I fucked up.

We were so close to Neighson, I figured we might just be able to make it that night. The thought of rest, resupply and good night’s sleep drove me onwards. I was trying so damn hard to get us there, I got sloppy. We’d joined Bernard, then we’d picked up Crafter, then Fade had tagged along… we’d never properly gone over much of anything, tactics-wise. Never ironed out how we would have to work, as a team.

We paid the price for that, individually and collectively. In our fast-paced attempt to get to the fort, we took some… injuries. Bernard was one more day behind his quarry, I no doubt worried the hell out of Tailwind, and then there was Crafter’s leg. Additionally, while I should have learned my lesson, when I finally came to, I was about to make yet another series of mistakes before things were finally set right...

–Snap Roll’s Journal

The cold was what finally roused me back to consciousness. It bit at my ears, my wings, and my midriff where Fade had cut away the barding, even with the blanket that somepony had wrapped me in while I was out. Through my wings, I could feel the air pressure had dropped while I’d been out, and it was surely only going to get worse.

I cracked my eyes open, and it was decidedly darker than it had been. We were on the eastern slope of the mountain, and the sun had passed the summit. In the valley below, I could make out the long, vague shadow of the mountain creeping across the land of snow.

We’re running out of time.

I shakily got to my hooves, impeded by a stab of pain from between my hind legs. There wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it, not if our last two healing potions hadn’t done anything to whatever internal injury it was. In the end, I decided I simply couldn’t afford to worry about it right then.

I was rather quickly reminded that I’d taken my impromptu nap in the midst of a great deal of blood from the… Raider? Something struck me as off, referring to the dead mare as such, but at the time I couldn’t quite put my hoof on what; perhaps the feeling that the whole combat had been distinctly different from our previous encounter with Raiders.

A quick glance around the immediate area showed that some progress had been made in righting one of the carriages. It might even be able to roll again with a little more effort. Fade’s feathered form was crouched behind it, using its side for cover from the increasing wind chill as he watched the direction the wolves had come when we’d been attacked. Crafter and Bernard were working together to get some salvageable cargo that hadn’t been picked over stowed. I noticed some blankets, but otherwise not much that I recognized as having value.

Bernard was the first to notice me on my hooves and called out, “How are you feeling, should you even be up?”

“I’ll manage,” I replied with a grimace.

Bernard raised a skeptical eyebrow, but didn’t argue the point.

I gave another look around. Something was missing, and it didn’t take me long to realize.

“Um… Bernard, where’s Tailwind?”

“She left not long after you passed out, said something about ‘wreckey-ing the area,’ right after we found a cave entrance just up the hill.” His mispronunciation, while amusing, didn’t particularly surprise me. She must have been rather terse with him. After a short pause, he hesitantly added, “She seems to have been gone quite a while.”

"She always took to the not-being-seen part of recce more than any of us.” I replied tentatively, “I can't keep up with her when she's trying to be sneaky at the best of times, and that was before I got shot in the stomach." I paused for a moment to consider things. "Though it is odd that she left without saying anything. How long ago was that?"

Bernard replied in an even tone, “Not long after you went out, so about an hour ago.”

I bit my lip.

Not good, she should have been back by now…

“We’re not getting to the fort today,” I declared, “not with this delay and the injuries we’ve taken. We need to hit them where they live, and find us a place out of the cold.”

Not to mention, find Tailwind while we're at it.

I turned to Fade, who seemed mostly content to stay out of the conversation. At the time, he had taken several rounds out of one of his magazines, and was in the process of polishing them, individually. “Fade, you and I are going after her. Yes, in part because you’re the only combat ready member of this group.” I glanced back at Bernard and Crafter, “Bernard, take care of Crafter and finish up salvaging what we can. We should be back soon, but if we aren’t back in half an hour, make best speed back to the ranger outpost, night or not.”

Bernard gave a grim nod, glancing back to the frozen, melted remains of the previous caravan owners. “I certainly hope it doesn’t come to that,” he replied.

Fade slipped the rounds back into his magazine before raising a hand at the end of my orders to interject, “It’s fair enough that I’ll help look for her, but we go too far into that cave and we won’t be coming back out. When the Lobos hole-up they get in deep. We won’t be getting them out and as noble as it is, us dying won’t help anything.” He paused to shift his gear about in preparation for our departure. “Not saying we don’t try mind you, just saying you need to weigh personal involvement against collective, my dear.”

Lobos? I filed away the thought for later. At the time, I guess it just didn’t seem especially important.

“If they’re dug in there, then we’d need to find somewhere else to shelter for the night. We can’t stay exposed-” I clutched a forehoof to my midriff as another twinge of pain made itself known, “Not with these injuries.” I started walking off in the direction Tailwind had allegedly taken, Fade following in behind me. “Would it be wise to try and head back to the Ranger station? You know the area, what would you recommend?”

In reply, he gave a quick shake of his head, stepping up his pace to keep abreast of me. He twitched his wings in a shrug before answering, “Honestly it’s hard to tell. We could get ambushed and horribly ended when we get up there. If that doesn’t happen and we find Miss Tailwind quickly, then it’s a fair trek to either the Fort or the Outpost. Wouldn’t reach them before sundown regardless. Not with so many incapacitated ponies.” He flicked the talons of one hand in agitation as he started to scan the area more thoroughly with his eyes, “My best suggestion would be to take one of the carriages, load you injured lot up, and decide where to head from there. It’s up to you how fast you want to reach the Fort, and if you want to risk coming back past this point with very very angry psychos possibly waiting for us.”

“When you put it that way…” I bit my lip for a moment, glancing from Fade to the opening to the cave up the hill a slight ways, still. “I think biting the proverbial bullet and trudging onward to the Fort could work if this goes sour.”

I started actively looking for tracks, any signs of movement, disturbed ground or anything of the sort, as I continued along the route Tailwind must have followed. There were a whole lot of wolf tracks, but no hoofprints. “Fade, you aren’t familiar with any forms of hoof-erm, hand-signals, are you? That might make this go a lot better, especially if Tailwind managed to get close to them without being seen.”

As we conversed, we had come upon the entrance to the cave. A quick glance inside revealed that it sloped steadily downwards, disappearing around a bend. Fade snapped the safety off of his rifle before glancing down at my snow-covered hooves questioningly. “Hoof signals? What are… how do you even do that with… with those? You ponies are one traks ķekars. Never cease to amaze." He trailed off with an amused smile on his face.

Then he started to hum.

I assumed it was part of a song, but I never did ask. It wasn’t a bad tune – in fact, with that beak of his it was kind of pleasant. The problem was, we were right outside a hostile encampment. It was almost surreal how different he was when he wasn’t reacting instinctively.

My eye twitched as I stared uncomprehendingly at the griffon that was coming so close to blowing what little cover we might have before we even entered the cave. I darted forward, heedless of the spike of pain it sent through me as I grasped his beak in both forehooves, making a “Shh!” noise as I did.

He froze in place, staring down at me for a moment as if trying to grasp what the hell I’d just done. Slowly, he reached up and gently grasped one of my forelegs, removed it from his face, and spoke in a hushed tone, “You could have just told me to be quiet. No need to get touchy-feely Miss. Especially with those frigid things.”

I replied with the same hushed tone, as I removed my other hoof from his face. “Fine. I’ll do that… next time. Anyways, let’s just find Tailwind and get this sorted out, shall we?” With a slightly offput pout, I moved around behind him. “Right behind you, Fade.”

He brushed a hand over his beak, dislodging a lingering dusting of snow. Returning to the task at hand, he sized up the cavern ahead before coming to a decision. He half-turned towards me as he explained, “Alright, there’s no easy way to do this. We don’t know what we’re up against as well as at a…” He glanced down at me, deciding how to word his next statement.

Don’t fucking say it.

“Mobility handicap." he tactfully finished. "Simplest way to proceed is taking either side, I lead in, and you cover me.” He ran a hand down the back of his neck as he let out a sigh, then added, “Let’s just hope she’s not gotten into any trouble. Any more than you ponies naturally attract anyways.” He gave a final nod as he faced the cave, before carefully starting to move off to the left side, stepping with catlike grace in an attempt to reduce noise.

The initial entrance, though small, was wide enough for Fade to fit through without particular issue. It seemed to be a natural cavern, widening evenly as we progressed. It got steadily warmer, too. Not hot, by any means, but between the lack of wind chill and the ground’s natural insulation, it became a lot more livable. By the time we reached an opening to a new, larger cavern, we’d gone maybe a hundred meters in, and the entryway had widened to about four pony lengths across, and a ten meter high ceiling. The new opening was modestly lit by a few wired lights, and the soft bluish glow illuminated the form of a young unicorn mare reading a small book behind a wooden barricade, which extended only a few feet off the ground.

She had winter wraps that seemed to be made from wolf pelts, and yet another wolf’s skull helmet lay upon the barricade beside her. I couldn’t make out the title of whatever it was she was reading. Not wanting to tempt fate, I ducked back around the corner. Tailwind was always an exceptional scout, and I wouldn’t put it past her to be able to sneak past such a pony… but we could hardly do the same, especially in my state. I looked to Fade questioningly, wanting to see how he was going to call it.

He stopped when he saw the guard, crouching low against the wall to keep out of sight. He glanced from the mare, to the cavern walls, to the ceiling, narrowing his eyes in thought. Coming to a conclusion, he dug through his pack until he came up with a coil of rope and a small square headed hammer. He beckoned me over before tying a noose to one end of the line, keeping a watchful eye on the guard the whole while.

I carefully made my way over as Fade finished with the rope. He looped it into a loose coil and slid it up to one shoulder, carrying the hammer in his right hand. He leaned in close to my ear and whispered, “Alright, this might be a bit… risky, but it’s the best I’ve got. Since you’re hurt most of the heavy lifting is mine to do. What I need you to do is get as close to that guard as you can, as quietly as you can. When you’re, say, ten meters away make some noise to get her attention. Keep her distracted for a few minutes.” Reaching back, he pulled out a set of goggles and offered them to me, “Put these on and try to pull some of your barding to cover your face. It’ll obscure you and muffle anything you might have to say.” He glanced down the tunnel once again, swiveling his one visible eye disconcertingly back to mine to meet eye contact, “Think you can do that, cienītā?”

I took the goggles and pulled them over my eyes. They turned out to be a decent fit, and I was rather fond of them... even if I did have to take off my TFD to wear ‘em, which I stowed it in a pouch for the time being. I really don’t know if it was the blood loss or simply my own mistake, but it never even occurred to me that I’d forgotten to check for any received messages. I pulled the hood down, and snugged the neck gator right up over my muzzle. The whole thing probably looked ridiculous. “Minutes?” I asked, slightly incredulous. “I’m willing to trust you, but I’d appreciate not dying today.” Dropping into a serious tone, I finished, “I’ll get you the time you need.”

Plan formed, “disguise” prepped, I set off down the tunnel, keeping to the shadows cast by the lights as best I could. I tried to avoid making noise, but the pain in my abdomen was a constant irritant. I did what I could, slowly progressing towards the mare. I heard the soft sound of feathers, briefly glancing up to see Fade trailing my progress along the roof of the tunnel.

However careful my attempt, it was tripped up pretty quickly when I stumbled onto a piece of loose stone, sending it skittering off down the tunnel. The sentry mare perked up, dropping her book and shouting out, “Olá ... Tem alguém aí?” as she levitated out a pistol.

She’d caught me. Time to play the role. I kept well away from deploying the trigger bit on the battle saddle, as I started mimicking speech by speaking through the thick wraps around my muzzle. Translated out of the gibberish it came out as, I’d said something along the lines of “Your friends outside told me I could join up with your gang if I came this way.” ‘Course, it probably sounded more like “Ymmph fmmpds mmpth mmmth mm…” You get the idea.

