Chapter 5 - A Web of Chains

That was that, I was left holding the armor I’d found upstairs. Gavii had flown off and left my door open. Not only was she waiting on me, but Syzygy needed me to hurry. Even so, I would rather wear something a little more sturdy than just my vest for this. With the armor in my grasp, I got to work at transferring my gear to it. I moved my spare 10mm magazine to one of its pouches, fastened Innuendo's holster to it, and felt around the pockets of my vest for anything else. The only other thing I’d had in my vest, was the spent .30 caliber casing from mom. I left it on the table.

The armor was well worked in, all of the buckles had a bright, polished sheen where the straps rubbed. They all opened easily when tugged on, which was something to be said. Most of the armor I’d seen others wear around here had one thing wrong or another. Mom however, had taken great care to keep this in shape. At the left shoulder I saw a pouch with a radio in it. It didn't work when I turned the knob, but it didn't look broken. The battery must have been dead.

I decided to move some things from my pack, I didn't want so much stuff bouncing around in there if things got too serious. The Talon reports I recovered earlier got set down on the table. I didn't want to lose those again. Other than that, It was just my can of food, the vodka and water bottles. All except the booze took up residence in a side pouch of the armor. One of the water bottles caused a crinkling noise from it’s pocket when I shoved it in. When I looked, I found something else already there. Some old, rolled up paper.

I opened it and read it. I only made it halfway through before the words on it really hit me and I had to re-read it to make sure I wasn't seeing things. It stated that it was a contract to “Adler Thistledown”! This old parchment had been my dad's contract?! Was this his old armor? More mysteries that would have to wait for later. The contract I left on the table as well. Back to preparations, the last thing I had to sort was my bag of caps. I wasn't sure where to put those, so I left those in the liquor cabinet. Money shouldn't be an issue for a quick rescue, but the weight of it might. Also, Mom always mentioned that the sound of caps jingling gave away far too many trespassers and bandits.

All that was left was to buckle myself into it. I found the fit a tad snug, but it was overall comfortable. Once finished getting settled, I nodded to Nameless and headed out the door. Spreading my wings and taking a quick step off of the balcony left me rather surprised, the weight of the armor compared to my vest pulled me down a lot faster than I was expecting.

The landing was quite hard, and sent a jolt through my legs; all except my new hoof, that just hurt sharply at the connecting implants. It took me a little time to get over the shiver it gave me. Nameless had already slipped himself down the struts of my house by the time I was ready to move again.

“Wow! I give that flop a 10 outa 10!” Gavii had flown down beside me, "You OK there, Prancy?"

"Yeah, This stuff's just a little heavy." I said, "I don't think I'll be able to fly."

"Oh, well at least you'll be able to keep your friend company, then!" She said with a smile.

"Sure." I remarked. Company until he does his disappearing act again. "So, Gavii, how do you think we can find this place?" I asked.

"Easy-peasy! It's along one of my patrol routes! I know how to get there super-duper quick!" She explained cheerily.

That didn't sound good at all "So, how are we going to get there without being spotted if it's on a normal route?"

"I have no idea!" she blurted out, her smile not fading in the slightest. I couldn't help but slap my face with a talon after that.

"Ugh. Well let's just hurry there." I said, resigning myself to the good chance of being found out.

"Okie-dokie-lokie! Follow me!" and with that, she took off.

She set a brisk pace ahead of us, but I could keep up on foot despite the weight I felt on my shoulders. Even that was a minor inconvenience compared to the weight that pressed on my thoughts. I was certain that we might already be doomed. With getting caught running a rescue that I was ordered not to being all but guaranteed, I'd be kicked out of the Talons for sure. It didn’t matter and I would have to deal with that later, though. Syzygy needed my help, and I would not lose another friend!

The rocks and blackened shrubs whipped by me in my race to keep up with Gavii. Sometimes I could get a glimpse of Nameless, him having to focus more on speed than stealth. It felt like we were running for an hour before Gavii finally landed again. Before I had the hoof, that would have winded me; instead, I was just panting a tad. Maybe there was something useful about this cyber-leg business after all.

"Yay, we're almost there!" she called out with a happy smile, pointing to a dim glow over the hills in front of us.

"Shhh! We don't want to be found, then!" I said sharply.

"Yes, we need to be quiet." Nameless added.

Gavii pouted. "Aww, but this is so fun!"

I continued on ahead of her, as the lights of the slavers' compound were visible from where we were already. My attempt to be stealthy was very stressful, my cyber-hoof's whining sounded as loud as thunder to my ears. For only a moment, I’d considered removing it for now. Then again, if I do, I won’t be nearly as mobile when the fighting starts. That and if that fridge in Mt. Reindeer was any indication, it might be a useful weapon if it came down to it.

A few minutes later of worry about how much noise I was making, I was met with an odd sensation. My hoof was stuck. I quickly turned to see what was wrong, and in the dark I could barely make it out. A sleeping pony in armor had their hooves curled tightly around it, holding it down. I hadn't spotted the camouflaged hole he was tucked in and had very nearly just stepped on his head. He had to have been a lookout or something. It was very fortunate that he had taken a nap instead!

"Hmmm... gimme some sugar, babe..." the strange pony mumbled sleepily.

"I'm not that kinda bird!" I hissed and gave him a kick. He let go of the leg with a few more mumbled words as he groggily woke up. I’d turned to get hold of him and grabbed his helmet. I had attempted to use it as leverage to twist his head as sharply as I could. It was either him or us, and trying to snap his spine as I had countless times hunting small critters would be the best way to end this quickly. The straps to his helmet weren't fastened, so I was left holding the thing in my talons. We both stared at it awhile, both of us bemused at what had happened. I turned it over and hit him over the head with it. Hard.

He hadn't even groaned, he’d just flopped back over onto me. So with his threat out of the way for now, I let him slump back into his napping hole and patted him down to see what weapons he might have. He had a pony pistol in a holster that I stowed in my pack. I couldn't use it with my beak, but it was better than leaving it for the pony to use later if he came to.

Checking further, it felt like he had a couple onions in his pocket. I pulled them out and found that they were a few apple shaped grenades, just like I had been shown in training. Those I placed in a pouch of my new armor that seemed to be set up just for them. While they appeared like they might be useful, it was too bad I didn't have a chance to actually be trained with them. That day we had more pressing concerns, like being too busy with Tarsus...

