Two wrongs don't make a right, it usually takes three or four.

I don’t really know why, but as I stared at the crystal ball in my hooves, my mind felt oddly blank. I’d lost track of time waiting for Buck to return from the hot springs, and staring into the orb held my attention for the time being as I laid on his bed. The words of Madame Mystic bounced around my mind, there but still out of focus for some reason. Every time I tried to remember them, they’d just slip away, and I found myself blankly staring at the orb again.

“Hey, Night?” Lucky’s voice croaked from where he laid on the other bed.

“Yeah?” I groaned, pulling myself back up to a sitting position. “What’s up? Do I need to go find Buck?”

“No, no.” He sighed. “Just making sure you’re still over there. You’ve been fairly quiet is all.”

“Sorry, I’ve had a lot on my mind, er, or lack thereof...” That was both a complete understatement, and an utter lie. I wasn’t quite sure if I could even explain it to him, but as per usual, my mind kicked something out anyway. “Do you believe in fate?”

“Yes and no.” He grumbled, making his multitude of bandages tug and shift on him. “But I have a feeling that there’s more than just a hint of innocent curiosity behind that question.”

“There was this… fortune teller here…” I began to say, finding my eyes once again wandering down to the orb in my hooves.

“Ah, yes. Her.” He groaned in annoyance, ripping my attention back to him. The way he emphasized that made me wonder what he would say. “I…” He paused, almost seeming hesitant to continue. “Can you keep a secret?”

“Uhmm…” It took me a moment to think about it, but I was pretty sure everyone else on the convoy was gone for the moment. Hispano was the only one I couldn’t track down, but I was pretty sure she went to go talk to her dad. “Yeah, I won’t tell anypony.”

“When I drove Hardcase and Violet up the first time, I went to see that supposed ‘psychic’.” He lowered his voice slightly as he spoke, not losing the hesitation I’d heard in it however. “While they both received good news, she didn’t have many ‘good’ things to tell me.” He paused again, and I watched as what I could see of his bandaged muzzle frowned. “I was told that it was my ‘fate’ to die up in these mountains. That things wouldn’t go well.” He forced a laugh that pulled a whimper out of him as well. “It’s funny, that I wrote her words off so easily. I mean, we made it back the first time down without incident. But look at me. Without Buck joining us in the north, I would most certainly be dead right now.”

“So… you believe her?” I didn’t want to believe him when he’d said this mountain range was cursed, and I know I didn’t want to believe that I was cursed. However, it was getting harder and harder to deny at this point.

“To be honest, Night?” He gave a painful grunt as he shook his head. “I don’t know. While nearly dying makes me want to believe what she told me, her prophecy didn’t come true.”

"Yet." It slipped out of my muzzle, like always. "Sorry." I didn't even bother facehoofing at that. Don’t go and mess things up for yourself, Night. So long as you do your job, and you don’t screw anything up, then Solomon won’t win. I just had to believe in Delilah and trust in those around me to get through this journey, that’s it.

“Hah.” Still, it pulled Lucky’s bandaged muzzle back into a smile. “Now you see why I believe these mountains are cursed?”

Sighing, I slumped a bit. I mean, if it was at all true and I am cursed, what was the point in trying to avoid conflict? Misfortune would always find me, no matter what, and…

The crystal orb rolled from my hooves and dropped to the bed with a soft thump.

What… what if I’m the reason for Lucky’s misfortune? What if I’m the one who guarantees his death? Could it have been my curse that has made us all suffer on this trip so far?

“Night?” Lucky’s voice broke the hold my mind had on me. Perking my ears, I turned my attention back to him for the moment. “I didn’t mean to make you worry or anything. Look, the point is, don’t worry about it. Go out and enjoy yourself before it’s too late to do so.” Offering me a nervous smile, I couldn’t tell if his words were hesitant because he wasn’t sure what I was thinking, or if he didn’t even believe them himself. “Go, see the resort. Spend some time together with the doc. I’ll be fine here. My brother should be back soon enough, and I need some time alone to talk with him, alright?”

“O-okay.” I forced the words out of my muzzle as my gaze fell down to the crystal ball again. “Thanks for talking to me, and trusting me enough to be open with your own experience here...” I paused as I thought about it. He trusted me with his secret, yet I hadn’t even considered him when confronted with the choice about the crystal ball. Though, now that I'm thinking about it, it just feels… right. Taking it into my forehoof, I shifted myself off of Buck’s bed and walked it over to him. “Hey, can I ask a favor of you?”

“Depends on the favor.” Lucky shifted uneasily in his bindings, letting out another pained whine as he struggled to turn his head toward me.

“I was told to keep this safe with somepony I trust.” I hooved the orb up so that he could see it, but stopped when I realized that of course, he couldn’t see anything through the bandages. “Well, I want you to keep it safe.” Setting it down against his side, he winced as it touched him.

“It feels small… it’s not a grenade from your saddle, is it?” Lucky offered through a nervous laugh. “You wouldn’t put something dangerous right next to me, right? I’ve had my fill of injuries already, I don’t need any more.”

“No, I don’t think it’s dangerous, but I don’t really know what it is.” I spoke up as I stared at it. “At least, not yet anyway.” Taking a step back, I watched as Lucky relaxed a bit. “Alright, well I’ll be back in a while then.”

“Have fun.” He smiled and gave a weak wiggle of his forehoof as I turned and headed out the door.

Trotting through the sunset lit halls of the old hotel, I followed the old faded signs that hung on the walls. As I passed the entrance to the restaurant where Hispano and I had been having our date, I noticed that an annoyed looking unicorn ghoul was working on one of the chalk boards that hung outside the doorway.

Mighty Mighty Manticore Meal!*

Feel up for a challenge? Ask your server about our Mighty Mighty Manticore Meal food challenge! Fresh prime manticore meat paired with eight cans of delicious pre-war delights! Finish the 150oz meal in thirty minutes, and the meal is on us, as well as a place in the Pink Mountain Resort Hall of Fame! A three hundred and fifty cap value!

Underneath it, the ghoul had added an asterisk and another line under it.

*Applicable to PONIES only.