With only a small hitch to my movements, I started walking casually, if slowly, towards her with the measured pace of a pony who firmly believes they are not in the wrong with what they’re doing, continuing the stream of near indecipherable gibberish as I did.

She seemed to try and process that for a second, before shaking her head as if to rattle some sense into what I was saying. “Um… merda… you talk old Equestria?”

I nodded my head enthusiastically, still speaking through the wraps, “It’s cold out here, talk inside?” I gestured with a hoof to indicate further inside the cave. This time, I put a bit of an attempt to compensate for the muffling effect of the layer of fabric in front of my mouth.

So she does understand Equestrian…

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Fade. He’d made his way over to roughly above the unsuspecting mare, rope and hammer in hand. He glanced down at me, holding up the noose as if he were asking a question.

The mare seemed relieved to be able to communicate with me, “Yes yes, we have fire inside. Will be night soon, not safe to travel.” She smiled as she talked, even going so far as to holster the firearm.

He’s going to… no! I’m making progress!

I glanced up, giving the barest shake of my head to Fade.

Mercifully, he lowered the noose. Unfortunately, next he raised the hammer, not waiting for another reply before letting fly with a powerful throw, aimed for the mare’s head.

Shit!

In the meantime, the unsuspecting sentry had continued to talk. “You with Red Eye? ‘Cause uncle states we should-” Her question was rudely interrupted by the flying hammer. The tool made a glancing connection with her head, hurling her to her flanks. She screamed something that sounded like a curse on her way back behind her small sentry barricade.

I sprang forward, cursing the pain it caused under my breath, using my wings to propel me into a dash towards the poor mare, giving a swift buck to her temple as I landed. I wasn’t trying to kill her, but I wasn’t exactly holding back either. We’d already blown our cover, but she was more useful to us alive, if quiet.

The mare had been unsteady from the hammer blow, and she went down hard with the solid connection of my hoof. I looked up to Fade, calling out just loud enough for him to hear, “We take her outside the cave, force them to come find us. Mine ten meters past the entrance, then wait.” I gave her a quick medical diagnostic (her breathing was steady, but she had a mighty big pair of welts on her head, and was going to be out of it for a while) before rapidly mare-handled her into position to be picked up by the griffon, stowing away his hammer and the mare’s pistol as I did. With quick glance, I caught the title of the book she’d been reading: "The Winter War." On the cover was a field of snow, broken by a treeline with the implications of a fiery horizon in the background.

Fade swooped down and hog-tied the unconscious mare. Then, between us, we managed to “escort” her outside the cave. As we exited, we heard the sound of yelling ponies and barking wolves from whence we came. I dragged her into position, while Fade laid out a screen of mines in a perimeter around the cave’s entryway. Trap laid and position secure, we took cover underneath a small evergreen tree.

I stayed low, watching the blast zone as I instructed Fade, “Once they hit the mines, go for the ones that get their bearings back first. I’ll lay down fire, you pick your targets. At this point, it’s us or them, and it isn’t going to be us if I have anything to say about it.” I readied my two remaining frag grenades, having them easily accessible in exterior pockets of my barding.

Crouched low beside me, Fade cast his gaze from the cave entrance to me and back again. He must have been thinking something along the lines that I was. Most of us were hurt, including me. Much as I planned for it, this fight wouldn’t go well if we did resort to shooting. He swore under his breath, scratching under his hat with a taloned hand as he thought.

“Listen, Miss,” he concluded, “This won’t end the way you want it. We get these ones and it’ll only anger the rest. These tribals might be just that, but they aren’t entirely crazy.” There was that word again. Tribal. Not Raider, Tribal. It simply hadn’t clicked earlier that there might be a difference. “This might be, though, so stay here and cover me.” He grabbed our immobile guest and headed for a spot maybe fourty meters from the cave entrance and sat back in the snow. He pulled out another mine with one hand, sat the mare up with the other, then slipped the explosive under the bonds between her forelegs. He positioned himself behind her, digging through his pack until he pulled out a thin metal spike that looked like it was intended for mountaineering work. With it in hand, he waited, staring at the tunnel entrance.

Seeing our frantic exit from the tunnel and the rapid preparations, Bernard and Crafter had galloped over in the meantime. Bernard clued in pretty quickly, simply asking, “New friend?” as he unslung his hunting rifle.

Hearing their approach, Fade kept his eyes fixed on the tunnel and his hand on the spike. He answered quickly, “You can say that. Gave her a bit of a headache though. Now things might get a bit loud, so I’d suggest you get somewhere that’s not near me.”

“What’s goin’ on over there?” Crafter asked with obvious confusion as he plopped down in the snow next to me. “Did you find Tailwind?”

“Not quite,” I replied in between breaths of air. “Tried to get inside quietly, only managed to kidnap the sentry. Get ready, but don’t shoot unless things go sour. We’ve got a perimeter of mines around the entrance, but we’re hoping not to need to use ‘em.” I dug out the mare’s pistol, passing it to Crafter. “I know we haven’t given you a proper markspony tutorial, but you’re gonna have to make do for the time being. It’s got fifteen shots left, with one in the tube. Aim by lining up the sightposts, here,” I pointed with the tip of a primary, “with the foresight, here.” Again, I pointed to the parts as I indicated them. “If it stops before firing all fifteen, pull the slide back to eject the last round and load another. Don’t shoot unless they get closer than twenty meters from us, and aim just below center of mass. The recoil will bring the shot up.” I put a hoof to his chin, bringing his eyes up to meet mine. “I know you’re still getting over the shock of killing a pony, but right now we need you, Crafter.”

He probably hadn’t even touched a weapon a couple days ago…

“Oh,” he replied. He seemed to take the instruction well, giving a testing glance down the sights, properly this time. Pointing the weapon down, he nodded to me, a bit of resolution in his features.

For his part, Bernard stopped, glancing around to check the lay of the land, before deciding the previous sniper’s nest would make a suitable spot yet again. “Goin’ to where our sniper friend was perched,” he commented, before picking up his rifle and cantering on to the spot to get settled in.

And so we waited. The brisk northerly wind was the only sound to meet our ears, beyond our own breathing. Everyone was on edge. Thankfully, at least the mare hadn’t come to in the meantime. About five minutes had passed, before I could make out the distinct rapport of hooves upon stone, along with the clicking of what I could only assume were wolf paws.

I crouched down, poking my submachinegun out around the side of the tree, but keeping to cover as much as possible. I called out, hopefully only loud enough for Fade and Crafter to hear, “I hear wolves on the way. Showtime, everybody.”

Fade gave me a nod, hunching himself up behind the tied mare as he maintained his watch of the cave. He seemed to be doing something with his breathing, taking gradually bigger breaths and holding them, before letting them out. It confused me, but I didn’t comment.

The first form to squeeze out of the cave was a large wolf sporting some crudely fashioned armour, covering its chest and the bridge of its head. It stopped at the entrance, sniffing the air. That only lasted a matter of seconds before he glared directly at me and started growling, hackles raised. As it did, a unicorn stallion extricated himself from the cave, wearing similar garb to the other ponies of his group we’d encountered, save for a long, white cloak tied about his neck and a hood covering his face.

Having drawn in a particularly large breath at the appearance of the wolf, Fade tensed as he drew himself up, arching his head back before letting out as loud a roar as he could manage. The mixed physiology of griffons had never been quite so outspoken to me as it was then, a horrifying mixture of hunting cat and bird of prey, roaring at the top of his lungs. I was intimidated, to say nothing of the tribals. The roar obviously startled the wolf, and it glanced curiously at its handler, who seemed impassive to the whole spectacle. Not waiting to see what reaction he garnered, Fade held up his improvised “detonator” in a talon, he called out, “Ne mrdaj! No closer! No shooting! The ground is mined. We talk! You understand?"

The buck held his ground, magically pulling back the hood to reveal an aged stallion with a rough beard, and a great many scars across his features. He turned to Fade, addressing him with a strong, commanding voice, “Você rouba minha sobrinha, matar meu irmão. Tudo para o seu senhor de escravos, e agora você fazer exigências. Não, você deve escutar.” I really, really hoped communication hadn’t just reached its limit, because as he finished, he levitated out a forty-millimeter grenade rifle, sporting a drum magazine and looking to be in excellent condition to turn us into a fine red paste should he so choose.

Fade slowly shook his head and shouted back, “No no, none of that. That’s a nice gun you’ve got but if my hand comes off this trigger, everything goes off and we all die. You, me, and our friend here.” He gestured with a tilt of his head to the mare he still held by the scruff of her neck. “Also, speak Equestrian or we might have a bit of a communication breakdown. Un neviens negrib, ka, labi?"

The stallion’s eye twitched angrily, but other than that he showed no real emotional response. “Fine, we speak in old tongue. First, no frequency in air. Means no command bomb, means you bluff.” He raised his right forehoof, the winter wraps falling back to reveal a pipbuck. “So, like I said before. You listen, worm. Give back my niece, and you walk away.”

Well, shit. I glanced back to Fade, waiting to see how he would react to this development. I kept the firing bit of my battlesaddle deployed.

Fade narrowed his eyes, letting a small grin slip onto his beak as he gave a nod and dropped the spike. He raised the empty hand in acknowledgement as he called back, “Fair enough, you found me out. Wouldn’t do anything drastic though. Whether or not you or your niece gets hurt is up to you and how calmly you want to work this out.” He rested his now empty hand on the mare’s shoulder as he fixed the buck with a stare. Bluff or no, he certainly didn’t lack for confidence. “Honestly, I don’t want to do anything more to her. But, you have something of ours. A lost pegasus. We’d like her back, if you want this one back. Sound fair, Sir?”

The elder pony looked slightly confused as he replied, “You speak lies, we have no winged ones.” He turned to Fade, the grenade rifle bobbing slightly as he continued to speak, “How much have these ones paid you griffon? Is the Red slavers’ caps worth your life?”

As he spoke, Crafter cantered up beside me with a bit of urgency. “Snap, there’s four behind us!” he whispered, raising his pistol and watching our collective backs.

I looked back, swinging the SMG to point back as I did. I was just in time to see a helmed pony leap on Bernard, who had had the leader lined up in his scope. The ensuing struggle was brief, as the tribal’s large club subdued Bernard with a pair of good hits. I could hear the pair of meaty "thwack" noises from where I lay. As I watched, another pony took up the sniper nest, propping up a light machine gun on the impromptu cover.

Shit.

From behind, I heard Fade call back, irritation evident in his voice, “Look, tosh. I don’t know where you get your information but I have nothing to do with Red Eye and would prefer if he just buggered off.” Glancing back to their conversation, I saw him shift his free hand so that his talons lay against the unconscious sentry’s neck, he gestured back with a toss of his head, “Now don’t try to play the slippery eel with me. Not really in the mood for it after your friends tried to butcher us. The pegasus went in your hole in the ground, so you obviously have her. So give her back, call off your boys, and lets not have this end like things did two hundred years ago.”

Oh shit, the barding. He thinks we're with Red Eye because of me!

I rapidly came to the conclusion that misconceptions had been had, and that rectifying them was probably the fastest way to getting around to living through the situation, I took a step away from the tree, into the open. I flared my wings, to make my stake on the topic at hand obvious to all parties. “Her and I fought Red Eye, and got ourselves trapped on the surface for our troubles. The only winterized barding available was theirs when that winter storm hit a couple days ago, so we made do with what we had!”

The elder paused for a moment, before replying, “Then you do not work for Red Slaver… none of you?” He stopped again, confusion obvious. “If this is case then why take Do Vento Luz?”

