~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Under the bright warm sunlight shining down on an Equestrian military training outpost, Gearing is led up to a modified obstacle course by a sergeant as they speak about what the course is all about. He has the typical trainee uniform on, and the illusion that has been put on him to cover up his shiny metallic pelt is at least passing even if it does seem ‘just a bit off’ to most ponies if they stare at him long enough. He is paying attention to them as they walk, but none of what they are saying seems particularly interesting nor important to him at the moment. So Gearing is already mostly mentally checked out from the conversation as he goes over various plans in his head. Gearing suddenly comes to a stop and his head zips over towards the left where he sees a familiar cyan pegasus walk up in her sleek black insectoid like Shadowbolt armor. Sans helmet.

Gearing turns to her, gives a quick salute, and grins as he asks, “Commander! Good to see you. I wasn’t aware you’d be here for this exercise?”

Rainbow Dash directs her attention to him from the post commander, a two star general she’d been walking with, and nods her head as she smirks. “I told you I’d be keeping tabs on how you’re progressing. This was one that I particularly wanted to see myself.”

Gearing stands up straight and bobs his head. “Ma’am! I’ll do my best to not let you down!”

Dash grins as she looks sideways at the general standing next to her. “I certainly hope not… We’ve got a little bit of a wager going on to see how well you do.”

The post commander scowls at her and raises a hoof. “Hey, no giving the details… We’re not going to really find anything out if you are using your fame to alter the results.”

Dash waves it off with a roll of her eyes as well. “Oh please, I want to see him complete the mission as quickly as he can. And a little competition always helps stoke the fires.” And with that snap response the four walk the rest of the way to today’s challenge where others are already standing at attention and waiting for their turn to shine under the roof of an oversized gazebo.

The group of seven other trainees stand by as the major in charge of the course goes over the entire route, showing them the various obstacles that they have to go over, through, or figure out to get to their objective, using a simple spell to create the images in the air in front of all of them as she talks.

Just beyond the wooden gazebo roof where everyone’s standing is a set of tires laid out on the ground that provides the first obstacle. With the obvious intention being for ponies to run through it without getting tripped up. The next is a set of barbed wire in a mesh over a mud pit that the recruit crawls under and along the length, until getting to the far side of the pit to start jumping hurdles. The various sections on the course get more complicated as the marked path goes from one set to another as it curves all the way around in a circle, to the other side of a wooden wall behind the group and next to the gazebo. The major walks around the wall, and comes back with a metal brief case as she holds it aloft with their telekinetic field.

“So, once through all of that, grab the briefcase, then get back here and hit the buzzer again. Once you hit the buzzer, that will mark the end time of your run… Any questions?”

Gearing looks at the others, and none of them seem to be speaking up, so he raises a hoof himself and the major points at him. “Go ahead recruit, what’s your question?”

Gearing looks out at the other members of the squad set to go through the trial and asks, “Sorry, this is my first time going through this…” but before he can articulate his concerns, the major speaks up.

The major, anticipating a common set of questions, nods and points over toward the side as she says, “Not a problem, you can go last so the others can show you how it’s done. Anything else?”

Gearing tilts his head as he asks, “Just to make sure I understand the mission’s objectives…” He points over to the big red button on the steel girder sticking out of the ground and says, “Start by pressing the button…” He points at the suitcase the major is carrying in her levitation field and adds, “Get the suitcase as fast as I possibly can…” He points over at the button again. “And the exercise ends when I hit the button a second time, with the briefcase in my possession? Did I understand that correctly?”

The major nods. “That’s correct, recruit.”

“Whoa, hey!” the general yells above them all. She points a hoof at Gearing, then at Dash and says with an accusational tone, “He’s the only flier of the entire group! None of that flying nonsense. That’d be an unfair advantage!”

The major nods agreement and she looks at Gearing. “You heard the general. No flying… In fact… Don’t use your wings at all… No flying, no gliding, no using them to pull yourself along faster… Nothing. Do so and you’ll be disqualified and have to start all over again.”

Gearing frowns and tilts his head as he repeats, “So, hit the button, grab the case, hit the button again, but without using my wings to get me through any of the obstacles?”

The major nods. “That’s correct…” She looks around at the others and asks, “Any other questions?” After a few minutes of silence she points at the gray buck on the far right of the formation. “Grayhoof, you’re up first, the rest of you fall in line as he comes back and get ready for your turn.” She looks them over and puffs up a bit as she says, “Now, remember, we have both the post commander and the Ministry Mare Rainbow Dash here to observe your progress… do not disappoint me.” The tone of her voice as she finishes has a very clear final note of her meaning being ‘or you’ll regret it’.

