Chapter 9: Colts of a Feather

Fallout Equestria: Endless Horizon

Chapter 9: Colts of a Feather

The warm sunlight felt amazing on my wings and back. After a long brutal winter, everyone in Hippogriffia was excited to enjoy the coming spring. Those of us that weren’t rushing to get the season's crops planted had a couple of days to enjoy the sun and relax.

Or, most of us did; my father saw fit that I learn proper weapon handling. We flew out to the shores so we wouldn’t bother anyone. The sea shimmered towards the horizon, eventually meeting the rising sun. The sand was warm and soft under my claws and hooves. I could feel the magic of the sea. It’s creatures, the plants, the crabs and critters that hid along the beach or in the tides. It was like a blanket, wrapping around the world, comforting it as best it could, despite the endless suffering. A deep part of my soul resonated with it–longed for it. If my people ever returned to living in the ocean, it wouldn’t be in my lifetime…

I distracted myself from the stray thoughts with the lesson. He showed me the basics of his phase pistol. The safety, the firing button, and how to reload it. He explained a billion times to always treat it like it’s loaded, and never point it at something I wasn’t willing to destroy.

The entire lesson stressed me out. The idea of handling a weapon made my feathers ruffle. It wasn’t a skill I ever thought I’d need, and honestly, I didn’t appreciate the lessons as much as I should have. I had no idea how many times I’d end up needing what I learned that afternoon. Or how much I should have treasured one of the last memories I had with him where he wasn’t fighting with mother…

Finally, I was allowed to hold the weapon. It wasn’t heavy like I’d expected. Energy weapons were deceptively light. I aimed at some seashells he’d set up downrange on a bench, but I couldn’t get the sights to stay lined up. My hand kept shaking, refusing to stay stable. I almost always had a bit of a tremor, unless I was working with my dad on the skiff or something.

After 15 minutes I was frustrated and discouraged. I’d gone through three spark packs and had only managed to graze one of the seashells. My father did his best to encourage me. It didn’t help. I already had a billion things in my life that I couldn’t do well enough, so the idea of adding another one to the list made my chest tighten. Meanwhile, when Aqua learned to shoot she nailed every shot. How was I supposed to compete with that!?

I jumped as I felt my father's wing draped around my shoulder. I didn’t know how long he’d been holding me. Probably almost as long as I’d been crying. Why was I always crying? Everyone must have thought I was a filly. Just a fledgling, helpless without her family. Useless even with them.

I buried my beak into dad's soft grey coat. His wings wrapped around me in a protective hug as I took the rare chance to vent my feelings openly. No other townsfolk or family were there to judge me. It was just me, my father, and the feeling that I balanced the weight of the world on my back.

“We don’t need to keep going if you don’t want to,” Dad said as he ran his claw through my mane. “I understand that this is hard for you. I just wanted you to know how… in case you ever needed to. Your mom, your sister and I may not always be there to protect you.”

I looked up at him and nodded, the inside of my goggles wet with tears. “Ok… Can I just try one more time? Before we go home?”

“Of course.”

“And maybe… We don’t tell mother and Aqua how badly I did?”

He chuckled and smiled. “Of course little bird. Ready?” He drew the pistol from his holster and passed it to me, handle first.

It didn’t feel special or dangerous to hold. Just like any other tool I’d used before, just with the tiniest vibration from the spark packs. I raised the gun downrange, did my best to aim, and fired.

The minute I pulled the trigger the world was dark. Moonlight shimmered across the water. The cool air nipped through my coat. The target was gone, replaced by a ghost. A nightmare. A Stallion.

His copper coat reflected the moonlight wonderfully. His mane matched the sand at his hooves. The unicorn was bleeding. Red flowed from his eyes and ears, every orifice. I couldn’t have shot him. If I had, it wouldn’t look… like that. It couldn’t. I couldn’t!

I stumbled back, my chest tight. I couldn’t take in a breath as the blood pooled at my claws. My wrists. My foreleg. The life of the buck was coming after me, flooding me. Threatening to drown me! The blood was over my head now. The beach was gone, there was no sky. It filled my lungs and stomach, stealing my terrified screams as I drowned in regret.

*** *** ***

Needless to say, I didn’t sleep well. It took hours to shake the feelings of anxiety and shame brought up by my nightmares. I did everything I could to keep that day under lock and key, but it always found its way in. I loathed it.

It didn’t bother me as much as the desire burning within To feel that power and confidence flooding through my veins; all of the pain I felt washed away by the incredible euphoria. Every worry and fear purged from my system.

But I couldn’t do that. It was bad enough I’d already been wounded and poisoned in the wasteland, I really couldn’t afford to fall off the wagon. At home, I had access to treatment and support when something bad happened. Sure, in the wasteland I had my friends, but there wasn’t much they could do to help me. The best I could do was get back to work. Get distracted, bottle it up.

Free spotting the raider camp drew me away from my brooding. A portion of mostly intact highway crossing high above a now dried-up lake. We didn’t see any patrols or defences set up, though their elevation and seclusion made it secure. Half a dozen scrap metal buildings made up the base. Two of them had basic shooting platforms on the roofs, but they were unmanned.

One building in particular caught my attention. It was larger than the rest, with a chain-link fence around it. Light shone through the glassless windows, while the rest of the homes were left in darkness or candlelight. It was the only building with power. Two ponies stood guard outside of the door, likely armed. Definitely the leader's home.

Pastel blurs made their way between homes or small sacks of supplies stacked along the edge of the elevated street. Barrels of water, food and medicine. Interestingly enough, the only supply of ammo I could see was in Steel wings home, guarded by his cronies.

Seeing the stolen supplies made my heart ache for the lives lost trying to protect them. Everyone died, that was just a fact. Ending life for food or protection is a part of nature, but ponies were supposed to be better than that. The theft wasn’t for survival anymore. There were months worth of supplies stashed up there. Innocent lives for pony greed. My friends weren’t as disturbed by it all as I was. For them, it was just another aspect of the wasteland.

Free and I were perched in the energy pylon for nearly an hour while Scarlet and her friend moved in on hoof. Once the grounder pounders got closer to the base, Free and I would meet up with them. Hopefully with a plan of some kind.

