With the sound of drilling ever constant in my ears, focusing on reworking my suit’s new wiring was hard. Considering Thunder was now drilling right on the other side of the wall from me now, it was no surprise at just how loud it was, even with the workshop’s door closed. I began to think about how far we had come in restoring the lab to distract myself from the noise.

After breaking through the initial pile of rubble, we gained access to the workshop and material storage rooms. However, more rubble blocked the way to the generator and the offices. It had taken only a few more days to gain access to the generator, and luckily it was a quick fix. Just had to replace a blown gasket, replace a fuse, and and undo the failsafe both those issues triggered.

Once the power was restored, we set about thoroughly cleaning the lab of dust and debris. It was a challenge, but we also got most of the cameras, PA system, and turrets working again as well. With the visuals restored, I put CORA back into the system so she could monitor it for us.

Due to the neglect of the generator, CORA reported the efficiency dropped by 13%. However, it would still provide us constant power for another few hundred years. With nothing to worry about in terms of sustainability, I began to focus on tinkering in the workshop, which brings us to this moment.

Thankfully, the lifts used to support the empty power armor of my previous crew still functions and I have their armor and my own suspended from them. I don’t like the current power armor that I have, and I am determined to customize it. Especially so it can fit around my PipBuck.

I drew up some plans for the modifications I want to make and began pulling the suits apart. A fair amount of the armor my crew wore when they went outside had rusted from time. However, most of the interior components remain functional. Only after completely dismantling all the suits and laying the usable components in front of me to see, taking up most of the floor space I might add, did I begin building my new armor.

I melted down the spare armor and metal from storage to form new components and armor segments. I kept most of Iron’s old armor the same, only cutting through parts of it to create more segmentation.

One thing that bugs me about the ranger armor is how hard it is to put on. Even with magic it can take a good few minutes to get it all situated. I decided to resolve this issue by splitting the most of the suit in half down to the hooves. I welded the helmet on the body of the armor as well before doing this.

Now, the armor is one whole piece instead of multiple. The underside, legs, and neck remained whole, up to the helmet anyhow. The suit would essentially split open along the back and allow me to slip in and out of it, trigger a switch, and have it close tightly around me. Once I got the wiring correct, anyhow.

I’d simply slide my legs into the leg holes just like socks, aside from my front left leg armor, which swings out so my PipBuck can fit inside a screen sized hole I cut in it. It then secures shut like the rest of the armor does.

And speaking of armor, using the extra metal I added on a bunch! Such as fortifying the front and having plates slide down over the seam of the armor to prevent weak points. Of course, I doubled the weight of the regular armor in doing so. But I manage to cancel that out when wearing it by adding an extra strength talisman to the armor.

I did, however, leave a hole for my horn, instead of encapsulating it. Call me odd, but I just really do not like the feeling of my horn being surrounded by metal. Once in the suit, it is the only part of me that is still visible.

To deal with the addition of the extra armor and components, quite a few things were scraped from the original armor. The waste disposal, voice amplification, the HUD, mainly since I have my own, and quite a few of the other non-essential systems.

I added quite a few things other than armor, however. Like the extra strength talisman, I added an extra auto repair talisman for extra recovery during battles. Taking a note from Senior Paladin Twinkle, and making use of my old crews’ miniguns, I mounted two on each side for a total of four.

Due to this, a large portion of the interior space I had to work with was converted into ammunition storage for the guns. In total, the suit can carry about a thousand rounds per gun. To make use of my other weapons, I welded what is essentially a pocket onto the left side of the armor for my revolver. The major issue came with Raptor Blood.

With my poor usage of larger guns, I had thought to just leave it off. But CORA had a brilliant idea. She said to mount it on the back of the armor on a swivel and integrate it with the circuitry of the armor so she could use it. And solving just how to do that was a headache in itself.

But that brings me to my current headache, the suit’s wiring. If I could just run the wires on the top side of the armor, it would be fine and dandy, but no, I had to cut a seam down the top. Therefore, all the wires must cross from the left side to the right side, or vice versa, by going across the underside or neck.

