Fallout Equestria : New Roam

by Delvius

Chapter 5 - Pieces of the Past

Chapter 5
Pieces of the Past
"Who are you? I mean, you're me, but I'm me too. How can there be two 'me's? It's not scientifically possible. You are not scientifically possible!"

"NOOOO!" Skyfire yelled as she raced over to the workbench where her rifles were being taken apart by the town's mechanic, a tan earth pony buck with a scraggly black mane. On the ground a little further into the room, seven suits of the carapace armor were placed on the floor with intervals of several feet. Pushing him off his chair, she grabbed her guns with a huge pout on her face and a few tears on her cheeks.

"No, no, no, no! First I lose my squad, then my weapons! And the Enclave will probably tell my family I'm dead too!" She looked behind her to face us, just standing at the doorway. "Out of all the things that could happen this is the WORST! POSSIBLE! THING!" She dropped her head on the table and started crying, still holding her rifles close.

Conductor and I just waited for her to calm down while Myst kept her distance, looking at random things just to keep her distracted from what was happening. If this is what she would be like during this mission, it was going to be absolute disaster.

Finally, after several minutes of sobbing and more 'fucks' than I was comfortable with, Skyfire wiped her face and turned to face the mechanic, who had stayed in place ever since he got knocked away.

"Wha-what did you d-do to them?" She asked in between sobs and sniffs. The mechanic spoke slowly, not wanting to further upset her.

"I, uh, you know, tried taking them apart. I only tampered with the triggers and loading mechanisms, I swear!" He stammered as he tried backing up slowly. Skyfire just looked at the rifles, then back at him.

"Do they still work?" She asked as she rubbed her hooves over the sleek metal surfaces. At this point, Conductor and I entered and stood next to her, just in case she tried anything. She clenched her jaw at our approach, but didn't try anything.

"The-they should. The grip might be a bit less comfortable and I may need to fix the loading mechanism again, but they should still work." He said as he continued to try backing away.

Still pouting, she pulled the strange guns off the table and strapped them on using the built in straps which the mechanic hadn't removed yet. We backed away as she pointed it at the wall, mouth on the trigger.

"Comf on Mershedes, comf on Shally, makef me froud!" She said around the mouth grip as she slowly depressed the trigger, before finally chomping down on it.

Immediately, two bright bolts of a brilliant green coloration shot out with a loud 'P-TEW!' One of them was bigger than the other, but significantly slower. The bolts struck the wall and turned a section about the size of my head into a green goo that started oozing down.

Everyone just watched with mouths touching the ground, even Myst (who mumbled something about such bolts not having any bullet drop), as Skyfire beamed once more while she turned to face us with a satisfied and relieved smile on her face. Spitting the mouth grip out, she spoke again, this time with a very excited tone.

"Hell yes! It'll take more than that to keep Mercedes and Sally down!" She took in a deep breath, "I can almost smell the charred Legionnaire corpses..." Okay, that's just... wrong.

"Who?" Conductor asked. At that, she faced him with a smug look on her face. She tapped the rifle on the left.

"THIS is Mercedes. I modified him to shoot more intense plasma bolts, although it means he's slower. And this..." she tapped the rifle on the right. "...is Sally. She shoots a lot faster and the bolts move quicker than Mercedes' bolts. Of course, she's less powerful too." She stood in a pose as she showed off her rifles with pride, the smug smile still on her face. "Impressive, aren't they? They're the most versatile energy rifles in the Enclave's arsenal. They use heavy duty miniature spark batteries which..." Her smile disappeared as she stopped, looking at Mercedes with an expression that showed worry.

"What is it?" I asked, still quite impressed at the weapon's power. I wondered how they would compare to an HEV rifle.
She didn't seem to hear me, but she looked up after a moment.

"Does this place have any spark batteries? These guys don't really last forever."

The mechanic spoke up, slowly and cautiously. "Well, no. But I think I saw some on the rifles of those other pegasi. Maybe we could salvage the..." He was stopped short as Skyfire whirled around to face him, an expression of rage and disgust on her face.

"No! I will not take their belongings off of them! I'd rather run out of ammo, die, and join them than insult them is such a way!" Her voice seethed with anger, and it took another minute before she calmed down again. She slowly hung her head, the anger disappearing and replaced with another frown as she started to tear up again. I approached her slowly, even more cautiously than the mechanic did. She seemed so fragile right now, at least emotionally. Disturbing her some more would probably make her shoot me or something, and I doubted that a kevlar vest and a some steel plates would protect me from those things.

"Skyfire? Are you okay?" I asked lamely as I put a hoof on her shoulder, but she just jerked away from me.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine. Just... I just want to see them before we go. Those Legion bastards are gonna pay several times over for this. Gah, fuck. I was hoping on dealing with this later, but I guess that it's gonna start now." She obviously wasn't fine, but I decided not to push the matter further. For now, at least.

"I'm sorry for your loss. And don't worry; when I meet the Legate, he's gonna answer for what he's done." It was all I could say to try and comfort her. I just hoped that I didn't make the situation worse somehow.

She turned to me, a small smile on her face as several more tears fell onto her cheeks. "Thanks, Dashite. I look forward to placing both these barrels to that fucker's head and turning him to goo." Okay, that was a mental image almost as disturbing as the fat pony drinking hundreds of soda bottles. I really hoped I wouldn't ever have to see that.

She looked away again, trying to muffle her little sobs without much success. We just stood where we were for the next few moments, hoping the situation would calm down enough.

"Alright." Conductor said at last, breaking the silence in the room. We all turned to face him, Skyfire's face dripping with tears while her eyes were red and puffy as she blinked again and again to clear them up.

"Alright what?" I asked him as he approached Skyfire, her eyes following his as he got closer. He helped the mechanic get up before saying what got her to calm down enough that we could all move again.

"I'll take you to them." Was all he said, but at least it got her to collect herself and stop crying.

All of us, except the mechanic, went out of the building as we started making for the aid station.

Skyfire was standing beside the cloth-covered forms of her six squad mates, who were separated from the other corpses from the battle. The reek of the place was beginning to bring tears my eyes, but I just looked away and took several deep breaths. Looking back, I saw Skyfire lift the cloth off of one, a sad expression on her face. The corpse beneath was a white pegasus stallion with blue mane, but the cutie mark was obscured by the rest of the cloth. He had burn marks across the right side of his face, with several large slashes across the chest.

"Hey, Breezetail." she said softly. "I guess this really was our last mission together, huh? And to think I had hoped we could go after that piece of shit Redeye. Well, we'll just have to leave that to the Council and colonel Autumnleaf." She let out an uneven, on-the-verge-of-crying-again sigh. "I... I hope the Enclave grants that last wish of yours. It'd be unfair if they didn't. And if I make it out of here, I'll make sure they do." She closed her eyes and lowered the cloth again, taking in a shaky breath.

She trotted over to the next corpse, and lifted the cloth up as well. This one was a yellow pegasus mare with a black mane. Skyfire's eyes opened wide, and she lifted the cloth away further. Everyone averted their eyes at the sight of the mare's wounds, although I managed to spare a glance at her cutie mark; it was a pair of two meteors, one smaller than the other, with blazing orange flame dancing off of them.

"Cometcaller?" She asked in shocked disbelief. I spared another glance, and managed to view great portions of scraped off flesh, revealing bone, along her left foreleg and left side. I was forced to look away again, otherwise I would have puked (although, come to think of it, I didn't eat anything since more than a day ago. Damn, I was starving!). This time though, Conductor ran off, eyes wide in search, as he spotted a small, unoccupied fissure. He ran over to it as fast as he could and let out whatever it was he had eaten. It was at that point that I did puke, although nothing came out. And that only made it hurt more.

"I am SO going to kill those fuckers. Don't worry, Comet, they'll pay for this." She lowered the cloth again, looking both angry and sad at the same time.

After she had said her final words to her remaining squad mates (and more than one promise to 'fucking kill that fucker'), who were, in order: Thunderclap, an electric blue stallion with aqua blue mane and bolt of lightning for a cutie mark. Divebomb, a brown mare with a dark brown mane and explosion for a cutie mark. Strafe, another mare with grey coat, silver mane, and three bullets, one on top of the other, for a cutie mark. Whirlwind, a stallion with a mint green coloration and white mane, along with a tornado cutie mark. And Stratofighter, a mare with a deep violet coat, black mane, and the sun setting (or maybe it was rising?) over the earth for a cutie mark.

Finally, she covered the last body with the cloth, and trotted back to the exit, where we were standing. At the last moment, she turned back to them, and let and said with a tone of finality and determination, “You guys will be remembered, and that ‘Legate’ and his puppets are gonna atone for this, one way or another.”

This mare was starting to sound a lot like me. And that worried me; she seemed so determined… A little too determined. Almost hell-bent.

‘What? Am I going to have to babysit her to make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid?’ I grunted as that cheery little thought settled in my brain. As Skyfire trotted past me, I saw her expression to be grave, determined, and definitely angry.

‘Oh yes, yes you will.’ Thought Tod.

‘Gee, thanks, pal. You sure know how to pique my interest in things, don’t you? Well, at least so far she seemed to be able to control herself. But what will happen when she meets the Legion?’ Those thoughts occurred to me, but I just swept them aside for now.

‘Focus on the task at hand, then concern yourself with that.’ Yeah, let’s go with that. Maybe, if I was lucky (and Celestia didn’t decide to let me down again) it would work.

As I stood there mentally arguing with myself, Myst tapped my back with the butt of her rifle. She was trying to say something, so I looked over at her, and I saw both Conductor and Skyfire standing at the doorway. Skyfire looked off distantly, as if deep in thought as well. Myst tapped me again, and this time I paid attention to what she was trying to say.

“Umm, Goldwreath? Are you okay? We’re going soon.” She said. I shook my head, and I got myself out of thinking and managed to focus on her.

“Yeah, I’m just thinking. About the plan and, well… her.” I whispered the last word, but I’m pretty sure everyone heard it. Still, Skyfire still looked off distantly, not paying attention to us.

“What about her?” Myst prodded.

“Well, you know. She just lost her squad, apparently her family, and well… everything else, according to her. I’m worried about how she’s going to act and what she might do. That’s all.” I said in response, but I just got a skeptical look from Myst. “What?” I asked defensively.

“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all.” She said with a growing smile as she looked away, concealing the smile at it’s peak. After a few seconds, she looked back. “So, what’s the plan?” She finally asked, much to my relief. All this thinking and talking and the drama surrounding that pegasus was starting to make me uncomfortable, and this was my chance to change the subject.

“Oh, yes. Well, first off, I’m going to scope out the area; get the layout of the place. Unless of course, you have done that already?” I asked her, but she shook her head.

“Sorry. They’ve got too many guards around the place for me to have gotten an idea of the place’s layout.”

“Alright. I guess I’ll have to find that out myself then. While I’m scoping the place out, you and Skyfire take cover. When I come back, you should get to a sniping position and cover me while I’m on assault. That was my plan. But…” I was about to say something, but Myst cut me off.

“But?” She asked.

“…Well, I don’t know how to involve her in this. She supposedly wants to help, but how? Her weapons are good, but she shouldn’t even be standing, let alone fighting! What do you think? How can she help in this?” This was the only part of my plan that I hadn’t quite thought through yet, so I needed Myst’s input.

“Well, if she’s a good shot, she can hang back and provide covering fire, too.” She suggested.

“That might work. But she doesn’t like staying in one place, remember? What if she does something… stupid?” I looked over at Skyfire, still looking off blankly. Conductor was talking to the doctor about who they had lost during the fight, and though I didn’t know any of the names, each one the doctor named made Conductor look more and more sad.

“Hopefully she won’t. No plan is perfect, I guess.” Myst said softly. I sighed. That was true, no plan was perfect. I just hoped that Skyfire would at least try to be careful. What I saw of that mare so far showed she was fairly reckless, stubborn, and a little too emotional. I mean, I hadn’t cried that much when Lighthouse died!

‘Yeah, you only promised to kill the murderer, spoke to Lighthouse’s corpse, and spent a whole night stabbing a pillow to shreds while mumbling around in Zebra tongue.’ Thought Tod. I swear, this guy was talking more and more in my head. Was I going insane?

‘Yeah, well Skyfire spoke to six corpses, threatened the doctor who saved her life, and had an emotional breakdown.’ Thought not-Tod. I really should think of a name for this OTHER entity in my head…

“Yeah. Okay, is everyone ready? Myst?” I asked her, and she nodded once as she pushed in another mag on her sniper rifle.

“Okay, good. Skyfire?” I looked behind me at the mare, finding her still staring off blankly. I approached her and gave a gentle shove. She stirred, blinking thrice as she finally got out of her thought-induced trance.

“Hmm? Ah, yeah. Sure. Let’s go kick some tail! But first, I need a secondary.”

“Umm, why?” I asked. What, the super awesome plasma rifles weren’t enough?

“Because these things don’t last forever, and when they finally run out I’m gonna need a secondary. Duh.” Sheesh, and she was a prick, too.

“Umm, I thought you said you’d rather die and join your friends.” Myst spoke softly, barely more than a whisper, as she dug at the ground with one hoof. Skyfire grit her teeth as she closed her eyes.

“Easy, Skyfire. She meant no offense. Right, Myst?” I gave her a look that said ‘say yes, or else.’ She cringed , almost touching the ground, as she amended quickly.

“Ahh, yes! I’m sorry, Skyfire. I didn’t mean to offend you.” Skyfire opened her eyes and stopped gritting, but still looked a little angry.

“Alright, look. If I’m gonna be here with you two, then at least don’t bring up my squad in your little conversations. You got that, Dashite? And you, you got that?” She spoke angrily. I opened my eyes wide in surprise, but I just nodded. Myst gave the tiniest nod I ever saw as she looked at the ground, and Skyfire relaxed a little bit. “I’m glad we understand one another.” She snorted as she walked out, in the direction of Myst’s outpost. Myst and I hurried to catch up with her, Myst taking the lead while I got up next to Skyfire.

“So, where do I find a gun in this place?” She asked.

“Well, there’s a shop over there, right next to that fissure. Although, I might need to talk to the shop owner.”

As we got closer to Kira’s store, I knocked on the door again. This time a little more softly, hoping Kira’s anxiety would be lessened. After a few moments, the locks started clicking and snapping and the door opened. Kira poked her head out, eyes wide and pupils the size of a grain of sand as she looked at the three of us.

“Ah, Kira? We just need to get this pegasus another weapon. We won’t be long.” Hopefully the promise of not taking too long would get rid of some of her social discomfort. Her eyes returned to a more normal size as she opened the door wide enough for us to enter, biting her lower lip in any remaining anxiety.

The three of us stepped in, Myst sitting down next to the door like last time, as Skyfire looked around in both a cautious and curious manner. Her eyes spotted the weapons on the table, and trotted over to it. I approached Kira as she began basically crawling back to the counter. I guess that when someone’s nervous around one person, uncomfortable around two, they’re crawling on the floor at three. I wonder what was at four?

“Uh, Kira? I’d like to speak with you a moment.” I said as I intercepted her at the counter. She was keeping a low profile, leaning against the table and pressing her head as low as possible.

“Yes?” she asked quickly and softly, and almost as quietly as a whisper. Seriously, how did these people even buy from this mare?

“Ah, yeeaah. Well, remember that reward you offered? The 150 caps and the weapon?” Her pupils shrunk again, but this time to a less ludicrously small size. About the size of a pea.

“Is it too little?” She asked shakily, and I almost didn’t hear her. She glanced at Skyfire, who was comparing the weight of an assault rifle to a sub-machinegun.

“What? No, no, no! It’s fine. But, ah, here’s the thing; those rifles of hers don’t exactly have a lot of ammo, so she needs another gun and some bullets. You can cancel my reward, just give her a weapon and some ammo. That’s all I’m asking.” She looked off to the side in thought, tapping her hooves against the table.

“Okay, but I can only give a few types. Hopefully the type she wants is one of them.” She said after about a minute. Skyfire finally approached, a sub-machinegun in her mouth. Kira let out a sigh of relief and gave me a little half smile; apparently Skyfire picking a weapon she could give on the first approach had saved her a lot of uncomfortable conversation. Skyfire placed the gun on the table, taking one last look at it before looking at Kira. The zebra, unbelievably, shrank even more than before. Was she made of rubber or something?

