With darkness settled around them, Skyline waved towards the gloomy road. "Now." He could see their patrol, headed away from them. Leading the others, he emerged from the bushes and stalked ahead on quiet hooves, putting proof to the idea that a pony could sneak if they wanted to.
There was something off-putting about knowing ponies surrounded him, but they were barely making any noise. Only when one brushed him accidentally or stepped on something that would crinkle or muffedly crunch would he have confirmation of his company.
Well, except Giddyup. They did not design the robot at any point for even the slightest concern towards stealth. His hooves struck the ground with a steady thumping and the pistons that powered him didn't really have a quiet mode. Stan could only guess his mechanical friend was trying his best, but Giddyup was still Giddyup.
Muttering reached their ears, not from the direction of the patrol, but closer to the vault. A lone figure stepped out with a thunderous yawn. Skyline accelerated towards the closest bush and the band behind him veered to stay with him even as the raider whistled to themselves. The sound of urinating made it clear what the man was there for. "Ah..." The figure shook himself out and turned. "The hell?"
"Stealth mode: Deactivated," announced Giddyup, just in case that wasn't clear to anyone else there.
Even as the faint odor of his activities reached them, the click of his hastily drawn pistol got to their ears. With a sharp retort and the more powerful hint of gunpowder, Applejack proved she was a faster draw. The raider slumped with a miserable grunt.
Skyline was on him an instant later, proving his blades weren't just for show. "Move," he hissed, running for the far side of the road.
They ran, stealth forgotten, onto the other side of that road and past it. The raiders would come to find one of their men shot, cut, and bleeding, but with nobody around to blame. His tales of faint figures in the dark would be at least as confusing as helpful in the short-term.
The mostly equine group kept moving, as if they were being actively chased, but the only raiders on their heels were their worried imaginings, and that was more than enough to keep them going.. By the time the sun peeked up at them, they were exhausted, but a good distance away from the road.
"Warning." Giddyup kept up at an easy trot. "You require sleep. You require food. You require water."
Skyline swatted Giddyup with a wing, taking up the habits of the others. "He isn't wrong. We should take a break..."
Stan grabbed a lawn chair that had been long forgotten. "This'll do." He sank onto it with a sigh. "Just the thing..." But it got better. Applejack settled at his right, giving something for his right hand to do, running through the soft fur on her ears in slow petting. "Nice shot."
Applejack smiled brightly at the praise. "Weren't no time to go thinkin' that one through. Just took the shot."
Skyline settled nearby, next to a worn lawn flamingo. "You two are friendly."
Applejack cocked a brow at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Skyline shrugged. "Nothing. Just that if anyone I didn't trust a lot went touching my ears like that, I'd be upset." His eyes wandered from hand to ear and back. "He didn't ask, because he didn't have to, and you didn't complain, because he was right. You two are close."
"Fascinating." With a floating pen, Twilight made a note. "What word would you use to describe your relationship?"
Stan moved the hand from Applejack to cover his face instead. "Partner. She's someone I trust both with a gun and to fire that gun and know she's got my back."
Applejack's apprehension seemed to lift as Stan made his case. "Yeah! We're partners, facin' the wilds of the world, together. Ain't not many others ah'd trust more than him." The chill of the morning was being battled by the warmth of Giddyup near her. "Um, sorry. Shouldn't go not countin' Giddyup. Right trust ya too. Can't even 'magine you ever actin' without us in mind."
Giddyup swiveled his neck and head to give Applejack a bump. "Trust level: Friend of Child. Addend: Eager rider. Addend: Polite rider."
"Hm." Twilight looked past Stan and Applejack, to Giddyup. "Do I have any addends?"
"Addend: Potential Repair Technician. Addend: Potential Modification Technician. Addend: Unlicensed Medical Technician, caution advised." There were no emotions there, just facts.
Twilight drew back her head. "Potential?"
Stan burst into laughter. "That's the part yer worried 'bout?! Giddyup, let's get some food in bellies."
Giddyup's sides flipped open. "Initiate feeding. Nutrition is important for growth and health."
Applejack hopped to her hooves and reared up to reach inside Giddyup, soon working out packets of food she made a pile of. "Come get some grub." With effort, she shimmied out a heavy jug of water to the ground with a thump. "And somethin' to wash it down with."
Twilight lifted a bar that had fruits and nuts in a combination that she brought in to chew with a smile. "Mmm... This one's even better. What is the binding agent?"
Applejack perked an ear at that. "Bindin'... Oh! Honey." she pointed at the bar floating in Twilight's magic. "Just a spot to hold it all together. A nice sweet hint too."
Twilight took a fresh bite, working the nuts between her grinding teeth. "Mmm, that and the fruits, a solid combination..." Her eyes lifted to Stan. "Do you like it too, or are they more for Applejack's enjoyment?"
Stan shrugged, not moving from his chair. "Like 'em well enough... AJ seems to like them even more, so ah try to pick up a few when ah see 'em. Great for chewin' on the move."
AJ colored faintly. "Ya never said ya got 'em just fer me!"
Stan lifted his hands, as if the more complete shrug would help. "Ah just said ah like 'em well enough."
