Two weeks pass while I remain with the Steel Rangers of Stable 36. Iron and his squad help me to adjust and begin to teach me how to properly care for weapons and to shoot properly. During one on one sessions, Iron teaches me the ins and outs of commanding a squad and the importance of knowing each member’s strengths and weaknesses.

Despite all their help, however, the only thing I pick up with any decency is how to repair weapons better. My aim is still horrible with them, regardless of what kind of gun I use, and I often hesitate when giving commands in battle simulations. However, Arrow and the twins make up for my lack of leadership ability with their amazing teamwork and initiative.

While training with them, I learn about their strengths and weaknesses. Arrow is their sniper and is an ace shot, her quiet demeanor also makes her a good candidate for stealth. However, she lacks any ability to hold off multiple enemies if they get too close.

Thunder and Lightning help make up for her weakness, however. Thunder is their demolition expert, no surprise given his loud mouth. His weapon of choice is a minigun, but also carries grenades and mines. Due to this, he is weighed down and doesn’t move too fast.

Lightning on the other hoof, favors a submachine gun and is quick on his hooves. He also uses knives. Tending to lead the charges to get his weapons in range, he often gets into the thick of things. This wouldn’t be so bad, except he tends to overextend himself, forcing Thunder and Arrow to cover for him. Despite this seemingly brutish fighting style, Lightning also happens to be their technology specialist.

Combine them with their original leader, Iron, who uses a standard assault rifle, and you have one of the best squads of Stable 36, second only to the Star Paladin’s personal squad. I have yet to meet the Star Paladin, as she and her squad are on an extended scouting mission to Friendship City.

In the two weeks I spend training, I also go out scouting with Iron to Ponyville. We begin to notice that the Track Gang is getting better weaponry. Instead of some having melee weapons, almost all of them are now armed with rifles. They are also becoming more active. We have a few altercations, but take no casualties or injuries.

I also take up the Elder’s offer of trading supplies. I decide that since I’ve gotten better with weapon maintenance, I can afford to sell my spare pistols. I choose to keep the revolver and sell the 10 mm pistols and their remaining ammo. I sell some of the random items I had collected, such as the scalpel and scissors, and also the radiation suit I was still carrying.

Judging by the wasteland so far, I won’t have much use for the radiation suit anyway. I buy enough extra .32 caliber rounds to get me up to thirty-six spare rounds, and also buy two magical bandages and a health potion. After trading back and forth, I’m left with a spare 500 or so caps. I think they might have given me a good deal, but I’m not sure considering I am still new to this currency system.

In my spare time, I talk with Elder Archimedes to try and learn more about this wasteland and those under his command. I also recall what CORA said about restoring my PipBuck’s features using a computer, and ask the Elder about it. However, he says that Stable 36’s computers aren’t linked to any database that would have what I need. I also find out that, besides the Steel Ranger rosters from other contingents, Stable 36 has no way of communicating with anyone or accessing exterior information.

It explains a lot, given that Stable 36 was an experiment that relied on the inhabitants’ isolation. The Elder explains that they even tried linking outside terminals with their Stable, however not even their most tech savvy Scribe was able to link them. Being cut off from the outside world helps to spur the Elder’s desire for patrols and knowledge of the wasteland.

As such, half of the battle capable rangers go out on patrols, leaving eightteen to defend the stable and react to immediate threats. However, with the relative seclusion of Stable 36 and the unassuming appearance of the house above, this area doesn’t get much traffic. Just the occasional trader or wanderer.

Speaking of traders, as Iron, his Knights, and I are about to leave on another patrol to Ponyville, we meet one of our usual traders named Grimoire who is sell his wares. He is a cunning and charismatic buck, probably only a little older than I appear to be. His light brown coat helps him blend into the wasteland, but his ivory mane gives him away easily.

