Fallout Equestria: Clockwork Precision

On the roof of Megamart, several of the Finders caravanners have set up to play some cards. A few of them are getting ready to start the day, even as early as it is, but that’s because they want to start heading out at first light if not a bit before. And that time is rather quickly approaching.

One of the caravanner guards slowly cleans her shotgun as she keeps glancing over at another carvanner not far away. “Hey, OJ, why are you even up? You said you’re not going anywhere today, so I figured you’d be in bed by now.”

OJ looks over at her as she steadily puffs on a cigarette that’s hanging out of the corner of her mouth. A slight blush crosses her cheeks before she uses her magic to pull the cigarette out of her mouth and hold it to the side. She blows out a puff of smoke before she replies, “Can’t sleep. Got too much on my mind… Thinking, you know?”

“Uh huh… Well, whatever it is that’s got you smoking like a chimney, you’re going to need another trip soon just to pay for the cigarettes if you don’t slow down.”

OJ looks to the side and sees the miniature mountain of cigarette butts in the improvised ashtray made from an old tin can. “Heh… I do probably need to slow down with these… huh?”

The other mare smirks and goes back to checking on her weapon, working the slide a bit and then starts digging in a bag for some gun oil.

As OJ turns her head to look back out into the ebbing darkness of the wasteland, and a moment later she feels a light impact into the top of her hat. She looks around, and uses a hoof to grab her hat off her head as she scowls. “Did a bird just shit on me?” She pops the cigarette back into her mouth, hovers the hat in front of herself with her levitation magic, and looks at the top of it. The sight makes her eyes go wide. There, nestled in the crease of her hat, is a wadded up piece of paper. She grabs it up with her magic and quickly unwraps it, letting the pebble inside fall loose. She only looks at that for a moment before directing her eyes to the paper and the message written on it.

‘Trip complete.’

It is short and to the point. And vague. But even so she lets out an excited snort. And when she flips the paper over, and sees the simple map that she had made herself that she had given to Gearing, the grin on her muzzle gets so big she almost loses her cigarette from her lips parting so much.

She quickly puts out her cigarette, slaps her hat onto her head, stows the paper, and runs off as quickly as she can.

It still takes her a bit to get to the building. And she was so excited when she’d left that she just zipped off straight there. But, once she got a bit of distance from Megamart, and the darkness of the wasteland started to make itself known to her, she slowed down. And by the time she makes it to the building where she told Gearing to meet her, she had returned to her more cautious side. She enters the building and starts heading up again. And, again, takes note of the various dead insects that she’s pretty sure, and with good reason to think so, Gearing killed earlier in the night.

But, this time, when she gets to the right floor, she looks around, and then calls out for him, “Okay, I’m here… go ahead and pull your sneaky sneaky from behind bit…”

Gearing, noticeably not carrying much, steps into the doorway from the room where they had met the last time and turns on his PipBuck light, illuminating the both of them. “It’s no fun to do if you're expecting it.”

She smirks and walks towards him. “I see you’re back. That was a bit faster than I’d been expecting. Everything okay?”

Gearing nods as he leans on the doorframe. “Definitely. There was still some security left in some areas of the building. She didn’t trash everything. But, that meant there was still some things worth grabbing.”

She looks him over and frowns as she asks, “You don’t have anything on you though…?”

Gearing grins as he waves a hoof around. “The agreement was to find out the value of the information, and then pay you accordingly…”

She stares at him, and her mouth hangs open as her eyes go wide. She starts patting her jacket and quickly pulls out another cigarette from a pack with a shaky hoof. But Gearing steps up, puts his hoof over the pack, and pushes the cigarette back into the box and out of her magical field. She looks at him as he’s suddenly so much closer and she has a hard time containing her excitement.

He sits down and smiles at her as he says, “So… you said you just wanted me to decide what it was worth, and go from that, right?”

She nods, rapidly, as the smile on her face has slacked from pure shock and her pulse rapidly begins quickening.

Gearing looks around and asks, “So, when do you want to cash in your credit?”

She looks at him and gives him a crooked smile as she asks, “The sooner the better? Like, before you change your mind?”

Gearing smirks and looks her in the eye as he asks, “Now?”

“Now?” Her eyes go wide as she nods. “Now, now. Definitely now now.”

Gearing chuckles as he shakes his head. “How much free time do you have now?”

She crams the pack of cigarettes back into her pocket before she says with a decidedly needy groan, “As much as you’ll give me…”

The comment seems a bit off to Gearing, but, he sort of gets the idea. He gets closer to her as he says, “Well, okay then…” He tickles her under the chin with a wing tip as he looks her in the eye. “Allow me to show my appreciation… Properly.”

OJ giggles as she tilts her head and can’t help but smile at the tantalizing tickling feeling his crystalline wings are causing under her chin and along her neck. “Sure… show me what you’ve got, stud.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In Hooflocker’s Bar and Grill, the Stormfront crew has raided the joint in their official standard military uniforms, with Snake and Mouse being in their standard mare and griffin personas respectively. As usual this is little more than a pitstop as they wait for their pizza order to finish. And they have spread out into their typical groups along the bar counter’s length, with Snake and Mouse sitting at a table playing checkers while they wait on the little device they were given to chime and let them know their order’s ready. The bar’s rather lively at this time of evening, with the sun just starting to set, and there are many members of the military enjoying the atmosphere and drinks, along with quite a few civilians as well.

Skip and Gearing, with his true form once again covered up by the illusionary magic, sit and chat over a series of books they’d just heard about and make plans to fly over and hit up a meet and greet at a comic store if they get the chance. But during the conversation, Gearing’s left ear keeps jumping over towards the further back portion of Hooflocker’s. He starts stealing glances in that direction, trying to locate the source of the sound, while maintaining his conversation with Skip. Eventually he hears the sharp intake of air in a hiss again, and this time sees the source.

A buck and mare in uniform are near the back end of Hooflocker’s as they are not exactly facing each other, but are almost standing parallel with each other. They are apparently having some kind of argument while keeping it down and away from everyone else. And the noise seems to have come from the buck as he reflexively moved at certain points.

After a bit, and Skip noticing that Gearing’s attention has turned more laser focused, Skip asks quietly, “Trouble?”

Gearing tilts his head just enough to aim his words at Skip, “Possibly. I don’t know. Let me go see what’s going on.”

Skip smirks and takes a drink from his cup. “Sure. The whole crew’s here, so just shout if you need some backup.”

Gearing nods and slips off the stool he was sitting on and starts heading back towards the back end of Hooflocker’s. His stature makes him melt into the crowd quickly, and even so he can see his target as they are moving towards the bar counter. Gearing slips through the crowd practically unnoticed before he steps up next to the buck at the bar.

The buck stands there, looking at the shelves on the other side, taking in slow shivery breaths. A couple times he groans as he holds his side, but when the mare bartender walks over near him he perks up, puts on a wide smile, and cheerfully requests, “Could I get another pair of drinks please?” He waves a bit as he puts some money on the counter. “Just more of the same!”

The bartender sweeps the bits off the counter with her levitation magic and nods as she turns around, “Need anything else, beyond that, shug?”

The buck waves it away. “We’re good for now, thank you though!”

She nods and smiles at his politeness and heads on down the length of the bar to make the drinks as requested.

Gearing looks the buck over, who’s not much taller than him, and makes his presence known. “Whoa! Someone else my height! Who’d a thunk it!”

The buck startles, then looks over at the voice, and looks Gearing over. “Oh, wow, hi!” He sees his wings and looks at them for a bit before he asks, “A pegasus? In the army? I’d figure you’d be in the Air Force.”

