Fallout Equestria: Hellraisers

"Hello, Tinker." The voice was heavily distorted, leaving no way to know who it really was or even what gender they might be. "If you're hearing this message, then it means you've either ignored or was oblivious to our numerous subtle and not so subtle attempts to get you to stand down as Overmare. Either way, I doubt you'll be able to ignore this. As you can see by the dead security pony accompanying the device that recorded this message, we're playing hardball now. If that isn't enough to convince you that we mean business, we've kidnapped several Stable members in addition to several of them defecting and leading this operation. Among those kidnapped is your precious zebra friend, Tiny.

Our demands are simple: The Stables water talisman in exchange for the safe return of the prisoners. You will deliver it to us at Maremis port within twelve hours. You must come alone, but are allowed to bring weapons to protect yourself on the journey there. If you do not comply, we will slaughter the prisoners, and let the whole Wastelandknow their blood is on your hooves. I trust you'll make the right decision."

The recording was cut off with a click. Dead silence followed inside the limousine.

"Who'd they kill?" I asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had fallen over us.

"Nopony, thank Celestia." Tinker answered, smiling weakly. Any good news was welcome, especially against this tide of bad news. "Cuffs got shot once in the back of the head, but luckily she survived. Red Alert worked on her all night. She's stable, but still hasn't woken up yet, so we don't know if any brain damage has been suffered or not." Her small smile fell at that, returning to the frown it had been in for the past while.

Cuffs... I remembered who she was. Unicorn, second in command of the Stables security forces (AKA: The one who did all the work), liked to tie up her bedroom conquests, was always very friendly and helpful... She was always so bright and cheerful, never even made anyone angry as far as I knew. If these ponies were willing to kill somepony like her just to SHOW they meant business, I was worried at what they would do when it was time to really fight.

"I'm between a rock and a hard place here." Tinker explained, rubbing the sides of her head with her forehooves. She sounded tired, tired beyond her years, way beyond what any teenager should sound like. But no average teenager had hundreds of lives depending on their every decision. "I can't give them the water talisman, that's not even an option. No more water for food production, no clean water to drink, to bathe with... We'd have to leave the stable, probably the entire Skyport. But... I can't lose her, I just can't. I won't. Not like this." Rock and a hard place, indeed.

"Any place we can get a water talisman from?" Crusher asked, joining the conversation. "Other Stables, Stable-Tec warehouses, Steel Ranger bases, anything?"

The Overmare just shook her head. "I don't know where any Ranger bases are, i don't know if there's any warehouses like that in Maremi, and the other local Stables are either sealed, populated by Stable Dwellers, or populated by horrors of some Stable-Tec experiment gone wrong. Even focusing on one of these options, it would take too long and be too much of a gamble."

"So you came to us." The Madame deduced, still sitting in the same spot she was before.

"I came to him." Tinker looked straight at me, and in a surprising move, lifted her goggles up to her forehead. Her eyes were a bright and brilliant blue that matched the lenses that frequently covered them, and right now, they were giving me the saddest, most pleading look I've ever seen. "Please, Gunslinger, I know you and your friends can do this. It's too late for me to hire mercenaries from somewhere else. You're my only chance at getting Tiny back without sacrificing the rest of the Stable. Anything you want, I'll give it to you! Just please, bring her back to me..."

I considered exactly what "anything" I could get from her. I had Tinker over a barrel at this point, and I could literally have her over one if I so wished. Could clean her out of caps, get my own harem of Stable mares, hell, *I* could ask for the water talisman! But as tempting as as all of those were, they were all short term. In the long term, it served to keep Tinker as my friend. Not only because of her position as Overmare, but she was also well read on mechanics and computers, and practiced those skills regularly. She'd be a valuable asset to the group.

"I'll do this for free." Before anyone could gather their wits and stop staring at me like I turned into an Alicorn, I added "On one condition."

"Name it." Tinker said before the words were barely out of my mouth.

"I want you to join the Hellraisers."

"Was already planning to." Now everyone -myself included- was staring at Tinker like SHE turned into an Alicorn. "It's obvious this group is willing to go to any length to see me ousted as leader. I'm not going to let any more innocents be hurt by these maniacs. As soon as Tiny is back, I'm stepping down as Overmare."

"But isn't that what they want?" Aryanna asked, scratching her head in confusion. It was pretty confusing, honestly. All this and she was just going to give in to their demands anyway?

"I know, but it's just too dangerous to the Stable for me to stay in power. But if I'm going to step down, I'm going to do it on my own terms. Not like they'll be around to see it, anyway."

"So what are you thinking?" I asked.

"I want you to rescue any and all prisoners you find over there. As for the rest..." The little mares eyes narrowed, blue orbs filled with fury like a tidal wave. "No survivors."

"You sure?" I started. "Could be beneficial to keep one as a prisoner or some-"

"No." The tone that Tinker said that in made me just a little bit afraid of her. Tiny bit. Completely minuscule amount, heh... "You can interrogate some of them for information if you want, but I want all enemies dead. Do you hear me, Gunslinger? DEAD."

"Now you're speaking my language!" Crusher had a huge grin on her face. Of course she'd be happy for a massacre.

"You've got my support." Madame Mule added. "I've known Tiny for a long time, long enough that I remember when she had two eyes. I'd help just to rescue her. Saving some poor, innocent ponies and getting rid of some would be overthrowers and enslavers of my friends? Icing on the cake. Sandstorm will-"

"No." Tinker interrupted again. "I appreciate the sentiment, but I can't have you getting that involved. If there's any retaliation for this, I don't want you to suffer it."

The Madame looked off in thought again, before nodding. "I appreciate your concern. I suppose I can offer a one time fifty percent discount for whatever you'll need for the rescue. Now that I think about it... There might be someone I can get to help out. Someone not afiliated with me. You dears just write down what you need and the amount of it, and I'll pass it on to some of my vendors when I return. I need to see if she'll be willing to help us out." Her part of the plan done or at least in the balance, the Madame made her exit... By climbing over me and out the limo, Duststorm following her but thankfully squeezing around me. I didn't mind the closeness of the ghoul, I just wish I had some warning before things got... squishy.

Pushing any sudden, strange thoughts of disgust to the back of my mind, (I'd gotten much closer to the mule before. Don't get grossed out now, you weirdo) I focused on something that we definitely needed. "So what's the plan?"

"Go in, shoot everyone who isn't a prisoner, come out." Crusher stated simply. I was inclined to agree with her, if I didn't know it'd be more difficult than that.

