Fallout Equestria: Ballad of a Rogue Ranger

Chapter forty: New territory

When I was a younger pony… or am I still? Either way, I had a dream of coming to this empire. The technology that Equestria built and married with magic was enough to spur the minds of many my age. To hear something as magical as an enchanted kingdom that once was lost to time, suddenly reappearing in the frozen wastes a thousand years later.

Could you blame a young colt for wanting to make the trip?

Alas, my uncle was stuck in his ways, never left the house much. That kept me well within the borders of Equestria, and mostly the town I grew up in. It’s no wonder I wanted to get to the other side of the country the moment I was old enough.

If there hadn’t been a war, I would have made the trek up here faster than the fabled sonic-rainboom. Just like that legendary Pegasus trick that wasn’t quite a story anymore, neither was the journey I’d made. My vision of seeing this once great Empire made of crystal was finally coming true! Granted, it was almost two hundred years later, but still true none the less.

Call me, not impressed.

Our train departed the remains of a station only minutes after myself and the group were the only creatures getting off. Already behind the blanket of falling snow the lone structure was losing itself in my eyes. All we really had to guide ourselves was the map in the visor, good thing too, otherwise we’d probably be walking in circles without realizing it.

Not something all of us could afford… if rain was radioactive, then so too was its artic cousin. Riff and myself were well off enough to travel through this flurry, but a few others would start looking a bit green around the gills here soon.

Deacon already passed Rad-Safe to the girls before downing his own when we took a step onto the platform. It wasn’t a strong ticking, but it sure was consistent. I already knew what too much radiation could do to a pony… and I wasn’t ready to dig more graves.

“Why didn’t we ask for a weather report?” Tumble groaned as she took a tug from the bottle that survived the previous night.

Had she been keeping that just for herself? “Calm down there, we won’t be out in this mess forever.” Under each of his wings, Deacon did his best to keep the pair of mares warm. I knew his coat was a bit heartier than the average ponies, had to make weapons to kill his kind after all, and it pays to know your enemy… or one time enemy. Though I couldn’t see him, I knew those eyes of his were on the back of my head, “Right? Wild?”

“Eh… give or take a mile…” they might not have built the station at the edge of the empire, but who’s bright idea was it to make it a trip just to leave?

I think the only one of us smiling could have been our resident hound. How was it even through this snow fall I could see those stained teeth of hers? Check off another box for ‘Why Hellhounds are the most OPed creature in the wastes.’… immune to radiation, stupid levels of strength, can withstand constant barrages of gun fire, tear through armor like it’s a piñata… and now, survive a near blizzard with their thick hides.

Now though, I think we all could smile a bit more… and I might need to learn to read a map better, “Scratch that fillies and gentlecolts…” still wasn’t impressed with what I saw, but I’d take some shelter over this weather any day. “We’re here.”

The once proud Empire I once read about, and saw newspaper clippings of… was reduced to this. Snow covered all the streets, over the rooftops of the town surrounding the Crystal Palace, and even the Palace itself had icicles the size of its own spires stretching to the ground. As we walked closer to the boarder, I could see that some of these buildings just weren’t made to stand the test of time. Many laid in ruin along their foundation, or being propped up by their neighbor.

My metal was making strides through the thick blanket, cutting a path for the rest of us to follow through. It wasn’t quite chest height, but I know the girls were feeling a mighty chill in their underbellies. Even my plating was starting to feel the ice, but hey! At least I wasn’t on fire this go around. Still, if this kept up, I knew my hind legs wouldn’t be the only thing that went numb.

“That’s… odd…” Tumble chattered between her teeth, and out from Deacons’ wing she pushed up beside me. Her head was turning like a top, taking in everything the landscape had to offer, and reading it like a traveler. Me? I was flipping through the suit wondering if I could overclock the heater.

As she went forward, soon by my side only stood Riff. Both of us garnishing our mare of the wastes with the same puzzled look. Deacons’ own grew the more Tumble stayed silent, and Alimite slowly racked back her shotgun… never a good sign.

Safeties were off now on the mouth bit, just one thing to ask, “What is it?”

“Constant snowfall or not…” our tracker put her head to the surface of the snow, “there’s not a single sign of tracks made before us.” Didn’t she already answer that question of why there weren’t? If it snowed all the time here, then they would have been- “Even if they were covered, you’d still be able to make out the indents from where it laid a fresh coat.”

Okay, and now she’s reading my mind… “So, we’re alone?”

“That’s what’s scaring her,” the gryphon grasped a little tighter on his carbine.

No tracks besides ours… where the hell had everypony gone? We could have made a straight shot to the palace, that wasn’t hard to see through the weather. Although if there was a building to pass through, why not take a peek inside? Especially one with the tell tail faded red cross on it. Fluttershy might have had her own symbol going down in Equestria, but up here in the Crystal Empire they kept to tradition.

Crystal Hearts Hospital I read above the door way. For a place that would have been arguably one of the first to scavenge from, or even call home after the bombs. There wasn’t so much as barbed wire on the door as it swung open, and we made our way inside.

Hospitals were supposed to be inviting, and this one hadn’t looked touched in the ways of any in Equestria had suffered. The check in area was in shambles sure, carts thrown around, empty crates with dust settled atop them. Besides the need for a serious spring cleaning though, its like they closed up shop and left.

Just like the snow outside, there were clear marks left from our feet as it went through the dust. I expected to trip over some bones by now, but without so much as a femur crunching beneath my hooves. I was starting to miss that wasteland predictability.

Where the hell did everypony go?

“Hello!” Not the way I would have done it! Deacon was already rubbing the back of his head from the smack of a hoof before I had even turned around. “What?” he said in a bit more hushed tone, “There’s nothing in here, outside, or even tracks around us… it’s been deserted…”

“And plenty have probably thought the same thing in Equestria when exploring,” Tumble seethed at him.

“Not in Equestria,” and now was not the time to be a smartass…

All jokes aside, he had a point. There wasn’t so much as a Radroach nipping at my hooves, let alone anything on the E.F.S… “Let’s take a quick look around, it looked like the hospital was close to the palace,” you know, from what I could judge from the outside. At the very least we could get out of the snow for a little while we went through here.

Hospital, hospital, hospital… the one place you could get all your needs medically tended to. Whether it be a broken hoof, sprained ankle, recover from a drug addition like during the war for many. Hell, even get surgery done to make yourself the ‘best pony you could be’ to some.

Apparently judging by the mess ponies of old had made, it was also the first place to get stacked during the bombs… go figure. Given Deacons’ little surprise introduction, and the lack of effect afterwards. We’d decided to split up along the way. The gryphon and his fellow mare trotted off down one hall, while Riff stuck with myself and Alimite for some time.

