Sitting down in front of my desk, the day was going slowly for me. There wasn’t many issues that needed my attention usually, just the occasional dispute that needed somepony to mediate and there never was a better pony than myself to do the job it seemed.
Still, it was a comfortable job.

My office was filled with one giant mural. A clean, crisp looking blue sky looking down upon me from above and lush green hills to my sides and back.
It always made me long to be outside of the Stable, to be in the skies and pushing around tufts of cloud like I was really meant to. I was a pegasus, my cutie mark was my wings! My destiny was to be playing around with the weather out in the open, not cooped up in a box doing paperwork and counting down the hours until I could do what I wanted to again.

Sighing loudly as those thoughts passed through my head, I began to remind myself that no matter how boring it could be at times that it was still a lot better than living outside of Four Ridges. Hell, my job was still more comfortable than some of the jobs we had to do here even. I never did envy those ponies that had to do the yearly sewage maintenance checks.
Stepping through the waste of nearly two thousand ponies was definitely not the job for me.

While losing myself in a world of thought as I idly played with my Rainbowdash plushie, who for the record was the greatest pegasus to have ever lived in all of pegasus history, a sudden knock on the door disturbed my trance and sent my hooves flying for the drawer to hide my secret joy.

Without confirmation of permission, a particularly beautiful earth pony mare walked in and began to eye me as I blushed over the now hidden away toy.
Before me stood Melony Love, the head of maintenance for the Stable.
As if planned the whole time in some dramatic entrance, she brought her hoof up to brush the mane from her eyes.
The white coat of her hoof really did look beautiful against the two toned mint green and melon yellow locks that curled around to her nose.

Looking at her in suspicion of what she might’ve been after, I began to chuckle. “Oh, come in here all in a hurry to come see me, have you? I thought you normally want me in bed once every two weeks, you’re a day early.”

Gasping before beginning to smile, Melony rolled her eyes at me before beginning to say her piece. “Sorry hotshot, but not this time. Official business.”

“Official business, hey? Are you saying you don’t classify trying to convince me that getting into bed with you hasn’t more or less become official business in your schedule by now?” I chimed back, an even larger smile across my lips as I looked over at the wall where a mirror hung.

As I admired my handsome face and how I really liked how the red of my mane and wings clashed against the dark charcoal of my coat, I caught Melony shaking her head out of the corner of my eye.
“No, that’s just pleasure. Besides, don’t even try to act like you don’t enjoy it just as much. Now, back to what I came here for in the first place.” Slowly, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “And no, it wasn’t to flirt with you. It was for something serious.”

Looking back at her, I put away the jokes and teasing for now. If Melony found something to be serious then there was definitely a need for me to pay attention, her being the mare in charge of making sure that Four Ridges remained a stable environment to live in after all.
“Okay then. What is it, Melony?”

Opening her eyes, her expression was deadly serious. Her brow furrowed, I really didn’t like the expression she had, it filled me with anxiety over what she had to say.
“Crimson, there’s an issue with the water talisman.”

Interrupting before she could say anything more, I spoke out. “An issue?”

“Yes.” She continued. “It’s beginning to take damage. The water talisman was never intended to be used so heavily. Stable fifty-eight was purpose built for up to seven hundred ponies, as you know. Currently we’re housing a little over five hundred, but also providing water for little over another thousand. Not to mention the crops that need external water supply from time to time.”

As the numbers went through my head, a fear began to take place in my mind as I looked down at my desk. We really had been taking the talisman for granted, it seemed.

“On the other hoof, the talisman was designed for a little over one thousand, so as much as we’re pushing it above its limits, it’s not excessively like it would be if we doubled the advised limit capabilities. Still, damage is damage and we can’t go on at the rate we are.”

“So, let me get this straight.” I began. “We’re damaging the water talisman by overusing it, but we’re not damaging it at a frightfully alarming rate... right? We could be doing worse to it, yeah?”

With a quick nod, the young mare agreed. “Yes, pretty much. The damage is only beginning to show today. Though we’ve had our suspicions about the output data readings for the last few weeks now.”

Looking at her in confusion, I raised one of my brows. “Judging from your current knowledge of how it’s being damaged, how long do you think we have before it stops working. Also, do you think it will slow down and stop producing so much or you think it’ll just stop completely?”

With a worried expression, she looked at me with sombre eyes. “I really don’t know, Crimson. The talismans were never stress tested like this. They couldn’t have been, there would have never been enough time to find out how years of overuse would affect them. For all we know, it could just stop tomorrow.”

Well, fuck I thought to myself. That really wasn’t good to hear.

“However...” She drew another breath as she paused and looked back behind her. “If the rate of damage continues as it has so far, we have approximately four months. With that said though, it’s likely the initial damage will cause further damage making it a chain effect. If that is the case, it’s closer to somewhere between two to three months. Don’t forget that’s all optimistic evaluations, so we might not even have that long.”

Oh how the news got worse and worse, huh? I couldn’t help but let out a sigh as I took it all in.
At this point, there was no need to really think about my options, this was definitely a matter for my mother to be informed about and to choose what to do about it.
As for myself, it looked like the rains would have to come down earlier than planned and try to reduce the strain on water supply that we would no doubt immediately be feeling.

