Chapter 19 - Starting Over
“If I am what I have and if I lose what I have who then am I?”

“C’mon, Dust,” Gertie said gently. “Let’s get you to a doctor.”

The killing blow never came. Instead, a sense of relief washed over me and my entire body relaxed. My head dropped back to the ground, and I couldn’t help but to laugh a little. And Celestia, did everything hurt.

“What’s so funny, featherbrain?” Gertie asked, clearly confused at my reaction.

“Inside joke,” I groaned. “If you knew how many times I’ve almost died already…” I started, and then everything started to grow dark. “This isn’t goo..” was all I remembered saying.

My next memories were a disjointed series of events.

One time when my eye opened, all I could see was the ground and I was bobbing up and down along it. I tried to crane my head and only saw the back of a black, feathered head. “Gertie?” I rasped through my painfully dry throat.

“You awake?” she asked, looking back, her teal eyes betraying her concern. “Maybe you can walk on your own now?” I felt her trying to shrug me off her back. I slid off her back and collapsed on the ground like a bag of rocks. “C’mon, featherbrain, we gotta keep moving. We’re still too close to that base.”

I nodded in reply and tried to get to my feet. Once I was upright, I took a step forward. “Hey, this isn’t so…” I croaked as the world began spinning again and then went black.

Another time I opened my eye, I saw we were flying well above the ground, but nowhere near the cloud cover. “Gertie? Where are we?”

“Never you mind,” she shot back, strain apparent with every word. “You know that you weigh a ton?”

A sudden burst of wind buffeted us and we dropped several feet.

“Sorry for the turb…” she said as I blacked out again.

My eye strained to open. This was beginning to get aggravating. I stared up at the ceiling of a room I found myself in and saw it was a drab, olive tarp. Wasteland daylight was bleeding in through small holes and tears in the material. The only sounds I heard were the soft breathing of others in the tent and the soft flapping of the tent flap in the breeze. Straining to look around, i saw several unmoving bodies in other beds. They were all griffons!

“Doctor!” a shrill voice cried out. “The turkey is up!”

The shout caught me by surprise, causing me to sit straight up. Perhaps a little too quickly. The room began spinning again and then went all black.

The next time I opened my eye, I was looking up at the tarp again. This time, the holes and tears were black beyond, and the tent was dimly lit by several hanging lanterns. There were still several other griffons in here with me. Above the soft breathing of my roommates, I heard somepony softly snoring nearby. Craning my head in that direction, I saw a female griffon dozing at a desk.

“Excuse me, nurse?” I rasped again. Damn, my throat was dry again. “Nurse?”

“Huh? Who?” she blurted out, having shot up out of her seat and quickly scanning the room. “Oh, it’s only you,” she said with some disdain. “Hold on while I get the doc. Wait here.” She turned and quickly walked out of the tent.

“Where the hell would I go?” I mumbled to myself.

While waiting, I took stock in my condition and what I could remember. The events in the bunker still burned brightly in my memory. As I recalled them, each wound or scar would flare up in pain, a permanent reminder of my time with Muddy. My leg was still burning from where the plasma round had melted the armor around it. Moving the stained sheet, I looked at the wound. The flesh had been somewhat healed, but the coat in the area was slightly off-color and patchy at the edges. Also, my left eye burned. Reaching up for it, I felt a wad of bandages over it and traced a roller bandage wrapped around my head, holding it in place. I groped for the knot, wanting to remove it.

“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” a gruff voice lectured me. I glanced in the direction of the tent flap and saw a dark brown bodied griffon entering. His white feathers filled out his head except for rings of orange around golden eyes. “Your eye is not yet healed, unless you want to lose it permanently.”

“So… so it’s not permanently damaged?” I stuttered.

“As far as I can tell, no,” he replied, approaching my bed. “Now, don’t get me wrong. A unicorn with a healing spell could ascertain that better than I, but when I was debriding the skin around it, the eye itself seemed undamaged. Only time will tell for sure. Your leg is mostly healed. I wouldn’t go running any races on it, but you will be able to walk when I let you out of here.”

“Here,” I said absentmindedly. “Where are we?”

“Welcome to Stonepoint,” the doctor said with some pride, “Headquarters of Stoneclaw’s Talons.”

“A Talon camp?” I murmured. “Shit…” There was no love lost between griffons and Enclave.

“Don’t worry,” he laughed. “I don’t still harbor that stupid old grudge. Nor do most of the others.”

“Is that why the nurse called me a turkey before?” I countered.

“Well, just because we’re not pissed anymore doesn’t mean we still don’t like insulting you,” the doctor guffawed. “Now from what Gertrude said, your name is Dust? Well, nice to meet you Dust, my name is Asclepius,’ he said, extending a claw.

I feebly reached back and hoofbumped with him. “Thanks for patching me up doctor. How’s Gertie doing?”

“Gertie?” he asked, bemused. “Well, Gertrude...,” he said turning his head towards the other beds in the tent. “She’s...”

Somepony else in the tent cleared their throat. The doctor and I both turned towards the flap where a rather imposing griffon stood in front of several others. He was about another head taller than any other griffon I had ever seen. His body was jet black with radiant white feathers on his head. The jet black body armor he wore, which blended seamlessly with his coat, made him even more imposing, especially with the stark white Talon logo emblazoned on the front. His eyes, well, eye since one of them was covered by an eyepatch, was a deep bronze ringed by deep purple feathers. The griffons behind him were a mix of browns, blacks, and grays with varying coloring in and around their eyes. “Asclepius, mind if we have some time with our guest here?”

“Of course, sir,” the doctor replied, “but I still object to…”

“I know your objections, Doctor,” the large griffon said curtly, “but this must be done.” The doctor glared back at the large griffon and looked like he was going to say something, but then quickly turned and scurried his way out of the tent.

“Dust, is it?” the large griffon asked. “How are you feeling today? I hope Asclepius put everything back in the right place?”

“As far as I know,” I answered cautiously. “And with whom am I speaking?”

“My name is Stoneclaw, head of this outfit of Talons,” he said, proudly. “I believe you met my daughter, Gertrude?”

