The barren waste Spike and the others were greeted to was truly a sight to behold. The damage of time and conflict had worn away at almost every structure in The Silence. And from the hill to the south –where they had been only a few hours before when they entered the wasteland– one could see the scars of violence left on the face of the gray world. Seeing a place like this, it frightened Spike inside. He could feel the rage in the air, the maddening sounds of gunfire far away in downtown Schlüssel. The chaotic environment even made the ground beneath his feet tremble in fear. Spike didn't want to look at a decrepit building, a corpse on the ground, he wanted to move forward and focus on his mission. After fighting a few insane bandits along the way, he had his fill of mindless bloodshed.

Butch, on the other hand, was lost in the gray land he once knew. It had been more than thirty years since he had left the training academy in Schlüssel, and he knew the city front to back like a favorite novel. He knew every secret, every story. Yet, it was all so alien to him, so distant. New stories were being written in this new world that was all so different from his old nostalgic tales. His memories stacked on top of one another like books, far too much content for one lifetime, and too much weight for one to bear. The street corners, the stores, the old apartments, they were all destroyed and demolished. He scoffed at the decimated city around him and looked down at the sidewalk, and he kept looking down for a majority of their walk to the radio tower to the west. Perhaps it was because Butch knew, no matter how battered the world was, the ground would always remain the same. It was never a victim of time like Schlüssel's buildings, it had familiar stories to share with him. He took off his helmet chuckled lightly, remembering the academy.

He and his brother Elliot found sense in their lives at the academy, a clear goal and a purpose. The soldiers life was meant for the brave, and while Butch never considered himself to be brave, he knew Elliot was. But Ellie had a loud mouth and was no stranger to getting in deep waters. He got that from Pa, which was a fact that irked him on a daily basis. Luckily, he had Ma's heart, like Butch. Butch ran his thumb across the handle of his revolver as he recalled a memory.
*

"Alright, soldiers! Line up!" The drill sergeant announced, and everypony obeyed.

"Yes, sir!" Butch and the rest of his military comrades shouted as they stood at attention.

"Now... las' night, I found all my missin' shaving cream. Would you believe that, huh? But, ah... it wasn't in the right spot. I found it in my fuckin' hat! So, I'd like the stallion responsible to step forward, or by the foundin' fathers, I will make yall do the gauntlet, you hear?!" The drill sergeant took his hat and slammed it on the ground as he walked along the line of soldiers, catching a glimpse of Elliot in the corner of his eye smirking mischievously, holding back laughter. "Something funny, Private?"

"You should really check your hat before ya put it on, sir." Elliot grinned, and the sergeant grinned back, then punched him in the gut. Elliot took the punch and shrugged it off, trying to act tough in front of Butch, who was right beside him.

"So, we got a comedian?! So, comedian, let's test that bravado, huh?! Bring out the Bull's Bite!" The drill sergeant ordered his assistant, and he retrieved a black case from a weapon rack nearby. He opened it, and revealed the gun inside; it was a fabled sixty caliber revolver. "You've got three shots, son! I want you to hit that apple right off the tree over there! If you hit it, you keep the gun. If you don't, you and your brother can pack yer bags! Can ya do that, colt?" The drill sergeant pointed to the apple tree, about a few hundred feet away.

"Sure as shit I can!" Elliot beamed as he grabbed the gun and ran his had down the engraved barrel, and he was surprised by how light it was. He took a moment to aim and stesdy his grip, then he fired the first shot , and it missed. The full force of the recoil pushed against his wrist, and he cringed in pain. "Shit!"

"That's number one, son!" The drill sergeant shouted.

Butch watched with an excited look on his face. He had the utmost confidence in his brother. but Elliot was beginning to realize the error in his stupidity. The pistol was going to tear his hand off for sure. He aimed again but felt the weight of the gun put pressure on his worn wrist. He fired anyway, and it missed again.

"One more try, Ellie!" The drill sergeant hollered over to him.

Butch felt a lump grow in his throat, and it only got bigger as he saw his brother struggle to lift the revolver. Eventually, he blurted to him. "C'mon, Ellie! C'mon! You can do it!"

Elliot turned his head and looked at Butch, who was cheering him on with enthusiasm by himself. He gave Butch a wink and a smile as he felt the muscles around his wrists tighten and strengthen. He felt a surge of energy flow through him, and he raised the massive hand-cannon one last time. Time began to slow, his breathing began to slow, he was more focused than he had ever been before. He clenched his arms and fired. The bullet didn't just go through the apple, it exploded into a thick paste, like applesauce. Butch and the rest of the privates began to cheer on Elliot, and Elliot –with a smug grin on his face– picked up the sergeant's hat and placed it on his head. The drill sergeant huffed and walked back to his tent.

Butch ran over to Elliot and gave him a punch to the shoulder. "That was awesome, Elliot!"

"Thanks, though I probably would've fucked up if it hadn't been for you, Butcher." Elliot placed his hand on Butch's shoulder and handed him the beautiful revolver. "I owe ya one Butch, this is for you."