Fade blinked at that, canting his head to the side as he removed his talons from the mare’s neck, retreating to his haunches. He scratched the feathers on his cheek as he decided how to reply. “No, none of us are in the service of Red Eye. We just came from the Ranger outpost. We’re travelers. As for your ah, niece… we were ambushed by some of your lot then one of ours, the other pegasus, went to find out where the group had come from. She didn’t come back so we came looking for her. We found her,” he pointed down to the mare tied up at his feet, “Acting as a guard and wanted to-” He paused for just long enough for me to worry.

Please don’t tell him we planned to kill her. Please, Fade!

“To… t-take her," he stammered out, "so we could bargain for our missing compatriot. Who we thought you had. But you didn’t. And we don’t. But now we have your niece, and still no Tailwind. Uhm…”

The leader scowled as he replied, “Yes, now we have one. Now we can trade. Release my niece now griffon, or you all die.”

With a scowl, Fade snapped his talons back to the mare’s neck as he pulled her back. I could swear I saw a tiny dribble of blood from the pressure of the razor sharp digit upon her flesh. “Let’s not go back to this. Things were going so well, too. So you don’t have our friend, sorry for assuming. However, three of us are now wounded thanks to you and your ilk. We could only think you took her. So, how about you stop threatening us, I’ll stop threatening your niece, we’ll find our friend and get the hell out of your mane. We want to get to Neighson, nothing to do with you!”

The tribal’s disposition grew even more fierce, “The ones who harmed you are dead, they paid in blood. But that is they, she is not they.”

This is getting out of hoof.

I took another step towards Fade as I spoke up in an attempt to be the voice of reason in the face of a deteriorating situation. “Fade, do as he says. I don’t have a handle on this tribe’s angle on all this, but we won’t gain anything at this rate until we give them a gesture of good faith. Let her go.” My voice was quieter than either party, but in the tense air between our two parties, my words carried more than well enough.

Fade had been about to reply to the tribal when I spoke. He seemed surprised as he glanced back, giving his head an infinitesimal shake and hissed back quietly, “Good faith doesn’t go for much in the wasteland, Miss. This tribe has been causing problems for a long time. Never on the main roads, but that’s apparently changed. I let this one go and we’re all likely to get shot for the trouble. That, and even though he was right about the mines not being remote, they’re still there. Armed. They try and get her and boom. Makes us look bad. Still with no Tailwind.”

I continued, gaining confidence in my standpoint as I did. “There’s that, but judging from his demeanor I suspect he’s getting angry enough to blow us away where we stand. She may be his niece, but he also can’t appear weak to his subordinates. Let her go, Fade.” I paused a moment, before adding with a look that practically pleaded, ‘Trust me!’, “Besides, Tailwind is still nowhere to be seen.”

Fade kept his gaze on me, clicking his beak in thought before he let out a short sigh. “I don’t trust any of this, but I’d like to not die half a day from the Outpost.” He turned his attention back to the stallion on the ridge, "Hei, liels puisis! I let her go, you let us leave. How’s that for a deal? No shooting, no more arguing. That work?"

He stared Fade down for a few seconds, before replying, “Pelo meu sangue. I swear this to you.”

For his part, Fade mulled that over for a moment before finally nodding. “Alright,” he replied as he moved his hand down to retrieve the mine he’d “given” the mare. “Then she’s all yours.” After stowing the mine, he slipped a talon into the knot binding her legs together and jerked it undone. Coiling the line again, he slipped it over one shoulder, then scooped up the mare in his arms. Glancing back to her uncle, he explained, “Alright, I’m going to bring her over to you. Not because I don’t want you here, but because there are live mines very close to you. I’ll bring her over, disarm them, and leave. Okay?”

As he saw Fade release his niece, the tribal lowered his grenade rifle, and I heard the same happening behind us. “Very well, disarm bombs.”

Without further comment, Fade spread his wings and blew away the snow that had been concealing the mines, as he set about disarming them individually.

Wrapping the mare in the soft aura of his magic, the leader gently carried her by his side. He watched the procedure very carefully, before finding satisfaction in the complete removal of the mines. When the last mine was stowed, He turned on his heel and disappeared into the cave.

As Fade returned, Crafter asked in a hushed voice, “How… how do we know they won’t just kill us now?” He glanced towards where Bernard had gone down, worry in his voice. “They’ve probably already killed Bernard n’ started feasting on his flesh…” It sounded like he had a very active imagination. As I glanced over, I saw them simply dismantling the impromptu firebase a couple of them had established up there. Unless they were very, very efficient cannibals, it looked like Bernard was just unconscious.

In reply, Fade seemed to consider Crafter’s suggestion with almost undue reverence, before finally replying, “Wrenchy… he may still kill us, but if we move quickly he might just let us leave. For that we can only hope. As for Bernard, they aren’t ghouls so it’s not likely they’d eat him. They’re tribals, not entirely monsters.” Snapping his head up, he fixed his eyes on Crafter’s, unblinkingly. “Plus. If anyone here was likely to eat a pony, it’d be me.”

Crafter stared at him for a moment, and gave a smile as he chuckled softly. I could practically hear him thinking: It’s a joke, right?

No, Crafter. He’s a griffon. He eats meat. He isn’t joking.

I pushed my way past Crafter, headed towards where Bernard had been ambushed. My thoughts were elsewhere, now that the immediate danger had gone.

Where had she gone?

One of the tribals that had assaulted Bernard had moved down to the wreckage of the caravan, to the site where Crafter’s assailant lay dead. It looked like he was performing what I assumed were their form of last rites.

Behind me, I heard a gradually building chuckle from Fade that rapidly turned into full blown, outright laughter. Once it finally subsided, Fade replied, “Ah, Crafter. Relax. No one here is going to eat you. Especially not me. No no, you’re on my ‘Do Not Eat’ list.” He paused for a moment, before adding, “Not really in the mood for it right now anyways…”

“Wait, there’s a list?” Crafter queried, clearly taken aback by the concept.

“Yes, Wrenchy, there’s a list,” Fade let out a soft sigh, sitting back on his haunches and examining his talons deliberately. Satisfied that they were still in order, he glanced back to Crafter with a cold look in his eyes, clenching his raised talon as he did. “And it’s topped by Red Eye and whatever fucker messed with my head.”

I crested the hill, losing sight of Fade and Crafter’s conversation. Bernard was unconscious, some blood speckling the snow where he’d bitten his lip. As far as injuries went, his jaw was going to be sore for a while, and a pair of ribs felt broken under gentle pressure from my hooves. I couldn’t do anything about it – we didn’t even have any healing potions left, and if I had the chance I’d rather not risk the injury healing wrong.

A topic I’d rather not dwell on.

One of the stallions that had taken Bernard’s position was sitting near the pile of ash that was once another member of his tribe. He didn’t seem especially bothered by that, but he watched me administer to Bernard with interest. As I finished, he piped up with apparent interest, “Where will you go, winged one?” A large club rested by his side, and I presumed he had been the one to injure Bernard.

I stopped what I was doing, hanging my head with a small sigh. “I don’t really know,” I replied. “The Fort is our goal, and we’re helping Bernard here,” I gestured to his still unconscious form, “to find his daughter. Word was, her captor had headed this way, and we’re simply following the trail. Though... I don’t expect a pair of pegasi will get a warm welcome from the inhabitants of a settlement in this area. Not after what our kind has done.” I glanced up, making eye contact with him for the first time. His eyes were a deep green, I noted. “I just want to find us a place down here. A place to live. Maybe even a place to be a part of something, if we’re lucky.”

“You are strong, you kill two of ours. You will find path.” He replied, with the same… peculiar logic of the tribe leader. “But not what I ask, Fort is too far for tonight. Where you go?” He finished with a nod towards the caravan, “They risk night path.”

Ahh. Yes. The immediate question.

“What options do we have?” I replied with a strained chuckle. “Given what we did, I don’t expect we would be welcome with your tribe. For that matter, I don’t know if I could keep our griffon from picking a fight even if we could stay.” I perked up just a tad when I realized he would probably have knowledge of the nearby area. “Surely there are other caves such as yours,” I nodded towards the ‘secret’ entrance, previously hidden until it had been used to flank us. “Are there any on the way to the fort? Anything we could hold up in for the night?”

He thought on my question for a moment, before sighing and shaking his head. “No, I know of no safe holes. Though why griffon make fight if you stay?” He asked, confusion evident in his features.

He legitimately sees us staying as an option… after we killed two of theirs, and kidnapped a third, he really doesn’t hold any enmity for us. I don’t understand these ponies.

“Would… ‘Uncle’ actually let us stay the night?” I asked, incredulity in my tone. “We hurt his niece, took her hostage… under the wrong pretenses, but still… not to mention, these two.” I nodded towards the last rites still being performed down the hill, on the deceased mare. “They may have ambushed us, but we still killed them. Knowing that, would he really let us stay the night under his protection?”

He looked quizzically at me. “What? You fought, they fell. Blood to blood. And Vermelho Lâmina is never glad, but he would not want that death upon you all.” He again nodded at the frozen corpses.

I thought on that for a few moments, before turning and calling down to Fade and Crafter, “Guys, it looks like we might be able to stay here after all. At any rate, we can’t travel with Bernard unconscious like this. Get him ready to move inside, if you please!”

A general affirmative wafted back my way, with Fade tipping me a sarcastic salute as he replied, “Fine. Clear it with the hisponic lunk. Ten to one I’ll get shunted anyways!” He shook his head, disagreement palpable. He could deal with it, I figured.

Turning back to the dark coated buck beside me, I finally got around to actually introducing myself. “Thanks for the info. I’m Snap Roll... previously of the Grand Pegasus Enclave.” There was precious little pride left in how I said my nation’s name. With every passing day, that life felt further and further away…

The buck put a hoof to his chest and spoke proudly, “I am Ossea Disjuntor of the Lobos Carmesim.” He paused to levitate his club back to his shoulder, before adding a question. “You come from above the clouds?” It took me a second, but I realized he was actually posturing. The slight puff of his chest, the way he held the club to emphasize his obvious strength…

I was flattered. Too much on my mind to make anything of it, but it felt kinda good to have… that kind of attention again. Most of the ponies I'd met had been at least wary of me simply because of my wing, if not hostile like Rose had been. It was a pleasant change.

“Aye, I lived above the clouds,” I replied with a soft sigh. “It’s the Enclave’s way to exile anypony who gets themselves stuck on the surface, and my friend and I were unlucky enough to get our ride home shot out from under us.”

Ossea seemed to think on what I said for a moment. “Strange… why were you down from clouds?” His tone carried an earnest curiosity. I wasn’t being interrogated, I wasn’t having to explain myself… he just wanted to know more about me. I found I could reply easily to that.

“The Enclave periodically sends recon patrols to the surface,” I gave him the abridged version. I’d had to relate the story several times since we’d gotten here, and I have no doubt I’ll have to relate it more. For the record, I think that was one of very few times our lives didn’t rest on the outcome of the story. “Sometimes we’re sent to salvage equipment; sometimes we just need to bring back information on the state of the surface. In our case, we were sent to gather information on Griffon and Red Eye activity in the North.”

As I mentioned the master slaver, Ossea growled angrily and spat at his hooves. “Amaldiçoar sua alma, Red Eye is cancer. He gnaws at the land, destroying all.” He practically spat the sentence out, like it was fouled milk.

“Your leader expressed similar feelings. Is the Red Eye presence in this area really that heavy?” I leaned in closer, realizing he might have information I could use. “Any idea where they’re based out of?”

He shook his head slowly, letting himself relax a bit. “You should speak to Vermelho Lâmina about such things. But no, we don’t know where his hole lay. We have sent many to find him. None have returned.”

He motioned towards the entrance to the cave system, “Come inside now, guests should not be left on porch.”

I smiled as I replied, “Oh my, such a gentlecolt. Lead on, Ossea.”

