Chapter 24 - Intel
“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.”

The laughter died down after a short time.

“We thought ya’d never ask, Dust,” Brownie said, still catching his breath from the laughter. “Flower and I were ready ta fight with ya ‘bout it.”

“Yeah, Dust,” Flower added. “I was even ready ta tie ya up ta make sure ya didn’t ditch us again.”

“Thanks, I guess?” I said with a shrug. “Not that I don’t appreciate it guys, but why are you coming with me after all I’ve done?”

“We thought ‘bout it and figured ya didn’t have a choice but ta lie ta us,” Brownie reasoned. “Ya were under orders, and ya couldn’t go home if ya broke ‘em.”

“Yeah, but why take up my fight with me?” I asked, still curious.

“Well, this isn’t really just yer fight, Dust,” Flower replied, placing a hoof on my shoulder. “The Enclave is bad news fer us down here. Ah don’t know what they’re up ta, but it ain’t good for us, I know that.”

I grunted and nodded in agreement. Even though I didn’t know all the details of their plan, I knew that the general and Muddy didn’t care about the Wastelanders. So whatever they had planned, it wasn’t good.

“So, what’s the plan?” Silver asked. “How are you going to take on Muddy and the Enclave?”

I had to think about this for a while. What was my plan? Did I even have an idea of what I was going to do? Was I just going to traipse into the Enclave encampment and demand they leave? Fat lot of good that was gonna do…

“Dust!” Silver shouted in my ear. “Are you still with us?”

“Huh?” I gasped while jumping in surprise. “Um, yeah, sorry... I was thinking.” Forgetting what I was thinking about, I blinked blankly for several seconds. “What did you ask?”

“What is your plan?” Silver repeated with a sigh.

“Well, I don’t think I have one,” I sheepishly admitted. “I figure we can’t come up with anything until we see what we’re up against.” I looked towards the east. “I guess we have to go to Manny’s first.” I felt something unsettling in the pit of my stomach.

“You figure? You guess?” Gertie squawked. “Dust, we are going up against the best trained military left in the Wasteland. You can’t go in half cocked.”

“Well, I can’t go in not knowing exactly what we’re up against, can I?” I shouted back, my breath heaving.

My friends looked at me strangely. They glanced at each other uncomfortably looking like they wanted to say something. Brownie finally stepped forward and placed a hoof on my shoulder. “Dust? Are ya OK?” he asked softly.

“Yeah, yeah I am, Brownie,” I lied. Something was bothering me, but I wasn’t quite sure what it was. “Alright, well, we gotta get going. Let’s meet back here in an hour. Get whatever you need for the trip.” I paused and gave everypony a grave look. “I don’t know how long we’ll be gone.”

Brownie and Flower turned and headed towards their home on the outskirts of town. Gertie, meanwhile, headed towards the inn. Silver looked like she was going to go also, but then she stopped.

“Dust, what’s bothering you?” she asked me, grabbing my hoof.

“Nothing,” I snapped. After taking a deep breath, I added, “I don’t know Silver, I really don’t. But you’ll be the first I tell if you want.”

Her mouth opened, and then closed again. She paused for a little. “Sure, fine.” Silver gave me a long, somber glare and turned to head towards Scrapyard’s house.

My gear was still stored in the Sheriff’s office, so I began to make my way back there. My mind began to think about how in Tartarus a small band of Wastelanders, and one former Enclave, would stand up against the forces that had been sent down here. And Gertie had a point, regardless of how poorly I took it. It was going to be five against Celestia knows how many soldiers. We needed a plan, and we needed it quickly. If only we knew what they were up to.

And how was I going to keep everypony safe? My friends were putting their trust and their lives in my hooves. Brownie and Flower were in love and deserved happiness. Who was I to interfere with that? And what if one of them died? Could I keep them safe?

And what about Silver and Gertie? They both had personal reasons to go after Muddy, but now it was bigger than that. To get to Muddy, we’d have to get through the military. And what if one of them died? I had feelings for both of them, and they both had feelings for me. It would be all my fault if something bad happened to them.

My thoughts were interrupted when I bumped into a solid object. Shaking my head clear, I saw I had walked right into the railing outside the sheriff’s office.

“Whoa there, pardner, watch where yer goin’,” the sheriff said with a laugh. “What’s got ya so distracted?”

“Oh, sorry, sheriff,” I muttered, a little embarrassed. “I’m just thinking about… well, it’s complicated. Hey, sheriff, I got a question for you. Where are your deputies?”

Her face darkened at the mention of deputies. “Well, that’s a long an’ sad story, Dust.” She sat down in a small bench on the porch of her office. She nodded towards the available end. “A few years ago, this town was attacked bah raiders, ah lot of raiders. Ah was jus’ made sheriff and ah wanted ta prove mahself ta the town. Ah convinced all mah deputies ta come with me ta take em out.” She paused, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. “Lost every single one o’ em takin’ those bastards down.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” I muttered. “And you haven’t replaced them yet?”

“Nah… Ah can’t bring mahself ta do it,” she responded. “Ah take care of all the law enforcement on mah own.”

