“Third town, and still no sign of the Dashite traitors,” Firestreak grunted, coming in for a landing in front of us.

We were currently positioned at the top of a large ruined skyscraper, monitoring the cracked streets and air for any sign of Skylight and her Dashite companions. So far we had been unsuccessful. We had been searching for the better half of the day, and the sun was already beginning to set beyond the jagged Manehattan skyline.

“They couldn’t have gone far,” Icewind growled back at the Tartarus Fire Trooper, her eyes narrowing slightly as she swept her gaze across the street below. “Not with one of them in critical condition.”

“Perhaps they went looking for shelter with the Applejack Rangers in Fetlock?” Firestreak suggested. “We weren’t far from there.”

“If they did, that will complicate things,” Icewind mused. “The Enclave is not in a position to make an attack against Stable 29.”

Firestreak brushed her concern off with a wing. “Uh, hello? Are you forgetting we’ve got muscles on our side?” She gestured lazily to me with her armored tail. “Horrigan can just go rip the whole fucking Stable door off.”

“It’s still risky, but I suppose we can’t rule it out,” Icewind sighed. She turned, pointing a hoof at Vapour Trail. “Alright, I want you to head into Fetlock. See if you can find any signs of the Dashites having sought cover with the Rangers there… I feel like this goes without saying, but stay hidden. Don't engage unless absolutely necessary.”

Vapour gave a quick salute and took off into the air, flying out across the ruined city before starting to arch down towards the bombed subrubs of Fetlock in the distance. Vapour had seemed more determined and quiet since he had awoken. I suspected it had something to do with Lightning's death. Were I a smarter pony, maybe I would have understood.

“And what do you want of me?” I rumbled, my eyes shifting from Vapour to lock on Icewind.

“We still have two more settlements on our list to check out,” Icewind affirmed, pulling out a list she had jotted down the night before. “I’ll check out Friendship City. My Dashite brand should allow me to look around there without any unwanted attention. You and Firestreak will scout out the second location. Firestreak, you’re in charge. Don’t make me regret that.”

Firestreak gave her a smug looking grin before fitting her Tartarus Fire helmet over her face. “I would never,”

Icewind just glowered at her. “And try not to start any fights. The last thing we need is another settlement wiped off the map.”

Firestreak just scoffed. “Why should it matter if we wipe clean another blight off the face of the wasteland? The Enlcave’ll just do it later when the time comes.”

“Because…” Icewind shot back. “The Enclave’s already got a lot of heat on it from the stunt you pulled in Stable Town. If we pull something like that again, we’re going to have the whole wasteland breathing down our necks.”

“Fine, fine,” Firestreak sighed, huffing a little. Clearly put out at the idea of not being allowed to attack the town.

Icewing turned from Firestreak to face me once more, signaling for me to follow her. “Horrigan, before you go, can I have a word with you in private?” I nodded, following her a few feet away from Firestreak until we were out of her earshot. Icewind glanced around for a second before sighing. “Horrigan. You’re sure that if you meet Skylight again, you’ll have what it takes to kill her? I know what it’s like to care for somepony and if she-”

“Skylight means nothing to me,” I groused bluntly. “Not anymore. Not if the Enclave wants her dead.”

Icewind just gave me a sad look. She opened her mouth to say something, but quickly thought better of it and shook the idea from her head. “Very well. Do what must be done. If you manage to get a visual on those Dashites, I want you to contact me. We cannot allow them to slip through our grasp again. Colonel Thunderbolt is counting on us.”

“Understood,” I replied flatly.

Icewind looked me over for a second longer as if expecting to find something on me. She didn’t seem to find whatever it was she was looking for. “Alright… Get going. We’ll all meet up soon.”

With a quick salute, I turned and began making my way back over to Firestreak. Firestreak turned to me as she saw me trotting back to her, giving me a hoof signal to move out. “Come Horrigan. We’ve got some Dashites to hunt.”

Firestreak and I landed on the roof of a building overlooking the settlement Icewind had directed us towards. The settlement wasn’t anything special, just a small fishing town that had been built into the ruins of the old Manehattan ferry terminal. I could see a few wood and scrap metal docks that had been built over the water that led to a collection of houses made from old, prewar boats all connected together with an intricate collection of catwalks and ziplines. A large, junk wall had been built around the outside of the ramshackle town, ponies dressed in metal enforced diving suits standing sentinel out front.

“Ugh, of course Icewind would send us to some dirty fishing town,” Firestreak grumbled, scanning the area below for any signs of the Dashites. I didn’t bother commenting on that. I didn’t care where she sent us. I just did as I was told. “I doubt we’re going to be able to walk around in there without being detected. Not with your big ass anyway. Can you use those fancy little eyes of yours? See if you can spot those damn traitors?”

I grunted in acknowledgement, activating the thermo settings on my helmet and scanning the area. Almost immediately, hundreds of red splots seeped into my vision as my mechanically enhanced eyes began picking up the heat signatures of the ponies below. I spent a few minutes just sitting there, looking over each and every house.

“Mostly earth ponies,” I informed her flatly. Most of them just seemed to be simple fishermen too, though I noticed a fair amount were patrolling the different docks and catwalks.

“Any signs of a hospital down there?” Firestreak pushed. She strained her neck a little to try and see what I could, though it didn’t help her much. “If those traitors really are going to seek medical help for their comrade, that’s where they’ll go.”

I frowned a little beneath my grafted helmet as I searched for the building she requested. It didn’t take me long. The center of the fishing town held what appeared to be a large wreckage of a cargo ship, and upon rolling my eyes across it, I picked up dozens of ponies sleeping in beds within. Deactivating my thermo vision, I spotted a couple ponies in lab coats rushing across the top of the deck into the ship below, each carrying a medical bag of some sorts. Even without my thermo vision on, my cybernetically enhanced vision could make out most of the ponies there in relatively decent detail.

