//------------------------------// // Recovery // Story: Fallout: Equestria - Occupational Hazards // by thefurryrailfan //------------------------------// ----- "Everypony, stay in the bloody tank! Nikolai, keep your hooves off that gun, don't return fire no matter what they do. Minty, Twintails..." Fringe let off a sigh as everyone shuffled around, himself moving to the forward doors. His gaze was towards myself as he contemplated what to say next. "Climb up out of the top hatch with your hooves up, after I get them calmed down. With any luck, we're not too badly dam-" Another rocket barrage hit against the left side fo the tank, shaking the entire interior and sending myself falling to the floor, some of the balefire egg rounds falling and clanking against one another. Well, they aren't armor-piercing rockets at least... I think. I hope. Minty's magic held the shells steady against the wall as I recovered myself, getting onto my hooves and sliding into my old barding. The tank had come to a stop in the snow - hopefully they aren't so flinchy to open fire on sonething that isn't even aimed at them - and everyone was sliding into their positions, Minty already sitting in the little alcove of the turret beneath the hatch. "So, fun fact, apparently a giant tank isn't the most inconspicuous of things to be riding around in. That's Steel Rangers' rocket fire, they think we're a land-battleship or something. All things considered, they're not exactly wrong..." Minty braced himself against the side of the turret as I slid up into the gunner's chair, peering out through the sight. Right off in the corner, past the aiming triangles, a set of power armor glinted in the coming dawn - wait, the sun was just coming up? Goddesses, it feels like it's been days... my hooves moved to the drive wheels idly as the Steel ranger moved out of sight, starting to slowly turn the turret to get him back into view, before I felt myself pulled free from the chair in a teal magic aura. Minty snapped me a look, his metallic leg holding me away from the sight. "What do you think you're doing!?" "Hey, it's not my fault the gunsight is welded to the turret! Only saw one Steel Ranger... also, it's apparently sunrise." The doors below opened with a slow creak, the cool wasteland air filling into the tank once more as Fringe stared out of the door. He pulled back, looking up towards us both and giving a nod, prompting Minty to open up the top hatch as he returned to the forward door. The top hatch fell with a clang, my unicorn friend sliding up and out. His horn had a momentary connection with the metal of the tank on the hatch ring, causing him to wince and stall half-out of the top of the tank. Uch, I sure hope that's just his augmentations being a bit silly... "Identify yourselves and step away from the tank, you are in violation of the codex, Section IV blo-... wha... Kn-Knight Fringe! We thought you left!" The mare adorned in the Steel Ranger power armor stuttered, her dual missile launchers moving to a resting position at her sides as she stood at the side of the tank, another Ranger along with her on the outside. I'd sat next to Minty as he recovered himself, peering over the side and watching it go down - well, at best we get a free pass back to Trotisk and Turnpike, at worst... well, a balefire egg cannon shell can easily punch through power armor, right? Fringe grunted idly, glancing up at my curious self, the unicorn mare in front of him looking to meet my own eyes for a moment. "I'm on orders from Paladin Nova to protect two civilian assets. He's one of 'em. They haven't any intention to cause trouble, we're returning to EQUAD." The mare seemed a little flustered, the silent Ranger with her looking along the length of the tank - a smirk came to my face trying to imagine what he must be thinking of the thing. As he glanced up at myself, I couldn't help but notice him move his haunches a little closer together, as if to... hey, it was that stallion! The mare in my head rolled her eyes as I let off a little chuckle, righting myself and looking up at the brilliant orange the sky was stained. The whine of suit motors filled the air as Fringe seemed to let off a grunt in surprise, followed by a low growl. "Knight Whisper, I respectfully request that you refrain from aiming your missile launchers at me." "S-sorry, uh, sir, b-but I'm ordered... m-my orders are t-to, uh..." Oh, please let this not turn into a bloodbath. I glanced over at Minty, himself sharing a rather worried look before glancing back into the tank. His horn flared up momentarily, the mare continuing to stutter off her orders. "...Th-the interception and c-commandeering of... of any pre-war technology, or weaponry. Y-you know the C-codex, sir, you-" "I'm well aware you're just following your orders, Whisper, but I have my own, and I can't just let you have the tank." Minty kept his gaze in through the hatch, his magic moving something inside, myself looking between him and the grouping of three Steel Rangers at the side of the tank. A familiar click and thunk resonated from the inside of the turret, Minty looking up at myself for a moment. I looked back at him, still trying to process that noise - why was it familiar? And... why in the name of Celestia was I getting a stiffy? The unicorn mouthed the words 'warning shot' and nodded towards the long barrel of the three-inch... oh. That thunk was the loading mechanism accepting a new shell. That explains that... WHAT!? "W-well, then, s-sir, we'll have t-to escort y-you directly back to EQUAD, and then relieve you of the t-tank there." Minty's horn had flared up again, the whirring of the turret drive mechanism silently lifting the barrel skywards, my own eyes exceptionally wide right now as he watched through the top hatch. I looked towards the direction that the gun was pointed in - south-southeast, with an approximate elevation of thirty-five degrees and muzzle velocity of about 900 meters per second... those balefire egg shells had a pretty big bang with them... and that one marker on my compass, was right in that same direction... he'd plant it right in Turnpike if he fired! His expression matched my own as I lauched myself at him, pulling him into my hooves and sending us both over the side of the tank opposite, landing in the snow with a thud. Ow... how did I forget how tall this bloody tank was? Minty let off a loud grunt, sliding out from under me and stumbling backwards in teh snow, clutching the side of his head. "What the hell did you do that for!? Ow... wait... moment please." Letting off a light groan of pain, I picked myself up, Minty sipping from a small purplish healing potion and giving his head a shake. Taking a few more breaths, he turned his gaze back to myself, levitating up his glasses from the snow and fitting them on his muzzle. "I wasn't aiming the thing at anypony! It was just going to fly off and land against a mountain, or in a stretch of wasteland, or-" "Turnpike. It was going to land in Turnpike." I rested myself up against the side of the large metal tank, my augmented friend blinking, his expression changing from anger to disbelief. The soft whirr of armor motors and crunching snow filled the air, Minty standing his ground. "With the angle the turret was at and the way you were raising the barrel, and velocity of those shells, it would have landed right inside Turnpike. You know, that place where Buzzy and Featherweight kind of live?" The ranger with the missile launchers appeared around the front, looking between us both and drawing or attention for the moment. She blinked a few times, staring at Minty in disbelief. "Huh, Paladin Nova -did- base it off of somepony..." She idly scratched at the back of her mane, shrugging and turning back to head around the front. The mare stopped, though, turning back to face us. "Wait, what did you say about Turnpike?" Mare in power armor is asking questions and pointing dual missile launchers at us, while we're both unarmed and Minty knows nothing about how to render one of those things inoperable. Oh, joy. She stepped forwards, us both in her sights, the side doors opening and a long barrel sticking out, resounding with a crack as the stallion holding the large rifle let out a smoky chuff. The Ranger mare ducked in surprise, all eyes looking to the tank and Fringe, who idly took another draw off of his cigar and chambered another round in his rifle. "If it's all the same, I'd like to get moving before the whole bloody wasteland thaws. Twintails, Minty, back in the tank. Knight Whisper, we'll try to keep at walking speed. Keep up." The pegasus stallion looked down at the earth pony with a light smirk, closing the side doors again. She stared up at the doors for a few moments, visibly shaken, before pounding a hoof at the snow and letting off a scream of annoyance. Minty and myself watched her for a moment as she regained herself, promptly trotting over to the front of the tank once more, the both of us climbing in through the side doors and settling in. Walking speed... well, at least we know this thing can manage that. Let EQUAD be close. Minty kept rubbing at his temples, letting off a light groan and laying himself down on the cot, taking another healing potion. "Oh, my head is killing me... what's going on?" Minty adjusted his glases on his head, keeping his eyes held shut for the most part as the motors in back whirred up to speed. The tank gave a jolt before moving forwards, Fringe making small adjustments to the controls before standing himself up and looking out the doorway. This thing had an auto-driver? My unicorn friend rolled onto his side, letting off another loud groan and seeming to curl himself up slightly. A bit of metal armor clanged against the floor as Sugar Rush came up alongside myself, standing over Minty and wearing... hey... was that my lingere? Flash-Bang shared my blush, similarly staring at the unicorn mare as she glanced between us. "It was the only thing I could find, sue me." She let off a huff, looking down at the unicorn laying on the cot. Her augmented horn flared up as she slowly moved her head along the length of his body, a strong grimace coming to her face as she passed over his head with it. Oh, that did not look like an 'everything's a-OK' expression. Sugar Rush's breathing was a bit heavy as she turned to face myself, my stomach seeming to be succumbing to a bomb crater. "Twintails, I... I'm not sure how to put this... Minty's brain is trying to reform around his augmentations. I think... I think one of the mini talismans in the