"Are you sure it's going to work?"

The light gray coated Pegasus buck turned to towards the mare addressing him.

"Yes." He replied. "It has too. I've poured everything into this. It can't possibly go wrong now."

"Well it might just have!" retorted the mare. "The princess herself is demanding to see the progress on the prototypes. She is also insisting on seeing ALL of our projects. Even the Black projects."

"I see....tell her we will be able to facilitate her requests as soon as next week. If they ask why, say we need to finish running some tests on Project UnEx, and will be more than happy to show her our progress then".

"But what about the Black project? The one we've been working with Stable-Tec on? She'll want to see it!" the earth pony bemoaned. "She'll surely shut it down like those projects in Hoofington if she knows what we are attempting!"

"I'll worry about that when the time comes. Now, how is Project BoltFire coming along?"

"Very promising Mr.Hurricane. The military is particularly pleased with the test prototypes we sent them, and has requested a shipment of one thousand units as soon as we can produce them!" "Excellent. I knew they'd like like it. Perhaps we'll be able to pay off some of those loans with that order." A wail of a siren sounded in the distance.

"Goddesses preserve us! It's happening!" Screamed the mare, dropping her binder and frantically looking around.

"Get a hold of yourself! Join the others in the basement shelter... I'll be along shortly. I'm pretty sure this us just a drill."

The mare collected her wits and quickly exited the room. The pegasi stallion got up from his chair and walked towards the large glass window.

"No... this isn't a drill. This time it's real. I knew this would come." He said out loud to no one in particular. "It's all up to you now my daughter. Remember what I thought you. Goodbye."

He leaned his head up against the glass, closing his eyes. Moments later, there was an earthshaking boom. Then silence.

Year 2272. 195 years later. The MareHave Dessert. Somewhere north-east of New Pegasus. 5:00 AM in places still civilized enough to keep track of time. Lights flickered from a recent excavation site under a large rock formation. Various pegasi in white coats hustled around amongst various equipment, taking notes and looking at various terminals. A few pegasi in spiked black metal armour walked about the top of the excavation site toting rifles with glowing green ends. Marker lights appeared above, and the throb of rotors filled the cool desert air as a Vertibuck descended from the thick cloud cover above. It hovered for a few moments, then deployed its gear and settled down on the sand. As the engines were cut, a side hatch popped open, and a set of stairs deployed from the side of the craft. About six solders hurried out, stood in two lines of three, and saluted. A green unicorn in a dark grey uniform stepped out of the Vertibuck onto the sand.

"At ease" he barked hoarsely at the soldiers, who then took up positions around the landing site.

The unicorn looked around for a while, then in a very low voice muttered," Of course you'd put it out here, you bastard. Out where no one could get to it. Well, now that changes. Time to see what you hid in here Mr oh-so-smart Hurricane." "Is that damn door open yet?" He yelled at the lab coat attired ponies.

"Almost Sir!" Replied a buck who was leaning over a panel near the large gear shaped metal door.

The slightly sand blasted and rusted door bore the letter and number reading: X-27. A few yellow words were under it, but were largely unreadable due to age and weathering.

"Well, I'm waiting!"

"Sir, the passphase is like nothing we've ever seen on a stable before. It's some kind of phrase, not the usual Stable-Tec key code."

"Hmm... let me see... aha! Knew it!" The unicorn exclaimed as he pushed the buck aside and looked over the panel. "It's not a phrase you idiot. It's a name."

He pulled out a scrap of faded old paper and then pushed it back into his pocket. "Ha.. thought you could hid your identity from me Hurricane? It took me a while, but I figured it out."

He then punched in the letters s...o....l....a....r..i.....s..... then hit the enter key. There was a screech of metal and a buzzing alarm sounded from behind the door. It creaked and then rolled to the side as the locking mechanism disengaged. Greenish lights flickered on from inside the stable. The unicorn strode forward, quickly followed by several soldiers. They filed through the narrow hall, and entered a room at the end.

"Holy shit!" Exclaimed one of the soldiers when he caught sight of the stacks of weapons and ammo.

Others gaped at the piles of food and medical supplies. The unicorn didn't even seem phased by the surplus of pre-war goods on the ground. He trotted right towards a large cylindrical chamber at the back of the room. He telepathically grabbed a rifle off the floor and clicked in a round. He then fired directly at the small blinking panel on the cylindrical chamber. A spark of electricity shot from the panel, then died. The chamber hissed and the dome shaped door slowly opened. Inside was an orange coated pegasi filly he guessed was about 15 years of age. She stirred, waking from her induced slumber. The unicorn grimaced and wrapped her neck in his magic. He then roughly pulled her from the pod and let her hang by her neck in mid air. She woke quickly, and tried to fight his grasp.

