Chapter 12: Back Stage

Chapter 12: Back Stage

“I am not responsible for actions of the imaginary version of me you have inside your head.”

― John Scalzi

Mega Mart, Hoofington, Lunar Commonwealth: Ginger Snaps.

When I awake in the morning the sun is just clearing the mountains in the distance as well as the taller buildings that are still standing. Choo is giving me a shake and tells me, “Ginger, Get the team together, I have some assignments to give out and then you can all get breakfast.”

I groggily nod my head and pull back the blanket from me and Xochitl and I am hit by the cool air as it rushes in. I then hear Xochitl say, “Wow it is chillier than I expected this morning.”

From his other side I hear Sunny’s voice tiredly say, “Morning already, I feel like I just got to sleep.”

Then I hear him say, “Hope you don’t mind Cohtil?”

I see my fiancé tiredly rub his hoof through his mane as he replies, “I guess not. I didn’t even know you were there.” Then he gets up and we start to roll up our bedrolls.

Across the fire I notice Tek starting to roust up also. He nods his head to me and he asks, “I stay until you find out what do today?”

I shrug, why not. Who knows, we may need a scout even. We have all begun to know him and are getting used to having him with us. Maybe we can pay him to scout for us today also.

When I wake Epona I see she is next to Tater, along with Twinks. Once the rest of us are up I see Cowlick walking up to our camp area with a bit of a smile on his face. Xochitl and I look at each other and I notice Xochitl has one eyebrow raised and looks a bit perplexed. He then shakes his head and we let it drop.

Once we are all together Choo begins. “Ok, Tater, Twinks, you two have begun to build some connections with the workers here. Check with them to make sure they are happy with the work you did yesterday. After that, I need you to check over our equipment to make sure it is ready for heavy ops. Ginger, you take Xochitl, Epona and Cowlick with you. I want you to begin to scout out the areas Tek was discussing with you. Scout it out, avoid contact if you can, and if not, pull back. This is just feeling things out right now.” She pauses and then tells Sunny, “Sunny you are with me, we are heading over to the one stable Trader Jewel was telling us about. I want to see if I can pick a few things that they may have that we may need.”

Tater then asks, “Choo, is it alright if we check out the vendors again too? I had a few whose booths I wanted to visit. Also, I am curious now if I can find any leads on where those MoA pistols may have come from. Who knows, maybe they have some other weapons that we could use from the MoA. They always seemed to have the good stuff from what I have read.”

Choo holds up a hoof to him, “Ok, you don’t have to defend your reasoning. Just make sure the rest of our weapons are ready as well. Now all of you grab a ration pack. Oh, and Ginger, see if Tek will lead you on the scout today.”

I nod my head and tell her “Yes ma’am.” Then I ask the zebra who is still rolled up in his blanket “Did you hear that?”

He nods his head and asks in Zebracan, “What is going on?”

I calmly answer, “Are you willing to lead a recon mission for us.”

He looks at me warily and questions, “Where do you want to go, and why?”

This time Xochitl answers, “Tek, we want to go look at the area of the Hoof's Ferals. Get an idea of ingress and egress routes.”

He looks slightly confused at Xochitl who then explains, “Ingress and Egress, the ways in and out of an area.”

I see a light of understanding come on in Tek’s mind and he nods his head. “Yes, can do, but can you give me food to eat?”

I nod as I tell him, “Yes Tek, anything else you want for leading our team in there?”

He nods his head and asks hopefully, “Maybe some caps too?”

By this time Choo has returned and asks, “Tek, how many do you want for this job?”

He then says, “Fifty caps.”

That is way too high and we all know it. Choo just smiles as she shakes her head and tells him, “No, how about fifteen.”

They dicker back and forth briefly and decide on 24 caps. After which he asks, “Ok, when we do?”

I then tell him, “After breakfast if you think that would be a good time.”

He nods his head, “Yes, by time we get there, most of them asleep still.”

While the rest begin to eat, I approach Choo and ask her, “Don’t you think that is a bit high for that? Especially with us feeding him.”

She then tells me, “Ginger, he is helping us, and if you haven’t noticed, he is bonding with the team. So, no, I do not have a problem with it.”

I shrug then and tell her, “Ok, you’re the boss. So, what are you planning on picking up over at this stable?”

I see her smile as she answers, “I want to see if I can pick up a couple more PipBucks. I heard they may have a couple of spares for sale.”

I nod my head remembering how useful they were on the expedition. “Choo, are you sure you don’t want Twinks and Tater to go with you?”

She sighs before she answers me and tells me, “I would prefer to, but with the distance and time they would just slow us down.”

“So that is why you wanted Sunny?”

She nods her head, “Yes, worse comes to worst, we can fly faster than we can run.”

Soon thereafter she and Sunny are fully kitted out and we watch them take off directly above the carriage lot as fast as they can until they are out of easy gun range. I last see them flying for some low clouds to the west.

I then turn to the others and notice that Twinks is taking off her coat and kit and putting on a pair of coveralls. When she sees me looking at her, she shrugs and tells me, “Honestly Ging, I have seen some of the jobs that they need done. Gun II was the cleanest of them, and I heard one of the assistant managers mention something about a backed-up toilet.” After she says this, I see her grimace. Well at least she understands plumbing a bit I think to myself.

The others in our group are getting ready as well. When I look over the three going with me plus Tek are all ready and have their game faces on.

I tell Tater and Twinks, “Ok, you two got the caravan, I guess. I will see you when we get back.”

Twinks has a worried expression on her face as she tells me, “You guys be careful ok. Remember you don’t have a medic with you.”

When she says this, I realize she is right. If I had before Choo left, I would have discussed it with her. I guess we will have to do what we can, and avoid fighting as much as possible. I then reply, “Will do Twinks, and thanks for the reminder.” Then I activate the bit for my battlesaddle so it is ready at least and I tell Xochitl, “Ok, you and Tek lead the way.”

As we head across the pavement of the carriage lot, I see the Volunteer camp has movement in it as well. I think little of it until I hear a familiar voice from last night call out. “Take it easy out there Epona.”

Then I hear her call back, “Will do. See you when we get back if your still here.”