“The large ship in the middle,” I pointed out to her in my rumbling tone. “No signs of the Dashites though.”

“Damn. looks like this town might be a bust…” Firestreak groaned. “Come on. Hopefully Icewind or Vapour is having more luck than-”

“Hold,” I grunted, my eyes narrowing as I watched as one of the doctors on the large ship slinked away from the rest and start heading across the docks to a large sewer pipe that looked as if it had once deposited sewage into the water. The pony glanced back and forth nervously for a moment before ducking into the pipe and out of sight.

Firestreak waited for a long second, just looking up at me in annoyance as I stood there in silence, watching the doctor disappear into the pipe. After a long moment, she gave out a loud, irritated growl. “Well? What the fuck is it?”

I ignored her for a second, clicking my thermo vision back on. I turned away from the small town, my eyes sweeping over the surrounding streets. A second later, I found what I was looking for. The trail was vague and only the smallest reminisce of heat remained, but I spotted a collection of red heat marks left behind by hoofsteps along one of the streets that led into an open sewage drain. Turning my thermo vision off revealed the faint trail of blood that accompanied the hoof steps.

“They’re hiding in the sewers,” I rumbled, narrowing my eyes at the trail of blood. “A doctor from the town is providing them with healing supplies.”

“How the fuck do you know that?” Firestreak gaped. “What are you now? A fucking detective?” I just stared back at her with my unblinking red gaze. “Gah, fine. We’ll check the sewers!” She groaned, letting her wings flare out at her sides and taking to the air.

I let my own wings snap open, following after her as we glided down to the street below. I landed with a loud thud, the asphalt cracking beneath my heavy armored hooves. A radroach scuttled out from under a broken down wagon when it heard us, only to turn around and run back into cover at the sight of me.

“Well fuck me you are smarter than you look,” Firesteak commented, dipping the tip of her armoured hoof into one of the small splatters of blood along the road. She turned, tromping over to the sewer grate and pulling it open with a small grunt. “Come on. Let’s see what we’re dealing with. I can’t wait to sear the flesh of those Dashite traitors bones.”

“Should we not inform Icewind first,” I interjected, sticking out my hoof to stop her before Firestreak could move to lower herself into the sewer. “She ordered that I inform her if we get a visual on the Dashites.”

Firestreak growled at the remark. “No. Forget that Dashite bitch. We go in now or risk losing these fuckers again. Besides, we don’t have a visual, do we?”

My eyes narrowed slightly at her from behind my visor. “Should we not at least send our commander a messa-”

“Icewind put me in command here, and you will obey!” Firestreak snapped. At that word, I went dead silent, awaiting whatever she was going to say next. “We don’t need Icewind. We go in now. Let her aimlessly scour Friendship City. Who knows, maybe the bitch’ll find something. Now follow me and don’t question my actions again.”

I remained silent as we began moving into the sewers.

Fitting into the sewer was difficult, even for Firestreak. It took her a few seconds to wiggle her way into the tight opening with her bulky power armour before she managed to successfully drop down into the darkness below. It was even harder for me. After a few moments of struggling, I just gave up trying to be subtle and blasted the small opening apart with a blast from my tesla cannon. Firestreak gave a shrill shriek as debris from the ceiling above her began raining down into the sewer above her.

“A little warning before you do that next time you fucking asshole!” Firestreak scolded, taking a step back as another piece of the ceiling collapsed down, nearly crushing her. “And be quiet! Are you trying to give us away?”

“Understood,” I monotone, accepting the order. I dropped down next to her in the dark tunnel. There was a small splash as my hooves sunk into the knee deep water that submerged the tunnel floor. Well, knee deep for Firestreak. The sludge water only rose up to my fetlocks.

The tunnel was dark, even with a large chunk of the ceiling broken. I doubted most ponies would be able to see very far with their naked eye alone. Black sludge clung to the curved walls and a thick torrent of murky water sloshed down the centre.

“This was clever,” Firestreak remared, trudging her way through the slightly radioactive filth that swirled around our hooves. The bulbous lights on her Enclave helmet flicked on, illuminating the hallway before us slightly with a yellowy glow. “Credit where it’s due, those Dashites have some brains. I doubt anypony would have thought to check down here for them.”

Up ahead, I could make out a section of the tunnel that split off in two directions. I tried to pinpoint which way the Dashites might have gone, but the constant flow of rushing water had long since removed any signs of hoofprints of blood.

“Fuck. You go that way,” Firestreak commanded, pointing down the tunnel to the right. “We’ll cover more ground if we split up.”

I gave a curt nod, but otherwise remained silent as I began trotting down the indicated tunnel. I could hear Firestreak moving into the opposing passage behind me, her metal clad hooves making small slurping splashes as she trudged through the filth. The tunnel was much darker without Firestreak’s helmet lights to see by, but the glowing red lights that made up my cybernetic eyes did a decent job of cutting through the gloom, filling the dank sewer with a hellish, red glow. I saw a few red bars scuttle around on my EFS, though from the speed they were moving, I could assume they were nothing more than radroaches.

After a few moments of attempting to silently move through the sewers, I heard the faint sound of hushed whispers echoing from around the corner ahead of me. I paused, immediately cutting the glowing red lights of my helmet's eyes and slinking up to the corner. As I got closer, the words began to become more clear.

“-We need to get out of the city as soon as we can. I doubt those Enclave bastards are going to just give up. Especially after we killed one of their own,” I heard the first voice say. I recognized the voice immediately as the one male Dashite we had been tracking. What had their name been? Plasma Charge? I wasn’t good with remembering names.

“I know… but who knows how long it’ll be ‘till Tailchaser is stable enough to move,” I froze as I heard that voice. It was the one voice I could never forget.