“But how can you possibly protect the whole town?” I asked, feeling an unusual sense of urgency. “You can’t possibly take care of it all by yourself?”

She laughed. “Yer right, ah can’t,” she admitted. “But ah do mah best. Ah’m just lucky nothin’ really bad ever happens here. But ah’m so tired, Dust.”

“I know how you feel, sheriff,” I confided. Whether it was due to my constant state of being injured, or just how much shit had gone down, I was always very tired. I could use about a month’s vacation, and even that wouldn’t be enough.

“Hey, sheriff, one more question if you don’t mind?” I asked. She simply nodded in response. “Any ideas for going up against a better armed, better trained force that severely outnumbers you?”

She seemed to ponder this for a few moments. “Frankly, Dust,” she posed, giving me a deathly look. “Don’t.”

That’s what I was afraid she’d say.

I gathered up all my gear from the unlocked chest in the sheriff’s office. She wasn’t kidding when she said she wasn’t worried about me the night I was “jailed”. Glancing back at the threadbare couch, I thought back on the vision I had yesterday. I really hadn’t had time to process it yet.

What was the stranger trying to say? Who am I? I won’t know what to do until I know who I am? I had to stop Muddy, didn’t I? And who else could I be?

My thoughts were interrupted by a peal of thunder. I looked out the office window and saw that the sky had taken on a darker shade of gray, much like my vision. My blood ran cold momentarily. Was I still having a vision? Was everything that had happened in my head?

A booming voice summoned me from outside. “Hey, Dust! Are ya there?”

“Yeah, Brownie!” I called back as I walked out of the office breathing a sigh of relief. “What’s up?”

“Looks like rain,” he answered. “Are we gonna wait till it passes?”

I looked up at the sky as the first cold drops pelted me in the face. My Pipbuck began to click softly and slowly. “Yeah, Brownie, it doesn’t make sense to leave and get soaked… or glowy. Let’s go get some breakfast.”

It was a quick gallop to Horseton House, especially motivated as we were by the rain that was picking up, as was the clicking from my Pipbuck. We weren’t the only ponies to have the idea of getting out of the rain as many of the townsponies were galloping here and there.

The ground was beginning to get slick as we neared the entrance of the tavern. Nearly sliding right into the building, we were able to slow enough to enter without falling flat on our asses. The place was packed more than normal, likely due to the rain. We were immediately assaulted by the smell of a couple dozen waterlogged ponies mingling with whatever was being served today. It was an odd, and off-putting smell. However, I am sure that this wouldn’t stop us from partaking in some of whatever it was.

“Wipe your damn hooves!” Pot Luck yelled out from behind the bar. The mat at the door was already soaked through with the mud from the hooves of all the other ponies, but we did our best. We didn’t need to piss off the pony about to feed us.

The bar was filled with a loud buzz of several conversations happening all at once. Normally, I would take my seat at the small table in the corner, but I wasn’t looking to glean information off of anypony today. Instead, Brownie led us to one of the only open tables large enough for our group.

It was a small, round table off to one side of the bar away from the door. I sat down on one of the chairs and Silver maneuvered her way into the chair next to mine. Gertie’s face flashed a momentary glare, but she softened it quickly and slid into the chair on my other side. Silver gave her a short, sideways glance. Oh, Celestia, this was going to be fun.

“This doesn’t bode well fer us, does it?” Flower asked shaking the last of the water out of her mane and bringing me out of my concern for my newfound love triangle

“Hopefully it stops soon,” I said, hoping she was wrong. “Otherwise we are all in for an uncomfortable walk.”

“Well, at least ya three can fly and stay out of the mud,” Flower grumbled.

Gertie snickered a little at that statement. “Most likely not,” she scoffed. “The Enclave is probably going to set up aerial patrols searching for Dust. If they see any airborne pegasi, they will probably shoot first and ask questions later.” She shot me a serious look. “The Enclave doesn’t care if they kill off a few Wastelanders as collateral damage.”

There was a small, awkward pause. Thankfully, Brownie, broke the silence. “So, Dust, any progress on a plan, or are we still on wait an’ see?” he asked.

“Well, I think we need to get out to Manny’s and scout the situation,” I mused. “Unfortunately, if they have a Raptor down here, we’re going to be outnumbered at least twenty to one. Not to mention outgunned too. Unless you guys are hiding a large supply of energy weapons,” I shouted at them. Realizing my mistake, I closed my eyes and craned my head back. “Sorry, I know you’re trying to help. I just don’t know what we’re going to be able to do.”

“Well, is there anypony you can talk to to get any information?” Silver asked, clearly concerned.

“Well, if I knew where my mom or Buster were,” I responded, running through all of the ponies I could trust. It was a short list. After running out of ideas, I leaned back in my chair and sighed. “No, there is nopony I know.”

Brownie, Flower and Silver looked uncomfortably at each other.

“What?” I asked, aggravated by the situation. “What are you thinking of?”

Brownie looked at me nervously. “What about M… Midnight Ink?” he asked.

Midnight Ink? My stomach felt like it dropped several hundred feet without me. “What are you talking about?” I asked incredulously. “He’s dead. I was there when Muddy shot him.”

