Fallout Equestria: Ballad of a Rogue Ranger

Chapter twenty-two: A good one

Power armor always had one nasty draw back to it, shock attacks. A well-placed spell, or spark grenade and all of a sudden you were nothing more than a paperweight. Sure, the application of such a charge might not be immediately fatal to the occupant, though it would do a number on the magical components inside.

Those attacks were usually high voltage, just like the last time it happened to me with a live wire in a pool of water. Like clockwork it fried the matrix and shut everything down, though the plating at least protects other components on the inside such as a Pip-Buck. As for the occupant, they’ll taste metal for a bit longer afterwards.

Then there were other ways of using a shock. For example, if you put a lower voltage between two points on the suit. Say… hind hoof to forehoof? Then you could pump it right through the user, while keeping a majority of the systems intact. They might need to be reset like with any other shock to the system, but it wouldn’t permanently damage them. It’d just make a really bad day for the poor pony inside.

And today, I was that poor pony.

“Hit him again,” one ranger said to another, as the later turned up a dial and flipped the switch.

I’d been shocked before at work, and the knee jerk response to that was to pull you hoof away as fast as possible. Although I wanted to jump ten feet through this ceiling, and hopefully crack a few skulls on the way down, the chains wrapped around each of my hooves put a damper on that one.

So, I did all I could do, grind my teeth into near dust till they turned that switch back off. I’d been lucky, they put the electrical connections between my front and back hooves that didn’t include the Pip-Buck. Might not have lessened the pain any more of all your muscles wanting to contract at once with nowhere to go, but if I got out of this thing then I should be able to reboot the system.

Though that if was getting bigger by the second…

“Are you done in there yet?” one of the rangers asked with a tap to my helmet. Oh boy do I wish I knew combat spells right about now, “care to release the locks?”

My jaw was still too tense with the remaining charge to let out a word, so I let the helmet shaking do the talking. That firing bit was probably the only thing keeping me from biting my tongue in half, though with both my guns removed, I wasn’t getting any fireworks out of chomping down on it. Only so much I’d be able to do with the shotgun anyway, though these two weren’t in power armor either.

Scribes? I think they were called when I was hauled in here and chained down, certainly not interrogators. Their uniforms looked like nothing I’d see from the war, not much more than utility barding with a few tools pressed to their side. I barely had what felt like half a second between shocks, not enough time to answer them, or even throw out an insult. Certainly not enough time to pull that hammer from one of their sides and do some skull cracking.

It still gave em enough time to look over the suit as the juice pumped through me. They were smart enough to know just how much of a shock to give me, bastards… “The armor doesn’t seem to be repairing,” the mare of the two noted when the charge stopped, “the repair talisman might have been damaged during his fight with those savages.”

Savages… says the pony shocking me to near death!

“We can always replace it, once we get him to come out of his shell…” the colt once again turned his attention to me, “hear that? All we need is you to come out, and this all can stop.”

Why don’t I believe that? Maybe because of the smirk he was giving me as well, not very convincing on your part. My silence answered him, and he returned it with another shock. Honestly at this point I was sure the colt was getting some sort of sick thrill out of this.

“Scribe Wallard, that’s enough,” another called out, and with what movement I had left my neck turned to see Tungsten Shield coming through the door. He looked, different? I mean as different as a metal body could, come to think of it… had I ever seen him out of that suit before? “It was ordered that the suit and occupant be unharmed, to the greatest degree possible.”

That shut down the scribe a bit, and I watched him turn the dial down, “Apologies’ Paladin, though this colt has proven to be quite stubborn…”

Yeah, I get that a lot, “Tends to happen when you pump a current through somepony, they get a temper,” Wallards’ hoof went straight for the switch, and I braced as the shock was about to come… any second now… huh? Tungsten was holding the hoof of the scribe in place, and I about swore his visor glowed red at the colt.

“Unharmed, do I have to spell it out for you Scribe?” he let the hoof go, and we both watched the colt take a step or two back.

“You all have a broad range for that term,” I grumbled back to him beneath the visor. I didn’t need to see my coat to know there were patches of raw flesh that’d likely never heal.

Tungsten still glared at the pair with us, before his own visor finally came back to me, “For what it’s worth, they originally wanted you dead after the trouble you’d caused some of our other members,” humph was that supposed to make me feel better? “I convinced them otherwise, relayed how you helped my team out in the field, and said you might be able to be reasoned with.”

I’d probably get shot in the skull if my visor popped now, but he had to imagine the look I gave him. Convinced might not be the best word, “Normally I’m a reasonable colt, I’d like to think, though I draw the line at torture and interrogation,” for a split second there he flinched, that stung the Paladin a little, “I thought you were one of the good ones there for a bit.”

That armor of his looked like it went down a few inches from where I was standing, and while the others in the room appeared about ready to give me another dose of juice. The Paladin held them off with a hoof, “I deserved that, considering your treatment here… though there wasn’t much of a choice that was left for us when you wouldn’t get out, we all want the same thing in the end,” ya’ll just have a nasty way of getting to that end. Tungsten found the desk behind him in the room, and under the groan of its legs his armor propped up against it.

“You have a very special gift it would seem, Rogue,” he nodded off towards me, and I’d bet my horn the suit as well, “Far more than I’d have thought went we first met… and one that would be invaluable to the Steel Rangers.”

So… that’s where this was going? It wasn’t an execution, “You’re… recruiting me?”

“Think it over, you’re skilled with the armor and can clearly make necessary upgrades,” I don’t know about making them out right. Although, with enough time, a unicorn could put the same spell imprints I have on a matrix for another suit, “for the Rangers a unicorn like you in our ranks would only help our cause, and if anything, accelerate them.” Your cause… that phrase bounced around my head, and while it did the Paladin got off his rump and started making a circle around me. “The wastes could be tamed once again, and all of its equine would sleep a lot easier at night with the security that would bring… all the Steel Rangers need is an extra helping hoof.”

I mean… what’s not to like about that? The tech the rangers had could help a lot of those out here in the wasteland. You don’t have to worry about a raider base if you can level the whole field with a Brown Betty. Any pony could sleep with both eyes closed with a patrol of rangers walking a towns parameter. Plus, I’d like to see any creature being taken as a slave, when there would be a steel battering ram knocking down the slavers door to get em back. It all sounded just perfect, and what the rangers were supposed to be.

Then again, that was the old rangers.

“It’s a lie,” the mumble from my lips I knew was too quiet for him to hear, and I just waited for Tungsten to lean in a bit more, “Your cause is a lie!” There that got his attention, “you say we all want the same thing, but why haven’t the rangers helped out anything yet? You’ve been hoarding technology for half a decade, and what have you done with it all?” silence, that’s what I’d expected from his end, and those scribes that joined us. For all the power this branch of the Equestrian Military once held, they really were terrible at lifting their hooves for a fellow equine, “Nothing? Am I right? How about myself now… with the only piece of tech we share being a suit, what have I accomplished in a fraction of that time?”