I shifted myself slightly so just the tip of one of my eyes could peak around the corner. As I suspected, Plasma Charge and Skylight stood in the dimly lit tunnel, both of them standing knee deep in muck as they whispered back and forth. Behind them, I could see a flickering light of a campfire that looked to have been set up in the centre of a small room that hadn’t been filled with gunk. Likely some sort of maintenance room from before the war. I couldn’t see much of what was happening in the room, but I could see a few shadows moving across the wall from the writhing firelight, a clear sign that the other dashites and likely the doctor helping them were within.

I narrowed my gaze on them for a moment, letting my tesla cannon charge up at my side. It would be so easy to kill them right now while they were unprepared. I crouched down into a more battle ready stance, preparing myself for the massive wave of force that was soon to shoot from my gun. I held for a moment, glaring at Skylight.

“Even still…” Plasma Charge sighed. “We have to get back and report to the Stable Mare. She’s going to want to hear about this monster the Enclave has with them.”

I hesitated. They knew about this Stable Mare that was causing all sorts of problems for the Enclave. They could have valuable information. I let my tesla cannon die down. Perhaps killing them outright would not be the best course of action. Not yet.

“He isn’t a monster!” Skylight snapped, raising her voice. Her wings ruffled at her sides uncomfortably. “Prance is a good pony, really. The Enclave’s done something to him!”

“That much is obvious,” Plasma Charge scowled. “I don’t care who you think that freak is Sky, but what I do know is that we currently have a massive, power armoured, cybernetically enhanced, alicorn trying to kill us. All of us together hardly even put a dent in that things armour back there and Tailchaser almost died!” His harsh tone dropped into something a little more sympathetic sounding. “Whoever this Prance Horrigan was to you before is gone. You can see that, right? The Enclave turned him into a monster and we need to put him down.”

Skylight just stared at him for a second before shaking her head definitely. “No… No, he’s still in there. I know he is. He said my name. Back at the apartment building, he said my name. He remembers me. That’s proof there’s something left of Prance. Proof we can save him. I just know it.”

Plasma Charge just sighed. “Maybe… But right now we have more important things to deal with. This attack on us is just proof that the Enclave is getting ready to make their move. We need to be ready for that, and if Horrigan gets in our way, we’re going to need to deal with him…”

Skylight just remained silent, staring at him for a long moment before looking away. “I'll- maybe… Why don't we continue this conversation once we're out of the city?”

Plasma Charge gave her a sad look ever so similar to the look Icewind had given me before turning and starting to trot back to the maintenance room. “Sure... Come on. Lets go check on Tailchaser. She should be waking up soon.”

“I’ll be with you in a minute alone,” Skylight responded glumbly. “I just want to have a moment to think about things…”

“Alright… Take your time… We’ll be here if you need us,” And with that, Plasma Charge disappeared into the maintenance room.

Skylight stood alone in the tunnel for a long moment before groaning and slumping against the wall, dropping down to her haunches and placing her face in her hooves. “Damn it Prance… What do things need to be so damn complicated…” I winced, momentarily thinking she was talking to me, before realizing she had only been muttering to herself.

Looking down, I picked up what looked to be some piece of prewar garbage that had been carried along by the current of rushing water. I looked it over for a second before glancing at Skylight, a small plan forming in my mind. I took a step back, concealing myself fully behind the wall before tossing the small piece of trash against the wall beside me.

The effect was immediate. Skylight instantly sprang to her hooves, her head snapping to look in my direction. She took on a battlestance, her novasurge rifles glowing slightly at her sides as her eyes sweeped the tunnel back and forth. “Hello?” She called out in a hushed tone.

I didn’t answer. I just stood back, watching her silently through the wall with my cybernetic vision. I had to admit, I was impressed at how fast Skylight’s reflexes had gotten since I had seen her last. Clearly she had been training hard.

Slowly, Skylight began slinking her way towards the corner of the tunnel, her wings half unfurled as if preparing to take flight at any moment. She crept closer and closer to the corner. I could feel the bulging muscles in my legs tensing as she grew closer to me. My eyes narrowed at her, my jaw clenching tightly.

Skylight paused just at the threshold of the corner, breathing lightly as if waiting for something to jump out at her. It never did. A moment passed. Then another. After a few more seconds, Skylight took a step forwards, emerging into the side tunnel.

I lunged forwards, my hooves moving far faster than she had time to react to. I yanked her backwards, pushing her up against the side of the tunnel wall. My bladed tail flashed out, quickly slicing her novasurge rifles from her battle saddle and dropping them into the sludge with a quiet splash. Skylight’s mouth opened wide to scream, but my free hoof swung up, clamping tight against her mouth.

“Scream and you die,” I scowled in as low a voice as possible. Skylight stared up at me in horror for a moment, eyes wide, before giving a timid nod. Hesitantly, I pulled away, letting her gasp for breath.

“Prance… you’re- you’re here…” Skylight gasped in a hushed voice.

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t blast you ash right now,” I rumbled, the end of my massive tesla cannon glowing dangerously.

Skylight cringed away from the glowing end of the massive weapon, trying to fold her wings over her face to give herself some form of cover. “B-because… We’re friends… We’ve always looked out for each other. Prance, please… We've known each other since we were foals.”

Those words made me pause. Friends? Is that what we were? Perhaps once upon a time we had been. But could we still be? After everything? After she had betrayed the Enclave?

Slowly, I let my tesla cannons die down. “Start talking,” I ordered. “How are you still alive? The Enclave told me you were dead.”

