Fallout Equestria: Due North

The elevator returned to the ground floor, shuddering to a halt. My stomach lurched as it did so, and I made a mental note to prepare myself next time. The rusted doors hissed open, creating a pathway through into the lobby.

I stepped through, past the dust-caked desk and grimy windows of the factory. The door was still hanging open, and I quickly trotted through. Sunbeam was the first to follow, although Songbird wasn't far behind. They joined me quickly, and we all stood there for a second, watching the sky.

The air was suddenly split by distant explosions. I jumped, glancing left and right. A thick plume of black smoke was rising in the north, carried up and away by the air. The blasts echoed across to us, shaking the ground and rattling the factory windows.

The bombardment lasted several seconds, before the sound died down to a whisper. It had surprised Sunny, but she'd seemingly realised it wasn't a threat. Songbird was a different story though. She was crouched slightly, eyes darting from side to side. Her rifle shook, clutched in her claws. The blasts had spooked her.

"It's gonna be fine," I tried to sound reassuring, "That was pretty far away."

"Oh yeah, I-I uh…" she stammered, trying to hide her fear. I just rolled my eyes and turned away, staring out into the distance.

The area was barren; a few large warehouses and factories lying by a collapsed section of the highway. In the other direction the darkened husks of Hoofington's skyscrapers soared upwards towards the cloud barrier.

Who exactly were we supposed to be meeting? I took a step back, scanning the horizon for some clue as to the mysterious ponies on the radio.

Realisation smacked into me like a train; the callsigns! They'd been using 'Railroad 2-1', clearly a military unit of some kind, and 'Firefly Actual'. If this was anything like the Enclave then Actual meant either ground control or some kind of higher command. But why 'Firefly'? It had to either that it was the overarching callsign for a larger unit, which was unlikely given the regulars were using 'Railroad' instead, or it was the location where the command was housed. Was there a facility called Firefly?

Of course; Firefly AFB. Radar had described the place as belonging to the 'Boomers' back in Friendship City, a pegasus group who helped the citizens of the wastes with 'organised food handouts and the like.' They'd originated from a stable; Stable 34. Suddenly the demand that I look for the number 34 made a lot more sense.

"It's the Boomers," I proclaimed, rather proud of myself. Sunbeam nodded in agreement, turning back to watch the sky.

"Who?" Songbird asked quietly, embarrassed by her lack of knowledge.

"They're a group of pegasi who help the wasteland," I explained.

"Okay," she looked away, her face flushed.

A distant echo drew my attention. It was a sound not entirely alien to me, yet not one I'd been expecting to hear. It was the sound of blades beating the air; the drone of an approaching aircraft..

From the horizon near the rising smoke a tiny dot hovered into view. At first it was hard to make out, but as it neared its nature became increasingly obvious. It was an inbound A/CV-2 Vertibuck, coming low and fast.

The cloud-filtered sunlight glinted off of the two glass bubbles making up the canopy, while the two great four-bladed rotors stirred up the dust and dirt from the earth beneath. It swooped up over the highway and past us, only to bank around and come in for a landing.

The two great engines swung upwards, jerking the vehicle to a halt. I raised a hoof to protect my eyes from the storm of dust it kicked up.

It landed with a loud thud, and the engines wound down. I blinked the dust from my eyes and looked it up and down. It was dark blue with yellow and white markings; a far cry from the black and grey of Enclave vehicles. On the doors and tail a peculiar symbol had been painted; a crossed musket and lightning bolt surrounded by three stars. Beneath this the number 34 had been stencilled on the doors.

It'd been a long while since I'd seen one of these running. They predated the cloud generator technology used on sky-tanks, and as a result were marginally less efficient. The reason for their lack of use was more the fact that they had a six-pony transport bay. Being able to carry two flights at a stretch, as opposed to the sky-tank's full squadron, had relegated the aircraft to a life of rare usage.

Their main role in the Enclave was for situations where there formidable speed gave them an advantage over the sky-tank, like rapid insertions and medivac operations. Once in a while a high-ranking general or council official would also requisition one to take the place of their personal chariot for transport.

The rear ramp dropped on pneumatic pistons, hitting the ground with a faint clunk. A dark green pegasus mare with a brown, braided mane stepped out.

She was wearing a flight jacket, but instead of the brown of those worn in the Enclave it was a pale grey. The fur lining was thicker too. On her left shoulder, where the unit emblem went on all Enclave units, was a solid black depiction of a lantern. On the other shoulder the musket-and-bolt emblem was stitched in yellow. On both of her sleeves was a series of chevrons; she was an E-9 Sergeant.

Over her jacket she wore the standard Enclave combined webbing/battle saddle designed to be worn with flight jackets or the combat armour I was wearing. It had the same universal weapon mount as all power armour and non-integrated weapon battle saddles, although unlike the wartime infantry version or that of T-Series power armour there wasn't an autoloader variant.

On her foreleg she sported a pipbuck. It was a shiny silver-grey, as opposed to the normal worn brown, with a blue screen that gave out a steady cool glow. On the side of her face she carried an earpiece with attached microphone, coloured the same gunmetal hue as her pipbuck.

"You're Cloudburst right?" she asked. "I'm Sergeant Major Evergreen, of the Firefly Homeland Militia."

"Yup," I nodded

"Alright, now, where are these bypass shields?" she trotted up to me.

"The listening post's in the basement," I explained quickly, "I'll show you."

"Alright," she turned back to the aircraft, "Snap Roll, Tailwind; you two guard the Vertibuck. Firing Pin, you're on me."

Three pegasi trotted out of the aircraft. One had full Enclave power armour, personalised and bearing the markings of the Boomers. Out of the other pair, one had combat armour and a battle saddle while the other sported only a flight jacket.

"Aww, sarge," the mare in the flight jacket pouted, doing her best puppy eyes, "Why can't I come?"

