Fallout: Equestria, The Divide

by Bomber Ted

First published 11th of June, 2012

Bandage the medical mare, kicked out of her stable and forced to survive in Trottingham.

Trottingham, the post-apocalyptic province that is literally torn in half. In the West, the Trottingham Union, in the East, the Trinity, and in the center... The Divide. Bandage, a simple medical pony, exiled from the fortified halls of Stable 80 and thrown into the harsh environment of post-apocalyptic Equestria. Thrust into the midst of the civil war that has ravaged Trottingham for decades, Bandage must rely on close friends and unlikely allies to survive.

Gore for the obvious Fallout reasons.
Sex for moderately explicit scenes. and a lot of "adult conversations". Might have some fully explicit scenes later.

Chapter 1(Rewritten)

Chapter 1

I checked the clock on my PipBuck while Helper's polite synthetic voice went on and on with yes or no questions, only bothering to nod or shake my head in response. This was the fourth visit since Token and I had been in an accident 2 months ago and suffered some memory loss. Supposedly Recall wanted to make sure we were alright, but the questions this fucking thing was asking me were just stupid.

How did I feel about Token, how do I feel about the Overmare, lots of stuff about me, and if I was remembering strange occurrences, or having lucid sexual fantasies in my sleep.

I checked the time again after another horrendously long string of questions, our two hours was up. I stood up and left, not even bothering to tell the rambling machine I was leaving.

Helper called something as I trotted out of its office but I didn’t catch it. I wanted to be out of there as soon as possible, robots in general give me the creeps, but the floating spider looking freaks were high up on my robotic shit list, too many arms. Token was waiting outside in full security barding, she smiled when she saw me.

“How’d the therapy session go?” she asked.

“It was stupid, just a bunch of idiotic questions about myself, and you.”

"Yeah, he pulls that same crap on me during my sessions."

“What are you all dressed up for?”

She rolled her eyes, “You don’t listen to any of the updates over the stable comm, do you?”

“Nope, why what’s going on?”

She beamed with that award winning smile of hers, “It’s pretty exciting actually,it looks like some sort of caravan has set up outside the stable door, the Overmare wants some select personnel to head out and establish trade.”

Exciting didn’t begin to describe it, protocol dictated that when the cameras picked up pony life on the outside, Stable 80 would be opened, permanently, and we could actually start living life in some semblance of how it was before the bombs fell, instead of just staying shut in a bunker all our lives. We'd still stay in the stable of course, you don't just abandon a huge shelter like 80, but trade would be kickstarted, the gene pool would receive some welcome additions, and anyone with some wander lust, i.e Token and myself, would be able to go out and explore.

“Amazing! Who all's going out first?"

“You, Cookie, Riot and some Security officers including yours truly.”

I blinked a bit and looked at her quizzically, “Why me?”

“Someone needs to trade medical supplies,” she said with a sly grin, “and I might have pulled some strings to get you on the first trip outside in 200 years.”

I nearly tackled her with a hug, “You’re the best Token!”

She chuckled and patted me on the back, “I know, you’re supposed to go see Syringe and get some supplies to trade, go see your mum too, tell her the good news, I’ll meet you at the door in an hour or so yeah?”

I tousled her blue mane with a hoof and broke off the hug, “See ya.”

I went to the stairs again and galloped down the flights to residential deck 1, skipping about 5 steps in between and bolting through the door, only slowing down and collecting myself when I reached the clinic.

I love my job, I really do, medicine is my special talent, and using it to help ponies gives me a sense of satisfaction I can't easily describe. The one and only thing I hate about my job is my boss, Syringe, he’s a complete ass. He’s supposed to be some sort of top notch surgeon, but he was lazy, his eyes were going bad, and recently he'd developed a drinking habit

He was sitting at his desk, reading one of the 200 year old medical magazines we had lying around. As I trotted in he momentarily glanced in my direction, then flipped the page with this magic.

“You’re late,” he mumbled.

I sighed, “Whatever, where are the supplies?”

He nodded his head to a small crate in the corner, “Thanks,” I muttered, levitating the crate onto my back.

He grunted a reply and waved me out, “Oh, and don’t let any of those outsiders cough on you, we don’t know what diseases they have that we’re not immune to.”

“Whatever, want me to tell you what fresh air smells like?”

He just chuckled, “Sure, why not.”

Halfway through the hallway to the stairs I was stopped by my ‘significant other,’ Cookie. We glared daggers at each other for a solid 30 seconds before he broke the silence, “Hey bitch.”

“Hey prick,” I spat back at him.

“I hear your cunt friend got you a pass outside.”

That word, cunt, I hate that word, I mean I really, really hate that word. Trottingham invented that word, and as one of the few stables in Trottingham I suppose it was inevitable that it got passed down through the generations. Given the bloody nose, I’m guessing he easily figured out my disdain for that particular use of vocabulary.

He pressed his hoof against his nose and just glared, “Fucking bitch.”

I just trotted past him into the stairwell, swaying the ass he knew he'd never get to tap a little more than usual as I went. I don’t know why I hated Cookie, maybe it’s because I’m forced to like him. Not really big on authority. It could also be because he’s the biggest ass in the stable.

I went down to deck 2 and made my way to my apartment, which I shared with Token and my mom. She was inside, eating her lunch while she drew up pipe schematics for individual plumbing for the lower deck apartments, poor bastards had all been sharing a large public bathroom for the last 200 years.

"Hello dearest," she said absently, not looking away from her work, "I had a feeling you'd mess your mane again but I had a small glimmer of hope that you'd be considerate of your poor mother's wishes and look respectable for once."

"Hey Mum." I said dryly, trotting over to the table and sitting across from her, "Soo... I'll be going outside today."

"I know, heard it over Stable Comm this morning."

"Oh."

"You've really got to tune that in more often."

"Yeah..."

She stopped her work and looked at me, her sharp eyes softening with worry, "You be careful okay? We don't know what's out there."

"It's just a caravan Mum, they go around trading shit is all."

"Language." she scolded, that unfamiliar worried look instantly fading into the disciplinary scowl I was infinitely more comfortable with.

I chuckled and got up from my seat, throwing the crate of supplies onto my back and trotting out the door, "See you tonight Mum."

***

Token and some Security officers were waiting around the entrance chamber while a technician worked on the door console. I trotted up to her and brushed against her side, she bumped flanks with me and grinned. Cookie trotted in after me, tissue stuffed up both nostrils, “What happened to him?” Token whispered.

“He said the c word,” I whispered back.

She chuckled and bumped my flank again.

The Overmare stepped in, Security Chief Riot at her side, the Security officers fell in an orderly line. She just beamed at them.

“Today, my little ponies, you break the seclusion we have endured for 2 centuries. Cookie, Bandage, you’re there to trade supplies and establish good will with the outsiders. Security, you’re there obviously to protect, we aren’t anticipating any trouble of course, but it helps to be safe. I have the utmost confidence in you all, good luck.”

Riot rolled her eyes as the Overmare left us and went back to Administrative, getting a barely stifled snicker out of Token and I.

She turned to the technician, “Are we ready?”

He nodded, “Yes ma’am.”

“Open it.”

He typed in a combination on the door controls and pushed forward a switch, there was a deafening grinding as the 200 year old gears and mechanisms jarred back to life. The massive stable door shifted out of place, and we were hit with a rush of cold, wet air. My head swam as new, unfamiliar smells filled my nostrils.

I hesitated for a moment, but Token nudged me, “Let’s go mate,” she said with a reassuring smile.

I smiled back and nodded, the stable door grinding shut behind us as we followed Riot.

It was bright outside, not as bright as I expected, as the sky was overcast with a thick layer of clouds. But still, far brighter than the dim lights of Stable 80. Token looked up and suddenly went green in the face.

“Vertigo?” I asked, patting her on the back.

“Where’s the bloody ceiling?” she asked, almost frightened.

I just chuckled at this, “There isn’t one stupid.”

She shook her head a bit and that cocky smile came back to her face, “Right, forgot about that.”

As we trotted closer to the encampment, ponies with odd saddle mounted weaponry approached us. A haggard looking unicorn levitating a rifle at her side came up first and gave us a rather sick smile. Riot motioned for us to stop, Cookie didn't seem to notice and kept walking.

Their leader looked us over, her twisted grin widening, “Look what we’ve got here colts n’ fillies, fresh meat, they ain’t even got any guns, ain’t that cute?” The ponies behind her cackled in response.

Cookie trotted up to her, “Hello, miss?”

“Shackles,” she said politely, "name's Shackles.”

“Ah, yes, Shackles, a pleasure to meet you miss, my name is Cook-”

She promptly interrupted him with a rifle butt to the face, the blood flow from his nostrils starting up again. I realized how bad this situation was about to get, but honestly, seeing Cookie get his nose broken like that for being an asshole was just satisfying as can be.

She turned her rifle on the rest of us, the rest all arming their weapons, “All right folks, standard set up, mares in the cages, bucks collared up.”

An earth pony buck wearing very thick eyeglasses approached us with odd looking mechanical collars, then put one around Cookie’s neck.

“What are those?” one of the male Security officers asked.

“Oh, you don’t know?” Shackles said with that same sick grin, “Detonate collar 3.”

The earth pony nodded and pressed a button on something taped to his foreleg. In an instant, Cookie’s head was gone, and fine red and pink mist was floating in the air around Shackles, and I shuddered when I felt the hot wetness of brain sliding down my cheek.

“If you couldn’t tell from that little... Demonstration. They’re bomb collars, you run to far from camp, you die, you piss me off, you die, you try and remove the collar, you die. Savvy?”

The three stallions with us gulped and nodded, I was choking back tears, Cookie was an ass but he didn’t deserve to die, choking back vomit too, some of him was on me.

The stallions were collared and sent into a large cage, Token, Riot and I were placed in a separate smaller one. I looked on, horrified, as two of Shackles’ thugs went up to Cookie’s body and started taking bites out of the gaping hole where his head used to be.

***

We’d been caged for a few hours, most of Cookie’s torso had been eaten away by the two cannibal ponies and Shackles was talking with another of her thugs about what to do with our PipBucks.

“Couldn’t we just saw their forelegs off?”

She shook her head, “No stupid, they still wouldn’t be opened even if we did take the leg off, and plus, 3 legged ponies don’t exactly make good slaves.”

The buck snorted, “Maybe not for the bucks, but the mares don’t need all their legs.”

“How do you figure?”

“You don’t need 4 legs to be a fuck puppet!” They both started cackling wildly but stopped when somepony yelled something.

“Boss! Somepony on the road!” they called out.

“Hell, shoot ‘em!” Shackles yelled back, “Maybe we can take there shit!”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea bo-” the pony was cut short as something exploded, and my eyes widened when a mangled orange foreleg landed near me.

“Oh shit,” Shackles muttered, “EVERYPONY! GET YOUR FUCKING GUNS! WE GOT BAD NEWS!!!” she shrieked.

I heard the strange winding of some sort of engine and then massive amounts of gunfire, ponies left and right were literally being mulched by an incoming barrage of led. Heads popping, legs falling off, torsos getting to riddled with holes they were basically just minced meat.

Bright red explosive projectiles were slamming into the slavers with larger weaponry, turning them into nothing but mutilated hunks of charred pony flying through the air and showering others around them with white hot shrapnel.

Through the madness and screams of agony I could hear somepony cackling with glee, and the gunfire was getting closer and closer to camp. What I thought would be an entire army of heavily armed ponies was something completely different. A suit of magically powered assault armor, like what I’d seen on some of the stable’s wartime posters but much more battered, armed with some sort of multi-barrelled automatic weapon and an odd looking explosive launcher was cutting a gory swath through Shackles’ camp.

The pony inside was shrieking through his armor’s speakers, “FUCKERS! MOTHER-FUCKERS! YOU LIKE THAT BITCHES?! YOU FUCKING LIKE THAT!?”

Ponies that were trying to advance were shredded before they got within 10 metres of him, and the ponies hiding in cover were annihilated by explosions. What shots that were hitting barely did more than scuff his armor, and those weren’t very many. As bulky as his gear was, this pony was fast, he easily dodged left and right, avoiding oncoming gunfire.

Finally, most of the ponies lay dead, the lucky ones, survivors were rolling on the ground, clutching bloody stumps and crying silently as steam rolled out of fresh wounds. I was almost relieved, that was, until Shackles walked out with the collared Security stallions in tow.

“Stay back Ranger!” she called out, “I’ve got hostages!”

The pony just snorted as his weapons automatically reloaded themselves. “Two things!” he called, his accent was unfamiliar, not the smooth Trottingham accent but something a little more... rough, “One, I ain’t a Ranger, and two, why the fuck does you having hostages change a fucking thing?”

He started advancing on her, the engines of his gun whirring and the barrels spinning slowly.

“Y-you stop right there!” she stammered, stepping back until she bumped into her captives.

“What?” he said, the tone in his voice made me feel like he was smiling under that helmet, “Right here?” He drew a line in the dirt with an armored hoof.

Shackles gulped and nodded.

“Okay,” he said with a soft chuckle, “I think I can manage that...”

A high pitched beeping filled the air, after a few seconds it morphed into a solid tone.

“You guys might wanna step away from queen bitch there,” he called out.

The stallions scattered, and before Shackles could detonate their collars one of those bright red explosives screamed through the air and evenly coated her in a perfect red circle 3 metres across where she'd been standing a split second before.

The armored pony chuckled and trotted up to our cage. “Need a hoof?”

“Yes,” I replied, nodding eagerly, “please.”

His armored hooves had pneumatic pistons attached, which he used to slam in the cage’s door, he then jerked backwards and tore the door off it’s hinges.

I hadn’t taken a solid look at his armor, it was... strange. The legs were painted with zebra stripes, and on his armored flank there was a decal of a pony skull with crossed bones. He was tall too, a good head taller than Token and I.

“Hey prick!” a pony called from behind him.

“Yessir!” he replied brightly, turning to face the opponent.

Standing with the captives was the scrawny earth pony.

“I’m taking these slaves and leaving, try to stop me and I’ll turn their heads into paint!”

“Go ahead,” the armored pony grunted in reply, “shit I don’t care, I don’t know ‘em.”

“P-please,” Token begged, “Don’t let him kill our friends, please.”

He snorted, and glanced back at her, “Not my problem blue, sorry. And he probably won’t kill ‘em, they’re worth more as slaves than corpses.”

I felt something bump into my hooves, I looked down and saw a scoped rifle in front of me. He’d used his back leg to scoot the rifle of a dead thug closer to me, and he happened to be blocking the slaver pony’s view of me. Riot poked me in the ribs, “Slip into S.A.T.S and take him out.” she whispered.

I enveloped the rifle in my magic and lifted the scope to eye level, then activated my PipBuck’s S.A.T.S program. S.A.T.S slowed the time around me as I targeted the slaver and put all three charges into his head. Then I was struck with the realization that I had no idea how to use this weapon. Stable 80 didn’t have firearms, at all, Security was only armed with batons, and that was more of a deterrent than a weapon.

Luckily, time was slowed down, which not only gave me time to pick targets, but to think. The trigger definitely seemed to be the way to fire the rifle, and I’d seen the previous owner pulling back the bolt to chamber another round, that wasn’t really the problem though, figuring out how to manipulate the bolt with my magic was.

Fuck it, just make the first shot a bloody good one.

I selected fire in the S.A.T.S menu and sent the first round careening into the slaver’s skull. I saw the bastard’s head come apart through my scope in slow motion. It was oddly satisfying, disgusting, but still satisfying. His lifeless corpse fell on the ground in a heap as time returned to it’s normal pace.

“Good shot mate."

My stomach heaved and I wretched up my lunch as the weight of what I’d just done set in. I’d just killed, taken the life of another pony.

The armored pony chuckled, “First time eh? Don’t worry, you get used to it. Hell, it gets fun after awhile.”

I vomited again, my friends moved to comfort me but I raised a hoof to stop her, “I’m fine, just, give me a minute.”

“How do we get out of these bloody collars?” one of the Stallions asked frantically.

“Search that one, he’s probably got the release key on him somewhere,” the armored pony ordered then he turned around to face us, “you two okay?”

“Yeah,” I lied, the image of the slaver’s head exploding in my scope still fresh in my mind and the taste of bile was still fresh in my mouth.

“Suppose you guys’ll be goin’ back in that stable then?”

“Yes,” Token answered, “thank you for saving us.”

The stallion just snorted, “I killed ‘em to kill ‘em, I couldn’t give half a shit about you lot.”

I poked my friend in the ribs and motioned her to follow, the Security stallions were making their way back to the stable. Getting to my hooves after evacuating my stomach was a bit more difficult than I thought.

“Thanks anyway,” Riot muttered as we moved to follow them.

The Overmare was greeting all of them at the door, her sad smile faded completely when she saw me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I’m afraid I can’t allow you to return to the stable Bandage, we saw what you did on the monitors.”

Riot moved up beside me, “Ma’am, she did that to save these stallions, you can’t honestly be persecuting her for that!”

“Watch your tone. I don’t want to do this, believe me, but the codex dictates that murder, in self defense or no, must be punished with death. I don’t want to kill you, so I’m exiling you.”

My eyes were teary, I was fighting to choke back sobs, “B-but, where am I supposed to go?”

She placed a hoof on my shoulder, “I don’t know, that’s something you’ll have to figure out on your own, I’m so sorry.”

“If she goes, I go,” Token said beside me, the three of us turned to her with shocked expressions.

“Token, don’t," I begged, "please, not for me.”

She just glared at me, “I’m not leaving you alone out here, if you have to face exile, I’m facing it with you.”

"You're positive?" the Overmare asked.

Token stood firm and nodded.

“So be it,” the Overmare said, a deep tone of sadness in her voice, “please be careful, and take care of yourselves, I’m so sorry it has to be like this.”

She wrapped us both in a short, half-hearted embrace, and then trotted back into Stable 80, the stallions following her.

Riot paused, glaring at her, then turned to us and pulled us both tight, "I'll fix this guys, I promise."

"Don't worry about it Riot," Token said quietly, "we'll be fine."

She patted us both on the back and pulled away, blinking back tears of her own, "Take care of yourselves."

I nodded, "We will."

She gave us one last quick hug before breaking away completely and following the Overmare.

When the stable door finally sealed shut, I broke down into the worst sobbing fit I’ve had since my grandma died. Token laid down next to me and held me tight as we both cried like foals.

I was an emotional wreck, not just crying for myself, but for Token and the life I'd taken for granted. I cried for Cookie, and for the bucks that would have the visage of this violence embedded in their brains forever, just as I would.

Hell, I even cried for Shackles, and her slavers, didn't know why, maybe I just needed something to cry about.

Once our pity party was over, Token looked to me, desperation in her eyes, “What do we do?”

I shook my head, “I don’t know,” I turned to the armored pony that saved us gathering the weapons and ammo of the dead slavers into a pile at the center of camp, “maybe we should ask him, he seems to know what he’s doing.”

“Him?" she asked, her eyes wide with disbelief, "You’re kidding right? He’s a bloody maniac!”

“I know, but he’s the only one we’ve met out here, and he knows a lot more than we do.”

She looked flustered, “But, but.” She was too frustrated to think of a solid argument, so she just nodded her head sullenly.

As we approached he turned round to face us, “Thought you guys were going back to the stable?”

“We can’t,” Token said sadly, “we’re exiled.”

The pony just shrugged, the scratched and dented plates of his pauldrons clanging together, “So, what do ya want?”

“We need help, we don’t really know how to survive out here,” I said.

He cocked his head a bit and nodded, “I think I can sort you out.”

He took several steps from his loot pile, laid down and disconnected the massive weapons on his armor, which fell to the ground with a gentle thud. He took off his battered helmet, revealing a sweat-matted, zebra striped mane. His coat was the same steel shade of his armor, and his eyes were a bold emerald green. The rest of his armor was shed a lot faster than seemed possible considering the bulk of it, but then, it was incredibly advanced equipment, very scuffed and dented, riddled with old bullet holes, but still advanced.

This pony looked... exotic, to say the least. The first thing to stand out was the fact he had no cutie mark, even though he was at least my age. He had two small scars over his right eye, several small piercings in his left ear, and his forelegs sported the same stripes as his mane.

He stretched his long legs and let out a satisfied sigh, “That’s better, I love that armor but it’s damned cramped.”

Token gasped, “Are you a-”

“Zony?” he interrupted, “Yeah, that a problem?”

“N-no!” she stammered, “It’s just odd, we've never seen a zebra before, let alone a hybrid, how exactly did-”

“Momma fucked a zebra,” he said matter-of-factly, “figured that was obvious.”

He sorted through some of his loot and pulled out a small, metallic bottle cap, “First lesson, caps are your best friends.”

I wrapped the cap in my magic and examined it, “Why?”

“It’s money out here,” he said, like it was common knowledge, which it probably was.

“Uh, why?” Token asked.

“Pre-war bits are hard to come by, bottle caps ain’t, the only real worth a bit has today is using it to get a soda out of an old Sparkle-Cola machine, which in turn provides some caps.”

We both just nodded, it was odd but it wouldn’t be difficult to get used to.

“Okay, next, you need weapons, you’re both unicorns so you won’t need battle-saddles.”

“Battle-saddles?” I asked.

“Those side mounted weapons some of the slavers were using. Now, weapon of choice depends on preference,” he looked at me, “you seem to have death at a distance figured out so why don’t you stick with that rifle for now.”

I nodded, “What about me?” Token asked.

“Dunno,” he replied, “ain’t seen ya fight.”

“I guess I’d like to keep it somewhere from medium to short range then, don't want to rely too much on aiming.”

He nodded and sorted through the pile again, this time dragging out a rifle “This here's a standard assault rifle, 5.56 millimeter rounds, pretty common stuff.”

He nodded at the rifle and she enveloped it with magic, he spent the next five minutes discussing with her how to operate and reload it properly. The way she swapped the magazine was apparently the same with most conventional rifles.

Afterwards he dragged out two sets of saddle-bags, both had a loop for our rifles and multiple compartments sewn in to help sort caps and ammo.

“You know how to turn on your E.F.S right?” he asked us.

We both nodded.

“I recommend keeping it on at all times, it’s damn useful to know when an ambush is coming.”

I tapped on my PipBuck a few times and brought up my E.F.S, it brought up a short list of status updates that flashed out until only my compass and the two white bars inhabiting it were visible.

I have to say, Stable-Tec really outdid themselves in the arcane-science department with the PipBuck, how this leg-mounted device could tell me all these things, I would never know.

“Alright, next we should probably deal with armor, that security barding should be fine for now, but you’re definitely going to want to swap out that jumpsuit when you get the chance.”

Once again, we both nodded.

“Okay, that about covers it, you can have whatever you can find here, none of it’s of any use to me. Feel free to tag along with me until the next town, after that you’re on your own.”

He trotted back to his armor and went through the apparently difficult process of putting it back on and reattaching his weapons. We offered to help but he just waved us off and told us to dig through the pile.

All in all, we collected 127 caps, several clips of ammunition for my hunting rifle, .308 caliber from what our friend told me, 12 clips of 5.56mm rounds for Token’s assault rifle and a few healing potions.

An idea struck me when I found those potions, I went back to where the slavers had killed Cookie and found the two supply crates. We salvaged two weeks worth of food, 10 healing potions, several roles of magical bandages and a few syringes of Med-X from them.

After seeing Cookie’s mostly eaten corpse again, I had to have another long cry, Token joined me. Our armored companion said something about getting his things, and that we should meet him on the road when we were ready.

***

We met the zony on the road after 20 minutes or so and followed him silently north, occasionally wiping our eyes or our noses. There wasn't much around us, an old settlement so decrepit nopony would be able to even salvage from it, let alone cut out a living.

Every now and again Token would ask a question, met with a silent, visor covered stare. He didn't bother answering until I asked him something, "So, what do you do?"

"Mercenary work mostly, sometimes a bit of raiding if I'm in the Blasted Lands."

"Blasted Lands?"

"Island far up north, some real fucked up assholes livin' up there, like to enslave the local zebras, occasionally I'll make a run up there and hit some of their military encampments, generally some good loot."

"So, mercenary work, what's that like?"

"Messy." he grunted.

"Like 'I just spilled a soda' messy or-"

"No," he spat, "more like stumblin' on a mare who just got gang raped by a pack of raiders and had her throat slit, then leavin' the poor bitch to rot so you can kill the fuckers that did it, and not for justice, for greed, it's that kind of fuckin' messy. Now shut the fuck up before I lose my temper and get uncivilized on your ass."

I squeaked quietly in response, falling back a few steps alongside Token and keeping my mouth shut until nightfall.

Footnote: Level up

New perk: Scavenger Senses(1) You’re better at finding and organizing supplies!

Dear Bronies,

All praises to Kkat for creating Fallout Equestria and to Somber for expanding the FoE universe. Mad props to AwesomeJacket for proofreading and editing this hunk a shit for me so it’s at least partially coherent.

Chapter 2(Additions made)

Chapter 2

Our first night outside, it sucked, to say the least. The only thing keeping Token and I warm was the fire our armored companion, Stripe, had started for us with some scrap wood from a rotting house, and each other's body heat. Stripe sat across from us, his gun laying in front of him, manually turning the barrels with his hooves.

“What is that thing anyway?” Token asked.

“Minigun,” he replied absently, “IF-57 Avenger, to be exact.”

I wrapped his explosive launcher in my magic and levitated it in front of him, “And this?” I asked.

“Red Glare, it’s a prototype rocket launcher, 13 round rocket canister, fully automatic and a 2.86 times magnification scope with lock-on capabilities.”

“Where do you get these things?”

“Looting military bases in the Divide, it’s fuckin’ dangerous but it generally pays off.”

“What’s the Divide?” Token and I asked simultaneously.

“Massive canyon running through the middle of Trottingham, apparently some balefire bombs blew up underground. Thing's a good 20 miles across and stretches the entire length of Trottingham.”

"What makes it so dangerous?"

He looked up from his weapon, his visor seeming to glare at us, "You two ask a lot of questions," he said, the frustration in his voice obvious.

We muttered apologies and he let out a long sigh, "An easier question to answer would be what doesn't make it dangerous, it's basically a fuckin' death-trap. Unstable canyon walls, undetonated balefire warheads, and wind storms that will peel flesh off of bone. And that's just the environmental hazards. Place is filled with Marked Ones."

"Marked Ones?" Token asked.

"Basically, Ghouls who's skin was torn off by the storms."

"Ghouls?" I asked.

"Try to imagine a dead, rotting pony that's not all the way dead.”

I blinked a few times and laughed, “That’s not physically possible!”

He just shrugged. “Think what ya want, you’ll see a few in the next town, if they haven’t moved on that is.”

Token was mumbling something, her eyes wide, “What’s wrong?” I whispered.

“That sounds horrifying,” she said with a shudder.

“Nah,” Stripe said with a dismissive wave of his hoof, “most sentient Ghouls are just regular folks tryin’ to make it by, just a bit overcooked is all. Ferals though, ugh, ferals piss me off.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Ferals are bat shit insane and try to take chunks out of anything that ain’t a Ghoul.”

I was laughing again, this guy had to be screwing with us! Storms that could peel off flesh was in itself a little unbelievable, but zombie ponies?

“Anyway,” he continued, unphased by my laughter, “the only safe places to hide from the Marked Ones is in the tunnels, and let’s just say they have a damn good reason for avoiding ‘em.”

“Why’s that?” Token asked, moving closer to me and hiding her eyes behind her mane. I swear, it was like an old buck telling a bad ghost story to a filly.

“Tunnellers.”

“Tunnellers?”

He nodded once, “Tunnellers.”

I snickered a bit, “So, what big bad monsters are these ‘Tunnellers’?”

His tone dropped to an incredibly serious one, “You know Diamond Dogs?”

I nodded, “From Splendid Valley right? The ones that captured the Ministry Mare?”

He nodded, “Imagine that, but twisted by radiation and adapted to life underground. Big teeth, glowing eyes, bullet-proof hide, and claws that can shred through damn near anything.”

“You’re kidding, right?” I said, a small smile creeping up my face as Token shrank into me.

He took off his helmet and stared right at me, his eyes piercing, his expression stony and unwavering, “It ain’t a fuckin’ joke, this isn’t a fuckin’ ghost story, and I ain’t a liar.”

I shrank back a bit too, I swear I heard Token whimpering, “So, how do you know about these things?”

“My first time in the Divide was about four years ago. I was stupid, young buck in his prime, fresh outta the Hoof, lookin’ to kick ass, take names, and make money. I signed up as a guard for a scavenging expedition. We went in with twenty ponies, armed to the teeth with the best gear we could get our hooves on,” his expression was almost frighteningly grim at this point, “by the end of day one, we were down to fourteen ponies. Marked Ones were stomping us into the dirt, and the wind was tearing at us. Night was coming, Ghouls can see in the dark and we couldn’t, so we figured it’d be a good idea to bunker up in one of the old tunnels. By morning, we were down to nine ponies, something had crept in during the night and taken five of us, the guard didn’t see or hear a Goddess damned thing, but there were blood trails goin’ from the camp to some weird mounds on the far end of the cave.”

He took a deep breath and shook himself a bit, “By the end of day two, we were down to four ponies. Marked Ones are smart, real smart, they hide up in the wreckage of old buildings and snipe you out, and when you run for cover? Well shit, turns out they were just choking you into a trap. Land mines, satchel charges, cloaked Ghouls waiting in ambush positions. The worst traps they sent you into though? The false security of those tunnels. I was on guard that night, me and some pony, he watched the door while I watched the camp.” He paused to take another long breath, the fear visible in his expression, “I didn’t notice it at first, thought I was seeing shit, it was just a bunch of glowing dots moving through the dark, by the time I figured out what it was, one of the sleeping ponies had his throat torn out and was dragged into one of those mounds, and another had just popped out as he went in. I freaked, screamed, shot everything I had at it, but the fuck was just sponging the hollow points I was using. By the time he woke up, the other sleeper was having his guts torn out. The other guard and I bolted for the door, but some snipers were watching the exit, they blew his back legs off.” He shuddered violently, “I kept running, turned just in time to see that *thing* drag him back into it’s hole, his screaming was just echoing through the canyon.”

Token was holding on to me with near bone-crunching force, her eyes wide with terror. I was holding her right back, I didn’t want to hear anymore, but this story needed an ending, I was too enthralled now.

“Then what happened?” I asked, almost wanting to reach out and force the words back into my mouth.

He sighed, “I ran, ran as fast as I could, ran until my legs gave out and my lungs were burning, and when I wasn’t able to run anymore, I crawled. Managed to make my way to the place we came in from, hunkered down in an old army barracks, hid under a bed and kept my battle saddle trained on the door. Lasted there about a week, livin’ on two hundred year old MRE’s and hour long periods of incredibly light sleep. When my legs were ready to work again, I made my way back to Hoofington and spent the next six months gettin’ scolded by my momma in Flank for being such a fuckin’ dumbass.”

“That place sound like something the stable clergy would say when describing Hell,” Token said with a whimper.

He just nodded, “Pretty similar I reckon. But I’d take seven months in the Divide over an hour in Hoofington any day.”

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“The Divide is bad, don’t get me wrong, but the monsters is what you worry about. In Hoofington, it seems like the damn city just wants you to die. Hell, that’s why I moved to Trottingham, monsters and raiders may be thicker over here but they’re a cake walk compared to Enervation.”

“Enervation?”

He grimaced at the word, “Bad shit, real, real bad shit. Don’t know exactly what it is, nopony does, but it basically just actively works to make ponies dead. Weakens you, fucks up your healing potions, makes small injuries turn into internal bleeding, hell, I saw a pony with a broken leg walk through some Enervation on the way to Flank, the damn thing fuckin’ fell off.”

“Goddesses.” I muttered.

“That ain’t the half of it, if a pony has some taint in their system, Enervation slowly takes ‘em apart, shredded muscles, melting eyes, and sometimes it breaks down their bones so much that they’re more rubbery than solid.”

“How does anypony survive in a place like that?”

He snorted, “They don’t, usually, best thing you can do is settle in a place with as little Enervation as possible, Chapel supposedly has none, same with the Arena, but I ain’t been to either so I couldn’t tell ya. Flank wasn’t too bad when you stayed in the town proper, but the road in is thick with the shit.”

I was going to ask more, but Token was literally having a breakdown and I doubted he wanted to answer any more questions.

"Are you okay?" I whispered to her.

"I want to go home," she sobbed quietly, "this world is fucking terrible."

I spent most of the night stroking Token’s mane to calm her down until she finally fell into a whimpering sleep. I couldn’t sleep though, too much to process, that and every time I tried to close my eyes my mind flooded with the images of exploding ponies and shredded body parts. Stripe stayed up with me, but glared every time I tried to make small talk.

***

The short trip to the next town was relatively uneventful, Token badgered Stripe for more information on Trottingham, I was just glad she wasn't freaking out anymore. I spent my time taking practice shots at these disgusting, over-sized insects that Stripe had identified as bloatsprites.

I was surprised to find that the next town was actually named The Next Town, they had a sign propped up and everything. It was actually rather large from my perspective, but then, I’d never seen a town before. Most of it was a collection of thrown together shacks but there was an old world building that Stripe told us served as a mayor’s office.

“All right ladies, this is where we part ways.” He pointed a hoof towards the meeting hall structure, “If you find yourselves in need of caps, there ought to be bounties posted on a board in Dirge’s office.”

“Bounties?” Token asked.

He groaned and smacked an armored hoof to his face, “Goddesses you ask a lot of questions. Bounties are ponies that need killin’ or jobs that ponies need done, talk to the Ghoul at the desk inside, she should be able to sort you out.”

“Thanks Stripe,” I said, “wouldn’t have made it this far without you.”

“Nope, probably not,” he said dryly, “well, bye. I’d like to say it’s been a pleasure, but frankly you two annoy the hell outta me.”

Token extended a hoof, but Stripe just turned and started trotting out of town.

“This is going to sound odd,” she whispered, “but I hope that’s not going to be the last we see of that bloke.”

I looked at her with a cocked eyebrow, “You’re joking, right?”

She shook her head, “No, he may have been a curmudgeonly ass, but he was damned knowledgeable.”

I sighed, “Whatever, let’s head in, I want to see one of these ‘Ghouls’ up close.”

I trotted towards the structure, but stopped when I realized Token wasn’t following, I turned to see her biting her lip nervously, “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head, “I don’t think I could stand seeing one of those things, I was having nightmares about them all night long.”

I rolled my eyes, “Come on, don’t be chicken, and remember what Stripe said? Most of them are friendly.”

She stood there for a bit, fidgeting her hooves, then finally nodded and trotted after me.

When I saw it, I froze. Sitting at the front desk was a fucking zombie pony, her skin, what was left of it anyway, looked like it’d been thrown in an oven, and was covered with open sores where you could see the muscle moving underneath. Her eyes were giving off an unsettling yellow glow, and when she stared at me I almost messed myself.

“Hello dearie,” she said with a cheerful, if not slightly gravelly voice, “what can I help you with?”

“Y-you, your a, a-”

“Ghoul?” she asked sweetly, “Yes dear, for about a century now.”

“H-h-how?” I stammered.

“Oh the basic way, from what others have told me is basic anyway, took in quite the hefty dose of radiation and after a few weeks my mane was all but fallen out and my skin was in dire need of a good moisturizing.”

While I was contemplating the medical impossibilities this creature was pulling off, Token was dangerously close to biting completely through her bottom lip.

"Oh dear, you're hurt!"

The Ghoul trotted up to Token from around her desk and wiped off a small trickle of blood going down Token's face with a dirty rag she had pulled from her pocket.

"All better?" she asked in that same sweet tone.

"Y-yes," Token stammered, "thank you ma'am."

The Ghoul beamed at Token, her teeth were grotesque, and her gums had the same burnt look of her flesh, but she somehow managed to look adorable.

"Please dear, call me Sunshine."

“Okay... Sunshine.”

“Anyway dears, what can I help you with?”

“Oh,” I said, shaking off my stupor, “our friend told us to ask you about the bounty board outside.”

“Oh yes!” she said brightly, “We have several small jobs that need doing, should help a couple stable ponies like yourselves learn the ropes out here.”

I nodded my head, looking over the long list of jobs on the chalkboard, “What would you recommend?”

“Hmm,” she mumbled, “I’d say clearing out the mole-rat nest to the east of town sounds like something you should be able to handle quite well. It pays decent, hundred caps and a couple of healing potions.”

“What are mole-rats?”

“Oversized bald rodents, big teeth, but not too much of a challenge. Really I think the only reason Dirge posted it was because it’s a rather tedious task.”

“I guess we’re in.”

“Excellent!” she said, eagerly trotting back behind her desk and pulling out a form, “I’ll need you to sign this bounty slip please.”

She slid the form and a rather ancient looking pencil across the desk, it looked incredibly pointless, just a line for me to sign and some information about the job.

“Why?” I asked.

“It’s something Dirge started up about a decade ago, he says it helps him keep track of things, but really it's just so he has something else to sort through, keeps him busy.”

I magically grabbed the pencil and scribbled my name on the line. Sunshine dragged the form and the pencil back across the desk and looked it over.

“Bandage,” she mumbled, “that’s a... pretty name.”

Token was snickering softly behind me and I felt my cheeks heating up. I hated my name, it wasn’t mine or my parent’s choice. The Overmare gets to name all the colts and fillies when we get our cutie marks. Medicine was my special talent so I got that roll of bandages slapped on my flank, and the Overmare, with all her creative and imaginative wisdom, named me Bandage.

Token was lucky with her name, probably because she was damn lucky with everything else. Luck was her special talent, which I really don’t understand, it’s why she has that silly little rabbit’s foot charm as a cutie mark. The previous Overmare also happened to be her mom, so she put some actual thought into the naming process and named her Token because she was ‘a symbol of the luck she brought to the stable’ or somet cheesy shit like that.

“Trust me ma’am, I despise that name.”

She smiled brightly again, “It’s a perfectly fine name, and you know, if you don’t care for it you could just change it.”

I cocked an eyebrow at this, “What do you mean change it?”

“Please dear, you don’t think my mother gave me the name Sunshine do you? My mother had never even seen the sun before, nor have I. I just change it up every few decades to keep from getting bored with it.”

Wait... what? “What was that you said about neither you or your mother seeing the sun?”

“I’ve never seen the sun and my mother never saw it. It’s quite common actually, with the cloud cover and all.”

“How old are you exactly?”

“Hmm,” she mumbled, running a hoof through what was left of her mane, “let’s see, I was only eighteen when I was afflicted with my current condition, and it’s been roughly ninety two years since then, so about one hundred and twenty years old, if my math is correct.”

“And how old was your mother when she had you?”

“Twelve.”

“So that means the sun hasn’t shone in at least a hundred and thirty three years?!”

“Oh no, there have been rare occurrences where it pokes its head out for brief moments, I’ve never experienced one though,” she said with a touch of sadness, “a shame too, I hear Celestia’s sun is a sight to behold.”

‘Shocked’ and ‘confused’ would not describe what I was feeling at the moment. This made no sense, cloud cover that could last for over a hundred years?

“How?” Token asked, the same dumbfounded look as my own on her face.

“The pegasus Enclave keeps the sky sealed up rather tightly dears.”

Sunshine then spent the better part of an hour explaining to us the details of this ‘Enclave’ and how they’d kept the sky closed ever since the bombs dropped, and how they only ever came down on rare occasions to scout out the surface. It seemed horrible and selfish to me, shutting away the sky for protection but making it so that nopony on the ground would ever feel the warmth of the sun again.

Though, I suppose nopony born after the bombs would really miss all that much if they’ve never seen it. The closest thing I’d experienced to sunlight was the extra-bright surgery lamp that Syringe had in the clinic. But still, one of the big reasons I’d wanted to go outside was the sun.

Things on the outside really weren’t working out as I expected. I anticipated sunlight, only to find that Equestria was permanently shaded by clouds. I anticipated civilized ponies, and the first ones we met killed and ate Cookie and tried to enslave us. We’d only met two helpful ponies so far, one was a murderous psychopath and the other was a very sweet zombie pony.

Frankly, the outside was hell, and we’d only been out for one day.

As we trotted out of the office building, Token let out a long sigh, “It’s official, this place sucks.”

I stopped and stared at her, she stopped as well and stared back, “What’s wrong?”

“You should have stayed in the stable,” I said, choking back tears, “you shouldn’t have to go through this with me.”

She hit me square in the face. Not enough to hurt, but definitely enough to get my attention, “You’re an idiot,” she said through gritted teeth, “I came with you because life inside 80 would have been a living hell without you.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You’re my best friend stupid, you were the only good thing about Stable 80,” she was blinking back tears of her own now, “you were the only thing the matchmaker ever got right, and if I lost you, I probably would have just gone into the clinic and asked to be euthanized.”

“But this place-” she interrupted me with an incredibly tight hug.

“This place is a cakewalk compared to the emotional strain of knowing that you were out here alone,” she whispered, “as bad as this may be, at least I know that I have you at my side, and that we’re going to face it all together.”

After a minute or two of us standing in the middle of the street, hugging like idiots, we finally started making our way to the mole-rat nest that was marked as an objective on my PipBuck.

It didn’t take us very long to reach it, 20 minutes or so at a trotting pace, and it definitely didn’t look all that impressive, really it was just a large hole dug out of a hill.

My PipBuck let out a small beep. I looked at the map and a little square with the words ‘Mole-Rat Nest’ had appeared, a small gear shape off to the south a ways where Stable 80 was, and to the west was ‘The Next Town.’

I never understood how PipBucks worked, and being out here was just making me more confused about them. This device managed to tell me the names of towns and locations that didn’t exist when it was created. It could tell me the value of something in my inventory in a form of currency that certainly hadn’t existed back then. Just by resting on my leg, this device could somehow tell me everything wrong with my physical being.

Eyes Forward Sparkle was a miracle in itself, somehow being able to tell friends from enemies and give me a compass with objective and location updates. S.A.T.S made no sense to me whatsoever, the targeting assist I could understand but the slowed down time was a bloody mystery.

I’d once asked a technician about it, but he’d simply waved a hoof and said something about how it was magic and that he didn’t have to explain it. Though that wasn’t a satisfactory answer, I’d learned to live with it, considering everyone from the company that invented the damn things was long dead.

“You ready?” Token asked.

“Yeah,” I said with a smile, “this’ll be a piece of cake.”

***

It wasn’t as easy as expected. The mole-rats weren’t exactly tough, or smart, but they were ferocious little bastards. One had rushed Token while we were both reloading and managed to give her a nasty bite on her left front leg. Our aim was rather poor as well, and S.A.T.S took a while to recharge, so ammo was practically being wasted.

“We really need to work on our aim!” Token yelled as she bashed in the head of a mole-rat with the butt of her rifle.

“I concur!” I yelled back as I reloaded.

We were almost done, my PipBuck only listed 2 more mole-rats in the nest. The nest itself had been rather misleading on the outside, what had looked like a hole dug out of a hill was actually an entrance to a rather extensive series of cramped tunnels. The mole-rats had an advantage the entire time, my rifle was meant for long range, and Token’s rifle kept jamming.

The last two charged around the corner, I dispatched them easily enough with my rifle, but my rifle ammo was dangerously low with only about 6 shots on backup and 9 shots in total.

“Looks like we’re going to be spending our reward on ammunition,” I sighed.

Token nodded and tossed her assault rifle away, “I’ll need to find another weapon, this rifle is rubbish.”

“You could always use it as a club,” I said with a smile.

“Hmm,” she mumbled, picking it back up with her magic and giving it a few practice swings.

I rolled my eyes and started back towards the entrance, “It was a joke, Token.”

She shrugged, “Eh, at least I saved ammo, still got ten magazines left.”

“I suppose that’s the one advantage of rifle jams.”

“Yeah,” she chuckled, “I suppose so.”

***

“Excellent work dears!” Sunshine said pulling out a pouch of caps and a couple of healing potions. “Here’s your payment.”

“Thanks,” I said, levitating the pouch into my saddlebags, Token sucked down one of the healing potions for the bite, “know anywhere we can get some more ammo?”

“Oh yes dear! There’s a trading outpost up the road, and if I’m not mistaken there’s a hundred cap bounty to deliver supplies to one of the stands there.”

“We’ll take it.”

“Excellent!” Sunshine pulled one of the bounty slips out and I signed it, “Put that in your saddlebags and give it to the client along with the supplies.”

I nodded and she dragged a crate out of a closet behind her desk.

“It’s going to a Mr. Caliber, he should pay you when he gets it.”

The walk to the outpost only took about an hour, I was going to take shots at some bloatsprites we spotted along the way but decided against it considering our ammo situation.

I kept catching Token staring at me, actually, it was more like checking me out. Whenever I asked her what she was doing she just blushed and looked away. I was beginning to think the fresh air was getting to her.

The trading outpost looked similar to Shackle’s camp, but it was filled with store-stands and merchants instead of cages and slavers. We browsed through the stands, and eventually came to ‘Caliber’s Discount Ordinance’. The old earth pony working the stand, Mr. Caliber I presumed, whistled when we walked up.

“What can I do for you fine lookin’ ladies today?” he asked with a sly smile.

“Uh, we have some supplies from Next Town.” I said, passing him the bounty slip as Token gave him the supply crate.

“Thank you ladies.” The gray pony passed us another pouch of caps. “Anything else I can get for ya?”

“Yeah, we could use some ammo and Token needs a weapon.”

He nodded, “I can sort ya out, what’s your price range?”

“Three hundred and twenty seven caps.”

“Good thing I sell discount eh? What kinda weapon ya lookin’ for?”

“An assault rifle would be best,” Token said, “5.56 millimeter.”

He got a rifle from behind the counter, “Seventy five caps.”

She picked it up with her magic and looked it over, “What’s wrong with it.”

Caliber chuckled, “Not a damn thing madam, it’s in fine working order.”

“Why the low price?”

“I sell things at discount prices,” he leaned closer, “and I knocked off another twenty five caps cause I think yer pretty,” he said with a wry smile.

“Oh,” she blushed, “thanks.”

“Now, what kind of ammo do ya’ll need?”

“I should be fine on assault rifle ammo for now, but Bandage needs some .308 rounds.”

“All right, how much you lookin’ to buy?”

“How much you got?” I asked.

“‘Bout fifty rounds, one cap a piece.”

“I’ll take all of it.”

He nodded and we exchanged caps and ammo. Then he threw a book on the counter.

I leaned forward and read the cover, “Guns and Bullets?”

“Mmhmm,” he said with a nod, “read up on that, it’ll teach you how to better use and maintain yer weapons.”

“How much?”

He shrugged, “Free of charge, ya done me a solid bringin’ those supplies.”

“Thanks Caliber.”

He waved a hoof and smiled again, “No problem, do me another solid and stay gorgeous won’t ya?”

Token was blushing and I rolled my eyes.

***

We were back in town. Upon return, Sunshine had been nice enough to rent us out a shack at the discount price of 10 caps a night. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was clean, and the bed was surprisingly cozy.

Token had been asleep for a couple of hours, I’d stayed up to read ‘Guns and Bullets’ and clean our rifles. When I finally collapsed into bed, Token stirred and snuggled closer to me. I had trouble sleeping that night, as tired as I was. I was missing the small comforts like showers and clean clothes, and I felt incredibly dirty.

I buried my face in Token's mane, she smelled clean. I probably wasn't as dirty as I felt, but what can I say, I'm spoiled.

Then I started crying, I'd been doing that a lot recently, this time I didn't really know why though.

Token stirred and rolled over to face me. "You okay?" she asked with a yawn.

"I'm fine, just tired I think."

"All right," she yawned, "night mate."

Then she pecked me softly on the lips, and both our eyes shot wide open.

"What th-"

"Sorry!" she exclaimed nervously. "Chalk that up under tired mistake, yeah?"

She rolled over again, but I'd have none of it, this conversation wasn't over, not by a long shot.

"Hey," I said, poking her in the back with a hoof.

She pretended to snore, so I started blowing on her ear, an old trick I'd used to piss her off for years.

"What was that all about?"

"Nothing!" she snapped. "Sod off."

"If it was nothing you wouldn't be pissy about it."

She sighed and rolled over to face me, she was going to say something, but I interrupted her with a kiss. At first her eyes were wide with surprise, but then she kissed me back, her eyes relaxing.

The stable’s matchmaker had always talked about something that good couples had. Chemistry. The natural ability to connect with another pony. About how when they were together, there was a sense of zen, and when they kissed, each would feel sparks.

I felt those sparks at this moment, with my best friend. I’d never thought of Token in that way, relationships outside what was chosen for you were forbidden, and they were always heterosexual. It seemed cruel, keeping ponies from what I was feeling. Before, matchmaking was always an inconvenience, now, it seemed monstrous.

I broke away from her and smiled, she smiled back and nuzzled my cheek.

“How long have you felt this way?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug, “a long time I guess.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“It was forbidden, I guess I just subconsciously pushed those emotions to the back of my mind. And when we were out, and those rules no longer applied-”

“They came to the surface?”

“Yeah.”

She kissed me again, that same tingly sensation going through me.

We spent the rest of the night cuddling and nuzzling and kissing. The shittiest two days I'd ever experienced had culminated in the best night of my life so far.

***

I didn't want to get out of bed the next morning, I wanted to stay there, holding Token, with my face buried in her mane to take in her scent. She unfortunately had other plans, prompting me to get up with a very long, very nice kiss, peppered with a hint of tongue.

"Why can't we kiss in bed?" I grumbled tiredly when she paused.

"Because," she replied brightly, squeezing into her barding, "we've got work to do, money to make, that sort of thing."

I shook my head and wrapped my forelegs around her neck from behind, pulling her back to bed, "Not today we don't, let's just stay in."

"Hmm, but what could two ponies do in bed?" she asked with a sly, shit eating grin.

I grinned right back and pressed my face to hers, "I'm sure we could think of something..."

She pulled away, just slightly, "I want to take this- us, slow, is that alright?"

I nodded and hugged her tight, "Totally fine, even though I think we've been besties long enough to skip the getting to know each other period."

She chuckled and nestled her head against my neck, "More of a get used to kissing my best friend period."

"Well..." I muttered, pecking her lips, "Let's help that along shall we?"

She giggled, "You're bad."

I let loose, replying between quick kisses, "And you're... so... so... good."

Footnote: Level up

New perk: Cherchez La Filly - +10% damage to the same sex and unique dialogue options with certain ponies.

Skill Note: Guns (25)

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next few days were filled with small bounties, cap accumulation, and blissful nights in the shack with Token. Thankfully, we didn’t do much fighting, the occasional bloatsprite and a few wandering mole-rats. Most of our time was centered around carrying packages from The Next Town to the trading outpost up the road. The only problem was that we were getting bored.

It sounded crazy, but we both wanted to start venturing out into the world, and we knew we wouldn’t do too well against the dangers of Trottingham without some fighting experience.

There had been several bounties available for taking down small raiding bands, I’d turned them all down, telling Token that it was to protect us. Truthfully I was more worried about myself, every night was restless from visions of Stripe tearing ponies to pieces, Cookie being killed and eaten, and the head of the slaver pony coming apart in my scope.

The thing haunting me the most was what Stripe had said, ‘you get used to it.’
I didn’t want to get used to it. Somehow, I felt that if I ever did grow callous to the deaths of other ponies, no matter how terrible they may be, I would lose a fundamental part of myself.

Much to my regret, we’d taken a job. A small group of raiders operating out of an old suburb to the east had been ravaging trading caravans and harassing nearby communities. The reward was 500 caps, which (in addition to the rest of our 496 caps) we’d hope would buy us enough supplies and ammunition to make the long trip north into the Trottingham Union’s territory.

The Union (Sunshine had told us) often hired members of the ‘private sector’ to perform tasks that they didn’t have the resources or the troops to spare time for. Our plan was to do this until we had enough caps to further our ‘adventures’ through Trottingham, and maybe even into Shetland.

That was going to be our life together, constant adventuring. The twinkle that came into Token’s eyes when we discussed these plans was enough to convince me to go through with them.

***

“Celestia’s light,” I muttered, the taste of bile fresh in my mouth, “what kind of fucking monster does this?”

We’d come across the former roadside community of Shanty. A small collection of shacks and tents that was constantly moving with the nomadic ponies that lived there.

Raiders had completely devastated it. In one corner were the twisted remains of foals, blasted to pieces with shotgun fire. The amount of mangled body parts made it difficult to tell how many there had been. In another lay the bodies of ponies that had been tortured to death and executed, most of them had their back legs blown off, and from the dual trails of blood leading to their jagged stumps, I’m guessing they’d been forced to crawl for their lives.

The metal sheeting that made up the shacks had been turned into a grotesque wall where ponies had been nailed up by their limbs. The poles that held up the tents had been sharpened into stakes, in which the severed heads of the town’s inhabitants had been speared.

Token was busy vomiting in a ditch, the only reason I hadn’t retched the instant I saw it was I had already puked when I smelled it from down the road 30 minutes ago.

Then I heard it, a faint whimpering off to our left.

“Hello!” I called, “Where are you?”

“Over h-h-h-here!” the weak voice of a filly cried out.

From under the bloodied rags that used to be a tent crawled a filly, only 10 at the most. Her grey coat and golden mane were matted, bloody and filthy, and she had several small cuts all over her. I shuddered when I saw the blood between her thighs.

“C-can you h-help me p-p-please?” she said, her eyes frightened and begging.

“Come here sweetie, I have magic to help with those cuts.”

She trotted towards us, slowly, looking left and right after every nervous step.

I sat very still, careful not to make sudden moves that might frighten her. She nearly galloped the next few steps and collapsed in front of me in a sobbing heap.

I wrapped her in an embrace, at first she jumped, but then pressed her face into my chest and broke into a terrible sobbing fit.

