Yet another morning. I packed up my things and waited around downstairs for Mr Ruffin to show up. Not surprisingly, he didn't. Just a note saying to leave the box with the magnum with the bouncers, and that they were to pay me. Typical casino boss. Oh well. I did what the note said and found myself in possession of more caps. At least he didn't try to rip me off. I was then asked if I wanted a job repairing weapons for the casino. Interesting, but they didn't answer most of my questions. There was no way I was going to be responsible for fixing anything for these ponies. I grabbed my guns and left the casino. I went straight for the gate and was soon back in Wayside. I let out a breath I'd hardly known I was holding. Sure this place was a mess, but I could at least reflex a little out here. I felt less safe in the strip than out here. In there if somepony wanted you dead, you didn't find out until too late. Out here, they just acted. None of the sneaking around and gang politics. Now it was time for jobs and rumours. Best place to find those? The bar. I casually walked in to one of the several bars and leaned on the counter.

"What'll it be?" Called the bar keeper.

I was feeling a bit adventurous, so I ordered a shot of whisky. Not my favourite, but it want bad. A couple ponies looked up and shuffled out nervously. The rest kept a wary eye on me. I guess that little incident the other day had left an impression.

"So, what's the word around these parts?" I inquired.

I could tell the almost everypony was on edge, so I put on my friendliest smile. It seemed to help a little. As for rumours, well I might have just pulled a plug out a overfilled bathtub. Most of them I'd heard, but there were a few new ones. And some mentions of possible work. Some farm had a broken generator. The hotel across the street had a broken jukebox. Various ponies who wouldn't pay their debts. Or couldn't pay them. Okay, this was work I could handle. I took a few names and places down and headed out. One of the rumours that stuck with me was that the ghoul town was still under the city, and that somehow they were somehow responsible for keeping the power on. That made two things worth investigating. The first place I stopped in was a two story building tucked behind an old hotel. The faded sign above the door read Red Heart Medical Clinic. I smiled a bit at the memories it brought back. I'd only been to one of these clinics once when I sprained my wing but in my filly days. The part I remembered most was the cherry flavoured lollipop I got when it was time to go. I stepped though the door and a small bell dangling above the door rang softly. A tired looking white unicorn mare looked up from stained pages strewn across a small desk.

"Can I help you?" She asked softly and nervously.

"I heard you had a broken auto doc. Mind if I take a look at it?" I wrote.

"Oh!" she exclaimed," I thought you were just another merc in for treatment! Do pardon me. It's just around here."

She got up and lead me down a narrow hall. We passed a few rooms which closed doors. I heard coughs and groans from inside. A few other ponies in white garb hurried about. She opened a door and walked in.

"Here it is. Do you think you can fix it?"

"Give me a moment to take a look." I wrote.

"Oh, your voice!" She exclaimed. "We must try to fix it!"

"It's okay. I've tried." I wrote.

"I'm...I'm sorry..." she trailed off.

"It's alright. I've managed without it."

She smiled understandingly and watched as I examined the autodoc. It was in surprisingly good condition, but once I started looking deeper into components at the rear, it got worse. An entire fuse panel was burnt out. Not a simple fix. I informed her about it, and she started to fret.

"I might be able to find parts. Is the old New Pegasus hospital still around?"

She looked at me in shock. Great, now I had to explain this one. I pointed to my blue jumpsuit beneath the combat armour.

" I came from a stable a few years back. Cryostasis or something. I was about 15 or so when the bombs dropped, so I do remember the old city." I wrote.