"Thanks again for the free meal!" Boiler called back into the restaurant as she nearly barged into me on her way out. The ghoul next to me simply rolled his eyes as she let out a loud belch. “Oh, hey there, Bombay! How was your date with Hispano?”

“It… could have gone better.” I cringed and shifted uneasily as I bit my tongue. As much as I wanted to tell her that while the movie was an alright idea, Madame Mystic was a pretty terrible idea for a date. But saying that wasn’t going to help anypony now. “I’m just looking for Buck. Do you know where the hotsprings are?”

“Yeah, it’s really easy, actually!” She pointed down the hall where I’d been heading. “Just follow this hall to the end, then take a left. You’ll pass by Short Wave’s office, and at the next junction, take a right and follow the stairwell that leads outside. Don’t mind the radio robot outside, it likes to get in your way, but it’s slow so just head around it.” She paused to take a short breath and waved her hoof in my face with more motions. “Follow the trail around the cherry grove until you get to the recreation building that fits into the cliffside. Once you’re inside, it’s down another set of stairs and into the caves. You’ll take a left, then a right, then another right, and you should end up in the springs… at least, I’m pretty sure that was where it was. I haven’t been down there at all myself, actually I just hear it recited so much already.” Wait, really? “I wonder if the staff here even know…”

“Well… thank you.” Seriously? She expected me to actually go someplace she’d never been? I mean, I did ask her, but she could have just said she’d never been down there. I guess I can just find a local and ask them when I get lost, which of course, will happen knowing my luck…

Turning and trotting down the hallway, I straightened my dress and left Boiler behind. I mean, I might as well get lost sooner than later. At the very least, it’ll mean that I’ll have plenty of time to be rescued before it gets too dark!

As I trotted down the old carpeted halls, I passed a pair of old ghouls who were walking hoof in hoof. They smiled to me and whispered to themselves as I passed, and I had to wonder just what was so interesting. Was it so odd to see a pony all dressed up like this these days? Maybe they knew I was a stallion somehow? Turning the corner, I lost my train of thought as I ran straight into an open door with a hearty thwack. The open door of course slammed shut as I stumbled onto my flanks. I rubbed my nose and looked up at the door to make sure I didn’t damage it, and found a poorly scribbled out sign gently swinging on it.

Head of Maintenance:
Short Wave

Well… that was easy. Looking down the hallway as I got back to my hooves, I found that it split just a little ways down and broke off to the right just like Boiler had said. Quickly, I picked myself back up and straightened my dress out again. As I did, my ears perked and heard somepony coming up the hall from where I was headed.

“Didn’t you hear?” A scratchy ghoul voice came up from ahead. “That new convoy that arrived are the ones that DJ is always going on about. Basically heroes if you ask me. They’ve done more good for the north in the last two weeks than I’ve seen in nearly a century!” Well, that’s a refreshing bit of gossip to hear! “It’s a shame they won’t last. I’d bet good caps that they’ll get gunned down or lost somewhere before they leave the Misery range.” That… wasn’t so much nice to hear.

A pair of wrinkled and soggy looking ghoul mares walked around the corner ahead. The one on the outside was a unicorn that held a dim yellow and red pallet, and the smaller mare next to her was interestingly a pegasus ghoul with a Dashite cutie mark. As soon as they saw me, they both nearly tripped up before looking at each other and giggling.

“Oh, hello there, dear.” The dashite smiled as she pushed the other ghoul in front of her. She didn’t hold it in her voice, but I could tell from the way she looked at me, she knew I’d overheard them. Her anxious eyes wandered over me, looking over my wings and my dress. “You look absolutely ravishing in that dress.”

“T-thank you.” My cheeks flushed as I pushed myself to move.

As much as I didn’t mind a compliment, I also didn’t want to listen to somepony tell me I was doomed again and again. The two mares whispered again as I pushed past them and trotted down the long hall. Is that all we were to this place? Gossip to make morbid bets on? The door to outside streamed the light from the setting sun down through it, and with a frustrated kick of my foreleg, I shoved it open.

As doors tended to do around me, it swung open and slammed into something. An electronic beep and mechanical whir met my ears and pulled my attention to the odd looking ponytron that stood tall next to the door. Immediately my mind was thrown back to the robot that attacked us back in the halls of that underground bunker, but this one was different. It looked like the rear half and forelegs of a ponytron had been welded onto the frame of an old jukebox, and instead of just a glowing glass plate on its ‘face’, there was an old terminal screen sitting above the radio dials. Currently on the small screen, sat a frowning face made out of bits of coding and computer symbols.

“Error: User in peril.” It’s digitized voice spoke down at me. “This unit’s user requires medical assistance.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” I spoke out, taking a step back and pulling the door away from it. As I did, I heard a whimper from the ground behind it. There, curled up and shuddering, was a shiny orange unicorn stallion. I say ‘shiny’, in the sense that his skin practically sparkled in the sunlight, and his body cast various orange rays from what looked like cracks that ran through him. His whole body looked like it was made of old glass, and even his ghoulish degradation seemed to be affected by it.

“Breaking news... “ The stallion whimpered. “The Stripe offensive in Germaneigh along the Rhoar valley has broken through…” His voice carried a bit of what sounded like static into the air, and the cadence at which he spoke reminded me of the Enclave sanctioned news broadcasts from above the clouds. “M-make it stop!” The stallion whined, clamping his solid hooves around his head.

“H-hello?” I asked, making the stallion whimper again and look up to me. He gasped, struggling to get his shiny legs under him again.

“Y-you! You’re new here, you have to help me!” He pleaded, nearly diving at me. His solid hooves felt a lot heavier than they looked, and I had to strain to push him off of me. “I need my h-hat!” As he stumbled back, there was a high pitched squeak that came from one of his legs, and he went rigid for a moment before the sound of wartime music filled the air from pretty much inside him. “We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know wheeeen!” The stallion began singing in the voice of a mare before a burst of static made him whine and snap out of it. “Please!”

“Error: User in peril.” Again, the robot repeated itself as it turned to face me. “User requires tin foil from location: maintenance shed.”

