Both of us were bloodied, out of breath, and in pain, but I wasn’t sure what we were looking at.

“Why are they all just… standing there?” I whispered. We’d been in what looked like a small office for no longer than a minute catching our breath. In that time, the ponytrons had stopped their advance. They simply stood there. The double doors behind us were our only way out, but I didn’t know what lay beyond them.

“The hell if I know!” Caltrop shot back sharply. “Oh goddesses…” He groaned and keeled over again. With a few heavy heaves, I got out what I hoped was now the last of his booze. Between the shrapnel he’d taken, and all the booze, half of his side was red with blood. How much alcohol had he gone through while I was out?

After he wiped the sick away from his face, Caltrop limped forward to the door and stared at them. Slowly, he put his hoof through the doorway.

Nothing.

“Well, dat’s odd.” He said as he took a step out. The moment he did, the ponytron’s jarred back to life and continued towards us. He whined and quickly shuffled back inside with me. The second he was through the doorway again, they froze where they were again. “What the hell is goin’ on?”

“What the hell are we even doing in this place?” I sighed as I kept one eye out the door. There’s more to this than them just giving up. If it’s one thing I know from the lack of feeling in my rear legs, it’s that robot’s don’t give up.

“Well, after ya passed out,” Caltrop squinted and rubbed at his head. Hopefully the dolt wouldn’t hurt himself thinking to hard. “We walked for a while. Null said we could bed down in this warehouse for the night.” He shuddered and rubbed at his shoulders. “Said he’d stayed here before.”

“Good.” I grunted as I kept my eye on the now static machines. “That means I can kick his ass for getting us into this mess.” When I turned back to Caltrop, I raised an eyebrow as he started to shiver. “Next question. I was in a memory orb. How did I get in there?”

“It’s a bit fuzzy,” Caltrop blinked a few times and looked at me. His pupils were bigger than I’d ever seen them, and as unfocused as Null’s. “He tried to heal you a bit. Needed to keep you out.” His shivering grew worse as he spoke. “Is it cold to you in here?”

“No, you’re going into shock from the fire earlier.” I sighed and pulled myself to my hooves. “You need to lie down.” I didn’t think the fire had been that bad. Unless, something else had happened while I was out.”

“What?” Caltrop whined and shook his head wildly. As he did, his legs gave way and he crashed down onto the floor.

“Just stay still.” I slowly dragged myself over to him and put my hoof against his neck. His pulse was racing, and he was beginning to look pale. It wasn’t good, and it scared the hell out of me. “I’ve seen this happen to other wastelanders.”

“I-I’ll be fine, right?” He gave me a weak smile as he shivered on the floor. I didn’t know what to tell him. Everypony else I’d seen go into shock, was dying from something I’d done. I wasn’t sure if anypony could survive this, but they had to have a chance. Right?

“Please, PC.” Caltrop was smart, and I think he figured it out on his own. “Just... tell me I’m fine.”

“You will be.” I simply replied. I would fix this. He wouldn’t die, not now if I could help it. “Something is wrong with you, but I don’t know what.” I looked him over carefully, trying to find some injury that would do this. “What hurts on you?”

“Besides everythin’?” He gave out a wheezing chuckle that quickly turned into a whining gasp. “It’s getting hard to breath. I think somethin’s wrong with my insides’.” He clamped his eyes shut and tried to take a few deep breaths. As he did, I saw something odd in the blood on his side. Bubbles came from one of his small cuts.

“I think I found something.” I said as I reached my hoof up. As carefully as could, I wiped the blood away. I wasn’t careful enough, as just the lightest touch made him flinch and cry out.

“Ah, fuck! Dat’s tender.” He gasped and looked up at me. “What is it? What’s wrong?” As he breathed in and out, more bubbles came out of one of the shrapnel wounds. He squinted and watched as they almost frothed out with every breath. “Fuck me.” He flopped back down. “Why did it have ta be dat?”

“What do you mean ‘that’?” I don’t know why he’d know, but if he did, maybe I could fix it! “Do you know what’s wrong?”

“There’s metal in my lung and it’s most likely collapsed.” He sighed. Immediately he whined from even something like that. “If we don’t fix it, I aint goin’ ta last much longer.”

