“Red… Red Eye is dead? How did this happen? How do you know he’s dead?”
I couldn’t believe it. Red Eye, the strong and charismatic leader of Fillydelphia... dead?
He had an entire city behind him, industry and power. He had an army!

“According to reports here from the Talon mercenaries, someone called the Stable Dweller killed him during a huge battle with the Enclave over at some place called Cathedral.”
My blood ran cold at the mention of the Enclave. My father had been ex-Enclave. It was the very same group that had wiped both Canterlot and Friendship City off the map.
At the very same time, Cherry interrupted the stillness in the room with a grunt of displeasure.

Taking a moment to think about what had just been said, I simply held a worried look upon my face.
“What’s the effect of Red Eye’s death over at Filly-D? Are things safe?”
“For the moment, yes, but there’s a battle looming on the horizon and no-one knows when it’ll kick off, but we're already being warned of advancing Enclave battle barges by the griffins.“

Without thinking I nodded, as if Lemon Gaze were here to see it.

“Any chance of going around Fillydelphia in that case?”
“It’s all we could realistically do, Crimson. The reason I've actually tried to contact you to confirm that as the proper action. We’re going to have to split up early. May we have permission to break from mission parameters?”
I didn't even need to think about the answer to that, my response was reflex.

“Do it. Stay safe but if this means you have to split up, do it. Carry on your course for Tenpony, and Custard towards the Society. Just as long as you stay safe. We've already lost our Coltchester caravan while Cherry and myself spent time elsewhere.”
“Rodger, will do. You stay safe, Crimson.”
“You too, Lemon. You too.”

There was a crackle of static to the background of the conversation and I could tell that there was still something on Lemons mind.
With a long pause before an uneasiness broke in in his voice, he had confirmed my suspicions.
"One last thing, Crimson."
"What is it, Lemon Gaze?"
"How did the Coltchester caravan go down already? They haven't even had time to reach Coltchester yet, have they?"
"Raiders attacked Coltshire. We lost Kingcakes and Pockets, and were set to lose the others until Cherry and Maisy drove them off."
"Whose Maisy?"
"My new pet manticore. I'll tell you another time. I've gotta think about all this."
"Okay, yeah. Good luck Crimson"

With that, the call ended

“Enclave huh?" Cherry snorted as she spoke. "Those bastards that tried to rape me earlier today were Enclave soldiers.”
…Wait, what? Turning to look at her the shock on my face was evident as she realised she hadn’t gotten around to telling me this particular detail of her trip earlier.
“They tried to what?”
“They tried to rape me, Crimson. Two Enclave soldiers who were robbing an old buck, going to kill him. I intervened and got into a little scuff with them. Ended up winning that fight when I held my gun to one of their ballsacks.”
I gave her a surprised look and instinctively recoiled in horror of the thought, but quickly realised just how necessary it would’ve been.
A kiss on her cheek and a hug that didn’t seem to end told her how proud of her I was - I gently brushed her mane and smiled at her to reassure her of that. She smiled back and kissed me back before I pulled away further.

“Right. We’ll talk about that in more detail later, for right now I’m glad you’re still around and untouched, even if you are a little hurt.”
Nudging her flank where there was dried blood for effect, she recoiled slightly in pain, obviously still sore.
`

After the embrace, Dusk turned to me and began to speak.
“So, Crimson, what are you going to do? We can't continue like this.”
“What can I do? The two groups up north are out of our range now. As for the battle, we haven't got the ponypower to go to war with the Enclave, and quite frankly, we've got bigger issues on our hooves with the water talisman right now."
Dusk simply stared blankly at me, though I couldn't tell if it was him being stoic or if there was something else.

"I don't mean up there, though I'm glad you have your priorities straight with not going to war. I mean with the caravan problem that's going on here."
"Well..." I began, thinking it over for a moment. "We're going to have to organise for replacement guards and merchant. Why, is there something more to it?"
Goddesses... the thought of there being more to it then that ran a chill down my spine.
"I'm going to be leaving come the morning, heading to Four Ridges once more" Dusk answered back.
"Alone?"
"Fallen Arrow is coming with me. Specialist Butterscotch said he's willing to stay here in the Commons with the brahmin, as long as he has a place in the hotel."

Butterscotch nodded in agreement as he walked up beside Dusk, not opening his mouth to speak.
I didn't know if it was shyness or the moment as for why he hadn't said a word, but I gave a firm nod back.
"Of course he has a place. The agreement was that Tank Mercenary Group owns the building, that extends to anyone working under Stable orders by default."
"Good. Another thing, Crimson."

Dusk gave me a very serious look and I knew straight away it was something important to him, but not what it was yet.
"Kingcakes... he was my brother. Cherry has promised me she'd talk to you about giving him an honorary decoration for his act of valour in saving the whole caravan and that part of town. What will you do about that?"
I gave it a moments consideration before choosing my words carefully.
"I take it he died in battle, performing an extreme act of valour and died for his services?"
"Yeah."
With a small but reassuring smile across on my face, I spoke. "Celestia's Cross then, in that case."

He looked at me in surprise in how fast I was able to consider which award would be appropriate, but between my training to be the next Overstallion and past experience at ceremonies, I knew instantly.

"As for the rest of you, I'll have to hear what happened for myself, but if you were lying Cherry would've said something as you said what you did... so. speak to me in the morning once I've had some time to consider what award I can give you. You may not have been out here long, but the fact you came at all deserves something. I'm sorry for your loss and I'll do what I can for you, even if it means an ear."
I gave Dusk a very serious but caring look as I gently rested my hoof on his shoulder and stared into his eyes.
"I know it won't bring him back, but its something, I hope."
"Thanks Crimson. Right now I need something else though, I need time to myself first."
"Yeah. Speak to me in the morning before you leave. I'd rather have at least said goodbye."
"Thanks Crimson."
"No worries. Now go get some rest."