"The port is a big place and like a maze, not to mention that we have no intelligence in their numbers or where they'll specifically be. We've gotta come at this smartly or we're gonna get our asses kicked."

"They'll most likely know you're coming." Tinker stated. "I'm not going to tell anypony, but I have a feeling I'm being watched, and I doubt that those four could be the only defectors in what looks like a large operation."

"Any other Stable Dwellers missing?" Sandstorm asked, Tinker shaking her head in the negative.

"Besides the five known defectors, the scavengers, and Tiny, no. They obviously didn't let themselves out of jail or shoot Cuffs, though." She sighed, rubbing her temples. "Or maybe they did, I'm not sure. Not sure of anything right now..."

"It's ok, Tinker." Sandstorm reassured with a smile. "We know this is a tough time for you."

"I've already given you all the information I know. I just feel kinda... Useless." She sighed.

I racked my brain trying to think of how we were going to rescue Tiny and the others. We had no idea on their numbers, their positions, their tactics, anything. The plan at the slaver camp only worked because of the element of surprise. Hmm, element of surprise... There must be something we can do to get the jump on them! Wait... I looked over at Tinker, an idea forming in my head. A very crazy idea that could potentially kill us all. "I think I have a way for you to be more useful, Tinker."

"How?" She asked, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

I just grinned.

________________________________________________________________________

• 500 5mm rounds, Hollow Point
• 500 5mm rounds, Armor Piercing
• 36 .357 magnum rounds
• 180 10mm rounds
• 60 5.56mm rounds
• 180 units of Flamer fuel

"I don't know, that's only about... three reloads each." Tinker said, looking over the list of ammunition we'd be needing for this job.

"Yeah, I think we need some more, just in case." Crusher agreed.

"Come on, we're not gonna need any more." Aryanna said, snatching up the piece of paper we'd wrote down our little supply list on. "We're just going to go in, be like "BAM! BANG! BOOM!" and come home. Easy!"

"It won't be easy if we run out of rounds in the middle of the fucking fight, dumbass." Crusher spat. "Badasses are always prepared for a situation, or they improvise. You don't look ready to improvise, so we better be well fucking prepared."

That seemed to deflate her a bit, the griffin slumping a bit on the couch and tossing the paper back on the table. "Fine, more bullets then..."

"You can never have enough Flamer fuel!" Firebug added. Never have enough when it came to her, anyway, I was perfectly happy with having none of the stuff around.

I floated the paper back over to me, erasing the previous numbers with the pencil I was using to write -thank you, Stable 37- and adjusting them.

• 750 5mm rounds, Hollow Point
• 750 5mm rounds, Armor Piercing
• 60 .357 magnum rounds
• 360 10mm rounds
• 180 5.56mm rounds
• 300 units of Flamer fuel
• 5 healing potions
• 2 rolls of healing bandages
• 5 shots of Med-X

"How's that?" I asked, passing the list back to the others so they could review it.

"Much better." Tinker said, passing it along. "Gives you much more of a fighting chance, combined with the ammo you already have."

"Yeah, we'll have plenty of shit to kill with!" Crusher exclaimed, grin on her face. "Well, as far as rounds go. Our guns could be a little more varied..."

"It's fine, I guess..." Aryanna said dejectedly, not even bothering to look at the paper before passing it along.

"This has more Flamer fuel, so I like it!" Firebug said happily.

"You sure you have enough ammo for that pistol of yours, Tinker?" I honestly didn't think she had any intention of using that old gun anyway, but one has to keep up appearances and ask about these kind of things.

"I'm stocked well enough, Gun, don't worry." Tinker reassured.

"You do know how to use that thing, right?" I couldn't stop a wry little smile from breaking out on my face.

"I've only been outside the Stable hundreds of times in the past five years, not all of which were pleasant little strolls around the block." She spoke, almost sounding proud about surviving fights. Then again, that is a big accomplishment in a place where almost everything is trying to kill you. "I can handle myself. Besides, if the plan works, I won't even have to fire off a single shot."

"Alright, so, where's the Madame? She's kinda crucial to the plan." I looked at Sandstorm who just shrugged. "Well whenever she gets here-"

And as if on cue, the Madame opened up the door other and poked her head in, Dust doing the same thing on the other side "Alright, she's agreed to help. Do you have that list for me?"

"We do." I floated the list over to her, the ghoul taking it in a hoof and her eyes nearly bugging out of her skull as she looked over the paper. "Seven hundred and fifty five millimeter rounds?! In armor piercing AND hollow point?! Are you KIDDING ME?!"

"I know it's a lot, but we're really going in blind here." I explained.

"I know, I know..." She sighed. "I'll try and see if I can scrounge up five hundred of each, but that's a large if. Everything else will be easy to get."

I could feel the disappointment coming from Bone Crusher, but she was going to have to suck it up. "That's good. Is that stallion still around? The one who does the body painting?"

"Um..." The Madame tapped her chin in thought, before clopping her hooves together. "I know who you're talking about! Yeah, he's still here. Why do you ask? Not thinking of getting a quickie in before you have to go, are you?" The mule winked at me. If only I had the time...

"Maybe." I admitted with a chuckle. "But not from him, he's needed for the plan."

That made her tilt her head, looking at me curiously. "What did you come up with, exactly?"

"I'll explain it to her." Tinker slid over the seats to us, squeezing between the Madame and I to get out. "We need to get to work on this, and fast. We only have... six hours left."

The ghoul mule and I nodded in agreement. "Alright, I'll take you over to him- Brushstroke, that's his name!" She turned and started leading Tinker away, before turning back to speak to me. "Oh, Gunslinger? The pony who I'd asked to help will be over here in a few minutes. Unicorn, blue with a blue and white mane. Name is Smoking Aces. I think you two will get along just fine~" She purred, chuckling as she walked off.

What the heck did she mean by that? No matter, we had to start getting ready. "Come on." I got out of the limo, the others filing out behind me.

"So what now?" Crusher asked, stepping beside me.

"Wait for this Smoking Aces, tell her the plan, wait for Brushstroke to do his magic and get all that stuff ready so we can get down to the port." It seemed simple, but I had the sneaking suspicion that something was going to go wrong. Maybe Tinys pessimism was just rubbing off on me. Hope she's ok...

