//------------------------------// // Chapter 33: A Little Peace and Quiet. // Story: Fallout: Equestria. We're no Heroes // by otherunicorn //------------------------------// Chapter 33: A Little Peace and Quiet. "We know a pony who has been in space!" The ground rushed by below us as Ruby flew our stolen Enclave tank nape-of-earth towards Stable Four. She wasn't taking a direct route, instead flying a random distance in one direction before hovering for a little while, then taking off in another direction, dodging around hillocks, whizzing along shallow valleys, following waterways. A few times as we whizzed by, my Pipgirl suddenly beeped and loaded up another marker for some obscure place I had never visited: somepony's shack, an abandoned mine and so on. "If we are being watched, this should confuse them," Ruby explained as we changed direction again. "When we get close enough to the stable, I'll pause again, and you ponies can disembark, then I'll zip off somewhere else and pause again, and so on. After doing that a few more times, I'll ditch the tank, and fly back myself." "That makes sense," I responded. "Hiding from those that can see us from above can't be easy. Any idea where you think you will drop us?" "Helvetica told me there is that old overpass you went under about an hour out of Stable Four. I thought that would be a good place to let you off. You can wait there until dark, then head for the stable," Ruby suggested. "Good idea. And where do you think you will leave the tank?" I asked. "I'm not sure yet," she responded. "I'll look for another overpass, or a collapsed building that I can hide it in. If I can find somewhere that other ponies can't go, even better. I mean other non-winged ponies. It's hard to stop flying ponies from going where they want." "What about in the blast radius graveyard of Cloudsdale?" I asked. "There are piles of smashed pegasus vehicles lying about out there. Here, let me transmit a map marker to your Pipgirl," I said as I called up the icon marked Wreckage of Ditzy Doo Deliveries and shared it with Ruby's Pipgirl. "That will put you in the area, though you won't want to put it exactly where the marker is. Oh, be damn careful there too. There are lots of zombies in the area." "You mean the same sort of radiated living-dead pony things we had trouble with in the tunnels?" Ruby asked. "The same," I responded. "Feel free to kill any that get in your way. You will be doing them a favor." Ruby examined her map for a moment before speaking again. "It is somewhat out of our way." "All the better for the security of Stable Four," I said. "We really don't want the Enclave attacking it. If you like, I could come with you assuming you don't mind carrying me on your back after you ditch the tank," I offered. "Oh damn, that won't work because I have to pull the trailer. Nopony else can do that." "I could drive the trailer directly," Helvetica offered. "If we hook your tractor to the rear of the trailer, I can tow it. The loading won't be as great anymore. We can put most of those of us who can't walk in the other trailer," she added, a little sadly as she recalled the reason why there weren't as many ponies to fill the trailers. Bloody Enclave murderers. "Thank you, Helvetica, Anne. The company would be greatly appreciated," Ruby stated. "Okay, we'll do that, then," I agreed. I turned and made my way across to my adopted daughter, who was sitting quietly in the seat of one of the flying tank's side mounted turret weapons. "Demi, could you please look after my little sister until we return?" "My pleasure, Anne," she replied. Like the rest of us, she was somewhat disturbed by the recent battle. She had killed more ponies in that short battle than she had in the rest of her life. In fact, while she had shot at other ponies before, I could not recall if she had killed any of them. If that was the case, I could fully understand her being shell shocked. On the other hoof, I was proud that she was able to do what the situation required, then worry about morals later. Oh, for a future where our children where not required to kill to survive. Celestia, wherever you are, are you listening? Or were you really just an old pony and nothing more? Glancing about, my eyes came to rest on the slowly breathing forms of Bubbles and Duct Tape, who were currently curled up together, asleep, in an out of the way corner. I wondered how long it would be before we could return to the lab and the auto-clinic within. Hopefully the systems would have fully grown replacement legs for Bubbles by then. The chances of some error creeping in without a pony to monitor the system was worrying me. At least Bubbles still had Cherry Sundae to ride. Those two had quite the symbiotic relationship going, but it couldn't last forever. Bubbles would eventually grow too large to comfortably carry, unless Cherry Sundae somehow managed to harness the strength