Chapter 4

It had been about two days since the incident in the market for Silver, Essie and Starsong. As he predicted, there wasn't much interruption for the group from there to New Appaloosa, save for the occasional restroom or food break, as well as shut eye during the night. Essie's previous wound was healing nicely now, being nothing more than just a minor pain in her side at this point. Silver's new plasma rifle was in the holstered position along his back. He had given it to Essie one night to work her repair magic over it, fixing any kinks in the targeting and firing systems. Silver was drinking his own bottle of Sparkle-Cola as he chatted with the mares...

"...So I learned the hard way that one does not ever try to deny a kiss from a drunk griffon, they get seriously mad and will use those talons of theirs. And that's what got me figuring out first-aid, by trying to patch the gashes in my chest."

The journey, thankfully, had been easy on the group. Trekking across the Equestrian Wasteland was no easy task, but as they sat in their camp, just a couple hours away from New Appaloosa, they were in high spirits. Essie and Starsong both had followed Silver's lead, cracking open their bottles of Sparkle-Cola and giggling as the stallion entertained them with a story.
"Griffin talons ain't nothin' t' play with, Silver!" Essie mock-scolded him, chuckling... "Did ya end up kissin' her t' make her relax?" Silver Lining snickered and shook his head. "I think I was too busy trying to hold my shredded chest together to help HIM relax...Thankfully, his own crew came to collect him before a bigger scene was made."

As the group sat in their campsite a small group of Pegasi silently hovered down behind the area they were camping in. They looked between one another and watched the campsite to figure out a plan of action. When they saw the group casually enjoying their drinks they moved in.

“Silver Lining!” one pony shouted as he landed in the center of them, this pony was a stallion wearing a mix of barding and power armor and had a face mask obscuring everything under his eyes. As he appeared a mare dressed similarly showed up as well as another Pegasi fully dressed up in power armor… The power armored one aimed one weapon at Starsong and one at Essie “Don’t try anything.” He warned as the stallion and mare stood in front of Silver “We’ve been looking for you, it’s been awhile hasn’t it?” the mare said with a chuckle as the two of them pulled their face masks down to reveal two ponies Silver would undoubtedly recognize.

Meanwhile the armored pony kept the weapons aimed at the two unicorns, making sure neither made any foolish moves. The other two ponies didn’t make any aggressive moves towards Silver though. Silver had jumped back a bit as the pegasi group landed down, about to swing his plasma rifle into action as he noticed all the guns they had, pointing at him, Essie and Starsong. He grits his teeth as a bead of sweat dropped from his brow, knowing full well that these were all Enclave. "Wha..? What do you guys want??" He asked the two that approached him, but once they pulled down their facemasks, Essie and Star saw an expression on Silver that they had never seen before: Absolute horror.

"....No....It can't be."

Three sets of power armor dropping in from above were frightening enough, but to have just one of those cannons aimed towards them at point blank was an unearthly terror. Essie quickly jerked up, forcing a rigid and babbling Starsong behind her. She glared at the pony aiming at her, standing wide and protectively over the smaller mare cowering behind her. Looking for some kind of reassurance, she glanced at Silver. The look on his face was not what she'd hoped to see. Worse, all of her weapons were lying on the ground, near where she'd slept. She had no opportunity to levitate her guns over, and no other way to fight, than with her hooves.

"Silver, you better get talkin' cause Ah'm gettin' real pissed off with this fuckin' stomper pointin' at me!" Essie spat, glowering in Silver's direction. The two ponies in front of Silver chuckled a bit, but it wasn't one of malice, just a casual one. "Quick to anger, I see." the stallion observed "Well, go ahead and do as she says." he advised as he glanced over at the armored companion.
The mare watched Silver closely as well as the two unicorns cowering from the guns aimed at them "Don't try for those weapons, it would be a very bad idea." she pointed out as slowly trotted towards the weapons to gather them all up near her while keeping an eye on both of them. Silver simply sat there, biting his tongue for a while. It was clear that he knew these two very well, and that they were Enclave. The shocked look on his face eventually transitioned into nervous stress as he watched the mare gather up his companions' weapons. "...If you guys are who I think you are, then you all must think I've done something against the Enclave. Whatever the case is, it wasn't my fault, I swear." He pleaded to the stallion.

