Ballad of an Edgerunner

by Enceledus

Rating: mature
Tags: Violence, Death, Narcotics, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Science Fiction, Suicide / Self Harm, Gilda, Profanity, Lightning Dust, Cloudchaser
Length: 7017

What do you get when you take three pegasai, an earth pony, and a griffon, and give them cybernetics?

Best read in Nightmode
"It's a city of Dreams, And I'm A Big Dreamer..."
Neon lights, fast cars, dark skies, hard drugs, heavy beats, maniacal mega corps... This city has it all...
Welcome Choombatta, to Neo-Oured, Circa 2077. A Cyberpunk wonderland. Where the Corps are at odds with the government, and everyone else is caught in the middle.
The city of dreams, where everyone's trying to chase that mystical promise of a better life, a better future. Everyone knows it exists, but no one's found it. Yet...

Ballad of the Edgerunner is a reimagining of a Cyberpunk 2020 campaign, played entirely in in alternate mlp universe, A world aware of other realities. A world connected to other realms through portals, with regulations and teams in place to prevent their abuse.
Some NPC roles, actions, and names have been changed to better fit continuity

Published 2021-01-26 23:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2021-01-28 05:01:00 UTC

01: New Beginnings Pt. 1

”What the actual fuck are you trying to do?” Came the voice of Lightning Dust, standing perplexed amidst a large, lounge like room, a bar tucked away in one corner, A firing range in another, and hallways branching off to other sections and levels entirely. The main concourse-like room sporting numerous couches, tables, and chairs scattered around.

”Trying to kill time, what’s it to you.”, came the response from a pegasus sitting on the floor, currently welding together a combination of kitchen appliances. A toaster, A deep fryer, and a microwave, all of which broken, yet none-the-less being combined. Holding the torch in an augmented foreleg as he worked, his hoof seemed to have split apart into five digits. On his head sat an old, dark gray beanie, with two cyan bands in each ear to either side of it. Adorning his frame meanwhile was a dark gray jacket, likely sporting a kevlar ballistic weave, with a cyan shirt underneath it, hind legs covered in a set of faded navy blue pants with reinforcement pads in the joints.

”Right. Okay.” Squinting as she spoke, Lightning looked over the pegasus, sweeping her gaze over his form. The pegasus in question proved to sport dark gray colored fur, with a black mane, and black flight feathers on his two-tone wings. At the tips of his mane, wings, and tail sat illuminated Lumifibre implants, emitting a soft cyan glow, joined by his visibly augmented eyes. Adorning his frame all the while was a dark gray

”It’s either I do this while waiting for my Fixer to contact me, or I sit here and complain.” He glances up from his welding while he speaks. The stallion’s eyes lock on Lightning for several seconds, irises dilating and adjusting before looking back to his project and returning to work with his welder.

”And you’re sure that what you’re doing isn’t going to blow up the entire building?” The mare adjusts her posture, wings shuffling against her back, brow perking as she leans against a nearby couch, standing on her hind legs, looking down at the male.

”It’s something to do. Therefor it’s killing time. And yes, I’m very sure. For one thing, the toaster is broken, the microwave doesn’t have a transformer, and the deep fryer has no oil. And Two, I don’t plan on turning it on.” Letting out a huff after he spoke, he turns his gaze up from his project again, ears angling back on his head as an unamused expression formed across his muzzle before looking back once more to his project.

”Then what’s the fucking point? You’re just slapping shit together for the sake of slapping shit together.” Lifting an eyebrow, Lightning shifts her weight to one hind leg, unfolding her fores, resting one hoof against the couch’s arm rest, the other resting on her hip. ”Are you one of those pretentious artist fuckers?”

”Get your dick out of your ears, you fuckin’ Dorpher. I just fuckin’ explained why.” Holding his gaze on his project now, he set to work beefing up the welds holding the toaster and microwave together.

Lightning stares with a baffled expression, eyes blinking several times in rapid succession. ”I-I'm sorry- What the fuck did you just call me?”

”A fuckin' Dorpher. An Endorphin junkie. A druggie, an addict, a crackhead. What fuckin' else could I have meant by that?” Turning off his welder, the stallion stands up, looking over to her with his pupils adjusting their size independently. His hoof, now that it wasn't holding the welder meanwhile, retracted and closed itself up, looking identical to a normal hoof at a passing glance.

”What are you, a two year old? That's the dumbest insult I've ever heard.” Rolling her eyes as she spoke, Lightning huffed afterwards, closing her eyes briefly.

”I ain't the one who comes up with the names, kid.” He turns the amalgam of machines around before dragging over a toaster oven. ”'Sides, you should know what the hell a 'Dorpher is. Or did you grow up all protected and sheltered in a damn arcology?”

”Shut up. That's what,” Lightning snorts, her eyes reopening as she practically glared at the male, teeth gritting for a mere few seconds. ”And sure. Whatever you say, you... Fucking skyfoogle!”

