“What?” Happy smirked as he stood front and center underneath the old painted skull. “Are you finally speechless? That’d be a first for you.” He wasn’t wrong about that, but that really wasn’t why I hadn’t said anything...

“I’ve seen this symbol before.” I grunted and looked over to Ping as he stepped up to one of the two terminals at the door. On the other side of the doorway sat an identical terminal, where Ottie likewise stood. “At the old ammo depot in Destruction Bay.” Mentioning that perked Ping’s ears, but it didn’t break his attention off typing into the terminal. “Hispano said that it meant that it was where they kept the ‘good shit’, but we didn’t much like what we found down there.”

“Wait, what?” Happy scrunched his muzzle up at me. “You said it was already collapsed and everything when you got there.” I simply glanced at Happy, and he almost looked like he froze. “Oh. But… why’d you lie about it then?”

“Probably to keep the many, many megaspells stored inside from falling into the hooves of the wrong ponies.” Ping spoke up as his hooves worked over they keys to the terminal. He wasn’t as fast at working them as someone like Hispano, but it was still impressive for just using his hooves. “It was the statistically correct move, so long as nopony else was informed of their existence.” He shifted his head just enough to shoot a sideways glance back at Happy. “Which we at the Factory have calculated as seventy five percent less effective now that Happy has been informed of their existence.”

“Hey!” Happy snapped at that. “I’m not that loose lipped, pal.”

Well, that’s just fucking fantastic. Not at all surprising, but still. I swear to the goddesses above, if Happy tries to even speak one word of that to anypony, I’ll kill him myself. There’s too much risk to the wastes if anypony else knew about those megaspells.

“Ready, Ottie?” Ping asked as he turned his attention back to the terminal.

“Yup!” Ottie gave an eager nod as he hovered his hoof above his own terminal.

With completely synchronized movements, both Ping and Ottie pressed buttons on their terminals. A short klaxon blared as a yellow caution light flashed up above. With a ratcheting clank, the doors shuttered before pushing inward about a meter and coming to a stop with a metallic bang. An electric whine picked up through the air as each half of the doors were pulled sideways, splitting open to reveal a much smaller storeroom than the one we were currently in.

I squinted as a few rows of bright overhead lights kicked on inside, and I blinked a few times as I took in just what awaited us. Like the first room, there were tons of guns here, but they were all in good condition and stored neatly on racks stacked up almost to the ceiling. Boxes of assorted magazines, grenades, and rockets littered the ground between the aisles. Attachments and battle saddles for every size, shape, and race that existed in the wastes were stored on their own racks along the sides of the room. Not to mention the fact that, stashed under canvas along the back wall, were what seemed to be a few wheeled artillery pieces.

There were more guns in these two rooms than I think there were in every settlement I’d been to since I got down into the wastes. Granted, most of them weren’t functional as Happy had mentioned, but still! This new room alone could have probably armed half of the airbase at Neighvarro! Still, something here didn’t add up…

“Where’d you put the megaspells?” I asked as Ping spun around to shine his smile at me again.

“There ain’t any megaspells here.” Sierra startled me from behind as she spoke sternly. “Never were any ta begin with. That skull is just a generic old world warnin’.” Trotting past me, she shot Happy what I could only call a faceless glare. “This place was ta be excavated durin’ the war, only blastin’ charges and the like were stored behind these doors. So y’all can hold on ta yer britches before ya get ‘em in a bunch thinkin’ we’re holdin’ out on ya.”

“Just focus on selecting what you need for the upcoming task.” Ping added in as Sierra trotted past him into the armory. “Given what you’ve carried with you before, we do have some idea of what you’d like. Perhaps we should start there?”

You know, I’ve really come to hate choosing between things that could potentially end others lives, or save my own.

Unsurprisingly, they had nearly every kind of Submachine gun here that had been built during the war, and even some that had been slapped together afterwards. Still, it wasn’t hard to narrow down my options. I was left staring at either another old Bison, which would be absolutely great due to its large magazine. Or, I could fall back on an old Enclave favorite, a Cloud-9 magical energy submachine gun. It was nice because it was pretty lightweight and had a self charging magazine, but it had a tendency to overheat and melt if used too much in a short period of time...

For the son of a military mare and a mechanically inclined father, I still really had no idea what was what when it came to guns. More than ever, I missed having the wisdom of Hardcase or Boiler around to help make this easier. And of course, Hispano would probably just tell me to suck it up and grab something bigger than a submachine gun…

Goddesses I hope she’s doing alright…

“Night?” Happy leaned forward, almost shouting in my ear to get my attention. He gave a couple of light nocks against the side of my head which tore me from my internal dilemma. “You okay there, buddy?”

“Yeah.” I grumbled. “Just… not sure which one to choose.”

“Why not take both?” Happy offered along with a playful shove.

“What?” I had to keep myself from snapping at him, but seriously, he could at least be constructive. “Just how the hell do you think I’m going to stay in the air with both of those strapped to me?” Which, now that I thought about it, reminded me of something I needed to ask. “Hey, Ping?” My words brightened the already wide smile on his face. “You didn’t happen to fix up my jump pack while I was recovering, did you?”

“Hah!” Sierra’s sharp laugh was short, and it poked at my mind in just the right way to leave me uncomfortable. “That ol’ piece ‘a junk you had strapped ta ya? Y’all totaled that thing so badly that ah almost couldn’t even submit it fer recyclin’!” She… recycling!? “Now now, before ya get all uppety on me again, ah’m tellin’ ya, there ain’t a pony on the planet who could’a fixed it up. An’ that’s comin’ from tha on who’s got all tha blueprints on how ta make ‘em up here.” She raised her hoof and gave a light tap on the side of her bland head. “Ah’m sorry, but them’s tha facts.”

“Well fuck me then.” I groaned.

Without that pack, or some sort of pony portable Dizzitron, how the fuck was I supposed to get into the air now!? Taking a deep breath, I closed my eye and let out a long, disappointed sigh. If they wanted my help on this job, that was going to be a whole lot harder without some way to quickly get above everypony.