“Gertie is your daughter?” I gasped. “Well, fuck me…”

“Yes, she is. She is my pride and joy,” he interrupted with some level of melancholy. “Mind if I ask you a few questions?”

“I have a few questions first,” I cut him off, carefully eying his entourage. “Who are the others behind you?”

Stoneclaw sighed deeply. “Those,” he said, gesturing with a claw, “are my squad leaders. Horatio, Gawd, Anita, Razorclaw, and Geronimo,” he said, while gesturing to each griffon in turn.

“And may I ask why they’re here?” I cautiously inquired.

“Well, it has to do with Gertrude,” he said with another sigh. “What do you know about Talons, Dust?”

“Well, I know you are some of the fiercest and most effective mercenaries in the Wasteland,” I said to a chorus of nods and grins. “I also know that you are not to be fucked with.”

Stoneclaw gave a sad laugh. “Do you know why we are considered some of the best mercenaries?”

“Well, I know you never fail a contract,” I responded. The stories from the Wasteland contradicted my military intelligence in this respect. We had been told that the Talons were a disorganized and rag-tag group of unaffiliated mercs. In reality, while they may not have been a unified front, they all basically operated the same, and did it well. “And I know that it happens that way since failure is not tolerated. A Talon is either successful or dead.”

Again, another chorus of nods and grins from the various griffons in the room. “That’s right,” Stoneclaw said with pride. “But I have a problem. Gertrude was out on a contract when you met her. And she…”

I cut Stoneclaw off. “Mind if I ask what that contract was?”

Stoneclaw looked over his shoulder at his squad leaders and they all nodded in unison. “We were hired to help a pegasus with an interrogation.” He paused and looked me right in the eye. “Your interrogation, apparently.” I did my best to remain stonefaced, in spite of feeling my blood run cold. That’s what she meant by the deal. It was all an act! “She was also supposed to help you escape and gain your trust. Ultimately, she was supposed to convince you to go to Neighvarro for some reason.”

“But something went wrong, didn’t it?” I asked with some sarcasm.

“Well, that’s what we were hoping you could clear up for us,” he answered. “What happened after you met Gertrude?”

I regaled the group with a detailed retelling of the several weeks we had been the guests of Muddy and his interrogators. The squad leaders were shocked with some of the torture methods that were employed on both myself and Gertie. Stoneclaw was oddly unaffected when I mentioned what had happened to Gertie, except for the last few sessions. During that portion of the events, pained grimaces contorted his face several times. “You didn’t know what was in store, did you?” I asked.

“I only knew what I was told, what was in the contract,” he responded, his voice shaking. “It was all supposed to be an act. When did it appear that things changed?”

I would never forget that moment. The moment that I saw all rational thought leave Muddy’s brain and was replaced with pure fury. Having time to reflect now, it dawned on me that the only time I had ever seen any actual injury to Gertie was that day when I saw her get stabbed several times. I never really thought about what Gertie had gone through since I was so focused on my own pain. Her terror that day was real. Whereas I expected my treatment, she was under the impression that no harm would come to her. “It really is all my fault,” I mumbled to myself. “It was several sessions before we escaped.”

“Thank you, Dust,” he nodded. “Excuse us, please.”

Stoneclaw walked over to the squad leaders and a heated discussion began, albeit in whispers. Regardless of how hard I strained to listen, I could only pick up on snippets of the conversation and only when things got more argumentative.

“...bad idea to take that contract…”

“...Luna damned turkeys…”

“...can we trust him?”

“...might be lying…”

“...saved Gertrude…”

“...contract is a contract…”

The general uproar settled down and even the whispers stopped. Stoneclaw looked at each of his squad leaders in turn. “Alright… time to decide…” Stoneclaw held out a claw in a fist. Slowly, each squad leader voted by extending a claw either upwards or downwards. Horatio, Anita, and Gawd voted claw up; Geronimo and Razorclaw voted claw down. “And so it is decided.”

The squad leaders filed out of the tent through the flap. Stoneclaw walked over and dragged a small, metal stool with him. I felt my body tense up as he drew nearer. What was I going to be able to do if he decided to do anything to me? I had no ideas given my current state.

“Thank you, Dust,” he said with a deep sigh as he dropped down onto the seat. “You have done me a great service today, whether you realize it or not.”

“What did I do?” I asked, clearly confused.

“Well, first, you saved your own life,” he said with a laugh. “But I wouldn’t be thanking you for that, would I? No, what I’m thankful for is that you saved Gertrude’s life.”

“What? Gertie? Why?” I sputtered.

“Well, when Gertrude came flying into camp with your ass draped over her back, many thought she had abandoned the contract,” he recounted. “As you know, that is a very big deal for us. She wouldn’t speak to any of us about what happened. She dumped you into a bed in the medical tent, told us your name, asked if we could save you, and then dropped into a bed herself. She has not said a word since. So, we needed a witness, and I was hoping that witness would be you.”

“What if I remembered things differently?” I asked. “And why do you griffons trust me?”

“To answer your first question, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation right now,” he said, shaking his head. “I probably would have had Gawd carry you back to the client. And to answer the second question, Asclepius told us you would have been unconscious most of the way back. You wouldn’t have really had a chance to conspire with Gertrude.”

“So, you’re telling me my ability to almost die, but not quite, is why I’m still here?” I said, in disbelief. Stoneclaw nodded, and I couldn’t help but to laugh. And Celestia, did it hurt to laugh. Stoneclaw looked very confused. “Don’t worry about it, inside joke.” After calming down, I took a deep breath and looked to Stoneclaw. “So, what happens now?”

“As far as I’m concerned, once the doctor has patched you up and gives you the all clear, you’re free to go,” Stoneclaw said.

“Free to go? Why?” I muttered, shocked. Mercenaries were not known to be generous.

“You saved my daughter’s life,” Stoneclaw said.

“What about the contract?” I asked, still dumbfounded.

“The contract was null and void the moment Gertrude got stabbed for real,” Stoneclaw shot back. An uncomfortable silence settled between us. “Mind if I ask why you turned against your own?”

The question caught me off guard. “Me? Enclave? That’s funny. I’m dirtborn…” I started.