Then we are at the gates and I notice Purchase Order is on guard. I can't help but notice that today, she seems to have cleaned herself up a bit and she waves at Tek as he passes her, then before she can say anything I hear Epona call to her, “Looking good Purchase, I hope to see you again tonight.”

I suddenly see the skinny mare smile broadly as she calls back, “I will see you then. Be careful and make sure you bring Tek back safe.”

Soon our small group is through the gate with Xochitl and Tek in the lead. Followed by me, with Cowlick and Epona bringing up the rear in two staggered lines.

*****

Hoofington, Lunar Commonwealth: Xochitl

As we head out the gates of the Mega Mart, I watch Tek wave to Purchase Order and nod to her myself. I have my carbine at the carry on a sling across my front so I can bring it up easily whether I am on two or four legs. We are about an hour and a half out on our recon, when I notice the small pistol Tek is carrying. I am not familiar with its make or model but I notice that what I can see of it has been blued to make it look striped on stainless steel. So, I ask him in Zebracan, “Where did you pick up a weapon like that?”

He simply smiles and tells me, “I picked it up off of the dead legionnaires when I was a colt. They no longer needed it, and I needed something to protect myself with.”

I smile and tell him, “I thought maybe it was one of your parent’s weapons.”

He looks at me curiously and ask, “Why would I want one of theirs, obviously it failed to keep them alive. So, any weapon should do.”

I nod my head at his logic, but I also understand how Epona feels about it, as she still carries her mother’s SMG from her universe. This makes me wonder briefly what Tek would have been like on that side. I smile and he asks me, “What are you smiling about?”

“Just thinking about what you and those we know would be like in a world where things went differently than they did here.”

He shakes his head, “Don’t waste your time, we can never know such a thing. Bah, the spirits are probably not even real or they do not care about us mortals. If so, why did they not save my family, or better, why did they allow us to do this to each other?” as he says the last, he swipe a hoof across the landscape around us.

“Tek, I really wish I could answer that for you. I know Cookie would say it is because Sweet Cream and the Goddesses allowed us to suffer for our folly, and that those who come through this will be like the butterfat skimmed from the cream.”

He looks at me funny and asks, “I know who the Goddesses are to the ponies, but who is this Sweet Cream?”

I shrug and tell him, “It’s part of the religion of the cattle. They believe in the Goddess, but they also believe in Sweet Cream. She is a cow, but she is also the All-Mother. The creator of all life.”

I see him huff, “Figures, all beings claim their type created all life.”

I shrug, “Yeah, I know. The interesting part is though, that they do not preach they are better than others, only that they are different and that all life is interconnected.”

“Is that why your bovine friend treats me the way he does?”

I shrug and tell him, “Probably that is part of it. But honestly, I just think he likes who you are Tek. He accepts you and I are different, but that we are his equals, and he looks beyond this shell we call our bodies.”

I am just finishing saying this when he moves his ears and hoof to signal to get down and freeze. We all drop where we are. Then he non-verbally signals that there are possible hostiles ahead. I bring my carbine slowly up and use my scope to scan the area ahead and I notice Two earth pony ghouls as well as an earth pony and unicorn who are standing just a bit back from the windows of a wrecked building. A sign on the outside of the building is no longer legible. I quietly ask, “What is that place?”

Still watching head, he just as quietly answers back, “Guards for the back entrance of the Feral’s tunnels.”

I nod my head and ask, “Are there any other ways in?”

“Yes, a couple more. This is usually the least protected.”

I nod my head, “OK, let’s move back to the others and see if we can check out the other entrances.” As I say this I decide if they have ghouls as part of their gang, maybe we need to look out for ghouls who are pegasus. With that I begin to scan the sky as well as the area around us.

Once back to the rest we slowly move back a couple of blocks worth in the distance and follow Tek again as he leads us on the outskirts of their territory until we find another area that is being guarded. I am surprised that it does not have as many guards as the other and I am told by Tek, “Small service entrance to tunnels. Rumor says lots of ghouls and traps.”

Ok, that makes sense then. So, I tell him, “Alright, better keep moving.” Around us in the rubble the others of our team have come up and are taking shelter and providing overwatch in all directions around us. I then tell Tek, “If we get the chance, Ginger wants to capture one of the Feral’s and question them to see what information we can get from them.”

I see his eyes open wider and he asks, “My friend, is that wise. That will give away that you are coming after them.”

I think briefly and tell him, “They may know someone is checking them out, but not who. So yeah, we need to do this.”

I hear him sigh as he shrugs and tells me, “She is the boss.” Then he begins to lead us towards what he thinks is the main entrance for them.

As we advance, I look up into the sky and in the distance, I notice several Raptor class cloudships near what must be the cloud city of Thunderhead. It is much larger than I ever imagined it and from the side I hear Cowlick quietly say, “Will you look at that. I thought White Cloud was something special, but it’s not even a speck compared to that.”

It is starting to get late in the day by the time we arrive near the area that is the main entrance. We have circled several extra blocks all the way here to stay out of visual sight. As we watch I notice that it looks like they are putting out some sort of signal lights. The sun is just starting to go down when I hear wings approaching. I look through the hole in the roof and wall and see a sky carriage begin to descend as it makes its approach. Shortly afterwards in the light of the lanterns We can see them unloading several boxes of ammunition and weapons as well as food stuffs.

After this one takes off, a second one follows and lands in about the same spot, followed by them unloading it as well. There is a slight delay after the second one takes off and we hear a third one approaching. As they are unloading, we use the noise they are making to cover our withdrawal.

As we approach the middle guard position, we see only one guard on watch. This surprises me and I decide we need to just observe for a while before making our move. After about fifteen minutes I see another pony come out from a side room putting his barding back on and adjusting his clothing. Well now we know what they were doing.

We wait a while longer than with Cowlick providing overwatch with the MK 24 Medium Machine Gun. I have Tek and Epona stay back with him to make sure he does not get surprised either. Then Ginger and I are back to the old days, using ear signals and moving as silently in the dark as we can. We are almost to them when I hear one of them ask, “Did ya hear that?”