"Ugh," Evergreen rolled her eyes, "This is exactly why I don't want you in there; this is a serious mission."

"Huh, figures," the mare turned her head away, nose high in indignation.

The stallion in combat gear joined us, while the other two stayed behind to keep watch. A four-pony flight, possibly plus a pilot; about average for the Enclave. That combined with the ranks meant that either they were basing their organisation off of the Enclave or wartime Air Force.

"Hey, one thing?" Firing Pin asked as we headed for the doors. "What exactly is she?"

He was pointing to Songbird, who gave a sheepish look to me.

"It's called a 'human'," I explained, "They come from a far away land."

Okay, so it was a little clichéd, but at least it was better than 'they come from an alternate dimension'. He just nodded and turned away.

I lead them through the ancient lobby, up to the elevator I'd hacked. Evergreen eyed me suspiciously as I hit the button for the basement level.

"Hold up," she stared me down, "Was this operational when you came here?"

"It was password locked," I offered, "I had to hack it."

"Alright," she strode straight into the elevator. The rest of us piled in, squeezing up just as the doors slid shut. The elevator started to drop, and I tensed up in preparation for the landing. It came sooner than expected, but at least I was prepared for the jolt.

I lead the group through the basement compound, past the server room and on until we reached the place where the first shield had been.

"This is the place where the energy field was," I turned to Evergreen, "D'you want me to turn it back on?"

"Go ahead," she rolled her eyes, "Everypony stand clear."

I hit the button on the control terminal, and a shimmering dark blue wall of magical energy fizzled into existence. The smell of ozone wafted off it, filling my nostrils.

Evergreen reached out a tenative hoof, pressing against the barrier. It refused to budge, even when she shifted her entire weight against it.

"It's solid alright," she turned to Firing Pin. "Helmet-cam picking this all up?"

"Yes, sergeant," he barked.

"Good," she looked over at me, "Go ahead then; walk through it."

I stepped forwards, keeping my gaze firmly centred on the energy shield and trying not to look afraid. What if something went wrong? What if I couldn't pass through?

At a snail's pace I approached, reaching forwards with a hoof. A tingle shot up my foreleg, but it still wasn't solid. I pressed on, forcing my nerves down, and passed cleanly through. I spun round, my confidence soaring, and strode right back through.

"Shit," Evergreen muttered, "Are you seeing this?"

Firing Pin just nodded. I turned to the sergeant.

"D'you wanna go further, or-"

"Let's go," she rolled her eyes, heading deeper into the facility. I followed, pausing momentarily to disable the shield.

Down the staircase was the arch where the other energy shield had been. The others walked straight into the room, but Evergreen held out a hoof to block me. She withdrew it right as the shield reformed between us, activated by Firing Pin. They wanted me to show them again.

All eyes were on me. Apparently sound couldn't pass through, so I had no idea what they were saying when they spoke. I looked over at Songbird, who was just watching intently. Come on; I'd done this before and I could do it again. But what if I couldn't? I shot a worried glance at Sunny, who gave a reassuring smile and nod.

I took a deep breath and strode forth, straight through the shield. A now-familiar tingle ran down my spine as I did so.

Evergreen moved over to the central terminal without saying anything. She activated it, and switched on the secure radio. Presumably her normal communication device, most likely her pipbuck, wouldn't have signal down here.

"This is Railroad 2-1 to Firefly Actual," she spoke into the device, "Please respond."

"Reading you loud and clear," the stallion on the other end replied.

"Actual, I can confirm it," she began, "He can walk straight through the bypass shields. You are aware of the implications of this?"

"Yes, sergeant, I am," a verbal eye roll came through the radio. "Now; we've had some mildly unusual orders come in from above. You're still in the listening post, correct?"

"Yes, go on," Evergreen tapped a hoof impatiently.

"There should be a tape somewhere in there," he explained, "The General wants it brought back."

She looked around, searching for the tape which was no longer there.

"Please repeat Actual," she barked, "A tape?"

"Yes, 2-1, a tape," he said, "It should be there."

"Do you mean the recording of Operation Windigo?" I asked, butting in and recieving a frosty glare from Evergreen.

"I don't give a damn what's on it," he responded. "All I know is high command want to get their greasy hooves on it."

"You have it?" Evergreen was staring straight at me.

"Yeah," I lifted up my leg with the pipbuck attached, hitting a button to open the tape slot. The recording popped half out, and I passed it over to her.

"This it?" she eyed it with caution, but accepted. "Good. We'll leave immediately."

She swung around, hit the button to disable the shield, and strode off back up the stairs to the server room. I followed, along with the others, as we returned to the elevator.

Great, another ride in the damn jolt machine. I squeezed up against the back wall as the doors shut with a hiss and a dull thud. The elevator jerked to life, rattling upwards. It stopped quickly, sending my insides into weightlessness once more. I found myself fighting minor nausea as I staggered out, determined that I was done with elevators for the foreseeable future.

We were lead briskly through the dusty lobby and out onto the cracked and dry earth. The Vertibuck was still there, as were the two other pegasi. The mare in the flight jacket turned to greet us, giving a cheery wave.

"So is it true then sarge?" she stared at me, wide eyes, "Can he do it?"

"Yes, Snap Roll," she gave an eye roll, "I've seen it myself; he trots right through them."

"Who were they configured fo-" a glance from Evergreen shut her right up. "Oh, okay, later then."

"Alright, I want everypony on board ASAP," the sergeant looked straight at me, "That includes you three. Any objections?"

"If they're fine with it," I gestured to the girls, "Little sis?"

"Uh, I'm good," she shrugged, distracted.

"Songbird?"

"I-I-, yeah, it's fine," she sighed, looking away. I smiled, and headed for the rear ramp.

"If there's no more to discuss, then let's move," Evergreen gestured to the troop bay.

