“Remember how I told you we’d have a discussion about you getting into trouble at some point?” Delilah’s voice waivered somewhere between anger and agitation. When the only one left in your life who seems to care enough to take you along sounds like this? “Well it’s been moved up to right now.” It’s probably not a good thing to test their patience...

Opening my eyes, the fluorescent lighting of what looked like Delilah’s room was blinding. However, in attempting to shield myself from it, I accidentally hit myself in the face with my own hoof. With the exception of the feeling of pins and needles in my rear legs, I was more than comfortably numb. I was also, for some reason, lying in Mrs. Delilah’s bed. The scent of her flowered perfume was almost chokingly thick, bit it was a bit dulled by the fact that her bed was a lot more comfortable than mine.

“What’s going on?” I groaned, smacking my tongue as it too felt quite numb. “What happened?” Besides the slight ringing in my ears, I could hear the cold wind still attempting to batter Bertha into submission. Okay, so we were still somewhere in the frozen wastes at least.

Poking her very unhappy looking muzzle into my vision, Delilah sighed like my mother used to when I’d disappointed her.

“With zero combat experience, you left the relative safety of your room.” She grumbled, tensing up as she continued. “You then pulled Hardcase out of the fight because of his injuries, only to ignore his suggestion to just sit it out.” With an angry flick of her hoof, she tore her glasses from her muzzle and pointed them at me. “Then you proceeded to agree to help in resupplying Howitzer’s cannon, which you then abandoned that plan for what reason, may I ask!?”

“I… I…” Should I tell her the truth? Should I lie and tell her it was just an accident!? No, she’s been the only one down here who’s been honest with me, and she deserves that more than anypony. Besides, I’ve already made enough enemies on the ground as it is. “I saw that the Yaks couldn’t shoot upwards, and I thought… maybe…” My words drifted off as Delilah started shaking. Really, I wasn't quite sure if she was going to explode, or if she was going to lash out and hit me.

“That what!?” Delilah spat at me, making me cringe. The leather holster she still wore strapped around her chest creaked as she strained herself. “That you could throw yourself at them like that? To get yourself killed? Cause between the shit you pulled back in Inuvik and this stunt, that’s just what you’re going to do!”

“I just wanted to fucking help!” I couldn’t help it. I simply lost control of my voice because I wasn’t in the wrong here. For once I got past my fears and acted, so of course I’m in the wrong, right? “You were the one who thought I might be useful! Have you seen my room? Buck might be able to shrug off bullets bursting through the walls, but I can’t!” Delilah’s face as I yelled right back at her flushed bright red. “I can be more than just a scared pony to you! I knew that I needed to help you, and at the very least, I tried.”

Somewhere out there in the afterlife, I was hoping that my Mom and Dad weren’t shaking their heads at me in disappointment.

“You listen to me, Night, and you listen well.” Delilah’s tone dropped to one of cold, unfeeling hatred. “If you want to help, then you let us help you get on your hooves out here first.” Jabbing her hoof at me, I didn’t even feel as she prodded at my chest. “Those Yak’s were pushovers. Out there? Where we’re heading? Recklessness like that will get you and others killed. Because while you got damn lucky this time, you’re never going to pull that shit again unless I give you an order directly.” With a snort, she gave me a glare that burned hotter than molten metal. “Do I make myself clear?”

Even though I still had about a million words I wanted to say, in the end I wasn’t doing myself any favors by fighting her. I might not know what I’m doing, but at the very least I fucking did something useful. With a small nod to her, I could at least hold onto that fact.

“I want you to say you understand. I want to know that these words aren’t going to be forgotten by you the moment you walk out of this room.” She sneered, flicking her forehoof. In it, the folded sections of her glasses popped back into place, and she slowly put them back onto her muzzle.

“I understand.” I reluctantly muttered back to her.

“Good.” She grunted. “Now get out.” With a sharp nod at the door, she glared at me. “You aren’t the only one I need to have a word with today.”

I’d be lying if I didn’t think it a small comfort that I wasn’t the only one to piss her off today. Then again, I really shouldn’t be pissing her off in the first place. I wasn’t on this ride for fun after all. For now, this was a job which for some reason just clicked over in my head.

Huh, whenever I’d thought about my first job while in school, never in a million years did I think it would be this…

“Night?” Delilah grumbled. “Get off your flank, and out of my room.” She glared at me. “Now.”

Rolling onto my side, I stopped for only a moment to look at my legs. All four of them were wrapped in thick gauze bandages all the way up to my shoulders and my flank. Various dabs of red dotted the tightly bound wraps, but I still only felt the pins and needles. Figuring that I shouldn’t have her tell me the same thing a third time, I got my hooves moving and walked toward the door. Without much feeling in most of my body, I wobbled a few times, but managed to reach the door after a few steps. Reaching out to open it, I heard movement from just on the other side.

“Okay,” Boiler spoke as she opened the door. I barely managed to hop myself back out of the way as she swung it open with a sigh. Her fur was matted down with a mix of sweat, grease, and other odd fluids I assume came with working on machinery. She gave me only a cursory glance as she stood in the doorway before continuing. “So, the Thermo-cycler is shot. Must have taken one hell of an unlucky hit during the fight, and until I can find a suitable work around, it’s going to be a problem.”

“How much of a problem?” Delilah grunted even heavier than before.

“Well I can regulate most of the heat dissipation manually, but it's going to build up over time.” Boiler’s tone sank to one that really didn’t sound hopeful. If she sounds this bad off and she’s the mechanic? How bad is it really for this whole trip? “We can run for about eighteen hours or so safely I reckon. But after that she'll have to be shut down unless we all want to see what Bertha’s reactor looks like turned inside out.” With a thoughtful look, she shifted on her hooves. “I’d say twelve hours in full shutdown, give or take another hour to let good ol thermodynamics cool it down.”

“What!?” Violet chimed in from behind her. “What about the ice? How are we supposed to keep it from melting without any power?”