“Nah, I didn’t hear a thing. You always hearing things. Last time it was a racoon. Time before that a rat.” The other one answers back.

Ginger and I crouch outside against what is left of the standing wall. I can see their shadows silhouetted by the fire on the wall of the building across the street. They have to be night blind. Soon we hear one begin to sound tired as they talk, the other one tells them, “Take a nap, I will wake ya if I need ya, or in time for the next watch.”

We give them another twenty minutes and then Ginger and I move to where there is a hole that we can jump through and get inside from the street. Once in position she signals to me a three count and then we leap into the room. I am right behind her. As we enter, she goes one way, I the other and I hear a light cracking of three rounds from her SIR. Thank the Goddesses it has a suppressor on it. That makes it perfect for this kind of work.

Myself I cross to the one who is sleeping on the floor, as they begin to move, I crack them across the muzzle with the buttstock of my carbine, snapping their head back and stunning them. I am then on them and use some rope to hog tie them. Soon Ginger calls out quietly, One tango down.

I call back to her, “Tango captured.”

She smirks when she sees that I have stuffed a dirty towel into his mouth to keep him quiet.

Then she looks at the filthy light purple unicorn and tells him, “I see that horn light up, I cut it off. You would not be the first or the hardest one I have done that too.”

I see his eyes go wide in terror. She looks around and tells me, “Flower, get that long two by four, we are going to take him with us for a bit.

As I go to retrieve it, she pulls an old hatchet out of her saddlebags and examines it then looks at our prisoner and tells him coolly, “Yes this is what I will use if I see you go to use magic.”

As I put the board of wood through the unicorn’s hooves, I notice his compatriot is still alive, but also tied up and gagged. Watching us through wide eyes as we lift his comrade up using the board and carrying him like we did with some of the smaller radhogs back home out the hole in the wall and away into the night.

We only take him a few blocks. Then we find a building that is still intact enough for us to use as a shelter so we can ask a few questions. Before we remove the gag, Ginger calmly tells him, “We have a few questions to ask, if you yell, I will consider that the same as attempting to use magic. Do you understand?”

He nods his head and as I begin to remove the gag, he begins to yell and I watch her swing the back side of the hatchet against his horn like a hammer. I hear his muffled scream and she tells him, “I tried to warn you. Don’t try that again.”

He nods his head as tears of pain come out his eyes and he ask, “Whats you wants with me? Do you know who yous messing with?”

She nods her head and tells him, “Yes, but do you know who we are?”

He shakes his head no and she smiles, “Good. Now where is the doctor?”

“Doctor? What Doctor?” He asks.

“The one taken from the Fluttershy Medical Center?”

“Sorry, don’t know anything abouts no doctors being took.”

“How about the Burner Boy that was killed there? Did you or your gang have anything to do with that?”

He looks confused and says, “Why would we? We got no trouble with thems. They stay in theys part of town and we in ours.”

Ginger looks at me, then I look at her. Behind me, I hear Epona say, “Uh guys, we got some movement coming from back the way we came. I think it is time to ditch this buck.”

I look at Ginger, and she at me. We nod again and I put the gag back in his mouth. Then we move him to the street, placing him on the porch. We then all head out the back door and make our way down the alleyways as quickly as we safely can. We are about a block away when I hear someone shout, “Here he is, they tied him up and gagged him too.”

We are already looking for our next bit of cover when we hear a large explosion behind us. I turn and I see Cowlick smiling and then I hear him say, “That’s one.”

We are still running a couple of seconds later when we hear another explosion, “and that’s two,” Cowlick says with a grin.

“Salt, what did you do?”

He gives me his best innocent look and tells me, “I just set a couple of explosive charges off by a radio detonator. You know the basics. I saw they were clear, but I knew it would scare their manes straight.”

I Shake my head in amusement. I forgot he was one of Bailey Bridge's disciples of mayhem now. Then I hear Ginger say, “Salt, next time do not use explosives without letting us know first.”

He shrugs as he proudly paces with us as we trot our way back to Mega Mart and simply says, “Will do Cookie. But did you see the size of those explosions? That was cool.”

From the side, I hear Tek say, “I once knew of a stallion who used to say cool pones never look at explosions.”

I shake my head and wonder who came up with that. But before I can say anything I hear Cowlick snicker and say, “Yeah, but I am a cow, not a pony. SOOOO... there is always that.”

I snicker to myself after that at his humor and realize how lucky I am to have friends like this.

*****

Skies over Hoofington, Lunar Commonwealth: Choo Choo

As we begin our flight to the Stable I was told about. I take the time again to look at the surrounding landscape and I find myself feeling better to be away from the ground. Normally I don’t think that way, but here in Hoofington, there is an eerie feeling that I get most of the time.

Sometimes the feeling is stronger and to be honest, it makes it hard to even stay in an area. The worst so far for me has been in the Fluttershy Medical Center. I don’t know what horrors occurred there, but it had to have been a true nightmare. I have been to many hospitals since being transformed into an alicorn and while they generally have some of that feeling. They have nothing as strong as that. Almost like the feeling of walking through an old battlefield. But here, the whole city was a battleground.

As we fly Sunny asks me, “Choo, somethings on your mind. Whatcha thinking about?”

I shake my head and tell him, “Nothing to concern yourself with. But I guess we should keep our eyes open more. Especially after Xochitl told us about the Rocs.”

I see his eyes get wide again, and he asks somewhat nervously, “Choo, you don’t think we are near their territory do ya?”

I smile in a calming fashion at him and tell him, “No, probably not, but why take chances.”

We are only a couple of miles from where the Stable should be when we take a short break sitting on a cloud. In the distance, we can see the cloud city of Thunderhead. In the distance I see the dots of vertibucks moving between it and the ground.

Sunny has his wings spread and is sunning himself as he rests. After a bit, I hear him say, “Ya know Choo, I would really like to visit that place.”

I nod my head, “I understand, but I would not be welcome, and Sunny, they would most likely try to force you into the Enclave.”

I watch as he shrugs, “Too bad we don’t have another pegasus with us, I would try and sneak in and do a little snooping.”

I have to smile at this, as I doubt it would be that easy to just fly into Thunderhead and begin to walk around. But I have heard of worse ideas.

