The hallways of the old ship groaned as I slowly made my way down the stairs back to E deck. Between the flaking paint, the buzzing of the lights, and the chill in the air, I’d begun to seriously feel like I was going to be trapped inside here forever. On top of that, the stench of oil and rust was so thick that I could almost feel it sticking and running through my coat and mane. It was a feeling that crept up more and more around me, and I didn’t know how to shake it. I’d never felt this way before back home… in the clouds… with my parents.

I stopped walking and let out a sigh. Even though it didn’t really feel like it was home, I missed the stupid little house that Dad and I had. Part of me wondered what I’d find when I get back there. Would I find anypony else from the Enclave there? Doubtful. If the clouds disappeared like that doctor had said, then that meant that most likely communications would have been cut too. How would they even have known what happened there?

With a firm nod, I decided for myself that it was something I needed to do. It was my responsibility to tell them what happened there. Maybe then somepony could tell me why it had to happen. Maybe then somepony could know that my father died doing his goddess damned job for that shitty government that’s done nothing but ruin my life. They took my mother away forever, and then stuck Dad and I in that stupid town where he died. Pausing at that thought, I stiffened up.

After only a few hours down here, I’m already starting to sound like one of those traitor Dashites.

The quick buzzing of wings filled the air from the stairwell behind me. The sound, as sudden as it was, dissipated almost instantly, and I’d wondered just how many other pegasi they had on this ship.

What fluttered around the corner ahead however, was not a pegasus.

The young griffin looked around quickly before setting her bright blue eyes on me. Even from where she was at the end of the hall, I could see she wore some sort of leather cap over her grey head feathers. Along with the cap, there were a pair of flight goggles strapped on tightly just above her brow. Her muted olive green body contrasted oddly against the rusting red walls, and it may have just been me, but she seemed… small, for a griffin that is. Then again, I’ve only seen the hoof-full who’d happened to live in Neighvarro City. A wide smile pulled itself across her beak before she zipped through the air right up to me.

“Heya!” She squeaked excitedly, “I’m looking for my dad! Have you seen him? He’s mean looking, and awesome, and super angry all the time!” The speed at which she spoke was hard to grasp, and barely left me any time to get a word in even if I knew how to answer her. “But you look super pretty, so that means you’re probably not a very smart mare. That or you’re owned by somepony with a lot of caps. My guess is dumb though.” She flittered side to side as she contemplated things I could only guess that sped through her mind. “Well, I guess you could be from up above too. If so, then you certainly are dumb, but good luck to you out in the wastes!”

“Uh… owned?” My brain was still playing catch up, but it was still overloaded from comprehending waking up in this place at all. “What?”

“Awww, you must be new below the clouds then! Don’t be sad, dum dum!” She said as she zipped up in front of me. From this close, I got a look at something buried in the feathers of her neck. Attached to an old piece of string, was the rusted shape of what looked to be a broken compass. I couldn’t get a good look at it because without even asking, she grabbed at my cheeks with her talons and stretched my muzzle out into a forced smile. “You’ll probably last more than a week so long as your friend there isn’t as dumb as you are!”

“Thanks?” I muttered through pinched cheeks. Reaching my forehoof up, I pushed away one of her talons. As I did, she gave a giggle and zipped around me through the air.

“Who knows! Maybe I’ll see you again someday! Then again, there’s a lot of ponies on this ship who didn’t like what you did to that poor hellhound.” She called out as she raced off down the hallway she came from. At the other end, she flared her wings and turned herself around. “Who knows, maybe they’ll put out a contract for me to kill you!” She gasped and went wide eyed. “That would be so cool, and I’d make dad so proud!”

“Contract? What? Who… are you?” I asked slowly. Come on, brain, pull yourself together! The captain was right. I hadn’t been down here long, and I’d already made enemies…

“Oh, me?” She puffed up her feathers and looked confused at the question. “I”m Hispano!” She put her claw across her chest proudly. “I’m a talon in training! But I already told you that, right?” She grumbled and hovered for a moment before giving a shrug and pulling her goggles down again. “Eh, doesn’t matter. Kill ya’ later, dum dum!” With that, she zipped away around the corner she’d come from and disappeared.

Tearing me from my all too confusing thoughts, the quick clop of hooves across the floor pulled my gaze to the opposite corner that the griffin went around. The bland gray coat and frizzy mane of Delilah came into view, as well as the same annoyed look she’d had from before. She stopped where she was, simply tapping her forehoof on the ground as I walked closer.

“It’s about damn time you found him.” She spoke with a roll of her eyes. Was it just me, or did she always seem to look tired and annoyed at everything? Maybe that’s just how all donkeys looked?

“Ugh.” The red coated mule I had across my back groaned out before stretching himself. “Why is everything so… loud.” The second I was close enough, Delilah lashed out with her forehoof and gave the stallion a hard smack across the head. “Ah! Don’t hit me, Mama.” He whined and pulled his hooves weakly over his head.

“I won’t hit you when you actually take some responsibility for once in your life.” She snorted and waved her forehoof for me to follow her. “Come on, the others are waiting in the bunk room for some good news. Please tell me you at least talked to the Captain about that?”

Oh, right, I could tell her what I’d heard. “I talked to her, Ma’am.” I spoke up as I followed her down the hallway. “The Captain talked on the radio to somepony else and said that they would be here soon?”

