Fallout Equestria: Silver Nocturne

Standing outside of Rusty’s gates, the dimming, stormy horizon rumbled with the promise of another night's worth of rain headed our way. The scrap yard was as much of a chaotic mess as ever. Halves of old sky carriages sat rusting and stacked up on top of each other. The whole place was one skywagon explosion away from being a crater, and to me, that would be a step in the right direction for this town.

Bins overflowing with metal scrap and steel girders sat clustered around the sheet metal shack that adorned the center of the yard. The small archano-generator that sat outside it hummed and rattled as it always had, feeding enough juice to whatever sat inside Rusty’s home to keep him occupied most of his days.

“Rusty, it’s Sunsoft. Head of the towns guard.” I called out thought the cold evening air, only finding myself answered with another burst of thunder. “I need to speak with you urgently. It’s a matter of your personal safety.”

I’d never once stepped a single hoof into Rusty’s yard. Never even had a need to. This place was more liable to get you killed by accident than on purpose any given sunday. I for one didn’t have the fantasy of dying from an infection caught here anyhow. No, of course I couldn’t have ever been bothered to go past these gates. I was too busy catching a worse case of soulrot from living in this heap of a town in the first place to even care.

Still, no answer from the old loner. Just like the Doc had laid down, the stallion was a hermit and had no real reason to step out of his place. If it weren’t for the uncertainty of what I’d find in there, along the lack of my gun to protect me, I’d have kicked in his door and pressed him for any filler on just what the hell was going on in this town. But that was a more confident me, one with about half a bottle of whiskey in him and his gun in his hoof. At the very least, I could remedy half of that.

Turning back from the gate, I trotted myself over toward Last Call’s place. Without Caltrop around, I could finally sit back and let the whiskey help to turn the freed up gears in my mind. I reached up and pulled my hat off for a moment, adjusting its brim as the cool night air pressed against the old bandages wrapped around my head.

Except, I couldn’t take a single sip. The Doc had told me to lay off the booze, hadn’t she. I could thank the mare a thousand times for her work, but as right as she was, I needed a stiff drink. With my hopes for a glass of the good stuff dashed, I figured that at the very least my seat at the bar could help me get my head on straight. It was a long shot, but I could use any help I could find.

The rest of the walk toward the bar was quiet. Not the normal kind of quiet, but more like the whole of this rotten town was holding it’s stale breath. Just waiting for the storm to finally hit and blow down the rest of the walls and put this place in the dirt for good. The thing is, I hope it does. Even without Jerry running the place, if High Pillow had anything to say about it, nothing is going to change.

Pushing open the door to the bar, I found it completely empty. However, Last Call’s face lit up like he was Celestia’s bright sun itself at the sight of me. When he’s looking at me like an old friend, then I knew that these were damn desperate times for him. Without even an ounce of hesitation, he pulled out my brand of scotch and poured us each a drink as I walked over to my normal spot.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not having any tonight.” I said, pulling out my normal stool and pointing up to the wraps keeping my skull together. “Doctor’s orders.”

“Guess I could’ve seen that coming. Speaking of, is she busy with dealing with Jerry?” Last Call didn’t even try to hide the annoyance in his voice, setting the bottle of scotch down on the bartop with a heavy thud. “Good riddance that he’s finally gone, might have a chance to turn this place around finally.” He huffed, taking one of the glasses he’d poured and putting it up to his lips. With a swift tip of his hoof, he downed the whole thing. “So,” He gasped, looking at the empty glass in his hoof. “Just came for the atmosphere then?” With a glance down at the glass in front of me, I felt a pull to it that I was sure only Caltrop could have broken.

Before I could stop myself, I put the glass to my own lips and downed the fiery liquid. I did my best to savor the taste of it, but like always, it was gone before I knew it. Just like Caltrop had been today. With a shudder, I looked up to find a smirk pull across Last Call’s mug.

“Let’s not tell the Doc about that one.” I muttered, using my forehoof to slide the empty glass back to him. “And you’re right, I did come for the atmosphere.” I sighed, looking down at the same section of bartop that it felt like I’d spent a good portion of my life sitting at. “I’m missing something still. A piece of this that doesn’t shimmy with the rest of the facts, you know?”

“No, not really.” Last Call shrugged, being about just as useful as he’d ever been for getting the low down around town. He leaned against the bartop as he pulled out his cleaning rag, running it along the smooth surface as he normally did.