circuitry shattered, and the healing potions... who put in his enhancements?" "W-what?..." The pit in my stomach widened further, becoming a great, gaping hole that even the orange mare couldn't seem to work against. Trying to reform around his... what? But, but Minty's been using healing potions for ages ever since we met up, even. Sugar Rush held her own augmented hoof against my shouler, and I finally noticed how shallow my breathing felt, eyes starting to become damp as I blinked. My gaze fell to the unicorn writhing on the cot, squeezing the small plushie tightly and keeping his head held tightly. "C-can't you d-do anything for him?" The unicorn mare looked down, her magic flaring and pushing a syringe through the side of Minty's barding. He seemed to relax slightly, though still clutched his head and the plushie, not seeming to lose that grimace of pain. Sugar let off a sigh, looking at my augmented friend for a long while. "I gave him a painkiller, he won't be hurting but he needs a neurosurgeon as soon as possible." She fell silent for a few moments, myself taking a few sputtering breaths, the whine of the motors moving the tracks filling the long tank. Sugar Rush blinked a few times, looking down at the royal blue plush in a tiny Stable jacket, the number 76 stitched on it rather expertly. This gave her a moment of thought. "Is that his Stable coltfriend? Was he... um..." She bit at her lip, moving her metallic hoof back down to the floor. Nopony outside of Mooscow probably did know if anyone in Stable 76 was rescued or not... her gaze moved back to myself, Flash-Bang having rested one of her hooves on Sugar Rush's neck, peering forwards past myself. "C-Cross Stitch, we, ah, we found him after the Stable was... he's still alive, in Mooscow. He's a seamster, though." The two mares shared a glance between them, Flash-Bang pushing forwards and stepping up alongside Fringe, tapping against his shoulder and giving him a salute with her hoof. Minty let off a small shuddering breath, rolling about in the cot, still holding onto the small plushie. The chair beside the pair of armored pegasi seemed to be empty - where was Nikolai? "Captain Fringe, requesting permission for leave on a civilian POI retrieval mission. I'm sorry captain, but if you can't convince your slowpoke friends to pick up the pace, we're going to be arriving at EQUAD with one casualty." It was honestly rather jarring how stoic she seemed in expressing the fact that... that, that Minty was going to be okay! He's been through worse, we both have, he'll pull out of this. Fringe blinked a few times, letting off a light grunt and reaching over to the chair opposite, a few muffled words of protest coming from Nikolai as the black ornate cloak seemed to materialize out of thin air, leaving the zebra somewhat naked and the pegasus mare very surprised. "Permission granted, Leftenant. Wear this and be careful, if we're not arrived at EQUAD before you return hold in place with the POI." Flash-Bang gave a nod, pulling the thick cloak over her armor and spreading her wings beneath it, the interior lights of the tank shimmering as she disappeared from view right in front of our eyes. The metal hooves of her armor clacked silently against the ladder leading up to the top of the turret, the hatch doors opening seemingly on their own and shutting much the same as the stallion moved to the side doors. He opened them only slightly, looking behind at the mare on the left side. "Plans changed, Whisper. We need to get to EQUAD ASAP. Try and hop on the back, and hold on." Minty let off a soft moan, drawing my attention back to his sleeping self, eyes dampening as I gently ran a hoof through his teal mane. "You're going to be alright, Minty. You're going to... to wake up..." --- By the time we'd trundled into the long, familiar tunnel leading into the EQUAD facility, we had garnered a large entourage around the tank. Every now and again you could hear some curious Steel Ranger banging a hoof against the steel side, resonating and making the sleeping unicorn wince in pain. Every curious tap and wince from the unicorn picked away at myself - didn't they know what they were doing? Don't they care that Minty's in pain? Don't they... they... Sugar Rush rested a hoof gently on my shoulder, my vision blurred through tears and eyes stinging. The tank came to a slow stop, the quiet gasps of admiration filling the air as Fringe swung open the forward left door, Nova standing outside with an understandably worried expression. "Where's Minty? We can have him taken to the infirmary immediately, and- Minty!" Her frown changed to a wide, hopeful smile as she leapt past Fringe and wrapped her hooves around Sugar Rush's neck, taking the augmented unicorn mare by surprise. Minty let off a soft groan as Sugar stuttered, Nova starting to let off soft cries, a smile still on her muzzle - oh, this isn't going to end well. "Y-you had me so worried! When I h-heard that you were injured... but you look fine now! You... you..." Her smile moved back to a frown, tears streaking down her cheeks as she took a better look at the pony she was hugging. Sugar Rush held her up, looking over to where I was standing over Minty. "I'm sorry. Where's the infirmary?" Sugar Rush's magic lifted up the lightly sleeping Minty, Nova moving out of their way as my augmented friend was levitated onto a waiting gurney by his doppleganger. The confused Steel Ranger paladin sputtered, looking towards myself for a moment and then jumping out of the open door of the tank, chasing through the thinning group of power armored ponies who were still admiring the sight of the massive tracked vehicle. Fringe and Nikolai stuck around, the tunnel slowly growing silent as all the onlookers filtered back to their posts. Fringe lit up another cigar, taking a few puffs off of it and looking up at myself as I stood in the open doorway of the tank, resting against the frame and looking at the concrete floor. "They're going to want to keep this thing, you know. Us trundling in inside a giant war machine, unless Quazar miraculously grew a heart while we were all up there, there's no right way in hell this thing is leaving." Fringe let off a grunt, banging his hoof against the side of the track's armor and looking up at myself. A small cloud of the thick smoke left his nostrils as he peered up through the tunnel. A few shouts and commands from the Rangers at the entrance echoed down it to us, myself following his gaze. "Sounds like we beat Leftenant Flash-Bang. Never was a strong flyer, her." There was a faint hint of amusement in his vocie as he trotted along the long stretch of tunnel, myself following behind. Nikolai's hoofsteps followed behind mine - I'd forgotten he was there. Oh, this day just gets better and better, doesn't it? "We are a really long way from my station. I'm not even sure if the signal reaches this far." His eyes looked over the thick walls and steel braces. "Undoubtedly not inside here. What kind of facility requires so much structural reinforcement? It seems as if they were expecting this desolate place to be fully targeted with every single balefire warhead available." The pair of ponies standing at the entrance were much closer now, the pegasus mare in the black cloak still arguing with the gate guards. Now that I thought about it, Nikolai did have a pretty good point - this whole facility seemed ridiculously overengineered, even by pre-war standards. Compared to NEAMO, this thing was a bloody stable and a half... the echoes of the arguing finally melded into discernable words, Cross Stitch cowering behind Flash-Bang, and otherwise showing just how much of a former Stable pony he was. At least he seemed to have made himself a pretty neat winter jacket, even if it did have a huge '76' sewn on the back. "I recieved a direct order from Captain Moral Fringe to retrieve this civilian stallion, he has all rights to be able to go inside and see his currently severely injured significant other in your care. Do you want to explain to your superiors that you prevented somepony from being there for their special somepony when they passed on?" Hoho, man Flash-Bang was pretty feisty when she was mad. Fringe had reached the entrance of the tunnel, the two guard stallions turning and saluting him out of habit as Flash-Bang stepped forth. Myself and Nikolai were nearing the entrance as well, and Cross Stitch seemed to have a moment of confusion, followed by a look of pure unbridled terror plastered onto his face, which is just about the same moment I remembered what the other defining feature of Stable 76 was besides the half-robot ponies. "ZEBRA!!! KILL IT, KILL IT, TEAR IT'S SPINE OUT AND TURN IT INTO ASH!! JUST DON'T BREATHE IT IN!" The augmented unicorn screamed as his magic tore one of the light beam-rifles off the guard's power armor, aiming and firing the weaon madly about Nikolai. The understandably surprised zebra leapt forwards, knocking the levitated laser rifle aside and landing with Flash-Bang between himself and Cross Stitch, staring over the pegasus mare's back at the frantic eyes of the unicorn. He wasn't seeming to get any calmer. "DON'T LET IT LOOK AT YOU, IT'LL TURN YOU TO STONE!!" ...or saner, for that matter. Fringe let off a grunt, tackling the unicorn to the ground and keeping him pinned down, a moment's struggling leading to the dull sound of a small metal object being thrown into the snow. Cross Stitch screamed again, writhing and fighting against the large power-armored stallion's grasp. "GIVE ME BACK MY HORN!!!" "He's not the enemy, mate! Get your goddess-damned self together!" Nikolai hastily pulled the black cloak off of Flash-Bang's back, wrapping himself in it and disappearing from view. Man, that was still pretty weird to see. Everypony had eyes on Cross Stitch and Fringe as they fought with each other for now, the augmented unicorn soon breaking down into tears as his struggling became weak and more out of desperation and worry than anger. Fringe's breath condensed heavily in the cool air, his eyes moving over to myself. "What's up with him, eh? Doesn't he damn well know the war's been over for two centuries now?" "It was his Stable's fault, they were brainwashed with anti-zebra propaganda, or something. Minty had the same problem, remember?" Fringe eased off of the unicorn, who remained laying in the snow outside the tunnel, eyes wrenched shut and forehooves flailing weakly at the air, crying pitifully out into the wasteland air. The tunnel guards seemed to regard the situation as not being in their job