“Black Dahlia, that’s a flower from before the war, right?”
It was still dark out when we first walked into the little bar just over Dragon Bridge itself. The bar had a sign over it shaped like a small rocket ship with the words, ‘Red Rocket Public House’ written on it. Vervain pushed the door open, and we walked into the dim building, finding a few dirty looking tables and about ten ponies sitting at different ones. The bar at the back of the building was being managed by an old pegasus stallion. His mane and beard were as white as snow. His red coat made the white of his mane and face hair look like it was glistening, or it could have just been greasy, it was hard to tell in the low light. Two younger mares were wandering around the room, one was a unicorn holding a tray with drinks on it in her magical grip, the other a pegasus who had a tray balanced on her wings.
As soon as the two of us walked in, most of the room stopped talking and looked over at us. The look they gave us made it seem like we’d just intruded on a secret meeting of some sort. Vervain looked around the room for a long moment then said, “Oh piss off ya drunkards,” then pushed further into the room. To my amazement, the ponies looked away, going back to whatever they were doing before.
I followed her as she went right up to the bartender. The Pegasus looked up at us with a grumpy look to him, “Yeah? What do ya want? And if ya ask for something stupid like water I’ll kick ya outta here quicker than ya can blink.”
Vervain smiled, saying, “Ruffle, it’s been too long, glad to see you’re still a grumpy old goat.”
He eyed her suspiciously, “I know that voice but ya don’t look like the pony it should belong to. What did ya do to yerself Vervain? Find yerself on the wrong end of some Killin’ Joke er somethin’?”
“It’s a long story, let’s just say I’m trying to keep myself from being noticed. You know how it is with my brother and all,” she said, “Glad to see you still remember me though.”
“Known ya fer forty-two years, most of that time watching ya make a fool of yerself in Cartwheel when ya were nothin’ but a wee thing. I may be old, but I ain’t senile yet. How’s yer father, haven’t heard from him in a few months, gettin’ worried he’s back on the hard stuff again,” he said, his voice was ruff, like somepony scraping rocks against each other, but through his gruff tone I can hear a bit of kindness from him. That was until he turned his head toward me and a frown fell within his beard.
“And who in the Goddess rotten underpants are you?” he asked.
“I’m, nopony, just…” I started to say but Vervain cut me off.
“She’s my daughter, her names Sparkle, and while I’m in town don’t call me by my name, call me Holly Petal,” she said.
“Last I heard ya didn’t and couldn’t have children…Holly,” he said.
“Adopted,” I said, “She saved me ten years ago from some slavers, she’s raised me ever since.”
He looked at the two of us then shrugged, “Any family of Box Tape er his kin are friends to this old drunk. Anyway, what are ya doin’ in a place like this? Don’t tell me…Holly…stupid name by the way…don’t tell me you came all the way out here to see me. Because if ya did, I’m goin’ to call ya a rotten little liar.”
“It’s been a long time since I saw you last, why can’t I come visit an old friend?” she asked.
“Because ya never come to see me just to catch up. Ya either want somethin’ er somethin’ bad’s happened, I’m guessin’ the latter. Did Box Tape finally kick it?” he asked, the tone to his voice didn’t change a bit even as he asked if an old friend of his died.
Vervain on the other hoof, looked like Ruffle just kicked her in the gut. She lowered her gaze then said, “A few weeks back yeah, he fell when Cartwheel did. But you’re right, I didn’t come here just to see you or tell you about my father.”
“Figured as much, also thought he must’ve passed after Cartwheel fell. That stubborn old bastard wouldn’t have let his town die unless he went with it. You have my condolences though, he was a good friend over the years. It’s sad to hear he’s gone. So out with it, I’m busy and I’d rather spend my time workin’ rather than shootin’ the breeze,” Ruffle said.
“Do you still keep in contact with the ponies in Stratus?” she asked.
“Not officially, but if yer askin’ if I still help the dashites find a new home like I used to when I was in Cartwheel, then yes. Are ya lookin’ for somepony?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, only to get a message to one. Think you can help me with that?”
“Do I look like The Courier to you?” he asked, making me jump as he said that.
“No, but I know that you’re a pony who can get things done when asked,” she replied.
“True,” he said with a smile, “Fine, yes I might be able to get a message out for ya, depends on who ya need to contact.”
“A source told me that you know a pony called The Red,” Vervain said.
Ruffle scratched his beard for a moment, then said, “That may be true, what do ya need him for?”
“Tell him the message is from me, and that we need the distraction from Fairy tomorrow night,” she said.
“Ya know I don’t much like coded messages, dontcha trust me,” he asked.
“It’s not you I’m worried about, it’s the message somehow finding its way into the hooves of Winter Frost or his sister,” Vervain said.
Ruffle made a farting sound with his mouth, followed by, “Can’t believe that hoof rotted shite swizzler managed to take power, but I get whatcha mean. Fine, I’ll get the message to him. Now do ya need anythin’ else or are ya goin’ to order a drink?”
“Don’t have time to drink sorry my friend, but maybe when I have more time in the future I’ll stop by and we can catch up,” Vervain said.
He let out a hefty laugh, “If I’m still kickin’ that is, sure, we’ll get proper pissed. Anyhow be safe out there…Holly…still hate that name.”
Vervain pulled out a few hundred caps and set it on the bar. “For the information and the trouble.”
He took them, another grin on his face as he went back to tending his bar. We turned to leave but Ruffle said, “Oh yeah, also, watch out for rangers, they’ve been wandering closer to Dragon Bridge as of late. Don’t think ya want to be walking into one of their patrols.”
“Thank you Ruffle,” Vervain said, then we headed out. Once we were back on the broken-up road, we started heading across toward a much nicer looking building with the words ‘Ms. Maple Tree’s Café’. Compared to The Red Rocket Public House, this place was at least twice the size, the building looked in a lot better condition, and it had a large radio antenna sticking up from its roof.
As we headed toward the door, I finally asked Vervain, “Why did you need to get the message to this Red dude, and how does he know Fairy Glitter?”
She chuckled a little. “The Red is Fairy Glitter’s husband, so Solstice’s father. When you were getting ready to leave, I used Solstice’s communication device to talk to her mother. She told me that if we needed to change anything in the plans to let certain ponies in Dragon Bridge know and to send a message to The Red. Solstice didn’t know her father helped Dashites until a few days ago funny enough. Anyway, one of the ponies I was told to look out for just happened to be Ruffle. Fairy Glitter thought we might be able to get in and out of the Palisade quickly, so she set the distraction to help us escape for tomorrow morning, I thought it would be better to give us a little more time.”
“So that’s another reason you wanted to go see him then?” I asked.
“Part of the reason, anyway I think we should head inside. It’s getting close to when we’re meeting our contact,” she said.
“Good idea,” I said, “Why does this building have a radio antenna on it?”
Vervain was already opening the door but at my question she looked back at me then said, “Because this is one of the locations that DJ 33 1/3 LP does her broadcast from.”
“How do you know that?” I asked.
“Because unlike you, I keep my radio on a lot when I’m traveling and I heard a few of her broadcasts while I was coming here. From what I heard, she has four locations she changes between, no idea why though,” Vervain said as we headed into the door and nearly slammed face first into another mare.
Vervain managed to turn aside missing the mare by inches, I however was still a little slow with my reflexes on my new leg and I ended up tripping, rolling, and slamming right into her, knocking her down. I shook myself then got up quickly putting a hoof out to help the mare up, saying, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to run into you.”
The mare had a light green coat, a black and white mane, and dark grey eyes. She started laughing from where she was lying on her back. She took my hoof as she kept on giggling saying in a voice I recognized from the radio, “It’s okay I’m fine, honestly I wasn’t watching where I was going myself.”
“Hey are you…” I started to ask, but she cut me off.
“The Radio host you and your friend were just talking about? Yes, names Alto, but everyone seems to like calling me by my radio name,” she said, using her magic to pick up a few papers she’d dropped.
“Did you just finish doing a broadcast? I asked, finding myself a little excited at meeting a pony from the radio.
“Nah, I’ll be doing one in a few minutes though, just needed to run over to Red Rocket and ask Ruffle something quick. Sorry I didn’t catch your name,” Alto said with a kind smile.
“Sha…Sparkle, my mother and I were just coming over to meet a friend. Though we didn’t know we’d run into you here,” I said, looking over at Vervain who gave me a look that told me ‘hurry up or shut up.’
Alto looked over at Vervain then back at me, “Sparkle huh? Hmmmm, I don’t know, you don’t look like a sparkle. Not very shiny, or sparkly if you will.”
“Well…it’s my name,” I said, worried that she picked up on my almost slip of the tongue.
“Ah well, it’s not my place to judge what ponies want to be called now is it? You’ll have to excuse me, I like to consider myself a journalist and knowing things is kind of my thing. I’ve gotten very good at seeing through lies over the years and I can tell that whatever your name is, it isn’t Sparkle, although I’m not going to push. Anyway, it was nice to meet you Sparkle, if you hang out for a bit be sure to catch my next broadcast, got some fun news about The Courier, you might like it,” Alto said, then with a wave she went to head over to Red Rocket.
I waved a hoof back. She turned for a second as I said, “Nice to meet you too.”
Her eyes looked at my left forehoof for a moment, then she turned and went on. After the strange encounter I looked back at Vervain who shrugged at me, saying, “I think we should hope this meeting is quick, I really don’t want to know what will happen if she figures out who you are.”
I shrugged back. “This disguise should keep anypony from knowing who I am, also even if I wasn’t disguised I don’t know how she’d figure it out. Most ponies don’t even know who I am even when I’m wearing my duster.”
We headed toward an empty table in the back corner of the Café, passing a few ponies who were eating prewar food, or freshly made dishes and drinking Sparkle-Cola or some strange black liquid I’d never seen before. As we sat Vervain said, “A pony like her who loves to know things and report on them picks up on a few things that most ponies don’t. She’s also probably studied mentalist techniques to sharpen her perceptive skills. Didn’t you see her glance at your Pip-Buck?”
“Yeah, but so what? It’s not like I’m the only one in The Wasteland who has one,” I said.
A mare who looked to be around my age came over wearing an apron and a notepad held in her magic. She gave me a very pretty smile then asked, “Can I get you two anything?”
Vervain looked over at her, saying, “Two Sparkle-Cola’s and that’s it for now, thank you.”
“Yes, Ma’am and while you’re here can I interest you in Ms. Maple Tree’s famous Wasteland Waffles?” the mare asked.
“No, now please leave us alone,” Vervain replied, giving the young mare a glare that could melt ice.
She backed up, her smile all but forgotten, “Yes ma’am, I’ll be right back with your drinks.”
Once she was gone I looked back at Vervain saying, “That was rude. You really shouldn’t piss off the ponies who handle food for you. Stardust says there’s a good chance they’ll spit in it.”
“I don’t feel like dealing with anypony right now apart from the mare we came to meet. Plus Sparkle-Cola is a sealed bottle,” she said with a sigh, “Anyway as I was saying before, yes a few ponies in The Wasteland have Pip-Bucks, but they are very rare. Your Pip-Buck is even rarer seeing as there are only three of them and each one looks different from the others. If this Alto is smart enough to pick up on every broadcast DJ Pon3 or Mr. New Pegasus or just intel and rumor that gets around, she might know that you have a Silver Pip-Buck with red accents.”
I looked down at my Mark II then sighed, “I guess you have a point, but it’s not like I can do anything about it. I can’t just hide it under my barding, I tried that once, it didn’t work out so well.”
“I know,” Vervain said, “That’s why I think when we get to where we’re headed, you’re going to have to take it off.”
“You’re joking right? You have to be because the last time I checked, my Mark II is the key to unlocking a very dangerous prewar project. Keeping it on my foreleg is the only way to keep it safe,” I said.
“It’s not the only way, remember I studied that thing for a long time while I was in Stable 28 with Grim,” she paused with a look of pain coming over her for a moment before she took in a deep breath then continued, “There is another way to remove it, but at the same time making sure that no other pony can use it.”
“Okay that’s news to me,” I said.
