The probability of someone watching you is proportional to the stupidity of your action.

“This is Factory Radio, with new music manufactured and broadcast to you northern wasters daily.” DJ PowerColt’s smooth voice drifted through the rec area of the hauler as the sizzling sound of cooking food drifted in from the kitchenette. Lucky was cooking up something for a crew dinner and had requisitioned Buck from me to have him cut up some vegetables with his claws. The rest of the crew however, simply relaxed about the Hauler, with the exception of Boiler, who was hard at work getting the tire ready to be reattached. “Here’s another little something I threw together last night. Hopefully it’ll help keep you warm on this cold wasteland afternoon.”

I sat there on Buck’s bed in silent contemplation of the day’s events so far. Between the Depot job this morning, Buck’s ‘fight’ with me earlier, and the dizzying turnaround of him forgiving me, along with Hispano joining ‘us’. It had already been a whirlwind of overwhelming emotion. It all left me mostly to wonder if this new calm that’d washed over the convoy was here to stay, or just the calm before a new storm. You know, maybe that was in poor taste to say around Destruction Bay.

I will say this however about the city. Even though it’s not exactly been the nicest city in the northern wastes, with Mrs. Edith gone and Mrs. Tapit’s organization in ashes, they actually stood a chance to earn that title. Not that I was ever coming back here of course.

The music that drifted through the open container door from the radio set was a nice upbeat tune that I’d come to expect from Factory Radio. This one sounded like it was another one of those songs that were bits of some wartime music cut up and mixed together with a new beat and tempo. Had it been two days ago, I’d have been swinging along with the quick beat. But as I wiggled my stump and looked over my new simple prosthetic leg, I wondered how well I’d fare with dancing now. Of course, I never really knew how to dance before, but this certainly wasn’t going to help.

Flopping my leg down with a sigh, I instead shifted my focus to the metal tags still hanging around my neck. Hoofing them up, I noticed that they’d gotten quite dirty in the last day. Soot, dirt, and dried, crusty blood coated the small metal tags enough that I had to scratch it clean with my hoof. Honestly, I was amazed that these had made it all the way here with me without being damaged. But then again, I’m surprised I’ve made it all the way down here with the damage I myself had taken. I knew that mom would have been proud of the fact that I’d made it this far, even if she wouldn’t have approved the methods by which I got here.

That’s where the idea of being a survivor comes in, right? Past what Violet thinks it means, and past what Dizzy made it sound like, it just… fits. The more I think about it, the less I can say it’s not the truth. Part of me knows that it’s something that Lilac Lace was trying to show me in my dream, but the rest of me doesn’t understand how I can just know that. Just thinking about it was like driving a nail into my head, and it was giving me a splitting headache.

Speaking of headaches...

“You alright, Dum Dum?” Hispano asked as she fluffed a layer of cloud over my bed. Well, what used to be my bed. “You seem pretty broody over there. You want to talk about it?” Can we not have this conversation right now? The last thing I wanted to do was talk about my ‘feelings’ with her when I still hadn’t really processed everything from earlier.

Glancing over at her, I was confused by what she was doing. She had Suiza all tucked into my bed below, my rainbow rug covering her up and everything. With as confusing as that was, Hispano herself was putting the final touches on what looked like a cloud hammock she’d strung from the ceiling of our container. With a quick hop and flutter, she pulled herself into it and gave a sigh as she settled into the makeshift cloud net. It took all my energy not to ask her why she didn’t just use the bed below her, but I had an inkling that her answer would be just as nonsensical as I’d expect.

“Is he being broody again?” Buck’s voice carried in from over the sizzling in the kitchenette. “Why don’t you get up, Night? Come out of that room and be social for a bit!”

Goddesses, he was beginning to sound like my mother. Freezing up at that, I looked at the tags still in my hooves. With a sigh, I prayed that my mother would forgive me for all those times I was lazy at home. There’s nothing I wouldn’t give to be able to spend just another afternoon with her and Dad. But I had a feeling that was a mistake I’d always regret, and one that I couldn’t afford to make with Buck. Giving a groan, I rolled myself over on our bed and flopped out of it.

“Why would you make a hammock when you could just use the bed?” I slammed my muzzle shut a moment too late. Damnit! And you were doing so well a moment ago. What happened to not walking into these situations? Oh, right, you went and told yourself not to be afraid of that anymore. Smooth move. One of these days, Night, you’re going to have to learn to censor what comes out of your muzzle at least a little.

“What?” Hispano cocked her eye and looked at me like I was a crazed pony. “Suiza has to have a place to sleep too, you know.” Giving me a shrug, a bright smile fell across her beak while her tone shifted to one that felt a bit too serious. “I mean, she deserves to be comfortable, doesn’t she?”

I bit my lip, struggling to not slip out the first response that came to mind. Nope, not going to touch that with a ten foot pole! I was not about to tell her that her deceased sister turned gun didn’t deserve a comfortable resting spot, no siree! Because that would only end up with me exploding from getting shot by an explosive twenty millimeter round from said sister. Instead, what came out of my muzzle was a bit more… restrained.

“Well, why not give her the cloud hammock? I mean, the bed has to be more comfortable for you.” I cringed as I hoped deep down that I wasn’t going to bring up another touchy subject about how her sister hated cloud architecture or something. Then again, I was already hoof deep in a muddy minefield, so I just had to pray I didn’t step on anything worse than I already had.

“What, and have her fall on me in my sleep?” Hispano chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Smart idea, Dum Dum, she weighs as much as a pile of bricks. I don’t want to die if one of the cloud lashings dissipate somehow. Falling onto her however would be much more preferable, even if this is a bit more uncomfortable.” I’ve gotta hoof that to her, as that at least made some sense. What also made sense, was what came from her next. “You know, we could always share a bed if you’re that worried...” Batting her eyes a few times, she buzzed her wings as she sat up in her hammock.

