Chapter 5

The mares trotted with the group, though Essie made a point to put some lateral distance between her and the pegasi. As for Starsong, she was interested in the blue pegasus' technology. She kept close to Aura, occasionally asking questions about the components of her armor, or the crystal apparatus on her forearm. As Aura trotted along she messed with both the device on her foreleg and over her eye to make sure they were working properly. She didn't mind Starsong being so close and even answered a few questions, albeit with simple responses. Silver listened to the two talk, trying to trot closer towards Essie during the trek. Once she was within a whisper's distance, Silver spoke to her. "I know you've got every right to be mad at me for not telling you. And frankly, I didn't want anypony to find out, considering I was completely on my own; I had to blend in to prevent anypony from shooting my head off at first sight, so I discarded my uniform and took these clothes off of a corpse...Not my proudest moment, but it's the reason I'm still alive today."

"Regardless, it looks like I got you and Star caught up in my own mess, and I assure you I will make damn sure I get you out of it This is my problem after all, especially with Inquisitors coming after me." Essie didn't look at the stallion, but nodded her head to acknowledge she was listening. "Us surface folk ain't exactly on the best 'a terms with y'all Enclave." she said, her brows furrowing as she stared straight forward. "Y'all took away our sun, our moon... Y'all won't help the wasteland get back on its hooves; y'all just keep everything fer yerselves. That's where muh anger's comin' from. Ya didn't defect, yer not a Dashite. Ya came down fer fuckin' recon and couldn't get back." she said coldly, then shook her head and sighed.

"Ah'm just afraid, Silver. Meet somepony ya think ya can call a friend, and then find out they're a part of somethin' that's made yer life fuckin' miserable." she added quietly, finally looking at him. "Ah just don't know what t' think."

Silver drooped his ears once more, sighing quietly. "If it helps any, my recon was supposed to check the surface to see if things were getting better. It was an off-the-books mission too; we were the ones working with part of the Enclave that wanted to send down care packages by trying to find safe locations. I wanted to get back in so I could send my report to my superiors and let them know where the safe zones were... But halfway through it all, we got jumped, and I was the last of my recon team alive down here."

Silver looked up to the sky, in the general direction of where his home was probably located. "Without the radio contact from my squad leader, we were to be assumed KIA, so I knew help wasn't coming. That's why I blended in..." Then he looked over his shoulder to Aura. "...But it seems like I've been found out, and they sent 'them' to come get me... Inquisitors are the Enclave that try and snuff out traitors, finding them guilty and labeling them Dashites."

The mare sighed, still walking alongside the stallion. If what he said was true, he was surely a traitor to the Enclave, worthy of the surface now.. Right? She still felt conflicted, and it showed on her face.

After a long moment of silence, she looked up at the pegasus. "The Wasteland needs a whole lot more pegasi that think like Rainbow Dash did.." she said, shaking her head.

Silver listened to her words, thinking of a good response to what she had said, before finally replying. "...Look back to when you met me, and go over all that we've been through. Can you name one moment where you felt like I would betray you and Starsong? Any moment at all that I stopped looking out for you two?"

After a quiet moment's thought, Essie looked at Silver. Her expression had softened, and she had the beginnings of a smile creeping onto her face. "Remember when Ah told ya that you were a good pony?" she asked, leaning in close to bump shoulders with him. "Thank ya. Takes a lot t' trust somepony ya just met the way ya trust me 'n Star. An' vice-versa, of course."

The mare's ear flicked at the lack of noise behind her, so she stopped and turned around, spotting both the ponies behind them stopped. The one in the bug-like armor seemed to be searching for something in the sky, while the smaller mare beside her glanced around, trying to figure out what the pegasus was looking for. Essie raised her ears. "Any reason y'all stopped?" she asked, fighting the urge to start glancing around as well.

Silver smiled, glad that Essie was no longer mad at him, but then frowned as he heard what Aura said and noticing her looking up as well. "Huh? What'll make things easier?" He asked out loud as he looked up, starting to look nervous. His eyes were fixed on the clouds; He had a thought that something was about to come down...And he prayed to Celestia it wasn't bad news.