Essie looked between the pony confiscating her weapons, to the ponies facing Silver, then to Silver himself. After a moment, her brows furrowed, and she stamped her hoof at the ground. "What the hell… Silver, are you Enclave?!" she growled, lurching forward. She was tempted to hit the stallion, but remembered that the pony with the cannon on her wasn't too fond of sudden movement. "Ah trusted you! WE trusted you!" The stallion in front of Silver chuckled a bit "Ouch; that probably wasn't something you should of kept hidden." he said with a disapproving look "Funny you should mention that though, we know you didn't directly do anything against the Enclave. However, you did come below the cloud cover without permission." he pointed out and paced back and forth in front of him.

"It’s fortunate though, because we've come here to offer you a chance at coming home with no consequence. You're free to choose to accept or decline the offer. But if you decline it you will be officially labeled as a enemy of the state and we will not be able to help bring you back." he started off and glanced over at the armored stallion near the unicorns "You'll be under his jurisdiction and let’s say he isn't quite as nice as us when it comes to dealing with AWOL soldiers." he added and then stopped in front of Silver again to let him process that. Silver Lining's face paled at the choices given to him. "Th...That’s not fair! There are no official papers on me coming under the clouds because it was supposed to be like that! I was on a low-profile scouting mission; we weren't supposed to bring it to the citizens' attention!" That sentence alone had proved Silver was indeed Enclave to Essie and Star now, and yet he continued to speak.

"But we got scattered by Raiders during the mission and I got stranded! I couldn't go back without the proper clearance I clearly was not having! That's why I never returned and now..." He gulped as he looked between the two blue ponies before him. "You guys are the Inquisitors... Even if I go back quietly, you'll find ways to find me guilty and label me a traitor...."

Essie glowered at the pegasi around her, gritting her teeth to keep from blurting anything out. Further aggravating her was the pony still aiming the cannon at her, and the cowering mare behind her. Essie finally turned on the armored pegasus, "For fuck's sake! We're unarmed, an' this one's hardly more 'n a filly!" she shouted at the Enclave pony. She pleadingly turned to the ponies that were showing their faces. "Are y'all jus' monsters? Huh? Ya gonna shoot 'n unarmed mare an' a filly?"

The stallion who was focusing on Silver looked towards her "Well we won't." he replied gesturing between himself and the mare before turning towards the armored one. "Ease up, just make sure they stay away from the weapons." he added and the reply he got wasn't exactly what he wanted. "Don't try telling me what to do...." he said in annoyance as he kept the weapons trained on them. The stallion sighed heavily and shook his head in disapproval before turning back to Silver "To cut to the chase, we're offering you a chance to return without a problem. All you have to do is help her out with a mission of her own. Do that and you'll be given clearance to return." he explained, his voice sounding very genuine in the words and his lack of any smirks or similar looks reinforced his words. "If you choose not to, well you will be labeled a traitor and he'll..." he said gesturing to the armored pony "...will be in charge of bringing you to justice. Your choice..."

The armored pony chuckled "Oh and of course this little deal is going to allow me to test out a recent creation of mine. Just to ensure none of you get the idea of turning on her." he said gesturing towards the mare. He rose up a hoof and a syringe slid out of a slit on his armored hoof, filled with a strange metallic like liquid. He glared at the two mares; despite not being able to see it they could almost feel his malicious glee at this fact. As Silver turned to see what the armored pony was talking about, his eyes widened as he saw the syringe with the liquid metal. Being from the Enclave, he had a clear idea of what could have been in that syringe. He looked to Star's scared face, knowing that whatever he did, she would probably have to endure whatever that stallion was hoping to do....And with that thought, his worried face became a mad determination as he acted.

Without warning, Silver pulled his goggles over his eyes as his battle saddle activated, the whir of both the semi-auto and the plasma rifle locking into place at his sides, aimed for the armored pony. "OVERLOAD..!" Silver shouted as both barrels of the guns blasted out with the intent of emptying their respective magazines. The semi-auto wasn't equipped to do any real damage to the stallion's armor, but it would certainly knock him off his hooves, with the plasma rifle's heat, making the steel trap of his very uncomfortable. "ESSIE, STAR, RUN!" He exclaimed as he spread his wings and dove for the other two in front of him. The mares stood in stunned silence at Silver's sudden turning. When he shouted at them to run, they didn't hesitate to start moving their hooves. Starsong was the faster of the two, and she was away from the campsite a second later. Essie sprinted over to the pile of weapons and quickly strapped her pistol to her thigh, then levitated her rifle into her grasp. She looked over, spotting the pony who had been aiming his cannons at her and Starsong, recovering from the assault. Taking an opportunity for revenge, she stepped close to him, pressed the end of the barrel against the jaw of his armor, and let loose two rounds from the .50 cal.

