Fallout Equestria: Steelheart
Written By: CyberDutchman
Edited By: JC

Chapter 6: Blood and Purpose

"Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction..."

The road into the city barely deserved to be called that. There was no way to tell where it lay other than by the potholes and dashed lines that occasionally broke through the thin ground and dust layered over it. Broken signs and mile markers stood by the side sporadically, most of them apparently having been uprooted to wall or roof the small farm houses alongside the old road. They got ever so slightly larger the closer we got to the city with equally larger spacing between them. But all of them shared the same materials and construction, covered in rusting plate and sheeting held together by wire, rivets, or whatever else their owners could find to hold them together. As I looked around one thing jumped out at me.

"Hey Birch...there aren't any new homes here?"

Birch glanced over his shoulder at me and I could feel the confused look through his helmet's eye pieces. "What do you mean new? Most of dese weren't here five years ago. Dey're all new this far out from the Castle!"

Why did no one ever understand what I meant? I shook my head quickly in frustration, causing my body to twist the other way and making the tribal carrying poles shake in kind.

"Oh geez- Gear, calm down! This is what you get out here! Dere hasn't been a 'new' house in nearly two centuries."

"But-"

"Listen, dere's nowhere that makes concrete or bricks and no one to work any place that tried. There're no steel mills, no brick makers, no carpenters, no thatch makers. You couldn't even make those last two, the plants aren't around anymore. You can't even use mud or dirt, it's all irradiated as deep as you can dig. Scrap's good, sturdy till it rusts, plenty of around to replace it when it rusts."

"But... how? It's been two hundred years! Why haven't you started making bricks and steel and new buildings? Why haven't you started over? Why hasn't anyone fixed anything?!" I was nearly shouting- no, I was shouting. If this were 63 the maintenance teams would have worked out a plan, gotten help from the rest of the Stable if needed, and we would have fixed the problems. One problem, then another, till everything worked again.

"Gear..." Birch said with a toss of his head. "Look around you."

I didn't want to but his words flicked some switch in my brain and I slowly turned my head. Grey fields with grey dust and a few rows of scraggly plants with clusters of what either probably fruit or vegetables or charcoal. You couldn't tell. The only real color came from the golden glow of lamps and fires in and around the homesteads, the bright searchlights and fading neon signs around the city, and the green glow of the sky overhead. It wasn't like 63 at all. 63 had been awash in color compared to this. Green leaves, red apples, yellow sunflowers, chrome walls, cream sheets, crimson lace- I nearly hurled, barely catching myself with an acidic gulp. Couldn't think about those colors, that lace, that eye. I tried not to think about all the other colors that came adorned the coats and manes of everypony else because I knew if I tried it would all just be crimson now. I kept looking around and passed my eyes over the others from the stable. Even their colors seemed faded in the dim light of the above ground evening. There wasn't any color in this world.

"There isn't enough anything for dat. Not enough materials or industry, not enough ponies to rebuild it, and not enough food to feed dem if dere were. The only job anyone's got now is surviving."

This wasn't right. They'd had decades- MORE THAN A CENTURY- since the spells fell and nobody had done anything.

"What about radiation scrubbers? Our stable had half a dozen for the water and-" asked Sunflower.

"Miss, how do you think we're growing this much already?" Lily countered from behind us.

"This much? You're growing husks!" she exclaimed, waving a hoof at the scrawny crops all around us.

"And it's the most we've managed in decades. We had scrubbers when the bombs fell, keeping us alive in bunkers and safe houses. They lasted weeks. We replaced them. Those lasted months, maybe a year, just long enough for the air to stop killing everything. We don't have any more. We've been washing dirt to near sterility in what's left of the last ones then tossing it over everything as thin as we possible while still getting things to grow in it. We're doing what we can." Sun looked around the wastes with drawn back ears, clearly as unsatisfied with Lily's answer as I was with Birch's.

"She has a point though. We could do more if we had their scrubbers, maybe see if dey still have a working Water Talisman, though probably not if dey needed scrubbers," Birch opined as he looked back at the other Crusader. "We should talk to Night abowt asking the Elder to put together a clean out operation, find out what's still working. Whaddya think?"

"Birch... how do you think we're going to fight that many Sparkers? Two hundred, that's what you said Gear?"

"Umm... well... more like four hundred... or more."

"Birch?" Lily asked pointedly.

The large stallion paused in his walk, nearly breaking the poles holding me up when Lily failed to pause as well. "Ohkay, dat miiiiiight be a bit much. Damn, those woulda been real useful fer the farms. Might've even get us some goodwill with the Burbs."

"What are the Burbs? You've mentioned them a couple times but that's it," I asked the Crusaders.

"The Burbs are..." Birch began then chuckled. "Well, you'll see when we get dere. Should be interesting for Stable ponies like youse."

They were interesting alright.

"Birch, what on Equis is all this?" I asked slowly as they lowered me down to the ground and pulled out the rods that had carried me. Just ahead of us was a large wall stretching out across the fields to either side before curving back towards the city that now stood before us. The road passed through a gate from beyond which came a veritable cacophony of sound. It was overwhelming to me and the rest of the survivors and I couldn't help but cringe and wince. The Rangers though all either smirked or frowned as they continued up to the gate, Paladin Night in the lead.

"This is the Whinnetonka Burb! First stop for anyone coming in fresh from the western plains and last place dey visit before goin back capless."

I wanted to ask him what he meant by capless, no ponies I could see were wearing caps or hats of any kind, but my curiosity kept my mouth shut as we stopped alongside the rest of the Rangers. A small panel in the wall above the gate screeched open and a pair of narrowed milky eyes looked down at us.

"Welcome to Whinnetonka, state yer business and show yer goods," the pony on the other side said raspily.

From the way Night's helmet moved she'd just rolled her eyes hard enough to make most ponies dizzy. "You know who it is Rawhide. I've got civilians to return to the Castle and I'm not in the mood."

"Oh great, de Ranger's best bitch. I was having a better dan usual day up till now too..."

"Rawhide..."

"Fine. You'd probably just shoot de door down if I insisted on doing things de right way," the hidden pony grumbled. "Open the gate, de illustrious Rangers have returned..."