Up until we reached the cafeteria as the hound started sacking that. The hound bound herself across the counter and opened up every cupboard and cabinet she could find for goods, as she tried sniffing them out. Maybe she was trying to make good on that trashcan idea for Tumbles’ cooking. Who knows how long that’d take her, so me and the mare opted to take our own trip.

Not the kinda date you’d take a girl out on.

Maybe a walk in the park for a first time, dinner perhaps as the evening went on… wading your way through the ruins of a once proud icon of health? I wouldn’t add it into the top ten, but what would constitute a date in the wasteland? Giving a bouquet of healing potions before pillaging an abandoned bunker? Yeah… I was thinking about this too much. Although, all this walking-

Hello floor! “I thought I was over this?!” I mumbled to the ground after my tumble. The wane of a servo picked up my dead limbs, dragging them back into position. I’d been doing so well too, but I guess there were kinks in my armor.

Not that another wasn’t finding it amusing… Alimite tried to hide her snicker behind the near strobe light of florescent bulbs above. Though with a quick flip of my lamp her smirk was seen, and vanished just as fast in its tactical red ambiance.

“There’s something behind me isn’t there…?” I held my breath for a moment, waiting for it to go bump in the night.

One that never came, “Oh no, not at all… I just didn’t expect your eyes to start glowing …”

So that’s where it went… lens integrated lighting, practical and harder to break than the rudimentary lamp most had. Plus, with the added benefit of scaring the wits out of some creatures. Something I didn’t intend to do with this one, and with a turn later the light went off in a different direction.

“Sorry about that…” I pushed open the door to a nursing office, and took point inside.

“It… is kinda funny, in a way,” Alimite muttered as she passed by me. “Pony in a big badass suit of armor, yet still walks like a foal sometimes…” I might be the one suffering for it, but even I had to ponder the absurdity of it.

Alright, enough pondering on… that subject. We had a hospital to raid, which sounded a lot more criminal in my head when I thought about it. This place had to have something after all, but with every opening of a cabinet, or tipping of a waste basket. Somepony had gone over this place with a fine-tooth comb.

No tracks were left, so it couldn’t have been after the war… could it? They’d have to be smart to get in and out without leaving a trace. The only thing left standing were the shelves themselves, and as the mare continued looking, she managed to pull out probably the last clean blanket in this place.

A rip of her horn later, made that the last two clean pieces of fabric… “Going into fashion?” I chuckled as she wrapped half up around her shoulders. Giving her a makeshift cloak.

“Hardly… but not all of us can have heated seats where ever we go…”

Fair point, and if it weren’t for her moving the blanket out of its storage, I wouldn’t have seen what it was hiding. A single audio tape, ripe for the picking. My horn flared inside the helmet, and pulled it free putting it in my pouch. We had nothing else to do while mulling over this place, might as well listen to the words of a pony we’d never meet.

“It’s all gone so wrong…” yep, that sounded like something from the past, “their missiles keep hitting the shield, but they aren’t getting through… I can only hope he keeps it up long enough for us to evacuate the supplies to help.”

Well, this nurse certainly had the right crew to clean this place out, but I don’t know how much help it really was in the end. As we left the office to search for the others, I let the tape play. “I’m worried… about… everything!” the mare on the other side snapped. Somewhere in the background I could hear the smashing of glass, maybe our nurse was having one last drink? “About Equestria, about the girls, about Auntie Tia and Lulu… about him.”

Right about now was when I expected the water works to come, and boy did they… but Tia and Lulu? “He’s trying his hardest to give us time, but I have to go to him… I must see that he can get out as well…”

A door opened past her sobs, and a different pony must have entered with her. “Your majesty, we have to get going…”

One more tear must have fallen as she choked back. “I know, I’ll be with you all shortly…” the static told me that shortly might have meant at that moment.

Majesty… that word hung in my ear for half a second longer, before it finally clicked. Not the longest recording I’ve gotten… but this one just sounded sadder than most, rightfully so. The mare just watched her own kingdom crumble around her hooves. One colt decided to sign off with a bang, this Princess tried to survive and help all she could. From what I heard of her, tis was her nature after all… How much of that would be in vain in the end?

Another glance around the corner and I was met with some friendly faces. Deacon and Tumble made their way through the vacant halls towards us, just about as empty hooves as we were. It didn’t take words to tell me that, but that raised just one question… where was our hell- the wall next to us smashed open like paper, and in an instant, I had the shield up and running trying to cover the others as best I could from…

… Riff Raff.

She looked at me, I looked at her, and her frown grew. “No… Cram…”

Are you fucking serious?!

“And that is no reason to start tearing holes in walls,” Alimite trotted past her into the torn apart cafeteria. Passing the other half of her blanket to a very chilled Tumble.

As the shield started to die out, I took in more of the rampage this one hellhound caused all for a can of that imitation meat. Tables were all over the place, either in one piece or many from what had to be her claws. Counters were raised, and what might have been cooking grease smeared itself across the walls… please be grease.

“Tearing do good though,” Riff caught up with the four of us, and on to the back doors that hung barely on a hinge. “Door open path to palace.”

Well, our way was clear now, and with nothing more holding us in this place a kick from my hooves took the rest of the frame out. Once more back into the cold! This time some of us were a bit more prepared. The snow wasn’t getting any thicker at least, so our treading through it only left those fresh steps that followed in our wake.

Was it just me… or was the snow getting, thinner?

Yep, definitely thinner. As we approached the palace grounds, it wasn’t just getting easier to walk through, but in some patches it was out right melted away. I could see the stone underneath as if it hadn’t been touched by a hoof in centuries, washed clean with the water of the radioactive skies… Odd? What could bring this kinda change to the weather?

It’d take something truly magical to break the cycle that those Zebras had unleashed upon… ponies… if those fragments of shimmering stone were what I thought, then that’d be the thing to do it. Around the center of the palace base, rested the shattered remains of everything ponies stood for.

Compassion, kindness, caring… love.

“What happed here?” Deacon asked as he poked one of the fragments with a claw, and immediately jumped back as it gave him a zap just like the matrix.

“Steady now there,” I calmed him as his carbine was drawn to the stone. “That’s… the Crystal Heart, or what once was…” blank faces, blank faces as far as you could see. Alright history lesson! “Magical relic, protected the Crystal Empire,” not well enough apparently, “united the hearts of ponies and filled them all with joy.”

“Now just stone on ground,” Riff tapped the end of one with her paw, and got the same treatment as the gryphon.

Yeah… a symbol of everything ponies stood for. Compassion, kindness, caring… love. Something that this world really needed right about now, “It must still have some effect if it’s melting all the snow.”

