"FIRE!"

In just a moment the relative silence of the forest was broken by the twin 'thunk's of Rum Rush's rotary grenade launcher and the crackling shriek of plasma-fire as the pair of pegasi unleashed their combined firepower upon the massive Yao Guai. The first grenade caught the beast in the shoulder, throwing it off balance as two bolts of plasma washed over its thick hide. The second grenade though landed short, doing little more than showering the mass of muscle and fur in dirt and debris.

"Dammit!"

Snapping her head in the direction of the crimson stallion, Rum Rush catches sight of him discarding his weapons Magical Fusion Cell. The black-topped, orange battery popping and crackling as the stallion tosses it away and swiftly slots a new MFC into the port at the underside of his rifle, unconcerned as the discarded cell suddenly detonates and melts a piece of shrubbery into a green glowing goop!

Shifting her gaze back to the titanic bear, the feminine pegasus flares her wings and takes flight. Her head steadily tracking the bear below as she sends another pair of explosive rounds down upon it, with two more thunderous 'Bang's the grenades detonate at the creatures' paws, covering the beast in an obscuring cloud of dust and shrapnel.

Joining her in the air, Martini follows up the explosions with a four-round volley from his plasma rifle, the balls of volatile green energy punching holes in the cloud of dust as they splash across the Yao Guai's frame. Yet for all the devastating effect the burning plasma and shrapnel-causing frag grenades cause, the bear seems to be weathering the barrage as it hunkers down in the cloud of dust. Shifting her position to line up another shot from her launcher, the mare prepares to send a fifth round into the cloud when a mass of large grey blurs burst out of the dust!

Pain explodes in her side as the blunt form of a cinderblock connects with her flak jacket, sending her spiraling with a pained gasp as all the air in her lungs is forced from her body. With a shuddering wheeze Rum risks a glance over her shoulder to see four other cinderblocks soar off into the far distance... snapping her attention back to the bear as the dust cloud begins to subside, Rum Rush can only watch in pained frustration as another volley of plasma-fire from her companion washes over the creature's form. Each shot burning away shaggy fur and scorching skin undoubtly, but it still seems as if the bear is merely shrugging the barrage off like one would a mildly inconvenient acidic rain squall.

'Alright, how about you shrug this off!'

Adjusting her aim, the grenade launcher barks twice with finality as its last two grenades scream straight and true onto target. The first catching the Yao Guai in the side of the head, pulping its left eye in a shower of gore. While the second sent it stumbling as fragments riddle its legs with metal, bringing a mournful whine of pain from its jowls.

'Ha! Thats right, chew on that you big burly lug!'

Pumping her right hoof victoriously, Rum raises the launcher vertically and flicks a small lever along the trigger-bit. With a sharp twist of her supporting hoof, the front half of the launcher swings open and allows the spent rounds to fall free from its six tubes. Lowering it to a level position, she repeats the practiced motion of pulling a replacement round from her vest and slotting it in. A drill that Martini had run her through nearly a dozen times before they'd left the base.

'Sure am glad he ran me through it though~ Woah!'

Rolling to her left in the air, the mare narrowly dodges another cluster of bricks as the bear thunders across the clearing towards a large mass of scrap metal and discarded brickwork. Whether it's looking for cover from the barrage raining down upon it or trying to find something better to throw her way is hard to tell, but the red mare is far from willing to let it get there unmolested. Flaring her wings to steady herself and maintain altitude, she snaps the launcher shut and takes aim as another wave of vibrant green plasma descends on the bear.

Two more rounds crash down on the bear's blackened flesh and fur, leaving it a snarling, burnt mess more reminiscent of the common Yao Guai seen in the wasteland. With a strong flap of her wings, Rum closes in on Martini as the stallion all but hovers in place. Using the pile of scrap below as an anchor point of sorts while he sends burst after burst of emerald fire into the bear below.

Its only when it reaches the pile of scrap that the bear strikes back, tearing a mass of bricks and metal scraps free and throwing it up at the stallion. With an almost casual ease the stallion's wings propel him upward for a moment and fold as he allows the debris to pass around him, his wingtips adjusting his position to let the majority of the junk pass by him. Almost all of the larger stuff passes harmlessly by the stallion, but one piece doesn't.

It was nothing abnormal, just a normal crumbling cinderblock. Not even a piece of scrap metal or a can of old fuel, and yet when that cinderblock connected with the plating on Martini's flank. Everything went to hell.

BANG!

Like a snipers bullet the explosion came out of no-where, the blast obliterating the cinderblock in an instant and shredding the stallions wing with shrapnel. Stunned and in pain he dropped like a rock, losing hold of the plasma rifle in his hoof as the armored form of Martini clattered off the scrap pile below like a discarded action figure. Looking down in horror, Rum Rush could see a blackened crater centered on the stallions armored flank plate, entire layers of ablative plate and reinforcement gone in an instant from the blast.