“Tin foil?” I asked dumbly. I wasn’t quite sure why, but this stallion was obviously in need of something. And moreso, didn’t two completely capable ghouls just walk past this stallion!? Why wouldn’t they help him?

“Correct.” The robot nodded as best it could, lifting it’s massive metal hoof and pointing to what looked like an old motorwagon garage inset to a bunch of the cherry trees across a snowy section of hills. It wasn’t too far away, and the road around the opening was completely clear of snow, but I could see a few problems with this. This whole thing felt off to me, and going over there alone meant that if this was a trap, then I would be over there alone.

“Please…” The stallion begged me, wrapping his hooves around his head again. Another burst of static emitted from him, and he let out a soft cry. Either he was a more convincing actor than Lilac Lace was, or he actually seemed to be in pain from whatever was going on. “Help me.”

“Alright, just... stay right here.” I sighed, turning myself and trotting off into the pink snow.

Seriously, Night, what are you doing? Trotting off on your own, helping somepony you don’t even know? Just because it’s the right thing to do, doesn’t mean you should do it. And I know, ‘what would Buck think if you didn’t help?’. But you know that it’s just going to get you into trouble. Yet, here you are, still trying to help rather than follow Lucky’s advice to relax. Don’t fucking complain when Galina shows up and ruins your day then...

As I made my way across the open snowy field, my ears perked with the sound of rhythmic music from the inside of the garage. The open door didn’t let me see much from this angle, but it did let me see that the lights inside were on, and it didn’t seem like it was a death trap from here. The closer I got, the less this seemed like some sort of trap at all to me. A few smaller looking vehicles sat inside in various states of repair, and a sign above the open garage door at least helped me to understand that it wasn’t unfriendly.

Deep Thought Garage and Mechanic!

An odd name to be sure, but still, if this was a place of business so close to the resort, surely it would be friendly toward the guests who stayed here! Hell, I bet this isn’t the first time they’ve probably had to deal with that strange stallion up there. Then again, it might not exactly be a good thing that this probably isn’t the first time they’ve dealt with that stallion…

Walking into the old garage, I was met with the rear of a mare flailing out the open hood of what looked like an old motorwagon. I wasn't quite sure how she fit between the arcano-engine and the car's bodywork, but it was undoubtedly a tight squeeze. Other than the fluffy bright pink cotton candy-esque tail that was nearly completely covered in oil, the off grey jumpsuit she wore looked almost too pristine for the wasteland. An old radio was tuned to DJ PowerColt's station, and was turned up to a fairly loud volume - no wonder some of the old ghouls didn't care to come out here. A red toolbox popped out from under the hood. She held it out toward me in her hoof, to which she also shook it at me as I looked at it.

"Can't fucking fit all this in here. Hold this, will you?" She shouted over the music, not even taking a moment to look out of the hood at me. "Come on, take it. Hello? Anypony there?" She shook it again, this time thrusting it in my direction. I wasn't quite sure how she knew I was there, but since I needed her help, I stepped forward and took it from her. "Geeze, about damn time." She shouted before grunting and working at some piece of the wagon that was quite deep into the old world machine. "Come on you piece of..." I pulled the toolbox close as I sat down next to the vehicle, waiting for her to pull herself out. However, after a few labored hammers against... something, her pink hoof shot out of the vehicle at me again.

"Alright give me the wrench." She shouted, wiggling her hoof at me. "Come on, I need the wrench! WRENCH! Anypony there!?" Looking down into the toolbox, I hastily grasped one of the odd wrenches inside in my fetlock and hoofed it over to her. "Fucking seriously." Snatching it away quickly, she dragged it down into the vehicle and began to torque herself and the vehicle overall. Again, without even a moment to get a word in, her hoof shot back up at me. "Oil. I need oil, come on..." Again, I hooved the small canister of oil that was inside the toolbox at her. "Oil, thank you." She yelled back with a note of relief to her voice. After a moment more of wiggling, a squeaky sound filled the air, and the old archano engine gave a high pitched whine similar to a capacitor charging.

"Alright, we're good!" She shouted, wiggling herself backwards out of the cramped space. She turned around to me with a wide smile that was surprisingly intense. With her light pink fur, darker pink mane, and vibrant blue eyes, it struck me then that the mare looked somehow familiar, but I just couldn't quite place it. However, her smile faded as she seemed confused by just what I was doing standing there. "You're not a relative of mine… how did you get in here?" As her expression fell to a flat one, the radio in the back of the garage gave out a spark and died, dropping the two of us into silence. "What do you want?"

"I um..." I set down the toolbox she'd hooved me, pausing when I'd realized it had gotten a long smudge of grease on my dress. "Well, shoot."

"I mean, I guess I could shoot you if you want." She shrugged, reaching back to the side of her grey barding and producing an almost chrome looking revolver. "Most ponies who want to die just wander into the forest at night, or at least have the decency to overdose on fifteen or so vials of dash.” She gave a sigh with a sad smile as she tightened her grip on the revolver. Okay, not a friendly place! “Kinda fun to watch actually, but this is just as fun I guess." This mare was fucking crazy.

"Woah, woah!" I exclaimed, holding up my hooves to her. I knew this was a bad idea... "I didn't want to get shot, I just came to get some tin foil!" Pointing back over to the resort, I tried not to make the already crazy mare act unpredictably. “For a ghoul stallion up there.”

"Ooooooh." She laughed to herself. "Why didn't you say so?" Rolling her eyes, she pushed her revolver back into her barding and nodded for me to follow her. "Did Short Wave have his hat stolen again? I keep telling him that he'd just be better off getting all those signals out of his system once and for all." Shaking her head, she reached over and slid her hoof along the round body of the motorwagon she'd been working on. "If it wasn't for being so busy with my work on this vintage Crysalis Marauder here, I might strap that ghoul down and use my gun to force all those transmissions out so I could be done with his outbursts. But no, that was how the old me acted."

