Fallout: Equestria - Prance Horrigan

“Good morning, children! This is DJ Pon3, coming at you with, what else, the news! Get a load of this!

“I know you’re probably expecting me to go on some long-winded tangent about how grateful we all ‘otta be about our favourite little Lightbringer bringing back Celestia’s sun, and I still just might, but first I got some more pressing news for ya! I’ve been getting reports about a new settlement popping up in the expanse between Manehattan and Fillydelpia. The place had been built around one of those old Stables, some Stable 13. The Stable door has been sealed off as far as I’m aware, no pony knows exactly what’s inside, but second hoof accounts seem to claim that the big door had been opened relatively recently.

“But this town provides all of us with a lot more than just some fun speculation over the Stable. For the first time in as long as I can remember, there’s now a safe place to stop and rest in the Filly-Manehattan expanse. Already, caravans are taking full advantage of the town's hospitality, and supplies are finally being givin’ the opportunity to reach our Outcast brothers in the Filly ruins as they keep fighting that good fight to clear out the raider and slaver infestation there. So if you find yourself out that way, make sure to stop by the small town and giv' them my thanks…

“In other news, it seems like we have a new wasteland heroine running around. You guessed it, it’s another one of those crazy Stable Dwellers. I don't know what it is, but mares that come crawling out of Stables seem to have a knack for changing the wasteland for the better. I just received word that they’ve cleared out the group of Enclave Remnants that were givin’ travellers trouble on the notorious Route 52. Good work Stable Dweller, I can’t wait to see where you go next!

“But that’s enough chatter from me. Time for some music! This is ‘On Our Own’, by everypony's favorite, Velvet Remedy!”

As the song began to play out, Icewind turned and snapped at the Enclave Trooper beside her. “Turn that damn thing off!”

The Enclave trooper winced, quickly clicking the off the radio on their armour. “S-sorry mam. Just wanted to get intel on what we might be up against.”

Icewind scowled. “We have all the intel we need without relying on that hack.”

We were flying over the wasteland, heading westward towards the very town the DJ had been speaking of over the radio. I had zoned out most of the DJ’s words, not having any interest in listening to the wasteland savages local gossip. My goal was retrieval of the files in Stable 13. Everything else was just a distraction.

My eyes scanned across the desolate expanse below us as we flew, darting back and forth as I watched for potential dangers. It was shameful, really, how desolate the wasteland was. Perhaps, had the ponies of the wasteland accepted the Grand Pegasus Enclave, the world of Equestria could have been something more. Instead, they had chosen death.

As we neared the aforementioned town, we descended downwards and touched down on a rocky outcrop a few miles away. I began striding forwards the second my hooves crunched down on the ground, standing at the precipice of the large outcrop, my blood red eyes glaring at the town below. I spotted a few ponies gathered around a campfire in the centre of the town, talking, though I couldn’t hear what they were saying from this distance.

I turned, finding Commander Icewind organizing the three troopers Colonel Thunderbolt had sent with us. Two of them were standard Enclave soldiers, each equipped with a full suit of Enclave X01 power armour. The other, a large mare that stood just short of half a foot above Icewind, was one of the Enclave's elite Tartarusfire Trooper, clad in their own suit of hellish looking power armour. A huge flamer was attached to their battle saddle, its end flickering with sinister light. I had only seen the Enclave deploy Tartarusfire Troopers once before. When the Enclave sent them in, they meant business.

Thunderbolt had told me the troopers names back on the oil rig, though I didn’t remember any of them. Names were irrelevant, only the objective mattered.

“We get it Ice,” The Tartarusfire trooper scowled, brushing Icewind off with one of her wings. “Get into the Stable, clear it of hostiles, retrieve the files. This ain’t my first rodeo and the objective is straight forward,” The Tartarusfire trooper turned to look at me, flashing me a quick smile. “Besides, I don’t think I'll need to do much work. Not with muscles over there.”

Icewind scowled at her in turn. “Stay in line, Firestreak. I am still your commanding officer.”

Firestreak snorted, spinning around and flicking Icewind in the face with the blunt side of her bladed tail. “You shouldn’t be and you know it. You’ll get what you deserve one day, Icy,” snickering, Firestreak stalked off, taking up a defensive position a few feet away.

“What was that about,” I rumbled as Icewind slowly trotted up to stand beside me, not bothering to look down at her.