But she didn't have time to waste figuring out what happened, not with the Yao Guai so close to the now grounded pegasus.

'I need to keep that things attention!' She thought with a silent hiss, firing two more grenades in rapid succession. Twin blasts stumble the massive bear once more, but it's one good eye snaps to the scrap pile beside it with a malicious, wrathful glint. Raising its massive right claw, the bear lashes out at the spire of steel and refuse, knocking it aside in an intimidating show of strength to reveal the bloodied stallion behind it.

With a victorious roar the beast bounds forward, jaws parted in a bloodthirsty snarl as it buries its knife-like teeth into the stallions armored form and shakes him from side to side. Like a wild dog on a grounded prey-bird.

The sudden bite and motion seemed to bring the pegasus around as his limbs flailed in an attempt to kick out at the bear, but instead of releasing him or biting down to finish him off, the bear lifts its jaws skyward. Horrified, Rum throws herself forward to close the distance with the Giant Yao Guai. To try and strike it in the jaw, the eye, something to get it to release the stallion. But all she manages to do is get close enough to hear a panicked "NonononoNO!" as the bear parts its jaws and lets gravity carry the Shadowbolt into its gullet!

Even mute as she is, the mare can only silently cry out his name as her hind hooves connect harmlessly with the bears face. Her eyes wide as the bears lone undamaged orb narrows at her mockingly. With a silent growl, the feminine pegasus backs off from the monstrous beast. Uncertain how to strike at it without potentially harming the stallion wiggling in its throat.

'Well, this isn't the worst situation I've ever fallen into' Morosely Martini struggled in the tight confines of the bears gullet, despite the searing pain in his flank and shredded wing. His orange visor fogging from the humidity and his body all but pinned in place as the bear tried to force him down its throat. It was something that would have terrified any other creature had they been in the same position, instead brought a wicked smirk to the stallion's spit and blood-spattered face, after all. Every tug down the things throat was just another bloody tear in its gullet, curtesy of his single remaining Wingblade.

That aside, it was hardly his first time ending up in the gullet of some creature. Granted this was the first time he'd ended up inside a Hostile creature... but having dated a particularly kinky dragoness during the war, he was at the very least able to control the usual feral-panic that most ponies would experience in this kind of situation.

'Huh, when I get out of this, I'll need to remember to check in on Nyphi's old den... it should be somewhere along the Canterine.' Squaring his shoulders and extending the hoofblades of his forehooves into the bears unprotected inner flesh to slow his decent, Martini adjusts himself in preparation to brace his forelegs and keep from landing face-first into the bears' stomach. 'Assuming she hasn't packed up and left in the last century and a half, I think she might enjoy a visit from an old Fuck-Buddy.'

Another shudder and the muffled crack of an explosion vibrates through the bears flesh and dislodges the stallion's blades in a bloody tear, dragging him down amid a hock-deep pool of blood. Made worse by the liquid-life trapped behind him. '...dammit, I'm gunna stink of blood all the way back to base.' He silently grumbles as the flesh ahead of him finally gives way to the giant bears stomach and the overpoweringly sharp scent of bile. 'Ugh, great... it's already digesting the brahmin. I'm going to need to be quick about this.' Martini wrinkles his nose as the uncomfortably familiar scent of stomach acids assault his senses, leaving him wishing he had a box of antiacids.

Fortunately, though the bears interior wasn't as dark as he'd expected it to be... nor as lifeless as it should be!

Resting in the center of the accumulated meat, bloodied bone, and other unmentionable things the bear had devoured was a short white unicorn mare lying in a glowing blue bubble of arcane energy, the acid sizzling harshly against her glowing bulwark. But before he could take a closer look, the pegasus was forced to throw his forehooves forward as he finally slipped fully into the beast's stomach, his boots splashing down in the hissing acid with enough force to send a bit of back-splash across his muzzle, earning a wince as the acid burned the fur and skin below. His hind legs soon followed, and it took a great deal of pained effort to keep from collapsing as his battered flank came to a sudden stop. The blood he'd kept backed up in the creature's throat quickly staining the lime-colored liquid around him with a thick dilution of red as it poured in around him.

But worst was yet to come as some of the splashed-up acids flowed over his form and burned away at not just his armor's paint, but his crimson coat and skin! Leaving him hissing in intense pain as he forced his hooves through the thick liquid towards the nearest form of shelter from the pools of vicious green, a large chunk of accumulated brahmin carcass. Sure, his uniform and boots could handle the acid for a time thanks to the coating he and Rum had applied before they left. But with his wounds exposed, his wing torn to shreds? No. He'd need to get himself and the unicorn out before the stomach acid ate away at his unprotected flesh... because that would go long before the protective layers of his uniform.

