Stuffed from breakfast, we’d all broken up to go about our morning duties. Buck was in the infirmary, straightening things up after his and Cora’s previous night of drinking, while Hispano was taking some time to give her sister a much needed cleaning. Speaking of getting clean, I’d decided that as much as I loved wearing my new dress, after a long night with Buck and Hispano, I was getting a bit ripe in it.

Sitting there, I let the hot shower do it’s thing. The water ran down my numbed coat, sapping all of the ebbing kinks out of it, even if I normally couldn’t feel them through my augment. Closing my eyes, I listened to the radio to try to help keep myself from getting lost in my own head.

“Welcome back. You are still listening to Radio KAOS, Vanhoover's finest local news source.”

Again, the music or voice on the radio was nowhere near as soothing as hearing DJ PowerColt’s station, but admittedly this one wasn’t all that bad.

“Word has trickled down from those at Maple Station that the Butcher of Merrit has finally met her end. A group of travelers led by a pegasus, through either luck or sheer tenacity, managed to strike down the mare for good. Word is as well, that these are the same travelers who helped sort things out between our own Steel Rangers and a group of flying nomads from the north.”

Hmmm, being talked about on the radio was a worry I thought we’d left far in the north. Not to mention, this guy seemed to get his information fairly quickly, even if it wasn’t nearly as fast as the Factory did. But that sparked an odd question in my head. Part of me wondered if he was a machine as well, but if that had been true, I’m sure Eliza would have told me. Maybe he’s just well informed, who knows.

“And while we here at Radio KAOS don’t suggest you go fighting your local warmongers, we’re still relieved to know that somepony is still out there fighting the good fight. Though if you travelers are by chance listening, my advice is that you should stop in at the Hopeville Triage. They might have something for that developing hero complex of yours, heh. Anyway, why don’t we get back to listening to some of the classics…”

“Night?” Double Delta’s voice almost echoed through the bathroom. I opened my eyes and looked over, finding him standing at the doorway with a contented look across his muzzle. “I don’t mean to disturb you, but do you have a moment?”

“Sure.” I nodded to him, shutting off the radio in my head and the shower at the same time. The moment the hot water stopped running down my skin, I felt my body give out a light shiver. “What’s on your mind?”

“I wanted to thank you again.” He smirked as he leaned up against the bathroom bulkhead and took in a deep breath of the steam that had filled the showers during my time here. “I never thought I’d get to see Riddle again in my lifetime, and while I haven’t fixed a great many mistakes I’ve made, I’m glad to have gotten the chance to fix that one.”

“We all deserve a second chance, right?” I shrugged as I got up on all fours and did my best to shake myself clean. However as soon as I had, I found a sopping wet mass of mane flopping around in front of my eyes. Right… the one downside to having an amazing mane again.

“You say that like anyone would offer that.” Delta laughed, letting it echo off the bathroom walls, but revealing a sort of hidden hollowness to his voice. “I’m… still not sure I deserve that second chance, but I’m going to try to make the best of it. Which brings up something I need to tell you.” He took another deep breath, but this time, I don’t think it was to enjoy the warm air. “Captain, I think once we get the business of the Ark settled, I’m going to go home to the Rangers.”

Pushing my wet mane aside as I scrunched my muzzle, I looked up at him to make sure he’d actually said that.

“I know it may be an odd decision after everything Galloway’s been through,” He shrugged and did his best to force a weak smile across his muzzle. “But seeing Riddle again made me realize just how much I screwed things up. Not just with the Sky Raiders, but at Galloway with my family. I’m sorry if this is disappointing to hear, but… I just wanted to make my intentions clear now so I didn’t spring it on you from out of nowhere.”

“I understand, Double, and thank you.” I nodded to him and forced up my own smile. “You don’t need to ask, and I won’t stand in your way once we have the Ark. Sure it’s disappointing to hear, but only because it means a friend will be leaving.”

“Thanks, Captain.” A genuine smirk fell across his muzzle and he shook his head. “You know, you really are something, Night. I wish somepony like you and the others had shown up in the north years ago to help us all realize that there’s another way of doing things.”

With that, he spun around and dipped out of the bathroom, leaving me alone in the last of the wafting steam to listen to the dripping of the water.

After getting myself dried off, I made my way up through the ship to go find King. The way he said ‘we need to talk’ definitely didn’t seem like whatever it was would be good news. But if he remembered more from his time before the goddess, well, I’d be glad to hear it.

Trotting through the bulkheads, I moved into the forward sensor maintenance room. I think this was really the first time I’d even stepped hoof into here. Dozens of control boards with blinking, flashing, and ebbing lights lined the tube covered walls of the room, giving it a somewhat cramped feeling. Lines of thick rope hung from the bigger pipes, and weaved a hammock wide enough to hold the curled up form of an alicorn in it.

“Oh, hello.” King blinked as he lifted his head up and gave a few groggy yawns. “Sorry, I was just resting.”

“If you want me to come back later, I can.” I offered.

“No, no.” He shook his head, letting his quite long ethereal green mane unwrap from around himself. “Thank you for taking the time to come talk. I just… need a moment to wake.” With a stretch of his four, long legs, he used his broad wings to nudge himself towards the end of his hanging bed.

“Did you want to talk about what happened yesterday?” With him getting foal napped by other alicorns, I could understand why he’d been thinking even more about who he used to be. “Or did you remember something new?”

“I… don’t know.” He raised a forehoof to his head, and shut his eyes like he was struggling to think. “The other alicorns, they did something. They cast a spell to prepare my mind for their new unity. It was supposed to clear my mind, but I could feel it stripping away the goddess’s bindings on my memories.”