A minute or two of standing around later, and Smokin' Aces showed up. Well, at least I think she did. Blue coat, white and blue swirled mane, unicorn... She had a very "girl next door" type of look to her; innocent, but really anything but. She didn't seem to have much in the way of armor, just some leather barding covering the front half of her body with a few pockets on the chest. In fact, she didn't seem to have anything else besides her saddlebags, not even a weapon. Maybe she knew some zebra fighting techniques or something?

"Are you the Hellraisers?" She asked, looking us over.

"That's us." I replied. "I'm Gunslinger, that's Bone Crusher, that's Aryanna, and that's Firebug. And I assume you're Smoking Aces?"

She nodded, smiling brightly at us. "I am. It's great to meet you all!" The unicorn came over and shook my hoof, doing the same for the others -shaking a hand in Aryannas case.

"We're glad to have all the help we can get to rescue Tiny." I really was happy to have some extra help. I had a feeling this was going to be harder than we thought.

"I'm just glad to finally be free of the caravan." Aces replied with a chuckle. "Didn't know it'd take so long when I asked the Madame to take me as south as she went."

"Why'd you want to go south?" Bone Crusher asked, looking Aces over.

"I wanted to travel, see how grey and brown somewhere else was." She grinned. "And make new friends, of course! Take the time to get to know them... Intimately~" The purr in her voice reminded me of the Madame, and it sent shivers down my spine in the same way.

"Sounds slutty." Crusher said plainly.

"I wear the title proudly." Aces replied back without any hesitation. She even threw a wink in the Ex-Rangers direction. "Rolls off the tongue better than raider or slaver. Gets me much more things than either of those can to boot."

Crusher huffed. "Got me there, slut. I won't judge you for what you do. Might even have to see if you deserve that title." She chuckled.

"I worked hard for that title, and I'll be glad to prove it to you later~" Were they really doing this in front of children? "But we have someone to rescue first, don't we?"

"Right!" I practically threw myself back into the conversation. "That reminds me, do you need any ammo? I can go and run down the Madame and add it to the list."

The unicorn mare shook her head. "I don't really use guns."

"Energy weapons?" I guessed.

"Nope."

"Explosives?" Crusher suggested.

"Nuh-uh."

"Kickass zebra martial arts?" The ever action loving Aryanna offered.

"Swing and a miss."

"Fire?!" Firebug eagerly -and hopefully- tried.

Aces just giggled and shook her head. "No, sorry!"

"Well what the fuck is it, then?!" Bone Crusher was obviously not a fan of the guessing game.

Smoking Aces opened one of the pockets on her chest with her magic and floated out a pack of playing cards. "These!" She beamed.

"What."

"You're fucking kidding."

"Weaaak."

"Zero out of ten, not a fire weapon."

She just giggled and floated the pack towards me. "Pick a card, big boy~"

I dug through the deck until I found the card I wanted, sliding it out with a smirk and letting her see it.

"King of hearts. Cute." I just waggled my eyebrows at her. "Now watch." She looked towards one of the stands that was set up for trade. It was nothing special, a little thing made out of some sturdy wood selling various wares. With a little flick of her magic, the card shot out of her magic and towards the stand, burying about half of itself in the wooden countertop with a solid THUNK. Needless to say, it startled the crap out of the stallion sitting there, the older pony falling out of his seat with a yell. Aces just giggled again and yanked the card out, bringing it back to her. "Got about an inch and a quarter in there."

"That's... pretty fucking interesting."

"That's badass!"

"Five out of ten, still needs more fire."

They were all right in some form. It was definitely interesting, I could see where it could be called "badass", and they'd be sharp, flaming projectiles if they could be lit on fire. I still had a question, though. "How'd you do that? What else can those things do, for that matter?"

Smoking Aces put the card back into the pack, slipping the whole thing back inside the pocket she took it from. "A lady never reveals all her secrets."

"Isn't that supposed to be "A magician never reveals all her secrets"?" Aryanna asked.

"I'm a lady and I have magic, so either/or for me." She replied with a smirk.

"I... Don't think that's how it works..."

"Alright, so!" I clapped my hooves together to get my companions attention. "We have one shot at this and six hours to pull it off. Here's the plan..."

_________________________________________________________________

We galloped -flew, in Aryanna's case- hard over the ruined roads of Maremi, hooves thundering against the ground as we raced to make it to the port on time. Getting everything Tinker needed for the plan ready took much longer than we thought. When we saw that there was only an hour and a half left before the deadline, we all took off running, hoping that we'd make it in time. Luckily for all of us, it was more or less a straight path down some of the old expressways there.

It was finally coming in in sight after what I hoped wasn't too much time. Containers of few sizes but all kinds of colors was what greeted us as we came over the last hill! towards the way we were going to get into the port. "We" being all of us but Tinker. She'd split from us a few minutes ago to go through the ports main entrance. She was supposed to come alone, after all.

We finally stopped at the entrance to the tunnel, all of us panting hard and trying to catch our breath before going forward. "Crusher... Time..." I gasped out, leaning on the power armored mare for support.

"Seven fifty." She replied, barely sounding winded. Should've expected that from somepony that spent most of her life in the Steel Rangers. This was probably a normal run for her!

"Ok... We have time to... Get in place..." Hopefully. At least we weren't too late to meet the deadline. "Alright, I'm... I'm ok..." Whew! I took a few more gasps of breath just to be safe. Firebug, I'm going to need to borrow that pistol of yours." The filly pulled the striped pistol out of its holster, silencer still attached. I still didn't have any idea why she had this when she had that flamethrower as her main weapon. Whatever the reason, I was glad she had it, as it gave us another silent weapon.

As soon as we all stopped gasping for air, we started moving into the tunnel. Crusher took the lead, Aces and I behind her, Aryanna above, and Firebug bringing up the rear. We moved quietly through the tunnel -as quietly as a suit of power armor could be, anyway- keeping an eye out for any enemies or any signs this tunnel was going to go. It'd held up surprisingly well for 200 years of neglect, only a few spots where concrete had broken and let water start to trickle in. Better safe than sorry, still.

"Hostiles. Two, dead ahead." Crushers words snapped us out of the silence we'd fallen into. I moved forward, Firebugs pistol at the ready as Aces followed me. Just like the Ex-Ranger had said, two ponies were milling about, one watching down each end of the tunnel.

"Hey!" The unicorn stallion watching our way shouted, getting his companions attention. I shot him as soon as I saw his horn light up, three rounds striking him in his chest... And setting him on fire? We all paused as the stallion fell over screaming bloody murder as he was burnt alive. I looked at him, and then the pistol, and back to the stallion again.