“No, I’m ‘reformed’ and ‘irrelevant’ now.” She continued as she trotted over to a shelf along the back wall. Systematically, she began to tear boxes of supplies right off the shelves, spilling their various contents across the floor. “All I had to do was die to learn that my original way of doing things was all wrong. And let me tell you, that sucked. Won’t be doing that again any time soon, that’s for sure. Eeyup, one and done for me.”

“What are you talking about?” This mare might not have looked like a ghoul, but she definitely spoke in a way that made her sound like one of the ‘crazy’ ones that I’d heard so much about.

“Eh, don’t mind me. I haven’t been relevant for eighty years, give or take a few.” She shrugged off my question with an expertise reminding me of Delilah. “Aha!” She gasped as she pulled a perfectly pristine roll of shiny tin foil from it’s place on the shelf. Funny, it wasn’t even in a box, and had just been sitting there on it’s own. So… why did she throw everything on the floor? To be honest, I should have been less concerned with that, and more concerned with what the mare was doing as the box of foil slammed into my nose.

“Ow…” I grumbled as the box clattered to the floor. Picking it up, I made sure that it hadn’t been damaged or anything. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She grunted, pointing out the door behind me. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have more work to do. Alone. Absent of other ponies.” She glared at me, pausing for a moment. “So… why are you still here? Get lost, skedaddle, scram, move it muchacho!”

“Alright, I’m going…” I sighed. Well, I said thank you. She didn’t have to be a bitch about it. Then again, she didn’t have to help me either.

Turning, I began to trot out of the garage with the box of foil wrapped up under my wing. Contented that a whole box of tin foil had to help, I crossed the point where the large open door sat. It was then that the hum of machinery started up, and the large metal door began to shut behind me. As it did, the odd crazy mare began whistling and singing softly to herself… both at the same time, somehow...

“I can’t decide whether you should live or die…” Her words made me lock up just past the door, and I caught the sight of a mischievous glare from her only a moment before the lowering door cut each us off. With a shuddering clunk, the door shut against the ground, and I turned myself to head back toward the hotel.

Well, that wasn't disturbing at all. Right… never coming down here again! There’s already enough crazy in my life that I don’t need that shit piled on top of it. Crazy dogs, depressing mystics, and insane mechanics. Some welcoming place this ‘resort’ has turned out to be so far...

It didn’t take me all too long to wander my way back over to the odd stallion and the imposing machine standing over him. However, as I approached, the stallion’s eyes went wide as he scrambled to his hooves. His magic reached out and practically tore the box out from under my wing, both ripping it open and pulling out a large strip of the foil sheet from inside.

In a matter of a few seconds, the stallion had folded the sheet a few different ways to create a crude triangular hat. Hastily, he brought it onto his head and set it down carefully, and pinning his horn underneath it. Almost immediately, a static fuzz that I hadn’t really noticed hanging in the air died out, and the soft glow he gave off seemed to dim a little bit. Finally, he let out a heavy sigh and sit down.

“That… that’s so much better.” He gave out a sad laugh before looking up to me. “Thank you, whoever you are. Nopony cares to help this old stallion anymore, but you… you helped me.”

“Affirmative.” The robot chimed in, raising it’s hoof to me in what looked to be a sort of salute. It was hard to tell given the limited range of motion the machine had, but the odd face on it’s terminal screen had changed to one wearing a smile. “This unit is grateful for assistance rendered.”

“You said it, Radio.” The stallion laughed, giving a playful shove to the machine. “Just one question. Where in Equestria did you find a pristine unopened box of tin foil?”

“Uh…” Did he forget what his robot even asked me to do? Was his memory that bad? “I got it from where your robot told me to.” Turning to point down to the garage, I stopped as a befuddling sight caught my eyes. The garage I’d just been at was nothing more than a burned out skeletal framework of old timber and heavily corroded metal. There was no way that junk heap was just where I’d been. “I um…. what!?” My brain felt like it shorted out. Where the fuck did that place just go!?

“It couldn’t have come from my stash. After the place burned down eighty years ago, I lost my whole supply. I’d only had a bit of a single roll left that I stashed there. Of course, I’d have more if Rica hadn’t stolen it from me.” He snorted in disdain before a smile crept over his muzzle again. “But with this, I’ll be set for decades to come! Yessiree! Now I can keep all the transmissions from the old world where they belong.” He gave a tap on his chest that made him resonate with a high pitched note. “Right inside me.”

“I don’t understand… it was just there.” You know what? Fuck the wasteland and it’s weirdness. I didn’t need this shit today. My brain was still trying to process everything when I felt the heavy legs of the stallion wrap around me tightly. Unlike the first time around, the ghoul’s legs didn’t feel as solid as before. While it looked as solid as glass, his skin turned out to be just as squishy as the other ghouls I’d met so far. “Uh, you’re welcome I guess.” Okay, I’m just going to forget what happened. I didn’t explode or die from that errand, and the stallion got his help, so I shouldn’t question anything and just be happy I get to walk away uninjured.

“Observation.” The ponytron blurt out along with a quick series of beeps. “Enemy: Rica is statistically inclined to continue aggressive behaviors.” Turning it’s attention to the odd stallion, a few lines of unintelligible code were displayed across its screen. “Analysis: This unit suggests the elimination of Enemy: Rica to ensure zero percent chance of aggression.”

“Yeah, I know, Radio.” The stallion sighed as he pulled off of me. “But nopony wants to go out and do anything. She’s too dangerous, and we don’t have the caps to hire any of those tankers out front.” Of course. I should have seen this coming from a mile away...

“Suggestion.” The machine beeped as it turned itself to me once more. “This unit requests assistance with the elimination of Enemy: Rica.”

Nope! Absolutely not. I was not going to go and pick a fight with somepony when none of this shit had anything to do with me. Where was a secondary voice of reason when you needed one?

“You want somepony dead?” Hispano’s voice was both a surprise and a relief to me. With a few hard flaps of her wings, she dropped down next to me and propped Suiza up on herself. “We can make that happen.”

“Hispano…” I sighed as I facehooved. Dear Celestia, that was not what I meant when I asked for a voice of reason!

“What?” She squawked and frilled out some her head plumage. “Buck suggested we help ponies. This will help them.”