description anymore, appearing to busy themselves with other things and leaving Cross Stitch to us three... four, right, Nikolai's still around here somewhere. The unicorn sputtered and sniffled, searching about in the packed snow and picking up his horn, holding it gently in his hooves. "C-can-, can I p-please just go s-see Minty now?" Flash-Bang moved up alongside him, softly resting a foreleg around his neck and helping him to his hooves, quietly leading him down into the tunnel. Fringe looked around the area, the new sun rising high into the noon sky as the sound of hoofsteps on concrete faded away and moved to echoes. The sound of power armored ponies idly milling about small trenches and mounted cannons filled the air around, Nikolai's shuffling of his cloak greeting it as he came back to the land of the visible. The cold, dry air held our breaths in thick white clouds, comparable to the larger, thicker ones that seemed to thinly make up the high ceiling of the entirety of the wasteland. The zebra tapped against my shoulder idly, calling for my attention, a faintly worried expression upon his face. "It would be hopelessly unwise for me to attempt heading back to either Topatow or my station alone. There was another storm system coming off of the northern sea and headed over that way, I would be lost or die from the cold if I tried... do you have any other, uh, friends in the area? Ones that, well..." Nikolai awkwardly hoofed at the show, forming a neat small pile underneath himself. Was... was he actually asking me to set him up somewhere? He let off a sigh, looking down at the cold snow. "Actually, perhaps going back at all wouldn't be in best interests." The zebra adjusted the large hammer and tesla cannon upon his back, turning his attention back towards myself. I passed an idle glance toward Fringe - he had another cigar lit in his mouth, idly looking over us both and taking a long draw off it, chuffing out into the cool air. "Someone with your knowledge and expertise of energy weapons, would make a good member of the Steel Rangers... if we accepted zebras. It's not in my power, and I don't think Quazar would be in a talking mood today. Sorry." The pegasus in power armor turned his eyes to the snow, turning about and heading back towards the tunnel entrance. He paused for a moment, looking back at us. "I've got to check back in with Quazar. If things turn south, I'll send Flash-Bang to get you." Comforting. Fringe headed back down the entrance to EQUAD, a slow trail of thick smoke accompanying him. Energy weapons... that mght work. "Nikolai, I think I know somewhere you can stay." --- "Oh, hi there! Long time n-... n-n-..." We'd stepped inside the Plasma Spaz, Nikolai already examining the large array of energy weapons in display and myself watching a very stuttery pegasus ghoul standing behind the counter. Her wide-eyed, terrified expression kept as we moved further inside, her tiny pupils welded to the sight of the widely-smiling zebra trotting alongside myself. Nikolai's smile faltered lightly as he turned his attention to Greasy, idly tilting his head and showing some semblance of concern. "Ah, are you alright, Miss Gears? You're not appearing well." The pegasus behind the counter faltered on her hooves, slowly trotting backwards and spouting incoherent gibberish. Hoof met forehead as I finally remembered that teensy little detail concerning Greasy, and subsequently was followed by memories of the whole show she'd put on when we finally arrived back here after that fun time fighting for our lives in the inner city. She was hyperventialting readily, and rather dramatically went and fainted against the hard wood floor as Nikolai lifted a hoof off of the counter, watching her. Needless to say, maybe I didn't think this through all that well. "You, um, I believe you neglected to mention she was a ghoul." "Yeah... I probably should have remembered that. I'm sure she'll warm up to you when she sees you fixing some of the guns and stuff, just, guh, this is all I can think of on short notice." Shaking my head back and forth and cursing myself for that momentary lapse of reasoning, I moved myself behind the counter and gently hefted the fainted pegasus onto my back, carrying her over to the small bed in the back room. Oooh, man, ghouls really stink of decay... muh, I suppose I would too, if I were trapped for two centuries in some dusty underground workshop. Nikolai kept alongside myself, looking down at the ghoulified mare with the faintest hints of worry upon his face. "Are you sure that this will work out? I mean..." Nikolai bit at his lower lip idly, glancing back out at the large array of energy weapons sitting in the front of the store. "I'm not sure about yourself, but I've a feeling this is akin to leaving a bezerk security robot in the same cage as a foal. Much as I do admire her accomplishments, well... she -is- a pre-war ghoul..." Greasy stirred for a moment, moving a hoof to her head and sitting herself up, grunting and ruffling her decayed wings. Nikolai took a few steps backwards, standing firmly, as the ghoulified pegasus shook her scraggly mane from her eyes and focused in on myself. I moved forwards, resting a hoof against her shoulder, looking to her strained and age-weary eyes. "Greasy, I know that the war wasn't kind to yourself at all, and you've probably still got some emotions from it in your head, but... you have to understand, the war's been over for almost two centuries now." She shuffled on the mattress, moving to get onto her hooves, still looking at myself with a certain expression of confusion. Myself taking a few steps back, Nikolai remained standing where he was, breathing softly in the somewhat warmed air of the shop. Greasy's eyes met his own, and she began to hyperventilate once more. Oh, come on now... "Greasy! Greasy, listen to me. The war is over. This is Nikolai, he needs a place to stay, and he's friends with myself, Minty, and Sugar Rush. He's not an enemy anymore..." Her breathing was back under control, ut that feeling of disbelief in her eyes remained. "So... everypony's friends with the stripes now... great... just goddess-damned great..." She let off a few weak chuckles, weakly trotting up to Nikolai with a forced smile. I'd never really realized how tall he seemed to be... or, well, how short Greasy was, for that matter. Nikolai seemed to adjust himself, prompting Greasy to flinch momentarily and very nearly propel herself into running me over. She timidly raised a hoof, the zebra softly shaking it as they looked over each other. I swear, you could cut the awkward with a knife... "N-Nikolai, right? U-um..." He nodded lightly, wearing a small smile as he set down his large cannon and hammer on the floor, Greasy looking at them both with more than a bit of astonishment. "Oh my goddesses, where did you find a reactive-force sledgehammer in such pristine condition!? This looks like it just came out of storage!" "Technically, it kind of did. I had been meaning to retrieve it for a while, the golden pegasus and augmented unicorn assisted me in finally getting it. I haven't tested it yet, but... is that a functioning hover-scooter? Where in Equestria did you find something like that!?" The pair erupted in cheerful banter, examining each other's devices and chatting happily. Greasy's wings were spread wide in a familiar excitement I knew of, Nikolai wearing the largest grin I'd seen on his face in a long time... no, wait, make that ever. A pleasant smile crept across my own face, watching them discuss energy weapons and other things that were just plainly over my head - maybe a mention of a reactor or two, but always back to that techno-babble I couldn't make coat or tail of - before I left them to theirselves, stepping out into the cool air. The day had already begun to wane off, the sun hidden by the dense clouds in the far west as I looked towards the two-laned snow-covered road heading east, spreading my own wings wide and taking to the air. There was still one thing nearby that I really had to do - and that marker on my compass pointed straight at it. --- I rested myself atop the broad chest of the massive grey pegasus stallion, my cheek brushing against his thick neck as he softly nibbled at the tip of my ear, his large hooves caressing and rubbing my own wings underneath the thick blankets. A heavy blush remained upon my cheeks as our deep breaths seemed to batch in unison, my forehooves resting upon his wide shoulders and gently rubbing along the firm muscles underneath hs dampened coat. Lifting myself up, my eyes met his gaze, those comforting, light-blue eyes of his peering deeply back into mine as our lips met in loving embrace. His hooves held myself closer against his large, muscular body, smiles upon both of our faces as the wasteland itself seemed so much warmer now, so much closer together, so many worries melting away into bliss. "Twintails... I... I've been meaning to ask. Why'd you, you know, act like that, back in Quebuck? Was it something I said?" Featherweight rolled himself and myself onto our sides, looking at myself with the faintest hints of worry behind that blushing, exhausted expression. I shuffled underneath the thick comforter, staring back, trying to think - Quebuck... what happened in Quebuck? We were staying the night, Featherweight let me share the bed with him, and... oh, right. Twinnie. Releasing a sigh, I rested my head against the pillow, one of my forehooves gently held upon his shoulder as my gaze fell between us. "It... well... it's a long story. You probably heard about it on the radio, when Stable 34... my Stable..." My vision began to blur as I held my eyes shut, errant sputtering whimpers escaping myself. Damnit, Twintails, keep yourself together... The large pegasus stallion embraced myself in a gentle hug, softly shushing into my ear and gently rocking myself back and forth underneath the covers. Sniffling a few more times, I let off a shuddering breath, feeling his thick grey coat rubbing against my cheek. "G-Gamma Ray... my, my adopted mom... she-she used to c-call me Twinnie..." Featherweight fell silent for what felt like a long time, simply embracing myself and allowing me to release my emotions. My tears dampened the soft coat on his neck and mane, every now and again his soft lips gently pressing against my forehead and muzzle rubbing against the top of my head as he kept myself close. His large hooves gently caressed my back, the light of the setting wasteland sun shining through the windows of the railroad car, a gentle wind whistling