“Irrelevant,” Icewind scowled back, her wings shifting uncomfortably at her sides. “Bad history.”

I dropped the topic, both because I had no interest in irrelevant information and had even less interest in the outside lives of my subordinates. “What is the plan,” I asked instead, my gaze still locked on the town. “You mentioned the town was hostile towards us?”

Icewind nodded. “The town calls itself Stable Town. Likely because it’s built around a Stable. Not the most creative of names, I know. We’ve tried approaching the town before, but heavy resistance chased us out.”

The sound of flapping wings signalled the arrival of one of the two Enclave soldiers as they flapped over to stand beside us. It was hard to tell through their power armour, but they appeared to be a stallion with a more slim, lanky build. “They managed to chase off fully armed Enclave soldiers? What kind of resistance are we talking about?”

“The town folk are mostly harmless. Just a bunch of wastelanders with a couple pipe weapons and sticks. It’s the Steel Rangers we need to worry about?”

“Steel Rangers?” I questioned, finally turning my head to face the two pegasi. The Enclave trooper beside us cowered under my intense gaze. “I was not debriefed on them.”

“What? You don’t know what Steel Rangers are?” Firestreak snickered at us, glancing over from her position a few feet away. “I was guessing you were more muscle than brain, but I had expected more than that.”

“Horrigan, until just recently, was out of commission for two years,” Icewind shot back at Firestreak. “Forgive him if he does not have the same experiences in the wasteland that we do.”

Firestreak just rolled her eyes behind the visor of her helmet. “Sure, sure.”

Icewind once more returned her gaze to me, sighing. “The Steel Rangers are a group of wasteland fanatics that hoard technology. Their tech is less advanced than ours, but they are still nothing to be ignored. Normally they don’t engage in the lives of wastelanders, but they seem to have made a bit of an exception at this town, acting as their sort of guardians,” She glared hatefully at the town, scuffing her hoof. “They likely want the tech inside of Stable 13. Naturally, that’s going to cause some conflict if they find out what we’re after.”

“So they need to be eliminated,” I grunted, my voice leaving little room for debate as I returned my gaze to the town in the distance. Now knowing what to look for, I spotted three ponies in full suits of clunky power armour trotting between the town's ramshackle houses. They looked well armed, for mutie filth at least.

“It would be nice to try diplomacy first,” The Enclave buck that had swooped in beside us suggested, his voice coming out in a weak sounding squeak as I shifted my gaze to face him. “L-less casualties are al-always bet-tter, r-right?”

“From what I understand, we already tried diplomacy,” I retorted bluntly, my glowing, glass eyes burning into the small pegasus. “If they pose a threat to the Enclave, they need to die.”

Icewind gave a distressed sounding sigh. “No, Vapour Trail is right. We’ve been instructed to approach this as diplomatically as possible. If a temporary cease fire can be achieved, we need to aim for that. The Enclave is still weak from its defeat in Neighvarro and we cannot risk losing more ponies on brash actions.”

“Booooo! I like the big guys style more!” Firestreak called out playfully. “Come on Commander Icewind, you know they’ll never actually comply with us. Just let us attack them now so that we have the element of surprise on our side.”

“It would give us the tactical advantage,” I pointed our bluntly, my stoic voice making gauging any sort of emotion or reservations I may have had impossible.

“Orders are orders, Firestreak,” Icewind snapped. “Now fly steady or I’ll have you court-martialed.” Firestreak just snickered in response and gave Icewind the flying feather before returning her attention to guard duty.

“Fine. We will negotiate with the mutie savages,” I finalized, bringing the conversation to a very abrupt conclusion, my wings spreading out at my sides and the muscles in my legs tensing as I prepared to lift off from the ground. “There is no reason to delay. Be prepared for resistance.”

Everypony gave grim nods, their own wings flaring out as they readied themselves for lift off. The second Icewind gave the signal, we shot into the air, launching towards the town below.

My hooves pounded against the ground with a loud boom as I touched down in front of the town's junk wall border, the whole ground shaking around me at the heavy impact. A cloud of ash and dust burst up around me, small craters forming where my hooves pounded into the rocky terrain. A second later, Icewind and our three Enclave troopers landed behind me, their weapons up and ready to fire at a moment's notice.