Skyline howled with renewed laughter. "You two are amazing." He snatched a food packet with a wing, trying something new. "Not bad... Oh." He dropped a few caps. "Only fair. Bet you weren't planning to feed us, and not like we hired you for this job."
Applejack pulled the caps over and tucked them away. "Thank ya kindly, but the vault's mah home! Um, mah first home... Ah wasn't gonna just pretend nothin' was happenin'!"
Stan sat up. "That excuse don't work fer me. We could be well on our way to makin' more caps and not knee-deep in pony troubles." He leaned ahead to rest his chin on his folded hands. "Good thing ah like ya. 'Sides, way ah see it, this'll make more jobs in the future. Ponies are good clients."
Twilight wrinkled her nose. "There's more to it than that." But rather than argue it further, she stretched and flopped onto her belly. "Let's get some sleep. The sooner we move, the better."
With only faint noises of agreement, they finished their food, cleaned up, and settled in for some rest. The next day found them without further trouble. They were on their way, at least to about mid-day. They could hear people talking, angrily.
"I'm just trying to make a living," pleaded a familiar voice.
"So are we," barked an unfamiliar one, voice rough with a lack of sympathy. "Drop everything you have and you can walk yourself out of here."
Applejack advanced with gun in mouth. "Sounds like someone needs our help."
Skyline blocked her with a sudden wing. "Since when did we have the time to help random people?"
Twilight's horn glowed ominously. "Since we started making friends with humans."
Skyline whirled on her. "Humans just trashed your home, in case I have to remind."
"Yes..." Twilight took a step back, awkward looking. "But... They're also our friends. Just because some of them are bad doesn't mean we should write them all off."
Giddyup just walked past the knot of arguing ponies as if they weren't there, approaching the sounds of conflict.
"Get back here!" Stan hurried to keep up. With two of them moving, the rest hurried to catch up. "Ah swear, what..." He trailed off as the problem came into view. The trader, the one that had brought apples to the tribal ponies, was facing down the barrel of a few guns. His guards were nowhere in sight. He was alone and, by any reasonable measure, doomed.
The ones holding the guns looked like three raiders not unsimilar to the ones they had avoided by the vault. "God-damnit..." Stan unholstered his rifle. "Damn it all..."
Skyline drew his blades. "Someone you know?"
Stan was already lining up his shot. "Yeah. Fair trader, friend of ponies. You never saw him?"
Twilight raised a hoof. "He's traded with the vault before. How do you plan--" She didn't get to finish asking, Stan's rifle belching smoke and a deafening bang. The knot of raiders scattered, save the one that was clutching his side in agony.
The merchant withdrew to his brahmin's side, encouraging it to move while there was a chance.
Applejack and Skyline broke out, one to either side and vanishing into the underbrush. Giddyup charged straight forward at them with an authentic™️ horse whinny of aggression.
The bandits, then with some amount of cover behind rocks and logs, returned fire, kicking up dust ahead and behind of Stan. "Lousy shots..." Thing about raiders, they were so impatient. Lining up a shot? Who had time for that? They sure didn't. Stan did, and took his time aiming for one that wasn't ducked nearly as low as they seemed to think they were.
One bullet had Stan's name on it, coming straight for him. In a moment that felt like it stretched forever, he could see it, but he didn't have time to do much other than regret the life decisions that had led to that point.
The bullet smashed against a wall of glimmering magic, sliding to the ground with no friction to hold it up. Twilight scowled and sank to the ground, rubbing the side of her head. "Ow... Ow.... You okay? Ow..." Basically blinded with a migraine, Twilight was out of the fight.
Stan squeezed the trigger. With a distant sound, the bandit discovered they didn't have a unicorn to protect them. They collapsed, lifeless, with a hole in them in about the same spot Stan had been about to get. "I'm fine. Let's play this smart." He helped her up and out of the way. "We did our part."
Skyline exploded in to the side of one of the bandits, seen only moments ahead of time. The raider struggled to get their pistol in range before the sword came down, severing several fingers and knocking the gun free from suddenly numb grip. The raider cursed colorfully, drawing attention from another.
Their lack of attention on Applejack let her put several bullets in the man's center of mass, ending the battle as bodies struck the dusty ground beneath them. "Any others?"
"Is that you?" asked the merchant. "You... here for more apples?"
Applejack turned for the merchant with a smile. "Ah'll take one as a bounty fer savin' yer hide. Why are ya out here without yer guards! Ya done lost yer mind? Yer just lucky they didn't shoot first and ask questions never."
The merchant raised his hands at the irritated pony mare. "Sorry, sorry. Look, we were just doing a circuit. The guards were not expecting a road full of raiders. To their credit, they bought the time I needed to get away."
Skyline sheathed his blades, snorting as he came closer. "But not enough time to avoid them entirely."
Giddyup swung his head from one person to the next. "Damage not detected. Status report: Minor cosmetic damage.
Applejack patted Giddyup gently. "Looks like you did good, drawin' their attention like that, but they put a few scuffs on ya..."
The merchant chuckled nervously. "Hate to be a bother... But if you're headed anywhere civil, mind if I tag along? I can pay with supplies, maybe some caps once we get there."