Fallout Equestria: Liberation

by ValiantKnight

Rating: mature
Tags: Alternate Universe, Narcotics, Science Fiction, Starlight Glimmer, Fluttershy, Adventure, Sunburst, Violence, Crossover, Sex, Twilight Sparkle, Profanity, Applejack, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Death
Length: 41315

Valiant Knight is a young newly minted second generation Knight of Applejack's Rangers, who decodes a message from the frozen north, the quest to find its source would change Equestria forever.

Valiant Knight is a young Earth pony stallion born into the second generation of Applejack's Rangers. After finally earning his power armor and the rank of Knight, he is assigned to a safe and boring post monitoring communications for their outpost on Fetlock. His posting was just routine until he receives a coded transmission only he can decipher from their long-dead Ministry Mare Applejack.

This ain't right, not one bit, I'm sorry it came to this, to make you choose a side. But I reckon we ain't got many choices, not before them fellers break through our defenses. We need reinforcements at the Crystal Empire I'm putting the uh, what's the blasted word? Co-or-di-nates? Oh, crab apples, just don come and help us out! I need Steel Rangers, and I need em yesterday!

This transmission sent through an old Steel Ranger communications channel sends the order in a panic to send an expedition to the frozen north. Now Valiant prepares the way for this expeditionary force as a scout for the order, an Outcast Ranger. As he leads his squad of outcasts north, Valiant wonders what lies in the north, a land thought lost to time and megaspell fire.

Cover Art by: L1nkoln

Published 2021-11-28 10:30:00 UTC
Last updated 2021-12-14 06:17:25 UTC

Prologue: Brave New Old World

Prologue: Brave New Old World

War…War never changes.

200 years ago, our forefathers and mothers lived in a land of abundance and selflessness. Tales of adventures and glad tidings persisted well into the start of an industrial revolution. An age of technological marvels brought a significant change to ponies. Yet, as it often is, with considerable change comes strife. The technology required power, and the pony nation of Equestria soon exhausted its supply of coal. So they turned to the country across the Celestial Sea for coal. But, unfortunately, the Zebra Empire was an utterly foreign entity to the ponies of Equestria. A nation built through conquest and subjugation of its own kind. Born out of fear for Nightmare Moon, who darkened the sky and brought famine to the Zebra tribes. From these tribes, a hero rose to unite them under one banner. He promised to end the night, but the night ended seemingly on its own, and a nation raised for War was left wanting. The Empire born thereafter looked towards its neighboring pony nation with suspicion. Yet, their own need for Gems to advance their own technology forced them to cooperate.

The two nations exchanged gems for coal, and both creatures felt the tension of generations ebb away for a time. But fear is not so quickly forgotten, and greed could only be kept in check for so long. Especially when population and resources tipped in opposite directions. Tensions left ignored returned, uncertainty spread, fear replaced logic, and neighbors turned against neighbors. Accidents were perceived as aggression; religious rhetoric brought comfort and pointed a hoof at an enemy to direct the blame too. In the end, conflict was inevitable as diplomacy broke down, and both sides took up arms.

War consumed everypony and everything; them or us became a chant for the masses. Equestria, once led by the glowing sun, gave way to the moon. Fears from an age long ago became realized. The Zebras took Flankorage, and Equestria built great machines of War to beat the striped menace. The Zebras were pushed back, and Equestria knocked at the palace doors of Ceasar himself. But it was all for naught; on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the end happened. Both sides unleashed their greatest weapons. Megaspell fire scorched the land; magical gas corrupted all it touched, and in two hours of sound and fury, the world became silent.

But it was not the end as everypony thought; it was simply the bloody prologue to the first chapter of pony history. From the ashes arose a new society, one that fought and struggled but never trusted. Until a plucky pony from an underground bunker known as a stable, one of many built during the Great War, emerged and changed everypony for the better. At least so they had hoped, as she united all she could to end a war for the soul of the wasteland.

The settlements in northeast Equestria banded together. Then, after two decades of relative peace and the promise of a brighter future, old-world problems rose again. The New Canterlot Republic sent scouts west, north, and south, searching for wealth and resources for their fledgling nation. Uncaring or simply ravenous for land and resources, the NCR swallowed communities whole. Tribes were “civilized,” and the raider gangs were pushed back to Fillydelphia. This wanton expansion often brought the NCR into conflict with its ally, the Applejack’s Rangers. The Rangers took the old world values of freedom and defenders of the downtrodden through their previous Elder Steelhooves. Because of these conflicting ideas, the Rangers would retreat into Manehattan to their base on Stable 29, straining their relations with the NCR.

This is where I was born, in stable 29, where my first days as a Knight of the order would put me in the same place as that plucky pony from Stable 2. If only I knew the blood and loss that went into being a hero, I would have listened to my mother and just become a scribe with my nose in computer terminals and manuals. But, instead, I came to learn that War? War never changes.

Chapter 1: Anything but Routine

Chapter 1: Anything but Routine

I know this sounds cliché, but I think I want to be a hero. A little filly became a hero twenty years ago, and she was about my age when she became one. Her influence was so significant, she’s even inscribed into Ranger history. She was partly responsible for helping Elder Steelhooves return the Rangers to what they were meant to do. Serve and protect the creatures of Equestria, be it clearing out raiders, radgators, or whatever else lurks in the Wasteland. So instead, despite all my hard work and practically killing myself to get into the physical shape demanded of a Ranger, I got sent here. Fetlock wasn’t the NCR heartland, and the occasional raiding party or slavers would show up. But, of course, they avoided the Outpost like the plague. Smart of them, at least as smart as a raider pony can get. We got a lot of trading caravans passing through here on I-15 to Manehattan. Normally, NCR would haul this stuff by train, but Raiders repeatedly hit those and destroyed railroad lines.

It’s crazy to think about it, but in a world of technological advances, hoof power was still the best way to move from point A to B, relatively unmolested. Point A is Manehattan, Friendship City, and Tenpony Tower, and point B is Junction Town. Of course, this meant this was the best-guarded road. So raiders didn’t dare attack the I-15. Instead, they picked on prospectors, and caravans thinking they could avoid NCR tolls by avoiding the highway. Those creatures often had to rely on hired guns or a Ranger patrol to help them out. Too bad I was never one of those patrols. My skills deemed me best parked behind a desk operating the radio. I filed reports, conveyed orders from Baseplate, and fiddled with whatever the patrolling Rangers needed. At the best of times, I was a glorified desk clerk, a spare scribe during the worsts. Again, not that this post warranted worst times. The most action I saw was missing our water delivery. Turns out the squad had a broken wagon wheel and had to haul the water on hoof.

“Valiant, you back from daydreaming?”

I blinked, the voice breaking my wandering thoughts. “Huh?” I looked from my desk to my fellow Ranger and Cyclone Squad leader. Flag, a tall pony with a dark orange coat and dark blue mane and yellow eyes. He smiled at me bemusedly, and I coughed into my hoof awkwardly. “Sorry, Crusader Flag, just Uhm, filing reports…and stuff.”

“Right,” he laughed and slid a holotape across my desk. “Here’s my report, kid,” Flag grinned, “and come on,” Flag tapped my shoulder with his hoof. “Your pops isn’t here; just call me Flag.” Flag chuckled and walked out of the room to remove his power armor, no doubt.

“Right!” I sighed, watching my senior walk away. “Right…” I tapped my hoof against the holotape, looking at my reflection on the dark computer monitor. Blue bored eyes stared at a blue earth stallion with a dark grey mane. Some Valiant Knight I was, what was the point of calling me that? My father, Star Paladin Heavy Arms, parked me here to die of boredom. Hard to live up to the name or the Knight’s helm and sword I got on my flanks battling paperwork! Well, whatever, I guess, might as well do my job.

I loaded the holotape onto the terminal.

MWT STEEL RANGER COMMUNICATION OPS TERMINAL

PASSWORD: ACTION

LOAD HOLOTAPE?: Y/N

Y

LOADING HOLOTAPE

Report 117: Crusader Flag Cyclone Squad

The reconnaissance team reported no activity around the DJPon3 station near Manehattan. On orders from Baseplate, Cyclone squad and Thunder squad moved in to secure the location and transmitter on the tower. The station is in great shape, the equipment is salvageable, and the antenna shows promise. Recommend additional support from Outpost Tacitus. Knight Valiant has shown to be an adept engineer; we could use him to restore the antenna. Furthermore, I recommend setting up a new outpost at the station. Its location and transmission expansion capabilities make it worth the effort.

A hoof reached out and closed my slacked jaw, “don’t let the flies in, kid.”

“Flag!” I looked at him excitedly.

“Yeah, I know,” He was outside his armor. So instead, he wore the body glove issued once upon a time to Steel Rangers by the MWT. His was orange and gray with unique metal contact points around the body designed to better interface with power armor. “I couldn’t stand watching you mope around anymore.” Flag trotted off, “I need a stiff drink; let me know what Baseplate says.” The door leading outside the comm room shut, and I was left with hope in my heart.

***

“You geared up, kid?” Flag clad in dark steel power armor with a heavy 50. Caliber machinegun and anti-material rifle at his flanks came up to me. Flag was always taller than me, but he was about the size of an alicorn in his power armor. Frankly, we all were when inside the finest in MWT armor. Speaking off, I hit the underside of my own set. The armor reared up like the old army recruitment posters; the armor backplates opened up and awaited its pilot. I climbed aboard as the armor sealed itself around me, plates closing and interlocking with magnetic locks.

INTERFACE BOOTUP

MWT STEEL RANGER OPS

AIR SCRUBBERS: NOMINAL

RADIATION SHIELDING: NOMINAL

WEAPONS SYSTEMS: NOMINAL

SELF-REPAIR UNIT: NOMINAL

SATS: ONLINE

EFS: ONLINE

WELCOME ABOARD RANGER

Hell yeah, now this is what I’m talking about. 6 inches of reinforced titanium composite armor plates. Gyro stabilizers, motor servos, and piston strength boosters. I could haul a tank inside this thing, and if old records inside our crusader mainframe were to be believed, it’s been done. At either side of my flanks hung M-134 miniguns firing at 6000 rpm’s each. Though I thank the Equestrian engineers who added a switch to lower it to 2000 rpm. Ammunition was scarce enough before the NCR, ponykind is only now restarting the wheels of progress. Besides, scribes would be very mad at me for wasting too much ammo on poorly armored raiders anyway. So with a deep breath, I looked towards Flag and the rest of Cyclone squad. “I was born for this Flag.”

“Glad to hear it, now don’t be getting gun-ho on me, kid. Sites clear don’t expect trouble.” Flag threw a hoof forward, and everypony filed behind him.

The road to the station was uneventful; the cracked road was riddled with rusted-out wagons. Some with the skeletons of pullers still attached to them, others motorized and raided for their spark batteries. The buildings had cracked walls, and some were outright destroyed, either by the megaspells or time. The only thing ponies like Flag, who lived before the Light Bringer, could call different was the lack of ambient radiation. Well, at least when it concerned the surface. But, unfortunately, waters around Manehattan were still very much irradiated. Well, it depended on who you asked about its fortune. Ghoul ponies needed the stuff to not go zombie or die, for that matter.

Well, it didn’t matter right now; I was out of the Outpost, and I was gonna see some action! Maybe, Flag did say the area was secured. I felt myself deflate a little at the prospect, but hey, at least I got to stretch my legs. “Unknown contacts on EFS, baring 113, a hundred meters.” Flag’s voice snapped me from my thoughts. Everypony halted, and I looked at the compass. Sure enough, a cluster of green dots was ahead of us.

“How are we playing this boss?” A knight spoke up.

“Valiant,” Flag’s helm turned to me.

“Sir!” I straightened, ready for anything!

“Take point, everypony fan out and cover Valiant.” Flag ordered, and everypony dispersed, taking their own routes to the station. Okay, maybe I wasn’t ready for anything.

“Are you sure about this Flag?” I opened my helmet, looking at him.

He returned the favor, the helm split at the “mouth,” making it look like the armor had eaten us. “They aren’t raiders, were too far away from I-15, and traders don’t venture this far out.”

“So shouldn’t you talk to them?” I raised a brow; my quivering voice betrayed my nervousness.

“Nah, I want to see what you can do.” Flag closed his helmet; turning from me, he scanned our destination. “There,” he pointed a hoof at a roof overlooking Djpon3 station. “If things go south, the squad will attack from all sides, and I’ll provide sniper support.” Flag tapped the barrel of his anti-material rifle to emphasize his point. “This is test one, kid. You got this!” Flag broke into a trot and left me alone before I could respond.

Well, here goes everything, I guess. I trotted towards the station; suddenly, the prospect of action didn’t seem as appealing. It took a few minutes to arrive, all the while psyching myself up. Come on, I can do this, the first test…wait! Flag didn’t even tell me what I’m supposed to be testing! Agh, I shook my head and just trotted on. I arrived just a few meters from the destination, I didn’t immediately barrel in full force. Instead, I peeked the corner around an adjacent building. Sure enough, I could see several armed ponies patrolling the perimeter just across the street. You know, now that I think about it, I must look pronounced, big hulking armored pony trying to be sneaky.

“Hah, you look ridiculous.” Flag snorted a laugh over the radio. “I’m in position; you seeing what I’m seeing?”

“Yeah…NCR troopers.” Great, but hey, at least this wasn’t going to turn into a shootout…I hope. I stepped from my hiding spot and trotted over to the troopers. In hindsight, I maybe should have said something.

“Heavy hitter hit the deck!” An earth pony mare shouted and ducked for the nearest cover. They all did, and they scrambled, aiming their assault rifles at me. Yeah, heavily armed silent individual stalking towards them? Bad first impression.

“Hey, hey!” I sat on my haunches and raised my hooves, showing I meant no harm. “I’m a Ranger; I’m not your enemy!”

Thankfully the troopers didn’t immediately fire on me, “Identify yourself!”

“Valiant Knight Applejack’s Rangers!” I even opened my helmet, smiling at them in what I hope was a reassuring smile.

“What’s a Ranger doing here by himself, huh?” The mare questioned with narrowed eyes.

“I…well,” I closed my helmet and got back to my hooves. The troopers immediately aimed down their sights at me. “Flag?” I closed off external audio speaking to Flag.

“Should I tell them it’s not just me?” I resisted the urge to look in Flags’ direction.

“Should you?” Flag responded.

Gee, thanks for the insightful advice. “Well, this radio station was scouted out by us already. We were coming here to set up camp, sort of speak.”

“I don’t buy it; you Rangers are supposed to stay in Manehattan, not expand.” The mare accused.

“We already have an outpost on I-15. So fetlock is well within our rights to build on!” I narrowed my eyes, not that they could see it behind my helmet.

“Yeah, right, like I’d believe a no-good traitor!” the mare barked back.

“Traitor!?” I stomped a hoof forward. Hard. The pavement cracked from the force. “Because we refused to bully everypony into your NCR? We were never part of your army!” Gah, why were these ponies so…dense!

“Things look tense down there kid, remember who your dealing with,” Flag chimed in.

Right…de-escalate; I seriously don’t need to be known as the pony who started a Ranger NCR war. “Look, I demand to speak to your superior officer. This is a Ranger outpost.” I stood tall, using my height advantage to intimidate them.

Some of the troopers faltered, but the mare barely looked phased. “There are ten other ponies inside, and I’ll be damned if I let a traitor intimidate me! So whose gonna make me move tin-pony?” Seriously? I mean, those rifles would scratch the paint at most; maybe they had an anti-material rifle. But by the way her allies were shaking in their helmets? Not likely.

“Rangers are never alone,” I stated and stomped a hoof. Flag showed himself; he jumped down from the two-storied building. He landed, cracking the pavement. The rest of Cyclone squad stepped out from their hiding places surrounding them. “Now, your superior officer, if you please.”

She opened her muzzle, but one of her soldiers scrambled from his cover into the building. “Hey, Toast!” She yelled after him but made no move to follow him. “Bah, coward cowing down to traitors.” She spat on the floor and stepped into the station. The rest of the troopers slung their rifles and stood awkwardly before us.

Once again, I shut off external audio. “Flag, have things really gotten this bad between us and the NCR?”

“Well,” Flag turned his head to one of the troopers. An orange unicorn, he jumped at the sudden attention. His brown eyes darted left and right before he offered an awkward smile, and he bolted into the station. “Civilians are mixed about us. Our biggest supporters are the small communities. The fringes of NCR that more or less deal with the less….friendly NCR intentions.” Flag gestured a hoof to the troopers. They kept their hooves on their weapon straps, eyes full of mistrust. “Everypony else that is an NCR diehard more or less see us as traitors. You know after the whole Fillydelphia incident.”

“Traitors to what? We were never part of the NCR regulars.” I sighed.

“Trust me, kid, that doesn’t register to most NCR diehards. No creature in the NCR wants to think their” - Flag made quotation marks with his hooves- “hero endorsed NCR is wrong and capable of losing.” The remaining ponies saw Flags display and looked at one another, confused.

“Flag, were you at Fillydelphia when it all went down?” I looked towards him.

His expressionless helmet looked at mine, and I wondered what he was thinking. “Both times, kid, I was there both times.”

Before I could ask Flag about it, the door to the station opened up, and an NCR officer walked out. He wore the standard NCR armor. Combat armor over digital camo designed for urban warfare. Instead of the helmet, he wore a dark green barrette with his rank on it. He was a white Stallion with an equally white mane like snow. “Forgive the confrontation with my troops; they’re fresh off Bootcamp and don’t yet know how things work here on Manehattan.”

Flag nodded in my direction, and I opened my helmet. “That’s alright; tensions were high.” I coughed and gestured towards the station. “Our team had previously run recon on this site. If you’d please, we’d like to get inside and work on setting up camp.”

“Well, that’s the problem. I need to run it by my superiors. If they say otherwise…” the officer left the implication hanging.

“Right,” I nodded and gestured towards him. “Please contact your superiors.”

A mare trotted up behind the officer. She was young, definitely younger than me. That said something, considering how the helmet looked more like a bowl over her head. She skidded to a stop and put a hoof to her helmet, steadying the wobbly thing. “Radio’s ready, sir!” she squeaked.

“Thank you, Sugar Cane,” he smiled at the filly and grabbed the radio receiver on the radio pack she was hauling. Now that I thought about it, the officer himself looked well past his prime.

I shifted my gaze to Flag, closing my helmet. “She’s just a kid,” I muttered privately.

“NCR is still recovering from Fillydelphia; they lost a lot of good creatures.” Flag said darkly.

“But that was two years ago….” I watched the beaming filly looking at the officer as he muttered into the receiver.

“Replenishing an army takes time, resources, and experienced soldiers to train that army. Unfortunately, NCR lost a lot of all of those.” Flag nodded towards the young filly.

“The big wigs running the show don’t want Fillydelphia or anypony for that matter to see them as weaker. So regulations on what constitutes a fully trained soldier are rather lax these days. As well as the age requirements.”

“Understood, will relay, over and out.” The old officer sighed, looking rather relieved. “Command said to clear out, so we’re moving out. Sugar Cane, get inside and tell everypony were moving out.”

“Right!’ She excitedly hopped-quite literally- to it, helmet bouncing up before landing on her head again. With our negotiations over and done, the troopers left on their merry way. Though not before a few nasty stares from that one mare I argued with.

***

Okay, camp set, sort off, really we just secured the perimeter, and I was let loose inside. Alright, time to do what I do best. I started downstairs; thankfully, the stairs were all concrete. Wooden stairs, particularly ones aged two hundred years, would not support power armor. I turned my headlamp on and searched the lower levels. I found the evidence lockers, and wasteland survival training kicked in, and I raided it for anything of value. Some old boxes of ammunition and rusted weapons were all that remained. Oh, and drugs long since returned to dust. Next, I found the police lockers. I found much of the same, well, except for the drugs. I did find some weapons in need of refurbishing, but I could probably salvage them. Finally, after hitting the lockup and a small office, I found what I needed. A room with a faded label reading maintenance.

The door was locked; I suppose I could pick the lock. But I was also a walking Warmachine; I drew a forehoof and punched the door, breaking it off its hinges. “Hey, we need this place in one piece kid, take it easy down there.” Flag came over the radio.

“Sorry, locked door.” I grinned sheepishly and went into maintenance. The generators were rusted and broken, all except for one. I trudged to it and shined my light on it. Circuits were still in working order, gears weren’t rusted solid, and the spark battery was still in place. I grinned and hit the big red button on the generator. The old machine groaned to life, and the lights flickered on. Alright, step one is complete. I made my way upstairs to the comm room to check on the equipment. Lucky for me, most of the equipment had Hoof-Tek logos on them. A company under the MWT, and one that built their stuff to last! Thank Luna and her overblown military budget! This made my job considerably easier.

I gave each terminal a once over, no security protocols were in effect. This means the ponies here left in quite a hurry. I suppose the end of all life would make a pony ignore protocols. I connected the terminals to the I-15 Outpost. Alright, just had to test the connection. I parked myself by the main coms terminal and contacted the Outpost. “Outpost Tacitus, this is Cyclone squad; come in.”

“W-bzzt- re-bzzt- cl-bzzt-” The signal was way too gargled. Well, guess the next logical step is the antenna. So I did a quick trudge up to the roof, though not before making sure I linked my short-burst to the coms terminal. The antenna looked to be in decent condition, nothing a little polishing couldn’t fix. I checked the fusebox and found some cut wires. Easy fix, I exited my armor and grabbed the tape from my saddlebag. One patchwork later, and the antenna was operational. I entered my armor and tried again. “Outpost Tacitus, this is Cyclone squad, please respond.”

“Tacitus here, signal strength 4.”

Hot dog! “Understood Tacitus, the transmitter is operational. Let Baseplate know they can send forces when ready.” I made my way back down to the coms room. I opened the door to find Flag and a few other Knights crowded over a terminal.

“Kid!” Flag turned from his place and waved a hoof over. I trotted in his direction and opened my helmet. He shooed everypony away and jabbed a hoof at the terminal, “look at this, you have anything to do with this?”

I raised a brow and read over the terminal.

MWT SPECIAL OPERATIONS EMERGENCY TRANSMISSION

THREAT LEVEL: SABER 1

STEEL RANGER ENCRYPTION PROTOCOL CRIMSON TACET

“No, I did not, but how long has this message been playing?” I checked the date and time; it was only a few weeks old.

“You think Baseplate sent this?” Flag asked.

“No…we’d have known the encryption protocol if it were,” I muttered and looked at the terminal.

“This is beyond my expertise. Can you open it?” Flag sat on his haunches.

“I…” I tapped my hooves on the terminal. Basic hacking attempts would be useless. I’d have to actually guess the proper encryption. “I can’t hack it, but maybe if I do a little research, I can open it.” I sat on my haunches as well, looking at Flag.

“Alright, I’ll report to Baseplate; you get working on that.” Flag got up and signaled everypony else to follow him.

“Alright, it’s just you and me, super-secret message.” I exited my armor for comfort, parking it next to the desk. I connected the terminal to Baseplate and used our massive database to gather information. I tapped away at the keys, looking over old MWT procedures and terminology data. I also looked at Important coded messages, methods on intelligence reports, and inter-ministry communication procedures.

Despite my want for adventure, I was a nerdy pony at heart. Learning about the old world had become a hobby of mine. I had only tapped the surface of our mountains of data compiled in the crusader mainframe at Stable 29, or Baseplate as we called it out in the field. There was hardly any time to indulge between training and my duties. Now I was actually diving in for the sake of my responsibilities! Though I had to temper myself to not divert from relevant information about the task at hand. Speaking of that task, all my research led down to the impossible. I mean, it just had to be impossible; Saber was the code word for Ministry Mare Applejack. But what the hell? Maybe somepony used one of her personal terminals. Plenty of terminals survived to this day; the problem was there was no way in hell anypony would know to about Crimson Tacet encryption protocols. Though there was no direct information stating it, Crimson Tacet was Ministry Mare Applejacks personal encryption protocol.

I rubbed my eyes and yawned, only just now noticing night had crept upon us. “Man, when I get into it, I get into it.” I laughed and rested my head against my hoof. This couldn’t be right. The idea of it all was ludicrous. How could somepony who’s been dead for 200 plus years send us an emergency transmission? The answer had to be something else! I tapped my hoof against the desk. My old mentor, Head Scribe Scribbles, once said. ‘once you eliminate all possible possibilities, sometimes the impossible one is the answer.’ Alright, let’s hypothetically say this message was from Ministry Mare Applejack. Unfortunately, MWT wasn’t in the habit of recording encryption. Okay, I had to think like the mare to crack the encryption. Or go through as much of her data as possible to find a pattern.

I rubbed my eyes, squinting as light filtered through the windows. Looks like I pulled an all-nighter on this one. But I think it was worth it because I found the encryption! Well, I was at least 99% sure I found it anyways. I tapped at the keys and brought back the message. As if on cue, Flag trotted inside clad in his armor. I heard the soft hiss of the helmet opening up as he walked up to me. “Kid? Have you been up all night?”

“Oh yeah,” I yawned, then wiped my face with my foreleg. “But I got it, Flag, I got the decryption!” I opened the message and entered the encryption.

MWT SPECIAL OPERATIONS EMERGENCY TRANSMISSION

THREAT LEVEL: SABER 1

STEEL RANGER ENCRYPTION PROTOCOL CRIMSON TACET

PASSWORD: APPLEBLOOM SMITH-APPLE MACINTOSH APPLESEED

There was a crackling sound, and the message played.

This ain’t right, not one bit; I’m sorry it came to this, to make you choose a side. But I reckon we ain’t got many choices, not before them fellers break through our defenses. We need reinforcements at the Crystal Empire. I’m putting the uh, what’s the blasted word? Co-or-di-nates? Oh, crab apples, just don come and help us out! I need Steel Rangers, and I need em yesterday!

