Roused and ready, the party set forth. Duck and Quarter and Dolan remained behind, waving as they departed.
Quarter called out, "I'd come with you, but the queen demands my presence. You know how it is."
"Quack! Have fun!"
They left them for the ashen wastes, pushing into the less friendly yet familiar stretches that went out beyond the clean area of Turves. Vinyl walked just to the left of No Name, bumping into him casually. "Hey, Big Guy. When're you gonna spill that story? The kids are safely tucked in."
"Mm?"
"C'mon. What was that 'incident' Longshot talked about? We wanna know." She waggled her brow with salacious meaning.
Octavia was on his other side, shaking her head. "You can keep that secret if you prefer. Stop badgering him, Vinyl."
"Ain't nothin' in it that dirty." He snorted softly. "Just a bit of stupid breedin' more stupid, is all."
Bullette sat up on top of No Name. "Story Mode detected!" Her ears perked up and she clip-clopped her metal forehooves. "Ready!"
"It involves you doing something bad." He looked over his shoulder partially, casting an eye towards Bullette. "You sure you want to hear it?"
"Affirmative." She bobbed her head. "If you are willing to share it, maybe I should think about it."
He sighed softly. "You've gotten better, Little Belle. But this was a while ago..."
We were still relatively new in Turves. The people there didn't much know what to make of us, but we weren't attackin' no one, so they tolerated us, like most towns really. Longshot was there, of course. She was the nicest one of the bunch, trying to insist we'd found a home.
I knew that was a big fat lie, but it was a nice lie, from a nice pony, so I didn't argue with her. I just knew we'd have to move on eventually. That's just how it works.
Why? Look, this is my story, let me finish.
Now where was we? Right, so we're doing odd jobs to put food on the table, as it were. An attack happens. I mean, lookin' back on it, kinda funny almost. A big gang of like a dozen angry folks came ridin' in, guns blazing.
They gunned down one of the guards in a flash. I blame that on their leader havin' an electrocycle. He was fast and silent, got on top of the guard before anything was noticed. The gunfire was the alarm bell...
It was chaos. Guards from the other side of town were hurrying to meet the attackers while others were runnin' away, tryin' to get anywhere that was safe. What's a safe place when yer bein' attacked by guys wit' automatics? Nowhere, that's where.
I was next to the well at the time when it started. Bullette was on top of me, of course. Where else would she be? She spotted the trouble almost before it happened. She was liftin' a hoof just as the first shots went off.
"We are mandated to assist them," I think she said. Somethin' like that. "Weapon systems online." That part I was very sure of. Now, uh... She has a few more weapons than you've seen her with. She became a gun platform that I happened to be wearin' rather than a little pony with a few gun bits.
I pulled out my sign. This one? The one strapped to me. Same one. I pulled it out and charged towards the trouble with it held tight in my jaw. The baddies were reinforcing, the rest of them filtering in after their leaders and buildin' the noise with the rata-tat-tat of automated fire.
They saw me comin' and they hesitated, just a moment. Most towns you might raid don't have a guard as big, or ugly, or wearing Bullette. They knew, I think, that they'd messed up.
That didn't stop them from opening on me. I got a few new scars that day, peppered with bullets as I advanced on them like an angry train.
Yes, that's when you helped. Bullette saw I was gettin' hurt and she was mad, real mad. More mad than either of you ever saw her.
With a soft 'twip' of a sound, their leader just fell over with a new hole in his head, just like that. One of his cronies pushed the body off the cycle and hopped on to claim it. She shot something, a wire I think, at the cycle and it was like lightning hit it. It sparked and smoked and stopped workin' ever again.
"Concentrate fire!" They knew what the biggest threat on the field was. They spread out and aimed all their guns at us, unleashing everything they had to get us out of the way.
So don't blame her. I don't... It was stupid, but it was, you know, a good stupid? I can understand why she did it. I hope she never does it again, but she ain't bad for doin' it.
She unlocked one of the bigger weapons. The kind that could fight them all at the same time. We exploded. It was all light and roar as heat just... rolled away from us in all directions. Even the bullets coming at us were melted and turned away in the rushing fiery fury.
They screamed. There wasn't much more they could do. They burned. They burned and died, just like that. Everything they held was reduced to scrap. Their bodies were reduced to scrap.
An entire block... also reduced to scrap.
The invasion was off. There we were, standin' on a small island of untouched ground and flaming ruin in all directions.
Vinyl blinked softly, imagining the scene in her head. "Bullette! You are... awesome, and terrifying. Awesomely Terrifying!"
Bullette shrank a little. "Do you wish to terminate friendship point accrual? I will understand."
"What? No way!" Vinyl waved it off. "Besides, like he said, you got better. I mean, that's... amazing, just never do it again."