After a brief respite, we both stand up, stretch our wings and take to the air again. Soon I am able to pick up the landmarks that I was told to look for. It is not really all that hard with such a well-worn trail leading in that direction. Sunny and I land about a kilometer away and begin to walk the rest of the way. When we get closer, I notice the flag of the Applejack’s Rangers flying.

As we approach, I feel the same feeling as at the Mega Mart and the Fluttershy Medical Center. I don’t really know how to explain it. But it almost feels like somepony dragging a hoof across a chalkboard mentally. Mother said before she was destroyed that in this region we could feel the screams of the dead, the betrayed and fallen. I did not truly believe as for some reason I was sheltered from those memories as were most of my sisters who did not come here.

I am handling it well overall. Then I feel a familiar tickle in my brain and I ask, ({Sister?})

{[Yes, but you would not know me.]} I hear in my mind in response.’

{[Why would I not know you sister? I admit that I have huge gaps in my memory, but still.]}

{[I am she that is the reason you are missing so many of your memories.]}

{[You! You're alive! Praise the Goddesses.]} I answer back as I feel the tickle of her mind and a mental image of the tall beautiful purple alicorn I once cursorily knew, who was hated by our Mother for reasons I did not know or understand.

{[Yes, praise them. And may they have forgiveness on us all.]} I feel a brief pause then hear again, {[Which of my sisters are you?]}

{[I am Choo Choo, I was winged with Blue Star, and Quick Frost.]} I tell her.

{[Do they yet live?]}

{[Yes, they have a farm now and have settled down together.]}

I can almost feel a sad, but satisfied smile when I tell her this. Then I ask, {[How have you been?]}

{[I have been worse. Much worse.]}

{[Could you please show yourself?]} I ask.

Suddenly, about ten feet in front of me and Sunny I see the dark Purple alicorn appear before us. It is so sudden and unexpected to him that Sunny briefly goes airborne and reaches for his weapon. I quickly tell him, “It’s ok Sunny, she is one of my sisters. I was talking with her and asked her to appear.”

He looks from her to me and says, “Choo, you could warn a buck.”

I turn from him to look at her. She has a somber expression on her face as she asks aloud, “Is he your servant?”

I shake my head no and tell her, “No, but he does work for me as a member of my team.” As I am saying this, I see him trying to stifle a laugh that he has already let escape some.

She looks at him and turns her head, “Hmm, an all-black pegasus with a blue. You are not trying to start a cult or say you are Luna reborn or anything are you?”

Again, I shake my head negatively and I tell her, “You have held my memories, do you think so little of me sister that I would do such a thing?”

She looks into my eyes and I feel that tickle again as she says, {[You would not have then, but I am sure much has happened since.]}

I nod and tell her, {[A lot has happened since Unity has broken, and much pain. But I now try to do better and help others to as well.]}

She smiles kindly for the first time and says, {[I had a friend who used to say something like that a lot. Now, let’s begin to talk aloud again, I believe your employee may think we are being rude.]}

I then tell her, “You are correct. We do not want to be rude.” I turn to Sunny and tell him, “I apologize for not talking aloud in front of you Sunny. I guess it just felt good to communicate with one of my sisters the old way.”

He looks at me and nods as he waves a forehoof and tells us, “I understand. Remember how mad my parents used to get when us youngsters all started to speak Zebracan around them and most of them could not understand us. I figured it was like that.”

My sister, again with a somber expression on her face nods and says, “I do understand, I too remember being young once and having many friends.”

This time he looks thoughtful and he asks, “Ma’am, no offense but I can’t see why you don’t have lots of friends. You remind me of Quick Frost and she has lots of friends.”

She looks at me and I simply shrug in reply. “Well, thank you, you are a gentlecolt, and I appreciate the compliment.” She then looks around and says, “Let’s continue on our way to the stable. May I ask what you are looking for?”

I look around first to see no one is close and tell her, “I hear there may be some PipBucks here for sale. I came to inquire as to the price of them if they are available.”

“I do not know this for sure, but I will take you to those of the Rangers who may be able to answer those questions for you.”

Soon we have followed her through the main door of the Stable and as we go further inside, I experience a great feeling of dread and horror. Finally, we reach the atrium area and I am overpowered and collapse. Not in physical pain, but at the pain of those who were once here and who passed over and their psychic anguish.

As I fall, I feel my sister assist me and catch me. She nods to me and sends to me, {[It happens. You get used to it.]}

{[What happened here?]} I send to her with fear and anxiety riding my thoughts.

I hear her sigh, {[A lot, but that is another story, for another time. Let me help you up.]}

As she helps me get back to my hooves I tell her, “Thank you. I don’t know what came over me.” Sunny does not need to know. If he can’t feel it, let him enjoy himself today.

Soon she leads me to an area off of the atrium that has several members of the Rangers. My sister introduces me and Sunny to them.

The one she introduces me to as Scribe Apple Butter asks me, “So what exactly are you looking for?”

I cautiously answer back, “I am looking for some PipBucks for myself and my team to use.”

I see her head go back, “Excuse me. But did you just say you use a PipBuck?”

I smile and reply, “I have for several years. Back when I was with the Co-op Expedition force as a scout, then once we joined the NCR I wore one again once I made Corporal.”

She looks at me funny and then asks, “I see you are not wearing one now. You a deserter?”

I shake my head, “No, my time of enlistment was up. Right now, my team and I are guarding a caravan.”

Apple Butter looks at the others, and asks, “So where is the Co-op you mention? Especially if it has pegasi in it.”

I notice Sunny seems to be put off by that question, but he waits for me to answer it. When I do I tell her, “It was up by Manesville and was made up of several smaller communities and the stable up there.”

“Stable Ponies huh? And they had that big a force that they needed scouts?”

I shrug, and Sunny says defensively. “We came out of the stable over a hundred years ago. My great granny Millie was one of the first.”

They all look at him and ask, “So how many pegasi did you have in your stable.”

He tilts his head, “Only two, and both were bucks.” He pauses then says, “Look, my pa is an earth pony and Ma is a Unicorn. Both had pegasus blood and were surprised when me and my kid sister came out with wings.”