No way, this had to be some kind of mistake, a prank, or something! Exactly one week ago, Ministry Mare Applejack requested reinforcements. I scrunched my face reading the coordinates. “What the heck is the Crystal Empire?” I looked to Flag; he in turn shrugged.

“Okay, everypony grab your gear, were heading straight for Baseplate.” Flag said with a seriousness I never thought possible from him.

***

Ho boy, I wasn’t in trouble, but I somehow still felt in trouble. I felt like a young colt sent to the principal’s office for some mischief or other. I sat on a chair outside Elder Sharp Sides office, or what used to be the Overmares office. The drab rusted walls proved little comfort as I fiddled with my hooves. I had put Applejack’s message in a holotape, and Flag had me present it to Elder Sharp Sides. She immediately called the Landsraad, a council of the five Star Paladins of the order. Finally, after two days of deliberation, some kind of decision had been made. I could only imagine I was here to be made privy to said decision.

“Knight,” my father stirred me from my thoughts. He stood between me and the entrance to Elder Sharp Side’s office. He was an intimidating stallion, to say the least. Everypony called me his spitting image, only I felt like a runt compared to him. He was tall, even taller inside his power armor, costumed tailored for his more oversized frame. His coat was darker than mine, his eyes a dark silver that betrayed no emotion. He kept his onyx black hair cropped short and swept back. The only thing showing his age was a white streak on each hair side by the ears.

“Sir!” I stood at attention and gave a crisp salute, hoof to the side of my head just above the forehead.

“At ease, Knight, come in; we have much to discuss.” He stepped aside, and I trotted inside. Elder Sharp Sides was behind her desk. She was looking at her terminal, a beige earth pony with light green eyes and a grey mane from age in a long braid over her shoulder. I stood at attention before her, but she had yet to acknowledge me. My father stood by the door at attention as well.

I looked around the room to pass the time while the Elder finished whatever she was reading. The room had been utterly remodeled from the original standard Stable-Tec design. Scribes had repainted the walls maroon, and all Stable-Tec paraphernalia was removed. Instead, it was replaced by old army recruitment posters and other knick-knacks placed there personally by the Elder. She was a big fan of Princess Celestia by the looks of all the posters featuring her prominently.

“Valiant Knight,” The Elders voice brought me back to reality.

I offered her a crisp salute, “mam.”

“At ease, Knight, I brought you here to discuss what we were planning to do with the message you recovered.” Elder Sharp Sides left her desk, trotting around to stand before me. She wore the black body glove issued to Power Armor wearers; over it, she wore a dark red cloak with a broach made in our insignia. “No doubt you have questions, especially why we called you here individually. Don’t worry, I will answer all these questions.”

The Elder trotted around me, sizing me up, and for my part, I was proud of myself for not fidgeting. “You see, after further research, we have come to a conclusion whatever pony sent this transmission has access to the technology of our level or above. They also knew security protocols only known to the Ministry Mare herself.” She sighed, stopping before me. “Frankly, we have a far-reaching theory at most and an absolutely incredulous one at most. Either we’re dealing with a runaway Steel Ranger Chapter who’s trying to defect to our side. Or our Ministry Mare herself survived for 200 years and sent us a message for help. Her words, frankly feel like she might be under attack by a Steel Ranger Chapter.” She raised a hoof seeing the question burning to get out.

“I don’t believe it’s her; it couldn’t possibly be. The voice matches our records, but our records also have her living out her life in stable 2. As things stand, we cannot afford to ignore this. Frankly, the chapter is at a crossroads. I read your report on the situation at our newest Outpost.” Elder Sharp Sides frowned. “If things escalated any further…” the implication was the same as my previous one. We couldn’t afford a war right now, not with the NCR.

“As such, we have chosen on a bold plan, should the worst come to pass. Call it a contingency, if you will.” The Elder sat on her haunches and cleared her throat. “In the event, we engage in total war with the NCR, our chapter will not survive. The NCR will make sure to make an example of us for Fillydelphia. They’ve been looking for an excuse to get rid of us for years now. So we will be splitting our chapter into two. Half our forces and personnel will be leaving Stable 29 in an expedition to this Crystal Empire. If our records are believed, we would be far enough from the NCR to truly settle ourselves. But, should the worst happen here?” The Elder sighed, “On the chance, this Stable is threatened, we cannot allow the NCR to have our Crusader mainframe.” Her eyes shone with determination and something inkling to tiredness. “I will execute Damocles protocols. The Stables reactor will be overloaded and destroy everything within a 3-mile radius.”

“Elder, no!” I lifted my hoof, unsure how to take this.

She raised her own, stopping me from speaking further, “this is the last resort. I assure you I will do everything in my power to avoid this.” She shook her head, looking down. “Before it ever gets to that, we have a considerable civilian population here. Family of our personnel, traders, and what have you. As such, we have decided to execute this plan in three phases.” She stood up and trotted behind her desk. She tapped away at her terminal, and the lights dimmed. A projector lowered from the ceiling, and a screen dropped behind me. I stepped aside and sat on my haunches, watching the screen light up with images.

OPERATION EXODUS

An apt name, but it did not settle the feeling at the pit of my stomach. Elder Sharp Sides cleared her throat and gestured at the screen. “Phase 1: special reconnaissance units will be dispatched north to the Crystal Empire. Recon units will consist of several squads; upon reaching The Crystal Empire, Recon units are to report a go or no go on Phase 2.” She clicked on the terminal and showed the next part of the plan. “Half of our forces and personnel will undertake the trek north to establish a permanent base of operations, dubbed Base November. Recon teams are to be on the lookout for suitable areas.” She tapped at her keys once more to show a different plan being implemented. A sub-plan, if you will.

OPERATION HOMETOWN

“As stated previously, we have a large civilian population here at the Stable. Therefore, this sub-operation will be implemented by auxiliary units. Upon safe escort from Manehattan, our civilian population will disperse to any settlement of their choosing. We will be providing a list of Ranger-friendly settlements.” The Elder frowned; she wasn’t pleased about bringing in outside help.

“Elder… I know we aren’t Steel Rangers, but outsiders to deal with our family and friends?” I sat on my haunches, scuffing at the metal ground. The idea I had to entrust my mother’s safety to outsiders didn’t sit right with me.

“Not entirely. I will have our personnel, strickly volunteers of our… seasoned Rangers, to help with the escort.” The way she looked off to the side like that made me realize what she meant. Our older Knights facing retirement. “They will protect everyponie’s families, along with a company of Talon Mercenaries who have agreed to take on the job.”

“Elder…” I began, but she went on over me.

“The relationship between NCR and mercenaries has long since turned antagonistic. Griffons building a nation with ponies? Let’s just say Fillydelphia had its fair share of influx with Talon company mercs after the NCR accord was signed.” Elder Sharp Sides let out a bitter chuckle. “Being unfriendly to the NCR is only a happy coincidence. The fact the Talons never break a contract is what interests me most.” She tapped the keys again, switching back to Operation Exodus. “If all conditions are met, we can begin Phase 3. It will take time, but our Scribes are already working on it. Were scouring any Stable-Tec ruins left, and long since decommissioned Stables. If they are successful, we will dismantle our Crusader Mainframe and move it up to Base November. After which, Talon Mercenaries will be contacted to march the Civilians to Base November.” The Elder switched to the next slide, “if not, we will cuttle the Stable and destroy the Crusader Mainframe.” She tapped the terminal, and it switched to the next Phase.

OPERATION EXODUS [CLASSIFIED]

“This final briefing is for your eyes only, yours and the scout team leaders.” The Elders’ voice turned dark and foreboding. “NCR expansion cannot be left unchecked. Scout teams are to scout and establish Ranger-friendly relations with all settlements outside NCR reach. Assuming all Phases are completed, we will be executing this.” The Elder tapped at her terminal again.

EQUESTRIA RESURRECTION

“We will unify all settlements under the old banner of Equestria and oppose the NCR directly. This final plan will be years in the making, but it’s something the Landsraad and I have discussed at length since Phillydelphia. Unfortunately, it has become clear, the NCR will fall prey to the same ideas that nearly ended the world. Therefore, we must create an alternative, details regarding this will be revealed later to you.” The Elder tapped her terminal one more time before the projector turned off, the lights turned on, and she trotted back around her desk to me.

“Valiant, time is of the essence, and sadly we could not train you as extensively as I wished.” The Elder placed a hoof on my shoulder. “You remember the test administered by Crusader Flag?”

“Yes, mam, though he didn’t elaborate on its purpose.” I narrowed my eyes.

“Put simply, the arrival of this message accelerated our plans. Operation Exodus wasn’t just something we came up with within a few days. We had been planning for well over a year now. For that purpose, we began an initiative for a new type of Ranger.” The Elder smiled, nodding to my father. He stepped aside and let the door to her office open. Flag stepped in in his usual body glove and smirked lazily at me.

“Given our increased scrutiny by the NCR, we needed a way to maneuver without being monitored.” Elder Sharp Sides stood tall and proudly, “we are beacons of the Wasteland and a promise to old-world values of freedom and friendship. We do not rule, and we do not interfere with internal affairs. But, individuals can certainly involve themselves with internal affairs.” The Elder smirked, and Flag next to me nudged me knowingly. “To that end, the Landsraad and I have created the Outcast Ranger initiative.” Elder Sharp Sides threw her hoof out dramatically. “Outcasts are publicly denounced by the order, but in reality, they work behind the scenes to further our cause. We need individuals who don’t fit into the typical Ranger profile for the ruse to work.”

“That’s why I was testing you, kid,” Flag shrugged and tapped my shoulder. “I needed to see how you interacted with anybody outside the order. It got a little heated, but you were able to control the situation.”

“Precisely,” Elder Sharp Sides clopped her hooves together. “For lack of better wording, you are to act as a spy for the order. Missions will be given to you via encrypted transmission. Don’t worry, in the years since Fillydelphia, we have already deployed several agents.” Elder Sharp Sides scratched under her chin and smiled proudly to herself. “Should you encounter another Agent, there will be a challenge and a counter. What goes well with apple pie?” Elder Sharp Sides grinned, “Zap-Apple Jam.”

Okay, a bit on the nose, I’d say, but then again, what’s the luck I’d run into anypony who knew what that was? “I understand, Elder, but am I really qualified for this?”

“Sadly, we cannot afford any more delays,” she sighed, trotting up to Flag and me. “Crusader Flag believes you have what it takes, so you will have to learn on the field. It’s not ideal, but time is no longer our ally.” The Elder nodded solemnly.

“Flag, er, Crusader Flag, you recommended me?” I made sure to collect myself, breaking protocol before the Elder and my father was asking for trouble.

“Actually, I did.” My father spoke up from the door.

I opened my mouth but closed it just as quickly, unsure of what to say. Elder Sharp Sides nodded to my father then looked towards me again. “Now, I know we dumped a lot on you, Knight. Do you have any questions?”

Thousands, but none appropriate at an official briefing. “No, mam, I understand our situation and will do what I can for the Order!” I saluted her, trying to settle my conflicted feelings.

“Good, have the rest of the day, soldier, get your affairs in order and report to the armory at 0600 tomorrow for final briefing.” The Elder saluted back, and I left her office, sparing one final glance at everypony. My father nodded to me before the Elders door closed behind me.

Alone, just myself and the low hum of the lights. I sat on my haunches and slapped my hooves against my face. Nope, not a dream, everything that happened today was real. I stood back up and walked off. I had no destination. I just didn’t feel like sitting in one place. I think some ponies had said hi to me; I wasn’t sure at this point. But, this was what I wanted, wasn’t it? I got to leave on an adventure, help ponies, and be a hero! I heard a saying in old Equestria about dogs that chase wagons. If they ever caught the wagons, they wouldn’t know what to do with it.

Well, I got the wagon. What now Valiant? I heard a door hiss open, and I almost bumped into somepony. I looked up, noticing my mother, a unicorn with a light grey coat and golden mane and gentle blue eyes. “Oh, Valiant, I was going to go find you.” I guess I subconsciously made my way home.

“Hey, mom, uhm, has anypony said anything to you?” I scratched my foreleg with my other hoof.

She let out a tired breath and stepped aside, “come on, let’s talk.”

“so,” I moved my apple around on my plate. “You know about Exodus then.” I couldn’t look at her; I felt I might lose any nerve I had.

“When you’re the wife of a Star Paladin…” my mother chuckled. “I also know a little about your role in this.” My mother crossed her hooves before her on the table. “Son, I know this is new and different from what you were expecting. But remember what you said to me when you were a young colt watching your father marching with the Rangers?”

My ears perked up, and I looked at my mother, and I couldn’t help but crack a smile. It’s hard to forget. She had levitated me above everypony so I could see all the Rangers march through the streets of Manehattan. “I want to be like dad. I want to be a hero!”

“You’ve worked hard since then to be a Knight; despite my feelings on the matter, I always believed in you, son. You’re a good pony, and I know you’ll make me and your father proud. So don’t let insecurity get to you now.” My mother winked at me and levitated an apple to her mouth to bite on.

“yeah,” I laughed a little, “I guess I’m just being silly. This is my chance; I will be a hero, mom!” I grabbed my apple and took a bite off it. “I’ll sho’l em!”

“Hey, no talking with your mouth full.” My mother turned her nose up at me, smiling. “How do you spect to get a special somepony acting like a pig?”

I choked on my apple and pounded my hoof against my chest, “m-mom!” I felt my face heat up.

She laughed, and I couldn’t help it, I laughed too, and suddenly my worries seemed distant. I was gonna miss this, miss mom and Stable 29. This place, however dreary it could get at times, was home.

***

0600, right on time, I walked into the armory. Waiting for me was Flag and, “Strider!” I galloped to my friend’s side and clopped hooves with him. “You’re back!” Strider was my best and only friend, really. He was slim and taller than me, with a light grey coat, dark brown mane, and sharp silver eyes.

Strider smiled, bumping his shoulder against mine, “yeah, I got in late last night.”

“How was patroling outside Manehattan?” I pushed him away playfully with a smirk.

“Wasteland, scavs, raiders, and whatever unholy creature still calls this place home.” Flag shrugged, “you know, the usual.” He cocked his head and grinned, “though I hear you’ll find about that soon enough.”

“Oh, you heard, huh.” I knickered and frowned, so much for a secret task force if every pony knew. But, then again I just assumed it was confidential.

“well, wouldn’t be a good squad mate if I didn’t know, now would I?” Strider winked and turned to attention when my father and Elder Sharp Sides walked in. “Attention, Knights!”

We all stood stiffly at attention, and Elder Sharp Sides gave us a once over. She nodded and gestured to the still open armory door. One more pony, a unicorn mare, had light green, almost yellow coat and a blonde mane with pink eyes. She trotted in and stood quickly at attention with us. Elder Sharp Sides nodded in her direction and began the briefing. “Listen up, everypony, because this is your final briefing before deployment. You four Rangers will form reconnaissance squad Saber.” I almost laughed at the irony. But wait, what? Strider and I got to be in a squad together? My luck must be really holding out. I got to go on an adventure with my best friend! With the added bonus of Flag, his easy-going attitude gelled well with my admittedly straight-laced one. The unicorn mare, on the other hand, I knew nothing about.

“Your mission should be clear; how you get there is entirely up to you.” Elder Sharp Sides nodded.

“To us?” I don’t think I have ever had any assignment where I wasn’t explicitly told what they wanted me to do.

“Correct, if small groups of supposedly exiled ponies start taking specific routes at the same time, that would be suspicious. So each squad will be departing at random intervals as the week passes.” Elder Sharp Sides pointed a hoof at us, “you will be the first squad.”

“Understood,” I nodded towards her.

“What about equipment, Elder?” Strider turned his head to the Elder from my left.

“That’s the reason we’re here in the armory; we will give you enough supplies to make it seem like we’re exiling you with just enough to get you out of manehattan.” Elder Sharp Sides waved her hoof at everything we had gathered over the years. “What you take with you is entirely up to you. Keep in mind you’ll have to lug all this around without power armor.”

“Wait, no power armor?” The unicorn mare’s ears flattened against her head, and she almost sounded…betrayed?

The Elder’s jaw tightened, “I can hardly call it exile if we allow you to walk out of here in full power armor. Besides, without proper support up keeping the armor would be difficult.” Frankly, I wasn’t comforted by the thought. Not being a walking tank sure made me feel less enthusiastic about this adventure.

“Now, gear up; you have two hours before you have to depart.” Elder Sharp Sides looked us over once more, her gaze lingering on the mysterious unicorn. “Make me proud,” she quickly broke her eye contact with the unicorn, “all of you.” The Elder trotted off, leaving us with my father.

“Flag, a word before you leave,” my father, as always short and to the point, nodded to Flag. I was hesitant to call them friends; heck, I wasn’t sure Flag was my friend. He was always around when I was growing up, though. My father always said he had to keep him out of trouble. Flag would laugh it up, telling my father was just too stuffy for his own good.

“Yeah,” Flag and my father shared a look, one I couldn’t decipher before my father left, shutting the armory door behind him. “Alright, kiddies, get geared up. Over the years, we’ve accumulated odds and ends. Remember, the goal is to not look like a Ranger.” Flag trotted between some weapon racks and disappeared. Strider tapped my shoulder and did the same. Guess it’s just the newcomer and me.

I looked at her, she looked back, and we quickly looked away. Well, this was off to a great start. “So, what’s your name?” There we go, Valiant, basics of socializing!

“Oh, uhm, Lemon.” She smiled shyly, rubbing her foreleg with her hoof.

“I’m Valiant. Nice to meet you.” I stretched my hoof out to shake hers.

“I know, you’re the pony who deciphered the message from Ministry Mare Applejack.” She shook my hoof, and the awkwardness ebbed away a little.

“Yeah, not how I’d want to be remembered, but hey can’t always choose what people decide to remember you for, can we?” I grinned sheepishly at her.

Lemon’s ears drooped a little, but she smiled back nonetheless. “You’re right about that, well let’s get ready!” Lemon stood up and went to look the armors over. First thing first, I went to look at the armor. Lemon was halfway in a chest, digging through it. Huh, her cutiemark was a rocket with an explosion in the background. Wait, I’m staring at my squadmate’s ass. I blushed and shook my head, trying to forget the cute way she wiggled her bottom as she dug into the chest. Agh, stop it, stupid hormones!

I trotted past her fast and looked at the clothes. There was a lot to choose from, and I had to think about durability and usefulness in the field. Oh, the body glove. I looked over the selection and picked a sleek black one. I unzipped it and got in it right away. It was a snug fit; I kicked my back legs and adjusted the suit, pulling on my hind legs. It definitely grabbed everything! Thankfully, the material for these things was meant to shape to the user’s body. So after a few minutes, it felt just right. I looked back to where Lemon was, but she was long gone. I trotted to a nearby rack and looked at the armor. If I was gonna go out there without power armor, I had to use the next best thing. Combat armor, easy to maintain and modular. I found a decent dark green combat armor barding. I undid the straps at the side, slipped it over my head, and strapped it back up around my chest. Next, I grabbed leg armor that slipped over my hooves, protecting my legs for added measure. Finally, I found some saddlebags and slipped them over my back, so they rested comfortably around my flanks. I padded myself over, satisfied with my choice in armor.

I looked to the weapon racks; Strider checked a carbine rifle over, and Flag was still nowhere to be seen. Lemon herself was looking over a double-barreled shotgun, breaking it and examining the barrels. I took a step forward, but something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. By the clothes, I saw a desperado hat and a poncho. The hat was in excellent condition with a silver star on it. The poncho was tattered at the ends, providing good sun protection. Yeah, that’s right, very useful items… oh, alright, I thought they looked cool! I slipped the poncho on, and it covered my armor and saddlebags. I slipped on the desperado hat and tied the strings at the bottom to keep it from blowing off me in case of harsh winds. I tipped the hat back, and it slid down my neck, resting against my back comfortably.

I trotted to the weapon racks and gave them a good once over. Truth be told, I wasn’t exactly the best shot in the Wasteland. But in my defense, miniguns hardly need precision aiming. I needed something that didn’t kick too hard but still dealt a mean kick to a raider. Carbine rifles, sniper rifles, hoofguns, oh! I trotted to the energy weapons and picked me out an energy rifle. I sat on my haunches and checked its sights, resting the butt against my shoulder and aiming down it. Not bad, not bad at all. Its weight was comfortable to bear, and the kickback was almost none-existing.

I looked at the rack and grabbed a holster for it. I removed my hat and poncho and properly strapped the rifle to my right side. Being ambidextrous was great. I grabbed an energy pistol for similar reasons and strapped it to my left side. The rifle barely stuck out against the fabric with the poncho over it. I also picked up a combat knife and slipped it on my right hind leg between the vambrace. Alright, weapons set, equipment set, just gotta wait for everypony and then set out to get supplies for the road. Oh, and ammunition too. I face hoofed and trudged to the ammo boxes and stocked up on plenty of magical energy cells. I walked into the center of the room and found everypony ready for me.

Flag wore his usual orange and gray body glove. In addition, he donned his own set of leather armor with a bandoleer around his torso. Finally, he wore similar leather vambraces around his legs to my metal ones. For his weapons, a sniper rifle and a 10mm submachine gun. “I’m gonna miss ol Shiela,” Flag sighed dramatically.

“You have a special somepony Flag?” I was utterly surprised, if not a bit confused by her name.

“I think he’s talking about his Anti-material rifle Valiant,” Strider chuckled.

“Oh,” I rolled my eyes, and Flag only laughed.

Strider’s outfit was relatively simple. He donned a simple white shirt and leather jacket. Inside the opened jacket, he wore combat armor similar to mine. He had indeed chosen a carbine rifle with ACOG scope and forward hoof grip. He also had a 9mm hoof gun with him.

Lemon…whoa. I couldn’t come up with anything else to say about her. Lemon donned a dark green bodysuit. She was armored from chest to hoof in combat armor. Shoulder armor, thigh armor on her hind legs, plus the vambraces. She had a knife, though I hesitated to call it that, strapped on her right foreleg, the damn thing was almost as big as a machete. It had a hoof ring with studs meant to knock a pony’s lights out before skewering them. She also had a pump-action maud 500 shotgun. To top it off, she had a grenade launcher with a three-grenade magazine slung opposite of the shotgun. I think it was fair to say Lemon liked to take things…close and personal, or blown to bits if she couldn’t close the distance.

“What?” Lemon looked down at her self curious. “Did I miss something?”

“N-no,” I stammered before coughing into my hoof. “Just didn’t peg you like a close and personal type.” I shrugged.

“Well, my mother was an earth mare and my father a unicorn scribe. Guess I got more from my mom than she thought.” Lemon blushed and shyly rubbed her foreleg with her hoof. A rather intriguing juxtaposition with her walking tank appearance.

“Alright, you okay with our equipment, kid?” Flag asked me.

“Why are you asking me?” I raised a brow.

“Oh right, I was supposed to tell you this yesterday! Sorry completely forgot about it.” Flag bonked his head with his hoof. “You’re squad lead on this mission; I’ll be your secondary and help you along to train you as we go.”

“What?” I can’t believe Flag just totally forgot about this. I would have…well, I would have probably worried about it all night. Damn, why do I get the feeling Flag did this on purpose. I gave him a suspicious look, “you didn’t tell me on purpose didn’t you Flag?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, kid,” Flag chortled to himself and walked to the armory door.

“So, any last changes or?” Flag opened the door.

“No, I think everypony is comfortable with what they chose, and it’s very evenly spread out.” At least I hope so, damn it felt weird having somepony rely on my judgment.

***

Where the hell was Flag? One minute we were all supplying for the trip, then he disappeared from us. So I decided to go to the Elders office and ask her. The door to her office was open, and I heard Flag’s voice. “I got it; you worry too much.”

“It’s important, I wish I could do it, but my face is too recognizable.” Dad?

“He’ll be fine,” Flag sighed exasperatedly. “He’s a smart kid.”

“What about,” my father started.

Flag quickly interrupted again, “both of them will be fine, they’ll have each other, and I’ll watch all three of them.” Then, I heard a metal clank; maybe Flag touched my father.

“Keep them safe. I can only trust you, my friend.” My father’s voice was low and raspy.

“I’ll keep all of them safe.” Flag insisted, with an emphasis on the all. No more words were exchanged, and I quietly made my exit. I don’t think I was meant to hear that.

A few minutes later, Flag found us at the Stable Exit. Elder Sharp Sides was there, and my father joined us soon after. The Elder moved to the control panel and opened the Stable. Then, we marched out to the area we had claimed as ours. A makeshift perimeter fence had been built with scrap metal to make walls, towers, and ramparts guarded at all times. We were guided to a small stage where Rangers and civilians were gathered. The four of us stepped up to the stage, and the Elder stepped up in front of us. “Attention, Everypony, As most of you know me, I am Elder Sharp Sides, and I lead the Applejack Rangers.” She looked at everypony as they muttered among themselves.

“Our ways are clear, and our ideals absolute.” Elder Sharp Sides sighed dramatically. “As such, we gather here because these four Ponies cannot uphold our ideals and have failed in their duty as Rangers.” Elder Sharp Sides spared us a withering glance, and I almost thought this was an actual expulsion ceremony. “As per our traditions, anypony who fails to uphold our tenants shall be exiled, granted only what supplies they can carry. As of the moment, these ponies step out of the compound gates; they are no longer under the protection of the order.”

