A small explosion from outside drew me from my sleep, myself snapping upright in my bed. Glancing around the room revealed Night Strike’s bed to be empty - I grumbled a little. Okay, so it wasn't thunder, probably just that crazy mare fishing with grenades or something... how does she live off of just two hours of sleep? As if to answer my own question, the thought of that glowing firebomb fuel she guzzled daily filled my head - thanks, brain. Thinking nothing of it, I flopped back into bed, looking forwards to getting some extra sleep tonight. However, as I was about to drift off once more, my ears were met with a piercing, familiar scream. Night Strike's scream. My muddled mind immediately snapped to attention as I threw the thin covers aside, the bluish light from the moon only just offering enough light to make moving about not a hassle. I snatched up my umbrella and rushed for the door, which banged loudly against the wall as I broke through it.

I tore through the hallway, forcing my way through the door heading outside as Crash Dive was hurrying down the steps, Scouring Charge hot on her heels - well, door-banging was a good way to wake you guys up, at least. Rushing out into the cool night air, the light from Crash Dive’s cottage and lighthouse spilled out over the water splashing over the land bridge connecting us to the mainland. My heart almost stopped as I spotted a body laying just beyond the light’s reach, covered in blood and mangled on the rocks. As I ran towards it, however, it became clear whoever the pony used to be, it wasn’t Night Strike. Thank the goddesses above...

I panted as Crash Dive and Scouring ran up behind me, both looking worried. “The hell’s going on? What'd you rush outside like that for?!” The power armored mare's pink mane glinted in the moonlight, a crash of the waves sending up a bit of spray and spritzing all of us. I continued to glance around the outcrop, expecting to see Night Strike fluttering back to the ground somewhere. Crash Dive stepped up to me, her expression going stern. “Static, what’s going on?”

My umbrella fell to the ground as I tried to collect myself, my mind finally noticing the stitch in my side from my panicked sprinting. “I, I, I heard Night St-Strike scream, a-and some explosion, so I came out and…” Crash Dive’s eyes went wide as I gasped for air, still looking around in worry.

The power armored mare began to curse, walking around in a slow circle and placing a hoof on the back of her neck. Scouring Charge’s horn flared up as he dragged the body out of the water, Crash Dive pausing mid-stride and tapping the small hatch on her power armor's shoulder a few times. After a moment, she took a deep breath, still cursing to herself. “Okay, okay, we need to figure out where she is now and what the hell that explosion was.” Crash Dive thought aloud, looking at myself and Scouring. She turned to face me, taking a step forwards. “Are you sure you two didn’t have any old enemies from up north? Nopony that might’ve bothered following you all the way down here?”

I shook my head, picking my umbrella back up. “No, there’s no one who would’ve bothered to track us down. Even if there were, nopony knows we were the ones with the Valkyrie, and even if they did put it together, the northern wasteland was still hours of travel away in that thing, there’s no way they’d find us this quickly.” Crash Dive nodded, for once not trying to hide her distress.

“Hey, there’s somethin’ on this lass!” Scouring Charge called us over. He lifted up what looked like a busted metal ring, several wires dangling from a large box embedded on its side. Crash Dive took the object, turning it over in her hooves, her expression growing even more worried as she did. She dropped the half-ring to the ground, staring down at the pony, who I only now noticed was missing its head. Gwuh...

“It’s a bomb collar. The Enclave used to use them for some prisoners, but…” She tore her gaze away from what was left of the pony. “I don’t know who might be using them now, any place that would have manufactured them should have been shut down once the bombs fell.” I gulped, trying not to imagine what might happen if whoever had these got one on Night Strike. Sh-she was good with explosives though, yeah, she could get one off... right?

“Wait, wait…” Scouring Charge said, his face screwing up as he tried to recall something. “Think I remember hearing about some ponies… slavers, aye! They usually use them to keep the slaves from running away, the Rangers’ve been trying to crack down on a few of the smaller camps near the main base. Think I 'eard about a division of slavers around here from the head paladin…” Thinking for a moment, he turned to face Crash Dive. “Any idea on where they might be?”

A small smile curled up on Crash’s lips, looking determined. “There’s an old coastal defense battery just a little bit north of Vanhoover, we were looking into repurposing it during Operation Cauterize because of reports of it being up-gunned shortly before the war... obviously, never got that far. Since then, though, a lot of ponies have gone missing near there, but nopony’s bothered sending in investigations - they just assume it’s the wildlife.” She began to rush back to the Lighthouse, Scouring and myself running after her. “It’s got a huge Tesla cannon mounted on an outcrop inside a pillbox, if we follow the coast we can’t miss it.” She stopped outside her front door, Scouring and I almost crashing into her. She turned back towards us, pointing a hoof towards myself. “Static, start up that half-track thing, we’ll be back out with our stuff in a minute.” She and Scouring raced into the building as I nodded once, heading around to the small connected shed and jumping into the seat of the mini tank.

The engine sputtered for a moment before roaring to life, my umbrella bouncing by my hind hooves as I turned it around. Time moved torturously slowly as I waited for Crash and Scouring, the engine rumbling beneath me. It wasn’t too long before the others came out of the house, Crash shutting the door behind her and hopping onto the back of the mini tank. I didn’t wait for them to get settled before revving the engine and beginning to speed across the land bridge, water splashing up on either side of us.

I veered to the right, beginning to head back down along the coast - hopefully this time all we'll have to deal with are the ponies running the slaver operation, I don't fancy getting poisoned again. I flicked on the headlight of the half-track, the wide beam cutting through the inky blackness like a knife. Scouring tossed my saddlebags beside me before a low buzzing forced him to face back and ready Sunburst... ah, nuts. Welp, I ain't getting stung again! The trees whipped by us, but I refused to slow down, instead charging through the brush as a few of those poisonous bloatsprite hunters began to give chase.

Scouring fired off sunburst a few times, one hunter zipping out of the line of fire of the first rocket, only to be hit by the second. Crash Dive pulled the pin on a plasma grenade, but still held the explosive tightly in her hoof. A hunter flew a little closer, and she chucked the grenade, it exploding just above the large insect, melting its wings into useless goo.

I dared a momentary glance away from the path of the tank, following the coastline along as we reached a small clearing. In the distance I could see an enormous structure far off in the night, a few encampments scattered around it. The tank bucked beneath me as I ran over a large rock, Scouring Charge almost loosing his hoofing on the back. “Oi! Watch where you're going, I’d rather not fall off'a this thing, alright?” He shouted over the roar of the engine. I ignored him, turning slightly inland along with the cliffs.

As we continued to plow through the forest and small marshes, more and more hunters began to follow us, Crash Dive and Scouring having trouble keeping up with the growing numbers. As yet another explosion of plasma erupted behind us, the power armored mare looked back, yelling over the sound of the roaring engine. “Damn it, we must’ve hit a hive, can’t you go any faster?!” I sped up slightly, but even with the adrenaline rush to get to the encampment, I didn’t dare try going full speed in the thick of the trees.

Crash slid herself onto the top of the mini-tank, grabbing ahold of Boomer’s hoof grips and swinging it around to fire off the back. “Let’s hope she didn’t take all the grenades out for herself.” Crash Dive began to fire off Boomer, each explosion ringing in my ears as they went off behind me - well, at least these bugs won't explode again... I hope. Scouring Charge laid himself as flat as he could to the back of the tank, the grenades flying over him. The horde of bloatsprite-things behind us began to scatter as the explosions tossed them aside and tore them apart. As I charged out into a field, Boomer began to click as its muzzle gyrated harmlessly. “Ah shit, we’re out!” Crash called to me over the engine.

“I think we scared ‘em off!” Scouring Charge said, letting off a small chuckle. None of the bloatsprites were still following us, allowing me to slow ever so slightly to avoid tipping the small tank as it's treads ran over the rocky field. I glanced back over to the encampment, a thin gravel path leading up towards the shadowy figure of the mounted tesla cannon's bunker. I stared up at it in awe, the size of the mounted weapon making the portable cannon Nikolai carried around look like an oversized electric toothpick, even from here. She definitely wasn't kidding about it being up-gunned... I began to slow the half-track down as we approached the bunkers, hoping none of the slavers had heard the purr of the engine.

The rumbling died down and the engine coughed out a bit of steam as I parked the small tank behind a large pile of boulders a fair distance away from the slaver camp. “Okay… so, what’s the plan?” Scouring Charge asked us. “Not a lot of slavers up there, but they’re pretty well stocked, the Rangers would’ve run them out by now otherwise. I don’t like our chances if we just charge on in.”

“Not to mention what they might do to Night Strike if they see us.” I said, looking between the pair. Crash Dive gave a slow nod, looking up at the encampment. “Any idea where they might be?” She shook her head, clearly unfamiliar with the layout of the old coastal base. I sighed but climbed out of the small tank, taking a hold of my umbrella and hitching up my saddlebags.

I turned to face both of them. “Alright, I’m going to try to sneak in and find her, if I’m lucky wherever they took her guns won’t be too far away.” Crash Dive looked concerned as I hopped out of the half-track. She pulled a small gun out of her saddlebags and handed it to me. I looked it over, the pistol’s muzzle ridiculously wide for such a short barrel.

“Here, we found a couple flare guns back at Seahoof. Fire that thing off and we’ll come right in after you.” Answering her with a nod, I slid the small pistol into a pocket in my coat. I began to make my way across the dark field, darting quietly between large rocks. Okay, no magic rope-traps this time, let's get to work... I stared up at the bunker, trying to find the best way inside. The front gate had a couple ponies standing on either side, large rifles at the ready. I scanned the area, spotting a small bunker built into the side of the cliffs with no lights shining through the window. Bingo.

I crept towards the empty bunker, staring in through the long gap around the edge that served as a window, the thick concrete walls being the tiniest bit disheartening. The room was empty, save a few discarded tables and small oil lamps. I squeezed through the gap, cursing to myself as my hind legs kicked helplessly - bwuh, I really do need to lay off those snack cakes. I managed to pull myself through and stumble to the floor, staying crouched to the ground and listening for hoofsteps coming to the door.

With silence meeting my ears, I dared to pull open the door in the back of the room. The lights from the hanging lamps in the hallway flickered in the night, illuminating the long stone passageway. I trotted down the hallway, my hoofsteps barely making a sound on the floor. As I came up to the corner of the hallway, I was forced to step into another side room as a dull orange pony trotted past, a golf club swung over his shoulder. As he walked in front of the doorway, I lunged from the shadows, the prongs of my umbrella connecting with his skin. He crumpled to the ground, myself catching the golf club before it clattered to the ground. 9-iron? I prefer a nice heavy driver, myself, but eh, suppose it works.

I peered around the corner, and upon seeing nothing but a ladder, slowly climbed up, lifting the hatch above it just enough for me to peek above me. The hatch led into the center of a round clearing surrounded by other bunkers, both buried and exposed. At the edge of the coastline, sitting atop what looked like the main command center, stood the giant tesla cannon. It's prongs and coils glinted in the night sky, reflecting the light from the bonfire in the center of the clearing. An occasionally strong gust of wind would rise up from the cliffs, managing to shake the thick wires running along its frame slightly.

Around the bonfire sat a multitude of ponies, empty bottles of beer scattered all around. A few ponies with thick metal collars around their necks trotted meekly about, carrying large packs of supplies or attempting to clean up the garbage as the drunken slavers made snide remarks and threw more garbage at them. I ever so slowly pushed the hatch up and crawled out of the bunker, sticking to the shadows from the buildings cast by the large fire. “You says you got some pegasus filly tonight?” One slaver slurred. I paused, listening in.

Another slaver nodded and laughed a little. “Yeah, we were runnin’ a couple girls out over by the lighthouse, one'a dem got loose and fell into the water, dumb broad. Then this pegasus filly comes flyin’ in, tryin’ to save ‘er. Got a face full o’ brain when the collar went off, you should’ve seen her scream.” I resisted the urge to lunge out and force my umbrella down his throat. “Rock Slide came in and conked her on the head. Whip Crack was pretty pleased when he saw her, got her locked in with that mute freak. Present for da boss, yanno? He's inna mares with wings.” The pony nodded his head towards the building with the cannon on top, the other giving a low whistle.