The mare was speechless. I could almost see that she was trying to process what I had told her. Then the questions started flying out as if she was an excited little filly. What was it like? Were there side effects? Were there other ponies in the stable? I tried to answer them to the best of my ability without revealing too much. Surprisingly she didn't mention my size or that I was a pegasi. I'd just leave it that way. I then explained to her my idea. Find the old hospital and see if there were autodocs that I could retrieve parts from. Then came the bad news. Apparently there was some kind of fever affecting residents of Wayside. They'd tried to find a cure, but none of the supplies they had were working. A couple colts and a filly had already died, and it didn't look good for the rest. To make things worse, no pony knew the source of the sickness. Call me a bleeding heart if you must, but I couldn't walk out of that clinic and do nothing. I agreed to search the old hospital for any possible meds or syrums. The old hospital was on the west side of the city. Most of the area was collapsed or smashed to the point that it was uninhabitable. No creatures, but there had been ferals sighted in the ruins. I left my excess possessions at the hospital, taking only my now mostly empty saddlebags, ammo, beam cartridges, and of course meds. Now that I was lighter, I headed out at a low flight, just above head height. I glided over the unguarded pile of concrete on west side of the city and began to pick my way through the ruins. No wonder they didn't guard this side. Unless you were a pegasi, good luck getting through the rubble filled streets. I found one of the old main streets was still mostly clear, so I landed on top of an old sky carriage and tried to get my bearings. Nothing seemed familiar. No buildings, no landmarks, no trees. I took off again and headed west down the street. It was quite. Too quiet. Just the creak of metal and the crash from bits of old walls finally giving way. I found an old grocery store and stopped to investigate. It was run down and garbage filled, but enough of it was still standing. I readied my beam rifle and went inside. I really needed a name for this gun. I'd never named my .308, but this beam rifle was different. It was kind of special. I'd think of something. The store was devoid of any life, but I managed to find an untouched box of Sugar Bombs on one of the shelves. As I was almost done scavenging, I passed by the cash register and noticed a package of snack cakes and a few old coins. Perfect. I jammed the coins into a flickering Sparkle Cola machine, and was rewarded with two cold Sparkle Colas. Looks like I had my lunch planned. I continued down the street until I found a small park with a pond and a gazebo. I landed on top of it and dug out my findings. It was oddly quiet, but I didn't think too much about it. I began to chow down, but kept an eye on my surroundings. Then the swan boat on the pond moved. Or did it? I watched it far more carefully now. Then it moved again, this time in my direction. Okay, screw this. I jammed the Sugar bombs back into my saddle bag and took off. No sooner had I started flying than a roar shook the air and a large green creature rose up out of the pond with the swan boat on its back. I barely missed a flying board as it crashed into the gazebo. I high tailed it out of there. No creatures? That was a load of zebra shit. Whatever the fuck that thing was, I didn't care to find out. I kept up a fast flight for a good half hour until I was sure the 'thing' had no way of catching me. I opted to have my lunch on top of an old Ministry of Morale billboard. The bright pink face and staring eyes of Pinkie Pie were still quite distinct despite the weathering.

"Pinkie Pie is watching. Always." Read the print below the picture.

I'd always found that a bit disturbing. Who wanted Pinkie constantly watching you? I certainly didn't then, or even now to quite honest. As I finished one of the Sparkle Colas, I noticed an armoured wagon down on the street below. I squinted slightly and could just make out the faint remains of the Ministry of Wartime Technology logo. A red apple with two gears on one side, and a larger one on the other. Quite similar to the Steel Rangers. I packed away what I hadn't finished, and flew down to investigate. A small terminal was on the back of the wagon, and I assumed it must control the door. It surprisingly still worked, and I was greeted with a screen full of phrases and symbols. I tried a couple, but no success. I tried a third. Bingo. The screen changed and gave the option to unlock the door. I clicked it and there was a click as the mechanism disengaged. I rolled up the door, but all that was inside was a long silver metal box with latches and hinges. There was writing on the box as well. 'Property of Cataegis Industries. Authorized personnel only.' Then there was a MWT stamp and a painted mark. 'Top Secret'. I clicked open the latches and pushed open the box. Inside lay the strangest rifle I had ever seen. It had a normal stock, but the receiver and barrel were strange. Exposed wiring and electrical switches. Number read outs on the receiver. The barrel was oddly shaped. Long, but thick, and had rows of what appeared to be magnets. There was also a piece of paper. Most of the printing was faded to the point I couldn't read it, but what I did pick out was still interesting. 'Project BoltFire. Production prototype'. So apparently this was one of my dad's projects for the war. But what was it? I found what looked like some kind of cartridge in the box, and found a slot for it on the receiver. I picked up the rifle and aimed it. Heavy and quite bulky to aim. Then I pulled the trigger. A few sparks and some lights come on. The number panels started to count up, but then went down as soon as I let go of the trigger. So... a charging rifle? I held down the trigger a bit longer, and this time the whole rifle sparked with electricity. I let go of the trigger and 'ker-thunk' went the rifle. A small bit of recoil, but a lot less than I'd expected. I looked at the metal wall I'd aimed at. Whatever this thing had fired, it had gone right through. I guessed the wall to be about three inches thick. Then the realization hit me. This was a prototype weapon for the war, and could have quite likely negated the advantage of power armour. I wasn't sure if my dad was a genius or a monster for having a part in creating this. I certainly couldn't take this with means it was far too heavy, but I wasn't about to scrap it either. I put it back in the box and fastened it. I then shut the wagon door and busied myself with the terminal. After a bit of tinkering, I reset the password and locked the door. There, I could come back for it later, and the chances of somepony else getting it were diminished. I had some memories of going to my dad's office, and at least one trip with him to one of his facilities in Hoofington, but for some reason it was all hazy. Something about the Office of Inter-Ministry Affairs and doing work for the ministries. I should have better memories of it but for some reason I didn't despite knowing I'd been there. Something didn't add up. Thoughts swirled in my head, but mostly hit dead ends that I couldn't explain. Maybe I was overthinking it. Or was I? Things had been done to me, and I couldn't remember them. It was as if my memories had been tampered with, triggering memories when I saw certain things. I continued to fly towards where the hospital should be and continued in thought. A somewhat hazy picture of the ministries was beginning to piece together. Sure they were all doing research to win the war, but something kept nagging at me that there was something else. Something not so obvious. Well there was one way to find out what I was for and what the ministries were doing, but that involved a Pipbuck. A Pipbuck I was clearly lacking. Damn, would my mind ever stop working? I was jolted back into reality when I heard a course gurgling noise from below. Ghouls. Feral ghouls. A lot of them. No wonder no pony went out this way. I at least had the advantage of flight, and could chose not to engage them.