“Correct.” The machine spouted again, turning its attention to Hispano. “Enemy: Rica known location: The Den. Known target coordinates: One quarter mile south by southeast. Other enemy population: Unknown.”

“All we need is a description of the target.” Hispano spoke calmly. You know, I know that she’s the daughter of a mercenary, but she was far too alright with this shit. Tapping her head with a talon, she smirked at me. “You know, so we don’t accidentally shoot the wrong pony and get in trouble for it.”

“Target description: Balefire Chimera.” The robot spoke without a single ounce of hesitation. My mane stood on end, and even Hispano’s plumage fluffed out even further than before. “Approximate length: Ten feet. Approximate weight: Six hundred pounds. Warning: Chimera are apex predators with a lethality index of nine out of ten. Warning: Major magical radiation hazard within ten feet. Warning: Balefire induced mutations have altered Enemy: Rica. No data available on altered capabilities, advise extreme caution.” Dear Celestia, Hispano, what are you trying to sign us up for!? “Chance of mistaken identity: point zero one percent. Chance of success: one point nine percent.”

“You fucking think!?” Hispano spat out before she started to hyperventilate. “You could have fucking lead with it being a Balefire Chimera in the first place!” Looking over to me, she offered a hesitant and unfocused smile. “It’s okay! I can fix this. We just... need some help. That’s all.” Yeah, there was no confidence behind her words, and to be honest, I could use some from her right about now. “Suiza might not be enough for this job. You think Hardcase will let us borrow his big gun?”

The words of the mystic filled my mind, prompting images of us being ambushed and torn apart by a shadowy monster. No matter who we brought, or what firepower we took with us, all I could see is Buck, Violet, or Hardcase being torn apart and killed before me. The wasteland was already a scary place, with horrible things I still can’t even imagine stalking around just out of sight. Hell, seeing that garage disappear when I was just there should be enough to tell me to quit this shit while I’m ahead and just follow Lucky’s advice.

“So… you’ll do it?” The stallion smiled, pulling my attention back to him.

“No.” I spoke out abruptly. “I’m sorry, but we can’t.”

As much as I’d like to help, we’re already in way above our heads on this trip with Solomon alone. It’s not our job to go gallivanting off into the forest so we can hunt down some sort of wasteland monstrosity! I know that I should at least tell him that we’ll try, but… I can’t help but feel it in my gut that even that would only ever end poorly for us. And if Hispano wasn’t dead sure that we could beat whatever this things was, then I wasn’t going to commit to anything. Turning away from the speechless ghoul and his robot, I followed the path around the cherry orchard toward the other building that Boiler had talked about.

“Night!” Hispano called out, quickly catching up to me. “What’s the big deal? I thought you wanted to help ponies like Buck wanted.”

“I do, but…” I sighed, hanging my head as we reached the small building that looked like it was halfway built into the side of the mountains behind the resort.

“You aren’t afraid, are you?” Her words really rubbed me the wrong way, even though I could tell through her tone she hadn’t meant anything by it. “Because I’m sure if we just got Hardcase, then we’d…”

“We’d what?” I laughed as I pushed the door to the inside open. My own tone looked like it slammed into Hispano as she all but came to a stop. “You know what happens when I go out on a job like this. Or do you really think I’ll get so lucky as to come back without a scratch?” Looking at her worried expression, I found her look down at the ground as that sunk in. “That’s what I thought.” Holding the door open for her, I found that she didn’t move. “Are you coming?”

“Night, I’m sorry.” Her deflated tone wore on me unexpectedly, helping to erode away the tenseness in me that had built up so suddenly. “I didn’t even think about that. Plus…” Slowly, she glanced up at me and let out a heavy sigh. “I didn’t want to believe what that old zebra said. But… I can’t get past it. All the times I’ve been in danger, why am I the only one to walk away from it? Will I really be forced to watch you suffer?”

“I don’t know, Hispano.” Between what I’d grown up knowing about magic and the war, all these curses and superstitions down here were baffling to me. After everything I’d seen so far, I didn’t know what to believe anymore. But what I did know, was what my gut told me. “Right now it’s not something we have to worry about.” Reaching up, I held my hoof out to her and offered her as soft of a smile as I could. “I told that pony no because we’ve got enough to worry about with the job ahead. And I don’t know about you, but after that tank fight we had today, I’m in desperate need of some relaxation. So why don’t we go and find Buck and get to relaxing however we’re supposed to here.” That at least brought a small look of hope back to her eyes.

“Alright.” She nodded, stepping forward and taking my hoof with her talon. As we turned and stepped through the doorway, I felt her wing slip over my back. She used it to pull herself close to me, wearing just about as warm a blush as the air inside this place felt. “Just a question, Dum Dum.” She offered softly as we began to walk. “Do you even know what a hotspring is?”

“Uhm…” You know, that wasn’t really something we talked about in school. I mean, we barely covered volcanos in geology, which I believe has something to do with this? Geology itself was only a day long topic of science class for obvious reasons... “This may not come as a surprise to you, but we didn’t really do rocks and ground stuff in the Enclave…”

All of me was absolutely melting right now. This place was amazing. While the many slate rocks in this place were warm enough to initially throw my mind back to the mountainside rocks after Four Peaks exploded, they had an odd calming effect on me. Then again, maybe it wasn’t just the heat the rocks gave off.

The air in this room was so thick that you could almost just drink in the steam that rose from the underground pool. At first, the water itself felt hotter than any water I’d ever even touched before, feeling more like a near boiling cauldron. But after a minute or two of adjusting to it, it hadn’t seemed so bad. With the feeling of burning up evaporating out of me, so went with it all the aches and pains in my body as I soaked up to my chin in the hotspring.

“Heh, really enjoying this, aren’t you?” Buck offered me a wet and panting smile as he sat next to Hispano and I, and I nodded to him. “Goddesses, we all needed this.”

His brightly glowing blue eyes were as relaxed as any night I’d spent with him so far, but did help to remind me of the one problem with soaking in this place. Turning around to the small ledge carved out of the rock behind me and reaching back, I hoofed at the small RadAway container that had been left there for us and sipped at it slowly.