Liberated a slaver operation, rescued a father from said slavers, took out the head leader of a gang, cleared a hellhound nest, killed a third of the gunners’ leadership… not counting however many of their own members. All the while tracking a mare through the wasteland for my own personal reasons, and in the end helping their entire town survive by charging down into the depths of a stable. I didn’t need to relay any of that to them, the important bits they’d probably already heard from the radio, but my point still stood.

“Your average stallion, who’s just a bit better with tech, has done more in just over a month than ya’ll have in the years you’d been out,” my hoof stomped in to the ground. At least, it tried to, if it weren’t for these chains. “Still nothing? Here, let me help you with what you’ve accomplished… fear,” his helmet cocked as it looked at me, “Since getting this armor anytime I walked into a town everypony was waiting for me to open up on them, take what they had and leave.” His puzzlement held firm, then again, he hadn’t been the one to walk amongst others and see the worried glares coming my way.

“Even when rescuing a wash of ponies from chains and bomb collars, you know what they expected when freed?” I didn’t give him time to even think, “for me to kill em all… I can’t blame them for thinking it honestly, first rangers I found after getting the suit shot a colt for his weapon.” You ever think they wonder why most ponies look at them sideways? There’s probably a million and one ways the rangers had been described by folks out here, though I think one mare summed it up quite nicely, “The rangers have become nothing more than well-armed thugs, and from my view… you’re the ones that need taming.”

Tungsten was silent again, and Wallard looked at that switch with an increasing urge to press it. Only the mare looked composed out of the trio, until she popped to attention and held a hoof across her breast.

“Elder,” she bowed, and I watched both the colts follow that same gesture.

Just who was…? Oh, you look fancy. Remember how I said versions of the better schematics only got out to those that were higher ranks before? This must have been one of those ponies. There didn’t seem much difference from the average suit, but it did look slimmer. His servos didn’t whirl when he walked, and even being a stallion for his age, those hooves handled the suit like it weighed nothing. I remembered something like this back then, all the protection, but far more agility for the user.

You know, the total opposite of what I had going for me. Although I’m kinda glad my suit didn’t have all the bells and whistles his did. My eyes started to dance along the decorations engraved into the metal itself. Across those normally steel grey plates were the very etchings and embroidery you’d expect to see on a family heirloom, not a suit made for war. Never the less the suit itself looked well taken care of, just like the guns along its sides. Let’s see… AER-9 Plasma Caster, and an IF-100 like the one I started this journey with.

Yep, still made for war.

“Easy now scribes, and yourself Paladin, there’s no need for that…” the stallion opted out of wearing his helmet, which let me see his graying mane and stone coat. It didn’t look war torn and weathered like I’d expected from one his age, though the glare of that yellow iris could have peeled paint. “Especially not here with our guest.” Guest? Really now? Terrible hotel if you ask me, hell for all I knew we could be in a hotel… if it wasn’t for that damn sack they threw on me before we’d arrived, “You’ll have to forgive me for meeting you so late, I had hoped to have this conversation face to face, but your cooperation has been slow, and I’m inpatient.”

You sounded every bit condescending as I’d imagine an Elder, whatever that is, would sound, “Then you’ll have to forgive me for being difficult, but I don’t take kindly to those tarnishing the name of heroes.”

“Hmm… heroes? I hadn’t heard that term for the rangers since my own father,” Oh great, now a family history lesson, “he always talked of my grandfather and the war, those they’d lost within their command, families that were broken apart by it, even what they could have done different from the princesses to save all this from happening.” A lot of things could have been done differently, and I doubted he’d be able to spin it in any way to get me to believe what they’re doing now would be considered the right solution. “Those heroes could crush any foe they came across, and how you might ask…?” I did not like him being this close to my face! “Technology, it’s what Equestria used to rule over the battlefield, and what can save us once again.”

This was starting to make me wonder if ponies should have ever gotten past the stone age… once you got a little too smart for your own good, and figured out how to marry magic with machines and what not. It was all downhill from there.

There were plenty of ponies out there making due with bare minimum. Turning crops without much sun to grow em, or even drawing water out the ground by burning crap… that pure equine stubbornness had kept plenty of ponies from pushing up daises.

“My father, and grandfather never got the chance to see the surface for what it became,” the Elder sounded a bit solemner at that, before his gaze met mine again, “though that might have been for the best, they would have burned everything in sight and decided to start anew… I at least see the potential in some of this country that’s left.”

Great… I got the optimist of the bunch, “and you want me to be a part of that.”

“Against my better judgement, for as much trouble as you might bring us, your talents have been highly spoken for,” only one other in the room knew what I could do, and he kept that visor away from my own, “Elder Gallant had a vision he picked up from his father, and passed on to me, and that was to crush the reckless parts of this country with force if needed… and from what I’ve seen, force is what will be required,” his hoof touched the end of my chin, and picked my helmet up to meet his face. Where was a headbutt when you needed it? “You could be the final piece to that puzzle, upgrade all our chess pieces to sweep the board clean…”

Wait… Elder Gallant, I knew I heard that name at least. Back before when it was still Knight Gallant. If it was all one family tree then no wonder this colt picked up so much animosity for what happened in the past. Iron Hoof passed that hate down to his son, and then the son after him… too bad they didn’t teach him anything in terms of negotiation skills.

“Take back every scrap of tech this place has to offer, so that we may right the wrongs from the past,” could you be less creepy, and not hold my chin while talking like that?! “What do ya say?”

Any other would have had their mouthwatering at what he offered. You’d have protection by the entirety of the steel rangers. Live better than any part of the wasteland I’ve seen so far. Plus, all one skilled in the same craft would have to do is what they’ve been doing for years since.

It was an offer that your average pony out here would have taken up in a heartbeat, and one I would have grabbed if you asked me almost a month and a half ago. For all his song and dance, this Elder forgot one thing though. I’d seen what the wasteland turned the rangers into, that take back comment really doing it in for me. They’d already taken enough by force to help, and they haven’t given a thing in return. So, if you asked me… they didn’t need any fancier toys.

“No.”

“Come again?”

“I said… NO!” the speaker on the suit blared out in to his ear. I’m so glad out of all the systems, that was still working… worth it, “you want to do more for the betterment of the wasteland and Equestria, then do it with what you have… I’m not giving you an extra hoof up on any competition.”

Clank!