Gearing recoils before putting a hoof to his chest. “Please. Sir. Don’t insult me by lumping me in with them. Everypony knows the army’s where it’s at.”

The buck laughs and nods as he says, “Yeah! Here, here!” And they give each other a quick brohoof with a clop of their forehooves.

Gearing starts nibbling on a pretzel as he looks at him, then, after a few moments, he leans closer to him. “So, are you okay?” he asks softly.

The buck looks at him a bit startled for a moment before asking. “W-what do you mean? Of course I’m okay, why would you ask?”

Gearing motions back where the buck had come from, towards the mare that has sat down near a table. “Your marefriend seems a bit…” Gearing starts fumbling with his words, as he stares at the buck.

The buck’s eyes flash with fear for a moment, before he waves a forehoof. “Wha? Oh, no, we’re good. We’ve got a strong relationship. Nothing wrong there. Just a little lovers quarrel, you know?”

Gearing frowns as he leans in closer. “Right. ‘Lover’s Quarrel’.” He reaches for a pretzel, and shifts over intentionally, hitting the buck along the sides and shoulder with his elbow in rapid succession as he does.

The buck takes in a sharp breath of air as he dips and groans.

Gearing doesn't even look at him as he asks quietly, “I’ve been around the front enough to know what swollen bruises look like. Even covered up with clothes if they are form fitting enough. Most would overlook it, but I have a knack for spotting minutia. And I can tell you’ve got lumps all over.”

“Please. Don’t,” the buck says through a hiss in his teeth.

Gearing turns to look at him as he says, “So, this happens all the time? You really need to get away from her.”

The buck looks at him and the mask falls off as he becomes so crestfallen. “But, I love her. And I know she loves me too. We- we just have some problems. And I keep screwing up. That’s why it keeps happening. If I stop screwing up, I won’t upset her and the problems will go away. It’s my fault. I just need-”

Gearing closes the buck’s muzzle with his wing, as he turns the buck’s face to look at him. “What you need is therapy, and to get away from her. If she’s doing that to you, and telling you it’s your own fault, she’s just manipulating you. And, I’m pretty sure, on some level, maybe even deep down, you already know that.”

The buck’s breath catches in a hitch.

Gearing leans closer as he says, “I know we don’t know each other from a road apple, but maybe that’s exactly what you need. An outside objective opinion. And I’m exactly that. I’m not saying report her, I’m not saying press charges. But you need to get away from her. Because individuals like that have a tendency of escalating abuse.”

“She’s not-” the buck starts but he cuts himself off with a hitched breath like his own body is trying to cut him off and prevent himself from lying.

Gearing pats on the buck’s shoulder lightly, “I don’t doubt you really love her. That’s why it’s such a horrible trap. But, get some help. Just, go. And after that, after some therapy, and getting some professionals looking at it, hey, maybe I’m wrong and it’s all blown out of proportion and-” he stops himself as he sees the buck look at him and they share eye contact for a while. “Okay, that was the wishy washy blowing smoke up your tail part of the pep talk. But from the way you’re looking at me, you already know it’s time to go. That it’s been time to go for quite a while most likely.”

The buck says so softly that he’s nearly just mouthing it, “I don’t know what to do…”

Gearing nods as he says flatly, “Step one is admitting there’s something wrong, step two is accepting help when it’s offered.”

The buck opens his mouth to say something, but stops with his mouth open and fear clearly developing in his eyes as he hears something he’s been dreading.

“Hey, short stack, why aren’t you back with our drinks yet?”

Gearing turns to look at the mare in question as she steps up near the two. The mare has a giant smile on her face as she looks down at the two bucks, but that smile feels quite toxic to Gearing. Like it’s full of venom that she’s going to use as she’s looking to devour those before her.

The buck starts stammering and trying to come up with an apology or excuse good enough for her.

But Gearing waves towards the counter in front of them as he takes the lead and says flatly, “Well, the bartender’s busy so it’s going to be a while.”

The mare looks at him and smirks as she asks, “What? Another short ass buck in the army? What’s the world coming to? They get you out of flight school or something?”

Gearing looks at her dead in the eye and says flatly, “Dynamite comes in small packages. Don’t get it twisted.”

The mare grins as she giggles. “My, aren’t you a feisty one!”

The buck lowers his head as he looks up at her. “He- he’s just talking with me while we wait on our orders.. Th- that's all.”

The mare waves her hoof around as she snorts. “I swear you short ass bucks need to learn your place. What are you even good for?” She looms over Gearing as she asks, “Are those little wings of yours even big enough to carry you let alone anything else? Or are you in here because you can’t fly anywhere else?”

Gearing keeps looking her in the eye as his mane bristles. “I go where I want and where I need.”

The mare waves her hoof over him as she laughs. “But you’re so short! I mean, what are you going to do in life? No real mare’d want any part of you. Like she’d have to lay down for you to even have a chance at getting a piece. Little bucks like you just can’t satisfy a mare.”

Gearing looks her in the eye as he says flatly, “If it’s like tossing a carrot dog down a hallway, that sounds like a personal problem.”

The buck’s eyes go wide as he puts a hoof over his mouth and looks at Gearing in disbelief.

The mare’s eyes flash wide as she can’t believe he’d talk to her like that.

Gearing waves a hoof as he says, “What? Too subtle? I’m saying we can’t be held blame if your nickname’s ‘Loosey Goosey got Trained by Moosey’.”

She smirks as she says, “You got a mouth on you.”

“So I’ve been told,” Gearing retorts. “What’s wrong? Having a hard time keeping up with it? Too busy guzzling protein shakes?”

She looms over Gearing, “I could just eat you, you little shit.”

“I could fold you like laundry,” Gearing quips.

The two start developing a crowd as the two start going back and forth. The buck had tried to get a word in edgewise, but both of them were ignoring him. With Gearing staring at the mare with pure disgust as he keeps getting himself in between the mare and the buck. She goes through various loops trying to belittle Gearing, and short bucks in general. And Gearing defiantly stares her down even though he has to actually look up at her. After a while and some things being said to him that have way passed the line to when fights would normally start, Gearing still doesn’t budge. And her twisted personality starts coming out as she starts breathing hotter and heavier. It becomes quite clear that she has a thing for breaking down bucks. Especially ones smaller than her. It’s a different form of conquest that she enjoys. Not simply conquering them by getting them into bed, but far beyond that. She wants to break their very spirits. And the more defiant they are, the stronger their will, the more she gets out of it when she finally breaks them. She gets her jollies by making, and keeping, them submissive to her. Bullying small bucks just gets her motor running in ways nothing else can.

But while the mare is already drooling and having fantasies about another challenge for her, Gearing has already seen her as a carnival full of red flags and decided he’s not going to let this buck go anywhere with her tonight.

But while Gearing is staring her down, unblinking, in the face of her onslaught of harassment and verbal abuse, Gearing only shoots back with quick retorts and in general he lets it all break against and around him like water in a storm. It eventually becomes clear to her that he gives no fucks about the personal attacks. And it starts irritating her how it’s not irritating him. And eventually she reaches over to the counter, grabs the glass that the bartender had set behind Gearing a while ago, and slowly dumps it onto Gearing’s head as she grins in his face.

Shocked gasps escape the lips of many viewers as she so openly disrespects both him and alcohol in general.

But, as they have locked eyes with each other, he doesn’t so much as flinch. Not even when the drink, and the strong alcohol that is in it, pours over his face, and washes over his eyes. Again, it doesn’t faze him. In the least. And, at that point, while he’s still glaring at her, and he doesn't so much as blink as he stares her down with alcohol pouring into his eyes, where she’d expected and fantasized about making him cry, she gets legitimately pissed. And the next second she throws the glass at the ground, breaking it, and starts going on a lunatic level raving rant against him. But then, after not being able to get him to do anything at all to physically react to what she’s doing, she finally completely loses her temper. And in a fury to get rid of his defiant glare, she actually kicks him in the face.