through the loose, old frames and filling in more noise behind my tears. A faint melody could be heard, carried on the chill air, one that I'd come to know so very well; the emotions behind it, the flowing, sweet voice, the longing tune. It was a hopeful song, soothing, promising... "...we'll meet again, Don't know where, don't know when, But I know we'll meet again, Some sunny day. Keep smiling through, Just like you always do, 'Till the blue skies drive those dark clouds, far away. So will you please say hello, To the folks that I know, tell them, 'I won't be long' They'll be happy to know, That as you saw me go, I was sing-ing this song, We'll meet again, Don't know where, Don't know when... But I know we'll meet again, some sun-ny, day..." ----- I groaned in pain, my horn throbbing. Fuck... what happened last night? I reached up to rub it, but even my hoof gently brushing my mane against it's metal exterior sent bursts of intense pain into my skull. Celestia fuck me, what the hell is happening? Letting off another groan, I managed to push myself up onto my haunches, eyes wrenched shut for the moment. The ground was cold and metallic, and I could feel it humming beneath me. My head swam as I lifted myself up, opening my eyes and peering about the metallic... what... My vision was filled by endless miles of what looked like huge metal plates and wires in a dark cavern. The massive expanse was dimly lit by the soft glow of talismans beneath sections of the floor, and the occasional glow of what looked like white energy speeding down the hose-like wires. “Oh my, um, a-are you alright?” I spun around upon hearing the soft voice, seeing the same yellow pegasus mare that... she was the same one from the Statuette? What the hell... “Ugh… yeah, I-I guess.” I tried to stand up, but my spinning head and aching horn forced me back onto my stomach. The pegasus mare rushed over to me - she seemed so familiar, like, in pictures or something - with a look of concern on her face, bending down and helping me back up. “Oooh, that hurt...” Muttering another soft groan of pain, I looked around the cavern, trying to get my bearings. It looked far too massive to be physically possible at all, let alone someplace I’d recognize, like a Stable or bunker. Wires hung haphazardly from the ceiling, a few twisting together and connecting into the lightly vibrating ground. “Where… where are we?” “U-uhm… in your mind, for lack of a better explanation. Twilight was always better with this kind of stuff...” In... in my -what-? I raised an eyebrow at her quizzically, the mare starting to slowly walk forward, helping me along with her. We walked alongside each other as our hooves clanked against the floor, the yellow mare brushing some of her flowing pink mane away from her eyes. “Your augmentations suffered a lot of damage from being banged and shaken around so much. One of the, um, inhibitor talismans broke.” I gave a confused look, wincing in pain a moment later. “Your... your brain is trying to heal itself from the scars left by the implants, but it’s growing over them.” My gut clenched at this, my pupils shrinking down - what... does she mean... I tried to say something, but I only stammered. “Unless somepony fixes this soon…” Her voice trailed off, and she looked down towards the ground. I was frozen in place, my voice having died in my throat My hooves grew hopelessly shaky as I quivered in place, blood draining from my already pale face. I… I could die? I could die here, and not be able to do anything about it? What about Twintails? What about Cross Stitch? And Greasy, and Sugar Rush, and, and… I felt my vision go blurry as I stumbled about, tripping and falling to the floor again. The mare sat beside me, gently lifting my head onto her lap. She gently caressed my mane, taking care not to come close to my still sore horn. “W-what’s going to happen?” My heart was racing in my chest as another twinge of pain shot across my head. She shushed me softly and continued to pet me, looking into my eyes with her large, comforting ones, energy flying through the wires and conduits above us. Hers looked like they were starting to get a bit damp, too. “I... I don’t know. I-I'm sorry. They’ll need a neurosurgeon to fix this damage, and... I don’t know if there is one, wherever we are.” I whimpered a little, not comforted by her relaxed stature. She rubbed her gentle hoof along my mane, taking a small sniffle in and blinking the tears from her own eyes. “I’m sure they’ll find somepony that can help. They all looked extremely concerned about you... including Nikolai.” Clenching my own eyes shut, I looked away from her gaze, feeling more than a little guilty. I never did give him the benefit of the doubt, did I? He hasn’t been trying to do anything like the Stable books said... I let off a sigh, the pegasus mare sitting still. “It... it’s alright. W-we all... we all make mistakes, sometimes...” She whimpered, starting to let herself give in to her own tears. The way she was acting, she felt a lot of guilt too, didn't-... a pulse of energy shot by, illuminating her face. She was one of the ministry mares... she was the ministry mare that made the megaspells. I fell silent, looking up at her with my eyes wide, quietly thinking over her words. She regained herself, her gentle hooves rested upon my chest for the moment. “D-don’t worry, Minty, you’re... you're not a bad pony. You... you just... you're just a bit misguided. You still can fix it, before... before it's too late.” She fought back her tears, smiling down at myself gently. I sniffed a little, returning the soft smile to her, the knot in my stomach having loosened the slightest bit. My vision faded to darkness, the mare humming a soft, familiar tune. "Hush now, Quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now, Quiet now, it's time to go to bed..." A soft, steady beeping filled my ears, each note slightly cut off from the last one. I could feel a few tubes running into my right foreleg, my horn still aching, but wasn’t pounding nearly as much as it had been before. There were some faint murmurs somewhere nearby, but I couldn’t make out what was being said. Cracking open my eyes, I slowly lifted my hoof up to my head… but nothing connected. I looked down, realizing my mechanical leg had been removed. Again. I let myself fall back into the pillow, letting off a groan of annoyance. Who took that now? Pushing myself up in my bed a little, I had to take multiple breaks to just stop myself from vomiting over the sheets. My vision was a recognizable kind of blurry - oh, wonderful. I tried to locate my glasses, but, just like my pip-leg, they were out of view. Ugh, where the heck was I? We were fending off the Hell Hounds… going towards EQUAD… something about Turnpike... as the room fell more into focus - well, relatively, anyways - I found myself starting to notice the stench of dried blood. “Oh, thank the goddesses, you’re awake!” A familiar voice shouted and ran over to the side of the bed. I looked over, the clouded shape of a navy blue pony coming into my view. Cross Stitch? I pushed myself up a little straighter, the Stable unicorn speaking up again. “One of your friends… Flash-Bang, I think her name was, she flew back to Mooscow and brought me all the way here. Honestly, I’m a little surprised she found me.” He sniffled, rubbing at his eyes and gently resting one of his hooves against my shoulder. I groaned a bit, still trying to shake the sick feeling. “C-Cross? How long have you been here? How long have I been out? And, ah, where are we?” He seemed to smile broadly, his horn lighting up and encompassing something from a table across the room, levitating it over to me. He gently dropped my glasses on my lap and let me slip them on my face. Oh, that was much less headache-inducing... The room came into focus, my robotic foreleg lying on the table my glasses had come from, my armor folded up next to it. “W-what happened to me?” “The Elder was able to get you an auto-doc, you’re lucky somepony here knew how to operate one of those things properly. They had to dig around in your head a little, but they said they were able to fix whatever was going on. You’ve been out for a few days, unless you were here for longer than I’ve been.” I nodded, my eyes being drawn to a jar sitting atop the bedside table, focusing in on and staring at it, dumbfounded. Inside, there was a disturbingly large chunk of grey matter, a few visible wires running across it. Uhh… Cross followed my gaze before giving a look of disgust. “I… honestly don’t even want to know.” He stood silent for a few moments before his eyes went wide, looking as if he’d just remembered something. His gaze turned back to myself, quizzical. “Hey… recently I got a special order for a live-size unicorn plush. White coat, teal mane… peppermint cutie mark. What’s going on?” He looked more than a little suspicious. Before I could respond with my own answer of what the hell, Nova passed by the open doorway, immediately looking back and beaming as she saw I was awake. “Minty! You’re alright!” She rushed over and practically leapt upon me, my head pounding as it rattled around. Okay, headache's back. She let go of me and stepped back, clearing a throat as a blush came to her face. “S-sorry...” She let off a weak chuckle, suddenly - finally - noticing Cross. “Oh! Cross Stitch, why didn’t you send for me when you heard Minty was up? The doctors needed to know.” She said, slightly reprimanding, but still cheerful. She lifted up my leg and carried it over to me, helping to secure it back to the stump. My mind jumped back to the last time I was here, and she had interests in my mechanical foreleg. “Nova… you didn’t happen to order for a plushie of me… did you?” I asked, not sure if I really wanted to know the answer. Cross made an equally surprised and jealous look, glancing between us both. Eheh, don’t get ahead of yourself, Stitchy, it’s SO not what it looks like. Nova's ears fell a little, her smile faltering. "Haha, w-what are you talking about? I'd -never- do something like that, nope, never!" Nova chuckled weakly, beads of sweat forming on her brow. Cross's expression grew a little more jealous, myself leaning away from the mare sprouting denials. She finished securing my leg, doing her best to avoid our gazes. I flexed the pip-leg experimentally; some of the joints were a bit stiff, but at least nothing seemed busted. "So... um... I'll just... I'll go get a doctor now." She let off a few more weak chuckles, rushing out of the room. "What the heck is going on?" I