“Dust, please don’t lie to me now,” Stoneclaw interrupted me.

My mouth opened, about to deny the connection again. “There must be a better way than the way things are right now,” I said with a sigh. “We were wrong back on the Last Day, and I can’t allow the Wasteland to keep paying for our mistake.”

“Interesting,” Stoneclaw said, stroking his chin. “Not often I run into Enclave pegasi who disagree with the propaganda, much less feeling remorseful about it.” He turned to look towards another bed in the tent. “If you’ll excuse me…”

He got up and walked over to the bed. “Gertrude.. Please Gertrude, say something…” Stoneclaw sat down and reached out towards the lump under the blanket. The lump pulled away from his extended claw. Pain flooded Stoneclaw’s face as he withdrew his claw and just sat there watching.

I lay there watching the two of them for a while before my eyes got heavy. I fought it as long as I could, but could not win, and fell asleep.

When I woke up, daylight was peeking through the tent material again. Sitting up slowly in bed, I took stock of my surroundings. The doctor was sitting at his desk, scribbling away on a clipboard. His attention was diverted so fully that he didn’t even realize that I had woken up. The rest of the tent was empty, except for the heavily blanketed lump on the bed where I last saw Gertie laying.

“Morning, Doc,” I croaked, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

Asclepius looked up, startled. “Oh, good morning, Dust,” he replied, laying his clipboard down and walking over to me. The doctor began to look over my body, checking my pulse and bandages. “And how are we doing today?”

“I don’t know, you tell me,” I said dryly.

“Well, your vitals are still improving, which is good. Your injuries are mostly healed, which means we need to start getting you out of bed and moving a little,” his said, his face growing darker. “Now I have to check your eye…” he said, trailing off.

In the few days I had been here, I had gotten used to the feeling of the bandage over my eye. In fact, the lack of depth perception had become my new normal. I reached up and felt the wadded up bandage.

“Alright, Dust, I’m going to slowly take off the bandage,” the doctor started. “When I get the bandage off completely, don’t open your eye too quickly, give it time to adjust.” Asclepius reached up and began to unroll the bandage. Finally, the bandage came off and the ever present pressure against my eye was relieved. I could see the daylight filtered a soft red through my eyelid. “Well, the scar looks nasty, but that was to be expected from a plasma wound. But that’s not the important part. Slowly, open your eye.”

I hesitated for a moment, afraid of the final outcome of the injury. My memory flashed green with the plasma bolt that injured me, and may have disabled that one eye permanently.

“Alright, Dust, c’mon, gently,” the doctor prodded.

My eyelid struggled to open. I felt the muscles flutter a little in strain. “It’s alright, the muscles need to readjust, especially since they haven’t been used in a few days. Keep going,” the doctor prodded me on. When I finally felt the eyelid shift a little, my vision flashed white.

“Doc, I can’t see anything, it’s all white!” I screamed out in panic.

“Calm down, Dust,” the doctor comforted me. “Give it time to adjust. Keep going though.”

I strained to open my eyelid even more. The scarred skin felt tight and fought the muscle. My eyelid slowly slid open more, allowing the light flooding in to intensify. The light actually began to hurt. Blurry shapes began to form in the completely white field. The glaring white light faded to merely bright, and then to bearable. The blurry shapes began to sharpen into my familiar surroundings.

“Good, good,” the doctor said, while peering at my eye. “How’s the vision?”

“Still a little fuzzy,” I said, concerned.

“That should pass shortly,” he replied, matter-of-factly, still peering at the eye. He pulled a small penlight out of a pocket of his jacket. “Keep looking forward,” he stated as he began tracking the penlight across my eye several times. “Let me know when you lose sight of the penlight.” He tracked several repetitive tracks across my field of vision. I only ever lost sight of it when it got to the extremities of my field of view.

“Good,” he sighed in relief. “It looks like your eye is fully healed. The fuzziness should clear in a little while. Want to take a look?” he asked, holding up a mirror.

After grabbing it from him, I gazed at the reflection. The pony I saw was a stranger to me. He had the same gray coat and blue mane as mine, but everything else was harder, meaner. The wild, unkempt mane flowed in every possible direction at the same time. It was dirty and frazzled. The face and body were mottled with small scars from various injuries sustained in many conflicts, both recent and older. The scar near my eye was probably the biggest change. A severe, pink wound started above the eye across both eyelids and continued for several inches below. The rough, mottled texture was oddly shiny at the same time. And the eyes… they seemed empty and sad.

‘Now, if you’re worried about the scar, there are a few unicorns...” the doctor started.

“It’s not the scar, doc,” I mumbled, staring into those dead eyes. “I don’t recognize the pony in the mirror.” I tossed the mirror to the foot of the bed. “What has happened to me?”

“From what I see, you’ve been through alot, Dust,” the doctor tried to comfort me. “Not that any of us here in the Wasteland haven’t.” He placed a claw on my shoulder. “Just know that you have survived it all and are a stronger pony now because of it.”

“I don’t need empty platitudes, Doc,” I said with a sigh. “If it weren’t for Gertie, there wouldn’t have been anything for you to save. Speaking of which, how is Gertie doing?” I asked, glancing towards her bed.

Asclepius sighed deeply. “Physically? She is healing as well as can be expected, given the extent of her injuries,” Asclepius explained. “But she has not said a word to any of us since she asked if we could save you when you first got here. Since then, silence. Speaking of which, I better go check on her.” He turned and began to walk away, but then stopped. “Oh, and Dust,” he said, looking over his shoulder, “Around Stoneclaw, I would recommend you call her Gertrude and not Gertie.”

I watched as Asclepius walked over to Gertie’s bed. As happened before with Stoneclaw, Gertie withdrew from his outstretched talon. He whispered something I couldn’t hear and walked back to his desk and sat down. After picking up his clipboard, he gave me a forlorn look.

I turned my head, and looked at the blanketed lump that was Gertie. She had done so much for me in such a short amount of time. She single hoofedly drew two of the assaulters off my tail and left me to deal with only one, which I couldn’t even do. She ended up having to save me from that one as well. And then, she dragged me Celestia knows how far across the Wasteland to get here. But now, she completely withdrew? What is it that is bothering her so much? And why is she withdrawing from her own kind?

