“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” I asked Delta as the rest of us climbed inside the Remora. “Scar will be here in a day or so it’s not like you’d be abandoning them.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about me.” He smiled and hoofed his sunglasses up further on his muzzle. “There were some things I wished I’d said to Riddle before she left, and I doubt I’ll get a third chance to say them in my lifetime. If she’ll believe me, well, that’s a different story.” With a shake of his head and a wave of his hoof, he stepped back from the Remora. “But that’s my problem to worry about. Go, find King.”

“You’re not going to stay?” Happy asked abruptly, catching both Delta and I off guard. “If you cared for her like you said…”

He seemed to think about it for a moment before shrugging.

“I think I made my choice ten years ago, and while I regret it, I’ve come to terms with it.” Delta sighed and offered Happy a sympathetic look. “Besides, she never really was into older guys.” With a lazy salute, he gave me a quick wink. “But I’ll be fine. Just do me a favor and don’t go running off south without me.”

“You’ve got it.” I nodded to him as the Remora’s engines spooled up and the cabin doors closed.

I took a deep breath as I felt the Remora under us lift off. It wasn’t going to be more than a minute or so in the air, but it was at least a time when I didn’t have to worry about anything. In fact, as I looked around the cabin at the faces of my friends, my family, I could feel the tension I’ve been carrying with me melt away.

A pair of large wings wrapping warmly around me did a lot to help with that as well as I felt Hispano press himself up against my back. I did my best to lean in and return the affection, but paused when out of the corner of my eye, I caught Okona’s curious gaze studying me. I felt a wave of discomfort gurgle up from my gut as he broke off his gaze and a smirk pulled across his muzzle.

I’m beginning to regret bringing him along with us. But without any sort of solid reason to distrust him, I wasn’t about to make a new enemy when I didn’t need to. Still, we were going to have a long talk once we got back to the Arcturus.

The Remora shifted under my hooves again, slowing us down and bringing us in for a landing. The doors once more opened up, revealing that we’d landed just on the outskirts of the Steel Ranger camp. While we weren’t met with the barrels of rifles this time, the looks a few of the rangers shot us as we disembarked were just as hostile. Thankfully, Paladin Lance quickly made his way over to us from his tent.

“With the lack of gunfire, I’m assuming things went well in your negotiations.” He offered as his heavy power armored steps kicked effortlessly through the packed snow around his camp.

“Indeed.” I offered to him with a nod. “They’ll be gone in two days.”

“And their supplies?” He pressed with more than a note of hope to his voice that bordered on greed. “What about their wreck?”

“They’re taking what they brought with them.” I did my best to flatly state it so he understood it wasn’t for the Rangers to take. “However, after they’re gone, you may have the wreck of the Condor.”

The paladin mulled over my words and let out a long, dejected sigh. I got that he wasn’t getting everything he and the Rangers wanted, but for the low low price of zero casualties, I’d thought he’d at least be somewhat satisfied. As rational as that sounded to me, so far my experiences in the wastes have taught me that it’s not exactly the norm to expect from others.

“That’ll do, I suppose.” He finally spoke up, but not before I could see the beginnings of a smirk tugging at his muzzle. “So long as we don’t have any incidents or incursions from them, I’ll give them their two days. Any longer however and I have no guarantee that they’ll leave anything for us to reclaim, and that won’t do.” No, that didn’t sit right with me at all.

“Well we didn’t agree to any extra conditions like that.” Happy spoke up before I could even blurt out the exact same thought. “You northern rangers may be nicer than the ones we’ve got back home, but don’t overstep.”

“Happy…” Buck let out an almost snapping growl as he turned on the Mule. While the Rangers nearby had been calm enough before, Buck’s sudden aggression changed that. More than a few turned at attention and raised their weapons to us. Right, like Caution Tape, they probably haven’t seen a civil Snow Dog before. I just needed to defuse this whole situation before it got out of control.

“No, Buck, Happy’s right.” I offered as I sat down and reached out to Buck. Taking his paw in my forehoof, I pulled his annoyed glare onto me instead. “I won’t sit idly by as some excuse is drawn up to go in and take everything the moment we leave.” Turning my flat gaze back onto Paladin Lance, I found his near mirrored glance glued to me. “We will be within Cloud-to-Ground missile range for the next few days at least, and you know the Arcturus has the observation capabilities to keep a watchful eye. Should you break your agreement, I won’t hesitate to flatten your camp, or even this whole goddess damned park. Are we understood?”

What I had expected from him was a long, drawn out pause. A glare to rival that of Delilah’s that pierced into the very depths of my soul. And of course, some witty threat as a comeback that only egged on a conflict.

This time, I was happy to be disappointed.

“Reasonable. I can agree to that.” The paladin nodded before sticking his hoof out toward me. “Now, for our end of the bargain.” I reached my hoof out and shook his as my mind did a barrel roll. Wait, that’s it? Was he actually going to be civil about this then? “My scribes have noted a few locations here in the park where your alicorn friend may have been taken.” He nodded back to his tent with a smirk. “Come, I’ll mark them out for your team on our map.”

Huh, I guess he was going to be civil. That’s a nice change of pace for once…

With only a few locations, I decided to split us into two teams to search faster. Hispano and Buck were going with me to the far end of the park where the ride maintenance shed was, while Happy, Okona, and one of the Ranger scribes would go check the clinic near the park’s entrance. If King wasn’t found at either, the last place we would have to look would be in the ruins of the fun house near the large tent I saw while flying above.

Even as we walked past it, the dilapidated fun house building and it’s rusted animatronic mascots gave me a creepy vibe. I knew this whole park was themed around some old world manticore mascot, but… did they have to have such an uncanny likeness to their cartoony base? Maybe it was just me, but deep down I couldn’t shake the fear that they were watching as Buck, Hispano and I passed.

