Hopping off the Taxi cart, I found that both Buck and Happy were in here getting geared up as well. Happy was busying himself by swinging around that sword he pulled off that Puritan mare while Ottie sat watching him. The antique looking automaton’s nixie tube eyes glowed brightly as he watched Happy flail his new toy around, and oddly, he brought up what looked like half of a splintered hoofball bat in his wooden hoof. Opening his muzzle, he stuffed a bit of the old bat in and crunched down on it.

Well that’s something you don’t see every day…

It’s just… I’ve never met a machine that needed to eat. Which, isn’t saying much as I hadn’t met all that many machines so far, but still! I knew Ottie burned fuel, but I didn’t even think about how he got said fuel! I thought maybe he just shoved it inside himself somewhere or something. With a loud blech like noise that tripped up Happy mid-swing, a few embers drifted from Ottie’s muzzle before he covered his muzzle with a light ‘eep’.

“Oh, excuse me!” He gave a light chuckle as his eyes flickered over to bright inverted V shapes. “The varnish on these old bats always gives my boiler a weird ache. I can burn anything, but, they just used so much oil on them back during the war...”

“I’m sure the only reason those bats have survived is because they used that much oil.” Happy shrugged before looking over at me for a moment. “Oh, hey Night, you ready to get geared up?” As he spoke, he reared up and hefted the sword high again. With a deft twist, he brought it down where just the tip scraped across the metal floor and sent up a short line of sparks. To be fair, Happy didn’t seem to have a problem with wielding such an odd weapon in his muzzle, but even so, he didn’t exactly seem skilled with the blade.

“Now I know y’all aint ruinin mah floors over there.” Sierra gave out a grunt before she turned her attention back to Buck. The two of them were back toward the open vault doors standing around a fairly large stockpile of supplies loaded up on pallets. Buck himself was currently hunched over a collection of what looked like small energy weapons of mostly Enclave origin.

The sight of him studying them almost tripped me up. It was odd enough to see Buck anywhere near a weapon, let alone looking over what seemed to be every single inch of one. Maybe he really has gotten past the notion of saving everypony…

“Take yer time, sugarcube.” Sierra called out as she brought yet another weapon out from the vault. “Ah understand, yer first gun is a big choice, and not everythin’ is fer every creature.”

It was stuck to the side of her face like a magnet in roughly the same place her muzzle would have been if she’d had one. I can’t say it didn’t look ridiculous, but the deftness she had when she lifted her mechanical hoof and effortlessly spun the gun around to set it down with the others was surprising. It forced me to hold in the chuckle that tried to escape my muzzle. As if she knew, her featureless face turned to me with what I could only assume would have been a glare.

“Uh… hey there, Sierra.” I spoke up and beamed a wide smile at her. “I’m here to get geared up. Do you have my battle Saddle ready?”

“First of all,” Sierra snorted and gave a light stomp of her hoof on the floor. “Ah told ya’ those wings would let ya fly, did ah not? A thank ya’ would be tha least y’all could say fer that.”

“You’re right. Thank you.” I sighed as what fake Violet had said to me about using others ran through my mind again. “I really am grateful for the gear. I never thought in a million years...” I was cut off as something cold and leathery hit me straight in the muzzle. Reaching up, I pulled a stringy bit of leather off of me and inspected it. It was a large triangular piece of leather with three straps that trailed off of it, and it reminded me of… “An… eyepatch?”

“Turns out, we did have one in the store room!” Sierra gave a giggle snort that was quite out of place for a machine without a nose, but I was just happy that she wasn’t mad. “Yer welcome fer that as well, and ya’ owe me one, but we’ll talk about that later. Now, about yer saddle...” Turning around, she trotted back towards the open vault when Ping trotted out holding a different looking saddle in his outstretched hoof. “Ah, yah found it, Ping.”

“Yes, I do believe this one should be compatible.” Ping gave a nod as he brought his own beaming smile up to me. “Due to the nature of the dive harness you now wear, a specialized support saddle was needed to fit around it.”

“The old type two saddles ain’t as versatile,” Sierra rose her voice as she all but snatched the saddle out of Ping’s hoof before turning back to bring it over. “But it’s lightweight and simple enough ta be worn with the wing suit, and still let’s ya carry enough hurt ta end any fight ya’ get in.”

“What do you mean it’s not as ‘versatile’?” Granted I didn’t know a single thing about Battle Saddle models or history. Had I even asked, both Mom and Dad probably could have talked to me for hours about the subject. But having less options didn’t seem like something you could just skim over right before you charged into a fight wearing it.

Sierra shrugged as she walked over and hoofed it toward me. “Well, it’s supposed to be paired with and worn over tha old type two pressure suit ta protect ya’ from passin’ out in dives. But we ain’t got any a’ those layin’ ‘round here.”

“You see,” Ping spoke out again, pausing momentarily as Sierra whipped her head straight around on her neck back at him. The mechanical whir that came as her head spun completely around made me cringe. “That is to say, your choice of weapons other than grenades will be limited due to the restrictive design of both the wingsuit and saddle.”

“Ah got this muhself, Ping.” Sierra almost growled at him. Geeze, what’s got her so angry? She hadn’t had a problem with him being around before from what I could tell… “But he’s right, Night. I hope y’all liked usin’ that fancy energy subgun yah had, cause it’s one ’a tha only guns ah got that fits tha mount points.”

“So long as I’ve got something that shoots and can drop grenades, I can live with that.” I nodded to her. My response looked to relax her, if only slightly. But I couldn’t help but watch as Ping’s now nervous smile slipped by us as he trotted toward the door.

“I will see the three of you outside when you are ready.” Ping called out as he trotted away. “Do hurry, as we should be on our way as soon as possible.” His voice echoed through the room as he dipped out of sight, and I couldn’t help but feel like I’d missed something big going on here just before I arrived.

I felt a little kick in my mind from a tiny pegasus, pushing the thought forward that maybe everyone was acting off here because the Architect actually did tell them about himself. If so, that was a lot faster than I’d thought he’d open up to them, but Ping had said that they all do communicate much faster than us ‘organics’. Still, seeing as he’s connected to them, maybe I’ll ask Buck about it in a bit.