He inflated his chest some at the compliment, and lead the way into the cavern. Like the previous entrance I’d seen, the natural looking cave was only ten or so meters high, lit by small hanging pot lamps powered by portable generators scattered around the walls. Rather quickly, we came upon Vermelho Lâmina, who seemed to have been awaiting my arrival, one way or another. With a nod, Ossea left the two of us alone, heading off into one of the side passages.

I came to a halt in front of Vermelho, giving him a small bow of my head before speaking. “Vermelho, I have a favour to ask. We won’t be able to reach the shelter of Fort Neighson by tonight, and I don’t want my people suffering the same fate as that caravan.”

Here goes nothing.

“I’ve come to ask for shelter for the night, with your clan.”

He responded to my bow with a nod of his head. It was a subtle thing, but I could tell there was a certain gravitas to the nonverbal exchange. It felt like I’d done something right. He waited a short while after I finished my request before replying, “Come girl, walk with me awhile.” he then turned to his left with a slow trot, and waited for me to catch up.

I cantered up to his side, following along. I stayed quiet, wanting to let him commit to a response… and I was also interested in seeing more of the Lobo settlement.

He led me towards the shorter end of the cave, and i could clearly see a pony made wall with a heavy door set into it. To my left, in a small alcove I could see a pair of wolves sleeping on a pile of furs and bones, seemingly quite content. I noted that none of the bones appeared to be equine of origin, though in the state they were in, I couldn’t tell for sure.

Having remained silent thus far, it seemed he intended to add an unspoken weight to the walk. As we neared the door, he abruptly stated, “You left me without my brother’s body, denying him his last rites… you’re aware of this?” He left the question hang by turning his head slightly, gauging my reaction.

I maintained eye contact as I replied, my voice grim but honest. “I am aware. I take responsibility, and sympathize.” I paused a moment, letting that sink in before adding, “However, I am not sorry. It was him or us, and my partner took the shot. What happened is an unfortunate aspect of our energy weapons, but they are a large part of why we’re all still alive.”

He maintained a pause in turn, no real emotion apparent on his face when he finally did reply, “You are in the right, we were in this case the aggressors. And they died to your blade, in a matter of speaking, so yes by the trial of arms you are right. But…” He paused a moment, just a hint of… attachment showing. “He was my brother, blood of my blood. I can’t help but resent you, matter not what the goddesses say.”

What the goddesses say, hmm…

We came to a halt before the door as he turned to me fully, his decision made: “We will shelter you this night, but you will leave in the morn. Regardless of your wounded.”

“I ask no more than that, those terms are more than fair. I will ensure there is no friction between my company and your family while we’re under your roof, so to speak.” I’d thought our dealings were done, and I had just started to turn away to inform the rest when I realized something at least somewhat critical.

We still have no food.

We’d planned to get to the Fort that night. We would have been good, what with the supplementary rations we’d traded from the merchant not long after leaving Chess’ waystation, but with the delays, and with Crafter to feed… we were pretty much out.

I turned back to the older stallion, adding belatedly, “As a separate issue, would we be able to trade with any of your ponies for food or medical supplies? We are desperately short on both.”

He chuckled softly, the ghost of a smile appearing on his face. “I assumed as much, your ponies seemed quite low on supplies. Do not worry, we have some stock enough for your kin.” He then levitated out a key and unlocked the massive door, revealing a storage room full of crates, with a terminal resting upon a desk set against the right-hoof side of the room. What caught my attention however, was the mare at its controls.

Quite surprised at the sudden opening of the door, the sky blue mare took a full second to comprehend firstly that it was me in the doorway, and secondly that I was with the ‘hostile’ leader.

“Um, well. This is awkward.” Tailwind stammered.

“Yup.” I replied.

Standing in the doorway, Vermelho Lâmina’s jaw was hanging slightly open for a number of seconds as the new situation sank in. However, his transition from bewildered to enraged happened in the blink of an eye.

“Pelas deusas, Qual é o significado disso!” He bellowed, seemingly forgetting my inability to understand his tongue.

That, or not caring.

I stammered out, “Vermelho, I sent her!” Before damning the pain in my side as I sprang in front of him, placing my body between the Lobo leader and Tailwind. “After the fight outside, I sent her in here to check out what we’d thought would be a hostile camp. After she didn’t return, we took action, thinking you’d captured her. That led to our… discussion.” Even with the situation as tense as it was, I still danced around pointing out that it was more of a ‘hostage situation.’ I assumed that reminder wouldn’t go over particularly well. “I had hoped to find some way to contact her and sort the situation out, but she went to ground against an apparently hostile force.” I was trying to calm him down, but I was also trying to fill Tailwind in on what had happened since she left.

Vermelho turned his head slightly, looking down at me, then back to Tail. He still looked very displeased, but his voice carried no emotion in it. “What did you steal winged one, what did you see?” He asked flatly. Though there was no venom in his voice, it carried with it the implicit promise of retribution.

Now very worried at the current course of events, Tailwind quickly responded while waving her hooves in front of her defensively, “Nothing, honest! I didn’t take any of your supplies!” Her voice dropped with her hooves as she took on an almost remorseful tone. “I read your tribes history… with what happened to you.”

Vermelho let out a sad sigh, his head and shoulders slumping. In relief? I could only guess. “Promise us this young one, tell no one of what you read there.” Seeing Tailwind nod, he sighed heavily. “Good. Now go with your friend to the far side of the cave, you’ll see living stations. Wait there, rest, do what you will. But do not go to the upper part of the cave, it is our place alone.” He said all that while levitating a large box off the stack and starting to crack it open.

Seeing the situation defused, I let out a soft, almost contented sigh as Tailwind cantered over to my side. We locked gazes, and when she got close enough, I wrapped a foreleg around her and pulled her into a tight hug. She returned the embrace wordlessly, though I could tell she was troubled slightly from recent events.

With no small amount of reluctance, I broke the embrace. A glance towards Vermelho showed that he was definitely waiting for us to go, before confirming the integrity of whatever it was that was in the box. As curious as I was, it wasn’t worth raising his ire for something that honestly didn’t even concern me. “C’mmon, Tailwind, lets go get the others. The thought of lying down next to a fire sounds positively exquisite right about now.”

And so Tailwind and I wound our way back to the entrance, equal parts checking how the others were doing as passing on current events. As I exited the cave, I called out happily, “Good news, boys! We can stay here the night.” As I glanced around, I noted that Crafter was glaring at Fade for some reason, and Fade seemed to be oblivious to whatever had managed to raise his ire. I didn’t ask, barking out some quick commands instead, “Pack up everything that isn’t already frozen in place or wrecked, we’re gonna head inside. Crafter, if you could, ah, help Bernard along if you please.” As they glanced up at myself and Tailwind, whatever disagreement they’d had momentarily forgotten, I added with an abashed tone as I met Tailwind’s gaze, “And I found Tailwind. She wasn’t as lost as… as I’d thought.”

Fade rubbed at his head, massaging away what seemed to be a migraine or headache, before gradually becoming aware of our presence. He rose with a small stretch, hopping off the carriage roof he’d been standing on before plodding his way up the hillside towards us.

Hearing my shout, Crafter wrapped Bernard’s body in his light brown shroud of magic and cantered up towards us, wearing a dour expression. Tailwind moved to greet him, but her cheer felt short as he cantered right past, with Bernard’s still unconscious form floating beside him. He was still walking with a limp, though for some reason it seemed a bit more pronounced than it was when we’d left. “Oh,” Tailwind muttered, “Okay then…”

As Fade made his way towards us, separately, I took an educated guess as to how things had gone. “Fade, did something happen between you two while I was gone?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

He halted mid-step as he approached us. He raised a talon before promptly dropping it, as he turned to look in my direction. “I didn’t attack him, if that’s what you’re asking.” He replied plainly, “We had a discussion about the Wasteland and its practices, and Wrenchy didn’t like the outcome of it.” He shook his head and looked off to the side, seemingly unimpressed, “Things aren’t like his sheltered upbringing and apparently that offends him. Not exactly my problem.” He took a breath, before glancing down at Tailwind, then back to me. “Ahh, the errant member of our merry little band. I see you’re well, Miss Tailwind, that’s good. Can’t imagine where you got off to, but it obviously didn’t end as we’d expected. Must be relieved not to be stuck with just us surface dwellers, hmm Miss Snap Roll?”

I grimaced. That was considerably more… blunt than how I’d hoped to fill her in on how things had gone.

“As you expected…?” Tailwind asked, trailing off. She sounded concerned, and I knew I was the root cause of it.

“Well no, it didn’t.” I replied evasively. I didn’t want to let on too much of how panicked I’d gotten, so I stuck with replying, “We were worried they’d captured you, and that was kind of the assumption we’d been operating under...”

Losing her would have… no. Not thinking about that right now.

“And yes, having her back is quite the relief,” I hastily added, hoping to avoid dwelling on the issue. I tossed my mane as I glanced back to Fade, “Don’t sell yourself short though, you aren’t all bad.”

Nodding, more to Tailwind than to myself, Fade continued, much to my dismay, “Yes, dead or captured, maybe enslaved. You had wandered off in the direction of the Lobos’ hideout and we hadn’t heard from you. Given how they are, we logically assumed something had happened to you. Well, Miss Snap Roll did anyways.” Upon mentioning me, he swung his focus back to me for a moment, “I know. I won’t do half of what the other degenerates down here would to you. As you’ve already seen, I’ve even tried to help you after you reacted so poorly on our first meeting. At worst I’d take some of your feathers if you die. Maybe take some more if the situation was dire enough and food was out.”

I fidgeted as he explained my… um… fine, my panic attack when she wasn’t there when I woke up. At his mention of how he’d respond if either of us died… I’d really, really prefer not to think about that.

Tailwind rubbed the nape of her neck with a forehoof, “Yeah, I did end up taking a smidge longer than expected,” She mumbled noncommittally, before changing her tone to point the same hoof at me. “But still, you don’t give me enough credit, Chief. Thinking these mud-ponies would catch me.” She gave a quasi-verbal “Bah!” as she turned to head inside. Normally, that would be that, but I saw the signs. The slight dip of her chin, the droop of her wings as they rested at her sides, her tail hanging lifelessly as she walked away… She was still at least a little shaken from the events of the day, and taking care to hide it, even from me.

She doesn’t want me to worry… I always will.

Fade shrugged noncommittally, ending the matter as he gazed past us into the cave yawning behind us, as he queried, “So… we’re staying here for the night then? Would be good to get out of the cold before it gets… colder and more freeze-y.”

For once, I was glad for the abrupt change of topic brought on by Fade. “Yeah, their leader seems to have an… interesting view of things. He’ll let us stay the night, on the condition that we’re gone at first light.”

With that, I turned and started making my way back into the cave, with Fade falling in behind me. Idly, I hoped Crafter had figured out which direction to go, but a guard stationed at the first fork we encountered dispelled that fear. I recalled him being the one to point the LMG at us earlier, the same weapon dangling at his side for the time being. He wasn’t exactly in the mood to brook divergence from our prescribed path.

When we finally arrived, we were greeted with an open area. A series of tents lined one wall, and a fire was blazing merrily away in the center of the half-circle of tents. Ossea was laying down beside it, sipping contentedly from a bottle of what looked like some form of alcohol.

As we entered the room, I put a hoof to my chin in thought as I glanced back to Fade. “Come to think of it, I never did give you a look over your wounds after we… ah, met. I’d like to see if we left any lasting damage, if I may.” And considering we just went through a firefight, it would be a pretty good idea anyways.