”What the fuck...?” He turns his gaze back to Lightning, an eyebrow raising as a baffled expression formed across his muzzle. He was, quite honestly, stunned by Lightning's response, an eyebrow lifting as his expression faded.

”Yeah. That's how I fucking felt when you just called me a Dorphin. Not so fun when it's turned on you, is it?” A mockingly triumphant expression formed across Lightning's muzzle as she spoke, adorned with a cocky grin.

Muffling out what sounds like a huff, and some soft curses under his breath, the pegasus closes his eyes for a few moments, then reopens them, looking at Lightning. He soon reaches under his jacket, grasping something with his hoof's digits and pulling it out, revealing what looked like an inhaler, a transparent polymer container sitting on top of it with a thick, black liquid inside it. ”This is the shit they hit that gives 'em their name. Rots your fuckin' brain and destroys your lungs.”

”And tell me, why the fuck do you think I care?” She huffs, rolling her eyes. ”You hit me with one of the dumbest insults I'd ever heard, and I gave you a dumb insult of my own. Consider us both even, I don't need you to tell me 'ohhh drugs bad' rhetoric.” Another huff, followed by the mare closing her eyes.

”Ain't tryin' to hammer that point home kid.” He puts it back under his jacket. ”]Personally, I don't give a fuck what kind of shit you hit. For all I care, you could spend your time getting high off of snortin' Mayonaise or injecting rock salt into your fucking veins. I'm trying to show you just what the fuck I'm talking about. More-over, that shit Literally rots your brain, puts holes all through it. Real nasty stuff. Makes a 'Dorpher a nightmare to fight against.”

”You're- Okay, you know what? You talk too much.” Lightning opens her eyes, then all but marches. Lifting a forehoof on the way, she cocks it back, then throws it at him in a swift punch.

As Lightning's punch swung in, the mare found her blow blocked by his augmented foreleg, having swung far faster than what an organic one could manage, mechanical digits deploying from around his hoof and grabbing on firmly. Following just a second later, he yanked her towards him, then pinned her down to the ground chest first with his other foreleg pressing down between her wings. The first meanwhile pulled her foreleg back, chicken-winging it. All in all, the take-down took under three seconds, his irises and lumifibre implants in his mane, wings, and tail having turned red in the process.

Lightning's eyes went wide the moment he stopped her hoof. This fucker moved FAST! Faster than a pony could reasonably move their legs, she thought to herself. ”How the fuck did-?!” And just a moment later, she felt something gripping around her hoof. Before she knew it, she got pulled over and in that same moment, she was on the ground, pinned onto her stomach with him pressing her wings down to prevent her from moving even more. Clever bastard. She wasn't about to to let him one-up, her, though. Maybe I could wait for an opening. ”Ngh-! How the fuck did you do that?”

The stallion quickly moved, putting a hind hoof between her wings and swapping out for his fore. ”Dodgeball chipware and cybernetic forelegs.” Those mechanical digits of his started to squeeze on her forehoof with a slowly rising pressure, like he was threatening to crush it.

Lightning clenches her teeth and tightly shuts her eyes. Damnit, not the same fucking hoof I broke last time! ”I don't even fucking know what that means!” She spat, glaring back at him. Couldn't get a good look at him from her position, just a peek of him in the corner of her peripheral vision. ”The fuck are you, even? A cyborg!?”

”I'm an Edgerunner.” Responding flatly, his hind hoof pushed down hard on her back, pressing her against the floor, thankfully for her, his hind legs proved to still be flesh and blood. His digits meanwhile kept up the pressure on that hoof.

Lightning scoffs, trying to wriggle around a bit. ”Still no fucking clue what you're talking about.” She grumbles. The fuck am I to do here? He seemed to be focusing more on her upper body. The lower half of her seemed to be free, for the most part. Could try and knock him off his hooves, worth a shot, though. ”Anyone ever tell you that you have a bad habit of casually telling people shit they know nothing about?”

”Anyone ever tell you I'm not getting paid enough to care?” His leg pushed down more firmly on her back as his fore stopped squeezing, rather just gripping on firmly before jerking hard, only really enough to sprain her leg rather than dislocate or, god forbid, break it horiffically. Releasing her hoof, he gave a firm push with his hind leg, sliding her across the floor and away from him.

Lightning, all the while, attempts to curl up and kick her hind legs just hard enough for her to knock off his balance, and while she gets there, it's interrupted when he jerks at her hoof, sending a surge of pain through it. ”FFFFUCKIN-!” She draws in a quick, sharp breath through clenched teeth. Before she even has a chance to try and sweep kick him, she gets sent sliding across the floor which ends with her colliding with a wall. Damnit, that hurt. She did, however, feel one of her hindlegs push against one of his own. She could only hope the velocity was enough to knock him down with her.