All of them walk over to the banister and watch the gray buck walk over to the starting line and rear back and stretch as he rocks and gets ready to go. He actually takes a few steps back, and gets a running start, slapping the button with a hind hoof and actually using it to propel himself just that much further before his time really gets started and it doesn't take long before he is swimming through mucky dirty water and running through the obstacle course.

Gearing watches with interest, as one after another the other members of the group take their turn on the obstacle course. After the third pony has already started he walks away from the banister and paces back and forth between the button and the wooden wall on the right side that separates the two rooms. The general looks over at him with disdain as he seems to have completely lost interest in the entire process. As he actually walks back out into the grass not far away from the gazebo he watches one of the trainees run up, grab the suitcase, and turn around to go back through the obstacle course. A little later they show up on the other side, hit the button, and pass the suitcase off to the major as she’s congratulated on her new high score.

The major, as dutifully as ever, walks around the wooden wall, and sets the metal briefcase onto a wooden spindle that’s been overturned and is currently being used as an improvised table for this exercise.

Gearing watches the last few trainees do the exact same exercise, and as the last in line before him starts returning he starts walking back under the gazebo roof where the others are gathered.

The post commander looks at him with a grin and asks, “What? Finally decided to come back and look at what you were supposed to be doing? Or are you going to give up before you even started?”

Gearing looks at her in the face and says flatly, “I was just taking in where my objective was located… And in case you weren’t paying attention… it’s my turn now, General.”

She instantly scowls and Dash doesn’t even try to hide her own outburst of laughter.

Gearing walks over to the area where the button is and looks at the other muddy squadmates to see where they are.

“Today, soldier, we don’t have all day you know!” the general shouts with a scowl.

“Right,” Gearing says before he slaps the button. He looks up towards the rafter and watches as the little red lights on the simple display take on the shape of numbers counting down and he turns towards the other recruits and starts running. Straight at them. Causing all seven of them to have their eyes bug out at the sudden stampede directed at them.

As they are jumping out of the way, the general starts laughing and sits down as she points a hoof at him. “I hope you’re not planning on using him for navigation!”

The major yells as he’s passing her. “Whoa there! You’re going the wrong-”

She’s silenced, and indeed has to duck down and jump for cover, as do the others in attendance, as Gearing takes a running start toward the wooden wall, and jumps right towards it. But that’s not what causes them to hit the deck in fear of personal harm. The shards of wood that go flying in various directions as he goes hooves first through the wall, on the other hoof, is an entirely justified reason for their fear. Except for Rainbow Dash. She remains standing and simply rocks side to side as she dodges the fragments and only has to use her suit’s scorpion like tail one time to bat away an incoming shard that would have hit her in her face. She wanted to see what he could do, and has no intention of missing such a perfect opportunity to see one of her pet projects in action, so she’ll happily risk a new scar to keep her eyes on him.

The wall practically explodes as the small pegasus plows right through it with such inertia that he seems like he’s barely slowed down by the two by fours and plywood that make up the wall separating the two sides of the gazebo. He lands on the other side of the wall, tumbles with the fall, and spills over the wooden spindle, taking the spindle with him and launching it a distance into the training area, as he spins around and jumps back through the hole he made with the briefcase handle held firmly in his teeth. He comes through, almost like he’s flying, with his forehooves outstretched, but his wings are held firmly at his sides. He touches down with his forehooves on the ground, among the other trainees, just long enough for his hind legs to catch up and propel him the rest of the way to his destination. He slams into the pillar where the button is located, causing an ear shattering clang to echo out as the large I-beam actually dents from the impact. But, simultaneously he slams his forehoof onto the button, stopping the timer with a screech as it breaks under his not so gentle touch.

Gearing slides off of the I-beam, and holds the suitcase aloft with a forehoof as he looks up at the scoreboard, with the number flashing in the first placed position. “Seven seconds… how’s that?”

The major lifts herself up off the floor and doesn’t even bother dusting herself off before screaming out, “What the hell was that!?”

Gearing looks at her, then shakes the briefcase at her. “My mission parameters were to retrieve the briefcase as quickly as possible, without using my wings, with the starting and ending position being indicated by the button.” He taps on the sparking button with the briefcase as he grins at her. “Soooo… mission accomplished?”

The general points at Gearing and screams, “That’s cheating! You’re not allowed to do that!”