Not too long after a lone pegasi was seen approaching and quickly came up to Aura "Inquisitor Aura, got a delivery for you. Should make your mission easier." the pegasi spoke, he was barely armed and wearing basic level armor on top of that, showing that he wasn't a threat to the group.

Aura smiled as the pegasi dropped what looked like a medium sized saddlebag off in front of her and stepped back, cautiously eying the others, but not in aggressive way. Aura quickly rummaged through the saddlebag and pulled out a outfit that could be identified as the style most wanderers wear. She turned towards the others "Here, some ammo and such in there, take what you want." she said as she unfolded the new armor

Silver gave Aura a curious look as he approached the saddlebags the Courier delivered, trying to avoid eye contact with him and being recognized; He did feel like he was being hunted after all. "You had somepony come down and deliver you a costume and supplies? ....Well, it's better than taking the clothes off a dead pony, I reckon. At least we don't have to worry about you drawing too much attention either."

He nudged Essie's shoulder briefly before looking into the saddlebags to see what else was brought down.

Aura nodded "Yeah, just needed to give the ok to have it brought down." she replied and started to get out of her armor and put on the replacement, once she had it on she looked like any other wasteland pony, they were modified a bit so that her wings, when folded to her sides, blended into the outfit and weren't initially noticeable

Essie glanced into the bag, noticing nothing that really matched any of her weapons. Starsong hesitantly reached in and pulled out a few rolls of magical bandages, along with a couple of doctors' bags. She stuffed what she could into her MoP cases on her sides, and smiled as she felt the weight added to them. "Ready for any accidents!" she said, chuckling. Essie rolled her eyes at her and nudged Silver.

"Find anything, flyboy?" she asked, glancing into the bag. "Anything ya might wanna give t' that mare we rescued?"

As they talked, Aura finished fastening her new armor. She then ruffled her mane and put a bit of dirt in it to complete her new look. If the others hadn't known better they'd think she just another wasteland wanderer, her foreleg mounted weapon blended into her new armor as well. All that really stood out was the device over her eye.

The other Pegasi, who had remained quiet, started gathering up and packing Aura's discarded gear, into a second empty saddlebag he was carrying.

Silver had found some microfusion charges to go with his plasma rifle, picking them up and adding it to his ABS. His ears flicked as he heard Essie's question and looked to her curiously. "Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

Essie chuckled and shook her head. "Oh, nothin'." she said dismissively, trotting over to Starsong. She eyed Aura's new outfit, and shrugged. "Ah wouldn't shoot ya if Ah saw ya around. Guess that's as good as ya can get."

Aura looked over at Essie and smiled "Well thanks, it'll have to do then." she replied and helped pack her other outfit and stuff up in the saddlebag. The pegasi tied it up and fastened it to his side "Thanks, this will help a lot." she said and the pony smiled warmly and nodded "No problem, oh and a word of warning....." he started and then looked between them all and back to Aura "...the Enclave is nearing full mobilization, be careful.....the Inquisitors are pretty much free to do whatever they damn well want." he said with a bit of worry.

Aura smiled "Well that means my mission can continue easily....." then her smile faded "Shit...." she then replied and the pony instantly caught her worry "Yeah..."

Silver looked to Aura after her brief conversation with the courier pony, giving her a concerned look. "What's going on now? Inquisitors are coming down for us already?" He sighed. "Looks like your pal wasn't able to sell the pitch I bargained with to him...Damn, it hasn't even been an hour."

Essie stepped forward, raising one ear. "Mobilization?" she asked, eyeing the pegasi. "That sounds like.. Troops." She looked at Aura questioningly, her horn faintly beginning to glow. "Y'all goin' someplace? Big ol' family vacation?"

Aura looked over to Silver as he asked "Nah, they probably believed him or don't care. That’s not the problem though, the problem pretty much boils down to a petty rivalry." she replied with a sigh and turned to Essie "I wouldn't know, it could mean anything really." she added.

The courier pony stepped back and made sure his cargo was secured "Well I'm off, stars protect you Inquisitor." he said and hovered up, waving down to her. Aura looked at him and smiled "Same to you, let me know if anything comes up that I need to be aware of." she added, he saluted, and then flew off. Aura again looked to the others "Well, now that we're supplied shall we get going?"

