A bead of sweat rolled down Willows forehead, this decision had to work or it was all over. A shaky hand wiped her forehead and came back down with her other, both clammy from the focused state she was in. A cough from her left caused her head to snap in the direction of Veronica, the ex-Brotherhood of Steel member in a similar state to her own. Willow looked to her right and saw Daniels, a completely blank expression on his face, but she could see his eyes darting back and forth and his fingers clench as the seconds ticked by. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as they all made their moves and took the risk they were all hoping would pay out in each of their favours.

“Daniels with a three of a kind, Willow with a two pair, Veronica has a four of a kind and Twilight has a…” All three of them waited with bated breath as Twilight moved to show her cards. “…Straight flush, twilight wins… again.” Red said with a smirk, causing all of the others to groan and Twilight to do a little jig.

“How are you so good at this?!” Daniels cried out.

“Princess Practice.” Twilight said with a shrug. “When you’re a Princess you need to be able to hold a mask up when the time requires, which in this case was for the whole game.” She then collected in her bottlecaps and scooped them into a pouch on her bag. “Plus, you guys have really bad poker faces.”

“She’s not wrong.” Red said as she collected in the cards. She had been made the dealer after Twilight pointed out the Veronica could stack the decks if she ended having a losing streak. This of course, was after red had asked if she herself could play, which was answered by a resounding no from Willow and veronica. “Anyway, another game?”

“NO!” shouted Willow, Veronica and Daniels at the same time.

“I think I have enough of their caps for now.” Twilight laughed.

Red got up from the chair that she had pulled over to the side of the table and made her way over to the fridge. She pulled out a bottle of Sarsaparilla for everyone and handed them out.

“No blood bag?” Veronica asked, looking at Twilight who was taking a sip from her bottle.

“I’ve got to have other drinks to survive you know.” She said with a grin. “Thanks to my alicorn biology I can drink blood in somewhat small enough quantities, but drinking it in excess will make me sick and I don’t fancy adding vomiting up blood to my list of new things I’ve done in this world.”

“Fair point.” Veronica conceded.

“Plus, I like a bit of variety.” Twilight added, a content smile adorning her face.

That lasted for about three seconds before a loud rapping on the hatch to the front of the truck jolted Twilight and caused her to spill her drink all over her coat. The hatch opened a tad and Spike poked his head through. He was about to say something but he noticed Twilight covered in Sarsaparilla, sending a murderous glare his way.

“Sorry” He apologised then turned to Red who was chuckling at Twilights state. “Red, Arcade wants you in the front.”

“I’m coming.” She nodded and moved past Spike.

As she entered the front of the truck she noticed Arcade was leaning his head forward and shifting his gaze between the road and the sky. He had a slightly nervous expression on his face as he slowed down the truck to a stop and set the handbrake, turning back to face Red as she shut the hatch.

“I need to know if that’s normal.” Arcade said, pointing his thumb out the window as he wiped a handkerchief on his forehead, Spike was nervously twiddling his claws from the other seat.

Red moved up to the window and peered out, a frown making its way onto her face almost instantly. The sky ahead was slowly shifting into a dark foreboding red with bolts of lightning jumping between the clouds and every now and then leaping down and out of sight behind the mountains.

“Yeah, that’s what we’re looking for.” Red said grimly.

“Okay, just wanted to know if we were driving into hell or that was just something we passed.” Arcade sighed and got the truck moving again. “Any idea how long from here it will be until we arrive at the Madre?” He asked Red.

“Well, those clouds filled the entire sky from every angle so it could be anywhere from an hour to three, but I would assume that we’ve got in-between that time.” Red said as she opened the hatch back up and left, followed by Spike who was quite shaken by the sight of the darkened sky.

“What’s the situation?” Willow asked as she finished helping Twilight get the sarsaparilla out of her coat.

“We’ll be arriving at the Madre in around about two hours.” Red answered.

“Anything we need to know about the place before we arrive?” Twilight asked.