“This one.” Buck spoke up, pulling the attention of both Sierra and I.

Reaching forward with his heavy metal paws, he gingerly picked up one of the smallest pistols from the display before him. It was a design I’d never even seen before, and looked like something more at home in an old Captain Andromeda comic than real life. Mostly grey with a silver handle and wide but short barrel, the sleek and futuristic curved stylings of it felt at odds with the boxy shaped advanced magical energy weapons of the Enclave.

“Tha SF-M2269?” Sierra giggled as she turned and trotted over to Buck. “Ah thought y’all might like that one fer it’s various stun settings.”

“Well, with the specifications your database provided, how could I not?” Buck smiled as he carefully lowered the gun down to Sierra’s head. “Hopefully the installation won’t be all that complex.”

“Nonsense!” Sierra laughed as she held her head up high to him. “Ah’ll have it finished in a jiffy! Just remember, we ain’t got no idea where it came from outside ’a tha Enclave pickin’ it up along Foal Mountain. So if yah break it, ah’m afraid ah can’t fix it. That means y’all gotta take good care of it now, yah hear?”

With a clack, the gun was magnetically brought to the side of her head. Oddly, Buck also brought his other arm over and it too was magnetically bound to the opposite side of Sierra’s head. With a hiss, his whole forelimb detached and Sierra happily turned and walked away with it. Buck looked down at the wires and tubes that stuck out of the rest of his mechanical limb before giving out a deep, but telling sigh of just what was on his mind.

“Hey, Buck?” My muzzle forced the words out like normal, but they perked his ears all the same. I knew he was far from alright. We were all pretty nervous about the mission, at least I was. But I needed to know if there was anything I could do to help him adjust to the changes he’d gone through. “Is there anything…”

Before I could finish that thought, Buck turned to me and held his paw out.

“I just want to be a family again, Night.” The sad smile Buck gave me hurt to see, but I’d felt the exact same way. “I can deal with the machines, with... what I’ve become. But until it’s just you, me, and Hispano again, then things just won’t be the same.”

“Oh, I see how it is.” Happy snorted as he trotted over. “Just because I ain’t sleeping with any of you, you don’t consider me family.” He gave out a huff that felt just as forced as the sly grin he struggled to hold on his face. But as Buck and I looked at him,I could see that even for Happy, there were some things even his ego couldn’t prop up. With a sigh, he hung his head. “Look, you guys are all I’ve got left, and the only hope I have at getting back at Solomon. I don’t want to feel left out is all.”

“You’re right, you are family, and we can’t afford to leave you out.” I said as I turned and walked over to Happy. Holding out my hoof, I watched as he slowly brought his head up to look at it. “You’re a pain in the ass, Happy. But you’re our pain in the ass.” As I said that, I felt a genuine smile pull across my muzzle. We’d come this far, so we had to stick together. No matter what happened to us.

With the same speed and force I’d seen on the Ouroboros, Happy lunged forward and wrapped his hooves around me in an all-to-tight hug.

“Thanks, Night.” He said as he squeezed all the air out of my lungs. Geeze, and I’d thought he’d had a tight grip while flying in Scar! Relenting, he took a step back and nodded toward the door. “But I’ve got everything I need, so I’m just going to go wait in the cart.”

“Sounds good.” Buck forced a smile that Happy pretty much ignored as he spun around and left the two of us. As soon as he was out of earshot, Buck’s smile faded and he slumped a bit. “I don’t like this, Night. There’s too many ways this attack can go wrong.”

“I know, but it’s our best chance to make the lives of everyone in the north better.” Like normal, that was said more to make myself believe it than anyone. But there was at least something I could tell him that I knew to be true. “We’ll get through this together, Buck. We’ll get Hispano back, get Cora back, and free all of those who suffer under Mr. Wizard.”

“I know that, Night. I’m not worried about if we’ll win.” With a sigh, Buck turned his sad, far off gaze to the door. “I’m just worried about what it’ll cost.”

With my battle saddle loaded up, we were finally ready to head off. It was just a short Taxi-cart ride back to the main iris entrance of the factory, but it was a cramped one. Happy, Ping and I were all pressed together, trying to fit on the front bench which had only been designed for a couple of ponies. Buck on the other hoof, fought to keep all of himself strictly within the confines of the back seat which had definitely not been designed for someone his size in mind…

Still, the second that metal iris opened, and the cold evening air washed over us, I relaxed slightly. I struggled against the urge to spread my wings right into Happy and Ping’s faces, though my wings had minds of their own and proceed to spring outwards anyway. Buck of course, let out a groan of pure pleasure as the cold windy air flowed through his fur.

“It feels like ages since I’ve been back outside again.” He let out a content groan as the cart came to a soft stop at the end of the concrete roadway outside the iris.

“We were just out here a few hours ago.” Happy grumbled as he pushed himself out from behind my wing and off of the cart.

“Oh, hey guys!” Tofu’s elated voice called out from over at one of the still under construction machine storage buildings. As we all looked over, we watched as she froze mid step as her eyes took in the sight of Buck. Her gaze passed over him a few times before a beaming smile similar to Pings parted her muzzle. “Okay that is literally the coolest thing I’ve seen so far!” Wheeling around with a giggle, she steeled her gaze as she turned to Ping. “What would it take for you to give me cool cyberlimbs too?”

“Mr. Buck was a special case.” Ping scrunched up his muzzle at that as he quickly climbed off of the cart. “Unless you have been mortally wounded, it would be ill advised to replace healthy limbs with any of our technology.” Turning to Buck, his muzzle changed from his scrunch to his signature beaming smile. “However, if Mr. Buck performs well as Factory Zero One’s ambassador, than many others in the waste who require limbs could possibly stand to benefit from our help. But that is not a priority at this moment. It is time to board the Arcturus and get underway.”

“Hold on just a sec.” Happy grunted as he turned and deadpanned at Ping. “If those two mercs took Scar, then how the fuck are we going to get up onto that… thing?” Happy poured a great amount of effort into flailing his forehoof at the wrong cloud floating among the others in the amber skies. “Night might be able to fly, but what about the rest of us?”