I honestly could just run them across, that isn’t the problem, there is space for them all. My issue is, doing that looks horrendous. I am a stickler for cable management. I refuse to have cables criss-crossing and wrapping around each other if I can help it. Sometimes being this meticulous is a curse.

It has taken me two weeks to create the armor as it is now. These last two days I’ve been trying to run the cables so i can at least test it out. I’ve dealt with these wires for so long, I had a nightmare about wires last night.

I’m focusing so intently on the wires, that I don’t even realize that the drilling has stopped until Thunder suddenly says from right behind me, “Tunnel’s clear.” I nearly hit the ceiling I jumped so high. With my heart beating in my chest, I turn to him with a glare.

“Did you have to sneak up on me like that?” I ask him, giving him an annoyed look. He rolls his eyes as he points to the suit.

“I called your name five times, I even knocked on the door. You were just too busy with your suit to notice,” he lets out a chuckle. “Your reaction was priceless, however. Remind me to scare you some more later. Actually, don’t. It’ll ruin the surprise,” he tells me with a grin.

“Yea, yea, very funny. Anyhow, did you find any other blocks in the hallways?” I ask him as I turn my attention from the suit to him.

The grin disappears from his face as he says, “No, that was the last one. And I, uh...found the rest of your crew.” As he says this I feel my heart skip a beat as my eyes go wide. “They are in the living quarters,” he tells me.

The words barely leave his muzzle before I’m out of my chair and heading for the living quarters. As I reach the section of hallway where the rubble once stood, the stark difference between the clean section and the other side stood out to me. I stop at the precipice, surrounded by the remains of the rubble.

CORA’s explanation of what happened to the rest of my crew plays in my mind again. How they turned on each other and how she ultimately killed them. But what is really stopping me, is the fact that until I see their corpses, I can still remember them as flesh and blood ponies. It isn’t that I will forget what they looked like, but rather I won’t be able to forget what they have become.

It happened with the crew I already buried. Whenever I think back to their faces, I can’t help but to see the skeletons they have become, with lifeless eye sockets staring back at me. I can still think back on the rest of my crew without this fear, but once I see them now I’ll no longer be able to do that.

I can feel that my hooves have begun shaking and my breathing has become shallow, rapid breaths, but I can’t bring myself to move. It is CORA’s voice that finally causes me to take a normal breath as she says, “Ratchet, I can’t see anything past this point. I don’t know what’s wrong, but if you need me I’m here.”

“R-right…” I say at a whisper. I shake my head and take a deep breath as I hear Thunder approaching from behind. “Nothing’s wrong, CORA. Let’s see if I can restore the cameras in this section for you,” I tell her in a more normal sounding voice.

I take the first step into the newly uncovered section of my lab, then another, and another. As I walk, I can hear the sound of Thunder and I’s hooves. The only other sound is the slight buzzing of the lights.

After a few moments, we reach an intersection. Continuing forward would put us in my office and turning right will take us to the living quarters and other offices. I turn down the right hallway and push down the dust covered hall.

I pass the doorway to the offices and continue further into the hall. A few moments later, I arrive at the doorway to the living quarters. I stand in front of it for a time before I turn and continue to the end of the hallway.

At the end of the hallway is the breaker box for this area. I open it and look for the camera breaker. I quickly spot them and flip them from off to on. “Ah, there we go Ratchet,” CORA says. “I can see you now. All cameras appear to be functioning properly.” I nod as I close the box and return to the living quarter door.

Once again I find myself standing outside of it, unable to continue on. I close my eyes as Thunder watches silently. After a moment, I grab ahold of the door with my magic and open it. I step through the door and look around the room.

The layout is like a normal military barrack with beds lined along the walls, each with a locker at the foot of the bed. Fourteen beds in total, including my own. Two of the beds are occupied and have Steel Ranger armor resting atop the lockers. As I look at the far wall, I see two beds that have been flipped on their sides, forming somewhat of a barricade.