“Hispano? Please don’t make Night uncomfortable like that. I’m sure he’s still trying to process everything from earlier.” Buck’s voice came in through the open door again, immediately hammering Hispano’s expression into a deadpan. “Plus, there’s hardly enough room for him and I on my bed already. If you need someone to sleep with, I’m sure your sister would enjoy the company.”

That pulled a large laugh from through the ceiling. Of course Hardcase had been eavesdropping again. One of these days I was going to overhear something he’d have been embarrassed to say! Err… I guess knowing he’s a changeling kind of already counts, doesn’t it?

“Did… you just suggest I sleep with my sister!?” Hispano glared out the door at buck. She crossed her talons with a huff, making her cloud hammock rock slightly. “That is extremely inappropriate I hope you know.”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. She’d done more unusual things with other griffons when she was alive.” A new voice spoke up from outside the container, making my fur stand on end. Stepping inside, Hispano’s father deadpanned as he beheld the nervous grin spreading across her beak. “Besides, you clean her out all the time. Can you really say you’ve never once thought that you weren’t putting your talons inside your sister?”

“I guess…” Hispano grumbled and shifted herself around in the hammock a bit. Keeping her talons crossed, she stared at the wall for a few seconds. “What are you doing here, dad?”

“Well,” Cora simply sighed and glanced over at me for a moment. Even if it was just a momentary glance, from the way he tensed up, I could tell he wasn’t quite enamored to be here. Whether that was because of me or just overall about the job itself, I wasn’t quite sure. “Seeing as I work for these ponies now, where is it that you think I’m supposed to be? I’m not going to be up in our cloud all day when I don’t have to be.” Shifting on his rear paws, he ruffled his wings before turning his now annoyed look at me. “Or are you only asking that because you know I don’t approve of this… situation you’ve gotten yourself into.” Yeah, that pretty much settles it that he was angry because of me more than anything.

“Pardon me,” Buck spoke up from behind Cora, making him turn around and thankfully shift his anger off of me. While it was wrong for it to be directed to Buck, at least he could handle it better than I could! “We have no intentions of being disrespectful or demanding of your daughter, and she seems to be a very capable griffon.”

“Is that so.” Cora grunted with the same tone that Delilah always held. “Well she’s my daughter, and I know what’s best for her. You may think that what you’ve signed her up for is something harmless, but I will warn you right now.” He raised both his talons up, pointing both in at me, and out at Buck. “I don’t like to fight, but if either of you in any way jepordise her, hurt her, or stand in my way with her, I will kill you.”

“That’s fair.” Delilah’s voice swept through the air like a blast of icy wind. Even Cora’s feathers fluffed with a shiver from her. The others seemed to give an odd gasp of surprise at her agreement to Cora’s harsh words, but honestly, killing to keep their child safe was something Delilah knew better than most. “You’ll all be glad to know that Boiler’s mounting process is looking good so far…” Delilah was interrupted as Happy gave out a perverse giggle from the couch in the rec area. After a moment, there was a swift thump before he let out a whine.

“Ah, geez ma’, it was just the way ya’ said it!” He whimpered out.

Clearing her throat, she continued, “Before we go however, I would like to welcome our new crew members, as well as to give all of you a chance to speak up. This is the last chance to voice your concerns. Speak now if you are in favor of dropping the search for the Ark forever, and would rather we head home without any further incidents with Solomon.”

As she stopped and waited for our response, the air seemed to calm around us all. Even the sizzling vegetables in the kitchenette felt like they quieted down, as if to listen to what would be said. Yet, as I had predicted before, not one of us spoke up. The longer the silence persisted, the more a smile spread across my muzzle.

“I for one think you’re all insane.” Cora broke the silence with a line that killed my mood faster than any injury I’d received so far. “But you didn’t hire me for my opinion.”

“Noted.” Delilah grunted. “Night? I want to see you in my room.” Wait… me? What could I have possibly done that she’d want to talk to me? Did Hardcase tell her about Violet? “Now.” Yeah, I’m betting Hardcase told her...

Trotting forward, I was surprised to find Cora step out of my way without a word. What, no annoyed remark, no angry quip? Just that… burning death glare. Yeah, not sure that’s better actually…

Buck gave me a soft smile as I trotted out, holding his paws up for a small wave that became super ridiculous with the fact that he had a different vegetable skewered on each of his claws. My heart pounded in my chest as I was reminded that he still cared for me, and the spring in my step that came from my leg only increased as I made my way to Delilah’s room. Whatever it was that I’d done, I’d deal with. Stepping inside without a worry about what this was about, I found Delilah already sitting at her desk.

“Close the door.” She stated flatly, glancing at me from over her glasses. Doing as I was told, I closed the door behind me and secured its latch.

“I’m confused, did I do something wrong, ma’am?” Well, might as well pad the conversation a bit. I was pretty sure that she’d have made her disappointment known already if I had screwed something up again. Then again, I sure am full of surprises…

“Oh, no.” She gave a light hearted snort as I turned back to her. She seemed to relax now that we were alone in here. She even went so far as to lean back into her chair, which take it from me, is quite the relaxed posture for her. “I heard from Hardcase about what happened in the bunker. I want to know why you hesitated before ordering the talon to murder that stallion.”

Oh, I wished she hadn’t used that word. I know I murdered him, but I really wished that she wouldn’t remind me of it. Still, I did have my reasons as to why.

“I thought about all the options I had.” I spoke with every bit of authority I could muster. “Every other option left Dizzy able to retaliate against us, or harm others. He needed to die.”

That surprisingly brought a smirk to her muzzle.

“I knew it.” She cracked a wide smile at me as she sat back up. She must be part wendigo, because her cold laugh she gave out made me freeze solid. “Ever since how you handled things in Klondike, I’ve had Hardcase keeping tabs on you.” Leaning forward, she put her hooves on her desk and continued to share her eerie smile with me. “From your helping those Enclave soldiers in Filly Crossing, to your retorts against Mrs. Edith last night, followed by our level headed conversation yesterday about my concerns with this trip. Or even how you dealt with being Solomon’s hostage earlier today, I can plainly see that you have the makings of a leader, Night.”

