//------------------------------//
// 31 - Knife Party 
// Story: Fallout Equestria: Operation Star Drop 
// by Meep the Changeling 
//------------------------------//

I always felt good when I got to leave a parcel behind. It was nice to know that my work was done, for the moment. There would always be more mail to deliver later, but for now I could enjoy the satisfaction of knowing I’d done the job asked of me properly.

I decided to enjoy that feeling as Shaman Kani lead my friends and I away from the Tower of Terrible Decor. After all, I didn’t want to think about its seemingly endless eyesores any more than I had too. Other than to briefly wonder if having seen the tower’s innards would render me immune to the terror and disgust I felt when I was within the horrible void of the spirit realm.

Definitely a solid probably on that one.

I smiled to myself as we trotted and let my mind return to the task I had just finished. Every major group in the Heartlands now had a way to contact Lith. Yes, I’d distributed them rather asymmetrically and unevenly, but at the end of the day each group only needed one radio.

There was still the Sparkle Cola Company to contact, but they could wait. They weren’t a settlement, they were a company. A large merchant organization. Giving them a radio was outside of the parameters I was given. I still wanted to give them one, but that could wait until Her Majesty recalled me. I could easily swing by on the way back, since Whinnyapolis was in the north of Equestria.

The way back… My smile widened. I was on my way home! Well, almost. Just one little book return and a bit of waiting for a war to finish.

There was no way the Enclave had enough ponies on their side to handle Los Pegasus’ military might. Sure, they had access to a teleporter, and a large number of dressed up bandits and raiders pressed into service/hired/converted or whatever… But a mass infantry charge of thousands of soldiers against the Rainbow Relay… I doubted they could withstand that, and the Prince had seemed quite insistent on not letting Lith fall into their hooves.

It would probably take a week or so for his troops to establish a hoofhold in the north, and then only a few days to stop the war form there. After all, we knew where the enemy headquarters was. Without their teleporter, the Enclave’s remnants were nothing more than unusually well armed raiders.

Even the best equipped raiders eventually wound up being swept up by a blizzard and pushed to the nearest town to beg for warmth, food, and radiation treatment.

I turned to look over my shoulder and give Vinyl a loving smile. She smiled back, her face slightly uneasy as she looked back at me through her helmet. She was probably worried about letting her weapon out of her sight. We’d been told we couldn’t carry our weapons with us while in the Herd’s military base. A reasonable restriction, in my mind, but I could understand how it would unnerve a Heartland pony.

Oh, my silly little nightlight, there’s nothing to be worried about! Within a month you’ll be back home with me, trying to explain to mom how I made a marefriend on the same day as my last several birthdays. If we can convince the Herd’s soldiers to let us release Rylanor from the ship, you’ll probably have a brother-in-law too!

There’s no way mom would leave an intelligent Sprit in anything other than an equinoid form. With supplies from Los Pegasus, she could slowly but surely build another chassis like mine. Maybe she could even repair some of her own degraded systems. Maybe that would even soothe her madness a little!

And maybe all of these street preachers would shut up if I asked them nicely enough!

The streets of Oak Valley echoed with their endlesses verses. I loved Pip’s story as much as anypony else, but hearing it from a dozen different faint voices, each of whom was chanting a different part of the story, and each of which was distorted by different echoes, was absolutely maddening!

Maybe that’s why Vinyl was unnerved? She was a pre-war pony. She visited towns with strict no-carry policies sometimes. Not having her gun couldn’t be the only reason for it… But hearing three ponies yelling about her Stable might do it…

I turned around again and smiled. “Hey, hon?”

“Mmm?” Vinyl asked with a flick of her tail.

“It’s okay. They don’t know,” I said, dipping my head towards one of the street preachers.

Vinyl frowned slightly. “Don’t know what?”

My ears drooped. “Oh… Um, I thought you didn’t like, you know, this part of the story.”

“I don’t,” Vinyl agreed. “I also want to leave for other reasons. I don’t like this city.”

Speed nodded in agreement. “These hovels… I feel like we’re going to get mugged, and it’s making me kind of hungry.”

“None will dare attack your group while I am with you,” Shaman Kani announced loudly. “Every wrech seeking a better life in this ward knows the Council’s Colors, and knows what will befall them should the attack our city’s guests.”

“Nopony with a brain wants the Mobile Infantry to go on a fourth anti-crime campaign,” Nika remarked.

Something clicked in my head.

The shanties built within the ruins on either side of us. The way they were contrasted by the Council’s tower. The way the city seemed so dead even though I could hear ponies everywhere.

This was not a good place to be…

“Took you long enough, kiddo,” Imaginary dad remarked.

The Council definitely taxes their citizens too much… I doubt Her Majesty will get good trades from these people.

“Annnd you have a ways to go yet,” Dad sighed.

No, I don’t. I understand these people are led by tyrants. I meant that economically. The more wealth is spread out, the more chances for trade exist. Her Majesty could have had an entire city to arrange trades with, but instead she has a group of five wealthy people who can pay a lot, but likely won’t want lots of easily provided things. We stand to make much less due to how this place is run… I also doubt the long term stability of any government based around—

“Good. Sometimes I wonder if your mom should have made a brain for you,” Dad chuckled.

Me too.


☢★★◯★★☢


After half an hour of walking I could see the entrance to the ancient naval base up ahead. It was a plain structure, even a little boring. Simple brick walls, once red, now faded to pale reddish brown and covered in the grime of ages. No barbed wire atop the wall, just the bricks, some improvised scrap metal spikes set on the top to discourage climbing the fence, and a big hole where the road went into the base.

The Herd had managed to build a proper gate here. Sheetmetal, structural beams, wheels to push it around on. Legs to brace it against impacts. Good work! Not that I knew much about fortifications, but, well, it’s not hard to tell if something looks solidly built or not.

The Herd had done more than just build a gate, though. The old guard posts set on either side of the ancient entrance had been rebuilt fairly well. The old sign which sat over the empty spot where the street entered the base had been repainted to read “Mobile Infantry Headquarters”.

Effort, care, attention, a lack of general shabbiness. These are things you like to see in people’s buildings… It made me wonder if the Herd relied on the poor living conditions in its capital city to incentivize joining their armed forces.

I could also see the ships from here! Not old me, I was waaay in the back behind all of the others.

The closest one to shore was this beautiful Princess-class battleship! Sleek, white and gold, six elegant single-cannon turrets. Oh how I loved them! So fun to fight! They could actually hit us if they slipped in past the ward-perimeter undetected. Which they sometimes did!

How the ponies had made such massive vessels stealthy was truly a mystery.

We’d done almost the same by having ocean spirits whip up fogbanks thicker than a foal’s winter blanket that stretched for a dozen leagues or more to cover a whole sector of the chart. The ponies knew we were coming, but not from where. Same idea as a smoke screen.