of an earth pony. Duct Tape suddenly stretched and yawned, disturbing Bubbles, who simple resettled herself and continued with her nap. Duct Tape looked at me, blinked twice, then shook her head. "How are you holding up, kid?" I asked dropping down near her. "I am awake, aren't I?" she asked. "Yes, you are," I responded, "unless I am also dreaming." Oh, and wouldn't that be a lovely way out? To wake and find weirdness of the last twenty years had been nothing more than a feverish nightmare. But then, despite the horrors of the wasteland, I didn't really want to go back in time and relive my life again. "Then I must have been dreaming just now," Duct Tape claimed, "because I saw Daddy, and your Mommy Lee too, the real one." "You did? What were they doing?" I asked, wondering what my younger sister's subconscious mind had come up with during her sleep. "They were up in pony heaven, watching us, but they were sad because they were no longer with us and couldn't help us any more." "Well, Lee did leave her mechanical skeleton here, and that is still helping us," I commented. "It's not the same though, is it?" Duct Tape asked, already knowing the answer. "As you say," I responded. "Anyways, they both send their love to us. They were with a little pink foal with pink eyes and yellow mane and tail. I asked them if she was a sister I didn't know about, but they said she was a guardian angel, and that she was going to be helping us and looking after us instead, because they can't now," Duct Tape explained. Her expression didn't seem as pained as it had before. Whatever this dream, this belief she had, I embraced it for her sake. Was such a thing even possible? I doubted it, but I had long since learned not to discount things just because I didn't believe. If having the pink-eyed filly guardian angel was going to lessen Duct Tape's pain, and help her deal with a more brutal wasteland than she was used to, then that angel was real enough for me. "That's good to know," I said, ruffling Duct Tape's mane with my hoof. "It's always nice to have someone looking out for you." "You're a wonderful big sis! I'm so glad you came back so I could meet you," Duct Tape stated, then wrapping her hooves around my neck, she have me a big hug, which I enthusiastically returned. The evening gloom was approaching as we winged towards the overpass where we were planning on disembarking. Again I was sitting out on the open rear door of the tank, scanning the sky for any unwanted observers. So far our flight hadn't attracted any unwanted winged pests. Either no Enclave ponies had seen us, or if they had and I hadn't seen them, they had assumed we were going about Enclave business. If there was any discussion going on about a missing tank, we had missed it, because we had the tank's radio switched off, fearing that there may be some arcane circuitry within that would reveal our position. That didn't stop anypony having their Pipgirls tuned to DJ Pon3's radio station though; I could hear Sweetie Belle quietly belting out a jazzed up version of Hush Now. DJ Pon3 must have done a remix of it at some point. You would think within all of the wasteland, there would have been more surviving recordings. You would think that some time in the last 200 years, some pony would have recorded something, well, apart from that new girl that had recently appeared on the radio. I knew that back in my own stable, there had been an entertainment industry of sorts. I could recall some songs that had been recorded by the ponies that lived there. They were probably lost to all time now, buried under tons of irradiated rubble. The ponies of Stable Four, on the other hoof, would never have had the time to develop much, as their entire focus was on living until the next day. At best, there would be some lullabies that had morphed as they passed from generation to generation. "Hold on everypony," Ruby announced. "Landing is imminent, and I'm not promising it will be soft." I guess it was mostly a warning for myself and Lee, as we were sitting out on the rear door. As it was, Ruby's warning wasn't really needed, because she guided The Brick between the concrete pylons of the overpass, and brought it to rest gently on the ground. For a pony that had only been flying for a few days, she had exceptional ability. Basic training or mental imprinting of the required skills must have come as part of the alicorn package. I reached into the tank with my magic, and hit the switch that lowered the rear door fully, so that it was again functioning as a ramp. As soon as it touched the ground, I began helping those of our passengers who were not in the trailers from the tank. Lee climbed into her motorcycle, and guided it out, and onto the ground. Pulling up beside me, she opened its hatch and leaned out. "Anne, I'm going to risk zipping out of here, so I can patrol the area. I'll try to find a good lookout position and