looked over to Cross Stitch, who was looking quite irritated from what just occured - I couldn't blame him. He seemed to be fuming more than just a little. I rubbed the back of my head gently, grimacing and letting off my own weak chuckle. Goddeses, this has seriously been a weird few weeks, hasn't it? As I took to the task of explaining what had happened the first time I was here, Cross's expression slwly yet surely grew from angry to disturbed with each sentence. "Wah, your cousin wants you... in the... and the gun... and..." His voice rose to a shout, causing my head to throb and hears to ring. Never said it'd be pretty. "Nope! No, no, no, no, no, not having that! This place is -way- too weird for me." He shuddered, his mane bouncing as he shook. I nodded, rubbing my temples a bit to soothe them. "Yeah... Trust me, I'd like to leave here just as much as you do." I tried to throw the covers back and climb out of the bed, but Cross stopped me, nodding to the series of tubes still in my right foreleg. Well... that was a good point. I let off a sigh, flopping back into the pillow, figuring I probably should actually wait for a doctor. One soon arrived, followed by Nova, who stood outside the room awkwardly, nervously glancing down eiether side of the hallway. The doctor trotted up to me, setting her clipboard on top of the bit of brain's jar. She looked me over, flexing my joints and inspecting the back of my head. I felt her rub her hoof over some stitches, before lifting up their clipboard and scribbling a few things down. “Well, you look like you’re making a fine recovery. I can give you some extra painkillers we have around, but otherwise you’re free to go." She looked up at myself faintly interested, glancing between her clipboard every now and again. I nodded weakly, the doctor pulling a small orange bottle out of a nearby drawer and set them next to my gear. She glanced back at the brain floating in the jar, before leaning in for a closer look. “Oh, Paladin Nova, the damaged brain sample you requested seems to be responding quite well to treatment. If you’d like, we can proceed to moving the conscience signat-” The doctor was cut off as Nova rushed over to her, and rather ungracefully shoved her hoof in his mouth. Well then. “No! What? Ehaheh, I don’t know what you mean!” She stammered idly, scooping up the jar and starting to push the doctor out of the room. “C-come on, let’s not keep… uh… Fission waiting! HE was the one who wanted this!” The doctor looked extremely confused as Nova shoved him out. “Haha, s-silly doctor, maybe you’re the one w-who needs help! Haha… ehah…” She zipped out of the room, dragging the doctor behind her. Cross and I were frozen, dumbfoundedly staring at the door. I… don’t even want to know what she's doing. Flash-Bang, Sugar, and Twintails entered the room, snapping Cross and me out of our stunned state. “Are you okay? We, ah, saw Nova dragging the doctor away.” Sugar trotted up alongside the other side of the bed, blinking confusely. I nodded, setting my hooves on the ground tentatively. My legs shook slightly as I stood up straight, and my head still ached a little, but nothing nearly as severe as before. Twintails stood beside myself as I slowly walked over to the table, my horn starting to flare up to unscrew the cap. Immediately I dropped to my knees, a huge bolt of pain coursing through my skull. Aaaargh… okay... No magic for a while, at least until the painkillers get in your system. Cross and Twintails helped me up from the floor, and I clumsily undid the cap with my hooves. I took a couple of the bitter pills and slid the bottle into my saddle bags. The effect was almost instant, my headache lessening, nearly gone completely. I carefully lit up my horn, levitating my armor up and letting it unfurl. My head hurt just from doing that? Ow... I guess I won't be lifting anything heavy for awhile, but it was definitely better than nothing. I slipped into my armor, sliding the metal plates into place before hitching up my saddlebags and turning to the others. “So… eheh, what now?” I passed on a small smile, looking over the small group. They still looked a little concerned, but relaxed a bit nonetheless. “Well, Sugar and I were going to be sticking around Trotisk for a while. You guys could stick with us, if you needed.” Flash-Bang smiled, idly adjusting her barding and ruffling her wings. I looked over to Twintails, who smiled reassuringly. Cross looked a little more worried, but seemed to agree, anyways. Flash and Sugar headed out of the room, the rest of us following behind them. We headed up a set of stairs, a few armor-clad ponies passing us, nodding in acknowledgement. As we passed by what looked like a radio room, I could overhear some idle chatter. “We’ve already lost five knights searching Pripytrot, we’re not sending anymore in… yessir… yessir… Fine, I’ll ask Senior Knight Ion, but I don’t think he or Elder Quazar are going to like our chances, especially after all this.” We turned the corner, the mare’s voice lost in the rumble of generators and the echoes from the firing range. We made our way through the facility, Fringe running up from the workshop as we approached the large set of stairs to the exit. “There you are, Nova said you were still in your room. Nice to see you up and about still.” He put on a soft smile behind his mustache, following behind us for the moment. Man this hallway was getting crowded... We headed up a flight of stairs, the heavy upper door opening to reveal the long tunnel leading out to the bright landscape. I rubbed my eyes as they started to water - Ugh, a week without sunlight kills your eyesight. It was coming out of my Stable all over again. I followed the others, blinking rapidly as the wind whipped some of the water out of my eyes. We all trotted down the hill, the guards standing by the fence raising the gate to allow us through. “The Ranger Engineers are still fixing up the TOG - ah, that tank, but even when it’s done, I doubt they'd be up for giving it back up. It’s honestly a miracle they didn’t confiscate that rifle from you, Minty. Celestia knows Elder Quazar tried.” Sugar let off a chuckle, stretching her hooves and looking around the entrance area. “It’s a good thing Greasy was willing to give up a couple of her schematics instead. Speaking of, she’ll be wanting a look over of that gun when we get back.” We continued down the hill, Twintails firing off his Luger at a bloatfly idly. “Oh, and you wouldn’t believe how much she and Nikolai have been getting along lately. Kind of funny, she’s probably the most racist pony I've ever met, next to you. No offense.” She chuckled weakly, chewing idly at her lower lip and looking out across the wasteland. Hey, at least I... well... I'm getting better! Cross pulled his jacket a little more snugly around his face, the wind biting at exposed skin. “I still can’t believe you didn’t kill off that striped-skin when you had the chance, Minty. Don’t tell me you’re becoming a sympathizer.” He let off a weak chuckle, smiling faintly, but failed to hide the serious tone of his voice. I didn’t answer him. Sympathizer? My gut instinctively clenched at that word, considering the implications. The mare in my head tried to calm me down, just like she did before, but it didn’t help that much. I shook my head, trying to hide my worry - what would he do if I said yes? Did... did he already know? I mentally sighed, shaking my head, if just barely. Just, try not to let on, Minty. Who knows, maybe he’ll come around… or not. We were soon walking through Trotisk, a few foals building a snow-mare at the side of the road while another packed snow into a large barricade. The bell above the door to the Plasma Spaz rang as Twintails pushed inside. We all filed in as the sound of hooves were heard coming down the wooden steps. Greasy trotted up to the counter, smiling widely as she saw us. “Minty! It’s good to see you’re back on your hooves. Oh, oh...” She ran back to the steps, shouting up them. “Hey Nikolai! Minty’s back!” There was a crash, and soon the zebra was racing down the steps. He jumped the last few, landing with a thud against the hardwood floor, still wearing a large set of goggles that honestly just looked bizzare. A few smaller lenses were secured to the left lens of the goggle on hinges, magnifying his eye largely. He slid them up his face, grinning widely, but not before Cross had fainted at the deranged sight. “Eheh, ah... sorry.” I bent down, fanning Cross’s face with a hoof as Nikolai set the odd headgear on the counter. “It’s good to see you're alive, though. Greasy and I have been so worried.” He helped Cross over to a chair, letting him lean against the counter as he recovered. As I bent over, Greasy noticed J01-T5 slung across my back, letting out a squeal of delight. She rushed over me, yanking the long rifle off of my back, almost tearing the strap apart. “Where on earth did you get this, Minty?!” The ghoulified pegasus mare was ridiculously giddy, practically bouncing in place as she looked it over. “I’ve tried building some form of energy sniper rifle before, but there’s always the problem of being able to accelerate plasma and making a powerful laser beam that won’t fry the weapon itself... ooh, can I study this? Pleeeeease? It won’t take long, I promise!” Before I could answer, she had ran back upstairs, Sugar and Flash following behind her. Pah, crazy Enclave mares... “Sheesh, how do you put up with her?” Nikolai shrugged, chuckling a bit as Twintails looked idly about the energy weapons shop. Cross groaned as he came to, shaking his head. He opened his eyes, only to be met by Nikolai standing right in front of him. He jumped backwards, yelping in fright. “Woah, woah, calm down!” Twintails walked up to Cross, the unicorn leaping behind him and using him as a shield, as he encompassed a grenade from the counter in his magic, just about ready to pull out the pin and throw it towards Nikolai. Twintails grabbed the grenade out of Cross's hoof, glaring at him and tossing the small energetic container of plasma aside. "What is the matter with you? Are you completely insane?!" Cross only dove under the table, cowering in fear. Twintails rolled his eyes and trotted up to the counter beside Nikolai, mumbling something about balefire warheads. "Minty, can't you stop him from blowing us all up? I'd rather not die in a large explosion just yet." I trotted over to him, picking up his tail with my magic and dragging him out. Graah, fuck, headache's coming back... might need another couple of pills. I unscrewed