I was the worst friend anypony could ever have.

“Where are you!” I shouted out as I galloped around the bonfire in front of me. I’m sure I was missing the irony that right now it was the smallest fire around. Only one thing needed to be in my mind, and that was for me to find that fucking bitch and murder the hell out of her. As always, my mind never made it that simple.

Caltrop had given his tail for me, spilled so much blood for me, and for what? A mare who had treated him like dirt, who had refused to love him? Who had left him thinking she was dead for a month?

Sandy was the same. I had taken her from her home. She’d nearly died for me on a few occasions, and all for me to simply pat her on the head? Now she could die at any minute, all because I couldn't get her far enough away from the danger I brought down on all who knew me. I did this, the one who had the idea that Sandy was the closest thing I’d ever had to a child.

What kind of mother could ever let this happen?

“Fuck you!” I screamed out, doing my best to fight the tears welling up in my eyes. “Do you hear me? I said fuck you!” Digging my hooves in, I skidded to a stop at the farthest bonfire. Out past where it’s light shown, I knew Spectre was watching me. She had watched me gun down Dykem. It had been somepony she knew, and she just watched from the safety of the darkness.

The soft click of the hammer on a gun being locked back caught my ear the moment it was pressed up against the back of my head. I didn't quite know how, but I knew that it was Spectre pressing it to my head.

"Pathetic." She seethed with a hushed tone to her words. She was using some sort of spell to mask where her voice was coming from. "You can stop worrying about me killing you. Flint ordered me that above all else, you are to be saved for him to kill, if it came down to it." If that were the case, then I was going to beat the crap out of her. "No no." She hissed, pressing the gun to my head. "Just because he told me not to, doesn't mean that there couldn't be an... 'accident' if you force my move."

"Did you teleport Dykem in here to plant all those charges?" I spoke up, standing there, shifting my gaze around the flickering darkness of camp. She had to be out there somewhere.

"Flint didn't know you were planning to betray him, he believed your little lies. But I could see through your weak words, and unknown to you, Dykem was listening in along with me. It was that little whore's idea to slip in and blow this place up." She grunted and relieved the pressure against the back of my head. "The job was just to take out those who followed you, but she was overconfident in wanting to kill off your companion."

"And now Dykem's dead." I chortled under my breath. "How do you plan on explaining that to daddy dearest?" Honestly, the fact that she was dead by my own hooves felt unreal. She had been just a filly, not unlike I was when I was freezing and pointing a gun at the stallion who had mom. I gunned her down, and I didn’t even blink.

"Freeze!" Storm shouted. An arcane flash, from my left told me that Spectre had jumped, but the gun against the back of my head was still there. Storm walked slowly into the clearing where I was, pointing her gun at me.

"I'm the one in control here." I could feel the warm breath of Spectre's words on my neck. "You're welcome to try, but Flint wants her alive for now. One wrong move and..." She trailed off into a sultry laugh.

"What do you want then?" I craned my head back, casting a wide glance back at her. It was only for a moment, but I saw Spectre. No rags, no garment. Her skin was pale white and hairless, drenched in sweat as her glowing eyes were almost as bright as the magic aura around her horn. She sneered and shoved the gun against me to turn my gaze away.

"He wants you to attack him." She spat out. "He thinks it will be entertaining to watch as your little force here tries to bring him down." Slowly, she took a step back from me. "I know that I went behind his back, but I just had to make sure that come tomorrow, none of you stood a ghost of a chance. Don’t worry though," Her voice dropped down to almost a whisper, “I’ll make sure he waits to kill your stallion friend right in front of you.”

With another arcane snap, she disappeared, along with the gun against my head. She was gone. My legs gave out from under me, and I slumped in the dirt. We have one shot to save Caltrop, and I couldn’t afford to screw this up. No pony else should have to die for my mistakes. No pony.

The light rain that pattered down did it’s best to wash away the metallic smell of blood and extinguish the burning embers that still hung heavily in the morning air. The storm I had feared would come last night didn’t arrive in the form I thought it would take, but it was just as destructive all the same.

As the sun rose slowly over the horizon, I walked towards the tent where they were keeping Sandy. Moans and whines came from within from the dozens of others who were hurt in the attack. The old drab color of the tents had been stained with splotches of still drying blood.