Her attempt had some success at least, the stallion seemed to stumble for a brief second before a foreleg slammed hard onto the floor, digits spreading out to stabilize him before he lowered his other two legs to the floor. His implants all the while started to fade their colors back from red, to cyan, eyes locked on her as his ears angled back on his head.

Lightning slowly sits herself up, still dealing with a bit of strain running through her body in the process, a bit of pain from hitting the wall. ”Nnrgh... Motherfucker.” She muttered. glaring at the stallion from where she sat. Okay. No more fucking around she spreads her wings, flexing them a little. She quickly stands back up on all fours, pushing herself off the wall and launching herself towards him at high speeds, hindleg extended, intent on sending it right into the stallion's face.

Standing still as the mare launched herself at him, his implants flashed back to red as the mare closed before his dodgeball kicked back in as she got within reach of him. Ducking himself down and under her, he grabbed that hind leg with both fores. His digits soon spread, grabbing on firmly before he spun around, then swung her down at the floor, back first like a hammer. Finding herself taken by surprise again. There was no fucking way he should've been able to react that fast! He grabbed her hindleg, and before she even had the chance to respond-

WHUMPH!

Fffffffuuckk...
Fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK!

Releasing the mare's legs after she'd struck the floor, the pegasus' digits retracted into his forehooves before he stepped up beside her, staring down at her with a flat, annoyed expression. ”You done?”

Lightning's entire body ached, stars danced in her vision as she laid on the ground, unable to move or really think properly. Her eyes were wide, tears welling up in them as she just laid there, panting heavily, body shaking and trembling.
”I-I-I can't-
I-I can't feel-
I c-can't, fffffucking m-move.”

Lifting a forehoof, he brought it down and rested it on the mare's chest, his other reached under his jacket, pulling out what looked like an auto-injector pen. His flat stare remained, gaze sweeping over her form. ”Are you done?”

Lightning didn't know what the hell was going on inside her body, but even with how lightly the stallion was pressing against her chest, a whole surge of pain flared through her whole body. ”"HHHHH-"” Her neck arched back, more panting ensuuing. Fucking hell it hurt to breathe. ”I-I'm done, okay? J-Just get the fuck off me and get some help or something!”

The pegasus moved his foreleg off of her chest before pressing the injector against her neck. The needle then pierced her skin before it dumped in a potent dose of morphine and combat rated trauma drugs. The cocktail was meant to keep her from bleeding to death, as well as to stabilize her internal processes to prevent things like Crush Injury Syndrome. It also seemed to force the muscles in her back to tense and straighten out her spine to keep from agitating a spinal injury. He soon started to drag her off from the concourse, cheekily making his implants flash like the lights of an ambulance. Insult to Injury~

Lightning just... Kept laying there, darkness fading in and out of the edges of her vision. ”P-Please just fucking- get me a... A uh... Healing potion or something, I won't fucking- ughnnn...”

As the two walked, the two came across a figure in the halls of the complex, a white furred unicorn mare, who immediately grew a concerned expression at seeing Lightning's condition. ”Oh no, Lightning what happened to you?”

”I picked a fight with a cyborg.” Lightning groaned from the ground, doing the best gesture towards the stallion that she could in her near crippled state.

The unicorn looked to the pegasus, then muffled out a quiet sigh before sparking her horn to life with a bright white glow, lifting the crippled Lightning from the ground and helping the pegasus carry her off to what looked like an emergency room inside the complex.

Hauling Lightning up onto a bed after a few moments, his implants returned to their cyan glow before he turned his gaze out and around the room. He soon stepped away, starting to open drawers and cabinets, looking through and taking stock of what tools and medical supplies were around. ”Alright... Lets see what we've got to work with here...”

”I'm... Why can't I feel anything? The fuck did... You inject in me, dick?” The mare groans softly from the bed, eyes closing as she sprawled.

”Could you explain to me why you fought? That was not necessary.” Standing near the bed as she spoke, the unicorn mare looked to Lightning, lifting an eyebrow, head tilting to the side.

”Fucking bastard didn't know when to shut up. Wanted to make him quiet the hard way.”

”She charged me.” The pegasus countered Lightning, glancing to the unicorn, then to Lightning. ”Calm down. It's a cocktail called Trauma One. Morphine, Coagulants, and combat drugs to keep you from dying. You'll be fine. It's tailored for this.”

Lightning could only keep breathing. She didn't have the strength to move. She didn't even know if she COULD still move at this point. She could've swore she felt several bones getting broken when he slammed her into the ground. It's a miracle she wasn't killed there on the spot. ”Uhgh... Yeah, sure, I... Am just gonna pretend I know what that means.”

Sparking her horn to life with another glow, the unicorn looked over to Lightning, then spoke. ”He's not lying. I'm worried about dosage, though.”

”If you'll spare me twenty seconds, I'll get you an injector full of nanosurgeons to fix up your insides. As for the dosage, it's not enough to kill her, but she won't be doing much movement for a while.” An annoyed sounding huff escaped the stallion, searching through the cabinets and under his wings.