“The refrigeration unit has a battery backup that’ll last for eight.” Hardcase spoke up as well from behind Boiler. I think it was about now that I could truely appreciate just how big a buffalo was, seeing as Boiler took up the entire makeshift doorway…

“I thought ahead, Violet.” Delilah added before turning and walking behind her desk. With another deep sigh, she sat down behind it and cupped her forehooves in front of her. “We’ll lose some ice, but it’ll be at a manageable rate.” Looking over to Boiler, she gave her a short nod. “To anyone of you going into the Fort when we get there, see what you can do to find a replacement when you’re in there. Who know’s, maybe we’ll get lucky, and if it keeps us on the road, I’m willing to shell out quite a bit for it.”

“Don’t worry, Ma’am. I’ll keep her running until then.” Boiler said with a short salute. Looking over to me, she smiled. “Now, what say we take a bit to relax? Gotta celebrate you popping your murder cherry!” I really wish she hadn’t phrased it exactly like how Hispano had said it. Not only that, but the fact that she just reminded me that I’d actually taken several lives now made my heart sink. “Aww, don’t look so down!” Her still cheery voice was accompanied with a strong hoof curling around my neck. “Come on, hang out with us and live a little!”

With a firm tug, she pulled me out of Delilah’s room and out into the open common area. Hardcase’s horn flashed as he sat on one of the couches, and the door to Delilah’s room swung shut. It seemed everyone else was here with the exception of Howitzer, Boiler’s brother. They were all gathered around a group of taped together toasters that gave off a healthy glow from atop the rug between the couches.

“Here. It’ll help with all the heat you just took from Delilah.” Violet caught me off guard as she stepped up beside me. Pinched in her outstretched wing was a still sealed old brown bottle. I’d only seen dad ever drink from a bottle like this on his birthday. Because of my age, I’d never gotten to taste alcohol, and dad said that beer was something rare enough that you had to enjoy it sparingly or drink yourself homeless. “You’ve earned it for helping to save all our asses out there.” Her smile was genuine, and it would be rude to refuse.

The bottle was heavier than it looked, and as she let go of it, my wing couldn’t grasp it. I stood in horror as the bottle slipped and dropped toward the floor. A green aura of magic enveloped it, slowing it before it hit.

“Don’t worry, I got it.” Hardcase chuckled. “First time even holding a beer I bet and she’s already acting drunk.” I almost blushed from embarrassment as he held it out for me to grab. Thankfully, Violet had my back.

“Oh come on. Bombay did twice the amount of work you did in that fight.” She rolled her eyes, smiling at me as she grabbed my forehoof and lifted it up. “Go easy on the first timer.” Guiding my fetlock around the bottle, I grabbed onto it tighter than before. When Hardcase’s magic released it and popped the cap off for me, I was more than ready for the awkward weight. “Don’t worry, you’ll learn fast.” She commented as she let go of my hoof.

I didn’t really get why she was so nice to me. I’d outright called her a traitor back in the ship, and she just brushed it off. Though, I guess it could be that living down here has made her numb to insults. Or maybe she’d just always been that way. Still, she had no reason to defend me, yet she and Delilah had shown me more kindness than anypony outside of my parents.

“Yeah, maybe she can learn wasteland livin’ right along side Howitzer!” Boiler laughed, sitting down and reaching over to an unamused looking Lucky. With a roll of his eyes, he reached over to a cooler on the other end of the couch from us and hooved out another brown bottle with his one good foreleg. “Seein’ as with today's performance, you’d think he’d forgotten how to aim!”

I was going to correct Boiler on my gender, but stopped myself from doing it. Hispano had been mostly right about life out here. I’d made myself useful, and even though it pissed off Delilah, the others didn’t harass me. I still don’t like the fact that just past leaving the Empirica I’d killed somepony, but it was in self defence. If Hispano had been right about all of that, then maybe what she’d said about my looks stood up as well. Maybe it would be better if I just acted like the mare they all thought me to be...

“Well don’t be shy, girl!” Boiler snorted with a smile, reaching under my bottle and pushing it up to my lips. “Get your drink on!” Pushing it up, I nearly choked as the bitter tasting liquid flooded my muzzle. Not going as far as calling the drink vile, but damn if it wasn’t close to it. Giving a sputtering cough, I fought the urge to both drop the bottle and throw up. How did Dad ever stand this stuff?

“Go easy on her.” Lucky spoke up from the couch. He cradled his prosthetic leg as he pressed himself forward into the warmth of the glowing toasters. “She could get sick should she have too much.”

The door to the room I was given opened up, and Buck’s angry muzzle swung about the room until it fell upon me.

“Put the damn drink down, you’re on painkillers.” He snapped with the same intensity as Delilah had had with me. “I don’t need you thinning out your blood and bleeding to death after I went through all the work to pull out all that shrapnel.” With a snarling growl, he turned and walked back into our room. With that, I looked down to the bottle in my hooves and had only one thought cross my mind.

What the hell was I doing?

Between all the excitement around here, the anger I’d fostered in Buck and Delilah, and nearly getting blown up, I think I’d started to realize just how tired I’d begun to feel. Dad said that a beer was to be savored, even if it was horrible tasting. But really, how could I? Everypony I’ve ever known is dead, and today I nearly joined them. Delilah was right. Even if I was usefull, I got lucky. Maybe the smarter thing for me to do, was to sit back and think over just what I’m willing to compromise to survive out here.

“You know what?” I sighed, hoofing the drink over to Violet. “Thank you for the offer, but I think I just want to get some sleep.” Thankfully, she took the drink in her wing again and nodded. “Thank you all, really.” I said, looking over everypony. Now that I thought about it, Delilah’s son wasn’t up here. Hopefully he was still down in the ice hold and not plotting to sneak into my room at night or some other creepy shit. “Thanks for letting me ride with you, and I hope we can all get to know each other soon.”

Trotting around the warm toasters, I quickly made my way into my container and shut the door behind me. Using my wing to latch it closed, I looked over to Buck. He didn’t seem to care that I’d come in, instead, he blatantly ignored me. That’s fine I guess, just another thing I’d have to worry about later. At the very least, he wasn’t trying to kill me with silverware…

With a sigh, I looked at the holes in the walls. They’d been patched with some old duct tape stretched across a few thin pieces of scrap metal. Happy that they were at least somewhat sealed, I flopped forward onto my cold, hard bed. Crawling into the center of it, I gave off a deep sigh and tried to get comfortable. At least right now I didn’t have to deal with the constant vibrations and noise from the large vehicle moving. Maybe because of that, I could actually get some sleep.