“You, me, my mother’s office.” I quickly demanded. “She needs to hear about this as quickly as possible so she can make her official choice on the matter.”
Before she even had the chance to get halfway out of her seat I was already by her side, wings outstretched.
“Time to get on the Crimson express, M’lady.”

Melony let out a small giggle as she climbed on and I rose up into the air, because not only would it be faster than trotting there, who said we couldn’t have a little fun?
Feeling her hooves wrap around my neck and hold on tight, I began to beat my wings to fly in what free space there was down in the Stable. It didn’t have the expense of all the free space that topside had, but there was still enough room for us to shoot through the hallways.
Admittedly, one or two ponies may have had to jump to the side upon noticing us coming but we had a damn important message to get to my mother and I wasn’t going to worry about scaring somepony along the way.

As we approached the door to the Overmare’s office, I began to knock before casually opening it and walking on through.
Not seeing her at her usual position behind her desk I made my way over to it, noticing the apples simply sitting there for me.
Now, by ‘for me’, I had only really meant that they were sitting there but seeing as I was already munching on one, they were now claimed in the name of Crimson Wings.

“Mum! Mum! Get your damn plot over here mum! You’re needed and it’s urgent!” I shouted out between bites of the juicy, delicious apple in my hooves.

From her personal quarters she called back out, her voice muffled by the walls between. “Sorry, I’ll be there in a second! I was just having a shower a moment ago and I’m still drying!”

The sound of hoofsteps made their way closer and then her head poked out from around the corner. Her butterscotch coat shining radiantly and making her carmine red hair stand out more than usual as speckles of water fell from the still wet strands.
It really was no wonder I was so damn handsome when I had such a beautiful mother who could look gracious even as she was still drying off.

Biting down into another apple, I began to mumble through the chunks of food in my mouth. “So uh, yea’. Melony has something to say.”

Before Melony could speak her piece however, my mother looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “So, Crimson hunny. They wouldn’t happen to be my apples I had left on my desk for lunch by any chance, would they?”

Half way through biting into the apple I slowly stopped and looked at her, keeping the apple in the way of my mouth as to try hide my smile. “Mmmm... no?”
My grin hit from ear to ear as I tried my hardest to hold back the laughter I felt building up down in my chest and began to fidget, hiding the remaining two apples behind me with as much innocence as I could pretend to have while being caught red hoofedly.

Immediately a light blue glow began to emanate from her horn and encompass the remaining two apples from behind me and brought them over to herself. Looking at them, she then turned her focus back to Melony for a moment.
“Sorry, I’ll let you have my attention in one moment. I just have to teach a certain buck a lesson.”

Melony giggled and nodded back at her as my mother approached closer toward me.
“Now, Crimson. Mind telling me where my other two apples went?” My mother asked.

Looking down at my hooves, I quickly rushed to finish the remainder of the apple in my grasp. Before I could do so however, I found I was no longer holding it at all. Instead, it was within her magical grasp, floating before me.

With a little blush I began to giggle. “Oops, hehe. I uh... may have begun eating them.”

At that moment there, her face turned from her look of suspicion to that of adoration as she shook her head and rolled her eyes at me before trotting over and nuzzling into me.
A small kiss planted itself on my cheek as she rubbed my belly and gave the apple back to me to finish. A good chuckle came from her lips as she began to speak, the smile on her face caused me to smile even more in return. “Such a silly stallion you are. Go on, eat that one since you started it. I’m glad to see you eating anyway you being skinny as you are, Celestia knows you need to eat something.”

As I continued to eat the apple, Melony started telling my mother about the problem with the water talisman. Watching my mother’s face as Melony spoke I could she she was just as worried as I was when I had heard about it, this really wasn’t a joking matter.

Without clean water not only would the Stable die of thirst but also each of the four towns within Four Ridges with it.
Even further than that one of those four towns was a farming settlement that provided the food for all the towns within Four Ridges, and had yet still enough excess to even supply the nearby settlement of Fillydelphia... for a price, of course.
Getting back to a safe state regarding the water talisman had to become our biggest priority, for everypony's sakes.

As the two mares finished speaking, my mother turned to me. “Crimson.”

“Yes?” I asked in return.

“I want you to fly over to the four towns, inform Angel first as they’re the most in need of this new information. After that, the choice is yours on who to go to. Angel may want you to kick up a storm for their crops while you’re at it. Don’t take longer than you need to do your job though, we can’t afford to waste time.”

“Of course, I’ll go there right now. Besides, I’ve been dying for a good flying session these last few hours anyway. Sitting around isn’t really my thing.”

As I turned around and began to make my way out of her office, my mother called out to me. “Crimson? One last thing.”

Turning my head back around to her as she moved on closer to me, I felt her hooves quickly wrap themselves around me as she began to hold me tight in her embrace. My head nuzzled against her neck with my eyes closed.
Although I couldn’t see her face I knew exactly what expression she was wearing at that moment, one of worry. She always hugged me like this when she was truly worried, though I couldn’t blame her one bit.

Flying off to Angel like this was surreal. The town was such a peaceful place, some of my happiest memories took place in the surrounding areas of Angel.
The fact there was so many trees, lakes and fields of crops just made it somewhere you could really feel in touch with nature.
All of the buildings themselves too were made of wood and had a certain old world charm to them that would likely never be found anywhere else apart from in the pictures that inspired their construction.
To be going there with news that would no doubt change their collective mood from a generally easy going and happy one to something of fear or worry didn’t make me happy, though the surroundings themselves did.