"Yes sarge!" Snap Roll yelled, skipping off up through the troop bay and into the cockpit. I followed up into the vehicle, picking a seat up next to the cockpit. She slipped into the flight harness and fired up the pilot's interface.

The engines spun up to full speed just as Sunbeam sat down against my side. Great waves of dust cascaded up the ramp, whipped up by the rotor blades. Songbird was the first to climb up through this, shielding her eyes with her arm. She joined me in sitting down, just as the rest of the Boomers entered the aircraft.

The trio took up seats opposite me, keeping a wary eye on me and my companions.

"Alright," Evergreen shouted over the din, "Let's move."

"Sure thing sarge!" Snap Roll giggled, raising the rear ramp. "Hey, remind me to thank the new engineer for running a full check on this thing, she's running better than ever!"

We rose upwards rapidly, the flight harness converting Snap Roll's wing and body motions into commands to the engines. They tilted forwards, just as she gave a great wingbeat. The craft jerked into forwards flight, and we sailed way over the ruins of the past.

After a few minutes we passed over the ruins of a large building. It had taken it significantly worse than the surrounding area, with huge blackened craters and a few scattered corpses lying around, at least one of which was still bleeding. This was recent. The blasts on the horizon earlier came to mind. I turned to Evergreen just as Sunbeam spoke up.

"Hey, uh, what happened here?"

"Zone call," Firing Pin shrugged, "We relay the coordinates to the Artillery Corps back at Firefly and all available howitzers open up on the target."

"What was here before?" the filly asked innocently.

"Highway gang encampment," Evergreen butted in, "They've been harassing caravans for years, swarming all over the roads north of Hoofington. Mostly they're outlaws running from the Republic biding their time before the rangers hunt 'em down."

"Okay," Sunny smiled, turning back to watch the darkened towers of Hoofington's core disappear over the southern horizon.

I shifted my gaze back to watching Snap Roll manipulate the flight harness. She was a cute little mare, with a navy blue coat and a curly grey-white mane. I watched the rise and fall of her flanks, trying to make out her cutie mark. It was a little collection of white arrows forming a loop, or some similar shape.

A giggle from Sunny snapped me back to reality. The realisation that I'd been staring at our pilot's backside for the past few minutes hit me like a brick, and I looked away as embarrassment turned my face bright red. Why, of all times, did I have to start checking out mares while I was trying to make a good impression?

I glanced across the troop bay; Tailwind was silent and emotionless as ever, Evergreen looked completely uninterested, as if she'd expected me to act as I was. Sunny was faintly smiling, looking up at me with playful eyes. Songbird, though, wasn't so happy; she looked upset, irritated even.

"Hey Songbird," I said softly, "You okay?"

No reply, yet she didn't seem sad. Was she sulking then? Sunny laughed again, further confusing me.

We didn't talk much after that. The Vertibuck skimmed low and fast above the snaking roads and scorched earth, turning a journey of days into less than an hour. After a while I bored of watching the ground and turned back to the interior of the craft.

A sudden jerk nearly threw me off my seat, and a faint creak of protest ran through the airframe. Sunny was suddenly clutching my foreleg, unused to the experience of flight. I gave her a reassuring hug with one foreleg. She looked more than a little embarrassed, now that it was clear we were safe, but at least she'd relaxed.

We were gaining altitude, fast. The engines had swung back and were now pointing nearly straight up, towards the ever-present barrier of rolling cloud that blanketed the wasteland. We weren't going through it were we? That was Enclave airspace.

With a faint shudder the aircraft breached the layer, our rotors shredding the fluffy clouds. The downdraft buffeted the edges the gap we'd formed, widening it. Pure, unfiltered sunlight poured through the windows, giving a golden hue to everything. It was the kind of sunlight where you could see all the particles of dust in the beams as our motions swirled then around, the kind of sunlight I'd not realised I'd been missing.

Sunbeam's eyes were wide now that she could finally see her namesake. She darted to the window, blue eyes scanning the white cloud layer and infinite blue skies. She let out a squeal of delight, trying to take it all in. It occurred to me that she'd never seen the sun before, and I suddenly felt an inner warmth as I realised it had been me who'd given her that chance.

All of a sudden we were moving again. The sudden motion dislodged Sunny, and she lost her footing and rolled into Songbird. She gave a sheepish apology and hurried back to the window. I smiled, glad to see her so eager.

I suddenly froze, my joy turning to cold-blooded fear as I remembered; we were in Enclave airspace.

"Hey," I turned to Evergreen, "Isn't this Enclave territory?"

"No silly," Snap Roll answered, stealing any words the sergeant could have given, "The Enclave doesn't have any control this far north. We're just out of Thunderhead's radar range, and- oh look, there it is!"

I peered past her and out of the canopy; we were closing fast on a little collection of hangars and buildings clustered around a mountaintop plateau. There was only one notable problem; they were all made of cloud, and I knew that earth ponies definitely couldn't stand on clouds. I doubted humans could either.

As we neared I made out a dark shape rising away from the airfield. Twin dark contrails streaked away behind it as the aircraft banked hard and raced towards our own. It was an A/CV-1 sky-tank, painted in the dark blue, yellow, and white of the Boomers. It was an early war model, like Peppy, sporting twin missile pods on the sides and a rear-loading troop bay. It roared past our Vertibuck, going fast, sure, but not as fast as us.

"Alright ponies," Snap Roll grinned, "Here we are; Firefly AFB. One more successful mission, woohoo!"

The aircraft gave another slight groan as we jerked to a halt a second time. We were directly above a short paved airstrip now, built on clouds, surrounded by cloud buildings. Across from this, behind a row of buildings, was a second, longer asphalt runway built on the actual mountaintop, running on a small bridge over a river of rainbow liquid that drained from a cloud high above, bisecting the plateau. Halfway along this blurred into regular water as it mixed with a second stream, some of which was siphoned off and fed into a hydroponic array.