"Aha! Knew he'd stick his miserable little genetic freak in here!" He yelled into her face, his grip tightening as he squirmed and fought to breathe. "Because that's what you are, aren't you? What's the matter? Can't talk?"

He then laughed cruelly as she tried to mouth something.

"Can't hear you!" He teased, squeezing harder.

He felt a slight pop in her neck and noticed her eyes both watered in pain, but at the same time seemed slightly lit by some kind of glow.

"What the fuck are you?" He screamed.

Before he could continue, a solider rushed in.

"Sir! The rangers are closing! They've tracked the Vertibuck here!"

"I'll deal with you later!" Snarled the unicorn, flinging the filly against the wall with a loud thud.

He turned and galloped back through the hall, barking orders to pack up and move out. Crashes, bangs, yells, and then the whine of the Vertibuck's engines carried down into the stable as the Enclave scrambled to get out. Then, there was silence. The filly coughed hoarsly, bringing up blood and gasped air back into her lungs. She got up slowly, bruised, but nothing broken. She hoped at least. She stumbled over the the pile of medical supplies and grabbed a healing potion with her mouth. She spit out the cap and downed the bottle. Well, the coughing and bleeding stopped, but her thought still felt funny. She looked about the room. The slides had made quite the mess as they had been rifling through the piles, looking for this and that. Then her heart sank. The glass case on the other wall was smashed. Whatever had been inside was now gone. Her eyes went wide...then closed and her head and wings drooped. She began to sob softly.

Six metal clad ponies charged towards the excavation site just after the Vertibuck disappeared back into the cloud cover.

"Move,Move,Move!" Yelled one of them "We have to disarm any explosives they set or the stable is lost!"

They hurried about the stable entrance for a while, but then seemed satisfied to find only signs of a panicked exit.

"Looks like we got the jump on them this time!" exclaimed one of the rangers.

"About damn time too. Fuckers blow up all the stuff they find." Replied another. "

Quit the chatter Parsnip. We need to clear this place out of any useable stuff before the Enclave comes back with reinforcements and makes mincemeat of us."

The rangers filed into the stable door and turned on there helmet lamps. Only one ranger at a time fit through the hall, so only four went through. The other two stayed to watch the door. The first ranger to enter the room stopped dead at the sight of goods scatting the floor. It was as if he was a small filly seeing presents at a surprise party, if those things still existed. The other two pushed past quickly, then let our whoops of joy when they saw the piles. The last ranger entered the room, but didn't pay attention to the piles. He passed his helmet lamp over the room, then stopped when he spotted the cryogenic pod. He trotted over, and then stopped. There was a signature on his Eyes Forward Sparkle. He peered around the back of the pod, only to stare into the face of a wide eyed a shaking filly. He jumped back, then collected his wits.
Thinking quickly, he removed his helmet, and with the biggest smile he could muster said,
"Its okay. We're here to help".

The filly stared at the maroon earth pony buck for a second, then relaxed. She started crying and wrapped herself around his front leg. The buck rested his head on top of hers.

"There, there," he said as softly as his deep voice could go. "It's all going to be okay".

The fillet looked up at him and smiled, the tears in her eyes drying.

"Did they hurt you? He asked.

The filly nodded. She used her wing to point to her neck. The ranger looked at it, then shook his head. "I think you've done about as good as we could with that healing potion." He said, noticing the recently emptied bottle on the ground. "What's your name miss?"

The filly tried to talk, but only a few hoarse rasps came out. She closed her eyes and then started to cry as the realization of what had just happened hit her. By now the other three Rangers had come over and were staring at the filly in amazement.

"Those brutes!" muttered one with a Gatling laser on his battle saddle. "I'll shoot all those bastards for this!"

The maroon buck turned to the ranger who had just spoken.

"Calm down Starch. I'm sure you'll get your chance soon enough."

He turned back to the filly.

"Want to come with us?"

The filly nodded. She followed him out through the hall. The other three Rangers bundled up the various stuffs, and then ventured dawn to the basement, looking for various Talismans. They emerged from the stable shortly after loaded down with with all their findings.