“Well,” She sighed as we approached yet another set of stairs that lead downward. “at least you’re pulling your weight around here, kid.” She showed the hint of a smile across her muzzle as she turned and headed down the stairway. “Keep it up and who knows? You might just fit in well enough around here.” I turned around the stairwell and did my best to follow her, but the weight of the stallion on my back was pinching my wings against my ribs and forced me to slow down. “C’mon. You should meet the rest of the crew you’ll be traveling with until we get back to where your home was.”

With the odd collection of… species as I’d met so far, I could only wonder just what I had in store for me ahead.

The large bunk room was similar to the bunk room I’d seen on my school tour of the raptor. A few rows of double high bunkbeds sat lining the walls, with only enough space between them for a single pony to walk in between. From what I could tell, most of F-Deck was made up of these style of rooms, and each one was nearly full of other ponies going about their own lives. This one was different, though. More bland than the other rooms, the bright white words of ‘Visitor’s Cabin’ were emblazoned across the open steel door.

For the first time since waking up down on the ground, I was surprised to know I hadn’t been wrong about something.

“Alright, gang.” Delilah said as she deftly hopped through the bulkhead doorway and into the middle of the room. “I’ve got some news for you.”

“Finally.” The long purple horn of a unicorn poked over the top bunk nearest the door, the yellow maned stallion yawning as he spoke. “Been waiting for what feels like days, boss.”

“It has been days.” A deep voice spoke out behind the largest bean bag chair I’d ever seen. The chair itself shifted, and I blinked a few times as the enormous form pushed itself to its hooves and turned around. The large and flat head that stuck out from the bulk looked over at Delilah with a grunt, the pair of small horns that jutted from its head gleaming softly in the rooms meager light. After only a moment, the… thing looked over at me. “Hey kid.” He barely even acknowledged me before turning his gaze back across the room.

“Night, pay attention for a moment.” Delilah called out in the way my teacher would get the class’s attention. Instinctively, I did just that and sat down without thinking. The stallion on my back slid off me onto the floor with a soft thud. He groaned for a moment before seeming to pass out, snoring lightly.

“You’ve already met my son, Happy Trails.” She grumbled angrily before raising her hoof and pointing it up to the bunk with the unicorn. “This is Hard Case, our munitions specialist.”

“Howdy!” He smiled and waved his hoof excitedly.

Delilah shifted and swung her hoof over to the massive… thing on the bunk across from Hard Case. “That lump over there is Howitzer. He works the main gun on Bessy, our lead vehicle. He’s a buffalo, if you didn’t already know that.” Her words brought nothing more than a grunt from him before he turned and laid back down on his bed. “His younger sister, Boiler, is our mechanic and is currently over at the Empirica working on getting Bertha ready to roll.”

I stood just outside the doorway and looked in at the odd sight before me, not sure what to say.

Delilah pushed herself onto the tips of her hooves and tried to see up onto the top bunks. “Lucky, you still with us?” She spoke up in a demanding tone.

“Yes.” The soft voice of yet another stallion came from the corner of the farthest top bunk. With a whine, the stallion scooted himself closer to the edge of his bunk. With a heavy clack, a wooden dowel with a rubber stop on the bottom of it sat opposite of a black and white striped hoof as it curled over the edge.

“You have a… zebra working for you?” I spat. Fucking no good stripes.

The tired blue eyes of the zebra stallion looked over to me as he sighed and rolled his eyes. “Nice to meet you too.” The wooden dowel that sat on his left ran up and into a metallic cup that sat strapped on where his foreleg ended. The pink scars that ran up the rest of the way from his crude prosthetic up towards his shoulder gave me pause, but it was the deep and dark scar that ran around his neck that made me look away.

“I don’t know what they taught you up there, kid.” Delilah sighed. “But no pony down here cares what race you are anymore. We’re all stuck in the same shitty boat.” She shook her head and turned around with a soft smile towards the zebra. “Lucky and his brother spent years as slaves before they came into my town. I bought them from their previous owner and let them work for their freedom,” She paused and turned to me with a glare. “Which they rightly earned. Understand?”

“S-slaves?” I stammered. “I…” Why would anypony do such a horrible thing?

“Kid, the wasteland isn’t a nice place.” Delilah sighed. “Start getting used to that.”

“That’s the understatement of the century…” Hard Case grumbled before Delilah merely glanced at him, forcing him to scrunch his muzzle shut.

“I don’t care who you are. If you work for me? We’re a family, and we treat each other as such.” Delilah walked forward and put her hoof on my shoulder. “Even if you are only with us until we reach Fort Mac, I expect you to behave accordingly, do you understand?”

I nodded softly.

“Good.” She said before using her hoof to forcefully spin me toward the hallway. “Now, come on.” She pushed me forward as she spoke, stepping over her son as she left the bunkroom. “We need to go check in on how the others are doing, as well as make sure we’re ready for the package to arrive.”

“Wha…” I said as she pushed me along the floor forcefully. “Others?” Looking back between the three I’d just met, I wasn’t sure what she meant. “Wasn’t this all of them?”

“This is only half of my crew.” She snorted. “Now get off your flank and get walking. We need to find you a place in Bertha to get yourself settled in anyway.”

Relenting, I pushed myself to my hooves and stepped aside. Mrs. Delilah sure was a pushy mare, but part of me didn’t mind that. With as confusing as this has all been, it’s a small comfort for somepony else to have an idea of what to do. Left on my own, I’d simply be lost.