”So, then you do remember things about who you were?” As much as I hate to say it if it’s true, those other alicorns might have done a better job helping King than I could in the time since we’d met.

“No, it… it seemed limited, and only temporary.” He growled, shaking his head angrily. “I nearly had them! I almost knew who I was again, but then it just… slipped away.” He hung his head, letting his ethereal mane hang over his face. “I did retain something though. Vanhoover City… or the ruins that are left of it I suppose. That was the only clue I am left with. That must be where…”

King’s voice cracked. His head shot up, and his eyes opened wide. With a single blink, his almost frightened look was replaced by glowing eyes and a soft ebbing from his horn.

“You must cease this at once.” A different voice came from his muzzle, the voice of a mare this time. “The other inside me must never know who he once was.”

“You… are the other pony inside King?” The words tumbled out of my muzzle as I stood there in shock. “Why don’t you want me to help him?”

“You must not help because I know who he once was.” Her glowing eyes narrowed on me, and she let out a whine as a layer of overglow wrapped around her horn. “Please, I am the only one holding his memories back now. You mustn’t let him go back to Vanhoover. If he stands where he once did, I won’t be able to stop him from knowing.”

“But why!” I spat out. None of this made any sense! “What are you hiding from him that gives you the right to take away who he was!?”

“Please, you must trust me!” Her voice strained as she spoke, and the light from her horn began to flicker. “He mustn’t know who he was. And if he finds out… what I’ve done… he’ll…”

Her horn sputtered out, and the light faded from King’s eyes. What was left staring at me was the confused green eyed look King always seemed to carry with him normally. He looked around the room a bit, as if trying to figure things out before gazing back to me.

“Did I zone out on you for a minute?” He asked with his normal voice. “I am sorry, Night. My time with the other alicorns must have affected me more than I realized.” So, he had no idea about the other mare’s interruption then… “Perhaps I just need more rest. But thank you, Night, for coming to see me all the same.”

“I just spoke to…” Opening my muzzle, I paused as I thought about what I was going to say. In a rare moment of clarity, my mind knew that running my muzzle with the information about the other mare in him might do more damage than good right now. And while I still didn’t have any motivation for why to trust her… deep down, I knew that it was important to at least take her warning into consideration.

“Night? Are you alright?” King’s words held a note of deep concern to them that helped knock me out of my own thoughts. “Who did you speak to?”

“Yeah, I’m okay…” I paused and waved my forehoof at him. “It’s nothing, nevermind.” Okay, now he’s going to know something’s up. Maybe I just need to give him some assurances while I think about what the mare said. “Look, we’ve still got some things to do around the northern Vanhoover area, but I promise that once those are done, I’ll look into heading to the ruins of Vanhoover.” I forced an uncomfortable smile up across my muzzle as I glanced at him again. “For now though, just get some rest, alright?”

“Thank you again, Night.” He nodded to me before shifting his massive green body further back into his hammock. “I know my presence with you has caused you and your friends much inconvenience. I’m not sure how I could ever repay you for the help you’ve given me.”

“No problem, King.” I shrugged as I turned around and headed for the door again. But with each step, I found one question running through my mind more and more. It got to the point that I stopped just short of the bulkhead and turned around. “King?” I asked, pulling his gaze over to me. “What if… you don’t like who you once were?”

As it would with anyone asked something like that, a troubled look fell across King’s face.

“I… don’t know.” He was slow to answer, but again, I couldn’t blame him for that. “I choose however, to believe that if that were the case, I would see who I used to be as a guide on who not to be. I have a second chance to be somepony unique, so I have to believe I would push myself to be the kind of pony I feel I need to be.”

“Makes sense.” I nodded to him. “I’ll see you later, King.”

Heading through the door, I couldn’t help but think that King’s predicament was a more condensed, and more extreme version of what I’d already gone through. I’d had those fears of getting a cutie mark telling me who I was supposed to be and not liking it. But I got my cutie mark, and though I still don’t understand what it’s for, I have to trust that despite that, I’m still who I’m supposed to be.

I guess one major difference between King and I, is that at least I don’t have another pony in my head trying to stop me.

“You’ve forgotten about me already?” Jynx pouted as she appeared in the narrow hallway ahead of me. Ugh, today had been going so well, I didn’t need this right now. “See, there you go again, thinking you get to choose when I show up. That’s not how this works, Night.”

“It is if you want to stay around at all, Jynx.” I rolled my eyes at her and trotted forward. I passed right through the illusion of her, smiling for only a moment before she reappeared standing in the bulkhead to the Bridge.

“Look, I’ve been really kind to you as of late, Night.” She offered me an almost mean smile as she tapped her forehoof on the floor impatiently. “And despite our agreement, there are rules to how things work. I can’t keep you lucky forever. The pendulum has to swing the other way sometime.”

“Again, you will if you want to stay.” I growled at her. “Then you will do as I say.” How has she not fucking figured that out yet?

“I will do what I can, but listen carefully,” Jynx let out a growl as she seemed to drop all pretext of ‘relaxed fun’ from herself. “The longer I help you, the worse off the hit will be when the universe balances things out.” Please, her threats were as thinly veiled as ever, and I wasn’t going to fall for them anymore. As soon as I’d finished that thought, she smiled at me again. “Don’t say I never warned you.”

I blinked and she was gone.