"Elder CornCob will be pleased with this discovery!" remarked Parsnip.

"I sure hope so." replied another of the Rangers. "This stuff is damn heavy."

The rangers moved off towards the south, putting distance between themselves and the stable.

The filly awoke a few hours later, still on the back of the Ranger. Just in time to hear the throb of vertibuck rotors overhead as the Rangers scattered to avoid the the stream of energy beam fire it let loose.

"Dammit! They found us!" Yelled one.

Starch just casually stopped, and let the vertibuck pass over. He then let loose a torrent of red energy beam fire from his Gatling laser. Sparks showered from the tail of the vertibuck as pieces were sawn off and vaporized. The crippled vertibuck began to spin wildly in mid air as it lost control. Pegasi were flung hither and thither as they tried to escape the craft. One pegasi in a black carapace landed near the Rangers. He hit the ground with a thud, twitched a couple times, and then stopped moving. Meanwhile, the out of control vertibuck slammed into the sand below and erupted in flame as the fuel tanks crumpled and caught fire. Thick black smoke filled the air around the wreck, hiding any survivors. Rangers didn't hang around to find out if any pegasi were left, they high tailed it further south. No point hanging around where the Enclave was sure to show up. The rest of the trip was largely uninterrupted except for a few radscorpions here and there. It wasn't too long till they came up to a chain fence surrounding an old airstrip. A few Rangers patrolled to fence line, and at the gates a couple turrets hummed as they swept from side to side.

"Star Paladin Big Red reporting in." Boomed the maroon buck.

The ranger at the gate saluted and opened it. The remaining Rangers were met by others, who helped them unload the various goods from their backs. A few scribes directed the proceedings and documented each of the items carefully. Big Red continued towards to control tower. He passed a few other Rangers who stopped and saluted as he passed. He neared the main doors of the tower, which were opened for him. Once inside, he turned left down a hall, passed three doors, and then made a left into a large room filled with Rangers and unicorn scribes. They all looked up in amazement when they saw the filly, still in her Stable-Tec barding. Elder CornCob, and elderly buck with a long yellow beard, looked up. His eyes went wide when he saw the cutie mark on the filly's flank. A black spire with a golden sun perched on its peak.

"So the stories are true!" He said aloud. "Come, we must discuss what we are to do, now that we know this information to be true. Raspberry, please see to it she receives food and care as necessary."

A light pink unicorn mare in a red robe nodded, and ushered the filly out of the room.

"So," boomed Elder CornCob." It appears that we have come across perhaps the greatest thing yet to be discovered in these wastes. I am not sure how much all of you know about the many projects that Cataegis Industries had, but this is by far the greatest. Celestia herself must have smiled on us today, as the Enclave didn't have the chance to snuff this bit of hope out."

"But Elder," another unicorn piped up,"We can't possibly raise her here. It would be against the Codec!"

"True, which is why I was about to suggest something else. Send her to NewSprings. There will be several families capable of caring for her. Give the townsfolk one of the water purifying talismans as well, in exchange for a share of their crops."

There were nods of approval from all. No pony liked the nasty bran pellets which were the primary food supply for the post.

"Then it is settled. Now, was there any information in the stable, perhaps a pip buck or chip of some kind?"

Big Red spoke up.p" There was only this chip here," he said, pushing it across the table with a hoof. There would have been a pip buck, but it appears the Enclave took it."

"That complicates matters." replied CornCob. "None the less, what I said before still stands. Once she is settled in, post regular watches of the town, but do not be seen. Ensure to her safety. "Dismissed!"

The gathered Rangers got up and filed out of the room.