“Alright, so how much do I owe ya’?” Skyfire asked in a, thankfully, not mad and not overly-emotional tone.

“Uhhh… you… don’t owe me anything.” Kira said, and again I almost didn’t hear her. Unfortunately for her, Skyfire really didn’t hear it.

“Come again?”

“You… don’t owe me anything.” She said, a little louder this time.

“Wow, really? Awesome, thanks!” She patted the zebra on the back, and Kira jerked away at the touch. She just gave an extremely uncomfortable and sheepish smile as she walked, backwards, to a stack of boxes a little further behind the counter. She pulled out three SMG magazines and laid them out on the table. Skyfire looked at them skeptically for a moment, grabbing a magazine and trying to load it into the gun.

‘She doesn’t know how to use surface guns? Well, I guess where she comes from they don’t have these sorts of weapons.’ I concluded in my head.

As she fumbled around with the weapons for a few more moments, she finally gave up and turned back to Kira, making the zebra cringe just a little more.

"Um, could anyone teach me how to use this thing?" She asked as she dropped the gun on the table in frustration. "I mean, where are the heat sinks? The projectile production chamber? The heat absorbing synthetic lining inside the barrel?" For a moment, we all just stared at her, before Myst finally went up to the counter.

"Here, let me show you." She proceeded to explain just how surface guns work. Whenever Skyfire would bring anything such as a 'liquid cooling system' or a 'hydrogen intake valve' Myst would just shush her and continue to explain and demonstrate how the gun worked.

Finally, after several minutes of trial and error, Skyfire finally got the magazine in and cocked the gun. When she wanted to test fire it, Myst told her to do it later. A thought seemed to occur to her as she turned back to Kira, who looked so uncomfortable at our prolonged stay that she would have hid under the table if there was space.

"So, how come I don't owe you anything?" She asked, leaning over the counter to spot the zebra mare leaning against the table.

"H-he called in a favor with me. I was supposed to give him a reward, but he decided to ask me for a weapon I could give you." She responded tentatively, getting a skeptical look from Skyfire as she turned to me.

"Really? And just why would you do that?" She asked, giving me a calculating look. Wow, I thought people were supposed to be grateful when you do something for them.

'Just remember she can be a prick.' thought Tod.

'You know, you never fail to tell me stuff I don't already know.'

Focusing my attention back to her, I answered in as sensible and even tone as her calculating and scrutinizing look allowed, "Because I need your help on this mission, and plasma rifles without ammo are about as useless as a sword without a blade."

"Yeah, point taken. But won't you need another weapon in case that thing runs out?" She pointed at Tankbuster, the scrutinizing look still on her face.

"Well, yes. But I figured I don't really need the extra weight. My stuff is heavy enough as it is." I lied. Of course I would need the extra gun in case my shotgun ran out, even if it did add more weight. But I really didn't want to get into a conversation about my equipment unless I really had to.

For a long moment she just looked at me, as if trying to evaluate my intentions for doing this for her. Seriously, it was just a simple favor. Were all... eh, 'Enclave' pegasi this uptight?

"Alright, then. Thanks, I guess. Well, now that that's done, let's go get those Legion assholes!" I rolled my eyes at her. I hoped she could display a little more combat discipline when we actually faced them. Hadn't this mare received military training? Because I wasn't seeing any discipline whatsoever. How the hell did she even become sergeant in that squad?

"Very well. Myst, you know the way, right? Could you lead us there?" She nodded and started trotting out the door, and we followed; first Skyfire, then me. I wouldn't want her trying anything stupid behind my back.

'Not to mention it provides a great view, right?' Oh, there we go. Tod just never ceases to screw around with me.

'Yeah, yeah. What, can't I get a break around here? Besides, I don't really need anything right now...' My stomach growled. Oh, yes. I almost forgot how much I was starving, and this morning's drama had distracted me. I peeked into my saddlebags, and I found that the town had, in fact, NOT looted my belongings. I dug out an apple and ate the whole thing in one bite, drawing me a strange look from Kira. "What? I haven't eaten in almost two days." I said as I stepped out, hurrying to catch up with the other two.

Because I had this... particularly pleasing viewpoint of Skyfire, I decided to check out her cutie mark. It was an odd cutie mark; It consisted of a metal sword pointing down in between two wings, each flaming with a brilliant orange-yellow fire. Odd as it was, at least she probably knew what they meant. I spared a look at my flanks, looking at the chain concealing my golden wreaths and the zebra Roaman numeral. I still wasn't quite sure what that meant, and I wondered if I would ever find out.

As we made for the town's exit, whatever citizens and guards spotted us had the courtesy to wish us luck. Thankfully, they seemed to be receiving Skyfire's presence with feelings ranging from neutral to curious. Although, quite a few were giving her suspicious looks.

As we reached the exit, the guards opened up the fence gates to let us through. The gate opened to reveal a long, wide road leading off to the east, and I could make out the outline of a large building through all the dust and rubble. Old and rusted vehicles dotted the landscape, while rubble from the buildings nearby covered up several side roads that lead further into the city.

As we stepped out, the zebra mare guard warned us to be careful, "Watch out, you three. Lots of activity going on down this road. Lots of it Legion or raider, but there's been the occasional beast. And don't be surprised if you hear fighting, it's either the Legion against any other faction, raiders against raiders, bandits, scavengers, or maybe even the Specters."

"Wait, who? " I asked. From the look on her face, Skyfire wanted to know as well.

"The Specters. Mercenary company slash militant group based out of Canterium, a city somewhere to the west. Really though, they're more of assassins than a conventional merc group. From what I know, they consist of independent sub-groups that operate under whoever is in charge of that particular cell. This has actually lead to instances where they were supposed to fight each other, but some code of conduct of theirs prevents them from fighting one another. They don't really engage in firefights like the Legion does, so they excel at taking out targets quietly. Several of the groups were even hired to assassinate the Legate, which is why the Legion is hostile to all Specters that aren't directly working for them. Next to the Legion, I'd watch out for them the most."

Great. So, dictatorial and brutal governing power in Roam was the Legion. Then the scavengers and bandits and raiders are all over the place. Then there's some weird assassin merc group that is or isn't my enemy. And then there were Redeye's slavers. And I'd probably find more factions the deeper I go into the city.

I sighed as I looked at the guard, and I put on a thankful smile. "Thanks. Anything else we should know before we go? I'd hate to come across surprises."

The guard thought for a moment, tapping her hoof against her chin, before coming up with her conclusion.

"Nope, sorry. The wasteland is a wild place, so anything can happen. Just be on your guard. That's the best piece of advice I can give you. Oh, wait. One last thing: don't go near the mountains. The Legion doesn't tell us anything, but word is that they're extremely dangerous these days. Aside from all these, though, there's really nothing more I can tell you."

"Well, then I guess we'd better be going. The sooner those bandits are gone, the better." The guard and I nodded at each other and I turned back to the other two. "Well, let's go."

As we trotted around the ring of buildings that surrounded the bandit base, I had decided to try and break the uncomfortable silence that had ensued. Because when you've got a shy mare who doesn't talk much, another mare that just lost everything and only talks about revenge, and a stallion who apparently has nothing better to do with his life but trot around trying to do shit that matters, then you've got a recipe for classic, unadulterated silence.

"Sooo, Myst. Could you tell me why we didn't just start off at your outpost and instead have to go around a huge ring of buildings?" I asked. It wasn't the biggest question in my head, but it seemed appropriate as a conversation starter.

"Oh, yes. Well, there's a lot of rubble blocking the road that leads to the base from my outpost. You could fly over it, but then we'd get left behind."

"Oh, right. But what about the buildings themselves? Can't we just break open a back door and come out the front door or something?"

She shook her head, and her response surprised me. "They would have if I didn't blow up the insides of the buildings. The only way for non-pegasi to get to Road Town from the east is this road, unless they dig under the buildings."

"Wait, you... blew them up?" I asked in disbelief. Who knew Myst, a shy and quiet mare, knew how to use explosives? Weren't the loud, bombastic, cocky people supposed to know explosives? That's what my Stable's comic books said, at least.

She gave a tiny smile of pride, the first I've ever seen on her face, and nodded. "Oh yes. If you place the explosive charge in the right place, a single one can bring a whole structure down. The only explosives I don't really use are grenades. They scare me. Once you pull the pin, you have no more control over it except where to throw. But what if you drop it?" She shivered and sighed.

"Had bad experience with explosives?" I asked, wanting to know more. This was the most I'd gotten Myst talk, and I wasn't going to let her stop now. She shivered again, but looked back at me.

"Not really, but I've seen accidents with grenades. They were... so... so gruesome. I don't really want to talk about it." Ah well, nothing lasts forever.

Next, I turned to Skyfire. I had quite a lot of questions for her, and I just HAD to try to get her mind off killing the Legate. I'll admit, I wanted to deal with him, too. However, she was starting to get a little overboard. Whenever I heard her voice, it would be muttering something about how 'she was going to shove a pipe down his throat and pour acid down the tube.'

"So, Skyfire, mind filling me in? Where'd you come from?" My question knocked her out of another 'killing-the-Legate-thinking-spree' and she looked at me like I was crazy.

"What do you mean 'where am I from'? Don't you know? I understand Dashites hate the Enclave, but I think even they should remember where they came from."

"Ugh, look. I'll say this one more time: I am not a Dashite. I don't even know what that is. So could you just fill me in?" She didn't answer my question, instead asking me to do something else.

"Really? Show me your cutie mark." She said simply. I froze in my steps, and Myst walked forward a little more before she noticed we had stopped. When she did, she just sat down on the sidewalk a little further from us, then took a look at the building behind her.

"Excuuuse me? What does my cutie mark have to do with this?" I asked, slightly surprised and mildly annoyed. I was supposed to be looking at mare's flanks, not the other way around!

She just looked at me with a flat look, and said again, calmly, "You said you aren't a Dashite. Well, your cutie mark will prove whether you are or aren't."

Of course it did. Because my cutie mark, whose meaning I didn't even know, obviously tells whether I am a 'Dashite' or not. Still, if I could prove that I wasn't, maybe she'd stop calling me that. It was starting to get annoying.

With a grunt, I reached over at the chain and leather covering my flanks and drew them back, revealing my cutie mark. At the sight of it, Skyfire's calm and slightly smug smile disappeared, replaced by a look of utter confusion and surprise.

"W-what? But... but... how? How could you be a pegasus, but not a Dashite?" She looked at me with large, curious eyes. "The chances of you being a surface pegasus were too slim. Tell me, were your parents pegasi?" She asked, not believing that I wasn't a 'Dashite', whatever that was. I didn't really feel comfortable talking about my parents. They had died in a sub-basement fire, all those years ago... But the sooner I got this over with, the better.

"Well, my Dad's dad was. And my Mom's great grandfather, too. There are a fair number of pegasi where I come from, so I guess the original inhabitants consisted of some pegasi." She was still confused, muttering and mumbling things I couldn't understand. After a while, she asked me a few more questions, all in the theme of finding out just how I wasn't a Dashite.

"So, you don't know of the Enclave? Of anything? Do you even know about pre-war and post-war pegasi politics? And where in Celestia's name did you come from?" She asked the last question like the only place pegasi should come from was the 'Enclave'.

"No, I don't know anything about the Enclave. I don't know what's happening in Equestria. And I only know what my history books told me: that there was a war between the zebras and the ponies, the ponies had some ministries to lead the war effort while the zebras had a legate council, and how the war started. And how it ended, of course. And as for the last question, I came from a Stable."

Myst came out of the building, stuffing some caps in her jacket's pocket and chewing on some Sweet Tooth Biscuits with such relish that she seemed like the most satisfied mare in the world. (If they were that good, I should have been eating them first instead of my remaining apples.)

"A STABLE?" Skyfire asked with yet another wave of shocked disbelief. "That's impossible. Stable-tec never made any stables for the zebras. If they did, they would have been brought down for treason! What's more likely is that your Stable was some sort of zebra knock-off."

"Well, it seemed pretty legit to me. And if you don't mind, I have a few questions that I'd really like answers for. Who exactly is the Enclave and what the hell is a Dashite?" She sighed and looked at me with an expression of mixed feelings, but answered.

"Okay, look. The Grand Pegasus Enclave is basically the pegasi government above the clouds. They're basically the pre-war pegasi, as the bombs only struck one pegasus city: Cloudsdayle. When that place was hit, we sealed up the sky. Generated enough clouds to keep the radiation on the surface and out of the skies. Since then, we've clung on to our lives up there; growing crops on the clouds and using raptors and thunderheads for surface operations. And as for Dashites, well, do you know Rainbow Dash?"

Myst had started out not caring about the conversation, but perked up at 'pegasi government above the clouds'. She looked at me with wide eyes, a small smile, and an 'I told you so' etched on her face.

'Well, I guess it wasn't so much fantasy after all, then.' I turned my attention back to the topic.

"I think so. She was one of those Ministry Mares, right? Of... what was it... Ministry of Awesome, I think."

"Correct. Now, thing is, several years after the surface got blown to hell, she demanded the pegasus council return to the surface to help. Said it was our responsibility to help out our surface bound brothers and sisters."

"Well, did they? That sounds like a good idea. Is that what's happening in Equestria right now?" I asked, intrigued at this new information. A pegasus civilization above the clouds? Damn. But was them sealing the sky the reason why Equestria looked so... forlorn? Concealed by mist and marked by dark grey, threatening, always present clouds; that sounded like a pretty gloomy existence.

She shook her head, and spoke again. "Unfortunately, no. The pegasus coucil wasn't willing to risk it. Said they lacked the resources and that opening the sky would let in diseases and radiation and who knows what else from the surface. So, in rage, Rainbow Dash called her people cowards and flew down to the surface, but she was never seen again. The council took it pretty personally, and thus any pegasus that leaves the Enclave for the surface with similar ideologies gets called a 'Dashite', a traitor. There have been plenty of Dashites since she left. One in particular, a former captain named Deadshot Calamity, has even been recently found in a small shack near a town. We've been keeping tabs on him, but he hasn't tried anything. Yet."

Well, that was depressing. So, a pegasus civilization that refused to help out us poor non-Enclave ponies. Add that to the list of factions that I needed to beat some sense into.

“Sounds a little harsh. I mean, doesn’t the Enclave have a place for pegasi who want to help?” Myst asked, in a non-shy and non-anxious tone, as she approached us from where she had finished her biscuits. I guess she loved those biscuits so much they banished her anxiety.

She took one look at us staring at her, and quickly amended. “If you don’t mind me asking, I mean.” She started to look uncomfortable again, but then she lightened up a bit as she started to dig through her saddlebags. Most likely to get more biscuits.

“Well, yeah. It’s called the Volunteer Corps. Started by those prancy, spoiled pegasi over at Thunderhead. Although, I think the only good they’ve achieved is getting berries.” I gave her a bewildered look, and she replied in a defensive manner. “Hey, you have no idea how good those things are. The Enclave has had to label them a controlled substance and limited purchase to prevent riots for the stuff. I myself have never tasted one, but I heard they were damned good.” Okay, so super-powerful pegasi civilization preventing riots over berries. Sounds… intimidating.

Still, that had sated my curiosity for now. I still had questions for her, but I decided to just ask her those later. Maybe when I could say ‘her squad’ without the shit hitting the fan.

“Alright. Well, we really should get going. Myst, how long do you think it’ll be until we get there? This road is a lot longer than it looked back from Via Oppidum.”

“Well, it should be at least another hour, three at most. It depends on if we get distracted along the way.” Well, at least that would give me some time to think. Or maybe talk with the others a bit.

“Via Oppidum?” Skyfire asked.

“It’s zebra tongue for ‘Road Town’. My Stable had classes, so I know at least some of the language.” That seemed to satisfy her enough, and we continued walking along the road.

After several more minutes, I once again found the silence a little unnerving. Luckily, I had, in fact, managed to think of important things. Like more conversation starters.

“So, Myst, I just have to ask; how and why do you hold your rifle like that?” She looked back at me, a confused look on her face.

“Like what?”

“You know, when you stand up on your hindlegs and hold the rifle with your forehooves. It’s… strange.”

“Oh, yes. I learned it from some friendly zebras, mostly some of the town guards. It was tiring at first, but I found it has advantages. Of course, it has disadvantages too, so I don’t use it all the time.”