If he didn't, then he wouldn't be the only one to fade away in here.

Stumbling for a moment as the mass beneath him rolled, the stallion pulled himself up onto the carcass. Looking over the walls of the stomach he could already tell it was no-where near as sturdy as the thick hide protecting the outside of the beast. His tingling lips rose in a dark grin, his good wing flaring out wide enough to graze the walls of the beast's innards hard enough to tear the lining of its stomach as he prepared to bring its blade to bare against the creature's vulnerable internals.

"Alright, let's give you a bad case of Heartburn~"

Diving to the side as another swarm of brickwork flew past her head, Rum Rush couldn't help but let a silent hiss slip from her lips as she leveled out once more. Beneath her the monster of a bear continued to roar and snarl as it began to gather yet another pile of cinderblocks.

'Feathers, come on! What can I do... what can I do?!'

Narrowing her eyes, the red pegasus could only look over the landscape helplessly. Bricks, metal scraps, a ruined motorwagon, an old normal wagon. Some lockers... a military footlocker? Tucking her wings in for a moment, she dives towards the worn green rectangular crate... an action not missed by the bear. As her hooves touch the ground on the far side of the clearing, the mare is intimately aware that her time is limited.

The roar of the beast on the far side of the clearing and the clatter of falling bricks bidding her speed, her eyes flittering over the footlocker for a moment to note the rusted old lock securing its surface. With a grunt the masked mare hefts her grenade launcher and brings it down butt-first on the lock, with a crack and clank the first blow does little more than hurt her hooves, scratch the lock, and break off the front end of the launcher from the impact.

'...oh buck me with Luna's back hoof.'

As the six grenade shells of her launcher spill from the now-rolling rotary tube the eyes of the mare widen in brief panic. Her jaws grip tightening on the reinforced trigger-bit, the mare lifts her wings to grasp it and strike the lock a second time. The resounding clang only outweighed by the pounding of her heart, and the rumbling tread of the Bear as its claws crunched through scattered brick and crushed rotten wood planks underfoot.

'Break damn you!'

With a final strike the old metal snaps under the force, allowing the container to pop open from the force imparted on it...

Seeing a vaguely gun-shaped object Rum Rush's right wing quickly leapt forward to snatch the weapon. Turning to face the charging bear she brings the oversized pistol to bear, wings shaking with instinctual fear of the massive predator as she pulls the trigger... only for nothing to happen. Looking to the pistol, or rather Revolver, the pegasus is quick to recognize her mistake and cocks the hammer. Bringing the gun up right as the bear is nearly upon her, its head roaring forward with the same hungering intent as it had with its previous meal.

'I will not be your lunch!'

...and with that declaration, she squeezed the trigger bit. With a crack more commonplace on a high-caliber rifle, the .45-70 Ironshod bucked in the pegasi's feathered grip. Everything seemed to slow down for the adrenaline-driven mare as she watched the gun kick back into her chest. The impact seemingly far away as she watched the bullet scream forward, splitting from its hollowed tip into three distinct flaps of steel like some sort of demented three-petal'd flower.

Moving sluggishly through the air in this strange period of hesitating time, she watched as the round continued to slowly spin on its journey. Right until it found its new home, directly in the ruined eye-socket of the massive mountain of muscle and fur intent on devouring her. Then as quickly as it had come, the moment was gone. Hitting the ground, the panicking pegasus pushed herself away from the bear with her hind hooves while turning the revolver back on the stricken beast.

Rising on its hind legs to claw at its face in anguish, the bear manages to turn its one good eye in the direction of the mare. Its pupil shrunk to a pinprick as the veins within burn a brilliant red with rage. Pulling the bloodied claw away from its face, the massive Yau Guai raises its paw to crush the irritating pegasus when a second pained growl erupts from its jowls. Confusion and pain battles in its one remaining eye as it chokes, gagging loudly before it suddenly stiffens.

'Wh-what?'

Before Rush's eyes, the creatures gaze dulls and with the unmistakable shudder of death... it falls, its head cracking on the rocky ground with a wet 'thwump!'. A disgustingly sizzling green and red-tinged liquid dribbling from the bears massive jaws, hissing as it pours out onto the soil.

Rising to her hind hooves slowly the pegasus uses her hooves and wings to keep the massive revolver leveled at the bear as it moves, its chest heaving... no, not its chest. Its Belly! This realization hits the mare right as the glint of a blood-soaked blade pierces the bears thick hide, cutting down with a sickening noise. Like wet carboard tearing before a butterknife the bears insides are exposed. Allowing a flood of acids, blood, meat, and two distinctly equine forms to flow out onto the ground.