On the plateau pegasi moved this way and that. A group of school-age foals played with a ball, a flight of pegasi were practicing drill on the runway, a group of mechanics had dragged a Vertibuck out into the sunlight and were working on it, and the Howitzer teams were cleaning or calibrating their guns.

We dropped suddenly, and the main airstrip disappeared behind the row of buildings. I glanced around the rest of the visible area, noticing a tall command building rising above the surrounding structures, with two cloud statues of soaring pegasi guarding the door.

Atop a nearby flagpole two flags flapped in the high-altitude wind; one was dark blue and displayed the musket-and-bolt logo of the Boomers in yellow above the number 34 done to look like a military stencil. The other was purple, and displayed the cutie mark of Rainbow Dash set within a ring, flanked by two stylised wings; the emblem of the Ministry of Awesome.

The Vertibuck landed with a thud, and Snap Roll dropped the rear ramp before disentangling herself from the flight harness. She pulled on a light grey flight cap that matched her jacket, as did Evergreen. We were now on base after all.

Sunny raced past me, down the ramp and onto the runway. A least she wouldn't fall straight through that.

"Oh my gosh!" she spun around, taking in all of the sights at once, "This is amazing!"

"Sure is little sis," I smiled, my heart warmed by her antics, "I told you the sun was awesome."

"'Little sis'?" Evergreen looked at me suspiciously.

"Adoptive," I shrugged, turning back to the kid. She was standing next to Songbird, who had dropped to her knees on the edge of the runway and was poking the cloud in bewilderment. I chuckled, and she leapt to her feet, hiding her claws behind her back and looking embarrassed. Apparently Sunbeam drew some amusement from this, since it brought a giggle to her face.

Evergreen engaged in conversation with another pegasus, similarly dressed through lacking a battle saddle and wearing the chevrons to mark an E-3, an Airpony First Class. She passed him the tape of Operation Windigo, before he flew off into the command building.

He returned a few minutes later, soaring overhead and landing next to the girls. From his pocket he produced a pair of sapphire-blue gems, glistening in the sunlight. I'd seen such gems before; Bella, the Neighvarro R&D pet swan, had carried one on a necklace. They were cloudstepping talismans, one for Sunny and one for Songbird. They were both suspended on thin metal chains, designed to be slung around the neck.

He offered them out, giving a brief explanation as to their purpose. Both were eagerly accepted, and the buck flew away, his job done. Sunny took a timid step onto the clouds. She clearly enjoyed it, because she immediately recognised that clouds were pretty bouncy and started jumping up and down. Songbird rapidly joined her, and soon the pair were bouncing high and turning a few heads.

"Aww," Snap Roll smiled, "They're having so much fun! Oh, and the general wants to see you."

"That's in the command building right?" I turned to head inside. "Alright you two, c'mon. You can play on the cloud later."

I trotted up the stairs into the command building, glancing back to make sure they were following me. Sunny bounced along, still over the moon, but Songbird was walking briskly across the cloud, trying not to fall over on the lumpy material. She looked more than a little embarrassed at her antics, and once again I worried for how much she thought I was judging her.

I shook the though from my head and headed inside, slightly disappointed to be out of the sun so quickly. Still, it felt good to be back on cloud. Finding the office wouldn't be hard either; I knew what to look for.

The words Base Commander etched into a blue-grey cloud door were a sight which I'd previously cherished, back when seeing them had meant seeing the Colonel. Now though, I had apprehensions; I had no idea who this pony was, other than they commanded the 'Firefly Homeland Militia', had probably served at some point, and were some form of general. I tentatively knocked on the door with a hoof.

"Come in." It was the voice of a mare, and she sounded to be at least middle aged. Something about it wasn't right; her words had a gravelly quality that didn't match any accent I had encountered.

I pushed the door open, and was greeted by the sight of a pair of amber eyes staring back at me from within a darkened room. The next thing to hit was the smell; the room stank of bad meat.

The others joined us, and Songbird had the sense to shut the door. The general switched a desk light on. I tasted bile; her face was fine, but the sections of her legs that her uniform left visible appeared to be actively rotting, as if dead.

"Never seen a ghoul before?" she raised an eyebrow. She wasn't angry, acting like this was par for the course.

I had seen ghouls before, back in the sewers, and I'd heard a lot in the Enclave. The Council always liked to make a point out of the mutated creatures of the wasteland to discourage would-be Dashites. The idea of 'magical radiation zombies' wasn't unknown to me, but I'd never heard of them looking remotely alive, or being sentient for that matter.

"I have," I gave an apologetic shrug, "Just… not like you."

"Ferals?" she tilted her head to one side. "Figures."

I looked her up and down; she was a turquoise mare who had been on the wrong side of her forties before her transformation. What of her mane was left was cropped quite short, and was a golden amber. She wore a variant of the Equestrian Air Force officer uniform, coloured black and purple with yellow markings. She was a four-star general, though whether she'd actually obtained this rank or given it to herself when setting this militia up I wasn't sure.

"So, on to business then?" she asked. I nodded. "Alright. I understand you're Cloudburst?"

"Yes, uh, ma'am," I said quickly.

"Who are these two?" she pointed to my companions.

"Well, this is Sunbeam," I explained. "She's my adopted little sister; right kid?"

"Yup," she smiled.

"And who's she," the general demanded, pointing a rotting hoof at Songbird, "With the big head?"

"This is Songbird," I began, while she gave a bashful wave, "Her species; it's called a human."

"Alright then," the mare smiled, unfurling her wings, "I'm General Lightning Dust, Master-at-Arms for the Firefly Homeland. Now; I've heard you can walk through some energy shields?"

