Fallout: Equestria - Long Haul

If you have to ask, you're not entitled to know.

“This will be more than enough.” Ram Turbine smiled as she took the large block of Ice from me. “I’ll get on melting it down right away.”

“You have no idea what this means to us.” The officer said softly, sitting down and taking off his cap. “Back when I joined the flight academy, I’d always thought I’d be the one to help others out.” Giving me a wary smile, he looked every bit as exhausted as Dad had after getting home from a long day of work. Holding his hoof out, he smiled at me. “Excuse me for not introducing myself before. I’m Commandant Tail End. My cadets and I owe you a debt of gratitude.”

Cadets? “All of you are just Enclave recruits?” Looking up at him, I knew I had to be wrong. He seemed far too seasoned to be just a recruit. The laugh he gave all but confirmed it.

“The others, yes.” He smiled, watching as Ram Turbine struggled to hobble back over towards the side of the Vertibuck with the heavy block of ice. “However I am the lead instructor aboard Raptor CVL-22 Dawn Strider. It is… was, my job to train those who would fly and maintain the various Vertibuck models that were used across the Enclave.” With a sigh, he probably felt the same way I did about all this. “They didn’t ask for this, you know? They’re just new recruits. They didn’t deserve to be left behind, not with an event like the government collapsing.” We couldn’t change what happened, only move forward from now.

“Well, I’m sure that you’ll all make it down there just fine.” I offered, taking his hoof and shaking it firmly. “I’ll make sure to look you up when I get down there as well, Commandant.” Looking back toward the Hauler, I saw the bright blue spacesuited form of Laika making her way down the stairs to the ground. “So, about that ride you offered?” I said, turning back towards him. “Mind if someone else takes my place?”

“Well, that depends.” He said, looking over with me. “I won’t put my cadets in a situation where they’re trapped in a barely flying box with a psychopath.”

“You ever hear of an old world Diamond Dog named Laika? Scientist from the M.A.S.?” I asked, looking up to him with a smile. He only cocked his eyebrow at me. “Well, let’s just say that the ice I gave you wasn’t the only frozen thing my convoy has run across recently.”

“So, wait.” He looked back toward the small form of Laika as she approached, and then back to me. “You expect me to believe that a two century old name only briefly mentioned in a history book, is still around? They aren’t one of those dead… things, are they?” He scoffed. As he did, I pointed to the burned up space capsule strung up against the back of Bertha. “Oh. Well then.”

“She’s looking for a ride back home. Maybe you can help her out by taking her with you.” I said, turning and watching as Laika made her way across the concrete courtyard towards us. Carried across her back, was a large purple M.A.S. duffle bag that seemed absolutely crammed with papers, electronics, and other bulky things that jutted out of the top. Seriously, the bag was as big as she was. “Look, she’s just as new to the wasteland as we are, so… be patient with her.”

“I’m sure we’ll be able to accommodate her.” Tail End sighed. “Well, at least she won’t take up more space than what she’s hauling with her.” Looking back to me, he smirked and reached his hoof over to his flank. With a click, he used his wing to open up a slim holster that was strapped to his side. Out of it, he pulled a small, black and gold plated energy pistol. I didn’t know the design from anything I’d seen before, but it couldn’t have been modern. “Look, I know we can’t really repay you for your help, but… I can at least give you this.” Hoofing the small pistol toward me, I looked at him in confusion. “It’s an antique pistol that has been passed down through my family since the war. It’s not Enclave owned, it’s mine, so I’m going to repay your kindness with it.”

“That’s… not needed.” I reached up and pushed the gun back. Reaching around, I hooked my hoof around my saddlebags and hooved them over to him. “Here, there’s not much in here, but it should last you all a few days.”

He took the bag and opened it, gasping. “Why…?” He looked over at me, dumbfounded. Shaking his head, he hooved his pistol at me again. “Now I really do have to insist.”

“YA budu torgovat' vam.” Laika called out as she came up to us. Grabbing at the enormous gun at her side, she tossed it toward me. Scrambling, I barely managed to pinch it between my forehooves before it hit the ground. “Blagodaryu!” She nodded before pulling the fancy pistol from a very confused Tail End’s hoof. “The TP-82 was too big for me, so I will take this one.” She smiled only momentarily at me. “So, tell me. This is what we are flying in?” Pointing to the Vertibuck sitting beside us, she didn’t seem very impressed. “You've been flying a Model xm-01a3? I'm surprised it's still able to fly after all this time.”

“Yes, the simplicity and ease of maintenance means these models make for good trainers.” Tail End replied, shaking his head and looking down at her. “Wait, you could tell what model it was just by looking at it?”

“Dah.” Laika nodded and pointed to the front of the craft. “Forward sensor bulge made room for secondary power transfer system.” Pointing up toward the wing joints. “Redesigned internal strutting made the wing less prone to failure during high speed maneuvering.” Looking up at Tail End, she gave him a very flat look. “I recognize it because I designed the modifications.” With a grunt, she reached up and pulled her hefty duffle bag off. Unceremoniously, she dumped it at his hooves. “Now before we get into the air, let me see if you screwed it up at all in the last two centuries. Or made improvements...”

“Sure…” Tail End said slowly as she walked off toward the old machine. Looking back to me, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Oh, this is going to be a long trip.”

“For you and me both. At least you don’t have to take the long way there.” I said, looking back up toward Bertha. I watched as Delilah trotted up the stairs onto the Hauler, and disappeared inside the Ice Hold. I think that before Happy got a chance to get angry about all this, I needed to have a talk with his mom about just what that safe was doing in the ice. Turning back to Tail End, I gave a stiff salute. “Safe travels, Commandant.”