I mean there were stones with charges in them after all this time, but the heart was different. It needed others to keep it topped off, so what was keeping it going now? That’s a mystery for another day… right now, we had a palace to explore. One of the main doors stood in front of the five of us, and I had to take a moment of awe to look at it properly. The same effects that had kept the snow off must have kept the ground level to the same state before the war.

Now we just had to find a way- Deacon pushed on the door, and just like that it swung open as if freshly lubed. “That’s just… creepy,” he groaned for a time, before checking his gun once again, “Well, shall we?”

I lead the way with Riff there grasping her launcher. If there was anything waiting for us on the other side, they were about to get a very nasty welcome… alas, the entrance corridor remained empty. Baggage was thrown around, general litter scattered across the floor, and as the wasteland always loved… there were a few bones tossed in for good measure.

Besides that, not a single thing lunged out at us, and for a split second our guns were lowered. A nudge of my head signaled the all clear, and the other trio moved up to meet us as we trotted down the halls finding a staircase. We were creeping our way through the beacon of hope to the empire, and along this stairwell the decorative stained-glass windows still let some of the dull light shine through.

It'd have been nice to get a trip out here before everything went to shit… who knows, I might have been going across these very steps listening to the droning sound of an underpaid tour guide. Perhaps in a different life, right now there were all too obvious signs that things had gone terribly in the palace.

I could see the hoof scrapes of ponies from long ago, likely scampering to get further inside. How much good did that really do for those poor souls? It was a palace, not a stable, but out of every other building in the empire. This one had to be the most secure.

You know, besides the open door.

Let’s see, a directory would be nice… “Any clue where to go?” Alimite pipped up, her shotgun at the ready when we rounded a corner into a main hall.

Ahh… the galas this place must have once seen. The whole thing was wide enough to be its own ballroom, and the crystal chandelier in the center really brought out the namesake of the empire itself. Though why were they quiet all of a sudden?

Whelp that’s why… all eyes were on me, and all I could give in return was a shrug. “I never visited the place if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“Important things always at top,” Riff grumbled, “it pony thing.”

We weren’t getting anywhere on the ground floor after all, and thankfully ahead of us was one of the many grand staircases that I could already see myself having to climb today… Fuck. She was right, and if the rulers of this place had any sense, then they’d keep documents and valuables high up and away from the crowds.

Enough sense at least to put in a barricade along those very stairs. This wasn’t some thrown together Raider collaboration. No, the heavy steel plates of actual security blockades stood proud on the staircase, shielding those further up from whatever might come wading through the doorway. Even after all this time, nothing managed to knock them over? Was there nothing upstairs even worth looking into? Or had somepony done their part to watch over the…?

Another pony trait is we liked shiny things… and the shimmer out the corner of my eye caught my fullest attention. E.F.S. wasn’t lighting up yet, and with the flurry outside the lights cascading in here were at a minimal. Now with my eyes off what laid ahead, I could see the ghostly shadow dart behind a few of those support columns.

Was somepony alive out here after all?! That’d make our trip so much easier to have someone to ask questions too. “Ahh… Hello?” I called out, my friends were frozen in place around me, and out the corner of my ear I could hear the sniffing of Riffs’ muzzle.

And the locking of her 40mm, “That smell bad…” she curled her nose away. Whatever it was, it was getting closer as it flickered against the flooring. Wait a second, after a flick my headlamp… eye lamp? Went on to show our new-

Guest?

Ghouls I’d seen already, nothing more than ponies that soaked up a tad too much radiation in their time. After damn near clearing a whole stable of them, they weren’t all that much of a threat. This thing however… Crystal Ghoul, my E.F.S. popped up across the visor. No wonder it shimmered; I’d heard about the effects of the Crystal Heart. What it did to ponies was literally nothing short of magical.

This was just out right wrong looking in that light, more of a nightmare than anything in the princess’s mind. Its frame hobbled itself across the tile, and little flickers of stars danced across its dried and ragged coat catching the light of my lamp.

Up until, its head snapped back at the source, and I saw that jaw drop with hunger of crystalline teeth. Okay point made! Enough sightseeing, one shell of the ADAC cambered in place. I think normal AP rounds would work well enough, and a chomp to the bit let the round loose.

A-a-a-and I got to watch a new journal entry in the wastes being written! The pony that once stood there shattered along its body from the impact, not in a bloody heap like I would have hoped. Shards of it peppered along the area, punching jagged sparkling flesh into the stone flooring, some into the suit, and one managing to lunge itself in- Shit!

“Pony go boom…” Riff snarled as she grabbed hold of the spike, pulling it free from her shoulder. What got me worried wasn’t just the fact that I inadvertently friendly fired on her, it’s that the wound itself actually was deeper than some of the rounds she’d taken.

Her grimace was enough to make that fear mutual, and all in time to hear the rest of the ground floor start to growl back at us. One shimmer became two, two became five, and five became- damn it stop counting! Against the light of my lamp, I could see a few of them getting closer, and this time another took the shot.

With something less than explosive, Deacons’ carbine rattled off a burst… and I got to see the ricochets of them bouncing off the stony hide. Oh, so not good! Our backs were to one another, all I could see was what was in front of me, and the first thing I did was let the IF-451 let loose. Flames drenched those that got in range, and while it didn’t drop them immediately. It sure made them stumble from the heat cooking that flesh medium rare.

Behind me the guns of my friends started firing, and it wasn’t until one ghouls’ head exploded that I saw the smoking .44s muzzle flash. So, she did still have that thing? Tumbles revolver had enough punch to do some damage, and behind her Deacon was fiddling in his bags as he pulled out a new magazine.

Something grabbed hold of my flank, and although it was numb, I still knew crunching metal when I heard it! A buck sent the ghoul flying across the room into a group of its cohorts, and I let another stream fly across the floor. Drawing a clear line of battle into the tile, some picked up the pace as they pushed through after us. They weren’t dropping fast enough from the fire, and I could see the buckshot of another only scattering across their hides at distance. Up close on the other hoof was shattering them on impact, still too close for my liking.

Alimite was slam firing shells as fast as she was reloading, and I could see the shimmer of another approaching as she filled the tube. My hooves worked this time, as I bound past her headbutting the creep with a crunch to its noggin. Not fast enough to avoid its friend taking a chomp out of my rib cage. The underbelly of the suit wasn’t the strongest, and I behind the plating crushing in I could feel the blood start to trickle.

Armor integrity: 83%

So crystal serrated teeth were the suits weakness! Falling flat to my stomach flattened the ghoul all the same under the suits weight, scattering bits of it around like a dropped plate. As the snarling resonated throughout the hall, so too did our shots. Deacon was managing to put some down now with those green mags… what were those again? No matter, there was a near energy burn through their skulls before blowing out the back.

With her .44 Tumble was going to work, making up for all the time she kept the thing holstered. Though that left only two of us able to do some immediate damage. Riff was reduced to slashing at them with her claws, effective, but for every one she cut in half another two would pop up.