the cap and swallowed two of the bitter things, Cross standing himself back up. I slid the bottle of pills back into my saddlebags, sighing as the pain died down and everything stopped spinning. "Cross, you can't go chucking grenades around like that. You're likely to get us all killed." Cross sputtered, pointing at Nikolai. I leaned in towards his ear, muttering softly, "Look... I'm not really happy with it either, but he's been pretty useful so far. The least we can do is not try to kill him." Me giving a lecture on not gunning down stripes? That mare in my head must be so proud. "Besides, if everything goes as planned, he'll probably be the last one around." Cross raised his eyebrow hopefully, and I immediately regretted saying that. "Just trust me." Nikolai still looked a little worried as I turned back to face the group. "So... what are you guys planning on doing now? Myself, I think I'm actually going to stay here. My station's quite far away, and Greasy's been really accommodating." He smiled at us gently, picking up his goggles off of the counter. "If you guys ever need me, though, I'd be happy to head out with you." Twintails and Fringe both noddd and smiled in approval, but Cross wasn’t looking happy at all. I felt my ears drop a little, looking at him.. “We’ll be heading on back to Mooscow, hopefully we can get there before the next time a storm blows in.” I glanced back at Cross Stitch, who seemed to be looking up at one of the plasma casters hanging on the wall in awe. “Maybe we can pick you up some other time… it’d probably be best not to have you and Cross together at the same time.” He nodded, chuckling a little. “I suppose not. Just don’t leave me here for good,” He lowered is voice. “I... don’t particularly like the look of some of the stuff Greasy’s been putting together. I think the war may haave took away a bit more than just parts of her coat...” He stood up suddenly as Greasy and Sugar came back down the steps, carrying J01 in her magic. She levitated it over me, and I slung it back into place. “Well, hopefully you guys don’t run into more Hell Hounds and… stuff.” He chuckled weakly as I nodded, the others trotting up around. “That’s some absolutely beautiful craftsmanship you have there, Minty. Let me get a closer inspection of it sometime, I bet I could find a few ways to modify it for ya!” My ears perked up at that idea. J01-T5 with explosive plasma rounds? More scope settings? Fuzzy dice? Ohohoho, so much fun to be had! Greasy passed on a smile as she turned back around, heading to the back of the shop alongside Nikolai. “See you guys, around!” I made sure J01 was secure before Twintails, Fringe, Cross and I all headed out of the shop, Cross zipping his jacket up a little tighter. As we headed out of town, I idly rummaged about in my saddle bags, looking towards the bundled-up unicorn beside me. “Hey Cross, catch.” I tossed him my plasma pistol, my coltfriend catching it in his aura. It hummed and sparked faintly, as he slid it in the front pocket of his jacket, adjusting it idly with a hoof. “Just don’t try killing everything you see.” He grinned, Twintails flipping and adjusting the knobs on his Pip-Buck, the familiar, smarmy voice breaking through static. “So bundle up folks, that storm looks like it’ll be another nasty one from the coast! And be sure to keep an eye out for whatever the heck that warship leaving tracks across the wastes is, I dunno aboutr you but something that spits balefire warheads isn't something I'd want to get too close to! Anyways, that's the morning news broadcast for today, here’s some music for you all, if only life could really be this sweet...” "Life could be a dream If I could take you up in paradise up above If you would tell me I'm the only one that you love Life could be a dream, sweetheart Hello, hello again, sh-boom and hopin' we'll meet again..." ----- "Hello wasteland, and welcome back to CONELRAD on your AM radio dial! You're listening to the stallion otherwise known as Bert the Turtle, coming to your listening ears with all the news and other crap that's going on out there nowadays! So anyways, time for me to stop blathering on about reorting the news and actually report it! First off, still no word out of Pripytrot, but some scouts in shiny steel divulged that something more serious than a universal shut-down of all transcievers is going on out that way. If you have friends or family in the city, well... I wouldn't reccomend heading in to get them out. Those scouts also said they went in about ten rangers stronger than they came out. Whatever the hell's attacking them... remember, I'm not making this stuff up... whatever the hell it is, it's killed ten of the best those ponies in tin cans have to offer already. I don't need to tell you how dangerous a pissed-off Steel Ranger knight can be, and if they're getting overwhelmed, well... hm... "A-ah, anyways! In other happenings out in the wasteland, and assuming you haven't been listening to the last few times I reported on it, there have been scattered reports from out up near Steel Creek of a large snow-camoflauged beast of a machine trundling along and leaving wide parallel tracks in the snow and ice. Many sources, including a certain ghoulified mathematician you all know and love, have confirmed this nasty monster to be a pre-war tank. Last sighting of it was moving inside that tunnel outside of what's left of Steel creek, other words, into Steel Ranger custody. If this is the case, all we can hope for is that they've got sense enough to not point that big-ass gun at anything or anyone who didn't realize the gigantic steel behemoth isn't damaged by hunting rifle shots. "And finally, I'm pleased to bring you to the newest segment of the program - advertising! If it's a robotic companion or just a new pack mule you're looking for - no offense to any mules who might be listening in - then send along an order at your nearest courier shop for one from Sparkplugs Robotics! Supplies are limited, but payment can also be taken in the form of any wrecked robots you might find laying around. Discounted price for full disabled pre-war bots! Eheh... ah, oh yes, and if it's your barding that needs to be patched up, or if you just want something to cuddle that won't try and squirm away from you in the middle of the night, just send along a letter to Mooscow's own local seamster, Cross Stitch. Trust me on this, that kid's got more talent with a needle in one hoof than most ponies I've seen have in their entire bodies! Will also do special orders for new clothes you might need to brave the cold, cold wasteland, so don't be shy about asking! Kid's got a heart of gold. "Anyways, that wraps up the mid-day report, here's another piece of gold from our own Tom Neighrer. Who knew he really WAS such a kinky bastard? Hah!" "I have here a march for mine, it's called; Smut! Give me smut and nothing but! A dirty novel I can't shut, if it's uncut, and unsubt- -tle. I've never quibbled, if it was ribbled! I would devour, where others merely nibbled! As the judge remarked the day that he acquitted my Aunt Hor-" "Advertising? How the hell are you advertising now?" Minty looked towards Cross Stitch in a state of disbelief as we trotted along the short stretch of road between Trotisk and Turnpike, the latter augmented unicorn gaining a smirk upon his face and letting off a smug chuckle. Fringe trotted alongside myself, having his own small chuckle as he moved along, the faint sound of the song continuing from his armor's radio filling the air about him. A sense of eagerness had myself, the stormclouds overhead causing the wasteland to be the faintest bits darker than usual during the daytime, the smoke rising from the cooking fires of several residents enjoying lunch just over the next hill showing just how close we were to Turnpike. "It's funny how so many bottlecaps can get you so far around here. There was a lot more of 'em in clothing and other fabric repair than I'd figured, so can you blame me for wanting to get a bit more business? Besides, with all that extra cloth I wound up with, I -did- manage to piece together a little something for you, mint-butt~" The royal blue unicorn wore a sly grin, looking over at Minty. In return, my augmented friend's eyes widened, a blush coming across his face. "Oh, you do look so adorable when you're so delightfully padded up~" Minty stuttered for a few moments, stalling in his tracks. Padded up? Wait wait wait, does he mean... a small trickle of red flowed down my friend's white muzzle, staining his coat. Cross Stitch trotted on, looking smug with himself and certainly not hiding it. "Uh, Minty, you've got a little something..." Tapping a hoof against my muzzle, my friend took a moment before wiping his own clear of the blood, shaking his head idly. He adjusted his glasses, bringing himself together and moving along, shuffling the large rifle on his back. "Yeah... ah, anyways, do you guys mind if we hang around in Turnpike for a little bit? There's, um, there's something there I need to do... more than a few times... eheh..." Letting off a weak chuckle, I caught Minty rolling his eyes at myself, Cross Stitch glancing backwards with a certain level of surprise. I put on a weak grin, trotting back up alongside Fringe, who was similarly passing on a small glare. "I'm not going to ask, so you ought to not tell me. We'll have to stop somewhere anyways, if we're going to want to reach Mooscow on hoof." He let off a small grunt, reaching down and grabbing another cigar in his mouth, idly chewing on the end for a few moments. "Just hope whatever's in Pripytrot hasn't been pushing north, yet. Even with the TOG now, I can't be sure if we'd have a chance..." The power-armored pegasus turned his gaze towards the south, and the dense fog that shrouded the road in from the city. A twinge of uncertainty ran through me - wasn't Pripytrot the other place where the Doc said to check? Since we didn't find any of that firing material at Sunrise Castle... or, if we did, it was currently vaporized or detonated... I let out an audible gulp, looking towards the shrouded city as well, my auto-rifles clinking either side of my body. Maybe some things just weren't worth dying over... --- "Twintails! Minty! Glad to see y'both again, Featherweight's been especially missing his lil' cuddle-buddy. Ooh, an' you brought more company, too!" The cheery red-haired pegasus filly darted about the small kitchen area of the caboose, Fringe and Cross Stitch both staring in in surprise as we all filed inside the small area. Buzzy eventually