I shot him three more times just to be sure I was seeing this correctly. I was. "What the fuck...?"

Of course, while I was being an idiot and staring at my gun and the now dead stallion, his friend decided to shoot me. Luckily, a few well placed cards stopped him from blasting me with the submachinegun he had, the bullets impacting harmlessly against the ground and wall. Thank goodness he was an earth pony! A unicorn wouldn't have had to turn.

We quickly searched the bodies, managing to find a pair of radios and some ammo. Hopefully we'd be able to listen in on them and get some valuable information. I clicked on the radio as we started walking again. I'd ask Firebug about her strange fire pistol later, though I should've expected it seeing who the owner was...

"She's here." A lady's voice came through the radio, one I'd never heard before. "And she's alone like we requested."

"I don't buy it." A male replied. "She's too smart to just give up like this. Cruise ship team, tunnel team, hold your positions. Everyone else, fall back and make a tight halfcircle around the meeting area, just like we discussed."

A chorus of "Yes sir"s followed his words. It seemed this pony ran a tight ship, or was at least well prepared.

"Good, keep an eye out for her little friends. No knowing where they'll pop up from. And get the collar on her, it's crucial." Another round of affirmatives were said before the radio went back to be silent. This was definitely going to be a bit more difficult if they were expecting us. Hold on. Collar?

"It's eight already!" Crusher said, breaking into a gallop. Shit, she was right! We all took off after her, nowhere near being in position. We all raced out of the tunnel, immediately ducking behind a stack of crates as a pony passed by not two seconds later. All of us held our breath, weapons at the ready in case she turned around, but she didn't, continuing to head towards the maze of containers. A quick peek around the crate revealed more ponies heading in the same direction.

"How're we gonna do this with them all so clustered now?" Aryanna asked, tapping her twin SMGs with her talons impatiently. I could relate. After that little fight in the tunnel, we were all pumped up to cause some mayhem. Sadly, we were outnumbered and outgunned against an enemy who knew we may be coming. This had to be approached delicately.

"Hey, guys, I've got an idea." Aces poked me in the side, getting the attention of us all before gesturing to herself. "You and Bone Crusher go up the middle, I'll take the left, Firebug, you come in from the right. Aryanna, go get on top of a stack of containers, hit them from above when the confusion starts. Sound good?"

I thought about it for several seconds, the others already agreeing. An attack from multiple positions was our best bet against an enemy of unknown size and strength. Returning Firebugs pistol and making sure the safeties were off on my revolvers, I gave a nod of my own.

"Great!" Aces beamed. "um..." She looked over the two radios, the rest of us doing the same. She'd have one, Aryanna wouldn't need one from her vantage point, Bone Crusher and I would need ours, and Firebug...

"Sorry, Firebug." I shrugged. She was a strong, crazy filly, she'd be fine.

"Its okay!" She replied. "I'll just "borrow" one, hehe..." Somepony was going to have a very fire filled rest of their life, however short it'd be.

"Lets fuck some shit up, then." Crusher said, letting out an evil little chuckle. As soon as the coast was clear, we were all out of cover and very quietly and quickly trying to make our ways around to be ready for attack. Which is kinda hard when the radio decides to turn on.

"Hello, Tinker." The male voice from before spoke again.

"Good evening." Tinker responded levelly. "I'd ask if you're the one behind all this, but my first question is why I have some kind of device around my neck and on my back? Slave collar?"

"Oh please. Just because we resort to slavery sometimes doesn't mean everything we do will be about slavery." The male voice sounded hurt at her assumption. "It's a transmitter device that dispatchers here used to use before the end, set to always transmitting and speaking to all radios in the network. In simple terms, we can all hear everything you say, which means no contacting your little friends without us knowing."

"Shit." Both of us said in unison as we tried to make our way through maze of containers. Now Tinker had no way of contacting us without them knowing. Sure, we were basically planning for her to shout "NOW!" and we all come out guns blazing, but it wouldn't have alerted every single damn one of them at the same time, at least!

"You'll always have the jump on me if I say anything. How clever." Tinker sounded less then impressed. "But how do you know I don't have other ways of contacting them? For all you know, a simple wiggle of my ears like so will-"

A single shot rang out through the port, and Crusher and I froze for several seconds, holding our breath. Had they just straight up murdered her? Oh boy, everything was about to go down the drain...

"I do not appreciate your comedy or your tone." The male spoke, sounding a lot more annoyed. "Now please do try and be mature about this. I know that's a tall order for a brat like yourself, but please, make an effort. The next one won't miss."

"You want mature?" Tinker asked. Thank the goddesses, she was alive! "Lets get some questions out the way, then. Who are you?"

"The stallion holding your friend hostage. Next question."

"What's your name?"

"Unimportant."

"Why do you want the water talisman so bad, Unimportant?"

"Childish little..." He growled. "It's classified."

"Where's Tiny?"

"Around somewhere."

"Show me her." That one wasn't a question.

"And what, dare I ask, makes you think you're in any position to make demands? You're completely surrounded by armed combatants, and your poor excuses for mercenaries friends are going to be blown away the second we see them."

"Hmm... Question for a question. Have you ever heard of a dead mares switch, Unimportant?"

"Why you insolent-" He paused and took a deep breath. "I have. Why do you ask?"

By all the gasps coming over the radio, I could only assume that she revealed the broken C4 detonator that was held in her hoof. "Because guess what I have?"

Unimportant laughed. "Oh give me a break! So what if you blow yourself up? If this was your plan from the beginning, then you most likely don't even have the talisman on you!"

"Oh, but I do." The quiet "Shit" that I heard Unimportant let out meant that she revealed the fake water talisman we had made. Not the best recreation, but it should fool those at a distance. "And I'm not planning on blowing just myself up. I've got enough Balefire Eggs on me to sink this whole damn port to the bottom of the ocean."

"Bullshit!" He retorted. Oh, he was angry now! "You wouldn't blow up your precious zebra friend."

"Not normally, no." She admitted. "But to stop her from being tortured or killed by you power hungry monsters, if she isn't already dead... Not to mention you threatening me, endangering my stable, my friends. I'm through being pushed around by you." Her voice was rising with every word now. "So call my bluff. Go ahead and kill me, right here and now, but it won't matter even if you're right. Because I will NEVER let you threaten me or anyone I care about again!"