Another I crushed with the end of my hoof, and just as fast its friend joined in its place. My incinerator was effective, but I didn’t feel like dealing with flaming ghouls till they-! A blood curdling scream echoed its way through the hall, and as my head snapped, I watched one take a chunk of flesh out of Alimites’ shoulder.

The mare dropped her gun for a moment, and I dropped my heart. Until it picked back up tenfold, I wasn’t about to break a promise because of some enchanted pony-jerky! As if chems were coursing through my veins I closed the distance that had grown between me and her, ramming one shoulder into the side of the ghoul atop. Before bucking wild against the others that wanted to join in the party.

With a whisk of my magic, the mare was over my shoulder, and I was looking for an exit. “Stairs!” I bellowed out, and snapping too each of my friends started gunning towards the flight.

A shell fired from over my shoulder, and even with half of her chomped clean. The mare still managed to hold her gun with that horn giving me a little cover. The one or two that got in my way didn’t stand a chance, and just turned into puddy beneath my freight train of a charge. Now the only hurtle was this barricade, trivial for us, but how would the ghouls fair?

No time!

A flare of the thrusters put me in the air with my passenger. With two ponies it wasn’t flying so much as it was gliding, but we still got to the other side of the barricade. Our Gryphon carried his mare up and over just like I had, that left… Riff about launched herself over, one ghoul still clinging to her back paws as it smeared against the flooring from her landing.

That left… I could see the mangled hooves starting to grasp atop the barricade, and the more I looked the more I could see said wall starting to wane. With something fresh in hooves reach, they must have finally had a reason to press on. Deacon and Tumble were taking shots to those that managed to flop over the barrier, and with my guns largely a bad idea I started looking for anything to keep them on the other… side.

A shimmer gave me that answer.

Above I could see the chandelier, something that likely took months to make given all the stones that hung from its frame. Something that I was about to ruin in a few moments. ADAC locked in the APECR, and I didn’t care so much about the aiming needed, I just needed this thing to drop!

The rounds were designed to take down even the most heavily armed dragons… chains were trivial. With only the long burst of a few dozen I started to watch as the decorative piece faltered, and gravity finally took over. Parts of the piece rained down from above as the main section joined close behind, and the weight of it alone was enough to crater into the staircase we’d left behind.

Stairs, barricade, and ghouls met their match by palace decoration.

The large gap that remained was enough of a deterrent to some, but a few ghouls still tried to make that leap only to meet the floor below. If they were really wanting to keep creatures out from the upstairs, they should have dropped that to begin with. We got our breather, and with any amount of luck that kept the riff raff to the ground floor… well that riff raff, not our own.

Then something slumped off the side of the suit. “Alimite!” Right! Injured mare almost eaten alive. With a quick twist I was by her side, and through the pain in her face she still managed to let a smile creep in.

“I’ll be fine there, Wiley,” she passed me a shallow smirk, and it wasn’t just my cheeks that were flushing.

Deacon took a knee by her, as he brought out his kit. Bandages, ointment, and generous potion or two found their way to the mares’ care. A shot of Med-X really helped to take the edge off, and although she was wincing from it. My mare was pushing herself back to her hooves, even as the flesh was still being mended. I’m glad she inherited that stubbornness from her mother.

“What about dog?!”

Riff started to pout, but that earned her a fresh bandage being tossed to her face from our doc as she started to wrap the bites. Tumble loaded up fresh cartages to her .44, and Deacon did the same with his carbine as we looked away from the snarling behind us. Our wounds were licked, and with us leaving the grand hall in our wake that left just the rest of the castle to deal with.

This time around our feet were taking a more careful stride. The barricade set up might have been intact, but who knows if there was another group of those things lingering around in one of these rooms. There were plenty of places for them to hide, it was a castle after all… just how did any pony not get lost in places like this? Chances are they probably did, but those that once walked these halls had far more time to learn the route.

Us? Not so much… Map, directions, anything?!

We’d probably gone past the same painting three times before my hooves finally ground to a halt against the tile. Nowhere in the place was going to be covered fast at this rate, and even with the general idea of go up, there was plenty of up to be explored. Well now, the hospital hadn’t been too bad, and besides our welcoming committee there hadn’t been a single crystal freak.

What's the worst that could happen? “We need to cover more ground,” I looked to each of them, “I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to, and the best way to do that is splitting up.” Again…

Deacon already had his wing around one mare pulling her a bit closer, and that left Riff there in the middle picking sides. “Dog go with turkey, might keep you too occupied otherwise,” she gave myself a wink.

What did she mean by- oh shit!

“You know it’s funny, I would have thought you’d lost feeling in that,” Deacon chuckled.

Alrighty moving now! I wasn’t the only one with that idea, and Alimites’ hooves damn near pressed me hard enough to force the suit to scrape over the ground. Even down the hall and a few turns away, I could hear the cackling of my group at last nights’ tryst. If she was cold before however, the mare didn’t show it with the fire raging on her face now.

Stairs, much needed stairs right now… our flight up took us to the next level, or perhaps it was the next five? Outside the window along the staircase the ground seemed to be getting further away. Here though, I got to see some of the wasteland coming through to taint the place. No longer was the palace its pristine condition like the ground floor… you know, besides the corpses that now littered the main hall.

This place looked like it was actually in a time of war. Terminals were lit up along the wall, still drawing their power from somewhere in the castle, papers had been tossed along the ground in upheaval from ponies long ago running about, and even cots with blood stains saturated them. Guess they couldn’t get everypony into the hospital.

Though if there was a place to find information, a literal command center had to be it. Alimite got the same vibe, and her hoof was already clicking away at one of the terminals’ keys. Power armor hooves weren’t the best for fine work like that, I’d likely just break the keyboard in half even trying. Instead, my horn reached out to some of those papers that hadn’t quite made their way to the floor.

Supply records, shipping notes, even the latest issue of Play Colt magazine… Wonder how much the latter would go for in caps? Question for another day, the actual papers that mattered to me hovered around my helm as I sifted through them. For all intensive purposes, the Crystal Empire was sure giving it’s all to help their southern cousin.

Between all the troops that were sent to bolster the front lines, to even the empires own gems being shipped down to the ministries for development. It’s no wonder the CE found itself in the crosshairs of the Zebras. Equestria could have won the war on its own, but having a whole nother country in your corner really set them above the stripes.

And then I saw it, those big old bold letters across one parchment, C.E.S. Cadance. My teeth started to chatter for a moment, but as I started reading, they quickly died down. It wasn’t a location, but it was a little history…

To your Majesties,

While we continue to ferry supplies down to Equestria to help in their efforts, as you are well aware those lines have come under the gaze of our adversaries. Trains have been derailed by saboteurs, ships scorched by stripe lead dragons, and to make the trip via sky would be impractical to say the least.