I watch as Apple Butter begins to laugh at this as well as the others. My sister on the other hoof just looks at him curiously. Finally, Apple Butter says, “Thank you for the laugh. I can imagine they were surprised.” She pauses then asks, “So are there many other pegasi there now?”

He nods his head, “Yeah, we got quite a few refugees from Thunderhead when the Enclave had their disagreement.”

Apple Butter then raises an eyebrow and says, “That is quite the understatement about what happened. But yes, I can see how that would have occurred. I take it your people welcomed them.”

Both Sunny and I nod our heads and are surprised when we hear and feel something large moving toward us. I turn and see a suit of power armor approaching us.

The pages all stand at attention and I hear one say, “Good afternoon, Knight Granola Crunch. What can we do for you, sir?”

Through the speaker on his suit, I hear him say, “I came to see if I could have one of you adjust my suit some as its communications suite must not be working properly as I have not been alerted that we had an unknown alicorn inside the stable.”

Apple Butter, still at attention, responds with, “Sir, as she was escorted in, we did not think her presence needed to be reported.”

I hear him sigh and he tells her and the other pages, “While I can understand your assumption, please do not let it happen again.”

His helmet turns to face us and I hear him ask, “SO, what is it you are here for?”

I sigh audibly and tell him, “As I have just explained to your pages here, I had heard that there may be some PipBucks available for purchase and I had just made the inquiry when you approached.”

“What kind of team do you have and why would an alicorn desire a PipBuck?”

“Knight Granola Crunch, I have a team of ponies that are currently on assignment to escort a caravan. That has led us to find out a doctor for the Fluttershy Medical Center has been kidnapped and we have been asked by our boss to help locate him and bring him back if possible.”

I notice the pages seem a little surprised as this and Granola Crunch asks, “And why do you think said PipBucks would help you in that endeavor?”

Sunny, getting tired of just sitting on the sidelines, tells him, “Because Choo Choo as well as two of our others have used them before when working as scouts.”

I see the body language of the armor seem to convey disdain at Sunny and I hold a hoof up to Sunny and tell the knight, “He is correct, but they will assist us in preventing collateral damage using the Stable Tec Arcane Targeting Spell, as well as if one of my team is hit, we can use them to reduce our reaction times to injuries.”

He puts a forehoof to his chin and tells the scribes, “If we have one ready, let them have it right away. I will have to discuss with the chain of command if we can allow any others out of the stable.”

They all nod and acknowledge the order. Soon he is on his way again and Apple Butter tells us, "Let me go get the one from the back.”

Sunny then asks, “Choo, can I have this one, please?”

I shake my head, “Sorry, but I think this one goes to Tater, as Twinks got the one, they earned.”

I see him looking slightly crestfallen but then I tell him, “We will get you one eventually, have patience, ok?”

He nods his head, “Yeah, ok. I was just kinda hoping is all.”

“I understand,” I then ask the scribes and page, “Is there someplace I can get something to eat for my compatriot?”

One of the scribes smiles shyly and answers, “Yes ma’am, if you like I can lead you to the stable cafeteria.”

“Yes, that would be nice,” I answer and I see Sunny checking out the young mare as she begins to lead the way.

As we walk, I look around and notice the differences between this stable and the one in Manesville. As I am looking around, I hear the young page ask, “So have you ever been inside a stable before?”

Sunny shakes his head no and answers, “Nah, back home our stable is only for the army forces stationed there. The rest of us either live in one of the settlements or on one of the reclaimed farms.”

She turns her head and asks, “Reclaimed farms?”

“Yeah, if you want a farm, you can stake a claim on one of the abandoned ones. Then you have to reclaim the soil by tilling contaminated soil under and rebuilding the topsoil using the treated waste from the sewage plants of Manesville or the stable. You also have to fix up the building and make it livable again.”

“So, you actually have farms where you are from? Interesting.”

“Yeah, my family owns one with over one hundred acres.”

She looks at him and me then she says, “Your family must be very large then to take care of a farm that large and not have you there to help.”

Sunny shrugs, “Well yeah, but also back home, everypony spends at least a week per year helping on the farms. It used to be more, but we have so many there now we cut back on the time. Well, that and the members of the Manesville brigade rotate out to the farms to assist too.”

She looks at him funny as if trying to determine if he is lying or not. Then she asks, “Did you say brigade? That is a pretty large force for any area.”

Sunny nods his head, “Yeah, they got two regiments there now. Artillery and everything.”

I see her look surprised and I shoot Sunny a look to let him know to quit talking so much about the NCRA. When he doesn’t seem to take the hint, I change the subject and ask, “So have you been here long?”

She smiles and says, “I should say so. I have been here for about seven years now. I was one of the first pages to be allowed to come here. I have since earned the title of Scribe and hope that someday I may even be made a knight.”

I find myself smiling at this young mare and her desire to advance. Beside me, I notice my sister is also smiling. In my mind, I feel her tell me, {[I hope you don’t mind me accompanying you. It is such a nice change for me. I miss having contact with any of our sisters.]}

{[I understand fully. I find myself feeling that way as well, especially when I have been away for so long.]}

{[Was he telling the truth about how things are where you come from?]}

I move my ears in subtle acknowledgment, I do not feel bad as Sunny and the Scribe are fully involved with their own conversation. {[Yes, in fact, part of my family both runs a farm as well as are in the military there.]}

{[Your family sister?]} she asks in curiosity.

{[Yes, it seems I have many descendants in the Manesville region. Including one who looks almost identical to me when I was still a unicorn. Her granddaughter Moon Lily though. She is very special to me. I have helped to mentor her in her magic since she was a filly.]} I see a look of surprise and then worry cross my sister’s face. {[Do not worry, our family has made sure to instill a sense of self-discipline and respect for others in her.]}

{[I am happy to hear this for you Choo. I really am. I do worry though if they have that big of a military.]}

I nod and tell her, {[That is a natural concern and one to take into consideration. However, at this time at least they are not being used in such a manner. Their leadership only wants to protect themselves and the NCR, not expand. At least in Manesville they understand the concept of overextending their forces, nor do they desire to do more than protect their homes}}

{[Interesting, let’s hope that they remain that way,]}

Soon we are in the cafeteria area and I smile as Sunny begins to look at what they have. He looks at the selection of food and asks me, “Choo, is stable food normally like this?”