I kept going and soon found myself atop the roof of the hospital. It was a bit damaged, but still mostly intact. Old medical equipment and stretchers filled the halls and rooms, but I was pleasantly surprised that only a few ghouls were inside. I quickly disposed of them with my beam rifle, which I was still thinking of a name for. Getting the autodoc parts wasn't too much of a hassle, but getting into the research room in the basement was another issue. None of the key cards I'd found worked, so it was all up to me to hack it. I tried a few passwords and got a warning of being locked out. I backed out of the program, and started again. Nothing. I repeated thus a few times, but still got nothing. This was some pretty tight security. What the heck did they have in here that was so worth keeping locked up? Surely a serum wasn't that valuable. Finally I selected the right phrase and the metal doors slid open. Inside was a glass tank with the weirdest creature I'd seen yet. It looked like some cross between a dragon and a pony, but could tell for sure. I looked closer to investigate and found that it was indeed real, but sadly it was dead. Black splotches covered it's otherwise purple body, and the terminal screens displayed error messages. Okay, some sick, messed up pony was experimenting with shit he probably shouldn't have been. I tried to get any information on what the heck was in the tank, but found nothing but damaged books and faded out notes. Perhaps I'd never know. As for the serum, I found several different ones. I wasn't sure what most of them were, so I loaded the entire bunch into my bags. Better safe than sorry. There was also a rather large amount of radaway, and other medical supplies stacked on a couple shelves. Now with my saddle bags stuffed to the point of nearly bursting, I headed back up the stairs and made my way to the roof. The light was beginning to fade from the sky, so I made as quick of a flight as I could manage with the extra weight. Once I'd cleared the wall of Wayside, I landed and continued on foot. My wings were sore and I was panting a bit, but I could take it. It was easily ten at night by the time I made it to the clinic entrance, were I was greeted with quite a degree of enthusiasm. The entire staff would stop thanking me for the supplies and saying how they could never repay me enough for it. I just smiled and told them over my slate that I was just happy to be helping ponies who needed it. I wasn't tired yet, so I set to work on the autodoc. Now that I had the parts, it ended up being a pretty easy fix. Just strip out the broken parts and install the new ones. As I was getting ready to go, I was stopped by the white unicorn mare yet again. With grateful tears in her eyes she informed me that amongst the serums, they had found one that could stop the sickness. I smiled, and before I could react she had grabbed me in a hug. She pressed her face against my chest and blubbered about how I was the first pony in so long to actually care. She then let me go and started apologizing for 'unprofessional behaviour'. I assured her I wasn't offended in the slightest. I truly wasn't. Doing it had felt right, so I did it. It seemed pretty simple. She told me her name was Floss, and that if I ever needed medical supplies or treatment that she'd see to it I got it.

