Fallout Equestria: Ballad of a Rogue Ranger

Chapter thirty-eight: Memory lane

Here I thought I’d never have to traverse these roads again, that was a mistake. The town was already long past us before whatever sun started to creep through the clouds. Alimite was able to say goodbye and leave a list of things to check before parting ways, and that left the rest of us enough time to stock up for the journey too and frow.

It’d be nice if we got that train, I wasn’t looking forward to walking- Damn it! The suits muzzle, and consequently my own, buried in the ground yet again. After about the third time, Riff stopped giving me a paw to get up on, and her chuckle instead filled my ears.

“That make nine,” the hound reminded.

But who’s counting anyway?! “And I’m still fine!” I shouted through the speakers. Alimite wasn’t far from me in the path, leaving Deacon and Tumble to take up the head of our trek, “As long as I don’t think about… it, the suit does its thing.”

Right, just do like you’ve been doing since you were a foal… steadily the hind legs of the suit pulled me along and got into the same rhythm we’d found for the last couple hours after leaving Barkston in the dust. I was doing so well too, looks like that reset the record.

That just left Pasture Falls, Drybank, Maresport, and then finally home. My PB was able to find the buildings I was looking for, and our little waypoint guided us along that journey. Las Pegasus was hit by the Zebras, no question about that. Then again, most of outlying area I didn’t see a flash come from on that fateful flight out to the stable. If my house was still standing after all these years, and there was an active train station, then it had to be. It took half the night to convince the group that I was needed for this, even if they might have made it faster. They didn’t have the clearances I did.

“I can still pick a lock ya know,” Tumble passed the same idea she’d been pitching since we started out, and all I could do was shake my head at the mare.

There was a difference between wasteland locks, and M.W.T. locks that she wasn’t quite grasping just yet. Plus locks would be the least of our worries, “and picking a lock doesn’t do ya much good with a hole in your chest…” Oh don’t give me that glare Deacon! “I’m just saying! The place is probably guarded like the day I left it, assuming the powers still on.”

“And if it’s generator is still running,” Alimite reasoned even further, “Which given my understanding, it should be, then we’ll need him…”

Thank you! Might a been a little bias from her view, but the truth of the matter was simple. You don’t just go walking into an M.W.T. facility unannounced and live to tell the tail. All the cloaking technology in the world didn’t mean a thing when you were shot full of holes. Just ask the Zebras, there were a few instances where they tried… but the Ministry of Moral never got the chance to interrogate them before they barely looked like an equine of any sort.

“And you’re sure there’s one there? Still intact at that?” Deacon put his eyes back forward along the trail, “you’ve been on ice for a bit, who knows how much had changed.”

If there was anything Equestria did right, it was build things to last… “It’ll be there, it took a Balefire blast to call everyone out of work that day… and the bots probably kept the place tight,” Now I had to deal with them, almost two hundred years later. Something I was already working on, “just have to walk-” Make that ten… “damn it!”

***

I don’t care if the last couple days wandering, and headbutting the ground, without rest skewed my memory. These parts looked familiar… Pasture falls never looked so welcoming, far more than the first time I was here. Barely even a snide eye met me or my friends while we strolled into town. Granted, it was late, and the only ponies out at this time were too inebriated to tell there was a suit of armor or a Hellhound in their mists.

Speaking of it being late, “Where was that inn again…?” the visor peered across the small town, and it didn’t take long to see the broken-down windows of the lodging off less than a block away.

I’m so glad Riff brought those extra caps with us… I might have crashed there before. Although, it was hard to imagine bribing an inn keeper letting both myself and the hound stay under their roof without em. Even if we were the good guys, depending on who you asked.

The creaking doors to the run-down inn opened up, and in it we all piled in place of what amounted to the front desk… nothing more than a few stacked crates, with a crude sign of check in painted across. Now I remember this setting, past that counter there was the same mare ripe for the wasteland in age from last time I was here. The spectacles across her brow were cracked, but as she pushed them up with a hoof her eyes went across our rag tag group.

“Nope…” oh that got shot to hell quick.

“It’s just for one-” Alimite tried to sooth her down, but the grimace on the keepers’ face stayed firm.

“Absolutely not, I don’t care what ya might have done since you left here last time,” her hoof shot out before our Gryphon could work that magic tongue of his, “but if anypony wakes up and sees her walking the halls… I won’t have business for a month!”

Riff I could already hear grinding her teeth, but with a little help from myself and Tumble the hound was pushed outside before she could make a scene… or rip the mare in half. You know, which ever came first. Alrighty! So that idea was off the table. For the moment I looked to the bar, they probably had rooms…

“Deacon,” I called out to him, “think you can chat with that bartender? Maybe plead for a room?”

For a moment he considered it, then that talon at the edge of his beak broke off and I got a shake of his head. “’Fraid not chief… he’s not exactly keen on hounds either,” were there any creatures that were? “No offense Riff.”

“None taken…” the hound sighed, “I can dig hole, call it a night.”

I wasn’t about to find a dog house for her to kick her paws up… nor let her coddle herself inside a trench. No, we needed a better place to stay, “any other ideas for the night?”

To my offer all I got were stares. We weren’t exactly expecting to walk in with open hooves, but it’d be nice to have a place to stay for the night. One that wasn’t some burned out house on the verge of collapse. I hadn’t seen any on our way here that were close by, even when I was heading into town the first time.