The towns guard, a bulky looking buck in a suit of power armour raised their impressive looking minigun up to face me, his horror prevalent even from behind his visor. “What the hell is tha…” he paused, his eyes rolling over to look at Enclave troopers behind me. “Shit… This town is under Steel Ranger protection. You are not permitted to enter. Leave or- or…”

The large steel Ranger hesitated as I took a few steps towards him, his voice dying in his throat as my massive shadow passed over him entirely. He had to crane his armoured head up to look at my glowing red eyes.

“We are the Grand Pegasus Enclave. You will grant us access to the town and the Stable within it. Failure to comply will result in death,” I rumbled, my amplified voice loud enough to make the heavy ranger stumble back. “Will you comply?”

“F-Fuck…” the Ranger breahed, his legs visably shaking through his armour. He took another trembling step back, raising his hoof to tap on an intercom built into his helmet. “Sir, we’ve got a situation at the gate…”

A few moments later, five more rangers came trotting out of the entrance to the town, each one armed to the teeth and clad in a full suit of power armour. My eyes followed each and every one of them as they trotted out, my built in SATS individually targeting each one as they neared.

One Steel Ranger, the largest of the bunch, walked straight towards me, their impressive looking suit of power armour painted a dark green. He craned his neck up, glaring up at me bravely. “Hello. I am Paladin Sandwich, commander of this off branch of Steel Rangers. To what do we owe the pleasure of this meeting?” I just stared back at him silently, my breathing coming out in slow, pained rasps. At my failure to respond, the Paladin tried again. “This town is under our protection, if you-”

“Don’t bother talking to him,” Icewind chidded, stepping forwards to stand beside me. “My name is Icewind, commander of this squadron of Enclave. You will be dealing with me. My friend here is simply for insurance.”

“I see…” Paladin Sandwich grunted, turning to face the much smaller pegasus. “What do you and your Enclave buddies want with Stable Town?”

Icewind began trotting back and forth between us, her eyes sweeping back and forth between all the Steel Rangers. “We want access to something located inside of Stable 13. We do not intend to leave empty hooved. We also do not wish to cause any violence, so we ask politely that you allow us access to the Stable. We mean you no harm.”

“Since when has the Enclave not wanted to cause us harm!” One of the Rangers shouted, snorting defiantly in Icewinds direction.

My head instantly snapped to the side, my red eyes burning into the ranger that had spoken out. My SATS locked in on him at once, the monitor on my helmet bringing up my probability of hitting any given part of his body. My chances were quite good. There was a loud clunking sound as my battle saddle opened up, a massive looking Tesla cannon twice the size of a normal pony popping out and swivelling to aim at the armoured Ranger.

The Ranger gave a shout of surprise, staggering back as they were suddenly faced with the huge cannon. The end of the cannon began to glow a near blinding blue as the powerful weapon began charging up.

Icewind quickly stepped between us, raising one hoof to signal for me to hold fire. “I apologize for my friend,” Icewind cooed. “They are loyal to the Enclave completely and fully. I would suggest holding your tongue on any reservations that you may or may not hold about us until we are gone.”

Paladin Sandwich cleared his throat, once more drawing Icewinds attention to him. “As I’m sure you can understand, the Stable is currently Steel Ranger property. We’ve put a lot of resources into setting up an outpost here, and we don’t want its primary purpose to be taken out from under our hooves. Now, I would suggest you leave before we need to resort to violence.”

Icewind raised an eyebrow at him. “Before you need to resort to violence?” She turned her head, glancing back at me with half an eye. “Horrigan, why don’t you show our friends here what-”

“What if we helped each other out!” The Enclave Trooper behind me piped up timidly. What had Icewind referred to him as? Vapour Trail, was it? “I m-mean, we all want into the Stable, right. We could help each other out…”

One of the Steel Rangers that hadn’t spoken up took a small step towards Paladin Sandwich. “We have been unsuccessful in getting the Stable door open so far. Perhaps we should let them help us…”

Sandwich gave a grim nod. “Hmmm. You are not incorrect,” He sighed, taking a small step backwards. “Very well. If you will help us gain entry to the Stable, we will permit you to retrieve whatever it is you are after. But once you have what you came for, we demand that you leave and hoof over command of the Stable to us.”

“Then we have a deal,” Icewind said through gritted teeth, her eye glaring daggers at Vapour Trail with a look that screamed, We’re going to talk about this later.