I could see the deployment mast of a cloud-ship carrier just past the battleship. I wonder if they’d let me slap her… Stupid cloud carriers. Always within visual range but outside of shooting range… flinging their stupid little weaponized cloudbanks at you.

Coward! Fight me like a mare!

“Hon?” Vinyl asked a she set a hoof on my shoulder.

“Hmm?” I asked through clenched teeth.

“You’re uh, eye-hate-bucking that ship. Did it say no to a night out, or what?” she said with a loving smirk.

“Oh, no. She’s a coward who needs a smack across the bow,” I grumbled bitterly.

Oh. My. Celestia! I could just trot over and DO that. Yes! Moving out...

“The Gold Leaf?!” Speed sputtered angirly. “A coward?! That ship held the line at Oatbuck and—”

“Yeah!” I agreed with a nod. “By refusing to actually fight, and leading every zeeb AND ME on a four hour chase while pecking us to death with—”

I stopped mid sentence and frowned. “—  Wait, why would a fleet have been docked on the Last Day? The war was still hot.”

Shaman Kani cleared his throat. “These vessels are not part of a fleet. The Family examined the ships before we took possession of this base. From what we can see, all surviving ships in the Lunar Sea rendezvoused here after losing contact with Canterlot. Their crews abandoned ship once they realized it would be impossible to keep their ships supplied with fuel, and left to join up with other Equestrian military remnants, taking the power armor carried in the landing craft with them. I believe the Steel Rangers gained a third of their suits from these ships alone… A pity they didn’t think to leave any for us.”

“What about the Zebrican ship?” Vinyl asked for me. “Was it stripped as well?”

“No. It’s mostly intact,” The Shaman reported. “It was being reverse engineered up until the end of the war…”

He paused for a moment then looked over his shoulder. “I recommend you steer clear of it. The Ministry of Wartime Technology sealed the troop quarters and front cargo bay with wards, and welded up the hatches on top of that. Whatever is in there is something even the most brave and nosy of ponies avoided… It is, after all, a Zebrican warship. I’m certain you can sense the Spirits within it from here, Miss Gears.”

I smirked. “I was talking with them from your tower, actually.”

I couldn't tell past the mega-glitter, but I swore Kani’s eyes bulged. “Y— you’re that powerful? Tell me, do you possess the power of divination?”

I shook my head. “Not in any really useful way. I can lead a shot perfectly, but I can’t tell you what will happen other than where a moving object will be in a few fractions of a second from now. Oh, and I can mill grains down to seven microns, too!”

Kani sighed. “I see…”

“You sound relieved,” Speed said, leaning towards him slowly. “Why?”

“The Council… Is looking for a superior fortune teller,” Kani murmured quietly. “My visions are not… Accurate or frequent enough for their liking. The moment they discover someone more capable than I, they will buy their services.”

I shivered. “Well, don't worry! There’s nothing on Equus valuable enough to make me dress like you,” I promised with my most sincere smile.

Everypony aside from Kani started to laugh.

Kani snorted and turned back towards the gate. “... Good,” he muttered to himself before continuing on down the road.

Everypony continued laughing, falling into giggles as we neared the naval base’s gates. A squad of soldiers was on guard duty. Unlike the ones stationed at the city’s gate, these ones had guns. Not good guns, but guns.

Their armament consisted of a collection of old rust-hole-pocked hunting rifles with pockmarks where rust used to be, several pistols each, some worn shotguns… It looked like they were armed with whatever weapons they had found in Oak Valley’s old police stations and criminal’s homes.

Still, most of them had large caliber rifles. I couldn’t help but feel just a little nervous walking near them since they could easily kill me if they wanted too.

What made me a little less nervous was the larger out-building just behind the wall. A pre-war structure, fashioned from the same faded brick as the wall but not attached to it. At one point, long ago, this is where the old security gate would have been operated from. Now, it clearly served as a guard’s station.

That would doubtless be where our weapons would be kept, and it sure looked a lot safer than the glorified cupboard Tenpony had “secured” my weapons in the last time I’d disarmed for somepony.

I opened my mouth to ask if that’s where everything would be kept, just to confirm my hopes, but paused as a shadow flashed across the ground in front of me. I looked up, curiously wondering if the Herd had a pegasus air patrol that I’d somehow missed while walking out here.

An alicorn was circling overhead, slowly dropping attitude to land. They were dressed in the same brown robes as the Family monk I’d listened to earlier. The robes concealed everything about them… Which was probably the point.

Of their clothing at least…

Wait. Um. Well that’s a brainfart. What was I even going on about with points and— Ack, buck it. Moving on.

I narrowed my eyes, stepped forwards to tap Kani on his shoulder and point to the monk as they landed. “I thought they were all praying.” I said accusatory. “I wanted to see the ship, you didn’t need to make me think I had to wait.”

“They should be praying,” the Shaman insisted, sounding genuinely confused as he turned towards the alicorn who was walking towards us. “Erm, Brother? Has your Abbess suspended the vespers early?”

To my surprise, the monk shook their head and spoke in an oddly accented voice. “It’s Sister, and no. I’m the only one out and about right now. Abbey business doesn’t happen a’t convenient hours every day, ya know?”

“Oh. Well, I suppose it wouldn’t,” Kani said before clearing his throat. “Come, Miss Gears. We won't delay her. I’m certain the Commander is anxious to show you the might of our soldiers.”

I nodded and took a step forward, my tail swishing behind me anxiously.

I had a lot of questions I wanted to ask the monk. She was the first alicorn I could maybe talk to who lived with other alicorns! I wanted to know what they had been doing since the Unity died… So many things!

Especially if her being only a head taller than me was why she wasn’t in charge of the Family.

“My business is with yer non-refractory striped friend, oh glitziest of the Shaman,” the alciorn said.

Nika snickered.

I blinked, smiled and turned around. “It is? I’m glad you found me, then! What is it I can help you with?”

The monk reached under her robes and retrieved a small cloth wrapped bundle, then held it out to me in her hoof. “Complements of Mother Abbess. We heard of yer arrival, knew the Council would want ta show off their army to ya, an’ wanted to spare ya the trip to pick up the Prince’s book for security reasons.”

I blinked and looked up at her, my tail flicking as I tried to process that logic. “Wait… Isn’t this supposed to be a dangerous package? Why would you want me to pick it up in an insecure location? I mean, there’s a military base right here, but we’re outside it, not inside it!”

The alicorn laughed, her head tipping back just enough to let me see under her hood and catch a glimpse of a dark cornsilk blue coat of fur. “Aye, lass! That’s why I’m giving it to you here. No doubt bandits are watchin’ our Abbey, waiting for you ta arrive so as they can follow yer steps later, dontchaknow?”

I pursed my lips, whinnied in distress as I couldn’t figure out what the buck her accent even was!

I cleared my throat and then nodded. “Um, I mean, yeah, that makes sense… I— I kinda hoped I’d get to see your Abbey and ask some questions though.”