So either we bribed the living hell out of somepony, or we got to- “Well I’ll be!” hooves wrapped around the suit, and through the plating I felt a squeeze. This is not the welcome I was expecting?! Though… why did only half my friends look surprised? There to my side stood a scruffy looking colt, this time around the bomb collar was left at home, “I didn’t expect ya in these parts again?”

“Oh, neither did I,” nor did I expect to make it on basically two legs, “You look better than when we left ya Mason.”

Sure enough, the colt had filled out quite well since being back home and getting some real… or I guess, more filling, food. Tumble popped up and returned the gesture, as Deacon shook his hoof with a smile. It was nice to see some of the good we did on our journey paying off, even if the other two were left in the dust.

“The misses keeps me hearty, hopefully enough to fight off slavers this time,” he might have chuckled, but I knew there was still a tinge of worry hidden in it, “really, what brings you to these parts? Seems you gathered some extra cohorts.”

Hmm where to start? “That might take a bit.”

Without a word his jerk ushered us along the dirt road. It didn’t take long to reach his farm, and there in the window the lanterns were still lit. Patch Work emerged from the door as we started our approach, and for a second upon seeing Riff I’d imagine she faltered, before her gaze turned to the three of us that helped make her house whole again.

That softened her gaze a bit, and with the door held open we all fell inside… I remembered this place being a little roomier last time. Though we didn’t have an entire party with us back then. Off in one corner the couples’ kin laid fast asleep, I don’t know how we didn’t manage to wake him after barging in here, but before long both the husband and wife joined us in what amounted to their living room.

“I’ve been keeping an eye out for him every night since you brought him back,” Patch Work walked up to her husband and planted a kiss to his cheek, and even the shabby colt began to blush, “now look who he’s pulled in.”

“And the Rogue Ranger here has a story to tell,” Mason pulled up a chair, as Patch went back into what had to be their kitchen.

Soon the mare twisted back with a few things of water, might not be as strong a drink that Tumble was hoping for. Yet it barely clicked in my sensors, so I couldn’t complain as we all found a seat.

Thankfully, Masons’ bit jumped in part of the way to my tale. Between the five of us giving a brief summary of our travels, the couple had about left their seat on a few of those occasions. Particularly after hearing the demise of Lock, Stock, and Barrel. The latter had apparently done her own work around the town before, and the siblings weren’t what I would call missed.

Our little ranger problem was the next thing to put them on edge, I don’t know how long they lived out here in the wests of Equestria. Although even here, they knew the journey north was gonna be hell. Almost together they asked how we even thought of heading that way, and Alimite followed up with our thoughts of the train. My current injury stayed off the table, as did much of what happened to the town itself, and what it cost… they didn’t pry too much about the pony I was looking for, and just listened to the tale being told.

Which was a nice transit to our next leg of the journey! “And so here we are, heading back to my roots…” and thanking my lucky stars the station wasn’t out in Ponyville of all places.

Mason looked about lost for words, his wife on the other hoof, “That’s quite the story… one for the shelf I would say…” yeah, if I lived to tell it, “Are you still heading south then?”

“Yes ma’am,” Deacon tipped his beak to her, “though we planned on stopping here in town for the night.”

“And find room…” Riff grumbled which made the floor tremble.

I wanted to hush her up so not to wake the colt still fast asleep, but another had different ideas, “I know the Inn here wouldn’t be to kind to ya, Riff Raff, is it?” Mason Jack stated the obvious that we all knew, and Riffs’ glare was all the telling he needed for how that went, “we may not be able to hold ya in here for the night… but our land is more than open.”

Say what?

“Certainly, after what you did for us alone, it’s the least we can do,” Patch nudged Mason with a shoulder, before she hopped up to her hooves, “I can grab a few blankets for ya… keep up the good work Rogue,” excuse me! I wasn’t the only one throwing myself against- “and his friends of course.”

That’s more like it… and would you look at that! Riffs’ smile was earning her one in return from the mare. With the local slavers already taken care of, what was there to worry about? A secluded part of town where we wouldn’t have to sleep with one eye open? I’ll take that in leu of a room.

Together the five of us piled outside, sticking close to the farmhouse. Mason was kind enough to show a burn barrel he had that we could set alight for the night, and no sooner had he spoke those words than Deacon already had out a flint and steel. Minutes later, and a fire was roaring its way into the night.

Either I was getting soft from living in the town, or tonight seemed a bit colder than usual as I popped the visor. Riff was kind enough to lay flat along our ring, blocking some of the wind, but there was still a nip in the air. I loved this suit at times, the heater inside was keeping all but my extremities toasty… you know even if I could only feel half of them. Hey at least it was giving Alimite a reason to snuggle a bit closer… not that she needed a reason after all.

“Doesn’t this town bring up some fond memories…” Tumble leaned back against the side of the shack.

Ahh yes… like getting swindled out of some EC ammunition, though it was where we met our resident gryphon, and he decided to take the job of a lifetime. Just how far would I have made it without his Benzodiaz… whatever the latter part was.

“Oh… you mean like you waiting for me to stab ya’ll in the back, or you ready to just off me at the drop of a hat?” Deacon nudged the mare in the side, and even through the glare she shot his way. I could still pick up on that smirk in the flickering of the fire.

Speaking of fire… it was dancing a fair bit now… duh, wind will do that. I couldn’t feel a thing through this suit, but my friends sure could. Alimite pulled herself a little closer into the suit, and whatever warmth it held onto from the fire. Riff just rolled her back to the gust, and Tumble looked about ready to jump on the fire to escape it.