After she had calmed down a bit I had her sip on one of our healing potions and started mending some of her larger cuts with my healing magic.

"What's your name?"

"Sh-Sh-Shaky," she stammered.

“Can you tell us what happened dear?”

She nodded slowly and wiped fresh tears from her eyes, “They c-came from the east a-a-and just started k-k-k-killing everypony. My m-m-m-momma made me h-hide under my sleeping b-bag, but when they f-found me...” she trailed off, the look of terror returning to her eyes, “they d-d-did s-stuff, b-bad stuff.”

“Do you know what direction they went?” Token asked, the anger obvious in her voice.

I turned to look at her. Token had tears rolling down her cheeks, her gorgeous blue eyes bloodshot and angry.

“East,” the foal said with a whimper, “Dad s-said they’ve g-g-got a b-base out that way.”

“Then we’re gonna burn it to the ground,” a familiar voice said behind us.

Stripe had caused all of us to jump, either his bulky armor was deceptively quiet, or we’d all been too preoccupied to notice his approach.

“Stripe, what are you doing here?” I asked.

He snorted, “I ran into a trading caravan that said there were some raiders out this way with a decent bounty on them. Figured I’d keep myself occupied and make some caps. Hell, I was actually just gonna drop it when Sunshine told me you’d already taken it. But after seein’ this...”

“Killing ponies is one thing,” he said, his voice low with rage, “but killin’ and rapin’ innocent foals, that’s somethin' that requires my full attention.”

“What should we do?” Token asked.

“I’m gonna take the kid back to town, make sure Sunshine sets her up somewhere safe. I want you two to go to that raider base ahead of me and scope things out, don’t make a move until I get there to back you up.”

"Why don't you go take on the raiders and have us take her back?"

"Because I need to be sure she gets there, not that I don't trust you to do the right thing, but if you were attacked on the way there-"

I nodded, looking down to Shaky, “Right, go with the nice buck sweetie.”

She looked at Stripe, the same terrified expression slapped on her face. He took off his helmet and gave her a reassuring smile, then extended a hoof.

“C’mere sweetheart,” he said in a surprisingly gentle tone. "I don't bite, promise."

She looked back up at me and I nodded. She slowly and nervously approached Stripe, and when she finally reached him he delicately scooped her up onto his back.

He threw his helmet into his saddlebags and turned around to leave, but stopped and looked for a long time at the pile of maimed foals, the rage apparent in his piercing emerald eyes.

***

What had once been an old world suburb was now a rape and murder factory. Raiders had pinned corpses to the ancient walls of houses and mutilated guts were strewn over lamp posts like sick decorations. The screams of tortured ponies begging for death echoed through the ruined halls of a destroyed post office that Token and I were hiding in several hundred metres away.

"We have to do something," I whispered.

"I know," Token whispered back, "and we will, but we have to wait for Stripe."

The screams intensified, and the maniacal laughter of a raider filled the streets as a bloody mare crashed through the door of one of the houses. The raider followed soon after, a bloody kitchen knife gripped in his mouth.

He tackled her, trying to bring his knife to her throat.

“Fuck this,” I said as I brought up my rifle and activated S.A.T.S.

I targeted his head, the round went through one ear and out the other side, the top of his skull, followed by a geyser of pulped brain, flying a metre into the air.

The mare looked around, stunned and frightened.

“Over here!” I called, waving my rifle above my head.

She started towards us at a full gallop, but was almost instantly mowed down by a barrage of gunfire.

Then the locals got wise. At least 30 raiders started pouring out of the houses, cackling madly and firing their weapons into the air, and they were charging right at us.

“Small raiding band my ass,” Token muttered, pulling out her assault rifle.

“We need to get to the second floor.”

She nodded and we bolted for the stairs, I was the first one up, and “Oh fuck!” barely escaped my lips before the unicorn right around the corner opened fire.

She had an assault rifle, same model as Token’s if not more worn. She dumped a full clip into me, I screamed as the rounds shredded my internal organs and fractured my ribs, but it was drowned out by the gunfire. I collapsed to the floor, precious blood leaking from new holes, I tried to breathe, but my shattered ribs and punctured lungs screamed in protest. I tried to stand, but pain shot through every part of my mangled body. I tried to call out, but all that escaped was a bloody gurgle.

The mare giggled, tossing her rifle aside and magically grabbing a combat knife from a nearby hot plate. The blade was white, and I could see the heat distortion in the air around it.

Suddenly Token was standing over me, her assault rifle aimed straight at the raider’s face, the mare merely cocked her head and smiled.

“Stay the fuck away from her you bitch!” Token spat.

The mare took a step forward, still smiling.

“I’m serious! Stay the fuck back!”

The mare took another step.

“See you in hell!” Token bellowed.

Click, “Fuck,” Token muttered, “not now dammit! Not now!”

Click-click-click. The clicks of the jammed rifle seemed to echo endlessly through my still ringing ears.

The raider cackled with glee, then spun around and rear bucked Token down the stairs with both legs. Then she leapt on top of me.

“Carve you up good,” she whispered into my ear.

I felt a searing pain on my left cheek, the smell of burning flesh filling my nostrils as she slowly dragged the blade up the side of my face.

I tried to scream, again only met with a sick gurgle as bloody foam poured from my mouth.

“That’s right cunt, scream for me,” she giggled.

Big mistake.

My vision was starting to blacken around the edges but my new-found anger was pushing me through it. I focused all my energy on my horn, wrapping her super-heated knife in my magic, pulling it away from my face... pushing it into her skull.

As she called out in pain I forced the knife deeper into her temple, the screaming stopped eventually, and her legs stopped kicking shortly after as she collapsed on top of me.

My vision was worsening, blurred in the center and darkness slowly creeping in from the edges. I don’t know if it was because of the pain shooting through me, the suffocation, or the ridiculous amount of blood I had leaked onto the floor, but I was going to black out.

“Ow,” Token groaned from the bottom of the stairs.

She clambered back up the stairs and the raider’s body was shifted off me.

“Goddesses,” she whispered. “It’s okay Bandage, I’m gonna get you out of here.”

She pressed a healing potion to my lips, I tried to drink but couldn’t muster the strength. She tipped my head back and rubbed my throat as she poured the liquid down my gullet. It helped, barely, my vision was slowly clearing up, and the lung that hadn’t completely collapsed had mostly sealed itself.

At the most this only postponed my death for a few minutes, if I had learned one thing from medical training, it was that no pony loses this much blood and lives to tell about it.

I could hear the oncoming raiders now, their many hoof-beats sounding almost thunderous.

I tried to tell her to run while she could, but my collapsed right lung seized up and all that escaped was a harsh cough and a small geyser of blood shooting out my nostrils.

She forced me to drink another healing potion, then started pouring one directly on some of the bullet wounds, an old first aid trick that supposedly heals the wound more directly. I wanted to scream at her, tell her to run, to stop wasting medical supplies on me because I was dead meat anyway.

I was breathing now, my collapsed lung still failing to suck air and my recently healed one protesting with every haggard breath. The hoof-beats of the raiders was close and clear now, but I could still make out the sound of Token unjamming her rifle and reloading the clip.

Token bit down on the scruff of my jumpsuit and dragged me away from the stairs and behind some stacked ammo boxes.

She took cover next to me as the first raider made it up the stairs and brought him down with what I assume was a S.A.T.S assisted burst of gunfire. Two more ran in and suffered the same fate.

I magically reached into my saddlebags and pulled out a syringe of Med-X, poking the needle into my torso and pushing down on the plunger. Relief was instant and I was able to slowly stand. I gripped the barrel of my rifle in my teeth and staggered to the bombed-out wall facing the suburb. I sat down and rested the forestock on a hunk of rubble, looking down the scope, supporting the stock with my right foreleg and pressing the butt into my shoulder. Then I started manually picking out targets, wrapping my magic around the trigger, breathing in, and slowly squeezing when a shot presented itself, tricks I had picked up from the sniping section in ‘Guns and Bullets’.

The rifle was powerful enough to punch through the raiders’ pieced together barding, and most dropped with one shot, but the amount advancing on us would be overwhelming. Occasionally, two would rush ahead, only to be eliminated upon reaching the top of the stairs.

“You realize how fucked we are, right?” I said to Token, ignoring the blood trying to lurch up my throat.

“Yeah,” she called back, “but it’s better to go down fighting babe.”

“Don’t call me babe,” I chuckled, pain shooting through my ribs, “and for the love of Luna, don’t make me laugh.”

I emptied my clip and loaded in another, the bolt smoothly pressing a fresh round into the chamber. I picked my next victim out of the oncoming horde, unicorn, buck, yellow coat, red mane, and most recently, the subtraction of a throat.

He collapsed to the ground and started clutching his hooves to his exposed trachea, blood gurgling out with every attempted cry. That’s what I had been afraid of, missing the spine, it was going to be a slow death.

The bolt pulled back just as smoothly as it had pressed in, a spent and smoking cartridge propelling itself out of the chamber, as if in slow motion. I watched, again as if in slow motion, as the next round pushed up out of the magazine, and as the bolt slid into place and pressed it into the chamber.

I squeezed the trigger again, my .308 round putting the buck out of his misery, “Euthanized,” a part of me thought with a hint of satisfaction.

The adrenaline rush was exhilarating, it was as if being in a manual version of S.A.T.S.
“Sweep the enemy,” my mind rehearsed from the logs of last night’s reading, “select a target, breathe in, squeeze, confirm the kill, breathe out, chamber next round, repeat, reload when necessary.”

I was liking our odds at this point, their advance had halted, their numbers had thinned, the survivors of my sniping spree were ducked behind cover, occasionally blind-firing over it in our general direction.

Between the two of us, Token and I had dropped 14 raiders, she’d taken five on the stairs, I’d taken nine in the streets, six of those had been headshots, two had been body shots, and one had been a double tap. “Not bad,” I thought.

I decided to take a break, and by that I mean stagger towards Token and collapse in a bloody, whimpering heap. My adrenaline rush had worn off, and my body was really starting to feel the pain of my wounds.

Token cradled my head and poured another healing potion down my throat, then she pealed my jumpsuit off and started wrapping my wounds with a role of magical bandages. I looked at my suit, it was utterly fucked, the only thing not soaked in blood and torn to pieces was the 80 printed on the flank.

She tried to make me drink another potion but I lifted a hoof to stop her, “Save it, I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine, you’re shot to pieces,” she said softly.

I groaned as I rose to my hooves and slowly made my way towards the stairs, “See, fresh as a daisy.”

“Coming from a mare that’s never seen flowers.”

“Shut up!” I chuckled, wincing at the pain that stabbed through my ribs, “Dammit.”

I sifted through the six bodies at the top of the stairwell until I found the mare that had shot me, then I wrapped the knife lodged in her skull with my magic and pulled it out. I started turning it over in front of me, examining it.

“Surgically sharp blade, serrated back edge,” I whispered, swinging it a few times. “Stainless steel blade... I like this knife, think I’ll keep it.”

Token turned me around and looked at me with concern, “You alright love? You’re acting kind of odd.”

I blinked with confusion a few times before I realized she was right, I’d been acting very strange actually. Surgically eliminated targets, mentally going over the lessons from my book, admiring my rifle as a precision tool, and the odd sensation of satisfaction I felt with every headshot... Mentally referring to other ponies as targets...

I shrugged and tossed the knife into my saddlebags, “Dunno, maybe I’m just a bit off from the blood loss.”

Then I went through the incredibly painful and mentally tasking process of pulling bullets out of myself. I firmly gripped them with my magic, groaning with pain and effort as the rounds were slowly pulled out. I was lucky, only three rounds had been lodged in, but each one removed was a new lesson in pain. I poured a healing potion directly on the wounds and re-wrapped the magical bandages to better cover the areas that needed their magic more.

“Do you need anything?” Token asked with concern. “Med-X for the pain?”

I kissed her on the cheek, “I’m fine love, now, let’s see what they’re up to.”

I limped back to where I left my rifle and got back into position, scanning the suburb through my scope.

“Reinforcements,” I muttered. “Twelve by my count.”

Token groaned, “Do they ever stop coming?”

“Dunno. They’re moving around weird, they looked panicked.”

“How so?” she asked, trotting up behind me to peek over my shoulder.

I passed her my rifle so she could look through the scope.

“Instead of focusing their numbers in the cover to prepare for a charge they’re fortifying their left flank.” Wait, what?

“Yeah,” she muttered, passing back the rifle, “that is weird.”

I peeked over my scope and guesstimated the distance, 150 metres or so, easily within lethal range. They were leaving themselves completely exposed in that position, and while I doubted the tactical genius of homicidal maniacs, I doubted that they’d be dumb enough to make themselves open targets for a sniper without a damned good reason.

Then I heard it, the familiar whirring of a minigun’s engine.

My lips curled in a smug smile, “Cavalry’s here.”

Stripe was advancing from the left, mowing down ponies unfortunate enough to be out of cover, and blasting apart ponies unfortunate enough to be in cover. It also explained why the raiders had stopped their charge, they could have easily overwhelmed us if they’d wanted to.

“Post up and watch the stairs babe,” I said. “If he starts pressuring that flank too hard they’re gonna be tempted to advance on our position.” Wait, what?

“Got it,” Token replied, slapping a fresh clip into her rifle. “And don’t call me babe.”

I smiled a bit, but didn’t look away from my scope. The raiders weren’t doing what I’d expected, instead of moving on us they were bolting back into the houses. Stripe was making good progress, most of the ponies on the left flank had been wiped out and he was relentlessly chasing down the ones running for the houses.

I picked off a few stragglers that he’d just ignored on his chase, and he was opening up on the houses with rocket fire. Turns out 200 year old walls don’t hold up well against a pissed off zony with heavy weapons and power armor.

It didn’t take him long to sweep through the rest of the houses, he came out with a few bloodied and tortured mares in tow. He looked around and spotted the post office, then launched a flare straight into the air from some sort of mechanism on his armor.

I did one last sweep of the suburb with my scope and fired my rifle into the air to sound the all clear, he nodded and motioned for the mares to follow.

As he trotted through the streets he looked over some of my victims.

I relaxed as he finally emerged from the stairwell, slouching comfortably on a chunk of rubble and resting my rifle against the wall. He removed his helmet and tossed it back into his saddlebags, and gave me a friendly smile.

“Nice shootin’, I counted at least six headshots.”

“Thanks,” I said with a smug grin. “Good to see some of that research and target practice payed off.”

He prodded one of the corpses near the stairs and looked at Token, “An’ these ain’t too bad either Blue.”

“Whatever,” she said sadly. “I’m gonna go check on those mares downstairs.”

She smiled at me and stepped over the bodies on her way down the stairs.

He looked back at me, “Nice scar by the way.”

I ran my hoof over the left side of my face, the cauterized wound still tender to the touch.

“One of many I’m afraid,” I said with a grimace.

“Shoot ya up good did they?”

I nodded, “Know a good surgeon? One of my lungs collapsed.”

He chuckled and ran an armored hoof through his striped mane, “I’m guessin’ from all the blood in the room that ain’t near these bodies, that collapsed lung is the least of your immediate worries.”

I rolled my eyes, “I dunno, Token poured enough healing potions into me that I should be fine in the blood department.”

“Mmhmm,” he muttered, then he pulled a smooth spike out of his saddlebags and trotted towards me balancing it on an armored hoof, somehow he made walking on three legs look easy.

I groaned, “Is that what I think it is?”

“Yep,” he grunted. “Lay down.”

“Dammit,” I groaned as I laid down on my left side.

He rested the spike on my chest between two of my ribs and tapped the other end with a hoof. I gasped as the sharp pain of the spike entering my damaged lung hit me. He pulled a tube and a small valve-like device out of his bags and connected them to the spike.

“You want some Med-X before I drain it?”

“I’m fine, just do it.”

He shrugged and flipped the switch on the valve, and I watched as pinkish-red blood was sucked through the tube and spilled out the other end of the valve.

“Hold your breath,” he said.

I did so, and he flipped the switch again, I fought the urge to gasp as air started feeding into the lung and it started reflating. Then he poured a healing potion of his own down the tube, flipping the switch off and pulling out the spike once the fluid was done going in.

I took a deep breath, both lungs working properly, if not painfully. I tried to get up but he pressed down on my side gently.

“Take it easy, just sit and rest for a bit.”

“I didn’t think you were a doctor,” I said.

“I ain’t,” he grunted in reply. “Just know some basic field medicine is all.”

“Field surgery,” I corrected.

“Whatever,” he said, gently helping me to my hooves.

“Hey Bandage!” Token called from downstairs.

“Yeah love?” I called back.

“You good to heal some cuts and bruises?”

I sighed, “Yeah, sure.”

Stripe patted me on the back, “I’m gonna go see what I can loot, call me if you need any help.”

***

Gunfire ripped through the post office from all sides, one of the mares Stripe had rescued had died in the initial sneak attack and the other two had armed themselves with the junk rifles of fallen raiders. We were back on the second floor, Stripe was downstairs trying to keep them pinned in cover, but he could only handle one flank at a time.

“SMALL RAIDING PARTY MY ASS!!!” Token bellowed as she blindly fired her assault rifle through a hole in the crumbling wall.

The bounty had fucked us. What was supposed to be a small raiding party of, at the most, 18 ponies had turned out to be a base with 30 raiders defending it, 12 out on patrol, and most recently a much better armed and better organized force of around 40 ponies, that had seemed to swoop in out of nowhere and had kept us pinned down for the last 15 minutes.

A small arrow appeared on my E.F.S and I heard a loud thump as some sort of metal apple landed next to me. Something inside me told me to get the fuck away from that as soon as possible. My legs screamed with agony from the effort of launching myself over a bed and overturning it for cover.

One of the mares with us hadn’t been fast enough. The apple exploded, and a red paste of what used to be a pony was splattered all over the room.

Token landed next to me, loading a fresh clip into her rifle.

“We need a new plan!”

“Wasn’t really a plan babe,” I yelled over the deafening sound of Stripe’s rocket launcher. “More like an ‘oh shit’ moment of desperately hiding until we’re overwhelmed.”

“Stop calling me babe!” she yelled back.

“You started it!”

We turned as we heard the other mare scream, a raider had broken through Stripe’s killing ground and stabbed her in the chest with a makeshift spear. Token opened fire immediately, filling his side with lead.

More thumps and arrows from downstairs and a loud “Oh fuck!” from Stripe.

He bolted up the stairs just in time for the entire bottom floor to be completely destroyed. Then the building started to teeter.

“Ah shit,” he groaned. “Hang on ladies, this is about to get rough.”

The building fell on it’s side, sending us flying across the room like rag dolls, Stripe threw the mattress of the bed over just as the opposite wall collapsed on top of us.

Token and I were trapped under the mattress, rubble pinning us to the ground. I heard someone groan and rubble shift as the friendly bar on my E.F.S started moving. The amount of red bars on my compass was frankly just fucking frightening, and we were completely surrounded.

“All right,” Stripe said in an irritated tone, “which one of you fucks just dropped a building on me?”

A raider buck made an attempt to speak and the sound of a rocket whooshing through the air was followed by a muffled explosion.

“Okay, now that that’s settled, lemme check my armors chem inventory real quick.”

Either the raiders were all smart enough to not try to attack or they were too scared to because not a single pony fired at Stripe, in fact, several of the red bars were moving away.

“Ah, good,” Stripe said cheerfully, “I’ve got a good stock of Stampede in the system, I always like a dose of the crazy juice before I slaughter some motherfuckers.”

There was another long pause, and then the odd sound of laughter rising from Stripe's helmet.

“FUCKERS!!!” Stripe bellowed through his speakers as his minigun and rocket launcher fired in unison.

The raiders were firing back now, I couldn’t see anything, but judging on the fact that red bars were rapidly disappearing, I’m guessing it didn’t end to well for them.

“They’re retreating!” Stripe yelled, the weight of rubble being lifted off of us until finally the mattress was thrown away. “Get up, we gotta move, now!”

He covered us as we galloped towards the houses, making himself the biggest target and forcing the raiders hunkered down behind the post office to stick to cover.

My lungs were on fire and the pain ripping through my legs and shoulders was threatening to drop me at any moment.

We bolted into the nearest house, I scrambled up the stairs and into the attic while Token watched the door.

The attic was a mess, body parts thrown all over the walls, I somehow managed to ignore it and make my way to a hole in the roof. Perfect sniping position. It may have only been a one story house, but considering the post office was now a heap of rubble, I had a great elevation advantage.

The hole in the roof was just big enough for me to have full visibility with my rifle, but was narrow enough to provide good cover.

The raiders were thinned now, Stripe's rampage had done wonders, but there were still a lot of them and they were still organized, and a constant volley of grenades was forcing Stripe to retreat.

I swept my scope over their position, looking for something to give us an advantage, then I found her. An earth pony mare that seemed tall compared to the others, she was standing apart from the rest, barking orders.

"Good night," I whispered as I focused the crosshair on her head and squeezed the trigger.

The raiders didn't dissolve the instant their leader dropped, but they were quickly becoming less organized.

Then they started to falter, a few ran, others broke cover and charged. I dropped the runners with my rifle, S.A.T.S guided shots careening through their skull, and Stripe made short work of the ones foolish enough to charge him.

We were done, every last raider was dead, and I felt good, mentally of course, physically I felt like I’d been fed through a woodchipper.

Then I blacked out.

***

I awoke on a comfy bed, somepony was holding me closely and stroking my mane. I took a deep breath, my ribs were still sore, but I didn’t feel cracked bones shifting so I didn’t complain.

“You up?” Token asked.

“Mmhmm,” I mumbled.

When I opened my eyes I was surprised to find that we were in an incredibly clean room, clean by wasteland standards anyway. Random medical equipment scattered around the place told me we were in the town’s clinic.

“Good,” she said, nuzzling my cheek softly. “Dirge said you’d be out for a week.”

“How long was I out?”

“Only a day or so.”

Then the important question popped into my head, “How much did the medical care cost?”

“Sunshine convinced Dirge to fix you up free of charge, considering the shit we went through.”

“That’s good.”

“We got a bonus by the way. 1500 more caps.”

“How’d we manage to pull that off?”

“Stripe showed Dirge some footage from his helmet-cam that proved we fought an ass-load more raiders than what the bounty had said there’d be.”

“He’s sort of a sweetheart for a psychotic zony,” I said with a chuckle.

“Yeah,” she giggled. “He wanted to talk to you when you woke up, so did Dirge.”

“All right,” I said, rolling off the bed and landing on my hooves. “Let’s go see them.”

“You sure you’re okay?” The concerned expression on her face struck me as utterly adorable.

“I’m fine babe,” I said with a wry grin.

She just shot a glare at me, which was even more adorable.

I blew on her ear a bit as we trotted out the door, she giggled again and kissed me on the cheek.

Stripe trotted up to us as we stepped out into the street, Shaky was following him, looking nervous as ever and carrying a package on her back.

“You look pretty good for a mare who got the shit shot outta her a day ago,” he said with a grin.

“Apparently Mr. Dirge does good work,” I said, grinning back at him.

Shaky approached me and set the package on the ground in front of her, “F-fixed this up f-for you ma’am, as a th-thank you.”

“What is it?”

Stripe snorted, “Open it up and look dumbass.”

It was barding, reinforced black leather with a sheath housing my new knife attached to the chest and the 80 from my jumpsuit stitched on the flank.

“Oh! Thank you dear.”

“N-no problem, Mr. Stripe s-said you n-n-needed some new b-barding.”

“I added the 80,” Stripe said. “I know the importance of flyin’ your colors.”

I slipped into it, it fit well, and was somewhat more comfortable than my jump-suit surprisingly.

“You made this?” I asked.

“N-not all of it,” Shaky replied, “b-but I reinforced it a b-bit and sewed in the sh-sheath.”

I turned in a quick circle and smiled at Token. “How do I look?”

“Ravishing love,” Token grinned.

“What’s this made out of anyway?”

“Radigator leather,” Stripe said with a grunt. “Lightweight, sturdy, easy to repair, and it should stop most kinds of rounds.”

“Ah, just the mares I wanted to see,” the gravely voice of a buck called out.

I turned to see a ghoul unicorn with a rather somber expression.

“Mr. Dirge?”

“Just Dirge miss,” he said, waving me over. “Please, step into my office, there are things we need to discuss.”

We entered the office building and had a short chat with Sunshine, then followed Dirge up the stairs into his office. He offered us chairs, Token stayed standing and I slouched comfortably into the old padded chair from the other side of the room.

He eased himself back into a similar padded chair behind a desk with a terminal. A rusted nameplate sat next to the terminal, ‘Dirge’ carved over the illegible name of the former mayor.

“You two,” he began, “can get a considerable amount of work done when you put your minds to it.”

“It was nothing,” I said with a shrug.

“Bullshit. Two mares with almost no combat experience holding off a small army of raiders isn’t nothing. Frankly, it’s a bloody miracle.”

“It wasn’t too difficult, front was an open street with very little cover, rear flank was an easily defended staircase. We were fighting an unorganized enemy that was poorly supplied, any pony with rifle could easily succeed in that situation.” I really wanted to know where I picked up all this tactical military talk.

“True, but most ponies would give up after having the ever-living shit shot out of them. The fact that you survived that is also a miracle. I did the surgery, and I saw the footage from your Walker friend’s helmet. You shouldn’t have been able to stand, let alone fight off that many raiders.”

I shrugged again. “Just lucky I guess.”

“I don’t believe in luck madam. I believe in raw talent and determination, and from what I’ve seen, you’ve got plenty of both.”

He levitated a large sack of caps onto my lap, “Courtesy of the Union, apparently that leader you killed was on their shit list.”

“How much is this?” Token asked.

“500 caps. Add that to the 500 from the job and the 1500 cap bonus and you two made off like bandits.”

“Thanks,” I said, passing the sack to Token. “So, what else did you want to talk about?”

“Get the fuck out,” he said bluntly. “And I say that as gratefully as possible.”

I blinked a few times. “Excuse me?”

“Get. The fuck. Out.”

“Why?”

He rested his elbows on his desk and massaged his temples with his hooves. “You’re bad for business. This town thrives on bounty commission, and you’re taking all the bounties.”

“I don’t understand.”

He let out an aggravated sigh. “We get paid for posting bounties, you’re taking all the bounties, ponies no longer come here to accept bounties because you take them all, ponies with bounties post them elsewhere, we lose money. I appreciate what you’ve done, but you need to leave. Stay the night if you want, you’ve already got the shack for the night, but I want you gone by tomorrow.”

I nodded and got up to walk out.

“Oh,” he said, “if you’re up in Union territory looking for work, ask for Major Berry, I sent her a few e-mails about you and she said she’d be happy to give you a few jobs.”

I cocked an eyebrow, “Who’s Major Berry?”

“A mare from within my organization that also appreciates talent and determination.”

“Hmm,” I mumbled, “I’ll keep that in mind Dirge, thanks.”

When we were out Token nudged me, “What did he mean by his ‘organization’?” she whispered.

“Fuck if I know,” I replied. “I don’t really care if she offers good work.”

***

I spent most of that night doing basic maintenance on our weapons and organizing our supplies. Token was in bed, reading Guns and Bullets.

Stripe was laying down in the corner, a sleeping Shaky curled up next to him. He'd tried setting her in the bed a few times, but she would wake up after a few minutes and sleepily walk to him.

She looked much better now, all the cuts had healed nicely and somepony had taken the time to wash her.

She stirred a bit, whimpering softly and shuddering. Stripe gently pressed a hoof between her shoulder blades and massaged her back until she dozed off again.

"Poor kid," he whispered. "She's gonna have nightmares for years."

"Still planning on bringing her with us?" I asked as I slid the bolt back into my rifle.

Stripe had asked us what our plans were, and when we explained he offered to join us, saying his plans were similar.

"Don't have much other choice. She's too freaked out around the other ponies to stay here."

"You seem to be taking care of her pretty well."

"Yeah," he chuckled. "It's just cause I like kids."

"Odd, I don't really see you as the fatherly type."

He chuckled again, "I ain't, I just like kids. They're the only ones out here that aren't completely fucked up."

"How do you mean?"

"Adults are worried about themselves, and they'll kill to get what they want or what they need. Kids don't worry about most things, and they're not constantly trying to fuck ponies to get ahead."

"They're innocent?" Token asked.

He nodded, "Yeah, innocent sounds like a good way to describe it."

“You should come to bed Bandage, it’s getting late and we need to head out early.”

I yawned. “I still need to clean your assault rifle.”

She trotted up behind me and wrapped a foreleg around my neck.

“You can do that tomorrow, come get some rest.”

“I’m fine,” I yawned.

She started kissing up my neck and pressed her mouth to my ear.

“Come to bed,” she whispered.

“O-okay,” I stammered, feeling myself blush.

“If you two are gonna fuck I can just take the kid and go sleep outside,” Stripe said in a rather loud tone.

Token laughed, “Don’t worry about it, just coaxing her to go to bed is all.”

I nodded tiredly and she dragged me into the bed, snuggling up against me and stroking my mane until I fell asleep.

Footnote: Level up!

New perk: Boom, headshot! (1): Spread is reduced by 10% when using scoped firearms.

Skill note: Guns (35)

Repair (20)

Don’t say cunt, just don’t do it, it’ll end baaad, like hot knife through the skull bad. Yet again, thanks to my dynamic editing duo, and thank you for reading. Input is more than welcome, please launch me emails.
Oh yeah, check out all these other FoE side stories that are a thousand times better than mine!
FO:E Side Stories Compilation Doc

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

We hit the road early the next morning, Shaky had to be prodded a bit to be woken up, and hushed for several minutes before she stopped screaming.

We were several miles passed the trading outpost when Stripe stopped abruptly.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“My spell matrix just crashed.” he said, his voice muffled by his helmet.

“Meaning?”

“This shitty salvaged armor just crapped out on me.”

I trotted up to him and pulled his helmet off.

“Is that bad?”

“Really bad,” he said with a touch of worry. “I might be stuck in this tin can for a bit.”

“Y-you could just reb-boot the m-matrix with that P-p-pipBuck,” Shaky pointed out.

“Nah, that ain’t gonna work. On some of the better maintained gear maybe, but this suit’s been put through the wringer a few too many times to be rebooted.”

“So, what do we do?” Token asked.

“Just start gettin’ me out of the thing I guess, if you can get the back plates loosened it’ll make this a shit load easier.”

We spent the next hour pulling the armor off of Stripe, following his instructions to the best of our abilities. When all of it was off he just shucked the disassembled armor into a roadside ditch and hefted his weapons awkwardly onto his back.

“Well, that fuckin’ sucks. That armor was fuckin’ expensive.”

“Your weapons don’t seem like they’ll be much good without power armor,” Token said.

“Nah,” he said with a dismissive hoof wave. “I can pick up some parts for a battle saddle when we get up into Union territory.”

“And what are you going to do if we get attacked?”

“Simple,” he said with a smirk, “beat ‘em to death.”

“Lovely,” Token said dryly, “now he beats ponies to death instead of blasting them to pieces.”

He grinned and smoothed back his striped mane with a hoof, “Oh yeah, Stripe is a zony of many talents.”

Then a massive boom cracked out above us. Token and I ducked down and covered our heads, expecting grenades and rockets. After about a minute I peeked out, Stripe and Shaky were looking at us like we were crazy.

“The fuck’s up with you?” he asked.

“What in the name of Luna was that?!”

“Uhh, thunder.”

“What’s thunder?!”

He just looked at me flatly, “Yer shittin’ me?”

I shook my head, still feeling terrified.

“Stable ponies is fuckin’ stupid,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Thunder, is a loud rumbling or crashing noise heard after a lightning flash due to the expansion of rapidly heated air.”

“What’s lightning?” Token asked.

He sighed, “Lightning is the occurrence of a natural electrical discharge of a very short duration and high voltage between a cloud and the ground or within a cloud, accompanied by a bright flash and typically followed by thunder.”

“And in Trottingham,” he continued, “those things usually signal rain. Please tell me you know what rain is?”

“Falling water right?” I asked.

“Very good!” he said, clapping his hooves. “Ya’ll really need to read a fuckin’ book sometime, they’re usually filled with this great shit called knowledge. That shit’s fuckin’ useful lemme tell ya.”

Then it started raining, no, pouring. An almost instantaneous storm swept over us.

“And this,” Stripe said, waving a striped foreleg through the air, “is rain!”

I stood there, staring at him blankly with ‘shut the fuck up’ ringing through my thoughts. He snorted and continued trotting down the road.

“We just got schooled on basic science by a zony who hasn’t got the slightest clue of proper Equestrian grammar,” Token whispered.

“Eeya,” I said, doing my best Stripe imitation.

“Madam!” he yelled back at us, “I am quite capable of speaking the Equestrian language properly. I choose to speak the way that I do, I am not forced by some blunt stupidity driven into me at a young age!”

We just stared, flabbergasted. Then he looked back at with a wide grin, “Just fuckin’ with ya.”

***

It had been hours and the rain still hadn't let up. We'd eventually found an abandoned shack on the side of the road and taken cover inside. Stripe had curled up with his weapons in a far corner, Token and I were snuggled up next to each other, and Shaky was sitting just outside the doorway, washing herself for the fifth time since we'd arrived.

"I'm going to go check on her," I whispered.

Token nodded and I trotted outside next to Shaky.

"What's up Shaky?"

"Nothing," she replied absently, "j-just having a wash."

I hadn't noticed until now that she was mostly scrubbing between her back legs.

"Is something wrong?"

"Nope."

"Why all the washing today?"

She sighed and hung her head, "You'll think it's st-stupid."

"No I won't," I said, knowing that this was somehow connected to the rape.

She started shaking, I guessed she was crying too, but the rain made it hard to tell.

"I f-feel dirty, all the t-time." She choked back a sob and I rested a hoof on her shoulder.

"I wash all the t-time and I c-can't get the d-d-damn filth off."

I was starting to cry too, I tried holding her but she jerked away and glared at me.

"S-stop f-f-fucking touching me!" she snapped.

I recoiled, "S-sorry." I stammered.

"N-now you're fucking m-making fun of me!?" she screamed, the tears rolling out were visible now, even through the rain.

I was too stunned for words now, I just stood in the rain, the grey filly glaring at me with furious golden eyes.

"Shaky." Stripe said from behind.

"What!?" she screamed at him.

"Why don't you head inside kid?" he said, in the same soft voice as when they'd met. "It's pretty cold out, don't want you gettin’ sick."

She glared at him, then sobbed and sunk her head. "S-sorry," she said quietly.

"S'alright, head on in and get some rest."

"Okay." She sobbed again and trotted into the shack.

"Did you hear all that?" I asked.

"Eeya," he grunted in reply.

"I wasn't making fun of her, I was just-"

"Shocked?"

"Yeah."

He nodded and stood up on his hind legs, then leaned against the shack with his front legs folded.

"Yeah," he said after a while of looking at the road, "that's the expected response when a filly starts cussin' ya out."

I tried to mimic his posture, but only managed to fall backwards.

Stripe chuckled, “Ain’t as easy as it looks eh?”

“How in Luna’s name do you do that?”

He shrugged, which looked completely wrong in that bipedal stance, “Come’s with bein’ part zebra I guess, Dad used to walk around like this.”

“That’s really weird.”

He shrugged again. It was a harmless gesture, but for some reason I felt like he sensed I was dodging the subject at hoof.

“She told me she feels dirty. That’s why she keeps washing herself.”

He sighed, “Yeah, most rape victims do.”

I just sat on my haunches and tapped my hooves together nervously. After a few minutes of silence I asked what had been on my mind since she had yelled at me.

“What can we do?”

“Hmm?” he mumbled, he’d obviously lost focus after I stopped talking.

“To help her, what can we do?”

“Best thing we can do is be supportive when she needs us to be and give her space when she needs it.”

“Seems like we should be showering her with love and affection, not leaving her in a corner to mope.”

He chuckled, “Yeah, maybe when a foal scrapes a knee that’s the right response, but rape’s a whole ‘nother animal. Most folks just shut themselves away after shit like what happened to her. Shaky’s a tough kid though, she’ll get over it eventually.”

“You make it sound like no big deal.”

“Bullshit, I ain’t sayin’ it wasn’t terrible what happened, and that eventually is gonna be a damn long one, but she will get over it.”

I thought about that for a while, quietly sitting in the rain.

“Damn,” Stripe said, breaking the silence, “I could really use a cigar. You want a cigar?”

“I don’t smoke.”

“Why?”

“It’s bad for you.”

He scoffed. “It’s the wasteland, ya gotta have a bad habit, otherwise ya go crazy.”

I laughed at the thought. “You are crazy!”

“Crazier then,” he chuckled.

I giggled a bit and grinned up at him, “Fine, I’ll have a cigar.”

“That’s the spirit!” he said, easing back onto all fours and trotting inside.

Token stepped out into the rain and brushed against my side.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey.”

“You want to come inside? You’re getting wet.”

“I’m fine, Stripe and I are going to have a smoke.”

“You don’t smoke babe.”

“Have to start killing myself sometime right?” I asked. “And stop calling me babe.”

“Never!” she exclaimed, grinning.

“Seriously,” I said, grinning back, “stop.”

“But baaabe!” she whined.

I tackled her, and we both giggled like fillies as we rolled around in the mud. When we finally stopped, I stood over her with my hooves pressed against her chest to pin her, Token may have been in Security, but I was definitely the more athletic one.

“Now,” I said, still grinning, “what are you going to stop calling me?”

She stared at me for awhile and smiled, “You look cute when you’re all muddy.”

My grin turned into a sheepish smile and I felt my face going red, then Token kissed me. We stayed there like that for what seemed like several minutes, kissing each other and giggling.

“Now slide her barding off.” Stripe said from the shack.

I blushed and looked up at him bipedally leaning against the shack with that stupidly smug grin slapped on his face, two lit cigars in his mouth.

“You’re a mood killer,” I said dryly, “you know that, right?”

“Porn killer more like it,” he said with a chuckle, “shoulda kept my mouth shut, things was ‘bout to get interesting.”

“No it wasn’t, you pervert.” I said, forcing myself to stifle a grin.

“Bullshit, I can smell it, you two is revved like a couple Stable 69 whores after some moondust.”

“You’re a sick bastard.”

He shrugged, “In my defense, I grew up around pirates the first 10 years of my life and in a town based around a brothel for 8 years after that.”

“Your upbringing doesn’t change the fact that you’re a perv.”

He rolled his eyes, “You two was about to get hot an’ heavy before I waltzed out here, Celestia strike me a mare if I’m wrong!” He looked up, waiting expectantly.

“Well shit,” he said, sounding disappointed, “an’ here I was hopin’ old Celly would do it so I could join in the fun.” Then he gasped dramatically, “But that would mean... I was right! And ya’ll was about to fuck out here in front of the Goddesses and everyone!”

I rolled my eyes and helped Token to her hooves, then trotted up and snagged one from his mouth with my magic. I inhaled a short puff, and immediately started coughing uncontrollably. The smoke was terrible, like sucking on an ashtray. Token took the cigar and took a short drag, then blew the smoke in my face.

“Bitch!” I exclaimed, still coughing.

“Don’t be such a baby.” she said, poking me in the chest.

Stripe took a long drag and blew the smoke from his nostrils with a satisfied exhale.

“C-can I have one?” Shaky asked.

I whipped my head around, startled, she’d snuck into the doorway while I was having my coughing fit.

Stripe looked down at her with an eyebrow cocked, then shrugged and nodded for Token to give her the cigar.

Shaky popped it into her mouth eagerly and took a surprisingly long drag, then blew a large smoke ring out. She took another, shorter drag, and blew a smaller smoke ring through the large one.

“Impressive,” Stripe said.

“Thanks,” she replied, passing the cigar back to me.

I tried taking another puff, it was easier than the first but still had me choking.

Token snatched the cigar, “Here, let me help.”

She took a long drag off the cigar and grabbed either side of my head and pressed her lips to mine, then she blew the smoke into my mouth as I gasped in surprise. It went down smoothly, and felt pleasant as it filled my lungs. Token pulled away and smiled.

“Now, exhale.”

I exhaled slowly, blowing the smoke into her face and grinning, “Cool trick.”

“You’d be surprised what you pick up on the Security force,” she said with a wink.

We sat in the shack the rest of the night around an oil drum fire. I was resting against Token watching Shaky and Stripe across from us, taking turns with a cigar as they played a game on who could break the other’s smoke ring with a ring of their own.

Shaky poked fun at him when she won, we all laughed when he pouted about it and muttered something about beginner's luck. We laughed harder when she said “Bollocks! I’ve b-been p-p-playing this g-game for 3 years!” Stripe chuckled and tousled her mane.

I sat awake for a few hours after things died down, watching my E.F.S, listening to the rain hit the roof of the metal shack, and feeling Token’s chest expand as she breathed slowly in her sleep. It felt right, as fucked up as that seemed, laying next to her in a rusted abandoned shack in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

This was our life now, it was superbly shitty when things were bad, it was superbly amazing when things were good. The good times actually seemed better now that the shitty was thrown in there.

I finally drifted off at midnight, but sleep wasn’t restful. I kept seeing the face of every raider I’d killed through that rifle scope, one at a time, then their heads disappearing in a bloody mist. The worst part of it is that I didn’t feel I damn thing, not a single shred of remorse. I didn’t even feel terrible for not feeling terrible.

It had happened, the thing I’d dreaded, callousness, in one fucking battle I’d become numb to the deaths of my fellow ponies. It didn’t matter how fucked up they were, they were still ponies, and I still murdered them. One at a time, cold and calculating, the only hesitation I had before pulling the trigger was when I lined up another shot.

It didn’t matter. It wasn’t like I was meant to be some hero that shone as a paradigm of justice. My long term plans included being a traveller that makes a living as a part time mercenary, not going around Trottingham actively working to save ponies.

***

I woke up the next morning with a runny nose and stuffed sinuses. I'd expected to get sick outside, my stable sheltered life left my immune system in a pitiful state, and playing in the mud and rain probably didn't help.

Nopony was awake yet, except for Shaky who was sitting outside washing in the rain again. I ran my hoof through Token's mane, she had a slight fever and her nose was runny like mine.

I kissed her on the forehead, rewarded with a sleepy, congested yawn and a small snort as she curled into a ball. Then I trotted outside and sat down near Shaky.

"Hey," she said quietly.

"Hey."

We sat there for a few minutes, watching the road.

"It was a m-mare," she said after awhile.

"What?"

"It w-was a mare, th-that raped me."

I just sat there silently, thinking of something to say. There really wasn't anything I could say to make it any better, I was just trying to decide whether or not to talk about it.

"Wanna talk about it?" I asked finally. "It's okay if you don't, I understand."

She lowered her gaze and nodded, “Sure.”

She took a few deep breathes before looking up at me, “It w-was their leader, she l-let me choose who would d-d-do it, her or her crew. I p-p-picked her ‘cause I f-figured it would h-hurt less.”

She sunk her head and started sobbing, “She m-made me do b-bad things to her, and she p-p-put things inside me and kept c-cutting me with her knife!”

She was bawling and trembling uncontrollably now, I wanted to hold her but I didn’t want a repeat of the day before.

“My mommy made m-me hide when they c-came. I h-had to listen t-to them killing everypony. All m-my friends, my p-p-parents, they tortured everypony in Shanty b-but me and I had to listen to it!” she paused, gasping to get breath before continuing, “I wish they would’ve just k-killed me. N-now I have to remember that shit every f-fucking night.”

“Shaky, there is nothing I can say to make you feel better, but you shouldn’t think like that.”

She glared up at me, tears streaming down her face, “Do y-you know what it’s like h-having to relive being raped and listening t-to everyone you l-love die every night?”

“I-”

“DO YOU?!” she screamed.

“No.”

She sunk her head back down, “Then d-don’t tell me how I should f-fucking think.”

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked to you about it.”

“It’s f-fine,” she said, wiping her nose with foreleg, “you were j-just trying to h-help.”

She trotted towards me and pressed her face into my chest, I wrapped her in a hug and held her close, “You okay?” I whispered.

“Yeah, I’m f-fine.”

“If you ever need to talk, I’m here.”

“Thanks. For t-talking with me I mean. Not many p-p-ponies would do that."

"Any time sweetie, I hope it helps."

"It does, it hurts to t-talk about, b-but it feels good too. Know what I m-m-mean?"

I nodded and squeezed her tighter. We stayed there like that for a while, me hugging her tightly while she cried softly into my chest.

She squirmed a bit and pushed away, then wiped the tears from her eyes and trotted inside. "Thanks B-bandage." she muttered.

I didn't go back inside, I probably should have, the cold rain was probably only making me sicker. I just watched the road, occasionally sniffing fresh snot back into my nose. After a half hour I heard a satisfied groan and popping joints from inside, sure signs that Token was awake. She trotted out sleepily and kissed my cheek.

"You got the sniffles too babe?" she asked.

"Yeah, probably shouldn't be sitting out here."

"Shaky was crying." she whispered.

"She and I had a talk, I think it did her some good, but I'm not sure."

"You should come inside babe, don't need you getting sicker."

"Sure," I mumbled, "and I thought we established that you're not to call me that anymore."

She smiled slyly and winked at me, "You love it."

"I really do," I said, nuzzling her cheek.

Shaky was curled up next to a sleeping Stripe, whimpering softly. He opened a tired, emerald eye halfway and peered at us as we walked in. He blinked a couple times and wrapped a foreleg around Shaky, then pulled her close. She buried her face in his shoulder and he closed his eyes again, occasionally patting her back.

"That's adorable," Token whispered to me.

I nodded and sunk down into the spot I'd slept the night before. Token snuggled in next to me and rested her head against me.

"So," Stripe said, "what's the plan boss lady?"

I blinked, "Who, me?"

"Nah, Shaky," he said sarcastically. "Yeah, you dumbass, who the fuck you think?"

"I'm not sure, what do you think we should do?"

"Seein' as you two is sick, I'd say we should hunker down here until the rain lets up. But if yer on a schedule that might not be the best idea, Trottingham rain can last a couple days."

"I'm fine with waiting, what about you love?"

"Whatever you want to do babe," she said with a yawn. "Give me a chance to catch up on some much needed beauty sleep."

"Bollocks," I said, nudging her with my shoulder, "you're gorgeous."

"Can we spare the lubby talk please?" Stripe said in an agitated tone, "You two are givin' me the urge to go out an' kill somethin', an' it ain't even noon."

I stuck out my tongue at him and nuzzled Token affectionately, she rested her head on my forelegs and fell asleep after a bit.

After Shaky had calmed down, and eventually fallen asleep, Stripe went outside and restlessly paced in the rain. He'd burned through several cigars, swearing angrily when he ran out. I was going to talk to him, but I could see he was feeling antisocial, not to mention I was mentally exhausted from talking with Shaky. Instead I rested my head on Token and went to sleep.

***

I was woken up a few hours later by a loud noise outside, Token and Shaky were still asleep, Stripe was no longer in sight. I got up to peek outside, magically grabbing my rifle. It was Stripe, carrying a large dead animal on his back like it was nothing. The beast was hairy, and brownish, with large teeth. Its skull was crushed, defined hoof prints on the top of the head.

"You killed that?"

"Eeya," he grunted.

"With your hooves?!"

"Eeya."

"Why'd you bring it back here?"

"For dinner."

I blinked, confused, "What?"

He looked at me quizzically and spoke slowly. "I plan to cook, and eat, this animal."

"You eat meat?!"

"Eeya, it's high protein, an' it tastes good, an' bacon's the shit."

"That's abhorrent!"

"Why? Not like it's bad for ya."

"But, that's sick, we're made out of meat!"

"So what?"

"It just seems... Wrong."

"Then don't eat it, leaves more for me."

"You can't possibly think you'll be able to eat all that."

He shifted his weight and let the beast fall off his back, "You wanna bet? I'ma borrow that knife by the way, need somethin' sharp to get this big fucker skinned."

I magicked my combat knife out of its sheath and passed it to him, he bit down on the handle and stabbed it into the beast, then started cutting the flesh off the muscle.

"I'm disgusted," I muttered, "and yet, I can't look away."

He snickered around the handle.

"Want any help?"

He stabbed the knife into the meat and left it there. "Yeah, sure. There's a sharpened lawn mower blade in my saddlebags, be a lot better for hackin' away at the bigger chunks."

"Dammit, I was hoping you'd say no..."

He rolled his eyes and pulled the knife back out, then continued removing the skin.

I went inside and searched through his bags, sifting through several blocks with strange symbols on them and a near ridiculous amount of wiring. Finally I came upon a crude weapon made from a sharpened lawn mower blade, the handle was simply duct tape that had been wrapped around a section of the blade.

Stripe had the creature skinned and decapitated by the time I trotted back out, and had laid the severed head and skin into another fire he had created seemingly from nowhere

He spat my knife at me and bit the mower blade out of the air, then began hacking off massive chunks of meat. He tossed each one to me, and my PipBuck identified it as radhog meat.

"What should I do with these?"

He chucked the rest of the remains onto the fire, then trotted to the shack and tore one of the less rusty sheets of metal off it. He dug a new pit, then piled in scrap wood from a nearby dead tree (there were several near the shack, a few were alive but the apples they bore were small and bitter) then he did something that no pony, or even a zony should be able to do.

He smacked his hooves together over the wood, a small burst of fire shooting onto it from in between them.

"WHAT, THE, FUCK?!" I screamed.

"What?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Don't fucking 'what' me Stripe! You just fucking conjured fire!"

"Well no shit, how else am I s'posed to start a fire?"

"Stop acting like it's normal for a pony to make fire like that! Because it's not!"

"Well duh, I had to pay a zebra shaman like 10 grand to be able to do this."

At my puzzled look, he lifted a hoof up, on the bottom was a glowing red symbol that had been carved into it.

"Magically altered zebra rune," he explained, "means fire. Not much good as a weapon, but I can light shit with it."

"How?"

"Special zebra magic, I use the same kind to make timed charges on my plastic explosives."

"You mean those blocks in your bags are-"

"Eeya, bombs."

"You walk into massive torrents of gunfire with bombs in your saddlebags?!"

“It’s a stable explosive, but yeah, basically.”

He scooped the chops onto the sheet of metal, then set the sheet on the fire. He sat there watching it, occasionally flipping the meat with his mower blade, raindrops hissed as they impacted the heated metal sheet.

"You're the weirdest pony I've ever met."

"How so?" he asked, never looking away from the meat.

"You're a mass murdering, carnivorous, half-zebra, that walks around with high explosives practically strapped to you, and can also make fire appear from nowhere with his hooves!" I exclaimed.

He shrugged, "Carry this sheet inside with yer magic will ya?"

I nodded and magicked it inside, setting it on the oil drum that no longer held flame.

Stripe trotted to Shaky and nudged her gently, she lifted her head and blinked sleepily.

"Wake up kid, dinner time."

She sniffed a bit and rubbed her eyes, "W-what did you make?"

"Pork chops. Want some?"

She smiled, still looking tired, and nodded.

He went to his bags and fished out a couple surprisingly clean plates, setting one down in front of her and the other near his spot, scooping half a chop onto hers and two onto his own.

"Sure you don't want any Bandage?" he asked through a mouthful of pork.

He'd already eaten a whole chop, and Shaky was greedily chowing down on her own. It was tempting, but old instincts told me not to partake.

"I'm fine," I said, "thank you though."

He shrugged and tore his other chop in half with his teeth.

I laid down next to Token and felt her head, she was slightly warmer than before, not enough to be worried about though.

"Poor thing, I hate seeing her sick."

"S'just a cold," Stripe said, "You two'll be over it in a couple days."

"I hope so," I said as I stroked her mane gently.

"So how long have you two been, uh..." he tapped his hooves together and raised his eyebrows for emphasis.

"Oh, we haven't uh, done that yet."

"Ah, well how long you been together?"

"I dunno, about a week I think?"

He cocked an eyebrow, "Damn, figured you two was a couple when you was in yer stable."

"No, our stable didn't allow homosexual relationships, I didn't even realize I liked mares until we were out, neither did she."

"So... No lesbians in yer stable?"

"No, none that are open anyway."

He shuddered. "The horror!" he said dramatically, covering his eyes with a hoof.

I smirked, "Oh yes, it was quite terrible. The mares would walk through the halls each day with nopony to lick them in provocative places."

"That ain't no way to live," he said, shaking his head sadly. "Speakin' of gettin' laid, I think our first stop needs to be Tragedy."

"Right, what's Tragedy, where is it, and why should we stop there?"

"It's basically a town built around a respectable brothel, its on the road north, an' my friend Razor might have some work for us. Plus, I got some unfinished business there."

My PipBuck let out a small beep, I checked the map and to the north there was a marker listed as Tragedy. It was almost directly on the route to our destination.

"All right, we'll head there."

"Thanks Bandage, been meaning to talk with Razor since I got back."

“Right, any idea when this rain is going to let up?”

“Nope, shouldn’t be more than a couple days though, it ain’t like Hoofington where it rains every other Goddess damned day and don’t quit for a fuckin’ week.”

“No offense, but your home seems like the shittiest place to live ever.”

“None taken, an’ it ain’t my home.”

“Where is your home?”

He shrugged, “S’pose the closest thing I got to a home would be Port on the southern coast, that’s where the Walkers is based out of, but technically speaking I ain’t got a home.”

“Dirge mentioned something about the Walkers, who are they exactly?”

He grinned, “Sea Walkers is the full name, an’ you’re lookin’ at a member in good standing, we’re pirates mostly, mercenaries and wanderers too.”

“What exactly do you do?”

“Me, I walk around an’ shoot shit. Momma and Ziggy do a lot of sailing, never was my thing though, not a good swimmer an’ I get motion sick pretty easy.”