He had paused at the threshold, gaze locked on the fire in the center of the room. I could practically see the dance and flicker of the flames reflected in his eyes. My question seemed to jar him back to the present. He blinked a few times to clear his head, before turning to me with a curious expression, asking “Kāpēc tā? Not confident in Ranger Twist's abilities are you? Or do you just want to get your hooves on me again?”

I put a hoof to my chin and adopted a smirk. “Hmm, maybe a little of column A, a little of column B,” I casually replied, before switching to a more honest tone. “More than anything, I’d like to take some ownership for my mistake. And who knows, you might have gotten hurt in the last fight without realizing. I know I didn’t exactly check.”

Tailwind went over to the fire, taking a seat closer to where Crafter had picked to lie down than where Ossea sat. As she passed by on the opposite side of Fade, I saw her toss her mane and wink in my direction. I couldn’t help but smile at that.

After a brief pause to think, Fade shrugged and gave a bow of his head in acquiescence. “Alright, if it’ll put your mind at ease then I’m not going to deny you,” He replied, carefully laying his rifle out on the ground out of the way of the transition cavern. “Shows some honour on your part, I can respect that. Will be nice to get all the gear off for once anyways.”

As he dropped his hat, pack, and… what do griffons even call their clothing? Barding? I don’t know. Anyways, I caught sight of a trio of star-shaped scorch marks upon his chest that stood out to me. Singed plumage surrounded them, standing out against the healthy brown feathers around them. Once he’d finished shucking his accoutrements and laying it out on the floor in a surprisingly orderly fashion, he sat up, rolled his shoulders, stretched out his back and shook out his wings.

With his implicit permission, I went through my standard medical checks… admittedly, a bit slower than usual. I didn’t usually have that much time, after all. And griffon physique intrigued me. As a race, they’re bigger than ponies, naturally, and he was no exception. His paws, his talons, his beak – they were foreign to me, but in an exotic, passively dangerous sort of way. At first, as I touched him, he seemed to shy away from my hooves. Just an innocuous muscle twitch, but it was… peculiar.

As I moved to run my hooves along his wings, he unfolded them slightly to accommodate my inspection. Most pegasi are agility fliers to some degree or another, built for speed and precision. His wings were built for strength flying, and no mistake. It was… exciting, honestly, to have such a visceral reminder of how differently our species take to the sky.

Moving on, I traced a hoof along one of the star-shaped scars on his chest as I asked in a soft voice, “These were from us?” I noticed a series of lesser scars, all long faded and covered by re-grown plumage. None of them stood out quite like the magically burnt scars.

He arched a brow at my question, tilting his head to see what exactly I was referring to. “Jā, that’s your hoofwork alright. Made a real mess of the plumage; going to itch like mad as it grows back too. But what’s a couple more for the collection eh? I’m still alive and kicking!”

“Well, that’s good to hear,” I replied, slowly dropping my hoof from its place on his chest. “I know we didn’t exactly get off to a good start, but I’d like to make it up to you – somehow – if I can.” I backed off a bit, giving him some personal space. My examination was over, he seemed to be the model of griffon health as far as I could tell, scars aside. “You’ve already proven yourself a valuable addition to our group, regardless of how long you plan to stay.” I paused for a few moments, before adding, “Though I am curious about that – during the fight, you had some serious combat skills. Where the hell did you learn those?”

Taking the shift in conversation as the natural end of the examination, he reached out to retrieve his coat, holding it up and slipping his free arm through a sleeve. He kept an eye trained on me as he replied, “I’m certain you can think of a way.” He rolled his shoulder and shifted the garment across his back, slipping his other arm in before reaching back and seating it properly under his wings. Partially dressed, he shook himself out before granting me his full attention again, giving his head a slight shake as he continued, “Not that you have to; I was charged with getting you to the Fort and that’s what I’ll do. No extra payment is required. Appreciated on the other hand, well…” He held his hands palm up as he offered an open ended shrug as his words trailed off. It seemed a less than subtle hint, to which I raised an eyebrow.

He let his hands drop as he started to pick at a loose thread on the hem of his coat as he replied, “And to answer your question... well, at least half of it is just natural ability and reflex. Half eagle, half lion, makes for one awesome scrapper,” his eyes darted back up to meet mine, just a tad on the quick side. “The more technical side is tricks of the trade I’d wager. Which trade I’d like to know, but many things are being kept secret. There’s nondisclosure with myself sometimes.”

Now, his comment definitely seemed… off to me, but I didn’t have anything beyond an idle curiosity in the matter. I wasn’t even sure what there was to ask about. ‘What do you mean, which trade?’ Didn’t exactly come off as grateful for his help, at least in my head. I couldn’t think of a way to inquire without digging deeper than I’d otherwise like, so I let it slide – it wasn’t exactly the highest on the priority list regardless.

Hiding my pause for thought with a sultry smile, I replied, “Oh, I’m sure Tailwind and I can think of ways to show our appreciation in the time we’re there.” I flashed him a wink, “You’re certainly in fine physical condition.” After a brief pause, I added a casual afterthought, “At least, for a griffon.”

Having gone back to picking at the loose string, my last comment brought his eyes back to mine again, before something clicked and he glanced down at himself thoughtfully. After a moment, he sat up straight and puffed out his chest a bit, seemingly bolstered by my conclusion. “I’ve no doubt that the two of you can,” he finally replied, with a slight nod and a grin of his own. “Let’s just hope no more incidents occur before we reach the Fort and I have to demonstrate what else a griffon in prime shape is capable of. Wouldn’t want you more indebted, would we Miss?”

“No, we most certainly would not,” I replied as I turned to head towards the fire. I paused after a couple steps to glance back sidelong, “Though I wouldn’t be opposed to a demonstration.”

Leaving Fade to put his barding back on, I cantered over to where Tailwind was already sitting by the fire. I shucked the saddlebags, and with little of my customary grace flopped down beside her, closing my eyes and giving a soft moan of delight as the warmth of the fire began to heat my tired body.

Tail shuffled over, leaning up against me as we shared the warmth of the fire.

Glancing over at Bernard, whom Crafter had unceremoniously deposited near the fire, Tailwind inquired, “So, what happened to Bernard?”

Crafter turned to reply, “He, uh…” Rapidly, he ran out of steam, backpedaling on his explanation, concluding with, “Actually, I don’t remember. He… got shot?”

Fade took a seat on the opposite side of Bernard as he rolled his eyes and let out a chuckle, “Wrenchy, do you even know what ‘shot’ is? The poor sod was clubbed. Did… damage to him. Now he’s out.” To prove his point, he reached out and swatted the unconscious earth pony with the back of a hand. “Courtesy of our lovely hosts,” He added before turning to the unicorn with an excited grin, “Though if you want I can educate you. Can spare one round. Consider it your initiation to the Wasteland. Kind of like a really painful birthday!”

Crafter hesitated for a moment, glancing at Fade with a look that seemed to be gauging whether or not the griffon was serious. “I… think I’ll pass.” He settled on as a reply.

I frowned.

Hadn’t he seen Bernard get hit? He’d informed me of the flanking ponies in the first place…

I turned my head towards where Tailwind was curled up beside me, seeing as the topic was finally broached as to what exactly happened while she was investigating. “Ah, Tailwind… while you were out, we kind of… um… accidentally kidnapped a sentry while we tried to sneak in after you.” I paused, gathering my thoughts. “Then, we got into a bit of a standoff with the ponies here, including Vermelho Lâmina, whom you talked to in the supply room. During the parlay, Bernard had taken up the spot the sniper had been in. Turns out, they have an alternate entrance there, and Ossea over there clocked him pretty bad.” I nodded my head towards the Lobo pony sitting near us.

He raised his mug in acknowledgement. There wasn’t any pride there, but there wasn’t any remorse either. A simple acknowledgement of an action.

Grimacing, I came to the point that was really the issue all along, “They initially fired on us because we were wearing Red Eye barding… it might be the only barding we have that’s winterized, but we’re endangering the entire group by wearing it.” I hung my head as I finished.

Glancing over to Bernard himself, I added, “We can bandage up the area and try to immobilize his broken ribs, but there’s only so much I can do.” I gave a soft sigh before continuing, “He doesn’t have a flail chest, and it isn’t life threatening. For all I love my wings, broken bones really need to be set by healing magic. If we had another potion, I might chance that… but a unicorn healer would be the best medicine available. We should be able to find one at the Fort.”

Tail was also looking at Bernard as I spoke, letting the silence fall for a second, before asking the question most on her mind, “Do you think he’ll wake up?”

“His vitals are stable.” I replied, “He should wake up, though… loss of consciousness is never an exact science. I’m afraid we just have to wait, which is part of why I wanted us under cover. We aren’t getting to the Fort tonight, so we should get some rest while we can.” I tried and failed to keep my tone clinical, concern entering my voice despite my best efforts.

Having listened in idly, Ossea spoke up, “He should be well soon. Hit in jaw, not neck.” He went back to sipping from his bottle, what appeared to be scotch. He was still listening, but not really intending to be a part of the conversation.

Fade nodded his assent to my summary of events, crossing his legs and cradling his rifle in his talons. His eyes stared into the fire, open wide. I could see the dancing flames reflected in his eyes, seeming very lost to the world. Consciously, I knew he was at least passively aware of the conversation, but he seemed quite absorbed.

Seeming to come to a realization, Ossea reached into a saddlebag he wore and pulled out several small packages, individually wrapped in brown paper. He levitated them out to Crafter, Tailwind and Myself, leaving one resting beside Bernard. “Vermelho wanted me to give these to you, no charge.”

I poked into it, curious. As I unwrapped layers of packaging, a… spicy smell wafted out. It didn’t really look like anything I’d eaten, but when he nodded, I tore a strip off of the reddish material. It seemed to have some sort of seasoning on it. I popped the strip into my mouth, chewing thoughtfully for a moment before turning to Ossea and replying, “Hey, this is actually pretty good. What is it?”

“Meat,” was the monotone reply, completely disinterested. As if it was an everyday occurrence that they ate dead things. Thoughts popped into my head. Crafter’s earlier guess that they were eating Bernard…

I saw the same thought snap Fade’s eyes from the fire to the green-eyed unicorn sitting beside it. His talons gripped the stock of his rifle just a bit tighter, and I saw some tension growing in his legs, readying himself to spring if needed. Tailwind’s reaction was similar, but not as visible. She shuffled to the side, moving her energy rifle’s arcs over just enough to swing and fire, if needed. I awkwardly realized I didn’t have my TFD on at the moment, and would definitely regret its absence if things went bad.

Crafter seemed blissfully unaware, as he continued to unwrap the package of meat he’d been passed.

“What kind of meat, Ossea?” I replied evenly despite the strip of meat still in my mouth, surreptitiously glancing down at where my battlesaddle’s firing bit was still undeployed. We might not have wanted a fight, we might not be able to even survive a fight with them, but if we’d been lured in to sleep in the company of ponies who…

At any rate, Ossea took a moment to take a swig from his drink before replying easily, “Is wolf, or caribou, didn’t prepare so don’t know for sure. Why?”

We collectively stood down. Fade released his grip on his rifle’s stock, and Tailwind relaxed into my side, leaning into me. For my part, I felt a little foalish for jumping to conclusions. Now that my conscience was assuaged, I had a chance to appreciate the flavour. It had a spicy taste to it like nothing I’d ever tasted. Even after I swallowed, it left a lingering aftertaste. I stared off into the distance. Dazed, and in a soft, small voice, I mumbled, “I never knew…”

“What did you not know?” Ossea asked, canting his head to the side.

My eyes sparkled as I held up what was left of the strip of jerky between my hooves. “This is delicious! Who knew meat tasted so good?” I commented, glancing around the group to see the reactions to my discovery.