Silver looked uneasy still, hearing the courier's news, but he looked over the rest of the crew Starsong with fresh medical supplies, Essie who was trusting him once more, and Aura, who now could blend in perfectly. He shook his head and sighed. "Well, guess you can follow us in town after all... The rest of us were going to head in there for some trade and food. Star was going to check out the local Stable for specialized equipment she wanted to acquire, and I can check in with the Hunter registry for any new bounties, or see if any had been collected and expired too."

The field around Essie's horn slowly dimmed into nothingness as she leveled back again. Hearing Silver, she groaned at the idea of skipping a day of rest for raiding a Stable. Starsong shot a glare at her, and huffed. "Essie, as soon as we can get this PipBuck working properly, we don't have to worry about counting caps, or taking inventory!" she explained, pointing out the damaged device crudely hooked to her satchels. "I just need the tools."

Aura heard the brief exchange "Probably a good idea to get it fixed, things like that are very helpful and....unusually intelligent for old world tech." she pointed out with a shrug "We'll be fine for now though, this..." she said and tapped on the device over her eye "...has similar functions to that of a pip-buck." she added with a smile

"I’m guessing that's special Inquisitor tech? I don't think I recognize that equipment before," Silver spoke, looking to Aura's eye patch.

Aura nodded "Sort of, a model of it is also given to recon operatives. Surprising you don't know of them. How long have you been down here?" she wondered in curiosity

Silver scratched the back of his mane. "About....three and a half months now. Gosh, and I know how fast things move up there too, there's probably so much I've missed by now."

"Really? That long..." she replied in surprise "They were introduced to recon soldiers about.....two months ago I believe." she added "still not widespread since power armor comes with some functions built into the helmet." she pointed out

Silver looked up in thought. "Hm...Maybe when we reach town you should take that off. It'll definitely stick out like a shiny bottlecap in the middle of the road. New Tech like that will catch a pony's eye... Anyway, let's continue moving, now that you're situated with your....costume." He finished before turning and trotting back on the path.

She merely chuckled "True, but I can just say I scavenged it couldn't I?" she replied with a shrug

Essie shook her head at the mare as she started onto the path behind Silver. "Better get workin' on a convincin' story as to why they ain't seen nothin' like it before.." she said, allowing Star to sidle up to her before starting to trot. "Also might wanna jus' tuck them wings in yer outfit if yer comin' in the gates. Might see 'em if someone comes up close."

"I can just take it off, it'll be easier." she replied and tapped part of it with her hoof and shortly after the screen retracted and the device fell off of her ear and was caught by her wing "Done." she added before putting it back on "As for the wings, well I can do that if need be. There are wasteland Pegasi though, wouldn't seem that suspicious would it?"

Silver looked over his shoulder to Aura. "I'm alright to pass because they already know I'm a flier...I told them I was born on the surface near Manehatten and raised in some shoddy small town orphanage... It worked for them, and that's what I've been using since....However, your outfit there is purposefully hiding your wings, so you might do better to pretend to be an Earth pony for the time being, unless you rip off those flaps of cloth on your wings..?"

Aura sighed "Geez, having to come up with stories for everything...and I thought the Enclave was bad." she replied with a light chuckle "I'll hide them, but not say so. If they're discovered then that’s that." she added and tucked her wings into her armor and they blended perfectly

Silver "Hope you don't have to stretch in public..." He mused to himself as they all carried on...

After an hour's worth of trotting, the group finally reached the gates of New Appaloosa. The usual pile of train carts line the outskirts of the makeshift town, doubling as protection and homes for the ponies residing there. As they all approached, two mercenary guards were waiting for them, weapons at their sides lazily as they glanced over the group. One trotted up and scanned his eyes over each individual, obviously looking to Silver curiously for having his wings obviously on display. "Alright then, state your names and your business, don't want any issues comin' up."

Silver trotted up first to demonstrate to the others, presenting his Hunter's license. "I’m a regular, came to do some trading and check the bounty roster for updates. I also escorted some new friends along the way." He motioned with a wing to the others to present their own cases.

Essie trotted forward with Starsong at her side, eyeing both the guards. As they asked for names, she grumbled. "Shit.. No papers." she muttered, then faced the questioning guard. "Lieutenant Sureshot Everheart, Talon Company. Born outta Griffon nations, ain't got any papers. Ah got friends inside that can vouch fer me." she explained, hoping for as little trouble as possible.