“You g-guys are b-b-boring,” Shaky said.

Stripe stuck his tongue out at her and she took a swing at him, he ducked his head back easily and grinned.

“You’re gonna have to do better than that to hit me kid,” he said with a wide grin, “an’ I think ya need to be punished for takin’ a swing at me.”

Shaky’s ears laid back and she cringed a bit, “W-what?”

“TICKLE MONSTER!!!” he shouted.

Shaky fake screamed and started running around the shack giggling, Stripe chased her, laughing like a mad pony. Token stirred awake next to me and looked bewildered.

“What the hell is going on?” she asked.

“Stripe is punishing Shaky for trying to hit him.”

“Adorable,” she mumbled, “who’s side are we on?”

“Hmm,” I said, scratching my chin, “I’d say Shaky’s, us fillies have to stick together.”

She nodded and then tackled Stripe from his side, and by tackled I mean latched a hold of him and held on for dear life. I jumped on top of him too, he was a lot stronger than he seemed, he never even slowed down with the two of us on him. Eventually we were able to trip him, Shaky ran up and hopped onto his head.

“We g-got him!” she beamed.

“Nope!” he said.

He stood up easily, shook Token and I off, and then began relentlessly tickling Shaky until her eyes teared up from laughter.

“Who won?” he yelled, still tickling her.

“Y-you!” she screamed, still laughing.

“What was that?”

“You won!”

He stopped and collapsed down next to her with a grin, “Damn right I did.”

“Y-you cheated,” she giggled.

He poked her in the ribs, rewarded with a squeal, “Nuh-uh, ain’t ever cheated in my life.”

It had been a good day, but once again, night just sucked for me.

I barely slept, and when I did I had an oddly vivid dream of raiders tearing through my stable murdering everypony. I woke up sweating several times, my heart beating quickly, and tried to convince myself it was just a fever dream. Later I had a dream of Token being raped and torn apart and woke up screaming.

Token held me and rocked me gently, trying to comfort me, but it didn’t help. I didn’t sleep the rest of that night or the night after that, we were still in the shack.

Stripe played with Shaky more the next day, she was in a much better mood, and she only washed 3 times instead of 5. She was also warming up to Token and I, having conversations about normal things instead of rape.

The rain finally stopped the day after, we hit the road a few hours later.

***

Stripe and I were walking ahead of Token and Shaky, far enough to be out of earshot so I could start asking questions.

“Hey Stripe,” I asked, “You ever have dreams?”

“Eeya,” he grunted, “don’t everyone?”

I shook my head, “I mean like, weird dreams, nightmares but really, really fucked up ones.”

“Death an’ torture an’ shit like that?”

“Yeah.”

He nodded, “Yeah, long time ago I used to, why do ya ask?”

“I haven’t been sleeping very well the last few nights.”

“I noticed, ya screamed like someone sawed yer horn off the other night.”

“Why do you think that is?”

He shrugged, “Maybe you’re psyche is still feelin’ the effects of the last couple weeks. Seeing a village torn up like that can do shit to ya.”

“Will they ever stop?”

“Yeah, unless you have a soft spot for blood thirsty rapists that is. Soldiers in the old days used to have nightmares like that, nopony in Equestria had ever seen war like that before. Some of ‘em just got used to it, some couldn’t handle it an’ needed extensive therapy an’ memory removal, some went bat shit fuckin’ crazy an’ learned to love their jobs a little more than is healthy.”

“Like you?”

He shrugged, “I enjoy killing ponies that deserve it, when you really hit that psycho wall you enjoy killing anything just to see something die. There’s a fine line between enjoying justice and enjoying murder.”

I nodded, contemplating, “You’re pretty smart with this kind of thing.”

He shrugged again, “Momma had books layin’ around about psychological shit, when I got bored I’d read up on ‘em, s’pose it ain’t a bad skill to have.”

"Didn't think you were the reading type."

He chuckled, "Shit, I'd say the opposite. Up until two years ago I had a book slapped on my flank."

"Your cutie mark was a book?"

"Yup. I'm a bit of a bookworm."

"Weird, what happened to it?"

"To what?"

"Your cutie mark."

"Oh, I bought some chemicals off the Enclave and had 'em burn it off."

I blinked, "Why would you do that?"

"Lost a bet with Razor, worked out good though. Nyx thinks it's cute how we match."

"Who's Nyx?"

"A good friend, you'll meet her when we get to Tragedy. Fair warning, she's kinda weird."

"Everything out here is weird, I think I can manage."

He laughed, "You ain't seen nothin' compared to Nyx."

"What, does she have some hideous mutations?"

"I wouldn't say hideous, but mutations is definitely a good descriptor."

"You're friends with a mutant?"

"Don't hate, hell, you're in love with Blue, an' she looks pretty mutated to me."

"Bollocks," I said, punching him in the shoulder, "she's beautiful."

I looked back at her, she really was beautiful. Her brilliant azure coat, her sapphire mane, her deep cobalt eyes. She saw me looking and smiled, I smiled back and felt myself blushing for some reason.

"Eyes forward," Stripe said, his voice had gotten serious.

I looked ahead, there were 5 raiders on the road. Their clothing was strange dark green canvas robes and hoods with tree branches poking out, and their weapons were little more than makeshift, a sharpened shovel, a lawn mower blade, two pool cues and there was an emaciated unicorn with what looked like a firearm made up of duct tape. I started to pull my rifle out of the loop on my saddlebags, but Stripe stopped me.

“Save yer ammo,” he said, shrugging his gear off his back, “I got this.”

I blinked and missed most of it, Stripe was already fighting the raiders 30 meters away, if his hoof prints weren’t embedded in the mud I would have thought he’d teleported to them. In heavy power armor he was quick enough to dodge bullets, out of it he was definitely getting my bet for fastest pony in the world.

He hit the two with the pool cues first, snapping one’s neck with a solid punch to the face, then spinning on his left front leg and rear bucking the other in the chest, the raider’s ribs were practically pulverized, a loud crunch filling the air and his chest caving in unnaturally.

The one with the shovel swung at him next. Stripe ducked it with and gripped the handle in his mouth, then whipped around and decapitated the one with the mower blade, then rear bucked the other in the face, crushing his skull.

The last raider stood there dumbly, tears and snot were streaming down her face, and a puddle of urine was pooling around her back legs. Stripe spat the shovel and turned around to face her.

“Don’t,” he said.

She was shaking, even the weapon wrapped in her magic was trembling.

“I don’t wanna die,” she said, “I don’t wanna die!”

She was a white bar on my compass, so was Stripe, he just stood there glaring, she was sobbing now, the weapon trembling even more.

“Don’t,” he said again, “put down the gun, and walk away.”

She fired, Stripe was peppered with pellets but barely flinched, the raider began to gallop away, screaming at the top of her lungs with terror. Stripe shook himself a bit and pursued, his sprint was comprised of several, meter-long bounds, and ended with him landing on top of her. He wrapped his forelegs around her head and jerked, hard. There was a loud crack, and her back legs flailed one last time before going limp, a white bar fading from my compass.

Stripe trotted back to us, shaking small metal pellets off himself.

“Dammit,” he spat, “told her not to fuckin’ do that. Stupid fuckin’ kid."

"They don't look like the raiders we fought before."

"Not raiders, tribals, probably some yokels that fell on rough times." he said grimly.

"Didn't want to kill that last one." he added.

"You didn't have to," Token said, "you could've just let her run."

He threw his gear onto his back and kept walking, "Yes I did, and no, I couldn't."

Shaky shrugged and plodded through the mud after him.

"Can you c-carry me Stripe?"

He sighed and tossed her onto his back, she climbed up to his neck and pressed her muddy hooves onto the top of his head.

"Oops," she said, "s-sorry."

"Me too." he said with a mischievous grin, then shucked her off his back face first in the mud.

She stood up and shook the mud off herself, then tossed mud in his face.

"They're playing two meters from a pile of corpses," Token whispered, "there's something very wrong with that."

I nodded and splashed mud in her face. She grinned and tackled me into the ditch. Shaky squealed, flew through the air, and joined us in the ditch a moment later. Stripe kept trotting down the road.

"He's a d-dick." Shaky muttered.

I rolled Token under me and pressed her head into the mud, "Yeah." I said.

Stripe veered off the road with his head towards the ground.

"What's up Stripe?" I called.

"Tracks!" he yelled back, "Figure we should cut the head of this thing before it gets outta control."

We caught up to him, shaking the mud off as we went.

"I thought you said they were just ponies that fell on hard times?"

"Eeya, and eventually they’re gonna get hungry enough to start eating each other, and then shit's gonna go south in a hurry."

"That sounds awful. We saw some slavers eat a pony back when we met you."

"Eeya, starts out with cannibalism, then you start getting the yellow eyed crazy fuckers from Hoofington running around eating everything that moves. Fun to shoot at, still fuckin' crazy though."

We walked for an hour before spotting a large cluster of greenish tinted glass domes and rusty shacks perched on a tall hill surrounded by a mostly dead forest. As we got closer my PipBuck beeped, I looked at the map, the new location was Dead Horse Forest.

"Dead Horse Forest," Token said, "how quaint."

Yellow bars started appearing on my compass, and moments later a group ponies with weapons similar to those of the ponies Stripe fought before emerged from the woods. It was mostly sharpened shovels and hoes, but there were a few unicorns with firearms that looked like they'd break after one shot.

"F-freeze!" one said nervously, "Give us your things, or we'll shoot!"

"Please," I scoffed, "half of those weapons don't even have triggers."

"Shit," she muttered, we started trotting closer, our weapons still holstered, she backed up a bit and pointed her weapon at me, "freeze!"

"I'd like to speak to whoever is in charge please."

I stepped closer and she pulled the trigger, the weapon blasted apart in front of her and sent small shards of metal into her face. She fell to the ground, holding her face tightly and sobbing.

"Celery!" another mare cried as she galloped to her fallen companion.

I ran to her as well and the orange mare stood over her friend protectively.

"I'm a medic," I said, "I can help."

She looked at me warily, but nodded and stepped away. I got closer and levitated out some Med-X and a healing potion.

I pulled her hooves away from her face and peered closer, the shrapnel hadn't gone in deep but it still looked nasty.

"I'm going to give you a shot, okay?"

The light green pony nodded and wiped some tears away, the metal had thankfully missed her eyes. I poked the needle gently into her face and pressed down on the plunger, Celery winced a bit but then relaxed.

"Better?" I asked.

She stared at me and nodded.

"Stripe?"

"Eeya?"

"Do you have tweezers?"

He trotted up behind me, "Nope, got some needle nose pliers, will those work?"

"Yeah, those should be fine."

He dug through his bags and pulled out the pliers, I nodded gratefully and grabbed them with my magic.

"You're going to feel a slight pinch." I said to Celery, she nodded.

I started carefully picking out the small bits of metal, she winced each time. When that was finished I had her drink most of a healing potion, then poured the rest on a clean rag and dabbed her tiny wounds with it.

"Thanks," she said when I finished, "but why did you help, we tried to rob you."

"I'm a doctor, I took an oath to help ponies. And honestly I felt sorry for you, that robbery attempt was a little pathetic."

She giggled, "Yeah, it was my first time, I told Carrots she should've done it."

"I wish we didn't have to do it at all," the orange one muttered, "we're farmers dammit."

A few of the bucks came towards us, they didn't looked menacing, but they still had weapons out.

"Leave them alone Borsh, she helped me."

The reddish-purple one with a dark green mane nodded and put his hoe back into its loop on his harness, the rest of the ponies in the clearing followed suit.

"Sorry for the poor welcome ma'am," Carrots said, "we've been short on food and we've had to turn to thievery to get what we need."

"Seems like it hasn't been working to well."

"You've got those greenhouses," Stripe pointed out, "why do you need to steal food."

Borsh snorted, "The damn Vipers tribe's been muscling us out of our crop for six months now, we'd ally with the White-Legs but they don’t trust nobody."

"You've got an easily defendable hill, why not just set up defenses and hold out?"

Celery scoffed, "Mister, we're farmers, we know about crops, we got no idea how to use guns, let alone how to fix the damn things."

"White-Legs have guns right?"

"Eeya, good ones too, and they know how to fix 'em. But they roam, and they’re just as hungry as us."

"So, build defenses here, ally with the White-Legs for their guns and their know how, and you have a place for them to stay, that's a win win."

"Mister, great idea and all, but even if we could somehow turn this place into a fortress, you'd still have to convince the White-Legs, and their chief Salt-Upon-Wounds don't work with nopony."

"Tell ya what, I'll help you fortify this joint and make space for the White-Legs, an' my friends here can go convince Salty."

"We'd have to run that by Birch and No-Bark, they make all the decisions around here."

"Fine, what do ya think Bandage?"

"I'm game," I said, "Token?"

"Sounds great babe." she said.

“You know,” I said to Stripe, “helping a village fortify their home and fight off a tribe of warriors seems like one hell of a detour.”

“Your call Bandage,” he said back, “if you wanna go we can just leave.”

“I don’t disagree with helping them out, I’m just saying. And I thought you didn’t help ponies?”

He snorted, “I’m helping these ponies to avoid an unfortunate situation we see a lot of back home, and because there’s probably gonna be one hell of a dust up before this is all said and done.”

“In it for the fight then?”

He grinned at me and nodded, I could swear I saw a small twinkle in his eyes.

I talked with Celery a bit more as we trotted towards the settlement, known to them as Oasis, the orange mare Carrots was her sister, their tribe was known as the Treeminders, and up until the Vipers had moved into the area, they’d had a relatively peaceful existence. The White-Legs were a tribe of excellent warriors that had come from east of the Divide in pursuit of the Vipers, who had demolished their village in order to gain entry into the Confederacy. Their leader Salt-Upon-Wounds was reportedly bat shit insane, but nopony could ever get a description, because nopony ever lived through a fight with him, all that was known is that he fought with special power hooves, and never used guns.

As we got closer I noticed something strange, this place wasn’t strange, there was grass growing, and the trees were healthy and leafy, and there was sunlight! I looked up and saw that cloud cover ended, shining light down on Oasis and the hills stretching west towards the ocean. On the other side of the hill was a large patch of tilled farmland, where ponies in harnesses were pulling plows and planting seeds.

“This is beautiful,” I muttered, “how?”

“The Enclave don’t have anything out this far, so the clouds are free to do as they please.” Celery said, “It’s a blessing, only time we can’t grow food is in winter.”

Token and I sat for a moment, and stared up at the sky, Celestia’s sun shining down on us with a gentle warmth. She rested her head on my shoulder.

“This is what we wanted to see.” she muttered.

I nodded in agreement and looked down at her, she looked even lovelier in the sunlight. I kissed her on the forehead and she smiled brightly.

“Wooow,” Shaky said with awe, “I’ve n-never gotten to see the sun b-b-before. It’s so pretty!”

Stripe was just looking up with a small smirk on his face, his ear studs glinting, “Eeya, it’s somethin’ ain’t it?”

The simple words of Stripe somehow seemed to do the sight more justice than anything the Stable 80 poet Quill could’ve come up with.

“Let’s go,” Carrots said, “the chiefs’ll wanna talk to ya.”

“Aye,” said a deep voice with a very thick accent, “I believe we would.”

We turned to see a massive earth pony, a good head taller than Stripe, with a deep green, wooly coat, a vibrant orange mane, a long, braided beard, and immensely shaggy shanks. He was wearing a work harness around his neck as more of an accessory than anything, and though he was large, he was still skinny like the rest of his starving tribe. He was smiling down at us warmly, his blue eyes twinkling.

“My name is Birch,” he said, then nodded towards a smaller, much older buck next to him, “and this is my father No-Bark, what brings ya to Oasis?”

“Hello Birch,” I said with as pleasant a smile as I could muster, “my name is Bandage, we’re here to offer you some assistance.”

He laughed heartily, throwing his head back, then smiled back down at me, “You don’t need to be so formal lass, the fact that my daughters let ya in tells me you’re friends to us. What kind of assistance are you lookin’ to offer?”

“Stripe, you want to take over?” I asked.

My zony friend nodded and stepped forward.

“We’re lookin’ to help ya with yer bandit problems,” he said, “fortifications would be the main focus but we’re also hopin’ Bandage an’ Blue here could work out some sorta alliance with the White-Legs to help keep ya defended.”

“You’re kind to offer boyo, what kind of fortifications are we talkin’ here?”

“Well, ya got a lot of dead trees out there, figure we could chop those down, sharpen ‘em into stakes and post ‘em up as a sort of wall, ya got plenty of tools an’ pony-power here to pull it off in under a week.”

The older buck piped up at this, “You’re saying we should desiprocrate the corpses of these trees and change them into a twistified monument for the sake of our own shell fishness?!”

“Father,” Birch said, “calm yourself, this lad makes a good point, those trees are a resource we can use.”

“It’s an abomification!” No-Bark spat. “A blasphemy!”

“Think of it this way,” Stripe interrupted, “Ya’ll worship these trees, don’t ya think they’d be happy if you used their bodies to defend yourselves from ponies that want to wipe ya out?”

“Explain.” the old buck said warily.

“Well, if ya use the living trees to provide food, and they’re happy to lend the help, wouldn’t it make sense t’ think that they’d be okay with you using them for protection?”

No-Bark pondered, twirling his beard with a hoof, and looked Stripe over, “Wise words from a heretic hybrid, I do believe I’ve seen it all. I will contemply this over meditation, you will have my answer in the morning.”

No-Bark limped to a large shack on the far side of Oasis. Birch sighed and shook his head.

“You’ll have to forgive my father, he’s set in the old ways of the Treeminders, and a bit senile. Ya made a decent case though, I have a feeling he’ll be open to your ideas in the morning. Even if he doesn’t, I can order it done, I just hate to go against his wishes.”

The sound of a metal door smacking open rang through the camp as No-Bark trotted back out.

“I have made my decision!” he called, “build the damn wall!”

Birch shook his head and chuckled, “I swear, that old coot gets funnier every damn year, can you work a harness lad?”

“Eeya,” Stripe said, “question is, can you?”

The massive buck grinned warmly, “Lookin’ for a bit of friendly competition are ya lad?”

Stripe shrugged and grinned back at him.

“Well, alright then, give me a few minutes to get this lot organised, and we’ll get right on that.”

***

I’d accepted that Stripe was much stronger and faster than the average pony, but this was ridiculous. Birch had organised the Treeminders into chopping, pulling, sharpening, and posting groups. The choppers would cut down the trees, the pullers would drag them into camp, the sharpeners would use axes to turn both sides of the log into stakes, and the posters would prop them up, drill them into the appropriate place, and secure them tightly together to form the wall.

Stripe and Birch were on the pulling team, both working much faster than the rest of the groups could keep up with. Both would drag two massive logs behind them at a near gallop with ease and be right back down to haul another load. At a certain point the entire group of choppers and the rest of the pullers became sharpeners, as the two burly bucks were just uprooting the dead trees faster than they could be chopped down.

They were both drenched with sweat, but neither tired, and I only occasionally stopped them so they would drink some water (which they had a constant, clean supply from a nearby spring). They worked well into the night, and their constant competitive banter kept everypony in high spirits, so the rest worked with them. A wall that was meant to take a week to build was set up in roughly 18 hours, and they were now building the massive gate.

The borders of Oasis had tripled, and clearing the forest allowed for more space for farming and settling, plenty of room for the White-Legs to move in, and enough room to produce crop to support them.

Birch wiped a profuse amount of sweat from his brow and patted Stripe on the back, “Ya do good work boyo.”

Stripe nodded and grinned, “Not to bad yourself old timer.”

He glanced at me, “You ready for the hard part boss lady?”

I sighed and nodded. I’d had a sleepless night, so I helped teach some of the unicorns around camp how to repair their weapons, by the time the wall was finished we had several lever-action rifles in decent working condition. Token was going to stay behind and teach the ponies how to use them, Stripe and I were going to the White-Legs’ camp to talk with Salt-Upon-Wounds.

“Yeah, I guess so, he’s not going to go psycho on us if we go near their camp right?”

Birch laughed his hearty laugh and beamed at me, “No lass, the White-Legs may not be peaceful, but they don’t attack unless provoked.”

“All right, let’s head out Stripe.”

He nodded, “Watch the kid for me Blue!” he called as we left.

***

The White-Legs were much more friendly than I’d expected. When we arrived warriors came out to greet us. Their legs were painted white(hence the name I suppose), their faces painted white with red bars, and their armor was comprised of thick shoulder and thigh protection, with several straps hooking it all together. Despite the makeshift appearance of the gear, each warrior’s armor looked uniform compared to the rest.

“Whachuwan ouslander?” one said, his language garbled together.

“We need to speak to your chief please.”

“Salponwoon?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Aright, you follow.”

Their camp was a large cluster of hide tents and war totems sporting a black flag with white crossed bars. Ponies in similar armor sat around fires, sharpening blades and cleaning weapons, laughing at jokes in a language I couldn’t understand. We came to the largest tent in the center of this cluster, and the buck leading us nodded inside.

“You mind behavor ouslander, boss lady big temper, don’t like be insulted.”

“Right, best behavior, got it.”

The buck snorted and trotted back to his tent. I took a deep breath to steady myself and Stripe and I trotted in. Standing in the middle of the tent was Salt-Upon-Wounds, looking over a table with a crudely drawn map in the center.

Salt-Upon-Wounds was Stripe’s size, though with a slimmer physique. His armor had more body coverage, though it still looked makeshift. His legs were painted like the rest of his tribe, his coat was blood red, his tail streaked red and black. His helmet was a stable security helmet, painted to look like a skull, it had the mandible of some large animal bound to it, with several feathers and tribal markings on it. His infamous power hooves were also painted white, and they had the same tribal markings and feathers as his helmet.

He looked up from his work and stared at us, “Welcome ouslanders.” a mare’s voice said.

Salt-Upon-Wounds pulled off her helmet and set it on the table. Her mane fell loose and jangled, it was braided into dreads with empty shotgun shells. Her face wasn’t painted like the others, but since she stayed in her helmet most of the time it didn’t really matter much.

“What brings you to my camp?” Her voice was the same rough Hoofington accent as Stripe, but in a mare’s voice it sounded slightly smoother.

“We’ve come to propose an alliance between the White-Legs and the Treeminders.” I said.

“The farmers from Oasis? We share a common enemy in the Vipers, but they have nothing to offer us.”

“They have food, and a recently built wall that could easily withstand a siege.”

“You are confident in this wall?” she asked.

“Hell, fetched the logs it’s made of myself,” Stripe said, “that thing’ll outlast all of us I reckon.”

She nodded, thinking, “A good wall alone does not make a fortress, it needs capable warriors. My brothers and sisters are apt fighters, but we are few in comparison to the Vipers.”

“There are a few Treeminders who can shoot now,” I said, “and their guns are operational.”

“I saw some dynamite around yer camp,” Stripe said, “I can whip up some powder charges and set ‘em around Oasis’ border, that’ll thin the Vipers’ numbers.”

“And we’ll fight with you too.” I added.

She looked at me long and hard, staring me down with piercing violet eyes, “I can tell from your scar that you’ve seen battle, and the rifle you carry tells me you are a marksman, your sharp eyes tell me you are good at it.” She turned to Stripe, “You are an obvious warrior, strong, fast, fearless, you have nothing to prove to me.”

She turned back to me, “But you, you are new blood, stable numbers tell me this, I will agree to this joining of tribes if you can prove to me you are capable in a fight.”

“Whatever it takes chief, I can handle it.”

She laughed, “Confidence, good. There is a task I have been meaning to tackle, but it’s a two mare job, and I do not trust my warriors enough to pull it off with me. They are fine warriors, but they lack the temperament for such a mission.”

***

We embarked on our mission an hour later, Stripe was told to stay at the camp, he was allowed to spar in the fighting circle to keep from getting bored, I told him not to kill anypony, he promised he’d try.

The task we were off to complete was clearing out a nearby den of Yao Guai(mutated bears as Stripe told it) that had been over hunting the game in the forest. Our target was a cave network, filled with maybe 10 adults and an unknown number of cubs, most likely 15.

“You have a lot of information on this place.” I said as we trotted onward.

“I scouted the location myself.” she said.

“You seem pretty learned compared to the other members of your tribe.”

She looked back at me, the face mask of her helmet was flipped up and she smiled, “Thank you ouslander, I was taught much in a missionary by a mare from the Order of Celestia.”

We were quiet for a while longer before she started up conversation again.

“What was your stable like? If you do not mind me asking.”

“Not great, I admit I took the safety for granted, but the control seems cruel now that I’m free of it.”

“You left willingly?” she asked.

“No, I was thrown out, when we went out to trade we were captured by slavers, I had to kill one of them to save some lives. The Overmare was bound by the codex to exile me.”

“I am sorry for your loss, it must be very lonely.”

“Not so much, my friend Token came with me, sometimes I wish she would’ve stayed though, I hate seeing her in danger.”

“Mmm, I know what you mean, when my fellow White-Legs charge into battle, I sometimes feel anxiety, and fear that I will lose them. To them, I am fearless chief Salt-Upon-Wounds, true in that I do not fear for my own life, false in that I worry deeply about my tribe.”

“That’s an interesting name you have, Salt-Upon-Wounds.”

“Ah yes, I earned it when I was young, fighting in the circle to gain my father’s favor. I would rub salt in any wounds that I suffered to stave off infection, I was the only one tough enough to endure the pain that came with it. This is what earned my father’s favor, and gave me my name. I am proud of it, it shows my will to endure.”

“And it sounds intimidating as all hell.” I pointed out.

She laughed, “Yes, that is one of the perks of such a name I suppose.”

We chatted a while longer, about nothing in particular. I got along surprisingly well with this mare, tough as she may be. After an hour of walking we were playfully bumping each other, and once or twice she’d brush a stray leaf out of my mane.

“We should keep our voices down from now on,” she whispered, “we are nearing the caves.”

The cave entrance was massive, roughly the size of a stable door. Salt-Upon-Wounds pulled a metal tube out of a knapsack tied to her armor and nodded for me to take it. On closer inspection I realized it was a suppressor, and I screwed it onto my rifle’s barrel.

“Are you ready?” she whispered.

I nodded and she flipped down her face mask and crept into the cave. She stopped me after awhile and nodded ahead. On my compass there were three red bars directly in front of us. I pulled out my rifle and peered through the scope at the sleeping Yao Guai, then slipped into S.A.T.S and put a silent round into each of their skulls, killing them instantly.

“Good shot ouslander,” she whispered, “we need to take a right here to move deeper.”

It went on like this for quite some time, room by room silently clearing out Yao Guai, I would shoot the adults, Salt-Upon-Wounds would snap the necks of the cubs. Eventually we came to a large open chamber, with a trace amount of light shining through the ceiling, and a large pool of clear water with a small waterfall draining into it. Sleeping on a rocky outcrop was a bear twice as massive as any of the Yao Guai we had seen so far.

“Ruzka,” Salt-Upon-Wounds whispered, “den mother. Big temper, thick head, need to take her down the old fashioned way.”

Salt-Upon-Wounds bellowed a war cry and stamped her hooves on the ground, her power hooves crackling. The massive bear awoke and roared, then leapt off her perch and charged us. I sent round after round as fast as I could into Ruzka’s head but she kept coming, when I ran out of ammo I tossed my rifle aside and unsheathed my knife.

Salt-Upon-Wounds and I charged at the same time, in unison we ducked the bear’s leap, Salt-Upon-Wounds rolled onto her back and kicked with all four power hooves at once, knocking Ruzka through the air and winding the beast.

I leapt atop the raging Yao Guai and wrapped my hooves tightly around her neck, then started stabbing repeatedly into the jugular vein. The bear roared in agony and stood to her full height, Salt-Upon-Wounds leapt forward and slammed both front hooves into the beast’s chest, blood spewing from the neck all over her, knocking her over on top of me. I focused my magic into one last yank of the knife, completely slicing the neck, deeply. Ruzka let out one last pained roar before finally dying, Salt-Upon-Wounds standing on her chest panting, me squished under the giant bear's back, blood pouring all over me.

Salt-Upon-Wounds lifted the massive animal off of me and helped me to my hooves, I retrieved my knife from its neck and wiped the blade on it’s fur before sheathing it. Salt took off her helmet and grinned at me, we were both drenched in blood, but I felt oddly satisfied to have taken down the bear.

“You have proven yourself more than worthy of the White-Legs’ support, I would gladly form this alliance.”

“Good to hear,” I said with a smile.

“I could use a bath.” she said, stripping out of her armor and leaping into the pool. She wasn’t as intimidating without the armor, quite attractive actually. A very trimmed and muscular mare, quite a few scars on her body. Her cutie mark was covered by a brand in the shape of the crossed bars on the White-Legs’ flag, a rite of passage in the tribe she had told me. It didn’t look bad though, pretty clean for a scar.

I followed suit and hopped in after stripping, the water felt fantastic, warm like bath water in a stable, and just as clean. I waded over to Salt-Upon-Wounds under the waterfall and washed the bear gore out of my mane and coat, then just enjoyed the feeling of hot water rushing over me.

“You are a capable mare,” Salt-Upon-Wounds said as she scrubbed herself, “I could use somepony like you at my side...”

“Hmm?” I muttered, looking towards her.

She was approaching me tentatively, a nervous smile on her face.

She leaned closer, her eyes half lidded and I tried lean away, then she kissed me. It felt good, not as good as with Token, but still good. I relaxed and closed my eyes, kissing her back and leaning towards her. She broke it off and then kissed me again, softer, and again, and again. She caressed my cheek a bit, then slowly moved her hoof down my side.

She gently pushed me over to the edge of the pool, still kissing me as we went, and had me sit down on the side. She rested me down easy and started kissing my neck, then started kissing lower, and lower, and lower. When she finally reached my thighs my mind was swimming with pleasant(naughty) thoughts, when she went further a soft moan escaped me, and then I snapped back into attention.

I pushed her back and writhed away, “No, sorry, so sorry but no! This is wrong.”

She looked hurt and moved back a bit, “Is it because I am a mare?” she asked softly.

“No,” I said, my face flushed, “no, that part’s great, super great, but-”

“Then what is the problem?”

I hung my head in shame, hiding behind my mane as my face went even brighter, “I’m with somepony, and it wouldn’t be right.”

“Oh,” she said, stepping back more, “I am so sorry, I did not know.”

“It’s fine, and don’t be sorry, it was my fault, that really should’ve come up while we were talking.”

“Your hybrid friend?”

I laughed a bit through my mortification, “No, definitely not. You remember my friend Token that I told you about? The one from my stable.”

“Ah, you and she?”

“Yes,” I hung my head even further,”I love her, and I feel like shit now for almost doing that with you when she and I haven’t even been... together.”

She rested a hoof on my shoulder and propped my head up, smiling sweetly at me, “If you love each other then she will forgive you a small lapse in judgment.”

I smiled back, “Thanks, you know, in a way it’s your fault for being so damn sexy.”

Her ears went back and her face turned bright red. I leaned forward and kissed her again, it was a long one this time, after a bit she pushed me back gently.

“I thought you just said how ashamed you were of this?”

I shrugged, “Considering what we almost did a few minutes ago, I doubt one more kiss is going to land me in too much trouble.”

She chuckled softly, then sunk her head, her shotgun shell braids falling over her face.

I rested a hoof on her shoulder, “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” she said quietly,”it is just, it has been so long since I’ve had somepony I could connect with and... be with.”

I propped her head up and brushed her mane away from her face, the shells jangling softly, she smiled and I kissed her again. She pulled in closer but I pushed her away again.

“No,” I said, “sorry, but I can’t.”

Her eyes looked hurt again, “Could you... could you just not tell her? It could be our secret, just this once.”

I shook my head, “No, I have to tell her. I’m not going to let that lie hang over me.”

“She will be furious.”

“I know, but I’d rather her be mad at me right now than find out on her own later and hate me for keeping it from her.”

“You really love this mare.”

“Yeah, I guess I do.”

“You are both very lucky.”

“Yeah, I guess we are.”

Salt-Upon-Wounds kissed me on the cheek and pressed her mouth to my ear.

“If you should ever find yourself... available, I would be more than happy to fill that role.”

I smiled and nuzzled her cheek softly, “I’ll keep that in mind, we can be friends right?”

“Yes,” she said, “I would like that.”

“If I did anything to lead you on-”

“No,” she interrupted, “nothing, I was just attracted to you, I apologize for letting my physical urges get the better of me.”

I chuckled, “You’re pretty sensitive for a badass war chieftain.”

She chuckled too and hugged me, “When you feel emotions strongly, you feel all of them strongly, not just the ones that go with fighting.”

I hugged my new friend (could I call her a friend? Or was she just a bit more than that?) back, “Let’s get the fuck out of this cave before the bear carcasses stink up the place.”

“Agreed."

***

The walk back to camp was an awkward one, not awkwardly quiet, we talked plenty, but awkward in a sense that we were both fighting very hard not to jump one another. Once or twice I caught myself staring at Salt’s (I’d taken to calling her Salt, we’d only known each other a few hours, but we were already good friends, and Salt-Upon-Wounds felt to formal) flank, and caught her doing the same on more than one occasion.

She gave me a rather awkward hoof shake when we got back to her tent, glancing away and blushing when Stripe came up to meet us.

“I will have the White-Legs moved into Oasis by tomorrow.”

“I’ll see you then Salt.”

She coughed nervously, “Yes, see you Bandage.”

We were out of the camp when I decided to talk to Stripe to clear my head, “So, how did the powder charge thing go?”

“Good,” he said, “got plenty rigged out, Salty’s boys’ll plant ‘em tomorrow.”

Then he looked perplexed, and started sniffing the air, then sniffing me.

“Hey, you know you smell like sex? Ain’t that the damndest-” he stopped, his jaw going slack and his eyes widening, “no fuckin’ way, you an’ Salty?”

“Nonononono!” I said, “Almost, but no.”

He looked back towards the White-Legs’ camp, “Damn, didn’t figure Salty for a filly fondler. You gonna tell Blue?”

I sighed and sunk my head, “Yes.”

He snorted, “That’s fuckin’ stupid, she’s gonna be more pissed off than a constipated dragon.”

“I know, but I still have to tell her.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do. She may get pissed off, but at least she’ll know I’m honest.”

“Still not seein’ what’s in it for you.”

I sighed, “Let me put this in a rewards list for a pervert like yourself. She’s pissed, very pissed, two things could happen, she’ll forgive me, later we have great make up sex, she dumps me, I get to go back to Salt and we can fuck each other’s brains out.”

He nodded, “See, now yer makin’ sense.”

“You realize I couldn’t care less about the make up sex right? If she forgives me I’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, I realize that, but I like it when I can make you say naughty lesbian stuff.”

“You’re a sick buck.”

“Eeya.”

We were getting closer and closer to the moment I was dreading, I could see the outline of Oasis’ newly built wall in the distance, even through the waning light of the evening. Token would be furious, beyond furious actually, and I’d have to endure it. If she was pissed but forgave me, I would do fine, if she dumped me, I would be heartbroken. I’d strive to make our friendship work, but that would be the best I could hope for. I thought back to what I’d said to Stripe about Salt taking me if Token didn’t. In a way that was true, it wasn’t preferred, but it was true. I may not have the same intense feelings for her that I have towards Token, but there was a connection there, and physically we were definitely compatible.

I thought back to what I said to Salt as well, I’d told her that I loved Token, and I found it fucked up that I told somepony I almost cheated on her with before I told her. And it was true, I loved Token, feelings these vivid didn’t appear in under 2 weeks unless something tangible was behind them, that’d definitely be my opening, it might soften the emotional blow of my cheating.

When we approached, a massive pulley gate made of logs they’d built while we were gone lifted up and closed with a gentle thud after we had entered the walls. Shaky came running towards us, a group of other children following her.

“I’m going to go talk to Token.” I said.

“Good luck.” he said. Then Shaky and the other children piled onto him.

“Attack!” she cried, “Round two you s-striped son of a b-bitch!”

I chuckled, “Good luck to you too big guy.”

I trotted into the small shack Birch had supplied for us, (the shack of the ponies Stripe had killed earlier) Token greeted me with a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek.

I smiled sheepishly and felt chagrin creeping out of the back of my mind.

“What’s wrong babe?” she asked.

“Token, I don’t exactly know how to go about telling you this but I’d like to start by saying that I love you.”

“I love you too.” she said without a moment's hesitation, then she kissed me. I pushed her back gently, I didn’t deserve affection right now.

“What’s wrong?” she asked again.

“I... I cheated on you, with Salt-Upon-Wounds.”

She backed away, a look somewhere between hurt and confused on her face, “What?”

“She and I, almost had sex.” I said, hanging my head in shame, “We were bathing in a pool of water, and she came onto me, and I just... let it go on. I didn’t stop until we almost got to the... you know. And even after that I still kissed her a few times, and I couldn’t stop staring at her on the way back.”

I looked up at Token, she was staring, some hurt still in her eyes, a lot of thinking as well, but she stayed silent.

“You shouldn’t blame her, I hadn’t told her yet that I was already with you.”

She stepped closer to me, I cringed and sunk my head lower, expecting a beating.

“The only one I blame for this,” she said solemnly,”is myself.” Wait, what?

“Huh-” I started.

She tackled me, pinning her hooves on my chest, and I heard the lock on the shack click as she used her magic on it. Then she leaned in very close, her face flushed, her eyes half lidded, her lips almost touching mine.

“For not doing this with you sooner.”

***

Having sex, no, no that didn’t do the act justice, making love with Token, was the single greatest experience of my life. Neither of us was particularly good at it, we just did what felt good, but that didn’t matter, we had become completely intimate, and it felt wonderful. The unnaturally strong connection we had built over the past weeks had grown infinitely stronger, we were together now, completely together.

We were laying on a sleeping bag, cuddling. I was stroking her mane, every once and awhile she'd lean forward and kiss me.

"What's she like?" Token asked.

"Salt-Upon-Wounds? She's nice, strong, brave, unusually proper."

"Is she hot?" she asked slyly.

"If you're asking if she's attractive, yes, nothing compared to you though."

She laughed, "You're so corny."

I kissed her on the horn and nuzzled her forehead, "It's true though, you're beautiful."

She smiled warmly at me, then sunk into a nervous frown, her eyebrows furrowing, "Could you... see yourself with her?"

I contemplated this for a bit and nodded. Token frowned more.

"It would be nothing like what we have though, believe me."

She smiled again, "I believe you... Think she'd be interested in a three way?"

She was expecting a laugh, but I just shook my head solemnly, "She's not looking for sex Token, she's looking for somepony to love her. Asking her that would probably hurt her feelings."

Her ears laid flat, and her eyes widened apologetically, she looked adorable, "I'm sorry."

I smiled and kissed her, "I'm the one that should be sorry silly, not you."

The tender moment was ruined by a certain zony with patience issues. Stripe pounded on the metal door, the rusty hinges bending in protest.

"Why the fuck is the door locked?!" he yelled.

"Sorry," I called, unlocking the door with my magic, "we were busy."

He poked his head through the doorway and peered at us. "Oh," he said, "that kinda busy. You want some privacy? I can camp outside."

"No, it's fine, we were just cuddling."

"Right, well I'm gonna crash."

He stepped into the shack, a sleeping Shaky curled up on his back, he trotted over to his place on the floor and flopped down.

"Night." he said sleepily.

"Goodnight." I said.

Token fell asleep before me, I held her close and listened to her soft breathing, feeling her chest expand. I was close to sleep for the first time in days, I was exhausted, but it was a good exhaustion, resulting from being worn down by hard work and raucous love-making.

Sleep wasn't dreamless, but it was restful, and the dreams were good, very, very good... and a bit raunchy.

Footnote: Level Up!
Quest perk: Sheeza Bear!-+10% damage to Yao Guai
Skill note: Sneak (25)

Guns (40)

Sorry for the jump in length, over double the word count of chapter 3 and a lot less action, well fighting action that is, (Zing!) the “almost sex scene” was actually about 5 paragraphs longer before I decided to tone it down a bunch. It was like, borderline clop fic before I edited that shit out, not my fault though, I was typing at midnight with no caffeine in my system. Thanks to my pre-readers, they keep the spelling and grammatical errors to a minimum. (Not that anyone cares, nopony reads this damn fic!)

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Wake up love birds," Stripe said the next morning, "Salty's here."

I groaned sleepily and stretched myself out. The ridiculous amount of popping joints next to me told me Token was awake.

"Fuckin' a Blue," Stripe said, "you need to see a doctor."

Token yawned, "I'm laying next to one right now, and she's said on multiple occasions that my joints are fine."

"Uh huh, you two do some freaky positions last night or what?"

"Is this really an appropriate conversation to have while there's a child in the room?" I asked as I stretched further.

"Shaky ain't in the room, woke up a couple hours ago like a normal pony, seriously, you two act like yer fuckin' hibernating."

"It's not that late." Token said.

"It's noon."

"Well shit." I muttered.

We squeezed into our barding and stepped out into warm (blinding) light of Celestia's sun. Salt and Birch were standing in the center of camp. Her White-Legs were down near the open space near the gate setting up camp and building sniper towers out of the leftover limbs. The Treeminders were digging trenches outside the wall.

As we approached Salt turned to look at me. She had her helmet on and her face mask down, but I could sense her smiling at me.

"Bandage." she said with a nod.

"Salt-Upon-Wounds." I said back.

She turned back to Birch and sighed.

"As I have told you Birch, my White-Legs are far more skilled than the Vipers, and your fortifications should give us quite the advantage."

Birch shook his head in frustration, "That's all well and good lass, but the fact remains that in total we've only got about seventy ponies to throw at their hundreds."

"I understand your concerns Birch, but keep in mind that we also have Bandage and the hybrid fighting with us. I am confident that their support will tip the scale in our favor."

Birch sighed, "I certainly hope so lass, otherwise, I think we're fucked."

"Indeed." she said dryly.

Birch rolled his eyes and trotted towards the greenhouses.

Salt shook her head and sighed, then pulled off her helmet, resting it in her saddlebags, and turned towards us, "Bandage, hybrid, would you mind following me? I would like to discuss the plan for the impending battle."

"I have a name, Salty." Stripe said menacingly.

She glanced over him briefly and coughed, "Yes, my apologies Stripe."

"So," Token said nervously, "am I going with?"

"Actually Blue I was hopin' you'd hang around and keep an eye on Shaky." Stripe said, an innocent request, but I had the feeling he was working to avoid an awkward situation. This zony was winning points with me every day.

"Why do I have to stay and watch her? She's your kid."

His emerald eyes could be relatively intimidating when he put his mind to it. He glared at Token, his lips curling into a small snarl.

"She ain't my kid, I'm asking you to stay and watch her because she's an emotionally unstable ten year old rape victim that's in a fort full of strangers. And I'm asking YOU specifically, because yer-"

I glared at him sternly, though carefully enough that Token didn't notice, expecting what was coming next.

He blinked, his expression and tone calming, "I'm asking you, because you seem very, er, responsible."

She looked confused for a moment, but then shrugged and trotted back into camp.

The rest of us started trotting towards the gates.

"Crisis averted?" Stripe whispered to me.

"Yeah," I whispered back, "thanks mate."

"Don't mention it."

Salt cleared her throat and looked back at us, "My warriors have been planting the powder charges you made, they should sufficiently thin the Vipers' numbers."

"Yup," Stripe grunted, "should keep 'em scattered too."

"I'm thinking the White-Legs can rush in once they're scattered," I said, "you lot seem better suited for close combat."

"Agreed," she said, "but what of the Treeminders?"

"We've got trenches and towers, I figured they could lay down covering fire."

She sighed, "That is another problem I've been meaning to speak with you about, the Treeminders barely have any suitable weaponry."

"Yeah," I sighed, "not much we can do about it though."

She smirked a bit, "Actually, there is."

"Cryptic." Stripe said dryly.

"Mind elaborating?" I asked.

"Of course," she said, "west of here, near the ocean but still in the forest, there is a bunker buried in a hillside that my scouts believe to be an old weapons cache. If it is not too much trouble, I would like you to go and loot whatever you can and return it here."

"I wouldn't mind, but I'm not sure we'd be able to get enough weaponry back here in one trip without some sort of wagon."

Stripe snorted, "I can throw together a sledge, that oughta be good enough for me to drag all that shit back here in one go."

She nodded, "Considering this is a farming community, I am sure that you will have no trouble finding the necessary materials. I need to oversee my warriors' progress.”

Stripe smacked me on the back, “I’ll go rig that sledge out, go make sure Blue didn’t kill the kid will ya?”

I rolled my eyes, “I doubt she killed Shaky.”

He chuckled and trotted towards the collection of tool sheds near the fields, “You can never be too sure boss.”

“You calling me boss makes me really uncomfortable!” I called after him.

“I'll keep that in mind boss!”

I chuckled to myself and trotted into camp, Token was sitting on a log, cleaning her rifle like I’d shown her. Shaky and the other children were playing what looked like a brutal version of king of the hill on a small dirt mound nearby, and Shaky was definitely winning.

“Pretty good scrapper our Shaky.” I said as I sat down next to her.

“Yeah,” she said absently, “I hate this damn rifle model, service it like crazy and the damn thing still jams.”

“Here, let me see.” Her blue magical field changed to my red one as I grabbed ahold of it.

I looked it over, opened the breech and illuminated the inside, everything was clean and well oiled, no parts out of place or damaged.

“There’s nothing wrong with it, and the IF-91 isn’t known for jamming all that often. Maybe your luck has gone to shit?”

“I guess,” she mumbled, “maybe it only works in the stable?”

I shrugged and passed it back to her.

“I need to find something better.” she said.

“Why? That rifle works fine.”

She stayed quiet for a while, looking it over, “It almost got you killed... I, almost got you killed,” she said finally, “back at that raider compound, remember?”

“Bollocks,” I said, “you saved me, remember? I was a bloody, dying heap of rags on the floor. You pumped me full of healing potions and got me moving again.”

She nodded slowly, still looking at the rifle, “I thought you died, when you blacked out. Never cried so hard in my life. Stripe hefted you onto his back and carried you all the way back to town, he kept telling me you were alive, I wouldn’t believe him though.”

I rested a hoof on her shoulder, “What are you trying to say Token?”

She sighed and stared at me sadly, “I’m useless out here babe.”

“Bullshit, you’ve got Security training, that’s a jump up on what I’ve got.”

She looked at me sullenly, “Security training in 80 involved non-violent crowd diffusing techniques, how to settle domestic disputes, and the occasional push up. I’m not worth dick in a fight.”

“And I’m just a medic, no more training than you.”

“And that’s what makes you amazing, you read a book on how to use guns and practically mastered the damn things, I read the book and barely understood half of it, let alone process it."

I sat quiet, trying to think of something to say to make her feel better, “Hey, you know how I said your luck went to shit?”

“Yeah?”

“I take it back, you’re my good luck charm.”

A smirk tugged at one side of her mouth, and her eyes brightened a bit, “How do you figure?”

“Well, think about it. Wounds like I suffered that day should’ve killed me, if you weren’t there, they would’ve, I’m lucky that you were there, and it’s because of your luck. Make sense?”

She smiled and rested her head on my shoulder, “Not a lick, but it makes me feel better. Thanks babe.”

I rested my head against hers and watched the Treeminders working the fields in the distance, “No problem Blue.” I paused for a long time, just enjoying her company, and the view, finally I said something corny, “You’re my rock, you know that, right?”

She giggled, “You’re such a dweeb Bandage, same as when we were in school.”

“Yeah, but I like being a dweeb, without my constant research and scrutiny, we’d be dead in a week.”

Another drawn out comfortable silence, I needed to remember to tell Sunshine about this place, she'd love a constant view of the sun.

“You need a new name, something badass that actually fits you.” Token said after several minutes of silence.

“Why?”

“I don’t like calling you Bandage, it’s such a shitty name.”

“Yeah,” I sighed, “tell you what, you think of something, and I’ll change it. Sound good?”

“Yeah,” she said, “Oh! How about Triage?”

I sighed, “Something non-medical please? It’s so mainstream.”

“Hmm, how about Sugar?”

“What?”

“Well, you’re white, and you’re sweet.”

“That’s really dumb.”

“Just a suggestion. Let’s see, you’re really good at shooting, maybe something like Deadeye or Gutshot or-”

“Boss,” Stripe said, trotting towards us with a sledge harness on, “you ready t’ go?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” I replied.

“Done traipsing around the fort gettin’ nookie on the side from Blue?”

“Nookie?”

“Sex.”

I blinked at him a few times and stuck my tongue out, “You’re disgusting.”

He shrugged.

Token pressed her mouth to my ear, “Sounds good to me.” she whispered in a sultry voice.

I felt my face go red and I coughed nervously, “Well, uh... Let’s go raid an ancient bunker Stripe.”

I tried to get up but Token wrapped her legs around my chest to keep me put.

“Not yet,” Token said, she was unfortunately still using her ‘bedroom voice’ adding to my face’s redness “I wanna tell you something.”

She whispered several things she would ‘do to me’ when I got back, each time pressing her mouth further into my ear. All of this was an elaborate ploy to embarrass the ever living shit out of me, and it was working, much to Stripe’s amusement. The cheeky zony was restraining a laugh that could probably blow down these flimsy shacks, to the point where he actually collapsed from the strain of holding it in.

When she was finally done, Token kissed me hard on the cheek, ending with an over dramatic “Mmmwah!”

She finally let go, all the blood in my body had rushed to my face from sheer embarrassment, Stripe was dying of laughter, and Token had the nerve to grin that old cocky grin of hers and continue cleaning her rifle.

I sank my head down as I got up to hide my shame from the devious laughter of the judgmental children that had stopped their match of king of the hill to poke fun at me.

“Stripe, we’re going. See you later Token.”

“‘See you later Token’ what?” she said, batting her eyelashes in false innocence.

“I love you.” I mumbled under my breath.

“What was that babe?” I knew she had heard me, but she wasn’t going to let me leave unless I humored her.

“I love you.” I said loud enough for her to here.

“I love you too... see you when you get back.” she uttered the last phrase in that sultry tone she had mastered in the recent few minutes. I literally thought Stripe was going to die at this point, the hulking bastard was gasping for air worse than me when I’d had my chest perforated.

I gripped his harness with my magic and yanked him up onto his hooves.

“Come on you striped ass, we’ve got business.”

He wiped tears from his eyes, his epic laughing fit was now a series of occasional chuckles, “Whatever you say boss. Seeya ‘round Blue.”

We trotted towards the gate, he was still giggling a bit, but at least he was trying to hold it in.

"So," he said, "how much swag you think we're goin' to find?"

"I'm not sure what we're going to find, hopefully enough guns and ammo to supply a small army."

"Yeah, that'd be great. 'Cept then we'd have to teach all these yokels how to shoot."

"Don't remind me..."

I didn't mind giving these ponies a hoof, it felt good to help, but this whole venture was quickly becoming a headache. I was ready to get on the road and start making money again. Not to mention the odds were stacked against us, and I might not live long enough to bitch about not being paid.

I heard the sound of small hooves hitting metal, and looked to see Shaky riding on Stripe's makeshift sledge.

"What're ya doin' kid?" he asked.

"Going with you," she said, "these k-kids are lightweights and I'm getting b-b-bored."

"So you figured you'd tag along with us to delve into some ancient bunker that's probably filled to the brim with twisted monstrosities?"

"Yup."

He laughed, "I like yer style kid.”

***

“So,” I said, “anypony else get the feeling we’re all going to die?”

“Nah.” Stripe said.

Shaky just gulped and looked back and forth nervously.

We had made our way to the weapons cache bunker. Outside the entrance was a large heap of pony bones, next to that was an earth pony buck that was ripped in half, his intestines trailing behind him and leading inside. On the wall of the entrance, in his own blood, he had written RUN, the N streaking towards the ground where his bloody hoof was now laying.

“So Stripe, you’re the expert, what the hell are we dealing with?”

Stripe rolled the harness off his back, letting it land with a loud thud that made me flinch. He approached the mutilated stallion and inspected it closely, I winced and forced back a gag as he poked into the cavity around the intestines and lifted the corpse to eye level.

He snorted, “Ferals, best as I can figure it. They’re pretty tough, not invincible though, stick to headshots if ya wanna drop ‘em quickly, try not to let ‘em close the distance on ya either.”

“Great,” I said dryly, “actual zombie ponies.”

“Eeya,” he said, backing away after wiping the rancid blood from his hoof onto the corpse’s shredded barding, “blessing in disguise though.”

“How do you figure?”

“All these bones out here say that nopony’s been down there in a while, ferals probably keep folks away. Means that no one’s gotten the chance to loot it.”

I nodded and levitated my rifle out of its loop, “Alright, Stripe I need you up front, I’ll pop anything you don’t take down, Shaky I want you out here with the sledge, if you want to follow you stay behind me, and close.”

“Okay Bandage.” Shaky said. Stripe snorted again and descended into the bunker, I made sure to turn on my eyes forward sparkle and followed.

As we went further and further down, I began to feel oddly at home. The dim lighting of the ancient facility reminded me of the halls of Stable 80. Shaky had decided to follow, I didn’t want her down here but it was her decision. Her tiny hoofsteps behind me were occasionally followed by her bumping into me by accident, my eyes were better suited for dark spaces than hers, and she was nervously sticking close.

We finally reached the bottom of the stairs, opening up into a wide, dark hallway with several rooms, the only light was coming from dim electric signs that said Storage above each room. Red bars were starting to show up on my compass, and I could see glowing yellow eyes moving in the darkness. We went further into the hall, and I mentally berated myself as my hoof tapped a skull that clattered and rolled across the room, then all the eyes started turning to face us, and a long low growl echoed through the darkened corridors.

“Shaky,” I said softly, “back up the stairs, slowly.”