And what does this all say about me? I had survived weeks of torture from Muddy, slowly escalating in severity. I had things done to me that I wouldn’t wish on Muddy, even now. And my escape, if you could even call it that. I barely got a few dozen yards away from the mountain and I had somepony chasing me. Yeah, I was able to disable one of the pursuers, but it wasn’t permanent. Gertie was able to take out two of them on her own, with what seemed like minimal trouble. She certainly seemed like a strong griffon. And to think, my mom wanted to leave her behind.

Mom… I hoped she made it away safely and was working on some way to stop Cirrus and Muddy. But if the conspiracy ran all the way up to the Council, she would need to tread slowly and carefully. And Buster… I hoped he survived too. He risked his life and career for me… I don’t know if I would have had the bravery to do the same if the roles were reversed.

My thoughts were interrupted by somepony clearing their throat. Turning towards the sound, I saw the doctor had put his clipboard down and was standing by the flap. “I’ll be right back,” the doctor said. “I just wish I had better news for Stoneclaw.” Asclepius turned and moved the flap aside. He gave me one long, sideways glance and then left the tent.

I looked back at Gertie. I had to do something, anything, for her. She had done so much for me. I drew the blankets aside and sat up on the edge of the bed. The room began to spin a little but quickly stabilized. Slowly sliding off the edge of the bed, I placed my back hooves on the floor and began to shift weight to them. The strain in my muscles burned, but after going through what I had, this was nothing in comparison. My front hooves met the floor and my balance began to waver. Reaching out for the bed to hold onto, I allowed the tent to stop spinning.

After the motion had stopped, I began to shuffle my way towards Gertie. What was only a few beds away felt like miles. It probably took me ten minutes just to make it half way across a room, but at least I hadn’t fallen flat on my face.

I sidled up next to Gertie’s bed and found a small stool that I had seen Stoneclaw use several times before. I sat there and just stared at the shapeless lump under the blanket. I reached out towards her with a hoof.

“Gertie,” I whispered as I laid my hoof where I thought her shoulder would be. At my touch, I felt her muscles tighten, so I withdrew my hoof.

“Leave me alone,” she groaned, slightly muffled by the blanket she was hiding under.

“Gertie, it’s me, Dust” I pleaded. “Please talk to me.”

“I don’t want to talk,” she muttered. “I don’t understand why anypony would want to talk to me.”

“Gertie, what do you mean?” I said, her statement catching me completely off guard.

“I’m a failure, and I’m weak,” she muttered through the blanket she was using to hide from the world.

“Gertie, I don’t know what you mean,” I said, trying to comfort her. “What we went through was worse than anypony should ever have to experience. And we both survived.”

“Correction… only you were being tortured,” she spat. “I was there putting on an act, remember?”

“Yes, I do. But,” I started, “it didn’t stay an act, did it? If anything, you had it worse than me. I knew what I was in for, in general. But you thought you were safe. Then that changed in an instant, with no warning. You almost died.”

“I probably should have,” she argued. “I failed the mission, I failed my father, the company… Tartarus, I even failed you.”

“Gertie, you didn’t fail anypony,” I tried to argue. “Muddy betrayed you and you did the best you could after that. If anything, you saved me. That soldier would have turned me back over to Muddy for him to continue his sick game. If anything, I owe you my life.”

“Yeah, well, none of that would have happened if you hadn’t had to save me first,” she grumbled. “I’m weak, just like everypony here says I am. I could barely deal with the short amount of torture I went through. I broke down, Dust. I gave up on life. I wanted you to leave me behind. But you didn’t. I failed, and this mission was my last chance to earn my mark.”

My face tightened into a scowl. “What do you mean?”

“Talons have to earn their talon mark on their armor,” she explained, softly through the blanket. “Until we succeed on a mission, we don’t get a mark. Until then, we are considered inferior. We can’t get independent contracts, and most of the time, we don’t go out unless supervised. I’m an embarrassment to my family, especially my father.”

“It’s one mission,” I tried to console her. “I’m sure other Talons failed their first missions also.”

She scoffed at me. “That’s where you’d be wrong, featherbrain,” she chided. “Most griffons succeed on their first missions, because there is no other choice. It’s either success or death. I have the unique honor of being a survivor on several failed missions, even ones where other Talons have failed. Other Talons died. Because of me.”

“It can’t be…” I began to say.

“Stop!” she shrieked. “You don’t know… you weren’t at Rusted Bridle Ridge… because I can’t fight, I’m not good enough, my squadmates died. Including...”

She was cut off when three griffons rushed into the tent. It was Asclepius, Stoneclaw, and another griffon that I did not recognize.

Asclepius was the first to rush over. “Dust!” he yelled as he pushed me away. “What happened?”

“We were just talking,” I blurted back.

“Don’t touch me!” Gertie screamed.

“Gertrude,” Asclepius said with a calm, even tone. “It’s OK, it’s just me and your father.”

“Get away from me!” she yelled back. “No one knows.. No one gets it!”

Stoneclaw had joined us next to the bed. “Gertrude, my little fledgeling…” he said, trying to comfort her.

“Dad… it includes you too!” she screamed. “Just leave me alone.” Soft sobbing began to come from under the blanket.

The doctor helped me back over to my bed.

“Doc, can I have a word with Dust first?” Stoneclaw said, having moved over to the tent flap. Asclepius simply nodded and helped me over to the tent flap.

Stoneclaw held the flap open for me and followed me outside. The air had a sharp chill to it, which my lack of equipment was not doing anything to help.

I turned and Stoneclaw was right on top of me. “What happened in there, Dust?” he asked, his eyes pleading just as much as his voice as he grabbed me by the shoulders.

“I don’t know,”I responded. “We were talking about our time together, and the escape, and then she started talking about failing missions, and…”

Stoneclaw made a deep sigh and hung his head, shaking it slightly.

“Stoneclaw, what’s going on with her?” I asked.