“Maybe there’s a potion around here?” This was a military facility after all, there had to be something that could help.

“No.” He spat out. The whine that followed quickly became a sputtering cough. “The metal needs to be taken out. A potion would just seal it in.” He gave me a weak, but sad smile. “I’m sorry, PC.”

“You will be once I fix you.” I was back at square one, but I wasn’t going to lose him. There had to be a way to get that metal out. “Just wait, I’ll kick your ass for drinking so much.” I said in a half hearted laugh. I wanted to cry. I didn’t want to lose him, not after we’d come so far. Desperately, I did my best to hold back the tears.

“You need to find a way to get out of here.” He groaned. “Go find Null. He can get help.” Lightly, Caltrop reached over and hooked a hoof around mine. “I’ll hold on as long as I can.”

“I’m not leaving you here.” I couldn’t hold back anymore. My tears came down across my cheeks on their own, and I was helpless to stop it. “You never gave up on me, not once when you thought you could save me. So you listen to me when I say I’m not going anywhere without you.” I’d been through too much to see him die. “You know what this is, so you’re going to tell me how to fucking fix it.”

“I only read about it in one of my books back home.” Caltrop coughed out. To me, he looked paler by the moment. I didn’t even want to think about how long he had. “It’s only a guess anyway. I’m no doctor.” He closed his eyes again and kept still. “Ya aren’t one either, so even if there was a way ta fix it, I’d still be done for.”

“But you are my friend. My special somepony.” I growled. “I don’t care if you read it in a book, or guessed, or even saw it first hoof.” I wanted to strangle him for being so difficult “You are going to tell me what to do.”

“I don’t want ya ta go either.” He grunted angrily. “Before we met, I didn’t think I could love again. I missed him so much.” Tears came from his own eyes as he spoke, and he gave whining sniffles as he talked. “But then I saw you, and you saw me. Even if ya didn’t feel the same, you cared enough ta take me with ya. I just couldn’t give up.” He smiled in earnest and tightened his hold on my leg. “I love ya, PC.”

“Oh, quiet.” I sniffled and wiped at my nose. “It’s not like I could get rid of you. You just kept clinging to me.”

“Wait!” He gasped. That turned out to be a bad idea, because it sent him into a hacking fit. “We need magnets. More So, an electromagnet.” He tried to sit up, but I knew he shouldn’t be moving around, not in his condition. With a stiff shove, I pushed him back onto the floor. “Goddesses, that fuckin’ hurts!” He cried and squirmed under my hoof.”

“You need to stay here. I’ll find what we need.” I grunted and did my best to turn myself back towards the door. Even if I had to drag myself across this stupid base, I’d find what he needed. I just wish we still had the battery for my legs. At least then I’d be able to fight. “You just need to hold on until I can fix you. Now, what am I looking for?”

I looked around the room for anything that might be useful to remember. When this place was still running, I think this area might have been used for planning or something. Against the back wall was worn chart after chart. Files had been strewn all over, and the skeleton of a pony was curled up underneath a desk that sat nearby. A unicorn’s skeleton lay slumped in an old rolling office chair. It had a hole in it’s skull, and a rusted out pistol against it’s ribcage. The file cabinet I’d crashed into when we came in sat beside that, rusted and what looked to be locked shut.

The table that Caltrop had crashed into however, held a rusted red tool box on it. A rotten ladder lead up to open ductwork above us, and a boney hoof hung out of it caked in dust. I wondered, how did he die during maintenance? This place didn’t seem touched by a balefire bomb, so maybe radiation? It didn’t matter. All that did, was making sure Caltrop stayed alive.

“Ya need a metal tube or spike, preferably iron or steel. Next, wirin’, as much as ya can grab.” He wheezed as he spoke. As he finished, he curled up in another hacking fit. With a heavy wretch, he spat out a glob of frothy blood onto the floor under his muzzle. “Last, ya need ta find a good battery.” He gasped and whined. “Oh, and a potion fer after could help as well.”

“Iron spike, wire, battery, and a potion.” I repeated, just to cram it into my head. Four things wasn’t much to ask for if it would save Caltrop’s life. As I repeated the items in my head, I looked around to see if anything was already in here.