“Good fucking goddesses.” I sighed to myself. Seriously, the shit I put up with every day now was getting to be a bit too much for my liking. But so long as things were going well? Well, I guess I could put up with it all just that much longer…

“Oh, hey there, Captain.” Tofu cheerfully called out from halfway inside an open panel behind one of the missile racks. She took a moment to set down the large spanner wrench in her magic before pushing herself out completely. “I wanted to ask, do you have a minute? I wanted to take a look over your leg. You know, just to make sure it’s all working like it’s supposed to.”

“Sure.” I nodded to her and took a seat in pretty much the center of the bay. I lifted my hoof, taking a moment to admire it again before holding it out for her to get a look at.

Her horn glowed, and her magic wrapped around most of the leg. With a crisp click, the leg twisted and popped right off of me. I blinked a few times as the ‘feeling’ from it cut out sharply, and I was left staring at some sort of metal connectors that poked through my healed nub-like stump.

“Alright…” Tofu huffed as she brought the leg up to her face. She scrunched up her muzzle and narrowed her eyes at the cobbled together leg like it owed her money. She used her magic to turn and rotate it a few times, moving it bit by bit while she scrutinized the joints in particular. “And it hasn’t been giving you any trouble so far?”

“Nope.” I shook my head. “To be honest, the trouble’s been all on my end.” My chuckle at that drew a somewhat perplexed gaze from her. “You’d think learning to walk again would be a snap, seeing as it’s the third time in my life I’ve had to get used to it.”

“Well, you seem to be adapting to it better than most of the Rangers back home do…” Her voice quieted as she caught sight of something on the leg that pulled an annoyed grunt from her. Her horn flashed, and a pair of pliers levitated across the bay to her. “As you said though, this isn’t your first rodeo.” With a precise sharpness, she quickly used the pliers on some part of the leg I couldn’t see. “But you’re saying that there isn’t any pain? Most Rangers reported at least some soreness in the first few months.”

“Well, I don’t feel much of anything, remember?” Again I chuckled as I brought my forehoof up and tapped at my head. As I did however, I remembered the conversation I had with Delta earlier. “Hey, Tofu? Mind if I ask you a question?”

“Yeah, shoot.” She answered promptly before her horn flashed again and a small screwdriver levitated over to join the pliers in working on my leg.

“Do you ever want to go back?” My words made her stop abruptly. They didn’t seem to shock her at all, rather, she almost looked like she’d been expecting it. “I only ask because Delta…”

“Look, Captain, don’t take this the wrong way.” She forced out a laugh as she focused back on the work on my leg. “But I’m here now, so it doesn’t matter if I want to go back or not.” Another soft click came from the inside of the leg, and a small smirk tugged at the end of her muzzle. “I have a purpose here, you helped me to find it. Plus, I know you need all the help you can get.” Twisting the leg again in her magic, she straightened it out and levitated it to me. With another click, it hooked up with my stump and I could feel it once more. “Why don’t you let me worry about dealing with feeling homesick, while you focus on not losing any more limbs. Alright?”

She smiled as her eyes watched me give my leg a few twists and pivots. There wasn’t any offence meant with her words, and there wasn’t any anger or agitation in them. If anything, the only thing I felt had been abrasive about her response was the fact that she was being brutally honest with me.

It brought a smile to my muzzle. I thought about how this must be what Delilah felt like every time I tried to get her to see the honest truth of something. And now that the shoe was on the other hoof, I could appreciate that feeling.

“Thank you, Tofu.” I nodded to her and set my hoof down and relaxed a bit as I felt it help to steady me. “But, whatever decision you make, know that I’ll support you on it, one hundred percent.”

Tofu opened her muzzle to reply, but paused as a burst of static came through the ship’s announcement system.

“Speaking of one hundred percent, Captain,” Eliza’s cheery voice beat back the static with what sounded like pure optimism. “We have one hundred percent arrived outside of Hopeville, and it looks like there are no signs of an ambush in the waiting!”

“That’s great, and thank you for the update, Eliza.” I replied as Tofu’s horn flashed up and started to gather her tools up. She began stuffing them into an old toolbox while she walked over to the Remora’s hatch and told the system to open it up. “Woah, Tofu, going somewhere?”

“Uh, yeah?” She scoffed and scrunched up her muzzle as she lowered her toolbox down into the Remora’s cabin. “We’ve got a tower to modify, don’t we?”

“We sure do, Tofu!” Eliza’s cheerful voice pumped through the speakers again. “And technically Captain, only Buck needs to go with her to make the modifications. I had assumed you wanted to head over to Maple Creek to try to catch Prince Solomon off guard.”

“Well, I do, but… that’s not the point, Eliza! We don’t know what’s at the tower yet.” Reaching out, I stopped her just short of hopping down into the Remora’s cabin. “By his own admission, it’d been a while since Caution Tape had been there, so we don’t know who or what might be in that station. Maybe you should let Buck, Hispano, and I check it out first.”

“With all due respect, the Doc is all I need to protect me from anything in there.” She rolled her eyes at me and smirked, “Besides, it’s literally not that big of a building, so I doubt there’s anything big enough to challenge the Doc. And even if there was, then Cora will fly his ass down to help. Don’t worry about us, you and Hispano do your thing and go kick some Saddle Arabian flank for us.”

While that was more than likely true, I still didn’t feel like this was a risk we should take.

“We’ll be fine, Night.” Buck’s voice filtered through my mind with a serene calmness that helped to wash back some of the fears I had. “Besides, with Tofu helping, the modifications shouldn’t take more than a half hour. By the time you, Hispano, and Happy get to Maple Creek, we’ll already be done, and I’ll join you as soon as I can.”