The more familiar of the two creatures rolls twice before coming to a stop in the dirt, using his hooves to pull himself away from the pooling acids as he takes in breath after breath of fresh air. The latter rolls within her ball-like shield for a few feet before it dissipates, leaving her to slide to a stop on her side.

"Flocking Tartarus... I hate when creatures swallow me like that."

Rum Rush could only stare blankly at the blood-soaked Shadowbolt as he painfully rolled onto his unshredded wing. A hoof going to the sodden set of saddle-bags resting at his side. She could tell he was hurting and hurting bad at that. Rushing over to his prone form, her wing quickly swept to the interior of her flak jacket, recovering a vial of restoration potion from within.

She'd nearly applied it when of all things, the stallion waved her off.

"No, don't give that to me. She's going to need it more... go!" His commanding tone and pointed hoof gave the crimson mare pause.

With a nod, she made her way over to the unicorn and gave her a once-over. Wincing all the while, she was in better shape than the stallion... but that wasn't saying much. Her burns were fairly minor, but the small cracks in her oversized horn and the smoke trailing off it made it clear she'd suffered a burnout. Looking back at the vivisected bear, Rum could only wonder how long she was trapped in that thing. Before she carefully begins applying the potion, letting her far-steadier wing direct the flow. The pinkish liquid quickly trailed down from the tip of the unicorns horn as she poured, filling the cracks and bubbling as the potion handled the heat transfer and healing process to a degree.

The small cracks steadily began to knit shut along the spire of sensitive bone, but still the pegasus poured. She knew just how dangerous burnout could be for a unicorn, and burning a single healing potion to be certain was worthwhile compared to a fused thaumic pathway... she'd seen more than one unicorn Raider pop her own horn trying to cast while Dash'd out of their mind or tripping on Rage.

'She must have been burning magic for hours...'

Returning the empty vial to her inner pocket, Rum cast a careful eye over the mares smaller form. Picking out the minor burns and teeth marks on her white coat, really there wasn't anything seriously wrong with her. Even her pink and blue-swirled tail had survived mostly intact. She must have been swallowed hours ago, the fact she was still alive in belly of that beast...

Rum shuddered.

'I can't believe I'm saying this. But she's lucky Martini got eaten, I probably would have blown her apart or popped her shield inside that thing with my grenades.'

That thought sent a second uncomfortable shudder through the femme-pegasus, given the caustic scent of the things foul acid.

Turning her gaze back on Martini, she found him struggling to his hooves as he finished running from his water from his canteen over his wounded wing and began the process of binding it to staunch the bleeding... he wouldn't be flying on that for a while, which... could be a problem given the Caravan was on the move. Letting a silent sigh slip from her lips, she carefully lifts the limp form of the unicorn onto her back and shoves the .45-70 into a webbing pocket on her flak jacket. It wasn't a holster, but it would work for now.

As she returned to Martini's side the stallion let a hiss of pain flow from his lips, and Rum could make out a litany of near-silent words just beyond her hearing. Words that stopped right as Martini noticed the mare's return.

"Oh, is she alright?"

His question is quick, clipped as he turns his head back to his wing and begins wrapping it in the familiar white of a gauze bandage. Moving around to keep her form in the stallion's line of sight, she nodded. Much to the apparent relief of the stallion as he lets a pained but thankful smile light his burned lips. Carefully he rises to hooves, his steps unsteady as he starts to pick his way through the puddles of acid towards open gut of the stinking bear.

Concerned, Rum takes a step to follow when his undamaged wing motions her back.

"It's alright, I just need to check something..." He trails off.

A few more careful steps bring him up against the corpse, and the careful application of his wingblade as an anchor lifts a portion of the torn carcass enough for him to bear inside. Eyes watering and nose running from the acidic scent. Uncertain what he's doing, the red mare slowly traces herself along the exterior of the tiny acidic marsh the Yau Guai had left around its split belly.

Reaching a hoof in, the stallion lets out a victorious cry!

. . .

"I've got it!" He calls with a grin, the now-familiar crystalline cube clutched in the mechanized digits of his cyberhoof. There wasn't even a hint of degradation from the acid as he shakes a few clinging droplets off of the piece of arcanotech. Holding it up to the dim light so he can look it over.

He could make out the etchings for a rune of life, and a rune of memories as expected. But like in the past, he couldn't make heads nor tails of the etched lines covering the surface of the otherwise perfectly cubed gemstone. Carefully he secures it in his saddlebags as he returns to Rum Rush through the noxious cloud, pausing only to give the corpse of the bear one last frustrated glare as he settles next to the mare.

"Okay, I found it... I found the implant that brought that thing back in your marefriends place."