The conflicting emotions I felt were almost enough to make me lose focus as I swept through the sky, though looking down on the wall below and the mountain ranges beyond it made me remember that if I didn’t get this done then all would potentially be lost. Four Ridges needed me to be on the ball, to be focused. There was no way I was going to let this settlement crumble like some old, mighty empire that had outstretched its own means.

Sighing at the mere thought of it all, I looked ahead as Angel crept ever closer in my vision. I could finally start to make out the dirt trodden paths they used creeping from out of the town.
A part of me wondered why we still called them towns, they were getting larger and larger as the years went on but even still they were always the same. Still, it was comforting in its own way, some things just didn’t need to change.

Drawing ever closer to the heart of it all, the occasional farmer waved at me. Usually I wouldn’t have had any issue flying down and greeting them, seeing if there was any issues they wanted to address to me or anything of particular note they simply wanted to speak about.
Not today, however. Today I was on a task too important and thus instead all I did was wave back as I continued to make my way.

As I circled around the settlement I picked out the mayor’s house from the rest and began my descent. His house wasn’t anything luxurious or even all that unique, but it was still a slight bit bigger than the other houses.
As I landed, a small crowd congregated around me.

“Crimson!” One of them stated in shock. “What brings you here? We’re not expecting rain for another three days now, I thought?”

“Possible change in plans.” I quickly retorted. “Does anypony know if the Mayor is home?”

“I’m right here.” He called out from behind the crowd, quickly making his way to the front. “What seems to be the issue?”

Looking straight into his eyes and then at the crowd behind him, I really didn’t think that talking about the matter in open air was the most suitable way to address the situation.
“Do you think we could talk in your home, Mayor Goldenhooves?”

With a nod, the mayor agreed. “Why of course we can. Come in, come in.”

Usually it had been the mayor inside my home, not the other way around. Looking around as I sat upon his sofa, I took a moment to look at all his simplistic decorations made of wood and little else as I awaited the brown buck to return from the kitchen.
As he came back into the room I noticed how his blonde mane shone in the light coming through the windows as he held two mugs, one for us each.

In a humble tone that I could only have undying respect for, the Mayor began to speak. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t offer you anything more than nettle tea. Usually I would have some soft or perhaps even hard cider around, but unfortunately this isn’t quite the right time of year to be producing cider and I recently ran out myself.”

“It’s fine.” I insisted with a small chuckle. “If anything, it’s me who should be sorry.”

“Oh whatever do you mean, Crimson? You’ve done nothing wrong!”

“Well, not yet anyway.” I murmured before taking a sip. “You see, I’ve not come here bearing good news, unfortunately. Precisely the opposite, even.”

“Oh? Care to inform me of what this bad news is?” The Mayor asked with uncertainty in his eyes. Looking at him, it was obvious he could read my face and tell that this was about something serious though I didn’t think he could tell just how serious the matter was from that alone.

Putting my mug down momentarily, I looked Mayor Goldenhooves straight in the eyes. “It’s about the water supply from the Stable. To put it simply, the water talisman is beginning to show signs of damage from overuse. Our engineers aren’t sure how this is truly going to affect the output though all signs point to nothing good. We’re unsure of exactly how long it’s going to be capable of producing safe water, or any water at all.”

The Mayor, now shaken, slowly lowered his mug and placed it upon the table before lowering his face into his hooves. “So, you’re saying we’re on a time limit of how long we can survive? Goddesses above, what did we do to deserve this? How are we supposed to continue without the water supply from the Stable? You’re not going to live forever and even then I doubt you alone would be capable of producing enough rain by yourself to provide all that we require. Even back in the days when your father was still around and we had a lot less crop to produce we still wouldn’t have been able to cope with a single pegasus working tirelessly on such a task.”

“We’ll work something out,” I began to assure him. “we have no choice but to. If we don’t, we’ll all starve to death and so will many small settlements. I’m sure Fillydelphia could simply request more supplies from its other trading partners, but we’ve got more at stake than even the entirety of Four Ridges going here. We can’t simply sit on our asses and do nothing over this.”

“But, Crimson.” He interjected, his worried tone of voice shaken from the news. “How do you think that this will be resolved? I mean, I may not be Mayor Blossom but even I know that technology like a water talisman can’t be commonplace or cheap. There’s no way we could simply stroll on into a marketplace and request a water talisman and be handed one without an issue.”

“Well,” I paused... he had a point, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. “I know that I’ll be doing whatever it takes to make sure that the task is successful. I don’t know what we’re going to be doing yet, though I have my guesses and I know what I would do if I was my mother. If she’ll do what I’m thinking of I don’t know, it does seem to be the most sensible option however.”

Now he looked at me with a raised eyebrow as he slowly pulled his mug up for another sip to calm his nerves, his hooves shaking as he did. “And that is?”

“To send out three caravans, each with its own brahmin. Of course, I’d offer you compensation for any brahmin lost to properly cover the price of raising or buying and keeping a replacement brahmin to reduce your risk. After all, you do have a town to take care of and even in times like these I have to consider your individual needs as towns as well as the bigger picture.”