Moving back to allow us entry, the Steel Rangers began leading us through the small town, weaving back and forth between the makeshift, thatched houses. A few of the locals threw trash at us as we passed, their faces scrunched with rage as they shouted profanities in our direction.

“Go back to where you belong, Enclave shits!”

“You aren’t wanted here!”

“Winged rats!”

"Go fuck yourselves!"

They all fell silent as they saw me, their screaming mouths quickly snapping shut in fear. They hurriedly scampered away, shutting their doors and cowering behind any cover they could find as my blood red gaze and massive Tesla cannon swivelled around to face them.

“Why do they hate us so much?” I grunted, my eyes passing over a cowering filly that had taken cover behind her trembling mother.

“Cause they’re entitled and butt hurt,” Firestreak nickered from beside me, her eyes watching in amusement as the towns locals scuttled off like rats from a flame. “They think they deserve the sun and sky, and they’re damn pissed off we kept them from it.”

“Do you ever think that maybe we should have given it back to them sooner?” The Enclave Trooper on the other side of me muttered, her voice coming out in a soft, breathy tone. Until then I hadn’t heard her speak.

Firestreak glowered at her. “Don’t you go dashite on me Lightning.”

The Enclave trooper, Lightning by name apparently, recoiled at the large Tartarusfire Troopers remark as if she had been slapped. “Wha- oh no! No, of course not. I just… never mind. Stupid thoughts…”

No sooner had we entered the town, then the Steel Rangers led us into a large cave that the town appeared to have been built around. The cavern floor slopped steeply downward, forming a long ramp to what appeared to be a huge metal gear at the far end. piles of skeletons cluttered the rocky floor, many of their bones yellowed and broken with age.

I had only seen a Stable once before, many years ago now while on a recon mission assigned by Colonel Harbinger. It had not been a pleasant experience.

“We have been trying to open it for the past week,” Paladin Sandwich explained as we slowly pulled to a stop in front of the huge steel door. “So far, we have been unsuccessful. There are signs the door was opened in recent years, but whoever closed it last really didn’t want anypony else getting in.”

Icewind fluttered her wings and swiftly lifted into the air, gliding over to the Stable’s control panel beside the huge gear. She tapped a few keys on the small terminal to no success. “Damn. Enclave damaged the door when they left. No wonder you haven’t been able to get through. Pretty much all the circuitry inside has been fried.”

I could see Paladin Sandwich give a surprised raise of his eyebrow from behind his visor. “So this is the Enclave's work then. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. I guess you’ve come to clean up some loose ends.”

Icewind just frowned, brushing back a loose strand of her bluish-pink hair. “Something like that…” she tapped a few more keys. “Fuck. This is going to take a moment.”

“You don’t think Horrigan could just rip the door off, do you?” I heard Vapour Trail whisperer from behind me, leaning over to be a little closer to Lightning.

Firestreak snorted at him. “Don’t be stupid. These doors were designed to withstand Balefire bombs. I don’t care how strong he are. You don’t just rip the door off.”

I didn’t bother glancing back at the three of them, instead, my gaze had focused in on the massive gear. I remembered when I had first broken free from my bonds on the Enclave’s oil rig, how the metal walls had bent under my weight like rubber. I took a long stride towards the massive door, my huge hooves carrying me across the room faster than the average pony could. I stopped a few inches from the door, my gaze burning into it as if I were trying to melt the very steel with my eyes alone.

Icewind glanced up at me, her pink eyes looking me over with confusion. “Horrigan, what are you do-”

I reared up and lunged forwards, my fore hooves slamming against its thick surface with tremendous force. The steel crumpled, my hooves digging deep grooves into the huge gears face. I grit my teeth, the muscles in my back straining as I pulled against the Stable door.

For a long moment, nothing happened. Then the door jerked, the metal edges crumpling and bursts of flashing sparks shooting out of its corners as I violently dragged it across the airtight metal walls around it. The whole cavern shook as the massive door was forcefully dragged forwards.

I could practically feel everypony's mouth gaping as I began to pull back from the wall, ripping the huge gear door out as I went.

“No way…” I heard Firestreak breath, her eyes wide and jaw slack. “It’s not… he can’t…”

I gave a final grunt, releasing my hooves grip on the metal surface and letting the giant gear clatter to the ground beside me with a hearty thunk, the entryway into the Stable now clear of obstructions. A cloud of dust was thrown up into the air as the heavy door hit the ground, temporarily obscuring our vision and causing one of the Steel Rangers to cough.