She wasn’t budging though, instead she wrapped herself around my back leg and stood frozen, I could feel her trembling, and a backwards glance showed me that her eyes were wide in terror as she tried to hide behind me.

More eyes started opening on the far side of the room, and more and more red bars were popping up on my compass. Stripe backed into me, I expected fear on his face as well, instead I saw a calm, calculating expression.

“Alright,” he said quietly, “you and Shaky get back up those stairs, enough that you have a good narrow view and some light, I’m gonna fight back as many as I can, you shoot whatever gets past me.”

“Got it.” I said, I tried backing up, but Shaky had me cemented to the floor. “Sweetie,” I said softly, “we need to move back okay? I won’t let anything get you, I promise.”

I heard her gulp, and felt her loosen her hold as she started backing up.

“Slowly sweetie, slowly.”

She nodded and continued moving back, I pushed her along gently, glancing back and forth at her and the ghouls. When we made it to the stairs I saw Stripe look back at us, then he reached into his saddlebags and pulled out a strapped injector, as he slapped it onto himself, he let his bags fall to the floor, the noise agitating the ghouls further.

“Ah,” he said loudly, the ghouls growling in response, “much better.”

Then he slammed a hoof on the floor, the old rusted metal denting slightly.

“Come on fuckers!” he bellowed.

A ghoul screamed a low, gravelly screech, the others followed suit and began to charge. Shaky wrapped herself around my leg again and trembled uncontrollably, I shouldered my rifle and prepared to drop into S.A.T.S.

Stripe was cackling loudly as the first ghoul met him and swatted at it nonchalantly, but in his chem crazed state the swat hit with enough force to crush the ghoul’s side and send it flying head first into the wall, a loud crunch followed as its neck snapped.

The next one jumped through the air at him, but he swatted it to the floor and crushed its head with his powerful front hooves, then pivoted at an unnatural angle and rear bucked the next in the forehead, effectively decapitating it. Then the mob hit him, a dozen ghouls all piled onto him, two others galloped past and screeched as they honed in on Shaky and I. I dropped into S.A.T.S, the ghouls slowing to the time frozen stop, I put a charge on each of their heads, and targeted a third charge onto one of the ghouls dog piling Stripe.

The first round slammed home and did its job, dropping the ghoul instantly, the next also hit, but did little more than tear off half the ghoul’s face and pinwheel it to the floor, the third missed my targeted ghoul but slammed into the midsection of another, knocking it off Stripe. I pulled back the bolt and chambered another round, manually scoping in the wounded ghoul and finishing it off as it tried to stand, then doing the same to the one I’d missed. There was a loud PING of bone hitting metal as the top of its skull separated itself from the rest of the head and hit the ceiling.

I reloaded desperately, Stripe looked like he was getting overwhelmed. Instead he started belly laugh, then bellowed “FUCKERS!!!” as he erupted from the pile, a triumphant grin on his face. One ghoul’s back was broken the instant he emerged, a few others were sent sprawling across the room. He stomped the ones laying around him into a gooey pulp, one tenacious bastard leapt onto his back and tried biting into his neck, my striped comrade just chuckled and slammed the thing onto the floor, a loud series of cracks echoing through the bunker as its spine was shattered.

I finished off the surviving ghouls as they tried to get up, which was proving difficult for them because of two or more broken limbs. Stripe chuckled and trotted towards me, he had some deep bite wounds across his midsection and back that were bleeding quite a bit, but he didn’t seem to notice them.

“Good work mate.” I said.

He smiled brightly, but he seemed... off, his smile was stretching farther than normal, and his eyes were bloodshot and twitching, he was breathing heavily through his nostrils too.

“What’s that drug did you injected yourself with Stripe?”

He frowned and looked down, then brought his head up slightly and chuckled silently, then looked up and frowned again, then shook his head and laughed.

“Oh, you know,” he said dumbly, his voice was too calm, it didn’t carry the same edge as when he usually spoke, “just some Stampede, it’s great when you’re fighting, gets you really... pumped,” his eyebrows jumped for emphasis, “makes it where you can’t feel it when you get shot or stabbed or whatever. The aftereffects are a bit like a double dose of Med-X though.” then he frowned again, “I miss my suit, used to filter this junk out pretty quickly.”

“Right...” I muttered, “Well, come here, I better look at those wounds.”

“Wounds?” he asked in genuine surprise, then he cocked his head and looked backwards at his torso, “Oh! Look at that, guess those rotting bastards got me a couple times huh?” He chuckled dumbly again, “Good thing I can’t feel a Goddess damned thing.”

I rolled my eyes and levitated a healing potion and a roll of magical bandages out of my saddlebags as I approached him, “Just sit down and hold still, okay?”

“Oki doki loki.” he said, then he sat down hard and smiled at me dumbly.

I had him drink the potion, which he sucked on like a foal would do a bottle of formula, then I started wrapping some of his worse wounds, the red glow of my magic slightly illuminating the immediate area. As I worked he started sobering up, shaking his head and blinking a lot.

He snorted, a thankfully familiar gesture, and his eyes went back to the keen piercing look they held before, “Guess I oughta start mixing in just one dose of Med-X with the Rage instead of two, that was a bit too strong for my taste.”

I poked him on the forehead with my horn as I finished and scowled, “Maybe you shouldn’t inject yourself with dangerous drugs, you oversized striped idiot.”

He rolled his eyes and nipped me on the ear, “Whatever, thanks for patching me up.”

I blinked a bit in confusion at the playful bite, it was something I would’ve expected from Token, not Stripe. He glanced at me with an eyebrow cocked like I was an idiot and trotted towards the first storage room, tapping the door control with a hoof. A dim light that was slightly better than the ones on the stairwell shone through the doorway and a small smirk crept up Stripe’s face.

“Paydirt.”

Shaky trotted quickly up next to him and let out an impressed whistle after looking inside. I took my place next to them, a similar smirk tugging at my mouth. The room was filled with ammo crates, and hanging on the far wall was an assortment of weapons, assault rifles mostly, but there was one lone sniper rifle to the left that was just begging for a fondle. I levitated the beautiful beast down from the wall and cradled it in my hooves, admiring every last inch. It was in pristine condition, all the weapons were, not a single speck of rust to be found. It had modifications as well, a built in suppressor, a 12x magnification night vision scope, a bipod attachment, a carbon-fiber stock and base, and a recoil damper on the butt. The only blemish was the word ‘Victory’ carved into the barrel, and that wasn’t as much a flaw as an act of admiration.

“This thing is... amazing.” I muttered.

“Calm down boss, it’s just a rifle.”

“She’s not just a rifle, she’s a magnificent precision tool, like a scalpel or a microscope.”

“Uh, she?”

“Yes, she, it isn’t a title fitting for something as beautiful as this. Somepony obviously loved this weapon, put a lot of care into improving her, maintaining her, they even made sure she was kept in an air sealed chamber to keep her from rusting.”

“Right...” he said, “Well, I’m gonna start gettin’ these ammo boxes upstairs and in the sledge. Try not to squirt on the rifle.”

“I’ll make my best effort mate, no promises.”

“How w-would she squirt on it?” Shaky asked, my face instantly turning bright red, “she d-d-doesn’t have any water or anything to squirt it with.”

Stripe was laughing his way back up the stairs, I was hiding my shame, Shaky was looking at me with innocently curious confusion.

“Shaky, why don’t you check out the other rooms?” I said around my hoof as I covered my face.

She shrugged and trotted out. I took a few deep breaths and then cracked up, the redness leaving my face as I laughed it away. I slid my hunting rifle out of its loop and replaced it with Victory. The old thing had served me well, I’d make sure it found a home with one of the Treeminders, not just left down here to catch rust.

***

This cache turned out to be an early Hearths Warming present, we had more than enough weapons and ammunition to arm the Treeminders and White-Legs. I had added a pristine condition .45 automatic pistol to my budding arsenal, (Shaky was kind enough to sew a hip holster into my armor to house it) and I’d found a 10mm SMG to give to Token. Shaky found herself a 9mm pistol and had scrapped the thick lining of some wrecked combat gear to make herself some barding. Stripe recovered a battle-saddle built for his minigun and a suit of plated combat armor that was conveniently just his size and painted jet black (his favorite color from what I gathered).

Even while he was dragging a sledge filled with nearly a ton of ammo and weapons, I was having trouble keeping pace with Stripe, who was eager to get back and hook his minigun up to his new battle-saddle. Shaky was sitting on the stack of ammo crates doing some touch-ups on her makeshift armor, the filly was a master with that sewing kit, the threading so tight not a single stitch was visible.

"Where'd you learn to sew like that Shaky?" I asked.

"I dunno," she said, "I've j-just always b-b-been good at it."

Then there was a bright flash that startled Stripe and I enough to stop.

"Shit..." Shaky muttered.

Shaky was staring at her flank, newly adorned with a cutie mark depicting a sewing needle and thread spool. My stable upbringing was probably most evident then, I scooped her off the sledge and squeezed her tightly.

"Congratulations Shaky!" I said as she tried to wriggle out of my grasp.

"P-p-put me down d-dammit!"

I set her down and smiled brightly, she scowled at me, then at her cutie mark.

"Aren't you excited?"

"Not really," she said with a disappointed huff, "I wanted somethin' c-cool, not a stupid sewing needle."

"It's not stupid! It's your special talent."

"Definitely better than a book or a roll of bandages..." Stripe muttered.

I scowled at him and he stuck his tongue out at me.

"It doesn't matter if it's 'cool' or not Shaky, it's your special talent, you should be proud of it, and we're celebrating."

Shaky just huffed and pouted, folding her front legs and looking away.

"Tell ya what kid," Stripe said, "if you don't warm up to it by the time we get back, we'll have the White-Legs brand it off you."

I grinned a bit, his tactic was obvious, but I was horrified to see that Shaky was actually thinking about it.

"He's kidding sweetie."

"Am I?" he asked, a sly smile on his face.

"Yes," I said sternly, "you are."

He shrugged and started moving again, Shaky leapt back onto the sledge and continued her work.

"We'll have to throw you a cute-ceañera when we get back." I said, trying my best to get her excited.

"A what?" she asked.

Stripe snorted, "It's some dumbass pre-war tradition where they celebrate a new cutie mark."

I balked at him, "It is not dumb, and it's not limited to pre-war times, we did them all the time in the stable."

"It's a waste of fuckin' time, hasn't been done outside for years for a good reason."

"And what reason would that be?"

"We d-don't have much to celebrate about out here." Shaky said solemnly.

"So," I said brightly, "let's add something to that list."

“I’d rather not...”

“Nonsense.”

I jumped onto the sledge next to her, Stripe let out a strained groan and I frowned.

“Now I just feel self-conscious.”

He snorted and picked his pace back up, “Not so much you as the uphill slope.”

“Good answer.” I said dryly, then I wrapped a foreleg around Shaky and smiled my most reassuring smile. She tried to wiggle away, but there wasn’t much room on the sledge for escapes.

“You t-touch too much.” she muttered.

I wrapped the other leg around her and squeezed her with a hug, “Admit you’re excited about your cutie mark or this gets worse.” I said brightly.

She huffed and pressed her face into my chest, then said something that was too muffled for me to understand.

“What was that?”

She pulled her face away and scowled up at me, “I’m excited about my stupid f-fucking cutie mark. Happy?”

I squeezed harder and smiled down at her, “Ecstatic.”

She pressed herself to my chest again and wrapped her legs around my midsection, then started trembling. I could hear a few muffled sobs escape.

“Hey,” I said softly, “what’s wrong? Please don’t cry.”

She looked up at me with sad golden eyes, tears streaming down her face.

“I miss my p-parents.” she said quietly, then pressed her face back to my chest.

I scooped her up and let her head rest on my shoulder, she hugged me around the neck and started crying softly.

“I bet your parents would be proud of you sweetie, this is a big day for you.”

She sniffed and nestled her head against mine, “I know thay’d b-be proud,” she said, “I just wish they were here.”

***

Shaky cried most of the way back and trudged to the shack when we got there. Stripe and I distributed the weapons amongst the Treeminders, Token showed the unicorns the basics of using them, Stripe showed the earth ponies how to work the rifles in their mouths.

"Brought you a present." I said to Token at the White-Legs' campfire later that evening.

"Aww babe, you shouldn't have."

I fished the SMG out of my bags and passed it to her.

"Shiny." she said absently as she turned it over with her magic. "You know, I remember back in the day we'd give each other extra ration slips as presents instead of automatic firearms."

"Yes, such a droll idea wouldn't you say?"

She giggled and punched me in the shoulder, "Such a dweeb."

"You love it."

"I really do." She rested her head on my shoulder and stared at the fire with a small smile on her face.

I was constantly shocked at how I'd failed to notice how attractive Token was while we were in 80. I was more shocked that I hadn't realised I preferred the mares. The signs were obvious when I looked back, I had terrible relationships with all my matches, when I went on sanctioned "vacations" to the Lower Deck I never really enjoyed the sex in the brothel (an unfortunate fate for the sterile males and females), and I never found myself attracted to any of the more... endowed stallions.

I had always chalked it up to me being a bit of a nerd. Token was the one that enjoyed parties and "vacations" to the Lower Deck. I enjoyed reading up on medical procedures and exercising, not social events and drinking. It was part of what made us such good friends, we balanced each other out.

I looked up and smiled as Salt approached us, this was the second time I'd seen her without armor (the second time she'd seen me without armor I realized), the first time I'd seen her mane without the cartridge braids. Her streaked mane was surprisingly messy. Her legs had the war paint washed off of them, something we'd seen on all the White-Legs that night.

"She doesn't look half bad for a war chief." Token whispered.

"Thank you." Salt said.

"Did I not mention she has really good hearing?" I asked.

"You did not." Token said as she blushed.

Salt chuckled and sat on the log across from us, then stared silently at the fire for a long time. Then looked up at us and smiled.

"It is good to see two mares as comfortable with each other as yourselves."

Token chuckled, "We got matched as friends when we were five, we've had a good fifteen years to get comfortable with each other."

"You were five," I pointed out, "I was six."

She poked me in the ribs, "Don't start bringing up the age shit again, or else I'm going to start calling you old."

I pressed my mouth to her ear, "If you get to call me old," I whispered, trying my best to copy her sultry voice, "I get to give you a spanking."

The blood red mare across from us coughed nervously, "You realize that I can hear you quite clearly, correct?"

"Oh she knows," Token said, "Stripe made us a bet earlier that we couldn't make you blush."

Salt shook her head and chuckled, "How much did you bet?"

"If he wins he gets to watch the next time Token and I, how did he put it, 'clean each other's pipes.'"

Salt's face shone bright red, even through her red coat, and a triumphant smirk crept up my face.

"What did you win?" she asked once her face was back to normal.

"Our arrangement with the devious striped bastard is private in nature." Token said.

I rolled my eyes, "He has to help us with Shaky's cute-ceñera."

Salt blinked in confusion, "Her what?"

"A little party we're going to throw to celebrate her new cutie mark."

"Ah, the hybrid told me she got hers today. She must be excited."

I sighed, "Not exactly, I don't think this day was how she hoped it'd be."

"In what way?"

"Up until two weeks ago, I'm guessing she thought her parents would be alive to see it."

Salt nodded and stared back at the fire, the flames reflected in her eyes, her face was expressionless, not even contemplating, just blank.

Token stared absently as well, but then started looking around the fort.

"Speaking of the oversized son of a bitch, where is he?"

Salt sighed, "He has been giving my warriors quite the thrashing in the sparring circle for the last few hours, I am almost ashamed to say that he defeated me."

"He is pretty good in a scrap isn't he?"

I laughed, "You should've seen him at the bunker, he tore a pack of feral Ghouls apart with nothing but his hooves, I barely had to fire a shot."

Salt nodded absently, "He is quite the frightening adversary."

I shrugged. Frankly I was glad Stripe was such a good fighter. He was a friend, and he had our backs, and I honestly couldn't think of him as frightening. Deep down, Stripe was a sweetheart, definitely ferocious and rough around the edges, but still a sweetheart.

"Speak of the devil." I said as Stripe sauntered over and sat on his haunches near the fire.

He wiped sweat from his brow with a hoof and whisked it into the fire, which hissed softly in protest.

"I'll give ya one thing Salty," he said, "yer boys ain't slouches."

"Nothing compared to you I fear."

He waved a hoof dismissively, "Hell, anypony that got trained the way I did could fight that good, even Blue I bet."

Token scowled at the zony and cocked an eyebrow, "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

A mischievous grin crept up Stripe's face and he trotted to us, then scooted me aside with a foreleg.

He pointed at me, "Alright, look at Bandage for a second. See her frame?" he poked me in the belly for emphasis, "She's firm, trim, pretty muscular. That's a soldier's body. Good for war, trench work, that kinda thing."

Then he pointed at Token, "Now look at your frame, you’re, voluptuous, curvy, that’s like old school, drop dead sexy. But ya ain’t meant to be runnin’ around brawlin’ an’ shootin’ an’ all that other fun shit.”

“I can fight!” she huffed.

“I know ya can, just sayin’ you don’t have the build for shootin’, lootin’ and other cordite filled activities, most’d figure you’re built for... recreational purposes.”

Token blushed, Stripe chuckled and trotted around behind us. Then his forelegs slid around my midsection and squeezed, I felt him press against my back, then he leaned his head over and rested it on my shoulder, grinning stupidly.

“Personally,” he said, “I prefer a body like boss lady’s here, tends to be more... flexible.”

I giggled and shrugged him off, “You’re a perv, you know that right?”

He chuckled and stepped over the log, then sat down in between Token and I.

“It’s been established.”

Token was still blushing and looking down, Stripe nudged her and smiled down at her.

“I was just messin’ with ya Blue.”

She looked up and smiled, “I know mate. You have a point though, maybe I ought to start working out?”

He shrugged, I yawned and rubbed my eyes.

“I think I’m gonna pack it in love, don’t stay up too late. Big battle tomorrow and all that jazz.”

Token leaned over Stripe and gave me an affectionate peck on the lips, “Sleep tight babe.”

I smiled back at her and got up, making my way towards the shack. I wasn’t really tired, in truth I wanted some alone time with Victory. Not the weird sort of alone time, I just wanted to... oil her.

I opened the shack door gently and peeked inside, Shaky was curled up fast asleep on the dirty sleeping bag I used for a bed. I didn’t blame her, it was the only cushioning available, and Stripe wasn’t there so she couldn’t sleep on his back. I trotted over to the corner where I left my gear, sat down on my barding as a sort of cushion, and cradled Victory in my hooves.

I took the clip out noticed a tiny slip of paper tucked into the magazine. I tugged it out with my magic and unfolded it.

To whom it may concern,

If you’re reading this, I’m dead, hopefully that just means some blighted zebra took me out, not that the world got blown up like everypony says it will. Victory’s a good rifle, she’s my baby in fact, saved my ass more times than I care to count. I stashed her away in this bunker when I got relieved so that requisitions wouldn’t recall her. Keep her clean and oiled and she’ll keep gunning, I can promise you that much. Do me a solid and cap some baddies with her, sort of an in rememberance for old Coats.

Yours truly, Major Fancy Coats

P.S. Better wiped than striped!!!

I set the letter aside and made a mental promise to ‘cap some baddies’ for Coats, I owed him for taking such good care of this beauty. I loaded fresh .308 rounds into the current clip and several others, then slid the magazine back into Victory and leaned her against the wall.

I didn’t dwell on Coats, didn’t think about his life at all, his work. He was a long dead sniper, that was the jist, and past that I didn’t give a shit. The past never really interested me, being born in a stable I was conditioned to look to the future, not the history of a nation that was nothing but dust.

I laid down on my barding and shut my eyes, trying to sleep for several minutes when I heard small hoofsteps approaching. Shaky snuggled in next to me and rested her head on my forelegs.

“S-sorry,” the filly muttered sleepily, “I d-don’t sleep well unless I’m near somep-pony, and I g-get nervous when Stripe’s not around.”

“It’s fine sweetie.”

“Where is he anyway?”

“Out at the campfire chatting with Salt and Token, he should be in in a couple hours.”

“Okay.” she yawned.

She started snoring softly several minutes later, I got as comfortable as possible and followed suit.

***

I awoke to a sizzling noise, and the smell of something beyond heavenly that tickled my nostrils. I opened my eyes and saw everypony in our little group sitting around a fire Stripe had started in the middle of the room. Token was levitating the tray he’d made from the old shack over the fire, and sizzling on it were thin strips of meat and small puddles of grease. Stripe was watching the meal carefully, like Cookie used to do. Shaky was watching the pieces of meat in anticipation, Token was just focusing on keeping the tray hovering at the same level.

“What in the bright brilliant glow of Celestia’s sun is that?” I asked as more of the delicious fumes filled my nose.

“Bacon.” Stripe grunted. “Figured we oughta have somethin’ delicious and unhealthy for breakfast on what could be our last day.”

“I f-f-f-fuckin’ love bacon.” Shaky said excitedly, bouncing slightly.

“You like yours crispy or undercooked boss?”

“Um, undercooked I guess.”

He snorted, “Tough shit, yer gettin’ crispy.”

“Why would you even bother asking if you’re just going to make it crispy anyway?”

“‘Cause I’m a thoughtful, considerate motherfucker.” he said with a touch of irritation. This was the first time in a week we’d all been up in the actual morning (6:30ish) and Stripe was apparently not a morning pony.

"It's done Blue." he said after a while, fishing plates from his saddlebags and passing them around, then Token scraped a few bacon strips onto each.

I ate my first bite apprehensively, then practically had an orgasm as the flavor hit me. I shoveled the other pieces into my mouth and chewed the crispy meat slowly, savoring the delicious perfection that was bacon.

Token actually moaned a bit as she slowly at her first piece bit by bit. Shaky was greedily devouring each strip one at a time, Stripe had done something similar to myself and ate all three strips at once.

"Stripe, this stuff is- I don't even-"

"I know right?" he said, his tone and expression had softened, the miracle food had actually calmed his nerves.

"Is all meat this good?"

He shrugged, "I don't much care for Ghoul meat, not so much the taste as the consistency."

I balked at him, he chuckled and adorned an expression that told me it was a joke.

We trotted out into the brisk morning air and moved to our respective positions. Stripe and his hulking minigun were posted with Salt's troops on the frontline. Token, to my dismay, had volunteered to help in the trenches around the gate. Shaky was with the non-combatants in the far back, Stripe had had to work hard to convince her to stay in the fort. My new protege Oak (Birch's unicorn son) was on tower duty with me, and I spotted him on the far side of the hill, watching the sun rise over the ocean.

Oak looked a lot like his father, only skinnier, shorter, not as cheery, and definitely not as wooly. I liked him quite a bit actually. His stony expression was that of concentration and focus, and he paid attention when I explained the use of my old hunting rifle, I never had to repeat myself. His eyes didn't share the same soft twinkle of his father's, instead they looked more like... Well, mine, sharp and attentive.

I was almost proud to see him checking his rifle and the spare magazines in his pack. I trotted up next to him and tousled his cropped red mane, he never looked up, just continued his preparations, his sharp blue eyes darting back and forth.

"Ma'am." he muttered absently in the same thick accent of his father.

"Good morning Oak."

He smacked a fresh magazine into the rifle and slid the bolt into place, then slung it into his pack's loop. The deftness of his hooves was strange for a unicorn.

“Aye.” That’s the other thing I liked about Oak, he didn’t talk much.

“Nervous?”

“Nah.” I believed him completely too. The main reason I’d picked him was most of the other unicorns were jittery to a fault, Oak was calm, reserved.

“Glad to hear it. Still on for being my spotter today?”

“Aye.”

“Got your scope sighted in properly?”

“Aye.”

“Got your spare mags all sorted out?”

“Aye.”

“Got your frilly panties on?”

“Aye.” he said absently, then blinked in realization and blushed.

I laughed loudly and tousled his mane again. “Gotcha.”

“Aye.” he said, scratching the back of his head nervously.

“Buck up mate, just trying to lighten you up a bit is all.”

"I know, just not much in the mood for jokes."

"Right, battle time, serious faces." I scrunched my face into an over-serious scowl and he chuckled to himself.

"Any news on when they're going to attack?" I asked.

"Aye, the White-Legs' scouts said it'd be a few hours, gives us plenty of time to prepare."

"Aye." I agreed, mocking his Shetlander accent.

He rolled his eyes and trotted off, "I'm gonna go check the ammo stock in the towers."

"Have fun with that."

I trotted towards the main gate, figured I'd go and see Token since we had a few hours. The gate was wide open, with trench workers moving supplies out. Token was sitting near the back trenches overseeing the process.

"How goes it love?"

She shrugged. "As well as it can I suppose."

I sat down next to her and gave her a reassuring nudge. She smiled at me warmly and gave my neck an affectionate nuzzle.

"What do you think of our chances babe?"

I sighed, "Honestly, I'm not sure. Really it all depends on how effective Stripe's explosives are at weeding them out. I'm afraid we're going to lose ponies no matter what."

She nodded and stared at Stripe and Salt barking orders off in the distance. I watched for a while as well, before the nagging feeling of dread I'd been experiencing bubbled to the surface.

"I really wish you weren't up in the shit love, I'm worried about you."

She let out a semi-aggravated sigh and gave me an oddly stern look, "Like I told Stripe, I know how to fight."

"I know you can fight Token, but that doesn't change the fact that bad shit can still happen to you."

"Bad shit can happen to everypony, it's practically a war."

"I get that you want to fight, but do you have to be in the trenches?"

"Oh I see," she scowled, "you'd rather have me in the back with Shaky, staying out of the fight completely?"

I shifted uncomfortably, "Well..."

She pressed a hoof to my face to silence me and sighed again, "Listen babe, I realize you want to keep me safe because you're worried, and that's very sweet of you, but these ponies need me. I may not have much combat experience, but it's a shite side more than what most of these lot have."

I frowned and wrapped her in an embrace, "I know, but, I don't think I could bear it if anything happened to you, I love you."

She hugged me back and gave me a quick peck on the cheek, "I love you too, but I'm still fighting, you just need to have faith that nothing bad will happen." She pulled away and smiled, "Besides, I'm super lucky remember? What could possibly go wrong?"

I smiled sadly, then pressed my head to her chest, "Don't jinx it, you silly blue bitch."

"Bollocks, it's impossible to jinx me."

I sighed and pulled away, "Anything else I need to check on?"

She scratched her chin, "Hmm, I think Salt-Upon-Wounds wanted to talk to you, she's at the front with Stripe getting things organized."

I squeezed her again in a quick hug and kissed her on the cheek before trotting through the gun line.

The Treeminders had done an excellent job digging trenches, some even had tunnels to duck into where the spare ammunition was being held. Everywhere there were ponies scurrying back and forth, making small additions with foxholes and sandbags.

Salt and Stripe were sitting next to each other at the front, she was barking orders at her warriors, Stripe was nonchalantly leaning against his minigun, scratching his chin and yawning. Celery was next to him, assigned to reload his minigun, his new battle saddle was missing the autoloader he'd enjoyed in his armor.

Stripe cocked his head to look at me as I approached.

"Great day for a battle ain't it boss? Sun's shinin', radioactive birds chirpin', hell, I bet even Salty here is feelin' chipper."

"Silence," she spat, "this is a time for preparation, not idiotic jokes."

He snorted, "Just tryin' to lighten things up a bit, no need t' be a bitch."

She sighed with frustration and shook her head, "Go and make sure our ammunition reserves are prepared for us in the event of a retreat."

He chuckled softly, "For your sake, I hope that was a request, 'cause if it was and order..."

He trailed off and took up a menacing grin, Salt coughed and shifted uncomfortably.

"Stripe," I said, "go do it please."

He looked at me and snorted then got up and sauntered off to the trenches, Celery followed, likely eager to get away from the tension.

"Sorry about him Salt, I think he has authority issues."

She sighed again, "It is not entirely his fault, I have been stressed all morning and taken to shouting orders at everypony in my near vicinity, including him. He has been bearing with it surprisingly well, but I fear he is near the end of his patience."

"Right. So, what're we expecting?"

"They should not be coming at us with full intent, as far as they are concerned this is another routine raid, they are not expecting resistance on this scale."

"How long before they catch on?"

"I would guess a few seconds after the powder charges detonate and we storm out of the trenches with a blind rage."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're being facetious."

She shrugged, "It was actually an attempt at sarcasm, I am not very good at either I'm afraid."

I laughed and she smirked a bit.

"How's Celery taking her new role?"

"She is nervous to be on the front, but eager to assist. It is Stripe that is lacking in enthusiam, being a support gunner is not his idea of fun."

I nodded, "Yeah, the crazy sob prefers to be up in other ponies' faces with that minigun, not in back laying down covering fire."

"I cannot blame him. The rush of close quarters battle is... exhilarating."

I shrugged, "Guess I'm too sane to follow that line of thinking. I'll just stick to my rifle."

"Sanity is unfortunately not a luxury I can afford. And I agree that you continue using your rifle, you are quite the shot."

She stopped our conversation to belt orders at a White-Leg in her native tongue. She sighed impatiently as the stallion galloped back to the gate.

"Which reminds me, I need you to eliminate any Viper leaders you can spot, it will give us an excellent advantage in the way of tactical control."

"Right, no problem. What exactly am I looking for?"

"The biggest males with the best gear and weapons."

"Yeah, I think I can handle that."

"Thank you." I nodded and started trotting off when she called after me. "Please shoot straight!"

Stripe's interpretation of checking ammo reserves involved lazily sitting on a crate of 5.56mm rounds smoking cigarettes with Celery.

"How's the ammo?" I asked.

"Comfy." he grunted around his smoke.

I rolled my eyes and sat next to him in a comfortable slouch. Celery waved her pack of cigarettes at me and I shook my head.

"Only about an hour left now, should be one hell of a fight."

I chuckled, "And to think, the only reason we're here is because you followed some tracks in the mud."

He shrugged, ceramic armor plates clanking together, "I'm a hardcore mercenary that wanders all over the wasteland, this ain't the first time I've fallen ass backwards into an adventure."

"I wouldn't necessarily call it an adventure..."

He snorted, "Hoppin' all over the damn woods hunting down special weapons and delving into the depths to fight monsters, defending a fort from evil doers, bitch, we're obviously in the middle of an adventure."

"Maybe you've read too many books... aren't adventures generally happy-go-lucky not violent and utterly just fucked up?"

He snorted, "The genre leaves room for innovation, granted I wouldn't call a post apocalyptic wasteland a great setting for an adventure, I'd prefer something like Daring Do. Ancient temples an' shit like that."

“So you’re saying you prefer traipsing around in the jungle looking for tombs over digging through old bunkers blasting monsters to bits?”

He shrugged, “Either way it’s desecratin’ a grave, in a way...” he paused and scratched his chin, “damn, maybe that’s what I’m into...”

I rolled my eyes, then a boom of a detonated powder charge sounded out, Stripe sighed and spat his cigarette.

"That's our cue, let's move Cel."

"Good luck mate." I said, smacking a hoof on his shoulder.

"Seeya on the other side boss."

***

I breathed out slowly, still staring through my scope, the buck had been in the middle of shouting orders, unfortunate last words.

I marveled at the sense of peace that came over me when I worked, a battle was raging below, but I didn't hear a thing, and I barely felt the soft push on my shoulder when Victory sent a round downrange. Concentration was a wonderful thing.

I brought my eye away from the scope and scanned the battlefield. Stripe was on a hill, decimating the Vipers making a futile attempt at overtaking him. Behind him, hunkered down in a foxhole, Celery was reloading her rifle and preparing to rush to Stripe's side with a fresh box of ammunition.

I spotted Salt, in the fray of things, crushing anypony foolish enough to stand in her way. Her helmet was gone, and in my heightened state I could pick out her furious face, her mouth open in what was likely a harrowing war cry. Her tribe was at her back, similar bellows spilling out, expanding the swath she was forging.

The problem with not hearing anything, I didn't hear the missile screaming towards our tower, and it was far too late to do anything by the time I saw it.

The world went black. As I blinked back to consciousness, I first saw that the tower had fallen, and we had tumbled out of the gate. Then I saw the flames in the distance, then Oak next to me, shaking as he tried to stand, no blood, he was just disoriented. Then I saw Token running at me, her face and mane were blackened with soot.

She reached me and shook me hard, and I snapped back into alertness, the ringing fading away.

"Are you okay?" she yelled.

I nodded and trotted to Oak, helping him stand.

"I'm fine." he grunted.

"The Vipers are rushing us with flamethrowers! We need to move!"

I was still looking over Oak, checking him for shrapnel, looking for signs of concussion.

"Bandage!" Token screamed, pushing into me, "Now!"

I stared at her, then nodded and scooped Victory up with my magic, then holstered her and pulled out my pistol.

Oak tried to limp after us but I stopped him with a hoof and nodded towards the gate.

"But-" he started, I raised a hoof to silence him and wheeled him around, he sighed and limped back to the fort, I turned and galloped to catch up with Token.

"We're meeting Stripe in triage!" she called back at me. It was hard to hear her, even though I was right behind her, rockets and 40mm grenades were impacting the hill to our right.

We reached the trenches, "Stick to the wall!" she yelled as a pony with a flamethrower appeared and blasted a Treeminder on the opposite edge of the trench with a gout of fire.

We hugged the wall as he continued shooting flame into the trench, my left side was getting hot, the fire only a few feet away, but I wasn't burning yet. Token fished a grenade out of her saddlebags, bit the pin and levitated it out of the trench in front of the pony. There was a loud boom, the flames stopped pouring in, a red bar disappeared, and mangled chunks of pony were flying through the air.

We continued through the trenches until we found the large dugout being used as a medical station. Several injured ponies were scattered about, being treated by impromptu tribal doctors. I saw Stripe laying down as we entered, a makeshift arrow protruding from his shoulder between the armor plating. I trotted up to help him but he shook his head and arched it to his left.

"Her." he grunted.

I turned to see Celery lying on a ammo crate being used as a sort of table, Borsh was holding her down while Carrots carefully worked to cut away the barding melted to her leg.

I trotted up as she peeled the ruined armor away, the burns beneath were beyond severe, at a glance, mostly 3rd degree burns, in certain pockets, 4th degree, charred bone was visible in a few places.

"Alright," I muttered, "let me see here. We need to work fast to avoid a necessary amputation."

I took out a syringe of Med-X, my combat knife, a healing potion, and a roll of magical bandages.

I injected my last dose of Med-X directly into her scorched leg, she bit her lip and clenched her eyes, tears starting to roll out.

"Sorry. Carrots, keep her looking away."

Carrots nodded nervously and started whispering conversation in her sister's ear as she held her head and turned it away.

Most of the dead flesh needed to be cut away, anything black and crispy, everything that could be saved was very red, blistered and swollen. On closer inspection the burns on the bone weren't as severe as I thought at first, I'd worried it'd been heated up enough to damage the marrow, but it was a surface wound, and it would heal eventually.

I poured the healing potion directly onto the wounds as evenly as possible, muscle and irritated layers of flesh started returning, I used my healing spell to knit all of it back into place. The blisters were still there, but their swelling went down considerably. I wrapped her leg in the magical bandages and gently set it down.

"Not quite good as new," I said absently as I cleaned my knife off, "but it's the best I can do without proper burn ward equipment."

"Thank you," Celery croaked out, "will I be able to walk?"

"With time, yes, but you'll most likely limp the rest of your life... sorry."

"Don't be, you saved my leg."

I heard strained grunting behind me, Stripe had bitten down on the arrow in his shoulder and was carefully working on pulling it out himself. It snapped in his mouth and he groaned in frustration. I focused on the wound wrapped the head of the arrow with my magic and pulled, and with a liquidy, sliding pop, it emerged, blood oozing out after it.

He pulled out a small pouch, opened it, and rubbed the powder inside on the wound, then stood up and shook himself.

He rolled his battle saddle off his back and cracked his neck, "Ready to go take it to these sonsabitches?" he asked.

"I believe these 'sonsabitches' are already taking it to us." Salt said weakly.

She limped in, one of her warriors supporting her bad side. She was bleeding immensely from a gash on her forehead, and I could see a dirty rag tied around her left foreleg as a tourniquet where I assumed a bullet had gone through. Blood was also slowly oozing out of slits in her armor, I guessed more arrows.

She glanced at Stripe, blinking blood out of her eye. "Healing powder?"

"I'll do ya one better." he said as he pulled out a small bottle of blackish red liquid.

Salt smirked slightly, "Bitter drink?"

"Eeya." he tossed it to her, she caught it in her teeth, pulled the cork with her tongue somehow (which I tried very hard not to think about out of respect for Token) and sucked the whole bottle down.

"Eeyuck!" she spat once she finished, "I loathe that swill."

"Did its job though." The gash on her head was shut(though still visible), the slits were no longer oozing, and blood was no longer trickling from under the tourniquet on her leg.

"Amazing." I said.

"Yeah," Stripe grunted, "tastes like piss though."

"We need a plan."

"Figured we could just hop upstairs and kick some ass."

"I was hoping for something a bit more detailed Stripe."

"Shit, not like I'm some sorta master tactician, I figure the A to B, let the in between sort itself out."

"We should keep to the trenches," Salt offered, "emerge when we are behind them, pin them to the fort walls."

"What's the fun in that?" he countered.

"Why not do both?" Token asked.

I nodded, "I see where you're going with that, the main force can keep them distracted from the front, we can hit them from the back as a sort of strike team."

Salt nodded in agreement, Stripe shrugged apathetically.

"We're in." Shaky said from behind me.

I turned around to look at her, she was glancing around the room, No-Bark was behind her, a massive sword(a claymore maybe?) strapped to his back, covered in armor that looked to be made out of logs.

I shook my head, "No sweetie, you need to stay here where it's safe."

"F-fuck that." she said with a small stomp, "We wanna help."

No-Bark nodded eagerly, "Ol’ Sticky's feelin' mighty ornery!"

"Hell boss," Stripe said, "if the kid and the codger wanna help, might as well let 'em."

Before I could protest, a Viper stormed into the dugout, none of us were fast enough to react before No-Bark was across the room, his sword buried in the other pony's chest.

"Damn." Stripe said. "Where the hell did you learn to do that old man?"

No-Bark pulled the sword out and sheathed it, his dentures staying gripped on the hilt.

"Cave rat taught it to me!" he said, his eyes momentarily going bonkers, “I told ya Sticky were feelin’ ornery!”

“Ornery indeed.” Salt muttered.

“Borsh and I will keep things locked down here.” Carrots said.

Token dumped her magazine and loaded a fresh one, “Let’s move people.”

Our small group blazed out of the dugout and moved through the tunnels between trenches. Stripe and Salt were in front, pummeling the occasional Viper and ordering any friendlies back to the front. Shaky was riding on No-Bark’s back, steering his head left or right with the weave of the tunnel. Token and I were bringing up the rear.

“You know love,” I said to her as we galloped, “you look rather sexy when you’re all gun ho like this.”

“You don’t look half bad yourself babe, and seeing you jump into doctor mode like that back there... positively yummy.”

“As adorable as all that lesbian lubby talk is to listen to,” Stripe said, “I think we’d all appreciate it if you two’d shut the fuck up.”

“Speak for yourself,” Salt said, “I rather enjoy hearing it.”

“I know ya do Salt, which is a damn shame, cuz I bet you and I could just destroy a fuckin’ bedroom.”

We finally emerged, the battlefield was littered with corpses, indistinguishable after the Vipers’ bombardment. We all charged in different directions, sticking with the same pairings as in the tunnels. Salt-Upon-Wounds and Stripe took on the main force, knocking ponies into the air with bone crushing force. No-Bark was hitting a flank, Shaky steering him and firing her 9mm at the enemy simultaneously. Token and I had bigger metaphorical fish to metaphorically fry, honestly, I wasn’t quite sure what a fish was at the time, some sort of scaly thing that breathed water?

Our target was the chief of the Vipers, Salt said he would be using something called a shishkebab, and that we’d know him when we saw him. We did indeed, the buck was about my size, but that wasn’t what stood out, he had a gas tank on his back, and was swinging a flaming sword left and right with his magic. Token tried to fire but her rifle only got off two shots before jamming. I rolled off my saddlebags and charged ahead while she fixed the problem, unsheathing my knife and pulling out my pistol as I ran. For some reason, a part of my mind was wanting this to be up close and personal.

I fired off rounds as I charged, but they deflected harmlessly off his metal barding. The unicorn turned, I tried shooting him in the face, but he wore a thick welding helmet for protection, and the pistol wasn’t accurate enough to hit the thin glass slit. He charged at me, kicking up mud as he galloped. As we drew closer, I dumped my clip and shifted left, but he positioned just right, and a searing pain arched through the area around my eye. I fell and skidded, he continued past. I clenched my right eye shut and slammed my face into the mud to extinguish the fire in the new gash as the familiar smell of burnt flesh filled my nose.

I opened my eye when I was sure the fire had gone out, it was still intact. I ran a hoof over the new scar, stretching from my forehead, down over my right eye, and stopping just below it. I was pissed now, really, really pissed.

“Why the FUCK, is it always my fucking face, that gets fucked up like this?!” I screamed at him.

“Awe, did the poor wittle cunt get a cut?” he mocked.

That familiar pang of rage coursed through my mind and took control, I picked up my knife, in my teeth this time, and gripped the hilt firmly, then shrieked around it as my adversary and I charged again.

This time as he drew near, I didn’t swerve, instead, I hopped slightly, got my back legs in front, and slid through the mud under him, plunging my knife into the soft under part of his armor and dragging it through his belly, hot gore spilling over me as I went.

I rolled over and stood, shaking the bloody filth off myself as best I could. He just stood there, swaying and trembling slightly. He dropped his shishkebob, and then made a strange lurching motion as his steaming intestines poured out of the split in his belly. Then he just, fell over, he wasn’t quite dead yet, I could see the plates of his armor moving up and down, ever so slightly as he breathed his last few breaths.

I trotted up to him, wiping his gore off my knife and onto the cloth pieces on his armor, and flipped his mask up. The buck underneath had a glazed look in his eyes, but was noticeably terrified. I lowered my mouth to his ear, and whispered to him.

“I really, don't like that fucking word.”

He gasped, trying to catch air through what I imagined was a considerable amount of pain.

“Kill me, please.” he croaked.

I shook my head and flipped his mask back down.

“Live with it,” I said through gritted teeth in a voice that didn’t quite seem like my own, “feel every bit of that fucking pain, and die knowing you deserved all of it, you worthless piece of shit.”

I walked back to Token, sheathing my knife and reloading my pistol as I went. Token ran to meet me, and gently stroked the area next to my new scar.

"Damn..." she muttered, "do you need a healing potion or-"

I kissed her on the cheek to stop her, "Thanks, but it wouldn't do much, wound's cauterized. I could cut the flesh away and heal it, but the scar would probably just get wider and nastier looking."

She dropped her hoof and glanced me over again with concern.

"You're alright?"

I smiled and winked, "Golden love."

Then I felt it, sharp pain spreading through my ribs, I felt myself being lifted and pushed, heard Token screaming, started screaming myself when I looked to my left and saw the lance protruding from my torso. There was a burst of gunfire as the large stallion behind the lance collapsed, blood, brain, and bits of skull spouting out of his head.

The lance turned blue, which was overlapped with red as Token and I worked to pull it out.

A weak and rasping "fuck" escaped my lips when it was finally pulled loose.

I looked around absently while I lay there in the mud, blood oozing out of my new wound as Token desperately pressed rags to it and fumbled to open potions with her magic. We were winning, not many Vipers were left, the rest were retreating, I saw ponies dragging the chief away, moving as quickly as possible while still trying to hold his guts in.

They were young ponies, not as young as Shaky, but definitely younger than myself. Something in me snapped when I thought of the bastard that scarred me getting away and being healed. I pushed Token off me, I think I did anyways, I didn't feel in control, obviously a reaction to shock.

I stood up, feeling the pain in my chest, but not feeling it, then limped to my saddlebags and lifted Victory. I stared through the scope, looked at the young ponies' faces, focused on the gas tank on the chief's back, breathed in, squeezed the trigger.

***

They burned to death, slowly, I was half conscious when I saw it, but I saw it clearly now, young faces screaming in agony, blistering, seeming to melt away.

We were trotting back to the gate, Celery winced as she limped.

"Here," Salt said, poking her head under Cel's bad leg and pushing herself under her, gently rolling her onto her back, "allow me to help."

"This is a bit embarrassin' ma'am." she muttered nervously.

"Nonsense, I am just lending a hoof."

"Right, thanks I guess."

"You alright babe?" Token asked me.

I nodded absently. The lance thankfully hadn't gone deep, and had only bruised a couple of ribs when it impacted. "Could use a mirror, now that you mention it."

"You still look lovely Bandage, and I think the scars give you a degree of character."

"Whatever." I mumbled.

We had regrouped with everypony that survived, thankfully high numbers. We'd started with 70 ponies, all in all only 11 were dead and only 20 wounded. Stripe was dragging two wounded Treeminders on his sledge while they chatted, a young White-Leg that had taken an arrow to a knee was riding on his back.

Shaky was walking next to No-Bark, laughing as he told a story that was mostly incoherent and made absolutely no fucking sense whatsoever.

Birch and Oak met us at the gate, both rushing up to Salt when they saw Celery.

"Are ya alright daughter?" Birch asked with concern.

"I'm fine daddy, Bandage fixed me up, again."

"My thanks lass."

I nodded again, I was exhausted, I wanted to shed my armor, curl up on my sleeping bag and just sleep for a good long while. But, there were still things to do, hurt ponies to look over, my hippocratic oath was kicking my flank up and down Trottingham this particular day.

Lot’s of gunshots and burns, a few more injuries due to those damnable arrows, and one White-Leg stallion had half a kitchen knife broken off in his gut.

I shambled back to my shack, blankly walking through the victory celebration. Stumbling through the door, I shed my gear and my barding, then promptly collapsed on my sleeping bag. My attempt at sleep was interrupted by Token laying down on me, I pried one heavy ass eyelid open and stared ahead at myself. There was a small, filthy mirror in front of me, illuminated with blue magic. Token’s face was next to mine, smiling at our reflection.

“See?” she whispered, “Still as gorgeous as ever.”

I sat up and took hold of the mirror, examining myself. Still basically the same, but with a lot more scars. The two on my face were thin, and black, very noticeable in contrast with my white coat. I had lots of faint circular scars dotted along my torso where I’d been shot not even a week ago. My mane was messy, but not filthy, like it felt on a daily basis, and my coat was in a similar state, though pockets of soot could be seen here and there.

“Yeah, I guess I am.”

She nuzzled my ear and pressed her mouth to it, “Why just a guess? You should know that you’re pretty.”

“Sure.”

She shook her head and tsked, then wrapped her forelegs around my neck in a loose hug.

“Say it.” she said.

“What?”

“Say you’re pretty.”

“You’re pretty.”

“No idiot, say that you’re pretty, compliment yourself on your good looks.”

“I’m pretty.” I said awkwardly.

She overtook the mirror with her magic and set it down, then turned my head and kissed me on the lips.

“Yes, yes you are, now, let’s get some sleep.”

I nodded tiredly and laid down next to her, she turned me towards her, I pressed my face into her soft chest and fell asleep as she cradled me.

Sleep was not blissful, they haunted me, the burning faces. Melting away, screaming my name, begging to die, over and over and over. I couldn’t wake up, I wanted to, was pleading to, but something wouldn’t let me. I watched their deaths, the slow agony of burning to death, for what seemed like hours before finally being shaken out of it.

I was drenched in sweat, my mane matted, my sleeping bag soaked, panting like a frightened animal. Token was stroking my mane, trying to calm me down, whispering in my ear, nuzzling me, holding me. I didn’t sleep, didn’t want to sleep, it started raining again and I stepped outside and sat in a slouch against the shack in the downpour to cool myself off. Stripe asked me if I was alright, I nodded, he patted me on the shoulder and went inside. Shaky asked the same thing, I nodded, she said bullshit, I started crying, she sat in my lap and talked about some of the stories No-Bark had told her until I was laughing too much to cry.

I thanked her, she smiled and gave me a short hug before trotting into the shack.

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Toughness (1): Damage threshold +3

Skill Note: Melee (25)

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The rain stopped just before morning, It had been a thankfully calm drizzle, enough to cool me off without soaking me to the bone. I'd been awake through all of it, too frightened to fall asleep. The one time I almost dozed off the screams echoing through my subconscious had jarred me awake.

Shaky came out to see me first, supposedly before anypony else woke up as I didn't hear anything from the shack. We didn't talk, just watched the sunrise while she sat on my lap. Stripe brought us breakfast, bacon again, it improved my mood, but not by much. Token stepped out and nuzzled my cheek.

"Feeling alright?"

"Better." I muttered.

"You want to come inside and try sleeping again?"

I shook my head.

"Okay." she said with an obvious note of concern before walking inside.

My little grey friend shifted in my lap and looked up at me, "What the h-hell d-d-did you dream ab-bout anyway?"

I gulped, I wasn't nervous, but my throat was dry.

"Some ponies I killed yesterday, they died very painfully."

"How?"

"Burning," I said at almost a whisper, "very slow burning. It didn't bother me too much when I saw it, but evidently it hit me pretty hard."

"I had b-bad dreams last night t-too."

"What about?"

"Same as always."

"I'm sorry sweetie."

She shrugged, "I'm starting to g-get used to it, as f-f-fucked up as that is."

I nuzzled behind her ear, trying to be reassuring, she jerked away, but shot me a playful look this time, not the angry one she usually had when I tried to be affectionate.

She sighed and stood up, hugging me again before trotting inside.

I sat, watching the fort wake up and go about its business, bodies to be buried, fields to tend, structures to repair.

Celery came to say hello, leaning on Salt to take weight off her bad leg. I gave Salt a quizzical glance as they turned to leave, she just smiled a bit and winked.

Shaky came back out an hour later and bumped her head against my shoulder.

"G-get up, you've b-been moping all day and we g-got shit to do."

I stared at her blankly and she head butted me again.

"Up dammit!"

"But Shaky!" I whined, falling over on her.

"D-dammit B-bandage," she grunted as she tried to hold up my weight, "g-g-get the f-fuck off me!"

"But, but, but, Shaaaky!!!" I wailed, pressing more weight down on her.

She grunted again when her legs finally gave out, and wriggled underneath me.

"G-get off me B-bandage! You're t-too fat!"

I gasped and hooked my head to look at her, "You did not just call me fat!"

"Yes I d-did! Now g-get your FAT ASS off of me!!!"

I pressed more weight down on her, she grunted under the strain, then scowled at me and stuck her tongue out.

"F-fine you win," she pouted, "now get off me!"

"Who won?" I said, cocking an ear.

"You!" she shouted.

"I what?"

"You won! G-get off!"

"Oh fine," I huffed, "you're such a baby."

"Whatever," she muttered as I let her up, "wait 'til I g-got my p-p-posse with me, we'll see who wins then."

"Oh goodness me Shaky, you wouldn't really release the horde of ten year olds on me would you?"

"Shut up," she said, stifling a giggle, "c'mon, we g-got stuff to do."

"What kind of stuff?" I asked as I followed her.

"I dunno, stuff, hell I just want to g-get out of the shack for awhile, Token talks to me t-too much when we're in there. P-plus you sitting there like a lump was b-bumming me out."

"Oh I'm sure we talk quite a bit more than you and she do."

"Yeah..." she paused for a bit and looked down slightly, "b-but I like talking to you."

I stopped her and held out my forelegs, grinning stupidly.

"That gets you a hug!" I exclaimed.

She sighed, "See, this is the reason I don't like talking to you."

I pouted, "But Shaky..."

"Oh n-not this crap again!"

I quivered my lip and she sighed.

"Fine..." she muttered then looked around to make sure nopony was watching and hugged me.

I hugged her back and held her there. She tried to wriggle away and I squeezed tighter.

"Not yet."

She wriggled harder, "B-bandage, stop please."

I shook my head and squeezed tighter.

"B-b-bandage, s-seriously, let g-go."

"But Shaky." I said playfully.

Then she started screaming.

"BANDAGE, LET GO!!!"

I released her immediately, she quickly moved away and nearly fell backwards, she was hyperventilating, and her eyes were teary and frightened.

"I t-told you to stop," she muttered, "why wouldn't you stop, why, why wouldn't..."

Shaky wasn't all there right now, I tried to step closer, but she cringed and backed away.

"Shaky," I said softly, "are you alright?"

She blinked away a few tears and sat there staring off blankly, "I, I don't..."

"What the fuck did you do?" I heard a very pissed off zony say behind me. I turned, Stripe was glaring daggers at me.

"We were hugging and I-"

"And ya didn't let go when she asked you to?" I nodded, he shook his head and sighed with frustration. "Dammit Bandage, she was doing so well. The nightmares were starting to fade, she was having an easier time in crowds."

"I'm sor-" I started, but he raised a hoof.

"I don't wanna hear it. Ya fucked up, simple as that, you can apologize to her when she stops freakin' out."

He trotted past me, forcefully nudging me aside with his shoulder.

"Shaky?" he said softly, she mumbled something, only half registering his presence, "Shaky?"

She stopped mumbling and looked up at him, then started bawling.

"C'mere kid, let's go back to the shack and you can rest for awhile." she nodded and he scooped her up, holding her to his chest with a foreleg as he trotted back to the shack.

Shaky kept muttering "she wouldn't let go." over, and over again. Stripe nodded sympathetically and tried to calm her as they went.

"Fuck." I muttered.

I followed them and slumped into my previous spot in front of the shack, listening for Shaky's breathing to return to normal. Stripe trotted out and scowled at me, I tried to say something, but he just shook his head and walked off.

