Fallout Equestria - Prototype: Daybreak

Chapters

Chapter 1: Introductions
Chapter 2: A New Life
Chapter 3: Learning the Ropes
Chapter 4: Hoofington Bound
Chapter 5: A Familiar Face
Chapter 6: Catching Up
Chapter 7: Helping the Locals
Chapter 8: Finding a Lead
Chapter 9: Following the Trail
Chapter 10: Preparation
Chapter 11: Storming the Tower
Chapter 12: A New Destination
Chapter 13: Leaving The Hoof

Chapter 1: Introductions

The one and only! Why, you heard of me?

<-=======ooO Ooo=======->

I suppose I should start this off by introducing myself. "Welcome to the memory of field test #1 for the Dreamscape and Memory Recorder. I am it's creator, Hotshot. As a quick heads up, this recording won't be anything but me talking and preforming certain tasks to make sure this device records all sounds and visuals properly, so if you are here looking for something of signigance you should search for a different file. With that said, trial one starting now. Ahem, I am the son of Sentinel and Autumn Breeze. We live in a small village near Neighvarro. My mother is a teacher and my father is an officer in the GPE. He is also my inspiration of joining the Enclave myself. I have green eyes, a purple coat, and dull yellow mane. However if all goes well I didn't need to have said that last bit. Then again you might possibly already know of me, but whether it's because of praise for this invention or as a difficult-to-work-with gunsmith depends on if the Council decides to be cooperative. If any of you board members or whatever are viewing this, back off. You're not helping here."

At least the Enclave is being competent practically everywhere else. As terrible as it might have been to do, we made the right choice by keeping the infection, the disease afflicting everypony that lives on the surface and turns them into bloodthirsty and insane savages, contained by the cloud layer. Sure keeping the sun's rays from getting to the surface is destroying any chance of plant life down there but at the same time the less plants their are for the contaminated to eat, the more of the contaminated that will die and make the world safer. Still hard to believe there aren't any ponies without the sickness down there anymore. Maybe a few of them found somewhere safe to live within the Everfree forest or somewhere like that. However "safe" isn't really a good way to describe that dreadful forest. Me and some other newbies came across leaves with teeth in there during our first patrol! LEAVES WITH FREAKING TEETH! Just how messed up is the wasteland below our cloud layer? And why was that forest where our "test flight" took place? If it wasn't for the one Sargent there to watch us I would think they were trying to kill us off.

Upon realizing that I had been silent for a good minute lost in thought, I continued.

"I am an only child, but I do have a cousin named Lily. She was always like a little sister to me, and I guess in turn I was like an older brother to her. Her family recently moved to Thunderhead so we rarely get to see each other anymore." I think that last time I saw here she told me that she had signed up to be a field medic for a group called the Volunteer Corps or something like that.

"Alright, I think that's about all for now."

End Transmission
...
Invalid Command

"Uh..."

Log Off
...
Invalid Command

"Shoot, how do I turn this thing off?"

Deactivate
...
Invalid Command

"Ugh...How about this?"

Memory Over
...
Ending Recording

Finally. I really need to change that when I get back

Ending in 3...2...1

<-=======ooO Ooo=======->

Upon waking up I removed the mechanical object atop my head and looked around. "Okay first things first, subject check." I looked over at the first box on a checklist posted on a wall.

Post Experiment Test Subject Checklist

#1: Five Senses

I looked around, ran my hoof through my mane, took a wif of the room I was in, and trotted in place very loudly at the same time. "All senses functioning."

#2: Flight

A slight breeze started as I took off and hovered for a few seconds before landing. "Wings still attached and working."

#3: Coat and Mane/Tail Color

I first checked my foreleg and then proceeded to look back at my tail. "No change there."

#4: Cutie Mark

I looked at my cutie mark seeing the same three sparkling gears that are always there. "Same as always." While I had always been decent at tinkering almost anything made of metal to being better modified for the pony whom it will be used by, it wasn't until I had achieved an advancement in Enclave technology through my tinkering that I realized it was my talent. This advancement was a way to make gem-powered weapons almost twice as energy efficient, easily maintained, and accurate by simply changing how they were put together. With the large number of standard guns in circulation however, not many have been able to benefit from my work. As far as I know the only pegasi who were authorized to receive weapons with this specific upgrade are high ranking enclave officers, my father, and I. The council keeps telling me that once I reveal to them how to do modification themselves it will be put into common distribution, along with many job opportunities and perks for me. But something tells me that they won't give them out for a reasonable price to common soldiers. So until that changes I'll stick to upgrading ponies' guns myself for a few bits, an even trade... even caps really as long as it's worth something.

Well, time to move on to the next list. I looked over to a checklist set next to the previous one.

Post Experiment Prototype Checklist

#1: Test Subject Intact

This one depends on the purpose of the device in order to check it off. But in this case with me being the test subject, thankfully I can check it off considering the fact that I was not in a million pieces.

#2: Prototype Intact

I looked back towards the strange mechanical object I had removed from atop my head earlier. The object in question looked similar to a soldier's helmet if you removed to outer part that , you know, stopped bullets and the such. Oh, and I should probably mention that it had a multitude of wires going everywhere across the outside of it. "I'll make it look nice once I get it working" is what I keep telling myself, not that I necessarily trust myself enough to actually follow through with the promise until someone else brings it up. A friend of mine who works on vertibucks up in Neighvarro has a motto of "Functionality before personality." which is something I've taken to heart. Sure, his employers don't quite agree with him but still, it's the thought that counts. What was I doing again? Oh right, prototype not blown up. Check.

#3: No Dangerous Beeping

There was in fact no beeping whatsoever since the machine was turned off. Another thing off the list. Perhaps there should be something to display the subject's condition while in use for anypony on the outside. Maybe a green and red LED or something. Hmn, thoughts for later.

I turned on my cloud terminal and began typing. "Okay, post-experiment check complete. Now to change the exit code word on the D.M.R. Maybe something like deacti- Knock, Knock, Knock -vate. Ugh. It's unlocked!"

The door opened and upon entering an all too familiar voice said, "Hello Corporal Hotshot, the council has sent me to ask if you've reconsidered their offer." As I turned my head to reply my suspicions on who the speaker was were confirmed. Standing before me was a middle-aged stallion wearing a standard Enclave officer uniform. His coat was dark brown and had a mane with two different shades of green, making him look like an evergreen when he stood still. Not that I had ever seen an evergreen tree how it should be myself, but he seemed to match the description somepony gave me. Tall, boring, just sits there. His cutie mark is similar to a custom weapon of his that he calls the Bunker Buster. Despite it's name, the most Bunker Buster would do to a building is make a pony-sized hole after three shots. Nothing to sneeze at, but not as impressive as he makes it out to be. Not that you could see it while he was wearing the uniform.

"Hello Lieutenant Tree Fall, and my answer is still no. Also, please close the door behind you."

"Is there any reason why?"

"Yeah, when door is open for to long it gets a bit drafty in here. Really breaks my concentration." I swear that I could hear him rolling his eyes. After I heard the sound of my door closing I continued. "The council already knows my demands and they haven't been met yet."

"How do you expect us to prove that they will be met right now? This is something we can only prove after the deal is made."

"You could try telling the entirety of the Enclave military that they will be receiving weapon upgrades before I sign the contract. That way you won't only have me upset if you go back on it but all of the Enclave. Also tell them it will be free."

"We don't have the resources to make that kind of equipment for free. Not to mention that you yourself charge to upgrade your clients weapons."

"Two things. One, my income from the Enclave military has mysteriously gone down recently," I gave him a hard stare before continuing. "because of this I've had to find other ways to make a living. Two, I don't charge for the upgrade itself, I charge for any additional modifications a client may desire. You on the other hoof, can easily pay for the resources with all the tax money the government has. That's what tax is for right? Paying for anything the government does for the public."

"You know we can always reverse engineer whatever you changed to our personal weapons you've already upgraded. Why turn down an offer that will benefit you?"

"Ha! If your engineers could figure it out you wouldn't be here making this offer. Even if they did unlock that secret it wouldn't help. I may have made your guns better, but that isn't the same upgrade that I've been giving out." They also wouldn't figure out that their weapons would break apart from any powerful impact. A bullet, a kick, even dropping the darn thing. Course I wasn't going to tell him that part.

His wings flared up in anger, "You just admitted to disobeying orders, I can have you cour-"

"No, I didn't. My orders were to upgrade the weapons of my superiors. The nature of said upgrade was never specified. Did you really think I was stupid enough to give out the very thing you were asking for? Now I have some work to do so I'm going to have to ask you to leave." I turned back to my terminal and resumed typing, hearing hoofsteps getting further away. "This isn't over." was all I heard before the door slammed shut.

"Finally, back to more important matters. Oooh, maybe end sequence would make a good exit code. I should probably make an entrance password system for any memories that are intended for a select few ponies. How long was I in there anyway?" I pulled up the D.M.R database and opened the usage records. "Huh, about four minutes. At least it didn't put me in a year long coma or anything." Alright, let's play Field Test #1 and see how it looks on the outside. I walked over to the D.M.R and placed it atop my head. While holding a button on the bottom of the device I said, "Activate."

<-=======ooO Ooo=======->

I found myself in the middle of an empty white void. "Need to add a structure of some kind. This isn't helpful at all."

Play Field Test #1
…
Command Not Authorized For User

"Oh, need to go fix that."

Deactivate
…
Ending Session

At least that's not a problem anymore.

Ending in 3…2…1

<-=======ooO Ooo=======->

"Okay, probably should have checked that earlier. No problem. Just need to give myself authority." I started to walk back to my terminal, completely forgetting that they D.M.R was still on my head and it's cord doesn't reach forever, causing me to fall over backwards. I removed the device and was about to activate the terminal when an alarm sounded. Beep...Beep Beep...Beep I sighed, "Patrol duty already? Fantastic." I shut off everything in my workshop and left for the town square where I was supposed to receive my orders for the week.

The flight there was dull and uneventful so I won't bore you with the details. As I flew closer I began to see the same layered hub of Gust. Yeah, I think it's a stupid name for a city too. The square itself is divided into different platforms in one huge stack. Each platform separated by what type of businesses or activities were on each floor. For example, the market floor would be where you go to get groceries while on the entertainment floor are all the stadiums, theaters, and the such. I reached the plaza and flew over to the military platform. Without stopping I went to the lockers to put my personally-modified power armor on excluding my helmet. After a few minutes of making sure I had locked everything in correctly I trotted back outside to get my assignment schedule for this week. Running the handout desk today was a yellow pegasus mare with a reddish-orange mane which made her seem just bright and warm. She also had very stunning eyes that looked to be an actual sunset. She looked a little young to be an officer so I guess she was a trainee or something. She did seem awfully nervous as well. No, I don't know what her cutie mark was because I can't see through a desk.

"Uhh...um...y-your name, rank and designation p-please." What did she think I was gonna do, bite her?

"Hotshot, Corporal, 521637." She began quickly typing on a terminal next to her and within a minute she handed me my new schedule. "Thanks, have a nice day." I began walking away.

"U-um...you too." For her sake I hope she isn't in the communication branch.

Okay, let's see what part of the Neighvarro region I get to fl-… uhh... this can't be right. My schedule had only one patrol assigned to me this week and it was today. I walked back to the desk just as the mare from before had finished helping another pegasus. She looked almost afraid when she saw me coming back.

"Oh, no. D-did I give you the wrong one?

"I'm not sure. Could you check my schedule again and read when I have patrols this week?"

"Y-yes sir." Sir? "Here it is." Her eyes went across the screen for a few seconds. "It says you only have one, which is today."

"Hmm...that's unusual."

"M-maybe they're giving you a few days off."

"Possibly." Not really since my break isn't for another two months, but I didn't want to argue her. "Well, sorry to be a bother. Good bye."

"Good bye."

As I walked away I looked down at the schedule. According to it, I was due in an hour at the platform to patrol the Ponyville area with somepony else. What ever works I guess, time to get some food. I flew over to the cafeteria and had a quick meal before returning to the lockers to get the rest of my equipment on. First came my battle saddle which was equipped with my two personally-modified energy rifles. Then I put on my helmet, hearing the familiar whir as everything turned on. I walked outside seeing ponies gathered at the pre-mission briefing building who were most likely about to start a training session. "Still ten minutes left." I flew over to a nearby cloud and sat down, waiting for whoever my partner was to show up. Five minutes passed before another pony arrived. As he got closer, to my dismay, I recognized the weapon on his back. It was the Bunker Buster, which could only mean one thing.

"Hello Hotshot." Ugh, Tree Fall.

"Let's just get going."

"Eager to leave?"

"Eager to get this over with."

"Bad day?"

"Is now." Before he could reply I took off towards Ponyville. He almost immediately followed behind me. Tree Fall thankfully was silent up until about the half-way point.

"I highly recommend that you take the council's offer."

"Have they told everypony that they will be receiving free weapon upgrades yet?"

"No."

"Then they already know my answer. Why do you continue to waste my time with this?" At this time I began to hover with Tree Fall floating in front of me.

"I am ordered to return with your respon-"

"Oh they want a response? How 'bout this? Leave me alone until you have something important. There, that work?"

"You are being incredibly difficult."

"And you are being incredibly annoying."

"Don't force me to escalate matters."

"What are you gonna do? Break into a civilian's home and seize private property?!"

"This is your last chance."

"Screw you! Sir!"

"Very well, have it your way." At that exact moment I realized that he hadn't let me out of Bunker Buster's sights once this entire argument. Even worse, I heard it charging. The gears in my head began turning.

"Son of a-" Bang. All my senses were overwhelmed by intense pain. Thankfully Tree Fall had hit one of the denser parts of my chest armor. So no hole in my chest, but damn did it hurt. The ringing in my ears wasn't helped by all the alarms in my helmet telling me essentially that everything was broken. Then I noticed that I was falling. I started flapping my wings but almost immediately was overwhelmed by even more pain. As I got rapidly closer to meeting the ground a thought occurred to me. I spread my wings wide as I could and slowed down ever so slightly. Okay that won't work, next plan. And would my helmet please stop beeping at me! I know I'm going to crash, now do something helpful! "Signal distress beacon!"
...
Error: Communications System Disabled

Right, everything is broken. Need to do something fast. Looking around at the surface speeding towards me and my doom, I saw a slanted rock formation that would easily redirect me from straight down to as if I had fallen down some very tall stairs. "Ooh, this is gonna suck." I angled myself to were I was heading straight for the rocks, making sure to be ready to twist myself so that my side would take most of the impact. Then I met said rock formation in full force and toppled down the whole thing. Crashing onto the ground brought another sharp pain across my body. I would have laughed at how I had just survived such a fall but at the moment I was a bit preoccupied by the ache everywhere. Looking up I had a good view of Tree Fall heading back to Gust. "Yeah! You better... run. You... wouldn't have... stood... a cha-" Thud

New Temporary Perk! Presumed Dead: Any ponies that were out for your head before are no longer giving chase (Lose this perk once word gets out that you're still alive).

New Perk! Intense Physical Training Level 1: +2 DT, -1 Damage from moving objects including yourself. Weapon projectiles don't count for this perk.

Author's Note

Okay, I'd like to start this off by saying thank you for checking out this story and a great big thank you to Kkat for creating this world for me to play in. I hope I was able to entertain you guys to some degree and I look forward to bringing more chapters to you [hopefully] soon.

Chapter 2: A New Life

Guess you'll just have to find a new line of work that doesn't match your names quite so... perfectly.

Oww, everything hurts. What happened? I opened my eyes to the wasteland around me. Suddenly everything came rushing back to me. Oh yeah, Tree Fall is a jerk and I fell out of the sky. How could I forget? A message was flashing in front of my eyes saying Armor critically damaged. Suggest immediate repairs. Then my sense of hearing returned and I got to hear the blasting alarm that went with the message. Great. I pulled myself up and almost fell back down immediately out of the flaring pain from the effort.

Injecting Med-X. 0 Dose(s) Remaining

What? I had ten ready to go at all times. How did I run out so quickly? My gaze drifted over to the rock pile I had fallen down. "Oh. Right. That." A sweet, soothing feeling came over me as the Med-X took effect, thankful for the armor's automated medical procedures. I took an experimental step forward. Aside from the dull ache everywhere telling me to go back to sleep, nothing happened. I took another step. Nothing. Good. Now time to find some shelter. I took a good look at my surroundings. Just rocks. Wait, no. That's not a rock. The giant formation I had fallen down earlier looked rather odd now that I was looking at it. Everywhere else the rocks were rigid and random. This one however, had a completely flat wall. I walked over to said wall speculating, "If my suspicions are correct." Knok Knok Knok Hollow. "So…what's here?" I saw an oddly placed stone sticking out the wall further to my left. "I wonder." I pushed in and, Click. Whirrr. huzza, an entrance appeared. Naturally, I walked right in with the door closing behind me. Before I had the chance to panic that I couldn't see some electric lights came on, illuminating a hallway with stairs at the end. I could hear more systems activating in the next room. A plaque on the wall read, M.O.A Hidden Warehouse #1. Hidden? #1? Must be something important here. Quite impressive that this facility still had power. A sudden ache all over my body reminded me that I was here for medical help. Maybe there's something further on. I went downstairs to find a fairly large room with several features. In the corner to my left I saw a door which probably led to an office. It also had a nameplate on it but I was too far away to read it at the moment. Right in font of me was a strange machine with a large cylinder-like thing in the middle of it. On my right there was a door that because of the toilet image I guessed was the restroom. In my head I heard my drill sergeant from basic training say something about medicine commonly being found restrooms on the surface so I went there without checking anything else in the room. What? I needed medical help. In the room I saw the yellow box with three pink butterflies that signaled the end of my increasingly more prominent ache. After a few kicks to the lock the box surrendered it's goods. One syringe of Med-X, one healing potion, and a washcloth. I quickly removed my helmet and drank the potion, feeling my wounds heal themselves and weakened body regain strength. With nothing left to help me there I grabbed the Med-X and went back to the main room, heading towards the office. As I got closer I could read who this room belonged to. Overseer's Office Well isn't that helpful? The door was unlocked and I just walked right in. What I found wasn't pleasant. Before me I saw a desk with a pony skeleton sitting in a chair behind it. Strangely, the terminal next to it was still logged in. I cautiously walked towards the terminal, seeing another door that probably led to a bedroom on my way. On the screen I saw that an audio file was pulled up. Seeing nothing in the room that might attack me, unless corpses could irrationally come to life, I pressed play.

A dry, hoarse voice started speaking. "Journal entry #365. Been managing this glorified warehouse for a year now. Isn't that special huh?" The speaker began coughing for a while. After a short pause he resumed. "Been a week since the world blew up. Not going up there with all the radiation lingering about. To bad they didn't seal this place up a bit better. A whole two months since the last food delivery. Don't think I'm going to make it much lo-" He went into another coughing fit, this time sounding worse than before. He paused again before speaking. "If anypony who cares finds this, I was able to preserve the prototype at this location. As far as I can tell, it will be in mint condition until you open it's container. Not sure what the overseer at warehouse #2 did with his. Just remember this. I died staying loyal to Rainbow Dash and doing my job. Don't you dare let it go to waste. The access code will be displayed at the end of this message." Another pause. "Good bye." The audio file was replaced on screen by three simple little words. Defend the Innocent

"Don't worry. I won't let you down." I left the room and walked over to the strange cylindrical case. I noticed a terminal next to it.

Input Access Code

Defend the Innocent
...
Be Their Shield
...
Unsealing Daybreak Armor

Armor? With a hiss the front of the case began to open revealing what at first looked like normal Enclave power armor with a dull yellow paint job. That is until I looked closer at it's impressive upgrades. Firstly, the armor was clearly made of a stronger material and pieced together differently than normal power armor, appearing more Steel Rangerish than standard pegasus power armor. It also had a built-in battle saddle equipped with what looked like a grenade launcher on one side and a rocket launcher on the other. It even had blades attached to the wings. But undoubtedly most impressive of all, there was an energy weapon on each foreleg oriented to hit where the leg is pointing. From the look of the barrel I guessed that they were folded in so that the one wearing the suit can actually walk. Are they supposed to manually be folded into place? Wouldn't exactly be the most convenient setup during a firefight. The helmet fully covered the mouth and seemed to have a built in gas filter. Oddly enough, the visor was one consistent strip again like pre-war Steel Ranger armor rather than the two lenses of the Enclave. Inscribed on the flank where a cutie mark would be was Daybreak. I removed the battered and broken suit I was wearing and carefully put on the prototype armor. When I put the helmet on the H.U.D automatically came alive with a copper-like glow. I instantly recognized the E.F.S and compass, but there was one other tab in the bottom right corner. A message popped up in the middle of my vision.

Launch Tutorial? Y/N

Sure I guess.

Yes
...
Launching Tutorial

Wait, how'd it do that? I didn't even say anything yet.

Launching in 3...2...1

<-=======ooO Ooo=======->

I was in an empty white void. Wait, what?! I thought I had created dreamscape access without memory orbs. Did this thing have a built in Recollecter or something? A figure came into existence in front of me. If it wasn't for the pure shock of who she was, I would have immediately begun questioning her. Standing before me, was the legendary Rainbow Dash herself.

"Hello recruit. As you should already know I am Rainbow Dash, leader of both the Ministry of Awesome and the Shadowbolts. Do not panic. This is a one time embedded memory orb program that will delete itself once this is over and put you back in the real world." What? Since when could they do that? "If you are seeing this it means that you have been chosen to wield the Daybreak armor, our most powerful and successful military project. As per my order, this recording is the only source in Equestria to receive instruction on how to use it to it's full potential. So pay attention. This armor is equipped with everything that is on a standard suit of power armor with some additional programs. For starters, we were able to add in an upgraded Stable-Tec Assisted Targeting Spell, a program that slows your perception of time almost to a stand-still and allows the user to target anything in sight and have a percentage displayed indicating your chance of hitting a targeted area. This can be narrowed down to specific body parts if needed. Upon coming out of S.A.T.S. your body automatically carries out whatever command you had issued. Because of the unique arsenal of Daybreak we decided to upgrade it to where you can target multiple hostiles with multiple weapons simultaneously. Speaking of Daybreak's payload, this armor comes embedded with one 5-round Rocket Launcher on your right side, one 40mm Grenade Launcher on your left, an upgraded stinger tail with shock capabilities, two shock wing-blades, one Trotts 2000 LRMBR on your right leg, and one Tri-beam Magical Rifle on your left leg." Oh this is going to be fun. "Thanks to the contribution of several highly talented unicorns, we have made it possible to where any and all of these can be used by mental commands. Simply commit to firing in your head with a certain weapon and your suit will take care of the rest." Guess that answers how the foreleg guns unfold too. Also, since when could they do that? "Just make sure you're aiming at what you want to hit as you won't have time to aim once you fire. For the weapons on your foreleg a cross-hairs will appear on your H.U.D indicating where you are aiming. While you are wearing this armor you will be known as Daybreak and nothing else. You will meet your partner Nightfall shortly." Nightfall? Wait, does that mean there's another super powered armor out there in the wasteland? "Good Luck."

"Wait no! I still have some more questions. Who is Nightfall?! Where do I find him?!" Rainbow Dash disintegrated before me. "No! Wait!"

<-=======ooO Ooo=======->

I was back in the warehouse. Ugh. Maybe there's some information on Nightfall back in the office. I entered the overseer's office with it looking the same as I had left it. Thankfully the terminal hadn't logged off while I was out. I never did well in dealing with passwords. After scrolling through the archives to before the world ended I started to find data files files that weren't journal entries. A message from the M.O.A caught my eye. I started to read through the document.

Dear current overseer,

Now that the prototype has arrived to your location you are to await the arrival of a chosen candidate. You will give the prototype to them and put them through the introduction program. Once they complete it, send them to the Hoofington Shadowbolt hideout. You will be reassigned once this is complete.

Sincerely, Rainbow Dash

Well this must be really important if Rainbow Dash herself sent this. No wonder the overseer stayed here. Really wish I knew his name. So, Hoofington. Well it's not like I have anywhere else to go. Going back to the Enclave is out of the question if they would have Tree Fall attack me. I'll probably be shot down again, this time by someone competent no doubt. But how do I find the Shadowbolt hideout? If it's as remote as this place it could take forever to find it. Maybe the armor has some info.

Locate Hoofington Shadowbolt Hideout

Huh, being able to just think in order to command this thing is going to take some getting used to.

Error: Signal Not Found

Signal not found? What, does it broadcast from the hideout so that you have to be near it and wearing the armor to find it? That's kind of brilliant actually. Hoofington it is then. I went up the stairs and back outside. Now, where is Hoofington from here?

Display Map
...
Displaying Map

The E.F.S. was replaced by a bird's eye view map of the local area. "Wow, this mental command stuff is pretty neat. Wonder how specific it can get."

Enlarge to Equestria; Highlight Hoofington
...
Enlarged; Highlighting Hoofington

The map now showed all of Equestria and with a highlighted area near the bottom of the map. Now that it was zoomed out I could see where I was in the world. According to the map I was about 10 miles outside of Ponyville. "Guess I'm heading south for the wint-" Clip, Clop Quickly I turned around to find something I never thought I would see in my life. Well I guess I didn't expect to ever see Rainbow Dash either but still. Standing in front of me was a zebra with a sword on his back! Zebras, the enemies of Equestria in a war that ended the world, and one of them was right in front of me! I got into a combat stance, my newly acquired grenade launcher pointed right at him. In hindsight I realized that I wasn't using my leg-guns that would be much more effective against an agile opponent, but it was to late to adjust. The instant I tried he would attack. I had to be ready. The zebra seemed unconcerned by my actions, and he reached into his saddlebags and pulled out...a chalkboard? But his sword is on his other side. What is he doing? He quickly wrote something on it and turned it around for me to see.

"Hi."

Well this was strange. I expected zebras to be crafty assassins and hostile towards ponies but this, this was a completely different direction. I checked my E.F.S to see if he had any conspirators waiting in ambush and found us to be alone, not only that but he was showing up as a friendly green dot. "Um...Hi. What are you doing here?" He quickly erased what was on the board and replaced it with something else.

"Traveling. Am I not allowed here?"

A zebra was asking permission for something? A zebra was just 'traveling'? Something must have changed since the war, this zebra wasn't at all like the lunatics that brought about the end of the world. "I uh...I don't have a problem with it." He erased and wrote something new.

"Ok. Good." I'm not sure if he was relived or unconcerned when 'saying' that. Hard to tell since he wasn't talking. Either way I relaxed my stance.

"Why are you using a chalkboard instead of talking?" I think you get the idea of what he did by now.

"Zebra curse. Can't speak at all." They can do that!? "My name is Azel. What's yours?"

I was about to answer with my real name before I stopped myself. I wasn't sure that I completely trusted him yet. What if he could mind control me by saying my name using some sort of dark zebra magic. Think of something, quick! "I'm...Daybreak." That should work.

"You're lying." How did he know? Strangely, he didn't pursue the matter but asked a different question instead. "What were you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"You were just standing there until I alerted you that I was here."

"I was about to leave for Hoofington." His ears perked up at that and for some reason that concerned me. "Why?"

"Can I come with you?" What?!

"Uh...why do you want to come with me? You seem like you could handle yourself around here with that sword of yours." I gestured to the cool-looking sword on his back.

"I'm not worried about that. I'm just not familiar with Equestria. Need a guide.

"I'm not sure you want me as your guide. I literally crashed on the surface from my home above the clouds not more than eight hours ago." I was guessing how long exactly I had been here but it got the point across. A flash of concern crossed his face before he composed himself.

"Something took you down in that armor?"

"No. I just got this." I tapped my chest. His look changed to confusion.

"From where?" Oops. I don't think he saw me leave the bunker. "In that rock you came out of?" Nevermind.

"Yes...there's nothing else in there...at all." He gave me a questioning stare. I matched it (at least as best as I could while wearing a helmet) and he decided to drop the subject.

"Still, it would be nice to have a pony with me. Not everypony waits before shooting a zebra." He had a point. Most of the Enclave blamed the zebras for everything. The canabalistic psychos down here probably had a similar opinion drilled into their insane minds like a chant

"Do you...hold hostility towards ponies?"

"Those alive today have nothing to do with the war. Any feuding between our races because of it now is pointless." Great, now I felt guilty for being so suspicious of him because he was a zebra.