That was about as out there as the old thought that the great war could have ever ended in peace. And to be honest, something in me snapped a little bit with that suggestion. I didn’t mean to laugh, but as always, something had to slip out of my muzzle.

“No.” Delilah’s commanding voice stole my laugh from me and trampled it to death. “I’m serious, Night. You are exactly the kind of pony who is leadership material. Think about it, you’ve adapted to every situation you’ve been in, you’ve learned how to deal with the problems you’re served. You don’t come out of these situations because you are lucky, Night. You come out of them because you’re a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for. Because you know what must be done in order to succeed.”

“But… I can’t lead.” Maybe she’d snapped a bit earlier as well or something to even think I was at all cut out for that line of work.

“You can, and you will in due time.” Delilah spoke with such conviction that for a moment, I almost believed her words as if it were law. But she couldn’t be serious, even if she was the most serious donkey I knew. “Here, I have something for you.” Reaching down into a desk drawer, she pulled out a small manilla mailing folder. Sliding it across her desk, she pushed it over to me.

Picking up the old folder, I felt something stiff inside. Hoofing it open, I dumped it’s contents out onto the desk, surprised to find a sheet metal rectangle with a hole drilled into it. It was a... military dog tag. Hoofing the small silver slab of metal over, rows of stamped words sat along one face of it.

“This…” I failed to find the words as I read each and every one of the crew’s names on it, all crammed into such a small metal space. Sitting on the bottom of the tag as the final name, was my name. “Why?” Looking up at her, I wasn’t quite sure what to think of it.

“I went out this morning to Spitzer’s forge after you left because I wanted to make it official.” Her relaxed pose was gone, and she spoke to me as if I this were life or death. “Though we've had a rough start of getting you acquainted to the wastelands, you're one of us, Night. It’s not much, but I want you to keep that tag as safe as you’ve kept all of us so far.”

“T-thank you.” Her words had hit me like a skybus, and the swelling feeling of pride in my chest was starting to lose out to the feeling of happiness that must have been radiating out of my grinning muzzle right now. “Yes ma’am, I’ll keep it safe.”

“Good.” She gave a firm nod before shifting her eyes to the door. “I... also wanted to disclose something with you about it.” Leaning closer to me, she raised her hoof and waved me to come closer. Stepping up, I perked my one good ear to her. “You noticed the odd inscription along the bottom of the tags?”

I hadn’t actually. Looking again, stamped in fairly fine print along the rim of the tag, was an odd inscription, and almost missable if you weren’t looking for it. It was odd, reading only the letters and numbers of B-1919+21 V42, and nothing else.

“That code is the key to finding the Ark. After our conversation earlier, I decided to open the safe.” She brought her voice down to a whisper as those worse sent an electric tingle down my spine. “That was what was inside the log book my ancestors hid away, what we came all this way for. But you are now my backup, incase I'm forced to have the original copy destroyed rather than turn it over to Solomon. Understand?”

“I do, but…” Hoofing the tag close to my chest, I looked back up to her. “how is this code a key?” So far, not a lot of the way this had been set up was in any way straightforward. But so long as Delilah knew what she was doing, then we’d be good.

“I'll tell you that once we arrive in the ruins of Vanderhoof city, where the next piece of this puzzle lies, but that won’t be for some time.” Delilah took a deep breath and relaxed again. Wearing a softer smile as she looked at me again, I couldn’t help but return it this time. “There’s a lot of road between here and there, and until then, it's best for you not to know.”

“Alright, you can count on me.” Standing up straight, I gave her a mock salute that made her roll her eyes at me.

“Good. Now get out of here.” She laughed, sitting back down into her chair. “Go enjoy yourself a bit before we have to get back on the road. You’ve earned it.”

Nodding, I turned and headed to the door again.

“In an unexpected turn of events way down in old equestria’s south, the Enclave remnants from the Horseton and Coltington ruins banded together earlier today and helped to dissipate a tropical storm that looked to batter the entire region and those who live there.”

Gearbox and Boiler had tuned the radio over to a new station, and the new stallion reading out the news just didn’t have the same umph that DJ PowerColt did.

“It’s good to hear that at least some of you Enclave types are trying to help out around the wastelands now that you’re stuck down here with the rest of us. That being said, I’m extremely thankful those here with us in the north haven’t messed up my broadcast tower... yet.”

I mean, it took a while to get used to hearing DJ PowerColt’s voice everyday instead of the old Enclave sanctioned broadcasts, but this guy was just as dull as those old broadcasts used to be.

“Now on to what most of you who tune in here are listening for, the local forecast for the next forty eight hours.”

The… forecast? Wait, were they trying to predict wild weather patterns? Seriously? And how did he expect to do that? Just, take a look out the window and guess, or randomly draw a forecast out of a hat? Only Pegasi could control the weather, and without us, it just did whatever it wanted.

“For most of the local region, it’s once again clear skies with temperatures ranging from the high thirties into the mid forties. However in along the northern Misery Mountain range, blizzard like conditions will exist all the way from the Pink Mountain Resort, to Mare’s Lake. The following other settlements don’t fall under the storm, but are advised to prepare for cold weather conditions as well; White Horse, Vickers, Withers Mines, Pullman Railways, and Fire-box. Travelers not equipped for cold weather are advised to take shelter until tomorrow morning and tune in again for an update. This has been your forecast from me, Foggy Thoughts, broadcasting from the Post-Equestrian National Weather Bureau south of Cantercross. That’s P.E.N.W.B., on frequency one sixty two point three.”

“Well, that’s disappointing.” Boiler grumbled as she flicked the radio off. “And here I was hoping to take it easy on this old gal tomorrow.”

“Hey, no worries.” Gearbox leaned into her and gave her a full helping of his relaxed vibe through a hug, which actually seemed to help her out a bit. “With Solomon ahead of us, we can take all the time we want.” Giving a snorting laugh, shivered. “That stallion’s so cold that I bet he’s already frozen solid in a storm like that, man.”