“Would he have had any idea about what the Enclave was up ta?” Flower asked, with some trepidation.

The rest of the group got into a discussion, but I was barely listening. I had forgotten all about Midnight Ink. If I hadn’t gone back to see him, maybe Muddy would have left him alone. Hell, maybe Muddy would have recruited him. But as it stood now, he was another in a long line of ponies who had either died or gotten hurt because of me and this fucking Pipbuck on my fetlock.

A loud thump caught my attention. “Huh? What?” I stuttered, nearly jumping out of my chair.

“Where did you go this time, Dust?” Gertie said with a chuckle, placing a claw on my shoulder. “You’ve been doing that a lot lately.”

“Bit fer yer thoughts?” Brownie offered inquisitively.

“What did you guys do with Midnight’s body?” I asked, hanging my head in shame.

“What do ya mean, Dust?” Flower responded placing a hoof on my shoulder. “We buried him right by his shack.”

“Did you give him any last rites?” I asked, still unfocused.

“Well, we said a prayer ta Celestia and Luna,” she responded uneasily.

It wasn’t Enclave last rites. That, of course, would fall on me. “We’re going back. I need to do right by Midnight,” I stated, flatly. “We’ll go once it stops raining.”

Everypony gave me a weird look and appeared to want to say something, but they all stayed silent.

The rest of breakfast was filled with nervous, yet inane conversation. This time, it was Gertie’s turn to learn more about Brownie and Flower. However, Gertie avoided talking directly to Silver and Silver did the same with Gertie. This was going to become an issue if I didn’t do something about it. But what could I do? They were jealous of one another and were trying to ‘win’ me.

The rain ended shortly after we finished eating. Ponies began to splash through town returning to their daily routines. My Pipbuck still clicked slowly, but I figured it was safe enough. Besides, we still had some Radaway.

Brownie led us to the edge of town where they had parked the skywagon. It was just as I remembered it, except for one large dent on the side. I ran my hoof along the dent. “What in Tartarus happened here?” I blurted out.

“Well, we only said she did a mite better,” Brownie replied, his cheeks reddening.

I could only roll my eyes in response. Memories of past cargo runs flashing through my head, I trotted to the front of the skywagon and saw Silver starting to prepare the straps to the wagon.

“Want me to help you strap in?” she asked, her voice a little tense.

“Sure,” I agreed. Gearing up was always a two pony job anyway. “Silver…” I started.

“Dust,” she interrupted, placing a hoof over my mouth. “What are your feelings for me and Gertie?”

“Um, well,” I stumbled over my words, floored by the unexpected question. I took a deep breath to collect myself. “Silver, I meant what I said before. You are the only reason I am still alive. I wanted to give up and die when I was being tortured by Muddy. But thinking of you kept me going, kept me alive. I wanted nothing more than to get back to you.”

“What I can’t wrap my head around is why you went back with her if you loved me so much?” she asked, pulling one strap way to tight.

“Ow!” I cried out, grimacing in pain.

Silver grimaced also. “Sorry!” she cried out, quickly loosening the strap a little.

“I won’t pretend and say that it was due solely to the alcohol,” I started. “I got close to Gertie when we were held captive together. She helped save me and was there to nurse me back to health. When I saw Scrapyard, I got hurt and I ran to her. I can’t explain it any better than that. All I can do is apologize.”

Silver looked like she was going to start to say something and then stopped. She opened her mouth and grunted and then closed it again. After that, she took a few deep, quick breaths.

“Bit for your thoughts?” I asked, bracing myself for something I may not want to hear.

“I want to hate you so much, Dust,” she admitted. “I mean, I saw you in that griffon’s arms, legs, claws, whatever!” She started pacing and her voice lowered. “When I saw that, my vision flashed red and I just had to get out of there and wanted to run! But, seeing you made me remember everything I felt for you and I couldn’t understand why I was with Scrapyard anymore! I know that I love you, and I probably always will. But how can I trust you again? I mean, if we get into a fight, what’s to say that you won’t run back to her! And then what am I going to do? I can’t go through all this again.”

I tried to move towards her but was held in place by the wagon. Straining against the harness, I grunted. “Oof.. “ After regaining my exposure, I started to talk again. “Silver… I know there is nothing I can do to erase what I’ve done. But as long as we are both alive, I swear it won’t happen again. I know the depth of my mistake and I do not ever want to go through that as well. I know a promise from me probably doesn’t mean much, but please know that I love you deeply and promise not to do anything to hurt you again.”

She seemed to be thinking about my words. We both sat there simply staring at each other. Then, she slowly walked over to me. When she got close enough, she stopped and hesitated. She reached out and wrapped a hoof around me and squeezed. “Dust, I do love you,” she said. “But, I don’t know if can trust you right now.”

My heart dropped and my jaw with it. She leaned in and gave me a short kiss on the cheek, turned, and trotted off to the passenger cabin.

“All aboard who are coming aboard!” Gertie hollered with a laugh.

Brownie, Flower and Silver all climbed inside the passenger cabin and Gertie reached out for the door.

“Where do ya think yer going?” Brownie asked, stopping the door from closing with a hoof.

