The trip back into Destruction Bay was thankfully uneventful. Solomon’s appearance weighed heavily on all of us, and a profound silence hung in the air the whole trip. Returning from our… interesting excursion to the ammunition depot, left my body feeling like it was already just about done for the day. Then again, I’d only managed a few hours of sleep before. As I sat pressed up against a still unconscious Buck in the back seat, I felt the warmth he radiated dragging me to fall back asleep with him. And for once, I could afford the time to rest up.

As we pulled up next to Bertha, Delilah and Boiler were there to greet us. To be honest, by that point I was tired enough that my mind stopped listening to the world around me, and simply focused on the warmth of Buck. After a quick conversation with her, Happy rudely stole Buck from me, and used his magic to hoist him up to our cargo container. With a heavy yawn, I decided that it was probably best to follow.

Getting a hesitant smile and goodbye from Hispano, she and her father parted our company to head down to the facilities on the Mercy. I knew that she’d be back soon enough, and I’d have to talk to Delilah about her, but again, that was for later. I could hear my bed calling to me, and after what felt like a day and a half, I finally trudged all the way up through the hauler to it.

My muscles ached as I climbed up over Buck’s sleeping form, and my injuries from the ghouls felt like they were burning under their bandages. Still, either from the exhaustion the Tension Dr. Kaio had given me, or the combat fatigue from the Depot, I didn’t even register the pain anymore. My hoof caught on Buck as I tried to step over him, and I was out like a light even before I hit the mattress.

I shifted uneasily as the world came back to me, groggily tugging the warm rainbow rug tighter around myself. My sore muscles had dulled a bit, and the pain from my tightly bandaged head had become a soft throbbing headache. Even from under them, I could still feel that I was missing most of my right ear.

Then again, I don’t know what I was expecting, it wasn’t going to magically regrow on me, and at least I could still sort of hear out of it through the wrappings. Throwing out a long yawn, I put that in the back of my mind and spun myself over, hoping to snuggle into Buck and fall back asleep for another few hours. However, instead I was met with cold, empty bedding.

Opening my eyes, I realized that I was actually laying in my original bed. Sitting up slowly, I looked over across our container. Hunched over the edge of his own bed, Buck sat looking at the yoke I’d gifted him with a despondent gaze. The yoke had of course been partially splintered by the round Dizzy’s accomplice shot at him this morning, but that wasn’t what Buck seemed to be focused on. There, still lodged in the blood stained wood, was the dull metal bottom of the bullet that struck it.

“Hey, are you alright?” From the way that my words didn’t even perk his ears, I knew something was wrong.

“I didn’t think about it.” Buck flatly stated, not even offering me his gaze. “Not until I talked with Hardcase earlier.”

“About what?” Okay, there were red flags going up all over the place in my head now. “Is something going on? How long was I asl...” My words died in my throat as he looked over to me. The gaze he gave me was a mix between regret and pain, and it hit me like the blastwave of a bomb.

“I almost didn't overhear one of the nurses talking about it. I was so busy after the submarine blast last night, helping to treat the wounded as they were brought in.” He shifted his gaze back to the wall, deflating as he spoke. “They were worried because there was normally fifty or so ponies working on that ship at any given time. And given we only had just over a dozen ponies brought in with injuries, it was disheartening to know that so few made it out of the fire.”

“But that made me think.” He continued, “The question I kept asking myself over and over was, why did nopony run? If it started as a small fire, surely somepony would have escaped. Why only those at the back end of the ship? Why were they spared?” When he turned his gaze to me this time, I could see something new in his eyes. Something that I was glad I hadn’t seen in quite some time from him, but fearful to see now. Disappointment.

“Then you came back with Delilah this morning, smelling of soot and ash.” He snorted, shaking his head as if he could smell the regret coming off of me. “That of course wasn't the only smell you had on you.”

“Buck…” No, he couldn’t blame me, I had no choice! “you don't understand…”

“What happened in there, Night?” He shook his head, looking at me as if I were a complete stranger. “When you came back last night to sleep, you were absolutely coated in some sort of paralytic chemical, the same as all the other fire victims. Even now I can still smell it on you as a matter of fact.” Standing up, he groaned and braced himself against the cargo container wall before rubbing at the healed wound on his neck. “Then I talked with Hardcase, about what you had ordered Hispano to do to that stallion in the depot. I... was disappointed to hear what you did to him, even if he and his friend shot me. But then I asked myself, 'maybe it was because of what happened last night'. 'Maybe he had a reason to kill that stallion without an ounce of mercy'."

As he said that, I could see the light of hope brighten his eyes. I couldn’t be sure, but… I think he wanted me to tell him that it wasn’t my fault. As he hung on his own words, I wanted more than anything to lie, to tell him that somepony else blew up the submarine, and that I didn’t murder all the ponies inside. But Delilah knew, and lying would only make things worse for us down the road. At least if I was honest, then maybe that would help him forgive me.

“She... Mrs. Tapit, she had Happy and Hispano held captive.” Pushing the rainbow blanket off me, I too climbed out of bed. “She forced me to run an errand for her.” But as I stood and spoke, Buck pulled back, stepping closer to his desk. “You don't understand, she'd been manipulating the ponies here, shipping their drugs out for profit while building an arsenal to take over the town! The doctor on the Mercy, she... she wanted me to put an end to it, once and for all. It wasn’t supposed to happen like it did, I just wanted to kill her.”

That was all it took to drain the color from Buck’s coat.

“So… you’re telling me that you caused what happened?” Almost stumbling, he sat down into his desk chair. “You killed all those ponies?”

“The doctor provided some kind of knockout gas, and gave me a stimulant so I’d be the only one awake.” My words forced Buck to look at me again. The piercing, horrified gaze he gave me felt like daggers plunging into me. “I... I only meant to stop Mrs. Tapit, but, then the ship caught fire, and the ammunition she had stockpiled started to burn. I had to get Happy and Hispano out of there before…”

"H-how could you do something like that!?" He stuttered before starting to hyperventilate. This was spiraling out of control, and I had no idea how to fix this. I knew last night that Buck wouldn’t approve, but what choice did I have?

“I-I did what I thought would help the ponies in this town!" Stumbling over my own words, I racked my mind for something, anything that could shift the blame. “She forced ponies to do things for her. She’d been stockpiling weapons because she was planning on taking over! I helped everypony, I saved the town by killing her.”

Whump

His heavy paw came down hard on his desk. I jumped from the hit, as well as the noise his claws made as they tore through the bottom drawer of it.

“What about the others?” He snapped at me. “Did any of the nearly forty others even have a choice? You say she forced others to work for her, what did you ‘save’ them from?” Tears rolled down Bucks muzzle as he tore his gaze from me. “I know that things have been hard, and that you're tired of getting hurt all the time. But the stallion who I've grown close to on this trip isn't one who can just blow up a ship full of ponies, even if they are all rotten.”

“Buck…” I opened my muzzle, but found myself cut off again.

“No.” He snarled. “As much as it hurts, as hard as it is, you can't let yourself become numb to the wasteland, Night. Don't sit there and accept the suffering, pain, and hatred around you as something that's alright. Everypony slips now and again, but you can't let yourself change into that kind of pony.” Looking down at his paws, he pulled them close to his chest. “You're naive and too quick to act sometimes, but you're kind, and loyal, and much smarter than this. That’s the pony you need to be, Night.” Giving a long pause, his teary eyes finally looked away. “That's the pony I want to be able to love, but if this is how it’s going to be… I can’t.”