A few muted shouts, groans, and general discontent followed the command from the other side of the sheet metal and rebar gateway. A few awkwardly silent seconds followed then the gate jerked and slowly pulled to one side along grooves in the pavement and wall. Beyond it was-

The sound and smells hit like a two ton hammer. If I'd thought the Burb was loud from the outside then it was deafening from within. Smells of food, bile, blood, ozone, hydraulic fluid, grease, oil, and the overpowering odor of more life than I'd ever been around before before assaulted us. Ponies of every color, shape, and health wandered the low stalls and shells of old buildings covered in graffiti and cobbled together neon signs declaring seed, tools, food, guns, and booze. A few had bright pink ponies in positions I didn't want to ponder, something painfully easy with the constant assault on the senses. I coughed loudly along with the rest of the survivors and tried to shield my nose with a hoof. Through watery eyes I saw an old and shriveled but at the same time wry and sinewy off-white stallion descend a set of steps next to the gate. He glanced at us with those same clouded eyes and I realized he had to be nearly blind if not completely so.

"So, who's de meat dis time Ranger?"

A long, sharp whistle sounded above us. "Boss, dey got Stable suits, new ones, and one of dose floaty Mr. Robots... wid a mustache," the watcher added with a snicker. "Now I've seen everything."

A bushy white brow over one of the clouded eyes climbed ever so slightly higher. "Stable ponies aye? Now where'd youse find dem at? I thought all de Stables in the Mid had been cleared out? At least, according to de Rangers dey were."

"Nowhere you need worry about Rawhide. It's a long way away."

"Boss, dey's got a slurdge of salvage too. Whole cart lot and alla de Ranger jobbies are pretnear loaded down too ."

"Is dat so? Paladin, you know de agreement. What's de cut for de Burbs?

The Paladin gave a low grunt. "Plunder parts."

That got the stallion's attention. "Well now, dat's interestin'! Took on a wurm and lived aye? What kind was it?"

"A Bruiser."

The old gate guard whistled along with his underlings and waved a hoof over his head once in a broad circle. "Well smack my ass black and call me a zebra. You beat one? Along the old seven?"

Night glanced over her shoulder at the distant hills we'd just come from. "Yeah, about half a day back over the rise. Probably still something left if you want to put the word out."

The old stallion rubbed his chin with a hoof then gave her a lopsided grin. "Looks like my day just got better again. I'll put a notice out, let de boyce know there's pickings to be had. In de meantime, we'll take de Burbs' cut and let you be on yer way." He leaned to the side and shouted loud enough for everyone to hear. "You Ranger boyce and girls should get something to et while yer here. I'll pass de word along, make sure you get de good prices on everything." He returned his lopsided grin to Night and said lowly, "Have to make sure de valiant Rangers are appreciated fer helping out de Burbs after all."

Night snorted and briefly tipped her head towards him. "Obliged as always. Rangers! Move out. Rest break in the main market." Her order received a number of cheers from the squads surrounding us as they began to push onward again. As we passed through the gateway we stopped briefly to hand over a couple of the Wurm plates to the gate guards. As we started moving again Bitter coughed loudly and looked directly at me with his clouded eyes.

"Hold up... you have a funny sound to yer walk there Stabler. Sounds like you're not quite in one piece anymore. Wurm take a souvenir off ya? Or was it a Ranger?"

I couldn't hear the sounds and squeaks of my brace over the roar of the Burb so how could he possibly have done so? "How did-" I began before he chuckled loudly.

"My eyes may not be so good anymore but my hearing's just fine. Better dan most in fact. But from yer jabberin it sounds like I was right on de money. Dat tends to happen when you follow de Rangers and one way or anoder dat's alla us here. You'll fit right in with de rest of us broken Burbers now," he said with that same chuckle.

I couldn't say anything in reply, only stare at him wide eyed until the combined efforts of Lily and Birch forced me to face forward and walk in step with the group. Even after I turned away his raspy chuckle followed me, after the crowds of strange ponies around us flowed back to block any sight of him, and after it was possible for the sound of his laugh to make it through the rest of the maelstrom around us.

By the time we finally stopped again I was nearing a nervous breakdown. Whinnetonka was one of my worst nightmares: other ponies. Dozens of them, hundreds even! Every ten seconds an Initiate would make things worse by bumping into me to make room for another pony going the other way. As they passed they'd reach out to touch my brace or my Stable barding or stare at me. They were a sight, maybe one in twenty of them missing teeth or eyes or ears. Even more showed scars, burns, or even missing limbs supported by peg legs or simple prosthetics. All of them sported an incredible array of hats, caps, shirts, jackets, and apparel I didn't know the names. I couldn't help but stare at them as they stared back and called out in words and phrases I didn't understand. It seemed like forever till we reached a large open space surrounded by stalls and the ponies working them. Paladin Night called a halt and placed half of the initiates around us in a ring while the other half left.

"-right sir? Sir?" something hummed into my ear. I shook my head and flicked the twitching ear then turned to find Manesworth, once again, hovering far too close to me. Though that was almost welcome though after the jostling I'd just gone through.

"What? Sorry, I-I blanked there."

"I was just saying that you looked a bit worse for the wear sir. I think the air up here might not be agreeing with you. What with it being radioactive and dreadfully dusty. Someone really needs to vacuum more often."

I returned a half-hearted chuckle at which issue his programming was focusing on. "Manes, I don't think that's-"

"Gear, what is this place?"

I looked behind me to find Sunflower darting her gaze everywhere, never staying still for more than a second.

"Whinnetonka, right? I think that's how they pronounced it..."

"No, I mean what is it? How can all these ponies live like this? There's no green, no trees, no flowers, no life. Just... dust and metal. It's worse than sixty three," she said with a trembling voice. I looked around as well. I hadn't noticed it at first but she was right. There was nothing. The only living things I saw were ponies and a few mangy pets and... was that a two headed cow? I shook my head and rubbed my eyes. When I opened them again it was gone. I'd been on the surface too long already.

"What's de matter with yer friend dere Gear? Miss, you alright?"

"Birch... how does anyone live like this?" Sun pleaded with him.

"Uhhhhhhh... whaddya mean?"