“I get claustrophobic inside these things,” Gertie answered matter-of-factly. “I’ll fly out here with Dust.” I think I saw her give a quick glance to somepony behind Brownie, which I could only imagine was Silver, before looking back at Brownie.

“Alright,” Brownie responded, seemingly oblivious to the friction between Gertie and Silver.
Gertie closed the door and then walked up to me. “Ready to get this tub flying?” she asked slyly.

“Yeah, I guess so,” I replied with a sideways stare.

“What?” she responded defensively.

“Claustrophobic?” I asked. “I’ve seen your secret space, remember?”

“Hmm, yeah,” she murmured, her face turning red. “Look, I just can’t be inside an enclosed space with your special somepony,” she explained, acid dripping off the last two words.

“Look, Gertie,” I started to argue, but she cut me off again, extending one talon.

“Not now, let’s just get airborne,” she ordered.

Looking over my harness one last time, I saw that Silver had done an admirable job getting me hooked up. Tartarus, I dare say it was right up there with the tenders at the fort. My instincts kicked in and I reached for the flight helmet that should have been dangling from a hook behind me, but then realized this wasn’t a military transport. Even though it had been more than a year since I had flown a skywagon, I began to fall into old routines.

Automatically, my mind began to go through my old pre-flight checklist. First, I visually inspected the physical condition of the struts and harness that held me to the cabin. Without pegasus flight magic to be amplified by the flight talisman built into the cabin, the skywagon would plummet to the ground. I also gave myself a once over to make sure there were no injuries I was overlooking that would keep me from flying. I also needed to check the quick-releases on the harness to ensure I could get free if I needed to.

Even though I was not wearing my typical flight suit, with integrated comms, I continued with the next part of my preflight routine without thinking. “Transport pilot epsilon five requesting flight clearance,” I spoke absently into empty air.

“Umm, Dust, who are you talking to?” Gertie’s voice broke me from my focus on routine.

Startled, I jumped and hectically glanced around. When I saw Gertie’s raised eyebrows and the grin on her face, I felt my cheeks redden. “Um, old habits,” I admitted sheepishly.

“Well, pilot epsilon five,” she giggled, “I think you’ll be waiting a long time for clearance. Let’s just take off.”

I kicked the fuselage of the skywagon. “Alright ponies,” I called back. “Buckle up!”

Kicking up off the ground, I began to flap my wings. It had been a long time since I had hauled one of these things, but memories came rushing back. These bulky passenger transports were awkward to fly, even with the flight assist talisman, but nothing that challenging. In short order, I got us airborne and turned towards Midnight’s shack. It would be a couple of hours until we got there.

Gertie swooped in next to me and matched my speed. “So, Dust, can we talk?” she asked.

“Sure, why not?” I answered. “Not like I have anything else to do without comms.”

“I want to talk about us,” she said tentatively. “And we won’t be able to get any more privacy than this.”

“Oh, OK,” I muttered. This was a conversation I didn’t want to have right now.

“Before I say anything else, I know you love Silver and I know that probably won’t be changing anytime soon,” she stated. She then continued not allowing me a chance to interrupt. “But I need you to know that I love you, too. Laying with you that night made me feel things I have never felt before. I know you were drunk at the time, but the warmth, feeling your heartbeat, it made me feel things. Things that are real. Now, I know there is a chance that you will never feel the same for me as I feel for you as long as Silver is around. But, and I want an honest answer, if Silver isn’t in the picture anymore, do you think you could give me a chance?”

I turned to look at her to give her an answer and I saw tears forming at the edge of her teal eyes. I could see in those eyes she was desperately looking for hope. But could I give that to her? Without lying? “Gertie,” I began softly, “I was never good with the mares. I’ve loved before, but could never be brave enough to do anything about it. And then I found Silver and all that disappeared. I am sorry that I did what I did, twice, when drunk. I know that’s not anypony’s fairy tale ending. But I do feel something more than friendship here. How much more, I can’t honestly say. Could it be infatuation or even love? I guess it could, but I can’t know for sure.” I watched her reaction and she bit her beak. “I know it doesn’t answer your question, but it’s the best I can do.”

“Oh,” she said, dejected. I think I saw a tear form and start to roll down her cheek, but she turned away too quickly for me to see. “I guess I can understand that,” she tried to say confidently, but I could hear the wavering in her voice. “I, um, I’ll go watch our six.” And with that, she banked away and fell behind the skywagon.

This was going to be a long trip.

After a couple of hours of uncomfortable silence, I saw Midnight’s shack appear on the horizon. But something was not right… a thin stream of black smoke was emanating from the shack’s chimney. I kicked the fuselage of the wagon to alert the ponies inside.

“Something’s not right, ponies,” I called back loudly, hoping they could hear me inside. “Hold on, I’m going in for a landing.”

I began my descent towards Midnight’s shack, landing on the opposite side of the small rock formation I’d walked past many times. Bracing myself against the increased weight from the failing talisman, the skywagon was lowered gently to the ground.

The door creaked open and the large, brown body of Brownie galloped out and away from the cart. Right behind him was Flower. “C’mon, Brownie! That landing wasn’t that bad!” she called out, chasing after him. “C’mon, at least let me hold yer mane!”

