Fortunately for me, there was a job board posted right outside the Red Pegasus. I knew I wasn’t going to be a bounty hunter, so I ignored all of those posters. On the 'odd jobs' side of the board, a few caught my eye such as one stating '2000 bits for radio parts, contact Midnight Rain at 345 Marebon Street 3.' I memorized the address and started walking towards what I thought was the residential area of Marebon Street.

From the looks of it, there were actually five streets that were all called 'Marebon' which was why there was a 3 at the end of Midnight Rain's address. I happened to be on street 5. After asking for directions, (yes males can do such things.) I found my way to the desired house. The house looked like a renovated jewellery store, the valuable objects inside long gone.

Knocking on the door resulted in a muffled "Hold on I'll be right there!" from inside. A minute or so later a dusty brown unicorn mare with a vibrant red mane and tail opened the door. At first, she seemed annoyed by my presence.

"I don't owe anyone any money so you can tell your boss that sending talon members isn’t going to get what he wants." She then moved to close the door.

"W-wait! I'm not a talon, I'm just here to talk about the job you posted!" I stuttered out. The pressure holding the door closed lessened.

"And what job would that be?" The mare cautiously replied.

"The radio parts you wanted." Her expression immediately softened.

"Oh, you should have said something sooner. Come on in then." And with that, she let go of the door, making me almost fall on my face, I managed to get back up before Midnight Rain turned around at the noise.

Midnight Rain's home was littered with bits of technology; partially dismantled terminals, broken robots, pipbucks in various states of repair, even a few large objects resembling printers. Farther in there was a small living space with a few couches and a coffee table in the centre. The walls were covered in old pre-war posters of various bands and celebrities such as Countess Coloratura. At the back of the room was a small kitchenette from which an amazing aroma of cooking meat and fresh bread was emanating.

The Brown mare took a seat on one couch and motioned for me to sit in the one across from her. Using her magic she lifted a bottle of scotch two glasses from the kitchenette and over to the coffee table, pouring the ancient pre-war cups to the brim. Setting one on my side of the table while taking a sip from hers, she began to explain the job.

“As you can guess from my house, I like fiddling with pre-war tech. One thing I’d like to do with all this is set up a radio station so I can broadcast music and important information to people all around the Neigh Orleans area.”

I also drank from my glass, savouring the taste of fine liquor.

“So how can I help with that? I’m pretty tech-savvy, but I don’t think I have the skills to make any of that possible.”

Midnight Rain gave a small chuckle as she emptied her glass and refilled it.

“Oh no, I’ll be doing all the smartass stuff, I want it done properly and with care, something I don’t trust many out here other than me and maybe Scruffy, our mechanic, can do. I would like you to go out to the radio tower thing a little north of Marebon Street. Once there find as many radios and other broadcasting devices you can find. I don’t care what condition they’re in, I can salvage what’s useful.”

I tilted my head in confusion.

“Radio tower thing?”

Midnight scoffed, drinking from her cup once more.

“Aside from the PipBuck, you don’t have the look of a stable-dweller, but you definitely have the naïvety of one. All around the wasteland, there are these big white towers built by the MOA (ministry of awesome) during the war. No one knows their original use, but they contain a bunch of broadcasting equipment and other technologies.”

“Oh, all right, I think I can do that.”

Midnight Rain stood up, having finished her third glass of scotch. Setting our empty glasses on a counter and the remaining scotch in a cupboard she turned to look at one of her many posters with a far off expression.

“This world has plenty of bad in it. By creating a radio channel to keep people in Neigh Orleans updated on current dangers would make this part of the world at least a little bit better. I believe that if everyone did their part. If everyone made the world a little bit better, it would get a Lot better. So thank you for helping me with this, I know you’re not going to do this just for the warm feeling inside afterwards so I’ll pay you two hundred caps per piece of tech you bring me.” I whistled, standing up and walking to her side.

"You have a deal, Ma’am. I'll be back soon with your equipment."

"Good, I shall see you later then."

And with that, I left the mare's house and began walking back towards where I left Shadow. I didn’t know if he was going to be there when I got back or not, but I would like someone who knows the area if I was to go out to this radio tower. As I walked through town I spotted a small group of heavily armed gryphons talking to the owner of the Red Pegasus. Though I couldn’t hear what they were saying due to the general noise of the town It looked like she was describing someone to them.

Frowning, I lowered my head and walked faster in case they were searching for me. I had no clue why a group of mercenaries would be after me, but it couldn’t hurt to be careful. Besides, Round Trip and I hadn’t been the only patrons present during our conversation. There were plenty of other people they might be looking for.

Once out of sight of the gryphons I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding and glanced behind me, no one there.

Good.

Shaking off my worry I trotted towards the ruined skywagon Shadow should be waiting by.

"You want to go where!?"

"To the big radio tower to get parts for Midnight Rain. If you don’t want to come with me that's fine, you’ve already helped me quite a bit and I understand if you’re done with me." Shadow scoffed, waving a hoof dismissively.

"Leaving you to die now after helping you fight those ghouls and the witch would be a waste of my time and ammunition. So you’re stuck with me until I think you can survive on your own. Just remember that I’ll only fight with you, not for you."

"Got it. Thanks for staying."

"Heh, whatever kid, let's get going and find a good place to stay before it gets dark."

Footnote:

New quest added!: Radio Gaga. Collect radio parts for Midnight Rain. Time limit: none.

Author's Note

Another chapter out! Yay!

I apologize for how few chapters I'm putting out a month. Between School, Theater, Cross Country, Marching Band, and Boy Scouts my life has been quite busy.

Again if any of you would like to help with writing, pre-reading, or editing it would be much appreciated and would help move these chapters along!

So thank you to those who are giving my story a chance, hope you all had a happy thanksgiving and goodbye for now!