"No trees, no flowers, no... no... anything!" she cried, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. She sniffed and blinked rapidly till they disappeared.

Birch seemed taken aback by the display and popped open his helmet to give me a concerned look. "Uhhhhh... Gear? Is she gonna be alright?"

I pulled Sun in close - well, as close as I was really comfortable with given how much contact I'd just suffered through - and rubbed her shoulder in support. She sniffed and nodded in thanks then laughed when Manesworth shakily tired to do the same with his beat up claw-arm on her other side. She tapped him affectionately on his steel dome as she gently pushed his arm away before he accidentally knocked both of us over.

"Yeah, she'll... she'll be okay. She was a big part of the gardens back in sixty three. It's how she got her Cutie Mark."

Birch blinked and slowly leaned sideways to look over my shoulder at her flank. She blushed and pulled her tail over while shooting him a somewhat nasty look.

"Huh. Now dere's something I don't think I've ever seen before. A unicorn farmer. You know, I know dis joke about a unicorn who farmed corn and-"

"DON'T."

Sun's earlier distress was gone and replaced with righteous fury. If I'd seen it coming sooner I would have warned him off but it was too late for that now. Now we both just had to hope his armor would protect him.

"Ohkay, touchy subject. I didn't mean to climb up yer tailpipe, honest. If it helps I only know the one but about a hundred abowt Steel Rangers if you'd rather hear one of dem."

Sunflower narrowed her eyes for a long moment then sighed. "No, I don't. I want my garden back," she muttered as she looked at the ground and pointedly away from everything else around us.

Birch brightened up instantly. "Oh! If dat's the case then you'll love it at de Castle! We always need more ponies that can work a plant. Don't care what they are, if you got de green hoof then we'll give you a patch of yer own!"

"Wait, really?" she asked almost frantically. "You have plants? Trees? Seeds? Flowers? Not like those... sticks, outside, in the Waste? Actual green?" She placed her forehoofs on his chest armor as she stared him in the eyes. He glanced at me and I scrambled for a second before nodding my head vigorously. If they had them then yes, she needed them! As long as I'd known Sunflower her greatest joy had been tending the gardens in the Gallery. Birch's warning about what happened to Stable ponies in the MidWaste kept swimming up to the surface of my thoughts without invitation and I kept pushing it back under again. That wasn't Sun. She was far, FAR stronger and more collected than I was. All she needed was green and she'd survive anything.

"Ya fer sure, tons of green! All the green you could want. Isn't dat right Lily?" he asked hurriedly as the other Crusader returned with the half of the Rangers that had gone into the market. She paused in her survey of the crowds around us to cock an eyebrow at Birch.

"Isn't what right?"

Birch began sharply nodding his head at the mare latched onto his armor. "You know, gardens, plants? At the Castle?"

She sighed and turned a half lidded stare on her fellow Crusader. "Birch..." Her expression turned a little more sympathetic when Sun looked at her with sudden hope in her eyes. She sighed again and said, "Yes, we have gardens. Not many, but some. They're meant to feed our Brothers and Sisters when they're not on patrol. Some tomatoes, some green beans, that sort of thing. Beats MidWaste fare by a longshot so it's worth the effort." Birch shot her a hugely thankful smile to which she rolled her eyes and turned to face Paladin Night as she approached.

"Birch, your turn on the rotation. Don't let them get too far out and for Elder's sake don't make this another repeat of the Megamart return trip," Night added darkly. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Paladin!" Birch snapped a smart salute with a hoof across his chest, coincidentally knocking the now distracted Sun off him with a small "Meep!" as she rolled down into the ground with a noticeable blush and frown towards Birch. He winced loudly, shutting both eyes as Lily let out another sigh and Paladin Night half groaned, half growled.

It wasn't long before the last of the Initiates returned with Birch, all of them looking rather happy and a couple even looking drunk or worn out. Birch himself looked neither, instead favoring stoic focus and attention that just felt completely out of place with him. Every now and then as we wound our way through the incomprehensible twists and turns of the Burb's dirt streets and grimy alleys I glanced back at him before the crowd forced me to watch where I was stepping again.

"Lily?" I asked the Crusader over the tops of the other survivors around me.

The Crusader turned enough to focus a single helmeted eyepiece on me. "Gear Heart, I have a rank and I ask you please use it. I don't know you and you don't know me, not really."

"Oh uh, um, sorry Lily- I mean, Crusader Lily," I stammered in surprise. "Sorry about calling you that earlier-" Thankfully she stopped me from mumbling myself into an awkward place with a wave of her hoof.

"Given the circumstances it was more important I was just another pony to you all. None of you were in the best shape when we extracted you. But now we're back in our home and headquarters and here I'm not just another pony, I'm a Crusader. With that said, what was it you wanted to ask me?"

I nervously glanced over my shoulder at the still ramrod straight figure of Birch. "Oh, uh, what's up with Birch? Paladin Night said something about Megamart?"

Even through the helmet I could see the wince that went with the shake she gave her head in reply. "Nothing that needs to be worried about. He'll bounce back to his normal flaky self soon enough. He always does." Before I could dig deeper into that cryptic answer we rounded another corner in the seemingly endless blocks of broken and boarded up buildings that cast light into the dim streets through myriad holes and cracks and came face to face with a sight that froze my lungs.

A massive wall of steel I-beams, plate, and rivets rose from the ground at the end of the short section of street to dizzying heights. Above and in front of it was one of the free hanging walkways, originally glass walled judging by appearance but now armored as much as the structure would allow. A pair of spotlights on either end swung around to focus on us and slits opened to reveal three large gun turrets, one at either end under the lights and one in the center.

"Paladin, welcome back. I see your mission went as they usually do?"

"Har har har. Raise the gate Oak."

Another armored pony, this one with red strakes along it's shoulders and legs, stepped out from behind the center gun and leaned against it while they looked down on us. "Night, do I even want to know why you have half your number again in civies with you?"

"Stable ponies. Op was a little more involved than than intel suggested."

The new armored Ranger stood up straight again. "Great, so more Stable-Tec secrets. I thought we were done with those?"