“Thank you.” I spoke up as I trotted behind her. “For everything.”

“Don’t thank me yet, kid.” She said as she nudged her old glasses up her muzzle. “I’m not going to lie, but this is about as easy as life gets on the ground.” Twisting towards yet another set of stairs leading down, she didn’t hesitate before heading down them. “Honestly, I saved you because I thought that maybe you could be useful to me. Up until the day we found you, Pegasi were so few and far between that you were lucky to find one for hire.”

Well, that made sense. “It probably had something to do with the fact that we were all told that the ground was uninhabitable.” I grumbled as I pushed myself down the stairs.

“Hah.” She forced out as she quickly turned towards a sealed bulkhead. “The enclave has been down here for years messing up our lives.” She grunted as she pulled at the wheel mechanism that sealed the doorway shut. “Hell, just a few weeks ago most of them came down to wipe the wastes clean of us ground folk altogether.” She sighed and stopped pulling on the wheel. “Care to give me a hoof with this?”

“They tried to kill everypony?” I spoke softly. That doesn’t sound like something the Enclave would do. Sure, they may have lied to us about the ground, but try to wipe it out? Looking up, Delilah simply stared at me with an annoyed expression, her eyes darting between the door and me. “Oh, yeah, let me help you.” Stepping up toward the door, I hooked my forehooves around it and pushed as she pulled.

“Yeah,” She grunted, pausing as the doorway gave a groan and the wheel jerked around, finally moving the mechanism with a squeal. “Some mare on the east coast fought them off and got inside the tower that controls all the weather. Pretty much forced the Enclave to surrender and opened up the skies for everyone.”

Delilah pushed the door next to us open, and immediately a wave of hot air blasted me in the face. The sound of running machinery filled the air, and the smell of oil and grease hung even heavier than the air at the skydock ever had. The curious notions of what Delilah had been saying left my mind as I followed her forward onto the catwalk of a cavernous room.

A dozen or so multicolored pipes ran along the walls, branching off at several points to work their way down to one of the two large silver machines in the center of the room. The bulbous metal caps that sat over the two large drums hummed audibly in the air, as well as through the metal under our hooves. Two dozen or so ponies and ‘Snow dogs’ went about the machines, making tweaks and looking over various terminal screens spread about.

“Hey!” The sharp voice of a mare called out from below. No, not a mare. I recognized the voice, and it made my the mane on my neck stand on end. “Hold up for a moment!”

The large snow dog gave a heavy grunt as she jumped into the air from the work floor below us. With a heavy slam, the walkway groaned as she used her massive forepaws to grip onto the railing. With an ease only afforded by her impressive arms, she pulled herself up and over the edge. A silver glint on her muzzle caught my eye, and the metal plate that ran under her chin was accompanied by more than a few fresh scars.

“H-hi.” I felt my tail tuck under me, and my wings pulled tight as she loomed over me. “I’m… I’m…” I stammered. Come on, Night! If you don’t apologize, she’s going to kill you! Without saying anything before hoof, she gave out a hearty laugh before using one of her huge arms to scoop me up and cuddle me close against her chest.

“Oh, you little bastard of a pegasus!” She chuckled as I squirmed against her. “I haven’t been caught off guard like that in a fight in a long time!” Her other paw raised up and ruffled at my mane as I gave into just staying in her grasp. Okay, maybe she wasn’t going to kill me.

“You aren’t mad?” I asked, doing my best to look up at the very imposing dog.

“Hell no I ain’t mad!” She shook her head with a smile. Letting go of me, she dropped me straight onto my flank. Quickly, I pulled myself to my hooves and took a step back from her. She raised her paw and rubbed at the metal plate on her chin with a sigh. “Truthfully, I’m glad you broke my jaw. It’s been so long since anypony laid a hoof on me in there that I’d forgotten the exhilaration and rush of pain in the arena.”

“Night?” Delilah asked with the harshness of a disappointed mother. “What is she talking about?”

“Well, uhm…” I didn’t exactly want to tell the mare who I owed everything to so far that it was her fault that she’d left me without better directions. “I kinda… got lost?”

“Yeah, wandered into the arena in place of the mare I was actually supposed to fight.” Rosey said, saving me most of the embarrassment of continuing. With another wide scoop, she picked me up and raised me into the air. “They probably let him in because he looks more like a mare than half the mares on this damn ship. Still, this little guy’s got some spunk when pushed to act.” She moved her jaw widely as she spoke. “At the very least, one hell of a strong buck.”

“I see.” Delilah pushed her glasses further up her muzzle and looked over to Rosey. “As nice as this little impromptu meeting has been, we must be on our way.”

“You two on your way to the Empirica?” Rosey snorted, setting me down a touch more gently this time around. “I was about to take one of the motor sleds over to collect some more scrap. I could squeeze you two in so you don’t have to press on through that storm out there.”

“I guess.” Delilah sighed. “If it isn’t too much trouble, I can’t refuse an offer like that.”

“Yeah, it’s no problem at all.” Rosey smiled brightly again at Deliliah before reaching her paw out and grabbing the railing again. “Meet me down at the cargo door and we’ll get going.” With a quick jump, she threw herself over the railing. She used her strong paws to hold onto them as she hung over the edge, dropping down the fifteen or so feet below as easily as if it were second nature to her.

“You and me, however,” Delilah spoke again as she tensed up. “Are going to have a bit of a discussion later about getting into trouble. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am.” I nodded, pushing my legs to trot up next to her.