Old geezer or not, this colt could still swing! His hoof struck across the helmet once more for good measure, and if it weren’t for the chains, I might have hit the ground, “How. Dare. You,” he let in another hit, “I offer you the chance of a lifetime, and you spit in my face. You think you’re making a difference out there? A place or two cleared of scum won’t change a thing, they’ll be back in a week,” I tried to fight it, but his hoof still managed to pull me into facing him, “every little thing you’ve accomplished will be undone in time, why not settle for something more permanent?”

Even in a helmet, I smelled the blood ready to trickle from my nostrils. How many times have I gotten beaten up since leaving the stable? Was it really all worth it? “I might not be able to save the whole wasteland, but if I can make a part of it a little better… that’s good enough for me.” short answer, yes, it is.

Not the answer he wanted, and he let me know that with an uppercut. Now I was thankful for these chains, otherwise they might have had to cut me out of the ceiling. “I was afraid of that… such a waste,” the elder shook his head at me, before turning towards the door, “up the current till either he pops or the suit does, if the suit goes first… make sure he doesn’t last much longer.”

Wallard looked all too happy to oblige by that order, and I knew that’d be it for me if the power didn’t give out soon. What was the likelihood of my friends tracking me from the power surges in the local area? Probably about the same of them doing it from my screeches as the current started to pick up. The scribe didn’t even wait for the Elder to leave the room, he just kept the switch on and slowly cranked the dial up. At its lowest setting I could feel my muscles start to tense up and pull, though with nowhere to go, they just contracted in place.

“Elder!” Tungsten yelled out, and cut off his superior on his way out the door, “willing to help us or not, the Rogue Ranger here is not like the usual wasteland monster we run across,” for a moment that visor looked to mine, and through it I could see some regret of bringing me here.

The Elder held up a hoof to him, “He is a Rogue for a reason, even if the suit is relinquished, likely he’ll still stand against us at one time or another.”

Behind all the plating and hinges of that helmet, something in Tungsten was about to burst, “Elder Snatchback! You would put so little value on a citizens life?” between a squint I watched the Elder stop in his tracks, “I implore you, once out of the suit, let him go… he can only help those in the wastes like he’s done already, it’s not our place to take away one of the good ones.”

Snatchback, as it would seem, wasn’t having any of it, “It’s our place to do as we see fit, Paladin,” oh that made Tungsten shrink back a bit, “and work toward the completion of our goals… even if that means snuffing the life out of just one pony.”

Just one pony indeed… the Elder didn’t so much as look back to me when he went out the door, Tungsten on the other hoof stared for a good few seconds before he retreated as well. I might have had a chance if the Paladin was in charge of this bunch, like he was the group when we first met, but as of now I was at the hooves of this Elder Snatchback. More particularly, at the hooves of a Scribe with an itchy hoof… It was gonna be a long night, if I lasted that long.

Again, that if was getting mighty big…

***

The clock shorted out after the first hour, though I’m not sure if that helped the time go by faster or not. In any case, blacking out half the time did let the night go by a whole lot faster than I expected. Not that it was getting any easier, inside the suit I could feel those raw patches of skin that had too much current go through them rub against the side of the suit. Not the most comfortable situation, that raw skin must have broken into blisters by now from the charge. Plus, with the chem pump was on the same fritz as the rest of the suit, they weren’t gonna heal up any time soon either.

At least the Scribes had gotten tired, or bored, for the evening and retired. That left me still standing, in the middle of a room chained up, inside a suit with nowhere to go. Hell, I didn’t even know where I was still. Like an idiot I hadn’t bothered to look at the damn map while we were walking here. Even if I did get out, I’d probably have plenty of miles between myself and the settlement to cover. With the suit in its condition now, would it even make it?

Next question, would this guy stop snoring?

The guard that was supposed to be watching me had his hooves kicked up on the desk since he’d came in after the Scribes. There weren’t any keys on him, otherwise this would have been a quick escape. Levitate the keys off, open the locks, knock him out… then get out of this place while avoiding ever breathing thing in it.

Yeah, quick…

Alas, I got to watch the colt get comfortable for the night as he made himself at home. He knew I wasn’t going anywhere, and just like the day had been. Tomorrow would probably be a lot of the same routine. Shock, question, shock, threaten, shock… rinse and repeat.

I hadn’t had a drink since just before we started scoping out the school, let alone food, ‘Why didn’t they include a built-in water spout to this thing?’ I waited a moment for the suit to answer. Before only the rumble inside the chest plating responded, if shocking wasn’t going to work, starvation was next on their list. Then it dawned on me, I help work on these damn suits, so in reality I was partly my fault for the user not being able to get a drink, ‘well hindsight’s twenty-twenty…’

The door opened up for the first time since the guard came in to take over, and would ya look at that… Sleepy here wasn’t in a coma after all, “Paladin,” he popped to with a salute.

Hmm there’s only on ranger of that rank who’d be coming to see me, coincidentally the only one I knew, “Tungsten Shield…”

That suit of armor strode in, but the visor hadn’t even looked at me. The Paladin went straight passed myself and to the guard still at attention. Sleepy held his salute the entire time he was being glared at, and I about half expected him to be dropped for sleeping on the job. At the very least an ass chewing.

“Guard… take a walk,” whelp not an ass chewing then, just as the salute was dropped that colt had already made his way past the door.

The Scribes couldn’t get me, Elder Brokeback didn’t spur any interest on my part, and Tungsten had already tried beforehoof. Makes ya wonder, “What card are you gonna play now?” I asked, and waited for him to turn around to face me, “Your ideals? Maybe how its for the better of what's left of this country? Threaten my life outright?”

I heard that sigh behind the metal, “Do you understand at all what the rangers have been trying to do?” after a shake of that helmet, his hooves started pacing back and forth there where I could see him, “We’ve been gathering all this gear to make our fight easier, the only creatures who out tech us are the Enclave, and they haven’t made any interest in the surface since we’ve been here.”

“Gathering also counts as stealing,” I’d already seen that first hoof, “and if you’ve been doing that for the last five years or so, then how come no pony has made the call to action yet?”

“It’s not so simpl-”

He tried to get that word out, but I’ve been getting tired to hearing excuses, “Then make it simple! You have big guns, kill bad things that harm good ponies!” there were probably so many more logistical aspects of that, but you get my point.

The armor slumped a bit, and I didn’t know it at the time but apparently the look of disgrace could splay across plating. Tungsten seemed like a logical colt, cared about those under him, and wanted what was best for ponies in general. He had to see the plight in this, how their own actions were driving them further from helping their fellow equine.