The door behind me swung open slowly, and the soft expression of a young mare glanced into the dark bar. She looked about as strung out as a junkie could get. A dame like her was a sore sight to see, but I wouldn't give her two bits any day of the week, even if she asked nicely. I’ve seen too many of her kind in town to care about why she was here. However, the running mascara along her cheeks, along with how she looked at me with her lost little eyes said that she was looking to get something off her chest. She had the whips and jingles alright, and not the normal kind for a dame in her line of work.

“Mr… Sunsoft?” She spoke on the quiet, hiding behind her voice as she shivered from the cold or the withdrawal. Didn’t matter which as I gave her a nod and a wave to come over to me. Hesitantly, she looked up at Last Call, pausing before stepping inside.

“What can I do for you?” I asked as she walked across the floor. “Miss...?”

“Quartz Vase.” She squeaked, stopping a few feet from me. She hesitated as she sat down, holding her hooves out to me in shame. “I’m… I’m turning myself in.”

“There are plenty of other guards on duty, Quartz.” I sighed, looking back over to Last with a smirk. “You’re lucky I’m working on something bigger right now. Either find another guard, or…”

“I did it.” She cut me off, hanging her head as she started caught a bad case of the weeps. “I killed him.”

That perked my curiosity. “Who, Jerry?” Now why in the wasteland would a mare like her make a claim like that? Regardless of her reasons, she looked up with tear filled eyes and nodded. “Now why would you say it’s your fault?”

“I… I don’t know.” She whimpered, pulling her hooves back around herself tightly. With a shrug, she looked back down at the floor. “I was with him when it happened. I had to have done something wrong.”

“In the room, there was a glass of water left out.” I turned around and studied her, wondering if this too was just some sort of play to keep me distracted. “I know hydration is important for physical activities, but why the drink in the bedroom?”

“Because he needed me to give him his medication.” She looked up to me again, this time with more confusion written across her face than anything. “He said that he had a long running heart condition, and because he was tied up, I had to give it to him halfway through our session.”

So it could have been poison after all. “Who had access to his medication before you gave it to him?”

“What?” Again, she looked even more confused than before. “Nopony did. He set the pill out before we started.” She shook her head and looked to relax a little. “Are… aren’t you going to arrest me?”

“No, his death wasn’t your fault.” I sighed. Anypony who wanted him dead could have switched out his medication if they had deft enough hooves. I’d hoped that I could find out more, but yet again it looked like it was just another dead end in the case. The young mare gasped and smiled. “Go home, get some rest, and try to forget that you ever had the unfortunate pleasure of that fat bastard’s company.”

“Thank you, sir.” She whimpered as she wiped away her tears with a smile. Getting to her hooves quickly, she was out the door and heading back towards the brothel without another word. Without her in here, it dropped the bar back into an uneasy silence that reminded me that I was still one step behind everything.

“Can I ask you something?” I said, breaking the awkward silence between us like a brahmin in a pottery shop. “What can you tell me about what you saw last night?” My question brought a quizzical look across his face, but his quick shrug spoke to me that he knew more than he was letting on. “Come on, Last, you had to see something. I know I owe you my life, calling out whoever jumped me in the alley last night, so I know you’re willing to stick your neck out for me at least a little bit.”

His expression grew stiffer, and I knew that look. He didn’t care if I was his only customer, he wanted me to beat hooves out of here and to drop the whole subject. With an angry glare, he put his forehooves on the bar top and leaned in.

“You know how I work, Sunsoft.” He offered his words through a guttural growl. “You don’t ask those sort of questions in here, and I haven’t kicked you out yet because even though you’re leaving, I’d like to see you come back in here some time.”

“Then cut me a break, Last. This isn’t a shake down. If this goes sideways on me, I may not be coming back at all.” I didn’t want to squeeze him, but the truth of the matter was I wasn’t coming back to this dump of a town anyway. What did I care if one more bridge to this place burned to ash.

He sat back, pulling his rag up again in silence. For a good minute, I thought that he was going to blow steam out of his ears as he was all but burned up at me. However, when he finally spoke up, he gave it to me on the level.

“Look, I heard a weird zap and ran outside to find you on the ground. I didn’t even see the pony who did it, they were gone so fast.” Even though it ripped his morals to shreds and stomped on them, the bastard finally dropped the veil. “I know I’m normally tight lipped with the gossip, but trust me, if I knew anything at all about what happened, I’d tell you who it was in a heartbeat. I’d love to get my hooves around the neck of whoever almost killed my best customer, you know what I mean?”