Which Gearing flicks his head with the attack, to dissipate the strike’s energy.

However, time nearly stops for the entire bar at the sudden complete breach of decorum. When the verbal sparring was getting vicious, the police had already been called. Because everyone was pretty sure this was going to lead to a fight and they wanted it taken care of before it got that far. So they are on their way. And Hard Hat, knowing full well Gearing was in the right, wasn’t going to pull rank and force him to back down. He wasn’t going to undermine him like that. And though he couldn’t risk directly acting against the mare for a variety of reasons, he intends there to be consequences coming for her pretty soon. He’d decided to let the police handle it for now, and they should be here any moment.

But ‘any moment’ is not fast enough.

From the front of the bar, near the bar’s counter, the entire Stormfront team had stopped what they were doing to watch the proceedings. And they were ready, at a drop of a pin, to come and help their unit mate if he called for them. But, he had not. But the team, universally, looks on with horror as the mare actually kicks Gearing in the face, and their screams cover up nearly all other noise in the bar as they, in unison, cry out, “Gearing, no! Don’t do it!” Even Skip, who is universally known as the unit’s instigator and typically is not only the genesis for a lot of Gearing’s shenanigans, but an active participant in them as well.

Many others in the bar around the trio had already backed up, but out right recoil and jump back further, giving them all a lot of room for the fight that they are expecting to happen any millisecond now.

However, no one in the bar realized there was one pony in the place that should have been told to cool her hooves. And that one pony, was Hammer.

Because before anyone else could do anything, the bristling mechanic had jumped up onto the bar counter, and ran down its entire length. And Hammer’s already in the air, with a flying double back hoof drop kick, as she screams, “Nopony touches the cinnamon roll!” Before Gearing has even brought his head back around to register what’s happening, Hammer has already connected with the violent mare’s head with both of her hind hooves. The mare’s head warps unnaturally on the end of her neck as Hammer seems to almost remove it from her body as she’s tackling into her and taking her to the ground in one over the top display of pure brutality. Before they even come to rest on the ground, with everyone else jumping further out of the way to avoid getting dragged into the melee, Hammer has wrapped her hind legs diagonally across the mare’s chest and neck, squeezing her with her powerful thighs, as she gets her into a submission hold. And after they’ve slid to a halt in this weird position, Hammer uses her now dominate positioning, and her completely free-as-intended forehooves, to just pummel the mare with merciless rapid strikes to her head and body as she screeches at her with blood-lust induced rage.

And all anyone else around can do is watch in shock.

In normal circumstances, it would have been obvious self defense. Defense of another. She would have even gotten a bit of a slap on the back for taking care of a bitch that had the audacity to attack a service member the way she did.

Unfortunately, when the Military Police arrive, she is still beating on the mare’s body. Hammer stubbornly maintained the exact same hold, and just wouldn’t lay off of her, as she kept yelling, “Nah, the bitch ain’t had enough yet, I can feel her still fighting me!”

So the MPs have to physically drag her off, and then send the mutilated mare to the hospital emergency room for emergency treatment. The MPs were even highly conflicted from the start, but, given the amount of blood, and the very real possibility that Hammer might have just killed that mare, they have no choice but to actually arrest her. Much to the annoyance of everyone in the bar, not just other Stormfront members. The other witnesses are so indignant about it that more than a few calls of protest and support for Hammer start being made on her behalf before they even get her into the paddy wagon. At the same time as the mangled mare is being carted off, a group from the Ministry of Peace comes in and escorts the buck in the center of all of this out and into a wagon bound for a clinic for evaluation as well. And Cross, being fully aware of what all has transpired, goes along with them to make sure the full truth gets out. But Gearing, despite how much the medical personnel urges, refuses treatment with promises to get checked out later.

It’s well after dark by the time the MPs and Ministry of Peace have done all they need to and have finally left Hooflocker’s.

That night, and shortly after the bar was cleared out, the holding facility where Hammer is being kept at practically gets taken over. The group uses its influence to rearrange the guards’ duty shifts, and pretty much everypony there just went along with the sudden changes as it was, in all likelihood, just a technicality for her to get arrested in the first place. The investigation into the buck and his injuries had shown that she’d been abusing him for months into years. It was discovered that not long after the pair had gotten together, she’d started bullying him. And that progressed into physical abuse. And he just stuck with it because when she wasn’t belittling him and beating on him she was very sweet and loving and taking care of him. She was a classic malignant narcissistic personality. And the more that was discovered, the more collective rage was built up against the mare, even among the Ministry of Peace personnel.

As part of the guard schedule shuffling, Snake had taken on the appearance of one of the guards who were paid to have a night at home and not ask about it. And Skip even got involved by keeping watch on the area for any unexpected visitors. Once Gearing got the access he needed, he used his skills and started manipulating the video feeds from the security footage of Hammer’s cell and immediate area. Which was done after they’d gotten a message, through Snake shape shifted into the guard, for her to get into bed and just stay there still for a while. After she complied with the plan, Gearing looped the video being displayed, and recorded. Such that from all anyone could or would be able to tell it looked like Hammer had gone to bed and called it a night.

Having accomplished that, Gearing strolls right into the holding area, with the keys, and quietly lets himself into the cell. Hammer is only alerted to his presence when he gently taps on her shoulder. Of everyone she’d expected to see, it wasn’t him, and she startles a bit when she sees him standing over her in bed.

Gearing waves around as he says, “We got it secure.”

She swings around and off the bed, under the sheet, and sits on the edge of the bed as she looks at him. “You guys didn’t have to do that…”

Gearing waves around with a hoof as he says, “We know. But, we wanna make sure you’re taken care of.” He looks her in the eye and smiles as he says, “And, I wanted to thank you. For tonight. You know? I mean, I can take care of myself, and that mare’s weak ass kick wasn’t a threat… but… thanks for standing up for me like that. I don’t normally get someone doing that outside of mission purposes.”

She fidgets as she blushes a bit and avoids eye contact. “Nah. It’s okay. Was a bit stupid of me. I don’t know what I was thinking. I know you can take care of yourself. I mean, I’ve seen you knock out Tower with one hoof for Celestia’s sake!” She looks down at the ground as she sighs. “Maybe I’d already had a bit too much to drink. I was already fuming about her saying all that shit to you. And then when she kicked you in the face, I just saw red. And, well, red is dead… heh… The bitch really did have it coming.”

Gearing puts his hoof on her shoulder and rubs it gently, causing her to look up and risk eye contact again. And after getting it, Gearing says softly, “And that’s why you’re awesome, Anvil, for what you did. Even if you ended up in here for the night. So, I’m going to make sure your time here is as good as we can manage to make it while they get their stick out of their ass and get you out.”

Hammer smiles at him and she gets even more fidgety as she says softly, “Y-you don’t have to do anything special for me… It’s my own fault, I’ll take my lumps.”

Skip pops up in the cell, just inside the door, in a puff of black smoke. He calls over to Gearing as he asks flatly, “Hey, Gearing, you still need your training regimens, right?”

Gearing looks back at him and raises an eyebrow. “Uh, yeah, constantly learning right?”

Hammer looks over Gearing, at Skip, and raises an eyebrow of her own. She gets eye contact with Skip and when he motions towards her and comments, “Well this is only going to be an overnight hold. She’ll be out in the morning. So you two can use the time to work on whatever.” And the motion and direction Skip had moved, causes Gearing to look back at Hammer. However, she still has eye contact with Skip, and the moment Gearing’s head is turned, Skip gives her a mischievous smirk with a knowing grin as he bobs an eyebrow at her.