“At least you’re more attentive than my good for nothing son.” She sighed. “Now come on, we’ve still got plenty to do today.”

The pair of pink fuzzy dice that hung in front of me from the center mirror jiggled as the tracked vehicle made its way through the blistering storm outside. Since I was the smallest of our group, I’d been relegated to sitting in the middle of the small cab’s bench seat. While I was glad to be somewhere protected from the storm, being so close to the two others made me more than just a little uncomfortable. I tried to keep from fidgeting my wings too much as we bounced around lightly, and attempted to keep myself distracted by looking out ahead into the white nothingness.

The blinding white had obscured any trace of the ship we’d left behind in the ice behind us, and I could only reserve myself to the thought that Rosey knew where she was going out here. The howling wind pressed against the side of the rumbling vehicle relentlessly, and each battering gust made me cringe. Delilah however, didn’t even flinch.

“You know, I never did ask.” Rosey broke the tense silence that filled the air. “Was there any reason that you needed that specific piece of ice?”

“Yes.” Delilah remarked quickly. She sounded annoyed at the question itself, and how she shifted on her hooves uneasily couldn’t do anything but reinforce the idea that it was a topic she probably wanted to avoid. Anypony could have guessed that from such a short answer.

“Well, care to share why?” Rosey however either wasn’t that smart, or she just didn’t care. “You know the cutting team had to saw through part of an old shipwreck to get it, right?”

Delilah closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Yes, I’m well aware of what they needed to do.” I watched as she tilted her head down and let her old glasses slide down to the end of her muzzle. “I’m also under the assumption that you don’t like it when ponies pry into how you conduct your maintenance?”

The tension in the air was growing, and I couldn’t help but feel that I was trapped inside a small box with two of the only grounders that I didn’t want to see pissed off. While the Snow Dog’s I’d seen so far could probably rip me in half with their paws, I was really afraid of what Delilah would do if I made her angry. She could dump me out in the middle of nowhere if she wanted for Luna’s sake!

Rosey tightened her grip around the steering wheel and clenched her jaw. “Jeez, lady. I was just trying to make small talk.”

“I don’t mean to be rude. However, I don’t discuss my business with anyone outside of my crew.” Delilah responded with a firm resolve, pushing her glasses up on her muzzle again. “How much longer will this trip take, if I may inquire?”

“Another couple minutes.” Rosey grunted, losing the energy she’d had in her voice from before. “Storm’s keeping our progress slow, but we’ll get there.”

It generally amazed me that anypony could have survived for two centuries out here like this. Funny thing was, just as I thought that, a distinct brightness grew in the blinding storm. Different from the white around it, the glow was bigger, and grew as we crawled forward.

From through the storm, dark multicolored shapes began to form around us. Rectangular boxes with strings of lights on them littered the snows all around us. Old world cargo containers were placed in multiple small groups, each one with a different number painted on the side of them. It was much like the setup I had seen from the Captain’s room on the Inuvik, but on an entirely different scale. There had to be hundreds of containers, or if one the numbers on one of the containers we passed would have me believe, at least five hundred and fifty six of them.

“How is this even possible?” The words slipped out of my gaping muzzle without me having to even think about it. “How are there so many here?” Outside of Neighvarro city, I’d never seen a non-military servicing settlement with near as many ponies as this one claimed to have.

“Get used to that, kid,” Delilah snorted. “The Enclave lied to you about the ground.” As she spoke, she wore a sad look on her face. “The ground has always been habitable, they just chose to ignore us anyway.” At the end of that, an angry expression grew across her face. “They could have helped so many if they wouldn’t have been a whole nation of cowards.”

“No.” I spoke up reflexively. Immediately, I clamped my hooves over my muzzle to shut myself up.

The elder donkey cocked an eyebrow and glanced down at me from over her glasses. “Go on.” She gave a sharp nod as she glared at me. “Finish what you were going to say.”

Lowering my hooves, I did as she asked. “I…” Well, I tried to finish as she asked, but just like being called on in class, I found myself stammering. “T-there are p-plenty of g-good ponies up there.” The shame I felt in trying to justify why we hadn’t come down to help after seeing all this forced me to look down at the floor. “We just… didn’t know you were still down here. The Enclave always reinforced that in our minds.”

“Good answer.” Delilah grumbled. “At least now you understand that things aren’t so cut and dry down here.” Shifting in her seat, I looked up as she turned her gaze out to the container city around us. “Never let go of the idea that what you’re being fed could be wrong, even if it seems too implausible to believe. Never abandon your reasons for acting as well, especially if you believe it will help somepony. Do you understand?”

“What do you mean?” I asked her, finding her words hard to understand.

“In my time, I’ve seen so many things I can’t explain to others.” She sighed and closed her eyes. As she did, just the hint of a smile tugged at the sagging ends of her discolored muzzle. “And I’ve done just as many, if not more, unexplainable things from their points of view. The point is…” Raising her hoof, she reached over to me and pressed it against my chest. “You need to listen to your heart. Do that over what anypony else you’ll meet out here tells you to do, no matter what.”

Rosey gave a quick laugh at that. “Really? Follow your heart?” She shook her head and looked over at Delilah, whose expression had fallen back to the agitated one she’s worn for most of the time I’d known her so far. “That advice will get him killed down south.”

