Fallout Equestria: Tales of a Courier Reloaded

by a friendly hobo

Chapter 9: Iron Will.

Chapter 9: Iron Will.

“Make me lose and I’ll blow my fuse!”

Over just a few days, I’d experienced my own personal hell. I’d found out what it was like to be shot, burned, infected, and so much more. But one thing had risen over all the other experiences. A feeling that I had felt time and time again. A feeling that I had always dreaded.

Fear.

Fear was starting to rule my life. I could never fight back because fear had gotten the better of me. Fear ruled my life with an iron hoof, constantly beating me down when ponies like Ace and Shamrock would have gone to arms and fought back. If I was alone in the wastes, I would have died a long time ago. I owed Ace my life.

Trailblaze, the insanity in my mind, must have spawned from the constant fear, paranoia, and cowardice. Cowardice that would have cost ponies their lives given the situation. I tried to overcome my cowardice in the hospital, doing something I never would have done. My courage was destroyed not two minutes later when I was faced with those... things.... I made a mistake, and it nearly cost me my life. Just another way my friends had saved me.

Relying on others was something I had to change. Fear was something that I would need to beat to survive. Ace, Tallie, and Zippo wouldn’t be there forever. Hell, I didn’t know if Ace would come with me after Iron City. The day that sweet flank left my life would be a bad one indeed.

She did say she wanted to help though. Maybe there was hope? Maybe she’d follow through on her promise? What would happen if... well, when I piss her off? She’d just leave me... and then I’d die.

I needed to change that. For good.

Never be pushed around again.

--- --- ---

“How you feelin’, buddy?” Ace asked, nudging me. My mind was still fixated on the day’s events. We’d been out of the hospital for around an hour before I had to take a break. The infection was acting up, but the medication was definitely helping.

It took a few seconds to pull myself out of my thoughts and look up at the mare. She was looking stunning against the ruins around us. The Red Zone wasn’t as bad as I thought, to be honest. It was quiet, fairly cool, and, best of all, not dangerous. A little bit further into the Red Zone, and maybe it would get worse.

Ace just smiled awkwardly, tilting her head. “Hello? Clover, you awake?” The way her mane blew in the wind, clashing against the decay behind her, her brown eyes sparkling in the warm desert sun’s glare... she was so beautiful.

I then realised I was staring. Blushing bright red, I looked away sheepishly. “Uh... yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just fine. Not hurting as much.”

“Can we get moving then?” Tallie piped up from the window above me. I would wonder how she got up there, but I wouldn’t get a straight answer. From what I’d seen, she was the type to just plain not give a damn.

We were sitting on an old, cracked bench in the street, having pushed the skeletons off. Of course I didn’t like it. They were ponies once, but they were just lifeless husks now. Nothing but... whatever bones are made of. Just inanimate objects. Not like the ghosts of those ponies would come to haunt me.

Right?

The sun was hanging high in the sky. Just past noon by the look of it. I sighed and nodded, feeling ready to walk again. “Yeah. Let’s get going.”

Iron City was within our grasp. The cliffs we had to pass through could be seen clearly above the ruins, just a few minutes walk away. Over them stood a large tower. No, not a tower. A smoke stack, maybe? It was hard to make out, as it was just peeking over the cliff.

That was where I would get my information on Double Down. I knew he was in the city of Neighgas, but that wasn’t the only thing I needed to know. If the wastes had taught me anything, it’s to expect the unexpected. Learn about what Double Down has up his sleeve. A way to get in, a way to get at him, and live to tell the tale. Snake Eyes, that ghoul better pull through.

“Sweet!” Tallie said with a grin. She looked up and down the street before jumping and landing perfectly on the bench beside me, almost giving me a heart attack. She could have hurt herself! Then again, she was half cat. “One thing I need to ask. I need clothes.” She looked down at herself.

Her feathers were a complete mess, even the ones that were tied up in a ponytail, and her coat was filthy. Her back, sides, and the base of her wings were covered in scars. She honestly didn’t seem like the type to care about walking around naked- most don’t. It must have been the scars.

“If we find something along the way,” Ace said, getting up and straightening her leather jacket and her armoured socks. “Then we’ll find something in the city.”

Tallie froze. “The city? With all those ponies around?” She looked slightly worried. “The ponies... that are gonna see me?” Ace looked at me with a little worry and confusion.

“I’m sure we will find something along the road.” Ace looked up and started marching. “But we won’t find out without getting going.”

The little griffin stood still, looking very conflicted. She occasionally looked over her shoulder and felt the scars on her sides. Ace had started trotting off towards the canyon in the cliffs ahead, leaving Tallie and I behind. Deciding not to waste time, I took off my trench coat and handed it to Tallie.

“Here, it’ll do until we find you something to cover up,” I said with a smile. I knew what it was like to be self-conscious about looks, and judging by her scars I assumed she was a lot more self-conscious. Must have been. Definitely.

The griffin looked slightly confused for a moment, looking at the coat. She looked at me, and I saw a glint of... something in her eye. Was it... joy? It probably was, seeing as she took it and draped it over herself with a big, wide grin on her face. She looked adorable, the coat being way too big for her.

She climbed up my leg when I held it out to her, and she sat herself down on my upper back. She wrapped her arms around my neck. “Thank you,” she squeaked. When she broke the hug, I felt compelled to nuzzle the little griffin. She flinched a little at the touch but relaxed soon after. Her plumage may have been very messy, but she was still pretty soft. I could see she was holding in tears of joy, as if she’d never been given anything in her life.

“No problem, kiddo.”

--- --- ---

At the bottom of the hill, I saw the most gruesome, most disgusting, most terrifying sight ever.

A derailed train.

That’s right. A small locomotive was laying on its side next to its track, the old trucks behind it in various states of disrepair. Some had been torn apart, some had been completely destroyed. Looked like they were once coal trucks, or ore trucks maybe. Mining definitely.

It took me a moment to steady myself and really reflect for a second. I was horrified at a toppled train. An inanimate object. Really? Fuck, I got attached easy. I liked trains, but that was ridiculous.

“Griffin and gentlecolt, we are now leaving the Red Zone,” Ace announced with a smile, looking up at the large cliff face. “Just a short trot now, and we’re home free.” I was over the moon about leaving the Red Zone. Fuck that place. It was peaceful but scary as fuck. Never going back. Not even if it’s super important and unlocks all the secrets ever. Nope. No way.

“Thank Floyd,” Tallie cheered.

“Floyd?” I asked, looking back at the griffin cub, still riding on my back.

She just shrugged. “Dunno who to thank. Floyd seems like a cool name though.”

“Could just thank Celestia or Luna like the rest of us, even if you don’t believe in them.”

She raised an eyebrow at me. “Thank pony so-called ‘goddesses’? Pff, nah, Floyd’s totally my new saviour, thing.”

“Floyd it is,” I chuckled. I wasn’t sure why ponies swore to the Equestrian Princesses. I think it was because they were once real and godlike, the reality being the defining factor in worship.

That’s probably bullshit, and the reason is hidden in a mystery shrouded in an enigma that I just don’t care enough to solve.

“Move it, slow flanks!” Ace barked from up ahead, entering the wide canyon. You could easily fit two or maybe three trains side-by-side through it, but there was only one track. The other space must have been used for carts and the like.

I looked back at the city we had just left. The ruins got smaller as the city thinned out, getting closer to the cliffs, but I could still see the bane of my existence in the distance. The fucked up hospital. Two of my biggest questions were ‘Why the fuck weren’t there any windows?’ and ‘Why the fuck were there rainbow-spewing mutants in the MAS wing of the hospital?’. Time will only tell. Either I’d find out or forget. I was hoping for the latter.

Nothing but the wind cut through the silence in the canyon, whistling above us. It was cold in the shade of the canyon walls. The sun was beating down over the Ponave in its perch in the sky. I was glad we weren’t in the sunlight. Being a desert and all, it gets very hot very fast out there.

We eventually caught up to my gorgeous, sexy friend and marched alongside her. Her beautiful brown mane blew gently in the breeze. She had the prettiest smirk on her face, like she was highly anticipating something, like a child on Hearths Warming eve. She really wanted to get to Iron City as soon as possible. Then... who knew?

“Psst, Mr. Clover,” Tallie whispered in my ear. “You’re staring.”

I blinked and looked away from Ace. “Thanks,” I muttered back. What would have happened if Ace had caught me staring? Probably nothing, but I didn’t want to come off as creepy. Aw hell, here we go. I was probably sweating and looking very awkward. Oh look, that rock suddenly became very interesting. Yes indeed.

“Weirdo,” Tallie murmured from her perch on my back. That kid.

I was on the fence about Tallie. Her attitude was understandable, given her assumably abusive past, in the past day we had spent with her she seemed to show promise, like she was starting to relax after years of fear. At least, that’s what I thought. She was slowly starting to adapt to not having to fear the ponies around her. She was even wearing my coat without complaints.

“What have we here?” Ace asked, breaking my deep thoughts. I looked back and didn’t see the canyon entrance. We had walked farther that I had previously predicted. I was walking along the old train track. The iron rusted in places and the wooden slats had gone mouldy and almost useless. Tallie climbed off my back and walked over to Ace, dragging the coat behind her.

Ace had stopped at what looked like an old service station. It was one where ponies pulling carts could stop and have a rest or the more advanced modes of transports could recharge whatever it was they ran on. Magical batteries? Gems? What was I, a mechanic? Tallie seemed to squeal with delight as she sprinted towards it.

“Stop!” Ace called out, but Tallie was too excited. She ran right inside the building’s repair shop. Ace rolled her eyes and cursed under her breath then followed after, levitating her shotgun beside her. I gulped and reluctantly followed, readying my SMG. Who knows why Ace was getting ready for combat, but if she was, I’d better too.

The building was two stories, the repair shop only being one, but the whole thing looked off. Not off as in ruins like the rest of the Ponave, but something didn’t sit right. There were piled-up carts outside and the rubble had been shifted. It looked more like a little fort than an old building. Didn’t stop Tallie, Ace, or apparently me.

Ace shoved the barrel of her shotgun through the door first, and scanned the room. I poked my head in after she had entered. My jaw was clacking gently against my SMG, trembling in the fear of the unknown. What had Ace been preparing for? Mutants? Bugs? Mutant bugs? I looked behind me to see Zippo scuttling around outside, his feelers dancing along the ground. Something... something was up. I didn’t know what, but it was up.