"Then sure. You can come with me if you want. What are you doing in Hoofington anyway?"

"Heard there were some Proditors down there. Going to join them."

"Proditors?"

"Zebras that chose to no longer serve the Ceaser, the ruler of the Zebra Empire."

So Equestria has been reduced to lunatics and raiders constantly fighting with themselves, but the Zebra Empire is still partially intact. That seems unfair. "Why did you leave?" He didn't move for a few seconds.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Okay...uh...well, shall we get going?" He nodded. "Alright then." We began our journey south. After about two hours of walking we heard a young scream in the distance. With a single look between us, we raced off in the direction of the sound. I heard some voices on the other side of another large rock formation but they were to distorted to make out any words. I could tell that they weren't happy with each other based on the tone of their voices. I flew up and landed on the top of the formation, hearing some more shouting followed by an electric jolt and some sobbing. When I looked down at the scene bellow me I didn't like what I saw. Below where three ponies in what looked to be vintage Steel Ranger power armor that were forming a semi-circle with their backs to me. In front of them was an unconscious male unicorn, his shotgun on the ground in front of him, an earth pony mare whose glare could melt ice, and a sobbing filly behind her. Protect the innocent. Be their shield. Instantly I became determined that I would not let any harm come to those ponies. They could be some of the last civilized non-pegasi left. Azel was standing right beside me (how did he do that so fast) with a single word on his chalkboard.

"Plan?"

"Yeah, I'll get between the two groups and try to distract the armored thugs while you sneak around behind them. On my signal, I'll get the two on the sides while you ambush the one in the middle. That work?" He nodded and jumped back down. "Okay Hotshot, ready for your big debut in the wasteland?" I jumped off the formation and using my wings landed between the two sides, my back to the mare and her poor foal. My E.F.S instantly marked three hostile red dots in front of me and one green dot behind them getting closer. "What's going on here?" I asked them.

The one in the middle replied, "We are simply collecting the toll for passing through Steel Ranger territory." Steel Ranger territory? The Steel Rangers were remnants of some elite force from the war that had some obsession with technology, the closest thing the Enclave had considered as civilized down here. Aside from having a safe perimeter around bases and the like, without there being other civilized groups to complete with what reason would they care about territory? Was Enclave intel wrong about them? "You better back off if you know what's good for you." He revved his machine gun threateningly. The green dot was now five feet behind the middle Ranger and had stopped moving. To bad for him that the common E.F.S only worked on what's in front of you.

"Oh I don't think so. In fact...this ends NOW!" before they had any time to react I entered S.A.T.S; seeing the world slow to a standstill around me. Behind the middle Ranger I saw that Azel was already right behind him, his sword out and ready. Wait, was his sword glowing blue? Probably just S.A.T.S. analyzing the sword or something. Anyway, let's see how this works. I targeted the left Ranger with my grenade launcher while both my leg lasers were trained on the Ranger to my right, all weapons showing a 95% chance to hit. Just like Rainbow Dash said, as soon as I came out of S.A.T.S. my actions that followed were almost instinctive. I jumped to the left while turning to face the right Ranger. Simultaneously both weapons fired, three shots from Tri-Beam Rifle knocked into his head and a forth from the Trotts 2000 finally pierced the helmet through his visor. One red dot disappeared. At this point I was nearly parallel to the ground and my suit automatically fired a grenade, the weapon pointed right at the other Ranger from this position. I heard it explode and a Thump of a large object hitting the ground. To my left I heard an out of place discharge of electricity followed by a cry of pain. As I turned to face the left Ranger I caught a glimpse of how Azel was doing. He was in a pose suggesting he had just swung his sword while the middle Ranger was turning around to face him, machine gun starting to whir. Making my full rotation I saw the left Ranger on his side a few feet away from where the grenade had gone off. I aimed my leg lasers at him myself, seeing one x-shaped cross-hair and one +-shaped cross-hair appear on my HUD, and fired another volley at his neck then followed it up with a jab from my tail at a spot where the blasts had weakened. Another red dot disappeared. To my right I heard another out of place sound, this time being a Fwoosh, followed by a Clank. When I turned back to Azel to provide assistance, I saw him swinging for the Ranger's neck, somehow Azel must have cut clean through the Ranger's machine gun since most of the barrel was lying on the ground. Mysteriously, where the cut had happened was glowing orange as if it had been melted through. Mid-swing something unexpected happened. There was another Fwoosh and then his sword caught on FIRE! He seamlessly cut through the steel neck armor and the now exposed neck, leaving a momentary glow of molten steel on the suit just like the gun and a scorch mark on the small amount of skin I could see. The last red dot disappeared. Looking on in awe I stuttered, "H-How...What!?"

"My sword can channel both fire and lightning." Before I could reply he quickly added, "Zebra magic." They can do that!? Urgh, focus. You're here to help the mare and her foal. You can question Azel later. I turned to the pair. The mare, whose redish-brown mane and coat blended in with the rock she was in front of, was cautiously staring at me with hazel eyes. The filly on the other hoof, who had a light brown coat and a mane matching the mare's, looked both relieved we had come to help and amazed at both of our performances.

"You hurt?" The filly quickly shook her head, her purple eyes seeming to light up, while the mare slightly let her guard down and replied.

"We aren't. Can't say the same for Buckshot." She gestured towards the unconscious unicorn with a cloudy-white mane and brown coat. At the mention of Buckshot, the filly's face was overcome with concern as she stared up at her mother.

"Is daddy gunna be okay?" Instantly any hardness in the mare melted away as she looked down to comfort the kid.

"He will wake up in less than a hour, sweetie. Don't worry." She then looked back at us. "Thank you for jumping in to save us when you did. Few seconds longer and I would have done something stupid."

"Glad to help. What are you doing out here? Do you need an escort?"

She shook her head. "Just going to a new home. We're at the boundary of their 'territory' now so we shouldn't have anymore trouble with them." There was a pause before she added, "However, I guess we could use some help carrying Buckshot with us."

"Sure thing." I moved over to the unicorn and with the mare's help, got him onto my back. "Azel, keep on watch for any more Steel Rangers." He nodded understanding and started watching the surrounding terrain as we walked.

The mare came up next to me and in a hushed voice asked, "So...what's with the zebra?" Well wasn't that subtle?

"We both had a common location and mutual benefit. He wanted to have a pony travelling with him to deter others from being a bit trigger happy and I needed somepony who knew what dangers the wasteland held."

"Do you trust him?"

"After helping me save you without any gain for him, I think so."

"You're right, sorry. I haven't even asked you two your names. His is Azel if I heard you right. What's yours?"

"My name is Daybreak. You?"

"I'm Clay, my daughter's name is Sonnet. You've already met my husband Buckshot." As if summoned by the mention of her name, the little filly skipped in front of me.

"Hi! Your friend is reeaally quiet. Why doesn't he talk much? Oh, is he shy?"

"No, some other zebra put a curse on him that prevents him from being able to speak." The mare looked back at Azel suspiciously at that, making me realize that might not be the best information to give when she already didn't trust him. Before she could say anything the filly continued her interrogation.

"Then how does he talk to you?"

"He has a chalkboard that he writes on." Before the filly could fire another question, her mother took her turn.

"Why was he cursed?"

Well, already started digging this hole. Might as well clear this up. "Possibly as a punishment for leaving the zebra emp-"

"Where did he get that awesome sword?" She paused in thought for a second before pleading, "Mommy, can I pleeaase have one?"

"No."

"Pleeease?"

"I said no."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeease?"

"No means no."

"But why not?!"

"Swords can be very big and heavy, maybe when your older." Nice way of getting around the whole 'because you could get hurt' reason that most mothers, including my own, go for.

"Not even a little one?" She's using her sad eyes. Great, now I feel bad for not giving her a sword.

"Sonnet. No." How did she resist it? Before Sonnet could continue her quest for a cool looking sword, Buckshot began to stir on my back.

"Uhhh...What happened?"

"Daddy!" The filly jumped up on her father, accidentally knocking him off my back.

"Ohf. Hey it's good to see you too kiddo." He looked up and saw Clay. "Hey sweetie. Where are we? And what happened with the Steel Rangers?" Hearing the commotion, Azel made his way back to the group.

"We are just about at the edge of their territory. We would probably have been killed if it wasn't for these two." She gestured towards Azel and I. Buckshot turned around to see us and jumped back. Possibly due to the fact that a pegasus wearing intimidating power armor and a zebra had been standing right behind him.

"Ahem. Sorry about that. Thank you for protecting my family while I was out. Don't know what I'd do without them."

"No problem. Glad to have helped." Azel nodded in agreement behind me.

"Thank you for escorting us out as well. But now that we're at the edge and Buckshot's awake, we can make it the rest of the way."

"Where are you going?"

"We heard about a large amount of ponies going out to try and start building new settlements. We're on our way to go join them. Like I said, we aren't far now and the danger has passed. Again, thank you for your help with that." Buckshot answered.

"A large group of ponies? From where? I thought that it was a stroke of luck that I found somepony that could even speak."

The mare's questioning look returned. "What are you talking about? Sure we have raiders and the like, but there's plenty of us civilized folk across the wasteland. Look at Manehattan for example."

"Manehattan still has sane ponies?"

"Have you been living under a rock or something?" Buckshot asked.

Quite the opposite in reality but figuratively it was looking like it. "I've been... out here in the open spaces for a while I guess. Isolation must be getting to me or something." This combined with the Steel Rangers having territory that they compete others for goes against years of intel that the Enclave has been feeding pegasi up above. Aside from some special area near Thunderhead, it was stated that organized and non-hostile groups of ponies were non-existent on the surface. Surely I wasn't so lucky to have found both Daybreak and some of the last few real ponies on the surface, and according to Clay there's much more of them everywhere. This doesn't make any sense.

The couple gave me a concerned look, Clay reaching to tuck Sonnet closer to her. After a moment Buckshot coughed, "Ahem, well, we better get going before it gets too late for our little one here. Thanks again for the help and uh...hope to see you again sometime." Great, I thought that the first ponies I met down here would be nut-jobs that I'd have to take things slowly with, but it seems that those roles were reversed.

"Well uh... good bye then. And good luck to you all."

"You too! Oh daddy, I have to tell you what happened after you got knocked out." the filly exclaimed, bursting with excitement.

"I'd love to hear about it." The filly began going into detail about my arrival and the ambush we set. Eventually, they got to far enough away for us to hear them any more. I turned to Azel.

"Well, I think that was a good first day of travel. Don't you?"

Footnote - Level Up!

New Equipment! Daybreak Armor: DT +15, +5 to all intimidation checks. Other bonuses listed in inventory menu.

New Companion! Azel: A zebra skilled in acrobatics, hoof to hoof combat, and ambushes. Desires to join the Hoofington Proditors. He has also lost the ability to speak.

Skill Notes - Explosives Level 20, Guns Level 30

Author's Note

And the journey begins. A huge thanks to Kkat for the masterpiece that started it all. A huge thanks to everyone viewing, and an especially big shout out to Rolai Eckolo for the pointers in the first chapter. Hopefully by chapter 4 I will have my act together and you guys won't need to do any editing yourselves :twilightblush: . See you guys soon.

Chapter 3: Learning the Ropes

What do I do now? Is there a book about being a princess I should read?

After parting ways with Clay and her family, Azel and I had walked on for about an hour before stopping to make camp for the night. This 'camp' was a small cave in one of the bigger rock formations. We couldn't make a fire since there weren't any trees in the area, but luckily it was fairly warm outside. I took first watch.

"Your armor has a clock right?"

"Yeah. Don't worry Azel, I won't fall asleep on watch."

"Not what I'm worried about." What?

"Then what are you worried about? It's not like we're completely unarmed. We can handle anything from around here." I didn't know that for sure, but then again neither did he.

"Worried about you." Huh?

"What? Why? I thought you trusted me."

"Not worried about you betraying me. Worried about your health."

"My health? Have I been coughing or something?"

"You seem stiff and slowed. Are you injured under the armor?"

"No. I'm still a little sore from my crash but that's all. Maybe that's what you're seeing."

He gave me a thoughtful look for a few seconds. "Possibly. Try not to strain yourself. Just in case." He went inside the cave. I sat there alone with my thoughts. While I was sure he was wrong, I figured that I should check my vitals as a precaution.

Display User Vitals
…
Reading Vitals
…
Displaying Vitals

A window appeared on my HUD right below the E.F.S. showing the shape of a pony, specifically a pegasus. The torso, head, legs, and wings were all separated by a dash-line. My head and legs were outlined in green, which probably meant that they were healthy. What I was surprised to see, was that my wings were outlined in greenish-yellow and my torso in yellowish orange. It wasn't until then that I realized how shallow my breathing was. How much my chest ached. How hard it was to shuffle my wings without flinching. That fall must have been worse than I thought. But how? If I'm this injured after a healing potion I should have been in agony once I woke up after the crash. But that can't be the case since I woke up with a dull ache. 0 dose(s) left. Of course. Not all but one broke from the fall. Those that didn't break were used to help me stay asleep to recover. In fact...

Inject Med-X
…
Error: No Med-X Available

Yep. The only reason I was able to fight was a combination of my last Med-X I had put in the suit and adrenaline. How am I going to survive once the Med-X wears off? How long do I have anyway? A timer appeared in the vitals window.

00:00:30

Not enough. What do I do? There aren't any medical supplies around here. C'mon, think!

00:00:15

Maybe Azel has something. I need to tell him what's going on.

00:00:10

I was starting to feel strange. I tried to call out to Azel for help but all I could muster was a muted whisper. My breath was becoming even more shallow than before.

00:00:05

I was about to collapse, I could hardly stand. It felt as if what little strength I had left was slipping away by the second. My vision dimmed.

00:00:00

No!

Energy Siphoned. Applying to Wound

Huh...what? Suddenly, I felt magical energy flowing through me. My vision returned and my breathing became normal. A stiffness all over my body I hadn't noticed before began to evaporate. I was no longer tired. I felt more energized than ever before. In fact, I felt like I could take on the world. Like nothing could stop me.

Wound Restored to Healthy Condition. Deactivating Centaur Protocol

Deactivating? Centaur Protocol? Why wasn't this in the tutorial? It would have been nice to know that my suit can heal me! I'm getting answers right now!

Display Centaur Protocol
…
User Not Authorized

What? Was this armor already programmed to somepony? But Rainbow Dash's letter to the overseer made it seem like whoever was in charge of choosing the candidate, whom I would assume to be Rainbow Dash, was undecided. How could it be restricted already? Maybe it would be unlocked for them at the hideout. But that still doesn't explain the absence of the Centaur Protocol in the tutorial. Ugh! I already have Nightfall to figure out, I don't need another mystery to plague my mind as well. The rush in my head from whatever the Centaur Protocol did left me and I returned to my normal mindset. Now with a clear head, I noticed that my wings and chest were now the healthy green that everything else was before. At least it worked, whatever it was. I'll figure it out later. Long as it doesn't cause a problem I can focus on Nightfall instead. I took a deep breath. You're getting off track Hotshot. Watch duty now, mystery later. I closed the vitals window and returned to watching our surroundings.

The rest of my shift passed by without event and I went to wake Azel for his turn. I prodded him and he awoke almost immediately. Wish I could wake up without resistance. It'd make mornings much more pleasant. "Your shift." He nodded and started walking towards the entrance. "Oh and Azel," He stopped and looked back at me. "You were right. I was injured and didn't realize it. The armor did something, I don't know what, but it healed me. If it hadn't, things would have been much worse. Thank you for looking out for me." He smiled slightly, nodded, and made his way outside. I on the other hoof, laid down and went to bed.

I woke up to the sun's rays, at least what made it through the cloud layer, shinning into the cave. Hmph, not the same when you don't see the sun itself. Just another thing I'll have to get used to. I looked outside and found that Azel was missing. I quickly looked back inside to see if my supplies were still there. I almost cursed his name before I realized that one, I didn't have anything to steal except my armor and two, Azel's gear was still there. I scanned the horizon again, still no Azel. His stuff is here so he was planning on coming back. Where could he be. I looked at my E.F.S for a clue, finding something very odd. It showed a green dot right where I was standing, and since it's pointless to display myself that could only mean one thing. I jumped into the air, quickly gaining altitude, and turned around to see Azel perched on top of the rock we had camped out in. They really should have figured out how to show height on the radar. It was very satisfying to see his startled expression from my sudden burst of speed, although it only lasted for a split second before he composed himself again. "Having fun up here?" He rolled his eyes as he grabbed his chalkboard.

"Was about to come wake you."

"Well, I'm ready when you are."

"Let me get my bags." He nimbly climbed down leaving me alone with my thoughts. I still don't have an explanation for whatever the Centaur Protocol did, which was really bugging me. I still have a ways to go until I can properly look for Nightfall so I can't occupy myself on that yet. Once I do find it, what next? Before I could consider my future I heard something in the distance. Wait no, it's music. What could be playing music all the way out here? Why would they be here in the first place? I took to the air, looking in the direction of the sound. Now that it was closer I could tell that it was polka styled music. Strange choice for the wasteland. I saw something glint in the distance. Quickly I flew to it. A really small green dot appeared on the E.F.S as I got closer. Before me was a strange sphere-shaped robot with four wings keeping it afloat playing music. Is that a gun on it's underside? While I was looking at the gun, the robot stopped moving and the music cut off. Then it looked at me.

It spoke in a slightly distorted voice, "Hello there."

"Uh…hello. What are you?"

"Interesting way of starting a conversation." Great, the little music robot was mocking me.

"What is your primary function?"

"Oh I'm not a robot. I'm just hacking this spritebot. My name is Watcher. Yours?"

"Daybreak."

"You afraid somepony will steal your armor? Where did you get that anyway? Don't think anypony has the tech to make something like that nowadays." I was going to ask what he meant by somepony stealing my armor until I remembered the inscription on the flank.

"Found it."

"Where?"

"Around"

"Where exactly?"

"Not telling."

"Why?"

"Don't trust you."

"I suppose that's fair. Hey, could you do me a favor?"

"Depends. What is it?"

"There's a large group of raiders nearby that are attacking supply caravans passing through. If this continues a small nearby settlement will starve."

"Raiders?"

"You know, the blood-thirsty insane ponies who eat each other."

"Settlement? I thought that the only places ponies lived were in the cities. What's a settlement doing all the way out here?"

"How long have you been in the wasteland?"

"One day." The voice chuckled. "What?"

"Wait, your serious?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Considering your arsenal, you seem to have quite some experience in the wasteland. You certainly don't look like a stable dweller and unless the Enclave has seriously stepped up it's game I don't think you'd find equipment like that just lying about." I was about to object his last statement but then decided that it wasn't worth clearing up.

"Well I don't. Crashed into this hell yesterday."

"Crashed? You in the Enclave?"

"Was. Not sure if I am still."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Even with the robotic distortion I could tell that he was confused.

"Well I was sort of shoot down by my patrol partner. I don't think he would do so without orders."

"Why would the Enclave want you dead?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"But it doesn't ma-"

"Drop it." I was surprised by the sudden hostility in my tone. Seems he was as well since he went silent for a few seconds.

"Sorry. But please, if you could take out those raiders, you'd be doing that settlement a huge service." A set of coordinates was uploaded to my map and the robot resumed playing music.

"Wait hold on a second!" The robot didn't respond. Urgh, really need to start asking my questions first. Why did he pick me to clear them out instead of doing it himself. He didn't see Azel so he must think it can be done by one pony. Oh no, Azel! I flew back to our former campsite and saw a slightly irritated zebra looking around. As soon as he saw me flying back he glared at me with his piercing dark blue eyes.

"Where did you go?" Yep, definitely irritated.

"Sorry, there was this robot, I think he called it a spritebot or something, and we were talking and then-" I paused because Azel had put his hoof up signaling me to stop.

"Let's discuss it while we walk. One thing at a time. First, he?"

I landed and walked beside him. "Right. While I was inspecting the robot somepony took control of it and started talking to me. I wasn't able to learn anything about him except that he calls himself Watcher."

"What did you talk about?"

"He asked who I was and then asked me to clear out a nearby raider encampment."

"Why does he want you to do that?"

"Apparently they've been attacking supply caravans traveling through the area going to a nearby settlement that need the goods they carry. If this goes on for much longer the settlement will starve."

"Where is this camp?"

"To the south. It's a small detour from Hoofington. You coming?"

"Can't let my guide die. Besides, so far you've proven to be worth helping."

"Ok then. Follow me." We picked up our pace as I followed the marker on my compass to the raider camp.

Fifteen minutes later a structure began to appear on the horizon. It was two stories tall with no windows and had a metal fence surrounding it. Azel and I hid near the top of a hill next to the building so we could plan our attack. I was able to spot three sentries from my view and presumably a fourth on the other side of the building. They sat in small hastily built wooden structures right behind the fence. There was also a sniper on the top of the building lazily scanning the area. Aside from an occasional fit of maniacal laughter we couldn't discern anything about what was inside.

Scanning the scene in front of us, I was able to pick up on the sniper's routine. Get up, walk the internal perimeter of the box-like structure he was in, sit back down, rinse and repeat. "Okay, next time the sniper up top sits down you sneak up on the sentry in front of us and wait. Once he does it a second time I'll quickly fly up and take him out. Once you see me take off you ambush the middle sentry. After that we go in opposite directions and take out the other sentries. We'll regroup at the entrance. I'd like to maintain the element of surprise for as long as we can so don't let them fire a shot. Sound good to you?"

"How do you plan to take out the top one quietly?"

"These laser rifles are a lot quieter than conventional bullets. The sentries won't be able to hear them fire from that distance." He nodded and began watching the sniper. The instant he sat down Azel made his way to the middle sentry. After about five minutes the sniper repeated his pattern and sat back down. Instantly, I took off towards him. Lucky for me the sentries down below never bothered to look up. I tackled him just as he had closed his eyes, getting a yelp of surprise from him. He fell the ground and I fired before he had time to react. Just as I suspected, aside from a mild pew it didn't make a sound. The sniper's perch had a chair which the sniper had been sitting in and a trapdoor that most likely led to some stairs inside. I looked back to the sentry that Azel was meant to deal with just in time to see a blue glow coming from inside the structure die out. Okay. So far, so good. Turning my attention to the structure on my left I took off and glided to it, silently landing on top. In the corner of my eye I noticed something striped heading to the other structure. I quietly walked to the side where the door was, reached down, and knocked. I heard something move inside and I quickly flew over to the window and quietly as I could, and climbed in. The structure had one room that was empty aside from another chair. I saw the sentry walking to the door, facing away from me. I quickly took aim and shot him in the head before he even reached the handle. Odd as it felt, these leg-lasers were very easy to use. How did nopony think of these until the near-end of the war? Ugh, focus Hotshot. Still one more structure to deal with. I flew over to the last sentry's structure and prepared my door trick again. Right before I could knock Azel poked his out the door. I waved my hoof in front of his face so that he knew I was there. He stepped back to allow me enough room to enter. Inside it looked exactly the same as the other structures.

"What's your plan? Bust through the front door and clear them out."

"Not exactly. The sniper had a trapdoor in his outpost. If you can sneak in from there while I distract them, you can rescue any captives they might have taken. Once they're safe, you'll be able to ambush any raiders left."

"You think they take captives?"

"Two different reasons that I hope don't come true. That is if they really are as wicked as we've been told." From the solemn look on his face, I assumed Azel understood what I meant.

"How do I get up there?"

"Well, I could fly you up. That work?"

"How are you going to get in and distract them?"

"Well I have a 200 year old wall against my rocket launcher. I think that will be a big enough distraction." He considered what I had said for a moment then walked outside. Plan accepted I guess. I followed him out and started to carry him up to the sniper's nest. While he wasn't exactly very heavy or anything, it was very tiring and once we reached the top I accidentally dropped Azel out of exhaustion. Luckily, Azel was able to land, somehow not making a sound, and made his way to the trapdoor. After taking a moment to breathe, I took off scanning the walls of the place, waiting for a red dot to show up on my E.F.S nearby. Eventually, I found two dots walking down the hallway. Since the E.F.S. didn't show which floor they were on, I had to aim for the middle and hope for the best. I made sure that I had the rocket selected, aimed, and fired. The rocket hit home and created a hole easily big enough for me to fit through as I had expected. Turned out that the raiders were on the ground floor and were quite surprised when the floor above them and part of the roof came tumbling down. I flew into the second floor and went as fast as I could down the narrow hallway. As I neared the corner I saw about ten red dots appear on my E.F.S and heard somepony shouting. As soon as I turned the corner I activated S.A.T.S and analyzed the scene before me. I saw five raiders holding weapons, but only the raider in the back had his pointed at me. The rest of them had a fearful expression on their face, staring at me wide-eyed. The one closest to me had flat out dropped his shotgun when I flew out nearly face to face with him. This is going to be easy. I targeted a grenade in the middle of the four closest raiders and aimed my lasers at the back raider. With everything slowed down I noticed that five of the red dots on my E.F.S. were missing. Ignoring it for the moment, I came out of S.A.T.S hoping that I wouldn't fail a 95% chance to hit. I felt the familiar thump of my grenade launcher as I pointed my legs at the back raider. As my body aimed on it's own I wondered how my grenade would hit home when it had been fired while I wasn't pointed at them. My answer came to me when I saw the explosive bounce off both the ceiling and a wall, ending it's flight right in the middle of the group. So my grenade launcher automatically calculates how to fire the grenade depending on it's target, good to know. The sound of the back raider firing his shotgun, and missing, brought my senses back to the battle. My leg-lasers fired in quick succession. The raider's head was blasted to smithereens by the consecutive blasts. Turning my attention from the new corpse to the other raiders, I saw that the blast had killed three of the four targets. The surviving raider had jumped back, almost getting in the way of the lasers. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't unscathed from the blast which left him slowly trying to pull himself up. I was too fast and was able to throw him to the area that the grenade had gone off in. I followed up by gaining some height, or at least as much as I could, and then diving towards the winded figure. Using my momentum I gave a hard buck to the chest of the poor raider. The combination of the grenade exploding and my high-velocity impact must have been too much for the old floor, which broke underneath us. The raider fell and most likely died from the fall while I was able to catch myself before hitting the ground. Right before me was the missing group of raiders who had just turned around to see me. Before they could react I activated S.A.T.S again. I targeted another grenade at them and aimed the lasers at the raider furthest from the blast radius. Right before I fired I noticed that I had only a 10% chance to hit the far raider. Then I noticed the horn protruding from his head glowing grey. I came out of S.A.T.S and was blinded by a white light. It only lasted for a few seconds and when it faded I saw the other raiders dead from the blast. The unicorn raider on the other hoof, had not just been unaffected by the grenade. Now, there were two of him! He had a coat of light grey and his mane a darker version of the same color. His mane was so straight and ordered that it looked like somepony had come along and painted it there. Even his eyes were grey. It was as if all the color in him had been drained. Though I couldn't see his cutie mark I could guess that it probably had something to do with illusions. Quickly I tried to look for any minor differences between the two. Same clothing, same gun, same smug look on his face, come on! There has to be something. Oh, I know. I looked at my E.F.S to find…nothing. What!? How can neither of them be there? He must be messing with my E.F.S using his unicorn cheating powers, yeah, that's it. Alright fine. I'll just shoot them one at a time. I fired a volley of lasers at the left unicorn as I advanced towards him. While the left unicorn dodged my laser fire, the right one shot at me with his rifle but I had moved to fast for him to hit. As soon as I got in range of him, I struck out at the left unicorn with my tail. He wasn't able to react in time and the blade pierced his side. Automatically, it delivered a huge jolt of electricity directly into his chest. After crying out in pain, his body went limp and began to fall. Before he hit the ground his corpse evaporated into thin air, wait... did his gun just evaporate too? Well, at least now I know who's the real one. I turned to the other unicorn only to get a rifle pressed against my face. Great.

"An impressive display. It is unfortunate that one with your skill isn't in my ranks."

Need to think of a way out of this. "You're a fool if you think that will pierce my helmet."

"Oh I've delt with armored opponents before. The same trick always works." He shifted his gun and pressed it against the visor.

Okay not only did he call my bluff, he made the situation worse. Next plan. I saw a green dot appear on my E.F.S. behind the unicorn. That should work. "Then why haven't you pulled the trigger?"

He chuckled. "Like I said, it is a shame that one with your skill isn't in my ranks. This is your offer to join them. In fact, you'd be just in time to join in on a little raid we have planned."

