Chapter 17

Now:

“Who's a good girl? Yes you're a good girl.” I cooed at Candy as I changed her diaper, tossing the used disposable diaper down a garbage chute. Disposable diapers, one of the things that Venture had had the shocking foresight to stash away in his base all those decades ago, and I for one was grateful.

The olive foal giggled and batted her hooves at me, her horn flashing and she vanished from the bed, appearing in the air above my back....for the dozenth time...I caught her in my magic as she laughed and I set her back down, finishing the diaper. “You gotta stop that kid, you're gonna get hurt.” I laughed, leaning in and nuzzling her, making her squeal with delight.

“I gotta admit bro, you make a good dad,” Venture said, watching me scoop up Candy and flop on the bed with her, spinning her around in the air above my head and making faces at her, “and though it doesn't mean much I guess I owe Dad a hundred caps.”

“You bet Dad I wouldn't make a good father?” I asked, putting on a hurt face.

“I've never been so happy to be proven wrong?” He asked, laughing sheepishly.

“More importantly I can't believe Dad bet ON me.” I smirked.

“Well there were only two sides to the bet and I'd already made my choice.”

“Thanks.” I said flatly, pushing up off the bed. “You ready to go to dinner baby girl?” I asked, putting on the sweet voice again and heading into the hall.

“Aww Sugar come on, don't be that way!”

//////////

“I'm sorry DJ Pon3 couldn't join us for dinner.” Homage said, putting out some trays of the usual Wasteland foods. Everyone was sitting around a conference table, Candy sat beside me in an open crate lined with blankets, not a whole lot in terms of cribs I guess, but she didn't care, she had a bottle in her mouth, all four hooves working together to prop it up so she could drink from it fully. She had tried holding it with her magic and for a moment had had something of a grasp on it, but she lost it and just went with what she knew worked.

“That's fine, he's busy, we understand.” I said, though others at the table seemed somewhat disappointed to not be meeting the DJ. “How is the computer equipment working for you?” I asked, moving the topic on before anyone could express their disappointment.

“Oh they're still in perfect working order. Those M.A.S. systems were built to last I'll give em that.”

“Thank you.” Venture grinned.

“We didn't build the M.A.S. system.” I said.

“What? Are you sure? A computer that lasted 200 years and the apocalypse? That sounds like something we'd build.”

“It's literally got Ministry of Arcane Science right in the title.”

“Yeah, I guess with all the work they did something was bound to eventually be good quality.”

“Says the pony who had to steal the plans for a Crusader Computer.” CB replied, getting quite a few surprised looks from around the table.

“What? Are we not joking about that yet? I'm the one that almost died in it.”

“You wouldn't have died, you would have been fine for the rest of time.” Venture said, shrugging a little.

“Anyway...” I said, looking up at Homage. “How does the supply trade thing look?”

“I think it's looking pretty good. There were council members practically salivating at the sight of all the different kinds of foods they were display...Hey!” Homage leaned back and her horn lit up. There was a giggled shriek and she pulled a laughing olive foal from under the table. “Where do you think you're going young lady?” She asked, spinning Candy around and setting her down on the table.

“I...what?” I looked down at the empty crate, half drunk bottle abandoned. “She must have phased through the crate...Geeze, her magic is really starting to pick up.”

Homage laughed and made faces and noises at Candy and made the foal laugh happily, reaching up and grabbing her face, leaning in and nuzzling her, then grinning.

“AHH! That's adorable!” Homage looked like she might crack from the cute, and hugged Candy tight. “You make me wanna rethink some of my life choices little one.” She sighed, looking down at the baby.

“Well I'm gonna just throw this question out then instead of beating around the bush,” I said, sitting up straighter, “Homage would you mind watching Candy when we go out to do the exchange?”

“Oh? Yeah of course I can. A hostage exchange is no place for a baby.” She said, floating Candy over to me and putting her back down into the crate again.

//////////

10 Months Ago:

The comforting hum of electronics buzzed around me and I sighed a little. My back was aching but my coat was clean. I wondered how long I had been home, and what could have happened to knock me out. I shook my head, not the best idea, considering the hangover I was rocking, and then headed out of the lab, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Brutus and Venture were laid up, being forced to suffer through their hang overs. I made my way to Ruby and she smiled at me. “How was the party?” she asked.

“Secret, sorry,” I answered, and she huffed out a laugh at me.

“Well, have any fun with the stripper?” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows at me.

“If by paintball, then yes. Lots of strange crazy fun,” I told her, snuggling up to her and pressing my face into her mane, trying to shut out the light.

"Oh you're just a bunch of big babies." Lily said, stroking Brutus's back. He was snuggled up against her much like I was with Ruby.

"But my brain is borked," he whined, "I can feel the light from the bulbs. Just snuggle me and love me and make me better Lil."

"There's my big strong bruiser of a buck." She laughed, rolling her eyes.

Venture was slumped back in a chair with an ice pack over his eyes and a thick blanket covering the rest of him. "It was worth it."

"How'd we get back?"

"I waited up at the store." Lily replied. "Crystalline showed up with you three in tow, all of you dripping with paint and you three barely coherent. I sprayed you all down with a hose while she showered upstairs then we bundled you into the wagon and flew back. Cane you have to fix the auto turret too, you threw up in it while trying to call Homage."

"Aww shit...I didn't get through to her did I?"

"No, but you spent a good twenty minutes explaining how you wanted to tell her how awesome it was that she was a lesbian and that you totally respected it, but if she would let you watch just once it would be the best thing ever." Ruby said, looking less than impressed.