Skylight gave a nervous nod, trying to pull herself away from the wall a little. I didn’t let her, keeping one hoof out, pinning her down. “After the Enclave destroyed Canterlot Castle, I was stationed aboard the Raptor Altostus. We'd heard rumours that Friendship City was harbouring a fugitive Dashite, so went to deal with them. But when we got there… things… things didn’t go the way we planned. The Enclave started killing innocent ponies. I saw them kill foals, I-” Skylight had to stop and take a deep breath as she began to hyperventilate a little. “At some point, my commander, Ice Breaker, had enough. She refused to keep killing innocent ponies. Then one of our own Raptors turned on us and began firing. Only a few pegasi managed to escape the crash,” She paused again, looking up at me with a stern expression I had never imagined to see on her face. “The Enclave killed their own ponies, just because they refused to gun down helpless innocents.”

“You’re lying,” I snarled, refusing to accept that. “The Enclave looks after their own. They’re the only hope for the wasteland. They wouldn’t do that.”

Skylight shook her head. “Be in denial all you want, Prance, but the Enclave isn’t here to help the ponies of the wasteland. They never were. I had to find that out the hard way.”

“No. You’ll see. The Enclave only wants to help,” In insisted in my low, rumbling voice. “Come with me. I can prove it.”

Skylight tried to pull herself away from me again, glowering. Once more, I only pinned her down harder. “No. I won’t go back to them. I have friends here, with the Dashites, that actually care about me. If I go back to the Enclave, I’ll just be executed at best, and at worst…” Her face took on a grim look. “At worst I’ll be branded… I don’t want to lose my cutie mark, Prance.”

I remembered the day she got her cutie mark too, how happy she had been. She had been almost twelve years old at the time, a late bloomer. She had won the Enclave flyers derby, beating the second place winner by quite a few seconds. Her face had lit up like a hearth's warming tree when the mark had appeared, a single ray of sunlight breaking through dark overcast clouds. I wasn’t really smart enough to know what exactly it meant, but the image seemed to really make her happy. That was all that mattered to me back then. Maybe it still was.

To be honest, it was nice to know she cared about her cutie mark. I had never cared much for my own, an image of clouds and wings topped with a pair of eyes that gazed out from the shelter of an arch. The symbol of the Enclave. To me, it was just another part of obeying the Enclave. An inevitability.

Now that I thought about it though, I suppose my cutie mark was another thing I had lost in my transformation. Now my flank was obscured by grafted metal plates. For some strange reason, that brought me a strange sort of comfort.

After a moment of thought, I gave a nod. “Then it would appear we are at an impasse. I cannot let you go, but you refuse to come with me.”

An idea seemed to spark up in Skylight’s eyes. She glanced behind her for a second, before returning her gaze to me. “You could always come with us, Prance. Help us stop the Enclave…”

I growled at her. “You know full well that isn’t an option.”

Skylight flinched back at the aggression in my tone. “Aright, then… just- come with me for a moment. Let me introduce you to my friends. Maybe you’ll see that we aren’t as bad as the Enclave made us out to be.”

“Negotiate with Traitors?” I scoffed, glaring off at the tunnel that lead down to the maintenance room.

“Not negotiate. Talk,” Skylight insisted. “I promise. They’re good ponies.”

“I don’t talk to traitors,” I shot back, narrowing my eyes behind my visor.

“You’re talking to me, aren’t you?” Skylight retorted. “And as far as your Enclave is concerned, I’m a traitor.”

“You’re different.”

“Am I?”

I hesitated at that. Finally, I pulled myself away from her and let her stand on her own. “Very well. I will… Talk… to these Dashite traitors of yours. Then I will judge them.”

I could see a wave of relief and hope seem to flood Skylight’s eyes. “Thank you Prance! Really! I promise, you won’t regret this.”

“I had better not,” I groused, slowly following her as she scooped up her rifle and began leading me around the corner and to the remains of the maintenance room.

Skylight paused briefly as we neared the entrance, turning back and giving me a worried look. “Perhaps it’s best if you stay here for a second. Let me calm them down a bit before they see you.”

All the muscles in my neck tensed at that. “So you can warn them and escape? I don’t think so.”

To her credit, Skylight looked almost appalled at the idea. “No. I just- I promise. We won’t try to run. You have my word.”

After a moment of thought, I gave a nod. I wasn’t sure if I trusted the word of a Dashite, but I trusted Skylight, and that was all that mattered at the moment. “Very well. But try anything, and I will kill all of you,” I affirmed.

Skylight gave a small nod and gulp before darting into the maintenance room. There were a few seconds of silence, followed by a hoof full of hushed whispers and a few angry sounding growls, then a few more seconds of silence.

After what felt like a few minutes, I heard Skylight call out. “Prance, you can come in now!”

I had to keep my head bowed to get through the doorway of the maintenance room. Inside was much like I had expected. A small fire had been built in the centre of the room, casting the walls in a warm, flickering glow and creating looming looking shadows across most of the surfaces. The concrete walls were lined with metal shelving that at one point in history had housed an assortment of mechanics tools. Now the shelves had been mostly scavenged clean, though a few recently placed medical supplies did fill one shelf.

At the back of the room, I saw the wounded shape of Tailchaser curled up on a dirty looking medical bed that appeared to have been dragged through the sewers all the way here. They were awake right now, looking up at me with horror filled eyes.

Aside from Tailchaser and Skylight, three other ponies all stood around the medical bed, each one of them glaring at me with a mix of fear, apprehension and hate, their legs bent into a battle stance and their weapons ready to fire at a moment's notice. The first one was Plasma Charge, who had taken to standing directly in front of Tailchaser, scowling at me through his visor. The second pony was the Dashite I remember being called Misty, who had taken up a similar stance to her companion, though seemed much less certain. Her leg had been wrapped up in some sort of gause, clearly an attempt to heal her leg after I had broken it in our last fight. The final pony was the same earth pony doctor I had seen enter the sewers ahead of me. They gave me a horrified stare as I entered, though they seemed to try and stay focused on mending the massive tesla cannon wound on Tailchaser’s chest.