Myself and the other engineers have discussed… alternative means of transportation. To go where the enemy hasn’t thought of looking yet. Not on the water, but under it. After running the numbers with the M.W.T. and M.A.S. we have figured it could be very possible to do just that. Given the right talismans, and talented hooves doing the job.

However, we request and require your sign-off on this before continuing. It would help keep those bringing supplies hidden away from the enemy, and as such would be a safer means costing us less lives.

Very Respectfully,

Commissar Iron Hoof

Oh, history indeed… last time I saw that name there was Elder in front of it. I already know what Cadance and Shining Armors decision was on that, they signed off on the creations that bore their name. Here I was almost two centuries later trying to find out where they dropped anchor, all so I could rid the wastes of Iron Hoofs’ decedent…

“Find anything juicy?” the mare called out from over my shoulder, steadily clicking away at the keys.

“Nothing use-”

A shot of static interrupted me, as the terminal came to life with the sounds of another. Alimite jumped back for a second from the screen, but together there I joined her listening in. “Just a little… longer…” this stallion was in pain. I couldn’t see their face, or know what was going through that mind of theirs, but gritting teeth were hard to mistake over a recording.

“Shining!” another entered the room, and I could hear the trotting of hooves over the tile. “We have to leave!”

“Then get out of here…” Shining was starting to flinch in those words, “I can hold the spell, but it won’t last forever.”

“You have to come with-!”

“I can’t!” the stallion snapped out, and for a moment I heard the gulp in his throat. A soft whimper escaped from the mare, and there was a sigh in his own breath, “I… can’t… if I stop the shield falls, and the stable will seal up automatically after it realizes the area is toxic, with or without us.”

Stable? I didn’t know Stable-Tec was all the way this far north, but I suppose Equestria wasn’t the only payroll they were under. No wonder Cadance had been trying to get supplies out, and why so much of this place seemed vacant. They likely brought everything they could into the stable… all save for one colt.

“Then let me help you…” Cadance said past those sobs, “let me help get more inside… I don’t want to do this without you.” The shuffling of feathers filled the mic, and I could almost see her wings over the guy, “I can’t… do this without you.”

“They’ll need their princess, my dear,” for all the chaos going on outside these walls at the time. One pony was thinking straight at least, “it’s a guard’s duty to protect his princess, just as it’s a husbands’ to protect his wife… I can hold it long enough for you to get to safety,” I heard the mare choke out for a moment, and another torrent of sobs met his soft words, “but alas, this is where I have to remain.”

Silence fell upon the pair of us, and I was about ready to yell at the mare to say something to the colt already. “You always were my knight in shining armor,” between a set of tears, the sounds of lips meeting met our ears, “I love you, my prince.”

“And I love you, in this life and the next, my prince-”

Another bout of static ground the recording to a halt. For a moment we just sat there, staring blankly at the screen. I already had questions that wouldn’t get an answer, and now I just had to jot down a few more to the list. Was Cadance able to make it back in time? How long did Shining manage to hold out for? Where the hell did they find the time to record this kinda thing?!

… where was the stable?

That question lingered with me as we got back to our hooves and on the path upwards. If the stable hadn’t gone up in flames like mine, maybe there’s a chance it’s still thriving… I doubt Cadance would be around, but who knows. That might be just what was giving the shattered heart its trickle of love to clear the snow.

Speaking of which… Snow continued to smear against the paned glass of the staircase, and I only could watch the ground below get smaller the further up we went. Vast expanse of the Crystal Empire, where ever that stable was, it certainly was well hidden. Hopefully it stayed that way, if there were still ponies down there surviving, I know they wouldn’t want to see what this place had crumbled to. Although this area looked a bit cleaner than the rest of the palace … the long hallway didn’t have so much as a speck of dust to-

“Hello there!” ahh! Alimite shot up from behind me almost atop the suit.

Before us stood… err, hovered, a Mister Handy fresh from the broom closet. Claw on one tendril, torch on another, and feather duster attached to the last. The biggest surprise was it wasn’t shooting at us! It remained there just bobbing up and down as its eyes looked us over. No wonder it was so clean up here, the tenders to the palace never stopped doing their jobs. If it was still in one piece, then maybe the ghouls hadn’t made it this far up… I’d make for a lot easier search.

“Nice to meet you sir,” I took a light bow, letting the mare slip off my side.

“Oh, pish posh lad, no need to show an old bucket of bolts such courtesy,” its eyes swiveled on from myself and my company. “Though it is appreciated none the less.” Strange… if this one was out and about, were there any- “If you’re here to see his majesty, Mister Ranger, I’m afraid he is quite indisposed.”

His… Majesty? So, Shining did make it this far after all. “It’s actually more of a courtesy call,” Okay! Pick a line of bluffs and see which one might work, “from…”

“…The misses,” Alimite chimed in, righting herself and straightening out her garment.

“Ahh! I see now, no wonder he let you in here through the commotion downstairs,” with a bob of one eye, we followed in its thruster trail down the hall… wait… he?

Before I could get an answer to that question, there at our muzzles stood a door like no other. Carved out of what had to be solid crystal itself, it glistened against the flickering lights around us. Fine hoof work indeed, and if I had to put caps on it, probably somewhere important.

Its one claw reached out and onto the pad below the handle, as a quick glow of recognition flowed between the robot and the frame. Behind its construction, I could hear the locks being undone, and just like that a gentle gust broke the seal.

“Do let yourselves in,” the bot started to bob off, “and please tell his majesty he’s one million five hundred forty-one thousand seven hundred and sixty hours late for dinner.”

Yeah… we’ll tell him. A single hoof creaked open the door on its hinges, and with little effort the chambers inside stood like a time capsule. Clothes were neatly stacked atop the dresser, bed linins tucked up tight under the mattress, and even the skeleton in the bed looked… peaceful. Okay, so it wasn’t all hidden away from the wasteland. The body there kinda threw off the scenery a bit.

Yet, where other bones I’d seen mostly were tossed about on a whim. This one reminded me of an old Pegasus, somepony who went out on their own terms. Along their back they laid, one hoof neatly folded over the other atop their chest. Their head relaxing against pillows that were long overdue for a fluffing, and almost a smile escaping along the edge of their long rotted away skin… this pony died happy, and probably greeted death with a beam.

I could feel my knee starting to buckle, this time however, it was by my own accord. Steadily to the ground I met the ragged carpeting, and paused there for a moment. I never met the colt in real life, again never got the chance to make that trip. Though from what I knew of the guy through papers, and even broadcasts. He was better a pony than most all that lined the rangers’ ranks now, all save for a hoof full.