Year 2276. Five years later. 6:00 am in Newsprings, a small farming town north east of New Pegasus. Well, if you call the small half-dead patches of plant material farms. Yep. It was a pretty dull place, but heck, I'd been here for five years since those Steel Rangers dumped me off here. I suppose I'd made the most of it. I'd managed to start a small repair business out of the run down shack on the edge of town. Sure I got a few customers, but not so many as to stop me from being able to take a few trips here and there. I rolled over on the cot I called a bed. Old, stained, but not smelly. I'd managed to clean it enough to somewhat satisfactory levels. I got up and walked over to the wall where several of my more important belongings were kept. A slate with rope attached, a partially disassembled beam rifle, and a spot for another gun lined the wall. I slipped on the slate, and glanced at the beam rifle. I'd managed to reassemble most of it from salvaged parts, but I still didn't like how it performed. The beam was a bit too weak to have much stopping power, so I'd been tweaking the magic charge supply and focusing lenses. Apparently they did this sort of stuff way back, but not too many ponies knew have to do it anymore. Exempt for in the bigger settlements and of course the Rangers. Those places always attached the technofiles. All I really needed was a spell matrix board, and the rifle should work. Only problem was getting one. The good ones cost a ton of caps, and good luck finding them. You'd almost be better to go scavenge for one, as you'd have a better chance of finding one. I sighed, and moved into the next room. The kitchen, if you could call it that, was a combination of a small patched together stove, a cupboard, and a broken refrigerator. It shared the space with a workbench and and reloading table. Reached down and grabbed a piece of the coarse hard substance that they called 'Bread' in Newsprings. The stuff was hardly edible. Heck, it would make better ammo than food. Load a loaf of that stuff up and you'd be sure to take a raiders head off. I took a couple bites, then swallowed hard. It scratched all the way down, but it was food, and better that some strange two hundred year old stuff out of a box. I'd almost prefer the ancient boxed stuff though. Might taste like something other than dirt. I looked at the work bench. No work today. I'd finished up all the weapon repairs I had yesterday. Most of the time customers would pick up their own guns, but occasionally I'd have to deliver them. I didn't really mind. Between a nine millimetre pistol, a knife, and my .308 rifle, I could handle it alright. That also gave me time to do some other stuff, such as spy on the Rangers and learn their patrols. I'd tried asking the few Rangers I found patrolling Newsprings about Stable X-27 and myself, but they wouldn't tell me much. Something about an experiment, and that I was part of it. If I pressed more, they'd simply say the Elder knew more. I'd asked to see the Elder, but was declined because I was an outsider to them. That's why if they weren't going to tell me, I was going to find out. I was pretty sure they had at least one of the chips I was told to look for when I woke up. That, apparently (and hoped) would hold the instructions and some explanations about me and the experiment. But that would be easier said than done. First, I'd have to find a way in. Then, get to the chip, no doubt secured in an inner room. Finally, find a way to get our without being shot. Yeah, no easy task. I cleaned off the workbench, and switched on the small radio I had sitting nearby. The speaker cracked, and then the soft melody of a prewar song became clear. At least I could depend on DJ Pon3 to be reliable. He never missed his scheduled news. I figured he had somehow accessed the Ministry of Arcane Science's old radio towers. There was no other way he could broadcast so far over the wasteland and be able to find out so much about what was going on. A better question though. Was he really a 'He' or a mainframe recording. Hard to tell. The voice didn't quite seem right, but maybe that was just me. After all, I was the freakishly big pegasi mare that could beat stallions in a hoof wrestle. Yup, I was definitely different. The town doctor had found various little chips through my body, and though that they were perhaps implants. If so, that explained my unnatural strength, ability to heal, and a few other things. I wasn't sure how all that was really a benefit. If anything, it kept stallions away from me. Any buck I happened to fancy, well, he'd see me as a freak. I can't say that was true for every buck though. There was one that I'd kinda had a fancy for, and he seemed interested enough. There was possibly something there, but that was cut short when he joined a trade caravan in the hopes for earning a few caps. Raiders put an end to that faster than a slamming door. Since then I'd been taking out groups of raiders in my spare time. One pony can do a lot of damage with one .308 rifle and some old riot gear. I was fast, silent, and they never knew what hit them. No pony else did either. Not that it really mattered. The towns folk wouldn't really care if they did know. They were far to busy trying to grow their sad excuses for crops. And then there was the sheriff. What a waste of horse flesh. The idiot spent most of his time drinking or passed out. If it weren't for the Rangers secretly protecting us, we'd be goners. As I was musing through these thoughts, a yellow unicorn buck pushed open my door and walked up to the counter. I quickly grappled my chalk and wrote on the slate around my neck. I held it out in my mouth, and he smiled and nodded.

"Yes, good morning to you as well Blue."

Blue. That was the name is been given seeing as how I'd arrived in a Stable Tec jumpsuit. I'd never told them my real name,as I thought it might be better not to. Perhaps a good thing too, as none of the surface ponies had any sense of love for the Enclave. I could see why, they regularly harassed farmers for produce, promising 'protection' in exchange for goods. They never showed up to help, but if you refused, you got beaten up and your crops were taken anyway. The unicorn browsed the small assortment of firearms I had on display. He was clearly interested in purchasing one. He selected a hunting rifle and placed it on the counter.

