it well’ because… well, I actually don’t know. Most of the time I just don’t think about it. And if you ask me, considering you lost everything over the span of just a day or two, you’re handling it better than I would have.” I meant what I said. I was lucky, losing all of that over the span of years. She had lost all of her life in just a day. If anything, I should be asking her how she wasn’t trying to commit suicide or something.

She took all of that in for a moment, looking at the mattress. Eventually, though, a thought seemed to reach her head. She turned to face me, and asked yet another question I didn’t quite want to answer.

“Why did you leave the stable, anyway?”

‘Well, I knew this was coming.’ I thought to myself. I took in a deep breath, and turned to face her.

“I didn’t want to leave, actually. Everything was more or less fine. Really, it was either leave, or die.” That seemed to stir her curiosity, and she asked even more questions.

“Die? Why would you have died? Did you do something?” I really didn’t like the questions she was asking, but it’s not like I could have gotten away from it at that point. Besides, I could tell she was looking for a source to get some comfort from, or maybe even looking for a distraction (which is what I was doing) from her current situation.

“Well, heheh, it’s a long story…” I started, but with yet another display of uncharacteristic behavior, she got closer to me and watched me with filly-like curiosity.

“TELL. ME. EVERYTHING.” She said the last word with such drone-like emphasis that I thought she might break open my head and steal my brain if I didn’t. So, I told her...

When I was done, it seemed that there were more questions for her to ask than questions I had answered. And, of course, the first she asked was…

“And did you kill them?” She asked with such interest that it kind of freaked me out. But, truth be told, I was a little insulted that she even asked.

“I told, you I didn’t. Why would I kill them, especially Lighthouse? He was like a father to me, and I had no reason whatsoever to kill any of them,” I responded, annoyed. This mare really needed to work on her listening skills. Maybe she really did need my steel-hooved therapy so she wouldn’t annoy me anymore.

“Alright, alright. And who do you think was the killer? Was it Bloodshot? Or… or maybe Harddri-…” I placed a hoof in her mouth, causing her to salivate all over it as she tried to speak. I, on the other hoof, was tired and just wanted to stop talking for now. I hadn’t completely gotten over the fact that I was forced from my stable, and I really didn’t want to be used merely as a distraction.

“That’s enough, Skyfire. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired. Maybe we can talk more about this tomorrow. And I expect to hear about your past as well.” At that, her eyes popped wide and she pulled my hoof out of her mouth.

“What? But…but I never agreed to that!” She protested, and all I did was grunt in annoyance.

“Fine, but just leave me alone for now. I can already feel my eyelids trying to close shut. And if you aren’t prepared to share even a bit of your past, don’t expect me to share more of mine. I don’t just give away information for free.” She put on an over-dramatic pout and widened her eyes to such a degree I thought they might have popped out of her sockets.

“Awww, but WHYYY?!” Ooow! Sheesh, for a fully grown mare she could sound like a really whiny foal when she wanted to! “I thought we were FRIENDS? Friends don’t keep secrets from each other!” She thumped me on the chest over and over, not realizing that I could turn her own words against her. I smirked as she hit the metal chest plates in futility, and that got her attention a bit.

“Exactly. And if you’re my friend, you’ll tell me your past. After all, friends don’t keep secrets from each other, right?” My smirk turned to a cocky smile at her dumbfounded expression.

“Yeah…but, but… I… you… you know… ah… UGH!” She stormed out of the room and stomped down the stairs, but I could tell her frustration would wear off soon.

My smile remained as I lay down on the mattress and muttered under my breath, while holding my hooves out in front of me as I faced the ceiling, “Mares. Can’t tolerate them, can’t live without them.” I lowered my hooves, unstrapped the helmet and placed it next to me, and closed my eyes.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I was inside of the APC, with Myst and Skyfire looking out the front window. We were speeding down a long road, Zaita automatically dodging any obstacles in the way. We seemed to be in a fairly open area, most likely a plain. What caught my attention, though, was the direction we were headed.

"Why are we headed to the mountains?" I asked, catching both Myst and Skyfire's confused looks.

"What do you mean? This was your idea!" She thumped my head, before tapping it twice as if to see if it was hollow or something. I pushed her hooves away with an annoyed growl, before looking back out the window.