Without a word, Ping rose his forehoof up and pointed to the correct fluffy cloud that held the Arcturus inside it. As we watched, a new bulge formed from underneath it’s centerline, and an oversized silverfish drone dropped through the cloud layer. Wait, how did I not notice something else had been hidden under there!? Something that size should have deformed the cloud shroud enough to have been easily noticeable!

From what I could see, this new drone was about the same size as a vertibuck, although it was missing a few key features of both an Enclave skycraft, as well as a normal sized silverfish drone. This drone held the same sort of twin engine, fish shaped hull as the smaller drones. Though oddly, it’s V shaped tail was inverted, hanging down where it’s rear flaps almost scraped the ground as it touched down. Overall, the craft seemed quite a bit more squat and wider than the normal drone design as well. On top of all that, most of its center fuselage was covered by large retractable panels on each side that opened to reveal a small cabin just large enough for the five of us to squeeze into.

“The HK CSM-300 A-1000 is a modification of our standard Aerial units by the Architect.” Ping’s smile swung over to me as he spoke. “Because the Architect was unsure what race would end up being chosen for our task, he designed it to be a ferry from the Arcturus to the ground. It’s been designed to mate directly to the weapons bay loading door on the ventral hull of the cloudship, so while it will deform the cloud shape slightly, it should not greatly hinder the concealment quality or flight performance of the Arcturus.”

“So it just… hooks on and rides along?” Tofu gasped and took a step back as the craft hovered down over the mud. It’s engines were just as quiet as Scar’s were, which was still impressive as all hell to me. Four long landing legs unfolded from underneath the sleek looking craft, each one ending in a small rubber tire that compressed as they sank slightly into the muddy ground. “That’s literally so cool…” Tofu’s words died off as she devolved into giddy laughs as she trotted over to the odd machine.

“Huh, neat.” Buck added as he gave himself a light stretch as he stepped out of the back of the cart. “It reminds me of an old world sea creature I’d read about in one of the Inuvik’s digital library books. A Remora.”

“What the hell is a ‘Remora’?” Happy snorted.

“Ooooo! I like that as a name!” Tofu gasped and giggled as she continually paced through the mud around the odd cloudship. I wish I could share her excitement in seeing this, but really, as long as it got the others off the ground, I was sold on it at least being useful.

“It already carries the designation HK CSM-300 A-1000.” Ping stated before his muzzle scrunched up again. “Okay, admittedly your name might be better. Project HK CSM-300 A-1000 successfully renamed to ‘Remora’.” Turning to me, his beaming smile returned once more as he held his forehoof out toward the ship. “But we have already spent long enough chatting on the ground. Preparations for the mission are complete, and it is time to go, Captain.”

“Wait, Captain?” I took a step back and nervously looked up to Buck, who seemed just as stunned as I was. Okay, what the hell was going on here? Nopony told me I was supposed to have yet another title.

“Why does he get to be Captain!?” Happy spit out with the worst attempt I’d ever seen to hide his bitter jealousy. Hey, it’s not like I asked to be Captain!

“Because Night Flight is the Survivor.” Ping responded without missing a single beat.

His overly candid answer made my eye twitch at that nickname again, but as I was about to speak up about it, I felt Buck’s cold metal paw come down softly on my side. Looking up, I met Buck’s soft gaze and kind smile. Even though the soft glow in his mechanical eye unnerved me, something about the way he seemed so relaxed just helped to put me at ease.

“I know that many won’t agree, but I support you, Night.” Buck’s soft voice was once again a peaceful oasis among a storm of thoughts and concerns raging inside my head. “You’ve managed to pull us all through this far, and I truly believe that while you’ve made mistakes, you’ll get us all through this as well.”

“Yeah, but… it’s not my ship.” While I didn’t mind hearing Buck say that he supported me, it didn’t change the fact that I’d never asked for the position. I just wanted to get Cora and Hispano back, and then go after Solomon. Besides, I think I had enough titles and names as it was already.

“You’re right, it’s not your ship.” Double Delta spoke up as he pulled himself up through the open cabin of the Remora. “It’s not the Ranger’s either.” Looking up over the rims of his sunglasses, he gazed up at the lumpy cloud that concealed the old world cloudship. “The Arcturus belongs to Equestria, and she deserves to be Captained by someone who wants to make it better for everypony out there.” With a smirk, he tilted his head down and over to me. “Can’t say I’d have made the same call, but hey, they could do worse for a Captain.”

“You mean like you?” Tofu snorted as she rolled her eyes at Delta.

“Or like Happy?” Buck’s own quick response caught me off guard, as well as pulled a snirk from me.

“Hey!” Happy snapped before Ping cleared his throat to pull all of our attentions to him.

“You may continue this conversation on board the Arcturus.” Ping’s normal bright smile wavered for a moment as he trotted towards the Remora. “Twilight is quickly approaching, and using the cover of darkness will be our best chance to approach Cantercross unnoticed.”

“Alright, everyone, let’s go.” I sighed and pushed myself to head over to the Remora.

I didn’t like the idea that I was the ‘captain’ now. I know that Delilah said I’d had the makings of a leader, but this probably wasn’t what she was talking about. And while Buck is right that I seem to be able to get through pretty much any challenge set ahead of me, that didn’t mean that it was easy.

And it definitely didn’t mean that everyone around me made it through to the end.

“Captain on deck!” Tofu proclaimed and threw up a stiff salute as I trotted into the command center of the ship.

Her salute was then quickly mirrored by Pastel as he spun around on his paws, but it broke once he looked past me as Buck stepped into the doorway. With a metallic clang, his metal skullcap hit the doorway and he gave a small whimper. Yeah, Pegasis skyships were definitely not designed with someone his size in mind…

“Excuse me for not saluting, ‘captain’.” Frescas spat softly as she sat back against some of the terminals in the corner of the room. Honestly, I can’t say I expected her to be in here, though I did somewhat expect the hostility.

“Frescas is… going to help with whatever you need, Night.” Pastel said as he relaxed from his salute. “But if you are adamant, I can go with her back to the bunks, and we can both stay out of your way.”