“To be able to… what are you saying?” The words, as they normally do, slipped out of my muzzle. My mind knew what was coming. It tried it’s best to warn me, but the pain in my heart beat back those thoughts with a futile hope.

“I like you, Night, but… maybe I don’t really know you. Maybe we jumped into things too quickly.” He stated flatly, turning himself away from me, and taking what felt like my still beating heart with him. “You should go and get your prosthetic from the Mercy. I need some time to think alone.” A numbness swept over me as my heart nearly stopped.

“Buck…” No… I never meant for this. “I…”

“Just go.” There was no joy in his response. Only a cold tone that served to bring one feeling back from the numbness I felt. Pain.

“O-oh... okay.” I slipped into my own mind, letting myself turn around and do as he asked. My aching heart screamed at me to turn back to him. To beg and plead and to grovel on the floor for him to forgive me. But my heart wasn’t in control anymore. Opening the door, I hesitated to step out.

“Night?” Buck spoke up again. I froze, sitting, waiting for his words to shatter me completely. “Please be safe out there, and stay out of trouble.”

“I will.” I nodded, not that he would even acknowledge it. “I… I love you, Buck.”

Slipping out the door, I left and headed out for the mercy to get my new leg. Maybe while I’m there, they could give me something to fix me being so stupid. Hell, I seemed to be all kinds of broken, maybe they could just rebuild me altogether. To be faster, stronger, and perhaps, worthy of being loved. In a word, better.

Honestly though, it would just be a start if they could fix an aching and wounded heart…

“Why so glum, Chum?” Dr. Tibia asked as she took a few measurements along my stump. She was all smiles today, and had a spring in her step. Well, more of a spring than the actual springs in her prosthetics gave her as she moved around. Me? I simply sighed at her question and flopped back onto the examination table.

The stuffy examination room was far cleaner than Dr. Tibia’s office, but it still felt just as cramped. The baby blue walls barely found any space to peak through the multitude of cabinets, cubbies, and drawers bolted onto them. Unlike most of the other rooms on the Mercy, this room didn’t let you forget you were on a huge ship, and that space was at a premium. Still, the more I stared at the blue walls, the more I was reminded of Buck’s big blue eyes.

“Do you have a special somepony?” I asked without even thinking. This time, I didn’t even have the will to scold myself about it. I needed to fix things with Buck, and even if I had to piss off the wasteland with my questions to do it, then I wasn’t going to stand in my own way.

“While that’s flattering, I do think you’re a bit young for me.” She giggled and made me lock up a bit.

“No, I mean…” I began to say, but found her hoof boop me right in the muzzle.

“I’m only kidding.” She rolled her eyes and smiled. “To answer you, yes. In fact, the other pony I work with here, Crystal Harmonium, is one of them.” She tapped her hoof with a short huff. “Though she tests me some days with her tardiness. That girl is hardly ever on time.”

“Wait, one of them?” The words slipped out again. Though, this time I scrunched my muzzle shut. Speaking my mind is one thing, but I didn’t want to wander away from fixing what I’d done to Buck. However, before I could stop her, she of course gave me an answer.

“Of course!?” She laughed as she noticed the confused look that I wore across my face. “What’s so surprising about that? Or… oh, right! Being a pegasus, you’re probably from above the clouds. With how I heard things worked up there, I can see how the multiple partners concept might be a bit confusing to you then.” Nodding to herself, she continued without giving me even a moment to respond. “Well, the way that a lot of us in the wasteland see it, is that love isn’t really under our control. We don’t get to chose who we fall in love with,” Yes, but that doesn’t mean that Buck or I can’t regret it when I royally fuck things up. “And sometimes, we don’t even get to chose how many ponies we fall in love with.”

“So… you love more than one pony?” I asked as I sat up on the table, again getting further from the topic I’d wanted to get to. Why do I have to even fail at saving my own fucking relationship? Can I do nothing right!?

“Who says you can’t? Polyamory is fairly common down here in the wasteland because love is wherever you can find it.” Dr. Tibia smiled as she trotted back over across the examination room. Hoofing open a drawer, she pulled out a rectangular looking black object with a short silver tube on the end of it. With a metallic click, the object stuck to her prosthetic forehoof like a magnet. “But enough about all that, I’ve got a feeling that you asked me for a reason.” Trotting back over to me, she reached up and quickly held up my stump.

“So, first I do have to ask,” She continued, instead of giving me a chance to change the topic again, “is this a ‘I’ve got a friend with a relationship problem’ sort of question?” She giggled as she looked at the thing on her hoof. “Or are we going to skip to the fact that your own relationship is weighing so heavily on your mind that you need relationship advice from total strangers?” Lifting her forehoof with the rectangular object, she pressed the silver tube against the end of my stump. “Gonna feel a little prick…”

“Well, I was ask… Ahhh!” I choked back a full bodied scream as she punched the silver tube into the bottom of my leg. The spike of pain made it feel like she pushed it all the way up against my bone. But after a moment, the pain faded away to nothing from my stump, as well as part of my side and flank.

“Alright, sorry about that. Prosthetics tend to induce soreness and cramping with extended use, so we try to minimise that beforehoof.” Dr. Tibia smiled as she pulled the rectangular box back. However, now it was missing the silver tube from the end of it. Wiggling my stump, I could barely see the tube was still pressed into my flesh before a flash of magic healed a cap of skin over it. “The talisman inside the implant should keep some of the severed nerves in your leg from working in order to help prevent those issues. For a minute or two, you’ll feel pretty numb all over down there, but it should pass. However, please do continue about your relationship issue.”

“I… I messed up big time, and I think it destroyed my relationship.” I sighed as I flopped back flat onto the table. “When you disappoint the one you love so much that they question if they love you at all, how do you come back from that? How do I convince him to love me again?”

“What?” She snorted with a smile. Looking up at her, again, my face probably continued to show off the copious amounts of confusion I was experiencing. “Just because you messed up, doesn’t mean they stop loving you. Sure they always say they don’t anymore, but let me ask you, did he tell you that he needed time to think? Perhaps he was wondering if he didn’t know if he knew you anymore or not?”

“Yeah…” I sat up slowly, watching as she nodded and turned around. “How could you know that?”

“Oh, don’t worry so much then. While it sucks, what you two are going through is perfectly normal.” She waved her hoof dismissively at me before hopping over and hoofing open another drawer. Reaching inside, she gripped a set of black rubbery caps in her fetlock. “Look, relationships are like any other job. There are complications you have to work around, and going into them, not everypony really knows each other. The more you work together, the more you learn, and sometimes that’s not always a good thing. Sometimes the best thing to do is find another job, and remember the mistakes you made in the last one.”

My blood ran cold at that. I… I didn’t want to find another job because I loved mine! Er, I loved Buck. I wanted to make this work if I could. While this was my first real relationship, that didn’t mean I was going to give up and try again with somepony else. I wouldn’t give up on us, and even if he didn’t love me so much anymore, I could wait and work at it until he did.

Which now that I think about it, is exactly what Hispano’s plan for me was. I facehooved hard at the ridiculousness of that. Seriously, how does she have a better grasp on this than I do!?

“Woah there.” Dr. Tibia laughed again, “I didn’t mean to suggest that it’s not going to work out! Just know that it’s a possibility you’ll have to deal with.” Hopping on over to me, she sat down and lifted the black caps against my stump. “So you had your first fight, it happens to all of us.” The motors in her prosthetic forehooves whined as they pushed all the caps at once up around my leg like a tight sock. As she rolled it up over me, I noticed that the final one had several separate layers of fabric on it, with the outermost layer having evenly spaced glowing gems sewn into the rubbery fabric. “But, if he said he needed time to think, he obviously doesn’t want to leave you. He just needs time to accept what he didn’t know about you before.”