"Thank you"I wrote.

"No, thank you for everything." She insisted as she saw me out the door.

I felt a warm glow deep inside me as I walked down the street. This felt good. Good in the way that it almost felt like I was meant to do stuff like that. Then I heard that familiar metallic voice beside me.

"Hello Amaria." It said softly.

Okay, I had not been expecting that. I whirled towards the voice and the Spritebot quickly backed off. It hovered a while, and then talked again.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have done that again."

It had clearly learned a but from the last time. I stared at it, questions coming to mind.

"How do you know my name? Why have you been following me? Who are you? Who do you work for?" I jotted down on my slate

. The Spritebot spoke again.

" I did a bit of poking around about you. You aren't the easiest pony to track down and talk to so I had to find something that would make you listen. As for why I've been trying to talk to you, well it's a bit complicated."

"How so?" I asked.

"You see," started the Spritebot," I think you might be one of the ponies I've been looking around for. I'm not sure yet though. I guess I just mean that I want to let you know that well, your different, but in a good way. Just, you know, keep doing what you've started."

Okay, was it just me or did that voice, despite being played though a speaker seem familiar?

"So how'd you manage to hack into the Spritebot?" I inquired.

"Umm... I have my ways." Replied the voice.

Okay, now I really seemed to remember that voice. Part of me told me not to do it, but the rest of me screamed to.

"So, you survived?" I asked.

The Spritebot went quiet. It kept hovering for a bit until I tapped it.

"Uhh... I... I have to go." It said and the voice faded out.

The Spritebot turned and began to play an familiar old song as it bobbed down the street. Holy shit! It was him! Somehow he'd made it through the bombs and was still out there. I chuckled to myself. I'd only met him a couple times, but despite being not exactly pony, he was still pretty nice. Good to know I had at least one old acquaintance out there somewhere. I headed on to the hotel and got myself a room for the night.

The next week involved a lot of tinkering, scavenging, escorting a trader, fixing broken stuff, and settling disputes and debt issues. I was thankful I was able to do the latter of that with no gunshots or blood involved. The Spritebot hadn't been back, but I did get a strange note left under my door about 'Needing to make some friends.' It wasn't like I didn't try to be friendly, but it just didn't go far with most ponies from Wayside. I was mildly surprised when they started referring to me as the 'Spectre' due to my habit of being there when I was needed, but then disappearing again just as fast. You needed something fixed? I was the pony to ask. Needed something retrieved from an old building in an out of the way place? Ask the Spectre. Even DJ Pon3 had gotten in on it, proclaiming to all who would listen about the stable pony who showed up in Wayside and saved them from not only a gang, but also sickness. Okay, I get it that it was reassuring to some ponies out there that good things were still happening, but it was beginning to get out of hoof. Sure I was doing some good things, but not enough for getting this sort of hype. Somehow I needed to find a way to make that DJ shut up. For one thing I didn't need the publicity, and on the other I wasn't half as awesome as the broadcasts claimed. So, moving on. I'd heard about an old water purifying station outside of the city that apparently wasn't working. The ponies from the clinic seemed to think that it was the cause for the sickness. I'd investigated it just the other day and found it was nearly impossible to get inside without tripping an entire hall filled with a bunch of little beam projectors. I'd thought about it a while, and then come up with a solution. Magnetic horse shoes. There was a small gap along the metal ceiling that I could crawl along upside down and get past. It was a risky idea, but where was the fun in not trying. A few wires, four horseshoes, some cloth scraps and an old spark battery later and I had something that just might work. I flew out to the purifying station and strapped on the apparatus. Then I turned on the battery and carefully put my hoof on the wall. It stuck. With a bit of effort I removed it. Okay, so at least one worked, but I'd have to see if all four could hold my weight. One hoof after the other and I was soon walking up the side of the wall. It took a bit of work to walk, but it was holding. Now I knew how bugs felt. I slowly but surely made it to the ceiling and began to work my way past the trip beams. About ten minutes later I dropped off the wall on the other side feeling a bit sick. Being upside down for that long hadn't done any favours for my stomach. At least I was unscathed and could deactivate the defences. A terminal and a simple passphrase were all that separated me from the main controls. Down went the beams, and the control room door was unlocked right after. A short bit of tinkering later and the water purifier was chugging away again. I packed away my magnetic shoes and headed back to the city. This hadn't been any particular job or anything, more of something I decided to do. Everypony benefited from it and I had the capability to do it, so why not? On the other hoof, I might as well be useful while trying to figure out where my Pipbuck had gone. I'd only heard of a couple junk dealers who might have something, but after investigation, neither seemed to have any clue. My options were beginning to thin out. Wait, or had they? Oh stupid me. Of coarse I'd overlooked the easiest option for finding it. The Pipbuck tag. Just find something that could pick up radio waves, and I'd find it. And then there was the next problem: Finding another Pipbuck to use. No, it didn't have to be another one. If I could access the M.A.S. Tower, it would likely have all the resources I'd need. I headed into the bar and ordered a drink as my mind worked furiously. I could retune the mainframe to a different spectrum, and then send out scan signals. It might knock out DJ Pon3 for a few hours, but what the heck? I was so busy in thought that I didn't even notice when the orange eyed buck sat down beside me.