“Perhaps a suitable replacement could be found, given enough time.” Ping’s hesitant voice at least helped let me know that they understood just how useless I was without something to help me fly. “For now, might I point out that Happy’s suggestion is theoretically the best option?”

“Ugh, fine.” I rolled my eye and tried not to glance over at Happy’s smug look. “Rig them both up to a saddle and let’s just go already.”

I didn’t have time to waste figuring these things out anymore. The longer we took, the more risk Hispano was in, and the more likely it was that we wouldn’t get Cora back alive. I’d just have to do the same thing as I’ve done since coming down to the wastes, and make due with what I was given.

“Excellent!” Ping smiled and clopped his hooves together excitedly.

“Alright, ah can get ‘em fit on a saddle in a jiffy.” Sierra nodded as she trotted over and retrieved a rusty looking battle saddle from one of the racks. “Ah know it ain’t as pretty as one of those fancy dresses you like ta wear, but it’ll keep ya safe fer now. Just keep in mind that some ‘a these trigger bits ain’t been used fer awhile, so they’ll probably taste a bit musty...”

“Okay...” I shifted my glance over to Happy as he busied himself by poking and prodding at a few rifles on a nearby rack. “Happy, what are you getting?”

“Oh, I don’t need any of this stuff.” He shrugged and pretty much dismissed my question outright.

“And why would that be?” I asked, wasting a deadpan at him as he didn’t even care to look back.

“I’ve already got a gun. You gave it to me.” Happy picked up a grenade from one of the boxes, giving it a light toss in his hoof before carelessly dropping it back in with the other assorted explosives. “Remember, the space-gun, from what's-her-muzzle?”

“Laika?” I asked bluntly.

“Yeah, her, whatever.” He shrugged her name off so casually that I almost didn’t call him out on the bigger mystery here.

“Wait, how the fuck did your shit survive the explosion of Bertha?” I spat at him.

“You do remember that I'd always stored all my shit in that old ass trunk I had in my room?” Finally looking back, he shot me his patented overly-confident smirk as he reached up and popped the collar on his floral print shirt. “How did you think I got my style back? And to think, Ma' wanted me to get rid of that antique for the trip.” The moment he’d said that, his ears perked and then drooped. He forced out a laugh as his eyes sank with the rest of his expression. “You know, she always said that if it had lasted this long, it would outlast even her…”

“If she were anythin’ like tha old owners ‘a Burro Industries, then she had ta have been a good Jenny.” Sierra lowered her voice as she walked up and gave Happy a soft pat on the side. “But she’s inna’ better place now, don’t y’all think, sugarcube?” Happy let out a sniffle and a whimper, but nodded softly. “Alright, don’t you fret none. Why don’cha run along back ta tha taxi-cart now? I’ll have this saddle rigged up for Night here in a jiffy, an’ y’all can be on yer way.”

“Alright.” Happy reached up and wiped at his teary eyes before he trotted himself from the room.

“Poor fella’.” Sierra sighed once Happy had gotten out of earshot. “He ain’t the best ‘a company, but y’all could do worse fer a friend.” Turning to me, she jabbed her hoof against me painfully. “So y’all better keep him safe out there, an’ make sure he’s gotta’ real shot at provin’ he can be as good a CEO as every other Burro before him.”

“Yeah, I will.” I nodded and glance back, watching as he slipped through the open metal iris and disappeared from sight.

Yeah, this was disgusting. Of all the things in the wastes, I never thought I’d miss the hoof forged bit my old saddle had...

While the bit for my new saddle wasn’t musty per-se, it did have an all too familiar copper taste to it that helped clue me in to what happened to its original owner. I’d spent the entire cart ride back to the front door trying to get the taste out of my muzzle. But as was always the case, while the taste of old blood stayed, my words just slipped out instead.

“Where did you even get all that stuff anyway?” I asked and shifted myself again on the uncomfortable bench seating of the motorized cart.

“As you have noticed, we tend to not get involved in conflicts in the wasteland.” Ping answered with a relaxed tone. He had his rear hooves kicked up over the front of the cart, and looked incredibly at ease as we drove along. “However, that does not mean we haven’t felt like cleaning things up after some of the larger fights. Not only are weapons and armor of little use to the dead, but we are also removing what would instead be reclaimed by those who would seek to use them against innocents.”

While it was a noble idea, I don’t think it had really helped. Even with all the guns they’d collected so far, both broken and still useable, the wasteland was still a violent place. But maybe I didn’t have the full picture, maybe they could see results of less overall fighting that I’d been unlucky enough to avoid. But as much as I doubt that’s the case, I had to hoof it to them that at least they were trying to make things better.

The large metal iris to the outside opened up, and a blast of cold air flushed across my skin. Instinctively, my wings perked themselves outward to meet the fresh air. The bright blue sky outside was crystal clear today, and the warm afternoon sun had a radiance too it that was even better than what I’d felt through that window after I woke up.

It was good to be back outside again.

The motorized cart pulled to a stop just short of diving into the frozen mud at the edge of the concrete entrance ramp. Unceremoniously, Ping rolled himself out of his seat and right onto his hooves. As always, his smile brightened as he trotted down into the mud without a word.

“Hey, do you uh…” Happy’s hushed tone met me with a sort of sincere reverence to it. “Do you mind if I stop by Bertha before we head out?” Bertha? “I need to talk a bit with Ma’.”

The look of confusion across my muzzle disappeared as I cast my gaze out to where the wreck had been when we’d arrived. It was all but gone now, all except for one of her bent up rims that now sat on a pedestal near the large wall ringing the Factory. Ringing it and propped up on their own on shorter concrete pedestals, sat the six metal boxes that I assumed contained what was left of the convoy. What was left of who I’d considered my friends and family.

“Yeah, you can go.” I sighed and gave him a soft nod.

I wanted to go with him, to say that I was sorry for what I’d done. But I couldn’t bring myself to even take a single step towards them, towards her. I’d told myself that I couldn’t ever let Happy know what really happened with Delilah that day, and I know that the moment I stood in front of her again, I wouldn’t be able to keep myself from speaking.

So, I just needed to do what I always did, and move forward.