The doors east of us opened up, and Knights fully clad in power armor lined up the path. “These ponies are now outcasts, and should they threaten the peace of ponykind, they will be dealt with as mercilessly as any other raider.” Elder Sharp Sides banged her hoof on the stage to make her point. “Now, their families may have one last moment before they are forever exiled.” The Elder stepped aside, and only my father and mother stepped up to the stage. A fair bit of murmuring rose from this fact. Then, with tears brimming in her eyes, my mother threw her hoofs around me and hugged me tightly. I wasn’t sure if she was acting, but I hugged her back with all my might. “Here,” she sniffled and stepped back from me. She opened a saddlebag with a golden glow of her magic and floated over a neatly folded heavy brown coat. “ In case the place you’re going to is cold.” My mother swiped at the tears with her foreleg. “It used to be your fathers,” she hugged me again and kissed my cheek, and whispered near my ear. “Your father loves you very much; there’s a holotape for you and a little something from me in the jacket.” My mother stepped back, and my father stepped up before me.

Being glared down on by Star Paladin Heavy Arms was enough to make a pony faint. So I counted myself lucky that I was still standing. “You’re no son of mine,” he seethed. I felt my stomach drop and tears pricked at my eyes. I looked down, and my father stepped to Flag next to me. I looked at my mother, but she looked away with watery eyes. I stuffed my new jacket into my saddlebags and stood back at attention.

“I should have never brought you in here,” My father growled at Flag, then fast as lightning, surprising for a pony in power armor. My father backhoofed Flag, who tumbled on the ground. Everypony gasped, shocked. Flag spat blood on the ground and stood back up, wiping his muzzle. He refused to make eye contact with my father. My father stopped briefly by Strider, his jaw tightened, but he said nothing. Instead, he trotted off, ignoring Lemon completely. My mother followed after but not before a sob escaped her, and she galloped back into the Stable.

“outcasts, as a final punishment, I strip you of all honors and rank within the Rangers. Now leave this compound and never return.” The Elder threw her hoof at the gates. I swallowed and walked off to the exit. I looked back and saw Lemon look at the Elder before she trotted up to catch up to us. We stepped outside, and the doors to the only home I ever knew closed.

“Come on, everypony, this isn’t home anymore.” I turned my back on Stable 29 with mixed feelings and hope for adventure.

***

Level up 1

Perks: Wild Wasteland: The Wasteland is an unforgiving, brutal, and weirdly silly place. Unique encounters across the Wasteland.

Computer Whizz: Ponies say you make love to terminals, each keystroke is masterful, and each hack successful. You are the computer’s master. The computer that’s locked is just another naughty terminal that needs your hooves’ attention…you technophile. Terminals are easier to hack.

Author's Note

Okay, Everyone, this is my official re-write for my Fallout Equestria fic, look forward to more chapters and new art!

Chapter 2: The Wasteland Endures

Chapter 2: The Wasteland Endures

A Pipbuck! I rotated my wrist to see the engraving my mother left on it. ‘Love Mom.’ I always wanted a Pipbuck. After all, the light-bringer had one, so as a colt, I thought it essential to have one as well. This must have been my mother’s. I looked up from my wrist to the husks of Manehattan. We made some headway, generally moving North. I thought initially about taking the I-15 and chartering a train to get us as far North as it could. Then I remembered our caps were limited, and we no longer had the support of the Order. I couldn’t just write up a supply request and boom, caps for the necessary job at hoof. Which made me think of ways of earning caps while we trekked North. Our supplies would run out eventually, and trading with the locals was our best bet at survival. “So, anypony have ideas on how to make caps for the journey?”

Strider hummed in thought, “well, scavenging and trading scrap is always an option.” He rubbed his chin with his hoof, “though hauling scrap without power armor doesn’t sound fun.”

“Oh, how about mercenary work!” Lemon grinned devilishly.

Everypony stopped and looked at her.

“What?” she ran a hoof through her mane, “is there something on my mane?” she jumped a little in place. “It’s not a bug, is it?”

Okay, how can such a sweet little pony like her have such an attraction for violence? Clearly, she wasn’t aware of it herself. “No,” I raised a brow looking at her, “but it’s not a bad idea. It’s just.” I stopped, and everypony stopped with me. “I’ve never killed anyone.”

Strider’s ears flattened against his head, and he walked up to me. “It’s a difficult thing to do. I won’t lie to you, Valiant.” Strider sighed, “It will never be easy, especially for a pony like you.”

“Like me?” I narrowed my eyes at Strider; what was that supposed to mean.

“He means you got a big heart kid,” Flag came and tipped my hat, slipping it over my eyes.

“If you have trouble killing anypony,” Lemon came up to me as well and sat on her haunches. “Just remember, raiders don’t really count as ponies.” Lemon shrugged.

Okay, that was a red flag if I ever heard one. “Lemon?” I looked at her, and she smiled sweetly at me. “Hey, I’ll protect you if you ever feel like you can’t do it.” Lemon put a foreleg around my shoulder and threw her other hoof out. “Raiders, slavers, they’re bad ponies, simple as that.” She pulled her outstretched hoof back and tapped my other shoulder, then stood up again. “Always remember, were the good ponies.”

Note to self, keep an eye on Lemon. There was some bad juju hiding underneath the cuteness. With Lemons kind of disturbing reassurance, we all trotted on silently. Hard to have a conversation after that little revelation. As we trudged on, nightfall started to creep upon us. This would be my first night sleeping somewhere I knew wasn’t safe. I looked at the decrepit buildings around us, trying to find a suitable place to sleep for the night. “Flag, you’ve got more experience than us out here; any advice for a place to make camp?”

“That’s easy, high off the ground, dry, and easily defendable.” Flag rubbed his chin and looked at the available options. “There’s a hayburger place over there on the second floor of that skyscraper.”

“Alright, let’s go there everypony!” We trotted to the building in question.

The first floor was shrouded in darkness. The opaque windows shut out most of the light, safe a few beams of moonlight piercing the darkness from broken windows. I reached into my saddlebags and pulled out a flashlight I could put around my neck. I felt my ears flattened against my head; pony skeletons were everywhere. Passing them on the street was one thing; sleeping in the same vicinity was another. I swallowed and pressed on. Flag came up beside me and narrowed his eyes. Strider as well seemed to protectively stand before me.

“You guys okay?” I looked between them. Flag turned to me quickly and put his hoof before his lips. Then he pointed at my flashlight. I nodded and shut it off, stuffing it back in my saddlebags

“Were not alone in here,” Strider whispered.

Oh right, I checked my Pipbuck’s EFS, and several green blips showed up. In addition, there was an arrow on the blips pointing up. “Green,” I whispered back.

“Don’t rely on that thing, kid,” Flag muttered and moved to the stairs at the back of the building. The door to the building was ajar. And there was a low light shining against the far wall. A clear shadow of a pony could be seen milling about. Lemon and I crept up next to Flag; Strider placed himself against the opposite end of the door frame.

“Flag?” I whispered at him.

“shhh,” Flag stressed.

“Did anypony hear that?” A gruff voice said from upstairs. Flag and Strider both gave me withering glances. I was off to a bad start to this squad leader stuff.

“You high on Dash again?” another voice rasped.

“Up yours, I heard something downstairs.” The shadow pony growled, then I heard the sound of a gun being cocked. Flag nodded to Strider, and he reached for his pistol. Oh man, this is it. So much for my luck. Flag signaled for me to fall back as he drew his submachine gun. I slowly fallback and I turned to Lemon. She was gone. I looked back to the stairs; the Pony was coming down. He looked…off. The irises of his eyes were orange, and his veins pronounced. He wore spikey armor meshed together from bits and ends of other stuff. This was a Raider, no doubt about it.

“Holy shit!” A voice shouted from upstairs.

“What!?” The Raider turned back to the stairs.

“There’s a god damn unicorn floating outside! What the hell is she-look out!” The Raider shouted, followed by a loud explosion.

“Fuck, I’m coming!” the Raider in front of us shouted.

“No, you’re not,” Flag popped out from the cover, submachine gun in hooves, and riddled him with bullets. The Raider fell against the stairs into his own blood and brains.

Strider pushed in, stepping over the dead Pony, bloodying his hooves. He stopped at the bend and raised his pistol. He fired at somepony I couldn’t see. In fact, I didn’t even hear his gun going off. I just stared at the lifeless Pony before me. I felt sweat roll down the back of my neck. My heartbeat was like a drum against my ears. Flag’s gun wasn’t particularly powerful. I expected damage from a submachine gun firing 10mm rounds, but I didn’t expect to see this. Half the Raider’s head exploded, spreading his grey matter against the carpeted stairs. I felt morbidly lucky that the red carpet hid the blood somewhat. I swallowed a lump in my throat. My vision shook, and I looked down. Hooves had grabbed me, shaking me hard. I followed the forelegs of those hooves to Flag. He was saying something, but the pounding in my ears drowned it out.

Flag turned his head, his lips moving frantically. I looked to Strider, his mouth as well moved, stopping only to fire at somepony upstairs. I looked back to Flag; he gestured with his hooves at the ground. I looked down and then back at him. He took me looking up and down as some form of affirmation. He nodded, his mouth forming soundless words. He rushed by Striders’ side, and they both pushed up, firing their weapons.

Mom, I want to be a hero!

A young colts voice echoed in my head. I reached into my poncho and grabbed my laser rifle. I stepped around the corpse rifle in hooves. I pointed at the door. Strider and Flag were by the door, and there was a fallen pony between them. I rushed up to meet them; Flag spared me a glance and a nod. On the other hoof, Strider looked at me with something resembling pity.

“I’m fine; what’s the situation!” I barked, leaving no room for argument.

“Lemon cleaned house. Her attack killed a few of them. One of them ran upstairs, but I don’t know for what.” Flag grunted out before shying away from the door as bullets impacted the wall. I heard Lemon’s shotgun go off twice, followed by a scream. Strider saw his chance and rushed in. Flag and I followed suit.

The hayburger place was a gory mess. I saw the blackened area where Lemons grenade blew apart the Raiders. I quickly ducked behind a flipped table. I didn’t need to lose myself again, not when four more raiders were shooting at us. Flag was taking cover behind a pillar, reloading his submachine gun ahead of me. Strider switched to his carbine, firing at two ponies on a balcony overlooking the dining area directly above the register counter. Strider was safely tucked between two tables firing between a small gap between them. Lemon had her back against another pillar to the right of Flag. She was loading shells into her shotgun and had a look of pure malice on her muzzle. “Come on, you freaks!” Lemon barked. She peeked from her cover, wrapping her shotgun in a pink magical aura and floating it before her.

A raider raised from his cover behind the register counter. Lemon gave him a faceful of buckshot, splattering his brains. “Nopony to save you now!” Lemon yelled and galloped from cover.

“Lemon!” Flag yelled, slamming the cocking lever on his submachine gun.

“Riddle her!” The two ponies upstairs yelled. Then, they aimed zebra rifles at the exposed Lemon. Strider shot a burst from his carbine, nailing one of them in the shoulder, sending his shots wild. Then, he quickly aimed and fired at the other Pony. An audible click was his only response. “Shit, I’m out!” Strider hastily reloaded his rifle.

I raised myself from cover and aimed my laser rifle. The remaining Raider was tracking Lemon as she sprinted exposed. Come on, Valiant, shoot! The Raider ducked as Flag sprayed him with bullets. Shit, why am I so useless! I aimed down to the register counter. The remaining Raider there came up to shoot. Lemon withdrew the trench knife on her leg with her hoof; she jumped over the counter and punched the Raider silly. They both went down behind the counter.

I saw Lemon come up, knife raised in her hoof. “Wait!” the Raider shouted, and I saw her stab downward. The Raider let out a gargled scream. Lemon came up again; she put her other hoof over the knife. She stabbed, putting her body behind it, and I heard the sickening sound of bone breaking and flesh being rendered.

“Fuck, alright, alright, you got us!” the last Raider threw his gun over the balcony. He raised his hooves, and I sighed in relief.

I raised myself from cover and aimed my rifle in his direction. “Alright, come out of cover!” I saw Strider and Flag take aim as well.

The Raider stood up, hooves up, showing himself unarmed. “Look, just let,” the Raider paused, looking around, “shit, what’s left of my guys and me get out of here. Alright? We hit a caravan and got our loot stored here. So you let us go; I’ll tell you where it is.”

“What about your friend? The one that galloped upstairs.” I asked, waving my rifle for emphasis.

“Fuck him,” he spat and shrugged.

Each Pony out here for himself, I guess. The Raider slowly lowered his hooves and placed them against the railing. “We got a deal?”

“What happened to the caravan?” I narrowed my eyes.

“If you were hoping for slaves, none of them made it.” The Raider looked annoyed, “fucking bastards refused to give up. Could have gotten a good price for em too.”

“Damn it,” I muttered.

“Well, come on, it’s good shit, just let us go, and it’s all yours!” the Raider gave me a crooked yellow tooth smile.

“No deal!” Lemon roared. She ran from behind the counter, blood splattered against her face and armor. She aimed her grenade launcher at him and fired. The poor bastard didn’t even have time to scream as he was blown to bits along with the wounded Raider. We all dove for cover, shrapnel, and gore splattering the room.

“Everypony!” I groaned, trying to ignore the ringing in my ear. “You okay?”

“My ears are ringing, but I’m good.” Flag groaned from his cover.

Strider just moaned and waved a hoof in response.

“Lemon?” I looked for her and found her wiping the Raider bits off her. I sighed and put my rifle away. “Flag, Strider, can you check upstairs?”

Flag looked at Lemon and me, “yeah, come on, Strider.”

Strider stood and shook his whole body, gaining his bearings back. “Yeah,” Strider looked at Lemon, frowning. He said nothing and just galloped out behind Flag.

“Lemon?” I sighed, and she frowned, looking away from me.

“I’m not sorry!” she stomped her hoof and turned away from me. I was at a loss for words; I mean, I was gonna take the Raider up on his offer. But I knew it was because I couldn’t bring myself to shoot him. What kind of coward would I be if I had just ordered Flag or Strider to do it?

“They killed those caravan ponies,” Lemon hissed, and I saw her wipe at her eyes. Was she crying?

“I know,” I walked up to her and sat behind her. I raised a hoof, but I didn’t reach for her. I wasn’t sure she wouldn’t just shrug me off. “I-“ Lemon turned fast and threw her hooves around me. I felt her body shake as she sobbed onto my poncho.

“I’m sorry, please don’t leave me too,” she pleaded between sobs.

“I’m not going anywhere, Lemon,” I patted her back and wrapped my other foreleg around her. She was not well. I don’t know why anypony cleared her for service. What in the world was Elder Sharp Sides thinking? “Lemon, what happened to you? What made you hate Raiders this badly?” I could understand being angry at Raiders. But this went beyond anger; this was a deep loathing, a personal demon for Lemon.

Lemon sniffed and pulled back from me. She looked at me with puffy red eyes. “Valiant, you wouldn’t understand.” Lemon looked down at the dirty carpet floor.

“Try me,” I smiled at her encouragingly.

“I,” she began before tears pricked at the corner of her eyes. “I lost both my parents in Fillydelphia.” Lemon frowned. “I was just a filly. One day, my parents told me they would help the ponies in Fillydelphia. They marched out with everypony, and I was left alone with my,” Lemon paused.

“If you don’t want to tell me, it’s okay.” I scratched the back of my head.

“No, I mean, it doesn’t matter anymore.” Lemon took a steadying breath. “I was left with my grandmother, Elder Sharp Sides.”

Oh, okay, I didn’t know that. Crispe, did anypony for that matter? “I take it this isn’t common knowledge?”

“Only the Star Paladins are aware,” Lemon sighed. “when my parents got married, my Grandmother disapproved. Because my mother was supposed to marry a Star Paladin.” Lemon chuckled bitterly. “Your father, actually.”

What!? My expression must have been plain as day; Lemon gave me a melancholy smile. “Yeah, I know not many ponies know that.” Lemon frowned, “my mother was in line to be the next Elder.”

Wait, that meant, “Lemon, was your mother, Star Paladin Strawberry Lemonade?” I remembered what she had said back at Stable 29. Earth pony mother, unicorn father.

“The one and only,” she snorted bitterly. “When I was born, my Grandmother didn’t show up. When I turned one, she didn’t show up!” she stomped her hoof on the ground. “Only when everypony came back from Fillydelphia did she show up.” Lemon sighed, “she changed after Fillydelphia. I think everypony did.”

I felt guilty; I remember my father coming home. I remember hugging him, and he hugged me back. I remember feeling nothing but relief that my father had come back. I never even thought about all the good ponies we lost. “I’m so sorry, Lemon,” I wonder if I had been a better pony? If I had tried to make more friends, would I have been with Lemon?

“Don’t be; I mean, I was old enough. I knew why my parents didn’t come back.” Lemon scuffed the ground with her hoof. “For a bit, she was like a real Grandmother to me, but one day she went out. When she came back, she was different. There was something in her eyes I couldn’t put my hoof on.” Lemon looked up, a bitter smile on her lips. “She said I needed to be better, to surpass every expectation placed on me as my mother’s daughter.” Lemon looked at the torn bodies of the Raiders. “That’s when the training started. She trained me every day, from morning to nightfall. For two hellish years, she made me what I am.” Lemon stood up and puffed her chest out. “I won’t let anypony I care about get taken away from me again.”

“Lemon,” I looked down and sighed, “this wasn’t the first time you killed, was it?” I looked at her, and she looked directly back at me. Her face betrayed no conflict about the bloodshed.

“I’ve never killed anypony.” She pointed an accusatory hoof at the remains of the Raiders. “Those…things. Are not ponies!” She stepped up to me, and I won’t lie, I felt my hoof twitch for my gun. Finally, she turned away from me and walked towards the door, “They’re just meat, rotten and unaware they died a long time ago.”

I sighed and strode after Lemon; I guess our talk was done. But, no, wait, that’s not right. “Lemon!” I trotted after her.

“Yeah?” she stopped halfway up the next flight of stairs.

“Okay, look, I know things are weird with you and the Raiders.” I trotted up to block her path up.

“No, it’s not,” Lemon shrugged, “Raiders-” Lemon began.

“That’s not what I mean!” I sighed, “Lemon, you can’t just rush into trouble. Were a team, okay?”

Lemon’s ears flattened against her head, and she pouted. “But,” I stomped my hoof cutting her off.

“No buts!” I pointed a hoof at her, “When dealing with Raiders, you need to let me do the talking. You also don’t decide if we decline surrenders or not!”

“They aren’t ponies!” Lemon insisted.

“Lemon!” I shouted, “Rangers, don’t kill unarmed ponies!”

“We aren’t Rangers anymore, are we!” Lemon shouted back and crossed her forelegs.

“So what, you want to be like a Raider!?” I snarled at her.

“What?” Lemon recoiled like I had just slapped her. “This is different!”

“Is it?” I glared down at her using my height advantage. “You want to kill everypony who surrenders?” I pointed a hoof down where we left the dead Raiders. “Just like they killed everypony in that Caravan.”

Lemon gasped, “no…no, no, no, no.” She held her head, eyes going wild. “I’m not like them; I’m not meat!” Lemon collapsed onto her haunches, shaking. Her breathing quickly turned into short gasps.

“Look at me, Lemon,” I moved her hooves out of the way. I grabbed her head and forced her to look into my eyes. “You don’t have to be what Elder Sharp Sides made you.” I felt icky, I’m not gonna lie. Everypony respected Elder Sharp Sides. Her leadership is what has held us together for all these years. She trusted me with a critical mission, and here I was telling her grandaughter not to listen to her.

“I’m…” Lemon muttered, “I’m not a Ranger.”

“Lemon,” I smiled at her like I felt my mother would smile at me when I needed comfort. “You’re an outcast, and in my book, that means we have to be the heroes.”

“Heroes?” Her breathing evened out, and she didn’t look like she might bolt anymore.

“That’s right, Lemon, heroes aren’t merciless killers. We have to be better,” I let her go and sat on the stairs before her.

“I…” Lemon looked down and closed her eyes. She held her head again, but she looked more like she was in pain. She gritted her teeth, grimacing. “I’ll think about it,” Lemon finally said, sighing in relief.

“Okay,” I tapped her shoulder encouragingly. “It’s a start.”

Somepony coughed above us. Lemon instantly knocked me aside and put herself before me. She floated up her shotgun, pointing at the supposed intruder.

“Whoa!” Strider ducked away from the stairs. “It’s just me.”

“Oh, sorry, Strider!” Lemon was back to her old self at the drop of a hat.

“Ouch,” I was sprawled against the wall upside down, my hind hooves hanging in the air.

“Oh, dear!” Lemon placed her hooves to her mouth, “I’m so sorry Valiant.”

“Anyway,” Strider walked down the stairs to stand above Lemon. “You need to see this.”

***

Thank Celestia Strider found a working elevator. Galloping up twenty floors wasn’t my idea of fun, I thought to myself as I exited onto the roof. “This…can’t be good,” I muttered to myself. The last Raider that had escaped us was dead. Shot either by Flag or Strider, it hardly mattered. What mattered was he lit a flare before he died. Red smoke floated up to the night sky, and across from us, at least a dozen more rooftops had signal flares burning bright against the night. “Why do I feel we just stumbled across something way bigger than us.”

“Does it matter?” Strider turned to me, frowning.

“What do you mean?” I looked at him.

“We have our orders. We aren’t even out of Manehattan yet. Should we really get involved?” Strider glared at the distant signals.

He had a point; this wasn’t our business. I was also tired, hell everypony was. I couldn’t help the guilt creeping up on me. Everypony fought hard against the Raiders, and I hadn’t even fired a single shot. But what if this threatened the Stable? Elder Sharp Sides had been recalling patrols since I recovered the message. Our biggest presence outside the Stable was Outpost Tacitus.

“Whatever you decide, kid, I’m with you.” Flag looked at everypony, his face set in his usual lazy smile.

“Those Raiders are planning on hurting somepony else; I’m with you too.” Lemon stomped her hoof.

“I was just bringing up a point,” Strider shrugged. “What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t help you out?” Strider grinned.

“Then it’s settled; let’s go find out what the Raiders are up to.” I turned to leave, then remembered what that Raider had said. “Oh, before we go, let’s try and find that Raider stash.”

Good thing the Raiders weren’t very smart. We found the ‘hidden’ stash relatively quickly. After divvying up the goods, we came out with healing potions, ammo for Flag and Strider’s guns, and a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun. Lemon quickly laid claim to it and packed it in her saddlebags. We also picked the dead Raiders clean of their ammo and whatever else we could find helpful. With our loot secure, we made for the nearest of the flares. When we made it close enough, I picked up several contacts on my EFS.

“Alright, everypony knows the drill. Sneak in, take out as many as you can.” I looked at Lemon as she floated her shotgun before her. “Quietly,” I deadpanned.

“Phooey,” Lemon pouted and drew her trench knife instead firmly in her mouth.

“Flag, are you sure about sniper cover?” I looked up at the starry night sky.

“They’re all carrying lights, easy pickings, don’t worry.” Flag patted my back and snuck off from behind the wagon we hid behind. I took another peek and watched the Raiders go about their business. They had taken over an old Ironshod weapons store; it laid on a corner bisecting two streets. Just outside, I could see six guards. Two on the roof with sniper rifles, another two by the door, and two patrolling the intersection. I looked to Strider and pointed a hoof at the rooftop ponies. He nodded and snuck off into a back alley to our left.

“Lemon, get the guy on the far right.” I swallowed thickly. “I’ll get the one on the left,” I threw my poncho over my shoulders and drew my combat knife. I slipped my hat down my neck and clenched the combat knife between my teeth. Lemon gave me a worried glance, then lowered herself to the ground and crawled towards her target. I watched her stick to the shadows. She rarely, if at any time, exposed herself to the light. Elder Sharp Sides really turned Lemon into a badass commando pony. But at what cost?

I took one last breath of encouragement and lowered myself as close to the ground as I could. Then, I crawled along the sidewalk to the left of our hiding spot. Several parked wagons provided excellent cover. Flag had been right about the lights; I just needed to peek to see where the enemy was at all times. Which I did right as I reached the intersection. My intended target was walking between a huge wagon bus and a milk delivery wagon. I stalked across to his position, keeping an eye on where the sniper ponies were looking. I reached the shadow of the wagon bus and waited for the Raider to pass. As he drew closer, I saw the light illuminate the ground ahead of him. The light banished the shadow of the bus, and only now did I notice my own shadow cast by the moonlight. I quickly pulled back, but the Raider caught my shadow disappearing. “What the?” He promptly trotted to my position. I instantly dropped to my belly and rolled beneath the wagon bus, just as he turned. “What the hell? I thought I saw something move. I gotta quit the fucking Dash.” He walked closer to my end, and I dragged myself forward, coming out the front of the wagon bus.

I opened my mouth and dropped the knife into my waiting hoof. Then, just like I was trained, I pounced on the Pony and wrapped one foreleg around the Raider’s neck, and pressed the knife against his jugular with the other. “Make a sound, and I’ll use you to repaint the side of this wagon.” I really hope he didn’t hear my voice quiver.

“Aw shit,” the earth stallion hissed, relaxing in my grip. “What now then?” he whispered.

I adjusted myself on his back, making sure to grip the weapon at his side with my hind leg so he couldn’t reach for it. “Back up, nice and slow to the other side of the milk wagon.” I pressed the knife against his neck to make sure he knew where he stood. He did as told, and once safely behind the milk wagon, I kicked the weapon strapped to his flank off. “Kick that under the wagon,” I whispered.

The weapon slid under the milk wagon with a swift kick, and then I climbed off his back to stand in front of him. My knife never left his throat.

The Raider blinked, surprised, then frowned and groaned. “You’re just a punk kid, god damn it, I ain’t never gonna live this down.”

“Do as I say, and you’ll live to regret it.” I swallowed a lump in my throat. Damn it, I looked down to my foreleg to see it trembling.