We continued like this for several minutes, when the APC suddenly stopped. It didn't 'stop' as in hovering in place. It 'stopped' in the sense of completely shutting down. As the vehicle slid across the road, making a metallic screech as the metal scraped against the asphalt, all three of us were rocked around the interior. When the vehicle finally stopped, all the lights were dim. No response from the various buttons and interfaces.

"Zaita? What's going on?" Myst asked worriedly, her eyes darting to all directions in fright.

We tried to get out of the vehicle, but when I unlocked the hatch and was about to push it open, it locked again. I tried once more, the same thing. We turned to face the vehicle's interface, and we saw that power was restored. However, the screen wasn't Zaita's electronic red with white line across the middle. Rather, it was a sickly apple green all across the screen. An extremely rough, raspy, barely understandable whispery voice emanated from the speakers.

"ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL." The voice rasped, and immediately the vehicle hovered at breakneck speeds toward the mountains. I tried using Tankbuster against the vehicle, but it still kept going. Myst was frantically shooting the lock with her rifle while Skyfire shouted out every possible variation of 'fucker' as she slammed her hooves on the controls again and again.

After more than a mere twenty seconds or so, we heard the loudest, most powerful, yet distant sounding 'BOOM!' any of us were likely to ever hear. All three of us rushed to the front window, and we saw an orange line with an ovular tip streaking across the sky, arcing visibly near the skies directly above us. As the oval approached, we watched the biggest bullet I ever saw as it quickly became larger and larger in our field of vision.

"WHAT THE FU-" Was all Skyfire managed to yell out before the bullet smashed into our APC and engulfed us in a fiery explosion.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I woke to the sound of plasma rifles firing, and to the faint humming of an engine. My heart was still racing from the dream, and I could even feel the heat of the explosion! Oh, wait, that was just the sun, coming in from the broken window.

Groggily, I picked myself and went downstairs. Before I did, though, I decided to find out what Myst liked so much about those biscuits.

"Oh-oh damn these are good!" I may have only placed the smashed remains of one into my mouth, but damn were they good. It had this awesome caramel-y taste that blended quite well with the melting-in-your-mouth nature of the flakes.

As I got down the stairs, I saw Myst looking out a window. I approached her, pouring the remaining flakes into my mouth.

"Hey. What's going on?" I greeted her, and she looked back at me with a surprised expression. What, had I sneaked up on her? My metal hoof-plates were still on, how could I have?

Those questions left my mind as she started speaking, in typical Myst fashion. "Oh, um, I hope you weren't disturbed from your sleep. Uh, Skyfire is...well... shooting things." Oh, no. Did she go all nuts again? Well, steel-hooved therapy it is...

"What's she shooting, and with what?" Despite my thoughts being elsewhere, I suppose my body's involuntary reflexes got that out first. I sighed as I scrapped whatever thoughts of beating the living shit out of her I had.

'Relax, Goldwreath. Don't you think if Skyfire went nuts Myst would've done something about it?' Thought Tom. Well, I guess that was true.

"Oh, she got her plasma rifles working again. Did something with Zaita that powered the batteries. I don't know the specifics, though. You should ask her." And with that, she trotted off to her trap door and went underneath.

I opened the door to the outside and nearly got blinded as my eyes adjusted to the morning sun's brightness. The early rays of the sun stabbed in-between the buildings, which made clear all of the dust that was floating around. I stepped out and started making my way to Skyfire. As I crunched pebbles beneath my hooves, I could hear the two talking about the pegasus mare's energy weapons.

"Do you not think that perhaps you should lower the fire rate of that one and also lower the energy output of the other? From what you have told me, I believe that is one of the main reasons you ran out quickly last time." Zaita was hovering about a meter from the pegasus, who was facing a building with many melted holes in it's wall. I was actually kind of surprised; I didn't know Zaita could speak to us while we were outside.

"Yeah, yeah. You sound just like Cometcaller. She always said that I should 'equalize my firing rate'. Thing is, I use these two for different situations, like I use Sally for... Oh, look who's up," She said as she saw my approach. She and Zaita both turned to face me.

"Good morning, you two. Now I have a few questions. One, how can you speak to us? I thought you could only do that if we were on the inside. And two, how'd you get those things working again?" I asked Zaita and Skyfire, respectively. Zaita was the first to answer.

