Fallout Equestria: Space Captain Andromeda

by Weavers of Dreams


Chapter Fifteen: Enemies of the State

"Green? Why's everything so... green?"

Naturally, everypony was confused at Missy's comment. The two ex-Marauders, because they'd always lived in Dusky Dale, the Wisp Willow the filly because she was only four days old now, and Andromeda because she still wasn't aware she had been asleep for two hundred years. The four clueless ponies looked out over the treeless field before them, with vague interest.

Grass, fairly sparse and extremely young, was taking root in the once barren soil of the wasteland outside of the wild forest. Even a few dandelions were blooming in the sunlight that had long forsaken the world. Yet, it was all rather dusty from the winds carrying the minute particles through the air.

"It wasn't green when I first came this way," the changeling-in-disguise muttered to herself, stepping forward into the reborn wastes.

Andromeda gave her other three companions a signal to keep quiet and proceeded to match pace with her patch-work friend. "So? You came this way?"

Missy just nodded, checking her revolver and giving the cylinder a little spin. She looked over the alien landscape. Nothing grew here before. Then again, the sun had never shined liked this either. It was a most perplexing phenomenon to her.

Andromeda just shrugged off her friend's oddness. She had been living in an insane forest for quite a while. She herself was fortunate that the silence of space hadn't reduced her to a drooling sponge. But then, she did have some audio tapes from the Ministry Mares, and one with her family's voices to help keep her sane. Speaking of which...

"Peppy," she said, needlessly speaking into her pipbuck's screen, "play audio message number one-five-three-two. I could really use a pick-me-up."

---PLAYING MESSAGE 1532---

"H-hello A-Andromeda. I-it's me, Fluttershy. I-I didn't bring you an-any stories today. I'm sorry. But I'm n-needed elsewhere now. I w-would stay if I could, Andromeda. P-please believe me. But, it's not all bad. N-not really. I've brought you some special guests. Now that things are... we all agreed that you deserve this, Andromeda. Please, as our final parting gift..."

"Honey? I got so worried when you stopped sending letters. Th-they tell me that you're in space now. Heh, your dream come true. I'm sure it's as beautiful as you imagined. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't mad at you making this... big... big decision. You're gone... you've left us alone, and... I don't care about the money they gave us. I want you back. Please. Isn't there anything...?"

"I'm afraid not. I'm so sorry, sir."

"You should be. She should be at home, with her family, playing those games and reading her comics. Not drifting around the world like some second moon, or satellite. Whatever you want to call it. Mercy, honey? I'm sorry, but, I miss you. I've missed you ever so much. All I can think about now is what we can never have anymore. Y-your birthday... it's in just a few weeks. I had everything planned out. We were going to go to that Prench restaurant you always wanted to go to. Le Lune, you know that one with the Ursa Major statue out front? Then I planned on taking you... do you mind, Minister Fluttershy? Just a moment?"

"Oh? Oh! Yes. O-of Course. Come along you two, lets leave him alone for a little bit. Now-now, please don't cry. If you cry, I won't be able to stop."

Andromeda still found herself blushing bright red at her husband's steamy plans.

"They gave us a reservation in Stable 4. But, it won't be the same without you. Please, Andromeda. Don't be dead. Come back to us."

"Please, sir. There's not that much power left. Finish it up. I-if you don't mind, that is."

"Yes, of course, I'm sorry. Goodbye, Mercy, my love, I hope to see you again someday."

"Please come back to us. I miss you, mommy."

Her daughter's voice still brought tears to her eyes.

---END OF MESSAGE 1532---NO MORE MESSAGES REMAIN---

"I'm coming babies, don't worry," she said under her voice while suppressing the tears that threatened to fall down her face. She gave a sniff and looked about for the little filly she had practically claimed as her own.

She found Wisp doing what one might expect a foal to do when in someplace new. Wander off to explore in wide-eyed wonder.

"Get back here little missy," Andromeda chided as she trotted after the little filly.

Missy rolled her eyes and groaned. "Either stop calling her that, or go back to calling me Mrs. Miserables. It's going to get confusing."

Wisp was investigating a small tuft of young grass at the moment, sniffing it at first, sneezing when dust got up her nose, and then took an experimental lick. It tasted fine, so she quickly began to munch on it. It was tender and juicy, unlike that dry and stingy lichen and pinecones she had been eating in the forest for the past few days. Although there was that one time Mrs. Missy had shared some of her nectar, but it was so acidic everypony gagged.