Defend the Innocent. Be Their Shield. "I'd rather die than stand beside you."

He sighed, "Such a waste of talent. Are you sure that you won't reconsider?" A figure appeared behind him.

"Ask me again once you've got your head back on your shoulders." As fast as lightning, Azel slashed through the unicorn's neck. His head toppled to the ground, a confused look on his face, and faded away. Creepy. "Thanks Azel. You really saved my rump back there. Did you…find any captives?"

"No, but I did find the supplies they stole from the caravans."

"That works. We can get the supplies to the settlement. If you know…you're okay for another detour."

"Doesn't bother me. But how do you plan on moving all of them?"

"Depends on how much there is. Where is the stash?" He began walking back down the hallway where he came from. We turned the corner at the end of the hallway and I saw a slightly open door. When we walked in I saw goods of all kinds piled haphazardly everywhere. There was guns, ammo, medical supplies, food, and barding strewn about the floor. If it wasn't for the super powerful armor I already had I would have been tempted to grab some of the loot for myself. "Okay. There are quite a lot of supplies here. Uh…any ideas?"

"Perhaps they salvaged the wreckage of the caravans they attacked."

"Hmm, makes sense. Any clue as to where they might keep that stuff?"

"Near the front maybe. That's the only part of the building I haven't seen yet."

"Okay. I'll check the second floor while you search down here. Meet up in the lobby." With that I took off back to the hole I made when I had slammed into the raider. I made my way up and began the tedious task of checking each room for caravan scrap. My search was in vain and to my dismay, so was Azel's.

"What do we do now?" Good question. I don't have a clue as to how we would get the supplies to the settlement. Wish I knew what the settlement was called. Add that to the list of things I should have asked Watcher instead of answering his questions.

"Well I think we will need to get some extra hooves for help. I'll fly around a little and see if I can spot the settlement."

"What should I do?"

"Uhh…maybe you can…oh, I know! You can scavenge anything useful from the rooms while I'm gone."

"Did that while I was searching. Didn't you?"

"Uhh…" He rolled his eyes and made his way upstairs. Well at least he believes that I'm new to the wasteland now. I flew outside and began searching the horizon. "C'mon, there was to be some clue that marks a nearby settlement. A road, voices, fire, just give me something." I spotted a line of three large wooden structures moving in the distance. Quickly I flew over in their direction and hovered in front of the group. What are those things pulling the caravans? Ugh, focus. Introduce yourself. "Hi, I'm Daybre-" Click click The top of the caravans were tossed off to reveal three griffins, half-lion half-eagle things that have a bad rep with the Enclave, with their weapons drawn and pointed at me.

The griffin that was obviously in charge shouted, "Lead us to your base you filthy raider! If you waste our time you'll pay for it!"

Okay, not what I expected. "Uhh…I think we have a misunderstanding."

Footnote - Level Up!

New Perk! - S.A.T.S Ricochet: While using S.A.T.S you can bounce grenades off surfaces accurately as if you have the perk Ricochet.

Skill Note - Explosives Level 30, Sneak Level 10

Author's Note

Okay, another chapter done. Took a little longer to get this finished due to various reasons (Halo 5 and Fallout 4 totally had nothing to it, I swear :scootangel: ). I'd like to thank Kkat for making the original story and thank you to everyone who has read this far. It is awesome that so many people have already been checking this story out. See ya later!

Chapter 4: Hoofington Bound

Chapter 4: Hoofington Bound
If we don't get a move on, it'll be dark before we get to the camp site.

"Shut it! Take us to your base now!"

Okay, I've got a group of griffins (am I supposed to say flock?) pointing weapons at me. Azel is at the camp we just cleared out, so I don't have any backup. And to top it all off, these feather-brains think I'm a raider. Well, at least they don't have the firepower that the Steel Rangers had. I looked at the griffon who yelled at me. He was almost entirely gray and had a scar on his beak. He looked old enough to have been in the Enclave-Griffin Kingdom war. What is he doing here? "Look, I don't know who you are and what you're doing, but I'm not a raider."

"Likely story air-head! Comply or you'll be shot!" For an old timer he sure can yell. Also, air-head?!

"Nice to meet you too Old Yeller. Hate to tell ya, but you've got the wrong pegasus. Now can we please talk in a sensib-"

"This is your last warning raider scum!" He's really starting to test my patience. "Now listen this time and you might survi-" Fast as lightning, I darted down, landing inches from his face.

"No, you listen! I'm not who you're looking for! I've had enough to deal with these past two days and I don't need a group of stubborn griffins to handle as well! If you're willing to help out a nearby settlement, I might have something for you! Otherwise, beat it!"

To the lead griffin's credit, he hadn't even flinched from my outburst. He was about to respond, probably yelling in the process, but one of the other griffins interjected. He was noticeably younger than the first one. His body feathers were dark brown while his wings and head were a light tan. "You'll have to excuse Gruff, he still holds a grudge against pegasi for the war." While he was talking, the new griffon pushed me and the griffon that was apparently known as Gruff apart, now standing between us. He then turned to me, giving me a good look at his copperish eyes. "Name's Grindel. This is my sister Grizell," He geustered to the last griffon who I assumed was also his twin. The reason being that they looked very similar to each other, excluding their eyes. Her's were closer to being bronze instead. "and you've already met Grandpa Gruff. Yours?"

"Daybreak. What was with the hostile greeting?"

"Sorry 'bout that. We were hired to eliminate a raider camp somewhere around here. We thought you were one of them at first."

"I can tell." I shot a glare at Gruff. "What changed your mind?"

This time it was Grizell who spoke. "Well unlike these idiots, I noticed that you were much more than a cannibalistic raider right away. Glad I was able to get the message across before Gruff started a fight."

"Aw c'mon sis. Grandpa was just looking out for us. Cut him some slack."

"Phft, whatever."

"Anyway, have you seen a raider camp around here? We would normally fly up and look ourselves but we're trying to keep the element of surprise."

"You forgot to ask him what he meant by help out a nearby settlement."

"I was 'bout to but you interrupted me."

I may have been an only child, but I could tell that there was about to be a sibling argument if I didn't interject soon. "Sorry, but me and a friend of mine already cleared out the raiders. We found all the supplies they had pillaged from the caravans they attacked. If you'd be willing, I was hoping that you could deliver them the rest of the way. What is this settlement called anyway?" Yes! Remembered to ask a question of my own this time.

"Doesn't have one yet. They've been so busy trying to survive that they haven't been able to give it much thought. Unless of course, my brilliant sister knows more than me 'bout that too." Grizell rolled her eyes behind him. "Anyway, we'd gladly get those supplies to them for you. Were are they?"

"We have them back at the camp. Follow me." I took to the air and began heading back.

"Hold on there." Oh, so he can speak without yelling. I looked back to Gruff. "What d'ya mean we?"

"You didn't think I was out here all alone did you? My friend Azel is still scavenging the camp for any extra resources." I turned around and began leading again. Thankfully, I heard the wheels of the caravans following me this time.

We didn't get five feet before I heard Grizell's voice. "Azel? Odd name for a pony."

"That's because he isn't a pony. He's a zebra."

"Hold on a second!" Oh great, he's back to yelling. "We're not only trusting a pegasus that he won't lead us into a trap, he has a sneaky, underhanded, no good zebra as his ally! I don't trust him!" It took all my self control to not blast his arrogant face into putty when I turned to look at him.

"I'm going to tell you this once, so listen carefully." My voice had a dark tone that I didn't know I could pull off. "I don't care if you don't like pegasi. I don't care if you think zebras aren't to be trusted. I don't care if you want to kill us both. Whatever your opinion, keep it to yourself. If you insult Azel or I one more time, your grandkids won't have anything left of you to bury. Got it?" To my surprise, and slight delight, Gruff seemed to actually be afraid of me. He didn't respond. Instead, he went under the canvas and probably sat down. I turned back around and continued to lead the way.

After a few minutes of navigating the rocky area around the camp, we finally made it to the damaged building. I went straight to the door and entered the building. To my left I saw Azel organizing his saddlebags. He looked up as I stepped inside and waved. Then he picked up his chalkboard on the ground next to him.

"Find anything?"

"Yeah, found a group of griffins that were hired to clear this place out. They have an empty caravan and have agreed to take the supplies to the settlement."

"Where are they?"

"Should be walking up now." I looked back outside and sure enough, they were almost at the door. With my wings I motioned for Azel to follow me and walked out to greet them. Gruff was scanning the horizon most likely to make sure this wasn't a trap. The twins looked at Azel with curiosity when he came out with me, his chalkboard reading "Hi."

Grizell was the first to speak. "Uh, hi. What's with the chalkboard?"

I whispered to Azel, "Is it fine to tell them?" He nodded and I answered them, "This is my friend Azel. He can't speak due to a zebra curse so he uses his chalkboard instead. Azel, this is Grindel, Grizell, and Gruff." I gestured to each griffin as I named them.

"Nice to meet you Azel. Thanks to both you and Daybreak for clearing this place out."

"Nice to meet you too. Follow me to where we found the supplies." With that we made our way inside. Well...except for Gruff, who countined to watch the surrounding area. I took up the rear of the group as the two griffons, talking in hushed voices to each other, followed behind Azel. As we turned the corner into the hallway, Grindel slowed his pace until he was walking beside me.

"Me and my sister were talking and..." he reached into his saddle bag and tossed a small bag to me, hearing a small jingle of metal hitting metal when I caught it. "We thought you should have this."

I shook the bag, hearing it jingle again. "What is it?"

"It's our payment for coming to clear out this camp. Or, I guess I should say it was our's. We figured that you and Azel deserved it instead of us since you two did the work."

"You're sure?" He nodded. "Well, thanks, how much is it?"

"500 caps."

"Just that much? I thought that this was an important job."

"What do you mean? That's easily enough to see you through a month's worth of ammunition and supplies."

"How can caps be worth that much? Back home, this would barely get me a meal."

"Back home? Oh, you must be in the Enclave."

"Was in the Enclave. Not sure if I still am." I stuffed the bag into a compartment located just beneath my grenade launcher .

"So you're a dashite?" Dashite, a word that most pegasi say with disgust. Those that abandoned the sky and go against the Enclave, wear the title with pride. All of them outcasts, forbidden to be above the clouds. I used to simply accept that they were traitors until "Deadshot" Calamity, the greatest shot in the Enclave and son to a powerful member of the council, was declared to be one. Since then I've wondered what they did to betray us in the first place.

"I'm not sure. What do describe as a dashite?"

He seemed to have been caught off guard by my question, but quickly gave an answer after a moment's consideration "Well, I haven't met a dashite before. I've only heard 'bout them from clients and associates so my answer might be misinformed. Anyway, from what I've gathered dashites are pegasi that leave the Enclave and spend the rest of their life on the wasteland. Usually they are kicked out for some reason and from then on cause trouble for the Enclave when they can. One thing I know for a fact is that dashites aren't the bad guys, at least when they first arrive. Some, like any other pony, will eventually become an emotionless machine caring only for their own survival or a mindless raider that only knows killing. However, most become guns for hire or adventures looking for anyway to help out others. Honestly, I think they were kicked out because they wanted the Enclave to help everypony down here and it refused. Apparently dashites also have a brand over their cutie mark that is similar to some other pegasus's cutie mark, think here name was Rainbow Splash or something. Where they got the brand and why they have it, I have no idea. Any of that help?"

"Yes, thanks. From what you described, I guess I am a dashite, not including the brand."

"Well like I told you, anything I said might be wrong. Maybe the branded dashites are a weird group of ponies which worship that Rainbow Sash pegasus or something."

"Yeah...maybe." He was almost right. While Rainbow Dash is known throughout the Enclave mostly as a hero, near the end of her life she abandoned the Enclave. Less than a month after the world blew up, she was insisting that the Enclave break apart the cloud layer, the only thing protecting the citizens of the Enclave from the deadly radiation, and help the ponies that were on the surface regardless of the fact that by doing so we'd forsake thousands of pegasi to die of radiation. Eventually she gave up trying to convince the council and left for the surface, never to be seen again. It was then declared that attempting to interact with ponies of the surface was an act of treason that could lead to branding with the mark of a dashite, shaped like Rainbow Dash's cutie mark, and exile from the Enclave. Still, many others followed the same path throughout the 200 years of isolation, some attempted the same methods as her, some threatened revolution, and others simply disappeared on their own. All my life I had believed what the Enclave told me without question. But now that I'm here on the surface and finding their truths to be false, I'm beginning to question whether Rainbow Dash was the one who betrayed us.

By the time I had come to this question we had reached the storage room with all the supplies.

"Was that your entire caravan outside?"

"Yeah, what 'bout it?"

Azel opened the door and replied, "I think you're going to need two trips."

"So I guess that you couldn't find any scrap to build another one."

"Not enough and no wheels."

Grindel looked away from the hoard and told us. "Our caravans have hidden compartments that are completely empty so we can get 'bout 90% of this on our first trip."

"Even with the bags you're already carrying?"

"Oh, those? They're just filled with rocks and stuff. We can dump them out."

"Why aren't they filled with supplies for the settlement?"

"Most of the supporters for this project like Tenpony Tower thought that this had become a lost cause and decided that it wasn't worth the effort to send in some more supplies. We needed to bait the raiders somehow so we made it look like we had supplies."

"If everypony thought this was a lost cause then who hired you?"

"Some higher-up at Junction R-7. Said he had invested too many of his precious gems for this to flop. Think his name was Sir Topaz or something."

"It was Mister Topaz stupid. Why can't you remember any of our clients' names?"

"Does it really mater sis? I don't think many ponies go by the name Topaz.

"It's disrespectful to them."

"Oh please, it's not like he can hear us."

"The point is tha-"

"What did you mean by gems?" Luckily both of them took the hint and dropped the subject, Grizell grumpily walking into the storage room with Azel.

"The junction was a mining facility at some point during the war so it had quite a stockpile of gems and metal, which they use instead of caps for the most part. In fact I think Mister Topaz is the only one who has gems. The way he hoards them would make you think he was a dragon."

"If you two don't mind, we could use some help getting all of this to the caravans!" Well, if there was any doubt she was Gruff's granddaughter before, it's gone now.

Grindel rolled his eyes and we went in to help. After about half a hour later we had packed the caravans as much as we could. We stood outside trying to think of a way to get the remaining supplies to the settlers without making two trips. Even Gruff was trying to help come up with a solution. Sure he was just pointing out the flaws in our plans without making any suggestions of his own, but the point is that he was trying.

"Can't we just make the caravans bigger with the scrap you already found Azel?

"The best we could do with that is make a shelve or two."

"How 'bout those structures surrounding the building? Can't we use that?"

"I that will take to long to take apart. I say we just leave now and come back later."

"Ugh, this is getting us nowhere. There has to be something we can do." For some reason my vision was drawn to the cloth covers of the caravans. An idea began to from. "Hey, what if we repurposed the covers as bags? We could just attach them to the side of the caravans."

"Wouldn't the supplies break from all that bouncing around?"

"Grandpa, not everything in the room was food and medicine. I think this is our best option. Don't you Grindel?"

"Yeah, I'm with Daybreak on this."

"Hmph, fine. Be quick about it." With that Gruff flew back onto the first caravan and began to nap, helpful as always. The rest of us got to work on storing the remaining supplies and after about 8 minutes they were ready to go.

"Is that everything from the supply room?"

"Yeah. Azel and I made sure we didn't leave anything behind. You two finished with the bags."

"Despite my brother's clumsiness, yes. I assume you two aren't coming along."

"As much as I'd like to, we have some things to do down in Hoofington. We've detoured enough as it is. Good luck to all of you."

"Wait, did he just say Hoofington?" Grindel asked as he came around the caravans. "Why in Equestria would you want to go there?"

"Let's just say Azel and I have some...questions...we'd like answered. What's so bad about Hoofington?"

"A lot of things really. There's the high levels of radiation, the rival gangs, the extremely insane raiders, something called enervation, and many other dangers. Not many go there and return in the same state of mental and physical health."

"All of that is in the city?"

"No, the city itself kills anything that gets near it. Far as I know, no one has ever explored even the outskirts. Everything else is just in the wastes around the city."

"Sounds like fun."

"To each their own I suppose. Anyways, good luck."

"Thanks Grindel. Hopefully we will see all of you again." The griffons loaded up on their caravans and made their way back to the trail while Azel and I continued on our way to Hoofington. After about half a hour of walking later I decided to check and see if I was picking up any signal from the hideout beacon. The feed turned up empty on that as I had expected. I was however surprised to find that I was picking up a signal from something else. Curious and with nothing else to do but walk, I tuned in to the transmission to see what it was. I heard a male voice speaking mid-sentence.

-inging you the news. Turns out the Stable Dweller, the pony who cleared out the salver encampment in Old Appleoosa and saved many of the slaves there in case you forgot, is on her way to Manehattan now. Bad guys beware. Also, looks like some of the Talons are on their way to help get rid of those raiders that have been causing some trouble for the new settlement that's been having difficulties getting set up. My best wishes to those settlers. This next song goes out to you. Here's Sapphire Shores with "The Sun Can't Hide Forever".

As music began to play I noticed that Azel was trying to get my attention. Quickly I turned off the radio and asked, "Sorry, what is it?"

He held up his chalkboard with something already written on it. "What is that?"

"Well, I was searching for any transmissions and I picked up what apparently is the local radio station. I didn't even think the surface was capable of having a radio station."

"You sure it isn't just a repeat of a radio broadcast from the war?"

"Don't think so. I mean, I'm pretty sure there weren't any slavers back then and it sounded like whoever the host is was talking about the same settlement we just helped out. I wonder who runs it."

"Wouldn't have been my first choice of a hobby."

Footnote - Level Up!

New Perk! - But I'm Not Your Enemy!: +5 to Speechcraft when attempting to convince somepony (or griffon as the case may be) that they shouldn't shoot you.

Skill Note - Speechcraft Level 20

Author's Note

Finally, I finished chapter 4. Sorry the wait everyone. At first it was studying for the mid-term and holiday prep but then a few things came up and some data loss forcing me to rewrite almost the entire chapter. Regardless, it's here and I'm glad to move on to the next one. As always I want to thank Kkat for the fic that is easily one of the greatest stories ever, and thank you to everyone who's reading this messy pile of words. Oh, and Happy New Year! :yay:

Chapter 5: A Familiar Face

Chapter 5: A Familiar Face
I know it hasn't been that long since we've seen each other, but it felt like forever.

After almost two days of traveling since we left the raider camp, Azel and I were almost to the edge of the area that my map had highlighted as Hoofington. The trip was uneventful. Throughout the journey I had the radio on, only really listening during the actual news broadcasts. Apparently the host's name is Dj-Pon3. Somehow news has already reached him that the raider camp was cleared out and that the settlement is getting the supplies. Tomorrow he supposedly is going to have more details to share, though how I could only guess.

Azel and I reached the top of the hill we were on and saw...more wasteland. Immediately I tried searching for the hideout signal but unfortunately I wasn't close enough yet to pick it up. Taking a closer look at the wastes before me I noticed what looked like some sort of outpost a little ways away and on the horizon directly in front of me something was emitting a sickly green glow. "Any idea what's making that light?"

"Not a clue. But whatever it is, it feels sinister."

"Any idea where to find the Proditors?"

"No. Maybe we should go down there and ask around." He pointed to the outpost I noticed earlier.

"Precisely what I was thinking. Let's go." We resumed walking, Azel trying to spot anything that might hint of zebras being nearby. As we got closer I could make out more details. The entire place was surrounded by a wall that was probably just for show. All the structures inside were either tents or hastily put together shacks. At the entrance was a pegasus in Enclave power armor which seemed to be in pristine condition. In fact, it seemed to be that there was a surplus of Enclave quality supplies here. Then it hit me, this was an Enclave Volunteer Corps outpost. I didn't think the Enclave would actually take the first step in helping the surface. Glad to see that I was wrong.

As we approached the guard addressed me. "What are you doing here?"

"Excuse me?"

"This support center is for the starving and the injured, not ruffians like you."

"Oh, I'm just want to ask a few questions. I won't be here long."

He eyed me for a moment, then he pointed to Azel. "He can't come in."

"What! Why?"

"Not sure if you heard, but they blew up Equestria."

"He had nothing to do with that!"

"Look, either he stays out and you get to come in or you both leave now."

Before I could reply Azel tapped my shoulder, shaking his head once I looked at him. "Fine." The guard stepped aside to let me in. I barely stopped myself from scratching the guard's armor with my tail as I walked by.

Inside the outpost there were pegasi in several different tents that were treating wastelanders who had sustained serious injuries. I also saw that some of the shacks was were the food was given out. Any of the other buildings I assumed were housing for the pegasi.

As I was about to go to one of the food shacks and ask about the Proditors a voice behind me asked, "Is there anything I can help you with?" Why did that voice sound familiar? Wait, it couldn't be...no, she was in Thunderhead.

I turned around to answer the pony. She was a teal pegasus who had a bright yellow mane with a strand of blue in it. She had the same deep blue eyes I always rembered that seemed to eminate a feeling of calm and contention. Once I saw her I exclaimed, "Lily!", like an idiot. Luckily I was able to stop myself from reaching out to hug her.

"I uh...what? Who are you and how do you know my name?" She stared at me trying to find any clue as to who I was.

"Oh um, I uh..." Should I tell her? I know she won't turn me in to the Enclave or anything but if word got out that I was alive somehow, it might put her in danger just for knowing. You know what, she's the closest thing I have to a sister. She deserves to know. I quickly looked around to make sure nopony was looking. I lifted the entire front half of my helmet, revealing my face to Lily.

Her eyes widened and she stood there silently for a second. Then she leaped forwards and hugged me so tightly that I would've been struggling for air if it wasn't for the armor. After a moment she let go and strared at my face again, looking as if she didn't believe I was there. She began rapid firing questions at me. "Hotshot, is that really you? Sweet Celestia, what happened to you? Is everything okay back at Gust? What are you doing here? Why are you weari-"

"One at a time Lily." I looked around, seeing a few onlookers watching curiously but none of the staff was paying attention. "Let's discuss this elsewhere."

"Right, follow me." She lead me to one of the shacks that I had assumed the volunteers slept in. Once we were inside she closed the door.

"So, how have you been doing?" I received a smack upside the head so hard it made me thankful I hadn't fully removed my helmet.

"Don't you small talk me! What happened to you!? Right before I left for the surface with the EVC, your parents tell us that you were reported dead! I spend the first two days trying to help set up camp and get over it. Today is the first day I was able to interact with the surface ponies without tearing up and somepony else having to take over for me. Then you show up a little after I finally accept that I won't ever see you again, and you just ask how I'm doing?! What the hell happened?!" She was crying, and I couldn't help but feel guilty for it. I hadn't once thought of any of my family and how my disappearance must have affected them. Now I was seeing it first hoof.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that. I had no way of safely returning to the Enclave so I stayed here on the surface."

"What was sniff stopping you?" At least I'm starting to calm her down.

"Well, I'm certain that some of the council members wanted me dead. If I came back I would have been declared a dashite and either killed or exiled publicly."

"How did you e- sniff escape?"

"They had my patrol partner shoot me down halfway to our destination. Luckily I was able to minimize my impact with the ground and survive."

"Do you need me to fix you up? You must be really hurt after a sniff crash like that."

"No, I'm fine." She raised her eyebrow at me. "Really, I found some medical supplies. Don't worry." She maintained her look. "Fine, give me a checkup." She went to a room in the back of her little shack to get her devices. Weird how she can just change her attitude like that. "So I'm that guessing you were able to figure out your special talent in Thunderhead."

From the other room she replied, "It took forever but yes, I finally earned my cutie mark."

"Well..."

"Well what?"

"Tell me your cutie mark story. It drove you crazy back at Gust when you were trying to figure out what specific field of medicine was your talent. I let you dye my mane green for a week in case it you were meant for a more recreational practice. I'd like to know how this was resolved." I was able to hear her giggling at the memory of our hair dyeing adventure from the other room.

She came back with her equipment, stifling her laughter, "Oh where to start? It was a few days after we had moved to our new home in Thunderhead. I was at the medical school and they were asking me to choose a specific practice that I wanted to perfect for my studies. This was where I had to choose my career for the rest of my life and I still hadn't figured out what I was good at! Being completly indecisive, I asked if could step outside for a bit. I was pacing outside the door when I heard something fall and somepony cry out in pain. I went around the corner of the building and saw a stallion on the ground bleeding heavily from his neck and a suit of power armor on the ground next to him. I had brought some bandages and basic first aid with me and started to clean his wound and patch it up. Shortly I-"

"Why did have supplies with you?"

"I wanted to be prepared for anything. If they pulled a surprise test of my skills, I'd be ready. If I had to prove that I was qualified, I wouldn't be caught off guard."

"Sounds like you were in another one of your paranoid fits."

"Can I finish my story?"

"Certainly."

"Anyway, shortly after I had finished wrapping a bandage around his neck one of the staff found us and went to get help. Some paramedics arrived and took him to the infirmary. After the whole thing was over I decided to sign up as an emergency medical student. When I got home I noticed that this had appeared." She geustered to an image of a healing potion on her flank. "I assume you've earned your cutie mark as well."

"Yeah, I got it a little after you left. It's a gear with three sparkles around it. It happened while I was tinkering with my gun, actually. It seemed almost random that I earned it when I did. I can't think of any reason that made the situation any different than it was before. Well, excluding that it eventually lead to me getting kicked out."

"What's up with your armor? Did you get promoted or something?" Lily used her flashlight thing to inspect my eyes.

"Found it in a hidden bunker a little after my crash and I discarded my old armor, found a healing potion in there, too."

"Is that the only first aid you received since your crash?"

"Unless painkillers count, yes."

"Have you been out of this new armor since then?"

"Haven't exactly been in the most hospitable of places, so no."

"Take off the rest of your armor."

"Why?"

"Firstly, it isn't healthy to wear armor like this constantly as if it was your own skin. Your body needs a break from all that weight." I considered pointing out that like standard pegasus armor, Daybreak had an embedded talisman that negated most of it's weight which made feel as if it only weighed a few pounds. For the better of my health I decided to hold my tounge. "Second, it's a bit difficult to hear a heartbeat through a plate of metal. And finally, you shouldn't question your doctor." I obeyed and began removing my armor. "Have you been shot since the healing potion?" She reached for her heartbeat listening...thing.

"Several have tried but so far I'm unscathed."

"Quite the advanced hunk of metal you found. Don't think I've ever seen weapons placed on the forelegs before. What's so special about it?"

"It was some sort of secret project from the war. There is supposed to be another suit as well but I don't know where it is." After removing my armor we were both silent for a few seconds as she listened to my heartbeat. Then Lily started to apply pressure to different areas of my chest. "So...how was life in Thunderhead?"

"It was nice. A lot busier and more crowded there. They had a great education system for a medic like myself. Still, it wasn't the same without my favorite cousin." She smiled slightly for a second, then it turned to confusion as she stopped pressing against me. "Are you sure you only had a healing potion?"

"Uh...yeah. Why?"

"Hmm, how long after your crash did you take the potion?"

"I don't know exactly how long since I passed out a little after the crash, but my guess would be about three to five hours. I woke up sometime later in the afternoon"

"That's well after the golden hour so there's no chance that the potion could have moved them back in place." I realized that she was talking to herself rather than giving me a diagnosis. Then she asked me, "How did you land when you crashed?"

"Well, I had tumbled down a rock formation about two stories tall before reaching the ground. I hit that with the left side of my body and ended up at the botom on the same side."

"That can't be right."

"How come?"

"Because hitting a solid rock at terminal velocity should have easily shattered your ribcage, the resulting shards heavily damaging your organs. Not to mention the tumble that followed would have likely resulted in several fractures and brusies to both your head and wings. In fact, painkillers were the only things that allowed you to even walk."

"But the healing potion fixed all that, right?"

"It would have fixed any wounds to your organs and skin as long as something wasn't in the way and repaired most of the fractures to your head and wings."

"What about my chest?"

"That's the main problem with healing potions. They'll fix a bullet wound or a cut just fine, but healing broken bones can be a bit tricky. As long as the bone is about where it needs to be you'll be fine. However, if it is spread out or in the wrong position, like the fragments of your ribs for example, the potion doesn't move them back in place. It "heals" by repairing the tissue around it and as a result permanently holding the bone in that place. At that point the only way to fix it is surgery."