"The Series 3 Harpy APC came with various improvements over the previous models. One such improvement are the speakers hidden beneath the armor plates that allow the A.T.A's of the vehicles to communicate with the soldiers. It was an improvement that would have helped the zebras fight off the Equestrians, had we been deployed sooner." She responded in that computerized voice of hers. Immediately afterwards, Skyfire began speaking.

"Yeah. Uhuh. Cool story, sis. Boring stuff aside, she comes with a recharging station that was meant to be used by the energy-wielding zebra soldiers. That's how I got these things to work." She showed off her twin plasma rifles with that typical over confident smile of hers.

"Yes, but the energy supply of the recharging station is limited, and was meant to be used only in emergency situations. If you keep this up, the supply will run out and I will have to obtain more power from the vehicle itself. And that will hamper performance," Zaita warned, but Skyfire just waved it off with an un-caring look on her face.

"Yeah, I got it. I'll just be more careful. Sheesh, can't a mare be happy her favorite guns are working again?" She resumed trying to hit a small bottle near the wall, while Zaita turned to watch her performance. Myst came back out, eating a biscuit and dragging two sacks behind her.

"Um... Zaita? I need to put these inside." She said meekly, but the APC heard and it approached. Myst climbed onto the vehicle and placed the sacks inside, somewhere. When she came back down, she looked... sad.

"Something wrong, Myst?" I asked, feeling a bit worried about her. Sure she seemed like a mare made of pure anxiety, but she could feel other emotions, too.

"No... it's just... well, I'll miss this place when we leave," She said as she hung her head.

Leave? What was she talking about? "Wait, you're coming with us?!" I asked, baffled. I mean, I knew she was my 'friend' and all, but didn't she, like, live here? Didn't she have other things to stay here for? My question seemed to shock her as well, and she looked up at me with glossy eyes.

"D-don't you want me to come?" She asked, seeming on the verge of crying.

'Oh, shit. Come on, think think... what would Captain Equestria do?' I ran through my head to come up with a valid response. Ugh, I felt like Zaita with that weird 'Loading Valid Response' circle of hers. Finally, though, I managed to get my words out.

"Oh, no I didn't mean I don't want you with us. I mean, isn't this place your home? Don't you have friends here that you should stay for? Any loose end that's keeping you here?" I asked, and she shook her head as she closed her eyes, a few tears streaking down her face.

"N-no. My only friend here is Kira, and she's the only one I'll have to say goodbye to. Conductor will probably be disappointed, but I'll convince him to let me go with you. This was... a hard decision. Please, I don't really want to talk about it." She said before she climbed back onto the vehicle and entered. I could see her huddle in the corner through the front window, shutting her eyes tight. I sighed, and saw a little reflection of sunlight near the roof-plates of the APC. There was a little camera looking at me.

"She lives here?" Zaita asked.

"LIVED here is more like it. I'm kind of surprised, really. I had spent about only one day with her and suddenly she's willing to leave her home to come with me? Who am I to influence her to do that?" I asked, still disbelieving. The camera focused on me for a little while, before looking back at Skyfire.

"I will...talk to her. I do not know why, but she seems... similar. Like she had been with me before. It is strange. I will attempt to comfort her and solve this mystery at the same time. Excuse me." I didn't really think that was a good idea, and was about to tell her as much when the vehicle beeped. Immediately, I saw Myst jerk her head to face the screen. They were having a private conversation.

I sighed as I turned back to face Skyfire, who had almost hit the bottle twice before I interrupted her.

"So, what about you?" I asked, much to her dismay. She reluctantly eased her jaw from the trigger before she turned her rifles away from the bottle and faced me.

"What about me?" She asked, seeming genuinely confused as to what I meant.

"You know... are you coming with me?" Her eyes nearly popped out of her eye sockets at my question, and she tilted her head before she nearly yelled out her response.

"Of course I'm coming with you! Those Legion rats still have to pay, and it's not like I have anything else to do right now. Why do you even need to ask? Do you doubt me?" She asked the questions as if she were insulted, but I could almost feel the drama she put into it to make it SOUND authentic.

"You don't have any loose ends? Anything to... take care of?" I asked, but she just snorted before turning back to her target. Despite seeming like she wouldn't answer, she still did.