As I walk down the aisle between the rows of beds and towards the barricade, I remember that the turret in this room is on the side opposite the barricade. I turn around to look at the turret and then the floor beneath it. Littering the floor are dozens of spent 7.62 cartridges. Turning back towards the barricade, I can see bullet holes in the beds and walls.

I continue down the aisle and stop at the occupied beds which are side by side. Between them on the ground is a single rusted knife. I can feel anger rise up within me for a moment before it quickly fades. I turn my head back to the barricade and continue walking with a sigh. In a matter of moments I am standing between the beds.

As I look behind them, I see shredded clothing. The labcoats and mechanic jumpsuits my staff wore. Among the scraps, I also see the bones of my six remaining crew members. I look them over for a few moments before turning to Thunder.

“Get the others,” I say in a shallow voice. “Start collecting their remains. Keep them separate if you can. I’m going to...start digging. Bring them up when you can,” I tell him. Without waiting for an answer, I turn around and begin walking out of the room.

“Of course, Ratchet,” I hear Thunder say as I walk out.

I continue walking until I am outside the lab and in the shed. I pick up the shovel in my magic and go outside. It is about mid-afternoon as I begin digging a hole beside the graves I dug before.

‘Eight more,’ I think to myself as I take another shovel-full of dirt from the hole. ‘Eight more, and my staff can finally rest.’

By sundown, I finish burying the rest of my crew. Arrow, Thunder, and Lightning join me as I look over the thirteen graves. I had put a cross above each of them, and dug each grave myself, despite offers of help. I felt this was something I had to do myself.

I took a breath and look at each grave as I say, “Flora, Clank, Whistle, Dusky, Lemon Cream, Crimson, Feld Grau, Grell, Sawblade, Serenity, Lyric, Waning, and Lilac.” The names of my staff. It was hard to tell who was who from their bones alone, but I think I managed.

“I am sorry it took me so long to lay you all to rest. I am sorry that you all had to die for a project that was never put to actual use. But most of all, I am sorry for what each of you had to do in your last moments alive,” I say.

“I cannot begin to imagine what it was like for any of you. I want to say that I forgive you, and I hope that you can forgive each other if you meet in the afterlife. I have seen many horrible things in the wasteland and I’m sure I will see more before I am gone,” I continue.

“But there is one thing I want to promise each of you. You all helped me with my experiment, and I will make sure you didn’t die in vain. I will do what I can to help the wasteland and ensure something like this never happens again,” I tell them.

I renew the promise I made when I buried the first five members of my staff. Not only so I could make it to the ones who are newly laid to rest, but so I can reaffirm it in myself. With how the wasteland is now, there may be times that I want to give up or hide. But I mustn’t do that. I’m not only working in the memory of my crew, but for myself and for the future of Equestria.

I will ensure that Equestria recovers from this, somehow. And I will make sure that this mistake is never made again. As long as I am alive to prevent it, that is.

“Come on,” I say to the others. “Let’s get cleaning again. We don’t have much time left until the Elder contacts us.”

We spend the next two days cleaning the newly uncovered part of the lab. Once everything is clean and functioning properly again, I decide to log into my terminal for the first time in decades. I don’t know what I expect to find, but I wanted to take a break from the wiring.

I boot the terminal up and the fan inside of it spins to life, sending dust all over the desk I had just cleaned moments ago. “I’ll just clean that up later…” I sigh out. I type in my credentials and hit the return key.

Welcome back Miss Ratchet.
It has been 35 years since your last log in.
Would you like to view your unread messages? Y/N

Unread messages? What new messages could I have received since the war ended? I key in the Y button and hit return.

Displaying unread messages, oldest first:
MoAS Internal Communications - Weekly Newsletter
MoAS Internal Communications - THE END IS NIGH!
MoAS Internal Communications - Disregard Previous Message
MoAS Internal Communications - Evacuation Procedures and You!
Twilight Sparkle - I’m Sorry.