I began to sneak around the edge of the bunkers as the two started talking to some slave who trotted over, trying to out-compete the other for the clearly disinterested and frightened mare’s affection. I gripped my umbrella tightly between my teeth as I hoisted myself up onto a few rocks near the edge of the cliff, attempting to climb onto the command building in search of a way in from the ceiling to avoid the front door guards. I froze as a slaver trotted up, but he simply continued past, oblivious to me.

I managed to pull myself up onto the roof, somewhat surprised at the lack of guards around the cannon. Stepping up towards the base, I stayed as low as I could, not needing to be spotted by the ponies around the fire. The tesla cannon stood atop a large circular base, a trapdoor slanted inwards slightly embedded in the concrete. I swung it open, my umbrella at the ready, but nopony sat inside the mess of cables are mechanical parts that were inside.

I slid into the hole, pulling the door shut behind me, the area completely dark aside from the faint glimmer from a few gemstones in the machinery. As I sat in the darkness, I noticed several exposed wires illuminated by glowing gems. A devious grin suddenly crossed my face as I began to carefully pluck at the wiring. If there’s anything Greasy taught me, it’s how to overload circuitry. It didn’t take long for the mess of cables to be twisted and forced into incorrect positions. Just the flick of a switch and this whole camp should be a firework show even Night Strike would find impressive.

‘Of course she would! Yanno, besides the fact that I really should be getting out of here by now so she can actually do that in the first place.’ the back of my mind chastised me. A small handle met my hoof as I ran it along the bottom of the cramped room. It fell open, a small ladder sliding down to the ground. I took a sharp intake of breath as it hit the ground, a guard giving a confused grunt. I could hear a few others mutter to each other, some beginning to trot over... Oh, crap.

I swiftly pulled out a flash bang and pulled the pin, tossing it down into the room and leaning away from the trap door. I really hope Night Strike’s not down there, I don’t fancy trying to drag her out of here. There was a bang as a bright light filled the dark room, the sound of several ponies stumbling about and falling to the ground, dazed. I hopped into the room, dashing out into the hallway before anypony came to investigate the noise.

Zipping down the hallway as quietly as I could, I desperately searched for Night Strike’s room. As I trotted quickly through the interior of the bunker, I heard the sound of the rattling of fence chains. I slowed, following the sound towards a center room. I opened the door to the room that was the source of the rattling, finding Night Strike violently kicking and tugging uselessly on the makeshift jail she stood in, her wings tightly bound to her sides. A guard sat idly by, having given up attempting to stop her and was now idly reading. He looked up just in time to see me jab the end of my umbrella into his chest, causing him to fall to the ground and drop his book. Arcane Hourglass: The Relation between Magic and Time by Starswirl. Huh, I can’t say I expected a slaver to be reading that.

“Oh, thank Luna! Hurry up and get us out of this damn place!” Night Strike said, looking thoroughly relieved and somewhat surprised. I lifted a keyring off of a nearby coat rack, rifling through them. As I attempted to open the door, I suddenly noticed the other pony in the cage across from Night Strike's.

She stood at least a few feet taller than me, her coat a deep blue. Her wings were bound just like Night Strike’s, but she also had a horn poking through her marine mane, which was adorned by several metallic rings shining with a faint light. I paused in my attempts to unlock the door, staring up at the alicorn. “Um… who’s that?”

Night Strike looked over to her as well, herself going quiet. “Ah, that's Aerith. She's... look, we'll have time for proper introductions later, alright? She's coming with us.” I glanced back to the alicorn, who continued to stare at me with a solemn, curious expression on her face. I tried one of the keys, finally unlocking the gate and letting Night Strike step out. “Now, mind helping me get this thing off?” She tilted her chin up, revealing a bomb collar wrapped around her neck.

“Aren’t you the one who’s good with explosives?” I asked, not wanting to touch the metal ring. She rolled her eyes as I searched through the keys again, looking for one to match the circular hole. It didn’t take too long before I found the right key, Night Strike carefully removing the collar and tossing it aside.

“I’m good, but I’m not good enough to try poking around with something like that blindly. At least, without a mirror and bottle of Sparkle-Cola RAD nearby.” She rubbed her sore neck. “Now, think you can you help me with these?” She asked, indicating the bindings around her wings. I tugged and pulled on the ropes, but no matter which way I yanked it, the knot only seemed to get tighter.

“Ugh, stupid slavers with their square knots and round knots and zig zaggy Zebra knots…” I muttered as I tried to undo the knots. As I did, I heard the alicorn - Aerith, right? - scrape at the ground. I looked over to her, watching as she pointed to the rings on her horn, then to the bindings. I turned to Night Strike, who simply tilted her head a little, before bringing her hoof to meet her forehead and passing along a small smile.

I stopped attempting to undo the ropes around Night Strike and instead opened the door to the alicorn’s cage, who needed to bend a little to fit through the door. She sat down, allowing me to reach the rings on her horn. I carefully slid them along her horn, and as each fell to the ground, a look of relief crossed her face, as if the rings had been causing a small amount of pain.

As the last ring clattered into the others, the alicorn stood back up, her horn now glowing softly. The ropes around her and Night Strike’s wings began to loosen, quickly coiling up as they all dropped to the floor. Night Strike flapped hers a few times, clearly grateful to have control over them again. The alicorn spread her wings wide, shaking a few old feathers loose as she did. She smiled gratefully at us, folding her wings back up.

“You guys certainly got in here quietly, I didn’t think Scouring could take a fortress without trying to blow something up.” She said, myself dropping her duffel bag off of my back, beginning to go through it and pull out her grenade rifle, loading it with one of those fancy-looking shells. The alicorn stood behind us, poking the knocked out guard a few times, looking back towards us.

I chuckled a little. “Yeah, Crash Dive and Scouring are waiting outside with that tank thing, we thought the slavers might set off the explosive collars if we just charged in.” Night Strike raised her eyebrows, clearly impressed. I smiled smugly to myself - sneaky-sneaky for the win. “Well, if you really don’t want to sneak out too, I’ve got a little idea to get rid of this base. We just need to get to the control room and charge up the Tesla cannon outside.”

We were about to head out, but before we could, the alicorn tapped me on the shoulder, pointing towards the hunting rifle I found in the cabin sticking out of my saddlebags. “Oh, sure, go ahead.” I slid it out and handed it over, Night Strike digging around in her duffel bag and tossing her a bit of ammo for it. The alicorn grinned and loaded the rifle, giving the lever a few testing tweaks before we headed out into the hallway. “Alright, you two see if you can find the control room, I’ll go signal for Crash and Scouring. Get out of the base as soon as you switch it on.” They nodded and began to head off as I crept my way back towards the roof again.

I was soon clambering back up through the inner workings of the cannon and out onto the roof of the building, many slavers still hanging around the fire. I stuck the flare into my mouth and pulled the trigger, a bright ball of red light arcing into the sky before bursting into embers. The slavers all followed the trail of smoke, their eyes all landing on me just in time to see me chuck two flash grenades into the fire and dive to the ground. The resulting flash sent ponies scattering, nearly all of them falling down from the effects of the grenade piled onto their already drunken state.

A slaver burst out of the main compound I was standing in, wielding a thick lead pipe. I blocked his swing with my umbrella, jabbing him with the prongs. Another slaver ran up behind me as the first one fell to the ground. He fired off a pistol, but stumbled about, still dazed by the blast from the grenades. I managed to close the gap and whack him over the head, sending him sprawling onto the ground. The sound of twisting metal and splinting wood broke out, Crash Dive charging through the gate as Scouring Charge fired off Sunburst at the slavers standing guard.

She pulled up to the fire, leaping off and kicking a slaver down into a bunker he was attempting to climb out of. She dropped a grenade in and slammed the lid shut, the sound of the grenade going off muffled slightly. Silence fell over the camp broken only by the sound of a few slaves dashing out into the field. Crash looked around warily. “Did you find Night Strike?” She asked, kicking one of knocked out slavers.

“Yeah, she’s already free. She and another slave are heading to the control room to power up the cannon.” I pointed towards the imposing machine atop the building. Almost on cue, Night Strike and the alicorn came charging out of the building, Night Strike firing off a grenade behind her. “Come on, we need to get out of here!” I shouted, hopping into the small tank. Night Strike, Scouring and the alicorn all piled on, Crash pausing for a moment to stare at the new companion, stumbling back in surprise. “Crash Dive, now!” She gave a shake of her head, leaping onto the back.

The engine roared as I turned us about and sped out through the broken gate, a few slaves following us out as we drove. “So, what'd you have set up anyways, Static? All we did was turn on the switches... Oh, and stuff a Solar Burst grenade up the ass of that cunt in his den.” A small smile crossed my face as I turned down the path, stopping far enough away for us to be clear of any damage. Ooooh, you’re going to like this, Strikey.

A few arcs of electricity began to climb around the giant cannon’s coils, my mane standing on end as the arcs became larger and more frequent. Scouring’s eyes widened as the large needles at the end of the cannon began to glow, the enormous batteries embedded in the side giving off a faint light as well. Lightning began to leap from the end, coiling and twisting around in the air, looking for any sort of outlet. The sound of the electricity jumping slowly crescendoed, myself giving off a little chuckle before a deafening bang rang through the air, the entire complex surrounded by a dome of blue energy, electricity arcing into the sky as sparks flew from switching boxes and the cannon shook violently. Time seemed to slow as the parts overheated, the cannon exploding into a shower of sparks and flames, bits of metal flying through the air.

As the dome of electricity dissipated, the only sound that could be heard was a rumble akin to thunder, and my own perverted giggling. Damnit Strikey, maybe you are rubbing off on me...

For those of you keeping score at home, this is the second time in about a month I've woken up someplace where I knew nopony and had no clue how I'd gotten there. Well, at least didn't know for sure... the intermittent smell of ocean water over the loads of 20-inch powder charges and HE shells gave me some clue. Assuming I was still in Vanhoover, and remembering going out to see what that mare's screaming was, wherever I was I was probably taken here by boat. Coastal gun bunker is a good guess, by the size of those shells. Oooh, I'm going to enjoy turning this place and whoever lived in it into a crater later on...

Banging my hooves against the wire fence that served as an impromptu cage in the basement of a gun emplacement, I could feel the mesh bending only slightly, rattling and drawing the attention of one of the guards. Sheesh, well, definitely weren't captured by anypony with a sense of fashion... or dental hygene. "Will you cut that shit off, some of us're trying to get some sleep ya fresh cunt!" Yeah, sure, I'M the cunt here... gonna stop myself before I start thinking about the implications. The stallion picked up something from the side of the room, trotting over to my cage and whacking it's end against the fencing I was banging against. From the way my body jerked around before falling back, I came to the conclusion that that's probably what it feels like to be jabbed with Static's umbrella.

Myself gasping for breath - not helped by the heavy metal collar around my neck - the guard-stallion I'd so rudely awoken let off a grunt of amusement, setting the prod back where it was and heading back to the other end of the ammo bunker, shutting the heavy door behind him. Oooh, somepony's going to be getting a 20-inch shell in their back end when I'm free... "Assholes... You're not gona be feeling so smug when my friends get here and we turn this place into a mile-wide crater! I'll shove megaspells up all of your asses!"

Spending a few more moments fighting against the fence and trying to come up with colorful descriptions of how much C4 and cordite they'll all be stuffed with when the rest of the group come to break me out, I eventually let myself fall limp against the cage, head hitting against the wires. Should've gotten Static before I went out there... or Crash Dive, she had heavy armor and could breathe underwater with it, I think... or Scouring Charge, he was a unicorn, duh. I'm not a clever pony...