“The air in the Madre is thick with a smog that, in all the terminals and holotapes I found, is referred to as The Cloud.” Red bent down and began rummaging through the shelfs under her workshop until she pulled out a jar of dark red dust and set it down on the table. “This is the residue of The Cloud, often found on the walls and floor around the most concentrated pockets of the stuff. The Cloud and its residue will cause serious chemical burns and will corrode any weapons and armour we have, which is why I’d suggest we bring plenty of stimpaks and other medical supplies.”

Twilight looked back at herself and her lack of armour before looking back up at Red with her heavy duster. She fidgeted nervously on her hooves and then trotted up to Red and tapped her on the leg with her hoof.

“Um Red, will me and Spike get any armour, I would rather get as few chemical burns as possible.” She said with a nervous giggle.

Red stared blankly at Twilight for a moment before she held up a finger, turned around, walked up to the back door of the truck, pulled her head back and began slamming it into the door while shouting “stupid” over and over again. Willow sighed and got up out of her chair and walked up to Red before grabbing the back of her ponytail and pulling just as she was about to slam her head into the door. This had the effect of causing Red to yelp and stumble back, which in turn caused her to fall flat on her back with a frowning Willow looking down at her.

“What have I told you about doing that? You’ll damage the door.” She then offered a hand out to the floored woman which Red accepted.

“Sorry, I just can’t believe I hadn’t thought of getting these two armour yet.” She said, rubbing her forehead. She walked up to her lockers and began sifting through the hung up outfits that lined the inside of them. “Ah-ha!” She suddenly exclaimed with a smile as she pulled out a dark grey full body suit that had armour plates along the chest, abdomen, forearms, back and knees. There was a set of tubes connected to the collar of the suit that looked as if it was for use with a rebreather and a few pouches around the waist line.

“That’s a bit ironic don’t you think?” Willow said once she had seen the outfit that Red had pulled out.

“It’s good armour, it doesn’t matter where it came from.” Red defended as she pulled a toolbox and sewing kit from her workbench and a notebook from the shelf above the table and sat down in front of the workbench. She grabbed a tape measure from the sewing kit and flipped through her notebook until she found a clear page. “I’ll need to measure your proportions Twilight, so if you could stand as still as possible please.”

Twilight straightened out her posture and stood stock still as Red began going over her with the measuring tape, her eyes tracking Reds movements as much as they could. “What’s so ironic about me getting this suit?” she asked as Red looped the tape around her front fetlock.

“I got this suit on my previous visit to The Madre, and it served me very well for a good long while afterwards as well.” She checked the measurement and wrote it down on her notepad. “I don’t think I’ll be able to wear it again after I’ve finished these alterations though.” She brought the tape over Twilights back and pulled the end under her belly. “Thirty two waist.” She said to herself.

“Hey!” Twilight yelled, blushing madly. “I’m not that fat… am I?”

“The measurements don’t lie.” Red smirked. “What’s the average mare’s waistline in Equestria?”

Twilight looked down mumbled, “Twenty six inches.” Her face was beet red and Spike was trying to hold back his snickers at his mother’s plight. “Stop laughing mister, or I’m going to tell them about your gem eating habits.” Spike immediately blanched and shook his head. “That’s what I thought.” Twilight harrumphed and turned her head back to facing straight.

“This is going to be the hard bit.” Red said as she began measuring Twilights neck. “I have no idea how I’m going to cover this.”

“What about sewing some leather around the collar of the outfit?” Spike suggested as he pointed out the area on the suit. “You could let out a fair bit of the neck seem and sew some leather onto the end, bringing it up to just under here.” He indicated to just under Twilights jaw with his claw.

“Leather won’t be enough armour on its own though, and that area’s got to be flexible, right?” Red argued, moving Twilights head and neck to show her point.

“Do you have anything flexible and strong that can serve as an armour layer between two sheets of leather, similar to an insulating sheet?” he asked as he held two pieces of leather. Red thought for a second before looking through her tool shelf, pulling out a roll of a woven material that possessed a black sheen to it.

“Carbon fibre weave might do the trick, you think you get me a few sheets done so I can cut it out once I’ve got Twilights measurement s done?” She asked, handing the roll to Spike.