After a long moment of silence in which no pony knew what to do, Icewind gave a small cough and flashed the Steel Rangers with a smug smile. “So… Into the Stable then shall we?”

With that, we continued onward, marching into the depths of Stable 13. I took the lead, my glowing red eyes cutting through the gloom. A bright light flickered to life before us, silhouetting a large, hunched over creature looming in the Stable’s entry room. The light flickered again, unveiling the forms of three more of the large mutant creatures as they moved to greet us.

One of the Steel Rangers behind us swore, the magical energy rifle at their side charging up. “Shit, We got hellhounds in here!”

The bestial creatures, Hellhounds as the Ranger had called them, were large dog like creatures, covered in a thick layer of matted grey or brown fur. Each stood on their hind legs as they stalked towards us, their tail swishing back and forth slowly behind them. Their claws, massive in length, glinted in the overhead light of the Stable, seemingly sharp enough to dig through solid rock and stone. I spotted what appeared to be cybernetics protruding from their heads, the fir of their scalp having been shaved off to reveal expertly stitched up incisions in their flesh. Their eyes darted back and forth, glaring suspiciously at all of us as we strode forwards.

The leading Hellhound, one notably taller than the rest, came to a stop before us, pulling back its fangs and giving a low snarl. His yellow eyes lingered on the Enclave insignia emblazoned on my power armour before it glared up at the rest of us. “Hellhounds no want Enclave here! Hellhounds still angry at Enclave,” The hellhound growled, its huge claws fidgeting at its sides restely. “Enclave leave now.”

So this must have been experiment the Enclave was conducting in this Stable that had gone wrong, I thought to myself, sizing up the four Hellhounds. I had been involved in a few recon missions regarding the creation of Hellhound mind control devices back before my accident, though those experiments were usually sanctioned by Autumn Leaf and one of his head scientists, Star Breeze, not Coronal Harbinger. I admittedly had never actually seen one in the flesh. Though from the look of the extensive cybernetic implants protruding from most of the Hellhounds heads, I assumed progress on that project had come a long way from simple helmets. They must have broken free of their control and chase the Enclave out.

“We have come to retrieve files from the Overmare’s office,” I boomed, not even flinching as the Hellhounds stalked closer to me. “Step aside, or die.”

The leading Hellhound hissed at me, bearing fangs. “We live peaceful here in Stable. We no hurt ponies in here. Eat only Radraoches. Why Enclave no leave us alone! Leave! We no let you enter here! We happy in Stable without you.”

Paladin Sandwich stepped forward, standing proudly before the Hellhounds. “Hellhounds, we do not mean you harm. We-”

“Step aside, or die,” I rumbled again, cutting Sandwich off before he could finish whatever proposition he was going to make. “You stand in the way of the Enclave. Will you comply?”

The Hellhound hissed again. “You no scare us alicorn freak. Go! Leave us! You no go past this point!”

I felt my eyes narrow at the Hellhound behind my armoured helmet. “Very well. Then in the name of the Enclave, you will all be wiped clean.”

I lunged forwards, my huge hooves plowing into the large hellhound. My hooves bashed into their head, crushing their skull and sending brain matter splattering against the floor and walls. The body hadn’t even hit the ground when my SATS targeted the heads of the other three Hellhounds, my Tesla cannon blasting off deadly beams of blazing blue light into them with terrifying accuracy. Two of the Hellhounds fell to the ground dead, gaping holes burned straight through their chests.

The final Hellhound collapsed with a manic howl, blood spilling from the stump where their leg had once been as my Tesla cannon ripped through them. They pulled themselves away with their huge claws frantically scrambling across the floor in an attempt to reach safety.

I lumbered towards them, my hooves denting the metal floor with each step. I towered above then, one hoof pinning the crawling Hellhound to the ground while my Tesla cannon swivelled to point down at their head.

The Hellhound snarled up at me, blood dripping from their maw. “Tell your Enclave that they will burn for this!” The Hellhound spat, their neck twisting to glare up at me hatefully.

I just glared down at the Hellhound, my hoof pressing down harder and crushing the beast's ribs. The Hellhound howled, their broken bones stabbing into their lungs. “Whatever. You're just a talking experiment that needs to be put down.”