“What do you mean Sunny?” I ask.

He kind of shrugs and says, “I don’t know, I just expected it to be fresher I guess.”

Scribe Chili Bean, as I find out she is called, asks curiously, “What do you mean by that? We bring it in fresh from the Society.”

This time I have to ask, “You bring it in? Is there something wrong with your hydroponics and stable garden facility?”

“Our what?” She asks me back.

“Your food production department. How could a stable keep this many ponies alive until only a few years ago without the ability to feed them? I know the Manesville stable even had a cheese-making section because of our cattle.”

This gets both of them to swing their heads towards me, and my sister says aloud, “Cattle, you mean brahmin?”

Sunny smiles and says, “Oh, no, a quarter of the initial stable population was the old stock of cows and bulls. We still have a population of them.”

I see a look of wonder on my sister’s face and she shakes her head. The Scribe on the otherhoof asks, “Not brahmin, then what are you talking about?”

Sunny replies to her, “The old breed. Like from the stories. One head, furry. The ones the brahmin descended from.”

The scribe looks confused and asks, “What are you talking about?”

My sister then asks, “Some truly survived?”

Both Sunny and I nod our heads. Sunny then tells her, “My buddy Cowlick is with us even.”

The scribe then asks incredulously, “You consider your pack animal a buddy?”

This time Sunny shows some sign of anger as he answers. “He is not a pack animal. He is as intelligent as you and I. He even speaks three languages. Can you?”

“Three languages?” Chili Bean questions.

“Yeah, Ponish, the cattle tongue, and Zebracan.”

“Sunny, really, you don’t need to make stuff up,” she tells him.

{[Sister, is he speaking true?]}

{[Yes, and most of the youngsters back home in Whitecloud speak Zebracan, at least cursorily. It allowed them to speak freely around most of the adults when they were younger.”

Sunny is now hovering above the ground with both forehooves on his hips as he tells her, “Look, I am not making things up. Let me guess, you probably think the brahmin are all stupid animals, don’t you?”

She looks at him with disdain, “Of course, what else could they be.” She says it as a statement of fact, not a question.

Sunny calms himself then slowly lowers himself down to the floor and shakes his head, “Ya’ know for a smart pony, you have some pretty ignorant ideas. They have an intellect. The cattle had their own culture and while many were hesitant to change to ours, others were not. They can be just as smart as any pony, griffon, or dragon. Heck, Cowlick did better in school than I did.”

I see her shake her head and hear her whisper "I wouldn't brag about that.'' Then she begins to eat her meal in silence. After we eat, we follow her back to the shop where we met her earlier.

We are met there by Knight Crunchy Granola who tells me, “Miss Choo, I have talked to the elder, and he has authorized me to allow you to purchase two additional PibBucks. However, they will not be available for another week. You may take the one with you. But I am afraid it does come with a cost.”

I nod my head in understanding and tell him, “I understand, but nothing in Hoofington comes free.”

He then says, “I am glad you understand. Part of the deal is that no one else shall know where you got them from. The second is that no one shall know just what you did to earn them.”

I tilt my head slightly when he says this and ask, “So what is it we need to do?”

Even through his armor, I get the impression that he is embarrassed. Finally, he tells me, “Please understand this is something we would not normally ask for help from outsiders with, but for obvious reasons, we dare not move on it ourselves.” He pauses and asks me, “Can we go somewhere private to discuss this?”

“Sure, can my associate come with us?”

He nods his head, “Yes, as he most likely will be involved.”

As he walks away and towards a set of stairs, we follow him. I notice a side hallway that has a desk on it with a unicorn manning the desk with a sign saying Check out time is 10 am. Crunchy notices me looking and tells me, “We have kept a small number of stalls in the stable to use as hotel rooms. It helps to supplement our expenses.”

That makes sense to me. At the next hallway intersection, I see a sign that says Administrative Offices. Authorized Personnel only.

He takes us down the hallway and to one of the offices. Once inside he sits behind the desk and takes off his helmet. I can now see his light purple face with a red mane. He has a scar on one cheek that starts above one eye and goes straight down. He has another across his muzzle. While his wounds must have been horrible at one time, they give him a rugged look.

He indicates for us to take a seat as he sets his helmet on a shelf behind his desk. Then I hear his voice without the speaker from his suit, and it sounds familiar for some reason. As he tells us, “Miss Choo Choo, Sunny, first off, thank you for coming here to talk more privately. What we request of you is of a very sensitive nature.” I nod my head and I see Sunny sit back and bring his forelegs across his chest, but his ears are still forward. The knight then continues, Because of the rarity of PipBucks and the level of technology they represent we are hesitant to let them go, much less sell them, as the possibility of them being misused is just too great. Please understand this is not a reflection upon you or your people, but of all ponykind in general.”

He pauses and I ask, “So what is it you would like us to do?”

“Understand, we are a neutral party here in the Hoof. Recently there have been reports of weapons being funneled into the area from outside sources to try and destabilize the legitimate powers of the region. We have heard rumors that they are bringing them in through the Skyport outside of the city. We would like you and your team to infiltrate the facility and determine if this is true. If so, we will need to impair their operations for gun-running into the Commonwealth. We cannot do so ourselves without the risk of bringing down the wrath of the Council or the Enclave upon us and the Commonwealth.”

Both Sunny and I think about this briefly. Then I tell him, “Look, to take that kind of risk is going to require more than just two or three PipBucks. Make it a total of seven and you have a deal.”

I watch as he shifts uncomfortably in his seat. “How about six?”

I shake my head negatively at this, “Knight Granola, I am sorry, but for this kind of risk, I will not budge.”

I hear him sigh, then see him grimace at the cost, but he then extends a hoof and asks as we shake on the deal, “How soon can you begin?”

I think briefly, then I tell him, “Give us five days. We have a couple of jobs to work on first. I will be in touch though.”