Tallie was digging through and old box on the other side of the room. The repair shop seemed better than most of the buildings I’d seen. There was less rubble, and everything seemed shinier. There was a cart being repaired on an elevated platform and parts were scattered around the room.

“Cool!” Tallie exclaimed in excitement. She dragged something out of the box, a bundle of materials. She dusted it off and turned to us. “I found pants!” She was right. She’d found a pair of faded greyish-blue cargo-shorts. They weren’t designed for ponies, that was for sure, but from the size and shape, I’d say they were fit for a griffin. Tallie took her time trying them on.

They fit her fairly well. The just about covered her knees and had a large pocket on either side. It didn’t look so great with my coat, but it didn’t look bad. She turned back to the box. “Got some more cool stuff in here.”

I decided that Ace was just being paranoid, so I holstered my SMG and gave her a smirk. She rolled her eyes and looked around, shotgun still raised. Trotting over to Tallie, I saw that the box read ‘old stuff’. I looked over Tallie’s shoulder and picked out a note that she had set aside.

‘Remind me to send this stuff to charity.’

I guess the last owner outgrew his or her clothes and stashed them here. I looked over Tallie’s shoulder again. The box did have some clothes, most destroyed or too small, but also some old toys and other children’s things. Tallie looked over the toys in detail, spinning the wheels on the toy train, examining an old doll. She sighed and put them back, taking out a navy blue garment.

She displayed it between us, looking it over. It was a long sleeved undershirt with two upper arm pockets that seemed to be intact, albeit dusty. Tallie seemed to like it as she put it on, poking her wings through the wing holes and doing a little spin.

“Nice,” I remarked, picking up my coat.

“I know, right?” She seemed genuinely happy, seeing that the clothes covered her scars. “Ain’t we lucky?” She delved into the box and pulled out a little satchel with a teddy bear’s face on it. “Well, almost. This would have been perfect.” Didn’t like bears. We were going to have a problem.

“Tell you what,” I said, patting her on the shoulder. “When we get to Iron City, we’ll get the patch taken off and I’ll take it off your hands.”

Tallie nodded and looked into the box. “Some of these toys look pretty good...” she mused. I think she wanted to take them, but she didn’t want to look like a child. I gave her a wink. “I guess we could take some. Sell it, y’know?”

“Sure,” I chuckled and watched her take a bunch of old toys out. I noticed she put the most damaged into a different part of the bag. I wouldn’t tell anyone. She moved on to the other shelves and such. Most of the other stuff looked boring. Tools and stuff.

Much to my surprise, Tallie actually took them. A wrench, screwdriver, hammer, all sorts of stuff. She stuffed the smaller tools, like a spanner and her screwdriver, into her shoulder pocket, letting them sit snug. She stuffed the rest into an old, dusty tool belt, brushed off the cobwebs, and decided to put it on. She looked like a regular little engineer with that gear. She redid her ponytail feather style and struck a pose. “Thoughts?” she asked.

“Looks good,” I said with a smile. “But why take the tools?”

“Because,” Tallie said, walking past me to a set of other shelves. “Tools are what I need to tinker. Build stuff. Fix stuff.” She looked back up at me. “Didn’t think I salvaged that machine back at doc whatsit’s pad for nothing, did you?”

“So...” I started, putting two and two together. “You’re kinda like an engineer or something.”

Tallie examined her talons. “Yeah, kinda a genius, no big deal.”

“Oh really?”

“Ya, really.” She looked so very smug. “It was a hobby that kept me well away from my parents.” She turned and looked back at the shelves. “And that’s all I’ll say on the subject.”

I gave her a very concerned frown. What was she keeping from us? I understood that her childhood was unpleasant, but it wouldn’t do any good bottling it up. Maybe in time. Hell, her parents only died the day before.

I sighed and looked around for Ace. She was struggling with a large crate in front of a door. Her magic wasn’t enough to lift it, but with the force of my hind leg muscles and a little grunting and cursing, we shifted it. The box looked like it had been shifted fairly recently, but there was nothing remarkable other than the weight.

Ace leveled her shotgun at the door. “I got a bad feeling about this,” she murmured. I looked at her strangely, then unholstered my SMG, ready for whatever it was she was paranoid about. She reached out with her black-tinged magic and slowly creaked the door open.

Nothing could have prepared me for smell that blasted from the room. It was like someone had taken an old sock, used it to clean a septic tank, then threw it over a pile of week-old corpses. Of course, that might have been an observation, but when Ace took a peek, she immediately went pale. I may not have been far off, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to find out.

“Raiders,” Ace said, obviously frightened. “We have to leave. NOW!” She turned and looked at Tallie, who was putting all sorts of equipment in her satchel, then to me. “Get her out of here!”

I nodded and complied, scooping up Tallie and galloping for the exit. If it was the same raiders as the stories I was once told as a lad, then we were screwed. Tallie protested, having not collected all the parts she wanted, but she eventually complied. Ace brought up the rear, keeping her shotgun pointed at the door.

The sun was right over the canyon now, the light burning my eyes as we sprinted out, but it wouldn’t stop us. My heart was racing, the adrenaline starting to trickle into my system, giving me that high I was beginning to love. We galloped away from the wretched place, and we were just in time.

Charges detonated above us, bringing down a hail of boulders and rocks behind us, cutting us off from the rest stop. We looked back in disbelief, then the fear set back in.

“It was a trap,” Ace gasped, looking for breath. “Fuck they were crafty...”

I looked between Tallie and Ace. “You mean they had charges ready to rain down boulders on us, after we left their camp?” Sweat beaded down my face. “We both know what that means.”

Ace paled again. “It means we’re being watched!” Tallie interjected before Ace could.

“Drop your weapons!” a voice boomed. Slowly, six ponies emerged from various outcrops ahead. They didn’t look like the raiders from the old stories but more like soldiers. They each wore black and white camouflage armour with an odd hammer emblem on their shoulders. They wore helmets that matched their armour. “I said drop ‘em!”

Ace and I complied, slowly dropping our weapons. These were definitely not raiders. Oh hell, not Separatists again! I’d had enough of them to last a lifetime. “Packs too!” Each of us, even Tallie, put our bags and equipment on the ground. Hell, I even unhooked my sniper harness and set it down. “Alright, you raiders are coming with us.”

“Raiders?!” Tallie blurted out. “Seriously? Do we look like raiders you dodo?”

Ace just smirked. “These guys won’t hurt us,” she said with a smug smile. “They’re Iron Defenders.”

“That’s correct,” a light blue unicorn stallion wearing a black beret instead of a helmet replied. “You aren’t fooling us. Only raiders operate around these parts, and anyone coming from that way unscathed is either extremely lucky or the next damn messiah.” He slowly approached, the other soldiers following him. Each of them had goggles, each with weapons varying from assault rifles to SMGs.

“We aren’t raiders,” I said, my heart racing and sweat pouring down my main. “We were just passing through! We meant no harm!”

The pony who seemed to be in charge just smirked. “A likely story. We’ve been watching your outfit for a while.” He looked up at the blasted rock. “Nice job, Tea Tree.” He glanced over his shoulder at what looked like a mare with an SMG. He looked back to us. “No reinforcements for you anytime soon, buddy.”

Tallie groaned in frustration. “We aren’t raiders!” She repeated, looking pissed.

The commander rolled his eyes. “Then who-”

“Looking for somepony?” another voice chimed in from behind them. Four of the ponies accompanying the soldier turned and aimed at the new voice, the other two with their weapons still on us.

The voice belonged to a foul-looking pony. His mane a large red mohawk on his filthy brown face. He looked like he hadn’t bathed in years, and the grime and blood had set into his coat, staining it in horrible large patches. He wore a set of jury-rigged armour a lot heavier than his followers with large metal pauldrons with spikes and a metal chest plate that looked like it had been taken from an old cart.

We were facing up to twenty of the ponies, each brandishing guns and melee weapons. They looked like a pack of feral looneys, each more crazed than the last, some foaming at the mouth with the intent on ripping us asunder.

“Stay back,” the commanding soldier pony said with an eerie calm. I was just about ready to jump out of my skin and dig to the core of the planet. Ace was shaking, but Tallie seemed to be calm. Well, she would if she wasn’t digging her talons into my mane. “We have your ponies. Let us go and you can have them back.”

The raider pony peeked around the commanding officer and looked us over, then back to the commander. “Who the fuck are they?” He took another look at Ace. “Looking good though.” He turned to his feral pack and laughed. “Nopony touches the mare, she’s mine!”

Ace looked at me, looking very worried. The commander looked back at us. “Guess you aren’t raiders.” He looked at his troop and levitated out his sidearm. “Cover! Now!” he yelled. The ponies around him scattered and dove behind boulders and rubble. We took the hint and got into cover. Just in time too, a hail of bullets flew overhead, just missing Tallie and me.

“We’re pinned!” a young soldier called from across the canyon floor, holding on to his helmet and levitating his assault rifle close. “What do we do, sarge?!”

“We hold the line!” The older stallion sergeant called back, firing blindly over cover. “Wave, get command on the line! Now!”

I watched as a heavier looking pony took a large box from her saddlebag. She pulled a device off the side and pressed a few buttons. “Mayday, mayday, this is Star squad, come in command!” There was a crackle and a voice came from the device, too small for me to hear. “We’re pinned in the canyon, twenty-plus raiders, over!”

The sergeant shuffled along the boulders, managing to avoid fire, and pressed a button on the box. “Sergeant Frost reporting, we need back-up ASAP, repeat, we need reinforcements. Command, we need Bertha.”

There was a sharp crackle from a speaker on the box. Why they didn’t use that before was beyond me. Maybe the device was for better listening. “Copy that, reinforcements deployed, Bertha is en route, ETA five minutes, over.”

“We’ll be dead in two! Get Bertha to put the pedal to the metal!” The sergeant looked very pissed, slamming his hoof into the button. “Hold the line!” he called to the rest, each narrowly avoiding getting shot. “Just hold it for five minutes, armour inbound!”

“Medic!” a pony shrieked. I looked over and saw an earthpony, blood pouring from an open wound on his foreleg. That was enough to get the adrenaline flowing. Time slowed down a little as I looked around me.