The flap opened suddenly, and my mother stepped out. Her eyes were weary, and her hooves and chest were covered in caked on blood. She gave me a tired smile as she turned the corner, shuffling off towards the other large tent. Behind her, Synchro stepped out, looking even more tired. His coat and forehooves were even more coated in blood than my mother’s, nearly completely crimson.

“PC.” He spoke with tired words. “We’ve managed to get her stabilized… if just for now.” Even though it felt like a mountain had been lifted off of me, I sat down hard. She was alive. “But,” He started, “Bluejay was right. She’s too young for hydra, the shock of it could outright kill her.”

“So, w-what,” I struggled to get the words from my muzzle. “can you do anything for her?”

“Her arm was completely mangled in the blast, with everything just above the elbow down being destroyed completely.” His sad expression didn’t help give me any hope. “I can do what I did with your legs.” Pointing at me, even then he didn’t change his tone. “But with how young she is, I don’t know what will happen when she grows over the next few years. With her bones and muscles enlarging, she’d need constant check up and surgeries to make sure that she didn’t pinch an artery, or have some sort of other complication.”

“So, there’s nothing you can do.” I sighed, looking down at the dirt.

“I… didn’t say that.” He spoke up softly. “Given if you left her here for me to work on her, I might be able to amputate up to the shoulder and cap it there. It would mean less complications for her as she grew. I’d still have to replace the cap every time she outgrew one, but it might be better for her.”

“What about the pain?” I asked him sternly.

“Honestly, I’m surprised at how little your stumps hurt.” He looked down at the dirt as he spoke. “Most amputees suffered an immense amount, to the fact that they needed Med-x constantly to even get by.” Those weren’t the word’s I’d been hoping for.

A grim look fell across his face. “It will be far worse than if she’d been a normal pony. Cutting it at the shoulder means a lot more severed nerve endings. Hellhounds have digits on their paws as well, so they have a whole lot more than ponies do in their hoof. All of which, means more pain for her.”

So, I could tell him to cap it where it is, and risk her dying from some unforeseen complication laster down the road. I could tell him to cap it at her shoulder, and doom Sandy to a life of unspeakable agony. Or, I could do nothing and let her end the pain in death.

“Do it.” I seethed, hating the own words leaving my muzzle.

“E-excuse me?” He stammered.

“I said, do it. Cap it at her shoulder.” I repeated with a stomp. “Damn the pain, I won’t have her die for nothing, do you hear me?” He simply stood there, staring up at me wide eyed. “I don’t care what it takes, you save her life right this instant!”

“Percussion Cap!” Storm shouted, pushing her way out of the tent. Without a care, she brushed past Synchro and walked over to me. She wore a stone cold expression across her muzzle, simply lifting a hoof and pointing toward the rising sun. “Let’s take a walk.”

I wanted to break down. All of my anger, my frustration, I wanted to vent it out right now. The very last thing I wanted to do, was go with her and listen to one of her lectures. Having somepony yell at me for fucking up isn’t something I ever would willingly accept, not unless I deserved it. And oh, how much I deserved it.

She headed off ahead of me, her hooves pressing down harder into the softening dirt with each step. I could tell that she was angry, even if she didn’t sound or look like she was. Still, I picked myself up and followed her. Her anger grew with each step away from camp, and for me, my regrets did the same.

“What you did back there?” She spoke out suddenly, wheeling around in the dirt and prodding her hoof into me. “That shit is going to get the ponies you love killed. Acting without thinking is some of the most stupid shit you could fucking do!” She yelled in frustration. “Goddesses, PC, I thought we were past this!”

“I won't give up on Sandy!” I belted out. She could be angry at anything she wanted, but I don’t have to justify myself when it came to Sandy. “Tell me that I made the wrong decision for her!”

Her eye twitched in annoyance. “I'm not talking about that, you fucking moron!” With a quick swing, she smacked me hard across my muzzle. “When Bluejay told you to find Synchro, what the fuck happened to you?”