“Yeah, but I’d rather not freeze up there with him.” Lucky grumbled out from on his bed in Happy’s and his room. “The less time we spend in the Misery Range, the better.”

“The Misery Range?” I spoke without realizing, and quickly had Boiler and Gearbox glance my way. “S-sorry,” I tried not to stumble over my words as I gave them a dismissive wave. “Is that supposed to mean something?” From the way they’d mentioned it, I didn’t exactly have any confidence I’d like what they were going to say about it.

“Right, Bombay doesn’t know!” Hardcase shouted out from down in the ice hold. From how hard he hit the steps up into the rec area, he must have been quite excited to tell me all about our impending doom. After a moment, his purple horn and bright eyes popped up out of the hatch down into the hold, along with a smile too wide for what he was about to say.

“It’s cursed.” Lucky flatly grunted as he stood up, stealing the words and excited smile right off of Hardcase’s muzzle. With a groan, he strolled out of his room with an annoyed look, swinging it over to glare at Hardcase. “Bad things happen in the mountains ahead. From Pink Mountain here in the north, to Caribou Mountain near Cantercross in the south, and out to Tungsten Mountain in the east. Anyone traveling the areas that fall in between those three points either disappear entirely, or suffer only Loss and Misery. Only those who are insane or somehow immune to it’s corruption ever dare stay longer than they need to, and some who try to leave are never heard from again.”

“Yeah, ‘cause they left.” Hardcase rolled his eyes, somehow pulling a greater look if ire from Lucky. “It’s not that bad. I mean, so what if the first time we came up here our escort got lost in a fog bank? I’m sure they made it back to town.”

“You don’t remember when we first headed back south? They never returned!” Lucky snapped and flailed his pegleg in Hardcase’s face.

To this, Hardcase only scrunched up his muzzle and looked unsure. “You know, that would explain why they thought we killed them…” Looking over to Boiler and Gearbox, his smile returned. “But come on, guys. You don’t believe this whole curse thing?”

“Dude, I don’t normally like to think about bad stuff,” Gearbox spoke with a colder tone than I’d ever heard him use. He was always the laid back one of us! But in talking about this place, he even shivered a bit before leaning into Boiler. “But I get loads of bad vibes from like, this whole patch of wasteland. Even on the way up here things just felt… not cool, man, you know?”

That… was pretty distressing. When our permafried driver was even getting nervous about it, there was definitely something going on in these mountains. Undeterred, Hardcase shifted his gaze solely onto Boiler.

“Sorry, dude, I gotta agree with my hubby.” She smirked as she reached around and pulled Gearbox tighter into her fuzzy coat. “I’d normally be right there with you on this, but… when even most of the skyraiders would rather go around the range instead of over it, you have to think something’s up with the place.”

Wait, so even raiders wouldn’t do it!? From what I’ve seen and been told, raiders are the most illogical ponies around! My body was just catching wind of what this meant, and my dread was now boring a hole right down through the pit of my stomach.

“Oh come on!” Hardcase flailed his forehooves. “They don’t ‘mysteriously’ lose their raiding parties, their junk skycraft are barely holding together as is! It’s just common sense to want to crash over a flat, snowy terrain rather than down against jagged frozen peaks!” That… was a fairly good point, and stood to help alleviate some of my concerns. But still, if three out of the four of us believed it to be cursed, then I was inclined to believe it as well. “Okay, fine. If you wanna believe the range is cursed, then go for it. I’m going to laugh when we get through it this time without a single incident.” With a decisive nod, he smiled brightly…

Until he looked at me.

The others also turned to look at me, sending a chill down my spine. Well, so much for helping to keep up the confidence, Hardcase.

“Yeah…” Lucky hung his head as he turned back to his room. “We’re doomed.”

“Don’t worry, Bombay. I’m sure it won’t be that bad.” Boiler offered me a nervous smile before giving a heaving sigh. “Anyway, back to work.” Walking over, she prodded me in my chest. “But hey, if you do mysteriously disappear, I’m stealing back that rainbow rug Gearbox gave you. Even when there isn’t a blizzard, this route is going to be damn cold.” Giving me a soft pat on the shoulder, she headed off, squeezing past Hardcase on the stairs down into the ice hold.

“Speaking of mysteriously disappearing…” Hardcase spoke up, turning his gaze back to me with a nervous smile. “Can I see you for a moment down here, Bombay?”

Damnit, why was everypony wanting to see me about things today!? Sure, Delilah didn’t want to yell at me, but now I was worried that Hardcase wanted to talk about Violet. As he popped back down into the ice hold, I headed in after him. As soon as my flank had cleared it, Hardcase used his magic to shut the hatch to above, and held it closed.

“So, what did…” I began to say, but found Hardcase’s magic wrap around my muzzle.

“Okay,” He lowered his voice and leaned in, “I wanted to tell you, after we got back this morning, I went and visited a friend of mine at the Supplies & More store. You know, the disguised kind of friend.” He looked at me expectantly. I gave a slow nod, not knowing where he was going with this. “She told me that Salt bought a few things from her shop before heading out to the south.”

“Salt?” I muttered softly through Hardcase’s hold. Shit, he was already gone? Fuck, and here I was hoping that I could finally sort that shit out before we left.

“This is going to sound odd…” Hardcase began slowly, wearing a worried look across his face. “From what I heard from my ‘friend’, I… I think I know where he’s going. We have to find him and stop him before he gets there, Night. He’ll die if we don’t.”

Scraping at the magic along my muzzle, Hardcase got the hint and released it.

“Wait, why?” My hissing whispered words caused him to recoil slightly. “After the shit he’s done, why would I even care?” My words made Hardcase snarl for some reason. “Why save a little shit like him when he obviously doesn’t even want any help?” I didn’t understand it, he’d been nothing but trouble for me, and I assume he’ll only lead to more if we end up chasing him around in the next town.