Okay, maybe I was being a bit too cautious here. If Buck was adamant, and I trusted Buck’s judgement, then he’d be fine. Everything would be fine.

I pulled my hoof back from Tofu.

“Just, be careful. Both of you.” I spoke and thought out at the same time.

“We will be!” She giggled and again rolled her eyes at me. “Just don’t blow up the Remora when you go after the Prince. Otherwise I’m going to make you carry me back here, alright?” Tofu let out an excited squeak as her smile brightened and she hopped down into the Remora. “Come on, Doc! We don’t have all day!”

As soon as she’d said that, the infirmary door opened up and Buck stepped out. Along with his cloak and normal medical kit, he wore a calm expression that I couldn’t help but try to mirror as he walked over to me. Leaning down, he planted a soft kiss on my forehead before he climbed in and disappeared into the Remora’s cabin. As soon as he was in, the weapon’s bay hatch closed, and the magnetic seal holding the small skycraft to the Arcturus, detached.

“I know you might see Solomon out there, but just try to stay out of trouble until I rejoin you, Night.” Buck’s voice came through my augment again. “But if you have a clean shot, then don’t wait for me, and don’t hesitate. The sooner we end this, the safer everypony we know will be.”

“Don’t worry, I will.” I nodded even though he couldn’t see it. “Solomon isn’t going to know what hit him.”

“It’s not often I get to use this, you know?” Hispano grunted as she worked to secure Suiza’s barrel extension to her. It was odd, because I’d seen Suiza so much over this trip, it made me do a double take to see what was almost an entirely different profile held in her talons. “It almost feels right that after sniping at us more than a few times, I get to return the favor for once. And I know Suiza’s eager to blow that bastard to bits with a few H.E. rounds.”

“Then we got somethin’ in common!” Happy groaned as he carefully lowered himself into the Remora. It was still a sight to see him all geared up and ready to go to a fight. Underneath it all, the armored jacket, the tough-guy act, I knew he was still the same Ukulele loving, floral shirt wearing Mule I’d met months ago. “Alright, so what are we waiting for then?” He smiled as he got his hooves under him again.

The hydraulics for the hatch whirred to life, sealing us in. The magnetic seal broke once more, and the Remora’s engines took over as the flight readout in my vision showed that we’d gotten underway. And even though I’d gone through this dozens of times before today, my heart raced almost as fast as we did through the sky.

“Relax, Night.” Happy’s hoof came down hard across my back, offering a few rough pats. “Look, he doesn’t expect us to be coming after him! We’re going to have the drop on him this time, and we’re going to take that son of a bitch down once and for all!”

Blinking up at him, I could see that he certainly had the confidence. And now that I noticed it, he wasn’t afraid of flying anymore. Maybe he wasn’t exactly the mule I’d met, but he was a better version of himself all the same. And because of that, I knew he was right to have that confidence.

“Eh.” Hispano shrugged as she set down her tools and hefted the double-length of Suiza up in her talons. “I doubt it’ll be that easy.”

“Pft, come on!” Happy gave a dismissive wave with his wooden hoof. “All Night and I need to do is keep him looking at us long enough that you can put that cannon of yours to work. Besides, don’t fucking jinx us.”

I wish he hadn’t said that…

“I’m just saying,” Hispano grumbled as she set her sister down next to her. “Solomon is as paranoid and insecure as any terrible ruler. He’s not going to leave himself exposed for even a moment if he can help it.” Rummaging through her bag, she pulled out the short, straight magazine she’d used a few times before. She double checked the rounds loaded into it before setting it aside as well. “Which is why I’m expecting things to go to shit fairly quickly, like they always do.” With a smirk, she dragged out the drum magazine and set it next to the short straight one.

“Actually,” Oddly, that did bring an entirely different problem to light. “I know we’re all eager to find Solomon, but what if he’s not there?”

“You really think he’ll already be gone?” Happy snorted and sat down hard.

“Then we find out which way he went and go after him.” Hispano cooed as she started to cram Suiza’s tools back into her bag. She paused as she held the last tool in her talon, letting her eyes wander between it and the bag. “You know, I’d be more worried about us getting there and having Solomon take a hostage...”

“Fuck.” Now it was my turn to groan. Of course that was another thing that had slipped my mind.

“It ain’t a problem.” Happy smirked and prodded at Hispano sharply. “You can make that shot, right?” The flat, annoyed look that pulled across Hispano’s face didn’t do much to keep Happy’s muzzle smiling.

“Did you miss the explosive part of my high explosive ammo?” She used the tool in her talon to shove Happy’s hoof away before she tossed it in the bag and sealed it up.

“If he takes a hostage, it’s over.” I didn’t want to admit it, but I just wasn’t willing to shoot through somepony to get to Solomon. Even if their death could save countless others, I couldn’t make that call when we could take Solomon on again down the road.

“Then why don’t we just take our own hostage?” Happy scritched at his chin as he glanced over at me. “Why don’t we go after Rook? Force Solomon to listen to our demands.”

“You think he’s going to care?” Hispano squawked out a short laugh. “Please, he killed Galina himself. How much is he going to care if we kill his butler?”

As much as I agreed with Hispano, Happy did have a point.

“No, I think Happy’s on to something.” My words looked like they’d slapped Hispano’s smile straight off her beak.

“What?” Both Happy and her snapped back at me.

“If we can remove Rook from the equation, then Solomon can’t get away. Better yet, he’ll only have one point of leverage that if we kill, he no longer has.” I shrugged at them. “The problem lies with actually taking out Rook.”

