Silverlight never thought of herself as a complicated pony. She was a doctor’s assistant in a town that needed the help and she did it for a roof over her head and a meal in her belly, plus the fleeting joy of a hard day’s work. Last came the gratitude of the townponies, but that was only because it came so infrequently it was easy to forget they even appreciated her work. Her life was relatively consistent here in Junk Town, and she had seen enough gore and death in the Wasteland that even the interruption of an Enclaver from the sky was not enough to rattle her. Consistency, fortitude, and an ability to dig in and get to work without complaint kept her alive.
Junk Town was just as uncomplicated as herself, which was part of the reason she stuck around. She took comfort in the fact that the town was just one long line of buildings. What use was there for more streets for vagrants and ne’er-do-wells to hide in?
That said, she didn’t appreciate how the Enclave pony behind her kept looking over his shoulder at every opportunity, or shooting her dirty looks behind her back he thought she didn’t notice. He was being actively resentful of everyone and everything around him. Apparently the Enclave gave their soldiers a more thorough brainwashing than she thought.
“So are you going to snap and murder everypony in reach now or later?” she asked over her shoulder.
“Not ever,” Who Dares Wins replied with an airy sniff. “I ain’t a barbarian like you ponies.”
“Well, the way you’re eyeing all the ponies around here I’d think you’re one of those raiders you undoubtedly enjoyed vaporizing.”
“Excuse me?” Dares replied, edging away from a foal and his mother as he passed them on the street.
Silver rolled her eyes. “I mean you look like you’re about to go berserk on us, Corporal. I know I said this was a rough town, but you’re making yourself less a part of the landscape and more a target.”
“Well, these ponies keep lookin’ at me funny,” Dares snapped. “I don’t like it when ponies look at me funny.”
Silver felt her ire rising with every combative word. It was one thing to have an ungrateful patient, but Who Dares Wins was rapidly finding his way onto her list of ponies she wanted to send back to the hospital. “Then stop making yourself so funny to look at. Try to walk, not tip-hoof everywhere. You need to break in that armor, Dares. Can I call you Dares?”
“No,” said Dares as he matched glares with a tough looking colt across the way. Silverlight could have smacked him. More ponies died from establishing eye contact than radiation poisoning out here.
Almost to the edge of town, then you won’t be a spectacle anymore…
“This armor smells,” said Dares. “You could’ve at least washed it.”
Silver’s eye twitched, which was a problem she thought she’d resolved years ago. “I did,” she hissed. “Brahmin leather just naturally smells that way.”
“I’m sorry, we just don’t usually wear the skin of another living thing back-”
Silver scrunched her eyes shut and felt something break. There was a rush of movement and a loud snap, and her hoof impacted something soft and pliable. When she opened her eyes Dares no longer looked at her but at something off to the right, his mouth agape, and his cheek was burning red.
She’d smacked him. Realizing this didn’t surprise her at all, since it was what she’d intended.
“If you say anything,” she hissed under her breath, “anything at all about where you were from out loud? Then you will find the trouble you seem to be trying to attract to yourself, soldier boy. And I won’t be able to protect you. We don’t need dead weight out here, and your corpse would make quite a lot of that.”
Dares blinked rapidly at her, as if coming to some kind of realization. Or at least that’s what Silver hoped he was doing. He stared back at her and she saw the anger she expected, but you didn’t look into the eyes of dying ponies as much as she did and not pick up on cues here and there. Behind the impotent fury was something softer, more fragile. Something that reminded her that this was a pony working through some tough times.
She stood back and sighed, brushed a hoof over her mane.
Deep breaths. You’ve dealt with worse.
“Look. Dares. I understand. Nopony wants to be in the Wasteland. Especially not…”
She glanced back and forth, saw that the only company was the guard tower on the edge of town.
"But this place? This whole world? It isn't for ponies like you. You need to adapt, Dares, or you're going to die."
"I was already s'posed to die a while back," Dares grumbled. "I didn't ask ta' be brought back."
Silverlight's hoof tingled as she considered another smack. "Yeah, well, none of us asked to live in a rad-covered, monster-infested shithole either. Life sucks down here. So stop being a little bitch about it or I'll make sure to leave you for dead next time, capisce?"
Dares said nothing, but she saw his Adam's apple bob up and down with an audible gulp.
"Good enough," she muttered, and turned to walk out of town. She heard his hooves hurrying to catch up and hoped that meant he wasn't gawking at everything along the way.