“Now you see why we wanted to stop here in the first place?” Hardcase sighed with a smile as he leaned over and prodded at Violet. “Right, Violet?” Funny enough, she was as splayed out as she could be in the pool. Her head was on the surface, but the rest of her was halfway between floating and sinking to the bottom. Honestly, I’d never seen her more relaxed.

“You said it.” She responded with her own smile.

“I’m sorry we didn’t wait for you to return before coming down here.” Buck spoke softly as he reached over and curled his paw around me. Giving a little wiggle and a hop in the water, I bounced my way over against his sopping wet fur and leaned against him. “And I’m even more sorry to hear that you had some trouble on the way to join us.”

“I just wish there was something we could do to help that poor stallion.” I sighed, looking over to Hispano. She simply nodded in affirmation before proceeding to attempt to mimic Violet’s splayed out pose. Well, at least she was relaxing as well.

Violet however, stirred at my words and did her best to sit herself back down next to Hardcase.

“Look, as you've undoubtedly learned by now, the wasteland isn't a place of black and white.” She said, shaking her soaked mane out a bit. “There is no pure good, or ultimate evil. Hell, the pony everyone is claiming as the 'lightbringer' was the same one to detonate a megaspell that killed thousands of innocent Pegasi. I may be the last one to defend anything they did, but the ponies in the Enclave didn't get a choice, and I know that your mother didn't deserve to die the way she did.” I cringed as she mentioned my mother, but I couldn’t deny that she was right. “Good ponies can do bad things, and sometimes those we see as bad ponies didn't do anything wrong at all, and are simply the victim of circumstance. But saying no to risking yourself needlessly for somepony else's safety wasn't a bad thing to do. It was the right thing to do.”

“It's like I said, Night. You can't save everypony out here.” Now it was Hispano’s turn to try to adjust herself. However, she opted instead for just treading water in the middle of the steaming pool. “Back before we left 'Claw, my teacher Mr. Strix had taught all of us a valuable lesson. The wolf of the forest kills many creatures, but while that does not make it wrong for doing so, so many see it as a hostile and dangerous act. However, smaller creatures feed on the bugs, yet no one cares. The bugs feed on the plants and trees, yet no one cares. And the trees and plants in turn feed on us, yet we don’t care.” She closed her eyes, and seemed to recite the words from memory. “So why is the wolf in the wrong? In the wastelands, and the world overall, the strong survive, the weak die.”

“But this is how it's always been, and how it will always be.” Opening her eyes, she looked over to me with a pained and distant gaze. “You will be stiffed out of contracts, brought into unfair fights that may ultimately bring you down. But death is the ultimate wrong, the evil which faces every living being out there. It's not wrong to do anything you can to beat back death for even just another day. If those around you are too weak to win that fight, then that is on them.”

Buck, in fact, laughed at that, bringing a glare of annoyance from her.

“That explains a lot about you and your father's mindset, as well as some of the stories I've heard of the resilience of Talon Mercenaries.” Shaking his head, Buck looked away from Hispano’s annoyed gaze. “But while I know that we can't save everypony, that doesn't mean that we can't try. There is no goal that is insurmountable without enough help. Chimera, if the books on the Inuvik had any say, were intelligent enough to speak and converse with ponies. It might be as simple as talking it out, and convincing it to finally put aside whatever grudge it holds.”

“And when it turns out to not be that simple, what then? It's a balance of risks versus reward, Doc.” Hardcase jumped into what was quickly becoming a topic I had not intended to get out of hoof. “Helping that stallion might be possible, but how many of us would be hurt or killed? While one stallion's torment might finally end, if Night and I died, there would be no end to the suffering that you, Hispano, and Violet would feel. That is not a fair trade, and it would be selfish of any pony to ask that of others.” His words now in turn pulled an annoyed look from Buck, but it wasn’t a look I shared as I listened to what Hardcase was saying.

“Does he deserve to be tormented by a Balefire Chimera, no.” Hispano spoke up again. “But if you truly believe that it could be talked down, when he couldn't bring himself to try that on his own? Then his suffering is his own fault, and not ours.”

All five of us froze up as a bucket near the hot springs door was knocked aside. We all turned our attention up, finding a very puffy looking ghoul standing awkwardly in the doorway. Her mint green body had swollen up as much as the ghouls from the ammunition depot had, which must have been the effect of being around all this steam for decades on end. However, she had somehow still managed to stuff all of herself into a size-too-small maintenance jumpsuit, and it was slightly disturbing to look at.

“Um…” She spoke in a raspy, but reserved voice. “Not to eavesdrop, but perhaps are you talking about the feud between Short Wave and Rica?”

“What do you know about it?” The words tumbled out of my muzzle, but I was far too relaxed in this water to attempt to restrain myself. That, and to be honest, I was curious anyway.

“Oh, everypony here still remembers what happened back then.” Stepping inside, she looked out into the entry hall for anypony else before shutting the door behind her. “You see, Rica used to be both Pink Mountain's mascot, and one of our most valuable employees. She and her mate used to keep the resort grounds safe from all the dangerous creatures that prowled these mountains. In return, we fed her, and even for a while, we let her stay in that old garage down on the south of the property.

“Then when the apocalypse came, she changed like we did, but her mate went feral. Everything seemed fine in the years after, and it wasn’t until the glowing snows started to subside that we at the resort knew something was wrong.” The ghoul mare sighed and shook her head. “Her mate was seen wandering closer and closer to us, spending days away from their den. One day when he strayed too close, Rica came and killed him to keep the rest of us safe, or so we thought. See, unknown to us, she was pregnant at the time the balefire changed her, and killing her mate was the only way to ensure that her cub would survive. Once we learned that, to show her we still meant no harm, we killed our own ferals to ensure that her cub would stay safe.”

“So what does that Short Wave guy have to do with any of that?” Violet snorted as she rolled her eyes. “What makes everypony here ignore him like you do?”