Silver strode out of the wagon next and next to me. “Let’s get you out of that harness,” she said gently, grabbing one of the straps in her mouth.

Gertie landed on the other side of me. “And I’ll help out on this side,” she said, giving Silver a long, sideways glare. Silver simply growled in response.

“Shhh,” I shushed them. “Something’s not right. Keep it down.”

“Dust, it could just be a squatter who found an unoccupied place to live,” Gertie offered.

I dropped down to my stomach and crawled over to the edge of the rock formation between us and the shack. The EFS at the bottom of my vision showed no bars of any color coming from the shack. “Then why is there no marker on my Pipbuck?” I asked with a whisper. “I’m telling you… something's not right. Somepony is in that shack.”

Scanning the area, there was no cover between our position and the shack. Anypony inside would see us coming as soon as we left our cover here. “Assuming you’re right, I wonder if they saw us land?” Gertie asked.

“Ah can’t imagine they didn’t,” Brownie offered as he and Flower walked in behind us. “Flower and I made more’n enough noise, even if they didn’t see the wagon.”

“We need a distraction,” I blurted out. “Gertie, think you can get on the other side of the shack and draw their attention?”

She flashed back a wicked grin as she was already tossing and catching a grenade in her claw. “Way ahead of you, Dust,” she snickered. “Can you give me some cover while I maneuver into position.”

Gertie scrabbled away to the opposite side of the rock formation. My friends saw me unholster my submachine gun and they pulled out whatever small arms they had. I shook my head silently and thumped myself on the chest. Taking aim at the roof of the shack, I opened fire. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Gertie take off and make a high, looping arc, landing on the other side of the shack.

After several moments of silence, Gertie cried out, “Fire in the hole!” We all braced ourselves against the rocks at our backs until we heard the loud boom of the grenade.

“Let’s go!” I cried out and began galloping towards the front door.

I got to the house first, quickly turned around and bucked the door in. Flower galloped past me with her shotgun drawn, with Brownie right behind her. After regaining my balance, I entered behind them. As soon as I crossed the frame, I scanned the room for something, anything.

“Clear!” Flower shouted. Brownie mimicked her shortly thereafter.

“What the fuck?” I mumbled out loud, not really expecting an answer. The shack was a lot like I remembered last time I was here. Well, except for the dead body of Midnight. But there was a red splotch on the floor. It had to be what couldn’t be cleaned up when Midnight was killed.

My attention was drawn to my Pipbuck, which had started to click softly. There wasn’t a reaction the last time I was here, was there?

Silver sidled up next to me and put a hoof on my shoulder. “Dust, what’s wrong?” she asked.

“Radiation,” I muttered, staring at the display on my Pipbuck. “That didn’t happen last time I was here.”

Waving my hoof around the room, I was listening for when the clicking got faster. As I moved around the shack, the clicking either remained the same or became slower. In fact, it was fastest when I was in the dead middle of the shack.

“Where the hell can the source be?” I wondered aloud. I lowered the Pipbuck towards the floor and the clicking got slower. Could it possibly mean…?

Kicking up off the flower, I flew a couple of feet to the top of the shack. The more I rose, the Pipbuck’s clicking got louder and faster. No way… My eyes darted back and forth looking for the possible source for the radiation. Nothing was jumping out at me. Maybe it’s not inside the house, but outside.

I landed quickly and bolted out the door. “Dust?” Gertie called out behind me. “Where the hell are you going?”

Once I was clear of the shelter, I kicked off the ground again and flew above the shack. Not knowing how strong the shack was, I hovered a few inches off the corrugated tin roof and searched for the source of the radioactive material. All I could see was the orange mottled surface of the roof no matter how far I looked. Then, I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. Looking more closely, I saw something fluttering in the breeze. Hovering over to it, I saw a small piece of paper fluttering in the breeze. The paper was wrapped around something larger that was jammed between two of the corrugated panels. Carefully peeling back the panel, I grabbed the paper-wrapped object. Slowly, I unwrapped the package. There was the familiar white and orange shape of a holotape and a small vial of some kind of metal. When the Pipbuck got closer, the clicking almost became a sustained sound. Dropping the tape to the roof, I flung the paper and vial as far as I could. The clicking quickly diminished and then disappeared.

With the immediate threat gone, I hoofed the tape and scanned the item. It was a typical Robronco holotape, used for data storage and transfer. I almost gave up on it until I turned it over and noticed the word “Dust” carved into the plastic of the protective case.

I maneuvered back off the roof and landed on the ground, still looking at the tape in my hooves.

“What did ya find, Dust?” Brownie asked, tilting his head in a questioning manner.

“A holotape with my name on it,” I answered, still turning it over in my hooves. “It has to be Muddy, right?” After a pregnant pause, I raised my Pipbuck and popped open the tape deck. Removing the protective cover, I slid the tape into the Pipbuck, closed the deck and hit the play button.

“This message is for Dust Cloud,” Muddy’s voice rang out over the tinny speakers. “If you aren’t Dust, please put this back where you fucking found it!