He smiles and tells us, “Thank you. Both of you. I will give you the first one as a down payment. The rest you will be able to receive after the job is complete.”

Both Sunny and I nod our heads. And I tell him, “Thank you.”

After this, he puts his helmet back on and escorts us back to the shop being run by the scribes and pages. We pick up the ready PipBuck and I notice how surprised they are when instead of putting it on, we put it into my saddlebags.

The one page asks, “Aren’t you going to use it?”

I smile and tell her, “No, this one is for my tech. She will. However, we will be back later for the others that the Knight has offered us.”

“Ok, I hope to see you then,” she replies just before we leave.

As we are heading out the tunnel entrance to the stable, I notice that it is already dark outside. As we walk, I begin to run through what we need to do next for the team. Sunny and I are almost at the entrance when I hear him say to somepony, “Oh, excuse me. I did not mean to bump into you.”

I turn my head and see a group of Thestrals, also known as bat ponies to some, next to him. Sunny is giving a hoof to one of them who is an albino. The other three do not even bother to try and help her up. Instead, they laugh at her and one tells her in a high-pitched voice, “See Morning Star, even this pegasus, has a darker coat than you.”

I see her blush before she thanks Sunny for helping her up. Then she turns to the one who had spoken to her and replies, “I know Arrats, it is not my fault I am this ugly. Besides his coat is darker than any of yours too.”

Sunny, still holding her hoof, tells her, “You are not ugly. You are beautiful,” He turns his head towards the one called Arrats and tells her, “In fact, she looks very similar to my mother, and I have never heard anyone call her ugly.”

The other three Thestrals laugh at him, “Maybe not for your kind. Now we must get going.”

Sunny nods, and while still holding her hoof, tells her, “I hope to see you again soon Morning Star. Oh, and my name is Sunset Water, but my friends call me Sunny.”

The others giggle behind him and I see her blush again. Then she answers, “I would like that Sunset Water. It was nice to meet you.” She then takes her hoof back reluctantly and begins to follow her friends who are all laughing and giggling as they continue inside.

As they go Sunny watches her and I see him smile when she looks back one last time and waves a wing at him. “Ok Sunny, we need to go now.”

I hear him sigh, “Yeah, ok Choo. But did you see her?”

“Yes Sunny, I did. But now we need to get our heads back onto the mission. I wonder how the others are making out?”

Once outside we look at the sky and each other and Sunny asks, “Well Choo, shall we just fly from here?”

I nod my head and send a quick goodbye to my sister as I take to the sky and begin to fly back to Mega Mart.

*****

Mega Mart, Lunar Commonwealth: Ball Lightning

Come morning I get up and am still stretching my muscles when I am approached by Air Burst. He then asks me, “Ball, that new pistol you bought yesterday, have you checked it over fully yet? I mean have you field stripped it?”

I shake my head, “No not yet, I was going to do that this morning, why?”

“Oh, just a hunch, but recently some of them have been showing more wear than is expected. Those can cause a malfunction during a fight, and to be honest, I like you and I would not want to see something like that happen to you. Oh, and after breakfast, we are breaking camp. I have a couple of drop-offs that we need to make before heading back to the University office.”

After he walks away, I finish rolling up my bedroll and stowing most of my few possessions in my saddlebags. As I put them away, I notice several letters tied together with a pink ribbon. These were all from Skydancer. I sigh. I guess I should give them back to her later. I mean, I know I don’t have to, but I just can’t get myself to burn them as some ponies would. I look at them with a sigh and then begin to disassemble my new pistol. I have it apart and am cleaning and oiling it when I notice the spring for the slide has a crack in the middle of it. What the Tartarus I think to myself. Then I reach into the saddlebag and pull out a spare parts kit that I had also picked up full of springs and other parts that tend to wear more easily. After I have replaced the damaged spring and tested it, I load it and put it into my holster. I then replace what remains of the spare parts in my saddlebag and join the others for breakfast.

As we are getting ready to leave for the day, I notice that part of the group that we had talked to last night is heading out without the caravan. I then see the mare Epona and we wave to each other. I then watch her until she is out of the gate. As I go back to the rest of our group, I see Sundancer just staring at me. Then she shakes her head sadly and goes back to getting ready to head out herself.

After we are all ready Air Burst leads us back out of the gate to the carriage lot and we are once again on the road in the Hoof. After a couple of hours as we continue down the streets, I notice we are heading towards a damaged three-story building with a tall clock tower in the middle of it that looks to be in rough shape as well. I notice on the front of the building in large letters is written, Manehatten Watch and Clock Company.

As we get closer, I see several broken clocks hanging at intersections. I also notice graffiti on some walls of a clock. Air Burst comes closer to me after we pass the third one and tells me, “Let me do the talking. These are some of our assets here as well.”

I nod my head in agreement. But feel my ears slide slightly back. He looks at me with a raised eyebrow and asks, “Son, do you have a problem with this?”

“No sir, I just wonder what exactly we are giving them and why.”

“You know Ball, I really like you, and you are pretty good. You got a lot of information for me last night. But maybe you aren’t cut out for this kind of work.” He tells me quietly.

I am surprised and I ask, “What do you mean Air?”

“Son, in my line of work you sometimes have to do some things that others find, hmmm, how do I say this?" He pauses briefly in thought before saying, "Distasteful. I know you are wondering how I knew about that pistol today. Well, that was one of mine. I knew it had a crack in the spring. Why, because while we want to cause problems for these dirt side ponies and their government, we don’t want them to be reliable. You know, cause distrust in the weapons they find.”

I nod my head, “So I was right, but why give them any at all?”

I hear him sigh first, then he answers, “I really should not tell you this, but because if they start fighting among themselves enough, they might get desperate enough to ask us to help them. Do you understand what would happen then?”

I nod my head and I catch myself starting to smile before I tell him, “Yeah, I get it now. Sorry for having even questioned you about it.”

He shrugs his shoulders as we walk and tells me, “I understand, you're new to this line of work. Just learn to do what they tell you and not ask the questions. That makes it a lot easier. Besides, this operation is my baby.”

I look around and then ask, “So is the rest of your team in on this too?”