Skyfire interjected with a snort. “Oh yeah, the zebra style of holding their firearms. I don’t really know how the zebras managed to do that during the war, but the Enclave’s biological analysis has rendered it inefficient.” She looked away for a moment, before turning back to us. Slowly and cautiously, almost as much as Myst, she asked a question that I hadn’t quite prepared for.

“Soooo, what does your cutie mark mean?” She pointed a hoof at me, a curious look on her face.

“Actually, I don’t know. I spent at least some time every day thinking about that. I never could find the answer.” I admitted. Out of all the things for me to not know with my Stable’s well developed educational system, it just had to be my cutie mark. A pony who doesn’t even know what their cutie mark was, how lame was that?

“Well, how’d you get it?” She actually looked interested in the matter. Maybe it was some kind of coping mechanism or something. Still, I was a little uncomfortable at the sudden change of subject. But this was the most discussion I had about myself here on the surface (excluding the DJ’s words about me), and a subconscious part of me wanted a little attention.

“I got it during one of my class plays, during history class. My role was a praetorian, some position a Roaman soldier held, apparently. They were supposedly the elite guards of Roam. Kind of coincidental that I’m wearing a metal remake of the cardboard version I wore all those years ago…” I paused. Wow, was I actually talking about my personal life with these ponies? I barely even knew them! But, it was a little too late to turn back now, so I just continued, “ Anyway, when my part came up during the play to defend Roam from some barbarians, all of my classmates just watched with their mouths hung wide. Even those role playing as barbarians stopped. I was so confused until my teacher showed me a mirror. And there it was, obscured slightly by the rope I had used to replicate the chain: the Roaman numeral ‘III’ in between two gold wreaths. It was the happiest day of my life for the next few days." I thought back at it and couldn't help but smile. "I remember my cutie mark celebration party! The crazy shit we did… I almost got in trouble. Luckily, the overmare back then was pretty relaxed, so she let it slide.”

Apparently, Myst was a very good listener and could pick up on details quickly. Her next question caught me even more off guard than the one Skyfire had asked.

“It ‘was’ the happiest moment of your life for a few days? What happened?”

‘Oh great, THIS question.’

“Look Myst, I… I don’t really want to talk about. Let’s just say I lost some important people just a few days after.” Maybe I gave a little too much there…

“Who?” She prodded.

‘Oh yes, definitely too much.’ I sighed. Was I really going to talk about this? The only other person I had ever talked to about this was Lighthouse… and… and…

‘Oh boy, here we go.’ Thought Tod. I didn’t really care enough about him right now as I just fell down on my hindlegs, trying to muffle my sobs as I turned away from them.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I…I … oh, what do I do?” She started panicking as she turned to Skyfire in desperation. “What do I do?” Skyfire answered, almost like she knew how it hurt. She probably did, considering she had lost a lot in just two days.

“We let him get through it. He isn’t going to get over it until he can put it all behind him.” She responded evenly, much to Myst’s dismay. She approached me and fumbled and mumbled and choked on her own words as she tried to comfort me. She even dug through her saddlebags and held out a wrapper of biscuits as she put on the most forced smile I’ve seen on her yet to try to make me feel better. I felt a little better at that. It was a good gesture, and the adorableness and simplicity of it actually made it a little more effective. I gave a little smile as I wiped the tears away and got up. I declined her offer of the biscuits; I had some of my own in my saddlebags.

“I’m so sorry, I- I don’t know what say. I just wanted to, umm…” she started to stammer again, but I stopped her.

“It’s okay Myst. I’ll get over it, eventually. It’s just that I lost someone recently…” Oh great, not again!

Thankfully, Myst didn’t ask this time. I looked at Skyfire. She was giving me strange looks; the nature of which I couldn’t determine. I sighed, and I tried to think of something to change the subject. Luckily, Myst seemed to want to do the same as she asked the question I was about to.

“So, eh, Skyfire… what does your cutie mark mean?” She asked, and the Pegasus mare actually smiled. Not a smug smile, an actual, legitimate, ‘I’m glad you asked’ smile.

“Oh, you mean this?” She showed them off to the both of us, a familiar over-confident smile forming on her face, and turned to her side and lifted her wings proudly, even if it did make a few sickening cracking noises. I had to admit, her cocky confidence was speeding the process of making me feel better quite nicely.

“I got this when I proved myself to be the best overall flyer in grade-school. Flight instructors were so damned impressed they said I was ‘almost like an adult pegasus’. That’s what the wings mean, at least. I don’t really know what the sword means, though.” She looked specifically at the sword in the middle, that same scrutinizing look on her face.

“So, what do you think my cutie mark means?” I said out of nowhere. She seemed a little surprised at the sudden inquiry, but she just shook her head.

“Sorry, unless it means you’re good at defending these… ruins, which I don’t really see much point in, I don’t really know what it could mean.” Oh well, at least she gave me something to think about.

We continued trotting down the road again, and that’s when I heard my Pipbuck give a little static noise, and I saw the notification on the side of the screen.

‘DJPON3 found’ What, had the DJ decided to reactivate the signal down here, or had I stumbled across a place where the signal managed to reach? My Pipbuck also gave a little cash register sound, and I saw ‘Hill District Suburbs found’ on the other corner.

Hill district? This place wasn’t built on hills. At least, I couldn’t feel us going up or down. I took a look around me at the ruined and scorched buildings. Nope, the ground was mostly flat. So why would they call it the ‘Hill District’? Putting those aside, I tapped the signal.

“… which is why you should never, EVER, try to outrun a Hellhound. It’s better to just look for a high point and climb up; it offers a better chance of survival."

"Now, it’s time for the news!"

"Alright children, it turns out that the Stable Dweller is, get this, still alive! I don’t know how, but she survived the train falling off the side of the mountain. Don’t ask me, I don’t know how. My latest reports say she’s making her way to lovely Manehattan."

"Unfortunately, I’ve got nothing yet on Security over at the Hoof. My latest report on her said she was somewhere near Megamart, but I don’t really know where. Let’s hope that place hasn’t gotten her already."

"The numerous other heroes and heroines popping up seem to be doing well enough, but it looks like some assholes are giving them a hard time. C’mon now, give ‘em a break! They’re working to help you guys out, and some of you still have the audacity to take shots at them? That’s just sad. Very, very sad. Please, people, try to receive our fellow brothers and sisters with a little more love, it ain’t that hard!

"Now, for you listeners all the way down south, in Roam, Canterium, and the other northern coast cities. Remember that knight in shining armor, and again I mean that literally, that appeared out of nowhere less than a week ago? Well, I am glad to say that stallion is still alive! My reports say he made it to Road Town, which is where Roam’s Praetorian faced off with the Legion."

"Seriously, Legion, what the buck? You attack a town just because you want to 'finish off the survivors?' I’ve been getting a lot of reports recently about you guys, and a ridiculous percentage of that is negative. I mean, raiding towns? Demolishing bridges people use to get around? Dumping chemicals in the river? I thought you were supposed to be rebuilding that place! And now I’m hearing that the mountains are ‘raining fire’ just a few months after I first heard of you guys. That you’re doing too? Let’s hope not, or else Praetorian’s gonna’ be all over your sorry flanks."

"And you might be wondering 'Survivors? Who are they?' Well, children, it turns out the grand and mighty Enclave is all the way down in Roam. For what reason, I don't know. But it can't be good, whatever it is. But apparently, the Legion decided to antagonize them when they shot down a scouting party, the one which landed in the town Praetorian was in. Let's just hope things calm down over there, Equestria alone is already in deep shit."

"Well, children, that’s all I’ve got for you. Oh, and one last word of advice for you listeners down south: the roads to Canterium from Roam has been especially quiet lately. I probably wouldn’t go down that road just to find out."

That’s it children. Stay safe out there.”

The signal died again. Apparently, the DJ disabled the signal down here and reactivated it from time to time. Maybe it saved power on his broadcaster?

Well, it was good to know that things over at Equestria weren't that bad. At least they had a whole army of heroes over there. But I was all alone all the way down here.

"I heard of that guy. He's been doing good so far. I don't really agree with him; what's worth saving over here anyway? It's not like this place has got anything valuable. Still, I got some respect for him." Skyfire said as she tried extending one of her broken wings. She let out a grunt of pain as she slowly relaxed the wing.

"Uhh... Skyfire?" Myst whispered, just loud enough to get the pegasus' attention. She turned away from her wing to face Myst.

"Yeah?" Oh, wow. Oblivious much? I'm right here!

"He's... um..." she said as she pointed a hoof at me, trotting along beside Skyfire. Skyfire looked at me skeptically, looking me up and down.

"Yeah? What about him?" Seriously? Maybe the crash had damaged her brain or something.

She stopped short while we continued for a few more moments. Her eyes were wide; the type when you get a revelation.

"Wait... pegasus, crimson, stallion... weird outfit..." Hey, it may be unconventional, but that metal armor happened to save my life... uh, never? Why was I still wearing this? It was pretty heavy. Maybe because people recognized me while I was in it? But, if Skyfire was any indication, they would probably look at me for hours before they realized who I was.

Skyfire finally blurted out the long awaited revelation. "You're him! I can't believe I didn't recognize you. Ugh, maybe the crash broke my brain." Exactly what I was thinking, Skyfire. Which is why you should have stayed at the town. "Look, I got respect for you. You go around saving people, that's great. I just don't really see what's worth saving down here. Everyone down here is going to die sooner or later, anyway." She tried to amend, but I wasn't going to have it.

"There are people here, Skyfire. They may not all be ponies, but they deserve to live. Just like you, like Myst, like everyone else in that town. Maybe the Enclave values pegasi above others, but I think everyone deserves to live, at least unless they do something that takes away that right. It's the right thing to do, whatever you think." That got me a look from Skyfire and Myst. Skyfire had a slightly disapproving but respectful look, while Myst gave a smile from behind her hood.

"Well, that's what you think. Personally, I'd just leave this place. I don't really care for some energy spike down here; probably just a ridiculous lightning storm or something. Lots of un-deployed megaspells were down here when Equestria retaliated, who knows what it could have done to the atmosphere?" Skyfire replied. Which brought me to another question...

"So why were you sent here, anyway? The Enclave doesn't have the resources to help out a local population but they have resources to send you hundreds of miles south? That requires a few answers." And an energy spike? What could that mean?

"Okay, look; a few years after Rainbow Dash left, the Enclave decided to monitor the surface for any potential threats, and so we could tell if it was actually safe to go down here. So, for several decades we've been watching Roam. Nothing fancy, just a few cameras and an energy detector. None of us really believed that a city hundreds of miles down could pose a threat, but we decided to monitor this place anyway.

"However, a few weeks back, a massive energy spike surged through the mountain ranges. It was gigantic: enough energy to power pre-war Manehattan for almost a millennia. It reached over 80 miles in length, and all in the mountains bordering these lands from the ocean. And then we've been getting smaller spikes all across the mountains, and then the local populace started talking about 'fire erupting from the mountains' or some shit. The Enclave council spent quite a lot of time deciding what to do, and eventually they sent us here.

"Unfortunately, if we don't report back, the Enclave is going to assume this place is a threat and either leave it, or neutralize it. Which is why, when my wings get better, I've got to tell them what I saw here. It could be the difference between an invasion or them just leaving the place altogether." Well, I definitely didn't want to find out what a pegasi civilization with sky tanks and plasma weapons were capable of.

'Remember: they're trying to stop riots over berries.' Thought Tod. Well, when he put it that way...

Myst was completely avoiding conversation now, looking for things to distract her from our talking. She spotted another building further down the road, and started trotting over to it.

"Myst? What are you doing?" I asked, wondering if she thought there were more biscuits in there. She looked at us, and started whispering.

"This road is dangerous, and any buildings that are open likely have... inhabitants. It's probably safer to clear them out than walk past and get shot in the back." Okay, that made sense. Before she entered she dug out a small, gray slab with a single flickering light from her saddlebags and laid it next to some bricks near the door. Immediately, the slab became clear as glass; blending in with the environment. "It's a zebra explosive. Meant for people, but can do significant damage to unarmored vehicles." Myst whispered as she began pushing the door open slowly.

Skyfire whistled. "That's some impressive stuff. Maybe the Enclave could find some potential in this place after all." Oh sure, give the invisible explosives to the pegasi with tanks and plasma weaponry. As if they weren't overpowered enough. Still, weren't we supposed to be AVOIDING danger instead of looking for it?

"Are you sure?" I asked in concern. What if there were occupants, and they were prepared? Would I let her take that risk?

'Remember, she's been out here longer than you. And she can take care of herself.' Thought not-Tod. I really should think of a name for this guy...

"Oh yes. I do this a lot. Plus, bandits and raiders also tend to have firearms, so maybe we can find something better than your pistol." True. My pistol was a 10mm model; had lots of ammo but sucked at power.

Myst slowly crept in through the open doorway, and gestured for us to stay outside. As she moved quietly upstairs and disappeared from view around a corner, Skyfire took cover behind a nearby car. We waited for about a minute, when we heard an explosion shake the building behind us.

'You have an E.F.S, use it!' Screamed my non-Tod mentality.

I looked at the screen of my Pipbuck and there they were: five red bars in total, two in the building behind us and three in the another building in front of us. There was the sound of more explosions behind us, but one of the red bars disappeared while Myst's blue bar remained.

The door of the building in front of us was kicked open, and two raiders came out; one with an automatic rifle and the other with a submachine gun. The third was nowhere to be seen.

"Get them! Madran wants this guy's head on a fucking plate!" Yelled a zebra mare as she fired her sub-machinegun wildly in our general direction. Skyfire popped out of her cover and fired a single bolt from Mercedes, and the zebra was near-instantly turned to a green, glowing goo.

However, the other, a zebra stallion, had the sense to dive for cover of a low brick wall. Skyfire had tried hitting him with a few fast shots from Sally, but the stallion had already gotten in cover. Two more explosions shook the building Myst was in, and both her blue bar and the red bar flew in directions opposite of each other.

I glided right next to the wall the stallion was taking cover behind. His red bar indicated he was literally less than a foot from me. I readied Tankbuster, but turned to Skyfire. "Skyfire! Make sure Myst is okay! I got this one." The building she was in was quiet now, and both of their bars were moving; Myst's slower than the other.

Skyfire nodded and jumped to the door as the zebra poked out his rifle and fired after her just as she reached the doorway. I took the opportunity to grab his rifle and pull him over the wall, and fired Tankbuster against his head. He was surprisingly heavy; maybe he had a large supply of biscuits.

But this guy was fast, and he even managed to dodge the shot just as I fired. The concrete next to his head was blasted apart as he rolled away, and to my amazement he started glowing a soft, electronic blue. His coat started peeling away in large flakes that disappeared in the air around him as his hide became a metallic gray.

"Oh, what the-" I started to say, before the Legion juggernaut sent a buck against my chest that bent my armor’s metal torso plates as I flew several feet. The kick slammed me against one of the cars, and I heard a sickening crack as my wing was crushed from the force of the impact. Pain erupted from my broken wing as tried to get up, while the Legionnaire approached me slowly.

This guy wasn't a Legion heavy trooper in that he wasn't just wearing metal armor; he was wearing POWER armor. I had only seen a few articles on the stuff in the magazines back in the Stable, but apparently the Equestrians had made power armor in response to zebra advancements, and the zebras then developed their own power armor.

It had an armored faceplate with a gas mask, and the armor itself consisted of large, segmented steel plates that clung together on the same under-mesh. The mesh glowed a faint red, almost a crimson, as bright red wires snaked from the back of the helmet to the limbs of the armor.

As he approached, another juggernaut appeared in a blue glow as his stealth software deactivated, his red bar only now appearing on my E.F.S. Thankfully, the red bar Myst and Skyfire were facing winked out, and both of their bars then started moving through the building to get to me. Myst's bar stopped at a window on the second floor as she poked out her rifle's muzzle and pointed it at a juggernaut. Skyfire emerged from the doorway and tried to fire when a sound, similar to Myst's rifle, sounded over the road and a bullet struck the doorway behind her and she dove for cover. It was probably the remaining red bar in the other building. Myst shifted from the Legionnaires to the building, but didn't shoot.

One of the Legionnaires turned to face the other. The volume on the helmet's vocal enhancers was just a little too loud, and the voice itself was deep, booming, and slightly evil-sounding. "TAKE CARE OF THE OTHER TWO. NEUTRALIZE THE SNIPER AND THE PEGASUS, BUT KEEP THEM ALIVE IF POSSIBLE." He said to the other, who then immediately galloped with surprising speed, hooves cracking the road, as he ran after Skyfire.