“So… you think he still loves me?” I had to admit, while I didn’t have really any experience in relationships, from how she put it, it at least made a bit of sense to me. Yeah, I already learned to be alright with the idea of how things in the wasteland have to go sometimes. Maybe he just need some time to be alright with it as well, and understand that what I did really was for the greater good.

“Pft, hell if I know. I thought you were a mare until you climbed up onto the table here. And I’ve gotta say, you even sound the part too.” Dr. Tibia laughed and turned toward the door. “I’m only pointing that out to say that I’ve been wrong about things with you so far, but every relationship is a case by case basis. So long as you didn’t blow up his family, I think you’ll be fine.”

“Alright.” Yeah, maybe I didn’t blow up his family, but blowing up all those ponies hurt him more than I could imagine. Still, I had to have hope that Buck could get past this. “Is there anyway I can make it up to him? Something I could do to show him how sorry I am?”

“Nah, not really. He pretty much has to decide that on his own.” She shrugged before waving for me to follow her out the door. “Anyway, come on, let’s head to manufacturing. The talismans in the sock I put on you should be relaying the measurements to Crystal as we walk. We’ll have you fitted up for a new leg in no-time at all!”

Carefully, I spun myself around on the examination table and lowered myself to the floor. As I turned and hobbled off after her, my mind wandered to what Buck would say when I came back. Shoving those thoughts from my mind, I instead tried to think of anything else. I bounced around, avoiding any thought that lead me back to Buck before landing on Hispano’s kiss in the bunker. Again, I tried to force it out of my mind. I needed something to distract me from all this, but my mind wasn’t making it easy to focus on any one thing.

Dr. Tibia talked at great length about something or other as I followed her, but I wasn’t paying attention. Every thought lead back to the same thing, either Buck angrily yelling at me when I returned, or Hispano telling me how she felt. I just wanted it to stop, and for us all to go back to the way things were before we even came to Destruction Bay! Quite abruptly, that distraction I was looking for showed up as I walked right into the tail of Dr. Tibia.

“Woah now!” She eeped, nearly jumping out of her prosthetics as she spun around. “I know you’re having relationship problems, but I’m happy in mine.” Giving me a giggle, she rolled her eyes. “And before you think I’m being serious, I’m not.” Giving me a pat on the head, she gave out a small sigh. “Don’t worry about him so much, just try to relax, alright?”

“Thanks.” I nodded and forced myself to return her smile. Looking around at where we’d stopped, I found a large door metal door blocking our path. “Where were we going?”

“I did try to tell you as we walked, but this is where the ‘magic’ happens.” She hoofed at the door panel next to us sharply. “This is the prosthetics manufacturing section where one of my better halves spends her time.”

The door gave a shudder before swinging open through some unseen mechanism on the backside. The moment it opened, an upbeat tune blared through the air into the hallway with us. It wasn’t like the music that DJ Powercolt played, rather, it sounded sort of familiar. I only say this, because the mare singing in the song sounded similar to one I’d once heard on a cloud diner juke box about a dancing princess or queen or something. Listening to it for a moment, I had no idea where ‘Waterloo’ was, or how anypony could be so happy to be defeated there, but I dismissed it as just another weird wartime thing. They made lots of weird music back then, which thinking about it, is probably why the Enclave never played any of it over the government sanctioned radio…

The humming of the machinery inside was about the same as Dr. Kaio’s lab down on the lower decks, albeit nearly undetectable due to the music. A few boxy looking machines took up all of the large tables immediately past the door, most of them bristling with brightly glowing vacuum tubes and arcane talismans. The closest machine to the door had a terminal inset to it that was steadily running through line after line of coding, actually keeping up a one to one pace to the beat of the loud music. Looking around, the other machines were pretty much set up in the exact same way.

A spray of metal chips burst from the center of the nearby machine as a mechanical bit moved along a piece of steel clamped in the center of it, cutting out a large concave section of it in very precise movements. The machine itself reminded me of some of the ones that Dad worked on in the shipyards, but I’d never seen one that operated on it’s own before! While I was busy admiring the complex machine, Dr. Tibia stepped inside the room and walked toward the back.

As she did, I caught the design of her rear legs bowed metal prosthetics. Looking back up at the busily working machine, I found that the cup that attached to her stump was pretty much the same thing the machine was working on. It wasn’t really a surprise, as this is where they were made, but it’s not something you ever think about with anything that’s been manufactured. How many times had I looked at a magical energy weapon, or a vertibuck without realizing how much time and effort it took to make the various parts in it? Sometimes it was dizzying what complexities the old world had accomplished with only a decade or so worth of time.

Staring at the machine, I noticed something odd about it. Hobbling up and around the arcano-machinery, I found that there was no power line attached to it. Sure, terminals had power supplies that could keep them running for pretty much ever, but the milling machines in the shipyards were incredibly power hungry. Getting as close as I felt comfortable to the running machine, it didn’t look like it had any room internally for sparkle batteries or magical energy crystals! So how the hell were these things still running?

“Hey!” Dr. Tibia called out, tearing my attention away from the machine. Her voice barely beat out the upbeat tune, but she relaxed with a smile as she continued. “I know you enjoy listening to your old APPA records, but can you turn it down for a moment?” As she called out, the music that had been playing cut, and the humming machinery filled the air with the normal manufacturing noises I’d expected from machines like these. Looking at her, Dr. Tibia smiled and waved me over. “Come on, let me introduce you to Crystal as her machines wrap things up with your leg.”

“Wrap up?” Looking around, I didn’t quite understand how that could be? Sure, she said that the sock thing was taking my measurements as we walked, but we’d only just gotten here. Getting no response, I shrugged it off and hobbled my way up over to the next room. Entering through the doorway, I froze up.

Sitting in a plush chair behind a desk, was a mare with her rear hooves propped up and a pair of cybernetic hooves wrapped around the back of her head. That part I understood. However, the golden yellow zebra stripes on her white coat were out of place, along with the knobby, short horn under her brown and yellow mane. But what stuck out the most, literally, was the pair of foal sized wings splayed out behind her. Though, it was hard to tell if any of it was real due to the fact that the entirety of her was shimmering like an illusion.

“Uhhh…” I know that I was still fairly fresh to wasteland weirdness, but this… this topped it so far. Jean being a moose made sense, and Lilac Lace was strange, but artificial ‘goddess’ alicorns had been explained to me by the others. Though, it would have helped to know that she’s not the only kind of alicorn down here. “is your friend wobbling, or did you build a likeness of her made of the gelatin from the cafeteria?” You know, maybe she was just supersaturated with magical radiation, or one of those special types of ghouls Hardcase was talking about.

“Huh, that’s a new one. Never been compared to Jello before.” The mare smiled and sat up, levitating an old record player off of her desk. As she moved her legs off the desk as well, I noticed that her rear hooves weren’t real either. The seams that stretched and moved around the joints on her legs betrayed the fact that they were actually a pair of fairly convincing prosthetics. Then again, it was hard to tell through the wobbly-ness of her altogether. “The name is Crystal Harmonium.” Reaching out a prosthetic hoof to me, she sized me up with her eyes. Taking her hoof, I found she gave a fairly firm hoofshake for having a mechanical hoof. That is, until the hoof popped off and I went wide eyed.