Dash leans over, with a massive grin on her muzzle, as she wiggles her eyebrows at her. “Actually… you never said he couldn’t do that.” She waves it away with a hoof and gives her a smug grin. “He explicitly asked the parameters, twice.” She looks over at the major and grins even wider as she waves her own fabric covered wings at her. “And he didn’t use his wings either…”

The general holds her forehooves to her cheeks before throwing them out at the still falling pieces of wood around the gazebo. “He fucking wrecked the place!”

Dash waves it away again and smirks. “Eh… it’s nothing to worry about, it can be fixed.” She hops in the air and flutters around as she giggles. “He still won…” She lands by sitting down hard and rubs her forehooves together greedily as she licks her lips and looks at the general. “So, about my prize!?”

The general scowls and points a hoof at the hole in the wall. “We’re not even going to talk about that until we sort out how this is going to get fixed!”

Dash looks at her and scrunches up her muzzle a bit before she looks over at the offending pegasus in question. “Gearing… you know anything about woodworking?”

Gearing shrugs. “No. Not really.”

“Think you can have this fixed for me by tomorrow?”

Gearing drops the briefcase and starts walking away from the gazebo as he says, “Ma’am, yes ma’am… I just gotta stop by the quartermaster and get a few supplies. Maybe some nails and wonder glue… and grab a book on carpentry. I’ll get right on it, ma’am.”

Dash gives a firm nod and shoos him away with an armored hoof daintily. “You do that… I’ll check back tomorrow to make sure it’s done correctly.”

Gearing spins around and salutes her as he says, “Yes, ma’am. Right away, ma’am, Rainbow Dash, ma’am.” Then he actually flies off towards the quartermaster’s office.

Dash turns around with a grin at the general and asks, “Soooo… about my prize? Now that that’s been settled?”

The general waves a hoof in the general direction where Gearing just disappeared too. “You can’t really expect me to believe that greenhorn, who just admitted he doesn’t know squat about what he’s doing, will have that fixed in the morning!”

Dash nods. “You’re right, he’ll probably have it done tonight.”

The general limply hangs her forehoof as she asks with an eyebrow raised, “How can you be so confident in him like that?”

Dash leans towards her and smiles as she points towards the hole in the wall. “Because, so far, he’s proven that he’s able to get whatever mission or task assigned to him done far quicker than most even think about it. He’s already devoted and goal oriented, and I can’t wait to see what he's really capable of after getting some proper training.”

One of the recruits, still cowering on the floor, looks up at Rainbow Dash and asks, “Ma’am, how’d he blast through that wall like that? I didn’t see him discharge any weapons, ma’am. I didn’t see him even carrying any weapons.”

Dash, the general, and the major, all, simultaneously, look at her and say flatly, “That’s classified.”

She looks between them and then lets out a sigh as she covers her face with her forehooves, “Little creep blew my record out of the water…”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gearing can’t help thinking back to the earliest months of his training during the war. When things were undefined for him and tasks were just vague enough to get away with things. And, to be perfectly honest with himself, he knows he actually preferred it that way. Just vague enough to work. No malicious compliance required. Most of the time anyway. His little habit of making sure to win had grown him quite a few fans. Especially Rainbow Dash, who happened to love his little motto he’d quote to her when given hard to impossible tasks and how he planned to succeed.

‘Win, cheat if you have to,’ the little blue pegasus in his head parrots his past thoughts happily.

‘Kinda gets hard not to at a certain point,’ the little golden pegasus in Gearing’s head admits.

‘It’s why we’re banned from card games,’ the little blue pegasus says with a giggle and a shrug.

Speaking of, it’s time to finish up this little game of hide and seek, Gearing mentally replies to his head companions.

Locke was not prepared for Gearing to hop over, grab him, and take off with him. The speed at which they ascended made Locke dizzy and he quickly clamped down onto Gearing’s forelegs. It was a strange sense for him. Like falling, but in reverse. But, after a few moments, and when he managed to finally stop screaming, he actually started enjoying it.

Locke stretches out his neck and leans into the breeze coming from Gearing flying as he takes in the air.

“Enjoying the trip?” Gearing asks with more than a bit of amusement in his voice.

“Things look so much different from up here… like… smaller… It’s weird…”

Gearing nods. “Yeah, really gives you a new perspective on things, doesn’t it?”

“Plus the breeze is nice. And it’s without getting sand thrown in your face. So that’s something I wouldn't mind more often either.”

“Yeah, but that didn’t use to be a problem outside of the Badlands and a few other natural deserts. Now you can’t really look anywhere without there being some kinda dusty disaster…”

Locke nods and he looks where they are heading as he asks, “So we just skipping everything else and going straight to Megamac?”