With a long yawn, I nodded to myself. Yes, sleep would fix this. Not just a nap, just one long, deep sleep. I did my best to curl up before drifting off to sleep, and as I did, I prayed to the goddesses. With my last sliver of hope I prayed that maybe, just maybe, this could all still just be a nightmare I could wake up from. That maybe, that I’d still have Mom and Dad here with me too...

I awoke to a knocking noise around me. The warmth around my body felt like it weighed a million tons, keeping me contented in staying curled up in bed. However, the rumbling and shaking around me began to register in my mind, and kicked the idea of staying awake into it. I was a bit confused as to where I was as I let out a sharp yawn, but the heavy steps of Buck beside me heading towards the door reminded me that I was still inside the old shipping container I called home for now.

With a squeak, the door behind me was unlatched, and I heard somepony step inside before it closed again.

“Hey doc.” It was Hardcase if I remembered his voice correctly.

“Oh, hello again. Is there something wrong?” Buck’s tone felt soft again, like back when we were talking. “Are your injuries troubling you?”

“Oh no, Doc, I’m fine.” Hardcase gave a soft chuckle. “I just wanted to talk with Bombay for a moment, if that’s okay?”

“It’s quite alright. And please, call me Buck.” Buck spoke shortly before a soft jab at my wings roused my full attention. “Anyway, our accident prone friend here is just waking up I think.”

“Is there something you need?” I managed to get out around yet another yawn. I tried to turn myself over, but found my hooves tangled in a blanket that had been draped over me. It was odd, because I didn’t have one before I fell asleep. “How long was I out?”

“Just over five hours or so. It’s mid afternoon now.” Buck sighed, pulling his blanket off of me and putting it back on his bed. “I’d turn any guests away, but it’s best with your still healing head injuries that you don’t stay asleep for too long outside of a full night's rest anyway. I should have really woken you up an hour ago.” As I turned over, I found a softer gaze meet me than the scowl I’d last seen him wearing. “Though please, don’t take that as a reason to get back out there right away.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not here to ask him to head out into the sky or anything, Doc.” Hardcase smiled as I looked over at him. “Just wanted to talk for a moment.” It was funny both how little and how much different he looked to anypony I’d seen above the clouds. I’d only seen one unicorn during my time in Neighvarro city, but even so, Hardcase’s horn might as well have stuck out a mile to me. At the same time, without it, he would have looked just like any other pony I’d have ever seen. Well, minus the wings I guess.

“Did I do something wrong?” I asked, assuming that he was here because I’d fucked up somehow again. However, the laugh that Hardcase gave in response to my question did manage to relieve a little bit of my worry.

“No, the opposite in fact. I came to thank you.” Leaning back against the door on his haunches, he lifted himself off his forehooves and let me see the copious bandages wrapped around his torso. Wincing through his smile he pointed to his side. “If you hadn’t pulled me off the walkway there, I’m fairly certain I’d be full of a lot more holes than these two.” Lowering himself back down with a whine, he kept his smile up as much as he could. “I owe you for that.”

“No, no. It’s fine.” I offered my own nervous smile, not really sure what to say. “I just… did what anypony else would have done.”

“That’s true.” Hardcase nodded, cupping his chin with his hoof. “However, Gearbox was driving, Boiler was working the reactor, Zoomer was fighting. And Happy...?” His expression drooped with his own mention of Delilah’s son. “Well, he’s fucking useless.” Brightening up a bit, he held out his hoof to me. “So, even if the others would have helped, you were the one to do it, and I want thank you for that by showing you something not everypony on this ride gets to see.”

Reaching out my own hoof, I hooked it around his and gave a firm shake. I bit back a whine from the pain that shot through my bandage forehoof, but he seemed to get the idea and dropped the shake before it got too unbearable.

“Can he walk?” He asked, canting his head before looking over to Buck. “Not far, just wanted to take him over to my trailer.” An answer which seemed acceptable to Buck as he just nodded in response. “Come on, I got something to show you, but we only have a minute or so to do it for you to really feel it.”

Groaning as I tried to pull myself to the edge of my bed, I was both excited and curious to see what he was talking about. However, I began to realize that whatever painkillers I’d been taking before must have worn off, and without them my hooves felt like they had a thousand little cuts on them. With my curiousity pulling me onward more than the pain was pushing me back into bed, I managed to wiggle myself to the edge and nodded up to him.

Using his magic, he unlocked the door and opened it. Trotting directly across the rec area between the containers, he immediately opened up his door before I could even get my hooves on the ground. As he did, I found myself staring at his well sculpted, purple coated backside, and telling myself that I was not going into his room for anything like what I fantasized about in my own at night.

“You coming?” He asked, both getting me to move and encouraging the perverted side of my head. The pins and needles of walking before were more like nails and spikes now, but when a stallion like him asked me into his room, I was damn sure not going to waste an opportunity if I had one presented! No brain, not that kind of presenting...

“Yeah.” I wheezed, biting my tongue in a horrid attempt to control the pain. Walking as gingerly as I could on all four hooves, what I wouldn’t have given to just hover around like every other pegasus I’d known. Still, at the very least the air was still cold enough that almost immediately I was shivering as I walked across the floor. Through the air however, was an odd, whining sound. It struck me as similar to the way that the Enclave’s Vertibuck’s sounded when they pulled maneuvers for parades and such, but it sounded much more intense. Following Hardcase into his and Violet’s room, the sound disappeared as he shut the door behind me and I shrugged it off.

“Just, one moment.” Hardcase groaned as he looked up. Pinned up against the ceiling of the container, was an old looking ladder. With a flash of his horn, he unhooked it from its bindings and dropped it downward. Where the top of the ladder met the ceiling, a small hatch sat, which Hardcase flipped open with is magic. “Up here.” He smirked before hooking his hooves on the rungs and starting his climb up.