“Should I ask?” Alimite gave her best curtsy, before joining me back in my approach.

“Just showing some respect, for a much-loved colt,” and very much cared for brother… I got my mug inspired by somepony after all.

Next to him rested a device I was already familiar with, and the tape floated its way in my grasp to the suit. It didn’t take long to find in my inventory, and with a click the sounds of some final words started to play like a sad song.

Or coughing at least, Shining was hacking up his other lung by now before he even got a word out. “Damned Stripes…” oh I knew that feeling all too well, “you threw everything you had at us, yet I still held on…” another torrent of coughs erupted from his throat, and in the background, I could hear the hinges we just walked through move again.

“Sir are you well? Should I fetch you something?”

“I’m quite alright, Fiddlesworth,” the tearing of his throat said otherwise, “please lock the door on your way out… I think I’ll be turning in for the night.” After a goodbye that Fiddlesworth didn’t know would be their last, Shining let out a sigh. “I hope she made it, I hope all of them did… but she had to have… still,” the ruffling of some parchment broke through, “it would have been better if she took this, just in case.”

Out the corner of my eye I could see this in his hoof, its flickering alone I should have noticed before the tape. Though could you blame me for wanting to hear some history? “Twily made good on her promise, got it to me not long before she went out to one of her secret projects…” a secret project that he still knew of. I guess she couldn’t hide everything from her brother, “if only I could have said goodbye… not that I won’t be seeing them again soon anyway,” whatever this colt breathed it must have been like razorblades to his insides, that last one I could almost hear the blood seep out. “This is Prince Shining Armor of the Crystal Empire, signing off, and wishing whoever might find this… good luck, and learn from us.”

The recording cut out, and I don’t imagine he waited long before taking his place on the bed. Even less time before whatever the zebras threw at this place took its hold of the guy. All while he took hold of something else, and with a gentle aura I lifted one skeletal hoof up to revile something I’d seen once before… from another like himself.

I had one similar already installed in my suit, a final parting gift from one of the good ones. This talisman however, shined with a deeper ocean tint that its lighter cousin could only dream of. “Can ya give me a hoof?” with a kick the back panel of the suit popped open, and my handy mare trotted back with a smile. “It should just be a quick-” Zap, “swap!”

That one I felt in my ass! “Not a swap, it actually went right over top of the other one in there…”

So… what the hell did that mean? I’ll have plenty of time to find out later when I got to the rangers. You know, when I actually figured out where the hell they were… it felt almost gross looking through the drawers of the pony whose body laid there on the bed. Though I still had a job to do, one that I think he would have understood if he could hear it.

The more I popped open, the more I realized one thing. This couple kept their work lives and personal ones separate at all costs. There wasn’t even so much as a newspaper clipping lying around. All I could see were pictures their majesties took from their wedding, times shared with friends and the regal sisters, or the pair just genuinely spending time together… anything to keep their minds away from the war that waged.

I didn’t want to go any further here, and by the looks of things it wouldn’t matter anyway. Hopefully the other group made out a little better, “Let’s circle back around, meet up with-”

The door burst open, and just as quickly the other trio slammed their backs against it. Deacon had some of his feathers singed, Tumble had probably seen better days tossing about in a briar bush, and even Riff was out of breath as she patted down scorched tatters of her coat. One thing was certain, the commotion didn’t stop when they held the door.

“What. Did. Ya’ll. Do!” I bellowed out, grabbing their attention in a snap. It had just been so quiet, and now that all went to hell in a handbasket.

“Deacon did it…” Tumble nudged her head his way.

Instead of a rebuttal, all I got from the gryphon was a nod. “No, no… she’s right with this one,” his talon went digging through the bag on his side, as something from the other side of the door pushed them off it for a moment. “Found the library, went looking through the records, asked the Mister Handy librarian for some help, and found an article of the subs being built…” the crumbled-up piece of paper flew my way, and I nabbed it in my horn.

I could see in the preserved print the pictures of twin keels being laid, and there in the corner of it stood out in bold letters NORTH LUNA BAY DOCKYARD. A little blip popped up on my compass, and just like that we had our heading… there was just one problem, “then what the hell is going on now?!”

“I wanted to take the article for your suit to pick out… although I didn’t have a library card,” Deacon started to grimace for a second, “so I might have tucked it in my pocket, and pissed off the librarian in the process…”

“… and the librarian had a friend,” Tumble finished for him, throwing her back into the door again.

“Why not just tell me the name of the place?!” That right there stumped the gryphon of a few seconds, though any further inquiry to his thought process was saved. A second time those doors nearly burst open, though with a hefty shove from the hellhound it slammed back. This time, I managed to have one bar pop on my screen now, “It’s just one! We can-”

“It’s a sentry…” okay Tumble, and?

“A big one…” Deacon clenched his jaw.

“Big big one,” Riff added, “pony take books seriously.”

Oh perfect! I didn’t deal with bots much, but I knew enough to see some of the models the ministries had planned… and just a few managed to nearly beat my ass in a boxing ring alone! Now here we were, locked up in some tower like a fairytale princess, trapped by some metal monstrosity. This would be the time to call out for a knight in shining armor right about now, all I’d have to do was pop the…

Oh, they weren’t going to like this one. “Deacon, how are your wings!” I shouted at him. For a moment he flared them out in confusion, though me galloping back into the room, and lining up my path answered his question already.

“Right!” his talons wrapped around Tumbles torso.

My horn did the same to Alimite, and plopped her along my back. “Hold on…” I muttered to her through the pounding at the door, advice she didn’t need to be given. Like a vice I could feel her hooves digging into my neck already! “Riff! Grab hold of something on your way out!”

The hound looked at me for a moment, and a moment past that I was already bounding towards the window. A few shells from shotty and the beautifully preserved pain glass blew out into shards. Joining the snowflakes, as I did the same with the mare.

So much faster than the stairs!

Snow whizzed by my head, and I’m sure somewhere in there I could hear one mare screaming in my ear… no wait, make that two. Past the screams I could hear the flapping of wings, and right beside me Deacon caught up. With a very petrified looking Tumble across his back, I was thankful to have armor protecting me, though the gryphon looked damn near purple with how hard she was squeezing him.

Did I mention this was faster than the stairs? And oh boy was that ground getting big! I brought up the thruster controls, just as Deacon started fanning out his wings putting him behind me. I had to time this, otherwise… well none of my friends carried a shovel…

Wait for it…

Wait…

“Fucking burn em, Wild!” Alimite shouted, and I can oblige that!

A jerk later and the talismans in the machine were going at a hundred and ten percent. Any snow beneath me was vaporized, and its droplets instead smacked across my visor. The ground was still coming in fast, but with my landing area filling up the HUD I could see at least some drag to my decent.