"Yeah," I shrugged, "I don't understand it either."

"But I do," Lightning Dust gave a coy smile. "Have you ever heard of bypass spells?" I shook my head. "They're a type of shield that's only configured to let certain ponies through," she explained, "But they're kind of imprecise; they'll let through all close relatives like siblings, and their descendants."

"So I'm descended from somepony important?" I asked, incredulous.

"Maybe," she shrugged. "You found a listening post. Those places were built for two reasons; to intercept zebra transmissions over there, and, more importantly; to communicate with MoA black-ops agents undercover in Zebrica. Considering how 'deep-cover' all of this was, those shields were probably only configured for three ponies; Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, and the pony who actually operated the damn terminal."

"And the last one's the most likely," I said dejectedly; it was often repeated in the Enclave that neither of the most famous Dashites had any surviving family.

"Perhaps," Lightning Dust wasn't so easily convinced, "Enclave registration only started after the megaspells hit, so there's a pretty good chance there's some siblings in there we don't know about."

I sighed, wishing she'd just come out and say I wasn't anything special.

"Look, kid," she stared straight at me, "I'll try and call in some favours with the Volunteer Corps to get somepony in Thunderhead to check the database; maybe something'll turn up."

"No good," I gave a shrug of disappointment. "You won't turn up anything; I was adopted. I even had mom check the records once, but there wasn't anything."

"Shit," Dust thumped her desk with a hoof, and for a second looked ready to throw something. Suddenly an idea seemed to hit her, because her face lit up and she started to fiddle with the terminal on her desk, rapidly tapping at the keys.

"Of course!" she smiled, proud of her new idea. "There's a post in Ponestown; you can try there."

"So you want me to go to another one of these places and try and walk through the bypass shields there?" I asked.

"Exactly; it's in the basement of the bakery," she explained. "We'll send you out on a Vertibuck tomorrow sometime."

"Okay," I said slowly, "So what do I do in the meantime?"

"Evening mess is at seven; try and be there for it," she offered. "Other than that; I want you to go and talk to the quartermaster. He'll get you fixed up with some proper gear and ammo. There's a Vertibuck on the main airstrip that needs fixing; I've got the new guy working on it, you'll probably get on well. All three of you have free reign over where you go, just don't touch anything sensitive. I'll try and get you billeted for the night."

"Thanks ma'am," I smiled, "Mind if I ask a question?"

"Fire away," the ghoul replied.

"How common are Dashites, really?" I asked.

"Thin on the ground, that's for sure," she sighed, "But it's more than just Radar and Calamity and whoever this recon buck is that the loose network's blowing up about, a lot more. The Council makes a big deal outta them only if they can make 'em look like criminals or they're actually dangerous.

"Take Deadshot Calamity; he told a massive crowd of ponies about the true state of the wastes. The Enclave doesn't take too kindly to that, of course, and so they fabricate a story about him killing his flight and throw him out. They would've done the same to Ardent Vortex if they could have captured him. But of course some ponies are going to believe him, or at least have doubts as to whether it is truly inhospitable down there.

"So you get a ripple effect as more ponies go AWOL because the first one did. That's why they always make 'em seem like they're criminals and murderers and stuff, so that others are less likely to follow them. If they can't do that then they keep it hush-hush so that others don't get the same idea.

"So they don't tell you when a rebellious teen runs away beneath the clouds, or an active flight gets sick of inaction and deserts mid-mission, or a minor criminal dips below to escape the cops and doesn't come back up. If they published every one, then they'd start up a vicious cycle of ponies packing up and heading down. They keep it all under wraps to prevent exodus or war.

"Why d'you think they stopped doing the twice annual sweep?"

"So they didn't have to get the reserves involved?" I offered, bewildered by this sudden tangent she'd gone off on.

"Exactly," Lightning Dust smiled, "The fighter squadrons are already considered a security risk since they go beneath regularly; that's why they keep 'em on base and rarely let 'em transfer. Getting the reserve squads in as well just complicated things, and two active squads per city just isn't enough to cover all of Equestria in the time available, even with the extra ones Neighvarro has operating outta the cloudships. So they replaced them with a single squadron who went under every night."

"Alright, well, thanks," I shrugged.

"No problem," she sighed. "Anything else you want to ask?" I was about to turn down her offer when a thought came to me.

"How did you end up, y'know, as a ghoul?" I asked slowly.

"Was in Cloudsdale when it was hit, serving with the 'Bolts," she let out a wistful sigh. "I woke up in the debris field, and started freaking the fuck out. I'd thought myself dead; incinerated by the blast. Waking up amid charred corpses and wrecked wagons came as a pretty huge shock.

"Then I started… rotting. It's not like you'd expect; you don't notice it until you look down, since you lose feeling before the area falls off, and it takes a damn long time before it actually does. Trust me; you don't want to ever have to feel this."

"Erm, okay," I turned to leave, shifting in discomfort. "I'd better be going then ma'am."

"Shut the door on your way out," she croaked. I gladly obliged.

I moved quickly through the complex and out into the sunlight. The statues on this side were even larger, towering over me as I stepped out.

The entire airbase was basically a large horseshoe shape, wrapping around the edge of the mountain plateau. The second runway and hangars had been grafted onto the back of this, behind the command building. A stretch of cloud connected the crescent to the mountain itself, which was coated in real, living grass.

I strode quickly down onto the plateau, heading for the under-maintenance Vertibuck. A dark grey stallion with a navy blue mane and yellow eyes was working on one of the engines, a buck I knew from Neighvarro. My jaw dropped as I realised that I recognised the pony.

"Hey!" I called, waving my hoof, "Over here! Maelstrom!"

"Who the bloody 'ell?" he spun round, only to notice me. "Well, if't ain't the kid from R an' D! What brings ye out 'ere then? 'Ow long's it been, a couple weeks?"