“Of course it is, I never told anypony apart from Grim about this feature. Honestly, I’m surprised I even found it. It was so well hidden that I’m sure most ponies would’ve missed it. Anyway, the Mark II has another feature in it that can lock it down even if it’s removed from the pony it belongs to,” she said.
“So you mean there’s a way that I can remove this thing?” I asked, shaking the Mark II back and forth, “And keep other ponies from getting to the intel inside of it?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“Okay, so what happens if we get captured and Wolfsbane or another steals it anyway? I’m sure they’d find a way to get past this protection,” I said.
“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but The Pip-Bucks and by extension, the Mark II’s, are connected to you in more than one way. It can access your health, the inventory in your saddle bags, put the E.F.S. and notifications into your vision, and more right?” Vervain asked.
“Well yeah, but it’s an extremely advanced piece of tech. So what?” I replied.
She sighed. “That’s because the Pip-Buck’s imprint a piece of your DNA into itself so it can access different parts of your body. In essence it’s almost like a mechanical piece of your body while you’re wearing it, but unlike a normal Pip-Buck, the Mark II doesn’t erase that DNA data until it’s told to. When you remove it, it still remembers who it belongs to. Now normally if you just take it off the way you’re supposed to, the Mark II will know it still belongs to you, but it also remains open to another user,” she said.
“Okay, I think I’m following you so far,” I said.
She smiled at me then kept on going. “I think Applebloom set it up this way just in case one of her friends needed to use the other Mark II’s, or maybe she was just testing some new experiment out. The Mark II itself was created to test out new features she wanted to put into the delta model. Anyway, she must’ve also known that She or one of her friends might need to remove their own Mark II but keep the entire thing locked down so that another pony couldn’t just take it for themselves. So, she hid a feature inside the same system that keeps the data on it hidden when it’s set up for a new user, like it was when you got it. If you turn this on before you take it off, then the Mark II will remember it’s only meant to be used on its last user. If another steals it from you, it will be just as hard to get into as it would be to hack into a system a Mark II has locked down, like Falling Shadows.”
My eyes lit up at that. “So, in two hundred years, nopony has been able to figure out how to unlock the system?”
“That’s right, I even tested it out with Grim when we were still in the stable and it works. I couldn’t even hack into it and I know more about that thing than most, apart from maybe Nexus,” she said with a small chuckle.
I looked down at my Mark II again, saying, “I’m still worried that removing it will be a bad idea.”
“It’s a risk we’re going to have to take, because if you go into Steel Ranger territory with that on, it won’t matter how much you change your look, ponies will still know it’s you,” she said.
“I know, I know, but there’s still a problem. I may know how to remove it now, but I still need a master key,” I said.
She grinned the pulled a Pip-Buck master key out of her bags. “I know, so that’s why I made sure to get this from Grim’s things before we left.”
I felt my heart start to pound faster as I looked at the master key, then I looked down at my Mark II. For over three months now, I’d never been able to take it off. It felt like a part of me now, something I’d come to rely on. When I first put it on, only because I wanted to see what one was like, I would’ve done anything to take it off again. Back then it was just an odd-looking Pip-Buck, something my overmare wanted and I would’ve let her have. I didn’t know then, that I had just changed the course of my life forever, just because I’d let my curiosity get the better of me. Now though, now that I knew what I had, I knew the danger this thing on my foreleg could pose to The Wasteland. It was the key to Falling Shadows, and I was about to remove it, making it easier for Wolfsbane or Aquila to get their Hooves on it. No matter what Vervain said, I know deep down that somepony would figure out a way to make it work for them, but I also know that no matter how hard I try, I can’t do my mission with it on. So, with a heavy heart, I held my foreleg out for Vervain.
“Let’s just get this over with and quickly,” I said.
“I can’t do it for you, I’ll talk you through the process of locking it down,” Vervain said.
The mare came back with the Sparkle-Cola’s, making a quick retreat when Vervain gave her another fiery stare. Then she started to walk me through the process of securing the Mark II. It only took a few minutes, but by the time I was done my brain hurt. I wasn’t cut out to mess with this kind of stuff. Sure I could hack into a terminal, but not like Vervain or Byte could. Tech wasn’t my thing, but I managed to get it done. Once that was done, I went into the hidden area of the Mark II, the one I’d learned about a few weeks back and prompted the unlocking sequence. A new screen came up on the Pip-Buck, then it asked for a master key. I took the key from Vervain and pressed it to the back of the Mark II. With that done another prompt came up.
Master Key has been accepted for Pip-Buck 3000 Mk. II SB, User: Shadow Star. Please speak your passcode to finish removal of Pip-Buck.
I took in a deep breath then whispered to the Mark II, “Morning Star.”
The screen vanished and the Mark II for the first time since I first put it on, went blank. My EFS vanished followed by a small click. I flipped the Mark II over and saw the latch that disappeared on me so long ago. With a flick of my magic, I unlatched the Mark II and removed it from my forehoof. It fell to the table with a small thud, looking like nothing more than trash. I suddenly noticed how itchy my foreleg was and started to scratch it until my discomfort was satisfied. Vervain smiled, then took the master key back and used it to remove her own Stable 28 issued Pip-Buck, “Good now that we’re finished with that, we need to take another step to make sure it’s not taken from us.”
“Like what?” I asked.
She smiled wider. “With a trick as old as time itself, the old fake out trick.” She pulled another Pip-Buck from her Saddle Bags and showed it to me. It looked exactly like mine.
“Where did you get that?” I asked.
“Little Project I was working on, figured that there might be a time where you have to give up your Mark II, so I took a normal 3000 and made it look like the Mark II you have. What you’re going to do is take this one and I’ll take the real one. If something happens to us while we’re in The Steel Ranger’s territory, they’d never think you’d give it to me, so if they try and take it, put up a fight but in the end give them the fake,” she said, reaching over and taking my Pip-Buck then giving me the fake.
I watched it vanish into her saddle bags with a slight worry, then I took the one she’d given me and put it into my bags. “I just hope this works.”
“Me too, but if everything goes the way it should, we’ll be fine,” Vervain said.
Before I could ask her anything else, I heard the doors to the Café open followed by a filly’s voice arguing with a stallion, “I don’t care what you say about it Crimson Lance and who said you could follow me all over the town? I’m fine and I’ve been here tons of times.”
I looked back and saw a dark red unicorn with eyes almost as red as my own, black freckles on his nose, an eclectic blue striped mane and tail looking down at a filly who was as tall as me. The Filly had a dark purple coat, yellow eyes and a darker blue mane. As they walked in, he spoke in a kind yet stern voice, saying, “Miss Dahlia, you know that I’m supposed to keep you safe at all times and your father would have me skinned alive if he knew I left your side. It’s bad enough you keep running off to this place as it is.”
“I really don’t care what my dad wants, he’s too busy being a dick and telling everypony what to do to notice me wandering off. Plus, I like this town, the ponies here are nice and Miss Maple makes the best food ever,” she said as she started looking about the Café, “Plus I came here to meet some friends and you’re gonna scare them away.”
“This place is full of former Enclave, if they knew who you were, they’d kill you,” he said.
She started to giggle. “The Ponies here don’t give two shits about who I am Crimson, usually there’s a reason they’re FORMER Enclave. So go away please so I can talk to my friends,” as she said this, she spotted Vervain and I in the back and her eyes went wide.
“I can’t leave you here,” he said.
She growled. “Fine. Can you at least wait outside for me? Oh and you’re from here on out sworn to secrecy. If you tell anyone back at home what I’m doing, I’ll make you regret it.”
He sighed. “I’ll already be in trouble as it is for letting you go out…again, so fine if it keeps you happy, I swear to not say a word about what you do here today.”
She grinned. “Good, you’re probably going to regret that later though.”
“I already am,” Crimson Lance said, turning and heading back out the door.
As soon as he was gone the filly headed straight for our table, she stopped at the end and grinned, saying, “How’s it going you two, are you the ponies I was told to meet here?”
Vervain spoke up, and said, “Could be, depends on who you are.”
She rolled her eyes. “Names Black Dahlia, and I hope that one of you is Shadow.”
I looked back at Vervain, then again to Black Dahlia, “Um…that’s me,” how did she know my real name? I thought we were keeping our identities a secret from this contact, just in case.
She tilted her head at me then started giggling as she pushed me further on the bench taking a seat next to me, “Cool, nice to meet you Shadow, nice job on the disguise by the way, top notch job to whoever did it for you. Though I’m a little surprised, I always figured The Courier was a little older, you can’t be any older than me.”
Vervain spoked up, “Call her Sparkle if you could please, and you may call me Holly Petal.”
“You know that Holly doesn’t have petals right? Whatever fine, I’ll call you Holly then, but who are you anyway? I was told by that Synth pretending to be a real pony that I’d only be meeting with Sparkle pants here,” Black Dahlia said pointing a hoof at me, damn near poking me in the eye.
“She’s a second mother to me, she used to be a Steel Ranger. She’s coming with me so I have backup if I need it,” I said.
“Why do you need backup? You have me and a couple of other rangers who want to see Mr. Elderpants taken down a peg or twenty. It’s gonna be hard enough getting one of you into The Palisade, let alone two,” she said.
Vervain rolled her eyes. “The city itself is huge, Elder Wolfsbane has at least five hundred Steel Rangers if not more, he won’t notice one extra.”
“Black Dahlia, I’m not going without her,” I said.
“Oh please, call me Dahlia,” she said, waving a hoof around, then she got closer to me, saying quietly, “I’m your biggest fan by the way…wait a sec, where’s that silver Pip-Buck you always have on?”
“Safe,” I said.
“I thought you couldn’t take it off?” she replied.
“I have my ways, now how do we know we can trust you? We were told that you’d help us get into The Palisade, but why would one of Wolfsbane’s Rangers help me?” I asked.
Dahlia looked a little shy as she looked down at her hooves, then she finally spoke, saying, “The Elder’s lost his mind with hatred over everything that’s happened over the past few months. He lost the Mark II, he lost the tech from Stable 97, he lost his eye to his father, and to top it all off, you keep surviving everything he’s thrown at you. He’s not a good leader, but everypony is too scared to do anything to stop him. I need somepony like you to help us.”
“I thought everypony in your branch of The Steel Rangers loved Wolfsbane,” I said.
She looked sad as she said, “Most of us are scared of him and Hacker, everypony who’s tried to stand up to either of them ended up dead or worse. I’ve spent the past few months looking at every report the Steel Rangers have on you, listened to every broadcast the radio ponies have said about you. I know that you can do something to help us, or at the very least help me escape The Rangers.”
“Escape? Why do you need help with that? I mean you’re Here in Dragon Bridge right now, what’s stopping you from just running off or staying here? Being a Steel Ranger doesn’t mean you can’t just leave it. It’s happened quite a lot over the years,” Vervain said.
“Elder Wolfsbane would hunt me down and drag me back by my ears if I ran away. I can get away with sneaking out every few days to come to Dragon Bridge, but it’s easy to get here from The Applewood sign, only takes a half hour or so. Running however would be a betrayal to the Elder if I was to try it, the only way I can manage it is if I was abducted or if he thought I was dead,” she said.
Vervain looked a little confused by that but she let it go, saying, “We can’t promise anything Dahlia, but we’ll try. I know Wolfsbane well, and unless we make it look like you’re dead, nothing will stop him from coming after you if you’re that important to him.”
“I’m not sure about Holly but I’ll do anything within my power to get you out if you want. I’ve lived a life similar to your own. Living in fear of your leader is no life for a young mare,” I said smiling at her.
She looked more relaxed. “Thank you, I have family in New Pegasus that I’m sure I could trust to take me in. So, if you can get me back there, then I’ll do whatever you need of me. So, what are you planning?”
“We need to get our hooves on one of The Enclave Airships or transports that I know Wolfsbane has,” I said.
“Oh…” Dahlia said, looking a little disappointed, “That might be harder than you think. The Elder keeps those within The Palisade. He only has two transports, four smaller ships called Turtles, and some kind of war-like ship. To get you into The Palisade I’m going to have to really put on a good act to get past security.”