The Raider looked down and a smirk slowly formed on his ugly mouth. “Is that so?” He pressed himself closer against the knife. Stupidly I gave it slack, and he laughed. A low, raspy ugly sound. “You’re just bluffing, ain’t ya, kid? You ain’t killed anypony before, have ya?” The Raiders smirk grew crueler, and he took another step. “But I have. I’ve killed so many ponies because somepony hired me to, or hell because they pissed me off.” The Raider rolled his eyes, “you probably never even stepped on a radroach, have you?”

“Don’t try me!” I said a little louder than I meant, and I stupidly looked away to check if the others had heard.

The Raider’s smirk instantly vanished. He threw his hoof up, knocking the knife from my hooves, then delivered an uppercut knocking me on my ass. “You’re dead, kid!” the Raider roared and jumped on my chest, knocking the wind out of me. He threw his hooves down, pressing against my windpipe. I gasped, tears welling at the corners of my eyes. I desperately kicked my hind legs and hit him with my forelegs to no avail.

“Hey!” the Raider shouted, alerting his friends. Then just as quickly, his head exploded, painting the milk wagon red. His headless body followed the force of the impact, and he tumbled off me.

“Sniper!” A pony yelled, then the sound of a shotgun resounded against the stillness, followed along by the sound of a body smacking against metal.

“Fuck, they got Sticks!” A burst of rifle fire echoed across the night sky. “Aagh!” The same Raider yelled, followed by a splat. Then, all hell broke loose, I heard the doors to Ironshod burst open, and ponies gallop out. All the while, I dragged my sorry ass against the Milk wagon, coughing and spitting out bits of Pony. I spared the dead Raider a side glance. One of his forelegs was twitching. I closed my eyes and looked down at the blood and bits of brain staining my armor. I instantly closed my eyes and put my hoof against my chest. I swore I could feel my heart pounding against my hoof through my armor!

Breathe, come on, Valiant, you need to get in this fight. I took a calming breath and unslung my laser rifle. I gripped it with my trembling hooves and poked my head out for a peek. Five, no seven more Raiders had taken up positions around the front of Ironshod. I also saw the broken body of one of the Sniper Raiders that Strider took out by the front door. Lemon had decorated a wagon with the Pony I tasked her to take care of. She must have fired at him at point-blank range to have smeared him against the wagon. Lemon, meanwhile, crept ever closer to her prey. She was only a few meters from them behind a concrete divider, blind firing her shotgun. My eyes widened, and I instantly ducked back to cover as shots pinged against the milk wagon.

Right, just like in the simulations, change positions if compromised. I grabbed my laser rifle and rushed to the opposite side of the wagon. I peeked briefly, making sure the coast was clear and dashed into the broken-down wagon bus. I pushed past the bones of the long-dead to the driver’s seat. I perched the laser rifle against the rusted blown-out window and… nothing. Shit! My hooves trembled terribly, and I couldn’t bring myself to pull the trigger. I trained my sights on the ponies facing Lemon. I watched her float out her shotgun, blasting at four Raiders hiding behind a rusted wagon parked by Ironshod. She cleared the divider and rushed them trench knife in hoof.

“Die!” One of them stupidly raised themselves to shoot. Clearly, they forgot she was a unicorn. Lemon blasted his head to chunks with her floating shotgun.

One.

His body flew back, spraying his comrades with blood in the process. Lemon jumped over the wagon, sliding across the hood. She grabbed the first Raider by the neck and plunged the trench knife into his back. “Aarrgh!” He yelled horribly, and his remaining friends panicked and shot in his direction. Lemon raised the Raider up between her and the others. She used the knife in the Raider like a lever, forcing him forward as he was torn apart by gunfire.

Two.

Lemon rolled away, pushing the hole-filled corpse atop the first Raider before her. Then she threw her trench knife, stabbing the third Raider in the eye.

Three.

The last Raider pinned under his former friend’s body raised a hoof, no doubt pleading for his life. But Lemon didn’t even pause. She floated her shotgun to her and redecorated the pavement with the Raider’s brains.

Four.

Holy shit, Lemon really was some kind of monster. She turned to find her next prey before a loud bang drowned out everyone’s gunfire. Lemon was slammed against the wagon. Her eyes were wide, utterly caught by surprise. She lifted her hoof up before her eyes rolled up, and she collapsed atop the corpses of her enemies.

Hey, I’ll protect you if you ever feel like you can’t do it.

Lemon’s words echoed in my head as I watched her still body. I looked up; the remaining Sniper pony was smirking savagely, the barrel of his rifle smoking. “Lemon!” I raised my laser rifle, took aim, and squeezed the trigger. A bright red beam seared the air as it burned a hole through the sniper’s chest. His eyes widened, and he looked down, shocked. He tumbled over to the ground below. I slung my laser rifle back in place and rushed out of the wagon bus through the front exit. “Flag, Strider, cover me!” I hollered, making a b line for Lemon.

I could see the remaining Raiders hiding behind two wagons. One of them raised a Zebra rifle at me and got a bullet through the eye. Thank you, Flag!. From thirteen Raiders down to two, the Raiders rethought their chances. I saw the remaining two flee back inside Ironshod, closing the door behind them.

I reached Lemon and carefully picked her up, and dragged her to the opposite side of the wagon. I gently laid her down, and I looked her over. There was a hole on her chest plate and so much blood. Damn it, how much of it was hers? I worked the straps of her shoulder armor, dropping the pieces next to her. Then I removed her chest piece. Oh, sweet freaking oats, there was no bloody hole in Lemon; the armor did its job. The impact against the wagon must have knocked her out. Even so, the rage inside me did not subside. I gently placed Lemon leaning against the wagon. I put my hat back on and galloped at Ironshod.

I slid into cover, my back pressed up against the wall, the double doors to Ironshod to my right. I raised my hind leg and kicked the door in. instantly, I was met by a spray of bullets and curses from the Raiders inside. After a few seconds, the firing stopped, and my ears twitched, recognizing the clicking of empty magazines. I strode in instantly to find five Raiders. Three behind the display cabinet at the far back and two behind a flipped table near the entrance. I fired two laser bolts, burning a precise hole through the first Raiders head by the table. The second shot lit the other Raider up in a bright light before he poofed into ashes.

“Fuck!” The first Raider at the back counter’s far-right yelled and leveled his rifle at me. I dropped to the ground and rolled to the table for cover. Meanwhile, the ground behind erupted into dust and splinters from automatic fire. The rest of the Raiders finished reloading and opened fire, shredding my cover. Finally, a bullet burst through the table and hit me on the back of my shoulder.

“Gah!” I yelled and fell forward, my rifle slipping from my hooves and sliding across the room.

“Get the bastard!” I heard them hop the display cabinet. I rolled onto my back and drew the laser pistol. The first Raider jumped over the table, and I lasered him three times through the chest. He fell dead atop me. The second Raider stopped short of the table and fired onto his dead friend’s back. My ears flattened back against my head at the mixture of gunfire and flesh being torn apart. I stuck my laser pistol beneath the makeshift pony shield atop me and fired wildly. The Pony backed off before his remaining friend fired through the table. The shots tore the body’s flanks atop me, and I felt pain shoot up my right hind leg.

“Fuck,” I hissed through gritted teeth. I sucked in air through my mouth, pushed off the body, and fired my laser pistol as soon as I saw a barrel peek over the table.

“How the hell is he still alive!?” One of the Raiders yelled. I looked to the hole-riddled table and saw a hind leg. I tried getting up, but my shoulder and leg screamed in protest. I fell forward atop the blood and gore. But, adrenaline and the fear of death did wonders to dull pain. I pushed off my good leg and shoved my laser pistol through the hole. I squeezed the trigger for all it’s worth. Laser after laser burned the air. “Motherfucker!” I heard a body collapse. I pressed the trigger four more times until the cursing stopped. Hooves scrambled around me. I leveled my laser pistol left, the Raider turned, and he sucked in air ayes wide.

Click.

“Shit,” my own eyes felt like they were gonna bulge out of my head as I pulled the trigger again in vain. The Raider’s ears twitched, and his muzzle cracked into an ugly gapped tooth smile. Suddenly, I was exhausted. I dropped my gun and let out a sigh. So this is how I died then, never even made it off Manehattan? Still, I looked at the Raider bastard in the eye. I would not give him the satisfaction of closing them.

Bang!

I flinched but didn’t feel any new holes in me. Instead, the Raiders gun was shot off his hooves. Then a grey streak tackled him to the floor. Flag burst into Ironshod, sniper rifle trained on the downed Raider. With the Raider incapacitated, Strider delivered a hard punch to the back of his head, knocking him out cold. I almost laughed when Flag pulled back on the bolt on his rifle, ejecting the bullet casing, and chambered a new one. He was gonna bluff that Raider wasn’t he?

“Oh shit, kid!” Flag slung his rifle and sat before me.

“Hey, Flag,” I groaned, keenly feeling every ache the battle caused all at once. “How was my first shootout, eh?” I grinned, or I think I did. Everything was going kind of fuzzy, and my body felt light.

“Strider, give me a potion!” Flag’s voice sounded far away. I raised my hoof or tried to anyway, but my body was apparently done with me for today.

“Flag…” I spoke the name breathlessly and then nothing.

***

“You want to be a hero, huh?”

I opened my eyes only to quickly close them again. There was a light shining right on my face.

“I have to say, I wouldn’t recommend it.” The voice was distorted. I think it was a filly’s voice? She sounded my age, at the very least.

“Why not?” I groaned out.

“It’s a hard, thankless job. Well, I mean everypony does thank you! But trust me, your soul and body pay for it.”

I tried to cover my face with my hoof, but my body refused to obey me.

“You got shot up pretty bad.”

“Yeah, I saw Lemon get hurt, and I kind of just…you know?” Why was I justifying myself to a disembodied voice?

“Yeah, I do, boy do I.” Great, now I felt weirdly comforted by the voice. Like it knew what it was talking about.

“Okay, I’m gonna just shoot my shot and ask.”

“About what?” I felt really weak again. My mind was slipping.

“I need you to do a job for me.”

“A job?” I sighed; it was getting harder to concentrate.

“Well, it’s more than a job, really,” the voice hummed, “how about we call it a quest?”

“A quest?” I furrowed my brow, fighting the darkness creeping at the corners of my mind.

“That’s right, this is a quest to show me you’re serious about being a hero. It’s tough, but if you can make it through. I think I can help you.”

“How?” I felt my eyelids flutter, and my ears perked when a mechanical sound reached them.

“Don’t worry about that right now. I need you to stop the Manehattan Raiders.” I heard a blip coming from my right side. “There, if you manage to do that, make your way to Tenpony tower. Go to the train station and show them your Pipbuck.”

“Stop the Raiders, just the four of us?”

“Hey, you said you wanted to be a hero.” The voice said, followed by a giggle. “Good luck, I’m pulling for you, Valiant Knight.” The voice faded, and my mind decided it was done being conscious. As everything faded into silence, I swear I heard music.

I groaned, cracking my eyes open. I looked about the room; this was neither my bunk at Outpost Tacitus nor my room back home. I was lying down on a sleeping bag inside a decrepit room. “Mom, dad?” I looked left and right, feeling my heart beat faster. I heard the sounds of a door opening, and I looked behind me. A light green unicorn with a blonde mane and tail clad in armor trotted in. She stopped, gasping softly, “Valiant, you’re awake!” she rushed to my side and threw her hooves around me. With that, everything came back to me.

“Ugh,” I raised my hoof to rub my head, cringing as a dull throb spread across my shoulder. “What happened?”

“You passed out from blood loss,” Lemon frowned, pulling back from the hug. “Those meat bags hit your artery, and you almost bled out on us.” With her hooves still on me, she tapped my shoulders gently. “Potions are good at mending wounds, but they don’t replace blood. Lucky for us, we ran into a trade caravan.” Lemon pulled back her hooves, smiling. “They had medical supplies and the right blood to help you.” Lemon sighed, “we were gonna sprint you back to Stable 29, but frankly, I wasn’t sure we would make it in time.”

“Ugh,” This was too much right now. My whole body felt like a Hellhound used it as a chew toy. “Where’s Flag and Strider?” I spotted my gear neatly beside me and started armoring up again.

“Flag is out on guard duty. Strider is keeping the meat bag company.” Lemon hissed, looking away from me, her eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.

Meat bag? What meat-oh-right. Strider managed to capture one of the Raiders alive! “Good, let me finish getting ready, and let’s go have a talk with him.” I grabbed my vambraces and worked on fitting them on my legs.

“You go ahead, I’ll join Flag on guard duty.” Lemon turned around and headed for the door. She paused midway through it. “Oh, I almost forgot, in exchange for helping us, we promised to help protect the trading caravan to Tenpony Tower.” With that, Lemon wrapped the door handle in her magical aura and closed the door behind her. I threw my head back and sighed; I’m still in freaking Manehattan! At this point, the following squad was probably halfway through Fetlock. Well, in for a bit in for a pound at this point. I finished armoring myself up, and as I slid my poncho on, I looked at my Pipbuck. That was a weird dream. Who was I even talking to? Just some disembodied voice. I gave the room at once over; there was a window facing an alley to my left. I trotted over to it, peeking into the alley outside. If a pony had snuck through, there’s no way they wouldn’t have made a noise. More than that, Flag Strider or Lemon would have been here at any point.

“There’s no way,” I sat back down and fiddled with my Pipbuck.

TENPONY TOWER DIGITAL PASSPORT

That was not there before. I lowered my hoof, unsure what to think of this. Damn it all, I had more pressing matters to attend to. I left my room, finding a set of stairs and hearing voices down below. I trudged downstairs and found several ponies milling about in a circle. One of them, an older earth pony stallion, turned to me and offered a smile. “Ey, I see yer awake partner!” He greeted me with a thick appaloosa accent.

“Ah, yeah, hey,” I waved lamely at him and his group. The rest smiled back, then returned to their own devices.

“Well, now that yer awake, let me introduce you!” He pointed to a pegasus mare sitting across from him. She had a bright yellow coat and red mane and tail to match, though I could see silver strands peeking through. Her eyes were a vibrant jade, and they held a serenity to them. “This here is mah wife Buttercup,” A little colt popped his head out from beneath Buttercup’s wing. “That there is our little one, Peppermint.” He had his father’s coat, soft light green, and his mother’s bright red mane and tail.

“The older handsome one there is mah oldest Bright Star,” the older stallion pointed a hoof at the Pony next to him. He really did look like a younger version of his father. Soft green coat, blue eyes, and bright orange mane and tail. Bright Star was wearing a cowpony hat, and when he spotted my desperado hat, he tilted his hat forward, and I returned the gesture. I felt like we just shared something only cowpony hat owners would ever understand. The older stallion chuckled before he pointed a hoof to himself. “Lastly, yours truly is me, good ol’ Rad-Raddish.” Rad grinned at his family, and they all laughed at his antics.

“Well, my name’s Valiant Knight, and I assume you’ve met my other friends.” Couldn’t well call them squadmates, could I? Or maybe I could, hell, I don’t know. I felt so out of place with this whole being a spy thing.

“Oh, did we,” laughed Rad and pointed a hoof at his wife. “Buttercup don nearly popped yer friend’s Flag head off.”

For her part, Buttercup flushed with embarrassment. “I saw your friends galloping full tilt at our caravan bloodied and armed.” She put a hoof to her cheek and sighed, “oh, I really do feel bad about the whole situation.”

“Well, you were kind enough to help us strangers out. So no harm, no foul, I say.” I trotted up to them and sat just outside their little circle.

“See, what I tell ya, Buttercup,” Rad grinned and slapped his thigh. “Them’s good Pony folk, I knew it the moment I saw it.”

“you said the same thing about me,” Buttercup giggled behind her hoof.

“Course I did,” Rad sat up and raised both hooves in the air. “A beautiful mare just fell from the sky right through mah wagon.” Rad placed both hooves against his heart and closed his eyes in remembrance. “I thought to mahself, I must have been a good Pony, cuz’ the goddesses jus don dropped one of her angels on me!”

Buttercup’s cheek must have been red as she held her face with both hooves. “Oh you, you’re just lucky I didn’t laser you.”

Wait, laser him? Pegasus falling from the sky? If my memory served correct, during the first battle of Fillydelphia, militant Pegasi flew down on the Wasteland with the intent to wipe out all military targets. I hope I wasn’t just about to bring up something terrible. “Excuse me, Mrs. Buttercup?”

“Yes, dear,” the Pegasus beamed at me. “Oh, and just call me Buttercup; you’ll make a gal feel old otherwise.”

“Feel free to decline to answer, but were you part of a military organization called the Enclave?” I pointed a hoof in her direction.

“Oh, don’t be silly.” Buttercup laughed.

Guess that’s a no.

“The Grand Pegasus Enclave was more than just the military. But yes, I was a Lieutenant before I was shot down and met Raddish.” She was so candid about it; you’d almost forget they waged war against every established faction in the Wasteland.

“Have you ever tried going back to the Enclave?” I looked to Rad and Bright Star, hoping I wasn’t angering them. They were more preoccupied trying to open a particularly stubborn can of beans. This conversation was clearly not the first time it was had in their presence.

“Once,” Buttercup mused, “a foolish mistake by a foolish young hardheaded pony.” She spread her wing, scooped up Peppermint with it, and safely placed him between her forelegs. “By the time I had flown just below the cloud cover, I realized I didn’t want to go back.” Buttercup gazed at her husband and son lovingly. Unfortunately, the heartwarming visage was somewhat undercut as Rad and Bright Star took turns banging the bean can on the floor.

“Here,” I trotted to them, drew my combat knife, and punctured the can; I cut off the lid and handed it to them. Both Ponies pursed their lips together before they hollered in joy.

“YEEHAW!” Rad jumped up, clicking his back hooves together. Meanwhile, Bright Star threw his hat in the air catching it before hitting the floor. I tilted my head back, giving them a cock-eyed stare, but they paid me no mind.

“Valiant!” I turned to Strider as he was walking in from a back room. “I’m glad you’re up and about; you’re pretty heavy for a nerd, you know that?” Strider chuckled and punched my shoulder.

“Not my fault you’re a scrawny string bean.” I grinned and shoved him away.

“Yeah, yeah,” Strider smirked, taking a seat beside me. “So, I know you just woke up.” Strider hummed and tilted his head to the room he had just exited.

“But we need to make that Raider talk; I’ve tried my best, but...” Strider trailed off, his gaze on the family next to us. “He wouldn’t even tell me what the different color flares meant.”

“Hmm,” I looked at the shut door and then behind me to the door that led outside. There was a window, and I could see Lemon’s back to it. An idea crossed my mind, and I felt my face crack into a smile. “I think I know what to do.”

“I don’t think I can do this, Valiant,” Lemon whispered as we stood just outside our prisoner’s door.

“I just need you to control yourself,” I placed a hoof on Lemons’ shoulder. “Don’t talk to him, don’t do anything but be there.”

Lemon’s brows knitted together in worry, and she glanced at the trader family worriedly. “But, what if I lose it?”

“Lemon,” I smiled at her, “if you don’t trust yourself, trust the me that believes in you.”

Lemon looked at me pointedly, and after what felt like minutes, she sighed. “Okay, let’s do it.”

I opened the door, and I trotted in, closing the door behind me. The Raider Pony was on his side, hooves bound like cattle. “Shit, if it isn’t the crazy fucker that ashed Jitters.” The Raider snorted a laugh and rolled his eyes.

“That’s me,” I sat a few feet before him.

“What you hear to ask me stupid shit too?” The Raider barked a laugh, “you and dickless before you don’t even have the balls to make me scream. Just because of the happy family on the other side.” The Raider grinned crazily. “You ain’t getting shit from me.”

“Are you sure?” I raised a brow.

“Fuck off,” the Raider barked.

“Alright, have it your way.” I sat up and turned halfway to the door. “Lemon,” I called out to her.

The door opened, and in walked Lemon. Instantly the mood changed; I could practically feel Lemon’s overwhelming need to tear the Raider to pieces. The Raider no longer looked so confident. “Lemon, can you kill a pony without making a sound?”

The unicorn nodded, never breaking eye contact with the Raider.

“Can you kill a Pony without them so much as being able to scream?”

“Puncture the lungs; a scream comes out as a wheeze.” Lemon’s usually bubbly voice was hushed, like the sound of a silenced weapon. “Excruciating and slow death. The lungs fill with blood, and you feel like you’re drowning.” Lemon’s gaze bore into the Raider. She didn’t even tilt her head down to look at him. Instead, just stared him down, eyes narrowed to slits, like a manticore seizing its prey. “If you try to gasp for breath, it feels like you keep swallowing water.”

“F-fuck me,” the Raider tried to smirk, but it looked more like a grimace. “You’re the crazy bitch that killed four of our ponies in one go.”

“Five,” I added.

“She left one of your friends spread against a wagon.” I felt my lips pull up slightly. “One word from me, and I can have Lemon here kill you in a way you wish I’d have ashed you instead of your friend.”

“You’re bluffing,” the Raider swallowed a lump in his throat, and I wonder if he was trying to convince himself or me of that.

“Lemon,” I stepped aside, and Lemon drew her trench knife.

“Fuck!” The Raider scrambled backward until his flanks touched the wall. “I’ll talk alright I’ll talk, just keep the psycho bitch away from me!”

“Good, Lemon.” I tilted my head, signaling her to leave.

She didn’t move; she only kept glaring at the Raider.

“H-hey, come on, I’ll talk, just fucking go!” The Raider pleaded.

Lemon took a step forward.

I immediately broke her line of sight and put a hoof over hers. “Lemon, I got it from here.” I pleaded with her silently, and just when I felt she was gonna stab me, she sheathed her knife and trotted out of the room. “Okay, as you can see, I can barely keep my friend calm. So talk and talk fast.”

“Fuck, alright, alright, just ask already.” The Raider panted, wiping at his brow.

“What are you doing in Manehattan, what were all those flares, and who’s behind this?”

“Fuck, do I look like Leather Cape to you?” The Raider barked out. “I just go where I’m fucking told. The flares are in case somepony discovers us and we can’t take care of the problem. We use the flares to tell the other Hunters to be ready the fuck up for trouble.”

“What signal does each color mean?” I made a mental note of this Leather Cape fellow. He must be in charge of the Raiders.

“Red means shit’s up, yellow means shit’s fucked up, and green means time to fucking start.”

“Start what?” I narrowed my eyes dangerously at him.

“Take out those high and mighty fuckers at Tenpony.” The Raider then laughed, “shit, Tenpony, those Ranger fucks, we’ll get ’em all in one fucking go!”

“What makes you think you can take on both the Rangers and the NCR troops at Tenpony?” There was no way they could take on both forces without heavier firepower.

“We’ve been sneaking into the city for months. We got plenty of fucking slaves and hunters to fuck them both up!”

Numbers meant little against power armor and overwhelming firepower. This Pony was way too low on the totem pole to know anything else of value. “One last question, where is Leather Cape.”

“Shit, you don’t even need to threaten me for that. Leather Cape’s at Four Stars, a big fucking hub with most of our hunters. Feel free to go there. I’m sure you’d get a hell of a welcome!” The Raider cackled madly, rolling onto his back.

Okay, that was surprisingly useful; besides, maybe I can warn Tenpony Tower before finally getting out of Manehattan. “Well, you’ve been a great help.”

“Whoop-the-fucking-doo.” The Raider deadpanned.

“You’re coming with me; you’re going to tell the authorities at Tenpony about your little plan.” I stood up and left the Raider to stew on his fate. Standing outside were Lemon and Strider. Both looked to me expectantly, and I gave them a broad grin. “Tenpony tower is gonna wanna hear what this scumbag has to say.”

***

I’ve never been to Tenpony Tower. Rad says he and his family have done the trip hundreds of times. Though he’s had to alter his route, calling NCR taxes highway robbery. He had slapped his thigh at this joke, and he and Bright Star laughed it up. I was sitting at the back of Rad’s wagon, laser rifle in hooves. I looked up not for that last time to watch Buttercup swoop past us to scout ahead. Before we left our camping spot, I had almost jumped out of my armor when I saw her come in in full Pegasus Power Armor. If time wasn’t a factor, I’d have begged her to let me get a good look at it. I mean, Pegasi alone were a rarity in Equestria. Pegasi Power armor was doubly so.

“Skies clear, and nothing on the road ahead.” I heard Buttercup’s voice crackling over the borrowed headset on my ear. I smiled, turning halfway into the wagon. I let my left hind leg hang while tapping my right hind leg on the wagon floor.

“Jeez, will you stop with the f-“ I slammed the butt of my rifle against the Raider’s Muzzle, cutting him off.

“Language,” I looked to Peppermint, who was periodically peeking at us from next to his father

“Motherfu-” He quickly shut his mouth when I raised my rifle. “Please stop tapping next to my,” The Raider gritted his ugly teeth. “effing head.”

I chuckled but obliged him if only to preserve the quiet. I heard hoof steps approach me, and I leaned out to see Strider. “Any idea what are we gonna do once we reach Tenpony?”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” I looked to the Raider on the floor next to me. “Once we turn this jerk over, We’ll need to send a message.” I left to whom unsaid.

“Right, any thoughts on that?” Strider looked up to the gored-out husks of skyscrapers passing us by.

“Maybe; I’ll let you guys know when I got something solid.” I slung my rifle and hopped off the wagon. “Switch with me; I wanna stretch my legs.”

Strider wordlessly hopped on and unslung his carbine rifle.

“Well, if it isn’t the pretty colt? What where’s your fu- ouch jeez!” The Raider hollered as Strider struck him.

“Language.” Strider monotoned.