“You’re so silly.” Gavii chuckled from behind me, knocking aside that memory. "I thought that a helmet was supposed to protect your head, not beat it up!"

"This isn't really the time for jokes!" I said in a harsh whisper. My mind was still reeling from the feelings that Tarsus’s loss still haunted me with.

Nameless, to my surprise, snickered at the current situation. "A helmet might have helped me a couple weeks ago."

"Well, we got one now! Maybe you should wear just in case you're ever gonna get bonked again.” She said with a smile. “OH! We could paint it in pretty colors, with stencils! And stickers!” She gasped out louder than a roaring Yaou gui. “AND GLITTER!”

“Shhh!” I shushed her and grabbed her beak. “Did you forget about trying to be sneaky?”

She nodded. Oh, goddesses, how I wished I could have gone alone! How could this get any worse?

“He’s right, we got lucky with the first guard,” Nameless said before he flashed a faint smile and pointed to his forehead, “Besides, it won’t fit anyway; not with how horny I always am.”

That’s how. Just my luck, he remembers that he must have had a sense of humor. “Let’s just get going, please.” Oh, if he could go back to being quiet until after this was over, I'd let him talk all he wanted later.

He nodded while Gavii continued to smile. We crept closer to the building as silently as we could. My hoof made its distinct whirring while Gavii kept chirping excitedly every now and again. Nameless's steps were perfectly quiet while he led the way, occasionally stopping to look around quickly.

We made it to the building in what seemed a decent time. Though I didn’t have a frame of reference, I just had a hunch. Nameless directed us to a large window on the side of the storage facility. His horn flashed for a brief moment and the locking latch fell right off, allowing us to open it freely. It really wasn't fair, that latch was on the inside!

Unicorns and their cheating aside, Nameless nodded to Gavii and pointed to me. She squeaked and grabbed hold of me, lifting me up to the window. It took me a moment to figure out what was going on, but I scurried in through the opening when I was close enough.

I landed hard on the other side, on my face no less. I was just reaching for my 10mm when Gavii fell on top of me. Her rifle bouncing off of my beak with a painfully loud ‘clack’. Nameless's entrance was vastly more graceful, stepping off of the two of us in a gentle pirouette without the faintest hint of a clop from his hooves. I swear, he uses magic to do that too. It can't be natural.

Shaking the thought from my head, I lifted myself up from the floor. Gavii rolled off of me with a happy murr. She must have enjoyed flopping on me. What a jerk. Before I could find my bearings in this hall, I could see Nameless blinking his eyes and shaking his head. It was almost like there was something in there that he couldn't get out.

Before I could ask what was wrong, he turned to me, "She's this way, hurry." he said, pointing to our right. I had caught a strain in his voice that was out of the ordinary for him. I had suspected that he might be remembering something, or maybe he had to sneeze. I was hard to tell, and impossible to know for sure. We would have to see how he was doing later. If he did have an idea what was going on here, that could only be good, right?

It was a strange scene inside this building. The lights flickered, as if they were hesitant to show what was down the hall. There were eerie noises coming from some of the storage units. I could tell that numerous ponies had been locked inside them. There was sobbing, cursing and yelling. Cries to end their suffering already... I tried to block it out. Maybe I could get Nameless to pick them or cut the locks, but that would have to wait until we found Syzygy.

With the fear of failure ramping up, I thought about how Mom might have handled this kind of situation. A quick swig of vodka helped steel myself, readying me to head further. Moving slowly, my talon gripped tightly to my SMG of its own volition, the gentle touch of the booze’s warmth couldn’t keep all of my apprehensions at bay. Something was certainly very wrong.

The hallway turned towards an office. That's when I smelled it again, the putrid cologne. The green pony was here. The one from Mt. Riendier. The one who shot the kids and stole my friend.

Thoughts of vengeance flooded my mind. Not only for Syzygy, either. Raiders or not, the kids; Cutthroat, Brawny and the blue colt whose name I never heard, didn't deserve to die to such cowardice. I was going to kill that pony.

I was going to enjoy killing that pony.

Whatever revulsion I should have felt for wanting to kill another living, thinking being was irrelevant to me. He needed to die, simple as that. The door was just ahead. It was all coming to a close. I tried to pump myself up a bit, after all, I faced the bear, right? How could one pony be so bad in comparison?

All the same, I couldn't help but notice my heart was racing. Nameless behind me was still acting strange. He looked confused. despite it all, he gave me a nod when he caught my eye. Gavii was nearly vibrating, her smile she still had felt so out of place. This was for real, after all!

"Frag and clear? Oh, please tell me we get to use grenades! They're like party poppers!" She whispered excitedly.

"No!" I hissed, "Our friend is in there! Well… she probably is. We’re not risking it."

"OK, got it! Can't start the party with a bang." She said with a giggle.

I shook my head. She was going to kill us all someday and think it was funny. Why did everything have to go so wrong for me?

"Are we all ready?" I grumbled out. In response, I got an even bigger grin from Gavii than she had been wearing. Nameless however, was just looking straight at the door.

With how long we’d taken already, that was going to have to be a good enough answer. I grabbed the doorknob and wrenched it fiercely, throwing it wide. Without a second thought, I stormed inside. Somewhere between rushing into the room and seeing the green pony's face a claw's reach from me, I remembered something important.

I never learned anything about room clearing.

My 10mm may as well have been made out of lead. Without really knowing how to wield it, my talons felt sluggish. Not having it pointed at the doorway prior had cost me a precious sliver of a second. The green pony had a gun in his mouth, and it was already aimed at me.

It fired.

The impact didn't hurt, not at first anyway. What really seemed odd, was that my hearing became filled with a terrible ringing. The pain flooded in only after some part of my brain caught up and realized I’d been shot. It had gotten hard to breathe, and I started to feel weak. The wind had been knocked out of me and with a single step, I stumbled. The floor rose up to catch me, and I hit it hard.

Clutching at my side when I flopped over, I could feel something sharp and wet. Images of Tarsus's last moments came to mind.

Gavii's shriek was almost loud enough to worsen the ringing in my ears. "PRANCY! No, no, NO!"

"Guns down, all of you! And no magic, Razor." The green pony said, his words slurred from talking around the pistol. "Otherwise I waste the stripe and nopony gets the bounty!"