Most of them are what I expect, but the one from Twilight is a surprise. Saving that one for last, I briefly look at the others. The weekly newsletter is the same as the previously set out messages detailing the unclassified work of the MoAS and updates on the war effort.

The second is what you’d expect, some madpony must have gotten hold of the account and wrote things like “repent” and “we are all going to die”. That sort of thing. The following message was sent minutes after and says to continue business as usual, the employee who sent the previous message has been let go, and reassures that nothing is wrong.

Thirty minutes later the last MoAS message was received and says the first megaspell had gone off and lists the general evacuation procedures and what to do in case of emergencies. Twilight’s message arrived about two days later.

I open it up and read the two words in the message, “I’m sorry.” Below these words is an audio recording. I hesitate for a moment before I open the recording and play it.

“Ratchet, it’s Twilight. This is an automated message that is set to be set to you if I don't check in with it every few days. I do not know why I stopped it from being sent. Perhaps I finally decided to tell you the truth. Maybe I was killed or captured. I do not know what the reason is, but there is one thing I have to say to you, and that is that I am sorry.

I have betrayed you. More specifically, your trust. From the moment I looked over your plans, I knew that it could work. As such, I began researching it alone and improving upon it. I never told you anything I discovered, or shared my notes with you. But this isn’t why I am sorry. Listen Ratchet. I didn’t help you with your research as much as I could have because I wanted to see what you could do. Your project works, and I hope that you can forgive me for finding that out before you.

I know you are aware of the fact we have many classified projects. Some of these projects didn’t go the way we wanted them to. I took the liberty of perfecting your project and putting it to use to contain these projects. Because of your familiarity with this project, I am going to disclose the details of each of the projects I contained using yours. I will send you another message after this one with the details.”

Oh no. This is the last message I received. Does that mean that the other message go corrupted or failed to send?

“Not all of the projects are harmful, but a few could be dangerous if they got out. One such is a clone of Pinkie that went crazy. But there are good ones as well, such as a filly that shares the DNA of all the ministry mares. I know this might be a lot for you to take in, but if I don’t make it I need you to deal with these projects if you can.

Destroy them, maintain their sleep, or help them as needed. I am sorry I am forcing all this onto you. I am sorry that I kept the use of your project from you. But most importantly, I am sorry that I could not have been better.

I can’t make up for this, but I have promoted you and granted you access to specific MoAS classified information. As of this moment, you hold the rank of a high tier researcher. While you will not have access to Celestia Tier classified information, you will have access to all information regarding the cryogenic projects.

All Equestrian facilities owned by the MoAS and others we have access to have been updated with your credentials. You have helped Equestria more than you know. Once again, I am sorry.”

The audio recording stops as I sit in my chair trying to take it all in. In a bit of a daze, I ask CORA, “CORA, did you hear that? Did you know? That she promoted me, I mean.”

“I heard and I knew,” CORA says sadly. “I wanted to save it as a surprise but I didn’t know she sent that message. I received an update on your rank while you were in the cryopod.”

“Oh goddess...oh goddess…” I say, starting to hyperventilate. “No, no, no...First I get put in command of some Steel Rangers, now I am a high ranking member of the MoAS? Twilight’s and the others might be dead...CORA! Do you know the status of any MoAS facilities?” I shout at her.

“No, Ratchet. Any knowledge I’d have of them was lost when we lost outside communication. Even now, we don’t have any outside access. But, Twilight might have survived, right? She used teleportation to travel large distances, right?”

I nod at her words. “You have a point. I hope she managed to get to safety…” I trail off.

“Ratchet, I don’t really know what became of her. However, none of the ministries seem to have a presence in the wasteland. If she is still around, I think she must be busy with something of extreme importance,” CORA explains.

“I...I guess,” I say. “Yea, you’re right. Besides, this doesn’t change anything. We are still going to help the wasteland regardless. However...do you know anything about the other projects mine was used to contain?” I ask her.