“Because!” Hardcase snapped, forgetting to watch his volume for a moment. Cringing, he quieted himself again and defaulted to using the same harsh tone I’d adopted. “Because…”

The door to the reactor deck creaked as it was stiffly opened up. Hardcase and I froze up as the afternoon light spilled in and silhouetted us against the backwall. Just as oddly highlighted and standing in the doorway, was the now just as stiffly confused form of Violet. For some reason, she had her battle saddle on, and held an ammo box tucked under one of her wings. Hanging from her other semi-outstretched wing, was my battle saddle, which once I noticed, caused an oddly forced grin to spread across her face.

“Hey guys…” She spoke with a hefty amount of suspicion. “What’s going on in here?”

“Oh!” Hardcase blurted out sharply, “Uh, Bombay here was just... talking to me about how uncomfortable those new talons make him feel!” He forced a laugh that was as cringeworthy as the thought of Cora’s judgemental stare. I gasped as Hardcase jabbed his rear hoof into my side. “Isn’t that right, Bombay?”

“Y-yeah!” I too gave a forced laugh, wishing for nothing more than to have Lilac Lace’s ability to just turn invisible. That sort of skill would probably be more useful than anything in the next few weeks or months. Or knowing my luck, right up until the day I die.

“What are you doing with your gear on?” Hardcase asked with a smile, forcing himself down the stairs and over toward Violet. “It’s a little early for a patrol, don’t you think? We shouldn’t be heading out for a few hours at least.”

“Yeah, I know.” Violet seemed to accept our haphazard lie and just shrug it off. Using her wing, she lifted my saddle and held it out toward me with a hopeful smile. “I was actually hoping to take Bombay into the forest a bit outside of town for some shooting practice. He got his cutie mark for bombing, but I’m guessing his accuracy with a gun could still use some work.”

“Oh, that’s a wonderful idea! Those ghouls from this morning were a good warm up, but next time, Bombay, you won’t get so lucky!” Hardcase gave a stiff laugh before he forced his way past her. “You two have fun with that then! I’m just going to… go do... things.”

That bastard! How could he just leave me hanging like this!?

“Is… he alright?” Violet asked as she watched him nearly fly down the stairs and off the Hauler altogether.

“He seemed fine a minute ago.” I shrugged and lied to her face. Being unexpectedly confronted by the pony you love right after you were told she was a traitor? Yeah, I guess I could understand his reaction a little bit better now. “So, you wanted to go shooting?” She gave a nod and a glance at my saddle again. “Alright, I guess I could use some more practice.” Unfortunately, the practice I actually needed was in not freezing up when Buck gets attacked, but hopefully better marksponyship would make that a thing of the past anyway.

However, a troubling thought hit my mind. I was about to go out into the middle of nowhere with Violet, who I’m pretty sure knew I was hiding something about our time in that facility. And I was going to be alone out there. I could’ve gone and gotten Buck to go, but he probably would just turn it down because he has no interest in learning how to shoot.

I could ask Hispano, but the last time I was going to practice ‘shooting’ with her and Violet, we kinda had our memories erased. The last thing I needed was for Hispano to either inadvertently trigger Violet to remember what happened down there, or accidentally get us stuck in another stupid facility altogether.

No, I had to go alone. I just had to hope that she wouldn’t decide to ask me anything uncomfortable. I mean, even if she did want to know something, she’d have to think that asking me way out in the middle of nowhere would have been a poor choice given the fact that I’ll have a gun on me. Then again, maybe I’m just completely overthinking this, and I should just concentrate on learning how to actually hit something...

It was one of the few things I could appreciate being down here below the clouds. The wilderness was overwhelmingly beautiful in some places, and most of the time I struggled to process just how amazing it really was. Even down here, in the middle of one of the countless forests outside of town, the vibrancy of the flora here was dazzling. Subtly different hues of green filled out the pine trees, and the brown forest floor mixed with the slate colored boulders and the yellow green underbrush that were so common amongst them.

With another burst of dust and rock, one of the slate boulders was scarred forever. My rounds had once again missed the old tin cans sitting on it only fifty feet away from where I stood. Unlike the last few tries however, the bolt to my submachine gun locked open with it's now empty magazine.

“That's enough burst practice for now.” Violet grunted as she slid herself off the perch she’d made on a nearby rock. “How about we try some single shots? Accuracy is learned better when you get a feel for where the gun sits on you, and you can learn to compensate automatically for it.”

Trotting up to my side, she got to work stripping the helical magazine from my gun. Every moment she was near, I found my heart beating faster. Her own nervousness had been apparent the whole time we'd been out here so far, and I knew that she was anxious about something on her mind. There was little doubt in my own mind that she wondered if I knew her secret, the thought of what exactly happened down in that facility must be eating away at her inside. This was exactly what I didn’t want to happen out here…

"Alright." She grunted as she shoved the new magazine into my gun and latched it in place. "Just one moment and I'll set it to semi-auto." Raising her hoof up, she flicked the lever on the gun, and accidentally ended up jabbing at my side hard enough to make me jump a bit. The two of us both locked up as I squeaked, and she gave me a very concerned look. "Are you doing alright, Bombay?"

"Y-yeah! Just, still a little sore from the last few days is all." Oh goddesses, she better believe me. However, from the way her expression sank, I knew she wasn't buying it one bit. Here it comes…

“You lied to me, Bombay.” She gave out an exasperated sigh. “You said you didn't remember me saying anything." I froze up. My eyes were locked on her steeled gaze, her own saddle bit not even an inch from her muzzle. "What was it that I said down there to you that’s put you on edge whenever we’re alone?"

Fuck, I knew this was going to happen! Let's go shooting alone, you’re just overthinking it, she couldn't possibly ask about this shit. Well, as fucking fantastic as this is, I’m already at gunpoint by her and can't run from it this time. No, it's time to deal with it.