“Short Wave showed up from the remains of the Crystal Empire at about the same time as Rica gave birth. As she had feared, her cub had suffered the same balefire mutation as her, sprouting a balefire mane and tail, necrotic skin and all. However, the balefire flames were weaker than normal, and as the days passed, they began to die out.” The ghoul mare pouted softly. “You should have seen the poor thing when she brought it to us. She sought something from us that could help slow that loss, and the large supply of tin foil that Short Wave had brought seemed to be the ideal solution.”

“The tin foil?” Hispano gasped. “That’s what this is all about?”

“Yes.” The mare nodded. “However, Short Wave was a stubborn stallion who didn't trust any of us yet. He refused to give it up, so Rica was forced to steal what she could of it from him. We had no power to force him to give up his possessions, so instead the rest of us here at the hotel now ignore him.” Getting to her hooves slowly, I could hear her bones creaking as she struggled to stand back up. “Still, whatever Rica ends up doing to him, be it ending his life or giving up, we accept that. However, we also will not let Rica be ambushed by any party he sends out to kill her. We owe her far too much to let that happen.”

“She was just… trying to keep her cub alive?” Buck’s slow words pulled my attention up to him.

I could see at that moment, his understanding of everything changed. And I felt myself change along with him as a sharp feeling of betrayal welled up inside me. Short Wave had more than enough tin foil to share, yet he would spare none of it! That selfish son of a bitch…

I was cut off from my thoughts as the water around me shifted as Buck’s enormous form pulled up out of it. Water poured out from his fur as he stood, and even through his soaked fur, I could see the tenseness that he once again carried in his form. The expression now tacked onto his face was rigid and distant, but it was something I felt I understood.

“Oh dear…” The ghoul mare eeped out as she backpedaled to the door. “I didn’t mean to upset you… I’ll just be going. Have a delightful stay.”

Before anypony could speak up, she’d turned and basically thrown herself out the door. To be honest, if I’d seen somepony like Buck just stand up and walk over, I’d probably be afraid as well. Wait, what am I saying? I felt exactly that way when I first joined this crew...

Without a word, Buck waded through the pool over towards the stone steps. Stepping out with a long, lumbering gait, he stopped once fully onto the hot stone floor. Steam filled the air as the dripping water evaporated and filled the room with a light haze. Then, Buck shook himself out.

Steam erupted from every stone surface in the room, and the blast of hot air that hit me gave me the strength to move my own legs. Quickly, I pulled myself across the pool and onto the stone steps that led out. My legs felt weak as they pushed me up and out of the water, and even my soaked prosthetic seemed a little more springy than usual. Still, I knew what Buck had gotten out for. He was going to get that roll back from Short Wave and get it to Rica. And because I was now responsible for helping such a selfish stallion, it was my job to help him make things right.

“Night, what are you doing?” Hispano called out. Looking back, she looked almost frightened for a moment. All I could do was try to offer her a comforting smile, which at least turned her look to one more of worry than anything.

“Don’t worry, we’re just going to see Short Wave.” Looking up at Buck, he gave me a short nod before reaching out to open the door. As he did, I turned my gaze down to Violet and Hardcase. “Things may not be black and white in the wasteland, and the weak may die more often than not. But this is a wrong that should have been righted far too long ago.”

“I’m coming with you.” Hispano sighed as she waded across the spring.

“Alright.” Violet sighed. “Good luck. Don’t let us keep you.”

“Heh, yeah.” Hardcase sighed, reaching out and pulling Violet closer to him. “We’ll keep the spring warm until you all get back.”

“Oh, hello again there young lady!” Short Wave smiled and waved as Buck and I approached. Unlike a few of the other resort patrons, oddly, he didn’t seem at all phased by the sight of a Snow Dog lumbering up to him. “Did you perhaps reconsider my request?” The hope in his eyes didn’t match the greed filled smile I myself wanted to slap off of his muzzle. However, the growl that Buck gave out did that far more effectively than any punch could have.

“Give me the tin foil.” He spoke with a guttural tone, holding out his paw sharply toward Short Wave.

“N-now hold on there just a minute!” Short Wave muttered, taking a stumbling step backwards. “What’s the meaning of this?”

“Advisory!” The radio shaped protectron behind the cowardly stallion shuddered as it turned in stamping steps toward us. “User in peril. Cease and desist hostile actions or be fired upon.”

“Quiet.” Buck snapped at the uncaring machine before turning his burning glare back to Short Wave. “You have more than enough foil to share with that Chimera, so you will hoof it over. Now.”

“Or what?” Short Wave snapped as his muzzle twisted, spreading into a wide shit eating grin. “Theft will not be tolerated on Hotel grounds, and while the prissy ponies here may ignore me, they’d never let assault or murder go lightly.” At that, Buck curled his paws up, giving out yet another low growl. “Yeah, that’s right little dog. Fuck off and stay out of other pony’s business.”

“What will you trade for it then?” I spoke up, drawing a momentarily confused look from the ghoul. “If you aren’t willing to do the right thing, then what will you trade for half of it?”

“Hah! Are you joking!?” He nearly doubled over in laughter. “I… I’m not giving up any of it! Not for a million bits!”

“Don’t be unreasonable!” Buck shouted, making Short Wave cringe and pull back momentarily.

“Advisory!” The radio protectapony shouted, taking another step forward. As a show of force, the glowing screen the face had projected on switched to a white screen that glowed like the barrel of a magical energy weapon. “No further warnings will be giv…” With a roar, Buck’s claws plunged into the ‘head’ of the protectapony. Sparks flew from the hundreds of frayed wires, and it’s internal mechanisms ground as he pulled his claws back out from it. Miraculously though, the machine still ran, stumbling backwards a few steps before sitting down onto its rear haunches. “E-error-r: System M-m-malfunction. Dep-ploying auxiliary w-weaponry.”

A few sharp clicks emitted from the sides of the machine’s boxy frames. Two metal flaps folded open, as a pair of small magical energy pistols extended out. I’d only gotten a moment to identify what they even were before Suiza’s thunderous reports filled the air. Each of the weapons disintegrated into clouds of metal from Hispano’s shots, and the sides of the robot sparked even more than before.