At the sight of the doorway, however, he started to try to slow down. Unfortunately for him, his momentum was causing him to skid on the road as he tried to stop. The explosion from the camouflaged explosive sent him flying several feet, and Skyfire took the opportunity to jump back out and start firing her rifles.

The other juggernaut had reached me already, but he looked away from me at the commotion near the building. He shifted his body to face the building and a light machinegun popped out from his armor and he started firing. However, he only got a few shots off, none of which hit Skyfire, before Myst fired a round into his helmet. The metal formed a huge, sharp dent around where his forehead would have been, and his black visor cracked. He started thrashing around as he reached a hoof onto his head. He wasn't dead, but I could imagine how painful having a dent like that pressing against your head was.

But this was my chance, and despite being severely outmatched in weight, I charged him with all the strength I could muster. As I slammed against him, the only thing I really managed to do was knock both of us down to the ground. I crawled to him as I drew my blade, intent on stabbing it into his open visor. However, the sniper from earlier decided to take the chance to fire off a shot that punched a hole clean through my left shoulder and out my back. Just after that, Myst's rifle sounded as well. The red bar in the building winked away.

That just left the three of us and the two juggernauts. Sally was melting the other one's armor onto the ground as he tried but failed to evade the rapid firing plasma bolts. The one I had tackled was beginning to get up as well, a faint glow around the dent on his helmet as it slowly reshaped itself. I wasn't going to let that happen, so I drew Tankbuster and fired shell after shell against his helmet and chest plate. At last, the juggernaut's head exploded as Tankbuster's shells tore his helmet into dozens of pieces. His head turned to strawberry jam as his brains were sent out the other side of his helmet and he fell to the floor with a myriad of strange noises coming from his head, ranging from oozing noises to little squirty noises.

"Ugh. Piece of shit." I grunted as my left foreleg collapsed from under me, bleeding heavily from the wound. The other juggernaut was pretty much a part of the road now as the only thing that remained distinguishable from his armor was the only partially-melted helmet. Skyfire breathed heavily as she watched him try to get up, only to be brought down by the weight of the melted metal as it started hardening again, fusing with the road.

Myst came down from the second floor, a few bleeding scratches on her coat. There was nothing substantial I could see, except perhaps ripped off skin on her hindlegs. Still, a healing potion or two later and she'd be fine. I just hoped our supply of healing potions wouldn't run out before we got to the base.

But that wasn't what concerned me most right now...

"You fucking piece of shit!" Yelled Skyfire at the stuck Legionnaire. She began picking up random objects and threw them at the barely visible helmet of the juggernaut. He grunted as she threw a large piece of cement at him, heavily denting his helmet inwards. The melted metal moved and rose where he was trying to get his limbs up, but he couldn't force his limbs through the already hardening metal.

"Skyfire, what the hell are you doing? He's neutralized, so just quit that the fuck out." I said as I continued trying to get up, but my shoulder gave off a sharp pain every time I tried. I couldn't reach over to my saddle bags to lift out a healing potion, and Myst just watched her blankly as Skyfire picked up a pistol and started shooting the bullets uselessly against his helmet. Still, I could tell it hurt because of the numerous grunts he gave off. Probably not just from the bullets; surely the melted metal was burning his flesh beneath through any openings in the under-mesh.

Once the pistol was out, she turned to face me; a crazed and angry look on her face. "Are you fucking crazy?! He's with the Legion! I'm going to blow this guy's head open and use his eyeballs for fucking target practice!" She looked around, searching for something as I tried once more to get up. Her searching eyes stopped on Tankbuster, and she trotted over to me.

"What are you doing?" I asked as she picked up the shotgun and looked at it curiously, the crazed look still in her eyes.

"Stratofighter had part of her head blasted away by an exploding oxygen tank..." Oh no, I knew where this was going.

"Skyfire, don't do this. This isn't justice. This is... this is murder! Come back here!" I yelled after her as she turned back to the Legionnaire, who offered no more resistance as the metal hardened completely. Myst's blank expression started to shift to one of horror as Skyfire climbed up onto the small mound the melted metal had made.

"Yeah? Are you suggesting I let this guy live? He doesn't deserve to live! He's a fucking murderer and he should be put down before he does anything else." She snapped back at me as I finally got onto my legs long enough to open my saddlebags.

'Where the hell is that healing potion?!' I yelled mentally as I fumbled through my belongings. I was NOT going to let Skyfire kill this zebra simply because she had a lust for vengeance, even if he did try to kill me.

"And this piece of shit nearly killed me and Myst! He would have killed you, had he gotten the chance. He would have blasted all our heads off without a second thought, so he doesn't deserve one either. And I'm going to make sure he doesn't do anything anymore." She placed the barrel against his head as he started struggling again, but his head was locked in place by the solid metal, just like the rest of his body. I managed to grab a healing potion just as I fell back down. Luckily, I managed to open the vial while lying down and started drinking the healing fluid.

"Skyfire, don't pull that Godesses-damned trigger. This is NOT justice; this is you looking for vengeance." I said to her as my wounds began healing just enough that I could stand up. The wing would probably need time, though.

"This IS justice! Every last one of these bastards are the same filth! They’re no different from any raider or slaver, and have to put down!" She yelled back at me as her grip on the trigger tightened. I could almost see the zebra's wide eyes as he stared down the barrel of the shotgun. "My team deserves to be avenged. The whole Legion will pay. They'll never get to take more undeserving lives. Never again." She took in a deep breath. "And it starts with this one..."

"DON'T PULL THE FUCKING TRIGGER!" I screamed as I ran to intercept her.

'Don't let it happen! Don't let it happe-...'

'VUJ-JING!' 'VUJ-JING!'

I stopped short, watching as the metal casings fell from my gun's chamber and bounce on the ground. The Legionnaire's head was reduced to a red stain; yet another addition to the countless marks on the streets of Roam. Myst watched in horror as Skyfire simply got off the mound and looked at the body.

"Good fucking riddance." She spat at the corpse while I just stood there, frozen.

I had failed. Failed to stop an unnecessary death, failed to stop Skyfire from pursuing her dirty vengeance; to knock some sense into her. That death wasn't necessary; it should have been avoided. And anyone doing this had to have their mistake crammed down their throat so they won't do it again.

I approached Skyfire slowly, anger building up inside me. She looked at me, a filthy and malicious smile of satisfaction on her face. Myst's eyes followed me, both wide as she waited for my reaction. Skyfire even had the audacity to speak, no hint of regret in her voice whatsoever.

"Alright, now let's get the hell out of here before..."

"Silence!" I yelled as I smacked her across face, not caring that my hooves were plated with steel. I heard a small crack from her head as I punched her again. Good, she deserved every bit of pain she was going to get.

"Fuck y-" She started to say as she brought up her weapons. I punched her again, dislodging the mouth triggers for both rifles from her jaw in the process. As she staggered backwards, I whirled around and sent the hardest buck I could muster into her chest. I heard the cracking of bones as she flew back, and she smashed through a few rotten wooden planks and slammed against the wall behind them.

She lay there on her belly on the rubble, mouth bleeding, breathing erratic and one eye closed as she looked up at me looking down at her.

"You insolent, idiotic, delusional fool. Are you really proud of yourself? Killing an opponent that had no chance of defending himself. You make me sick." I stopped for a moment to let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, and continued, "Do you even know what justice is? It isn't about doing to another what was done to you. It isn't about making someone pay for what they did. It's about making someone learn from their mistake, and using that knowledge to do better. Everyone deserves a second chance, and only if they continue to make the same mistake again and again do we have to put them in their place. What good is your brand of justice in a world where people already kill and do wrong for mere fun? Justice is supposed to help, not add to the problems! I'm surprised that there still living people in the world!" She looked up at me with hard yet slightly glossy eyes.

"Following your type of justice, I should probably put you down right now for doing that." I said, looking down at her.

She finally spoke up again, voice rough as she took in a deep breath. "Are you saying that he deserved to live? That we shouldn't kill anyone so they can get the opportunity to 'do better'?" She asked, and I sighed.

"Unfortunately, killing is inevitable. We'll probably have to do it everyday for our whole lives. We'll be in situations where we are forced to kill; for our lives, for our friends lives, and maybe even less important things. But we don't always have to. In fact, the great abundance of death should be making us try to kill as little as possible, not the other way around. And no, that Legionnaire probably didn't deserve to live. He'd probably killed dozens before you blew his brains apart. But what if he had gotten another chance? Wouldn't it have been better if he had seen his mistakes and turned away? Wouldn't it be more great, more grand, if he did? A greater victory than simply stopping him in his tracks? Of course, he could have turned back to his old life; back to killing and murdering. He could have killed us the next day, if we ran across him again. But we couldn't have known for sure, and with his death goes any chance of redeeming himself, no matter how small." I sighed again as I dug out another potion, placed it on the ground, and extended a hoof to her.

"Get up." I told her, and she hooked her hoof around mine as I pulled her up. "Drink this." I handed her the healing potion. As she took it, I dug out another. I probably cracked her jaw and ribs in that little spectacle, but I still needed her for when we got to the base. Myst had finally gathered up enough courage to move again, moving to the bodies and looting them. I was glad Myst decided to take the time to scavenge the area, as in my current state I couldn't think of anything else aside from what had just happened.

When Skyfire had downed both potions and her breathing had returned to normal, she spoke again, this time without the malicious smile on her face. "You really mean all that? About the 'doing better' stuff and whatnot?" She asked, voice still rough.

"Of course I mean it. Everyone deserves a chance to do better, because no one can go through life without making mistakes. I've made mine, you've made yours. So what good is all that learning from your mistakes if we just kill all the time? It's a waste, and we should only kill if forced to." I responded, trotting over to where she had dropped Tankbuster. The gun was still in good condition, as opposed to the other guns around us, despite the use it saw the past few days.

"Oh, ok..." She choked out, and I turned to face her. She immediately turned away from me, wiping her face with her hoof as she tried to hide her tears.

'Ugh, not again.' I thought as I approached her slowly, placing a hoof on her shoulder. This time, she didn't jerk away. Instead, she turned back to me and slowly placed her hooves around my neck and drew me in, muffling her sobs with my mane. Myst watched us from the other side of the road, that same wide-eyed expression on her face.

"It's... um... ok." I said lamely, still shocked at the sudden turn of events. I had never had anyone turn to me for comfort before. After all, I wasn't exactly the most sociable person back in the Stable, and not even after my experiences outside. Still, I knew the basics: say things were going to be okay and tell them it wasn't their fault. Still, it kind of sucked that all I knew on comforting people came from reading comic books...

"You're just fucking saying that." She managed to get out in between her choking and sobbing.

'Well, that's true.' Thought Tod.

'Gah! Where the fuck did you come from all of a sudden? Get the hell out of here.' Of all the times for him to show up, now was a really bad time.

"No, I am not. You made a mistake, Skyfire. We all make mistakes. And you should learn from this so you don't do it again." I replied, patting her on the back as she continued to let out all of her tears.

'This is really unexpected.' I thought to myself as she continued to pour all her tears out, all the while muttering things about how her team deserved to be avenged. Most of it was just gibberish, but one line caught my attention.

"So-so sorry Breezetail... shou-should have, should have..." Should have what? Despite being vague and offered nothing useful, that one line got my attention more than any of the others. But why?

Finally she stopped crying, just as Myst had finished gathering anything of value from the area. Her wounds were gone, faint scars where they once were. Myst was obviously trying to busy herself despite the fact that there was nothing left to do.

Skyfire removed her hooves from around my neck as she pushed herself away, vigorously wiping her face with a hoof. She sniffed, “Eck, sorry about that. I just, ah, took in what you said and… well, you’re probably right.” She moved away a bit, but turned back to me with a little frown on her face and slightly angry eyes. “But I don’t think I can give any of those people a second chance. Not after what they did. I’ll remember what you said, just… I just can’t give them a second chance. Sorry.” I sighed at that. At least I had gotten my point to her, but she still wasn’t going to implement it. Still, perhaps I could salvage something from this…

“Fine, have it your way. Just control yourself the next time we face off with the Legion; I’d hate to have to haul your sorry flank through a battlefield while my own ass is getting blasted just because you went into rage mode.” She smirked, partially breaking some of the tension.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll try, but I won’t promise anything.” She trotted to Myst, who had decided to just sit down rather than attempting to find useless tasks to do while waiting for us.

As she got a few more meters away from me, she muttered something under her breath that she probably hadn’t intended for me to hear. “He’s just like Thunderclap…”

I picked up my pace as I hurried after the two. They started making their way down the road again, Myst still in the lead.

Myst hadn’t said a word since we left the site of the battle. Skyfire and I had just had an argument, both of us now had wing injuries that would compromise our effectiveness during the upcoming battle, and we were down to our last five healing potions. I probably should have been thinking of ways to improve my plan, and to include my wing injury into the factors to be considered. A few more questions popped into my mind as well. Who was Madran? Was he or she with the Legion? A bandit leader? Or maybe a mercenary?

But Instead I was thinking of yet another conversation starter.

“Sooo, Myst…” I started, not quite sure what to say. That was when I remembered one of the reasons we sought out danger in the first place. “Did you find any good weapons? Maybe something better than my pistol?” I asked, now genuinely interested in her findings. If we were going to face more Legion juggernauts, then I wouldn't want to have to rely on Tankbuster alone to take care of them.

“Um, well, yes…” She said as she stopped and opened her saddlebags. After a few seconds, she brought out a heavy pistol. It was significantly larger than my 10mm, but it could still fit in one holster (although I had to really stretch the fabric to get it to fit). I took out the weaker pistol and threw it into my saddlebags as I struggled to place the wider pistol in.

“Thanks, but does this thing come with ammo?” If she said no, I was going to have to go through that process again…

“Well, yes. The only clip with ammo is already loaded into the gun. Unfortunately, you only have seven shots with it before you run out.” Came her soft reply, just barely audible. If it had been anyone else, they would probably have asked her to repeat. Fortunately for me, my ears had grown used to the quiet mare’s barely audible speech.

“Um, if you don’t mind, I’d really like to just think for now.” She told me, looking away as soon as her sentence was finished. Was she scared of me or something? Was it the outfit? Come on, I wasn't that scary... was I? Or maybe all the new scars I had gotten in recent days? Whatever it was, I decided to just drop it and continue in silence, just as Skyfire was doing.

Not wanting to talk to Skyfire right now, I decided to just take a look at our surroundings. There were old and faded posters everywhere, only a few even barely legible after two centuries of decay. One caught my eye, as it sported what would have been a bright red coloration, which was now a dark crimson color. I couldn’t make out the details from my distance, so I temporarily left them and got closer.

The poster showed a zebra stallion wearing a brightly colored outfit (or at least it would have been brightly colored) and a helmet similar to mine, except it’s plumes were going side to side; similar to the Legion heavy troopers. The stallion was pointing at me with a hoof, his mouth open in speech. Above him, in the red background, was a text in a deep black:

I understood it immediately. After all, I had taken my zebra speech lessons seriously.

“The Roaman legion wants you.” I murmured to myself as I turned away from the poster and hurried to catch up with them again. As I got closer, I heard them having a little conversation. Not wanting to intrude, I kept a little distance from them and listened.

"Are you okay, Skyfire?" Myst asked carefully, probably not wanting to agitate her further. Fortunately, it seemed that she was in a calm enough mood to answer questions, even if her answers were extremely blunt and straight to the point.

"No, I'm not. But I'll find a way to get better. Even if I have to kill every Legionnaire I come across." That worried Myst a bit, based on her head lowering even more. After a while, she brought her head up and spoke again.

"Goldwreath doesn't really approve of that, you know." She said shakily, as if the memory of that 'incident' scared her.

"Yeah, he made that abundantly clear to me. I'm still having trouble breathing..." She brought a hoof up to her chest before she coughed, then gasped.

'Yeah, I did get a little carried away with that kick. Hopefully she'll recover soon.' I thought.

Skyfire seemed to take that in for a moment, looking at the ground in thought, before she continued. The question she asked next both surprised and shocked me in equal measure.

"What's he like?" She asked.

'What?' Okay, just…what?

"What?" Myst asked with quite a lot of confusion in her voice. I wanted to know just what Skyfire meant by that, too.