“Okie-dokie-lokie! You win!” Gavii chirped as she dropped her service rifle to the floor. Nameless facehoofed at that, but set his pistol down as well. Me? I decided that it would be best if just lay here in excruciating pain and try to make sure my insides don’t fall out.

The pony had turned away from me, his pistol now pointed at Syzygy. She was tied up in the corner across from me, not moving. "You always thought you were so fuckin' smart, Razor. Maybe you are, but I won this time!" He gave out a muffled laugh from around his gun.

Nameless shook his head again. His expression made him look like something in his head was stuck, so he was trying to shake it loose. "T-bone..." He muttered with little more than a whisper.

"Don't you try any fancy talk, old nag. I ain't buyin' any of it. You just take your mercs ya wrangled up an' get lost!" he yelled.

“They’re not here as mercenaries. They’re my friends.” Nameless explained. This pony knew him, and that would explain why Nameless looked damned confused... or was it ‘Razor’ now?

The nasty pony smiled as best he could. Well if you could call a gut-twisting, soulless smirk a smile. “HA! Ya don’t have friends, Razor. Ya wouldn’t even let me be your partner, always sayin’ ya work alone!” He then pointed his gun at Gavii, “You! Get your ‘friend’ up and out of here, I don’t need him dyin’ on my floor, but leave his gun!”

Gavii hurried over to me as ordered, a look of worry stitched on her face. She unslung my SMG and set it aside, where it was soon kicked away by T-bone towards the back of the room. Gavii began to quickly check me over, "Are you OK, Prancy? Where are you bleeding? Why do you smell funny?"

That was a puzzling question, 'smell funny'? A familiar odor caught my nostrils. Why did everything smell like alcohol? Looking around myself, I found that I wasn’t bleeding at all. something was leaking in my bag. Reaching in, I found it, the broken bottle of vodka. The bag had a hole going through it on each side, right to my chest. Well, not quite, the bullet was lodged into the material of my armor. Nice as it was to not be bleeding, but that damn pony took my friend, killed the foals and SHOT MY VODKA! That was it! “I’ll be fine.” I growled, this pony was gonna get it!

“Don’t call me that, T-bone.” Nameless continued in the conversation, drawing the green pony’s… Erm, ‘T-bone’s’ attention away from us again.

“Don’t call you what? Your name?” T-bone asked.

“That’s not my name. If it was, it isn’t anymore. I don’t have one now.” Nameless explained with a shake of his head.

It was an interesting exchange, but I had more important things in mind. Well, probably not, but it mattered more to me. After a bit of help from Gavii, I was back onto all fours. He had his back to me, maybe he thought Gavii and I weren’t a threat anymore? I wound up to swing with the closest weapon available, the broken bottle I was already holding, and leaped at him.

“What, ya goin’ nutty in your old… ARGH!” He didn’t manage to finish his insult. Having a griffon tackle you to the floor would likely stop anyone’s train of thought. Even better, thanks to silly mouth bits for ponies to hold a weapon, he dropped his pistol with a pained groan. This gave me an opportunity to stab at him with the sharp glass without the chance of another bullet coming my way. He might have begun screaming as soon as I jabbed him wherever I could, except Nameless took the opening I made, his horn flashed quickly. With a brief, pale green light, T-bone’s throat was slit wide open. He gurgled, dying in a manner I found as pleasing as I’d hoped it would be. T-bone gave a last few weak gasps before his eyes stared blankly at the puddle of his own blood underneath him. Just for satisfaction’s sake, I stabbed him a couple more times until what was left of the bottle broke, leaving shards in his hide.

Syzygy began to stir. I abandoned the broken bottle top and hurried over to her, grabbing my gun along the way, "Syzygy, are you alright?"

She looked up at me. "Mister Prancer!" Her appearance made me cringe. Half of her body was matted with dirt, the fur looked mangy. Clumps of hair were missing from her side, like they were rubbed away. While most of her braids were undone, the mane was mostly intact. She must have been dragged for some time by her hooves. I started to work at loosening the ropes still tied tightly around her fetlocks. "Are the children safe?!" she asked, her eyes pleading despite her resolute tone.

"Dead." was simply my reply. As blunt as it was, she needed to hear it. Though, I didn't want to mention that I helped Cutthroat along. Even if she was already gone by T-bone's hoof, I still felt bad about what I did to her.

I had told her only one word, but it was enough to break what little hope she had left in her eyes. She began to cry. "I have done it again! Why have the stars cursed me so?!"

"Well, we can figure that out later, right now we gotta go!" I urged, fumbling to undo her bindings.

She wriggled, keeping me from freeing her. "NO! I am better off dead! Leave me!" She sobbed.

There was a couple of loud crashes from outside the room. Someone else was really moving around in the building. We barely managed to handle one asshole. There’s no way we’d win if there were even a few more.

"Prancy, there's a group on the way ta join the party!~" Gavii sang nervously as she hovered by the door.

That was not what I needed to hear right now. "Nameless,” I called. “help me with the ropes!" I would have to ask him a lot of questions later, like who in the name of Equestria he really was. I’m not certain he’d even have any idea himself, but right now we needed to escape.

The now familiar glow of his magic enveloped the knots, and they simply fell apart in my claws. A quick reminder that I would have to be very cautious when I grilled him about his past. Well, whatever he remembered anyway. Or was he lying about the amnesia? Regardless, there were angry ponies on the way.

"Do we have an exit?!" I asked everyone.

"Oh! there's a back door!" Gavii squawked.

"No good. It's locked and I can't pick it in time." Nameless mumbled.

"How in the Princess's names do you know that?!" I barked, heading quickly to said door.

Before I could get my talon on the handle, I heard a strange noise, like a pop and a hiss at the same time. Turning my head, I could see Nameless, his silenced pistol held with his magic. There was a very dead pony slumped in the doorway to the office we held, one of her eye sockets a ruined hole. Well, that was handled neatly.

I turned my attention back to the door. It was indeed locked. "Oh, sweet Luna..." I muttered, “can’t you cut it?!” I squawked at Nameless

“Not without being able to see the mechanism, and exterior doors are too thick to hack through with my magic.” Nameless answered.

Remembering what my hoof could do to a refrigerator door, I quickly gave the thing a buck with my cybernetic. It didn’t budge. However, my hoof started to make an awkward grinding noise and it left a stabbing pain in my thigh for my troubles.