keep watch from there," she said. "Be careful," I responded. If we were to have a lookout, one of our better snipers was a good choice. The other of our good snipers was currently busy helping unload the passengers. Besides, I had promised to go with Ruby when we dumped the tank. With the ponies no longer blocking our way, Chicory and I both climbed into our wheelchair-tractors, reversed our respective trailers from the interior of The Brick, and moved them sufficiently far from the tank as to allow it to take off with ease. I detached my wheelchair, and ran it around behind the trailer, where I dismounted, then levitated it up sufficiently to hook its front wheel on a convenient protrusion. A minute with my horn pressed to the metal allowed me to form the protrusion into a reasonable coupling between the trailer and the wheelchair. "Give that a go," I told Helvetica. "Sure," she responded, activating the spell that allowed her to drive the trailer. She tried reversing, going forward, and circling the other rig, all with success. "That seems to work," I said. "I can feel the load though," Helvetica responded. "It really could do with the extra drive from your wheelchair. Instead, that is now an additional load." I leaned in close to Helvetica. "Girl, your safety, and that of these other ponies, is way more important than these rigs. If at any time you feel dragging this thing about will cause you problems, dump it. You could drop the wheelchair. You could even abandon the whole trailer. Thanks to your new cladding, you can walk now. Parsley may have rested and healed up enough to be able to walk again. We can squeeze the mobility restricted ponies into the other trailer. If worst comes to worst, and you still have to drag the rig with you, hook it up to the back of Chicory's trailer, or conscript Lee and her motorcycle to help you pull it, as half the junk in here is her salvage anyway. This is your show. I know you have all been brought up to cooperate, but now that you are no longer the Recorder, perhaps you can fill in as leader when it is needed." "Yeah," Helvetica said, feeling a little more confident, "I could do that. We will manage. Thanks, Anne." "You get home safe to your daughter," I instructed. "I'll let Ruby's sister know she's okay too," Helvetica said. "Good on you," I said. Gee, I was starting to get maternal with her too. Anne, den mother... and I couldn't think of a better term to describe our hole in the ground. Leaving Helvetica to sort out any other details, I returned to the tank, going up to the cockpit to check on Ruby, as she had not left it since we landed. Peering in, I found she was still in the harness, but was resting. Reaching into my saddle bags, I pulled out a container of Stable Four yeast extract, and a bottle of water, opened them and offered them to her. "Thank you, Anne," she acknowledged. "How are you holding up, Ruby?" I asked. "You've only been able to fly for a few days, and here you are, dragging around a tank full of ponies. That can't be easy." "I expect I feel as tired as any pony who has been flying for several hours non-stop." Ruby raised a hoof, pointing to one of the gauges on the cluster before her. "That one shows the power remaining in the spark batteries that power the levitation matrix of this thing. The tank provides its own lift. The pilot merely guides it, and the easiest way for a pegasus to control the flight of the tank is to fly themselves." "How will you be for flying this thing out of here, and for carrying me when we return?" I asked. "I'll manage. Once we park this thing, we only need to fly a short distance, so as not to leave tracks. Then we can land and walk or rest if we need to," Ruby suggested, looking at me with a studying eye. I looked back over my shoulder, and saw what I usually saw, then tried to see it through Ruby's eyes. My battle saddle was an uncomfortable collection of pokey things that would get in the way of wings. My presence alone on her back would make flying a little harder. "I'll be right back," I said. "I'll toss my battle saddle in one of the trailers, or get Demi to carry it. I'll just bring my 10mm pistol, and a canteen for each of us. How does that sound?" "Good idea," she agreed. "I am not without a form of weapon even when I am unarmed, and we do have my shield in the event we are attacked. We will manage. And I really do appreciate you doing this with me. You know the wasteland so much better than I, so your guidance will be appreciated. That, and it is always nice to have company." "It is, isn't it," I agreed. It was almost dark when the caravan left, heading towards Stable Four. There wasn't a lot of point in them taking anything but a direct route, as they were leaving a trail. In fact, they were going back over the trail we had left on our way out to the Lab in the first place. This far from the explosion, it would be unlikely they would be