He gave me a salute back and smiled again. “Same to you.” As I turned around, he reached out and grabbed my wing with his hoof. “Hey,” Looking back, he gave me a small nod. “I’ll find out what I can… about what you asked, that is. Just, try to get down south in one piece. I hear it’s rough on the ground now, so stay safe.”

“Will do.” I nodded and turned back. It might be something I couldn’t promise, but I’d be damned if I didn’t try to stay out of trouble. Hell, here’s hoping I could even last the afternoon without getting myself into a situation where I got myself shot. I really hoped that Happy didn’t own a gun...

“Is there something I can do for you, Night?” Delilah sighed as I shut the door to her container behind me. She was sitting at her desk, looking over a few scattered papers with her glasses precariously perched on the end of her muzzle. She didn’t even look up when I came in, though I should have expected that from somepony as cold and distant as she seemed to be.

Only when I walked right up to her desk without a word did she even move her focus to me.

“I want to know what’s in the safe.” I asked bluntly.

She didn’t even look shocked at my words. Really, I’d expected some sort of reaction out of her, but instead, I was met with nothing. She simply stared at me with the same stoic expression across her face that she’d carried with her most days. However, she did give out a light sigh as she picked her glasses off her muzzle and set them down on her desk.

“So, you found out then.” Her chair gave a few creaks as she leaned back in it, giving her seat more expression of character than she currently did. “Somepony was bound to find out sooner than later I guess.”

“You guess?” I couldn’t understand why she was being so calm about all this. “You lied about the ice, didn’t you? Solomon was right, you don’t want it for your settlement at all!” I cringed at that. Maybe that was a bit sharp of an accusation. Seriously, I’ve got to learn to watch what comes out of my muzzle. Whatever, I’m committed now, for better or worse.

“Night.” She spoke in the same volume as she had, but her tone dropped faster than a stone falling off a cliff. “You have no idea the importance of that safe, nor the right to infer that I have lied to you, or anypony else on my crew.” Leaning forward again, she placed her forehooves onto her desk firmly. Though she’d done it with care, I could tell that she was seething with rage inside. “So I implore you that if you are to continue to make accusations like that, then you might want to tread lightly with your words.”

“Tread Lightly? I have lost my family.” I snapped in a tone that I didn’t know I could even get to. “I’ve been shot, held captive, and lied to about everything in my life by the Enclave, who I thought I owed my safety to.” I knew that I was pushing my luck here, but I really hoped that I didn’t make a mistake in refusing to take that ride down south with Tail End. “I may not have secured my place among your crew by your standards, but that’s no reason to lie to them about what they’re risking their lives for. And I won’t stand for being lied to twice about what I’m living for.”

“They signed on knowing this trip was going to be dangerous, the same as you. That’s all any of you need to know.” The burning glare Delilah offered wasn’t one I’d wish on anypony. “If I ask you to fight, then you will fight. That’s what I pay you for, not running your muzzle off unchecked like you seem to do every chance you can get, Night.” She was nearly trembling with rage already, and that only made me more resolute to know just what she was hiding. “You’re candidness has already pushed the limits of my patience as is, and yet you think you are entitled to more?” Raising her hoof, she pointed sharply to the door. “If you’d like to keep argueing, then there’s the door. Go get comfy with the locals, because another argumentative word out of your muzzle, and you’ll be off this crew for good.”

Taking a step back from her, I felt my chest tighten up. She was willing to kick me out over this? Even after everything, she was willing to toss me aside to keep from telling the truth? That wasn’t just ruthless, that was the same feeling that Solomon had given me. The way she used ‘entitlement’ and a ‘payout’ as reinforcement for her argument? It made me realize that I’d made a mistake again. Even among all of those I’ve made down here, maybe the biggest one of all had been to think that Delilah couldn’t be as unscrupulous and underhooved as Solomon.

What do I do?

“I’m waiting for your answer.” She began slowly. “Either drop the subject and keep your muzzle shut, or...”

“I quit.” The words came so easily, yet, they hurt to say. Still, they had an effect on her. “You know, when I’d met him? I’d thought that Solomon was exactly the monster you’d made him out to be.” She’d paused in her place, hanging onto her own words like they were more precious than anything to her. Which was fine, I didn’t care about her words anymore. “But if you don’t tell the others what this is really about, you’ll end up becoming the exact same monster you wanted to protect them from.” If she couldn’t tell the others what this trip was about, then the trip wasn’t worth making.

I’d been down here for almost two weeks already, and this crew had become my closest friends. This place had been a home for me. Still, Buck was right about things, I felt that truth deep down inside me. Ponies needed to be nice to each other, needed to help each other out. I couldn’t stay knowing that Delilah didn’t have the best intentions for any of us on the crew. She made the others believe that they were doing this for her town, that this could save it. Worst of all, she made me believe it as well.

“I’ll say my goodbyes and get my things.” I sighed and headed for the door. “And don’t worry, I won’t tell them what I saw. Though, you’ll deserve every bit of hatred you get when they find out down the road, and they realize that they’ve gone so far for nothing more than a lie.” With every step, I hoped that she’d speak up. Opening the door, I prayed to the goddesses that she’d reconsider and do the right thing. But as I stepped out and shut the door behind me, I was met with exactly what I expected. Nothing.

Tearing up, the fact that I had lost everything again hit me hard. But hey, at least I was leaving with my integrity, right? Yeah, some consolation that was. Still, the tears rolling down my cheeks hit the floor outside her room, it took everything I had to just not turn around and beg her to forgive me. I’d learned to get over my past, to push forward into my new life in the wasteland. Just this morning, Buck had even said how it was nice that I hadn’t let the wasteland break me. Well, if this is how was going to be for the rest of my life, I didn’t think I could hold out much longer.