Tailwind poked at her own package, looking skeptically at the atypical meal before her. She still wasn’t so sure about it, but I felt her stomach rumble (a side effect of her snuggled up beside me) and saw her slightly abashed look when she realized I’d noticed. That was evidently enough motivation to at least try it, and she hesitantly took a few careful nibbles of the new foodstuff.

Crafter wasted no time tearing into the paper bag, ravenously popping a strip into his mouth and masticating furiously. He wore an idiot grin the whole time, swallowing, and digging into more of the jerky. His stomach gave a sympathetic gurgle in response that I could hear all the way from where I was. At some point, he must have realized he wore a quasi-orgasmic grin, as he wiped it from his face, returning to his “normal” look before glancing around to see if anypony noticed. “It’s good,” he concluded.

I guess he was still hungry from the time he spent stuck outside his Stable…

Fade looked up from the flames for the first time in a while, commenting, “None for me? That’s fine. I’ve got enough of my own.” He gestured dismissively with a talon, “Prefer to get my food fresh anyways.”

I sighed. I had kind of assumed as much, but still, I hadn’t been very conscious of our group’s newest addition. Eventually, I replied, “Looks like I owe you a drink when we get to the Fort, as well. It’ll probably be quite the night when we finally get that chance…” I trailed off, booze filled thoughts buoying my spirits. Digging in to the ration of jerky, I had enough to satisfy my growling stomach before sealing up the package and stowing it in a saddlebag.

From his spot across from us, Ossea continued to watch the ongoing conversation with idle curiosity, cracking a small smile while continuing to nurse his drink.

“With any luck it’ll be tomorrow night,” Fade replied, tapping a talon lightly on his temple before pointing it at me, “Then you’ll get to sample some of the Wasteland’s finest. Not sure what you have up in your fluffy paradise but we’ve got the real vintage down here. Some of it isn’t even irradiated, too!” He settled back against his pack, resting one hand atop the other before adding with a snicker, “Though I think I’ll have to be buying the drinks this time, Miss. Said it yourself; you’re running out of things to trade. Good stuff isn’t cheap, but you can owe me.”

“Looks like we’re building up quite a debt...” I replied with a bit of trepidation. I wasn’t especially concerned, but the ominous prospect of owing the griffon stuck in the back of my mind. “In the meantime, we should get what rest we can. We’ll move out in the morning.”

Ossea, seeing my confirmatory glance towards him, spoke up. “You all can take those two tents over there,” He gestured towards the two closest. “Bedding is inside. The Lobos Carmesim shall keep watch.”

As if in response to the talk of bedding down, Bernard gave off a soft groan.

Relief spread across my face as he took stock of where he was, gradually realizing that he was no longer out in the freezing cold, and in fact had food and a warm fire awaiting him. “Care to fill me in on what I missed?” He groggily asked, as he carefully felt himself over, grimacing when he reached his ribs.

“Gladly,” I replied, as our group generally started getting ready to bed down.

I dreamt, that night. The first time since the crash that I hadn’t been plagued by nightmares or simply collapsed from exhaustion. I dreamed of clear skies, of flying beneath the stars… of friends lost, but not forgotten. Escapist, naturally, but my sleeping mind didn’t know that.

I woke up slowly. Pleasantly, even. As I blinked my eyes, it gradually dawned on me that I was in a tent. On the ground. My midriff hurt. I was still in the Wasteland, and the last couple days weren’t actually a dream. Oh, and apparently there was enough ambient light outside to send a few faint shafts of dull, diffused light into the entrance.

Rolling over, I placed a foreleg around Tailwind, who was still snoring peacefully. Shaking her lightly, I spoke softly into her ear, “Reveille, sleepyfeathers.”

Tail grumbled and sleepily whimpered, “But sir I can’t do watch today… I drank too much.” Rolling over, she stubbornly pulled the borrowed covers back over her head in an attempt to ward off the new day.

I continued whispering in her ear, despite the covers now in the way. “If we get to the Fort tonight, you can sample the ‘Wasteland’s Finest’ before the sun sets.” As I spoke, I carefully positioned myself to pull the covers as far off of her as I could in one swift motion if she didn’t wake up.

As per the normal ritual, only noncommittal mumbling was heard from her small fortress of bed sheets.

Well, nothing for it.

I grabbed the covers near her hooves, having learned from long years of experience where the best spots are to pull the covers off of a mare unwilling to face the light… and pulled in a swift motion, using my wings to add some additional momentum.

While it was painful, the maneuver was still fruitful. Bundling up the covers, I left a freshly extricated Tailwind flopped on the floor in a mound. Grumbling, she popped her head up and yawned loudly. “Well, so much for breakfast in bed…”

“The thing about these rations,” I opined as I reached into the small pouch of jerky once again, popping a piece into my mouth for emphasis, “Is that they’re perfect to eat while on the go.”

Having gotten shakily to her hooves, Tailwind let out another yawn before pressing me a little further on the plan. “So what are we expecting in the Fort? The Rangers there probably won’t be as inviting as Paladin Rose was.”

Sobering up, I swallowed the jerky with a soft gulp. “It’ll be bad. I’m hopeful, but I expect we’ll receive a chilly reception.” I grimaced at my own sense of humour. “The Fort is also the only option we have right now for a real settlement. They’re Rangers, but they hate Red Eye’s lackeys as much as we do. I’m gonna try and use that to our advantage, but I can’t make any promises.” I started putting on the Enclave scout barding, which I hadn’t worn since the day we crashed. “Speaking of which, I think our best bet is being upfront about who we were. We don’t have any form of alibi, wearing Red Eye barding will just get us in more trouble like last night, and the Rangers from station Kilo already know our story.” Zipping up the last of the barding, I shook out my mane. “We’ll be putting our faith in ponies we can’t even begin to trust, but I believe this will be for the best.”

Making note of my choice of attire, Tailwind started to don her own set of scout barding. “So we’re going in as Enclave military then? Seems like another good route to being shot. Not that I don’t like seeing you in something more form fitting, Chief.” Her coy smile would have been measures more effective if it wasn’t quickly replaced with yet another yawn.

“Well, we don’t have very much choice otherwise.” I remarked, “Depending on how strict their admittance to the city is, we might be able to get away with using the blankets and the carriage outside. If they do any kind of search on us, they’ll find out we’re pegasi. Being upfront about our situation is probably better in the long run… though the blankets should be enough to get us under the minimal range of whatever artillery they might have watching the entrances and actually able to talk to somepony,” I was still trying to wrack my brain for a better way into the fort, to no avail. “Still, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to have a white flag handy…”

“Well if it comes to it, I’m sure Crafter can strike a convincing surrender.” Tail finished her statement by securing her laser rifle to its battlesaddle and looking at me expectantly.

Strapping my submachine gun to my side and throwing on my saddlebags, I ducked my head outside the tent to get a good look at how Bernard, Crafter and Fade had fared during the night. Admittedly, I was also checking to see if Fade had happened to kill anypony in the immediate area.

Crafter had stumbled out of the tent he’d shared with Bernard, still favouring his uninjured foreleg. He shot me a brief smile before packing up his small store of kit into his bags. Bernard followed, his kit stowed and ready to move. I wondered how long he’d been ready. Still, he too was walking with a pronounced limp.

Unsurprisingly, Fade was sitting next to the smouldering remains of the previous night’s fire, mumbling something to himself. As he saw us moving about, he set to packing away what few pieces of gear he’d unpacked for the night. He was in the process of snapping the upper receiver of his rifle back into place, function testing it towards a generally empty section of cave before seating a magazine and racking the slide. Grinning, he pushed himself into a sitting position, stretching his wings and tossing a nod towards Tailwind and I. “Labrīt, my Pegaz friends. I hope your rest was entirely raider free. Seems to have been but one can never be too sure!"

Taking stock of the goings on in the cave since we’d gone to sleep, I replied in a deadpan, “I’m reasonably sure you’d have heard if we’d had a raider in there, Fade.” Brightening up, I continued, “That said, it was definitely a better sleep than the bunker we were in last night.” Pausing a moment in consideration, I remarked, “Though I don’t think I’d classify these ponies as raiders. They have a moral set, albeit an unusual one.

Slinging his rifle and standing up, Fade shrugged before pacing a bit to get the blood flowing into his feet again. “Can’t ever be too sure,” He replied, “I’ve seen all sorts of raiders and some of them are quiet. Who knows, there could be silent or invisible ones!” At that statement, he blinked and glanced around the cave.

Well, if there are invisible raiders, they sure must like to watch. They certainly don’t do much.

Fade gave his head a shake, before hiking a claw over his shoulder towards the entrance, stating, “Maybe they do have morals but so do I, and mine are the only ones I’m willing to trust. So if it’s all the same, we should probably get a move on for the Fort. If you’ve no objections to that.”

Bernard remarked at that, “I’m kinda excited to see Neighson, actually. I've heard alot about it.”

“No objections from me,” I replied to Fade. “I think it’s well past time we made it to this ‘Fort.’”

Fade nodded, abruptly turning on his heel, pointing towards the dim light of day that filtered down the tunnel. “Then let us be off!” He boldly proclaimed, setting off as he continued talking, “As nice as it was not to freeze to death I’d very much like to get out of this pit that reeks of Tribal ponies.” He padded along without looking back, occasionally waving a talon in some vague gesture or another. “Though that’s not to say anywhere your kind gets doesn’t smell bad. This is just worse. No idea how we tolerated your kind for so long…” Stopping abruptly at the mouth of the cave he turned pack and pointed at Tailwind and I, stating, “Except for you two. Maybe it’s the exposure to clouds or whatnot, but you Enclave ponies aren’t so bad. Not good mind you, but definitely not bad. Average maybe? No... Tolerable! That’s the one! You’re tolerable, scent-wise.”

As he commented on smell, a thought came to me. I lifted a wing, giving myself a curious sniff. I wrinkled my nose as it was assailed by the smell of matted sweat, blood from multiple sources (including my own), and noticing that my feathers were long in need of preening. Falling in behind the griffon, I replied, “Thanks, I think?” I trailed off, unsure if he was hitting on me or simply crazy.

Having listened in as he fell in step behind us, Crafter posited the first question that must have come to his mind. “So, what exactly is the ‘Oncave’?” He glanced from myself to Fade, eagerly awaiting an answer.

Such a curious pony, he is.

In lieu of answering him directly, Tailwind let out a snicker at Crafter’s mispronunciation as she took flight, hovering a few feet off the ground beside Fade.

“When the bombs fell at the end of the Great War, they targeted the Pegasus city of Cloudsdale first, Crafter.” I replied evenly. If he was going to learn, I might as well teach him right. “Seeing the annihilation of one of our precious few cloud cities, the ruling council of the pegasi decided to take drastic measures to keep ourselves alive until such time as the ground was safe enough to live on. The Grand Pegasus Enclave was born of the remaining cloud-city-states banding together to cover the sky in a permanent layer of clouds, with the reconstituted remains of the wartime military for our mutual protection.” I grimaced. This was the… unpleasant part. “The measures were supposed to be temporary… we were under the impression that the surface was an unlivable hellhole to this day, more or less.” I glanced back into the cave, at the ponies eking out a harsh, but very much livable existence. “This,” I said as I gestured with a hoof towards the cave dwellers’ abode, “Makes me wonder how much isn’t known of the surface, and how much just isn’t told to us.”

Thinking on that a moment, Crafter seemed to process that before replying, “So… it’s a sky Stable? Or something like that? And it’s just for the pegasi?” He seemed deep in thought, like he really was trying to wrap his head around the concept.

I could find nothing of his usual comic lack of understanding there, and responded earnestly, nodding as I saw the similarities he was no doubt connecting to his own way of life previously. “Something like that. However, we periodically send recon patrols to the surface to find out if it’s livable or not… often, they don’t return. Judging by what we’ve seen so far, I can see why.”