“Gertrude isn’t exactly Talon material,” Stoneclaw said somberly. “She wants to be a Talon so badly, to make me proud, but she just doesn’t have it in her. She’s mediocre with weaponry, too clumsy for stealth, we’ve kept trying to find a speciality for her…”

“What about aerial combat?” I interjected. “I saw her take out two combatants single-hoofedly.”

“Not based on what happened on her last mission…” Stoneclaw said. “She has been a part of several missions where all her teammates were killed. And when we tried to send her on easy, supervised missions, something always goes wrong. If it weren’t for the backup teams, we would have failed those contracts. It’s gotten to the point that nopony else wants to work with her and there are very few contracts that I can still try to give her. This last one was probably her last chance.”

“What happens if she’s not a Talon?” I asked.

“Well, that’s up to her. She could go back to Griffonstone or she could freelance,” he said, his voice trembling. “She could run support here, but she doesn’t want to do that. She wants to be a Talon.”

My vision started to spin. “Stoneclaw, I think I need to lay back down,” I murmured. I took a step back towards the tent and my legs got weak. I started to fall, when I felt a strong claw grab a hold of me. “C’mon, Dust, let’s get you back into bed.”

After being mostly carried back into bed by Stoneclaw, Asclepius checked me out. He said that my body was still replacing the blood that had been lost during my torture. “A few more days,” he said, “and you should be back to normal, or at least as normal as anything gets around here. Rest.”

I took his advice.

A very serious conversation roused me from my nap.

“What do you mean, you don’t know where she is?” Stoneclaw rumbled.

“I mean what I said! I left the tent for a few minutes to get some supplies and when I came back, her bed was empty!” Asclepius shouted back.

“Is she in any condition to be out there right now?” Stoneclaw blurted out.

“Her vitals were fine, but I don’t know how she is really doing,” Asclepius responded. “She would never tell me how she was doing!”

“Where would she have gone,” he muttered to himself.

My mind began to race. Shit. “Umm, excuse me…” I interrupted.

“Not now, turkey,” both Stoneclaw and Asclepius blurted out in unison.

“Excuse me,” I said more forcefully. “What is Rusted Bridle Ridge?”

The blood seemed to drain from both of their faces and their beaks dropped open. Stoneclaw recovered first. “Rusted Bridle Ridge is where Gertrude lost her entire squad to a raider attack,” he muttered. “They were ambushed en route to a contract and were outnumbered four to one. She was the only griffon to make it out alive. We couldn’t even recover the bodies. She blames herself, even though it wasn’t her fault.”

This didn’t feel right. Gertie wouldn’t be taking this so hard if that’s all there was to it. “There’s something more to it than that, isn’t there?” I asked.

Asclepius looked at Stoneclaw and his head just dropped. “Rusted Bridle Ridge is where Gertrude’s sister died, during a mission.” Stoneclaw took a very deliberate pause. “The mission Gertrude was on.”

No wonder she was taking it so hard. And I think I knew where she was going. “And where is Rusted Bridle Ridge”? I asked.

“A couple hours south of here,” Stoneclaw said, seeming distracted. “She already has, what, a fifteen minute head start, Doc?”

“About that,” the doctor confirmed. “That’s the longest I was out of the tent.”

“I’ll send Horatio and Geronimo to find her,” Stoneclaw pondered out loud.

“Umm, I have a better idea,” I offered. “She is ashamed of herself right now because she thinks she is a let down to the Talons, right?” Stoneclaw nodded. “Why don’t I go? She will probably be more receptive to me.”

“No, Dust, you don’t understand,” Stoneclaw muttered. “Rusted Bridle Ridge is still under control of the raiders.” Stoneclaw paused. “I’m going to send Horatio and Geronimo… the others are all out on contracts right now.”

“No… let me go, alone,” I offered. “I can more easily sneak in and sneak out. Let me go find her and bring her back. I think she’ll listen to me. A Talon might just drive her off.”

“Are you saying my Talons can’t handle things?” he thundered, his features sharpening with tension.

“No… I’m saying Gertie doesn’t want a Talon handling things,” I barked back. “She wants to handle it so she can become a Talon.”

Stoneclaw simply sighed. “Alright, Dust, I see your point,” he conceded. A strong talon gripped my shoulder. “But I’m going to send Horatio and Geronimo for backup. Whatever you do, just please bring her back safe.”

“I’ll do my best, Stoneclaw,” I said with as much confidence as I could.

The doc grudgingly administered a health potion and a Med-X to, hopefully, allow me to fly this mission, even in my compromised state. “Dust, I’m not thrilled with this,” he said warily. “You could barely stand yesterday. Just…”

“...take it easy,” I said at the same time as him. “I’ve heard it before. I think last time it was a Mr. Handy unit.”

Outside the tent, I took a few tentative flaps to see how bad things were going to be. I don’t know if it was Asclepius’ skill or the Med-X but I felt no pain. Flapping harder, I began to hover off the ground a little but had to work hard to maintain it.

“How’s it feeling?” Asclepius asked.

“No worse than can be expected, at least,” I answered, with a little sarcastic giggle. “I might even be able pull off some light maneuvers.”

“Now, Dust,” Asclepius scolded me, shaking his head. “When I say take it easy, I mean take it easy. You suffered a lot of injuries and blood loss, neither of which have fully healed.”

Heavy steps approached. The imposing forms of Horatio and Geronimo rounded the corner of the tent as I landed from my test hover. Even though I didn’t get a good look at them before, they were very imposing then. But now, they were even more awe-inspiring. Even walking on all fours, they were still another two or three heads higher than me. They looked exactly like each other, down to the smallest detail. Both had amber colored eyes that were ringed with magenta feathers, and their chocolate colored bodies blended smoothly with the cream colored feathers on their heads. The only difference were two ugly scars that ran down their cheeks, but on opposite sides from one another. Their jet black armor with the Talon marked emblazoned on the chest made them even more fearful.

“Are you two…” I began to ask, looking back and forth between the two.

“Ya,” one of the twins responded. “Ve are twin brothers,” he said with a thick Germaneigh accent.

“Ve haf been ordered to back you up vile you rescue Gertrude,” the other twin said with the same accent, but much colder.

“Ummm… I apologize for asking…” I said, feeling my cheeks warm with a blush.