"How much?"

"230," I wrote on m slate.

He reached into a pouch at his side and pulled out the caps.

"Ammo?" I wrote.

"Thank you, but I already have."

He turned and walked out the door. Yup, typical day. The song ended on the radio, and the voice of DJ Pon3 came on again.

"Good morning children. How's the Marehave this morning? Do I have some news for you. And no, it's not bad news. We've got plenty of that for a long time. No, this time it's good news. Very good news. It appears that some pony has been taking the fight to the raiders lately. So far four different groups along the old I-15 have all disappeared. How? Sniper. Is it the Rangers? The Enclave finally making good on their protection scam? Or is it some pony else? And apparently raiders aren't the only ones getting dealt with. Apparently the Jackal gang woke up a few days back to find themselves tied up and their guns disassembled. Apparently some pony left them a message to turn themselves in, because the whole gang did just that. Caravans are also reporting a shadowy figure providing sniper cover from raiders along the I-15. Whoever you are, your one heck of a good news for the Marehave. Keep it up,whoever you are. And now, more music."

I shut of the radio. Shit. Somehow that damn radio pony knew about my activities. I was quite sure I'd been secretive about it, but I guess it was going to get out somehow. Thank Luna I'd kept my rifle and the riot gear stowed in a hollow rock outside of town. Wouldn't want those discovered in my shack. The sheriff would likely shoot me for it. He was jealous enough as it was that I was a crack shot. I felt watched, and I didn't like it. Perhaps I'd go for a bit of a trip out to Red Sands to see what the Gun Runners had brought down from Hoofington. That place was apparently full of all manner of advanced weapons from before the bombs. Sure their stuff was expensive, but where else would you get that king of stuff. Yeah, I'm going to go there. I grabbed a 9mm from the safe, and a couple boxes of ammo. I roses these in a saddle bag, and then filled another with one of the loaves of rock bread and a couple health potions and a few bandages. Not for myself however. You were almost guaranteed to encounter some pony who needed it more than you. I slipped on my X-27 jumpsuit and slung on the saddle bags. On my way out, a grabbed a combat knife, and inserted it into a leg pocket. I put the closed sign on the door, and locked it. I glanced down the street. No pony looked up,they were all too busy going about their own business. I spread my wings and flew low out of town. I reached the hollowed out rock,and pulled out the riot gear. I put this in a saddle bag, but the rifle I slung on my side. That was my insurance. Come raider, diamond dog, radscorpion, I'd get the first shot. I then took of to Red Sands. I wasn't flying fast. I had all day to get there. I strangely still felt watched, but couldn't see anything. I stopped and hovered in place I whipped up my rifle and peered into the scope. I scanned the horizon. There. Just north of me, about a half kilometre out was a spritebot behind a cactus. Strange. You seldom saw those out here. Rangers shot them for fun if they ever came near. Some ponies thought the Enclave used them to spy on settlements. This one had obviously been tracking me for some reason. I dug an armour piercing round from my saddle bag, and slid it into the rifle. I sighted the shot. Right through the front grill. I pulled the trigger. Blam. The rifle kicked back and a small amount or smoke came out of the barrel. The spritebot sparked, smoked and crackled and the round pierced through its hull. Then a bang, and it fell to the ground. Nice. One shot had taken out its spark battery. I didn't bother going over to salvage it. Any talismans were was no doubt toasted and now useless. I continued on my way, but I was still intrigued as to why the spritebot had been following me. Perhaps it was the fact I was a Stablepony. We weren't too common apparently. Most of the Stables had opened up years ago, and others had failed completely. Rumours had it a few were still around with ponies still in them, just waiting for the right time to open. The rest of the trip was uneventful. A couple caravans and a few geckos. Nothing really special. I arrived in Red Sands, and quickly discovered that the Gun Runners hadn't made it. Apparently raiders around PonyVille had taken them out. Unfortunate, but at least the raiders didn't have their weapons. The Gun Runners notoriously packed their crates with timed explosives. In the event of trouble, they'd blow the crates. Kind of wasteful, but better than the alternative. No pony wanted raiders with Beam weapons. I was a bit put out, but what could I do? I started heading back to New Springs when I spotted an Enclave vertibuck flying low. Curious, I followed at a distance. When I finally found where it landed, it was around 6:00 in the evening. I'd put on the riot gear, as as to not be recognizable. The enclave seemed to be investigating a cave in the side of an rock outcropping. A few soldiers and a lot of lab coated Pegasi were milling around. I caught pieces of their conversation.