"So did I. Now let us in, we have injured and salvage to unload and I need to debrief the Elder on the op." The new Ranger nodded and look over his shoulder.

A few quiet moments passed while I tried to figure out where the gate in the wall was. They'd hidden it insanely well because it looked like a single solid piece of-

SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

With a titanic shudder the entire block began to rise up out of the ground. I stared in awe as the wall of metal and concrete behind the skybridge slowly climbed higher, causing the ground to shake and the surrounding buildings to hum and groan. When it was a little more than twice Birch's height off the ground it ground to a halt with a loud booming tone followed by a number of sharp clacks. It drooped slightly then steadied. The Rangers waited a few moments then began herding us all forward through the space opened beneath it. As the trailing rangers and the cart filled with plunderwurm armor passed under the wall began falling again until it bounced off the broken ground and stopped. A dozen or more floodlights and chains of ornaments lit up the interior of the courtyard formed by the six towers and walls. Above us at least twenty different catwalks, gantries, and whole or damaged skyways connected the various towers like a spiderweb. Ponies in various levels of armor, from the simple plated and chainmailed jackets of the initiates to the armored hulks of Crusaders and Paladins, looked down on us from them and whispered and muttered among themselves. The center of the courtyard was dominated by a monument, lit by the golden glow of spotlights pointed at it from the ground, made out of welded scrap metal in the shape of a winged sword in front of an apple and gears motif. Another loud clang drew me out of my watching trance in time to see a pair of heavily armored doors swing open at the base of the furthest building from the gate. Out of it stepped a well muscled mare in a long coat followed by two unicorns with close cropped manes and strange red robes. The lead looked at us with the sharpest eyes I'd ever seen, vermillion red that stuck out sharply against the various earthy tones of her coat and mane.

"Paladin Night, welcome back to the Castle. If I remember correctly you were checking out a robot factory. These don't look like robots- okay, most of them don't look like robots," she corrected herself with a quirk of an eyebrow as she spotted Manesworth behind Titan. "Who are the civs?"

Paladin Night opened her helmet and gave a short, deep nod towards the new pony. "Elder Dawn, it's very good to be back. The mission... didn't go as planned. These are the survivors from the Stable below the factory."

Elder Dawn's expression froze into nothing. I had a sudden hunch about where Night had learned her mask expression. "Well, that's a thing. An interesting thing. Thought we were done with Stables and Stable-Tec."

"So I keep hearing from everypony."

"Hmmm. Well, let's get them inside, fed, patched up, and debriefed."

"So, tank borns, insane computer, robot army, and a Bruiser. That sum it up?"

"Yes ma'am, though I want it noted we didn't take out the wurm. Gear Heart did."

"Yes, Gear Heart. I'm impressed with what I've heard," said Elder Dawn as she fixed with with a piercing look and a faint smile. I couldn't understand what was behind it at all. It had been that way ever since Elder Dawn came to "debrief" us on what seemed to be our entire lives after we'd been led through a clinic where Spell and the injured initiates were dropped off and a food court acting as a barracks where we'd all dropped from exhaustion and relief. Titan stayed up and asked Manesworth to help him pass out food and water provided by the Rangers. Sun had plopped down next to me and buried her face into my side, occasionally grunting or groaning or sighing. There was a lot of sighing going around from everyone but me it seemed. We'd rested for an hour, maybe two, hard to tell inside a tower under a sky that never changed. Then Paladin Night and one of the robed unicorns that had been with Elder Dawn came in and asked for to follow them. Sun complained and puckered her lips when I got up. I told her I'd be back soon and gotten a small grunt in reply then followed the two Rangers to an office with Dawn and the red streaked Ranger from the top of the gate. They'd grilled me on our stable and what happened, halfway between a conversation and an interrogation, until we got to the wurm. "Hell of a thing taking out a Bruiser. Those bastards usually need a missile or five. Can you tell us more about this weapon of yours?"

I nodded and said, "Yeah, basic rivet gun with a couple more force talismans to up the power and counter recoil and a big bank of magic generators to keep it powered."

"Force talismans?" asked the the red striped Ranger. "There's a new one. You're sure?"

I frowned at him and replied, "Uh, yeah. Considering we used them for most of our tools. Why?"

"We've got a long catalog of known talismans created by the MWT and MAS and none of them include force talismans. Makes you wonder what else we missed and why something like that only showed up out here," the Ranger, Oak, said with a look at the robed unicorn stallion. "You ever come across anything like that Scribe Arc?"

The robed pony slowly shook his head while looking up in contemplation. "No Paladin, I haven't which is surprising given how simple a concept it is. I will be greatly interested in seeing the item firsthoof, once we can remove the weapon pack from Gear Heart's orthotic without causing damage. This one could have come from either ministry so it might take awhile to locate a source or origin if one exists."

Dawn nodded with an indistinct hum while continuing to watch me. Strangely I didn't feel uncomfortable like I had when others stared at me and whispered... or waved... or smiled... or frowned. Dawn's stare seemed to pass right through me and I was just fine with that. That sadly ended when her eyes flicked just ever so slightly and bored into mine.

"I suppose that simply leaves the matter of how to integrate the survivors into Whinneapolis," said Paladin Oak.

"Hmmmmm... Paladin Night, given what I've heard from your teams and been told directly I believe it would be more beneficial for us to induct these ponies into the Rangers than to secure them shelter in a Burb." All of the other Rangers made a number of noises of surprise at her announcement, particularly the two Paladins. Oak seemed particularly unsettled.

"Elder, we've barely got enough supplies for the Castle as is and you want to add a group of untrained, unknown Stable ponies to the mix?" he asked incredulously.

"No Oak Tower, I want to add a group of technicians, specialists, and at least one honest to Celestia botanist to our mix. I believe they will be most effective here, at the Castle, as Scribes. With one exception," she said, her eyes still trained on me. "Gear Heart, what I have heard tells me that you are an outlier among your group. Steady in the face of danger, quick thinking, resourceful, willing to make the charge into Tartarus when needed, and apparently driven by the need to repair things and find solutions. Your skills as a robot technician would make for an excellent start as a Scribe... but the rest of what you've demonstrated would not be put to best use there and I fear you would not be satisfied in it after awhile."