"But I don't feel like there's any bones in my lungs or anything."

"That's what I don't understand. You shouldn't be able to talk coherently or get even five steps without crying out in pain. Instead you've been shooting up bad guys and traveling across the wasteland with hardly a second thought. Your chest should feel like mush when I pushed against it, not a solid wall. Despite all odds, you're a picture of perfect health rather than the weak and broken mess you should be."

"And that's a good thing, right?"

"Of course it's a good thing. It just isn't scientifically possible."

"It might have been the Centaur Protocol that fixed my ribs."

"The what?"

"It's some sort of failsafe built into the armor that...well I don't know exactly what it did but once it was done it said I was fine."

"Did it trigger as soon as you put the armor on?"

"No, it activated a little before my last Med-X wore out."

"How much Med-X did you take?"

"Well, when I woke up I used one and then the Daybreak armor used a second one I had found some time after automatically. While I was unconscious my old armor used anywhere between nine to one."

"You're lucky Med-X isn't addictive. Why did you take one after you woke up?"

"I felt pain everywhere. Once I took it, the pain became a dull ache and then disappeared for a while when I took the potion."

"When did you feel the ache again?"

"A little while after Azel and I had fought some Steel Ranger thugs."

"Hmm, a fight would have resulted in some adrenaline. Once that wore off is probably when you had your last Med-X. Did this Centaur Protocol thing surface during the night? Also, who's Azel?"

"Yeah, it showed up maybe an hour or so before midnight. Azel is a zebra I met a little while after finding Daybreak. Oh, that reminds me. Do you have any idea where to find the Proditors?"

"Not really, I've just heard rumors that they're somewhere in Hoofington. What happened to Azel after the Steel Rangers?"

"We've been traveling down here together. He's waiting outside the base right now."

"Why did you come down here?"

"What?"

"I get that Azel wants to find the Proditors or whatever, but why do you want to go to Hoofington?"

"In the bunker where I found Daybreak there was a message about meeting Nightfall in a hideout near Hoofington. I had nothing else to do so I figured that I might as well investigate."

"You still plan on doing so?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well...I want to come with you." What!?

"What? Why?!"

"Is there a problem with me coming with you?"

"Uh...well...it's just that it's really dangerous and-"

"You think I can't handle myself because I'm a medic? 'Cause I'm a mare?"

"No, not at all! I just mean that I don't want you to drop everything and follow me into danger when you have so much potential here."

"Look Hotshot, I already lost you once. I'm not about to let you slip away again and never know if you're still out there. I want to be there to help. This place is just about what my future is if I stay. I don't care if it isn't safe, let me come with you."

"Alright. You win. Just know that without any leads we'll be wandering without direction."

"Let me get my supplies."

"I guess this means my appointment is over."

From the other room she replied, "Yes. From my analysis I am sad to say that you are dying and was wanting to know if you would like to keep going or get it over with now."

"Nah, I think I'll stick around to annoy you a bit longer." Ahh, I remember these days of sarcastic banter. Seems so long ago. Lily reentered the room wearing saddlebags that I could only assume were filled with food and medical supplies. She also had a small laser pistol holstered on her front right leg, which was odd to see. As far as I knew, she had never held a gun before, excluding one occasion when she humored me and pretended to aim down the sights of the first rifle I had ever successfully repaired. "Since when did medics carry guns?"

"As a precaution to the hostility of the wasteland all EVC volunteers were required to pass basic weapon training before they could go to the surface. They are a few other restrictions down here, like not being allowed to go flying around and such."

"How did you do?" She gave me the 'You are an idiot' look. "I meant your actual score. I know that you passed."

"Oh, sorry. Uh, well I know for sure that I was among the top of the whole group. Mostly because of the tips I picked up listening to the hundreds of times you told me about your weapon modifications and what you had to do before then."

"You actually listened to that? It must not have been easy to do considering how much I rambled on back then."

"I may not have understood every word you said, but it was genuinely interesting to hear. Well, enough lollygagging. Get your armor on and let's get this show on the road."

"How do you plan to leave?"

"Through the front gate silly."

"Something tells me that a volunteer leaving with an armed stranger would convey the wrong message." I began to put on the Daybreak armor.

"We can just happen to leave at the same time. Both of us go in diffrent directions. Once over the hill we can meet up." Without another word she exited the shack. I quickly finished donning my armor and followed. We started walking to the entrance.

"Are you sure that the guard will let you out?"

She studied the guard for a second and recognized something. She looked to me with confidence. "Trust me. This guy is easy to trick. You just need to have a certain...tone. Just make sure you pass by without any interest in our conversation."

"If you say so." We had reached the guard and he shifted his gaze from Azel to us.

"Lily, you don't need to escort anypony from the camp."

"What are you talking about? I'm was planning on going out for a walk."

"Why, and by yourself?"

"Because I need a break from being inside a tent all day. Is there a problem with me going by myself."

"It's dangerous out there. You can't be out there, not without somepony to protect you."

"Don't you start that. I was very capable of defending myself during training. I certainly don't need your protection. You're more likely to watch me rather than the surrounding area." Okay, think it's time to speed this up a bit.

"Can you please let me through before you continue arguing with your marefriend?" Lily's face went from teal to bright red very quickly. The guard, who was probably blushing just as much under his helmet, hastily stepped aside for me. Before I could move Lily darted ahead of us. She sneered at the guard, still beet red, and trotted off. Azel followed me and we made our way over the hill.

"Find anything about the Proditors?"

"Turns out that they haven't been here much longer than I have. We need to find some long time residents of the area." He nodded and we walked up the hill in silence. As soon as we were out of sight I turned to the direction where Lily had gone and waited. Azel noticed that I wasn't following and stopped.

"What are you doing?"

"Waiting for Lily."

"Who?"

"Oh, right. Remember the pegasus that was arguing with the guard?" He nodded. "She's my cousin Lily."

"Why are we waiting for her?"

"Because she's going to be coming with us."

"What about her coltfriend?"

"That wasn't her coltfriend. I only said that to move things along. Ah, there she is now." Lily had just come into sight from around the hills. Azel and I walked to her as she came to us. "Well Lily, looks like your plan worked." I extended my hoof to her for a hoofbumb. Smack "Ow! What was that for?!" The hoof I had extended to her was now being used to rub my cheek.

"If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I'll be the last pony you want treating your injuries. Got it?" I hastily nodded. She looked to Azel and she instantly went back to her normal happy self. "You must be Azel. Nice to meet you."

Azel simply nodded and replied "Likewise." This earned a very confused look from Lily.

"Uh...Hotshot, explain."

"Right, forgot to mention that. Azel had some curse that prevents him from speaking put on him."

"They can do that?"

"Apparently so."

"Hotshot? Is that your name?"

"Oh...yeah. That's my real name. Sorry, I just kept forgetting to tell you."

"You didn't tell him your name? Azel, do you even know what color his coat is?" Oh boy.

"I assume that it's the same color as his wings. Honestly, Hotshot sounds just as made up as Daybreak to me."

"You...you named yourself...after your armor? Seriously?"

"Okay, lay off would you? Let's sort this out on the road. Agreed?" They both nodded and we resumed the road to Hoofington. Ugh, this is going to be a fun interrogation.

Footnote - Level Up!

New Companion! Lily: A pegasus skilled in medicine thanks to her time in the EVC. She is also very talented with words. Desires to simply be by your side to help you out. How sweet.

Author's Note

As always I would like to thank kkat for writing the first story of this world and thank all of you who take time out of your day to read this. This has been a great experience already and I can't wait to push forward. Well, see you in the next chapter and have a great day!

Chapter 6: Catching Up

Chapter 6: Catching Up
Jeepers, where do I start? Okay, so first day-

After leaving the EVC outpost, we had traveled until dark and set up camp for the night. During the walk I briefly told the story of my time on the surface to Azel and Lily, answering any questions they (Lily) came up with. At camp we decided that the watch order would be Lily, then me, then Azel. I was about halfway through my shift when I began to hear a familiar tune. Looking to my E.F.S. I saw a tiny green dot and followed it. As I got closer I was able to clearly hear the polka music that was playing. Crossing the peak of the hill, I saw a little mechanical bot just like the one that had led me to the raider camp. Maybe I could contact Watcher, whoever he is, from this one. This time, I'll be asking him questions.

"Watcher?" Nothing. "Watcher." Silence. I walked over and knocked on the metal shell. "Hey, Watcher! You in there?" It turned around and heard the faint whir of something charging. Then I remembered that these things had guns on their underside. Whoops.

There was some chattering and then a voice came through. "Okay, whoever you are. What in the wide and deadly wasteland gives you a reaso- Daybreak?"

"Hi Watcher."

"What were you doing?!"

"Trying to get your attention."

"And you thought the best way to do that was- sigh Never mind. What do you want?"

"Well last time we met, you left with a lot of questions unanswered. I'd like that to change. For instance, why did you ask me to clear out the raiders when there were griffons already en route to help?"

"I didn't think they would succeed. Look, I don't have time for this."

"Well you're going to have to make some time. I'm getting answers right now." The spritebot turned away and resumed playing it's music. "Hey!" I started pounding on the robot's shell again. "Get back here!" It turned back to me. This time there was no hesitation before it fired. It missed and I activated S.A.T.S, aiming for the weapon with my precision laser. It hit and disarmed the spritebot. There was some more chatter and then Watcher returned.

"What did you do!?"

"Got your attention again obviously. You staying this time?"

There was a pause as if he was about to say something but then muttered, "Go ahead."

"Okay, where was I? Oh yeah, why did you think I could clear out the raiders alone if a team of griffons wasn't up to the task?"

"The Talons aren't known for...going the extra mile during a job. Talons do what they were paid for and not much more. They might have been able to defeat the raiders, but I don't believe they would have thought about bringing the supplies to the settlement themselves. Besides, I had a hunch you had somepony to help you. Like I said before, you are very attuned to the wasteland."

"How much exactly am I attuned?"

"Well, there are three things a pony needs to survive in the wastes. First is armor and weapons, which you have clearly take care of. Second is friends. No matter how strong you are, you will eventually need somepony to watch your back. Who exactly is your friend?"

"I have two with me now. A zebra named Azel and my cousin Lily. What's the third?"

"A specific virtue. A sort of moral value, philosophy, or idea that under no circumstance will you abandon. Doesn't matter necessarily what it is so long as you have one."

"What are these virtues?"

"Well, almost anything not physical can be a virtue. But back before the war there were six ponies who harnessed special virtues that helped protect all of Equestria."

"You're talking about the Ministry Mares and their elements right? Laughter, Kindness, Loyalty, Generosity, Honesty, and Magic."

"Yes, but not many come anywhere close to fitting the bill of those virtues."

"Why do I need a virtue anyway? I highly doubt that raiders have virtues yet they seem to be surviving just fine."

"They are an example as to why you need a virtue. Having a virtue gives you something to strive for, something to hold on to no matter how bad it gets. Without it, well...you've seen raiders. Look, I can't stay in here much longer. If you need anything else now's the time."

"What are you, really? What do you do?"

He was silent for a few seconds. Then he replied "I'm an observer of a world far from the one I knew." There was some static and the bot resumed playing it's never ending tune.

"Well that was ominous. Better get back to camp." That went better than expected. At least he answered my more pressing questions. Wish I could actually meet him face to face. Beep. Beep Beep. Beep

Reminder: Shift Over

Turn Off Alarm
...
Shutting Off Alarm

The beeping stopped and I walked over to where Azel was sleeping. I nudged him awake and without a word he started patrolling while I laid down. Virtues huh, that can wait for the morning.

The next morning I awoke to the sound of something hitting a metal object repeatedly. I stirred and looked behind me, seeing Lily banging a stirring spoon against a small pan she must have brought with her. Nice to see that some things never change.

"Wake up sleepyhead! Let's go looking for the Proditors!" I got myself up and stretched.

I saw Azel approaching and told him, "For future reference, wake me up before Lily."

"I didn't wake her. She did that on her own." If only a few things could change. It's going to take some time for me to get used to Lily traveling with us. "Don't you want to search for Nightfall?"

"Oh I'd love to. Unfortunately, until I pick up a signal, we might as well be searching all of Hoofington blindfolded. Besides, we're the only ones who know of Nightfall's existence in the first place. We aren't on a time limit or anything." He nodded and walked to our fire to make sure it was out. Seeing that we were about to leave and with nothing else to do, I tuned in to the radio. Instantly, music began to play from my armor.

"What's that? Do you have a playlist with you?"

"No, they have a radio station down here."

"Wait, seriously? That's far beyond any domestic technology we thought the surface ponies could achieve. How did you find it?"

"It wasn't exactly encrypted or hidden or anything like that. All I had to do was tune in to the signal."

"But the council said that there weren't any active frequencies of any kind. How could they have missed it?"

"Did they miss it? Something tells me that they might have withheld that information."

"What? No, that's crazy. They wouldn't hide stuff like that. At least, not unless they had a good reason to."

"All I'm saying is that ever since I was shot down I've been finding many things the Enclave told us to be false. My faith in their trustworthiness is shaken."

We stared at each other, the radio music blending in to the background. As Azel approached Lily decided to change the subject. "Sooo...is it just music that plays on the radio?" Azel motioned that camp was packed up and we were ready to go. We continued our conversation as we walked, or at least Azel and I did. Lily preferred to hover slightly above the ground alongside us.

"The DJ gives a sort of news report throughout the day. Aside from that, yeah."

"What kind of news?"

"From what I've heard so far-"

Good morning wasteland! This is Dj-Pon3 with the morning news!

"Oh just listen."

The talons that were involved in saving the still unnamed settlement have returned to Talon HQ and with them was the full story of how it happened. Or so we had assumed that is. As i intervied the three griffons involved, Gruff and his grandchildren Grindel and Grizel, some interesting truths came to light. Turns out, they only know half of it! Acording to Gruff, the lead griffon of this misson, they had arrived little after somepony else had cleared out the raider base for them. Now, who exactly is this mystery helper you may be wondering. Well, it seems that we have another up and coming hero of the wastes everypony! According to the griffons, he calls himself Daybreak and wears a high-tech suit of pegasus power armor painted sunset orange with his name inscribed on the flank. He also travels with a zebra wielding a sword.

Wait, didn't they know Azel's name too? Why leave him out?

Since the two were able to clear out the raiders on their own I believe it is safe to assume that they are highly capable of lending a hoof should you need it. Grindel claims that Daybreak mentioned he was heading toward Hoofington shortly before the groups parted ways, though it is unknown what he plans to do once he's there. Well whatever it is good luck to him. Oh and Daybreak, if you're listening to this, try to stop by Tenpony Tower if you're ever in the area.

Tenpony Tower?

Now back to the music! Some music began playing while the three of us stood there, processing what we had just heard. The silence lasted for three seconds.

"Looks like you two are famous."

"Famous? All that happened was Dj-Pon3 mentioned us on the radio. Doesn't mean ponies will be asking our autograph or anything."

"Well maybe not to that extreme, but you'll definitely be recognized. Besides, he practically gave you a stamp of approval. That's got to count for something right?"

"I guess you're right. I just can't figure out why he didn't mention Azel's name."

"Did the griffons know his name?"

"Yes. I know for sure that at least two of them would have made an effort to remember it."

"It might be for convenience. I mean, Daybreak and company rolls off the tounge a lot better than Daybreak and Azel. Even more so now that there's three of us."

"But Azel should get more recognition than simply being mentioned as a side note. After all, he was essential to the success of liberating the supplies."

"I'm with Lily on this, I don't see the problem here."

"What?"

"Dj-Pon3 said that I helped with the raiders and that's what I did. He said that I'm traveling with a pegasus and that's what I'm doing. As long as he doesn't start lying about me let him run the radio all he wants."

"Yeah Hotshot. Besides, I like the idea of you being a traveling hero with a crew that's got your back."

"Why do I have to be the leader? Can't we just share authority?"

"No, that always leads to a dysfunctional and undecided group. And before you ask why you get to be in charge, consider this. We have a medic who has no familiarity with the wasteland, a sword-wielding zebra who is unable to speak, and a trained solider in special power armor. Now you tell me, which one would a surface dweller most likely respect and listen to?"

"Alright fine. But we're not going by Daybreak and company or anything like that."

"Awww. Why not?"

"Because, it sounds ridiculous."

"Hmn, how about the Liberators?"

"No"

"Three Amigos?"

"Absolutely not?"

"Oh, oh, I got it! The Daybreakers! Huh, how about that?"

"Please, just stop."

"Oh, wait a second, this is perfect. We are-"

"No. Nope. None of that. Look Lily, I appreciate it, really, I do. But we don't need a team name."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm absolutely certain."

"Cause if you ever change your mind..."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll let you know." We walked in silence for a little while, not that it lasted or anything.

"So where exactly are we going?"

"Hoofington."

"We're going straight to the core?!"

"Is there something bad about the core?"

"Well apparently anypony who gets too close instantly gets vaporized by the city itself. Should you get past it somehow, there's also supposed to be this underlying force there that is like radiation but worse."

"How is it worse than radiation?"

"They said something about being melted into goo from a single cut rather than just slight mutation."

"Oh...well then I think we'll skip visiting the core."

"Then where are we going?"

"Around."

"Around?"

"Yes, around."

"Oh come on, you've got to have a better answer than that!"

"What are you talking about? I haven't been there before. It's not like I know all the sights to see on your visit there."

"Don't you at least know the name of where you're going?"

"Of course I do, we're going to Hoofington."

"But where in Hoofington exactly? It's not just the city itself, pretty much everything within a day's travel is considered Hoofington."

"We don't really have a set destination."

"Then what's the difference between searching for Nightfall and searching for the Proditors?"

"We can ask for directions for the Proditors. I highly doubt that anypony will have any idea of Nightfall and it's whereabouts."

"Okay, who are we asking for directions from?"

"Our best bet is probably some townsfolk or settlers."

"Any clue as to where to find them?"

"Nope."

"So we might as well be wandering aimlessly!?"

"That's one way to look at it."

"I...you...ugh. You're just relying on luck to take you in the right direction?! This is a horrible plan!"

"Well, I don't know about that. After all, we found you using this method. Doesn't that count for anything?"

"No, because that was purely by chance that you came across me. We can't just wing it."

"Trust me Lily, once we get a lead on either goal we'll come up with a real plan. Until then, let's just enjoy the road."

"Fine, that works...I guess. So, Azel...what's your story?"

"Not much to it. I used to be in the Ceaser's Legion, then I left. I met Daybreak a little after that. You know the rest.

"Aw come on, there's got to be more than that. Also, what's the Ceaser's Legion?"

"The Ceaser's Legion is basically what remains of the Zebra Empire. Rather than deteriorating into different independant factions and groups after the bombs fell like here in Equestria, the Zebra Empire practically split in half."

"Why did it split?"

"One group agrees with the Ceaser, one group doesn't. Those who don't are named traitors. They get cursed and are exiled from zebra lands."

"A curse? What does it do?"

"It turns a zebra's stripes from black to red. Some have been able to avoid it by making look like they were killed rather than deserted the legion."

"Is that what you did, faked your death?"

"No, I openly left the legion. A friend of mine had put a counter-curse on me years before that protected me from the mark. Unfortunately, it didn't have the desired effect. Instead of repelling the curse, his spell simply altered it. It's the reason I can't speak."

"Why did you lea-"

"He doesn't want to talk about it Lily."

"Oh, um...where did you get that sword?" Azel looked at the sword on his side almost mournfully before responding.

"Let's just say that it lead to me leaving."

"Oh...uh, okay. Hey Hotshot, what all can your pal Daybreak do?"

"Well dear cousin, Daybreak is a sophisticated individual who is skilled more arts than I care to count." With a roll of her eyes and a slight smile she signaled for me to go on. "As you can already tell, this armor has a modification I've never seen before. These leg-lasers are simply genius. I can just point at a target rather than having to turn my whole body to face somepony to my side."

"How does it fire? Do you have a second trigger to bite or something?"

"No, which leads me to another advancement. Practically everything I do while wearing the armor is controlled by thought instead of action. Weapons, medicine, communications, even navigation. No specific twitches, no voice commands, nothing. I just think and it happens."

"You mean like how ponies activate S.A.T.S? Is it safe to have that much information plugged in at once?"

"I don't know, probably not."

"Yet you're still going to wear it all the time, aren't you?"

"Yep."

"I swear, you act like you've always been Daybreak, like that armor is your own skin."

"As far as the wasteland is concerned, I always have been and always will be."

"Why? Why give up everything you have accomplished and earned back in the Enclave? What is so important down here?"

"Aside from doing some good and saving lives, I don't really have any reason to stay down here since my curiosity about Nightfall is more of a personal interest. Right now, I'm waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

"Evidence that I won't be killed, arrested, or anything else by the Enclave if I show up."

"What if they truly do want you dead?"

"Then I'll wait for that to change. Until then, I hide out down here. That's the main reason I'm calling myself Daybreak, as a cover. I just hope they don't raid my workshop while I'm gone."

"That's...a decent plan. Sorry, I just thought you were running around without direction because it was fun."

"Well, I didn't exactly do a good job of showing otherwise. Thanks for looking out for me regardless. You really are the closest thing to a sister for me."

"Thanks, you too."

"Really, I make a good sister?"

After a moment's consideration she softly slugged my shoulder and smiled. "Doofus"

We walked on in silence, the three of us absentmindedly listening to the radio. Of course we had small conversations like 'doesn't that rock look like tree to you' and stuff like that but nothing was important enough for me to repeat here. Eventually we saw a group of structures from in the distance which foretold a settlement. As we got closer a sudden sense of danger came over me. Then we heard the gunshots, followed by screaming.

New Perk! - Radio Star - Level 1: You were on the news! Ponies are now more likely to know your name and might trust you.

Author's Note

Another chapter done, whoo! As always I'd like to thank kkat for the greatness that is Fallout Equestria and thank you to everyone of you readers. Also, I am happy to say that (at the time of writing this) by the end of next week there will be a new cover picture :yay: . Good day to you all!

Chapter 7: Helping the Locals

Chapter 7: Helping the Locals
Thank you Applejack for saving us from that scary stampede.

zhoom

Aha, found you! pew pew pew The raider who had fired at me was hit by three lasers and fell to the ground dead. Another raider who was behind me fired a clip of his machine gun. Luckily for me, he wasn't used to shooting at something above him and was using low caliber rounds that bounced off my armor's dense plating. I turned around just in time to see Azel take him in two quick swings, already about to engage his next opponent before the raider's corpse hit the ground. Seeing a trio of raiders in triangle formation rushing the town's saloon, I flew after them. The townsfolk atop the saloon seemed to have not noticed the attackers since they continued firing at raiders raiding the Mayor's office. I was upon the trio before they had reached the front porch. Flying between the two in the back, my wing blades cutting their sides as I passed, I jabbed my tail into the back of the lead raider's neck and released a deadly jolt of electricity. Turning around midair, dislodging my tail in the process, I fired a volley at both of the remaining raiders. Both hit home and I quickly darted under the yaning of the porch, using a column as temporary cover. "Everything going alright in there?!"

Much to my relief, Lily's voice replied, "We have a few wounded and several dead yet we're holding out. I've been able to keep everypony else healthy enough to fight but I'm running out of supplies. If you could cover them, we can make a push to the clinic for more."

"I'll do my b-" The post I was behind shattered into splinters as I heard an explosive pow and bullet wisp by me. "Shit!"

"You okay?!"

"Yeah, tell the squad to go around the back way. Azel should be able to provide backup there."

"What about you?"

"I'll be right back." I took to the air, barely getting out of the way of another shot by doing so. Following the momentary trail left by the bullet I was able to spot a raider upon a nearby hill. Using evasive maneuvers I closed in on the sniper, his shots becoming more panicked the closer I got. Closing the distance, I fired a volley from my Tri-shot leg. The sniper jumped to his side, leaving himself exposed. Before he was able to recover I was upon him and jabbed my tail into his side. With a quick jolt to finish him off, I took off back to the town. From my elevation I could see what I assumed to be the advance squad Lily was talking about pushing from the side of the town opposite of me. I spotted opposition in several buildings I assumed to be houses that were slowing their progress. As I got closer I could tell where exactly in the houses most of the raiders were. Entering S.A.T.S, I marked the house to my right and flew straight to the one on my left. I got in range and fired. Instantly the grenade launcher lobbed a grenade through the window of the house in front of me. After a moment's hesitation, a rocket fired and flew directly toward the position I had marked. I heard a yelp of surprise from the grenade house as it stopped in the room they were in. The explosives went off simultaneously, the grenade clearing the entire room of raiders while the rocket cleared the entire house of both raiders and structural integrity. Hope that wasn't important.

From atop the roof of the clinic came a voice saying, "This is your last chance brother! Give yourself up and we'll leave peacefully!" I saw a figure show his head over the edge of the building. Why he was exposing himself in front of ten odd hostile ponies was beyond me, but he was going to get what was coming to him.

"You want him? You're gonna have to get through all of us to even have a chance off finding him!" shouted somepony in the crowd. A chorus of encouragement followed.

"Tsk tsk brother, I know you are in that crowd somewhere. Only a matter of figuring out which one is you." I flew up straight in front of the figure.

"You're going to have to get through me as well you- You?!" Being this close to the figure, I could easily make out his features. Much to my disbelief, before me was the same smooth-haired, completely devoid of color unicorn that I had fought at the raider camp. At my reaction he looked at me with confusion, but then his eyes glinted with recognition.

"Well isn't this a pleasant surprise? Nice to see you again...did I get your name when we last met?"

"You're dead."

"It doesn't seem that way to me. However, considering that you haven't known me for to long it is reasonable for you to assume that. In fact, today's your lucky day! Out of the goodness of my heart, I'm giving you another chance to joi-" He was cut off by me pressing my precision rifle against his forehead. As I did so, both sides prepared their weapons.

"Looks like you're a bit lucky too. You get one chance to leave with your life." Much to my annoyance, he seemed completely unconcerned by his current situation. More so, he had the exact same confident smirk as he did during our previous encounter.

"Now what could i have done to receive such hostility?"

"Simple, on two occasions now you've been in a position of authority among raiders. This time I'm actually seeing you attack ponies who are trying to live their lives in peace. Now listen carefully because anything other than a nod will result in me blasting your head off. Will you leave peacefully?" He shook his head. I fired. His body faded into the wind. Battle resumed.

Three hours later, having swiftly defeated the raiders without their leader and made sure there weren't any stragglers, Lily, Azel and I were helping how we could to make sure the town would be fine once we left. Specifically, Lily was still treating the injured while Azel and I were assisting with moving wreckage and rebuilding fortifications. Currently the two of us were helping an earth pony stallion, wearing armor that covered his cutie mark who had a dark blue coat and greenish-yellow hair with pale yellow eyes in case you were wondering, were clearing up the wreckage of a house. The fact that it was me responsible for the it's destruction instead of the attackers is completely irrelevant.

"So...Mr. Power Armor, what brought you here to our fine stain in the wastes? Looking for somepony?"

"Just traveling around."

"Well I'm sure glad you were "traveling" near here when you were. Don't think we could have driven them away without half the town going with them. Tell your friends that they have my, if not everypony's, gratitude for their help as well."

"We were happy to lend a hoof against them. What was the lead raider after anyway? He was saying something about a brother before I confronted him."

"Those were gangers, that grey unicorn was their leader I assume. He was wanting his brother to join his gang. When his brother refused and settled down here, he decided he would either be forced in or die."

"Is there any more of this gang that might come back? What were they called by the way?"

"They called themselves Mirages when they first arrived. Personally, I wouldn't worry to much about them. This was literally their first operation and I think you disbanded them by shooting the leader. They were a relatively small gang compared to some of the others so they won't last long anyway."

"What other gangs are there?"

"Let's see, there's the Burners, the Reapers, the Zodiacs, the Flash Filies, and the Pecos."

"Any of them that I should avoid?"

"Ideally you wouldn't want to interact with any of them. But to be more specific, the Burners and Flash Filies should leave you alone so long as you don't interfere with any of their business. Same for the Pecos and Zodiacs really so long as you don't have a bounty on your head. If you start making a name for yourself 'round here some Reapers might come after ya."

"Why would they attack me?"