Poor Mrs. Andromeda had sooth the little filly's food-induced nightmares for two nights.

Wisp was so lost in thought she hadn't heard the strange mare calling her name. Nor when it rose in alarming volume. But when the shadow fell over her, she looked up and gasped in terror.

Freshly emerged from the ground, dirt and sod falling from it, a metal machine stood over the filly on four hydraulic legs. White with red highlight could be seen in places less obscured by the clinging dirt, which was suddenly sent flying when panels opened up on its sides to reveal the barrels of several large guns. The front of the machine was a glowing yellow light that seemed to be looking directly at the shivering filly. The machine knelt down and brought its "eye" right up into her face.

And then it spoke.

"Dark magic detected," sounded out it's grating, electric tin. "Abomination encroaching upon Republic territory. Solution: Destroy." It's eye turned bright red.

"Not on my watch," Andromeda shouted, whipping out her magical lasso and nabbing the filly about her waist to yank her over. Just in time too, the guns opened up on the spot that had once been occupied. She used a hoof to toss Wisp into the magical grasp of Cold. "You and Pintsize keep moving. Missy and I will catch up after we figure out what's going on here."

"Wait... I have to stay?" Missy asked, her mouth a gape as she looked between Andromeda and the machine. "Stone cliffs and disorganized lunatics are one thing. Solid metal and cannons are completely different." She pouted when Andromeda didn't appear to paying her any mind. "Besides, I'm down a heart."

"You're staying," Andromeda hissed at her, eyes never leaving the machine.

"Yes, mother," Missy hissed under her breath. She really wanted to run, but after spending a few days with this mare, she found it best, if not avoidable, to listen. Either Andromeda was somehow drugging her, our her very presence made ponies braver. She really wanted to lean towards the former.

"Changeling detected. Dark creatures will not be tolerated. Stand aside, citizen, it will be eliminated."

Andromeda quickly through up a wall of DMCs in front of her friend, stopping the heavy ballistics that would have reduced her to vapors. Even as this happened, she mused over the fact that it had called her a citizen. It had to be Equestrian than. Although, she had never heard of large robots anywhere in the newspapers. If it was guarding the edge of the forest, then it couldn't have been a secret. There were more questions, but she was only interested in one.

As soon as it stopped firing, analyzing it's ballistics to be useless against the magic shield, she shouted at it in an angry tone.

"I am Space Captain Mercy Andromeda of Her Majesty's Space Command. Do you recognize the name?"

The robot turned it's eye upon her, turning green. "Mercy Andromeda recognized. Deceased. No such rank acquired. Space Command not recognized. Nonexistent. Conclusion..."

WHANG

"I'm not dead," Mercy shrieked as she lifted a rock in her magic and hurled it at the machine. She felt the blood rise in her face as hot tears of frustration started to roll down her cheeks. Peppy was annoying enough, but now something else was declaring her dead. It was simply too much.

---WARNING: STRESS LEVELS RISING--- ADMINISTERING TESTOSTERONE--- SUGGESTION: MAINTAIN SANITY---

"Shut up. You're bad enough, Peppy," Andromeda hissed, the testosterone hardly effecting her system. "Your broken, but this machine should be able to tell to dead and living apart. I don't need some... thing else telling me that I'm dead."

"Not to put a damper on things," Missy said nervously, still not all that used to Andromeda talking to thin air. "But, I think you made it mad."

Andromeda looked back at the machine to see that it's light had turned yellow. "Stand down, citizen. This message will not be repeated. Surrender the changeling and await authorities. The New Canterlot Republic will not tolerate further insubordination."

That caught Andromeda by surprise. She had about the New Canterlot Republic several times in space, but hadn't expected them to be this advanced. The fact that they had a giant killer robot patrolling Equestria that had tried to kill two of her companions, one of which was just a foal, without hesitation, made her blood boil even more.

"Tell the Republic that they can... Buck. Me. Sideways." She took a portion of the DMC wall and formed it into an arrowhead, which she sent rocketing at the machine. The arrowhead vanished before it struck the machine, leaving it unharmed.

"Uuuuuh? What?" a flabbergasted Mercy wheezed out in shock.

---DIGITAL MAGIC CUBES CANNOT EFFECT PONIES---

"What?" Andromeda asked again, even more confused. "That's not a pony."