Octavia cleared her throat softly. "I should imagine that is not the conclusion of the story. What did they do? The people of Turves were... surely of mixed thoughts on how the situation had been resolved."
"That's puttin' it mild..."
The people were startin' to come out of their houses, others were kinda groaning from under the rubble they were fortunate enough to be pinned by and not crushed or just buried right there.
Longshot was already there. She was singed... all over. I felt kinda, you know, awkward... She stormed up to us, her wings spread wide. "What were ya thinkin'!" She hollered, or somethin' like that. "That was..." For all the destruction, she took a slow breath. "Blaze would be proud, and she is not a goddess I look favorably on, how about that?"
She put a hoof to her chest, visibly tryin' to calm herself. "That was a victory, but a hollow one."
I was ready to be given the royal boot right on my rump. "We'll be out of here by the end of the day..."
"You are not going anywhere!" she shouted, teeth clenched. "You think you can just destroy a city block and just... wander off?"
Or maybe we'd be thrown in jail. That had happened before too. Or maybe they'd try to murder us. That was also on the table.
She leaned in close enough I could smell her exasperated breath. "You. owe. us. Until you pay us back, you're stuck here." She tapped the ground softly. "As for you!" She levelled a hoof at Bullette Belle just as she was reforming into a little pony again. "The majority of the blame for this could rightly be put on your small shoulders. What do you have to say for yourself?"
Now, like I said before, Belle got better since then, but this was past Belle. She just looked at Longshot, not really gettin' what was wrong. "Threat terminated." That was all she had to offer in an even tone.
Longshot threw a hoof wide. "Along with dozens of innocents. They hadn't hurt you, or anyone else! They were just... living their lives until you happened to them. Do you have any remorse?"
Belle tilted her head left and right. "They are alive." She pointed to the injured but still living ponies that were being pulled free of the wreckage. "Mission accomplished." I swear she played a little victory jingle.
Longshot's horn glowed as she just yanked Belle free with an angry cry. "Those are the best of them. Come here." She stormed right into the still smoldering wreckage and kicked over a bit of sheet metal, revealing a mangled body of, uh, what was it... a bear? Mighta been a pony. It was a while ago, give me some slack. Either way, they were very dead, missin' an arm where the ceiling pinched it right off of 'em.
She threw Belle to the ground, panting for breath. Belle is not light, let me remind. "Go on and tell me they're alright. Go on and even tell me this one is even alive. They are dead. You killed them."
Bullette knew what death was, mind you. She's caused it no few times. When you live in this day and age for long enough, ya kinda have to... Even Duck managed it a few times. But... like Duck, she was living in her own bubble. Her defenses didn't kill good people, or so she figured. They were for killing bad people.
She approached the body and began poking and nudging it. "Wake up." She felt for a pulse and tried to revive them, but they were very gone. "This does not compute!" She slumped down beside the body. "I did not attack him... Why is he dead?" Her ears perked up. "Wait. Was he injured by a stray bullet? They were not--"
Longshot pointed to the severed arm. "Bullets don't do that."
"Error..." she said in the saddest little tone. "Error!" She scrambled back away from Longshot. "I am not a bad guy! I am a good guy! I defend good people!"
Longshot put a hoof on her trembling head. "Good people can hurt other good people when they aren't careful."
"Then I am not a good person," sadly sung out Belle. I hated seeing her that way.
"That is not true." She bonked Belle right on the nose with a hoof, making a metal clang. "Now... Now that you are aware of what you have done, are you sorry for doing it?"
"Regret protocol is overwhelming!" Belle threw up her forehooves high.
"Then there is a thing good people must do in this situation."
"What is that?"
"Learn." She gently set a hoof on top of Belle's head. "Promise me, and the rest of the people here, that you will never use such weapons where they can hurt innocents. Promise you will always be mindful of your power and only direct it at those who deserve it."
I set a hoof on her back. "Look, don't be too angry wit' her. I'm the adult here. I shoulda handled it better, and I didn't."
Longshot snorted at No Name. "You will be working off your debt to the community. I hope you're ready for that." She turned to the crowd then. "There will be no motions for revenge. They fought off the attackers, but in a... less... let's be real, it was a shitty way to do it." Her face went flat a moment. "But it's done, and they will learn from it. Kicking them out, or jailing them, won't bring the dead back to life, or heal the wounds caused. We'll make them work. They'll work and sweat and pay back their crimes. Then, we will forgive them, provided it never happens again."
"Never!" sang out Bullette, waving a hoof wildly. That was about the time that we got yellow and red danger levels. Yellow was when she used her smaller weapons she could more easily, you know, control. Red was when she took out the larger guns.
We don't talk about purple level.
Bullette shook her head quickly. "Purple level is very dangerous. In the event of a purple danger level, you are to flee immediately."
Octavia perked an ear. "You called a purple danger level just before we... went in..."