We meet him in the cellar entrance the rangers let him set up in while he trades with them, allowing him to bring his brahmin in as well. A few of the other rangers are talking with him and looking over his wares as we pass by. While shuffling past him, I notice the tell-tale barrel of a gauss rifle sticking out of one of the bags on his brahmin. It has a custom paint job, black with red stripes, similar to zebra stripes.

As we’re about to leave the cellar Grimoire begins his typical salesman talk. “Come friends, I have plenty of wares of every sort, all to help the good ponies of the wasteland. I rather do enjoy helping the Steel Rangers, the ones that don’t shoot at me, that is,” he says with a chuckle.

He notices me looking at the rifle and smiles, “Hey there miss, eyeing the custom Gauss Rifle? Beauty isn’t she? Got it from a Talon merc who called it Raptor Blood. She even augmented it to fire a red projectile, instead of the usual blue. Though, it has fallen into a state of poor condition. It’s yours for 450 caps.”

I shake my head as I say, “No thank you. I’m not that good at aiming larger weapons yet. You should get it into the hands of someone who can use it to help the wasteland. I’ll stick to my revolver for now.”

He shrugs and then says, “Suit yourself. Are you rangers going out on patrol? I don’t suppose you’d mind waiting a few minutes and escorting me a ways, would you? Those raiders in Ponyville have gotten pretty active lately. I think I’ve done most of the business here I can already.”

When it comes to trading, the rangers do it quick. They always have a list of things they need and a stockpile of things to sell. Most of the rangers around the trader now are just looking for their own enjoyment and soon the small group around him breaks up and returns back into the base.

Iron nods and answers, “Of course, Grimoire. It is our duty to protect the citizens of Equestria. We can only escort you as far as our paths take us together, however. Once you leave our patrol route, we’ll go our separate ways.” Grimoire begins packing up his things once Iron agrees.

“I just need to get to the west side of Ponyville, after that I can get along on my own. I appreciate the assistance,” he gives us a toothy grin as he finishes packing his wares up and begins leading his brahman towards the exit. “Shall we?” He asks.

“Let’s be off,” Iron says with a smile as he pushes open the cellar doors and leads us out. The early morning air is a bit brisk, but considering I’m wearing normal barding and the others, except Grimoire, are in insulated power suits, I bear with it. We begin the journey to Ponyville, which will take us a few hours.

Our patrol takes us around Ponyville and the areas surrounding it that border the river to the east and the forest to the north and the Everfree in the south. The furthest west we go is the rail intersection a short ways out of town. Since Grimoire is with us, Iron decides to patrol the west side first, so we can send the trader on his way and avoid getting him caught up in any firefights.

After reaching the intersection Grimoire speaks up before leaving us, “Last chance at Raptor Blood, miss. By the time I’m around again, I might have already sold it.” He gives me a smile, but I politely turn down his offer. “Very well then. Well, thank you all for the escort. I hope to see you all next time I make my way up here.”

Saying this he turns and begins heading south away from Ponyville. “Our pleasure,” Iron calls after him. “Safe travels, Grimoire. May prosperity find you.” Grimoire waves his hoof back at us without turning around as he walks away with his brahman trailing behind him.

“Now then, let’s get moving. We have ground to cover.” Iron begins leading us back towards Ponyville along our usual route. We head east and slightly south, keeping a good distance from the town so that we can stay mostly hidden in the hills. At certain key points, we stop and let Arrow use her sniper’s scope to check in on the Track Gang.

For the most part she only sees a few sporadically at first. She notices that they have increased the quality and the quantity of their weapons, however. Most of them now carry rifles and a rare few have energy weapons and larger guns. She also notes that they have set up a few more barricades between the buildings.

From what Arrow says and what we notice about their movements, they seem to have fortified the area surrounding the Town Hall into their main camp. It wouldn’t be too far off to assume their leader resides there. Only one of the bridges across the nearby river is unblocked, the rest have guarded barricades. A gate can be seen on the central bridge with another on the north side of the plaza.