Here’s hoping we could just find King and get the hell out of here…

A soft yet abrupt ‘beep’ emitted from Buck’s collar. In an instant he froze, perking his triangular dish-like ears as he looked around. Hispano huffed, opening his beak to say something, but stopped as another beep came from Buck’s collar.

“What is it?” Hispano asked softly as he pulled Suiza up in his Talons.

“A response.” Buck said simply as his ears stopped and focused themselves in one direction. “There, at that old ruin.” He pointed himself towards one of the rusted rides that sat near the maintenance shed.

“A response? To what?” Hispano squawked softly as he ruffled his wings across his back uneasily. It was a good point, and it got me thinking for only a moment before it hit me.

“To Buck’s collar. It’s another machine.” I said softly as I couldn’t help but smile at Hispano. His unamused and confused look was understandable, but it’d be easier to just show him. “Well, let’s go say hello!”

The three of us made our way over to the ride, which from what I could tell, had once been something I’d only seen in Ministry of Morale advertisements. Bumper cars, I think it was called. The large fenced in area of the ride was partially overgrown by ferns and sickly looking shrubs, and a single tree had sprouted through the floor. It had long since grown up through the roof, providing the ring of old rusting bumper cars around it some shelter from the elements over the years.

“H-hello? Is someone there?” A meek, but clearly unnatural voice of a young colt came from around the far side of the tree.

Both Buck and I looked at each other before he moved ahead of me. He reached out to grab the rusted gate entrance to the bumper car ring, only to have it crumble into rusty flakes at his grasp. Surprised but not undeterred, he used his mechanical paw to quickly sheer away the rest of the gate, leaving a path for Hispano and I to follow through.

With careful steps across the mossy and overgrown floor, we made our way around the tree towards where the voice had come from. I’d hoped in the back of my mind that we wouldn’t find one of those creepy mechanical mascots waiting for us. A shiver ran down my spine as I thought about it, with the rest of me thinking how stupid it was to feel creeped out. But as the three of us came around the tree, instead, we didn’t find any machine waiting there.

“Wait, where is it?” I asked without thinking.

“H-hello?” The voice of the colt spoke up again from right next to us. All at once, our gazes dropped down to the collection of bumper cars huddled on this side of the tree. “Are you… are you friends?” The machine who reached out… was a bumper car?

“Yes, we’re friends.” Buck replied softly as his jagged jaw split into his normal, caring smile. “Who are you?”

“I’m… Bumpy Ten.” The small yellow bumper car sitting between the three of us replied before it’s internal workings gave out a short lived whine. “I can’t… see you, my sensors are malfunctioning.” It let out a whimper that sounded so much like that from a real colt. “Are you… like me? Did you come to be my friend?”

“We aren’t artificial, if that’s what you’re asking.” I spoke up, looking over to Buck with a frown. Why would anyone make a machine like this?

“We’re Organic.” Buck said again softly as he reached up and tapped at his metal yoke. “We came because you responded to our signal.”

“You are… I don’t know that word.” Bumpy let out another soft whimper. “I can't remember a lot of words... my memory talisman is malfunctioning. I’m sorry if I’m not being a good friend.”

“Maybe there’s a working one in one of these other cars?” Hispano offered, pointing a talon to the others huddled and rusted around the tree.

“No, please!” Bumpy cried out, “Leave them alone.”

“But, none of them are working.” Hispano frowned at me. “You are the last one.”

“I… I know.” Bumpy’s words came across with a set of light sobs. “We've been here for so long, without anyone, without maintenance. After fifty years, most of us couldn't even move anymore, and one by one, they stopped talking to me.”

Again, why would anypony be so cruel as to even design a machine like this! Two centuries of torture for something with the mindset of a foal, watching as it’s friends died off all the while withering away slowly as well. It was just… wrong.

“Can I ask you... why did our creators abandon us?” Bumpy’s question hit a note in me. He didn’t even know what happened.

“The... end of the world happened.” Hispano offered as he gripped around his shoulder uncomfortably with his talon. “Everybody… died.” Hispano was tough, but… I couldn’t blame him for sounding a bit hollow.

“But not you.” Bumpy’s voice shifted slightly as he gave off a static filled sniffle. “You are here now for Bumpy Ten, to be friends.”

“Yes, we came to help you.” Buck nodded, reaching out his paw slowly towards the rusted hull of the yellow car. However, he paused sharply just short of touching it. His eyes moved along the fence toward where the gate had been, and with a sigh, he pulled his paw back. “The signal you heard, it belongs to some friends of ours. We can take you to them, and they can help fix you.”

“That’s… kind.” Bumpy’s meek voice offered a note of hope to it, but like most things, it was fleeting. “But I can’t go. I… don’t want to leave the others.”

“But… you won’t last a year in your condition.” Hispano gasped. “And they’re already…”

“I know.” Bumpy remarked softly.

“Why would you stay then?” The words slipped through my muzzle as my mind worked through to the only conclusion I could come to. “Unless, you want to... die with them.”

“They stayed with me because they are like me, and I am like them.” Bumpy’s internals gave out another soft whine that didn’t fill me with confidence. “No matter the bumps between us, we stay together, always.”

“I understand.” I nodded, looking between Buck and Hispano. “Family is more important than anything.”

“That word… I don’t understand it, but it feels… right.” Bumpy’s internals gave off a longer whine this time, which pulled a soft cry from him. “Please, friends, I want to be with them now. I know I shouldn’t ask, but…”

“We can help.” Buck nodded softly as he looked down at his paws with a sigh.

“Thank you, friends.” Bumpy’s tone shifted to a sort of hollow happiness that again screamed to me that he deserved a better life than what he’d been given. “Will… it hurt?”