“Hit the brakes for a moment.” It might have been the booze running through me, or the fact that I still didn’t have my head on straight, but something didn’t sit pretty with me about all that. “If you couldn’t even see them, then how could you tell it was a power hoof that hit me?”

“A what now? Power Hoof?” He scrunched up his muzzle in genuine confusion. “You sure that knock to the head didn’t scramble your brains a little?” He chuckled. “Ain’t that one of those steel ranger type techs? Ain’t a single pony in town with the know how to use one of those.”

“Well now, that’s not true. You see…” I froze as the realization hit me like a balefire bomb.

“Now that I think of it,” Last Call said with a scratch of his chin. “Doc Chips used to be one of them toasters, didn’t she?”

How could I have missed it? Every single victim had one thing in common. One pony who was always there to make sure the facts fit the agenda. The power hoof, the metal shard, the involvement with the grifters, and Jerry’s swapped medication. Even the counterfeit caps and why Wire Spike never fought back all boiled down to the one pony I never would have even considered...

With heavy hoofsteps, I raced up the wooden steps and slammed against the clinic door hard enough that I nearly tore it off it’s hinges. The peeling wallpaper fluttered wildly as the wind outside filtered into the room through the now open doorway. The stench of the adhesive didn’t greet my nose tonight, instead, the smell of iron was thick in the air. The sound of medical tools clattering to the floor from the open door to the back room told me that I’d caught Doc Chips off guard.

“It’s all over, Doc.” I called out, stepping forward inside. Watching as she quickly walked up to the open backroom door. She was disheveled, looking like a nervous wreck as the gore that coated her surgical apron slid down onto the old floor. Her mane was no longer the soft strawberry blond oasis I’d seen before, rather frazzled and hastily done up. She’d had us all pegged for suckers, and without the lacquered mask to hide behind, she looked to me just like every other lowlife floozy in the wasteland did.

“S-Sunsoft, what brings you in?” She forced a smile that felt more out of place than this whole night had been. I made sure to watch her horn, just waiting for her to try something. I was stupid to have run in here without my piece, but I couldn’t risk her killing another pony tonight.

“I know it was you.” I called her out, taking a step forward and dropping her fake smile back to her worried look. “You killed them all, didn’t you, Doc?” My accusation again changed her expression, but now it became one of pride. ”Why?”

“No, I won’t say a thing.” She spoke with a tone daring me to make the first move. I wouldn’t play the fool, not tonight. If she wanted to make this difficult, it’d be on her to explain herself if she managed to take me down. “I want you to tell me why, Sunsoft.”

Stepping forward, I tread lightly. She wasn't some corner bimbo. She was smart enough to button her lip and play coy,and confident enough to call me out to boot. Still, I was the one who’d been a step ahead this time, and if she wanted to dance, then I’d be the one leading.

“You’d said it yourself this morning. You get paid here in this town, but no where near enough. Clinic work isn’t exactly a carriage trade.” In starting to give her the third degree, I reached out, pulling over one of the waiting room chairs and took a seat in it. “My guess was that Silver caught one of the grifters running supplies for your counterfeit cap operation. You knew that some of the guards might patrol out that night, and you kept an eye out for any problem. You lied when you said you didn’t know what had killed him that night, because when he came along, you brained him with the same power hoof you tried to end me with.”

That got her crooked smile to widen, begging on all fours for me to continue.

“Of course, Jerry is easy to explain. He knew I was asking too many questions, and that if I’d keep looking I’d eventually discover what was really going on. Once that happened, you were worried he’d sing like a canary about how you were in on it too.” As I continued, her smirk left her muzzle. She looked less rich, a sour note spreading like a bad taste in her muzzle. “It was easy for you to swap the medication on him. You knew that over time his heart condition would kill him, and any autopsy you performed would be moot as you’d just fake that his heart failed regardless of what actually happened.” I gave a pause to study her, watching as she passed me a sore look. “What I can’t figure out, is why you killed Spike.”

“Sunsoft, you’ve got it all gummed up.” She shook her head, looking more than disappointed with my words. “It was never just me killing them.”

Her words put the skids on my train of thought just long enough that the creak of the floorboard behind the front counter met my ears too late. I pushed myself to my hooves as Dutch threw himself over the counter at me, slamming into my side and sending us both tumbling to the floor.