The sound of the cage across from me rattling slightly made me jump, looking up from where I was and having my eyes meet with those of somepony just about as big as Featherweight, maybe a little taller. The light-bluish mane and dark-blue coat, however, coupled with the slender horn that had a few too many rings wth gems on it, bid me to wonder if I'd been killed or something and now was stuck in some kind of weird dreamscape where Princess-fucking-Luna was being held prisoner right across from me. Us both staring at each other for a moment longer, however, and those notions were dashed as the more reasonable side of my brain thought back to the Lightbringer's story and recalled the existence of alicorns. Again, I'm not a clever pony... especially since I seem to excel at recycling other, cleverer ponies' catchphrases.

Hoof meeting forehead while I tried to focus, I looked back to the alicorn across from myself, her eyes wide with curiosity - or surprise, maybe. Dropping my flanks to the floor, I rested my hooves in the spaces between the wires, letting off a small sigh. "So, what'cha in for? Impersonating a princess, being different than everypony else, just existing, or something?" She seemed to think for a moment, letting off a quiet sigh of her own and nodding her head twice. After a short pause, she added another nod on, looking to the floor. Huh, quiet one... "Don't talk much, do you?"

Well, that seemed like it hit a nerve with her. She shot me an almost Twintails-brand death glare for a moment, before softening and giving her head a shake, letting her long mane cover her eyes as she turned to face away from myself. After a short moment, she looked back, another silent sigh escaping her before she raised a hoof and waved for me to get closer. Pondering for a moment, I lifted myself up and pressed up against the fencing, trying to catch what else I could of her in the dim light. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, her eyes closing as she faced myself and... opened her mouth? Well, if you wanted to say something, you could say it without me having to be directly fac-...

Well, no Strikey, she couldn't, because it's a generally accepted fact that it's hard to say anything comprehensible without a tongue.

"Oh... oh fuck, fuck, sorry, I-I didn't know. Did... did they do it to you?" The nod she gave made me seriously regret the slew of weapons-grade insults and slurs I'd come up with a few moments ago regarding what they could do with stuff like that cattle prod. Quiet resistance now, Strikey, you want to be able to keep enjoying the taste of Sparkle-Cola RAD. Celestia above, I could go for a Sparkle-Cola RAD right now... the pleasant thoughts of engorging myself on several gallons of radioactive glowing soda went away as I noticed the alicorn's muzzle being dampened by streams of tears.

"It... it'll be alright, trust me. I'm sure my friends will be here, eventually, and they'll make sure that everypony here pays for what they did. Enough explosives in this place to destroy Molly Manticore's ten times over..." She sniffled lightly, rubbing at her eyes with a forehoof, passing along a small smile. I returned it, the sound of a door somewhere opening and closing catching our attention and making us both go quiet. At the opposite end of the room, the door opened, and a unicorn stallion who really seemed like he didn't quite belong in this place trotted through, grumbling and levitating a book alongside himself.

"Can't believe I ditched my old place to get caught up with these brutes. If they aren't drinking or getting high, they're fucking the merchandise and snoring loud enough to wake Celestia from the dead..." Not meeting our eyes, the stallion looked to a rack on the wall, lifting a pair of artilleryman's earmuffs and fitting them over his ears. He let off a contented sigh, pulling a chair over from the wall and setting it up just past my cage, returning to reading his book. I can appreciate quiet as much as the next pony, but seriously, that merchandise comment? Oh, you're going to get a forty mil solid lead suppository, my friend.

After a few minutes, and realizing that damn those were good earmuffs he had on, I went back to the monotony of trying to accept the situation and waiting for the sound of panic and explosions as they'd plow through the gate on the half-track for mine and the alicorn's rescue. Huh, should check that, come to think... "Ahm, s-sorry, just want to know, for when we get out of here. What's your name?"

The alicorn blunk a few times, looking at myself, seemingly confused for a moment. Oh, please tell me this place doesn't do cranial surgery along with oral surgery... after a pause, she shut her eyes, gritting her teeth. O...kay then, um, did I upset-? My pending question was interrupted as the faintest tip of her horn glowed, a small strip of bluish magic coming up between myself and her. Her tip - of her horn! - sputtered again, the blue box filling with white letters. Well, least she understands contrast, which is good. Leaning up against the fencing to read, she managed to hold it just long enough before having to gasp. "A-e-r-i-t-h... Aerith, right?"

She held a hoof to her forehead, wincing hard in pain - eesh, couldn't blame her, with that many rings on I'm surprised she got any magic out - leaning back into the darkness for a moment. She responded with a light nod, I think, looking at myself and motioning a hoof at me. Oh, right, intros are two-way. "A-ah, right. I'm Night Strike, I'm... not from around here. REALLY not from around here." She blunk back at me with confusion in her eyes, a faint thump of something exploding somewhere catching my ears, followed by the clatter of hoofsteps along the concrete. Naturally, being as curious as I am - and praying that that thump wasn't the precursor to one of the other ammunition dumps detonating, because I'd rather not be cordite-broiled - I started rattling the cage again, trying to get somepony's attention. Mister gonna-get-a-lead-enema, still completely clueless. Damn, those were good earmuffs...

"Oh, thank Luna! Hurry up and get us out of this damn place!" I don't think I've ever been more happy to see that stallion with that umbrella held in his mouth. Out of breath, Static moved himself over to a rack with the keyring hung on it, picking it off and turning back to get the lock open on my own cage. Fiddling with the keys, he glanced up, finally noticing the fact that there was an alicorn in the cage across from mine.

"Um... who's that?"

"Ah, that's Aerith. She's... look, we'll have time for proper introductions later, alright? She's coming with us." The earth pony eventually managing to get the lock undone and door open - starting to see why Crash Dive doesn't really care for earth ponies that much... brain, remember to smack yourself later - I poked at the thing on my neck, lifting it with a hoof so Static could catch sight of it better. "Now, mind helping me get this thing off?"

"Aren’t you the one who’s good with explosives?" Yeah, when they aren't attached to me! Kind of makes things a bit more difficult when it's my life in danger... not to mention the fact that we were standing in the middle of A FUCKING AMMO BUNKER! He eventually managed to find the right key, the collar coming off in segments which I were only all too happy to discard, moving a hoof to rub at my neck. Alright, one thing down.

"I’m good, but I’m not good enough to try poking around with something like that blindly. At least, without a mirror and bottle of Sparkle-Cola RAD nearby. Now, think you can you help me with these?" Turning slightly, the ropes about my wings caught the light, and his attention. Can't deliver my presents the fun way without flying... ack, gah, Static, that's not making it better! Wings don't work well when they're broken!

"Ugh, stupid slavers with their square knots and round knots and zig zaggy Zebra knots..." Please stop helping at some point, I don't wanna be a one-winged pegasi... Aerith scraped a hoof against the ground just in time, catching Static's attention. Oh, thank Celestia and Luna above, she can get them undone. He moved to open up her cage, the large alicorn stepping out and bowing her head down, the earth pony moving to slide the series of rings off of her horn and undo her collar. I swear my wings sighed as the bindings came free, myself snapping them pout to full span and giving them a few flaps to get the blood flowing. Oh, that's much better...

"You guys certainly got in here quietly, I didn’t think Scouring could take a fortress without trying to blow something up." I know I definitely couldn't - explosions are just fun! Static dropped my duffel bag off of his back, myself all too happy to have Thumper back. What to choose, what to choose... besides a slug round for mister merchandise over there. Oooh, I know, perfect time to see how those solar burst rounds handle...

"Yeah, Crash Dive and Scouring are waiting outside with that tank thing, we thought the slavers might set off the explosive collars if we just charged in." Static wore a smug smile, as Aerith poked at the unconscious stallion - I'll let you do the honors, if you want. Passing him a grin and closing Thumper's break-action, his smirk fell to a soft smile, turning about. "Well, if you really don’t want to sneak out too, I’ve got a little idea to get rid of this base. We just need to get to the control room and charge up the Tesla cannon outside." Hey, long as I get to reduce somepony to a smouldering crater or bomb shadow.

He stepped out into the hallway, peering down either side, Aerith stepping up behind him and giving him a tap on the shoulder as I got my duffel bag set up for a usual fun time. Ammo at the ready, check, Thumper primed and loaded, check, Sparkle-Cola Rad, checkity-check-check. Looking up, Aerith was facing myself, the old hunting rifle that Static nicked from the lodge levitated in her magic. Heh, guess that thing'll see some action after all, thirty-aught-six, right? She smiled and caught the box of large rifle rounds in her magic, loading them into the clip and locking one in the breech, peering down the sights and tuning them a little bit. "Alright, you two see if you can find the control room, I’ll go signal for Crash and Scouring. Get out of the base as soon as you switch it on."

Answering him with a nod, he smiled and headed back down the hallway, my eyes meeting Aerith's. Hers turned to look into the room we'd come out of, the large mare trotting back inside with the rifle levitated beside her. She looked down to the unconscious stallion, and the discarded bomb collars, making a point of attaching not just one but both of them about his neck. Well, doubt he'll last long anyways, but hey, if it makes you feel better. Aerith trotting back out and shutting the door - and levitating over a few pairs of the really good earmuffs and slipping them into my duffel bag - I peered down the hallway opposite the one Static had gone down, looking along the doorways. Seems like it curved around the central base for the gun up top, probably has all the loading mechanisms and a few rounds inside... or maybe capacitors and other not-fun junk, if this was a tesla cannon coastal defense base. Feel bad for all of these twenty inch shells though, they'll never see the light of a big charge of cordite detonating behind them.

Trotting around the central hub of one of the gun setups - I think - we eventually reached a door labeled as 'Operations' from before the war. Nowadays though, scrawled over in what I hope was red paint, it read 'Boss's Den'. Kingpin of this operation keeps the fresh meat within reach, lovely. Aerith went around the other way, every now and again the sound of a door being ripped off it's hinges and the retort of a 7.62mm bullet meeting a pony's head being heard, followed by frantic trotting - well, least we're freeing them, too. Stupid move Strikey, almost caused civilian casualties... Looking back through my duffel bag, and then to Thumper, I paused to think. Okay, maybe the rounds that are supposedly as big as a balefire egg explosion would be a bit overkill in a confined area... dragon's breath and slugs it is! Still, maybe a hoof grenade could work...

Aerith eventually meeting back up with me, we looked in towards the door to the interior of the operations sector, myself holding one of the black and white-painted hoof grenades, along with Thumper. The mare lifted the grenade up in her magic, passing along a grin, myself bringing Thumper to bear on the door's handle. Slug loaded, thump goes Thumper, in goes door and makes the bastard scream! Aerith leapt in first, bringing the rifle to bear quick against the shocked and... high out of his mind stallion, the two thirty cal rifle rounds that shattered through both of his back hooves likely bringing him back to Equus fast as a rocket. I hung back in the doorway, loading Thumper with a Dragon's Breath round and really just enjoying the show. Hey, lookit that, console room is here after all...

The stallion let off a scream as the grenade was carefully stuffed head-first into his black star, Aerith looking over to me as her rifle ensured he wouldn't be crawling away with his front hooves, either. Let it all out, girl, you deserve every second of it. Finding a big box of breakers nearby, I took to flipping all the levers up without much care, the whole structure humming with electricity. Right, sunburst grenade stuffed into the baddie's rear, hopefully shattering his pelvis in the process, electricity flowing to the tesla cannon topside, wherever that was... I think we're done here. "Aerith, I do believe we're ready to leave him to his fate. Goodday sir, I hope Tartarus is pleasant for you~"

With that, we left, Aerith shutting the door behind us. Okay, now time for her to lead, because we gotta get our flanks outta here ten minutes ago. Mad dashing through the hallways yielded plenty of chances for both myself and her to give presents of lead and shrapnel to everypony not wearing a bomb collar at the time, and soon enough we were charging out into the cool night air, the carnage of recent battle scattered about. Aerith/s magic faltered and she slowed, looking back into the bunker wearing a grin. After a few seconds, a deep, booming thud erupted from the section we were in - clever girl was holding the lever on till we got out. Oh, I know I'm gonna love you... and I'm not just saying that because of those cute flanks.