"Yeah," I smiled, "I switched to battlefield tech, then went Dashite. I've been heading north for the past few days."

"Y' ain't goin' fer the Crystal Empire or somethin', are ye?" he asked.

"Well, yeah," I shrugged, "What about you?"

"I finally got off me arse an' did somethin' with me life," he explained, wiping his brow. "Took a runnin' jump an' look where I ended up."

"Alright," I smirked, "Need any help with that?"

"We can always use an extra 'oof," now it was his turn to smile. "Gerr over 'ere!"

I nodded and turned quickly to my companions.

"You two can go wherever you're allowed," I explained, grinning as the excitement crossed their faces. Sunbeam made a beeline for the group of school-age ponies, while Songbird meandered away nervously.

"Oy!" Maelstrom yelled. "Git yer arse over 'ere!"

I galloped over to join him, skittering over the ancient asphalt. The more I saw of this place, the more awesome it got.

======

I knocked on the door, waiting for a response. None was forecoming.

The armoury was a large building, with few windows. There was no way for me to see inside without moving around the side or flying up to reach the higher apertures. I glanced left and right; I had been told to come here, and with the Vertibuck now repaired I had nothing else to do.

I went to knock again, and accidentally pushed the door open. It swung open slowly, casting a square of light into a darkened corridor. I stepped inside, looking around for any signs of life, but nopony seemed to be present.

"Hello?" I called out.

"Yeah?" came a distant reply, echoing off the cloud walls.

"Where are you?" I asked.

"Come through into the main bit," the voice replied. I followed the source, and came out into a large open area dotted with workbenches and weapon racks. The whole place was lit by low-energy lighting, bathing the room in a yellow glow.

In the centre a suit of Enclave power armour was being dangled from a yellow crane. An orange stallion with an indigo mane was lying beneath it, trying to reattach a damaged leg. As I entered he dropped his tools and stood up, turning to look at me.

"Oh, hello there!" he galloped over, offering his hoof in greeting. I grasped it, and he shook vigorously.

"Hi," I mumbled, feeling pretty put-out by him. "So yeah, uh; I was told to come here to get outfitted?"

"Oh, you're the new colt everypony's talking about!" he smiled. "Come with me."

He lead me through the building to a back corner where several suits of armour lay folded on shelves alongside a myriad of weapons and equipment.

"So, what can I do you for?" he smiled. "Uhh…"

"Cloudburst," I filled him in. "Well, I'm here for gear, so what are my options?"

"Sure thing," he gave a wide, sweeping wave of his foreleg across the shelve. "First things first. What'll it be; light or medium?"

"Armour?" I asked, confused. "Isn't there a heavy option as well?" I could see at least three suits of seemingly unused power armour.

"Ain't never existed," he shrugged, before he noticed my expression. "Ah, you mean the power armour doncha? Well according to this doohickey," -he raised up his foreleg to show off his pipbuck- "It's medium armour. All lightweight 'aerated' alloy and Kevlar. Don't get me wrong; it'll block a bullet better than most, but it's hardly a T-51."

"I think I'll just stick with light armour thanks," I smiled, and he took one look at me before plucking a folded suit from the shelf. He thrust it into my hooves, encouraging me to try it on.

"Hey," he picked out another item, "Since you're going light, you get one of these."

He passed me the device just as I tossed my new armour over my back, and I recognised it immediately; it was a pipbuck. It was one of the sleek silver and black ones with a blue screen though, like Evergreen's. I'd never even heard of this model, yet all the Boomers had them.

Etched into the metal next to the screen were the words PIP-BUCK DELTA, above the model number designating it as a 3000. Beneath the device name the MoA emblem had been machine-etched, the metal glinting in the light. These must have been somewhat rare, designed specially for the Air Force or something.

"That's a 3000R Delta," the buck said proudly, "Made specially for the Shadowbolts. It's got special drivers and everything, same as in our power armour."

An idea occurred to me, and I quickly looked back at him.

"Have you got any books on coding or pipbucks?" I asked.

"Why, sure," he grinned from ear to ear. "Planning some customisation then?"

"Yup," I smiled, "Mind if I use your equipment?"

"No problem mate," he smiled, "Just don't touch anything unless you know what it is. I'll be back in a sec with those books."

"Thanks," I rolled my eyes and set off for the nearest workbench. I placed the device in the centre and set to work removing the casing. Beneath were the spell matrices; I gently extracted the motherboard and disconnected the CPU, before doing the same for the RAM and memory.

The buck returned, passing me two volumes entitled Pip-Bucks and You and A Beginner's Guide to Scripting. I gratefully accepted both. He though for a second, clearly having forgotten something.

"Oh, and this is for you," he reached up to one of the shelves and produced an earpiece with microphone, dropping it on top of the stack of books.

"Thanks," I replied. I placed the books down on the workbench, propping them up against the wall so that I could read and work. I placed the earpiece to one side, and emptied the little human screen-devices I'd taken from the museum onto the desk.

I plucked one up, gently prying open the case with a small screwdriver. Laying out the device's guts next to that of my new pipbuck, I activated my older pipbuck's repair-aid spell for a good idea of what parts were and their condition.

The human components were just so tiny though. They'd made up for a lack of magic with significantly improved science, and it showed. Connecting these was going to be challenge indeed.

======

Fighting the urge to thump my head on the table, I reached for the power button. Almost praying that the damn thing would work, I gave it a light press.

The screen lit up a pale blue. The new holodisplay I'd fitted to the right edge of the screen, taken from one of the newer human machines, started to glow, but it didn't display anything yet. It'd only start working once I'd set the device to recognise it. The screen read;

******************** PIP-OS[R] V7.1.0.0. SHADOWBOLT ********************

BOOTSTRAP STARTED…
COPYRIGHT STABLE-TEC LTD
LOADER V1.1
EXEC VERSION 41.10
4GB RAM SYSTEM
63.89GB STORAGE FREE
NO HOLOTAPE FOUND
LOAD ROM[1]: DEITRIX 303

A loading screen appeared, filling the screen with a little cartoon pegasus wearing a flight jacket. A bar rapidly filled beneath him, until it reached completion and the device booted up. I let out a breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding; it was working.