"I mean, what's he like? I've seen the serious protector of Roam, as he's spoken of on the radio. At least I think I did when he gave that little speech about people being here and whatnot. But, what's he like? You've spent more time with him than I have, I think you'd know."

'So, I'm the subject of conversation now? This should be interesting.' And strange. Very, very strange.

"Well, um..." Of course. Myst can't start a conversation without a 'well, um' at the beginning. "He's... okay, I guess. I mean, he did save the town when the Legion attacked. And he was more considerate of Kira's social discomfort than most people were. He's pretty calm, and doesn't really care about the bad things people had to say about him."

Wait, what? Some of the people in Road Town said things about me? I guess my hearing wasn't quite as good as I thought.

"He's also quite good at helping people get rid of their worries, like he did with my when I was nervous about you. And of course, he saved you from the Legion."

"Nervous about me?" Skyfire asked, now the one who was confused.

"Ah, you see, I don't really like new people. Not that there's anything wrong with you, I mean. I just…um, I just don't really like to talk, that's all."

"Oh. Okay, then. Anyway, you were saying?" Skyfire was obviously still confused, but decided to just drop it in favor of the previous topic.

"Oh. Right." Myst cleared her throat before continuing.

"But then sometimes he gets angry easily. Well, maybe not angry. Frustrated is more like it. He doesn't like it when people do stupid things that endanger others, and he gets annoyed if you don't tell him something he might have needed to know. And he especially doesn't like it when someone does something unnecessary. Maybe he thinks it's a waste of time, or maybe it's something else. I don't really know. At least, that’s what I’ve seen from him so far." She ended, and that gave both me and Skyfire something to think about. As I was about to start considering all that, though, Myst spoke again.

"Um, please don't tell him I said any of that." Myst turned to her, and Skyfire smirked.

"Yeah, sure. I won't tell him. 'Cause I'm pretty sure he heard all of that." Myst stopped in her tracks, looking back at Skyfire with a look of utter terror before she looked behind her at me. "Right, Goldwreath?" Skyfire looked back at me, a devious little smile on her face. I just noticed that this was the first time she ever said my name since we first met earlier this morning.

“Oh yeah. I heard ALL of that.” I said as I got closer. Myst cringed at my approach, trying to quicken her pace to get away from me. Unfortunately for her, my fairly large size allowed me to catch up pretty quickly. As I stood right next to Skyfire, who was directly behind Myst, I gave the most flat and serious look I could bring up.

“Please don’t be mad. I-I didn’t mean any of it. Really!” I felt a little guilty. Maybe I was teasing a bit too much. Well, no one in my Stable ever thought of my serious expression as too much, but then again none of them had a serious case of social discomfort.

I just looked at her for several more moments, making her bite her lower lip in anxiety, before I smiled at her. “Aw, really? That’s too bad. I was really hoping you meant what you said about me being considerate and calm. And I really thought you appreciated me helping you out back at the town. But I guess you didn’t mean any of that...” I continued to tease, and despite my easy-going smile, her eyes burst wide in embarrassment. I didn't even know a mare's cheeks could turn to that shade of red.

“Oh, yes… well, I did mean what I said! At least, um, the part where… uh…” She stammered, but I just laughed as I put a hoof on her back. Seriously, this mare needed to understand the concept of ‘joking’.

“Relax, Myst. I’m just joking. I know that you really meant the things you said, and I’m glad someone has given their honest opinion of me. It gives me something to think about when I’m bored as hell.” I said and she relaxed a bit, letting out a sigh of relief as I slowed down enough for Skyfire to be right next to me.

“So, you mind telling me what that was about?” I asked, keeping the relaxed smile on as we continued trotting down the road. We had been walking for a little more than an hour now, and we were at most half an hour away from the base.

“Uh… I just... just wanted to know what you were like. You know, so I can tell if I can trust you the next time we enter combat.” She stammered in a very uncharacteristic manner. Why were all the mares stammering around me?

“Oh, really? That’s exactly what I’m wondering about you.” I responded, causing her to blush just a bit as she turned her face away, scratching the back of her head.

“Yeah, well, it’s just a coincidence. You ever had coincidences happen to you? Well, they can happen, alright?” She tried to put in a fierce tone in her voice, but I could hear right through that at her desperation to change the subject. Not wanting to force the situation, I decided to just go along with it.

“Right. Anyway, we’re almost at the base, so I need some time to think about the plan. Let’s just go the rest of the way without talking, alright?” I asked her, and she let out a great sigh of relief as she nodded in agreement.

Leaving the other two to their own thoughts, I continued thinking…

“What kind of IDIOT builds a fucking suburb on the edge of a cliff?!” I asked aloud in annoyance as we climbed down the cliff slowly after we found out the road leading directly to the base was blocked by a collapsed building. I remembered the name of our location: Hill District Suburbs.

‘This isn’t a hill! This is a Goddesses damned cliff!’ I thought to myself. As if sensing my thoughts, Myst spoke up over our many grunts of annoyance.

“Well, this used to be a hill. With slopes and whatnot. That is, until the Legion blew the slope away to get at whatever metals were here. Directly beneath us was where a military bunker once was.” Myst said as she climbed down a narrow dirt path down the cliff. She was having a much easier time of it than we were; she had probably been here before. Still, I couldn’t care less for that right now as I tripped and smacked my face against a rock, the helmet saving me from a black eye as I got back up.

“I don’t give a damn! When I see another Legionnaire, I’m gonna’ drag their sorry flank through these rocks and beat their nuts with a boulder!” I yelled in exasperation as we continued downwards and to the southeast, to the other side of the hill that wasn’t blown up and still had it’s slope. If my wings weren't broken, maybe I could have carried them, one by one, to the other side.

“You wanna kill them now too? Great! I have a few ideas of how to pour acid dow-” Skyire started, but I silenced her mid-sentence.

“Shut it, Skyfire. I am NOT in a talking mood.” I snapped at her, causing her to glare at me and shut up.

We spent the next few minutes blurting out profanities at almost every crevice and rock that caused us any trouble, despite Myst’s implorations that we be quiet. We continued until we eventually reached the smoother side of the hill, which had a road coming from the west that wasn't blocked by any obstruction. As we reached the road and set our hooves on smoother ground, I noticed a sign that was placed several feet from the left side of the road.

The arrow was pointing to the west, into a huge, flat plain that was broken only by distant structures. I remembered the DJ's warning that the roads to Canterium were 'quiet'. Although, looking down the street, I couldn't see anything that could possibly have been watching the road. And though I really wanted to, the DJ had made it clear to not go down the road just to find out. After all, I still had a job to do.

"Okay, the bandit base is just a few hundred meters from here. So, what's the plan?" Myst turned to face us as she asked her question.

I wasn't quite prepared to answer, as I hadn't pieced the plan together very well in my head. After a while, though, I got it out. "Unfortunately, my incapability of flight renders getting a layout of the area impossible. We'll just have to continue from after that; is there anywhere around here that looks like a good sniping spot?" She looked around, and her eyes lingered on a three-storey building about a hundred feet from the base.

"Well, that place looks good. I'll probably have to clear it out, though."

"I'll see if there's anything inside with me E.F.S first." I responded, which got me an oblivious look from her. Oh, right. She didn't know what an E.F.S was. Time to explain then...

"Look, an E.F.S is a feature on my Pipbuck that shows the positions of entities and whether or not they're hostile. It's what I used to monitor the fight we were in earlier." I explained, and she seemed to understand as she raised her head slightly.

"Oooh! Ok, I get it. Well, it sounds really useful. Hopefully it will help us with the upcoming fight," Was her response.

“Alright. When you’ve cleared the building, let us know. How? Well, that’s up to you.”

As we got closer to the base, we could hear the faint noises of the bandits over all the rubble. The clanging of metal and the rising of voices, apparently in argument, were getting louder and louder. We were close to the building now, and we took cover behind a large, armored husk of a vehicle. As we leaned against it, I noticed the triple machine guns of a secondary turret on the top of an even larger turret. The larger turret had a single, massive cannon that looked like it could bring down a whole building with one shot.

I whistled. “That’s a tank. A… a really big tank. What kind of tank is it? It’s definitely not one from the Inferno series; there’s too much armor. So which serie-” I started, but in a surprising display of un-Myst like behavior, she stopped me mid-sentence.

“Umm, Goldwreath? Now really isn’t the time for this. Shouldn’t we, you know…” She tapped my Pipbuck twice with her hoof. I felt a little embarrassed of myself, but that embarrassment was later replaced by shame as Skyfire got into the conversation as well.

“Yeah, Goldwreath. We should really get on with this, or are you losing your serious desire to save this place?” Skyfire taunted, and I couldn’t help but feel a part of me wanting to prove her wrong as I spoke up.

“What are you saying, Skyfire? That I’m losing my edge? My focus?”

‘If she says yes, you’re going to force her to think otherwise, aren’t you?’ Thought Tod. I found his sudden appearance after about an hour without interruption quite alarming.

‘How can such a dysfunctional heap of tissue be part of my brain? How did you even come to be? Was it the time that toilet exploded with shit while my mouth was open?’ I asked myself. Seriously, how had Tod even happened? Was he just a part of my brain that was bent on pissing me off?

“Mmmmaybe…” She teased. Okay, now my shame had turned to a desire see that smug smile of hers removed. “I would say ‘no’, but only if I saw you still had some focus left.” She continued, making me want to personally wipe that smile off.

‘Oh you ARE ON.’ I thought to myself, but I didn’t let that slip out. I didn’t want to let her have the satisfaction of getting to me, so I simply re-prioritized my thoughts.

“Fine.” I muttered begrudgingly as I checked my Pipbuck for any marks within the building. There was one red bar inside, although on what floor I couldn’t tell. Myst gave a little smile of confidence as she started quietly trotting to the door.

“I got it covered.” She said as she looked back at me and Skyfire with a smile before continuing to the door. As she entered the doorway and into the building, I turned back to Skyfire.

"Okay, you're with me on assault. We'll wait outside the base, wait for the signal, then charge. Take cover as much as poss-" She stopped me mid-sentence, something that I quite expected to come from her. Still, the fact that Myst had done so just a while ago made this second instance slightly annoying.

"Yeah, yeah. I know the basics. I got military training." Skyfire said as she started making her way to the base, not bothering to try to muffle her steps whatsoever.

"Yeah, but none of the discipline..." I muttered as I went after her, attempting to make as little noise as possible. Although, due to the fact that my hooves were plated with steel, my efforts were rendered useless.

We reached the entrance to the massive structure, and we took cover behind some broken trucks right outside. The sounds of activity were quite loud now, and we could make out the voices of arguing zebras. Pony voices were speaking up too, but not in an arguing matter. There were at least seven bars on the E.F.S, but I was sure there were more.

"Wait, how do we get in?" Skyfire suddenly asked after more than five minutes of keeping quiet. I had my answer, but I myself wasn't quite sure if it would work.

“We wait for Myst’s signal, whatever it is, and we blow the door down.”

“With what?” She asked with a skeptical pout as she narrowed her eyes, almost as if testing me.

“Tankbuster, of course. This thing can punch through power armor, I’m pretty sure it can blow away the door’s supports.” I responded, and she went silent for a while as she kept up her skeptical look, but not facing me. She finally shrugged, and we kept quiet as the arguing heated up. There were the voices of two mares; one zebra one pony.

“… Seriously, all you had to do was watch the supplies! Now we have to wait for the next shipment before we move in on the town tonight.”

“Look, I told you; I brought the ammo back from the field and I placed it in the lobby. I don’t know where the hell it went since.”

“Really? And did anyone ask to get some before you left it?”

“Yes, that pony Shortfuse asked for some before returning to his post in that building.”

“Ugh, fine. I’ll see if he has it. We’re going to need all of it when we attack. You think the Praetorian’s still there?”

“Most likely. The legion sent two juggernauts along with some of our guys to watch the road.”

“And have they reported in?”

“Not yet, they’re scheduled to do that in about an hour.”

“Alright, I’ll go check on Shortfuse. But if he doesn’t have it, we’ll have just an hour to prepare our stuff before we move out. And don’t fall asleep this time!”

There was the sound of a metal bar being removed and the door swung open, the zebra mare trotting up to Myst’s position. Skyfire and I just kept quiet; we still had to wait for her signal.

“Shortfuse! You got any of the ammo Curtains left in the lobby?” She asked as she reached the building, looking up at a third floor window. I could see Myst’s blue bar moving around, the red bar already gone. As such, there was no response. “Damn it, Shortfuse, I don’t have time for this shit. If you have it just give it back.” She demanded with clear annoyance in her voice. Again, there was no response. “Alright, that’s it. I’m going up there and I’m gonna’ beat your nuts with a rock until you tell me.” She let out an annoyed growl as she started stomping to the door.

And that’s when the whole doorway exploded, sending large pieces of rock and concrete at her as she was blasted back and struck our truck with a meaty thud.

“AGH! Damn it, someone get me a healing potion before this leg falls off!” She yelled, and a moment later several zebras and a single pony came charging out. All of them were sporting some form of automatic firearm. As they galloped to their fallen comrade, Myst’s rifle sounded over the whole area.

‘CHUG!’ ‘CHUG!’ ‘CHUG!’ ‘CHUG!’

Three of them fell, but one managed to dodge the bullet as he dove to the side into the cover of one of the trucks; the bullet meant for him instead struck the bleeding zebra mare. Unfortunately for him, the truck he dove behind was our truck. As he tried to get back up, I got up and stood over him. His eyes shot wide as he saw me, and he took in a deep breath before he screamed. That scream wasn’t necessary, as I was sure the heavy pistol was loud enough to get his companions attention. Skyfire and I bolted around the corner and engaged the remaining three, who were still taking cover from Myst.

I pulled out Tankbuster and put a single shot into a zebra stallion’s head as he tried to pull out his SMG. Another one turned her attention to Skyfire as she shot off a bolt from both Mercedes and Sally, but none of them hit. The other managed to pull out his assault rifle and fired, putting two rounds deep into my stomach. The kevlar just wasn’t strong enough to stop the rounds, and the metal armor was only able to weaken them slightly.

I ran for cover as I staggered from the wounds opened up in my chest, and Myst fired off another shot clean through the head of Skyfire’s target, which allowed her to turn her attention to the one still firing at me. Most of his shots pinged off the metal surface of a car, but another two found their marks in my shoulders. But they were no sniper rounds, and the three layers of steel plates weakened them enough that the vest was able stop them. Skyfire fired a single bolt from Mercedes, and he was instantly turned to green goo. I dug out a healing potion and downed it, feeling my wounds slowly close before I got up next to Skyfire, who was watching the entrance.

“They’re all aware of our presence now, but they’re keeping their heads down. We’ll need Myst to cover us as we get in, or they’ll slaughter us.” She said, and I put in another shell into the shotgun.

“Alright, get ready! If I were you, I’d keep the SMG ready in case those things run out.” I turned to face the building and yelled, “Cover us!” And I tapped Skyfire on the shoulder before we both dashed through the gate. Immediately, the remaining bandits opened up, sending sparks in all directions as their shots bounced off the barrels we used for cover. These things were probably filled with something, otherwise we would both be dead. Two of them fell, and I used the reduced suppression to take a peek at the battlefield.

Okay, there was a wide courtyard, about twenty square meters in area. On each side was a wooden platform with cover, which is where most of our opponents were. On the far side of the courtyard was a large, columned lobby with another security door. There, about three Legionnaires and two bandits were spraying down range. If we could clear at least one side, we could have better cover and not get shot at from all directions.

“Keep firing! And get that sniper! You, get that rocket launcher!” Shouted one of the Legionnaires at one of the bandits, and he immediately bolted for a crate on which was the launcher. I tried to get him, but Tankbuster just wasn’t good at the range they were forcing me to engage them. I pulled out the heavy pistol as Skyfire fired off three quick shots from Sally, downing two of them.

Unfortunately, the one with the rocket launcher popped out and fired a rocket, and it left behind a trail of smoke as it struck the third floor window. For just a moment, my heart stopped. I snapped my Pipbuck up and stared at the E.F.S. Her blue bar was gone.

“Myst!” I screamed, watching as the entire third floor caved in from the blast. I guess two centuries of decay and neglect was just too much for it. I just stared at it for several more moments, ignoring the bullets shaking my cover with each shot.