The two twins sighed at the same time. The one with the scar on the left side responded. “Yes, ve are twins. I am Horatio, und he is Geronimo.” They rolled their eyes at the same time. “Are ve leaving soon?”

I looked at the doc and he closed his eyes as he sighed deeply. He nodded slightly at me. “Let me just gear up and we can go,” I said to my newfound partners.

I ducked back inside the tent and opened the footlocker at the foot of my bed. The trunk held all of my gear. The first item I pulled out was my armor. In my rush to start my escape, I didn’t inspect it before leaving the bunker. The rear hindquarters were still melted from where the plasma round had hit me. The two wing concealing flaps were still dangling loose. Digging through the pouches, I started looking for the repair kit so I could close them up again, more out of force of habit than anything else.

Then it dawned on me. For anypony that mattered, they already knew my secret. Brownie and Flower knew I was a pegasus. At this point, they probably had pieced together that I was Enclave also. Silver knew I was a pegasus, but if they had pieced together my secret identity, then she was probably as shocked as everypony else was.

I looked around for one of the Doc’s tool trays. After finding one and grabbing a scalpel, I carefully cut the stitching that connected the flaps to the armor body. One of the flaps was just large enough to cover the hole in the rear leg, so I attached it there so I wasn’t completely exposed.

After repairing the armor as best I could, I slipped it back on and it felt different. The torso felt looser than it ever had before. Weeks of malnourishment, blood loss, and atrophy of my muscles had lead to my body being leaner than it probably had ever been in my life. The biggest change was in my wings. Wearing the armor, the feeling of pressure on my wings had been ever-present. I hadn’t noticed on my flight to Fort Canterbury since I was so focused on my goal, but the lack of pressure was, well, weird. Being able to flex my wings and feeling the slight breeze in my feathers was a new sensation. I felt almost like a new pony.

“Ahem,” Geronimo cleared his throat, his head poking through the tent flaps. “Are ve ready to go? Or are you going to continue de fashion show?”

“Yeah, sorry,” I said, jumping a little at the surprise. “Let’s go.”

We took off right outside the medical tent and Geronimo took the lead, with Horatio and I following in formation. The trip started in silence, but then Horatio broke the awkwardness.

“So, turkey, vat made you join de Enclave military?” he asked congenially.

“Parents were military, parents’ parents were military, parents’ parents’ parent’s… anyway, it goes way back,” I responded.

“So, your family has been raping ze Wasteland for generations?” Geronimo said over his shoulder.

“I, but…” I started, but Horatio cut me off.

“Geronimo, don’t bring zat up. Dust vas not part of zat,” Hortatio said in my defense. “Zat was over und hundred years ago.” Geronimo simply grunted in response. “Don’t mind him, he can’t let go of ze past.”

“So, I’m sorry if this is too personal or whatever, but what made you become a Talon?” I asked, trying to maintain some semblance of conversation.

“Vell, there isn’t much to say,” he said with a shrug. “Ve need caps, zey pay. Und zere is safety in numbers. So, vat is your plan once ve catch up to Gertrude?”

“Well, assuming she doesn’t do something completely stupid like a full out solo assault?” I asked, grimly. “I am hoping to be able to talk her down and get her to get back to Stonepoint. What do you know about the area?”

“Vell, I’ve only seen it from flyovers, but it is a very craggy area,” he said, deep in thought. “Ze raider camp is in a small, open area, protected by the mountain on all sides. They vill see her coming if she tries an assault.”

“Damn it,” I muttered, my mind began to race fine-tuning my plan.

I was silent for a long time as I was too focused on trying to figure out what the various options were. “Horatio, do you mind if I bounce some ideas off of you?” I asked, breaking my silence.

“Sure, Dust, vat do you got?” he asked.

“Well, as I see it, there are three possibilities,” I started. “For all intents and purposes, the first two options are the same. Whether we catch up to her in flight, or before she attempts an assault, I go in and try to talk some sense into her.”

“Zat would be ideal,” he nodded.

“The third option is what gets me,” I said, shaking my head. “If she already tried to attack. Best case scenario, she is under attack and severely outgunned. Worst case scenario, she is captured and possibly even dead, or worse.” Everypony knew what raiders did to their captives, especially the females.

“Even ze three of us von’t be able to help her,” Horatio said morosely.

“I know… I know… I gotta figure something out…” I mumbled.

“Vell, think fast, ve are almost zere,” he pointed out to a mountain range before us.

Rusted Bridle Ridge looked just like the peak of every other mountain range I had ever seen here in the Wasteland. It was a bunch of sharply jutting peaks and crags and crannies of all sizes. Of course, there was a narrow winding path making its way up one side of the mountain. The ridge itself was nothing spectacular. It was a sharp peak that ran for some distance in both directions. On the side we were approaching, there was a small plateau tucked against the side of the mountain. A small stream of black smoke was wafting gently from it.

“Zat would be ze raider camp,” Horatio said extending a claw towards the wisp of smoke. “So, what is ze plan?”

“See that ridge over there, about three peaks to the left of the camp?” I asked, pointing. The two mercs nodded silently. “Do you think you can get over there and set up an overwatch position?”

“Certainly!” Horatio said, energized by the impending action. “And vat vill you be doing?”

“Well, I will be flying in low and slow, trying to see if…” I started to explain until I saw a flash near the camp. “Quick! Give me one of your sniper rifles!”

Horatio handed his over. “Vat do you see, Dust?” he asked, squinting in the direction I was starting to aim the rifle.

Looking through the scope, I got my bearings and scanned the section of the mountains from which I saw the flash. At first, I didn’t see anything. But then I saw some movement. It was hard to make it out since it was a black speck against the dark stone of the mountain, but it was definitely Gertrude. She had an assault rifle strapped to her back and she was deftly making her way between cover points, approaching the camp.

“Shit, she’s almost there,” I hissed. “Alright, change of plan,” I started, handing Horatio his rifle. “I gotta get out there quick before she makes it to the camp. I will try to avoid being noticed. Do you two still think you can get to that point without getting seen?” Both mercs nodded. “Good… let’s hope we get lucky.”