"The Reapers have an...interesting way of gaining new members. The only way anypony can become a Reaper is to kill a previous Reaper. They pride themselves as being the toughest in the wastes. But whenever some new guy shows up and starts getting some recognition, ponies might start to doubt a Reaper's right to their membership. Generally, they fix this problem by killing said bigshot as a show of strength."

"Sounds like a friendly group."

"Oh absolutely. Be sure to ask them first if you need a cup of sugar."

"I sure will...uh..."

"Sp-uhh...Meadow. My name is Meadow. Yours?"

"Daybreak."

"Liar."

"You sure about that Meadow?"

"I had something in my throat."

"Sure you did."

"Hmph. So, Daybreak, what's your story? You from Manehattan or anything?"

"Former Enclave member."

"Looks like they've stepped their game up since last I saw Enclave armor. How long ago did you leave?"

"About a week now."

"And what made the Hoof your destination?"

"Told you already, traveling."

"If you came here to be a tourist then you have a death wish."

"That's what drew me here. I wanted to know what's so bad about Hoofington."

"How you have gotten your friends to come with you is a mystery. Anyway, don't want to postpone your vacation any longer. Thanks again for the help and everything, but I think we can handle it from here."

"You sure you don't want help finishing this?"

"No, it's fine. You've done a good job of cleaning up your mess. Go on, have fun "traveling" and whatnot."

"Alright then, bye. Oh, wait! One more thing, do you know where one might find a group of zebras down here?" Somehow I was able to sense Azel's ears perk up.

"Hmn, I'm not sure. Last I heard of zebras was a mention of a few slaves. I think they're working a bit further south from here, at the Brimstone Falls gem mine."

"Slaves? Not if I can help it."

"Be careful around there. The Pecos work with the ponies who run the place. There's also a rumor of one of the top ten Reapers being stationed there."

"Guess I'll figure out how tough the Reapers are myself."

"Good luck to ya then."

"Thanks, good luck to you too." Azel walked over and we waved to Meadow as we walked to the saloon. Inside we found Lily casually walking from makeshift bed to makeshift bed checking on the twenty-odd injured townsfolk. "How's it going Lily?"

Lily looked up from one of her patients at the sound of my voice, obviously not aware of our presence before now. "Oh, well it's okay I guess. Most of the ponies here had been hit by maybe a bullet or two and still had their vital organs unharmed. I've stabilized a lot of the more seriously wounded as well. All of them should recover very soon. How's the repair outside going?"

"Doing fine. I think they can easily handle things from here. So long as you aren't needed, of course."

"They'll be fine. After all, I'm not the only pony who knows how to clean a wound and use a healing potion."

"I'm sure they appreciate your help regardless. Shall we get going?"

"Yeah, let's go." We exited the saloon and made our way down the street heading south. Lily waited until we had left town before asking, "Soooo, where we going now?"

"Brimstone Falls."

"Where's that?"

"Further down south. It's a mining facility."

"Why are we going there?"

"Because there are zebras there who are being kept as salves."

"They won't be for much longer."

"Okay, how do we plan to do that, what are we up against?"

"From what I was told, one of the local gangs is based there. There's also supposed to be some really dangerous pony that's most likely there to keep the slaves in check."

"What about the mine itself? Is it underground, is it more like a quarry, what do they mine? You know, stuff like that."

"That's exactly what I was wondering. Unfortunately, I think that the most anypony back in...the town knows is what I've already said. What was the town called?"

"I didn't ask."

"Azel?" He shook his head. "Ugh, why do I keep forgetting to ask for anything's name?"

"We could go back and ask."

"No, it's fine. I'd rather not come back after a triumphant departure to ask the name of some random town. Let's just focus on the journey ahead."

"How far are we going? Is it on the map?" Good question.

Display Brimstone Falls
...

"Unless it was around before the war and somepony bothered to put it in the databa-"

Error: Please specify between Intel or Location

"Well I'll be..."

Location
...
Displaying map

My E.F.S was replaced by the map in the bottom left corner of my HUD with a highlighted hole south of our position. "Yep, definitely similar to a quarry."

"How can you tell? Does it have a picture?"

"No, it literarily is a big enough hole to see it on the map. Let me check if it has any more information."

Display Brimstone Falls Intel
...
Opening Database

A window appeared in the left side of my HUD stretching from the bottom of the compass to the top of the map.

Location: Hoofington Outskirts
Designation: Brimstone Falls Gem Mine
Significant Details: N/A

"It's a gem mine, which means that we can expect them to have energy weapons. Other than that we'll have to figure out more when we get there."

"Was this place important back during the war?"

"According to this, no."

"You sure?"

"It says not available in the important notes section."

"Why would...whomever made Daybreak-"

"The Ministry of Awesome."

"-the Ministry of Awesome even bother to record that information if it wasn't important?"

"I don't know. Whatever their reason, doesn't matter anymore."

"How long before we get there?"

"We should be around there a little after dark. We could ambush them tonight."

"I'd like to sneak in and see what we're up against in greater detail first."

"Sounds like a plan to me." I turned on the radio and we made our way to the mine.

We reached our destination without event. Lily was setting up a fireless camp for the night while Azel and I prepared to investigate the Pecos-run slave-labouring mine. Azel went ahead to scout the wall for an easy point of access while I removed my armor and Enclave uniform. Lily gave me a spare laser pistol and holster of her's. Shortly after, Azel returned.

"Find a way in?"

"Decent sized hole. Something happened here recently and this place really took a beating."

"Could you see the Proditors?"

"Couldn't see into the pit from the hole. Need to get near the edge."

"Then let's go and find them."

I followed Azel to the hole in the fence. After pausing to check that the coast was clear, we went through and hid behind some mining equipment. Peeking out from behind cover, I saw some guards posted outside what I assumed to be the actual entrance. Excluding the sound of laughter coming from inside a building next to them, the place seemed quiet. Looking towards the quarry, I saw a minecart track going down into the quarry and a broken track a little outside the hole that led elsewhere. We snuck closer to the edge of the hole and looked in. Down below there were several tunnels where the gems were most likely found. In the middle was a conveyer belt leading to a rock grinder. For some reason, chunks of stone were scattered across the ground. Azel silently climbed his way into the pit and I glided down after him.

After taking a quick look around I whispered to Azel, "I don't see any sign of the slaves. Any ideas?"

"They might be forced to stay in the caves they carve. Spilt up and check them." Azel started going around the left side of the hole, checking each cave as he passed. I went left and followed suit.

Nothing in this one. Nothing here either. Nope. Still nothing. Empty. N- "Oof!" Ugh, dumb rock! Picking myself back up, I looked back at the rock I had tripped over. What I saw was a decapitated head with an expression of terror on it's face and a bit of it's ear chipped off. "What in Equestria?" Now that I was looking in greater detail, some of the other rocks nearby looked a little too similar to body parts. Looking at the other piles I saw that they looked like ponies, too. "Okay...starting to get a bit creepy here." I checked the other caves at a slightly faster pace and eventually met up with Azel.

"Find anything?"

"Nopony in the caves. You?" He shook his head. "Either these slaves are well hidden or they don't exist at all."

"Maybe they escaped.

"Hmn, possibly. Did you see something...off about those rocks?"

"Yes, but I can't imagine what purpose they serve."

"Then let's go ask what's been going on." I flew out of the hole and hid behind some more equipment, watching the building I had seen earlier. Azel was next to me after a few seconds. "I only see the two guards who are watching the entrance. We should be able to sneak up behind them without problem."

"You plan on interrogating them?"

"Not to begin with. Let's see what we can overhear first and then decide what to do next." Azel nodded understanding and made his way to the left guard, keeping to the shadows. I on the other hoof, flew on top of the saloon, finding a spot within earshot of the guards that wasn't distorted by the ponies inside. The two guards were wearing similar outfits, cowpony hats, leather clothing, and spurred boots. Something that I assume is standard among the Pecos. I spotted Azel get into place as I began to listen in.

"-riously, who's going to sneak in to a mining facility run by us?" Oh, you'd be surprised.

"Didn't that one mare who killed Gorgon sneak in last night?"

"That was when there were still slaves here. Now that our client is dead and they left there's nothing but gems and us Pecos."

"Those ponies sure rigged up quite a fireworks show with him didn't they?"

"Yeah they did, ha ha!"

"Did you see what happened to the zebras? Nopony has told me what happened to 'em." Here we go.

"Well, I didn't see it myself, but Dusty Trails said that some zebra shot all of 'em and ran."

"He got all of 'em?"

"I guess so. Must have been one hell of'a shot to pull it off."

"Any idea where he went?"

"Nope."

"Damn. Glad he wasn't after any of us."

The rest of their conversation was tuned out as I looked over to Azel. He was clearly shocked by this news and angry at the zebra that had done this. After waving my hoof to get his attention I signaled for him to move back to where we were before. Without waiting for a response I glided back to our previous hiding spot and waited for Azel. Course I didn't have to wait long since he appeared next to me a few seconds after I landed.

"You...alright? I mean...if there's anything I can do..." He was staring at the ground, anger in his eyes. "We can track down the zebra who did this. Help you find him and avenge the Proditors." He seemed to snap out of his anger at my mention of payback.

"No, we won't be able to find him, not if he's had a full day ahead of us."

"Don't give up already. We might get lucky."

"Daybreak, I am grateful for your support and everything, but I know the zebra that attacked the Proditors. We won't find him unless he's trying to find us. The best I can do is move on and hope I get the chance to kill him later."

"Okay, if you say so. Let's get back to Lily." We easily left the same way we came in and found Lily with her nose in a book. Must have been a very interesting one since she didn't notice me walk up to her. I gave a short cough.

"Hmn? Oh, you're back! I assume everything's fine since I don't hear any alarms. So, what's the plan?"

"There...there isn't one. A zebra killed the Proditors and ran. All the other slaves were freed a little while ago."

"Is there any way to find the zebra?"

"He has too much of a head start. We can't catch him."

"Well...what are we doing then?"

"I don't know. I guess that we could go looking for Nightfall. First we need to find the Hoofington Shadowbolt Hideout in case it was already there when the bombs dropped. Problem is, I have no idea where to find it."

"Is there any way to narrow down where it could be?"

"Unless I can learn how exactly it's hidden, not really. I need to find out what other MOA facilities were involved in this project. Hell, just knowing what the project was called would help. I need to get some more information, but where?"

"What about one of the MASEBS towers? Didn't the Ministry of Awesome use them for stuff back then?" said an unfamiliar voice behind me.

Azel and I quickly turned around to face the speaker, Lily poking her head out from behind us. In front of us was a dark blue coated earth pony with greenish-yellow hair. Wait, why do I recognize those pale yellow eyes? "Meadow? What are you doing here?"

Footnote - Level Up!

New Perk! - S.A.T.S Rocket Targeting: You can use S.A.T.S. to automatically lock on to a target with your rocket launcher.

Skill Note - Sneak Level 20, Guns Level 40, Explosives Level 30

Author's Note

Okay, finally back. Let me start this off by saying thank you to kkat her brilliant masterpiece and thank you to everyone reading my story of smaller proportion. Sorry it took so long for me to get this done. At first I had legitimate things in the way such as several school projects at around the same time. However, this last week or two can only be chalked up to general procrastination. One thing before I go, I may have screwed up a bit :facehoof: . You see...I may have accidentally published a version of chapter 5 that didn't include Lily's cutie mark and the story she had for it. I've gone back and fixed it now so feel free to go back to the scene where Hotshot and Lily were talking inside her shack if you don't know her tale already. Anyway, glad to be back and see you in the next chapter!

Chapter 8: Finding a Lead

Chapter 8: Finding a Lead
Okay, Pinkie, in order to really solve this mystery, we're going to have to find clues

"Meadow? What are you doing here?" Why would he come all the way out here? Was he following us?

"Hey Daybreak! I was uh...wanting to-"

"Spy on us!? How long were you watching?" Lily interrupted.

"Well I got here a few minutes before Daybreak and Azel got back. But I wasn't spying on y-"

"Then why didn't you show yourself while they were gone? What are you doing here?"

"I was waiting for Daybreak because I was afraid you would act like you are right now and shoot me. Also, if you would let me finish I'll tell you why I'm here." There was a moment of silence as he made sure we had nothing to say. "As I was saying before, I'd...well, I'd like to join your group."

"What? Why?" Thank you again Lily for asking my questions for me.

"Well I just, uh...I wanted to...go on adventures and stuff. Yeah, it was just boring back at Crop Yield." So that's the name of the town!

"Really? You didn't seem to interested on leaving while we were cleaning the wreckage."

"Ponies can change their mind can't they?"

"I guess. What exactly changed your mind?"

"Well, I thought of how the raiders attacked because their leader was looking for somepony. If he was looking for him, others might be too. I'd rather not live with somepony whose mere presence might attract danger. Soooo, may I? Please?"

"As long as Azel and Lily are fine with it." I turned to them. "Are you fine with it?"

Azel gave a slight nod after Lily remarked, "So long as he doesn't sneak around again, sure."

"Well, that settles it. Welcome to the group Meadow."

"Thanks, I'll make myself useful."

"Now what was this about the MASEBS towers you were saying?"

"Oh, right. Well, I'm no expert on pre-war Equestrian tech or anything, but weren't they used to send messages by the ministries? At least that's what I've heard."

"My instructor during EVC training said they were used to broadcast emergency messages like the evacuation warning when the bombs fell. I think they work like the radio Dj-Pon3 has been doing, just only being used in urgent times."

"It isn't to hard to imagine that they could also have been used to relay small amounts of data, like secret messages. The radio might have been used to disguise their signal so they wouldn't be intercepted. I think it's as good a start as any." I paused to make sure the others didn't have any objections. Assuming their silence meant that they were all for it, I asked, "So where is the closest tower Meadow?"

"I think there's one closer to the core. Again, just like this gem mine, I've only heard of it. Can't your map find it?"

"Let's find out."

Mark nearest MASEBS Tower
...
Locating
...
Marking

"Looks like I've got a match." A waypoint appeared on my HUD that marked a position to the south of us. "Oh, hold on a sec."

Display nearest MASEBS Tower
...
Displaying MASEBS #13

My E.F.S was replaced by the bird's eye view of the Hoofington area with a marker placed in the middle of nowhere. "There we go! Okay, looks like if we leave here by morning we should reach the tower before sundown."

Lily and Azel nodded understanding while Meadow asked, "That's great. Now, could you translate when before sundown is to the pony whose hardly seen the sun's full path?"

"About 7 in the afternoon."

"Oh, okay. Thanks Lily." From the way he responded ii wasn't sure if his original question had been sarcastic or not.

"We'll leave first thing in the morning." Lily immediately went to her sleeping bag while Azel and I decided who got first shift. Overhearing our conversation, I guess the proper term is my responses to Azel's writing, Meadow offered to take the first watch, clearly eager to help and prove himself useful. For obvious reasons, Azel and I let him begin while we laid down. Despite our proximity to the Pecos base, the rest of the night passed by without event. As planned we woke up and quickly began our trek to the MASEBS tower. Once we were far enough from the mine that I was sure we wouldn't attract attention all of us asked Meadow our individual questions.

"So, how was life back at Crop Yield? You know, before the attack."

"Relatively quiet. I lived there a few years, helping to keep everyone feed and safe. It was a nice change of pace from bounty hunting."

"Bounty hunting?" Lily questioned. "What kind of bounties exactly?"

"Little bit of everything. Mostly clearing out pests like radroaches or ghouls from certain places, sometimes I'd be a caravan guard when I felt that there was better pay elsewhere, and occasionally I'd track somepony with a mark on them."

"Where they murderers, raiders, ponies like that?"

"No idea."

"What do you mean you have no idea?! Didn't you gather information about before killing them? What if they were innocent?"

"It's not that simple down here. There's not some cosmic good and bad side. There's no innocent pony down here, not for long. I made a living by taking jobs and carrying them out. I don't get the caps I need to survive if I spend time questioning whether the key to my paycheck deserves it. Besides, it wasn't very often I took up those bounties. Only when there weren't any other jobs available."

Before Lily had the chance to accuse him further I asked, "You mentioned that you rode caravans from place to place. Where exactly have you been?"

Glad for the change of subject, Meadow thought for a moment before replying, "Well, it would be easier to name where I haven't been. I was born in Las Pegas and spent my youth there. Nice place, could've done without the gangers and their casinos. Eventually I scrounged up enough to leave and seek riches elsewhere." He laughed for a second and sighed before continuing. "Had no idea what I was getting into. Soon enough I became a bounty hunter and went to several interesting places over the next three years. I went to Yanhoover, Manehattan, Trottingham, New Appleloosa, nearly got taken into Fillydelphia, Baltimare, and as of recently I've been here in the Hoof. Hell, just about the only place I haven't been is the Crystal Empire."

"How about Canterlot?"

"Canterlot? No, I'm not suicidal. That place is a complete deathtrap. Just hearing about the pink cloud made sure I didn't go near."

"Why did you stop bounty hunting? Seems like it was suiting your needs well."

"I don't know. I came across Crop Yield one day and didn't feel like leaving. After that I stored away my gear and settled down. At least, until the attack. Enough about me though. What's your story?"

"Now hold on a second! Why should we trust anything you said?"

"Now hold on Lily. I-"

"What reason do you have to not trust what I said?"

"Why? Why?! Well for starters the you were sneaking around our camp." Lily was now hovering in place. Meadow had stopped walking as well and they faced each other. Azel and I stopped a few feet further once we realized that the other two weren't following.

"He already explai-" I started as I walked forward to break up the argument.

"Didn't I already explain why I was sneaking around?"

"Not an explanation I believe. I think your waiting for an opportunity to kill us and claim a bounty!"

"Lily, that's hardly-"

"What bounty could you possibly have?! Besides, I already told you those days are behind me."

"What a load of-"

"Hey! Both of you! Shut up!" The two turned towards me. "Both you need to cool off, OK." Meadow glanced at Lily then nodded understanding. With a quick huff at Lily, he resumed walking. Lily silently glared at Meadow as he walked away. I came up to her and whispered, "Just give him a chance. He's trying to help."

She continued glaring at Meadow.

"Please."

Thankfully, she stopped staring at Meadow's form getting further away. Sigh "Fine. I'll lay off for now. So long as he doesn't make another misstep."

After that the group walked on in complete silence. I didn't even turn the radio on for fear that it might disturb the peace. Many hours later, we were about to reach the tower. The treck had passed by painfully slow because of the silence and I was looking forwards to having something to occupy myself with once we got there. Making a casual sweep of the group, I noticed that Meadow was staring at something to the right. Looking in that direction myself, I didn't see anything unusual.

I was about to ask him what he was looking at when he said, "I think I just saw a prickly petunia. You guys go ahead, I'll catch up."

"Wait, what's a prickly-" He was already out of earshot. I turned to Azel and Lily, "Any clue what a prickly petunia is?"

Azel gave a dismissive shrug of his sholders while Lily shook her head replying, "I don't recall learning about any type of petunia in medical training. Could be anything. He might also be lying and setting us up for something."

"Come on Lily, cut him some slack. He hasn't made a single move that would suggest hostility. Need to give him the benefit of the doubt."

"Hmph, we'll see." We continued on another minute or two and reached the base of the tower. Meadow hadn't returned yet, something that Lily clearly was unhappy about. "So...how do you access the tower's records?"

I spotted a terminal access port and began making my way towards it. "Right over here."

"That's it? Isn't there some sort of encryption or password to keep civilians out?"

"Well, technically yes. The Ministry of Arcane Science, the creators of these towers, wanted to allow civilians to be able to raise the alarm in case of a sneak attack while keeping them from being able to access launch codes and the like. Their solution was a program that automatically scans and analyzes the set of clearances of whatever is plugged in has. Depending on what they have, they could access certain areas. I'm counting on my armor's computer to have enough clearance to reach the messaging system. If I'm lucky, I might be able to learn more about the Centaur Protocol and the purpose of Daybreak and Nightf-" A burst of electromagnetic energy went through my armor, causing static to appear all over my HUD. I turned to face whoever was ambushing us, seeing Lily and Azel turn and draw their respective weapon as well. Before I could analyze the pony behind us, another jolt slammed in to me. This time Daybreak's systems powered down, telling me that my spell matrix was offline and I had no power. My own armor became a hindrance as the joints began locking up, not able to receive any commands to move. Without Daybreak's systems I wasn't able to force the metallic joints to move without my mental commands. I was stuck. Luckily, I had turned far enough to see our attackers.

A raider in front of me, an earth pony mare with a burnt orange coat and dark red mane if you were wondering, began speaking, "Well lookie what we got here fellas. We've caught ourselves the scum that spoiled our little visit to Crop Yield." Azel tensed and was about to lunge at her when six more raiders surrounded us, guns at the ready. "Ah, ah, ah. Wouldn't want your friends to get hurt would you?" She tilted her head to Lily and I. Azel, seeing that he had no way of attacking without getting us killed, backed down.

I figured that our best chance was to wait for Meadow to catch up and figure out a way to help. I started to stall by asking the lead raider, "What do you want? We're kinda busy."

"What do we want?! Didn't you hear me? You pieces of shit ruined our plan and shot the boss square in the head! Personaly, I want you dead." Her crimson eyes seemed to thirst for blood as she gave a hateful glare.

"Then why are we still alive?"

"Boss still wants you for something. Consider yourselves lucky."

"What?! You just said he was shot in the head. How could he be giving orders if he's dead?"

The mare turned her head to Lily, giving a wicked smile as she replied, "Because he's not dead you dumb bitch." She just reserved her death wish. "He wouldn't be in charge if some featherbrained Enclave prick could kill him so easily." Where are you Meadow?! We've got her mocking us and everything! How long could it have possibly taken to pick some stupid flower?

Another raider came over a hill, a unicorn stallion with a green coat and eyes and dark blue hair in case you care, and walked up to the shouting mare. She noticed his arrival and questioned, "Well? Where's the brother? It couldn't have been difficult to find him." I dont know why but something about this unicorn seemed familiar. And brother? Are they talking about Meadow?

"I found him. Then I killed him." Meadow is dead?! Dammit, there has to be something I can do!

Four words appeared in the corner of my vision that gave me an answer.

Reboot Complete. Restoring Power.

Instantly my HUD returned as the different spells and programs came back online. In order to keep the element of surprise I did my best to remain in my pose and not alert the raiders that the EMP had worn off.

"You did what!? We were supposed to bring him back ALIVE you idiot! I think I'll save boss the trouble and kill you now!"

By now all of Daybreak's systems were back online and ready for action. Hoping that Azel and Lily would have the initiative to attack along with me, I got ready to strike as soon as one of the raiders made a move against the other. Some of the raiders that were supposed to be watching us were now watching the encounter.

"I think you misunderstood what I said. You see, I found him." His horn glowed as an unusual laser pistol was levitated out of his holster and pointed it at the other raider's head so fast that the mare had no time to react. Just then I realized why he looked familiar. His eyes seemed to be slightly less saturated than they should be. They were a paler color. He pulled the trigger and immediately levitated the gun to his mouth and held it as if he didn't have magic. His coat and mane started changing color before my eyes and I saw his horn shrink as something else formed on his sides. The unicorn had turned into a pegasus and took off straight into the air, dodging the raiders' fire. "And then I killed him before he had the chance to catch me." Seizing the moment of opportunity, I jumped into the air as well and fired a volley at the three raiders closest to Lily and Azel, forcing them to dive out of the way, then turned and used STATS to launch a grenade into the group on the other side of us. Azel joined the fray and instantly finished off a raider that my shots had barely grazed. Lily drew her pistol and fired at one of the three raiders shooting at the mystery pegasus. Speaking of which, the red and orange pegasus shot at the other two raiders attacking him, striking with deadly efficiency and killing them. Azel took out the other two raiders near him while I charged the group I had fired a grenade at. The blast had killed two of them and injured the other, whom I jabbed with my tail while I turned and fired a three-shot burst at the raider Lily had already injured, killing both of them. Unfortunately, before my shots connected the raider was able to fire a burst at the pegasus, several shots hitting his left wing. Instantly he started falling to the ground. Lily rushed forward to caught him before impact and gently put him on the ground, immediately grabbing medical supplies out of her saddlebags. I sent a jolt of electricity into the final raider that was still on the end of my tail and hurried over to provide assistance.

Lily was offering a healing potion to the stranger insiting, "Here, drink this while I try and bandage it up."

"No need. I'll be fine."

"Oh drop the tough act. What is with you stallions and making my job harder?"

"Lily, seriously, it's nothing." Lily paused and starred at the troublesome patient.

"How do you know my name?"

"What, you mean you don't recognize me?" said the pegasus in a sarcastic tone. He grimaced in pain as he began changing again, his wings receding into his body as he shaped into the familiar form of Meadow. As his body shifted I saw the gunshots he had suffered disappear with his wings. "Pretty cool trick, right?"

"Wha-I-how? Meadow?"

"Yeah Lily, it's really me. Sorry it took a while to catch up Daybreak. Ran into that one raider I was disguised as. Everypony okay?"

"I think we're fine Meadow. So, when were you going to tell us about that trick?"

Lily, having recovered from her initial confusion, joined in asking, "This probably isn't how you really look is it? You're a unicorn."

"I-...yeah I'm a unicorn." His body began changing. His coat and mane changed color. At least that what I thought would happen. Instead, their color seemed to drain out and become dull until before me was a gray and dark gray unicorn. "This is what I really look like." He looked just like the raider boss from Crop Yield. Azel nearly drew his sword and I tensed for a second. What stopped us was that a second after his change his eye color somehow got a little paler and I noticed that his hair was a lot less uniform and smooth than I remembered the raider having. In fact, his hair made it look like he had just woken up. Noticing our initial reaction, Meadow explained, "You probably mistook me for my brother Mirage, but believe me, I'm not on his side."

"You've done nothing but help us. I'd be hard pressed to believe you were against us. However, why did you hide this from us before?"

"Because, well...remember when you asked why I stopped bounty hunting? The real reason was, well, I was hiding out."

"From your brother?"

"Yeah, him."

"Why is your brother after you?"

"We had a...falling out long ago. He has been very persistent in catching me and as he put it "putting me in my place". My disguise as Meadow was to hide from any of his scouts. I don't know how he found me there, but I knew he didn't know exactly how I looked. So, when you guys left I figured that if I left before he could build up another force I would slip past his clutches and escape. And hopefully, once he realized I wasn't there, he wouldn't have as much focus on taking Crop Yield."

"How do we know this is your true form? You could just be making this one up like Meadow was."

"Because unlike when I transform, my cutie mark appears while I change back. It didn't fade in a few seconds after. Here watch." His body shifted and he was back as Meadow. Sure enough, a second after transforming an image of wheat grain appeared on his flank. He quickly went through the process and turned back into his "true self", an image of a very plain and wooden frame mirror already on his flank. "Did you see it?"

"Yeah, I saw it. If Meadow was just a disguise, what's your real name?"

"I'm Specter. I nearly let that slip back in Crop Yield when I was talking to your...brother is it?"

"Close. Daybreak is my cousin. Where'd you learn that kind of magic? I never read anything about illusion magic that powerful from back in the war."

"Because he's not using magic. I can tell because his horn never glows when he changes. But I do remember a certain creature with this ability." Specter looked very nervous as to what I might say next. "Specter, you're a changeling aren't you?"

Lily seemed just as surprised as I was while I had figured it out. "You mean, like an actual bug-like, emotion feeding, changeling?" She then glanced at Specter with a certain amount of concern.

"No, it's not like that! I have changeling blood yes, but I'm still half pony. Guys, I'm not one of them, you've got to believe me! I don't have any of their other traits, only shape-shifting." His eyes were filled with panic as he quickly explained himself as if he thought that we would kill him or leave him in light of this new information.

"Whoa, slow down. I'm not against you." He relaxed a little and stopped spouting his plea. "But why are you still hiding things from us?"

"I...I didn't think you'd trust me. Aside from one individual, no one has ever been kind once I told them about my true heritage. One guy just started shooting at me without another word. Changelings are hated everywhere, always exiled and shunned if not killed outright, and for the longest time I didn't know why. It was rough."

"I can only imagine. I don't blame you for lying, and I thank you for being honest now. By the way, when it's just us four, I'm Hotshot."

"Thanks. Never would have expected an Enclave solider to be more accepting than my fellow freaks on the surface. Now, we good to hack the tower or what?"