In the distance loomed the shadow of the junkyard. It was a constant fixture on the horizon of the town, and was sadly the biggest landmark around outside the mountains to the north. Dares was quiet most of the walk and Silverlight didn't bother to make small talk. She was stressed enough as it was keeping an Enclave pony in the clinic. The Doc was going crazy keeping nosy townsponies from poking their heads in, or keeping the more zealous among them from lynching the pegasus while he slept. She didn't want Dares' little words buzzing around her head and adding to her confusion.
Still, as they passed through the broken gate and passed the creaky old booth that marked the junkyard's borders, it didn't stop Dares from speaking anyway.
"Listen, Silverlight," he said, and the way he used her actual name made her stop and turn. She didn't mean to look intimidating, but Dares licked his lips and scuffed his hoof and she knew what he was going to say before he even worked up the courage. She still let him say it though. It was important to let ponies hear their own voice and explain to themselves what they felt.
"Thank you," he said, "for not lettin' me die. I wanted to... kinda... or maybe I just thought I did. Or maybe I didn't wanna be dead 'till I found out I was here. But I guess I do owe ya, if nothin' else. From the looks them townfolk were givin' me, you're the only one who woulda lifted a hoof to help. So, uh, thanks. You're all right for a, um..."
"Dirt pony?" she wondered, flicking her tail and smirking.
"I was gonna say surfacer," he mumbled.
"Hey," she said not unkindly, and caught his gaze with hers again. She liked looking ponies in the eyes; the old axe about being windows to the soul held sway with her. His were tarnished gold, breezy and distant. They were eyes that were used to staring into an endless horizon and pondering far-off things. Old soldier eyes if she ever saw them.
A lot like the pony they were looking for, really. She wondered if he'd find the same similarity in Dares.
"Hey," she said again. "Don't worry about it. It's what I do."
Dares glanced up at the piles of junk that surrounded them on all sides. Wind whistled and metal creaked. Rust flaked off and mixed with the dust, creating a permanent red haze.
"So who're we lookin' for here?" he wondered.
"The guy who's gonna make your life a whole lot easier if you let him," Silver answered, leading Dares into a canyon lined with bits and bobs and corrugated steel. "He's kind of an expert on this living in the Wasteland business."
"You know him well?"
Silver breathed in sharply. "I admire him."
Dares stopped to pick at a loose sheet of plastic, peeking under it as if to find the pony they sought. "What's he like?"
Silver smiled. "You'll see. Or maybe you won't. He likes to keep to himself, and he's an expert at that too. The town was under his wing before I came here, though they didn't know it. I think most of them still don't. He's been killing stuff the regular guards can't handle, warding off raiders, typical vigilante. Even this junkyard was crawling with radscorpions before he came. But he won't take payment, and the sheriff doesn't know he helps, only that he lives here."
Dares made a small noise, though it was hard to tell if he approved or not. "Tall dark and silent type, is he?"
Silver laughed, passing under an arch made of stop signs and old curving metal bits she didn't see the purpose of. "To the bone."
"So why stay out here if he's such a big help?"
Silver chewed her words carefully before spitting them out. "He has his reasons. One thing you learn quick down here, soldier boy: not everypony appreciates a helping hoof. Especially the ponies who value making a cap and seeing another day over doing the right thing. But this guy, he's all right."
"Hm. I almost look forward to meeting him."
Silver turned around and smiled warmly.
"So say hello."
"Hello," said Dares and the pony standing behind him at the same time.
"Whadda fuggin’ what!?" Dares squealed, taking to the air and twisting about, his eyes wider than bloatsprite eggs. Silver laughed and laughed, falling back onto her haunches and holding a hoof over her mouth. A pegasus taken by surprise was always a hilarious sight, and the holier-than-thou attitude he'd been cultivating so carefully just made his humiliation all the more precious. The new pony, his broad-shouldered, powerful build covered in wrappings and a thick, dusty cloak, stared up at Dares through the goggles on their gasmask, unperturbed by Dares’ sputtering and pointing.
"What! What!" Dares gasped. "How did you—? When did—? Who are you?!"
"The pony you were looking forward to meeting," the stranger said, and Silver felt that familiar thrilling warmth at his deep, rolling voice, muffled though it was by the mask. "Come down, pegasus. Let me have a look at you."