Up until a wing draped over her side… awe! That wasn’t the fire making those cheeks red now. “Thanks… Chicky,” she passed the gryphon a wink.

“Meh don’t mention it…” go ahead and try to hide that smirk Deacon…

As if on que, Patch came out with those blankets and passed them out among us. Not the warmest thing in the wastes, and they might have been more patchwork than actual blanket now… wonder who sewed it. Though I was getting nice and toasty in this thing, who was I to complain?

“You know…” the mare beside me mused, “seeing on a map where you traveled and actually walking it are certainly two different experiences…” Oh I would know, I’m making the whole trip twice now, “my mom really did make good friends back then.”

Far better than some of those young colts she hung out with, “I made a promise, and I intended on keeping it…” I tried to lean my muzzle down a little to her in the suit, but thank you M.W.T. for ruining that for me!

A quick peck still greeted the end as she met me in the middle, and Alimite slumped back down to my curled-up legs to stay warm. That was one promise I might have broken- No! Stop it Wild! ‘…It’s not your fault,’ I had to remind myself that yet again.

There was far more at play when I found Winter, things not even her own child knew… in the end, I got to see her again. Winter got to live her life to its fullest, and it ended knowing she’d have somepony to watch over all she held dear still left in this world. I made a promise to keep that going, and if it meant going backwards to do so.

Then so be it.

That… was a growl… no wait, a yawn. Riff rolled over yet again, as I swore her jaw damn near unhinged to gasp at that breath. “Alright, chitchat done…” the hound plucked what had to be the biggest piece of eye sand I’d seen free, or maybe it was just dirt, “still long walk ahead.”

You know its bad when the hellhound is being the voice of reason… yet she was right. It might not have been the basement, but getting to camp out here with my friends still managed to list us all off to sleep. First Riff, then the avian and mare followed, soon thereafter I heard the soft purrs from the mare to my side…

Well, if you can’t beat em…

***

I could probably elaborate over the last few days since leaving Pasture Falls, though I don’t think anypony wants to know about walking… Seriously, not everything in the wasteland is getting jumped by Raiders at every turn, or running across a hoard of Ghouls the moment you step on a stick. Granted, I had a few surprise run ins with others, nothing a few well-placed rounds couldn’t handle. Yet for the trip back it all boiled down to just old-fashioned leg work.

Irony given my predicament… speaking of which.

“Mother fucker!” I’d been going well since we left the town, and with only our destination off in the distance, I had paid a little too much attention to the ground beneath me.

“I think that’s… what? Thirteen now?” Deacon… stop keeping track.

Luckily, I was getting used to picking myself up off the ground, I made it to my hooves before Alimite could even lift a hoof of her- oh that giggle… the mare looked about burnt red from my glower. Yet, that didn’t stop her chuckle from escaping in the least.

“I’m… sorry,” no you’re not, “I am worried about you, really…”

Worried? Sure, I can go with that, she was just probably happy I still had my legs even attached. I couldn’t imagine the suit carrying only half a pony. Let alone making this trip south, then north. If that was the case my friends would have probably tied my crippled ass to the bed and left to finish the job on their own…

Aren’t I lucky to make the trip?

That however, was a sight for sore eyes… it looked just as rusted in paint as the day I stepped out of the stable. I mean, nothing compared to the nearly two centuries I’d spent on ice wearing away at it. I shouldn’t have expected all that much to change in the last few months since I’d slept here after all. Never the less, seeing home was a nice touch.

Oh how far I’d come, spending the night in the attic munching on peaches, to a walking gun with legs… I felt them seize up for a moment, and instead of meeting the dirt I fought against them. My forehooves dug into the ground, and while I righted myself I got to take a gander at the scene.

If only past me could see this coming… it’d have been a hell of a story to tell.

“Wild live here?” Riff asked from behind me, likely waiting for me to eat it again.

“Used to… before all, this,” I didn’t have to point to the land around us for her to catch my drift. I had my memories of this place already stowed away for a rainy day, one thing’s for sure. I didn’t know when I’d be back this way after leaving, “Let me check it out real quick.”

The floor boards didn’t so much as creak as I strode in, though they nearly buckled under the extra weight. This was why I didn’t take certain work home with me, and here I was… think this counted as overtime?

I couldn’t tell if anypony had called this place home after I left here, it looked just as a mess back then. Though it was picked clean from the shop as I recall, no pony would have a reason to go out of their way to check this. Up in my bedroom was just as much a disaster as when I left it before the bombs. I still knew where everything was, and if it already looked ransacked, then there wasn’t a reason to check it out further.

At least to the untrained eye… within my nightstand the dust kicked up from the drawer, and two century old books remained spitting at their spines. One however, was cracked open. My horn plucked it out from its home, and there to my hooves the badge fell to the floor. Plastic was resilient, as was the talisman in the center by my picture. Funny, I looked so clean back then… that’d be some company I wanted to share a drink with.

Me before the bombs, me after leaving the stable, and me in the present.

What would I say to them? Practice your aim with small arms? Learn to cook unorthodox food? Teach Winter self-defense? Humph… as if I knew any. My brawling was learned in the wastes, and getting the snot kicked out of me. Learn to live with the decisions you make, that’d probably be the soundest advice I could give.

“Alright, enough of this,” I shook my head, now was not the time to dwell on the past, and what could have been. I still had to clock in after all.