The mayor simply nodded in agreement without saying a word, prompting me to continue.
“If each caravan went to somewhere different, some place likely to have either information on where we could find a water talisman for sale or even better, salvage... well, we’d be set.”

“Quite the reasonable plan. Tell you what, if your mother also suggests something similar, I’ll be sure to accept. While I couldn’t expect personal reward for any of this, I wouldn’t be able to simply throw resources at a loss without any guarantee of insurance on those losses. It’s true that the ponies here at Angel aren’t the violent type but even we must be shown respect, we are just as important as the ponies with guns after all.”

Smiling at the buck, I nodded. “Of course.”

Finishing off the last of my tea that had been so graciously been given to me, I placed the mug back upon the table. “Now, I apologise for having been the bearer of bad news and even more so for this, but I must go. The other three town mayors will need to hear of this news and I’m the one in charge of telling them. Thank you for the tea, it was marvellous.”

With a warm smile the Mayor nodded at me again. “Yes, of course.”
His voice seemed to fade into the distance as he finished his sentence, causing me to worry a little.

Reaching out to him, I tried to comfort the poor guy. “You’re going to be okay, right? I know the news I just brought to you is a bit shocking and disturbing. If you need me to stick around a little longer and help you settle down somewhat then I will, okay?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine. I just need time to think about how to tell the towns is all. This news is very serious and I’m just thinking how we’ll cope. That’s all... yeah.”
At this point the mayor began to twiddle his hooves together in deep thought as he mumbled to himself.

In a moment of quick thinking, I perked up. “Hey, you’ve still got your reserve tanks, right? They store what, a months worth of water usage when filled to the brim?”

“Yes. Still, that won’t last forever.” He mumbled back in return.

“Want me to make it rain for you right now?” I suggested, hoping it would raise his spirits slightly. Not only would the rain provide water for the crops below but it would also encourage ponies to go back into their homes and allow the mayor enough time to think about the upcoming moment where he would have to speak to all the ponies in his town.

Looking back up to me, he let out a small smile before it faded back to a worried expression. “Would you? It would be much appreciated.”

“Of course. Now, you sit back and try to figure out what you’ll do. I’ll whip up some rain and buy you some time with that, then I’ll be heading off for Tank. They’re probably the best place to go to from here, I reckon.”

The conversation ended there as I made my way out of the door before spreading my wings and making for the clouds above.

When it rains, it pours.

The feeling of the wind breezing through my mane and ruffling the tips of my feathers as I swept through the skies was simply beyond amazing, it was something I never grew tired of.the feeling of true freedom.

The speed of unrestrained flight was stunning, absolutely stunning. I had always challenged myself, pushed myself to see my limits and fly as fast as I could and it was always such a rush to reach those breakneck speeds.

I had happy memories of racing around with my dad, back when he was around. When I was at my youngest he would purposefully hold himself back to make sure that I didn’t have any accidents while trying to fly.
When I grew up somewhat he would race me and intentionally let me win at the end, just to see the smile on my face and feel my hooves around his chest.
As a teenager he really began to have to truly try against me, that was when he stopped simply letting me win and the challenge was really on. We would race to our fullest and sometimes I would win, sometimes he would.

Now he was gone, I honoured his memory by thinking of him when I went as fast as I was right now. It may not have been the usual method to remember people by, but it was my way of doing it for him. Our wings made us special, we were the only two of our kind and that meant the world to me. He was my dad and I loved him.
There really was no better way to remember him by than to commemorate the one thing we alone had, something nopony else could understand.

With my mind lost in memory of my late father I hadn’t been paying attention but suddenly my heart beat with ferocity as I felt the ripples from three bullets blazing past me, somepony shouting from below.

From somewhere below me a pony called out as loud as they could. “Pegasus scum! Die you fucking shit eating cunt!”
Before I could find out where they were however, another series of shots flew past me as I immediately reacted by flying as erratically as I could in an attempt to throw off their aim.

“Fuck!” I shouted to myself aloud, my breathing as if I was trying to produce a hurricane from my lungs and my eyes became as wide as a mountain as I scanned the area below me for the culprit.
Without any idea where the shooter was I had no way of breaking line of sight, rather, I just had to hope I could spot them before they got a hit on me.

With a loud crack another shot rang out and I dived for the ground in fear, for whatever gun that was it was powerful and there was no doubt that if it had hit me I wouldn’t have even a chance to survive. At least with the small crackle of the previous pistol fire if I had been hit I could have chanced flying to Tank for medical aid.

Before I could think about it any further my snout had almost touched the floor when I pulled up for extreme speed. At that moment a fair voice called out to me from atop of the wall behind me. “Crimson! Crimson! It’s okay, you’re safe now!”

Not wanting to truly trust the voice upon the first moment I used the momentum to pull up into the sky again and regain my altitude. Once I was a reasonable height up I looked down at the pony who waved up at me from upon the wall, the body of another laying amongst the rocks down below.
Cautiously I waited up in the sky for a moment longer as I tried to regain my breath from the sudden horror of being hunted without warning before making my way down to the awaiting pony.

Speaking in a soft voice, she welcomed me as I landed next to her. “Well, hello there mister Wings.”