I softly pounded the back of my head on the shack for awhile, taking in the weight of just how badly I'd fucked up

***

Shaky was curled up next to me, and we both lay there listening as the noon rain hammered the roof. I was going to stay outside, but she told me to come in, and she'd sat down next to me after I laid down on my sleeping bag.

"I'm so sorry." I said for the fifth time. She nodded, like she had the times before.

"I'm not mad, b-but next time I ask you to let g-go, can you just do it, please?"

I nodded and rested my head on her small shoulders, then sighed tiredly, my eyes were getting heavy again, but sleep wasn't on my agenda anytime soon.

I heard hoofsteps coming through the shack and felt Token nuzzle behind my ear.

"Hello love." I muttered sleepily.

"Have you slept yet babe?"

I shook my head and nestled my chin further against Shaky's shoulder. I was damn close to passing out, Shaky made an excellent pillow.

Token pressed her mouth to my ear and kissed it softly, "Try and rest, alright? Stripe wants to move out tomorrow and its a long walk to Tragedy."

I nodded again, she gave me another quick kiss on the ear and trotted back outside.

Shaky shifted next to me so I picked my head up off her shoulders and rested it on my forelegs. She got up and gave my neck a soft squeeze.

"I'm gonna go see if Stripe wants any help." she said quietly.

I nodded, yet again, and as my head went down I had the sensation of falling, and I drifted into sleep.

~~~

It was a nervous day for me, I was 6, a year late for my first friend pairing, and here I was, in Matchbox's office, preparing to meet my new best friend.

I shifted in the stiff chair provided for me, my mum gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Don't be so nervous dear." she said.

I looked up at her, and she smiled down at me, her red eyes twinkling. That was the only thing I got from my mother, my eyes, everything else I inherited from my dad. His coat, his mane, his smarts and his temper. He couldn't be here today, unfortunately, his work in the reactor always kept him busy.

Matchbox manipulated the box that was her namesake in her hooves, apparently after a fire when she was younger it wasn’t allowed to actually be filled with matches anymore. "I'm sorry for the wait ladies, the girl's parents are always quite busy."

"It's no trouble." Mum said politely.

The door open, I looked eagerly, and my heart nearly skipped a beat. Topaz, the Overmare, stepped in, her daughter bouncing after her. I didn't know the filly's name, I just figured mine out that morning, along with my special talent, Bandage, a cruddy name if there ever was one, Topaz had picked it out.

The blue filly with a rabbit foot cutie mark smiled at me nervously, her eyes not quite meeting mine, and I made my best attempt at a friendly smile.

"Bandage," Matchbox said, "this is Token, your new friend."

I tried to say something but only managed to let out a nervous squeak. Token looked off to the side and extended a forehoof, I shook it.

*2 years later*

School was done for the day, finally, I was waiting outside the seven year old class for Token, she'd probably slept through half her class again.

"History is so boring." she yawned as she stepped out.

"Just get through it, I want you to graduate a year behind me like normal."

"Whatever." she grumbled.

"Your mum is gonna get mad if she finds out you've been sleeping in class."

She chuckled, "Yeah, but what's she gonna do, exile me?"

We both laughed as we continued towards my parents' apartment, where we always spent time after school. Token's mum was still the Overmare, which kept her in her office for nearly 2 day stretches. Her dad ran the agricultural deck, and usually stayed there in case of emergency, much like my dad, who usually stayed on the maintenance deck.

Token usually stayed the night at my place, it happened so often Mum had moved a second cot into my room.

"Well if it isn't the albino nerd and mommy's little good luck charm." the sing song voice of a much hated bully called out.

Lemon Zest was standing behind us, sneering, his meek friend Hops standing next to him, looking more embarrassed than intimidating. Zest was a year older than me, Hops was my age, and while Hops was shy and nice, Zest tended to be a complete ass.

"Sod off Zest," I spat, "I'm not in the mood for your crap."

"Awe," he jeered, "did I hurt the poor cunt's feelings?"

I blinked, I didn't know what that word meant, but I really didn't like it.

"What did you just call me?"

"A cunt." he said again with his cruel smile.

I glared at him, something was building up, I was angry, but, really, really angry.

"Shut your mouth Zest." I said through gritted teeth.

"Or what cunt?"

I was on top of him now, his face and my hooves getting bloodier with each swing, Token and Hops were working to pull me off him, then I felt a grown-up's foreleg wrap around me and yanked me off.

"Jiminy Bandage!" my mentor Syringe said, "What the heck's gotten into you?"

He set me aside and said something into the intercom nearby Token sat next to me and helped me clean the blood off my hooves. A Security officer came running around the corner a few minutes later, Zest's mother.

"Is my baby alright?" she asked frantically.

"He's fine," Syringe said, "he's out cold and he's got a few loose teeth, but he'll be fine."

"I'm sorry." I whispered, Syringe nodded and patted my shoulder, Zest's mother picked up her child and ran him home.

*2 years later*

"You just pucker your lips and lean in." Token said.

"I dunno Token," I mumbled nervously, "us practicing together is kinda weird..."

"Oh come on!" she said, "You want Hops to think you're a good kisser don't you?"

I blushed, I didn't know what to think about that. I graduated yesterday, started my job training this morning, and this afternoon I was matched with Hops as a pre-mating relationship. I liked Hops, he was nice, but I didn't know if I liked him enough to be kissing him.

"All right." I mumbled.

We closed our eyes and leaned closer cautiously, our lips touching in what I thought must've been the most awkward practice kiss of all time.

"Well that was... odd." I muttered when it was finished.

Token blushed and coughed nervously.

"Yeah," she chuckled nervously, "never doin' that again."

I cocked an eyebrow, "You're acting weird."

"Nuh-uh!" she said, still blushing.

"Yes-huh! You're acting all nervous and stuff."

She coughed again and looked away, letting her long mane fall over her face and hide her eyes.

"Whatever." I said with a shrug, I trotted across the room and fell into my cot. "Night mate."

"Yeah... night."

*2 years later*

Fertility check, the day every 12 year old dreads.

Hops and I sat next to each other in Syringe's office, I had my forehoof resting on his. Syringe had already tested me, fertile, I had never been so relieved, we were waiting on Hops' results, he'd asked me to stay because he was so nervous.

"I'm sure it'll be fine Hops," I said for the fourth time, "there's only a one in two hundred chance."

He nodded, absently staring. Syringe trotted out of the test room, a grim frown on his face, my heart sank.

"I'm so sorry Hops." Syringe said.

Hops dropped his head, "When will I have to go?" he asked quietly.

"In a few months, when all the transfer paperwork is done, it won't be too bad son, you won't have to lay until you're sixteen."

"Right." Hops muttered silently, he looked at me, blinking back tears, "Thanks for staying Bandage."

*4 years later*

I was doing vertical crunches on the hanging bar in my room. I was confined to my quarters again, for fighting with Zest, like always. Ironically, by punishing me, they gave me more time to exercise, which made beating him up easier.

Token had managed to lessen my sentence to 2 weeks, and she signed up as my guard so we could still hang out on a regular basis. She'd been acting odd lately though, she and her match got along well but she always complained about him, and she would get nervous and started laughing like an idiot when we sparred and I pinned her.

"How many are you on mate?" she asked as she trotted in.

I strained for the last crunch and sighed with relief when I was able to relax, "That was number one hundred and fifty."

"Damn Bandage." she trotted up to me and got her face very close to mine as I hung upside-down.

"You know, I find physical fitness very attractive."

I blinked, confused, and she cracked up and started laughing.

"I'm messin' mate," she chuckled, "the look on your face, priceless!"

I chuckled and swung myself down, landing neatly. I grabbed the towel off my bed with my magic and trotted to my bathroom.

"What'cha doin'?" she asked.

"Taking my post workout shower, like always." I said as I worked the valves. "Care to join me?"

She stood there, blushing and mumbling incoherently before I grinned mischievously.

"The look on your face," I teased, "priceless!"

She rolled her eyes and shut my bathroom door with her magic.

*2 years later*

The odd mix of pleasure and pain ached through my body as I lay on top of him, Hops grunted a bit and I moaned softly as we climaxed. He pulled out of me and I rolled over next to him.

“Not bad.” I panted.

“Well thanks,” he joked, “glad to know I’ve got my technique down.”

I sighed, “I hate that you have to be down here doing this.”

He sat up and shrugged, “They let us do other stuff, I still get to brew drinks, most of us just consider sex one of the messier parts of the job.”

I hugged around his midsection, rested my head on his chest and looked up at him with a coy smile. “I hope you don’t consider me messy.”

He grinned and nuzzled me, “Never.”

I closed my eyes and rested there, taking in his scent, he always smelled like fresh lager, and now it was mixed with sweat, but sweet smelling sweat.

“How’s your new match?” he asked.

I sighed, “Same as the last three, a complete ass.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

“Why’d you have to go and be sterile? You were the only good guy I’ve ever been paired with.”

He chuckled, “Believe me, not my choice.”

“Sorry,” I muttered, “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I know, that’s why I laughed.”

I sighed sadly, “Think they’d make an exception and let me marry you without being matched and without the chance of procreation?”

“Hmm,” he said, sarcastically scratching his chin, “a sterile male prostitute and a young doctor, breaking nearly sixty eight regulations and wrecking the entire stable’s tradition of marriage. Yeah, I think they’d go for it.”

I chuckled, “No need to be an ass about it.”

He glanced up at the clock above his bed, “My shift at the bar starts in a fifteen minutes, care for a round two?”

I laughed as I clambered on top of him, “Think you can last fifteen minutes stud?”

He laughed as well and pulled me close to him, “For you baby? I can last sixteen minutes.”

I smiled, “Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

*4 months later*

My first kill, so to speak. I’d been doing surgery on an elderly mare, removing a cancerous tumor from one of her lungs, she hadn’t made it. I sat in the office, my head in my hooves, Syringe was outside telling the family. I felt a hoof rest on my shoulder, I looked up and saw Token smiling at me.

“You alright mate?”

I shook my head and she hugged me.

“Well, at least you’ll have something to tell lover boy next time you go to see him.”

“Shut up.”

“About you being madly in love with Hops or you talking to him about this unfortunate incident?”

I tackled her and pinned her to the floor. I couldn’t help getting angry.

“Shut, up.” I growled.

She just smiled, “You sitting on my like this is getting me all hot and bothered.”

I put my face up to hers and glared, “This is not a time for jokes, now shut up before I get carried away.”

She grinned wider, “Who says I’m joking?” She licked my cheek, “And you getting carried away sounds excellent.”

“You’re sick.” I said as a got off of her.

“Oh I know.” she said smugly.

I sat back at the desk and sunk my head onto it.

"Aww Bandage," she said, hugging me again, "I'm just kidding. I can't imagine how hard this is for you."

"It happens." I mumbled. "She was old, sick. It was a risky operation too."

"Mhmm, making excuses may be fine for other doctors, but I know you, and you always put the blame on yourself."

I teared up, then hugged her back, "Damn you Token."

"Oh hush." she soothed.

*1 year later*

The urge to bash my brains out on the desk in front of me was becoming overwhelming. I didn't have a problem with the new Overmare, but she apparently loved the sound of her own voice. I'd been called in an hour ago, and I was still in the introduction.

"As I was saying," she continued, "I believe your constant visitation of the prostitute Hops is causing problems in your relationships."

I sighed deeply, "Listen, Hops is a good friend, and I just happen to be a regular client. I gave up any delusions of a relationship with him the day he was tested."

She frowned, "Then why the constant visits?"

I shrugged, "I'm a young mare with sexual urges that need to be satisfied and he's a young stallion that is very good at satisfying said urges. I'm not his only regular, as I'm sure you know."

"Well, that's settled then, I suppose, but it doesn't explain the constant failures with all your matches."

"Perhaps it's because Matchbox would think that a square peg and a round hole would make a perfect couple?"

"That's not quite fair Bandage," she scolded, "your friendship with Token has lasted many years."

I shrugged again, "We all make lucky guesses from time to time."

*3 weeks later*

Sleeping was proving difficult, all the excitement of Token's birthday still had me jazzed up. It'd been a good day, lots of drinking, lots of dancing.

I heard hoofsteps, then Token nudged my shoulder.

"What's up Toky?"

"Can't sleep."

"Me neither."

She clambered onto my cot and scooted in next to me. I smiled and hugged her.

"Happy eighteenth birthday mate."

"Thanks mate." she said tiredly, she was snoring shortly after.

I was a bit pissed actually, Token being next to me would cut into my midnight masturbation. I wasn't proud of it, but I was banned from the brothel, I hated my new match with a blind passion, and I had an itch that needed scratching.

It wasn't the sex I missed though, frankly it seemed... off for some reason. I just needed an orgasm every once in awhile or my stress would catch up with me.

*3 months later*

Token was still crying, but at least not bawling like before, she'd composed herself for the funeral. The small arrangement of Topaz's family and friends gathered around the incinerator. She'd committed suicide, for whatever reason, and instead of doing it cleanly and asking to be euthanized in medical, she did it herself, with her late husband's straight razor. Token was an orphan now, she was old enough for her own apartment, but I'd set up some special living arrangements with the Overmare that let her stay with me.

Matchbox was in attendance, she and Topaz had been close friends. Her usual cheerful look was gone, she looked pale, her coat and mane were mangy, and her eyes were sunken in and bloodshot. The old arson was just staring blankly at the casket, not even she could take enjoyment in watching the flames lick at it.

Token cried the rest of the night as I held her, she didn't calm down until it was morning and I had to go to work.

***

Faces, so many faces. Dead ponies, my dead ponies, my kills. I remembered every single one vividly, the downside of being a sniper, seeing each face clearly in the scope. They were bad ponies, raiders, I even spotted the mare that I assumed raped Shaky. But I felt terrible for each one.

I was in a hallway of sorts, but it was dark, except for well lit framed pictures of the ponies. I found the raider that had scarred my cheek, right next to her was the buck that scarred my eye. The pictures weren't in any chronological order, which I found odd.

"Two of my favorites." a voice said, eerily similar to mine, but no accent, and a tone that seemed sadistic.

I turned to look, at myself? I was standing in front of me, my barding on, my face scarred and smiling wickedly, Victory strapped to my back.

"What, the, fuck." I said. A severe understatement, considering this was by far the strangest moment of my life.

The other me chuckled, "This is a bit odd for me too, I'm not used to visitors."

"Who the hell are you?"

She laughed, "I'm you, you're me, we're us."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm you Bandage, a part of you anyways, the part that finds killing..." she sighed and smiled warmly at one of the pictures, "exhilarating."

"That's sick."

She shrugged, "It's true, that little note of satisfaction you always get in the back of you're head from a well placed shot, that's me. Or that feeling that wells up in you that makes you, hmm, let's say, ram a knife in somepony's skull, or disembowel a pony..." she smiled sickly, "or burn a few to death."

"You bitch." I said through gritted teeth.

"Yes, insult yourself, that totally doesn't make you seem crazy."

"I've got a split personality, I obviously am crazy."

She scratched her chin and shrugged, "Valid point I suppose. But to your credit I was born after your days in the stable were through, so it's the wasteland making you crazy. And the little battles we've had the past few weeks have made me all big and strong."

She giggled, but not in a cute way, she somehow made it sound diabolical, "This is fantastic, now that you know I'm here, I'll finally have someone to chat with, yay!"

She ran up and hugged me, I tried to wriggle away the instant I smelled it, she reeked of death, literally. The scent of burnt flesh, decay, and blood. I knew this was just my mind, but it was real enough to freak me out and disgust me.

"Now," she said, "I believe that filthy blue hussy has been trying to wake you up."

"Filthy-" I started, before reeling back into consciousness.

~~~

I was on my back, on metal, moving, Token was standing above me, looking down with concern.

"Another nightmare?"

More than you can imagine, "Nah, just some odd memories, where are we?"

"On the sledge, almost to Tragedy."

I rolled onto my hooves, what I saw in the distance was amazing. Stripe had described it as a town, it was more like a city, large structures of metal, smaller houses made of concrete, and a massive neon sign resting on the tallest building that spelled out TRAGEDY.

"Damn." I muttered.

"Eeya," Stripe said, "looks like Razor's added a couple houses, couple merchants have probably moved in. Always nice to see the old girl growin'."

"Can we speed up?" I asked, eagerly staring at the city.

"Bitch," he said jokingly, "you wanna pull?"

"Not so much." I smiled.

"Then sit yer ass down and shut the hell up."

The city had a gate, two guards met us as we approached.

"Hey Stripe!" the mare on the left said brightly. Her drawling accent was exotic, to me anyways.

"Sup Tini, boss lady in?"

"Yeah, she been waitin' for ya since she heard 'bout Oasis."

"How the hell did she hear about that?"

"PON3 gave MYSTIKZ a tip and he ain't shut up about it." the buck said, "That pretty white one the sniper?"

Stripe chuckled, "Eeya, that's Bandage."

The buck extended a hoof and I shook it, "Heard you can tear shit up, more power to ya for killin' off them damn Vipers, fuckers been harassing settlements round here for weeks."

"Hear that," the voice in my head said, "we tear shit up, I'm a bit proud of that, aren't you?"

"Shut up." I thought back.

"You're no fun, but I'm impressed at how quickly you've picked up direct communication."

"Shut, up."

"Fine." she sighed.

Unsettling mental breakdown over, though I'd been shaking this fellow's hoof for quite some time and was staring off blankly.

"Sorry," I muttered, "spaced off there."

"Right. Anyways, we'll send word ahead, have em get yer suite ready. Need a second bed?"

"Yeah," Stripe said, "thanks man."

Stripe undid the harness and shrugged it off, we started entering when Tini stopped him.

"Oughta come see me later big guy."

He smiled and got closer, "That sounds great, but I got a feelin' Razor wouldn't appreciate you doin' patrols with a limp."

She laughed slyly, "Shouldn't be a problem stud, Ah got bar duty the rest of the week."

He chuckled, "Might take ya up on that."

"You know where t' find me." the peach mare said in a very low, suggestive tone.

"Friend of yours?" I asked him when we were out of earshot.

"Yeah, guess you could say that, met her about two years ago, we hook up every time I'm in town."

"She seemed nice."

"Yeah, Tini's a peach, no pun intended. Damn good lay too."

"I'm going to hit the market," Token said, "we're starting to run low on food."

"Pick up some healing potions as well love, we're dangerously low."

Stripe fished through his bag, pulled out a sack of caps and passes it to her.

"Go t' Quick Fix's stand and pick me up some Med-X and some Rage, tell him Stripe sent ya and he oughta give a discount."

"Alright." Token said trotting off.

"More chems?" I whispered sternly.

He laughed, "Ain't like I'm addicted, I always keep a hefty supply of Stampede on me, you know, in case a mob of ferals or a few pissed of manticores attack."

"Right." I muttered.

"Oh let the buck have his fun, if he wants to make himself a better killing machine then let him, then sit back and watch the chaos unfold."

I didn't answer her, me, whatever. I could almost sense internal pouting for not being told off.

"Oh shit." I muttered, "Token's birthday is tomorrow."

Stripe chuckled, "I got the perfect idea for a gift I'm bettin' she's just gonna love."

"And what would that be?"

"Gimme a couple hours in my loft and I'll get it sorted out."

There was a streak of grey and purple, and suddenly Stripe was on his ass being relentlessly hugged by a pony with bat wings.

"Stripe!" she exclaimed, "I'd heard you were back in Trottingham, shame on you for not coming to visit sooner!"

He hugged back and stood up on his hind legs. "Hey Nyx. Sorry 'bout that, the mares I now keep company with have been holding me up a few days."

She turned to look at me, she was wearing very thick welding goggles, but I could see a faint amber shine from behind them. She smiled a wide, fanged grin and leapt at me, hugging me with nigh bone crushing strength.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Madam Nyx, I run the brothel."

"Nice to meet you too." I coughed out.

"Oh, sorry about that," she said as she released me, "forget my own strength sometimes!"

"How exactly did you get like that?"

She chuckled to herself, "When I was young, I always wanted to be 'an exotic mare of the night' and when I was about ten, I got my wish, I crash landed in some killing joke and poof, batpony. Now at the time, I didn't see the downside, but when I returned home, my whole tribe that I was some sort of demon. So, they tried to kill me, and I flew away. Flew over the Divide, made it to Port, and the Walkers took me in almost instantly. Captain Dot practically adopted me."

"Two years later, in Flank, little Stripe and Little Ziggy popped out, and I was tasked with foalsitting the two little rapscallions while mummy and daddy were off laying siege to sea raiders. About four years ago when this place was good and set up, Stripe asked me to come to Tragedy and help Miss Razor run things, and here I am."

A young batpony assaulted Stripe next.

"Uncle Stripe!" he said brightly.

"Hey Vespers!" Stripe said, throwing the colt onto his back.

"Can we go play hoofball or somethin'?"

"As fun as that sounds I gotta go see the boss lady, tell ya what though, show my little friend Shaky round town for me."

"Okay!" he exclaimed, wooshing off Stripe's back and landing next to Shaky, who nervously cringed away.

"My son Vespers." Nyx commented as we left the two, "Apparently my condition is hereditary."

"Well, well, well," a voice said from above, "look what the cat dragged in."

"Razor," Stripe said with a smile, looking up at the black griffon leaning on the railing of the balcony of the largest building, "get yer ass down here and give Stripe a hug!"

She laughed, she seemed young, like a teenager, "Why don't you come up here old man? I'm in a meeting, and I sure would love it if they could see one of our founders is a huge zony."

"Lookin' to intimidate?"

"Is there any other way to go about politics?"

He laughed, "S'pose not, Nyx you mind givin' Bandage the tour?"

"It would be my pleasure," she nudged me with a leathery wing, "come come, we've places to see."

We walked through the streets, she pointed out the brothel, and the Mystical Beats club right next to it, we'd just left the residential area, the tall buildings were full of V.I.P suites, she nodded her head at the market, Token spotted me and waved. Then she pointed out what was in my mind the greatest building ever, the bath house.

"Goddesses. I could really use a good wash."

"It's open twenty four hours, you can just go on in."

It was tempting, beyond tempting, I was craving an actual bath, but I had to resist, for now.

"No, I should wait for my marefriend."

"Well that's sweet of you."

"How does something like this get started?"

"The brothel used to be run by Razor's father, who had several political contacts in the Union. When Stripe got here he helped Razor kill her father, she inherited all of his wealth, and got hold of his contacts. Then Razor went about the process of extorting, bribing, and intimidating more people, and earning quite a few favors. We set up the town, business started flowing, merchants moved in, plus we get paid substantial amounts of caps for keeping patrols on trade routes by the Union. Basically, we make a shit load of caps and call in favors for metal and concrete. There was an abandoned stable nearby that we salvaged water talismans and pipes from."

"Amazing."

"Yes, for such a young thing, Razor has excellent knowledge of business and politics. Stripe's muscle also helped quite a bit, Razor had him kick quite a few asses to get things done."

She laughed, "I believe I've talked more than enough, I'll let you enjoy yourself."

"Thanks Nyx."

I trotted over to Mystical Beats and went inside. The entrance room was a large bar, and past that was a set of thick sound proof double doors, though the soft rhythmic pound of bass was still getting through. I went to the bar, Tini was mixing drinks.

"Hey there." she said with a smile, "what's yer poison?"

"Surprise me."

"Can do," she chuckled, "so, how'd ya meet Stripe?"

"He saved us from slavers, about on hour after we left our stable."

She nodded while she worked several bottles of booze with her hooves and tail. "Yeah, big man saves folks more than he likes to admit. Modesty I figure," she chuckled to herself, "don't mind takin' credit for his bedroom prowess though. Then again, credit's due in that particular area."

I rolled my eyes and she laughed, pouring the fresh mixture into a cocktail glass and sliding it towards me.

"Drink up, tell me what ya think."

I took a sip, it was delicious, fruity, and the slight burn of alcohol was more complementing the beverage than making it unpleasant.

"Fantastic, what is it?"

"Mah own special recipe, call it Peach Tini’s Miracle Tonic."

"Well Peach Tini," I said, raising my glass, "you mix one hell of a drink."

"Thank ya miss. You oughta check out the club, Ah'm sure DJ MYSTIKZ'll wanna gab at'cha."

"Maybe I will."

"Right through them doors."

I nodded, belted down my drink and trotted through the double doors. The sound hit me like a sledge hammer. The bass causing my organs to vibrate, my eyes bulge, and my ears throb. The wub, the bass, the electronic rhythm, it was... intoxicating. Even the floor was pulsating, but with light, and dancers. All looked drugged off their mind and more enthralled in the music than they were with dancing, unaware of each other's presence.

I moved to the edge of the mob and closed my eyes, letting the beat move through me, as stupid as that sounds. I stood there for an unknown period of time, bobbing my head and swaying, when someone nuzzled my flank a little too affectionately. I wheeled around, ready to cold cock somepony, but it was just Token, smiling at me.

"Enjoying yourself?" she yelled, though compared to the music it could've been a whisper.

I got closer and yelled back, "Yeah, this is great!"

"This is some odd music."

I grinned and started bobbing again, for some reason my ass had taken up the beat as well, bouncing left to right with the rhythm.

"I love it!" I yelled.

Someone nudged me, a guard, she grinned as I continued to sway.

"MYSTIKZ would like to speak with you, follow me please."

I nodded and motioned for Token to follow, and bobbed my way through the crowd. The guard led us through a velvet rope and up some staircases to the booth above the sound system, she opened the door to let us through and shut it behind us.

I was actually disappointed the booth was mostly sound proof, and the music was merely a soft throbbing whisper.

DJ MYSTIKZ stood on his hind legs, stabilizing himself on his equipment and working several complicated dials and knobs with his magic. He had large headphones on, and was bobbing with the beat in his ear. He glanced at us and held up one hoof, then switched out records and adjusted knobs before resting the headphones on the equipment and turning to greet us.

His coat was a dull grey, but his mane was a vibrant gold, his eyes were covered by odd looking green bug eyed goggles, and he had a squashed and shredded top hat resting on his head with his horn protruding from a hole in the brim. His cutie mark was a record with a large jagged scratch going through the center.

"Ladies," he said with a smile, the black light in the room making his teeth shine like neon, "have I heard some things about you. Kicking raider ass all over the place, surviving odds that would easily kill most, and PON3 wasn't lying when he said you were pretty little things."

"Might I ask, what are your names?"

"I'm Bandage," I said, "she's Token."

"MYSTIKZ," he said, taking off his hat and bowing, "at your service, a pleasure to meet you both."

This guy was suave, cocky, it was kinda funny.

"We should tear out his throat and take those goggles."

"Quiet you."

"It's nice to put a name to Trottingham's newest legend, makes the news reports so much easier, I'd love to get an interview actually, if you find the time."

"I'll think about it."

"Noticed you enjoying the music." he said with a smug grin.

"Oh it's fantastic! Never heard anything like it."

"Well, since you like it so much..." his horn glowed green and his magic turned a few knobs, then he pulled out a jack cable and plugged it into my PipBuck, and unplugged it after a few seconds.

"There you are," he said brightly, "every song I've got, oh and have these ear pieces, gives you the club experience."

I took the ear buds and put them in my saddlebags, then a pair of goggles smacked me in the face.

"What the hell?" I said with annoyance.

"Complimentary, think of it as a thanks for agreeing to the interview."

The goggles were like his, but with deep red lenses, I put them on but let them rest on my forehead. I nodded thanks, MYSTIKZ smirked, put on his headphones and waved us out.

***

A warm bath has always been something I've enjoyed, a warm bath with a lover, I found out, was at least ten times better.

Token and I relaxed across from each other in the long pool, submerged except for our heads, which we'd already washed the grime off of.

We were in a VIP bath, separated from the rest of the bath house, Stripe had apparently called ahead and told them we'd be coming.

I sighed, the relief spilling through me was ridiculous, muscle tension I didn't know I had was melting away, along with a thin layer of dirt.

Token smiled at me coyly and took a breath before disappearing under the water. She emerged right in front of my face and smiled again before kissing me. I wrapped my forehooves around her midsection and pulled her closer. She moaned softly and opened her mouth, our tongues locked. This might best describe my idea of paradise, Token, warm water, and sloppy make outs.

She broke away, smiling once more, and submerged herself again. To hell with making out, what she was doing with her tongue now was far better.

I leaned back, resting my head on the side, closed my eyes, and let the pleasure pulse through my body.

Token came up for air and rested against me, kissing up my neck.

I sighed deeply and held her tight, nuzzling her affectionately.

"Remind me to thank Stripe for setting this up." I said.

"Oh I will." she said.

Suddenly she was giggling.

“What?” I asked.

“You’re the ‘newest legend of Trottingham’,” she snickered, “such a cheesy thing for a pony to say.”

“Yeah, but it gives us some good press I suppose, could mean more work in the future.”

“Hmph, and compared to Oasis, mercenary work should be a cake walk.”

I nodded and slid under the water, preparing to return the favor.

***

Token went to Mystical Beats after our bath for a drink, I had Nyx direct me towards Stripe’s suite. The tall building had an elevator, sort of, it was a well built platform connected to a complicated network of pulleys. Stripe was in the ‘Founder Suite’ at the top of the building, apparently each of the building had one. The room was large, and interestingly decorated. Carved masks and ornamental weapons hung from the walls, several different guns scattered here and there, and a rack of pony skulls simply labeled ‘fuckers’.

Stripe climbed part way down the stairs on the far side of the room and looked at me. He was wearing thick rimmed reading glasses and looked utterly ridiculous.

"Hey boss, come on up I got somethin' to show ya."

I nodded and followed, the loft of the suite was lined with bookshelves, each one packed with books in pristine condition.

I gave an impressed whistle, "Nice collection big guy."

"Thanks." he said as he trotted to a desk in the corner, nodding me over.

On the desk were three books, 'Sexual Anatomy of Different Pony Races', '500 Positions to Spice Up Your Love Life', and 'Unicorn Sensuality'.

"Uh-"

"Think of these books as a gift from me to you to her." he said as he readjusted his glasses, "Now, I've marked pages of specific interest to your situation with red sticky notes, I recommend studying thoroughly, though I'm guessing that shouldn't be a problem for ya."

I coughed nervously and opened the first marked page in 'Unicorn Sensuality', "Guess it couldn't hurt..."

He chuckled, "Trust me on this one. Oh, an' read 'em somewhere else, I got a lady friend comin' over in a bit."

"Right," I said, rolling my eyes and scooping the books into my bag, "enjoy your date big guy."

"I always do." he said mischievously.

***

I was in the bar of Mystical Beats sitting in a booth closest to the door of the dance floor, listening to the faint throb of the music as I read. Shaky was curled up asleep on the soft seat next to me.

Token was at the bar, getting utterly smashed, I'd had to shoo away a few bucks that were getting a bit too cheeky, but otherwise she was enjoying herself.

I'd wondered why a city as large as Tragedy had looked so empty during the day, and the answer was obvious, its citizens preferred the night life.

The club was packed, both the bar and the dance room, I'd been invited by multiple ponies to multiple parties all over town, and there was literally a line outside the brothel. Truly a deviant's paradise.

I was on the third book, 500 positions, and roughly 143 of them pertained to us. I'd done extensive study on the first two, Unicorn Sensuality was by far the most helpful, but this one was proving extensive and a little too exotic for my taste.

A claw tapped the table in front of me, catching my attention, Razor was sitting across the table from me.

"Hello." I said absently, looking back to my book.

"Hey, mind if I smoke?"

"Sure."

She lit a cigarette and let out a relieved sigh.

"Bandage right?"

I nodded, vigorously studying the '69' position.

"Stripe said some good things about you, said you were a bit of a bad ass."

I chuckled, "I'm sure he exaggerated a bit."

"Undoubtedly," she said, tapping her cigarette on the table's ashtray, "but, I've come to learn that there's always some truth in what the old man says."

"Any reason in particular you're telling me this?"

She shrugged, "Just making small talk."

Shaky stirred, sat up and took a sip of my scotch, then rested her head on my lap. I massaged her back softly until she was snoring again and took a sip myself.

"Cute kid."

"She has her moments."

"She was brawling with half the kids in town earlier, good thing Vespers was there to stop her or we might have a few dead ones."

I set my book aside and looked at Razor, slightly concerned.

"What were they fighting about?"

The griffon shook her head and took another long drag before grinding the cigarette into the tray, "Someone made fun of her speech impediment from what Nyx told me, little fuckers."

"They c-called me s-s-stupid," Shaky muttered, drunkly and sleepily, "so I b-b-beat the shit outta 'em."

She giggled a bit, "Teach 'em t' f-f-fuck with Sh-shaky."

She sat down in my lap and tried to take another sip of scotch but I levitated the glass out of her reach.

"I think you've had enough sweetie."

Shaky just pouted and rested her head on the table.

"You're about ready for bed huh?"

"Nuh-uh!" the filly protested, "It's n-not even m-midnight."

I scooped my books into my saddlebags, belted down my drink, levitated the agitated filly onto my back, and said goodbye to Razor. Shaky was swearing, I think, it was mostly drunk and incoherent, the price of poor judgement on my part.

I collected Token on my way out, and helped the poor thing stumble back to the suite.

Stripe was in bed with Tini when we arrived, not active thankfully, but asleep. Stripe had his forelegs wrapped around her and she was snuggled against him. He blinked a tired eye open and brought a forehoof to his mouth. I nodded and quietly helped Token into bed.

I set Shaky in the large empty space of the bed before crawling in next to Token, but she just scooted up and settled in between us.

“You could snap the little drunk one’s neck while she sleeps and have time to reach your weapons before Stripe even knows what’s going on.”

“Can I please just sleep in piece, you know without you talking or plaguing me with horrific monsters?”

“Oh sweetie, I don’t give you the nightmares, that’s your subconscious fucking with you, for some reason you feel guilty about killing ponies that deserve it.”

“Just shut up dammit!” I said aloud.

The room stirred, everypony looked at me, my face flushed and I looked down.

“The fuck are you looking at huh?!” I yelled.

Token shifted, even in her drunken stupor she managed to look concerned.

“Babe?” she said softly.

“I would recommend making a hasty escape.” my crazy offered. I complied, rolling out of the bed and exiting the suite at a near gallop. Way to make myself look less insane.

I needed a drink, or a bath, or something dammit, something to take my mind off this crazy bullshit..

“Move over,” she said, “momma knows what we need.”

“What the hell is that supposed to-”

Then I sank back, and down, and into a box of sorts, staring out of my eyes, but from a distance. There was, me, the other me, hovering above, curled into a ball.

“What the fuck is going on? What the fuck did you do?!”

“I took control silly, I’ve done it before, just never completely. Before, I just slightly guided your actions, now that I’m strong enough I can toss you down into the cage and do whatever I please with our body.”

She went about collecting and equipping our gear, which was in the locker just outside the door, then stepped into the elevator and trotted outside when it reached the bottom floor. She steered our body to Razor’s office and trotted in casually, approaching Razor’s desk.

“What can I do for you Bandage?” Razor asked, looking up from her papers.

“I want a job,” the voice that wasn’t mine said, “a bounty, something, I don’t give a shit. I just want to go shoot someone.”

The young griffon smiled behind the veil of cigarette smoke and fished a paper out of her desk, setting it down in front of us.

“This look good to you?”

“Raider camp,” the other me read aloud, “two miles east of here, seven hundred caps?” Our mouth stretched into a cocky grin that felt completely unfamiliar to me, “Piece of cake.”

“Excellent,” Razor said, passing a pencil to us, “sign at the bottom please.”

She signed, even the signature wasn’t mine, and trotted out of the office.

***

Slaughter, total slaughter, the best way to describe what she did to that raider camp. She’d picked off the few guards cleanly, and quietly, and then stormed the rest with the pistol and knife, mutilating the faces of a few in the most horrific ways I’d ever witnessed. There’d been one survivor, a filly, close to Shaky’s age, a raider, but a kid nonetheless. She’d taken a shot to the gut and was now begging for the last few minutes she had. The thing controlling my body just grinned maliciously and shot the child in the face. A buck whipped around the corner and shot us in the shoulder, she barely flinched and shot wildly in his direction with the pistol, dropping him after a few shots.

We limped back, I berated her for the murder and for not bringing any healing potions, she just mentally jeered at me. Razor was waiting patiently at her desk, the other me said the job was done, the griffon smiled and set a sack of caps on the desk, then set the paper we’d signed into a filing cabinet.

“I’m tired,” she whined once we left the building, “you take back over.”

“I’m not sure how,” I said angrily, “you didn’t necessarily explain it.”

“Simple, wait for the other one to get tired and will yourself out of the cage.”

I thought hard, trying to push my way up, and with some effort it worked, the process was odd, my mental self literally just grabbed hold of her and tossed her back in the cage, then I was jerked back into consciousness.

I limped to the suite, stormed past the medley of concerned friends and went to the bathroom mirror, then dug the bullet lodged in my shoulder out and sucked down a healing potion. I was panting, sitting with my forelegs on the sink and staring blankly into the mirror, pulling bullets out of myself still hurt like all hell. Token peeked her head in with a look crossed between hung over and concerned slapped on her face.

“You okay?” she asked softly.

“I’m fine!” I snapped, “Just go back to bed.”

“Alright.” she said at almost a whisper, giving me one last concerned glance before trotting out of the room.

I wiped the blood off the floor and trotted back out into the hallway, stripping my gear and tossing it back in the locker, all except my goggles, which I’d forgotten were still on my head. Shaky caught up with me as I started to descend in the elevator. She winced as we stepped outside into the early morning sun and I passed her my goggles.

“Wear those, they’re shaded, it’ll help a bit.”

“Thanks,” she muttered, “why d-does my head hurt so d-damn much?”

“You’re hungover.”

“What’s that?”

“It means you don’t feel good because you drank too much last night.”

“Drank t-too much what?”

“Scotch I think, you were through your second glass and well on your way to completing a third before I walked us home.”

“That yummy s-stuff? What was in it?”

“It’s alcohol sweetie, it’s bad for you. Frankly I shouldn’t have let you have any but I figured you could handle it considering how you burn through smokes.”

“Well how d-do I make my f-fuckin’ head quit hurting?”

“There’s a diner in town, we’ll go get you some greasy food and some juice, that always helps Token out.”

“Kay.” she said, trying to walk on three legs while she rubbed her temple with the fourth, “What was up with you last night?”

I paused and scrunched my face, fighting the urge to snap at her, “It’s complicated, just leave it at that.”

“Okay.”

We stepped into the diner, which was almost completely deserted, the mare at the front counter greeted us with a smile.

“Hey there!” she drawled, “What can I getch’all?”

“Do you have eggs?”

“Yes’m.”

“Bacon?”

“Yes’m.”

“Alright, two orders of that please, any juice?”

“No ma’am, but I can mix a bit o’ RadAway with some water an’ it’ll taste like juice.”

“Water’s fine thanks, two glasses please.”

“Alright then, that’ll be fifty caps an’ it’ll be right with ya, take a seat wherever ya please.”

I gave her the caps and guided Shaky to a booth in the corner, she sat across from me, pouting and rubbing her temples with her hooves.

I sighed and leaned over the table, “Let me see your head.”

She recoiled a bit, “Why?”

“I’m going to cast a light relief spell, that should ease your headache a bit while we wait.”

She nodded reluctantly and leaned forward, I touched my horn to her head and casted the spell, she sighed with relief and slouched back in her seat comfortably.

“Why the fuck didn’t you just d-do that in the f-f-first p-place?”

“You’re not the only one having a rough morning kid.” I said with a small hint of agitation as I stared out the window.

“You hungover too?”

“No, but I had my body snatched from me last night and had to dig a bullet out of my shoulder this morning, which fucking hurts, so I’d appreciate it if you would just stay quiet for a bit!”

She pouted slightly and looked away, “Sorry.” she muttered.

I sighed again and rested my head on my hooves, “Don’t be Shaky, I’m just a bit off right now is all, rough night.”

A waitress placed our food in front of us a few minutes later, I ate slowly, picking over the meal, Shaky had greedily devoured it and already sucked down her water.

“You g-gonna finish that?” she said, staring at my food intently.

I ate the bacon but scooped the rest of the scrambled eggs on to her plate, “All yours.”

“So,” she said as she chewed her eggs, “what do you want to do today?”

“What do you mean?”

“I figure Token and Stripe aren’t g-gonna b-be up for awhile, we should go do something.”

“Well, I dunno. What do you want to do?”

“Can we go to the b-bath house? My m-mane is getting all ratty.”

I shrugged, “Sure, if you want.”

***

I sank my head in the warm water, letting dried filly blood wash off my face. Shaky worked my goggles back over my head as I emerged.

“They look b-better on you.” she said.

I shrugged and rested them just under my horn, Shaky stuck her tongue out and dove deeper into the pool.

It was odd to see her play without Stripe or other children around, but she was enjoying herself, swimming around the pool. I pulled the shaded lenses over my eyes and rested my head on the edge, trying to erase the stress of last night’s events. Someone nuzzled my cheek, I blinked my eyes open and smiled up at Token.

“Happy birthday love, sorry for snapping this morning.”

She hopped into the pool next to me and planted a kiss on my cheek, “It’s fine babe. What was up with you last night?”

“I’d rather not talk about it.” I said, nervously glancing away. She turned my head back to face her and pulled my goggles back up, looking me over with concern.

“I’m fine,” I lied, smiling what I hoped was a reassuring smile, “really.”

Still she stared, stroking the scar on my cheek, “Okay.” she said after awhile, not sounding the least bit convinced.

“Are you two g-gonna kiss?” Shaky asked, “T-tell me if you are cause I d-don’t wanna watch. Mare’s kissing all the time is kinda weird.”

Token pressed her nose up to mine and smiled, her gorgeous cobalt eyes locking with my red ones.

“I dunno,” she said, “I kinda wish I had a third party seat to watch the two of us go at it.”

Our lips locked next, then our tongues, a certain grey filly squealed with disgust.

“I t-told you to w-warn me dammit!”

I grinned at my mare as we broke away, then pressed my mouth to her ear, “I’ve learned a few things I want to show you tonight.” I whispered.

“Sounds nice,” she whispered back, “what time?”

“Whenever we can get the suite to ourselves.”

She rested her forehead on mine and hugged me, I hugged back and started kissing her again.

“D-d-dammit B-bandage!” Shaky yelled, “Warn me!”

***

Systematically pouncing on Token throughout the day was becoming my new favorite way to torture Shaky, and the actual pouncing wasn’t all that bad either. Token made for easy prey, she didn’t resist much, and the occasional bad touch was definitely spicing things up a bit. All a warm up for the main event later in the evening, which was looking to be excellent. I stopped eventually, not because I got bored of snogging, but because I gave Token the caps from the night before and ordered her to go shopping. Shaky was relieved, I was a bit disappointed, but found a new way to torture her and vent all my extra affection at once, I cuddled the crap out of her.

I’d let her go when she told me to, or when I sensed she was getting frustrated or scared, but once she relaxed I pounced again, cradling her in my hooves and nuzzling like a mad pony. It all stopped rather awkwardly as she giggled out “Stop it Mom!”

We both just stared, I was stunned, she was embarrassed beyond belief about the slip. She wriggled out of my grasp and backed away a bit, muttering apologies.

“It’s fine!” I reassured, “You just slipped is all, nothing to be embarrassed about! I called a teacher mom once by accident!”

She hung her head, and I saw tiny droplets of tears hitting the dirty carpet of the suite, “Your mom wasn’t dead though.” she said quietly.

I sighed and sat down next to her, scooping her into a hug, “Sweetie, making a slip like that isn’t disrespecting your mother, I’m sure she’d be fine with it.”

“I know,” she said, trying to hold back more tears, “it j-just reminded me of her, w-we used to p-p-play like that a lot...” she laughed and sobbed at the same time, “‘Cept b-back then I wasn’t so freaked out b-by t-t-touching.”

“Your mum must be so proud of you Shaky.”

“Why?” she asked, “I cry all the t-time.”

I chuckled a bit, “You’ve earned the right to cry as much as you want kid, you were put through so much shit, and most ponies would let that own them. You? You’re ten, and you’re doing the best you can to shrug it all off. Yeah, your mother is damn proud of you, your dad too.”

“You think?”

I squeezed a little tighter and nodded, “Why wouldn’t they be? You’re strong. I admire you a bit actually.”

“You’re teasing.”

I shook my head, “I’m serious. You’ve got more willpower than forty ponies to get up and dust yourself off after shit like that.”

She looked up at me with those teary golden eyes, I smiled down at her and wiped the tears away, then pushed her mane out of her face. She smiled back, then hugged me tight, pressing her face to my chest. We sat there for the longest time before Stripe came up and asked what was going on, at which point we broke away and awkwardly stammered excuses.

***

“I think I like Vespers.” Shaky said as I braided her mane later in the afternoon.

“The batpony colt? Do tell.”

“Well,” she started sheepishly, blushing a bit, “he’s kinda handsome, and he’s really n-nice to me, and he tried t-to stand up for me b-b-before I, you know...”

“Started beating the tar out of every snot nosed little shit that made fun of you?”

“Yeah.”

“I hope you’re not asking for advice, because I’m stumped on the whole young love thing. It was easy in my stable, get matched with someone you most likely hate and see where it takes you.”

“I just thought I’d t-tell you. Not like it m-m-matters anyways, we’re leaving t-town in a few d-days.”

“True,” I said, nodding, “but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t talk to him about it.”

She shrugged, “I don’t even know if I wanna d-date a b-boy who’s ass I can kick.”

“You sure you can kick his ass? I’ve hugged his mother, she’s strong as a damn bear.”

“Wouldn’t m-matter, I’m still a b-better fighter, Daddy was in the Steel Rangers before he met Momma and he t-taught me how to fight. Lot’s of s-stuff about power armor too, b-but that’s never done me much good.”

I nodded as I continued my work, she’d only wanted one braid going down the side of her face but I wasn’t very good at this sort of thing.

“You d-done yet?” she asked.

“Almost, sorry about the wait, I’m kinda shitty at braiding.”

“It’s f-fine, wish I had a horn, I c-could do it myself.”

“Magic isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” I said as I finished the last braid and tied a knot on the end.

“B-bullshit, I’ve seen you use a gun and a knife at the same t-t-time. I’m stuck with jamming a p-pistol in my mouth and working the trigger with my t-t-tongue.”

“Think on the bright side of it sweetie, it’s strengthening your tongue, and one day you’re going to be able to make your partner very happy.”

“Eww! That’s gross!”

I shrugged, “It’s true though, I know Token would appreciate if my tongue work improved a bit.”

“Omigosh! Stop talking about this!”

“Then again the moaning probably means she doesn’t exactly dislike my work...”

She jammed her hooves against her ears, shut her eyes and shook her head with disgust, “Bandage that’s f-fuckin’ nasty and I don’t want to f-fuckin’ hear about it!”

I pulled her hooves away and gave her mane a good tousle, “Hush, I’m just teasing with you.”

“It’s still gross...” she mumbled.

I rolled my eyes and made my way up the stairs to the library.

“Where ya goin’?”

“Upstairs to read.”

“Can I come?”

“Sure.”

Shaky scrambled up the stairs after me and let out an impressed whistle as we reached the top of the stairs.

“The big guy certainly has a nice collection doesn’t he?”

“Yeah,” she said, looking over all the bookshelves, “think he’s got the D-daring Do b-b-books?”

“Oh, I’m positive that he does.” I laughed and trotted towards the bookshelf that someone had taken the time to line with velvet, Daring Do was carved into a brass plaque with almost no rust.

“Woah,” she said, “Stripe must really like Daring D-do.”

“I think he just wants them taken care of, it must’ve taken him ages to collect the full series in this condition.”

“Guess so, can you g-get me the Griffon’s Goblet?”

I carefully grabbed the book with my magic and rested it on the desk in the corner.

“Sweet,” she said, eagerly clambering into the chair at the desk, “waited forever to start this one.”

And there we sat, for a couple hours or so, me reading the last few positions Stripe had marked out in detail, Shaky reading a rather well written children’s book. Evening rolled around, Stripe came and collected her, clearing out the suite for Token and I, winning points, every damn day.

Token came up a bit after he left, smiling like an idiot, I told her to wait in the suite and that I’d be back up in a few minutes. There wasn’t anything I needed really, but I had a big sexy entrance planned that I didn’t want to skip.

***

Token had passed out shortly after our 2 hour romp was complete, I was holding her now as she smiled in an almost drunken daze and drooled slightly onto the bed which was covered in- well, let’s just say it was covered in something I enjoyed very much and leave it there.

It’d been good- no, fuck that, more than good, it’d been fucking fantastic, for both of us. I was utterly drained afterwards, mentally and physically exhausted but in the best way possible. We were both filthy as well, sweat and another very nice substance were drying on our coats, I’d tried getting us both into the bathroom for a shower, but my legs were jelly right now, and I wasn’t able to wake Token up.

I worked up enough strength to roll myself out of bed as silently as possible and stumble to the bathroom at a near crawling pace. I left my goggles on as I climbed into the shower and worked the valves, they hadn’t come off the whole night I’d realized.

I nearly moaned as the hot water came spewing out of the shower head, scrubbing myself and letting the new pleasant soreness ache away felt fantastic. A familiar muzzle pressed into my crotch, then moved away as a face rubbed against my flank. Token's new infatuation with my 'choice ass' was a bit odd, but all this rubbing was warming me up to it.

She moved her face away and stood next to me in the spray of water, brushing against my side as she went. Stripe's shower was spacious, plenty of room for her to stand at my side and smile while I nibbled her ear affectionately.

"I hope you're not trying to prompt another round," she said, "I don't think I can take another tongue lashing like that."

"You're the one prompting me with all that rubbing back there."

"Nonsense, I was just enjoying your ass as nature intended it to be enjoyed."

I chuckled and gave her a quick kiss, she smiled and pushed my goggles up to my forehead, locking our eyes.

"I love you Bandage."

"I love you too Token," I said, smiling back, "happy birthday."

***

I was groggy when I woke up at around noon. Token was still fast asleep. My goggles and the thong I'd worn for last night's events were on the night stand, I put on the former and tucked the fabric into my saddlebags.

"Finally awake sleepy head?"

"Dammit," I muttered aloud, "I was hoping for a quiet morning."

"Oh don't be like that. I should be the one complaining, I had to endure you taking it to the blue one all night."

"And I had to endure you murdering a filly, I'd say we're even."

"Still pissed about that are you?"

"Yes, very. I'm actually surprised you didn't go and kill someone while I was asleep."

"I would've, but you utterly exhausted us last night with all that filth."

"You have a very warped view of what is and isn't filthy, the fact that you find making love filthy in comparison to murder is a bit unsettling actually."

She giggled, "And yet talking to an alter ego is perfectly normal."

"I understand that I'm crazy, and keep in mind the only reason I speak to you is because you would harass me even more if I didn't."

Token yawned and hugged me from behind, kissing up my back.

"Morning." she yawned.

"Good morning love."

"Last night was fantastic."

"It was wasn't it?"

"Mmm, hope you kept that kinky black thing."

"It's called a thong love."

"Whatever it's called, it looks sexy as hell on you."

“Glad you think so.”

“You can’t see it but I’m making a gagging gesture right now.”

“Quiet, or I’ll have nasty morning sex with her.”

“Shutting up now...”

“Think we’ll head out today or are we going to relax a few more days?”

I yawned and stretched, some soreness from last night had reemerged. “As much fun as it’s been staying here, I’m ready to leave and get back to work.”

She laughed, “Yeah, we haven’t done paid work in a week. Good thing we got Stripe’s discount on everything, otherwise I think we’d be out of money.”

"Come on," I said, rolling out of bed, "let's go and enjoy one last bath before we go."

She stretched, all her joints popping like normal.

"Sounds lovely," she said with a smile, "you know, if I didn't think they looked fantastic on you, I'd say you were weird for wearing those goggles for so long."

I pouted and rested my prized shades over my eyes, "I love these things, they make me look cool."

"That they do babe."

Shaky greeted me with an unexpected hug as we trotted out into the street. Kind of awkward actually.

We found Stripe waiting at the gate, smoking a cigar. "Strip." he said as we approached.

I recoiled for a moment, "Excuse me?"

He kicked the crate resting near his hooves at us, there were two well put together black suits of armor inside. A large yellow 80 was painted on the flank of both suits.

"Riot armor," he said casually, "shit's gonna start getting tough when we cross through Old Trottingham, don't want a manticore tearing you two to shreds."

"Considerate of him."

I smirked a bit, he cocked an eyebrow.

"Thanks big guy."

The armor fit well, the plating was light, slim, definitely protective. It didn't hinder movement either, just as flexible as my leather gear.

Token's had a blue band painted around the left foreleg, mine had a similar band but colored white.

“How do I look?” she asked.

“Ra-” I started, but Stripe cut me off.

“Yes, yes,” he said as he strolled passed us out the gate, “you compliment her, she compliments you, who gives a flying fuck let’s go!”

I rolled my eyes and followed, giving one last glance over my shoulder at Tragedy.

Footnote: Level Up!

New perk: Four Eyes: +2 Perception while eye wear is equipped.

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The beast moved through the crumbling structure, leathery bat wings outstretched for a quick pounce, scorpion tail swaying with anticipation, and the massive feline body prowling low to the ground. Shaky was avoiding him expertly, silently moving through crawl spaces, occasionally kicking a stray bottle or can in another direction to throw it off her trail. Her grey coat was working to her advantage in Old Trottingham, it blended perfectly with concrete.

Their cat and mouse game had gone on for half an hour now, and she was always several steps ahead. Stripe and I had exchanged a worried glance when she volunteered to lead the creature into our trap, but we hadn't been able to talk her out of it. This whole set up was a bit dangerous for all of us actually, though I suppose capturing an abnormally large male manticore alive wasn't described as safe. For 10,000 caps though? Fuck safety.