It registered that nopony was wearing it, but other than that all the menus were working. Little wings flanked each section title, and the MoA logo was visible in the background. The whole thing was in comparative HD, lacking the usual pixelation of Stable-Tec devices.

After several hours of working, my masterpiece was finished, physically at least. Coding it to work with the holodisplay and other new features would take a while. With an exasperated sigh, I screwed the casing shut and set to work.

======

The device booted once more, new and different menus appearing across the screen. It seemed to be stable, and I experimentally navigated the options. For the first time in hours, it didn't crash; it was done. Finally, the pipbuck was working. I wiped the moisture from my brow, going to admire my handiwork. Admittedly most of it was repurposed from the books' tutorials and my experience messing with video games, but it worked, and that was the important thing.

The lens of a small camera glinted in the top left of the screen, while a little holodisplay projected from the right, displaying additional information. The whole thing supported full-colour video and image files, as well as simplistic 3D renders in place of the normal icons. The main improvement though was the increased storage and processing power; it had gone from having sixty-four kilobytes of RAM to four gigabytes. How exactly they managed to squeeze so much storage onto such small matrices, or what you could need that much storage for, I'd never understand.

It was a similar story with the ROM; it'd been increased from 40 kilobytes to 64 gigabytes. The idea I could need that much storage, even with the new functions, was absurd. I was starting to wonder if the humans had somehow bypassed the invention of data compression.

The last new function was combining the Delta's inbuilt radio equipment with the transmitter Radar had given me and one of the human devices' communications device. The whole assembly now supported receiving multiple broadcasts at once, and could decrypt secure frequencies it wasn't configured for.

My work done, I slipped out of my old armour and into the new. It was a modified version of Enclave combat armour, replacing the metal plates with some kind of space-age composite. Additional protection was provided by segmented plates forming bracers and greaves, and the suit also featured braces on the upper foreleg.

The whole thing was a little better fitting than my old gear, and it was certainly in better shape than the brown heap I'd just thrown off. I clasped my new pipbuck into place and pulled my saddlebag on, leaving my old armour and helmet on a shelf.

I checked the time on my pipbuck; it was quarter to seven, almost time for evening mess. I strode out of the armoury, skipping along with pride in myself. Most of the base's personnel was either heading to the mess or already inside, evidenced by the shadows dancing in the windows.

I was halfway to the place when a pegasus mare swooped down, landing with a muffled thud on the clouds. She looked to be in her late thirties, with an off-white coat and ginger mane. Her cutie mark was a scales and a scroll; law maybe? I was sure I'd seen her somewhere, although the reason why eluded me. She had clearly sought me out, since she immediately struck up a conversation.

"Oh, hello," she began, "You're Sunbeam's brother right; Cloudburst?"

"That's me," I raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"

"My name is Windbreaker," she explained, "I teach the foals here." I stopped dead in my tracks; this mare was the Governor Windbreaker. No wonder I'd recognised her; she'd been all over the news a few years ago.

"You're Windbreaker?!" I jumped in surprise.

"It appears my reputation precedes me," she chuckled.

"Well, yeah," I blurted out, "It would; you were everywhere a few years ago. How did you end up out here?"

"After the 'disaster' that was my governorship of New Zephyr," she let out a wistful sigh, "I moved to Thunderhead to get away from it all and ended up signing up for the Volunteer Corps, putting my negotiation skills to good use."

I knew the events she was talking about well enough. She'd been elected as governor by a hair, and her rather radical views had not sat well with the wider Enclave. Apparently wanting demilitarisation and the creation of a nation focused on development rather than war is enough to be labelled as a Dashite by the masses.

She'd resigned a year early and faded into the background after some incidents involving death threats. Her joining the Corps made sense though. The organisation was a pretty good example of what she'd wanted our military to be like; centred around trading with others rather than trying to seize resources like we'd done with Aldorna.

"We were out on an operation I first ran into the Boomers," she explained, "We were in a tight spot, given we weren't prepared for combat whatsoever, after we had a 'misunderstanding' with one of the local gangs. They came down on top of us, and wiped the floor with our attackers. After that I didn't really feel like going into danger zones anymore, and ponies had already tracked down my new address to continue harassing me about New Zephyr, so I took up an offer of employment.

"Turns out that I'm pretty good with kids, what with my talent for speaking and all," she admitted, "Although settling in was a challenge, given how, well, military everything is I guess. Still, hopefully one day that'll change."

"Oh yeah?" I asked.

"The young ones are hoping that one day Firefly will become a fully-fledged town," she chuckled, "Maybe one day. Anyway, that's not what I came to talk to you about."

"Go on," I gestured with a hoof.

"Your sister's an excellent filly," she smiled, prompting another eyebrow raise from me. "I had the pleasure of her joining my class for the afternoon. She's very mature for her age."

"But," I anticipated.

"I'm worried about her, honestly," Windbreaker sighed. "I'm guessing her situation was… less than pleasant when you found her?

"She came straight out of a borderline abusive household and into the waiting forelegs of a raider pack," I explained, suddenly feeling the urge to punch something in some kind of hollow retaliation for what had been done to her. "I, well, I went Dashite to save her, became the older brother she'd never had."

"Oh," she looked away, "I had no idea it was that bad. Still, you seem to helping greatly with her recovery; she spoke nothing but praise of you. She cares a great deal about you, Cloudburst; she needs you."