At least in an ideal world he saw that, “The Elder has been taking suggestions you know…” Oh? Were one of those suggestions to get- “he still sees the value in your knowledge, and after a suggestion from another in his council, the argument is being made to seek out your group to force your compliance…”

Not the reply I was expecting honestly, and I had to do some quick math on just how easy it’d be to find them. “Good… luck with that,” From my calculations it didn’t look good in the Rangers favor. Keep your eyes out for a gryphon, earth pony mare, and hellhound… the latter might be easier to pick out of a crowd, but given I’d see what those claws could do. There wasn’t much doubt she’d be able to take em and bolt.

“This is serious, Wildfire,” huh? Guess we were on a name basis now that the guard wasn’t in here, “Elder Snatchback is not one to be trifled with, and he’s as stubborn as they come… it doesn’t matter how long, if we could find you, he’ll find them, and this time I doubt it’ll go as peacefully as it did with you,” I wouldn’t imagine so with Riff Raff being in that bunch. “You’re a good stallion, and like you said, you’ve done more than the rangers could have dreamed with that one suit… please, reconsider it?”

Well… at least he admitted I was right. Never the less, as true as those words were, they didn’t have the leverage, “Without my friends, you have no cards to play… so my answer remains the same.”

“And what of when he tracks down not only your friends, but also where you’ve been kicking your hooves up?” ahh… come again with that last one? “The Elder’s not stupid, after the suggestion was made about your friends, he mentioned finding your base… it could be a town, settlement, or village, it’ll be all the same to him once they’re in his grasp.”

Snatchback had mentioned chess earlier… and this must have been his checkmate.

It might have taken a month, but I found the place in time. All the Elder would have to do would be follow where I’ve been, and who I talked to. Those breadcrumbs would lead him right to Barkston, and after that he’d have to make his own way north amongst the mountains. Was it possible to do? Sure, but stubborn or not, I’d take him quite a bit… hopefully.

I tried to hide my concern behind a laugh, or at least a confident tone. “Still, good luck with that… I had a hard-enough time finding the place,” plus a generous stroke of luck running in to the daughter of the mare I was looking for. Otherwise I’d still be roaming around the wastes, “Elder Snatchback might as well just kill me at this point, because I’ll probably be dead of old age before he finds it.”

“That’s option two,” Tungsten spilled, though truth be told, I wasn’t surprised that came next, “valuable or not, there comes a time where eventually baggage becomes dead weight.”

Who knew how long a fuse this Elder would have with me before he decided to cut that weight free? I would guess before he was willing to send out the rangers to comb the lands in search of that settlement. Then again, I’ve probably wasted enough of his time now with the interrogation, and before with getting out of those previous attempts on my life. Chances are that fuse was getting mighty short, and I doubted I would be here for very long.

My friends would be safe once I was gone. Even if Snatchback was the vengeful sort, and I’d put money on it that he was. It’d just get that much harder to find them with me out of the picture. For a moment there we just both looked at one another, our visors locked in with one another. He knew there wasn’t a thing he could say for me to change my mind, and I knew this would be the end of the road.

“Whelp…” I gave the best shrug I could, “can’t win em all can ya?” Really, how else could I respond? His gaze didn’t leave mine, even as the guard walked back in.

“No…” he answered and shook his head, “I guess you can’t.”

One buck from a back hoof later, and the guard smashed against the wall, before his head slumped to the- wait, what the fuck just happened? Tungsten stood there, heaving heavy breaths through the muzzle of the suit. He didn’t sound winded so much as like he was about to have a panic attack, I would too if I just did the same thing. For a few seconds the Paladins’ glare steadied on that guard he hit, and watched where he laid. Sleepy here wasn’t getting up any time soon, and after he did it’d be a good stay in medical for him.

“Good, he’s still breathing,” that was your intent?! At this point I was pretty sure my neck would snap with trying to look at what Tungsten was doing. Whatever it was, I could feel those chains start to slacken and fall to the floor.

“Where the hell did this come from?!” my turn for hyperventilating! “You go from trying to negotiate, to outright decking another and freeing me?”

If the silence before was killing me, now I was getting revived just to die all over again. Was this a ploy? A trick? Something to give me a glimmer of hope and then swipe it out from my feet, just so I’d give up those skills. The back panel of the suit opened up and I felt something clicking in to it as he went to work.

Anything at all there, Paladin?

“You can reboot your systems still, correct,” he walked out of my blind spot and over back towards the door, “just like when we met.”

Habazwa? “Umm… yeah, I can,” assuming the Pip-Buck wasn’t shot to all hell. Though I wasn’t ready to get out of my only shield just yet, “Why?”

Once more his visor went back to me, and I heard a heavy heart finally fall through that breath, “Because you’re right… The rangers have been sitting too idle, and if a regular pony could do their own part to make things a little better,” one compartment opened up on his chest plate, and out he fished what looked like a stone, “Then why the hell haven’t we yet?”

Alrighty then… I could live with that answer, just like I’d done before my horn undid those latches and pried the suit open like a tin can. It wasn’t an elegant process, but it got the job done. Before long I was- ‘Ouch…’ meeting the floor again with my face, guess this is what happens when you stand for too long. Stubbornness brought me back to the panel he’d opened, and I propped myself up as best I could against it till my legs woke up.

“Think fast,” What was that? My horn caught the stone he once held, about a foot before it smacked against the side of the suit. Let’s see, definitely a kind of diamond, though with an aqua tint to it? Rare for sure, but what were you for? “we’ll need it, trust me.”

Trust you… how far would I get if I didn’t? There along the inside of the panel was the matrix and talisman slots. Right where I’d put it, I found the dull stone that had once been a repair talisman. The light had been snuffed out of it after that scuffle with Lock, and it looked about as bad as I’d imagine. Now that I was seeing it from the outside, the whole suit had been put through the ringer.

The same holes the mare left as she shot my legs and shoulder, littered up and down the platting. Even some of the damage from those grenades remained along the underbelly. No wonder the talisman burned itself out, too much damage at one time would cook just about any spell. As much of a mess as I was. I’d be damned if it didn’t try to keep up with the punishment, and keep me breathing along the way. My Pip-Buck plugged in to the suit as an aura took care of the gift from Tungsten, and slid it into place.

While I was at it, all this hoof work gave me a perfect chance to look at my own hide, “That… might be infected…” wounds really weren’t supposed to have clear liquid coming from them, were they? Now in the open air I could feel the raw skin start to- oh Luna stop it!

One of the Med-X injectors felt the wrath of my horn as I ripped it out, and jabbed the needle in to my side. Breath… I tried to follow my own advice, and while I did the chems pumped through my system bringing that searing visceral skin down to a tender sunburn. Best not to think about it.