Mind you, that was only some… so this is what Lock, Stock, and Barrel all felt like? My hooves cratered into the ground, punching straight through the street and bringing me at least half a foot shorter. Shock Suppression be damned, that shit hurt! My legs were rattling, my teeth might have crunched down to dust, and I’m pretty sure I just headbutted the inside of my own helmet.

That left… “I swear to-” Alimite got out, before whatever could be found in her stomach evacuated itself across my back and scattered across the floor.

Stepping out of my hole, I trotted a few feet trying to jostle the mare, and think of any sort of apology to say… “Better than the stairs…”

Wrong words! Sarcasm aside, I threw it down a well for good measure and tried easing the mare onto her hooves. Better said than done, her first step almost sent Alimite to the ground again. With a shoulder to lean on though she found her footing, and I could see the panting from her breath… your ribs were not supposed to look like that…

“Are you alright?” her face said it all, and I know I was going to take that wrench to the side any moment… “Stupid question…”

Just in time to save my ass! Our resident medic fluttered his wings down to a near crawl a few feet away from us, and just as fast Tumble fell off his back onto the ground. Her legs were kicked up, and I’m pretty sure she got what I’d call a Pegasus Blow-dryer to the face, but she was breathing.

Deacon soared over in a moment, and once again was finding is way through those doctor bags of his. “Might have wanted to kick the brakes on a little sooner there chief,” he informed me a few hundred feet too late, though with the seconding from Alimite through a nod. Two healing potions found their way down her throat faster than she could breathe.

Deacon, alive. Alimite, healing, but alive. Tumble, pissed off at a gryphon, but there was nothing new with that one… a-a-and… There she is. Riffs’ claws dug neatly into the side of the palace, and all the way up I could see the trail they left. One hell of a way to mark her territory. A few stories from the ground, and she released, landing almost in perfect step with my own crater.

And immediately collapsed onto all fours panting. “Dog… appreciate… more warning next time!”

“How about we avoid the next time all together,” Tumble finally got back to her own hooves, and passed a venomous looking glare one gryphons’ way. “This is why no one comes here…” her eyes began to roll before stumbling a few paces, “Terrible weather, big ass robots, ghouls that explode, and ponies that want to play Pegasus…”

“I had to think on the fly!” I shouted with my hooves up, as we turned tail and started walking. All four of them either snickered, or were ready to beat me to death… “No pun intended! Besides, we left that thing long behind-”

Crash!

Steadily the five of us found the courage to look behind, and there masking the impacts of both me and the hound, was one bot to be reckoned with. Shield emblems dotted either of its shoulder plates just under the missile pods of its white painted metal, while what had to be the fighting flag of the empire fell from the barrel ends of its main autocannons. Each banner barely long enough to reach the treaded tripod that held it up… I could already hear somepony saying bigger at the development meeting of this thing.

The few dings and scrapes along that otherwise pristine coat told me all I needed to know. With this thing roaming the palace, how far would any of those ghouls really gotten? The whirl of a small servo perked up in my ears, and I saw its head spring to life as the lights zeroed in on me and my group. More particularly to the suit itself, as if it was peering through the visor.

Just as the HUD gave it a namesake, Final Lesson. I just had to open my damned mouth!

“Mission parameters: Protect palace property and occupants,” it groaned in that dead voice of a Sentry, “Trespassers identified… Crystal Empire Palace property found,” its mechanical voice signaled, as its sights seemingly began to narrow, “requiring with extreme prejudice.”

Oh, it looked like it wanted that paper back! Along its shoulder blades those pods lit up, and all five of us scattered missing the barrage nipping at our tails. No wait, scratch that, my tail in particular! Just like everything else in the wasteland, this thing had the hots for me. The ripples in the ground behind me ran as its own 14.4mm dug away from the miss.

My head swiveled to one side staring it down, as shotty did the same. Shell after shell we exchanged, and I didn’t have a hope to damage it from here. Though it did keep its attention away from another. The volley of 40mm against its haul gave more of a kick, even jarring its stance before the head turned to match Riff… with barely even a scratch on its paint. Another barrage from its shoulder sent the hound tucking away into the hospital.

Okay eyes back on me now! My hooves stomped and pivoted, charging at it might not have been the smartest maneuver, but neither was leaping out a palace window. Valve opened, and in my path a torrent of flames erupted like the dragons of old. Fire against metal wasn’t viable, but having those flames across its face did make me feel a bit better. Its AC arms swung about trying to swipe the flames away, as my own cannon kicked on.

Even against ones plated up like raiders, and tended too as if pets, APECR was a wonderful thing to… have… after the first shell hit, I saw that all too familiar shimmer spring to life. The flames started to die out from being suffocated under the vail of its shield, all as my rounds sparked and scattered against the stone beneath us like spent confetti.

This thing had a shield too… time to- one leg pivoted, and the other didn’t want to play along. Underneath the snow and ice my metal slipped up, sending me to the ground with a face full of frost. Still well within reach, and sight of that arm coming down.

“Motherfuck-!”

Ahh, there’s the boxing gloves from before! Myself and the suit as one skipped and sparked across the ground, before smacking into the side of another structure. Celestia and Luna were replaced by the pink alicorn of love dancing around, and with my friends taking the smart approach from behind cover. All its sensors fell on my armored ass… yippy.

A contrail answered my call, and the resonating in my ear told me Tumble had recovered from her skydiving lesson. Flames skipped against the shield, and while it faltered for a second following the impact. The enchantment never dropped, and if anything radiated even brighter from the hit. Just what the hell was powering this thing?! I tried getting to my hooves, wobbly for sure, but I was standing damn it… oh, hello!

One of its treads kicked into my chest, putting me back on the ground with the full weight of it on top. Concussive blasts I could withstand, punches from a metal arm all the same, even some of the most powerful ammunition in the waste the suit could shrug off with a little luck.

Getting stepped on by a big ass robot was not in the design plans for these suits!

Plates were shifting along my chest where I didn’t even know there were plates before, and now I could feel the weight of it pressing against my literal rib cage. If I’d been wearing any other suit, it would have collapsed like a can. My hooves tried to plant along its leg, anything to get this thing off me. Who the hell in the M.W.T. made these so beefy?! Even with the servos working overtime, I couldn’t get its leg to budge one… bit…

For a split second I looked and saw my hooves on its plating, and that dull shimmer around not only itself, but me as well… oh this was gonna hurt. Shotty swiveled down right along its tread, and I clicked on full auto for this one. With a single chomp, probably way too many shells met its metal with explosive fury. Chunks of it sprayed into my face from the pellets, and I could already feel the suit waning from the impact of my own munitions. Though finally something inside its matrix clicked.