“I was wondering about that, how can a young mare like yourself get us into The Applewood Sign compound let alone The Palisade?” Vervain asked.
Dahlia looked Sheepish as she said, “Well, let’s just say that my father’s high up in the ranks of the Steel Rangers of Los Alicorn. I’m also a junior Knight as well. My plan is simple really. I have documentation from a trusted friend of mine who has you listed as working on the far side of the Compound who are helping me with something.”
“Seems like it could work, but would Wolfsbane know who’s who in the compound?” I asked.
She laughed a little. “Not a chance, it’s Hacker that you have to worry about. Wolfsbane leaves most of the management of The Steel Rangers to her while he plans out his war.”
“Wait a moment, back up a bit,” I said, shaking my hooves at her, “What war?”
Her eyes went big as if she’d just let something slip. “Oh right, I’m guessing you didn’t know about that. You see, he’s planning on using The Palisade to take out The Steel Rangers from Hidden Sands then New Pegasus right after. He wants to take the entire region for himself putting the Steel Rangers over all the other factions there.”
“He’s going after Hidden Sands?” I asked in shock, “I thought he was allied with them?”
“I was under the same impression,” Vervain said.
“I can’t believe you two don’t know this already. From what I heard about you Shadow, you’re close to the new Elder of Hidden Sands,” she said.
“I wouldn’t say that, she tried to kill me a week or so back. I used to be friends with Sapphire but ever since she’s taken over the Rangers there, she’s kinda lost it,” I said.
Dahlia looked thoughtful, then said, “Wolfsbane is under the impression that you’re working with them, but even if you’re not, it doesn’t matter, he wants Sapphire dead.”
“So do I,” I said looking angry, “She’s not the pony I thought she was.”
“Well, Wolfsbane cut all ties with them ever since Appleslice died. He blames you for her death,” she said.
“I had nothing to do with it!” I nearly yelled, I took in a breath then said quieter, “I had a lot of respect for Elder Appleslice, she helped me when I first came to The Wasteland and because of her, I was able to set out on the path I’m on now.”
Dahlia looked at me with an eyebrow raised. “She wasn’t anything close to good Shadow. She was Wolfsbane’s puppet for years. She was the one who helped Crackerjack kill the last Elder before her, her own father. She took power after he died and did everything she was told by Wolfsbane. Who do you think told him where to find your old stable? She also sent a message to him as soon as you left for Stable 9, told him you had one of the Mark II’s and was saving the one you got from Stable 9 for him and she was getting ready to take the one from Trotston. She was planning on killing you as soon as she was told she could so she could take your Mark II. Sapphire killed her before she could do most of that, she was put into power by the rest. I’m not sure why Sapphire wants you dead, but a few weeks back she saved your life by killing her former Elder.”
Just then a lightbulb lit up, the things Sapphire said to me when I ran into her near New Pegasus, before our fight and during, ‘I did everything to help you, I wanted to help but you’ve lost your mind.’. She put herself into danger again, to save me, once she heard about what happened to me when I lost control of Aquila, any respect for me when news got out that I destroyed Appleton and Mill City Tower, was lost. From her point of view, I’d gone crazy and was using tech that Steel Rangers normally would take from other ponies, to kill and destroy. I was doing the exact same thing The Steel Rangers sought to stop. Using technology to be a monster.
I looked over at Vervain. “Sapphire thinks I’m the bad pony here. She attacked me to save The New Pegasus area.”
“It still doesn’t explain why she’s militarizing the Hidden Sands Rangers,” Vervain responded.
“It does though, she believes in me or used to, as a savior of sorts, or at least somepony that could help New Pegasus. She thinks I’m crazy now or power hungry, so she’s trying to use what she has to help The Wasteland so that once she kills me, she won’t have to watch the land she loves, die,” I said.
Dahlia spoke up, saying, “Makes sense, Sapphire has always been outspoken against the older ways of The Steel Rangers. She’s always been part of that faction that wants to use the Tech we take to help the ponies of The Wasteland, not keep them hidden away.”
“How do you know so much about all of this if I may ask?” Vervain asked.
“That’s my secret, if you help me get away then I might tell you,” Dahlia replied.
“And you said you had family in New Pegasus huh? Who are they?” Vervain asked.
“Just one, an aunt who I thought was dead. When I get to New Pegasus, I was going to hire a griffon to help me find her. I’m sure she doesn’t know anything about me, but I’m hoping she’ll take me in,” Dahlia answered.
I glared over at Vervain thinking ‘she has to talk about this right now’. Shaking my head, I looked back over to Dahlia and smiled. “As luck would have it, my Griffon friend leads the Shadow Talons, when we get back, I’ll have her find a good griffon for you to help, but right now we need to get into The Palisade.”
“You mean Aura Bloodtalon right? Isn’t she the griffon you’re sleeping with?” she asked.
I face hoofed. “How does a filly from way out here know about that?”
She shrugged. “Word gets around, and like I said, I know a lot thanks to my dad.”
“Anyway, putting that aside for now too. I can have her help you out with finding your aunt,” I said.
She beamed. “Awesome! Well then, should we head back to the Rangers?”
“Um…what about that buck who came here with you?” Vervain asked.
“You mean Crimson Lance? He’s one of the ponies who’s on my side, the buck hates our Elder almost as much as I do, maybe more. He’s a Knight that’s in charge of keeping an eye on me. He doesn’t know who you are or everything that I’m doing, but I know he’ll be on board, that also includes a scribe friend of mine back at The Palisade,” she said getting out of her seat, finally giving me some room.
“Awww, I wanted to hear DJ 33 1/3 LP do her broadcast,” I complained.
“Well, you can listen to it on the way then,” Vervain, said getting up.
“That’s not as cool as watching her do the broadcast,” I said as I got up and followed her and Black Dahlia toward the door. Vervain went over to the small counter and dropped a few caps in front of the waitress.
We walked out the door and almost bumped right into Crimson Lance who was pacing the deck. He looked up at Dahlia and then us, before saying, “Ms. Dahlia, are you finished with whatever you were doing?”
“Yep, I’m ready to head back, also I want you to meet Sparkle and Holly, they’ll be heading back with us,” Dahlia said with a big smile.
“You realize that you can’t just take two tramps back with you right? Your father will be pissed if he finds out you invited outsiders into the camp,” he said.
As he spoke, he kept looking at Vervain his eyes narrowing as if he could see through her disguise. Vervain narrowed her eyes back, then said, “I’ll have you know that I’m a paladin buddy, so I’d watch your tone with me.”
Black Dahlia looked back at Vervain, saying, “You’re a Paladin? My contact didn’t say anything about either of you being Steel Rangers. I mean I know you’re not,” she looked at me with that last comment, “What gives? Why doesn’t anypony give me all the information.”
“Ver…” he started saying, his eyes going wide, but Vervain cut him off.
“You won’t speak my real name here Crimson Lance or I’ll feed you your teeth, you follow?” she said.
“But I was told you died! How do you expect anypony to not see through that disguise of yours?” he asked.
“Crimson Lance? How do you know her?” Dahlia asked, now looking between Vervain and Crimson.
“It’s a long story,” he said with a sigh, “I think I have an idea what’s going on, let’s get out of this turd of a town and we can talk on the way back to The Compound.”
“Sounds good to me,” Vervain said, rolling her eyes.
So, we headed out of town as quick as we could, heading north west toward the Applewood sign. As we took the broken-up road that headed that way and were a good distance from the town, Crimson finally started to talk, “Black Dahlia, you’re going to tell me what you’re planning right now, or I’m bringing this to Elder Wolfsbane.”
“You’ll do no such thing Crimson Lance!” she yelled, “IF you do, I’ll let it slip what Brotatous, you, and the rest of your friends have been planning!”
He stopped dead in his tracks. “You’ve been listening in on our conversations again! I told you to stop doing that, we could be killed if he found out, I’d hate to see what he’d do to you if he knew you had any part of our plans!”
Vervain broke into the conversation. “I’m guessing that this group of friends and you are planning on overthrowing Wolfsbane. Am I right?”
He glared over at her. “You know what Holly, or whatever fake name you’re trying to pass off, why should I tell you anything? You’re closer to Wolfsbane than anypony here apart from Black Dahlia. So I’m sorry, but I can’t trust you or this filly you have with you.”
Black Dahlia looked confused at that, then said, “Keep your big trap shut about my connections to the Elder Crimson,” then she looked at Vervain, “How are you close to The Elder?”
“None of your business Dahlia, that’s between Wolfsbane and I. I want to know what your own connections are to him. The more you talk, the more I’m getting worried that I’m walking into a trap and I don’t like that kind of feeling,” Vervain said.
“Wait a moment, you don’t know who Black Dahlia is? How could you not?” Crimson asked.
I trailed behind the three of them feeling a little bit of anger building up as Vervain said, “How could I know anything about her when I just met her an hour ago?”
Dahlia looked ready to explode again so finally I got between all of them, yelling, “Enough!” they all stopped their fighting and looked at me. I didn’t care, none of them could understand my hatred for Wolfsbane. I immediately looked at Crimson Lance. “First of all, I don’t know you or what your plans are for The Steel Rangers of Los Alicorn, but what I do know is that Wolfsbane is evil and deserves to be thrown off the top of The Palisade just like he did to his father! As for you Black Dahlia, you better start talking and explaining more about your idea on how to get us into the Palisade before I decide to kill you both and find my own way in.”
Crimson Lance looked at me like I’d just danced on his mother’s grave. “How dare you! Who the hell do you think you are?”
I didn’t want to do this, but I knew I had to. I wasn’t able to bring all of my weapons or my duster with me on this mission, but I did keep one, my favorite gun. I pulled Dream Walker out of my saddle bags, pointing it at him. “I’m Shadow Star, The Courier, and if you talk to me like that again, I’m gonna blow a new hole in your head to get skull-fucked in.”
Vervain sighed. “Now you’ve done it, now he’s going to try and attack us, and then we’ll have to clean up the following mess.”
However, Crimson Lance didn’t do a thing, instead he looked at Black Dahlia, asking, “Dahlia, you really managed to find The Courier? How’d you manage to do something the rest of us couldn’t over the past week?”
She just shrugged. “Wasn’t me really, just some synth finding me and telling me she wanted a way into The Palisade.”
He began to laugh. “Oh my Goddesses, and here I thought you picked up some random filly being protected by an old Ranger. Good job kid.”
Utterly confused I was lost for words as Dahlia shrugged. “I heard Brotatous and you saying something once about how much good she could do if she was able to at least get into The Palisade and take down Wolfsbane. So, when the opportunity presented itself, I jumped at the chance.”
“What’s…going on?” I asked, putting Dream Walker away.
“I’d like to know that too,” Vervain added.
He shook his head, then said, “You have my apologies. If you’re here to take that dictator down for good, then I’ll do whatever I can to help. You see I’m part of a group of Rangers who’ve been planning for years now to overthrow him. The problem is that Wolfsbane has too much sway over a good number of the Steel Rangers. So much so, that we’ve never been able to go after him, but from what we’ve heard about you, Courier, I know that you can be the tool we need to finish him off for good. That’s if…Holly is truly against him now.”
I put up a hoof. “Alright listen dude, I’m not going to The Palisade to take down Wolfsbane. I’d love to, trust me on that, but I have a different mission. One that’s more important than revenge.”
“I wasn’t there when The Palisade destroyed Cartwheel or when you almost killed The Elder, but I heard what happened. Why wouldn’t you want him dead?” Crimson asked.
“She just said she would love to kill him, but we have a more important mission,” Vervain said, “We need to get our hooves on an Enclave Transport, and from the intel we have, Wolfsbane has one.”
“Why do you need an Enclave Transport? It’s not like either of you can fly them. Also, wouldn’t it be killing two birds with one stone going after him?” Crimson asked.
As we talked, I could see a sadness coming over Black Dahlia, but I answered Crimson, saying, “If I get the chance, I’ll kill him, but I’d rather not risk it. My father needs me to get to Stratus, that’s why we need the transport. Don’t worry about how we’re gonna fly it, I have that covered.”
“I thought you were all about taking down ponies like Wolfsbane though? You do know that he’s planning on taking over The Marejave right?” Crimson asked.