I turned my head back towards specialist Butterscotch and nodded at him again.
"Come on everyone, lets go to the hotel. Dusk, you get first pick of rooms bar the suite at the top. Fallen and Butterscotch, you get whatever rooms you like after that. You can find me and Cherry in the suite."
Fallen looked at me and poked me with a hoof to the shoulder. "Why doesn't Dusk get a chance to stay in the suite, Crimson?"
"Because I... We, even, own it. Our personal space."
Butterscotch just facehoofed at Fallen. "Fallen Arrow... you need to learn your place. Really. Come on, lets go with Dusk and find a room each."

With that, we all trotted off to the hotel, me with a little help from Cherry seeing as my head and sides still hurt, but was still a lot more healed up then earlier in the day nonetheless.

"Hey! What are you doing!" Cried out Cherry.
"I'm the big bad enclave soldier, here to take what I want" I said in my most seductive voice.
"Oh, is that so? Well perhaps you ought to put on a show of power to put me in my place then?" ...Damn, she was turning me on like crazy and she knew it. I couldn't resist but to flap my wings to lower myself onto her as I held her hooves down as she giggled.
"Trust me, I'll show you power."

With a series of kisses along the back of her neck, her smile grew from side to side.
"So, You think you'll get inside me just with a few kisses like that huh?"
With a smug smile across my face, I answered back. "A little flattery worked before, didn't it?"
She pouted at me before winking. "Don't make me remind you how powerful my hoof can be, Wings."
I looked at her, astonished that she'd say such a thing, and decided a new approach was required... one more sinister and conniving way I could think of!

Slowly I lowered myself down onto her and rolled her over onto her back, before looking at her in the eyes and kissing her with a soft yet firm passion which burnt from the very core of my heart.
A certain squeal of enjoyment from her had told me that her guard was down... and then I did it.
I gently moved my forehooves over to hers to gently hold her down as I brought the tips of my wings to her belly.
In one motion, she found herself overpowered and incapable of defending herself as the feathers glided across her stomach in swirling patterns.
The giggles and pleas for help served only to further my attack as I proceeded to kiss down her neck and moving even lower.

"You ready?" I asked her, the cockiness obvious in my tone of voice. She just squeaked in admission as my lips touched her body where she felt as soft as velvet, a small squeak entered my ear.
"Yes... please"

They were the last words before the chorus of moans, chirps, squeals and heavy sighs filled the room.
God she knew just how to turn me on indeed...
I had needed this so badly, so very badly. From the way Cherry was acting, looked like she'd missed it too.

A destroyed city lay beneath me. Manehattan, I presumed from the layout.
From the darkest depths of the world now shun an ambience in the world, where life still clung to the scraps of harmony and friendship.
At first the embers of life were weak and sparse, but as time passed and the buildings continued to crumble, flights flickered one by one in and out just like embers of a fire that refused to die.
Until there came a time where one door opened, and a bright light filled the entire area.

Slowly the light grew from this area, dots and sparkles turning into a flowing river of melodic beats as the lights jaggedly flowed through the fields and dispersed into all directions, until the city was found..
Once more, Manehattan lived.

As the lights grew however, a dark red tint grew upon them and a coldness broke from the city itself, filling the air with the stench of death that filled even to the skies from which I sit high above..
One by one, the first of the lights either exhausted or turned to match the hue of darkness that surrounded it.
Quickly however, the plague of red broke the bright white and turned everything red or dead.

I couldn't bear to look any longer, I turned my head in the opposite direction,
I had no idea as to what was happening in the once glorious and thriving city below, but it felt wrong and disgusting.
Slowly growing, the red lights crept out of the city and spread further yet, changing the dark brown floor to a disgusting Sienna.
The ground itself bore the mark of decay, my heart growing ever weaker as it did. Where ever this dark power went, the land bore its scar and tainted the hearts of any whom may tread upon it.

Yet something happened... as I looked to the south a new beacon of light emerged!
A slow erection of grey spires absorbed my attention. I flew towards it with all my heart and hopes.
Perhaps this would bring back the comfortable warmth of light upon my skin in which I had desired since the fall of the sun and the crowning of the clouds?
I had to know, I had to be sure.

No luck amongst the newly christened wasteland of decay destruction and deceit.
The land did indeed harbour the gentle ambience of pure and honest hearts, but once more a slow emergence began of a new set of lights.
A putrid brown ate away at the gentle white glow, threatening the warmth below as the red had once before.

Immediately I knew what I had to do... I could not let another city drown in blood.
Given the options available to me, here was no decision to make.
As I landed down to the ground, I noticed two others behind me to my left, and right... there we stood as we had once before.
Helios, Selene, and myself, Eos

Not again would we fail to see the error of our way.

As I woke, I saw the alicorn standing before me once more, her horn had just risen above my head, and I could feel where she had been touching me at the time.

"Now you know half of the story. We trust you will not pretend that you do not see the struggles around you."

I couldn't make heads or tail of what she had just said to me, but before I knew it she had turned invisible once more and I felt a drowsiness fall upon my body.
Fighting the urge to fall asleep, I tried to question the mysterious mare.
"Who?"
"You heard my name, Crimson. I am Eos. Sleep well, for the dawn ends soon."

My eyes closed and I slipped into blackness once more.

The morning broke through to my tired eyes, my head still ached from the beatings and disturbed rest of the night before.
Turning my head to look at my sweetest, I found myself confused as to where she had gone. Where she had laid the night before, she was gone this morning.

"Ughh." I groaned and mumbled to myself as I still struggled to open my eyes and accept a new day had come, when rest felt so much nicer.
"Cherry, are you around?"
A sweetness in Cherry's voice called out from around the corner, the soothing tone gently making our bed all the more comfortable. "Eeenope"
"You really do suck at pretending to not be around, don't you|?" I laughed as soon as I had said that, I really did enjoy that.
"Eeeeyup"
Oh Cherry... how she made me smile.