The temperature in her cheeks starts rapidly increasing.

“So we have all night,” Gearing comments thoughtfully.

Still looking at Skip, who nods his head towards Gearing while grinning, Hammer’s ears jump up, turn red, and a flush starts jumping down her neck after covering her whole face. And her jaw slacks lightly at the apparent intentions of the entire crew.

Skip turns and actually walks out of the cell intentionally as he says, “All of the recording devices have been intercepted… And the rest of us are taking positions outwardly… So feel free to say, or do, whatever you want… The room’s secure for the next several hours, unless I tell you otherwise.”

Gearing turns to look at him, and waves at Skip in acknowledgment, before the batpony puffs away in a flash of smoke. They are in the room for a bit longer, in silence, before he turns to look at Hammer again.

Hammer is squirming with her whole body as she’s more than a little fidgety, and the flush over her body isn’t helping matters any in that regard. She can feel her own heat coming off of her body. She locks eyes with Gearing and smiles a bit, a nervous smile that slowly turns into a warm appreciative smile before she says, “Y-you don’t- don’t have to… it’s my fault…”

Gearing walks a bit closer before he asks quietly, “Arrrrre… you saying you don’t want to help me tonight?”

She stares at him with her mouth developing a sheen from almost drooling as her ears burn even hotter and practically glow red. She shifts her weight on the bed a bit as she fidgets and struggles with herself over what to say, before she tilts her head and asks, “H-how about… I teach… you… a few things… like… on you this time… hmm?”

Gearing perks up a bit as he smiles at her. “Oh, yeah, if you know anything in particular, any extra tricks, I’ll gladly learn that too! Learning by doing is definitely the best way!”

Hammer looks at him and his visible excitement at the prospect, and simply can’t help her own excitement growing anymore. She starts giggling as she’s looking him over, then says with a groan, “Well… since you asked…” She straightens up a bit, leaning towards him, as she grabs the front of the collar of his BDU with both forehooves, and gives him a deep-tongued kiss as she starts standing up. After she’s successfully latched onto him like that, she only loosens her lip lock just enough to lift him up entirely, by the front of his collar, as she stands upright on her hindhooves, spins around, and deposits him onto the small mattress that she was just sitting on, before she quickly buries him under her by smoothly flipping into the bed with him.

After getting him just where she wants him, she starts running her hooves over his body, both over and under his uniform, as she starts rubbing her entire body against him while they continue kissing. As she’s working one hoof lower down his bare abdomen, and gets near his thigh, she suddenly locks up as an errant thought hits her. She freezes all actions as her eyes fly open wide from clear fright and horror at the spontaneous thought. She pulls back a bit, and looks at a very confused looking Gearing as she feels her heart rate hitch and jump up at an uncomfortable level. While not moving anymore, she locks eyes with him and asks, as clearly as she can given the situation, “Y-you don’t think- I’m not acting like that bitch of a mare, am I?”

Gearing stares up at her blankly for a few moments as he tries to process what she’s actually trying to ask. And it only takes a few seconds before he gives her an easy smile and starts rubbing the foreleg she has near his cheek with his own hoof in a soft reassuring caress. “Not even close, Anvil… I know you’d never do anything intentionally to try and hurt me.” He reaches up just a bit, and gives her a soft kiss on the nose. He tilts his muzzle down a bit to look her in the eye as he says, “You’ve always been nice to me… actually… even when I fuck up and make your life hard and probably don’t deserve it. You’ve always done right by me, Anvil.” He continues rubbing on her foreleg, and uses his other forehoof to gently brush her cheek as he says, “You’ve always been a good mare to me. So don’t worry. You’re nothing like that mare and I don’t think you could be even if you tried.”

She stares at him wide eyed and with her mouth slack for a few moments as she can’t believe what she’s hearing from him. But then she leans in and starts nipping along his neck gently as she lets out a rather primally needy groan. “Nitro, you’re in for a ride tonight…”

Hours later, when the risk of an alarm getting raised to end the night early starts rising significantly, Gearing leaves Hammer’s cell of his own volition. In his wake is a very happy sleeping mare that feels like she’s won the lottery.

But as he’s walking into the security office where Skip and Snake are monitoring the security feeds, they both look over at him and share amused smirks as they see the awkward way in which he is walking.

Gearing wobbles towards them as he comments, “I don’t think a pony’s supposed to bend that way…”

The others start roaring with laughter as they watch the little pegasus try to stretch and walk it off after Hammer had gotten her fill.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“What did you do to her!?”

“I’m sorry!”

Bonesaw runs around his small clinic pulling out various equipment and getting an IV set up in OJ’s foreleg. As he’s looking over the randomly spasming orange mare on his examination table he asks, “Really, what happened?!”

Gearing sits not far away, looking mortified, as he waves his forehooves at OJ, but is keeping his distance under orders from Bonesaw. “She asked for something special, so I decided to try a little somethin’ that was popular with some Machinist Mares back during the war, and it's like the poor girl's body couldn't handle it. She suddenly locked up but then started shaking like she was in an earthquake! . . . I mean, at first it was like she couldn’t get enough of it, but then she just came hard out of nowhere and started spasming! It’s like she came so hard it shorted out her brain and caused her to have a seizure! I don’t know what else to say! That’s what happened. We started, she got happy, she got really happy, she came, she broke, it really was pretty much that fast!”

A couple of caravanners walk up, and the one with a pelt the color of pink lemonade looks on from the side as she says, “Sweet Celestia, he ploughed her into a coma…”

The caravanner guard that had been working on her shotgun earlier looks between her coworker and OJ and comments quietly, “How’d she even afford that?”

Another coworker walks in from around Gearing, and over to the other two. She leans in closer to them as she says, “I think she’s still coming… judging by that puddle forming on the examination table… If she wasn’t a squirter before, she is now…”

The guardsmare caravanner asks quietly, but echoing Bonesaw’s statement, “The hell he do to her?”

The pink lemonade mare pulls off her trail hat and puts it across her chest with a forehoof. “She’s died the way she’s always wanted to. She’d said that’s the way she wanted to go out… and she managed to chase that dream to its blissful end. May we all be so lucky.”

The other two pull their hats off and sit there looking on with reverence and awe.

The shotgun wielding mare comments, “I’m not sure I’d live long enough to enjoy it. She was a strong mare.”

The pink lemonade colored mare nods as she looks up at the ceiling above. “Yeah… I told her I was sure I would die if I entered the crate with Patches… And it looks like I was right… I’m just not ready to go yet. I’ll keep this in mind though, when I’m finally finished traveling and ready to move on.”

The entire time they are talking, BoneSaw is berating Gearing for not being helpful with the treatment, and Gearing just keeps explaining the best he can, without getting into too many lewd details. Gearing even asks if there’s any way to check for neurological disorders. Finally Gearing gets banished from the clinic as he’s not being as helpful as Bonesaw would like and his mere presence is annoying the old buck at this point.

Which Gearing instantly complies with as he slinks away from the clinic full of shame and regret.

The others watch on as he leaves, and the pink mare nods as she says, “OJ has seen the light of the beyond, and it is glorious.”

Not long after, with the outside of Megamart lighting up, Dandy walks up to the clinic. Dandy strolls right in as she asks, “Hey, Bonesaw, I’m looking for- Whoa, what happened here?” She asks as she sees the other caravanners sitting and looking like they are praying next to their coworker. But, unlike a lot of times that Dandy has seen anything similar, there is far less blood around than what she would have normally expected. Instead there’s an amusing smell.