I rounded a corner, nearly bumping into the flank of one of the ponies watching guard. I held my breath, hoping not to disturb them. At least that was the plan, until Crusher walked right up to them and punched them in the back of the head hard enough to knock them out. Power armor was so overpowered... At least with him out of the way, I had a clear view of Tinker and Unimportant staring each other down. He reminded me of a piece of toast with jelly on it with the way his dark red mane spilled over his golden coat. Not half bad looking, even if one conversation was all it took to see he was a douche.

They were silent for several long seconds until Unimportant finally spoke, hanging his head in defeat with a sigh. "Bring the zebra."

"Sir, are you sure-"

"I SAID BRING THE DAMN STRIPE!" He shouted. That was more than enough to stop any other questions, several of his lackeys going off to fetch Tiny from wherever she was being held.

"I'm glad you could see reason." The smugness in her voice was palpable.

"You haven't won yet."

"Is that so? I think I-" Tinker let out a gasp, holding the hoof with the detonator to her mouth. "Tiny..."

They dragged Tinys body across the ground, leaving her a few feet from Tinker and Unimportant. They had some seriously heavy chains on her hooves, and those looked to be the best condition things about her right now. Numerous cuts and nasty bruises adorned her body, and it might've just been where I was standing, but I was pretty sure that hind leg wasn't supposed to bend like that...

"What did you do to her?" The little pink mare growled, the rage in her voice deathly clear.

"Beat her up." He responded calmly, like he was discussing the weather. "Quite badly, too, even though she offered no resistance after we threatened to kill those with her."

Tinker snorted, grabbing the pistol that was hanging around her neck. I'd almost forgotten about that old thing. What did she call it...? Crescendo? Concerto? It was something that all the overmares and stallions had since they closed up the Stable, apparently. Supposedly, it held and fired a single fifty caliber round, and had all these magical dampeners and stuff to prevent the one firing from losing their jaw or having the thing go flying out of their magic. I didn't believe all that myself, but if it was true, then Unimportant was about to be torn apart from the chest up!

He just chuckled in the face of the powerful gun. "Oh please, stop embarrassing yourself. I'm too important for you to kill."

"Since when?" She asked, somehow having understandable speech even with the gun in her mouth. I still didn't know how earth ponies did that!

"I control this whole operation. You kill me, you'll never find out why all this happened." The ego was just dripping from him at this point.

"It also means that if I kill you, this whole thing ends." She surmised. I had to admit that that made sense. Cut off the head...

"Would it really? Killing me wouldn't stop my plans in the least, as I've planned for that. Can never be too sure, dear, maybe you'll learn that when you're older."

"So why tell me, then?" The short mare asked, sounding just as confused as I felt.

"To watch you fail, of course!" Unimportant responded with glee . "That'd be the best way to get you back for the trouble you've caused me. You can't stop what I'm going to do."

"That's pretty overconfident, don't you think? Just what exactly are you planning to do that I won't be able to stop?"

If the look on his face was any cockier, he'd have been a chicken. "Well first, I'm going to-"

"Lie to... save your sorry skin...?" Tiny said, voice filled with pain as she spoke with some difficulty. Still, it was enough to kill whatever ego Unimportant had. "Maybe you shouldn't... shouldn't talk to your superiors in front of your -ugh- prisoners.."

"Remind me to tear the vocal cords out of the next prisoners we take." He growled, looking in the large zebras direction. I couldn't see his eyes with his head turned, but I imagine he was shooting her a pretty nasty glare. "I know you'll trust your stupid striped friend over whatever I say, so yes, she's right. I'm not the head of this operation, but-"

Tinker held up a hoof for him to stop. "Then you're just another cog in whatever plan involves my stable. Possibly a big cog, but not the heart of the machine, and therefore useless to me. Not to mention that you've been proven to be a liar. We're done here."

"We are NOT done here, you little twerp!" He yelled, taking a step forward. "We are not done here until I say so!"

Tinker and Unimportant started yelling at each other, although I wasn't able to focus on their conversation as Bone Crusher started poking me in the side. "Hey, Gun?"

"What?" I asked, looking over at her.

"See her?" She pointed towards the group of ponies standing closest to the arguing pair. "Behind Tiny. The one with the sunglasses?"

No wonder we could just stand close by in some darkness and not be seen! Who wears sunglasses at night? That stupidity aside, I still didn't know why she was being singled out. "What about her?"

"I know her from somewhere."

And? "So what? A scavenger you let get away or something?"

Getting poked in the side -even lightly- by power armor hurts a lot. At least it wasn't enough to send me flying into the container next to me. "No, asshole, I think I remember her from before I ended up out here. She's a Steel Ranger."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "You sure? What'd a Steel Ranger be doing out here helping in something like this?"

"I don't know, but I intend to find out." She started moving forward. Oh sweet Celestia, what was she planning to do now?

"Woah, woah! Where the fuck are you going?" I hissed quietly. Stop moving forward, please!

"To find out." Was her reply, still heading towards Unimportant, Tinker, and all the other heavily armed ponies who wanted to kill us on sight.

"Shit..." I grumbled, ducking behind the container and poking my head around the corner. Might as well see her final moments....

"Sir, we've got contact!" The very mare that Crusher was heading to spoke. "One hos... tile..." She trailed off, taking a few steps back. "You're... You really are still alive..."

"You're damn right I'm still alive." The Ex Ranger replied, strolling right between Unimportant and Tinker like they weren't even there."And I want some answers..."

"I knew it!" Unimportant shouted. "I knew you violated our agreement you TRAITOROUS-"

"I told them not to follow me!" Tinker defended, taking a few steps back.

"Sure you did, you double crossing brat! Maybe they'll listen to you in the afterlife! Open fire!"

"I'll blow us all to Tartarus if you do, I swear!"

Now all of Unimportants henchponies seemed conflicted. Bone Crusher was a very real threat, but so was getting blown up by all the zebra alchemical death they thought Tinker had on a hair trigger. The final nail in the coffin was probably the stallion that ran into the area. Screaming. While on fire.

"I found a radio, guys!" Firebug happily announced over said radio.

The mercs or soldiers or whatever they were looked at their burning comrade, then the direction he came from, then to Crusher and back again for several seconds, completely conflicted about who to shoot at this point. I didn't blame them, I wasn't sure who'd be more frightening to get into a fight with!

Several tense seconds passed by, Unimportant and Tinker staring each other down again. The stallion made the first move again, letting out an annoyed snort. "To hell with it! If I'm going to die to a foal, I'm going to die fighting!" He rushed her, tackling her and taking them both to the ground out of my line of sight. I couldn't see what was happening, but the sounds of blows landing and grunts of pain made it clear.