“Umm…. I didn’t…” I forced out at a stammer as I juggled her severed hoof down onto her desk. Way to go, Night! Can’t you go one hour without breaking something or ruining somepony’s life?

“Geez it’s only a joke. I do it to everypony I meet, you should have seen your face! Geeze, lighten up a little, girl!” Crystal laughed as she reached her leg down and effortlessly reattached the hoof to it with a subtle click. “But in all seriousness, you must be the mare who finally put that bitch Tapit in the ground. Heard a lot about you last night from Tibia here.”

“Stallion, actually.” Dr. Tibia coughed into her forehoof. Crystal looked confused for a moment before shrugging it off as Tibia continued. “But yeah, this is the pony who blew up Tapit’s whole ship and crew...” As if a bolt of lightning hit her, Dr. Tibia locked up and looked at me with a cocked eyebrow. “Wait, is that why you’re having relationship issues?” I of course, froze up at the sudden question. “Cause if that is, then point me at your husband and I’ll be glad to kick some sense into him.”

“You’ve got relationship issues? Bummer.” Crystal smirked as she leaned back into her chair, shimmering a little less than she was just a minute ago. “Ponies just need to learn to chillax, you know? Just gotta learn to hang loose. Well, that’s what my mom always used to tell me.” Looking at me, she waggled her eyebrows, or at least… I think she did. It was annoyingly hard to tell with how she waved around in the air like that.

“I’m sorry, but… what are you?” I shook off the disorientation and blinked a few times.

“There it is!” Crystal called out as she nearly jumped right out of her chair. At the same time, Dr. Tibia only facehooved. “I was waiting for that question. Everypony always asks.” Seeming to collect herself a little, she placed her forehoof onto her chest and stood up proudly. “You see, it all started when…”

“She’s what’s called a Mirage pony.” Dr. Tibia spoke flatly. Crystal Harmonium stood shocked at being cut off, blinking for a few seconds before she pouted at Tibia. “Sorry, Babe. I doubt he wants to hear the entire history of Marewaii.”

“I wasn’t going to tell him the whole story.” She shot a glare at Tibia before sticking her tongue out at her.

Dr. Tibia giggled and rolled her eyes. “Well, you did begin with ‘it all started when’...”

“I still don’t really understand,” I gave the two mares a dismissive wave. “but I don’t want to cause an argument.” Yeah, while I hadn’t screwed up anything yet, maybe it was best to just get the leg and head out.

“Crystal here is an argument, in relative terms at least. She’s a genetic chimera.” Dr. Tibia leaned over to Crystal as she spoke, planting a quick kiss on her cheek. “A mix of pony, zebra, and a smattering of other races. It’s why she’s got a stunted horn, stripes, and small wings.” Hesitating for a moment, she got a small nod from Crystal. “It’s also why she’s stuck with prosthetic limbs. Birth defects like missing limbs are supposedly pretty common among Mirage ponies due to the various toxins permeating the islands. And if I’m being honest, one of the things that attracted me to her the most...” She gave off a soft blush before looking at the floor.

“The mirage effect is a property of my genetics as well, as little of it as I understand at least.” Crystal cleared her throat and trotted out from behind her desk. As she did, the waving shimmer around her dissipated even further. “Magic builds up in our systems over time, causing the effect. However, I can radiate that magic and use it to power any magical device around me. Hence, why you’ve no doubt noticed that none of the machines out there are plugged into anything. I’m their power source.”

That’s… actually pretty damn neat! I don’t understand how it was at all possible, but it’s neat all the same. I bet half of the enclave pegasi out there would love to power their own magical energy weapons instead of having to reload power gems all the time. Then again, looking at her diminutive wings, I’m not sure any pegasus would think it’s worth the trade off…

The machines in the other room went quiet, prompting me to look over to Crystal. An elated grin spread across her now lightly shimmering muzzle. Cocking her eyebrow at me, she nodded out the door.

“It’s done.” She pointed her hoof to the other room. “All that’s left is to put it together.”

“And that’s where I come in!” Dr. Tibia nearly shouted in my ear as she pushed past me. “Come on! I’ll show you a few times so you can fix it if it ever comes apart.” That brought up a really good point…

“Actually, speaking of that...” I asked as I followed after her. “How long is this thing supposed to last?”

“Well, so long as you don’t hold it under a blowtorch, or let one of those Cordite guys run it over with a tank,” She paused, tapping her hoof on her muzzle. “Should last you a couple of years before you need to replace it.” That… wasn’t actually all that encouraging.

“Seeing as you can fly, probably more than just a few.” Crystal spoke up as she walked in after us. She gave me a wink as she trotted up to the first machine I’d passed. “As nice as it is to have visitors, there’s no need for you to make the trip all the way back up here too often from as far south as you’re headed.”

“Wait, what do you mean by that?” Red flags shot up all over, and I took a step back from her. “How the hell do you know where we were going?”

Dr. Tibia grunted. “Ugh, I told you that you’d spook her! Er, him.” With a roll of her eyes, she deadpanned at me. “She’s not out to get you or anything. Ever since last night, she’s been asking around about you. She’s been a little too eager to meet the mare, er, stallion, who’s willing to put some of the wasteland’s biggest scum in the dirt where they belong.”

“While that’s certainly a… flattering proposal, I think one drug lord is enough for me.” I flashed them both a nervous smile. Well, at least they’re not out to kill me! Now, if only things would stay like that the second we pulled away from Destruction Bay.

“Well,” Crystal gave a disappointed sigh as she dumped the parts one at a time into Dr. Tibia’s hooves. As she did, her horn dimmed, and the last of the magical shimmering around her dissipated completely. “If you ever change your mind, you’ll find safety under the tree. Celestia’s Angels are always looking for those who want to make the wasteland a better place.” Pointing toward one of the machines, she pulled my attention to a marking on it that looked like a tree. I’d noticed it before when looking it over, but I thought it was some sort of brand logo or something. “Seeing as how you’ll be down in Cantercross sooner than later, maybe you can find the time to go blow up that drug dealing bastard, Mr. Wizard.” Now that was a peculiar name for a drug lord…

“Oh, wow, would you look at the time?” Dr. Tibia forced out a laugh before rushing around me. Without even being able to object, I found myself pushed out the door. “Anyway, gotta go, we’ll talk later, love you hun!” As soon as we were out the door, she hit the door panel and shut the door behind us. Dr. Tibia gave a heavy sigh and slumped a bit, spilling the leg parts onto the floor. As they clattered across the floor at her hooves, she scrunched up her muzzle and began to pick them back up. After a moment of awkward silence, I decided to break the ice.

“So… what was all that about?” It wasn’t subtle, and I didn’t want to pry, but I didn’t want to not say anything.

“She means well, she really does.” Dr. Tibia sat down against the door. “I know that Mrs. Tapit is gone, but… Celestia’s Angels is a group that opposes slavers and gangers. It’s dangerous to just go around talking about it in the open. Not even the Road Crew will allow talk about it within earshot of any of them in favor of keeping this town peacefully neutral. So please, don’t mention anything to anypony about this.”

“Say no more.” I nodded and gave her a pat on the side. “Trust me, I know a thing or two about not telling ponies something dangerous.” Scrunching up my muzzle at that, I wanted to kick myself for even opening my mouth. “Just… ignore that.”