“So… that’s it? You agree with me?” I gritted between my teeth and asked Tungsten as he watched the door, trying to keep hot needles in my limbs at bay. All the while the Pip-Buck clicked away between menus, and I brought up the suit to get it back online.

“That… Plus, I wasn’t lying with what I told the Elder,” my eyes might have been deep within codes, but I gave half an ear raised to hear him out, “you’re a good pony Wildfire,” and two ears raised now, “it’d be a waste to let ya die here like a stripe in the mud… not while there’s more you can do.”

Hmm… my stay in the wastes ain’t quite done yet, isn’t it? Not while I had anything to say about it, and with a purr I heard the matrix kick back to life. I think the suit agreed with that sentiment. What damage remained my horn went to work on mending it up like new, or at least passable. Not something I hadn’t had to deal with already out here, but I was gonna miss that talisman.

Just like the stone doing the work, my horn had a harder time putting metal back together after those last couple upgrades. Let alone with what little metal in the room and my hopper I had to work with. The going was slow, and I felt that migraine coming on from the over exertion of magic, but piece by piece I watched the plates form back together. It wasn’t going to win any fashion shows, but I’d get me back in the action. For how long? Who knows! Let’s find out…

Before the Mex-X wore off I slipped back in to the embrace of that metal cocoon and let the latches lock me back in place. The menu tap clicked open to my inventory and I took stock of the situation I’d been thrust in. Tungsten already topped off the healing potions when he first popped that hatch, and I still had several doses of chems at my disposal. Though without any guns, I was quite literally disarmed. Now for the important question.

Armor integrity: 23%.

Not what I was hoping for, but sure as hell a lot better than what it was! Without anything repairing it, if it hit zero now the suits systems themselves would fail and I’d be a sitting duck… and very dead, “I’m standing, but I’m gonna need my guns,” no wait, scratch that, “well… gun.”

After a nod his helmet peeked through the doorway, “they stored them in another section of this base, not far from here, but not a cake walk either,” as if I’d have expected anything less, “follow my lead.”

Just like when we first met, I stuck close behind the stallion as we went along the corridors. More lights flashed on an off overhead, I mean did any place in Equestria have a damn lighting system that worked? Enough of that thought, why the hell was it so damn hot here? No wonder my guard passed out once he came in, if the rest of building was the same way, who’d be able to sleep in that?

Once I saw a hoof go up, I stopped behind my guide as he checked another doorway. The steady march of power armor was unmistakable, and while his head turned from one direction to the other that marching quelled with time to a dull stomp. Tungstens’ helmet bobbed forward, and through the door we pushed. With all the smoke in the room, it’s no wonder it’s so- yep, that’d explain it.

Across either side of the room were the massive crucibles that once fueled Equestrias’ war effort. That tell tail orange glow they gave off radiated heat through most of the building itself, and packed the air tight with soot. Once again, thank you for the filters in this thing. The Steel Rangers had found themselves a steel mill to call home… I swear some ranger picked that location for dramatic effect.

All the bits in the air did made visibility a tad harder at least, and between some of the upturned crucibles we’d snuck passed others that were none the wiser to our presence. Either that or they thought we were just another group of normal rangers going about their business. Although with the number of rangers working above, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the latter. What the hell were they all doing here anyway? A steel mill seemed like an obvious target for looting, and couldn’t be easy to defend with all the access it’d have for supplies to come in and out.

Between the smoke, and splashing of molten metal that came down. We’d worked past the ground floor with relative ease, I probably just jinxed the hell out of that, but it was progress. Once at another door that led Celestia knows where, Tungsten led the way through to another set of halls as we passed by some intersect-

“Tungsten!” Crap!

Both of us froze in place, and I wasn’t sure yet if we should make a run for it or see what this pony had to say. The Paladin in question made that call, and straightened up his back as he turned around.

“Yes… Taffy,” for the first time, I watched Tungsten clam up… though that name was almost as bad as Pixie. Still, I’m surprised he didn’t correct her on the title, “What seems to be the problem?”

Huh? I guess they made Power Armor that size, oh you look just so cute in that thing! “There’s a problem with the pony we brought in,” she said while barely reaching over shoulder level to either of us. Hell, I doubted she’d be able to lift that combat shotgun on her side without the suits help, “the guard was found knocked out, and the prisoner’s chains undone.”

Oh, I’m really hoping she didn’t get a good look at the armor when I was brought here, Tungsten didn’t look all that concerned then with me being only inches away from her. “Understood, if he’s on the loose chances are, he’ll be going for his munitions,” don’t tell her the plan! “Knight Blaze and I will go secure the arms, if he does come around, we’ll be ready.”

“Roger… ahh,” she looked to me for a moment, “Paladin,” New at this much? Once those words left her mouth, an alarm started sounding though the building.

“Secure the south loading dock,” Tungsten pointed her off down the hall, “He might remember his hoof steps and try back out that way.”

“Copy, please be careful… sir,” after another salute the Knight did as she was ordered, and headed off in that direction.

For a moment there I watched his visor trail off after her, and saw something besides being a leader painted across it… what’s going through your mind Paladin? I didn’t get the chance to ask, and with that the pair of us went on our own way. Here and there through the halls more rangers passed by us, but so long as I was with the Paladin no pony questioned it. One more set of doors blocked our path, and by it stood a pony on guard. As we approached, he flashed a salute, but quickly dropped it just as fast.

“Paladin Tungsten, what can I do for you?” the guard asked.

“We’re here to secure the weaponry that prisoner was wielding, he’s on the loose,” the guard didn’t give it a second thought, and like that we were already through the door.

Was sneaking really that easy? I mean I understand rank has its privileges but still, you think somepony would ask a question or two… Especially to a room like this! Inside the room there were storage racks stacked nearly wall to wall. If this was just their own supply, I might have been more sympathetic, but some of this was pre-war tech that looked like it’d been through the waste a few miles.

Magical energy weapons that had been scraped together from available parts, munitions that had bits of corrosion only weathering outside could have caused, even tucked away on one of the shelves were a few talismans that glowed bright with arcane energy. As much as I wanted to poke around and go shopping, I had my eyes for only one thing. Yet seeing everything they had amassed was enough to justify my reasoning for telling the rangers to piss off.

There you are sweetness!

My horn grabbed hold of the shotty before I’d even gotten to the shelf, and after checking it over for tinkering some Scribes might have done. I was pretty satisfied they hadn’t even touched it. Bagged and tagged like everything else here that could be put to so much use.

As I finagled the gun back into place, along with some rounds for the ride, I heard the tapping from Tungstens’ hoof. “We have to get going, it won’t be long till they wake that guard up.”

If he even could remember his name that is, “What’s the next move?”