“I fucking hate unicorns.” Hispano groaned. “Okay, then our best bet is to catch them off guard.” Hefting up her sister, she pulled her up and looked down her sights. “I blast Rook back to Saddle Arabia, while you and Happy go confront Solomon. If he’s in the open, I’ll blast him. If not, you two will deal with him.”

“And if he takes a Hostage?” Happy crossed his hooves and looked over to me.

“As soon as he realizes Rook won’t be coming to save him?” I couldn’t help but smirk. “I’m sure he’ll let them go if he thinks doing so will spare his own life.”

“Then once he’s alone, we cut him down, once and for all.” Happy raised his hoof and rested it on the hilt of his silver sword. “And we can finally go get the Ark, save my home, and make Ma’ proud. Sounds like a plan if I’ve ever heard one!”

“Hah.” Hispano rolled her eyes before grabbing the small magazine and dropping it into place on her sister. “You know, for a plan thought up at damn near last minute? This one doesn’t sound as crazy as our usual ‘just-wing-it’ style of getting shit done.”

I couldn’t help but smile at that.

“Hey, at least this time we have a plan.”

Pretty much the moment the three of us had stepped out of the Remora, it’s engines spooled up again and the small skycraft took flight again. Both Happy and I shielded our eyes from the dirt and dust whipped up from the engines, turning and watching as the Remora disappeared over the treetops back towards Hopeville and the Arcturus.

The cracked and somewhat overgrown forest valley road we’d been dropped off on had seen better days. Small tufts of grass, and amazingly, small yellow flowers sprouted up between the cracks. The warm breeze that followed the road through this place reflexively made me take a deep breath, and I was struck with a realization. It was quite warm here.

“Yes, finally. Still not as nice as home, but it’s better than the rest of the frozen north.” Happy chuckled to himself as he made sure the hellhound arm sewn to his leather jacket was sitting correctly over his wooden leg. “I never wanna’ be freezing my balls off for months on end again.”

“Well, fall is fast approaching,” Hispano cooed as she gave her wings a few hard flaps and took to the air. “So why don’t we get this shit done before it starts to snow again?” As she hovered slowly higher and higher above the road, she gave me a nod towards a small selection of clouds near the valley ridgeline across the river.. “I’ll steal myself a spot up there and radio when I’m ready.”

“Sounds good.” I nodded to her before taking a second to look myself over. My flight harness was secure over my brand new battle dress. Six grenades clung around the sides of my boxy submachine gun, and with a thought, I popped forward the barrel to my laser eye, finding it charged and ready to be used. “I think I’m ready.” I nodded to Happy, “You ready?”

“Yeah, let’s kill this asshole.” He nodded to me and pushed himself into a trot up the road.

I turned and followed him, taking a moment to look around. As I let my eyes wander over the waves of green trees that hugged the valley walls here, I noticed something I hadn’t really expected. The more I looked, the more the world changed from the collection of grays, browns, and dark greens that made up everywhere in the north I’d been.

Scattered in the clearings and breaks in the trees, all over the place, were dashes of bright colors. Collections of stark whites, pinks, and lush purples sat scattered among the myriad of different greens. Like with the small flowers along the roads, some yellows filtered in as well, blending with some of the greens in the meadows.

“You alright, Night?” Happy’s voice jarred me from my wonder as he stood in front of me and made me realize that I’d gotten so swept up in things that I’d actually stopped walking. “You see something out there?”

“No, it’s just…” I didn’t quite know how to put what I was looking at into words. That being said, my muzzle didn’t feel the need to wait for me to find the words. “All the colors here…”

“Yeah, this place is pretty, we know.” Hispano’s voice crackled over the radio, “But we’ve got a job to do, Night. You can look at everything later.” Of course, she was right. This place was going to be around later, Solomon wouldn’t be.

Getting my head back on straight, Happy and I pressed onward. As we grew closer to the town, the road bent and followed alongside a winding river. Periodic silver splashes in it drew both Happy and I’s gazes, and we watched as large fish fed on the scattered bugs flying over the river’s surface.

As we trotted around a bend in the river however, the forest following the road started to thin, and the valley started to open up. Ahead of us, sat the small town of Maple Creek. It was… smaller than I’d expected for something built during the war. It wasn’t a collection of more than a dozen or so buildings, and the road we were on ran right through the river-side of town. A single dock stretched out over the river at the edge of town, and an old boat sat docked in the calm river waters.

Alarmingly however, was the fact that even though we could see the whole town from here, I couldn’t see Solomon’s motorhome. That, or the stupid tracked car Rook normally drove him around in. The worrying sight sent a twisted feeling of panic into my gut that made me winge.

“I’ve got eyes on the prize.” Hispano’s soft coo over the radio filtered through my mind like a calming wave. “Solomon and Rook are at the local gun shop near the center of town, while their shit’s parked in a clearing on the far side from you two.” She let out a grumble that swept away a bit of that calm again. “Xeno and his goons seem to have the vehicles on lockdown.” What? I thought they were supposed to be up in Saddlebrook! “Fuck. We’re definitely only getting one shot at this.”

“Weren’t those guys supposed to be somewhere else?” Happy asked as he and I picked up the pace into a swift canter.

“Nopony said they all had to be somewhere else.” Hispano grumbled back at him. “Who knows how much of Pentex was away on jobs when we blew their headquarters to hell. That, or Okona lied about going to Saddlebrook in the first place.”

“Whatever, he’s here right now, so let’s just focus on killing Solomon, alright?” I wanted to wait for Buck to get here, but having Xeno around changes things. The second the shooting started, we needed to get out of here before we turned Maple Creek into an active warzone.

