The Northern Wasteland, Village Ruins

When Porter said there was a crane in the cargo hold he wasn’t kidding. I wasn’t just staring at some hoist, but an honest to goodness crane that looked more at home on some construction site than in the belly of an airship. Lucky for us it was already hooked up to a metal pallet, so we could in theory all hop on and come up from the wasteland below at one time. And with the bridge at the other end of the hallway I would be surprised if Porter couldn’t get to the controls in time to lift us away from whatever horrors awaited us below.

As Gramps shoved the pallet out of the open sliding hatch in the floor I came to the realization that we weren’t all that high off the ground, that fact being reinforced by the audible thud I heard as the pallet hit the ground below the airship. “Are we even going to need rappel?” I asked.

Gramps didn’t say anything, instead opting to pull a familiar shotgun off of his back and hand it to me. “From this height? Probably not. It would probably save time to just jump down and cushion the fall with a telekinetic spell.”

“Uh… You can do that?” I asked. Gramps is far older than me and had significantly more training in the use of magic over the years than I did, so he would be the one to know if that's a possibility.

“Well I can.” The old stallion replied as he grabbed my collar. “I just don’t do it all that often with two ponies.”

“Wait, what?” I didn’t get an answer as Gramps dove down through the hatch dragging me out with him. All it took was three incredibly long seconds for me to realize that I had landed feet first in snow that barely reached my ankles.

Off to my left Gramps had pulled out his revolver and had loaded three rounds into the cylinder before swinging it closed with a flick of the wrist. “Well I’d mark that off as a success.”

“You call jumping out of the bottom of an airship a success?” I snapped.

Gramps just rolled his eyes. “You didn’t break any bones. Did you?”

“I don’t think I can.” I retorted.

“Fine by-” Gramps stopped mid sentence and whirred around. “We’ve got incoming.” He said as he leveled his revolver.

I shouldered my shotgun and pointed it towards the underbrush. “What makes you say that?”

“EFS has two blips.” Gramps replied.

EFS should be able to determine friend from foe… “Are those dots red or yellow?” I asked.

Gramps must’ve cocked an eyebrow at what I had asked. “Does it make a difference?”

As two ponies stumbled out of the brush and fell to the ground in a heap I nodded. “Damn right it does.” I ran over to the collapsed bodies and felt a wave of relief smack into me. Kovac was right on the money with his tracking trick, and both Specter and Jericho stumbled right back to us.

Specter forced himself off Jericho and rolled onto his back to stare up at me. “Fancy seeing you here.” He groaned.

I reached down and hauled the bruised stallion back to his feet. “I could say the same thing.” Specter stopped and motioned for my help as he knelt down to pick up a very weak Jericho. “How did you two get away from the furies?”

As the two of us got up with Jericho hanging limply between us on his arms Specter shook his head. “I don’t think we actually got away. I think they’ve been tailing us since we escaped the outpost.”

Well that’s a problem. “So then why haven’t they made a move?” I asked.

To my surprise Jericho stretched his neck, proving to me that he wasn’t unconscious as he appeared to be. “They like to play with their food.” Jericho muttered.

“Play with their food…” Oh shit. I fished out my radio and clicked it on. “Porter, are you on that gun?”

“Roger that.” The stallion called out over the channel. “You might want to hurry it up down there though, I’m seeing some movement in the woods all around you.”

Well that's just great. “Light em’ up Porter!” I yelled and started dragging Jericho towards the makeshift lift.

Even over the wind I could hear the turret motors whine as it spun around in search of clear targets. “Alright, here we go!” Above us I heard distinct series of thuds followed by the sounds of bullets flying at nearly the speed of sound smacking into the trees.

“What the hell?!” Specter exclaimed in shock.

“Just go with it!” I yelled as I pushed the two stallions onto the metal slab. “Porter, I’ve got two ready to come up.”

“Copy that Dusk, stand by.”

Gramps pushed Specter down onto his rear and pointed at the cables that were anchored on each corner of the pallet. “You’re gonna want to hold on to one of those.” Specter didn’t argue as the cable went taught and pallet began ascending towards the unseen picked hovering over the clearing.