"The only thing here I have to take care of is saying goodbye to my team. Other than that, no." She remained quiet for a moment, seeming to think about something. "Wait, you said we could stay until noon, right? What time is it?" I checked my pipbuck.

"It's ten-thirty. Relax, we still have time. But, I guess we really should go now..." I started, but by 'I guess' she had already charged up onto the APC.

"Of course we should go! An hour and a half is the least my team deserves. And I highly doubt Myst talking to Kira will take just a few minutes. Those two probably won't even say a word to each other. Now, why, ugh, won't this open?" She grunted as she frantically pulled the hatch. We heard a small click, and the door swung wide open, sending Skyfire flying through the air before she landed on the rear of the APC. I smirked at her as I climbed onto the hovering, wheel-less vehicle.

"Myst, did we leave anything inside?" I asked through the open hatch, and she looked up at me before shaking her head.

"Alright, good. Skyfire, get up. Zaita, bring us to Road Town."

"Very well." Skyfire had barely gotten in when the APC started speeding down the road.

* * * Magnus et Potens Roamanus * * *

I was trotting around the town one final time, while Myst had gone off to say goodbye to Kira and Skyfire went over to the medical station. The place was bustling with activity, with the guards and the residents walking around as if nothing happened to them in the past few days. A few, though, just sat on their doorsteps and looked sadly at the ground. I reminded myself of those bodies I saw in the medical station. Finding myself not wanting to get our reward just yet, I went over to the bar. There seemed to be a little commotion going on inside. Getting close to the door, I pushed it open.

Bane was crying like a foal and drinking a bottle of beer at the same time. All around his table were probably two dozen empty bottles. Everyone in the bar was either trying to comfort him, minding their own business, or looking at me. I could feel all the eyes on me as I approached the blue pony, and judging from how wet the area was, he had probably been crying like this for at least an hour.

"What's going on here?" I asked one of the zebras who was trying to just mind her own business. She looked at me with a sad smile, and took a gulp of her drink before she answered.

"He heard that you were leaving, and he's been crying like a little colt since. He's been trying to drown it out with alcohol since early this morning, when Conductor announced you would be leaving. I'm surprised this stallion hasn't died of intoxication yet. Or dehydration, from how much he's cried." She answered.

'Yeah, I wonder that too. This guy should be dead.' I thought.

"Really? And has anyone been able to get through to him since?" I asked, worried. I was also quite disturbed, and confused, as to how a drunken pony whom I spent less than twenty minutes with in total with could be crying like this. The mare just closed her eyes, and shook her head.

"No. And he's most likely going to continue like this for the next day or so. Honestly, though, that isn't much." What?

"What do you mean? Crying for two days 'isn't much'? Then what is?" The mare replaced her sad smile with a fond smirk.

"Oh, this is nothing. You should have seen the time when he found out the day's supply of beer was out. He cried like a damned river while running across the whole town yelling for his mommy! Haha, he even disappeared for two days before the guards found him threatening suicide! It was an absolute nightmare. Luckily, we snapped him out of it when we told him the supply was restocked." She laughed a little, as if the memory was a happy moment. "Still, even if his... eh, 'cutie mark' is a beer can, I don't see how anyone can survive drinking as much as him." Wait, his cutie mark was a beer can? I looked over and saw it: an open beer can with the foam spilling out over one side.

I shook my head, refocusing on the problem, and sighed. "Well, I guess I should get him out of it, then."

I trotted the short distance to his table, and everyone moved to let me through. Bane was face-down on the table, sobbing as he held his beer can. As I watched him cry, he lifted his face up and took a gigantic gulp that I was pretty sure everyone heard. As he was about to place his face back down, he spotted me and momentarily stopped crying.

"Hey there, uh... buddy." I seriously didn't know how to deal with this situation. I just hoped that trying to appeal to him would snap him out of this sooner. He sniffed and wiped his face while everyone backed off, leaving me to deal with him alone. "So, what are you doi-..." I started, before he suddenly grabbed me and pulled me close. Despite the weight of all the stuff I was carrying and him being drunk, he was astonishingly strong. He held me close like a foal would a teddy bear.