“What does it matter?” Caltrop snorted and spit up some more blood. “Ya ain’t goin’ to be scootin’ around out there without ya legs. Those bots will tear ya apart!”

My eyes fell upon the office chair with the unicorn bones in it. The rotten and worn down cloth seat sagged on each side of the skeleton, and it gave me a really neat idea. Using my magic, I dragged it over to me. I tossed the old bones aside and popped my mechanical legs off of my stumps. As I looked back and forth between the seat and them, I was convinced this could work.

“Don’t worry, Caltrop. I’m going to get those parts.” I said as I levitated the old toolbox off the table, and storm’s rifle from right next to him. “You just need to be alive when I get them back in here.”

A new coat of grease might have helped the wheels be quieter, but the bots were back on me from the get-go. All around me, I held the various tools from the old toolbox suspended in the air, along with Storm’s rifle. My head pounded from the strain of it all, and I panted hard as I dragged myself around the concrete floor.

The old chair squeaked as I dragged it along behind me. The duct tape I’d used to secure my flank to it stung as I tugged against it. The pain was of little consequence as I stuck close to the rusting vertibuck hulks. It was of little help that each of the maintenance stations here were still stocked with things. The station we’d been near was nearly in the best condition of all of them.

“Come on,” I muttered between pants. “There has to be something useful here.” I’d only just now gotten to the first workbench. With my hoof, I hastily sifted through the scraps and junk for what I needed. Oily cogs, busted spell matrices, and a socket wrench were the only things still even intact here. “Fuck.”

The heavy, mechanical stomps that filled the air resonated through the cavernous building to make the approaching robots sound like a marching army. A short whine was all the warning I had as one of them found line of sight to me from behind.

A red streak cut through the air just to my side. I gave a grunt and took off again. Rolling around the front of the old wreck for cover, I started toward the next station. Passing out into the open was a bad idea. Three of the robots could clearly see me, one of them directly beside where I was headed. They fired without hesitation. One of the bolts struck the back of my improvised wheelchair. It wasn’t me however, so I pressed on.

I brought the sights on Storm’s rifle up to my eye. It was hard to see through the scope as I ran, but I knew I had it generally on target. With my magic, I worked the action, and pulled the trigger.

Sparks traced across the chestplate of the robot as the round ricocheted away. Without that ponytron down, I didn’t have a choice. As it charged another shot, I swerved sharply. The targeting talismans on these machines were nowhere near as accurate as Synchro’s monstrosity. The ponytron couldn’t compensate for the sudden change and singed the floor to my left.

I shot a glance back as I ran, and watched the bot I passed take it’s sweet time turning around. The one thing I had on my side, was that these machines were slow. At a gallop, I’d crossed half the hanger in a short period of time. If I started at the other end and worked my way back, it would take them a while to make it back to me.

I should have been watching where I was going.

With a crash, my chair hooked on a cable that had been laid across the floor just past one of the rusted hulks. In an instant, I was twisted and pulled down onto the floor. Everything in my magical grasp went flying, and scattered ahead of me.

“Fucking damnit!” I swore as loud as I could. With a grunt, I pushed myself up. My stumps refused to pull the chair upright under me, and when I looked back, I found that the cables had somehow become tangled in the wheels. Angrily, I torqued, yanked, and pulled at the chair. I was afraid that the duct tape would rip before I could get free, but I was wrong. The post that connected the seat to the wheels gave first.

“So much for that plan.” I grunted and hoofed at the duct tape. Sadly enough, I was sure then that the duct tape was the one item still in this place in any sort of good condition. With the unrelenting steps of mechanical death still marching steadily toward me, I had to make a tough decision.

Next to me, I looked over and found the long, flathead screwdriver from the toolbox. Angrily, I slashed at the bindings holding me to seat. The adhesive on the old tape fought hard, but finally my slashing did the trick. I flopped back away from the seat, free of it’s hold. As I sat on the ground, I looked over to the screwdriver. In worn letters, it said something on the metal near the handle.