“Ahem, now that that’s out of the way, hello, Dust,” Muddy sneered. “I see you’ve decided to come out of hiding. Or are you coming for me? Either way, I will be enjoying this. You see, you’ve been a thorn in my side. The general wasn’t happy you wouldn’t work with us and that you escaped. However, we did decided to put plan B into effect. We are taking over that farm you helped out. The hydroponics bunker should give us a lot of food that will help appease the population in the short term. So, thank you for that.

“But, the general still wants the SPP system. Only you can unlock it. But I know you won’t, not given a choice. I told him as much, but he doesn’t believe me. But I know you will sacrifice yourself to save others. But, Dust, we need the SPP and I just can’t take no for an answer.

“Here’s the deal. Meet me at Manny’s plantation. Alone. With the Pipbuck, as if it could be removed. We’ll fly together to Neighvarro, you’ll open the SPP, and then the Enclave will have enough food to thrive. But I know that you won’t take that offer. So, I’m going to sweeten the deal, at least for me. Tell me what these names have in common: Coltington, Dirtpatch, Fetlock Flats, the Plantation… have you figured it out yet? These are all places you’ve been and ponies you’ve helped. These are also the places that will pay for your refusal to help.

“I’m sure you saw the message my lieutenants delivered to the ponies at Coltington. Similar messages have been sent to the places mentioned previously. For every week you don’t do as I ask, I will have one of the settlements attacked and ponies killed. This will continue until you turn yourself in or there are no ponies left. I would assume you know I’m not kidding.”

“See you soon, Dust.”

The tape deck on the Pipbuck stopped with a fateful click.

For a while, the only sound you could hear was the wind blowing across the Wasteland and our breathing. We all looked at each other and back at my Pipbuck, not sure what there was to say.

“Dust, what are ya gonna...” Flower muttered, still staring at my Pipbuck.

“I… I…,” I stuttered running through different options in my head. “If I give Muddy what he wants… But if I fight him… We can’t possible take on an army…” My mind was spinning in circles. I growled, kicked off the ground, and flew away. .

My head was a mess. All I could envision was death no matter what I did. If I chose to help Muddy, the Wasteland was as good as dead. And there was no guarantee he wouldn’t attack the settlements just to make me pay, you know, just for fun. But if I resisted, he was going to destroy everything I knew down here. And I could only think he would eventually hunt me and my friends down. I knew I wouldn’t be killed, but there was nothing stopping him from using my friends against me.

“Dust, you need to stop!” Silver called out from behind me.
It barely registered on me as I kept flying. I couldn’t let my friends get hurt again for me. This was a losing battle, no matter what I did. Better I die than anypony else get hurt.

A jolt to my cheek jarred me back to reality. “Dust! Stop right now!” Silver yelled at me as she cradled my face with her hooves. She was flying backwards and keeping up with me while doing it! “Dust! Stop this! What in Celestia got into you?”

I flared my wings and gradually slowed my speed. To her credit, Silver was able to do the same and match my speed exactly, until we were both hovering. Her hooves never left my face. “I can’t, Silver. There’s nothing I can do to stop this.”

“Dust, don’t you mean there’s nothing we can do?” she corrected me. “We are all in this together.”

“Silver, that’s not true. It’s me Muddy wants. It’s me he needs,” I sobbed. “The rest of you are just bargaining chips to be used against me.”

“It’s not that simple, Dust,” she said while staring right into my eyes. The warmth from her soft blue eyes calmed me down almost instantly. “You’re right. If you fight Muddy, he will try to use us against you. He will try to capture us to coerce you to opening up the towers. But you have to understand, if you give him what he wants, we might as well be dead anyway. Do you think the Wasteland can survive complete, dark cloud cover for eternity?”

“Well, no, but…” I tried to answer, but was cut off.

“And don’t you think the ponies down here deserve a chance to live, as shitty as it is down here?” she asked.

“Yeah, but…” I attempted to say, but was, again, cut off.

“And didn’t you promise you weren’t going to run off and try to handle things on your own again?” she said, nearly scolding me.

My head was spinning. “But… but.. I wasn’t trying…” I couldn’t bring myself to admit what my real purpose was.

“But what, Dust?” Silver shot back.

“I was trying… I wasn’t,” I stammered. Could I admit it? And what would she and the others think?

“Dust?” she asked. “What is it?”
“I can’t do it!” I shouted in frustration. After hanging my head in shame, I admitted sheepishly, “I was trying to run away from it so I wouldn’t have to handle it.”

“Oh…. OH…” Silver gasped, her features softening. “Oh, Dust, I’m so sorry… and here I am scolding you.” She wrapped her hooves around my neck and squeezed. “We thought you were trying to take care of it alone.”

“I can’t. I can’t do it alone,” I admitted. “But I also can’t risk your lives. I am faced with a shitty choice and I just can not make it.” I felt hot tears streaming down my face. “I just can’t do it. If I try to do it alone, I will lose everything I care about. If I take you guys with me, I risk losing everything I care about.” I pulled back and looked Silver right in the eyes. “No matter what I do, I lose.”