Looking around, I found Ping happily trotting off around the far side of one of the multistory buildings that was currently under construction. Trotting after him, I tried to swallow the feeling of guilt and push it into the newly forming pit in my stomach. Of course, it wouldn’t ever be as easy as that to fix, but my mind did helpfully remind me of a way to numb that feeling away for a little while.

As I trotted through the mud, I’d started to realize that my mind was already starting to feel foggy again. It wasn’t like I was seeing Violet or Buck yet, but still, I could feel them somewhere in the depths. Watching, waiting to appear the next time I blinked. Maybe it was time to tell Ping I needed another dose of chill to clear things up…

“Oh, hello, Survivor.” The calm voice of Eliza greeted me as I turned the corner of the still under construction building. “It is good to see you on your hooves again. How are you feeling today?”

Her towering form was something that had only just been hidden behind the structure, but I couldn’t help but feel like I should have realized she was back here. I mean, it’s not like she’s the most subtle of machines. Still, the simplistic depiction of a smiling mare’s head sat across the terminal on her chassis. I was at least thankful that she was friendlier than most ponies I’d met out in the wastes...

...which made me wonder about how a very specific, friendly, definitely non-pony Moose was doing these days…

“He seems to be doing fine.” Ping answered for me as he walked out of the building next to us with a thick cable wrapped around him. He brought it over to Eliza, uncoiling it around him with the horn that was hidden under his illusionary appearance. He raised his hoof against a loose plate along Eliza’s side, and effortlessly tore it off to reveal a set of three large copper pins. “Now, try to relax, Eliza. If this works, you are going to feel a bit of discomfort for a moment…”

With a hard shove, Ping forced the end of the thick cable over the three exposed pins. The sharp snap of electricity was accompanied by a few sparks shooting out of the open port. I watched as a line of static ran down Eliza’s terminal display before it went dark with a flash. Silence cropped up once more as the smell of ozone permeated the air, and a bit of smoke trailed from the connection port.

“Disappointing.” Ping let out with a defeated sigh.

He lost his bright and hopeful smile for the moment, and stiffly yanked the cord off of Eliza. It dropped into the mud with a wet slap as Ping glared at it like it had insulted him. Eliza’s terminal screen flickered again before the same Lunar Industries logo that she wore on her side flashed up. It was quickly replaced by the simple image of a mare with tears under her eyes that made even me frown.

“I’m sorry it didn’t work, Ping.” Eliza’s calm and collected voice didn’t fit with the sad depiction of the mare she displayed. “I’m sure we’ll find a way to transfer me sometime soon.”

“I do not know what we are missing!” Ping growled as he ground his hoof against the mud under him. “Why is your coding not compatible?”

“My navigational processes are not equipped to traverse the digital space of the Factory.” Eliza’s voice softened as the mare being displaced shifted again to the one with the smiling face. “Though, I know that you are already aware of that, and that you are all trying your best to help me. For that, you know I am grateful.”

“It is not enough!” Ping outright snapped at her, stomping up to her terminal with a deep grimace across his muzzle. “We have tried every transfer option available to us outside of modifying your base coding.” I’d yet to see Ping as frustrated as he was now, but seeing as modifying code had gotten him agitated before, I shouldn’t have been surprised. “We had thought translation through a routing buffer would compensate, but… it seems it is just too advanced of a leap to make. If only we had another body similar to yours, we could try to adapt your coding over time, but...”

“It’s alright, Ping.” Again, the image of the cartoony smiling mare sat at odds with Eliza’s calm tone as she spoke up over Ping. Joining the almost non existent hum of her arcane engine, the sound of hydraulic systems came from deep within Eliza as her rear hatch lowered down. “Please, take the rover for your trip out to Scar.”

“Alright, thank you for letting us borrow it again.” Ping nodded softly before looking over to me. “But know this; we are not finished trying, Eliza. We will find a way to let you join us in the Factory.”

“I know you will.” The picture of Eliza’s mare changed to one with a smile nearly as bright as the one Ping normally wore. “And there’s no need to thank me. After all, I’m here to help.”

The ride outside the large gates had unsurprisingly been quiet. Between the almost depressed mood Ping exuded, and the soft sniffles that Happy gave off after visiting Delilah, I didn’t want to be the first to break the silence. So, wedged between them on the uncomfortable bench seat of Eliza’s rover, I tried to keep myself occupied without giving into the whims of my own imagination.

Which of course, didn’t go so well either.

“Ah, it feels good to be back outside again, doesn’t it?” Violet’s voice crept out of the recesses of my mind, echoing and clinging to every thought I had. “No, really, does it feel good? I haven’t really been able to tell on account of being dead and all. Which I’m also sort of obligated to remind you is one hundred percent completely your fault, by the way.”

“Ugh.” I groaned as I facehooved. “Leave me alone.” I knew I’d forgotten to bring something up before we’d left…

“Is everything alright, Night?” Ping asked, glancing over only momentarily before focusing back on the muddy road ahead. “Oh, how could I have forgotten.” Leaning forward, he glanced over to Happy and gave him a nod. “Would you kindly administer Night’s treatment?”

“Yeah, go hide behind your drug use.” Now it was Buck’s voice that spoke up sharply. But seriously, he could fuck off. The real Buck might not be the same he once was, but he was at least alive. “You’re nothing but a junkie anyway.”

“Sure.” Happy nodded, reaching down into the saddlebags he’d stolen from me after I’d stolen them from the train. From the bag, he pulled out a small, but clean looking syringe full of a light blue liquid. Sharply and without warning, he jabbed it into my side.

“Ah!” I gasped as the sharp prick completely overwhelmed my senses.

I hissed as it felt like my side caught fire. But after a few seconds, that fire died down to a warm numbness that swept through my body and mind, and I relaxed. More than that, I felt a small smile creep around my muzzle as the feeling washed over me and made me feel good again. Real fucking good in fact. Like, I hadn’t felt this good since the first night I’d spent with Buck...

“Fuck yes.” Taking a long drawn out breath, I almost felt like melting back into the now completely bearable bench seat under me. “Oh, thank you for that. You have no idea how good that feels.”

“What’s even in this stuff?” Happy asked, but my mind was too busy swimming in a sea of pleasure to even consider he wasn’t asking me exactly.