“I saw Spectre,” Rage had taken over me at that point, I couldn’t fight it, knowing that it was her out in the darkness. “I had too…”

Again, she smacked me hard to shut me up forcefully. “So you just ran off after her?” Storm shouted. “How fucking Stupid are you, PC? Did you even reload your mother’s gun before running out there? Did you even have it ready to use?” Stomping, she spun in a circle and bucked at the air, screaming out her rage.

“I didn’t…” Again, before I could finish, she hit me. This time however, she didn’t hold back. “The fuck?” I screamed as I tumbled into the dirt.

“It’s fucking bad enough that Flint’s doing all this shit!” She screamed out, going back to maddly bucking at the air. “This isn’t something you get to fucking fuck up on!” With what sounded like a crack of thunder, she brought her hooves down in one last hit. When she did, a gout of blue flames rolled out from under her hooves. She glared fire at me, and not the figurative kind. In her eyes, burned bright blue flames.

I… I couldn’t believe it. All this time, all these years. All the stories about her, they were true.

“I won’t be around to pick up after you forever, PC.” She grit her teeth together as she spoke. “This whole raid? This is it for me.” With heavy breaths, the flames dimmed. Instantly, her eyes took on a tired look that was even worse than mother’s or Synchro’s had been. “I have been fighting for far too long, and it’s getting harder every day to fight.” With a heavy plop, she sat down into the wet dirt and let the soft rain wash over her. “I’m old, PC. I may not look it, but it’s time for me to give up galavanting around the wasteland saving ponies.”

I didn’t know what to say. Everything I’ve ever said to her, everything I blamed Storm for. All of it was wrong. I didn’t know what was worse, the fact that I’d believed that she was just some entitled old bitch all these years, or that I’d again been too thick skulled to listen to any of the stories I’d been told.

“You may not want to follow in my hoofsteps, but you need to listen to me, PC.” She sighed. “Ponies like Flint? They keep coming. And that won’t change until the day that either one of them wins, or the wasteland ceases to be the shitty place that it is today.”

“Then what’s the point?” I mean, if she’s been fighting all these years against ponies like Flint without end, what genuinely was the point of fighting at all? “Why do you do it then?”

“To protect you.” She smirked. “As shitty of a place as it is, the wasteland is our home, PC. Ponies like Flint, like Red Eye, they seek to wrap it up into something they can exploit. Without ponies like Bluejay and your mother, there’s nothing to keep them from making everypony suffer.”

“Why didn’t you show me? Or tell me about any of this years ago?” I didn’t understand, why now?

“Because you needed to be ready.” With a grunt, she picked herself up and came over to me. Sitting down at my side, she wrapped her hoof around me. “Back when I realized who I was truly meant to be, I asked a lot of questions. It took me years to realize that without going through what I had, without experiencing the things I did, I couldn’t be the mare I am today.” Leaning into me, she planted a soft kiss on my horn. “I was afraid that if I told you, you would change yourself to fit my vision of who you should be. You needed to become your own mare, PC, even if it wasn’t the one I’d hoped you’d become.”

“I’m sorry.” I sighed, pressing back into her as if doing so would strip away all the harmful things I’d said and done to her over the years. Caltrop and Synchro had done it, and it was now my turn to act half my age. Whimpering and crying like a filly, I pressed myself into her neck. “I… I don’t know what to do.”

“Shhh.” She whispered, simply holding me. “You don’t need me to tell you what to do anymore, PC. Even though I’ve been angry and hard on you these last months, it’s because like your mother, you grew up so fast.” I could feel as her own tears dripped down my head. “You have a drive, PC, something other ponies around you lack. You know what you want, and you don’t stop until you get it. That’s an amazing thing to have, and I don’t want you to ever give that up.”

“I just want to live a normal life.” Somewhere alone and away from the wasteland, where I could just be with Caltrop and Sandy. “To love, and to grow old with them, to see them happy. That’s all I ask.” Slowly, Storm stroked my mane with her forehoof.

“Just this one last ride then, that’s all it will take.” She whispered into my ear. With a whimper, I just laid there in her hooves. Slowly, the weariness of sleep shut my eyes, and I drifted off, dreaming of Caltrop’s happy smile, and Sandy’s playful laugh. But, it was still just that.

A dream.