"New Canterlot Republic alerted, you now marked as an enemy of the Republic," the robot announced, its eyes turning red.

"Can we run now?" missy quipped hopefully.

"Buck. Me. Sideways." Andromeda said, as if saying it again might mean more than it had before.

* * *

Pintsize and Cold ran side-by-side, the filly clinging to the older unicorn's mane for dear life. The two ex-marauders were even faster now they were out in the open without trees and other annoying flora blocking their paths, and an almost literal dust storm was following in their wake from the amount of soil they kicked up. The fact that they no longer had long metal spikes in their legs that threatened to slice them apart aided considerably in their efforts.

"W-what was that thing?" Wisp cried out, looking back the way they had come, the cloud and hills obscuring her line of sight.

"Big," Cold summed up quite simply.

Pintsize had a little more to offer. "Ugly, tough, and full of teeth."

BLAM

The two teenagers came to a skidding halt, Cold catching Wisp in her magic as the filly almost flew off. Somepony had just fired at them, the bullet having fallen short of Pintsize by a mere few inches. Cold set the filly down and stood over her protectively, using her magic to summon a weak barrier. Pintsize stood beside her, baring his sharp teeth in aggression.

"Okay," Cold said, scanning the environment as best she could for the shooter, "best bet?"

There was a sudden clicking noise, sounding suspiciously like a shotgun being pumped behind them. "Kneeling sounds a good idea."

Cold rolled her eyes and lowered her shield turning around to see a griffon, covered a fibrous cape the same color as the terrain, leveling the shotgun at her. She smirked coyly at him, causing him to take a step back.

"What are planning?" the griffon demanded sharply, pressed the butt of the gun tightly against his shoulder. He began to shake with the dark outline of a smiley face seemed to appear on her face, the earth pony quickly following suit. It became terrifying when the two small ponies showed off their teeth. "What the unholy...?"

Pintsize was faster than the griffon's words. The earth pony used a hind leg to knock the shotgun barrel up, a shot going off in the process, and then used the metal studs on his forelegs to club the griffon into a daze. Then, he spun around behind the creature, locked his hind legs about it's neck and leaned backwards, pulling him to the ground. From that position he would be safe from the unseen sniper and half his hostage in a death-grip. He struck the griffon once between the eyes with a front hoof to render him unconscious.

During the short skirmish, Cold had used her magic to throw up a dust cloud to block the sniper's line of sight, and then slip into the hole she had made in the process, pulling Wisp in with her. For all intents and purposes, she and the filly were invisible to the world, and Pintsize was safe underneath the griffon's body.

"Alright," called out a voice in the distance. "You've made us look like amateurs. Our pal better not be dead, or we'll bring out the artillery."

"A dead hostage is useless," Cold replied loudly without ever lifting her head up out of the hole. "You should be grateful we're in a hurry, or you'd be..."

"Dead?" a close-by voice finished for her.

Cold yelped and turned her head to see a tall earth pony stallion in a black suit, hat, and red tie, an SMG slung over his back as he sat right next to the hole without a care in the world. He smiled at her behind a pair of dark-tinted sunglasses and chuckled. Then he saw Wisp and in a bit.

Cold snapped at him, her sharp teeth narrowly missing his face, and threw a leg about the filly. She growled at the stallion viciously. "Don't. Touch. Her."

"I see," the stallion said with a smile, clearing his throat. "Dusky Dale's famous Marauders. A little far from the forest aren't you?"

Cold suddenly felt a sickness inside her chest. There was no way this could be the sniper. His stealth skill surpassed even her own. Perhaps he had a stealthbuck. The fact he was acting so nonchalant indicated that he had more backup, and the lack of armor showed he had confidence in his allies' ability.

"We're not Marauders anymore," she hissed at him, deciding to show a form of submission by lowering her head and folding back her ears.

The stallion shrugged and scanned the hole from some unknown reason. "Doesn't really matter to me. I've done worse things."

Cold tightened her grip on Wisp, eliciting a little grunt from her. The stallion noticed this and chuckled nervously.

"N-not that I still do such thing, mind you," he said defensively, shaking his hooves rapidly in protest. "What's done cannot be undone. But it can be covered up and forgotten. Right?"

Cold shook her head. "It can never be forgotten."

The stallion's face darkened and he looked away from her, taking a deep breath. "Whatever. Tell your coltfriend to release our companion. Then we'll settle our accounts."