darted over my own head, tapping a hoof against the wooden door separating the railcar halfway. "Hey Featherweight! Your special somepony's back, an' he brought friends! If you want me to leave for a while again, just say so!" By the goddesses, that filly knew how to make me blush. Cross and Minty were both looking around and rubbing at the back of their heads awkwardly, and even Fringe seemed to be particularly interested in his unlit cigar right now. Maker of comfortable situations, Buzzy sure as hell isn't. The wooden door opened with a creak, the bedraggled blue mane of the tired pegasus stallion falling in his eyes and prompting him to brush it clear with a free hoof. "Twintails! I didn't expect to see you back so... uh, hello?" Featherweight blinked a few times, focusing his lovely blue eyes on the small group occupying the forward end of the caboose. Cross Stitch wore a heavy blush, his own eyes locked on Featherweight's, who seemed at the very least quite confused at the company. The royal blue unicorn fidgeted, Featherweight sliding up alongside myself, still watching Cross Stitch... hey, was he honestly checking Featherweight out? Hooves off buddy, this is my huge hunk of stallion. He let out a forceful breath through his nostrils, a stream of blood accompanying and faintly staining his blue muzzle, Minty looking over to him in alarm. Featherweight bent down, meeting my face. "Uh, he one of your friends?" "Cross Stitch, Minty's old Stable coltfriend. Gotta say, I didn't expect him to react like that to you..." The blue unicorn fainted against Minty, my augmented friend straining with his magic to help his coltfriend over to a nearby bench. Laying him down with a grunt of pain, he weakly levitated out another one of those pills, swallowing it down and then turning to fanning Cross' face. Fringe idly moved the cigar about in his mouth, his suit motors whirring and lifting a hoof up to Featherweight, who took ahold and shook. Sheesh, Featherweight was larger than Fringe in his power armor... "Oh, right, this is-" "Knight Fringe of the Steel Rangers, pleasure to meet yourself." The mustached pegasus stallion nodded idly, glancing over Featherweight with the faintest hints of surprise evident. "Hmh, swear I recall seeing you before, somewhere. Damned if you don't seem much larger up close. Seem like Ranger material, but your daughter... not so much. Blabs too often." Fringe wore a slightly amused look on his face, adjusting his cigar once again, Featherweight returning it with a gaze of confusion. Daughter? Oh, come on, Featherweight wasn't THAT old... right? Maybe I should stop thinking about it before I get into territories I'll regret... "Daughter? I ain't his daughter! He's my brother!" Buzzy landed on Featherweight's back, leaning up against his head and looking down at Fringe. The pegasus in power armor's eyes were wide, starting to take a few steps backwards, chuckling nervously - goddesses, I think that's the first time I've ever seen Fringe chuckling. He rubbed at the back of his head, idly adjusting his soft hat and blinking a few times, his expression seemingly starting to falter to one of surprise. "We, ah, we don't have any parents. Mom an' Dad were in Pripytrot, when..." The young pegasus filly slumped onto her haunches, her red mane falling over her eyes as she drew in a breath and let it out with a shudder. Featherweight similarly let his head drop, a frown forming on his muzzle as the air in the railcar became tense. Fringe, meanwhile, chewed harder on the end of his cigar, his face gone tense, as if somepony stabbed him or something. He turned to face myself, voice trembling the faintest bit. "I think I'll... step outside, for a moment. Won't go far, just... just need a smoke." The power-armored stallion pushed forth out the doorway, Buzzy having hovered off of the back of Featherweight and gone back to busying herself with the food. Featherweight, meanwhile, moved over to one of the thin-frame windows, watching out of it longingly, his breath condensing on the frigid glass. Trotting up beside him, I gently brushed my cheek against his neck, meeting his gaze with my own one of concern. A small smile flashed upon his muzzle as he lifted up one of his hooves, draping it around my neck and tugging myself in closer, ruffling my mane softly. "Heh... I g-guess we have more in common than we thought." I let off a weak chuckle, digging at the wood floor with a hoof. The wasteland is one hell of a cruel place... Fringe was wandering out in the snow, one of his forehooves rubbing at his face as the smoke from his cigar flowed in clouds around him. He almost looked like he was crying. What else did he do?... Featherweight bent down and rested his chin against the top of my head, his warm breath blowing in my mane as he cuddled myself close against. "There's a few empty sleeper cars around, Buzzy can show your friends the one she usually goes to. They're not too far away, and besides... I think I might want to just cuddle with somepony, tonight..." He held myself back, looking down with a soft smile and those beautiful, blue eyes. The pots on the stove simmered quietly, Cross Stitch beginning to stir as we both turned back to the inside of the caboose, Minty wearing an exhausted expression on his face. The purple-coat unicorn let off a soft groan, lifting his head up and holding a hoof to it, resting on a foreleg and blinking his eyes to adjust to the interior. He focused in on Featherweight once again, eyes going wide, voice coming out in stutters. The large grey pegasus moved up to his side, gently resting a hoof against the side of his head and letting off a weak chuckle. "Heh, glad to see that you're awake again. Cross Stitch, right?" "Dbuh... mmuninuh... ebuh... eheh..." Cross Stitch stuttered gibberish, his gaze moving up from the sight of Featherweight as his hooves moved numbly about in the air. Letting out a fluttering chuckle, the augmented unicorn fainted again, Featherweight blinking a few times and setting his head back down against the bench carefully. He turned about, letting off a few weak chuckles of his own and rubbing at the back of his mane. Buzzy hummed idly, hovering about with a long wooden stirring spoon in her mouth. She wore a smile behind it, placing her hooves against her body and shaking her head side to side in disbelief. Wearing an amused grin, I slid back up alongside Featherweight, resting a foreleg around his neck. "You're one hell of a stallion, Featherweight." --- Adjusting my barding on my chest, a large, grey wing wrapped itself over my back, still faintly smelling of the sweet sweat of pleasure from the night before. Featherweight's large, soft lips placed a tender kiss against my cheek, drawing a blush from myself. He rested himself underneath the covers of the large bed, watching me with those soft, dreamy eyes of his, drawing small circles on the fabric of the pillow he rested on. "Have to leave so soon? Why the rush?" Sliding the blanket off of himself, the large stallion sat up in the bed, giving his wings an idle flap and dispersing the aroma of last night's pleasures about the room. I wanted to stay - I really, -really- did - but... as I thought of what we were heading back for, in honesty, a twinge of anger found place in my stomach. Letting off a small sigh, I slid on the heavily-packed battle saddle and bags, stumbling underneath the weight only slightly. "Minty and Cross Stitch want to head back to Mooscow soon as they can. You can't blame them too much, they haven't really been able to be with each other since he was pulled out..." Tugging the holding straps tight, the pair of wire-supported bits casually bounced in front of me - oh, that's going to get confusing. Featherweight nodded, leaning back against the headboard for a moment and idly fanning himself with one of his wingtips. He let out a long sigh, taking a deep breath of the aroma given off, letting his head fall back to look up at the ceiling, a smile across his muzzle. "Well, just try to be careful, and come back soon. I'd tag along with, but keeping an eye on Buzzy is a bit more of a full-time job nowadays..." He let off a weak chuckle, stretching for a few moments before sliding himself out of the bed, myself moving forwards with my armory on my back and opening up the old door. The larger stallion let off a laugh as we shuffled out, tapping his hoof against my flank. "Honestly, I'm not sure if you're a pegasus or a tank, now. You said you got that thing from the SCAB? I knew there was heavy armament there, but, goddesses!" "You have no idea, Featherweight..." Letting off a small laugh, the frigid air of the wasteland met myself, the half-awake pair of unicorns smiling dumbly and stumbling out of the sleeping car on the track parallel. The nippy air certainly seemed to wake them both up quick, if the drunken smiles quickly being replaced with expressions of 'get me out of here' were anything to go by. Both of them being stark naked probably didn't help matters... I couldn't help but let out a snicker. Buzzy groggily followed next, along with Fringe, who seemed just as awake and alert as yesterday - sheesh, didn't he ever sleep? The small green pegasus filly hovered herself inside the caboose, collapsing against Featherweight's back, mumbling incoherently. Fringe let out a large huff of cigar smoke, looking up at the sky for a few moments, playing with the cigar in his mouth once more. "We ought to get moving if we want to reach Mooscow by sundown. Hopefully the two loons with horns won't be too exhausted from last night..." The power-armored stallion grumbled, rubbing at the sides of his head and trotting aside, chuffing out another cloud of smoke. Minty and Cross Stitch, now both adorned in their barding once more and wearing blushes on their faces, met us both near the snowed-up platform, chuckling and clearing their throats nervously. Fringe looked over them both, shaking his head disapprovingly and looking first towards the fogged-in Pripytrot, then to the east towards Quebuck and Mooscow. "A day's walk, assuming we're not interrupted you should get to Mooscow by sundown. I can take you to Quebuck, but I've got some things back at EQUAD that need taking care of." The mustached stallion trotted forwards, his armored hooves sinking into the fresh snow and smoke flowing around his face in wispy clouds. "Least you seem like you can handle yourselves. Come on, burning daylight." "A-ahem, yeah, I do have a few projects back in Mooscow I have to get done... including that plushie..." Cross Stitch idly