"You're right, I did lie to you." Looking at her, her muzzle quivered as I spoke. She hung on each of my words, and shifted her own saddle to press the barrel of one of her guns against my side. Well, I already knew what was to come if I didn't watch what I said this time around. "Before you do something rash, I told your husband that you're still working for Solomon."

She pulled away with a sharp, hissing gasp. "He would never believe you."

"Why not? Alabaster could feel that I wasn't lying to him. I had no emotional ‘gains’ out of telling him." That pulled another gasp out of her. "Oh, right, another thing I neglected to remind you that you told me down there."

"I should just kill you right here and now." She snarled, glaring at me as if I were Solomon himself.

"And what would that make Hardcase think?" I couldn't help but smirk at how she scoffed at that. "If he didn't believe me before, he wouldn’t doubt it one bit the second you came back without me. So you can just drop the threats." She rolled her eyes at my words, but seemed to think on them for a moment. Reaching up, I pulled the battle saddle bit away from my muzzle and moved myself so that the barrel of one of her rifles pressed directly against the middle scar Salt had given me along my chest. "So, are we going to talk about this now? That's what you wanted, right?" She wanted to bring it up, so we were going to settle this right here and now. “So then, let’s talk.”

"You don't even understand who it is you're working for." Violet shook her head, offering cursory glances to me at best before deciding to look off into the forest altogether. “Delilah's a good mare, and she really means nothing more than to help save her town.” Either because of shame or hatred, she was avoiding looking at me, and it made her feel off balance. "But good mares don't get to win down here, Night. Ponies like Solomon have the power, and they have the resources to take whatever they want. Good ponies who stand up to that? They die. So you might as well side with the rotten ones who will come out on the winning side."

"Well I'm sorry about your brother, then." That snapped her attention to me. The burning glare I'd felt before was brought back tenfold. "What?" I laughed in her face. "You honestly think he'll still be alive with an attitude like that? From the way you told it, he didn't have a rotten bone in his body."

"No, you don't understand, Night." She grit her teeth, trying to shrug off my words. But this is what she needed to hear, and it was something I needed to say.

"You don't think I understand!?" I belted out. "You may have been kicked down here, but your family is probably still alive. I've lost everything I've ever had. My mom, my dad, my home, my friends. They're all gone.” She pinned her ears down and took a step back at my verbal assault, cringing and looking everywhere but at me again. She could avoid looking, but she couldn’t make herself deaf. “But I made new ones. I've done my best to adapt down here, because like you yourself said, I’m a survivor. Sure, I may have made a few mistakes, but I'll be dead before I ever admit that there's no point in standing up against somepony like him."

"You're right, you will be dead." Sniffling, tears welled up around her eyes as her legs shook. "I... I can't fight him. If I don’t report to him, if I don’t help… he'll kill Alabaster. He'll kill everyone." Stumbling backwards, she tripped over an old branch and was forced to sit down hard. And with that, she started to break down into sobs.

"No, he won't. Solomon may be ahead of us, but he’s on our time now, we can take the time to plan and prepare for him." I sighed, hoofing up the dog tags around my neck so she could see the one that Delilah had given me earlier. "We're a crew, and so long as we stick together, we can beat him. He may have resources, but his crew is half of what we've got, and he's just one stallion. I mean, all we need to do is kill him, right? Without him, nopony else gets paid, and then they won't care anymore." She gave a teary glance at me before looking at the tags in my hoof. I smiled at her, hoping that this would be the push she'd need. "He's not invincible. He's just a stallion."

"Just... a stallion." She whimpered and shook her head. "I... I don't know, Night. What if..."

"No." I spoke up over her, drawing another gasp from her. "Look, we've talked enough. Why don't you go to Hardcase and think it over?" Holding my hoof out to her, she looked at it. "I promise I won't tell anypony about this, or about Solomon. That's your decision to make now.”

She nodded, grabbing onto my hoof. "Okay." Was all she said as I helped her back up. Turning around, she spread her wings before looking back at me. "You're a good pony, Night." She hung on that as her muzzle twisted into a frown. "I just hope you don't die because you are one."

“He won’t,” Hardcase’s voice made the both of us jump, and Violet hastily brought her rifles around to him. “Buck probably won’t because Snow Dogs are tough as nails.” With a flash of magic, the enormous one winged white pegasi who’d towered over me in the depot this morning stepped out from the forest foliage. That sneaky son of a bitch followed us out here! Why I oughta… hug him for coming to give me back up! Dear Celestia am I glad he’s here to help! “As much as it pains me to say, I know Happy Trails won’t. You, Delilah...”

“Alabaster…” Violet gasped, both cutting him off and immediately pushing herself into a gallop. She cried out as she nearly dove into his waiting hooves. “I’m sorry… I was only trying to protect you.”

“I know, hun.” Alabaster sighed, reaching up around her and pulling her against him tightly. “Don’t worry about it, I don’t blame you.” Using his hoof, he forced her muzzle up into his. She all but melted into his hooves with the short kiss they shared, but it did the trick. Hell, even I relaxed with how much that simple kiss seemed to defuse the situation.

“Neither do I.” Delilah’s flat tone coming from behind Alabaster sent a tingle up my spine. Nope! All the good that kiss did was instantly gone with her showing up. However much it made me uncomfortable for Delilah to appear out of nowhere, it made Violet nearly turn as white as Alabaster’s coat was. Stepping out through some of the bushes behind him, Delilah adjusted the glasses delicately balanced on the end of her muzzle before gazing over at the frozen mare in Alabaster’s hooves. “You’ve been a loyal friend to many in my town, and you’ve done far too much excellent work for me to simply write you off as a lost cause. For those reasons, I can forgive the damage you’ve done in Solomon’s employ.”

“B-b-but…” Violet chattered through her nervousness. However, she bit her lip as Delilah raised her hoof for her to stop.