I kicked at him hard, but Dutch was a mean fighter. He could well have been a brick wall for that mattered when it came to feeling pain. Reaching up, he swung down and slugged me hard against my cheek. It sent my vision spinning and I knew I was on the sour end of this tangle. I swung up with my own wild jab, connecting to what felt like his nose. He let out a yelp when my hit rewarded me with a soft pop in his flesh. Stumbling back, I did my best to shake out the cobwebs from my mind and get back on the up and up .

“Whoa there, easy Sunsoft.” Doc Chips whispering voice and warm breath tickled my neck before the soft prick of needle took that feeling away altogether. “Why don’t you just… relax for a while.”

Just like it had last night, my dark mistress flooded my vision. She was a fast curtain to the cold numbness and bitter loneliness of unconsciousness. I’d made the mistake of counting my cards too early and hashed this whole bet up. I should have skipped out on this whole mess and gone on the lam with Caltrop. Mercifully, he was somewhere out there in the wastes, safe from this place. At least I still had that.

“You know, you were almost right.” Doc Chip’s squawked at me with more mirth than anypony I’d ever heard. “I’d loaned Dutch my power hoof so he could discreetly take care of any issues we might have. He was the one to put down Silver.” As she gabbed, I did my best to force my eyes open, finding the dim lighting and an unfamiliar roof above me. The humming of an Arcano-generator outside however gave me a good enough hint however. Quick on the heels of that revelation, I found I’d been strapped down on a cold table where I couldn’t even turn my head. “It’s why he was at the clinic in the morning as well. Had to make it look convincing for why he’d stopped by.”

“Not to mention, the sex that night…” Dutch chimed in from the other side of whatever room we were in.

“You two…?” I forced myself to speak. Whatever they needled me up with had done a number on me, but it was on the way out of my system. Just needed to grill them until it wore off. “What about… High Pillow?”

“Goddesses, don’t even bring her up.” Dutch groaned. “She doesn’t put out, she doesn’t like to have fun. What good is the fucking bitch when all she does is spend our caps on clothes and beauty products?” He gave a snort. “She was going to have a little ‘Accident’ tomorrow, but I’m thinking we’ll just kill her while they’re busy wondering what happened between you and Rusty here.” He chuckled. “Chips here has been far more… rewarding of a mare than High has ever been.”

With a heavy thump, something was tossed down onto the table next to me. Just out of the corner of my eye, I could barely make out the stump of Rusty’s severed head. I’d been too late to stop them from killing him, and now I was in one doozy of a bind. With enough time on my side, I just might figure out a way to get out of this fine jam I’m in.

“What else? Tell me, why’d you leave the Rangers and come here, Doc?” I grunted, finally feeling as the fog of grogginess lifted from my mind. I only got a brutish grunt from Dutch, and the Doc seemed more buttoned than usual. I had to keep her talking. “Come on, you’ve already made me your mark. You don’t have to sing, but don’t let this be a flop after all the work I’ve done. At least give it to me flat.”

“Oh?” Doc Chips asked as she leaned over, her sadistic smile was worn like it belonged on her. “Well, every day I would treat ponies who came into the infirmary, and every day I fixed them up good as new without so much as a simple 'thanks'.” Leaning over me, she wore a look like she was about to go off her nut and twist my neck right here and now. “It wasn't like it is out here, where you at least get paid. So when I learned just how much some gangs would pay for just a little bit of the tech we had, I took what I could hold in my saddlebags and ran.”

“However, once again, I found myself barely getting by these days, so something had to change. I organized the counterfeit system with Jerry, Rusty, and Dutch.” Her own voice kept her entertained and the lamp off of me. Little by little as she talked, I could start to move my hooves again. “Jerry threatened to sell me out once silver died and you started snooping around. He wanted to keep his and Dutch's quarter of the profits to himself because he was the one who slipped up. So I had to do something to keep him quiet.” She let a soft chuckle escape her lips before she stepped away from the table. “Rusty however, was pre-emptive. He’d have become a problem sooner or later, so I slipped in here and dosed him up with sedatives before Dutch here finished the job.”

“Don't you see, Sunsoft?“ She said as she parked herself over me, running her hoof along my cheek like some trick looking for a darb. “Silver's death wasn't something big until you made it that way. I never held any quarrel with you, Sunsoft. But I really am sorry it's come to the fact that you've forced me to do this.”

The strap that pinned my head down against the table I was on became apparent, but I could feel the ropes twist around my hooves as I tested my boundaries. That is, right until the legs of the table were knocked out, and I was dropped down to the floor.