"What's the time, what's been done, and most importantly..." I paused for dramatic effect, knowing she'd fall for it.
"Most importantly what?"
"Where's my breakfast?"
I burst out into hysterical laughter, expecting a hoof to the head once more and another day on an IV drip... why they couldn't have just let me have some deliciously sweet med-x I didn't know.
However, much to my surprise, she simply kissed me and smiled as she levitated over a bowl filled with radspider broth.

I pouted as much in embarrassment as I had out of irony and pleasantness, served with a side of 'oh god radspider again'.
Cherry caught my look and nibbled on the corner of my ear, before softly whispering into it.
"Hey! You're the one who decided we'd use all those radspiders as target practice rather than to try drive them all off. So realistically speaking here, its your own doing that there's so much radspider meat to eat. It's fresh but won't last long, so better eat that rather then our canned goods. No buts."
I whinnied in response. "But... but... I like your butt!"

A smugness covered my face as she turned read before waving it in my face.
"Oh, I know you do. Perhaps you'll get another chance for it soon.... if you're good."
If I'm good?
Did she even know me? I was amazing in bed!
She caught my look and just giggled at me, before walking off into the bathroom to take a shower as I began to eat my meal.

Who said you couldn't have the luxury of the Stable while out in the wastes?

Slipping out of the talisman room after Gasket, I let out a worried sigh.
"So. I suppose I aught to let the Overmare know about the problem getting worse? Thanks for coming anyway Gasket, I know you've had a lot on your hooves what with the whole turrets popping up randomly along the walls recently."
Gasket didn't even turn to look at me as he carried on walking, trying to avoid the lower level maintenance ponies vying for my attention.
"It'd not change how fast the talisman cracks unless its used a little less, I reckon. However, it would be nice having an update on how the search is going."

I nodded and looked at the unicorn as he walked down the halls towards the main door. I whistled to him and he looked at me one last time.
"Again, Thanks for coming Gasket. It's been nice to have another pony who knows their stuff give another opinion."
"You're welcome Melony, any time."
I smiled as he continued on his way out of the Stable, and presumably back to Gummy to get back to his own work.

I trotted off down the corridors and dismissively waved my hoof at the younger technicians.
"Give me fifteen minutes, then I'll be back to help with your problems. Sorry everyone, but this is top priority business."

Knocking my hoof against the Overmares door, I wondered what she'd have to say about the news.
More-so, I wondered if she'd heard anything back from Crimson or any of the caravans yet. Princesses I hoped they'd find a replacement soon.

A moment passed and the door began to open before jamming halfway.
Two seconds later a worried voice came from the other side.
"Oh crap. Excuse me, who is that on the other side of the door? Would you mind going and getting Melony Love to come fix my door for me?"
"It's me, Overmare."
"Melony! Oh good... you don't mind uh..."
"Fixing the door? Of course."
A tenderness overcame her voice once more as she thanked me, and I got on my belly to inspect the door itself.

There was nothing physically obstructing the door from opening or closing from what I could see, so I pulled my wrench and screwdriver out of my toolbags that hung effortlessly off my back.
Opening up the door control mechanism proved that there was no electrical nor mechanical fault in the control box either... there was only one possible thing to do to fix the door now.

"Gra- My apologies. Mrs Overmare, please stand back from the door."
"Why? What's happening?" She asked, but I simply brought myself away from the door and reared up.
One firm kick to the door and it rose without fault.

I quickly turned back round to find the Overmare with one brow raised and a smirk across her face.
"A kick to get things in order I see? I thought that only worked with visual screens and my son."
Not knowing whether I should be stifle the giggle that had overcome me or the blushing, I tried to do both... without any success.
The Overmare just joined in the giggling before giving me a warm welcoming smile.

"Come on in Melony, and remember, you are allowed to call me Grace."
I smiled as I continued into Grace's office and living quarters.
We sat upon the sofa and I began to give her a new update on the water talisman.

"It's showing further signs of damage. It's not broken entirely of course, otherwise I'd be a hell of a lot more alarmed. However, it is showing wear and tear at an excelled rate. We estimate we have another two to four months, though it could fluctuate based on usage and damage sustained."
"Would it not simply degrade at a single passive rate if used at one continuous rate, or perhaps even turned off for a time to allow it a rest from fatigue damage?" Grace asked, gracefully.

Now I truly understood why her parents had decided to call her Graceful, as all her actions despite any situation carried an air of level-headedness that fed confidence into whomever she spoke to.
Of all the ponies I knew, I knew no-one more suited to lead the Stable at a time like this as I spoke to her.

"Unfortunately, we doubt it. As the crystals inside the talisman circuit degrade they weaken, exposing them to even further damage, hence the two to four month timespan that we have left before it completely breaks.
However, the amount of usable water able to be produced by the talisman may very well not meet our demands within those two months, we fear."

Mrs Graceful just nodded and continued to listen as I spoke further.

"After two months, if our estimated graphs hold true, the water output production levels will drastically lag behind consumption and usage rates. We'll produce enough to keep ponies hydrated and crops watered for up to two and a half to three months, but not washed in clean water. After the third month, we'll only have enough water production to keep everypony from being thirsty, but we won't be able to offset the required amount for the crops over in Angel. They would have to rely on the rain alone. In which case without Crimson's cloud manipulation magic here to keep that routine and as needed, well... we can't exactly say that's a reliable source."

"I see. Thank you for the update report on that Melony. Though it doesn't put me at ease to have a definite time-limit, it makes my decisions easier to make and my worried mind hold strong that at least with predicted rates of damage, we still have some time rather then an unexpected period which could be tomorrow."