"Can we open it? No, not yet. Are there still ponies in there? "

. Then it dawned on me. They'd found an Unopened Stable. If my experience was anything to go on, this wasn't going to be pretty. I checked my ammo count. 40 .308 shells. 30 9mm shells. I could take out the soldiers, but I was a bit iffy about the lab ponies. They weren't armed. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I put down my rifle and waited. The ground started shaking. I detected it, and snuck off to cover. Something was coming. The Enclave didn't notice it. The swarm of raiders was on them before they could do anything. The lab ponies were gunned down as they tried to hide or run to the Vertibuck. The soldiers did there best to fight, falling dozens, but the sheer number of raiders overwhelmed them. The raiders bit, hacked, and beat the Pegasi until nothing but their bloody mangled bodies lay on the ground. Then the raiders focused their attention on the Stable. I wanted to shoot them, but I knew it would be unwise to do so now. There were far too many of them. I kicked myself. I should have brought more ammo. Damn it. I listened as the raiders pushed into the stable. There were screams,yells,gunshots. I hoped the stable had some guns for them to defend themselves. About an hour passed, and a group of ponies in blue jumpsuits was hearded out by the raiders. Mares. A few younger bucks. And fillies. My blood boiled. These fuckers were going to get it now. I grabbed my rifle and levelled the scope. I aimed at what I thought was the raider leader. Blam. His head exploded in a shower of gore. Blam. Blam. Click click. Blam. Three more raiders fell. Blam. Blam. Two more. Blam. Two with one shot. I relocated and started up again. The raiders forgot about the stable ponies and fired wildly at where they thought I was. A few bullets whizzed by me, but none hit. Four more shots. More headless raiders. Ten minutes and twenty-some raiders lay dead. The rest ran. A couple of stray bullets had hit me, but I didn't care. The stable ponies huddled together. Scared. Obviously terrified after what had just happened in their former home. A low rumbling boom and smoke curling out the cave entrance sealed any ideas of going back in there. Thinking quickly, I dumped the 9mm and ammo into the saddle bag with the bread and potions. I also scratched out a map to Red Sands on a scrap of paper, and put it in the bag as well. I grabbed the bag in my teeth and flew over the group. They looked up in fear as a dropped the bag near them. I then turned and headed for home. My wounds were already healing due to the implants. If the stable ponies were smart, they'd follow the map. I'd help them myself, but with how scared they were, they'd sooner shoot me with the 9mm than listen to me. I got back to NewSprings late. I stashed the rifle and riot gear, and then stumbled into my shack. Straight to my cot. Id think about what happened tomorrow.