Stainless Steel

“Of course.” I smiled. That was one part down, and one step closer to saving Caltrop. Too bad I just took six steps backwards with the loss of my mobility. I wiggled my legs, cringing as the tape still on them pulled at me painfully.

“Okay, this is going to suck.” I cringed just thinking about it. The duct tape was sitting between me and the ability to at least attempt to drag myself anywhere. With my magic, I grabbed the two ends of the duct tape on my legs. “One, two…” I wasn’t sure why I’d even counted.

I screamed as I ripped the old strips from my legs. It hurt less than getting shot, but only just barely. I flailed in pain and let loose nearly every profanity that I knew. I grabbed what was left of the seat and used my magic to hurl it as far as I could. Turns out, that was pretty far. It sailed over to the other side of the hanger and crashed into one of the heavily rusted hulks. Of course, that made it explode.

The blast wasn’t that big, but it nearly tore the old hulk in half. A large piece of the machine was propelled across the floor. I watched from my vantage point under the hulk next to me as it tumbled straight into one of the following bots. The heavy debris tore the rear of the ponytron straight off. The front half collapsed onto its sides and gave a shrill whine before it’s electronics gave out.

It was poetic justice for my legs if I’d ever seen it.

A slight glint was cast off of something under the front of the vertibuck I was next to. It took a moment for my focus to recognize the outline, but it was a welcomed sight. I grabbed the old mechanics cart and dragged it out. It was missing the front two wheels, and I wasn’t sure if it would hold my weight. Again out of options, it was better than any alternative.

With a grunt, I pulled myself onto the back end of it. It bent more than I’d like with my weight on it, but it held. I twisted myself and got to where I sat facing the back. With shorter steps than I’d been using with the chair, I was off again. These wheels were surprisingly quiet, and didn’t add to the already annoying pounding my horn was doing.

As it had, a crackling whine preceded another shot from a ponytron. This one struck home on my lower back. Another horrendous scream erupted from my muzzle. It’s energy surged down through my legs and concentrated down at the caps over my stumps. The wrenching pain only made me work harder to get away. I didn’t have the focus to pick up anything I’d dropped, only enough to get myself out of their targeting range.

“Come on, PC. Look for what you need!” I’d just started speaking out of frustration.

Every time I’ve been close to dying, Caltrop has been there for me. I swear to the goddesses, if I don’t save him now, I’ll never let anyone forgive me for what I’ve done. Not wanting to make the same mistake, I scanned the ground ahead as I rolled. Another wire, a loose piece of scrap, anything else that got in my way could mean that Caltrop didn’t make it out of here.

“Never Mind that you couldn’t keep Brightshine alive.” I muttered as I rolled toward the last Vertibuck hull. “Or her brother, for that matter.”

I rolled to a stop at the still intact workbench and let out a sigh. My heart was beating a mile a minute, and my hooves just wanted me to quit. I couldn’t think. We’d both come so far for him to…

I slammed my head down against the rusty table.

“Stop it!” I yelled out to the uncaring robots. “I can do this.”

Something rolled from the lower shelf of the bench. It tapped my hoof just hard enough to get my attention. I looked down to see it was a spool of black wire. Some of the spool looked heavily corroded, but there was more than enough there, I was sure of it. I picked it up in my magic and held onto both it and the screwdriver tightly.

“Okay. A battery. That’s all I need.” I nodded to myself and looked across to the other side of the hanger. “I can do this.”

I ground my hooves against the concrete to get myself moving again. With the bench across the way in sight, I pushed myself to go faster. I spared a glance across the hanger as I crossed out into the open. There were six ponytrons now making their way toward me. I really started to regret leaving Storm’s rifle behind about now.

At the very least, the cart I was on seemed to hold together. There was something to be said of small miracles, but as I approached the cart, I found myself another dilemma. This bench had once held a battery on it, but it was far bigger than any battery I’d ever seen before. Large enough in fact, that it was nearly half a pony in size. I’d never imagined a spark battery so large, that it’s weight had dropped it through the rusted lower shelf.

I cast my glance down to the old cart. It barely held together with just me on it. With a grunt, I wrapped my magic around the battery and gave it a tug. It didn’t even budge.