That left us one choice, we were going to have to fight our way out! hoping that I could manage, I went to collect our zebra. Syzygy choked back a sniffle while I helped her to her hooves. Nameless slipped through the office door without us. I wasn't worried, he had some weird skills to him. Gavii retrieved her rifle and followed. That left me at the rear helping Syzygy trudge along. The rope burns above each of her hooves were slowly bleeding. If only I were stronger, I might have been able to carry her. Holding her up would have to do.

We caught up at the corner to the long hallway. Nameless was primed and ready to turn the corner. Gavii had taken up a spot just behind him with her rifle at the ready and her talon placed on his back. That I had assumed was some signal that I hadn’t learned. As soon as Syzygy and I reached Gavii, I set Syzygy down and readied my weapon correctly this time. Then mimicked Gavii by placing my own talon on her back. It seemed to be correct as she gave a tap to Nameless. He turned the corner...

Then was met by automatic fire.

His head snapped to the side, face outlined with a red mist. He dropped without a sound, making only two steps, his head landing on the floor with a wet thud. Gavii turned and pounded on her trigger, firing as many bullets as she could at our assailants. I dove to help Nameless and to get my eyes on our targets. Unfortunately, they’d already had a barricade of sorts set up down the hall, keeping them mostly hidden. It was built out of a table and a few filing cabinets, explaining most of the loud crashes we’d heard. All the same, I grabbed Nameless by the legs and swung my hips in front of me, making my cybernetics groan. At the same time, I tried to kick against the floor to get us back to cover.

It would have worked, but my new hoof made one last grinding noise and refused to obey me. Regardless, I had to get us to safety! Kicking only with my remaining leg, I slowly scooted the two of us back under Gavii's suppressive fire. It was a miracle that we didn't take another bullet, or seven. That was most likely a result of Gavii's support, oh I could have just hugged her for that! Once back behind the corner, I took a look at how he was doing. The answer was not good. Nameless was bleeding badly the whole way, and he didn’t look like he’d last too long in this condition.

"No!" Syzygy squealed at the sight of his ruined face, the right side of which was a bloodied mess from his nose to his ear. She wrapped her hooves around Nameless and pulled him aside. She grabbed her bag from Nameless's shoulder. "I can fix this, by the four stars I can fix this!" She screamed and ripped her bag open from his shoulder, yanking out jars and dried plants with furious haste.

That bit about stars had made little sense to me, and none of the herbs she was working with looked familiar at all, but I had a lot of more pressing things to deal with. With Nameless in Syzygy’s hooves, I hobbled back to the corner. Gavii's face was etched with concern for what seemed the first time in her life. It was so out of place, it almost made me wish for at least the hint of a smile, even if it was a terrible time for it.

"I need something bigger, Prancy.” She didn't even look at me as she spoke, simply looking down and inspecting her rifle. “I'm almost out of daddy's special bullets!"

I knew what would help. While I didn't quite know how to use them, Gavii did. Reaching into my pouches, I pulled a frag grenade from my gear, and offered it to her. If we were lucky, this might just save all our asses.

Then again, I haven’t had the best luck lately.

"Here, let's make an impression!" I said, feeling like I might as well make a joke to lift her up again. Weird, I didn't think I still had a sense of humor after this last week.

She hastily took the grenade and pulled the pin. I turned around the corner cautiously, gun first this time, and fired a long burst to cover her.

"Frag OOOOUUT!~" She declared in a sharp falsetto. As soon as I saw the metal sphere take flight, I remembered something else important. Combat did have a funny way of always bringing things to mind that I needed to remember. This time, it was the realization that there were other innocent ponies in those storage units.

It was too late. We needed the firepower to survive and I couldn't put the pin back anyhow. I could only hope that the sheet metal doors would be enough to protect them. My magazine ran dry before the grenade reached its target. Quickly, I ducked as best I could back around the corner. Just in time for the grenade to go off, the blast shaking the walls around us and fragments of the thing bouncing back around everywhere. They stung wherever they hit, but not badly.

It made me worried about our friends, if the shards of the grenade had hurt them. After all, neither of them were wearing a vest. "How's Nameless?!" I bellowed the question at Syzygy while exchanging my empty magazine for the second one. With little care, I tossed the empty one into my pack.

"He will live! I will have the bleeding stopped!" She shouted back, she was applying a wrap to his face over some concoction that smelled like rotten cabbage, right before devolving into a string of mumbles, "This is all my fault. All my fault. I am so sorry..."

There was no time for that, it was time to go. I gave my second magazine a slap and yanked the bolt back again. Gavii had just turned the corner, her rifle barking sharply at any target she found. She was always faster than me, doubly so since I was back to three legs from the motor stopping. Or was that three and a half? Thoughts aside, I made it over the crumpled forms of a few slavers to the now busted barricade only a moment after her. There was a pony that stepped out of a doorway past the obstacle. He was pulling a rifle from his back. I pointed my SMG at him. The hooded front sight was centered on him. I pulled the trigger.

I heard a click.

There wasn't time to check what happened to the 10mm, I just needed another gun. So I pulled Innuendo with my left talon as quickly as I could. He had just gotten his rifle into a hoof, the bit in his mouth, but he hadn’t yet leveled it at me. Thanks to the ease of the talon type grips of my weapons, I had my second weapon ready in time. I found the front sight in my vision and squeezed the trigger.

Innuendo howled. The round penetrated the buck easily. The bullet slipped deep into his chest and splattered a line of gore to the floor. He gasped as he had never experienced something like this before. His eyes went almost as wide as the hole that my cannon plowed into him, in fact, it threatened to rip him in half. The pony crumpled, dripping on the floor, completely spent.

Unfortunately, the recoil caught up with me. The heavy gun barrel kicked up and slapped my face. It hurt, but pain wasn't important anymore. You treated it just like the target after you line up the front sight. It was something that had to be left in the corner of your mind to die after you put it there. Speaking of corners. Out of the corner of my eye, a pony had been trapped in the wreckage of one of the doors blown in by the grenade. He caught sight of Gavii and I and let out a whimper.

With the current hostiles dealt with, I hobbled up to help him. He must have thought we were going to kill him, because he started screaming. Kicking frantically, he wrenched himself free from the mess and managed to run down the hall. He made it as far as jumping over the slavers’ cover, where I could hear that he was met with gunfire. Lots of it. Enough to nearly shred the poor thing. The bastards were dug in further down the hall and waiting. We were trapped.