“Ignore what!?” Jean practically shouted from next to me. Of course, only after she spoke did the chimes in her ears give off a jingle. Not that it mattered anyway, as I only heard them for a split second before I screamed like a little filly. “Oh geez, mister, I didn’t mean ta scare yah!”

“How do you know that I’m a stallion?” Again with being blunt, Night. Seriously, instead of taking something out, maybe you could get the doctors here to install a filter in your head before you go. That way, you won’t always go blabbing your muzzle off!

“I said I was psychic, don’cha remember?” She gave off a light giggle as the chimes in her ears wiggled with her. Shifting herself to sit down, she gave an oversized shrug and smile to me. “To tell you the truth, yah just seem like the kinda pony who’d be a stallion.” As she sat down, I noticed that there was in fact a mare standing behind her.

“Violet?” I asked, pulling Violet’s guilty look to me. Half of her head was shaved, and part of her mane was missing just like mine was. “Did the doctors remove your chip as well?” And being totally honest, Hispano was one hundred percent right. That style of mane cut made us look a bit butch.

“Y-yeah.” She nodded hesitantly, giving me a nervous smile. “But… I still can’t remember anything. I… was hoping we could talk, and you could fill me in? You know, now that we won’t pass out when we remember it.”

“Yeah…” I nodded slowly. Okay, this was unexpected. To be honest, I’d hoped she’d still have the chip in for when we talked. It would have made for the perfect failsafe should she get violent, but of course now I just had to trust that she wouldn’t shoot me. However, as I no longer had any other choice, having her around Hardcase would have to be a good enough failsafe. “Are you ready to go?” Hobbling toward her, I was stopped by Jean’s massive hoof.

“I think you’re forgetting something, eh?” She smiled, pointing back to Dr. Tibia.

“Let’s get that outer sock off.” Dr. Tibia spoke through the completed leg in her muzzle. Reaching over, she peeled off the outer sock that had the gems in it, leaving on a thin, velvety black sock over my stump. Spitting the fully built leg into her hoof, she pushed it up against my stump, and I could feel as it sucked up against my leg.

Immediately, I could tell that this was how a prosthetic was supposed to feel. Mrs. Tapit’s stupid pegleg had nothing on just how perfect the sterile white cup felt against my leg. Lowering my leg down, the long, curved piece of black steel that ran down to the floor, bowed slightly as I put my full weight on it, but it felt remarkably strong for it’s thickness. Sure, I could still feel that my whole leg wasn’t there, but almost instantly I could feel how my other legs relaxed with the redistributed weight. Without even knowing it, I’d started to beam a smile as I stared at it.

“That’s it.” Dr. Tibia sighed with her own smile wide across her muzzle. “That’s the look that says that we’ve made a difference.”

“Thank you.” I said, turning and nearly diving into a hug. “For the leg, for the advice, for everything.” I felt as Dr. Tibia tensed up at that, but I didn’t care. I know that I wouldn’t see her again until I needed to replace the leg, or hell, maybe I’d never see her again at all. Which is why right now, I wanted to express my gratitude. Of course, since nothing else had gone wrong so far, I had to make a mistake now.

“Oh yay! Hugs!” Jean exclaimed. Just the weight of those words alone gave me a crushing realization of the mistake I’d just made. However, in my shock, I’d loosened my grip on Dr. Tibia. I looked at her with pleading eyes as she all but slipped out of my hooves, and saved herself from the coming pain.

As Jean’s hooves wrapped around me and started to squeeze, I simply closed my eyes and accepted my moosey fate…

“Are y-you a-alright?” Violet asked and shivered as we walked through the vacated streets up toward the entrance to town.

A burst of thunder punctuated the mid afternoon squall that had quickly moved in from the sea. Strong gusts of wind battered the two of us with sheets of nearly freezing rain. In just the five or so minutes it had taken us to get this far, we’d been forced down from the sky due to the winds, were soaked to the bone, and would probably freeze to death before we made it to the Hauler. It didn’t take me long to remember that while it was a lot colder around the Inuvik and on the Ice Sheet, pegasus insulation didn’t work so well when you were wet. No wonder there wasn’t a pony in sight on the streets, they weren’t dumb enough to go outside like we were.

“Y-yeah.” My chattering teeth made it hard to speak, but I spotted our salvation in the form of the Cordite tank maintenance building up ahead. Just through the open door, sat a barrel fire, burning away without anypony to warm. “L-let’s h-head there...“ Don’t worry, lonely fire, we’re coming to give you some company!

In what felt like an ages worth of walking, we finally made our way what was probably only fifty feet or so. Ducking under the cover of the large, multi-vehicle garage, we both nearly hugged right up against the burning barrel. Letting off a large sigh of relief, I finally started to get some feeling back into my hooves and wings.

Looking around part of the Cordite garage, I found it was packed full of various armored vehicles of every shape, size, and armament imaginable. From a small grey, box like tank with two machine guns in it’s turret, to a massive boxy green tank with what looked like a full on naval cannon sticking out it’s front. A few closer to where we came in though caught my eye more than any of the immediate others.

First in line, was a tank that looked far too new to even exist in the wastes. The small-ish tank was quite boxy and simple looking, but it’s welded seams around it’s turret and main body gleamed in the garage lighting. The track pins and suspension on it were devoid of rust, and even it’s flat slate blue paint looked new. The word Nucleana was painted in white just below the Cordite logo, and even that looked like it had been slapped on there just this week.

Beyond the starkly out of place tank, was the more familiar BT-42 we’d seen at Filly Crossing. A small-ish looking ghoul in khaki military garb was half stuck out of the open front hatch of the tank, wiggling as the sounds of tools on metal emanated from inside. Popping up intermittently from the top hatch of the turret as well, was the beret wearing, mustached ghoul I’d seen when we’d arrived here.

“S-so…” Violet spoke up, pulling my attention back to her as she gave me a nervous smile through her still shivering form. “Did I s-say anything to y-you down t-there? In t-that p-p-place?” I tried to shake my head as I shivered. It was a lie, but what was I supposed to say? ‘Oh yeah, you told me you still work for Solomon’, because that would go over well. From the confused look that she wore, I thought about why she didn’t respond. “W-was that a n-nod?”

Of course we were shivering so bad she couldn’t tell. Stiffly, I shook myself a few times, she smiled and did the same.

“W-we didn’t have m-much time to talk...” I forced myself to say through my shivering muzzle. “in the b-bunker.”

What she asked next, I should have seen coming.

“I-I see… are y-you sure I didn’t?” Her muzzle’s nervous smile widened, and even through her shivers I could see how she tensed up. Still, now wasn’t the time to bring this up. Bowing again a couple of times, I was happy to see her relax a bit again. “Alright.” She nodded as well, spreading her wings and curving them around the barrel to help dry them out.

“OI!” A heavily accented stallion’s voice echoed throughout the hanger. From the far reaches of my mind, I recognized that voice. “Yer the wee lass who fucked us over in the north!” Turning around, I recognized the musclehead tanker from the hanger back in Fort Mac, albeit, the earth pony had looked like he’d run himself ragged. The dark rings around his red eyes sagged with fatigue, and he almost looked like he could collapse at any moment of exhaustion. “Hey, Zibar!” Shakily climbing onto his tan, square-ish tank, he nearly fumbled his way up to the turret. It was about then that I noticed the hunched over form of his larger, saddle arabian friend. “Wake up, ya bastard!”

With a flailing shake, his saddle arabian friend simply slumped back against the turret again and let out a resounding snoring noise that echoed even further than the earth pony’s voice did. Well, at least we had that going for us today. I wonder if the entirety of Solomon’s crew was exhausted from getting caught up with us. If so, we had a good opportunity to get ahead again if we left soon.