The guard then gave her a hard stare, starting to make Essie his primary suspect. Silver bit his lip as he gave Essie a hard nervous glance before looking back to the guard. "She's contracted to the filly as her personal bodyguard, and she's Starsong." Silver then pointed to her PipBuck. "She heard Stable was the closest Stable around and wanted to see if she can pick up some tools from there."

The guard listened to what Silver had to say, then shrugged. "Alright, should've said that in the first place. Don't give me reasons to distrust ya next time." He said, directing that statement to Essie.

Essie growled. The guard had struck a nerve. "Distrust me? Why? Cause Ah'm Talon?"

Aura stood off to the side listening to this, merely observing the exchange

The guard then raised his weapon. "It cause you had no papers, bitch! Now shut the fuck up before I make you!"

Silver hissed to Essie. "Goddess, settle down, will ya!?"

Essie glanced at the weapon, but otherwise wasn't fazed. She bit back a retort and looked at Silver with a sigh. "Y'all are lucky Ah can't risk gettin' us kicked outta here." she said, shaking her head.

The guard spat at the ground before lowering the weapon momentarily and looking to Aura now, now in a somewhat bad mood. "So what's YOUR story?"

She shrugged and looked back at him "Just a wanderer, not much else to it." she replied calmly

The guard started to grip his weapon once more, not looking satisfied with her answer. "Where did you come from? Depending on your answer, it might tell me what you've been up to recently; news travels fast 'round here. Furthermore, what business brings you to New Appaloosa?"

She smiled "I don't really remember now, I've been wandering around for quite some time, with all that one sees out here sometimes you do forget things long past." she replied with a casual shrug "As for what brings me, nothing....just traveling with these ponies."

The guard was not smiling, looking to Silver since he was the regular of the group. "...I don't like the cut of her jib, she's on my radar...If any funny business happens in there and it involves ANY of your party here, YOU'RE held responsible, capiche?"

Silver nervously scratched the back of his head as he nodded politely. "Yeah, of course, I know the rules here. They're all just cranky 'cause we got jumped by Enclave recently, scouts that mistook us for Raiders and didn't want to listen."

The guard shook his head. "Fair enough, but still, one peep and you're all out of here." He then stood aside as his fellow guardsman, a unicorn, moved to the gate made of train carts and levitated it out of the way. "Alright you four, pass on through."

Aura listened and internally chuckled to herself before nodding, smiling in thanks, and following Silver in. At least she wasn't the only one causing trouble

Once all four were inside and the train cart closed behind him, Silver let out a violent shiver as he exhaled loudly. "Celestia be damned, girls. What the hell was that back there??" He looked to Essie first. "You are a terrible liar, you know that? That BS Talon story of yours is going to get you killed one of these days, it's never worked....why DO you use them as a cover story? You confessed you weren't a part of them before."

While Starsong went on, towards the 'Absolutely Everything' store, Essie turned around and faced Silver. "Silver.. Ah am Talon." she said, straight-faced. "We'd first met when Ah said that Ah wasn't. Didn't think we'd be together more than an afternoon, so Ah told ya Ah wasn't, just in case ya didn't like Talons."

Silver blinked in surprise, his hard expression softening up a bit. "...Oh. Well...Why don't you have the armor, or any of your credentials with you? That's standard for every Talon we know that comes through here. It's why that guard and I had our suspicions when you claimed you were Talon."

Without saying anything, she pointed to the black armor that Star wore. "Ah always figured Ah'd find somethin' t' replace it. Ended up keepin' this wanderer garb." she explained, then looked back to the stallion. "As fer muh credentials.. Ain't seen 'em in quite a while."

Silver looked to it and sighed. "very well, I'll believe that...And no, there's no issue of you being a Talon in this town. But saying you had no papers put us in a bad spot, you could've said less and still be believable."

Afterwards, he turned to Aura, now putting her on the spot. "And while Essie's problem was saying too much, you said too little, which is just as suspicious... You really need to work on coming up with a cover story that isn't vague and leaves a bunch of holes. You'd think an Inquisitor would know how to do that.....Just how much field work have you had previously?"