“Alright. You’ve brought him here… What now?” Plasma Charge spat, glaring at me. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t blast him full of holes this very instant for what he did to Tailchaser.”

“I could ask you the same thing,” I growled back, flaring my wings a little and letting my tesla cannon build up at my side.

Skylight quickly pushed her way between the two of us. “Both of you, put your weapons away!” She ordered, glowering at both of us. “Please. This doesn’t have to be violent.”

“I dunno know, Sky,” Misty stammered, her gaze still locked on me. “I mean, this is the pony that did that to Tailchaser,” She gestured over to the gaping hole on Tailchasers chest as if it wasn’t obvious.

“And we killed one of theirs!” Skylight shot back. “Please. We can come to some kind of accord without needing to kill each other.”

I glared at all of them for a long moment, my blood red eyes flicking back and forth from Plasma Charge to Misty as I waited for them to drop their weapons. After a long moment, both of them did. I waited a second longer, making sure none of them were going to attack, before retracting my tesla cannon back into the metal bulk of my power armor.

I could visibly see Skylight go limp with relief as the tension in the room seemed to dissipate a little. Not fully, but enough that it didn't feel like some pony was about to start shooting at any given moment. “There. Was that so hard?”

“I’m not yet convinced,” Plasma Charge grunted. “How do we know this freak isn’t going to lead his Enclave buddies right to us?” His eyes narrowed at me even more. “The Enclave is probably scouring the rest of these tunnels right now as we speak.”

I paused. Perhaps I could use this as an opportunity to figure things out. “No. I came alone,” I lied, gritting my teeth slightly behind my visor.

A small cough drew our gaze to the back of the room, where Tailchaser was trying to push herself into a propped up position. The doctor quickly pushed them back onto their back. “Hey. We all trust Skylight, don’t we?” Tailchaser said. Her voice sounded raspy and weak, so unlike the voice I had briefly heard when I had first crossed paths with these Dashites. “If she trusts this thing, then we should as well, right?”

I saw the muscles in Misty’s shoulders unclench a little as she looked over at Tailchaser. “This thing is the thing that hurt you,” She said flatly. “And you think we should just trust it because Skylight knew them before the Enclave came down from the clouds?”

Tailchaser gave her a shaky smile. “They were just doing what they were told. We all used to be a part of the Enclave. We all know what it's like. I don’t blame them,” She turned her head and looked up at me with their blurry eyes. To my surprise, she gave me a thin, shaky smile. “That was a nice shot by the way. You gave Plasma Charge a run for his bits.”

Plasma Charge huffed. “Yeah right. Easy to hit a target when your gun is that big.”

“You’re just jealous you aren’t the best shot in the room anymore,” Misty nickered, giving him a small bump on the shoulder. Plasma Charge just rolled his eyes, but he gave a small smile in return.

I kept my eyes locked on the prone form of Tailchaser. “You would forgive me? After I shot you?” Forgiveness? When was the last time I had been sincerely forgiven for anything? I couldn’t remember.

Tailchaser snickered. “Depends. You planning on shooting me again, big guy?”

I didn’t respond to her, partly because I was still considering shooting everypony in the room and being done with it all, but something in the back of my mind was holding me back. What was it? Regret? No, that was stupid. Regret was for the weak. Objective? Yes, that was it. Information. These ponies knew things Colonel Thunderbolt would want.

“I may have come alone, but the Enclave won’t be far behind me,” I blurted, a sinking feeling forming in my stomach. “Given an hour, they will likely be swarming these tunnels. I suggest you all leave now while you have the chance.”

Skylight’s face lit up at that. “You’re- you’re helping us?”

I grunted in response. “Just this once.”

Misty scowled. “Damn, if that's true, then we probably won't have long.”

"I'd be surprised if it's not true," Plasma Charge grunted, narrowing his eyes at me again. "Either he's lying and the Enclave's already here, or he's not and they will be shortly. Either way, we need to get out of here," He turned to the doctor. “Is Tail in a good enough position to walk?”

The doctor gave a grim nod. “Only barely. I would recommend having her do as little physical activity as possible though.”

“We can carry her then,” Plasma Charge said, moving up by Tailchasers side and bending down a little so that Tailchaser could more easily climb onto his back. Misty stepped up beside him to help support that pegasus’ weight.

“Come on. We've got to go,” Skylight urged, dumping what supplies they had left out into her saddle bags and reattaching her rifle to her armours battle saddle. “Prance, we need a way out of here that'll get us past the Enclave?”

I felt that sinking feeling in my stomach twist and knot until it felt like a knife stabbing deep into my hide. “Yes… Follow me,” Every word that slid from my mouth made that incorporeal knife dig itself deeping into my flesh.

Slowly, I began leading them out of the maintenance room and out into the sewage tunnel. I began retracing my steps, back to the entrance I had come from. Our going was slow. Every few minutes, Plasma Charge had to stop to rest as the weight of Tailchaser and her heavy power armour bore down on him.

Each and every step we took felt like I was descending downwards into a pit that I would not be able to scale again. The last few moments kept replaying over and over in my mind. Skylights hope that I might join her, her joy when I agreed to talk to her companions, Tailchasers forgiveness. All of those thoughts seemed to be banging against the inside of my brain, ordering me to turn around. Screaming for me to tell them all the truth. Telling me it wasn’t too late to change all of this. But I ignored those orders. I had different orders to adhere to.

Eventually, we came to the part of the tunnel that branched off into two separate passages. The Dashites immediately began making their way towards the tunnel that led to the entrance Firestreak and I had come through, but I quickly put a wing out, stopping them.

“No. We-” I hesitated, looking for the right words. “The Enclave has set camp over there. Go that way, you will die.”

I turned, gesturing for them to go down the second tunnel. Misty raised her eyebrow at the gesture. “That tunnel heads into town.”