“Unfortunately no. I’m as surprised as you are to find out Miss Twilight did that,” CORA answers.

“Well, I guess that is all the more reason that we explore the wasteland. I should be able to recognize the technology. But, figuring out which are good or bad will be a guessing game unless there is any documentation left in the facilities,” I say, gaining confidence again.

“Indeed! Oh that note, Ratchet. Lightning told me to tell you the Elder radioed us. Rose is ready to go home now,” she informs me.

“What, now? But my suit isn’t ready and...why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I ask her in a panic.

“Well, you were listening to the audio log and then were kind of depressed, so I thought it wasn’t the time to do so. As for your suit, like I’ve told you before, even with the three spark battery adapters you added, they will only power the suit for about two hours. It isn’t efficient at all,” she tells me.

“Yea, yea. You keep saying that after I perfect it,” I tell her, rolling my eyes. Such negativity. I knew it would be a power hog to run all the systems. And, I knew I’d have to switch out new spark batteries every so often. “Anyhow, tell everyone to get ready. We’ll head back to Stable 36 once we’ve gathered our things.”

“Will do!” CORA says with an upbeat tone. “Don’t forget to download me before you go, either!” She says in a pouty voice.

“What? Never!” I say, acting offended. We both let out a laugh as I turn off the terminal and head out of my office to gather my things.

A few minutes later we are all at the entrance and CORA is securely back in my PipBuck. We set out for the Steel Ranger’s Stable after locking the doors behind us. “It’s great to finally be back outside and not constantly cleaning…” Thunder says as we exit the shed.

“I agree, but we still have a bit of cleaning and restoration to do before things are up to Ratchet’s specifications,” Lightning says with a chuckle. We begin walking as we talk.

“My specifications aren’t that bad you two...I mean, Arrow isn’t complaining,” I tell them. I motion over towards Arrow, but she looks away as I do so. “What? Not you too Arrow…” I trail off as Thunder and Lightning laugh in unison.

“Arrow rarely talks as it is. She isn’t one to complain, either. We all understand why you’re so strict with how clean it needs to be, but it isn’t like we are researching any new technology or anything,” Lightning explains.

I puff out my cheeks stubbornly as I say, “Yea, but I still like to tinker with things...And what’s wrong with having a clean and functioning home? Besides, it isn’t like we had anything else to do until now.”

As we continue on we continue to discuss the merits of keeping a clean and tidy home. Surprisingly, we manage to talk on the subject until we reach Stable 36. As soon as we enter, I already notice the change in the Stable.

The armor they are wearing has been painted with the symbols of their squads. It also seems like there is more activity than before. Ponies are rushing to and fro as we head towards the command center.

Once we enter, it is a buzz of activity. “Radio Apple Squad and check their status,” Elder Archimedes says with an uncharacteristically loud and authoritative voice. “Then, order Saber Squad back to base,” he calls out again. After giving a few more commands, he notices us approaching.

Almost immediately he switches back to his normal personality. “Ah! If it isn’t my favorite squad! Don’t tell the others I said that though,” he says with a wink. He rests his head on his hoof as he continues, “How did the lab restoration go?”

“Fine sir. We didn’t encounter too much trouble with it. Power has been restored and it has been cleared of collapses. I’d say we only have a few days worth of work left to get it where I want it to be,” I tell him, eliciting a groan from Thunder.

“Good, good!” Elder Archimedes says flailing his free hoof in the air for emphasis. “But, I suppose you’ll be wanting to get down to business. Rose is in the mess hall, I believe. She has been given some basic supplies, and should be ready to leave when you are,” he informs me.

“Thank you,” I tell him. “But first, I have a question. Why do things seem so...busy?” I ask him. He lets out a sigh and lets his head fall to the desk.