Aura chuckled a bit as his questioning, clearly unfazed by it "First off I didn't expect to need one, second Inquisitors don't come up with cover stories, they devalue and expose them as false. As for how much field work...I won't say." she responded

Silver groaned and shook his head. "Oh great, another vague answer. I'm gonna go on a limb here and guess this is your first time truly having to come down here and mingle with the populace... Listen, I know this town, and this place has a reputation of being rather neutral and friendly. So when somepony acts all hush-hush like you did with the guard, ponies are going to wonder what you have to hide." He looked around to see Starsong to talk to her next, but didn't see her nearby. "...Hey, where'd she go?"

"It's not my first time down here, but its true I haven't had to interact directly." she replied with a shrug "So it'll take time to get used to, going to have to accept that." she added and glanced around for Starsong as well "I'll do what I can." she said in a tone that said she was genuine about that desire

Essie wasn't listening much, as she was busily looking around for Starsong. "Huh.." she said, taking one last glance down the street. "One minute that filly's by muh side.. Next, she's run off. She's bound t' turn up someplace." With that, she looked at Silver and shrugged. "Ah dunno what t' do fer the afternoon. Ah'll be at the saloon, if y'all need me."

Silver watched Essie head off to the bar, tilting his head. "Huh? Hang on, I thought you wanted to keep track of Star?" Despite his protest, Essie was already trotting off. He sighed and shook his head. "Ah sheesh... Well, she'll be fine here, it's a nice enough town anyhow. Anyway, looks like you're stuck with me for the time being." He looked to Aura.

Silver opened one of his saddlebags, checking the loot he had. "Hm, we've got no use for these mini-nukes, but I reckon they go for a great price at the armory, we can trade for some caps and other weaponry...Actually, if Inquisitors are gonna be following us in the future, Sparkle grenades might help power down their armor." He thought out loud before blinking and realizing who he was talking to.

"Oh uh....Well, ya know, just to keep 'em from tryin' to kill me and Essie is all." He smiled nervously to Aura.

Aura watched Essie trot off and then looked to Silver as he talked about his bartering plans, upon the mention of Inquisitors she chuckled a bit "Not all of them wear power armor just so you know, somewhere enhanced barding, some a mix of barding and power armor, and then the few that wear full blown power armor." she replied and explained before glancing around again and back to Silver "Guess I'll look around for awhile, unless you need me for something that is?" she added

Silver scratched the back of his mane, then shook his head. "Not really, just please, try to not act so suspicious; that guard might still have his eye on you, so don't do anything that'll give him a reason to kick us out of town."

She chuckled a bit more "I'll try my best, not promising anything though." she replied and just as she turned to walk away she turned around to face him again "Silver, what do you think about the stars?" she asked in a sort of hushed tone as to not attract attention to their conversation and expose them.

He blinked in surprise, not expecting her question. "Huh? ...what about them?" He looked up to the sky; There was still cloud cover, so he wouldn't really be able to see either the stars or the sun anyhow. "Well, I know that long ago Luna had control over them, adding them to the sky to accompany the moon as some sort of celestial canvas for ponies to appreciate...what kind of question is that?"

She listened to his answer and nodded "I see, what do they mean to you?" she then asked without heading his question as she made sure their conversation wasn't attracting unnecessary attention, fortunately it wasn't for the time being.

"I uh...Haven't put any thought to that before? He replied as he scratched the back of his mane awkwardly. "I mean, they're just leftover of what Luna used to create those hundred years ago..?"

"I see...." she replied "Alright then, well thanks for answering that." she replied with a smile and turning to trot away "Guess I'll catch up with the rest of you later on." she said and started towards some of the shops to browse.

Silver scratched the back of his mane curiously as he watched Aura trot off. "Wonder what the heck that was about?" He mused to himself before setting off for the closest shop the Absolutely Everything.

Inside the box car marked as the 'Absolutely Everything' store, was a rather cozy-seeming business. Trinkets, ammunition, and supplies lined the walls on shelves, and a worktable sat in the corner, for tinkerers. Near the counter, a familiar, small mare clad in black combat armor busily haggled with a grey, blonde-maned (or what was left of her mane!) ghoul. Starsong was the only one talking though. The ghoul was mute, and had to scribble her responses to the mare on a small chalkboard. Star seemed fairly confident as Silver walked in, though she didn't notice him. "...and I'm telling you, Derpy.. Energy cells shouldn't be this cheap.. You might as well give them away at this price!"