The Union trooper next to me coughed, and even though it was fairly quiet, I about threw him out of the building.

"Sorry." he mouthed at me. I nodded, wiping a bead of sweat from my brow. I wasn't worried about alerting the manticore, we'd fought, killed, and escaped from many in the last few weeks, I was worried about having to kill it if it charged, 10,000 was a lot of money to lose.

I went back to my rifle scope, overseeing Shaky's progress on the street below, the beast was nearly under the well hidden cage, and once again I'd lost track of where she was.

I tapped Token's shoulder, she nodded and passed me the dart gun we were provided. Shaky climbed through a hole in the floor as I looked down the sights.

"Need me to go b-back down and get it to move more?" she whispered.

"No," I whispered back, "it should be fine, just give it a second."

It searched a few more minutes before finally stepping under the trap, a pressure plate was triggered, the cage dropped, the beast roared with rage. I aimed the dart gun at its neck and sent the tranquilizer flying right into its jugular.

It continued its rampage a few seconds longer before finally slumping over in a pacified daze.

I let out the breath I'd been holding and passed the gun back to Token, the trooper with us muttered some code word bullshit into his shortwave radio. Several minutes later, Stripe and a squad of Union troops arrived with the sledge.

Loading the thing was proving tiring, even with 5 unicorns on hand, and Stripe was straining to pull the sinking cage through the deep mud on the way back to the outpost.

The entire group let out a frustrated sigh as it began pouring, softening the mud more, making the slog all the more dreadful. Our destination was finally in sight though, Union Observation Outpost Foxtrot, the ugliest collection of tents and crumbling walls to ever call itself a fort.

There was only one intact building, a research station, filled with all sorts of scientific equipment. Foxtrot's main objective was surveying Old Trottingham, but it was a pioneering point for manticore research. We left the sleeping beast at the loading area, letting the 20 unicorns on staff lift the cage into the building, then trotted inside for our reward.

A pissed off looking mint green mare with a cropped light pink mane approached. She was out of her officer's uniform, some poor trooper had probably made the mistake of waking her when we arrived.

"'Bout time you wankas showed up," First Major Mint Berry said in an almost scolding tone, "it's almost fuckin' midnight, you aware of 'at? I don't like bein' woken up at fuckin' midnight to pay you lazy sobs more caps 'an my boys make in a mumf!"

"Baby," Stripe said, shaking his head sympathetically as he trotted around behind her, having her sit and rubbing his hooves between her shoulders, "you relax, the doc'll handle payin' us, you an' me can go up to yer room and I'll massage all that stress away, 'kay?"

She relaxed, her forelegs going rubbery, bless her, she was trying to stay pissed off, but couldn't quite manage it.

"Fine," she pouted tiredly, "but you're tuckin' me in aftawards."

"Course." he said as he wheeled her around.

Shaky yawned, I levitated her onto Token's back and nodded them both off, then made may way through the facility looking for the good doctor. Doctor Rat-Face, a freaky name for the freakiest fucking pony alive. He was the physical embodiment of the cliche mad scientist, and the poor stallion had giant cat monsters on the brain.

He was trying to find out why manticores were immune to 'Taint', a powerful mutagen that plagues certain parts of the wasteland, and his current theory was literally, "They're already a clusterfuck of different, totally unrelated animals, can't get much more mutated than that!"

He greeted me brightly, smiling his jagged, toothy grin far too wide with that hideously deformed face of his, his lazy eye looking down like always, the socket itself seeming to sag lower than the other eye. Seriously, there are Ghouls out there prettier than this buck.

I dodged around a conversation about manticore DNA and went directly to asking for pay, he nodded eagerly and gave me a note signed for 10,000 caps to be cashed at the quartermaster's office.

I cashed it, and let me say, the sound of 10,000 caps jangling together in a burlap sack... can only be surpassed by sexy moaning, and it's a damn close second. My PipBuck counted it immediately, they hadn't held out on a single cap, this time, probably because I'd called them on it the last 5 times they tried.

I walked back to the room they'd set us up in, humming and jangling as I went. It was simple, for 20 caps a night I wasn't expecting much, just a cot and a bunk bed. Token was already passed out on the top bunk, and Shaky was scooting over on the bottom so I could squeeze in next to her.

We'd grown pretty close in the last month, and I usually woke up with her curled up next to me. It made me feel good, like a big sister, or a-

"Mom?" she asked sleepily as I scooted in.

She'd started that a few days ago, occasionally calling me Mom, testing it out. I liked it, filling that role for her. I'd always wanted children, but considering my situation with Token, Shaky was probably the closest thing to a daughter I'd ever get.

"Yes?"

"Why've you b-been sneaking out at night?"

Shit. I wasn't surprised really, Stripe had already found out, it was only a matter of time before Token and Shaky found out.

My crazy and I had developed a decent arrangement, I had our body during the day, and anytime Token wanted to make love, which was becoming an unfortunately rare occurrence. She had it during the night, to go out and sate all the violent urges creeping around the back of my mind.

It was a decent arrangement, she didn't bother me much anymore, aside from the occasional witty comment, and as she fought, my body learned, in its own absent way, so we both benefited from each other's combat experience.

I hated it, sharing my mind with someone so radically different, but I dealt with it. Stripe offered to help when I explained, I turned him down, for whatever reason.

I thought of a lie as quickly as possible, "Um, I've been doing some extra jobs, making some extra caps."

"For what?"

"Uh, an emergency fund of sorts. You know, in case one of us gets torn to bits and needs more medical care than I can shell out."

"Makes sense I g-guess." She snuggled closer to me and yawned, I wrapped her in my forehooves. "B-be careful, okay?"

I nodded and kissed her forehead, she was snoring a few minutes later. That familiar tugging sensation sparked through my mind, I'd learned not to resist, just go with it and relax.

There she was, smiling as she brushed past me and I fell backwards into the cage. I was a bit nervous with her in control of the body while Shaky was still in our embrace, but she simply smiled down at the filly and nuzzled behind her ear.

"Surprisingly loving of you." I said as she put our gear back on.

"I've grown attached to the runt in the past month, she's shaping up to be quite the effective little killer."

She trotted to the main entrance of the building, Stripe greeted her, she scoffed and made a death threat, the usual greeting.

"Well," he said as he rolled his eyes, "be careful with the boss's body, been some freaky ass red lightning off to the west."

"Hmm, might just check that out, could be something worth shooting."

"Sure, or it could be something that could tear you to shreds and kill the personality I actually give a shit about."

"Hug him right now! That was such a sweet thing to say, I think..."

"I'm not doing that."

"You will or I'm going to annoy you the rest of the night."

"I hadn't realized I share a mind with a child."

"Just do it! He's hardly ever sweet anymore."

"Fine!" she whined aloud. Stripe cocked an eyebrow and gave a quizzical glance.

"Listen," she said, making an attempt at sounding menacing, "I'm going to hug you, on the other one's behalf, if you get fresh with our body I'm going to shoot you."

He shrugged, "I'll try, no promises though."

She rolled our eyes and hugged him rather awkwardly, he looped a leg around our neck and gave an affectionate squeeze.

"Stay frosty boss." he whispered.

***

The red lightning was a bit intimidating to say the least, but the strangest part was the lack of thunder after each strike.

She crept quietly through the buildings, sticking to the shadows, she'd even gone through the trouble of wrapping a black shawl over our head. The manticores weren't on the prowl, not with this weather, but there were still raiders bunkered down in the more intact structures.

As we got closer to the source of the lightning we heard shouting, screaming, and the drawling maniacal rant of a mare. She climbed up the side of a nearby building, quietly finding hoof holds and peaking around columns into windows.

The building was deserted, though lit fires and still smoking cigarettes told us the residents were there recently. She made it to the roof and crept up, then belly crawled to the ledge.

The street below was devastated beyond belief, metal poles and beams were either white hot or melted away, concrete was blasted apart and scorched, and charred pony corpses were strewn everywhere.

"Notice the lightning stopped?" I pointed out.

"Yeah." she whispered, pulling out Victory.

She froze and held in a gasp when somepony tapped us on the shoulder.

"Ya'll are a bit better equipped than most'a the dirt kickin' fuckwads Ah seen down 'ere."

The mare kicked us over onto our back, pinned us with a surprisingly strong hoof, and stared down at us. She was a pegasus, her body covered in some kind of power armor, which had red electric coils protruding from it, tiny sparks of lightning bouncing between each. Her head was the only thing uncovered, she had a long crimson mane, a charcoal coat, and grey eyes.

She was looking at us quizzically, but flashing a mocking grin.

"Cat got'cher tongue? Speak up dirt kicker."

Her grin faded as the barrel of my pistol pressed against her jaw and the hammer cocked.

"I would appreciate it if you would take your hoof off me and stop calling me dirt kicker."

She smiled again and helped us up, "Surprised t' see the first pony with any balls Ah find down 'ere is a mare."

My crazy still had my pistol out and was cautiously looking over the new mare. The pegasus simply smiled.

"That gun ain't stoppin' shit, if Ah wanted t' kill ya Ah'da done it, and Ah'm not much fer rain, so quit standin' there lookin' all nervous an' let's head downstairs."

She looked her over a bit longer and nodded, holstering the pistol as she followed the strange mare downstairs.

"Don't much like you prancing around my turf killing my prey."

The pegasus chuckled, "Yer prey huh? Well Ah apologize, but them dirt kickers was just beggin' t' be blasted."

My crazy sighed with frustration, "I'm finding it very difficult not to shoot you right now, give me a moment please."

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Can you just take control please? you're better with the whole trusting new ponies thing and I'm itchy to shoot something."

"Sure."

My body relaxed and jolted slightly as I took back control.

"Sorry about that." I said

"The fuck? How'd ya change voices like that?"

I chuckled and took the shawl off my head, resting my goggles on my forehead, "Let's just leave it at me being crazy."

"Don't look half bad fer a crazy mare." Wait, did she just hit on me? I was getting kinda sick of ponies doing that all the time. It made no sense either, Token's the pretty one.

"Oh sure," I said jokingly, hoping her last statement had been just that, a joke, "I'm guessing these two nasty scars on my face really bring out my eyes."

She scoffed, "Call them scars? Shit, Ah can show ya some damn scars."

"Be my guest."

She nodded and stripped out of her gear, which apparently was much easier to remove than the standard earth pony power armor. Underneath it was... well, it was interesting from a medical standpoint.

She had scars, all over her torso and legs, big ones, surgical ones, oddly uniform and ordered, they were open... and glowing. The scars were the same red as the coils on her armor, and like the coils had electricity jumping between them.

"That's uh... wow, what the fuck?"

She chuckled and sat back down, "Ah'm Thunderhead's pet project, these're experimental cybernetics embedded into mah body, amplify a pegasus' natural electrical output, turns the pegasus into a weapon. One of the reasons Ah got picked fer it, already put out alotta juice."

"And I'm guessing the coils on that suit work similarly?"

She nodded, somewhat impressed, "Pretty and smart, definitely a step up from mindless fuckwads. Yeah, suit amps it up even more, turns me into that light show that Ah'm bettin' lead ya here."

I looked her over, she had other scars, still surgical in nature, but not huge... or glowing.

"What about those?"

"Oh, had some metal plates grafted to my bones, on board repair system too, piggybacked it from the auto repair system in power armor and made it more sophisticated."

"Interesting, so what, you eat scrap metal or something to repair your parts?"

She laughed, "That's a good one! Eatin' fuckin' scrap metal, that don't make a lick o' sense! But nah, mah armor repair system synchronizes with the one in my body, Ah put scrap in the armor's maintenance and it sends the raw materials to the repair system inside through muh openings. Then Ah basically have raw metal passin' through mah body."

"That sounds incredibly painful."

She shrugged, "So was havin' lightning rods embedded in mah body and metal grafted to mah bones, this whole damn project's been painful, but Ah've learned t' deal with it."

She smiled with a touch of menace as she looked me over, "Aight, Ah showed ya mine, you show me yers."

I recoiled slightly, "Excuse me?"

"C'mon," she urged, "strip. We're gonna be here fer the night, weather ain't letting up any time soon, might as well get comfy."

I shifted uncomfortably, but nodded and removed my armor. She gave an impressed whistle and I blushed.

"Damn, you been shot t' bits before haven't ya?"

I nodded, "My second week out of my stable."

"Interestin'," she said, stepping closer, "what about that big'un on yer side there?"

"A lance, probably about a month ago."

She approached me and stroked the one on my cheek, it made me recoil a bit more. "This'un?"

I grabbed my knife from its sheath on my armor and showed it to her. "Raider was using it then," I said nervously, "had it heated up. Same mare that shot me to pieces actually."

She leaned forward and licked the one over my eye, I almost jumped away, but the mare held me in place. "That'un?"

I gulped and tried to find the words, "A month ago, flaming sword thingy, I should really be getting ba-"

She kissed me, lots of tongue too, I pushed her away almost immediately, not wanting a repeat of the Salt incident.

"No! Nope, nuh-uh, no way!" I said as I scrambled away from her.

She just casually strolled after me, an eyebrow cocked curiously.

"What's wrong wit'cha? Way you was lookin' me over Ah had ya pegged a filly fooler."

"Oh I am!" Had I been checking her out? Shit. "It's just that I have a marefriend and she-"

"Is she here?"

I gulped and kept scooting til I hit the wall, "No." I croaked out nervously.

The mare smiled and leaned in again, stopping just before her calm lips touched my nervous quivering ones.

"Then what's the problem?"

I took a deep breath through my nose, mistake, her scent hit my nostrils and excited me, but I fought the urge.

"She's a good mare," I said calmly, "I love her very very much, and I would like to maintain a tiny bit of fidelity."

The mare smiled yet again and pulled away, "Fair enough, offer still stands though, if ya feel like a little bit o' infidelity tonight."

She walked back to her spot, and my eyes couldn't help but snap to her flanks, and as she sat down and faced me, they couldn't help but take in the rest of her.

She was athletic, same build as me actually, very trim, and if my ass resembled hers at all... well, I could see why Token obsessed over it.

A familiar itch was creeping through my loins, and the more I looked her over, the more my body screamed at me to let her satisfy it. What had it been? A week? Yes, just about. In the stable I couldn't go more than a few days without scratching that particular itch.

I trotted back to the fire, trying my best to stare at the flames and not the lithe pegasus stretching across from me. I was failing miserably, and instead traced over her whole body with my eyes, stopping on the crimson lightning bolt on her flank.

"Night." she yawned, rolling back onto her stomach and shutting her eyes.

"Night." I muttered through almost gritted teeth, the strain was becoming too much.

"Oh just go over there and trade a few licks you pansy."

"Coming from you, very surprising."

"We share urges you know, you like the mares and so do I. It's just that my killing urges usually far exceed the sexual ones."

"And now?"

"Just look at her! She's fantastic! Plus, wiping out a city block by herself is a major turn on."

"I don't think I'm comfortable with it..."

My crazy scoffed, "If you won't, I will, and I'll make it rough and raunchy darling, believe you me."

I tried fighting it a bit longer, but I couldn't bear it, I nodded in defeat. I very quietly approached her, then leaned my head down and gave her a little lick between the flanks. She stirred and craned her head back, smiling, "Glad t' see ya reconsidered."

I went to work immediately, but stopped when a tiny red spark lept out and shocked my tongue.

"Ow!" I whined.

"Oops! Sorry sugar, sometimes the stuff's got a mind of its own."

I pouted, trying to massage my tongue with a hoof. She sat up and kissed me, again throwing her tongue into the mix, then pushed me down onto my back and worked her way lower until her muzzle found a very pleasant area.

My mane stood up when sparks arched off her tongue as she licked, intensifying the pleasure. Foreplay with an electrically charged pegasus was shaping up to be a new favorite pass time. She worked her way back up and gave me a very electric kiss, numbing my tongue further but at least not hurting it this time.

She broke away and smiled down at me, "Ready?"

I nodded eagerly, she grinned wider before working her way back down again.

***

I panted, still sweating from 6 rounds of rather intense sex. I rested my head on the mare's chest, her wings were wrapped around me, and she nibbled at my ear.

She giggled, "Yer mane's still standin' up."

I giggled too and reached up, giving her nose an affectionate lick, she countered with a nuzzle on the forehead.

I sighed and pressed my face against her, taking in the oddly sweet smell of her sweat. "I needed that, thanks."

She laughed and gave a squeeze with her wings, "No problem sugar, hell, Ah reckon Ah needed that 'bout as much as you did."

I blushed and looked up at her when I realized something, "I never asked you your name."

"Oh, guess ya didn't. Huh."

"Um, I'm Bandage, nice to meet you."

She giggled quietly, "Nice t' meet you too Bandage, Ah'm Blood Bolt."

"Blood Bolt." I said quietly, sampling the name.

She grinned, "Just call me BB, everypony else does."

"Okay, BB."

"Ah'm gonna pop up top fer a second and grab somethin'."

"Okay."

She unfolded her wings and gave me a quick peck on the forehead before flying through one of the windows. A minute later she was back, pushing a small but swollen storm cloud. She positioned it over me and bounced slightly, I sighed as delightfully cold rainwater spilled out.

She joined me, giving my ear a statically charged lick. My mane finally went down, and I scrubbed all the sweat and grime of myself... and then scrubbed her... then we scrubbed each other... then it was basically just sex in the rain.

***

An hour later we'd finally calmed down, having gotten all the 'itch' out of our systems, and were sitting across from each other near the fire.

"You're with the Pegasus Enclave right?" I asked.

"Yeah," she replied, then scrunched her face, "er, no, not since this mornin' actually, Ah defected."

"Why?"

She snorted, "Sick o' bein' caged up in Neighvarro, wanted to get some action other than the occasional fuck."

"Not much fighting then?"

"Nah, and the closest large scale ground operation is planned for two years from now, don't even know why we'd bother assaulting Fillydelphia, place is thick with Alicorns an' Hellhounds."

"So, why Trottingham?"

"Well, Ah heard from some folks up top that there was some kinda civil war goin' on down here, figured Ah'd pop down and see if Ah could stir some shit up. Plus mah daddy was last spotted in Trottingham, an' I miss that ol' cripple somethin' fierce."

I nodded, yawned and laid down. "Night."

She trotted around the fire and laid down next to me, throwing a wing over me, "Night."

***

I woke up congested, wrapped in her wings and forelegs, my head pressed to her chest. Sick again, great, the cold rain shower was probably to blame there. At least Blood Bolt put out a lot of body heat, the wet morning air was somewhat frigid, but my new friend was keeping me very warm.

She stirred as I buried my face in her chest, then kissed my forehead.

"Mornin'." she said tiredly.

I snuggled closer and buried my face deeper, I said good morning, but it came out muffled.

"Last night was nice."

I nodded agreement and yawned.

I pouted as she pulled away and stood, stretching her wings as she walked to her armor. The gear was more impressive in the light, sleek black armor, her cutie mark painted on the flank plating, only the wings were uncovered, even the tail was armored, tipped with a deadly looking scorpion stinger.

Her helmet was interesting as well, it didn't fully cover her face, which I found odd for power armor, and her crimson mane was protruding through an opening on the top.

She looked intimidating, the armor seemed designed to do just that. She flipped up the visor and winked at me with those dull grey eyes.

"Gear up sugar, we got shit t' do."

"Like what?"

"Yer a merc right?"

I nodded.

"Well, let's go back to whatever base ya came from an' do some merc shit."

I shrugged and put my gear on, putting my goggles over my eyes and wrapping my head in my shawl as we stepped out into the rain.

My mind flashed to telling Token I'd cheated, again. Excellent way to start the day off, I'd also have to think up an explanation for being out all night. My bullshit hadn't worked on Stripe, and I doubted it would work on her.

The soldier guarding the perimeter pointed his rifle at Blood Bolt and started shouting nervously for backup.

"Easy mate," I called, "she's a friend."

"Bullshit! She's an Enclaver!"

"Enclaver?" Blood Bolt muttered, "The fuck is an Enclaver?"

"Just keep her back until the Major gets out here!" the buck shouted.

My friends trotted out, following Mint Berry, who looked insanely pissed as always. Token smiled at me as they approached, a hint of worry in her eyes. I was glad my face was covered so she couldn't tell I wasn't meeting her gaze.

"Bandage!" the Major shouted, "The fuck?!"

"She's a friend Mint Berry."

"She's with the fuckin' Enclave!"

"Ah defected," BB said calmly, sounding more bored than anything, "Dashite an' all that shit..."

More troops spilled out, all pointing their rifles at her, she sighed and shook her head.

Stripe cleared his throat, "You trust her Bandage?"

I shrugged, "She hasn't tried to kill me yet, so yeah."

"Good enough for me." he said, trotting to my side with the rest of my friends.

We stared down the 20 some Union troops and the Major, taking out our own weapons, even Shaky drew her pistol.

"Really?" Mint Berry said, "Are we really going to start shooting each other over an Enclave scumbag?"

"Up to you Major." I said, Stripe cycled his minigun for emphasis.

The Major looked us over, her pink eyes sizing us up, her mouth testing the bit of her battle saddle. She let it drop and sighed.

"She better not fuck us over..." she muttered, "At ease!"

The troops lowered their weapons, if a bit hesitantly, we did the same.

"Well," Blood Bolt chuckled, "thank goodness that wasn't awkward or nothin'."

Stripe snorted, "Good thing they didn't do anything stupid, I like some of these guys."

The Major trotted to me and leaned in, "Don't make me regret this kid." she whispered.

Behind my goggles I rolled my eyes, but nodded all the same. She snorted and went back inside. Token tugged at the side of my head with her magic.

"You're in trouble." she said in a low, serious tone before brushing past me, Stripe and Shaky in tow.

"Yeah," I sighed, "I figured."

"Sorry fer stirrin' up shit Bandage." the pegasus said.

"Don't worry about it."

"So uh, introduce me t' everypony Ah guess."

"The big guy is Stripe, the little grey one is Shaky, and the blue mare is Token."

"She yer marefriend?"

"Yeah."

"Nice ass."

I snorted and trotted after Token, "Better go take my punishment."

"Good luck, Ah'ma go knock on the clouds fer a bit an' discharge some extra static."

"Sounds fun."

She chuckled, "You know it."

There was a small gust behind me as she took off, I turned to watch as she flew straight up, red lightning arcing off her as she went.

I made my way through the facility to our room, Stripe was leaning outside the door smoking.

"How is she?"

He snorted, "Pissed, worried, you know, the usual. Tried coverin' for ya, but she ain't an idiot."

"Yeah," I said as I uncovered my head, "gonna be a lot worse when I tell her what I did last night..."

"What'd ya do? Cap another filly?"

"No, thank goodness... Let's just say I had a very good night with my new friend."

"Again?!" he exclaimed, I nodded, "Damn boss. Don't see why ya have t' tell Blue though."

I sighed, "Because, I don't like keeping secrets." and I'm an idiot, and a glutton for punishment.

He snorted, "And yet ya haven't told her you're off in the head."

"I also don't like it when she worries."

"Bit late for that..."

"Yeah..."

"Well, go on in I guess, start screamin' if she tries to kill ya an' I'll try t' break it up."

"Don't bother, I probably deserve it."

He shrugged and trotted off. I took a deep breath and entered the room, expecting Token to be glaring daggers at me, instead she was looking me over with a worried expression. I'd prefer it if she was just pissed off.

"So... Stripe said you've been having some problems?"

I sighed and hung my head, "Yeah, guess you could say that."

She propped my head back up and smiled, "We don't have to talk about it until you're ready. But no more sneaking out at night, you need to tell me before you go, that way I don't freak out when I wake up and you're gone. 'Kay?"

"Yes ma'am." I muttered, looking back down.

"Something else wrong?"

I sighed, "I'm a terrible marefriend."

"How so?"

"I did it again..."

She was silent for awhile, then propped my head up again and stared at me very seriously. "Did what?"

I coughed nervously and squeaked out the answer, "Cheated on you."

She was silent again, staring at me blankly, thinking. I hung my head again and waited for the outburst.

"That pegasus you were with?"

I nodded, still looking down.

"Do you have feelings for her?"

I looked up, confused, "What?"

"Do you love her?" she asked, her expression stony.

"Of course not."

I cringed as she leaned forward, and my confusion was multiplied immensely when she kissed me. She broke away and smiled.

"Then it's fine."

"Huh?" I said dumbly.

"It's fine, I'm not mad."

I blinked, "Not even a little?"

She shrugged, "You're a mare with a healthy sexual appetite, I can appreciate that."

"But-"

She pressed a hoof to my mouth and smiled warmly, "Baby, hush. I don't care if I share your body with another mare from time to time, I have your love, that's what's important."

The statement may have been corny, but the sentiment was so sweet I couldn't help but tear up slightly.

I hugged her, tight, nuzzling her neck, "I don't deserve you."

She hugged back and patted my back with a hoof, "Bollocks, we're made for each other."

We sat there and held each other, she kissed up my neck and pressed her mouth to my ear.

"So, how was she?" she whispered.

My ears laid back and my face went bright red. She giggled and kissed my cheek.

"Taking vague answer as fantastic."

***

We all sat in the mess hall, chowing down on radboar chops from a pig Stripe'd killed earlier in the week. Blood Bolt was adjusting well, within the group anyways. She and Stripe were quickly cracking jokes, she relentlessly complemented Token to the point that I was a bit worried, and she was eagerly answering Shaky's questions about life above the clouds.

She was matching Stripe's appetite too, they had half the meat eaten before the rest of us started seconds.

I'd caught Token examining her a few times, which was perfectly fine and completely understandable, exotic appearance aside, the pegasus looked fantastic.

Token left the mess hall with me when I went to put Shaky to bed.

"So," she said, "Blood Bolt seems nice."

"She is." I said.

Token chuckled, "No, babe, she seems nice."

"Huh?"

"She's sayin' your new f-friend is hot," Shaky mumbled sleepily, "g-get with the fuckin' program."

"One minute Toky." I said as I nudged open the door to our room.

I trotted in and laid Shaky down on the bed, she smiled tiredly and hugged me around the neck, nuzzling my cheek. I hugged back, then rested her back on the bed and kissed her forehead before leaving the room.

"Night Momma." she said quietly.

"Goodnight sweetie." I said with a smile as I shut the door.

Token was smiling at me as I stepped out, wiping tears from her eyes.

"What's wrong?"

She hugged me tightly and buried her head in my shoulder.

"Oh babe, that was so beautiful!"

I rolled my eyes and pushed her away, strolling through the halls with her following.

"I can see why you did it with that mare," she said, the mischief obvious in her voice, "she's downright sexy."

I chuckled and shook my head.

"Seriously though! She may need to keep that armor on to cover herself, otherwise I might just pounce her."

I chuckled again, "Be my guest, I'd actually highly recommend it, she can do this thing with electricity that just feels fantastic."

"So, you wouldn't be bothered if I went after other mares?"

"No, if you're fine with me doing it, I'm fine with you doing it." I stopped and smiled at her, "I have what's important."

She smiled softly and kissed me, then wrapped me in a hug and held me there for what felt like hours.

***

The raiders picked through the building, searching for us, unfortunately for them we were in a building across the street, staring at them through Victory's night vision scope.

"Watch how a true master does it." Gallows bragged, she'd named herself that the night before, Gallows, ridiculous name.

She fired, the first raider's head exploding, the only sound his comrades would've heard was his body hitting the floor, but the noise of the thunderstorm covered it nicely.

She aimed up to the roof, at a raider smoking in the rain, she shot him in the throat, he fell forward off the building, landing four stories down head first on the concrete with a loud crunch.

Hoofsteps behind us, Gallows didn't look away from the scope, instead she manipulated my pistol and pointed it directly behind us. The hoofsteps came closer as she sent another silenced round flying into the face of a mare inspecting a body.

The hoofsteps came closer, Gallows cocked the hammer back, the gun was brushed aside, somepony hugged around our midsection and kissed along the nape of our neck.

"How many times Ah gotta say it," Blood Bolt whispered in our ear in an almost seductive tone, "that gun ain't stoppin' shit."

Gallows let out a held in breath and holstered the pistol, then sighted in another target and fired as the mare continued to kiss our neck.

"Excellent concentration." I complimented.

"Like I said, I'm a master."

"Hey," Gallows said aloud as she aimed at a large box of grenades and missiles near a weakened support beam on the second floor, "watch this."

She fired, and the boom of the explosion echoed out, drowning out the thunder. Ponies that were still alive screamed as the ancient building collapsed on them. Gallows smirked with satisfaction and turned around, slouching on a chunk of rubble and easing back on the wall.

Blood Bolt smiled and kissed us, Gallows didn't kiss back but smiled politely when she pulled away.

"Good evening." she said coolly.

Blood Bolt sighed, "Had to be the half that don't know how t' have a good time."

I'd told her about my crazy a few nights ago, Stripe explained it a bit more scientifically. Still hadn't told Toky, didn't want her worrying.

Gallows chuckled softly, "Our definitions of a 'good time' differ greatly I'm sure. You and Bandage find the more carnal urges of pleasure enjoyable, I on the other hoof enjoy the simple satisfaction of a well placed .308 round."

The pegasus pouted, "Tell the fun Bandage to come out," she whined, shifting her back legs, "Ah'm horny!"

Gallows rolled our eyes, "Can you not go more than a day without pouncing on her? Goddesses, you're worse than she is."

My friend scoffed and turned around making a show of highlighting her flank, "Ah know you wanna piece o' this as much as she does, Bandage told me so."

Gallows shrugged, "Sure, but I have a bit of self control."

BB snorted and turned to face us, stepping closer and sneering, "Yeah, if ya call gallivantin' around in the middle o' the night shootin' folks in the face self control."

She continued to move closer, Gallows drew my knife and held it at BB's throat to stop her. The pegasus grinned, and a spark jumped from a scar on her chest to the blade.

"Be glad Bandage is in there," she said menacingly, "otherwise Ah'd turn ya into a stain on the floor."

Gallows just smiled coolly, a facade, all the talk of violence was getting her excited, "That would be just fine, I'm eager to see how this rifle stacks up to that skull graft of yours."

BB chuckled, "Ah love it when ya talk dirty."

A raider appeared in the doorway, spraying with an assault rifle, Gallows pushed BB to the floor and fired wildly with my pistol, his chest and throat filling with holes. The buck didn't even wince, and instead let out a gurgling laugh as he reloaded.

"Stampede." I warned.

"I figured." she said with some annoyance, reloading the pistol.

Blood Bolt darted at him, slamming him into the wall with bone crunching force and violently electrocuted him. The buck kept cackling and firing his weapon, even as his body charred and the barrel of his rifle began to melt.

It morphed into a scream as he caught fire, but BB's onslaught continued, lightning arcing off her and burrowing into him.

She backed away as he finally went silent, his body would've slumped against the charred wall if he wasn't melted to it. The light show didn't stop though, electricity spilled out of her and licked at steel beams.

More raiders spilled in and she screamed, flying at them with a shield of red lightning surrounding her. They were blasted to bits when she impacted, and those that got out of the way in time were writhing on the ground screaming.

Gallows trotted up to them and executed each while BB stood there panting and trembling, lightning jumping between scars all over her body.

"You all right?" Gallows asked absently.

"Ah'm fine, just gimme a minute."

"It looks like you're in pain."

"Ah am." she said through gritted teeth

“Need any help?”

She sighed, still trembling, “Fuck, off, please.”

Gallows shrugged and trotted back to her perch, scanning the street below with Victory, clear for now. Hoofsteps again, and strained panting.

“Sure you're okay?”

“Yeah.”

“So, what was with the, you know, pain?”

“Didn’t have mah armor on, little too much heat.”

“Mmm.” Gallows mumbled, sighting in on another small raiding group in the distance. She took out the one in the back first and worked her way to the front. Clean, tactically speaking, though the street was littered with chunks of brain and skull.

"Well," Gallows sighed, "I've about had my fill."

"Move over, I need to make sure she's okay."

"Fine."

I grunted as I came back into control. Blood Bolt was still panting, wincing every other breath. I tsked as I trotted to her.

"Ah'm alright dammit."

"If you were okay you would've relaxed by now." I said with a smile.

She glared at me for a moment before sighing and hanging her head.

I bumped her shoulder with my head and smiled sympathetically when she looked back up.

"Lay down for a bit, I'm going to look you over, make sure you didn't wreck anything."

She winced but nodded, laying down with a grunt. I examined her, she was fine, mostly. A few burns here and there, some light scalding, gone after I had her drink a healing potion. Otherwise it was just her body still feeling the heat. I took a rag and wetted it outside, then wrapped it around her neck so she'd cool down faster.

"Thanks sugar." she said with a relieved sigh.

"Come on," I said, helping her up, "let's get back to the outpost."

She nodded and latched onto me, then darted out the window.

"Holy shit!" I screamed.

I looked down, promptly vomiting, and took in the scenery after spitting the bile out of my mouth. Old Trottingham looked worse from a bird's eye view than it did on the ground, the other sides of blocked off streets revealed massive raiding compounds, which explain how they still had a presence here after weeks of Gallows' 'hunting expeditions'.

Manticore nests were visible too, with massive packs of the feline beasts grouped together for warmth in the downpour.

I brought up my PipBuck's map and marked the location of the central compound, the one with actual supply caravans moving out to other, smaller locations.

"What'cha doin'?" BB called out.

"I think I found a good place to hit tomorrow morning! Might give the Union some hold in this region!"

***

"You wanna run that by me again?" the Major asked.

I sighed and rubbed my temples, the plan was simple enough, a large group of troopers would attack the front of the compound, while Blood Bolt dropped my group in behind them one by one, allowing us to hit them from both sides and squeeze them in.

"Your force attacks them head on, creating a diversion, my group drops in behind after all their troops have moved to attack you. We sweep through, wiping out any stragglers, then hit the main group from behind."

"And tear them to shreds." Gallows said with a rather creepy giggle.

“So, the plan is for this collection of twenty some troopers to leave our only base in this region unguarded, only to be slaughtered by a group of fifty raiders?”

“Please, when there were only three of us my team took down a force of over eighty raiders. This should be no problem for us, let alone trained soldiers.”

Mint Berry grumbled but nodded, then waved me out of her office.

Stripe was waiting outside the door, “We good to go?”

“Yeah.” I said, walking past him.

“Bitchin’.” he said, following.

"I didn't get a great look at the structure, but it didn't look too sturdy, bring some of that plastic explosive so we can blow the building if we need a diversion."

"Guess I'm makin' det charges today," he mumbled, I glanced back at him with a stern look and he nodded seriously, "I'll get right on it."

He veered off to the workshop and I continued down the hallway, I was dreading this next request, BB I knew could handle herself but Shaky...

They were both with Token at the mess hall, Token looked bright and cheery like always, if not a bit sleepy, the other two looked exhausted from the night’s fight and pissed off to be woken up respectively.

“Hey babe.” she said tiredly after another sip of coffee.

I sat down next to her and looked across the table at the other two with an expression that may have been a bit too grim when I was trying to remain optimistic.

“So, we’re on for tomorrow.” I said.

“Sweet.” BB mumbled.

“D-d-don’t know why you had to f-f-fuckin’ wake me up for this b-bulshit.” Shaky grumbled crankily.

I sighed, “Because I need to ask the two of you to do something tonight.”

“That bein’?” the pegasus asked.

“I need you to fly Shaky over to the compound and drop her off so she can do some recon on the inside.” I turned to Shaky, “Only if you’re up to it.”

“Yeah,” Shaky said, “I can do it.”

“You two should probably get some rest.”

They nodded and left the mess hall, Token massaged a hoof on my neck, “Maybe you should go and sleep too? You’ve been out most of the night.”

I rested my head on her shoulder and huffed tiredly, “I want to, believe me.”

“Then what’s the issue?”

“I’ve got to make some semblance of a backup plan, in case things go to shit.”

“Tell you what,” she said, hugging around me midsection, “you go rest, I’ll wake you up in a few hours and you can plan your tight round ass off.” I smiled tiredly and nodded agreement. “Not too far off mind you, that’s my property after all.”

“Oh? I was aware it belonged to anypony interested.” I teased.

“Please,” she scoffed, “they’re just renting.” She pressed her mouth to my ear, “I’m the landlord.” she growled.

I chuckled, “Toky, don’t try to be aggressive, it really doesn’t suit you.”

“Really now?”

I nodded and pressed my forehead to hers. “You’re the sweet one, always have been.”

“And what’s that make you?”

The killer, the disturbed one with the split personality, the cheater... “The one with a temper.” I said, not exactly what I should’ve said, still not a lie though.

“True, you did tend to beat the shit out of ponies a lot.”

“Better than what I do to them now...” I muttered.

“Stop beating yourself up about that, those ponies you killed deserved what they got, they were bad.”

“I guess...”

She sighed and planted a kiss on my forehead, “Go get some sleep.”

I nodded and left the mess hall, collapsing in bed next to Shaky when I got to the room, she was trembling.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m n-nervous,” she said quietly, “what if I’m in that b-b-base and they f-find me and they... do things.”

“Oh sweetie,” I said as I embraced her, “if you don’t want to go you don’t have to, I understand.”

She shook her head, “I can g-go, I can b-be b-b-brave.”

“It’s not about being brave Shaky, nopony’s questioning that you can do this, but if you don’t want to I’m not going to make you.”

She smiled at me, “It’s fine B-bandage, I’m going, b-but if they find me...” I followed her glance, spotting her pistol on the crate we used as a nightstand.

I squeezed her tighter and kissed her forehead, “Don’t you dare.” I whispered.

***

Shaky and Blood Bolt had left an hour ago, and my back-up plan was already laid out, nothing to do but wait. I occupied myself with a card game against some troopers, lost by miles and 500 caps. Tried to occupy myself with Token for awhile, but I wasn’t much in the mood for trying to flirt and she wasn’t giving it up easy.

Instead, I put on my goggles, put in my ear pieces, played MYSTIKZ music, and cranked the volume all the way up. I tried the whole head bobbing thing for a while, but eventually got bored with it and rested my head against the wall. The music was doing it’s job, blaring loudly enough to drown out my thoughts, let me clear my mind. I didn’t know how long I sat on the bed listening, but eventually somepony poked my shoulder and snapped me out of it.

I cracked an eye open, Token was saying something but I couldn’t hear over the music, she stared for a while before popping an eir piece out.

“News is on the radio, you should listen.”

I sighed and turned of the music, then switched it over to MYSTIKZ’s station.

“‘Ello, ‘ello, ‘ello! DJ MYSTIKZ here, talkin’ to ya live outta everypony’s favorite town, Tragedy! Now, before I get on to the nasty business of news, I got a special treat for all you faithful listeners out there. About a month ago I got a few interviews with the crew of a certain miss Bandage, the mare who’s been tearing raider ass from Stable 80 to Old Trottingham, and I am happy to say that I finally got them nice and polished up! So without further adue...”

“So, for those out there that don’t know it, give us a name love.”

“Bandage.”

“And where are ya from Bandage?”

“Stable 80.”

“How long have you been outside?”

“I dunno, about a month now I think.”

“See you’ve got some nasty scars since you came out.”

“Yeah... close combat isn’t much my forte.”

“You know, you’ve been causin’ quite a stir recently, first you take down that utterly MASSIVE band of raiders down south, and then you turn Oasis into a damn fortress and fight off an army. Now I gotta ask, how does a stable pony get that good that fast?”

“Uh, I read a book.”

“...”

“Oh, and it’s not like I did all that on my own, I have some pretty kickass friends with me.”

“Yes, Tragedy’s favorite son Stripe and your marefriend Token correct?”

“Yeah.”

“You know, that’s actually a damn shame, you my friend are quite the mare to look at.”

“Um, thanks?”

“True shame fellas, I know you can’t see her, but my goodness. We’re at a loss my friends, two actually, Token’s pretty good lookin’ as well.”

“...”

“Well, I think that’s all the questions I’ve got for you Bandage, thanks for stoppin’ by.”

“No problem.”

“Now, I’ve also got an interview from Stripe I’d like to play for all you listening...”

“Hey there big guy, good to have you back in town.”

“Blow it out your ass MYSTIKZ, just get to the fuckin’ questions.”

“Right, sorry. Just wanting to know why a big shot like you follows Bandage around?”

“Simple, Bandage is level headed, has ambition, helps ponies that need it, for Goddesses know what fuckin’ reason, and frankly, she’s a beast. Any mare that can take a full magazine of 5.56 to the chest without any armor on, then get up and drop raiders at range and live through the whole mess is a mare I’m glad to fight with. Plus we were both headin’ the same direction.”

“And what is Bandage like? You know, personality wise.”

“Hell, only known her a month, I’d talk to token if ya want some profound shit. From what I can figure, she’s easy t’ piss off and a bit of a freak when the sun sets if ya catch my drift.”

Token laughed at that, I blushed and glanced away.

“Loyal too, intensely. She’s got all our backs, I don’t doubt for a second she’d gladly take a bullet for one of us. Listen I think I'm done with the fuckin' questions, gonna go get drunk or somethin'."

"One more for you lot to endure through and then we'll get to the news I promise."

"So gorgeous, give us a name."

"Token."

"And you're Bandage's marefriend correct?"

"Yep."

"So were you two together in your stable or?"

"No, very close friends but not much else."

"And what changed exactly?"

"Well, there weren't any rules about homosexuality outside, and I guess I'd been feeling this way a long time now, it just kind of... happened."

"Interesting, now what can you tell us about Bandage?"

"She's very smart, usually very sweet, and she has a nasty temper."

"How nasty we talking?"

"Um, she's been arrested over twenty times for getting into fights with stallions twice her size and beating them to a pulp."

"That's a bit impressive actually."

"Yeah."

"So this is a bit of a personal question, how exactly do you feel about her?"

"Easy, I love her, unconditionally."

I smiled at her and planted a kiss on her cheek, she giggled and nuzzled my neck.

"That's downright adorable, I might actually shed some tears."

"Oh stop."

"Well thank you for an excellent interview miss, it has been a pleasure."

"Whatever."

"Alright alright, enough of this boys and girls, let's get to the news."

"Some odd reports from out east, the Confederation has changed their name to 'The Grand Army of the Trinity', whatever the hell that is, and they've called for a ceasefire until further notice. In a truly dickless gesture, the Union has agreed to the terms of the ceasefire instead of hopping their happy asses over the Divide and stomping them into the dirt when they were least expecting it. Seriously, can we get some Walkers running that country so they'll actually win a war every now and again?"

"Got some news on our favorite stable pony and her crew, according to a few troopers up in Old Trottingham she's been actively hunting the massive raider population in the region, and has been putting quite the dent in their operation. Hopefully more on that later in the week."

"Some new reports on the Steel Rangers, they've been pushing through Old Trottingham, protecting the communities in the region as usual and generally just tearing through monsters and raiders like rotten paper. But this time around they're looking to cut the head off those psycho fucks once and for all. Between Bandage and the Rangers, I'd say those raiders are proper fucked, keep up the good work folks."

"That's all for us tonight fillies and gentlecolts, I'm heading back to the club, my lovely assistant Soft Beat will be pushing you through the night with some old classics."

An old Sweetie Bell song came on and I shut the radio off, fantastic singer, just not my cup of tea.

"Well that was thoroughly obnoxious." I muttered.

"Mmm, you know, I thought it was odd he mentioned you tearing raider ass and not, you know, mare ass."

I blushed and my ears laid back, Token giggled and licked my nose. A thought sparked through my head and grinned at her mischievously, I tackled her and pinned her to the bed.

"Uh-" she started, her face turning a deep red, I interrupted her with a kiss.

"Babe-" I kissed her again, grinning more deviously when I pulled away.

"Bandage-" one more time, but much harder and with a bit of tongue. She was weakening, her eyes going half lidded and her cheeks flushing furiously.

She was about to say something again, but I cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh fuck it." she said, wrapping her forehooves around my head and bringing me in.

I broke away and smiled down at her.

"We gonna leave this at making out or take it a little further south?" I asked.

She coughed nervously and glanced down at the small space between our bodies, her face flushing further. I planted a kiss on her neck and pressed my body against hers. She bit her lip and wriggled under me as I continued to grin down at her.

"Simple yes or no question love." I said in a low seductive tone. I pressed my mouth to her ear and growled softly, "So, yes, or no?"

I wasn't watching her, but I could hear her panting softly, and feel her heart racing in her chest, I was winning this little bout of ours.

She gulped and whispered in my ear, "Yes."

"Too bad." I said curtly as I rolled off her. I trotted towards the door with a smug grin, making a show of bobbing my ass.

"You suck!" she huffed. I stopped and turned around, grinning. I kicked the door shut with a back leg, locking the bolt with my magic.

I walked towards her slowly and climbed up onto the bed, pushing her back against the mattress, still grinning. She frowned and pouted slightly.

"Oh come on now," I said as I nuzzled her nose, "I was just teasing you. Stop pouting like that, it's too adorable."

She hugged around my neck and pecked my lips, "It wasn't funny."

I pressed myself against her tender area and kissed her neck with some slight aggression, rewarded with a soft moan. I kissed down her body, ready to stop teasing and get on with the show, we both groaned with frustration when somepony pounded on the door.

"What?!" I yelled angrily.

"Bandage," I heard Blood Bolt say through the door, her voice wavering and broken, "somethin' happened."

I broke away from Token instantly and practically flew at the door. When I opened the door BB had her head hung, not looking.

"Where's Shaky?" I said, frantically looking around the hall.

"They found her," she choked out, "she didn't let them touch her..."

I sunk back on my haunches, tears rolling out of my eyes. An odd gut wrenching feeling I hadn't felt in awhile aching through me. I hung my head and sobbed, Token came up and hugged me from behind, rocking me back and forth.

"B-bandage?"

I jerked my head, Shaky was standing there in the hall, completely fine, her head cocked in a questioning manner.

"What's wrong?"

I heard Blood Bolt's soft snicker, and blinked away enough tears to see her smirking to herself.

Something snapped, "YOU FUCKING CUNT!!!" I screamed, landing a solid blow to her face and knocking her to the ground.

She got up and tried to say something but I grabbed both sides of her face and head-butted her, she threw me off of her and tried to fly backwards but I leapt forward and wrenched her back to the floor. She got her rear legs planted and slammed me into the wall winding me and taking the chance to fly towards a dead end hallway.

She wiped blood from her split lip and glared at me, "Take a fuckin' joke Bandage."

I glared back, walking towards her in the most menacing pose I could manage.

"If ya don't back off Ah'm gonna get serious Bandage, don't make me hurt you."

I kept moving closer and she fired a bolt of lightning past me, my side heated up and the smell of ozone filled my nostrils but I continued.

The next one came right for me, I ducked it and sprinted forward slamming her into the wall and hammering her gut with my forehoof. She wrapped a leg around my neck and tried to choke me out, I did the same to her with my magic, but harder. She gagged and her hold loosened, I took the opening to land a cheap shot in a very tender region. She yelped with pain and let go, I wrapped her midsection in my forelegs, throwing her over my shoulder and slamming her head to the floor with all my weight behind it.

She went limp, knocked out, not dead... not finished. I rolled her onto her back and reared my hind legs up, ready to stomp her head into pulp. Somepony tackled me and pinned me to floor.

"Easy boss," Stripe said, "fight's done, chill the fuck out."

I tried wriggling free, but the zony was too heavy and far too strong for me to move. I huffed and gave up, slumping.

"Holy shit," a trooper I couldn't see muttered, "she fucked her up bad."

"Get 'er to the infirmary!" the Major barked.

There was some shuffling and hoofsteps, then Mint Berry sighed.

"Anypony want to explain why there's a bruised and bloody pegasus on the way to my infirmary?"

"Because I didn't have time to kill her." I growled.

"Quiet," Stripe scolded, "you're in timeout."

"You ain't my mom!" I shouted.

He shoved a foreleg into the back of my neck, pressing my head to the floor, "Nah, but I am three times yer size."

More hoofsteps, Token peeked her head around Stripe and smiled at me, "Back to your old shenanigans my love?"

"Blow it out your ass!" I spat.

She giggled and nuzzled my nose, "I'll go get the old hoofcuffs I guess. Or, I suppose I could get the new ones I bought in Tragedy..." She leaned in close and whispered, "They've got this really soft pink fur for a lining, I was hoping to break them out under less serious circumstances."

If I wasn't so pissed I probably would've blushed, instead I just growled again and tried to squirm free.

She sighed and fished the two pairs of traditional hoofcuffs I'd seen far to many times in my teenage life and had Stripe shift so she could clasp them on my legs. She even kept the magic suppression ring, sliding the uncomfortable metal over my horn and locking it in place.

She lifted me with her magic and trotted us to the room, chastising me as we went. Shaky passed in the hall, looking utterly confused.

"Hey Shaky!" Token said brightly.

"Hey..." she replied, "do I even want to know?"

"I'd really love to say we're trying something new in the bedroom, but actually she just needs to be restrained right now."

"...'kay, good l-luck with that."

"Thanks!" she said as we continued.

We entered the room and she tossed me on the bed.

She looked me over and grinned, "Maybe I'll rethink what I told Shaky..."

She undid my hoofcuffs, only to replace them with the pink fur covered ones, looping the chain through the bed frame.

"Uh, Token-"

"Hush. You've been bad..." She leaned in and our lips locked, then slid her tongue over mine, I small sliver of dribble was hanging from my mouth as she broke away. "I think you need some punishment."

She levitated something out of her saddlebags and strapped it to herself, I gulped nervously when I saw the shape of the... object attached to the rig, and tried to squirm away when she started applying lubricant.

"Token," I said desperately, "I don't really think I'm in the-"

A gag ball was put in my mouth and clasped, Token giggled deviously and planted a kiss on my nose as her magic locked the door. I was vastly regretting my decision to let her go shopping as she took up a malicious grin.

"Trust me babe," she assured, though completely failing at sounding reassuring, "you'll like it."

***

I did like it, a lot, like a lot, it wasn't painful like I'd expected, Token had been thankfully gentle, yet rough enough to get me excited. She'd even taken the magic suppressor off my horn and let me ravage her with my sex spell. Unfortunately she'd passed out after 10 rounds, before uncuffing me from the bed, thankfully I was able to get the gag out myself.

She was resting her head on my chest, drooling, I would've loved to hold her while she slept, but my forelegs were still chained up, uncomfortably so.

The bolt on the door clicked, Stripe trotted in with Shaky on his back, the filly was trying to spit a bobby pin out.

"Uh..." Stripe said as he glanced over us, "Have a fun night?"

"Yeah..." I said awkwardly, "So um, how did you get in?"

"I p-picked the lock." Shaky said, looking over us in confusion.

"Where'd you learn that?"

"Miss B-blood B-bolt taught me."

"Of course she did..." I muttered, "Can you undo the locks on these cuffs?"

"I d-don't wanna t-t-touch you..."

"Oh c'mon kiddo," Stripe encouraged, "she's just covered in lube and mare juices."

"Eww!" she squealed, galloping out of the room and down the hall.

Stripe chuckled.

"You're a bastard."

He shrugged, "Tell ya what, I'll wake up Blue an' she can use the key."

"Sounds good, hurry up."

He trotted to me and nudged my mare with a hoof, in her daze Token smiled drunkenly and drooled more. He nudged harder, she just grumbled something in her sleep and squeezed me tighter.

"Yeah, she ain't wakin' up."

"Ah'll get 'er outta there." BB said, her face was beat up, bad.

She leaned forward with a bobby pin in her mouth, working it in the lock of my cuffs until it clicked. I sighed with relief as my legs were finally able to drop.

"Blood Bolt I'm-"

"Shut it," she said with a friendly grin, "prank wasn't funny, fucked up actually, Ah reckon Ah deserved that ass whoopin'. Not a bad swing by the way."

"We'll leave you two alone." Stripe said, BB looked us over once and winked at me before trotting out the door with him and shutting it behind them.

I held Token and kissed her on the forehead, she snorted in her sleep and snuggled closer.

***

I woke up to Token removing that diabolical device and stashing it in her saddlebags, I pounced off the bed and grabbed hold of her, then jerked my weight to the right and threw her on the mattress, assaulting her with nuzzles.

"You're awfully affectionate this morning." she giggled.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I said as I continued my onslaught.

"Well, I was a bit rough with you last night."

I held her in a semi-vicious hug and growled into her ear, "I like it rough."

She giggled again and shoved me off, then tossed me my gear, I'd forgotten today was the big day.

I groaned with some discomfort as I slid into my barding.

"Still sore?"

I snorted, trying my best to mimic Stripe's signature gesture, "Just my shoulders and crotch."

"Mmm, maybe I'll help you work out the kinks later..."

I glanced at her sideways, yet again realizing I hadn't removed my goggles, she was looking me over, something reminiscent of hunger in her eyes.

I grinned slightly, "What's gotten into you the last couple days? One minute you're playing hard to get and the next you're all over me."

She shrugged, "Guess I want to keep you interested."

I chuckled and shook my head, "Baby, nothing in the world could keep me from being interested."

"You're too sweet." she said with a smile.

"And you're slowly evolving into a sexual deviant."

She laughed, "Only for you babe."

I smiled at her before scrunching my face, "Shit..." I muttered.

"What?"

"I probably should've washed before putting this on, I'm covered in juices and, and-"

She licked her hoof and sampled the taste, "Blueberry lube."

I blinked, "How do you-"

"I bought like, six bottles and three different flavors, the nice mare who sold it to me had free samples available."

"Token... you're a freak, and that is just, so, fucking, awesome."

She winked at me and slid into her armor, then tickled my nose with her tail as she walked out. I nipped at it as I followed.

The rest of the team was in the mess hall eating breakfast, I was surprised to see BB smile at me as we sat down.

"How's your face?"

She shrugged, "Little sore, how's your snatch?"