Boom!

My Tesla cannon fired, obliterating the Hellhounds skull. Blood spilled out from the mutilated stump of the Hellhounds neck, seeping out and covering the floor of the Stable entrance with a slick carpet of crimson.

Firestreak was practically bouncing on her hooves with excitement. “Fuck yeah! I take back what I said about you! You're badass as fuck!”

I glared at the Tartarusfire Trooper, my glass eyes unblinking. “What exactly did you say about me?” I groused, my tone emotionless.

Firestreak’s excitement dissipated. “Uh… heh. Don’t worry about it.”

“F-fuck… You just- You just killed them-” One of the Steel Rangers gasped, their eyes still locked on the four mangled Hellhound corpses before us. “They were peaceful and you j-just… Goddesses.”

“The Enclave does not have time to deal with abominations,” I monotone, stepping over the crumpled bodies on the floor. “Now come. We have an objective to secure.”

“There’s likely more Hellhounds further in,” Icewind told me, flying beside me so that she was at my eye level. “My reports say the Enclave had at least twelve Hellhounds captive in here. It’s possible that more have moved in since.”

“Then they will die as well,” I assured her, my pace never slowing as we moved further into the Stable. There was a small beeping sound in the back of my head and suddenly green lights popped up in my vision. I narrowed my eyes, surprised to find that my cybernetic eyes were picking out enemy targets through the walls.

“Well that’s new,” I muttered, my head shifting to glare at a wall beside me. I could make out the green outline of a Hellhound on the other side of the wall.

Icewind glanced up at me in confusion. “What’s ne-” She was cut off as my Tesla cannon fired, blasting a hole straight through the wall. There was a howl of pain as the deadly blast blew the head off the Hellhound on the other side. Icewind stared at the smoking hole in a mix of horror and shock. “How did you…”

“Come. There is much to do,” I replied simply, my stride still not slowing once.

I heard two of the Rangers bickering back and forth behind me as we walked, their voices so low that I suspected they didn’t want me to hear them.

“What the fuck are we going to do about that giant freak?” One asked. I could feel their eyes boring into the back of my head.

“Well we can’t let it live, obviously,” the other quipped back, just as silently as the first, if not quieter. “We can’t let the Enclave have something that powerful…”

I ignored them. If they tried to kill me, I would just kill them first. It was fairly straightforward really.

We pushed our way through the rest of the Stable, me leading the way as we descended upon the Overmare’s office. A small marker popped up on my visor's hud, indicating to me where I was heading. How my cybernetics knew the layout of the Stable was beyond my understanding, but frankly, I didn’t really care.

The rest of the Hellhounds were of little concern to me. Most of them tried to ambush us, no doubt an attempt to get revenge for their fallen brothers, or perhaps for the experimentation that they had undergone at the hooves on the Enclave months earlier. They were smart, setting traps and flanking us from behind. It didn’t matter in the end. Each and every one of them fell dead before me by the end.

At last we marched into the Overmare’s office, a large, wood panelled room with a central desk and terminal in the shape of a large Horseshoe. A flag bearing the Enclaves symbol hung above the desk, though the Hellhounds seemed to have ripped large claw marks through it, likely out of spite. Feeble Wasteland Muties.

Icewind flew over to the terminal and began trying to type in the password as the rest of us filed in behind her. Paladin Sandwich ordered three of his Rangers to stand sentinel outside in case more hellhounds showed up. I didn’t bother informing him I had eradicated the last of them a few minutes ago.

“W-well? Is everything there?” Vapour Trail asked, his voice stuttering as he peeked over Icewinds shoulder.

Icewind brushed him off with a wing, her focus never leaving the terminal screen. “The Terminal does a manual password reset every month as a security measure, I’m going to have to hack it,” she told him, her hooves typing away at the terminal's keys. “Now let’s see here… Ah ha!”

There was a small beep and the terminal unlocked. From my spot a few feet away, I could see a large collection of assorted files pop up on the computer screen.

“We’re in, and everything still appears to be here,” Icewind smirked, pulling out a holodisk and inserting it into the terminal before starting downloading everything onto it. “All the files about the MOA Hub are still intact.”

"Exactly what kind of files were we even recovering?" Lighting asked, standing on the tips of her hooves as she tried to make out the flickering terminal screen.