“North loading dock, carefully head opposite where they think you’d go,” he actually had a plan for all this, far better than I would have done, “afterwards cut through the town and head over the-”

“Umm… what’s going on here?” there at the door stood another ranger.

“Securing munitions to keep them away from the Rogue Ranger,” Tungsten followed up without missing a beat, “Is that a problem, Crusader Bleak Burrow?”

The Crusader stood there for a few more moments contemplating the Paladins words, but he didn’t look about ready to just walk away like the others, “I had the same idea actually,” he stepped into the room further, “And who might this be?”

Ahh… “Knight Blaze,” I held up the same salute I’d seen earlier.

I didn’t like the look his visor was giving me, and certainly didn’t like that it was getting closer and closer to my own. “Knight Blaze…” he said slowly, “Then why does your name plate say otherwise.”

Oh, to hell with this guy. Shotty might have been armed, but I didn’t feel like blowing my ass half way to the moon and back. Instead my forehoof opted for an upper cut that caught the ranger off guard. He stumbled back just in time to meet the Paladins own swing, and after that quick one two punch face and body met floor. Together we stood there and waited for anymore to come through the door, when none did, I had to wonder if this threw a wrench in to Tungstens’ scheme.

“Change of plans?” besides fighting through an entire base of rangers.

“Nope, just doing things a bit faster,” and by fast, he meant a full fledge sprint!

The guard outside the door didn’t have a chance to move as he barreled through. Shot to hell or not, Rogues’ suit carried me behind him while we dashed along the path. My compass pointed north, but past that I hadn’t a clue to the layout of this place. Which reminded me, where was this place anyway? A few flicks of the dial brought up my map and I got to see just how long this trip would last. Even though I visited it, Winters’ settlement still didn’t show up on the map. When they wanted to stay off the grid, they meant it, but if memory serves me right… There!

Following the outline of Unicorn Range north along the map, I knew it had to be in that general area. Might have been off by a few miles, but hopefully I’d start to remember the scenery and get us further in the ball park. Problems for later, first there was getting out of this place. Then I’d worry about crossing the twenty some odd miles to get there.

The mill floor was bustling with Rangers going every which way, but with that haze in the air their attention was far from us. Together we followed the rolling machines for rough metal and as we did alongside the conveyors, we found ourselves approaching an opening. Just past that were the tracks that carted off the mills production to be formed for the nation all those years ago, and in present day would lead to our escape.

‘Almost… there,’ I could already taste the sweet-

Snap!

Jinxed that one there, Wild. Whatever was holding the door up broke, and the metal plates fell in our path… of course it did! Both of us grinded to a halt in front of the door before smacking in to it, and as we looked along the edges, I didn’t see any other door leading out. Behind us however, something kicked on as the lights shined bright to our backs. Huh, some lights in the wastes worked then.

“You didn’t think it’d be that easy, did you?” I heard that same condescending voice from before, and as we turned it looked like the Elder had brought friends.

Flanking either side of him was what looked like the entire company here, even scaling up along the catwalks above their guns were drawn on us. Ya know, normally at this point I’d start counting the odds against us. Though to list off all the various arms before us would sound like a weapon catalogue.

Somepony was over compensating…

Tutting to himself the Elder started pacing in front of those ranks with him, “Out of every ranger here, it just had to be you to drive the knife in,” I knew that comment wasn’t for me, and Tungsten by my side straightened up from the voice of his superior still, “all the loyalty you displayed in the bunker and out in the field, and you throw it away for this?”

“Sir, with all do respect,” pretty sure that sir wasn’t needed at this point, “my loyalty is to ponies and this country,” good to know I wouldn’t be the only one facing a firing squad.

“A country that let is populace down!” for all the age this guy showed, his hoof still managed to put a crack in the concrete flooring, “We fought for years through blood, sweat and tears. How were we repaid? With green flames of retribution from a country we’d never seen, one we could have glassed in a week!” given the arsenal Equestria held, a week was still being stingy, “No pony else is going to do what we can for the wastes, you understood that at one point.”

The Paladins’ head started shaking, “This one has already started, with far less.”

I couldn’t tell if that grinding was coming from the Elders’ servos, or his jaw, “And we would do so much more in time if he’d join us,” that in time part is why I hadn’t, “there’s no sense in wasting two ponies of such talent, so I’ll make you a deal… shoot him in the head now, and we can get on with our lives.”

Let’s see… IF-90 “ADAC”, utilizing 14.4mm shells, capable of firing three hundred and fifty rounds of minute, and designed to do its namesake. Penetrate the plating of dragons, and in some cases other hardened targets. As for his version, it could swap between different ammo types with the flip of a switch. Translation to all this? If Tungsten throws his conscience out the window, I’m boned.

I heard one shell of his rack into the chamber, and at this range a repair talisman wouldn’t matter. He might have helped me up to this point, but to walk away from the rangers couldn’t have been an easy choice to make.

Instead, his barrels pointed towards the Elder directly, “Not on the table, sir.”

The pair faced off for a few more moments, before the Elder fell back in to line with his own, “Such a pity… take aim,” he commanded, and like that every barrel swiveled towards us.

“That talisman,” Tungsten muttered under his breath, “activate it on my mark.”

“Ready,” Snatchback followed through with, as I found the stone in my inventory, “Fire!”

“Mark!” the Paladins hooves wrapped around my waist.

And then we were both lifted off our feet from the blast wave… wait not exploded? Nope, but flying now! With the combined weight of our suits, we tore through the door to the loading dock and were sent tumbling across the tracks. My head found the side of a train car, no not a train car, a shield?

Sure enough, the car might have stopped us, but the first thing I hit was a barrier around the suit. Against the dusk sky I could see the steady glow of magic that surrounded us as it flickered before fading away. Thank you, Tungsten! Ahh… Tungsten? The ranger laid there across my stomach for another second before his frame started to move. I followed once he was off me, and a few dozen yards away was the neat hole we’d created. With some very pissed off Rangers coming out of it… running!

Tungsten knew the area, so on his heels I stayed while the peppering of rounds landed around us. Those workers from the mill needed a place to live, and the shanty town that sprung up gave us the cover we needed as we went through the streets. Part of buildings started to break off from the heavier guns that shot our way as bricks and mortar fell around us. Wrong again, those were actual mortars!

One ranger broke through a wall in our path, and opened up with his mini. The 5mm didn’t pack a punch, but now that my suit was crippled small chunks started to chip away. Less than optimal range, though the 12-gauge racked back shell after shell as it sparked across his plates. Every step we took increased its damage, and by the ‘close range mark’ parts of his armor blew off in droves. He dropped finally by the seventh shell and we thundered past him. I brought up the inventory again for the talisman. It didn’t light up like before, cooldown maybe? Please don’t be a one and done thing…

Those mortars were getting- Damn it! Once again, I found myself thrown through a structure, and the suit showed its’ age as it waned. Another ranger found me and landed a few shots of his own, before a burst of 14.4mm broke him in half. Tungsten grabbed hold of my shoulder, and brought me back up to my hooves as he dragged me onward.