It didn’t look like how I imagined a raider camp. It wasn’t even as bad as the damage and vandalization we’d seen at the water plant. The scrap buildings seemed at least stable, and I could make out a dozen or so figures moving around through my binoculars outside, though there might have been more in the building. At least two of them were in power armour. That, or they were some really bulky pegasi.

There was a makeshift lift along the side of the platform, likely set up to fairy supplies up and down more easily. I had no doubt I’d be able to use it to get the others up, but it seemed likely it would make them very easy targets while it carried them. Not to mention they could create a choke point at the top.

As we moved in closer to the base, I started to feel calmer. Though you didn’t need my keen arcane sense to notice. Jazy was sitting on the ground smiling but bolted up instantly when we landed. She ran over, giggling the entire time. “Have you ever seen this many plants in one place!?”

It was a forest. Or it was before the world ended. There were signs of life. Patches of grass, green bushes, even some tree saplings were growing. Some of the trees were still alive, though looked quite sickly. It had been a massive lake before the war, from what I could tell. Now there were only small puddles and ponds around, filled with radioactive water. Still, it seemed to be enough for the plants to live on. It was a little oasis, hidden in the middle of the balefire-blasted wasteland.

My arcane sense had dulled at some point in the years before, but something on my adventures had caused them to grow again. Allowing me to feel the still-hot embers of what Equestria used to beThe energy of the plants flowed around me, creating an abstract scene of life energy only viewable with my unusual talent. The plants held onto traces of the world that was before, energy and feelings of the beauty that had been so plentiful before it was left to ruin. They longed for it in a way that was heartbreaking, but wonderfully optimistic. No matter how tear-jerkingly beautiful it all looked and felt, there was still one fundamental problem.

It was still raider territory.

Scarlet was keeping her guard up while her friend worked to use up some of her excited energy. Her pump-action shotgun was strapped to her back, but I could see the faint glow of magic around the grip in case she needed to draw it quickly.

After telling them what we’d encountered, Scarlet took a minute to appraise the situation. “It… doesn’t sound like any kind of raider camp I’ve ever seen. It’s very possible they set up a settlement and then had to raid due to resource scarcity. It’s hard to say without more information… And of course, we can’t get up close to take a look.”

“I think we stake them out!” My suggestion was met with three blank stares. “You know, a stakeout! It’s like when the cops sit outside a bar waiting for their “perp” to show up, so they can get information? We can hide out near the base of the highway, and do some surveillance! We can’t get any street food or bad coffee like they do in books, but otherwise, it’s perfect!”

After a moment, Scarlet shrugged then nodded. “It isn’t a horrible idea I guess. More information is always better. What do you think, army brat?” She pointed a hoof at Free.

“I think it’s wise. But we’ll need to be pretty far back to be able to see them coming and going by wing. Most fliers wouldn’t bother with a lift when flying is faster.” He looked around for a minute. “But I think we should look around here, first.”

We scoped the area out under their base but found nothing we didn’t expect. A few pony tracks, the odd empty chem container or spent bullet casing; nothing unusual for the wasteland.

I took a few minutes to look at the lift before we pulled back to keep an eye on them. It was in terrible shape, put in place before the war to do some kind of maintenance on the section of highway. The motor had recently been repaired, and a new(ish) spark battery was plugged into it. I snagged a spark battery from the machinery. At the rate I was going it would take weeks to replenish my supply, but it was a start. And if we needed the lift later I could plug it back in!

We moved away from the highway at a steady pace, using the underbrush for cover. The Enclave Raiders wouldn’t be able to get a steady supply of water without a lot of equipment, so setting up camp there didn’t make sense. It was defendable, but not much else. It was no wonder they had to resort to stealing.

We set up a basic camp about two kilometres out, under cover of some shrubs and trees. Free took the first shift watching the pegasi. Without a word he just perched on top of a halfdead tree and glued himself to his binoculars.

Scarlet, Jasmin and I sat on the ground, keeping an eye out around us we tried to keep busy. I decided to tinker with the Novasurge rifle, doing another inspection before disassembly.

The word Hurricane was edged along the side of the rifle, just above where you’d normally find the firing bit. It’d been mostly painted over and was only partly visible. It was probably the weapon's name.

I smiled down at it. I never owned a weapon with enough history or importance to have a name. I hadn’t even thought to name my pistol when I’d made it. I was bad at naming things. But this rifle… It definitely deserved a name. I’d make sure it was very easy to make out when I repainted it.

The valleys magic was a lovely change from the rest of the wastes. In that little patch of greenery, I could feel life in every direction. It was weaker and less concentrated than back home, but it was there. The grass, the bushes, the birds. The way their energy flowed through the environment created a symphony of magical vibrance. It would nurture more life, encourage the valley to grow... In another few decades, the little oasis would grow and prosper. The return of nature to Equestria. Maybe a nature spirit would come to tend this place, or grow from the resonance of it all.

It was nearly evening before Free finally came down for a break. Scarlet was cleaning her rifle, while Jasmin was cooking something, over a small fire. She was making it in a pot, but it wasn’t like any soup I’d ever seen. She’d been quiet and distant for the past hour or two, citing a terrible headache

My ears twitched. Something was rustling behind us. Breaking twigs and crinkling leaves. My friends heard it too. Scarlet and Free both sprung into action, rifle and spear at the ready. Jasmin didn’t notice or care about the commotion. She continued to tend her boiling concoction.

A scream broke out from the woods. My ears twitched as I flinched back. Suddenly a grey blur plowed out of the brush. It sent me tumbling across the ground. I coughed as it forced the air from my lungs.

My first reaction was to lash out with my talons. The idea made me instantly nauseous, and I managed to rein it in. When I looked up I didn’t see a raider or wild beast attacking our camp. Sat on my barrel and panting as hard as me, was a pegasus colt.

I laid my head back as I took a minute to catch my breath. “You… Scared the pony pellets out of me kid…”

The blank flanked foal frowned at me with his ears back. His grey coat and golden mane stood out well against the foliage. We probably only missed him due to his small size.

Free rushed over as I hoisted the kid off, and gave the frightened foal a disarming smile. “What are you doing out here alone, little one? Are you alright?”