I blushed as He climbed up above me, accidentally brushing my muzzle with his golden yellow tail as I fought my urge to look up at him. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I had nothing left to lose, or with the fact that it was one of the only things I had left to hold onto, but I couldn’t afford to piss anypony off for taking peeks at every stallions rump. With a sigh, I bit my lip and told myself that it wasn’t worth it. Why oh why did I have to like stallions so much?

Waiting until I knew he was up top, I sighed and put my own forehooves on the rungs. The concentrated pressure as I lifted myself up felt worse than just standing on my hooves, but as I pulled myself up the first rung, I paused. The whining sound was back, and it was louder. It was definitely something like a Vertibuck, and that piqued my curiosity. More than that, if it was something that belonged to the Enclave, maybe, just maybe I’d be able to report what had happened at Four Peaks.

Straining and struggling with each rung, I pushed myself upwards. Come on, Night. Fight through the pain! I knew I was tougher than a little bit of pain. Okay, maybe it was a lot more pain than I’d really ever been in, but still! This would be worth it, I was sure of it.

Hooking my bandaged forehooves over the edge of the opening, I lifted my wings and stuck them out as well. Using them like another pair of weak legs, I managed to climb up and onto the top of the slightly snowy cargo container. In taking a moment to catch my breath, I closed my eyes and listened as all the sounds of outside became sharp.

The hum of the reactor below us sounded much the same as it did from inside my container, however the crunching of the snow below the six massive tires of the Hauler nearly made me shiver. The wind as it battered me made the whining tone I’d heard oscillate and drone lower than I’d thought it’d been.

“Not everypony get’s to see things like I do from up here.” Hardcase chuckled, throwing a warm hoof around me and pulling me close.

Opening my eyes, I had to blink a few times to understand what I was seeing. Unlike the white sheet of ice I’d been left with before, the sheet quickly became a mix of mud, dirt, rocks and trees only another few hundred feet out ahead of us. Majestic, rocky mountains tore into the thick, freerange grey clouds that straddled them, and the sight of wild snowfalls from them at the higher elevations brought a smile to my muzzle.

“Count yourself lucky on two account’s, Bombay!” His tone changed to one more of surprise. “Cause I think whatever they were working on at the base when we drove up here is actually going to fly today.” Raising his free hoof across my chest, he pointed off along the ice-ground boundary towards a wide open area.

With the snow on most of the uneven ground looking a lot like clouds, I almost could have bet I was looking at was a military base. While there were almost a dozen more sheet metal shacks all over the place, as well as assorted tents, things like curved barracks, a control tower, maintenance hangars, and the like gave it away. However, two very large concrete domes at the far, earthen side of the complex perplexed me, as well as the rusty chain link fencing that ran around the whole place. It was so lightly defended for a military base that I wasn’t sure how it hadn’t fallen prey to ‘bad guys’ like those yaks. Maybe Delilah was overstating the threats down here?

“Oh, would you look at that?” Hardcase chuckled and smacked me in the chest. “Something’s coming out of the hanger!”

He was definitely correct. As he spoke, the large silver metal door to one of the hangers shuttered and began to retract. The whine from before was far louder once the doors had opened. Literally on the tips of my sore hooves, I watched with great anticipation to see what would come out. However, when the doors had finally retracted, I was left puzzled as nothing was there. Yet… the noise was moving. Then as if somepony tore a sheet off of it, with a shimmer, a large vehicle seemed to warp into sight.

“Wow!” Hardcase giggled giddily. “Who knew you could stealthbuck something that big!?”

Before even considering just what in the heck a ‘stealthbuck’ was, my mind tried to wrap itself around the alien shape of the craft before us. A bulbous, egg like nose nearly the size of two Vertibucks sat affixed to a huge pair of wings and an enormous set of landing gear. Off of each side of the egg, a pilon extended backwards before raising up as a pair of large rudders. Even odder than it’s general shape, was what bridged the upper ends of the two tail pieces. What looked like an old world jet aircraft sat almost bolted onto the whole thing. Odd to see something so outdated as a non cloud system aircraft still intact. Then again, the Empirica had a fixed wing plane in it as well, didn’t it?

It was about then that my brain had finally had enough, and I blinked a few times to unjam my thoughts.

“What the hell is it?” I simply asked. “And what is this place?”

“Here? This is Fort Mac.” Hardcase waved his hoof about pointing to things. “The last bastion of civilization on the northern Equestrian continent, the northern most airbase for the old equestrian military, and our first stop on the way back south.” Tapping me in the side, he turned himself back toward the hatch. “That big machine thing? Not a fucking clue.” Stopping just at the hatch, he waited for me to turn and look at him. “Want to go find out?”

“Uhm… are we supposed to?” Not that I wasn’t curious, but I’d probably just find myself in more trouble if I poked my nose into anything I wasn’t supposed to. “I was pretty sure I was supposed to go get geared up or something. You go on ahead without me.” Being chased after by silverware is something I only intend to happen once to me in my lifetime, thank you very much!

With a flap of her flared wings, Violet slowed to a stop as she came down from the sky. “You ready to go, Bombay?” Her smile was almost out of place as the odd metal box she held in her hooves. “Delilah told me to get you geared up however you want.”

“Yeah, he was just saying that.” Hardcase, smiled up to Violet before looking back to me. “You and Zoomer come find me when you’re done. I’ll see about finding us something other than three month old beer to drink with whatever food I can scrounge up.”

Before I could reply, the whining noise that the large machine was making picked up. Large jets of flame burned out of the back of the egg shaped bulb at the front, and the machine began to push itself forward. At first, I wasn’t sure what it was doing as it rolled onto the long strip of polished, flat ice on the northern side of the base. With a bouncing shift of its landing gear, it turned and pointed right towards us. From this orientation, it looked more like some monstrous winged beast prowling around than any machine I’d ever seen.

The whining picked up into a constant roar as it picked up speed, and I worried momentarily that it would flatten the simple fence between us and slam into the side of the hauler. Instead, I watched in awe as something so large tipped upward and pulled away from the ground. With a sound like rolling thunder, the mammoth aircraft tore through the air and into the skies above us. I was forced to cover my ears with my hooves from the deafening noise, but even the uncomfortably loud sound couldn’t dampen the smile I wore across my muzzle.