“No, it won’t.” Delilah retorted with a school teacher’s firmness to her tone. “Not if he sticks to his principles and the friends he makes. That will make him strong enough to overcome any obstacle in his way.”

Rosey rolled her eyes and gave a shrug of her meaty shoulders. “Whatever.” As she spoke, she pulled her hindpaw back from the accelerator pedal on the floor. The machine shuddered as we slowed to a trundling pace. “Well, we’re here.”

I turned my gaze forward again, and watched as a massive shape grew out of the white storm. To say that it was absolutely massive was an understatement. The enclave’s raptor would have been envious of the Inuvik, but this? This was insane.

Towering almost twice as tall as the Inuvik had been, and stretched on long enough across the ice that I couldn’t see either end from here in the storm. All across the top of it, more multicolored cargo containers sat stacked on it’s upper deck. It’s rusting black hull was caked in sheets of clear ice and snowy outcroppings that almost covered the large gold words that painted her name across it. If it weren’t for the lighting that shone through the enormous, rough cut door in the side of the boat, I couldn’t have been sure that the Emprica hadn’t been a solid mountain before us.

As we slowed to a complete stop, Rosey grasped a small radio receiver from the dashboard and brought it to her muzzle. “This is the crawler. We’re outside, open up.”

With a jolt, the door shuddered and started to pivot down towards us. That is, right until the moment it stopped with a jostle. Rosey sighed as the door rose again slightly before reversing and stopping again. A crackling voice came over the radio as the door again pulled itself back towards the ship.

“Sorry crawler, looks like the hinges are frozen again.” The voice of an annoyed stallion only made Rosey grip the wheel and radio set tighter. Tight enough that they creaked from the strain. “One second and we’ll have that fixed.”

Within moment, bright orange flames burst from around the bottom of one side of the door. Pressing back into my seat, I wasn’t sure what was happening. The flickering flames died down on the one side before bursting brightly from the other. The glow that the edge of the door gave was almost as distressing as the steam that was being sent up from the odd display.

The large metal door shifted once again, rotating downwards towards us. The bright ribbed interior of the massive ship seemed more impossible with each few degrees that the door descended. The cargo containers that were so numerous on top of the ship, were nowhere to be seen inside the interior, and instead, bright lights along the cavernous ceiling easily illuminated the flaking white paint that desperately clung to the old hull.

As the door flattened down, the heavy anchor chains that had been welded to it slackened, looking more akin to the old castle drawbridges from a millenia ago. Starkly out of place on the door, the makeshift metal ramp at the end of it dug into the snow and ice before us. All the way at the door’s hinge, an orange mare stood wearing what looked like an old school battle saddle with a heavy flamer hanging off of it.

“Good to see Brushfire has made herself useful.” Delilah muttered as she shifted uneasily in her seat. “Sad to see her go however. She’s been a good crewmember,” Delilah paused, almost in thought. “for an ex-raider, that is.”

“Well, with her skills with a flamer, she’ll be quite welcome around here.” Rosey answered.

With a rumble, we crawled forward again. The tracks of the crawler slipped on the icy metal ramp for a moment before they caught, jarring us forward and pulling us onto the huge door. I sat in awe of the sights that met my eyes inside. On one side, dozens of ponies worked on cutting down, fixing, or organizing numerous metal bits from a mountain of rusting parts that ringed this entire interior section of the ship. The scrap had been piled up high enough that it almost obscured the large letter H on the walls. I’d almost wondered where they could have found so much metal, but between the various odd rusting pieces, sat large cut up portions of cargo containers. This ship must have had an incredible amount of them for the settlement to have lasted this long, and I’m beginning to understand how hard they must have had it all these years.

On the other, sat a line of assorted vehicles of all sizes and types. A rainbow striped tank sat next to another bright red painted ice crawler. Next to that, looked to be some form of armored half track like I’d seen in some of the old war footage at the Neighvarro Cinema.

Towards the closer end of the line, sat an odd four wheeled vehicle. It stuck out from the others around it in two respects. The first, was the bright yellow painted plow that sat bolted onto it’s front. The near neon red letters painted across its blade that read Free Friendship Here, looked a lot less welcoming than the message implied. The second part that stood out, was the large, rusty round shaped machine bolted onto the bed of the vehicle. I’d become quite familiar to the old machine’s function in preparation for taking the physical half of the Enclave entrance exam.

Even up in the clouds, I’d hated the dizzitron. Even if it was one of the only things that could ever get me airborn fast, it made me sick to my stomach, and half the time I ended up plowing straight down into the clouds. The one sitting on the back of this vehicle was in far worse shape than even the original production one I’d used in flight camp, and I cringed at the thought of having to ever use one again at all.

Sitting parked in the middle of the line of vehicles, was a silver aircraft. It was a far cry from the Vertibucks that swarmed Neighvarro City’s skies during the parades, it was more… primitive looking. The black letters on it’s front spelled out Seaddler in what must have been a fresh coat of paint, as it was too well defined to have been sitting on there for two centuries. Two engine hubs sat fixed into the patchwork gull wings that rose from the fuselage, each engine having what looked to be a set of propellers at the front and the back. Also, oddly absent, was any semblance of landing gear. The whole thing had very obviously been patched up over the years, and one of the propeller sections looked like it had been scrapped together with odds and ends altogether. It was the last thing I’d expected to find inside this ship, even among all the odd things I’d seen so far.