I nodded, thinking fast. “Exactly. The Enclave isn't welcome that way.”

Nodding, the four Dashites and the earth pony doctor began trudging down the indicated tunnel. I took up the rear behind them, my eyes sweeping back and forth as we moved along. This tunnel was darker than the rest, even with the red glow of my glass eyes, it was almost pitch black. We could only see up to a few inches in front of our faces.

After a moment of walking, I felt a small tug at my side. I looked down to see Skylight smiling up at me. “Hey… I, uh… I just wanted to say thank you. For giving us a chance.”

The knife in my stomach gave a final twist, burrowing itself in deep. I looked away from her, unable to meet her gaze. “Don’t thank me yet.”

Two glowing yellow lights cut through the gloom of the tunnel ahead of us. Everypony froze as the sinister glare of the lights began moving forwards, stepping into the crimson light and revealing Firestreak’s intimidating suit of Tartarus Fire Power armour.

Plasma Charge reeled back at the sight of the Enclave pegasus, his novasurge rifle glowing. “Shit! This is a trap!”

“Well well well. Look what the cat dragged in,” Firestreak cooed, slowly stalking closer to us, her glowing gaze flicking back and forth between the Dashites. Small plumes of fire burst to life at the tips of her flamers, causing dark smoke to swirl around her metal clad face. “I had my doubts about you Horrigan, but you always seem to deliver!”

All of the Dashites took a nervous step back. I saw Misty glaring daggers at Skylight. “We never should have trusted that monster! What do you think of your friend now?!”

“Prance… You didn’t…” Skylight breathed, her eyes fixed on me. Her expression was filled with a painful mix of hate and betrayal. I’m not sure which of those emotions hurt me the most.

“The Enclave has ordered your execution. And I will obey,” I rumbled bluntly, taking a step forward to close off any chance of them escaping from the way we came.

“Indeed,” Firestreak smirked. And with that, she lunged forwards, her flamers spewing jets of fire.

All the Dashites scattered, diving apart as the stream of flame scorched at the tunnel walls. Plasma Charge sagged in the air slightly, trying to stay aloft in the close quarters while carrying another pegasus on his back.

My tail lashed forwards, slamming into Misty and sending her crashing violently into the murky gunk on the floor. She sputtered as the foul sludge filled her mouth before quickly rolling aside as I stomped down at her with one of my huge hooves.

I heard Firestreak cackling as she pounced on Skylight, knocking her to the tunnel floor. Her bladed tail flipped up over her head, its sharp point aiming down at Skylight’s neck. There was a loud fwoosh sound as Firestreak ignited the blade at the end of her tail, causing flames to writhe from the end of the deadly appendage.

Skylight kicked up with her hind hooves, trying to push Firestreak off of her. Firestreak just laughed, bating her hooves aside and going in for the strike. Before the blade could slash through Skylight’s neck, Plasma Charge lunged forwards, still carrying Tailchaser on his back. He slammed his hooves into Firestreak’s side, sending her staggering back and giving Skylight just enough room to rush back to her hooves.

I whipped around as Misty shot back into the air and fired a volley of blasts in my direction. Avoiding the shots with my size in such close proximity was near impossible, but thankfully the beams of searing energy did little against my impressively strong armor.

I took a step back, my tesla cannon charging up for just a second before unleashing its powerful arch of blue energy through the tunnel. Misty gave a loud yell as she was forced to swerve out of the way, nearly being turned to ash as my powerful blast came inches away from her head. She had only just begun to straighten herself when I flashed out with my hooves, slamming into her chest and ramming her against the side of the wall.

The doctor had begun racing for the far side of the tunnel as fast as he could, frantically trying to get to the exit. Firestreak scowled, her eyes catching on him as he madly rushed away.

“Oh no you dont!” She shouted, kicking Plasma Charge away with a hoof and rushing after the doctor. Her flamers burst to life, dousing the fleeing doctor in a wave of napalm induced fire. The doctor screamed as the flames raced across his body, burning away his flesh. He dropped to the floor, trying to put out the fire in the mucky water, but before he could, Firestreak advanced on him, pulling him from the sludge and letting her flamers wash over him.

Plasma Charge gave a scream of rage and rushed her, only for Firestreak to knock him away with a swipe of her segmented tail. The smell of burnt hair and sizzling flesh filled the air as the doctor writhed and screamed as his insides were boiled alive. Then, after a few seconds of thrashing, the pony went still in Firestreaks grip. Cackling, Firestreak tossed the charred corpse to the ground, where the body was consumed by the rushing water.

“You monster!” Plasma Charge was yelling. “He didn’t even do anything to you!”

“He aided traitors!” Firestreak nickered. “A crime punishable by death!” And with that she launched herself back at him, her flamers roaring once more.

Misty dodged another blast from my tesla cannon, doing a quick loop in the air, only for my tail to catch them upside the back of the head and send them crashing down once more. I moved to crush her, only for Skylight to jump between us, her hooves outstretched as if hoping to shield Misty from my assault.

“Prance, stop! Please!” She begged, her eyes wide. “You’re better than this! I know you are!”

“Then you don’t know me at all!” I spat. I jumped forwards and battered Skylight aside with a hoof, sending her flying to the side, her head cracking hard against the cold wall.

I spun around, my tail slamming hard into Misty and sending her skidding back while my tesla cannon honed in on Plasma Charge and Tailchaser as they frantically tried to avoid being roasted alive by Firestreaks flamers. With a loud crackle of energy my hulking cannon fired, an arching beam of powerful, searing light lancing out towards them. I heard Tailchaser give Plasma Charge a warning shout, but they weren’t fast enough.