"I'm a lecherous drunk, what can I say?" I asked, giving her a cocky grin then cuddling back into her side.

"Don't give me that look."

"Well don't you three look like death warmed over?" CB asked, coming into the room with Xem.

I went with my first instinct, I stuck my tongue out at her, but because my face was still buried in Ruby's mane...

"Did you just lick my neck?" She asked, looking back at me.

"Nope, I stuck my tongue out at CB and your neck got in the way."

"Well, it's been fun my little ponies." Crystalline said, coming into the small room from one of the side halls, "but I must away, I have more meetings to attend to out in the great Wasteland."

"Crystalline?" Xem asked, looking at the Earth pony curiously.

"Uhh, yeah?" She replied, looking back at him with a similar expression.

"It's me...Xemnas."

She looked at him for a moment before her eyes widened in recognition. "Xem? Oh my gosh, you're all grown up!" She said, hugging him tightly, making him blush.

"Ahem!" CB said loudly, glaring at the two of them.

"Oh sorry." She said, stepping back from the zebra. "So this is your marefriend?" She asked, looking at CB.

"Uhh, yeah." He said, smiling sheepishly.

"Really?!" I asked, pulling away from Ruby and looking at them in amazement. "We spent all this time trying to get you two to admit that and then you just blurt it out to some random pony you happen to know?"

"Hey, Crystalline isn't just some pony I happen to know," he started, blushing again, "she's the Changeling I told you about remember?" He asked, looking at Ruby and me. "When you first came back from your trip?" He asked me.

"You're a Changeling?" Venture asked, pulling the ice pack from his face and looking at her. "How could you not mention that? We coulda had SO much more fun."

"Well, most ponies don't really take too kindly to Changelings, by the time I saw Lily I figured it was too far along to just casually bring up the fact that I had lied to you about myself."

"Fair enough." Venture sighed.

"So where's your grandfather?" Crystalline asked, turning back to Xem, "I haven't seen him in so long, I couldn't find him when I went back to town last, it's like the whole place has changed ownership."

"Oh, he's gone on to the Everafter." Xem said softly, looking down at the floor and sighing a little. "It was a year ago tomorrow."

I was simultaneously impressed that Xem had managed to keep track of the date, a lot of things like that weren't really big focal points any more, I couldn't remember the last time I had seen a calender that wasn't on a computer, and also saddened that I had never thought to keep track of that myself. So many ponies had died, I never took the time to mourn them properly anymore.

“Oh sweetie, I'm sorry to hear that. He was a great buck. I owe him a lot.”

“Yeah, me too.” Xem sighed, looking up at her again and smiling a little, though his eyes were still clearly sad, “but it's okay, I have a new family.” He said, hugging CB under his foreleg and holding her close.

“Damned straight.” Brutus said, trying to put on a strong voice, though he didn't get far with it.

“Oh really?” She looked around at the group, smiling, though her eyes were troubled, and as she looked at all of us her smile faltered. “You guys really are his family?” She asked, sitting down slowly, looking utterly crushed all of the sudden.

“Uhh, yeah, he means the world to us.” CB said.

“He might mean more to some of us than others.” Brutus said, chuckling a little.

“I...I can't...No I can't...” Crystalline muttered.

“What's wrong?” Ruby stepped away from me and put a hoof on her shoulder.

The Changeling broke down and started outright crying. “I can't...I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...” She grabbed her saddlebags and hugged them to herself.

“Sweetie what's wrong?” Ruby asked, sitting down in front of her, but the Changeling was lost in tears now, confusing everyone in the room, even more so the few ponies that passed through the area.

It was a very confusing few minutes while Crystalline cried and we tried to work out what was happening, but she finally got herself under control. She set the saddlebags down and flipped one open, fishing out a stack of computer hard drives.

“What are these for?” I asked, looking at them curiously.

“They're copies of all your directory files and encrypted data.” She admitted quietly. “I stole them over the last day.”

“What?!” Venture asked, sitting up in the chair and glaring at her.

“I'm sorry.” She sniffled. “T-The Enclave...They paid me a FORTUNE for this information...Enough that I'd have been able to retire.” She said, pulling out a few more hard drives from her other pack and setting them down. “But I can't do something that would jeopardize Xem and his family.”

“Do you know WHY they wanted you to steal this information?” Venture asked hopefully.

“Not a clue. They just said any files pertaining to the weather, strange weaponry and everything from the R&D areas for the last 25 years, not that there was a whole lot there.”

“You put the virus in the computer!” I said, suddenly realizing it.

“Yeah, it was to keep you distracted while I did my work in their systems. Kept everything offline and isolated, and you were dealing with a virus and looking for an external weakness, not an internal drive copy.”

“But...What?” My head hurt too much to process this information easily.

“I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I have to go.” She yelled, yanking away from Ruby.

“Crystalline wait!” Ruby demanded but the Changeling vanished in a flash of green magic and she was gone.

“Dammit!” Ruby stomped on the ground.

“What do we do now?” Brutus asked.

“We go through the data she took and try to figure out what the Enclave could have possibly wanted with data that old. Almost everything she wanted predates my system.” I said, looking at the stack of drives, my headache taking a back seat to my curiosity. “I just wish she hadn't run off...We could have helped her. Faked the data or something.”

“You just can't reason with some ponies.” Lily said.

“I guess...but even still.” I sighed, resting my head against Ruby again and looking at the hard drives quietly.