Then again, I’m betting on the fact that whatever passes as the law around here won’t get involved, or wasn’t already paid off…

“Seems like a risky situation to me.” Jynx smiled as she effortlessly appeared at a canter beside me.

It wouldn’t be risky so long as you fix the odds like you’re supposed to.

“Oh, heavens no. Me?” She let out a mock gasp of shock before smiling again. “I told you before, Night. Things can’t always go your way.”

“I told you, we get to win this one.” I spat in her face with heaving mid-canter breaths. “Got that?” She didn’t seem the least bit caring about the heavy glare I shot at her, instead, she dropped to a slower trot and faded away as Happy and I pushed into a gallop.

“Uh, Night?” Hispano’s voice crackled through my head. “Who are you talking to?”

“Just… reassuring myself.” I pushed out as Happy and I reached a galloping pace that beat out what I’d previously thought was my fastest.

The warmer air I greedily sucked into my body did wonders to help me feel like I could run forever. But my thundering heart reminded me that maybe I should reign it in before it exploded in my chest. As my legs worked on their own to slow my pace slightly, I glanced over at Happy to see how he was fairing. He was pulling ahead of me without even seeming to have broken a sweat! How the fuck can he run like that, when for most of this trip, he did nothing but sit around and drink all day!?

Despite my body’s protests, we made good time to the edge of town. I thanked Celestia as Happy chose to slow his pace in favor of keeping his eyes and ears on a constant swivel. In what seemed like a stroke of good luck, there wasn’t a single pony wandering about town.

Pushing ahead, Happy and I pressed ourselves against the old wood siding of the building next to the ammo shop. There were two different voices coming from inside, but they were too muffled for me to make out if either of them were Solomon or Rook. Sighing, I turned my gaze to the skies in a bid to see if I could spot Hispano’s cloud concealment.

“Hey, Night?” Happy whispered to me as he leaned out from our cover much farther than I was comfortable with. “We’ve got a problem.” Of course we did.

Leaning out, I struggled to stay hidden from behind him, but got a look at the gun store and immediately recognized what he was talking about. From the crates of dynamite on display outside the door, to the casks next to it labeled as ‘blasting powder’, Sulfur’s Stockpile as the hoof painted sign named the business, was an explosive lover’s dream store.

However, as somepony who doesn’t exactly enjoy collateral damage, this was definitely going to be a problem.

“You said it was a gun store, Hispano!” I snapped at her as I pulled Happy back behind the building with me. “There’s enough explosives here to level the town if any of it goes off!”

“Hey, they sell guns and ammo!” She fired back at me. “You know what I call that? A gun store!”

“Well we can’t just waltz up and shoot them now.” All it would take is one moment for Rook to find a way to blow everything up, and as we explode, he’ll teleport Solomon and himself to safety. Fuck! I knew things had been going too well for us to actually have a leg up on Solomon.

“Alright, Night, what’s the call then?” Happy’s hoof came down on my side hard, and I found his eyes glued around the corner. “Do we wait for them to come out?” I opened my muzzle to answer, but he shifted his hoof to my muzzle to stop me. “And before you suggest it, we didn’t fucking fly out all this way to do nothing.”

“I’m with our inept mule friend here, Night.” Hispano’s voice filtered through my head with a note of cheerfulness to it. “You know, maybe if we can’t do what we came here for, maybe we take our frustrations out on something else of his.”

I blinked a few times as I tried to figure out what the hell she was talking about.

“You want to hit his bus?” I wasn’t sure how great of an idea that was, but as far as consolation prizes go, that’s not a half bad idea! “Okay then, change of plans. If we can’t kill Solomon now, we’ll make his progress as slow as possible.” Looking up at Happy, I wanted him to agree, but instead his eyes were still locked around the corner at the ‘gun store’. “Happy, you good with that?”

“Fucking hell no I’m not.” He sighed and shook his head. “But, we don’t have much of a choice.”

“Glad to see you onboard.” I gave him a pat before turning and headed along the side of the building.

The two of us made short work of winding between the buildings in town until we’d reached the far side. Stacking up like we had before, we both peeked around the edge of somepony’s home to get our eyes on what we came for. Solomon’s motorhome was parked in a small clearing off the dirt road that ran along the edge of town. His fancy tracked car was parked farther back, and was flanked by two flat black painted, eight wheeled armored cars with odd looking, squat turrets.

The cannon each of them held was long, but didn’t seem to be a high enough caliber to worry about it ever being used as an anti-air platform. Other than the weirdly designed, almost conical shaped turrets on them, the four center wheels of each of them looked like they were made of metal rather than rubber like normal. As I could have somewhat expected, the only logo or writing on them was the stark white letters on their turret that spelled out PENTEX.

“From what I can gather, there’s two mercs on the bus, and two in each of their scout cars.” Hispano radioed in with more than a hint of anticipation in her voice.

“Those are scout cars?” I retorted without thinking, and without whispering.

“You crazy!?” Happy snapped as he used his freakish donkey strength to rip me back around the corner. “Keep it down…”

Happy and I froze up as the mechanical click of a gun’s hammer was drawn back behind us. The both of us turned slowly, and found the barrel of a large, old revolver pointed straight at us. The zig-zagging stripes of the hoof that held it however, well, I didn’t need to see the rest of the zebra they belonged to in order to know who’d caught us.

“I thought I should have heard from Saddlebrook by now.” Xeno’s smugness exuded every ounce of confidence he’d held back in Biscuit. “You must have been onto Okona from the start then...”