After another minute, the silver airplane punched up through the freerange mountain clouds, and even it’s booming engines drained away with the wind. I wasn’t quite sure what that thing was, but the ground was certainly full of surprises. For once, I was actually looking forward to seeing what else lay in wait at the base, because who knows? While everything down here certainly was weird, maybe it wouldn’t be so scary afterall!

Instead of heading right out, Violet had suggested that I grab the saddlebags that Spring Leaf had given me. She pointed out that because I lacked money down here, what specialty goods I had in the bags might be worth something if something caught my eye down here. She only said this because she wanted me to understand just how important it was to indulge oneself in the little things. Stress was always something I felt at school but just kinda dealt with, and for somepony to say ‘just give in’? It felt so freeing, yet… still so wrong.

“Might I suggest something?” Buck spoke up as I adjusted straps to the full bags across my back. Looking over at him, he wore what seemed like a worried look. “Try to stay out of the way of anypony who looks like they’re going to send you right back here with another injury.”

“Sure thing…” I wasn’t sure what I should say about that. On the one hoof, of course I wouldn’t go looking for trouble. I just wanted to go about our business without interruption. On the other hoof, I wasn’t exactly having a spectacular week with staying safe.

“It’s just… I feel responsible for what happened with Rosie. I should have showed you the way instead of let you wander off like I did.” Sighing, he stood up from his computer. You know, when sitting, he’s quite a sight. But standing up at full height? He looked like a force to be reckoned with, and didn’t my quickening heartbeat know it. Sharp features paired with sharp claws, he was a hell of a sight. Really though, I’m glad he’s on our side. “You know what?” He sighed. “I should just go with you.”

“What? No, that’s totally not necessary...” I didn’t want to admit it, but having him along could go a long way toward keeping me safe. “I mean, I don’t want to keep you from your…” Pointing my hoof lazily at his terminal, I couldn’t remember what he said he was doing on it. Which actually helped, because now I didn’t really want to talk him out of it. “...things.” Thank the goddesses that I’m pathetic at everything!

Rolling his eyes, he raised his massive forearm and pointed to the door. “I’m going with you. End of story.” Well, at least that worked out. Turning around, I reached up and flipped the latch off of our container door. Impatiently tapping his hoof on the other side, was Happy Trails. The moment the door swung open enough for him to see me, a bright, perverted smile pulled across his muzzle. The exact moment after when he saw Buck behind me, that smile died a well deserved death.

“Oh come on now, sugar. Why you gotta bring the lug with us?” Happy nickered and reached into the pocket of a sleek looking black leather coat. Pulling out a comb, he pushed it through his styled pompadour so hard that I thought that whatever grease he’d used to oil it up would catch fire. Really, I was kinda disappointed when it didn’t.

“Night Flight here has a tendency to get into trouble.” Buck answered before I could. While it wasn’t the softest way he could have put it, I couldn’t argue with him on it. “I’m coming to make sure it doesn’t happen.”

In an instant, the perv was back at it. “Oh, a bad girl?” He cocked an eyebrow and smirked at me. “Listen, pretty mama…”

Buck gave a guttural growl that made my mane stand on end.

“Back off, Happy.” Buck snarled. Oh, is that my legs telling me that I should run right now? Yes, yes it is. “I watched you pull your moves back on the Inuvik. Hell, half of who you slept with on there had barely been mares for a few months, yet you deflowered them with no regard to even know their names. You sicken me.”

Happy snorted and tossed his head in dismissal. “Hell of a guard dog you got there, sugar.” Turning around, he shoved his comb back in his pocket and walked towards his room. “I didn’t want to hang with no squares anyhow.” With a kick, he opened his door and walked in, slamming it shut behind him with a bang.

Delilah’s door opened up and the old mare glared across toward Happy’s container before shifting her gaze to us. “Night.” She spoke sharply. “Violet is to take you to get geared up for the trip. But before you two head into the base, Howitzer has a piece of equipment you’ll need to take in with you, so see him first.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” I nodded before walking out of the container. Looking at her as I headed for the stairway down into the ice hold, I caught her smiling at me. Not a bright smile, or even a smirk. One where the ends of her muzzle were ever so raised, like she was trying her best to fight against the sagging skin, only losing.

“At least somepony around here knows how to show some respect.” She muttered as I trotted past. As I reached down and opened the hold, I heard Buck come to an abrupt stop behind me. Looking back, Mrs. Delilah’s hoof was on his waist. “You keep him out of trouble, you hear me?” Buck simply nodded before looking over to me. “Now just because we’ll be here all day doesn’t mean waste time. There are things to do,” She spoke as I started down the stairs. The groaning of the metal obscured what she continued with, but I wasn’t sure if I heard her right. “...ponies to keep watch for.”

Shrugging the comment off, I figured that there would be time to talk to her later about it. Shit! I still needed to tell her what Hispano’s dad had said! Ah, well, like I said, we’ve got time.

“Heya there, Bombay!” Boiler chimed from her control room, waving her oily wrench to get my attention as I trotted to the stairs. “If you’re going out, mind picking me up a Sparkle Cola if ya get the chance?” Her bright smile was somewhat dulled by the dark grease stains across her muzzle which were probably from the wrench. At least, I hoped they were? I don’t think sticking your face in a spark reactor’s inner workings was healthy. I mean, Dad never came home looking like that...

“Geeze.” Violet brought my attention to her as I climbed down the stairway leading down from the reactor area of the Hauler. Thankfully, she had saved me from following that train of thought to somewhere I probably wouldn’t want to crawl back out from. “Taken any longer and I might have just had enough time to get back home by myself already.”

“Sorry!” Buck called out as he descended behind me. “I decided that I could use a little fresh air for the time being.” Sure, tell the creep that I’m accident prone, but don’t tell Violet that. Buck certainly was… odd.

Dropping down onto the wet, squishy ground under the hauler, I inadvertently splashed my legs and underside with mud. I went ridged from the feeling of cold, muddy water seeping into my coat and bandages. Good thing that whatever painkiller I still had left in me was good enough to dull the stinging pain in my wounds. Well, I guess that’s one thing true they always said about the ground. It sure is dirty….