Obviously, I still had a few questions for him but I figured he could use a break for now. "Yeah, let's see what we've got." I walked back over to the terminal access port. Finding the access plug on the inner side of my right foreleg, where a Pip-Buck would be. After removing the part of my mask that covered my mouth, I grabbed it with my teeth and plugged it in.

Input Detected. Evaluating Authorization.
...
User Recognized: Daybreak
Logging in

"Hey, looks like it recognizes me. I'm in. Give me a sec to see if I can find anything."

Search Data: Hoofington Shadowbolt Hideout
...
Searching
...
Error: No Matches Found

Hmn, course it wouldn't be that easy.

Search Data: Daybreak
...
One Result(s) Found
Message Subject: Daybreak's Progress

"Hey Daybreak."

"Yeah?"

Open Message: Daybreak's Progress
...
Error: Service not Available

Well, that could cause complications.

"Were you EMP'd when I caught up?"

"Yeah, why?" Let's try this.

Display Message: Daybreak's Progress (Destination)
...
Next Destination on Route: MASEBS #14

"How did you break out of it so quickly? Doesn't Steel Ranger armor and stuff like that take hours to reboot on it's own?"

"I don't know. But if I had to guess I would say that this thing has a second spell matrix dedicated solely to speed up a reboot. Although it might be something to do with energy redirection. I can't know for sure unless I crack this baby open and take a look." Maybe I can get a bit more information while I'm plugged in.

Search Data: Nightfall
...
Searching
...
Error: No Matches Found

Huh, guess lightning doesn't strike twice this time. Maybe I'll find out more at the next tower. I unplugged myself from the tower and turned to the group. "Alright, I think I've got a lead. Meado- I mean Specter was right. These towers were used to send messages by the ministries, but they only relayed the information. I can't access it."

Remove Current Marker. Mark MASEBS #14
...
Removing Marker
...
Adding Marker

At first I thought that nothing had changed until I noticed that what used to mark MASEBS #13, where we were, now pointed in the same direction but much further away.

"Were you able to learn where it was going?" asked Lily.

"Yep, looks like it was going to another tower nearby. A bit further in the direction we were already going."

"So this is going to be like a scavenger hunt without the riddles? Follow the message's path until we reach were it was going?"

"That sounds about right. You in?"

"Absolutely. Traveling with you is much better than going back to Crop Yield and waiting for my brother to attack again."

"Well then. Lily, I think I've got that plan you wanted before."

Footnote - Level Up!

New Companion! Specter: A unicorn with a natural talent for disguise thanks to his half changeling blood. Desires to follow you around in order to avoid his brother and his goons. Safety in numbers and all that.

Author's Note

Okay, finally back to this! Here we are, Chapter 8. As always I'd like to honor kkat and the masterpiece to that name and thank every single one of you for reading this. It has been a really fun time for me so far and I hope it's the same for you. And with that, I'll see ya in the next chapter!

Chapter 9: Following the Trail

Chapter 9: Following the Trail
Aha! Pinkie, we found our first clue

Good morning, wastelanders! How is everypony doing? This is your pal, Dj-Pon3 and, well, it's that time again...that's right time for some news! I heard a rumor that Monetary Jack, cheese shop owner in that oh-so-hoity-toity Tenpony Tower, has been arrested for deciding that being a thieving jack-ass is the appropriate response to an act of kindness. Remember what I keep telling you, my little ponies: treat each other with kindness and respect. Or don't and watch come back to bite you in the tail. In other news, somepony's finaly arrived to fix my toaster. Hallelujah! It's breakfast time! Here's a little Sapphire Shores to get you through the morning.

Some music started playing as we continued to walk at our steady pace across the wasteland. It wasn't to long ago that we had packed up camp at the MASEBS tower and started heading towards the next one. It had been a relatively quiet trek, me leaving the radio on and everypony mindlessly listening as we walked. With the morning newscast we now had something to talk about. "What's so exciting about having a toaster fixed?"

"The real question is who's the loser that was hired to fix it? Not really a useful skill to have."

"Yeah, guess your right. You listen to the radio much?"

"Not a lot of other options. Some days in Crop Yield you either did nothing or listened to the radio while doing nothing."

"Sounds exhilarating. I heard about somepony called 'Stable Dweller' in one of the recent broadcasts. What's their deal?"

"The Stable Dweller rescued and freed a whole lot of slaves out of Old Appleoosa not to long ago. Apparently she's also a dragonslayer."

"Impressive. She must have quite a lot of experience in the wasteland to pull that off."

"I wouldn't be to sure. She's called Stable Dweller for a reason. If I remember correctly, Dj-Pon3 said she couldn't have left her stable more than a month ago. Speaking of hero's on the radio, I'm guessing you're the one who dealt with the raider base south of Ponyville."

"Well, I didn't do it alone, Azel was there with me. But yes, that was us."

"Nice job. Keep that up and you might even get a nickname. Actually, I guess you already gave yourself one."

"Guess I did. What was the deal with that flower you saw yesterday? Said it was a 'prickly petunia' or something."

"Oh, that. It's a kind of flower Mirage and I discovered during our travels. You see, it has these thorns all over it's stem and if you poke or get 'pricked' by one you...well, you see a glimpse of future danger and how to avoid it."

"Really? Sounds pretty helpful. Why didn't you bring it with us?"

"Because it turns to dust after you use it. I was surprised to see one all the way out here."

"Where are they normally?"

"In the Everfree Forest and the surrounding area. Even then they're few and far between."

"What were you doing in the Everfree Forest?"

"We had taken a job that seemed simple enough at the time. Some snob in Tenpony Tower was wanting some cockatrice scales and was offering quite a reward to anypony who could get them for him."

"Wait, aren't cockatrices able to turn ponies to stone with a look?" Lily questioned.

"That'd be them."

"How the hell were you going to kill one without one of you becoming forest décor?"

"Actually, that was our plan. Mirage walked right up to one and it immediately started petrifying him. However, while a cockatrice is using it's gaze it makes itself a stationary target. As soon as it was distracted I shot it in the head and we left with our prize. On the way out we encountered our first prickly petunia."

"What in Equestria gave you the idea that poking one of it's thorns would be a good decision?"

"It wasn't really a conscious decision. While we were walking I didn't see it and just happened to get scraped by one of the thorns. It gave me a vision of us finding a fork in the path and choosing to go right. Then the vision jumped to a bit later and showed us getting attacked by these blue vine-like plants. Once I came out of it I looked at the flower and saw it turn to dust. Sure enough, a little later we came across the exact same split in the path. After some convincing of my brother, we went down the left side instead and exited the forest without a problem."

After he finished his story Lily muttered something about "killing joke" while I asked, "Nothing against your shooting skill or anything but how was Mirage sure he would survive the cockatrice's stare?"

"Because of his little trick that by now I'm sure you're familiar with. He can make a duplicate of himself."

"Where'd he learn to do that? Why don't you use it?"

"Because I don't know how. He was practically born with that ability thanks to our changeling blood, similar to my shape shifting."

"I read quite a bit about the Changeling Invasion back in Thunderhead and I don't recall changelings duplicating themselves being mentioned anywhere. How is that connected to his heritage?"

"You're right, we- I mean, they can't. Unlike me, Mirage wasn't born with the full genetic code needed to shape shift. Once while he was attempting to use magic in order to try and bring out his incomplete powers, whatever spell he was doing mixed with his changeling magic and he copied himself, and he's been using that ability ever since. These duplicates, or 'after images' as I like to call them, are physically identical and mentally linked to the original, impossible to tell the difference when standing next to each other. Really annoying when the enemy that you're fighting as hard as you can to kill might not be real in the first place."

"Ugh, you can say that again. When did you two split?"

"A bit more than a year ago. We were a little outside of Trottingham I think."

"What happened?"

"I don't really know. We got separated for half a day or so and when we found each other Mirage was, different. Something happened that changed him and, well, we couldn't seem to agree on anything after that. We went our separate ways and then a few months later he starts calling for vengeance against me."

"Must have been rough. I can't imagine Lily and I trying to kill each other."

"It was a difficult time to say the least. Luckily, during that time in Trottingham I met somepony who was a good friend and partner in crime that was able to help me get out of a few tight spots. He stayed up in Trottingham though when I left to escape Mirage. But enough of me going on about my scared past, what's your story? Why'd you leave the Enclave?"

"Ha, well, it was more like I was kicked out rather than leaving of my own free will. I did quite a bit of inventing back home during my off time. Recently, I found a way to drastically improve the performance of gem-powered guns. Since that's about 90% of the weapons used by the Enclave, once word got out that I had developed this upgrade the Council practically begged me to show them how to do it."

"Sounds like you had a pretty good setup. If anything I would expect that you would become more valuable and rewarded rather than kicked out. What happened?"

"I told them no."

"What?! Why? I thought you were loyal to the Enclave before Tree Fall attacked you. Why would you refuse to help the Enclave and it's citizens?"

"Well that's the problem, Lily. It wasn't going to help citizens and lower rank troops. Just higher ranking officers and commanders in the military would get the upgraded weapons, as a perk for their 'dedication and service' to the Enclave and incentive for others to follow in their hoofsteps. They wanted only a small elite of the Enclave to have access to the improved gear, not the general public."

"What was to stop you from just showing everypony how to do the upgrade yourself?"

"City law. After my initial refusal of their proposition, somepony pulled a few strings and got the members of the Gust City Council to hold a meeting to enact a new law. The law prohibited active military personnel from instructing other ponies how to preform any process that increased the universal effectiveness of a weapon unless they have permission to give that information to that specific pony. Unfortunately, it was passed and I was unable to give out the secret."

"That's ridiculous! How were they able to get that passed?"

"The reasoning they used was that it would prevent any possibility that classified military Intel could be leaked to the public and relayed to spies and traitors, dashites for example."

"I still don't see how that would lead to you being kicked out. Did you break that rule and get caught or something?"

"No, because they left a loophole in that law. While I wasn't allowed to instruct or demonstrate how to recreate the upgrade, it said nothing about making a business out of modifying weapons and having said upgrade as one of the options. Besides, I wasn't necessarily kicked out. One of their, 'ambassadors' to me as I considered them, named Tree Fall was assigned to a patrol mission with me and shot me down while we were traveling there."

"Why?"

"Probably because the council was tired of dealing with me being uncooperative and decided to have me killed. With me considered KIA they now have free reign to inspect and disassemble my gear and try to figure out how I did it, since all military equipment is counted as government property. Not that all of their snooping around will get them anywhere."

"Hmph, quite a political system you pegasi have established up there. Very reasonable and fair. Too bad they don't try and spread that civility and prosperity to all of us down here."

"Not everywhere in the Enclave is like that." Lily said. "There weren't any schemes or plots in Thunderhead for the whole 6 years I lived there. And we are helping out down here. Haven't you seen the Enclave Volunteer Corps outposts that have been showing up?"

"Yeah, I've heard of them. And while handing out food and supplies is nice and all, what we really need is for you guys to get rid of that cloud layer. I appreciate that you pegasi up there are trying to help out, but so long as that gray curtain in the sky is still there I don't think it'll be enough. Just get rid of it."

"It's not that simple horn head. We can't just 'get rid of it'." Oh great, now I get to listen to these two squabble again.

"Oh yeah? What's stopping you feather-brains?"

"The cloud layer is where almost all of the Enclave's food comes from. We'd go hungry if it was destroyed."

"Oh no, what a nightmare!" Specter said in a mocking tone. "Big deal. Everyday somepony dies of starvation down here and most of time it's because there wasn't any edible vegetation near them. Now, I wonder what could have caused Equestria to become so bare. Maybe there's something that is blocking out the sun like, oh I don't know, a shit load of clouds or something. Too bad there isn't anypony that can do something about it. Oh wait second, there is."

"And as a result forsake everypony that lives up there?"

"Why not? It's no different than what the Enclave did to us 'surface dwellers'. It'd be karma at it's best."

"I...how can you say that?! Just dismiss the pain and suffering of hundreds upon thousands of citizens just to get back at somepony."

"It's really easy when those that would be suffering deserve it."

"Both of you, knock it off!" Thankfully, they heard me and quit arguing. "Can't you two get along for at least a day? We're getting close to the next tower so I need you to keep an eye out in case we get ambushed again." I didn't stop to turn around and make sure they heard me. I just kept walking.

Azel tapped his chalkboard to get my attention and see what he had written. "What's that?" As soon as he saw me read his message he pointed to a towering structure in the distance which went up higher than the cloud layer.

"I believe that's Shadowbolt Tower, former hub of the Ministry of Awesome."

"Quite impressive."

"Yeah, definitely not something you see everyday. Hey Lily, Thunderhead is right next to the tower right? Anything you know about it?"

"Hmn? Oh, Shadowbolt Tower, yeah. Most of Thunderhead's engineering and science projects end up in there at some point. It has all the facilities and materials we could possibly need. I heard they've found quite a lot of pre-war experimental tech and prototypes in there too. It was closed off to citizens like me so I don't know much about what actually goes on in there."

"Why'd they need to make it so big? Was there a pre-war Enclave that was planning for the future or something?"

"Probably not. I think it was meant to be a symbol, a monument of Equestria's power and superiority over the Zebra Empire." I suggested.

"Do they use the entire thing?"

"No, about the bottom three-fourths of what we can see is unoccupied. I don't think they've even explored beyond that point."

"Is that green glow coming from the city caused by the tower?"

"No, something in the city is doing that. Apparently they sent a team to investigate a while ago, but it didn't end well for them."

"Yeah, I'd imagine so. Those of us down here all know that just approaching the core is a death wish, possibly worse than Canterlot."

"Then let's hope that the hideout isn't actually in Hoofington. Speaking of which, there's the next tower." I pointed ahead to the tower which was growing with every step we took. "Azel, you and Specter inspect the surrounding area. Let's make sure we're alone this time." Azel nodded and looked to Specter to make sure he had heard. With a look between them, they split from Lily and I to begin their patrol.

"I'm guessing that you want me to watch your back while you are plugged in."

"Mostly, yes. But it doesn't hurt to have somepony to talk to and bounce ideas off of in case we hit a dead end."

"I suppose so. It's nice to see that you're growing more accustomed to our new surroundings. I don't think I'm that far quite yet."

"I wouldn't say that I'm accustomed to the wasteland quite yet, but I definitely am getting more familiar with how things work around here. I'm just glad my failure to be aware of my surroundings didn't get all of you killed yesterday." I had plugged in while we were talking and the terminal finally had logged me in.

Search Data: Daybreak
...

"Oh, don't worry about that. They slipped past all of us and were prepared to deal with you. None of it was your fault. At least you're taking precautions for that situation now."

"I guess you're right. Thanks cuz."

One Result(s) Found
Message Subject: Daybreak's Progress

Okay, let's see where we're going next.

Display Message: Daybreak's Progress (Destination)
...

"Find anything?"

"That's what I'm about to find ou-"

Final Destination on Route: Ministry Mare Rainbow Dash's Office, Shadowbolt Tower

"Well...that's unfortunate."

"What is it?"

"You wouldn't happen to know how to get into Shadowbolt Tower would you, Lily?"

"As long as a pony has the right clearance I suppose. Though, fighting one's way in wouldn't be all that difficult. The challenge there would be to stay alive once inside. Why?"

"Because the message was sent to Rainbow Dash's office. I assume that it's on the top floor."

"Well, yes it is. But how are we supposed to get there?"

"Get into where?" Specter asked as he and Azel returned from patrolling. "What's going on? Where to next?"

"Hotshot says that the next stop is in Rainbow's office, all the way at the top of Shadowbolt Tower."

"Oh, huh." He looked up at the portion of the tower that reached the clouds. "Yeah...I don't see it happening."

"Come on guys, we just need a plan." i encouraged. "Let's start by analyzing the obstacles in front of us."

"Well let's see;" Specter began. "There's the lightning rods that we have to find a way to sneak past, Enclave security that we have to deal with once we arrive and while inside the tower, and one of us can't walk on clouds. Take your pick."

Okay, so maybe this might be a problem. "One step at a time. During the war, at events like the Cloudsdale Young Flyer Competition some unicorns would use a spell that allowed non-pegasi to walk on clouds so they could watch. Specter, do you know it?"

"Yeah, I know it. But I don't think it'll be any help. Spells I cast fizzle out once I change. I can cast the spell as a unicorn but I'd have to stay like that for it to work. And I don't think unicorns are welcome up there."

"Maybe not in the actual city. But we do have unicorns that live in Shadowbolt Tower." Lily suggested.

"What? I thought Neighvarro banned any cities from bringing surfacers to live with us."

"That's because the unicorns were already there when we found them. Apparently, there was a whole Stable built inside the tower."

"Really? Well, guess they needed to use that space for something." That would explain why Thunderhead was always the best place for me to get most of my gun-smithing supplies. "OK, so Specter can mimic one of the unicorns. How do we get him inside?"

"Uh, I didn't think that far ahead yet. I don't think unicorns are even allowed to leave the tower."

"Hmn, maybe I don't need to look like a unicorn while we get in."

"What do you mean?" Lily questioned. "Unless we can find somepony that has access to the tower, you being a unicorn is our only way in."

"No, there is a third way. I'm sure the guards would simply step aside if an important looking solider wearing advanced gear;" He made a gesture towards me. "was escorting a dangerous prisoner like..." His coat changed color. His gray coat and mane turned to stripes of white and black. Before us now was a zebra that looked very similar to Azel. "me. So, what do you think?"

"That's not how I look. You have the patterns wrong."

"I know. It would take a lot of time to memorize how you look. So instead I just used you as an example for what zebras look like. Does it look real enough?"

"A pony won't be able to tell the difference."

"Good enough for me! So...how do we get up there, you two going to carry me or something?"

"Maybe I can send a distress call to the EVC and get them to come and 'rescue' me. Once they arrive, I can convince them that Hotshot got my message first and had captured my attacker. They escort us back to Thunderhead and bring Specter in for questioning."

"No. If we're going to try this prisoner escort plan, we're going to need a vertibuck. Our own vertibuck and no escort other than ourselves. The less we have to deal with other ponies, the easier it will be to keep up the facade."

"Okay Daybreak, where do we get one? Unless you can call in support like Lily, I don't know how we can. It's not like the Enclave just leaves them around."

"Hmn, Lily, is there anywhere nearby that Thunderhead operates."

"There's an old aircraft station somewhere around here I think. Heard they were sent here to study some phenomenon. Why?"

"Because we're going to steal ourselves a vertibuck."

Footnote - Level up!

New perk! MOA VIP: Your possession of Daybreak allows you higher clearance than normal with certain terminals. You can now access certain documents that would normally be unavailable and new commands have been unlocked.

Skill Note - Hacking 20

Author's Note

Okay, another chapter down! As always I want to honor kkat's brilliance with the original fanfic about swearing ponies with guns. I'd also like to give an especially big thanks to you the audience because we've reached a milestone of 200 views! Woooo! Seriously, thank you guys for everything, this has been a fantastic ride for me and I hope that you've enjoyed yourself as well. Anyways, see you in the next one and have a great day!

Chapter 10: Preparation

Chapter 10: Preparation
Alright everypony. I need you to gather your supplies quickly. We've got a long journey ahead of us

The plan was simple. Fly up to Thunderhead in a stolen vertibuck and pretend to be escorting a prisoner, Specter disguised as a zebra, to Shadowbolt Tower. Once inside I'd get into Rainbow Dash's office, find out what I can, then we'd make our stealthy escape, regroup with the real Azel on the surface, and continue our search for the mysterious Nightfall. All that we needed was a vertibuck, and we were about to get ourselves one.

"I don't see how we're going to steal a vertibuck from this place." We were peeking over the top of a ridge overlooking the former Equestrian aircraft base. It had taken almost a day and a half to get here, but hopefully it would be worth it. "I mean, I'm not seeing a single vertibuck. They might not even have one."

"Yeah Hotshot, Specter is right. Even if there was one, I don't think we could pull it off. There's too many soldiers to sneak past and I'm not comfortable with fighting our way through everyday ponies just doing their job. And there's no way we could fly it away without being noticed."

Hmn, this definently isn't going to be easy. If only we could take one that's already outside the base. Wait a second, that's it! "You're right, new plan. I'll go in and connect to the battle-net while you guys be ready to distract them in case I get caught. Once I find a suitable spot, we go there and get ready to hijack ourselves a vertibuck."

"You're sneaking in alone?"

"Good point. It'll look less suspicious if you change into a pegasus and come with me Specter."

"First off, that isn't what I meant. Second, how are you going to sneak past them without notice? You're practically wearing a shining tin can."

"We're going through the front door, blending in. Besides, who said I'd be going in like this?"

Five minutes later Specter, disguised as the same red pegasus from the raider encounter, and I were casually walking to the base, out in the open. I had removed the Daybreak armor and was dressed simply in the Enclave power armor uniform I had been wearing underneath. Specter had nothing but his saddle bags and holstered pistol.

"I'm really not liking this Hotshot. We're too exposed, there's no way they aren't going to notice us."

"That's the point. Why would anypony care about two soldiers just walking back to headquarters. Nopony is going to pay any mind to us."

"Looks like he is." Specter murmured, pointing to a dark red, almost crimson, pegasus approaching us.

"Follow my lead." I whispered back as he landed in front of us.

"What were you two doing off base?" He was wearing a full suit of power armor, leaving only his wings, mouth, and milky white mane exposed.

Okay, let's see if this works. "Red Rocket lost some of his gear earlier. I went out with him to retrieve it." Specter guestured to the saddlebags on his back as I explained.

"Who authorized it?"

"We didn't get authorization sir. We didn't expect to be gone for more than an hour."

"I don't care how long you were gone. We need to know where all of our-"

A voice from inside the building called out, "Operative Lighthooves, you might want to see this!"

"Ugh, report to me in the supply room in an hour. Understood?"

In near unison, 'Red Rocket' answered "Roger" while I gave the proper "Yes sir." Hearing our confirmation, he made his way inside the building. "Roger? Seriously?"

"Oh don't you start. You're the one who was in their military, remember?"

"Does that mean saying 'Roger' is common practice down here?"

"No, I-...whatever, it worked didn't it? Let's just get what we came for and get out."

"Right, follow me."

"Good, cause I have no idea where to look, or what are we looking for."

"We need to find a terminal that's connected to the Enclave network. I should be able to hack one and find out when the next patrol in this region is."

"Then we ambush the patrol and steal the vertibuck?"

"Not so loud, but yes. You, me, and Lily take the vertibuck to Thunderhead and infiltrate Shadowbolt Tower."

"What about Azel? We're not just leaving him behind, are we?"

"I can't think of any way he can come with us without taking any unnecessary risks. Namely, him falling through the cloud layer."

"I'm sure he wouldn't have a problem facing that danger."

"I know he doesn't, but I don't want to take that chance. We're relying on luck enough as it is."

"I guess so. What's he supposed to do in the mean time?"

"I don't know, I'll talk to him about it later. Just focus on keeping an eye out for a terminal."

"I would think that a terminal wouldn't be outside. Why are we looking out here?"

"Wishful thinking. Not sure we want to go in there with the Operative but I don't see another option. Let's go." We went inside and were uninterrupted as we walked further up the main radio tower.

"Why are we still going up? We've past like three terminals already."

"Those are just connected to this base. What we need is a- oh, there's one!" I trotted inside a room with one wall that had been completely demolished and turned on an inactive terminal.

"You sure that's what we need? Last I checked, terminals aren't made of clouds."

"Maybe down here in the wastes, but back in the Enclave we use these cloud terminals all the time. Lot more clouds than metal up there."

"Yeah, the whole world's noticed that. It still doesn't make sense how a puff of cloud can replace wires and electricity."

"It would take to long to explain, just keep watch in case somepony comes by."

Enclave Personnel Recognized; Corporal Hotshot
Connecting to Military Network
...
Connected

"And if somepony does come by?"

"I don't know, stall them or something. You'll figure it out." With a roll of his eyes Specter went outside the room, giving me the ability to focus on the terminal.

Access Patrol Schedules in the Hoofington Region
...
Access Denied
Clearance Currently Stripped From User

Right, forgot that the council had tried that to change my mind. Lucky for me I have a way around it.

Log Out
...
User Logged Out

If I don't have permission, then I'll just become somepony who does.

Enclave Personnel Recognized; Lieutenant Sentinel
Connecting to Military Network
...
Connected

You're always there to help me out when I need it dad. Hopefully they trace the hack to this location and leave you out of this.

Display Vertibuck Patrol Schedule
Hoofington Area
...
Checking Authorization
...
Accepted
...
Next Patrol in 1600 Hour(s)
City of Origin: Thunderhead
Vertibuck Number: TH-091215

There were more patrols assigned for later, but I figured that sixteen hours would be plenty of time to prepare an ambush point somewhere along the patrol's trip.

"How's it going in there?"

"I found us a ride. Still need to find out where it's going. Just focus on keeping watch."

Display Hoofington Patrol Route
...
Accessing

The text on screen was replaced by a sickly green and black map of the Hoofington area. A path of dotted lines traveled in what was almost a circle around the outskirts of the map, making detours at spots which seemed random to me without knowing what was there. Desperately trying to recognize any landmark on the undecorated map, I lamented on how much simpler this would be if I was wearing Daybreak and just downloaded the route. Eventually I decided to pick a strip of the path when the vertibuck would go beneath the cloud layer and memorize where it started and ended.

"Hotshot! We need to hurry!" Specter exclaimed while somehow keeping his voice low.

"I got it, don't worry. What's wrong?" I asked as I signed my dad out while subconsciously repeating the coordinates.

"That operative is coming down the hall soon! He was about to when somepony got his attention." I took a quick look around the room, checking to see if there was any last minute things I needed, seeing something hung on the wall that my heart skip a beat.

"Quick, this way." I trotted down the hall the opposite way from where we had come in with Specter close behind. At the end of the hall, I looked for the closest open window and sprinted towards it. After taking a quick look outside to make sure we wouldn't be noticed I jumped out and quietly glided down the two-story building. Upon landing I stopped to catch my breath, Specter joining me a second later. "Did he see you when he passed by?"

"No, but what was that about? We could have easily walked out without raising suspicion."

"Not likely, he would have stopped us in our tracks."

"Why's that?"

"Because as soon as you mentioned him, I noticed a uniform hung on the wall with 'Lighthooves' sewn on it."

A little while later, Specter and I were arriving back in the camp. Lily had decided to set it up in case we were going to be at the base for a while. As we approached, Lily had spotted us and came up to me asking, "Sooooo, how did it go?"

"Just as planned. Specter and I snuck in, got the schedule, and got out without getting caught."

"Well, glad you two are still in one piece. What's next?"

"We need to get moving soon. Don't have much time to catch the vertibuck on it's patrol."

"When is it coming?"

"In about 1500 hou-"

"Hotshot, I understand what '1500 hours' means and all, but we aren't in the Enclave. You can say a little after six tomorrow morning or sometime after lunch or some other arbitrary time if you want to."

"Whatever. Point is, we have a quite a ways to travel and not much time to prepare once we get there. Have you seen Azel?"

"He said he was going to try and scavenge for food nearby. I'll start getting everything pac- Specter! What are doing with my bags!?" Lily flew over to confront him about whatever he was doing. Not wanting to get dragged into this day's argument between the two, I took off to find Azel.

My search didn't last long as I spotted Azel at the base of the hill we were camped on. Seeing a good opportunity to talk to him alone, I flew down next to him. "Hey Azel! Everything go well while we were gone?"

"Was pretty quiet actually. Surprised that we weren't found by a patrol or something."

"Yeah, they seemed pretty lazy on security when we snuck in."

"So did you two get whatever we needed?

"Yep. Had a close call, but we know where the next vertibuck is flying over."

"Great, let's get these supplies to Lily and get ready for the sky."

"Actually, that's something I've been wanting to talk to you about. You sure you want to come with us? Not that I'm trying to ditch you or anything, but...I don't think you should come along for this."

"Why not?"

"Well...you don't exactly have an affinity for the clouds like the rest of us, and I don't think you'd be able to stay anywhere up there while we are in Shadowbolt Tower. Sorry but, I just don't see any way to make it work without risking our success."

"Okay. I have something I can do while I wait until you return."

"Really? You aren't going to object or say 'there has to be some other way' or anything?"

"No, what you've said makes sense and I can't think of a way to solve it. What made you think I would?"

"Well, I mean...it's a common thing in stories and uh...never mind. Let's get back to Lily and Specter."