“Do you know them?” Violet asked, leaning forward. “We… should probably go… you know?” She gave a nervous chuckle before she reached over and grabbing me firmly by the foreleg. “Come on, before they come over here and cause trouble.”

“No, they’re too tired to start a fight. Help me find something to tie them up with.” My mind took a moment, but it put two and two together. I simply turned and glared at her. I wasn’t going to leave because she was afraid they’d recognize her. What did I care if they slipped up, I could just pretend to not know what they meant. With as tired as these two looked, I felt like maybe they could be the ones to answer some questions for once. “Don’t you even want to know what Solomon has in store for us?”

“Bombay, are you crazy?” Violet seethed as she tugged at my hoof. “What are you going to do to them? Huh? Do you even have a plan?”

“Oh, don’t mind them. They aren’t worth the time to get all riled up over.” A new, hoarse voice spoke up through the building. Looking over, I found the well dressed tanker ghoul with the snazzy mustache trotting over from his tank. He strode forward with a stiff air about him, like somepony who was equestrian military bred through and through. “They know the rules. No fighting in the maintenance bay.”

“Nay, you don’t understand!” The angry stallion nearly flopped off of his tank in his exhaustion. “This lass nearly cost us our tank!”

“Don’t get me wrong, I believe you because you certainly are a sterling tanker, Mr. Guinness. However, rules are rules.” The ghoul gave a stiff stomp before raising his forehoof to adjust his burgundy beret. Doing so lifted a bit of his uniform from his gray coated flank to reveal… a red poppy flower in a pot? An odd cutie mark for a tanker to be sure... “Unless you’d like to take it up with Cordite headquarters, you are dismissed to your tank, sir. Of course the other option if you’d like to continue, is that I’ll have to ask you to vacate your spot inside our garage.”

“Grf… fine.” He growled, shooting me a sideways glance. “But this ain’t finished, young lass.” Begrudgingly, he walked back toward his tank. I gave a sigh of relief as he finally pulled his tired eyes from me. Now that I had a half second to think about it, what the fuck was I thinking? He would have destroyed me in a fight, even if he was currently dead tired.

“Thank you so much, Mr…” Violet spoke up as she all but hid from Guinness behind the flickering flames of the barrel.

“Poppy Gardener. Captain for her late majesty's fourth royal armored regiment, and attache to the second Scandineighvian division.” He spoke with a dizzying amount of pride, and an equally disorientingly detailed job title. “I assume you fine ponies came in to get out of this dreadfully dreary weather?”

“Yeah.” Violet answered before I could speak. “Why are you letting those two stay here? Isn’t this place for Cordite members use only?”

“Yes, normally you would be correct. However, as fellow tankers, there is a certain level of comradery that comes from sharing the love of heavily armored vehicles!” Poppy gave a hearty, scratch filled laugh. Goddesses, it sounded like somepony was actively trying to grind his vocal chords away with rough grit sandpaper. “And while they are welcomed to stay, they are to follow our rules during that time. Our repair services are not given free of charge as well you see, and should we have a few more tankers show up, they will of course have to give their spot inside to a Cordite crew. So there is a fair bit of compromise to be had for them to take advantage of our hospitality.”

“Ah, I see.” Violet huffed and held her hooves out to the fire. “Thanks for letting us stay and warm up for a bit.”

“Nonsense, it’s no problem at all!” The old ghoul laughed. “Please, stay as long as you’d like to, we do owe you folks after all.” Both Violet and I canted our heads at that, bringing a proud look to Poppy’s muzzle. “You folks were the ones who did such a smashing job clearing out that old depot this morning. The Cordite brass have been talking for years about using it as our headquarters for this far up in the north, but we couldn’t get the green light from Destruction Bay to do so. Thanks to you, they no longer have an interest in that old base and we are free to move in. Wonderful work, if I do say so myself.” Turning, he headed off toward the odd boxy BT-42 tank again. “Just if you do stay here, do try to avoid riling up any more of our patrons! Cheerio!”

Thank the goddesses that he was so professional about all this! Though, that professionalism also made me glad that we didn’t have any of the Cordite guys to worry about at the moment. Guinness and Zibar were going to be a hoof full on their own, I was sure of it, moreso now that Solomon was ahead of us. Actually, I’d have to bring it up to Delilah when we got back if Hardcase hadn’t already. It doesn’t take a genius to see the opportunity for Solomon to hit us from two sides the moment we left here.

Listening to the fire in the barrel, I tried my best to relax. The sound of the wind outside battering the rain down on the old building was almost rhythmic. My body was sore and tired from the last few days, and the warmth hugging me from the fire had stopped the shivering that had consumed me on the way in. Too bad it couldn’t also soothe my conscience about the things I’ve had to do…

“You’ve changed.” Violet spoke softly. Looking to her, I found her eyes lost in the flickering flames before her. “It took me so long to accept what life is like down here that I was nearly a broken mare by the time Jess found me. But that’s not what you’ve done, Night.” She softly gazed up at me with a small smile on her muzzle. “You’ve adapted. You’ve become a much stronger pony than who you were when you crashed into us.”

Pausing, her expression faltered and sank again. “But you still hesitate, you still doubt yourself. Please, don’t make the same mistakes I did before I realized how things have to go. I know that Buck want’s to help everypony, and that you may not want to kill, but you can’t be the pony you once were above. You need to forge your own path, and do the things that you need to in order to survive down here.” Reaching out, she put her hoof on my chest and smiled. “We’re survivor’s, Night, and you need to realize that others may not accept that.” I cringed with her use of the ‘survivor’ term again.

Where was this coming from all of a sudden? Did seeing Guinness and Zibar really shake her up that much? Maybe it’s because she had the chip removed, and she knows that now I’m the one not being truthful about what I know. I wanted so much to pin Solomon on her right now, and to pull her back over to our side. But instead I bit my tongue. It was too big a topic for me to go ruining by speaking out.

So, instead I swung my gaze back to the fire and just sat there. Still, I couldn’t sit here in silence forever, and if I spoke up with a change of topic, it’d just be seen as me plainly avoiding it. Ugh, how did my parents always do it so damn well when I was younger? Wait, that’s it!

"So, I know you don't want to talk about your time in the Enclave..." I said hesitantly. Family wasn't at all what I wanted to think about, but this was something I'd been meaning to ask her anyway. "What about your family?" If I learned more about them, then maybe she could open up later when I confronted her with Hardcase.

"What about them?" Violet cocked her eyebrow as she lazily flapped her wings, fanning the flames in the barrel a bit.

"Well, now that the cloud cover is gone, do you think you might go see them again? I know that you’ve changed, and they might not understand that, but… they’re still your family, right?" Seeing how Dashites were executed in custody for treason or just plain exiled below the clouds, most families must think that they're dead. I couldn't imagine what that must be like for either side of that exchange, but the fact is that her family is probably still alive. They might have never expected to see her again, but she had the chance to surprise them with it. "I mean, it's not like the government is going to stop you now."

"Huh." She snorted hard enough that her interested look turned into a smile. "You know, I don't think I’ve considered that yet." Looking over to me, I was relieved by nothing more than how relaxed the change in topic seemed to make her. "I mean, yeah. Maybe after we get back, I'll look Mom, Dad, and ole' Cruppy up. They were probably told I was dead though… the shock might be too much for them."

"I’m sure they’ll understand your reappearance, but... ole' Cruppy?" I asked, thoroughly confused.