We all took off at the same time and I watched in awe as the two griffons flew swiftly towards their overwatch location. I dove down and skimmed the ground, hoping the raiders would not notice something approaching along the ground. I slowed my approach as I had to climb along the side of the mountain, trying my best to stay as close to the mountainside as possible. A few times, it felt like I was going to scrape along the rocky face below.

After a tense flight, I landed on narrow pathway near the last spot I saw Gertrude. Carefully, and quietly, I made my way to her. Rounding a small bend in the path, I saw Gertrude propped up behind a small rock formation prepping her assault rifle and checking her backup magazines.

“Gertrude,” I whispered, hopefully loud enough for her to hear.

She jumped and swung the muzzle of the assault rifle towards me. Her talon was on the trigger and I saw her talon tense. Recognition washed over her face, which then quickly tightened up in anger. “Dust, what the fuck are you doing here?” she hissed at me.

“Gertrude, I’ve come to bring you back home safely,” I explained. “This is not a smart idea, trying to take on the entire raider camp alone.”

“Well, now I’m not alone, am I?” she said with disdain. “And who did Dad send to back you up?”

“Horatio and Geronimo,” I answered, slowly starting to approach her. “They’re on Overwatch. Gertrude, what brought you out here?”

She racked the bolt and put the gun down. “To prove myself… to earn my mark,” she mumbled under her breath. “If I could do this one thing, maybe it would be enough to prove myself to the others.”

“But this is suicide,” I pleaded. “You’re outnumbered sixteen to one, even with me and the others, it’s still four to one.”

“I have to get vengeance for my sister, Dust… I must,” she said, choking back tears.

“This is crazy!” I whispered.

“You don’t know!” she shouted. She clapped her talons over her mouth instinctively as the sound travelled along the mountainside.

“Hey, didja guys hear that? I’m gonna go check it out!” a high pitched, uneven voice called out with a giggle. Hoofsteps began to draw near.

“Shit,” I whispered. “Looks like Plan B it is.” I drew my shotgun and got ready for the pony to round the corner.

Gertie and I waited and waited but no pony rounded the corner. “Maybe he gave up,” she whispered.

The sound of a shotgun being racked let me know otherwise. “He he he,” a pony laughed maniacally. “Lookee what we have here. A turkey and a chicken! He he he.” Gertie started to raise her weapon. “Eh eh eh! I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Drop them!”

We both turned slowly to see our assailant. An olive green unicorn pony with an orange, spiky mane was standing on top of the rock formation above us levitating a shotgun in a dark gray magic field. The pony was spattered in blood and was wearing black combat armor. On the chest of the armor was…. Oh shit! I had a bad feeling about this.

“Wh… where did you get that armor?” Gertie asked, her talons starting to shake.

“Oh this?” he responded, showing off the armor like a fashion model. “I took it off a chicken like you a little while ago. Oh, did I have fun with her! Kept calling out fer somepony named Gertrude.”

A low rumble filled the air. The rumble slowly turned into a growl and then a primal scream. Gertie moved so quickly, all I saw was a dark grey blur streak towards the unicorn. The raider never saw the attack coming and was bowled over backwards off the top of the rock. Gertie unleashed a guttural scream as her talons raked across the pony’s neck, shredding it to ribbons and splashing blood everywhere.

“Gertie! Stop, he’s dead!” I shouted as she still slashed away at the unmoving form.

Gertie’s slashes slowed and eventually stopped. Her breath was heaving as she sat atop the unidentifiable lump of meat beneath her. Blood was spattered everywhere and it was dripping off the end of each of her talons. Her eyes were glazed over and unfocused. She glared, not so much at me, as much as through me.

“Hey!” another voice called out and garnered both of our attention. “Who the fuck are you two?”

A black coated earth pony raider was a few dozen feet away. The pony didn’t even have time to recognize the threat. Gertie moved like a flash again. I looked behind me to where Horatio and Geronimo were stationed and motioned them to get over here. I watched as two black specks shot out from their overwatch position.

Knowing backup was on the way, I took off after Gertie. She was moving even faster than I expected, having already neutralized the raider that called out to us. She was halfway to the camp and cries of alarm started to sound out from the encampment. Then came the gunfire.

The encampment was a small collection of tents. Of course, the decor was typical raider. Wooden spiked barricades ringed the outside of the camp. Every few feet there was a spike with some poor pony’s remains impaled on it. There were earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, and even some griffons ringing the encampment. The few streams of smoke indicated there were bonfires alight inside the camp.

Between bursts of gunfire, raiders were screaming to each other, trying to coordinate an attack against a very determined griffon. Drawing my shotgun, I sidled up to the fabric of one of the tents and scanned the camp. There were already three bodies of raider ponies lying on the ground, blood pooling from gashes across each of their throats. Raiders were galloping towards the far end of the camp.

A grey streak launched from behind another tent and dove into a small group of raiders. They raised their weapons, which flared out almost in unison. How they weren’t hitting Gertie was shocking, as her attack continued undaunted. The small group fell back and clambered over each other trying to get up.

I moved along the tent and tried to get closer to the action so my shotgun would be more effective. The raiders’ attention was focused on Gertie dodging between cover and her dive attacks against groups of raiders as they separated from the larger group. One of the benefits of fighting raiders was they were so disorganized, you could usually just wait for them to make a mistake and then benefit from it.

There was a small collection of crates closer to the main skirmish, but it would require a trot out in the open. Trotting as quietly as possible, I neared the crates. I nearly made it all the way, but then I heard it.

“Fucking shit! There’s another one over here!” a pegasus raider cried out.

The crate in front of me splintered from the impact of a round on the side. I slid into cover and tried to peer around the side. A small group of raiders had diverted their attention towards me. They were peppering the crate with repeated rounds from their various weapons.

Two thundering booms came from behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the tell tale glimmer of light from a sniper rifle scope. Horatio and Geronimo must have found a good vantage point to help thin the herd. I gave them a small salute.

Peering around the edge of the box, I saw two headless corpses lying on the ground and a third raider running away, back towards Gertie. If the intel was to be believed, there were now only half a dozen raiders left.