Though I have to wonder… what effect would what Tailwind and I have seen down here have back in Neighvarro? What if word reached the civilians in the other cloud cities that there were ponies living down here?

I frowned. My train of thought was leading me places I wasn’t sure I wanted to be thinking right now.

Giving that a few moments thought, Crafter eventually replied, “So you’ve all just been ‘living it up’ so to speak, above the clouds while this had been happening? Don’t the clouds, you know, control the weather patterns?”

Tailwind took an interest in the conversation as she piped up, “It’s not that simple. You see, when we retreated to the clouds there was nothing left of Equestria. Manehattan, Fillydelphia, Canterlot… everything and everypony was killed by the balefire bombs. We only saved those few ponies we could, not unlike your Stables did.” Her tone was defensive, contrary to her usual flippant self.

His critique is hitting rather close to home.

Glancing at Tail, Crafter continued, “But you’re the ones who can control the weather… and covering us with a layer of clouds doesn’t exactly help anypony… in fact, I’d say it makes things harder.” He actually put a bit of venom into his tone, something I can’t really say I expected from him.

I wanted to tell him. I wanted to explain, to let him know why… but I couldn’t. Cloud seeding was something I couldn’t just share with a surface pony, no matter how harmless he seemed. So, I got angry instead. I know it wasn’t fair to him, but I defended our stance with anger in my tone, though I don’t expect he ever knew how much of it was directed towards myself.

“Do you realize how often the pegasi we send to the surface are killed for their efforts?!” I asked, “We’ve all lost friends to this Wasteland, and removing the cloud layer would put our entire civilization at the same level of risk our scouting parties face, every time they head to the surface.”

Getting quite heated, Tail flew towards Crafter, looking him right in the eyes. “Those clouds are our homes, Crafter. Without them we die, all of us.” She then jabbed him with a forehoof, “And what of the corpses outside your little paradise, what help did your home provide?”

He glanced between us. I don’t think he’d wanted a fight, but despite everything, he decided to stick to his argument. “I’m not defending my Stable. I was left for the same fate, and…” He trailed off for a moment, a glint of sadness in his eyes. Must have hit a nerve. “But we also didn’t create this frozen desolation of a land. I’m not saying you ought to destroy your home. What I am getting at is why you think your home deserves to be preserved while you’re destroying all these ponies’ homes? What gives you the right?”

Surprisingly, his response came from Bernard, who spoke up from behind Crafter. His voice was quiet, yet it had a firm edge to it, “They have every right to survive, we all do and by any means necessary. If I had the chance I wouldn’t give a second thought to having my family live safe and happy up there. Family will always come first.”

Crafter turned on him, “But did you? Did you get to live up there? Did they come by continuously afterwards searching, offering safety for you? I agree, your family should come first, but what if your family died because of the cold? It can’t have been easy for you out here, just as it isn’t easy for us right now. Imagine if they even lifted some of the cloud layer – not all – but some? When was the last time you saw the sun? I haven’t. I’d like to. But I can’t. And it’s completely in their control.” He finished, pointing a forehoof directly at me.

Bernard stared daggers at Crafter’s back. “My family was murdered, my wife raped and my daughter stolen. Not by the cold, not by clouds, but by a pony. Would you have the same leniency placed upon him? On slavers? Would you have the Enclave help all those who take visceral pleasure in inflicting harm upon others? ‘Cause I do not, and I hope you wouldn’t.”

Crafter turned his head in acknowledgement, but avoided eye contact. In a more level tone, he replied, “I know it wasn’t them who did it… but who’s to say that those ponies wouldn’t have been different if they were given a better chance? What if… what if the Enclave had done more to help, and thus the ones who stole, who killed… maybe they wouldn’t be that way.” He turned on his hoof, beginning to walk off towards the carriage.

Taking a step forwards towards him, I made it clear that I wasn’t going to back down from my argument, calling out at his back, “Crafter, I know you met the same bastards Bernard and I put down. I had a chance to talk with their leader before the end. Everything he did, he wasn’t doing out of desperation, or out of a lack of means to do better. He did what he did because he liked it! Had he another chance, a better chance, he would have chosen the same skies-damned path.” I stomped a hoof for emphasis. “Do I think it is entirely conscionable to keep the cloud layer to ourselves? No. But simply having the clouds lifted will not make everything down here sunshine and fucking rainbows!”

Crafter stopped, half-turning his head. “I didn’t say to just lift the cloud layer, I’ve expressed that. And you don’t know that for certain. We never will, will we?” He jibed back, actively keeping his voice just above a reasonable level. He turned back, and left the conversation at that.

Bernard followed after the departing form of Crafter, both of them quick stepping to catch up with Fade, who I realized hadn’t even stopped when our argument had begun. Tailwind gave me a short, pained look and a nod before flying ahead out of the cave. I followed along, weary and angry at myself for not being able to tell him why, slowly making my way along behind them.

As we got closer to the carriage, we came upon a most unusual sight – Fade sitting upon the intact wagon, having a rather intense conversation, seemingly with himself.

He let out a huff, running a claw over some indentation on the top of the wagon before waving his arm dismissively, “When it comes right down to it the roles have all been turned on their heads. Sparkles at the bottom, dirt on top, feathers in the middle. That I’m more or less fine with really; means less is expected of me and there’s still someone more oppressed. Of course that drastically limits opportunities but who’d honestly want to get involved in that filth? Not I! All you ponies naturally aren’t a surprise but then again, what can one truthfully expect of creatures without thumbs? Can’t trust them any more than… than…” He blinked, opening and closing his beak a number of times, as if at a loss for words.

It was then that I realized that Fade was well and truly crazy.

Pushing himself up in order to make a quick hop to the ground, he spotted us as we collectively plodded up to the wagon. “Nice of you to join me,” he commented, lifting off with a stroke of his wings to land closer to easy speaking range with most of us. “Thought you lot had decided to throw in with the natives. Perhaps you’d found yourselves… what’s the term? Special summer ponies? Eh, something like that.” Raising a talon into the air he briskly followed up, “Anyways, the Fort awaits and we’ve only got so much light. Would be rude to keep it waiting after being there for so long.” He tilted his head to the side as he jabbed a talon over his shoulder and asked, “So who do I get to hook up to this contraption? Harness is only a little bit warped. Probably won’t get stuck.”

I grimaced at the pain still making itself known, piping up as I held a forehoof to my midriff, “Sorry guys, I think I’m out for this one.”

Damn it, I really need to get this looked at…

Crafter glanced down at his injured leg, testing to see how much pressure he could easily put on the limb. With a frown, he added, “Yeah, don’t think I can handle it…”

Tailwind gave a sly glance at Bernard before stretching her wings and taking to the air, “Well I gotta go scout ahead!” She streaked forward, dodging any form of rebuttal.

Bernard scowled, though there wasn’t any real anger behind it. “And I’m betting Fade will spout something about ‘pride’ or ‘tacos’ and refuse… fine, I’ll pull the damn wagon.” He then sulked over to the lead lines and strapped himself in. “Get on kids, time for a wagon ride.”

Fade seemed slightly shocked at the accusations directed his way. Raising a talon to his chest, he shook his head and stared at the earth pony. “Pride? Ta-co’s? It’s no such thing! That last one I’m pretty sure you made up, too!” Now scowling himself, he stepped away from the group to point at the front of the carriage and correct his would-be accuser. “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, how about you take a look at the harness in question and explain to me exactly how a device meant to fit a pony would fit me?” striding back to stand beside Bernard, he raised a talon and waved it over his head before comparing to a talon raised over Bernard’s. “As you can see there’s a bit of a size difference. A slight one.”

In an attempt at diplomacy, I piped up as I clambered up onto the wagon, “Thanks, Bernard. It’s much appreciated.”

Bernard shot him a deadpan look for a second, before tossing his head towards the dead brahmin frozen to the side of the road, presumably the original owner of the harness in question. “You gaining weight or something?”

Sighing, Fade pressed a claw to his temple before staring up at the sky. “That’s all well and good but you’re forgetting one difference between a brahmin and a griffon,” He began in a somewhat tired tone, “We have wings, sir. Wings that get in the way of fitting a harness. Underneath, the rig is uncomfortable and above is simply painful.” To emphasize his point, he half-extended his wings and gestured to his sides, where the harness would sit relative to them. Turning a talon palm up, he added as an afterthought, “Also, I know the area and just happen to be one of the most combat-able at the moment. Not to mention one with the heavier weapons.” Grinning, he gestured at the harnessed stallion to pass him, “So, shall we get this trip underway?”

Seeing the anger rising in Bernard’s eyes in response to Fade’s jabs, I commented from the back of the wagon, intending to head off the impending argument by changing the subject. “So guys, I’m not sure about you, but I have no idea what we’re expecting getting into the Fort is going to be like. Any notion of how the Rangers’ higher ups will react to a pair of pegasi literally trotting into their laps? Any sort of heads up would be appreciated.”

Sensing the derailment, Bernard decided to humour me, “Don’t know, could just shoot us for all we know.”

Crafter looked down towards Bernard, “Shoot us? Would they actually do that? They wouldn’t even know if we’re hostile or not.” He chimed in.

“Well, the last Rangers we met launched rockets at us.” I adopted a thoughtful expression before adding, “Though they also didn’t actually kill us, and it was in response to us shooting Fade, who we’ll have with us when we enter the town…”

Hearing his name, Fade jerked his head to the side as he stared at me, before glancing at the ground in thought. After a minute or two silently walking along the road beside us, he shrugged and glanced back up at me. “Eh, probably won’t be too bad. So long as you don’t go spouting off about your cloud kingdom they’ll probably just think you’re another pair of burnt flanks. They really don’t mind them so much.” Hesitating, he placed a fist into the snow. “Right!” He exclaimed, “You might want to cover your marks while we’re there. Don’t ever see pegasi down here without the burns.” Narrowing his eyes, he tilted his head and fixed me with a scrutinous stare, “Except for you and your little miss. Odd…” Turning to Crafter, he responded bluntly, “Oh they’ll shoot just about anyone they don’t like the look of. Doesn’t really matter if you’re friendly or not. They’ll especially shoot you if you’ve got some piece of rare Stable technology that they like.”

Crafter looked at him for a moment, then down towards his pipbuck, making sure his duster fell low enough to conceal it against prying eyes.

I shot an angry look at Fade, brows furrowed at his continued teasing of Crafter… at least, I hoped it was teasing. There were another few moments there before I realized what exactly he was referring to as “burnt flanks.” My expression remained pissed off, but for a completely different reason. “Our saddlebags and armour cover our flanks well enough Fade, but I will not pretend to be a sky-damned Dashite!” I replied, emphasizing that last word with every ounce of venom in my voice that I could manage.

Tilting his head to the side, Fade relaxed onto his haunches and crossed his arms. “What the- you asked what would get you shot by the Rangers. I’m not sure what a Dashite is but being one will get you not shot. I’m not saying you should pretend to be one, just don’t let them know you’re not one unless you wish to be dragged away and tortured.” He let out a breath, then shifted his position before pointing to Crafter and continuing his explanation, “I’m not trying to be mean here, but Wrenchy does need to keep that beeping manacle covered. Otherwise he might lose his leg. It’s not guaranteed but the Rangers can be… grabby.” Raising both talons in submission, he closed his eyes and gave his head a quick shake, “I don’t know what your history is, Miss, but it’s your prerogative if you want to get shot. I for one, do not. Not again, at least.”

Seeing the direction of the conversation shifting, Bernard decided to simply start hauling the wagon along the path, ignoring the argument unfolding behind him. Probably a wise move. At that rate, it would be a long haul regardless.