Compared with what I saw here a few weeks ago, they have militarized extremely quickly. There were almost no defences previously as well. They appear to be going in for the long haul. Seeing all this makes me concerned for the abducted mare. Considering the buck who had initially abducted her was killed, I worry what might have happened.

Did they get rid of her or keep her around? What could she be going through right now? Was she even still alive? These questions and more race through my mind. “This isn’t good,” CORA suddenly speaks up. She has been quiet for a while now. “They’ve build up incredibly fast and reports of their actions against travelers have increased as well,” she points out.

“Indeed,” Iron nods his head in agreement. “We should hurry our patrol and report to the Elder. We might have to take action sooner rather than later. If we allow this to go on, we might not have the numbers to do anything about it,” he says with concern evident in his voice. He starts walking again and we follow him.

We continue our patrol without any encounters with the enemy and soon make our way to the north-east of Ponyville. Passing over the rails near the bridge I first crossed when I arrived here, I can’t help but think back to coming through that tunnel and meeting the rangers. I also remember those bat creatures I encountered in the tunnel.

I decide to ask Iron and the others about them. “Hey, when I first came here, I went through that railway tunnel that runs through Canterlot’s mountains. I encountered these large bat things that tried to attack me. What do you know about them?” I ask.

Thunder speaks up before anyone else, “Whoa, whoa, whoa! You went through the Bloodwing tunnel? Didn’t you see the warning signs we put up at the entrances? You’ve got to be crazy, Ratchet. I’m in full armor and even I wouldn’t go through there.”

I’m shocked by his sudden outburst, but manage to stammer out, “Yea. I saw a sign, but it only said ‘wings’, it looked kind of like the top was broken off though.” I pause for a moment. “And you call them Bloodwings? They are mutated bats, right?” I ask.

Iron speaks up this time. “Damn it. Something must have broken the sign. But yes, the travelers of the wasteland called them Bloodwings due to their taste for blood. We believe they mutated from bats, but not sure which species of bat,” Iron says as he lets out a sigh. “We’ll have to replace that sign as well. Don’t want any travelers to be attacked by them.”

“I see,” I say, “interesting...” I trail off in thought as we begin climbing a large hill. We remain in silence for a few moments as we come to the top of the hill. Right at that moment, however, a group of the Track Gang reach the top as well. We stare at each other for a few moments, my eyes, along with theirs, growing wide.

In seconds chaos erupts as our two groups clash. The raiders raise their rifles, one of them pulling the trigger before bringing it level with us. It is pointed in my direction and I quickly throw myself to the right, just barely avoiding the shots. As I recover, Lightning charges towards them while shooting his SMG at the closest one.

As I put on hooves back onto the ground I hear Thunder’s minigun spinning up and see Arrow run past me, putting more distance between them and her. As I unholster my revolver, I see bullets ricocheting off of Iron’s armor as he shoots his rifle back at them. Thunder’s minigun begins to buzz and lets loose on one of the raiders as I level my revolver at the closest one.

When my revolver goes off, I hear Arrow’s hooves grind into the ground as she spins around to level her rifle at them. I fire again and I hear Arrow’s sniper as it launches its .308 round through the air. In a matter of moments, Lightning and Thunder make swiss cheese out of one of the raiders, Arrow’s bullet flies through the skull of another, and Iron and I take down third.

To be fair, however, only one of my shots hit. Before I can aim at the last remaining raider, Lightning quickly throws his SMG at their face, throwing them off balance. Just as quickly, Lightning charges over to the raider, who begins to panic and shoot his rifle blindly. A few rounds ping off of Iron and Lightning’s armor, but one grazes across my back.

I scream out in pain, but then I notice Iron has tensed up and is hunching over slightly. I begin trotting up to him as Lightning picks his SMG back, holds it under the raider’s chin, and pulls the trigger, sending bullets through his head and causing his body to drop with a meaty thump. With all the raiders dead, I relax a bit as I get closer to Iron.