“I’d rather have all the help I can get, really.” I sighed as I gave a short glance to the aggravated former captain before looking back to Pastel with a forced smile. “But on that, are we ready to head out?”

“Yes, we are ready to set sail at your command.” Eliza’s cartoonish smiling mare appeared on a few of the terminal screens around the command center. “Spark reactors are online. Cloud sensor systems are online. Weapons systems are online. All systems are nominal, Captain.”

“Good, and thank you Eliza.” I nodded to her and then looked back to Buck.

“Eliza,” He said with a warm sigh. “plot a course for Cantercross, full ahead.” Buck’s soft smile to the computer mare felt even warmer when he in turn looked back down at me. “We’re going to get the rest of our family back, and free the slaves in the city.”

“Aye aye, second mate Buck!” Eliza repeated in an almost too enthusiastic response for her. “Course plotted, and I’ve set propulsion for full ahead speed!”

I couldn’t really blame her for her excitement. If I’d been trapped in a slow ass harvester for over two hundred years, I’d jump on and try to be the best at any job that allowed me to get out again. I was just happy that she seemed to acclimate to the systems of the Arcturus so quickly.

“Oh goddesses,” Tofu groaned as I could feel the subtle shift of the metal decking below us as we got underway. “Here we go again…”

Pulling her forehoof up around her barrel, she took several quick but deep breaths. But just as she looked like she was winning the fight against the green color flushing her face, the Arcturus’ hull gave out a light groan as the two hundred year old ship straightened out. That was all it took to break Tofu’s concentration, and she shot her hoof up to her muzzle with a whimper.

“Oh fuck me…” She groaned and spun on her hooves.

Like a bullet, Tofu darted off through the door to the command center, nearly bowling over Double Delta and Happy as they tried to squeeze their way through it. I still didn’t really get how anypony could get airsick when the feeling of flying was pretty much the best thing ever. It was something I hadn’t really put a lot of thought into, but I guess there was actually still a lot I didn’t know about the other pony races, or even non-pony races. Maybe that would be something Buck could help me out with. I mean, he’d spent his whole life on a ship full of different races, so he had to at least have some insight to the quirks and attributes of others.

“So, Night,” Double Delta spoke up as he trotted toward the heart of the command center and propped himself against a terminal in the same way Frescas was. “What’s our plan?”

“Uhh…” I blinked at that. What exactly was our plan?

My already derailed train of thought went off a bridge into the aether when Frescas let out a forced, stiff laugh.

“You don’t even have a plan!?” She snorted as she facehooved hard. “Ugh, you take my ship, and you don’t even know what you’re going to do with it?”

“Okay, look, I didn’t ask to take your ship.” I snapped at Frescas. Her words must have cut something pretty fragile in my mind, because the torrent of words that poured out of my mouth were heavier than anything I could have planned to say. “I’ve pretty much been flying by the seat of my pants since everything I knew in the Enclave came crashing down. And I for one think I’ve been doing an alright job so far seeing as I’m still alive. I get it, you lost the ship you stole from my people. But seriously, get the fuck over it.”

“Night…” Buck spoke up, reaching over and putting his paw on me. I only gave him a sharp glance in return.

“No, I want to know what her plan would be.” I growled and sharply jabbed my hoof towards her. “You have to launch a rescue mission into the heart of Mr. Wizard’s operation. You have to free not only your family, but the slaves being held inside the heart of the science center. On top of that, you have to free the rest of his slaves throughout the city without getting them all killed!”

“What you’re asking for is impossible.” Frescas snapped back at me. “You want to know why nopony’s overthrown that asshole? Because you’d need half the fucking north to take that damned city. And you can fucking bet that going in half cocked is going to get everypony killed.”

“Well I’m not hearing any suggestions from your end, former captain.” I barked and stomped my hoof on the floor. “Because this isn’t a theoretical operation. Impossible or not, this is happening. So I suggest that if you don’t want to die or lose the ship, you toss out that fucking attitude of yours, and start fucking helping.”

“That’s enough out of both of you.” Double Delta’s voice resonated off the ships walls as he shouted at us. “This isn’t the time for you two to get into a pissing match over which mare deserves to wear the fucking captain’s hat.” Delta’s sharp glare between the two of us at least gave me enough pause to calm myself slightly. “Now, what Night said here is right. This is going to happen, and constructive ideas are what we need right now.”

“Why are you okay with this, Delta?” Frescas wheeled right around on him, nearly throwing herself on the consol she’d been propped up against. “We let you back into the Rangers and you just want to turn your backs on us again?”

“If I may call your attention to the monitor beside you.” Ping called out as he stepped through the door and into the command center. Lifting his hoof, he pointed it to the bank of terminal screens right beside her. It flickered over to static for a moment before resolving again into the aerial view of the power armor deal we’d seen down inside the Factory.

“Wha…” Frescas squinted as she spun around and nearly shoved her face into the screen. “Is that… the elder’s armor?” Blinking a few times, a flat look fell across her face as she pulled away from the monitor. “No, this has to be…”

“Fake?” Delta snorted. “That’s what I said.” with a sigh, he reached up and pulled his sunglasses from his muzzle and set them down on the console next to him. “I never thought dad had it in him, but… whatever it takes to keep the Rangers safe and together, right?”

“All of us have made mistakes, but the important thing is that we’re all on the same side.” Buck offered as he stepped up beside me and rest his enormous mechanical paw on my back. It wasn’t the same as his old, warm paw, but I enjoyed it all the same. “We all need to work together to dismantle Mr. Wizard’s reign on the north, and to free those he has enslaved.”

“Yeah, I guess…” Frescas let out a long sigh as she gave another short glance over to the monitor with the power armor deal on it. “But without a plan, this operation isn’t going to be anywhere near successful.”

“Those in the Factory may have helped me come up with a few ideas about what to do.” Buck’s soft smile parted his jagged muzzle, at least, until he looked down to me. “And please remember, we all need to be constructive with our input.”

Why did it feel like he was specifically reminding me not to suggest killing Motor Grader and the rest of the Road Crew?