Rum's shoulders stiffen as she eyes the stallion with visible relief and a hopeful smile across her lips. One that Martini shares as he looks her over, noticing the oversized revolver poking out of her side like a short carbine. A hint of recognition flickering in his eyes as he turns his gaze back on the pegamare.

"Now where'd you get that?" He asks with a strained chuckle, following her crimson hoof as Rum points to the footlocker by the bears head. With a grunt of effort, the Shadowbolt makes his way over to the aged footlocker, marveling at the near-pristine state of the items within. It was an officer's footlocker, just based on the captain's rank insignia resting atop the worn leather journal inside, a package of sixty-four .45-70 MIN ammunition and a combat knife took up most of the space not occupied by the distinctive brown olive-drab of an Equestrian Army Dress uniform.

The only thing missing was any identification of who the locker belonged to.

More than a little bit curious, he squirreled the contents of the locker away in his saddle-bags, hoofing over the knife and ammunition to Rum Rush. Who was thankful to just have ammo again, though she did avert her gaze when the stallion's cyberhoof raised the remnants of her grenade launcher's stock. "I have no idea how you managed to break one of those things..." Looking to her the stallion shakes his head incredulously. "...but, please try to be more careful in the future."

With a sigh, Rum nods as she hefts the unconscious form of the unicorn over her shoulder. With their reason for being here finished, the pair depart. Leaving the blood-soaked clearing behind them as they slip back into the forest, heading back the same way they'd come.

The trek back through the forest was a painful affair for Martini, every step with his injured hind leg sent spikes of pain screaming across his nerves. While the cold chill of the wasteland sent sickly shivers up his spine as the sensitive burns along his muzzle endured the minor exposure. The stallion all but yelped with relief as the old motel came into view once again, and it didn't take much effort for the pair to make their way inside. Finding the dying embers of the caravan's recent fire still glowing in a fireplace just off from the main lobby in what was once a small lounge.

It had mostly been the efforts of Rum Rush that saw the fire return to a roaring life, and some ancient mattress's be drug in from the nearby rooms to provide bedding close to the warmth. During which Martini had taken the time to remove what shrapnel he could from his wing, it was a long, painful, and intensely stressful task given the nature of the wounds... and try as he might, there were some things he just couldn't do on his own. Prying shrapnel from his sensitive wing, without doing more harm to himself in the process was one of those things.

'Luna give me strength.'

Dropping the bloodied tweezers from his trembling lips, the stallion settled his weary head against the stained bedding with a stuttering sigh. The strength and swiftness of adrenaline had long left his limbs, and the blood-loss was starting to get to him. He could tell from the numbness slowly gripping at his battered hind, the exhaustion. The familiar chill. He knew the sensations well enough to know he still had time to rest, to try again... maybe when Rum Rush was done checking the rest of the building.

As his bloodied wing settles across the soothingly cool wood of the floor, his amber eyes drift to the only other occupant of the room. The unicorn's far more minor wounds had been handled by Rum Rush and she was still unconscious, though her curious lack of dress certainly was eye-catching. She hadn't been wearing anything beyond a bandolier full of pre-war snack-foods, and an empty holster around her barrel... which left her fairly easy for the Shadowbolt to regard as she lay on the ruined form of a couch beside the fireplace.

She was... short.

Not quite filly-sized like Wandering Sunrise, but certainly below average for a full-grown mare... and considering he'd been hobbling alongside Rum Rush the whole way back with nothing to do but focus on things other than being in pain, well. He'd be a liar if he said he hadn't cast a glance at her, especially after catching sight of the generous rack between her legs. Between the white of her coat, the candy cane-colored mane, and her softly-toned physique. She was certainly attractive... and he knew more than a few mares who would have killed for a horn as long as hers.

A couple stallions too, come to think of it.

The thought of a certain blood-haired Princling's immaculate muzzle curled in a frown at his comparatively small horn brought a nostalgic smile to the stallion's face as he laid there, wondering about the mares cutie mark. After all, he hadn't seen anyone with a candy-themed cutie mark since... ... ...actually, he couldn't remember the last time. Still, it seemed simple enough to figure out. It was a little snack-cake box in cherry-red with the word 'Tasty' across its surface in white. Though there wasn't any indication of what kind of snack-cakes her mark might have had, the fact alone left him hoping she was the sweet type.

Though he didn't delude himself into hoping too much for that, this is the wasteland after all.

Letting his gaze drift from the soft mare to the carpet before the fireplace, the stallion huffs at the piece of arcaneotech resting on the worn-out rug. It certainly fit Sunrise's description of a 'Black Box'. Black, cuboid, and completely carved in some sort of intricate matrices of arcane unicorn-styles and what almost looks like the more organic design of zebrican rune-craft. It was as if two master carvers from opposite sides of the war had joined their efforts on one flawless piece of obsidian.