Arrow runs back up to us and notices the blood on my back. “Ratchet, you ok?” She asks with her usual emotionless tone. She gets closer and puts a hoof on my back, looking over my wound.

I nod as I answer her, “Yea, it just grazed me, I shouldn’t even need a bandage. But Iron seems like he might be hurt.” When I say this they all look towards Iron, who lets out a slight chuckle as he turns towards us.

The front of his armor is covered in scratches and dings, but what’s most noticeable is one small hole on his right leg. “Take enough bullets, you’re bound to be penetrated eventually. It isn’t anything vital, just took a hit in the leg is all.” He looks around at the raiders before looking back to us.

“We made a lot of noise, we should leave quickly. Arrow, help me patch this up. The rest of you grab what you can from their bodies. We’ll continue our patrol once my leg is bandaged.” He begins taking off his armor, exposing a bleeding hole in his leg as a bullet falls out of the armor. “Luckily, it went straight through,” he says.

Arrow takes out some bandages and quickly wraps Iron’s leg as Lightning, Thunder, and I begin to look over the raiders’ bodies. We grab their rifles and any spare ammo they have. Even though it isn’t my first time out here with Iron and the others looting raiders, I still don’t like the idea of taking things from another pony’s body.

Especially when they are covered in blood and gore. I try to stick away from the raider Thunder took down, as he is covered in a lot more blood than the others. In only a few minutes, Iron is bandaged up and we have looted most of the raiders’ stuff. Other than weapons and ammo, we find a few medical supplies and some drugs.

The weapons and drugs will be sold the next time a trader comes by, but we’ll be keeping the ammo and medical supplies. Unfortunately, I don’t earn any caps from the items we scavenge. I’m given ammo and supplies to replace what I use, but my payment is the training and knowledge I’m getting. I also made an arrangement with the Elder to borrow some equipment to clear the tunnels in my lab when I decide to leave.

It turns out that Stable 36 has a mining harness in case it needed to be expanded. Stable-Tec really didn’t think it was going to open right away, and the Elder believes they thought the stable would have to be expanded before an Elder was actually determined. Regardless, the first step of getting the mining harness is helping Iron and his squad.

I don’t plan to leave the rangers until I rescue that mare, however. Until then, I’ll be helping the rangers however I can. Iron sealing his helmet on again snaps me from my thoughts. “Alright, let’s move. We only have a little way left to go, then it is back to base,” Iron says as he begins walking.

We follow behind him and resume our patrol. It isn’t long before we finish up and head back to Stable 36. Luckily, nothing else exciting happens, as Iron’s leg seems to be giving him some trouble.

Once we arrive back in Stable 36, we report to Elder Archimedes for debriefing. “Good work as always Lynx Squad,” Elder Archimedes says as he enter the command center. “Anything new to report?” He asks as he rests his head on his hoof.

“Sir. The raiders have build up fast around the Town Hall and as previous reports have stated, they are getting better equipped as well. Thunder, show Elder Archimedes one of their guns,” Iron says. Thunder steps forward and hoofs the Elder a rifle, which he takes in his magic.

The Elder turns it over and examines it before giving it back to Thunder. “This quality is troublesome. And you’re saying they have been gaining energy weapons as well? They can’t be finding this weaponry themselves, someone has to be providing them with it. Well, this is going to be a pain…” Elder Archimedes drops his head to the desk and sighs.

“Elder!” Iron yells at him. “I tell you this every time, behave properly. Those of us who have grown up with you understand you, but some of the younger ones might get the wrong idea. You’re demeanor aside, we have to attack them soon and in force,” Iron informs him.

Elder Archimedes sighs again as he picks his head up from his desk. “Yeah, yeah, and every time I tell you it is better to be relaxed than tense all the time. As for attacking them...Star Paladin Lily and her squad is away, as you know. Senior Paladin Twinkle is also away with her squad, however…” he trails off for a moment before he turns his attention to one of the other ponies in the room.