Bonesaw glances at her as he’s walking around and checking on OJ. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. I’m sorry, Dandy, but I have a bit of an emergency here. And since it doesn’t look like you’re about to fall over, I’m going to have to ask you to wait your turn.”

Dandy nods as she walks closer. “Sure, Sure… no problem.” She stretches up and looks over OJ’s length. “I don’t see any wounds, what could-” She stops as she sees OJ’s face. She stares at it for a moment and her eyes narrow. “Wait…” She leans in closer towards OJ, despite Bonesaw’s objections. “That smile.” She narrows her eyes even more. “I know that smile!” She straightens up as her ears perk up. “Gearing?!” She starts looking around. “Where’s Gearing?!” Movement catches her attention out of the corner of her eye, and the smirk on OJ’s muzzle twitches a bit as her muzzle gets a very prominent smile on it. Dandy’s eyes go wide before she turns around and yells, “Gearing?! Where are you!?” As she looks around just outside of the clinic she screams, “You need to stop doing this to mares! I mean… okay, maybe not ‘stop’ stop, but you need to be more careful at least… Some of us need to walk afterward!”

The three caravaners look over at her, and their jaws collectively drop. They glance at each other before nodding.

“She knows.”

“Yes, she knows.”

“She’s seen the glory…”

Bonesaw glares at the three and shoos at them as he says, “And you three aren’t very helpful either. She ain’t dead, so save the wake for some other time!”

* * *

Having been shamed into leaving the clinic area, and not having many other places to go, Gearing had scurried off to the Megamart motel. Megamart in general had already started waking up, with quite a few ponies already out and about and nearly half of the stalls already back open for a day of peddling wares. The sun might be covered up by the clouds above, but the light outside is still enough to get those motivated ponies going. Some caravanners have already set out on their routes, and a few others are already prepping to do the same.

So most of the motel’s occupants for the night have already gotten up and left.

Gearing heads over to the cots where he finds Swift already in the process of trying to wake herself up. Gearing trots up and gives her a little wave as she looks up at him with her eyes still pretty droopy. “You think you’ll be ready to go soon? Or do you guys want to get a bit more sleep?”

Swift shakes her head. “Nah. Spent most of yesterday in bed as it was. So I’ll be good soon.”

Gearing looks over at Handy and then nods towards the back of Megamart. “I need to go have a quick word with Bottlecap to double check the location. How about you guys get yourself situated. Get something to eat. And, after you sell the stuff I brought back last night, you guys meet me outside so we can go?”

Swift nods as she stifles a yawn. “Yeah, sure, we’ll meet you- Wait… What?!” Her eyes shoot open as she sees him quickly scurrying away. “What was that last part?!” She looks around quickly, then notices the pile of goods next to her cot that Gearing had stealthily placed there both from what had been still left at the front doors of Megamart and some things that he’d managed to pilfer during his overnight trip. She jumps up and yells after him, “You asshole! Since when am I your sales mare?!”

Handy cracks open an eye and smiles as he says quietly, “Since you agreed to do it instead of just making a list for him?”

She shoots him a dirty look as she balls up a blanket she’d been using, then throws it at him. “Awww, who asked you!?”

It hits him in the side, and he snickers, then pulls it under his head and uses it as a pillow. “Thanks… Oooohhhhh it’s still warm too…”

She jumps out of bed and scowls at him nearly point blank, but his eyes are closed and he’s not letting her have the satisfaction of opening them. So, she quickly leans in, and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek before turning around to sort out the salvaged equipment. “You’re lucky you’re cute, you know that?”

“I love you too…” Handy says with a smile as he stretches out on the cot more.

A moment later she looks over at him and asks, “You just going to lay there and let me do all of this alone?”

Handy opens an eye and looks at her. “You have your own system. I’ve learned my lesson. I start messing with that, and you get mad at me. And things take longer. So, I’ll just let you do it. And stay here. Out of your way.”

She looks the stuff over and sighs before she says, “Alright… Fine, you got a point… But after I get everything organized, you’re going to help me carry it around so I can sell it.”

Handy raises a hoof limply and waves it at her. “Sure… I’m sworn to carry your burdens… We’re married after all…”

She giggles and rolls her eyes as she starts digging through and sorting the various items into stacks that she already has an idea of which merchants to take them to, and into piles for particular merchants. And a few moments later, without even looking, she comments, “We’ll grab something to eat while we’re selling the stuff. That okay with you?”

Handy lets out a sigh and squeezes into the cot more. “Sounds like a plan to me…”

Meanwhile, Gearing walks up to the door to Bottlecap’s office and checks his PipBuck. He’d sifted through quite a bit of information that he had gotten from the downloads down in the sewers near The Core. And of everything he’s found, not much of it is really of any concern. There’s several schematics in the mix. And he debates on going ahead and keeping at least a couple to himself, just to spite Lodestar, but that thought didn’t last long.

As long as there’s nothing of immediate concern, like megaspell or chemical weapons schematics, he’s fine with completing the contract as agreed on. He’s even taken the added step of putting all of the schematics into their own folder, so it’ll be easier to find them.

Gearing listens to the door carefully, but then reaches up and gives it a light knock. He knows Bottlecap seems to have work all the time, but as a flesh and blood mare he knows she actually does need to sleep some time. He just hopes she managed to get some shut eye and will be waking up soon, if not already awake, given the sun has already risen.

He’s pleasantly surprised when the door opens only a fraction of a second after he starts knocking, and sees Bottlecap standing there with a piping hot cup. She looks at him and motions him in with her head as she turns and heads towards her desk. She sips from her cup casually before she asks, “You ready to conclude your part of the bargain with Lodestar?” She sets her cup on her desk as she says, “I was beginning to wonder if you were still even really interested given all of your… extracurricular activities… lately.” She raises an eyebrow as she looks at him and gives him a rather hard to read expression.

The little pegasus in his head facehoofs before it asks, ‘Did she already hear about us bringing OJ back? Uuhhgg that’s going to be an embarrassing topic if she brings it up.’

Yeah… so, you know what we have to do, right?

The little pegasus strikes a pose as he points a spear with a battle flag on it towards Bottlecap. ‘Seize the initiative! Don’t give her a chance! Chaarrrrggeeee!’

Gearing smiles and waves a hoof as he says, “Well, timing is always important with some things. He didn’t seem to be in such a hurry to get it completed. So he’s not on a time crunch, except for the one I put on him. And he’s already aware that that doesn’t apply anymore, since I’m aware that you have his part of the data. So now he’s aware that I’m aware, that he’s aware, that I’m aware. So now I just need to make the exchange with you and I’ll be heading out to check out his information.” He gives her a wider smile as he asks, “Make sense?”

Bottlecap stares at him for a moment, before giving just the faintest hint of a smile as she says, “I’m aware of that.”

Gearing chuckles and walks forward with his PipBuck. “I’ve got the data here. Even organized it a bit more, at least what I’ve been through.”

The little pegasus in Gearing’s head smirks as he comments, ‘Yeah, keep playing humble, since we’ve been through nearly all of it already…’

She sits down at her computer and he begins the transfer. And, after completing the transfer, she verifies the data by glancing at a couple files of schematics. She pulls out a note from inside of her safe, and gives it to Gearing. And, as he’s putting it into his saddlebag, his PipBuck chimes with an alert.

Location Acquired: Stable 24 added to the map.

Gearing looks at his PipBuck map and his eyes jump wide for a moment before he narrows them and snorts.

The little pegasus in his head throws his ears back in annoyance as he asks, ‘Are you shitting me? There!? We could have stepped out of 68 and farted in its general direction and hit it, instead of coming to the ass crack of Equestria!’