With a mixture of embarrassment and shock I still found myself speechless as I looked upon the unicorn mare with the exceedingly large rifle floating before her, watching as she casually stowed it upon her back and smiled at me.
Closing my eyes I tried to put my words together to properly greet her but upon reopening them I noticed that before me had not only stood the mare whom had just saved my life, but also somepony who was very possibly the most beautiful mare I had ever laid my eyes upon.

My lower jaw hung slightly agape as I took the sight of her in.
Her rose coloured eyes pierced through my own as her equally vibrant yet soft mane began to fall over her facial features little by little.
Her scarlet coat shimmered in the light as she stood before me, slightly bowing her head.

I felt my bottom lip quiver as I gazed upon her, my breathing sped up once more and deepened as my heart raced faster than before.
Reaching out with a hoof I gently placed it under her chin lifting her head slightly to look back into her eyes, a small smile upon her lips as heat radiated from her cheeks.
I really couldn’t believe what I was seeing. There was something different about her, something I had never seen before.

Slowly I began to mutter to her. “Tell me, are you single?”

With that her eyes shot wide and she let out a small nod, that was all the confirmation I needed.
Immediately I leant forward and placed my lips upon hers for a deliberately long, slow kiss.
Moments passed and eventually I pulled away and kept my eyes closed as I took in her scent. Berries, or perhaps cherries even? No matter what it was exactly, it was enticing.

The mystery mare shook as she looked at me, her cheeks burning up as she began to stutter on her own incoherences before she gulped and went quiet.

“I would say sorry,” I began to say. “but I’m really not. By the goddesses, I have never met anypony as beautiful as you are, my fair lady. I know I should be sorry for not asking, but I needed to kiss you that once and I couldn’t risk taking no for an answer.”

With a small almost whimper like voice, she spoke with a smile across her face. “W-would you... do it again?”

Feeling my own cheeks burn now, I was more than happy to oblige. This time I reached out with a hoof and stroked her cheek as I sat on my behind, locking lips and ever so slightly licking hers. As she pulled back slightly I leant in closer and began to slide my tongue into her mouth little by little. When I pulled back, she followed my lips for just a few seconds longer until the kiss ended with us staring into each-others eyes.
We were both panting, there was definite chemistry between us.

“So, what’s your name?” I whispered to her, enjoying every second I had around the fine mare.

“Cherry Sundae.” She whispered back, a large smile on her face.

Cherry Sundae, heh? I thought to myself. “Beautiful name, beyond beautiful face, perfect body. You’re a one of a kind, Cherry. I would love to keep this moment going right now though I’m thinking that sitting upon the security wall probably isn’t the best idea. So, lets say we spoil the mood and find out what that douche had on him and try to figure out what he was even doing up here?”

Nodding her head with glazed over eyes, the smile upon her face only got more adorable by the second as I looked at her. Fighting to keep my cool, I stroked her cheek softly. “Sound good?”

Taking a moment before she could properly react, she shook her head to regain her focus. “Oh, oh. Sorry, lost myself there. Yeah, sounds like a plan. It looked like he was heading off to the gatehouse, probably wanting to get in here for whatever reason. Won’t be any more though.”

“Want a ride down there?” I suggested with a smile.

With an even happier look upon her face she frantically began to nod and squealing at the same time. “Yes!”
I laughed at that and she began to blush before going shy and stepping back slightly. “I mean, yes please.”

Kneeling down with my back to her I turned my head back around and began to wait. “Well, hop on then.”

Again she let out a squeal of delight as she wrapped her hooves over my back was beyond delightful. With a little effort I began to lift up and fly along the edge of the wall before over the side and descending over to where she had shot my attacker.
Looking at the corpse that now lay at my hooves, his entire head was no longer there, it was completely missing in a mess of gore.

“Cherry, what the hell? What the hell?” I asked in utter amazement, causing the poor mare to squeak shyly. “I can tell you’ve got a large rifle, but seriously, what the hell kind of ammunition does that fire to cause this sort of damage?”

“Fifty BMG.” She replied with a faint sound of pride in her voice.

“Fifty... Explains it. Damn, seriously. Remind me never to upset you, okay?”

That got a giggle as she began to loot the corpse. From out of his saddlebags she pulled out two magazines for the pistol that now sat upon the floor across from his body, which I quickly swiped for myself with a small grin as I did.

“Hey!” Cherry spoke up. “That’s technically my gun seeing as I took him down for you.”

Pouting at her, I began to bargain. “Awh, I was just thinking that seeing as you have that big ol’ rifle that you might let me have it.”

“The rifle doesn’t handle short range very well at all, that pistol would make for an excellent sidearm. Besides, are you even trained to use a gun?” At this point she raised an eyebrow at me sceptically, looking at me as if I was just a colt.

With a huff I quickly defended myself. “Of course I am. I may be the son of the Overmare but that doesn’t mean I’m incompetent when it comes to defending myself.”

“Oh really?” She said, snickering as she spoke. “Didn’t seem too much like it just then. Well, anyway, give me a decent offer and perhaps I’ll see about trading the rights to that gun with you.”

Looking at her, I really liked her right now. I didn’t know how much of a smooth talker she was, but judging by the fact she had been practically silent back a few moments ago I guessed that she wasn’t anywhere near as confident in her abilities of persuasion as I was.
This was my turf, my forte, and she would regret offering me that chance.