Gearing starts cutting altitude as he replies, “I want to check in with Pile Driver and the others. Things need to get sorted out so we can clean up the mess. You were right about them just going and doing their own thing. But that just means they’re desperate, and desperate ponies with no morals can do some really fucked up things. So I’m going to try and make sure others know about them. They’ve had enough troubles with raiders around here without adding even more to them.”

Gearing comes down and lands not far from the front gate, and slowly looks over the entrance. The small bunkers that had been made when that last group of raiders got full of themselves are still standing. And, Gearing notices, there’s even a few fresher pock marks in them. But, even so, the guards are on duty and they seem rather relaxed as they are standing out and in the open again.

Which, to Gearing, is a good sign as it means they aren’t under constant torment anymore. At least not in the day.

Gearing drops Locke onto the ground and flutters closer to the gates before he lands. He waves a wing as he grins. “Hey, Pile Driver, looking good! How’s it going? I see you’re back on your hooves.”

Pile Driver starts walking forward as he says, “Well if it isn’t Fi-,” he looks around and then smirks, “You!… Hey… How are you doing? Iron Hoof not with you today?”

Gearing shakes his head. “No. We ran into a problem. Some dumb asses thought shooting her husband was a good idea, so we’re dealing with that.”

Pile Driver’s eyes go wide before he asks, “Iron Hoof’s husband!? Is he okay?”

Gearing frowns as he says, “He was in rough shape. But we managed to get him to where he can get treatment in time. I left them there while I went hunting. Speaking of which, have you had anyone coming through wearing coveralls that are all dusty and dirty? Or smell like machinery that’s let its oil get burnt? More fidgety and nervous than normal? Possibly watching the sky a lot? Today I mean?”

Pile Driver raises his head and rubs his chin with a forehoof as he thinks about it. “I don’t think so. I’ve been here all day too. I remember a couple like that coming by before over this past week, but nopony like that’s been here today.”

Gearing nods and points towards the door. “Well, I’ll run inside real quick, talk to the folks at Crater Side, and see if anyone’s got any leads for me. We’re really looking to take these fuckers down.” He snorts and looks off to the side. “Got the bigger fish, but the smaller rats ran off.”

Locke steps up next to Gearing and points at Pile Driver. “Is this the buck you wanted me to talk to?”

Gearing nods and waves between the two. “Pile Driver, this is Locke. Locke, this is Pile Driver, he’s in charge of security around here. Tell him everything you know about the gang and we’ll figure out where to go from there.” He looks at Pile Driver and nods back inside. “You’re probably going to want to do that inside, it’s going to be a bit. And might help explain some things with any caravans you’ve had go missing.”

Pile Driver snarls and turns around as he waves at the others. “Open the damn door. We’re going in.” As the large gate’s opening he looks at Locke. “Come on. We’ll talk in my office. And anything we can confirm, we’ll pay you for the information.”

Locke looks between them for a moment before nodding and starting to head into Megamac.

Gearing grabs Pile Driver’s shoulder and pulls him just a bit with his wing. After Pile Driver is looking at him, Gearing says quietly, “He was working for them for a bit. I’m pretty sure he just got suckered into it, and was a practical -if not literal- slave. Hell, a couple from the crew that managed to get away stopped long enough to try and rob him on the way here… So I’m pretty sure that’s what’s going on. So keep that in mind when he tells you everything he knows, okay?”

Pile Driver nods as he looks around. “I hear ya. I won’t just give him the raider treatment. Thanks.”

Gearing heads inside and while those two head off towards Pile Driver’s office, Gearing takes flight again and flies straight to Crater Side tavern.

Gearing flies over the central ring where he can see, from the dried blood in the dirt, that a few bouts have been fought recently. And while trying to ignore that ridiculousness, Gearing heads to the doors for the tavern next to it. He walks straight in through the double wooden doors, and then turns over to the bar counter. It being this time of day, it’s not nearly as busy as it would be at night. Most ponies are more active during the day, using the daylight hours to get their business taken care of before trying to relax at night, after all.

A fact that history buffs will point out is one of the main reasons Luna got so jealous and shitty to the point of turning into a literal monster: Nightmare Moon.

The few patrons that are in the tavern seem more busy and interested in trying to eat their meals and drink their drinks than paying attention to who comes in through the door. And as Gearing gets to the counter, the waitress comes from the far end and asks, without even really looking up, “What can I get ya for?”