“It is a specific mix of Med-X, Chill, Bliss, Nova, Phen-clyde-ine, and Dash.” Ping spoke up, sounding more like his normal cheery self again. Then again, maybe that was because of the drugs as well... “A delicate mix of stimulants and analgesics that should keep his symptoms in check for the next few hours.”

“I don’t even care.” I felt a light laugh escape my lips as I spoke. However, even though I’d wished this euphoria could last forever, I could already feel the effects slipping away. But… it was probably for the best. “Ugh, I needed that.” Sitting up with a smile still across my muzzle, I looked over to see Ping’s smile mirroring the one I wore. “So! With that out of the way, where are we going? Who’s this ‘Scar’ guy that Eliza mentioned?” Looking forward, the muddy forested road had given way to old pavement at some point and I hadn’t even realized it. “And why is he all the way outside the walls?”

“Well, he is an... eccentric member of the Factory.” Ping paused as if to think about what he should say. “To be truthful, we do not speak with him very much, as per his request. He does quite value his privacy. And along those lines, I would suggest you keep that in mind for the trip ahead. I would ask for you to hold any more questions until once we are onboard, as we are almost to where he is parked. While he won’t be able to directly hear us in flight, when outside his hull, he can in fact read your lips.”

Ping’s words were well chosen, and the pauses and breaks he took in it felt to me almost like he was trying to deflect without outright telling me not to dive further into the subject. Which I would say is weird, seeing as I’m certain he knows how suspicious that makes him sound. However, so far all the machines I’d met in the Factory had seemed to have trouble talking in any manner that could be consider reassuring. So, it was pretty much par for the course I guess.

Slowly, Ping steered the six wheeled rover onto another short muddy road that looked like it dove into the middle of a wide clearing of trees. With the thickness of the evergreens on the mountain, I couldn’t really make anything out through them other than a small red shack at the far end. But as we drove closer, the clearing extended out to both sides, revealing a large flat tarmac paved onto either side of the road.

Sitting on the tarmac to the left, was the largest, and completely chrome covered silverfish drone I’d seen yet. It was nearly three times the size of a vertibuck, not to mention nearly as well armored from the pock-marked and burned chrome metal plates that it was built out of. Three massive engines sat on swiveling mounts, each with turbine housings so wide that you could have probably stuff a whole skytank into it and still have a few inches of clearance. One of the huge engines sat perched at the end of each wing, and a third sat right between the swept back tail fins of its V-shaped empennage.

The front of the craft wasn’t like that of its smaller cousins either. Rather than the gulping fish-like air intake, the nose of the craft was bulbous, but still aerodynamic. A horizontal, visor like split in the armor sat two thirds up the front, where a glowing red eye tracked back and forth slowly. A deep, familiar looking melted gash ran vertically across it’s visor. I’d seen that sort of damage from the old Enclave archive footage from when they were developing the anti-dragon cannon back during the war.

“Alright, everypony out!” Ping cheerfully spoke up as he pulled the rover to a stop.

As he did, I paused as I saw Scar’s tracking red eye pause for a moment. But the moment I blinked, it was back to tracking back and forth slowly. Shrugging off the weird moment, I followed Happy out of the hatch in the roof.

“Alright, so, is there a better vehicle here or something for us to take to this job?” Happy called up to Ping as he climbed his way down the rover’s ladder. With a splash in the mud below, Happy jumped the last few rungs and sprayed mud up all over himself. “I mean, I’m not one to complain about a free ride, but this rover’s not exactly the fastest thing in the world.”

“I do not understand the question?” Ping gave out a chuckle as I worked my way down the ladder. He spun and lazilly waved his hoof at the massive aircraft parked on the platform next to us. “What do you think it is we are doing here?”

“Woah, we aren’t getting inside that thing, are we?” Happy heaved out a nervous laugh as he took an unsteady step back. Seriously? What was his problem now?

“Well, it is not advised to be on the outside of an aircraft while it is in flight. It is probably best if you left the thrill seeking and stunt flying to the griffons and pegasi.” Ping spoke as he walked himself right off the edge of the rover and dropped right into the mud below. The splash from his drop was larger than Happy’s had been due to his considerably heavier weight, and it sprayed the near freezing mud up onto half of my backside. “I assure you, Happy. It will be a smooth trip, as Scar here is entirely capable of perfectly level flight. In fact, once inside, you may not realize that you are flying at all!”

“Eh, still…” Happy said as he took another step back. “On second thought, maybe I should sit this job out you guys…”

“Happy,” I grumbled as I dropped off the last rung and into the mud. “You are going to come with us. We need all the help we can get, and you are not going to chicken out now!” I didn’t even have to raise my voice all that much to make Happy wince. Just what the hell was wrong with him? What the hell changed? He’d been so full of confidence since I woke up. As I tried to figure it out, I glanced over to the large silver aircraft next to us. Wait, no… that couldn’t be it. “Happy?” I shot him a sideways glance as he blinked at me with a look of regret across his muzzle. “You aren’t afraid of flying, are you?”

“What? No, pft.” He rolled his eyes and took yet another step back. “It’s just…” He paused and scrunched up his muzzle as he gauged just how much Ping and I weren’t buying it. “Fine.” He hung his head as he relented with a sigh. “Yes, I’m afraid of flying, okay? Can I just stay behind now?”

"Nope. I told you we need all the help we can get, and that means you." Sitting down in the cold mud, I crossed my hooves and glared at him. "So you’re going to get on board right now. Don't make me ask Ping to force you on.”

“Alright, I’m going.” Happy shot me an annoyed glare as he chuffed at the mud, but still rose to his hooves. With a slow, defeated walk, he tried not to look at the enormous aircraft as he trotted around the back of it.

“He will be fine.” Ping offered to me as he turned to follow. “Scar has never let the Factory down on a task!” As he trotted, a sharp hiss emit from inside of Scar, and a loading ramp slowly lowered from the back of the craft. “But remember what I mentioned inside the rover, Night.” Glancing back to me, he gave me a wink before trotting past the ever slowing and stiffening steps of Happy.