Silver nuzzled her nose against mine. “Dust, how many times do we have to talk about this?” she said in an almost scolding tone. “We are fighting with you voluntarily. We understand the risks and know what the outcome might be. We know that we may die. For Luna’s sake, we are expecting somepony to die. But we know we are fighting for something worth the risk.” She cupped my chin with her hoof and lifted my head. “Besides, Dust. This is our home. Don’t you think we would want to fight and even die for our home?”

Her words resonated through my head. Was there really not a choice? What she said had made sense. Regardless of what I did at this point, the ponies in this area were doomed. And if I went back with them willingly, the whole of the Wasteland was doomed also. But, was there something I could do to stop it? And was it true that somepony was going to die? Maybe it would have been better if I never agreed to come down here…

A pink hoof waving in my face brought me out of my inner monologue. “Dust? We need to head back,” Silver said, looking at me with concern. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

“I’m not sure, Silver,” I answered somberly, “but I don’t think I have any choice.”

She looked as though she was going to argue the point with me, but let it go. She turned, looked back at me one more time. She opened her mouth, but then snapped it shut again and took off back towards Midnight’s shack. I followed close behind.

The other ponies, and griffin, were just milling around the skywagon as Silver and I touched down after our short flight back. Brownie thought he was surreptitiously giving Silver a questioning look with tight features on his face, and Silver, to her credit, made a barely perceptible nod. Brownie’s features softened a little and he looked back towards the skywagon.

“Sorry about that, everypony,” I apologized to the group. “Just had a little freak out there for a moment. I’ll be OK.” I wasn’t sure it was just a little freak out, but they didn’t need to know that. If they doubted my sincerity, they didn’t show it, at least in an obvious way.

“It’s ahlright, Dust,” Brownie said sympathetically while placing a hoof on my shoulder. “Don’t ferget, we’re ta help ya through it all.”

“I know, Brownie,” I answered, nodding. “Alright, everypony inside. We’re heading to Manny’s.”

Everypony, except for Gertie, piled into the skywagon. Brownie hesitated before stepping into the cabin. I couldn’t blame him; airsickness sucked ass.
Gertie walked up next to me. “I got your six,” she said, checking her weapon was loaded and ready to fire, giving me a little punch to the shoulder.
After she strapped me into the harness, I took off pulling the skywagon behind me.

The flight to towards Manny’s was fortunately uneventful. Gertie hung back, looping to watch our tail, although I doubted anypony was looking for us. The real fun wouldn’t begin until the Enclave knew where I was.

Several dark spots appeared on the horizon and began to grow in size. Normally, as I approached a Raptor class ship, I was in awe of the feat of engineering that lay before me. The sleek and imposing lines, the arcing electricity, the dark gray color… it all achieved its secondary goal of imposing fear on those that saw it. For once, I was afraid. I could only imagine a few sky-tanks were the craft next to it, having carried a majority of the troops that were needed for an occupation force. The smaller, boxy craft always made me laugh. Unfortunately, I was not laughing today. Smaller, moving specks were flying between the ground and the multiple craft. Those were probably power-armor clad flyers and there were quite a few of them.

Gertie appeared next to me suddenly, startling me in the process. She whistled. “That’s an awful lot of turkey power,” she said. “Seems a little bit of over kill, doesn’t it?”

“Could the facility was larger than I thought,” I mused. “But, did they really need that much ponypower to take and hold the facility. Why do they need so many combat flyers? For Celestia’s sake, from what I can see, they have more than enough top flight fighters to hold the plantation.” Something felt wrong.

“Well, maybe you can ask them yourself,” Gertie said while pointing towards the Enclave force. “Looks like we attracted some attention.”

“Shit,” I exclaimed. “Alright, let’s get this tub on the ground.” I looked over my shoulder and cried out, “Hold on everypony. Time for an emergency landing.”

The skywagon resisted my sharp decline. I heard impacts against the fuselage and hoped my friends weren’t being tossed around too much. Looking for a defensible position, I found a small pile of fallen trees which we could hide behind and aimed towards it.

I slowed as we drew near the ground. Flaring my wings for the last few feet, I heard the skywagon thump down behind me. Gertie quickly unhooked me from the harness as I heard the door of the fuselage creak open.

“Dust, what the…” Brownie began to ask.

“No time to explain,” I interrupted him. “Enclave incoming. Get behind some cover.”

Everypony quickly dove behind the pile of trees and got their weapons ready. Peering through the branches, I kept looking in the direction of Manny’s farm, waiting to see the arriving flyers. I did not have to wait for long.

Five pegasi in power armor quickly approached and landed right next to the skywagon. They all were the scorpion-like, jet-black armor and had their helmets in place. Mounted on each set of armor was a laser rifle and a grenade launcher. We were not going to win if a firefight broke out.

One of the pegasi climbed into the skywagon and began a cursory search. The others stayed outside and kept watch for us, I assumed. After a brief search, the pony stuck their head out and gave a tinny, “Clear!” through the loudspeaker on the suit.

One of the ponies that stayed outside reached up for his or her head and removed the helmet. A yellow face with a newly cropped green mane appeared. Of course it was Muddy. The helmet swung back and rested against the neck of the armor. Muddy sneered as he surveyed the area.