The storekeeper quickly scribbled a rebuttal, but Star shook her head. "It doesn't matter if you can make them, you could still be making more caps!"

Silver trotted in and noticed Star trying to get Derpy to raise her prices, smirking a little while watching things transpire. After Star's last sentence, Silver chipped in, talking behind her. "Ah, but don't ya see? She's already making plenty of caps as is." He said while looking to the ghoul shop owner with a smile. "Heya pal, how've ya been? Saw you got a new cart out there, heh. 'Bout time too, the wheels on the old one were rusting up, good on ya."

He then turned to look to Star. "Everypony knows about Derpy's prices, and they sometimes takes a longer trip to reach New Appaloosa just to come to her shop for wares; This town is on a very busy trade route after all, so all sorts of things get in here. She really doesn't need to worry about having to sell Energy Cells... However, because of her reduced prices, she gets waaay more customers than anypony else, which make up for the low price. It's genius actually, ain't that right, Derps?"

Shortly after Silver had left for the store Aura doubled back and approached the store from a different angle, she caught parts of the conversation and attempted to listen in without seeming suspicious, something that was proving a bit tough to do seeing as how a pony standing outside of a store would appear odd.

The ghoul grinned a.. Cringe worthy grin to Silver, then nodded. She looked down and scribbled onto her board "Make more caps than anypony in town!", showing it to Silver before turning back to Star. She pushed a small box of energy cells toward the mare, and wiped off the board, writing down "You're not taking advantage, promise!" and smiling again. Even though the decaying mare wasn't quite what most though of when the word 'comforting' came to mind, something about the genuineness of her smile, as ragged and gummy as it was, warmly invoked the feeling.

Starsong returned the mare's smile, pulling ten of the cells out and placing the caps she owed on the counter. Derpy nodded and scooped the caps into her register, satisfied with the sale, and placed the box back on the shelf where it belonged. Star stuffed the cells into a couple of the many pockets in her armor, and looked around Silver for a second before looking at him. "I still feel sorta bad.. I've bought cells from her before, but this time the prices are just too low.." she said, letting out a sigh. "Essie go to the saloon?"

Silver smiled back to Derpy, not minding the rather scary-looking grin she gave. "Don't worry about it, it's not like you're robbing her. The way she handles her wares is whatever she chooses...Speaking of which." Silver started to dig into his saddlebags, pulling out the mini-nuke they had found in the market, along with some packets of food.

"Got some wares for ya, we found a market somewhere south of the main road." As he set them down on the counter for her to observe, Silver turned to Star. "Yeah, Essie went to the bar. So long as she doesn't let her temper get to her she'll be fine.....Also uh, just found out she's really Talon." He scratched the back of his mane. "Kinda peculiar, seeing a lone Talon merc going out of her way for you and being on her own. Makes me wonder how you two met?"

Starsong nodded at the mention of Essie being Talon. "She always says that since she's an officer, she can do 'whatever the hell ah want!'" she imitated the snipers drawl, then shook her head. "I really don't know why we stay together.. But both of us know we can't live without the other at this point, it'd be suicide to part ways. As for how we met.. She saved my life. She rescued me from a Slaver camp, then took me in when we got back to Los Pegasus and found out that my Stable had been attacked. My parents were kidnapped, so we've been sorta looking for them.. I don't know though, it's been three, four years.. Would they have even survived this long, the way Slavers treat ponies..?"

Silver bit his lip as he heard Star talk about looking for her parents, remembering what Essie had told him that first night back in his home; She still didn't know the truth that Essie uncovered. While Derpy was busy counting all the items' prices for caps to trade, he mused over what best to tell her.

"Hm...Well, if they have or have not, just look back at all what you've done since your separation with them. It's been three to four years after all. That's a lot of time to change and adapt on your own and away from them. And you're right, captive ponies statistically don't last very long; I know the ponies at the castle in the Everfree with that...err, Red Eye fellow last at most months I hear, and they're the best treated out of all captive ponies. "

"But the point I'm trying to make is that you've done well it seems with just you and Essie all this time. Whether you find them dead or alive would probably not change much about you by now. I mean...yeah, it'd be great to find them alive and all. But if not...." He shrugged with his wings. "As I said, you're fine as is too."