I shyly smiled at her as my eyes hit the floor. Being the bearer of bad news was one of the 'perks' which came with being the head of Stable maintenance, and I had always hated it.
Looking back up at her I took a deep breath before asking my question.

"So... have you had any news from the caravans as of yet, Overmare?"
Surprised as she thought about my question, she spoke with an earnest tone. "Actually, no"
With that, she got up and sat at the computer terminal and remotely turned on the bigger conference screen that lined part of the wall opposite, which provided superior audio quality.
Tapping in a few commands she brought up the list of contacts and sought out the caravans tags before calling them.

"Yeah, We're fine Mrs. Overmare." The firm voice of Lemon Gaze spoke. "However, we've been in contact with Crimson last night... there's some bad news on both ends of the map, but up here to the north, Red Eye has died. My team and Custard Tart's team has had to split up earlier then planned due to situational circumstances. I made contact with Custard Tarts this morning however, and he's fine."

"Thank you for your report, Lemon Gaze. How long do you reckon you have until you arrive at Tenpony Tower?"
"By the end of today if we're lucky, some time tomorrow at the latest unless there's a major setback which slows us down. Any significant update on the talisman?"
"None. Keep up the mission. Good luck, Princesses be with you all."

I looked to the Overmare but she just kept a cool head and began tapping another series of code into the computer. This one she hadn't needed to look up the registry to know what she was typing, and even I could recognise Crimsons pipbuck tag as she wrote the key-bind.
What I, no, what we heard next...

"Augh yeah. Just... yeah... Augh."
The Overmares face just dropped. I blushed as he groaned longer and louder.
Cherry's voice made the whole situation even worse as she began to beg.
"OH FUCK. OH FUCK CRIMSON YES. AH. AH. SO... SO CLOSE."
"Yeah... you take that. Princesses I'm so fucking close."

That was too much. I coughed loudly and suddenly there was a very confused sound from Crimson before Cherry began to moan in absolute ecstasy.
"YES CRIMSON. OOOOH YES I'M THERE!"
Grace decided she'd had enough before firmly exclaiming my point.
"Crimson!"
The other side of the line went quiet as Cherry panted before asking what was up before Grace spoke again, and had realised what had just happened.

"Crimson. I suppose you hit the 'answer' by accident, did you?"
The nervousness in his voice could have had been my own as he spoke.
"M...Mum?"
"Yeah."
"...Aw. FUCK!"
"Me too!" I added.
"...Melony?"
"Uh huh."
"...AWH DOUBLE FUCK!"

We all felt as awkward as one another at this point, as Grace calmly spoke through her embarrassment at hearing her own son in the heat of the moment.

"Crimson... Want me to call back in five minutes?"
"...Please."

With that, the call ended. I just looked at the Overmare and felt uneasy. Had she had to deal with this before? Did she know what he was like? ...Shit, did she know I'd slept with him?
She just shook her head and laughed. "Just like his father."
My cheeks simply burnt all over at that comment and how obvious it was that she must've known.

A little longer then five minutes later, we tried ringing Crimson again.
This time he had been decently prepared to answer the call without groaning in pleasure.
We'd learnt about the death of Kingcakes and Pocket Change, the upcoming return of Kingcakes brother and Fallen Arrow, the later whom would rally up more mercenary guards and head back out.
We were also informed of the official take-over of Coltshire Commons Tower as it had been dubbed by Tank Merc Group, who we had heard were leaving for somewhere earlier in the morning.

Crimson then told us about the four possible leads to water talismans, though warned that two of those would be inaccessible in their current situation and the other two leads were uncertain.
Still, to have a definite possibility at finding a water talisman so soon were astounding!

With the end of the call, myself and the Overmare had traded pleasantries before parting ways once more, myself to organise my team, train the recruits and get back to my other tasks.
What an eventful morning it had already been.

Looking towards Cherry I sat with a deadpan look upon my face once the call had ended, she simply looked at me mirroring my expression before we both said the exact same thing at the same time.

"Well... that was awkward!"

Some time later we'd gathered up all our gear and I'd slipped back into my leather duster. The more I wore it the more I really grew attached to my new coat. Cherry just smirked at my childlike fascination at how it looked so amazing on me.

"You know, all I need is a sheriffs hat and authority glasses!"
I looked at her as she gave me a sidewards smirk.
"I mean it! I think it'd fit the coat quite nicely, make me look like some kind've law enforcer or something! I will be one later on in life, right?"
"The Enforcer huh? I like it. It's a cute nickname for you. Just don't let it go to your head, hmm?"
"Like you let me go to yours?" I gave a wink and smiled from side to side.
"No, like my hoof goes to yours!"

With that, she threw her hoof around my neck and held me tight, pinning me up against the wall before giving me a gentle yet passionate kiss.
"You make me feel like such a mare, Crimson. Thank you. It's nice to not have to be Specialist Cherry every moment of every day."
"That's a point." I raised my eyebrow at her. "Were you gonna tell me? When are you going to tell me the details now I know?"
Cherry just looked down to the ground and scuffed her hoof on the floor. "i... I... I'll tell you on the way to Coltchester, okay?"
"We'll be heading out to Coltshire Town first... need to resupply."

First of all though, I needed to talk to Dusk.

As I trotted through the halls of the tower I noticed a dark blue pony walking into a room, to which I opened my wings and glided on over. "Dusk, there you are. I've been looking around for you."
"Crimson? Ah. Come on in, there's a pair of chairs in here I suppose."
I gratefully accepted the offer and walked into the room. The very first thing I noticed as I walked in wasn't how bare the room was, but rather, how stained his muzzle was from all the tears he'd shed the night before.

"Dusk, I know this is a hard time for you. I'm sorry about how everything turned out and I really do wish we still had Kingcakes around. More-so, I want to know how you're handling all this."
He just looked at me and sighed, his words breaking the silence slowly.