I was taking cover behind a large boulder with another soldier. The soldier mare was firing an SMG around the side. The tenacity on her face was inspiring. There was another six soldiers, NCO included, and Ace. Ace was firing her shotgun over the top of her cover, the blood coming back to her face. She wasn’t the pale mare I saw earlier. Now she looked more like a raging beast, firing shot after shot from her shotgun.

Each of the other soldiers were trying their best to hold the line, taking out the psychos who decided it would be fun to come at us, across open ground, to stick a meat cleaver in our throats.

There was a soldier with a little red cross with a pink butterfly on top, hunkered down next to the injured pony, applying medical treatment. The injured pony looked like he was about to pass out from blood loss.

I looked around for Tallie and Zippo, but I couldn’t see them- only a Zippo-sized hole. I breathed a long sigh of relief, realising that Zippo had gotten Tallie to safety.

I took a peek over the top of the barricade. There were around ten to fifteen left behind cover and bodies between here and there. Two soldiers had already been hit, the one being patched up and another one bleeding into the dirt. Another soldier was trying his best to help him but if we didn’t get medical help soon, he’d be a goner.

Another minute passed and ammo was starting to run low. Soon, they’d overrun us and they’d kill us. That’s the nature of raiders. Kill, defile, mutilate. And hopefully in that order. Raiders were a disgusting blight on the world for their previous actions. They didn’t show mercy.

Or did they? The shooting stopped and the dust started to settle.

“Iron Defenders. Come out now, and it will be fast,” their leader announced. “We know you can hear me, Sergeant Frost.”

The sergeant sighed a long, displeased sigh and slowly peeked over the cover. The raider boss was out in the open, the rest with their weapons trained on us.

“Sergeant Frost... it’s been awhile,” the raider said with a sick smirk.

The sergeant tensed and rose up to full height. “Sun Spot,” he said simply. “Three long years since you deserted, you son of a bitch.”

“Now now, Sarge. I didn’t take too many of your boys to hell, did I?” The sergeant tensed more. “Well, here we are.” The raider chuckled, darkly. “You’re pinned with your squad and some random civilians, and here I am with... a hell of a lot more guns.”

Oh my golly goodness he was a windbag. Why do the bad guys always have to gloat?

“I have the upper hoof, and I can finally finish what I started. I can finally kill your whole squad.” He started to pace. “Now, I’m going to start by killing you. Because I respected you at one point, you’re just getting a bullet, but the rest of your boys will come out, we’ll have our fun, and then we can kill them and get it over with. Easy as that, really.”

I thought about what raiders would do to ponies. Rape them. Slaughter them. Torture them for sport. Eat them. The blood started to boil in my veins and I could feel the sweet, sweet relief of adrenaline coursing through my body. Raiders had to be stopped, no matter what.

“I mean, all we’re going to do is-”

I had enough. I sprang from cover, took the sergeant’s pistol and fired off three rounds at the raider leader. Gloating was a good way to get killed, you pompous, arrogant bitch. The raider hit the ground heavily, his armour making a very loud thump against the dirt.

“If you’re going to shoot, shoot. Don’t talk,” I growled after giving the sarge back his gun. I watched as the raider ponies stood awestruck, not entirely sure what had just transpired and why their leader was bleeding from a hole in his head in the dirt.

“‘E kiwed da boss...” one large, stupid-looking green stallion said, processing. “‘E... ‘e kiwed... da...” He looked at his companions, then to me and the sergeant. I could almost see the obese hamster in his mind running on his wheel like there was no tomorrow. His face finally started to sour. “Get ‘im!”

The sergeant and I dove back behind cover. “What was that?!” Ace yelled across, reloading her shotgun as the bullets started flying again.

“I dunno!” I yelled back. “But it felt great!” It was true! The thought of finally doing justice! Killing ponies like Trailblaze that kill without reason. The adrenaline shooting its way through my veins made me feel like I was flying. Powerful. Unstoppable. I pulled out my SMG and returned fire at the bandits.

“Shit, kid!” the sergeant yelled, reloading his pistol. “That’s the sort of tenacity we need more of around here!” He fired back over the cover. “But watch it, you might get killed that way!”

Bullets were flying, screams could be heard, and the ricochet of bullets off rock was enough to make anypony cringe.

Still a lot of raiders. We were holding out well. Only two injured ponies, both of them hiding behind cover. They had stopped bleeding but were too injured to fight. I ducked down behind cover, fumbling with my ammo, trying to reload.

The soldier behind me was doing the same, reloading her assault rifle. “Think we can hold out?” I asked, putting a magazine in my SMG. Fear was a thing of the past, replaced by adrenaline. Maybe the mutants had conditioned me, or maybe I was just sick of being a coward, but now... now I was flying.

“I dunno, dude!” the soldier shouted over the guns. “There’s so many!” She was right too. The raiders seemed to just multiply. There were bodies, but so many raiders were still standing. My heart sunk when I saw a fresh wave of psychopaths with melee weapons.

“Maniacs!” the sergeant shouted. “Shift fire!”

The soldiers complied, firing at the charging looneys. One after one fell to the bullets, crumpling and skidding across the ground. They screamed and laughed as they ran, their voices amplified by the canyon walls.

They were getting extremely close, too close. One with a machete managed to leap over the cover and knock me down with him. Oh, so that’s where the fear went. I felt terrified. The raider above me wore a bloody, scratched hockey mask, shrieking in my face. I could see that he was mutilated underneath, his teeth rotten, eyes yellow and disgusting.

He got off me and rose his machete, ready to bring it down on my neck. I screamed and covered my face. “Ace! Help me!” I looked up at the raider. He was at full height, the machete prepared to cut my head clean off.

“Clover!” Ace screamed from cover. She levitated out her own machete and sprinted over to us, ready to kill the psycho.

But something happened. A miracle, if you will.

A new gun entered play. A loud one. A fast one. The raider above me was torn to pieces, splashing me with blood. The sight of the raider being torn apart forced me to squeal like a filly. Blood spurted from his body as he fell to the ground in front of me, reduced to a pony-sized pile of shredded flesh.

Ace rushed over to me, looking me over. “Are you alright?!” she asked, holding my head as if I was in shock. There was that look on her face again. Like when I had been shot. Man, I almost die a lot...

Blinking a few times, I looked up to the top of the mountainous rubble that we had narrowly escaped before. At the top of it stood a cliche-looking silhouette of a unicorn with a large mohawk. It started to run and skid down the rubble, a huge machine gun firing from its battlesaddle. Raiders fell from behind their cover as the machine gun tore through them, turning them into bloody heaps. The pony landed beside us, kicking up dust.

When the dust cleared, I saw the tell-tale tattoos and shavings in a lime green coat. My gaze travelling up the pony’s body, I saw a bright pink mane in a mohawk style and a grin plastered on the mare’s face.

"Don't just lie there! You're missing all the fun!" Lollipop, the medical mare that patched me up, laughed. She fired a burst at the raiders. “Come on!”

Ace and I stared in disbelief. This mare was the complete opposite of how she looked before. She was unleashing bullet after bullet, spraying the raiders down, all the while laughing and roaring. She had a strange, wolfish grin and a certain rage in her eyes.

“She’s mental,” Ace whispered, helping me up. She looked at the dead raider at our hooves. “Effective though.” We dove back behind cover, her levitating her shotgun, and me... still trying to make sense of it all, I guess. Something weird was going on today. Mutants in the morning, shootout in the afternoon, and a psycho heavy gunner coming to the rescue. Why she was even out here was beyond me.

“Hey, where’s the kid?” Lollipop, the lime green unicorn shouted over the ruckus of her machine gun. “Get her to safety?”

I nodded up at her. “Zippo dug her out, I think.” I really hoped he had. Tallie was far too young to be witnessing any of this. Then again, given the clues she’d given, maybe she’d seen it all before?

“Zippo?” the mare called. “Who’s that?”

“My fireant friend!”

“Fireant?” She took her eyes off the raiders and hunkered down behind cover, her battlesaddle reloading the huge magazine on the side. “That some sort of gang?” She jerked and jostled as the heavy machinery on her back worked.

Shaking my head, I replied, “Fireant as in an ant that breathes fire!”

“You’re fuckin’ nuts!” the mare laughed.

“He’s pretty cool, really,” Ace said, reloading her shotgun.

Lollipop just looked confused now. “What... how the hell did you train it?” She jumped back out of cover and clamped down on the trigger bit with her magic. The fighting was still going. The two soldiers who had been hit had since passed out, leaving just four soldiers fighting, the medic staying with them.

There were between five and ten raiders left. I couldn’t tell exactly as they were jumping in and out of cover. The rocks between us were now riddled with bullet holes and scorch marks. This canyon was quickly becoming a gravel hole.

I would have dropped back into cover, but something caught my eye. The ground behind the raiders started to shift and churn, before a small hole collapsed and a small ant’s head poked out, followed by a griffin one.

“Tallie...” I whispered in fear. “Get out of there...” None of the ponies around me noticed them come out behind enemy lines.

Tallie, the little teen griffin, ducked back down then pulled out a bundle of fucking dynamite. She tied the fuzes together and held it out to Zippo. The ant lit it and the griffin grinned. “Fire in the hole, bitches!” she screamed at the top of her lungs and flung the bundle towards the raiders so that it landed behind their cover. She had a devious grin on her face as she ducked back under ground.

“Hit the deck!” I called out, ducking back behind cover and holding my hooves in my ears. The soldiers took note and did the same as did Ace, but Lollipop was just having way too much fun. Of course, her grin only intensified with the explosion from the dynamite. The explosion shook the earth, causing more rocks to fall from the landslide behind us. Luckily, nopony got squashed.

A few minutes passed, and there was no sign of any fighting. A few pebbles dropped onto my head, most tinking against the soldiers’ helmets. The dust was settling as I peeked over cover. I heard coughing over the slight ringing in my ears. Silhouettes started to seep out of the dust. Three ponies, one missing a leg. The raider mare was coughing and hacking, tears running down her face and blood flowing from her stump.

Their suffering was soon silenced as a huge blast of fire erupting from behind them. They slowly fell to the ground, quickly becoming charcoal ponies. Slowly, the soldiers started peeking out, weapons first.

The dust settled and I couldn’t help but sigh in relief. There before us, walking across nopony’s land, was a smug-looking Tallie standing triumphant on Zippo’s back. The fireant’s mandibles were smoking.