“I do, but I’ll find a way of stopping him. Right now my family comes first,” I said.
Before we could say more, Vervain asked, “Are you alright Dahlia?”
“I’m fine! Why wouldn’t I be?” she said, wiping away a tear and turning away, “I just don’t like all the talk about killing The Elder. I hate the guy, but I’m not sure I want him dead, just not in power anymore.”
Something must’ve clicked in Vervain’s head, because she sighed, saying, “Oh please don’t tell me what I’m thinking is true.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Black Dahlia, that’s a flower from before the war, right?” she asked the filly.
“Yeah, but how did you know that?” she asked.
She sighed again, then said, “Because Wolfsbane and me are both named after prewar flowers just how our mother has the name of a prewar tree. You’re his daughter, aren’t you?”
My jaw dropped open as I looked at the filly. It was then that I could see some of Vervain in her, a little of her Grandmother, and Wolfsbane. “If this is a trap, then I swear I don’t care if you’re a filly or not, I’ll vaporize you. Unless you prefer to be turned into a puddle of glowing green snot, then I got that scenario covered too.”
“It’s not a trap, and what do you mean you and my dad? Are you…Vervain?” she asked.
“I’m surprised you know my name, figured my brother wouldn’t have told you anything about me,” Vervain said with a sigh, “I’m guessing I’m the family you said you had in New Pegasus.”
She nodded. “I know about you because my dad used to talk about you a lot when he thought you were dead. Said you two used to fight a lot, but that you were one of the best Rangers he’d ever met. Said you were a lot like my Grandmother before she died.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m like White Oak, and she’s not dead, but that’s a topic for another time. What I want to know is how I don’t know anything about you. What are you, like fourteen? Fifteen maybe? I only left the Los Alicorn branch a little over twelve years ago and I don’t remember my brother having a foal. He didn’t even marry Hacker until ten or so years ago,” Vervain said.
The scowl that came over Black Dahlia’s face was priceless. I had to hold back a sudden snicker at the offended look she gave Vervain. Then she said, “Hacker’s not my mom, I was born almost sixteen years ago, and my mom was a paladin, her name was Ruby.”
Vervain looked at Dahlia with shock. “Star Paladin Ruby? The same Steel Ranger who helped fight off the invasion of The Enclave twenty years ago? Who on her own took down one of their raptors?”
Crimson Lance spoke up for Dahlia, saying, “The very same, she was my cousin and a good friend. That’s why I keep a close eye on Ms. Dahlia. After her death, I took it upon myself to make sure nothing bad would ever happen to her daughter.”
“My dad took me when my mom died, had a unicorn check to make sure I was his daughter at first, but once he found out that I was, he made sure to keep me around him at all times,” Dahlia said sadly, “I’ve been trying to get away from him for the past few years.
“Who is Star Paladin Ruby?” I asked.
Vervain looked over at me sadly. “Sapphire’s older sister, she left for Los Alicorn when Sapphire was still very young and worked her way up the ranks. She was the next in line to take over as Elder, until her death twelve years ago. My brother was only a paladin himself back then, but one of the strongest. With Ruby’s death, there were no Star Paladins to take over as Elder when the other one was brought up on charges. So, Wolfsbane took power for himself and became the new Elder.”
“Wait a minute,” I put Dream Walker away again, sat down on my haunches, tapping a hoof on my head trying to processing everything, “So you mean that not only is Dahlia related to your family who’s held a lot of power in both New Pegasus and Los Alicorn, but also she’s the niece of the new Elder of New Pegasus and the great granddaughter of one of the best known Elders from New Pegasus too?” I asked in shock.
“That about sums it up. I’m guessing that’s why Wolfsbane wants you around,” Vervain said.
“In a way yeah, but really I just think he wants to try and build me up to be like him. He’s always going on about how he’s going to be a better father than his was. He lets me get away with a lot, but at the same time, he won’t really let me do what I want with my life,” she said.
“And what is it you wanna do?” I asked, feeling sorry for her.
“I’m not sure yet, but I know I don’t want to be a Steel Ranger. I don’t agree with their way of life. They don’t do anything to help The Wasteland or the ponies who live in it. They hate pegasi too which I don’t get because I’ve met a lot who are really nice,” she said sadly, “I want to see more of The Wasteland, maybe help other ponies y’know?”
I smiled. “I understand.”
“I knew you would,” Dahlia said with a huge smile, “You’ve done a lot of good since you came out of your stable, I want to do stuff like you.”
That made me frown. “A lot of what you’ve heard about me is mostly hype, I’ve done a lot of bad things too. I’m trying to fix a lot of things that either I’ve messed up or my distant relations have. You should try to find your own path in life and not try to follow in my horseshoes.”
“She has a point Dahlia,” Crimson said, “You can’t keep idolizing somepony like The Courier, you need to find your own path.”
“I know I know, you might’ve done a lot of bad things, but you can’t push aside the good you’ve done either. If I can learn from the mistakes you’ve made in the past, then maybe I can do better myself one day,” she said with a smile.
Vervain smiled at that, saying, “She’s also got a point Shadow.”
I smiled then rolled my eyes. “Fine, but enough of all of that. Now that we know who you are, why don’t you tell us more about your plan to get us inside and show us that we can trust you.”
She just grinned and winked. “You can trust me. I know my plan will go beautifully because part of my special talent is helping myself or others blend in,” she said as we started walking again, telling us her plan.
***
Ugh…it’s so fucking hot here. How the hell is it hotter here than in New Pegasus? Maybe it has something to do with the cloud cover trapping in the leftover radiation from the bombs like a blanket. Not many bombs hit New Pegasus during the war, so…meh fuck it, I’m sweaty and don’t wanna be here.
“Name!” A stallion in power armor asked as we were entering the gates that led into The Compound. As we’d traveled here with Black Dahlia and Crimson Lance, she’d given us both uniforms so we could pose as scribes.
“Sparkle, Junior Scribe,” I said, just like Dahlia told me to.
“Holly Petal, Scribe,” Vervain answered.
Vervain and I were alone now, Dahlia and Crimson Lance were both heading to another entrance to keep the guards from noticing that Dahlia had left. Dahlia gave us instructions on how to enter and what to say when we got questioned. Now it was up to us to get passed the first obstacle. The Knight looked at us both, his visor glinting from the light orbs just over the entrance. After a moment passed, he checked something on a strange looking terminal next to the gate.
Finally, he said, “Ah, I see you here now, looks like you two were out collecting samples from the city. You’ll have to excuse me, I just didn’t know your names, but I guess I can’t know everypony who lives in this place.”
“Yeah, we were, unfortunately we didn’t collect much,” Vervain said, “I do hope Crimson Lance won’t be too upset with us when we make our report.”
The Knight Chuckled. “I’m sure you’ll be fine, though I’m sure you know him better than I do. Head on inside, I’m not sure where The Senior Scribe is right now, but if he’s like the rest of you eggheads, he’ll be in the main lab.”
“Thank you Knight, I hope the rest of your shift goes well,” Vervain said as he moved aside to let us pass.
We’d almost gotten away when the Knight stopped us by saying, “Hold up a sec please.”
We both froze, Vervain muttering under her breath, “Be prepared to use magic.”
I did my best to calm my racing heart so I could pull on my magic, something that was still difficult without losing control of the massive sea inside of me, but better than it had been when the rest of my power first awakened. To my relief, it wasn’t necessary. The Stallion walked up to Vervain saying a little shyly, “Um…Scribe Holly Petal, if you’re free this evening, how about you stop by The Laser’s Target and we can get a drink. On me of course.”
I almost burst out laughing at the look that came over Vervain’s face. She looked shocked that this knight had just asked her to get drinks. The feeling grew as I saw a small blush come over her face. It only lasted a moment before she smiled, hiding her embarrassment, and saying, “That’s very kind of you, but I’m already taken.”
“Oh, my apologies, it’s just that we don’t see many mares as beautiful as you. Thought I’d at least try, whoever the buck is who caught your eye is a lucky fella. Good evening you two,” he said, before walking back to his post.
As we turned to leave, Vervain glared at me as a small snicker escaped my lips, “Not a word,” she said through gritted teeth. It’s not every day you get to see somepony you’ve looked up to your whole life get flustered.
“About what? That you got hit on by a buck in power armor who’s technically a rank under you, or the fact that you had to lie to him so he wouldn’t feel bad about asking?” I teased.
She stuck her nose up in the air. “First of all, even if I was interested, I’d never say yes to a drink with a knight who’s probably ten or more years younger than me and who didn’t have the decency to take his helmet off first. Secondly, who said I was lying about having somepony?”
That made me stop dead in my tracks. “Wait, you’re pulling my leg right? Who are you with? You’ve only been out of Stable 28 for a month or so, and most of that time you spent helping Cartwheel or The Shadow Talons.”
She smirked and said, “You’re in a relationship with a griffon who used to be your bodyguard. Who says I can’t find somepony while at the same time working?” she asked, but I could see the blush on her face.
“OH my Goddesses, I know the buck don’t I? Who is it? Tell me please!” I asked as we started walking about. I was getting strange looks from some of the other ponies around us as I jumped up and down, but I didn’t care.
“I never said you knew him! Plus, even if you did, I’m not telling you. We have a mission to take care of and this isn’t the right time to be talking about my love life or lack thereof,” she said.
“It’s the pony who used to run the weapons shop isn’t it? I saw him looking at you when we were in Crimson Canyon,” I said with another laugh.
“Ew no, he’s into stallions first of all and smells like onions. I told you I’m not talking about this right now,” she said, pushing past a group of Junior Scribes who were looking over some papers just outside a huge building that was sitting right under The Palisade which hovered high in the sky over us.
“Fine, I’ll drop it, but when this is all over, I wanna meet the buck. Gotta make sure he’s a good match for you,” I said.
Vervain looked at me, a little offended. “I think I can decide who is or isn’t a good match for me. Plus, you never got my approval when you started seeing Aura.”
“In my defense you were deep underground pretending to be a stable dweller,” I said, “Plus you like Aura, so don’t pull that on me. If I don’t like this guy, I honestly don’t know what I’ll do.”
“Personally, I don’t much care for most of The Bloodtalons unlike my father, but I’ll admit that Aura is a good one. Though she needs a little work on her temper,” Vervain said.
“Wait, you don’t like Aura’s family?” I asked, a little shocked.
“It’s not that I don’t like them, its more that they’ve always come off as…temperamental jackasses. They give off this feeling that you have to do what they say or they’ll rip your face off,” Vervain said, “When Gigi and I were younger we used to fight a lot too, that could be another reason I don’t see her family as much more than bullies.”
“Well, if you’re going off how Gigi acted, then yeah I could see that. I liked her, but that took a while. When I first met her she accused me of sleeping with her daughter, which I wasn’t doing...yet…then told me to leave her canyon,” I said with a laugh.
“Good point,” she said, “Still, even if I didn’t like them much, I still considered Gigi a friend. It’s sad what happened to her.”
“I agree, I hope that one day I can repay Apollo for what he did. Same for Gina too. Business before pleasure I suppose,” I said with a sigh as we drew closer to a smaller building where I could see Crimson Lance and Dahlia waiting for us.
“About time you two got here,” Dahlia said, her expression looking agitated, “We don’t have much time before the last transport up to The Palisade leaves.”
“We got here as fast as we could,” Vervain said, glaring down at Dahlia, “Are you sure we’ll be able to get around The Palisade without anypony noticing us?”
Crimson Lance answered this time, saying, “You’ll be coming aboard as two scribes that I requested help for on a project Dr. Brotatous and myself have been working on. That should keep you two safe for a couple hours. You’re lucky that this project happens to be right next to the transport bay where the Enclave airships are kept.”
“That should give us enough time to get to one that we need, but it doesn’t help us with the other part of our plan,” I said.
“What other part is there?” Dahlia asked.
“We need to shut down the sensors on The Palisade so my pegasus friends can fly in and hook up to the transport. I’ll also need to shut down the weapons so that we can make our escape,” I said.