Gearing looks around the tavern tables before asking, “I’m looking for some ponies. They tend to wear uniforms from a factory. Noticeable from the coal soot, metal fragments, and oily stench that you can’t cover up. Sorta a grayish blue… Probably were just blue until all of the dirt and grime and color fading…”

The mare lets out a sigh as she’s organizing some glasses under the counter. “Uh huh… And what’d these folks do? I doubt friends of yours judging by how you're describing them.” A moment later she mutters, “Would be nice if ponies ordered before demanding information…”

Gearing keeps staring at her for a few moments, waiting for her to look up, before he says, “They’re part of a gang that’s been targeting caravans. And they just shot Iron Hoof’s husband, so we’re tracking them down…”

The mare’s head jumps up and asks with her jaw hanging open. “They shot Handy?!”

The bar comes to a dead silence as those that had been eating also suddenly turn to look at the outburst.

Gearing nods. “Yeah. And, he’s not good. But, he’s doing better than the assholes we got a hold of so far. We’re just trying to track down the rest of them… Probably a dozen or less left…”

The mare blinks a few times as she tries to focus on Gearing, but her eyes keep jumping to the side as she sees another buck walking up. “I- I’m sorry. I haven’t seen anypony like that lately. Ummm I think a group came in here like a week… Maybe two weeks ago? They were recruiting for some kind of salvage operation, but … I don’t think they’re the same folks you’re looking for?” She ends with a questioning tone as she seems far more willing to help now that she understands the situation better.

Gearing nods as he says, “Yeah, that’s them. The salvage operation was just a front. They’d been hitting caravans too.”

The mare scowls as she looks around. “Well, fuck! I hope you get them all.” She starts tapping on the counter with her forehooves, and then starts tapping on the side of her head. “Think think think… no… That’s it… That’s all I can think of… Their stink did kinda stick out… That and that sweet talking buck that seemed to be in charge of them… But, I haven’t seen them since then.” She drops her hooves and frowns. “I’m sorry.”

Gearing shakes his head and says, “That’s okay, I’ll keep looking and asking around. We really need to deal with them.” He motions towards the front. “Pile Driver’s already in the process of getting more information from a witness. If you see any of them, send someone to inform the guards. Those ponies are as cutthroat as they come and I wouldn’t put anything past them. Okay? Don’t confront them unless you’re going to just blow their head off and ask questions later.”

The mare grins as her horn glows. A massive shotgun comes from behind the counter as she looks at Gearing. “Oh, I can do that. Anypony that messes with Iron Hoof is asking for a flank kicking…”

Gearing laughs and starts looking around towards the others as he tries to see if anyone else looks like they might have some information. “Leave it to a bartender to have a shotgun behind the counter. Well... Stay safe.”

As Gearing is looking around at the few other patrons around in the tavern, A buck walks over slowly to him coming from the door. Gearing had noticed him come in while he was talking to the barmaid, but he’d stood off to the side and just stared at him while they were talking. But, now that they aren’t talking, the buck seems to have worked up the courage to come and talk to him.

The grimy white buck walks a bit closer as he asks, “Uh… excuse me…”

Gearing turns to look at him. “Yeah?”

“M-my name’s Chert.” The dirty white buck looks Gearing over and swallows hard before he glances around quickly at the others in the tavern. He leans in a bit closer to Gearing as he says, “I-I need some help.”

Instantly Gearing’s mood sours. Gearing looks at him and sighs as he says, “If it’s money you need, I’m not carrying any. If you need me to fix something, it’s going to have to wait. I’m in the middle of something else now but after I deal with this problem I’ll be glad to help you with whatever you need me to fix.”

The buck screws up his face a few times as he tries to think of what he should say. Then he asks quietly, “You’re looking for some bucks in dirty blue jumpsuits… right?”

Gearing’s ears jump towards him as he gives the buck his undivided attention. “Yes. I am.” Gearing leans towards him as he asks in a similar hushed tone, “You know where some of them are?”

The buck nods quickly, but then points back to the door. “C-can we talk outside? Please?”

Gearing nods and starts heading towards the front door, and the buck quickly leads the way, even holding the door open for Gearing. Once they’re outside, the buck looks around, and seems really nervous before he crosses the road and walks up to the ring. He stands by the ring, resting against it by holding onto the top rail with his forehooves, as he looks back at Gearing.

Gearing walks up to him at the gate and can see the rather haggard look on him. “Okay, we’re away from everyone else.” He looks around and sees that most ponies aren’t even out and about around here at the moment. Probably all taking a break or busy working by his judgment.