"I know," I let out a long sigh, still shaking with rage at Bone Saw and Speed Freak, "I try my best for her. Hey, how did you guess, y'know, about her past?"

"I can see it in her," the mare offered, "The way she freezes when she thinks she's in trouble, the way she can get another foal's entire life story without ever mentioning herself, the way she always sticks close to other ponies, and gets nervous if she's being left behind. I'm worried she may have some form of mild monophobia."

"Monophobia?" I asked, starting to panic.

"Fear of being alone," she explained. "I will admit that I initially forgot to account for her when I called my class back in for the afternoon. They can all fly you see, and reached me rather quickly. But she was just cantering across the plateau as fast as she could without galloping, glancing all over the place nervously. I flew over and carried her back in the end.

"You're a great prop for her at the moment, and one of the few elements of her past she'll actually talk about is the last few days with you. You haven't known her for very long though, have you?"

"A few days," I admitted.

"And yet you care enough about her to agree to be her sibling," she continued. "Why?"

"Because it made her happy," I shrugged, "And as you say, I care about her. At first I just wanted to get her to safety, like in a town or something, but I guess she grew on me after I learnt about what had happened to her."

"I'm glad she did," Windbreaker smiled, "You've done well for her. Now, I think we're needed in the mess hall."

I nodded in agreement with her and set off, arriving in good time. Through the doors and past a small lobby area a corridor stretched, with counters for collecting food along the left wall. The kitchens were behind these, echoing with the sounds of boiling water and knives on chopping boards. Along the right wall several double doors lead into the mess itself, where ponies sat to eat.

I picked a tray and joined the queue of hungry personnel, moving quickly along the counters. My tray was rapidly laden with food, and I filled a glass of water from the watercooler at the end of the counters. From there it was through the last set of double doors and into the mess while clenching a tray between my teeth.

"Hey Cloudy!" a small yet familiar voice called. "Over here!"

Sunbeam was sitting with the school ponies, chatting freely with her new friends. I approached, taking a seat next to her.

"Everypony," she waved a hoof across the assembled fillies and colts, "This is my awesome older brother, uh, Cloudburst."

"Hi," I greeted, giving a cheery wave.

"And this is Songbird," Sunny pointed to the approaching girl, who sat down next to me.

"Hey, is it true that she-" the colt on her other side leant in close, whispering into the filly's ear.

"Yes," Sunny rolled her eyes playfully, "But don't talk about it right now."

I hoped that somepony hadn't been spreading rumors about Songbird. I looked to my sister, hoping that she'd tell me something. Not getting any answers from her, I turned to Songbird in the vain hope of getting some answers. She just pretended to be looking anywhere but at me. Feeling a little irritated, I returned to my food.

======

The cool tap water ran down my throat, soothing the dry feeling in my mouth. This was what; the fifth time I'd gone to the toilet or gotten a drink? I couldn't sleep; lying on a cloud matress was reminding me too much of Neighvarro.

I missed that little three-bed house on Stratos Lane, where I'd grown up. I missed the R&D, with Tesla Jolt and others like Snow Blast and Stormchaser and even Bright Spark to an extent. But what I really missed was my family; Golden Heart and Sky Strider.

It'd been nearly a fortnight since I'd last seen either of them, including my four days in the wastes. I let out a quiet sigh; what had I done?

I'd saved Sunbeam, that was what. I needed to remember her. Without me she'd still probably be in that raider camp with Speed Freak, or else alone in the wastes.

A sudden gasp from the opposite room prompted me to turn off the tap and move out from under it. I shifted so that I could just see across the hall and through the slightly ajar door.

A little cream filly was sitting in her bed, tail curled around defensively. Her mane was hot and sticky, slick with sweat, and her chest heaved with great, panicked gasps for air. A few loose tears ran down her face, but she composed herself rapidly. She looked left and right, not noticing her older brother watching, and shifted her position so that she was sitting normally, looking out of the window.

It was the exact position I'd found her in on our first morning, and this very morning in the sky-wagon. Had she been having nightmares and not telling me, pretending everything was fine when it wasn't? It was just past four in the morning; maybe she did intend to spend the next three hours watching the sky. Either way I wasn't having it.

I strode carefully across the clouds. Sunny didn't notice at first, but I saw her scoot away slightly as she picked up on the faint sounds of my approach.

"Sunbeam?" I was in the doorway now, pushing the door open. She looked straight at me, eyes wide with dread and realisation.

"Oh, uh, Cloudy," she stammered, raising her foreleg as if to protect herself, "I, uh, I was just-"

"Sunny," I let out a sigh, "I saw what happened, I know that you had a nightmare."

She was silent for a second looking me up and down as if I was somehow a threat to her.

"I'm sorry, I just, uh, I was scared if I woke you then, uh, you'd be angry at me," she was crying now, tiny glistening droplets falling onto the cloud bed. "I know it's stupid, a-and irrational, uh, but I-"

She broke down, sobbing quietly. I was at her side in an instant, pulling her into what I hoped was a loving embrace. She looked up at me, seeking comfort.

"Sis, I want to help you," I said slowly, "But if you don't tell me about these things then I can't. I won't get angry or anything, I promise."

"Uh huh," she looked away, ashamed.

"D'you want to sleep with me for the rest of the night?" I offered, watching as her fear dissolved.

"Yes, uh, thanks," the edges of her mouth curled up into a faint smile, and she hugged me. I disentangled myself from her and led her back to my room. The filly climbed up onto my bed, and I bedded down next to her, wrapping my wing around her tiny form.

She let out a content sigh and drifted away to sleep. She was my sister now, and I'd take care of her. My desertion had been worth it; I just needed to remember her.

Footnote: Level up.

New Perk:
Xenotech Expert - Your work with human technology has granted you with increased knowledge on how their weapons function. When repairing any human weapon, the final condition of the weapon is increased by 20%