*need howling noise*

“Sounds like the furies are mad.” I observed.

“Well we did just steal their chewtoys.” Gramps added as he swept the revolver around. “Other than that it’s just another day at the office.”

As I saw the bushes begin to shake around as furies moved about through the brush I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Those are some famous last words.” I joked.

Gramps nodded and smiled. “Phalanx said the same thing at Midlothian Ridge. But there’s one big difference in play here.”

“And what would that be?”

As the first fury charged out of the brush Gramps grabbed it and pulled it in close with his telekinesis. “These feather brains are outclassed.” With one fluid motion he swung the pistol barrel up under the chin of the Changeling and clicked off the safety.

BANG!

As the first fury’s brains sprayed out in all direction the rest of the furies must’ve gotten the memo as at least five of them charged out of the brush. The slide on my shotgun slid without any resistance and put the first round into the weapon’s chamber. “Here we go!” As the first fury got within arms reach I swung my left hand out and grabbed it by the throat. As it struggled to get closer I saw a second one come rushing in off to my right. “Big mistake buddy!” I yelled as I pointed the shotgun towards the rushing equine.

BOOM!

The gun kicked back hard with nothing to hold back against the recoil of the twelve gauge buckshot, but those little white hot balls of lead hit home, striking the second fury square in the chest. With that out of the way I tossed the first fury to the ground and chambered a new round.

BOOM!

The entire spread of shot blew a gaping hole in the fury’s back. There wasn’t any sign of movement so I wheeled around to help Gramps…

Only he looked entirely fine. He had already dealt with his second attacker judging by the body on the ground with it’s head at an odd angle. His third opponent was being pelted by a barrage of fists that ended as Gramps swept his legs out and forced him onto the ground. “Sorry about this.” I heard him mutter as he aimed his revolver right at the fury’s chest.

BANG!

As the fury went limp in he snow another important thought came to mind. There were far more than four furies back at the outpost. To our luck though the pallet hit the ground empty at that very moment. “Come on you two!” Porter called out over the radio.

Gramps and I both took places on either side of the pallet. Both of us grabbed the central cable just as it tightened under our weight and began to lift us away from the ground. As we were only a few feet off the ground a dozen furies came charging towards us from the brush.

“Sorry kids, we’ve gotta go!” Gramps yelled as he aimed his revolver with his free hand.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

I only saw two furies fall to the last of the rounds in Gramp’s revolver but by the time they had reached where we were standing our method of escape was already too far out of their reach.

As our ride finally arrived in the cargo hold of the picket another issue came to the fore; Jericho. In the brighter lights of the ship I could see that his jacket was no longer the same brown it had once been, but was instead a dark maroon. Specter was hanging over him trying to put more pressure on the stab wound he had sustained during our failed escape from the outpost.

But then Gramps pushed the young stallion out of the way, scooped Jericho’s limp body up and marched out into the corridor.

I was just as dumbfounded as Specter clearly was before following Gramps on instinct. I didn’t say a word as we entered the Captain’s cabin. Gramps had laid Jericho down on the bunk and had already pulled off his coat. But he was fighting with the body armor he wore underneath it. “Specter?” Gramps called out. “I need a hand here.”

Specter pushed past me and joined Gramps at the bedside. The two began whispering inaudibly, so I decided it was a good time to take my leave. As I stepped onto the bridge I saw that Porter had moved to the helm. Clearly he had laid in a course as his attention had turned to an old black leather-bound book. “What are you reading?” I asked.

Porter closed the book and turned around in his chair. “Steadfast’s log.” He said.

“Steadfast…” I muttered. “You mean the Captain?”

Porter nodded. “He was defintely busy after I saw him last.”

I took a seat in the Captain’s chair and nodded. “Well his ship got up here somehow, didn’t it?”

“Oh it did.” Porter replied. “But he took a few side trips before even heading north.”

Sidetrips? In the postwar world? “Like what?”

“Like saving the early Enclave from an attack by a Zebra-controlled Raptor, coming across the last surviving ministry mare…” Porter droned. “But they never went to the reseach base.”