“Paladin Echo, see if you can raise Senior Paladin Twinkle on the radio,” he says to the mare sitting at one of the desks in front of him.

“Sir!” she replies as she punches a few commands into her terminal and turns some knobs on the radio next to her and speaks into it, “Nova Squad, this is command. Are you receiving?” She repeats this once more before there is a reply from the radio.

“Receiving command, this is Nova Squad.” The gruff voice of a stallion replies. Paladin Echo hits a button on the radio and signals Elder Archimedes with a hoof. The Elder picks up the microphone from his desk and addresses the stallion.

“This is Elder Archimedes. Nova Squad, what is your status?” He asks the stallion on the other end of the radio.

“The expedition to Vanhoover has been completed without incident. We are on our way back for debriefing. Our ETA is one day,” the stallion explains. The Elder nods his head.

“Very good. A situation has developed in Ponyville, we will be assaulting the raiders as soon as your squad has returned and rested. Tell Senior Paladin Twinkle to double time it and march through the night. See you soon.” The Elder says as he puts the microphone down.

“Yes sir! Senior Paladin Twinkle says we will be back before morning.” The stallion says before Paladin Echo closes down the connection. Elder Archimedes nods to her before turning back towards us.

“Crusader Iron,” Elder Archimedes’ tone becomes serious. “You and your squad take today off and get that wound of yours looked at. Tomorrow, once Nova Squad’s debriefing is complete and they have food in their bellies, you will be briefing them and the others I select for this mission.”

He thinks for a moment before continuing, “After you finish briefing them on the situation, you, Senior Paladin Twinkle, and I will be discussing a strategy. Everyone else will be resting in preparation for the attack. Once we determine a plan, we with gather the troops and do a final briefing on our strategy. We will be attacking at sunrise the day after tomorrow. Until then, rest up.”

He dismisses us, but Iron speaks up again, “Sir, I’d recommend Arrow join our strategy meeting as well, her keen eyes saw more than I did. She can help to more accurately describe their fortifications.”

Elder Archimedes nods and says, “Very well, she can attend.” He goes back to looking the terminal and papers on his desk. Having said what he wanted, Iron begins to leave the command center and we follow him out.

“As the Elder said, you’re all free to do as you like until the briefings. Eat, sleep, do as you want. Arrow, I’ll send for you when the strategy meeting begins. Until then, Ratchet and I will be heading to medical to get our wounds looked at,” Iron tells us. Thunder, Lightning, and Arrow start to walk down another hallway as they go about their business.

“But Iron, I’m fine. It was just a scratch,” I tell him, not wanting to waste any of our medics’ time or medical supplies. “You get yourself looked at and I’ll meet up with you at the briefings,” I tell him. However, he just shakes his head.

“Absolutely not,” he says. “Even a slight scratch is prone to infection and I don’t want to see it becoming a hindrance when we are out in the field. If nothing else, just get it looked at to put my mind at ease, will you?” he asks.

I let out a sigh as I say, “If you insist, but you are the one you should be worrying about. You actually got shot, not just grazed.” He lets out a slight chuckle as I tell him this. He turns to me as we walk to the clinic.

“It isn’t the first time, and I doubt it will be the last,” he tells me. My face must look worried, because he adds, “It is my duty as a Steel Ranger to protect others. If I must get shot in defense of another, I’ll gladly take the bullet. Especially if I have a choice between myself being shot and someone else.” It is barely noticeable, but his voice hardens a bit at that last sentence.

I’m about to press him further when we arrive at the clinic and one of the medics notice us enter. “Well, if it isn’t our most frequent patient, Crusader Iron. What seems to be the problem this time? Some cuts, bullet wounds, fire and/or plasma burns?” The unicorn stallion, wearing the white robes with a red cross on the shoulder most medics in the clinic wear, asks.