Doing what they were told, Cold and Pintsize watched in fascination as several other ponies seemed to appear out of nowhere, wearing the same camouflage as the griffon. The newcomers barely paid any attention two the three young ponies as they scanned the surrounding area with their guns while two others proceeded to make the hole the Cold had made just a little deeper.

The teenagers and Wisp sat down and watched curiously. Then a new pony appeared, an earth pony mare with a long rifle attached to a military-spec battlesaddle, dragged a large sack behind her. The two teenagers watched with wide eyes as the other ponies all moved away from the hole and watched the horizons as the mare untied the rope holding the sack to her flank and gave it a firm buck so that it fell into the hole. Then she used her magic to shove dirt into the hole, covering up what they hoped would be forgotten.

The stallion in the suit approached the teenagers again with a smile. "I hope we didn't cause you any undue harm .You see... we were just trying to get you to run somewhere else. Wouldn't do to have other, more reputable ponies mentioning this. We kind of figured, that since you were unarmed, you wouldn't try and fight. Then, when I got close, my sneak skill is pretty good isn't it, heehee, I noticed the faded markings you have... and the teeth. Those were a dead giveaway."

Pintsize and Cold looked at each other uncomfortably. He was right. Though the tattoos were fated, they did have a tendency to flare up in moments of excitement. Their teeth were a whole other story. It would be almost impossible to cover up their pasts with those defining marks.

"I am terribly sorry to put you through this trouble, we meant no harm any of you," the stallion continued, the ponies behind him nodded in confirmation. "It's just your lot in life that Raiders are hard to scare off. Once a lunatic, always a little crazy. Oh, I'm sorry, Marauders, not Raiders."

Pintsize shrugged. "Either/or." That earned him a few laughs.

"Well, anyway, I would like to make it up to you three. You're trying to escape your pasts, right?"

The teenagers nodded. Wisp, on the other hoof was looking at the shiny rifle the earth pony mare carried. It was a piece of art, actually. Floral acid etching, brass highlights, a holly stock, and a scope with emerald lenses. The mare noticed the filly's attention and moved to the back of the group, not wanting the filly to get any ideas about touching her precious gun. Wisp let out a disappointed sigh and looked back at the stallion in the suit. He was rather handsome. Why was she blushing?

"Then I guess we owe you a little something, right?" the stallion said, looking back at his companions, who sparsely nodded. The mare simply ignored him. He looked back at the teenagers. "Plus, you helped us did that hole. A favor for a favor."

* * *

With the DMC's usefulness taken down to non-lethal countermeasures and defensive shields, Andromeda was content to switch to her energy pistols. She had tried to throw magic spears and such at multiple angles and places around the machine, but they all vanished. Peppy was almost no help. The Rampage chemical was out of the question. As it would most likely expire before she ever found a weak point on the machine. The energy weapons scorching the metal, but seemed to do little else.

Missy wasn't fairing much better either. They had caught on quickly in the battle that the machine could only target one of them at a time, picking what appeared to be the biggest threat first. Namely: Mercy Andromeda. This gave the changeling a chance to explore the machine strengths and weaknesses while the strange mare held it off. But, just in case, she kept her little attacks spaced out so as not to draw attention to herself.

Her armor piercing bullets were a vast improvement over Mercy's energy blasts. Making small dents in the armor, except the eyes. Which might have been made of the same material as Mercy's helmet. That was almost nostalgic. Thankfully the deflected rounds missed her.

The hydraulic legs might be damaged, but they moved too much for her to get a clear shot. The exhaust ports were on the underside, which was too low for her to crawl under, and the heat being generated might have fried her anyway. The feet of the machine were set on ball-and-socket joints that allowed them to conform with the terrain, making tripping it a problem. Clogging the guns with a rock or her mucus had been attempted, but the machine seemed to have sensors for such things and would pump air into the obstructed barrels to blow out the foreign object.

It was becoming a real test on her patience.

Andromeda was feeling the strain as well. Not physically, but it was becoming a rather dull battle. Back in the day, before Ministries, she had played many a tabletop roleplaying game(saying RPG just sounded too casual), and those boss battle against steel golem kings and dragons were more exciting than this machine. Sometimes reality was a quite the letdown.

A metal foot slamming into her shield brought her back to the "letdown" of a reality, and she noticed that the machine was now attempting a different tactic. It was no longer firing its cannons at her impervious shield. Instead it was battering it with it's metal legs.