“No problem, I’ve done a lot of sewing before and this shouldn’t be too hard.” He took the roll and a sewing kit.

“You’ll need a special needle to work with carbon fibre, here.” Red handed Spike a thin long blue needle that, despite its thinness, was unable to bend. “The easiest way of doing it will be to sandwich the carbon fibre inside the leather in smaller squares and sew around the squares to keep them in place, only sewing though the carbon fibre in the middle of each square.”

“What’s so special about this needle?” Spike asked as he looked it over in his claws.

“It’s what’s called Saturnite, a space-age, ceramic-like alloy developed in the Big Empty.” Red explained, putting away her toolbox and grabbing a pair of scissors of a similar make to the needle from the sewing kit. “The stuff is insanely strong and can retain heat for a long time, making it perfect for heavy duty armour work. I found it works really well when working on polymers as the heat allows you to pierce it easily.”

“Doesn’t it burn the thread?” Spike asked.

“It hardly distributes the heat around the needle, basically meaning only the area you heat will remain heated.” She said, “I think it was so that it could be used for the power fists and cutlery people know them for, so you didn’t burn yourself holding them.”

“That’s cool.” Spike said, getting to work heating the needle with his breath. “Ever thought about using it as a weapon?” He said looking up at Red after the tip of the needle was glowing wit heat.

“They’re pretty hard to come by.” Red shrugged, “Plus, I don’t think there would be much of an opportunity to use it for that purpose.”

“I’m sure if the opportunity presented itself, you wouldn’t hesitate to use it in that way.” Willow said from the seat next to them.

“Probably” Red admitted.

By the time the Madre itself as in view, Red and Spike had finished altering the suit and they were now fitting it on Twilight.

“And I just zip it up back here… and done!” Red said with a flourish, holding out her arms to Twilight. The alicorn examined herself in a full body mirror that Red had pulled out from behind the cabinet.

“Wow.” Spike said as he looked at his mother all suited up. The body suit had been altered to fit her frame and bend on her unguligrade legs. The gloves had been removed completely so that Twilight’s hooves where free to grip surfaces and pick up objects. The chest plate that had once been the main protection from the front had been cut down the middle and was now sitting on either side of Twilights barrel, offering protection from the sides. The back plate had been moved to cover her belly as her wings needed to be free on her back. Each of the arm and leg plates had been fitted onto her legs in some manner, covering her forelegs and cannons so as to avoid limb injuries that could cripple her. Lastly, the leather-carbon weave neck coverage had been fitted snuggly and had suitable give to allow Twilight a full range of movement with her head and neck.

“It’s very comfy as well.” Twilight noted, contracting and extending each of her legs and flexing her wings that poked through two small holes on the top of the suit. “Doesn’t feel restrictive at all and the material isn’t uncomfortable in the least.”

“The assassin suit was meant to be worn for long periods of time, so it made sense to make the suit comfortable so the occupant wouldn’t want to take it off during a mission.” Red explained as she began putting away her sewing kits and toolboxes.

“Aren’t I getting any armour?” Spike asked as he watched Red clean up.

“I have an armour in mind for you to wear but it’s back at the Lucky 38. I believe your scales should suffice until then.” Red finished tidying up and got up to check on Arcade. She opened the hatch to see Arcade driving through roads with villas lined up on either side. “You should have told me we were at the Madre.” She said, startling Arcade.

“Well we haven’t reached this fountain you mentioned yet, so I thought it’d be best to let you get on with your armour making back there until I spotted any signs of civilization.” He said back after he had calmed down. “Speaking of which.” He pointed towards a gate at the end of the street which had been covered in metal plates and had spotlights pointing down at it from the roofs on either side of the road. Also on the rooves where people dressed in heavy looking armour that looked cobbled together from Sierra Madre Security armour and the suits that the ghost people wore, give or take a few pieces of other clothing and armour. Two of the men were on top of a walkway built atop the gate, wielding what looked to be a marksman carbine and a light machine gun. On the roof to the right of the gate was a small platform built out of wooden planks and corrugated iron that had a table and set of chairs on it where a few more men were seated. As the truck neared the gate, the two men on the walkway aimed their guns down at the truck and the rest of the men got up from their seats. One of the men, a grey haired man with a gauss rifle on his back and suit of what looked like salvaged power armour on walked onto the walkway.