“Oh it isn’t anything major, Knight Venom, just a single bullet wound this time,” Iron says nonchalantly as he walks towards one of the medical treatment chairs. “It should be a simple patch job. Scribe Crusader Ratchet here had a bullet graze her back as well. Take a look at that too, if you wouldn’t mind.”

Knight Venom smiles as he approaches the chair Iron is now sitting in. “Well, that is definitely some good news. Compared with the other injuries you’ve sustained since the Stable opened, it might just be the least noteworthy. Now then, off with your armor,” Venom says as he levitates over some bandages and a healing potion.

Iron begins taking his armor off, starting with the helmet. I think this is the first time since I met him that I’ll see him without his armor on. Now that I think of it, he is usually always in his power armor, despite the fact many others take their armor off while in the Stable. I find myself staring more than I should.

As he slips out of the armor, my eyes get wider and wider the more of his flesh I see. The bullet hole in the leg is just the most recent of wounds I see. It is as Knight Venom said, it might be his least noteworthy. Covering his body are various scars and burns. There is actually very little of his coat left. It is strange how pristine his neck and head appear to be compared to the rest of his body.

His left front leg is covered in scar tissue from burns from the hoof up to the shoulder. I can also see that it has a few scars from bullets on it as well. His hind legs have a decent amount of fur covering them, but are marred with various cuts where it refuses to grow. His torso itself is a patchwork of scars from bullets, cuts, and the occasional burn.

The cutie mark on his left side is completely gone due to the scar tissue, but his right side only has a single slash across it. The cutie mark itself is a kite shield, but the scar across it looks almost like the arch of a sword being swung against it.

Iron smiles at me before he says, “Ratchet, I think you’re one of the few to have seen me without armor on. Most of the others who have are medics, like Knight Venom. I don’t hide in my armor because I’m not proud of my scars. It is just that given my lack of fur, I get quite cold without it.” Both Iron and Venom laugh at this remark.

“Besides,” Iron continues. “Each scar represents a pony I’ve saved, or tried to at least.” Iron’s tone sounds a bit regretful as he says that last bit, and now that I can see his face it noticeably hardens. Venom as well has stopped smiling and is instead working dutifully on Iron’s wound.

Venom pours some of the healing potion his Iron’s wound before passing the potion to him and saying, “Take a sip.” He then begins wrapping Iron’s leg with some new bandages. As Iron takes a swig from the potion, Venom finishes bandages his leg and levitates the remaining bandages to a nearby counter, then takes the potion from Iron. “There you go. It will be good as new soon. Now then, Scribe Crusader Ratchet, let’s take a look at you,” Venom says.

He motions to the chair Iron is in, as Iron gets up from it and begins putting his armor back on. I walk over and sit on it so Venom can look at my back. “Alright, let’s see…” Venom says, inspecting my back. “As Iron says, it is just a graze. Let me disinfect it, and you’ll be fine, no need for bandages. It shouldn’t scar either.”

He floats over some alcohol and pours a bit on my back, causing me to squeal at the slight burning sensation. “There you go,” he says as he wipes up the excess. “Now, the both of you take care. Though, in your case Iron, I suppose I should say just don’t get seriously injured,” Venom gives Iron a wry smile.

“That’s always my plan. Thanks, as always Venom,” Iron says as we begin to walk out of the clinic. Once back in the hallway, Iron turns to me and says, “Well, now that that’s taken care of, how about we go get a drink? We have some time to kill, after all.”

“Sure. I’ve got a bottle of whiskey, if you’re interested. It isn’t exactly to my taste, but I can suffer through it with someone else,” I tell him. He smiles at this suggestion.

“Are you sure? I saw it before. It is a pretty good brand and has yet to be opened. You could save it for a special occasion,” he tells me. “But, if you’re offering it up, I won’t turn it away.”