"Tinker!" Tiny shouted, trying to get to her hooves even while injured and shackled. A hit from the butt of a rifle kept her down, but she kept trying, determined to help her friend. Bone Crusher, meanwhile, hadn't even moved. She was still staring down that mare, who looked like she was close to pissing herself.

I sighed, coming from behind the container and starting to Sprint towards the open. Looks like the plan has fallen to shit... I saw about what I expcted when I got there: Unimportant raining hits down on Tinker, the filly trying to protect herself with her forehooves. Of course, I only saw this for a second before I barreled into the stallion and threw us both away from Tinker.

I'll be honest: I suck at hoof to hoof combat. I carry a knife on me for emergencies and knew the obvious weakpoints in a body just about everyone else did, but anybody who even spent five minutes practicing could probably beat me.

It was clear Unimportant had spent at least ten.

I ended up on top, but was thrown off before I could get my guns out. I got to my hooves quickly, Unimportant already going for a pistol strapped to his chest.

"STOP!" Tinker shouted, getting to her hooves. "I'll do it, I swear!"

We stopped, looking at Tinker. "Um, Tinker?" I started. "You're missing a little something." I pointed to her hoof.

The stable pony looked at me in confusion, looking at her hoof... Her now empty hoof that used to hold the broken detonator. She looked at the detonator a few feet away that went flying when she was tackled. It's formerly depressed position had been let up, meaning she'd be meaty bits by now if it really was a dead mares switch. "Oh... Well, horseapples."

I would've facehoofed if I didn't have to dodge a hail of gunfire. Seems Unimportants gang got their shit together now that fear of being blown to smithereens was gone. Great!

At least I wasn't the only one getting shot at. Tinker scrambled away, galloping behind a row of containers, and I could hear Crushers miniguns spinning up. The fight was on.

I rolled behind some kind of metal thing attached to the dock (I'm not fluent in boats and related terminology, sue me) and drew my revolvers, blindly firing. My cover was barely large enough to hide behind, so I didn't dare poke my head out.

Somepony screamed, and my ego assumed it was from me. It was more likely that it was because of Crusher. Even over all the other gunfire, I could hear the roar of her miniguns spitting lead at an insane rate. It didn't seem to be as effective as it was against the slavers, though. In fact, I could hear her stepping towards me. She came into view a second later, limping on her front left leg. "They've got fucking armor piercers!" She screamed over the roar of her guns.

Shit. Of course they had armor piercing ammo, they were prepared to fight power armor! If Crusher went down, there was no way we'd be getting out of here alive. I had an idea of how to help her, but it was a stupid one that'd put me more in the line of fire more. Still, it'd at least give the power armored killing machine time to heal up.

"Switch!" I yelled, dashing out of my barely pony sized cover as Crusher slid in. As I expected, all the gunfire followed her, and then turned on me since I was out in the open. It was a mad dash the fifty or so meters to the relative safety of the containers, bullets flying at me the entire time. I was extremely thankful for my kevlar coat at this moment, but it didn't help much with how it was flying up from my galloping. Just more motivation to move faster!

Somehow, I managed to make it to the ccontainers without sustaining any injuries. I should be a little more safe in the maze of metal, for now, anyway. I could already hear the galloping of some of Unimportants ponies coming after me. I had to keep moving. If I could at least link up with Tinker, she could use her EFS to spot targets for me. I could hear her over the radio, breathing deeply as she ran to get away from Unimportant and his attackers like we were.

Some kind of goal in mind besides survival, I moved deeper into the maze of cargo containers. An smg wielding stallion spotted me from a T junction further down, ready to fire at me. At least, that was what he was going to do before a small, thin, rectangle streamed past his neck, leaving a deep cut in it. Another hit both of his clothed forehooves, barely able to penetrate the armor, but still hitting deep enough to send him collapsing on his face. A single bullet from me finished him off. Smoking Aces came around the corner a second later, smiling when she saw me. "Hey, stud."

"Hey, beautiful." I replied, smirking. "Have you seen Tinker?"

She shook her head. "You're the first one I've found. We've gotta get out of here, these goons are everywhere!"

"I know, but we can't leave Tiny behind!" There's no way they'd let her live now, not to mention how badly it'd devastate Tinker. The two of us moved deeper into the maze, my guns drawn and a bunch of cards circling Aces, both of us ready for attack.

I had to admit that Smoking Aces cards were more effective than I thought they would be. Enemies we encountered were dispatched quickly with a few of her special cards to vital areas or just a flurry of them at anything we could hit. Of course my guns did just as well, dispensing quick death on any enemy I was lucky enough to fight. I was quickly using up all my ammo, though...

We entered into another open area between the containers, checking around the area. We were far away enough from the gunfire that there was no way to tell apart one gun from another. There was definitely less gunfire than before, that much was for certain. I could also hear the roar of flames and manic laughter around somewhere... If I looked up the right way, I could see Aryanna high above on one of the taller stacks of containers, firing down at the enemy and moving to another stack when they returned fire. They seemed to wisen up to it, though, an explosion rocking the stack she was shooting from. It began to fall, crashing into the one next to it. And then that one began to fall into the next one, and that into the next. A giant domino effect, resulting in a horendohs sound of screeching and crunching metal, the Griffin flying far away from the mess so she wouldn't get caught in it.

This was almost enough noise to cover up the sound of Tinker screaming.

"Let me go, you- Agh!"

"Shut up, you stupid child!" Unimportant roared, and I heard the smack of a hoof slapping someone. "You've ruined everything! We were almost close, I could feel it!" Another smack. Aces and I were galloping around, listening intently to see if they were close. "We almost-" He screamed a few octaves higher than anything I'd heard from him so far, and I had a feeling of what my small friend had done to get away. "Bitch!" He squeaked.

We made it to the next open row just as several shots rang out, close enough for us to hear over the radio and in person. Tinker screamed, tumbling to the ground several rows of containers over, groaning in pain and trying to drag herself forward. She didn't make it far before Unimportant was back on her, dragging her back towards where they came.

That was until a bunch of cards and bullets went flying in his direction.

He dived down behind the still struggling Tinker, trying to use her as a shield. Which worked for the most part. There was an obvious size difference between the teenage filly and the full grown stallion, but she protected enough of him to make us move in closer, weapons still drawn. Unimportant placed his back against a container, using it to prop himself on to two legs, still holding Tinker like a sheild between us and him. His mouth held gun was pressed against her skull, ready to fire. "Stahy bachk!" He mumbled.