“Yeah!” Vinyl agreed with a nod as she stepped up beside me. “Like, where do you get off calling yourselves higher life forms! You’re a pony like the rest of us.”

The alicorn mare facehooved. “Ach… You overheard a Sibling arguing with a Pipite didn’tcha? Don’t take what was said the way ya are. Talking with those featherbrains turns yer own brain to soup after a while, and you just start ta just... yell things at’em, eh.”

“Well, what do you believe then?” Shaman Kani asked with a huff. “I’ve heard that sentiment both yelled angrily and stated firmly but politely.”

The monk sighed and twitched her wings. “It’s not about culture, or intellect, or anythin like that,” she took a moment to point to Vinyl with the tip of her horn. “Ponies like you tend to forget we’re… Well, we’re close tae what Lady Twilight spent a decade trying to make. We’re as close to the super soldiers she sought to make as there will ever be. Who knows how many mages and alchemists worked on designing what we could have been if the Goddess only knew yer supposed tae drink IMP, not swim in it. That’s all we mean by that. Poor word choice, bit insensitive, but true. We’re an improvement over ye. Fer fightn’ and survivn, at least.”

I tilted my head curiously. “Wait… you mean it’s not like a “we’re closer to god than you” thing?”

“What she said,” Vinyl said with a surprised whinny.

I shot her a look. Did she think I was too socially oblivious to understand fascism?

The alicorn nodded, her head dipping as quickly and simply as most ponies would answer any simple fact. “Aye! Not tae brag, but I can fly! I can move clouds a bit, an I once made it rain, I think. Might have been Pip buckn’ with me. I can cast any spell you can, but longer, harder, better. I’ve got more oomph than five unicorns! I can leg wrestle the stronger Earth Ponies and hold mah own…” She trailed off for a moment and used her pale blue magic to highlight a spot on her left shoulder. “I was shot with an anti-machine rifle. Right here. You shoot an Earth Pony with a anti-machine rifle, they’ll be splattered all over the place. Me? I walked it off, nursed the wound for a few days, then I was fine.”

Vinyl raised an eyebrow. “So you really do mean it in terms of survival… I can’t really argue with that, but you should know how saying that sounds to other ponies!”

The monk cleared her throat and bent her head down to offer Vinyl a friendly smile. “Aye, I do. My Siblings are a bunch of sillyfillies clinging too much to religious ideas people came up with before a potential deity may or may not have started tea haunt an ex hivemind ‘ya ken?” She coughed and stood back up. “Cides, most of us are a wee bit crazy.”

“But not you?” Nika asked, one eyebrow raised behind his shades.

“She undoubtedly is,” Kani sighed. “If you would please continue to follow me, the Commander hates being kept waiting.”

I blushed lightly. “OH! Yes, sorry.”

The monk hummed, seemingly apologetically. “Aye, I’ve kept ya long enough. Good luck on the road. Make sure the Prince gets his book! An…” she blushed and bent back down to my level. “If you happen to see it unwrapped, an can read Zebrican, ah’d love to know what the book is. None of us can read it. Maybe come back later? Let a retired wanderer get the answer to one last mystery… Maybe tell her about any of her children you’ve ran into?”

“If I have the opportunity, I will,” I promised before I blinking in shock and disgust.

Shock and disgust directed at myself.

I’d been so caught up in the Talon way of thinking that I hadn’t even thought to try and find Roll’s parents and tell them what happened to her… I’d known I’d be coming here for a long time and she’d indicated this is where most alicorns lived. She’d essentially told me that this is where she grew up…

I should have made a note of that. I should have gone to find them first thing.

I looked down as a few tears filled my eyes. “I— I actually could use some help finding a certain pony’s parents. I met a young alicorn, a Swat Filly. She saved my life. I failed to save hers.”

The monk knelt down even further so she could look me in the eyes. A deep, shimmering worry flashed in them as she tried to peer into the very depths of my soul. “Three of our foals joined that group… What was her name?”

“Roller Bearing,” I said quietly.

I heard the monk’s teeth scrape together as she clenched her jaw tightly. “Was it headhunters?”

“No, what?” I said, my ears standing up in confusion. “Headhunters?”

“Alicorns who think we can bring the Goddess back by killing all of us save one. Concentrate Her fragments down into a single host. Was she killed by alicorns?” The monk asked as she grabbed my shoulders with her forehooves.

“No,” I said, trying and failing to pull myself free of her grip. “She was killed by Gale Force. Huge pegasus. Bigger than you. Pre-war soldier. He was frozen, thawed out, currently leads the Tainted on behalf of the Enclave. W— Will you tell her parents for me?”

“You just did,” The monk said as she stood up. “ If you’ll excuse me, I have some raiders to track down.”

Oh sweet Celestia, no…

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered as I reached out to give her a hug.

She pushed it away, opened her wings, and with one mighty flap ascended into the sky.

I stared up after her for several long moments, stopping only when the shaman cleared his throat. “Sorry for your loss… Would you like to continue, or…”

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hoof and took a few steps towards the naval yard’s entrance. “No. I’m okay. Let’s go… Um, w— will they be keeping our weapons in that gatehouse?”

Kani nodded. “Yes, that’s—”

Speed hummed loudly, interrupting him before planting her hooves firmly and coming to a halt on the crumbling asphalt. “I don’t want to disarm completely.”

Kani stopped mid step, awkwardly put his hoof down, and then looked over his shoulder. “Well… I suppose… you could wait at the gate for your friends if you must.”

Vinyl mmmed to herself. “That’s not a bad idea, actually. Speed? I’d like you to wait outside for us.”

I frowned for a moment, before it clicked. If Speed waited outside she could keep an eye on our weapons. Nopony in their right mind would mess with our stuff if a mare in power armor was watching it.

“That’s a good idea, actually!” I agreed with a happy nod.

“Then I’ll wait on that rock over there,” Speed said, pointing to a boulder a short ways from the entrance.

“Suit yourself,” Kani said with a shrug.

Speed walked off towards the boulder she’d indicated and perched on it. From the boulder she had a view through the gate of the gatehouse, and what I hoped was its only door.

Kani cleared his throat. “The rest of you will need to disarm at the gate and— Ah! There’s the Commander. He’s the tall stallion in red.”

I looked up towards the gate and took note of a stall, slim earth pony stallion dressed in a somewhat more elegantly shaped suit of plate-armor. Sure enough it was painted a deep red, not the rusty red-orange the soldiers wore, but a nice crimson-ish candy-apple-ish shade of red. I rather liked it.

His equipment was noticeably better than the gate guards as well, backing up my earlier theory that wealth distribution was based on social rank and/or total contribution to the group. Unlike the somewhat decayed looking weapons held by the guards, holstered across his barrel was a large but elegantly shaped plasma pistol. I could see the gold Celestial Arms logo glittering on the mouth grip in the torchlight.

I did my best not to stare at his miniaturized plasma cannon and drool. That gun would cost me several years wages, if we even had one in the entire North! And it was cuddle sized!