"About the same." I said. Token snickered and I shoved her playfully.

Stripe looked utterly exhausted, and my eyebrow instinctively cocked when the Major walked by and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Rough night big guy?"

He snorted, "Minty kept me busy."

"Damn," Blood Bolt muttered, "am Ah the only one that didn't get laid last night? That's fucked up..."

Shaky was covering her face with embarrassment but raised a hoof, "I didn't, and it'd b-be really great if you guys would stop t-talking ab-bout it."

I chuckled and shook my head.

"What'd you guys find out last night? I didn't have time to ask while I was beating the tar out of you."

BB snorted, "Keep rubbin' it in Bandage."

"There's a couple of weak support b-beams we can b-blow up real easy, there's also a uh, a uh," she was getting nervous, trembling a bit, "they've g-g-got some p-ponies in the b-basement and they, th-they, do what they d-did to me down there..."

I reached over the table and patted her shoulder, "We'll get them out sweetie."

She sniffed and looked up at me, "Promise?"

"I promise." I said with a smile.

***

I peeked at the sliver of mirror I had floating around the corner, another clear hallway, diversion was working well. I nodded at Shaky, she trotted around the corner and led Token and I down the stairs to the basement.

The further we got, the sound of flank slapping flank and faint whimpers was becoming louder. I slid my mirror around the corner and shuddered at what I saw, I tried to keep Shaky from looking but she screamed with rage and whipped around the corner firing wildly with her pistol.

A body dropped and a filly squealed in anguish as the stallion raping her slid out and hit the floor. The poor thing curled into a ball and trembled, Shaky was the first one to her, wrapping her in a hug.

"He can't hurt you anymore." Shaky whispered, rocking her back and forth.

Token tried to approach them but I stopped her and nodded towards the cages. The site inside was awful beyond belief, cut up mares, some of them dead, the floor was covered in feces, urine and blood, most of which was mixing into their wounds.

One of them looked at me, picking her head up off the corpse she was curled up next to. One of her eyes had been gouged out, and I shuddered to think what the substance oozing from the bruised socket was.

"Is that skull fucking bastard dead?" she asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes."

"Good." she said, resting her head back on the corpse and shutting her eye, her chest didn't move, I was only happy that she saw some justice before dying.

I pressed my pistol up to the rusted lock and fired, then Token and I strained to pry the door loose. When it finally gave the remaining mares looked up at us, confused, frightened, hopeful.

"Come on," I urged, "we're getting you out of here."

"Babe," Token said, "Shaky and I will sneak them out the back, you should get outside and help Stripe and BB."

I nodded and patted Shaky on the shoulder as I passed her, she was still holding the other filly, who was an utter wreck.

***

Stripe and Blood Bolt had torn the raiders to pieces outside, and the troopers assisting them weren't doing too bad either, more of a shooting gallery for yours truly by the time I got to the roof.

I did have the pleasure of pushing a rather focused sniper off the edge. She screamed the last couple of stories down and hit the ground with a meaty splat.

The remaining raiders more or less dispersed after I started picking targets, Stripe and BB had the fun of chasing them down.

Token and Shaky emerged with the take victims in tow, Shaky sticking close to the filly. I climbed my way down the side of the building and grunted as my front legs hit the ground.

Stripe was grinning, the detonator in his teeth, I took it out of his mouth and passed it to the filly, she pressed a hoof to the button and smiled sadly as the building exploded out and collapsed in on itself.

***

The infirmary at Foxtrot was full, and the medic and I were busy cleaning out and patching up wounds. He thankfully had a lot of extra disinfectant and antibiotics in stock.

The filly, Hex, was thankfully mostly unharmed, Shaky hadn't left her side and was currently helping her bathe.

They trotted out several minutes later, Hex was limping slightly. Her coat was a dirty white, darker than mine but lighter than Shaky's, her messy mane was jet black and covered half her face, her eyes were vibrant purple. She was slightly taller than Shaky, probably a little older. I winced when I saw her right flank, the rather unsettling cutie mark, a key made of bones with a pony skull replacing the circle loop, was overlapped with 7 hashmarks.

She wore a gloomy expression, not much of a surprise there, and only occasionally smiled when Shaky said something funny, even then it was a very sad one.

She didn't eat much when dinner rolled around, Shaky could only prompt her to eat some old snack cakes and drink a bottle of water. Upsetting for me considering the young unicorn looked slightly emaciated.

She didn't talk much, only to Shaky, and even then she was whisper quiet.

I had her sleep on the top bunk, considering the debauchery that had taken place on the bottom one. Shaky clambered off the bunk and landed next to me after Hex had fallen asleep.

"How is she?" I whispered.

"Not g-good... she s-said she was there for a w-week, and that a few b-bucks would g-go after her every day, a couple mares too."

"Damn..."

"She said she's really good at p-p-picking locks and stealing stuff, I was wondering if she c-could come with us."

"Does she want to come with us?"

"She wants to come with me."

I paused for awhile, considering, "I'll think about it."

Shaky sighed and climbed back up the ladder, I rested my head on the wall and shut my eyes, futile, the instant I tried to relax I was pushed into the cage by Gallows.

After what I'd seen in that basement, I wished her happy hunting.

***

The next few days was a raider killing frenzy, the Major didn't want to send out any more troops, but we met up with a group of power armored Steel Rangers that were happy to lend a hoof.

Hex was proving to be an asset, a lot of the old buildings the raiders were based out of had locked doors and hidden safes, which she found and cracked with an unsettling amount of ease.

Shaky was enjoying her company, though I suppose having someone her own age around was somewhat of a comfort.

There was something a bit... off about Hex though. Shaky had been a wreck the first few weeks we knew her, Hex was always calm, gloomy but calm, the filly hadn't cried since we rescued her.

We had every raider stronghold in Old Trottingham wiped out in a matter of days, the Union gave us quite the substantial reward, I nearly fainted when a requisition form for 50,000 caps was passed to me over the desk.

The Rangers offered to keep patrolling the area to make sure no more bases could be set up.

Next stop was the Span, the massive rock formation that served as a natural bridge across the Divide, the Union capitol was just outside the western passage, and so was the work.

***

It was night, and the rain had picked up ridiculously, picked a shitty day to leave. BB was circling up ahead looking for a place to hunker down for the night.

The pegasus touched down in front of me with a muddy splash and whipped her wet mane out of her eyes.

"There's a bombed out brick house about half a mile down the road," she called over the storm, "ain't much t' look at but it's got a roof an' it's dry inside."

"That'll have to do." I called.

She nodded and took off, leading us there.

The house was a mess, the bottom floor was completely destroyed, and the top floor was home to a nest of mole rats. Killed them quickly enough and chucked the corpses down the stairs. Stripe started a fire and we all stripped our gear, thankful to get warm and dry.

Everypony nodded off pretty quickly, except for Hex and I. She limped over and sat down in front of me with a soft grunt.

"Bandage right?" she said in that whisper quiet voice of hers.

I nodded. She smiled sadly.

"You're broken aren't you?" she asked.

I blinked, "What?"

"Well, when you go out at night you act different and your voice changes."

I blinked again and scooted back, "Um."

"The jig is up! Snap her neck!"

"Hush."

"It's not a big deal, I'm sorta broken too. Anyone but Shaky touches me and I get really angry."

"Well, you've got good reason to not like being touched, you were in that place, for a week."

She nodded thoughtfully, "Wasn't the first time..."

"What?!"

"My dad, he came home high on Rage, beat up my mommy and rutted her, then shot her in the head and rutted her more. He found me hiding under the bed and did me too, then locked me in the basement. I figured out how to pick the lock," she chuckled sadly, "got me my cutie mark. I went upstairs and got my mom's straight razor, slit his throat while he slept." She levitated out a razor with an ivory handle, a small black skull was engraved on it. She unfolded the blade, it was black with ornate golden vine patterns. She nuzzled the handle affectionately and put the razor back in her satchel.

"That's horrible..."

She sighed, "Yeah, it got worse too... Better now though. Thanks for getting us all out of there."

She smiled again and trotted back to Shaky, laying down and curling up next to her.

"That kid is kind of weird..." Gallows muttered.

"Yeah... What do you expect though?"

"Good point... Hey Bandage?"

"Yeah?"

"She said we were broken... Maybe, maybe we should get help? You know, be whole."

"I- I don't think I'm ready for that... I don't think I can keep any shred of my morality with you and I whole."

She sighed, "Bandage, you're a good mare, you kill bad ponies, that deserve it."

"But, if we're together I might kill ponies for the sake of killing..."

"Let's face it mate, you're the dominant personality, you're morals will hold solid. Talk to Stripe tomorrow, he might know something that will help."

"I'm surprised at how much you're pushing this."

"I'm sick of playing mental tug of war with you, it's been a grueling month in those regards, and I guess, I'd like to sleep without being tossed in the cage, you know?"

"Trust me," I whispered aloud, "I know..."

***

"I'm only helping if you tell Blue." Stripe said firmly.

"What?!" I exclaimed, "Why?!"

"Shaky too, now that I think about it."

"Oh come on!"

He shook his head, "Token's yer mare, and Shaky's practically yer damn kid. Ya need to tell 'em, hell, ya shoulda told 'em in the first place."

"I can't tell them!" I whined.

"Bullshit, ya told Sparky an' I, why not them?"

"They'll worry!"

He snorted, "They oughta fuckin' worry, the little 'trick' I'd have t' do to meld yer personalities could erase both of 'em and create a new one that's ten times worse. Or ya could just go bubblin' insane and become a fuckin' vegetable. Either way you're gonna be off, and if ya don't explain to 'em what could go wrong before they're gonna worry more."

I sighed, "Damn you Stripe..."

***

"Why didn't you tell me?" Token asked, a hurt expression on her face.

"I didn't want you to worry..."

She punched me, I rubbed my cheek but didn't bother doing anything else.

"So... can I talk to her or?"

"You could, I guess, but she's not exactly fond of you, and she's a bit, uh, shooty."

"I see..." She locked a foreleg around my neck and pulled me into a hug, "You really should've told me, I want to help."

"I know you do, but it's a really complicated issue."

"Hush, I'm helping, nothing else on the matter. Need me to tell Shaky?"

"No, I asked Hex to do it."

"So, when is he gonna do the thing?"

"Whenever they're ready." Stripe said.

"You ready?" I asked Gallows.

"...Yes."

I took a deep breath and squeezed Token, "We're ready."

***

I was resting my head on Token's lap, lying on my back. She was smiling down at me reassuringly, I smiled back, trying not to look nervous.

"Okay," Stripe said, "first we need you to find out for yourself why your mind made this split."

"Because to stay sane I can't fully embrace my violent urges."

"That was fast."

"I've been thinking about this for a month now."

"Right, well now you know what to think about when this is done, keep yourself in control."

"Right."

"Okay, close your eyes, and draw Gallows up to the surface next to you."

I shut my eyes and dropped back into my mental plain, Gallows brushed up next to me and smiled.

"We're both here." she said through our mouth.

"Now try and imagine her as a pool of water instead of a person."

Gallows smiled and slowly morphed into a large pool.

"Now look in the water, what do you see?"

I looked and saw my reflection, I'd nearly forgotten how scarred I was.

"I see my reflection... she's my reflection... she's me."

"Good, now step into the water, and brace yourself."

"Goodbye." I whispered mentally.

"Not goodbye love."

I smiled and stepped into myself, and cried out loud as memories and emotions flooded into me and settled with my own. I'd seen the memories abstractly, but I hadn't known the exact thoughts that had been going through Gallows' mind. They were melding, making it difficult to tell who was thinking what.

My love for Token became muddled with a seething hatred, kills I had found horrific mixed with feelings of triumph, the pleasant feelings of sex merged with disgust.

I blinked my eyes open, my mare was holding my head, I couldn't remember if I loved her or hated her. The hate lashed out, having been unsatisfied for too long. I was strangling her with my magic.

"Bandage." she managed to gasp out, her plea knocked the sense back into me and I stopped.

"I'm sorry!" I sobbed out, when had I started crying. She gasped, catching her breath while I tried desperately to subdue my urges.

"It's okay." she coughed out.

I scrambled away from her, afraid of what I'd do. Stripe trotted to me, I wanted a gun. He hugged me.

"Focus," he said, "take a breath, and focus."

I inhaled, shut my eyes and sifted back through memories before Gallows was there, remembering my feelings. Token, my best friend, the night she kissed me, I loved Token, the hate fell away. Stripe, a protector, a friend, I felt safe around Stripe, anxiety fell away.

I hugged him back before trotting past him and kissing Token.

"Sorry love. Wasn't quite myself." Frankly I hadn't appreciated how much control Gallows needed to keep from murdering her.

She held me in an embrace and smiled lovingly, "It's fine, just don't do it again."

I nuzzled her nose, "Never."

Footnote: Level Up!

The following is a non-profit public service announcement,
I would like to point out right now because I feel like there's going to be comments made about it. This is NOT the end of Bandage's dichotomy, not by a long shot. I didn't throw Gallows in there just for shits and giggles so I could make chapters longer and then just remove her after two chapters, THAT BITCH WILL BE BACK, in one form or another.

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I was sitting on the balcony of the hotel we'd found in the capitol, Bits' Bed N Breakfast, enjoying the view of the Divide in the distance. I'd had a week and a half to adjust to my new state of mind, things were better now.

I'd noticed some definite changes however. I was a bit more aggressive, in all aspects, Token passed out on our bed was proof that she enjoyed it. Gallows' urges were fully prevalent now, but I'd learned to direct them at bad ponies instead of my friends.

New Trottingham wasn't the prettiest city, built like a fortress, self sustaining like 80, with hundreds of greenhouses and animal farms. It had an appearance similar to Tragedy, but much larger, and with hundreds of soldiers patrolling it.

The door to the balcony opened behind me, Shaky peeked her head out. I smiled and nodded her over.

She greeted me with a hug and sat down next to me, then let out a sigh.

"What's wrong poppet?"

"I'm confused." she muttered.

"About what?"

She fidgeted her hooves and blushed, "Stuff..."

I smiled slightly, "Boy stuff?"

"No." she murmured

I cocked an eyebrow, "Girl stuff?"

Her face went bright red, but she nodded, "You know how I s-said I liked Vespers?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, now I think, I think I like, d-dammit."

"Hex?" I offered. I didn't think her face could turn that shade.

"Yeah." she squeaked out.

I nodded, staring back out at the sprawling canyon in the distance, "That makes sense, you two spend a lot of time together, and you've been through some similar shit."

"Yeah, b-but I thought I liked, you know, colts, and Hex isn't a c-colt..."

"Who says you can't like both?"

"I dunno..." she muttered, fidgeting again.

"Nopony, that's who."

"I guess..."

I sighed and rested a hoof on her shoulder, "Sweetie, Token and I are happy together, really happy-"

"You and BB too." she said.

"Er, yes, her too I suppo-"

"And Salt that one time."

"Well yes but-"

"And that hooker you and Token b-brought home a c-c-couple days ago. Cinnamon or someth-"

I put a hoof over her mouth, "Shoosh," I scolded, "trying to give good advice here. The point is, do what makes you happy, and be with whoever makes you happy. It doesn't matter if they're a mare or a stallion."

She was silent, pondering, "So... sh-should I t-talk to her about it?"

"Do you want to?"

She shrugged, "Kinda, yeah."

"Then why not?"

She fidgeted more, biting her bottom lip, "Maybe, maybe I could t-tell her on Hearths Warming? It's tomorrow and I've b-been making her some b-barding as a present."

"Sounds like plan." I said with a smile.

The door opened again, then shut, the fact I couldn't hear Hex's hoofsteps was still weirding me out. She sat down next to Shaky and gave her neck a friendly nuzzle. Shaky coughed nervously and blushed, Hex gave her a quizzical look.

I chuckled softly and tousled Shaky's mane, then got up and trotted inside.

I prowled over to the bed Token slept on and clambered up silently. I looked the sleeping blue mare over, grinning maliciously as I thought of ways to make this morning an interesting one. I decided to keep it simple, pulling her close and softly biting up the nape of her neck.

"Mmm," she mumbled quietly, smiling sleepily, backing up closer to me, "good morning to you too."

"Enjoy last night's festivities?"

She chuckled softly, "Oh yes. You know it's Hearths Warming tomorrow, anything in mind for a gift?"

I growled softly into her ear and slid a hoof down her frame, "I have everything I need right here."

"Mmm," she said, biting her lip, "that's great and all, but let's try and think of something you want."

I chuckled and pressed myself against her, "Something comes to mind..."

"Oh be a bit more inventive, maybe we could have BB join in our shenanigans? Or we could bust out the hoofcuffs again."

"Or both." I whispered before licking her ear.

"Hmm, there's a thought... I hope your going somewhere with all this morning flirtation by the way, otherwise I'm going to be thoroughly disappointed."

I sighed, "I'd love to, but the girls are just outside. How does an early morning massage sound as a replacement?"

"Ooh, that sounds lovely."

I rolled her onto her tummy and started working my forehooves in small circles on her back, "Then I could pop downstairs and get some breakfast, we could eat in bed."

"You're spoiling me today babe."

"You put up with me, you deserve to be spoiled every now and again."

"So, plan for the day?"

"Breakfast in bed."

"Check."

"Lunch and a cup of tea."

"Check. I love that they actually have tea, don’t you?"

"Yes, it’s splendid. Head down to the bounty office after lunch and sign up for that expedition."

"Check."

"Come back up to the room, eat some dinner, do whatever and then sleep."

"Love it. Best plan ever. Quick question though."

"Shoot."

"Who's waking up the big guy and thunder slut?"

I sighed, "I suppose I'll do it."

"You really are spoiling me today."

I hugged around her neck and planted a kiss behind her ear.

"I'm going to go snag breakfast, anything you want in particular?"

"Bacon, scrambled eggs, some sausage, some carrots and a cup of coffee please."

"It shall be done my love." I said, bowing dramatically before I left the room.

The hotel was nice, 4 star rating, whatever the hell that means. They kept it well maintained, and it had plumbing, which was fantastic. The farms and greenhouses within the city walls brought in a lot of food, both meat and produce.

Stripe's room was next to ours, I didn't bother knocking, inside was Stripe sleeping next to BB.

I walked over and poked him, "Stripe." I said quietly.

He stirred and pressed a hoof to his mouth, "Don't wake Sparky." He nodded off again, snoring and somehow managing to look cute.

"Time to wake up sleepy head." I whispered as I ran I hoof through his mane.

"Five more minutes." he grumbled.

"Nuh-uh, up now, go get some breakfast and rehydrate." I wiped my hoof on the bed sheets. "Take a shower too, you're kinda sticky."

"Fine." he groaned. He nipped Blood Bolt's ear, she stirred and looked at him tiredly.

"Go warm the shower up baby, I'll go snag us breakfast."

She nodded tiredly and kissed his nose before clambering off bed and shambling to the bathroom. Stripe grunted as he stood and hopped off the bed.

He rolled his head left to right, cracking his neck, then shook himself and smiled at me tiredly, "How was your night boss?"

"Good, c'mon, let's go get some eats."

We exited the room and strolled to the elevator, an old world one that operated properly.

"You and BB an item?" I asked.

He chuckled and shook his head, "Nah, just had some fun last night. Where's Blue?"

"Up in the room still, treating her to breakfast in bed this morning."

"That's sweet, the girls?"

"Hanging out on the balcony, Hex is probably trying to figure out why Shaky's acting awkward."

He cocked an eyebrow, "An' why's she actin' awkward?"

I cocked an eyebrow back at him.

"Oh, that's why." He chuckled, "Kinda cute, her havin' a little crush an’ shit."

"You know, we sound a bit like parents having this conversation."

He shrugged, I grinned and shoved him with my shoulder.

***

I set our breakfast trays next to Token on the bed.

"Your breakfast my dear."

She smiled and bit into a slice of bacon, "Much obliged babe."

I winked and trotted out to the balcony with two trays for the girls. Shaky was lying on the ground with her face covered, turning ridiculous shades of red. Hex was smiling down at her, occasionally nudging her shoulder with a hoof.

I chuckled and set their breakfast in front of them, "What's up with her?"

"I dunno," Hex replied quietly, "it's cute though."

Shaky cringed and buried her face further in her forelegs. Hex snickered.

"B-bandage!" Shaky yelled, though it was muffled, "M-m-make her stop, she's embarrassing me!"

"Hmm," I said, smiling mischievously, "I don't see what you have to be embarrassed about. Do you Hex?"

"Alls I did was say she looked kinda cute when she blushed," Hex said quietly as she nibbled on a carrot, "honest."

I chuckled again and nuzzled behind Shaky's ear, "Come on poppet, we're just teasing. Now eat your breakfast."

She huffed and bit into her eggs, still blushing furiously. Hex grinned and nudged her playfully.

I rolled my eyes and went back inside, Token was exaggerating her enjoyment of her sausage for my amusement.

***

Tea time, a welcome reminder of stable life. We were sitting on the balcony with the girls.

"So why are we drinking t-tea?" Shaky asked.

"Because," Token said, matter of factly, "we're civilized Trottingham ponies, and civilized Trottingham ponies make time for tea."

"You kill ponies for money," Hex pointed out, "that doesn't seem very civilized."

Token was thinking of something to say something but came up blank, so stuck her tongue out instead.

"Yuck," Shaky said after a sip, "I need some sugar."

"Okay." Hex said, then threw her forelegs and Shaky's neck, nuzzling her cheek. Shaky instantly turned red and started mumbling.

"W-why are you h-h-hugging m-me?"

"You asked for sugar."

"I think she meant cubed sugar dear." I said.

"Oh, that makes more sense than asking for a hug while we're having tea." The gaunt filly smirked slightly, "Hey Shaky, you're cute when you blush."

Shaky groaned in frustration, Hex laughed quietly and continued to hug her.

"P-please stop hugging m-me."

"Stop being adorable and I will."

"Mom!"

I chuckled, "I think that's a fair offer, don't you Token?"

Token nodded and gulped down her tea, "Oh yes, completely fair."

"I hate you g-guys!" Shaky yelled.

I winked at Token, we both got up and joined in the hug.

"D-d-dammit! G-get the hell off me!"

"I told you," Hex said, "stop being adorable and I'll stop. Unfortunately that's not possible, so I guess I'm not gonna stop."

"And I love you too much to stop hugging you." I said.

"I just like hugs." Token said brightly.

Shaky pouted in defeat, "I hate you all s-so m-m-much."

***

We strolled through the bustling New Trottingham streets, navigating our way past hundreds of ponies and carts. I felt oddly claustrophobic around this many ponies, Stable 80 had a huge population, 4,500 or so, but generally speaking we all stuck to our assigned decks, which were huge enough to give plenty of wiggle room.

The bounty office wasn't so crowded, thankfully, and we signed up for that expedition into the Divide with no issue. We did have to invest however, 2 grand for everyone we brought along, 12 g's may have been steep, but we still had over 40,000 caps in the bank, and the reward for riding out the 4 month trip with the expedition was 10,000 caps a head. So, 12,000 now for 60,000 later was an excellent deal, not to mention all the sweet loot Stripe assured us would be waiting.

I felt like a high roller here in the Union, 40,000 caps to my name, staying in a swanky hotel. Then Stripe reminded me we were dividing that amongst 4 adults, roughly 10g's a piece, still good, right? Then we splurged...

Stripe bought a new suit of elite riot armor, setting him back 8,000 caps, though that was a useful purchase that would probably save our asses. BB purchased two very expensive looking magical energy rifles for her armor, setting her back 10,000 caps and Stripe's last 2,000 that she needed to borrow. Token bought an incredibly gorgeous and ornately designed .357 revolver she had dubbed Lucky, 3,000 caps, an old zebra assault rifle that was guaranteed not to jam for 4,000, and borrowed 4 grand from me to buy my 'presents'. I was actually hoping she bought some sort of 7,000 cap sexual device, but she emerged from the shop with a small gun case.

I was planning to spend my money on useful things like medical supplies and food and ammo, but Stripe assured me that the Divide had a plethora of all that. So instead I gave a few grand to Stripe so he could upgrade his battle saddle with an auto loader and a place for his rocket launcher. Bought some knee high red and black striped leg warming thingies called 'socks' for myself, because for some odd reason they were incredibly sexy. That left about 3,000 caps.

We were back to being relatively poor in less than 3 hours, and I was fine with it, gave us an excuse to keep working, which in turn gave us an excuse to keep travelling.

***

I was out on the balcony again after dinner, Hex, or at least I assumed it was Hex considering I didn't hear hoofsteps, opened the door and approached me. She sat down next to me with a soft grunt and followed my gaze out in the distance.

"Shaky has a crush on me huh?" she asked quietly.

"What makes you say that?"

She chuckled softly and adopted that sad smile once again, "She gets all blushy and flustered when I'm around, and super embarrassed when I say she's cute..."

"Well, it's not for me to tell is it?"

She shrugged, I could see every one of her bones move when she did it. I'd stopped being worried about malnutrition a few days ago, she ate her meals, had plenty of energy, and aside from a few minor problems was a completely healthy filly, Hex was just naturally gaunt.

"So, do you like her?"

The filly smiled, blushed, and fidgeted her hooves, looking oddly sheepish considering her usually gloomy demeanor, "Maybe... I dunno, Shaky's cool, and she's nice, and, um, um-"

"Cute?" I offered

She blushed more and ducked her head to hide behind her mane, "Yeah, but I can't tell for sure if she likes me back, and I don't wanna ask 'cause that'd be super awkward if she doesn't."

How to handle this... I could tell her, but then I'd miss the raw explosion of adorable brought about by Shaky nervously telling her herself. Reassurance was probably my best bet, or I could just keep my mouth shut...

"Just hold out a couple days," I said finally, "Shaky's pretty straightforward, if she likes you she'll tell you."

"I guess... Thanks Bandage."

"No problem hun."

She smiled again and stood with a soft groan, then limped back into the hotel. I'd had a doctor check out her hip, it wasn't anything from rape, just naturally displaced and tender for whatever reason.

I sighed and followed her inside, clambering onto the bed next to Token. She smiled, I held her face and rested my forehead on hers, just looking into her eyes.

"Planning any funny business?" she asked with a smirk.

"No, enjoying the view."

"You're so sweet Bandage."

I nuzzled her nose and smiled, "Only to you. Anything you want to do tonight?"

"Hmm, you, me, a warm shower and the room to ourselves. No sex or anything, let's just, you know, hang out."

"You got it... You know, I might’ve thought up an idea for the holiday."

"Oh? What would that be?"

"Let me take you on a date."

She blinked, "A date?"

"Yeah, you know, I take you out to dinner, maybe we dance a little, enjoy some wine, come back up to the room-"

"Make love?" she asked softly with a smile.

"Yeah, none of the kinky stuff, just, you know,” I coughed awkwardly, “enjoy each other's bodies, and stuff..."

She smirked, "And stuff?"

"Shut up!" I whined, "I've never asked anypony out before, it's a bit awkward."

"Well, I think that sounds like a lovely way to spend Hearths Warming, I guess you can pick me up tomorrow night at eight or something?"

I smiled and kissed her softly, then strolled into the bathroom to warm up the shower. She followed me, affectionately brushing against my side and nibbling on my ear.

"I thought you said no funny business?"

"A bit of contact and the occasional nibble doesn’t always signal sex Bandage."

“Nine times out of ten that statement is false.”

We showered, it was pleasant, and ‘funny business’ was kept to a minimum. Afterwards we were just lounging around the room, enjoying each other's company, occasionally kissing or hugging. It made me feel good, normal, like I wasn’t some gun for hire that fought raiders for money and fun, trapped outside of my home and having my face slowly but surely torn to pieces. We decided to spar, actually spar, not any prelude to sex. I won, like always, but Token was getting better, the couple months of combat experience serving her well.

Still, it ended with me on top, pinning her to the floor by her chest.

“It’s kind of nice wrestling with you and not some raider or a mutated bear.” I said jokingly.

“Yes, and I believe you’ve still got it. I remember when we used to do this you pinned me just as fast.”

I leaned in close and grinned, “And then you got all flustered and blushy from all those sexually repressed feelings you had for me.”

“Oh do behave.” she scolded, pushing me off her.

She climbed into bed and motioned me over, “C’mon, let’s get some sleep.”

“Nah,” I said as I trotted out the door, “I’m gonna chill on the balcony for a while, I’ll be in in a couple hours.”

She shrugged and flopped back onto her pillow.

New Trottingham was completely different at night, mostly because you could see the massive watchtowers in the distance quite clearly, and spotlights had the artillery points well lit. The city wasn’t just the capitol, it was the last line of defense against the Confederation, or the Trinity, or whatever the fuck they were calling themselves.

There wasn’t much nightlife either, curfew laws were in action and enforced. Occasionally I’d spot a light or two from the larger buildings, and if I peered close enough I could make out ponies partying their asses off inside, but other than that things were quiet.

A siren droned through the city, the spotlights on the watchtowers swung around and focused on something far outshining the beams of light, it was a pony, a pegasus with... no, couldn’t be. I rushed inside Token was looking up from her pillow with a worried expression.

“What’s going on?”

“No fucking clue,” I said as I frantically put on my armor and slung Victory over my back, “I think I’m seeing things.”

“Why?” she asked, getting out of bed and gearing up, “What’d you see?”

“What’s that word they had for what Celestia and Luna were? You know, winged unicorns?”

“Alicorns?”

“Yeah, I think there might be one walking down the Span.”

***

Token, Stripe, BB and I galloped down the street, following the soldiers that were spilling out of their respective barracks and moving towards the watch towers.

“You sure it was an Alicorn?” Blood Bolt shouted over the siren.

“No clue!” I called back, “But if they’ve got this many troops moving to stop one pony, it’d have to be something pretty fucking threatening!”

We hit a wall of troops trying to clamber up into position, there were too many soldiers stationed here to squeeze through the narrow gate.

“BB!” I called, “Gimme a boost!”

The pegasus nodded and scooped me up in her hooves, flying us over the crowd and past the gate. She stopped dead when we saw her. Moving up the path towards the gate in an almost elegant fashion was a dark red Alicorn, covered in ornate metal body armor that looked too well crafted to be thrown together in the wastes. She had two large swords hanging off her sides, and blade-like armor strapped to her wings, all of it just as well crafted as the body armor.

BB set us down at the front near a few bewildered soldiers, one looked like he was about to start shooting but I pushed his gun down and shook my head. The mare approached us calmly and halted only a few metres away.

She removed her helmet, unleashing a long red mane streaked with shades of blue red, her vibrant orange eyes bore a piercing look, similar to Stripe’s when he was pissed. Her magnificent appearance was matched with a domineering stature, from here I could guess she was taller than Stripe, maybe even taller than Birch. She glanced us over with a look crossed between apathy and subtle amusement.

“Lower your weapons foals!” she called out, “I come on behalf of the Trinity, representing my royal sisters!”

“BB?” I whispered.

“No fuckin’ idea,” she replied, “Ah’ve seen the reports of the Alicorns runnin’ round Fillydelphia, but ain’t none of ‘em been reported to look like this.”

The Alicorn picked me out of the crowd and trotted up to me, I cringed as she approached, her height was tremendous, at least twice Stripe’s size.

“You,” she said in a regal yet surprisingly soft voice, “mercenary, you hold more worth than any of these whimpering foals, you may want to have them stand down, lest my blades spill their blood over these puny city walls.”

I gulped and nodded, “Yes ma’am.” I squeaked out.

“Alright you lot!” I shouted out, “Stand down before the freakin’ huge super mare turns us all into minced meat!”

The sound of hundreds of troopers simultaneously turning on their weapons safeties echoed through the silent passage. The Alicorn smirked and extended an armored hoof, which I shook gingerly.

“Princess Gehenna,” she said proudly, “High General of the Trinity.”

“Bandage,” I choked out nervously, “pleasure to meet you ma’am.”

“Likewise, I would very much appreciate it if you could convince one of these dribbling foals to escort me to their leader.”

“Er, sure,” I said rather awkwardly, I glanced around behind me and called out, “anybody game to escort Gehenna-”

“Princess Gehenna.” she corrected.

“Sorry ma’am,” I muttered, why the fuck was I already calling her ma’am? Oh yeah, freakin’ huge super mare, “Princess Gehenna to whoever you take your orders from?”

The crowd shoved a teenage mare who’s helmet barely fit her to the front, she raised a hoof and squeaked sheepishly when Gehenna approached her.

“Many thanks young one,” Gehenna said kindly, “please, lead on.”

The trooper gulped and nodded, standing up and leading Gehenna through a quickly dispersing mob.

“Bandage,” Gehenna called behind her, “follow please.”

I looked to Blood Bolt, who simply shrugged, then sighed and followed.

I nodded for Stripe and Token to accompany me, the two shared a confused glance but stepped in line next to me nonetheless.

“Why in the hell are we followin’ her boss?” Stripe whispered.

“Do you want her to kill us all?!” I whispered back.

He recoiled slightly and blinked, “Not particularly no.”

“Then shut the fuck up and follow!”

We were lead into the district military office, where Gehenna politely dismissed the young trooper, who squeaked a response and scurried out of the building. Several troopers crowded into the room, Gehenna calmly asked to speak with the commanding officer. Several minutes later a greyish brown mare with a wispy white mane stepped in, wearing a red beret with a star on the brim, medals adorning her uniform.

The middle-aged mare cleared her throat, “Might I ask what this intrusion is about?”

“Yes,” Gehenna replied, “my apologies for coming unannounced, Umbra has our messengers tied up on the front in Shetland. I am Princess Gehenna, High General of the Trinity, I have come on behalf of my sisters to further negotiate the ceasefire.”

The older mare cocked an eyebrow but nodded, “General Shady Sands, I’d say it’s a pleasure to meet you but I was woken up by a rather loud alarm and few dozen belligerent troopers because of you. Follow me up to my office if you would be so kind.”

Gehenna nodded and followed Shady Sands up a stairwell on the far end of the room, motioning for me to tag along. Shady Sands’ office was rather dull, a desk, a few chairs, a terminal, the only decoration was a painting of the Union’s Prime Minister hanging on the wall behind her. She sat down at her desk and grumbled something before looking up at all of us.

“I’d offer you a seat, but I’m afraid none of these chairs are suited to your size.”

“I am comfortable standing.” Gehenna replied.

“Good, mind if I ask why you’ve got a bunch of mercs following you around?”

“Because,” Gehenna said, levitating out a small sack of caps and passing it back to me, “they have just been employed as my guard for the duration of my time here.”

I weighed the sack with my forehoof and listened to the caps jangle inside, “Three thousand caps,” I muttered, “yeah, that should do.”

The Alicorn glanced back at me with a smirk before continuing her talk with Shady Sands. They didn’t talk for long, the negotiations were simple and cordial, both agreed to each other’s terms and Gehenna bid the General goodbye before leading us out of the building.

“My thanks for your prompt response to my offer.” Gehenna said as we stepped out into the street.

I shrugged, “I’m not one to turn down good caps for easy work. Mind if I ask why you needed protection in the first place?”

She snorted, “Truthfully protection was a ruse, if I'd wanted that I'd have brought my own guard contingent."

"Well... what'd you need?"

"I need you to kill someone."

"Uh-"

"That general, there's another twelve thousand caps in it for you if you take the work."

"Don't you have people to do that? Royal assassins and such?"

"Oh yes," she chuckled, "one, but discretion isn't one of his many strengths, and I would like to avoid this being traced back to the Trinity."

I paused, pondering, and looked back at my friends, "Guys?"

Stripe spoke up, "Fifteen grand to put a bullet in some old bitch's head? Sounds like a good deal."

"Ah'm in agreement with big'un." BB said.

Token was glancing away, thinking.

I touched her shoulder, "Love?"

She sighed, "We need the money, I suppose..."

"That's the spirit!" Stripe said brightly, smacking her on the shoulder.

She looked at me but glanced away again when our eyes met, "Really, it's fine, go ahead."

Her voice was carrying a subtle tone of disappointment, it broke me. I bit my lip, looking between my mare and the Alicorn, deciding. It was a simple job, I didn't owe any allegiance to the Union, I didn't know Shady Sands, and the money was good... but, I couldn't bare Token being disappointed in me.

I sighed and passed the 3,000 caps to Gehenna, "Find someone else, not my kind of work."

"I understand," Gehenna said, "I trust you'll keep this dealing between us?" her voice was also carrying subtle disappointment, but I couldn't give a fuck what she thought of me, or what anypony else thought, Token's opinion was the only one that mattered.

"Of course, mum's the word."

"Excellent, well, enjoy your evening I suppose."

"Yeah..."

The hulking mare smirked slightly and strolled back to the gate.

I smiled at Token, though I was still conflicted on the monetary loss. Token brushed against my neck and smiled approvingly, all those feelings washed away.

Stripe snorted, "Well, that was anticlimactic as fuck, I'ma go back t' bed."

***

I stayed up all night, the assassination business had me bothered. The morning came, Token dragged me to bed and forced me to sleep.

I woke up at noon, Shaky was curled up in my forelegs, snoring softly, sirens had probably kept her awake. I nudged her and she stirred.

"Wake up poppet, it's noon."

"Don't wanna." she muttered tiredly, pressing her face to my neck.

"I could get Hex in here to wake you up," I teased, "she'd probably comment on how cute you look when you're sleepy."

She looked up at me and pouted, her golden eyes bloodshot, "P-please just let m-me sleep," she pleaded, "I'm so t-tired."

I nodded and let her rest her head on my chest, then held her tight, massaging her back with a forehoof.

"I wasn't having the t-terrible dreams anymore," she whispered, "then I dreamt everypony died last night and couldn't get b-back to sleep."

"Going into the Divide freaking you out?"

"Yeah, I'm g-going with you though, nothing's changing that."

"Oh I know," I said with a joking smile, "I already paid for your spot on the expedition. Plus I don't trust you here alone with Hex, who knows what kind of naughty stuff you'd get up to."

She sighed with frustration, "That's gross, and p-please don't m-make my crush on a filly weirder than it already is."

I chuckled and tousled her mane, "Sorry kid."

"It's fine," she yawned, "just let me sleep d-dammit."

I nodded and planted a soft kiss on her forehead, she smiled and nestled against my chest before dozing off.

I just laid there for awhile, listening to Shaky's soft breathing, feeling her chest expand ever so slightly, simply enjoyed the presence of my 'child'. Finally I forced myself to gently levitate her off of me and rest her on a pillow.

I got up and walked out onto the balcony, giving the sleeping grey filly one last glance before shutting the door.

Token was sitting across from Hex, a chess board on the ground between them, by the looks of it, Hex was winning by a long shot. Stripe was watching their match intently, once again wearing those ridiculous reading glasses. BB was lazily circling the balcony, looking bored out of her skull.

"You going Token?" Hex asked quietly, "You only have five pieces left, shouldn't be difficult."

Token bit her lip, carefully surveying the board, "Umm..."

She picked up her rook levitated the piece into place, the filly brushed her mane out of her eyes to examine the board and smirked, moving her own rook.

"Checkmate."

Token cocked an eyebrow and looked over the pieces before smacking a hoof on the board in frustration, "Fuck! That's the sixth time this morning!"

Stripe shooed her away and sat down in her place while Hex reset the board with her magic.

"You play chess?" I asked him as I rubbed Token's back to calm her down.

He carefully nudged a pawn forward two spaces with a hoof and adjusted his glasses, "Mhmm, game of champions... Well, not in Blue's case."

"She's cheating somehow!" Token objected.

Stripe shook his head, "Nah, she's playin' things legit, just a lot better than you, six steps ahead actually." He pointed a hoof at a square, "Move my King's Knight here please." The filly nodded and moved it to the square.

We all watched the game silently for 30 minutes or so before they had somehow completely wiped out all of each other's pieces but the kings.

"Stalemate," the zony muttered, "damn."

"Good game though." Hex said quietly, extending a hoof.

Stripe nodded and bumped her hoof softly, but continued looking over the board, "You're pretty good at this kid, who taught ya?"

"My mom, she taught me lots of stuff, like lockpicking and pick pocketing and knives, how to walk really quiet too. She had me play games that would make me think ahead."

Stripe blinked, "Kid, I think yer momma was a thief."

She nodded and wrapped all the pieces in the soft grey glow of her magic, "For a long time before I was born. Let's play another match."

Stripe nodded, Token groaned and pushed me inside. "Oh!" she exclaimed, fishing the gun case she'd bought out from under the bed, "Almost forgot your Hearths Warming presents."

I smiled and opened the case, and gasped as I levitated out the twin .45 automatic pistols. They were brand new and beautifully crafted, one was all ebony, with ornate white vines covering the surface, Tolerance was etched into the handle in gorgeous white cursive. Its twin was the opposite, all ivory, mostly plain, with LOVE etched on the handle in plain black lettering.

"Babe," I said quietly, "I don't know what to say."

"Hmmm, thank you might be a good start."

I set the pistols back in their case gently and pulled Token in for a kiss. She smiled, pushing my goggles to my forehead and staring into my eyes before kissing me back.

"Thank you." I said as I hugged her.

"You like them?"

I gave her a hard squeeze with my forelegs, "I love them."

"So... what'd you get me?"

I smiled coyly and pushed away with mock bashfulness, "Something."

She switched our usual role and latched onto me with some aggression, smiling mischievously, "Is it a special sort of something?"

I licked her nose, draping my hooves around her neck gently and smiling coyly again, "Maybe... guess you'll have to wait and see huh?"

She pulled me close and bit my ear softly, "You awful tease you."

***

We were able to drag Hex and Stripe away from their intense chess marathon long enough for us all to exchange gifts that evening. It was mostly junk gifts, more sentimental than anything, nobody minded, we were all broke.

Stripe and BB left the room, considering the giggling of the latter, probably to have sex. Shaky coughed nervously as she dragged out her gift for Hex, which was wrapped in a burlap sack. Hex looked at it quizzically, but smiled and opened it.

It was full body barding, all black, with a loose hood. Hex wriggled into it and smiled again as she looked herself over.

"It's cool," she said quietly, "thanks."

"N-no problem..." Shaky said, shifting and fidgeting, "hey Hex, I uh, um, I like-"

Hex leaned in and pecked her on the cheek, Shaky promptly sat down and blushed furiously.

"I know," Hex said, her own face turning bright red, "I like you too."

"Adorable." Token said quietly as we sat on the bed, watching them like our mothers would've watched an old world soap opera, minus the bath robes and the popcorn.

They fidgeted more as they talked quietly, smiling and blushing, then trotted out to the balcony. I watched as they sat outside chatting quietly, occasionally one would tentatively nudge the other, and eventually Hex rested her head on Shaky's shoulder, causing her to tense up like crazy.

I smiled to myself and nudged Token, "Think we would've been like that if our kind of relationship was allowed in 80?"

She shrugged, "Maybe, we'll never know though."

I nodded and nipped her ear, "Ready to go on our date?"

She rolled off the bed and grinned, "Absolutely."

***

I laid in bed comfortably, my face pressed into Token's mane, taking in her sweet scent. The date had been wonderful, we'd gone to a restaurant on the strip, gone back to the hotel and danced for awhile, and then made gloriously passionate love. I was in a state of bliss, curled up next to the sleeping blue mare.

I woke up the next morning to a very pleasant kiss. We shook ourselves awake, hopped in the shower, enjoying it thoroughly as it would be our last for several months, geared up and collected the gang from the balcony, who were all watching another intense game of chess between Stripe and Hex.

***

The sun hit me hard as we stepped out onto the Span, it wasn't the pleasant warmth of Oasis, but the scalding hot waves of the desert.

The wind was already tearing at us, not the flesh rending storms of the canyon below, but still rough. Stripe led us the the passage where we were to meet the rest of the expedition.

It was a motley assortment of ponies, a dozen or so led by a ghoul wrapped head to hooves in a sand colored robe, a masked Diamond Dog wearing a ragged hooded cloak, and a griffon in what looked like power armor.

"You the rest of my crew?" the rotting mare shouted as we approached.

"Yeah!" Stripe shouted over the wind, though it was somewhat muffled through his riot helmet.

"Stripe?" a disembodied voice shouted.

"Adze?" Stripe asked in response.

The griffon removed his helmet, his scarred face grinning brightly, Stripe removed his own and grinned back, the two practically leapt at each other and hugged warmly.

They pulled away and shared a friendly head butt before grinning yet again.

"Thought you was in the Blasted Lands?" the black griffon said.

"I was! Just got back a couple months ago."

"Been to Tragedy?"

"Yeah."

"How's my baby sis?"

Stripe chuckled, "A conniving bitch, slowly working her way to having half the Union's leadership by the balls."

"'Atta girl." Adze said brightly. "Say, where's that old junk suit of armor you always wore?"

Stripe huffed, "In a ditch somewhere south of Tragedy, old hunk o' shit kicked the bucket."

"That's a damn shame brother, looks like you'll have trouble keeping up with your ol' pal on this run."

Stripe scoffed, "Please, the day I lose to you is the day a ghoulified balefire dragon leaps outta the ground and lays waste to half of Trottingham."

"We'll see!" the griffon said with a mocking grin, then he glanced behind Stripe at us, "Who the fuck is this bunch?"

"My friends, good bunch, decent fighters, I'll properly introduce ya to 'em later."

"Good!" the ghoul yelled with frustration, "Let's fuckin' go already!"

The two shrugged and put their helmets back on, Stripe motioned for us to follow as the griffon took to the air.

The mare led us down a long passage, and slowly we descended into the Divide.

***

The blasted rock and buildings sprawled out in front of us, dust storms blowing in between massive crags and crumbling high rises. Military bases were scattered about the landscape, a dizzying amount considering the relatively small expanse in front of us.

We were still high up on the canyon wall too, this small stretch of the Divide would look considerably larger once things got a bit more personal.

The ghoul cleared her throat, an utterly putrid noise, and addressed us, "Alright listen up runts! We will be heading south, towards the ocean, exploring stretches of the Divide nopony's ever been before. This here? This is a piss ant portion of the road we're gonna be walkin' the next four months, so don't start bitching when a minuscule amount of shit hits the proverbial fan, cause it's just gettin' started."

She glanced us over, her glowing eyes seeming to glare, "Any questions?"

The whole party shook their heads, the mare snorted, "Good, I'm Blood Nap, welcome to Hell."

***

Rawr, the 'Hellhound' in our expedition, and I were belly crawling up a small and narrow cliff formed from a wrecked building, occasionally peeking our heads up to scout out the camp of Marked Ones below.

He latched onto the ledge and pulled himself forward, unslinging the energy rifle from his back. I crawled up next to him, drawing Victory.

The camp was small, but the payoff would be huge, I spotted at least 10 crates of ammunition, and 5 crates of food. The Marked Ones were patrolling their camp diligently, except for one who was carefully mutilating another Marked One. Apparently they were divided into indistinguishable gangs that constantly fought, but for some reason unified when living intruders entered the Divide.

Rawr nudged me and whispered, "You ready pony?"

I nodded, sighting in a skinless ghoul with an AM rifle, I glanced away from my scope when the creature turned around, staring directly at us, levitated out a flare gun, and fired it.

"Ambush!" Rawr yelled, scrambling to his feet and away from the ledge. I did the same, but as we turned around the soft ground in front of us erupted, ghouls clambering out and firing wildly with battle saddles armed with assault rifles.

Rawr slammed me to the ground, just in time for a 5.56 round to miss my head. I drew Love and Tolerance and fired round after round into one's chest, the .45 caliber rounds easily perforated his flimsy armor, but the ghoul didn't go down, barely even flinching as the pistols tore away at him.

Rawr sent one quick blast of pink magical energy at another, instantly turning it to ash, then leapt up and charged the one on the far left, decapitating it with one powerful swipe of his claws. He turned on the last, the one refusing to go down but was thankfully hitting everywhere but my face, tackling it to the ground and violently hammering its skull with his fist until it popped.

The dog approached me and yanked me to my hooves, then nodded his head back to the ledge, we crept back to our places, carefully peeking our rifles over. Chaos was unfolding below, two of our crew were dead already, swarmed by a sudden onslaught of Marked Ones attacking from crumbling rooftops.

Stripe and Adze were standing back to back, both spraying wildly with miniguns, Stripe firing rockets left and right. The rest of the group was crouched behind a fallen concrete column, doing their best to keep the ghouls on the rooftops from flanking them.

Rawr started blasting away at them, occasionally ashing one, I focused on the snipers with AM rifles that actually posed a threat to the pair of heavy gunners below. I tried keeping it simple by shooting them in the chest, but they just wouldn't go down, headshots rectified that.

Another flare went up, followed by another from the overpass above the camp. There was a deafening scraping of metal on concrete, then a massive cage was pushed over the edge. Adze grabbed hold of Stripe and quickly shot them both backwards, narrowly avoiding being crushed.

The two ran their way to the fallen column, spraying at the few remaining ghouls on the rooftops, though I couldn't tell why they were retreating.

Two Marked Ones leapt from a roof to the top of the cage and cut away the thick straps keeping the massive door shut, it opened, hitting the ground with a thud, the zony and griffon clambered on top of the column and started firing.

Ferals, skinless ferals, hundreds of them poured out of the cage in a wall of screeching death. The pair stood strong, holding them back by shooting the legs out from under them as the rest of the crew scrambled for higher ground.

Rawr and I finished off most of the Marked Ones, the rest retreating into the buildings, we tried helping out with the ferals, but there were just too many for two snipers to make much of a dent.

As the wall hit them the pair switched to close quarters combat, Stripe knocking ghouls through the air with his hooves, shattering bones and crushing skulls, Adze drew 2 hatchets and went to work splitting heads in half one at a time.

They were quickly being overwhelmed, the sheer amount of ghouls was ridiculous, and quickly growing as more and more spilled out. I heard a loud, bellowing scream, and looked up to see a streak of red lightning.

BB hit the ground, sticking the landing perfectly, shattering concrete and pulverizing any ghouls under her. I could barely make out her form, she was almost completely enveloped in a bubble of lightning. She raised her head to the sky and screamed again, the bubble turning into a massive arching blast of lightning that practically vaporized every feral around her.

Stripe and Adze barely got away, the griffon quickly grabbing onto him once again and flying them both to cover before the blast overtook the entire camp.

It finally died down, the camp was charred to nothing, and virtually no bodies had survived the explosion of heat and electricity. BB was standing in the epicenter, shaking as steam rolled off her armor, which was white hot. Electricity still arched off of her, licking at the glassy concrete.

She screamed again and collapsed as her armor mushroomed out and a long gout of blood spewed out of her, a moment later I heard the distant crack of an anti-machine rifle.

Stripe was to her almost instantly, throwing her onto his back and running to meet the rest of the group as they scrambled into a building for cover.

Rawr and I ran after them, diving behind a wall just as a .50 caliber round slammed into the ground behind us. I scrambled to my friends, Stripe and Adze were working quickly to remove BB's steaming armor.

"Stay with us Sparky." Stripe said as he removed the whimpering mare's helmet.

"Get her chestplate off." I ordered, Adze nodded and pried it off, resulting in a soft pained groan from the pegasus.

I had to force a healing potion down her throat, she was mostly unconscious. The massive bullet wound was surprisingly clean, having missed anything vital, and her armor had slowed it down enough to avoid any critical damage, but she was still in danger of bleeding out.

I forced another potion down, the bleeding faded from a torrent to a faint trickle, one more and it was done, just an ugly scar from the exit wound.

I smacked her face softly, she stirred, "You with us BB?"

"Yeah," she groaned, "what the fuck happened?"

"You took a .50 caliber anti material round to the torso."

"Dayum."

"Alright," Blood Nap interrupted, "we're two men down, shit was already rough and it's looking to get worse. Adze, Stripe, form a decent perimeter but don't expose yourself. Rawr and Bandage, go hunt down that sniper. The rest of you lot stick with me and stay frosty."

Rawr grumbled and nudged me with an elbow, motioning towards a gaping hole in the back wall. We climbed out of the building and belly crawled through a ditch to the building across the 'street'.

"This sniper could be a mile away for all we know." I said as I climbed through the barbed wire he was holding open for me.

"Yeah," the dog grunted, "Rawr figures he'd be on overpass though."

I looked up, spotting a hole in the ceiling leading to the second floor.

"Gimme a boost."

Rawr grumbled but grabbed hold of me, then pulled us both up with his free arm.

The room was empty, aside from a crate of M.R.E's. Rawr smashed his fist through one of the boarded up windows and peeked outside.

He snorted, "Dust storm movin' in, best time t’ move without gettin' shot."

"Don't those, you know, peel the flesh off bone?"

He snorted again, "Different kind of storm, you know when you see." He stooped and sat on his haunches, sighing as he rested against the wall, "Nothin' t’ do now but wait."

I rested Victory on the wall and slouched against it, letting out my own sigh. The Hellhound pulled down his cloth mask, revealing a vicious scar going up his face and ending with a dead left eye.

He grumbled again as I stared at his scar and fished a cigarette and lighter from inside his cloak, sighing as it lit and he took a drag. His good eye locked onto me and he growled, "Stop lookin' at Rawr's scar pony."

I squeaked and stared at the far wall, "So, uh, how'd you, you know, get that?"

Rawr snorted, "Other dogs didn't want Rawr around anymore, said Rawr too friendly with ponies, Rawr didn't want t’ go, dogs forced Rawr t’ go."

"So, I'm guessing one clocked you pretty good then?"

Rawr smirked, a somewhat frightening gesture, "Not before Rawr killed a few and took the alpha's rifle."

Dust began rolling through the hole in the window, Rawr sighed and crushed his cigarette, donning his mask.

"C'mon pony, Blood Nap not a zombie you want t' keep waitin'."

I nodded, wrapping my head in my shawl and following him as he demolished the wall and leapt out of the building.