“Enough gawking.” Delilah’s annoyed tone ripped me back to the fact that we’d stopped moving. As she pushed open her door, she looked back over her shoulder to me. “Night, I need you to go find our other zebra crewmate, Gearbox, and inform him that he’ll need to prepare Bertha to receive our package.”

“Okay.” I nodded, pulling myself out the door after her. The intense cold from the outside immediately bit at my coat, and I let out a hardy shiver. “Where can I find him, and who’s Bertha?” Dropping out of the cab, my hooves connected to the near freezing metal floor, and almost immediately, I spread my wings and pushed myself into a hover. Thanks to the thicker air down here below the clouds, I didn’t have to flap nearly as hard as before to maintain flight, but I could still feel it put quite the strain on my stubby flight feathers.

“Over in the agriculture bay, or Bay D if you think you’ll miss it.” She pointed out to a small parted section of the scrap heap. It was hard to see at first, but a small section of scrap up against the wall had been parted, and a makeshift metal tunnel ran into the section wall, disappearing into the other side. “Bertha is our ride, and once you two get back to it, have him show you the ropes of getting around on her and he’ll help you get settled in for the trip.”

“I’m not quite sure I understand…” I spoke up slowly, making Delilah close her eyes yet again in a show of annoyance. She certainly didn’t like being bothered about things, that much was plainly obvious. “How…?”

“Too many questions, kid. Just go.” She shook her hoof toward the door. “Gearbox will fill you in. I need to talk to Brushfire again before we leave.”

Instead of asking any more questions, I simply nodded and flapped my way towards the door. As I floated my way past the various vehicles, I couldn’t help but think that I needed to just do what I was told for now. Mrs. Delilah had been nothing but accommodating so far, and I had no reason to mistrust her yet. Still, I was so lost down here that I didn’t want to make any more mistakes than I already had. At least, not until I got back home or told somepony in the Enclave what happened. After that, I wouldn’t really have any reason to stick around there. I’ll be my own pony, and that’s something I needed to get ready to deal with.

Turning my wings slightly, I maneuvered myself into the small metal tube that ran between the enormous wall. The noise and chill of the scrap yard disappeared as I traveled down the arched hallway. A wave of hot air blasted at me, and forced me to shut my wings and drop to the floor. The bright light coming from around the patchwork canvas draped over the other end of the tube accompanied the sweet smell of cooking vegetables in the warm air. As I got up to a trot, the murmuring sound of many voices grew into a dull roar before I used my hoof to push the old cloth aside.

The hustle and bustle of the hundreds of others in front of me was dizzying. There were more ponies moving around in this enclosed cargo bay than had even lived in Four Peaks! The large container homes that I’d seen scattered around outside had been pushed back to the walls in great raking rows, giving way to a large open center where many booths, shops, and stages were set out. Great waves of ponies, zebra, giant dog things, and numerous other species I couldn’t make out moved from stall to stall shouting and working on various crafts.

“Hey! In er’ out!” The angry voice of a stallion yelled from beside me. He was almost beat out by the clamor of the crowd, but as I turned to look, I found he was actually only a few feet from me. His eyes went wide as he stared at me, and he reached over to a unicorn stallion who had been seated next to him. “You’re that mare who cost me my meal tickets!” He said as his friend turned around to look at me as well. “You’re going to pay for that…” The two of them took a single step forward before my body caught up with what was about to happen and acted for me.

With a heavy kick off the ground, I spread my wings and flapped hard. Even with the thicker air, my wings protested to lift me as quickly as they needed too. I felt a fetlock wrap around my rear hoof and I instinctively kicked out. My rear hoof connected with the stallion’s face, drawing a plethora of muffled insults as I pushed myself to get up higher.

Absurdly, I found a smirk drawing across my muzzle as I pushed myself higher into the air. I don’t see how meal tickets were worth injuring me so much, but I was safe up here. Looking back, I almost wanted to flaunt the fact that I was untouchable. However, the array of silverware following me in the unicorn’s magic begged to differ…

“Shit!” I whined out as I immediately tucked my wings in. The move changed my airspeed, and I sank down under the the glinting cutlery as it whisked just past my mane. Throwing my wings open, I pushed my forelegs out for the fine control they offered during my flight, and shifted my posture. The air caught under me, and I found myself in a shallow dive and picking up speed quickly. I just needed to get away from these ponies!

I dipped down low over the masses of shifting ponies under me. As I’d hoped, I’d gained quite a bit of speed in the dive. Straightening out, I was moving at a fairly good clip. More than a few of them gasped and shouted as I passed overhead, and I was constantly shifting myself and throwing myself left and right to miss a set of sharp horns sticking out, or the errant piece of metal that somepony was hauling around the market.

I will say this. Past my heart thumping wildly in my chest, and the adrenaline pumping through my veins, I felt good to be flying. In fact, I’d never felt so free in my entire life! Whisking over a table full of ponies eating the soup that I’d enjoyed smelling, I breathed deep and relaxed. Looking back, I was still ahead of the chasing silverware. In the exact same way as I should have been in the forest, I should have payed attention to where I was going.

My dangling forehoof caught on the canvas cover of a merchant’s stall, and I was pulled downward. With a tremendous clatter, I plunged straight through an entire display of what felt and sounded like what used to be intact ceramic dishes.