"And got gassed," finished Vinyl with a soft huff. "Sounds like it was pretty accurate to me. That place was super deadly."
Octavia rolled a hoof. "Yes, true, but you didn't activate any... new weapons, despite it being a purple level. Why is that?"
Bullette tilted her head. "Because there were good ponies nearby." She smiled a little, looking between Octavia and Vinyl. "Good ponies do not hurt other good ponies. If I had... you might have been hurt, even more than you did... I did not want to do that." Her tone lowered the further on she went, only to rebound. "Now we are all better! Mission success!" She clopped her fore hooves happily.
Vinyl smirked wickedly. "But you were ready to torch that old human lady."
"I would not have..." Bullette's ears sagged. "I was... I... She made me uncomfortable."
"She didn't give any shits about boundaries." No Name nodded softly. "But she wasn't a bad person."
"So I did not attack her. I was hoping maybe... she would stop. She was not scared of me."
"Don't think she was scared of nothin'." No Name softly snorted. "She lived long enough she's not afraid of the last breath, just waitin' for it really."
Octavia slowly nodded as she followed along. "I see. Thank you, Bullette, for having restraint. Using too much force could have brought down the entire building on us, destroying the portal generator and possibly us along with it. That would have been a poor decision."
Belle smiled happily, joyful at the compliment. "If the option is available, do not remain close in purple danger levels."
Vinyl perked an ear. "What about red ones?"
"Stay very close." She raised a hoof. "I will protect you. No Name will help!" She hugged him from above, nuzzling his back.
He cracked a little smile that faded all too quickly. "Trouble." He tossed his head forward. Up ahead of them, a wagon was leaning dangerously to one side. One of its wheels, a great cobbled together thing of wood and metal, was broken clean off, laying separated from it.
There were a few figures around it, though it was hard to see what they were doing from that distance.
Belle perked her ears at it. "They could be bandits, or traders trying to repair their vehicle."
Octavia nodded. "Let's not assume everything we meet wants to harm us. Perhaps they are simply in need of aid that we could easily provide."
Vinyl snorted gently. "Duck would be proud. So, what's the plan? Do we just walk up?"
No Name shook his head. "Traders or bandits doesn't matter much. Out here, we keep away. We go around them, the long way. If they start following, then we fight. If not, we move on, all friendly like. They'll be happy, and we'll be happy."
"Affirmative."
Octavia frowned gently. "That seems so... inhospitable."
"Welcome to the world we've almost died in a few times." Vinyl rolled a hoof lightly, veering to the right. "You're a peach, Octie, but this isn't Equestria."
Octavia did not accept that answer. She swung her cello about and rose to two hooves. She began to awkwardly play it even as they walked, despite the instruments large size and bulky weight. She played a gentle song as they circled around, her eyes closed and her hooves working the instrument as best she could in the circumstance.
Vinyl rolled her eyes but joined in the set, her headphones flipped around to add an electric beat to the song that Octavia was playing. "Won't hurt anything." Her horn glowed, powering and controlling her headset as they went.
They were about half way around, furthest they were going to be before looping back around to get on their trail. The unknown people were watching them, it seemed certain, or maybe listening. They didn't approach.
The group got to the far point, back on their trail, with the broken wagon behind them. Octavia put her cello away carefully. "They weren't bandits at least."
No Name shrugged softly. "They mighta decided we were not a good target. We don't know one way or the otha."
Belle lifted her shoulders in an emphatic shrug. "Odds of banditry, 37%."
Vinyl flipped her headphone back the right way. "They were probably headed for Turves, considering the direction and all. We can ask about them when we get back."
Octavia smiled gently. "I'll do that, excellent idea." She glanced back at the diminishing form of the wagon. "Looks like they've gotten into motion." The wheel was properly attached, and the last they saw of the wagon was it rolling along. Two caravans in the wastes, passing peacefully.
No Name's lips curled just a little. "That was a nice thought. Woulda surprised me if it was enough to make them want to come chat in the middle of the wastes, but it was nice. Bet it made their days, even if they had no clue why you did it."
Octavia rolled her shoulders. "Couldn't be certain myself if I'm being frank. I just hated the idea of passing by people who may have genuinely needed a helping hoof and just... ignored them."
Vinyl raised a hoof to her goggles, adjusting them idly. "Sometimes, that's all you can do. Some people don't want to be helped. Some people are scared of being helped. Either way, you gotta respect the space sometimes." She waggled her brows. "Unless they're at one of my parties, 'cause there ain't no personal space there."
Bullette clip-clopped her hooves. "I would like to attend one of your parties. How do you celebrate the removal of personal space?"
Vinyl waved downwards. "Come on down from there and I'll show you how to dance. Beats just hiking any day."