Conceding Fade’s point with a huff, and a glance of understanding towards Bernard, I concluded, “Let’s just get there. Our other option is starving to death.” I didn’t even have to see him to know that Crafter was looking at me with a confused expression. As I stared at my hooves, I muttered for his benefit, “Ministry Mare Rainbow Dash was the pony to turn the pegasi into Equestria’s finest military force. She led us throughout the war, gave us our powered armour, bled with the troops… and when the balefire bombs dropped, she left us. Wanted to help the surface, when weeks hadn’t even passed since the surface was scorched. It was suicide… but she still left us, when she could have tried to change what she saw as wrong with what was then the proto-Enclave. She abandoned the whole thing, betrayed us.” I glanced at Crafter, adding, “I imagine the Stables didn’t actually know about what happened to her. Those who follow her path are considered traitors, and branded with Dash’s own cutiemark. If they want to follow her, we let them.”

“At least she tried something,” Crafter replied under his breath.

Rolling his shoulder, Fade unslung his rifle and fluttered his wings, preparing to take flight. Glancing at me, he offered some parting thoughts, “Ancient pony history at this point. Though it’s… unfortunate how things turned out. Luckily, you and Tailwind aren’t Dashites, so you shouldn’t have much trouble getting home once you’re done whatever it is you’re doing down here. Pegasus stuff I presume.” That kick to the gut over with (intentional or not), he gave myself and Crafter a quick nod, before taking to the air with a flap of wings, disturbing the soft dusting of snow across the path, veering ahead to catch up with Tailwind.

Fade’s words and abrupt departure left me biting back a response, instead simply dwelling on my own thoughts on the matter. Reaching over, I wrapped myself in one of the (now thawed) blankets, fully intending to wait out the rest of the trip in silence.

Of course, that stance lasted all of about an hour. Crafter had dozed off in the interim, Bernard was still pulling the wagon. Fade and Tailwind were flying escort, and there I was; stuck in a cart, under a blanket attempting to keep warm. In short, in addition to being miserable, I was also intolerably bored.

Eventually, I decided to clip on the TFD. I’d done it mostly to glance at the integral map function. However… once I clipped it back on and powered it up, the cool blue of the overlay appeared over my vision, with a flashing cloud-shaped speech bubble in one corner. Selecting it with a blink, I suddenly felt incredibly dumb. Tailwind had been leaving me messages. Now that I actually checked the message log, they must have started not long after she left. A couple progress reports, all tersely worded, were probably sent while I was out… they painted a picture of what she’d seen, and her eventual entrapment (as I’d suspected, she had been engrossed in the terminal when somepony decided to seal up the vault, and the door turned out to be hard locked, accessible only from the terminal outside the door), all of which she would have thought I’d have read.

Well… that makes a lot of sense, in hindsight.

Blinking through response menus, I subvocalized a message in reply, the TFD automatically converting my soundless whispering to text.

Hey Tail, how’s it going up there?

I was playing it smooth, a vain attempt not to let on that I’d just remembered that the TFD’s store messages. Startlingly fast, I got a message back.

You totally just remembered that messages are a thing, didn’t you, Chief?

No! I replied, before hastily adding, Well… yes. I caught Bernard glancing back my way. I must have been a tad more audible than I’d thought. At any rate, he didn’t comment.

Oh Snap, what am I going to do with you? She replied, pausing briefly before adding, Though at least it turned out alright.

Yeah, I replied, That definitely could have gone worse.

Yeah… Oh, right. She must have exclaimed it, but the text left something of the tone to be desired.

Regardless, she had my attention. What is it?

While I was looking at that terminal, I found a series of logs dated not long after the bombs fell. I copied them, if you’re interested.

I’ve got nothing better to do. Send ‘em.

I only had a brief wait, before a literal wall of text appeared in the message corner of my vision. With a blink, it dominated the screen and I could actually read the separate entries that Tailwind had sent me.

Day 47: I've found a natural spring in the caves here. That along with the supplies abandoned by the townsfolk nearby should see my through the winter. As for the ponies that were caught out by the storms, or drank standing water... they've began to change. The transformation is purely physical for some at first. Their affliction not destroying their minds as it did their flesh. The majority of the populace… well, the baleful magic of those bombs was quite thorough.

I killed some yesterday as they tried to run down some ponies trying to head North. I kept hidden, the fort doesn’t need to know I'm here...

Day 69: I saw frost this morning, about two months early. I found another cave to the west of here. It has a large mineral spring but it has a lot metals in it, I've started work on a purifier.

I came across some ponies at the base of the gorge today, that was the first time since the war I had to kill someone. I'd spotted them from the crest of the hill; there were four of them that caught a younger couple heading south. The pair looked like they were from a work camp up the tracks. They didn’t even have time to react when they got attacked.

The four assailants were ex-military, I know the signs. The buck died immediately but they had more nefarious plans for his marefriend. It was easy to get close.

The mare made it to the waystation, I never asked her name.

I'm already cold.

Day 80: The few settlements that stayed together are having a hard time. No-pony was stocked for this kind of cold, I'm actually glad for my training now. The folk around here aren’t so lucky.

Some ponies have taken up in one of my caves while I was gone, they can’t get past my security door, I'm glad I put those in.

I dropped off some medicine and a fire-kit near the entrance, they didn't see me. The cloud cover is going to make this a trying time.

The lake froze last week.

The logs ended there. They seemed to be pieces of a larger puzzle, but I couldn’t make sense of them. At the very least, they were a snapshot of a life lived during some terrible times. There was no listing of author, the messages were only text, and I had to wonder at what happened to the narrator. He had to be dead by now, it had simply been such a long time since… but I was curious. I could see some similarities between our own situation and the one he was thrown into. Granted, his world had literally ended, while ours was somewhat less… tangible. Still, that pony long ago had decided to write down what he was experiencing. As a coping mechanism? As a guidepost for future generations?

Simply as a journal?

I still haven’t settled my thoughts on the matter, but he had a purpose for writing it, and those little bits of his life stuck with me.

That’s all of them, then? I asked, thoughts distant.

There were more, but they were mostly in the Lobo’s native tongue... There was a brief pause, before another text came through, quite abruptly. Oh shit.

Tailwind’s text caught me off guard. I hadn’t heard any gunfire, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. I glanced up, frantically scanning the skies to try and see where she was. I didn’t need to search long. Her and Fade had landed a couple hundred meters past our carriage, and were looking out past a bend in the road, into what looked like another valley.

I abandoned the subvocalized texts, vainly calling out to her, “What is it, Tail? We’re coming!” I’m sure the text failed to convey my worried tone, but that was to be expected. Bernard glanced up, before stepping up his pace. He didn’t understand what was going on any more than I did, but something was happening.

Just… just get up here, Chief. You gotta see this.

Crafter startled awake from the combination of the change in our pace and my own voice, blinking rapidly to reorient himself.

It was a quick gallop to where our outriders had landed, but when we got there, I realized why Tailwind was staring forward, mouth open and wide-eyed. As we crested the small rise in the road to stand beside them, we caught our first glimpse of the valley. We had most definitely arrived at Fort Neighson.

It was massive.

The structure that laid in the distance was a monument to the old world, cut deep into the mountain. The ancient city fortress stood a silent vigil over the old road we walked upon. From our vantage point, we could see where the path snaked its way through the valley to the base of the Fort, before following a series of switchbacks up to the gates, all covered by the dominating arcs of fire from the walls. Along its length, I could see a series of gatehouses at the crest of each bend in the road, five in all. Each was about the size of Outpost Kilo, though they lacked the vantage towers. They were absolutely dwarfed by the raw size of Neighson itself.

The city had a large outer wall, at a guess somewhere around fifteen meters tall. Six bastions stood along its length, evenly spaced and with murderous fields of fire into the valley below. A second wall stood inside the perimeter of the first, breaking the city into an inner and outer district. Even from our distance, I could make out hundreds of buildings of various sizes scattered about between the two walls. Most seemed somewhat ramshackle, about what I would expect of Wasteland-grade engineering.

The inner district housed a stark contrast with the outer. Uniform, evenly spaced structures – squat and sturdy looking – populated the smaller inner district. At the far back of the Fort, tucked against the edge of the pony-made plateau stood what could only be a command centre of sorts. A large, intimidating dome had one massive structure piercing its apex, reaching many hundreds of meters above the city proper, looking down on its charge. The clouds weren’t too far above its peak, so high it was.

The entrance to the city had a large set of double doors housed in a gatehouse set into one of the bastions along the wall, and had a dominating view of the approach up the mountainside. For the time being, those doors were retracted. I felt anything but welcomed, regardless.

The valley surrounding the monument to Equestria’s former glory had been cleared, and obviously re-purposed to feed the population, though the fields were bare save for a sporadic few houses and barns that littered the wide stretch of cropland.

I took all that in with a low whistle, a minute or so after I realized my mouth was hanging open in awe of such a marvel of Earth pony engineering. “I’ve gotta admit, I was expecting the ‘Fort’ to house a couple hundred ponies at best…” I trailed off as I realized that by the Enclave’s declaration, there were no remaining settlements of this size, excepting Fillydelphia (which would definitely be considered “hostile”), and possibly the “Friendship City” I’d heard of.

This would easily qualify as civilization beginning to re-establish itself beneath the clouds… exactly what we’re, in theory, waiting for...

Bernard stopped the cart, taking in the view of the city. After a few moments, he commented quietly, “I figure I owe at least two ponies some caps.”

Crafter had scooted right up to the front of the carriage, leaning over the forward guard rail as he stared at the sight in front of us. “Its…” he gave a false start, seemingly losing his words, “Its… its massive!” The awe in his voice was unmistakable.

Standing beside where Bernard had stopped the cart, Tailwind had had a bit more time to acclimatize to the sheer size of what lay before us, commenting, “Wow, that sure is something…”

I dug through my saddlebags until I found my pair of binoculars, bringing them to my eyes as I started to scan the city. I hadn’t been at it long, before I heard the rasp of metal on metal. Lowering my ‘binos, I saw that Fade had copied me, using a battered yet functional looking telescope to observe the Fort. He made a “tsk” noise with his beak, as he muttered to himself, “Right, now which places am I not allowed in again…?”

Raising my binoculars again, I gave the Fort a proper scan. The first tier of buildings seemed to be full of ponies simply going about their lives. A colourful assortment of scavenged materials adorned most every building. As I scanned, I commented, “Tail, the Rangers are letting ponies live within their walls. I see dwellings, what might be kitchens… those fields have seen use, and recently.” Lowering the binoculars, I shared a look with her. “The Enclave knows nothing of this. They can’t… from what they’ve told us, the Rangers never do this.”

To my surprise, Tailwind was looking off to the west as she replied by pointing her wing to indicate a massive, slender white tower that easily pierced the cloud layer, hundreds of meters above even the height of Neighson’s command spire. The tower stood along a road that snaked off to the West, into the distance. I felt my blood run cold, and it had nothing to do with the weather.

An MASEBS tower.

“I don’t know, Snap,” Tailwind replied with an uncertain waver in her voice, “the brass can see this place perfectly.”

Author's Notes:

Would you believe, once upon a time I estimated this chapter would be 12k words? Hah. Not likely, apparently.

This chapter most certainly wouldn't have been what it is without the editing team. Belmor, Plain, PersonalGamer and Jetwave, with more significant assistance from Cpt Doel than previously. Additionally, big thanks to PencilGuy for the chapter-end art. The concept there, just to reaffirm, is that that picture is a sketch, written into the journal itself. The picture is, in and of itself, canon to the story as being a thing Snap drew.

At an estimate, next chapter might be done by the last week of this year. I have an unusual amount of time available for writing, during a couple weeks coming up.

And where would any of this be without Kkat's original? Nowhere. Well, maybe somewhere, but it certainly wouldn't have the wealth of worldbuilding to draw upon.