“Tallie!” I called out, scrambling over the rock I was using as cover and trotting over. “That... well, I’ll be honest, that was awesome!” I held out my hoof. “But where the hell did you get dynamite?!”

“Hell yeah!” Tallie cheered, giving me a high five. Not sure how you do that with a hoof and hand, but whatever. “Did you see how I just like came out of nowhere and blew shit up?!” She pumped her fist in the air, whispering an excited ‘yiss’, then looked back at me. “Zippo burrowed me into a mine shaft, that’s where I found ‘em!”

From what I could remember, my dad once told me that the Ponave was an excellent source of iron, silver, coal, and bauxite. So it’s no surprise if Tallie had burrowed into a mine. At least it didn’t have any beasties in it. I hoped.

“Impressive,” Lollipop said from behind me, trotting up with Ace and the soldiers, two of which were being carried. “But you could have gotten hurt.”

“Not you again...” the griffin moaned, facepalming with her small griffin hand. “You’re not giving me a check-up and that’s that!” she shouted, rolling up the now dirty sleeves of her new shirt up. The ponies behind me gave a small chuckle, probably just pleased we were alive.

“Evac should be here in a few seconds,” the sergeant said, trotting up behind us. “We might not have made it if it weren’t for you four civilians, and your... pet...”

Ace smiled at the sarge, obviously checking him out, much to my chagrin. She was going to say something, but the ground started to rumble again. We all looked to the source of the disturbance and further down the canyon and we saw it.

There was a huge plume of dust being kicked up, and when it came nearer we saw its features. It was a long tank on a pair of treads with a large plough in front of it. The cannon of the tank was mounted on the forward half, and the area behind the cannon seemed to be able to open up. The tank was a gunmetal grey, and in big letters on the side was “Bertha.”

“There’s our ride,” the sergeant announced with a smile on his face. He tugged on his uniform and righted his beret, making sure to look presentable, all the while holstering his side arm.

The back of the tank swung open and six fresh soldiers piled out and moved into a very well-trained routine to cover us. The sergeant nodded at his own soldiers and they started to converge on the tank, a smile on each of their faces. They started to clamber onto the tank and sat behind the cannon.

“Where are you five headed?” the sergeant asked, smiling at us. “We’ll see if we can’t get you there fast. Least we could do.”

“Iron City, please,” Ace said, grinning. I dunno if she was pursuing the sergeant, or if she just wanted to get there faster. I was hoping it was the latter, because the former made me feel slightly ill.

“Climb aboard!” a voice called from the tank. A small mare was sitting in the cannon, having popped the hatch. “We’ll get ya there lickity split!”

We all looked to one another and nodded. Lollipop even nodded too, much to my surprise. Soon, we were all on the tank, and the thing was turned about to leave the carnage behind. There were bits of raiders everywhere, but thankfully I had managed to not focus on them.

“Why are you guys even out here?” Ace asked the sergeant, climbing on to the tank.

The sergeant was right behind her. “Raider activity. We were to collapse the canyon so they wouldn’t give us bother.” He helped her up, making my tummy twist a little. “Plus, we could block off traders accidently heading into the Red Zone.”

“Good job on that!” Ace called back down, now sitting pretty on the tank’s hull.

The tank started to race along the canyon. Looking to Lollipop, who had now since calmed down and was humming a little tune to herself, I decided now was the time to ask questions.

“Hey, Lollipop... why were you out here?” I asked. The question was playing on my mind since she showed up, so I thought it was appropriate.

Lollipop looked at me and took a little time to think on that question. “My home’s gone.”

I blinked in surprise. “What?” I asked. “We... we were just there this morning...”

Lollipop sighed and nodded, looking a little saddened. “Yep, and an hour after you left it was destroyed.” She looked at the canyon walls as we drove by. “Federation found me.”

Tilting my head, another question came to mind. “Why would they destroy your home?”

Lollipop looked back to me. “I don’t want to talk about it, alright? All you need to know is that I have my gun, my ammo, my medical supplies, and some personal belongings. Everything else is... gone.”

I scootched a little bit away from her. “Alright... so...” Now what...? “Do you maybe want to come with us?” I asked. Ace nudged me in the ribs and handed me a bottle of water and some pills for my lungs. They were still achy but not as bad as before. I muttered a thanks and swallowed them.

“Depends.” Came the reply. “Where we going, what you doing, and why?”

I blinked a few times, analysing that question, trying to come up with the best answer. Soon, I came up with something. “We’re going to Iron City to get information on a pony named Double Down for killing my brother and smashing my skull in before burying me alive.”

Lollipop nodded. “Alright. My second question was going to be about your skull scar, but that explains it.” She looked down at her equipment, then to Tallie and Zippo on the back of the tank, watching the scenery go by. “But why do you want me to tag along?” she asked.

“You saved my life twice now with no payment,” I stated simply. “One good turn deserves another, and seeing as the Feds fucked you over, might as well travel with friends, no?” Plus she had a super big gun that was actually pretty cool. And she could protect me with it. I like being safe.

The mare looked back at me and smiled. “Well alright. I guess I could tag along on your path for revenge,” she said in a slightly theatrical tone. “At least until I find somewhere else to settle.”

I offered a hoof. “Deal.” She took it and shook it. She smiled then looked over at the wounded soldiers. Being a medic, she decided to lend a hoof.

Ace rolled her eyes. “This is going to be so very fun and not frustrating or annoying in the slightest.”

--- --- ---

The view of Iron City literally took my breath away. I had never seen anything like it! It was huge, with a massive wall around it. Every so often there was a small bunker built into it with a machine gun poking out. Ponies seemed to mill about on the top of the wall, all soldiers.

The tops of some buildings were the only things I could see from in front of the wall as we made our approach, them and massive smokestacks, each spewing out massive plumes of smoke. It was the most impressive thing I had ever seen. It wasn’t exactly pretty, but wow!

The tank ran along an old, ruined highway around the walls until the road turned inwards towards the city. We followed it and before long found ourselves in front of a colossal iron gate, flanked by two large bunkers on the wall and one beside it.

A large yellow earth pony trotted out, wearing a lighter armour than the rest, and a black beret. He looked the tank over and nodded to the sergeant. “Frost, I see you’ve been making friends...” He gave me and my friends a wary eye.

The sarge looked back down at the large earth pony stallion. “Colonel, sir. We picked up these civilians out in the canyon. Saved our hides from raiders, they did.” Sergeant Frost looked back at us and smiled.

The earth pony stallion looked between us, then to the medical pony on board. “This true, corporal?”

“Aye, sir.” He motioned to Lollipop. “Their medic pretty much saved private Sand’s leg, sir.” Lollipop nodded in agreement, then smiled up at the large pony.

The large pony stood silent for a few moments, then grinned. “G’day, mates! Welcome to Iron City! Name’s Colonel Thunderhoof Facecracker, commanding officer of the defense force here in our fair city. Now, if you’ll get off the tank, I’ll see ya inside!”

We complied and slowly dismounted the tank. Lollipop was first off and helped a reluctant Tallie down. Zippo just walked down the side like a pro as Ace leaped off and landed perfectly. Me on the other hoof... not so much. I slowly and awkwardly got up and turned around. My hoof dangled as I searched for a ledge and awkwardly dismounted. Turns out, I’m not very agile, as my grasp slipped and I landed flat on my back, much to the amusement of everypony else. My cheeks were feeling pretty warm...

I was pulled upright quickly by a huge hoof, and found myself face to chest with Colonel Thunderhoof Facecracker. He beamed down at me and put a hoof on my shoulder. “You alright, mate? Took quite a tumble.”

Ace burst out laughing.

“I’m fine, really,” I mumbled. “Thanks.” My cheeks must have been turning rather rosey at that point. The huge gates opened slowly and loudly and the tank roared through and was soon out of sight.

“Come on then,” the colonel said with a large smile and turned to the gate. He trotted toward it, an action most unbefitting of such a large pony, and quickly inside.

Ace had composed herself and nudged me in the ribs as she walked past, and Lollipop seemed to stifle a giggle. Zippo was... well, indifferent it seemed, as Tallie sat on his back like he was a noble steed. Tallie was highly amused, then she saw the inside of the walls. Her eyes shot open.

I can’t exactly say mine didn’t either. “Welcome to Iron City,” Thunderhoof said, very theatrically. This was nothing I could have dreamed of in even my wildest dreams. There were ponies everywhere!

The road we were walking along forked in two leading to our left and right, and in front of us was a massive market place, with ponies selling all sorts of goods! Some sold food, others sold old jewelry or salvage, others sold clothes, and there was even a stand marked ‘imports’ selling things from all over the Ponave and beyond it seemed- including goods from the Federation lands.

The market was surrounded by huge buildings, all of them bustling with activity. Some of them looked like they were once offices or apartments, but the one at the top of the plaza was the most magnificent. It stretched up about ten floors higher than all the others and had a huge MWT at the top of it. My eyes had to be the size of dinner plates as I looked up the building. On the top of it stood a huge antenna with “Ponave” written up the side in huge metal letters.

The road to our right led to a large building with three smoke stacks, one of which was the huge one I saw from the other side of the canyon. It looked like a factory to me, and considering the ponies pulling minecarts from it, I guess I was right. A factory or a foundry. I’m a farmer, not a miner. Don’t judge me.

“Alright, you kids have fun,” the colonel said with a laugh. “Just don’t go causing trouble. Break the law, and the law breaks you. And here’s an inside tip- I am the law.” He grinned down at us. “They don’t call me Thunderhoof Facecracker for nothing.” He saluted. “Come see me if you need anything. I’ll be in the guard house. As for questions, head to town hall.” He turned and headed down the road to the main door, then disappeared into one of the large bunkers.

“So what do we do now?” Tallie asked, prodding my side. I was far too awestruck to say anything. The amount of ponies around baffled me! This was more than four times the population back home- and then some!

They all seemed happy too. I even saw a little colt only about three years old wearing a multicoloured helicopter hat while riding a little red trike, his mother pushing him along. They both seemed filled with glee!

Ace smacked my rear and I may have squealed. I looked back and gave her my best glare, which probably wasn’t very effective, given my face burning up in embarrassment. A mare had touched my rear in public! How scandalous!

“Had to wake you up somehow!” she said with an amused nicker. She motioned for the biggest building in town. “I’m headed up there. Got business to tend to.”