Smiling, I made my first offer. “Tell you what. You let me have the gun and spare ammo to go with it and I’ll let you hitch another ride to wherever you want to go atop of the Crimson Wings Express.”

“Is that all?” She pouted, damn she looked cute when she was pouting. “I don’t think that really covers it.” At that moment she scrunched up her face and began to grin however. “Although, if you’re willing to fly me down to Tenpony Tower for a relaxing spa break, fully paid for.”

Tenpony Tower? She had to be kidding! Staring at her in disbelief, her face quickly cracked up as she began to giggle. She was kidding.
I shook my head and began to chuckle myself. “Okay, here. How about I give you another kiss, fly you wherever you want to go and we go to Tenpony Tower someday. Right now I’m too busy though.”

“Mmmmm, another kiss you say?” Cherry began to moan softly. “Well, how about... uhm...”

Watching her bite her lower lip and look at me the way she did, I knew that expression all too well. Right now, I was ready to put my task off for a small while for it. I knew I shouldn’t, I knew it would get me into trouble, but my body was begging for it. Immediately I leaned in close and passionately began to kiss her deeply before pulling back teasingly.
The way she was looking at me now was with fire behind her eyes, we both wanted this and neither of us could deny that.

“My house is in Tank.” She suddenly blurted as she raced up onto my back. “Fly me there, handsome. Maybe then I’ll let you have the pistol.”

There was no need to ask a second time, as soon as she had wrapped her hooves tightly around my neck and brushed her cheek against mine I was already preparing to take flight, pushing off the ground with my wings.
The feeling of her body temperature was immense as she pressed herself tightly against me, the sensation causing me to fly as fast as I could safely manage with her upon my back.

With Tank now in sight, Cherry Sundae wasted no time in directing me to her home. Surprisingly she had one of the nicer homes in the town, two floors tall and detached from any other building. That was unlike the majority of the constructions around here though I didn’t question it.

As she trotted up to her front door I watched her hips sway provocatively, the motion sending my head spinning with desire. With the swish of her tail as she unlocked the door and pushed it open, my body felt like it was covered in magma and my breathing picked up once more.
Now I was heavily panting as she winked at me before blushing all over again.

As I rushed inside of the house and shut the door behind me, she made her way up the stairs taking care to go slowly and deliberately so that each step exaggerated the movements of her tail and marehood. Chasing her up, she quickly showed me the way to her bedroom....

Although I had only originally planned to spend a short amount of time in the home of Cherry Sundae, that short amount of time had soon become the rest of the night. Passionate moments shared between us continued over and over and by the time we were done it was beginning to become dark outside. Instead of asking me to leave and expecting me to find somewhere else to stay for the night, Cherry had ever so graciously offered me a place in her bed to sleep.
Initially I felt bad that I had wasted so much time on such an activity, I had a job that I needed to get done and I’d spent the time instead fucking this beautiful mare.

Looking at her as she gazed upon me however, those regrets quickly diminished as it as the sun peaked through the curtains that hung over her windows.

Cherry Sundae... there really was something different about this mare. That was for certain.
I had been with many beautiful mares before, of course. Still, none of them compared to her. There was just that little extra something about her, something I couldn’t put my hoof on.
Was it the way she spoke? The way she walked or smelled? I really couldn’t be sure, all I knew was she made my heart flutter like none other before her.

As I went to finally get up, she placed a hoof upon my chest and began to speak. “Mmmm, don’t go just yet, Crimson. You’ve not even had breakfast.”

“I couldn’t ask that of you, Cherry. Besides, I really ought to go find Mayor Sunburn. I have some news to speak to her about.”

“Well, I insist.” She huffed. “I can’t have you going out anywhere without having a proper breakfast, mister. Besides, that would make me a terrible host. You lay down some more, I’ll go grab you something. Apple slices and a daisy sandwich sound good?”

As soon as she mentioned apple slices my stomach began to groan in response, the thought of food making me realise just how hungry I had become. Rolling my eyes and letting out a sigh of content, I gave in. “Okay, you win. Sounds perfect.”

Immediately the lovely unicorn got out of bed and climbed atop of me over the blankets before planting a kiss on my lips, her confidence obviously having been boosted from the events of the previous night.

Watching her red and pink form walk out of the room and down the stairs, I smiled to myself. I couldn’t help but feel immense joy.

It wasn’t more than a minute or two before she came back up, two bowls and two sandwiches being levitated in her magic alongside her. One of those bowls and a sandwich made its way over to me while the other was put down across the room as she sat down next to me. Watching the food float across the room and into her mouth was extremely cute and highly amusing, I had to admit it caused me to giggle each and every time she did it and it only made her blush and smile with my amusement.

I liked the way this mare did things, that was for definite.

After having finished eating we both had a wash and prepared ourselves for the coming day. Cherry had told me she’d be doing her usual routine security patrol while I had to go speak to Mayor Sunburn, along with the other two mayors, Blossom and Glitter Mist.

Planting a kiss on Cherry’s lips as I prepared to leave, she began to scuff the floor and look down at the ground sourly.

“So, uhm, Crimson?”