"Crimson, he was my brother. I don't know what to feel, think or do. He sacrificed himself by giving me and the others to fall back to a more defended area. How do I deal with that?"
How do you deal with that indeed?
"Dusk. Tell me again, why did he die - not how, but why did he die?"
"He died trying to prevent the raiders from overrunning the barricade we'd put in the way."
"For what reason did he do this?"
"To allow the others and myself to fall back and cover him as he retreated with us once we were ready."

I looked at Dusk and put one of my hooves onto his shoulder and began to stare right into his eyes.

"Dusk. He died for you. he didn't die because of you, he died so he could protect you and the others. He knew the risks of being the one to hold their ground, but he decided that you were all worth that risk. He could've asked you to stay with him and retreat together, but he wanted for you to be safe above all else."

He sat there for a moment thinking over it before shaking his head.

"Dusk, I know you don't think that's so, but I know it is. My dad did the same for me and my mother. We were on their way back from Tenpony Tower along with our two personal guards when raiders came and attacked us from a distance. The first shot they fired killed one of our guards straight off the bat and we began fleeing. The other of the guards ran out of ammo for his SMG and had nothing he could do besides use his knife if it came to it."
Dusk looked at me absolutely bewildered as to why my story had any relevance, but I continued anyway.

"My father told the remaining guard to go on, to my mothers protests, and keep us both safe. He said he'd try to hold them off for long enough that we could be out of sight and he'd catch up by flying to us.
We were almost out of sight when he turned tail and began to fly towards us... and got shot dead."
Dusks eyes shot up and open wide at the same time, looking straight back into mine.

"Your brother died protecting you, Dusk. Remember that. He didn't do it unwillingly nor did he plan to die, but he put his life at risk knowing if nothing else, you would be safe at the very least."
I took my hoof off his shoulder and he let out a small yet sad smile.

"Thank you for listening to me Crimson. I know I didn't say a lot, but having you around at all means a lot to me. I really couldn't imagine Mayor Sunburn doing this for me."
I looked at him and gave a small nudge on the shoulder.

"Hey, you're a good buck, Dusk. You fight valiantly, you live with honour and you've just been through hell. I want you to know I'm always there for everyone I can be, while I might not have the time to listen to every single ponies everyday problems when I become Overstallion, I promise I'll be there at times like this. I want to help you, all of you, as much as I can. What good is a leader if they aren't there for those they lead?"

Dusk let out a small smile and nodded before leaning in and raising his mouth up next to my ear, whispering as softly as the wind.
"Baby-Cakes."
It didn't hit me at first, but then it ran through my mind... his brother was Kingcakes... Dusk had just told me his name.
With that he whistled to Fallen Arrow who came out from around the corner and they made their way off out of the tower and towards Four Ridges once more.

With the departure of 'Dusk' and Fallen Arrow, I felt we had best take our leave as well.
Cherry had already rounded up Maisy and made sure she'd had her breakfast and was ready to leave once more.
The road to Coltchester would be a long and perilous one by ourselves, but the adventure alone made it seem worthwhile to me.
Instead of simply making use of our wings and wasting energy needlessly, I decided a relaxing walk with a chance to talk while on our way to Coltshire Town was in order.

As we passed through the gates of the Commons and heard them shut behind us, I instinctively smiled.
Knowing that we had made the Commons a place of security and hopefully given it a chance to become a thriving town itself had been an amazing feeling. We had no duty to make it so, but helping other ponies survive in the wastes was something we should all strive towards.

As we tread the dust covered ground and left the Commons behind us, I turned my head to face Cherry.

"So, Specialist Cherry Sundae."
She didn't respond until I'd flew ahead and brought myself face to face with her, wings spread wide to prevent her going forward until I let her.
"You've got some explaining to do. I'm not mad at you, but I am shocked that you're part of the special forces and I had no knowledge."

She lowered her head and spoke solemnly in return.
"Special forces aren't meant to be publicly known about."
I tried not to hiss as I spoke, but the undercurrent carried in my tone all the same. "I'm the son of the Overmare, Cherry!"
"You knew we existed though, didn't you?"
"Well... yeah, I did. Only in theory though. I'd never knowingly met a special forces operative."
"You've met all of us, Crimson. You just don't know the difference between us and anyone else. Whenever you leave the Stable, our duty is to watch over you. When we're not out on missions, anyway."

I took a moment to think about it and looked back to the time when Cherry had shot the raider who stood from the other side of the wall from me. Was it pure luck that she was there, or had she been travelling that part of the wall to keep me safe? Then something else hit me...

"Cherry?" I asked.
In a subtle tone which expressed her sadness"Yeah?"
"You say your duty is protect me when I'm out of the Stable. That's why you were on that part of the wall, right?"
"Yeah. Another three of us were on each of the other walls."
"Did they join in the caravans?"
"No."

I looked at her quizzically for a moment, before she continued.
"Myself and the others talked about it while you went off alone. Sending our entire task force out would not only leave Four Ridges without specialist capabilities, but would secretly make us an even higher value target. We agreed that myself alone should be enough to do the job as long as I stick around with you."

"Is that why you slept with me the first time?" A crossness filled my voice as I stared at her. "Why you've slept with me all those times since? Why you want to be in a relationship with me?"
Rather than lowering her head further, she brought it back up and stared at me with ferocious rivalry to my own stare.
"No. I don't have any requirement by job to sleep, or have feelings for you. You wanna know why I did in the first place? Look at yourself, even with scars down your cheek you're handsome. Also, do you know how much time I have for myself with being a specialist? Do you know how many bucks want a mare stronger then themselves, who is deadlier and more capable?"

I retreated and sunk down into myself, holding my wings tight to my side.
As cocky and arrogant as I normally was, I knew I'd made a big mistake, and I had to take responsibility and take the punishment.
Though with that, her voice became softer.