We stopped where we were, not wanting to antagonize him any further. "Weaphuns ohn the groundh!" Again, we complied, my revolvers and several packs of playing cards being placed on the ground in front of us. The look he gave us was one full of malice and also a bit of eccentricity. The gunfire had all but died down now, and there weren't any of his goons coming to help him. His back was against the wall -figuratively AND literally- and his only option of getting out of here alive was by keeping Tinker between us and him.

"Stahy backh" Unimportant shouted again, awkwardly backing away from us on his hind hooves. Tinker was still held tight in his grip, her struggling weaker than it was before. We didn't dare try and stop him, lest we agitate him any further. I didn't know what Aces reasoning was, but not only did I not want to lose a friend, that big brain of hers was worth a lot more to me alive than dead. There was nothing a could do to stop him, though. He looked ready to splatter the fillys brains out if we so much as twitched in his direction. Goddesses damnit, I hated being helpless like this! All we could do was watch as the bastard stallion got further away, taking my friend with him...

And then a bullet tore through Unimportants leg. He screamed, toppling to the ground. The gun fired, and Tinker screamed. We screamed, rushing over to check on her. She was alright, rolling on the ground and clutching her head. I tossed the still cursing Unimportants gun away, and Aces kicked him in the gut to send him rolling away from us. Just to be safe. "Tinker, are you alright?" I asked.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, OW!" Well, at least she was still alive. It was obvious that she was hurt, but I couldn't see where with her clutching her head like that.

"Tinker, I need to see where you're hurt, ok?" I said gently, placing my forehooves on her. I didn't want to startle her, especially with that monster mouth cannon that she weilded.

Slowly, she calmed down and took her hooves away from her head. I couldn't help but wince. Half of her right ear had been blown clean off, and I could see where the bullet made a hole through her mane. Just a few centimeters lower and it would've caught her skull...

"How bad is it?" The filly asked, still trying to calm down completely.

I smiled. "Nothing a healing potion can't-"

With a roar of anger, Unimportant jumped to his hooves, trying to charge the three of us. Another bullet tore through his leg, putting him down on the ground again, swearing profusely. Aryanna landed next to him a second later, assault rifle trained on him. "Sup?"

"Nice shot." Aces commented with a smirk.

"Shot?" The griffin looked confused, looking back at the still cursing Unimportant and then to her gun, finally figuring it out. "Oh, THAT shot! Yeah, it was nothing. Just me being my normal awesome self, heh..."

I rolled my eyes, turning my focus back to Tinker. "Now like I was trying to do..." I fished out the healing potion I had, pouring half of it over her ear and placing it to her lips for her to drink the other half. It seemed to do the trick, the blown apart ear growing back right before my eyes.

"Ugh... Never getting my ears pierced..." The small filly groaned, pulling herself to a sitting position. "I don't hear gunfire..."

She was right, it was deathly quiet compared to a few minutes ago. Aces and I were back on guard immediately, weapons drawn.

Aryanna didn't seem worried. "Relax, guys, Crusher sent them running or killed them. With help from yours truly, of course." She puffed out her chest, obviously proud of herself. Credit where credit was due, she played a good support today, and putting down Unimportant was definitely a point in her favor.

"You did good, Aryanna." I congratulated, holding out my hoof for her to bump it with her fist, which she did. "One step closer to being a badass."

"Aww yeah, just you wait. I'm gonna be the most badass bird to ever exist!" The griffin beamed, striking a pose I guess she thought was cool. The ego on this girl sometimes...

"If we're quite done feeding her ego, this job isn't done yet." Tinker spoke, getting back to her hooves. I only needed one look at her to know that the really serious Tinker was on deck. "Grab him and follow." She walked off without another word. The three of us looked at each other and shrugged, Aces grabbing Unimportant by the tail with her magic and dragging him behind us.

_________________________________________________________________

It was actually a bit of a walk back to where the fight began. We'd crossed over several rows of containers chasing after Tinker and Unimportant, about five or six if the row numbers were right. She could really haul ass if she wanted to!

Bone Crusher and Firebug were already waiting for us by the time we got back. I hadn't seen where the pyomaniac had gotten off to, but I could smell her work on the sea breeze. Charred flesh was a very distinct smell... "Well you guys took your sweet ass time." Crusher remarked when we approached, looking down towards Unimportant. "Ah, so you caught the fucker. He give you any trouble?"

We looked down at the stallion, who'd given up his struggling by the second pier. "Not as much as he'd have liked." Aces replied with a giggle.

"Can I burn him?" Firebug asked excitedly. Always with that one track mind...

"Not yet." Our attention turned to Tinker, who was staring at Unimportant with what I assumed was a glare. Always hard to tell with those goggles of hers. "I want answers first." She drew her gun, pointing it straight at the stallions face. "So get talking."

The golden brown stallion actually had the gall to laugh. "And who's going to make me? You?"

"I was hoping you'd say that." Crusher stepped forward, but was stopped by a raised hoof from Tinker.

"Are you afraid of me?" She asked, lowering her pistol to speak more clearly.

"As much as I am of a radroach." He gave her a look that showed just how much hate he has for her.

"Say you're not afraid of me then." Before he could even open his mouth to cheekily respond, she added "Look me in the eyes and say it."

Unimportant hesitated.

"Look me in the eyes and say it." Tinker repeated, pulling up her goggles so those brilliant blue eyes were revealed. "Look at me." He refused to, so she smacked him. "Look at me!" Still nothing. "I said look at me!" She grabbed his face, keeping it still as she pressed their foreheads together. "Look into the eyes of the mare who destroyed everything you worked for, who had nearly all of your troops killed, who you were stupid enough to cross! Look. At. ME!"

Unimportant finally relented, staring into the eyes of the smaller filly. It was almost comical, this short little foal staring down a grown stallion and making him tremble. It would be funny if I hadn't been on the receiving end of those eyes myself at times. Tinker may have been twelve when she was given the job, but they definitely chose the right mare for it! She had become a powerful leader, one that'd gained the respect of many in Maremi through her words and actions. When Tinker looked at you and spoke, you obeyed. ESPECIALLY when she was giving you a glare that could cut through a stable door. "Are you afraid of me?"

"Y-yes!" Unimportant stuttered out, looking ready to piss himself.