Looking across to the container I’d recently called home, I’d wondered just what I’d do now. No skills, no job, and no money. I shook my head and balked at the fact that I really had screwed up this time. Still, I had to go on. Mom and Dad raised me to always keep moving forward, to never give up or surrender.

The memory of that day outside of our apartment drifted into my head again. I hadn’t seen it then, the necessity of their words. I’d needed to stand up for myself, to fight my own battles. I couldn’t help but think that even though what just happened hurt me, it was the right thing to do. Reaching up with my hooves, I wiped the tears away from my eyes and straightened myself out. Right or not, I had to go.

Standing up, I walked over toward Violet and Hardcase’s container. Reaching my hoof up to knock on their door, I hesitated, wondering just what I’d say to them. When I did, I heard a soft giggle from inside from what sounded like Violet. Extending my wing, I slipped my feathers into the door like she’d done for my container, and flexed up. My wing caught on the latch inside and flipped it open.

“Woah!” Violet called out as I opened the door and stepped in. “Hold on there!” She called out. Looking over around the open door, I was met with a sight that made me blush. She was currently pinning Hardcase down on his bed, while riding on his… yeah, I should have knocked. A soft gasp from Hardcase however caught my attention.

“Night? What’s wrong?” He asked, looking up at me with concerned eyes from his place on the bed.

“Violet…” I hesitantly spoke. “I thought you said you were married…” Has… has everypony I’ve met so far just been lying to me this whole time? “Why would you lie to me like that?”

“It's not what you think!” She whined, pulling herself off Hardcase with a fleshy pop. I did my best to look away, while also trying to fight the urge to turn and go. This was a bad idea, and I should have just left without saying anything at all. “I am married, just... not to who I said I was.” Dropping her voice to a whisper, she continued, “This is the part you can’t tell anypony else. Even if Delilah asks, you didn’t know. Got it?”

Something about the way she said that resonated in my head, like a painful echo. This… has happened before. An ebbing pain roared through my head as the words bounced around in it. I tried to focus on why it felt so familiar through the pain, hoping it would pass.

“Hardcase...” Violet groaned as well. I looked over, seeing her cup her head in her hooves. “He isn't normally like this. He's... different than you might think.”

The words felt like they slammed into me from across the room. I swayed on my hooves as I started to feel dizzy. This wasn’t just familiar, this was something I couldn’t remember. If only I could focus on it…

“Violet, are you alright!?” Hardcase’s voice faded into the background as the noise in my head seemed to ramp up to unbelievable levels.

“I… lied to you, before.” Violet’s voice ran through my head like a gong.

“About what?” My own voice resonated in response. Each word sent a jolt of pain through my head, and I too cupped my hooves tightly against my skull as the pain went from a dull ebbing, to a forceful drumming.

“So that’s why he said he’s not interested in anypony else…” I repeated slowly, the words forcing their way out of my quivering muzzle as I tried to hold back whimpers of pain. I've said this before, this whole conversation. My vision blurred and I heard Violet grunt as well. That was it before everything dropped off into darkness.

Sounds were the first to return to me again. The rhythmic beeping of yet another medical machine next to me meant that at the very least I knew where I was. Again. At least the pounding that I’d had in my head was strangely absent. Still, my mind felt frazzled and murky. I couldn’t really hold on to a thought before it slipped away only a moment later. Opening my eyes, I winced and sat up slightly.

Looking around, everything was blurry. The warm blanket draped over me, the bright light above and clean walls definitely pointed toward this being a medical room. There were a few cabinets along the far wall to my left, as well as another bed. Another pony was laying in it, and in looking at the colors, I was pretty sure it was Violet.

“Afternoon, partner.” The gravely voice of a stallion spoke from the other side of the small room I was in. Blinking a few times and rubbing at my eyes, I forced away the blurriness that encompassed my vision. Sitting across the room from me, was Buck, dressed in a newer looking medical lab coat, and the polished looking medical yoke I’d gotten him. Next to him however, was a stallion I’d never seen before. He eyed me over before smiling. “Are yah Miss Bombay?” He asked.

The older, tan coated unicorn stallion sitting next to buck looked out of place. He wore a wide brimmed hat that looked ripped right out of an old western movie. Under it was a long, wiry white mane that wrapped around into a pair of sharply shaved chops along his chin. A large multicolored poncho sat over most of him, and over that was a bandolier with two guns strapped around his chest. The whole image he presented seemed flashy and tough. I got a feeling in my gut that I didn’t so much like the idea of him even knowing my nickname...

“Why do you ask?” I spoke horsely, trying to find my voice again as I sat up further. “What do you want?”

“Me?” The old stallion laughed. The crows feet around his weathered eyes gave me the impression that he was experienced in the hardship of the wastelands. However, the piercing gaze his green eyes gave, was as sharp as Solomon’s was. “I’m just a courier with a message ta deliver.” Pointing over to Buck, he gave a wheezing laugh. “Ol’ Doc here has been keepin’ me company while I wait for yah ta get up.” Buck gave an uneasy smile to the old stallion as he talked. “Funny, I’d never thought a beast such as him could commit ta somethin’ as strict as pacifism. I was afraid fer my life the moment I laid eyes on those claws, but I breathed a sigh of relief when he said he ain’t aimin ta ever use them fer’ harm. I wholeheartedly agree that we need less violence in the wastes.”

“Yes,” Buck nodded at that, giving a light chuckle as he did. “Says the stallion with two guns strapped to him.”

“Just because it’s what I think we need, ain’t make it a reality, Doc.” The stallion said before giving out a creaking stretch of one of his forelegs. “And the reality is it’s a dangerous world out there, full of dangerous ponies.” With a grunt, he pulled himself up off the bench he and Buck had been sitting on. “Anyway, the message I’m supposed ta convey is sort of confidential, so I’mma need ta know if yer actually Miss Bombay.”