“We have arrived at our destination, Captain.” Eliza’s voice jared me out of my thoughts. “As requested, we are currently positioned above the ruins of the factory district, just northeast of the Road Crew settlement.”

“Thank you, Eliza.” Looking over at her, the smiling cartoon mare on the monitor gave me a wink before flickering the terminal screens back to the information they’d originally been displaying.

I’d been up here on the bridge alone for the past few hours while the others went to get some rest before the fight. Me? I’d rested enough over the past few days, and even if I wanted to, I was too nervous to sleep. Though, maybe it would have calmed my mind a bit if I’d just decided to go and lay with Buck for a while, but I can’t dwell on that now.

The soft clops of hooves in the core systems room pulled my attention over to the doorway. As nonchalantly as always, Ping’s smiling muzzle beamed about the room as he walked in. Behind him however, followed a tired looking Happy Trails.

“Eliza has informed me that we are in position.” Ping’s jarringly upbeat tone was out of place, as always, but I should have come to expect it. “Buck is ready and waiting inside the Remora, however, we have another issue.”

“Yeah we do.” Happy grumbled through a yawn. “I want to go with you so I can give those sacks of shit down there a piece of my mind.”

“It is ill advised to include Happy in this negotiation.” Ping frowned at me before throwing Happy a sideways glance. “If this operation is to be a success, we require the cooperation of the Road Crew. Any outside agitators only move the variables from a favorable position in achieving our goal.”

“He’s coming with us, Ping.” I sighed and pushed myself off the consol I’d been sitting against. Both Ping and Happy displayed somewhat shocked looks at my quick answer, but for the queen of bluntness, maybe they should have seen it coming. “When you’ve had your family murdered by someone, Ping, you’ll understand why he needs to go.” My legs were stiff and protested, but like the mission itself, we needed to do this even if it hurt. “But don’t fucking screw this up for us, Happy.”

“Fine.” He grunted before he spun around and trotted off back through the core systems door in a huff.

“I believe it is unwise to bring him with us.” Ping brought his frown back to me, and his voice fell into a sort of pleading tone. “If you cannot control his outbursts during the negotiations…”

“Let me tell you something, Ping. Have you forgotten the reason we’re doing this?” I looked him in the eyes as I trotted right up to him. “We don’t need the Road Crew’s help to secure Cantercross. No, if they want to take over control of the north, then they need our help to take down Mr. Wizard. I’m bringing Happy because I need that outburst. It might be the one thing that pushes them to agree before we have to resort to violence.”

“As you wish, Night Flight.” Ping nodded to me, dropping to a starkly neutral expression as he turned and pointed toward the core systems doorway. “Shall we depart?”

“Yeah, let’s go.” If he didn’t like my decision, that’s perfectly fine. At least, so long as he respects it.

Making our way through the ship, I found that the atmosphere of it was incredibly different this time around. While the ship last time we were here almost felt like a commissioned Enclave vessel, with her crew busily going about their tasks at keeping her up. Now? The Arcturus felt as much like the ghost ship she was to history.

We passed by the bunk room, where Delta, Pastel, and Frescas were fast asleep in the bunks. Knowing that we were all that made up the crew of the Arcturus now gave me a weird feeling in my gut. I couldn’t really explain it, but something about the idea that such a small group of us were embarking on this task simply felt familiar to me, but still distant.

Maybe it was because of how close I’d become to everyone on the convoy before they died. Perhaps given enough time, the Rangers on here would come to regard us as family as much as Buck, Happy, and I already did. Then again, more than just a part of me was afraid that the moment I accepted them as family, that would be when my curse strikes once more.

I did my best to push those thoughts out of my head as Ping and I found ourselves in the weapons bay. Underneath a makeshift canvas tent that had been draped over one of the outstretched hydraulic loading arms, Tofu slept curled up under a warm looking blanket. She had a bucket nearby her that smelled fairly rank even from across the loading bay, but I couldn’t blame her for getting sick. I mean, I still didn’t really understand it, but I couldn’t blame her.

Ping effortlessly dropped himself down the open weapons loading hatch that sat opened in the center of the room. I myself flared out my wings as I walked to the edge and looked down. Without hesitating, I hopped down inside.

My wings helped me to cushion the short fall onto the floor, and the moment I was inside, the hatch above me hissed and closed.

The darkened interior of the Remora somehow looked more cramped from above with Buck, Ping, and Happy already in it. If not for the fact that arriving unannounced would probably get me shot at, I’d opt to just fly myself down. But having ponies you were paid to kill show up at your doorstep alive and angry? Well, I was betting that King Motor Grader wouldn’t exactly be interested in hearing anything we had to say at all…

“Hatches sealed.” Ping spoke as he sat himself down where he’d landed. “Magnetic seals depolarizing, switching to internal power and guidance.” With a light thump through the hull, I felt the craft drop away from the Arcturas. Happy let out a little whine as we started to descend, which drew a chuckle out of Ping. “Do not worry, we will be touching down in two minutes.”

“Two minutes?” Happy gave out in an interesting mix between a whine and a grumble. “Couldn’t we have gotten any closer?”

“Not without significant risk to the Arcturas.” Ping responded quickly before turning and looking at Buck. “How are the modifications helping you cope?”

Wait, what modifications?

“It’s odd.” Buck wore the biggest smile across his muzzle I’d seen in what felt like years, which was odd given just earlier this afternoon he’d been so afraid of flying. “The suppressants seem to be working just as you said they would. I know I should feel afraid, and yet I feel nothing.” With a light laugh, he glanced over to me. For just a moment, he wore a look of intense guilt that was quickly overridden with a forced laugh. “It’s… it’s fine, Night. I wanted them to help stem my irrational fear of flying.”

It was less that I was concerned over him wanting to get over his fear, and more about what exactly these ‘suppressants’ were. But if something were truly wrong, I’m sure Buck would have told me. Reaching up and scratching at the leather eyepatch that now covered my gaping socket, I at least hoped he’d place his trust in me for something like that. Unlike me, I’m pretty sure he’d actually do something before he lost himself in a crippling addiction…

The stiff landing gear of the remora compressed as we touched down. The hydraulics in the walls hummed to life as the side doors of the remora unsealed and drew back, letting the floodlights of the Road Crew’s Union headquarters shine in on us. The cool night air rushed into the cramped space, and the sound of a hundred guns all being readied met our ears.