Armor integrity: 15%.

Don’t think about- a missile streaked past my head and shattered what once was a cart, that’ll take my mind off it! Tungsten turned around on his heel and sprayed more of is gun their direction, and I kept my eyes watching the red bars that dotted around my E.F.S… nope! I shoulder checked the Paladin out of the way from a rangers’ sights, and his dual AMRs’. The .50 rounds sprayed, and with another check to the talisman I saw it illuminate.

The shield draped around my suit with only a few feet left on either side, no wonder he held on during our flight. It wasn’t meant for squad usage, but with me in front of him it gave us some portable cover. AMR let more shots down range, and I chomped on the bit. Shells of my own went through the shield as one of his slammed into my shoulder.

Armor integrity: 10%.

I was still running, and while a chunk of my armor was gone, the shoulder remained attached! Okay so I wasn’t completely invincible in this thing, but it did slow his rounds down enough to not tear me in half.

Tungsten charged ahead as I heard a loud click and rack to his weapon. From his barrel fired two of his own shells at the ranger, and instead of the solid shells he’d been using. These ones detonated upon impact, tearing most of the buildings’ wall away with it as the Ranger felt the brunt of the blast. As myself and the Paladin pulled ahead past the injured ranger, I finally saw what on the horizon we were heading towards. The bridge was about the only thing in the area that peaked above these buildings, and if there was a bridge then below it had to be water. Even if it was clean, the rangers wouldn’t be able to cross it with enough haste to catch us… just had to worry about the bridge.

With it in view I saw the sections of it that had collapsed over the years from neglect, and the cables above hadn’t fared any better. Full lengths of those supports looked like they fell and helped break apart the surface below. How was this even still standing? The closer we got, the more I saw those barriers the rangers had set up and the ones guarding it.

I really should have saved that shield.

The guns they had mounted to their sides turned these rangers in to makeshift turrets in their own right. With their shots spreading far and wide the Paladin put himself square in my eyes as he soaked up the shots. His own shells blew chunks out of their sandbags, and as little as it might have done, I poked my barrel from around his side to lay down some assistance. At this range, fat chance with-

That was something important! A fireball erupted behind a pair of them and blanketed the rangers with fuel. You gotta love that area of effect this thing had. With them now focused on putting themselves out, something I knew all too well, we charged passed as they opted to take a swim. They’d live through that one, though it wasn’t something they would likely live down.

“Target the cables!” Tungsten shouted, come again?

Oh, that’s what ya mean!

His cannon went off on the few cables that remained, and like snapping string they broke apart. My own gun turned towards the anchors along the surface. As rust blew apart so did the bolts holding them down. Every wire that broke rippled in the ground underneath us, and from the few that gave way the whole bridge began to shake. Didn’t know how many it’d take before it fell out from under us, but I kept on firing.

Tungsten left me to that while he turned about to hold them off, and I had no interest in seeing the wall of steel on our heels… that was a lot of bars… Why did I look?! My eyes went back forward and he back peddled over the structure. More cables tore apart from the shells, and with a lurch I felt something finally give way. Equestrian over engineering be damned, this thing was coming down one way or another.

All together the concrete dropped a good foot before it held firm again, and again I let the shells ring true. We were halfway across by the time it went down another foot, but that was starting to happen more frequently the further we went.

And like a rug, it swept out from under us.

With us starting our rampage against the structure on one end, like dominos whatever section of the bridge left gave way under its own weight. Out the corner of my eye I saw steel and stone crumble to bits while it took those rangers on top of it with them to the water… and that was getting closer now!

Tungsten turned forward with me and our heels kicked in to high gear. Now that gravity was taking over, the cables ahead of us stretched and snapped. Ducking to avoid being beheaded by a few, the same supports crashed into their brethren and broke them along with it. I could hear the shots dying down around us, either that or the sound of the bridge was drowning it out. No matter the case, to hell with this gate!

At some point the rangers had erected a checkpoint here at the start of the structure, and together with the ADAC my shotty ripped into it. The gate didn’t open so much as the whole wall holding it fell from the constant fire, giving us an opening as we made the final push. Both of us jumped, and I felt the ground underneath fall away.

Landing atop the remains of their gate, our hooves ground against it and we stopped. I couldn’t help but look, and the sight I saw was one of destruction. This structure that stood up to the test of time, met its match at the hooves of two armed ponies. Parts of it still fell away to the water, but even with the patches that hung on there was no solid strip connecting either side. At last, I could let that breath I’d been holding out.

Cross this shit you- a single crack echoed through the empty space, a sound I knew all too well… That was a gunshot I heard, and the next thing that filled my ears was metal hitting the ground.

Tungsten laid there at my hooves; with a hole I was all too familiar with through his armor. The same kinda hole that ended Rogue, and almost did me in. “Paladin!” I grabbed hold of him and started dragging the suit further away, that was a lot of blood coming out. Though the groaning inside told me he was still breathing.

Dust from the broken structure filled the air between each bank, but as the wind picked up it started to disperse. We were still well within range for their munitions, yet that was the only shot that rang out. The only one with the authority to stop them was the Elder. I looked and saw one pony that stuck out amongst the other suits there on its edge. It might have been him, or it could have been any other ranger armed with an AMR.

I was inclined to believe the former.

My horn flared, and I hoisted the ranger up over my shoulders. Those servos inside my joints yelled and cried from the extra weight, but I wasn’t about to leave him here to be an example for the rangers. Stomping along the road, I followed up on my E.F.S. to find the marker I’d placed, and pointed myself towards it.

***

Warning: Servos over unencumbered!

No shit, tell me something that wasn’t so damned obvious. For the last few hours, I hauled the ranger in to the night without rest. There wasn’t anything shooting me in the ass, so our gambit with the bridge might have just paid off. Now I had to contend with that twenty miles I’d mentioned earlier.

“You should have left me,” well now fifteen miles, and a very hurt ranger, “You’re only damaging your own suit.”

Whatever in his own was damaged hadn’t quite repaired enough to walk. The plating was together, but his chem pump only trickled in healing potions apparently. It wasn’t doing much more than keep him breathing. If we reached Winters’ then Deacon might be able to put those talons to work and fix him up. After that, figure out what’s wrong with the suit and get him in to the fighting spirit. In a perfect world at least.