rubbed at the back of his head, a weak smile on his face. Minty, understandably, was less than amused at that revelation. Stuttering, the purple-maned augmented unicorn raised his hooves defensively, shaking them in front of himself as he chuckled sporadically and tried to keep his coltfriend from blowing a gasket... why would I not be surprised if Minty could literally do that? "N-no! I-it's, ah... Minty, she paid two thousand caps for it, in advance! I can't turn down a project like this!" Minty seemed to simmer down slightly, but his cheeks still seemed to be red in anger. Letting off a sigh, he trotted up alongside Fringe, adjusting the plasma rifle he kept on his back alongside his mag-rifle. "Let's just head to Mooscow. Like he said, burning daylight." Minty glanced back for a moment, before pressing forwards, Fringe walking alongside him. Cross Stitch lingered behind with myself, chewing on his lower lip and watching his breath condensing out into the air. Lifting a foreleg and placing it around his neck, I passed on a small smile, the augmented unicorn matching my eyes for a moment and then following the pair, seeming the faintest bits in better spirits. I glanced back at the caboose, seeing Featherweight in through one of the windows and waving a hoof towards him, the larger stallion smiling and returning the wave cheerfully. The loaded battle saddle clinked loudly as I rushed along to catch up, Cross Stitch staring up at the armory on my back with a certain level of surprise. "Pardon my asking, but I still want to know why in the name of the goddesses do you have so much... uh, hardware, with you? I mean, the auto-rifles I get, and the grenade one too, to a lesser extent, but..." He stalled for a long moment, looking up and down the length of Kindness dumbfoundedly. As we trotted out of the east gate of Turnpike, I couldn't help but smirk at his expression. "That... thing, it actually fires those striped warheads? Why the hell did Equestria make something that shot Zebra ammunition?!" Oh, Stable 76, you were so goddess-damned crazy, weren't you? I let off a chuckle, idly letting the large launcher sway on my back, looking up at the clear blue plexiglass of the half-pipe guide. "Hey, when you need to make absolutely sure that whatever's shooting at you will be killed to death in the face, what better way than with a miniature balefire bomb?" Releasing a gleeful cackle, Cross Stitch took a few steps away from myself, looking a little less thrilled to be traveling along with us. Wearing a stupid grin, I let off a sigh, looking over at the concerned unicorn. He sped up in his trotting slightly, pulling up alongside Fringe and still glancing back at myself every now and again. "Oh, c'mon Cross, balefire explosions are pretty!" "Twintails, rule two for the tank applies to that thing, too." The power-armored stallion glared back at myself, Minty glancing back as well. Rule two... oh, come on, Fringe! It's not like I'd be wasting a 3-inch shell traveling at a couple hundred meters per second on a bloatsprite, it's just a regular balefire egg! Though... oh, fine. "Buck up. Those bears in Quebuck'll sure be in for one hell of a surprise, eh?" He let off a smoky chuckle, peering down the road ahead as the morning sun crested the mountains, only to be shrouded by the incessant cloud cover as the day moved on. Sliding up alongside Minty, I fidgeted with my Pip-buck's radio, tuning back into Hi-fi and Tom. Least it was something to pass the time... "Welcome back, and good morning Wasteland! You're listening to CONELRAD, 640 and 1240 on your AM radio dial, and we're bringing you all the news and music your listening ears can handle! It's a beautiful day out there in the wasteland, the snowstorms last night brought in another dusting of that tasty, tangy radiation that we all so dearly know and love. Or, well, at least know, anyways - remember kiddies, check your food with a geiger counter before you scarf it down, or prepare up a radaway chaser for yourself afterwards. Take it from Tommy, being ghoulified ain't fun to begin with, much less from the inside out. Cook all foods you can be bothered to in hot water, and be sure to dump the stuff out afterwards, it ain't good for bathing or drinking. "Anyways, Public Service Announcements out of the way, news time! Old Bertie here has been getting some odd reports of sightings of robots wandering around along the Trotisk-Mooscow highway with old Equestrian Army transport sleds, and armed to the teeth with all manner of energy weapons. No, listeners, it isn't just those Steel Rangers hauling scrap around, these bots mean business, wherever they're coming from. Even Jumper Cables, the mare who runs that factory up past Mooscow, is stumped as far as this is concerned. In a rare chance, our own Tom Neighrer himself went out and interviewed the extremely exhausted equine of engineering. Here's a snippet;" The radio was silent for a moment, before being replaced with the buzz of the RobronCo factory's main office, and Jumper's tired voice - albeit, the latter through a mug of coffee. Goddess-damn, girl, get some sleep! "We... we at the Sparkplugs' Robotics Restoration factory do not construct self-guiding retrieval robots, much less ones like that built to attack anypony in their way. Who... excuse me..." The less-than-classy sound of a lot of coffee being consumed filled the sound from the speaker, before a few gasping breaths and a shaking of mane. "Sorry. Whoever is reactivating these robots, they want something that's out there. I examined what was left of one of the carcasses that was brought in by one of the Mooscow gate guards, and all I can say is that these are robots built for combat. Explosives and armor-piercing bullets are the best things to use against these models if you have to fight them. We're still trying to pinpoint a manufacturer, but-" Minty's magic flared up around my pip-buck, turning the radio off fully, as he lifted a metallic hoof and dragged me into the snow. I spat out a wad of the freezing white stuff, glancing over at him annoyedly before notcing Fringe likewise laying prone, both of them pulling their rifles off of their backs. "Two tangoes coming out of Quebuck, right side of the west gate. See 'em?" Blinking a few times, I lifted myself up to peer over the snowbank, trying to glimpse past the flying snow. A pair of dark forms did seem to be out there, walking along at a steady pace but with jerky movements, almost... robotic. Oh no. Minty and Fringe both bretahed light clouds out into the chill air, adjusting themselves as they needed, eyes against their sights. I glanced back up in the direction they were aiming at; it was a stretch, but I might be able to land a balefire egg out that far. Besides, if they didn't manage to take them out... "On my mark... fire." The pair of rifled resounded in the cold air, sending plumes of snow up from the ground around the muzzles as their projectiles flew out. Fringe's large rifle sent him shuffling in the snow significanytly more than Minty's did, both of them watching quietly as the rounds impacted... and pinged off. Minty levitated up his rifle in disbelief, looking at the pair of pony-like figures as Fringe cycled the bolt and loaded another shell, letting off a growl. "Damn! Get your rifle reloaded and take another shot, they can't be too accurate at this range." The power-armored pegasus' long-barreled anti-tank rifle resounded again, the second shot bouncing with an audible ping off of the forward armor of the robots. Oooh, please please please tell me this is an exception to rule two... "Twintails..." "Way ahead of you!" With a wide grin and gleeful bounce, I cleared the snowbank we were using for cover, pulling the bit for Kindness into my mouth and settling myself. Let's see, if the launcher is at a 30-degree angle relative to my body, and it can throw a balefire egg from level status at least 25 meters away... each degree of inclination adding an extra meter to range, with targets grouped at 40 meters and closing... travel time of the payload would technically be 5 seconds, with a reload- oh, who am I kidding, one is all it'll take. With a gleeful smile, I bit down on the actuating lever, the wires tautening and pulling the firing mechanism. The balefire egg left the launcher with a loud resounding of compressed air, causing a small cloud in the frigid wasteland atmosphere as it was allowed to decompress and throw the piston forwards, and subsequently both launch and activate the payload. Seconds turned into minutes as the glowing green ball of fun death arced through the snowy air, landing square between the two robots. The brilliant green flash engulfed them both, the wispy cloud of snow riding the blast wave as it tore through the metal of the robots and sent their parts flying everywhere, quickly arriving to grace my own ears with the thunderous roar and heat pulse of balefire. I wore a stupid grin as I felt myself temporarily lifted by the pulse wave, flailing with my front hooves in the air for a moment before falling back to the ground and watching the snowy small mushrom cloud rising up into the sky, accentuated by the green balefire radiation burning in the head and reflecting off of the permafrost it revealed, the faint clicking of our geiger counters heard for a few seconds as the miniscule amounts of fallout fell out. Dropping the bit from my mouth, I turned back to face the group, wearing a stupid grin. "Minty, your friend is honest-to-Celestia crazy!!" Cross Stitch gathered himself from the snowbank, shaking it from his mane and moving himself quickly over to his coltfriend. Fringe, meanwhile, swung his long rifle onto his back and leapt up past myself, rushing forwards to what was left of one of the robots. The fragments of mushroom cloud were being wisped away to the north by the higher winds, giving the remains of the stem a small curved shape, the power armored stallion slowing to a trot as he neared a carcass. I moved up alongside him, still swimming in that certain euphoria that came with the detonation of a balefire warhead of any yield. Minty and Cross followed as well, Fringe wrestling with the breastplate of the destroyed robot, tossing it onto the snow opposite, face-up. The two dents from his rifle shots were plainly visible, along with an Equestrian Army symbol and five letters painted underneath it in white. Minty let out an audible gulp, my own eyes going wide, as Fringe trotted up to look at the plate, reading off the letters out loud. "N E A M O... what the bloody hell's NEAMO?"