“Maybe, but only for a moment.” Buck whimpered before he placed his paws on the hull of the car. With a light push the metal gave out. A single spark, and a whisp of smoke pushed through the broken bumper car before there was nothing but silence again.

Bumpy Ten was gone.

We’d tried to work through the somber mood as we searched through the maintenance shed. While I still couldn’t get past the fact that somepony would make something like Bumpy, I could at least take solace in the fact that we’d done what we could to help him. I’d already learned the hard way that you can’t save everypony, but at least for now we could still save King.

“Clear!” Hispano called from the small room up in the rafters.

“Nothing down here.” Buck sighed as he and I looked behind a few stacks of crates and assorted boxes.

The shed wasn’t at all big, and mostly held corroded spare parts for some of the smaller rides on this side of the park. Still, it was the only building nearby that didn’t have windows, so I could see why the Rangers would think King could have been in here. However, this place was small enough that if they’d scouted it, they could have poked their head in and easily seen he wasn’t here.

“What a bust.” Hispano grumbled as he stepped out from the room. “Hopefully Happy’s having better luck.” He was coated in a light layer of dust and cobwebs, and quickly used his wings to brush himself off. “You remember, Night, when I told you that you’re too much of a charity case and how it always causes problems?”

“Well, it’s not like I knew ahead of time that King would be abducted by other Alicorns.” I mean, I’d admit that trouble always seemed to find us, but come on! Despite the uncertainty of bringing him onboard, King has actually made progress in remembering things without incident so far. So it was a little unfair to act like King’s been this giant burden on us...

The ground under my hooves rumbled, and a roar from a sharp blast outside shook the walls of the old shed. All three of us bolted for the door. Buck however reached it first, and rather than opting to open it, he burst right through the old wood.

As Hispano and I emerged behind him, we could see a cloud of dust and smoke rising up from over where the clinic was. Shouts and frantic hoofbeats came from the Ranger camp, but no gunshots. Still, the three of us took off towards the clinic, and all I could think in my mind was that Happy better not be dead.

Hispano gave a few hard flaps of his wings, taking flight above us and prompting me to do the same. I didn’t get as much altitude as him, but it was enough to let me glide at an appreciable speed. Buck on the other hoof tore through the snow on all four mechanical legs as easily as if the thick powder wasn’t even there.

We’d made it all the way across the park in nearly a minute flat, and I came down into the snow for a landing just short of a few chunks of smoldering wood that had been thrown by the explosion. The clinic itself was mostly leveled, reduced to a heap of burning wood and concrete. A dozen rangers had thrown down their weapons and were frantically trying to clear the rubble from around what had once been the entrance.

“What the hell happened?” I called out as I hobbled my way over to help. The heat and choking smoke from the fire was much more intense than I’d expected. Shit, this… this wasn’t looking good.

“You’re guess is as good as any!” Lance’s voice answered as his heavy power armored steps came up quickly behind me. “Stand aside, I can clear it faster.”

One of the Rangers who’d been helping turned to me and all but shoved me out of the way. Lance quickly secured a polished looking helmet on top of his armor with a hiss before he stepped up right onto a pile of burning rubble. The thick smoke enveloped him after a moment, and outside of his heavy steps and amplified grunts of exertion, he’d all but disappeared into the raging inferno.

With the grace of a brick, a large slab of the building’s ceiling came tumbling out from where Lance went in. It crashed down, splintering across the snow where I’d been before the other ranger pushed me. Before I could take another step back, more debris came sailing out from the smoke, then even more.

Lance hadn’t been kidding that he could work at it faster. The power armor’s immense strength allowed him to shove aside or toss enough rubble that he’d quickly cleared a path wide enough that the smoke parted and created a tunnel nearly big enough for a pony to get through. The moment I saw that gap, I felt like I had a chance to get in there to help.

“Hey!” Lance’s amplified voice called back to us, “We’ve got survivors!”

I held my breath as slow movement made its way through the smoke. Heavy coughing and pained whines followed as a pair of pony-like shapes emerged. It was the bloody and weak form of the Steel Ranger scribe sent with Happy. She was limping along with their hoof braced across the back of the bruised and soot covered, but no worse of wear, Okona.

Without thinking, my legs pushed me forward. I needed to get in there, to save Happy. I was about to dip into the gap in the smoke when Buck’s mechanical paws wrapped around me and pulled me back.

“You need to stay out here, Night.” Buck grunted as he all too easily plucked me right up off the ground. “My lungs can filter out the smoke, but yours won’t.” He turned me so I could see the incredibly serious look he forced across his muzzle. “Don’t worry, I’ll find him.”

I didn’t want to stay out here, not when I could help. But as Buck set me down and pushed past Okona and the injured ranger, I couldn’t bring my hooves to move again. No matter how eager I’d felt, I… couldn’t push aside Buck’s words this time. He was right, he was more well adapted to help here, and I’d only end up getting in the way.

Instead, I watched as a few of the Rangers ran over and took the scribe off Okona. With a swiftness I wish I had, they whisked their injured comrade off back toward their camp, leaving Okona to turn and walk over toward me. He had a solemn look across his face, and he fought to keep from looking me right in the eyes.

“I tried to tell her.” He grunted as he brought himself over and carefully lowered himself down to the ground. “But she wanted to inspect those old oxygen tanks.” He let out a pained whine, favoring his heavily bruised side before taking a few deep breaths. “It’s a miracle she’s even still alive after they blew, but with injuries like hers, I don’t think they’ll be able to save her.”

“Where’s Happy?” I asked, feeling a twist in my gut as those words left my muzzle.