Yeah… Trade with the Herd probably wasn’t going to yield very much for us at all… But if it got me that gun...

We made our way to the gate and began to disarm. It felt just a little creepy to me how none of the soldiers said anything. I supposed they must be used to visitors handing over their weapons for safe keeping, but something about their silent, eyeless, visor-slit gazes was very unnerving.

“What did the monk want?” the Commander asked Kani as I unbuckled my battle saddle.

I winced at the sound of the Commander’s voice. It was really gruff, even for an earth pony. The poor stallion must have burnt his throat badly at some point in his life.

“She delivered a package to Miss Gears. Apparently there was some security concern with her picking it up from their Abbey,” the Shaman replied.

He grew quiet for a fraction of a second then asked. “I hope you finished dealing with our clients earlier. I’d hate for a prospective client to hear some details of that particular operation and be scared off.”


“They have yet to arrive, but I doubt this tour will take long,” the Commander replied immediately.

I set my saddle down and looked up with my most professional expression. “If you’re worried about a client interfering with a prospective client, you should probably not bring it up in front of that prospective client.”

The Commander nodded in agreement. “She’s entirely correct, Kani. Return to your tower,” He grunted before turning his helmeted face towards my friends and I. “You three needn’t concern yourself with that matter. The Mobile Infantry offers security services to every settlement west of the Celestial River. We recently failed to protect a farming community from a threat due to their failure to report the threat to us accurately. We cannot send appropriate forces if we are not told what to expect. They have sent representatives to attempt to negotiate a refund.”

Ah! So they made their money as a large mercenary force? Interesting… Maybe the Herd wasn’t a government per say… Or maybe it was? It’s not like I had every possible way to run a state memorized. Heck, I doubt if any pony, or group for that matter, had ever thought of every single possible way you could run a nation.

I nodded, satisfied with the statement. I paused a moment to remove my pistol and stick it in my saddle’s straps before turning back to the Commander.

“I understand,” I said before offering him a polite bow. “My name is Whirling Gears. While I don’t have permission to negotiate a trade on my own, I will of course provide confirmation to her majesty of everything you offer that I can see. I assure you, neither I nor her majesty will hold a single failed mission against your forces… However, your reliance on what seem to be sub-par weapons may be an issue.”

The Commander chuckled, the sound echoing in his helmet almost like it were hollow. I saw Vinyl shiver at the sound out of the corner of my eye.

“Commander Blaze,” The Commander greeted with a nod before gesturing to the guards on duty. “These ponies are armed as they are for logistical reasons. If they are placed on field-duty, they will be given better equipment. Law enforcement and guard duty doesn't require more than this. The Mobile Infantry strives to allocate limited resources as efficiently as possible. Hence why detailed information is required before we accept an assignment.”

I nodded and looked over my shoulder to make sure Nika and Vinyl were ready to go in. They were both standing next to their weapons, and in Nika’s case, bags.

“Nurse, guard mode. Do not allow my equipment to be moved more than fifty yards from this spot until I get back,” Nika ordered.

Nurse chirped and dropped down to float just above his collection of guns and bags.

The Commander nodded, seemingly satisfied. “I see you’re ready. If you two want to come in with those bags, they will have to be searched.”

Vinyl hummed to herself then took off her bags. “Go ahead and look then. I’m not leaving all of my things behind.”

“You shouldn’t search inside her suit. It’s keeping the radiation in,” I pointed out in as helpful a tone of voice I could.

“Noted,” the Commander said before nodding to one of his guards. “Search her bags… and Miss Gears too, if she’s not going to leave them here.”

I reached back and unlocked my bags. “I will be taking them. I am carrying mail. I can’t let it out of my sight.”

“I admire your commitment to your duty,” the Commander remarked as another guard stepped over to me and began to go through my bags.

After a few moments of searching the guard took a step back from me and held up Roll’s Auto-9.

“Hand-cannon, sir!” the guard reported.

The Commander looked me dead in the eye, or at least, as dead as he could behind that narrow black slit in his visor. “I’m going to assume you forgot you had that on you.”

I nodded. “I— I did,” I looked up in the hopes that Roll’s mom was still flying overhead. “BUCK! I should have given her!”

Vinyl looked over at my outburst and winced. “Oh… That’s, that belonged to a friend of hers who died. The monk we ran into was her mother. Pure chance but… Gears they may be able to get it to her for you.”

I shook my head. “No! I’m going to do that myself later. I’m sorry, I forgot that was in my bag, can you place it with my sad—” I stopped mid sentence and facehooved. “There’s another weapon in there too, but it’s broken. It will look like the energy rifle on my saddle, but bent into a U shape.”

The Commander nodded. “This is why bags are searched.”

“Found it sir,” the guard searching me said before adding both weapons to my equipment pile. “She’s clear.”

“The ghoul’s clear too,” Vinyl’s guard added.

“Take their equipment to the gatehouse… Nika, tell your robot to let them move it,” The Commander said before looking past me towards Speed. “Your friend can sit closer to the wall if she wants.”

I cleared my throat. “If she wanted to, she would. She’s a very simple pony.”

The Commander shrugged his shoulders slightly then turned around. “Then let’s begin…”


☢★★◯★★☢


It was nice to see proper old naval ships being given new life. The ancient vessels wouldn't be going anywhere ever again. Their hulls were rusted out, their bilges filled with water and seaweed. The amount of work required to make them seaworthy would exceed the amount needed to make a new ship capable of the limited feats any of these ships would be once restored.

The Herd had repurposed the sixteen ships in their harbor to serve as buildings. Their hulls were supported atop piles of stones built up beneath their waterlines. Walkways had been constructed to connect each ship to its neighbors at various points. Interiors had been modified as needed to serve the ships’ new purpose as a fort. 

Smaller cruisers had been made into offices. The Herd clearly had a need for paperwork, as they did a lot of it here. My best guess as to why; the Council set the rules, but it delegated all responsibility to the Mobile Infantry. There's no way an army of six thousand, most of whom were constantly patrolling the countryside, or scouting the southwest coast for irradiated towns, could possibly incur enough paperwork to need four ship-buildings as dedicated office space. 

The cloud carrier had been remade into a training ground and barrack. I greatly enjoyed watching troops making use of the obstacle course built on the airstrip. The schadenfreude was delicious. Stupid carrier, now you're stuck on the ground helping ground forces. Serves you right for refusing to stand and fight! 

The other ships served as the home for each of the MI's chapters. They had a lot of those. This nation appeared to be less of a nation and more of a large group of settlements who shared a mercenary force for protection. An interesting situation to say the least. 

They seemed to be a good military, through. In spite of their equipment problems, even my untrained eyes could see the soldiers worked together very well. Their coordination was impressive, by my standards! 

I cleared my throat to get Commander Blaze's attention. He turned his head while expertly stooping beneath a bulkhead to move below deck, where our tour of the Swamp Striders’ Chapter Hall would continue. 