“Attention, trespassers. Come out slowly and don’t make any sudden moves.” The familiar amplified voice of a stallion came through a megaphone as I climbed to my hooves and turned to meet it. Pausing, I turned to Buck.

“You know, seeing how they reacted to you last time…” I cringed as he gave me a short nod.

“Yes, I think it would be for the best if I stay inside for now.” Buck’s worried look was the same as it always had been, even if half of his face has been replaced by metal. “Just stay safe, alright?”

“I’ll try, but… well, you know how things normally go with me.” I flashed him a nervous smile and stepped up to the open side door of the Remora. The moment I was greeted by those bright work lights, I squinted and blinked a few times to help adjust.

But when I could see again, I was standing on the highway again, watching as Solomon took aim at the convoy. Everything was just as it had been. The way the dull daylight played off his stupid white coat, the smell of the sickly pine forests around, and the feeling of the cold asphalt under my hooves. My heart nearly stopped as almost in slow motion, Solomon pulled the trigger on his rifle again. There was the crack of the gunshot which I’d had replayed a dozen times now in my head, and reflexively, I blinked.

And just like that, it was all gone.

Once more I blinked as the bright Road Crew work lights forced my eyes to adapt, and I was left with an eerie feeling as to what I’d just experienced. Was that part of my addiction? I mean, it was like I was actually there again. The dreams were bad enough, but that… it’s never been so… real before.

“Discard your weapons and surrender peace… wait… Night Flight?” The voice forced my worried thoughts away as I was brought back into the moment. Standing in the middle of a group of armed Road Crew ponies, was a stallion with a coat as black as asphalt. He stood proudly in his Road Crew gear, flaunting a flowing mane as white as Ivory that wafted in the light nighttime breeze. Wait, was that… Double Drum? He smiled and lowered his megaphone as I looked over him. “Shit, it really is you, cutie mark and all!” With a laugh, he waved to the road crew around him. “Stand down, Night’s a friend of the Crew.”

“Like hell she is!” Another familiar voice called out through the crowd. This time, a lithe red stallion pushed through and huffed as he came up to Double Drum. He was smaller than Drum was, and wore the same orange and yellow work outfit as most of the ponies here, but adorning his head was what looked like a crown made out of scrap metal. “That bitch is the one who ruined our reputation! She’s the Survivor.”

“I know who Night is, Screed.” Double Drum rolled his eyes at the smaller stallion. “Why don’t you do us a favor and go get your father, alright? A guest of this caliber needs the King’s attention, not that of a prince.” That pulled more than a few murmuring snickers from the armed crowd.

“You don’t get to tell me what to fucking do, supervisor Drum.” Screed Grader snapped before looking about with a glare that could melt steel. Each of the crew in the crowd did everything they could to avoid looking him in the eyes, and after a moment, Screed Grader seemed satisfied that nopony else was going to speak up. “These trespassers are not to move, understand? Fail this simple task, and you’ll be facing yet another demotion.”

“Yes, Prince.” Double Drum nodded respectfully to the small stallion. “What will you be doing?”

“I…” Screed started before abruptly cutting himself off by looking slightly alarmed. His expression shifted slowly to a bit of embarrassment as he lowered both his voice and his tone. “I will retrieve my Father.”

“As you wish.” Double Drum nodded again as the crowd behind him parted. Slowly, the red stallion walked off in an even bigger huff than which he’d appeared in. As soon as he was far enough away, Double Drum let out a sigh and hung his head. “Sorry about that, Night. Things have been chaos since I arrived about a week ago. You wouldn’t believe what’s going on out there. After that radio report about your convoy, it’s like every ounce of trust the north had in us was gone.”

“Well, what the fuck did you expect?” Happy spoke up as he pulled himself out of his seat in the Remora and poked his head around the open door. “Your King betrayed us, sold us out to Solomon.”

“Yeah, but that wasn’t our fault.” Double Drum gave a stiff stomp on the rocky ground before trotting closer. “Most of the Road Crew condemned the actions of King Motor Grader. We signed up to protect those in the north, not to negotiate backroom deals to make a profit off of them.”

Stepping out of the Remora, I felt the cold ground under my three hooves and gave a soft tap of my prosthetic leg against the smooth stone. A few of the Road Crew raised their weapons at me, but I stopped moving forward, and Double Drum held up his hoof to them. His gaze softened as he looked over the scars and injuries I’d gained since last we met, but the only thing that ran through my mind again was how insulting the look of pity he gave me was. I knew Double Drum wasn’t one of the bad Road Crew, but he was still part of them all the same.

“Yeah, but he’s your King.” Happy spat as he pushed his way out next to me. “Seems to me like you talk a big game, but in reality you’re all okay with following the orders of a tyrant.”

“That’s enough, Happy.” I snapped at him. I may have needed him here for his outbursts, but those were wasted unless we were talking with Motor Grader himself.

With a glance up at Large Marge, I watched as the double doors to the King’s room opened up, and Lustre appeared on the ledge. As she flared her wings out, Motor walked out behind her, and she grabbed onto him. The two of them momentarily disappeared among the darkness that sat beyond the intense floodlights around the worksite. But with the sound of beating wings, and a burst of wind, the two of them landed next to Double Drum.

The moment Motor Grader’s eyes met mine, I watched as a distinct pulse of surprise and anger flushed across his tired but smug expression. Lustre on the other hoof, looked between Happy and I with a profound look of guilt. That alone pissed me off, and from the near growl Happy gave her, I could tell he didn’t appreciate it either.

“Well isn’t this quite the surprise.” Motor snorted as he pulled himself away from Lustre. “Let me guess, you’re here for either some payback, or to ask for my help. The latter won’t be cheap, seeing as how you ruined the Union’s reputation.”