Coming back down the stairs I found the bottom floor vacant still, the porch however had most of my friends there waiting on me… again, most of them. Alimite was no where to be seen, though none of them looked concerned. Tumble just raised a hoof to the house across the street, and I got all the information I needed.

I hadn’t even bothered checking out Lilacs’ house on my way out the door before, and I couldn’t imagine it being in any better condition than my own. Sure enough, the door opened with a squeak, and the status of the floors would have had the old Pegasus flying up the- walls…

“Oh…” was about all I could get out when I saw the bones.

And the mare standing before them.

Alimite stood frozen feet away from the rocking chair, and I couldn’t tell if it was shock or not that crept its way onto her features. I’ll admit, I’m surprised the mare stayed here all this time. I guess there was some respect for the dead. Lilac looked just like she did when I first charged in here back then. Minus the missing scotch, though I swore I could still smell it in the air.

Do I hug her? Tell Alimite that it was quick? She’d know it was a lie, but what does one say at a time like- “Grandma…” …this… Alimite answered that question for me, and the tears that wanted to fall I could see suck back into her ducts.

In respect, the mare took a knee before the surrogate, with her hoof resting gently on the arm. Winter made well and good on telling her daughter about the mare that took her in when no one else could handle her. I gathered that much over knowing her already. While the tears may have wanted to break free, they were met with a smile.

“…It’s nice to meet you finally,” she said the words that would never be returned.

Somewhere I could hear Lilac sobbing in joy, and Winter was right there alongside her.

“I didn’t know she’d still be like this…” I couldn’t see the smile on the skull, but it was there. My hoof rested on her shoulder now, and silently one tear finally worked its way free from the mare, “If you’d like, we could bury her outback?”

Alimite paused her tears, but held back a breath, “… No, she looks so at peace like this, it’d be a shame to disturb it.”

A steady nod from me answered, and I could understand the sentiment. A far tenderer kiss from the mare graced her hoof, as she rested it on the cheek of the skull for a moment. Before rising back to her hooves… I’m glad I didn’t come in here to check when I first got out of the freezer. Alimite wouldn’t have had this moment if I put her in the ground.

Us two emerging from the door beckoned the trio back to their feet. Riff Raff opened her mouth, but a wing across from it silenced the hound. We all knew it was going to be something smart, and Deacon just beat us to the punch to squash it. Their hooves, paws, and talons followed behind myself and the mare that just got to see some of her moms’ memories, and we made our way further down the road.

“Tell me…” Alimite smiled still to my side, letting one other tear fall in solace, “Tell me a story from back then, something with her…”

Oh, that could take months to cover all of them, a good thing too if we had to walk all the way north… for now, I had maybe half an hour to cover between here and my old work. “I can do that for ya,” and I knew just the one to tell.

“The left side of the periodic table is composed of most reactive elements, so what would happen if you moved further to the right?” I tried to egg the young mare on, but somewhere between brain and mouth something wasn’t firing.

“Earth pony, remember,” I got Winters’ eye roll once again for the night, as her face flopped back into the book on my bench.

As a student I could ace damn near any science class with half a brain working on no sleep. Math and literature… well not so much. So when Winter asked if I could help her study some material in science I was all too eager, already had the hot chocolate ready by the time she came over after school.

Since when were they teaching kids periodic tables at her age?! “The words you’re looking for are less reactive,” I snickered. We’d already been at this for hours, scanned through chapter about three times, and burned probably a good four cups of coco a piece… let’s make it five! “Look over it again, I’ll be right back.”

The two empty mugs hovered over her head, and to my side. Winter hadn’t picked her head up off the book just yet, but maybe that’d transfer some of the knowledge though osmosis. Who was I kidding, that’s a lie, and I sounded like one of my teachers for even thinking it.

I kept the burner on low with some water, and with a couple rips of the packaging two fresh cups were at the ready. As I stirred the contents, I couldn’t help but wonder how to help the filly. This subject came naturally to me, though teaching another might have been my forte in the workshop. Actual subjects in school that skill didn’t translate to. If she was going to make a habit of coming over here for tutoring, then I’d need to install a chalkboard.

A project for another day, and with that in the back of my mind I broke back into the room. Ready to take a nother crack at it. “Alrighty, lets try this-” snoozing, almost snoring, I could hear from the pages. Winter wasn’t at the drooling phase yet, but after the last few hours, she might be there soon, “-again.”

A project for another day, and a subject to cover then as well… somepony needed to get home. With a whisk of my horn, I draped the filly over my back as I carried the books alongside. Time flies when you’re studying, and the sun had already disappeared long past the horizon. Though like clockwork, the porch light was on outside that teal house.

It didn’t take but the second knock before the Pegasus answered, “Oh dear, I hope she wasn’t any trouble over there,” Really? That’s the first impression of Winter knocked out over my shoulder?

“No trouble at all, we just hit the books pretty hard tonight,” I passed the filly off, and with a wing Lilac ushered me inside.

Before she took the filly upstairs, her wing gestured over to the living room, and with a careful step I took a seat waiting for her. I’d only been invited over for dinner once before, so I didn’t want to overstay my welcome. There was a few things I needed to do on my own list… namely clean up the shop a little. It didn’t take long for the trotting to emanate from the stair case once more.