“So,” A stallion spoke in the darkness. “Can you recount for me what happened?”

“Y-yes.” I spoke, but not really me. I used the voice of Grace from the memory orbs. Shit, did Storm put me in one? Were they even still in my saddlebags?

“Good. Start from the beginning.” The stallion spoke in a very soothing tone. “Build a scene for me.”

“I-it was morning. We’d been taken and put onto a couple of Virtibucks.” She stammered. I don’t know why, but something about being in her for this memory orb felt different. Her body seemed colder than normal, while still being just as tense.

“Who is we?” The stallion spoke up calmly.

“Silver Shill and I. We’d been arrested by the Ministry of Moral.” It was fuzzy, but I began to see an image form ahead of me. In the darkness, the striking form of a virtibuck came into view, the back ramp of it opening. “We were being lead across the roof by Mr. Peirce, one of the Ministry Stallions.” Another shape fuzzed in through the darkness, the blue stallion in the pink suit from the other orbs appeared.

“Good, good.” The unknown stallion smoothly answered. “What happened from there?”

I watched as the virtibuck grew closer, the stallion escorting her walked up and on to the ramp. “I followed Mr. Peirce in, while…” She paused, the image in her mind shifting over to one of Silver Shill being escorted into another Virtibuck. The chains on his legs shined brightly when she noticed them, coming into sharp focus. “Mr. Shill was placed on the other Virtibuck.”

“Any then you took off, right?”

“Mhmm.” Grace answered. “Once I was secured in a seat, Mr. Pierce turned to me,” As she described it, the image mirrored her description in every way. “He said to me, that the flight should only be an hour or so, and that he wanted to talk to me about what Mr. Shill was investigating.”

“I see.” The stallion’s voice reverberated in her mind. The way this was all set up, it felt… off. None of the other orbs were ever like this. “So did he end up talking with you?”

“Not at first.” Grace’s voice waivered, and the image in her head shifted abruptly. “He waited until we were a few minutes into the flight before he started talking. He’d wanted to know about something that the general had in his possession.” As she mentioned that, the familiar image of the general behind his desk came into view. In between his hooves, the small golden rectangle that i’d glossed over glinted brightly.

“What was it?” The stallion asked in an almost hushed tone. “The object.”

“I… I don’t know.” Grace said, focusing more on the golden bar in her mind. “Mr. Peirce seemed to think that it was something that the general shouldn’t have had in his possession.” With a shutter, the image of inside the Virtibuck returned, accompanied with the sound of alarms going off from inside the cabin. “That was when the first missile hit the other Virtibuck. We could hear as Silver’s transport went down.” The sound of rending metal filled my mind, and I could feel as a panic set in through her body.

“Okay, breathe, Mrs. Grace.” The stallion spoke again in a soft, relaxed voice. “Just breathe, it’s just a memory. It can’t hurt you now.”

“Then came the explosion.” Grace nearly sobbed, the sound of another blast filled my head as she cried out in her own virtibuck. “Mr. Pierce got up from his seat in a panic. The first thing he did was come and undo my restraints.” The blue stallion walked over with a whine and used his magic to free her, turning around sharply and walking towards the front of the cabin. “That’s when we were hit.”

The image shook wildly, and a soft ringing filled her ears. I watched in silence as the Virtibuck fell to pieces around her, sheering itself apart as she was thrown out of the wreck. The flying machine tumbled in pieces down toward a set of rolling green hills. When it slammed into them, it erupted into an enormous fireball, sending hundreds of shards of the machine straight up into the air.

“There was so much debris in the air going down and coming up, I tried to avoid them.” She whimpered, as I felt her wings unfold. “I was so afraid, I didn’t know where to go.” She twisted and turned them in time with the image. That was, up until something heavy and black twisted through the air, slamming into her. “I was blindsided by something big.” As it hit, I felt the horrendous snap of her body as she was twisted through the air. Shining flecks filled the air in her image, before it blurred. “The spin sent me into more debris that cut at me.”

“I tried to stabilize myself, but I couldn’t get my body in line.” The sound of pained screaming echoed in my mind, the spinning world turning from green ground to blue sky again and again. “But I couldn’t. So I just did what I could to mitigate the speed of my fall. Good thing I did, because I managed to steer myself into a tree.” The image in her mind flashed just the quickest view of a tree before everything went dark.