"Crimson. I wasn't joking when I said I'd never had much luck with the bucks. In fact, I've only ever had one before you, and when he found out how skilled I was in a fight and realised that if he made the wrong move I could end his life effortlessly, he ran. He ran Crimson. My confidence with bucks has never been moderate let alone high and now the Overmare's son hits on me? Of course my nethers would burn in lust and of course I'd accept. Crimson, you make me feel like a mare. An actual mare rather than Specialist Cherry Sundae, cleanest shot over 250 meters and who can turn invisible. You make me feel like somepony."

I began to look up at her as she nuzzled my wing and kissed my cheek, turning into a new passionate kiss.

"You make me feel special, Crimson."
My voice was as shaken as my heart beat from both fear and something else, and I whispered into her ear.
"Cherry, you are special. You're very special to me."
A childlike tenderness came from her once more. "Promise?"
Now my heart beat faster, but not out of fear.
"More special then anypony else, because... I think, no, I'm sure that... I love you too. So yes, I Promise."

Cherry just stood there, her face had turned from bewildered to furious and now it had gone a shade deeper red then ever before.
We spent more then a small moment in an embrace that felt more affectionate and loving then any other, holding each other close after the moment of distrust and worries.
When my hooves came back to the ground, I'd felt our bond had been stronger then before, and even Maisy sat there on her rump with tears flowing from her eyes at the sight of us and a smile across her face.
Cherry and myself giggled and both jumped on her at once to get a three-way hug going.

Some things in life are priceless, this had been one of those very moments.

As we walked into Coltshire Town, an old buck approached Cherry and thanked her for saving the town. She simply smiled and accepted the praise but reminded him not to forget the sacrifice of Kingcakes. Humility, thy name be Cherry Sundae.

"How many caps do we have, Crimson?"
I looked at my pipbuck, my wonderful pipbuck with its inventory sorter made it so much easier.
"Six hundred."
"Well, we're going to need ammo, is that enough?"
"Is with me."
I smirked at her and she rolled her eyes. This was my time to shine!

The elderly buck looked around bored for a moment before noticing us. "Hey there!"
"Hi, I'm looking for some ammo, healing potions and chems. Got any?"
"What calibre ammo you searching for?"
"9mm, 10mm, 12-gauge and 50.cal"

He looked at me as if I was about to cause a small war.
I nodded and stepped to a side as Cherry levitated her gun into view.
"Oh! You're with her! Of course, of course. here's what I can offer you!"
I looked at Cherry in surprise as she shrugged with a smile on her face as he pulled out boxes upon boxes of ammo.
Picking a 10mm bullet up with a wingtip I studied the casing.
"This looks hoof packed."
"That it is."
"Mind if I test one to assure its up to standard?"

He just looked at me as I smiled. He sighed and nodded. I pulled out my pistol and chambered the round, before firing into a wall on one of the buildings down the road.
The wall left a small crack mark and told me that the rounds had been properly reloaded and were as high quality as military cache rounds.

"How much have you got of each?"
"110 9mm rounds. 75 10mm rounds. 40 12-gauge rounds and 25 50 cals. As for healing stuff, nothing at all."
"Okay, we'll have the lot."
"Give me one sec... right, that's 110.. 2-6.. 3-0.. Four-hundred caps please..."
Cherry's jaw dropped at the price of it and pulled my face to the side.
"Crimson. Are you certain? We need some money!"
"Watch and learn haggling."

I turned back to the merchant and began to barter.

"Four hundred huh? Seems quite steep, especially when you're selling to someone who saved your town."
"You didn't, she did."
"Guess who sent her? Same with the other group."
"Who do you think you are?"
"Crimson Wings, Heir to the leadership of Four Ridges. The guard who died yesterday was one of my own."
"Okay, Wings, what do you reckon?"
"Three hundred and forty."
"How?"
"Eighty five for the 9mm, one fifty for the 10's, twenty for the 12's and eighty for the 50's."
"Three-Seventy."
"Three fifty last offer."
"No deal. I won't go lower then three-sixty."

I looked at the trader with a sure fire smirk and spoke calmly.

"You absolutely sure about that?"
He looked at me nervously. "What? Why?"
"You won't find another buyer getting so much at once. You don't want to let us down, do you? Find another merchant and haggle with them instead?"
That was all it took. He sighed and agreed.
"Three fifty then."
I smiled as we made our deal and I handed over the caps.

As we walked off a truly gigantic earth buck wearing a suit of scathed power armour which had parts of it ripped away and replaced with leather or scrap metal attachments instead, walked up to the kiosk.I couldn't help but notice the minigun on his right and the fact that rather then having a saddlebag on the left, he simply had an ammo box connected to the gun.
"One thousand rounds of 5mm, please."

I just blinked in shock and carried on walking.

We made our way around a few more market traders with no luck on the healing goods until we made our way into an actual shop.
As we walked through the rotting door-frame I saw that it was actually a clinic inside, or what was left of one anyway.

A white pony reminiscent of Melony Love, albeit with a single tone of lemon yellow hair stood behind the counter.
"Welcome do the good fix! We'll fix you, or give your fix in times of need! How may we help you today?"
"Hey, I'm after about... six healing potions, two rad-away for good measure and perhaps some med-x if you have any in stock?"
Cherry followed my sentence with her own, questioning why I'd need med-x.
Quickly I pulled the Canterlot Journal of Medicine out of my saddlebags and flashed it at her. She smiled uneasily but didn't say a word after that... thank the princesses.

"Five healing potions... that's one hundred, two rad-aways are another thirty to make it one hundred and thirty and I can give you four med-x for another one hundred."