“Of course. What better time than now? We’re about to have a large battle and take out the Track Gang in Ponyville, and rescue that mare. I think this is a good enough occasion. This will be our last chance to relax until after the attack, why not make it count?” I say.

He lets out a laugh and says, “Good point, Ratchet. Let’s grab some glasses from the mess hall then and get to drinking. I’ll need time to sober up before the briefings and what not.” After saying this, we begin heading towards the mess hall.

It isn’t long before we arrive, and it is almost empty, most of the rangers having eaten earlier. Iron tells me to go wait at a table off in the corner of the hall as he goes to get glasses. After sitting at the table, Iron comes up a few moments later with two glasses.

He sits down and I open the whisky, then pour it into the glasses. We raise our glasses before taking the first drink. It burns my throat as it goes down, causing me to cough a bit, but Iron finishes off his glass and lets out a sigh, “Ahhh, that’s good stuff.” I pour him another as I gingerly take another swig of mine.

After a while, we get two-thirds of the way through the bottle. Iron has drank more than I have by far, but seems to hold his alcohol better than I do. We begin to drunkenly reminisce about Equestria before the war and after a bout of laughter, he suddenly says, “You know, you don’t look a day over thirty and Archimedes said you were sixty-two or something. You also know a lot of the old world. How is that?”

I pause at the question for a moment, but answer him. “You see, back then I used to work for…” before I can explain further, however, CORA speaks up and stops me.

“Ratchet! I don’t think you should be talking about that yet. You’re drunk, you should stop drinking, both of you,” she tells us. I just shake my head and hoof at the mute button on my PipBuck. It takes me a few tries, and she realizes what I’m doing. “Ratchet! Stop! Listen to me, don’t press that mute button! I’ll…” She is cut off when I finally hit the button.

“Shhh, it’s alright CORA, I’ll unmute you later. Besides, Iron is trustworthy. However…” I trail off in thought for a moment, focusing on CORA’s face as it looks at me angrily. As I do so, Iron pours himself another drink. Before I can say anything else, he speaks up.

“You want to know how I got these scars?” Iron says as he hold his glass of whiskey up, looking through it to me. “You tell me your secret, I’ll tell you,” he offers, taking another swig from his glass.

“Sure, I guess. The truth is I worked for the Ministry of Magic and made a cryogenic chamber. While testing it, the Megaspells fell and I was stuck in it for thirty-five years until CORA woke me up,” I tell him with a shrug.

He stares at me for a moment before he says, “Huh. I had my caps on you being immortal. Lightning and Thunder seemed to think you were a robot, but looks like Arrow won our bet. Who knew cryogenic stuff was real?” He takes another sip from his glass.

“Now then, back before the Stable was opened, we had developed our command hierarchy. I was made the Star Paladin and took my position very seriously. In place of the Elder, I had command of the entire population. I followed the instructions left for us on how to train and taught the others the way of the Steel Rangers, after learning them myself,” he smiles, remembering the time fondly.

“However, when the Stable opened and we went out into the wasteland, we encountered large groups of raiders, the Track Gang is only the latest. We had small confrontations with them quite frequently and when diplomacy failed, Archimedes decided it best of we take them out,” Iron continues.

“We found the location of the largest group of raiders, and I led the assault on them. The Elder stayed behind along with a handful of defenders. I led a group of roughly thirty rangers in the assault, many hadn’t seen any combat. We started the attack off fine and began to cut down the raiders,” he says as his voice turns grim.

“However, a group of the raiders flanked us and hit a few of our Knights. In the following chaos, I lost control of those under my command as they broke off into their own groups to defend themselves. I tried to coordinate them together, however I couldn’t multitask on that scale. It wasn’t long before they started to sustain injuries,” Iron pauses and takes a large drink.

“A few died, a few were severely injured, and the rest were scared and looking for leadership, however I just shut down. I had never seen death before, I had never led ponies in battle. My experience was all theoretical. I couldn’t deal with it and just sat there, staring at the fighting,” Iron shakes his head and looks sadly at his drink.