The events that unfolded caught the two off guard as Silver pounced on the stallion after firing at the armored pony. The mare immediately saw this and jumped at Silver to knock him off before the two of them leapt back and the crystals on their hoof guards glowed. Only Silver would know what that meant.

They saw the death of the other pegasi and instead of looking unnerved at that they looked...relieved. "Good....I was getting really tired of him." The mare said before realizing what she said and closed her mouth. The stallion then looked at them. "I'm not sure if you three are brave or really stupid." He pointed out, but not in a condescending way. “You just took out an Inquisitor....not sure we can help you now Silver. Although, know that what he was about to do with that syringe was not something we wanted. He's.....always enjoyed torturing ponies. Whether he needed to or not." The stallion explained as they watched the three of them from behind the protection of their personal force fields. "We're not here to fight, never were." The mare added, and like with the stallion's offer there was no sign of trickery in her voice.

Silver gave a grunt as he got quickly pushed back by the mare, scrambling to his hooves as the battle saddle worked to replace the empty magazines in his guns. He didn't try anything else though, seeing the crystals on their hoof guards activated. Instead he backed away slowly, keeping his guard up as he looked to Essie, keeping track of where she was too. The honesty in the other two's voices were throwing him off, but he didn't want that to disarm him as he stood confident.

"Whether you wanted to fight or not is not relevant. I can't go back to the Enclave knowing that I'll be guilty on the spot in a 'fair' trial. And us shooting that other fella practically sealed the deal, so go tell that to whoever sent you after me." Essie watched the armored pony collapse on the ground before raising her rifle to find... Some kind of force field around the other pegasi... She cast quick glances at Silver while watching and aiming her rifle at the ponies in the protective field.

"Ah really ain't in the mood fer bullshit, y'hear?" Essie called up to the blue ponies. "Y'all say ya weren't lookin' t' fight, but ya drop in on us like that, an' take us hostage? An' you!" She said, looking at Silver. "Ya mind tellin' me precisely what the fuck's goin' on here?" The stallion sighed a bit "Simply precautions, what he..." he pointed to the dead armored pony "was about to do, that was all him. That wasn't something we wanted to happen." he replied then turned to Silver "No one sent us, we came looking for you of our own volition." he explained "Why, because I've given her a mission and since you had a track record for being a good recon pony prior to being stranded we figured we'd search you out. Offer you a chance to come back if you helped us." he explained "Put the weapons down, we aren't going to attack you." he added

The mare continued "Honestly, I don't know how his group will react to finding out he'd be killed by what he loves to call 'wasteland trash'. It’s likely you'll have to deal with his little gang, and they'll be out for blood." she explained and looked between them "It’s clear he doesn't want to help us, so we'll just leave." she added with a shrug. To prove the point of no desire to attack neither of them made any moves and just kept their shields up as a safety precaution.

They both looked to Silver; having worked with him in the past he knew enough about them to know when they meant ill and when they were being peaceful. Silver grits his teeth, looking back and forth between the two Enclave members with their backs turned, and to Essie, who was glaring at him all the while. With a little hesitation, he started to call back to them. "....Wait...Just a moment...." He gulped as he looked to Essie. "...Hey, I need you to trust me more than ever and lower your weapon... I promise I'll give you the full story when this is over, okay?"

Essie stayed still, keeping her rifle aimed at the pegasi in the shield. After a moment, she growled and lowered her rifle, looking at Silver. "You'd better be more than certain 'bout this." she warned, eyeing the pegasi. The two of them watched this and smiled warmly "Thank you." the stallion replied and the two force fields lowered as well "Now, what are you gonna do about that?" he asked and gestured towards the armored corpse "It’s only a matter of time until they start looking for him." he pointed out "As far as they're concerned, you...." He gestured towards Essie, "Are an enemy of the state now. Depending on who comes down to deal with you. Your friend that ran off may also be killed or captured." He pointed out and glanced over at Silver, knowing that he was also well aware of what he was explaining.

The mare simply watched and sighed. "We may not even be safe, Auron...." She said with some worry in her voice as she looked at him. "They killed an Inquisitor, one of our brothers....and we're not going to do anything about it? Things could get real bad." She said with a sigh as she sat down a short distance away from Essie, just in case she had to defend herself at a moment's notice.