The colt's eyes watered as he shook his head. “I-I came out to explore but I don’t know what way the village is and I-I-I got scared! I can’t see above the trees, a-and I can’t fly…”

He was just a child lost in the woods. Not wasteland terror or a vicious, airborne raider. It made me question why we were out there. The idea of assaulting a camp where kids lived made me queasy. We had to be missing something.

I hesitated a second before I pulled the colt into my arms. I wrapped my warm wings around him, just like my father did with me. “Hey… You’re alright now. We can get you home, ok?” I said quietly. I didn’t have any experience around children. I wasn’t sure if I was doing the right things. I just tried to do whatever would have helped me feel better when I was that age.

The colt nuzzled into my shoulder, crying loudly. Once Free was sure the boy wasn’t injured he took a few steps back. Scarlet looked as confused as I felt, her eyes darting between the little pega and I.

Jasmin had just put out her fire, tucking a small metal container full of whatever she’d just cooked into one of her saddlebags. She cocked her head as she finally noticed us. “Oh… Uh, who’s the grub?”

*** *** ***

We agreed to take the colt back to his village, which we thought was a raider camp. They’d named it Skyward, a haven for people who were done living under the iron hoofs of their leaders. It was nice in theory, but apparently, it didn’t work out so well.

He didn’t bring up anything about the people there being dangerous, but we knew they were. They weren’t the type of raider to kill for fun, but they did kill ponies for their supplies. We couldn’t let that go unpunished. Whoever’s in charge would answer for that they did.

Jasmin had suggested the idea of using the child as leverage, but I turned her down immediately. I refused to use a child as a bargaining chip, and my friends agreed. While she was right that it would be an effective tactic for us to get what we want, it was wrong. This was someone's baby, not a hostage.

The colt became very chatty after he calmed down. Free and Scarlet had been asking him all about his home, family, and friends. I had one very obvious question to ask that they somehow missed.

“What’s your name?” The small pegasus sat on my back cocked his head at me.

His fluttering wings matched what I did when I got excited. Adorable. “My name is Stratus Haze! I’m seven years old, and one day I’m gonna be an explorer!”

My heart dropped a bit at the age-old name. I had to take a few breaths to compose myself. That person didn’t exist anymore… It just so happens this colt shared a name with him. It was fine. People could have the same names as other people! It didn’t change the past, but-

Stratus tapped my head gently. “Hey, why’d we stop? Is everything ok?” He asked. I hadn’t even noticed that I stopped walking.

I stammered for a second before answering “Yeah! Yeah, just um, I knew someone by that name, a long time ago. Sorry, let's go.”

After another minute of quiet trotting, I figured another couple of questions wouldn't hurt. Information was our best weapon against whatever was happening. It was also one of the only things I was useful for. “Hey Stratus, other than your parents, who’s in charge in the village?”

The colt's ears dipped for a second, and he tucked his tail between his hind legs. “O-oh… That’d be Mister Lou Tent Steel Wing.” He stammered, unsure of the proper pronunciation.

“Lieutenant,” Free corrected despite the foal not paying him any attention.

“Dad says not to go near him much. His metal hooves are loud walking around, and he’s always yelling a lot. But when dad's around he tells me what to do! So it’s ok.” Free and I shared a concerned look. The colt was scared of the cyber pony. Terrified even. I couldn’t blame him. Rumble was closer to being a pony than the murderous raider was.

The rest of the walk was quiet, though we didn’t know if it’d stay that way. Once somepony noticed the colt was missing, they’d have to send a search party. If they thought we were involved things would get messy fast.

A search party didn’t come. At least not in the way I’d expected it. There was a green-coated buck standing in the clearing by the lift, looking into the surrounding wilderness frantically. He had the lean athletic stature I’d expect from fliers but was far thinner than Free. A few spots of his coat had started to thin, too.

The second he noticed us he rushed over, wrapping the colt on my back in a tight feathered hug. He panted and whimpered as he pulled the foal to him, petting him with a hoof. “Stratus if you ever run off like this again, I will ground you for the rest of your life. I was so worried…” Stratus was hoisted off my back

I gave the two pegasi a moment to themselves before it felt appropriate to interject. I took a step closer to the father and held out my wing with a smile. “We found Stratus lost in the woods. It didn’t feel right to leave him on his own.”

The stallion looked at me through tear-filled eyes. “T-thank you for bringing him home. I’m not sure I could have found him on my own…” The buck unwrapped his foal for a moment to shake my wing, and quickly returned to holding him.

Scarlet trotted up beside me with a grim, shadowy expression. “Why didn’t anypony else help look? No offence, but you’re not much of a rescue party. You’re not even armed. What if there were raiders or wildlife down here?”

I hadn’t even realized it, but she was right. The entire time we were out there there wasn’t a single sign of a search party. Only a lone buck standing at what’s essentially the village’s entrance.

The Stallion sighed and looked down at the dirt. I noticed dark circles under his eyes that I hadn’t seen before… “Steel wasn’t willing to waste the resources looking for him, not even enough to give me a damn gun. ‘Course I couldn’t do nothing. He’s my son.”

Scarlet nodded. “Well, I’m glad we got him home safe. I’m Scarlet, and these are my companions, Aella Breeze, Jasmin Spark, and Feather brai-Feather Free.”

The buck chuckled a bit. “My name’s Thunder Chains. Everypony just calls me lucky though.” He sighed and looked back at the platform. “I’d invite you up, but Steel would have all our heads.”

“Why are you letting this pony lead if he’s causing problems?” Scarlet took a step towards the buck as she spoke, walking right into his personal space. “The Visionaries have photos of him attacking and killing local caravans. There’s a bounty out on him!” The intimidation tactic seemed effective, though I didn’t approve.

The buck's ears dipped back a bit as he sighed. “I was afraid of that… Things were fine at first, but when we ran out of rad away the water stopped being safe. We didn’t have any bit-er, caps, or anything to barter with. The lieutenant l decided he’d take his team out to find some. At first, we were all so happy we didn’t ask where it was coming from. Barrels of ammo, water, food, stuff we needed. But then they’d come back bloodied. He isn’t the same person he was weeks ago, let alone months. Steels fuse kept getting shorter and shorter. Little things send him into fits of rage. We’re all terrified to even question him…”

Free sat down on his haunches on the other side of me. He stared right through the buck, completely blank as he spoke. The stillness spooked me. “I worked with Steel Wing when we were still Enclave. If he’s gone this far… I’ll help however I can. I suppose the first thing we need to do is start getting you folks some water.”