“In all this chaos, a voice soon rose above the gunfire. Paladin Lily, who is now Star Paladin, began to address the rangers and take over my command. She continued and led us to victory, but after the dust settled five of us had fallen, and over half the rest had sustained injuries. The five deaths were my fault, the lack of my leadership,” he pauses and he finishes his drink and pours another.

“I was demoted and Lily took my place. No one blamed me, however. We were all inexperienced. Since then, however, I’ve been trying my hardest to ensure no one else dies because of me. In the following attacks on the smaller raider bands, I began to get my collection of scars,” he raises his left leg as he continues.

“This leg was burned when I dashed in front of a Knight who was about to be engulfed in the flames of flamethrower. My armor protected me for a time, but it soon began to heat up and scalded my skin. It took me a while to recover after the battle, but my wound didn’t deter me,” he took a swig of his drink.

“Another time we were fighting raiders, one was armed with a plasma rifle. They had a group of us pinned down, and their cover was slowly disintegrating. I threw myself at the raider, who proceeded to melt through my armor with the plasma, burning various parts of my torso,” Iron continues.

“After the raiders had been mostly dealt with and we began exploring, we encountered a group of manticores. We didn’t have the firepower to bring them all down and I had run out of ammo. To buy the others time and give them a less quick target, I turned and bucked one, which proceeded to cut into my legs with its fangs and claws. My armor provided little protection and turned into shrapnel, slicing into my legs along with the manticore before the others brought it down,” Iron swirls the whiskey in his glass around as he stares at it.

“For the most part, those were the major incidents. There were others, lots of gunshot wounds, some knifes, spears, and other sharp objects piercing my armor to slice at my skin. I don’t know how I haven’t gotten any wounds on my head or neck, however. Perhaps the Goddesses are still looking out for me, in their own way. But, as long as I can save someone else, what happens to me is of little consequence,” he tells me with a smile.

He finishes his drink and looks at the bottle, which by now is almost empty. Iron picks it up and finishes it off before he sets it back down. “No one blamed me for the five that died under my command, but I’ve lived with my regret every day since. I can’t bring them back, but the least I can do is keep those who still live alive, you know?” He says while looking at me.

“It is why I fight at the front. BUT!” he suddenly shouts. “The whiskey is gone, and we’ve got to be up in a few hours. Finish your drink and let’s hit the hay,” he tells me. I drink down the last of my whiskey and stand up as he does so. However, Iron staggers and I catch him before he falls.

“Maybe I should help you?” I suggest. He gives me a nod and I put his right leg around my shoulders. As we begin to walk out of the mess hall, I levitate the empty bottle into the trash and the glasses over to the cook, who smiles at me with a nod before picking them up.

As I make my way through the facility with Iron, I’m suddenly aware of the behavior of the other rangers as I take Iron to his bed. I never noticed it before, but they always seem to make room for him as he walks through the facility. It is like they are respectfully acknowledging all he has done for them. A few even offer me help, but I turn them down.

It isn’t long before we get to his bed, just one of many in the barracks. I put his helmet on his footlocker after laying him on his bed. He is almost asleep at this point, so I go take take off his armor. However, he lifts his hoof to mine and says, “Leave it on, it gets cold without it.” I nod and tell him good night.

The only sound that responds is his quiet snoring. I smile at this sleeping form before heading to my own bed and settling in for the night. It isn’t long before I find myself in the embrace of sleep as well.

Level Up! - Level 3

+1 Big Guns
+7 Small Guns
+5 Unarmed
+5 Repair

Author's Notes:

Iron's past revealed! CORA's gona be mad at Ratchet for muting her...

Chapter 5 is done and has set the stage for the first large-scale battle of Icicle! Chapter 6 will probably be quite a bit longer than the previous chapters, so keep an eye out for it when I get it done!

Thanks for reading!