With that we made our way back to the temporary camp. Thankfully, whatever disagreement Lily and Specter had been fighting over had seemed to be resolved for the moment and we were able to pack up and get on our way quickly. Traveling at a somewhat quick pace in order to give us time to prepare and after stopping to rest during the night, we made it to the spot I had chosen about six hours before the estimated time that our ride would arrive. Taking advantage of the spare time, Specter quickly found a comfortable spot and fell asleep before I had the chance to ask anything of him. Lily on the other hoof had decided to go look for any herbs that might be nearby, stubbornly declining Azel and I's offer to go with her. That left the two of us with nothing to do but sit down and wait. Thrilling, I know. Luckily, we found things to talk about in order to pass the time.

"What exactly do you think we're going to find once we get to Nightfall?"

"I don't now. Nightfall has been around for more than two hundred years, anything could have happened during that time. It could have been found long ago and we'll have gone through all of this only to find an empty old bunker. Heh, maybe there's some lunatic just like me calling himself Nightfall and prancing about the wastes. What do you think?"

"I think that it's been untouched this whole time, especially if it was as well hidden as Daybreak was."

"I'm not sure it was really that well hidden if some Enclave lackey was able to just stumble upon it. I'm not sure I even know what all this thing can do!"

"Like the thing that healed you back in the Steel Ranger territory?"

"Yes, exactly! How in Equestria can this suit heal me? I'm not sure if it's an advanced form of magic or some super rare tech or what, all I know is that randomly I glow and then feel better!" sigh "Don't suppose you know what it could be. You know about any kind of dark zebra magic or something like this?"

"I wasn't really a student of 'dark zebra magic'. Most of my time I spent learning the arts of the warrior. Aside from the Proditor curse and zebra alchemy, my sword is the most I've been in contact with magic of any kind."

"Right, you've got the cool-looking fire and lightning sword. How does it do that?"

"I don't really know how to explain it. Like I said before, I'm not very familiar with zebra magic. According to legend, Dragon's Tooth was the weapon of a mighty warrior, one who was around long before the great war. About a thousand years or so before then. The warrior was very powerful and skilled, but he wasn't always that way. It wasn't until he was contacted by Exirune that he became legend."

"Exirune?"

"One of the stars. Specifically, one of the lords of nature's destructive forces. You can probably guess what he has influence over."

"Stars? You mean, like the ones up in space?"

"Yes, what other stars could there be?"

"I don't know, it's just that...you zebras really believe that stars are sentient beings and stuff? I thought it was all just pre-war propaganda that the Ministry of Morale had made up."

"Of course. Stars are tied to everything that happens. It was the fear of their champion's rise to power in Equestria that had forced us to drastic measures."

"By 'drastic measures' do you mean nearly wiping out the entire world in a salvo of balefire? What champion was worth stopping so much that you needed to bring about the end of the world?"

"Nightmare Moon, formerly your Equestria's Princess Luna. Somehow she had tricked all of Equestria into following her. We had to stop her before she could carry out what the stars had had planned for the world."

"Like what?"

"It's destruction. Excluding a very small few, all stars come to bring about chaos and death upon the world. Taking over Equestria was the first step in their final fate for us."

"If stars are so evil, why do zebras worship them?"

"Aside from one tribe, we don't. We fear them. We fear that one of them will eventually succeed in bringing about our destruction. Unfortunately, there are many that unknowingly end up becoming agents of their will, such as Luna and the original owner of Dragon's Tooth."

"What happened to the original owner, did he bring about eternal famine or something? Revive the Wendigoes?"

"When Exirune first approached the warrior, he claimed that he was the first defender of the warrior's nation and had chosen the warrior to teach and equip in order to take his place. The warrior believed him, and was granted this sword and powerful abilities as a gift in return for his servitude. But what he didn't know was that Exirune was using the sword and it's owner to steal energy from across the world, until eventually when it was powerful enough to cause the equivalent of the bombing that happened 200 years ago. The warrior discovered Exirune's treachery and killed himself with the sword, that way Exirune could no longer use him as a conduit. With the circuit broken all the energy Exirune had stored now had nowhere to go and redirected into Exirune, crippling him. But the star was and is still alive, his magic was still active in the sword."

Azel told me this story by writing a portion, waiting until I read the whole thing, then erasing and writing the second part.

"So the sword was just there where the warrior had died for more than a millennium until you found it?"

"Not necessarily. An ancient shaman found it shortly after the event, and hid it away out of fear that Exirune still had domain over it. On an assignment from the Caesar, I was sent on a quest to find it and bring it to him. After almost a year of searching, I finally found the shaman's hiding place. When I reached out to retrieve the sword I was shown a vision by the shaman's magic that he had placed long ago. It told me that it was not safe to return the artifact to the Zebra Empire, but I was a fool and ignored the warning thinking that the vision had been a trick of the stars. When I returned, I learned that the Caesar planned to use the sword to carry out the will of a star. Realizing my mistake, I stole the sword and ran as far from the Empire as possible. Then I met you."

"Wow, quite an adventure. So, does this Exirune still have a connection to Dragon's Tooth?"

"His magic still powers it, but no. He holds no domain over it nor me."

"Well that's a relief. Glad there wasn't some ancient evil connected to Daybreak when I found it." Taking a look at the surrounding area, I noticed Lily flying back. I saw that she was flying faster than her casual pace and had an expression of urgency on her face. I warned Azel, "Go wake Specter. We might have some trouble on the way." and flew to intercept Lily. "You okay? What's wrong?"

"Just saw a Vertibuck coming this way, they'll be here and then past us any second! We need to do something now!"

What!? They shouldn't be due for another 2 hours! Ugh, too late now, focus. "Don't worry, we can make this work. Go tell the others what's going on. Have Specter change into a pegasus and act injured while Azel hides and gets ready to ambush them when they're distracted."

"What about me?"

"You just stay hidden, it needs to look like zebras attacked us for this to work in the long run. You got all that?"

She nodded, her panic somewhat subsided, and flew over to convey the message. Looking in the direction she came from, I spotted the Vertibuck and flew into it's field of vision. Once I was sure I could be seen I let myself fall about a tail length before catching myself and pointing to where we had been waiting, an Enclave signal meaning 'pegasus down, need pick up'. Catching the message, I flew back to Specter with the vertibuck close behind. Arriving back I saw the familiar disguise of Red Rocket lying on the ground and flew over to him.

Knowing that the vertibuck would catch up quickly, I asked, "Lily tell you the plan?"

"Don't worry about me Hotshot, this isn't the first time I've pulled this kind of scam." He gave a small smile and fluffed the wing we wasn't laying on, which before then I hadn't noticed had bullet holes in it. Seeing my recognition on the state of his wing, he asked, "What's the signal to shoot?"

"I'll find a way to work in Thunderhead when talking to them. When I do, change into a zebra and attack. Oh, and please try not to kill them." Hearing the vertibuck land behind me, I whispered to myself, "Showtime."

"Give him space to breathe! What happened?" A pegasus in an Enclave officer's uniform leapt out of the vertibuck, which was still in the process of fully landing, and went to inspect the wounded Red Rocket.

"Zebras. We were flying not to far from here when they seemed to leap out of the rocks and attacked us. We were able to pull back out of their fire but one of them got off a few lucky shots on my friend here."

"Don't worry, we'll help you deal with those stripes. But first let's help him into the vertibuck." The officer and I worked together to move Specter into the vertibuck, him giving off a groan of pain as we did so. Wonder how many times he's done this ruse? "Whirlwind, Cloud Trail, get ready for take-off soon. We're going to give some zebras some payback. And would one of you bring the medkit already?!" As we set Specter down I noticed a fifth green dot right outside the vertibuck, meaning Azel was about to strike. "Is he a soilder? Where's his armor?"

Ugh, hate to do this to these everyday ponies. "The feather-brain didn't think he'd need it and left it back at Thunderhead." Instantly, Specter twisted himself to his hooves, kicking the officer in the side while doing so. A pegasus carrying a box marked by the familiar three butterfly icon, presumably one of the pilots, had happened to walk out of the cockpit just as the attack started. Specter, who by now was completly covered in stripes, drew his pistol and fired a shot into the pilot's foreleg. The officer recovered and tried to lunge for Specter but was countered and thrown against the side of the vehicle. The other pilot called back to us asking what was happening when he was cut off by a portion of the glass shattering from Azel's swing and the attack that followed. In a second Azel was inside the cockpit and had made a nasty cut into the pilot's front leg, who was knocked out hitting his head as he fell. Specter had focused his attention back on the first pilot and fired again at the injured leg and causing him to wince in pain. Azel seized the opportunity and followed up with a jab at the pegasus's backside, which was probably a pressure point considering that he instantly fell over from it. The officer was struggling back up, pistol drawn and pointed at the two that were now grouped together, when I hit him on the back of the head. My blow knocked him to the ground and he fell unconscious upon impact. "Whew, good work. Lily, all clear! Come out and make sure these guys are all right!"

"Got it!"

"Specter, make sure we've got everything we need to go. Azel, find something to tie Specter up in, something strong if you can." At my last comment Specter seemed to start reconsidering the plan as he left to go pack up camp. Lily nearly ran into him as she rushed into the vertibuck, her bag of medical supplies in tow.

"Whose injured?" I pointed to the pilot that Specter had shot.

"He was the only one who got shot. The other pilot got sliced on the leg and I think the officer is just unconscious."

"Oh, I- sure. You know, if you were just going to knock them out I could have helped."

"I'm sure you could, but it was absolutely essential that both of us seemed to take no part in this attack. We need to bring these pegasi with us to Thunderhead alive and trusting the two of us. If some guard doesn't believe our story, their recountings of the attack should do the trick."

"Now, I'm very happy that we're not killing any Enclave troops just to get some info about a long lost project and all, but when were you going to fill the rest of us in on this little double-agent scheme we're apparently pulling."

"This was a general idea of a plan that I had been brainstorming ever since we left the outpost. I was planning on discussing a better one with everypony while we were waiting for our ride to show up. Obviously, things didn't go as expected so I just kinda went for it."

"Well as far as improvised plans go, I'd say this is just about as close to perfection you can get. Just try not to make a habit of it."

Footnote - Level Up!

New Perk! - Enclave Protocol: You've learned what to say and when to say it when dealing with anypony of rank within the Enclave. All speech-craft checks made when interacting with a member of the Enclave gets a permanent +40% for success.

Skill Notes - Sneak Level 30, Unarmed Level 30

Author's Note

Yay, first chapter of the summer! Hopefully with school being out I'll be able to get these chapters out to you guys a bit faster than the pace I've been going before. As usual I'd like to give credit to kkat for the original epic tale and thank you to everybody that's been reading my work. Welcome to summer everyone, and have a great day!

Chapter 11: Storming the Tower

Chapter 11: Storming the Tower
Okay, the Canterlot archives are right over there. Let's move!

It had been a long flight to Thunderhead, almost eight hours in fact, the anticipation of what was to come not helping make the trip feel any shorter. About an hour before arriving in Thunderhead airspace the unconscious soldiers finally woke up. They didn't question that Lily and I, going by Daisy and Daybreak respectively, had fended of the attackers and captured our "zebra prisoner", but did prove a little difficult to convince the officer that we needed to take Specter to Shadowbolt Tower rather than one of the Enclave ground bases for interrogation. Speaking of which, Specter was tied up to where he couldn't move and the rope was tied to a seat in the vertibuck. Honestly I kinda felt bad for making him stay there for the whole flight. Azel stayed on the surface after our ambush and told us that he'd stay in the general vicinity of the rocky area and wait for us. Thankfully, we were arriving in the early morning so we were less likely to encounter any problems with crowds. After waking up, the two pilots took over for Lily and I and they were now repeating the proper clearance codes allowing us to land. Working together between the both of them they were able to compensate for each other's injuries.

The officer had stayed in the back with us and was now informing me of the news. "Looks like we'll be landing soon. Would you like assistance carrying your prisoner to the tower?"

"No, get yourselves checked out by the medics then resume your normal schedule. Don't speak of my partner, the prisoner, or myself to anypony."

"And what am I supposed to tell my superiors when they ask why we reported back before scheduled?"

"The truth, you were attacked and needed to return. Anything beyond that is none of their concern."

"But the captain isn't going to just accept that kind of secrecy, he'll want names and rank and-"

"I don't care who you report to. I assure you that I have more authority than them in this instance. Now I'll say it again, you will not speak of my partner, the prisoner, or myself to anypony under any circumstances. Is that understood?"

"I- yes sir. We'll try to land as close to the tower as we can for you."

"Thank you officer. You're dismissed." The officer walked up to the cockpit probably to repeat my instructions, sourly muttering something about being ordered around on his own "ship" and leaving just Lily and I in the main room.

"Glad he finally left. Was starting to be a little imposing."

"I suppose it's just him trying to remind me that he is in charge of this vertibuck. Anyway, let's focus on getting inside the tower next. Do you know how to get inside?"

"Why would I know? I've hardly gotten anywhere close to there when going to and from class."

"You're the one who lived here remember? Which reminds me, do you think anypony there will recognize you?"

"Uh, I don't think so. I only knew one pony that was going to work in Shadowbolt Tower and she should be in the vault's clinic. Where not going there right?"

"No, we are heading up to the top. Which means that it's most likely going to be tougher and tougher to get us three in there without any legitimate clearance to present." There was muffling behind us as Specter tried to say something despite the makeshift muzzle we had put on him as an afterthought. Oh yeah, Specter was there too. Checking that the door separating us and the cockpit was still closed, I loosened it enough that he could at least mumble.

"Sorry about that. You've been so quiet I forgot you were there."

"Yeah, I noticed. You know, this plan became a lot less appealing as soon as it started."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry about needing to go this far with the charade and all that but it's necessary for this to work. Now what were you trying to say?" I insisted.

"I was saying that not all three of us need to get up there. That tin can of yours has some sort of special clearance in certain terminals right? Maybe that will be enough."

"And if it isn't?"

"I'm sure you can take a few guards. Once we're inside I can get into security and make sure nopony sounds the alarm."

"You sure you can get into there?" Lily asked.

"Of course Lily, all I need is a glimpse at one of 'em and a quick costume change."

"All right, what do I do?"

"Hmm, maybe you can stay outside and see if you can find a vertibuck that we could use to escape in. We'll need to leave as quick as we can."

"So while you two are sneaking around and pulling off this little heist, I'm going look for our get-away vehicle."

"Pretty much, yeah."

She gave an exasperated sigh. "Yeah, okay."

"Then it's a plan. Lily, get the muzzle back on him and get everything ready." I ordered

"Oh son of a-" muffled noises

A few minutes later we were exiting the vertibuck and making our way. Sure enough, the officer had gotten us a spot that was about as close as one could get to the tower, which was impressive considering how few spots there are for vertibucks to begin with. We dismissed the crew and flew off, myself carrying Specter. Lily led me through the city on a path that kept us out of sight for the most part but we did encounter a few citizens. A quick glare was enough to make them loose interest and go about doing... whatever alley dwellers do. Then we reached what was the first major obstacle, besides reaching Thunderhead, the entrance to Shadowbolt Tower.

"Okay, you're here. I'll go look for a vertibuck and wait for an hour. You think you'll be out by then?"

"That should work. You sure that you'll find a vertibuck unguarded for that long?"

"A mare has here ways. Good luck."

"Thanks, you too." Below me Specter muffled something similar as well and then she flew back. "Okay, here we go."

There were two sentries posted at either side of the entrance (which was underwhelmingly small considering the size of the place) standing at attention. When I approached, the one on the right stepped forward and blocked my way.

"I have business inside, step aside."

"Identification."

"Classified, now step aside."

"I can't let you in unless you display some form of authorization."

"I have a dangerous prisoner with valuable information that is to be brought in for interrogation. He was captured in an off-record mission and is to be taken out of sight ASAP. In fact, if I'd had more time on the way here, you two would have been relieved from your post until I was inside. Unless you want to be reported for interrupting a Shadow Class personnel transportation, step aside." He gave me a hard stare, then finally moved out of my way. I went inside, making sure to display my annoyance for the interruption, and untied Specter. "Take one step off the path I tell you to take and you'll lose your dominant foreleg." Convinced that everypony in sight (pretty much just the two guards) had bought it, we walked a short distance until we were out of camera sight and I removed Specter's muzzle.

"Ugh, finally. Next time, you're going to be the one that gets tied up. This whole thing better be worth it."

"Yeah, yeah, missed your unending commentary too. Can you find the security office on your own?"

"No problem. Just worry about getting to your reading assignment. I'll be watching and meet you outside once you're done. Watch for this disguise." He changed into his Red Rocket persona and went off without another word.

"Okay, now to Rainbow's office. Where's some stairs?" I found a flight going up and made my way. Thankfully, there weren't any guards on the actual stairway. I eventually reached the top level, even while flying it took a while and was exhausting, and found a reinforced door with a terminal beside it. "Time to test just how privileged I am."

Input Detected, Checking Authorization
...
User Recognized: Daybreak

The door opened and I walked into a large, lobby-like room with another reinforced door. This one was a bit more extravagant than the security door and had a plaque above it reading Ministry Mare's Office. There was another terminal and I tried my luck again.

Input Detected, Checking Authorization
...
User Recognized: Daybreak
Granting Unscheduled Meeting
...
Please wait to be called

Called? Like in a cue or something? Before I could investigate further the door opened. I couldn't help but feel that this has been too easy so far. I entered and saw a large wooden shelf on the left side and on the right there were miscellaneous pictures, most notably was a poster for an upcoming Wonderbolt show. The wall behind the desk was a large, presumably one-way, window. I went over and accessed the terminal on the desk. Unlike the others, I had to enter a password. I was surprised when I took a shot in the dark that ended up working.

Wonderbolts
...
Password Accepted

Aerial Surveillance
War Records
Enemy Targets
Shadowbolt Operations
Other Military Docs
Ministry Projects
Everyday Stuff

Wow, this is a lot of sensitive information. Why didn't she use a better password?

Ministry Projects
...
Authorization Code Required

Oh, that works.

Error: Authorization Code Insufficient
Access Denied

sigh "Knew it would happen eventually. Maybe there's something in one of the other folders. Might as well check."

Aerial Surveillance
...
Error: Authorization Code Insufficient
Access Denied

War Records
...
Error: Authorization Code Insufficient
Access Denied

Enemy Targets
...
Error: Authorization Code Insufficient
Access Denied

You get the idea. The only folder I did have access to was the one labeled Everyday Stuff. The only item that drew my interest was the one labeled Mail. "Maybe I can at least see what the message I've been chasing says."

Mail
...
Accessing
...
0 Unread Message(s)

Zero? I would've at least expected a few automated messages after the bombs fell. "When was the last one?"

Display Most Recent Message
...
Finding Message
...
Message Found

[Sender] MOA Automated Surveillance
[Subject] Automated Alert Triggered: Daybreak Container Compromised

Immediately I checked the date of the alert. It was the same day as when I found the bunker. "Okay, guess I should have expected something like that for a top secret super powerful prototype. But how could there not be any unread messages?" I checked the last read date. It was the day after. "Wha- what? Who else has accessed Rainbow's computer? Well, whoever it is, better finish up before they come back."

Search Message: Daybreak's Progress
...
Searching
...
1 Message(s) Found

[Sender] Trottingham MOA Factory
[Subject] Daybreak's Progress

Open Message
...
Opening
...
Message Opened:

Esteemed Ministry Mare,

I am proud to report that fabrication of Prototype #1 has neared completion and will be sent to the hidden warehouse on your order. Unfortunately, Prototype #2 is still in early development and might not be fully operational by the time you have found a candidate. I will be sure to inform you of any changes that come up.

Sincerely, Head of Project Wonderbolt

Okay, lots of information there. I assume that the two prototypes are Daybreak and Nightfall, but why was Nightfall delayed? And what's this "Project Wonderbolt" business? "Figures that find this would only bring more questions. There's gotta be something here."

Search Data Project Wonderbolt
...
1 Folder(s) Found

Ministry Projects/Project Wonderbolt

Display Folder Contents
...
Displaying Folder Contents

Contacts Involved
Staff
Facilities

"Finally, now we're getting somewhere." Let's see just how deep this rabbit hole goes.

Contacts Involved
...
Error: Authorization Code Insufficient
Access Denied

Oh come on! I don't have forever to dance around the security.

Warning: Unauthorized Access Detected!
Initiating Internal Lockout

What? I was kidding! "No no no no no! I'm so close, I can't lose it now!" Fine, time for one last trick.

Download Data to External Device
...
Downloading Selected Files

My vision rapidly shifted from the timer on the terminal and the download progress bar in the corner of my HUD.

Terminal Lockout in 5...
4...
3...
2...
1...

The screen went black and my download bar displayed an error halfway through the Facilities document. Immediately I tried to access the terminal again but all I got was Unauthorized Access Detected: Awaiting All Clear. "Damn it, it was within my grasp! Ugh! No use staying here I guess, but where to next? That one message I had tracked apparently came from some MOA facility up in Trottingham. But what about the Shadowbolt Base here in Hoofington?" Around this time it dawned upon me that I might have set off some silent alarm and should get moving. I had just gotten down the stairs when suddenly an alarm paired with a robotic voice sounded over the speakers.

Security breach in the Ministry Mare's Office! Repeat, security breach in the Ministry Mare's Office! Initiate lock-down

Instantly I shut the door and glanced around making sure nopony had seen me. A second later a guard came sprinting around the corner of the hallway. "Guard these stairs, make sure they don't come through here! I'm going to check if there's more than one!" Thankfully, my quick wit and authoritative looking armor worked and he obeyed without question. I sprinted towards the exit, constantly looking to find any sign of Specter's disguise as I went. As I approached the door I noticed that the same guards as before were now keeping everypony inside.

I started to think of a way past them when a new voice, this time an actual pony, said over the PA, "Ignore the previous alarm. There was a little uh... malfunction in the sensor alarms. Repeat, ignore previous alarm. So... as you were or something." As the message ended the guards relaxed and exited the building. I followed them out, exchanging looks as I passed them, and waited for Specter hidden around a corner. Sure enough, a few minutes later out walked Red Rocket. Despite his attempt to look casual, even from this distance I could tell that he was in a hurry. As soon as the guards lost interest and looked away I grabbed his attention.

"Hey! We need to get going, let's go get that vertibird and get out of here!"

"Vertibuck."

"Whatever. Let's move!"

"Hold on, what's going on? Why are we running?"

"Daybreak, listen to me. We don't have long until they find her, maybe a minute or two. We need to leave before security cracks down again." Without another word he dashed off towards the hangar we had arrived from. I was easily able to fly after and catch up to him.

"What do you mean by 'her'? Is Lily OK?"

"Yeah, she's fine. I'm talking about the security supervisor."

"What's going on with the security supervisor and why should we care if she's found?"

"Because she's currently unconscious in the security room and once she comes to she's gonna want my head on a stake."

"What did you do?"

"We'll talk later! For now can we please focus on getting out of here?" Without another word we ran to the hangars. I was able to convince the stationed guards that we were meant to be inside and let us pass without issue. In our (Specter's) haste we nearly ran right past Lily who was waiting for us inside.

"Hey! You're done already?"

"Had to cut it short, we ran into some complications."

Lily started to form what was likely to be a question but was interrupted by Specter saying, "I'll explain later. Did you find us a vertibuck?"

"Yeah, follow me." She led us down to one of the near-bottom levels and gestured to a row of vertibucks. "These are supposed to be in a parade of sorts tomorrow. Take your pick and we can get going."

I went to the closest one and started running through the basic start-up process that had become muscle memory to me. After directing Lily and Specter on how to preform the preflight checks I couldn't perform from inside the cockpit we were off. Almost immediately a voice came through the radio saying, "TH-110115, you are making an unauthorized take-off. Return to your space immediately or you will be boarded." I stared at the radio blankly, not knowing how to respond. "TH-110115, I won't repeat this, return to your space or you will be boarded and detained."

Snapping out of my confusion I responded, "This is Operative Lighthooves. I have seized this vessel for an impromptu transportation of goods. Destination Victorious."

"What goods are transporting? Who authorized this?"

"That information is under level 4 classification. Now turn your heads and act as if this didn't happen." There was a moment of anxious silence as we awaited there response.

"Copy that TH-110115. Be careful out there." The radio went silent, meaning that they were no longer trying to contact us.

"Whew. Why didn't Gust have this kinda security?"

"Does Gust even have a hangar? I don't remember one being there before I moved."

"Well... not one as good as this place. But they did finally add a workshop to the mercantile floor. Made it a lot easier to get some supplies for my projects."

"What kind of projects? Some sort of non-pegasi bullets or something." Specter said in a way that it took a moment to realize it was a joke.

"I mostly modified guns and stuff for hire but I did have a sort of memory orb-like device that could be used by pegasi and earth ponies as well as unicorns."

"I don't know why, but it's still odd to see you as an inventing type."

"It was just a way to pass the time. Never had the time to work on it too much being in the military and all." There was a moment of silence that followed before I added, "So... to address the dragon in the room, what happened in the security office?"

Instantly Specter became somewhat hesitant as he replied, "Oh, that. Well... I uh... I was trying to um... I was about to mess with the video feed of the office hallway but uh... well..."

"Spit it out." commanded a somewhat impatient Lily.

"I... may have accidentally set off the alarm for that area instead."

"You what?! How'd you screw that up?"

"Well it's not that simple! The setup was one of those cloud things. It's not my fault that I've never used one before."

"They don't work any different than a normal terminal. I may not be as computer savvy as Hotshot but even I know that."

"Well the 'activate' option was kinda misleading and when it asked if I wanted to confirm sounding the alarm there I might have pressed the wrong option."

"How could you possibly pick the wrong one? They are always highlighted in red and green to make sure nopony screws that up."

"Well that's just the Celestia-dammed problem!"

"What?" I asked, taking my chance to speak before Lily could criticize him further?

"I'm color-blind okay!"

"You're what?"

"You heard me, I'm color-blind! At least when it comes to telling the difference between red and green."

"Then what do you do if a pony you're turning into has red or green on them?"

"I try to avoid that very situation. If I have to I guess and ask anypony I trust if I got it right. Look can we just move on from this and find Azel."

"Alright, if you insist."

A few seconds later I heard Lily trying to quietly ask, "So, does blood look green to you sometimes or do you see some pla-"

"He literally just promised we'd drop this subject!"

"Now hold on a second. I just promised that you wouldn't hear anything from me up here. I never said anything about her." At my interjection I could hear Lily ruffling through her bags for what I could only guess was something to write with or maybe a medical examination tool of some kind.

Specter protested with something along the lines of, "Oh come on! Hotshot, seriously get her to stop." but the only response he got out of me was a poorly masked chuckle.

Footnote - Level Up!

New Perk! - Hacker - Level 1: Your computer skills have gotten to the point that you can now bypass basic passwords and other security measures with ease.

Skill Note - Speechcraft 40, Hacking 30

Author's Note

And I'm back with another chapter! So much for "getting more done over the summer" huh? Regardless I'd like to honor kkat with the original story and thank each one of you who have been enjoying this tale so far. I'll try to be a bit faster than last time but I can't make any promises at the moment. Have a good one!

Chapter 12: A New Destination

Chapter 12: A New Destination
Ya'll thinking what I'm thinking? Family Road Trip!

It had been a calm flight back to the surface. Not quiet thanks to Specter's protests to questions about his colorblindness, but still calm. Eventually Lily did give up and without their bickering to listen to I was left to my thoughts. Thoughts which at the moment were a barely coherent string of questions.

What was Project Wonderbolt for? What delayed Nightfall's production? Who's this Head of Project Wonderbolt? Should I just go to Trottingham and search for this workshop or stay here in the Hoof looking for the hidden Shadowbolt bunker?

Needless to say, I was having a hard time wrapping my head around all of this new information. At least by the time we landed I had been able to refocus myself on the task at hand, finding Azel. It was closing into night when the three of us fanned out to look for him or at least where his camp was. After a few minutes of searching around in the slightly disorienting light of twilight, which was darker here than back in the Enclave but still had that same effect of breaking contrast, I decided to check and see if the others had found anything. Flying up, I discovered that it was hardly any easier to see anything from above. Luckily I caught a slight shimmer of light which turned out to be Specter's magic glow when I looked closer. I darted over to him, which in hindsight could have ended very badly if I had startled him.

"Found anything yet?"

"Hmn? Oh, hey Daybreak. Nothing yet, you?"