From my new, lower vantage point, I could see Dutch holding a sledge hammer in his muzzle, and the Doc rummaging around in her saddlebags. Along the walls, sack after potato sack sat lined up, filled to the brim with freshly minted silver caps. I didn’t know what the cock-eyed pair’s plan was for me and the body of Rusty. I was taking a flutter at it, but it didn’t look like they’d planned to ice me here. Somewhere in the scrapyard then, probably to paint it up for the town as some sort of accident.

“Ah, here we are.” The Doc gleefully murmured as she drew out an odd, cobbled together device. From where I was parked, it looked to be a few old frag grenades wired and glued up to a wind up alarm clock. “The elder would have had me beaten for work this shoddy, but fuck the elder, it’ll still get the job done.”

Like the rough customer he was, Dutch wasted no time in tearing down the sheet metal door, frame and all, right off the old shack. The cold air washed over us, and the dark night sky greeted me without a single speck of rain. I had to wonder, had I been out long enough that the storm already passed? Or had it been smarter than me and simply decided this town wasn’t worth it’s time?

Being the only muscle around, Dutch moved around to the far end of my table and hoofed me up. If it weren’t for the fact that they could probably end me at any time, I’d make myself as difficult as I could with them. However, as that helped nopony, I decided the best course of action was to hold the line and see what they had instore for me. I didn’t have to wait long, as Doc Chips practically pranced over me and out the newly made hole with an elated giggle.

Then she sharply whined, throwing a wrench in my line of thought.

“Hey, hey, hey, Doc. Simmer down, and keep dat horn dim now, yah hear me?.” Caltrop’s voice came out of the night through the hole in the shack. “Hey, tough guy! How abouts yah untie Sunsoft slowly, or the Doc here is going to have another hole to sing outta.”

I loved the hard stallion front he put up, but this wasn’t him. Caltrop wasn’t anything more than a queer cream puff who turned out to be a sap for a busted flush like me. If they saw through his one-legged flim-flam, then they’d cut him down like I slugged a fresh shot of scotch. Why oh why did he have to come back for me?

Everything tilted as Dutch did as he’d been asked. He set me down on the floor, but the lug didn’t go for my ropes. Instead, he stepped over me and put his hoof on my throat.

“Hey! I said untie him!” Caltrop snapped, making a delicious whimper slip from the Doctor’s lips.”

“No, you let her go.” Dutch spat back at him, stiffly pressing down and choking the life out of me. Dutch laughed as he got a rear out of trying to call Caltrop’s bluff. “Go ahead, see if I’m willing to wait.” He pressed down harder and I couldn’t help but let out a strangled whine.”

“Nah, cause I’ve been eavesdroppin’ for a while.” Caltrop was sitting on dynamite, and just as smooth to keep up this haywire act. I’d underestimated the lovable son of a gun, but that was just par for the case. I’d miscounted the trumps this whole time, so at least this one played to my favor. “I know dat the Doc here loves yah, and if yah kill him, I’ll take her from yah as well.” His tone grew louder, and another pained whine filled the air from the Doc. “I said untie him. NOW.”

“Just, do it, Dutch!” The Doc nearly shouted at him.

I gasped for sweet, cold air as Dutch removed his hoof from me. He’d bought into the play, but we weren’t out of hot water yet. Just like me at the clinic, they’d been knocked for a loop, but I was sure they were far from packing up their operation and slipping town. With each hoof that Dutch freed, I should have been more relaxed. Instead, I felt even more tuned up. They were going to make a move against us, and I had to be ready for it.

Getting back to my hooves, I brushed myself off and contemplated laying on right across Dutch’s chin. However, I had more important priorities to consider over the sweet feeling of a little well earned stress relief. Spinning toward the door, I found the love of my life on his hind legs. He was holding the Doc Tightly around the neck with one hoof, while a sheet metal shiv in his other fetlock was pressed perilously close to her jugular.

“You came back for me.” I grunted at him, making his already ear to ear grin shine even brighter. “You’re a dumb onion for having risked your neck like this. You promised you wouldn’t.”

“Says the guy who came at these two all alone.” He fired back like the joker I’d always known him to be. Then, just as I’d expected, things went topsy-turvy. “Sorry I took yah gun earlier, I brought it back for yah.”

The moment he gabbed that info, Dutch gave me a hard shove forward. I stumbled and bowled into the Doc and Caltrop, the three of us tumbling to the ground in a pile. Before I’d even had a chance to get my hooves under me, Dutch drilled me in the side with a kick and knocked me into the dirt. As I did, I heard the Doc give a whine as she was nearly thrown away from Caltrop as well.