“There must’ve been a reason to abandon the original plan.” I pointed out.

Porter nodded. “There was. They found survivors in Poneva City.”

Poneva City… I can’t say I’m entirely familiar with the name. “So the crew went native then and moved in with the survivors?”

“Not quite.” Porter explained. “They were trying to protect them, and from what I’m reading here him and Spark-”

“Spark?” I asked. “He wouldn’t happen to be a white unicorn, woud he?”

“He certainly was.” Porter replied. “And he was the first officer on this ship.”

Now we need to cover something. I’ve met a white unicorn named Spark who proceeded to get himself blown up on the Chicacolt. Only hours ago I was face to face with a snow fury wearing his face as a mask, and now I’m hearing that the first officer assigned to this craft went by the same name and had a similar description. If I didn’t know any better I’d say that the universe is trying to tell me something.

“Something wrong Dusk?” Porter asked. He must’ve seen that I was rather confused and was deep in thought after my last question.

“It’s probably nothing.” I insisted. “Now you said they found something?”

Porter nodded. “You’re gonna want to stay in that seat, because this is going to take a while.”

***

Three Days Later, Neighfair

The last few days have been a great success, that much I can say without question. Gramps was able to stabilize Jericho just at the last minute. The stallion had lost a lot of blood and his wound was starting to show signs of infection by the time we returned to Neighfair.

And damn did we return. The moment we started walking down that ramp off the picket every single Division soldier that saw us arrive came running. By now they all knew what we had left for, and when Porter held up both of those activation keys over his head the entire crowd erupted in cheers. Those two keys were a symbol of our very first major victory in our campaign against WestWind. Jericho was immediately spirited away to an infirmary and Kovac made his way onto the ship. As he put it the Marines at the salvage yard have had enough of a rest.

In a matter of hours we had the entire unit out of cryo and Porter was giving orders and directing operations to pack up every single piece of stored equipment. I stuck with him for the whole two day ordeal, getting plenty of surprised looks and greetings from marines who I didn’t even recognize. Porter of course tried to bring as many of his soldiers up to speed as he could, using the ten ferry flights from the facility to Neighfair as time to brief them. He even did a good job of clearing out the second deck’s mess hall, turning it into an excellent briefing amphitheater.

By the end of the second day I was simply beat and finally saw myself in a mirror. The armor I was wearing was burnt clear through to the human-designed undersuit that I never got rid of. With that in mind I procured a Marine off-duty uniform and exchanged my destroyed armor for it temporarily. After that I found a bunk and slept until almost noon time today. And what’s happening today?

“So explain this to me again.” Kovac said. “What did they find in Poneva?.

It was time to debrief, and with Jericho still bedridden that briefing took place in the otherwise empty infirmary. And now we’ve come to the part about Steadfast’s logbook. Porter did explain everything, even letting Kovac read the book in the middle of the meeting. I took a moment to look around the room and noticed that in a cup in the center of the table that was brought in was a red and white candy cane. With nothing better to do I grabbed it and started twirling it around my fingers.

“From what I can tell Steadfast didn’t know much more than the crew. But what he’s describing sounds almost like some sort of ghosts.”

Kovac chuckled. “I’m sorry, but ghosts?”

Porter nodded. “Those ghost were using some seriously messed up magic. And with the city’s proximity to the Crystal Empire he seemed to think that something from there had something to do with it.”

At that word I stopped paying attention and let my mind wander. For whatever reason I kept thinking of two ponies, and it was rather clear. They were in the middle of a firefight of some sort. I couldn’t see who they were fighting but I could make out the details. The stallion of the pair was clad in a ramshackle Stable jumpsuit wearing nothing else but a scarf as he blasted away with a ten millimeter pistol. I couldn’t tell what the mare was shooting, but I took note of her candy red fur and a mane that was filled with white stripes. To be completely honest it reminded me of that very candy cane that I had picked up. Something about that image made me feel better about what I had learned about Poneva. Sure there’s something going on up there, but even if Steadfast’s crew had failed to solve the problem it was these two that for whatever reason I was picturing as having something to do with the solution.