Why was I there again? Oh! Right! Snake Eyes had information for me about Double Down. Well, he said he would. I owe him quite a lot of favours... He didn’t appear to be nearby though. No ghouls were. The crowd wasn’t parting to let any walking dead, smelly ghouls pass. I watched the colt and his mother trundle past us, then looked to Ace. “I guess I’ll come with, if that’s okay.”

She shrugged. “They got a waiting room. Might as well, eh?”

I turned around to my other companions. Tallie was still sitting on Zippo, getting odd looks from passersby and looking up at the huge city. She had the same reaction I had, having never seen anything as big. Lollipop was checking her ammo supply and her inventory in her saddle bags.

“Probably heading to the arms dealers,” she said, taking her head away from her equipment. “Gotta rearm, then I’ll probably head to the medical center while you guys are busy. Offer a hoof. Meet you guys later, yeah?”

I nodded and looked down at Tallie. “Want to come with us?” I asked. I wouldn’t be a good friend if I’d left a young, traumatized child roam alone through the city. Even with Zippo. Wait, what was I going to do about Zippo...?

“I’ll take the bug with me,” the lime green medic said, smiling at Zippo. “He’s pretty badass. Wouldn’t want the Defenders squishing him.” She looked back up at us with a wolfish grin. “He can probably carry my stuff too.”

“Are you okay with this?” I asked the ant. His feelers did a little dance in the air, as his big buggy eyes looked back at me. “Guess that’s a yes?”

Lollipop barked a laugh and tapped Zippo’s thorax. “Alright, buggy. Lets get goin’!” She marched off down the left road. I suppose that way was the shopping district or something. Zippo stood and watched us for a long moment, then toddled off after the medic. That ant might be awesome, but he was weird. He was kinda like a dog...

“Come on!” Ace called from deep within the crowds. “Get your flank over here!” She was making her beautiful way to the biggest building in town, Tallie close in her wake. Perplexed as I was by the huge crowds, I managed to scamper my way through to the girls, narrowly avoiding traders, buskers, and shoppers. One even tried to sell me a basket. Why would I need a basket?

I soon caught up, walking behind Ace, trying to keep my eyes looking straight because I’m totally a gentlecolt. A squeak left my throat when I looked up at the huge building, stretching what seemed like miles into the sky. Before Iron City, I never thought anything could be that big ever! It had to be over twenty floors high!

The mare, griffin, and I trotted our way up the stairs to the main doors. They were very large and made of neatly polished wood. They looked as heavy as they were fancy, considering the intricate, worn patterns in the wood and the huge brass handles, both in the shape of apples. That only reminded me of what was going on at my own farm. Fucking Federation...

Ace knocked on the door using one of the big brass knockers and waited. “Maybe nopony’s home?” I asked after a few moments. Ace just gave me a flat stare as if I had the IQ of a bush. Taking a step back out of slight shame and embarrassment, I watched the door. A small slit opened in the door, and two eyes peered out at us.

“State your business,” an elderly voice asked. The door keeper's eyes didn’t look equine. Not in the slightest. Instead, they looked more... predatory...

Ace stood trotted up in front of me (making it really hard not to stare) and peered through the slit. “Got an appointment with Smooth,” she said with a sweet smile. “Tell him Ace and her merry bunch of lackeys have arrived.”

The slit closed with a slam. “Lackeys?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Like peons? Henchmen? Goons?” I tried my best to stifle a chuckle, but failed.

Ace just grinned. “Come on, I think we can all agree I’m the mastermind here.” She gave my shoulder a playful shove, and being me, I stumbled back a step or two. I barely managed to keep in a happy sigh. She touched me... wait, what? She’s touched me a lot, why am I doing this now?

“Nuh-uh!” Tallie squeaked, jumping up between us. “I’m probably tons smarter than both of you combined!” She jumped up a few times with her wings extended but didn’t managed to stay afloat. She grumbled and stood up on her hind legs. “Bet none of you could rig dynamite to blow perfectly or actually repair anything worth repairing.”

Ace looked down at the griffin. “And you can?” The griffin nodded vigorously. “How did you learn? About explosives and repair, I mean.” She looked very amused, and probably just decided to humour the griffin cub.

“Books and magazines I stole from my dad. Helped me learn to read, ya know.” The little red eyed griffin looked smug, pleased, and a little sad all at the same time. “Learned to read around the same time I learned to steal food.”

Ace and I exchanged looks of worry and curiosity. “Why-” Ace started, but there was a loud clunk in the door. Ace almost jumped, and turned around with a frown on her face. She looked like she was using it to hide something. Best not speculate.

“Arright, yer free ta head up,” the elderly voice announced. Upon the door opening, I could see it was a very old-looking griffin, his coat matching his grey feathers. He wore an old set of black and grey fatigues and a pistol at his side. My speculation was that the soldiers here were confident enough to let their older ranks guard. Not sure if that was a good thing or bad thing...

Tallie was the first to zip in, taking the opportunity to avoid conversation, much to my own worry. Something about that kid... we were gonna have to sit down and talk, but then again we had only known each other for a day.

“Fancy...” I marvelled at the interior of the tower, admiring the decor. Unlike all the ruined buildings of the past few days, this building was actually well-maintained.

Old pictures hung on the wall, one of an older, but pretty orange mare in a large hat and a fancy suit, standing next to a younger looking yellow mare with a gorgeous red mane with a pink bow, in a pretty suit. Something about that younger mare made me smile. She must have been around my age... but she’d actually probably be dead. Damn, another mare that I kinda liked that I couldn’t talk to. And not just because I couldn't talk to mares in general. Not the ones that hadn’t saved my life on multiple occasions at least.

Next to that painting was another one with a huge red stallion in a very crisp, neat dress uniform. He looked extremely heroic, his orange mane flowing in the wind as heavenly sunlight breached through the black clouds above. The only thing that seemed off about the picture was a stalk of wheat protruding from the stallion’s mouth.

Ace stared up at the painting. She shuddered once, then started back down the hallway. My stomach decided to jump into a knot because hey why not. Asshole body parts... no wait, that sounded wrong, forget it.

We finally stopped at a set of metal doors with a button beside it. Wait, it looked familiar. What was it called... oh right! “We taking the elevator?” I asked, looking smug that I remembered the correct word. I’d never seen one before though. I guess dad talked to me about it. He made a few trips to the big city back in the day for trade agreements. I miss daddy...

“Yep!” Ace said, cheerily. “All the way to the top, baby!” She flung both hooves up in the air after pressing the call button.

“Elevator... elevator...” Tallie looked up at Ace. “What’s an elevator?”

“Not so smart now, are ya?” Ace grinned down at the griffin.

Tallie responded by pinching Ace’s leg, making her jump. Talons are sharp. “I don’t know because I haven't read about or seen one, butt head.” I stifled a giggle. Ace just rubbed her leg and grumbled.

It took a few minutes, but soon the doors opened up to a small, cramped, metal closet. Each of us stepped in and turned. I looked down at my little griffin friend. “Wanna push the button?” I asked with a smile.

Tallie beamed up at me. “Can I?” I nodded and picked her up. “Top floor please.” She reached out and prodded the button in.

Tallie squealed a little, then composed herself. “I mean... cool.” She wriggled out of my grasp, then started looking around. “How does...” she muttered, her red eyes still darting around. She must have been trying to figure out the inner workings on what was making us go upwards.

“So.” Ace said, breaking the slightly awkward silence. “How does my butt look?”

My eyes grew to the size of moons and my face burned up so much it felt that my blood had been replaced with lava. Flop sweat started to drench my coat, mixing in with the blood splatters I hadn’t managed to wipe off.

“Well?” she asked, turning and wiggling it at me. I couldn’t look. I wouldn’t look. No. I shouldn’t. Stop, me. No! What are you doing? Control your eyes! Stop! Noooo! And there it is. The mare’s posterior in all its glory. The beige perfection of rump. From her elegant brown tail, to the supple round flanks. Something warm dripped from my nose, then everything went upside down, then black.

--- --- ---

“Rise and shine, Mr. Clover... rise and... shine....”

My head felt... so cold... there was a foul stench in the blackness before me. Something was talking to me... a familiar voice. A voice I had been dreading for days. The burning hatred of a pony, deep inside me. The very same Trailblaze that had been tormenting me so.

“No...” I mumbled.

“What?”

I slowly creaked my eyes open and saw a little griffin face in front of mine. Tallie was grinning. “Rise and shine, Mr. Clover!” She beamed at me, holding a small jar of foul-smelling salt things. My head was freezing though.

“What happened?” I asked, groggily. “I feel... cold.” I reached up to rub my forehead, but my hoof came into contact with something hard and cold. “What the...” I picked it up and looked at it. You fucking idiot, me... it was an ice pack. You don’t have a disease, you aren’t dying, it’s just an ice pack.

Was there ever any doubt?

Kinda.

“Welcome back,” a new voice came into play. A smooth voice. A pleasant voice. A calming voice. I sat up slowly, letting Tallie scramble off my chest, where she decided it was a good place to perch.

I looked up and was stunned. On the desk opposite the couch I was laying on was a beautiful pale yellow mare with a luxurious blond mane. Her stunning green eyes penetrated deep into me, making my heart race. My nose felt warm again.

The mare tapped her nose. “You got a little... uh...”

Tallie held up a tissue for me. I quickly took it and dabbed it on my nose. Holy shit, my nose was bleeding! In front of a hot mare! Oh no oh no oh no! Quick, best course of action! I quickly shoved the whole tissue up my nose, then smiled sheepishly.

Much to my amazement, the mare giggled! She actually found it entertaining? Kinda weird, but it’s the little victories. “You’re just too adorable,” she sighed, settling back down. “I’m Jasmine. I do the night show here.” She extended a hoof.

“I, uh...uh...um...eerr...I’m Cl...Clov...uuh....” My hoof slowly connected with hers in an extremely shaky manner. My body convulsed slightly. I was touching an extremely pretty mare’s hoof! This is a dream come true! “I’m C-Clover...” I managed to choke out with a goofy grin.

The mare giggled more. “Aw, you’re just precious, Mr. Clover. Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah, now that you’re here...” I said with an extremely goofy voice. Then realised I had just used the corniest line in the book and number fourteen of things not to say to a mare. It was just too corny.

Tallie even rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Real smooth.”