“Mmm?” I hummed in returned.

She turned her face away as she blushed. It was honestly surprising that a mare with a red coat could blush so hard and make it so obvious like she did. “Do you think you’ll... come see me again, maybe?”

Looking at her with a gigantic smile I nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, you can bet your sweet flank I will be. As long as you’re up for it, that is.”

The glint in her eyes as I spoke those words and the smile that instantly made its way across her lips told me she was more than up for that idea. Just like that, my day was even better than it had been before.

Walking around the town of Tank, the tall concrete and rock buildings stood strong around me as they radiated their protective aura. There was no more oppressive looking location in all of Four Ridges in my opinion, though it all served a purpose. Every building was designed with sheer strength and endurance in mind, the construction having outlasted the old war and managing to remain relatively undamaged when Stable fifty-eight settlers had come across it.

The roads were all the same as the buildings that surrounded them too. Rather than going for aesthetics they were simply smoothed down stone blocks that served the purpose of being heavy duty and heavily enduring for all the traffic that passed along them.

There really was no room for beauty in Tank, though that was seemingly how the residents seemed to like it.
I remembered as a child, I suggested that we find something to make the town more colourful so the palate wouldn’t simply be grey when I flew above it. However, Mayor Sunburn had never liked the idea and told me it would have been a waste of time and resources to do something so trivial. She never had been anything of a friendly person.
Still, she did her job and she did it damn well. The Tank Mercenary Group followed every word without fail and seemed to respect her greatly, so there was no room to complain.

Without the Tank Mercenary Group we wouldn’t have been anywhere near as secure here. Four Ridges was successful because of their efforts to protect and serve and I admired them for it. It was just a shame that I couldn’t admire the mayor herself.

After half an hour of searching for her, I had finally found the Mayor.

“Mayor Sunburn!” I called out from above the crowd around us, barely catching her attention.
As she turned her head to face me, I called out again. “Mayor! I need to speak to you!”

With a no nonsense demeanour she waved me into the nearby Tank Mercenary Group HQ building.
As I entered the lobby I took a moment to look around at the pristine condition it always seemed to stay in. Two ponies next to the communications array, one on the microphone with the other listening into something with his headphones and typing into a computer that sat before him.

Behind another desk another unicorn sat, flicking through reports on another computer, nodding at the pair of us as we walked on by.
There was a definite sense of organisation and efficiency within the HQ, a comforting sight.

“So, what is it you need to speak to me about this time?” The mayor asked, flicking her blonde hair behind her. “Nothing mundane like as usual from you Stable ponies, I hope?”

Blowing air out of the corner of my mouth in slight annoyance, I answered her question. “No, nothing mundane at all this time. Another security job for you.”

“Another security job, huh? Crimson, do you realise that nearly all of our jobs are security? Security is mundane as it gets. So, what is it? You want some party to show off what, that you’re some big shot?”

Wait, what the hell? I looked at her in surprise as she spoke to me. “Uh, no. No parties, something much more important.”

“Oh, so you want us to escort you to Tenpony Tower or something instead?” She asked with content in her voice.

Shaking my head, I raised a hoof to cover my eyes. “Yes and no, actually. Nothing has been confirmed as of yet, though I’ve been asked to inform you that the water talisman in the Stable is damaged. We’re on an unknown time limit of how long it will remain functional.”

Before I could continue, the mayor began to interrupt me. “I don’t see what we’re supposed to do about that. We’re a mercenary group, Crimson. We’re not engineers like Gummy but we’re not raiders either. What, do you expect us to simply walk up to some other settlement and take their water talisman for you? No, we don’t do that.” She added in a firm tone.

“Of course I don’t expect you to do that!” I shouted in return. “Look, let me finish. We’ve not confirmed what we’re going to do as of yet, though the town of Angel are saying that they understand what’s at stake here and if it comes down to it, they’re willing to lend three brahmin to any effort to try and find a settlement willing to trade what we need. What I would like to request from you and the T.M.G is the security of those convoys.”

“At what price are you willing to pay for our services on this?” The Mayor quickly asked in return.

Looking at her in confusion I shrugged. “Standard fees and compensation for any members killed or heavily injured in action?”

“Look, Crimson. We don’t only serve Four Ridges here. We also provide protection for many smaller settlements and local traders. You’re going to need to give us more incentive if you want priority over the other normal paying customers. Remember, you’re only paying us with taxes you take from us in the first place anyway.”

“Well, look at it this way. Where do you get your food from?” I asked with as much patience as I could muster for the brash mare.

“Mostly from Angel, admittedly.”

“And do you have to pay Angel for that food?”

“Well, no.”

“Where does Angel get their water supply?”

And just like that, with a ‘death glare’, Mayor Sunburn began to stare me down. “Look Crimson, that’s beside the point. The point is you have to pay up.”

Now I was getting extremely agitated, my ability to control myself on the verge as I looked at the cocky bitch. “And so we will. But you get your food from Angel who gets their water to grow that food from the Stable water supply and my efforts to make it rain from time to time. End argument is that you rely on us just as much as we do you, and we need you now to provide a small group of your mercenaries to protect any possible caravans we send out. We’re not expecting an army, something akin to three mercenaries for every caravan would be plenty.”