The pony nods and holds onto the railing more as he takes in a deep breath. He says quietly as he’s looking down, “I know where a group of them are. I can take you there.”

Gearing shakes his head. “No. That’s okay. Just tell me where they are, and I’ll go take care of them. No reason to risk yourself.”

The buck looks at him and frowns. “They’re in an area that’s hard to get to. I was prospecting there when I saw them. Buncha evil sonsabitches… If you’re not careful they’ll know your coming and then they’ll scatter and we’ll all have to deal with the consequences. So it’ll just be faster if you go with me. I’ll show you the back passages and you can corner them.”

‘Wow, that’s some unmasked pure hatred there. I wonder what these fuckers did to him? Rob him too like they tried Locke?’ the little blue pegasus asks as he stares at Chert.

Gearing looks at Chert for a moment before he asks, “Where are they hiding?”

The buck nods a bit before looking at the ground. “We need to go to an old mining company. If we go through the industrial complex near it, we’ll be able to sneak in and not have to worry about them spotting us.”

Gearing nods along as he thinks it through, but then asks, “Okay. Sure. How soon can you go?”

The buck looks at him, and relief seems to spread across his face as he lets out a gush of air. “Now. I can go now.”

Gearing looks him over, and notices that he’s not carrying anything other than his ratty clothes. Gearing shakes his head as he says, “Pack something for the trip. Don’t need you dying of dehydration or something along the way… Can you do that, or do you need me to come up with something for you?”

The buck shakes his head and starts walking away. “I’ll go get a bag. Meet me at the front gate? Please? Promise?” His tone is so painfully obvious that Gearing can practically hear the buck on his knees begging.

Gearing nods and heads off towards the front gate for town. “I’ll wait for you outside the front gate. The sooner we get going the sooner we can get back. I’ll meet you there.” Gearing spreads his wings and takes off as the buck waves at him and then quickly scurries off on his own task.

About five minutes later the front gate opens and the dirty white buck stands there looking out with worry carved into his features, but then his face lightens up when he sees Gearing. He doesn’t even wait for the gate to open all of the way before he starts running over to Gearing. “Okay. Let’s go! They’re off this way!” And then after that declaration he turns and starts heading north almost immediately from the gate.

Gearing trots along, then asks, “Are you going to be okay at this pace? You’re going a bit fast.”

The buck shakes his head as he casts off the implications. “I’ll be fine. I’m used to walking fast. It’s helped get me out of a lot of places that things trying to eat me are hiding in.” He looks at Gearing and smiles. “Hazards of being a prospector.”

Gearing nods and keeps going along with him. Eventually he just takes flight and flies along as the speed was a bit much for Gearing to keep up with short of actually running.

But, despite what the buck had said, after only half an hour the buck is already panting and wheezing and Gearing actually lands near Chert and makes him stop. “Buck, come on. I get that you probably want some payback on these assholes. But getting yourself killed in the process from dehydration and exhaustion isn’t going to help anyone. Save your energy. You might need it to run away after we get there.”

Chert looks at him for a moment, and panic seems to spread across his face. But then he bites his lips and hangs his head. He nods a few times, and pulls out a bottle of water. Though, regardless of how much he’s sweated, and how thirsty he must be, he very gingerly sips on the water. Only taking a few barely mouth watering sips before recapping it and putting it back into his small satchel. He sits there for a few moments, gathering his breath, but, after his breathing has slowed down to no longer be deep pants, he gets back up and starts walking. “Okay, I’ve rested, let’s go.”

Gearing flies after him and looks at him as he narrows his eyes. “Buck, I’m tired of burying corpses. Slow down. We’ll deal with it, trust me.”

The buck looks at him and actually snaps back. “We need to hurry though, or we’ll lose them!”

Gearing frowns and then lands in front of him. “Fine. If you’re in that much of a hurry to see them get their comeuppance, then I’ll just fucking carry you, alright?”

Chert stares at him for a moment before he asks, “Carry?”

Gearing suddenly grabs the buck without warning and quickly takes flight.

The buck is so startled that he doesn’t even scream. He’s paralyzed. And not moving a muscle as they fly along about ten feet off the ground.

Gearing comments, “No screaming. No flailing. Just try to relax and tell me where to go. I’ll set you back down once we get to the area and you can show me the back way in after that, sound fair?”

The buck looks at the ground, stunned by the scenery zipping by under him before he asks, “Think this’ll work?”