“Alright, Dust,” he called out, sounding kind of bored. “I know you’re here. We saw you coming and you didn’t have enough time to go far. So why don’t you just come out here so we can talk face to face. I promise no harm will come to you or your friends.” He gestured towards his wingponies and each of them powered down their laser rifles. They could still obliterate us with their grenade launchers, but it was a symbolic show of truce.

I glanced at all of my friends and each of them gave me a terse shake of their head. I signalled for them to stay put as I holstered my weapon and stepped out from my cover. “What do you want, Muddy?” I asked him, as I moved away from the trees, keeping my friends out of the line of fire.

“I’ll keep this short and sweet,” he muttered, as he started pacing. “The General doesn’t want to play games anymore. He wants the SPP and he wants it now,” he droned on. He really wasn’t enjoying this. “Normally, I’d have fun with dragging it out of you, but I am not being given this option. Since you aren’t part of the team anymore, we have to find a way to get you to help us.”

“I’ll never…” I started to say, but Muddy mimicked me.

“...help you, Muddy,” he mocked. “I know. That was nothing, if not predictable. But here’s the problem. The Enclave needs the towers to stabilize the cloud cover and allow more widespread cloud farming. This facility isn’t the solution, but will help in the short term. By our calculations, we’ll deplete this crop of food before the end of the year and then have to wait several months for more.” Muddy adopted a more sarcastic tone. “A logistically unacceptable solution,” he said with a mix of frustration and aggravation. “The General wants the towers for a more permanent solution.

“So here’s the deal, Dust,” he said, returning to his menacing tone. “It’s actually the same deal as before. You come up with us to Neighvarro, let us in, help us get the towers running, and if you are no longer needed after that point, you can come back down here or rejoin Special Operations. I’m sure the general would give you your own flight wing, like mine, if you did. If you come back down here, you’ll only see us again if we need help with the towers.

“Or,” he said, glaring at me. “You will pay. We know threatening you won’t do us any good. Instead, we will attack every settlement you have had any interaction with. Able-bodied ponies will be put to work in the facility. Pegasi will be put to work farming the clouds or transporting material. All others will be killed immediately.”

I grit my teeth and glared at Muddy. “You do that, and…”

“...and you’ll pay,” he completed my sentence for me. “You know, Dust, you are such a one tune pony. But yes, I wouldn’t do that. Too messy, not fun. But I’m not calling the shots now. So there it is. I’ve been authorized to give you one hour to make your decision. Come alone to the plantation, no armor, no weapons, and then we’ll head up. Otherwise, prepare to watch ponies burn.”

Muddy swung his head forward and the helmet swung back into place over his head. He signalled his wingponies to form up and they took off and headed back towards the plantation.

“Dust, you don’t think they really would…” Silver started to ask.

“Yes, Silver. I know they would,” I answered. “Things are bad up there. The general populace doesn’t know how bad things are. Hell, I don’t even know if the entire military does. But even the military supplies were running short when I was last up there. They need this.”

“I know the Enclave can be assholes, but the civilians would be OK with this?” Gertie asked.

“The civilians don’t get told shit. As far as they are concerned, they are fed and happy. Same sex coupling is awarded by the government to keep the population numbers steady. But some reports still show the population rising and the cloud yields dropping. Even if it’s not bad today, it will get bad shortly.”

“So, what’s the plan, Dust?” Brownie asked.

I couldn’t answer. We were severely outnumbered and outgunned. And even if we did get into the plantation, what were we going to do?

“The Enclave are down here for the facility,” I mumbled under my breath, just trying to think. “As long as there is a facility, they will stay here. But then we won’t be able to get to the food either…”

“Dust, what are ya mumblin bout over there?” Brownie asked.

“Just trying to figure out what to do,” I said, just realizing I had started pacing. “I have half a plan, and you’re not going to like it.” The whole group looked at me funny. “I wonder if they have any explosives in there.”

“Yer not thinking of…” Brownie said with a gasp.

“Yes, Brownie… we’re going to collapse the entrance. Then the Enclave will have no reason to stay there, at least,” I said with a snicker. “But that’s only half the problem. Now how do we get inside. I’m sure they have guards posted at every access point. They’ll have security patrols on the ground and in the air. This isn’t going to be easy…”

My mind began to ponder all the possibilities, and none seemed very hopeful. And failure wasn’t an option. It wasn’t just me and my friends at risk. It was all the ponies I knew in all the settlements I had been to. Hoofsteps broke my concentration.

“Can we all stand still for a minute?” I asked, slightly peeved. “I’m trying to think of a plan here.”

“Dust, none of us has moved,” Gertie answered shortly. She extended a claw towards the east.

Following her claw, I saw a small caravan. It was a pony-drawn wagon being pulled by a rather large earth pony. Four Enclave officers in standard duty gear were leading and flanking the wagon, walking instead of flying. I could not see what was under the cover.

My brain raced at the possibilities that now lay before us. A large grin spread across my face.

“I have an idea.”

Level up!
Science - 50

Perk Obtained:
Strategist: Opportunities present themselves when needed. Obtain a temporary boost of +1 to Luck when planning strategies.