"Citizen, stop resisting arrest," it spoke. That made Andromeda mad.

"I am a not citizen of the Republic," she shouted, dividing her shield into section and hitting the metal armor, even though the restriction didn't allow much force behind the blows.

"I swore loyalty to the princesses as a filly." She grabbed several rocks in her magic and hurled them at the machine.

"I swore loyalty to them in my youth." She pulled her shields in close and lashed out with a hoof. The earth pony talismans allowed that single strike to make the armor ring.

"I stood there when my daughter swore loyalty." She caught the two front legs in the DMCs, lifting them up so she could strike at the underbelly, the suit keeping her safe.

"I swore loyalty when I was drafted." The machine staggered back a couple steps and seemed to stare at her, the eye turning yellow.

"I am a citizen of Equestria, and you are my enemy." Mercy, blinded with rage, leapt forward, twisted around, and drove both her hind legs into the eye of the machine, shattering it.

Missy watched all of this with rapt attention. never before had she heard anypony speak so passionately from the heart. This was short-live, however, because the machine, now blind, began shooting and kicking out in all directions. She spread her wings and lifted off into the air, to avoid the cannon fire.

"Stupid mare," she muttered, all respect now gone for the moment.

Mercy, however was not listening. She was right in the middle of the beast. Blocking with her shields, kicking with her hooves and firing her pistols. All the while, Peppy begged for her to stop.

---SUGGESSTION: MAINTAIN SANITY--- SUGGESTION: MAINTAIN SANITY--- MAINTAIN SANITY---MAINTAIN SANITY--- MAINTAIN SANITY--- ERROR--- ERROR--- ERROR--- ERROR---

Andromeda dove beneath the creature, firing all four pistols up into the belly and exhaust pipes as she slid along on her back. The exhaust vents were already superheated, so that hadn't accomplished much. Her next strategy was to lock all fours legs about one of the machine's legs and fire into the hydraulics. That had a noticed effect.

The hydraulics became hot and bent under the machines own weight. It was now limping pathetically like a wounded spider.

The pistols needed a recharge after that last attack. So she took the opportunity to clamber atop of the machine, throw a magic lasso about another leg and pull. Unfortunately, the talismans needed a recharge as well, and she wound up yanking herself forward. She landed on her back, gazing up at the writhing legs of the beast, one of which moved over her head and started to come down.

She was fairly confident her helmet would survive the impact, but someone else didn't seem to think so.

"Gotcha," a speedy griffon said as he snatched her up in his talons and blasted away with a single beat of his wings, just mere moments before he might've gotten crushed.

Andromeda was still sore at the machine, but being saved by a brave male out of the blue from the jaws of a monster was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity. She took it quite well.

"My hero," she said with a broad smile, hugging the griffon's neck dramatically. She almost burst out laughing at the uncomfortable look on his face.

"Uuuuh, yeah," he said, prying her off and setting her behind a rock. "You stay here, we'll take care of the rest."

"We?" Mercy watched as the griffon flew back to the fray and peered over the rock at the scene. Her eyes widened in awe when she saw Pintsize and Cold leading a group of ponies over a hill at the machine. It was almost like something she had read in a book once. All that was missing was the sun at their backs. "Oh well, can't have everything."

Then a thought occurred to her. "Where's my Wisp?"

* * *

A mottled blue and white in coloration, the female sniper brought up the extendable arm on her battlesaddle so that all she had to do was tilted her head over to peer through the custom-made enchanted gem lenses. The perfect polish of the gems, grown by pre-war rock-farmers, allowed her to count every scratch on the surface of the NCR machine. The reigns-trigger held in her mouth, she took a deep breath and waited for her heart to beat. There it was.

BLAM

The bullet tore through the air, right between two of her companions, she knew they could feel the wind from it, and then impacted on the hydraulics of another leg, ripping a hole right through it. The hydraulic fluids spurted out and the leg became noticeably weaker. Self-loading always paid off.

"Wow, what a shot," Wisp squealed in glee, clapping her hooves together enthusiastically. She was peering through a spotter's scope, the grown mare had set it up for her on a tripod to keep her happy, and twenty yards away from her beloved gun. "Mrs. Mizobz couldn't even shoot like. Where'd you learn how to do that?"

The mare groaned and lifted a silent prayer to the heavens. "In a very quiet place. Now shut up and let me shoot things."