“Shit!” I whined as I tumbled down onto the steel floor plates, still half wrapped in the old cloth. The crowd of ponies around me erupted in gasps and whispered chattering as I did my best to recover. From behind me, the zebra merchant began yelling angrily at me in a language I couldn’t comprehend, but even over her voice, I could hear the angry yells of the two stallions who’d started this all. “I’m sorry! I’ll make it up to you!” I said quickly as I finally freed myself from the rest of the canvas.

With the crowd around me having taken a step back, I could barely make out another one of the connecting tunnels set ahead into the massive wall section. Spreading my wings again, I bust forward into a gallop and pushed myself back into the air. I climbed just high enough that I cleared the few ponies standing between me and the tunnel. With a quick look back, I found now that the two angry stallions had multiplied, and there were at least six of them pushing after me.

Dipping down, I pushed in through the mostly shredded cover of the tunnel. This tunnel was darker than the previous one, but again, bright light at the other end gave me hope that maybe I could find someway to get away from them. I flapped my wings hard, the muscles in them aching from the sheer effort it was taking to keep me moving at this speed. However, I was at the very least lucky that there wasn’t a single pony in this tunnel ahead of me. A quick thought shot through me, reminding me that if there was anypony on the other side however, I’d rather not risk slamming into them and ruining both of our days. So, putting my head down, I let out a yell as I drove the last twenty or so feet towards the flap.

I slapped against the thick cloth, finding what little speed I had drained away as I was forced to the ground. Rather than risking landing on my hooves wrong, I tucked myself as tightly as I could and just tried my best to roll whatever way my momentum carried me. I slapped painfully against the cold metal floor, skidding across it until I plowed into something soft that crumpled when I hit it.

The tower of cardboard boxes collapsed on top of me as my mind tried to reorient itself. I shook my head and blinked a few times, waiting for the stars in my vision to dissipate before looking around. The darkness around me was accompanied by the heavy smell of mold, and the whole mass that covered me shifted as I looked around. Even with my senses still off, this whole new section was deathly quiet. A few odd bangs and creaks, but nowhere near as loud as either the scrapyard had been, or that marketplace. Pushing myself up to my hooves, my muzzle lifted one of the cardboard boxes I was under off of me, and I looked around to see where I was.

This section of this ship was organized in a repeating pattern. Neat rows of cargo containers were stacked up almost nearly to the ceiling, towering like the apartment buildings that dotted the Neighvarro skyline. Each one was set up like it’s own block, separated almost completely from the next set by maybe a width of two containers. The stacks were layered so that each set of ‘houses’ was connected to a central walkway which wrapped itself in alternating rises around each mountain. Each ascending level connecting via what seemed to be cable and rope bridges to the similarly place junction of it’s neighboring rise.

The angry shouting of the stallions after me drifted down the section connection tube and forced my mind back to the task at hoof. Tearing out from the collection of old boxes, I spread my wings and pushed off the ground. I flapped hard again, trying my best to climb up to the top level of the closest rise to me. I needed to get up there before they saw where I went. If I was lucky, I might be able to skirt the back wall above where they could get to and wait this all out. These guys had to get bored and leave eventually, right?

The higher I pushed, the colder the air felt. I strained and tried my damnedest to ignore both that, and the strange looks I was getting from a few of the ponies on the higher levels around me. My muscles burned as the air even felt like it thinned out, my wings feeling like they were beating almost as fast as my heart was. I stretched my forehooves out, straining as they grasped at the edge of the topmost container. The darkness up here would be more than enough to hide me, I just had to reach it!

Using what little strength I had left, I hooked my forehooves onto the edge and pulled myself up and over it. With a heavy heave, I flopped down onto the cold metal roof of the container home, hoping that if there were any occupants below me, they’d keep quiet long enough for me to at least stay hidden. Panting heavily, I rolled over onto my stomach, and let my sore wings flop down beside me.

Closing my eyes, I perked my ears and listened. The angry voices below sounded agitated, and even though I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, I knew that they had no idea where I’d gone to. My heart finally started to calm, and I felt a smirk crawl across my muzzle as I was at last, safe and sound up here.

“Heya, Dum Dum!” The shrill voice sounded like a horn blaring right in my ear. I let out a scream from my muzzle that would have put the mares in my class to shame, and scrambled to get to my hooves. Unfortunately, I tripped over them and ended up rolling another foot or so across the metal roof and smacking against the sheet metal side of a large air duct that ran along the back wall.

“Ahhh!” Hispano squawked loudly in response before chuckling. “What the hell kind of scream was that?” The small griffon from the other ship rapped her claws against the cold metal roof as if waiting for me to actually answer a question like that. My ear’s perked as I heard the stallions below call out to each other again. Shit, I should have kept my muzzle shut!

“Shhh!” I snapped in a harsh whisper. “I need you to be quiet so those stallions don’t find me!”

“What?” Hispano sat up stiffly, spinning around and popping her head over the edge of the containers. “You mean those jokers?” She looked back with a cocked eyebrow at me. “You’re hiding from chumps like them? Why?” As she turned back around, she used her talons to adjust the strap to a duffle bag she carried on her back that was pretty much as big as her.

“Because they want to hurt me!” I snapped back at her, finally finding the coordination to get my hooves under me. Unfortunately, my wings still hung limply at my sides, and any attempt to even pull them against hurt bad enough that they me made me wince.

“Oooo!” Hispano smiled and clasped her talons together. “Maybe they’ll pay me to kill you for them!”