He shrugs again, “Some are, some aren’t and no, I will not tell you who is and isn’t. You don’t have a need to know and we will keep it that way.”

“Alright Air, I get it,” I tell him, then I see some movement from a storm drain on the side of the street ahead and I tell him, “I saw something in the storm drain ahead.”

He halts the cart and has me go forward with him. From the storm drain, I hear a stallion’s voice say, “Stops right there. What time is it?”

I try not to laugh as I see Airburst roll his eyes and reply, “Not sure the time, my clock is broken.”

I hear a slight giggle from the storm drain and I see a hoof come out of it and wave. Soon I see a couple more ponies come out of a building to the side of us. Both have guns at the ready but neither seems ready to fire. As they approach, I hear one say, “Good to see you, Air Burst. You and your volunteers bring us some more goodies?”

He looks about and then replies, “I might could have a few prezzies for you all. But I need to talk to your boss Tight Spring to find out, alright Key Wind.”

The Stallion seems to think about it and answers, “Yeah, yeah it does. Sounds real good. Follow me on in.”

With that Airburst waves the cart forward again, we all follow the strange pony he called Key Wind around the outside of the watch and clock factory to the back loading dock area. There we pull the cart up a ramp and a rolling curtain door opens up. I turn to Air Burst with a questioning expression and he says, “They are not stupid, they have a couple who are mechanics and they figured out how to get it to work right.”

I simply nod my head in approval. I will say I am impressed. Maybe there is something more to this bunch than I thought.

From the side, I hear one of the Broken Clocks stallions say, “Hay Sundancer, decided to play with us mudpuppies yet?”

I look at her as she smiles back, gives a little wiggle and a wink then says, “Nah, I don’t want to get that dirty.”

I almost laugh when she says this as the stallion first starts to laugh then realizes he is not sure if it was an insult or not. So, he lets it drop.

Soon I hear Air Burst ask, “Ok, where is Tight Spring or Moon Dial?”

One of the others of the Broken Clocks tells him, “They is in the back with a guest.”

He raises an eyebrow and asks, “They did know we were coming, correct?”

“Yeah, they did. But seems the Mayhems Mares left a message for ya and we are supposed to give it to ya.”

I notice the regular Volunteer Corps members all seem a bit nervous as this must be a bit of a departure from their normal routine. With that in mind, I step a bit further to the side from the others and begin to choose my first targets if it comes to that.

I notice the rest of my team seems to be reacting similarly to me, but none of us has even shifted how we are carrying our weapons.

We wait for another 15 minutes before we finally see a dark blue mare with a white blanket on her flanks that is spotted by black and dark blue markings. I then see her cutie mark which is a pocket watch with a part of the dial having a panel on it that shows the moon rising and the sun setting.

She has a grin on her face as she sees us and she struts in passing by Air Burst and then stopping in front of me. She has an amused expression on her face as she turns and wraps her tail around my neck before walking towards Funnel Cloud, looking him up and down appraisingly and finally returning to Air Burst. She turns her head and with a mischievous smile asks, “Fresh meat, for me to try?”

He smiles and tells her, “While they are new, they are just members of my team. We have brought you a bit more of the supplies you requested.”

“Did you now?” she asks.

He nods his head, “I was told you had a message for me from the Mayhems Mares?”

“Ah, somepony spoiled my surprise for you,” she says with a disappointed expression on her face. Then she says, “Yes, I do, but first let’s see what you brought me.”

I watch as two large boxes and one long case are unloaded from the cart and I notice that Sundancer and her new coltfriend open them up using pry bars.

In the boxes, I can see prepackaged rounds of rifle ammunition. When they open the long crate, I see eight Bloomberg assault rifles in it as well as two magazines per rifle. I am surprised and I guess my face shows it when I hear Moon Dial ask Air Burst, “They really are newbs aren’t they. Didn’t you tell them of our arrangement?”

He grins back, “I forgot to tell them that part, but I figured it wouldn’t be a problem.” He pauses and then asks, “So what is it you have for me?”

Her expression turns to one of excitement and she says, “Oh, I almost forgot, let me go get it.”

She soon returns with a firefighter’s helmet that has a hole in it as well as a matching jacket that has several holes and bloodstains. She laughs slightly and tells us, “One of the Burner Boys decided to try and sneak into the Mayhem’s Mares territory. They knew it would be another week at least until you visited them again, so they asked me to deliver it. Oh, and to tell you, that the package you asked them to pick up for you is safe and sound.”

Air Burst grins at this and tells her, “Thank you Moon Dial. It is appreciated.”

Shortly after this we gather ourselves up and have completed the trade for the weapons. Once we are out the door and, on the road, again, I approach Air Burst and he tells me, “We will be going back to the University for another couple of days. Time to wait for the pot to boil, now that we have stirred things up a bit.”

It is nearly midnight when we finally make it back to the Collegiate territory. As we enter it, I look up into the sky and I notice a black pegasus and a dark-colored alicorn fly in front of the moon in the direction of the Mega Mart. I smile to myself as I wonder if it is the same two, I shared a fire with last night, and then I wonder, what they have been up to as well.

*****

Good evening all you ponies, griffons, and whatever else is out there listening. Tonight, we have more news coming to us from outside the Hoof as reports come in of several more Enclave airships being spotted coming towards our fair city.

In the greater Wastelands, unverified reports are coming in that some of this increase in activity by the Enclave is in response to the Wanderer. If you ask me, whoever she may be; if she is getting the Enclave this worked up it must be a good thing.

In other news Council Pony, Term Paper from the Collegiate has recommended that if their missing doctor is not found soon that perhaps the security forces offered to our Commonwealth by the Enclave be brought in to assist with the matter. This has led to some debate in the Council.

This is Chrome Microphone and our next song is one that you all are familiar with, Ain't No Rest for the Wicked.

Author's Note

We now see both groups beginning to work in Hoofington. While not openly hostile we can see how their actions may affect or counter the others. We can also begin to see how both groups interact with the other factions in the Hoof as well. It is best though if we remember that in Hoofington, everything comes with a price.

For those who would like to listen to this chapter's dedication song, the YouTube link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2Z0sON2UPc