Crimson’s eyes went wide as he said, “To do that you’d have to get to the bridge, that’s the only place where you can access that stuff.”
Dahlia on the other hoof said, “No that’s not true, my father’s chambers have access to those areas of the ship too. Hacker and him both use the chambers as a secondary control room.”
“That used to be true until the terminal there was locked down by her,” Crimson Lance said, pointing a hoof at me, “And from the look of her, she doesn’t have the Pip-Buck with her that she used to lock it in the first place.”
Dahlia rolled her eyes. “Dad’s terminal was locked down, not Hackers, that’s the one that we need and at this time of night they’re both away from their room,” she then looked at me, “I’m guessing you know where the room is right?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t see another terminal there when I was last on that ship,” I said, looking up at the massive floating monster of technology.
“It’s hidden behind the Steel Ranger flag,” she said, starting to walk away but kept talking, forcing the rest of us to follow, “We’ll have to split up, I say that Sha…I mean Sparkle should come with me so we can get to my dad’s room and shut down the stuff we need to. In the mean-time, Holly and Crimson should head to the hanger and get a ship ready. Find one that’s big enough to fit Dr. Brotatous, Crimson Lance, and me.”
“I don’t like the idea of us splitting up,” Vervain said, “But if we want to get this done fast, then it’s what we’ll have to do.”
“Good. Okay, so we’ll get onto The Palisade first, then go to where we need to,” she said as we walked over to a strange looking…ship thing… it had three large blades on each side of stumpy wings, sitting atop a bulbous body, with a small nose in the front of it, and a long tail in the back with another three small blades sitting sideways.
“What is that?” I asked.
Vervain answered, saying, “It’s a Vertibuck, I’m not surprised you haven’t seen one before, they’re pretty rare. The Ministry of Wartime Technology didn’t make many of them before the Megaspells. They were meant to be transport ships much like The Palisade only a lot smaller. That can be operated by earth ponies or unicorns so pegasi weren’t always needed for air support.”
“And it’s safe?” I asked as Crimson Lance walked up to one of the Rangers who seemed to be the one in charge of the craft.
Dahlia laughed. “Of course it’s safe, probably safer than a pegasus drawn ship or carriage is. Now get on before they decide to leave us behind.”
I didn’t mind heights much anymore. Not after spending the past few months being flown around by Aura or Stardust, but this was different. I had to put my trust into a machine, one that couldn’t just quickly swoop down to catch me if I fell. Still, I didn’t have much choice in the matter. If I wanted to get this mission done so I could save my father, I’d have to get over my fear. So once Crimson Lance gestured for us to climb aboard, I followed Black Dahlia and Vervain. The Ranger followed us into the craft and made his way to the front, flipping a few switches with a hoof, then strapping into the seat.
“Fasten your safety belts, we’ll be off in a few seconds,” the stallion said.
I quickly used my magic to pull the two straps next to me up and put them across my lap. They clicked into place, then I found the spot I could use to tighten them. I did so and closed my eyes as the blades overhead and the one behind started to spin. The large doors on each side weren’t even doors, just holes in the ship, let the building wind blast into the back of the Vertibuck, tossing my mane around. Then with a loud rumble and a shudder, the ship rose into the air. Thank Luna, the noise of the ship was so loud, no pony…I hope…heard my small squeak of fear as we headed toward the sky. The flight took less than a minute, since The Palisade was so close, but it was long enough for me to know that I never, EVER, wanted to get into one of these things again. The Vertibuck flew up to a lower walkway under The Palisade and something on the large ship came out and latched itself to the top of the Vertibuck with a loud rumble.
The ranger flying us up shut down the Vertibuck, waited a moment for the blades overhead to stop spinning, then did something with his controls. The ship shook as the arm overhead pulled us a little higher then moved us closer to one of the jutting out walkways, finally stopping with a shaky jerk. As soon as we stopped, I unbuckled and dove for the walkway gasping as the other three laughed.
“She gonna be okay?” I heard the pilot ask.
“First time on the Vertibuck,” Vervain said, still laughing, “Thank you for the ride up.”
“Not a problem,” the pilot said, then he looked over at Black Dahlia, “Ms. Dahlia, Elder Wolfsbane was looking for you a little while ago. I just took him back up here and he said if I saw you to have you meet him in the overlook.”
“Oh…okay, sure. I’ll head over there right now,” Dahlia said, her face looking a little frightened, “Thanks for letting me know.”
“My pleasure,” he said, then walked away.
Once he was gone Dahlia cursed, followed by looking over at us, saying, “I can’t ignore this, Crimson and Holly, you two should head to the hanger and get started.”
“What about me?” I asked.
“There’s nothing we can do right now, you’ll have to come with me to meet with my dad. Let’s hope he doesn’t see through that disguise,” she said.
“I’m not really sure I want to test that out, too much is riding on me getting this mission completed,” I said.
“Don’t worry, your rank is showing you as a junior scribe, he won’t even notice you,” she said.
“Fine,” I said, then looked at Vervain, saying, “Get going and keep it safe,” the last part I said with a small wink toward her satchel.
“Don’t worry I will,” Vervain said, “You just be careful. Don’t let him notice you. Remember, we aren’t here to deal with him, your father is the only reason we came here.”
“I know, now go,” I said.
She gave me a worried smile then followed Crimson toward the only door that led into the large airship. Once she was gone Dahlia said, “I’m sure he’s just going to yell at me about being out so late, but I’m going to tell him that I’m working on something with the scribes. I might need you to back me up, can you do a voice impression?”
“A little, though I wouldn’t want to hold a conversation if I can help it,” I said, forgetting that I’d been able to pose as Stormy when I was in Mill City Tower.
“Keep anything you say short and to the point, I mostly just want to get this over with so we can get out of here. The longer you’re on this ship, the worse off we are,” Dahlia said, turning to head up the steps toward the door.
I followed her up and through the thick steel door that led into the lowest levels of The Palisade. I was going to ask how far the overlook was, but to my surprise, once we were inside, the overlook was just around the same set of stairs I’d used not long ago to climb to the top of the ship when I was escaping with my friends. I hadn’t even noticed it when I’d been running for my life. The room looked big enough to hold a meeting with a few ponies and had large clear windows that gave a beautiful view of the hills and city in the distance. Standing at the windows looking out at the view was Wolfsbane. For a moment I felt my magic surge as anger filled me at the sight of him.
I managed to push it back down and keep a calm expression on my face as Dahlia walked into the overlook, saying, “You wanted to see me?”
Wolfsbane turned and I got a good look at the damage Box Tape had done to his face. He was wearing an eye patch over the spot where his right eye used to be, but it couldn’t cover the nasty scar that ran down his cheek, accenting the scar on his left. A little part of his eye socket was exposed with more scaring around that, the coat missing and a dip on the skin where the bone had been obliterated by the bullet passing through it. A bit of his mane was gone now too, but none of this took away the feeling of danger that surrounded him. If anything, it made him ten times scarier than he had been before.
He let his single eye fall on Black Dahlia before he said, “I got another report today that you wandered out of The Compound again. I thought I made myself clear the last time I caught you wandering toward that Enclave riddled town.”
Dahlia’s normally bubbly and carefree personality vanished under the glare of her father. I could see her legs shaking a bit as she responded to him quietly, saying, “I didn’t go to Dragon Bridge tonight, I just wanted to get some air after my fight with Hacker.”
“I’ve told you before to call her mother, she’s the closest thing to one you have. Also, it doesn’t matter if you went to that festering hellhole of a town or not, you were told to stay in The Compound. Do I need to confine you to The Palisade again?” he said, his voice stern and cold.
“No sir, but I took Crimson Lance with me, he kept me safe,” Dahlia said, her voice still quiet and submissive.
For a moment, his eye softened and Wolfsbane said, “I’m only worried about you Black Dahlia. There have been sightings of ponies who are out to kill me and anywhere outside the Steel Rangers compound is dangerous. If any of the ponies who want me dead knew who you were they’d take you just to get to me.”
I saw a spark of anger come to Dahlia’s face as she responded, saying, “It’s not like it would work if they did.”
The hardness came back to his face, but instead of saying something about her comment, Wolfsbane’s eye fell on me, “And who are you? I didn’t ask for a Junior Scribe!”
Before I could answer, Dahlia spoke up, “This is Junior Scribe Sparkle, she works in the stable intelligence building.”
“Why is she up here on my ship and not doing her job?” he asked looking back at her.
“She agreed to tutor me on stable layouts and a few other things. She’s quite knowledgeable with a few things, and since she’s a junior scribe I figured she has less to do at night. So, I thought she could stay with me for a few days,” Dahlia said, lying through her teeth.
Wolfsbane glared at me again, holding the stare for a long moment before asking, “Is this true?”
“Yes, Elder Wolfsbane,” I said, giving a higher tone to my voice, hoping it would be enough so he wouldn’t figure out who I was.
His gaze went down to my foreleg for a moment then he shook his head then turned back to Dahlia, “Fine, but keep her away from the work the rest of the scribes are doing up here. Also, for right now, I don’t want you leaving The Palisade. Before you throw a tantrum, I’m doing this for your own good. I believe there are traitors in The Compound and I want you kept safe. Now get to your room before I decide to punish you for disobeying me again.
“Yes sir,” she said, turning to leave.
“Oh and Black Dahlia,” Wolfsbane said after turning to look back out the window again, “Don’t ever question me again about what I would or wouldn’t do if somepony took you from me. You may not like what I may or may not do if that day ever comes. You may not like it here most of the time, but trust me, you don’t want to know what The Courier’s friends will do to you if they discovered who you were and took you captive. Especially that batpony monster, I’ve heard she likes to eat young fillies. Now get out of here.”
Dahlia gave me a frightened look before she headed for the stairs that led to the higher levels of The Palisade. I followed close behind her, shaking as I escaped the notice of the stallion who made my body go cold with fear. We just made it to the next level when Dahlia said, “That was close.”
“I can see why you want to get out of here now,” I said as we started going up another set of short stairs. Following a sign that read ‘Elder’s Quarters’. I was starting to recognize the area now that we were on the levels I’d already seen before.
“That wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. I’m lucky I got off with a talking to. He’s hit me in the past or locked me in my room for days with hardly anything to eat or drink when he’s caught me before,” she said.
I looked at her, not even realizing my hatred for him can get more intense at her father for doing such horrible things to his only foal. We got off on the next landing and I remembered the hallway. At the end of it, where it ended in a T, if I went right I’d be in Wolfsbane’s room, the left would take me to the barracks. As we headed toward our destination, I said, “No father should ever treat their child that way.”
“That’s what Crimson and his friend say too,” Dahlia said as she came to the end of the hall and checked to make sure nopony was coming. Once she saw it was clear, she continued on, saying quietly, “I think it’s one reason Crimson and the rest have started their little rebellion, they all like me a lot.”
I smiled a little as we reached the door that led to The Elder’s room. “You seem like a kind-hearted filly to me.”
She snickered a little. “I wouldn’t say that, but I do care about the ponies here and the rest in The Wasteland who The Steel Rangers could help quite a bit. It’s another reason I want to escape. I know deep down that I might be able to find help from not only my Aunt but from The Steel Rangers in Hidden Sands. If I can just get Sapphire to listen to me, tell her who I am, maybe she’ll go against the normal code of The Steel Rangers and go against my father. If she does that, maybe this branch can find the right path and stray from Hacker and my father’s path.”
“I believe that if you put enough faith in yourself and your dreams, anything is possible,” I said as I tried and failed to open the door, “Damn, I was hoping it was unlocked again.”
Dahlia smiled a little, then said, “Thank you for that, and no, my dad learned a lot from the last time you were on the ship. Not to worry though, I have my own way in.”
I watched as she went to the door controls, pulled out a small gem and put it against the door. It beeped then opened with a hiss. When she put the gem away, I asked, “How’d you get that?”
She shrugged. “I stole it from Hacker earlier today. She won’t notice it’s gone until tomorrow. She’s down in The Compound working on a new project, she won’t be back until she’s finished yelling at everypony down there about how shitty they are at their jobs and so on. If you haven’t figured it out by now, she’s a raging cunt.”