“Hey there, Xeno. Ol’ buddy. Pal.” I smiled as I met a mirrored, beaming grin on the sizable zebra’s face. “You wouldn’t mind if we had a few words with your employer, would you?”

“That’s it?” He chuckled and cocked an eyebrow at me. “No apology for nearly killing me?” He froze up when his eyes wandered down to my dress. “Wait, are you using my fucking IS-90?”

“Do you... want an apology for that too?” I almost couldn’t believe what he was saying. “You tried to kill us down in that basement! I’m not apologizing for shit!” I mean, he had us at gunpoint, so admittedly he got to choose the topic of conversation, but still!

“You didn’t get paid to try to kill me down there, so yes, I’d like a damned apology.” He growled and shifted his gun over to Happy. “That, and I’d like one for blowing up my home. You know, ever since my father...”

Oh, good, here we go with the whole ‘justification monolog’. Seeing as I don’t care a bit about anything he says, I can take some time to sort out a question that’s now running around my mind. Thinking at Hispano, I let out a mental sigh. Why the hell didn’t you warn us about this asshole?

“Don’t blame me because you’re both deaf, Dum Dum. I had my eye on Solomon’s camp because unlike you slackers, I do my job!” She squawked back into my mind. “Besides, he’s a sneaky striped motherfucker! You didn’t see me blaming you or Buck when the last one showed up unexpectedly.”

Okay then, I don’t blame you. But could you maybe, I don’t know, shoot him for us then? Might help us out just a bit…

“I don't have a shot that wouldn't clip either you or Happy.” She used a growling tone that made me think she was still considering it despite that. “And with your piss poor attitude, normally, I’d still consider doing it!” Bingo. “But Buck's not here to patch you up, and ten seconds after I fire, you're going to have all sorts of merc problems. So quit wasting time and, I don’t know, guilt him into shooting himself or something.”

“But that just happens to be how I feel about it.” Xeno cocked his head with a bigger grin across it than before. “What do you think?”

I blinked a few times.

“What?”

It just reflexively slipped out of my muzzle. Of course, it practically made steam blow out of his ears as he tensed up. Right, insulting him any more would only make him shoot me in the face, which is really not how I wanted to end today. Then again, what was I supposed to say that would at least stall him?

“I think…” I started as I glanced over at Happy, trying to get any help from him I could. But of course, he was even more broody with this turn of events, on top of the fact we couldn’t kill Solomon yet… which Xeno doesn’t know about! “We’ve been just enough of a distraction that my griffon friend is sitting with her sights on your charge, who you let walk into a literal powder keg without any sort of backup.” That wiped the smile straight of Xeno’s muzzle.. “So unless you want her to send the Prince back to his kingdom in tiny bits, I suggest you throw your gun down.”

“Fucking hell, Night.” Xeno chuckled as he lowered his revolver. “That’s either one hell of a bluff, or I have severely underestimated your competence.” With a shrug, he tossed his gun into the dirt next to him and put his hoof back down. “Fine, we’ll do it your way this time.”

“I choose to take that as a compliment.” I spat at him as I lined up my subgun with him. While some part of me felt bad that I was going to kill a disarmed stallion, I figured that the rest of me would sleep better knowing Xeno wouldn’t be a problem for anypony else. I took a deep breath...

He came at me like a rocket. I didn’t expect it, and I froze up just long enough that by the time I could think to fire, I was already rolling in the dirt. His lumbering form pinned me down by the neck with a single hoof, and I felt his teeth biting into my side and saddle. Wheezing gasps were all I could muster as I flailed my legs at him, eventually kicking him off with a soft and recognizable ping as he slid one of the pins from a grenade on my harness.

Release.

I gasped for air as Xeno turned to flee around the house towards Solomon’s camp. Happy’s eyes looked to him before turning to me, then falling to the grenade that dropped from my harness. He moved quickly, swiftly using his wooden hoof to punt the grenade up and around the corner after Xeno. His momentum carried him forward, and he collapsed over me with a whimper.

My hearing disappeared with the sharp crack of the grenade. Hot shards of metal and splintered wood showered the area around us. My augment fuzzed as a few warnings popped up on my left side, but I could thank Celestia that it didn’t show anything as critical.

Happy moved above me, pulling himself off of me. Part of his armored leather jacket was peppered with bits of wood and metal, and he had a few thin lines of blood trailing down from his head and neck. But as he stood up, he didn’t look all that worse for wear. In fact, he used his freakish strength to help get me back to my hooves. We both tried to shake the blast off, but as we did, I noticed something laying in the dirt just around the corner.

The back half of Xeno’s shredded leg sat amid a growing puddle of crimson. Happy and I both followed the puddle to its source, finding Xeno’s pulped and lifeless form doubled over itself. Well, at least that was one asshole we didn’t have to deal with again.

“Holy shit, you alright, Dum Dum?” Hispano’s voice came through my head amidst the deep ringing that resonated through my mind.

“Yeah, I think.” I tried to say, though I couldn’t be sure how I sounded seeing as unlike her earlier jest, I was pretty much deaf now. “Pretty sure Xeno’s dead at least.”

“Fan-fucking-tastic! Still, you might want to move!” Hispano squawked before a soft thump filled the air. The treeline near us exploded, showering us with dirt and rocks. “I don’t think Pentex is going to care about collateral damage!”

I waved for Happy to follow and got a nod as I turned back toward the main road. My flank refused to move right with all the shrapnel in it, and Happy was likewise left moving just as slow from his bleeding leg, side, and neck. We’d made it about halfway when a few Pentex mercs got line of sight on us from behind.