The mare's ears fell, and she sighed as she looked away from Silver. "I know it's probably not going to happen.. Looking for them just gives me a goal though, you know?" she said, looking back to Silver. "If I find them, that's the end of my 'quest'. We can go someplace that's home, where we don't have to worry about any of the things that make the world so terrible.. I won't have to just get by anymore."

She hesitated, then sighed again. "But.. If it does turn out that they're dead.. You're right." she smiled, "I am fine. Essie and I have made the best of the cards we've been dealt. I'd love to have my parents back, of course.. But, if it came it me choosing between them and her.. I think I'd choose her."

Silver smiled hearing her answer, nodding his head. "Good to hear. Ya hope for the best, but the worst case scenario ain't that bad either. In the end you'll be with somepony secure." He finished before looking to Derpy for his payment of the trade, finding caps in a bag waiting for him. He swiped them up and placed them in his own bit bag, smiling to the ghoul. "Thank ya kindly, pleasure doin' business with my favorite mare."

Derpy gave back that disturbing grin, bouncing in place on her hooves as a way of saying thanks, and then Silver turned around, leading Star along with him. "So, you wanna see if we can find that Stable first, or pick up Essie from the bar?"

Starsong thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Well.. If there's anything in there, we'll need an extra gun.. I'd rather not bother her if she's drinking though." She looked at the ground for a moment, when her ears perked up. "What about Aura? The other.. You know.. In our little group! She could come with us!"

Silver looked up in thought. "Hm, she does seem tech-savvy, or at least know how to handle it...I dunno where she went though, she trotted off someplace else after you and Essie went to take care of your different businesses." He bit his lip and scratched the back of his mane. "Furthermore, didn't you need tools for that PipBuck of yours, and get it fixed n' stuff?"

The mare nodded, using her magic to detach the PipBuck from her armor. "I have the [Science!] know-how.. Just not the tools. That's the reason I need to go into a Stable. What I need is either in a Stable, or at Stable-Tec headquarters. Since I know none of us want to get snatched by Slavers into Fillydelphia.. I figured we'd try the Stables first."

"Welp, what are we waiting for? Let's get to steppin'. I think I know where it is too." He replied, turning to walk out of Derpy's shop with Star behind him.

While Silver and Starsong were chatting Aura had been wondering around the town gathering whatever information she could, including a couple interesting tidbits. Silver and Star would notice her as they were heading out of town

Silver jostled his bit bag in thought, thinking about the extra they had now. "...You know normally I would make it to New Appleloosa from my camp in less than a day, but you gals had to be grounded...and the closest Stable is still normally half a day away. If you two are gonna be walking everywhere, it's gonna take quite the toll on our supplies since I usually pack for a flight trip..."

He looked about the two of them, his eyes landing on the town's caravan rest stop, raising an eyebrow. "Hm, wonder if they've got any carts they're willin' to part with I can use?"

Aura wandered over towards them as they made their way towards the rest stop "Finish up your business yet?" she wondered in curiosity "You seem happy about something." she pointed out with a light chuckle

Starsong looked at Silver curiously at the mention of the carts, but Aura approached before she could ask Silver what he'd implied. "He's probably glowing, now that he's got a big bag of caps." Star chuckled, nodding towards the stallion. "We just left Absolutely Everything, now we've got a Stable to find! How are you liking New Appaloosa?"

Silver blinked and turned as he heard Aura addressing them. Giving a nod, he pointed with a wing over to where the caravans were parked. "Well, I think I've got plenty of caps to spare investing in one of those, which should come in handy during looting and traveling....since these 'walkers' are a bunch of slowpokes." He snickered and stuck his tongue out at Starsong. "Oh, if only I could do that in front of Essie, but you'll do nicely."