I rubbed my eyes and rolled over, shedding the thin sheet I called a blanket. That had been quite the night. I kept going over the events in my head. Wait. That thing about the sniper on the radio. I'd completely missed the fact that the Jackal gang was taken out. Those guys were by New Pegasus. Sure, I'd heard of New Pegasus,and I even had faint memories of it from before everything happened. Thing was though, I hadn't been there for over 200 years, give or take a few. There had to be another pony doing the same thing I was. Interesting. Regardless, I was going to dispose of the riot gear, except for the cloak. It was getting me a bit too much attention for my liking. Sooner or later some pony would come looking. I got up, and wandered over to my small kitchen area. More of that lovely rock bread. I'd almost kill for a musty box of Sugar Bombs. Well, nasty bread and slightly dirty water it was. It surprised me that this diet didn't get me sick. Perhaps it was the implants. Now, as for the plans for today. I had no urgent work to do, so it was off to the Rangers base. I had a bit of a plan cooked up to get in, but it would be easier said than done. Low chance of success, high chance of getting shot. That was a risk I was willing to take. I needed that chip. Figuring out who I was and what I was supposed to do was hinged on it. Sure, being a repair pony wasn't terrible, but I always felt like there was something more. New Springs wasn't terrible, but there was nothing really tying me to it. Today was step one in the plan. Nice and simple. Get to the airport fence and leave a note without being seen. With any luck one of the initiates would find it. I grabbed the note from the table and hurried out the door. I checked where the sun was. Good. The ranger patrol was on the other side of town. I headed out to the hollow rock and grabbed my rifle and the rout cloak. I slung the rifle at my side, and wrapped myself in the cloak. I flew part of the distance, but then landed and confined on hoof. The Rangers had radar, and would see me coming. If I stayed low and in cover, I had a better chance. I'd worn my Stable jumpsuit just as insurance. On the chance they started shooting, maybe they would stop if they saw the blue and yellow. Maybe, no guarantees. I snuck around rocks and bushes till I neared the fence. No perimeter patrols nearby. Yes. I scanned up and down the fence line. Ah, a small gap near the bottom. I hurried over and slid under. Tight, but it was just enough. I slipped behind the rusted out hulk of an old fuel wagon. Okay. I made it. I dug into my jumpsuit pocket and took out the folded note. I left it on the side of the wagon. This was apparently a favourite spot for the initiates to hang out, or at least I'd observed that from last times. Now to get out. I slipped out from behind the wagon and straight to the fence. I'd just slipped under when I hear the familiar buzz as a red beam passed over my head. Shit. Keep moving! I scrambled away, keeping low as more beams whizzed past. I ducked behind a rock, waited a few moments, then was off to the next rock. Seconds later the rock I had just been behind glowed a bright red, and then disintegrated into ash. Okay. That was a bit too close. I suppose I'd been lucky to get as far as I did. The Rangers didn't mess around when it came to securing their facility. At this point the only thing I thought that was keeping me alive was all that rigorous training I'd been forced to do back before I hopped in that pod, and I strangely remembered most of it. The Wonderbolts or something like that. That's what I recall the older ponies who instructed me. Something like a bunch of ex-elite special military group pegasi or something. Beyond that my memories were fuzzy. I stayed crouched down, the riot cloak tucked around me. It's dull grayish black hue combined with the reddish tan dust made me almost indistinguishable from the landscape. I waited for a good half hour before I decided to move. I wouldn't be surprised if the Rangers were watching this area more carefully now. That's were this whole plan came into effect. If it worked, I wouldn't need to sneak in, rather I'd walk in through the front gate. Now, I just needed initiate to fall for the fake love note I'd left on the fuel wagon. I knew they'd be doing a training patrol around noon tomorrow, so that was my best chance. I moved slowly and carefully away from the base, taking care not to kick up any dust or make too much noise. It worked, well until I ran smack into a returning patrol. Shit shit shit! Where to go? Nowhere. Oh sweet Celestia I was fucked. I panicked for a second, then remember my riot cloak. Time to give it the test of a lifetime. I squeezed against a rock and threw the cloak over myself. The Rangers marched closer, then stopped. Damn. They probably got a signature reading. I froze. I even stopped moving. Sweat beaded on my brow. I am such an idiot I thought to myself. How did I forget about the patrols? Oh yeah. I hadn't planned on hanging around for a half hour, or being detected. Well scratch that plan, I was more likely to end up as a pile of splattered guts now. The Rangers walked right past, less than three feet away. I was sweating marbles about now. One move, one breath, and I was toast. One of the Rangers mutters something about' Damn radroaches' and they kept on moving. Waited till they had disappeared, then scrambled off like diamond dog on dash. That was too close. Way too damn close. I was so busy getting back home that I almost ran into one of the Rangers patrolling the outskirts of town. Lucky for me it was one of the Knights I'd pestered with questions before, and he paid me no mind. He probably didn't want to answer more questions. Good enough for me. I really was in no mood to be interrogated about where I'd been. I hurried on and shortly after reached my little shack of a house. I opened the door, and tossed my stuff onto my cot. I let out a deep breath. Well, I made it. This time. I was bound to run out of luck sooner or later if I kept this up. I reached into one of the two cupboards above my stove and pulled out a bottle of vodka. Stalliongrad's