“Speaking of smooth,” Ace said with a very smug grin, obviously enjoying my discomfort. She motioned to the pony beside her. He was a black stallion with a striking blue mane. He wore a suit and a set of sunglasses and a big grin. “This is Smooth Jazz. He works here.”

“Hey, baby!” he said with a large amount of gusto. “How’s it goin’?”

“Pretty, uh... pretty good?” What the fuck was he doing with Ace?!

Ace trotted over to me. “He’s my employer. I got a delivery to make, but its not due in a while. Plenty of time for you two to get your revenge information.” She giggled then nodded at Jasmine. “Hey hot stuff. Did’ja miss me?”

“You and your thousand advances a day?” the pretty mare said, raising her eyebrows. “Hardly.”

“You love it.”

“I really don’t.”

Ace almost looked offended. “Well then. Be that way.” She looked at me and smiled. “So when was ol’ Snake Eyes supposed to be getting your info anyway?”

I merely shrugged.

“Guess we better figure out then, huh?” Ace shrugged back.

She had a very good point. I didn’t remember Snake Eyes saying how he’d contact us... “I guess we see the mayor, or Thunderhoof?” I asked, nodding to the elevator.

“Mayb-”

“Jasmine!” another new voice called from up a flight of stairs in the lobby. “We got any biscuits left?”

“Come gettem’ yourself, you lazy old bat!” Jasmine called back up with a laugh. She looked back at us. “I think my boss can help with your predicament.”

Hoof steps started emanating from the stairwell, along with grumbling and mumbling. “Dammit, Jaz, I’m getting too old for this. Can’t you just be my butler already?” An older pony came downstairs in a shirt and a loose tie, along with a fedora with a card saying ‘press’ poking out of the rim.

The grey pony nodded to us. “Ah, we have guests.” He trotted over to us. “Hey hey, I’m Mr. Ponave, voice of the desert. Pleased to meet you, kids.” He offered us a hoof. “Wait, I’ve seen you before...” he said, looking at Ace. “Oh yeah, you work for Smooth!”

“Got that right, daddy-o,” Smooth remarked with a wink. “I gotta get back to recording. Catch you later, alligator.”

“In a while, crocodile,” the elderly, celebrity pony said and looked back at us. “Yeah, you’re Ace, and you two are?”

I took the hoof, still shakily. I’m in the presence of a celebrity! Oh my gosh! “I’m Clover, sir. I really like your show!” He’d probably never heard that before! Wait, of course he has.

“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Clover.” He looked down at Tallie and crouched slightly. “And what’s your name, little girl?”

Tallie pouted. “I’m not a little girl, you ancient stallion! I’m thirteen!” She crossed her arms. “And my name is Tallie.”

Mr. Ponave chuckled, “If you’ve got a bite to match your bark, you might want to enlist when you’re older.” He looked back at us, then narrowed his eyes. “Wait a minute...” he grabbed my chin with a hoof, then moved it in different directions, looking me over. “I know you. Yeah, you’re the one Snake Eyes was talking about...”

“You know Snake Eyes?” Ace asked as I couldn’t, my face being manhandled.

The grey pony nodded. “Yeah, he called in yesterday from his tower. Since the Resistance took it over, ratings have gone way up!” The earth pony grinned at us. “He says you helped. Said to call him when you arrived.” He jerked his head at the stairwell. Amazingly, his hat didn’t move.

Ace and I looked at one another, then to Mr. Ponave. Tallie was fixated on some machinery Jasmine was fiddling with. She had an impressive array of tools out for such a beautiful mare. There goes me making the assumption that pretty mares don’t want to get their hooves dirty.

I followed Ace as we made our way up the stairs behind Mr. Ponave. Turned out, that might have been a bad idea, walking up stairs while examining the wallpaper instead of mare rumps. Almost tripped more than once.

The room we came up to was extremely impressive. The walls had beautiful red wallpaper and intricately carved wooden panels. There were two windows looking out over Iron City, each bordered with large green, velvet curtains that stretched high up to the ceiling, a good five meters above us.

Above the doorway sat a painting of the orange mare again, this time cutting a ribbon in front of the huge building. Beside her was the very pretty yellow mare. This time, her pink bow was at the tip of a very long ponytail, much like the orange mare’s red ribbon. Gosh she was pretty...

“Welcome to my office,” Mr. Ponave announced as he sat behind a large desk, shifting a microphone out of his face. “I got a little while before my next live appearance so we can talk.” He leaned back in his chair. “Before I call Snake Eyes, can I answer any questions?”

“What is this place?” Tallie asked, amazed at the recording equipment. “It’s so fancy!”

“Now?” the elder pony asked. “Well, now it’s the Iron Defenders HQ. Back in the day though, it was the Ministry of Wartime Technology HQ.” He nodded to the painting of the orange mare and the pretty mare. “This office was hers once. Miss Applejack of the MWT.” He sighed. “She must have made some lucky stallion very happy.” He looked back at us.

Before I could speak, Tallie piped up again. “Iron Defenders?” I frowned at the griffin, but she took no notice.

“Iron City’s defence force. Highly trained soldiers, and best of all, neutral. They take no side in the war, preferring to stay out of it all together.” He smiled. “Good thing too. They could really tip the balance.”

Ace pulled Tallie away as she raised her talon to ask another question. I nodded my thanks, and put my hooves on the table. “Let’s call Snake Eyes.”

Mr. Ponave nodded and pressed a few buttons on a little box next to him, all of them lighting up an emerald green. He pulled the microphone over to his face and turned a dial. “Snake Eyes, come in Snake Eyes, this is Mr. Ponave, over.”

There was a burst of static, then it started to clear. “Hello? Ponave?” was the response. There was a lot of commotion going on in the background, ponies talking, machines beeping. “What’s going on?”

“Hey Snake. Got that Clover here for you.” He motioned at the microphone for me.

“Hello?” I asked. “Snake Eyes? It’s me, Clover.” I gulped down a knot in my throat from both anticipation and slight fear. “Do you... uh... have anything for me?”

Tallie wriggled free of Ace, while staring at the big communication box. She held out a talon, looking to press a button, but Ace pulled her back, whispering ‘don’t touch’. She held her close so she wouldn’t interfere, and nodded for me to continue. The older stallion just leaned back again.

“Yeah, but it’s not much...” there was a slight disappointed sigh as someone mentioned coffee on his end. “Thanks.” He muttered.

I took a moment for myself, getting ready just in case of disappointment. “Okay... let’s hear it.” The room was silent for a long moment.

It was only broken by a brief sipping sound, then the ghoul sighed, “I know where he is.” My heart soared! This was what I was looking for! A grin spread across my face. “But...”

And there it was. My heart sank again, along with my grin. “... but...”

“I need a little more time.” My heart sank a little more.

“Why?”

“Because here’s the bad news.” He sipped again. “Double Down knows you’re still alive and he doesn’t want you blabbing about what he did. He’s pretty important apparently.”

Ace came forward, letting go of the writhing Tallie. “What’s happening, Snake Eyes? What’s that fucker up to?”

“He’s hired mercs and bounty hunters.”

My heart sank into my hooves along with my jaw. “No...oh no... ohnoohnoohno...” I had dealt with bounty hunters, or rather Trailblaze had, but they were rookies! And they were slaughtered... my stomach flipped itself into knots of guilt. They were probably just trying to make a quick cap, and they died trying!

“Some more good news now. We found out that at least one has refused.” I was about to cry. There were ponies out there hunting me down! As good news as that was, I was still going to be hunted down! “Yeah, some merc called Hired Gun.” That was a stupid name. No way they were born Hired Gun. “Double Down’s agent went all the way to Dise just to be shot down,” he chuckled.

I took a few breaths for my own sake. “At least... at least there’s one that’s not hunting me down...” I sighed deeply, trying to calm myself. It kinda worked, but not a lot. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I was sweating all over. The images of all the ponies I’d killed flashed before my eyes. That could have been me at any moment... “Wish I could buy them a drink...” I muttered. “Least I could do for not killing me...”

Buying a drink for ponies who do good by you was a common courtesy on the planes. Especially if it was Golden Harp. Even after Clàrsach’s death, Mr. Harper kept the brewery active. Kept making it in her memory. If a good deed deserves one drink, ignoring caps to kill me was worth at least a case. Pity I wouldn’t get it to that merc.

“O-okay... so... what now?” I asked, shaking.

“Well, I need little time to get info on what’s happening in The Star, his casino. He’s buffing up defenses and getting more mercs.” The ghoul hummed for a long moment. “I need at least a week to get some solid info.”

“A WEEK?!” Trailblaze shrieked through my entire body. He pounded through my mind, causing my head to feel like it was cracking like an egg.

I groaned and held my head. “Okay...okay... thank you...” I gulped down the knot in my throat again and blinked a few times. “What do I do?”

“Stay in Iron City.” That was a simple answer. “You’ll be safe there. Maybe help around town or something. Earn some caps and buy Ace something nice.” I would have blushed, but I really wasn’t up for it. “Stay in public areas, alright?”

I nodded slowly. “G-Got it...”

“Alright, I’ll see what else I can find. It’s just one week, Clover.” He chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. “I’ll count this as one of the favours you owe me, alright? Staying alive and all that.”

I wasn’t going to chuckle. Not for a long while. “Okay.”

“Anything else, or can I get back to crap coffee, noisy assistance, and helping with the Resistance?”

“I have a question!” Tallie piped up. I stepped back a few steps and hung my head, tears dripping onto the carpet below. “I’m looking for a pony. He wears really black armour and a big dumb helmet with M1 on his head. He almost killed me, and I want to kill him.”

Snake Eyes hummed to himself. “I have been getting reports of some weird mercs running around out there. A few Resistance patrols have seen a pony matching your description heading east towards the river. That’s all I know, sorry.”

“That’s all I need,” Tallie said with a smile. “Thanks, Snake Eyes!” She skipped back to us, blinking at me. “What’s wrong with him?”

Ace shook her head and shushed her. “We’ll talk later.”

“Any news?” Mr. Ponave asked through the microphone.

Ace came up beside me and gave me a comforting nuzzle. “Its okay, Clover,” she whispered. I just stared at the ground, angry and scared.

“Yeah, two successful Resistance raids in the lower regions, but a failed assault out on Orchard Fields. Not a whole lot of survivors...” He sighed a little and sipped his coffee. “Nothing much else that you don’t already know.”