The unicorn gives a displeased look to Lightning, ears folding back on her head while her horn's glow faded. ”Lightning Dust... you poor mare.”

”I'm... Fine. Not really.” She shifts, then slowly, shakily props herself up on her forelegs, looking over to the pegasus. ”If- Nngh! ...If you say it'll fix me, then inject it, I don't wanna- I can't keep-”

The stallion reaches back into his jacket and fishes around for his combat first aid kit, setting it down on the bed after walking over, then pulling out another injector. ”This one's gonna burn like a motherfucker.” He moved down to press it against her thigh, though holding off from hitting the trigger. ”Find something to bite onto.”

”Fuck- Ops, get me something to put in my mouth. Anything that won't break my teeth.” Lightning closes her eyes as she spokes, holding her mouth open after she finished, steeling her nerves as best she can.

The unicorn blinks a few times, then swiftly looks around, horn lighting up and reaching for the first thing she finds that meets the description. Unfortunately for their ears it's a screaming rubber chicken. The unicorn soon places it in the mare's mouth.

Lightning sighs as she closes her lips around the chicken's body, taking slow, shaky breaths as she braced.

”This is gonna be annoying...” He sighed softly before hitting the button, a large needle injecting through her skin with a burst of compressed air, then into her femur, deep enough to hit the marrow within. Following not too long after is a thick substance getting pushed in, containing millions of sub-cellular machines and a healthy dose of Zinc, used by the nanosurgeons.

Lightning's eyes go wide. VERY wide. Her pupils shrink down to the size of pinpricks before she clenches them shut, a gutteral scream coming from the depths of her throat as she bites down hard on the rubber chicken, of which it ends up going AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA along with Lightning Dust. Though, it'd be hard to tell which one was making which sound.

A sigh escaped the stallion as his aural implants quickly tuned down the mare's screams, for himself at least. The needle is soon retracted by a spring pulling it out after a few moments when the injector was empty. The machines within soon started swarming up around each other and flowing through her blood, looking for any internal damage and starting to repair it. ”Take it easy for a week so those things can work. You're gonna be sore as fuckin' hell too, the kind of sore that not even Morphine can fix.” The stallion disposed of the injectors in one of those sharps disposal boxes. ”And next time, just ask me to shut up.”

Lightning, all the while, keeps biting down hard on the chicken. Hell, any more force and she could probably bite right through it. She could still feel waves of pain roaring through her entire body, but it was slowing down, at least for the time being. Her grip on the chicken eases up a little, and it just straight up falls out of her mouth, the mare coughing violently. ”Grrgghhh... Nnnhh... N-No, go fuck yourself.”

The stallion took a step back from the bed, muffling a subtle, amused snort. ”Spoken like a damn Edgerunner.” Enceledus reached under a wing, pulling out a business card made of a thin sheet of titanium and setting it down on the edge of the bed. ”You got spunk, kid. When you're walking again, if you wanna push things to the edge, just hit me up. I might know a guy who'd have some work that's right up your alley.” The pegasus then walks over, sitting himself down in a chair in a corner of the room, ears flicking back. ”Hit her with a proper shot of Morphine in eight hours, then a shot of powered Zinc dissolved in Saline. Nanosurgeons are gonna need the Zinc.”

The unicorn mare meanwhile gives a nod to him and places small patches over Lightning's body, hooking her up to a vitals monitor and setting about making the pegasus comfortable on the bed.

Several hours soon passed, with the stallion still crashed out on his chair, staring at a wall, though watching movies on his cybernetic optics and hearing the audio through his implants. Lightning soon calls out. ”H-Hey, uh... Amigo, or whatever. Is- Fffff, Is there any way to speed the process up?”

The stallion perks his ears, then glances over towards Lightning. His movie pauses as he does, slipping out of his sight before he spoke, perking an eyebrow. ”Shot of zinc and a second shot of Nanosurgeons. Unless you'd rather a blood transfusion.”

Lightning takes a couple deep breath to collect her thoughts. Mind's swimming right now. ”You... Got any to spare?”

”Any of what? Zinc? Nanosurgeons? Blood?”

Lightning nods. ”First two, yeah, 'cause, uh... If you're leaving, would, uh... Like all the healing stuff you can supply.”

”I don't carry Zinc on me. As for nanosurgeons, I don't have a second shot. What ones I do have are in my own body, got an implant that manufactures them, hence my offer of a transfusion.”

As the two spoke, the unicorn, nicknamed Ops, walked, glancing to Lightning, then to the pegasus. ”Doing good in here you two? She hasn't left the bed yet, has she?”

”Can't keep me bedded for too... Too long. I'll... I'll be back on my hooves soon- Ah! Soon enough, heh”

The stallion gives a roll of his eyes. ”Kid, do you want the blood transfusion or not?”