“Last I checked, you did that yourself, you fucking asshole.” Happy snorted as he took a step forward. Again, the armed workers around us raised their weapons while Motor Grader only returned the outburst with a laugh.

“We didn’t come here for either.” I pulled Motor’s attention as I sat down. “We came because with or without your help, at dawn, my friends and I are going to rid Cantercross of Mr. Wizard and his business.”

“You can’t be serious.” Lustre’s words were blunt, and from her genuinely shocked face, she must have thought we were suicidal.

“My wife has a point.” Motor was quick to interject himself before we could answer, gesturing to the Remora behind us. “You’re either suicidal or the biggest morons in the wasteland if you think the two of you and your fancy toy there could go up against him. You’d need an army, and I’m sorry to tell you that mine isn’t for sale.”

“Why not?” Happy laughed at that. “You were so quick to sell us out to Solomon.”

“What he was offering was too good to pass up.” Motor’s words were distasteful for all of us, and even his grimace showed how little he enjoyed even offering that. “It’s true that in hindsight, if I’d known he wouldn’t make good on it, I would have taken your deal in a heartbeat.”

“Well now there’s a new deal to be made.” I kept a flat glare on Motor as he perked his ears but feigned annoyance. “In return for your help, the Road Crew would gain control of Cantercross, as well as have your reputation restored.”

An awkward pause filled the air as my words drifted off into the night. A slight murmur picked up in the crowd of armed Road Crew, and those whispers brought a snarling look to Motor’s face. His expression cracked sharply, and he let out a roaring laugh.

“Why do you waste my time with these lies?” Raising his voice and looking around, he both silenced the murmuring crowd and demanded their attention. “Perhaps you are simply looking to get killed, and if so, that’s something I can have arranged should you insult me with another foal’s tale.”

I’d seen this bit before in one of the old movies in Klondike. When confronted with doing the right thing, the villain always tried to pass it off as slander. But thanks to Lilac Lace, I knew exactly how to counter it. Get the villain angry, and they’ll do all the work in ruining their own reputation.

“You want to hear a foal’s tale?” I laughed and let my gaze drift over to Lustre. “How about the story of the Survivor. A pony who knew their convoy had been sabotaged by the Road Crew. A pony who was forced to watch as the only family he had left was stolen from him by the greed of a Saddle Arabian Prince. I don’t know if you’ve heard it already, but it’s also the story about a pony who at this moment has the power to either salvage or completely annihilate the Road Crew.” I smirked as my words hit Motor like a slap in the face, and I could almost watch as his blood boiled. As I’ve remarked to myself before, even with everything always going wrong, at least I can still piss off anyone I want. Now, let’s see just how accurate those old movies were.

“How dare you threaten me.” Motor snarled as he took a few stiff steps forward. The impressively well muscled stallion practically towered over me, and his hot breath was like a forceful gale as he trembled with rage. “I have tolerated enough insults from your convoy, and you have more than tested my patience. It was enough to endure that old hag touching my wife! But if you stand before me and utter one more thing that is not groveling for forgiveness, then I will take as much comfort in ordering your death as I did in letting Solomon murder Mrs. Burro and the rest of you degenerates.”

Perfection.

“Motor.” Lustre gave out a low growl that you could feel through the smooth stone under our hooves. I was sure that it was in that moment that Motor Grader, for all of his ego and bravado, had remembered that he wasn’t actually the largest being here. “It was enough to know that you had a part in it, but if you had any hoof in Delilah’s death more than the ‘accident’ you claimed it was…”

That made Happy completely lose control and slip into giddy laughter.

“He said it was an accident!?” Happy spat out between his chuckles. “Oh, Solomon’s had been trying to kill my Mom for years, but come on, Lustre. You knew her. She played hard to get because she was always one hoof ahead of him.” His laughter died down as he looked over at Motor. “But the king here? He gave Solomon the perfect set up. There was no way he was going to miss that shot.”

That wasn’t true, like, at all. Solomon fucked up that shot because he was so fucking sure of himself that he didn’t need to listen to Rook’s advice. And while my brain was about to throw this information straight out of my muzzle, I clamped it down around my tongue until it hurt so much that the pain wiped the urge to speak right out of my mind. What did sit in my mind however, was the thought about what happened next in Lilac Lace’s movie.

“No, it’s all lies.” Motor forced out his own laugh as he took a step back and pivoted around to Lustre. “Don’t you see what they’re doing? They’re trying to turn you against me!”

“Shut up, Motor.” Lustre snapped at him and stepped forward. For as much as Motor had towered over me, Lustre made me feel incredibly intimidated. Even so, I stiffened up my legs and made myself as tall as I could as I sat there. Present yourself as an immovable rock, that’s something I’d taken away from spending as much time watching Delilah as I had. “Given you don’t have any proof of Motor’s guilt, what reason exactly do I have to trust you at all?”

“Because we both have the same end goal.” I had to trust that because of the guilt she was still trying to hide that there was some sort of good left in her heart. “The freedom of the north from Mr. Wizard, and the death of Saddle Arabian Prince Solomon.”

“I’m going to need something more substantial than that.” Lustre crossed her massive clawed forelimbs as the floodlights nearly made her amber glasslike armored plates glow.

“I do believe I might be able to help.” Ping spoke up as he poked his head out of the cabin of the Remora. Hushed murmurs from the armed ponies struck up again as some of them shifted their weapons over to him. “I do not mean to cause any alarm, but I must ask if you have a standard radio on hoof perhaps?”

“Alright, we’ll humor you.” Lustre looked over to one of the ponies in the crown and nodded to them. In a flash, they went galloping off across the worksight.

“Dozer, they’re just wasting your…” Motor tried to speak up, but received a literal burning glare as Lustre’s eyes glowed, and small gouts of flame flickered around her nostrils.

After a minute, the workpony who’d run off returned with a large portable worksite radio balanced across his back. Pushing his way through his armed coworkers, he gingerly set the radio down next to Lustre. With a wave of her large claws, the worker was dismissed, and he disappeared back into the crowd.

“Please, turn it to Dj PowerColt’s station, if you would.” Ping gave a nod to her as he stepped out of the Remora with his trademark beaming smile across his muzzle.