I laughed and trotted up ahead. I swear you’d think we were brothers for how alike we were. I joined Lemon and Flag at the head of our little Caravan. “Lemon, Flag, how’s it looking?” I kept my eyes peeled for anything.

“Frankly, things are looking clear; Buttercup can see anything coming for us miles away.” Flag hit me with his trademark lazy smirk.

“Hey, what’s that?” Lemon pointed a hoof to a tower in the distance, though It was more like a metal spire with a red glowing orb on top. The Spire was atop a skyscraper with several NCR troopers on it.

“Oh, Scribe Scribbles told me about those.” I wagged my tail and trotted closer to Lemon.

“It’s a Psionic emitter, one of many used to keep Bloodwings away from the settlements around Manehattan.” I pointed to the Spire base atop a skyscraper with NCR troops. “NCR troopers guard them twenty-four-seven.” I squinted my eyes, looking at one of the Troopers by the edge. His coat looked kind of flaky, and he was periodically sucking on something. Jeez, NCR really just let anypony in these days, don’t they?

“No wonder we didn’t see any Bloodwings on our first night.” Lemon smiled. “Who built them? They’re clearly not pre-war.”

“Someone at Tenpony,” I explained. “They do have a downside though, Emitters screw with radios, so long-range communications are spotty at best.” I explained, raising a hoof, “That’s why the towers only run at night when Bloodwings would typically be out and about.”

“No wonder we never checked in with Outpost Tacitus at night,” hummed Lemon.

“Alright, my little ponies, I see a good camping spot ahead.” Buttercup’s voice brought me out of my conversation with Lemon. “Valiant, I need to circle back and keep an eye on our rear. Think you and one of your friends can secure the site?”

I chuckled; there was still a soldier inside Buttercup even after all her years. “Roger that Buttercup.” I looked to Lemon and then to Flag. Logic said it would be wise to bring Flag. He was experienced, kept a cool head, and was the best shot in the Order. But I also didn’t want Lemon scaring these good folks if Raiders got the drop on the Caravan by some stroke of bad luck. I also really wanted to take Strider, just because. Screw it, “Lemon, come on, Buttercup found a campsite. Let’s make sure it’s clear.”

“Okie-Dokie!” Lemon Beamed and winked at me.

“Buttercup, what’s the target location? I trotted ahead, and Lemon followed behind me.

Lemon peeked from her cover next to me. She scanned the target building; it was an old mega-mart of sorts. There was no activity outside, it looked safe enough, and my EFS was clear. Lemon, on the other hoof, disagreed. “Wait here,” Lemon whispered and then slunk off. She entered the store, and I did as told. Lemon came out minutes later, trotting out casually. “Clear!”

“Buttercup, bring them in, area secured.” I transmitted my message and went to join Lemon by the entrance.

RICH’S BARNYARD BARGAINS

I lifted my hoof as my Pipbuck labeled the store. I shrugged and entered with Lemon; as expected, the place had been looted clean long ago. Well, “clean” in a matter of speaking. The place was a dump with trash and knocked over shelves everywhere. “Lemon, see if you can find any supplies.”

“Sure,” Lemon nodded and disappeared around some shelves. I picked my way through the store myself. I made my way to the back of the shopping center, looking for loot as I went. Finally, I reached the store’s back; a mural decorated the wall though peeled and molded from the years. It depicted a picturesque little town, complete with a bakery, a shiny clothes store called Carousel Boutique, and a prominent central building. An amber earth stallion with slicked-back hair and what I could only describe as a plastic smile was next to the little town. There was a blurb of words next to him, but it was severely peeled and decrepit. The only words I could make out were humble, Ville, and beginning.

I trudged through some double doors, promptly ignoring the rusted employees-only sign. The double doors led to a hall with two rooms and a flight of stairs at the end. I scavenged for supplies in the break room first, managing to find canned foods. The can of beans I found especially brought a chuckle out of me. I checked the employee locker room next and found a 9mm hoofgun. There was a locked locker as well, and I tried my hoof at picking the lock. I grabbed a screwdriver and bobby pin from my saddlebags and went at it. Later, three broken bobby pins were rewarded with three 9mm bullets and one bobby pin. I grabbed my meager reward and shut the locker close, just a little harder than needed. I left the locker rooms and pushed up the flight of stairs at the end of the hall. At the top was a spacious office overlooking the warehouse floor at the store’s back.

The office was dominated by a massive oak desk with a lit terminal. Two moldy pictures of an older refined mare and pretty young filly hung crookedly on the wall by the door. I trudged inside and went behind the desk. I immediately noticed a safe tucked beneath the desk. “Hmm,” I looked at the terminal, sat on my haunches, and tapped away at the keys.

FILTHY RICH PERSONAL TERMINAL

PASSWORD: DIAMOND TIARA

I lifted a brow; this fellow was really typed cast, I see. I searched through his terminal and found the safe’s lock release and four uncorrupted journal entries. Well, I had some waiting to do, might as well see what kind of Pony this Filthy Rich was.

ENTRY 100: I have to once again commend myself for moving us here to Manehattan! My lovely Spoil has secured us membership at Tenpony Towers Country Club! All at a mere two hundred thousand bits yearly! Not to mention my darling Diamond Tiara has found herself a prominent position at the Ministry of Morale. All in all, things are looking up for the Rich family.

Entry 194: It’s silly, I mean really, us losing the war? Why we might as well be actually ruled by Nightmare Moon for all the sense that makes. But it set my darling Spoil’s mind at ease. So I have reserved us a spot at Stable 29. Though her relief did not last long. My dear Diamond Tiara has been relocated to the Shatter Hoof Re-education Facility. I have already sent letters to the MOM hub here in Manehattan demanding her immediate release!

Entry 211: I grow tired of these intrusive drills Stable-Tec demands of us! But, if we do not participate, our spot in the Stable is forfeit. Well, I better make this short. The fact they’re playing the sirens outside is just ridiculous. It’s only a drill; it feels disingenuous using the sirens. I have to make sure to make it to the Stable after picking up Spoil.

Entry 212: I think we were the only ponies to have made it here safely. It came out of nowhere; the explosion rocked the entire city. Thank Faust Spoil was taking forever to get ready. If she had been prompt, we’d have been down in the streets when the megaspell hit. Everypony at Tenpony begged us not to go. Said it was madness, Radiation, or worse, Zebra invaders would get us. I don’t believe they dared to look outside their windows. The green fires were still consuming the city. If we gave it as good as we took, I think the Zebras would have more significant concerns in their mind. I only thanked Spoil and her fears for us being prepared. We brought hazmat suits she acquired from the Ministry of Arcane Sciences. We stopped here for supplies; luckily, nopony has come to raid the store yet. Then again, I hope there are ponies left to do so. A Filthy Rich, full hoof discount! I hope whatever Pony finds this can make it out of Manehattan. My wife and I are heading for the Shatter Hoof Ridge re-educational facility. Our daughter is there; it’s a remote area with nothing of real value to Zebras. I pray to Faust I’m right, hold on, my little filly. Daddy and mommy are coming for you. To whoever finds this, Faust Bless Equestria…or what’s left of it.

This is probably why Ponies avoided two-hundred-year-old journal entries. I felt my stomach twist in knots, unsure how to feel about these ponies. I hope they found their daughter, and I hope they were able to live a whole life together. I looted the safe and found a laser pistol and hoof-full of magical energy cells.

I put a hoof on the safe door, ready to close it when I noticed something else inside. A picture of a magenta filly with a cornflower blue mane and tail. She was smiling, holding a sizable diamond in her hooves. I looked up to the moldy pictures by the door. I grabbed the picture and placed it in my saddlebags.

***

The Manehattan night was cool but never quiet. I felt my ears twitch every which way, picking up all the sounds. There was a low hum of the psionic towers, the groan of skyscrapers worn down by time and the elements. Though rare, the sounds of distant gunfire would dissipate into the sky from across the city. I sighed and leaned against the air conditioning unit, wrapping my poncho around me. I volunteered for the first watch. Everypony was inside the mart, probably sleeping. At least, I hope they were. Frankly speaking, sleep was the last thing in my mind.

“How’s guard duty?”

I jerked to the side, drew my laser rifle, and pointed to my left. Strider stood looking at me with a bemused look.

“Jeez,” I slacked against the ground, letting my rifle fall against my chest. “You trying to get ashed?” I sat back up, cradling the laser rifle against my breast.

“Ashed?” Strider took a seat next to me, placing his carbine rifle across his hind legs.

“I don’t know,” I shrugged, “that’s what that ugly jerk downstairs called it when I vaporized his friend.” Wow, I can’t believe I sounded so casual about that.

“About that,” Strider sighed, his eyes wandered up to the sky. “Are you okay?”

Hell no.

“Course, I just try not to think about it.” I shifted uncomfortably; the line of questioning really wasn’t helping me want to get some sleep.

“Yeah, I started out like that too.” Strider closed his eyes, and I saw him grip his carbine’s stock harder. “But, seeing a Pony’s head explode open like a tomato?” Strider looked at me and gave me a melancholy smile. “Ain’t no ignoring that,” Strider tapped a hoof to his head. “That stays with you right here.”

I looked at him; he’d only been a Ranger for a year, we had applied together, but I didn’t make the cut. It took me three tries before finally making it as a Ranger. Strider, meanwhile, got to do what I always dreamed of. “I’m sorry,” I muttered more to myself than Strider.

“For what?” Strider hummed and gave me a sidelong glance.

“We were supposed to become Rangers together, and I just held you back.” Strider joined the Order because of me. Strider could have done anything he wanted, be a scribe, become a trader, or just leave the Order to explore. My ears drooped down, and I tilted my hat down to keep him from seeing my guilt.

“Well, don’t be,” Strider knickered and waved his hoof at the ruins of Manehattan. “I had my own reasons to join the Order.” Then, he chuckled and grinned at me, “you know, besides keeping you from trotting into a minefield because you saw a cool piece of technology across it.”

“Pft,” I blew a raspberry at him and shoved him aside. “As if!” I laughed because I probably would try and justify a crossing for technology. “So, mind telling me, what’s your other reason for joining?”

Strider looked at me, then he stared off into the distance. Finally, he wrapped his hoof around his rifle and lifted it up. He placed the butt of it against his shoulder and aimed down the ACOG sights. “I wanna find the son of a bitch who killed my mother.” Strider squeezed the trigger, and the rifle clicked against the safety. “I don’t know who it was. All I got to go on is a name.”

“Who told you the name, my father?” I raised a brow.

“No, it was Elder Sharp Sides. That’s part of why I took her up on this outcasts deal.” Strider put his rifle down again.

“What’s the name?” I gripped my rifle tighter. The idea my best friend had to grow up without a mother because of some Raider bastard angered me.

“Stern,” Strider spat the name out like a vile curse. His eyes narrowed and pure hatred burned in his eyes.

“Shit..” I muttered and rubbed my foreleg with my other hoof. “I’m sorry, brother, I should have asked you this a long time ago.”

“Frankly, I didn’t want any Pony to know, especially you.” Strider narrowed his eyes at the sky. “I didn’t want you thinking I was only your friend to get promoted faster.”

“Why would you?” It hit me, my father. “Oh!” I laughed hard. I fell to the side and held my sides, cackling like that Raider jerk downstairs. “Oh, that’s rich; you’ve met my dad, right?!”

“Hey!” Strider looked mildly offended, but his face broke into a grin. “It’s not like I knew him before being your friend!” Strider cracked soon after and laughed with me. My father was the definition of a hardass. He breathed and lived the Order. He believed in our tenants almost religiously and absolutely hated any kind of sucking up. Star Paladin Heavy Arms wholeheartedly endorsed the old Equestrian meritocracy. Princess Luna and Celestia had always promoted the right Pony for the right job.

“Alright,” I wheezed, righting myself. “Well, you can count on me.” I owed Strider so much. Revenge wasn’t exactly something I understood; I have never been wronged bad enough to warrant it. But Strider was willing to put his life on the line for me. So I had to help him put this thing to rest.

My ears twitched at the sound of what sounded like a match strike. Strider was immediately on his hooves much faster than me, rifle aimed behind us. I followed suit, laser rifle raised, not even bothering throwing my poncho over my shoulders. Instead, my eyes knitted together, and I gritted my teeth, anger filling me up. The Raider had broken loose of his bonds. A yellow flare was lit behind him, but what really had my attention was Peppermint curled up in his foreleg, oblivious. His other hoof held a combat knife close to the colt.

“Shh, don’t go shooting that gun there, pretty colt,” The Raider taunted and nuzzled the colt in his foreleg mockingly. “Wouldn’t want to wake up the widdle shit.”

“Put.Him.down.” Strider growled each word through gritted teeth.

“I don’t think so,” The Raider licked his lips sickeningly. “I’m trotting out of here. I see mama Pegasus or anypony else.” The Raider brought the knife closer to the colt.

“Look, we could have killed you at any point.” I lowered my rifle slightly, “but we didn’t.” I tilted my head to the side, signaling the door he used to get up here. “Put the colt down, and I’ll let you trot out of here.”

“I’m taking the colt with me; nopony follows. I’ll have the little shit trot back to you.” The Raider gave me a gapped tooth yellow grin. “Deal?”

A pink magical aura wrapped around the knife and Peppermint. Then, what appeared to be a shadow grabbed the Raider by the throat and flipped him to the ground on his face. Next, the shadow pinned the Raider down, pressing an elbow to the back of his kneck. Then it pressed a huge trench knife against the Raiders back.

“No deal, meat bag.” Lemon hissed as she floated Peppermint over to my waiting forelegs.

“Fuck, alright, you got me.” The Raider smiled nervously.

“Good work Lemon,” I took a step closer to her, and she pressed the knife tip against the Raider, drawing blood.

“Fuck, come on, you got me. I’m sorry, I won’t escape again!” The Raider’s eyes were wild now as he pleaded for his life.

“Lemon, we need him.” Damn it all, I was glad Lemon saved little Peppermint on the one hoof. But, on the other, we really needed that bastard alive. He was our proof to Tenpony of the imminent threat. Without him, Tenpony might not listen to us without further evidence.

“Yeah!” The Raider looked to us, his eyes begging we rescue him from Lemon. “I’ll talk, man I’ll fucking sing if you want to!”

“Lemon, please…” I reached out with my hoof and lowered Strider’s gun next to me. “Just knock him out; once we get to Tenpony, he won’t be our problem anymore.” Please, please let Lemon listen to reason.

Lemon looked back at me through the narrow slits of her eyes. She closed them, and her hoof on the trench knife trembled. Finally, after what felt like hours, Lemon slowly pulled the Trench Knife back, and her posture relaxed. Then, the stupid Raider bucked Lemon off. “Wait!” I reached, unable to move with Peppermint sleeping in my hooves.

Lemon growled furiously and threw her trench knife right into the back of the Raider’s head. Instantly, she seemed to have recognized her mistake. The Raider’s body galloped a few feet forward, unaware it was already dead before collapsing. Lemon looked down at her hooves, her face an expression of regret and sorrow. “Valiant, I’m so sorry.” Lemon sat back on her haunches and cried into her hooves.

The door Lemon and the Raider had come through burst open. Flag and Buttercup, ready for action, quickly assessed the situation. A crying Lemon, me holding little Peppermint, and Strider looking angry at himself for being unable to contain the situation. Buttercup, for her part, looked to Lemon with pity in her eyes. Then, she trotted silently over to me, taking Peppermint into her waiting foreleg. “When she’s ready, Lemon and I should talk.” Buttercup nodded towards my crying squadmate before she returned downstairs.

I looked down and saw the knife used to hold Peppermint hostage. I felt my chest tighten, and I looked down to my right hind leg. My combat knife was missing; this was my fault. The bastard got away and threatened Peppermint because of me! I saw a shadow loom over the blade, and I looked up to see Flag. I titled my hat down, hiding my shame from him.

“Not to make everypony feel worse,” Flag grunted. “But I think shit’s got fucked up, as the Raider would have put it.” Flag trotted behind me as he looked up to the horizon.

I looked out to the skyline of the Manehattan ruins. Dozens of yellow flares now burned against the night. Every Raider would be on high alert from now on. My quest to go north just kept getting farther and farther away. “Fuck me sideways,” I breathed out, sitting on my haunches. Suddenly, I was really freaking tired.

Level up: 2

Perk: Wasteland scavenger: You're getting pretty good at finding valuable things! So go ahead, keep digging through trash cans! Who cares if everypony stares? You have a chance to get additional loot when scavenging the Wasteland.

Chapter 3: DEFCON 1

Chapter 3: DEFCON 1

So, this was Tenpony Tower. I have to say, I was expecting more sci-fi than gothic. But, it was a tower alright. A massive skyscraper hotel directly connected to the monorail. Flag said last time he was here that the only way into Tenpony was through the Celestia line above us. But, clearly, that had long since changed. We arrived early morning; a light cloud cover had the sun peeking through, giving Tenpony a weirdly sinister look. Like the villain’s castle in a fairy tale. At the skyscraper’s base, something akin to a shanty-town was erected. Walls built of scrap metal encompassed what once must have been a miniature park.

Troopers guarded the ramparts and towers erected at the corners. Several Caravans were in line waiting to be let in through the reinforced gate. “Welp, this here is where we part ways.” Rad hopped off the Caravan and came up to us. He sat before us and dropped a sack of caps at our hooves. “This aught at be enough to cover the trip.”

“Rad, we can’t accept this.” I pushed the sack back to him. “You saved my life, and I put your son in danger.” I sighed and looked to the happy family on the wagon.

“Horse apples!” Rad grabbed the sack and my hoof, placing it on it. “We know the risks of making a trip outside the I-15.” He quickly walked off, denying me an opportunity to return the money. “Now, don’t be a stranger ya hear? Oh, and keep the radio headset, a gift from the misses.” Rad returned to his family, and they got in line to wait to be let into Tenpony. “If yall ever in New Appleloosa! Look us up!” Rad hollered before taking the driver’s seat on the wagon. Bright Star, Buttercup, and even little Peppermint poked their heads out of the front of the wagon and waved goodbye at us all.

I sighed and stuffed the caps into my saddlebags. I gave Lemon a sidelong glance; she felt down since the previous night’s incident. “You sure you didn’t want to talk to Buttercup? Might be a while before we ever see them again.” I placed an encouraging hoof over her shoulder.

Lemon shook her head and placed her hoof over mine. “No, we have a mission to do. I can worry about myself afterward.” Lemon took a deep breath and gave me her best smile. It didn’t quite reach her eyes, but I didn’t press the issue.

“Alright, everypony, let’s see about talking to any Pony of rank.” We trotted to the front gate; there was a small booth with a much shorter line of Ponies waiting to be let in. We parked ourselves in line, watching the Caravans continue to pour in through I-15.

A bored voice drew my attention back to the line several minutes later. “Next,” I trotted up to the booth. Inside was an NCR trooper looking miserable.

“Hey, I need to speak to the commanding officer of the NCR forces here.” I fixed him a severe stare, “this is a matter of life or death.”

“Passports,” the Pony droned out.

“What?” I raised a brow.

“You need a passport to get in,” he pointed a hoof at all of us. “All of you need your individual passports.”

I frowned and lifted my Pipbuck, remembering the file stored in it. “Alright, here.” I showed him my Pipbuck, and he grabbed a plug wired to his terminal. He jacked into my Pipbuck’s port, and he tapped away at a few keys. “Alright, you’re clear to enter.”

“Great, but about your superior.” I unplugged myself from the terminal.

“Next,” The Pony promptly ignored me.

“But,” I raise da hoof in protest, but Flag put a hoof on my shoulder, stopping me.

“Forget it, kid, let’s get inside.” Flag moved on, and I followed everypony else inside. I have to say, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The path to Tenpony proper was lined by stalls and rickety houses. They were built with salvaged wagons and scrap. The little strip had everything from a place to grab food to scavengers peddling their wares. Near the entrance to Tenpony, there was a hotel crudely made out of two wagon buses stacked together.

Honestly, what really stood out the most, was the number of Ghoul Ponies doing business or just walking around the tower. “There’s a lot of Ghouls here,” Strider stated.

“Yeah, ain’t progress lovely?” Flag drawled and trotted ahead. I looked to Strider and Lemon, but they shrugged. Finally, I tilted my head to Flag, and we caught up to him.

“You okay, Flag?” I trotted up to his side.

“Yeah, I just don’t like this place,” Flag muttered.

“Why, is it the Ghouls?” I looked at one, a pegasus ghoul operating a stall labeled ‘absolutely everything!’ Ghouls living here made sense, close access to irradiated water. What with the lack of ambient radiation these days.

“No, you’ll see when we get to the entrance.” Flag muttered.

We trotted up to the entrance, and it was heavily guarded. The only difference was, these didn’t look like NCR troops. If I had to guess, they were Tenpony security. The gates themselves were undoubtedly made of glass with golden door handles and engravings at one point. Now they were scrap metal welded together into a practical choke point to defend. Hanging above the entrance was a menacing sign.

NO GHOULS ALLOWED EVER!

The fact the sign was painted in bloody red was terrible enough. The underlined word just felt like twisting the knife. I could see the guards also look down on the town below with barely hidden contempt. “Hold,” A guard stopped us. He was a unicorn clad in black combat armor and a dark blue jumpsuit below. His horn glowed and scanned every one of us. “No Illusion spells detected. You’re free to enter.”

“Illusion spells?” I gave the Unicorn a questioning look.

“We’ve had trouble with ghouls trying to sneak in the past using illusion spells.” The guard stepped aside and waved us in. We trotted inside, and it almost felt like we had stepped back in time. The inside of Tenpony was a sheer contrast to the outside wastes. The residents had clearly taken great care to preserve the tower as best they could to its original splendor. Marble columns with gilded metal bases and impressive chandeliers hanging above everypony. The main room we entered was clearly the hotel’s reception area. There was a great desk with dapper Ponies generally pointing the new arrivals where to go at the far end. Guess that was as good a place as any to start. I led us to the desk, and I got instantly greeted by an older unicorn mare. She had a grey coat and blue mane and tail with strands of silver, and her eyes were a warm, friendly amber. “Hey there, what can I do for you?”

“Hey, the name’s Valiant Knight; these are my friends.” I pointed a hoof at my companions. “Flag, Strider, and Lemon.” All three offered their own greetings.

“Nice meeting you guys; what can I do for you?” the mare leaned against the deks forelegs crossed.

“Well, we were wondering where we could find the NCR command post here.” I cleared my throat and looked out to make sure nopony was listening in on us. “It’s a serious matter, one of life and death, mam.”

The Pony sat back, hooves to her mouth, “oh no.”

“Yes, I know.” I nodded to her.

“I’m a mam!?” She sighed and sat back on her haunches.

“Huh?” I raised a brow.

“Just like the day I met you, my flank.” The mare muttered to herself while she floated a compact mirror up and looked herself over.

“Mam?” Was she more worried about her looks right now?

“Oh, sorry.” The mare put her compact away and took a deep breath. “Serious time, you were looking for the NCR garrison here, right?”

“Yes, It’s imperative we talk to them.” I set up fixing the mare with a frown.

“Well, you can find the Garrison commanders on the tenth floor.” She pointed to some gaudy golden elevators at the far right of the room.

“Thank you, mam,” I got up and started to trot away.

“Anytime, oh and please don’t call me mam.” The Unicorn rolled her eyes.

“Oh, sorry, what’s your name then?”

“Homage,” the Unicorn winked at me and turned around to help another pony.

***

If I thought the elevator was gaudy, I was unprepared for the ostentatious shopping mall we had just entered. It really did feel like we had just stepped into a bubble of the wold world. The only thing reminding me it wasn’t was the massive window facing the ruins of Manehattan. Various Ponies, all dressed like I assumed the elite of Equestria once dressed, went about their business. “Look at that, Ironshod firearms!” Strider pointed a hoof to a shop on the floor above us.

“Hey yeah, Lemon, Strider, you guys take our loot, see what you can get for it.” Flag and I removed our saddlebags, and Lemon floated them to her back. “Let’s meet,” I looked over the various shops. “There,” I pointed at an open restaurant.

THE TASTY TREAT

“Good luck,” Strider patted my back, and he and Lemon trotted off.

“Alright, let’s go see if we can get the NCR to listen to me.” I turned to Flag and only just noticed his frown. “Flag you alright?” I tapped his shoulder.

“No,” Flag sighed and looked away. “Kid, you think you really need me with you for this conversation?”

“I mean, I don’t know.” Okay, I don’t think I have ever seen Flag like this. He looked restless and overall annoyed at everypony in here. “Aren’t you supposed to be training me?”

“Yeah,” Flag sighed. “Come on, let’s go,” Flag trotted on, and I followed behind him.

The NCR garrison was at the far end of the shopping area. It doubled as NCR and Tenpony security garrison, though the division between both groups was quite evident. Tenpony guards sat apart at the left and NCR to the right. It looked like they actively avoided each other, and I could only imagine what that meant for unit cohesion in case of an attack. Shit, such as what was going to happen now. “Kid, I’m sorry, but I can’t stay here any longer.” Flag suddenly spoke up.

“Huh?” I looked at him as he snorted and glared at everypony around here.

“If you need me, I’ll be at the hotel outside this shitty tower.” Flag turned without further explanation and trotted back to the elevators.

And then there was one.

Well, looks like I had to do this all on my own. Okay, Valiant, time to put…none of that training I don’t have to use. Shit here goes nothing or everything at this point. I trotted into the NCR side to the front desk. Oh, you have got to be kidding me; what are the god damn chances. The mare I had argued with at the station was working the desk. Well, maybe she won’t remember me. “Excuse me, could I have a meeting with your superior officer?”