Dares landed several feet away from the masked pony, shaking his head. "Luna's pearly ass, you scared me half ta' death!" he griped. "How did you do that?"
"Practice," said the masked pony, pacing around Dares and looking him up and down. There was something adorably entertaining at how Dares raised his hoof defensively and curled his wings tight against his body.
"So who've you brought me, Silver?" the masked pony asked. "He doesn't stand like a pony of the Waste."
Silver grinned widely and threw out a hoof, as if she was presenting a diva at her next performance. She loved making introductions here; nopony knew what to expect from her gasmask-wearing friend. "I present to you Corporal Who Dares Wins! He's a recent drop-off courtesy of the Grand Pegasus Enclave."
"Enclave?" said the masked pony, leaning uncomfortably close to sniff at Dares, the sound exaggerated and unseemly through the mask. Dares yelped and tucked a leg against his side. "But he hasn't been branded."
"I ain't no Dashite!" Dares barked, stamping his hoof. "The Enclave's my home! I got stranded here."
The masked pony shrugged. "Home is an ephemeral thing in the Wasteland, Corporal. There are other brands besides that of a Dashite, and not all of them are visible. It may behoove you not to be an Enclave pegasus much longer."
"Who are you to tell me what I am an' ain't?" Dares snapped. Silver rolled her eyes. The insufferable child act was getting old. If anypony had the patience to deal with this pegasus, her friend would.
The masked pony shrugged. "Nopony Special."
Dares rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I can see that."
"No," said Nopony, "that is my name."
Dares blinked. "Your name?"
"Yes."
"As in what your parents gave you?"
"As in who I am."
Dares looked at Silver, who smirked at his befuddled expression. "Don't worry about it," she said, sashaying over to Nopony and throwing a hoof around his broad shoulders. "He gives the same spiel to everypony, even me."
"I am nothing if not consistent," said Nopony.
Silver grinned. "He's a real peach, ain't he?"
"He looks dirtier than most," Dares grumbled, smoothing out his feathers. Silver sniffed, but let it go. It was a common trait of the arrogant to turn to insults when their pride was pricked.
"In case you didn't notice," rumbled Nopony, "there aren't any warm baths or hot showers here in the junkyard. I wear the rags to protect myself from the environment, and the mask to protect my lungs."
"From your own stink, I expect."
"Like I said," Nopony answered slowly, "no showers."
Dares blinked. “Right. Well. Silver said you could help me.”
“That depends,” Nopony answered with a tilt of his head. “What kind of help are you looking for?”
“All the help he can get,” Silver cut in, which earned her a glare from Dares. She took it in stride and grinned right back. “Admit it flyboy, you don’t need a map. You need to learn to draw.”
“What I need is direction! I’m not stayin’ here forever,” Dares retorted.
Nopony shrugged. “I am skilled in the ways of the Wasteland. I’ve wandered it for many years. The best advice I can offer is to stay here and keep your head down. For the rest of your life, if need be.”
“What!” Dares yelped. His wings snapped open with an audible crack of air. “I’m not stickin’ around in this dirt town for the rest of my life! I got a home! I got ponies ta’ go back to! Silver, back me up here!”
Silver stepped away from Nopony, sharing an uncomfortable glance with Dares.
“There’s other kinds of help than what you wanted, Dares,” she muttered, scuffing her hoof on the ground as Dares snorted and turned away. She knew Nopony better than anyone, and while she knew Nopony would help, his kind of help was not what a pony might consider ‘kind.’ That was the way of the Wasteland.
“This is a good town… mostly,” Nopony added, making no move to follow Dares. Dares hung his head, but didn’t leave. “There is work to be had and ponies that need protecting. They are not ponies of an especially fine quality, but it is good enough for me. The rest of the Wasteland is not a place you want to go, Who Dares Wins. It is unkind to everypony, but especially so to outsiders. And you are from as outside as a pony can get.”
“I can handle myself,” Dares grunted, but there wasn’t any power in it.
“For a time, maybe,” Nopony agreed. “But if you really came for my advice, then I would tell you to be happy that you are even alive.”
Silver felt she had to say something. This was a pony whose life she’d saved, after all. And she knew the longing for home better than most. Seeing it crushed so readily still affected her, as fond as she was of Nopony.
“We’re not saying you have to be stuck here and be miserable,” she offered. “We’re saying that there’s a life you can live.”