"While I still have my doubts I'm no longer wholly against this," interjected Paladin Oak Tower - that name definitely meant some kind of tie to Birch. Something to ask about later - while tapping the end of a forehoof on the ground. "But we're going to need more supplies, ongoing, to support the increase. That means the Burbs-"

"I am aware Paladin. My assessment is that it's worth the problems. Particularly for this one," she said as she raised a hoof in my direction. Oak looked at me through his still closed helmet and nodded.

"Hmmmmmm... well I can't argue he's shown he can handle it. I'll induct him into one of the advance cadres, see about fast tracking him to Knight-"

"No Paladin, that is not my intention. That would also be a waste of his talents just as much as the Burbs or the Scribes."

"Then... I'm not following. Elder?"

Everyone in the room was now looking at Elder Dawn with various levels of confusion and curiosity. Myself most of all, simply because I suddenly felt like a fish not just out of water but also rapidly ascending towards the stratosphere.

"Gear Heart."

"Yes Elder? I don't understand-... what is it you want-"

"I want you and the survivors of Stable 63 to join the Steel Ranger contingent here. We always have need of good technicians and don't have the luxury of large initial numbers to work with like the other contingents did. So we've had to take in outside groups and individuals and train them to the levels of Rangers. I want to do the same for you. Give you skills, direction, and purpose."

"Purpose? What, exactly, do you mean by purpose?"

She smiled more visibly. "That's for you to decide and us to supply the means. If you find the right purpose. Paladin Night, Scribe Arc, you are to answer any questions about the Rangers Gear might have or give him direction on who we are if he isn't sure what to ask. Gear, I'd like for you to speak with them, learn and understand who we are, what we do and what we're trying to accomplish. I want to offer you a position apart from the ones we're going to offer your friends, one where I want you to have a better understanding of us before you say yes or no to it."

I swallowed, hard, as sweat began to bead on my forehead. "A-And if I say no?" Rawhide's chuckle hissed in my ears as I stammered the words out.

Elder Dawn nodded and said, "Then you will be released into the Burbs like any others from your group who do not wish to join. We are not a charity and we are not an open organization. We only take in those that can handle the Order and give their ALL to it. You will all be given a small amount of caps to help get you started in this new life as we are in part responsible for bringing you back here. We will fulfill that obligation."

I swallowed as discreetly as I could then had to stifle a cough from how dry my throat had gotten. I thought about all the ponies, all the broken bodies and the press of the makeshift city that had enveloped me as we walked through it. It might have been less terrifying if she'd said they'd shoot me. It would have been so much easier on me, and they could probably do it cleanly too. The Rangers I'd seen were very good at shooting. They went out into the MidWaste all the time to scavenge tech and fought monsters and... and... there was no good answer. "So... I have until tomorrow to make a decision, right?"

"Tomorrow, same time, same place," she confirmed.

She wanted me to think about it, she actually did, I could tell, no eyebrow twitch needed to confirm. But right then, right there, I didn't want to think about any of it. She wanted me to relive everything that had happened over the last day, maybe the last two, I couldn't tell anymore and had no reference to find out. She wanted me to go through all of that again, and then make a decision that was going to decide my life up here. One day. Not a week, not a month, one day and I had to decide what I was going to be up here. Burber or Ranger. Unending mental misery or all too probable death. I think it was telling of my state of mind then that the thought that rose above all the others was So, this is Tuesday in the MidWaste. Hate to see Monday.

"Okay. Sure."

"Go get some rest. When you feel up to it find Paladin Night or Scribe Arc."

My MidWaste curse had to be the inability to keep food down because as soon as Elder Dawn dismissed me to talk with the other Rangers I made a beeline down the hall to the nearest bathroom and puked my guts up- again -into the first toilet I came across. I hadn't been able to keep a meal down for any length of time since before the Overframe was corrupted. It showed in how I slumped over the broken seat and shivered and chattered. I barely had the strength to get back up but somehow I did and made my way back to the food court barracks. Only got lost three times which was fairly impressive given that the route had been anything but straight and I could barely see straight for fatigue.

I was able to fake it long enough to make it back to where Sun was still lying on the floor. Her ear twitched and she mumbled incoherently as I lay back down next to her. A few moments later she lightly headbutted me and stayed there, face pressed into my side. I looked back at her with as good a smirk as I could muster.

"I know it doesn't smell great around here but that can't be much better." She groaned and mumbled something. "Sorry, didn't catch that," I said while poking her cheek.

"I said, shut your snarky mouth and hold still," she muttered out of the corner of her mouth. I chuckled weakly and rubbed her shoulder then lay my head down and passed out.

Morning failed to make itself known to us; only a shift change of Rangers did that. No sunrise, no sunset, no real sense of time. According to Scribe Arc, full name Static Arc, most ponies just adapt to whatever their bodies tell them. That or they never lose sight of a clock, something to ground their sense of time. It was one of the details he filled me in on after I asked a passing Initiate to send me in his direction. I'd found him in a makeshift lab that reminded me of the 63 workshops after a bad spill or malfunction. Lots of clutter and makeshift equipment but I saw the method behind the madness, the inherent organization, after a minute or two. I'd found Arc hunched over a flickering monitor, typing up report after report. When I finally managed to pull him away from it he'd launched into a spiel on Ranger history that beat Birch's "Wasteland 101" for shear mind-numbing by a long shot.

"I know that was a lot to take in, and I will fully admit that I glossed over many of the details due to gaps in the records and the effects of time on memory, but I think you now have a good understanding of where we came from."

I nodded and pondered everything he'd told me; about the ministries, the war effort, Applejack's loss and her drive to prevent it again, the Megaspells and the bunkers, all of it. But that didn't explain everything.

"I, uh, could use some more background on the Castle, the Burbs, everything around. Everything you talked about was a hundred miles or more away."