Static screamed in our direction as a charging sound filled the air, my mane starting to tingle faintly as we leapt onto the back of the half-track, the suspension groaning faintly underneath us. Steady on, we ain't that heavy... Crash Dive leapt on after another scream from Static encouraged her, and soon we were speeding through the blasted gate, a few groups of freed ponies lagging behind and following us out. "So, what'd you have set up anyways, Static? All we did was turn on the switches... Oh, and stuff a Solar Burst grenade up the ass of that cunt in his den." Aerith bore a grin as Static smiled back at myself, us powering down the road for a short while before finally coming to a stop.

Static looked towards the bunker with a wide grin, lightning starting to arc from the prongs and coils of the tesla cannon, filling the air with a hellish buzzing. Did he actually... oh, Static baby, you didn't have to! I watched in excited anticipation as the cannon itself became an arcing mess of intense electricity for a moment, before the whole base seemed to erupt in a blinding explosion of bluish-white, Aerith, Crash Dive, and Scouring Charge all covering their eyes from the blast. Who cares about flash blindness, explosions were... okay, maybe I do care about flash blindness, at least a little. Oooh, I can almost see through my pip-buck!

Static fell to a fit of maniacal giggling I'm quite certain he'd picked up from me, us all pausing to appreciate the mess of craters and arcing electricity that were the remains of that particular coastal gun, myself leaning back against Boomer and letting off a light sigh. Okay, tonight wasn't so bad after all... please tell me that isn't the sun over those mountains. Well, looking forwards to sleeping this morning...

---

"Good early morning Vanhoover, you're tuned into Radio KAOS and today's looking to be pleasantly clear with a few spotty light showers here and there. Our latest news story comes out just due north of Vanhoover, where an encampment of slavers was blown completely off of the map by a group that's been mentioned on this station before. Hopeville Triage, apparently the same cast that fixed the dam for you is just as good at blowing shit off the face of the planet - still no names for them, besides good ones. However, the ponies who reported this also recall seeing one of the former slaves - an alicorn, no less - leaving the main bunkers with the dark-blue pegasus with a grenade rifle, known as Aerith. If you're out tehre and listening to this humble little station this morning, Aerith, mind convincing the rest of your friends to spend enough time in one place for us to learn their names?

"Heh, anyways, it's another beautiful morning here in Vanhoover, but that doesn't mean the magic of night is over yet. Just be quiet for a moment, give a listen - you might even hear a Nightingale singing. Celestia knows the wasteland's sweetheart did... or, at least, while there was still a Ponyville Square to hear them singing in. Good morning Vahoover, and I hope you enjoy."

---

Nyam nyam nyam nyam, mmh, ah, good afternoon Vanhoover, and good afternoon Thumpy... and plushie-dad. Mmh, oh, haven't slept in like that in ages, still tingling a little from last night. I guess we know what'd happen now if Jules ever wound up misfiring... something tells me I'd really just hope that Nikolai isn't using him at the time. Man... it's been over a week since we were home, at least. We gotta head back to Seahoof, see if there's a generator there... or, well, much anything left of it, for that matter. Hard to tell through the ant explosion while we were leaving. Ah well, whatever, it's almost lunchtime.

Fitting the forty millimeter grenade rifle on my back and rubbing at my eyes, I trotted myself out into the hallway, the idle smells of cooking fish and freshly-opened snack cakes meeting me. Mmm, lunch, yum... Pausing for a moment, I stepped back inside teh bedroom, coming back out with a pair of bottles of Sparkle-Cola RAD. I was being held against my will after being knocked out after trying to save somepony, I deserve the chance to splurge every now and again. Trotting into the kitchen, Crash Dive was busying herself with the stove, trying her best to avoid looking at the alicorn that had sat herself down in the small booth, peering out the window. I slid myself in across from Aerith, the power armored pegasus letting off a small grunt through the spatula in her mouth.

"Mmh, about time you woke up. Static and the ranger are outside, looking over the mini-tank, or something. Lunch'll be ready soon." Giving her a small nod, I rested back in the booth, popping open one of the bottles of soda and just savoring the smell of it for a moment. Oooh, that lovely sweet radishy taste, and that lovely little ticking of my pip-buck. The cool radioactive soda slid down my throat easily, myself not taking long to drain the bottle completely, letting off a small contented sigh... and burp. Hey, better it comes from up top. Aerith glanced back at Crash Dive for a moment, then looked to myself, her long, slender horn lighting up with magic, and a deep bluish screen coming up in front of me on the table.

'Thank you for saving me from there, and letting me come with you.' Huh, so, she's not entirely a mute after all! Magic screens, what a clever thing. The alicorn mare wore a soft smile, which I returned, the screen clearing before text scrolled across it again. 'You said you weren't from here - is that thing outside what you came here in?' She nodded to the window that looked inland, the black tail of the Valkyrie prominent in the midday sunlight. Eesh, good thing there really aren't that many pegasi around here, thing sticks out like a Sunrise Sarsaparilla bottle at a Sparkle-Cola warehouse. Blinking a few times after realizing I'd been staring out the window, I went back to facing Aerith, stuttering slightly.

"A-ahm, yeah, yeah, we kind of crashed that here awhile back. Trying to find an industrial generator to get it fixed... from looking it over, we might have a small issue with the engine exhausts. Had it switched to VTOL mode when we landed..." She gave her head a slight tilt, blinking and looking at myself. You'd think ponies in giant pre-war flying war machines was a foreign concept to her... point taken. "Anyways, yeah, we're stuck here and SOL until we can get it to fix itself. Dunno if it'll clean the mud out of the intakes and exhausts for us, though... kinda doubt it."

Aerith gave a small nod as I leaned forwards against the table, the magical screen dissipating as she watched me open the second Sparkle-Cola, myself starting to think over the Valkyrie's current situation more. Intakes and exhausts have to be clear of mud before we can even think of taking that thing off again, probably... that's gonna be a pain in the ass, unless Crash Dive has a lot of shovels somewhere. Or a crane, that'd be nice. Or maybe Scouring could lift it up with magic, and we could set it on it's actual landing gear... nah, doubt he could. Not every unicorn can be supercharged like Minty or lift box cars like the Lightbringer, Strikey... I found my eyes falling to the mare sitting across from me, and her large horn, remembering just how many magic-cancelling rings Static pulled off of it. Swear my brain had the same ding as Kindness when it finally meshed right.

"Aerith... how much can you lift with your magic? By weight, I mean." She looked to me like I was crazy for a second, then paused to think. I wore a wide grin and slid out of the booth, Sparkle-Cola still held in hoof, looking towards her. The sizzle of fish caught my attention, myslef looking over to Crash Dive, who likewise was meeting me with confusion. Letting off a small chuckle, I trotted over to the door leading outside, taking another sip of the cool radioactive soda... which, unfortunately, was starting to get a little less cool from being here. Guh, after we find a generator, we're taking a fridge from someplace. "We'll just be over by the Valkyrie, not too far. Promise I won't blow anything up. Aerith, if you wouldn't mind?"

"Eh... alright, I'll keep lunch warm for you, then. Make it quick though, if you can." Giving her a nod, Aerith shuffled her own self out, her large wings ruffling as they unfolded. Whoof, they're practically as big as Featherweight's... oh goddesses, no, no, bad Night Strike, he's your dad! Gwuh, I hate my brian sometimes. Stepping out onto the small island that held the lighthouse, the sounds of moving power armor and the small clattering of fabric filled the air around the other side of the building. Aerith looked over for a moment with me, then turned her attention back to her wings, myself already turning for the path down to the land bridge out of habit.

The feeling of a hoof tapping my back startled me for a moment, myself turning to look back at the alicorn, herself gesturing to her wide wings before flapping and lifting off the ground. After a moment of thought, I prmptly answered her with a hoof to my forehead. Man, I've been traveling with Static so long I forgot I could fly places... alright, fair point, is a lot faster. Flapping my own wings a few times, Aerith passed on a smile, us both soon arriving on the other shore and carefully setting down beside the crash-landed aircraft.

"Yeah... it ain't pretty, but you know what they say about any landing you can trot away from, right?" Letting off a weak chuckle, I trotted up to the body of the Valkyrie, opening the side access door into the dirt. Lovely little divot we've got going there... Aerith trotted alongside the outside of the craft, walkng about the nose and seeming to pay some close attention to the automatic cannons in the cheeks. I peered inside the cockpit for a moment, climbing myself in and moving to the pilot's seat - okay, gear control, that's what we need. Scanning the console for a few moments, the switch eventually caught my attention, myself heading back for the doorway and beckoning the alicorn over. Her hooves eventually came into vision, blue mane brushing against the ground as she leaned in. "Alright, what I need you to try and do is lift the whole aircraft up a meter or two. When you see the wheels come out and lock in place, set it back down carefully. Got it?"

Returning a small grin, the alicorn nodded once, moving herself over to the front of the craft while I returned to the pilot's seat. Alright, easy, if the Lightbringer can lift a box car than an alicorn can lift a plane... I hope. Well, she just has to pick it up for a few seconds, not like she'll be throwing it or anything. Sitting up and looking over the dashboard - not really good for ground visibility, is this setup? - I was just able to see Aerith standing a few meters away from the nose, staring back into the cockpit. Lifting a hoof and waving it at her from inside, she responded with a nod, her horn lighting up with a large plume. Structural integrity, don't fail me now...

The whole craft shuddered for a moment, a bluish aura illuminating the underside as I watched the view rise up, if slowly. Soon enough I couldn't even see Aerith past the nose of the plane - alright, this should be high enough. Hopefully the crash didn't wreck anything with these... flicking the switch, the hum of hydraulics filled the air in the cockpit, followed by a relieving 'ka-thunk' as the forward gear hopefully locked into place. A few moments passed, and the Valkyrie slowly was set back down, myself letting off a long sigh. Alright, got her set on her gear again, no more crawling under to get inside if we have to. Clean out the mud from the intakes and central exhaust, get the generator, we'll be good to go.

Hopping down out of the Valkyrie's cockpit, I looked over to where Aerith was with a small smile, one that quickly changed to a frown as I saw her laying in the grass. Oh dear, that can't be good... Sparkle-Cola still in hoof, my wings carried me over to her, her breathing heavy as she laid limp. Okay, she's breathing, that's good... don't ask her to lift anything heavy again, got it. C'mon girl, let's get you back on your hooves... my eyes settled on the bottle of glowing soda. Twice the calories, twice the caffiene, twice the taste - well, as a pick-me-up it might work well, and I'll have an ally in the cola wars for it, too! Holding the glass bottle out in front of her, she looked at it for a moment, then myself, a weak smile forming on her lips as her weakened magic took it.

I'd be lying if I didn't say there was a silly grin on my face as the deep blue alicorn took a small sip of the soda, which quickly turned into a very large few gulps, myself having to practically wrestle the bottle away from her. Knew it'd be good - suck it, Static. I let off a chuckle, Aerith panting slightly, wearing a sheepish grin while wide-eyed. "Heh, that got you going. Sparkle-Cola RAD, greatest drink creation since apple cider." She grinned and nodded towards myself, looking back and spreading her wings out wide, taking off into the sky. Huh, a sugar rush, how about that. Alright, time to give Static the good news~

Taking off myself, I hovered over and landed behind the earth pony and unicorn as they were standing by the mini-tank. Aerith, for her part, was happily flying circles overhead. Finishing off what was left of the soda, I trotted up behind Static, wearing a smug grin on my face. "Oh, Static!~ Guess who just joined my side in the Cola wa-" Without much warning at all, really, my vision was made into a blur of greens, blues, grays, and a very surprised white unicorn, before finally settling with both my eyes aimed up at the sky and Static standing with his forehooves pinning me to the ground. We stayed like that for a moment, the earth pony letting off a sputter, myself stammering likewise.

"Static... y-you know all you gotta do is ask me, right?"