Lilac looked tired, I mean more than usual, as she almost fell into the rocker, “I can’t thank you enough for catching her up a bit… I haven’t had to think about school work in decades.” I never asked her age, though if I had to guess it was probably up there in the time of when half of the periodic table was still unknown, “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“Oh no, I don’t want to-” yeah… that glare will shut up just about anypony, “ahh… glass of water?”

After a flutter of her wings, the mare was up and off to the kitchen… I hadn’t planned on staying a bit, but if the mare was going to offer me then who was I to refuse. By the time she returned, it looked like Lilac had taken a double shot of espresso in my absence. Her smile was back, and I could see the pep in her step.

She herself opted for what I had to guess was a mug of tea, and by the smell… yep, that was green, “how did it go today?”

I mean… I can’t say it was bad? Winter might have been struggling, but this was the first time with the subject and my hooves. What’d you expect? “As you think it did… she has some work to do,” understatement at the time, “but she’ll pull though.”

“She’s stubborn enough to do it,” that I learned quickly of the filly. Once her mind was on something, Winter wouldn’t sleep till she was satisfied. Besides, you know, today, “I do wish I knew more about what she was studying… Though I’m glad you can make up for my shortcoming.”

“Tis my pleasure, I love to teach… even if I’m a bit rusty myself,” seriously… chalkboard was on my to-do list already.

“Winter’s at least up front with you about wanting help… I can barely get anywhere with her.”

The tea in her wings almost spilled out as much as it sagged in her grip. Just like it appeared, the smile the mare had was gone, and I got to see the same listless expression when we first met. How many nights were there like this when she’d stay up and wait for the filly to come home? How many of those would Winter go to bed without a word to her of appreciation? My uncle never really was the sentimental or caring type, but if he happened to be up when I got home late he at least said something. It was still nice to hear ‘glad your safe kid’ once in a while.

“I’m happy somepony managed to…” the beginnings of a smile started to grace the mare.

I knew they weren’t exactly within the same age group… that much was obvious, but how could they not be close? Lilac loved her, I could see it, but something didn’t click between them. What was the rift? Better question…

“I hate to pry…” and yet here I go doing it, “but is Winter your… daughter?”

Okay! Don’t let the mare choke! A few hearty coughs almost made her tea come back up from the wrong pipe, not the question to ask while she was taking a sip. Thankfully, the mare got herself under control quickly. “Not… exactly,” some of that sorrow returned, and I regretted even asking, “Cherry Blossom, was my daughter…” another sip quelled what quiver in her lips there were, and the mare sat the mug down on the table, “Cherry, passed… about fifteen years ago, never got the chance to have children of her own…”

After that alone, I was ready to tell the mare she didn’t have to share, and apologize for ever asking. Alas, before I could get a word out, hers kept flowing. “She was all I had after my husband, so after Cherry was gone… I didn’t really have anypony,” the memories of her spouse and kin I could see playing through her eyes, and a feather wicked away the tear, “I wasn’t looking for a surrogate, or a replacement, but I wanted to share the love I had with somepony… so I looked at adopting.”

“I couldn’t keep up with a foal, not in my years now,” that garnished a chuckle from Lilac, and I followed with her if only to put her at ease, “so while I was looking through the records at the town hall of fillies and colts looking for a home, one stuck out to me,” Winter Blossom, “you can imagine why,” think it had something to do with the name?

“I knew she had bounced between homes… but I wanted to give her one to call her own, and if anything let her have a real childhood,” the pain returned, as that childhood still had to be lived with a war waging on. All I could do was stretch out a hoof over her own, as her wing brushed overtop my limb, “It’s just been difficult to say the least, she knows about Cherry, and I can’t help but think she just feels like a replacement.”

Forget how often the mare stayed awake at night waiting for the filly. How often did she cry wondering if she made the right choice to bring Winter into her home? Here was a mare who just wanted to give her love to another, and she couldn’t get close enough to her ‘daughter’ to do so… I didn’t have kids, but my heart went out to the mare for it.

“I don’t ever expect her to call me mom,” a sip silenced the knot in her throat I saw bubbling up, “I just want her to smile, when I call her daughter…”

School does not prepare you for conversations like this! I hadn’t had enough of a social life to know what to even begin saying… but I did have parents who loved me, or at least a mom who did. If there’s anything I learned from that mare, it’s the joy she felt from me calling her that simple three letter word.

“And she will… in time,” ‘copy and pasted’ words to say if there ever were, but it was the truth. Winter had led most of her life alone it seemed, but if she was going as far as to start studying. Who knows what else might change about her? “She’s trying to turn over a new leaf, might just surprise ya.”

A chuckle shook my hoof free, and the mare finished the rest of her tea, “that surprise might give me a heart attack… but thank you for that, Wildfire.”

What to do what to do… actually, I knew what I could do, “I know she’ll want to study again sometime with me,” hopefully over something that could keep her eyes open, “how about I come over instead?” her look told me our trains of thought weren’t on the same path, “… if I may, you’d at least know what she was studying, might be able to help out as well?”

It was small, but if the mare could get her own interest in the school work. Then just maybe it’d give something for the filly to take an interest in of the mare. Now she seemed to be following me, and the more Lilac mulled the idea over. The more I saw that beam start to grow.

“I’d like that.”

She was silent at first, but I could see the tear trailing down her cheek, “Thank you for that, Wiley.”

Behind the visor I shared her smile. One of the sweeter stories, there were plenty more I could share when we got back to the town after all this was said and done… assuming we did that is. First things first, this next hurtle that came into view.