Lightning winced softly, then groaned out. ”Yes please.”

”Can I get a volunteer to help get this set up then?” Looking to Ops, the pegasus lifts an eyebrow.

”Fine. Not like there's anyone else here who'll do it.”

”You know how to set one up? Or do I have to walk you through it?” Getting up as he spoke, he stepped over towards Lightning's bed, hopping up onto an adjacent one

”I know how to do it. Had to do more than my fair share of them back home.” Lighting her horn as she spoke, Ops lets out a soft huff. After a few moments of rummaging, several cabinets opened and a folding table was dragged over with a blood pump and a transfusion kit.

”Oooookayy, okay, let's get this over w-with, then.” Lightning lets out a heavy exhale, then thumps her head down on the bed, closing her eyes.

”Good. You're gonna have to go for my Femoral. Metal forelegs and all.” The pegasus shifts some, moving his pants enough to expose his femoral but still keeping himself decent.

Lightning lays limp on the bed. Time to let this all happen. ”This isn't gonna hurt more than I already do, is it?”

The stallion affixes a tourniquet to his right hind leg, making it easier to show where his femoral artery is. ”Get me first, she'll be easier.” He then looked to Lightning. ”This is really gonna fuckin' burn at first. Then you'll feel like god damn superman.”

”Can't be any worse than what I've already been through today, can it? I'm- I'm ready for just about aaahh. Anything, at this point.”

As the two speak, Ops moved in, horn lighting with a soft glow before sticking the stallion right in his femoral with a transfusion needle, soon doing the same to Lightning and turning on the blood pump.

The stallion grunts softly as his femoral was hit with the needle, eyes closing and teeth gritting. After a moment, he took off the tourniquet before leaning back against the bed. ”Hit it. God this is gonna suck.”

Lightning closes her eyes a bit tighter, bracing herself for the transmission, letting out a grunting huff. ”Fffffuuck.”

Tensing with his teeth baring, the stallion takes a seething breath as his implants started producing Nanosurgeons and Toxin binders to replace the ones that were getting lost in the transfusion. Lightning meanwhile got hit with an intense burning sensation for several seconds before it all but stopped as the stronger nanosurgeons from the Edgerunner started releasing painkillers.

”Oh, fuck, maybe I should've put that chicken back in my fuckING MOUTH GRRRGGHHH!” OKAY! YEP! THIS COULD DEFINITELY GET WORSE! It was like before, but multiplied by at least ten times or more. Like her entire body was on fire. Lightning's screams filled the entire medbay for a couple of moments until the heat subsided, the mare laying,, panting and coughing. ”Hhh... Holy fuckin' shit...”

A subtle, pained sounding laugh escaped him. His eyes soon closed as his implants pulsed with a soft glow. ”Told you...”

Lightning soon cracked an eye open, glaring weakly at the stallion. ”Heh, yeah, fuck you too, buddy.” Catching a glint from the edge of the bed all the while, Lightning lazily reaches for it, grabbing the business card the pegasus had left for her.

Holding it up now, and learning it was made out of laser cut steel, Lightning read over it, the stallion's name being made known to her now. Enceledus. Along with his name was various contact information, various messaging system names, numbers, and the like. While the reverse side had a large, stylized EI on it.

Huh. Interesting shit... Still not much she knew about, but she figured it was worth taking a look at some day. She stuffs it in her coat pocket for later, looking over at Enceledus himself. ”So, does this technically make me a cyborg for a week or something?”

”Sort of.” He shrugged before his eyes closed. ”Not really 'chrome though.”

Lightning snrks, rolling her eyes. ”Either way, I feel fucking incredible right now. Like I could marathon ten waves of dipshits and still not feel exhausted. I'm ready to take on the fucking WORLD right now!”

”Just stay away from an EMP.”

”Wasn't planning on going near any!"”

Enceledus slowly nods, detaching his right foreleg as his eyes opened. After a moment, the pegasus started making some adjustments to it.

”So, dude, tell me a little about yourself. In a language I understand.”

”What do you want to know?” Enceledus flicks an ear as he speaks, glancing over towards Lightning with a brow perking before looking back to his detached foreleg.

”I dunno, anything. The world you're from, what an edgerunner is, all your weird implants and shit.”

”Edgerunners are... Hard to explain. You know what a Samurai is?”

Lightning nods, perking a brow. ”Yeah, sorta. Why?”

”We're sorta like that, just our loyalty is to our team's Fixer. A fixer is what gets us work from any one really. Megacorps, drug lords, booster gangs, murder cults, nomads, governments, the city, et cetera.”

Lightning slowly nods, just trying to process it. ”So, you got some sorta dystopia kinda shit going on back home, huh?”

Enceledus nods. ”Mmmhm. Ten years after a catastrophic influx of demons, the country of Osea underwent an economic collapse, followed by a complete societal breakdown. Took ten years of hell before things started to recover. Back home, it's now twenty-seventy-seven. And the world's hell... Corporate run hell. To the point of... They voted my city the single worst place to live in the world.”