Suddenly a pair of yellow fingers snapped right in front of my face.“Equestria to Dusk!”

“Right, sorry” I said as my attention returned to the meeting at hand. “You were saying something Kovac?”

“I was wondering what you thought we should do about this.” The Division Commander asked. “You’ve had a lot longer to think about this development than I have.”

I thought back to my daydream for a moment before putting the candy cane back in the cup. “I say we leave it.”

Kovac raised an eyebrow at my rather simple opinion. “Alright… Why? We’ve potentially got some sort of supernatural force running rampant up there.”

Again thinking back to my daydream I leaned back in my chair and smiled. “Because even if Steadfast’s crew failed I’ve got a good feeling that the problem is well at hand.” I stopped for a moment before leaning forward and resting in my elbows. “Furthermore we’ve got a far bigger problem at hand and we’ve seen no sign that this supposed dark influence has done anything south of Poneva. It’s just not worth our energy to pursue.”

Kovac simply nodded. “Then we’ll consider it a dead issue.” He said as he got up from his chair. “In the meantime I’ll be in the command center. Feel free to come see me if you need anything.”

As Kovac left the room I began to think back to the information about the tracking crystal imbedded under Specter’s skin. Said stallion was sitting silently next to Jericho’s bedside, the two of them having simply listened to our discussion. “Specter, can I ask you something?” He simply nodded. “Did you know that you had a tracking crystal planted on you?”

Judging by both his and Jericho’s confused looks I’d say they didn’t know. “I’m sorry, but a tracking crystal?”

“Yes.” I said. “Kovac gave us the frequency it worked. That's how we found the two of you.”

“Did he say why he had one on him?” Jericho asked.

I nodded as I thought back to our radio conversation. “He said that it was to find Specter if he got lost in the valley outside of the mountain base.”

Jericho furrowed his brow, glanced up at Specter before turning his focus back to me. “Dusk, I raised Specter after his parents died. Believe me, the only time he left the base was when we attempted our Manehattan expedition a few years ago.”

Now I have another reason to be concerned about Kovac’s revelation. Here I have the father figure of Specter’s life telling me the exact opposite that Kovac had. And where I was already questioning his explanation I think it's safe to say that I can’t trust everything I’m hearing out of Kovac’s mouth. “You three do realize that we can’t let this discussion leave this room, right?”

“Can I just point out how crazy that sounds?” Porter stated.

“Just as crazy as a makeshift tracking radar?” I said in return.

“Wait, tracking radar?” Jericho said. “The mountain base doesn’t have anything to even build a radar with, let alone power and maintain the equipment. It wasn’t considered priority when building it.”

I just had to look at Porter to get an affirmative nod out of him. “So it’s settled then. If anyone outside this room asks this conversation never happened.” But even with that decision in mind I can tell that everyone assembled is a bit worried. I can’t rightly blame them… Because it looks like we may need to watch out for more than just the Enclave in the days ahead.

Author's Note

And there, ladies and gentlemen, is the end of Arc II. We see Dusk starting to grow wary of Kovac in the wake of revelations regarding his "tracking crystal" information, as well as a nod to Rising Dawn with Dusk's daydream during the debrief at the very end of the chapter. At this point in time Dusk is still young and prone to a wandering mind when bored, something that hasn't really been seen until now. Rest assured we'll see that again eventually. Up next we'll see another Interlude to bring us back to the present day, where Archer will have some questions to answer as to whether she truly is "alright", followed by the Comet and Strike story arc "It Takes a Village". I'll probably hold off on publishing that one until I can get a cover made for it. In the mean time take a look at Fallout Equestria: E-201. Originally it was just going to be Steadfast's journal entries from immediately after the Last Day, but after deciding that the chapters are missing something I'm starting to add in stretches of dialogue to break up the journal entries and add some context to them.

In the meantime, anyone got questions? Like what you're seeing so far? Hell, maybe have some gripes? There's a comment section and the Mirrorverse Codex. Read and comment away, because I want to hear from you fellow denizens of this corner of the internet. Until next time gang!
-Striker