“I don’t want the life that you ponies have!” Dares snapped, turning around and swiping his hoof. “Don’t you get it? I came here so I could get advice on how ta’ survive, how ta’ get along, an’ how ta’ make a graceful exit. Sheesh, you ponies are sellin’ this shithole of a town like a couple a’ realtors!”
Silver felt another spike of frustration, but her sharp intake of breath tipped Nopony off. “We’re not selling. We’re giving,” he responded calmly, cutting off her tirade. “We’re in the business of giving life, Dares. My life isn’t much. Your life isn’t either, right now at least. But just because you didn’t want to end up here does not mean the Wasteland is a punishment or a purgatory.”
“Whatever,” Dares sulked, turning away. “If you don’t got anything useful to say, I’m done here.”
“There is something,” Nopony said before he could leave, “that I have in mind. Something that may require a pony of your talents.”
“Huh?” said Dares.
“What?” Silver said immediately after. Her mind spun with all the different ways Dares could be put through the wringer. There had been that one poor colt a while back who Nopony conscripted to help deal with the giant rats, but Nopony promised that had been a one-time thing… “Nopony, you’re not just gonna throw him to the dogs right after you’ve met him, are you?”
“Of course not,” said Nopony. “But you say he is a soldier of the Enclave. That would make him the first real soldier Equestria has seen in almost two hundred years. I have an idea to help him keep his hooves busy.”
“What’s that?” Dares asked, no doubt intrigued by the thought of staving off boredom.
“You will show me your skill,” answered Nopony, “and your courage. We must go out and destroy an infestation of nightstalkers that is encroaching on my territory. They have already overtaken an abandoned farm not far from here and I believe they may form a brood that must be eradicated. We leave tomorrow.”
“Why not today?” asked Dares.
“I need time to gauge the measure of your worth,” Nopony said, with that hint of teasing crypticness that Silver loved and hated so much. “If you want to help yourself Dares, do it by helping me.”
Dares looked between the two of them with a suspicious glare. Silver knew she would have given up and booted him out on his own if he wanted it so much, but Nopony had a special hoof with recalcitrant ponies—perhaps something to do with his background.
“Fine,” said Dares. “I need somethin’ to do anyway. When do we start?”
“Right now,” said Nopony. “Come. We need to get you armed.”
“Yeah, there’s the little matter of my gun—”
“Which I have.”
“—Of course you do,” said Dares with a sigh. “I want it back.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“It’s broken. Useless. You won’t fix it without an expert. Don’t worry, it’ll be safe here until we can get it working again.”
Dares glared. “Can I at least see it?”
“You get to see everything. Come, both of you.”
Nopony led them deeper into the junkyard, where the landscape was blocked by mountains of scrap metal and piles of old chariots and skywagons, their broken corpses singing a hollow moan as the wind blew through them. Through a valley between two piles of broken gadgets and rotting circuits, into a little enclave covered by a makeshift lean-to, Nopony led them to where he made his home. The lean-to was dug into the side of the junk pile, making it more spacious inside than it looked outside. An old mattress sat across from an improvised set of cookware, and Silverlight noticed Dares eyeing the cauldron and dirty chemistry set in one corner, gritting her teeth in silence.
“I know what you’re thinking,” she said, “and you’re not correct. He’s not that kind of pony.”
“Coulda fooled me,” muttered Dares.
“The beakers are for my craft,” said Nopony, grabbing a large trunk from under a sheet of metal and dragging it to the front. “I am something of an everypony. I work on what needs to be worked on. Much of the knowledge of the Old World has been lost, including how to create some of Equestria’s most potent spells and potions. I try to study and recover some of that history.”
“An’ what kind of potions might you be makin’?” Dares asked.
Nopony stood up and held out a small vial of red, gently glowing liquid.
“The kind that heal ponies,” he answered.
Dares took the vial and shook it gently, watching the liquid inside slosh around.
“You mean this stuff will… heal you?”
“To a degree,” answered Nopony. “The liquid is a concentration of very expensive and hard-to-find ingredients. It is a catalyst for healing magic that quickens a pony’s natural healing abilities by magnitudes. Do not rely upon them too much; I don’t know much about how it works, only that it does. You can find many of them while scavenging, as bottles of them were produced in their millions during the Great War.”
Silverlight smirked at Dares. “See? There’s ponies down here who know how to make stuff beyond instruments of torture.”