The crackle of radio static picked up for a moment before the fading tunes of one of the Dj’s upbeat electronic songs drifted off.

“Good evening to all you groovy folks out there dancing the night away!”

You know, you’d think that after learning he was a machine, listening to his voice on the radio would take away that special feeling his dulcet tones gave me. I’ve never been so glad to be wrong...

“Before we return to another fresh track manufactured just for you, I’d like to offer a special hello to Queen Dozer, and all of the Road Crew who are listening right now. I know for the rest of you northerners out there, you may not trust them. And while there are plenty of liars and backstabbers out there in the wastes, let me tell you, the Road Crew aren’t who you should be afraid of. Well, that is to say, unless you want to end up like the Survivor’s Convoy I suggest you don’t turn your back on King Motor Grader. But that’s enough jib-jabbering for now! I hear you jive fillies all crying out to me, so let’s get back to the music already! Because here at Factory Radio...”

A gunshot split the air, and the radio let out a burst of sparks before dying completely.

“It’s all a trick!” Motor Grader growled out from around a pistol clenched firmly in his jaw. “There is no way they know that fucking DJ.”

“I can assure you, it is not a…” Ping spoke up, only to be cut off by another gunshot. The side of Ping’s face was torn away, and his illusion flickered for a moment before he fell over with a heavy crunch onto the ground.

“Ping!” I gasped as I scrambled over to his still form. It was odd. Half of his head had been completely obliterated by the gunshot, but his illusion was still up, so he must still be alive. With a glare, I shifted my gaze over to Motor, who’s jaw had gone so slack at the sight of Ping’s mechanical head that he’d let the pistol drop out of his muzzle.

“What in Celestia’s… it… it’s a damned machine!” Motor gasped out as he turned and looked up at Lustre, hastily jabbing his hoof over to us. “As King, I’m ordering the death of these…”

Motor himself was cut off as Lustre brought her claws angrily around the muscled stallion. He flailed his legs and wheezed as he was picked up off the ground. He let off a hushed whimper as all of the air was forced out of his lungs with the tightening of Lustre’s grip. With a flare of her wings, she pushed off of the ground and once again instantly disappeared into the black skies beyond the floodlights.

Turning my attention back to Ping, Happy joined me as we both crouched down and tried to shake some life back into him.

“Hey, come on, Ping.” I gave his side a few sharp pats that were returned with very metal sounding knocks.

“Nah, he’s just… he’s joking, that’s all.” Happy’s nervous laugh was something I couldn’t even force out myself as we tried to get a response from Ping. “Quit laying around already, buddy.”

His body gave a slight twitch as another few sparks erupted from his damaged head. The crowd of Road Crew gave out a gasp, and nearly collectively gave a step back as Ping’s body started to move again. Slowly, he picked itself up, and the half of Ping’s face that still remained looked around for a moment in confusion. Oh thank the goddesses he was alright.

“My systems are operating at a reduced c-capacity, but I will be fine.” As his gaze passed over to Happy and I’s relieved looks, he gave a half-smile to us. Well, a half half-smile I guess… “I thank you for your c-concern, but I do recall telling you that we like to carry r-redundant processing cores in the case that one or more is d-damaged.”

“We’re just glad you’re alright.” I offered him before giving him another, softer pat on the side.

“Agreed. H-however,” Ping paused and looked up to the dark sky expectantly. With a half-frown, he continued. “The same will not be s-said for King Motor Grader.”

A sharp scream filled the air from above us before a massive blur struck the ground at an impressive speed. Happy and I flinched as a splash of gore sprayed up over us as the crunch of bone filled our ears. The crowd around us gasped and stepped back as Motor Grader’s lifeless and crumpled body sat in the middle of a spreading puddle of blood.

With another heavy beat of her wings, Lustre dropped down next to the former king and let out a roar that I’m sure echoed off of every still standing building in Cantercross. Again, most of the Road Crew raised their weapons, but not at us. However, more than a few dropped their guns as Lustre let out a line of amber flame straight up into the air.

“Listen up!” She roared out as she reared back and passed her glowing glare over all who were gathered. “Motor was a fool and a traitor to the Road Crew. He sold out his integrity for profit, and from here on out, I will kill each and every one who puts their own wealth over that of the Union. The Road Crew exists to help the citizens of the North, something that we have too easily forgotten in our complacency. Something I will change. I am the queen, and all of you now owe your allegiance solely to me. If anypony objects, then you better fucking speak up now.”

“Queen Lustre?” Double Drum gave a meek but prideful step forward. “I know I haven’t had the best standing with the Crew as of late, but…” He paused, looking over at me with a soft nod. “If the Survivor is going to attempt to take down Mr. Wizard, than I’d like to volunteer my help, with or without any additional support.”

Again, I had to fight the urge to back up and run as the large and angry dragon turned her sights on to us. But as soon as her glowing eyes passed over the very frightened looking Happy, I could tell that something inside of her gave. As the moments passed and her gaze stayed on him, she looked to relax. She blinked a few times, shaking her head as her eyes dimmed before drifting them over to me.

“Alright, Survivor. Head up to the office and I’ll listen to your proposal. Assuming you have one.” She grumbled before looking down at Motor’s corpse. “Assuming I like your plan, and if you can fix our reputation, I’ll see what assistance the Road Crew can provide. Just… give me a half hour. I have to explain to Screed Grader why his father needed to die.” Pulling her wings close to herself, I could see in how she held herself just how much pain that killing Motor Grader had caused her. I simply nodded and watched as she turned around to head out.

“Thank you, Lustre.” Happy called out, forcing her to freeze up midstep. “For ignoring Motor’s lies and giving us a chance.

“I didn’t do it for you.” She didn’t turn around as she spoke, simply raising a claw up to her face as she gave a sniffle that let out another gout of black smoke. “I did it for her. For Delilah.”

Author's Notes:

As always, a big shout out and thanks to TheFurryRailFan for doing what he could for the chapter on such short notice. Seriously, you're a lifesaver.

And of course, a bit thank you to Kkat for letting us all use this amazing wasteland universe.