I landed painfully onto my back, Scouring Charge standing over me. "Aye, an' that's how it's dun." He grinned down at me as I stood myself back up, rubbing my neck a little. Sheesh, you think you could give a demonstration without doing it on me? "Should be a good enough counter if somepony catches ya' off guard. Just make sure you jam that cattleprod you got into 'em before they get back up." I twisted my back, feeling it crack a little as I did. I glanced over my shoulder as I heard Night Strike trot up behind us, Aerith gliding through the air lazily. "Well, and here's an eager tester!" He chuckled, nudging me towards her a bit.

"Oh, Static! Guess who just joined my side in the Cola wa-" Before she could finish I spun around quickly, bending over and sweeping her front legs off of the ground as I stood back up, twisting my body to roll her through the air. Unfortunately, as I attempted to release her hooves, she managed to tense her grip, pulling me down to the ground with her. I landed with a grunt, straddling over her, my legs pinning her to the grass. "Static... y-you know all you gotta do is ask me, right?"

I sputtered and stepped off of her as Scouring broke out into a fit of chuckles. "Well, you certainly did a lot better than I expected for a first try, 'specially with no horn and all. Best work on that balance, though." He laughed as Night Strike stood up, Aerith landing beside her, looking both of them looking thoroughly confused. "Was just trying to show Static the counter my second-in-command in Company B taught me. Still not really sure how either of them manage to do it, I always need to cheat with a bit of magic."

"Well, give a little bit of warning next time you try to pull something like that off, alright?" Night Strike said, picking up the soda bottle she'd dropped. She slipped it into her bag before leaning onto the mini-tank. "Well, anyway, Aerith got the Valkyrie up out of the mud, cleaning out the turbines should be a lot easier now." I nodded, thankful we wouldn't need to try digging it out ourselves. "Not to mention she clearly knows which soda is the superior brand." Night Strike said, smiling smugly.

I rolled my eyes. "Congratulations, you got somepony addicted to something more habit forming than Dash." Night Strike rolled her eyes as well as I trotted around the small tank, looking over the treads. Plowing through the forest and over the rocky field last night seemed to have done a lot more damage than I'd originally thought, some of the gears and chains had needed to be cleared of foliage, and the right side's suspensions now squeaked much more from the strain of running over a particularly large boulder. For a first time driving this thing at night, though, can't say it's that worse for wear...

"Have you eaten yet?" I asked upon hearing Night Strike's stomach growl. A small blush crossed her face, and I let off a sigh. "How in Equestria do you manage this? Seriously, you practically live off of that soda." I began to make my way back inside, the others following me. The smell of cooked fish met my nose as the door swung open, Crash Dive wiping down one of the pans.

"There's your lunch." The power armored pegasus nodded towards the table where Night Strike's fish sat, a thin heat vapor rising off of it. We all crowded around the table, Crash Dive putting away the cleaned utensils. I pulled over the box of snack cakes, still a little hungry after my own lunch. Aerith and Scouring grabbed one of their own out of the box, though Night Strike was too busy finishing her fish to notice. I glanced into the box, counting only a couple cakes left. Well, better make sure I pick up a few more on our next outing. “The tank still working fine, then?”

“Yeah, just a little dented from last night, but no severe damage. Worst case scenario, onr of the outer road wheels pop loose on one of the tracks and we’ll need to screw it back on.” I bit into the cake, pausing for a moment. “Do you have any tools for working on stuff like that around here?” I asked, mouth full of snack cake. Crash Dive tried to hide her look of annoyance, but nodded.

“I’ve got a few, should be enough for at least a patch job if it breaks down on the road. It wouldn’t hurt to find somewhere we could get some proper tank repair tools, though. If there's anything left of Seahoof, might be there.” She got up, trotting over to the actual lighthouse part of the house to retrieve the toolbox. I swallowed my snack cake, slipping the box into my saddlebags in a weak attempt to stop myself from grabbing another. Night Strike finished up her fish and went to clean off the plate as Crash Dive came back down, hauling a large rusted toolbox on her back. It wobbled precariously as she made to open the door, but Aerith’s horn simply sparked to life, opening it for her and helping to get it properly balanced again. “Mmh, thanks.” Crash Dive said simply before trotting out to the tank.

I turned to face the alicorn, looking a little confused. “So… um, I don’t know how to say this, but… why are you an, um, alicorn? I thought all the princesses had died… and…” My voice trailed off, Aerith giving off an air of disbelief. “Sorry.” I muttered, my ears flopping downwards. Aerith’s expression softened as she conjured up a screen beside her, words scrolling across them.

'It's fine. Surprised you haven't seen my kind before, we were common before the day of sunshine and rainbows.' She gave a small nod, an equally small smile forming on her muzzle. Both Night Strike and I looked extremely confused, glancing towards each other for a moment. Crash Dive trotted back into the house, pulling up a chair to the table. Night Strike tilted her head a little, trying to recall something.

“I think my dad said they found a frozen alicorn up by Emerald Ridge one time… But he also said it was wearing a parka and looked like it was trying to fish through the ice, so I didn’t exactly take it seriously.” I wracked my brains, though I don’t remember Minty ever mentioning an alicorn, let alone an Eskimo one. Night Strike shrugged. “So, what exactly happened, then?”

Aerith’s magical screen popped up again, this time her words accompanied by small simplistic images. 'Before the war, the Ministry of Arcane Sciences had tried to create a way for ponies to become alicorns. They eventually succeeded, though not before the bombs fell.' The screen showed a minimalistic unicorn being dipped into a vat, only to come out as an alicorn. 'Even worse, while it did turn ponies into alicorns, it removed any sort of personality in the process. They became linked to a ministry mare who fell into the vat during the war, becoming the Goddess and forming Unity.' Another image of a pony was dropped into the vats, but rather than an alicorn coming out, some sort of twisted monstrosity was shown, possessing several wings, hooves bent at odd angles, the only truly recognizable feature being the somehow still intact head. I inwardly thanked Aerith wasn’t more detailed in her imagery.

'When the Destroyer--' Aerith paused, the images fading to be replaced by only words. 'Sorry, Lightbringer. When she killed The Goddess, all alicorns lost their connection. Some of them couldn’t survive without it, and many couldn’t remember who they had been. After Unity dissolved, we were all lost amongst the wasteland, nowhere to go.'

We all sat in silence, myself feeling slightly queasy. “Um, well…” Night Strike said, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. “At least you’re doing alright, I guess? I mean, you've got us now, right?” She fell silent again. Crash Dive and Scouring Charge stood up, moving towards the steps. The rest of us followed, hoping for something to break the uncomfortable mood.

“We really need to find a generator for the Valkyrie sooner than later, we’re catching more attention each day.” Crash Dive finally said. “At least we’ll have a good way of getting it back here with that tank thing. Get ready to head out, we should make it to Maple Creek by dinner easily, get a head start on our way back to Seahoof. Memory serving, our last trip there was cut short by somepony setting off an ant colony.” I trotted out to prep the tank as Night Strike went to her room to retrieve her saddlebags. Aerith followed me out, her horn glowing as she levitated the old hunting rifle off of the table.

I hopped into the driver's seat of the mini-tank as Aerith climbed onto the back, leaning up against the large grenade machine gun fixed onto it. The engine rumbled beneath me as I pressed the ignition, giving it a few testing revs before turning around to face inland. I glanced down at the various dials and gauges, giving the fuel one a few taps. What does this thing run on, anyway? I turned in the seat to face Aerith as we waited for the others to come back out. “So, I didn’t really get a chance to ask last night, but what kind of stuff are you good with? Somepony up in Maple Creek is looking for a new engine, are you any good with repairs?”

Aerith tilted her head a little, waving her hoof in a ‘so-so’ kind of manner. Her magic flared, and her little screen popped up again 'Kind of. I can take apart just about any standard infantry-issued pistol, rifle, or SMG.' I nodded, figuring with Crash Dive’s Enclave knowledge we should be able to fix up Trout and the Valkyrie with enough time. I glanced over at the sound of the door shutting as the others trotted out of the lighthouse, hopping onto the back of the tank. The tank began to roll forwards, Night Strike stuffing her saddlebags into a small hatch on the side.

“Well, we’ll see if we can find something more suited for you up at Maple Creek.” I said over the engine, water splashing up against the rocky outcropping as I drove over the narrow land bridge. I stared up at the large Valkyrie, it's form much more imposing now that it wasn’t half buried in mud. I turned and began to follow the road inland, the treads rolling smoothly over the small rocks in the path. “There might be a few pistols left in that duffel bag, if you’d rather toss the rifle for now, though.”

Aerith unzipped the Clearwater police bag, rifling through its contents. She levitated out a few shotguns, letting them slowly rise and fall in her magic as she dug through the weapons. Night Strike held the bag open for her as we followed a bend in the road, a smile appearing on Aerith’s face as she slid out two of the small 10mm pistol. She returned the rest of the guns to the bag, zipping it back up. “We’ll still need to get some ammo, traded some of that stuff for forty-mil grenades back in Hopeville.” Night Strike said.

It wasn’t too long before we came to the old stone bridge crossing the river, myself slowing the tank as we approached. “Yeah, I don’t trust that bridge at all.” I wasn’t even sure if it was wide enough for the tank. Crash Dive leaned over the side, looking down at the river flowing beneath the bridge.

“It’s not too deep, we could try to ford it. We don’t have much of a choice anyway, we need to cross and it’s only going to get stronger and wider upstream.” Reluctantly, I spun the mini-tank around, trying to find the narrowest point in the river. The engine roared as we sped forward, water spraying up into our faces as the front splashed into the river. I revved the engine again, forcing the tank through, trying my best to adjust to the flow of the water hitting the side. Thankfully, the tracks were able to catch the ground and plow forwards, water streaming off the tank as I plowed two trails of flattened grass to get back onto the road.

I looked over my shoulder, everypony slightly wet, but doing fine. Night Strike grinned, looking eager to try it again. I faced forwards, starting to make our way towards Maple Creek once more. The sun was beginning to lower in the sky as the edge of town appeared, myself starting to slow the tank down, glancing back to Crash Dive. “Do you want us to leave you off here again? We might want to leave the tank too anyway, I don’t really trust myself driving through town.”

Crash Dive shook her head, instead slipping on her helmet. “I’ll just stay with the mini-tank, you four can go about your business.” I began to slowly trundle the half-track forward, Scouring Charge looking a little worried, slipping on his own power armor’s helmet. Nearly all the ponies we passed stared with wide eyes as we rolled through town, myself taking extra care heading down the narrow roads. We pulled up in front of Sulfur’s Stockpile, the mini tank’s engine dying down as I hopped out.

Night Strike slung the Clearwater PD duffel bag over her back and hopped off the tank, Aerith following suit, but Scouring Charge stayed with the tank. “Uh, yeah, I’d rather stay here. I don’ think the owner would be too happy if she recognized me from the Company.” I shrugged and we headed inside, finding Sulfur placing some shotguns on old wooden shelves. She turned as the door slid shut, her face lighting up.

“Ah, hello again, it’s been awhile since you last stopped in!” She trotted up to us, a wide grin on her face. “Anything I can get for you? Ah, and your friend?” The unicorn mare's grin faltered slightly as her eyes fell to the alicorn, her attention being drawn as Night Strike simply slid the bag off of her back, unzipping it and beginning to place the various weapons onto a table. Sulfur’s eyes widened as she picked up one of the revolvers, turning it over in her magic. “Well, I certainly hope you’re planning on buying something too, I don’t think I’ve got enough caps for all of these!” She chuckled a little.

I stepped up “Actually, we were wondering if you had any sort of submachine guns, thirty cal rifles, really anything that's general infantry issue.” Sulfur nodded, levitating the guns over to the counter and trotting up to a few guns hanging on the wall. Each boasted large magazines hanging from the bottom, ranging from simple mouth guns to ones so bulky they seemed impossible to handle without magic or a battle saddle.