“There’s no clean water for miles around, I’m afraid,” Jasmin said, joining the conversation. She sauntered back into the group, briefly looking each of us over. She wasn’t hanging her head or constantly sighing like she was before, so I assumed her headache had finally gone away. “Even with our water talisman, Vision has to have water shipped from the water plant down the tracks every couple weeks. But the plant belongs to Whinnies Grove. They won't let the water go for free, and you don’t have any trade.”

“What if somepony was willing to part with something for free? How many ponies do we need to keep alive?” I asked, an idea coming to mind immediately.

Lucky cocked his head. “There’s 15 of us, but-”

“If you’re thinking about the water reclamator and condenser on your ship, they’d hardly keep five people alive, let alone over a dozen,” Free said.

I scoffed at him and rolled my eyes. “Obviously I know that Free! I basically designed those. I have something else in mind.”

*** *** ***

“Oh, dear Luna” The villager buck gasped.

“Are you sure about this, Aella?” Scarlet rested a hoof on my shoulder. “Those things are insanely-”

“Valuable, I know. Specter said that too.” Hearing she had the same thought as the slaver made her flinch. “I don’t care how many caps it’s worth. The lives are these ponies are priceless. This’ll make enough water for all of you, and the valley below. This could breathe life back into this valley, for real!”

Everypony gathered around my open palm. Even the colt was enthralled by the site, and he didn’t understand the significance of it. A beautiful golden ring engraved with runes and glyphs, with a brilliant blue sapphire affixed in the center. It was cool in my hands, like holding a bottle of water. Despite the insane amounts of energy used to create the object, I could only feel the smallest breath of magic. Like the little relic was sleeping.

“I’m not sure if he’ll listen. I told you there’s something wrong with him. Even with us well supplied for weeks, his team goes out every other day to find ponies to take from! He’s screaming his head off, threatening ponies, his goons pointed a gun at me when I raised my voice about finding Stratus!”

Ouch.... That name again. Come on Aella you’re better than this!

“Somethings definitely wrong with him. The Enclave found plans for a prewar project and programmed it into Shadowbolt Tower. Before it was destroyed… They used the fabricators to augment him, and others. Since then… I don’t know, he was different. Not quite him.”

“It’s soul dissonance.” I was met with a mix of confused and curious looks. I shrunk back a little from the sudden undivided attention and did my best to explain. “Ok, um, well, part of it is. You’re already well aware that augmentation can cause a lot of psychological issues among patients, I imagine. There’s more to it… Souls, a creature's magical signature, The thing that makes them… them, it’s all tied to their body. The less body there is the greater separation between the soul and the mind. Too many implants and a person's soul has less of them to latch onto. It causes damage to the mind, it’s…

“We’ve researched it back home. The research team hoped if they found the cause, they could stop it. Easier to keep a starving population alive if they run on batteries. They found ways to help. Healing talisman, repair spells. Even having Elders or Shaman try and guard their souls against it. They learned a lot, and the tech saves many lives today, but… This level of augmentation. Only way would be to mount someone's Soul to their new body. It’ll destroy anyone. Not in days or weeks, but…”

“So there’s no reasoning with them?” Scarlet asked. I shook my head. “Fuck… How are we supposed to kill something made of steel and magic? We don’t have any EMP grenades, and we only have one Anti Machine Rifle. Can we build a weapon with some spark batteries again?”

The stallion's ears twitched a bit as he cut Scarlet off. “I’m… surprised, a Hippogriff would come all of this way and not have anything more. I’ve heard stories about the powerful weapons and technology of your people. Your magic. Surely you could destroy him with ease.”

I narrowed my eyes a bit, then took a breath. It wasn’t this bucks fault he had the wrong impression of us. “We have advanced technology, yes, but we don’t use everything we develop for weapons like Equestrian Ponies are resigned to do. We live with nature, heal and protect it. We don’t blow it up.” The last sentence had an edge, sharper than cosmic steel blades. The pony winced at the comment. While Lucky processed what I’d said, I addressed Scarlet's question. “I only have one, very poor quality spark battery. I don’t think it could even overwhelm my Pipbuck.” I raised my Pipbuck and tapped at it. Several graphs loaded onto the screen. A bit of quick math… Ok. “I have an idea, but I don’t know how well it’ll go. We’ll need it to be just Free and I against him.” I turned back to Lucky. “Can we get his goons off us?”

He took a second to answer, still frowning as he thought about my previous comment. “They’re as afraid of him as we are. Of… It. I can get them a message. I’ll need a few hours.”

“Are we sure talking isn’t an option? Fighting a death robot sounds like a death sentence. Especially with only two flyers.” Scarlet asked again. Since when was she the one to suggest talking over fighting, anyway?

“Talking isn’t an option. I’m the last pony-griff to shoot first, but I’m also educated enough in cybernetic arcane integration to know that we can’t reason with him. He isn’t a person anymore, he’s a machine. At the very least when we kill him, his soul will be free of his tortured mind. My plan will work, we just need to be careful. Do some brainstorming, figure out the best way to go about it all. But no matter what we need to finish this today. I don’t want any more innocent ponies to be hurt.”

Jasmin was smiling as she listened to me talk. The mare drew out her massive rifle and patted the side of it. “What’s the plan?”

*** *** ***

The wing of pegasi flew off into the dimming sky, bearing west. They’d gotten a tip about a massive caravan heading up to Hoofington, loaded to the brim with fresh food and caps. They were lucky an adventurous colt had seen the large caravan in the distance and returned to the Lieutenant with the information.

It was perfect! All the caps would get them more than enough weapons and supplies. They could set up giant turrets, feed their people, and rain death down on the inferior species tainting the wastes. Soon everypony would know the name Steel Wing, the most powerful soldier of Equestria.

All would rush to serve under him, or die by the hoofs of him and his followers. He would restore order to the savage wasteland, and rule over it as an immortal emperor. Nopony could stop him.