"Please don't go, dude! Who'll drink with me if you go?" He asked aloud, much to everyone's confusion. From their expressions, they had all probably drunk with him and didn't know what the hell he was talking about.

"Uh, Bane..." I started, but he cut me off again.

"I mean, I only knew you for like two days, but you have since been a role model to me. You have taught me the true meaning of friendship, and I will never forget it!" Okay, what? Either that was him being drunk, or I had really taught him an important lesson (which I highly doubted).

"Bane..." I tried again, and yet again he cut me off.

"And no matter what anyone says, I will always revere you, my friend. When I make my pilgrimage to Mount Alcoholus, I will toast with Celestia and we will drink to your good fortune. But it won't be the same if you can't come with me!" Some people in the crowd face-hoofed, while others looked even more confused than before.

“Bane,” I tried again, a bit more forceful this time. Still, he continued.

“And despite the mistakes you have made, which I do not know what they are, you will always be a hero! A true paragon of bravery, courage, sacrif-“ Okay, this was really enough. More out of necessity than being annoyed, I smacked him across the face again.

“Bane, snap out of it!” He just stared wide eyed at the ground, before slowly turning his head to face me. He started smiling again, and he tried to continue talking.

He cleared hos throat. “Where was I? Oh, oh yes! Sacrifice, leadership-“ I smacked him again, causing him to fall off the chair and spilling his beer across the floor. Everyone stared at the scene, most seeming glad his ranting was over while a few simply didn’t quite care. Bane got up, and when he did there was a similar drunken smile on his face. His eyes started going in different directions, and drool dripped over the side of his mouth. Just like last time, he fell back down, unconscious.

“Don’t worry, he tends to forget what happened after something like this. And don’t mind all of that ranting he did. He’s a bit overdramatic when he’s drunk,” The zebra mare said as several of the guards started dragging him away again.

“Really? Well, that’s good. I don’t want him to remember me smacking him again. And is he EVER sober?” Judging from the amount of beer this guy drank, I highly doubted it. Still, to my shock, the mare nodded.

“Oh yes. He tends to be sober at most once a week. He forgets most of the stuff that happened while he was drunk, so I don’t think he’ll even remember you. If he does, we’ll just tell him it was all a dream,” She assured me, and I relaxed. Okay, good. Because I did not want him crying like this again when he woke up and I was gone.

After most of the patrons thanked and/or congratulated me, and after I had gotten a complimentary drink of the Wild Pegasus whiskey, I departed the bar. Feeling a little unsteady from the alcohol I had drunk, I made sure to grab onto anything I could as I stumbled across the street.

Amid all of my dazed vision, I could make out Skyfire in the fissure that was the town’s medical station. I don’t know if my eyes were tricking me, but she was standing on both hindlegs with one foreleg in the air and the other on her chest, almost like she was making a vow or something.

After a few minutes of slowly regaining my hoofing, I made my way to the store next. Myst had taken the liberty of bringing all of our sacks of loot with her earlier, and I wanted to see what she was doing. Despite Skyfire’s words, both mares stood there staring at each other as they spoke. Myst occasionally pulled out something from one of the sacks and Kira gave some caps in exchange. Both had tears streaking down their faces, but that was the only real sign of sadness as both had the same poker-faced and wide-eyed expression.

In a display of extreme bravery in the face of their truly ridiculous case of social discomfort, both mares tentatively approached each other and gave each other an unsure embrace. From inside, Kira saw me through the window. Just like yesterday, her eyes became as small as grains of sand.

Leaving the two to their goodbyes, and finding myself without anything else to do, I sat down on a plank of wood near the center of town. I watched as the residents trotted by, some kind enough to wish me luck. A small crowd was gathering near the sky tank, which Conductor was standing on. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but I could see some residents placing something into a large box.

With nothing left that I could see that was interesting, I placed my back onto a fallen concrete pillar. Feeling bored, and being prematurely awoken earlier, I dozed off and fell asleep.

* * * Magnus et Potens Roamanus * * *

“…he do this often?” A stallion’s voice asked. My hearing was a little muffled while my vision was blurry.