“Only if you give us fair pay. We have the right to deny any contract we so wish, remember.” She muttered with snide in her tone .

With that, I was really losing my patience. Before I was capable of keeping my voice down.
“Do you want to starve to death? Do you want to find yourself dying of thirst as the whole community of Four Ridges struggles to find enough water to sustain everyone?”

Puffing out her chest, Mayor Sunburn stepped closer to me in an attempt to be as intimidating as she possibly could. However, I wasn’t going to pay any attention to that. Still, she tried as she spoke. “Are you threatening me, the T.M.G or Four Ridges, Crimson?”

I didn’t have time for this, fuck it. Turning around I strolled over to the communications team and tapped the one with the microphone on the shoulder. “You. Local broadcast announcement to everyone in the vicinity. Set it up for me now.”

There was no argument there at least. The Mayor tried to dispute my orders and get my attention but I simply ignored her as I waited for the microphone to be ready for me. Within a matter of seconds, it was prepared.
“Citizens of Tank, primarily members of the Tank Mercenary Group. There is to be an emergency meeting held outside the T.M.G HQ within two minutes by the authority of Stable fifty-eight leadership. Repeat, an immediate emergency meeting is to be held in two minutes outside the T.M.G HQ.”

“You can’t do that Crimson!” Sunburn tried to shout as I walked past her, though I simply ignored her now. If she wasn’t going to listen, I would make sure the people would.

Walking out I flew up atop of the lowest roof of the building and waited for an ample crowd to form. At first it was just five or six ponies, though very quickly that became twenty, thirty. A few seconds later it had seemed to double as the masses came along, now was as good as any time.

Shouting into the crowd to get their attention, it was time for them to learn. “Ponies and zebras of Tank! I come to you bearing bad news!” At this point I paused, allowing the crowd to settle down before continuing further. “The water talisman in the Stable is beginning to become damaged from overuse. As you all know, this water talisman is what supplies Angel’s farms with the bulk of their requirement!”

The crowd grew restless at this point and began to squabble slightly amongst themselves in confusion and fright. It hadn’t been the response I was hoping for from such a highly trained team, though natural survival instincts were a very strong part of a ponies mentality after all.

“Speaking to your Mayor, she is refusing to cooperate with me on the mere idea of trying to sort out this mess we will undoubtedly become if we do nothing! So, with the authority given to me by my mother and the Stable as the designated leader for all of Four Ridges, I request a total of nine volunteers step forth and join me in an expedition to find a new talisman! The task I ask of you is simple! I ask nothing more than to protect three trading caravans, three guards per caravan! When the time comes and all is confirmed, we shall leave and seek Four Ridges' only hope for sustained survival! Who is brave enough to volunteer?!”

Silence filled the area as everyone looked around. I had expected somepony to step forth almost instantly in an act of noble sacrifice of their time for the chance to save Four Ridges, but it didn’t seem like any-
Before I could even finish the sentence in my head, a female voice called out. “I volunteer!”

I smiled, and then I saw her. Cherry Sundae stepped forth from the crowd and I felt my jaw drop in honour and shock, I hadn’t expected her to be the first one to volunteer!
Still, with her aim I wasn’t going to turn down her offer either.

Slowly another two called out. “If she’s in, I’m in. I volunteer!” “Me as well!”

Suddenly we had three ponies volunteering and before I knew it, another six stepped forth. We had our nine ponies it seemed.

Spreading my wings and gliding down towards the group, everyone else dispersed with a mass of worried chatter as they went back to their duties and activities.

Before I could say a word, Cherry stepped closer to me and whispered into my ear.

“This? I’m doing it for you. Where you go, I go, no exceptions.”

Footnote:
Crimson Wings:
Tagged skills: Barter, Small Guns & Speech.
S4 P5 E4 C7 I5 A7 L8

Author's Notes:

First of all, I forgot to mention earlier: I am not trying to be a revisionist. Following in the footsteps of P.H is not my intention with the trading with FillyD.
That's one issue I have recently thought about and decided to ask Kkat herself about it - she said she was happy with me using the included explanation on how they would source at least part of their food supply.

If you want proof I can provide it, otherwise it's just a small element.

So, a massive, massive, massive thank you goes out to the my anon helper. I know who it is really but he'd like to be called the anon, more than likely.
He's helped me with a fair amount of changes and admittedly, he's probably going to suggest some more after the initial release of this seeing as I wrote another 5,000 words after we spent a session together and he hasn't been able to do another session since yet.
But I'm getting impatient because I'm me, you know?

I've put the effort into pre-reading myself and there shouldn't be any issues, but if there is please don't hesitate to let me know.

Aside from that, thank you everyone who made it possible for me to do all this and thank you for having put up with the previous version and reading through the story all the same.
Without all of you I wouldn't have spent this year writing and learning to be a better writer.
If you want to see the old version, here's the link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D_zB7QWfAqJhbfQRw5vh2a69K8yr20t-N5Q6ETaIYZk/edit

Hope you all enjoy!

Many thanks go to Kkat for having made the Fallout Equestria universe a thing and also to Somber for having been the person who indirectly spurred me to writing at all.
As well as that, again, all my appreciation for everyone who reads.

If you liked it or if you disliked the story, leave me a comment and let me know why! Any thumbs up ratings are appreciated too!