"Good." The cold overmare of Stable 37 smirked. "Now tell me everything."

"I was a s-small time slaver." He began. "Was lucky if I caught and sold two head a week. Then a few months ago, this stallion comes around a slaver hangout I was at, buys slaves like crazy. Buys slavers, too. He recruited me, said his group was close to finding ultimate power. Most of us didn't believe him, but his caps were good."

"And this wasn't Red Eye?" Aryanna asked.

"No, I'm sure of it. I've seen Red Eye, and this guy looked completely different."

"What happened next?" Tinker sounded like she was growing inpatient.

"We were brought down here to work. Our employer scouted out potential places, and we sent the slaves in to collect the stuff. Something must've been found because I got a dozen more head last week and was told to make them work double shifts."

"And my stable ponies are involved how?"

"They found us. A month ago, maybe. Convinced them to work with us. That's what happened, I swear!"

"And where did the slaves go?"

"A-a switching point! They meet halfway so we don't tire them as much! Easier to keep them in line!"

"Where!?"

"I don't know!" Unimportant was practically hysterical at this point. "They moved everything after you discovered us! I haven't been out there since!"

"I swear if you're lying about even one thing-"

"Tinker... That's enough..." Tiny spoke from farther away. I'd almost forgotten about her with how quiet she was being, and she almost seemed to blend into the concrete of the pier with her stripes. She didn't seem to be hurt, well, from the fight, anyway. She still looked plenty beat up from before we arrived. It looked like the big mare participated in it, though, if only just long enough to catch the unicorn mare Crusher was after in a bear hug, her guns nowhere to be found. "You have your info... Don't stoop to his level..."

Tinker stared down Unimportant, unblinking. I was honestly expecting her to kill him right then and there, but she backed off with a sigh. "You're right, Tiny. I shouldn't let myself get so worked up against such... scum." You'd almost think she was from Tenpony with the amount of venom she spat that last word out with!

"Now that that's been dealt with..." Crusher stepped forward, trotting over to the captured unicorn mare until their faces were almost touching. "Talk."

"Nice weather we're having?" She replied with a nervous smile.

The former Steel Ranger didn't show any signs of annoyance. "Isn't it? You know what a nice day like this calls for? A joke. Would you like to hear a joke?"

The mare looked at her confusedly. "Yes?"

It had hurt when I'd been playfully shoved earlier by her, so I know it had to hurt when Crusher lifted an armor clad hoof and smacked her prisoner across the face. The poor mare was sent reeling, her cheek already starting to swell up. "Want to hear another? They've all got the same punchline, but they always bring a smile to my face!"

"N-no, please!" She begged, pausing to spit up a glob of blood and a tooth. "I'll talk, I'll talk!"

"Well? I feel another joke coming on."

"I'm just supposed to observe and report, that's all!" She exclaimed quickly.

"Observe and report what?"

"The actions of our allies!"

That got everyones attention. As far as a all knew, the Steel Rangers were either neutral with most factions -deeming themselves above the "petty squabbles of tribals"- or actively hostile -in the case of groups like the Enclave and raiders, who shot first and asked questions later- and were really only friendly with themselves.

"Who're their allies?" Crushed asked confusedly. So they weren't there when she was a Ranger...

"I don't know."

"Stop me if you've heard this one before..."

"I don't, honest! I'm just an initiate, all that info is for the higher ups only!"

"Fine... You're free to go."

The initiate blinked. "R-really?"

Bone Crushed nodded. "You're just a grunt, my problem is with your superiors."

"Wait!" Aryanna shouted, catching us all off guard. She flew over all of us, landing right at the edge of the pier and picked up a... pair of sunglasses? "Can I have these?"

Their former owner nodded quickly. "You can! Just let me go, please!"

"Go on then, get the fuck out of here." The former Steel Ranger ordered. With a nod to Tiny, the mare was released, and she was galloping away as soon as her hooves hit the ground. "And if you know what's good for you, you'll abandon the Steel Cocksuckers before they leave you for dead like me!"

It was at this moment that Unimportant decided to make a break for it. I've never seen a pony with an injured leg gallop so fast! Of course, he couldn't outrun the hail of gunfire coming his way as we raised our weapons to fire and-

"Don't shoot!" Tinker exclaimed.

We all paused and looked back at her in confusion, which gave the bastard enough time to round a corner and get away.

"Why did you- Crusher began to ask.

"Because short of killing him, anything we do is bound to be a fraction of what his bosses will do to him for failure." The short mare explained with a smirk. "And I had no intention of killing him, not after I..." She cleared her throat, looking away from us. "Regained my composure."

"So... Now what?" Aryanna asked. It was a good question. Things were winding down, the battle was over... I suppose the only thing to do was-

"I suggest we leave as soon as poaaible." Tiny spoke. With a rather gross POP, the zebra set her leg nearly back to its relatively normal position and stood up. After a quick test, which resulted in a wince, she decided to keep her weight off of it still.

"Hey, Big Sexy. Glad to see you're not too worse for wear." I smiled. Loved using that nickname with her... It was just one of those things about our friendship.

"I'm only allowing you to get away with saying that because you saved mine and Tinkers life tonight." She huffed. Still, she couldn't hide the smile on her lips. "All they did was rough me up. I've had worse."

"Your leg is broken!" Firebug pointed out.

"I've had worse." She repeated.

"Tiny..." Tinker approached her oldest friend, voice wavering. "I-I..."

And her oldest friend put a hoof to her lips, smiling wider. "Shh... This is not your fault. This is also not the time for tears. We need to get somewhere safe right now."

"She's right." Crusher chimed in. "Anyone who survived might grab reinforcements. It's time to get the fuck out of here."

"Right... Right." Tinker nodded, taking a few breaths before turning around to face us. "Aryanna, go and scout ahead. I'll lead us ahead. Bone Crusher, I need you to help support Tiny so we can move a little faster. Gunslinger, Firebug, you know what to do if we encounter a threat. Got it? Then lets-"

"Hold up." Crusher interrupted. "Since when do you get to call any shots?"

The filly looked up at the former Steel Ranger with a grin. "Since I've been leading ponies and making plans for six years now." She replied. "Any objections?"

Silence.

"Then let's go."

I couldn't help but smile as we began to leave the port. Partly because we were victorious, and partly because I realised something. In addition to her computer and mechanical expertise, Tinker brought something else to the table that was equally as, if not more valuable. Something that our group would need if we were to succeed.

The experience of a leader.