“No!” I couldn’t even fathom how she could sound so cheerful about killing anypony, let alone me! Then again, she did say she was some sort of mercenary, right? “What if I pay you to help me instead?” Yes, me, this is a great idea! Let’s get ourselves in debt to a killer as our first move in our new life on the ground. Brilliant.

“Huh, I dunno…” She turned around from the edge of the container, folding her talons across her chest. “Dad always said that you shouldn’t take contracts from desperate ponies. They always make rash decisions and are likely to die before they pay you.” Squinting, she looked me over.

“You said it yourself! I… I have friends, presumably they have money!” Stammering, I pressed myself back against the air duct as I heard the quick clop of hooves climbing the walkways around the containers below. “Yes, it’s true that I’m desperate, but please, you know that I need the help and you gain nothing if they kill me anyway.”

She seemed to think about it for a moment, rubbing at her beak with her talon as the sounds of angry stallions only grew closer and closer. My heart beat heavily again in my chest, probably just as willing to finally give up on everything as I was. I looked around as my mind told me to get up and go, to run no matter what, even if it was straight off the edge where my wings couldn’t carry my weight.

“Fine.” Hispano broke her silence, quickly throwing her shoulder forward and dumping her duffle bag onto the metal roof in front of her. Stepping close to it, she flicked her goggles down from the leather cap she wore. With a flick of her talon, she quickly ran a zipper around the edges of her bag and reached inside. “But you owe me, big time. And not something as simple as a few caps, you owe me a personal favor, anything I want.”

“Whatever you want, sure.” I nodded and sat down. “Now, how are we…” I began to say, my words dying in my throat as Hispano pulled out the large receiver to what looked to be one of the anti-griffon cannons they mounted for defence on the sides of raptors. “What is that?”

“This?” She grunted as she hefted the huge weapon against herself, digging around in the bag before pulling out the rectangular magazine for the enormous weapon. “This is my sister, Suiza. She’ll make sure those stallions never bother you again.” The weapon was literally as big as she was, and honestly, I felt more than just a little bit intimidated by that.

“Wha… you’re going to kill them!?” I gasped. “This is not what I had in mind!”

“Well, tough luck.” She snorted as she rammed the magazine into it’s slot and wracked the heavy charging bolt, letting it slam back into position with a heavy clack. “Twenty millimeters of fuck-you is the universal ‘leave me alone’ message of the wasteland.” With a whine, she pulled the gun up into her talons and pushed the butt of it under her arm. She looked back at me with an annoyed look and rolled her eyes. “Look, you have reservations against killing because you’re new down here, I get it.” With a step forward, she pointed the gun over the edge of the container, bracing the barrel against the metal to help steady her shot. “You’ll get over it.”

The air split with a deafening crack. My vision disappeared with the bright flash, the sudden change in my vision pairing perfectly with the sharp ringing in my ears. Even from as far back from her as I was, a wave of hot gas hit me like a slap in the muzzle. I forced myself to blink a few times, trying to force my vision past the afterimage of the small griffon firing her enormous gun. A gunpowder firearm was much different it seems than the magical energy weapons the Enclave showed off during the parades and exercises they displayed on holidays...

I felt the sharp edges of a talon grip my shoulder. Along with it, I could hear Hispano’s voice beat back the white noise running through my head.

“Come on, we’ve got to move.” She forced me to spin to the side, and she nearly dragged me forward with her. “Ship security will be looking for us, we’ve got to lay low for a while.”

“What?” I said for what was the umpteenth time I’d used it today. I was beginning to realize that it was probably going to be the most utilized word in my vocabulary for the foreseeable future. “Where are we going?” Getting my hooves under me, I started to follow her.

As my vision regained its normal clarity, she lead me along the back of the container. At the other end of the container that connected with the one we’d been on, I noticed something ahead that didn’t fit along the smooth sheet metal duct we were following. Letting go of my shoulder, Hispano quickly walked ahead of me and clasped her talons around the edges of the old duct vent. With a few tugs, she removed the slatted panel and raised it above her head.

“Get in.” She nodded towards the dark interior. “I’ve got a place where we can stay for a while.”

“Okay.” I nodded, really hoping that I wasn’t walking myself into even more trouble than I was already in. Stepping into the vent, I found that even though I was a bit smaller than the average stallion, I almost didn’t fit in here. Score one for having the figure of a mare, I guess.

Stopping once I was inside, I let out a sigh of relief. With Hispano leading me, I was finally safe for now. She was right, I had a lot to learn about my new way of life. Looking back, I watched as she stepped in after me, flipping the large bag off from her back and onto the vent floor. With a quick spin, she turned the slatted panel in her talons and pulled it snuggly back into place against the vent wall, sealing us inside.

“Come on, Dum Dum.” She sighed, reaching down and picking up her large duffle bag again, the heavy gun inside shifting as she adjusted the strap.

“My name is Night.” I said, holding my hoof out in thanks.

“No, it’s not. You’re an idiot, so I get to call you by what you are.” She huffed, brushing my hoof away before pushing past me. “This way, Dum Dum. We got a ways to go before we’re at my secret hang out.”

As we started to walk down the dark vent, all I could think to myself was what have I gotten myself into?

Author's Notes:

Many MANY Thanks to Dice Warwick on giving me early development feedback on the story, and to Sawyer for editing this chapter. Even more thanks to Kkat for developing Fallout: Equestria in the first place, as well as letting others use the setting!