“Well, it’s not the widest selection, but I’ve got nearly everything you could want. Simple 10 millimeter pistols or SMGs, maybe a .22 silenced long rifle if you’re more on the stealthy side.” Aerith’s grin widened as her magic enveloped one the larger guns, this one with a drum magazine, slowly lowering it down to eye level. I sighed a little internally - of course you’d want the most expensive one. “That’s a .45 Auto, 'Chicacolt Typewriter' they call it, a little finicky when it comes to repairs but there ain’t many other guns that’ll get as much of a kick at that speed. Drum mag and recoil compensator standard.”

We trotted back over to the counter, Sulfur running a quick lookover each weapon on the table. “Alrighty, with the pistols and the .45 Auto, that’ll come to…” She punched a few keys on her cash register, her eyes going wide and a weak chuckle escaping her. “Me still owing you 38 caps. Eh...” She sounded slightly surprised, but shrugged and handed the caps off to Night Strike, Aerith grinning widely as she slid her neck through the strap on the Auto. Night Strike and Aerith made their way out, as I made a quick transaction for a few more flash grenades before following them out.

We climbed back into the small tank, myself slipping the extra grenades into my saddlebags resting on the floor before heading back through town again. As we made our way through, a sweet smell met my nose, similar to that of the sweet shop back in Mooscow. “Mmm... anypony mind if we take a detour?” Night Strike shook her head, smelling the sweet scent while Crash Dive merely shrugged. I started to make my way towards it, Scouring Charge grabbing a hold of the grenade launcher to steady himself as we turned a corner. We arrived at a rather large building standing in front of a line of trees, ponies moving between them, filling up buckets with the spigots embedded into the bark.

Night Strike and I hopped out and trotted up to a small stand in front of the structure, a caramel colored earth pony filly standing at it, wearing a light jacket. She smiled as we approached, various bags of candy wrapped up and set out on the counter. I looked over the display, bags of soft brown-tinted sugar laying next to a few slabs of brittle wrapped up in plastic. Night Strike pointed to the ponies milling about behind us. “Hey, ah, kid, what’re they doing here?”

“They’re getting the sugar for the sweets. You ever had maple candy before?” Both of us shook our heads, the vendor’s smile fading slightly to be replaced by a look of mild surprise. “Really? We normally don’t get people visiting from where there aren’t any maple trees.” I’m not sure there are any trees back home, period. The young pony’s smile immediately returned though. “Well, we’ve got the best maple sugar candy there is! Wanna try one?” She opened up one of the bags and pulled out a couple pieces of the light-brownish leaf shaped candy.

I sucked on the sweet confection, my smile of delight mirrored on Night Strike’s face. “Well, it’s certainly the best I’ve tasted, even if it’s the only I've had.” I fished around in my saddlebags for my bag of caps, pulling them out and handing over the necessary number. The filly smiled as she poured the caps into a small lockbox behind the stand as Night Strike and I each grabbed our own bags of candy and moving to head back to the tank.

However, before we could, we heard a familiar voice call out. “Oy, thunderbolt and missile-mare!” We turned to see Ripple trotting up to us, wearing a grin on his weary face. “Sorry, never was good with names. It’s good to see you two are doing fine, though. Any luck finding a replacement for Trout’s old engine?”

Both Night Strike and I looked a little sheepish, glancing at ech other for a moment with weak smiles. “Ah, sorry, we haven’t been able to find anything yet.” Ripple looked slightly disappointed, but shrugged. “We haven’t been to Vanhoover yet, and we’re still looking for a generator. Maybe there’ll be somepony selling off their old fishing boat there we could break down.” Night Strike looked at me.

“Since when did you have enough caps for a freaking boat?” The look of confusion was apparent on Night Strike's face, to which I raised my eyebrow. Come on, haven’t you learned I can weasel any price I want at this point? Night Strike rolled her eyes. “Well, we didn’t really fully check out Seahoof, at least, not after those ants started pouring out of every crevice. There might still be something there. Would help if we knew precisely what kind you needed.” Ripple’s grin returned.

“Ah, eheh, just a basic triple-expansion steamer. Don’t worry too much about it today, I’ve lived long enough without the engine, I can wait another couple of weeks. I hope you’re able to find it soon, at least.” We bade him farewell and walked back to the small tank, Aerith and Crash Dive playing a game of cards on the back as Scouring Charge watched on in confusion. Crash Dive scooped up the deck as we hopped back in, the motor purring. Night Strike popped another candy into her mouth as I turned us around, looking for a hotel.

I pulled up to a small building as the sun was finally beginning to set, parking the mini tank beside a few carts out front. We all piled out and headed into the lobby, Night Strike trotting up to the desk. After handing over a few caps to the clerk, she tossed one set of keys to Scouring, holding onto the others. “Alright, boys one room, girls the other,” She paused, looking over to Aerith. “You… are a girl, right?”

Aerith shrugged, 'I’m one since the dipping. Don't really remember much after that.' Ok, not going to think too hard about what that might mean. We all headed upstairs to our rooms, Scouring Charge unlocking the door and stepping inside the boys' room. I slid my saddlebags off as he lay Sunburst on the small desk, pulling off his helmet ant taking a whiff of the air. He began to slide off his armor as I flopped onto one of the beds.

I pulled out the bag of candy, tossing one to Scouring as I bit into another. “Mmh, say, what exactly did your company do last time they were here?” I asked curiously. Scouring Charge blew out a slightly exasperated sigh. He climbed into the bed opposite mine, rubbing a few stiff joints from his power armor.

“Well, let’s just say it involved a lot of Wild Pegasus, high explosives, lasers, and one pony’s poorly chosen pie cart parking spot.” He slid under the thin blankets, giving his back a few more stretches. “Mmh, my company's got some nice buggers in it, but they really don’t hold their drinks well. Though, neither do I, to be honest.” He rolled over in bed, switching off the small oil lamp as I tied the bag of candy back up and slid into bed myself, thankful for a full night’s sleep after last night’s events. Oh, sweet, sweet sleep...

"Aye, so, 'ere she is, ol' Trout." The sun shone brightly against the river that ran by Maple Creek, the docks smelling of that pleasant aroma of fish and smoke. Ech, at least the former overpowers the latter, somewhat... Ripple had lead both myself and Static down to the far edge of town, and over to an admittedly rather sizable boat. It rested up on the shore a meter or two, the faded paint and patched-up cabin definitely proving it's seen better days. Ripple let off a small sigh, reaching into his jacket and producing a small metal flask, taking a quick sip of the contents and trotting over to a small ladder set up against the side of the boat. "C'mon, engine's right below deck, in the bunkrooms. Eheh, am sorry I didn't show you it when I asked, imagine it's a bit hard to know what parts I need if ye don't know what the thing looks like."

"Ah, don't fret over it, we're glad to help regardless." Static followed Ripple up the ladder while I hovered myself up onto Trout's deck, landing against the creaky boards and meeting the larger stallion with a smile. He returned a nod, trotting over to one side of the cabin and lifting up a hatch in the floor, disappearing beneath it for a moment before the sound of something clattering and Ripple's swearing filled the air, both myself and Static quick to head over, pip-buck lights on and shining down into the open hatch. Ooh, that's a big bloody speargun that fell on him... "You alright there?"

"Aye... aye, just lost my bearings a bit. Been a while since I was last down here. Ahm... ah, here." Shoving the speargun off of himself, Ripple finally managed to find his hoof over to the switch on the wall, a few electric lights humming to life below deck and illuminating the interior. We both followed inside, the large stallion setting the speargun back on the wall and looking to the doorway labeled as 'Engine Room.' It creaked loudly on it's hinges as he swung it open, myself peering inside. "Well, here's the engine. 'side from age, not too sure why she's gone and quit. Tried everything I could." Ripple gave a shrug as I stepped in, getting a closer look.

Okay Trout, let's see your powerplant... Mark 10N Naval-grade light duty arcane reactor, alright, least if there's an issue with that I know I can probably get her working again. Damn sight better state than that reactor back at Jericho Beach... main steam lines look good, no cracks in anything major, feeds into... Well, it's not a turbine. 'Baltimare Locomotive Works triple-compound steam engine, 203mm stroke length, operating pressure 200psi'... alright. Scratching a hoof against my head, I looked back out through the doorway, Ripple watching inside and holding the flask in his hoof. Passing on a weak chuckle, I idly tapped at the engine, trotting back over to the reactor. "Well... you probably know the engine itself better than I could hope to. If it were an issue with the reactor, I'd be able to help you right now, but it looks alright."

The stallion responded with a shrug and another gulp out of the flask, coughing a little before clearing his throat. "Don't worry yourself, lass, not askin' ye to fix it right here and now. I had to take a guess, the poor thing's run for about as long as it'll last at this point, just need to see about getting her replaced. Ye find a matching one, do tell me and I'll come out with you to get it, eh?" Passing on a smile, Ripple nodded for the exit, myself and Static heading for the outside as he shut off the lights below deck. Static peered off towards the basin to the east, myself already starting to hover off of the boat.

"Ahm, Ripple, are you sure that those sea monster ponies you mentioned the first time we came through here are just an old mare's tale?..." Okay, uh, Static, have you gone... Celestia above, how'd I forget about -those- things. And the eggs and stuff at the Dam, too... he had a point. Ripple scratched at his head for a momenyt, before letting off a short laugh, jumping down from the deck of Trout and landing on the shore.

"Don't tell me you let Lugnut get that idea worked into your brain. I ain't ever seen a monster sea pony, and I swear I never will. You're just kidding, right?" His laughter tapered off as he caught sight of the look on my face, glancing between us both for a moment. I gave him a little shake of the head, drawing in a breath and biting at my lip. "You're both... just... Celestia above, please tell me you're just kidding... you aren't, are you? Goddesses." Static soon joined us on the shore, Ripple looking up at the boat, thinking for a long moment. He let of a small sigh, looking back to us. "Right, if you're serious, then I've got something else to ask. Trout's a strong ship, but that harpoon cannon's only good for a shot or two. You find me something that'll give 'er a bit more bite, consider anywhere you need to go that I can take you with 'er on the house."

"Consider it done." Passing him a grin, and catching him returning it, I hopped onto the back of the mini-tank as Static revved the engine, us powering down the streets back to the hotel. The town was waking up once more, some ponies passing curious glances as we passed them by, the mini-tank coming to an easy stop beside some carts and wagons loaded with merchant's wares. Static hopped himself out, the engine still purring, glancing back at myself before heading into the lobby to get the rest of our group. I took to fiddling with the pip-buck's radio meanwhile, leaning up against Boomer. Ah, there you are Radio KAOS...

"-nypony here remember Vera Lynn?
Remember, how she said that,
'We would meet again,
some sunny day'?

Vera! Vera!
What has become of you?
Does anypony else in here,
feel the way I do?"

"Welcome back to Radio KAOS, you're listening to 'Vera' from the album 'The Wall', and we have some breaking news out of the town of Saddlebrook. Several of the townsfolk there report witnessing a collection of four identical flying craft overhead, all similar triangle shapes to the strange craft that crash-landed outside of the haunted lighthouse a week or so ago. We don't have any confirmation on if these are the same craft, or if they're carrying megaspells, but it's advised that should these craft crash, anypony living near the crash site should relocate themselves as soon as possible, due to the unknown nature of the craft. Do not risk your lives trying to gain information for my show - it isn't worth that much. To those living in Saddlebrook, please keep us updated on the situation, and by all means call for help if you need it. We will relay the message as soon as we can. Ahm, anyhow, this concludes the mid-morning news, we'll return you to your regularly scheduled music. Up next is 'Bring the Boys Back Home'."

I looked down at my pip-buck, scratching my head idly, the faint feeling of worry coming up through me. More flying craft like the Valkyrie? But I thought it was the only one of it's kind, like the TOG, or War Crime, or something... This could be an issue. The hotel door clattered open as Static, Aerith, Crash Dive and Scouring Charge all trotted out, the mini-tank's suspension groaning slightly as they climbed aboard. Turning down the radio, I steadied myself against Boomer again, Aerith passing on a grin as she rested her new gun on her lap. After a moment, we were setting off again, Maple Creek disappearing behind us and the rest of North Vanhoover before us, speeding along the cracked roads. No matter how much I tried, though, I couldn't shake that feeling... nnfh, I just hope that they're friendly, whoever's flying them.