*** *** ***

I sat in the dirt of the previous night's campsite, idly fiddling with some twigs. I had to be ready to fly off at a moment's notice, so I couldn’t work on Hurricane or do anything I’d consider productive. I was totally, utterly bored.

Setting up the place to look like a fake caravan camp only took a couple of hours. We found some old busted-up wagons and pulled them over, and loaded them with empty boxes and barrels from a nearby junkyard. Free set a couple of his tents up, and we put some battery-powered lights in them for the illusion of occupancy.

It wasn’t perfect, but we only needed to fool them enough to draw them in close. Once we took to the air, our sole focus would be not to be shot by the cyber ponies' devastating nova surge weapons.

I wasn’t the most athletic hippogriff growing up, but I had learned when it’s ok to take shortcuts and cut corners. I tucked a small inhaler in the breast pocket of my barding, ready to use at a moment's notice in case things went bad.

The entire plan hinged on the hope that the dictator's wing ponies would bug out when the fight started. They were afraid of him and likely knew if we failed he would crush them. I figured the odds of them keeping to our agreement was 50/50.

I hadn’t expected the situation to become so complicated so quickly. Stopping an evil band of powerful raiders became saving a helpless village from the wrath of a tyrannical leader. In a way, this was easier. We’d thought we’d be facing down nearly a dozen power-armoured pegasi and a flying robot pony. Now we just had the pony, and maybe two fliers in armour.

We were more motivated than before to get this job done. Bad enough that caravans were getting hit and killed, the supplies nearby settlements dearly needed being lost. But now there was a village of refugees who needed saving as well.

Free was laying in the dirt a few feet away, waiting quietly for things to get underway. He was dressed in his usual armour, this time with a set of flight goggles on his forehead.

I had to keep resisting the urge to tune into DJ pon-3. I had to keep my Pipbuck tuned to our chosen frequency. Jasmin’s broadcaster was on the same one, making use of her Pipbuck peripheral.

“How are you feeling?” I asked as I kept my eyes on the sky. The morning star, Polaris, was just starting to make its appearance in the north. I tried my best to ignore the terrifying implications of them staring down at us as tried to strike up conversation.

“Normal pre-battle anxiety, nothing I haven't felt before.” He assured. “We learn to get through and embrace this feeling in basic training. What about you? You’re no fighter, Captain.”

I groaned at his use of my unwanted nickname. “No, I meant… This pony was your friend. It can’t be easy to do this.”

He picked idly at the dirt with his hoof. “He was my friend. Hell, he was more than that once. It used to be that, of everything and everyone in the sky all he saw was me. He was always afraid of dying or losing people, I think everyone is. But it pushed him to become… that thing, that monster. I was by his side as it slowly ate away his sanity. He hardly slept or eat. At first, he thought he was invincible, in the way a young colt usually does. But then it grew past that. He was disconnected from his mortality. And from me…” The buck flopped down in the dirt with a sigh. The mission was picking at old wounds that my friend hadn’t let heal yet. I hoped killing Steel Wing would help bring him closure, but I knew it wouldn’t be the case.

“That’s when I lost him. This beast, this murderer was never my friend. My friend died a while ago. Some abomination has been using what’s left of his face to hurt innocent ponies. But still, under all that metal somewhere… I can’t be sure. So I’m not thinking about it.”

It was a policy I was very familiar with when it came to internal struggles. While I was amazingly gifted at it, that didn’t mean it was a good practice. The sooner he faced them the less weight he would carry. For better or worse our heart-to-heart was stopped by the crackle of my Pip-buck radio.

“Flight team, Sky Eye. Target in range, 15 miles east bearing 250 degrees. Wing ponies are spread out in a wide V-formation, probably canvassing. At 13 wingpower ETA is 7 minutes.”

“Acknowledged, out,” I replied into my Pipbuck simply.

Free got to his hooves and started to get his gear on, with me right behind. “That friend of Scarlets seems skilled. No idea who the hell trained her but she’s got a good head on her shoulders. Woulda fit right in with.”

“Yeah, without her I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t have a chance,” I replied with a smile.

“Even with her, I’m not sure we have a chance. But Scarlet would walk into fire if you told her it was safe. I’m sure that kind of relationship isn’t without reason. So I trust you, too.”

“I’ll do the best I can,” I promised. “Did she really say that about me?”

The broadcaster interrupted us again. “Target is accelerating, ETA 2 minutes. Adjusting course for your position.”

“They see our caravan ‘camp’,” I stated. If I was any captain, I was Captain Obvious. I didn’t have the credentials for anything else anyway.

With the clock ticking down, we took a moment to stretch out our wings steel ourselves. Free pulled a bottle of pills out with a sigh and uncapped it. He hoofed me a pill as he eyed his own skeptically.

“I know you don’t do drugs, but without Buck, we won’t be able to keep up with his augmented body. We’ll tire out, he won't.” I explained. “I’ve used buck a few times before, you’ll be fine.”

He threw the pill into his mouth and grunted. “I’d rather do this than get turned into a pile of goo.” His eyes widened as he pointed. “There!”

Over my shoulder, three blurs flew towards us. I took out my binoculars to get a better look. The wing ponies flew off to either side, hopefully disengaging. Steel Wing watched them leave with a scowl. It shook its head but maintained course.

That was my first time getting a good look at it. His legs and torso were completely replaced with metal. His wings were made of steel, with a glowing talisman at the base of each one. His eyes gave off a terrifying red glow as he scanned the landscape. The only part of him other than his ‘bits’ was his muzzle, giving off the barest hint of cyan under the steel.

Time to go.

We took to the air, weaving through the trees, ruined homes, and lamp posts of the sparse suburb we lured him to. An orange bolt flew right past my wing, turning a fire hydrant into a puddle of slag. More plasma rained down on us. I flapped harder, strafing between and under any cover I could as I darted around.

Free and I flew into the air, trying to keep ourselves low enough to use the dead trees and random debris as cover. He wasted no time, already firing orange bolts of plasma down towards us. My heart rate spiked as I strafed and weaved through the wasteland, dodging between whatever cover I could find. Free kept pace without much trouble. The stallion effortlessly flew through the battlefield. Every 30 seconds I’d hear the pfft pfft pfft of his carbine returning fire. If I slowed down to try it I’d be turned to bird stew.