Aura chuckled a bit at his comment "Could work, but then again there is nothing wrong with walking....stay on the down low." she pointed out and then looked to Starsong "To answer your question, its...different that’s for sure. Managed to find out a couple interesting things while hanging around as well." she replied with a light smirk "I'll probably hang around some more, never been in a stable and don't really have any desire to start going into them now, too much confinement." she added

Star quickly directed her attention to Silver. "You mean.. Flying? In one of those?" she asked skeptically, examining the stallion's wings. "No offense, but.. I don't think you've got the wings to lift that thing and Essie. Just one of her legs weighs as much as my whole body."

She turned to Aura, and nodded her head. Two conversations at once wasn't fun. "I'm sure it'll grow on you." she said with a grin, "And we're going to the Stable to search for a certain set of tools, not find any place to stay."

Silver pouted and crossed his hooves. "What, you doubt my prowess and talent?" He said challengingly before smirking. "I'm just messing around...Yes, that is an issue. However, all it takes it to get a unicorn to charm it to make the cart have weight countermeasures, and there are a few in town that can pull it off. I just gotta call in a favor and then take care of that for me."

Aura glanced around "Well you go ahead and do that, I'll have to pass on going into the stable though." she responded "I think I'll go and talk to Essie, Its obvious she has hostility towards me and if we're going to travel together its best to get that taken care of as soon as possible." she added and explained "If it doesn't work, well at least I tried." she then turned towards Silver "So where is the bar...or whatever at?"

Silver's smile disappeared as his eyes widened, audibly gulping. "...You sure you want to face her alone? I mean...the two of you ARE already under close watch of the town's guard, and Essie is more than happy to get 'shooty' with Enclave. Just....Please keep fighting down to a minimum of not-at-all if you can manage it...It's over that way, the double-stacked cabooses." He pointed with a hoof towards the end of the 'street'.

Aura thought about this "Well its either I go talk to her or we worry about more hostility." she replied with a shrug "If you don't think it’s a good idea....well you know her better then I. I'll just hang around and do my own thing if you think it’s best to not talk with her."

"Well then go talk to her while we're out, I'm just giving you fair warning is all."

"I can handle myself, I've got a sixth sense when it comes to talking to others, for better or worse." she replied with a shrug "Though I'll probably wait until she is away from others as I don't want anything to get out of hoof." she added and headed off towards the bar

Starsong watched the mare walk away, biting at her lip. She turned to Silver and shook her head, "Let's hope for the best, I suppose." she said, glancing towards the entrance opposite the one they'd come into town through. "Guess it's just you and I on this one, eh?"

Silver scratched the back of his mane nervously as well. "Ditto. Anyway, lemme buy one of these carts and get it charmed for us, and we'll be off for the Stable in no time... This is uh..." He reached into his saddlebags for his map to inspect it. ".....stable number , if that means anything to ya."

Star thought for a moment, then slowly shook her head. "I've heard it mentioned before, but I can't remember what was said about it." she shrugged, "I'm ready to go whenever you have the cart ready."

Silver nods. "Alright, I haven't been there myself. The New Appleloosans mentioned that they had to leave it due to some issue that they had, but it got contained after some traveling pony went down to handle it... I'm sure we'll be fine if the issue's contained." He replied with a shrug and turned to attempt some bartering with the caravan traders for a spare cart.

Aura stopped herself and quickly trotted back over to Silver and Star "Something to keep in mind..." she said before leaning close to Silver "the Enclave is probably monitoring the area around here....be careful about flying too high or you might attract attention." she said in a warned tone "With that, best of luck you two." she added before heading back off toward the bar for real this time. Mentally she tried to figure out the best way to talk to Essie, realizing that waiting until later on might be best

Silver’s eyebrows rose as he briefly looked up to the sky, narrowing his gaze, before looking back to Aura and nodding. I'll keep that in mind for sure." He stated before she left again. After heading back to the caravans, Silver sighed. "So even the skies that I soar in can't be trusted now...”

Author's Note

Wow, what a lengthy one, and a lot of talking too. Don't ya fret folks, there's plenty of action to come with the next chapter. Can't have danger and excitement at every turn of the corner now can't we? Also, it seems like half of y'all actually like this, and another half don't. That's....surprising really. I didn't think this would get any votes or concerns in either direction at all. Shows that you're at least giving it a read...I hope...Eh, I said I didn't care before, I shouldn't worry too much.