Closing my eye, I turned my head up to the sky and took a deep breath. Goddesses, this was going to be a long day, wasn’t it? Opening my eye again, a soft glint of sunlight bounced off of one of the normal sized silverfish drones flying above us, and painfully flashed almost right into my eye. I don’t know if that was supposed to be an omen from Celestia above or something, but I was pretty sure if anything, this job was going to suck.

“Is that a fucking brain!?” Happy’s high pitched shriek came with the sound of quick hoofsteps as he turned to run. “Nope, nope, nope!” To my surprise, the magic from Ping’s hidden horn wrapped around him and lifted him straight off the ground. “Hey! Put me down! I’m not going anywhere near that thing, ya’ hear!”

Trotting over just to see what the hell Happy was talking about, I was met by Ping’s nervous glance as I pulled myself up the loading ramp. I blinked as I looked across the cramped interior where a soft pulsing blue at the front of the craft’s storage bay commanded my attention. Indeed just as Happy had exclaimed, connected by about a thousand wires, was a small pinkish bit of flesh stuck under a glass dome that was not all that different from the one that now capped Buck’s skull.

“Scar here is a ‘hybrid’ machine.” Ping was quick to speak before I could even think about going off half cocked about just what the fuck was going on here. “He is one victim of the twisted and terrible black-projects undertaken by the Ministry of Awesome during the war. A zebra prisoner who was logged as killed in action, but instead he was experimented on, resulting in what you see before you.”

“I thought you said that these drone things were your own designs.” Happy grumbled, having since given up trying to run away. Instead, he’d settled for crossing his hooves and glaring at Ping.

“They are.” Ping sighed as he cut his magic and dropped Happy to the floor with a thump. “We pulled Scar from the wreck of the experimental vertibuck he’d been installed in. Bad weather during his testing had caused him to crash on a mountaintop at the southern end of the Misery range, and he’d been trapped up there ever since that day. Forgotten and abandoned by those who took away his body.”

“But we heard his locator beacon.” Ping’s speech bordered on reverence as he slowly walked his way inside the craft. Looking back at Happy and I, his smile brightened slightly again. “It is actually the frequency we call all machines on, hidden under the DJ’s music broadcast. In a way, he has done more for the Factory than almost any other machine.” His smile died out as he reached up and softly caressed the glowing glass dome. “I feel sorry for him. He'll never feel the security or peace of mind that us full synthetics enjoy over organics. Though, he is as close to one of us as you could ever get. At the same time, he’s more real than any of us could ever aspire to be. Much the same as Buck now...”

His words died out as a look of horrified realization came over him.

I didn’t really know what to think about all of this. It was a lot to take in, but every time I even glanced at the brain glowing underneath that glass shell, all I could think about was… what would Buck think of himself now? Deep down, I know Buck will still be the same dog I’ve always loved, but… I’m afraid he’ll forget that once he sees what’s become of his body.

“Ah, forgive me.” Ping spoke up, mercifully derailing my thoughts and making me focus on the sad smile now across his muzzle. “It is still a sensitive subject for you. I apologize, as I should have taken that into consideration before speaking.”

“It’s fine.” It was far from fine, but dwelling on it all day wouldn’t get anything done. “Let’s just focus on getting this job done, okay?” I gave a soft nod to Ping, getting one in return.

Turning back, I looked to get one from Happy, but instead found him absent from behind me. Taking a few steps back down the ramp, I found him already scrambling to get up the ladder and back into the Rover again. He gave out a shriek as his muddy hooves slipped on the bars, and he plopped back down into the mud.

“Please, allow me to help you back on board of Scar.” Ping chuckled again as he trotted down the ramp. “Do not be afraid!” He called out as he headed towards the now full-on panicking form of Happy. “Statistically, flying is the safest way to travel!”

Never before had fifteen minutes felt like so long. But that’s just how it feels when you’ve got a mule squeezing you tightly enough that you can hardly get a breath of air in at all. At the very least, I guess I should be grateful that his full on screaming died out a minute or so after we took off.

It was almost amusing how every little shake or jostle from turbulence made him ‘eep’ or gasp, even if there were remarkably few bits I felt at all. More than a few times, Ping had let out his own soft giggle as he simply stood and observed. But as entertaining as it had been, one thing that threw it all off for me, was just how quiet the flight was. For as big as the engines strapped to this thing were, I expected them to make much more noise.

While it wasn’t noise from the engines, some sort of alarm blared for a moment from near Scar’s brain case.

“Ah!” Happy shrieked into my ear. “What’s going on!?”

“An urgent message has come in from the Factory.” Ping’s eyes flickered, glowing with scrolling text for a moment. “The Architect has put out a recall order for me, as he requires my assistance to resolve a problem with the ponies from Tungsten.”

“With Tungsten?” I asked, watching as Ping’s eyes returned to their normal look. “What is it?”

“As I had already explained, it is the settlement that contains the descendants of Burro Industries employees, but that is not important right now.” Ping’s nervous grin shifted uneasily as he let off a sigh and glanced between Happy and I. “It seems that Eliza’s continued appearances has upset the ponies more than originally thought, and the mayor has demanded an immediate audience with a factory representative.”

“Again?” Happy grumbled as he slackened his hold on me slightly. “That pony needs to get laid or something. I don’t think he’s had a day in his life where he wasn’t angry at something.” With a roll of his eyes, he cast an annoyed glance at me. “Seriously, Night, when I was introduced to him, this guy treated me like I was an asshole. Me! He doesn’t even know me!”

Well, Happy, I’m sure if he knew you like I did, he’d have punched you square in the muzzle already…

The entirety of the craft around us shifted, and my stomach momentarily felt like it was going to come up through my muzzle. Happy gave out a worrying urk before squeezing me tighter than ever. From the way everything settled after a moment, I could only guess that we had begun our descent.

“Our plans have changed.” Ping spoke as he got onto his hooves. “I must return to the Factory, however, you two need to proceed with the task at hoof.” Walking over to a terminal inset along the back wall, he tapped at a few keys. “I shall return to assist you as soon as I am able.”