My original hope that his heavy body would slow him down died. He had no problem speeding around above us to send hot death raining down. One second he was over my left shoulder the next he was in front of me three stories up. His experience and training put him leagues ahead of me. My brain could hardly keep up, let alone my body. Already my chest burned. My wings ached. He was going to corner or exhaust me. I had to try and fight back.

With a cathartic caw, I drew my trusty pistol. I rolled to fire a stream of SATS-guided death back towards our pursuer. They went wide. He still waved away from him, allowing us to gain a bit of ground. A few more seconds to think while he lined up his next shot.

The world was a blur. Shacks, powerlines, half-dead trees. I barreled past it all at dangerous speeds. It was the second time in my life flying with a sense of dread rather than happiness. The wind howled past me as I pitched upward. The two pegasi were right behind me. One readying to fire, the other flying for his life.

CRACK

The nearby building's chimney exploded in a hail of jagged rocks and loose mortar. The robo-pony yelped as the debris clacked against his armoured hide. Just a bit faster and his head would have been taken off. Of course it couldn’t be that easy!

The scope of Jasmin's impressive rifle gleaned in the sparse sunlight. Knowing her she’d have a smile on her face, laid out on the water tower she’d set up on. Scarlet was at her side, eyes fixed down my binoculars as she called out shots to her old friend. I left Rumble with them too, just in case anything tried to sneak up behind them somehow. The mare was undoubtedly annoyed that she missed her shot. It’d be at least a few seconds before she was ready to take another shot.

“Crap!!” I cursed as I rolled right-side up. I couldn’t hit him and he knew we had a sniper. I glanced around for a new route. How could I lead him closer to my other friends without being melted?

The wind tugged harshly on my feathers as I banked hard and fast. A breath later I was heading back towards our dummy camp. I beat my wings hard as I dashed wildly about, doing anything I could to keep out of his sights. I’d lost free in the brief scuffle. Every so often I’d see his white blip on EFS for a fleeting second.

I kept out of his eye line for more seconds than he liked. I heard a furious, magically enhanced roar behind me. “Stop hiding cowards! I know you tried to trap me! I’ll mount your wings on my wall for it!” The terrifying image made me start shaking.

Just keep flying. Don’t look back. Don’t slow down. He can’t cut your wings off if he can’t catch you. If I was lucky Free would leap out any second and open fire on him.

If you thought I’d be lucky you aren't been paying much attention. An unsettled semi-synthetic laugh made my blood run cold. The quiet whine of complex spellwork. High above and behind me. Closing in quickly. Diving right for me. Gravity and magical wings vs my below-average athletic ability. He’d close the distance in seconds. Crush me under the weight of an iron body. He wasn’t even bothering with his rifles. Hooves outstretched, ready to strike. He wanted to tear me apart up close and personal.

Perfect. That’s exactly ho-

pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft

Rounds pinged off Steel’s armoured face and chest. The rounds hardly left a mark on his armoured body, but the few seconds he spent flinching away was enough for me to dart out of melee range. I turned and tail and flew towards the gunfire with everything I had. The crazed raider barreled after me with a roar. I saw Free hovering in the air for a moment before I soared past in a blur. He easier turned himself around to follow.

“He needs to start shooting at us again! Pee him off or something!” I shouted over the howling wind in my ears.

Feather scoffed and glanced back at the cyber-pony closing in on us. “I know that it’s part of your plan, but we can’t exactly beat him if he turns us to puddles!”

We dived down to street level, gaining speed as I used the buildings and rusted out wagons for cover. “Don’t be such a worrywart. We’ll be fine. You knew him personally, you have to know something that upsets him!”

Normally, someone I’m fighting getting up close was a good thing. Between my agile body and my sharp talons, I wasn’t somegriff most creatures wanted to fight hoof to claw. I regretted the thought instantly as I shuttered. A flash of bloody talons filled my vision. Warm fluid dripping down wrists… I shook as I flew. Tears threatened to flow, but I pushed through it. I could fall apart as much as I needed once my friends were all safe.

Feather Free looked back at our enemy, up to me, then back at what was left of his friend. “Steel, I ugh… I did find Clear Skies in the tower. She was stuck behind a busted door. I couldn’t lift it. We were losing raptors, rumours of a megaspell were spreading… I couldn’t save her. I left her to die. I was afraid you’d kill me if I told you the truth.” The wind carried his half shouts to our enemy.

gazed back at our enemy, at me, and then back at his once friend. “Steel… I um… I did find Clear Skies at the tower. A door was busted, she couldn’t fit under it. I tried to get her out, but it was so heavy. She told me to leave her behind. The attack was getting worse, and there were rumours of a megaspell strike. So I did as she asked. I left her to die. I never told you because I didn’t want you to hate me…” Steel Wing slowed down as he listened. It was having an effect, but I couldn’t read his expression under his steel face. “Part of me is glad she didn’t make it out. Seeing what you’ve become would have broken her. Our sweet young buck becoming a murdering bandit leader.

An inequine scream pounded against my eardrums. My beak tensed as I struggled to keep my wings moving. The levitation talisman under his wings flared, sending him speeding towards us. His novasurge rifles flickered as they charged to fire. Angering the buck had worked, probably too well. Any second he’d let loose a torrent of plasma at us. Render us to magical sludge. Where in Equestria was-

A loud crack cut off the buck's enraged screams and saved us from being destroyed by a living tank. An apple-sized hole blew out of his chest. Guts and electronics rained down from the exit wound. The blue energy around his wings fizzled out and sent him hurtling towards the ground.

My heart stopped as a gunshot rang out. I thought I was dead. I slowed to a hover, grasping my chest as my lungs wheezed. But I was alive. The gunshot was Jasmin. She’d put an AMR round through the bandit. Free flew over next to me with a worried look.

“Are you ok?” He asked.

I nodded. Then shook my head. “I… I’ll be alright, just when the shot went off I thought… I-I’m fine… We should make sure he’s dead. Come on.” I flew to where I thought he’d fallen at a steady pace. I wanted my eyes to stop watering before we landed so Free didn’t see. I needed to be there for him in case he fell apart. This was supposed to be hard for him. I was supposed to be fine. I didn’t even know the pony we… We were… Killing.