"Be mindful." Octavia hiked a brow lightly. "Her 'dancing' is not what I would refer to by the same name. The ponies who frequent her shows are more brawling to the tune of her music. It's... fascinating, but not dancing by my view."
"You just defined dancing." Vinyl rolled her eyes as she walked. "You move to the beat and you don't stop. That's dancing. Ponies love to dance to my music." She glanced sidelong at Octavia. "Your music, not so much. They... put on a play or whatever. They're all slow an' practiced. Like there are specific moves you're supposed to do and junk? How do you call that dancing?"
No Name gave a mighty shrug. "Both sounds like dancin' to me, jus' different kinds, is all. No problem there."
"I wish to learn both kinds!" Bullette bounced a bit atop of No Name, grinning as she did so. "We will initiate learning routines upon return to green danger level area. I hope you are ready to dance!" The words leading to dance curled upwards in octaves in a flowery crescendo of meaning.
Octavia inclined her head lightly. "If we are being honest, I haven't much experience with dancing, performing it that is."
Vinyl tossed her head towards Octavia. "'Tavi's too busy playing her music at fancy balls for other ponies to 'dance' to."
Octavia scowled a moment. "Basically true."
"Which is where I have the advantage." She pointed at hoof at herself as she reared up onto her hindlegs, ambling along. "Hay, I'll dance along to my own music while I play it half the time. I'll go to other shows and slam it down right alongside everypony else. I survived a griffon mosh pit and I'm still here to talk about it."
"Barbaric..."
Bullette's eyes were wide, sparkling, literally, with wonder. "You must share this secret technique!"
No Name waved the whole thing away. "Calm down, all three of you. We'll get to dancing lessons when we're not out in the middle of frickin' nowhere."
Bullette bounced atop No Name. "You will dance as well. We can dance together! We are good at brawling, we should be excellent at dancing! Our friendship will power our moves and all will behold it and be amazed!"
No Name frowned at Vinyl. "I blame you for this."
"Guilty as charged," sang Vinyl without remorse. "I'll get you both making some sweet moves and everyone in Turves will be clapping along, if they don't jump right in too. That town could use some action that doesn't involve guns or knives."
Octavia's frown lightened softly. "Actually, that sounds wonderful. Yes, please do that."
Vinyl perked an ear. "I mean, yeah, great. Glad to have you on board with this, but what changed your mind suddenly?"
"You are correct." She nodded softly. "While I offer a moment of peace and tranquility, they are living ponies. They deserve to know they can be excited... for something that isn't a threat on their life. They deserve to move quickly, but not because a threat is chasing them, or calamity approaches, but because they want to, for fun."
Vinyl blinked slowly as she veered over to Octavia's side. "Well, shoot. There you go, taking my rebellion and making it sound... wholesome." She bumped against the proper mare. "I love your prissy butt, just so you know."
"My butt is no more or less prissy than anyone else's." She rolled her eyes lightly. "But thank you. When we return, you do exactly that. I feel certain Duck would assist in securing the supplies you need."
"You think he has a big speaker?"
"I would be shocked if he did not." Octavia rolled a hoof. "He seems fascinated with music and would be the one to have technology related to it. Seek him out and he will likely provide. Be warned, he will want to participate as well."
"Duck is totally welcome." She thumped her own chest with a hoof. "We'll put down some sick beats and knock everyone off their hooves, or paws, or whatever they got. Does it matter? There are no races when you're getting your groove on!"
Bullette was literally vibrating with excitement, metallic jingles coming from her shaking form. "I cannot wait for this event. Let us complete the current mission with maximum haste!" She pointed ahead with a firm hoof. "Target sighted!"
Ahead of them about half a mile ahead was a small gathering of buildings. They might have once been a small suburb or town of some sort. The tallest buildings were two stories tall, and none of them were intact. Even at a distance, they could see the buildings were wrecked skeletons of their former glory.
As they approached, they could feel a road beneath them, remnants of the highway it might have once been, reduced to bits of pavement barely felt through the ash they trudged through. It was sign enough to know they were approaching the dead remains of the last era.
Closer, it became obvious that it had been picked clean, as Longshot had reported. Where there wasn't ruin, it was clean. There was no debris that wasn't a solid bit of rock. All the actual scrap had been taken over the years, gone over by generations of looters hoping for a small bit of anything at all to take and repurpose for modern survival.
"Danger Level: Yellow," warned Belle, despite the fact that all of the wastes were that color in danger. "Be advised."
Octavia nodded softly. "Even if there is nothing here, something may have taken shelter in these buildings. They are potential dens, if nothing else at all."
Vinyl hopped forward, ash flumphing upwards from where she landed. "Sure, and there could be some awesome loot. We just have to be clever about looking for it."
Octavia moved up alongside Vinyl and reached for her goggles. "Where did you originally get these?"
Vinyl shied back, blinking. "That's kind of out of nowhere, 'Tavi."