---

"Aye, is a nice town, inn't it? Surprised nopony's settled 'ere, though, seems to be intact." Scouring Charge looked about the brick buildings of Clearwater, following with myself as we made way for the police station. Crash Dive had agreed to stay with the mini-tank, and Static and Aerith had gone off looking for stuff to make an early lunch, or snacks for the road - hopefully they know to keep any Sparkle-Cola they happen across. Sure I've taught Aerith well in the ways of the superior soda brand... "So, eh, wanna know, you an' Static... brother and sister, close freinds, lovers, or somethin'?"

"Dah..." Way to send a missile right out of left field, Scouring. Taking a moment to recover myself, I shook my head, the power armored unicorn standing outside the police station's doorway. Least the smell's gone... kind of. "J-just friends. His dads know my dads... a little more closely that most, but, yeah, we're just close friends. Moving along..." Trotting inside the building, the cool breeze from outside flowed through the open doorway, stirring the air and carrying along that smell of old decay. Phew, not exactly pleasant... I really hope that we don't find out what it is that's causing that. "The, uh, the dynamite should be in cell... four? No, five? Some number starting with the letter F... it has a loose brick in it that the guy hid it behind."

"Must'a been a real nice place before the war, then. Not often you come across places where ponies were actually nice enough you could afford to leave stuff like that, heh..." The unicorn stallion passing along a grin, he trotted over to a doorway at the back of the station, looking at it for a moment before raising a hoof and promptly obliterating the latch and frame. Ah, cheeky bugger... whoof, gack, okay, guess we found where the smell comes from. Brilliant. Burying my muzzle in the sleeve of my jacket, Scouring likewise stuck his head inside his helmet, taking a breath and looking back to myself. "Smells like somepony sure didn't last long 'ere. Would've thought they'd be a skeleton at this point... y'said you got those guns in the blue duffel bag from this place, right?"

"The armory, yeah... I doubt the whole place had the same freshness seal, though..." I've been in pre-war buildings before, like in Quebuck, and even there the pre-war ponies were only really recognizable as having stuff more than just bones thanks to the fact that Quebuck happens to be smack in the middle of a place frozen thirteen months of the year. Smell of dead pony here, where what ponies called 'chilly' really seemed to be bare-body weather... couldn't be pre-war. Just begs the question of what the hell it was, then...

"Three... four... fi-ook me, the hell is that!?" The power armored stallion scuttled back on his hooves a few steps, the fancy rocket launcher on his back aiming into the cell. Trotting up to look in with him... I was immediately thankful that we were eating lunch after this. That definitely wasn't anything I'd call a pony... unless ponies did have scales, and gills, and fins, and laid eggs. Big eggs. Big, shattered, degraded, mushy, familiar eggs... Shove a tank shell in my ass and call me a seventeen pounder, don't tell me this was the same thing that was in the dam.

...and don't tell me it set off the dynamite!

"Well... that'd explain the smell, sea monster pony fish-thing guts painting the wall. Hurk." Okay, screw the dynamite, if there were any sticks left I ain't gonna be going through that mess to try and find them. Plenty of explosives left at Seahoof anyways... probably. Hopefully not in the bodies of huge ants. Scouring Charge gave a shake of his head as we stepped back out, the small canal that ran through the town idly bubbling with the water flowing through it, making the place seem a little less completely vacant. Euh, not gonna get that sight out of my mind for a few days...

Trotting back along the stone-paved upper level, the Kettenkrad was parked near some shaded tables set up outside a corner diner, Crash Dive resting herself in a chair nearby, her rebar canon set on the table. Static and Aerith soon came into view as well, a rather large collection of items levitated beside the alicorn and a wide-brimmed fedora on her head. Ehm, well, I'm not one to speak about fashion... I dunno, didn't seem like she's the type for hats. From the look on Static's face, seems he's just as confused.

"Who's hungry? We managed to find an electric grill and a few unopened hayburgers... and a clothing store, eheh." The earth pony let off a weak chuckle as Aerith set up the grill on another table, plugging a spark battery into it and passing on a grin. Scouring licked at his lips, trotting over to look over what other things they'd managed to find, myself moving up alongside Static. He kept his gaze on Aerith for a few more moments before meeting my eyes, letting off a small sigh. "Do you think Unity had a dress code, or something? Seriously, I don't think that hat really goes with her coat color... or her, period, for that matter."

"Whatever you say, Cross Stitch~" Myself letting off a snicker, Static opened his mouth to protest for a moment, then let off a small huff. Oh, you're so cute when you scrunch your face up like that~ Giving his head a shake, he set a small cooler bag on the table, the contents letting off a series of small clinks. Hello, soda... Oh, wait, those are brown bottles. Bluh, never trust a bag... "Please tell me you found some Sparkle-Cola too?"

"Mmh, oh, yeah, did find three bottles of the stuff, regular." The grin immediately came back to my face as he reached in and shuffled the bottles around, the blue glass containing dark caramel soda coming to view. One, two... why'd he stop? Moving the bottles aside, I peered into the bag, met with the several bottles of Sunrise Sarsaparswilla. Static let out a small chuckle as I huffed, the sizzle of hayburgers being cooked meeting our ears. "I said we found three, not that I had three. Still glad you got her hooked on it?"

"Ah, shut up."

---

"Good afternoon North Vanhoover, you're listening to Radio K A O S, KAOS in Vanhoover. For those of you who missed it earlier today, out of Saddlebrook comes the news of four more flying craft in the wasteland - thankfully the little readout here aboard this ship hasn't reported an Empty Quiver again, but I'd still highly recommend watching the skies and taking cover if you see one, because we can't be certain if they're friend or foe. Nobody knows exactly what they are, but in contrast to the first craft eyewitnesses report them as not being entire triangles, more dart-shaped, and with the bigger forward wings slanted downwards like a pegasus in mid-flap. They also appeared to be able to hover - again, we don't have any definite facts, so take all this with a grain of salt. Better to err on the side of caution in this case.

"Anyhow, it's a pleasant, cool, autumn afternoon, and everypony's here for a bit of music. Here's an album that you'd be forgiven for thinking it a jab at the princess who let Equestria get bathed in Balefire - The Dark Side of the Moon. Enjoy."

---

The bell above the shop doorway rung as I stepped inside with Aerith, the stallion behind the counter wearing a pained but relieved grin and a few bandages on his forehooves... oof, sorry. Passing a small grimace as I stepped up to him, Aerith took to looking over the large assortment of guns and ammo of various flavors, myself swinging about the duffel bag and undoing the zippers on it. "Welcome back, been a while since I last saw you. Got some good news for you though, it took ages but I think I finally got a few of the slug rounds you asked for made, and I've started work on the dragon's breath and buckshot..." A weak chuckle escaped myself as he beamed, the smile across his muzzle faltering as he watched me rummaging through my duffel bag and producing War Crime. "Ahm... so you -did- go to Seahoof..."

"Yeah... turns out, um, yeah, there were a few forty mil rounds there... a couple pallets worth. At least, that's all we found in one hangar, eheh..." Oh, that's a look of disappointment. Hopefully this draws his attention instead... myself gently setting War Crime up on the counter, Aerith's magic was lighting up and sifting through the rifle section, looking over the different ones available. The shopkeeper's expression turned from an empty frown to one of curiosity, and then one of surprise as I released the clip from it and set it upright on the counter. "You said you had a few fifty cal rounds for sale? I think that War Crime here is chambered for it. How many do you have?"

"War Crime... ya don't say... ahm, ah, right, I've got a few different kinds for offer, actually. Standard ball round, Armor-piercing, Armor-piercing Incendiary, a few different flavors. Picked them up from a merchant who said he got them from an airbase up in the northeast... didn't take long for me to realize I probably just paid a couple hundred caps for a few belts of bullets that nopony'd ever have anything to fire them. Least they were a good source of powder and lead, heh..." He let off a small chuckle, ducking below the counter and producing a big ammo box, setting it down and undoing the latches. Yup, those were definitely big bloody Fringe's rifle-size bullets... "I'd be happy to just move these things at this point. 50-round segments at 10 caps per round sound good?"

"What it sounds like is expensive as hell. Can I just get thirty, or, forty rounds instead? Eesh..." One thing I ain't, and that's made of caps. The stallion behind the counter wore a grimace, shutting the lid of the box and letting off a sigh, seeming to think for a moment. Aerith, for her part, was still looking over rifles - hey, isn't that one of the ones that dad uses? The gunsmith tapped his bandaged hooves on the counter, catching my attention.

"Alright, tell you what. If you go back to Seahoof and find anything really beefy, talking cannon caliber or at least a big machine gun or two, I'll pay you with the bullet belts and make up the difference with caps. Have to start thinking about air defense with those new flying things in the air... That sound reasonable?" Okay, so a gun for Trout and a few anti-air craft batteries for Hopeville, I'm sure we can swing that. Answering him with a smile and nod, he let off a small sigh, rubbing at his forehead. "Scavenging is the life and death of places like my shop. Please do consider buying something from me again sometime."

"Promise that we will eventually, bound to run out of bullets sometime sooner or later, heh..." A weak smile crossed his face, Aerith trotting up behind myself and tapping my shoulder, her Chicacolt Typewriter's drum magazine undone from the gun and being levitated over to the counter. A light chuckle escaped myself as the gunsmith looked over it curiously for a few moments, a smile soon crossing his face. "Well, I guess we'll be buying a few bullets after all. What ya got in .45 ACP?"

"Heh, not a lot, but enough to keep that buzzsaw topped off. Real nice piece of work you've got there, you pick that one up from Seahoof, too?" The stallion trotted to the back of the shop, the sound of a few tins of ammo being picked up and brought out filling the air. He set the black metal drums and ammo boxes on the counter, twisting open the front of them and revealling the arrangement of the fifty rounds in the drums. Oooh, swanky~ Aerith grinned widely, looking over the assortment. "Five caps per bullet, fifteen for the clips too." ...ow, I forgot how expensive ammo can get when you've got something that fires a lot of it very fast. The alicorn let a frown fall on her muzzle for a moment, looking towards me. Oh, no, no, don't... guh, you're lucky you're cute.

"Alright, we'll take... all the clips. With ammo, of course." Well, there's 800 caps I'll never see again. Setting the few bags on the counter, I let off a small sigh, rubbing at my head. Why didn't I just pick up some ammo for War Crime when I was first there? Why'd I just let an alicorn sucker me into paying for her ammo? Why, why, why... The register rung, Aerith gently poking my side and fitting War Crime into my duffel bag for me, nodding for the door.

"Thanks for the business guys, come back soon!" Oh, we'll come back alright. Come back with lots and lots of junk to trade so I can get my 800 caps back... Static can probably track down a few more spark batteries and sweet talk his way into getting that stallion to pony up a hundred apiece. Hell, I'd take eighty apiece... Or we could raid a library, maybe, come in with a thousand incenerated books and see if that'd make the difference. Nnfh... Come on, Strikey, still time left in the day. Gotta get to Seahoof, gotta get guns for Trout, and Hopeville, and maybe take a few to Maple Creek, just to be sure... guh. I hope we can find wagons to carry it all. Or a truck... or a tank. Full size, with a cannon... or three, bristling with machine guns everywhere and spacious as the TOG... Oh yeah, now that'd be a thing of beauty. Heh... what was I mad about again?

The mini-tank's engine hummed as Static munched down another snack cake, brushing the crumbs off of his lips as we approached. Crash Dive and Scouring both had their armor's helmets on again, looking over to us, watching as we set ourselves down on the sides of the mini-tank, myself setting my duffel bag down and resting a hoof against Boomer. Static swallowed the last of the cake, looking back at us both, the engine giving a small rev. "Mmh, so, you get ammo for that new gun of yours alright? We good to head down?"