“And that’s the tree that you were found in, correct?” The stallion sighed. “Is that all that you can remember?”

“Yes.” She nodded softly. “I’m sorry if I that isn’t what you need, officer.”

“No, that was more than enough.” The stallion spoke up with a note of hope. “I’m sorry to have had come all the way down here and kept you from your rest.” The sound of a squeaky chair filled my mind, and the image of an old rocking chair appeared for just a moment in front of me. “And to you, Mr. Pence, I’m sorry to have taken so much time from you and your Fiancee.”

“It’s no problem, really…” The pained voice of a stallion spoke up. “The doctors you provided have done an amazing job. They said that maybe even in a few years, she’ll be able to walk again.” As he did, the image of a smiling, copper looking stallion with piercing blue eyes appeared in front of me. “Just… find out who killed my dad. Please.”

“I know it was that fucking general.” Grace whimpered out, “Even if I no longer have the eyes to see the justice done, I will see that stallion brought down if it’s the last thing I ever do.”

“You have done enough, Mrs. Grace. Leave the rest up to the Ministry of Morale.” The stallion from before spoke up. “You aren’t the only one to have lost a loved one in that attack. I’ll find out who did this, so that Mr. Shill and my husband can finally rest in peace.”

Again, it was another useless orb that meant nothing to me in the long run. Though, I guess this one was at least intriguing. These orbs weren’t left behind as just some memory for somepony to relive, but as an open question as to who killed Silver Shill. All hooves pointed to the general, but even so, I wanted to know what was so damn important about that one, little golden rectangle.

I was jostled awake from my sleep as somepony nearly tripped on me.

“Sorry, PC.” Synchro yawned softly as he walked over to the back of the tent I was in. Dammit, I shouldn’t have fallen asleep, there was too much to do. With a light stretch of my forelegs, I let out my own yawn as Synchro hoofed up his armor from the floor. He rummaged around in one of it’s pockets, pulling something small out. “I’m almost done with Sandy. Just have to sew her back up.” Without even pausing, he brought a small rainbow colored inhaler to his muzzle. With a hiss, he used it, standing up straight and giving out a light shiver. “Much better.”

“Are you using Dash?” I wasn’t sure what to think. Was that really wise considering that he was performing surgery on Sandy?

“It’s the only way I’ve been able to stay awake through the surgery.” He dropped the vial and gave his muzzle a light smack. Looking down at me, he looked a lot more perky than he had a minute ago. “Anyway, gotta go.” And then he trotted out.

With a groan, I rolled myself over and tried to get up, finding myself just sitting there on the floor. Looking down, my rear legs were still connected to me, but not working. Groggily, I looked back to find that my battery harness was sitting in the corner.

It took me a minute to get myself hooked up and ready to go again. I don’t know how long I’d slept, but I really hoped that it wasn’t too long. It was a long trip back to Flint’s, and we don’t have long to make it. Focusing, I levitated out Howdy and opened the cylinder. I was about to dump out the rounds, but found that they had already been replaced.

“PC, you up?” Storm called from outside.

“Yeah, just a second.” With a click, I closed the cylinder and shoved the gun back in it’s holster. Sleep really had helped to clear my mind, but it didn’t alleviate my worry about Sandy. Nor did it calm any of the regret I felt for years worth of my hateful interactions with Storm. Still, as I always have, I moved on, stepping forward and into the outside.

“Most teleportation spells attempt ta convert yah into magical energy. Dat energy is transmitted all at once at the speed a light through the ether, unpackin’ yah at the preordained destination.” Flank Steak spoke as I strode out into the middle of an odd conversation. “As fast as dat transmission is, the further the distance it travels, the more dat energy degrades. Once it degrades enough, poof, yah come back inta existence.”

“You can teleport?” I was trying to wrap my head around how a mare her size and demeanor learned to do that.

“Yeah, what’s it ta yah?” She eyed me curiously. “What, yah can’t?”

“PC isn’t into the whole ‘diverse spell’ mindset.” Bluejay said in a way where I’d smack her if it were any other day. “Spectre's spell however, isn't transmitting you all at once. She creates a magical bridge to the desired location, transmitting you in two pieces.”