“Yes, I am.” I nodded. As I spoke, I watched him smile brightly and raise his foreleg. A blocky object sat clamped over his leg, a glowing green screen flicked on as he looked at it. “What… is that?”

Buck stood up from his seat and walked over to the stallion. The stallion gave him an odd look before leaning away from him slightly. Buck seemed to take the hint and step back with an apologetic smile across his muzzle.

“This?” The stallion looked over at me oddly. “This is a gen-u-ine Stable-Tec Pipbuck.” He gave the old portable device a shake on his leg with a toothy grin. “A gift from a recent employer of mine.” Reaching up with his other hoof, he tapped a few keys on it. Odd, I’d assumed he could have done that with his horn. “If yah want, I can show yah a neat trick it can do.”

“Sure, but first,” I looked over to Buck for a moment finding him eyeing over the old stallion oddly. “Who sent you? I don’t think I know anypony who would have sent me a message like this.”

“A relative of yours, actually.” The courier smiled at me as he levitated a half used cigar up into his muzzle. The tarnished gold lighter next to it flicked a few times before it lit, and the stallion took a few stiff drags off the wartime smoke. Reaching up, he levitated the lighter down into the waiting hoof with his Pipbuck on it. “A prince Salal, actually.” Prince Salal? Wait, that’s the deer that Solomon killed! “He sends his regards.”

“Buck!” I cried out. By the time I had, the old stallion had drawn both his revolvers. However, at the same time, Buck had let out a growl unlike anything I’d ever heard in my life. A flash of Black and white split the air between the old stallion and I. A line of blood splattered the wall to my left, and the old stallions foreleg, pipbuck and all, tumbled to the floor in three separate segments.

“I don’t know who sent you.” Buck got out in a guttural low tone. “But put down your guns before…”

The old Stallion had probably been too shocked at his missing leg to hear Buck speak, but I don’t think he cared. In his magic, both revolvers turned on Buck and fired. I watched in horror as they went off again and again, the stallion not even looking where he was shooting. The shots were deafening in my ears, but Buck’s howl of pain beat them out.

Again, Buck moved with incredible speed, but this time he swung around over my legs. With a meaty thwack, Buck drove his claws right through the stallion’s neck and head. Bloody gurgling was all that escaped the old stallion’s neatly split muzzle as he died on Buck’s claws. His magic faded, and the guns dropped to the floor. He was gone, right in front of me. I just sat and stared at his corpse in silence, waiting for the gravity of what had just happened to hit me.

“Night?” Buck asked through heaving breaths. His voice snapped me out of my stare. Looking over, I found that Buck was hunched over, wincing with every breath. Several holes in his lab coat darkened as lines of his blood ran down them. “Are you okay?” He whined, lowering his claws to his bleeding chest.

I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He’d just saved me, and he was hurt. “Yeah… Buck, you’re hurt.” No shit, Night! Say something useful! “Help!” I called out as loudly as I could with my dry throat. “I need help in here!”

The door to the room burst open. “I heard gunshots, what is going on in…!” A turquoise coated unicorn yelled out before stopping cold. Her muzzle twitched, canting her thick glasses across it as she stared at the body on the floor. Shifting uneasily in her own medical lab coat, she turned her eyes to Buck and gasped. “Hold on, don’t move and let me get my tools.”

Her horn flared with magic, and the cabinets from Violet’s side of the room all flew open. Various tools and medical things quickly levitated across the room. They formed a tight ring around the doctor mare. Among the things, she floated an odd copper wrapped metal disk with circuits and batteries duct taped to it over towards Buck.

“Alright, deep breath. This is going to hurt.” She said before placing the odd thing against one of Buck’s bullet wounds. She paused, waiting for him to look at her. When he did, her magic pressed a small red button on the top of it. There was the thick snap of electricity, and a heavy whimper from Buck. Pulling the pad back, a lumpy gray mass was now attached to the pad itself. “Alright.” She said, using her magic to pick the mass off the pad before she moved it over to the next bullet wound. “Again.”

Another thick snap preceded a yelp from Buck. I whimpered along with him, feeling my stomach twist as he writhed. Again, she pulled the pad back and another metal lump sat on it. Wait… those weren’t lumps! She was pulling the bullets right out of him! She repeated the process until all five of his bleeding wounds had been dealt with.

“Alright.” She said, levitating over a thick looking metal jar. “Doctor Buck? I need to know if you’ve got the mutation to heal with magical radiation or not.” She waited, holding the jar out until he nodded. Wait, what!? Radiation didn’t hurt him? How was that even possible!? “Alright, then it will be just one moment.”

Unscrewing the cap off the metal jar, her magic pulled out a brightly glowing green gem. The brilliance it gave off was stunning, though from the way she pulled away from it as she moved it toward him, I knew I probably shouldn’t want to reach out and touch it so badly. As she moved it closer, Buck growled and swung up. I thought he was angry for a moment, until he brought his paw, and the glowing gem, down against his chest.

“Oh that’s so much better.” He sighed, seeming to relax a bit. I watched in amazement as lines of green traced through his massive forearms. They started to appear all over his body actually, pulsing like a heart beat pumping blood through veins. “Thank you, Doctor Show Globe. We had an intruder come in.” Looking over to me, he gave a sorrowful look. “I almost didn’t stop him before he attacked Mr. Night Flight here.”

“I see.” She looked over to me with a weary look. “Is that what happened?” She asked promptly. Did… did she not hear him? Or was it that she just didn’t trust what he said because he was a Snow Dog?