“Stop a few meters away and let me handle it.” Red said as she turned back and climbed through the hatch.

“We arrived?” Veronica asked as Red started gearing up and grabbing a few things.

“Yeah, you guys stay back here while I go sort this out.” Red finished grabbing her stuff and made her way to the door of the truck. “This shouldn’t take too long.” Once she had climbed out and had shut the door, Red slowly walked round to the front of the truck, her hands to the sides of her head. The man in the salvaged power armour looked down at her from the walkway with a serious look on his face.

“What are you ‘ere for?” He asked in a gruff voice.

“Return visit.” Red said with a smirk as she lowered her hands to her sides. The man scowled and looked Red up and down, scrutinizing her for a few seconds.

“I ain’t seen you ‘ere before.” He said, his tone not getting any friendlier.

“I was here long before you guys even got here, at the time everyone thought this place was a legend.” Red calmly began rifling through her backpack before pulling out a small gold chip in flipping it up to the man. He caught it deftly and examined it closely before tossing it back to Red.

“You could’a picked that up from one o’ the traders, don’t mean nothin’” He crossed his arms at Red and frowned. Red pulled a whiskey bottle filled with a disgusting brown substance with a label that read “Sierra Madre Martini” on it.

“How about this?” She said, chucking the bottle up to the man. He opened the lid of the bottle and sniffed the contents, recoiling as the pungent odor reached his nose.

“That’s one o’ Dean’s martinis alright.” The man screwed the cap of the bottle and turned to one of the men who was on the roof. “Go fetch that ghoul bastard and tell ‘im there’s someone who says they know ‘im.”

After about a minute, the man returned with a ghoul dressed in a suit with a white bow tie. He took one look at Red standing in front of the truck and smiled a very wide smile. “Of all the people who I thought it might be, you were the one who I was hoping to see the most. How’s life been treating you my dear?”

“You now, same old same old.” Red smirked up at the old ghoul. “How about you Dean, I see you finally got some company?”

“It’s a lot more lively now that I’ve got someone to talk to again, I did miss our time together you know, even if the circumstances could have been better.” They both shared a chuckle before Dean held up his hand and pulled out a revolver from his pocket. “Before I forget, I want to return this to you.” He dropped the revolver into red outstretched hand, and then turned back to the Man in the power armour. “Its fine, you can let them in.” The man nodded and gestured down to the other side of the gate.

“Thanks, I’ll go tell the others to bring the truck in.” Red said as she began walking back to the truck, giving Arcade a thumbs up through the window.

“Who else you got in there?” Dean asked as Arcade began driving the truck through the now open gate.

“My fiancé, a follower of the apocalypse, an ex-brotherhood of steel member, an NCR soldier, a dragon and a pretty purple pony princess.” Red listed off, smirking at Deans confused face.

“Well then, best get them in then.” He said after a while, “Besides, you’ve yet to see what’s changed.” After Dean said that, he walked back down to the plaza, red and the truck following through the gate shortly after.

Author's Note

The longest wait for a chapter... *sigh*. Life got in the way on a scale beyond what I was used to. Both of my grandmothers ended up in hospital, one due to a stroke and the other from a sodium deficiency. Not only that, but the daughter of my parents friends was killed in a car accident and the funeral planning has taken up a lot of mine and my family's time.

Moving on from more morbid subjects, the next chapter should be easier for me to write anyway since I've had this one in the works for a while now. Plus, I'm thinking on starting another story as a sort of side project. Not related to this story at all, but it would be one of the "Ponies listen to Human music" stories. Original I know, but I'm planning on taking requests for songs after the first few chapters are out.

Mods used:

Tribal T-45d Power Armor
Shifting Shadows - 2k Assassin and Stealth Suit Retextures

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