“Goldwreath! Worry about her later. Right now, we have to take these guys out!” I shook my head, getting myself together enough to pay attention to the battle. We were ridiculously outnumbered, but if we could clear the right side, which had just five hostiles, we might have a chance.

“Uh, right. We have to clear the right side! I’ll take point, keep them off me!” She nodded, and I dove to the ground next to the ramp that lead onto the platform. As everyone shifted to face me, Skyfire took advantage of it and fired both Sally and Mercedes as quickly as she could. Six of them died before the rest took cover, while I got onto the platform and pulled out Tankbuster. Skyfire fired against the metal and wooden barricades in a monstrously bright and intense light-show, causing all of my would-be Legionnaire opponents to keep to their cover. Only three of them managed to get their weapons ready as I started blasting all ten rounds, killing three of them.

Unfortunately for me, they seemed to be trying to take care of each other. Not in the 'giving a healing potion' way, not in the 'I'll give you covering fire' way, but in the 'I'll use my dying body to shield you from the crazy shotgun wielding pony' way. And despite the fact that their bodies were literally shredded to pieces, they managed to block off any more fatal shots. Really, I had expected to get all of them in that torrent of gunfire, but two remained. As they brought their weapons to bear, I found myself diving back down the ramp as they unloaded their magazines.

Skyfire had suffered several wounds in her prolonged exposure, but thankfully only one looked substantial. She was dripping with blood all along her legs and a few marks on her chest, but she was going to be alright. Turning my attention back to the battle, I pulled out the gladius and peeked over the top of the ramp again. Immediately, both of them fired whatever rounds they had left in their magazines, one slower than the other. In perfect unison, they stopped, both reaching for a new mag. I took the chance to rush them, feeling wooden chips strike against me as the barrier was being peppered with shots from the others.

To my immense horror, the one that fired slower had not, in fact, exhausted his magazine. He smiled deviously as he pointed the gun back at me. My confidence turned to terror as my plan of attack disintegrated in my mind. He pulled the trigger, sending a shot that punched through my armor and into my stomach. The second pierced into my stomach as well, while the third sank dangerously close to my lungs. Amid all my staggering, I managed to crash myself into him, sending us both sprawling on the ground as his partner hurried to load his rifle. I managed to think just clearly enough to plunge my blade into his neck, stopping whatever struggle he had been putting up. With a great grunt of pain, I got myself up, the immense pain surging from my torso area causing heavy bleeding. I turned to face the other one with half closed eyes, seeing him push in the mag and reached over to cock the mechanism.

In desperation, I charged him. I didn't care much for the single round that found it's mark in my flanks through my cover as I bolted at him like a mad-pony. Unfortunately, I wasn't thinking quite straight and he managed to dodge me entirely. I crashed into the concrete wall, falling onto my back as he stood over me, looking quite prepared to end my life.

But I wasn't going to let that happen, obviously.

As much as I found it kind of a cheap move, I managed to shift enough to get my helmet under his nuts and gave him as hard a head-butt as I could muster. The scream of pain he let out later actually got me a second of ceasefire before they continued, most of them blasting the wooden barricade to shreds. As he stumbled away, clutching his stallionhood, I got up again and stabbed him twice in the chest. His leather barding might have worked against slashes, but it was little more than for show against stabs and bullets. I dove for cover again as he fell down.

"Skyfire! Over here!" I yelled out over the sounds of gunfire as I gestured her to hurry over to my position. She probably didn't hear me, but she must have caught my signal because she started dashing across the short but terribly exposed gap between the barrels and the platform. Reaching me without picking up any wounds, she slumped against me as we just sat in our cover. I hurriedly dug for a healing potion as my vision began to get blurry from blood loss.

“How many more are there?” I asked, not wanting to use up any energy bringing up the Pipbuck. This battle was really looking bad for us, and we didn’t even have Myst to help us out.

“At least fifteen more! Sally’s out, and Mercedes is running low. We can’t get around to flank ‘em, and there’s barely any cover out in the courtyard. What do we do?” I could see the fear in her eyes; she was scared. I’ll admit, I was scared too. I mean, we were hopelessly outnumbered, and we couldn’t even pop out to thin their numbers down. But, we did have one thing on our side…

“Stay in cover. They said they were low on ammo, so they’ll have to slow down eventually. And when they do, we give them everything we’ve got. Right now, though, we’ll just have take shots only if we’re sure we’ll hit. We can’t expose ourselves and dive back down without having taken one of them out.” It was all I had. I just hoped that they didn’t move in on us while we were staying down. We would need to suppress them if they tried, but the only weapon capable of the fire rate needed was…

“Where’s that SMG of yours? Now would probably be a good time to use it!” Why wasn’t she using it, anyway? What, she didn’t take Myst’s lessons seriously?

“Oh, right!” She reached over and pulled it out, before looking down at it with a small frown.

“What is it?” If she said she didn’t know how to use it…

“Well, I didn’t really take Myst’s lessons seriously.” Of course. When you rant about plasma particle production chambers and liquid cooling systems, all of which are SO simple, you tend to forget the extremely complicated process of pointing and shooting. With an annoyed grunt, I snatched the weapon from her.

“Oh, give me!” I checked that she had at least loaded the magazine in properly, which thankfully she did. Fishing out a healing potion and downing it, I waited for the pain in my torso to ease. When it finally did, I popped out and emptied the whole magazine into a group of around four zebras who were inching their way slowly towards us. One got downed, while the others dove for cover as I sprayed the whole area with low-caliber rounds.

I dove back down before I picked up any new wounds. At least my armor had stopped most of the low caliber SMG rounds they were using. Good thing only a third of them were utilizing assault rifles.

“Damn it! We can’t continue like this. We’ll have to either fall back, or stay here and die.” She yelled as a whole section of our cover finally came apart. She was right, we couldn’t stay here. There were too many of them. We had to move.

“You’re right.” At that, she seemed slightly relieved. I even felt kind of bad when I broke that relief a few seconds later.

“We have to keep moving, follow me!” I jumped over the cover, drawing most of the incoming fire towards me. Luckily, despite the scarcity of cover in the courtyard, the cover was at least substantial. I pulled out Tankbuster as I made my way to the remains of a fountain in the middle, and I dove over the concrete and into the filthy still water within. Skyfire arrived several seconds later, with many scratches where the bullets had scraped over or under her. She glared at me as she jumped in, clutching her side.

“What the hell is wrong with you? We were supposed to either fall back, or die! You just chose ‘die’. I nearly got killed running after you!”

“Ah, but you did not, and that’s what counts.” I replied evenly as I loaded Tankbuster. We were significantly closer to them now, and our cover was under fire from every single one of them. At least it was made of thick concrete and not sheet metal and wooden planks. And they were even starting to slow down. Hopefully that was because they were running out of ammo.

“Grab that rocket launcher! Let’s blow them out of there!” Yelled one of them, and I immediately froze. If they fired that rocket, our cover would be blown, along with us. But if we escaped, we would be staggering and falling over and they would get us. So, that left me with one option…

“CHARGE!” And with that I jumped over my cover, again, and rushed them. Most of them, especially the bandits, looked absolutely stunned at my bold (and some would say stupid) move.

I fired Tankbuster’s rounds in a wide arc before me, causing most to take cover as the shotgun’s monstrous firepower sent the pellets at speeds capable of busting through most cover. When that was out, I pulled out the heavy pistol and fired off a shot at the leader: a Legionnaire wearing that same segmented armor as the heavy trooper. The only major difference was an engraving in his helmet: a Roaman numeral ‘II’.

He wasn’t like his subordinates, taking cover despite my unguided, un-aimed shots. He simply jumped to the side as the bullet smashed into the column behind him. He looked at me with hard, calculating eyes.

“All teams, focus fire on the Praetorian! Those on the right, circle around and block the exit.”

‘Fuck.’

They all opened fire, one group moving around us to the exit. I tried running back for the fountain, where Skyfire only fired off the occasional shot of plasma (I had, after all, taken her SMG). But as I neared it, the force of at least a dozen bullets struck me in all areas ranging from my flank to my back. I didn’t stop moving yet, but I did collapse when one of them pulled out a shotgun and blasted me square in the chest. Had the armor not been thickest there, I was sure I would have died.

As I lay there on the ground, time seemed to slow down. Everything was going so slow I could even see bullets as they left their chambers. I even laughed at some of the facial expressions my opponents were giving as their faces moved slower than snails. Even the blood flowing out of me slowed down, causing me to experience my pain in a significantly slower fashion. Still, I didn’t mind. I could use the time to think.

I thought of the many different people in my Stable. Silkthread, Kevlar Vest, Bloodshot, Muzzleflash, Drapes, Couch Potato, Airtight, Wonderglue, the Overmare, Lighthouse… they were all good people. All of them. Except maybe that scumbag murderer. But considering I was about to die, I decided not to spoil my mind with thoughts of him.

Next I thought of Road Town, the first and the friendliest settlement I had met on the outside in my first few weeks. A settlement much like my Stable, really. There were zebras and ponies, and they were all working together despite what happened two hundred years ago. And I never would have met them had it not been for Myst…

I sighed as I placed my head back down. Myst. I had lead her to her death. Her pieces were probably scattered all over the place outside, waiting to decay and add another imperfection to the strange beauty of Roam. Roam…

It was a beautiful place, despite it’s obvious disrepair. I never told anyone, but I was actually honored to have tried to protect Roam. It was a place of history, of great good and evil. It deserved to be preserved and restored, despite it’s imperfections. It’s people deserved a second chance, just like that damned slaver. Just like that Legionnaire Skyfire killed. Just like Skyfire herself.

I blinked my eyes slowly, contemplating on the things I would never get to do. The people that wouldn’t answer for their crimes. The people that wouldn’t get the second chance they deserved. The people that I had lead to their deaths.

You know, they say that when you’re about to die, your life flashes before your eyes. I decided to put that theory to the test, and I closed my eyes.

Nothing.

‘Okay, what the hell is going on?’ The not-Tod part of my brain finally asked.

‘Yeah, why is time all… slow?’ Asked Tod, and it was actually a sensible question. One that I had disregarded. Why was time slowing down?

I looked around me, and my eyes caught my hoof on my Pipbuck. I had, without knowing it, pressed a button on the touch screen interface. Curious, I removed my hoof and looked at what I had pressed.

‘S.A.T.S ACTIVATED’ Said the little notification on the button.

“What the…” I started to say, before my vision was dominated by blue text. My eyes struggled to focus on the letters.

“Dear user,

Welcome to S.A.T.S! That is the Stable-Tec Assisted Targeting Spell. It is a new and revolutionary spell created by Stable-Tec to help preserve the life of our dear users.

Now, while in S.A.T.S, time will slow down to a crawl. Based on how much clearance you have been given by your Stable’s Overmare, you will get a minimum of one minute in S.A.T.S. The spell itself is meant to be utilized mostly by security, and it is used for quickly neutralizing a number of hostiles in a very short duration.

To use S.A.T.S, simply activate the spell and neutralize the hostile in any conventional sense. Watch out though, as the spell requires time to recharge after being used.

Stable-Tec”

“What? You’re telling me that all this time I had an awesome time-slowing spell that could have saved me and others from a hell of a lot of pain? Oh, you stupid…” I muttered as I got up, wiping the dirt from my face. I felt a little foolish, moving around like that on the ground and thinking while time was slowed down. And I was determined to get rid of that feeling.

“Alright, enough drama.” I said as I pulled out Skyfire’s SMG and pointed it at the leader, who had moved little more than a foot since time slowed down. To my surprise, the interface in my vision immediately gave off percentages next to each of his major body parts. Not knowing what to do, I targeted his head, which had a ‘70%’ chance, and fired three rounds.

The bullets blew out the back of his brains as he slowly slumped down to the floor.

“Alright, time to get the others before…” Time resumed it’s natural pace. Several of the bandits were eyeing me weirdly, while most just continued firing. Apparently, they saw me moving around at lightning speed while I was on the ground.

“Oh, shit. Uh… hey fellas.” Tankbuster was out, The SMG was out, the heavy pistol was in my saddlebags, and my gladius was on the ground. Taking advantage of my obvious unpreparedness, they continued shooting.

As I fell back down, I found myself in a very similar situation. Except this time around, I didn’t have my super-cool time spell to bail me out. Well, I always wondered what seeing my life before me was like anyway…

Wait, where the hell was my gladius?

The zebra’s neck started bleeding from a large cut. The others fired for a few more seconds before one mysteriously floated up, bleeding from a deep stab in her gut. The other watched the strange occurrence in confusion before he had his head cut off. Everyone else was either watching or didn’t notice and continued firing at Skyfire’s cover.

“What the fuck is going on?” I yelled out loud. Okay, first S.A.T.S, then nearly dying again, then weird ghosts with blades? Shit just got a lot stranger…

“Get up!” Said a voice, from who I could not see, as I was shoved into cover. I just sat there while the fire slowly died down, the enemy getting slain one at a time. Some of them tried running for the exit, but Skyfire had had enough of staying in cover.

“Die, motherfuckers!” She fired Mercedes into their flanks, and they instantly turned to goo. One of them did manage to get outside, but an explosion blasted her to pieces.

‘Hidden explosives, huh? I think I know who that is…’ A large grin started to form on my face. The last few enemies fell silent, and Skyfire approached me. An electric blue glow lit up behind her, and a familiar sniper pony appeared. She threw the stealth cloak onto her own saddlebags, and trotted to us.

“Um… I… hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.” Myst stammered. She took a look at at me, and her eyes went wide at the sight of my quickly-becoming-fatal wounds.

“Where the hell were you?” Skyfire asked in clear annoyance. “We almost died! We… we thought you were dead!” She started heaving, but then visibly relaxed a bit later.

“Um, well…” She started, obviously not knowing how to explain herself. But I didn’t need an explanation right now.

“Um, fillies? I’d love to talk, but, um, I’m a bit… out of shape?” I gasped; maybe my lungs had been punctured in that battle. They both looked at me, Myst giving a sheepish smile while Skyfire looked a little shocked. For what I don’t know.

“Oh, right…” Skyfire, turned quickly to my saddlebags, which had fallen off.

Three healing potions later and I was feeling significantly better. My lungs still struggled for air a bit and my ass hurt more than I was comfortable with, but I would live. We had managed to breach the building itself. The air inside blasted out like wind as Myst’s explosives blew the thick doors inwards. The place had only two more bandits inside. Disposing of them quickly, we were now exploring the inside.

The whole place was in pristine condition. Probably not free of dirt, but it was a significant improvement over everywhere else I had been. The polished marble tiles gleamed from the afternoon sun’s orange light. The windows above the stairs which led to the second floor were only partially cracked. There was even a non-broken and still functional version of the fountain outside within the middle of the chamber. Now without the dirt and the decay, I could make out the shape of the statue.

It was a zebra stallion sitting on a throne, wearing robes that hung down over the seat. He was wearing wreaths on the sides of his head. The throne itself wasn’t very large, but it was carved with so much detail and figures of little zebras and battles and other scenes which more than made up for the general simplicity of the throne’s shape.

Still, this place wasn’t untouched. It was obvious that these bandits and Legionnaires were the only ones able to break in, though. Aside from the dirt coming in from the crack on the windows, the only other sign of former inhabitat and activity were the wires running along the ground and the empty bottles lying around near the stairs. The wires led to strange, box-shaped devices with screens that showed a spinning logo of a gladius with a golden ring around it. I had tried using it, but I was never good with computers.

Skyfire had stayed downstairs, while Myst and I went up. All of the rooms were thoroughly looted and had only the barest of living necessities: food and water. Deciding to pick those up later, we continued along a hallway that lead to a door at the end.

“So, Myst, mind telling me what happened back there?” I finally asked, wanting to both break the silence and get some answers.

“Oh, well, there was a pony in there. He had a lot of ammo with him.”

‘So that’s where the ammo went.’

“He also had this stealth cloak, which made him really hard to spot. How you found him with that thing of yours, I don’t know. Maybe he only put it on after he noticed me? Anyway, when they fired the rocket, I had already left the building and was coming over to you. When I got in, I decided not to shoot. If I did, I would have exposed myself. When I saw that you weren’t using your blade any more, I took the opportunity to help out. Good thing you dropped it, or else we would all have died.”

Wait, how?

“What do you mean? You could have just gotten out, right? I don’t see how you would have gotten killed.”