“You okay there?” Violet chuckled to herself. “Oh, right. This is the first time you’ve been on dirt, right?” I simply nodded to that, sure that if I opened my muzzle, I would have let out a whimper. “And how does it feel?”

Damnit. “It’s…” I paused. “squishy.” I sighed, taking one squishy hoofstep after another. So it wasn’t the most poetic of descriptions, who cares. I’ve been in it for all of ten seconds and I already hate mud. “Delilah said that we needed to see Howitzer first.”

“Already done!” Violet used her wing to hoist up a foreleg sized green box with cables sticking out of it. “Overheard her talk about it yesterday. Anyway, let’s get on in there already and do some tradein’!” She let a squee escaped her smiling muzzle before she hopped forward and came down hard in a large mud puddle. I closed my eyes in time to shield them, but I’m pretty sure that they were the only part of me not soaked now. “Oops, got excited.” She giggle gasped as I shook myself.

“It’s fine.” Buck sighed, stepping up past me. “But do refrain from soaking us again in the future. It would be quite unfortunate if the doctor you brought along caught a cold.”

Opening my eyes and looking over, I couldn’t help myself. A snort escaped my muzzle as I found buck about half the size he was before. The muddy water had matted down his black and white fur. He looked more like a wet rug than an enormous scary beast, and the exasperated look across his face said it all.

“Oh, hold on you wet blankets, I got somethin for ya!” Boiler called out somewhat awkwardly from back above. It was about then I noticed that Buck and I were stopped just next to what looked like a large vent on the Hauler. Closing my eyes, I was pretty sure what was about to happen.

“No, don’t...!” Buck whined before a long blast of extremely soothing hot air trailed over us. The piercing hiss as it drained through the vent left a momentary ringing in my ears, but other than that, we escaped with warm, mud caked dry fur.

Well, I did at least.

“Oh goddesses, that’s fantastic!” Violet burst into uncontrollable laughter and flopped into the mud.

In the world's quickest turnaround, Buck was closer to his original size now just… a lot fluffier. He looked like a black and white cloud fused with an angry looking dog’s head. Even the floof down his massive forepaws blended into the chest fluff he had to make him look like a big round ball of fur.

“You look like a big, angry dandelion!” Violet screamed as she rolled across the ground. “Oh, goddesses save me it hurts…”

“You’re welcome for the blow dry!” Boiler called down from above. “Now bring me a damn sparkle cola!”

“I hate you all.” Buck sighed with his own smirk pulling at the end of his muzzle like Delilah’s had. Yeah, I take it back again. He’s not so scary after all. “Can we just go now? Please?” Buck, while he looked intimidating, just didn’t put out a vibe like he wanted to hurt anypony at all. Well, besides Happy Trails a minute ago, but I could forgive that a bit.

After a long sigh of delight, Violet picked herself back up and did her best to shake herself off. “I can already tell you are going to make this trip back home just a little less dull the second time around.” Stretching out her dripping wings, she flicked them to get the mud out.

“Second time around?” I wasn’t quite sure what she meant.

“Yeah.” She nodded for me to follow her, turning around to head toward the massive metal gate that blocked the muddy road in. “Lucky, Hardcase and I made the journey up here once before in the runner. Delilah wanted to make sure that the package was still intact before gathering the resources for the expedition.”

“Yes.” Buck added as he plodded up next to us. “They were quite the celebrities when they arrived last year. We’d never had ponies from so far south make it up here for over a century. Farthest south we’ve had recently was a decade ago when a ghoul arrived from a place called Maple Station just north of Vanhoover. Drove a tank all the way up this far north for ‘vacation’.”

“Last year?” I gasped. I sincerely hope that it wasn’t going to take that long to get down south…

“Well, a couple months each way,” Violet shrugged. “Plus a good six to get everything together and the convoy ready for the trip back up here. We left only a few months back to get up here, so yeah. I guess it has been a year.” She smiled and looked back over at me. “Don’t worry, I’m sure the trip will go by in a flash.” Folding her wing out and over me, she pulled me against her. “Yes. In no time, you’ll be back in Brahman Beach, enjoying the now unclouded sunsets, and assuming we get this ice back home, all the tasty veggies you could ever want.”

“Brahman Beach?” I seriously had to cool it with the questions, but there was just so much to learn! “I’ve never heard of that city before.” Just ahead of us, two mean looking earth ponies lined up with a large square beam in the gate and began pushing it. With a grinding squelch, the gate before us opened, and we walked past the pair of ponies in uniforms with rifles slung around their sides.

She chuckled at my words, pulling my attention back to her. “It’s probably because it’s no city. Brahman Beach was a winery and quiet vacation spot back before the war. Delilah’s family bought it once the war got going and they turned the rocky eastern deserts of it into the largest quarry in southwestern equestria. The rocks there were used to provide most of the concrete for the military and stable-tec’s various projects. The town was mainly where the employees stayed, and some of its farm lands were the most fertile around. That is, until a few years ago when the ground just stopped growing anything.” Sighing she hung her head. “But that’s why we’re here. We needed a way to save the town, and the ice we’re hauling is how we do it.”

“While I am not one to question methods,” Buck spoke up again. “I would think that there would be better ways than arctic ice to solve your problem.”

“That was not my call to make.” Violet’s reaction seemed a little more reserved than I would have thought. “Delilah owns the town, and I’ve quite enjoyed living there. She could have told me to dig the ice out of the ruins of the zebra capitol and I would have done it without question.” Glaring across my muzzle to Buck, the question if he’d hit a nerve with that comment was as plain as day. “So if you don’t want to walk south, I say don’t question her. Got it?”

“Sure thing…” Buck muttered and shook his head. “So, where are we going in here anyway?” Oh right, I’d forgotten we were actually supposed to be going somewhere. “Some sort of trading outpost I suppose?”

We’d been walking towards a large open space between a line of sheet metal shacks and very worn, snow dashed tents on either side of us. Most of them had looked better off from on top of the Hauler. Sporting many patches, holes, and rusty supports that looked like they could give out at any moment, they seemed barely suitable for living. The only pony around them sat close to one of the middle shacks. He was an old, feeble looking earth pony. Wrinkled green skin sagged almost completely over his eyes, and the one, curly white hair still sticking out of where his mane once was seemed out of place on his head. As we trotted by, he gave off a loud snoring sound.