The hum of the ship’s hydraulics filled the air before the rear loading ramp began to lower. I squinted as the bright daylight streamed in, and a wave of chilly air swept through the cargo hold. Snow and jagged looking rocks grew closer as Scar lowered down towards what looked like an old service road that ran near the side of a steep hill on whatever mountain we were now at. But again, where we were wasn’t too important to me. I was too busy marveling at the fact that even with the loading door down, I stillcouldn’t hear Scar’s engines.

Happy’s tight hooves pulled off of me as I stared at the cracked and frozen pavement that came up to gently scrape against the edge of the lowered ramp. In a blur of red and tan, Happy practically threw himself down the ramp and onto the cold road, tumbling down onto it with a yelp.

“Oh, thank the goddesses that nightmare is over!” He panted as he sprawled himself out. As he looked back up at Scar though, his muzzle scrunched up. Before he could speak, I’d trotted down the ramp and turned to look at Scar as well.

Except he wasn’t there at all…

“What the…” The words slipped from my muzzle as I watched Ping give a small wave from inside the open cargo hold. He tapped a few more times on the terminal inside, and the hydraulics powered up once more to retract the ramp. The air rippled as a wave of magic outlined the oversized craft, and once the loading ramp had closed, there was just… nothing in front of us.

A wave of hot engine exhaust picked up, warming my skin in the cold mountain air. Dust swirled like it had been kicked up in the breeze, but then settled again as both Happy and I were left in a sort of stunned silence. Well, that is until predictably, Happy freaked out.

“It can turn invisible!?” He shouted, making me jump on my hooftips. He’d nearly flailed himself back to his hooves with the most conflicted look across his face as he laughed to himself. “It’s like a giant stealth-buck! That’s fuckin’ awesome!”

I opened my muzzle to agree, but paused as something else drifted through the air besides his voice. Perking my ears, I turned around and tried to pinpoint the odd sounds. It was coming from down the steep hillside and to be honest, it sounded like… singing. I almost couldn’t stop myself as I trotted across the old road. Hopping down into what had once been a runoff ditch at the edge of the hillside, I peeked over the rocks and dirt.

A couple miles or so down the long and steep hill, sat what had to have been the old propellant facility. It pretty much looked exactly like the aerial view that the Architect had presented to us, but with a few differences. What was definitely new, was the stone wall that was being actively built by lines of ponies who were all chained together. Slaves if I had to guess.

Dotted around the whole facility, as well as lining the still under construction wall, were hundreds of canvas and fabric tents. Honestly, the layout sort of reminded me of the way the old Equestrian military used to set up forward camps. Some large tents that looked like they’d hold a hundred ponies or so sat in the larger centralized clear areas. Most of the smaller ones looked like they belonged to small groups of ponies, and were relegated to the perimeter fencing of the old world propellant plant.

A wide and flat open area sort of near the closer end of the facility was where the noise I’d heard was coming from. In it, a group of what must have been a hundred or so ponies sang and moved in complete unison. With each line sung, they all swung around what must have been staves or were possibly crude polearms of some sort. It was hard to tell at such a long distance, but as I tried to focus on the song, Happy’s hooves wrapped around me and forcefully tugged me down into the dirt.

“What the fuck, Happy!” I snapped at him as I did my best to shove him off of me.

“No, whatever you do, don’t fucking listen to that.” He snapped back at me. I perked my ears almost instinctively, and got a hard boop in the muzzle for it. “What the fuck did I just say!”

“Quit it.” I grumbled as I dusted myself off and got to my hooves. “What are they all doing down there, moving around like that in unison? Is it some sort of military exercise?” Happy definitely knew what was going on here, and I expected him to spill it.

“Don’t you get it? They’re singing, Night.” He growled again. It was about then that I noticed that he had his own, long ears pinned back against the sides of his head. “Fuck that, we are not going down there to try to help out these mercs. I don’t care if they’re friend’s of the Factory.”

“Wait, they are actually singing?” I asked as I fought back the urge to perk my ears again. “Like the ponies of old used to do?” Happy’s nervous gaze bounced between my eyes and my ears a few times before he nodded.

“Ponies still do it, even in the wasteland. But it's a terrifying and ancient kind of magic, so it’s not all that often you see it these days.” He shared a grim look at me before poking his eyes up over the edge of the ditch again. “Unless you started the song, goddesses save you because literally anything is possible when ponies sing together. Get too close, and you risk being pulled into the song against your will. The magic can take over your mind, or even let them murder you right then and there without anypony else even breaking from the chorus.” He gave a shiver, blinking a few times before he tore himself away from the thankfully far off musical display. “From the horror stories I've heard over the years, raiders aren't even crazy enough to sing because of the risks.”

Funny enough, that made some sense to me…

“Huh, that must've been why singing was banned in all Cloud settlements.” Turning myself around, I pinned my ears against my head and decided to risk another look at the facility down below. “That would also explain why my mom said that the official Enclave military band only accepted special forces applicants…”

*Whiff-thunk!*

A whistling rod sailed just past my face, shattering itself against the rocks on the edge of the ditch. It sent up a burst of gravel and dust that sent both Happy and I scrambling back in confusion. It was a good thing we’d both moved, because immediately after that, another few rods came in where we’d been standing and slammed into the dirt and rocks.

“Well well, what do we have here?” The haughty voice of a mare called out from a ridgeline across and up the road a bit. “A group of heretical spies, no doubt planning to destroy the righteous and pure way of life our brothers and sisters down below have worked so hard to create.” The voice didn’t sound familiar, but with the way she spoke and from the arrows stuck in the dirt at my hooves, I kind of figured that this was another of the kingdom’s inquisitors. Looking up, an earth pony mare in plate armor stood stiffly on top of a boulder. She looked like a knight straight out of the history books, complete with a heavy looking blade strapped to her side. “What say you to these charges, heathens! Surrender now, or be put down for your crimes where you stand.”

Several earth ponies poked their heads up over the rocks around her. They were clad in some sort of simple leather armor, and each held shoddy looking wooden crossbows in their hooves. Before I could speak, Happy craned his head back and bit down on the bit for Laika’s three barreled pistol. He brought it around and pointed it at the medieval mare, forcing out a laugh from her.