"Yes?" He said seemingly irritably. 

"Your soldiers are extremely coordinated. It's impressive!" I said with a smile.

He nodded slightly. "Thank you. They train all day every day. I believe they work together better than a squad of Mr. Gutsys."

"I think they might," I admitted with an appreciative smile.

I turned around to ask Vinyl what she thought of their teamwork, but stopped as I saw an Infanfrymare running across the deck towards us. She was the first pony here I'd seen without their helmet on. Her flowing peach mane made it blindingly obvious just how deequinizing the MI's uniforms were. 

"Commander!" The made shouted, her voice carrying some light urgency. "Commander, I need to speak with you, sir!"

The Commander stepped past me to stand up next to Nika and presumably glare at the infantrymare. "Lieutenant, why are you out of uniform?"

"I was bathing and called to the gate under code blue, sir," she replied. 

Vinyl’s eyes widened. My core skipped a cycle. Was this it? Was the sky about to fill with Enclave troopers? 

"I assume you let her leave?" The Commander asked, his voice now definitely irritated. "There's no reason to hold a retarded filly prisoner for tresspasing. You didn't forget I ordered she be held ‘til her guardians arrived looking for her, did you?."

"No, sir. She doesn't want to leave. She knows there's a glowing one here and wants to be taken to her. I think she might have been raised by ghouls or…  Uh, more to the point, can I let her join the tour, sir?"

Commander Blaze looked over his shoulder at Vinyl. "Do you care for a very nonverbal alicorn filly who doesn't know much Equish?"

She shook her head. "No, but we should let her see me so she knows I'm not her mom."

The Commander nodded in agreement. "I agree. She's been here for several hours. Asked to see the, and I quote; "combat raft containing big power". Heh…" He cleared his throat and looked his Lieutenant in the eyes. "Bring her to—"

"Commander!" Another infantrymare shouted, her shout punctuated by the sound of her hooves pounding against the deck. 

"Yes, sergeant?" The Commander said with a sigh. 

"Our...  client just arrived, sir. He demands to speak with you at once." The sergeant reported. 

"So soon?" Commander Blaze asked rhetorically. "This won't take long. He needs to speak with the Council, not me. Lieutenant, retrieve the filly. Add her to our group of guests. Sergeant, take our guests to the dock in front of the Zebra ship. I'll continue the tour from there once I return. I'm certain you all got the idea of our chapters from the last Chapter Hall."

"Yes, sir!" Both soldiers exclaimed in unison. 

The lieutenant spun on one hoof and ran off, making room for the Commander to leave at a quick-trot. As soon as his commanding officer was out of the way, the sergeant nodded her head at us. "Follow me."

As she lead us across the deck towards a gangplank which led down to the dock, I couldn't help but wonder if "code blue" meant "attack imminent, gather up any civilians to try and get them clear of the combat zone". That was something we did back home, but we didn't use a code word for it. 

We just told them to move to not die. 

Of course, code blue could just mean a prisoner escape. Commander Blaze had said he ordered the filly to be held so her parents could be found. I don't imagine guards would have locked up a mentally challenged filly, or watched her all that closely. Not because they are jerks or anything, just not likely to see such a person as a threat.

The sergeant led us across the concrete dock towards the landing-ramp of my old ship. Each step we took towards it was like stepping back in time. The little fragments of memory I had from that life burned brighter and brighter. Nothing new came to me, but those fragments outshone the rest of time.

I remembered the details of our mission. We set sail from the port at Paranomus without an escort fleet. We were ordered to attract Equestrian naval notice and provoke attacks to test the ship’s guns. Only one ship of our class was to be built, ever, but the guns could have been propagated through the fleet if they proved themselves.

We cut a path across the Celestial Ocean like a scythe through wheat. Most Equestrian ships had half of our range. They couldn’t touch us. The ones capable of engaging us without spending ten minutes in our firing range couldn’t withstand my bombardments. They fell back or they sank. Mostly sank.

We were to proceed to Manehattan and drop anchor in the port. All vessels, civilian and military, were to be sank. The port was to be rendered wholly unsuitable as a means of trade for as long as possible. Amidst the chaos, a battalion of troops would make landfall via the boarding dock and attempt to fight their way through the Heartland to Canterlot. Their target? Princess Luna.

How did we fail? We were not sunk. We had clearly been sailed to the other side of Equestria to be set in this dock for study. What had happened? There wasn’t enough mortal crew to mutiny. If they had tried, we would have killed them and switched to fully autonomous operation, as per the Emperor’s orders.

Maybe Rylanor knew!

I closed my eyes and pushed my mind towards the ship. Rylanor? We are near. I will attempt to board the ship as soon as I can. I was wondering, do you know how we were captured? I cannot remember.

+ The ponies attacked from above. Our Ex-Sister Grindstone refused to alert us. She was displeased with the captain. Pony forces boarded, breached the upper decks, and took manual control after disabling internal security with anti-matrix grenades. I attempted to activate my Brothers and slay the enemy. They were able to seal me in the troop bay after a brief battle. The wards used are extensive and strong. The best means of destroying them will be to damage the runes set into the doorway with a thermite charge. +

Thank you, I’ll do my best to get you out as soon as possible.

I turned my attention to the sergeant leading us and cleared my throat for her attention. “Excuse me? Will it be possible to get a tour inside this ship later? It has a spirit in it I would enjoy interacting with.”

The sergeant paused for a moment. “I don't have the clearance to authorize that… It will be up to the Commander. However, I don’t think that would be a good idea. Whatever it is, it’s in something mobile. You can hear it try and break out some times… Then again, maybe getting a half-decent Shaman to look at it would be a good idea.”

“Wait, you mean you haven’t had any Shamen look at an active spirit in a Zebrican warship?” Vinyl asked, her tail rising in panic.

The sergeant huffed and shrugged, making his pauldrons clank together. “Yeah. Well, not good ones. Every one of them so far has always said not to scratch the wards and it will be fine, but none of them have been able to calm it down, or even figure out what it is.”

Nika sat down and stretched his talons. “Why not try to figure it out from here? They’ll be arguing with their paycheck for at least an hour.”

I frowned and gave the not-pony a little distressed tail twitch. “Really? I was hoping to get aboard sooner.”

The sergeant sighed. “You’re probably bucked if they don’t leave right away… Why don’t I go check on how things are going for you? Just sit here and wait. I wont be more than five minutes.”

Vinyl bit her lip and gave me an odd look. I nodded in agreement. “I think it would be better if you stayed with us.”

The Sergeant shrugged and sat down. “Suit yourself.”

I turned to look up at the Inperterritus. I couldn’t help but smile. Even though at this distance all I could see was the now weathered dull gray slab of metal which formed her boarding ramp, well…

Actually, why do I find it beautiful? Do I have to understand everything I feel? Is it okay to just feel things and not question or understand why you feel them?

Vinyl gently tapped me on the shoulder. “Hon, look.”