Scribe Arc blinked then thumped his forehead with a hoof. "Of course, of course, sorry about that. Tend to lose sight when I'm lecturing. Where to begin...hmmmmm... remember what I said about the Rangers operating out of their bunkers? To find and secure the most dangerous and destructive technologies from the Great War?" He waited till I nodded then continued. "Well, the other contingents had an advantage we didn't: numbers. We never had a large presence out here before the Spells, just a small group of twenty based in a fortified, unground police station not too far from where we stand now. Something of a fast and heavy reaction force in case the Zebras or their sympathizers attempted sabotage or a coup on the farms or distribution network. We lost a quarter of those; out on patrol when the first Megaspell hit. We didn't get many of them and they were lower yield and less exotic than some of the ones we knew about. But that was almost more of a curse really. We had more radiation, more poison, more lasting damage. That squad of five never made it back. Fifteen Rangers barely in contact with the rest of the military as the world ended."

"How did that become this?" I asked in complete confusion. There was no way fifteen individuals created everything I'd seen or even laid the groundwork for it, not in the middle of Armageddon.

Scribe Arc chuckled and shook his head with an expression of wonder. "Sheer single minded determination and vision. Our first Elder, Elder Booming Barrage, realized that their group wasn't going to be able to follow the plan the other contingents made and didn't have the means to request aid. You see, we can pick up signals from the heartland, barely, but don't have the means to send a signal strong enough to reach back. We're probably listed as a lost force there-"

"About the beginning..." I interjected.

"Hmm?" Scribe Arc said as he adjusted his large rimmed glasses. "Oh! Shoot, I did it again. Sorry, sorry. Elder Barrage realized we wouldn't have the numbers to continue on and secure the Midwest, soon to be the MidWaste, unless we bolstered our numbers. So he made the bold decision to uproot and move as much equipment and defense stocks as they could into the heart of the city, to the old Skyway Center plaza where you stand now."

"Skyway Center?"

"A towering business district based around agriculture. Whinneapolis was the hub of a region-wide transportation network that was managed through this center and-"

"Scribe Arc."

"Oh dammit, again? One of these days I'll stay on track for more than a minute," he said in frustration as he slapped his cheeks lightly for focus. He glasses went flying off as he pushed his hooves in one last time, forcing him to make a panicked scramble to catch them, bouncing them back and forth in his hooves till finally he was able to concentrate and catch them with his magic. He put them back on with an air of forced calm and carried on as if nothing had happened, "Barrage and the other fourteen Rangers secured the center fortified it and sealed it against the worst of the Wastes, and then waited. Soon, survivors began turning up, seeking shelter, food, and water. Barrage let in the strongest and most skilled and allowed the others to camp outside for shelter and protection. He trained the ones he let in then sent them out under the supervision of one of the fourteen Paladins and Knights to find more water, more food, and to begin securing the Ministry technologies. It worked... though perhaps too well. More and more crowded around the compound as the months and then years went by. Fortifications went up higher and higher as the crowds grew more desperate having to split what the squads brought back thinner and thinner among themselves. After a particularly loud riot outside the fort Elder Barrage devised a carrot and stick solution. The Rangers would provide the means for the ponies outside to supply themselves and continue to aid in that supply as long as all advanced technology was handed over and the Rangers were allowed to recruit from the populace... or the squads would stop venturing out to bring back supplies. At that point the Castle had more than enough to last a protracted siege and everypony knew it. So both sides agreed to work together and here we are today. The Burbs continue to grow, the Rangers continue to search the Wastes with new recruits, and both sides are the stronger for it."

He... he hadn't taken a single breath in that entire monologue. Not a one. He and Spell must have had a common descendant with the lung capacity of a whale. I shook my head and went over everything he'd said.

"That... does explain everything that I've seen. Not sure why Elder Dawn thought I needed to know all that though..."

"If I might?" the Scribe inquired. I nodded and he pointed towards a group of empty seats. He waited till I was seated then took one for himself and began tapping his hooves together. "I can think of a good reason among all the possible ones; She wants you to know that we were never raiders or tyrants. We helped to the best of our ability and defended our ability to do so whenever threatened. Without us the city and the Burbs would not last, not without our expertise and forces." He looked up and smiled. "And speaking of forces. It's good to see you again Paladin. I was wondering when you'd arrive."

"Scribe Arc, I take it that means you're done?"

I looked over my shoulder as an un-helmeted Paladin Night stepped into the lab and closed the door behind her. She turned out to have an even more severe beauty than I'd originally thought. The silver toned lavender and dark purple eyes were the same but her short mane was also almost pure silver instead of the hint like her coat. A few small scars that I'd missed previously crossed her cheeks and neck, none of them particularly large. Just small partings in her coat that said she'd been in many, many fights and come out nearly unscathed.

"Indeed. I was just telling Gear that I believe the Elder wants him to know we're not monsters and never have been."

Night looked at him thoughtfully with her mask then turned to me. "Then I suppose it's my turn. You've done who we are so I guess that means where we're going is up to me. Gear, do you need to eat or take a break?"

"No Paladin, I'm good." Complete and total lie. I was starving and my mouth was a desert. But I wasn't about to chance annoying her. Last time I did that I got punched into a wall. I doubted she'd do that again over something small, she only seemed to get that upset over Stable-Tec for some reason, but I wasn't willing to test that theory just yet.

"Hmmmm... walk with me." She immediately took off, not waiting for me in the slightest. I had to practically jog to catch up to her halfway down the hallway outside the lab. "There's something I'd like you to see," she said without looking at me as I came to a jarring stop next to her. My brace whined and twanged as the springs took the force as best they could. I'd been thinking of some ways to improve it but I'd have to get it off first to get a better look at it. First off I would-

"Gear?"

"Hmm? Oh! Sorry Paladin! I was thinking about ways to, uh, improve my leg brace. Till I can walk without it I mean."

She glanced at me and broke her mask by adding a smile smile to it. "Do not apologize for your ingenuity. It kept your fellow ponies alive didn't it?" I nodded glumly to her question. The last thing I wanted to think about how I'd saved them. My dreams had... not been pleasant last night. Lots of red and fire... and screams. Whirring, metallic screeches and animal screams. I didn't know how I'd slept through them but I had.

"It wasn't enough. No one would have survived if you hadn't been there."

"And none of us would have survived the worm without your rivet gun," she said, stopping to poke my shoulder with an armored hoof. "You saved not only your group but ours as well. You may not see it that way but it is Celestia's honest truth. I believe that is why the Elder decided you warranted something different than the usual paths available to outside initiates."