Dares slowly slipped the vial into one of his armor’s pouches. “So you have working knowledge of Old World tech down here,” he said carefully, and glanced at Silverlight. “I thought you just used bits and pieces you picked up around the Wasteland, not manufactured.”
Silver balked at the veiled threat. “You can’t seriously call that a bad thing! I saved your life with this gunk, remember? Most ponies can’t even remember how to open and close a door, let alone create anything beyond a stick figure drawing!”
Dares returned his gaze to Nopony. “You couldn’t do something this sophisticated in a junkyard. You must have had help.”
Nopony tilted his head to one side. “Of course I did. Silverlight here has been invaluable with her knowledge of pony anatomy and general know-how, and her doctor friend the same. As well as others across the Wastes whom I have kept in contact with.”
Silver stepped forward and took up a position at Nopony’s side. Though he didn’t outwardly react, she knew he appreciated the gesture. There was always a warmth to him when she was nearby, through all those rags and stoic stares. When Dares’ glare didn’t abate, Nopony even leaned slightly to the side, keeping the pegasus focused on him.
“In order to survive, I learned how to make connections. How to make friends. How to use the knowledge those friends have. Is it such a surprise that ponies here have learned to make do? Do not think that knowing how to make healing potions makes me a threat to the Enclave, Dares. Think instead of why the Enclave believes it is a threat in the first place that ponies have knowledge at all.”
“I’ve spent my whole life fightin’ against evil ponies who’d use that knowledge to lord over others,” muttered Dares. “So don’t tell me that I shouldn’t be cautious.”
Silver felt her lungs tighten as Nopony gave Dares a goggle-eyed stare. She didn’t know what Dares saw in that look, but whatever it was it was enough to make the Enclave soldier take a visible step back.
“There is caution,” said Nopony, in a slow, quiet voice Silver had never once heard him use around her before, “and there are excuses.”
“Whaddaya mean by that?” Dares asked, but by the tone in his voice he already knew the answer.
Nopony shrugged. “We will discuss philosophy another time. For now, take a look at your new equipment.”
“You’re gonna like this,” Silver promised. “Nopony’s been stockpiling some real top of the line gear for some time now.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” Dares grumbled as Nopony pulled out a large locker from a hidden alcove, dropping it heavily in front of Dares. He popped the top open and stood back.
“Take your pick.”
Inside was a pile of guns. Silver knew most of them by sight; you didn’t survive in the Wasteland without being able to tell. Mostly old salvage from gunslingers and raiders who died in the Wasteland and were kind enough to leave behind their stuff, it was a motley assortment of low-caliber weapons in various states of disrepair. Most of them weren’t what she’d call clean either. At least Nopony was fastidious enough to wash the blood off.
Dares picked up an old assault rifle wound together with fraying duct tape. The wooden butt fell off the moment he got it off the ground.
“Uh,” he grunted, looking queasy.
“Here,” said Nopony as he slapped a saddle onto Dares’ back, knocking all the air out of him. “You’ll need a battle saddle of course. Most of these weapons can be rather sticky, so you’ll need all the help you can get firing them.”
“Anything a little less, uh…”
“Dirty? Corroded? Likely to blow your hooves off?” Silver quipped.
Dares shuddered. “I was gonna say crap, but…”
“This is the Wasteland, Dares,” muttered Nopony, impatiently glaring at the pegasus over the top of the locker. “We take what we can get. Occasionally, traders come by with weapons of superior quality, but the only qualified gunsmith is often busy just keeping the town together. He doubles as the blacksmith.”
“Fine,” said Dares, picking up a rickety looking carbine and strapping it to his saddle. “Not even an articulated mount?”
“Not even iron sights on some of them. I hope your warrior instincts are as strong as the Enclave thought, Dares.”
“Warrior instincts? You sound like some kinda tribal.”
“Tribals do have a habit of persisting where even the Enclave fears to tread,” said Silver, enjoying the rankled look Dares gave her. She did so enjoy poking a few holes in inflated egos. The sound they made while deflating was delightful.
“Enclavers aren’t much good down here,” said Nopony. “The best thing to be now is a survivor.”
Dares looked forlornly at the rusty carbine at his side, grudgingly shoving an ammo magazine into it. “Where’s my old gun?”
“I’ll get that,” said Silver, trotting to a case that was much more well-kept than the weapons locker. She unlatched it and pulled it open, twisting it around to Dares. She almost felt sorry for him when his face went a little green. Almost.