Not one to spend any more time out of this rumble, I pushed myself up and stood fast. Doc Chips was already fumbling my gun out of Caltrop’s saddle bags as Dutch socked him so hard in the chest that I heard a crack. With another growl, he hung a hard hit straight across my love’s muzzle. To his credit, Caltrop took the hit like a champ, and responded with a swing of his own straight to Dutches neck.

Funny enough, I think Dutch had seen so much red from Caltrop threatening the Doc, that he’d forgotten about the makeshift knife he still held in his fetlock. The scared stallion gave an odd gurgle as blood burbled out of his neck like a river. As the mudhead of a stallion’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed down onto Caltrop. The no good grifter having finally bought the big one.

“Dutch, no!” Doc Chips Screamed as she brought up the gun. Blind rage moved her magic, hastily squeezing off shot after shot. For as quick as I’d gotten up, I was slow on my hooves. I might as well have been made of molasses for as fast as everything had gone down. My revolver gave out click after click as the hammer fell on an empty chamber, and as my hoof came down and dropped her to the dirt. She was out like a light, and my still smoking heater clattered to the ground.

For good measure, I’d thought about crowning the Doc over the head again, but decided against it. I wouldn’t stoop to her level, not when I still needed her mentally intact to sing her story to the town with everything she’d done. The case may have been closed, and I was done being this town’s law. However, I was still not above it, just like everypony else.

Instead, I spun on my heels to make sure Caltrop hadn’t been cut down by the hail of lead from my own pistol. Thankfully, he only let out a groan as he shoved Dutch’s body off of him. The six holes in the Grifter frontman was a beautiful sight to see, even if I knew he’d already been put down. From underneath however, a disconcerting sight befel me.

“Oh, dat’s goin’ ta hurt tomorrow…” Caltrop whined as he pulled himself up, the crimson hole in his shoulder dripping blood down into the dirt under his hooves. Along with it, the discolored and deformed bruise along his side filled me with worry that one of his ribs had cracked from the hit he took.

“You goof,” I muttered as I trotted over to him, helping him take a few steps back so he could catch his breath. I sat him down on the edge of an old, open refrigerator that sat on it’s back next to the arcano-generator. Once he was down, I planted a long and well deserved kiss upon his muzzle, and sent my own heart aflutter. With a sigh, tore away from his lips. “What the hell were you thinking coming back after me? That was reckless and irresponsible.”

“Yah, well you told me once that I saved yah life when I came inta town.” He winced through the pain, his tender voice still as silky smooth as ever. “Figured I’d wear the pants for once in this relationship and do it again.”

“Of all the gin joints in the wastes…” I sighed, feeling too ripe with joy to care about mulling over his normal ribbing seriously. Taking his hoof in mine, I rubbed at it softly and looked into his big, ice blue eyes. “I swear, from this day forward, I’ll…”

“Fuck you… Sunsoft. I would have finally had it all if it weren’t for you!” Doc Chips weak voice struck out from behind me with wrathful undertones unparalleled by anypony I’d ever met. Quick on the spin, I gazed as Doc Chips barely twisted the winder for the clock bomb with her horn, letting out a deranged laugh as the insane mare tossed it across the yard. “If I can’t have what I want, none of us will!” She cackled as it fell below a pile of old skywagons with a clatter.

With so little time to act, we had no chance at hoofing it out of here in time with Caltrop’s injuries. I’d done what I’d set out to do for Silver, and I’d done my best to do right by the others who fell in the Doc and Dutch’s schemes. Having it end like this was just a bad draw of the cards while we were already all in. The other horseshoe dropped in my mind, and I made a judgement call.

“Sunsoft, what do we...!” Caltrop called out as I twisted around. I shoved him hard, pushing him into the old metal box he’d been sitting on, and quickly hoofed the lid down. I threw myself upon the lid as he pressed up from the inside, his muffled and panicked whines lost to me as I accepted that he was the only one who needed to make it out of this close shave no matter what.

I’d seen the contents of fridges like these in the heart of Manehatten that made it through the balefire blast from the war perfectly intact. He’d survive this too. He’d just have to do it without me. He’d been my second chance at a life after Whisper. Now it was his turn to go and find his own second chance.

“Forgive me.” I whined out softly, using the same last words that Whisper had given me so long ago.

The end thankfully wasn’t like I’d feared it be. The blast was nothing more than a quick flash and a deafening roar. Then like the flick of a light switch, that was all she wrote. Over and done with, just like that.

Curtains, now and forever.