"Any idea what it is?"

She narrowed her eyes and looked me over once more. Apparently I was the most interesting thing in the Wastes because everyone seemed to want to look at me closer than I'd ever wanted. She might have noticed because she looked away almost immediately with a shake of her head. "No, I don't. But I do know from talking with her after you left last night that she wanted me to show you something in particular. So we'd better get moving if you're going to see it in time to meet the Elder again. She is not somepony you want to be late to a meeting with."

So, Paladin Night, she of the iron hoof and unknown temperament, was scared of the Elder... OH MERCIFUL LUNA. With that thought at the front of the line I did everything I could except push to hurry Night. To anyone watching us it probably would have seemed as if I was leading her. That didn't last long as we soon began climbing one broken set of stairs after another, sometimes having to cross between buildings to go higher when we encountered a collapsed stairwell. I might have grown up in a vertically oriented environment but we'd used ramps. Gentle, mild ramps. These stairs were not gentle or mild. These were MidWaste stairs, full of sharp pointy bits and deadly pits. I knew it had nothing to do with the location really but they just fit the place too well. Finally, as my heart was nearing its end, we came to a doorway that whistled and groaned. Night placed both a hoove on it while turning the handle and even in her armor she was pushed back by the force of it opening. Cold, biting wind flooded into the stairwell around us, shrieking in the confines of the tower. It felt like it cut to my bones instantly.

"I really wish we'd put a spring on this door or something..." she muttered. "Well, we're here." She gestured out the door then put out a hoof to help pull and push me through it. I had to squeeze my eyes together until I was well past the door and the flow whipping through it. When I opened them again I saw-

"Uh-" I stuttered until the air slowly leaked out of my lungs. There weren't words for me to use. None that captured the full extent of what lay before me. We were at the top of the tallest of the six towers, a balcony dominated by weather equipment in various states of repair. I would have been fascinated by that if it weren't for the view. Laid out before me was the MidWaste. All of it. Or at least all that could be seen. The far reaches became hazier and hazier behind the constant pall of dust sweeping over the plains. Here and there the shadows of towering silos, most skeletal and tilting over, could be seen through the haze briefly before disappearing again. Around them smaller townships or what used to be towns dotted the broken land. The haze blurred into the sky and swept back over us in a sheet of grey cloud edged with green. No matter which way I looked it was all the same. As I turned I noticed a long, darker line stretching away into the distance towards an expanse of rolling hills that gave way to dark mountains easily seen even through the thickest haze. The line seemed familiar. The road. The road from my home. I traced it out to its furthest extent but couldn't see any sign of where my lost home might be. I slowly followed it back, trying to see where we'd almost been killed again. But even the titanic worm and the destruction it caused weren't visible against the sheer scale of the Waste. I kept following the line back until-

"OH SHIT," I hissed as I backed away from the edge of the tower I'd been unconsciously creeping towards. The balcony was ringed by safety bars to prevent anyone slipping over to their deaths but that gave me little comfort from the overpowering vertigo. The tower had to be four or five times higher than 63 if not more. But I'd also caught a glimpse of something else, something that drew me back to the edge. Steeling myself with a long exhale I slowly peered out and over and inhaled sharply. Where the rest of the MidWaste was painted with a pallet of greys, browns, and metallic silver the city below was a wash of every color imaginable. Neon signs cast brilliant glows over the buildings around them while merchant stalls were decked out in swaths of carpet, fabric, and whatever else could be found to stretch between four poles. It made for a brilliant tapestry of life in contrast to the grave outside it.

"Whinneapolis proper extends out to the dry river bed you see circling around while outside that are the Burbs: Whinnetonka, Bronclyn Park, and St. Poll," Night said as she stepped up next to me and looked around. "It is a... compelling view. Civilization, pushing back the dark bit by bit. We can't let it fall again. I doubt the world will heal to what is was before and doubt way more it could survive another Great War ending, especially right now. That is why we have to find all of the tools, all the weapons, all the secrets that the Ministries made before the end. To make sure that none of them are used to finally end the world for good. That is why the Rangers exist. To protect the world from its past and to ensure it still has a future."

Something about the tone of her voice gave me pause. I turned to face her and my jaw nearly dropped in shock. She looked nervous. Paladin Night was nervous. She was looking this way and that as if she expected it to all disappear at any moment. I turned and watched the streets below, the ponies moving through them as safe from the MidWaste as was likely possible, and the plains beyond the walls of the Burbs where small dots moving slowly down the barely visible rows of shriveled crops gave any hint to the farming required to support the city. Beyond that was the hazy expanse of dust and darkness. A flash of lightning far of in the distance backlit the titanic rusting silos and the smaller farmhouses again and I realized why Night was so nervous. This was not the city from before the war with its plentiful crops and water. The whole of this city and its population teetered on a knife edge. If the crops failed or were destroyed everyone would starve. Same if they ran out of water, though I couldn't see any visible source for where it was coming from. Or something entirely alien and murderous like the Plunderwurm could come barreling out of that haze and begin wrecking everything in its path. If it caused enough damage it would be as bad as the other options and potentially worse. It was truly a barely held together scrap, ready to be broken apart at the slightest tap.

"You understand, don't you?" I looked at Night and our eyes met and held for a long, breathless moment. I nodded and looked back at the city around us.

"It works, but only just. It would be so easy to break it."

Night nodded. "And even some of the more benign technologies out there could do that. The worst would flatten the entire plain without a trace." We both stood there for a while, watching the clouds swirl overhead and listening to the muted sounds of the city below.

"I know what I'm going to tell Elder Dawn," I said at length. Night gave a single nod then turned to lead the way back down the tower.

We both stepped into the office to find Paladin Oak, Scribe Arc, and Elder Dawn already waiting in silence. Night stepped forward to stand by the Elder's side as she watched me over the top of her desk.

"Welcome back Gear Heart. Scribe Arc tells me you probably know more of our history than many Knights do, though I'll leave it to him to quiz you later to find out how much of it stuck," she said with a smile that never quite reached her piercing gaze. I better understood where that intensity was coming from and didn't feel the need to hide from it. Instead I bowed my head slightly in agreement then stood up as straight as I could. The Elder's eyebrow arched a little and she she clasped her hooves together in front of her.