I turned and followed Vinyl’s gaze. The lieutenant from before (now with helmet) was leading an alicorn filly towards us.

She looked to be around Roll’s age. And size. For half a second, I thought that it might be her, somehow alive, but it couldn’t have been.

The filly’s fur was a nice creamy peach. Her mane was gold, and nearly as glossy as the metal. She had it pinned back in an odd style. I could tell it would be quite long if unbundled. She had a pair of piercing red eyes, which to me suggested intelligence.

More interesting, at least, to me, was her clothing. She wore a graphite colored jumpsuit. It was fur-tight, and had odd ribbing in places as if she wore something underneath it. The interesting thing to me was her jumpsuit had integrated saddlebags.

I want an outfit like that!

Not wanting to stare too long and make her uncomfortable, I shifted my eyes towards the lieutenant, but kept my attention on the filly. For a moment, I tried to see if the Commander had called her “retarded” as a general insult for having done something stupid, but… No.

As she grew closer I could tell something was off about her. Her eyes didn’t look at us. Her gait was odd, too. Very stiff and robotic. I used to walk like that until I spent a year studying pony movement and was able to fine tune my motor control algorithms.

Something felt off about the filly on the arcane level, too. She was… wrong. Somehow. I couldn’t put a hoof on it, and it wasn’t bad wrong, but still wrong.

Perhaps ‘abnormal’ was a better word.

The lieutenant lead her over to us and then bent down to look into her eyes. “Wait here with these ponies. Do you understand?” The lieutenant said slowly and as clearly as possible.

Nice articulation!

The filly didn’t look at her. She simply spoke. “I will comply.” she said in a flat, dead, emotionless voice.

More so than any synthesizer I’d ever heard. Even Equestrian robots’ voices were programed with some level of inflection and fake emotion to make listening to them earlier.

I blinked and frowned slightly. Okay. Yes. Something wrong with her. 

The lieutenant nodded to the sergeant. “Everything’s going fine. Commander Blaze will be back soon. Make sure this little one stays here and doesn't break anything. She broke down an MEW pistol in the barracks. Lucky she didn’t blow her own head off…”

The sergeant saluted. “Yes, ma’am.”

I looked into Vinyl’s eyes and nodded towards the filly, who was seemingly content to stand there and look over every square inch of the Inperterritus’ landing ramp, one at a time. In sequence.

“Maybe we should—” I began only for Vinyl to nod.

“Way ahead of you,” she said, trotting over to the golden-maned alicorn.

Vinyl bent down slightly to look her in the eyes. “Hello. What’s your name?”

The filly remained silent, still slowly scanning the ramp.

Vinyl frowned. “Do you have one?”

The filly frowned, seemingly irritated, and lit her horn. Her magic’s green glow opened her saddlebag and retrieved a small book. Vinyl blinked and tilted her head slightly as the filly began to page through it, seemingly at random.

“Um…” Vinyl said before looking over her shoulder to me and mouthing ‘help’.

I trotted froward. “It’s okay. We just want to help. What’s your name?”

The filly closed her book. “My name is irrelevant.”

I felt my heart melt, then boil. That’s the meanest thing you could name a poor little filly! Even if she was mentally challenged! Actually, no, especially if!

I took a deep breath to calm myself. “Is there anything else we could call you instead?”

The annoyed look crossed her face again, and she opened her book. I took a moment to look at the pages while she flipped through them.

It was a translation dictionary. I had no idea what the other language in it was, but whatever it was, it was translating that language to Equish.

Wait…

Why would any alicorn be a non-native Equish speaker? What was that, minotaur? Looked like their runes. Did any of them live in alicorn-having-places? Would any of them raise a developmentally challenged filly?

I suppose it would make sense for a filly raised by minotaurs to only know her parents language if she didn’t exactly make friends or leave home...

“Designation,” the filly said before closing her book again.

I nodded and sat down. “Okay, may I call you Desi for short?”

She remained silent. I continued. “Desi, the ponies here think you mistook my friend Wander for your mom. Does your mom glow too?”

“Negative,” she said flatly, still looking over the hull.

I turned and scooted over to join her in staring at old-me. “What are you looking at?”

She huffed irritably, opened her book once more, paged through it, then without looking at me and said, “I am attempting to ascertain the nature of this vessel's power plant.”

“Oh!” I felt my ears perk up. “I can answer that for you. The Interruptions was a sprit-based ship. There isn’t a traditional boiler, or reactor, or anything. A machine spirit was bound directly to the axles and turned them in exchange for… Um, actually I don't remember what it was he got for that. But the vessel was powered by spiritual labor.”

The filly nodded, seemingly satisfied.

“Do you like ships?” I asked. “I love them!”

“Yes,” Desi stated before turning her attention to Vinyl for a few moments.

I guess she doesn't like to talk much.

I offered Vinyl a shrug.

Desi looked at Vinyl for several moments, seemingly looking at the way her glowing head lit the inside of her helmet. I was about to ask what she was doing, when the filly reached into her bag with her magic, retrieved a small electronic device which reminded me of Nika’s talon-held computer, and studied it for several moments.

“What’s that?” I asked her curiously.

She ignored my question, the talon-computer went beep, she nodded, flipped through her book, looked at Vinyl and asked. “You are saturated with omicron radiation. How?”

Vinyl blinked and frowned. I turned to look at Desi with a surprised smile. “You can tell what the source of radiation is?”

Desi nodded once.

“That’s really cool! Is it your special talent?” I prompted, hoping to get her to talk a little more.

After all, she was definitely very smart in spite of her language issues.

“Yes,” Desi answered simply.

“My friends and I got stuck in a ruin with a melted down reactor. It was like the Last Day in there. Any ghoul who goes in will glow pretty quickly,” Vinyl said before her ears perked up. “Oh! Are you hoping to find some radiation to soak in yourself?”

Desi didn’t say anything. She just kept looking at Vinyl. Vinyl shifted uncomfortably and eventually went to go sit next to Nika.

I wanted to go join her, but… Well, I knew what it was like to be excluded from everything. If Desi was uncomfortable socializing at all, I’d figure that out soon enough.

“So, you’re good with radiation… Out here you can probably use Red Eye’s radiation engines still. Do you know how to build them?” I asked curiously.

Desi picked up her book, flipped through it for several minutes, then turned to look at me. “Radiological materials placed into a basin of water will induce rapid evaporation. The resulting gaseous compounds can be harnessed with any number of turbine designs to generate mechanical or electrical power. Thaumaturgic power generation with radiological compounds…” Desi frowned and looked to her book, paging through it frantically for several long moments before continuing. “— is accomplished utilizing precise arrangements of correct radioactive elements in conjunction with photonic currents to induce a thaumaturgic current along a determined vector.”

“Is that how that works?” I asked excitedly, doing my best to show as much interest as possible.

“Correct.” Desi remarked.

“I always wondered about that,” I said casually.