“You can do that?” Storm asked as she sucked down a good helping of the cigarette in her muzzle. It looked damn good, and I could almost taste it on my lips. It’s been awhile since I smoked, and I really wanted one. However, I couldn’t. I needed to keep myself focused on the priorities I had now, not the vices I used to enjoy.

Bluejay nodded. “First, the inherent magic within you, then, your physical body. It's why her spell takes a moment to charge, and why you see the destination before you are actually there.” She lifted her pipbuck and tapped on it with her hoof, smiling wide. “But, there’s a flaw to it. Because she can project just her magic through first, it creates a momentary ghost both in the physical world, AND on the pipbuck's EFS before she finalizes the spell and jumps.”

“So, we can see where she’ll pop up?” Storm said, blowing out a large plume of smoke.

“If you blink, you'd miss it.” Bluejay sighed, raising her hoof and rubbing at her neck nervously. “And if we’re too focused on staring at our pipvision, she could just shoot us.”

“Wow, dat’s one hell of a leg up on her.” Flank rolled her eyes. “Solid edge ta use.”

“It might be.” I said, having an actual idea pop into my mind. “Generally, she has to stand for a moment in one place to cast, right? And it probably takes a lot of focus, as any spell.”

“Well, yeah.” Bluejay nodded, tipping her horn at me. “I did my best to copy the spell to get out of that place. Got me a few miles out, but I burned out my horn for two days doing it.” Looking at me, she cocked her eyebrow. “What do you have in mind?”

“There are three of us she has to focus on, and it will only take one of us to hit her.” I began, “It’s going to take a lot of focus to avoid all of us, and if we start predicting where she’ll be, she won’t have the time to fire.” Pointing to Bluejay’s horn, I gave out a shrug. “After a minute or so of that, she’ll be too tired to continue.”

“Then she’ll just teleport somewhere else to rest.” Bluejay sighed before she scrunched up her muzzle. “Oh.”

“If I know Flint, he’ll panic with her gone.” Storm nodded. “Three against one, no help in sight. He’ll be an easy kill.” She shrugged. “Only one problem, is how do we get in?”

“Could always go the way dat we did. Trojan style.” Flank grunted. “There’s room enough inside dat monstrosity fer three mares, so long as one of ‘em isn’t me.”

“You know about the Trojans?” Bluejay snorted. “Color me impressed.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She waved in dismissal. “Caltrop wasn’t the only one ta read back in the day. Still didn’t understand half of them...”

“So, your mother, Ficha, and the ponies that are still left here swung in from the east. They get most of the guards pulled down to the valley toward the slave quarters.” Storm spoke between quick draws on what was quickly becoming a nub of a cigarette. “Blue and I ride inside Synchro’s machine, all while you and Synchro ride on top.”

“About that,” I sighed, not sure I could even ask him to go. “He’s exhausted, only staying awake through drugs.” As I spoke, Storm didn’t change her look at all. “I don’t think it would be a good idea to take him.”

“She’s right.” Bluejay nearly jumped at the chance to speak. “He’s in no condition to fight, and he really has no relevant combat skills.” She turned around, walking away toward the big tent, talking as she did. “So yeah, don’t know about you all, but we’re going to have to go, like, now.”

“What?” Storm pushed herself up, trotting in front of me and looking back. “Damnit.” Me knowing what the hell was going on, the sky lit up in a bright flash, almost immediately, a burst of thunder shook the tents themselves. “Just had to do it today, didn’t they?”

I turned and took a step back, looking up to find an almost pitch black sky beyond the camp. It was almost comical, the line that split the normal wasteland clouds and the stormy ones. This storm looked bad, and if we didn’t get going soon, we’d be slogging through waist high muds, or worse. One flash flood along the plains near the road to Flint’s and the plan was done for.

“Let’s go!” My mother called from across the camp. “Those of you who can still fight. Get your gear, and head east. We’re on a time limit!” As soon as she’d finished that sentence, a bolt of lightning crawled across the lower side of the clouds above us.