"I take it that means you've made a decision?"

"I have."

"Good, I would have been disappointed if you'd still been undecided or hesitant. Now to see if you've made the right decision for the right reason..." she said softly. Her following words were filled with more authority and steel. "Tell me what you discovered today. What informed your decision. Don't tell me what it is, just how you came to it."

I inhaled and steadied myself. "I found a city built from rubble, civilization pushing back against death and the past, growing and pushing further out. But it's very weak too. I think you could maybe lose one of the larger farms and then after that ponies would be rioting over food. I have no idea where it gets its water without the river but it's probably draining that dry. It's held together with string and tape. I've repaired things like that and the problem is you always need more string and more tape."

Elder Dawn was clearly pleased with my answer. "I see you're more perceptive than I might have given you credit for and that's saying something because I believed you were sharp after we first met. So tell me how you would repair this?"

"Same way I would repair things back in sixty three. The right way. Remove broken components, shore up bond locations and replace faulty hardware. Make it good as new again."

Paladin Oak shook his head and I could almost see the skeptical gaze behind his helmet. "If only it were that simple. You're applying a technician's manual to a city. But there are ponies with other interests and competing needs out there. You can't just tell them to fix things and expect anything to change.That's not how things work-"

"It is if you can see where the faults are," I said, cutting him off. He stiffened and twitched with visible annoyance, ready to say something terse in reply undoubtedly. Elder Dawn beat him to the punch.

"So you're saying... what? The city needs to be repaired?" Again that arched eyebrow and its implied test.

"No, I'm saying it needs to be fixed. All of it."

"All of it?"

"Everything. We have to fix the MidWaste or else it will eventually kill the city." Silence dominated after that statement of fact.

"Excuse me, fix the MidWaste?" Oak snorted derisively. "Do you know how many ponies claim they can 'fix' the MidWaste with some plan? It's a lot. For most of them that plan boils down to 'I need to be in charge with everyone doing what I say and catering to my every crazed and selfish whim'. For the rest it boils down to just being crazy, usually of the cultist or mad scientist vibe. Let me tell you something Gear Heart. It can't be fixed. It can only be survived and beaten back."

"Except that won't work," I said as calmly as I could.

"Oh, and why is that?"

"Because it killed Sixty Three," I replied. He tilted his head in confusion and glanced at the others. Elder Dawn motioned for me to go on. "Sixty Three was stable, healthy, and secure. We hadn't had to open the door once since it was closed and hadn't had a single real emergency. We were even less open to the Wastes than you are here. And it still found its way in and killed us. It will keep doing that until the MidWaste doesn't exist anymore. It has to be fixed or eventually it's going to destroy this city and every other than follows after. As long as you have to fight the land you live on? You aren't actually living on it, you're hoping it ignores you and doesn't fight back."

Scribe Arc was looking very uncomfortable at this point while Night seemed to be pleased with what I was saying. Or at least that's what I took her lopsided grin to mean. Oak wasn't looking at me now, only at Elder Dawn to see her reaction. She hadn't twitched a muscle in my whole explanation.

"How would you fix it?" she asked.

"The Rangers have the right idea. Find any technology capable of upsetting the balance of the city or destroying it outright and lock it up or destroy it in turn. That has to be done first or else we're going to have a gun pointed at our heads forever, just like the one that put a bullet in Sixty Three. Then we have to find some way to reverse what's been done. We have to make the land livable, everywhere."

"And if no such means exists?"

"Then we have to make one, whatever it takes."

"This is-" Oak began angrily. The sharp sound of clapping stopped him as Elder Dawn sat back in her seat and brought her hooves together.

"Gear Heart, you continue to impress. I Saw the drive in you, the dissatisfaction with what you saw around you, from the moment I laid eyes on you. The rest of your party were terrified, alarmed, and dislocated, adrift even. You just looked aggravated and annoyed, and not at the ponies around you or the threats you faced. No, you were annoyed with the MidWaste itself. But I didn't not expect this level of... energy and commitment. I don't think I have to ask but I will anyway. Will you accept the position I offered?"

"Yes," I answered with determination. The Rangers were doing the right thing to prevent the Waste and it's threats, beast and pony alike, from having the means to easily destroy everything again. I would join them if it meant I could stop another Sixty Three from happening, stop the Waste tearing into the safe places left in the world. I would find a way to make the land bloom again so that everyone could live. So Sun could tend a garden under a real sky and real sunlight. Whatever it took to make that happen.

"Excellent," Elder Dawn said as she stepped around the front of the desk, stopping face to face with me. "Scribe Arc, could you do me a favor and tell me what the ranks of the Rangers are?"

Scribe Arc shook his head in surprise. "Oh, uh, well there are the Initiates, the Scribes, the Knights, the Paladins, the Star-Paladins, and the Elders."

Elder Dawn smirked without looking away from me said, "You've forgotten one."

Arc looked at the Paladins who shrugged. "I-I have?"

"An old rank outside the normal orders for specialists better suited to working on their own. Created back during the Great War when it became clear that ponies were failing to secure information that could harm the Rangers or turning traitor and deliberately giving it to the Zebra. The Rangers required a dedicated and specialized force to track down these examples of our technology and secure them with force if needed before they could be used against us. Exactly what Gear Heart has proposed to do."

Scribe Arc looked at the floor in concentration, mumbling to himself. Suddenly his eyes shot open and sprang up to stare at the Elder. "Elder, do you mean-"

"Yes, I do Scribe Arc. Gear Heart, I hereby induct you into the Steel Rangers as the first Inquisitor of the order in two centuries. Scour the MidWaste, leave no stone unturned, no door unopened, no crevice unsearched, until you find the means to secure the Rangers and the city we protect against all threats and return our land to what it once was."

* * * * * * * * *

Level Up
New Perk: Clear View. You have seen more than most and can see your path from here. Your Perception Increases by 1.

Author's Note

Well this was a beast of a chapter. Went pretty fast thankfully. Hope you all enjoy! Things are about to start kicking off fast.