"Hey." He said.

I jumped and nearly spilled my drink.

"Um.. sorry." He said.

I looked at him closely.

"Look... I um.. Well.. I just want to talk" he managed to get out.

Were all bucks this nervous when talking to a mare, or was it just something that happened to me? There were only a few bucks I'd met who managed to keep talking to me without messing up their words. I'd never really thought about it till a few days back. Was I actually attractive? I mean I got a few whistles now and then, but didn't most mares? I smiled at him and he nervously avoided eye contact.

"Can we..um.. talk outside?"

I nodded and he got up quickly and headed for the door. The bar was completely silent and everypony was staring at us. Awkward much? I followed him up to the roof sat down near the edge. Proxy seemed at bit more at ease up here.

"Okay, so I've been meaning to talk to you for a while now." He began.

"So why didn't you?" I wrote.

"Well, try finding a mare as busy as you. Your here one minute and gone the next."

"A pony has to make caps somehow." I countered.

"I don't think it's just about the caps. I think that DJ is on to something about you."

"How so?"

"For one your a stable pony, and for two, you do things a lot different than most ponies."

"And is that a bad thing?"

"Well... no.... it's just that.. Oh how to put it? Your doing a whole lot more good than most ponies have done in years."

I looked at him quizzically.

"Look," he said."I think we got off on the wrong hoof. I thought you were an Enclave agent come to get me, so I reacted accordingly. I see now that I was wrong and just want to make sure things are good between us."

"I never had anything against you." I wrote.

For the first time I actually saw him smile.

"I need to be honest with you about something." He said.

"What?" I asked. He drew in a deep breath.

"Okay, so ever since those sniper reports on the radio, I've more or less been stalking you."

"Oh really?" I replied, feigning ignorance of the matter.

"Not to kill you or anything, just curiosity." He added quickly.

I looked at him a long while.

"I knew." I finally wrote.

He looked a bit surprised at first.

"That's actually impressive," he said. "It takes some skill to counter another sniper."

I nodded. We sat opposite each other for a few moments, neither speaking.

"Look, I guess what really want to say is that I think your doing some good things, and I just want to let you know I'm on your side."

"Thanks." I replied.

Then he added,"Perhaps we could work together sometime? I could always use reliable help."

"Perhaps."

He smiled again and then took off. There was something about this buck I kind of liked. I couldn't explain it, but something felt right about it. A few more days passed and was still no closer to finding my Pipbuck. I'd gone on one trip with Proxy to clear out a nest of raiders a day ago, and it had gone surprisingly well. He'd even complimented me on my style. We hadn't talked much, but we certainly worked well together. Now I was sitting in my hotel room devising a plan on how to get into the M.A.S. tower. It was likely protected with magic on the outside, so my magnetic horseshoes wouldn't work. Then there was the matter of terminals. But what about Project BoltFire? Yes, I could shoot out any locks on the doors with that. Now I just needed to go get it. I grabbed my things and was just about to head out the hotel doors when two ponies in trench coats and Stetsons approached me from both sides.

"We need a word with you ma'am." The one said in a slightly rough and throaty voice.

Author's Note

This is the last bit I'll be doing for a bit till the whole Christmas rush is over.

Chapter 5 is already in progress.