Gavii pushed me into the blasted storage unit I was next to. Cover was definitely a must to give us refuge from the bad guys’ inevitable push back. From what I could tell, Syzygy was still safe back around the corner with Nameless. We’d gotten in way over our heads here, but with how many were already dead in this hallway alone… I felt we could win this!

I finally had a chance to check my SMG. Removing the magazine showed me that the locking tab on it was damaged. With the way it was bent, it would never seat right in my weapon until it was fixed. Beer Can had almost gotten me killed by being a greedy bastard, and to top it all off, he’d given me bad equipment! The only weapons I had available were a single shot left in Innuendo, a frag grenade, and a pistol with a grip I couldn’t use. There was not going to be enough time to transfer the ammo into my good magazine either. With this, the thought of winning slipped away faster than I thought possible. Things just couldn’t have been worse; I was doomed.

That’s when I heard an explosion from the office. The slaver ponies must have blown the door to get to us! That meant the door would have been a total waste of time at the very least. Oh! That would be a much easier venue of escape, though! Just after that, I realized that if they were coming in behind us, we’d have to go back and help Syzygy and Nameless.

“Gavii, we gotta go back!” I told her and stumbled best I could back around the corner, not waiting for a reply. The slavers behind the barricade didn’t seem to have any interest in trying to shoot at us. Maybe they really were content to wait us out? Or were they waiting for the team that blew up the door to force us toward them? In any case, not getting shot again was a good change of pace.

Syzygy was just finishing with hastily tying up some rough bandages around Nameless's face. "Whht wzzz 'hat nuish, Msstr Prnshhr?" She asked, still tugging the rags tight with her teeth.

"Somepony blew up the back door, I'm gonna check it out." I answered. Turning over my shoulder, I called out to Gavii "Cover the hall! Nopony gets to our friends!"

My only real option to take on some slavers was my remaining frag. I pulled it from the pouch and got ready to pull the pin. With having seen Gavii do it, I figured that’s all it took to get it going. hopefully it really was as easy as that. With a quick breath, I glanced through the door. There was... nopony in there? All I could see was my reflection in a mirror, but I didn't remember one being in here before. A light went off in my head with why it couldn't be a mirror.

I don't have blue eyes...

"Hello, Prancer.” The other griffon said in a smooth, deep voice. “How's your mother?"

The grenade slipped from my talons, the pin still in place. I could not believe what, well, who was in front of me. He was supposed to be dead. I had dusted the pictures of him almost every day for years. Heard the stories about him. No… he couldn’t be here!

He was supposed to be dead.

"You're supposed to be dead!" Was all I could eek out when I found the will to speak. It was my father. I hadn't even known his name until I found his contract earlier today. This wasn't fair! He was supposed to be dead! I simply repeated the words aloud that were burning in my mind.

"Now, now. How is that any way to greet me after all these years." he chided

"I wasn't ever supposed to see you again, anyway!" I countered.

My father was going to say something, he had a smirk on his face. It was cut short by gunfire in the hall. Syzygy trotted into the room, the slumped form of Nameless across her back. She was followed closely by Gavii, who took a position at the doorway to watch the hall. "Party's over, Prancy. Everypony's getting bored, I think." She advised.

Syzygy came to a sudden stop at the sight of my father. “Who is this?” she asked, “Is he friendly?!”

Gavii’s terribly short attention span had run out for watching the hall at the mention of someone new. “A FRIEND?! Who’s your friend? Oh, he looks familiar!” she chirped, running over to meet him. “What’s your name? I’m Gavii! Are you related to Prancer? You look like him!”

"We must leave, Mister Prancer. Are there slavers in our path?" Syzygy asked quickly, a little less apprehensive.

"No, I don't think so." I replied, "Just maybe this griffon." I added, glaring at my estranged parent.

"Oh, not to worry, I am most certainly not going to be in your way." He said, turning for the ruined door to the outside, "After all, there are much bigger things we need to worry about. You should get back home; see to your mother." And he slipped outside.

"Wait!" I called, stumbling after him. Though, when I looked outside, he was gone.

Gavii peeped up, "That's your daddy, wasn't it?" She asked, sounding like she was expecting a prize for a correct guess.

A shake of my head was my only answer to that one, I didn't know what to say. Sure, he was my father, the resemblance between the two of us was just too obvious, but he wasn't my dad. What was still going through my head was what I had known my whole childhood. My dad is dead.

That’s just what it was going to be. Dad’s still dead, mom is gone, just going to go home and get things back to how it’s supposed to be. It was a reassuring thought, that things could still be normal! The problem was getting enough inspiration I’d need to come up with a plan! Think, think, THINK! What to do? Nameless is unconscious, Syzygy can’t fly, I can’t carry a load… Oh! I had it!

“Gavii, can you fly while carrying Nameless?” I asked quickly.

“Sure!” She answered, then fired at a slaver in the hall, “He doesn’t look too heavy!”

“OK, So you take him.” I pointed a talon to his bloodied form before thinking of something else. “And Syzygy, here, take my armor!” I said while unbuckling the straps as fast as I could. I pulled the water and can of food from its pouches, as well as Innuendo and my 10mm, and set them on the floor. Thinking quickly, I dumped what remained in my pocket of my broken bottle out in the doorway to the hall. I put the armor onto Syzygy and strapped it up as quickly as possible. When I was satisfied it was on, I then gave her the pistol I took from the guard outside. “Now run, Syzygy, We’re right behind you!”

Syzygy hesitated, the fear obvious on her face. “Mister Prancer, I…”

“Just go!” I yelled, cutting her off with a slap to her rump. She whinnied and left, though still with some reservation in her eyes. “Gavii, we’re getting out!” I called while scooping up my grenade from where I dropped it and hobbled back to collect my weapons and other gear. With those tucked into my pack and thrown over my shoulder, I pulled Gavii along out the ruined door. A pang of guilt reminded me that it meant abandoning the captured ponies. Even though I knew trying to save them as well was suicide, it didn’t keep me from feeling like crap about it, though. We’d come for Syzygy, and we’d gotten her out. Our mission was done.

We took to wing with the shouts of our pursuers close behind. Their pained screams told me that the glass I had left behind must have earned us a few seconds. Precious moments that allowed us to be out of range of their assorted firearms before they had a chance to shoot. We were home free! Just a few hundred meters and we could settle down for a bit. For now, we were just catching up with Syzygy. Her outline easy enough to see, my armor she was wearing painted a black blob over her stripes against the dead landscape.