Gearing nods. “Yeah, you aren’t the first pony I’ve carried today… Not even the second… or third now that I think about it…”

The buck points in the direction they are already going and says, “Keep going until you start seeing the tall stacks. You’ll know you’re getting close when you can see the one really tall one near the one that’s broken in half. After that we’ll need to swing around to the right more to get into the work area and keep the industrial complex between us and the mining company…”

True to the description, Gearing sees it, but a bit before the buck does. And as he’s already changing directions the dirty buck asks, “Where are you going, it’s that way?”

Gearing smirks as he says, “Yeah, and I can see the top of the stack. You said to come around it from a different angle, so that’s where I’m heading.”

Chert looks over and he starts seeing the smokestacks in the distance as Gearing has cut altitude and started swinging around. “Oh. Wow… It is easier to see from a distance up here, isn’t it?”

Gearing nods and aim’s towards the ground fast. And as they are getting closer and closer, and the buck sees the ground coming up at them, he starts getting a bit more nervous. Chert waves a forehoof gently as he asks, “A-aren’t we coming down a bit too fast?”

“Nope,” Gearing replies flatly. And, after almost landing on the roof of a crumbling building, Gearing angles his wings a bit differently and instead glides over it. Then continues on until he comes to the side of where the industrial complex that the buck has been pointing at is. Gearing touches down behind the remnants of an old bar, with half the second floor falling down leaving them standing on a pile of rubble that's mostly bricks and empty beer bottles. He lets the buck go as he asks, “You okay? Seemed a bit shaky there at the end?”

Chert gently starts stepping on the bricks. Then starts stomping on them. Then he quickly scrambles down and starts walking around on the dirt covered brick patio that’s under most of the rubble from where the building has fallen down. “I don’t know how you can get used to that. Being in the air is interesting, but it just feels so…”

“Unnatural?” Gearing offers.

The buck looks up at him in shock and points a hoof at him. “Yeah, that! You feel it too?”

Gearing shrugs. “Nope. Not at all. I’ve just heard it so often from earth ponies that it’s a running joke at this point.”

The buck frowns as he says, “I don’t think ponies should be flying… Doesn’t make sense.”

Gearing shrugs as he says, “Hey, we built machines to help other ponies fly too.”

Chert shakes his head. “I’ll pass on those as well.”

Gearing snickers as he looks around. “So… about those gangers in the blue jumpsuits?”

The dirty buck stares at him for a moment, and takes in a deep breath. “Yeah… t-this way.” He turns and walks a bit away from him, and the rubble of the mostly fallen down bar. He continues down an alley between a couple other mostly intact buildings, with Gearing following close behind him.

Gearing stays not far from him as he asks, “Did you happen to see many of them? Were there a lot?”

The dirty buck shrugs as he says, “L-like… a few? Not a whole lot… Less than a dozen, I’m sure… Maybe half a dozen?”

Gearing nods as he looks around, flicking on his EFS every now and then just to keep a general idea of where some troublesome things might be located. “Could you tell what they were doing? Did they look like they were looking to stay a while or just passing through?”

As they are getting closer to the mostly collapsed manufacturing building that, at one time, was just a massive box, Chert comments, “I’m … I’m pretty sure they were staying. They have a place inside the mine. Like, a hideout or something. Maybe this is where they came to set up a new base?”

Gearing shrugs as he says, “I don’t know about that. They might have set up a second outpost out here so they wouldn’t draw attention to their main camp. Their boss seemed like a smart buck with big plans. So I wouldn’t doubt it…”

The buck nods and leads the way to the building. Close to the exterior wall they find a spot where a piece of equipment that had collapsed inside the building knocked out a part of the wall and created an access point in the process. And, Gearing can tell, these walls were more of the sheet metal variety. Quickly thrown up with metal beams and then sheet metal bolted, welded, or straight screwed onto the framework. Not the sturdiest of materials, but let them make areas to work inside and out of the weather quickly. But, even at a glance, Gearing can see how the weather has been very unkind to the building’s materials. Whatever condition it was in when it was put together, whatever treatment it received before construction, they certainly didn’t take into consideration two hundred years of neglect and a balefire end of the world event.

The dirty buck heads in through a gap between the equipment, the collapsed wall, and the pile of rubble that’s strewn around the place. And Gearing quickly follows him in. Gearing can already see a variety of red bars here and there and, with it becoming more evident that the EFS isn’t helping as much as distracting, he goes ahead and turns it off again. He gets closer to the buck and asks, “Got a lot of bugs in here?”