“Night is right, we can beat Solomon, but only if we work together on this.” She sighed, pushing her old cat-eye glasses up along her muzzle. She flicked one of her long ears in annoyance, using it to tug out a small twig that had gotten caught in her frizzy mane. “I assume you normally pass along information to Solomon through dead drops?” Getting a nod from Violet, she smirked. “I need you to keep doing it. If we can begin to feed false information to him, we’ll be able to start setting up a way to deal with him permanently.”

With another flash of magic, Hardcase reappeared in Alabaster’s place.

“I think what’s best for now, would be to head back and let her get some rest.” Hardcase said as he pulled her close and wiped her cheeks with his forehoof. “It’s been a lot to process for all of us, and we’ll have plenty of time to talk once we’re on the road.”

“That sounds reasonable.” Mrs. Delilah nodded and pointed back through the forest. “Best start back. Boiler should be starting to install the final bolts now, and once she’s done, I want to get going.” Looking back to me, she lowered her hoof while smirking. “Bombay, I want you and that new talon you hired to be back up in the air and on recon duty the moment we pull out of this place.”

“Got it, ma’am.” I nodded and pushed myself to trot after Hardcase and Violet. As I approached Delilah however, she stuck her hoof out and stopped me in my tracks.

“Now do you see?” She lowered her voice, wearing a grin across her muzzle as her eyes softened a bit. “You’re wired to help others, to take charge of the situation, Night.” Giving me a soft pat on the shoulder, I found myself humbled by her words. “I’ll make a leader out of you yet.” Turning around, she waved for me to follow. “Come now, we still have much to do.”

“Alright, let her down slowly…” Boiler called out to Spitzer’s sister, Hilde.

Hilde worked a few of the controls to what looked to be a small portable generator that was hooked up to the enormous hydraulic piston that held up the front axle of Bertha. After a moment, the generator growled to life, and the makeshift hydraulic jack gave a sharp hiss from it’s base. Ever so slowly, the silver piston shaft began to descend, and the metal bracing on it’s head pulled away from the old vehicle. There was a low groan as the full weight of the Hauler settled on the reattached wheel. All of us around held our breath in that moment, watching and waiting for disaster to strike.

But after a tense and uneventful few moments, we all let out a collective sigh of relief.

“Well I’d say zat’s a job well done!” Spitzer spoke with a proud smile. “Pleasure doing business with you fine folk!” Turning to Buck, he held out a paw to him. “It’s a shame zat we did not get better acquainted. Ah, maybe some time in za future you will be back, yes?”

Buck hesitated to answer, and the rest of us just kept our muzzles shut. My guess was that Spitzer hadn’t heard yet that we weren’t really ever allowed back.

“Sure.” Dr. Kaio spoke up as she trotted towards us. She wore the same tired look she did this morning, but at least this time she didn’t seem to be as nervous. “I know what was said earlier today, but you still did manage to clear out the ferals at the Depot and ensure that no more of our townsfolk will be injured by them. So in my eyes, you folks are welcome back anytime.” Shifting her gaze to me, a small smirk grew across her muzzle. “Plus, you’ll be back for another leg, I’m sure of it.”

“I know he’s accident prone, but…” Buck began before stiffly shutting his own muzzle. “You meant for a replacement when this one wears out.”

“Yes, of course.” Dr. Kaio gave a small giggle.

“Yeah, but knowing Dum Dum here,” Hispano squeaked excitedly from behind me. “Night will be out of limbs by the end of the month!” I facehooved at that. Great, thanks for the vote of confidence. Though, honestly, the prospect of losing another leg wasn’t unrealistic given my track record so far. That, or worse, losing a wing…

“It might be worth it.” Howitzer spoke up in one of his rare moments of joining in the conversation. He smirked to me as he trotted around the front of the Hauler with a wooden crate balanced on his back. “Considering she keeps saving our flank.” Part of me was confused if Howitzer had just misspoke, or if he genuinely still didn’t realize I was a stallion. He always kept to himself, but I’d have figured one of the others would have told him by now...

“She…?” That pulled a giggle out of a voice I hadn’t expected. Looking over toward the gate, Jean and a few other ponies were trotting their way over towards us, one of which happened to be Dr. Kaio’s son. “That’s a good one!” Oh goddesses, don’t tell me she wanted to hug us all goodbye. I barely survived the last one...

“Right, the reason I came out here.” Dr. Kaio cringed as she turned her gaze to a very stoic looking Delilah. “I wanted to ask a small favor of you. Could you perchance let a small party ride with you just up the road to End of the Line?”

That… is a peculiar name for a place. Then again, this is Destruction Bay, which isn’t all too normal on it’s own. Now that I think about it, it’s becoming less and less weird to hear names like that with every new place we go to. Still, as ‘normal’ as it was getting, I’m not sure I’ll ever understand the reasoning behind any of the names they use.

Delilah let out a sharp snort.

“So long as they aren’t taking a whole wagon’s worth of luggage, and are ready to leave in the next few minutes,” She looked over to Lucky, who looked horrified at every word. “Then I guess they could ride in the runner.” It wasn’t hard to pinpoint the moment that Lucky’s horror turned into profound disappointment, but still he gave a small, solemn nod. “Thank you for your hospitality, but we must get back on the road.”

Looking back at us, Delilah gave a nod. Pretty much everyone got the hint, and turned to head back to their stations. I was slow on the draw, but only because I’d wondered if I had time to talk to Delilah. If she really did see the potential to become a leader in me, then I wanted her to help teach me.

“Of course.” Dr. Kaio gave a courteous nod before waving for Jean and the others to come over. “Thank you for giving them a ride, and safe travels to you all.” She smiled and looked around to everyone, ending her gaze on me. “Especially you.”

I gave her a nod and a quick wave as she turned around. With a sigh, I sat down with a plop into the mud, relieved that we were finally going to be getting back out onto the road. A warm touch on my side pulled my attention as Buck walked up next to me. Leaning against him, I reached out and pulled myself close to bask in his warmth. Predictably, another warmth enveloped my other side as Hispano came and squeezed me as well.