She looks at him for a moment before asking, “So, you’re leaving now to check that out, or are you going to wait around a bit more to see what other mischief you can get yourself into?”

Gearing shakes his head and smiles. “No. We’re heading out today. Already talked with the others to make sure they’re good to go. Our entire trip up here was to get these parts… and… Ironically, the parts are far closer to our home than Megamart is…”

Bottlecap smiles as she waves towards him. “Well, I know you’ve gone a long way out of your way to get what you need… but, I hope you don’t mind me saying, I’m glad you did. Otherwise you might not have come up here to Hoofington and helped us as much as you have.”

Gearing nods as he closes out of his PipBuck. “Well, gee, you’re gonna make me blush with all of that…” He turns his head and gives her a profile of his grin as he puts a hoof to his chest. “But, don’t go saying that like we won’t see each other again. I’ve got an invested interest in some things up here. And I’m not going to just take off and let things fall apart. So, I’ll be back.” He bobs his head around a bit before turning to look at her face on again. “At bare minimum, it’ll take me a couple days. I want to at least inventory what’s there. And I’ll be back after I get everything out that we need.” He shrugs. “That’s the agreement. But, I’m not going to stiff him. I’m not going to just strip the place, or try and take it over. After we take what we need for our place, he can have the rest to do with whatever he wants.”

Bottlecap taps her forehooves together slowly on top of her desk and asks quietly, “And if it’s another trap like you feared? Even worse than the last one?”

Gearing takes in a long deep breath and nickers at the thought. “Well… if I’m not back by… say two weeks… If I’m not back, or haven’t sent word at least, then you’ll know it was a setup that I couldn’t get out of.” He waves a hoof around as he says, “And then you’ll have to decide how you’ll want to proceed.” He looks at her and frowns as he says, “But, you might want to let Big Daddy know, and throw Lodestar under the bus to let them handle it… They’re big about their appearances and they won’t let that slide.”

Bottlecap buries her face in her hooves as she lets out a long moan. “Yeah. You’re correct about that. He simply will not abide that, regardless of what I say.” She lowers her hooves enough to peek over at Gearing. “Gearing, can you do me a favor?”

Gearing looks at her, then grins as he says, “Well… asking’s always free.”

She lowers her hooves more and smiles at his use of her own vocabulary. “Come back. Intact in one piece, preferably. If it’s some sort of death trap, we need to know about it, and Lodestar would need to be dealt with about it. And, frankly, if that’s the case, I’d rather you handle the messy details.” To Gearing’s raised eyebrow she gives him a faint smile. “You seem to know how to function with discretion when the need arises.”

Gearing bobs his head. “Ah…”

“Aaand,” Bottlecap adds, “If I give you unofficial permission, you’re less likely to break down the gates with a herd of angry Reapers looking for blood.” She waves at him. “Even when you’re unreasonably pissed off, you’ve shown to be very specific in your targets. And… I can’t say the same about most Reapers. So, if it has to happen, I can trust you to do so without getting a lot of innocent ponies caught in the crossfire.”

Gearing bobs his head around. “Well, I’m glad you’re thinking that far ahead. But, honestly, I’m still hoping this was one big mistake and misunderstanding…”

Bottlecap shrugs as she says, “Part of business is not hiding from unpleasant possibilities. It’s just basic risk mitigation. I have to have a contingency plan in place in the event he really is selling ponies out. And whether the matter with you gets resolved amicably or not, he’s going to be watched for a while. A few points of contention have been brought up and they can’t be ignored.”

Gearing frowns before he says, “Well then, favor for a favor…”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t actually do anything to him yet. Don’t make him feel like a prisoner. Don’t make him feel like he’s got you breathing down his neck. Don’t treat him like a suspect.”

Bottlecaps eyes go wide as she says, “That’s… far more courtesy than I’d think someone in your position would ask for for somepony who might have tried to have them killed.”

Gearing chuckles as he shakes his head. “Hardly… First, and truth, I don’t know for a fact that he did it. So I don’t want any more misery thrown onto him than he deserves. So there’s that. But, and arguably more important, it’s not simply a charity case request. If you start treating him like a suspect now, he’ll get more cautious. But, if you don’t… And let him think he’s gotten away with it, then he might not be as cautious and slip up. Or, at least, not run and it’ll be easier for us to bring him to justice.” He points a hoof at her. “That’s assuming he’s guilty, I mean. But, if he’s not, then he won’t have to bear that burden until we prove he’s innocent… I lived in a world like that before. I’ve seen what it did to ponies. It sucked. And that’s one thing from the past that I’m actually happy is gone.”

Bottelcap nods. “Okay. That sounds entirely fair. We’ll not do anything that might spook him while we await word from you on what the verdict is.”

Gearing nods and heads towards the door. “Thanks, Bottlecap. If luck is on my side for once, I should be back within a week. Gotta remove and secure all of the parts we need before coming back and I’d expect that to take a bit of time at minimum. Let alone the round trip.”

Bottlecap waves it off and goes back to her coffee. “See you soon, I hope!”

Once out of Bottlecap’s office, Gearing swings over to the cots and finds that Handy and Swift have already left on their mission to lighten their load by fattening their cap purse. He grabs up his own baggage that he has there. He prioritizes stowing the various goodies he’d just acquired that very night first before moving on to the rest, and after comfortably packing himself he heads out of the front door and into the wasteland again.

As he’s passing the guards at the gate, Keystone looks at him and asks, “Hey, since when do you leave with so much? You normally bring in brahmin loads of salvage.”

Gearing flutters over the crowd that’s lined up to get into Megamart and laughs. “Well, I’m heading home for a bit. Gotta get all of this back where it needs to be set up. We’ll be back after we get done unloading at home. So, should be back within a week, two weeks max.”

Another guard looks up at him and grins as she asks, “You mean we get a week or more of being able to sleep without hearing about your escapades?”

Another guardsmare off to the side comments as she takes the next group’s entrance fees, “Sex-capades you mean?” Eliciting waves of snickers from both guardsponies and civilians alike.

Gearing looks at her, and the other’s start outright laughing as his face slowly morphs into looking horrified.

‘Word travels fast,’ the little pegasus in his head comments.

Gearing waves it away and turns to leave as he says, “Don’t bet on that.”

To that comment the others laugh even harder. Including a couple in the crowd ready to enter, even though only a few of them actually knew what the topic was about and some just laughed because others did and it was a bit infectious.

Gearing heads over to the area where a bunch of would-be bounty hunters had set up camps a while ago. He’s well within view of Megamart, and in fact is straight out from it, but figures he can look around and keep an eye on the surroundings while waiting on Swift and Handy to finish up. And, because he knows his luck, he takes off the majority of his preciously stored salvage and sets it all together in a bit of a nook between the husk of a wagon and a half buried shipping container of some kind. Then he goes out and starts looking around, while keeping an eye on where he hid his belongings. And, to make matters easier, he flicks on his EFS.

* * *

A trio of fully kitted out Steel Rangers walk down the old highway towards Megamart as they keep an eye on their surroundings. The thumps of their metallic hooffalls being heard for some distance as they pass in their imposing armor. Not that they really expect much trouble, but one never knows when a rabid yellow eyed raider will jump out of hiding and try to capitalize on an unwary pony.

As they are getting closer to Megamart, the one on the left of the triangle formation keeps looking off towards the open area where so many ponies had gathered and camped not long ago. A glint had caught his eye and the closer they get to Megamart, the more he’s looking at it and trying to figure out what it is. An attachment to his helmet drops down over the side of the helmet's visor where his left eye is and starts rapidly clicking.