It was beautiful, for a piece of arcane tech.

'Hard to believe that i've got one of those tucked up against my heart.' Moving his non-metal foreleg close to his barrel, he slowly presses his hoof against the smooth material of his jumpsuit, feeling the vibrations of his heart underhoof. 'Chifundo, Quick Stitch, Nyota, Sunrise... and you.' Laying his cheek against the stained mattress, Martini sighs, his thoughts racing at just how important one of these devices could be. The military applications of having the ability to return from the dead equipped and fresh were obvious enough. His existence alone was proof of that.

But the civilian applications... what if the curse of death could no longer touch a great scientist? The illnesses that could be cured by Doctors spending entire lifetime's seeking answers and treatments, even the common pony could cheat death!

Death...

Had something like the recombulators been widespread back before the war, things would have gone very differently... the death toll could have been drastically reduced as soldiers rose from where they'd fallen, civilians caught up in the zebra's terror attacks and bombing raids might not have left loved ones behind.

'Perhaps we could have won?' The question gnaws at him, drawing his gaze to the crackling flames beyond the black cube to the orange and black form of the log within the fireplace. Letting the crackling roar of the flame's sooth the growing chill in his heart. "No..." His sore voice quiet, barely a hint above a whisper in answer to his own question.

'If we had these to such a degree... the Legion would have developed weapons specifically for them, like every other time.' Letting his eyes slip shut the stallion shudders as the familiar ache of the scars along his neck and barrel remind him of that fact, the War was a ruthless affair. Things like compassion and kindness were left at the wayside in favor of devastation, so many times.

'Perhaps its for the best that these Boxes never saw their day view during it.'

. . .

It was a dull thumm that eventually roused the stallion from his thoughts, his lids parting to find the source of the unfamiliar noise. Only to narrow to a pair of amber slits as a golden flare of light assaults his gaze. Raising a foreleg to cover his eyes from the cold brightness, Martini raises his head to try and pinpoint the source... though he already has a suspicion. One that's proven painfully correct as the light fades to reveal a bowl-shaped hole in the floor. Wood, carpet, and concrete having been carved out like a massive scoop had slipped in and pulled it out, leaving a familiar horned form in its wake.

Dirty beige fur stirs as the mare draws a desperate breath and scrambles to her hooves, her chestnut brown eyes scanning the room from beneath her silvery locks. Noting first the unconscious form of the unicorn on the couch, then him.

'Wow... okay, just need to calm down the pretty lady.'

"Easy now, your sa-glck!" The hoof that had been shielding his eyes snaps to his tightening throat as the mares horn lights, smothering the crimson of his neck in the brown of her magic as she lifts him from the mattress. Dragging him over the carpet as his good wing lashes out, trying... and failing, to grab a hold of the thick fabric. With a jolt, he's jerked up before the mare. Gritting his teeth as the very tips of his hooves barely manage to remain in contact with the wood beneath him, there's little he can do but wait as those brown eyes bore into his.

"I recognize you..." Her cold tone sending a shiver of uncertainty up the stallion's back, the fur along his spine bristling as the mare tilts his head. "You were with Her during the fight... what? Did she think one crippled pegasus and a narcoleptic would be enough to take care of me if I woke up?" Lazily her aura wraps around the hoof at his throat, eyes narrowing with dangerous delight as a quick squeeze in the right spot releases the blade hidden in his boot. Leaving it uncomfortably close to one of the bulging arteries of his throat.

"She's must be dumber than I thought..."

Slowly, the mare lets her hooves carry her around Martini's magically bound form. Her eyes drinking in the wounds coating his body with a flicker of confusion, a faint easing of pressure on his throat hinting at her wanning focus. Just enough for a strained word to slip through his clenched windpipe.

"Rum!

The response is immediate as the power holding his neck squeezes hard enough for the stallion's neck to pop painfully, sending dark spots across his vision... right as the cold sensation of his hoofblade presses tight against the unprotected flesh beneath his chin. "You do that again, and i'll make sure you regret it Pegasus!" Her hissed words full of icy venom... at least until the sound of fast approaching hooves echoes from the adjoining room makes themselves known.

Her response is as quick as it is direct, the aura around his neck dragging him into place between her and the door... something that the he begrudgingly approves of in the sanctity of his own mind. 'She certainly knows how to use a hostage right...' Dizzily, the stallion lets his wings fall limp as the hoofsteps grow closer, finally resolving into the hurried form of Rum Rush, her effeminate frame slipping into the room with the bulky form of the .45-70 held in her right wing, while her left clutched something short and pointed at her side.