“Oh, Sky save me,” he muttered. “Gem case cracked, burned out power regulator, focusing case just gone… what’d they do ta you, darlin’?”
“It’s not a total lost cause,” Silver said, closing the case again. “Like I said, if we can find somepony who knows this stuff, it’ll be fixed up in no time.”
“And to do that,” said Nopony, approaching Dares with an extra assault rifle and attempting to fasten it to his battle saddle, “we’ll have go back into town. And you, Dares, will help me make this town safe. There is a problem I know of that will test your abilities well. This junkyard, you see, sits above a cave system—”
Dares jumped and backed away, shaking his head as Nopony chased him with the gun, still trying to attach it. “Oooh, no, now I don’t do so well in tight spaces—”
“—that has recently been infested by a large number of giant ants—”
Dares’ tail and wings shot up straight behind him. “How large is a large number?!”
“Stop flinching. And if they overtake the junkyard, I will have no home, and the ponies here will spend lives and resources to take it back. We will find the queen, eradicate it, and burn the eggs.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Dares said, backing up until he hit the wall of Nopony’s home and then sinking to the floor. “You mean just us two? We’re going into a nest full of giant bugs and we’re just going to kill them? And then tomorrow we’re fightin’ nightstalkers?!”
Silver blinked, watching the Enclaver closely. She realized she was feeling something she hadn’t felt in a long, long time. Something that had gotten her through many long days with ponies who didn’t deserve the brains they’d been gifted with. Something that let her keep laughing in the face of horrible danger.
She was feeling smug as hell.
“Oh, come now,” she purred, sashaying to Nopony and using him as a leaning post with her elbow on his back and her chin on her hoof. “The big, scary Enclave soldier is afraid of some simple extermination jobs?”
Dares glared at her “It’s easier when the exterminatees aren’t eight-legged freaks with giant mandibles and those twitchy antennae thingies on their face and the gross little stingers—”
“Six,” Silver cut him off.
“What?”
“Six legs. Not eight. Giant ants have six.”
“Well, whatever!” Dares grumped, flinging his hooves into the air. “The insects you have down here should all be killed with fire! Lots and lots of fire! They’re disgusting and I hate them. I’ve seen the reports. I saw those things swarm a raider stronghold once. It was horrifying. Not even raiders deserve to die like that.”
“Which is why,” Nopony explained patiently, “you and I must cut this infestation off at the source before it becomes unmanageable.”
"Why isn't Silver comin' along?"
"Yeah," said Silver, "why aren't I coming along? It's been getting bored back in town."
Dares nodded. "If she's so skilled at treatin' injuries then she would be an invaluable addition to the team, right?"
"Aw," said Silver, "that's the nicest thing you've said about me yet."
"If a giant ant bites my leg off," Dares huffed, "I want it reattached by somepony who at least halfway knows what they're doin'."
Nopony shook his head. "Silver will stay behind. Here in the Wasteland anything could happen."
"Why is why," Silver said, narrowing her eyes, "I should come, to help."
"Of all the ponies here, you are most indispensable to the town. Besides, this job really will not need more than two ponies. I’d never forgive myself if you died because of something as manageable as a giant ant. If we suffer injuries a healing potion cannot cure, then we are already dead ponies walking."
"So we're good at shooting, but not so good that we ain't expendable?" Dares asked with a sour look on his face.
"Yes," Nopony said, without hesitation.
"So we’re going because literally nopony else is willing or qualified?"
"Exactly."
"Great. But we don’t have the means!”
“We already do,” said Nopony. “All we have to do is kill the queen and burn her nest chamber. That will ensure we kill any future queens she may have laid. The ants will scatter and die soon after.”
“An’ how are we gonna burn it without laser weapons?”
“Fire,” said Silver. “Like you said, lots of it. You’d be surprised how easy it is to find stuff that burns down here. Honestly, Dares, you’re a soldier. You should use that brain if the Enclave didn’t make you forget how.”
Nopony said, “I’ve managed to scrounge up some drums of oil from passing caravans, scavenging the junkyard and the like, that should do the trick. There aren’t any vehicles out here to be fueled and not enough oil to make it last, so it’ll hardly be going to waste. We roll them into the lair, set it alight, and then we are done.”
“It’s that easy?” Dares asked, raising his eyebrow.
Nopony turned and fixed Dares with a stare through his mask that Silver felt from behind the masked pony.
“You should know,” he said, “that it never is.”