In reply, a mare’s voice responded, “Not ‘often’, though yesterday he did go into some weird orb thing. Had to shake him for an hour to get him up.” I felt by body being shaken softly, and I actually almost didn’t register it. In an annoyed tone, the mare spoke up again. “Myst, you aren’t going to get him up like that. You have to be a bit more forceful.” Just as my brain registered that last word, and my eyes shot open in response, Skyfire banged a rock against my helmet and my ears rang for a few more seconds from the strike. I jumped up, and took the helmet off to rub my ears.

“Gah, what the hell is wrong with you? I understand you’re upset about YOUR brain being damaged, but that doesn’t mean you have to damage mine!” I said as I rubbed my temples. Skyfire smirked, while Conductor, Myst, the doctor, and a few more residents stood around me. Somewhere behind the crowd, Zaita hovered up to look at Conductor’s office in the second floor of the building before hovering back down.

“Oh, um, I’m sorry about that, Goldwreath. But, ah, you see…” Myst started, but Skyfire took over the conversation.

“Yeah, yeah, enough talk. Just get off your flank. We’ve been organizing things around here while you slept like prince charming.” She said, and I found her choice of words… interesting.

“You think I’m charming?” I asked, my brain still waking up from my nap. At my question, Skyfire’s cheeks blushed a rosy red while she looked at me with an annoyed expression. Conductor and Myst looked at her, but she covered her face just in time as an extremely timely cough came out of her mouth.

“What?! No, of course not! I mean, sure you look OKAY, but you’re not ‘charming’.” I raised an eyebrow at her, as did Conductor. Catching both our looks, she tried to defend herself. “I…well, it’s…you know. It’s-it’s a figure of speech, okay?” She turned and trotted away, muttering something about how ‘uneducated’ surface ponies were in the Equestrian language. Conductor shook his head, and approached me.

“What she was going to say was that they have prepared for your departure. Your… 'vehicle' is soon to be loaded with our ‘thank you’ box, and I will give a small speech before you go.” He looked down at his hooves sadly, while Myst had decided to go after Skyfire.

“I am sorry we have to do this. But, as I said, I need to take every chance I can get to protect my people,” He said after a while, but I didn’t need to hear that. I had already thought about and accepted this ‘eviction’. After all, we had to leave soon anyway. And, judging from where we would be going, it’s not like we would get a chance to come back.

“No need to apologize, Conductor. I understand your intentions. I don’t blame you. I’m not devastated with leaving. On the other hoof, Myst has something she needs to tell you.” His eyes widened a bit, and he looked to the sides in thought.

“I don’t really like the sound of that. It sounds… foreboding. Well, I should go ask her about that then. I’ll meet you two over near the Sky tank.” He trotted off after Myst, looking slightly worried. I Wanted to try to catch any more expressions on his face, but he turned and I instead found myself looking at his flank. It was then that I noticed something about him…

“You’re a blank-flank?!” I asked in shock. He was a fully grown stallion! How could someone like him be a blank-flank? What, he's been like this his whole life and didn't get to do anything else? His eyes became large at my question, but they shrank back to a normal size as he turned to face me.

"Ah, I... see you finally noticed. I was kind of hoping this would slip, but..." He sighed, looking at the ground and shaking his head. "Well, it's just that, here in Road Town, you kind of become what your parents were. In my case, my dad was the town's leader, and so am I because of that. My mom was just a resident, so I didn't get a choice. I haven't really gotten to try anything else." He looked sad, as if longing to find out what his cutie mark was. Still, that didn't quite make sense...

"But where I come from, the same policy is implemented. I know ponies who've done nothing but their appointed jobs their whole lives and yet gotten their cutie mark. I mean, surely you've been able to do SOMETHING else around here. Haven't you?" His grim expression told me no, as did his head shake a few seconds later.

"I'm afraid not. I've been able to do nothing but this since I was old enough to speak. Well, I just helped my dad out until he died. Mom couldn't take it and disappeared one day, leaving it to me. I never got a chance to do anything else for more than an hour aside from sleeping or eating. And talking, of course." He responded, and I shook my head in disbelief. Really? Nothing at all? Wow, that really sucked. And I thought I had it bad with my cutie mark...

"That's... horrible," I said, hoping to comfort him in one way or another.