We found him in a heap under a burnt-out tree. I gave Jasmin and Scarlet a quick thank you over the radio as Free went to see the body. Once we were sure he was dead we could head back to Skyward to tell everyone they were free of him.

Something was wrong. Everything felt off. My feathers ruffled and the hair on my neck stood on end. The neighbourhood was completely silent. Not even a bird chirping nearby. The dreary emptiness of the wasteland was polluted further with a sourness I couldn’t explain.

“Ugh, Aella?” My ear twitched as Free called out to me. His tone didn’t make me feel any better. “What the fuck is happening?”

I trotted up and gaped. We stared at the body of Lieutenant Steel Wing in a pool of blood and oil. His wings were bent and cracked, and the space where his lungs would have been was completely blown apart. I could see the sticky red fascia of his chest cavity.

I didn’t even have time to feel nauseous about the gore as I watched the body in horror. The blood and oil under him were receding. Flowing back into the body. The flesh inside his steel casing was shifting and knitting itself back together. Even the metal components in his chest and along his coat were repairing themselves.

“No… No no no no, no! Seriously!?” I shouted aimlessly. Free stepped back from the body and looked to me for answers. “It has healing and repair talisman… I didn’t think they’d have those kinds of resources in the sky. Explosives? Grenades!? Anything!?” I asked him frantically.

Free shook his head. He kept his eyes focused on our enemy as he spoke. “I’m ‘fraid not. Scarlet has them. Can Jasmin-?”

“No, she can’t see us or him from where she is. Umm, j-just start shooting him before he gets up again!”

There was a heavy thud on the ground as the metal beast got his hooves under him. We spent way too long talking. Even with an apple-sized hole clean through his chest, he’d regained consciousness.

His eyes flickered red as he rebooted. He glared daggers at us as he somehow started to breathe again. One of the levitation talisman flickered and sparked. Several rocks and cans near the ponies right-wing were wrapped in a cool white glow, floating off in random directions. The spell matrix was damaged, unstable. If we were lucky other systems might be as well.

Unfortunately whoever designed these augments had only war in mind. The novasurge rifles fixed below his wings were among the first systems to flicker back to life as the repair talisman worked.

“Run!” I shouted as I turned tail. My wings beat hard as I tried to distance myself between the metal menace. Free was already moving when I yelled, so we took to the air at the same time.

Orange streaks of death fired at us, but they went wide. Basic strafing and rolling were enough to keep the dangerous magic from hitting us. Still, the odd shot did manage to get close. My flank burned as a bolt just missed grazing my side. Somehow his aim was even worse now than it had been in flight. Whatever system had been helping him must have been offline

We took cover behind a boulder. Energetic plasma tried its best to burn through the hard stone, but it could only get through an inch or two of the cover. I patted the rock in thanks as we caught our breath. Tried to think of something. His mobility was ruined, but he was out of Jasmin’s line of sight.

“Flight team, is the target down? Over.” Speak of the devil… Free and I both winced as more orange streaks of light soared past or slammed into our cover. My palm felt warmer against the stone as more shots tore into it.

I was shaking again as I spoke into my Pip-buck. “No. Steel is down but repairing itself. Our weapons aren’t doing it, we need to lead him out to you.”

There was a pause before she answered. “Nowhere close enough. Get him back in the air and I can line up a shot, but otherwise, you’re on your own. I’m sorry Aella. Over.”

“Ok… Ok. My original plan can still work. I’m going to fly circles around him if you can find a place to take some shots at him safely.” I turned back towards my wrist device. “Can you guys come meet up with us? You won’t do us any more good up there.”

The radio crackled for a moment. “Copy, we’re on our way. Give us 8 minutes.” I nodded and lowered the radio

A red warning on my EFS caught my attention. My heart rate was higher than it was comfortable, and I was dehydrated. I dismissed the alert and ignored it. I couldn’t deal with any more problems. Being chased through a dead forest by a pony-tank armed with weapons that couldn’t hurt him was too much already.

“If you step out there he’ll turn you into a puddle!” Free warned. He wasn’t wrong. We were pinned down and Steel was moving closer. Jokes on him. He activated my trap card. I produced the inhaler from my pocket and showed it to the stallion. “That… could work. I don’t like the idea of you putting that trash in your system, but it’s healthier than being killed, so…”

I put the inhaler into my open beak and pressed down on the tank. I inhaled the vapour as deeply as I could. The effect was instant. Everything around me slowed and brightened. I could see and hear everything in so much more detail. I could feel the radiance of every tree, shrub, and rock for miles. Even the embers of luminescence from Steels tormented soul, shrouded by the pulsing talismans and matrix’ drilled into him.

Every fear and worry that had been threatening to overtake me was gone. Like when I took med-x, but without the dulling effect. My mind still worked flawlessly. My fine-motor skills and reasoning seemed unaffected. Improved, even!

With no hesitation, I sprang into action. A blur soared across the battlefield. I felt the wind rush past every individual hair and feather as I cut through the air. And I was fast. Not fast like the mare, Free saw at the clinic, but faster than I ever thought possible. I dodged around the oncoming beams with little effort. Even when my back was to him he couldn’t hit me. I could feel the energy of each bolt. Their direction of travel. Their wrathful intents to kill.

He let out an angry roar as I soared past him, close enough to smell the steel. I giggled as I brushed against the fresh of his muzzle with a wing feather. The angry buck turned and opened fire with another torrent of painfully slow travelling death. I danced around his shots as I banked back towards him.

Oh hey, wait! I have one of those too! I drew my sidearm and opened fire. I aimed for his side, center mass. I would have been better off using SATS against him but the idea of subjecting myself to the slowed time it created tasted bitter. My shots left smouldering burns across the surface of his armour, with two of them managing to go deeper.

I smiled as a theory of mine was proven correct. Even with the hole in his side in the process of healing, his body worked to repair the damage my pistol had caused. The repair talisman had no way to determine what damaged components took precedence beyond keeping the weapons systems functioning. It was trying to repair everything at once.

My genius mind acted at speeds that I’d never even imagined. My body wasn’t far behind. I was invincible. Endurance and intelligence unrivalled! I continued to fly back and forth over my target, weaving and dancing over his shots as if they were the toy darts my sister and I played with as foals.