Suddenly he actually turns towards the glint as he asks, “Paladin Granite, sir, are there any more units in this sector today?”

The one in the lead turns and walks up next to him, but then starts looking off in the distance too as he replies, “Negative. Not that I’m aware. Why?”

The first points with a booted hoof in the direction he’d seen the glint and is staring at with his advanced sighting equipment. “There’s somepony over there in a weird set of armor in a configuration I’ve never seen before. Assuming it’s not a paint job, I don’t recognize the metal alloy either.”

The third one steps around to flank their leader as she comments, “I heard about some buck causing a stir around here. A practical one pony army. Assumed to have some kind of customized power armor not based off of known models? Nothing like anything on the grid that we’ve seen before, according to the reports. And he’s got it painted up all glittery and gold. Really flashy like. And his actions seem just as flashy as he’s put down multiple challenges. Publicly.”

The commander looks at her and asks, “A custom unique set of power armor? How’s that possible?”

The one on the left shakes his head. “Sir, I keep saying, the tribals aren’t all as dumb as the elder’s try and make them out to be. They got to have some real ingenuity just to survive out here…” He waves towards the area where he’d seen the glint as he says, “It’s only a matter of time before somepony reverse engineers sets they find… That’s assuming they don’t just come up with their own.” He looks at his commander as he says, “Ponies came up with the idea out of thin air once, out of need, it only makes sense that it can happen again. You don’t need a whole Ministry backing development if you already have working models as examples.”

The paladin scoffs as he looks at his subordinate, but then his head whips over to where he sees a glint himself. “And you think this individual is the one that made his own armor?”

The mare on the right bobs her head around. “It would make sense. There’s rumors it’s more than one buck. But, given the sightings, it’s entirely possible for it just to be one individual that’s traveled around a lot.” She looks at the paladin and tilts her head. “If you had the best gear in the wasteland, would you want just anypony else having and using it?”

Paladin Granite mulls it over before he motions towards where he’d seen the glint. “Let's go have a talk with them. See what they know. We’re always looking for new technologies… and if he’s got them…”

The other two nod and they begin following their leader in the same triangle formation as they make their way to where they saw movement the last time.

* * *

Gearing walks around, hopping over a few wrecks here and there, and he tries to find if there’s anything else he’d like to keep. The couple laser pistol charge packs that he had found while snooping has really grown his interest in looking further. There’s few things that he’d actually deem important enough to carry the extra weight, given what he already has to take back to stable 68, but he’s not one for passing up the opportunity.

Plus, he’s bored. Bored of waiting for Swift and Handy. Bored of just standing out here doing nothing. But, at the same time, not wanting to get involved in anything that’ll cause delays overall.

And as he’s sifting through a ratty hastily built, and abandoned, lean-to, he can see a couple individuals approaching his area with his EFS, but, since they aren’t red, he doesn’t pay them much mind.

And then a voice coming through a microphone speaker greets him, and instantly makes his eyes go wide, since he knows very well the kind of speaker that that modulation typically comes from.

“Hey, you there, may we have a word with you for a minute?” the buck asks through the external speakers of his armored helmet.

Gearing pulls back out of the lean-to, and looks over at the three individuals.

And instantly activates SATS.

In front of him, and not too far away, a couple paces at best, are a trio of Steel Rangers. The armor looks well maintained, for the most part. The one in the lead, the one in the middle, is assumed by Gearing to be the leader, judging by his armament, and the insignia on the pony’s shoulder pauldrons. The weaponry he’s carrying looks like a pair of autocannons stripped off of a Sentry security bot and modified to work on the Steel Ranger power armor frame. The one next to the leader on Gearing’s left has a minigun on one side of her battle saddle, and an auto grenade launcher on the other. And, the last one among them, to Gearing’s right, has a pair of light machine guns with accompanying auto feeding equipment to boot. He looks them over, and their positions, and notes that despite having the potential to have him in an ambush with effective cross fire, they don’t, which makes them appear to him that they aren’t really trying to start a fight. They’re a bit too close together for that.

The little pegasus in his head glares at them as he asks, ‘So, these assholes huh… Well if they start shit…’

Gearing mentally replies, I need to inform them quickly that I’m a Reaper, otherwise if something kicks off it might cause a bigger problem.

Gearing’s eyes trail over the various spots of the armor as he tries to make as many educated, very educated, guesses at who the occupants could be. The armor plating has a way of giving away a bit about the wearer. Most can’t really tell the difference between folks wearing armor, at least not unless they had spent a lot of time with them. Differences in the ways they walk. Differences in the way they move in general. But, because of the various enchantments on the armor, they actually change themselves to fit the wearer just ever so slightly. To maximize combat effectiveness. This wasn’t a commonly known feature. But, Gearing, having access to way more information than any one pony really should be able to, knows about it. And, anyone that did find out about that tidbit, had a lot of things make sense for them. Like how, for some reason, units could tell who each other were even though they were in the exact same type of suit of armor. Yes, quite a few had numbers or other insignia on them to help identify them. But the biggest give away for units that worked together for any real length of time was the individual tells. Even on a subconscious level. Most of them didn’t even realize they were doing it.

The mental acceleration effect of SATS ends prematurely as Gearing decides to figure out what they want and wants enough of a charge left to help if the need arises.

Gearing steps away from the lean-to as he looks at the one in the middle that he’s sure had spoken to him. “Sure, I got a few minutes to spare.” He looks them over slowly, intentionally, before he says, “What can I help you with today? Got raiders and slavers needing removed? Or do you need someone that knows what they’re doing to take a look at your suits and fix them?”

The mare to the left scoffs as she asks, “You really think we’d need tribals to help us deal with raiders?” She shakes her head. “And don’t even get me started on my armor. Nopony outside of the chapter touches my Iron Sides Betty…”

Gearing shrugs as he waves a hoof nonchalantly. “I don’t know. There’s a few reasons someone might. I don’t know what kind of agreement you have between other organizations in the region… Well, not all of them anyway. Big Daddy told me pretty point blank that you guys are off limits and not to start any shit with you… But considering I’ve made a point of making my stance on raiders and slavers public, you wouldn’t be the first group to ask me to deal with some assholes that were… Politically inconvenient… shall I say… to deal with them directly.”

The one on the right speaks up, “Whoa, wait, did I hear that right? Are you a Reaper?”

Gearing looks them over then nods as he waves a hoof dismissively. “Yeeaaaah, have been for a bit… Big Daddy staked claim on me after the Reaper No Shoes challenged me to the ring… He left the ring a corpse and I was told that since I put a hole in their roster I had to fill the position.” He shrugs. “It’s weird how things work out sometimes… You knock one buck’s head off, and suddenly you’re dragged into all kinds of political nonsense…”

The one in the center stares at him for a few moments before asking, “Why would someone of your talents stay with a group of degenerates like that?”

Gearing raises an eyebrow without saying anything.

The voice coming through the helmet scoffs before he motions towards him with a forehoof. “Your equipment is immaculate. It’s very well taken care of. Intricate and flexible beyond anything I’ve seen. Even our own suits are composed of larger plates and segments. But yours are far smaller. Which, given the amount of movement that would cause between them, and the increased surface area, I would expect there to be far more wear and tear visible. Especially for someone traveling the wasteland. But, it’s not. Which speaks volumes about your capability not only to work on equipment, but maintain it to a high standard.”

Gearing’s eyes narrow before he asks, “And?”

“And, the Reapers, for all I can see, are a bunch of muscle headed degenerates. They fight petty squabbles, they don’t seem to have any real goals besides fighting. And they do so in the most crude ways imaginable. Most of them don’t even have the common sense to wear armor,” the mare comments snidely.