Lightning taps her chin with a forehoof, emitting a soft 'hrm' as she did. ”I... Well, shit, dude. Sounds like some crazy stuff. You could make a whole book about this stuff if you wanted to. Hell, if you've got any history books back home, I'd love to check it out. This sounds like something I'm genuinely interested in learning more about. And I don't say that often.”

”Most of those got burned in the collapse. As for the city... Yeah, It's fuckin' crazy. Main issues to that? Sky high rate of violence, and more people living below the poverty line than anywhere else in the world. Honestly, no one can even deny it. It's all true. But the city's got a promise for ya. Even if it's a lie. An Illusion. But you know it's there. Just around the corner. Keeps you going. Keeps everyone going.” He reattached his foreleg, folding them behind his head. ”It's a city of dreams, honestly. And I'm a big dreamer.” His eyes closed, and a grin formed across his muzzle.

”Heh. Okay, yeah, whenever I'm up to it, I'm gonna give your world a visit some time. I gotta check this shit out. Until then,” She flops her head back down. ”Just gonna let the nanomachines flow right into me.”

”Easy there Armstrong.” A quiet laugh soon escaped Enceledus, his eyes opening and glancing to her.

Lightning soon lets out a short laugh of her own, glancing over to him with a smirk. ”Played college ball, you know.~”

Enceledus reopened his eyes, glancing over to Lightning. ”Definitely got the making of an edgerunner. You're just missing the chrome, Choombatta. And the connections of course.”

Lightning grins, glancing over at Enceledus. ” You're a choombatta, you dip.”
The stallion soon muffled a short laugh, then rolled his eyes. ”You don't even know what that means.”

”I sure don't, and I don't give a flying fuck.~”

”It means friend. Or Family.”

”Ah, well, guess I'm not entirely wrong, then.” Some short, subtle laughter escapes the pegasus as she shuffles some on her hospital bed, looking over to Enceledus.

”Mmmhm.” He sat up, turning on the bed to face her, hind legs dangling over the edge of the bed. ”Seriously though. You ever want to come get some work done for Edgerunners, I can hook you up with some contracts. Got a lot of spunk and promise. Could maybe chase down the city's dream. Just gotta get Chipped in and Chromed. 'Course you're also gonna need a handle and taught how to really Slammit On.”

”Listening to you talk is like listening to some kind of street gang lingo.” She chuckles, finally sitting herself up, streeeeeetching, aahhhhhh. ”I wouldn't mind getting an implant or two. Shit looks cool.”

” Heh... Like what? Legs? Wings? Eyes? Ears? Throat? Full 'borg?” He tilts his head as he speaks, perking an eyebrow, shifting some to put himself on his side, facing her.

Tapping her chin softly, Lightning angles her ears back. ”Hmm... What about that thing you've got on your hoof? The bird-talon thing.”

”These little babies...” He lifted a foreleg, deploying his digits. ”Are entirely custom.”

Lightning's eyes widen as she stares at the forelegs, growing a wonderous expression. ”You built that yourself?”

Enceledus gives a nod. ”Custom aftermarket mods to some Raven Microcybernetics 'Nimbatus' cyberlegs. Had to replace the shotguns I had in 'em to make room though.”

Lightning's expression falls to a confused one, head tilting, eyes blinking. ”In english please?”

”My legs. The model name for 'em is Nimbatus. The company that makes them is called Raven Microcybernetics.”

”Okay. I understood that a bit more. And you said you had shotguns in them too? How does that work?”

”Short barrel, semi-automatic shotguns. Panel on the side's supposed to open to fit a new mag in, and another is supposed to pop open for ejecting shells. Replaced the shotguns with the mechanics for these fingers. Personally, I like these more than the shotguns. Lets me use a bow now.”

”I can agree with you on that. Seems like being able to grab onto shit sounds pretty useful. I've got my wings to do that shit, but these things aren't exactly the most efficient things for heavy lifting. Either way, I would fucking LOVE to get ahold of those things. Some wing enhancements wouldn't be too bad either. Could go even faster.”

Nodding, Enceledus reaches under a wing, pulling out his folding compound bow to prove his point, he soon slips it back under. ”A set of legs like this'll set you back eight grand. Plus six hundred for the basic processor to turn your brain's signals into something the legs can use.”

Lightning nods in response, ears flicking back on her head as she shrugged. ”Ahhhh yeah, right, I'd need to put all kinds of shit into my brain. But if it means getting enhancements, then you know what, I'd be all down for that.”

”Then you get optics like mine. Automatic polarization for welding, anti-flash so flash grenades are useless against me, thermals in one eye, Infrared in the other, and a Hud across both. There's also Chipware like my Dodgeball, which is what let me kick your god damn ass.”

”Dodgeball, huh?”