“Now that we’ll all be back on the road,” She spoke excitedly into my neck. “It looks like everything is going to go back to normal!” Normal left my life a month ago, but it will at least be nice for things to be calmer again.

“Sadly, I don’t think it’s going to be the case.” Buck gave off a sigh before pulling away. I tried my best to hold onto him, but with the anchor that Hispano was, I couldn’t quite move fast enough. Roughly, I hooved her off of me and peeled myself away from her. “But it would certainly be a nice change of pace from the last few weeks…” Buck hung on his words as I heard a jingle from behind me.

Torn from the one I wanted to hug, and fresh off of fighting back one I didn’t care for, again, I found myself lined up for another one.

“Is this him, Jean!?” An excited gasp escaped a mare from behind me. As expected, a pair of bright yellow hooves wrapped around me and pulled me right off the wet mud. Her hug however was unexpectedly soft and pleasurable. “You were as right as ever! He’s just so small and cute!” Small? Cute!? Twisting my head to look, I found a mountain of an earth pony mare holding me close. “Hey there, little guy! My name’s Banana Bonanza!”

I flashed her a nervous smile, faltering for a moment when Jean moved up beside her. It might have been the perspective of being hoisted up against a mare this large, but Jean seemed only slightly smaller than Banana happened to be. Maybe… I was the small one here?

“You should put him down before you get the feather flu.” A mare with a flat tone reminiscent of Delilah’s spoke up from the other side of Banana. Twisting my neck again, I just managed to catch a dark green coated earth pony with a dull gray mane. One of her violet eyes was hidden under the long, limp hair, while the one I could see watched me suspiciously. “I hear pegasi are rife with disease, and I don’t want to treat you for touching the wrong thing again, Banana.”

“But he’s just so squeezable don’t you think, Hemlock!?” Banana giggled and did just what she implied. I whined as she gave two or three fairly tight squeezes around me, and while her hug was one of the more comfortable that I’ve had, I think I’m good. My lifetime hug quota had been filled, and if I found myself in one again, it would be too soon.

“M-maybe… you s-should put him d-down?” Dr. Kaio’s son stuttered from behind Banana, “We wouldn’t want to a-anger the folks giving us a ride, right?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right, Balmy.” Banana sighed, mercifully using her enormous hoof to set me back down.

As I got my hooves back under me, I took a few quick steps backward toward Buck. Looking up, I could see the full scope of Banana before me. She was a huge mare, at least as big as Shimmer Pull’s dad had been back home. As I marveled over her size, she gasped again and reached into her comically small-for-her-size saddlebags, and hoofed out a little wax-wrapped green disk on a stick. I barely had a moment to wonder what it was before it was unwrapped and shoved into my muzzle.

“There you go, little guy!” Banana wore a proud look across her face as the taste of the apple flavored lollipop in my mouth kicked in. “That’s for being such a great hugger!”

“You’ll have to excuse Banana a bit.” Balmy spoke up as he stepped around her enormous form with a nervous wave. Still, he seemed to sound a little more confident now that I wasn’t being held hostage in a hug. “Sometimes her pediatrician instincts kick in and anypony smaller than her looks like a foal in her eyes. And with as big as she is, that’s most ponies...”

“Ah, that would make sense.” Mrs. Delilah spoke up from behind me, sending a shiver up my spine. “May I ask where it is that you are all departing to from End of the Line station?”

“Oh yah!” Jean nearly jumped with excitement. “We’re all heading down south along the rail lines! ‘Cause wouldn’t yah know it, Dr. Kaio’s wantin’ to get the volunteer program up and running again, so she’s figured on sending us four down the way to see if we can find a good little place to set up!”

Shifting her flank, she turned and displayed the fairly large saddlepack she wore. Embroidered on it’s side, was a circular white patch with a large red cross displayed on it. Yellow words had been hoof sewn into the fabric under the patch that read out DESTRUCTION BAY VOLUNTEER: JEAN

“See, we’re official volunteers!” Jean giggled and bounced on her hooves.

“Aren’t you a little… light on weaponry for a trip that long?” Hispano spoke up with a fairly good point. All of them wore saddlebags, but none of them really had anything they could use to fight with.

“No, because that would be smart.” Hemlock muttered, drawing an angry gaze from both Banana and Jean.

“Do you even take your oath seriously?” Banana nearly spat at the bland mare, only getting a roll of the eyes in response. “Do. No. Harm!”

“Calm down, everyone.” Jean rose her voice for once, and stood up tall. “Besides, we have something better than weapons we carry with us!” Reaching back under her saddlebag, she pulled out what looked like a very large, old fashioned helmet I’d once seen in the Neighvarro military history museum. The flat, dinner plate looking helmet was painted green, and also sported the red cross symbol on their saddlebags. With a plop onto her head, she beamed out an unprecedented look of pride while wearing it. “We bring hope for a better tomorrow!”

“Well, I’ve seen just about enough.” Mrs. Delilah snorted and turned around. “If you and your hope are ready, I’d like to get us back on the road now.” As if on cue, there was a sharp whine from behind all of us. The squeal of the vents on the side of Bertha opening came only a moment before her arcane reactor hummed to life, and the normal deep thrumming that had been absent for the last two days, returned to our ears. Turning to me, Delilah pointed and me, and then up to where Bessy was parked. “You and your talon friend there, head on over to Howitzer. He has something for when you two get up on patrol.”

“Yes ma’am.” I did my best to speak over the noise of Bertha before taking one last look at the enormous stationary vehicle. While Destruction Bay had been an… interesting place to say the least, my home was on Bertha. And while I hadn’t really left her in any sense of the word, the road was Bertha’s home, and I’m sure she was as eager to get back to it as we all were.

“Alright, Hispano.” I said, pointing myself in the direction of Bessy, “Let’s get to work.”

Author's Note

As always, big thanks to Kkat for creating and letting us all use this wonderful universe! And another big thanks to TheFurryRailFan for helping keep this story in tip-top shape!