“Duck left, Night!” Hispano called out as a pair of flashes came from the clouds above town.

I grabbed Happy by the side and pulled as hard as I could. Dirt and bits of wood from the nearby buildings sprayed up as Pentex opened up on us. Happy cried out as his back left hoof splayed open, and he collapsed down onto the ground. Screaming, he pulled himself into the small alley we’d ducked into before cradling his bloody shattered rear hoof.

“Hispano, Happy’s been hit!” I shouted at her.

“Roger that!” She answered before letting out another grunt. There was another soft thump, and the building across from us was sprayed with gore as she blasted one of the mercs coming after us. “Oh, shit!” There was a heavier thump from behind us, and a whimper came through my headset. “They know I’m here! Sorry, Night, I need to move!”

“Do what you need to, just stay alive!” This isn’t the first time you didn’t have any backup, Night. No need to panic! You just need to focus down and shoot your way past another six or seven of Pentex’s best, that’s all!

“Night!” Hispano cried out. “Solomon’s on the move, but I can’t get a shot!”

“Where!?” I swiveled around turning towards the other end of the alleyway. A set of stripes dashed around the corner at us, and the boxy shotgun strapped to their side barked once. The wooden siding next to me splintered from the blast, and I forced myself to step sideways.

Fire.

The subgun I had wasn’t all that accurate while I was moving, and a whole slew of holes opened up around the alley. More of my twelve shots found themselves striking siding or dirt than anything, but a few blasted through the face and neck of the oncoming merc. They tumbled down into the dirt and lay there as I readied myself, waiting for the next one to come around the corner.

A soft flash caught the corner of my eye from behind, and I spun around in time to be staring right into Rook’s eyes. His cybernetic hoof was only a blur before it clocked me right across the muzzle, sending me stumbling backwards. I caught myself before I was sent down to the dirt, and reflexively let out a yell as I locked my eye on him again.

Fire!

Again, my subgun chattered away, but it was too late. He was gone with a flash again, and another twelve rounds tore a small hole in the wooden siding of the house at the end of the alley. As soon as my gun stopped firing, I was left with one round as he teleported back. Before I could even think of the command to fire, he raised his metal hoof to strike again.

This time, I raised my own metal hoof and hammered his leg out of the way. Using that momentum I followed through and spun around. Planting my forehooves in the dirt, I reared back and kicked with all my force. Delightfully, I felt a soft crunch as my hooves connected with his smug face and sent him tumbling back into the dirt.

Scrambling, I turned to face him again. A mass of black leather and angry mule lunged towards him. A flash of silver was all either of us saw as Happy brought his sword down. Rook was quick to act, and allowed the sword to push through his shiny brass leg. He used that to shift it so rather than getting stabbed, Happy only ended up pinning the mustached asshole’s leg to the ground. With Rook pinned down, Happy hoofed at the holster for Laika’s gun.

It hadn’t been until that moment that I’d noticed Solomon was standing there just around the corner. His eyes were wide with fear, and locked on Rook’s helpless form. So much of me wanted to use the one, last round in my gun on his horrified face. What was it he said to me on that highway? Just one round and I wouldn’t ever have to worry about him again?

But Solomon had taken everything from me, from us. I intended to repay the favor. So as much as he deserved this bullet, I had a much better use for it. I steadied myself, being sure to take careful aim as Solomon looked over to me. I waited for that look of terrified realization of what was about to happen. That same moment he let me have as he took everyone from us.

Fire.

A mass of white moved almost as freakishly fast as Happy could.

My gun recoiled as I fired my last round straight at Rook’s pain filled face. Before either of us could realize it, Solomon stood with a bloody hole in his side as he slammed into Happy and sent the mule sprawling. I could only blink as Solomon let out a pain filled cry before Rook’s teleportation magic flashed them both away altogether.

We… missed our shot.

I just stood there, staring. We were so close. He was right there!

“That’s it, you did it! They’re pulling out, Night!” Hispano shouted over her coms. “Did you actually kill him!?”

There was so much hope in her words, far more than I’d heard in what felt like ages. In fact, I don’t think I’d heard her this excited since back when we met on the Inuvik. Which was going to make my answer hurt all the worse to say.

“No.” I sat down hard in the dirt as I stared at the patch where Solomon and Rook had just been. Happy’s sword still sat upright, plunged into the dirt, but… that was it. We’d done our best, but we missed our shot. “No, Solomon and Rook are still alive.”

Looking over to Happy as he picked himself up, I watched as he let out a roar of anger that I could almost feel through the ground. I’m sure for anypony in town who still had their hearing, that must have been something terribly frightening to hear. But if they only knew the shit we’d gone through just to even get this chance, they’d certainly understand.

“Don’t worry.” A familiar voice filtered through my mind with a burst of static. “You will get him next time.” Ping’s voice would have been a welcomed surprise, had it been any other time than now. “And on the plus side, you did manage to kill the CEO of Pentex. For that, at least I am thankful.” Still, I had to admit it was nice to hear Ping’s special brand of optimism again.

“You’re right.” All I could do was nod and be thankful that despite failing, we were at least all able to come back from this alive. “Hispano, I need you to help me with Happy’s injuries while we wait for the Remora to return. Then we’ll need to talk about what exactly our next move will be.”

Author's Notes:

As always, a huge thanks to TheFurryRailFan, who during this whole pandemic has still found the time to lend a friendly hoof and look over my work!

And of course, a big thanks to Kkat for letting us all use the Fo:E setting for ourselves!