I thought about it for a moment and pouted.
"Damn. I only have another one hundred and sixty caps left. I suppose I'll just take the healing potions, rad-away and one med-x for what must be 1-55, right?"
She looked at me and scrunched her face up for a moment.
"Tell you what, because you seem like a nice buck, I'll do it for 1-30."
I looked at her surprised and gave her a kiss on the cheek out of joy. Cherry huffed as the mare behind the counter giggled.

Like a child I collected the medical goods and cooed a thank you as I happily trotted out of the clinic after paying up.
I may not have had my supply of med-x, but I had something at least!

Now we only had twenty caps though, our shopping trip would come to an end. Instead of spending the last of our caps, I handed them over to Cherry and told her to buy herself something nice.
What she did next only half surprised me.

"Something nice huh? Okay!"
With that, she kissed me and slipped the caps back into my saddlebag before climbing atop of my back once more.
"ONWARDS, MY TRUSTY STEED!"
I kinked my head back around through my laughter and looked at her.
"This again?"
"Yes! ONWARDS!"
The smile across her face only caused me to laugh more. It seemed that this little joke would never end.

We went through the town gathering strange looks from everypony around, which had seemed weird to me. We were just two ponies and their pet manticore, even if one of those ponies was riding on the others back!
As we approached the gate towards Coltchester we saw a large gathering of people next to a noticeboard with big writing across it announcing 'BOUNTIES AND JOBS.'

Most ponies were after someone to offer security for their shop or market stand, to which we had to turn down. Sure, we needed the caps, but we weren't in any position to be sitting around in one place for more then a few days unless it was necessary.
However, one of the ponies caught my eye as he held a picture of a radbit in one hoof. I walked up to him to see what his job was about.

"Excuse me sir" He started before I'd even reached him. "You look like you can handle yourselves, to say the very least. Would you be interested in a proposition?"
I nodded.
"There's a mega-swarm of radbits between here and Coltchester that are heading this way. I'm with the security council of Coltshire Town and we're interested in anyone who is capable of clearing out the monstrosities."
Cherry pipped up on that and began to almost shout at him, while still sitting on my back.

"Monstrosities?! How dare you say such a thing? They're absolutely adorable!"
"I'm sorry Madam, but they're not adorable when they eat their way through your security walls, eat the doors and inside of shops, render wooden-stock weapons useless to earth ponies and then steal and eat all your canned and fresh food in the town."
Cherry just pouted and huffed, knowing that he was right.
"Anyway, as I was saying. They've reached megaswarm status. This means they'll either die out slowly from hunger or they'll take half of Coltshire with them before dying out anyway."

I looked at the grey buck and smiled.
"How much are you going to offer us for the job?"
"Seven hundred caps."
"Method of payment? I don't plan on returning here for some time."
"Titan here will be accompanying anyone who takes up the task, to make sure that the job is indeed done. If that's the case, we will entrust him to carry the caps until the job is done."

With that, the buck nodded over to the tall earth pony I'd seen buying all the ammo for his minigun.
I stepped back in shock for a moment, then smiled because of how fitting his name was for him,

"I'll accept the job, in that case. Any other jobs for me as I head off towards Coltchester?"
"Yes, actually. One task, a letter. Nothing dangerous about it, simply needs delivery to the Wasteland Courier Service depot. 50 caps when the letter reaches depot, as the note on the unopened envelope says."
Titan kicked into the discussion himself at this point, in a raspy voice.

"On top of all that, I'm not offering a cap reward, but I will offer you my experience as a guide towards Coltchester and my gun, as needed, if you'll allow me to tag along."
I looked at the buck even more confused.
"It's a long journey, having a guide helps a lot. As for what I'm getting out of it, as much as my firepower is a deterrent, I'm not safe going alone. I was waiting for a few other travelling mercenaries such as yourselves to come and go that way anyway,"

I looked at Cherry and then back to the other two. "We'll do it."

Ten minutes later, Titan was ready to leave for Coltchester with us and we had safely put the letter in my bags.
As the gates opened for us we walked through out into the wasteland once again.
In the distance we could see that the ground had turned from the dirty and dusty brown to a gentle green that indicated that even the grass of Equestria had refused to give up its struggle for life and would continue no matter the cost, like ourselves.

"So, what's your names?" Rasped Titan, as he walked along in his clunky armour. Now we weren't around the sounds of voices and hoof-steps everywhere I could understand why he hadn't wanted to travel alone. He wasn't capable of fluid movement or staying quiet and would've surely made a large, albeit tough, target for raiders out here if he was alone.

"My name is Cherry, Cherry Sundae." A soft spoken voice came from above me as she still lazily sat across my back..
Maisy let out a small roar as if to tell her name.
"That there is Maisy, our pet and friend. My name is Crimson Wings."
"Wings huh? Got a reason for a name like that?"
I looked up at Cherry and she wrapped her hooves tight around my neck, as I prepared to show him.

A moment later I was up in the air, hovering in front of Titan with some difficulty, but I still did my best to make it seem effortless despite the weight of our combined armour, guns and ammo weight.
Carefully I landed back down on the floor next to Titan.

"I see. Ex-Enclave?"
"My father was. I'm pure earth born."
"Good. I was there when those bastards ran and I'll be there when they run again. Just you wait and see."
"Wait... you were what?"
Titan just looked at me and let out a hollow laugh. "You didn't notice the rasping?"
Cherry let out a cautious 'I did' and I just shrugged, not knowing why it was important.
"I'm a pre-war ghoul."
"A what?"

Cherry interrupted me at this point however, and just stroked behind my ears as I carried on walking. "I'll explain to you later Crimson."

We'd been walking for just over an hour when the landscape had drastically changed from the dingy green back to a barren looking brown where the grass had been crushed to nothing and anything made of wood had been completely destroyed by... something.
Titan paused mid joke when he saw the look upon my face.