Gearing grins at them. “You ever think that might be part of their doctrine? Oh, how about the fact that even with all of those ‘disadvantages’ to you, they’ve managed to reign in the biggest gangs in this whole region, made them play nice, and the ones they didn’t get with the program, got smashed into the ground with bare hooves…” He tilts his head as he smirks at them. “Don’t overestimate your technical advantage over those you deem ‘lesser’… During the war I’ve seen dumbasses in fully equipped suits like yours get taken down by a single naked legionary with a dagger.” He waves a hoof around as he shakes his head. “There are advantages of strong armor, but there are also extreme disadvantages to it as well.”

“The… war?” the mare’s voice comes out in a startled gasp as she very quickly starts doing mental calculations. “Wait, are you saying you’re a pre war buck?”

Gearing looks at the mare and frowns. “Grammatically that term doesn’t really make sense to me. I was born during the war. Served Equestria the best I could until everything went balls up. Now I’m just doing what I can to help who I can and where I can.”

“Oh?” the Paladin asks as he gives his head a slight incline back and seems to be having a hard time with himself between wanting to believe the brazen claim, versus the common sense of it not making sense.

Gearing nods before he points at the apparent leader. “Yeah, I remember when those suits came out…” He points at the Paladin. “T50 model, a substantial upgrade in combat ability and survivability over the previous generations. Reliable. A few bugs. But nothing that can’t be worked out with regular maintenance.” He points at the suit that the mare’s voice came out of. “T50A, was supposed to be an iteration increase over the generational named T50, but in my opinion was actually a step back in a few areas. Still pretty good. Just watch out for the ankle servos. Those things have a tendency to get bogged down and jam up in silty water-”

“Hey, I had the ankle servos on Betty replaced long ago!” the mare replies with a defensive and indignant huff.

Gearing just grins as he bobs his head around. “So you know I’m right about them. Good on you and the tech that fixed them.” He looks over to the snickering buck on the right and lets out a sigh. “And, looks like you got the short end of the straw with the T45A… Not the worst suit to ever come out of R and D, but the maintenance on it gets ridiculous for its uptime.”

The buck looks to the side, at the pony in the center, and mutters, “See, I told you it’s not just me…”

“Quiet,” the Paladin snips.

The commander looks Gearing over for a few moments before he says, “You seem to have intimate knowledge of power armor… You know, I think you’d be a big asset to our chapter. We could use an intelligent and creative individual helping us maintain, if not actually create, our sets of armor. We have a lot of resources that could really help you with your own projects.”

“My own projects?” Gearing asks as he tilts his head.

The leader chuckles as he shakes his head. “I know your type, buck. Eggheads. You might be one of the ones that has the travel bug. Might like to get out of the lab to get some action. But you’re still one of those ponies that likes to build and create. You always have side projects going. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that the possibility that you’re out and about might only be because you need equipment and supplies for the projects you’re working on…”

‘He’s a bit closer than I’d like to admit…” the little pegasus in Gearing’s head comments as he glares at the middle pony in power armor before sticking his tongue out at them like the mature adult he is.

Gearing looks at him for a moment before he asks, “Tell me, what would I get out of the deal? You’ve already said you could use my help. And, judging by the rest of the wasteland, and what I remember from during the war, that’d be true. But, what do I get out of this exchange?”

“Hey, buck, tribals don’t get invites to apply very often! You should feel honored to even have the Paladin waste his breath on you!” the mare on the left says as she stomps a metallic hoof onto the ground.

“Stand down,” the Paladin snaps as he turns his head and looks at her. “He has a valid point.”

The buck on the right side waves a hoof around. “Like we said. Resources. And not just material. A secure location. The ability not just to work on current equipment, but work on advancements. And with merit of work the work gets more funding and support. So the better your work the more resources that would be allocated.”

Gearing looks at him as he nods. “That does sound like a pretty juicy positive.”

The buck bobs his head as he says, “Yeah! And you’ll have an entire chapter behind your back if you need it!”

Gearing looks them over before he asks, “Just, one more question.”

The leader turns his head from glaring at the mare and asks, “And what would that be?”

Gearing stares at him in the face for a few moments before asking, “And who, exactly, would benefit from all of my advancements?”

“Excuse me?”

Gearing walks a bit closer. “From everything I’ve heard about your organization, this side of the war I mean, you’ve been hoarding technology… I’ve been warned, by several sources, that your… faction… has been known to not only steal and keep any technology to themselves, but to actually kill ponies for it…”

The mare on the left has the common decency to turn her head away as she mutters, “I’d never take part in such barbarism… but…”

But, their commander doesn’t deny it. At all. And remains silent as he looks at Gearing.

Gearing looks them all over as he says, “So, you’d have me create all kinds of goodies. Things that could help everyone in Equestria. Ponies and nonponies alike. Let’s say I get on a hot streak and manage to create some next level technology. Things that could, if done correctly, bring Equestria back from a complete wasteland and allow us to rise to the heights of old Equestria, minus the moronic war… Let’s say all of that happens. And I create such wonders of the world like have never been seen and could start a new golden age of life and prosperity.” He looks back and forth before narrowing his eyes. “You all would just want to keep that to yourselves as well, wouldn’t you?”

The commander groans before he says, “There’s… certain concerns about technology… falling into the wrong hooves. So-”

Gearing cuts him off. “So you refuse to let anyone else have any, at all, regardless. And, even if your technology could help others, even under your management, you still wouldn’t use it for others.”

The buck to the right admits, “There’s many elders that would not approve of that… No.”

Gearing looks at him and nods before waving a hoof around. “Look, not going to happen. I’ve already heard rumors about what one of your elders did with a water talisman.” He looks at the commander and a massive scowl crosses his muzzle. “Stomped on it. Destroyed it… They could have set it up, and let who knows how many ponies have access to clean clear water. For drinking. For irrigation. For . . . Something!” He stomps a hoof. “Instead, the narcissistic fuck just destroyed it because if they couldn’t have it nopony could!”

The mare turns her head away even more, bitterly grumbling about the verbal assault that she has no comeback for.

“We’re not all like that!” the leader’s voice comes out with more anger than being defensive. “Some are, true, but you can’t blame the whole for the actions of a few misguided individuals!”

The mare spins her head around and chimes in, “That’s right! There’s many of us that want to use our technology to help the wasteland ponies!”

Gearing waves his forehooves around as he says, “Well, from what I’ve seen in the last few weeks, it’s not very many of you! I’ve yet to see any of you coming to the aid of caravans being attacked. I’ve not once even heard about you clearing out raider dens that are butchering ponies. Hell, I’ve probably killed more raiders this past week, than your entire chapter has all year!”

The mare on the left stomps a hoof as she snorts. “Ooooh what would you know?!”

Gearing points at her as he yells, “What I know is that Applejack made that armor you’re wearing to protect ponies. To help reduce the amount of suffering in Equestria. She didn’t want others to suffer like she did when her brother had died. She didn’t want them to feel the same pain she did. She was all about family, and common decency! And, as someone who knew her personally, I can tell you straight that she might have created the Steel Rangers, but if she saw what you’ve become she’d be horrified and disappointed beyond belief!” He waves his hooves around. “She’d be disgusted to the point of making her absolutely sick!”

The mare actually takes a step back as the indignation in Gearing’s voice makes it seem impossible to call it as anything but a heartfelt truth.

The buck on the right waves his forehoof a bit before he turns towards Gearing and says, “Whoa, just calm do-” Whatever he was going to say is drowned out by the sound of full automatic machine gun fire.

Coming from the buck on the right himself.

Footnote:

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