He nods. ”Predictive algorithm, ninety-five-percent accurate.”

”So you KNEW what I was going to do before I even hit you?”

Enceledus nods. ”Can't lay a damn hoof on me in a melee. Standard rating system we use back home's also clocked my Reflexes in at a ten. The highest it goes.”

Lightning just stares, jaw practically falling open. ”That is fucking dirty.”

”Punks never play by the rules~”

”I gotta get myself some of that shit. Rainbow will never fucking see it coming.”

”The only Dodgeball you can get legally is first gen. I've got third gen.”

”"I've broken the rules a couple of times. Breaking a couple more wouldn't be too hard.~"”

The stallion quietly laughs. ”One of the rules to being an edgerunner.”

”Perfect.”

Enceledus nods, then shifts around some to get comfy on his bed. ” Yeah. There's four rules to being an edgerunner.” He closed his eyes. ”Heh... Rule one, Style over substance. Don't just go where the party's at. Be where the parties at. By the time it becomes 'the next big thing' you're already done with it. Rule two, Attitude is everything. Don't just walk into a room, stride. You walk into a combat zone bar full of 'Dorphers with that new HK Smartgun? You better look like you know how to use it and are just itching for an excuse. Three, Always push it to the edge. If you're gonna do it, do it right, and do it big. Go down in the god damn history books.” A smirk then formed across his muzzle.

”Okay, hell yeah, this sounds right up my alley.” Lightning blinks, then perks an eyebrow. ”You said four rules right? You only mentioned three. What're the other rules? Er, the fourth one.”

”Four? Break the rules. The world's your playground. Once you make it, you're set. You can do what you want to who you want. You go where you want, you take what you want. You play by your own rules, always chasing that next high. That next thrill. That next big score. That next big breakthrough.” Reaching under his jacket, he pulled out a small disk, clicking it and causing a blue ring to light up on it before tossing it onto the floor. Spilling forth from the top of the disk once it hit the ground, the hologram of a white, angled 'E' surrounded by a red circle lit up from it. ”Be that a breakthrough like an improved holographic projector like this, with the rights sold to Orbital air for some healthy yearly royalties. Or be it a night in the 'zone, dishing out a bit of the ultraviolence on the 'dorphers, boosters, and psychos that call it home. You're your own master. You only work when you feel like it.”

Lightning grinned wide, with stars practically in her eyes. ”Hell. Yes. I can get behind this lifestyle.”

Enceledus cracked a grin, eyes closing. ”You've got my information then.” He motioned with his head to the card. ”]When you're walkin' again, just hit me up.”

”Gotcha loud and clear! And before I forget, the name's Lightning Dust.”

Enceledus lifts a foreleg, holding it out to her, digits deploying. ”Enceledus.”

Lightning reaches out to shake his augmented forehoof with those digits grabbing hold firmly before he gave an equally firm shake. ”We'll talk Chrome when you come to Neo-Oured.”

”I'll be seeing you soon, then.”

”After you've rested.” The pegasus pulls his needle out, turning off the transfusion machine, then getting up from his bed and heading out through the door.

Two Hours Later

”And to think i was just feeling like crap a few hours ago. This is the most alive I've felt in years!” A giddy lightning spoke as she sauntered out of the medical bay, practically dancing her way into the concourse.

”You're welcome.” Enceledus called out from a couch out in the complex's concourse, the pegasus reclined, forelegs folded behind his head.

”I owe ya, man!” Perking as she heard his response, Lightning looked over towards him, grinning wide.

”Gonna owe me a lot more when I bankroll your chrome.”

Lightning steps over to Enceledus, sitting down beside him. ”So, what's this chrome shit you keep talking about?”

Enceledus points to his forelegs, then his eyes. ”Cybers. We call 'em chrome on the street. And the type of chrome you talked about wanting, all of it, is twenty grand on the open market. And I doubt you've got that kind of money sitting around. So you.” He poked her snout gently with a digit. ”Are gonna owe me a lot more than one 'thank you' when we're done.”

Lightning scoffs and closes her eyes. ”I probably could've gotten that if my Washouts career hadn't crashed and burned like it did. Seriously, those shows brought in some good cash.” She huffs, shaking her head, then reopens her eyes. ”So, nah, don't got anything on me. Not a bit to my name.”

Enceledus nods a couple times. ”So it's simple then, Lightning. I pay for your chrome. You do some work for me. Deal? Full suite of cybernetics, a gun, some streetcred, and contacts in the underground.”

Lightning grins wide, ears perked high, with a giddy tone to her voice. ”Hell. Fucking. Yes! I'll try to get back to you in the next couple of days, Enk.”

Enceledus nods before stretching, ears flicking. ”Mmmhm. Now if you'll excuse me. I've got work to do." Getting up from his seat, Enceledus stretched, then started to walk off. ”Hamidi, it's Enk. Yeah...”