“He…” Okona paused, sighing as he shook his head. “He found a door leading to a subterranean storage room. He went down there to check for your friend, but the door was marked with the same signs as on the corroded oxygen tanks.” With a groan, Okona reached his hoof up to me and gave me a few firm pats on the side. “I’m sorry but… he couldn’t have survived the blast.”

No. I… I refuse to believe that. Happy wasn’t gone, he couldn’t be. After everything we’ve been through, after I promised Delilah that I’d keep him safe.

“Night…” Hispano offered as she gave a few heavy flaps and landed at my side. “I… I’m so sorry.”

“He’s not dead.” I spat out as tears started to run down the fur under my good eye. “He can’t be.”

The burning rubble shifted, collapsing down onto itself even more. The roar of the fire intensified, sending another bright plume of fire and smoke into the sky. The sounds of Buck and the Star Paladin moving rubble had slowed, and with it, I could feel a growing pit in my stomach.

“It’s so beautiful, don’t you think?” Jynx offered as she appeared from within the rubble. She looked at it with an awestruck expression across her face that almost made my blood boil. “Awe, don’t be like that. We both knew that your luck would run out at some point.” She let a smile creep across her muzzle as she hopped down from the ruin and stared to walk over toward us. “But hey, at least your new ‘friend’ here means that you’ll be leaving with the same sized party as you arrived with. I...”

A sharp cracking snap came from the rubble as part of it bulged and blasted skyward. It wasn’t with the same force as the explosion that had ripped the place apart, but it was enough that it propelled some of the rubble into one of the rusted nearby amusement rides. As the dust and smoke cleared, a set of sparks met my eyes. A green bubble cracked and shattered like glass, dumping the battered and bloody forms of Happy and King out from the rubble.

“H-happy!” I cried out sharply.

They were alive.

“That’s… not possible.” My Jynx stammered before shimmering away in a puff of smoke.

I don’t know if it was because of a miracle ordained by Celestia herself, really, I didn’t care. Hispano and I drove forward through the snow, rushing over to the pair of them as they heaved and choked from the smoke that lingered in their lungs. Happy was covered in bleeding cuts and black bruises, and King seemed to be in just the same predicament, but with his horn singed almost all black. They were both in rough shape, but alive, and that’s all that mattered.

With another crack and shift of the rubble, part of it behind where they’d come from fell away. Buck let out a heavy growl as he pushed through the flames that licked at the fresh air that was drawn in, but stepped through them all the same. Without hesitation, and as ginger as a grasp as he always had with me, he scooped Happy up and moved him further from the burning rubble.

His mechanical arms whined as they opened up and got to work in treating his wounds. It wasn’t until then that the knot in my stomach started to unwind a bit, and I felt compelled to turn myself towards King. Surprisingly, with as poor a shape he was in, he was already struggling to stand up on his own again.

“Hey, take it easy there.” Hispano was quick to move up and use his appreciably strength to help steady King. “Let’s get you over towards Buck so he can help patch you up too, alright?”

King nodded, but turned his slit green eyes on me. Though strained from the smoke, and puffy from the bruises across his face and muzzle, I could see a look of fear in them. He opened his muzzle to speak, only to devolve into a hacking fit before he could say anything.

“Woah there, what did I just tell you?” Hispano grumbled as he steadied the large alicorn during his heaving coughs. “Let’s get you fixed up first, then we can talk.”

“Was… that everyone?” Lance’s panting, amplified voice pressed through the roaring fire before he too stepped through the hole that Buck had made. I nodded to him before turning my attention back to Buck and Happy. “Alright, good.” He let out a long sigh before stepping clear of the burning rubble. The labored, heavy breaths he gave as he reached up and removed his helmet gave me pause, and I looked back to find that he was completely drenched in sweat. “My only complaint then is that the cooling systems in here could use a little tuning I think.” He flashed a smile to me that helped me notice how parts of his armor were completely blackened with soot. “But I’m glad we got everyone out.”

“Me too.” I nodded, looking back into the fire for Jynx. Thankfully, she didn’t return or make any more comments. My mind thought back and stuck on her reaction, wondering if her surprise really was genuine, or if she’d simply been trying to lie to me about Happy.

“Head paladin, sir.” The voice of another pony called out as they approached. A mare who was covered in soot and blood stepped up, and I realized she was one of the Rangers who’d helped take the injured scribe away. “I’m sorry, but Scribe Twist’s injuries were too severe. We couldn’t save her.”

“Damnit.” Lance hung his head. “Alright, secure her body for transport back to the Bunker. I’ll get started on my report once you report back to me.”

“Yes, sir.” The mare nodded and spun around, trotting back off toward the camp without any more words or care. Even though she didn’t really visibly express it, from the way she carried herself as she left, I could tell it had shaken her up.

Hell, even though I didn’t know the scribe, I wanted to mirror their frustration. But I’d seen death like this before, and again, I knew I couldn’t save everypony. As bad as it sounds, one out of four wasn’t a bad outcome given how close we came to losing everyone. If anything, I felt guilty that it wasn’t us that had to pay the price for saving someone this once. It was an incredibly frustrating sentiment, but ultimately I pushed it to the back of my mind. Feeling torn up about misplaced guilt wasn’t going to help anypony now.

A quick thumping drifted through the air from across the forest that surrounded the park.

While I turned my own ears to try to find it’s source, Lance’s ears turned and pulled his attention to the valley ridge that ran along the southwest. Like a silver bolt, a vertibuck climbed up into view as it sped towards us. It was moving faster than I'd seen all but the most daring Enclave pilots push the machine during air shows. It banked hard to slow down, and it's engines protested as they decelerated the craft at a frankly unsafe rate. It made me feel the same anticipation bubble up in my gut as I did whenever they pulled off stunts in the shows.