"My older brother, Crepuscular Ray. You know, like the first Raptor the Enclave retrofit after we closed the sky." She laughed and rolled her eyes. "Odd, I know. My parents had a thing for unorthodox names."

I didn't think it was that odd. My parents’ first thought was to name me 'Glorious Dawn' in a tribute to the Enclave letting them have me at all. I'm quite happy they didn't go that route.

"Goddesses I've missed him and his antics." Violet covered her muzzle halfway through a snorting chortle. "Okay, so, he only signed up for basic after he learned that I applied after passing trials at the end of my schooling." She couldn't stop herself from giggling. "He had the opportunity to go when he passed his original exams, but he’d turned it down at the time. I’d given him such a hard time about it when he did."

"Yeah?" I asked, happy that my diversionary plan was getting us further and further away from anything to do with that stupid bunker.

"He never even took training seriously, even if he was good enough he could have aced all the drills without trying." She shook her head, her smile still stretched what felt like a mile wide. "Always antagonizing the drill sergeant. Always goofing off in the barracks. He didn’t want to be in the military, even if he was cut out for it. He was only there for me."

"Didn't that get him into trouble?" I don't know too much about how it would have been if I'd gone in, but I'm pretty sure that sort of behavior would have me tossed out in an hour! And if I’d been tossed out of basic training for fooling around, my mother was liable to have thrown me below the clouds herself!

"It got both of us into trouble." She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Still, it got bad enough that the company commander gave him an ultimatum because he'd set the record for most citations of any cadet within a week's time. He was given the chance to clear all his citations at once, but he’d have to run a drillathon."

"I've never heard of that." I don't know what it was, but it sounded painful…

"Every single drill for boot camp rolled into one time trial." Even saying that, I could see the look of discomfort on her face return. "You're given twenty minutes to complete everything, starting with four laps around the whole camp, then it’s onto the obstacle course, the storm arena, and then finally finishing up with marksponyship." She eyed over to me again with a smirk. "Oh, and did I mention it had to be done in front of the entire cadet class and camp brass?"

"All of that in twenty minutes?" I'd have been lucky to get the four laps done in that time. Shit, I would have surely flunked out of the Enclave if I’d gone in for the mandatory tests if they encompassed all of that separately!

She nodded. "Eeyup. And he did it too in record time." She shrugged like it was no big deal. "That is, all up until marksponyship with a few minutes to spare." With a sigh, her joyous mood dimmed again. Not completely, but enough that she looked slightly deflated over the memories. "He just had to get the last laugh in. He took his time with his magical energy rifle to draw a very unflattering picture of the company commander on his target." Cupping her hoof to her chin, she scratched at it in thought. "Funny. I never thought they could ban a pony from ever touching any make or model of magical energy weapon again."

"Even for a draft?" I felt my jaw almost drop to the floor. Mom had told me once that one of her fellow cadets during training had been banned for life from operating gatling type magical energy weapons. Which she’d always assured me was a ‘fun’ story she’d share at some point in my life. However, banning the use of any magical energy weapon period? Just because he was good enough to draw with it?

“Even if he was drafted.” Violet nodded. "Non-combat personnel restricted. They had to invent that designation on the draft registry just because of him."

"Wow, that's harsh." I said softly.

"Nah. He was much happier getting tossed out." Violet shrugged. Her smile returned and she shook her head. “He knew by then that I’d be alright. About a week later, he got a job as a financial manager of some corporate bank in our home town. He was quite happy with it last I heard." She sighed and hung her head slightly, still desperately trying to hold on to her smile. It was unfortunately a fight she was quickly losing. "Well, that was before I got pushed down here. I wonder if they told him what I did. Or if he believed them."

“I’m sorry.” While I was glad to get to know her more, I hadn’t meant to dredge up something like this.

“Nah, thank you. It’s been too long since I thought about them...” She chuffed at the floor before standing up. “You know, there’s been more rumors about that new Enclave remnant city being set up south of Cantercross. Maybe I should stop by when we get there and see if he made it down with my parents.” Giving a soft sniffle, she rubbed her nose and looked at me with a kinder smile than usual. “Anyway, enough about reminiscing. We should probably get back home.”

Nodding, I braced myself for the cold and followed her out into the rain. While I still felt angry about her betraying Delilah and the others, I’d almost forgotten that she was a good pony at heart. I’d made her out to be a villain in my head, and for what reason? Because I couldn’t see that without the others, I would have made those same decisions?

As much as I’d wanted to pull her back onto Delilah’s side because we needed all the help we could get against Solomon, now I wanted to do it because she needs to know that she’s not as far gone as she thinks. Because she’d been a friend to me, and somehow, I’d forgotten that when she’d helped me out so far, she’d done it all while already working for Solomon. Working for him didn’t make her any less kind, and even misguided kindness is still kindness.

The old her from above the clouds is still there somewhere, buried inside like with me. The difference is, I’ve had plenty of help to keep it buried just under the surface. While she has friends in Delilah’s crew, I don’t think any of them can see just how deeply she’d buried who she was before she came down here. Not like I could at least. But that’s why I needed the others to help me pull back who she used to be, and dig her out of this pit she’s put herself into.

Let’s just hope that when I get back to the hauler, Buck is still willing to help me dig…

“Another few hours!?” I gasped. “That’s hours worth of time where Solomon is pushing ahead of us on the road!” If today hadn’t already been yet another in a growing line of bad days, I might have been able to relax a bit before we got back onto the road again.

“Hey,” Boiler grumbled through the large wrench she held in her broad muzzle. Spitting it onto the floor of the reactor cubby, she gave me a flat look. “I’m not happy with it either, but you can’t rush these things! Have you ever tried to lift a multi ton tire and reattach it before? It needs to be done right so it doesn’t come off the second we hit the next pothole on the road.” Reaching up, she took a deep breath and put her hoof on her chest. After a moment to calm herself, she gave me a soft, genuine smile unlike anything Solomon and his friends could ever hope to wear. “Look, why don’t you go get some rest? Everypony else on the crew is saving their strength for when we get back onto the road, so you might as well do the same, right?”

“Yeah, I guess...” I just felt so useless sitting around here. And to be honest, I’d need something to keep my mind off of the smoldering wreck my relationship was probably about to become. Turning toward the ice hold, I gave in. I guessed that it was about time that I went up and finished the talk with Buck, because whether today or tomorrow, we needed to sort things out.

“By the way,” Boiler smirked and eyed me over, “Delilah wanted you to know that she was impressed by your forward thinking.”

“Uhhh,” I paused mid step, surprising myself as I didn’t get thrown off balance like usual. Wiggling my stump, I was happy to feel that my new prosthetic was firmly holding my weight. “What do you mean?”

“Hiring those two Talons was smart. We’ll need even more help on this next stretch of road.” Boiler’s words sent a shiver up my spine. Two talons? Hispano… what did you do? “I don’t know how you managed to get them to agree with what little you’ve got to offer them, but color me impressed, Bombay!” She reached over and gave me a firm pat on the side as her broad muzzle wore a bright smile. “Which reminds me, Mrs. Delilah stepped out for a bit, but she wants to see you when she get’s back.”

“Alright.” I sighed and headed for the ice hold.

Seriously, Hispano, did you actually rope your dad into working with us as well? Moving at a light trot through the ice hold, I felt my rear leg give a little bounce with each step. The springiness of my new leg would take some time to get used to, but overall, it still didn’t hurt, and that could only be a good thing.