The mare shifted her gaze from her computer to me, then back. “Colonel Graystone is away on leave; if you have any concerns, please direct them to Tenpony security.” She gave me a clearly scripted response, then turned back to me. She eyed me up and down and narrowed her eyes. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”

Shit, “I don’t think we’ve met, but please, this is important whose the next ranking officer in charge?”

“Major White Fields,” recognition seemed to dawn on her. “Hold on, I think I remember you.”

Shit shit shit shit.

“Hey, yeah, I remember you now.” She got up and got real close to my face. Without her helmet and her full combat armor, I could get a better look at her. She was a bright yellow earth pony with a fiery orange mane and tail, and her eyes were a bright lightish red. “Yeah, come with me now.” She grabbed me by the poncho and dragged me to the door behind her desk. We entered a hallway, she took me down it until she turned left on a connecting hall. We stopped by a door, she opened it, and she shoved me inside. My back hit a wall, and she stepped in, closing the door behind. Instantly she pressed her body against mine and slammed her hooves behind me next to my Face. “I remember you alright, you dirty, dirty boy.”

What.

She leaned up to me, whispering next to my ear, making it twitch. “I thought I told you not to come when I’m on duty.” She whispered breathlessly, then she nipped at my ear!

“Wait,” she shoved her lips against mine, silencing me, and my mind went blank. I slacked against her, and my hooves instinctively went around her hips.

No! get a hold of yourself! I pushed her back, gasping for air. “Wait, no, you got the wrong,” she cut me off, covering my muzzle with her hoof. Then her other hoof trailed down my armor to my abdomen to my crotch. Sweet merciful Celestia, who I now agree is totally a god. No, stop! Hormones are just a chemical reaction in your body; it’s just baser instincts. I shut my eyes tightly, and I lifted my hooves up off her soft, curvy, no! I need to get out of this. I don’t have time for…whatever this was!

“I need to teach you a lesson, you naughty little pony.” She looked up at me and pinched the zipper used to relieve oneself by my crotch with her teeth.

Zip.

My eyes widened, and I shoved her hoof off my mouth, “I’m the Ranger you met back at Fetlock!” I blurted just as I felt her nose peek through my zipper. I could feel her hot breath against…it!

She got up quickly and reached up, pulling on a string right above us. The room lit up, and I squinted at the sudden light. The mare looked into my eyes for what felt an hour before she covered her face and sat on her haunches. “Y-you’re,” she stuttered.

“I tried to tell you you had the wrong stallion.” I reached down and zipped my suit back up.

She stood up quickly, trapping me again between the wall and her. “Why are you here?!” She hissed, earlier embarrassment forgotten.

“I told you, I need to talk to whoever is in.” I took a deep breath, trying to ignore the throbbing between my legs. “Look, there’s an unknown number of Raiders getting ready to attack Tenpony.”

“Yeah, right,” she backed off and turned to open the door. “Look, forget what happened here, now follow me. You need to leave.” She turned and put her hoof on the doorknob.

“No!” I grabbed her other hoof and pulled her back. I misjudged how small a space this closet was because she was again flushed against my body.

“W-what?!” She stuttered, weirdly nervous for someone who clearly had more experience than me doing this. But, no, wait, that came out wrong. This is most definitely not that!

“I, uh,” brain no good, words hard.

“…” She stared into my eyes, and her hooves rested against my shoulders. “Fine, let’s do this,” she huffed, and she pressed her lips against mine.

“Mmm!” I gently pushed her away. “Okay, that’s good, but not what we need to do.”

“You’re the one who grabbed me back!” She hissed, being weirdly bashful again.

“Because I’m serious about the attack, look, I’m not with the Rangers anymore, if that helps.” Wow, I just outright lied for the first time in my life. Or at least I just lied about something really serious.

“Really?” She pushed away from me and eyed me suspiciously.

“Yeah, got kicked out, so I’m freelance now.” I sighed and leaned against the wall.

“Why did they kick you out? You looked pretty Ranger-ry to me.” She narrowed her eyes and leaned against the door.

“I just got sick and tired of not being able to help Ponies outside Manehattan. So I tried standing up to the Elder, and she banished me and some of my friends for it.” I think I came up with that too quickly; lying was too easy. No wonder bad ponies did it often.

“Alright,” she rolled her eyes and lifted a hoof between us. “Let’s say I believe you; how did you find out about this attack?”

“My friends and I kind of stumbled into their operation. Have any of your patrols reported signal flares at night?”

Her ears perked up at that, “yeah, scouts say it’s just caravans using them to mark down routes.”

“It’s not; we managed to capture a Raider, and he spilled what he knew to us.” I sat down on my haunches and rested my forelegs on my thighs.

“What? How did you get him through security?!” She leaned forward, shaking me by the shoulders.

“Easy, we didn’t bring him here.” I coughed into my hoof awkwardly, “he kind of died the night before. He tried escaping, and my friend, well. She put a knife through the back of his head.”

“Oh,” she sat back down, leaving her hooves on my shoulders. “Okay, I think I’m crazy for doing this. But we can talk to the Major; he’s in charge until the Colonel returns.”

“That would be good, thank you.” I smiled at her and offered her my hoof. “So, what’s your name?”

“Huh?” She blinked, confused.

“I mean, given we practically rounded third base,” I laughed jokingly. “I think we should know each other’s names at least. I’m Valiant Knight, in case you didn’t remember it.”

“Pft,” she rolled her eyes, crossing her forelegs. “If I didn’t remember your face, of course, I wouldn’t remember your name.” She sighed and offered me her hoof, “my name is Hot Streak.”

I shook her hoof, giving her an encouraging smile. “Well, let’s go save everypony, shall we?”

“Ugh, I just hope trusting you is right.” Hot Streak turned from me and cracked the door open, peering outside. “Alright, the coast is clear. Let’s go.”

“Sure, by the way, who did you think I was?” I sat up and decided the chipped ceiling was fascinating. At least until Hot Streaks flank wasn’t right in front of my face.

“Why do you care?” Hot Streak exited the cramped room.

“Sorry just,” I blushed and coughed into my hoof. “I never had a mare come on to me.” Ugh, why did I say that? Stupid hormones messing with my head.

Hot Streak rolled her eyes and jabbed her hoof on my chest. “Look, don’t get the wrong idea. I thought you were someone else.” She huffed and trotted past me, “but you are kind of cute.”

I smiled at her, “thanks.”

“Shut up; you’re cuter when you don’t talk.” Hot Streak threw a smirk behind me.

She led me further down the hall, and we came up to a dull brown door. A plaque on it read ‘Major White Fields.’ “Stay here; I’ll let the Major know you’re here.” Hot Streak disappeared through the door.

Okay, we’re making progress. All I have to do now is convince the Major about the threat. After that, maybe he commits forces to attack Four stars, and my job here is done. Then, finally, we can leave Manehattan.

“Alright, the Major will see you now.” Hot Streak exited the office and trotted off where we came.

“Aren’t you staying?” I gestured to the open door.

“I’m still on duty,” Hot Streak waved her hoof at me. Then, she paused, looked back at me; I looked right back, and she turned back to me. She leaned up to my ear, and her warm breath sent a pleasant tingle down my spine. “If you wanna finish what we started in the supply closet, come see me after I get off.” Then, wordlessly, she turned and practically galloped away from me.

Here I thought she didn’t like me.

I entered the office and closed the door behind me. Okay, Deja Vu was one thing; now I just felt like somepony was outright making fun of me. Major White Fields was the same Pony I met at the station. The old Stallion broke into a chortle and waved me over to sit in a chair before his desk. “I suppose our meeting was one of the fates, eh lad?”

“Or a bad case of coincidences,” I smiled and took the offered seat.

“So, Lieutenant Hot Streak tells me you have intel on a Raider attack.” The Major put his hooves together and rested his chin on them.

“I do,” I rested a foreleg against the desk. I told the Major everything that happened up to our arrival at Tenpony. Though I left Hot Streaks mistaken identity debacle out of it.

“Interesting,” White Fields scratched his chin. “Tell me something, son, any reason you didn’t risk warning your former comrades first?”

“We aren’t welcome at Stable 29 anymore. As I’ve told you, we’ve been exiled.” I looked away glaring, hoping my acting was good enough.

“I see,” Major White Fields smiled and reclined on his chair. Despite his old age, the Major still looked like a proper warhorse. “Wanna hear something interesting about Tenpony Tower?” The Major fixed me with an amused smile.

“What’s that?” I raised my brow.

“Tenpony Tower has an interesting position within the NCR. They are not officially part of the NCR, so they are exempt from taxation of any kind. They are even allowed autonomy and are not obliged to instate NCR laws.” Major white Fields gestured with his hooves behind me. “They even maintain a private security force. Which they use extensively to enforce their rule. They make sure their laws are above NCR’s. For example, the law that keeps Ghouls from entering Tenpony Tower.”

“That explains the heavily armed jerks at the front door,” I muttered.

“Yep,” Major White Fields sighed, sinking into his chair. “NCR here is simply to ensure Tenpony does the one thing they hold above an entire country.” The Major lifted a hoof, pointing at the ceiling.

Oh shit, that’s right. “Power,” I looked to the light fixture in the office.

“That’s right,” The Major let his hoof flop down on his desk. “NCR agrees to every demand Tenpony has because they are responsible for providing well over eighty percent of Power to the entirety of the NCR.”

“Where are you going with this Major?” I didn’t like this sudden turn the conversation had taken.

The Major smirked, “before I tell you that, I got a question for you.” The Major hummed, then tapped the desk. “What do you feel goes well with Apple Pie?”

What? My mouth opened slightly, and my ears flattened against my head. “Zap-Apple Jam,” do I salute now? I didn’t expect to find another exile so early on.

The Major smirked, “good to see you again, Ranger, Paladin or well, ex-Paladin White Glare at your service.” He gave me a mock salute, and I sighed in relief.

“Oh, thank Celestia’s majestic flanks,” I slacked against my seat with a relieved smile plastered on my muzzle. “For a second there, I thought you weren’t gonna help everypony.”

“Well,” The Major, or Paladin? Whatever the hell I should address him at’s tone said otherwise.

“Oh, come on, you can’t be serious?” I banged my hooves on the desk.” Lives are at stake; what could possibly be getting in the way of that?

“Hold on now, son, it’s not that easy; I’m supposed to be an NCR officer. That means I can’t compromise my position in the organization.” The Major raised his hooves defensively. “Without the Colonel’s expressive order, I can’t mobilize more than the unit under my command.”

“Shouldn’t a Major have more than a Platoon under his command?” I groaned.

“I do,” the Major raised a brow, “how long do you think it will take to organize a battalion to attack Five stars? How long before the Raiders notice a battalion gathering at Tenpony?” The Major once again pointed out of his window. “Besides, even if I could mount a counteroffensive right here and now, I couldn’t.”

“Why not?” Okay, there was definitely more going on behind the scenes at Tenpony.

“You heard what I told you, right? NCR is here to ensure power keeps flowing; that’s it. Quite literally.” The Major threw his forelegs out exasperated. “Unless I can provide evidence without an absolute shadow of a doubt that this attack will threaten the flow of power, I am to hold my position and defend ourselves as necessary.” The Major glared and spat on the ground, “fucking politics.”

“So my squad and I are alone in stopping this?” I frowned.

“You have your orders, son. The fact you came and told me this is enough. You need to move on as soon as possible.” The Major pursed his lips in a thin line. “You did what you could, son. Time to let somepony else handle this.”

“No,” I shook my head.

“Son,” The Major glared.

“Major, I can’t just leave without seeing this through.” I stood up from my seat.

“I’ll get you your proof,” I turned to leave, but the Major stopped me.

“Now hold on,” the Major stood back up himself.

“Look, I got my own orders here from Elder Sharp Sides. I’m to sabotage NCR and Tenpony Relations as much as I can.” The Major rubbed his chin in thought. “Okay, I got an idea. I’ll contact the Stable, and you let me know when you have the evidence we need. The Rangers can come off the heroes if we play our cards right. This hopefully sours the relationship between Tenpony and the NCR.” The Major scratched and grunted. “I’m too old for this spy shit.”

“Alright, fine.” I rubbed my eyes; it’s too early in the day to be this tired. “My friends and I will conduct recon on Four Stars.”

“Friends?” The Major questioned.

“Oh, my squad.” Right, aside from Strider, we were just… squadmates.

“Do you have any way to contact me?” The Major grunted.

“Yeah, I think I do. Do you have a radio I can transmit to?” I trotted up to the door, putting my hoof on the handle.

“I have my own private channel, one four zero point fifteen.” The Major nodded and gestured to a Radio in his office.

“Alright, baring any radio contact, then I’ll have somepony send you a message. Just in case, don’t be freaked out if the messenger is a pegasus in power armor.” I turned the doorknob and promptly left the Majors office.

I exited the Garrison and saw Hot Streak sitting on a circular bench around a plastic plant. I trotted up to her and waved a hoof at her. “Hey, guess you’re off duty?” I took a seat next to her.

“Yeah…” She rubbed her foreleg with her other hoof. “So, what did the Major say?”

“We worked something out,” I shrugged. Jeez, I could feel my heart thump against my chest. Wait, why was I even here? Was I really about to take her up on her offer?

“Well, do you wanna go back to my place? I get my own quarters since I’m an officer.” She leaned over and placed her head on my shoulder.

“I…I don’t know,” I swallowed a lump in my throat, but I could not deny the warmth I felt.

“Why not?” Hot Streak reached up and gently stroked my cheek with her hoof.

“I mean, we don’t even know each other. What about that other Pony?” I looked into her eyes.

“Oh, him.” Hot Streak looked away. “He’s just a fling, besides, anypony willing to do what you’re doing? I think that’s a Stallion.” She reached under my poncho, feeling my armor and laser rifle. “Look at you, armed to the teeth. Blasting Raider scum, I’m surprised you didn’t have a marefriend when I met you.”

“Like I said, no mare really paid attention to me,” I chuckled and scratched the side of my face. Thankfully Hot Streak had the tact to stay above my waistline. Not that I didn’t feel my suit tighten around the crotch suddenly.

“Well, I’m paying attention to you,” Hot Streak, with half-lidded eyes, reached up to brush her lips against mine. “Besides, you not being a Ranger makes it hotter.” She muttered before my lips.

The world suddenly rushed back to me. Hormones were utterly forgotten, and the reality of the situation dawned on me. Manehattan was just a stop, I wasn’t freelance, and I didn’t even particularly like the NCR. So I backed away from the kiss and pushed Hot Streak away. “I’m sorry, I just can’t.” I stood up and trotted away as briskly as I could.

I met up with Lemon and Strider, and they followed me out of Tenpony. We found him drinking inside the hotel by the tower entrance. Lemon plopped his saddlebags on his table, and we took the chance to take stock. Lemon and Strider’s trading netted us a nifty one thousand caps, along with 5mm rounds for Strider and 20 gauge for Lemon’s shotgun. Magical energy cells were in short supply, but they managed to stock me up. Our medical supplies were thankfully still plentiful. So we saved the rest of our supplies for the road ahead. Flag was the only one who didn’t require surplus.

With our inventory stocked and sorted, I briefed everypony on our situation. “I got some…news.”

“What, no bad or good?” Strider chuckled.

“I guess it depends on your point of view,” I let out an exasperated breath. “NCR won’t act unless we give them definitive proof the flow of power is threatened.”

“That seems oddly specific,” Lemon shifted a brow.

“Because it is,” Flag grunted, “NCR only cares about keeping the power flowing to the rest of its settlements.”

“Yeah, but we got a sort of ace in our hole.” I leaned down on the table, “The NCR major is an outcast.”

Everypony’s brows shot up at that. Flag frowned and leaned in as well, “then what’s the plan?”

“Were gonna infiltrate Four Stars and gather the proof we need. Then I’ll contact the Major, and he’ll make sure we get Ranger reinforcements.” Not a detailed plan, but at this point, I was making everything up as I went.

“Alright, say we do this,” Strider tapped a hoof on the table. “Whats our exit route? We can’t get caught by the Rangers; we’ll be considered enemies.”

Strider had a point, worst-case scenario; we fought our way through our brothers and sisters in arms. “The Monorail, we run along the Celestia line back to Tenpony, or the first place we can get off.”

“Alright, when are we moving out?” Lemon crossed her forelegs over the table.

“We wait till sundown; everypony be ready for anything.” I fixed my comrades with a serious stare. “In the meantime, I’m gonna go back to Tenpony. I got an idea how to get in Four Stars.”

***

“Kid, you awake?”

I groaned, opening my eyes. The dark of Manehattan was starting to become a familiar sight. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and took Flag’s offered hoof to get back up. I trotted over to the edge of the building we picked overlooking Four Stars. More importantly, this place was connected to the Luna Line. I sat on my haunches and pulled out a range finder from my saddlebags.

“Whoa, where did you get that?” Lemon trotted up beside me.

“I got it from the mall at Tenpony, on hindsight, best three hundred caps I ever spent.” The range finder was a thing of Zebra technology beauty. It sported night vision, thermal vision, and a one-kilometer range. Only real complaint? It had no setting between metric and imperial systems.

Strider neighed behind me, “Three hundred!?”

“Yep,” I focused on the Luna line entering the Four Stars terminal. “I see four, no six, damn ten contacts.” I put down the Range Finder, looking at Flag. “Alright, is this a good enough spot for you, Flag?”

“Oh, I think I can manage,” Flag laid prone on the corner of the rooftop overlooking Four Stars. He propped his sniper rifle against the ledge, looking down his new night vision scope. “Good call on the scope, by the way.”

“Do I wanna ask how much that cost us?” Strider drawled, pulling up next to Lemon.

“Not as much as these,” I fished three stealth bucks from my Saddlebag.

“Being a hero is freaking expensive,” Strider sighed and grabbed one, as did Lemon though she only laughed at Strider’s grumpy look. I gave my friend an apologetic grin and put the Range Finder back in my bags. “Alright, the mission is simple. We sneak in, find evidence of an impending attack. Then, we get out of there.” I looked to Lemon and put a hoof to her shoulder. “Lemon, no killing, or even knocking them out. We need to avoid detection at all costs.”

Lemon’s lips thinned into a straight line, and she took a deep breath. “I understand; for the mission, I can keep from gutting the meat bags.” She snarled the last part, and I honestly didn’t feel all that convinced.

“If we get discovered?” Strider gave Lemon a sidelong glance, and she flinched from it.

I sighed, mission first, dealing with Strider and Lemon’s beef once we were safely away from here later. “Flag starts picking the bastards off, and we fight our way out of there.” I looked to Lemon pointedly, “but that’s the last resort. We just need that proof.”

“I won’t let you down again, Valiant,” Lemon puffed her chest out and gave me a salute.

“Alright, let’s move out,” we trotted down to the station below us. We hopped on the Luna line and trotted to Four Stars. We stopped halfway through, and I used the Range Finder. “Alright, once we activate the Stealthbucks, stick together.” I scanned the entrance again, watching their movements.

We got as close as possible and used the Stealthbucks. Finally, we climbed onto the platform and took cover by some crates. I peeked out, getting stock of our surroundings. The terminal was huge, like a barn with two massive entrances where the monorail passed. The Raiders had wasted no time in fortifying themselves. They erected barricades facing the stairs leading to the Four Stars offices. A nasty-looking minigun was facing the offices, along with several armed guards. At the far end of the terminal were several stacked boxes of munitions and explosives.

“Bingo,” I whispered and turned back to everypony.

“What?” Lemon’s hushed whisper came from my left.

“I got this for our escape, C-4 plastic explosive. I’m gonna go place it on the munitions cache; meet me at the office entrance.” I hurried along, careful to trot around the Raiders moving about. I planted the C-4 behind some boxes and turned to the offices. I saw a door open seemingly on its own, and I smirked. I started trotting up the stairs when I saw a pony come up on the floor above the station. He was a hulking beast of a pony. He had a dark green coat, and his mane was a spiky bright green glowing mohawk. He had an eyepatch over one eye, but his one visible eye was an unearthly green. Though what made my blood boil was his armor. It was scrapped Power Armor in our colors. Worse of all, he was such a colossal pony he was using the top half of a power armor helmet as a shoulder guard. Now that I thought about it, he looked way too big to be a regular pony. I also noticed the cape he wore. It was a leather cape, but I couldn’t make out of what animal. I think it was safe to say this was the aforementioned Leather Cape.

“Listen up!” The Pony’s voice crackled over the station’s speaker system. “Two of our hunter parties haven’t reported in! We also got a yellow flare, which means shits fucked up! So either those NCR tools or those tin head fucks are on to us!” Leather Cape raised a humongous armored hoof. “So it’s time to put them all out of their misery!”

“HRAAAHH!” All across the station, the Raiders hollered with savage glee. Lather Cape reached down and threw a green flare onto the station floor. “The attack starts now! Storm the highway, that outpost of the steel bastards, their little hole on the ground, everyone dies tonight!” Leather Cape barked a laugh as every Raider roared.

I snuck up the stairs as fast as I could; I entered where Lemon and Strider had gone and closed the door behind me. As soon as the door clicked shut, my Stealthbuck wore out. I looked to my left and saw Lemon and Strider’s had as well. “The situation’s changed,” I looked at them both, then I opened the door to peek through. The Raiders were in action mode, as more of them galloped out of the upper offices and then went down to reach the streets below.

“What do you mean?” hissed Strider; he clearly knew I was about to change things drastically.

“We move up, quietly, and when the coast is clear, we kill that son of a bitch.” This was a new feeling; was it vindication or something else? No, this was the right call, get rid of the commander, and they lose all of their organization. Easy pickings for NCR and Rangers.

“I don’t know about this Valiant, were smack dab in their base of operations.” Strider frowned.

“Don’t worry, if things go south, we got plan B.” I flashed him the detonator. “Besides, that sick bastard is wearing Ranger armor.” Shit, maybe I am vindictive. Either way, the situation’s changed; we knock out the leader and give our people a chance. “Come on,” I trotted ahead and led us up the offices. We trotted down several halls, ducking into rooms whenever he heard the rush of hooves coming our way. That Raider hadn’t been lying. They really did sneak a freaking army in here.

After sneaking through the station floor offices, we climbed to the second level. Finally, we quietly stalked out of the emergency stairway. Before us was a vast room with decrepit cubicles. I was surprised by how many of them still had working terminals. Each row of cubicles was separated into groups forming a square. This created a broad cross-section leading to double doors at the far end of the room. Fortunately, the room was empty, and we could trot to the doors. I raised a hoof and pointed to either side of the doors. Lemon and Strider nodded and took cover; I trotted over and cracked the door open, and peered inside. The room there lacked the cubicles and instead had three rows of desks in two groups. Six desks left, Six desks right. At the head was a big wooden desk. It reminded me of the one at Rich’s Barnyard Bargains.

Leather Cape stood facing away from the door, looking down at a terminal when he pressed a button on the desk. “Stern, we started the attack; some fucker must have found us out, had to start early.” Leather Cape growled.

“Shit, has the package been delivered?” Stern squawked angrily. I sucked in a breath of air and looked back to Strider.

He looked back at me and raised a brow, “what?”

“Nothing,” I muttered. “Stay here; wait for my signal.” I sneaked inside and walked around the far-right desks.

“Nah, about to call Ripbone to get a fucking move on, speaking off.” Leather Cape grabbed a radio on the desk and barked out orders. “It’s going down. Blow those fucking towers.”

“About god damn time!” The Pony on the other side of the Radio laughed.

I felt my jaw slack open; I could see out into the Manehattan skyline from here. A Psionic Tower exploded at the base, followed by another, and then another! More explosions I could not see but heard clearly echoed off into the night.

“signal just cleared up,” Stern’s remarked.

“Shit, there’s still one tower up,” Leather Cape grabbed his Radio again, “Hey, why the fuck is the Tower up still up?”

Gunfire crackled over the Radio, “fucking NCR is on to us! We need more hunters!”

“Argh, fine! I’ll send Razorhooves your way!” Leather Cape switched channels and relayed his orders.

“Leather Cape, report!” Stern squawked.

“One of the towers is still up. We’ll take care of it.” Leather Cape snarled, he barked at his Radio once more. “Ripbone, move the package in!”

The Radio once again crackled to life, “there’s ghouls fucking everywhere! Were gonna need time!”

“Fucking hurry or I’ll skullfuck you all to death!” Leather Cape roared and threw the Radio back on the desk.

“Make sure the package is delivered; the towers are just a distraction.”

“Yeah, I’ll go down there myself.” Leather Cape nodded at Stern.

“Good, we can’t let him use Tenpony or get the Rangers on his side.” Stern emphasized ‘him’ hard.

Shit, I needed to get a better look at the terminal. If it was a video transmission, I could help Strider put a face to the name. I crept closer, turning into the desks just to the right of Leather Cape. As I peeked around the desk, my Pipbuck did something it had never done. The built-in Giger Counter started ticking, My eyes widened, and I put my hoof over it.

“What the fuck?” Leather Cape turned and looked right at me.

“What is it?” Stern asked.

“Some little shit just sneaked in here.” Leather Cape glared down at me.

“Take care of it, then go help with the package; I’m going back to Fillydelphia,” Stern ordered, and the transmission ended with a click.

“I don’t got time for you, so hold still, and I’ll make it quick.” Leather Cape smirked and reached for something on the desk, his cape falling over his side. Wait, his cape, it wasn’t animal hide leather. I put my hoof to my mouth; it was made of Pony skin!

The disgusting cape swished, and the monster was on me in a second. Leather Cape swung down a giant ugly metal sword for my neck. “Shit!” I shouted and rolled over the desk behind me. The blade crashed down, cutting the desk I was hiding behind in two! The doors burst open, Lemon and Strider galloped in only to skid to a halt. They balked at the monstrous Pony before them, standing as tall as a ranger In power armor, and muscled like a hellhound.