“We’re headed for the armory.” Violet spoke softly as we passed by the slumbering stallion. She used her hoof to point ahead toward one of the curved concrete domes ahead. “That’s where I’ve got to return this metal detector doohickey for Delilah.” Reaching back over her red saddlebags with her wing, she gave it a pat. “Supposedly, it’ll be enough to get Bombay here some equipment.” Giving an awkward glance to me, she tensed up. “Speaking of… I wanted to ask you about something.”

“What... about?” The way she’d asked made me uncomfortable, and in the back of my mind, I knew where this was going.

“Well,” She shifted on her hooves. “for starters, I wanted to talk about what you did out there with the Yak raiders.” Her expression only shifted to being more nervous. “Back on the Empirica before we left, when you said you couldn’t fly very well…” Yup, here it comes. I knew because she was looking at me with the same look of pity that I’d always hated. Even my parents didn’t spare me. “You have flat feathers, and you don’t know how to deal with them. Am I right?”

“Yeah, I do. Now get out all of your ‘I’m sorry’s’ and whatever. I can manage my ‘disability’, but I’m tired of hearing it all the...” Looking over at her, I found a look I didn’t quite expect.

“Whoever told you it was a disability obviously was an idiot.” She muttered with a shrug. “There were plenty of soldiers in the Enclave that had flat feathers. Even had two of them in the same squad I was in.”

“What?” Now that I really wasn’t expecting. “How did…?”

She rolled her eyes and waved her hoof dismissively. “I knew from the moment I saw you dive that you had them.” Looking back over my wings, She grabbed my left one with her own and pulled on it until I flared it fully for her. “Look, you know your wings don’t bite the air like a normal pegasus, but it’s not a disability. Not like those feather headed civies would make you believe it is above the clouds.”

In flaring her own wings, I could see that her plumage was much thicker and puffier compared to my own. There was so much substance to her wings, that when I looked over at mine, I could have confused it with a piece of colored cardboard taped onto me.

“Your wings may not have as much ‘umph’ as mine,” She said proudly with her lips pulling into a tight smile. “But oh if you don’t trade that out for something much better. Speed.”

“A lot of good that did him out there.” Buck mumbled and drawing a momentary glare from Violet.

“Well, it kept him from being caught in the blast of that cannon shell.” She offered in a guttural tone. With a deep breathe, she seemed to relax again. “Your wings don’t have bite to them because they present less drag. Sure, you can’t fly straight for long, but in a dive you’ve got more speed than anypony in the skies.” Smiling at me, she let go of my wing and tucked hers back into her side. Giving a nod to my flank, she said something else I didn’t expect. “I bet you twenty caps that you haven’t found your cutie mark because you haven’t been able to really fly or fight like you should.”

“And that’s what? Bombing Yaks?” Buck spit out. “Why is it that no pony can ever have some sort of non-violent talent these days? Would that really be so bad?”

“You know, Doc. Must have been real tough growing up in such a violent environment behind the steel hull of the Inuvik.” Violet’s sarcasm felt like that silverware that was chasing after me on the Empirica, only this time it was aimed at Buck. “You got all of what, two Yak attacks a month up there? If that?” With a huff, I could almost hear Bucks blood coming to a boil on the other side of me. “You have no idea what the wasteland is really like.”

Just like on the ride with Delilah and Rosey, I was suddenly the middle of an anger sandwich. I don’t know what prompted me to speak up, but I felt that I needed to say something. I’d spoken up against Delilah and that only made me fear death by glaring a little!

Raising my voice over theirs, I went for broke. “Mrs. Delilah said I needed to stay out of trouble, and unless you two want me to tell her that you’re the ones getting me into it, I suggest the both of you cool off!” With a stomp on the muddy ground that caked my forehoof completely, I noticed that the two next to me had actually fell silent. “This was supposed to be simple. I really don’t want this to turn into another incident where I disappoint Mrs. Delilah. Not after she’s been nothing but helpful and kind to me.”

I have to say, that actually felt kinda good to say. And from what it seems, it actually worked. Now I just have to see if I’ll be painfully murdered by either of them in anger in the next three seconds or not...

“I… I’m sorry.” Glancing up to Buck, I found him with quite the surprised look on his muzzle. Alright, that’s one of them not murdering me for my outburst. “I didn’t mean to make things more tense than they should have been.”

“Not like it matters,” Violet grunted. “We’re here.” At the very least, she wasn’t going to murder me just yet either. I say that’s a win then!

Turning my attentions ahead, before us was the large concrete dome. Besides the obvious old grime and cracks formed over the last two centuries, the dome was featureless with the exception of a set of rusty double doors built at the base. As we approached, one of them swung open and a uniformed unicorn carrying a fancy looking assault rifle trotted out and past us looking contented. Slipping in before the door shut again, I nearly gagged at the smell.

The dark and cavernous interior was smoky, and a choking thick stench of oil felt like it greased my coat and mane just by standing in it. Along with the smell, the sound of bangs and clangs resonated through the room every few moments. A great furnace burned behind another large military tent that sat in the center of the large dome. The words Galvin and Yar’s Armory & Blacksmith sat painted in bold white letters across the fabric.

“Ugh.” Buck recoiled at the door and backed up. Pinching his nose between his massive claws, he waved us off with his other paw. “On second thought, I think I’ll wait outside.” Giving a few sniffs of the air myself, it was odd, as I didn’t smell anything too off...

“Suit yourself.” Violet called out before trotting into the tent ahead of me. Not wanting to somehow get myself lost in this place, I decided to follow her through the tent flap. As we entered, a small chime hung on it rang. Instantly my vision was cluttered with more metal and cloth than I’d ever seen in one place back home. Shelves of guns, blades, and tools lined the edges of the tent. Racks of uniforms, leather barding, even near pristine dresses sat spread around. Shelves of various bits of assorted things sat next to bins full of assorted mechanical parts. Boxes and crates of ammo sat displayed almost haphazardly about the place, looking more like a fire hazard than anything.