“Well, with the takeover of Ponyville, some citizens have moved in there. But at the same time, raider activity has increased as well. I’ve been sending out patrols to both protect the newly forming town and to attempt to discover why raider activity seems to have increased,” he explains.

Elder Archimedes lets out a long sigh. “However, we haven’t found anything out. They seem organized, though. Like somepony is leading them in their attacks. It certainly doesn’t seem random like normal raiders. So far, we haven’t had any encounters that led to anything more than small skirmishes. But, for how long we can avoid a large scale encounter I do not know.”

His mood suddenly changes as he lifts up his head and throws up his hooves, “Anyhow! I suppose you want to head out. So I’ll spare you the details until you get back. Go find Rose and make sure she gets home safely. We’ll hold things down here.”

I nod as I say, “Right. We should get moving while it is still light out.” We bid the elder farewell and go to leave the room. However before I leave I turn back to the Elder and tell him, “You and everyone else be careful, alright?”

I see the Elder smile and nod to me before he goes back to calling out orders. Outside the command center, we head towards the mess hall, where Elder Archimedes said Rose might be. As we walk, I think about just how much more lively the base seems now compared to when I was here last time. Ponies rushing everywhere and almost every room is abuzz with activity.

The pounding of hooves on the metal floors is continuous the entire way to the mess hall. Stepping inside the room, the sound of hooves dies down while the sound of voices increases as the eating ponies talk. It was an odd time of day for a meal, but I suppose with all the patrols the Elder is running, you have to eat when you can.

Looking around the room, I soon spot Rose sitting at a table eating with a few rangers. As we get closer, I can make out their conversation. “...is Friendship City? I’ve never been there, but I hear it is expanding nicely,” one of the ranger mares says.

Rose nods and replies, “The city has been doing fine. The guard keeps the majority of the raiders and riff-raff away from the city. And most of the monsters stick to the ruins. Though, it helps having a natural barrier of water between the island and the Manehatten ruins. As for growth, we’d been getting new citizens almost weekly.”

A ranger buck speaks up next, “And is it true you are actually building into the statue itself? How does that work?” The rangers around her seem to be really curious about Friendship City.

Thinking for a moment, Rose answers, “Well, we started out just building around it, from what I’m told. But as the population increased, we needed more room. Instead of expanding across the water, someone had the idea to expand up and into the statue. We have some crews that scavenge scrap materials from the ruins and we then use them to build proper structures in and around the statue’s framework.”

I wait until the conversation dies down a bit before I clear my throat. Rose and the rangers at the table turn to me as I do so. “Excuse me, Rose if you are ready, we are prepared to escort you home whenever,” I tell her.

She looks at me for a moment before she exclaims, “I remember you! You were there when we were freed from the cages. And you helped me get comfortable here too. Ratchet, correct?” She asks. I nod in confirmation. “I knew it! Well, it has been fun rangers, but I should probably be getting home. If any of you are ever in the area, come say hello!”

After a few ‘awws’ and farewells from the rangers, Rose gets up, throws a bag on her back, and walks up to me. “I’m ready to go when you are,” she says with a smile. “I can’t wait to get back to Friendship City and see everyone again!” With that we make our way out of the Stable and set off to Friendship City.

After hours of walking and the others exhausting all their questions about Friendship City, the sun has almost set upon the horizon. “We should probably find a place to hunker down for the night. Anyone know of a ruin or anything around here?” I ask.

Lightning is the first to speak up, “You know none of us Rangers have gone this far to the northeast. Before the end, I think there were a few rest stops along this route, but who knows if they are still standing now. Rose, you have any idea?”

Rose shakes her head. “I went south to Fillydelphia and followed the rails here. Now, we are on the north side of foal mountain. I haven’t been out this way,” she explains.

“Ratchet,” CORA chimes in, “If I remember correctly, Hollow Shades is about a day's walk from where we are at. But, between here and there I don’t remember many buildings. We might have to set up camp out in the open.”