“Yes,” I stated, almost in outrage. “He passed himself off as a courier with a message before pulling his guns on me.”

“Okay then.” She nodded, looking over to Buck. Her horn flared, and she grabbed the glowing gem right out from his paws with her magic. “It’s not that I don’t believe you, Dr. Buck. However, as a doctor, you know how useful a second opinion can be at times.” She spoke flatly as she quickly placed the stone back in the metal container and sealed it tightly. Turning to him, she gave him a shrug before pulling a roll of gauze out of the rotating supplies around her. “No offence intended.”

“I understand.” Buck sighed as she wrapped the gauze around his chest lightly. “Besides, I am the one with blood all over my claws. I would have questioned me too.” He laughed lightly and looked over to me with a soft gaze. “Sorry that I didn’t see through his ruse sooner.”

“He had us both fooled.” I shrugged to him. “However…” I cocked my eye at him. “You are incredibly violent for a pacifist.”

“You misunderstand what it means to be passive.” He laughed as the doctor cut the gauze to length and started to finish up. “I look for no fights, nor do I participate in conflicts that are not my own. However, there is a difference between passivity and knowing how to defend oneself and others. To paraphrase a general who fought in the first years of the war, ‘If you want to live as a force of good in this world, then you foremost have to survive’.” With a raise of his bloody claws, he reached over and grabbed one of the clean towels stacked on the counter near my bed. Wiping his bloody claws off quite thoroughly, he continued. “By the nature of what my kind are, most ponies are not so unintelligent as to start a fight with us. Though there were some outliers these early days, most avoid us altogether. Even so, we are taught to kill only when necessary from the age of two. That is when our instincts..."

“From only two?” I interrupted him. I know I shouldn’t have, but I just couldn’t believe it! “Celestia, that's insane!”

That got him to laugh as the other Doctor levitated all her tools back into their drawers. “This is not a surprising reaction among those who learn of our ways. Our physiology and mentality matures much faster than that of ponies, as I’d said before about Laika.” Buck raised his eyebrow to me now, and smiled. “Though, to offset our growth, we do have far more limited lifespans than your kind because of this. To put it another way, how old do you perceive me to be?”

What a peculiar question. “I... don't know?” I gave him a nervous smile and shrugged. “You’re the only Snow Dog I’ve gotten to know well, so I can’t really say.”

Turning his gaze to the doctor, he held the bloody towel out to her. “What about you, Doctor Show Globe?” He smiled brightly as she deadpanned at him. “Care to take a guess?”

“Well, given how big you are, and as much as you know about medical procedures...” She paused, tapping at her chin. As she did, she stopped and pulled her hoof back, finding it coated with the blood of the stallion on the floor. Giving a grunt, she shook her head. “Maybe fourteen?”

Hah, she wasn’t even trying!

“Oh, that was a close one!” Buck laughed and looked back to me. “Last month, I celebrated my thirteenth birthday.”

“Fucking what!?” I shouted out, making both of them cringe. If I’d shouted any louder, I’m sure I probably would have woken Violet! “You’re younger than me!?”

“In chronological age, yes.” He nodded, taking a deep breath. “In our years, it makes me an equivalent of your twenty eight. I think...” Pausing, he seemed to lose himself in thought for a moment.

As he did, I came to a horrifying realization. “Um… Buck?” I asked, pulling his relaxed look back to me. “So then, how old will you be when you... you know?” He looked at me oddly, canting his head slightly. “Die?”

His ears folded back, and he looked a bit shocked at the question. “Well…” He started, looking around for a moment. “You mean if the horrors of the wasteland don't claim me first?” With a nervous chuckle, he looked up at me and answered. “I will live to be just about forty.”

Great! Or… was it? “Wait, in your years, or mine?” These odd year conversions were confusing…

“In our years.” Dr. Show Globe grunted and turned around toward the door. “Something you won’t live to unless somepony can figure out what that thing in both Mrs. Violet’s and your head is.” Right, the entire reason I passed out in the first place. I think. “From what the X-ray machine showed, it is definitely something of arcano-biotech origin.”

From the doorway, a manila folder floated inside in her magic’s grasp. She pulled a couple of dark sheets out of it, and held them up towards the ceiling lights. Now backlit, I could see the specific outline of a pair of pony skulls on the sheets. Each one had a bit of a different shape to it, but I couldn’t tell who was who. However, in an identical spot of both of our skulls, was an oddly square object with strange glowing symbols on it.

“They’re some sort of memory inhibiting talismans, or at least, that is my guess.” Buck spoke up, stroking his chin with a claw as he gazed at them. “They had both come back from being missing in action, to being held hostage that afternoon, and both had claimed as having had no recollection of the afternoon’s events in between.”

Looking up at the X-rays, I couldn’t help but wonder what had actually happened that afternoon. It’s harder to remember, as it was quite a few days ago now. Still, if there was only somepony who might have seen me that I could ask, or some way to get back there to remember just what the hell had gone on. Pausing, I knew that the answer had been staring me in the face just earlier today. Hell, the answer had kissed me out of nowhere!

“Night?” Buck’s voice ripped me out of my thoughts. “Is everything alright?”

“What?” I looked over to him and Dr. Show Globe. “Yeah, yeah.” I nodded enthusiastically. “So can you fix it, Doc?”

She sighed. “Look, I don’t know what we’re dealing with here, not well enough. Neurology isn’t something I’m well versed in, as I’m just a general medical practitioner around here.” Shaking her head, she looked over at Buck again. “Sorry, but I don’t think I can help. Honestly, I wouldn’t suggest messing with them until you could find somepony who knows something more about arcano-biotech like this than I do.” Turning to Buck, she offered a sincere expression to him. “Keep them monitored for future episodes like this, and maybe see if you can find the pattern for when it occurs. That might just be the key to whatever this is.”