For a few seconds, the room goes still as the two meet one another's gaze... and then Martini finds himself kissing the wooden floor, his lungs drawing in the sweet nectar of wasteland oxygen. A fit of coughs wracking his forgotten body as the two sweep towards the other, colliding just short of the small crater in the floor, hooves wrapped as the unicorn buries her horned head in Rum's shoulder.

Deeply in pain, lungs greedily taking in the precious taste of oxygen, and with his sore body crying out at the abuse of the last few hours. Martini manages to raise his head just enough to catch sight of the pair, just as Rum Rush wraps her wings around the robed mare. Tear-filled eyes glittering in the firelight as she nuzzles her chin into the unicorn's silvery locks... and for a moment, her heavily-laden eyes meet his.

...and for Martini, the relief in the femme's eyes makes all the pain worth it.

Slowly, he raises his cyberhoof. The dented frame flexing to allow one of the manipulator digits to extend, raising it in a rough equivalent of a gryphons 'Talons Up'. Before letting it come to rest on the wood with a quiet clonk.

The sound as it so happens, draws the unicorn out of her intimate moment. Her cheeks flashing a vibrant pinkish-rose as she recognizes what she's doing, and rounds on the stallion, putting herself right up against the side of Rum Rush in the process as she glares down at the wounded Shadowbolt in confusion. "Rum, why is He with you? ...did you make some deal to keep me safe behind Speakeasy's back?"

...and despite himself, despite the pain and danger, Martini laughs. An action quickly joined by Rum's silent chortling as the mare's words sink in. Looking between the two, her confusion is only natural. '...there's no way she could have known that we 'did' make a deal... for Chifundo.' He smiles internally, but externally: "Not originally, but I'm not with Sunrise or her merry band anymore."

The confusion on the unicorn's pale lips deepens as she looks to the red pegasus leaning against her, who nods in agreement. "...and you believe him Rum?" For a moment, the pairs brown eyes bore into one another, the unicorn's clearly searching for something... only to blink as her partner smiles, a second slow nod following her question. Holstering the oversized sidearm, the feminine stallion-in-disguise removes a stick of chalk from her bandolier and applies it to the little chalkboard at her neck. Leaning over so the mare can see as she writes.

For nearly a minute the pair stand there, the unicorns head tucked into the nook of the pegasi's neck. Her eyes skimming along the written lines of chalk, and occasionally snapping up to eye Martini as he lies on the floor... but as the first minute passes, something in her gaze changes. There's a softness to her hard chocolate eyes, and it rapidly becomes clear to the prone pegasus that Rum is filling her in on what happened while she was. . . . ...indisposed. Until eventually the mare stops her scratchy writing with a tap of finality on the board.

Lowering the board, Rum seems to hesitate as she lifts her other wing to reveal the small form clutched in her feathers. One that stops the mare cold as her eyes come to rest on its off-white shape. Her left hoof rises to her horn, quickly running the length of it to ensure its there... not that either of the pegasi can blame her.

Not with the same piece of her unicorn heritage resting before her, offered in the wing of someone she trusts.

Shakily, she lowers the hoof to pick up the familiar spiral of shattered bone. Holding it gently, as if the slightest ill touch could crack it. Her eyes, horrified. Rise to meet Rum's for a moment before turning on the Shadowbolt with a haunted look to them. "...was I... did you actually see me~?" The question goes unfinished, but there's only one thing she could be asking about.

Clearing his throat as best he can, Martini nods. "...they forced me to bury you after. It, wasn't a clean death... or a short one." Those words shake the unicorn, her body swaying for a moment. Rum's wing is quick to brush along her back, wrapping around her robe-draped barrel in a comforting embrace. "Then, your injuries... the way you got them, was trying to save me?" That earns a quick glance of his amber eyes to the red femme, who nods.

"Yes."

Something in the unicorns softening gaze cracks as she looks over his injured form, a hint of guilt in her gaze. "...why?" That question whispered in disbelief by the mare, brings pause to the soldier. "Why would you risk your life to save mine? To save Rum... you don't even know us, we literally tried to kill you and your friends!" It's a good question, even with his limited understanding of the Wasteland. The things these two and their band had done were certainly more than enough for most in his position to just put a bullet in them and be done with it.

Sunrise had certainly shown how far the Wasteland had dug its talons into her.

But he wasn't Sunrise.

Struggling to a sitting position, the stallion meets the unicorn's gaze. "Because I'm tired of senselessly killing, and the only way things will change is if someone decides to Do Better." Pulling his good wing up against his side, Martini straightens up as best he can. Letting some sense of pride return to his posture. "...and if I'm the only one willing to do what it takes, then at least I can die happy knowing I tried."

The mare blinks, slowly. Seemingly trying to wrap her head around the concept and failing. The soft crackle of the fire popping filling the silence as her gaze trails over the battered form of his bloody wing, her brown knitting in thought. Turning her gaze on the pegasus beside her, the mare asks only one question.