Ahh… back at the office after all this mess. Equestria sure knew how to make them last after all. I took in the three wings that made up the exterior structures, each with their own purpose in mind. Arcane Firearms was where most of the unicorns hung out, you know given their nature. The next one over was the Conventional, something that I had more than a hoof in developing over the years. Lastly the Armor wing looked as unassuming as the other two, but I knew where this suit called home.

Joining all of them was what many of us just called the Birdcage, or Atrium if you prefer. The Ministry of Image wanted to give someponies a place to have their lunch after all, and spared no expense when it came to its construction. The steel veins trailed up its side giving it the nickname, as what little glass panels kept the weather out unless it was welcomed in to water the lawns.

Still many of us found us having a bite at our work stations, no time to bask under the sun… a treat I took for granted while it still shined bright. The buildings fared far better than the atrium itself, time would do that to glass, and I could see many of those steel structures warped and twisted over the years of neglect.

Rarity would have been appalled… More so by that welcome!

Thanks to the fading light, I saw the shimmer of the energy bolts before they hit any of my friends… my suit, didn’t fare so lucky. A tug of my horn pulled Alimite in close while the shield kicked on to cover our approach. These things were still working after all the years, that told me something, our trip might not have been in vain.

Now to get out of this! The visor flipped up as I held my badge out, “M.W.T. Technician Wildfire reporting!” almost instantly the guns fell silent, and- oh no you don’t! “With guests!”

Before they could open up on the trio in tow, a wane of their motors halted the turrets, and their barrels fell silent once more. Alimites tears were quick to dry up after that little commotion, and my group looked ready to blast them apart for good measure. With a hoof I gestured each of their heavy arms down.

“I wouldn’t do that…” Tumble looked sour at me holding Mercy in her hooves, “we’re guests here, and let’s not upset our host.”

That calmed them down, for now… we didn’t take too kindly to being shot at, but against what I knew this place was protected by. Discretion was our ally, we were on my home turf. The guns above the welcome center stayed on their guard as we passed by into reception. There behind the desk the dust had long built up, and I missed the smile I’d always get from the old secretary.

Script? I think it was… now I just sound like a shitty pony for not even learning her name, the mare probably was left to die like so many others out here in the wastes once the bombs fell. They didn’t just let any pony into a stable, and Stable-Tec probably didn’t see the need for a pony who could click away at a terminal at eighty words a minute.

“Where group headed?”

Right… about that, “I have no idea,” they all deadpanned to me at once, even Alimite cocked her brow up, “Okay I have an idea! Just have to test it out,” granted I knew there was one here, just not where it’d be hooked up, “the maintenance hall was built under the atrium, if there was any place the generator would be, it’s there.”

Central to all the wings, and protected by a concrete shell, with the soil above. We didn’t work down there back in the day, but trying to bring one of those generators in garnished a lot of attention.

In the meantime, I got to take in the past a bit myself… I’d walked these halls enough to know my way around, even cutting through the atrium itself to save a little time. This place was busy back then, when the bombs started falling it looked like any other day here with ponies running about. Come to think of it… this might have been the first time it’d ever been quiet.

Not quiet… I heard the whirl of treads up ahead, and saw the guns before the bot cleared the corner. One Sentry rolled into view, and on towards us. Those guns however stayed to its side, oh thank the goddess it wasn’t shooting in this tight space.

… Wait… I remember this one, we gave it our own name because of the rust growing that never seemed to buff out. “Clause,” I called out as it stopped, “Good to see you old friend…”

Please don’t short circuit, please don’t short circuit, please don’t- “Technician Wildfire, you are late for your shift.”

Yep, he hadn’t changed… I chuckled, but the tension from my friends staring down the war bot wasn’t getting any easier, “I know, I know… I have a party of guests,” I let his own visor look over the bunch, “We’re… delivering additional arms for research.”

I heard the clicking away at the talisman inside, until his frame dropped down a bit. “Understood, please check them in at the Conventional Wing office.”

With that, the bots’ motors purred back to life, and rolled out between us without another word. All of us watched it round the corner before heaving a sigh of relief. Fooling turrets was one thing, a robot that could speak and ask questions required a quick wit… and some luck. Maybe some of its logic circuits were fried, almost two hundred years of rolling around would do that to any machine. I mean, gryphons and diamond dogs weren’t exactly welcome by Equestrias’ standards.

Steadily we made our way through the buildings twisted hallways, this felt like a longer route than I remember, but I knew we were on track. Just had to follow the directory too. Amongst the reinforced walls, different windows held out on display some of the projects this M.W.T. facility had been working on… and I did a little check list of ones I’d personally touched.

“Shouldn’t we do some looting?” our gryphon piped up, and I heard a smack that echoed through the hall.

“We could have been lit up by that bot, or the turrets, and here you are wanting to ransack the place,” Tumble tutted to him under her tongue, and her glare turned into a grin at me, “Can we?”

Are you serious? “No!” I shrieked out just above a whisper, “You’re guests here, guests don’t leave this place with party favors.”

Last thing I wanted was to fight an entire building of bots that might still be running, all donned up in the latest gear of the time. Pulling an axil was one thing, just another piece of machinery. Though trying to clear out the testing and development areas?

“Do you want to be labeled a stripe by security?”

The couple was almost salivating at the possibilities of what this place might hold still… if the security wasn’t intact, it might have been just enough to arm this part of the wasteland. A nudge from Riff pointed them back in our direction, and we pressed on.