He smiled, an insincere and unhappy smile, before speaking again. "Well, it isn't all bad. At least I get to provide my people with the safety and freedom they need to actually LIVE and not just SURVIVE. If everyone else here could do nothing aside from what they were supposed to do, it would be boring as hell and I would've committed suicide long ago." Well, at least he had something to live for. But, I had one more question...

"Wait, you said that the descendants of someone will take up their jobs when they die. Do you have any descendants?" He seemed particularly troubled by that question, and I felt like I shouldn't have asked. Still, despite looking on the verge of tears himself, he was able to continue.

"Not yet. I'm still looking for... a suitable partner. It isn't easy here, with the Legion and the wildlife and the other threats that I have to spend all of my time thinking about. But I'll find one. Eventually." He took a deep breath, and as he exhaled his breath shuddered. It was probably a really sensitive topic for him.

"Anyway, I really should find Myst before she disappears again. She's good at that, I don't know how she does it." He trotted off, and I decided to wait for them near the sky tank.

Most of the crowd was gathered around the fallen vehicle, while Zaita hovered close to it, her camera pointing down at the busted tank. Most of the residents seemed more interested in the floating APC than the dormant tank, and from their whispers and muttering I could tell that they were either curious, afraid, or amazed by our transport. I trotted around the tank, and Zaita's camera turned to face me.

"Zaita, what are you doing?" I asked, both curious and partially annoyed by the never-ending, pulsating 'hum' that her engine gave off.

"The Harpy class APC was designed as a rival to the equestrian sky tanks. Not in firepower, not in flying capability, but maneuverability. The sky tanks were untouchable, for the most part, in the skies. But on the ground, that was a whole different story. The Series 1 and 2 did fine, but the Series 3 was never deployed properly. It is quite likely that I am the only S3 Harpy to face a sky tank. I am simply observing it. I am...curious." With that, her camera turned back to the tank. So, she could be curious too? Well, that's definitely one really well-developed AI.

Turning my attention away from her and instead to the crowd, I sat down in front of the rear-end of the tank. Somewhere off to the side, Myst was talking to Conductor while Skyfire just looked completely bored. Kira was within the crowd, and Bane was looking around drunkenly from the bench he was lying down on.

After a while, Conductor's conversation with Myst was over. He looked at me with an expression I couldn't quite tell the orientation of as he approached me. Skyfire seemed be just going with the motions as she followed up behind him. In stark contrast to the relatively calm and composed demeanor of the two, Myst was sweating like she had just taken a shower. As the three got close to me, Conductor taking his place in front of the tank while my friends stood next to me, Zaita broke away from her observation and hovered several meters above us.

"Everyone, please settle down. It is time to say goodbye to our most beloved guests." Everyone shushed, and eventually silence was all that remained. Myst seemed to be getting more nervous with each passing second, while Skyfire simply didn't care any more.

"Our guests, who have, without even hearing of us before, lent us aid in our time of need. This brave pegasus, who appeared seemingly out of nowhere just less than five days ago, who should be ever-welcome in our town, is leaving. And though it pains me to do so, I must say that it is I who is asking him, after all his efforts, to leave." He paused for a moment, closing his eyes and sighing, before he continued.

"And I am both saddened and joyful to know that he will not be going alone. Just two days ago, this other pegasus, who we initially thought was hostile, will be accompanying him. They will be going into the city within this... amazing piece of engineering." He looked up at Zaita together with the majority of the crowd. Zaita dipped her front end down, just enough to see the crowd.

"You flatter me. I am nothing special. Now, you should see the Omni series of tanks. Those were amazing pieces of engineering." She responded, placing a look of confusion onto everyone's faces, including mine.

"Uh...yes, I... see..." He cleared his throat. "Ah yes. And, thanks to all of your generous contributions, I am even more glad to say that he and his compatriots will be going in well supplied. I know that some of you may not want him to leave. Indeed, some of you have been... very loud in protest." He looked at Bane, who was finally sober enough to look back. Still, the only thing he did was look at me and sniff.

"And, unfortunately, there is... yet another we are going to lose aside from these two." Everyone paid closer attention. Myst's eyes shrank to an even more amazing size that Kira's sand grain size. They were almost invisible, even from my fairly close position near her. Once he had taken in a few deep breaths, Conductor continued.