With a wave of a talon, I motioned for Gavii to land. We should be much safer by now. The night air had grown very cold, dawn couldn't be too far away. With the daylight coming, slavers wouldn't dare venture this far south towards Talon controlled territory.

Syzygy’s face was flushed when I finally saw her up close again, “Are… we… safe… Mister… Pran...cer?” she asked, her breathing ragged.

“Yes.” I took a moment to remember my recent streak of luck. “Well... safer.” I reformed my answer and tried to reassure her. “Gavii, how is Nameless?”

“Still sleepin’!” She replied cheerily.

“Oh, is the bandage holding? Let me see!” Syzygy said, hurrying to him and cradled his head. Nameless’s face was still bandaged tightly, a bit of blood and Syzygy’s medicine staining the white cloth. She said she’d stopped the bleeding, so I had to trust that she knew what she was doing. I hoped that Nameless would at least be stable enough to make it to some real help.

“Gavii, please take Nameless to the clinic.” I asked of her.

“Sure thing, Prancy! We can rebuild him, we have the technology!” She chirped in her normally happy tone again. Strange to think that I had missed that tone once she was serious for a moment. She spread her wings and immediately took off with him. “Don’t you worry! I’ll go get him all neat and patched up and better than brand new!”

“I must go with them. It was my fault he was hurt so badly.” Syzygy was almost begging. “I have to see that he is alright!”

While her ‘good intentions’ got her captured, she can’t blame herself for his injuries. We went in knowing that it might be a fight to get out. This whole curse thing she believed in? It seemed more like she needed a reason to feel bad for the misfortune that is already all around the wastes. I placed a talon on her shoulder. There was no way she’d be able to run all the way there with her fetlocks as they were.

“You should take it easy, here, how about some food?” I asked, pulling the can from my pack, “There’s some water here, too.” I added, though it was the local groundwater. At least it was wet, and a little wouldn't get her sick.

“No, I am not hungry, I want to accompany them!” She said defiantly, a grumble from her stomach betrayed her words, though. “Ummm, I may be only a little hungry, Mister Prancer…” She corrected sheepishly.

Nodding, I opened the can with a claw. It was beans, that shouldn't be too disagreeable for her I figured. Without any delay, I offered the can to her first. She grabbed it in her hooves and greedily munched it down. There was hardly a mouthful left when she passed it back to me. It wasn't something I was going to let myself get upset about. This had all been a hell of an ordeal, and half a can of beans was a small price to pay to make sure we were all alright.

I brought the can to my beak and tapped on it. I swallowed the last of the beans and got ready to move on. The empty can was unceremoniously pitched in a random direction, and we began walking back towards ‘Claw. My cyber-hoof, while seemingly dead, still made for a clumsy peg leg at least.

“Mister Prancer?” Syzygy began.

“Yeah? What’s up?” I asked in reply

She bowed her head sheepishly, “I am grateful for rescue, yet I find there is something I must ask.” She squinted and looked puzzled. “Why did you come for me? You could have been shot or taken as well.”

“I did get shot, but that’s not going to stop me from keeping my friends safe. I lost one already, and counting you, I've almost lost three more.” I explained.

“Excuse me?!” She asked bemusedly, “You were shot?”

“Well, I was shot. I’m OK, though.” I said, trying to keep her calm.

She stopped in her tracks and nearly jumped on me to look me over. “What? You are certain?”

“Yep! No curse could get through the armor I put on you.” I told her while pushing her away. “Don’t worry about me, I’m fine.”

Syzygy took a moment to ponder the meaning of that. The moment that she realized what she believed that to mean, she immediately tried to pull my dad’s armor off of herself. “Please, please, please, Mister Prancer, you must take it back!”

“Shh! Calm down! We’re almost back into town, we’re safe! I’m fine!” I said, hoping that she’d believe me. We were still a little ways out from ‘Claw, and just past my best hunting areas. We’d now moved well into the areas frequented by geckos, reptilian pests that could pose quite a problem for us.

“You should still not have come for me.” She took a deep breath, finally leaving the armor alone where it was. “You and Nameless were both hurt, the two of you could have been killed.”

“Don’t you say that, I won’t lose another friend!” I countered, “Anyways, if you’re ready, we should go. Gavii probably has Nameless in the clinic by now.”

“So, would that not mean that he is safe? May we rest some time longer?” She asked, flopping to her rump. The look of exhaustion to her face made it clear that it was much less of a question than she posed. Even while seated, her weakened hooves shook just to keep her upright even. Geckos be damned, she couldn't go any further for now.

“Sure.” I replied. Protecting her was going to be key until she could get her hooves steadily under herself again.

Syzygy gave me a small smile before helping herself to the water in the pouch of my gear that she was wearing. It gave me a closer look at her abused fetlocks. The bleeding had stopped sometime since we found her, but they were terribly bruised. It must have been luck alone that kept her legs from being broken. It made me question exactly how cursed she could really be. Oh, but she said that others were hurt around her, so maybe she’s safe from it? The attempt to figure it out made my head hurt.

Never mind, it was a silly thing to think about anyway.

At least with the free moment that we had, I could take the time to put the ammunition I had into the one good magazine of mine. There was no way I could trust my life to that garbage that Beer Can pawned off on me. The quartermaster might have use of the spring and small parts in it if he couldn't fix it, or I could just beat Beer Can over the head with it. The latter sounded much more satisfying, although much less practical.

Looking over my gear one more time, My SMG, Innuendo and my grenade; the weapons that I had accrued seemed so small and useless given the things I had faced. It was scary to think about that. What would have been a considerable force in my mind a week ago, now left me with a sense of helplessness. This meager amount of firepower had not quite been enough to face even a few ponies in a real fight, at least with how little skill I had with them.

Innuendo alone had the force to drop the bear, albeit with a good shot, but that wasn't much use against softer bad guys. It was too slow and difficult to use against a group. I didn't need a super gun for ponies, just a lot of bullets. There wasn't much use to being able to kill one or two ponies outright with hardly a second thought with so many of them around. That meant I had to get many more magazines or possibly another weapon; even though I already had two, plus the grenade. More grenades would be helpful, too. Those were really useful when things got bad, even though I needed guidance on how to actually use the things. Asking Gavii how to handle them might be a good idea. Then again, I’d have to actually listen to Gavii...