More screaming drew my attention back to area of the camp where Gertie was doing all of her attacking. I saw a few of the raiders firing blindly into the air, trying to hit Gertie as she flew maneuvers over their heads. One raider was wielding a rather nasty looking shotgun with a drum magazine. He was firing almost nonstop towards the gray streak that was Gertie.

A puff of red burst forth from Gertie’s chest and she let out a shrill shriek. Her movements went from graceful and purposeful to erratic. She descended towards the ground behind a group of tents and the raiders ran after her. Without thinking, I burst forth from my hiding spot and scanned the immediate area. All the raiders were fully interested in their comrade’s lucky shot and had cleared the immediate area. Only Celestia knew what they had planned for her.

I took off and flew over to where Gertie had crashed and the three raiders were now closing in on her.

“I got first dibs! It was my shot!” the shotgun pony yelled with an evil grin on his face. He advanced on Gertie. He was moving up behind her with an evil grin on his face. Oh dear Celestia, no!

I adjusted my course so that Gertie was no longer in line with the pony. Diving down, I aimed my shotgun into the largest crowd of raiders I could find and pulled the trigger. The kickback nearly tore the shotgun out of my mouth, but I held firm. I watched as two raiders fell where they stood, their heads and necks having been hit by several pellets of shot from my shot.

The remaining unicorn raider looked up and found me as I started to bank and start another strafing run. Instead of drawing a gun on me, he drew a grenade from his vest with his magic and pulled the pin.

“Nothing funny or I will feed this to your little friend here!” he yelled at me as I flew above him.

I banked and landed a few feet away from him and Gertie.

“Back off! Or I let go of it!” he hissed.

“You wouldn’ do ‘at! ‘ou’d die too!” I yelled back, mumbling through the firing bit in my mouth.

“I’m dead anyway, aren’t I?” he barked. “At least I’ll take you and her out with me when I do! Unless you let me go and tell your friends to back off also.” He gave me a wicked sneer. “Besides, we both know your shotgun is empty.”

Looking at the ammunition indicator in my EFS, I saw he was right. Shit! An uneasy silence fell between us. The crazed look in the raider’s eyes was replaced with desperation. Gertie was lying on the ground, whimpering between shallow breaths. Horatio and Geronimo couldn’t see us where we were unless they changed position, so I had no way of knowing whether or not they could help.

I triggered SATS and time froze around me. I had an idea, but it was a long shot, as SATS was indicating. Lining up the commands, I made a small prayer to Celestia and triggered the sequence.

Dropping the shotgun to the ground, I quickly drew my pistol. My head moved on its own and I bit down on the firing bit. The grenade exploded in a small puff of smoke as the bullet I fired shattered it cleanly dispersing the gunpowder inside. The look on the raider’s face was almost comical as he looked between me and the grenade. After several seconds, the detonator popped with a flash and nothing else. The raider sneered at me and drew a knife with his magic.

“This should be easy,” I laughed to myself as I went to trigger the firing mechanism one more time.

The knife flew faster than I could ever imagine, knocking my pistol clean out of my mouth. The impact also jarred my head, leaving my ears ringing and the world spinning a little bit.
So, hoof to hoof combat it would be. Calling on my combat reflexes, I drew my own knife in one deft motion. Even though we were evenly matched weapon-wise, I was at a severe disadvantage since he could move his knife anywhere he wanted, while I was limited to what I could reach. Focusing squarely on the levitating knife, I tried to deflect several swipes with my own. On the last attempt, the raider evaded my parry and got a glancing slash across my right foreleg. Pain flared up my leg and made me falter slightly. Luna be damned that knife moved quickly. Between defensive swipes and ducks and dodges, it was just a matter of time before he overwhelmed me and I would get injured or killed.

Gertie looked up at me, tears streaming down her face. She reached out for the raider, but he was just out of reach. I began to circle around, trying to place the raider directly between us. The knife swooped in and I was forced to dodge back the way I came. A sharp sting came from one of my rear legs. A quick look revealed I had gotten a superficial wound. As superficial as it was, it was still streaming blood down my leg.

The knife flew back towards me and I rolled away the best I could. A clang next to me indicated how closely I dodged it.

Screw this! I jumped and took off, arcing around, trying to force the raider towards Gertie. The raider was obviously not used to attacking an airborne opponent, as I was more easily able to dodge his jabs and swipes. Tucking my wings in, I began a dive rights towards him. He took a few steps back, trying to place the knife between us.

Gertie seized the opportunity. She grabbed his two rear hooves and hugged them tight. In his surprise, the raider tried to pull away, but it led to him falling backwards on top of Gertie. The fall broke his focus and the field around the knife dissipated and it fell to the ground. I flared my wings and landed right next to the Gertie and the raider and drove my knife into his throat. Twisting and yanking, I tore a large hole into his neck and he began to gurgle, clutching his spurting wound.

After several seconds, the raider collapsed, squarely on top of Gertie. I grabbed the raider by the filthy armor he wore and yanked him off of her. He was still breathing shallowly. I watched as the light disappeared from his eyes and he let out a disquieting rattle.

Two thumps from behind me signalled the arrival of Horatio and Geronimo. They advanced towards Gertie with Horatio pulling out a light yellow medical kit. They both slid in next to her.

“Get… away… from… me...,” she groaned to her two would-be medics. “I can do this on my own.” After weakly pushing away Horatio’s claw with the health potion in it, she twisted and got her four paws underneath her and slowly began to rise off the ground. She was struggling with every inch, but she was pushing through it. Or at least she was trying to.

Her legs began to quiver with the effort and she fell back to the ground in a heap. Horatio and Geronimo leaned back in.

“No! I can do it!” she yelled weakly. She began to push her way off the ground again. This time, she made it only halfway up before collapsing again.

I stepped between Horatio and Geronimo and approached Gertie. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. “Dust, I fucked up again, didn’t I?” she sobbed.

“C’mon, Gertie,” I said as I helped her onto my back. “Let’s get you to a doctor.”

Level Up!
Big Guns - 15

Perk Obtained: Big Brother - When engaged in combat with a companion, you gain +10 DAM with your currently equipped weapon.