"Not quite, and yes. Keep eyes peeled for any machine guns or autocannons that might be left when we get there, got a deal with the gunsmith that if we get Hopeville some good anti-air craft guns he'll make sure we get paid one way or another. I'm expecting at least eight hundred caps outta it..." Letting off a small grumble, Static looke over the rest of the group before giving a shrug, putting the mini-tank in gear and starting to trundle us out of the town. A few fillies and colts were playing with each other at the edge of the village, the tank giving a small lurch as we picked up speed, the greenery blurring together as we sped along. The sun shone bright overhead - looks like it's just a little past noon, one or two, maybe. We're making good time... let's keep it that way. Fiddling with my pip-buck's radio, a song was just finishing up on KAOS, a few moments of silence following it before a small jingle, and that mysterious unnamed DJ came back on.

"That was The Dark Side of the Moon, and you're tuned into Radio K A O S, KAOS in Vanhoover. Our top story today, the report of four more flying craft in the wasteland, this time as far eastern as Saddlebrook. Still haven't recieved any notifications regarding these things, if they're friendly, if they're carrying megaspells or not, but all the same the appearance should not be cause for panic, not until they prove their standing otherwise. A few ponies out of Maple Station have highly recommended scavenging for any heavy machine guns or cannons you can find and aim up to the skies on the offchance they turn out to be hostile - don't open fire until they do, tempting as it might be. Just because I haven't recieved anything saying there are megaspells onboard these like the last one doesn't mean there aren't, and as anypony who's worked with explosives could tell you, bullets and bombs generally don't mix well.

"Ahm, right, fitting along with that, this news just came from Hopeville a few moments ago; the gunsmith there, Lock 'n' Stock, has managed to gain the assistance of the Vanhoover Five in retrieving some heavy armament from the old Seahoof armory. Celestia knows they'll be sure to help them out, and maybe hang on to a few guns for other towns that might need them - just pray they're in a fixing mood rather than a destruction one, heh. Hey, if you five are listening, I think this boat can afford to spare a few guns if you need 'em. Drop by the studio too while you're here - I'd love to get an interview.

"Anyways, that's the daily news, and up next we have the album The Final Cut by Roger Trotters. I hope you all have sweet Post War Dreams tonight, everyone."

Oh... boy. Letting off a small huff and biting at my lip, I fiddled with my Pip-buck a little more aggressively, finally managing to get the radio off. Please let them not have heard too much... The looks that Scouring Charge and Crash Dive were both giving me - which is to say, the glares from their helmets - did not bode well. I let off a weak chuckle, stammering nonsense while gesturing to my Pip-buck for a while, before slowly letting it devolve into a groan and me holding a wingtip to my forehead. "Oh, fuck me silly with a cruise missile..."

"Couldn't have been easy, could it? Something always has to go wrong..." Crash Dive let off a sigh, her rebar cannon letting off a small whirring sound as it accepted another bolt in the loading mechanism. Aerith, for her part, checked her own gun for a round in the chamber, Scouring doing the same. Come on guys, it was just one radio message! I'm sure not a lot of ponies actually listen to them... "You know, I'm starting to regret agreeing to keep you all at my house. Been a whole lot of trouble so far..."

"Hey, least this is more interesting than sitting in your lighthouse all day, right?" The power armored pegasus shot Static a glare, the earth pony looking back in time to catch it, and then looking forwards in time to keep us from all being thrown off because of a large crater in the road. "Sorry, driving!" Letting off a small groan of my own, I shuffled my things about and pulled out Thumper, popping the breech and loading a buckshot shell. Dropping my head down and banging my foreleg against it, by some odd twist of fate it was enough to jar the radio back on right at the end of the song.

"Should we shout,
Should we scream?
Whatever happened to the postwar dream?
Oh Luna, Luna what did we do?"

Luna above, what did I do...

---

"Alright... so the ants did completely write off one wall of a hangar, but at least it's still standing, right?" Static trundled the mini-tank along the roads around the interior Seahoof hangar complex, Crash Dive and Scouring Charge having headed off in search of a wagon or two. Gotta say, for having a line of explosives go off clean through it, Equestrian engineering sure was built to last... maybe to not withstand a balefire bomb, but conventional explosives, sure. Miracle it looks like only the ants went up... "So, we going to bother with this one, or see what else there is?"

"Ah, think we're better off trying one of the other hangars. We need something at least as big as Featherweight's autocannons, and fires at least automatic. Machine guns, too." Resting against Boomer, I looked about the area, catching sight of what I suppose at one point was a directory. Well, at least, before an ant decided to climb over it while chasing us... that was the whole colony that we managed to detonate, right? Aerith peered in through the hole in the wall, a look of concern on her face as she brought her .45 Auto to bear, aiming it inside. The engine of the mini-tank revved, and we moved on towards the other hangars, Aerith still aiming back at the ant one - oh, please stop doing that, I really don't wanna know if there are more ants...

Pulling around the second hangar, the one storing Shining and formerly storing Boomer and War Crime, we brought the mini-tank to a stop outside, Static cutting the engine. He looked back to Aerith, myself hopping off of the back of the half-track, sliding Thumper on. "Okay, somepony has to stay behind with the mini-tank, in case somepony else decides to come along and take it." After a short pause where Static's eyes split between myself and Aerith, he let off a sigh. "Somepony who can incapacitate those ponies who are coming to take it before they get within umbrella range. Besides, knowing our track record with this place I might have to help get you out from under another ridiculous gun again, Strikey~"

"Yeah, yeah, shuddap. Let's just try and track down all the big guns in here and get the hell out before anypony shows up. Think we ought to remember how this place was laid out, though, shouldn't take too long. Aerith, you can handle yourself while we find the stuff, right?" The alicorn passed on a smile, levitating up her .45 auto and resting a hoof on Boomer. Chuckling lightly, I turned about as the door in the larger hangar door clattered open, Static already disappearing inside the structure. Myself about to follow him, I felt the stock of a gun tap me on the shoulder, drawing my attention. Huh, that old hunting rifle that Static had... My eyes meeting those of the alicorn, she pointed to the rifle lifted in her magic, seeming to make a face of disgust as she set it back beside the mini-tank, her screen popping back up.

'This old thing is only good for parts. Could I get something in a little better condition from here later?' She passed on a light smile, myself moving to take a closer look at the old rifle. Ooh, yeah, that bulge around the bolt does not look good at all... miracle she was able to use it when we got out of those bunkers. Since I imagine a .308 cartridge detonating right beside your face isn't exactly pleasant in any sense of the phrase, I gave a grimace, looking up to Aerith and nodding.

"Of course. Heh, hell, we'll probably be taking everything we can out of this place anyways, bound to find something up your alley, right?" A grin on my muzzle, Aerith smiled, Static calling out from inside the hangar. Trotting myself inside and taking off, a quick flight over - while also revealing the sight of several more of Shining's 600mm high explosive ammo - had me touching down beside Static, and several racks of machine guns. Oh yes, this would definitely work... "Well, that's convenient. Honestly, kind fo thought this'd take a lot longer..."

"Well, probably would have, if you just took up to the air to try and find this place. Signs are a useful thing, yanno~" The earth pony snickered as he trotted over to one rack of the machine guns, looking over them. Huh, pie pan-shaped clips and barrels the size of steam pipes, those are odd ones... Ah, now these ones look familiar. Yeah... yeah, these are the same ones Buzzy's turret on the Speedwagon mounts! But those are just rifle-caliber, .30 cal... There was a small clatter as Static let off a small yelp, myself turning in time to watch as the earth pony became buried under a few of the pie-tin-clip steampipe guns. Smooth...

"These'll cover light arms, the guns here are all the same caliber as dad's automatic rifles. Good if two or four of them are in the same mount, though the guy back in Hopeville seemed like he really wanted something more to the tune of Featherweight's cannons. You alright?" Helping Static out from under the few stranger-looking machine guns, he gave his back a stretch, letting off a small sigh as he looked back at the pile.

"Yeah, I think so. Hope those things are sturdy... eesh." Turning himself about, he moved to pick up one of the guns, looking it over for a short while before setting it back against the rack where it was. "Well, if they really want machine cannons, I guess we can look in the other hangars. This one seems more just for overflow more than anything... hope they aren't in the ant one." Eesh, now that was a pretty good point...

Trotting and hovering through this one for a few more moments turned up only a little more than nothing, aside from a long rack of rather well-kept battle rifles chambered for .308. Guess I know where to bring Aerith later, heh. Myself letting off a sigh, I flew about and eventually landed near Static, his attention being drawn towards a set of double doors at the far end of the hangar. "No sign of autocannons over there, just some rifles. Any luck here?"

"We'll see in a second. This is where I found the half-track from the last time we were here, I do kind of remember the doors there reading something to the tune of 'Anti-Dragon Weapons Systems', sounds like what they're ordering, right?" Anti-dragon? Ooh, now those would have to be big rounds... loaded with explosives, maybe with proximity or timed fuses too, to make sure they'd punch in and then go off. Hell of a show, a dragon armed with bombs getting hit and losing it's guts all over a battlefield. Myself lost in thoughts of how pretty an explosion-filled sky would be, the loud creak of the doors as Static swung them open snapped me out of it, The earth pony trotting forth a few steps before coming to an abrupt halt. "Night Strike... jackpot."

Trotting up beside him with the faintest level of curiosity, the way he grinned at me as I looked over the room full of big guns hung from racks probably explained his laughter, my jaw just slightly above the floor. Those... oh sweet Celestia above, those were like the big forty mil ones on the Speedwagon, and there were at least nine or ten of them here! And just look at those huge drum clips too, you could probably fit twenty shots per reload! Oh wow, yeah, um, we're definitely going to be moving these things out of here soon as we can. Static trotted himself further inside as I fell to my haunches, drooling over the sight of the large autocannons still, the earth pony reaching the other side of the room and peering through the doorway.

Finally getting out of my gun-induced stupor - again - I picked myself up, giggling stupidly and rubbing my hooves over the barrels of the autocannons, moving back to the breeches and glancing down at the ammo. Okay, thirty seven mil instead of forty mil, but damnit, they were still huge rounds, though! Open fire with one of these things and whatever's at the other end of it won't be around for much longer, for sure. The doors creaked as Static pushed them open, a cool breeze meeting us both as he stepped into the adjacent hangar. Looking over one of the huge rounds in my hoof, I trotted over to meet him, standing beside him in a matched silence as I finally got a look into this hangar.

It was completely empty.

"Uh... Static, am I seeing what you're seeing?" Trotting out further into the hangar - and waving a hoof out in front of myself, in case it was invisible stuff - the earth pony beside me letting off small, uncertain groans. Upon reaching the center of the hangar, the black smears on the ground finally caught my attention, myself hovering up a short ways to get a better look. Four pairs of two blackish marks, looks like somepony put flamethrowers to them. Or... I swear I've seen something like these somewhere before...

"Night Strike? Found something... doesn't look good." Cut from thought, I hovered over to where Static was, his hooves tapping on a terminal on a desk in the corner. Noticing myself, he shuffled over a piece of paper, still working at the terminal. Looking it over, it didn't take long for me to see what he wanted to show me - that was the R&G Manufacturing logo. The smudge marks... they were the exact same ones caused by the hydrogen turbine in that cruise missile, back at Greasy's factory. Oh no...

The terminal let off a small beep as Static sighed, text scrolling across the screen. He began scrolling through the data on it, reading it off aloud - it wasn't making me feel any less worried. "Testing information for R&G Manufacturing/Hawker Aerocraft XF/A-1 'Harrier', VTOL capable dragon combatant and weapons platform. All four prototypes are fully functional and flightworthy, with forward automatic tesla cannon armament and capability of delivering 2,000 kilograms of explosive ordinance via underwing hardpoints. Extremely maneuverable midair, small radar signature... and there's no sign of them in here anywhere. Oh, this is not good at all..."

Grimacing and trotting back out to the hangar, I stared out through the large doors, another gust of wind blowing inside and whipping our manes about. A weak sigh escaped myself, looking back to Static. "Well... guess we know what the Saddlebrook flying things are..." Oh, Celestia, fuck me with the barrel of a 17-pounder gun...