The stallion, who was revealed as being named Auron, went over to her and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll figure out something to cover it up." he pointed out. "You still good for your mission, seems you'll have to go at it alone now though." he pointed out and she looked at him in concern. "Why?" she asked. "Because I doubt they want to be anywhere near you." she said gesturing towards the others. "and I'll have to head back to deal with this...." he said gesturing once again to the dead corpse. Silver bit his lip as he listened in to the two's conversation, then spoke up, pointing to Essie. "She's nopony...That's what killed your companion. It's not uncommon for raiders to pop off shots at fliers and everypony knows it. Not to mention that nopony is invincible either." Silver then pointed to the dead Inquisitor.

"He just happened to be unfortunate enough to be caught in the very small weak point of the armor by sniper fire, after being gunned down by numerous other raiders, as .50 caliber rounds would prove it was sniper fire. The other mare is nopony as well, she was well off in New Appaloosa by the time any skirmish happened....That will be your end of the deal I'm about to make." Silver finished before lowering his weapons too.

"...My end of the bargain will be to help you with your mission that you wanted me to help with before. And once it's over, I will be 'killed in action', and you return home saying the traitor's dead." Essie raised her brow as the stallion explained what 'really' happened, slowly nodding as he made his deal. She looked at the blue ponies expectantly, seeing how they liked Silver's offer. The stallion thought it over and looked towards the mare. "This is your mission, your call." he said and briefly glanced between the other ponies in the area.

The mare spoke afterwards. "Only one issue with that offer, if my mission succeeds....I won't be going back." she said with a strangely confident tone in her voice. "I can't explain why, not yet." she added "but if it succeeds...I won't go back." she repeated and glanced towards the stallion again.

"Silver, right now I have to deal with this mess. Either help her or not, but I'd advise you all watch out. Aura being with you may, but isn't guaranteed to keep you out of trouble." he explained. "Aura if you're going to stay down here and travel with them for your mission, you better get it out." he advised as she dropped the small saddlebag from her side and fished through it before pulling out a strange box like device that opened up into some sort of single eye wear. Silver Lining had a stern expression on his face as he thought over what might happen, taking a glance to Essie before speaking up again. "As long as my companions do not get involved, then we have a deal. I'll accompany Aura on her mission now....What are the details of this?"

"I can't guarantee that, if she is with you and is able to come up with a cover story that you all play along with you may be safe." the stallion responded. "But the Inquisition doesn't follow a traditional chain of command. We can only request you three are left alone, can't order it. Even if we are senior over most of the others." he added and explained.

The mare added "Plus, there are more radical members of the Inquisition and they don't take kindly to their brothers or sisters being killed." Silver shook his head. "I understand that. What I also understand is that they were only expecting me, not them. So if any problems do arise, all blame should be put on me then. Now I ask again, what is this mission you wanted me for?" The mare looked at him. "Recon, something you're used to doing. I'll explain more later... I want to know what things are like down here and I want to help if I can." she briefly explained. "And as I said, no one was expecting you. You're not some renegade who stole Enclave property or some high ranking officer that went AWOL and has classified knowledge." she added.

The stallion continued, "But now that she killed a member of the Inquisition you could become a pony the Enclave wants dead just by associating with her. You know as well as I do that most things the Enclave do make little sense." he sighed a bit. "Much to my dismay...”

Essie huffed. "Y'all already forgot the terms?" she chimed in, scowling again. "Accordin' t' Silver, Ah didn't kill nopony. Raiders did, didn't they?" she suggested, more than asked.

Silver's brows furrowed as well. He wasn't happy with what the two were getting at. "If nopony was expecting me, then how come you and that other Inquisitor fly all the way down here just for little 'ol me? What you're saying don't make a lick of sense at all, the only reason you EVER track down ponies is to bring them back to the Enclave to hold a trial to see if they're a traitor or not. So please explain to me why that ISN'T the case here??"

Aura sighed. "Ok, I'll reiterate it." she said and took a deep breath. "We came down here because we knew you were around the area. We wanted to offer you a chance to return if you helped me with my mission. There wasn't any kind of bounty on you. As for why he came down with us, well one of the higher up Inquisitors wanted to test something out and realized that my mission presented the best opportunity to do so. Whatever was in that injection was likely that test." she explained.

The stallion continued "I have nothing against your story; I won't say anything...as long as she stays safe while on her mission. However, I can't stop others from investigating. They aren't likely to just accept my story and drop it." he pointed out. "True, that’s what Inquisitors are meant to do, but when you have the freedom offered to us....you can stretch it a bit." he said with a smirk that the mare shared.