"Okay," Wisp said with a smile, never taking her eyes off the scene below. "Could you teach me how to shoot like that?"

"Dammit," the mare groaned. She had almost pulled the trigger, which would have been catastrophic. For her ego that is. She looked at the filly and scowled. "Perhaps. But first you would need to learn what happens on the other end of The Light. Personally."

"Why did you call your gun 'The Light'," wisp asked, giving a quick, envious glance at the beautiful gun.

"Cause that's what you walk towards when I pull the trigger."

BLAM

Another hydraulic down.

"What light?" Wisp asked curiously.

"Maker give me strength."

* * *

Pintsize chucked a newly-gained grenade towards the machine. The explosion was unique compared to the dynamite they used in Dusky Dale. It was less flash, and more boom, sending shrapnel in all directions. It was almost beautiful. A round from the machine's cannons hitting close by gave him cause to keep moving.

Cold was enjoying her shotgun. The griffon had given it to her so that he could be lighter as he flew ahead to assist their friends. It was well taken care of, with a smooth pump-action, and no rust to make an annoying grating sound when the expelling a used shell. It was also using slugs, rather than buckshot, which slammed into the armor with extreme prejudice. Coupled with a more focused barrier, her battle-effectiveness was tripled.

The other ponies milled about in coordinated groups, keeping away from the front end, while also making sure to avoid crossfire. The suited stallion used his SMG to target the metal feet, knocking the joints all over the place so that they would catch on rocks and mounds of dirt it had kicked up. He paused a moment to switch magazines, when he felt the wind of a bullet blow past his face. He just smiled and watched as a second leg was crippled.

With both back legs crippled, the machine was a sitting duck, and both Cold and Pintsize knew how to kill ducks. As one, they rushed the machine, Cold pumping another slug into the barrel, and Pintsize pulling the pin on another grenade. They ran up the backside of the armor, running towards the front, then they leapt forward, twisting about to the they were sailing backwards. Pintsize chucked the grenade hard, causing it to lodge between a couple barrels and the armored hull. Cold levitated her shotgun over in front of another one of the barrels on the other side and pulled the trigger.

Cold's shot had forced an expansion in in one of the machine's guns, keep the bullet from leaving the barrel as the primer was struck. The resulting explosion cracked the armor and guns on that side.

Pintsize's grenade exploded, bending the barrels at crazy angles, resulting in more explosions, absolutely shattering the armor on his side and almost making the entire machine rollover. Two final two legs gave out and it collapsed to the ground.

The two ex-marauders skidded along the ground on their backs and gave each other a hoofbump.

Cold expelled the used shell and blew nonchalantly into the barrel before getting up. "Well. I guess a little good does come evil."

"I still would have preferred a different upbringing," Pintsize muttered as he too got up and looked a the smoking machine. "I hope we never fight another one of those again."

"Great. Now you've jinxed us," Cold groaned.

The other ponies and the griffon cheered the two, stomping the ground in recognition and respect. To which the teenagers blushed, unused to being praised, at all. Not sure how to react, they just trotted back to the group to give back their borrowed equipment. But a pink,, red, white, and blue blur knocked them off their hooves.

"You stupid foals," Mercy berated them even as she hugged them in a maternal fashion. "Don't ever do something as stupid and reckless ever again. But I'm just so glad you're both safe."

"Are you their mother?" asked the suited stallion, giving her curious expression. She was a strange thing to look at.

Andromeda looked at the stallion and blushed. "Oh, no-no-no-no. I'm just their... caretaker. Couldn't be prouder of them even if they were mine." She then turned back to glare at the two cringing teenagers in her embrace. "But just because I'm proud of you does not mean it was okay to endanger yourselves like that. Got it?"

They both nodded quickly. Their mothers had been evil, but Mrs. Andromeda would have been a scary mother.

"By the way, where's Wisp?"

The suited stallion answered for them. "She's with Blueberry Strudel. Sniper enthusiast and my wife."

Andromeda was mature enough not to make a joke about his wife having the bigger gun. "She's good with kids?"

"She's warming up to them," the stallion managed to force out with a mostly straight face.

* * *

Blueberry Strudel levitated the little filly a short distance behind her as she walked towards group in the distance. "I am calm, I am collected, children are not evil. I am calm, I am collected, children are not evil. I am calm, I am collected, children are not evil. I am calm, I am collected, children are not evil. I am calm, I am collected, children are not evil."