harassed by the Enclave, I hoped. If they were searched, it would get very ugly, with the Enclave salvage stashed in the trailers. More ponies would die. I retreated inside The Brick and hit the switch that closed the rear door, watching as the blackness closed out the remaining evening light. As soon as the door was shut, the internal lamps kicked in, glowing feebly: just bright enough for a pony to be able to see where they were. I walked up front, and settled next to Ruby, who, now out of her harness, was napping on the floor of the tank. Opening an eye, she looked at me sleepily. "Time to go?" she asked. "No rush," I responded. "It won't hurt to let the other get well clear before we take to the skies again." "Okay, wake me," Ruby requested, then shut her eyes again. .... "Ruby, time for us to go," I said, nudging her with my hoof. "But I only just shut my eyes!" Ruby complained. "Just is a relative term, my friend," I replied, "as you have been asleep for over an hour." "Damn. I feel cheated," Ruby muttered. She sleepily climbed to her hooves, shook herself, stretched, then levitated up her bottle of water and took a sip. "I guess I'd better get strapped in. Would you ride up front with me?" "Sure. The tank is too empty and quiet back here," I agreed. "Thanks, Anne. I'm a bit lonely and stressed at the moment," she confided in me. "You have been through many major changes recently, so that is no surprise," I assured her. "Those Enclave bastards killed off my last close relative, apart from my sister Cherry Opal. Black Opal was my mother's sister, my aunt." Black Opal was now a pile of ashes in a small box, along side my father and two other unfortunate mares from Stable Four. "My blood relations are down to the same number," I consoled her. "It hurts, doesn't it?" "I know you told us the wasteland was harsh, but I could never have imagined how harsh, even after the robots of Stable Four." "It's being more harsh than usual," I commented. "The Enclave haven't been in the picture for decades, centuries. Now they are down here, stomping on those who they left to struggle under their cloud curtain. If anything is going to unite us ground dwellers, this is it: the common enemy." "But under whose flag? The Goddess is gone. That leaves us Red Eye, and that is a scary thought. Who else is there?" "Us?" I asked. "Or some other pony like us who is willing to step up and take on the task. DJ Pon3's wasteland heroine perhaps. Better her than me. I find caring for a single stable of mares hard enough." "Do you resent us for that?" Ruby asked. "I know you didn't plan to help us." "No, I don't resent you. What I hate is that I have been unable to protect even such a small number of ponies. I keep leading you into situations that get you killed. It is my failings that stress me, not the responsibility." "Not that our situation before you found us was any good," Ruby reminded me. "If it were not for you, my sister would have died of her injuries the day you entered our stable, as most likely would have Helvetica. The rest of us would not have lasted many more years. Even with the pain and the deaths that have come since, we thank you for your help, for giving as much as you do, for giving as much as you can." I blushed. "You are welcome. I only wish I could give you more," I mumbled. "Let’s get this tank stashed, so we can get back home," Ruby suggested, stepping into the control harness, and using her magic to fasten it. "Are you ready?" I nodded. "Let's do this." Under Ruby's control, The Brick glided across the wasteland, this time high enough up for us to be able to assess what lay below us, which frankly wasn't easy as it was quite dark. We had been flying for maybe quarter an hour since we had abandoned our cover. What we weren't expecting was to suddenly find the skeleton of a building looming directly in front of us. With some sudden flustered flapping and some ineffectual backpedaling, Ruby brought us to a stop just before the building had a chance to do so. "Phew," Ruby gasped. "I nearly found us somewhere to hide the tank by accident." "And I'm not even strapped in. I guess we were too busy looking down!" I said. "It sure gave me a fright!" "Tall buildings and mountains are the hazards of flying in the dark. Sometimes I really wish my eyes had a night vision option," I admitted. "For that very reason, I doubt the Enclave flies around in the dark, unless these tank have some sort of navigation aid or sensor system," Ruby commented. "Which, if it does, we have switched off in case it would give us away," I added. "Maybe we should give up on the idea of hiding this thing and just dump it here." "Wasn't there some sort of pre-war drug that greatly sensitized the eyes so you could see in the dark?" Ruby asked. "There was, but it wouldn't work on my cybernetic eyes anyway. I'm damned if I know why these things are not infra-red sensitive by default. There