Suddenly I tumbled through the air. My wing clipped something, sending me into an uncontrollable spin. I wasn’t nearly skilled enough to pull myself out of it. Something had struck me in just the right way to send me sprawling through the air.

My drug-addled mind underestimated my opponent. The entire time I was ducking and waving, his computer-assisted brain had been studying me. It learned my movements. Predicted what I’d do next. At the last moment he raised his hoof, and I flew right into it.

I hit the ground had, skidding through the dirt. Jagged rocks tore into my hide, leaving a bunch of small wounds I couldn’t feel at the time. I quickly got up to stare down my opponent. One lucky blow wasn’t enough to take me down. I was unbeatable!

A pair of glowing red eyes stared back at me. The barrel of its functioning rifle cracked with threatening arcane energy. Suddenly my mortality was very clear. No matter how much dash I had I wouldn’t be able to dodge a plasma bolt. I was too slow on the ground. It’d take too long to gain any speed.

That left only one option. I was strangely calm when I entered SATS. I didn’t feel overcome with the need to run and act anymore. My mind was clear of the bravado and euphoria was gone. Unfortunately the crushing doubt and emotional exhaustion the drugs pushed away was back as well.

The spell pulled the pistol from my breast and levelled it at Steel. Two shots were all I had. I thought I’d have enough time for it to fully charge, but my perception of time was skewed. My hit chances were higher than usual. Not like when I tried steady, but still impressive for me.

The weapon hummed in my palm as it sent two cobalt streaks at my target. It struck low, burning away the remaining flesh of his muzzle. The second shot was for his weapon, but it was slightly off as well. It lanced through his wing. He didn’t seem to notice it as he roared in pain, clutching his muzzle with his metal hoof.

The buck recovered quickly and took aim. I dove away just in time, feeling the orange bolts soar harmlessly over me. As I lay in the dirt a second torrent of shots rained down in front of me. When I looked over, it was clear why the military buck missed.

His body was wrapped in a white aura of magical energy. The magic was soft but intense. The talisman under his wing cracked and shimmered. It bled energy uncontrollably. Pulled the stallion skyward. He continued to fire his weapon wildly. None of the shots came even close. In just a few seconds he was already five meters up.

Free watched in awe from behind a wheel barrel, taking a few shots at the vulnerable abomination. Seeing the powerful cyberpony be screwed over by its own body was almost comical. As if now that the magical gems were free of his control, they were punishing him for using them for evil.

A moment later, the buck died. Every gem and light through its metal body winked out at once. The aura evaporated. The heavy creature crashed into the ground with a thud, sending a cloud of dusk into the air. The red mark on my EFS winked out.

I trotted over to him, giving him a quick once over. The dents in his armour were no longer being repaired, and he appeared to be completely immobile. His body was dead. He used up all of his power. He was trapped. Helpless. Feather walked over and poked its flank with the barrel of his rifle to make sure. I rolled my eyes a bit at the foalish attempt to check for life. Though whether or not what this poor pony had could be considered life was up for debate.

I had the biggest smile on my face as I pulled up my broadcaster. “Steel Wing is down. He’s totally fucked! Get your asses over here quick cause I have no idea how to finish him off! Over.”

“Copy, five minutes out.” If they noticed my… unusual way of speaking they didn’t notice it

I smiled at Free, wings flapping hard in excitement. “I did it, I actually did it!” I screamed at him.

He wasn’t as excited as me. He didn’t seem excited at all. He frowned at me and slowly reached out with a hoof. “Aella, you should sit down. You look pale.”

I shook my head and giggled. “What are you talking about, I feel amazing! I could fly all the way back to Vision right now. Did you see how fast I was doing? ”

Feather put his hooves on my shoulder and gently pushed me to sit. I pouted at him. “Can I see your Pipbuck?” The question confused me but I obliged. “Oh, shit, um… Can you put it on the medical screen?” I rolled my eyes and giggled. Silly hooves couldn’t use my Pipbuck.

My doctor friend read through my status screen. His frown turned to a look of concern. He muttered as he read. “Elevated heart rate, blood pressure, temperature... Fuck me. Aella, this thing is flashing warnings like a harthswarming tree! This strain isn’t good for you, you could have a heart attack!”

“Hearth…what? I’m fine, don’t worry. The drugs will be out of my system in a couple minutes and I’ll stabilize.” My eyebrows raised a bit. “Aw, hell… This is going to be a really shitty hangover isn’t it?” The stallion nodded, still wearing a concerned expression. I did my best to ignore it.

“Awesome.”

Scarlet and Jasmin showed up before the drugs were out of my system, thankfully. A pair of grenades finished off the metal terror for good. Of course, I took the chance to search his metal body for anything useful first. A few talisman, and an intact spell matrix. Scarlet said if we sold them they’d be worth more than the job even paid!

I found one bit of salvage that soared above the rest though. It took a bit of plasma cutting and some messy digging through a cyberponies chest cavity, but it was worth it! A steel canister with window slits running down it to show the gem inside. It was a long, narrow shard of ammoriate. A rare and powerful rainbow-coloured crystal used for energy storage. The hippogriffs of old discovered it in Seaquestria, and learned to use it to absorb the magic of lightning strikes. One could power a small city or a powerful spell. They were more dangerous than a ruptured spark battery, but the energy potential didn’t compare. Even the shard in the aged Spark Core looked nearly flawless. It’d easily outdo the entire array of recently manufactured batteries on the Skystar.

Oh yeah. I could have fun with that.

The journey back to Skyward sucked. I was slow, shaky, and cold. I tried to keep the effects to myself to keep my friends from worrying. Free side-eyed me when he thought I wasn’t paying attention. The buck was worried about me. While it wasn’t completely unwarranted, I was a grown mare. I decided to take the drugs, and it led to us winning!

Scarlet and Jasmin mostly left me be, other than asking every so often how I was doing. I think they assumed I was tired from the battle. They weren’t wrong. Mostly I was exhausted from the dash. My body went from completely energised to drained in minutes and left me dead on my hooves. All I wanted was to find a bed to fall into.

Footnote:
Welcome to level 7!

Perk added: Pack Rat! Items with a weight of two pounds or less now weigh half as much for you!
((Repair skill 75))