"They ain't joking when they told you that radbits will eat anything, including wood straight from trees. Megaswarm trail here and we're hot on it, too."
"So, this megaswarm. What is it?"
"Radbits fuck like you two, judging from how you allow her to ride on your back."
Cherry blushed at the comment but I laughed though.
"Yeah, sounds about right."

"Anyway, they breed like crazy. A group of ten can hit thirty in three months, a group of thirty can turn to over one hundred in another three and a group of one hundred can hit three hundred."
"That's when they're dangerous, I take it?"
"They've been known to make little implements of mass destruction. How's that for dangerous?"

Cherry gasped and spoke, a shocked tone to her voice.
"Wait, you mean that the radbits know how to make megaspells?!"
Titan just laughed to himself, shaking his head with a gentle clanging between his armour.
"Nah, just little swords. Not really all that dangerous at all, unless they decide to stab you in the eye. More annoying then
anything usually."

With that, he pulled off his helmet and opened his eyelids...
My jaw dropped as a deep red stared back at me.
"Cybernetic eyes... Don't worry though." He paused for a moment. "This is before the war. I was part of the first test group with cybernetics, hence why they're solid red rather then the later updated realistic looking eyes."

I cursed him out as I laughed for tricking me good, and Cherry huffed at the fact she'd been tricked despite all her knowledge of the wastes.

"Yeah. Usually their numbers are kept in check by natural predators and travellers looking for a bite to eat. Sometimes they get away though, and end up with dangerously high amounts. Largest group ever was five hundred and thirteen."

"Five hundred and thirteen bunnies? That's so adorable Crimson! I want one!"
I looked up at Cherry. "You what?"
"I want a radbunny! Please?"
I looked towards Titan and he chuckled.

"Anyway, on with the story. As I was saying, I was there when we killed them all. It was a long fight and getting crushed by a literal tidal wave of radbits as they all threw themselves at us at once was quite the experience, tell you that."
Cherry laid her chin on my head at this point and in a soft spoken voice, made a declaration.
"No matter what kind of experience that is, having one of them for my own is an experience I really want. I'm having one, okay? Just one. One."
I laughed. "Fine, As long as you can convince one to stick around with you then you can have one. I'm not carrying one around in a cage though."
"Deal!"

Along our way we heard a strange, metallic sounding singing coming from the distance to the side of us. Turning my head to the right, I soon found out what it was.

"If you go out in the woods today you're sure of a big surprise. If you go out in the woods today you'd better go in disguise.
For every U.S.H that ever there was will gather there for certain, because - today's the day the sentinels have their picnic."

As they sung, they rolled right by us. One by one they turned their torso to the left to face me and saluted.
They broke song for one moment, only as they saluted me.
"Lt. Colonel Wings"
As they rolled on further, they continued their song.

"If you go out in the woods today, you'd better not go alone.
It's lovely out in the woods today, but safer to stay at home."

I had no choice. I had to go up and ask them what the hell they were on about.

"Excuse me, Soldiers, but what is all this?"
"We're on leave, Lieutenant. One week for every six months of work. This allows our central processing systems to self maintain and our self-repair matrix to complete its work efficiently without strain."
"Okay, I understand that part now... but a picnic?"
"We have feelings too, commander. Our AI was designed to allow us to enjoy the simple things..."
I didn't know whether to laugh or simply honestly smile, so I did the next best thing.
"At ease."
"Commander."
As they rolled off into the woods, I turned and let out the laughter over how strange that all was.

Titan just turned to look at me.
"Okay. So I'm travelling with a pegasus stallion who isn't from the Enclave, who has a unicorn riding on top of his back... who have a pet manticore... and is able to keep a straight face without a helmet as six sentinel robots roll on past and sing about having a picnic? To which they then call him Lieutenant Colonel?"
"Yeah, pretty much. Same kind've situation in how I got my duster here."
"...In all my years of being a ghoul... I've never had such a weird experience. Good thing we're off to kill some radbits, at least that feels normal after all these years."
I just shrugged with a smile and carried on.

It was then that we saw the first glimpses of the horde ahead of us. Indeed, there must have been at least three hundred of the damned things from what we could see, perhaps even more. My EFS was nothing but blue ahead of me, but I had worried about what would happen when it would undoubtedly turn red.

"Maisy.." I took a deep breath through my nose and stood there for a moment, paused.."Maisy Maisy Maisy. Looks like you've got some work ahead of you. You ready?"
Titan sighed. "Maisy is the name of your manticore?"
"What else?" I replied, smugly.
Cherry just rolled her eyes at us with a funny smile. "Bucks."
"Wanna know a real name for a death machine?"
"Go on, what's the name of your minigun then?"
"Styx, the titan god mother of Victory, Rivalry, Force and Power"
"Styx... Okay. Good name."

Titan revved the motor on Styx, I had Cherry climb off so I could more effectively equip my shotgun and she pulled out her SMG.
Maisy began by flying straight into the body of mass, claws protruding to each side as the first radbits fell.

The fight had begun.

Footnote:
Level up!

55 Barter attained.
60 Speech attained.

As promised, I'm going to keep advertising the fact that the head picture came from WavemasterRyx, who can be found:http://ask-the-waves.tumblr.com/ !

Much appreciation to the people who read and comment! I'm going to apologise again for my reaction last chapter to some criticism - let me just remind everyone that as an author, constructive criticism is very much appreciated and wanted, but I need to be told why something doesn't work for you or even better, how I can change it.

For those of you wanting a more grimdark storyline; I appreciate this and it will come, but patience is a virtue. I plan to begin the grim, gritty storyline arc with the next chapter (part 2 of TRTTD)

Thank you both Kkat and Somber for both writing amazing stories that have inspired me to write. Without you two, there would be a massive hole in my world, and I don't know how I would've filled it otherwise. Thank you.