“You choose technology over salvation.” Reaching up, the mare lifted off her helmet, revealing a soft yellow coat, sharp pink eyes, and a white mane that glistened like snow in the afternoon sunlight. “A pity, but you leave us with no choice.” Craning her own neck over, she bit down on the hilt of her sword and drew it out.

Alright, I didn’t really think we’d be fighting, but honestly, I should have expected it. Pushing up the bit to my battle saddle, I chomped down on it and pulled the cocking trigger. With a solid clack from my right, and the charging capacitors to my left, I was ready.

“First rank!” One of the crossbow pony’s screamed out. “Fire!”

Both Happy and I tore off in opposite directions as a wave of bolts whistled through the air. The steel tipped projectiles moved faster than I thought, and shattered themselves as they impacted the rocks and roadway around us. I felt one bolt tear through my already short tail, painfully yanking some of it out as I dashed across the road.

“Second rank!” The crossbow pony shouted again.

A gunshot from Laika’s pistol silenced the pony before he could give the next order. I panted hard as I headed for the rocky hillside, spying a fairly large rock that could at least provide me a bit of cover to return fire from. Unfortunately, I think the order was redundant, as the others still fired anyway.

I pushed myself to gallop faster as the boulder was just within hoofs reach when the second voley of bolts came screaming through the air. I kicked off, throwing myself for the safety of the rock, which was exactly when I felt one of the bolts punch through my rear leg.

I came down hard, in cover, but choking back a scream as a trickle of crimson flowed out from around the roughly hewn bolt shaft. I only glanced down at the wound for a moment, gritting my teeth on my bit as the rusty metal arrowhead sat protruding just through the inside of my leg.

“Stand still, heathen!” The mare shouted around the hilt of her sword just before another gunshot sounded out. That would be Happy’s second shot, so I hope he made it count. “You’ll have to do better than… that!” The sharp clangs of her sword rang through the air, punctuating my need to get off my flank and help out. Fuck, what I wouldn’t do to have my jump pack and a few grenades right about now...

Pulling myself to my hooves, I hobbled to the edge of the rock and took a deep breath before stepping out.

Happy was busy dancing back and forth on his hooves, spinning and hoping to avoid each swing the heavily armored mare gave. Her swings were slow and predictable, but from the few that got close, if they’d hit, Happy wouldn’t stand a chance. Not to mention, the two were close enough together that I couldn’t risk shooting without hitting Happy as well.

*Whiff-splack!*

Like the idiot I was, I’d stood out in the open for just long enough for one of the crossbow ponies to nail my left hoof. I screamed out from around my bit, and collapsed against the boulder.

Okay, that’s it! I’ve had it with these fucking primitive fucks!

Biting down on both triggers, I forced myself to turn face on with the crossbow ponies. Both of my guns roared out in a torrent of hot lead and lancing red magical energy beams. The ferocious rate of fire of both my submachine guns meant that a few of the ponies didn’t have time to duck as I swept both guns across their rocks, and I was sure I nailed a good three of the fuckers.

I let up on the trigger as I pushed myself to limp forward. Leaving the safety of my cover, I used the intense pain in my legs to focus myself on watching and waiting for any of those assholes to poke their heads up over the rocks again. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait long, as one of them found the courage to stand and try to line up a shot.

Seeing as I was just about done getting shot for the day, I felt justified in giving him both triggers.

I watched as the rounds from my Bison sparked off the rocks around him, but one of the streaking red energy bolts struck him square between the eyes. I let off the bit again as a warm glow radiated out of the stallion before his body dissipated and wisped away as a cloud of pink ash in the cold mountain breeze.

My rear leg gave out as I stepped forward again, and I let out another muffled scream as I fought to keep from collapsing onto the road. It was enough of a moment of weakness that two more of the crossbow ponies had tried to take advantage of it. The momentary intense pain from my legs kept my focus split enough that I was only able to send some rounds downrange at one of the two, and the other pony got to take their shot.

The whistling bolt flew low, skirting off the pavement just short of me. It bounced, kicking up and shattering itself against my prosthetic leg. The impact of it was more than I’d expected, but the rubber pad kept it firmly on the pavement. One of these days I really had to get back up to Destruction Bay to thank Crystal Harmonium and Dr. Tibia for the amazingly constructed leg. But that would be after we survived today, and after I killed Solomon.

But first things first...

The crossbow pony’s haughty smirk died when I shifted my glare to him. Pulling down on both triggers again, my Bison chattered until the magazine was empty and the bolt locked back. This time, the red beams left scorch marks around the pony, while a blast of gore erupted from the side of his head as a few rounds punched right through it.

With the death of yet another of their fellow ponies, the three remaining crossbow ponies saw the light, and tried to run. They shot off what bolts they’d had left in poor attempts to do anything to get away. Predictably, their shots sailed off high into the air without even coming close.

“Get back here, Cowards!” The heaving and tired call from the armored mare echoed through the rocky hillsides. “I’ll see you hanged for…” The mare was cut off as a sharper sounding gunshot rang through the air from Happy. I turned in time to watch as the mare doubled over and dropped onto the asphalt as her head all but melted from the inside out.

Happy, bleeding heavily from more than a couple of deep cuts, heaved tired breaths from around Laika’s survival pistol. What I’d originally thought was just another normal gun barrel, glowed red hot and let off a trail of steam. I’d only seen magical flare projectors used on the survival rifles that Enclave vertibuck pilots were given, but I didn’t know they could be made so small that they fit into something that size! The nearly glowing tri-barreled pistol tumbled to the ground as Happy sat down hard and let out a soft whimper through his pained panting.

Stiffly he reached forward and pulled the sword away from the mare’s melted head. With a determined look about him, he pulled the blade to his side and got to work unhooking the harness the mare had kept the sword in. Triumphantly, he quickly strapped the bindings around his bleeding body, and slid the silver blade into it’s protective sheath. Hell if I knew what he was going to do with it, seeing as he could hardly fight with a gun let alone a sword. But you know what? I wasn’t going to say anything because he’d fucking earned it.