Something was off still. The sudden realization that I wanted to be better able to kill ponies scared me. I shouldn't want to kill them at all, right? It was necessary sometimes here in the wastes, but I shouldn't want to hurt anyone, should I?

Syzygy must have seen on my face that something was bothering me. She got up and lightly rested a hoof on my shoulder. The scabs around her fetlock flaked onto my feathers and I could only give out a sigh.

“Are you well, Mister Prancer?” she asked. “You appear bothered, is there something I can do?”

“No, I’m fine,” I lied, “Just... concerned with a few things I can finish up when I get home. It’ll sort itself out, I’m sure!” While brushing her hoof off of me gently, I looked her in the eye. “Are you ready to get going again? The sun will be up soon.” I said with a grin, hoping to hide the fact that we weren't out of danger yet.

She nodded. Her face was looking quite terrible, but there wasn't much other choice but to push on. I’m sure she knew that, even without my explanation why. We took enough time to rest already. If we stayed here, the slavers might spot us in the early morning light. Although, that would be unlikely given that we’d been in Talon territory for a while now. The geckos around here might find us before dawn, however. They’re not dangerous alone, especially the silver ones that were most common, but they tended to group together. Moving on back home was the only option if we wanted to play it safe.

Syzygy dragged herself to her hooves and began to slowly plod along with an awkward limp. She didn't have any way to keep off of an injured leg in the first place, and they were all pretty banged up. It appeared that she was just alternating from whichever leg hurt the worst at the moment. I really regretted not being strong enough to carry her.

The going was at a snail’s pace, but it felt much slower than that. With as long as we were taking, my fears were getting the best of me. I could have sworn that I could hear rustling from behind every bush; and from under each large rock. The lack of sleep wasn't helping either. The world felt blurry, made all the worse by the coming dawn. A light fog had settled in and it looked like it might rain. However, the town was so close now. I could already see the rooftops of the tallest structures just over the hills.

That was when I heard something from behind us. Something I was sure wasn't my imagination.

Turning my head to look, I found a gecko sauntering onto the roadway. It wasn't silver like I’d hoped, it was gold. Much bigger than their cousins, they were a threat all on their lonesome. Wouldn't you know, it was just my luck that it was looking right at us. It gave out a sharp hiss and reared up as tall as it could stand.

Flying away was out of the question. Leaving Syzygy behind would kill her, and I wasn’t going to let that happen. Nor could either of us simply run. We had three working limbs between ourselves, and little strength to even use them. Well, I had already faced death too many times today for this to scare me. Funny though, I think it was the fact I was too tired that made me not give two bits about running anyway. It was just pissing me off and I was sick of it.

My SMG was already in my grasp while I pivoted on my locked up hoof. After pushing Syzygy aside, I raised its sights level to the stupid, shiny lizard and flicked off the safety. As soon as I caught a glance of the front sight I gave the trigger a loving caress. The morning stillness was shattered by the gun’s short burst.

The beast stumbled as it charged, though it kept coming. It closed the gap between us startlingly fast. His jaws snapped at me with shrill screeches all the while. He lunged at me and bit down at the closest thing he could reach. Unfortunately for him, that happened to be the barrel of my 10mm. To make the best of it, I decided to pull the trigger again. Why not? I wouldn't be able to miss.

Its mouth erupted into a gory fountain, spattering my face with squishy bits of him. The damnable lizard gurgled what I could assume was a scream before wrenching its head aside. The force pulled my gun out of my talon. Unfortunately for me, I was still looped in my gun’s sling. It pulled me off of my legs and I ended up on my back.

There I was, left staring up at my reptilian adversary. The beast was wild-eyed and screeching as best it could with the back of its throat shot out. At the rate it was bleeding, I assumed it would only take a minute for it to keel over and die. Problem was, it was ready to kill me back in only a few seconds.

Putting him down first was the only option I had. If I didn't, Syzygy’s life would be on the line as well. Thanks to its sling, my SMG simply had to be nearby, I reached out with my left talon to grab at it blindly. I knew the gun was there, all I had to do was get a hold of it. Mr. gecko was less than obligatory, however, and came down upon me. His maw was a disturbing blend of predatory nature, newly broken teeth and blood. By chance, I managed to catch him by the neck with the claws of my right talon. It took all of my strength to hold him back. I wasn't sure if I was winning until I felt my claw tips open fresh wounds under my grasp. More blood joined the cascade of his face onto me. He had to be down to mere seconds. Seconds that could still lead us either way.

Finally, my grasping left talon found purchase on the grip of my 10mm. Unfortunately, the weight of the creature had me pinned. In an attempt to shift him, I kicked at him with my hind paw. I managed to land a blow to his genital slit. If his shriek was any indication the creature turned out to be a male after all. Unfortunately, he was just made angrier. He began furiously swiping his own claws at me. Dirt and small rocks were getting thrown about by his thrashing, and all I could do was try to tuck my head down to keep him from gouging my eyes out. The last thing I would want is to need an eyepatch or something!

Even so, the gecko was pulling at my plumage and scratching the sides of my head. What made it worse is that I was stuck there trying to strangle it as best I could. All the while, I attempted to get an angle on my gun that I could shoot the damn thing without blowing off any of my own limbs in the process.

Another shot rang out into the dawn, but it wasn't mine. The beast gurgled and coiled up. Now that it was the one off balance, I shoved it off of me. Before it could attack again, I rolled back into a standing position with my gun ready. Something in the creature’s gurgles stayed my trigger, saving what precious bullets I might still have. The way it was laying there gasping without even a rattle or whimper, just a wet burble, I could tell that it was finally succumbing to its wounds. He was drowning in his own blood. It wasn't clear if he bled out or suffocated first, but he only took another few moments before going still.

Good riddance.

With all of the excitement over, I became aware of Syzygy, she was crying.

“Are you OK?” She spoke out between her pained sobs. She lowered her gaze to the pistol I had left with her earlier. She must have set it down or dropped it when she fired. “I am sorry, Mister Prancer, I could not discern how to fire this weapon fast enough.” her bottom lip wavered a bit and held back a sniffle, “It was not me that killed him, was it?”

“No, I did. You saved me, though. I don’t know if I could have gotten him alone.” I told her as my racing heart started to slow a bit. “thanks!”