The radio in Lance’s power armor crackled as an ecstatic voice came through that I could almost mistake for Guinness’, but slightly off in a way I couldn’t put my hoof on.

"Yeah! That's gotta be a new bunker transport record!" The stallion who spoke sounded about my age, but sounded a bit too positive to have spent any real amount of time out in the wastes. “This is sparrow six four ready for our supply delivery. Mind movin’ whatever other craft ye’ve parked in the landing zone so we can set down?”

"Scouring." Lance muttered under his breath as he brought up his helmet in his hooves and brought it to his muzzle. "This is Paladin Lance Gunner. I thought we got this out of your system when you graduated from being an initiate, Scouring. Those parts weren't meant to hold up to those sorts of braking maneuvers after two centuries, and the Elder specifically told you to take it easy on the fancy flying. Do I need to have you removed from your probationary pilot's duties again until you understand that? Because alternatively, I hear there's still plenty of room in B Company these days, and I'm sure they'd love to have a risk taker like you join them."

"Copy that, head paladin." Scouring's jubilant voice came through the power armor’s speakers. "And don't worry, this old lass doesn't mind having her wings stretched a bit, heh. Saw the smoke from the ridgeline ten kilometers out, decided to haul arse to make sure everythin’ was under control." He let out an all too confident laugh that reminded me a lot of Violet’s on a good day. "But since I trust you’ve got yer situation well in hoof, why don’t you leave the flying to me? I've worked up a real rapport with me sweet little sparrow here o’er the last few weeks, I know she isn't going to let me down anytime soon. At least, not let me down too hard, anyways."

"You better trust in that sparrow then,” Lance sighed with a glance over to me. I’d seen that same look on Delilah before, and since I’d started to lead us, I could sympathize. “If you do wreck that bird, you’ll be begging to join B Company rather than being black listed and expelled from the Rangers." He paused for a moment, looking over at Buck as he scooped Happy up off the snow. He wasn’t bleeding as much, but it looked like he’d passed out. “But, borderline insubordination aside, we’ll clear your landing spot shortly. Once those supplies are offloaded, unfortunately, we’ll be sending the body of Scribe Twist back home with you. I’ll update you on our situation here and make sure to expedite my incident report for the Elder.”

“Sparrow six four, copy that, head paladin.” Scouring’s tone had understandably lost it’s enthusiasm with that, and he replied somewhat softly. “Aye, that’s a real shame to hear, she was a fine scribe. We’ll take up a parkin’ orbit until the landing zone is vacated. Sparrow six four, out.”

“Well,” Lance nodded as he turned to me, “I’m sure you’ll need to get your friends somewhere they can get treatment.” Lifting and offering his armored hoof to me, I took it and did my best to shake it. “Thank you again for your assistance in pacifying those in the forest without violence. The Maple Valley Rangers have a bit of a reputation of trying to stay out of other’s business when given the chance, and I’m glad you could help maintain it.”

“Anytime.” I offered back to him with a forced smile. “And thank you for your assistance in locating our missing friend. I’m sorry that it had to come at the cost of one of your scribes.”

“We all know the risks of the job.” He nodded to me and forced up his own somewhat defensive smile. “We’ve had it fairly good for the last few years. So while all of us feel a loss like this, we can still carry on in the knowledge that they gave their lives to keep the Rangers strong.” With a nod and a shift of his forehoof toward the camp, he huffed. “But you best be going. Good luck on your journey.”

“Same to you, Paladin.”

The Remora hadn’t been designed to carry this many of us.

Well, that’s not entirely fair. When the Architect designed the cabin space, he probably never expected that his envoy and party would consist of a half-machine Snow Dog, a gender transformed griffon, and an Alicorn. If not for the urgency of this ride, I might have suggested that Okona go back to riding along the outside like he’d done to follow us.

“Captain?” Eliza’s voice chirped as her mare popped into my vision once more. “Long range receivers have picked up Unit Seven’s beacon approaching the settlement.”

“Really?” Buck’s voice filtered into my mind as well as he shifted to share a look of concern with me. “My collar hasn’t picked anything up.”

“It is currently too far out for your collar to pick up.” Eliza promptly replied as a similar sweeping display popped up across my augmented vision. It was the same as the one we saw when chasing the alicorn’s, but here a small black dot pulsed as it moved across the image. “I am requesting that the Remora drop you off within the Maple Station settlement so that you may continue tracking her as she arrives.”

“No, Happy still isn’t in stable condition.” Buck let out an aggressive bark through my mind that nearly made me jump. “He must be brought to the Arcturus and treated.”

“Cora has all the requisite skills to treat Happy’s injuries and is standing by.” Eliza’s smiling mare smoothly shifted to one that had more of a flat, almost annoyed look to her face. That… was new. “While you too have those skills, you are currently the only one capable of accurately tracking down Unit Seven. So while I sympathize with you on Happy’s condition, I must remind you of the job we saved your life to perform.”

Woah, what the hell?

The Remora shifted under our hooves, entering a long banking turn as it’s normally quiet engines whined just a little louder under the strain.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Eliza?” I spoke out without thinking about it. In an instant, I had all eyes in the cramped cabin on me. While it gave me pause for a moment, I watched as Eliza’s mare smoothly shifted to a more surprised look as well. “You’ve been acting differently lately, and your… character has changed as well. What’s going on with you?”

“I’ve been following your advice, Captain.” Eliza’s mare shifted to her smiling self again. “I have been exploring and adapting to my capabilities within my Arcturus emulation. I’ve learned things I never once conceived of, how to feel and think like the others of the Factory.” Her mare shifted again, and her smile dimmed. “I… didn’t realize it would be so apparent, or that I could come off as abrasive as it seems I have. I apologize for that, Doctor Buck. I will endeavor to ensure it doesn't happen again.”