Butch held the gun in his hand and unloaded the chamber. He played around with it, aimed down the sights, and he smiled as he felt the bumps on the engraved gun as he ran his hand down the barrel. "You're givin' this to me? I can't take it, Ellie. You won it fair and square. I don't even need anything like this." Butch shook his head in a stubborn fashion and handed the gun back to Elliot.

"I insist, Butch. C'mon. I think we've been through enough shit in our lives, how about you take this one gift I give you without giving it to some homeless stallion, huh?" Elliot tried handed it back to him, but Butch refused to grab it. "C'mon, buddy... you know you want it."

"Fine," Butch snatched the gun and tucked it in his belt. "But I'm namin' it after you, Ellie. Got it? You deserve that much."

"Alright, alright." Elliot chuckled as he patted him on the back. "So, how's about we get a drink, hey? I hear there's a dance tonight too, maybe you'll find somepony special, huh?"

"Oh, I don't think so..." Butch scratched the back of his head as they walked back to their barracks.
*

"Butch?"

Butch shook his head, and the voices around him became clearer as snapped himself out of his own daydream. He put his helmet back on to hide his expression. "Huh?"

"What were you smiling about?" Evelyn asked. He hadn't noticed she was right beside him the whole time. "Just now, you were smiling."

"Oh, nothin' you'd be interested in, Eve. Nothing at all." Butch shook his head and rubbed the handle of his revolver again.

It wasn't rare for Butch to do that. In fact, he never told Evelyn much about his brother, the war in Galloway, not even the civil war. She only knew his brother and everypony else from his past based on a picture in his file or old records and war documents. He rarely talked about the war, and as much as it saddened her to see him so contained, she knew how much it damaged him to recall the past; with happy memories there came dark ones as well. She knew he'd change the subject next.

"So, what's the plan?" Butch asked just as Evelyn predicted. "Are we going in guns-blazing, or...?"

"Based on patrol reports, the facility doesn't have any energy shields around it. Even if it did, Edgar would be able to break through it." Masami chimed in.

"Do you think there will cultists guarding this tower we're headed to?" Winslow inquired.

"Unlikely," Liazo added. "Their leader is smart. He wouldn't waste warm bodies on a radio tower. We'll be met with resistance from those skeleton assholes. He's using Dr. Gearza to buy time for his troops to spread out. He wants to control as much territory as possible before we can get to him."

"What do you mean?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"He or she wants to protect the head honchos,' Infernalcog', or whatever it's called. They mean something to their leader, although I'm not sure why." Masami explained as she plopped a piece of gum in her mouth. "I think what happened on Liberty Day was to test us, analyze us. Those creeps fought didn't use all of their tricks. It's obvious they're raring for round two."

"Liazo, what about that Fonzi bloke you talked about before? Is he with them now?" Gin said as she twirled her flintlock.

"Yeah, probably. I've backed him into a corner for too long I suppose, and I think he's ready to fight back. So, he must've made a speedy alliance with their leader to save his ass, but I'll get em'." Liazo said with determined eyes as he fiddled with his butterfly knives.

"Do you- do you have any idea where he'd be hiding?" Fluttershy squeaked.

"I've got a few ideas, one of them seems the most likely-." Liazo was cut off by Edgar, who stopped in his tracks. Then, the rest of the group halted in the middle of a wide street. "What's up, big guy?"

"There's something coming. Something big, and it has some backup." Edgar warned them.

Then, a tank turned a corner and stopped about twenty meters away. It was in between two large apartment buildings that dominated most of that block. It was an old military tank, but it had been modified, and had extra plates of metal armor around it, a flamethrower on top, and the barrel of the main cannon had barbed wire wrapped around it. There were also multiple spray-painted images of skulls on the sides and on the top of the metal beast. As it stopped, a horde of almost six dozen well-armed bandits emerged. They had submachine guns, LMGs, and shotguns. They also wore distinct masks that appeared to be other pony's skulls.

The top hatch of the tank opened, and a greasy looking stallion with a smug grin and a green mohawk emerged. He cackled to himself a couple of times as he stood up with a confident mug. "Well, well... looks like you've all finally arrived! This place is abuzz with news of this 'Task Force' wipin' out everypony in sight. Well, let me tell you something... we're the Skullz! If you think you can beat us, you're dead wrong! Kaiser put a bounty on your head, and I intend to collect-!"

The stallion's head exploded into a red mist, and Butch put his revolver back in his holster as the headless body of the Skullz leader fell off the tank and onto the ground. "That's what happens when ya ramble, ya fuckwit."

There was a moment of silence amongst the Skullz, almost as if they were having a hard time grasping what had just occurred. After whispering to one another for about two minutes, they all turned to face Spike and the rest of the team. "Attack!" They quickly chose a new leader, and he ordered them all to charge in guns blazing. "Kill em' all!"

"Everypony, let me handle the tank!" Edgar shouted to his comrades, his voice like roaring thunder. "Keep them occupied!"