“Fuck me.” I leaned over and glanced back into the open. Most of the ponytrons were closer to me than the office now. Carefully, I set the screwdriver and wire spool down, shifting my whole focus onto the battery. My head pounded, and my horn emitted a quick spark. Slowly, the battery began to float up off the floor.

The strain was enough that by the time I had lifted it out of it’s rusty prison, I could barely keep ahold of it. It would either be the battery, or the wire and screwdriver now. I’d have to come back for whatever I left behind. Might as well get the tough stuff over with.

I set the battery down momentarily and tried to catch my breath. Sure, my magic had been put through it’s paces before, but this was a whole new level of strain. I was risking another burnout as is, and I’m not sure what Flint would do if I couldn’t use my magic.

Magic can recover through rest, Caltrop cannot.

I really needed to listen to my conscience more often. Just like with Caltrop, it was only trying to point out things I should have accepted long ago. I hated when a pony proved me wrong, but I’d begun to hate lying to myself even more.

With a groan, I wrapped my magic around the battery again. With it held just far enough off the ground I could move, I pulled myself forward. I didn’t hesitate when I’d rolled around the front of the next hulk. The fact that a ponytron stood between me and Caltrop meant nothing. I just pushed off and kept going.

Each shot it fired at me made me cringe. Every red beam that it sprayed could have been the end of me. All I did was scream and charge forward. A few beams got close, and one lanced just across my shoulder. I kept my speed up and did my best to not let go of the battery.

By the time I’d passed the advancing ponytron, I was wearing thin. A few more sparks from my horn flickered against the old hulks as I passed them. Just a couple more steps, that’s all that I’d need! With all of the might and strength I could muster, I rolled myself straight at the office doorway. I whined and aligned the battery ahead of me so it would go through just before I did.

The cart hit the carpet and abruptly stopped. Of course, that meant I kept going. The sudden change of speed shattered my grip around the battery. The heavy object, and one of the most important pieces of saving Caltrop, tumbled along the floor. With a heavy slam, it crashed against the double doors on the other side of the room. Thankfully, the weight of the doors slowed the battery enough to where it only slid a few feet into the dark of the next room.

From the floor next to me, came a wheezing gasp. I didn’t want to look, because I knew what I’d see. Unfortunately, that’s why reflexes are so useful. We don’t get to choose what we do sometimes. Instead, as I swung my head over, I shut my eyes as tight as I could.

“Don’t worry.” My quivering muzzle hesitated to draw up a sad smile, but I forced it to. “I left the other two parts back out there. I’ll be right back.”

I didn’t give him time to even try to mutter any answer. I simply turned myself to toward the door and opened my eyes. Out in the main hangar, the ponytron’s had once again frozen in place. I must have really been flying, because they hadn’t made it that far back toward this end before they froze up. From what I could see as I clambered to my cart, was that they had all stopped close by where I’d left the last two pieces.

The moment I stepped my hoof out the door and onto the cart, they whirred back to life. With a tired groan, I dragged myself up and on my ride. There was a slight groan, and the sound of bending metal. As I pushed off, the cart listed back and began to drag on the floor. I looked down to see why, and as it turns out, I lost two wheels when I hit the carpet.

I don’t know why, but I was angry. I guess I was just so tired of things always getting worse. Maybe it was because I never wanted this in the first place. Most likely, it was because I couldn’t stand to see myself so close to losing the only thing of value I’ll ever have in this world.

Busted cart or not, I rode forward. The three remaining wheels protested with every step. In the midst of everything, I found my focus. I locked my eyes on the rusted hulk I needed to get to and didn’t let them wander. The anger mixed with my fear, and the combination of the two is a feeling I’d never forget. I felt strong, fast, and invincible.

With a furious squeal of grinding metal on concrete, I raced my cart toward the uncaring swarm. It didn’t take long before I was in range for them to fire on me. Red rays of painful death swarmed the air around me. Thier old talismans couldn’t keep up with me. I was a mare on a mission, and I was unstoppable.

One of the beams struck the frame of the cart and suddenly I was listing further to one side. I could feel the heat that the old metal gave off as it deformed under my weight. Stamping my hooves down, I skid to a near dead stop as I reached the hull I needed to be at. Another beam struck just below my tail, this time setting the old cloth padding on fire.