“No, I too am at fault.” He nodded to himself and frowned. “You are right, Cora is an adept physician, and I shouldn’t consider myself too proud to admit that.”

“What’s going on?” Hispano finally asked what seemed to be on everyone else’s mind.

“The signal is back, so we’re going back to Maple Station.” I answered her before looking over to King. He may have been badly battered, but he seemed to push past the pain and maintain something of a composed form. “King, I need you to make sure Happy gets to the infirmary. After he’s done being patched up, have Cora see what he can do for you.”

“She’ll just need some rest. Alicorn healing is known to be quite fast.” Okona butt in before King could say anything. “But what exactly is this ‘mystery signal’ you seem to be chasing?”

“No, not you.” I smirked and shook my head. “This job doesn’t concern you. And last I checked, you were also caught in that blast and don’t have advanced healing.” That for some reason pulled a sour expression from King. “So you’re going to go with King to the Arcturus to get checked over as well.” That made Okona match King’s expression even without having to look at him. “After that, you can simply wait for our return.”

The engines whined louder as they worked to slow us down. As always, the hydraulic systems in the doors hummed as they opened and let the flurry of snow from below us push up into the cabin. I shivered as the whipping snow lashed at my numbed skin, but I let my wings unfurl slightly as we hovered four or so meters up from the ground.

“Don’t worry, this probably won’t take long.” I offered to King as I stepped forward and out the door. The frigid air caught under my wings as the gravity talisman on my pack hummed to life, and I slipped into a shallow dive towards the roundhouse. But as I left the Remora, I looked at the cartoon mare still hanging out in the corner of my vision. “Eliza, I want you to keep an eye on Okona. Make sure he doesn’t find himself anywhere… important on the ship.”

“Aye, Captain.” Her mare gave a short and odd nod that once again caught me off guard. “I’ve informed Miss Tofu of his restrictions as well, and she will serve to monitor the ship’s critical functions closely while he’s aboard.” She winked at me as her mare shifted back to her bright smile. “Anything else I can do, Captain?”

“No.” I simply thought back before amending that. “No, but I don’t want our reactions to deter you from continuing to explore yourself. It may take time for us to adjust to you as you figure yourself out, but I’m happy that you for the most part overcame your apprehension about it.”

“Thank you, Captain. That means a lot to hear from you.” Again, she nodded and simply smiled. “I will contact you should anything warrant it. But as always, should you need me, I’ll be here to help.”

About the same time her mare flashed away from my vision, the tips of my hooves scraped across the snow. I flared my wings hard as I dipped down into the powder and let the friction bring me to a faster than normal stop. As I slowed, I felt the snow compact under my hooves enough that I transitioned into a slow, hobbling trot not too far from the roundhouse door.

“You know,” Hispano’s voice called out as he beat his wings and brought himself down next to me, “depending on how long it takes for Unit Seven to get here, we could use this time for a quick date…” As if it were my stomach’s decision, it gave a growl of agreement out as I pictured the three of us relaxing inside with some nice hot food. It pulled a hopeful smile across his beak as he giggled. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Hispano moved for the door, but paused as the beating of wings once more came through the air. He barely had enough time to step back before another pegasus landed and wrapped a combat glove covered sky blue hoof around the door. Without any provocation, she turned her angry golden eyes on us from under a well worn enclave flight helmet and mask.

In the short moment we had before she dipped inside, I noticed that the mare wore some heavy Enclave gear. The scuffed and pock marked advanced combat armor had been through hell even though the model she wore had only been issued starting a year ago. The magical plasma rifle she wore was a heavily modified version of the model that only the Enclave Special Forces had access to, and I didn’t even think they were allowed to modify them.

As she disappeared inside, I couldn’t help but reach the conclusion that she was who we’d heard about.

“That’s her.” Buck did his best to whisper as he pushed himself through the snow towards us. As he got closer, Hispano and I could hear the soft beeping his collar gave out. Well, so much for our date while we waited…

Hispano reached out and opened the door, holding it for Buck and I before slipping inside after us. Stepping inside, I noticed that like before, this place was fairly empty for the moment. However, the sound of cooking was going on behind the bar, and the sound of ponies moving about behind the stage curtains probably meant that they were setting up for an evening show. But the only other pony in here we could see, was Sargent Blue Bolt.

“I’m ex-Enclave like her. Let me talk to her first.” I offered, looking over at Hispano. The look of apprehension she held was something I wanted to mirror, but couldn’t bring myself to. Instead I found that Buck did a good job in mirroring it for me, but he gave a small nod before he reached out and put his paw on Hispano’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, if it goes sideways, you two will be right here for me.”

Taking a deep breath and standing up as straight as I could on my three legs, I looked over to the Enclave mare sitting at the bar. She exuded a fuming attitude as she nursed on a beer that was darker than any I’d ever seen. Still, under the armor she seemed to be a pegasus just like me, from the Enclave we both came from. That had to mean something, or at the very least, could get me some hoofing in figuring out if she was Unit Seven or not.

“Hello?” The apprehensive voice of a mare filtered into my mind, making me lock up before I could even start moving. Almost immediately after she’d asked, several quick and varied tones were broadcast into my mind, and I flinched from the sudden cacophony.

“Greetings, uh… who is speaking?” I thought back to the strange voice, trying to force my mind to quiet the tones. Oddly, the moment I tried, they cut out completely.

“Is this Unit Seven?” Buck’s voice filtered through as I turned and looked up at him.

“Oh thank the Architect that other units were sent to retrieve me.” The mare let out a somber laugh as she started to sound like she was on the verge of tears. “You don’t know what I’ve been through, what this monster has forced me to do.”