“Alright.” Buck sighed, looking more than a little disappointed with her answer. But even so, he still wore his kind smile. “Thank you for your help, Doc.” Reaching up, he gingerly grabbed onto the dark X-ray slides suspended in her levitation. “Mind if I keep these? Only in case I find an expert down south.”

“Sure thing. Mr. Night and Mrs. Violet are free to leave at anytime.” She nodded before looking down to the dead stallion still sitting on her floor. “I’ll have sanitation come and clean this guy up in a few minutes.” The disgusted look on her face she gave as she looked at the body was something the both of us shared. “Best of luck, Dr. Buck. I hope things go well for you all down the road.”

“Thank you for your time, Dr. Show Globe.” Buck said, giving her a small wave as she left the room. With a heavy sigh, Buck collapsed onto his haunches. “Oh, what a day.”

“Tell me about it.” I rolled my eyes and flopped back into my hospital bed. Laying and looking at the ceiling, I knew, somewhere in my head, that Hispano was the key to this memory thing. For some reason, she’d expected me to remember things. She obviously hadn’t forgotten what happened, and come our ‘date’, I’d have to find out. The reality of today sank in as I remembered my talk with Delilah. Actually, I didn’t even know if I would even see Hispano again. Being off the convoy, I didn’t have the supplies or means to go anywhere now.

A warmth I wasn’t expecting enveloped my rear hoof. Looking up, I saw Buck smiling to me softly as he reached out and held my hoof warmly. I’d have to tell him I wasn’t going to be going with him soon. I know I’d momentarily thought with Violet that it would have been better to just leave without saying anything, but… I couldn’t do that to him. I just… didn’t want to ruin the time I had left right now with my friends. I’d tell Buck later, but for now, I didn’t want to even deal with it.

“So…” I started up, trying to push everything out of my mind for now. “You can absorb magical radiation?”

With a nervous smile, Buck rubbed at his neck. “Well, it’s not something all Snow Dogs can do. You see, only about half are born with the correct mutation, and...”

As he began to talk about himself, I found myself smiling. I know that getting hurt all the time had become too regular of a thing, but really, I enjoyed having Buck around. I’d really grown to enjoy his company in my time with the convoy so far. Sure things were rough, but he was someone I’d found I could rely on for help when I’d needed it. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have a friend as caring as him.

That’s why it was going to hurt that much more when I told him I had to leave.

Once Hardcase had returned from informing Delilah what had happened in Violet and his container, Buck and I filled him in on what had happened with the stallion down here. The three of us pretty unanimously decided it was time to go, and I was beginning to think it was all these stops that were the most dangerous thing about this trip. Not that I’d be making any more of them that is.

Hardcase grabbed the still unconscious Violet, while Buck stayed at my side when we left. Heading back up toward Bertha, I’d found that the underground levels of Filly Crossing was much more active than it had appeared on the surface. The many halls and tunnels that criss crossed the different levels in the mountain were just as busy as the hallway on the Inuvik had been. All sorts of different races moved around down here with an energy and determination all their own. It was a good distraction for the many hundreds of thoughts that were running around in my mind right now.

Still, looking around, I was amazed to see that even two hundred years after the bombs, life seemed pretty good for these folks. There was an earth pony whistling as he carried a crate of empty jars down the hall. A griffon gleefully playing with her newborn cub in a room we passed by. There was even a Snow Dog drunkenly singing with a very... fluffy looking pony as they stumbled down the hallway. This place didn’t feel all that bad, but even so… it didn’t really feel like a home to me. I was really going to miss living with the others.

Climbing the many flights of stairs to get up to the open air again was no small feat. Buck and I both emerged into the warming midday light a little winded, but no worse for the wear. As the whistling wind whipped it’s way across the open courtyard, an odd sight caught my eye. Another convoy looked to have arrived while I was down there, having come from the way Delilah said we’d be heading.

A boxy looking vehicle that looked to be half truck and half tank sat offloading goods. In front of it, sat and olive green tank with a disproportionately large and square turret. It was smaller than the tank I’d seen at Fort Mac, however, it didn’t look as heavily armored as Bessy did either, and Bessy from what I was told, wasn’t that well armored. Two ghoul ponies looked to be doing maintenance on the odd looking light tank, while the third looked to be touching up some words that had been painted on the side of it’s turret. Like an Idiot, I read them out loud.

“BT-42 Cordite?” I asked, looking over to Buck. However, a shrug from him was the only answer I got, which was understandable. He’d said they never really got visitors up in Inuvik, so I shouldn’t have been surprised he didn’t know.

“Cordite is a Mercenary group from down south. BT-42 is probably the model of the tank if I had to guess.” Hardcase spoke up as he emerged from the bunker’s stairway entrance behind us. “Most of the northern settlements are way too far apart to travel on hoof safely or efficiently. It’s why you see more vehicles up here than you do anywhere south of Vanhoover or Seaddle.”

“Anyway, they’re a group who specializes in armored protection for trade convoys and the like. You’ll probably find one or two in every settlement up here waiting to be hired for a job.” Walking up beside me, he took a moment to look at Violet, who was still sleeping draped over his back. “They’re pricy, but you hire them if you don’t want to be bothered by raiders, slavers, or gangers, or if you haven’t got a tank of your own. Hell, just the sight of their logo printed on the sides of their tanks is what scares away most trouble out on the roads.”

“Yes, because who in their right mind would want to attack a tank with a gun like that.” I said, pointing to the very stout cannon on the tank. Pausing at that, I looked over to Hardcase. “That other tank, the one at Fort Mac. Are they part of that group?” I didn’t recall seeing that word painted on their tank, only whatever had been written on it’s turret that I couldn’t quite recall.