The team split up. Masami and Rainbow Dash cleaved a path through a band of about ten ruffians and headed to the old apartment building to the right, Draven and Winslow shattered the ranks of a dozen as they made their way to the apartment on the left, and Spike and the rest of the team stayed out in the street to cover Edgar as he faced off against the metal beast. The tank fired off a few shells, which all hit him directly with full-force, but it did absolutely nothing, barely even moving the goliath of a stallion. He scowled at the tank, irritated, and he started to prepare and attack.

"Second Restrictor Band: Removed!" Edgar bellowed as two of the three chain tattoos on his neck disappeared.

Edgar knelt on one knee, and he slammed his titanic metal fist into the hard pavement, causing it to crack and crumble around the area his fist impacted. However, this was not the attack that would level a tank. As Spike fought off a bandit, he occasionally stole a glance once or twice, looking back at Edgar. He watched as Edgar took a deep breath in. Gears and cogs within his body began to clank and crash together, and steam erupted from his back like a raging volcano. He then stood up and began gathering a strange orange energy in his hands. His metal fists began to glow faintly orange and radiate a searing heat, and his eyes began to burst with the same strange power. More and more energy gathered and gathered, eventually forming an orange ball of blinding light about to burst. An intense humming noise emanated from the sphere, and Spike could feel the energy shake him to his core.

"Everypony, get behind Edgar, now! Cover your ears!" Masami ordered everypony, and they all retreated, leaving the remaining bandits in Edgar's range. "Whatever you do, don't look at Edgar's attack! You'll go blind! Close your eyes, now!"

Edgar then tossed the sphere of energy like a baseball, but his arm stopped just as he was about to release it. The sphere floated in mid-air for a moment before Edgar grabbed it with both hands once more, and pushed it out in front of his chest. Instinctively, Spike turned his head just as Edgar released the stored energy. The savage bandits tried to run, but they were too frozen in fear to do so. They simply waited for Edgar to strike.

While Spike could not see the attack, he most assuredly felt it. There was a moment of pure silence before the blast contained within the orb was released, time seemed to slow, and it was this silence that truly displayed the awe-inspiring power of Edgar's attack. Small pebbles lifted off the ground as the wave of silence commenced, and when Edgar finally released the true attack, it rocked the world around it. Spike felt breathlessness as a powerful gust of wind almost knocked the air out of his lungs, and he felt the levitated pebbles shoot out in every conceivable direction like bullets. Spike's body felt heavier under the change in pressure, and he covered his earholes as the noise carried in the air. It sounded like the time Rainbow Dash set off a Sonic Rainboom, only it was much louder.

As the attack ended, Spike leapt to his feet, bearing witness to the devastation brought about by Edgar's terrifying power. The apartment buildings both hand huge chunks missing from their sides, the pavement in front of Edgar was torn to pieces, and any trace of the bandit group was utterly obliterated. There was no tank, and every bandit was disintegrated in an instant. The blast radius was shaped more like a cone, a beam that became wider as it traveled, eventually dissipating in the air. It was certainly no fire, but it had a limited range much like Spike's flame breath.

As the dust settled, Spike coughed. "What-... what was that?!"

"A directed release of atomic energy. It's power source not known to you Equestrians but feared by us. It's destructive, unstable, but powerful and effective." Evelyn explained as she picked her glasses off the ground and put them back on. "I don't recommend it to anypony."

Edgar sighed as he dusted himself off and rotated his neck from side to side, trying to relax his body after putting such a strain on himself. Edgar usually only had to remove one restrictor band, but removing two usually got results. He sat down and looked on at his handy-work. He grunted to himself as he scowled at the mark he left on the already scarred wasteland. He hated his power, and he hated the devastation he caused. It had been years since he removed the second restrictor, and he thought of what might've happened if had removed all three.

As the rest of the group celebrated their victory, Edgar simply sat and stared at the blast zone, his fists clenching off and on as he struggled to grasp his own abilities. Sure, he had mastered them in a physical sense, but the idea of what he could do, the mere thought of his power. It truly frightened him, and that self-doubt frustrated him inside.

Masami saw Edgar silently lamenting by himself, and she sat down beside him on a large piece of concrete, looking at the blast with him. "What's wrong, big guy?" He didn't reply, and Masami changed her tone to be more soothing and gentle. "C'mon, you can talk to me..."

"Look," Edgar grunted as he pointed at the scorched earth ahead.

"You don't have to be afraid of it anymore, Eddie... you've learned to control them–."

"I know that..." Edgar cut her off, and he stood up. "But look at this, Masami. Do you think any pony would look at me the same after seeing this? After seeing what I can do? What about those bandits. They were ponies too. Did they feel pain when I killed them? Were they suffering? I don't even know, because I haven't even felt pain before." Edgar shook his head and stomped away towards their destination. The radio tower was only a few miles away.

"Hey, what was that about?" Rainbow Dash asked Masami as she broke off from the victory party.

"Oh, nothing. Ed just needs some time to himself. Just let him walk by himself for now." Masami said as she stood up. "Alright fellas, that's enough chit-chat! We can celebrate more once we bust up that radio tower!"

Author's Notes:

I think it's time Edgar's character develops a little more, wouldn't you agree? I've got a lot of plans for him coming up soon! As always I hope you enjoyed! See you in the next chapter!