Silver bit his lip as he thought over their terms, inhaling deeply. "...Very well, I shall help, but like I said: she and Star are nopony. If anypony up there starts getting wiser, then the blame gets put on me...NOT her, nor Star, just me. Is that understood?"
"She stays safe and I'll do what I can." the stallion replied and looked at the mare and smiled at her. He then looked at Essie. "Off the record, thanks for taking him out. One less radical to deal with." he said with a light chuckle as he nodded towards Aura and she put the strange object over her eye and Auron helped connect a few wires from it to the armor and device on her foreleg.

Essie took a look at the armored corpse on the ground, and furrowed her brows. "He threatened me an' Star." she said firmly, turning back to face the pegasus. She started to go on, but from behind her, a quiet voice piped up. "What's that on your arm?" Starsong asked, tentatively stepping forward and stopping at Essie's side. "Is it a PipBuck?"

"Some of the more radical inquisitors are like that, merciless willing to threaten and maybe kill unarmed ponies." the stallion responded with a sigh. "Things have gotten far too hectic in the organization as of late." he added.

The mare heard the voice and looked at her foreleg "No its not, it's...I guess what you can say a utility weapon." she replied. "It’s our preferred weapon and is pretty unique." she added and then turned to the stallion. "I still don't want you to go back, who says they won't blame you or I for his death? He came down here with us and was killed, and we just so happen to not get along with him." she pointed out.

Silver let his rifles fold back into the holstered position on his back after pulling his goggles down, looking towards the direction of where he, Essie and Star were supposed to be heading. "So now that we're all clear on what's going to happen, it's best to get moving now; I'll help Aura with whatever it is you guys want done down here and play fair...And then after that, I'll deal with the consequences of having curious Inquisitors coming after me later for those that don't believe the cover story....You WILL give them what I asked you to say, right?" He looked to Auron.

Auron nodded "I will, and as long as she stays safe they'll never hear what actually happened from me." he replied.
Silver nodded his head. "Very well....First, we'll escort these two to the outskirts of New Appaloosa, but not actually enter town with them. The citizens will shoot you on sight in that armor." He looked to Aura's armor, which screamed Enclave. "Once these two reach the destination, then I'll fly off with you to complete whatever it is you want done, and afterwards I come back to my friends."
Aura looked over to Silver and shook her head. "My mission is going to be going for awhile. I'm going to travel around down here and gather intel on things." she re-explained. "If you only want to go that far with me then fine, but it’s not the end of my mission." she added. "as for my armor, it shouldn't cause as much of a problem as you think, considering its not typical Enclave or typical anything armor. I have a back-up plan anyways."

Auron stepped forward and looked at everyone present. "You should all get going soon. I'll have to report this incident in and they'll come down to collect his body. You don't want to be around when they arrive." he explained.

Essie slowly strapped her rifle to her back as she listened to the conversation. "Me 'n Star will wait in Appaloosa. Ah think it's best we split up fer a bit after this whole 'Enclave' thing. Ah need t' get muh head straight." she said. Silver Lining turned to look to Essie, the expression on his face seeming to say 'I'm really sorry.' "Okay, seems like everypony is on the same track here. Let's get moving so that these two can reach Appaloosa already." Aura shrugged. "Alright then, best get going." she said and looked between both of them and then back to Auron, she hugged him quickly. "You'd better be damn careful." she said to him and he nodded. "Same to you, now get going." he repeated as she let go of him and he stepped away and towards the body "Going to have to report this in, don't worry I'll tell them what you said, now get moving." he instructed.

The sniper met Silver's eye and turned away, frowning. Instead, she looked at Starsong, who was still transfixed on the strange cuffs on the ponies' forearms. The smaller mare stepped forward and made another attempt, this time directed at the mare. "What do they do?" she asked, eyeing the crystals embedded in it. "Did they make that force field?" Aura glanced over and nodded. "Yes, they act as conduits you can say. They power the device." she briefly explained as she glanced down at it and then back at Starsong. Silver drooped his ears as he saw Essie looking away, but then quickly shook the look off his face as he led the trot to New Appaloosa. As they walked away they could hear the stallion reporting the incident as promised and then seemingly vanishing. Aura stopped and looked back at him for a bit before catching up and trotting at the back of the group.

Author's Note

And this is where our third guy joined the fun, so YAY, even more pace changing! Ain't it fun to have things so super confusing?? I'm aware that the little fight was....anticlimactic. The mod of Auron and Aura was new to group RPs and is still unsure about the role he wanted his characters to play, so some rough edges are to be expected. I"m gonna keep grinding out the rest of what we've got (I've posted this chapter and the previous ones all on the same night, so I still dunno if this story's going in a positive route or not.)