Hardcase shook his head. “No, that tank and it’s crew came over from Saddle Arabia with Solomon.” He grumbled as he spoke of them. “Though that’s part of the reason Delilah doesn’t want us to fight. Solomon could afford to hire a whole battalion of Cordite mercs if he wanted to.”

“Where did he even get the caps for what he’s got?” Buck asked as he started to move forward again. I guess breaktime was over.

“He sold his ship when he got here.” Hardcase replied with a grunt before getting moving again as well. I continued, keeping pace with Hardcase at my side. “To a wealthy gang leader down in Cantercross who’s still paying off Solomon for it. No idea what anypony down there would need a ship for anyway.”

Looking ahead, Bertha loomed over us. Casting my gaze to the far side of the courtyard, past the last metal cannon hut, I saw that the Vertibuck pad was empty. That would have been my only chance to get out of here easily, and it was gone. Still, I hoped that they would make it safely down south, even if I wasn’t going to make it down there now as I’d promised.

With a sigh, Buck reached out and ran his claws along the large armored front radiator of the Hauler as we walked past it.

“I’ll be happy when we’re on the road again.” He said, smiling as he looked down at me. “Things tend to be quiet on the move. It’s only when we stop that problems seem to crop up.” Huh, I guess he came to that conclusion as well.

“Yeah.” I forced a chuckle to him, looking down at the ground as we walked. Turning the corner, we headed toward the stairway to get up, and each step started to feel different. My hooves felt heavier, and my heart rate picked up. I didn’t want to keep going. But yet, I turned and climbed up onto Bertha with the others. Stepping up on to the reactor level, I turned and watched as Hardcase carried Violet up the steps. He looked up to me, and again, his expression turned to a concerned one. “Hey, guys?” I forced myself to speak. “I need to tell you something.”

“As do I.” Delilah’s stern voice came from the ice hold’s open door. Looking over at her, I found her face not as stoic as her voice had implied, rather, she kept her eyes averted from me. “I haven’t been perfectly honest with any of you, so I’d like you to join me inside, please.”

“Alright…?” Hardcase spoke up as he pulled himself and Violet onto the reactor deck. “Is everything alright, Ma’am?”

“It’s time they were all told, Hardcase.” She said with a stiff nod. Stepping back away from the door, she held a welcoming hoof out into the hold for us.

I… wasn’t sure what to think. On one hoof, I was glad that she’d changed her mind for the sake of the crew. On the other, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was something I’d said that made her change her mind. Still, as I stood and watched both Buck and Hardcase enter the hold, she finally turned and looked to me.

“You’re part of this crew as well, Night.” She nodded toward the inside. “Get in there.”

Trotting forward, I couldn’t fight the smile that appeared on my muzzle. It didn’t hurt any less inside to know that she was willing to lie to everypony to get what she wanted. However, the fact that she’d given in was something that at the very least gave me hope that she could change. Stepping inside, Delilah closed the door behind me.

Inside the hold, was everyone. They were all standing along the outer edge of the ice block, huddled together. Well, all except for Buck and Happy, who both seemed fine in the chilly air down here. Lucky was shivering heavily, eyeing his brother jealously as Gearbox pressed into Boiler’s warm looking fur. Howitzer however, seemed to have stolen Delilah’s stoic expression and just stood there like he was more bored than anything.

“I have to come clean about something.” Delilah spoke up. “However, while the truth may anger some of you, Hardcase and my son were under my direct instructions not to tell any of you.” She glared at everypony one at a time. However, before she reached me, she stopped. “So all of that anger is on me. Are we clear?”

“That’s great and all, but what the hell is even going on?” Boiler asked, reaching over so she could pull Gearbox tighter into her fuzzy coat.

“We didn’t come all the way up north for the ice you stand beside.” Delilah answered decisively. All the other’s looked shocked, and even Buck reached down and grabbed ahold of my shoulder. Looking up at him, he gazed down with a confused look across his muzzle. “There’s nothing special about this ice. No ‘special’ mineral in it that will save our town.”

“Then what the fuck are we doing here!?” Lucky snapped. He froze up, going wide eyed before quickly averting his gaze to the floor. “Sorry, Ma’am.”

“It’s… understandable that you might feel that way.” She said, hesitation starting to lead into her words. “However, as some of you know, we had to cut through a shipwreck to get the ice in the first place. This was not by coincidence.” Raising her hoof, she pointed to the shimmering blue block. “Inside that block, is the master safe from a ship my ancestors owned. That is why we came up north.”

“I don’t get it.” Howitzer spoke up, shaking his head. “What’s so important inside the safe? How does it help save Brahman Beach?”

“For those who know my home there, you know about the logbooks that my family has kept for years.” Delilah sat down, crossing her forehooves as she closed her eyes. “If you’d ever looked closely, one in particular has always been missing, even since before the great war came to an end. That logbook tracked and recorded a series of ships that my family owned, and was supposedly lost when one of the ships it belonged to, sank below the arctic seas.”

“You sank it on purpose, didn’t you.” Boiler asked, cocking her eyebrow. “I knew grandma’s suspicions were always true.”

“Yes,” She continued, “The sinking of the H.M.S. Erebus was no accident. She was scuttled and then sealed under the ice using unicorns that my family paid off. It was done to protect the log book that was kept inside its master safe.” She turned and looked at me, as if to make sure that I knew that she was talking only to me about this. “I’ve bet this whole trip, the town, my reputation, and everything I have in my life on only the chance that the missing logbook has survived two centuries under the ice.”

“What’s so important about this log book?” I asked. I had an idea for what this was all leading up to, but I wanted to hear it from her. She may have come clean, but I didn’t want any secrets. No holding back.