“Radio!” Short Wave gasped as the reports from Suiza drained out of my ears, scrambling to get to his hooves. “You… what have they done to you?” Looking into the sparking and smoke filled gaping hole Buck had left, Short Wave frantically tore open an access panel on the side of the machine and began to work on it. He took only a moment as he fumbled with a dozen different wires to glare over at the two of us. “There was no call to harm him. You can’t just assault patrons of this establishment!”

“It’s a machine, get over it.” Buck growled as he clenched his paw tightly. It was then that I noticed that he hadn’t gotten away from the attack without a scratch, and the twisted and sharp metal of the machine had sliced up his own paw. Even bloody though, Buck stood there wound tighter than a rubber band. I… I didn’t know what had gotten into him all of a sudden. He was supposed to be the calm and collected one!

“That doesn’t make it right!” I spat out, reaching out and pulling Buck’s paw back toward me. However, he didn’t take his own burning glare off of Short Wave when I did. “Buck, look at me.” Hesitantly, Buck looked down to me, panting lightly before pausing and looking down at his bleeding paw. He pinned his ears to his head and took what looked to be a moment to let what he’d done sink in.

“I… I’m sorry.” He whined, looking over at Short Wave. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“You beasts are all the same.” Short Wave snorted as he continued to work on his machine friend. “Get one ounce of magical radiation in your blood and you become mad, mindless creatures.” Eyeing at me again momentarily, he shook his head in disgust. “If I were you, I’d learn to keep your dog on a leash.” Looking up to Hispano, he snarled. “And your mercs under control.”

With a flutter of her wings, Hispano zipped through the air and landed next to Short Wave. Her approach to the old stallion was just as surprising to the ghoul as it was to me. However, she quickly swiped at him with her talon, and in a flash, his tin foil hat was removed from his head. With a leaping kick, she hopped up into the air as a burst of static cut through it.

“Wait, no!” Short Wave cried out as a sharp whine filled the air that made Buck recoil and cover his ears. The old crystal ghoul went stiff as the sounds of prewar Equestria began to come out of him again. “In other news,” He again spoke with the voice of an old world announcer. “The Ministry of Peace has made an announcement today regarding the reports of a new superweapon test on the front lines themselves.” With the crackling creak of glass, there was a sharp change in the pitch of the static around Short Wave, and he let out a full bodied scream. “Please! No!” Collapsing to the ground, he cupped his hooves around his head again. “Make it stop!”

“Half the Foil.” I shouted at him. “That’s all it will take.”

“Never!” He screamed back at me with unparalleled rage quaking through him. However, the tremors of his anger made his body creak again. “This just in, Celestia steps down as the head of the Equestrian government. It’s uncertain at this time what…” Another burst of static made him lock up with a pained yell. “Okay! Okay, just please… no more!” He pleaded.

“Where is it.” Hispano spoke coldly as she dangled his tin foil hat above him just out of reach. Was this cruel? Yes. Was this the right way to go about it? Probably not. But was this more satisfying than being forced to leave without doing anything? Yeah, you bet your flank it was.

“In my office! You can have half!” He screamed out before going rigid again. “Looking for the perfect gift for any good little filly or colt this Hearthswarming eve? Then look no further than the brand new Giddy-up-Applebuck! This holiday edition is the perfect…” Arching his back, Short Wave let out another a blood curtling scream. As he did, he pulled his hooves from the side of his head and started hammering at his own horn. “Please, help me!”

“Hispano, give it back.” I spoke up. He’d had enough, and there was no point in letting this go on any longer.

The tin foil hat fluttered down as she let it go. Short Wave’s eyes locked onto it like that of a mad pony possessed. His flailing forehooves struggled to take it and force it onto his head again. As he slid it around frantically, several more high pitched squeals and bursts of static filled the air, before finally dying out again.

“That is quite enough.” The stern tone of a stallion pulled my attention over to the hotel’s doors. A sky blue ghoul stallion with a well fit lavender suit and squat cylindrical matching hat stood in the doorway. He wore an old name tag on the front of his suit that I couldn’t quite read from where I stood. However, the word Manager was more than clear to me.

“And you are?” Hispano grumbled as she fluttered her way over towards Buck and I.

“Mr. Slumbers, the manager of this resort.” He snorted sharply at us. “We do not consider our humble resort part of the barbaric wastelands out there, so we do not appreciate having our guests harass other ponies.” He paused, giving a flat look over to the still recovering Short Wave. “Even for those such as him.” Turning an angry gaze to the three of us, he gave out a stiff sigh. “However, let me be clear that I have overheard you receiving his permission to relinquish half of his tin foil supplies.”

“What?!” Short Wave whined, struggling to pull himself up to his hooves.

“We shall deliver half of his supply to Rica, and explain to her that this feud is over.” Turning to the angry crystal ghoul, Mr. Slumbers shared the glare he’d given us. “However, in return should he agree to end hostilities against her, Mr. Wave here shall officially become a permanent resident of this resort, and given all perks as such.”

“But… that’s not fair!” Short Wave spat and took a step forward.

“You would do well to remember that we hired you on as a temporary maintenance worker, and we can end that position when we see fit. Should you refuse this simple request, Mr. Wave,” Mr. Slumbers simply spoke up louder and froze Short Wave in his hoofsteps. “you will be escorted from this resort and barred from ever returning. I do not think you would fare well on the road alone these days.”

“Y-yes sir.” Short Wave hung his head and and gave a stiff nod.

“As for you three.” Mr. Slumbers turned back and pointed toward the door of the resort. “I’m sorry, but due to the many resort policies you’ve broken, I’m afraid I have to insist that you leave. This is not a ban for your convoy, but you three are for the time being not welcome inside any of the facilities at the Pink Mountain resort.”

“Yes sir.” Buck nodded and gave out a long sigh that made him deflate slightly.

“It’s alright, Buck. We did what we came out here for.” I spoke up, holding his paw tightly. Rica would get the help she needed, Short Wave didn’t have to suffer too much. And in the end, nopony died, so I can’t do anything but call that a win. “Let’s go home.”

Author's Note

As always, many MANY thanks to TheFurryRailFan for his dedication in prereading these chapters for me!