Desi’s ears perked slightly. The moment was so slight, but so unexpected it still stood out. She flipped through her book again, then looked up at me. “The geometric configuration of a thaumaturgic reactor directly determines the reactor’s power potential. Fractal recursive patterns, utilizing sub-three-nanometer sized units of diatomic lithium in a crystalline state as nodes, produces the most usable power.”

“Cool!” I said with a genuine smile, which faded slightly. “Wait, you can understand what I say. Why do you need that translation guide?”

“I do not know all the words. Communication requires correct words,” Desi remarked even more flatly.

“Fair enough,” I said with a nod. “What’s your native language?”

I flicked my tail eagerly. It looked like Minotaur! I hoped it was Mminotaur. Then I’d have gotten to learn something new.

“DASL,” Desi said with her seemingly typical flatness.

“Uhhh,” I said, frowning as I tried to figure out what languages were called a series of letters.

“It ends in SL,” Imaginary dad said in the back of my mind. “That means it’s a sign language. I have no idea which one, I only learned ESL, but there were hundreds of them. Every region has its own sign language.”

Oh! Thanks, Dad.

“No problem.”

“Sooo, what kind of fractals are best?” I asked Desi with a cheerful smile while debating asking Jasmine which sign language she knew.

Or languages… Honestly, I wasn’t sure… about anything about her. Huh… I should get to know me better.

Desi’s eyes flicked down to her book. She paused for a moment then without reading said. “Bad question.”

“Oh!” I blushed lightly. “It would depend on what exactly you want to do with the reactor, wouldn’t it?”

Desi nodded once. "Yes. I like how you understand this."

My heart went out to Desi. She was smart, she just couldn't do normal pony behavior and was lonely. Poor thing… She felt so out of place and all a pony needed to do was be nice to her for her to feel she belonged.

I stood up and nodded towards Vinyl. “I’m going to make sure she’s okay, then come right back, okay?”

Desi flipped through her book for a moment. I took the opportunity to look at the language printed in it. It did seem to take quite a lot of text to say things, assuming each entry on the pages was a word. I couldn’t quite tell how each of those symbols represented a sign though.

Wait a minute. You don’t need to know sign language to read or write. It’s for people who can’t talk. Blind people can’t use it.

So… She had her main way of talking, knew whatever this language was (at least could read it), and also knew enough Equish to use a translator book. All while being, at the oldest, maybe fourteen.

I was two hundred, and I’d only really mastered one language…

Desi finished her skimming. “Unnecessary. I will accompany you.”

I frowned slightly. “Alright. But to tell you the truth, I was going to ask if she was… well, bothered by you. You sound a little creepy. That’s okay. I know everypony isn’t the same, and it’s okay to not be normal, but it does mean you might scare or spook others.”

Desi blinked twice, an extremely confused look crossed her face. “State the deficiency. I will correct it.”

I pursed my lips and flicked my tail as I tried to tell if I’d upset her or if she was just worried. And also how to actually explain it. “Well, there’s a few things… Do you hear how I’m talking?” I asked as I intentionally put more of a lean into the questioning tone. “I’m exaggerating my tone of voice, so you can hear the emotion in it better. You speak very flatly, more than robots do, even. That’s okay, but you can change how you sound so other people understand how you are feeling emotionally about what you are saying, or what’s happening right now better.”

Desi’s eyes widened, not with embarrassment, or shame, but… delight? Intrigue? “Pitch modulation provides a vector for enhanced communication efficiency. Noted. Thank you.”

“Did nopony ever explain that to you?” I asked with a frown. “You can talk, so I assume you learned sign language because of your parents… Do you not go out much?”

Desi nodded once. “Are there other deficiencies?”

I nodded back. “Yes. You’re also supposed to perform more emotional expressions by moving your face, ears, tail, and adjusting your body posture… But that would take a very long time to explain. It’s almost its own language, and none of it is intuitive…” I sighed and glared at Vinyl playfully. “And nopony will ever tell you what body language means! You’re just supposed to know. Like I just magically have a file for ‘social cues’.”

I giggled and gave Vinyl a wink. She shook her head slowly and called, “You of all people should actually have one though!”

I giggled again and shrugged. “In a few days, you’ll meet my mom, and you’ll understand completely.”

“Thank you. I will observe these actions as they occur,” Desi said… giving her voice all of the wrong inflections.

My ears flicked back. “Ooo… That sounded like, um… Well it sounded like how a mare speaks when she loves somepony very very much and wants to do adult things.”

Desi gave me a flat look of seriousness. “Correction: I do not desire to attempt procreation.”

“Just listen to ponies talk! You’ll get the hang of it. I had to teach myself how to do it too,” I said before trotting over to Vinyl’s side and sitting down.

“Sooo, you heard everything?” I asked rhetorically.

Vinyl nodded. “Yeah…” She looked past me to Desi as the alicorn filly trotted up to a spot a short distance from me and gave her an apologetic smile. “Sorry… I hope I didn’t hurt your feelings. It’s just… I am a musician. You speak in… It’s like anti-music. That’s fine, I just—”

“I understand,” Desi said, her inflection much better this time.

Vinyl blinked. “Hey, that was passable! Did nopony ever bother to tell you that’s why people’s voices change pitch?”

Desi shook her head no.

“Your parents suck!” Vinyl exclaimed, her eyes narrowed angrily.

“I do not have parents,” Desi reported.

Oh. Well… poop. Now I had to do something! I can’t just leave a smart but oblivious young mare in the middle of—

Blinding, terrible, horrible, awful pain consumed everything.

My head…

The world faded back in from the pain. I was laying up against the Inperterritus’ ramp. Something had thrown me three meters back.

Coolant everywhere...

Something smashed against the boarding ramp, making the ramp ring like a bell, punched a crater in the steel, and threw off a shower of sparks.

Wha— Oh. Someone shot the—

SOMEONE SHOT ME!

I sat up, ignoring the pain, and felt my head. I could feel my pelt regenerating over the hole. Someone had shot me in the head. With something big.

Why?

Who?

From where?

Why didn’t I hear any—

“AIRBORNE SNIPER! TAKE COVER!” Nika shouted, sprinting to the end of the dock and diving into the water.

"You are a machine." Desi said quietly. 

Vinyl swore to herself and looked up, searching for our attacker while her horn glowed, her aura forming around her empty holster…

"Love, get down!" Vinyl warned reflexively

The sergeant cursed under his breath and began to sprint down the dock, muttering something about timing.

"She is your mate," Desi said. 

Another bullet cracked into the concrete dock just in front of me. I scrambled backwards, terrified of the simple fact that I hadn’t heard the shot.

"I like you." The filly said decisively. 

That's nice but we're in deep shit! Gonna die! Unless… 

I looked harder for the sniper, he had to be up there somewhere. 