Mr. Ponave sighed and sat back in his chair. “Alright. Keep me posted, okay?”

“You got it. Snake Eyes signing off.” There was a small burst of static, then he came through again. “Need more coffee!” Then the line went dead.

“Alright kids, is that all?” the older stallion asked us, picking up a biscuit and sinking his teeth into it. Looked fresh too, not like the pre war stuff we’ve all seen.

“No, that’s it,” Ace said. “We’d better get this guy out of here to get some rest.” She softly patted my back.

“Head over to the Iron Hotel. Five star accommodation,” the older pony said, leaning forward. “I can probably get you rooms for the week, considering your predicament. Just as long as you help the citizens in any way you can.”

Ace nodded. “Got it. Thanks a lot, Mr. Ponave.” She started moving towards the door, whispering reassuring words to me. But they weren’t helping. I was thankful that Tallie didn’t say anything. She seemed to get that I was just about to fall apart at the seams.

Nopony said a word as we got into the elevator. Ace pressed the button, and only the whirring of the elevator going down filled the air.

I was being hunted down... I was going to be killed just for surviving... ponies were going to shoot, stab, blow me up, poison me, anything, and present my head to Double Down as a trophy. Everything I have done in this world, all the toil and labour I put into the farm. All the work I did getting here. All of it for nothing. I missed my dad... I missed Shamrock... but I didn’t want to see them so soon...

The doors of the elevator opened again, and we stepped out. My eyes were focused on the floor, seeing my reflection in the cold tiles. I saw my dad, smiling at me. Shamrock grinning his big goofy grin. My mother, who I never knew, giving me a warm smile. All these ponies were dead. Then I saw me. It wasn’t a reflection though. It was me as a kid, only about five. Gunter was clasped in my jaw as I grinned around him. The little colt waved at me, then faded. Tears started rolling down my face.

The door to Iron City slowly opened. The sun was going down over the massive city, disappearing behind the huge chimney on the factory complex. Ponies were spilling out into the streets, having finished their shifts and heading home. Even the little colt I’d seen before with the helicopter hat and the tricycle had fallen asleep and was being carried by his mother. His trike was in her levitation field. Even that did little to raise my mood.

Two ponies did catch my eye though. A little green filly, walking along with a pink and orange mare. They looked so familiar, like I’d seen them before... of course! They were in the photo we found on that skeleton. The mare was definitely the same, but the filly had grown up.

“Give me a moment,” I muttered to Ace. She looked from side to side, concerned, then nodded. I slowly approached the mare and her filly. “Excuse me?”

The mare looked at me, curious. “Yes?” she asked, her filly looking up at me too.

“I was out in the wastes... on my way here...” I managed to say, the lump in my throat growing five sizes too big. “I found... I found a skeleton.” That got the mare’s attention. “In his saddlebag I found a photo.” I looked up at the mare, having been staring at the ground. “A photo with you, your daughter, and your...husband in it.” I assumed it was her husband, might have been a boyfriend or something.

The mare stared for a long moment, her filly looking up at her, confused. A tear dripped down her face. “My husband left Iron City on business four years ago...” her legs buckled under her for a moment, her filly’s eyes starting to water. “I...I didn’t...He...” She held a hoof to her muzzle, trying to think of what to say. “Where was he...?”

“On the border of the Red Zone. Between here and Buckwheat.” My own voice was starting to catch in my throat. “We think... we think he was ambushed by ghouls...”

The mare gasped as a fresh wave of tears fell from her eyes. “Please... please tell me it was somepony else... not my Blackout...”

I sighed and shook my head. “I really wish it was too, miss... but... from the picture...” I looked into her eyes. “I’m so sorry...” I whispered.

The mare closed her eyes and shuddered. “Th...thank you...” she whispered. “We needed closure...” She opened her eyes and looked back at me. “Thank you so much, Mr...?”

“Clover...” I whispered.

“Mr. Clover... thank you...” she said before hugging me. I didn’t move. There was just too much going on in my head for me to even care that she was touching me.

“It’s... it’s okay...”

She picked up her daughter, who started bawling only now realising what was going on, and walked down the street. My heart fell all the way down underground as more tears flowed down my face.

Something touched my shoulder. A hoof by the feel of it. I clamped my eyes shut and bolted. I couldn’t deal with this! It was too much!

“Clover! Wait!” Ace called out, her voice quickly drowning out by a deep rumbling laugh in the back of my head.

I ran. I just ran. Running from my friends. Running from the madness. The only thing I couldn’t run from was my future. I ran through the market square, past so many ponies, and straight into a small building. I quickly found myself in the bathroom, throwing up into a wash basin.

Hacking and coughing, I finally managed to collect enough sense to turn on the tap and start to wash away the vomit. Sighing loudly, feeling the pain in my lungs and the dull ache from where I was shot in the leg, I looked at myself in the mirror.

“You look like shit...” I muttered to myself and slowly shook my head. It was the honest truth. My mane was a complete mess, and there were bags under my bloodshot eyes. There were even small patches of black stubble growing on my chin. Stupid patchy beard. Why couldn’t I grow a proper one yet?!

“Yeah, you do.” Came a response. My ears pricked up and I looked back in the mirror. It was me! But I didn’t say anything!

My reflection slowly started to smile, the edges of its mouth curling and widening into a sick, psychotic grin. My heart started to pound in my chest, the sweat now crawling down my brow making me flinch. My reflection shook his head, throwing his mane in all directions. It finally settled and he moved it from his, now glowing red, eyes.

“No...” I said, my voice stuttering. “Please, just go away!” My hooves refused to follow the command to run the fuck away, instead remaining frozen in place.

The stallion in the mirror stared at me, grinning wildly. “Why would I want to do that?” he asked with a demented laugh. “I’m enjoying my stay. It’s cozy!” The stallion reared up and pressed his hooves against the other side of the mirror.

“You don’t belong here,” I whispered, shaking in pure terror. “Y-you just don’t belong...”

“On the contrary,” my reflection said through his grin. He lifted his hooves and actually smashed through the mirror, sending shards of glass sailing through the air. He lept out of the mirror, his coat turning an abyss of black as glass passed over it, like the glass’s shadow painted his coat. “I belong here as much as the sun in the sky, the mountains on the earth, the stars in space...” He looked me dead in the eye. “But you... you belong as much as maggots on meat.”

“Wh-what?” I managed to choke out, falling to my haunches and trembling. “What are you t-t-talking about?”

He took a step towards me, chuckling, “Oh my, you really are dense, aren’t you?” He chuckled again, his razor sharp teeth glowing in the dim light. “Don’t you see the progress we’ve made?”

I shook my head vigorously, partly in denial and partly to try and get rid of him, but I could feel Trailblaze tearing away inside me, pulling apart my sanity like a helpless rabbit with rabid dogs.

Trailblaze sighed and rolled a hoof. “They say ignorance is bliss, but I suppose in this case it’s quite the opposite.” He looked back to me, stepping forward muzzle to muzzle with me, eye to eye. “Can’t you feel it? The power seeping into you?”

“N-no!” I squealed, scooting back and hitting the wall. “I feel nothing! Nothing at all!”

The pony just laughed, his cackles like griffin talons on a chalkboard. “You’re a real idiot!” He laughed again, holding his stomach. He wiped a nonexistent tear from his eye. “The changes have started, my dear Mr. Clover. Why, even today we made significant... progress.” His evil grin started to spread across his face again as a deep chuckle started from his throat.

“No! That’s a lie!” I screamed at the demon pony. “You aren’t real! You never were and you never will be!” Tears were pouring from my eyes, my throat felt like it was being torn to shreds, but I couldn’t let him corrupt me with his lies!

Trailblaze took on an extremely smug tone. “What about killing that stallion without a thought? Resolving to gunning him down when he was showing mercy?”

“He was a raider!” I retorted. “A murderer! Rapist!” My heart felt like it had sunk into the ground, and my stomach was doing backflips. I would have pissed myself if I wasn’t so thirsty. My vision blurring with tears.

“Couldn’t he be saved?” Trailblaze asked, raising an eyebrow. “You never thought of that, did you? He was an ex-soldier, maybe he still had morals, buried deep within, waiting to be released.” He leaned in close. “But you didn’t think of that, did you? You killed him without a thought. Without... mercy.”

It was true... I killed him. I didn’t see the pony inside him, “L-leave... leave me alone...” I whispered, holding my hooves over my eyes. Couldn’t admit defeat. I wouldn’t admit defeat.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” was his response. “No matter how much you wish, how much you beg how much you try, you will never, EVER stop me from taking back control.”

“That’s it!” I screamed, pulling my SMG out and pressing it against head. “You will never have me! I’ll die and take you with me if that’s what it takes!”

Silence. Trailblaze stared for a good long moment, but soon a deep rumbling laugh started to emanate from him and soon escalated into a hysterical cackling. “Is that really what you think? You kill yourself and I just poof away?” He looked down on me, smiling in pity over my fear-struck body. “If it is, then I’m sad to say it simply isn’t so.”

My grip on the SMG loosened, and my body slumped. “No... no... I’ll kill you... take you with me...”

“Give up Clover. I’m coming back, and I’ll be here to stay.” The stallion gave me a huge, sick grin, leaning in close. “Count on it.”

“Never!” I screamed and threw the SMG at him. His ethereal body seemed to poof into air as my SMG connected with him and continued to sail through the air, smashing the intact mirror, shards splashing into the large pool of water from the sink I had forgotten to turn off. The water slowly creeped up on me as I curled into a ball.

The door swung open, and the silhouette of a unicorn stood in the light. “Clover?!” a mare’s voice asked, like an angel on the wind, delivering me from hell and the devil that was Trailblaze. “What the fuck happened?!” Ace galloped across the wet floor over to me as I curled up in a ball, sobbing and crying. She wrapped her forelegs around me and held me tight. “Shh, it’s okay... it’s okay... I’m here now... it’s okay...”

“Tr...Trail...no...” I whimpered. “No...I’m not... I can’t... no...”

Ace started stroking my mane. “Come on, it’s okay, nopony’s going to hurt you... it’s okay...”

It felt like an eternity of crying and soothing words to finally start getting a grip. I whimpered in a ball, Ace still holding me. “Why? Why did it have to happen to me?” I asked, looking up at her with teary eyes. “Why?”