"It relates to a MOA Hub, and that is all you need to know. The rest is classified soldier," Icewind monotoned, her gaze never lifting from the screen. "What's important is that we've gotten what we came for."

“Good,” Paladin Sandwich grunted, strolling over to glare down at Icewind. “Now that you have retrieved what you came for, I suggest you leave so that we may-”

Fire burst from the ends of Firestreaks flamer, sending Paladin Sandwich up in a blaze in dancing light. The armoured paladin staggered back, a surprised scream escaping his lips as fire raced across his body. Before anypony could react, Firestreak rushed him, her flamers continuing to spew burning napalm across his body before she slammed her hooves into his chest, knocking the paladin to the ground.

“What the fuck are you doing!” The Ranger beside me screamed, his minigun aiming at Firestreak and whirring up as he prepared to fire. He never got the chance as I shifted my weight to aim my Tesla cannon at him and sent a powerful beam of magical energy lancing through his chest. He died instantly.

Paladin Sandwich screamed again, struggling to get back to his hooves as Firestreak’s flamers burned him alive. The air filled with the smell of cooked flesh and burning hair. Firestreak reared up, her hooves looming over Paladin Sandwich for a single moment before she slammed down, her impressive power armour shattering the large paladin's skull.

Both Vapour Trail and Lighting flinched away from the carnage, staring in horror at the slaughtered rangers around us. Icewind stood in shock, her own face speckled with red from the arterial spray of Paladin Sandwich’s shattered head.

“Firestreak… what- What the fuck did you just do!” Icewind demanded, her shocked expression turning to rage. “We were under orders to try and keep this as peaceful as possible. The Enclave doesn’t need more enemies!”

Firestreak whirled on her, her unbearably smug smirk prevalent even from behind her helmet. “And I was on orders to make sure that no pony can access the contents of this Stable once we’re gone,” She snickered, waltzing over and sticking her armoured muzzle in Icewind's face smugly. “That means the Steel Rangers need to die.”

“But they were working with us! We could have-”

Firestreak cut her off before she could finish, pulling a note out of her saddlebag with her wing and shoving it against Icewinds chest. “Orders from Colonel Thunderbolt. Secure the data and destroy all remnants of Enclave activity. No survivors,” She sneered, pulling away from Icewind and looking over the terminal, letting the note fall to the floor. After a second, she pulled out the holodisk, now filled with the terminal's data, before slamming her hoof through the terminal screen and then lighting the terminal on fire for good measure. She turned to me, giving me a smug grin. “Well Horrigan. We still got three Rangers outside.”

I looked down at her, uncertain. I was supposed to be following Commander Icewinds commands, but then again... if this order was coming from Colonel Thunderbolt, that would override her.

Firestreak scowled at my lack of response. “These are our orders, soldier! Now obey them!”

Obey…

I turned, my Tesla cannon charging up as I approached the door. My cybernetic eyes targeted the forms of the Steel Rangers on the other side of the wall. I saw them shifting around on the other side of the wall, my hud outlining their bodies in a blinking green line.

No doubt they had heard the screams and sounds of fighting. I would be surprised if they weren’t planning some sort of ambush the second we exited the room. I wasn’t going to give them the option.

My SATS targeted their heads, and I fired.

Five minutes later, I trotted out of the Stable, my armour soaked in Steel Ranger blood. I felt the heat of the raging fire licking at my hide, its writhing, crimson light silhouetting my form as I strode back into the wasteland. The Data had been secured, and we had made damn sure that no pony would ever find anything in that Stable again.

Firestreak danced out beside me, the tips of her flamers still red hot from use. She grinned up at me, the light of the smouldering stable dancing across her tinted visor. Vapour Trail and Lighting followed close behind her, their faces downturned and their power armour coated in soot.

Icewind slowly walked out a few steps behind us, her short cut mane hanging slightly into her face and a haunted look in her eyes. “Sometimes I forget just what the wasteland has turned us into,” she said solemnly, her voice strangely distant. “And sometimes I remember all too clearly…”

Not bothering to cast it a second glance, I marched away from the burning Stable. Ahead of me, I could see the makeshift forms of the houses comprising Stable Town just outside the cave. I heard shouting. The Town folks probably saw the smoke from the fire. Maybe they had even heard the gunfire.

My blood red gaze locked then hardened on the town ahead. No survivors; That’s what Colonel Thunderbolt had ordered. I obeyed.