He had to be way up there. Kilometers, at least! That meant serious optics, and a serious rifle. If He hadn’t aimed for my head, but instead chose center mass—

Something shrieked overhead. I looked up just in time to see a blurry silver dot flash across the sky from left to right. A heartbeat later the ground beneath where it had flown erupted in a sea of flames. A literal wall of fire blazed into existence from seemingly nothing, followed a moment later by a second wall, forming a V shape which trapped us between the fire and the sea.

Nika had the right idea. We were unarmed and the Enclave attack had arrived.

“Run to the water!” I yelled to Vinyl and Desi as I spun on my hooves to bolt for the hopeful safety of the sea.

A beam of prismatic light shimmered into existence. No thicker than a hoof, A small shaft of rainbow-colored light shining down from the heavens between the ship and I. It flared out with a pulse of bright white light, and thirty five armed ponies stood between me and my old hull.

Most of them wore the Tainted’s flak-vest uniform. Five of them were dressed in somewhat battered Enclave uniforms. One wore an intact set of Enclave power armor. Loom lead the group.

“Surrender,” Loom ordered as her armor’s tank turret swiveled to face me.

My eyes widened in terror. “I— I thought—”

“I was still figuring things out,” Loom said calmly. “In the end, and oath is an oath. These ponies are the Equestrian military, what’s left of it. We all have our duties. I don’t know how you survived that shot, but it means you get the chance to surrender. Take it.”

“We don’t have much choice…” Vinyl muttered darkly. “I knew it would be the first time I put my gun down! I knew that’s when there’d be trouble!”

Loom sighed, and I could sense her exasperated glare through her helmet. “We promised the Herd we wouldn’t damage their base too much. Last chance. Surrender.”

“Rainbow’s alive!” I blurted out. “The Enclave betrayed Equestria! If you value duty that much—”

“If Rainbow is alive, I haven't seen her,” Loom sighed. “If only you hadn’t pissed off the entire command staff… I liked yo—”

Sparks of green light danced across my vision like parting curtains. They parted to reveal… my deck! I mean the Inperterritus’ deck! I was standing directly beneath one of my old guns, specifically beneath the left barrel right against the turret.

The forward most gun turret, if I recall correctly—

What?! How did—

“We moved two hundred paces,” Desi said flatly. “We are still in range of enemy attack. Raise shields.”

Vinyl shook herself like somepony had covered her in ants. “Gah! That, magic, felt so, wierd!”

“Thank you!” I said to Desi. “We’re unarmed, can you keep teleporting us?”


Desi nodded. The air crackled and shrieked again. Something burst overhead. Dessi shook her head. “Negative. A dampening field has been established.”

“There has to be an armory in this ship!” Vinyl shouted, her voice twined with rage and betrayal.

“There is. In the troop bay,” I said as I looked around for the closet hatch. “I can lead the wa—”

A dozen loud clinks of metal on metal caught my attention. I spun to my left, expecting to see a bunch of grenades littering the deck. Instead, a series of grappling hooks had been thrown over the ship’s bow. The hooks pulled tight and bit in as the soldiers began climbing to pursue us.

Sparks leapt from the deck as the aerial sniper took another shot at us, nearly hitting Vinyl.

I looked back to the hooks, then down the hundred yards to the deck’s closest hatch. “We won't make it in time…”

“I’ll see if I can get a shield spell going,” Vinyl said as she ran underneath the nearest cannon  barrel to get cover from the air.

OH BUCK! Cover form the air!

I spun towards Desi and pointed up. “Get under something before you’re—”

Desi was thrown to the deck violently, as if she were a doll stomped on by a grown stallion. A horrified scream ripped its way from my throat.

IT HAPPENED AGAIN!

Vinyl wrapped a foreleg around my shoulders and pulled me towards the hatch. “Panic later! Live now!” She pleaded.

I refused to take my eyes off Desi’s limp body as she tried to drag me. Terror. Rage. Despair. I could feel nothing else.

I needed my guns. I needed to make them pay. I needed—

Desi stood up.

“Shields holding at seventy-eight percent,” she reported calmly.

Vinyl laughed in relief. “That’s right, she said shields up! Good job, kid! I wish I could make a shield that tough without help.”

I had never felt more relieved in my life! Or more worried. Desi was alive, but we still had to make it to the hatch.

I pulled free from Vinyl’s grip and looked back to the hatch again. “I don’t know how to get there without being killed!” I admitted with a terrified whimper.

Vinyl nodded and fished out her amulet, started to sing, but… the amulet remained silent. No shield sprang forth from it. Vinyl narrowed her eyes darkly. “I swear to Celestia, if you chose now of all time to nap, I will find some way to beat your incomporial ass!”

BUCK! WHY?!

“Speed and I thought something like this might happen. That the Enclave would attack now of all times. That’s why she stayed outside,” Vinyl babbled worriedly. “She should be here in a minute!”

“We don’t have a minute!” I hissed urgently. “We have seconds!”

I turned to Desi in desperation, pleading with my eyes. I had no idea what other tricks she might have in store. Maybe she could expand her invisible shield to encompass us?

Wait! My Gale Shield! No, no that would only buy me one or two hits. It wouldn’t protect anyone else. Unless I stood in front of them… That might work for a bit!

“Do you have any ideas?” I asked Desi, hoping she understood that she was our only way of surviving right now.

And could do something. Anything.

I knew she was smart in some areas, but why I was asking a mentaly challenged filly for tactical advice in a combat situation… I had no idea.

To my surprise, Desi nodded.

“You do?” Vinyl asked before yelping. “Oh buck! Out of time!”

I turned to see an earth pony with a magical energy pistol clenched between his teeth pulling himself up over the railing.

I activated my shield and stood in front to Vinyl.

The earth pony twisted his neck and took a shot. He missed. A unicorn made her way over the railing and fired a few rounds at us with an SMG.

Ignoring the gunfire, Desi opened her book, flipped back and forth for a moment then looked up at Vinyl. "Disassemble them with lamps."

In spite of the life or death situation, that suggestion forced me to stare into Desi’s eyes long enough for an SMG burst to splatter off my shield and two more Tainted soldiers to board the ship.

My confused stare prompted Desi to consult her book again. “Correction: Destroy them with lasers."

Oh. My. Celestia. I HAVE MY EYELASER STILL!

I began to charge my sole weapon, but there wasn’t time...

Desi turned her head slightly and fired a white-cored-emerald-jacketed ray of light from her horn. The beam sliced through the air with an odd sizzle. Desi’s spell caught the mare with the SMG in her chest. The mare popped like a gore-balloon amid a flash of steam, coating the deck with blood, guts, and fur across at least five meters!

EW! GROSS! Good for us, but EW!

“Holy shit!” The energy-pistol pony yelped. “Caster! Filly’s a caster!”

Desi began to walk backwards, moving in the direction I’d been looking, clearly understanding that’s where I wanted to go.

Okay. That filly’s dynamite!

“Run, she’s covering us!” I shouted to Vinyl before taking off as fast as I could for the hatch.

Still had to outrun the sniper…