"One of our excellent guard ponies, who has been with us for as long as I can remember, will be going with him as well. I think most of you can already guess who it is." Some people in the crowd started to think, but most looked either surprised or uncomfortable. A few looked like they already knew and had accepted it.

"For those of you who have no idea, and to confirm for those who do, I will say who it is. Truly, I never quite expected that MYST, the quiet and shy mare who has served as our town's sniper for little over three years, would be going with the Praetorian on his mission." The crowd started to respond, most seeming... okay with the decision. Some looked angry while others even voiced their protest. The rest either looked either saddened or approving. Conductor silenced them, stomping on a piece of sheet metal beneath his hooves.

"I understand that this seems... quite a lot. I myself was surprised to hear her say that she would be leaving. But it is her decision, and I personally believe she will be able to do more if she accompanies this stallion on his quest. In less than a day, these three managed to wipe out the greatest immediate threat we have faced in the whole month. I think that alone is all we need to know what these people will be capable of." Some of those assembled grumbled, but most seemed to accept that, more or less. Bane sniffed more, just loud enough to be audible from my position. Kira seemed to be trying her best to suppress her tears.

"And now, without further delay, the Praetorian and his company will now depart from Road Town. Hopefully, one day they will be able to return and under better circumstances." Upon hearing those words, Zaita lowered herself and she touched the ground. The three of us approached, one of the guards helping me bring in the supply box the town had given us. As Myst and Skyfire entered, I took one last look at the people assembled before me. In general, most looked hopeful and happy, while a few still seemed a little sour from the news. Well, there was nothing I could do to change their minds about that now.

Feeling like I was tearing myself away from the people of the town, I turned around and entered the APC. The two were both looking out the window, Skyfire looking towards the medical station while Myst looked over the whole crowd. From my view, I could see that Bane was crying again. Well, so much for forgetting about me after he became sober.

The APC started to lift, and the crowd began waving us goodbye. Conductor looked up at me, Kira right next to him. She couldn't hold in her tears anymore, and she relied on Conductor's coat to muffle her sobs. Conductor looked shocked, but slowly drew up a hoof and wrapped it around the mare's head. She looked up at him, as if she herself was surprised to be comforted like this. Next to me, Myst started to cry as well.

"So, where now, Goldwreath?" Zaita asked. Myst couldn't seem to bear being with us right now, so she made her way to the back of the cockpit and cried quietly in the corner. I felt like I should have been helping her get through this, but I didn't quite know how to deal with people like this.

'Ugh, I really should have read that issue where Captain Equestria comforted the zebra POW's...' I thought to myself.

"How long will it take to reach the Forum, Zaita?" I asked.

"Roam was, and still is, a very large city. In better times, it would take at least a whole day to get there from where we are. Now, amidst all the destruction and blocked passage ways, it will most likely take three days. My engines are not powerful enough to hover over the buildings, unfortunately. This is exactly why the legates always took their personal high speed transports." Three days? It would take that long? And that was if we weren't distracted the trip.

'Well, it'll give me a lot of time to think.' I thought.

'Exactly, and you should use that time wisely.' Thought Tom, whose opinion I completely agreed with.

'Or, you know, have some fun with these mares.' Oh, what the fuck, Tod? I may have been... 'interested' in them both at one point, but I was not going to do that!

"Well, we'd better get started then." I said, hoping to distract myself from the debate going on in my head. Seriously, how could Tod be an actual part of my brain? He seemed more like a mutated tissue that had shit smothered over it than an actual part of me.

"Very well. I will play some ambient music to make the trip less awkward." Zaita said, and immediately an extremely repetitive tune that very much resembled the type of music you would hear in waiting rooms started to play. I took a look at the screen.

'Elevator #1 Playing. 2574 more with the title 'Elevator' in playlist.' Ugh, great. And from the look of it, 'Elevator #1' was... ten minutes long. Ugh...

"Yeah, uh, cool. Can we start moving now? This place is depressing me." Skyfire said as she took one last look at the medical station, before sitting on one of the seats on the left side of the vehicle.

"Very well." And then, just like that, we had left Road Town and started our long trip to the Forum. I would realize only later how much more complicated the trip would be.






Footnote: Level Up
New perk gained: Thick-Headed - - Your bones (and especially skull) have been hardened from your experiences in the wasteland. Your limbs take 10% less damage.