We walked into the room, shutting the door behind us. As I looked around the room, I said, “I’ve only met her once, and only for a moment as she threw my friends and me off the top of this thing. Is she really as bad as you make her sound?”
Dahlia was walking over to the Steel Rangers flag that hung on the wall opposite of the other terminal I used before when it was in this room. She paused and looked over at me, her eyes deadly serious, “She’s pure evil. There’s this darkness about her, like she’s got a demon living inside of her. She can use magic I’ve only ever heard of and she worships some dark God or something like that. She loves causing others pain and having control over anypony she can.”
“A dark God? Never heard of anything like that before. Although, what kind of magic are you talking about?” I asked.
“She calls it shadow magic,” Dahlia said as she pulled the flag aside to reveal a hidden terminal behind it.
My eyes went wide as she said that and I asked, “Shadow Magic? Are you sure about that? Does this God she worship have a name?”
“Yes, shadow magic, when she uses it all the spells have a darkness around them. It also seems to suck all of the light in the room into its depths. She doesn’t use it often, but when she does, everything about her changes and she gets even worse with her personality and love of violence. I also don’t know if this God has a name. I really try my best to stay away from her beliefs,” Dahlia said as she sat down by the terminal and started logging into it.
I was starting to shake as I listened to her talk. As she logged into the terminal, I said, “My uncle used to have shadow magic, and from what he told me, the only creature who can gift it to another pony is named Mezzanotte. He’s an evil creature from thousands of years ago. The creator of dark magic and shadow magic. If she worships him and has his power, then Hacker is more dangerous than even your father.”
She stopped typing, and looked back at me. “I know she is. Who do you think has been putting all of this bullshit into my dad’s head? It’s been her for many years. The longer he’s with her, the darker he becomes. Not that he was the sweetest of peaches in the first place, but he wasn’t always this bad.”
“So, you mean that if it wasn’t for Hacker, your father wouldn’t be doing all of this evil stuff?” I asked.
She finished logging-in, then moved out of the way, saying, “No, he still would be, but not as quickly or as brutally. Don’t get me wrong, my dad’s a bad guy, he just gets worse with her around.”
I walked over to the terminal and started looking for the systems we needed to get into. “Well then, if that’s the case then we need to get out of here as quickly as possible.”
“I agree, now do you know what to do? I’ve never messed with this terminal before, I only know how to log-in because I watched Hacker do it a few times,” Dahlia said as she watched me work.
I smiled. “Nope, but it’s not the first time I’ve messed around in strange terminals. I’ve learned that I have a knack for it.”
She nodded and watched me as I searched through the data files and programs on the terminal. It didn’t take me long to find the one I needed. With a triumphant grin I started shutting down the weapons and security systems on The Palisade. Once that was done, I took a moment to look through the rest of the programs the terminal could access. Something caught my eye and I stopped looking over the program. A crazy idea coming to me quick as lightning. My eyes stayed glued on the words on the screen, not being able to believe what I was seeing.
“You okay?” Dahlia asked from the doorway. She was keeping watch for anypony that might sneak up on the room.
“Yeah, I just got the security and weapons shut down,” I replied, backing out of the program for a moment and searching for a broadcaster. I knew that Elder Wolfsbane’s terminal had one. I’d used it to contact my father before, so I was hoping that Hacker’s terminal had one too. Sure enough, I found what I was looking for. I opened it up and started searching for the signal I needed. “Just need to send a message to my friends. Once that’s done, we can go to them and get out of here.”
“Okay good, we’ll just need to let the others know and we should be able to get out of here in a half hour or so,” Dahlia said, looking relieved.
I stopped, looked back at her, and said, “I thought you were having Crimson get your other friend?”
She shook her head. “No, I was going to do that with you once we finished up here.”
My new plan wasn’t going to go over well if I had to wait that long. So, I took a moment to think, then looked back at her again. “We won’t have that kind of time once I’m finished here. Go get your doctor friend and anything you want to bring with and head to the hanger. I’ll catch up to you.”
“How do you expect to find the hanger once you’re done here?” she asked.
“I know a few places on this ship from when I was here before. If we don’t have time, just tell me where the hanger is and I’ll be down there soon,” I said.
She looked ready to argue but I kept my eyes locked on hers showing her that I wasn’t going to back down. Black Dahlia looked defeated and sighed. “I understand. The hanger is on the other side of the hall from the brig.”
“The what?” I asked.
“The brig, y’know the jail. If you go all the way down to the other end of the hall from that point, you’ll find the hanger,” she said.
“Oh okay, yeah I know where that is. Get going and make sure you hurry,” I said.
“I’ll do my best, but are you sure you’ll be okay here by yourself?” Dahlia asked.
“I’ll be fine, now go,” I said. She looked at me for a long moment, then nodded and headed out the door. When the door closed, I went back to work. I found the channel that I needed, opened it up, and said, “Solstice, I hope you’re reading me because if you’re not I’m going to find you and duct-tape you to another stallion.”
A moment passed then I heard Solstice and imagined her huffing at that. “Rude.” I heard her sarcastically laugh under her tone, “You think you’re so funny don’t you Shadow? Yeah, I’m here, are you ready for us?”
“Yeah, do you remember how to find the hanger from the outside of the ship?” I asked.
“Yeah, kinda hard to miss. Big flat door on the ass-end of The Palisade. Stardust and I are both on the other side of the Applewood sign and we have eyes on it. How long until you need us in there?” Solstice asked.
“Hey, let me talk to Shadow,” I heard Stardust say in the distance.
“No, you can talk to her when this is finished dumbass,” Solstice replied.
“But, I need to ask her something!” Stardust complained.
“FINE, just make it quick,” Solstice said irritably.
I heard shuffling sounds for a moment then Stardust’s voice got louder, as he said, “Hey Shadow, how are things going up there?”
“Um…I’m in the middle of sneaking into Wolfsbane’s bedroom right now, using his crazy wife’s terminal to shut down the defense systems here. How do you think things are going?” I replied, almost as irritated with my best friend as Solstice was.
“OH yeah, well I’ll make this quick. I’ve just been meaning to ask you for your help with something for a while now and with everything going on or you running off to the other side of The Wasteland and all that, I haven’t been able to. It’s about Wind Thrasher,” he said, his voice going quiet, almost like he was hoping Solstice wouldn’t overhear him.
“Is now really the right time to be talking about her?” I asked.
“Well probably not, but I’m nervous about bringing this up to your face and normally she’s with you or me and I can’t ask this without her overhearing me,” he said.
I sighed. “Stardust, this can wait until I’m not behind enemy lines!”
“C’mon, it’ll only take me a minute. See the thing is, I really like her, and I think it’s more than just like, but…” he started to go on but I cut him off.
“Stardust, I’ll talk to you about this later, but for right now I’ll just say this. If you want to know if Wind Thrasher likes you, then just fucking ask her or tell her how you feel. That’s all you’re getting out of me right now. If you want to talk at length then wait or quit being a pussy and ask her how she feels yourself,” I said.
“But…I mean…how…” he started up again.
“Put Solstice back on now, before I find a way to blast a spell at you through this damned thing,” I said.
“Ok, fine, damn,” he said, then I heard him give the broadcaster back to Solstice.
“Was he really asking you what I think he was?” I heard her say with a snicker in her voice.
“Later Solstice. Missions to complete, remember? I need you two to fly toward The Palisade as soon as you see the doors open. Get in quickly and get set up, we’ll be having a few extra passengers it looks like so I might need both of you to fly whatever we take,” I said.
I could still hear a lot of laughter in her voice as she said, “Can do, and I’m not going to ask why more ponies are coming with you two, but if you expect to have more, then you’ll need to make sure you get a bigger transport. Have Vervain get a TX-152 ready if they have one, if not look for an X-582, their models are marked on the front. We’ll need either one of those ships to get into Stratus and to carry a few ponies.”
“I’ll let her know, just be ready to get hooked up and fly as soon as I get to the hanger. We’re gonna want to leave in a hurry, trust me,” I said.
“Do I want to know why?” she asked.
“Probably not, let’s just say I’m going to give Wolfsbane another reason to hate me,” I said, then cut off the connection before she could ask me anything else. Once that was done, I found the intercommunication device and connected to the hanger bay. “Scribe Holly or Crimson Lance, are you there?”
A moment passed, then I heard Vervains voice, say, “Yes this is Scribe Holly.”
“It’s me Sparkle, can we talk freely?” I asked.
“It’s just Crimson Lance and me here, you’re good to talk,” she replied.
“Okay good, I shut down the systems so you should be safe to open the doors for Solstice and Stardust. Solstice said to look for an X-582 or a TX-152 since we are going to have a few more ponies than planned. Are either one of those down there?” I asked.
“Yes there’s an X-582 here and a TX-152, but the TX-152 has a hole in the back and more damage in the front, so we’ll have to get the former ready. How long until Dahlia and you are down here?” she asked.
“Dahlia is on her way, she’s getting a few things and the doctor guy. I’m finishing up stuff on my end then, I’m gonna rush down there and we’ll have to leave ASAP,” I said.
“What are you planning?” she asked, knowing me all too well.
I couldn’t help the large smile that came to my face even though Vervain couldn’t see it. “Something big, but don’t worry. I’m not going to get anypony hurt…I hope.”
“YOU HOPE!? Young lady, whatever your planning, just stop and get down here. You know we’re here for the ship and that’s it. If you have some half-baked scheme to take down Wolfsbane then just forget it,” Vervain said angrily.
I rolled my eyes. “Auntie Vervain, I’m not doing that. Though if I could kill him I would. No, I’m just making sure that while we’re up in Stratus, New Pegasus will be safe from The Steel Rangers. Just trust me, I’ll be down there soon.”
There was a long pause before Vervain finally said, “Fine, I trust you, but please be careful.”
“I’m always careful, I’m just not always lucky. So, wish me more luck than normal and everything should be fine. See you soon,” I said, and cut off the connection.
Once I was done with that, I went back into the other systems and started setting up my plan. I was amazed at what I was seeing on this terminal, it was hard to believe that Elder Wolfsbane or his nutcase wife could be so stupid to leave what they did on this thing and to have it only routed through their terminals. Shaking my head, I was just about to finish up when the door to Wolfsbane’s Room opened.
I twisted around and watched a tall rail-thin unicorn with a slate grey coat, a short pink mane, and bright blue eyes walk in, her gaze falling on me. A frown came to her lips, and she said, “What are you doing in my room scribe?”
“Um…I was told to come up here and…” I started to say but she cut me off.
“I never gave any orders for a filly to come up to mine and my husbands room and touch our terminal. Who are you and how did you get into The Palisade?” she asked demandingly. As she spoke, I remembered her now, the mare who threw us off this very ship when Box Tape died. This had to be Hacker, Wolfsbane’s wife and head scribe of the Los Alicorn Steel Rangers.
I knew our time was up and I was utterly screwed…or was I? An idea came to me and I smiled, standing as tall as my short stature would allow. Still my horn didn’t even come up to her chin. “Guess I look a little different from the last time you saw me…Hacker is it? Sorry, when you threw my friends and I off this junky ship, we didn’t get a moment to make introductions. So, I’ll start. Hello, my name is Shadow Star, also known as The Courier. I’d say it’s a pleasure to meet you but I’m afraid that would be too much of a lie, even for me.”
Her eyes widened a little as she looked me over. “Interesting, I’d love to find out what kind of tech you used to make yourself look so different. I can tell that your coat and mane aren’t just dyed, and you don’t seem to have contacts in your eyes. I’ve never heard of anything like it before. Still, I want to know how you got onto this ship?”
“I’m The Courier, I’m good at finding myself in places I shouldn’t be,” I said.
“Indeed,” Hacker said, still not moving toward me or sounding any alarms. However I did see a bit of shadows starting to flow out of her horn. So, it was true, she could use magic like my uncle. “I see you don’t have your Mark II on you, good idea taking it off, makes it a lot easier to blend in I take it. Where is it?”
I grinned. “Up a dead mule’s ass, wanna go looking for it?”