The blast struck the side of Tailchaser’s head, instantly blasting apart the skull and sending gore and brain fragments scattering across the tunnel. Her screams died in her throat as her body sagged and fell limp to the ground. Blood, pitch black in the dim lighting, splattered across the curved walls in messy strokes. The shockwave of the blast slammed into Plasma Charge, knocking him to the ground, the back of his power armor ripped open and smoking where the lethal energy had scored his hide.

“Tail!” Misty was screaming, frantically rushing up to where the crumpled form of the now headless Dashite lay. Misty scooped her up in her hooves, hugging her close as if unable to accept that the headless corpse before her that had once been her friend was dead. She glared up at me, rage in her tear filled eyes not all that different from the rage I had seen in Vapour’s eyes the night before.”You- You beast! She forgave you! She forgave you and you fucking killed her!”

I stared at the limp body in Misty’s hooves for a moment, before shaking my head. It had to be done, I silently told myself. They gave me no choice.

“Guys! We need to go!” Plasma Charge shouted, staggering back to his hooves and taking to the air, dashing down the tunnel towards the darkness that presumably led out into the city.

“What about Tail! We can’t just leave her here!” Misty sobbed back, trying to drag both herself and Tailchaser’s limp form back to their hooves.

“Mist, she’s dead! We need to go!” Skylight begged, stumbling over to her and pushing her forwards, her wings already outstretched and preparing to flash after Plasma Charge.

“Horrigan! After them!” Firestreak howled, her flamers flaring with firelight as she poured a constant stream of fire after the fleeing traitors.

I bent my legs, each and every muscle in my body momentarily tensing before I kicked off, my wings shooting out at my sides as I shot after the Dashites, Firestreak close behind me. I shot through the air for a moment, the bladed edges of my wings scraping against the curved walls before I dropped back down to my hooves, continuing to pursue the pegasi at top speed, my larger than normal wingspan making flying in the tight space of the sewer impossible.

Even on hoof, I began gaining on the Dashites fast, the muscles in my legs rippling with each and every step. I heard Misty give a scream of fight as she glanced back, making out my huge, lumbering form and glowing red eyes as I powered towards her.

The Dashites took a tight turn down a side tunnel, temporarily zipping out of my line of sight. I spun around the corner after them, my hulking form slamming against the side of the wall as I tried to rush through the small corridor. Sparks shot out from my sides as my metal armour scratched against the cold walls.

Up ahead I saw light. A large circular opening in the tunnel leads out into the fishing town beyond, clearly the sewage deposit pipe I had seen the Doctor enter earlier. At the sight of the exit, the Dashites began flapping their wings harder, desperately trying to make it out before I could reach them.

I snarled, puffs of steam rising from beneath my helmet. I charged forwards, each step of my hooves shaking the tunnel around us.

“Get out now! Go GO!” Plasma Charge ordered, swooping out into the open air. Misty followed close behind him, followed shortly by Skylight, who glanced back at me quickly before shaking her head and soaring out.

My hooves came to a screeching halt at the threshold of the tunnel entrance, my gaze staring out at the city beyond as the Dashites rapidly flew out over the ramshackle boats.

“Horrigan! What are you doing!” Firestreak shouted, enraged. She flew up next to me, glowering. “Get out there and chase them! We cannot let them escape again!”

“They’ve made it into the town,” I rumbled uncertainly. “Icewind said that we can’t-”

“Fuck that cunt Icewind!” Firestreak bellowed. “She put me in charge and I order you to chase them! Now! Obey!”

Obey…

With a roar, I thundered forwards, my wings shooting open as I soared up after the Dashites. I heard gasps and screams of fear as the ponies in the town below saw my massive, monstrous form burst from the tunnel and shoot out over their small town.

Skylight looked behind her just in time to see me crash into her from behind, sending her flailing as she was sent crashing into the deck of the large cargo ship that made up the centre of the city. Screaming ponies desperately scampered out of the way as my tesla cannon flared with light, sending crackling beams of light lancing down at the city below, blasting large holes through the hull of the ship. Skylight rolled aside, only narrowly avoiding two of the shots as they nearly turned her to glittering ash.

I felt a pair of strong hooves slam into the back of my head as Plasma Charge rammed into me with all his strength, sending me reeling through the air for a second before I caught myself. I glared up at him, my glowing red eyes locking with his.

“I’m going to make you pay for what you did to Tail,” Plasma Charge growled, his voice deep and filled with loathing.

“You’re welcome to try,” I monotone back, keeping his level glare.

I saw the tips of Plasma Charge’s novasurge rifle being to charge up, only for a jet of flame to surge around him from the side as Firestreak shot towards him, flamers spewing burning napalm. Plasma Charge shrieked in pain, thrashing back and forth in the air as he tried to put out the writhing flames, but the oxygen only made the flames grow. Desperately, he tucked his wings at his side and shot down into a nosedive towards the water below.

“Horrigan! You take that Dashite!” Firestreak ordered, gesturing to where Skylight was still trying to pull herself up off the deck of the ship below us. Firestreak turned to glare at Misty who had begun diving down to help Plasma Charge. “I’ll deal with those pests!”

Nodding, I angled myself into a steep dive as I shot towards where Skylight had begun to righten herself on the ship. Skylight looked up with just enough time to yelp and dive out of the way as my hooves slammed down into the ship deck, my powerful, armoured hooves denting large craters into the ship's surface.

I whipped around, one hoof ramming Skylight roughly across the back of the head while my tail shot out and coiled tightly around her neck. Skylight struggled, beating frantically at the cybernetic tail with her hooves as she tried to pull free from its constrictive grasp.

“You should never have turned your back on the Enclave,” I growled at her, flicking my tail around so that she hung suspended before me.

Skylight snarled between gasping breaths. “And you should have never come back!”