must be some sort of filtering built in." "Maybe we could actually hide the tank here," Ruby suggested, "assuming there aren't any inhabitants that would prevent us from doing so." She indicated the dark area just above the wall in front of us. With some concentration, I could make out that while this wall ended in a jagged edge of broken concrete, the other walls, while damaged, did not. They were supporting another floor. I glanced at my Eyes Forward Sparkle, and found there were no bars indicating any form of life, so if anypony or anything was alive in here, it was much further down on a lower floor. "See if you can get us in. We may not fit," I said. Ruby carefully guided The Brick up and forward. Things scraped, and we tilted. I grasped at the nearest protrusion and held on. "Are you okay?" I asked. "Yup," Ruby responded, her wings still flapping. "We aren't about to fall. Hang on while I try that again." Pulling back, the tank leveled off before Ruby brought it forward again, but slightly to the left of where we had first tried. Again thing scraped, both below and above, but nothing threw us off balance this time. I could imagine somepony's expensive chandelier being crushed against the ceiling. There was a bump and the sound of splintering wood, and this time we came to a stop. Ruby folded her wings, and we just sat there. "I think we just killed somepony's furniture," Ruby announced. "So are we in as far as we can get?" I asked from the floor. "We are. I'm pretty sure we are all the way in. There isn't a lot of space left around us though." Some creaks and groans echoed through The Brick as the old masonry and rusting iron girders adjusted to the extra weight. "Do you think it will hold?" Ruby asked "You are the materials expert, after all." "Seriously, Ruby, it doesn't matter if it doesn't, as long as we aren't still in it when it all collapses," I said. "The worst that could happen is we lose a tank we shouldn't have, and are finding difficult to hide." "Then let's get out of here," Ruby said, unfastening herself from the control harness. She stepped from the cabin and shook herself. "That was fortunately short and sweet. Flying all the way to Ditzy Doo's wagon crash site would have been tiring." "Not to mention flying back," I said as the building groaned again. "Come on, let's get out of here." "What about if somepony lives the lower levels?" Ruby asked. "We check that now, and if there is, I guess we move the tank, or not," I said, making my way over to the rear door, and hitting the switch. "Or not?" Ruby queried. "If it's raiders down there, we don't move it, assuming there is no way for them to get up here. What the heck. Let's stop theorizing and just go look!" "You have a point. Climb on," Ruby said, lowering herself so I could climb onto her back. I was an easy fit on Saffron's back. By comparison, Ruby's back made me feel like a foal again. I settled myself, casting a binding spell to hold me in place, should Ruby need to do any tricky flying. "Okay, I'm stuck down. Launch when ready!" As we took off, I reached over with my magic and hit the button to close the rear door of The Brick. First we flew into the accessible areas of the floor on which we had parked, checking for ways down to the lower levels. When we found none, we concluded access must be through the door against which the nose of the tank was pressed. That was as convenient a way as any to block access to the floor. Satisfied the tank would be safe enough, we left the building, circling it, staring through the glassless window openings, scanning each floor with our Eyes Forward Sparkles. "This really is too convenient," Ruby said. "An open floor in which the tank fit. A blocked doorway to keep it safe. No ponies, friendly or enemies using this building as a place to live. The wasteland is either slipping up, or there is the mother of all problems a couple of floors down from here." "You are reading my mind, aren't you?" I commented. "No, no. Not at all," Ruby quickly assured me. "Oh, that is something you can do? I was asking rhetorically!" "The Goddess certainly could read minds," Ruby stated. "I could link into the minds of others in unity, although I did cast a spell to block that. I have not tried to pry into the minds of other ponies, nor do I want to. It was suggested that if I was fully converted, that would have been one of my skills, more so than it is now, anyway. That and throwing up super strong shields in conjunction with others of my type. Surely you have noticed there are some small patches of green hair in my coat. I would have become one of those green ones." "So green ones are good at shields?" I asked. "Yes, they can combine their magic, so they can erect a shield between them, or perhaps I should say could. I don't know if they are capable of doing so without the Goddess in control. I expect they are all running around as confused as