Ace shook her head. “I don’t know, Clover...” She stroked some wet mane from my eyes. “But I won’t rest until we get this bounty called off.”

That was the best thing I’d heard all night. “Thank you...” I whispered, pulling myself up and wiping my eyes. “You’re the best mare a guy could ask for...”

“Right back at you, Clover,” Ace said, a smile creeping along her face. She came up beside me to support me, but I didn’t think I needed it.

“I need a drink...”

--- --- ---

Glasses had piled up in front of me as I sat in a booth at some pub Ace and I had found. Ace was at the bar, getting another round, when Lollipop found us. It’d been an hour, and a few awkward explanations to both security and Tallie, since my breakdown. Tallie had already taken her perch on Zippo's back and had curled up on him. She was tired, but not asleep, just comfy.

Lollipop looked to me, then to Ace and nodded. “Alright. We’ll see how he is tomorrow.” She looked back and nodded at me, then made a clicking noise at Zippo. The ant looked up, then followed her as they left, Tallie in tow. Ace trotted back to me.

“I’m becoming a monster...” I mumbled, my head resting on the table, staring at the glasses in front of me, and now the fresh pint that Ace had gotten me.

“No you’re not,” Ace said, sitting down beside me. “We all break down eventually. A week of rest will do you a world of good.” It was slightly reassuring, all things considered. Maybe after a week Trailblaze will get bored with me and bugger off. Or maybe my reassurance was coming in the form of copious amounts of alcohol, coursing its way through my system.

“There’s a demon inside me...” I muttered, sitting up and nursing my pint. “I need to cut him out... I just don’t know how...”

Ace put a foreleg around me. She was almost as drunk as I was. “We all have our demons, buddy.” She pulled me in close. “You just have to fight them! With your hooves!” She examined her hoof, closely. “And booze!” She giggled and picked up her drink again, taking a swig. I looked at her, and saw her smiling at me. A small smile started to crawl across my aching face, making me feel like a filly with new mane ribbons. No, a colt with a new action figure. That’s the one. “There ya go!” the beige mare cheered. She looked down to the bottom of an empty glass. “I’m drunk...” she mumbled. No shit.

“This one goes out to all those lucky ponies out there,” an old buck with a large beard said, smiling. He was a brown unicorn, sitting at a piano. He began to play.

“Dust whirls on the plain,
Making patterns as we walk down lovers lane,
Seems that each new step is somehow preordained,
I've not traveled this way before.“

I don't know if it was the lighting in the pub or the amount of drink in me, but Ace was stunning, more than usual. The way her hair fell across her face and her eyes sparkled just seemed so... so... wonderful.

“Green clouds in the sky,
Seem forever but we know by-and-by,
they fade just like caravans passing by,
Love seemed like that before.”

Ace continued to stare into my eyes, smiling. She slowly blinked and giggled a little, and I couldn't tell if it was the booze making me see these things but I sincerely hoped not. I felt butterflies in my belly and my heart fluttered gently.

“Since I found you there's no doubt left in my heart,
I've cleared all the raiders away,
I see it clearly so we don't need any chart,
No prospectors, no mercs,
No brahmin-baron jerks.”

The butterflies in my stomach were threatening to erupt. I reached out a hoof and brushed the mane from Ace's face. Fuck it, I thought, I need this. I slowly closed my eyes and leaned in.

The Star's lights in the night,
Shining down upon our love as it takes flight!

Our lips locked. She didn't pull away and kissed me back! I was actually kissing a mare! It felt like I got a kick in the head! Fireworks exploded in my mind, this was the first truly happy feeling I had felt in a long, long time. Shamrock would have been so proud of me! An actual really hot mare was kissing me because she wanted to! Whoo!

But of course, the night had only just begun...

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk!

“Gunslinger”

Your quick reactions today have awarded you with higher reflexes under pressure. You gain an additional +25% chance to hit with mouth held weapons in SATS. Yay!

Special thanks to Adder1, Matkingos, and Julep for editing and art.

Thanks are in order for the great and all powerful Kkat for creating the FoE Universe that I implanted my work into.

Comments

[a friendly hobo]

1596356

There's a lot of em. You add me.

[Adder1]

And it's review time, as promised so many times before.

Considering this is more or less a remake of the "City of Iron" chapter from back in the original ToaC, I like to think that this is an overall improvement in my book. More details, more description, more events... in fact the first half is pretty much brand-spanking new. It does a good job in showing Clover "bucking up" so to speak (type), and, well, it makes Tallie a badass. I'm also liking this reworking of Doc/Lollipop from the previous version. She seems to be less of a passable companion and more of character waiting to be developed now. And again... freaking Clover and his high LUK score for having a squad of Iron Defenders help bust him out (even if they did get him into that mess). One thing I like about that part and this new version of ToaC in general is the adrenaline rush that Clover gets, making him do things that he normally wouldn't be able to do. It's something that's not brought up often in many stories, so props to you on that.

Now as for the rest of the chapter, I'm seeing multiple improvements. I really got a sense of Trailblaze being pissed from having to wait another week to go after Double Down, and I felt more of a sense of character from Mister Ponave this time around. Lastly, the bathroom scene is a definite improvement both from its previous and pre-read iterations. Like I said, it's less theatrical to the point that it can be believable yet just enough to hold our attention. And yet again, hanky-panky. Wonder how Tallie and the new Lollipop will react to that.

Well, that's it for this time. Keep going strong, Hobo.

Until next time,
Adder1

[Msvman]

Awwwww yeahhh chapter 9!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU

[Lonewolf554]

YES thank you i really like this story

[Joey]

Perfect. Nothing else to say.

[Deathpony]

aha I see what you did there Hired Gun anyways good chapter again

[Captain Literal]

And we are back to present time in the other universe of T.O.C ! I wonder how things are gonna be or clover in the morning....dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Octavia2.png

[Reggie the Griffon]

Now I know why Hired got that letter from Clover.
Great chapter mate.

~Reggie

[TacoTown]

And thus, a night of debauchery began.

[Roach of Wrath]

I the words of Tucker from Red vs Blue "Bow Chicka Bow Wow"

[Yamaryu]

1603272
Beat me to it.

Telling voices in your head to go fuck themselves is a great stress reliever.

As is getting laid.

[a friendly hobo]

1596439

Thanks buddy!

1596603

I love you too!

1596673

I really like this story too!

1597583

d'oh you...

1597764

Thank you!

1597905

Thanks!

1599350

Oh its gonna be awkward as hell!

1599541

THE Reggie the griffin?!

1602125

As you do when you're drunk and depressed, no?

1603272

Blarg.

1604036

And Clover is a very stressful pony.

[Reggie the Griffon]

1605376
What do you mean THE Reggie the Griffin?
I'm Just a griffin named Reggie. No relation to Reggie from FO:E.
(Reggie is my middle name and I wanted my OC to be a griffin.)
Anyways that was a great chapter mate.

~Reggie

[a friendly hobo]

1605841

Oh...

Oh well. Griffins are cool.

[Msvman]

Can't wait what will happen xD maybe a 9.5 anybody?

[a friendly hobo]

1613652

...

<<

>>

[Iron Sides]

Great addition to the story bro!

[a friendly hobo]

1636920

SHHHHIRNIGNAEW$RO%NGW#R$B

SHHHHHPOOOOILERSH! STOPPITSHUTUPDON'TTALKIHAVEDUCTTAPESITDOWNANDSHUSH!

But yeah, go on the IRC, I must speak with you.

[Nyerguds]

Praise Floyd and his pink plumage! I'm more of a worshipper of Stan, personally. Though people seem to mistake me for a devil worshipper for some odd reason. What's wrong with Stanism?

"Remind me to send this stuff to charity."
Ooh. And she never got it? Fear her wrath! That filly is ruthless!

"Kill, defile, mutilate. And hopefully in that order."
I smell a Firefly reference

And lol at killing a gloating raider. That's from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, isn't it?

"Colonel Thunderhoof Facecracker"
Facecracker? Really? lol. Better stay on his good side!

"MWT"
Well, that explains. A factory city. Good old Earth Pony ingenuity.

"I am the law."
And onto Judge Dredd! I'm loving this

"Asshole body parts"
LOL!

“Wish I could buy them a drink...” I muttered. “Least I could do for not killing me...”
I remember that tumblr post

PS: got a bunch of corrections. Check yer inbox soon

[a friendly hobo]

1651687

ALL HAIL FLOYD!

What do you mean "her"?
Yes, Firefly
Yes, The Good The Bad and The Ugly
Don't fuck with THUNDERHOOOOOOOF FAAAAAAAAACECRACKEEEEEER!
MWT is best M
That's actually a Gene Hunt reference from Life On Mars
Teehee
and yes.

1656029
Green's awesome. And Shamrock was Orange with a green mane.

[Nyerguds]

1656501
Psssh. Judge Dredd is way older. The Life on Mars quote could even BE a reference to Dredd
(or an anachronistic poke from the writers, seeing as Dredd is a British comic which started in '77, and Life on Mars plays in '73)

Oh, and Charity is the notoriously greedy trader filly from Project Horizons

[zzzzzzzzz23]

is this in equestria? i just started reading.

[a friendly hobo]

1719272

Its the same universe, neighbouring country.

[zzzzzzzzz23]

I'm only on the seacond chapter; but i like how you used Neighgas for the name for Vegas.

[a friendly hobo]

1725306

Read the rest, then comment on aaaall the things you like. Don't want to clog the comments now do we?

[Magic Llama]

I just started this thing and read it straight through. Love it~! The western vibe kind of reminds me of Fall of Hope, one of my obscure favorites. Although I still think he should have hooked up with Forsythe... *grumbles* Oh well. I guess every fic can't turn into Anywhere But Here...

[a friendly hobo]

1764131

Thanks! And Forsythe... well, I have plans for her.

[a friendly hobo]

1880787

I guess I could give it a name...

[RevelRomp]

"The beige perfection of rump." Out of context lines that make me laugh.
--

Yay for mind-screwy pony-in-a-pony shared body mind-screwy funs! I am entertained.

Potential error type thingy: "That’s it!” I screamed, pulling my SMG out and pressing it against head."
Should there be an article between "against" and "head"? Like "Against my head"?

[fimficnerd556]

*looks at picture* *puts on sunglasses* Michael Bay was here.......yep.