“The Ark.” Violet groaned from on Hardcase’s back, speaking up in Delilah’s place. “The book has its location, doesn’t it?” Slowly crawling off of Hardcase, she cupped her head as she stood back up onto her unsteady hooves. “I should have known.”

“Look,” Delilah spoke up, swinging her gaze across all of us. “I know I lied to you all about this, and I’m sorry. But if Solomon ever gets his hooves on that book?. If he can discern the location of the Ark before we can?” She paused, and a profound look of regret fell across her face. “Then we’ll have failed everypony back in Brahman Beach.” With a sigh that looked to lift a great weight from her, she pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her muzzle. “Anyway, that’s what I asked you all down here for.”

“Well losing our town isn’t going to happen.” Violet whined, hammering her hoof onto the floor. “Lying to us wasn’t the way you should have gone about things, but I’m not going to let some scumbag like Solomon get his hooves anywhere near that book.” Looking around at us, she stopped when she crossed over Buck and I. “And I know I’m not alone.”

“Shit, that was it?” Boiler laughed. “I thought you were going to fire us or something. This didn’t change a damn thing about my job here.” Squeezing Gearbox against her harder, he only laughed and nodded. “Now if you’ll excuse me, my hubby and I have some work to do before we get back on the road in a half hour. Come on.” She pulled him along with her as they headed out.

“If my sister isn’t going anywhere, and you’re still committed to saving Brahman Beach?” Howitzer spoke up slowly. “Then I see nothing wrong with doing anything to make sure that Solomon doesn’t get his hooves on that book.” Deadpanning at her, he grunted. “Though you shouldn’t have lied about all this in the first place.”

“Look, my brother and I? We owe you everything.” Lucky spoke up next with a kinder smile than he’d held the whole time I knew him. With a soft gaze at Delilah, he bowed his head slightly. “You know we will never leave your side.”

“Well,” Violet said, turning to Buck and I. “What’ll it be?”

“Special ice or no, I signed on for a trip down south.” Buck replied with his own toothy smile. Placing his forepaw over his chest, he nodded to Delilah. “I will do my best to help whenever I am needed.”

“And you, Bombay?” Hardcase asked, giving me the same sympathetic looked he’d given me before.

Again, I didn’t know how to feel about it. I knew that Delilah could still have plenty of things she hasn’t told us. Looking over at her however, and for the first time, she seemed to look more relaxed. Hopeful even. I stood up against her because I knew it was the right thing to do. With her standing here and laying it all out, I knew what my heart was telling me to do now.

“I’m with you.” Giving a nod to Delilah, the smallest of smiles crept onto her grey muzzle. “I’m with all of you.”

“If you would all kindly leave,” Delilah spoke up, dropping her voice and expression back to their normal boring tones. “I would like to have a word with Bombay here in private.”

The two of us watched and waited as the others nodded and moved to leave. Hardcase offered a weak smile as he and Violet moved upstairs. After whatever Delilah wanted to talk about, they were next on my list. Right behind them, Happy climbed up the stairs. The glare he shot me was one full of suspicion, and I had to assume that he knew by now that I didn’t get anything for the ice deal. Still, I’d deal with it when it came up. Lastly, Buck climbed the stairs. He didn’t even glance at me, probably lost in his own thoughts. I envied him most. He could help so many ponies down south with the skills he offered, even if he was ashamed of his own body.

“Night?” Delilah spoke up, knocking me from my thoughts. “I’m… sorry, about earlier.” Looking up at me she shook her head. “I was wrong about you. Criticizing you about how often you spoke your mind around here, without hearing the truth of your words.” Stepping over toward the ice, she reached out and ran her hoof along the frigid surface. “You’re an outsider, what could you know? At least, that’s what I’d thought.” She offered a fleeting smile as she looked over the ice. I don’t know why, but she looked… sad.

“We’ve come so far for this, sacrificed so much. Even so, I know we will be forced to give up even more down the road before this is done. And yet,” She said, looking over to me, “You’ve already lost more than any of us have realized. And you were willing to sacrifice everything again, just to show me how you felt.” Shaking her head, she slowly swung her cold hoof over, and placed it on my chest. “You spoke from here, and I should have seen that.”

“You didn’t have to pick me up out there, Delilah.” I said, pushing her hoof off my chest. “But I didn’t have to come with you. I could have stayed at Inuvik, or on the Empirica, or even left at Fort Mac. But…” With as much of a smile as I could, I reached out and grabbed at her hanging forehoof with both of my own. “I wanted to find a new home. I wanted to get to know your crew. Just… not if that meant that I’d have to do that knowing that the others wouldn’t know what was really going on.” She looked at me as if I were a stranger, unsure of what to make of my words. “They rally behind you, because like me, I believe in you as the head of this convoy. You came to save your town, but you can’t do that from behind secrecy or lies.”

She chuckled, which was something that caught me off guard.

“You’re right.” She shook her head. “I’m an old jenny, and each day more and more things slip by me. A few missed caps here, an overlooked tally mark there. I just don’t know how I missed becoming so much like the rival I’ve always hated.” As she sat down, she looked at me with a newfound focus in her eyes. “But that changes now. We do this the right way, and beat Solomon on our terms, not his.” Giving me a pat on the shoulder, she wore another smile across her wrinkled muzzle. “No more secrets.”

“No more secrets.” I nodded, leaning forward and wrapping my forehooves around her in a tight hug. She stiffened up in surprise, but quickly relaxed. With a soft touch, she patted me on my back and pulled me close. Sitting there in her hooves, I felt the warmth I’d felt a few times before here strike up inside me again. Stronger than before, I had a good idea what this feeling meant.

Right here, being together with the others, I was home.