“PC!” Bluejay shouted, “Get your…” She was abruptly cut off by another burst of thunder, but I got the gyst of it.

Trotting around Flank Steak, I got myself moving toward the others. I passed a few weary and heavily bandaged stallions who were sitting around the fire. From what mom had said, Dykem murdered eight ponies with her little trinkets. Sadly, three of them were Big shot and his sons, caught in their sleep they never had a chance to run. I thought back to the last request that Novocain had, was to find her sons. I never did tell them that she died with them in her thoughts.

I was honestly surprised that any of them stayed after the attack, they didn’t need to fight this battle. Storm’s words cropped up in my mind. No, they had every right to fight against Flint. That was why they were here, not for Caltrop. These ponies fought because they wanted to make the wasteland better, and that made them far better ponies than I.

“Don’t shoot! Hold your fire.” Storm called out from up ahead. Both she and Bluejay were perched at the top of one of the small hills outside of camp. “My pipbuck says she’s friendly. What about yours?”

“Friendly, but that doesn’t mean I have to trust her.” Bluejay grumbled looking back as I trotted up the hill. Another flash and burst of thunder was almost perfectly timed as I crested it and saw who they were talking about. Brushfire slowly walked towards us, staring at me with a sneer from the moment I met her gaze.

“That’s far enough.” Storm called over to her. To my surprise, Brushfire did as was asked and sat down. She wore her flamer on her, but it wasn’t lit like normal. Maybe she was here to join up with us? “"State your business, raider." I could be hopeful at least.

"I came to deliver a message for PC." Brushfire spoke up, sounding off from her normal cocky self. “Flint wishes you to know that he is deeply disappointed in you. However, if you kill Storm as requested and Synchro the traitorous bastard, he’ll spare Caltrop’s life.”

“And he’d just, let him go?” I found that very hard to believe. Even if he did hold true to his word, it didn’t mean I wouldn’t try to kill him anyway.

“Of course not. He own’s Caltrop, he’d just be put to work in the fields.” She sighed and shook her head in annoyance. “You know, I was supposed to kill you if you didn’t agree, but this ain’t worth dying over. I’m outta here.” She rose to her hooves and turned, still keeping her eyes locked on me. “I’ve been looking for a way out of Flint’s employ for quite some time, PC. Solid employer, but it’s really lost it’s fun.” She called back, turning her gaze from me sharply. “I just didn’t want to leave Dykem there with him. She was a good kid, PC.”

“I did what I had to do.” I cried back. Yeah, I didn’t even believe the words coming from my muzzle. Whatever lie that helps me sleep at night I guess.

“Know this, PC.” She screamed out as she turned to the south. “If I ever see you again, you’re dead for what you did to her.” We all watched as she trotted off into the hills as the sound of approaching rains met our ears.

I wouldn’t have guessed it. The whole time I was there, I’d missed it completely, but now it made sense. Dykem and Brushfire were always going on jobs together because she cared about Dykem. I don’t know how she cared about her, or if it mirrored the way I thought about Sandy, but it scared me.

“Alright.” Bluejay nodded. “I’m going to go fill in Synchro on the plan. If he can make sure his bot get’s back to Flint’s with us in it, then we do whatever it takes to get the job done.” She turned and held her hoof out to me. “Agreed?”

The oncoming storm darkened the sky as it passed overhead. Torrential rains began to pick up, and without another word, it was time to set everything in motion. My mother trudged past us up the hill, offering a soft smile to the three of us as we stood there. The others who followed kept their eyes set ahead, or helped along the injured who still wanted to fight.

I wanted to say that this was the beginning of the last job I’d ever do, but I was wrong. This was something I’d started quite some time ago, and I had spent enough time convincing myself not to do it. Mother and I were tied for failed contracts, and I intended to keep it that way.

This job seemed fairly simple, the same any other contract I’d ever picked up. Find an asshole, and kill them. Just like the contract that started me on this journey, the reward for Flint’s death was too good to pass up. I’d been paid forward in the blood and lives of those like Brightshine and her brother, Jamboree, and even Null and Dykem. I intended to make good on their sacrifice, no matter what.

“Agreed.” I nodded, turning to Bluejay and taking her forehoof in mine. “Let’s kill that asshole.”