“What the hell is that!?” Strider raised his carbine and fired. Lemon followed suit, floating her shotgun before her. The behemoth of a Pony staggered back, bullets and pellets impacting his armor and sword as he held it up over his face. He reached behind him with his free hoof and grabbed the huge desk.

“Holy shit!” Strider yelled, and dove as the monster lifted the desk like it weighed nothing and threw it at them. Lemon squeaked out as she dove in the opposite direction.

“You fucked with the wrong Pony today!” Leather Cape snarled and charged at me. I unslung my laser rifle and fired it twice before diving out of the way of his sword. The sword cut the desk in two and bit deep into the floor. I scrambled to my hooves; Leather Cape turned and delivered a vicious back hoof to my chest. I flew back, crashing against another desk. I groaned and felt a sharp pain on my left side. I sucked in air through gritted teeth. “I think he broke a rib!”

“Hold still, and I’ll stop the pain!” Leather Cape rushed me, I fired my laser rifle, but the Ranger armor dissipated the heat efficiently. I braced, ready to roll away at the last moment. But something exploded against Leather Cape’s side and knocked him off course into the desks next to me. They shattered into splinters before he rolled back to his hooves.

“Get away from him, meat bag!” Lemon stood atop a desk, grenade launcher pointed at Leather Cape. Strider used the lull in battle to rush to my side and help me back on my hooves.

“Hahaha,” Leather Cape rested his sword over his shoulder, cackling evilly. “That stung a little; got another one in you tiny?”

I narrowed my eyes, watching the burns and cuts heal over a matter of seconds. Did he take a healing potion in that short amount of time? On the other hoof, maybe he was hiding a medical injector behind the cape. “Lemon?” I flinched and held my side. “Go all out, don’t worry about us.”

Lemon said no words. She only smirked savagely and sprang into action. Lemon’s horn glowed, as did the desk she stood on. She flung herself and the desk at Leather Cape and jumped off at the last second. Leather Cape cut the incoming desk in two, then brought his sword up at the last second, catching a grenade meant for his face. The following explosion knocked him back closer to the office floor-length windows.

“Pour it on!” I fired laser bolt after bolt at Leather Cape.

“Don’t gotta tell me twice!” Strider fired his carbine.

Our combined firepower kept Leather Cape firmly in place. Good, “Lemon!” I shouted for her intervention. She responded by firing a grenade launcher again.

Leather Cape rolled to the left, and the grenade flew out of the window. “Catch!” Leather Cape smirked and threw his sword.

I felt air rush around me before my head slammed against the ground. I blinked the blackness creeping at the edges of my vision away. I tried sitting up, only to be met by an unimaginable pain in my abdomen. “Aahhh!” I fell back, my hooves twitching in place. I looked down to see the sword had impaled me against the ground.

“Valiant!” Strider shouted before firing his rifle.

I moved my head to the side to see Leather Cape barrel into Strider, tossing him aside like a ragdoll. Lemon rushed in, Leather Cape swung for her, and Lemon slid on her back under the blow. She flew her shotgun up to Leather Cape’s face and shot him at point-blank range.

“Raagh!” Leather Cape fell back, hooves covering his face as blood splattered against the ground.

“Cunt!” Leather Cape dropped back to all four hooves. If I didn’t feel like I might die at any moment, I might have enjoyed the gruesome state of his face. He was missing half the skin of the left side of his face. His eyepatch was gone revealing an empty eye socket. Never mind he wasn’t dead. How the hell was he able to talk?

“Die!” Lemon didn’t let up, firing a grenade pushing him back.

“Die!” she fired a second one, the explosion pushing Leather Cape to the edge.

“Just die!” Lemon fired, and Leather Cape rolled to the left. He got back to his hooves to see Lemon floating her grenade launcher at him. He looked right and saw Lemon had shot her shotgun, tricking him. “Die,” Lemon seethed and fired the grenade knocking him down to the floor below.

“Cuuuunnt!” I heard Leather Cape yell down, followed by a thump.

“Valiant, Strider!” Lemon turned on a dime, holstered her weapons, and rushed to my aid.

“Sorry, Lemon.” I grunted, “I got pinned here,” I smiled before I coughed, staining my poncho red with blood.

“Stop talking; I’ll take the sword out; you drink this potion as soon as is out, got it?” Lemon glared at the ugly metal sword pining me.

“Right,” I braced myself; this was going to hurt.

Lemon floated a potion out of her saddlebags and wrapped the sword pommel with her magic. “Okay… one!” Lemon instantly pulled the sword!

“Fuck!” I writhed on the ground, my hooves instantly wrapping themselves around my bleeding abdomen. The potion floated up to my face, and I drank it greedily. I could feel it take effect immediately as my body stitched itself together. “How the hell does it hurt more coming out and than in?” I ground my teeth together, gathering myself before standing up.

“Valiant!” Lemon rushed to the collapsed form of my friend. I slowly got to my hooves and galloped to her side.

“This is probably how being run over by a wagon must have felt like.” Strider groaned and took the healing potion Lemon was offering him. “Lemon, did you get him?” Strider sighed, wiping his lips with his foreleg

She looked to the edge wordlessly, and I trotted to the edge. Leather Cape’s body was in a pool of his own blood, half his face still missing. “He’s done for,” I spat on him for good measure.

“Come on, everyone dust off, and let’s get out of here.” I flinched, feeling a dull pain on my side. I looked at my Pipbuck, as it helpfully told me my ribs weren’t fully healed. I grabbed another potion and waited for Strider to get back on his hooves.

“He’s gone,” I frowned, looking at the pool of blood. I stepped closer to the pool of blood, and my Pipbuck clicked in protest. “His blood is eradiated.” I stepped around the pool and looked at the platform below us, leaning on the barricade. My ears instantly flattened against my head; Leather Cape was standing on his hind hooves on the Platform. He had ripped the minigun off its perch and aimed it right at me. Worst, okay maybe not worst, but still concerning, his face was fully healed except his still-missing eye.

“Should have made sure your bitch finished the job.” He squeezed the trigger, the six barrels started to spin as a low whirring started to build up.

Hot Streak’s first words to me suddenly came to me. “Heavy hitter, hit the deck!” I galloped just as bullets tore up the barricade behind me. Hell, even the metal floor wasn’t safe as the minigun left hoof size holes on it. We ran up against the before the minigun stopped spitting bullets at us. “It’s overheated, Lemon. I’ll distract him. You hit him with your grenades!”

“Valiant, I got one grenade left,” Lemon levitated the grenade in question and loaded directly into the ejection port, chambering it.

Shit, plan B it is, “then let’s hope this works, Lemon when I give you the word; shoot the bastard into the ammo cache.” I galloped out to the opposite stairs, unslung my laser rifle, and shot at Leather Cape. The hot beams struck armor, but one hit near his face, leaving scorched flesh. “Damn it, just die already!” I galloped as I heard the minigun spin up again. The minigun fired, and my ears twitched at the sound of metal being shredded like paper just behind me. I rushed behind the crates we first hid behind when entering. But I didn’t stop until I dove onto the Luna line.

The bullets followed along with the sound of the floor tiles exploding. I covered my head with my hooves and thank Celestia the concrete on the platform was thick enough to stop the bullets. The minigun stopped again, and I heard Strider’s rifle and Lemon’s shotgun go off.

“Fucking pests, I’ll skull fuck the lot of you!” Leather Cape raged, but I knew he had to wait for the minigun to finish cooling.

I pushed up to my hooves and galloped to the platform entrance waving my hooves at Flag frantically. “Come on, Flag!” I shouted as loud as my throat would allow.

I heard the minigun whirred to life, “move!” I heard Strider shout, followed by the sound of metal being torn to pieces. Leather Cape stopped firing and turned to me. The minigun whirred to life and, before I could move, a shot echoed in the night. Leather Capes minigun whined before sputtering dead. A clean shot was placed right through the motor.

Another shot cracked off, hitting him center mass throwing Leather Cape back. “Strider, give him everything you got!” I raised my rifle, slapped the battery cell out of its socket, and slapped in a new one. I took aim and squeezed the trigger for everything it was worth. Flag switched his carbine to full automatic and sprayed Leather Cape.

“Fuck!” Leather Cape lifted his hoof, covering his face, but he gave ground to the ammo cache behind him. Then, another sniper shot cracked off. The bullet pierced his foreleg and went right through his empty eye socket. The force of the shot forced Leather Cape on his back hooves. He was staggered. This was our chance. “Lemon!” I shouted.

Lemon floated out her grenade launcher and fired it at Leather Capes chest. The grenade exploded, and he flew back into the ammo cache. “Get back!” I dove behind the shot-up crates while Lemon and Strider ran for the offices. I pulled out the detonator and squeezed the trigger twice.

BOOM

The explosion was massive, blowing the top layer of crates out of the platform. There was also the sound of bullets being fired off, pinging various surfaces. Though that soon was drowned out by a piercing ring in my ears. I stayed curled up for a good five minutes, waiting for the ringing to die down to a low whine. Finally, I slowly got up and looked around; the destruction was palpable. But all that was left of the freak Pony was chunks.

“Grrgh,” I turned to the smoldering hole where the ammo cache once was. Something was moving, slithering its way to me.

“You can’t be serious,” I lifted my laser rifle. The smoke cleared, and Leather Cape remained. Well, some of him. He was just a torso, with one foreleg missing its hoof, scraping against the ground, dragging him forward. Half his head was missing, and I could see a heavily mutated brain peeking from his skull.

“Grrghh,” He was trying to say something, but I wasn’t here to listen. I trotted to him and got up, planting my hind hoof on him. He stopped; his one remaining eye looked at me. Unable to communicate, Leather Cape scraped his broken leg against me. I knelt and placed the barrel of my laser rifle against his empty eye socket.

“I’m finishing the job this time, asshole.” I squeezed the trigger. Burning his brain to ashes. The remains stopped. I stepped back up and fired again and again until he was just another scorch mark against the blackened station floor. I reloaded my laser rifle and spat on his ashes. “Burn in hell,” I slung my rifle and searched for my friends. Lemon and Strider climbed down the tattered metal stairs.

Lemon rushed and hugged me for all her worth. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” I smiled and hugged her back.

“What am I chopped Apples?” Strider rolled his eyes.

“I was with you; I know you’re okay.” Lemon turned her nose at him and waved her hoof at his words. Minutes later, Flag joined us as we sat down for a minute to rest.

“Somepony mind telling me what the hell was that thing?” He plopped down next to us, rifle slung in place.

“Your guess is as good as mine; all I know is he was in charge of the Raiders here.” I sighed and rubbed my eyes. “He also seemed to be mutated. What the hell happened to him to turn him into that?” Nopony said anything on the matter, probably because they all had the same frightening thought. How many more like him were they?

“So mission complete then?” Flag broke the silence, looking towards the burning wreckage of a nearby Psionic tower. With our own fight over and done with, I finally could hear the echo of gunfire across Manehattan.

“Sure doesn’t feel like it,” Lemon huffed.

“It isn’t; we need to find a Raider and question him fast.” I reached into my saddlebags and grabbed my canteen, and took a greedy gulp of water from it.

“Shit, what did you find out,” Flag sighed.

“I’m not entirely sure myself. Leather Cape was supposed to help with delivering a package to Tenpony, and I highly doubt it’s a box of cookies,” I rolled my eyes and looked to Strider, “also, I heard Leather Cape talking to somepony.”

“Who?” Lemon asked.

“It was a mare or at least a female creature. Leather Cape called her Stren.” I looked to Strider expectantly.

His eyes narrowed, and he gave me a nod that said we’d talk later. I looked to everypony, “stern was here in Manehattan, but she said she was returning to Fillydelphia right before we fought Leather Cape.”

“Shit, something tells me NCR is gonna be way too busy fighting Raiders and ravenous Bloodwings to do anything.” Flag scratched his head, frustrated. I informed him quickly that there was still a tower up. It would probably have to have its output tripled to cover half the range the towers used to cover. I hope they didn’t blow something.

“Huh?” I brought my Pipbuck up. It was flashing, alerting me of a new radio signal. I grabbed the headset Rad gifted me and put it on, and tuned in to the frequency.

“Valiant, please pick up; this is Buttercup!”

I sat up instantly and responded, “Buttercup, it’s me!”

“Oh, thank Celestia, we need your help, please are you near the I-15?” Buttercup sounded exhausted, and I could hear gunfire in the background, though faded.

“I don’t know; I’m at the Four Stars station!” I got back to my hooves, and my friends followed suit.

“Yes, I think I know where you are; hold on!” Then, I heard the sound of air rushing and the firing of magical laser guns. “Raddish, fire it now!” I listened to the air rush about again before Buttercup’s panting voice returned. “Do you see a red flare?”

“Yes!” I scanned the Manehattan skyline and saw a red flare burn against the darkness. “Hold on, we’re on our way!” My friends didn’t even voice any dissenting opinions. We loaded up and started for the Four Stars offices to reach the ground floor. But, before I reached the offices, I saw the remains of the Ranger helmet Leather Cape used as a shoulder pauldron. The piece had flown off in the explosion, charred it black, and cracked the visor. “Come on, let's see about getting you home, soldier.” I placed the helmet piece in my saddlebags. Maybe I could give it to White Glare; hopefully, he could take it home. Use it to identify the Ranger it belonged to.

***

Chaos, in its purest form, is a lack of order. I slammed my back against an overturned wagon, panting. The moment we got onto the highway, it was an utter mess. NCR and Caravan guards scattered in isolated clusters, fighting off Raiders from all sides. “Alright, we fight our way to Rad and secure the perimeter.” I looked to Lemon and Strider, and they nodded, guns cocked and ready. “Flag?” I looked up to see him on his belly rifle propped up.

“Get moving. There’s more of them than I got bullets for.” Flag said between shots, already taking out Raiders. Immediately I rushed out, rifle raised. The road ahead was littered with held-up wagons and ponies fighting in close quarters. Lemon promptly took the lead, her shotgun blasting Raiders as she jumped, slid, and galloped across the battlefield. She blasted a Raider with her shotgun and gutted another with her trench knife. I raised my rifle and fired, vaporizing a son of a bitch that tried flanking her. Strider shot his carbine in control bursts downing another two. The bastards had tried mounting themselves atop a Wagon. Though I couldn’t hear it, I saw Flag’s expert marksmanship yet again. He splattered the brains of a Raider, only for the bullet to lodge itself in the neck of the Raider right behind him.

I slid over a wagon kicking a Raider in the muzzle in the process. I raised my rifle, and she stopped looking at me, his eyes wide with fear. I froze; the Pony was my age, an earth mare with a mangy coat and balding mane. She blinked; her breathing was shaky, and her pupils dilated. Whatever she was on had already started taking its toll. I lowered my rifle slightly, and she grabbed her gun. I squeezed the trigger and lasered a hole clean through her heart. She flopped dead on the ground.

“Die!”

Shit, I turned my rifle before something smacked it out of my hooves. “Damn!” My right hoove stung something fierce. The Raider had struck me with a bat! The bastard swung again, but I ducked and tackled his midsection to the floor. I drew my combat knife from my hind leg and stabbed at him. He caught my foreleg with his bat and used it as a fulcrum to roll me off him. I scrambled to my hooves. The Raider swung the bat with one hoof and struck me across the face. I went down hard, sprawled on the ground. The bastard rang my bell, and everything was going fuzzy. I shook my head and spotted my knife before me. I reached for it, and the Raider stepped on my hoof.

He laughed like a mad hyena above me. I looked up as he raised his bat for a killing blow. I braced myself and moved forward at the last minute. The blow struck against my armored back, hurting significantly less. I bit the Raider’s hind leg over my foreleg, and he yelped, falling backward. Yeah, screw this hoof-to-hoof shit. I sat up and drew my laser pistol; the Raider scrambled up and froze before my barrel. I didn’t have the same qualms as before. I lasered him twice through the chest, and he fell back dead. I took a firing stance and took stock of my immediate surroundings. I was good, at least for now. I sat up against the wagon I had slid over and checked my Pipbuck.

My wrist was bruised but not broken, and no significant damage from the strike to the head. It was a good thing his swing was clunky with one hoof. I flinched and put my other hoof against my right side. My side was still bothering me. I reached into my saddlebags and popped a Med-X into my mouth, and after a few seconds, I felt the pain ebb away. I flinched when I heard hooves clank against the wagon above me. I dove forward, and rolled onto my back, and took aim.

“You okay?” Lemon panted, coated in blood.

“Yeah,” I got up, collecting my laser rifle along the way. “Bastard on the left there caught me off guard.” I groaned, picking up my combat knife and placing it back on my hind leg.

“I found Rad’s wagon,” Strider rushed and planted himself against the Wagon opposite of me. “He’s just ahead with some other caravans. They managed to form a protective diamond, but they’re being overrun.” Strider loaded a new magazine into his carbine before peeking from cover and firing.

“Let’s move!” I rushed past Strider, and they fell behind. True enough, ten meters ahead, three wagons formed a diamond around some ponies through wreckage and bodies. One of the Wagons was Rad’s, and I could see Buttercup coming down for repeated strafe runs on the Radiers surrounding them. “Alright, we got the element of surprise.” I pointed a hoof to the Raiders, “Lemon, I want you to cut loose on these bastards.”

“You got it!” Lemon rushed instantly into combat. She attacked a group of Raiders approaching the wagons on the right.

“Strider, you wound one of the bastards and kill the rest.” I reloaded my laser rifle, threw my poncho over my shoulders, and rushed the Raiders directly ahead of us. Jeez, ordering the death of Raiders was starting to feel too casual. Then again, they were actively attacking these innocent ponies. I raised my rifle and squeezed out two laser bolts. I Vaporized the Raider I shot on the second shot. His friends noticed; I advanced forward into cover, firing off three more laser bolts, killing two more. Bullets plinked against my wagon cover, and I gritted my teeth. The moment the gunfire stopped, I raised up and took aim. I saw a unicorn levitate a grenade. She pulled the pin, and I mentally activated my SATS.

I had never used the system before. It felt surreal. Like the world had crawled to a stop. But I know the magical field it generated simply bypassed all sensory delay by accelerating cognitive processing. So with the spell active, I squeezed the trigger. The Unicorn dropped, a hole burned through her head. The grenade clattered beside her. “Shit!” One of the Raiders scrambled, but the grenade went off. Three more Raiders dropped dead.

“Motherfucker!” A Raider raised a zebra rifle at me. The front of his face exploded outward, and he fell over. Behind him, the caravan ponies finally took notice of our efforts and counterattacked. I took advantage of the Raider’s shock and charged forward. I fired off my laser rifle three more times, killing one Raider and Vaporizing the other.

“Shit, shit!” A Radier backed up against the Caravan, freaking out. He turned left to a revolver. He opened his mouth, only to have his brains splattered against the wagon behind him. The owner of said Revolver popped his head out of cover. He locked eyes with me; Rad-Raddish gave me a pained grin and waved me over. I rushed to meet Rad, and I squeezed into the small gap of the wagons.

“Boy, am I glad to see you, son,” Rad groaned and sat against his wagon. His left foreleg was bandaged, but it was still bleeding. Several Ponies were laid out in the diamond center injured. An alarming number of them looked to be civilians.

“Crispe, that’s a lot of injured,” I muttered before turning to Rad.

“Ayep,” he groaned, holding his injured foreleg. “Buttercup is about the only reason these varmints ain’t done plugged us all full o-holes.” Rad chuckled, “well, they sure a heck been trying extra hard with me.”

“Here,” I drew a healing potion from my saddlebags.

“Ah, come on now,” Rad started.

“No buts, if you’re going to defend your family, you need to be at your best.” I shoved the potion into his uninjured foreleg. “Okay, we can’t stay here; something big is happening. So we’re gonna secure the perimeter and then divert the stragglers here. If we can turn this place into a strong point, NCR can handle the rest.” I heard steps; I grabbed my laser rifle and aimed between wagons where I entered. I fired off three lasers, killing two Raiders that tried rushing in. I immediately ducked back into cover as bullets pinged against the wagon. “I think I saw three more. How’s the foreleg looking?”

“Better,” Rad rotated his foreleg and nodded. He reached down to his belt and frowned. “Dang, I’m running low. Think you can grab me another belt from the wagon? I’ll cover you.” Rad got back up. “Get in through the front, don’t want em riddling you with holes.” Rad put himself on the Wagon opposite of me, and I galloped to the other side of his wagon. I climbed on, pushed the curtains covering the back aside, and.

BLAM

I felt the air rush out of my lungs. My body was thrown against the wagon in front of Rad’s Wagon. I hit the wagon corner and rolled to the side, landing (thankfully) inside the diamond. I wheezed for air, my hooves scraping against my armor in a vain attempt to remove it.

“Holy cow!” Rad rushed to my side. He flipped me on my back and instantly gave me mouth to mouth.

I coughed, rolling to my side, gasping for air. “Somepony made it inside your Wagon.” I gritted my teeth and looked down. Buckshot was embedded in my armor; thank Celestia, I wore metal armor. A young colt poked out of the wagon, scared of his mind. “Valiant, ahm so sorry! I was just scared!” Bright Star put his hoof to his heart.

“It’s fine,” I groaned, getting back to my hooves. The Med-x thankfully kept the pain at a minimum. “Though maybe work on that hair trigger.”

“Star, get back inside, hide with your brother,” Rad ordered.

“O-okay pa,” Star started to duck in before Rad stopped him.

“Ah, the shotgun son.” Rad climbed on the wagon, and Star gave his father the sawed-off shotgun. Rad hopped off and looked at me apologetically.

“Lookout! I pushed Rad aside, unslung my rifle, and fired at a Raider that almost passed into the diamond. “Let’s go!” I rushed back to our previous position and lasered two more Raiders that almost climbed into the back of the wagon.

“Fuck!” A Raider barked from cover. “It’s time; let’s fucking get out of here!”

What? I blinked and watched the Raiders start a general retreat. Things were looking up for them; why would they just retreat? I sighed; whatever it is, the package must either be in place or about to be.

“Let me go, you fucker!” I turned to see Strider drag a bleeding Raider into the diamond from the right. As if on cue, Lemon, covered in gore, strode in from the left. The caravan guards regarded her with caution as she trotted to me.

A few minutes later, Flag joined us. As he did, he was reloading his submachine gun. “Okay, something is definitely not right here.” He slung his weapon in place and wiped the Raider blood off his face.

“Yeah, we should -look out!” I looked up as I saw something falling from the sky. Everypony that could move to cover did so. The object landed with a sickening splat in a mess of blood and feathers. A griffon Raider. Second slater, Buttercup, in all her power-armored glory landed, before collapsing on her hind legs.

“I haven’t had a proper dogfight in ages.” Her voice sounded heavy behind the helmet. There was some blood on her armor, but she looked otherwise unharmed. She removed her helmet, her mane was sticking to her, and her coat was glossy with sweat. “this Talon should be ashamed of herself,” She wiped her brow. “Getting outmaneuvered by an old mare.”

Rad chuckled and sat before her and pressed his brow against hers. “Shucks, ah reckon the ol’ bitch got unlucky she had to go against Lieutenant Buttercup.”

“Are the kids okay?” She looked worriedly to the wagon.

“Ayep,” Rad threw a hoof in my direction, “Valiant and his friends saved our bacon.”

I smiled and tipped my hat in her direction. “Hey, couldn’t leave the first customers I ever escorted to hang now, could I?”

“Thank you Valiant, I wasn’t sure you were gonna make it in time.” Buttercup trotted up to me and gave me a hug.

Oh, okay, I wasn’t expecting this. “Hey, now.” I laughed and patter her back.

“I mean it; thank you for saving my family.” Buttercup smiled warmly, it reminded me of my mother, and a warm feeling spread across my chest.

“Hey, it’s what we Outcast do.” I blurted it out without thought.

“Outcasts?” Buttercup tilted her head curiously.

“Oh,” shit, recover, recover! “That’s the name of our mercenary band!” Yeah, nice safe Valiant!

“Well, you bet I’ll make sure everyone in New Appleloosa knows about yall!” Rad raised his hoof in the air, “ain’t that right, fellars?!”

“YEEHAW!” the Caravaners and guards hollered. Jeez, was every caravaner from the heartland?

“Well, you folk should be okay. We got a pony to talk to about a package.” I turned to Strider, who had muffled the Raider with a cloth.

“Do you need him to talk?” Buttercup trotted up to me.

“I do,” I nodded to her, “Raiders have a package of some sort to get to Tenpony. I need to know what we’re dealing with.”

Buttercup put her helmet on and flicked the scorpion-like tail on the armor. “I’ll get him to talk. I learned a few things about getting ponies to talk when I was in the Enclave.” Buttercup didn’t even wait for me to answer. She trotted up to the Raider. Strider looked at me, and I just nodded. He stepped aside, and Buttercup wrapped her armored tail around the Raiders neck and started dragging him behind her. “Let’s have a little talk in private.” Her distorted voice sounded in-pony. His eyes widened, and he wriggled in protest. They disappeared behind one of the wagons, and I was so glad Buttercup was on our side.

***

“Everypony ready?” I stood before the entrance of what once was a subway system. The entrance had been barred with wood and scrap metal. Warning signs were plastered all over the sealed-off subway system.

RADIATION PRESENT!

GHOULS!

DO NOT ENTER!

DON’T LET THEM OUT!

The warnings had gone unheeded by the Raiders. Instead, they had blown the barrier to pieces, and planks were laid down the stairs. That meant they were rolling something down there. I adjusted the gas mask on my face. Rad and the other Caravaners were grateful enough to give us these masks and filters. When they realized we were going underground, they practically threw supplies at us. I clicked on the flashlight I strapped to my neck and looked at my companions.