Right back into some familiar ground… the door opened up, and there was a sight I was used to. Even with all the chaos of other places out here, I knew this was just how the workshop looked on a daily basis. Parts thrown around from bins, spent shell casings littering the ground around the firing line, sections of metal lying in wait to be turned into the next weapon frame.

My second home, and I couldn’t help but pop the visor to take in a breath… yep, that was gunpowder. “What's that look for?” Alimite asked off to my side as I kept striding in.

“Just nostalgia…” it had been so long since I’d seen any of this… and so many memories over the years.

Staying up late with Flint and Beaker to try and get the right chemical mixture for a warhead. Having to be pried out of a suit by Anvil before the supervisor came in to check on us. Even when we played a prank and zip-tied Flasks’ ID to the support beam… what? Beaker loved messing with his sister.

It was all a wonderful trip down memory- “Hello… old friend,” I whispered, and took a step closer to one bench.

Much of it had been burned from previous tests, or had little measurements written down along its surface. There wasn’t always a paper handy, and soapstone worked well in a pinch. What did leave me breathless, was the picture on its edge. A gaggle of ponies, all in either lab coats or maintenance coveralls. As comfortable as pajamas you could imagine, and there was a smile on all our faces… the largest on that one pony in the center with the new badge.

I levitated the picture over, and behind me I could feel those eyes staring from my friends, as well as the pony from the past. “Wild?” Deacon was the first up to my side, as the others gathered around and looked over the image.

Was I crying? Of course not…! Okay maybe a little, “my first day in the office,” I turned the image so they could get a better look at a cleaner me. It had been months since they had any back up in the shop, and when I showed up many of them had a doubt or two about what this fresh kid could do.

It didn’t take long for them to figure out I earned my cutie mark for a reason though… “Pony look happy,” I was Riff, I was.

I had my own bench to help the war effort, a group of coworkers that all shared a similar interest, and even if I didn’t go out much on my own. I at least got along well with them. What more could a guy ask for? Maybe a second chance, to say thank you to them all for welcoming me in…

If only they could see me now.

A few twists of my horn pulled the crimps off of the back, and that picture slid out of the frame. It wasn’t much, but it’d be nice to keep for the trip. Maybe something to take home and reminisce about what things used to be, what started me down this path I walked now.

With the picture back in my compartment, I jerked my head onward. My friends didn’t pry much past that, they knew enough from my little expression to know what this place meant to me. If you love what you do, you won’t work a day in your life.

Yet through our little walk into the past, I found what we needed, this was the door I was looking for… a gallant shove later creaked the hinges open, and lead us into… a graveyard. Amongst the trees and bushes that dotted the landscape, there were almost just as many burned out remains of the security bots we’d just passed by. Everything from the Mister Handy model, to even a couple of Clauses cousins.

Why was the hair on my neck standing up? Our walk turned into a crawl, and whatever shimmer in the sky started to fade once more. Leaving those shadows around us from the buildings to grow bigger. I might have been able to find our way in the night, but a lamp made things ten times-

A talon pressed across my visors light, and I saw the grave look from the gryphon. With it flickering off, one claw of his raised up. I’d already seen the bent and twisted metal, what more could I have to- see… some of those beams were moving.

“Bloodwings…” he whispered, “Best stay silent.”

Oh… how lovely… now we just had to navigate-

Crunch!

The sound of crushing metal filled all our ears, and behind us it looked like Riff had been the unlucky one to find what once was a Mister Handy tucked between her toes… the screeches above didn’t follow no sooner after that.

“Run!” Deacon shouted and my light flicked on leading the way.

It was getting dark quick out here, and between our stomping over the ground all that welcomed us was the steady teeth chattering above mixed in with wings. None of my friends had stopped to shoot, and I wasn’t about to be the odd ball out.

Instead, my hooves pummeled into the ground as I looked for the center… There you are! One massive oak had been brought in to serve as the head piece to the atrium, a nice place for Pegisy to roost on their break. They weren’t the only ones either! Amongst the branches that had long dropped their leaves, I could see the shadowy smudges that darted along the open space.

More importantly, I saw the mound right in front of the trunk to the tree. The hatch leading down had likely not moved in decades, but boy did I throw my servos into overdrive trying to get to it… my shoulder arched back in pain, and it took all the concentration I had to keep my tongue from screaming out.

Beating against my head one Bloodwing had bitten off more than it could… how the hell was I not touching the ground?! The hatch was gaining distance quickly in my vision. The massive gust of wind these things brought with them was enough to pull a suit of armor free from the ground!

All I could make out was the bulk of its frame, and as my helmet found its face with the dull light. I got the picture of what had to be something summoned by Discord himself. You were not a face a mother could love! With my helmet meeting it, so too did the shotty turn around. One shell threw it off, the next three scattered viscera over my plating, and allowed gravity to take back over.

Not my most graceful landing… but I was breathing damn it! I could hear the screams and yells of those I’d brought with me not far away. Riff had swatted a few from the air as their bodies landed around during my approach to the hatch. Tumble peppered away with her carbine, while Alimite racked and slam fired shell after shell.

Where was the bird?

One wing beat got a little too close for comfort, and as I looked up, I got my answer. Deacon had taken it upon himself to give them something to chase, as he led them around the aptly named birdcage. Some were getting close in I could tell, but he banked what he could to avoid their slashes.

“Riff! Door!”