She rolled her eyes. “Children annoy me, you think you know everything but you’re wrong. Shadow, right? Yes, that’s right, Shadow. I’ll only give you one chance to tell me where the Mark II is, and I’ll even let you sneak out of here alive. If you don’t, or you make another wisecrack, I’ll slice you into a billion little pieces.”
I saw the shadows around her horn thicken and I knew I couldn’t piss her off anymore. So, I sighed, then reached into my saddle bags and pulled out the Silver and Red Pip-Buck. “It’s right here.”
“Good, now give it to me and you can walk away,” she said.
“I thought Wolfsbane wanted me dead,” I said.
“He does, but I’m not my husband. You chose a good time to sneak in you know, he just left The Palisade with most of his Steel Rangers a few minutes ago. He’s going down to plan his attack on New Pegasus in a few days. He’ll never know you were here. As for me, I don’t see any reason to bother with you. You’re not a treat to me or my master. We just want that Pip-Buck, we don’t need you,” she said.
“I don’t trust you,” I said.
“Too bad, because…you know what I don’t know why I’m bothering,” her horn glowed as more shadows formed around it.
I grinned then threw the Pip-Buck past her and out the door where it rolled down the hall. “You want it? Go fetch.”
She gave me one last glare, then ran for it. I turned back toward the terminal again and entered the last key stroke I needed to activate my plan. Then I pulled a revolver out of my saddle bags and blasted the terminal. The screen burst right as an alarm started to blare across the entire ship. I saw Hacker turn toward me, the Pip-Buck in her magical grip, her eyes narrowing as a robotic voice said over the loud speaker.
‘Warning…warning, self-destruct sequence has been initiated. All Rangers should evacuate immediately. You have ten minutes before self-destruct.’
“You little bitch!” Hacker said, starting to walk toward me.
I pulled on my own magic, letting light shine on my horn. “Good note for you, never turn your back on The Courier, and fuck you very much,” then I blasted her with my expulsion spell. Her eyes went wide for a moment before the blast slammed into her, throwing her down the hall and into the barracks. She still held onto the Pip-Buck, but I didn’t have time to get it. I ran for it, heading down the hall, then back toward the stairs that would lead me down to the hanger. A laugh escaping my lips as I heard the raging scream of Hacker.
“I’ll get you back for this Courier, mark my WORDS!” I heard her scream, then I was too far way to hear anything at all.
Laughing more, I kept on running, dodging panicking Rangers who were trying to make it to the Vertibucks to escape the now doomed airship. The weapon of war that Wolfsbane wanted to use to destroy another one of my homes. When I’d seen the self-destruct option on the terminal, I was shocked they’d leave something like that as an option on this thing. Oh well, their stupidity is my opportunity.
I didn’t have any trouble with any of the Rangers as I ran. I looked like a different mare right now and I was in a scribe’s uniform, it was perfect. It only took me a few minutes to reach the hanger. When I did, I was shocked at the ponies I found who were starting to enter the larger Enclave transport ship. At least ten others were getting aboard and that wasn’t counting my friends. It only took me a moment to see Stardust hooking up the front of the airship while Solstice helped him. Vervain was next to them talking with Crimson Lance and Dahlia along with a stallion in a white lab coat.
Running over to them, I said, “Are we ready to go?”
Vervain’s angry face fell on mine. “We will be in a minute. Now tell me what the hell you just did!”
I shrugged. “Took care of a problem, don’t bother yelling at me now, we only have…”
I was cut off as the voice came over the intercom again, “Three minutes until self-destruct.”
“Good point,” Vervain said with a huff, then she yelled, “Everypony get into the ship and strap in. We don’t have time to dick around, this place is gonna blow.”
“Shadow, are you sure this is a good idea? You know Wolfsbane is gonna come after you harder now that you’ve broken his favorite toy,” Solstice said once she finished with helping Stardust.
“He’ll be distracted for a while thanks to the toy I left with his wife,” I said with a laugh as Dahlia and Crimson Lance walked past me quickly to get into the airship.
Stardust looked over at me as Solstice started to hook herself up to the ship, “What did you do? I mean apart from destroying this thing.”
“Gave Hacker a fake Mark II. She’s gonna be so pissed when she finds out what she has is nothing but a Stable 28 Pip-Buck with some paint on it,” I said with a laugh, “Now let’s get out of here, we can talk once we’re on the ground.”
“Sounds good,” he said, then turned toward the open hanger door, “Ready to go Solstice?”
“Yeah, now Shadow and Vervain, hurry up and get in!” Solstice said as she finished clipping herself to the airship.
“Right,” I said, then went to the back and pushed my way past Steel Rangers who were against Wolfsbane, the dude in the lab coat, Crimson Lance, and finally sat next to Dahlia with Vervain following. Once we were in, one of the Rangers shut the door and I yelled, “Okay you two, let’s get the hell off of this thing. Getting blown up isn’t on my bucket list. Well, not yet anyway.”
With a blast of air, their wings came down and the air ship lifted into the air with a slight hum coming from the flight generators in the ship. With another flap we were heading out of The Palisade and into the open air. There was a window next to where I sat and from it, I could see the large airship as we pulled away. Vertibucks were flying away from it and to the other side of the large compound. Ponies on the ground were screaming and running away from under the hovering ship as the clock slowly ran down.
“Why did you set off the self-destruct?” Vervain asked as we got further and further away.
I didn’t answer. I was watching, knowing that once again, I might’ve put more innocent ponies in danger all so I could save the ponies I cared about. I know that not all Steel Rangers are bad, but they worked with that idiot Wolfsbane and his wife. I’d do it all over again, just to slow those two down. Even with that, I wouldn’t look away from the things I’ve done. It only took another moment then with a flash of light and a following boom. The Palisade exploded. My eyes widened as I saw how powerful the blast ended up being. The blast took out part of the Applewood sign, three Vertibucks, and part of the building under the large ship. Then the ship came crashing down destroying more and more as it exploded again once it hit the ground. Fires started to spread across the city-like compound, ponies died, others screamed, and with a single key stroke on a terminal. The Los Alicorn Steel Rangers were dealt a critical hit.
I looked back finally and let my eyes fall on Vervain, then Dahlia who looked scared as explosions echoed through the windows of our ship, then to Crimson Lance who looked angry, then said, “I did it to protect my home. If you don’t like it, then I don’t really care. You can get off my airship when we land and if you want to deal with me then, feel free, but I’m not gonna say I’m sorry for putting a stop to the monsters who wanted to kill my family and friends, or my home.”
Then I turned and ignored them all as we flew on and back toward Los Alicorn. I watched the destruction I’d wrought; it was becoming a standard for me I realized. When something was too big to deal with, destroy it all. Unlike Appleton or Mill City Tower, this time I didn’t feel a shred of guilt for my actions. True, some of the Steel Rangers down there weren’t bad, some of them might even have helped us take down Wolfsbane, but they were few, and honestly, they didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. I’m done letting the ones I care for be in danger just because I was worried about hurting a few innocents.
Nopony said anything as we flew on, heading toward the meeting point where we’d drop off the passengers and Vervain with Dahlia and Crimson Lance. It wasn’t far from the place where Mom died, close to a Ministry entry point. I could just make the spot out as we flew on, then I felt Vervain touch my shoulder. I turned to ask her what she wanted only to find her holding my Mark II. She had a sad smile on her face as she said, “You’re going to need this again.”
Slowly I took it with my magic then slipped it onto my foreleg. I clicked the latch closed and watched as it vanished, melding with my foreleg once again. I watched as the activation screen went through its system checks, saying, “Thank you Auntie Vervain.”
“I may not agree with what you did, but I know what you were thinking. I’m not going to judge you for it, but I do want you to at least try to stop yourself from going further into that dark place your stuck in,” she said.
I ignored her watching as the screen came up on the Mark II,
Welcome Shadow Star, your Pip-Buck 3000 Mark II SB is now reactivated to your original settings. Due to removal your passcode has been reset to Guardian. Please remember this passcode as it is the only way to remove your Pip-Buck 3000 Mark II. If you have any troubles with your Mark II or need help with removal, please speak with a certified Stable-Tec technician. Thank you!
I looked over at Vervain, asking, “The passcode was changed, why’s that?”
She shrugged. “I know a lot about the Mark IIs, but that part not so much. It could be that it’s a safety feature or it’s just setting itself up to fit your new personality.”
“My old one was Morning Star, and that’s back before I knew my old name,” I said.
“Yes, but the Mark II was around you back when you were still Morning Star. I can’t say why it chooses the codes it does. The only pony who can answer that, has been dead for a long time,” she said, running a hoof over my foreleg, “Now do you understand what I was saying before?”
I slowly let my foreleg fall away from her, saying, “I understand, and honestly Auntie Vervain, I don’t really care. You don’t know what I’ve been through in the past few months, you don’t understand what I have to go through every day just to keep my mind in control. I’m so tired of being the one who has to watch as the ponies I care about die. I’m done being weak, I’m done caring about anypony but the ones I can protect. That’s what I did back there and as I said before, I don’t care what any of you think. I’d do it again in a heartbeat, I just wish I could’ve taken Wolfsbane and his cut-throat bitch of a wife down with that ship.”
She tried to say something to me but right then the transport landed. I got to my hooves and walked out before she could tell me what I’m sure I needed to hear. I wasn’t going to turn back, right now I have a mission to do and that’s to save my dad, then it was off to a new mission. One I haven’t yet told my friends about, but I would once we were on our way to Stratus. When I left the transport, I was met by ten coursers and White Oak.
She looked behind me and frowned. “You took a few ponies with you I see. I also saw the destruction of The Palisade, you told me you wouldn’t go after Wolfsbane. What’s going on here Shadow?”
Her voice was calm, but I could see the anger in her eyes. I didn’t care one bit, I just walked right up to her and said, “Don’t worry, your son’s still alive. They were going to attack New Pegasus soon, so I took care of the problem. I really don’t have the time to deal with you or the rest of the bullshit you want to tell me about how foolish I was, because I don’t care. Now as for the ponies with me, they are Steel Rangers who wanted to get away from Wolfsbane. This one right here,” I said, pointing a hoof at Black Dahlia who was coming out of the transport with Crimson Lance and Vervain, “Is Black Dahlia, your contact, oh and Wolfsbane’s daughter. Not sure if you knew that or not.” I then turned toward Black Dahlia and the rest, saying loudly, “Hey everypony, first of all I’d like to thank you for the help you gave me and hopefully will still give me in the future. Let me introduce you to my ally, her name’s Director White Oak of The Ministry and also former senior scribe of The Hidden Sands Steel Rangers, and current senior citizen. Believe me, she’s a lot older than she looks. She’s also Wolfsbane’s thought to be dead mother and Dahlia’s grandmother. So, if you all want to help fix what’s wrong with your mostly destroyed branch of Steel Rangers, you’ll have to deal with her. If not, then go back to Wolfsbane for all I care and go fuck yourselves. I say this because of two reasons. One, if this gives you a bone to pick with me, I’ll destroy you, I promise you that. Two, I just don’t have the time to deal with your shit, I got things to do and ponies to kill.”
Everypony looked shocked by what I just said. Most of all White Oak who hissed into my ear, “What are you doing!? My identity…”
“Yeah, that was supposed to stay a secret, I know. Well guess what White Oak, I’m tired of secrets. Everypony I know has secrets, my mom had them, Vervain had them, my father, you, everypony has them. I’m tired of the lies, of the secrets, and most of all dealing with all of this. So, if you want to get things fixed, and if you want my help in the future then you need to stop hiding and do something. Stop acting like the Steel Rangers and help ponies. Here’s your chance, help them, get to know your granddaughter who risked her life to save me and help us. Right now, I’m leaving. I have my own family to help,” I said, then I walked over to Dahlia, the anger on my face fading as I came up to her.
“Is…she really…White Oak?” she asked.
“Yup, she is, and even though I’m a little angry with her and a few others, she’s not bad. She’ll help you, same for Vervain. You’re family. I think it’s time that your family starts to heal itself. I want to thank you again for what you risked to help me. Also…I’m sorry I destroyed your home, but I hope you understand why I had to do it. If not, and you wanna get revenge on me for it, then at least wait until I help my dad, then we can deal with what I did. Kay?” I said, keeping my voice low as the Rangers around us talked to each other about the fact that Wolfsbane’s mother was still alive.