“Let’s do this, brother,” Strider nodded.

“Whenever you’re ready.” Lemon nodded.

“Time’s a-wasting; let’s go.” Flag trotted forward, and we entered the dark below.

BRIDLE STREET SUBWAY LINE

My Pipbuck flashed me a name as we made our way through the subway system. Raider and ghoul bodies littered the place. Boy, am I glad for these masks; they filtered both air and smell! My Pipbuck started clicking at me as we entered made our way deeper into the subway. “Look at this,” I flashed my light on a moldy map on a stand. Time had eaten away at the sides, but I could still make out the lines. A blue zigged and zagged from south to north manehattan. A red line circled outer manehattan, and an orange line crossed east to west. This line, in particular, went right beneath Tenpony Tower. Not to mention all the rail lines seemed to connect there. The name, unfortunately, had not survived the ravages of time. A hole had rotten where the title should have been.

“Alright, let's get down this line,” I squinted at the faded-out name. “Friendship Line,” well, that was ironic. We went further down the Bridle Line until we hopped down on the tracks, only for our hooves to make a splash. “What the hell?” I lifted my Pipbuck foreleg, and my Geiger counter clicked aggressively. “This water is seriously toxic. Everypony takes some RadSafe before we continue.” I raised my mask briefly to take a pill. We trotted onward only for the water to start rising higher.

“Is this all from the Celestial Sea?” Lemon’s muffled voice echoed behind me.

“Yeah,” Flag grunted. “Two hundred years with no maintenance, and the sea started retaking the tunnels.

“I’m sure the megaspell nuking the city didn’t help either.” Strider chimed in.

“No, that it did not,” I agreed, feeling the water reach my chest. We were forced to place our saddlebags over our shoulders and continue on our hind legs. Well, at least Strider, Flag, and I had to. Lemon just floated her saddlebags above her.

“Ah!” Strider yelped, pointing his rifle at the water. “Something just touched my leg!”

“Eep!” Lemon shrieked and floated her shotgun up as well. “Me too!”

Flag and I raised our weapons. “Calm down, just keep your eyes peeled.” Okay, good, make sure everypony stays calm. Even if I personally felt about ready to piss myself. This is what I get for watching scary holotapes with Strider as a kid. Logic quite clearly told me there was no such thing as ghosts. At most, my scientific mind figured aberrations due to magical radiation may at one point have manifested themselves. But there was no such magical radiation anymore on the top side, except down here in the scary dark tunnel. Oh, I’m killing every Raider for making me come down here. I raised my rifle to see something black floating towards me. “What the?”

“What is that?” Strider growled, aiming his gun as well.

“You know what, that’s exactly how the first pony dies in a scary holotape. So I’m vaporizing it!” I fired two laser bolts at it. The water hissed into steam, and the black blob floated ever closer.

“Is it dead?” Lemon squeaked. Seriously, how was she, of all Ponies, scared?

I reached out with my laser rifle as it drew near and stopped it. I squinted at the blob and saw the holes where I lasered it. But there was more; the blob wasn’t a blob. It was a jacket with faded decals, and it was still being worn. I swallowed a lump in my throat and reached into the water. I felt Pony alright; I turned the body over. “Holy shit,” half the flesh on the Pony’s face was missing. The torn flesh wasn’t a gun wound of any kind. It looked like somepony ripped chunks out of him. “Everypony, stay sharp. Whatever ate this poor bastard is down here somewhere.”

We trudged onward, keeping a safe distance from one another. This tunnel was really creepy; the lights had long since stopped working. Water dripped from the ceiling ranging from rivets to drops. The water also was a muddy brown, and we couldn’t see a damn thing through it. Worse, the further we got, the more bodies we could see. I had my suspicions on what ate that Raider, and I was proven right as Ghoul’s joined the floating bodies. “Hey!” A voice made us all snap our guns around. Unfortunately, the voice echoed in the dark tunnel, and we couldn’t pinpoint it.

“Here, right here!”

I traced the water until I saw a lone Raider hanging on a support beam. From what I could see, he was unarmed, and he looked scared out of his mind. “Who are you? Where are the others?” I glared.

“Me?” the Raider stuttered. “Who the fuck are you?”

A plan formed in my head, “Leather Cape sent us here, so tell me who you are before we float you down with the rest.” Lemon looked at me, her eyes murderous, but thankfully she kept herself from blasting the Raider. Progress Lemon, good on you.

“About fucking time,” the Raider sighed, resting his head against the pillar. “Is it clear?”

“What is?” Strider asked.

“The water! Any more zombie fucks on it?” The Raider barked, annoyed.

“Yeah, you're clear.” I really didn’t know.

“Okay, come on, I’ll take you further in. I don’t think the guys set up the package yet.” The Raider climbed down; he tripped and fell forward. He came up spitting out water. “Agh fuck, this tastes like shit!”

“Yeah, so listen.” I trudged a little closer, keeping my rifle ready in case things went south with him. “Leather Cape didn’t tell us. What's the package?”

“Oh, yeah, those Tenpony tools won’t see it coming! Shit, nopony will, for that matter!” The Raider cackled. “Anyway, huh?” The Raider looked down. “something caught my hoof. Shit, I’m stuck; give me a hoof.”

I reached over to grab his offered hoof. Then suddenly, the water behind the Raider erupted. A Ghoul Pony chomped on the back of his neck. “Aaagh!” the Raider tore at the Ghoul with both hooves. “Get it off!” three more Ghouls reputed from the water and chomped on the Radier before dragging him under screaming bloody murder.

“Fuck me!” I squeezed the trigger and lasered the spot the Raider was at. The water bubbled and hissed, slowly turning a shade of red. Strider fired, and the shots echoed something fierce in the dark tunnel.

RROOOAARRR!

It was horrible, ravenous, and beyond frightening. It echoed across the dark tunnel, and I felt like we had just kicked the hornet's nest. The water around us erupted as dormant Ghouls splashed clumsily, trying to reach us. “Move, come on!” I fired my laser rifle at the ghouls ahead.

“Clear a path, stick together, and don’t shoot unless you know it’s a kill shot!” Flag switched his submachinegun to burst fire and took the lead. We formed a spearhead, clearing ghouls directly ahead of us. It wasn’t long before my lungs started burning. Pushing through water and firing was taking its toll. “Flag, I feel my lungs burning.” I panted as I reloaded another cell into my rifle.

“Don’t stop moving, kid, or we're all dead!” Flag slapped down the cocking lever on his submachine gun after loading a fresh magazine in.

“Come on, you freaks!” Strider pushed forward, firing controlled bursts tearing ghouls apart. We pushed ahead, but it felt like ten more ghouls would appear for every inch we gained.

“Oh no, I’m out of shells!” Lemon yelled.

“Here!” I tossed her my laser pistol, and she caught it with her magic. “Make it,” I gasped for breath, “count.”

“Got it!” Lemon instantly started vaporizing ghouls left and right.

I turned, pushed ahead, firing my laser rifle, vaporizing two ghouls ahead of me. “Oh crap!” The tunnel was collapsed. But to our left, I spotted a narrow tunnel. The only problem was that the dozen or Ghouls jammed into it blocked the entrance. Wait, “Lemon, did the Caravaners give you any more grenades?”

“No!” Lemon yelled, firing lasers into the encroaching Ghoul horde.

“Kid, if you’re gonna do something, make it fast!” Flag roared, gunning down two ghouls. Shit, think, Valiant think! I fired at the jammed ghouls but only managed to vaporize a few. Not fast enough, I’d run out of ammo before making a dent. I opened my Pipbuck and looked through my assorted arsenal. Yes! I felt my muzzle crack into a desperate grin. “Everypony, get ready to dive into the water away from the ghoul wall!” I reached into my saddlebags and pulled out the last of the C-4 explosives. I tossed the block into the thick of the ghouls. One of the brain-dead monstrosities actually swallowed the block! Or it tried to; I could see the block stuck in its gullet. I pulled the detonator and Looked at the incoming horde. Due or die, hopefully, if it’s die, it’ll be quick from the C-4. “Dive now!” I gulped down air and submerged myself in the water. I gave everypony a few seconds before pulling the trigger on the detonator twice. I closed my eyes, feeling water fill the gasmask. I pulled it off, and I could feel the roaring inferno above. Worst I heard the plop of body parts shower us.

I went up for air and sucked the irradiated air. I instantly choked on it. I shook my mask, draining the water as best I could before replacing the gas mask on my face. “Shit!” I reached my hooves into my saddlebag, grabbing a syringe of Radway. I injected it into my foreleg before leaning on the collapsed tunnel rubble. “Everypony!” I looked around. The blast had taken a good portion of the Ghouls with it.

“I’m here,” Strider coughed up a storm donning his mask to my left. Lemon and Flag came up next. They didn’t suck in air like Strider and me. Instead, they slipped on their masks and simply nodded.

“I can hear more of them down the way we came.” Strider groaned, injecting himself with Radway.

“Then we push forward, come on, everypony!” I pushed off the rubble and made my way through the gore I had turned the tunnel into. I went in first, carefully stepping around the mess.

“Eek!” Lemon yelped.

“What?” I looked back at her.

“I stepped on an eyeball,” Lemon shivered, “so gross.” She shook out her left hindleg.

I sighed and shook my head. “You are a mystery to me, Lemon,” I squeezed down the tunnel until we reached the maintenance shaft. I think the Raiders must have caused the collapse themselves. But Raiders being what they are, they must have left some of their forces behind. These forces fought their way. Ghoul and Raider's bodies littered the maintenance shaft. We picked away through, looting the Raiders as we did. Flag was able to find more 10mm bullets, and Strider got 5mm bullets for his carbine and Lemon much-needed shotgun shells. As expected, I found zero magical cells. I was starting to low run. I was gonna need to start scavenging for another weapon.

“Fuck, no word from Leather Cape. What should we do?”

I froze and raised my hoof, stopping everyone behind me. Then, I put my hoof to my mask to signal silence. At the end of the maintenance shaft, metal stairs led to a raised walkway. We crept up the walkway, thankfully shielded by metal plates rather than simple railings. I looked to my Pipbuck. The Geiger Counter read low to no Radiation. I flashed everypony my Pipbuck, tapping the Gaiger Counter on the top right. We removed our masks, stashing them in our saddlebags. I instantly regretted that decision. Quite frankly, this place smelled like shit. I peeked over the barrier, watching the Raiders below. The room was vast and several rail lines connected here. The room itself was dome-shaped, and below, several old railcars were parked in a circle forming four rings. My Pipbuck flashed, and I shifted my gaze down at it, catching this place's name.

RAILCAR DECOMMISSION SITE

“I don’t fucking know; Stern isn’t picking up either.”

Strider Growled next to me. Meanwhile, down below, I saw a Raider wretch his guts out by a railcar.

“Ah see, we went through most of our fucking Radway supply getting down here! Then there's the fucking zombies. So how the hell are we getting out of here?” The Raider who said that was standing by the infamous package. It was massive, about the size of a railcar. It was atop its own flatbed wagon, its pullers in dirty, tattered rags rested by it though they were chained to it. The pullers were slaves, no doubt about it. The package itself was covered with a sheet.

“Yeah, we had to fucking use our supplies on the slaves?” A Raider kicked one for good measure. The slaves simply huddled together in fear.

“What, did you want to pull that heavy ass thing?” The apparent leader, who we had first heard, barked. If memory served right, this had to be Ripbone.

“Come on, Flag, you’re on support as usual,” I whispered, turning to Flag.

“Actually, no, I’m not.” Flag glared down at the Raiders below. “I’m out of .308 mm for my sniper.” He grabbed his submachine gun and loaded a fresh magazine. “Besides, I want to take those bastards on close and personal.”

Okay, questions for Flag later. Right now, I was more concerned with the package. To our far left were stairs leading down to the Railcars. We slunk low to the ground to the stairs and snuck down to the first Railcar we could find. “We hit them with everything we got; watch your fire around the slaves,” I whispered as we moved through the Railcars. I had counted ten Raiders. If we managed a smooth sneak attack, that’s four down in one go. There we snuck up to the Railcars final ring, taking up a position just a few meters from the package. The Raiders, on closer inspection, looked about ready to collapse. Most of them were probably suffering from Radiation sickness. Moving that massive thing, plus fighting off ghouls, definitely choked the life out of their supplies. “Pick your targets. I got the leader atop the flatbed.” I aimed my laser rifle.

“Check on the one kicking the slave,” Strider whispered.

“Check the one puking by the Railcar,” Lemon hissed.

“I got the bastard standing by the flatbed.” Flag hummed.

“Mark,” I squeezed the trigger, but as I did, Ripbone saw me.

“Shit!” Ripbone ducked as my laser burned past him. Though not before it caught the sheet over the package on fire.

“Aah!” The other three Raiders dropped dead or injured in Lemon’s case. Buckshot at this range wasn’t as lethal. The rest of the Raiders sprang into action, seeking cover. The Slaves yelled and huddled together in fear.

Strider fired again, but his new target took cover behind the flatbed.

“Oh shit! Hold your fire, everypony, hold your god damn fire!” Ripbone scrambled to his hooves and slapped the slowly spreading fire. “Whoever the fuck is attacking us, don’t shoot the package; you'll kill us all!” The fire was spreading, and Ripbone just grabbed the end of the sheet with his teeth and pulled it off.

Sweet fucking Celestia! “ Hold your fire!” I pointed a hoof specifically at Lemon. “Lemon! This goes especially for you!” The ‘package’ was a Mark 47 ‘Damocles’ Megaspell warhead! You know, the same ones tipped on ICBMs? The same ones that nearly ended the goddamn world?! Where the hell did the Raiders get that?! Better yet, how incompetent was the NCR that the Raiders snuck a god damn Megaspell past them?

Okay, deep breaths, Valiant, don’t cause a repeat of history here. “Is it armed?” I didn’t lower my laser rifle. I didn’t trust one of these bastards not to shoot us the second we let our guard down.

“No, but don’t fucking test me, or I will!” Ripbone glared at me.

“Look, you lost. Your guys are dead or dying, and Ghouls could find a way here at any minute.” I lowered my rifle but signaled my friends to keep their weapons trained.

“We got a whole army! Leather Cape,” Ripbone started.

“Is dead,” I reached into my saddlebags and tossed the charred Ranger helmet plate on the ground. Sorry, Ranger, I need your services one last time. “Your army is also retreating from Manehattan.”

“Holy shit, how did you even,” Ripbone groaned. “Fine, what do you want?”

“You and your comrades are free to go, but the Package and slaves stay with us.”

Ripbone gritted his teeth, he looked like he wanted to say no, but his own sense of self-preservation won out. “Fine, everyone, let's get the fuck out of here!” Ripbone hopped off the flatbed. His Raiders gathered the wounded Raider, leaving through a tunnel.

After I was sure the Raiders were out of earshot, I collapsed on my haunches and let out a sigh. “Shit on crackers!” I put a hoof to my chest, trying to calm my jackhammer of a heart right now. “We almost got vaporized!” I looked at the proverbial bomb, and I cracked a morbid smile. The Raiders had left a message on it.

GET FUCKED!

We almost all did, burned to ash in balefire. “Okay, now! Mission complete!” I laughed, hysterically I might add.

“Don’t worry, you’re going to be okay.” I heard Flag's voice.

I stood back up, watching him comfort the Slaves and offer them food. I have to say, I’ve never seen this side of Flag before. It was nice. He had a softer side to his usual carefree attitude. Strider climbed on top of the flatbed, and he gave the Megaspell a one over. “So, what do we do about this thing?”

I trotted up to it and found a small side panel on it. Carefully, I used my combat knife to feel around the edges of the lid. When I felt no resistance that might indicate a trap, I opened the panel. The mechanism inside analog, an intentional design. Low tech meant the warhead couldn’t be hacked to detonate early. Though it didn’t make it impossible, one could still transmit shutdown codes to the missile before the warhead detached. After the warhead separated, the deadpony’s switch activated. So should the warhead fail to detonate, it would blow if tampered with.

“Are you sure you should be messing with that?” Strider’s ears flattened against his head. He took a step back, which almost made me laugh.

“If the deadpony’s switch was armed, this thing would have blown the moment they tried moving it.” But, no, they had to have gotten this bad boy from a silo or something. The question, of course, is from where. This was an Equestrian ordinance; all military sites were a Zebra target during the great war. How this thing escaped the holocaust was beyond me. A more horrendous thought occurred to me, what if this wasn’t the only one?

I shook my head and checked the panel. The idiots had left the activation keys inside the panel. I tapped the analog clock on the panel, and I practically felt Strider twitch behind me. The timer was set to twelve hours, which I don’t think would have let the Raider forces leave in time. “Alright, the megaspell is disarmed.” I closed the panel’s lid, though not before stowing the activation keys in my saddlebags.

“So, what do we do about the Megaspell?” Lemon hopped on her hind legs and rested her hooves on the flatbed edges. “Do we leave it for the NCR?”

Hell no!

“No, NCR has enough ways to bully people.” I rolled my eyes. Still, we couldn’t just leave a Megaspell here. Even if I did have the activation keys. Someone suicidal enough could still trigger the spell instantly. After what I’d seen today, I wouldn’t put it past the Raiders to do that. Well, if anypony would know what to do, it would be my father or Elder Sharp Sides. I grabbed my headset and tapped on my Pipbuck. “Major, it’s me, Valiant.”

The radio crackled before coming to life, “Holy hell, son, I thought you were dead!”

“Not quite,” I chuckled and tapped the Warhead mockingly.

“Well, Raiders are on the backhoof on all fronts. I take it we have you to thank for that?”

“Yes, and no, but I can brief you later. More importantly, I need you to contact Star Paladin Heavy Arms and Elder sharp Sides. If you can manage, have them come on my transmission coordinates.” I whetted my lips and grinned. “I have a package for them.”

“Wait, transmission says you’re several meters below ground. Son, are you in the old subway system?”

“Affirmative, Raiders snuck in here with valuable cargo, can’t discuss over coms. Make sure the Elder and Star Paladin Heavy arms bring at least a platoon strength security force.” I looked at the outlaying tunnels. Celestia only knew when we might get swarmed again.

“Alright, hang tight.” Major White Field signed off, and we were left to our devices for the time being.

Two hours later, we heard the sound of hooves echoing down a tunnel. We readied ourselves for combat, but thankfully a platoon of Rangers marched in. Ahead of these Rangers was Elder Sharp Sides herself, she forwent a helmet, but she was still clad in power armor. When she spotted us, she gave us a cockeyed stare but said nothing else on the matter. The Elder hopped on the platform and stared at the Megaspell. She was quiet before she turned, and her lips turned upward in the barest hints of a smile. “Outstanding work, Rangers,” she signaled to the slaves now freed of collars and chains.

“Slaves, Raiders used them to pull the megaspell down here.” I gave them a sympathetic smile.

“We’ll take care of them,” Elder Sharp Sides nodded. She looked towards the megaspell before speaking again. “Do you have the activation keys?”

“Yes, mam,” I fished them from my Saddlebags and presented them to her. She nodded and took the keys into her saddlebags.

“Oh, one more thing, the Raider Leader was using this as armor.” I showed her the burnt Ranger faceplate.

“Good work Ranger,” The Elder took the faceplate. She caressed it gently before also packing it in her saddlebags. “I’ll make sure he gets back home, find if his family is still with us.”

“By the way, is my father with you?” I peeked around her, looking at the assembled Rangers.

“No, I have him pressing the Raider retreat.” Elder Sharp Sides explained. “Regardless, we will take it from here. “Racer,” Elder Sharp Sides looked to one of the Rangers.

“Mam!” He straightened to attention.

“Escort the Rangers top side, then return back.” The Elder nodded.

“Understood!” Racer saluted and trotted to us.

I sighed, “come on, everypony, let's get to Tenpony and get some rest. I think we earned this one.”

***

The return to Tenpony had been uneventful. At least until we stepped into the small shanty town outside the tower. Everypony seemed to be looking at us, or more precisely, at me. They muttered among themselves and smiled in my direction. As expected, Flag declined to stay in Tenpony proper. We got rooms at some fancy place called Goldentail’s Luxury suites. Well, I say we got the digs, that desk Pony Homage escorted us to the rooms. I don’t recall ever reserving a room or anything.

Still, I wasn’t one to look at a gift pony in the mouth. All of us took a much-needed shower, not to mention sanitizing our equipment. Hell, I personally didn’t sleep too well. Radaway and RadSafe gave me the runs like nobody's business. At least in the quantities, I ended up taking. So, nopony blamed me for staying a second day. Lemon especially, she had gone to the local spa and gotten pampered. I took our armor for repairs and ran into Hot Streak. She had smiled at me, waved a hoof, and gone on her mary way. Not as awkward as I had thought it would be.

I didn’t have many caps left, but everypony on the tower was weirdly reasonable with their prizes. Weird considering the two days before everypony turned their noses up at us. Before returning back to the room, I restocked on munitions. The Ironshod shop had few precious cells, but I took them all. I had thought of maybe grabbing another gun, but I could still use what I had.

As I walked to my suite, I found Hot Streak again. She was in uniform, waiting by my door. “Oh, hey again.” She smiled at me.

“Hey, what can I do for you?” I nodded in return.

“Uh, don’t you wanna unload first?” She leaned over to look at my loaded back.

“Oh right, here hold on,” I entered my suite and dumped our stuff on a nearby table. Then, I exited the suite again and kicked the door behind me close. “So, what's up?”

“I wanted to say sorry,” Hot Streak sighed.

“For?” I raised a brow.

“I kind of threw myself at you,” Hot Streak rubbed her foreleg with her other hoof. “I should have realized you were just being nice to me.” Hot Streak shrugged.

“Oh, hey, don’t worry about it.” I waved away her worries. But, really, it was nice to fantasize about. Having a marefriend and all.

“Are you sure?” Hot Streak looked unconvinced, “I mean, I didn’t know you had a marefriend. The unicorn mare, I don’t blame you. She’s gorgeous.”

Whoa, nelly!

“Wait, no, you got the wrong idea.” I instantly waved my hooves around frantically. “Lemon is just a friend!” I hope she was my friend. I really wish I could ask her, but I’d feel weird about it.

“Really?” Hot Streak raised a dubious brow.

“Yes, really,” I sighed and scratched the back of my head.

“Good,” Hot Streak trotted up to me and pecked me on the lips. “Than I’ll see you around, cowboy.”

I raised a hoof to say something to her, remind her I couldn’t. But, as I watched her swagger away, she definitely emphasized her hip swaying. I decided against it. Better to leave it as is. Besides, for the Pony that took my first kiss, my first of many things, really. She was better than I thought I’d ever do.

Morning crept up on us, refreshed and clean for a change. We all went to the Celestial Line terminal at Tenpony. Homage, under whoever orders, hooked us up with tickets for a train ride up north. Strider, Lemon, and Flag boarded the train. I stood before Homage and offered my hoof, “thank you for everything, Homage. Though I still don’t know why all the help.”

“Let's just say you got a special Pony looking out for you.” Homage winked at me and shook my hoof.

“All aboard! Next stop, Shatterhoof!” A train attendant Ponyhollered.

“Guess I better get going,” I gave Homage a mock salute and stepped into the train car. The train whistle screeched, and the door started sliding close.

“Good luck,” Homage smirked, “and thanks for doing that quest.”

The doors shut fully, and my eyes widened. Homage waved and turned, disappearing into a crowd of ponies. Was Homage the mysterious voice from before? Well, great, now I was left with more questions. Whatever doesn’t matter now, maybe I can return here again at one point. After we established base November perhaps. I trotted into the passenger car proper. Strider and Flag were on a seat to the right of me. Lemon sat left of them alone, staring out at the passing Manehattan landscape. I stood on my hind legs and stuffed my bags into the overhead bin.

Something slipped out and clattered on the floor. I looked down and saw it was a holotape. Oh, that’s right. I picked it up and sat down next to Lemon. My mother had left this for me as well. I grabbed my headset from my saddlebags above and played the holotape on my Pipbuck.

Is it on?

Yes, come on, honey.

Okay, ahem. Valiant, it's me, your father. I know we haven’t had much time to talk or do much lately. You took your training seriously, and my responsibilities kept me busy. But, I wanted to tell you something. That is, I wanted to tell you I’m proud of you. You have always pursued your goals and never given up. That’s an admirable quality. So I know you will fulfill your mission. Just wanted to let you know I’m proud. Uhm, is there anything else, Dew?

No, I think that’s good. We love you Valiant, please be safe.

“Valiant, you okay?” I looked to Lemon. Her brows were knitted together in worry.

“Yeah,” I blinked, and tears rolled down my cheek. I wiped at my eyes with my foreleg and smiled at Lemon. “I actually feel fantastic.”

“Alright,” Lemon patted my foreleg. “Whatever you say, Mister Fantastic.” She smiled playfully before staring back out the window.

Level Up: 3

Laser Unicorn: You’ve’ gotten really good with magical energy weapons. You’re all like, pew pew! And they’re like all “ahh, have mercy!” and you’re like “no” pew pew. You have a 15% extra chance to vaporize enemies. You gain 1% extra per point in magical energy weapons, Max 25%.

(Story Perk) Smooth Rambler: You could talk a Dragon out of its horde! No, seriously, you should try it! Speech checks require 5 points less than typically required.

Author's Note

Whoa, this chapter was something! By the way, a question to everyone reading this. I ended up deciding to use the word cowboy for Valiant. As I made it abundantly clear, Valiant is rolling with a cowboy science hybrid build. I thought about cowbuck, or cowpony, but I feel cowboy just sounds much cooler. I don't know, let me know how you feel about it. Hope you enjoyed this chapter :)