“Whoa, take it easy.” Buck thought out, “First off, we need to know where you are.”

“This monster,” I offered as I turned my gaze back to the Enclave mare, “is she the pegasus at the bar?”

“Yes, but I already sent you all the relevant information. Did you not receive it?” She paused before squeaking almost fearfully, “Wait… you two, you aren’t machines, are you?”

“My name is Night Flight,” I thought out as I shot a glance back at Buck, “And the other voice is Buck. The Architect asked us to be the ‘Organic’ representatives for the Factory before he died.”

“No…” She whimpered, “He’s dead? You will explain.”

“There will be plenty of time for that.” Buck answered in a warm tone that I’m sure he used to try to calm the mare. “For now, let us try to help you. But to do that, we need to know where you are.”

“The… plasma gun.” Unit Seven whimpered and sniffled. My eyes dropped to the heavily modified gun next to the mare. “This bitch destroyed my body when she attacked Merritt. She’s been using my main processor to enhance the efficiency of the magical field generator.” The plasma gun held a set of boxes and blinking lights on its side that no other one of that model had ever held. A dozen wires twisted and snaked their way around the rifle style grip of it, winding around a long custom hoof-trigger assembly that I’d never thought could be used by a pegasus. “I’ve been forced to help her kill dozens of ponies, innocent organics who she had no right to murder!”

“Alright, let us handle it.” I thought back to her as my eyes locked back on the mare at the bar. Only now, she was glancing back at me as she nursed on her drink. “I promise we’ll get you back from her.”

Stiffening up again, I pushed myself forward. Her golden eye still followed me as I approached, studying and no doubt sizing me up. I waited for her to tense up, to ready herself for a fight with me. Instead, she seemed completely relaxed, even as I approached and sat myself next to her at the bar. However, while she didn’t seem ready for a fight, she didn’t let me have the initiative in speaking.

“The only reason you aren’t dead right now is because you have the correct amount of wings across your back, and a cutie mark still on your flank.” The mare’s voice was rougher and older than I would have expected for an enlisted mare. It was almost ghoul like, but what I could see of her under her armor, she wasn’t one. “But don’t think that means I owe a shit like you anything.”

“And what exactly, would somepony like you owe me?” I asked bluntly. Really, Night? That’s how you want to start this negotiation? Once more, Jynx let out a giggle from the back of my mind. At the very least, the Sargent agreed with Jynx and let out a short lived laugh.

“Got some balls on you, don’t you, girl.” She smirked as she lifted her beer up and took a short sip of it. “But let’s see. With a fancy piece like that eye of yours, either you’re from above and the daughter of a council member. In which case, you see me as nothing more than a grunt who deserves to be ordered around like your own personal hitpony. Or…” She paused again as her eye wandered over my augment. “You’re an exceptionally lucky grounder who is here because I killed someone you know. A brother, mother, or kid perhaps. Either way, I’ll be happy to kill you too if that’s what you want.”

Wow, she was just all sorts of wrong, wasn’t she? My mind had to take a moment to process the pure confidence that she pressed into her words, like she was the greatest thing since sliced bread. After everything I’d heard from the others about her though, I guess I really shouldn’t have been that fucking surprised.

And unfortunately, with the way she seemed to be, there was absolutely zero chance of talking her into letting me get Unit Seven back.

“Well, which is it?” She asked as she set her drink down on the counter with one forehoof, and carefully lowered her other down towards her magical plasma rifle. It was now that she’d started to tense up, readying herself for what she thought was the only outcome.

“It’s neither, actually.” I said plainly as I tried to force myself to relax, if only slightly. If I could get her to see me as an outsider and not a threat, then maybe there was a chance I could get Unit Seven and go without an incident. Even if part of me wanted to shove a grenade down this mare’s throat for everything she’d done. “I was up at settlement two six two when the clouds came down. Spent the last few months making my way south with a convoy.” And now that she knows the truth… maybe I can stretch it a bit to earn her trust. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen another true blooded Pegasi that I’d almost forgotten what one looked like.” Turning to the bar, I hammered my forehoof on it until a pony stuck his head out from the kitchen. “Hey, can I get a drink? And uh, how about another for my friend here?”

“Hmmm,” Jynx giggled as she popped up from behind the counter wearing a pristine white vest around herself. “This is quite the ambitious plan you have.” She set down a glass before she used a rag to clean off the bartop while smiling at me. “It would be a shame if I were to nudge it towards disaster…” As she paused, she carefully pushed the glass across the counter towards the edge.

“Heh, I’ll drink to that.” Blue Bolt smirked and reached out for her beer again. She brought it to her lips and took a long draw off of it. Finishing it off, she set her empty glass down with a belch. “What happened at two six two? That was a raptor refurbishment dock, wasn’t it? Why didn’t you stick with them when the clouds came down?” What, was she testing to see if I was lying?

“It was destroyed. The raptor, the whole settlement was.” I sighed and hung my head before I felt the spark of an idea form in the back of my mind. “You know, if the grounders hadn’t attacked us, I’d be going through basic right about now?” Looking up at her, I found her gaze still studying me. I forced a smirk across my muzzle and showed my foreleg stump to her. “They stole that life from me, as well as my fucking legs and my family.” I snorted as the unicorn stallion from the kitchen brought out another couple of beers in his levitation. He set them down in front of us and disappeared back inside the kitchen. “But I made some new friends, and together, we went and paid them back for every single life they stole.”