“Oh, you see, this cloak is solar powered. That is, it gets energy from sunlight. It was almost out, I think, when you dropped your blade.” Oh, ok. It turns out making mistakes is helpful.

“Well, we were really worried about you. When I saw that building collapse, I was so sure you were dead. Glad to know I’m wrong.” She didn’t say anything, but she smiled. For what, I couldn’t say.

When we had finally reached the door, we found it locked as well. Myst had told me she couldn’t blast them open, and when I asked why she just started talking about explosive force disruption and other complicated concepts. I didn’t learn explosives in the Stable, okay?

Even more, the door required a voice sample. Considering that this was the house of ‘Legate Decarius’, I assumed I would need his voice. But the guy was dead for at least two hundred years. So, with a disappointed sigh, we went back to meet up with Skyfire.

We found her on one of the computers, looking through files and images of Roam. Her being on the computer wasn’t actually what caught my attention though. It was the pictures. They were pre-war images. They were showing off massive domed structures, robotic mechs walking in the streets with zebras pointing at them, and there was even one image that showed a massive reptilian creature flying in the sky.

“Goldwreath, check these out! These zebras still have access to the zebra Databanks! Lucky bastards. If the Enclave had this…” She stopped, seeing the stunned expression on my face. “What? Did I do something?” She asked, looking around her as if to see if she had stepped on something.

“No, it’s not you. It’s… those pictures.” I couldn’t believe the beauty of Roam before the war. It was my very picture of paradise: Streets filled with people yet not over-crowded. Massive pillars that held up great monuments and other stunning feats of engineering. Mechanical marvels sharing the streets and skies with the citizens in perfect harmony. Zebras trotting around in kevlar vests and cloth styled in a way that made them look like me, minus the plumes on the helmets. The buildings were painted bright colors that brought such life and radiance to the city that I was sure no other place in the whole world could possibly have. As much as I loved Equestria… this… this was the greatest and most grand thing I had ever seen.

“Oh, yeah, well, you know. The zebras were masters of architecture and math, so such feats were to be expected. Now, let’s see what else we got here…” She continued browsing, typing in things such as ‘how to create home-made spark batteries’ in one section and ‘Equestrian history’ in another. How she got the computer to work in the first place still baffled me.

We checked the rest of the building, Myst sweeping upstairs again while I looked for rooms we hadn’t checked yet. I found a locked door which, thankfully, was only secured with a weak padlock. Two bobby pins later I was in a dark room with only a little light coming from a few cracks illuminating the area.

“Well, it’s a good thing I have this.” I activated my Pipbuck’s lamp mode and started looking around. There were lots of tools here, mostly wrenches and hammers. Nails littered the floor as I trotted through the long, dark hall, breaking old and rusted nails beneath my hooves.

It was then that I bumped into something metallic. Feeling a little foolish at hitting something so large, I lifted my leg to see the obstacle.

“No way…” I muttered. There just had to be a light switch around here somewhere. I fumbled around near the walls in search of a light switch. I must have been making a lot of noise, because I heard Skyfire and Myst galloping towards me. “Come on…light switch…. Ah, there we go.” I flicked the switch, and turned to face the metallic machine. Skyfire got in just a second later, while Myst hadn’t arrived yet.

“Goldwreath, what’s with all the noise? I’m trying to watch a video over-WOAH, what is that?” She asked in disbelief. I couldn’t quite believe it myself. Why in the world would the Legion just leave something like this here? A few more moments later, Myst came in as well.

“I heard noise, what’s wr- Oh, oh my.”

“Is that what I think it is?” Skyfire asked, clearly not quite convinced.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” I said as I got onto the roof of the armored personnel carrier.

I had seen this type in a magazine before; it was an S3 Harpy: a part of a new wave of zebra armored vehicles that were on the verge of being sent to the front lines in large numbers. A thruster engine lay underneath it's armored front cabin, which extended all the way to half the vehicle's length going back, where from then on the armored chassis angled upwards, and sported two more thruster engines jutting out from the sides. Orange and black vertical stripes ran along the top and sides of it's silvery, armored form. Thick and bulletproof narrow and sloped windows at the front allowed vision of the inside, though the area within was obscured by shadow. The vehicle's only true armament consisted of a large, 25mm cannon jutting from the top, pointing forward, but that alone seemed like it could tear down a wall.

Needless to say -- and I do not intend, at all, to imply that I have a machine fetish -- it looked damned sexy for a vehicle.

As I got in, landing on the surprisingly soft seats of the cockpit, I reached a dead end. I had no idea how to operate vehicles whatsoever, and I especially didn’t know how to turn it on.

“Um, anyone know how to use this thing?” Myst and Skyfire got in, both looking slightly perplexed. Myst was less so, however, in that she immediately got over next to me took a look at the controls. She placed her hoof on a smooth, glossy, black surface in the middle for about five seconds. When nothing happened, she removed her hoof from the glossy surface. Immediately, the vehicle gave off an electronic hum as the engine fired up. We felt the vehicle lift up into the air, staying still.

“Awesome…” Skyfire said as she walked around the only slightly wobbly cockpit. Myst, on the other hoof, looked slightly surprised that what she did actually worked.

“Alright, now, how does this thing work…” I touched the black surface and moved it up slightly, and immediately the vehicle rose and slammed into the ceiling and the we fell back down.

“Nice one, genius. I hope you didn’t smash the turret.” Skyfire said before exiting the vehicle. Yeah, perhaps it would be better once we were actually outside.

As me and Myst hurried up to catch up with Skyfire, we heard the sound of a trumpet erupt from the main chamber. When we found her, she was rummaging through a sack of electronic parts while a video played on the computer. I checked out the title. ‘Decarius Addresses Public Concern on Letting Military Mechs on the Streets’

“… so tell us, Legate, what makes you think that this is the correct decision? Is it to give the citizens a sense of safety as the Equestrians push deeper into zebra lands?” Asked the interviewer. The camera turned to face Decarius, a middle-aged looking stallion with several scars visible through his ceremonial armor. His face had large scars on one side that looked reminiscent of shotgun pellets scraping across his skin.

“Well, yes, there is that. But there is also the fact that we have been losing ground on the basis of our defenses being disabled from the inside.” His voice wasn’t all that iconic, really. It was just a little deep, and quite rough.

“You mean to say that there are traitors within the military?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Our power generators have been disabled right when the Equestrians approached the defensive lines. Honestly, had we been able to hold them back at the Wall of Hadrian, they would still be on the beaches.”

“I see. And are the Shadow Corps hunting down these traitors?”

“Oh yes. We’ve already caught three of them, and at the Caesar’s orders they have been executed.”

I suddenly realized that I needed his voice sample to open the doors upstairs, and that my Pipbuck had a ‘record’ feature. Quickly, I brought it up, pressed the record button, and held it closer to the speakers.

“Really? And have they been confirmed of said atrocity?”

“Oh, yes. They weren’t really good at covering their tracks. Hopefully, the presence of our mechanized infantry near crucial points will prevent any more incidents. The Equestrians are already nearing the mountains, but the network should be up and running by the time they do.” Wait, what network?

“I see. Thank you for your time Legate, and also for being able to come to our studio on such short notice.” The video reached it’s end, and the screen turned black. A list of related videos appeared on the right side, but I wasn’t interested in any of those. Skyfire, on the other hoof, peeked at the list and brought the cursor over to one. Myst trotted over to her and began helping her out with whatever it was she was doing.

With the voice sample I needed, I went back upstairs.

“… covering their tracks. Hopefully, the presence of our mechanized infantry near crucial points will prevent any more incidents…”

With a metallic shriek, the door slid upwards and revealed a small room within.

“Welcome, Legate.” Said a rough, electronic mare’s voice through a speaker above the doorway.

A turret popped down from the ceiling aimed at me. I just barely managed to pull out Tankbuster and was about to blast it to pieces, when... it didn't shoot. It was just staring at me. I decided to not blast the thing apart, as I thought it may have been linked to a more intricate defense system or something.

The room within had a floor that was covered in a luxurious fur, and the walls were made of polished marble. In the middle of the room was a glass case with two orbs within, and above the case was a helmet. The helmet itself didn’t really look like it was made for combat, though. Really, it was actually just two golden wreaths attached together by a silver metal plate that covered the head. What made it strange, though, was the presence of delicate looking cup-like depression on the helmet. Within the depression were three lights around a ring with tiny, glassy spikes emerging from it.

I didn't know what I was thinking. Perhaps it was the subconscious part of my brain that wanted to find out more about the zebras of the past, or it was just plain curiosity. I wasn't under attack right now, and neither were my friends. And considering the battle we had fought so hard to win earlier, I guess we were each entitled to a little curiosity sating.

Still, I just had to ask myself, 'Is this really a good idea?'

'Yes,' Was the response of a part of my head. It wasn't Tod, which surprised me. 'Don't worry about it. I think it may be a good idea to obtain some context.'

Well, he wasn't Tod, and at that time that seemed good enough for me. I know it may seem stupid, but after you've been mentally plagued by a shitty part of your brain... well, the word of anyone else just seems so much more trustworthy. I also very much wanted to find out more about these things. Skyfire and Myst could take care of themselves. I just hoped that Skyfire wouldn't go into a fit of rage while I was figuring out how this thing worked.

I took off my own metal helmet and lay it down on the floor before putting on the one before me. Well, it was comfortable to say the most. The helmet was so light it made me remember just how not wearing heavy metal armor felt like. Looking at the strange orbs, I carefully lifted the case away and picked one at random. The depression within the helmet looked specifically built to accommodate the orbs. Not really knowing what else to do with it, I placed the orb in the depression.

All feeling left my body as my world fell away.

I couldn’t move, or at least couldn’t control my actions. This was an even stranger feeling than when I was in my S.A.T.S induced time-crawl. I couldn’t even control my rate of breathing! I just wanted to get out of this orb before some more weird shit happened. Unfortunately, it showed no sign of stopping soon.

I decided to just go along and hope for the best. Now, let’s see what was going on…

Okay, I was a stallion; presumably a zebra. This was his memory, therefore he was my... vessel? Host? Alright, he was my 'host' -- a host in a memory orb, sounds about right. He was hurrying along the soaked streets, his strenuous effort apparently bearing the goal of making his way to a building in the distance. Crossing the street thrice and nearly getting run over twice, he finally reached his destination: Decarius’ house. As he approached the gate, dripping head to hoof, the guards wearing power armor stopped him.

“HALT! WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS WITH LORD DECARIUS?” Wow. Apparently, the speakers on those things were even louder than they were today. A small dial on the right side of the helmet, right next to the gas mask, showed his speaker’s volume.

‘SPKR Vol. % : 7’

Seriously? Seven percent speaker volume? It was loud enough to be heard over a damned storm!

“Ah, yes! Hold on!” My host had to yell over the storm as he dug something out if his pockets underneath. He grabbed what appeared to be his wallet and opened it, revealing a badge inside. He pulled out the wallet and showed the badge to the guards.

“I’m with the Zebra Scientific-AAA!” He was blown against the ground by a strong blast of wind which also blew his wallet away. “Shit. Ah, look. I really need to speak to the Legate. So if you could just, you know, let me in, that would be great!” The guards looked at him and at each other. They turned back to him, the dial on one of the guards going up from seven percent to ten percent.

“I CANNOT LET YOU SPEAK TO THE LEGATE WITHOUT PROPER CLEARANCE. PLEASE LEAVE.” Ow. Even if it wasn’t my ears being busted, that still hurt.

Recovering from the sonic assault, my host just stood his ground.

“No! I must speak to him! You can’t keep me out here!” His voice was probably overshadowed by the gust of wind that blew against him, because the guards didn’t seem to hear that last statement. They let their weapons fall out as they entered combat stances.

“I’M WARNING YOU ONE MORE TIME. LEAVE.” My host didn’t back away, but I could feel his legs begin to tremble from more than just the cold. Eventually, he started to take slow steps back. Then a speaker near the door sounded, just loud enough to be heard.

“Ah, Maladus! You’ve made it. Please, come insi-… what the hell are you doing? Let this stallion in, I invited him here!” The voice was that of Decarius, and the guards stepped to the side upon hearing it. They turned the volume on their speakers down before they spoke.

“AH, TERRIBLY SORRY, MY LORD. YOU, IT TURNS OUT THE LEGATE DOES INDEED NEED TO SPEAK WITH YOU. YOU MAY ENTER.”

My host trotted past them at a brisk pace, as if worried they were going to change their minds. The doors began closing as he stepped through, and I heard the guards ‘whisper’ to one another just before the gates closed completely.

“YOU THINK THE LEGATE WILL FIRE US?” One asked in a worried tone.

“I HOPE NOT, AFTER ALL HE NEEDS ALL THE SOLDIERS HE CAN GET FOR-” But then the gates slammed shut as my host made his way across the courtyard to the door of the mansion.

My host stepped through the doorway and immediately a glowing sheet of blue energy erupted from a slot in the ground. While I felt the need to run away from it, my host spared it no second glance and simply walked through. A loud hissing filled the room. When he emerged on the other side, he was completely dry.

“Decarius?” He asked loudly, but in a respectful and non-impatient sounding manner. A moment later, the Legate came down from the second floor of his mansion, accompanied by two power armored guards. Upon getting closer to my host, Maladus, Decarius dismissed them.

“Ah, Maladus, it’s good to see you!” Decarius came in and gave my a host a surprisingly tight (and slightly painful, in no small part due to his ceremonial armor) bear hug.

“Ugh… it’s... good to… see you, Decarius. Could you, ugh, put me down?” Decarius released him as Maladus started panting heavily.

“Haha, sorry. It’s just that it’s been such a long time since we last spoke. It was… three years, I believe?” Decarius was in a very joyful and merry mood, showing neither exhaustion or dark thoughts as he and my host made their way to the back of the building.

“Yes, three years. And you’ll forgive me if I don’t seem quite thrilled. The war is… exhausting. Equestria’s Ministry of Arcane Science and Ministry of Wartime Technology have been pressing us hard to keep up technologically.” He really was exhausted, and not just physically. It was quite clear in the way he spoke of the war that he was sick of it.

“Aw, really? And I thought that when we made that pact all those years ago that you would remember it now.” Decarius responded with a pout, gaining both a smile and a disagreeing shake of his head from Maladus.

“No, I still remember that pact clearly. But your great enthusiasm for the war has led to some… unfortunate events. The Equestrians are already close to Hadrian’s wall, Decarius! I hope that your project succeeds in saving us.”

The two of them entered into a wide, circular chamber with a conference table in the middle. Upon the Legate’s entrance, servants entered and quickly prepared drinks and various types of foods while others removed the meeting table and brought in a circular one. The two of them sat down, opposite of each other, as the servants exited the chamber.

“Close.” Decarius said, and immediately all the doors closed before steel plates slid down behind them. An automated turret similar to the one in the room I was sure I was just lying down in popped out from the ceiling and started looking around. “Really? Well, then perhaps you remember why we started this war.”

Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah… WHAT?! I need to hear that again to believe it…

Maladus gave a sad smile before he started chanting, in a very disturbing and monotonous manner.

“Our nation is the greatest and soon will be again. From Ursalania in the west to Felinia in the east, from Canesas in the south to Equestria in the north, our glory of old will rise from the grave and reclaim its rightful place at the center of the world.”

Decarius joined in as well, their words in perfect synchronization.

“… The legions will march down the roads of the world, with no fear of danger or heed to barbarians…”

“…All lesser nations will be brought to their heels, and from their ruins shall arise a new order that will shake the very foundations of the world.

“…No defeat shall hinder, no victory shall relax, no time of war shall weaken and no time of peace shall make us complacent…

“…Not will we rest, not will we waver, until the whole world has been shown the Glory of Roam.”

They both ended, and kept quiet for a few moments. Decarius seemed authentically pleased while Maladus, judging from how I felt his facial expression, seemed both sad and lost.

"Decarius, do you really think we should have done this? The war, I mean? Should we have disobeyed the Caesar and withheld those coal shipments? And should we have provoked the attack at Littlehorn? At times it feels like we made the wrong choice all those years ago; that we were young and foolish, and let our ambitions get the better of us." Maladus queried. Decarius thought for a moment, tapping his hooves together, before he spoke.

"Yes, Maladus. I am sure we made the right decision. The network will turn this around, and once we expose them to the software... everything will go according to plan." Decarius pressed a small button on the table, and immediately an extremely faint ringing noise filled the room.