Even the hanging fluorescent lights held metal hangers that displayed things meant for pegasi like me. Off the center light even hung a nearly pristine Shadowbolts uniform, complete with an officer cap and fuzzy brown leather flight coat! I’d only ever seen one of the old war uniforms back in the Enclave Military history museum for the Arms Day Parade back in Neighvarro City. Not only was it Wonderbolt’s legend and Shadow Bolt veteran Lightning Dust’s dress uniform, they only brought it out of the archives for viewing on that holiday every five years!

Instantly, I knew that what Violet said early about impulse spending was true, because that was something I wanted. It was Pegasus history that I had a chance to own. I don’t care if it was just some random enlisted soldiers old uniform, wearing it would be so much better than just looking at it behind sealed glass!

“Greetings!” A booming great voice called out. Looking up, I found myself looking at what could only be a Minotaur, or at least, from how my schoolbooks had described them. A large, bipedal light blue coated bull looking creature, with strong hands and a pension to intimidate their opponents. Well, I at least hoped that last part was only back during the war. “What can I, Galvin, do for you fine folks?” Leaning his massive weight onto the counter he stood behind, I noticed that he had a bit of a gut to him. So much so that it nearly stuck out onto the counter as he leaned down onto it.

“I’m here to return this unit.” Violet carefully winged the device she’d gotten onto the counter. “Bought it here almost a year ago for four hundred caps, it’s hardly been used.”

“Hmmm.” Galvin grabbed the device off the counter with his hands and brought it up to his enormous square muzzle. With a snort and delicate use of his digits, he turned it on. The machine whined to life and gave out ticks as he waved it around a bit. “Seems well enough in working order.” Satisfied, he set it down. “I’ll give to two hundred and fifty caps for it.”

“What?” Violet scoffed. “It’s hardly used, and like I said, I bought it for four hundred. From you no less!”

“I can’t rightly recall the sale, being of a year ago and all.” Galvin scratched at his chin a bit as he looked at the device on the counter. “Not much demand for X-ray spectroscopes up here, but I think I could find a pony willing to buy it. I could do two sixty, maybe.”

“You know what? I had a lot to get today and I think I’ll just take my business elsewhere.” Reaching out with her wing, I had to say I was kinda disappointed in the turn that this took.

“Well…” Galvin spoke up just as she put her wing on the device, causing her to hold it in place. “If you are looking for supplies, we’re the best place around. I’m sure that if you find something you want here, I could possibly give you a bit of a discount on whatever else you need. Let’s say five percent.” His offer made Violet relax slight. “But you’ll take two fifty for the spectroscope if you want that five percent.”

Not going to lie, this was all a mystery to me, and looked more like an exchange between two actors on the movie screens than anything like shopping was. This seemed so much more complex than shopping had been up above the clouds. Mom and Dad never argued about the price of anything, only if we actually needed it or not. The casualness about how this was going however told me that this was how things normally went down here. If so, then I have a lot to learn about it.

“Deal.” Violet nodded and removed her wing off the device as she turned to me. “Alright Bombay, let’s find you some gear.” She smiled as she pointed over to a rack that held bardings made of metal and leather straps. “First, let’s check out the battle saddles, see what fits you.”

“What about that?” I pointed to the Shadow Bolt outfit. Turning back towards Gavin, I gave him a smile. “How much?”

“Oh, just about two hundred caps if you want the whole lot.” He grunted and raised an eyebrow. “A hundred if you just wanted the jacket and hat. The flight suit however is armored, so I couldn’t let it go for less than one thirty on it’s own.” Ouch, that wasn’t at all within my price range at the moment.

With a longing look over to the hanging display, I turned back to Violet and followed. I should probably look into defending myself before going off and buying things that look good. Besides, if one of these saddle things weren’t all that expensive, maybe I could get the jacket with it?

“So, do you know what I’ll need?” I asked as she reached out and started to rifle between the different hanging groups of saddles.

“I was thinking something that would compliment your speed…” She let her words drift off as she looked over one saddle after another quite intently. “Hmm… maybe a plasma saddle?” She muttered under her breath as she hoofed at one of the oddly shaped plates on one saddle. Each saddle had the same set up, but each side plate attached to it was a different shape. I recognized the flat square shape for standard Enclave magical energy weapons, but there were many more shapes than I’d even care to guess at.

“Aha!” Violet gasped before hoofing one of the hanging rigs off the display. This one was one that I didn’t recognize the plates on, having the wearers left side with three sets of prongs set into leather, and the right side holding a long, thin rectangular plate. However, the way the whole outfit’s side straps had loops in it, I was betting it had originally been designed with a pegasus in mind. “Well fuck.” She sighed as she pulled it free of the others. Turning back toward Gavin, she held it up to him. “Do you have a bridle and trigger assembly for this Grenadier model saddle?”

“Sorry, what you see is what you get.” Gavin shook his head. Raising his arm almost like he was flexing, he used his massive hand to point behind him. “However, my wife would be able to smith one up for you fairly quickly. So long as you don’t have to be anywhere in a few hours.”

“We’ll be here all day.” Violet nodded. “What’s the price for the whole rig?”

With a toss of his head, he held out his hand and wavered it. “I’d say about three hundred.” And that’s the last hope of getting that jacket falling away like raindrops in an afternoon thunderstorm. “Subgun and grenades not included of course.”

“Of course.” Violet sighed and turned to me. “Look, it’s going to be your call. I was only supposed to get you geared up, but Delilah wanted me to make sure you were the one to get your equipment and weapons.” She looked back over to the Shadow Bolt display. “Now, I can only make suggestions, but either way you go Delilah will cover the extra expenses of guns, ammo, and other things needing to be tacked on.”

“Well, I brought my stuff like you said. That’s got to help a little, right?” I offered her a nervous smile, not finding a hint of one in return. “I just have to choose then…” Getting a nod out of her, I looked down between the saddle she held in her hoof, and back over to the snazzy looking display of actual Shadow Bolt memorabilia I could own. “Right… choose.” And here I thought shopping was going to be something simple.

This was going to be harder than I thought....