Turning and climbing up the stairs into the rec area, I was greeted by Happy’s smiling face from the couch, and Lucky’s nervous gaze from in the kitchen. Before I could ask what was up, there was a heavy whump from through the open door to Buck and I’s container, and the sound of a piece of heavy metal being set down. Trotting over, I walked into the container to find Hispano setting out everything she carried in her duffle bag across my bed.

Buck cleared his throat from across the room, pulling my attention over to his… surprisingly happy smile.

“There you are!” Hispano squawked elatedly. Without warning, she nearly tackled me back against the container wall with a hug. “Oh I'm so happy for us! For being hired on officially and for being given a chance! We're going to be a great big family!”

“Uh… what’s going on?” I asked, looking over to Buck, only to receive a nervous smile from him as he sat down at his desk. The holes he’d torn in the bottom of it earlier had been covered up with an old clipboard and a healthy amount of duct tape. Honestly, to me, it felt like an apt metaphor for how I was hoping to patch up our relationship. “I’m confused… are you still mad at me?” I winced as the words left my muzzle. “Please say no...” Well, that was a disappointing start to this talk, Night!

“I... I'm sorry about before, Night. The things I said earlier, I was just frustrated.” He sighed, looking down at the floor dejectedly. “We've both been under a lot of stress the last couple of days, and I’m sorry if I made you feel like I didn’t want you anymore. I... I still want to be with you, I want to make that clear. I don't want to stop what we have going, Night. I want us all to work through these problems, together.”

Yes! He still loved me! Which was… great, but I’m still more than a bit confused by his choice of words…

“That's fantastic to hear and all, and believe me, I'm thrilled to know that you still want to be together... “ I spoke up, writhing against Hispano’s tight grasp. Reaching down, I did my best to try to pry her off of me until she got the idea to let go. “I have questions, like why does it sound like Hispano’s Dad is working with us as well, what is Hispano doing in here with her stuff on my bed, and what's going on with a ‘family’ or somesuch?”

“I... kinda overheard your argument with Buck earlier.” Hispano cringed before taking a step back. Standing on her hind legs, she clasped her talons together and stood straight with a blush. “I came to him in order to explain what happened yesterday, about what you had to do that he didn’t know about.” With a heavy sigh, I facehooved hard, remarking to myself about just how sore my forehead was starting to feel from how much I’d done it today. “Also…” She continued in a tone of voice that I just knew would make me want to facehoof even harder. “I wanted to talk to him about, well, us.”

“Hispano…” I grumbled. Did she have to do this today? Why did everything about my relationship have to be so complicated…

“Before you say anything, Night. I've heard her out.” Buck’s voice was an oasis in my world of misery. “She told me about what happened between you and her down in that facility, and about your… ahem, ‘date’ in Carmacks.” If anypony could explain to her why her and I wouldn’t work in a rational and level headed way, it would be him. “She… actually had a lot of valid points, and I think having her around could be good for us.”

“You… what!?” I nearly screamed as my heart started to pound in my chest. I don’t get it! How could he even think this was remotely a good idea!?

“Night? Calm down.” Hispano’s talons reached out and grabbed around my heaving chest, pulling my attention down to her now burning cheeks. “I... I want to stay here, with you and Buck. Like the big guy said, you've been under a great deal of stress, and... well being around those you care about? There's no better way to help keep it down than having those you care about nearby.”

Wait, nearby? As in, just in the same room? That shot an odd realization through my mind. I can’t believe it, I’d misunderstood all this! She wasn’t talking about a relationship, she was talking about moving in! Letting out a giggling laugh, I felt myself relax a bit.

“Oooooh, I thought you were…” I cut myself off with another laugh and shook my head. “You’re just moving in, I get it. Well, that’s fine! You are part of the crew now after all.”

“What?” Hispano scrunched up her beak and looked over to an equally confused looking Buck. “Night, I’m not just moving in.”

“You don't have to worry about hiding it from me anymore, Night. I get it, and I'm alright with it.” He smiled brightly at me, and though I loved to see him looking this happy again, I didn’t at all understand why he felt that way. “It’s just like when we talked about me going back to the Inuvik, remember? Though, if you felt that way about her, I’d have been happier had you not denied it when I’d mentioned it as an idea. It’s perfectly normal to be attracted to both genders.”

“I… but… what…?” My brain gave up. Words turned to mush in my mouth, and every train of thought in my head derailed at the same time. "Wait... you mean, the three of us... together?" Goddesses, what the hell had become of my life? "And you're really okay with this, Buck?" How could a single white lie to Hispano have spiraled out to this? Goddesses, what the fuck was I going to do now!?

“Geeze, now he gets it.” Hispano gave a giggling laugh as her eyes teared up. “Look, I told Buck what I told you. I’m not looking to steal you away. I’m not greedy or demanding, I just… want to be with you.”

"Look, Hispano, you're a great griff and all..." I watched as her smile slowly melted away and her watering eyes looked dangerously fragile. If I wasn't careful, I might really hurt her with my next few words. "I... just, think you're a bit young, you know?"

"No, I understand that." She gave out a nervous laugh, looking away for a moment. "These feelings, they're all new to me as well, and I'm still trying to figure them out." Hesitantly though, she looked back. "I understand that you may not physically want to be with me, but there's more to love than just that. I've had sex before, and as much as I like it, that's not what I'm explicitly looking for.” Looking over to Buck, she gave him a nod. “Buck will see to it to reign me in if my advances ever go too far, but I told you before that you are the only pony I've met to see me as just something more than a talon. I… I don't need you to do anything more than to just be there to keep reminding me of that."

"Night, as much as I value what we have, I think we're both in the same position as her anyway." Buck reached out and scooped me up into his arm, and did the same with Hispano in his other one. He pulled me up against his chest and gave me a warm nuzzle, to which I blushed heavily as I pulled myself close against him. "None of us are used to this, we're all finding our way through this wasteland. But we can at least be there for each other, even if in the future we come to realize that this isn't something that any of us want."

I wanted to argue against all of it, but… I couldn’t. Buck was who I’d wanted to protect from all this, and he was astoundingly alright with it. So long as it wasn’t a physical relationship, then I guess I could give Hispano a fair chance. I mean, that's basically what friendship already was, right?

Well, even though my gut was telling me that this was a really big mistake, I owed it to both Buck and Hispano to try to get this to work. At least, until I did something to monumentally fuck this all up. Taking a deep breath, I basked in the warmth that Buck gave off for a few moments before giving him my answer.

"Alright then. So long as you're okay with this, Buck, we can give it a shot." I was nearly cut off as Hispano gave an elated gasp before zipping out of Buck's other arm and onto me again. Her talons squeezed around me so tight that I only gave a whimper as the air was forced from my lungs.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" She cried out against my chest, smothering her tears against my fur. Hesitantly, I wrapped my hooves around her and gave her a soft pat. Oh, Night, what have you agreed to?

"Oh come here you two!" He laughed as he pulled the two of us against his chest and squeezed. Now it was Hispano who gave out a whimper as the breath was squeezed out of her. I would have laughed at getting sweet sweet revenge, had I not been borderlined passed out from lack of air at that point.

Here's hoping that this new multifaceted ‘relationship’ wouldn't literally be the death of me…

Author's Notes:

Thanks again to Kkat, our benevolent Overmare for creating such a wonderful world for us to use! And many thanks to TheFurryRailFan for being a prereader again! Lastly, thank you Dice Warwick, for letting me stick Mirage ponies into this story!