Okay, hold on, what software?

“I am sorry, Maladus. But I cannot afford that you doubt the plan now. This has to be done.” The ringing increased slightly.

"Wait, the software? Y-you said you would never use it! This is... is..." Maladus protested before the ringing became slightly more audible, but just barely. My host gave a resigned sigh, before he slumped against the chair. He closed his eyes, as if wanting it all to end. "So, you've perfected the signal," He said tiredly.

"Not yet, but with your input, I will. Don't worry, Maladus, We can still correct this. We can still bring the war back in our favor. I just need you to agree with me. Do you?" He asked the question with a tone of such hope and anticipation that very much resembled a little colt's.

My host's body twitched, and his head started to ache. He put his hooves up to touch his temples, before his eyes shot wide. His breathing became more erratic as he tried to speak, but he couldn't. He fell onto the floor and began thrashing around as the pain in his head became more forceful. After going on like this for about another minute, he finally relaxed. He got up again and sat down on the chair like nothing happened.

"I completely agree. But what is the next stage?" His voice was surprisingly... normal. No hint of struggle and no catch in his voice to suggest he was faking it. It was almost as if he truly agreed with Decarius.

Decarius smiled as he got up, flicking his cape onto his back. He approached a circular ring on the ground with a metal column next to it. On the column was a control panel with many buttons and a touch screen interface. Decarius pressed one of the buttons and touched the screen a few times.

"Message sent." The little computer said in a mare's voice.

Decarius turned back to Maladus, who was sitting quietly on the chair as he watched the Legate approach.

"The next step? Ah, yes. I'm sure Autherius will have gotten the message. He simply has to contact Stable-Tec, after all."

My host twitched a bit more, as if it was the last bit of resistance he could give to... whatever this was. Decarius fished out one of the strange orbs from his robes and set it down on the table. After, he pulled out two folded golden wreaths from somewhere beneath his clothing and set it on the table as well. Finally, he pulled one of the drawers of the table and pulled out a silver head plate.

"You know how to assemble it and extract your memories, yes?" Decarius asked with similar childish anticipation. To his immense relief, Maladus responded.

"Yes, I remember." And he started placing the wreaths on the side of the helmet, after which the ring in the cup-like depression glowed. Afterwards, Maladus placed it onto his head and strapped it on. My host placed the orb in the dent, catching Decarius' smile turn a little more... devious, before all feeling left his body and his vision blurred to black.

I woke up to Myst and Skyfire shaking me vigorously. I was laying on my side on the cold tiles of the lobby, next to the computer. The helmet with the orb was still on, thankfully. I can only imagine what would have happened if they cut me out of it.

Okay, so who was Maladus? Apparently, he was some old friend of Decarius or something. But what the hell happened in there? What was that ringing? What happened to my host? And who was Autherius? Oh, I seriously hoped that second orb might give some answers...

"Okay, he's awake!" Skyfire said with great relief, slumping against the boxy form of the computer.

"Oh, thank goodness! We thought you were gone for sure!" Myst admitted, and it was the first time I saw her seem tired. Really, she had NEVER seemed tired at all. But now she did, what with the sweat pouring down her face.

"Huh? Ugh, how long was I out?" Come on, shaking me wouldn't work up that much of a sweat. Not unless it was being done for hours, of course. Although, looking out the window, it was already dark.

"A whole hour." Myst replied, exhausted. Skyfire, on the other hoof, seemed quite pissed off as she smacked me behind the head. The fact that the helmet was still on and caused her to hurt herself more than me visibly agitated her further.

"Fuck, Goldwreath! What the hell were you thinking? You couldn't have told us what you were doing before you did it? Good thing Myst told me about that place upstairs, because I don't think she could have carried you the whole way on her own." She gave a little grunt as she shook her head and kicked the computer.

"Sorry about that, but when you find two orbs in a glass case and a weird helmet next to it, your curiosity kind of takes hold." It was a lame excuse, and I knew it. I really should have told them so they wouldn't be worried. Still, it's not like any of us died because of it, so I was sticking to my decision.

Skyfire scrunched her face up and shook it hard in frustration. She turned back to me, ripped off the helmet and hit me once on the head with it. It gave a metallic, bell-like 'pong' as it connected against my skull. The helmet didn't even dent.

"Ow, what the hell?! I understand you’re pissed but that's a bit too much, don't you think? That thing's harder than it looks..." I rubbed the top of my head. Skyfire was breathing heavily, but her pissed off expression fell away.

"Well, at least now we're even." She said it without accusation or anger as she tossed the helmet to the side and sat down next to me. "Just... don't do that again, okay? Or if you are, at least tell us. We are your friends, after all." Wait, friends? When did that happen? This mare had tried to kill me today (even if her attempt really sucked)!

"We are?" Myst asked, both shocked and confused. She was probably thinking the same thing as I was regarding this whole 'friend' thing. Skyfire caught both our looks of confusion, before she tried to explain herself.

"Uh... I mean... well, we are aren't we?" She asked with Myst-like anxiety as she grabbed a sack cloth and twisted it around in her hooves while she looked down. Myst and I looked between each other, both of us shocked. However, as if in perfect synch, the both of us smiled and Myst nodded. After, I spoke.

"I... guess so. I mean, we've all fought together, right? We've trusted each other this far, and we found we could count on each other... more or less. And we may not always agree, but we can still trust each other. Right, Myst?" I looked directly at her, and she nodded with a little smile on her face.

"Right. After all, uh... you two aren't, um... as... bad as I thought." She sounded uncertain of herself, and I raised one of my eyebrows at her. She gave a sheepish smile as I shook my head, a smile of my own on my face. I turned to Skyfire, who had looked up from her cloth.

"Right, Skyfire? We can trust each other, RIGHT?" I made sure to emphasize the last word so she would understand. She nodded, before saying her own piece.

"Well, yeah. Like Myst said, you two aren't as... uh... bad as the Enclave makes the surface sound." She paused for a moment, as if thinking of what else to say. "But don't think that I'm not going to be watching you two! I've still got my eye on you..." She closed one of her eyes while the other stared at me. I laughed aloud while Myst suppressed a giggle.

Great, I had friends. The first real friends I've made out here. I just hoped that we would stay as friends, no matter what we went through. Maybe Skyfire wanted to be friends to try to take her mind off of losing her life. And maybe Myst wanted to be friends for... whatever reason she could possibly have. But they were now my friends, and I would treat them as such. Try to, anyway.

"Alright then. So, have we got everything we need? Did we leave anything behind?" I looked around the lobby at the cloth bags filled with stuff. There were a total of four, more than we could carry. Unless...

"Well, I guess we should find out how that APC works..."

"Nice one, genius," Skyfire said in perfect replication of her statement earlier. Okay, friend or not, that was the fifth time she had said that same line and it was getting pretty annoying. So I had crashed the APC into the building AGAIN. Controlling it wasn't easy, alright?

"Hey, you try piloting... uh, driving... ugh, controlling this thing! The controls are even more sensitive than the mare clits back in my Stable..." Okay, maybe that wasn't the most appropriate thing to say. I looked back at the two. Skyfire initially looked shocked before a devious smile crept onto her face. Myst, however, was blushing furiously as she pulled her hood up and covered her face with a hoof. "Uh, right. Back to this thing, then!" I said, hoping to quickly change the subject. I placed my hoof in the middle, which I had learned was good for stabilizing the vehicle. As it hovered in place, I tried racking my brain to find out just how to control this thing.

Okay, so the glossy black surface was used to control the vehicles height and direction. A lever-like mechanism next to that controlled it's speed. The vehicle could hover, but that didn't help because I couldn't figure out how to move it around without crashing it.

I tried spinning my hoof on the surface, hoping it might activate some special function that would help us out. Instead, it just made us spin before smashing into the building, again. The vehicle lost all control and we landed upside down on the ground. The vehicle's engines which were being pointed towards the sky continued to push us against the ground, and the sacks had spilled most of their contents everywhere. Everyone grunted and moaned from pain as we tried to get up. Skyfire, despite her pain, punched my helmet again.

"Nice one, gen-"

"I swear, if you say that again, I will personally give you steel-hooved physical therapy until your brain recovers from that crash." I looked around, and spotted a red button near the roof of the cockpit.

'FOR EMERGENCIES ONLY' It said, but I saw a little text on the side of the button: 'OR FOR REALLY BAD OPERATORS'

"Well, this is an emergency. And I am a really sucky operator, so..." I slammed the button, and immediately the vehicle went right side up and stayed still.

"Well, that's a useful feature. Now, let's try that again..." I was about to touch the black surface again, when a monotonous, female computer's voice sounded over the cockpit.

"I would prefer you do not touch the controls. I mean no offense, but you have already damaged this vehicle's outer plating and paint work. Not to mention, you are a really bad operator." What the fuck... Okay, weird shit levels are over nine thousand...

Skyfire immediately entered a combat stance, (even though her plasma rifles were out) before asking a series of questions I very much wanted to know the answers to.

"Who the hell are you? Where are you? And how do I kill you?" Okay, I'll admit, the last question was a little... blunt, to put it lightly.

The black surface also seemed to have mini speakers beneath it. And now that I looked at it, the glossy black surface itself had turned to an electronic red with a white line dashed across the middle. The computer's response was calm, despite being threatened with death by empty plasma rifles.

"I am this vehicle's A.T.A, short for Advanced Tactical AI, which stands for Artificial Intelligence. By request by a number of zebra troops, my platform, this vehicle, has been named 'Zaita' by the 4th Legion Centurion Deltris. I myself am located within the vehicle. I suppose you could say I am the vehicle, though that is not entirely accurate as I have control only over the vehicle's movement. Everything else, such as the turret, is user controlled." Skyfire looked at the waving line on the now-red surface while the vehicle spoke. Still suspicious, she asked more questions.

"Really? AI's huh? And just what makes you think we can trust you? You could lock us in here whenever you want, and you were made by damned zebras! What if you turn us over to the Legion or something?"

"Who?" Zaita asked, somehow sounding genuinely confused.

"You know, the Legion? Bunch of crazy zebras that practically own this place now? Been holding these ruins since a few months back? Aren't you a Legion vehicle?" Skyfire asked, now the one being slightly confused.

"Um, no. Wait, ruins? Hold on..."

The vehicle gave an electronic beep and an image appeared on the red surface. It was an image of the outside, except everything was tinged green. At least we could see everything clearly. As we watched, the image shifted to the side, then the other, focusing and zooming in on a recently made sign that read, 'FUCK THE LEGION!'

After a few seconds, the image disappeared, replaced by the red surface with the white line.

"Accessing Zebra Databanks to determine current situation of Roam... done." The AI kept quiet for a moment, and we waited. Skyfire decided to just sit down with the rest of us. Myst was nervously huddled in the corner of the vehicle, while I just sat there waiting for the vehicle's reaction.

"This is... a lot to take in. I am... surprised." The vehicle sounded, strangely, lost. Almost like me when I first got out of the Stable, but with much less emotion in her voice. Still, being lost myself, I knew it. It kind of freaked me out that I was able to tell the thoughts of a computer, though.

"I... have some questions. What happened, exactly? I understand there was a war, and that both the Zebra nation and our enemy Equestria were annihilated in a balefire exchange. But... but it says here that Legate Decarius was able to complete, and I quote, 'our salvation from destruction.' I... feel so lost..." Yeah, you're not the only one.

"And who has been maintaining and updating the databanks? There are entries here that were created just a week ago." The computer gave off a little purring sound as the screen was flooded with what must have been dozens of articles of information.

"My guess is the Legion. They've got computers from which we were able to access the Databanks. How they even have working units, I don't know." I answered. Seriously, how had they gotten working computers? I really doubted they had production facilities for that stuff.

Still, as interesting as this conversation was, we really had to go back to Conductor and tell him the job was done. But I really didn't want to upset to the AI of the vehicle that could probably lock us in here without any means to get out. So, I just waited.

And waited...

And waited...

Finally, after more than twenty minutes of awkward silence, Zaita spoke up.

"And what are you three doing?" She asked, and it caught all of us by surprise. Partially because of the length of time where she didn't speak and partially because we didn't quite understand her question.

"Come again?" I asked, hoping to get a better, more specific version of that question.

"What are you three doing? Your goals? My programming has me wanting to protect the Zebra Nation from all threats. But that seems... pointless now." Was it just me, or did she sound... suicidal? Could machines be suicidal?

"And why do you need to know?" Skyfire asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at the screen/interface where Zaita spoke from.

"Because without good purpose, my programming demands honorable self-destruction. But I do not want to be destroyed. And because I still want to protect this city. I...just don't know how." She admitted. Well, at least my previous question was answered. Still, I wasn't going to let an innocent (and extremely valuable) vehicle such as this destroy itself. And I really did need all the help I could get on this little 'quest' of mine.

'But is it really safe to tell her, uh... it?' I thought to myself. Sure, it sounded good enough, but what if it was just a hoax? What if it was with the Legion and was just going to trap us in here to choke and die?

'Yeah, even I think this is fishy.' Thought Tod, in one of the few instances where he seemed to be an actual part of my brain and not an annoying second mentality.

'Well, everyone already knows your goals, remember? It's not like the DJ hesitated to tell people what you've been doing.' Thought my other mentality. I had finally thought of a name for this guy, and that name was Tom. Tod and Tom. Great, I WAS going insane...

I looked from Skyfire to Myst, the former shaking her head in disagreement and the latter looking around with wide, cautious eyes. Well, it was still my decision to make. I just hoped this wouldn't come back to bite my flank...

"Okay, look. We are trying to stop the Legion. My own personal goal is to rebuild this place, but that's just ambition. Really, stopping the Legion before they do anything else is our goal as of the moment." She kept quiet for a moment, and I saw a small circle rotating on the edge of the screen. Next to it was a small text: 'Loading Valid Response'

"Could I accompany you?" Oh, ok-hey, wait, what?

"What?!" Myst and Skyfire asked in unison as they both approached the screen.

"What makes you think we need you around? We don't need some damned, talking APC hauling our asses across the wastes while..." Skyfire started ranting, but I seriously didn't want to hear it.

"Skyfire, that's enough. We have to face facts: we need transport. And we need all the help we can get if we're going to have a chance at taking the Legion down. Not to mention, I don't really think trotting around a city ourselves and getting into all sorts of deep shit like some crazy, drunken security pony is a good idea." Skyfire scowled at me, but seemed to see reason as she looked at the floor and gave a small frown. I turned to face the screen.

"Alright, Zaita. I'll give you a chance. Just... don't do anything that might bite us in the ass, alright? And I'm still watching you. If you do anything, I'll blast you to pieces with an anti-power armor shotgun." Hopefully, the threat of a loaded and combat-ready weapon might deter any moves this thing might make.

"Very well. And don't worry, I am loyal to my operators so long as they keep Roam's interests at heart. And, speaking of operators, what are your names?"

'Must I tell her... it? Ugh, her or it? Ah, never mind. Should I? It's not like our names could be called for an arrest warrant by a police department that was probably dead, anyway. Ah, what the heck?'

"My name is Goldwreath. This is Myst, and you've already met Skyfire." I pointed at the two, to which Zaita showed no reaction whatsoever.

"Goldwreath? That is a nice name. Sounds very zebra-like." I gave the machine a quizzical look. What the heck did that mean?

"What?" I asked, wondering how my name was 'zebra-like'. Weren't zebra names like Decarius, or Tekasho, or Autherius or something along those lines?

"Ah, never mind. It is not important. Now, where are we headed?"

"What do you mean 'where are we headed'?" Skyfire asked with whatever suspicion was left in her.

"I am capable of moving this vehicle around on my own. If there is somewhere we need to be, I can take us there." She responded, much to Skyfire's surprise.

"Woah, seriously? Well, that definitely cuts a lot of time off of travel. But I'm still watching you!" She pointed a hoof at the screen.

"Alright you two, that's enough. Zaita, could you take us to Via Oppidium? Road Town?" I asked, hoping she knew where it was.

"I am afraid I do not know its location. But I am able to follow directions." Well, at least I still remembered the way back...

"Alright, then. Let's go." And with that, the hovering APC turned around and glided down the streets.

Footnote: Level Up
New perk gained: Praetorian, Level Two -- If you can't lead by example, intimidate. Such have the praetorians of old lead their fellows in battle. All allies within your immediate area take 10% less damage, as well as move slightly faster.