The novasurge rifle at her side flared with prismatic light as she sent a beam of energy slashing out and across my face. I howled with pain, staggering back as the shot slashed through the glass covering of my eyes and blasted apart a chunk of my face. I could feel the sickening feeling of my flesh and hide quickly slithering around atop my skull as my extensive cybernetics and hydra filled blood stitched my flesh back together over the wound.

With a growl, I violently whipped my tail backwards, sending Skylight flying through the air and crashing through one of the walls of the ship and into the room beyond. I heard the ponies inside the ship screaming and rushing for cover as I charged into the hull after her. I let them run. I only had one target.

Skylight coughed as she slowly pulled herself from the rubble of the collapsed desk she had fallen into, one of her fore hooves reaching up to wipe away the smear of blood that trickled down her muzzle. Her legs trembled as she tried to pull herself up to her hooves, her whole body covered in deep cuts and bruises, even through the power armour she wore.

Bits of metal crunched under my hooves as I strode through the smoking hole in the wall that Skylight had been slammed though. My red eyes bore into her as I loomed above her, the last bits of my flesh knitting itself back together behind the shattered eyepiece of my helmet.

“I trusted you!” Skylight shouted, spitting a wad of blood from her mouth. Her right leg gave out from under her and she collapsed to the ground. “I actually fucking trusted you!”

“You knew it had to be this way,” I retorted with a huff.

“No it doesn’t!” She screamed back, her expression manic and her eyes red as tears began to drip down her face. “Fuck you Horrigan! It doesn’t! You’re just to fucking caught up with your fucking Enclave and your fucking obedience! You’re to fucking stupid to see what’s right in front of you! You- You fucking monster! Fuck you! Fuck you!”

I felt an icy feeling creeping around my heart at her words. Each and every word that escaped her lips felt like a bullet to the chest. She thought I was a monster? After everything we had been through together over the years? Maybe I was. If that's what she thought then I would be the fucking monster.

Beside me, the form of Plasma Charge came crashing through the wall beside me. He tried to push himself up to his hooves only to collapse back to the floor. Firestreak stalked into the room behind them, smugly, her flaming, bladed tail swaying back and forth behind her menacingly.

“Where is the other,” I snarled, briefly turning away from Skylight’s collapsed form.

“Escaped,” Firestreak spat. “But don’t worry. We’ll catch her. She won’t make it far in the wasteland on her own.”

I glance down at the two fallen Dashites for a second before glaring back at Firestreak. “Signal Icewind. Tell her we’ve captured two of the Dashites.”

“We should just kill them now instead,” Firestreak sneered in response, looming over Plasma Charge and pressing the tip of her bladed tail against his neck. “It’s no less than they deserve for what they did to Lightning.”

“No,” I rumbled, not daring to look back at Skylight despite every facet of my mind begging me to look her in the eye. “These traitors have information that Thunderbolt might want. We take them back to the oil rig. There the Colonel can decide what to do with them.”

Firestreak scowled, glaring daggers at the Dashites before retracting her tail. “Very well. You are all lucky Horrigan is so merciful,” She looked out the gaping hole in the wall at the town beyond where I could see dozens of ponies beginning to rally together for the attack they expected to come. “And what about the rest of the town? As much as I hate Icewind, she is right about one thing. We don’t need more enemies.”

I looked out at the ponies in the distance readying their weapons. After a long moment, I turned and looked down and met Skylight's hateful gaze. “You think I’m a monster…” I growled at her in a low, scathing tone that sent shivers shooting down all of their spines. “You have seen nothing!” I snapped my head away from her, glaring back at Firestreak. “Those ponies mean nothing. This is just another town to raze to the fucking ground.”

Icewind glowered down at the two Dashites chained up on the ground before her. Vapour stood a step behind her, doing his best not to simply shoot them down on the spot.

“We aren’t going to tell you anything,” Plasma Charge was declaring, spitting a wad of spittle in Icewinds direction. Icewind easily stepped out of the way. “You are your big mutant fuck can go fuck yourselves!”

Icewind just pulled herself away and snarled at Firestreak and I. “You were supposed to contact me the moment you had a visual. And what the fuck happened to not attacking the fucking settlement!” She looked off in the distance to where the huge pillars of smoke still billowed out above the skyline. What had once been a small fishing town, we had left as little more than a smouldering crater.

Firestreak snickered, waltzing up beside her and giving her a smug grin. “Well we didn’t need you, did we. Horrigan and I had everything covered. And we decided to make sure there were no loose ends that needed tying up.”

Icewind just scowled. “Perhaps had you listened to my instructions, we might have been able to intercept the last Dashite. Or did you forget that you let one of them escape.”

Firestreak just scowled. “She won’t make it far. I’ve already sent a message to Colonel Thunderbolt. Soon dozens of troopers will be out searching every inch of the wasteland for that traitor,” At Icewind’s silence, Firestreak nickered. “What’s the matter, Icy? Worried this will make you look bad in front of the Colonel? Not a good look to have your team complete the objective without your assistance.”

After a long moment of just glaring at Firestreak, Icewind huffed and turned away from her with an irritated flick of her tail, ignoring her taunt. She turned to face me, her brave expression faltering slightly before she forced a stern frown back onto her face. “Do not mistake this as a victory, Horrigan. This is all far from over.”

“I did what needed to be done,” I said bluntly, not daring to look at where Skylight glared hatefully at me from the ground. “I obey.”

I always obeyed.

Icewind's scowl faded to a sadder looking expression. “Indeed,” She glanced over at Skylights curled up form out of the corner of her eye. With a shake of her head, she turned away, looking up at Vapour. “Alright, send word to Colonel Thunderbolt. We’re returning to the oil rig. And we have prisoners...”

Author's Note

Sorry this chapter took so long. Life's been busy and I try to rotate between writing my other FO:E fics between each chapter, and that fic has long freaking chapters.

Hope you all enjoyed and have a great day.

Fallout: Equestrian belongs to Kkat