Another torrent of coughs erupted from him, and even through the muffling of his helmet I could hear how wet those were. “Just hang in there, I know a guy who can get ya right,” I bounced a bit to get him resituated.

“Don’t know how much right there is to be made,” he grumbled again through the visor, “when it’s all over, use what’s left of this thing to fix your own… it’s the least I can do after bringing ya to them.”

The Paladins’ heart was in the right place, hell out of every ranger that came out of that bunker. His was probably the only one with the welfare of ponies in mind, and now he was beating himself up after following orders. Would I have done the same thing in his position? I’d like to think not, but then again, I hadn’t been training in a bunker for years waiting to serve.

No, I spent my time in a freezer, then immediately jumped in to the wastes. That was starting to show, especially with the extra weight. Every joint I had was on fire by this point, and I wasn’t just talking about the suits. Those biological ones I’d been born with started to scream after the first hour, and I let another dose of Med-X seep into my blood.

Hopefully that lasted as well, though I needed to take my mind off it, “where’d ya get that talisman anyway?” I kept it cued up in my inventory at the ready, should something go bump in the night. “Seems like something that would be under a heavy lock and key.”

Talking probably hurt a lot for him, but it also told me he hadn’t faded yet, “Recently during a patrol, found a crashed Vertibuck on its way to the Crystal Empire…” he let out another wet cough, “on our way back is when news of this Rogue Ranger started passing around.”

“How’d you know it was me?”

“A hunch… you weren’t all that far from where we met, to where you shot that ranger,” Right… and then spared the other one that likely started the whole hunt for my head, “After hearing more of the exploits, I put two and two together,” good detective work, or I was sucky at keeping my head down. Yeah, probably that one, “I didn’t tell em your real name though, just in case I was wrong.”

So, they only knew me by my nickname then. With Tungsten on my back, the only others who knew me for me were all friendlies. That’d leave Snatchback only a suit of armor in the wastes to hunt, and not the face to match. Which gave me something to hide behind if it came down to it, just like I’d been hiding behind this armor since nearly the day I stepped out of the stable… if there was any time to come clean, it was now.

“I didn’t read in my stable…” I felt his head rise up a little trying to face mine. It was a small detail I omitted during that first meeting, but it only felt right that he knew the whole truth, “back when we met, I told ya a lot of reading was how I figured out matrixes… but I was on ice the entire time,” he wasn’t in any position to doubt my story, and with nothing but time I spilled the beans.

Everything from my first day at work to walking inside the stable as the bombs fell. Tungsten was silent for most of it which made me worried a few times, but every so often he’d inquire a bit more about the past and what the M.W.T. was like. That interest seemed to awaken him a little more, as did the other questions of where I planned on going in my travels. Of course, I had to mention Winter and why I’d been moving around so much out here… and for the first time I can think of, I heard a chuckle from the stallion.

“So, you’d been waging a crusade against two of the most armed groups in this part of the wastes, all to track down a mare,” It’s not like I asked to run across them! It was luck meeting him and the other rangers, even luckier he gave me the suit. The Gunners were just in the path, and they were about to cook him at the time. Then there was later when I saved Tumble, but that encounter was intentional. Thought helping a mare out was the right thing to do at the time.

“In my defense, I was going off of old-world values here… and just was in the wrong place, at the right time,” a lot of that going on in this path ain’t it?

Old values that he seemed to share, like another one, honesty, “You know he’ll come after you, right?” brutal, obvious, honesty.

I didn’t even have to ask who he was referring to, “I figured as much,” though with having to constantly cross a river to work out of that area. Maybe there was some extra breathing room just out of sheer inconvenience?

“That steel mill was only a forward operating base, they needed the machinery to work the steel,” not the words I wanted to hear, “all of it was being brought back to a port further west, and a ship to head north,” still not wanting to hear this! “You might know it, considering your history lesson… the C.E.S. Cadance.” Any idea of inconvenience was delightfully blow to bits with those words.

Damn it…

The ship itself I didn’t exactly know, at least past what I read in papers. Regardless of its details, it was a ship they had access to, and a way of moving around the country. Something the Rangers did not need access to in the slightest. Another marker popped up on my screen, and as I switched over to the map. Out west I saw it, Port of North Luna Ocean highlighted there where he described. It was the only port in that whole area after all. Further south than Tall Tale, and certainly a hike to be made by the rangers if they planned on coming my way.

Given who their leader was, and the mess I’ve been making. It was a hike they’d probably make with a smile, “So long as they have that place to call home, Snatchback will find ya sooner than you think.”

Was he really expecting me to storm a ranger base and kick em off their hill? “And what do you think I’d even be able to do?”

“What you’ve been doing… being what the rangers could have only hoped they were,” his voice dipped down a bit with that last remark, and I wasn’t sure if it was out of solemnness or his injuries, “I did try to be one of the good ones.”

This pony had given a suit of armor to another who he’d just only met. A suit that had saved that sorry ponies life on more than one occasion. Then after bringing said pony to his superiors, saw the wrongs that were present in their logic. Instead of going with the grain, he threw their code aside for the welfare of another in less than a day of consideration. An act that has now left him clinging on to life and fighting for every breath… and an act that reminded me of the heroes the rangers once were.

This called for a small headbutt, and my helmet knocked his enough to snap him out of it. “I don’t know, in my book… ya are one of the good ones.”

For a moment there, the edges of his visor looked like they smiled. “… would you mind, if I sang something we’d come up with in the bunker?” well, you get enough ponies trapped in a metal box underground, you’re bound to pass the time any way you can. With no objection from me, Tungsten took another breath.

“We are the Steel Rangers,

And we aren’t afraid of danger.

We’ll charge head long,

Till our enemies fear our song…”

He may not have been the singer in his group when they came up with that, but by golly he sang it with all the heart his could muster given his state.

“…Maybe one day we’ll meet our match.

One day a grave we’ll catch.

Though to Tartaruses gate,

We’ll show them their own fate.

Sing fighting tooth and nail.

To victory, and endless Ale.”

That must have taken every ounce of air out of his system, but not enough to stop a chuckle from him that I quickly joined in on. So, there were poets in the rangers as well, who knew? “It’s corny I know,” might be true in every sense of the word, but to those in their ranks. It probably inspired em to no end, “but there was pride in the Rangers at one point in history.”

A pride I might not have seen through his armor, but still could be heard in those words. “We got just over ten miles to go,” and sometimes I hated having this thing in my vison, “how about a duet?”

Footnote: Level up.

New Perk: “Shinings’ Contribution”- Prewar tech at its finest, a shield talisman! Shield gives an additional 75 damage resistance to current level that blocks all incoming damage for ten seconds. Any damage greater that impacts is severely reduced in power. Warning: Needs time to recharge between uses.