Operation: [6155-77/5/15]
Callsign: 'New Beginnings'
Employer: ---
Status: Success.

[Operational Summary as follows]
Assets deployed (1x Pegasus, 1x Edgerunner)
Assets engaged in hostilities, Pegasus Neutralized

Aid rendered post conflict, remediation work initiated
Job offer made.

Job Offer Accepted.

Contract Drafted

Party Extracted

Mission: Complete
Success rated: --/10

Fixers Note: I hope you're right about her, Enceledus.

PAYMENT AUTHORIZATION IN PROCESS

Payment Recipient: Lightning Dust
EXPERIENCE: 00XP
Money: $00

END MESSAGE

02: Meet The Team Pt. 1

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File Upload in progress

Source: Neo-Oured Police Department Records, EDGERUNNERS INC. Contractor List.

Name: Enceledus
Alias: Enc, Enk
Gender: Male
Species: Pegasus
ID Number: 11-221-060-991
Employer: Edgerunners Inc. Team 77
Age: 23
Date Of Birth: 03/29/2054
Height: Tall.
Weight: --- Didn't someone tell you its rude to ask someone's weight?

Standard ATTRI-STATTM ratings:
ATTRI-STAT ratings operate with a baseline-average individual ranked as '2'

Attribute Ratings; Reflexes:10; Intelligence:8; Technical Aptitude:10; Willpower:9; Luck:9; Movement:10; Body:6; Empathy:8;

Skill Ranking; Perception:5; Persuasion:6; Athletics:8; Local Expert:3; Melee:5; Electronics Tech:6; Jury Rig:9; First Aid:4; Vehicular Weapons:6; Firearms:7; Archery:7; Driving:4; Awareness:8; Basic Tech:10; Weapons Smith:5; Robotics:6;

Known Implants: 2x Orbital Air NIMBATUS Forelegs (With Unknown Modifications), 2x Kiroshi Mk. 7 Cyber-Optics (With Image Enhance, Times Square Plus, Anti-dazzle, Thermograph, Infrared, and RGBW Illuminated Iris modifications), LUMIFIBREtm Illuminated Mane, Wing, and Tail implants

Known Armament:
Militech SUR-TRAK Rating:
Tsunami Arms Shu-1 [imgur.com], WA0, Damage rating: 15, Fire Rating: 2/3/10, Magazine Capacity: 40, Range: 50m
Behemoth [imgur.com], WA 0/-1, Damage: 2d6/ SPECIAL, Fire Rating: 1/2/3 / 1, Magazine Capacity: 30 /10/4, Range: 150m / SPECIAL

Tigercat Compound Bow [imgur.com], WA+2, Damage rating: 36, Fire Rating: 1, Range: 150m
Arrows carried: Broadhead arrows, 'COPPERHEAD' Explosive arrows, 'Spinner' Hard armor piercing arrows

Criminal Record: Too long to list. Let's just say he was in and out of prison for a while.

Subject Background: Born to two Orbital Air employees in the city of Apito, Enceledus lived a quiet, slow life in an Orbital Air Hab-Block. Enceledus' Father was noted to be an Orbital Air Data Analyst, Mother an Orbital Air Payroll Accountant.

Enceledus' life changed abruptly as, upon being carried home by the police at the age of 12, in 2066, subject's Hab-Block was collapsed by a Nihilist Gang known as 'DETH 66'.

Enceledus was thusly placed into foster care, changing foster homes and orphanages numerous times before running away and living on the streets, succumbing to addictions and crime.

In 2070, at the age of 16, Enceledus was taken in by an Edgerunner Solo only known in records as 'Spider'. Spider took pity on Enceledus' condition, taking him under his wing and unofficially adopting him and putting him into a Rehab program. Enceledus soon became involved as an Edgerunner at the age of 18, having been trained as a Techie by Spider's team.

Enceledus, on his 20th birthday, 2074, however, would lose Spider during a Militech Contract nicknamed 'The Widowmaker'. The only vestiges Enceledus has of Spider being a Beanie hat gifted to him after completing rehab. It's worth noting the pegasus' protective nature of said Beanie.

As of 2077, Enceledus serves with Edgerunners Inc.'s 77th Team, operating out of the Neo-Oured West Combat Zone.

End File Upload

You sure this is all necessary, Feedback?
You said you wanted to go down in legend, yeah? Helps to have some background.
Fine. Just hope this doesn't come back to bite us on the ass.

End Addendum
Recording Resumed.

00 [!] You have (1) new message

Decrypting...
Success!
Message as follows.
Feedback, is this thing on?
Really? Fine.

So. Right. If you're hearing this, something's happened. Either I'm dead, missing... Or someone's hacked me.
Figure... If I'm gone, I'll lay out my story. See if someone takes enough pity to let me go down as a legend of old.
My name's Enceledus. An edgerunner. Suppose this is my ballad.

Heh... I like that...

The Ballad of an Edgerunner...