She didn’t need any other word of encouragement. Those massive paws clenched on to the handles, and I could see the veins pulsating through her body as she heaved. A lurch later, and the hatch started to budge. Whatever counterweight it had must have been damaged underneath, I’d just have to buy a little time.

Where are you… the red on my E.F.S. all blurred into one, but amongst it there remained one blue bar caught up. He was getting close, I wouldn’t dare use the ADAC, or the shotty with him in there. That left me one option… the IF-451 kicked on just as Deacon got a bit closer, and in one whoosh fire and fuel spilled out into the open sky.

The first couple Bloodwings didn’t have time to dodge this, and the flames enveloped their bodies. Sending them crashing down around us as burning husks. Those behind however took the hint and scattered like gnats avoiding the swatter. Smaller bursts kept any other mass of red from dog piling us, and I had to watch my fuel reserves carefully to not run out mid performance.

A final creak rang out, and there stood Riff with the hatch on her shoulders, “In…Now!”

I could see the light like a beacon from the maintenance bay below, and the girls were the first to take to one of their names and tumble inside. That left one other out there in the swarm, the red bars were scattered, but there was a blue joining their ranks… and he had to be lining up his shot.

Deacon didn’t bother slowing down his decent, and tucked in to the access tunnel rolling across the ground. My hooves followed him quickly after, letting Riff throw the hatch off her shoulder and slam shut. Catching one unlucky Bloodwing in its frame. The heavy weight of the door was enough to almost cut it in half, but after a second of screeching about the body fell quiet.

Was this thing a bat?! Sure enough from those ears along its head, to the almost pig nose… that was a bat at one point. Years out in the wastes had turned them into whatever the hell it so chose. Leading to this monstrosity against nature.

Didn’t I have them on the list of ‘Creatures not to fuck with’…?

“Deacon!” one mare shouted, and Tumble was by the gryphons’ side in moments. My head lamp flicked back on to reveal our friend.

Those things had nasty talons of their own… I could see the blood running across the ground from the wounds on his back, and even the flitter in his eyes were dull after a few moments of sitting still. Hoof after hoof, Tumble shoved potions into his beak, and the gryphon slurped down the purple liquid like she did liquor.

His back was piecing itself back together through the wonders of magic, but he looked drained after that ordeal… no pun intended. “Oh, don’t worry about little old me,” he tried to smile, but it fell flat as she shoved another potion in his mouth.

“Shut up and drink…” he wasn’t about to argue with her, and with what she probably learned in the medical shack. The mare went to work breaking out the bandages.

“Turkey, okay?”

“Never better…” he got out between the neck of the bottle.

He was breathing, and needed a long nap after trying to outfly those bats… er, Bloodwings. I didn’t have medical training, but I knew what most maintenance areas carried. “Let me see if I can find something to ease the pain,” almost as if by que, Tumble rammed a needle of Med-X into his ass.

That wasn’t going to stop me from taking a look around… looked like I wasn’t the only one with the idea. Alimite joined alongside as I went on, I expected to faceplant after trying to keep my heart in check. I guess adrenaline overpowered the lack of nerves.

Down here for the most part all I could see were bodies. Someponies must have thought of the idea to hunker down here to escape the bombs, or the Bloodwings outside. Either way, it didn’t bode well for them. What little scraps I saw showed that many must have starved, or died of thirst from the few canteens scattered about. Not the quickest way to go, but far better than being torn to shreds by those things outside.

A nudge to my side brought the lamp down, and Alimite just pointed her muzzle to the corner… so it wasn’t a complete loss after all. There spun the generator, keeping the lights on after all these years, as it purred like a kitten up to its moms’ belly. I really didn’t want to be around when the guns fell silent after it was taken apart. Though, I wondered if the place had a back up to it?

I saw the flash of her horn tightening the bandana around her head, and the mare brought out a few tools from her pack. “I’m going to see what I can do…” she started trotting off towards the machine, “we might be in here for a bit, best to lay low and wait till morning anyway.”

Like you think I’m going to open that hatch back up…

***

The second time around was far easier for the hellhound, and the hatch creaked back open to the morning… dull sun. Riff held the door up wide for us as we all piled out, and with a careful paw she kept it from slamming shut like it did the night before.

Deacon might have been the only one to sleep through the night, after his blood loss though. I don’t know if you could really count that as sleeping. Still, he was alive. A few more scars along his back from the bats that didn’t make it back up to their roost, but alive none the less. He looked all too happy to be leaning on Tumble as she helped him walk free into the atrium.

My eyes looked skyward, and to the fidgeting bats that clung to both the oak above, as well as the remaining beams. If the security didn’t keep any would be intruder at bay, those would thin out their numbers for sure… so long as they kept up there, I wasn’t about to waste the ammunition on payback.

After a small grunt, Riff hoisted the axil up and across her back. The tarp we found helped keep it somewhat comfortable on her frame, but the hound was probably getting tired of being a pack mule by now. It’d taken a lot of work on the part of another to get it done, but sure enough… Alimite delivered.

The mare I could feel snoozing across my own spine, and after last night she deserved her own rest. I could bear the weight of that much. Each of us were already pulling more than our fair share, as we licked our wounds on out the atriums sides. Pulling that axil had done its own work, and dropped all but a few turrets into a slumber.

I didn’t need to worry about showing my badge to any other, so with our prize in tow, and our pride still intact. I pointed the suit to the next waypoint my marker gave, Las Pegasus Station… our journey was really about to happen.