I could just make out a small tear in one of her eyes, then she nodded, saying, “I’m sure a lot of the Ponies who lived there will be fine. I’m not okay with what you did, but I do understand why you did it. Now you go and save your dad, I’ll see you when you get back, right?”
I shook my head slowly. “Unless you go to New Pegasus with Vervain, you won’t see me again, at least not for a long time. When I’m done up in Stratus, I’ll be heading back home. I have things that I’ve been putting off for too long and I need to deal with them.”
She smiled, then said, “Then I probably will head back with my aunt. I’d like to get to know her better and I want to help you as much as I can.”
“The same goes for me,” Crimson Lance said, “I know there’s problems with the Steel Rangers in Hidden Sands too. Maybe we can do something to help you with that, I have a few contacts there. We’ll stand with you Courier.”
I felt a small smile pull at my lips as I said, “I’d be glad to have it. It’d be good to get some intel from inside the Hidden Sands Rangers. Try to get into contact with a Scribe called Hazel. She’s a friend and I believe she can be trusted. Also, if you head to The Shadow Talon’s base in Freedom, you can find former Star Paladin Sandstorm. He’s another trusted friend, let him know that there’s something else going on with Sapphire, I believe she might not have been wrong killing the former Elder.”
“I’ll make sure your message gets to him,” Crimson said with an even bigger smile, “Safe travels Courier, and good luck.”
“Crimson, call me Shadow,” I said and he nodded so I turned away from them and went back over to White Oak who looked livid pissed.
“Got any more secrets you want to blurt out to the world Shadow?” she asked, her tone angry.
“Loads of them, but I don’t have the time, but I do have the interest. Listen, I’m sorry for saying what I did, but you can’t hide anymore. Anyhow, is everything ready?” I asked.
She took a moment to compose herself, then said, “Aura left with Wind Thrasher and the foals a few hours ago. Stormy was able to get a message to Hailstorm about the updates to the plan and he’ll meet Wind Thrasher near Gravel City. Aura’s going home and setting up the rest of the plan from her end. Also, Stormy told me right before I left that she’s heading to New Pegasus too. Said something about doing her part to help. Didn’t even give me a moment to argue with her about it.”
“That sounds like Stormy, I don’t think anypony can get her to listen. If she has a plan, she’ll see it through till the end if she can,” I said.
“That’s not really true, I think Grim and maybe you, are the only two she’ll listen to. She told me flat-out that she only cares about helping you and The Wasteland now and if I didn’t like it then she’d never come back,” White Oak said with a sigh, “It’s like I’ve lost all control over everypony, but interestingly enough, Wingnut and Byte gave me some very interesting intel before they left.”
One of my eyebrows went up as I said, “What kind of intel?”
“Apparently your friends have been snooping about The Ministry collecting data and intel ever since they arrived. I guess I can’t blame them, it’s hard to trust ponies you don’t know, but the foals came across some information that a few of the ponies under me are planning something. Something that could be bad for you and me,” she said.
“Bad for the both of us…how?” I asked.
“I’m not sure yet, all Wingnut would say is that they didn’t have enough time to get everything. Although, he did leave me with enough information to learn the rest on my own. I’ll keep you updated and send you a broadcast when I get back so you have my personal ID, the same secure channel your mother used to use. That way you can get into contact with me at any time if you need,” she said.
“Well, just be safe okay? I know I kind of left you out to dry with the Rangers here, but trust me, it’ll be a good thing in the end,” I said.
She rolled her eyes. “I knew one day I’d have to come back from the dead, I just never thought it would be so sudden, but you’re right, it’s time The Ministry stepped up and did something for The Wasteland. Now, get out of here, I’ll be fine.”
I smiled, then walked away heading to Vervain who was talking with a couple of the ponies who came with us. “I have to leave.”
She turned toward me with a sad look on her face. “I wish I could come with you.”
“I know, but trust me I’ll be fine. When you get back to The Ministry, can you make sure Uncle Ori gets well and is able to get back home?” I asked.
A funny look came over her face as she said, “Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on him, two if I’m able. He’ll be fine, he’s tough.”
“What he is, is skinny and almost helpless. He’ll try to overexert himself to try to help and I don’t want him doing that,” I said, then hugged her, “I love you Auntie Vervain.”
“I love you too sweetie. Now get going, I’ll see you in New Pegasus,” she said, then let me go, turning toward Dahlia and Crimson Lance.
I took a moment to watch as the Steel Rangers who escaped with us, Dahlia, Crimson, and Vervain went toward White Oak who started giving directions to the group. Then I turned toward Stardust and Solstice who were standing side by side. I always found it funny how similar they looked, and it brought a smile to my face again then I walked over, asking, “So are we ready?”
Stardust hadn’t been disguised like Vervain and I were, but he was in a set of dark black power armor and so was Solstice. Most of his mane was hidden under the helmet. He laughed, saying, “Just waiting on one thing from the clouds then we’re ready.”
“What are we waiting for…” I started to ask. Then out of nowhere, a metal cylinder slammed into the ground a few meters away from us, making me jerk and scream, “What the fuck was that!?”
“Just what we’ve been waiting for,” Solstice said, unhooking herself from the transport and going over to it. She picked it up then pushed a hidden button on the side, which made the strange thing open. From inside she pulled out a strange outfit and three small ruby gems. “An outfit for you Shadow. To fit in with the unicorns in Stratus and the ID tags so we can get around the city with no problems. About time she sent this, I was starting to think she forgot.”
“Your mom did this?” I asked.
“Yep, but now that it’s here, we have to move. A capsule like this being sent down to The Wasteland may cause some of the ponies top-side to get very nervous,” she said, passing me the outfit and the ID.
“But we’re nowhere near Stratus, how’d she get it here?” I asked.
Solstice eyed me with a funny look. “ My mom’s got her ways. Also, The Enclave might not have a city close to here, but they always have patrols. That’s one reason we’re going to have to have the IDs now and a good story when we go up there.”
“What I don’t get is how you two are going to get around without being disguised like me,” I said.
“Oh, trust me, we will be just after we get going. Stormy gave us something that will help keep us hidden, but for now, the armor will do. Now get back into the transport, we have a Council pony to save,” Solstice said, running back to Stardust.
I waited a moment as Solstice talked with him, then he also unhooked from the transport, then came over toward me. When he was close, I asked, “What’s going on? I thought you both were pulling the transport?”
He laughed, lifting the visor of his power armor so I could see his bright pink eyes, “With less ponies in the transport, it only takes one pegasus to pull it. So, I’m gonna ride with you. The story is that you’re a researcher for a company called Cloud Rider Industries that was down on the surface collecting data. I’m going to be your guard. Pretty cool right?”
I just shrugged and started heading back into the transport. “If Solstice says that will work then fine with me,” I climbed into the back followed by Stardust who closed the door behind himself, “So once we get above the clouds, am I going to have to remove my Mark II again?”
He shook his head. “No, Stormy didn’t have this little trick ready yet when you left, but now it’s good to go. Let me see your foreleg.”
I held out my foreleg with the Mark II. “What are you talking about?”
He grinned, then stuck a small disk on the underside of my Mark II. It was the size of a bottlecap with a speck of green that looked like a small gem in the center. The thing flashed green then vanished as the color of my Mark II changed. It went from a silvery white with red accents on it to looking like a worn-out, normal Pip-Buck.
“Cool huh?” Stardust said with a laugh, “Stormy said that a few unicorns and pegasi up in Stratus have Pip-Bucks, so it’s not too uncommon. With this little doohickey, it’ll mask the strange look of your Mark II and make it look like an old normal one.”
I pulled my hoof back, looking at it in amazement. “Is there anything Stormy can’t invent?”
“We’re taking off, so buckle up!” Solstice shouted.
We both did, then a moment later the transport blasted into the sky. Solstice turned us around and we started heading back east, toward New Pegasus. Only now we were climbing slowly higher toward the grey cloud-cover. Once we were stable in the air, Stardust said, “I asked Stormy the same thing, and she told me, ‘The only thing I can’t invent is true friendship.’ Then she walked away. Weird if you ask me.”
I felt a stab in my new heart at that, but I smiled. “Yeah she is, but at least she’s on our side.”
“Yeah,” Stardust said, sitting back, looking a little uncomfortable, “Damn I forgot how much I hate power armor.”
“Where did you get that anyway?” I asked.
“White Oak had a set laying around in storage. No idea where she got it, but it fits nice enough. It’s an old model but still should pass for a good set to any in The Enclave. I just hate it because it slows me down and it’s like being trapped in a tin can.”
“I’m jealous, I’ve always kinda wanted to see what it was like to wear a set of power armor. From what I’ve learned, there isn’t power armor for unicorns,” I said.
“You know I heard something once about The Ministry of Arcane Sciences working on some for the unicorns, but I’m not sure if they ever completed it. Something about power armor messes with unicorn spells or something. Why would you need it anyway? You’re amazing without being trapped in a suit of metal and computer chips,” Stardust said.
“I’ve been hurt so many times since I left Stable 28 that it would be nice to have something more than my normal armor to protect me,” I said with a sigh, “Well, everypony has to have a dream I guess. Even if there was a set of armor out there a unicorn could use, I wouldn’t even know how to operate it.”
We sat in silence for a few minutes as the clouds started to surround us with Solstice climbing higher. Then Stardust said, “If you ever want to learn how to use it, I can teach you. I mean you won’t be able to use the helmet, but it still works well enough without it, especially if you have a Pip-Buck.”
“Wait…really?” I asked.
“Yeah, so if you really want to learn how it works, I’ll teach you. Just say the word,” he said.
I smiled at him. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
“A deal? Wait, you mean I could’ve asked for something in return!? Dammit!” he said in a joking manner.
I laughed then moved to sit next to him laying my head on his shoulder as we slowly got even higher and my ears started to pop. “Yeah, but it’s too late now, the deal has been struck. You’ll teach me how to use power armor for nothing more than being a nice friend.”
I felt him pull me closer to give me a hug. I smiled as I looked out the windows across from us. Then I said quietly, “I love you Stardust, I hope you know that. You’re my best friend and the first one I made when I escaped my stable. We’ve been through a lot together, and I couldn’t have made it this far without you. So, thank you, for being there no matter what.”
“I wasn’t always there, I did try to kill you a few times, and almost did kill Aura,” he said, sounding sad.
“I forgive you for that, I know it wasn’t you and we got you back. Now, let’s watch what happens next and see if we can keep this crazy adventure going,” I said.
I felt his foreleg tighten around me as he said, “I love you too Shadow, and even with Hailstorm kind of back, you’re still my best friend. Through thick and thin, we can do anything we set out minds to.”
“If you two are done being weirdos back there, you should watch the sky. If I’m not mistaken, this will be the first time either of you have truly seen a Sunrise,” Solstice said.
The two of us looked back out the windows right as the transport lifted above the cloud layer. Our eyes were met with one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen in my life. An orange, brilliant orb, was just coming over the horizon. It painted the clouds purple and pink with other similar colors mixed in as it slowly took its place in the heavens. The warmth of it was unlike anything I could remember feeling in my life. As I took in a deep breath of wonder and shock, it felt like life itself was being pushed into my body. I felt a tear fall down my face as I witnessed the utter beauty of the moment.
“It’s…breathtaking,” I said.
“Yeah…it sure is, makes me feel like something’s been missing from my life and now I finally found it,” Stardust said.
I smiled and took in another deep breath of air, again it felt like life itself flowed into my body. I let it out slowly then said, “Let’s go save Stratus…and The Wasteland.”
“Sounds good to me,” Solstice said, and she pumped her wings hard, and we shot forward, toward what could end up being our deaths.
FOOTNOTE: LEVEL UP!
NEW PERK ADDED!
Tactician: You’re clearly quick on your hooves to come up with a solution when under pressure! With the tactician perk you gain +2 to intelligence while wearing faction clothing behind enemy lines and while in [caution].