"Do you trust him?"

The smile and nod she gets in return seems to finally batter down the last doubts of the mare, as she steps away from Rum and approaches Martini's battered form. Her horn flaring brightly as a glint of emerald light flows over her eyes. Much to Martini's suprise. 'Huh, she's got Doctors Sight too.' He blinks, glad to see someone other than Quick Stitch using the spell. But this surprise is quickly replaced by a sudden lack of sensation as a second spell flows from the mares horn, conjuring a small ball of arcane energy that washes over the stallion, the pain... and feeling in general rapidly drifting into a dull, throbbing, absence of sensation. A feeling the stallion knew all too well from his time under the knife during the War.

'An Anesthetic spell... Rum didn't tell me she was a medic.' Granted, that little tid-bit of information probably wasn't that important given the circumstances.

Gripping his partially bandaged wing in her magic, the unicorn narrows her eyes and focuses, letting the brown aura completely cover the crimson surface like a blanket. Then after seconds of near motionlessness, she smiles. Even with the anesthetic spell in place, the sound of flesh tearing is still enough to earn a cringe from the veteran stallion. But he can only watch in awe as the shrapnel lacing his wing smoothly erupts from his flesh like a swarm of insects, the skin folding back together in thin lines of scar-tissue as the jagged steel departs.

Like a line of ants following a trail of sugar, the mass of shrapnel flows down to the floor between the two with a light clatter as it piles up. The brown shroud of magic inching its way up Martini's wing and down along his flank to his wounded flank, His leg twitching as strained tendons and burst blood-vessels are repaired. Nerve-endings carefully mended, and the distinct crack of bone signals something important being put back into position, unfelt. Much to the stallion's concern.

Then lastly, her aura expands its reach. Coating the full form of the pegasus in its embrace, even though the anesthetic. There's an itching sensation as the acid burns from his brief dalliance into a bears digestive system scab over and quickly go through the process of forming new skin, though it quickly becomes apparent that it's not just the new scars getting this treatment. With a wince, the stallion closes his right eye as the feeling of something scratching across its cataracted cornea flickers to his attention. The odd itching sensation rocking the area around his eye, as the scars from his radioactive encounter with a caustic pigeon undergo a drastic alteration.

As the seconds carry on, the sensation slowly becomes less pronounced. Gentler, until finally it fades entirely. Blinking his eye again, the colors of the room seem... normal, his eyes focusing properly for the first time in months. Turning his gaze on the fireplace he can make out the fine details of its worn design without even a squint, the joyous realization is such that he hardly even notices the bite-marks the bear had left close to his spine seal up.

Then the brown blanket of magic fades as the unicorns efforts dispel. Allowing sensation to return to the stallion while the mare takes a steadying breath as she steps back beside Rum Rush, Leaning into the crimson mare heavily. Clearly tired from the far-from-insignificant strain those two spells likely put on her. "...that, that should make up for putting your life on the line for mine. Just, don't expect me to make it a habit." She mumbles, burying her muzzle in the pegasi's neck-fur.

Looking down at his dented cyber-hoof, Martini lets an equally tired smile run across his muzzle. In the dirty reflection, the scar around his eye had faded to a lighter patch of healthy-looking skin... though something deep inside him promised that it would never regain the crimson fur that surrounds it. "Thank you... You know, I don't think Rum Rush ever told me your name." He lifts his gaze to smile at the tired unicorn. "...mines Martini Markerlight."

The mare's reply is under a faint chuckle. "...Of course she didn't, my name is Peppermint Synapse."

Carefully flexing his now-uninjured wing, Martini lets a wince slip across his lips as the sensitive connections reassert themselves. Not from pain or discomfort, but from the tell-tale pop and crackle of certain joints. Joints that the stallion knows will be sore later. "Well miss Synapse. I don't know if Rum already told you, but I've got a secure place nearby with food, clean beds, and warm showers... if you want?"

The look he gets in return can't be described by anything but the word Intense. "What's the catch?" She asks warily, seemingly on reflex before she shakes her head. "Actually... forget I asked, you're offering. I'd be foalish to refuse." Beside her Rum breathes a sigh of relief, clearly having expected the mare to say or do something else entirely.

"Uhm, can I come too?"

For a moment all three ponies stop, turning their gaze to the source of the soft tone. Lying where she'd been all but forgotten, the white unicorn with the abnormally large horn and compact body stares back with a gentle, if confused, smile. "I could really use a shower."

Author's Note

Thats Chapter 4 Down, I don't really have anyone to go over these chapters before I drop them aside from myself. So if anyone feels like reading them over before I drop them for everyone to see, and to help me catch any errors or mistakes, let me know.