“Hey,” I called out as I pushed myself to painfully make my way down the road towards him. He perked his ears to me, but carefully turned himself to reach down into his saddlebags. “You good, Happy?” I asked, hoping that at the very least he still had some of the medical supplies from the train with him.

“Fuck no.” He grunted as he pulled out a healing potion from the bag and nearly bit off the glass top trying to get the cork out of it. Greedily, he chugged down half of the contents before gasping for breath. “I don’t know how you fucking do it, Night. This hurts like hell.” Looking down at me, his eyes went from my face, to both the bloody bolts still stuck in my legs. Offering me the other half of the potion, he shook his head at me. “How the fuck are you still alive when this happens to you every day?”

“Don’t ask me, I'm just as surprised as you are.” I grumbled as I hobbled myself next to him and sat down.

He offered me the potion again, but there was something I needed to do first. Pulling my forehoof up to my muzzle, I bit down hard on the front of the shaft and pulled. It was insanely painful, but it was the pain that drove me to pull it out harder and faster. My leg gave a squelch and a spurt of blood as the rest of the shaft pulled through.

“Besides…” I gasped as I spit out the blood soaked bolt onto the dirt. Okay, now comes the hard one. “you handled yourself well enough, Happy.” With a grunt, I spread my legs and pinned both my forehooves just behind the rusty bolt head. I fought and failed to hold back another loud scream as I dragged the other bolt through my leg. “Ffffffuck!” I spat out through my own heavy panting. The moment the shaft pulled free, Happy at least did me a favor and shoved the potion bottle into my muzzle. I guzzled down the last of the bottle, and sat back as the familiar feeling of knitting flesh cropped up in my left fore and rear leg. “Fucking hell that hurt…”

“Yeah, I bet.” Happy let off a light laugh as he pulled the bottle back and tossed it across the street. It came down with a crunch that was almost beat out by Happy’s contented sigh. “You know, you might be onto something with your whole ‘don’t fight ponies’ approach.” Looking over at me, a smirk pulled across his face as one of the deep slices that sat across his cheek and muzzle pulled up into a thin line of a scar. “Because fighting to the death is a whole lot more work than it looks.”

I couldn’t help but deadpan at him for that, but as my own wounds pulled into the newest additions to my growing scar collection, it felt good to give a little chuckle at that. That chuckle didn’t last long however, as a faint buzzing picked up through the air. Both Happy and I looked at each other before turning around to face the direction it was coming from.

Far off, above and across the open plains of the wide valley below, a flight of skyraider buzzbombers tore through the skies. Their aircraft trailed black smoke as they flew together, heading off towards the mountains to the west. I didn’t know how far we were from Cantercross, or if that was where they were headed at all. What I did know, was that with everything that had happened, with all that Happy and I had lost? The northern wastes could take a hit from a few buzzbombers or so. It wasn’t our problem.

A flash from the facility down the hill beat out the sun for a moment, and a bright orange fireball rose into the sky.

“What the…” I started to say, but gasped as an even brighter, second explosion left an afterimage in my eyes of the whole damn facility disappearing inside a fireball.

*KRACK!*

“Get down!” Happy’s scream barely beat out the near deafening sound of the first explosion, but it didn’t help with the second.

*KRACK-KHOOM*

Happy pulled me painfully down against the pavement only just before the force of the blastwave swept up over the hills to us. I’d only felt a forceful wind like that once before, and I scrambled to grab ahold of something other than flat asphalt as my mind raced back to the destruction of Four Peaks. The warmth the fireball radiated onto us as it went skyward pushed back the freezing air, and I could almost hear a sizzling as the snow all around us melted after getting kicked up by the blast wave.

The explosion echoed off through the mountains and hills around us, and an unpleasant ringing hung in my ears for a few moments before again, I was yanked to the side by Happy.

*Clang!*

A heavy metal drainage cover slammed into the road where I’d just been. The round, pony sized cover gave a short bounce, flipping onto it’s now slightly bent side. Wobbling, it rolled a ways down the road toward the smoking drainage hole it used to cover before flopping down onto the road with another, softer slam.

Happy held me tightly, giving me a pat as my racing heart started to calm. He’d… saved me. As much as I hated to admit it, I guess I could say we’re even now…

Yeah, no. Even with that, we were far from even after all the shit he’d put me through. Still, I’d have to remember to thank him later for not letting me be squished by a giant slab of metal. Right now however, my eyes were locked on the two coughing and choking mares who clumsily climbed their way up out of the old drainage pipe.

“What the fuck was that!” A blue unicorn in what looked like armored stable barding managed to nearly scream out between hacking fits. “I told you, only put them on the points I marked out.” As the mare caught her breath, she raised her hoof to take a look at something on what was definitely a pipbuck. “When you set the charges, you did put them on the exact points, right?”

“Look, maybe I didn’t set them exactly on each and every point you specified, but yeah I set them!” The green coated unicorn coughed out as she climbed onto the road behind the blue mare, taking a moment to steady herself on an old pair of rear cyber hooves. “Oh, I’m getting too old for this shit.”

“Hello, ladies.” Happy’s voice was far too calm and smooth for my liking, but I’m betting with the appearance of any mare at all, it was more like a reflex than a choice for him. Both of the horns on the unicorn mares flashed to life. The blue mare brought up a mean looking shotgun, while the green mare brought up a pair of fancy looking revolvers. “Woah there, take it easy. The Architect sent us to check in and give you a hoof if you needed it.”

The two mares looked down at the corpse of the armored mare beside Happy and I, before turning and sharing a glance and a shrug.

“Well, I don’t know who you two are, but I hope you aren’t offended when I say thanks for the backup, but we don’t need it.” With a sigh, the blue mare turned and trotted over towards the roadside ditch. There, she stood and looked over toward the large plume of smoke rising higher and higher into the sky over the burning remains of the facility below. “Not unless you can turn back time, because I think we might have just accidentally started the largest war in the north since the end of the world.”

Author's Notes:

Many, many thanks to TheFurryRailFan for all his help in going over these chapters and editing out all the little mistakes I leave about. Seriously, it means a lot!

And of course, big thanks to Kkat for allowing us all to use the funtastic wasteland for all of our stories!