"Same here. It's hard to see anything in this light." In my peripherals in noticed a green dot on my radar. When I took a second glance to see why it had gotten my attention I realized that unless Specter's ego was a lot bigger than I thought, he should only count for one of the two dots. Before I could pinpoint exactly where the other dot was marking it disappeared, resulting in me turning around in confusion rather than the triumph I had planed.

"You OK there?"

"Huh? Oh yeah...yeah I'm fine." I hardly heard his question in my focused trance trying to spot Azel. I knew he was trying to sneak up and surprise us, probably (hopefully) just to pull a prank. Maybe he was trying to sneak up on me and prove my feat back at the cave near the raider camp as a fluke and I had now dragged Specter into it with me. Either way, he was playing a game with us, a game I was determined to win. Apparently having not truly learned anything from before, I flew up to try and gain a better vantage point of the surrounding area. It seemed that Azel however had learned from past experience since he wasn't simply hiding on top of one of the rock formations.

"Uh, you sure about that?"

"What?" I had barely heard his question. I was so focused that I had hardly been able to respond with more than a grunt.

"Hotshot, you're acting kinda weird. What's up?"

That finally snapped me out of it. In defeat I descended back to him and gave him an actual response. "Sorry, thought I saw something. Come on, let's see if Lily found anything." I briskly started walking off in a random direction, a confused Specter following behind muttering something along the lines of 'if you say so'. As soon as Specter was beside me I whispered as covertly as I could, "Azel is stalking us, I don't know where exactly but he's nearby."

"Wait what? I thought he was on our side."

"He is. He's just messing with us right now. So keep an eye out." I drew my attention back to the area around us, desperately trying to remember any tactics that Azel preferred. I recalled that he was an ambush fighter, coming from any direction his target couldn't see. "Watch behind me. If he can't approach without being seen then he can't sneak up on us."

Had I been paying more attention to Specter instead of the rocks around us I probably would have noticed him rolling his eyes and stopped him before he shouted, "We know you're here Azel, c'mon out so we can get going!"

"What did you do that for? Now he knows we've detected him."

"Yeah, cause you jumping into the air didn't do that already."

"W-well that could've been-" I was interrupted as smoke erupted around us. Instantly I tried to fly up out of it, which succeeded, but was slowed down by...something. Trying to see where the apparent smoke pellet had come from, I felt a force land on my back which expertly wrapped their forelegs around my wings. I plummeted back down the 10ft I had climbed, feeling the figure jump off right before I hit the ground. Specter used a spell of some kind and cleared away the smoke obscuring his vision, which allowed me to see Azel behind him. In one fluid motion he spun on his forelegs, tripping Specter, and landed standing up on his hindlegs in a pose that if he had unsheathed his sword would've been perfect to follow up with a slash right across Specter's neck. Goddesses, zebras are scary. Azel's stance relaxed and he reached out his hoof to help Specter back up, myself already managing on my own.

At first dazed, Specter recollected himself and accepted Azel's offer. "Heh, thanks Azel. Where did you learn moves like that?"

"In the Ceaser's Legion. As a warrior I was taught several different styles of fighting so that I would be prepared for anything."

"Ah, right."

Indignantly using my tail to dust off my armor I asked, "What was that smoke bomb? When I tried to fly out of it I felt something holding me down."

"During my training I was allowed to try my hoof at alchemy when I had some time. Turns out I wasn't that bad at it and was able to pick up a few useful recipes before I left. That smoke bomb is one of my favorites. Sorry for the ambush but I wanted to test and see if i had done it correctly.

"Where'd you find the ingredients to make them? There's no way you could've found whatever you needed in the less than a day Lily, Daybreak, and I were gone."

"I have the ingredients for several potions and mixtures with me. All I needed was a place to stay put for a while.

"You do have more of them, right?"

"Don't worry, this batch had more than just that one."

"Well, we can talk about this later. In the meantime, have you seen Lily?" A sudden thought crossed my mind and I added, "You didn't ambush her as well, did you?"

"No, she's fine. Last I saw she was over this way." Azel led us around and in a few minutes we came across Lily inspecting something on the ground. She must've been really interested in whatever the object was because she didn't notice us approaching.

Seeing such an opportunity too good to pass up, I motioned for the others to be quiet and began to creep forward. Once I was close enough, my hoof darted onto her shoulder while I exclaimed in a deep and gravelly voice, "What'cha doing all alone out here missy?" My scare worked and after a split second of paralyzed terror she spun into the air, her hindleg coincidentally slapping me upside the head as she twisted and gave a yelp of fear. Upon completing her turn and seeing us, more specifically me right where she had just been, her expression switched from terror to outrage in an instant.

"For Celestia's sake Hotshot! What was that for?!" At that I couldn't help but burst out laughing. Specter joined in momentarily with a light chuckle and I saw Azel betray the smallest hint of a smile. Lily looked at each of us incredulously, "Were you all in on this?! Stop laughing!"

"Hey, Azel and I didn't have any involvement in this. That was all Daybreak 'the Brave and Glorious' over there." Azel remained silent. Well, 'didn't write anything on his board' silent.

"The why didn't you try and stop him!? Stop laughing Hotshot!"

"And miss the opportunity of what we're seeing now? I'm not sure that makes much sense." Azel had composed himself enough to appear stoic and was now looking off into the distance.

"Ugh, I'll get you back for this! Shut up Hotshot!"

Finally I regained the ability to speak. "Sweet Celestia, I didn't realize how much I missed that. Oh wow, you should've seen your face!" After a few moments I composed myself and asked, "In all seriousness though, what were you looking at?"

Instantly seizing the change of subject, she replied, "Well that's just it, I'm not sure." She then pointed to a tiny metallic circular device on the ground next to where I was. "From what I can tell it most likely is a receiver of some kind but I can't guess what for."

"Well where is it? Let me see if I recognize it." Specter trotted forward to inspect the device. He paused as soon as he saw it, and I saw fear flash in his eyes. An unsaturated gray glow enveloped his horn and he shot the device without warning. The shot connected and the device was destroyed, the sudden event causing Lily and I to jump back.

As usual, Lily was ready to interrogate him. "What the hell Specter?! You almost shot us!"

"Relax, I had it under control."

"Oh sure you did! Care explaining what just happened then?"

"That was a magically activated detonator, something I like to call a M.A.D mine."

"A detonator!? How? I inspected it myself and didn't find anything combustible inside it. All it had was an usually configured receiver."

"That 'receiver' was a sensor for magical energy."

"And I suppose that accounts for the 'magically activated' part of it." I guessed.

"Yes. The way they work is that while active when a foreign source of magical energy is detected in close proximity to the mine it detonates in both shrapnel and magical energy. From what I understand they were originally designed during the war as a means of dealing with zebra spies and infiltrators. They used all sorts of magically powered devices while sneaking around, like their stealth cloaks for example. Get too close to one of these while sneaking around and boom, no more zebra spy."

Lily gave a quizzical look. "Why not just try and capture any spies? Seems a bit extreme to just kill them rather than of catching and interrogating them."

"Zebra soldiers and spies were taught to resist all forms of torture and interrogation in case they were captured. They still train most zebras in these practices, myself included. They'd get just about as much information from searching the spy's dead body as trying to pry that intel out of them through interrogation."

"Regardless, these things are dangerous. Especially to somepony like Hotshot wearing a tin can that practically runs on magic. Can't imagine what it's doing all the way out here."

"There was a group of what looked to be more of the raiders that have been after us. They passed through here a few hours ago looking for something but left soon after they arrived."

"They probably left this as a little gift in case we came back. Sounds like something my brother would do."

"Should we leave now before they come back?" I asked, checking the horizon as if I'd be able to spot one in the distance.

"Nah, we've got a good two or three days before they double back."

"Well, in any case, it's getting dark. Let's set up a fire and get some rest."

"Sure thing. Azel, can you reuse some of the firewood from your potion brewing? Don't worry if it's not much, I'll be able to reignite it with magic if need be."

Azel nodded and left to retrieve his supplies. Twenty minutes later it was approaching nighttime and we were all settling in and relaxing.

"So Hotshot, now that we're all here do you mind sharing what you two found in Shadowbolt Tower?"

"Yeah, where to next?"

"Wow, where to start? Well, I suppose that first off I found out what the message we've been following was about. Apparently Daybreak was one of two experimental power armors that are part of something called 'Project Wonderbolt'. From what I can tell the other suit was still in early development when the bombs fell."

"Where was the other one being made? Do you think it's at this hideout we're looking for?" Lily asked.

"The message was sent from some M.O.A facility up in Trottingham by whomever was in charge of Project Wonderbolt. I can't think of any reason why it wouldn't still be there."

"Makes sense." Specter deducted. "Trottingham's isolation from the mainland and remoteness from the Zebra Empire made it a prime area to test new prototypes. Back then there was a saying that everything was designed in Hoofington, built in Fillydelphia, and tested in Trottingham."

"So then is that where we're heading?"

"Yes, we've got a solid lead on Nightfall's location. We can come back for the hideout when we find a way to narrow down the search."

Lily seemed extremely delighted to hear me say that, but then again she was the one concerned that we were travelling around without a plan of where we're going. "Great, we'll pack everything into the vertibuck tomorrow morning and hit the road!"

"I'm glad you're on board for this. But we shouldn't take the vertibuck, it's marked."

"Marked? When? I made sure that they hadn't touched the vertibuck before we left."

"It's standard procedure for an impromptu level 4 classified transportation. In case something happens to the transport or it's cargo and needs to be traced back they mark that transport's sgnal. When they call the Victorious and are told that we never arrived, we don't want them to find us with it."

"Well then good thing you've got me with you. It's a long road to Trottingham by hoof, dangerous too once we get past Manehattan but I'll be able to guide us around the worst of it."

"Good, it's nice to actually be traveling with somepony who knows their way around down here. Well, let's get some rest and head out in the early morning." We all settled down and with Azel taking first watch, I went to sleep.

"Psst. Hotshot, wake up." My only response was a sleepy grumble. "Hotshot, wake up." the voice said, this time a bit louder and more authoritative but still hushed. This time my brain realized that it was time to get up and I began to stir, which apparently wasn't fast enough since the disruptor of my rest decided to start shaking me awake. Groggily, I opened my eyes.

"Hey Lily. My shift?"

"Are you okay?"

Yawn "Of course I am cuz. What's wrong?"

"You were muttering in your sleep. It seemed like you were distressed."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I was coming back to trade shifts when I saw you shifting about and talking to yourself. Was it a nightmare? What was it about?"

"I-" I sat there blankly for a moment, trying my hardest to remember. "I don't remember. I'll let you know if it comes to me later. Is it my shift?"

"Yeah. Let me know if anything else like this happens."

"Heh, sure thing doc. Where do I pick up my prescription?"

She grinned as she rolled her eyes. "See you in the morning. Good night, at least what's left of it."

I got up and did a few rounds within the immediate area of our camp, then I decided to fly onto one of the closest rock formations and sat up there watching for anything. Throughout the time I kept pushing myself to try and remember what I had been dreaming about but nothing ever came up. Once the sun's light started coming through the cloud layer I flew back down to wake everypony up. Azel and Lily were awakened easily enough, although Azel was noticeably much more compliant to early hours.

"C'mon Specter, it's time for us to get going." I said while lightly nudging him awake.

"Ugh, now? It's like 2:00am."

"Closer to 7:30 actually."

"Whatever, what's the rush? Trottingham will still be there whenever we arrive. Can't we wait another hour or so? After all, to keep a face looking- yawn as handsome as this, a guy needs his beauty sleep." he mumbled, eyes yet to open.

"Oh for Celestia's sake, get up!" This time I shook him rougher and thankfully he snapped out of his daze.

"Alright alright alright! Ugh, they get you up this early in training drill sargent?" he complained in that strange tone that was both sarcastic and dead serious.

"Yes, sometimes even earlier."

"Jeez, glad I didn't grow up in the Enclave. I'd never make it as a soldier.

"It was actually pretty great living above the cloud layer. No murderers, savages, or anything of the like. Besides, not all of us become soldiers." Lily countered.

"Whatever." Specter looked around lazily. "Azel, you know what I'm talking about, right?"

"Can't say I do. From an early age I trained in the Legion, so this is normal to me."

"Sweet Celestia, I need to find all of you hobbies. Maybe then I'll get some extra time to sleep."

"Weren't you a bounty hunter?" Lily questioned as she packed up the last of our camp. "Wouldn't you need to get up around this time or earlier to catch your targets off guard or something?"

Specter gave an exasperated gasp that this time I knew wasn't serious. "Lily! I thought we were better friends than this! I am appalled that you would think of me as having been an assassin for hire."

All of us had our things together and started on the long journey to Trottingham. "But didn't you call yourself a bounty hunter when we fir-" Lily attempted to reason.

"I only stooped to the level of paid killer in only the most..." Specter tossed his head to side and brought a forehoof to his brow as if he was an actor in a drama. "dire of circumstances. I was more of a public problem-solver that-"

Whatever else Specter had to say was drowned out as I tuned in to the radio, having finally figured out the command to switch audio from the external speakers to the normal earphones. Why it had been preset to external I have no idea, but at least now I could listen to the radio in peace.

A few hours later, Dj-Pon3 had already given the morning news and we had been making good time on our travels. A hopeful song that I assume was recorded near the end of the war was playing when all of a sudden it was cut off by momentary static. The disturbance brought me out of my music-induced trance and before I could investigate a window appeared in the top right of my vision. It seemed that the window was meant to show a video feed, perhaps the face of somepony else and vice-versa on their end, but currently it just showed static. As soon as the window appeared an electrically distorted, hoarse, and raspy voice exclaimed, "Alright bigshot, what the fuck do you think you're doing with that armor!?"

Footnote - Level Up!

New Perk! Awareness of Lurking Shadows Level 1: Enemies trying to sneak up on you are now easier to detect on your E.F.S and you have a 10% chance to not take double damage from sneak attacks.

Skill Note - Sneak 40

Author's Note

Jeez, been forever since the last one of these huh? I honestly thought I would've gotten more done what with the holiday break and all, but it just didn't happen. Anyways, I'm finally back and while I can't say that the time between this chapter and the next one will be any shorter, I'm glad to say that we're out of this hiatus. As always I want the thank the clever kkat who made the smart choice of waiting until they were done before publishing their story, Fallout Equestria, and to thank all of you for being so patient with me. Love y'all, and I'll see ya later!

Chapter 13: Leaving The Hoof

Alright, y'all, let's move 'em out!

"Well upstart, whatcha got!? Just who do you think you are prancing about and having laughs?" The angry distorted voice questioned.

"I uh... excuse me? Who exactly might you be?"

"I'm the goddess-damn bane of your existence hotshot! Where and how in tartarus did you find the prototype?" For a split second I thought the raspy voice knew my name but figured out that it was simply another one of the nicknames they were giving me.

"Alright now you all-knowing prick, how about you step off for just a second and try to communicate in a civilized manner."

"Woah, what'd I do?" A familiar voice asked.

"Huh?" Even though there was nothing but static in the window, I had been looking at it as if I could see somepony anyway. Glancing away from the small box in my vision I realized that Specter was walking next to me. "Sorry, I didn't mean you."

"Okay... then who were you talking to?" Ahead I saw Lily and Azel looking back curiously at us.

"You're not alone? Who else is there?!" The voice asked.

"That is none of your concern." Seeing Specter shift position in the corner of my eye I added, "Again, not you."

"Hotshot, what's going on?" Lily questioned.

"Hotshot huh? That might ring some bells." The voice speculated, going silent for a few seconds.

"No, hold on a second!" I pleaded, not getting a response.

"What's wrong?" Lily pressed.

"I don't know. Somepony who knows about Daybreak contacted me and was asking questions, but I think they heard you and now they know who I am."

A look of guilt came over her face. "Oh no, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to say that. It just slipped out and I-"

"Don't worry about it. What's done is done. I just hope that-"

"Tell her she's got nothing to worry about, Corporal Hotshot." Dammit. "Long as you start talking, the Enclave won't be catching wind of any back from the grave traitor. So talk."

sigh "I found it in a bunker. How do you know about it?"

Trace Transmission Origin
Error: Command Not Authorized During Priority Transmission

What?

Apparently my attempt at subterfuge was picked up by whoever was on the other end. "Nice try, but you don't get to know anything I don't want you to. How did you find that bunker?"

"Luck."

"Don't you start any bullshit with me! How did you find Daybreak?!"

"How do you know about Daybreak?"

There was a moment of silence. Whether it was because this mysterious hacker was thinking of how to reply or was too infuriated to speak momentarily I'm not sure. "Rainbow Dash's terminal has told me about a lot of things. Certainly a lot more than you were able to learn with such a disgraceful attempt at hacking. I know all about your armor, I know all about it's twin Nightfall, I know all about Project Wonderbolt. What I don't know is how you found it."

"I got lucky. I was on a patrol and just happened to crash next to the bunker after things went bad." There was more silence, during which my friends tried to figure out what was going on.

Lily was the first to ask something. "Daybreak, what are they saying? Who is it?"

"I'm not sure who it is Lily, but whoever they are they have access to Rainbow Dash's terminal. And by the sound of it I think they are able to use it at their own leisure."

"So we weren't the first to get into Dash's computer? How could they do that? I thought that her office was always left untouched out of respect or whatever." Specter questioned.

The voice returned, mostly speaking to itself, "Lily, huh? Why does that sound familiar?"

Dammit! "No, wait a second you-"

"Oh, she's that EVC volunteer that went missing not too long ago, right? Well, you certainly travel with quite the band of runaways, don't you? What, is Calamity flying recon right now? You got Radar-" Who? "showing you the sights?" the voice mocked.

"You know, if you're going to be able to hear my group they should get to hear you as well." I retorted, attempting to reassert some form of control.

"Not sure what they'll get out of it but sure, why not. So it was coincidence that you found Daybreak, but why were you in my office?"

Apparently the voice had granted my request as Specter asked what happened to my voice while Lily caught on immediately and countered, "Don't you mean Rainbow Dash's office?"

"Well unless she feels like getting up and out of her grave, it's not her's anymore. Look, what I asked is simple. What were you doing here?"

"We're trying to find Nightfall. We know that it was still being made somewhere in Trottingham during the war. Mind telling us where to look?" I asked, trying to pry questions out of this know-it-all.

"Wouldn't you like to know?

"Well, yes. That's kind off why I asked." I was way too satisfied by how annoyed the voice sounded after that.

"Look upstart, I didn't patch in just to play foal's games. You better get your sh- static -gether. I'm tired of static"

"Aww, what's wrong all seeing eye? Losing reception, getting to far away from the tower?" Specter goaded. Considering that we hadn't stopped walking during this encounter, and that Shadowbolt Tower faded further and further into the horizon as we went on, I figured he might not be too far off from the truth.

There was more static and incoherent chatter but I was able to pick out "We'll finish this later" before the transmission cut out.

"Well..." Specter started. "Guess that's a yes"

"Who was that? Did they say who they were or anything? From the sound of her voice I'd guess she'd be a girl but with the distortion it was hard to tell." Lily pondered.

"Could be a ghoul, definitely had the voice to match those I've met along my travels."

"What's a ghoul?" I asked, apparently having asked for Lily since she looked as if she was about to say something but stopped herself.

"Oh right, you guys are new to this whole gig." Specter remembered. "Well, you know how large amounts of radiation can cause some major health problems and all that? Turns out that just the right amount of rads over just the right amount of time can turn ya into a ghoul, a real eyesore of a predicament where you start to become like a... oh what was it... a 'zombie' I think it's called by you pegasi and stable dwellers. Yeah, a zombie! Anyway, your skin gets all rotten and you start looking and sounding like a walking corpse, matter of fact you start to smell like one too. Most of the time, all the radiation and then later decay of the body also rots your brain, and you become a mindless animal that heals from radiation and hungers for flesh. And thanks to this mutation you also can live for just about forever and not much short of filling your head full of lead kills you. Terrible fate really but there are the less common types of ghouls that don't go feral. Those whose brains remain mostly, if not entirely, unaffected during this change. They still turn into a practical corpse of their former selves but are able to retain their sanity and personality."

"Wait, so these ghouls are literal zombies? Like, the zombies in 28 Moons Later type of zombies?! What happens if they bite you?!"

"If they bite you? Well, obviously it'd hurt like Celestia's fury and you might have radiation sickness if you pick up enough rads from it, but that's about all one bite would do. But remember, not all ghouls are like that. I met plenty of non-feral ghouls throughout my travels and they can be some of the most helpful friends you'll have."

"So how do you know if they're friendly or not?" I asked.

"Same way of knowing if anypony else is friendly. If they shoot at you, they aren't friendly. If they talk to you, keep your guard up and hope they are friendly. But generally if a ghoul can talk than there's a pretty good chance that they aren't feral. Anyways, ghoul or no ghoul, it's a bit concerning that whoever that was knows about our whole infiltration attempt."

"Yes, and I'm afraid that they weren't bluffing about knowing everything about Daybreak and Project Wonderbolt as well. From the way that they were talking it seemed like they have unlimited access to Rainbow Dash's computer. I just hope that they don't become a problem for us later."

"Eh, we'll find out soon enough." Specter concluded nonchalantly. "Don't you have all the files about this whole project thing downloaded into the armor anyway? Can't you just learn everything that our mysterious friend knows as well?"

"I wish I could but just about every file is encrypted and password protected. It'd take an eternity for me to try and get through all the firewalls and fail safes. I'd rather not mess with it for now in case they delete themselves or something crazy like that." I groaned, "This mystery just keeps getting harder. What I wouldn't give for a clear answer for once."

"I'm sure that you'll get some of the answers you're looking for when we get to Trottingham. We just need to keep going until we reach it."

"Yeah, I suppose. Thanks Azel." He gave a small nod and we continued our walk.

But my curiosity wasn't satisfied. I decided to look through all of the files I'd downloaded and see if any of them were open.

Display All Non-Encrypted Data
Location: Downloads/Project Wonderbolt
...
0 File(s) Found

Right, cause it wouldn't be the same if this was easy for me. Great. There's got to be something I can do without having to try and beat the authorizing code.

Hmn, maybe I can't see what the files say, but I might be able to tell at least what they're about.

Display Folder Contents: Project Wonderbolt
...
Displaying Folder Contents

Contacts Involved
Staff
Facilities{File Corrupted}

Damn, didn't think the terminal lock-out would do so much damage that it would ruin the entire folder. Hopefully I can find something of use in the other two.

Display Folder Contents: Contacts Involved
...
Displaying Folder Contents

Ministry of Awesome
Ministry of Arcane Sciences
Ministry of Wartime Technology
Ministry of Image
Shadowbolts
Trottingham Vital-Energy Labs

Interesting. The Ministries of Arcane Sciences and Wartime Technology make sense as to how they're tied into this since they probably helped in making Daybreak and Nightfall where the MOA fell short on expertise, but what could the Ministry of Image have contributed? I suppose Rainbow Dash was planning on converting her little Shadowbolt squad into the new Wonderbolts so that's why they're possibly here. Not sure about this Trottingham group though, can't recall ever hearing about them.

Display Folder Contents: Trottingham Vital-Energy Labs
...
Displaying Folder Contents

1 File(s)

Well, guess that's all I'll get from here. No way am I going to risk trying to sneak past whatever firewalls protect that file. Maybe Specter knows something about this.

"Hey Specter, does 'Trottingham Vital-Energy Labs' ring any bells for you?"

"The T-VEL?" He answered. "Not much really. It's some sort of research facility or something in Trottingham from the war. The whole place is supposedly underground and hidden, but I'm not to sure what they did exactly. The only thing I know they worked on is a type of bullet called 'Vampire Rounds' which are miraculously are able to heal you after hitting somepony else."

"They can do WHAT?" Lily asked incredulously. "How in Equestria does that work?"

"Hell if I know. Like I said, I don't know how they work but they do." Specter responded. "Most ponies that live there don't even know about them, let alone believe in them. To come across a clips-worth or two is just about the luckiest you can get while scavenging around there."

"I suppose you've run into them before." I assumed.

"Yeah, Once Mirage and I were hired to go clear out an old museum or something and we were given a few clips of those bullets as payment."

"Do you have any of them left?"

"Unfortunately, no." Specter posed as if he was giving a heroic speech before he continued, "My courageous brother and I had been backed into a corner as hoards of raiders charged at us thirsting for bloodshed. Thanks to both of our unique traits, our skill in a firefight, and ultimately those vampire rounds got us through the encounter. It's difficult to kill somepony you can hardly hit, but it's damn near impossible to kill somepony you can hardly hit and fixes any damage you're lucky enough to do to them."

"You used them all in one fight?" Lily asked incredulously. "Just how many raiders were there?"

"Oh, they numbered by the BILLIONS dear Lily!" Specter exclaimed dramatically. Lily gave an exasperated roll of her eyes behind him but if Specter noticed it he paid no mind. "Besides, we didn't exactly have much more than twelve of those bullets each. That much ammo runs out quickly in large skirmishes like that."

At this point my attention went back to the files before me, the conversation falling into background noise for me.

Display Folder Contents: Project Wonderbolt / Staff
...
Displaying Folder Contents

Project Leaders
Scientific Research Coordinators
Facility Overseers
Miscellaneous Employees

I went through checking to see if there was any more information I could gain from these new documents, but they each only contained one unnamed file. "Great, another dead end for now." I mumbled to myself. I considered trying to see what information I could find in the "Facilities" folder but then decided to not risk disrupting the corrupted file in case it worsened. From then on I walked onwards quietly having many thoughts to try and make sense of. After a while we stopped and set up for the night. I helped chose first watch and then quickly fell asleep, hoping that at least some of the mysteries plaguing my thoughts would fade into my subconscious for a while and allow myself some peace of mind.

The next morning came and I groggily awoke, after having third shift for watch and what felt like just recently passing off to Azel for the night. Looking around Lily and Azel were already awake and as usual Specter was still in a deep slumber. I slouched over to him and prodded his shoulder causing him to stir for a moment before settling again. "Specter, this is getting ridiculous. How are you always the last one up?" I asked while prodding him again.

He sleepily mumbled something along the lines of "Change-yawn-ling biology" before going dormant yet again.

"C'mon Specter, we can't just wait around for you to get a perfect eight hour rest every time we are about to go."

Specter let out a grunt of dismissal before slowly pulling himself up. "Fine, fine, I'm up. Ugh, don't understand why we're in a hurry though. Aside from that one chitterer-" That one what? "in the tower we're still the only ones after Nightfall aren't we? And if it's Mirages goons you're trying to outpace you've got nothing to worry about. We've got at least a whole week before they give up searching for us in Hoofington since they've seen us there already."

"That doesn't mean we can just leisurely stroll across Equestria the whole time. Trottingham is really far north and is going to take a while regardless."

"Sure we can. Nopony is after us and you've got the self-proclaimed best guide for traveling the wasteland here with you. You need to learn to relax and just enjoy the trip while lasts. Trust me, if Trottingham is anything like how I left it, you're gonna like your time out here much more."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Lily asked with concern, herself and Azel apparently done with whatever they had been busying themselves with.

"You'd rather wait for me to tell you until we're there. It'll make this journey more enjoyable that way." He answered cryptically, somehow managing to wink at me without Lily seeing it.

Leaving Specter to pull his joke of the day on Lily, I turned on the radio and let it tune in to Dj-Pon3's broadcast. But instead of music or the gradually more familiar voice of the DJ, the radio had tuned in to a different signal being broadcast from elsewhere. "-earing this, please help us! We are under attack from Steel Rangers and we won't last long. We are a small settlement of frontier ponies here in Colony." There was a momentary pause before the message repeated, "If anypony with a heart is hearing this, please help us!"

Trace Signal Origin; Mark Origin On Map
...
Tracing
...
Origin Point Found; Marking

A new marker appeared on my compass pointing northwest and twenty minutes away if travelling at a fast pace. "Everypony, we need to get moving!"

Skill Notes - Hacking 40

Author's Note

Doo da doo, something about taking forever to make this, wait a sec. Sweet Celestia could it be true! We've reached 400 views! Whoo! This is incredible everypony, thank you all so much for reading this little project of mine, regardless of the dust on it. I've had a blast doing this and I'm glad I was finally able to be on time with an announcement like this. Anyways, enough tooting my own horn. As always praise to kkat and the original fic and once again thank you to all of you out there!