I rolled off the cart and looked around the floor. Sitting where I’d left them were the wire roll and screwdriver. I reached out with my magic to grab them…

...and my horn only sparked.

“No, no, no!” I whined and tried to focus. As much as I strained, my magic was simply gone again. “Fuck it!” I yelled and angrily began to drag myself over to them.

I didn’t have time for any more bad luck. I ground my stumps against the floor and threw myself into each drive. Losing a precious few seconds, I’d made it over to them. One way or another, I would get these back. I bit down on the wire spool and wrapped the screwdriver in my fetlock. As I went to turn around, I found something odd. The sound of the ponytrons had gone. They’d stopped.

“Don’t move.” A gravelly voiced stallion spoke from behind me. Echoing in the silence, the sharp click of the hammer of a gun being drawn back made me freeze. My anger drained out of me almost as fast as the blood from my face. My hooves felt weak without the will to push on, and the pain all over me made itself abundantly obvious. Carefully, I let the wire spool slip from my muzzle and flop onto the floor.

“Please,” I was at the mercy of this stranger. The fact that they hadn’t just shot me was good enough for me to at least try to plead. “He’ll die if I don’t get back to him.” Slowly, I started to turn around. Maybe if he could see I wasn’t lying...

“I said don’t move.” He growled. I felt what had to be the barrel of a gun press against the back of my head. “How many of you are there? What was your plan?”

“It was just the two of us! We were simply looking for a place to lay low for the night.” I stuttered. Though I don’t know all of it, that’s what Caltrop said we’d done. I could only pray that this stallion believed me. “Then the robot’s attacked and nearly killed my friend.” As I spoke, he took a step closer behind me. I swore I could feel the heat he gave off onto my back. A sharp tingle ran through my spine as memories of the train ran through my mind. “Please, I… I don’t want to lose him.”

“If that’s true,” He lowered his voice. “Why aren’t you in there doing just that?” He pressed the gun against my head more firmly than before. “Doesn’t matter. The stallion back there is dead. My friends will make sure of that.”

“No.” I lost my words. At a time this important, I couldn’t be more powerless. If he really is gone, what’s the point? What could I even do? Fight. With Horn and Hoof, I could fight to the bitter end. If Caltrop had any chance, killing this pony might be my only option.

“The question is, do you want to join him?” He jabbed the gun against the side of my head a couple of times.

“If you let him die,” I growled and turned my head again. If he were to shoot me, he would have done it by now. “There is no end to the pain I will cause you and your friends.” As I got a look at him from the corner of my eye, I almost thought it could be the ghoul I’d seen before, but a different pony came into focus.

He was nearly the same orange color as the ghoul I’d met before, but this stallion looked younger and had more of his bright blue mane left. He wore the tattered remains of an old military flight suit, and held a rusty revolver in his magical grip. Pinned to his suit, was a faded security keycard. Probably the only reason that the ponytrons stopped this time. As I looked him over, a yellowed grin drew across his muzzle as he leaned in close.

“How’s a cripple like you going to do that with no magic?” He was so close when he whispered that I could smell the stink on his breath. He was smart to keep out of my horn’s reach. Not far enough to avoid the screwdriver.

“You know what?” I said as I relaxed myself for a moment, thinking about the risk. It was worth it for Caltrop. While he waited for me to continue, I made my move. I flicked my head to the side. Using my horn, I parried the gun out of line with my head. He was fast on his refocusing, but he was so intent on holding up the gun that he missed what my hoof was doing.

Continuing with my perry’s momentum, I torqued my body. The movement carried my thrust, punching the long, screwdriver through his eye and into the back of his skull. In an instant, his magic faded. He collapsed onto the floor, no longer in between Caltrop and I. As the ponytrons whirred back to life, I quickly hoofed his badge off his uniform and painfully pinned it right onto my chest.

They stopped moving again and just sat there dormant. Finally, I could get my thoughts together. We weren’t alone here, and fixing Caltrop was no longer my only objective. They wanted him dead, so I would murder every single last one of them. Looking down, I pulled the screwdriver out of the Asshole’s eye socket.

“Screw you.”