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!