“While that wouldn’t be the best idea, given the increase in raider activity, I don’t think we have a choice,” Lightning says. “I should also mention that Hollow Shades is all but ghostly ruins. Scouting parties have reported as much.”

I nod my head. “So, camping outside it is. Let’s keep an eye out for an easily defendable place off the rails. We won’t start a fire to avoid any unwanted attention and we will take watch in shifts. Sound good?” I ask apprehensively.

“Sounds good boss!” Thunder says, almost too enthusiastically. “Also, you should act take more confidence in your decisions. Aside from marching through the night, which would be an awful idea, this is the only logical choice at the moment.”

Almost collectively, the rest of us stop, turn, and look at Thunder. Lightning is the first to say, “What is wrong with you? What have you done with my brother?” We all collectively laugh as Thunder just rolls eyes.

“Hey, even I can sometimes be supportive. Now, quit your staring and lets find a place to bed down for the night,” Thunder says as he starts walking again. The rest of us contain ourselves and follow suit.

After a few minutes, we find a place to rest for the night. We decide the order of the watch and I take the first one. While the others lay down to rest, I look over my inventory and PipBuck systems again.

As I do so, I periodically look around to ensure nothing is approaching us. After tinkering with my PipBuck systems and discovering nothing has changed since the last time I looked, I focus on keeping an eye out.

It isn’t long before the shifting of the others’ bodies quiets down and I catch snoring coming from Thunder. Even in his sleep, he’s loud, I chuckle quietly to myself. Though, it is nice to have some noise in the otherwise odd quietness of the wasteland.

Compared to how it was before the end, things are much quieter, and a lot less bright out at night. I suppose the lack of electricity and the dense cloud layer can be attributed to the darkness. But the lack of sounds really shows just how desolate Equestria has become.

Though I feel as if I only just started my watch, as I look at the time, I notice that it is now Lightning’s shift. I want to give him more time to sleep, but it is for the best if we all get as much sleep as we can, and that includes me.

I walk over to his side as quietly as I can and gently wake him up. “Lightning, it’s your shift now,” I say in a whisper, trying not to wake the others. After a few moments he rouses from his sleep.

“That time already?” He says as he gets to his hooves. “I take it nothing happened? That’s good. You get some sleep, I’ll keep us safe.” I would like nothing more than to lay down and sleep, but I have other business that must be attended to first.

“Actually, I have some...business...I need to take care of first. If you know what I mean,” I tell him. He looks at me curiously for a moment without realising what I mean, and I try again. “You know...business?”

CORA chimes in abruptly, “She means she has to pee.” I let out a sigh. Not delicate at all, CORA. And she is suppose to be me? Sometimes I wonder. Lightning of course, is trying to hold back a laugh,

“Yea, that. I’m just going to go over that hill quick and be back,” I tell him as i begin to walk up the hill.

“Be careful, and shout if anything happens,” he says. “As always, I will guard the night,” he follows up with a grin. I facehoof as I continue to scale the hill.

I crest the hill and get out of sight of the others before settling in to empty my bladder. This was the trouble in the wasteland, lack of bathrooms. I quickly finish up and begin to make my way back towards the others.

Before I make it even a few steps, however, I hear some hoofsteps. Did Lightning follow me up here to sneak a peek? Ugh, the perv. I turn towards the sound of the hoofsteps only to be greeted by a beaming white smile and piercing red eyes.

What happens next catches me off guard as it gets closer in an instant and I feel a cloth pressed against my muzzle. At the same time, I sense a hoof hitting buttons on my PipBuck. I can feel myself losing consciousness as I see CORA’s face contort into a look of worry.

A speech bubble appears next to her face that reads, “They muted me!” It is the last thing I see before my vision goes black and I sleep away into unconsciousness.

Author's Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know it has been a while since the last one, so thanks for sticking around!

As a side note, as of 1/1/2016, Chapter 9 is being written and should be out a bit later this month. Thanks to Winter Break, i've had more time to write, so i'm hoping to get at least Chapter 10 out as well, before I head back into school.