Finest read the label. I popped out the cork and downed half the bottle. Ahhh. Thats the stuff. I wasn't a big drinker by any means, but after today I needed it. Vodka was one of the few things that did manage to have a slight effect on me. Beer and whisky, aside from the flavour, might as well could be like drinking water. Again, probably those damn implants. I imagine they'd have the same affect on chems. Oh my life sucked sometimes. Loose your voice. Loose the only buck you really had any feelings for. And if those weren't enough, almost get killed a few times. Here I was, traumatized and with no way to make those feelings go away. Luna damned fucking implants. Just let me get drunk once dammit. I tried not to linger on things too much, but my brain just wouldn't let some things go. It was as if since my voice was gone, my head went hyperactive. The things I wish I could say. Try having a deep conversation with a chalkboard.... not too effective for showing your feelings. Fucking unicorn bastard. One day I was going to find him and figure why he did it. He'd seemed to know an awful lot about me for never meeting me before. I put the bottle down on the counter and started to work on a .44 pistol. Plenty of engraving and gold inlayed on the grip, receiver, and barrel. The pony who had dropped it off a few days back had seemed the casino type. Black suit. A slightly crumpled hat. He'd said something about needing his bosses gun fixed. I figured he was likely from New Pegasus from his looks, and the gun was most likely the property of a casino boss. He'd pay well, so this was a potential for a lot of caps, and a chance to see New Pegasus for the first time since the bombs since he wanted it delivered when I was done. I glanced over the weapon. Good condition, and perfectly balanced. The trigger was a bit loose, likely a worn out mechanism or spring. Simple enough of a fix. .44 magnums weren't too common out here, but there were just enough of them floating around. They differed from the regular nine and ten millimetre pistols, so it took a bit of skill to repair them. I was actually a bit surprised they'd come all the way out here for a repair, but I wasn't complaining. Caps were always welcome. I switched on the radio for some background noise to work too. More reports of a sniper. Yeah, definitely not me. Far too close to New Pegasus to be anywhere near my range. Nothing about the Stable I'd found yet. I'd hoped they'd made their way the Red Sands. Best chance for them. Perhaps the news was just a bit slow in getting to DJ Pon3. A few hours passed, and I'd finished up the few guns that need fixing. I'd even managed to fix up a small radio I could sell. Nothing really to it. Just needed a new tuning dial and a few tubes. Hmm, my shelves were looking a bit low on food. Time to go see what was for sale. Hopefully not meat. I hated the stuff. The smell, the taste, it was just wrong. Some ponies ate it like it was nothing. Goddesses knew how they kept it down. The one and only time I'd tried it my stomach went queasy and I took a hasty trip to the toilets. Luckily I wasn't the only one who didn't like it. A few others in town weren't too fond of the stuff either. That was the only other option to rock bread though. Caravans didn't come through often and even less now that the raiders were getting worse. More raiders meant less pre war boxed foodstuffs. Yet another reason why shooting raiders didn't bother me. I left my shack and wondered into the middle of town. Mostly dead. If you didn't sell something, you tended crops. Unless you were the sheriff. Then you used all the town funds for whisky and lay around all day. Why he kept his job year after year was a mystery. Perhaps it was because he was at least somewhat predictable, except for the time he shot me and missed. That .44 round had sailed inches from my head, and from right across the bar. No pony knew why he did it. I assumed he just hated me for some reason or another, though I'd never done anything to deserve it. Maybe it was the fact I'd dislocated the leg of a buddy of his when he challenged me to a hoof wrestle in the bar. Still, not worth shooting a pony over. Ever since he'd always send something flying at me. I learned quickly to always listening for the slightest swish of air, and to go on the evasive. Never mind all that. I had food to buy. I went to one of three small stands in the centre of town. A tan filly with cutie mark tended the stall. Flax tended the table when her mother was tending the gain patches. Nice family. Too bad her father had passed on a couple years back from radscorpion poison. The doctor had tried everything, but couldn't save him. She was one of the few in town other than the doc who really seemed actually care about me.

"Hey Blue!" She said when she saw me approaching. "The usual?"

The usual was about 2 loaves of that nasty bread. I wrote a 'Yes' on my chalkboard and pulled out the caps. She took the caps and pushed over the loaves and I put them in my saddle bag.

"I really wish you could talk," she continued. "It's just not fair that some pony as nice as you can't talk. The sherif shouldn't be able to talk. He's mean to every pony."

I looked down at her and smiled.

Then I wrote, "It's okay Flax, I'm fine. The sheriff might be a mean old bugger, but he doesn't deserve that."

She just shook her head. I knew she couldn't wrap her head around how I managed to put up with it. To be honest I didn't know either. Some days I felt like shooting every pony who ever wronged me, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Not that I had a motivation problem or anything, it just that doing it would only make me just as wrong as they were. Here we go again with messed up me. I could swear my head was messed up.

'Are you alright?' asked Flax.

She'd noticed I'd just blanked out in thought. I shook my head and let out a sigh.

'Yeah, just thinking. Thanks for the bread!' I wrote.

I turned and walked back to my shack. I was going to bed early because tomorrow was going to be one busy day. Little did I know how much was about to change.

Author's Note

Just did a quick reformat of the chapters.