hell at the moment." "Thank Celestia she didn't mangle your mind," I said. "Yeah. The body was enough, although I have to admit the magic and the wings are awesome!" Ruby stated enthusiastically. "Shall we fly down and check the lower levels then?" I asked. Within moments, Ruby had flown us down to the ground, and through the opening that had once held the double doors to the structure. My E.F.S. finally started to show signs of life, in the form of dozens of red bars, spreading to surround us. Something whizzed towards us, Ruby snapping up her shield before it could hit. "There could be more enemies down here than I have bullets," I admitted. "Don't stress over it. Whatever they are firing at us is pretty harmless," Ruby replied. "No muzzle flashes. No noise, apart from that buzzing." "Do you think it is worth throwing some light so we can see what we are dealing with?" I asked. "May as well. The glow of the shield is giving away our position anyway." "True enough," I agreed, casting my light spell. We were hovering in the lower section of the building, so now my illuminated horn cast strange and moving shadows as Ruby's wings flapped. Above us was the cavernous space left when several floors had collapsed, becoming the mounds of rubble that were all over the floor. The stairways were gone as well, so no pony would be climbing up to the tank from here. Around us, small shadows floated, sometimes zipping this way or that on their little wings. Bloatsprites. The nasty little winged globes of foulness buzzed around us while maintaining what they thought was a safe distance, all the while spitting barbed darts at us. The darts bounced off Ruby's alicorn shield and dropped to the rubble. "We needn't have worried about the possible collapse of the abandoned building being a threat to any locals," I observed. "No pony will cry if this lot get squashed." "Do you want to do anything about them?" Ruby asked. "Nah. Let them act as a deterrent. There must be some taint around here somewhere for there to be that many of the little buggers in one location. All the better for us. It makes this place a pretty safe place to leave the tank. No pony wants to tangle with taint." "Taint? Oh, you must mean that stuff the Goddess had me swimming in," Ruby muttered, mostly to herself. "Improved Metamorphic something or another. Splendid Valley was riddled with pockets of the stuff, of varying degrees of nastiness." "I wonder how much the balefire explosion destroyed, and how much it spread. Ugh. How did ponies make such a mess of Equestria?" "From what I have observed of many wastelanders, greed and selfishness seem to be the root problems," Ruby stated. "Come on, let's get out of here." "By all means. You are the one doing the flying," I reminded her. Ruby and I were winging our way back towards Stable Four. Having landed the tank so close, she felt she was able to fly the distance without issues. I was lying on her back, facing rearwards, keeping my eyes open and on my E.F.S., looking for anything unfriendly that may be following us. I was also using my Pipgirl to do the navigating so Ruby could concentrate on flying. This time we were flying somewhat higher, so as to avoid bumping into any buildings. Initially we had headed off at right angles to the route we wished to take, again to throw off anypony that may be observing us. As I lay on Ruby's undulating back, I looked upwards, staring at the clouds. I even caught a glimpse of sparkling lights through a small gap in them once. Enclave lights? Stars? Now wouldn't that be something. "I'm flying, Ruby," I suddenly said. "This is just so amazing." "It is awesome, isn't it? Even more so for me, because I can just do it. Just a few weeks ago, I was hiding way underground. Then I got to go up onto the surface for the first time in my life. Now I am above the ground, flying. Where else could a pony go?" "Space!" I said with a grin. "We know a pony who has been in space!" "Now that really would be something, wouldn't it! I wonder if we will ever get there again, and if we do, if it will be in our lifetime." "That would require some serious changes around here, wouldn't it?" I asked. "Cooperation instead of conflict. Organization instead of chaos. Science instead of superstition. I can't see it happening in my lifetime. You, being an alicorn and all, may just live long enough." "That's a sobering thought. Uh oh," Ruby fell quiet. "Problems?" "Large insects ahead, and they have just spotted us," Ruby responded. "Shit!" I swiveled around and stood, rearing so I could see over Ruby's head. There was only one kind of insects that would be a serious bother to us, and that was Enclave. Sure enough, that was exactly what Ruby had meant. Three of them were heading directly towards us. I only had the 10mm pistol, so I didn't even bother drawing it. Spitting at them would be just as effective. Ruby's shield would be our salvation. I