“Hah, then you know exactly what it’s been like.” The Sargent laughed again and nodded as she reached for her new beer. “I could see fucking Operation Cauterize was a joke from the moment we were briefed. The day it started, we were losing wings in damn near every settlement to resistance that wasn’t supposed to exist. We lost an entire fireteam trying to take Bridleshade! That was just some po-dunk little town in the middle of nowhere, how the hell does that even happen?” The old glass bottle creaked as she tightened her fetlock around it and brought it up to her lips. With another long draw of the foul smelling alcohol, her grip relaxed, and she set it back down on the bar. “I spent twenty four hours watching as my wingmates were picked off one by one to grounder aggression. An entire day before I figured out that we had planned this all wrong.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. Part of me deep down hoped that she’d admit that the Enclave never should have attacked. But as the twisted smile that formed across her muzzle stretched wide, I knew she was not the kind of mare who would have ever lived peacefully with the ponies of the wastes.

“We were too caught up in strategic targets.” She shook her head with a light laugh and banged her forehoof on the bartop. “What we needed to do was introduce these mudders to true fear. We needed to show them what overwhelming superiority meant, and that’s just what I did.”

“So you flew to Merritt…” I started.

“And hunted every mare, stallion, and foal in the place.” The sheer pride in her voice brought my blood up to a boil. “The screams of the stallions and mares as they fell one by one, I can tell you that it brought me no happiness. I felt nothing. It's no fun when your prey lives their entire lives expecting death at some point in this fucking wasteland. Sure they were afraid, but though they fought to the death, they expected it.”

Another insane giggle slipped from her muzzle as she turned both her hollow gold eyes on me. With a snap of her hooves, she had them on my shoulders, squeezing me as she all but cackled maddeningly.

“The foals on the other hoof, there was pure fear in their screams as I ended them. I can still feel that, even now.” She heaved and shuddered on her bar stool before letting out a few, heaving breaths. “Oh, that… that was the best release I’ve had since. No stallion will ever live up to how even the memory of that day makes me feel.”

Okay, we’d moved far too many steps past crazy. The ponies of Maple Station were right, she was a straight up psychopath. And just like that, I was back to where I started again. There wasn’t going to be another way to get back Unit Seven from her, and… we’d be doing the wastes a favor by putting this bitch in the ground.

“Alright, Buck. We’re going to kill her.” I forced out my own laugh to hide my anger. She was just like every other selfish asshole I’d met on this trip. And because she had the misfortune of holding onto Unit Seven, she was going to end up exactly like them.

“Way ahead of you.” Buck’s voice physically made me shiver from how cold and hollow it was. It was only then that I heard the whine from his legs as he stepped up beside the two of us. The panel on his boxy arm opened up, and his magical energy weapon popped out.

With an unexpected speed, Sergeant Blue Bolt shoved herself off of me. It sent me tumbling off of my stool, and her out of Buck’s line of fire. I threw my hoof up, catching the edge of the bar before I hit the floor. Dragging myself onto my hooves, I spun around just in time to watch as Blue Bolt lifted her magical plasma rifle at Buck.

His paw came down on the barrel as she fired, and sent a bolt of bright green into one of his hindpaws. Instantly, the metal melted and threw Buck off balance. He let out a yowl as the mechanisms in his leg sparked, but again he raised his weapon towards the mare.

“That’s enough!” All of us flinched as a stern voice and shotgun blast tore across the room.

The three way staredown we had going on shifted and turned toward the ghoul on stage in a luxurious red sequin dress. Vera was propped up on her hind hooves, with an old double barrel shotgun firmly held and pointed at the ceiling. The rage behind her beautiful eyes was all I needed to know that even for her age, she was more than ready to join in on the fight.

“Rule number one, there’s no fighting in the roundhouse.” Even though it was headed with a small huff, her commanding voice made even the sergeant tense up, though I couldn’t tell if it was out of hatred, disgust, or compliance. “Take your fight outside, now.”

“She’s right.” Buck let out a low growl as he turned to me. “We finish this outside.”

Before I could respond, Blue Bolt’s wings unfurled and beat down hard on the warm roundhouse air. It propelled her at an incredible speed toward the door, even leaving a trail of blue as an afterimage. With a slam, she forced her way outside into the darkening skies.

The thought of losing her in the dark sent a line of panic down my spine. However, the moment I thought of it, my augment shifted and brought up the same sort of low light vision it had before. With a renewed confidence, I flared my own wings and took a step toward the door. As Buck let out a static filled whine that matched the motors in his limbs however, I stopped.

“No, go.” Buck grumbled as he brought his metal paws down to his still melting leg. “You and Hispano can do this, Night.” He lifted his head again and stared right at me with his all too empathetic eyes. “I know you can do this.”

“We’ll get it done.” Hispano squawked as he gave a short, gliding hop over to me. With a roughness I should have expected, he pulled and started to drag me towards the door. “But not if we keep standing around! Come on!” He let go and allowed me to get into a semi-galloping hobble towards the roundhouse doors.

Buck was right, Hispano and I could do this. We’d taken down corrupt leaders, lackeys, and an entire army’s worth of assholes before. And that was when we were the ones with our backs against the wall.

Blue Bolt was the one in the corner now fighting for her survival, which sure, it made her dangerous. The thing is, that’s where I’ve been since day one. Fighting every damned minute just to survive. She’s on my turf now, and I’ve never felt more at home.

That’s probably the exact reason why my Jynx came walking through the open roundhouse door with a smile on her face.

“Never more at home, you say? Well that is… unfortunate.” A confident and smug smile spread across her muzzle. “Then I guess we’ve reached a… delicate point in our relationship. Now, before you go and listen to that old zebra’s words, thinking you’ve finally beat me, wouldn’t you say it’s time we had another little chat?”

Author's Notes:

Many, many thanks to TheFurryRailFan, who still continues to stick around and help me out with maintaining any sort of consistency in my chapters!

And of course, a huge thanks to Kkat for letting us all use this wonderful setting freely!