With the foot off me, I rolled back onto my hooves and tried darting towards the hospital. Blasts of missiles nipped away at my ass yet again, each one nudging me a little more forward as they tried to-

Armor integrity: 64%

When the hell did you drop that low?!

Speed wasn’t my friend in the suit, but mass sure as hell was! Right next to the one Riff had made earlier, I punched a neat pony sized hole into the structure. My breath was still trying to catch up with having to haul more suit than pony around, but I at least had a breath to take… Riff on the other hoof looked like she needed about an entire pallet worth of Cram to get a smile again.

Chunks of glass stuck out along her coat from where obviously the windows blew out like shrapnel. Hellhound hides were tough, but even something as fragile as fused glass could do a number on them when it was propelled by a missile.

“Dog… hate… robots,” she licked along the trickling blood from her paw to its base.

“Yeah, you and me both,” the sounds of another 40mm going off outside told me Deacon finally found his roost. I think I could take a moment to let the suit do some work and patch my ass up, “inside the shield it can take a beating… found that out the hard way.” My whining ribs still pounded inside my chest, even with the meds going to work it hurt to breathe.

“Wild have fun trying to box it…” her glare already said that would be a bad idea for any in our group besides us two.

Outgunned? Oh, for sure. How far was it really willing to track us though? “We need a distraction…” I watched those canine eyes fall on the suit, “Not me! I mean something to keep it occupied so we can get out of here.”

Another shard of glass found its way onto the dusty floor, and with her launcher as a cane Riff picked herself up. “Dog… have idea then,” Wonderful! At least some creature did, “Keep bot busy.”

Not wonderful!

Before I could shout at her to learn more, those hellhound paws were already tearing away through the structure. My flank found the floor, crunching some of that glass underneath. I swear I said ‘not me’ when I mentioned a distraction… for the love of the princesses, I hope you know what you’re doing Riff.

Armor integrity: 66%

“Go ahead, no rush or anything!” I yelled into the helmet at the suit, as my hooves planted along the floor ready to charge headlong into the fray yet again.

Alrighty… Ready, fire, aim! Both the ADAC and IF-451 lit up the hole I made as I went through, and almost immediately the bot turned away from the buckshot smacking into its side to face off. Every one of its barrels and pods geared up, and I felt that knot in my throat choke its way down… please be something useful.

Missiles went off, 14.4mm lobbed from both our ends… and around me a shimmer shrouded the suit to match its own. The shockwave was enough to pick me up off my hooves again, but like a cat I found myself on all fours. Each of its rounds smashed into the shimmer, dropping the spent munitions to my feet like mine did the same to it. Just like its own though, my shield didn’t quite let up either.

All I got was a sparkle from the shots breaking on impact, and a very confused looking Sentry ahead. Somewhere in its matrix it was trying to run the numbers on just how to approach this one, and somewhere in that time another shell landed in front of its face. Frost started to put out whatever flames of mine met it, and over the enchantment its vision faltered. Off to the side I could see the fluttering wings already disappearing back into another building, even as its shells tried to catch up.

Oh no you don’t! Finally, my shield started to flicker, just in time for me to do something stupid… my go-to battering ram smashed into its leg, and I saw the face of ‘really?’ painted on its brow. To which I answered with another hefty dose of 12 gauge to its side. Its gun arms swung around its base trying to swat me like the fly I was, but if I had trouble moving in the suit. Then it sure as hell had a hard time getting a bead on-

Never mind! That hit knocked me back a few yards, and from my chest I almost felt my lungs cough up, but I quickly got right back into its personal space. Up and close here it didn’t want to use those guns, fine by me, I’d more than happily use mine. Once more inside the shield I let the incinerator rip, basking the tight space in flames. Any snow underneath us quickly turned to steam from the heat, and I could barely see its arms before they made contact.

Armor integrity: 51%

A combination of boxing matches and explosive buckshot was not a heathy mix… my head was starting to whirl, and no dose of Med-X was going to help the pounding. Just had to keep its eyes on me a bit… Longer?

The jaws of a ghoul latched onto my leg, and from reflex my hoof crushed its skull under the weight. Where the hell did y’all come- From! A dozen more shot out from the hospitals’ new exits. One lunged at me, which was only met with a single shot that detonated its entire body in a showering of crystalline shards.

Two more though found their way onto the legs of the bot, and I heard the crunching of their bones from the force of its swings… its eyes were off me now, and I found my window. Even with one nipping at my heels, I kicked the thrusters on in high gear launching me off the ground. The ghoul that tried to hold on lost its grip, finding a new home on the stone below, as I got to watch from the safety of the Hospital roof.

The first dozen the bot was handling well, though the snarling and chomping underneath signaled the arrival of friends, as another bunch poured out from the building. All too eager to join their friends and play with their shiny new toy. A couple of the ghouls that took rounds to their bodies exploded, and for all the plating in the world this thing had. Those shards sticking out of its armor still sent a few sparks out when they dug in, yet the damn thing stood tall. You know… I had to give it to Final Lesson. Whoever designed and built this one at the M.W.T. needed a raise after all the crap it was taking now.

“Plan work?” I heard that husky voice from behind, and Riff stepped up to my side.

“Plan work well,” I answered, and took one last look at the bot following its final orders… protect.

Stairs? No thank you, Riff and I found our way down quite nicely on the side of the building with a single leap. I wanted to be nowhere in sight for the bot or ghouls to pick up on. A wide circle around the open street we fought in yielded only the sounds of gun shots in the distance, as I finally came up to the rest of our group.

All of them looked about ready to burn this place to the ground, but I wasn’t getting a tool thrown at me, so that’s a plus. “Hey he’s in one piece,” Deacon started to snicker.

“And only caught himself on fire a little,” Alimite added, her ribs looking mighty better the last time I saw them.

Trying to turn the shield into an oven yielded a fresh coat of scorch marks to the suit, but ill toss that up to battle scars. Nothing a little TLC couldn’t fix later, “Thank you for being a distraction to my distraction…” I couldn’t help but slide some sarcasm their way for hanging me out to dry in the ring.

Okay, take two… all five of us put the fighting behind us, literally, and started heading out of the city. That marker firmly in the forefront of my vision as I lead the way. “Well, we couldn’t let you have all the fun, you can just take a better beating,” Tumble added, and like it or not she was right, “The thing sure had the hots for you after all.”

Well now… “I just attract all the attention, don’t I?” my eyes were rolling, but a nod from each of them answered that fact… bullet sponge was still my middle name.

Footnote: Max level.

New Perk: “Shinings’ Contribution Lv. 2”- Who says Alicorns get to have all the fun? Shield upgraded to give an additional 75 damage resistance to current level, blocking even more incoming damage for twenty seconds. Any damage greater that impacts is severely reduced in power. Warning: Charge time increased.