glanced at my E.F.S. to see if there were any more of them out there in the gloom, but I could only see the three amber bars. Hang on? Amber? These bastards weren't hostile. Not yet anyway. "You sure they have seen us, Ruby? They aren't hostile." "Quite sure. They changed direction." Ruby slowed and stopped as the pegasi approached, also slowing to a stop just in front of us, if you could call ponies flapping their wings to hover as being "stopped". "Please excuse the intrusion," the leader of the three said. The voice was masculine, but not harsh. It certainly lacked the bark of the last bastard we had encountered. "You have our attention," Ruby replied. "You are not alone?" the soldier asked. I guess my dark hair and muted coloring was making me hard to see behind Ruby's wild red mane, even though I was peering over the top of her head. Our E.F.S. markers must have been merged too. "Oh, I see, you have a passenger." "She does," I responded, not sounding particularly friendly. "Being an alicorn, you are a member of Unity, are you not?" the soldier asked, ignoring my tone, and addressing Ruby directly. "I am from Unity, yes, although with what transpired there last night, I would no longer consider myself a member," Ruby answered. "Do you know what happened there? Who set off the balefire bomb?" the soldier asked. That was different: an Enclave soldier asking! "I have no idea. I wasn't part of the collective when the blast occurred," Ruby answered. "How can you have not been a member of the collective?" one of the other soldiers, this one female, asked. "She was a purpose build, single use alicorn, and was released after our contract with the Goddess was completed," I answered. "Are you sure you don't have any memories of it? Did the Goddess send you any details? Anything? Please think hard. Like you, I lost family in the blast," the lead solder pressed. "Oh, I lost family, no, we lost family all right, but it wasn't when the Goddess died," Ruby growled. Her shield flickered into existence for a moment then vanished again. "We lost family when another group of you Enclave soldiers started murdering us!" The soldiers moved back as one, hovering a little further away. On my E.F.S. the bars representing them remained amber. "Um. Please explain what you mean," the soldier requested. This couldn't end well. If we told them too much, we may as well just announce we had wiped a squad out, and stolen their tank. "I mean that the last Enclave soldiers to approach us started negotiations by murdering this little one's father in front of us." Little one? Bah. I made no comment. "I... um... that was unacceptable. Do you have the identity of the soldiers responsible?" the soldier asked. "You've not been with the Enclave long, have you?" I asked. This time the soldier answered me. "We three have only just got out of basic training. The Enclave is pushing everypony who has enlisted into service. They figured that even with minimum training, we couldn't stuff up asking a few alicorns if they remembered anything." "What happened after that?" the mare asked. "Last I saw of them they were going into the crater. We went the other way as fast as we could," Ruby answered. I felt a gentle probing at my mind, and by gentle, I meant non-invasive, even kind. It had to be Ruby, so I didn't resist. "Hush now," she whispered into my consciousness. "I didn't say which crater they went into. Let them believe they lost a tank to misadventure in Splendid Valley." I understood the message. Shut up, and let her do the lying, lest we confuse our stories by contradicting each other. So Ruby really could use telepathy. She must have just tried it in desperation. "As you wish," I thought back, wondering if she could read my thoughts as well. "Thank you," came the answer. Yes, she could. "We will report this. Sorry for your loss, and thank you for your assistance," the lead soldier said. Then, commanding his companions, the three descended out of our way, and returned to what I imagined must have been their original trajectory. "Oh, so I didn't need to say anything more anyway," Ruby mused. "It's good to see not all pegasi are murderous assholes that need exterminating." "It throws me a little," I responded. "I was so close to becoming a murderous asshole myself. The Enclave is evil. It breeds evil, yet somehow despite it's filth, some ponies within retain their decency. Damn, this is going to make me do a lot of thinking. On one hoof I still want to kill every damn Enclave insect I see. On the other, I can now see that some of them could be decent ponies, and given the chance, they could even be friends." "You saved us from the robots, Anne. Perhaps you will save the pegasi from the Enclave next," Ruby suggested. "Yeah right," I responded. "At the moment I am too busy saving you ponies from them." Footnote: No new level yet. Perk: none Special thanks to the team of proof readers.