“I do not wish to kill!” She snapped through her sadness. “I can not bear to see others hurt because of me, not even the beasts around here. Please, Mister Prancer, let us get back to your town and see to Nameless. I wish to continue on with my penance.” She said glumly. She turned and began walking again, leaving the pistol, which I picked up myself. No sense in leaving it.

The last, short stretch back to ‘Claw was back to an uneasy silence. In an attempt to relieve myself from monotony, I reflected on this night’s events. The rescue she didn't want, the monster she didn't want killed. Syzygy really had her priorities messed up. Killing wasn't a good thing, but it was a necessary thing. A griffon needs to eat, ponies need to defend themselves, and sometimes it’s unavoidable. Bugs can be overlooked as you walk by, everyone does it.

The last thing she told me was odd too. The bit about killing might be a dead end, but I had to ask, “Syzygy, what do you mean by ‘penance’?” I looked at her and waited for a response. After a moment, she looked to the sky without halting and inhaled sharply.

“The stars gave me a sign before I left for exile, that I may be able to break my curse.” She spoke with great reverence to the subject. “I must undo a great wrong that had been inflicted by the misfortunes that follow me. My fellow zebras were unwilling to take my aid. If I nursed them back to health, they would flee. It is possible that Nameless is the key. He is appreciative of my help, and maybe a pony is good enough for the stars.”

I just nodded. There was nothing I could think of to say to that. In addition, I had a new understanding of Beer Can’s mistrust of the little, striped weirdos. Letting out a little sigh, I had to let that go for now. Since we had just now entered town, we had to get ourselves back in shape before we could do anything.

“First we should get you somewhere you can rest.” I spoke through my weariness. The exhaustion was catching up fast, and my body cried out for sleep. How mom used to do this night after night, I may never know. “The clinic shouldn't be too bad a place. It’s close to the road, just a bit past my house and there’s some comfy chairs to recline in right after you see Nameless.”

She smiled. It was a nice thing to see after all the doom and gloom. It made me feel like there was still some meaning to my life, like it wasn't all a lie, or a joke.

That good feeling lasted all the way there, even though I wasn't sure what to expect in the clinic. To finally be able to see how Nameless was holding up. The half of his cheek missing was all I could remember of the incident. It was very fortunate that Syzygy had stopped the bleeding back in the compound, otherwise he would never have made the trip back. There just couldn't have been much blood for him to afford to lose in his little body. When we walked in, we found that Gavii was there still. She gave me a big smile when I walked up next to her at the bed Nameless was laying on. Syzygy approached the bed from the other side and checked Nameless over.

“Good, he is alright.” she finally said after looking around the bandages. Without another word, she wobbled over to the waiting area and flopped across several chairs.

Gavii giggled, “Aww, she’s all plum tuckered out.” She said in her usual upbeat tone. Ignoring her silliness, I nudged her shoulder.

“Thanks for helping me, Gavii.” I told her outright. “I wouldn't have been able to save Syzygy without you, or get Nameless back here in time.” She’d really saved our tails out there, and for that I was thankful. To that, she smiled and gave me a tight hug.

“I couldn't let you go alone. I miss you when you’re gone, and I’m afraid that you’ll get hurt. Or worse. I can’t lose another friend.” She paused and made sure I was looking at her. “Promise me you’ll take care of yourself if you’re on some sort of super spy mission or something again.”

What else could I do? I could see tears forming in her eyes.

“I promise.” I told her, sure that I could keep it. There wouldn't be much chance of getting in trouble around town. There was a long pause, she opened her beak to say something…

...and I kissed her.

It was kinda awkward, but it felt like the right thing to do at the time. Granted I’d never had any experience with anyone, but I had to start somewhere, right? She was surprised at first to find my beak slipped into hers, though a moment's time found her pressing back and murring happily. An eternity passed in only a few seconds, although I was content to spend every bit of that time. Eventually, Gavii broke the kiss.

She giggled again, "OK, Prancy-wancy, I believe you," she admitted with a playful jab to my chest. Right to the spot I got shot in.

"OW! Careful, I took a bullet there!” I grimaced from the pain. “Remember?" I rubbed at my side and winced again.

“Heh, sorry, Prancy.” She spoke with a deep blush and took off. “Anyway, I gotta go!”

“Oh, Isn’t it fortunate we don’t need dentists?” A voice said from the back of the clinic. The figure approached, revealing that it was Cora. The upstart albino glared at me.

“The heck are you talking about?” I asked.

“Heh, simple. After a sickeningly sweet display like that, I thought I had a cavity forming.” He explained. Dr. Clipwing said that Cora was becoming a competent nurse, though he failed to mention that he was still a smarmy fuck. The colorless jerk continued on with his spiel, “Fortunately, all there needed to be done was apply a clean bandage. The zebra paste your friend put together is helping him heal up nicely, there might not even be too much scarring. Even his bones seem to have mended a bit. Anyways, it’s time for me to head off, Dr. Clipwing will be here in an hour or so, depending on his hangover.” And with that, he sauntered out the door.

That was fine with me. Having to rely on a sniveling wretch like him stuck in my craw. Regardless, I had some business with our patient to deal with in the time being. Once he came to, I’d hopefully get to know him a lot better. Too many things were out of place with him for me to let it go.

Fortunately, he seemed to be waking up already. Though I needed sleep badly, dozens of questions still buzzed in my head. How could I trust a pony didn't know himself, but the bad guys we fought did? Was he lying? Was he just a bad guy himself? Pulling Innuendo from its holster, I didn't want to take another risk tonight, I stuck the barrel under Nameless’s chin and waited.

I was going to get some answers.

--------

Quest Completed: Earning Your Stripes

Level up!

+6 Small guns
+2 Melee
+1 Explosives
+1 Speech

Perk added: Quick Draw

The time required to equip, unholster or swap weapons is reduced by 50%.

There ya go, Prancer, ya figured out how to perform a Manehatten Reload. Big deal...

Author's Notes:

Chapter five is out just in time for "Burned Feathers" to reach its first year! Happy birthday, "BF"!

Of course, I wouldn't have gotten here without Kkat's inception of the world, nor the inspiration from Somber, Mimezinga, Hnetu and many others.

Also gotta thank my fellow Wastelanders, especially Gamma, you know who you are!

Lastly, thanks to you, the reader! It couldn't be a story without being shared.