Chert looks at him for a few seconds before shrugging and then nodding. “About as much as any other place… Most of them seem to be minding their own business. But if they see you, they’ll try to nip your butt… Just step on them, nothing to worry about…”

Gearing nods as he looks around and starts flexing his ears around regularly as they advance through the clutter of various decrepit machines. He asks quietly, “You sure they’re not in this area? We shouldn’t move too fast.”

The buck shakes his head and points further ahead. “Whatever it is that they’re guarding or want is in the mines. They haven’t paid much attention to this, as far as I can tell. And the sooner we get there the sooner we can get this over with…”

Gearing walks along next to him and keeps looking back and forth. The path that the buck is taking is very intentional. They are walking through an area between the equipment that seems relatively easy to traverse. The machines around them, Gearing can tell, have been stripped of various components.

‘Someone’s found a good place to salvage parts,’ the little pegasus in Gearing’s head comments as it looks at the various ancient machinery. ‘I don’t know how good the parts would be, considering how rusted some of this casing is, but it could be useful. Could be refurbished if nothing else…’

‘At a glance I can tell you both these things were worth a fortune,’ the little golden pegasus in Gearing’s head adds. ‘Some individual parts of these machines were in the hundreds of thousands to replace. I don’t know how that’d translate to today’s money, but in the right hooves these things could be priceless if brought up to functionality again. Add in things from that dirty place and we could have something serious to work with from now on.’

Gearing mentally agrees as they are traveling through the mostly dark interior. The roof has a few holes in it here and there where the metal roof had rusted to the point of not being able to maintain its own weight and crumbled inwards. But, still, it’s mostly intact. Intact enough that the inside is still pretty dark, but not so intact that they can’t actually see where they are going. And it helps that they both are being careful where they are stepping.

The area starts opening up a bit wider, as they enter an area that actually has a few vehicles parked to the left. Gearing looks over at them, and sees the hoods are already open and someone had already stripped out a lot of the components. And as he’s looking carefully, he can see the various shipping containers around them. Some of them are still on the vehicles, ready to leave. Some shipping containers are stacked up along the right, ready to be filled or moved elsewhere but otherwise being stored. And still others hang from the ceiling above. Gearing looks up at the gantry that’s used to move the shipping containers around and is more than a little impressed that the equipment is still holding up all of the weight, even after all of this time. He makes a note to come back through here and check out the operating equipment and see if there’s anything he himself can salvage there. Having a working gantry system could be very helpful for a variety of purposes.

Gearing starts catching up with the buck again as he’d started falling behind. “So, you’d been salvaging this area?”

The buck nods. “Yeah. Pretty good claim. Until the assholes robbed us and chased me off…” the buck says bitterly as he looks down at the ground. “Nothing good lasts for long…”

Gearing smiles at him as he says, “Nothing bad lasts forever either, you know…”

Chert turns to look at him, and the expression is hard to read for Gearing. Like the buck can’t believe that with everything that’s going on, somehow, apparently, Gearing is remaining positive.

As they are looking at each other, something slams into Gearing from above with so much force that his front end is forced to the ground and his legs sprawl out as he was in the middle of walking and wasn’t even close to being prepared for having a large amount of weight drop on him suddenly.

Gearing groans as he feels a sharp pain in his chest and back. He tilts his head to try and look behind him, and that’s when he sees a glowing metal rod curl on its own and touch down into the ground next to him on his right side. Then it burrows into the concrete too. He looks down and sees the same glow, coming out of his chest, and it’s only then that he realizes that some sort of rod has run him completely through. Whatever it is is going through his back, just behind the shoulder and closer to the middle where his spine would be if he had one, and coming out near the middle of his chest where his sternum would be. Both ends have burrowed into the concrete. And with the other side curving over to do so, it’s like Gearing has been stapled to the ground with a thick metal rod. He looks up at the buck, who’d jumped away from him when he’d gotten struck, and is looking at Gearing with pure fear in his eyes.

Gearing stretches out his wings, and starts trying to plant his legs, despite the odd angle that he’s being placed in.

Chert comments softly, “I’m sorry… they have my family…”

Gearing looks at him, and barely has time to register what the buck had said before a shipping container slams into him from above.

<<<----=====!!!WHAM!!!=====---->>>

Gearing never heard either of them coming.

Footnote:

Processing, Please Stand By . . .

Processing, Please Stand By . . .

‘BlueMac’ Sub Partition Errors Discovered . . .

Analyzing Data, Please Stand By . . .

Analyzing Data, Please Stand By . . .

Author's Note

The hunt continues but what could 1 little detour hurt?

* * * * *

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