The dust made it difficult to see even a few feet in front of me, I was relying on my E.F.S just to follow Rawr. The Hellhound stopped as we reached the overpass and threw me onto his shoulder before clawing his way up the large support column.

There were 6 red bars on my compass, and the dust storm was dissipating the higher we got, there'd be no cover once we got up to the road.

Rawr shrugged me off his shoulder and caught me in this left hand, then threw me up onto the road and leapt up after me. I scrambled as I landed, dodging assault rifle fire as I galloped to a battered concrete road block, diving behind it and drawing Love and Tolerance.

Rawr was right behind me, the hulking Hellhound nearly crushed me as he rolled behind cover. He growled and clutched his leg to stem the tide of blood from a bullet wound. I tried to pass him a healing potion but he pushed it aside and started blind firing over the concrete with his energy rifle.

A Marked One leapt over the wall, swinging some sort of large makeshift sword clutched in its teeth, Rawr ducked it and vaulted forward, grabbing hold of the blade and wrenching it out of the ghoul’s mouth, then swung his left arm and buried his claws in the creature’s head. The dog howled in agony as assault rifle fire peppered his back, but didn’t go down. Instead he frenzied, lifting up a massive chunk of loose asphalt and throwing it at the group of hostile ghouls.

One was crushed by the flying rubble, the rest scattered as Rawr charged them in a blind rage, he fell on one, tearing it to shreds with his powerful claws, then leapt at another trying to climb up a desiccated sky carriage, pulling it to the ground and clubbing it to death with its own assault rifle. I quickly opened fire on the exposed sniper, who was lining up a shot on the frenzied Hellhound, its head popped as one of Love’s .45 caliber rounds slammed into its skull. Rawr hounded the last, quickly catching up to it, then picked it up by the throat and clenched his hand, decapitating it.

Rawr finally stopped, slumping over and panting, occasionally whimpering. I grabbed his rifle in my magic and rushed to his side, fishing healing potions out of my bags. I dug the bullets embedded just under his thick hide out and gave Rawr the potions, the dog drank them down greedily, the wounds on his back sealing shut. He snatched his rifle and propped himself against it as he stood up, groaning softly.

“Thanks pony,” he mumbled, “let’s go back t’ zombie.”

***

BB was up and around by the time we got back, though still a bit off from a combination of blood loss and the Med-X Stripe had given her. I had to continuously scold her to stay put so she wouldn't stumble through the hole in the wall and into a ditch.

Stripe and Adze were out patrolling the camp perimeter, Blood Nap and her crew were salvaging what they could from the destruction, Rawr was up on the roof keeping watch, the girls, Token and I were downstairs keeping an eye on BB.

Hex was trying to teach Shaky how to play chess, it wasn’t going well, I’d stopped watching after the fifth checkmate, but every 10 minutes or so the filly would let out a frustrated groan or obscenity that signaled another loss. Token and I had made up a game of our own, gently pushing the still dazed BB back and forth between us while she slurred death threats and profanities.

Token gave her one good push, sending her at me with enough momentum to knock me to the floor laughing, I tried pushing her off but decided against it when I noticed the pegasus had passed out and was snoring comfortably.

“Dammit Token,” I sighed, “now she’s too cute to pick on.”

Token trotted up to us and gave the sleeping mare’s mane a tousle, “Aw, she’s out cold, looks like you’re going to be there for awhile.”

“Help me get her off would you?”

Token cocked an eyebrow and looked the two of us over, “Well, I suppose you’re both in a decent enough position, but do you really want to wake her up like that?”

I blinked, then blushed, “I didn’t mean get her off like that you perv, I mean help me lift her off.”

“Oh, sure.”

We both wrapped BB in our magic and gently lifted her, careful not to wake her up, then sat her on a nearby sleeping bag. She was sort of cute, curled up like that, kinda like Stripe, vicious killing machine when awake, adorable pony when asleep.

Blood Nap and her crew stepped in, a few were loaded up with weapons, two others were lugging several ammunition crates, she had a crate of M.R.E's dragging behind her.

"It ain't much," she said, "but it ought to hold us off for a couple weeks. How's your friend?"

I nodded towards BB's resting place in the far corner, "Out like a light, probably stay that way for a few more hours."

"That's fine I s'pose, think we're just going to camp here for the night. I need you and the mutt to alternate watch every few hours."

"Sure."

***

Night watch had been boring, nothing had made a move on the camp. Occasionally I'd hear gunshots off in the distance, but nothing ever came of it.

We headed out early the next morning, walking the trail under the overpass until we reached a point where it collapsed. A sort of tunnel had been formed from the debris, but several wrecked sky carriages and auto-carts were piled up around the entrance, and the passage we were in was too narrow to go around.

“Shit,” Blood Nap muttered, “looks like we’re goin’ back through that pass and findin’ a way around.”

“Nah,” Stripe said, walking past her and pointing a hoof at the wreckage, “see that military carriage there?”

The ghoul trotted up next to him and peered at the wreckage, “Yeah, what about it?”

“Look in the back.”

The ghoul whistled, or tried to, the lack of whole lips made it difficult. I walked up beside Stripe and looked as well. In the back was a conical hunk of metal, bullet shaped, but the tip was spherical and glassy, an unsettling green glow emanating from it.

I gulped, “Is that what I think it is?”

“Eeya.” Stripe said almost casually as he approached the balefire warhead, I followed, wincing slightly as my PipBuck started ticking from faint radiation. Stripe pulled off his helmet and donned his glasses when he reached the ancient weapon, I collapsed and covered my face with my hooves as he gave the base a solid smack.

I blinked, peering out between my armored forelegs, still alive, “The fuck?!”

Stripe snorted and yanked me to my hooves, “It’s stable, calm yer shit.” He glanced the warhead over again, adjusting his glasses before pulling open a tiny hatch on the side and worming his hooves around inside, talking absently as he worked, “Type-23 Intercontinental Balefire Missile warhead, Equestrian made, approximate yield of five hundred kilotons, we’re lucky it’s intact, these old fuckers had a tendency to leak if they got shaken up to hard...”

He fished a block of explosives out and gently rested it inside, then carefully shut the hatch and motioned for me to follow as he walked back to the group.

“Uh, Stripe?” I asked nervously as we trotted back.

“Hmm?”

“What are you-”

“Controlled detonation, Equestrian models have implosion failsafes, blows out the wards and bomb at the same time and forces the blast to stay contained, it’ll only end up blowin’ up to about the size of a balefire egg, we’re a good distance out of the blast radius, we'll be fine.”

He was about to press the button on the detonator, but stopped himself and held the small square out to Hex. She glanced at it quizzically, but Stripe nodded his approval and she tapped it tentatively.

The blast was massive, and really, really fucking loud... and that was just the det charge. The pile mushroomed out in a fiery green explosion. The shockwave knocked away loose rubble, and shook the dust from the bottom of the overpass, raining it down on us. The immense heat melted away the metal and glassed the concrete, hitting us as a slight burst of low radiation, anything not instantly pulvarized was tossed away like nothing.

We all stood there, awestruck, Stripe just chuckled and tousled Hex's mane, "Way's clear."

"Yeah..." Blood Nap muttered, "alright boys, let's move."

She and her employees walked to the now clear tunnel entrance, tentatively checking their footing as they descended down the scorched path. Rawr snorted and trudged after them. My friends and I waited up for Hex, who was still spaced out.

She looked up at Stripe with wide eyes, "Can we do another?"

Stripe laughed and followed the group, the rest of us right behind him, "Sure kid, we're bound to find a few more, may as well make some noise."

"Let's go!!" Blood Nap shouted back at us.

Stripe hesitated as we reached the tunnel, glancing nervously into the darkness, he jumped when Adze smacked him on the shoulder.

"You okay brother?" the griffon asked quietly.

The zony snapped out of it and smirked, though his eyes were still hesitant, "Yeah man, I'm good."

***

Stripe was uncharacteristically jumpy as we walked through the near pitch black tunnel, the only light was coming from large cracks and holes in the crumbling roof. He avoided every shadow, jumped with every tiny sound, and any cracks in the floor he stepped around, giving each a wide birth.

We'd stopped our advance, for a moment anyways, a lone manticore had crawled through a gap in the ceiling and was now prowling the tunnel. It's ears perked up as faint sounds of a small animal echoed through.

The beast honed in on the sound, sprinting towards an old tipped over freight car and pouncing at whatever was inside. It bellowed out in agony, then silence, we all waited, our weapons trained on the container, Stripe muttering what sounded like prayers to himself.

A scaly clawed hand emerged first, covered in fresh blood, then two glowing green bug eyes peeked out from around the corner, followed by the rest of it's body. It had the build of a Hellhound, but it was shorter than Rawr and covered in black scales and fluorescent green spines. The creature dragged the severed head of the manticore behind it as it carefully stepped towards a series of large steaming holes, watching us as it went.

It tossed the head down a hole and climbed down after it tentatively, giving us one last glance before completely disappearing.

"Well," Token said with a nervous chuckle, "that was anti climac-"

She was cut off by a loud screech, followed by a much deeper bellow, then the ground started moving.

Stripe and Adze stepped in front of us protectively, the former muttering something about how fucked we all were. A section of concrete exploded out and we all opened fire, but as the dust cleared, we realized nothing was there.

A scream from behind, I turned just in time to see a pony dragged through a crack, Token scrambled for him, extending a hoof to try and help, but she was a fraction of a second too late, I pulled her back just in time for a claw to narrowly miss her face.

Blood Nap's crew became frantic, rambling, screaming, praying, shooting their rifles at every glowing set of eyes now peering at us from the shadows. Stripe was yelling something about higher ground when the floor erupted in front of him and a Tunneler twice the size of Rawr leapt out and swung at him.

He dodged it, barely, the face plate of his helmet took the very tips of the three claws, clipping him with enough force to send the large zony sprawling as the blood dripped from the new cuts in is helmet.

The beast was about to finish him when Adze opened fire with his miniguns, peppering and tearing into its face, drawing fluorescent blood. The beast only recoiled, momentarily backing away as the griffon continued to fire while Stripe got to his hooves and joined in.

The Tunneler stayed up, grunting in anger as it tried to cover its mangled face with its hands. Stripe and Adze advanced on it slowly, pushing it back to the wall where it curled up and let the tougher scales on its back sponge the onslaught.

Another Tunneler emerged to their right, leaping at Stripe. My friend's weapon was cut into pieces as its powerful claws tore through his armor and deep into the flesh underneath.

The zony cried out in pain but recovered, slamming his hooves into its face, denting its skull and sending fractured teeth through the air. The beast sprawled to the floor, holding its face as it tried to crawl back into its hole, Stripe fell on it, relentlessly hammering his hooves against its skull, drawing blood and bits of brain matter as its head split open.

A noise behind me, I turned again to see another silently emerging from a hole, I leveled my pistols and started pulling the triggers, but I'd neglected to reload them before.

Rawr barreled into it as it raised its claw, tearing into its chest and ripping apart the hideously mutated vital organs while he clamped down on its throat with his powerful jaws. He tore away, getting hosed with fluorescent green blood, howling with triumph, the vile ilk spewing from his mouth as he roared. The frightening display caused the Tunnelers that were beginning to close in to back away, if only for a moment.

Adze took the precious seconds to finish off the one he had cornered and fly up and to the end of the tunnel, motioning for us to follow.

"LET'S MOVE!!!" Blood Nap bellowed, sprinting through the small collection of massive holes.

I threw Shaky on my back and Hex onto Token's and galloped alongside the rest of the group, ignoring the screams as ponies were snatched from the group and dragged into the holes.

I stopped dead when I heard Stripe cry out yet again, turning to see him bucking at the smaller Tunneler as it bit into his leg. I sighted it in with Victory and sent a round into its eye and out the back of its skull, but the creature had enough life left in it to flee into a hole.

"Come on!" I yelled frantically to my friend, he nodded, blood sloshing out of the gashes in his helmet, then slowly limped towards me.

For the first time since I'd met Stripe, he looked helpless. He was walking on three legs, his right foreleg occupied with keeping his intestines from spilling through the gaping cuts in his body armor, his escape slowed even more by the urge to keep weight off his injured back leg.

"C'mon Stripe!" Shaky urged, "M-m-move your ass!"

The mangled zony quickened his pace, just barely, I galloped to him to help but stopped when I saw several more Tunnelers running at him from behind.

He turned to look as well, then back to me, he sighed and shook his helmet off, letting the deep cuts on his face bleed freely, looking at me with a sad smile.

"Take care of the girls boss," he said as he turned to face the advancing swarm of beasts, "be good for yer momma Shaky..."

"Stripe?" I asked quietly. The world seemed to stand still as he glanced back one last time with his defiant smirk before leaping headlong at the creature leading the group, wrenching it by the neck into one of the gaping emergence holes.

The creatures stopped advancing, looking between us and the hole before growling and following their leader down.

I slumped in disbelief, sitting down hard on my haunches with a dull thud.

"Stripe..." I whispered softly as the tears started to pool in my goggles. I felt a wetness on my mane, and heard the sound of Shaky's soft sobbing.

Hoofsteps, I turned to see Token and Adze approaching us, the rest of the crew were continuing through the tunnel as fast as possible.

"C'mon babe we gotta go." she urged. Then she glanced around, confused, "Where's Stripe?"

I started to say something but choked on a sob and just shook my head instead.

"Oh..." she said quietly, sitting next to me and throwing a comforting foreleg around my shoulder.

"I'm goin' after him." Adze said, brushing past us.

"No," I croaked out, "he's gone, we have to leave."

"What?" Adze growled, turning on me, I couldn't see his face, but I could feel the griffon's fiery glare.

"You heard me," I said firmly, "he's dead, we need to go."

"I ain't leaving him!" he said angrily, I didn't flinch as he advanced on me, just stared at him absently.

"Believe me, I don't want to leave him either, but he sacrificed himself to give us the chance to escape... we shouldn't piss all over his last act."

The griffon slumped, and I could hear the faintest sounds of crying through his speaker, "He'd come after me..." he said quietly.

I rested a hoof on his shoulder, "I know, but if you go down you'll die too, and he wouldn't want that."

Adze stared at me through his visor, then nodded in defeat, circling around us and heading for the exit. Token prompted Shaky off my back and planted a soft kiss on my forehead, "Come meet us when you're ready love." she said quietly.

I nodded and sat there a few moment more, then tipped up my goggles and wiped my eyes before standing and following.

***

I had to push down the grief until we made it through the tunnel, and it was killing me. We'd lost three ponies in the fray, excluding Stripe, Blood Nap's crew was down to 7.

We finally reached a safe place to make camp, a large derelict barracks. Adze was patrolling on the roof, still not speaking to anyone. Rawr was out scouting tomorrow's route. The others were inside, Hex was tending to Shaky, Token and the rest were playing cards.

I was sitting alone outside in the rain, stuck somewhere between rage and sorrow.

My ears perked as the thick door opened up, I glanced over to see Shaky standing outside, tears still streaming from her eyes. I motioned her over, she nodded sadly and trudged over to sit in my lap.

I hugged her tightly, pressing my face to her mane. She was trembling, probably holding in sobs.

"We sh-should n-n-never have c-c-c-come." she said quietly.

I nodded and squeezed her tighter, kissing the top of her head, she looked up at me and started sobbing, pressing her face to my chest.

I rocked her back and forth, tried to soothe her, it barely helped. I still couldn't cry, as much as I wanted to, as if my body wouldn't let me cry so I could feel better, punishment for bringing us all on this trip.

Instead I sat in the rain in utter anguish, rocking my adopted child while I hummed old lullabies in her ear. It went on for a half hour or so before she finally calmed down and fell asleep. I carried her inside and laid down next to her on a sleeping bag, holding her tight to my chest while she snored and whimpered softly.

Token came in and laid down next to me, then nipped my ear softly.

"Bit for your thoughts." she said quietly.

I shifted, pressing my back against her, Shaky adjusted herself in her sleep and nestled closer to me.

"You know what I'm thinking about."

"Hmmm, a hot shower and a clean bed with me waiting for you in both?"

"Shut up." I said, more coldly than I'd intended. Token just gave me a knowing smile and kissed me on the cheek.

"I know it's tough losing someone close, frankly I'm surprised you're not a sobbing wreck right now. But you gotta stay strong, stay focused, for Shaky's sake, that's what the big guy would want."

I nodded, my eyes finally teared up, a welcome reaction, "Hold me, please." I said quietly, trying my best to hold in a sob.

Token nodded and wrapped me in a warm hug. I let out a broken sigh and let the tears flow freely as she gently stroked my mane.

***

I don't know when I fell asleep, but I did, and I woke up the next day with sore eyes and my chest covered in dried tears. Shaky was still curled up next to me, and Token was still hugging me.

Hex was sitting in the corner, looking at us with her head cocked with curiosity.

"Morning." I said quietly.

"Hey," she replied in her usual quiet tone, "feeling better today?"

I nodded.

"That's good. You should be able to rest a bunch, Rawr said there's a nasty storm coming in and we won't be moving until it passes."

I nodded again and rested my head on Shaky's tiredly, the filly snorted in her sleep and snuggled closer to me.

Hex limped over and sat down next her, looking at her with a knowing pity.

"She was a mess last night, said it was like losing her dad all over again."

She leaned down and pecked Shaky on the cheek, Shaky stirred and looked up at her, blushing when she realized what had happened.

"Morning cutie." Hex said as she nuzzled Shaky's cheek. Shaky could only stammer incoherently in response.

Hex laid down next to her, hugging Shaky and snuggling in close. Shaky blushed even more but hugged her back awkwardly, relaxing after a bit and resting her head against Hex's neck before drifting back to sleep.

I pushed away gently, careful not to wake them up, then rolled over and planted a kiss on Token's lips.

She stirred and smiled at me sleepily, wrapping her hooves around my neck and kissing my nose.

"Feeling better?" she asked, "You had good long cry last night."

I nodded and pressed myself close to her, kissing her neck softly, she giggled and pushed me away slightly.

"Didn't think you'd be in that kind of mood today babe."

"I'm not," I said, pressing back against her, "just feeling affectionate."

I kissed her again, then paused and just stared at her smiling face, "I love you Token."

She pressed her forehead to mine, "I know Bandage, I love you too."

Just like that I was crying again, she nodded understandingly and pulled my head to her chest, I pressed my face against her to muffle the sobs.

"It's my fault," I managed to gasp out, "it was my idea to bring us here, Stripe is dead because of me."

"Hush," Token said in a half scolding, half soothing tone, "it's nopony's fault."

"But-"

"Stripe could've talked you out of it, but he wanted to come, it's not your fault, keep arguing about it and I'll slug you."

I nodded, her words didn't help much but I didn't feel like pushing the matter further. She nudged my ribs playfully, my one ticklish area, then helped me to my hooves and silently motioned for me to follow.

"Where are we going?" I asked quietly after we left the room.

She brushed through the front door of the barracks and nodded me out, "Let's go for a walk. We can listen to some of that dubtrot music you like so much and take in the sights."

I cocked an eyebrow and grinned skeptically, the tears stopping momentarily, "We're in a debris filled canyon, what exactly are the sights?"

She waved a hoof outside dramatically, "The sights babe! They're out there, waiting, ripe for the picking! This is like pioneer tomfoolery 101 Bandage, manifest destiny!!!"

"Shut up doofus." I chuckled, pushing her out the door into the light morning drizzle.

Rawr gave a grumble and a half-hearted wave with his free hand as we stumbled past him, his other hand occupied with picking bits of stringy dark green muscle out of his teeth. Adze simply nodded from behind his veil of cigarette smoke. I started to wave but was yanked away by my adventure anxious lover.

"Come on!" she cried, pulling me by the neck with her magic, "So many sights!!!"

She stopped choking me when we reached a tall wall of rubble, then motioned me to follow as she started clambering up the broken chunks of concrete.

"This seems a bit dangerous love." I said after knocking a cinderblock loose and sending it falling 10 metres or so.

"Don't be such a pussy!" she called back at me.

She clambered up the rest of the way and let out an impressed whistle, "Babe, you gotta see this!"

"I'm comin' dammit!" I barked as I climbed up, "...Whoa."

We were high up, really, really high up on the edge of a cliff looking over a sprawling valley of red stone and crumbling buildings, it looked oddly natural, somewhat foreboding, but peaceful. The ocean was far off on the southern horizon, even at this distance it looked murky and dark, but still beautiful, in a way.

Token nudged me and pointed towards a mesa, a family of manticores was roosting, the mother dropping off a fresh kill and urging her cubs to eat.

My turn to nudge her and point. Out on the ocean a young dragon was swooping down like a hawk, skimming the water and returning to the air with a large mutated fish clutched in its claws.

"Beautiful." I muttered.

"Hmmm?"

"Dragons, they're apex predators, watching them hunt, it's beautiful, in a way. Know what I mean?"

She shrugged, "Sorta, it's like how you look really sexy when you're in the zone."

"Sure." I said dryly.

She shoved me playfully, "You do though!" She smiled in a sultry manner and brought her face close to mine, "Never has a rifle had such a dauntingly sexy mare behind it."

I rolled my eyes, shoving her away, then glanced back down at the valley and spotted something strange. Down the cliff face and a few miles from our position was what appeared to be a small community, an actual community, not a raider compound or Marked One camp.

"Adze!" I called down to the griffon, "Fly me up my rifle or a pair of binoculars!"

"Gotcha!" he yelled back. Rawr smacked him on his armored chest and handed him an old spyglass from inside his cloak.

Adze flew it up to me, I unfolded it and sighted in the community in the distance.

Movement, ponies, pegasi by the look of it, too far away to tell. Moving around normally, guards on a short wall patrolling, ponies inside handling errands or standing around chatting, children running around playing.

"Looks like someplace worth investigating." I said.

Adze snatched the telescope and looked for himself, "Guards look pretty well armed, could be hostile."

"They don't look like raiders."

He snorted, "Don't mean they're not prepared to shoot on sight. Not our call either way, we'd have to run it by Blood Nap."

"Right," I muttered as I traced a path to the settlement with my mind, "let's do that."

***

Blood Nap exhaled, smoke pouring from her mouth, nostrils and various other tiny holes in her chest, "We don't have much of a choice, we're lacking some essentials, plus they've got some heavy firepower, considering what we've seen so far we'll be needing it."

"Sure that's a good idea boss?" one of her crew asked.

She gave a putrid snort, "Hell no, it's a fuckin' stupid idea, probably gonna get us all shot to pieces. But it's like I said, we ain't got much of a choice."

"So we're good to go then?" Adze asked.

She sighed, "Looks like it. But we ain't movin' out until this storm passes, traversing this canyon is hard enough without flooding."

BB piped up, "We ain't anywhere near Enclave territory, Ah could hop upstairs and knock the shit outta those storm clouds lickety split."

The ghoul ashed her cigarette and took another drag before sighing again, "Sure, why the fuck not."

The pegasus grinned and was outside and up almost instantly. I hung my head out the door and looked up at the bright red streak of lightning zooming up to the clouds. The valley echoed with Blood Bolt's drawling laughter.

She hit the clouds, both her shield and the storm erupting in a huge blast of red, a massive boom on a scale of which I'd never heard rocked the canyon, shattered windows, started small rock slides and rendered me deaf for a few moments.

She touched down in front of me with a smug grin slapped on her face and gave a short curtsey.

"Damn." was the only thing I could think to say.

My friend chuckled and casually scratched the back of her head, "Eeya, ain't no Sonic Rainboom, but Ah reckon it's pretty damn close. Daddy called it a Crimson Bloodboom, corny old motherfucker."

"It was just... Damn."

"Heh, trust me, t'ain't nothin' compared to the Wonderbolts, they can do Sonic Rainbooms without all the flashy cybernetics."

"Still impressive."

She shrugged, "That's what they tell me."

***

We'd practically fallen down the steep and narrow passage to the valley, one poor bastard had lost his footing and stumbled into a fissure, screaming all the way down... long drop.

BB and Adze had the luxury of flying, though they still had the duty of watching for ambushes. Token and I had point, constantly sweeping our heads left to right and keeping watch on our E.F.S. Rawr was right behind us, the girls thrown on his shoulders, constantly checking his energy rifle and sniffing the air, his ears perked up and scanning for the faintest noise.

We entered an unnatural portion of the passage, a fallen building, massive and rusted and crumbling, but so well fortified in it's heyday that it remained pretty well intact. The only way through was to climb up onto a balcony that was so warped it could serve as a platform.

Rawr grabbed Token and I by the collars of our armor and tossed us up with ease, then clambered up after us.

"Ya'll go on ahead!" Blood Nap called out, "We're gonna have the fliers try and find another way around!"

"Gotcha!" I yelled back.

We turned and entered the building, completely clear on the inside, damned messy though, and sideways. Other than the sign and hundreds of destroyed terminals were scattered about, nothing in the room popped out as a means of moving through.

The sign read 'Sleipnir Arcane Technologies, Intel Department'.

"Sleipnir..." I muttered, "Doesn't ring any bells."

Rawr grunted in agreement, Shaky and Hex just shrugged. Token glanced around the room, then set her gaze on something and trotted over to it.

"Hey babe," she said, "think this elevator'll work?"

I trotted over and examined it, "Don't see why not, the buttons are intact."

She shrugged and tapped the button with her hoof. The doors opened instantly, the inside was plain metal with glowing purple rods covering the walls.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Hex muttered.

Rawr snorted, "You and Rawr both little one..."

We all stepped inside, cautiously. Token pressed the button again and everything went white. I blinked rapidly, my vision clearing up but still fuzzy, we were in an elevator, like before, but this one was upright.

The doors slid open, and suddenly we were surrounded by turrets and, and...

"Robots," I cursed under my breath, "it had to be fucking robots."

And not just any kind of robots, the creepy floating balls with way too many limbs, seriously, why did something built for around the house tasks need a buzzsaw and a flamethrower!?

One of the metal abominations hovered towards me, one of its arms emitting a tiny red light.

"Remain still please." it said. I barely got out an 'uh' before it swept that light over my face.

"Unknown facial pattern detected, valid retina pattern confirmed, no identification card detected, please recite failsafe password."

I stood there dumbly, then looked to Token. She mouthed 'ice cream'.Hardly the time for a snack... I scowled and shook my head. Then she mouthed 'trust me', I gulped, but nodded and turned back to the machine.

"Ice cream?" I said with uncertainty, wincing as the words clumsily escaped my mouth.

"Valid password confirmed, valid vocal patterns confirmed, welcome agent Eclipse. Might I ask why madam is not in possession of her identification card?"

"Um... Didn't you notice I had reconstructive surgery performed? That ID is no longer applicable."

"Ah, excellent point madam." I cringed as the machine whirred, then blinked my eyes back open when it pinged and I wasn't a smoldering heap of slag. A tiny port had opened, and ID card with my dumbfounded mugshot slapped on the front was dispensed, a tiny string threaded through it.

I winced yet again as the robot used its filthy metallic appendages to drape the card around my neck.

"There you are madam, good as new, that should keep security away from you and your compatriots, given that they stay within ten meters of the teleporter."

"Thanks?"

"It was my pleasure madam."

The death bot finally hovered off, my legs quivered and I collapsed for a moment, "It, it... touched me!"

Token patted me on the shoulder, "You did well love, frankly I'm surprised you didn't try and smash it to bits... Helper never did hover right after that physical exam he-"

"Do not, bring that up!" I shouted.

Token rolled her eyes but made the motion of zipping her lips.

I sighed and closed my eyes, rubbing my temples, cringing as I heard the distinct sound of one of those metal monstrosities hovering in front of me.

I cracked one eye open, the little bastard had its optics right up in my face.

"What?!" I screamed as I scrambled backwards into Rawr's shin.

"I merely wished to ask if you would like an escort to your station. My logs show it has been many decades since your last visit and I thought you may need to be reacquainted with this facility."

"Erm, sure?"

"Excellent! Follow me please. Your comrades should remain here."

"Alright, I guess just stay here guys, be ready to bug out if shit hits the fan."

"Be careful babe." Token said as I followed after it.

The robot led me down a long hallway with four doors, then motioned at the one with 'Eclipse' in bold just above it and left me be.

I swiped my card in the slot next to it and the fortified door opened up. The inside was odd, to say the least, totally preserved wooden furniture, lots of astronomy based posters on the walls.

Two things stuck out clearly. One, the uber advanced looking armor suspended in a pod in the center of the room, two, the gorgeous blue-black anti-material rifle resting on a shelf labeled 'Luna's Whisper'.

My instincts and sudden moistness drew me to the rifle first. It was light enough for me to get it down without magic.

I looked it over as it rested in my hooves. The barrel was covered in odd coils running the entire length, ending at a suppresser the width and length of my foreleg, the scope was just as massive. the blue-black finish was topped off by an ornate etching of Princess Luna's cutie mark on the stock. I opened the breach, oddly enough, it was only chambered for 5.56mm rounds.

I shrugged and pulled a strange lever on the side opposite the bolt. The rifle hummed softly and somehow folded itself into a neat and conveniently sized cylinder.

I smirked and placed the cylinder in my saddlebags. I examined the armor for a moment, then shrugged and continued exploring the room.

There was a journal on the desk, a lot of pictures inside. The first was 3 ponies wearing that strange armor, standing with an earth pony and unicorn pair of mares in lab coats.

All but the crimson maned pegasus that looked oddly reminiscent of BB were wearing a stupid smile.

The two armored unicorns were standing next to each other, a bold red buck with a streaked black and grey mane and a black mare with an amber mane I assumed was Eclipse.

Her eyes were, well, mine. Red and keen, like my mother's.

The pegasus's eye was the same dull grey of BB's, his left was covered with an eyepatch surrounded by a lot of scar tissue. His left wing was cybernetic, the same model the unicorn buck had on both his sides.

The unicorn buck was sporting some shades, though an unsettling red glow was coming from behind them.

The pair of scientists, twins I assumed considering their near identical appearances, both of them cerise with messy lavender manes and thick rimmed glasses, looked to be bumping against the pegasus playfully.

'All of my besty best friends, except for Dart of course, silly girl loves being behind that camera.' Was written underneath.

Only a journal entry on the next page, 'Had sex with Chryses the other night... Just sorta happened, swept up in the moment and all that shit. Surprisingly gentle for an ex Hightower con with psychosis.

'Told Dart about it, she didn't say anything, just got up and left the room. Can't say I don't understand, we may be friends but she's had a crush on me for ages.'

'Pregnant' was written in huge bold letters on the top of the next page, 'Fuck, fuck, FUCK!!! Twins forced me to take maternity leave, Dart isn't talking to me again! Just recently got it to where we could chat and now I've got some psychopath's kid in my tummy. I love the guy, I do, but, fuck, months of me having to leave my squad.

'Chryses has been nothing but supportive with any decision I make, he agrees he'd be a terrible dad but stands firm that I'd make a great mommy. I'm having the kid of course but I'm definitely thinking about putting it up for adoption.'

I glanced at more, one of Eclipse and the unicorn stallion, Chryses I guessed, without armor and without glasses he was revealed to be a cyberpony, all of his legs replaced but painted red to match his coat, wings built into his sides, and glowing synthetic eyes in place of natural ones. They were embracing warmly, no, tenderly, smiling happily at the camera, one of his metallic hooves resting next to hers on her swollen belly. 'He has his sweet moments, guess that's why I love him...'

A picture of Eclipse, sweaty and deshoveled on a hospital bed with a newborn curled up in her forelegs, smiling tiredly but triumphantly, 'Keeping her.' were the only words on the page.

'Chryses broke it off, he cried when he did so, didn't think synthetic eyes could still tear up. Said he'd help me however he could and that he still loved me, but he doesn't want to lash out and hurt the baby.

'Broke my heart, but he did it for her... At least Dart is talking to me again.'

Picture of Eclipse, with a 2 year old filly resting on her lap, looking exactly like her father but with Eclipse's naturally red eyes. 'Little Red Dawn, the only thing of her father's I plan on keeping...'

Another of the trio on the beach, the pegasus was actually smiling now. His eyepatch was off, revealing mostly healed scar tissue and a blue eye that didn't at all match his other one, in color and apparent age. He had his teammates sitting next to him and their slightly older daughter sitting on his lap. The side with the cybernetic wing was covered in scar tissue, with only his cutie mark spared, a thunder cloud in the shape of an old fashioned fuse bomb. 'Good to see the old man actually smiling! First time he's acted normal since his accident. New eye is freaky though, from a 13 year old filly that died in the Trottingham clinic during surgery, her parents allowed her body to be used for organ transplants.

'He keeps a picture of her pinned to his desk, doesn't talk about it, we don't ask him about it. Occasionally I'll walk by his room and see him holding it, swear he's crying... Didn't know he had a soft spot.'

Another picture, the Twins on the beach with Eclipse, both hugging her and kissing her on each cheek with half-lidded eyes. Eclipse had a foreleg around each and was flashing a cocky smile at the camera with her eyebrow cocked in an almost bragging fashion. 'Made Dart jealous, ha ha! Her brow was furrowed so hard it looked like her head was going to implode! Owe the girls big time for agreeing to do it but it was definitely worth it. Dart's a good sport, agreed to take the picture with a bare minimum of bitching.'

One of the trio with the aftermath of a battle in the background, all covered in soot and blood, all wearing wan smiles except for the unicorn buck, who looked like he hadn't even broken a sweat. 'Rough battle, lots of casualties on both sides, just glad we all made it out alive... Especially you Dart, you're my best friend.

'Starting to get uncomfortable around Chryses, took all three of us to pull him off this zebra, guy was already dead but the crazy bastard was still tearing into him, like, with his teeth. Talked to the Twins about it, said their hooves were tied, O.I.A wants the tests on Steel Pony uninhibited by any "psychological adjustments", sick fucks, he needs help.'

One of them all together at Hearths Warming. The Twins were kissing in the most awkward way, blushing furiously and trying their best to look away from one another. The pegasus was hovering above them with mistletoe in his teeth, grinning mischievously. Eclipse was doubled over laughing, her daughter was looking at the two with her tongue stuck out in disgust. 'Worst, sisters, ever! Though seeing Dart grin like that behind the camera made Thunder Crash's prank sooo worth it. Cannot show their parents.'

Another of Hearths Warming, Eclipse levitating the mistletoe over the two stallions, one right next to it of the two kissing passionately while the rest looked on in shock, one next to that of the two vomiting into a bathtub. 'These two crack my shit up! Can't believe they actually did it, then again they were drunk to the point of falling over.'

Another next to it of Eclipse kissing a very pretty blue pegasus with a white mane very tenderly, a drunken blush overwhelming her face. 'Took a lot of egg nog, a lot of persuasion, and some mistletoe, but Dart finally got that kiss she's always wanted. Crash gave us funny looks, not surprising, she is his little sister. Was nice enough to take the picture anyway.'

Eclipse and Dart at some kind of carnival, hugging and smiling at the camera, one right next to it of Dart shoving her cotton candy in Eclipse's face. 'She finally worked up the nerve to ask me out again, said yes this time, should have a long time ago, best date of my life. Kissed me goodnight when we got to my place, didn't need booze or persuasion to kiss her back this time. Big thanks to the random carny that took these pictures.'

Long journal page, no pictures, lots of wild flowers taped to the page and a few doodles of a pegasus kissing a blushing unicorn with tiny hearts bubbling around their heads, 'Took me to the field we always played in when we were kids, made her one of those flower crowns she loves so much. Wish we could've taken pictures, but she insisted nopony come with us. Found out why an hour later, she was adorable, blushing so much, talking whisper quiet, made love like a champ though, for a virgin, and a mare.

'Told me she loved me, told her I loved her back, just laid there in the field holding each other until the rain moved in. She had a weird cough when we finally got home, probably got a cold from all that damn rain. Crash gave us "the look" when he saw us walk in laughing while we practically leaned on each other. Guess it's not as effective unless both eyes are his cause Dart just scowled right back at him and he left it alone.

'Made love again when we got up to her room, kept it stealthy for her brother's sake. Her parents found us cuddling afterwards, nearly had heart attacks, shouted louder than I've ever heard, Dart shouted right back, I just sat on the bed doing my best to cover myself with the blankets. Thunder Crash came in and stuck up for us, earned his name, yelled even louder than his dad, didn't know that was possible, the house was literally shaking.

'Dart is moving out to live with me ASAP, sucks that they kicked her out but I'm really glad.'

I turned the page. A picture of Eclipse and Dart sitting on a couch. The latter looked skinnier, and sick, but was still comfortably resting her head on Eclipse's shoulder and was grinning brightly at the camera. 'Poor thing is getting sick. Has a nasty cough and gets tired a lot, Twins forced her to take leave, just about broke her heart. I know what that's like, but at least I got a beautiful baby girl out of it.

'Her big brother stops by a lot to take pictures, keeps her in good spirits. He still gets uncomfortable when we kiss, but after that shouting contest he had on our behalf I know he's not against it. He's getting older, starting to sprout some grey hairs and he's got crow's feet around his eyes, fucked up considering he's only 30, guess that's what stress does to you.'

'Not the same without Dart out in the field with us, taking a vacation soon, said she has news, won't say if it's good or bad.'

No pictures on the next page, just an entry, 'Cancer... fucking cancer, probably from all those damn balefire bombs she and her shithead brother have been diffusing overseas. She's a tough mare though, and the Twins have her on something called chemotherapy. She'll pull through, she has to... Don't know what I'd do without her.'

Another lone entry, just a few random doodles on the borders, 'Trying to convince her she looks just as sexy without a mane, she doesn't believe me but it doesn't matter, I'd still love her if she was bald all over and had no teeth, that's a fact. She's getting sicker though, Twins said that was normal, but I saw that little glance they exchanged... She'll get better though, I know it for sure, that mare's survived too many zebras to let her own body take her out...'

A tear stained page, a picture of a meek and exhausted looking Dart lying next to Eclipse, their hooves overlapping, Eclipse warmly kissing her cheek and crying while the former smiled tiredly. Dart's once gorgeous white mane was all but fallen out, and her wings didn't have many feathers left, her green eyes were the only thing about her that looked lively. 'She's not going to get better, I've known it for awhile. Just wish I would've been smart enough to love you back sooner Dart...'

'Mission scheduled for next week, Chryses is running it solo, Crash and I aren't leaving her side, she doesn't have very much longer and I will be there to say goodbye... I will dammit.'

Next page was wrecked with water stains, more so than the previous, only a short entry at the bottom, '"I love you"... last thing she ever said to me, I said it back and she smiled, for a sec she almost looked healthy again, then she shut her eyes and sighed really tiredly, then her hoof went limp and that damn machine started that fucking tone, Crash threw it out the window and screamed like he'd just lost his wing again. In a way I guess he lost a lot more... Took a few nurses and a lot of sedative to restrain him, he was belligerent. Only reason I wasn't is because I feel dead inside.

'Shouted at Dawn when I got home, she didn't deserve that but it happened. She seemed to understand that I wasn't myself, she's a smart kid. Sat on my lap and let me cry, exactly what I needed.'

One last picture, the entire group minus one gathered at a funeral, Eclipse placing a bouquet of wild flowers on the casket, her face covered with a black veil. The twins both sat under the same umbrella, both had tears running down their faces, Chryses had his shades on and was just standing there in the rain with an emotionless expression, Thunder Crash looked to be sobbing, Red Dawn was hugging him tightly. 'Resigned today, Twins understood completely, they pulled some strings and got Dawn and I spots reserved in Stable 80. Not taking this journal, don't want to feel anymore, not even sure why I'm writing this, whole world is going to explode soon anyways... I'm glad, Chryses is probably glad too, gets to watch everything die, hell, the boss will probably get a kick out of the explosion anyways, he's always wanted to see a balefire bomb go off.

'This war is stupid, should've never started, I keep wanting to take Whisper and put a bullet in both the princesses for starting it, but I can't jeopardize my baby's life like that.

'Wish things were different, wish we weren't fighting stripes, wish I would've given in to your requests earlier, wish we could've made a life together, like we talked about before you got sick... Doesn't do me much good though, you're dead, Equestria's dead, wishing isn't changing shit. Only thing I can truly wish for now is that when I die, I go to heaven or wherever you are, and just be able to hold you again, just for a moment...

'Sirens going off, Cloudsdayle just got obliterated, never seen the old man so pissed off, except for when... Well, you know. I'm leaving now... I love you Dart, so very very much.'

Fresh tears peppered the page, I wiped my eyes shamefully, I shouldn't have been shedding tears for this mare, she'd been dead for more than a century. Maybe it's because I imagined Token in Dart's position, maybe it's because this mare was an ancestor of mine...

I remembered Red Dawn, Mum's great grandma, lived to the ripe old age of 104. Mum had never met her, but she was a legend, and my great grandma talked about her often to my grandma, who occasionally retold old stories of her.

I dried the journal page the best I could and placed the whole book in my saddlebags as gently as possible, then turned to the encased armor.

I flipped a switch on the desk and the case opened, the armor itself seeming to tingle, as if with anticipation...

I stripped out of my gear and approached it cautiously, reaching out a hoof and touching its smooth metallic surface.

"Welcome." I faint robotic voice said, I tried to leap away as the armor liquified and lurched at me, but it was too fast.

It enveloped me, then it embedded into me.

It was by far the worst pain I had felt in my entire life. First my veins bulged, feeling like they would burst out of my skin if the armor didn't have me encased, every blood vessle in my eyes was on the verge of bursting, every joint and muscle and tendon screamed at me, my heart was about to explode! Then something began to fill them, the sensation can only be compared to having burning napalm flushed through my body. My nerves started to tingle and burn, as if they'd been struck by lightning, the sensation hit my loins and I screamed in intense agony, though it seemed drowned out by the pounding of blood in my ears.

It finished, I pissed myself and vomited my breakfast. Relief was oddly instantaneous though.

I stood up, feeling, well, better. Lighter, stronger, faster. I looked myself over, wrapped in armor that seemed like a fusion of Enclave and Steel Ranger power armor, but much more advanced, looking like synthetic muscle in some places.

"This is great..." I muttered, checking out my own armored ass, the muscle look of the armor seemed to make it pop more, "Not much head coverage though."

I yelped as the armor formed a full helmet on my head.

"Sleipnir interface active," a synthesized mare voice buzzed in my ear,"nano composite armor fully functional, symbiosis complete, all systems nominal."

"THE FUCK?!" I screamed, "WHY IS THERE A ROBOT IN MY HEAD?!"

"I am not in your head, I am in the armor, communicating with you via earpiece in your helmet. Also, I am not a robot."

"Oh," I said with some relief, "well, what the fuck are you?"

"I am this system's VI custodian and tactical advisor, you may call me what you wish, but my creators dubbed me Beta, this is preferred."

"Beta, right... So, what kind of shit can this gear pull off?"

The floor shifted, the pod came back up as a small elevator.

"Allow me to show you."

I stepped into the elevator and held in a gasp as it sealed shut and started descending into the bowels of the facility. The door opened and I stepped out into a massive room covered in odd blue lights.

"The hell is all this?"

"This is the Virtual Reality training chamber, this is an excellent place to demonstrate the features of this system."

"Okay, run me through it I guess."

"The Sleipnir system is comprised of several sub systems. Shielding, repair, healing, strength enhancements, speed enhancements, and magic amplification. The shielding system use you natural magical fields to create a natural barrier over the exoskeleton. The repair systems incorporate several billion nanites to rapidly patch the physical portions of the armor, each acting as its own solitary repair talisman. The healing systems also tap into your magic and manipulate the nanites, stitching shut wounds and rapidly expelling invasive objects. Strength and speed enhancements use passive spells and synthetic chemicals to boost muscle mass and synapse reaction, these are permanent enhancements, active even when the armor is unequipped. Magic amplifiers vastly improve the effectiveness of the operator's spells."

I nodded slowly, processing everything that was just rammed down my ear, "Okay, I think I'm ready to test this thing out."

"Excellent."

Footnote:Level Up!
New Perk: Sleipnir Modifications, Strength and Agility maxed out.

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The training simulation was proving to be very... theraputic. I'd nearly had a panic attack after robots started materializing from nothing, but after the fourth spider butler thingy that I split in two with a rear buck, I was simply enjoying myself.

I heard the whir of a minigun behind me and leapt backwards, flipping through the air and landing on the fresh sentry bot.

"Surprised me with that one Beta!" I laughed as I smashed its combat inhibitor with my forehoof. The thing started sparking and went nuts on the fresh batch of military grade floaters that had been added.

"It looked like you were getting comfortable."

I chuckled and wrenched my hooves around the sentry bot's head then heaved back with all my might, opening it like a hulking tin can and effectively terminating the big metal bastard.

My shields flared as a huge burst of plasma struck me in the side, I rolled just in time to duck another one, then quickly bounced back to my hooves and sprinted at the offending spider bot, slamming into it, dragging it to the ground, and crushing the body in just a few hard punches.

I'd been at this game for an hour or so, like a filly in a candy shop of robotic nightmares. I'd yet to feel tired, the armor was doing most of the heavy lifting, letting me put out Stripe levels of strength and speed, though, I'd never seen the big guy do a triple backflip onto a robot's back.

A sentry hit me in the side, pinning me to the wall. I slammed both forehooves into its arm and twisted my whole body, easily ripping it out of the shoulder, then focused with my magic and riddled its body with vicious magical arrows, a new offensive spell that Beta had taught me that I definitely couldn't pull off without the magic amplifiers.

I pushed the hunk of scrap forward, using it as a bullet shield against the few comrades Beta had spawned with it. I prepared to jump out from behind it, but promptly fell on my face when the VR room shut down and the sentries dissipated back into nothing.

"The fuck?" I whined as I stood back up, "I was having fun!"

"Apologies, the allotted power reserves were used up, the simulation room will remain inactive for twenty four hours while the coils recharge."

I huffed in annoyance and stepped back into the elevator to Eclipse's quarters. My helmet retracted back into the suit when I reached the top, the only thing remaining was a strange pair of ear pieces that fit snugly but comfortably.

I stepped out of the room, grabbing my saddlebags and weapons with my magic.

"Think I could check out these other rooms?"

"Of course."

The three other doors opened, I went into Thunder Crash's first. It was wrecked, utterly destroyed, splintered bits of furniture lying all over the place, broken glass from picture frames, and a section of wall in the back that looked like a grenade had hit it.

"What the hell happened in here?"

"Agent Thunder Crash had quite the reaction when the news of Cloudsdayle reached us, he vented his emotions on his quarters before a strange group of pegasi with oddly high levels of clearance came and collected him."

"Hmm, anything worthwhile in here?"

"Doubtful, he had only a few possessions in this facility, and those he took with him."

I nodded and trotted back out to the hallway, entering Chryses' room next.

It was completely bare, not even a bed, only some sort of pod with a lot of wires and jack cables.

"Agent Chryses' charging station," Beta said, somehow sensing my confusion, "the professors built it to avoid the hassle of keeping him supplied with fresh gems."

"So, cyberponies don't need sleep? I'm not seeing a bed here."

"Sleep is recommended, but Chryses was plagued with insomnia, along with several other mental illnesses."

"No possessions?"

"His swords, though he had those with him on his last mission and I believe he kept them when he was reassigned."

"Reassigned?"

"When it was reported that Canterlot had been wiped out and the Princesses eliminated, Agent Chryses was assigned as the personal bodyguard for a non-essential Alicorn on the island designed for the protection of the royal family in the event of Stable 1's failure. Considering his vitals still read alive and active, I assume these duties extended to her descendants."

"Non-essential Alicorn?"

"A distant niece of the royal sisters, with less claim to the throne than Princess Cadence, her name is not on any listed files, she was a very well kept secret."

"Interesting."

I hesitated before entering Dart's room, it seemed disrespectful, but I walked in anyways.

I smiled a bit, the room was covered in photos of the whole team and the twins, smiling and making goofy faces. On the desk were several framed pictures of Eclipse and Dart, before and during the war. I spotted a few of just Dart, blushing when I approached and noticed the point of them.

One of her mounting a fire hose, looking like she was rubbing it provocatively, a firepony's hat on her head, wearing a thong sporting an Equestrian Fire Watch emblem, smiling seductively with half-lidded eyes while the hose sprayed water over her.

Several of her in just a black thong, laying and stretching in suggestive poses, another right next to those of her naked, blushing back at the camera as a very nice section of her anatomy was highlighted.

"Agent Dart had aspirations of professional adult modelling."

"Damn shame she never got to live those out..." I muttered, staring intently at the slightly moistened folds of the gorgeous pegasus, viciously forcing myself to not keep the pictures.

"She did, for a time, then Thunder Crash recommended her for the Sleipnir program due to her skills as a flier and a few weeks later the professors brought her in."

"Interesting..." I said, only half listening, Dart's business end had a good 90% of my attention at the moment.

"I believe there are a few more of a similar nature in the desk drawer, your elevated heart rate and body temperature imply that you find them sexually intriguing."

I blushed and coughed awkwardly, "Uh, no, that's fine."

"Very well."

"Is her suit still here?"

"Yes, one moment."

I bounced slightly, excited to get one of these suits for Token. The thought was dashed when the armor case ascended from the floor.

It was just like mine, but with one key difference, a woven crown of wild flowers resting on the helmet. I refused to take the armor out, I'd decided that much already, but I did tentatively touch my hoof to the case.

I looked back to my saddlebags and took out Eclipse's journal, resting it at the base of the pod along with some pictures on the desk of the two as a couple.

"How long did they have together?" I asked at almost a whisper as I looked over the new additions to the impromptu shrine.

"Six months... They were very happy."

I nodded, wiping away the start of fresh tears, then turned and left the room, shutting the door behind me.

"So uh, how long were these guys active?" I asked, not really interested but trying my best to focus on something other than the 200 year old tragic ending to what I'm sure was a beautiful relationship.

"Roughly seven years, with over one hundred successful missions and countless confirmed kills."

"What was the point?"

"On the record, a small team of well equipped soldiers with elite warfare training, operating in the field as special operations agents and force multipliers, with armor and training that far out classed the Steel Rangers'."

"And off the record?"

"You would need to ask the professors."

"Guess that question isn't getting answered then..."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, they're dead, right?"

"Their vitals are listed alive but inactive, I would assume they are still in the stasis pods in their lab."

I stopped dead, "What?"

"They are in a state of suspended animation deeper in this facility, revival would be possible if you wish."

"...Okay, let's do it."

***

Token galloped up to me as I turned the corner, threw her forelegs around my neck and kissed me hard on the lips.

"Thank Celestia," she said as she pulled away, "you've been gone for an hour, we thought something might've happened!"

I smiled and kissed her nose, "Nonsense, I'm invincible. Beta, mind killing the security so this lot can move through with us?"

"Of course."

Token looked at me with confusion and concern, I just smirked as the surrounded spider bots deactivated.

"Um-" she started.

"Beta is the virtual intelligence unit in this suit." I said.

"Oh, good, thought you might be going crazy again..." she glanced behind me for a moment and whispered, "Did your butt get bigger?"

My ears laid back and I pouted, Token quickly shook her head, "No, dear, it still looks great it's just that it, I dunno, pops more, or something..."

I winked at her and smirked, "Just pulling your leg, I knew what you meant. I think the muscle enhancements thickened my haunches a bit."

"Maybe..." she muttered, looking me over, "It's a really nice suit..."

I laughed and brushed past her, bumping her flank with mine as I went, "You have no idea, wait 'til you see it in action."

"Where are we g-g-goin'?" Shaky asked as the rest stepped in behind me.

"Deeper into the facility to wake up a couple of professors."

"Why?"

I shrugged, "Dunno, just doesn't seem right to leave them in this place when they could be walking around, and I guess I have some questions."

Beta buzzed in my ear as we approached a large bulkhead covered in yellow and black caution paint.

"Warning, the security in the next section is still active and is above my clearance to shut down, proceed with caution."

I sighed, letting my helmet overtake my face and pulling out the still compact Luna's Whisper before passing my saddlebags back to Token, "Hold my things for me love. I'll take point, Rawr and Token watch my back, Hex and Shaky stay behind them."

Everyone nodded as I looked back, I unfolded Whisper and rested it on my right side, the armor overlapped it, integrating it into the suit in a sort of battle saddle.

"Open it."

"Confirmed."

Inside was a glorified clusterfuck of sentry bots. I used the visor's targeting system to sight one in and promptly went deaf when I fired.

Luna's Whisper was loud, really, really loud, and I'd just fired it in a closed space. The power definitely compensated, somehow the 5.56 round had completely pulverized the machine's top half, ripped the arms off the two to either side of it, left a massive crater in the bulkhead behind them, and hit with enough of a shockwave to disable the combat inhibitors of every other robot in the room, causing them to frenzy and turn on each other. The horde was wiped out in mere moments, leaving only one who, oddly enough, pointed its minigun at its own head and fired away until it too was dead.

The deafness and the faint trickle of ear blood receded as the suit's healing systems went to work. I turned back to my four comrades, all of them were sucking down healing potions, Shaky was crying and rubbing the blood from one of her ears.

"Sorry!" I shouted over the ringing in my ears.

"What?!" Token yelled back.

"SORRY!!!"

"SHUT UP PONIES!!!" Rawr bellowed as he covered his ears with his hands.

I nodded and trotted over to Shaky, caressing her head and prompting her to sip another potion.

"Sorry darling." I said quietly.

She nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes, "T-too fuckin' l-l-loud...

"To my credit, the thing's name is pretty misleading."

"My apologies, I neglected to mention that Eclipse's rifle has magnetic acceleration rails lining the barrel, the velocity and percussion are quite substantial."

"Needs a bigger fucking silencer..." Token muttered.

"Suppresser, love, needs a bigger suppresser..." I muttered as I folded the rifle back up and placed it in my saddlebags, I'd like my kid's ear drums to stay intact, "You alright Shaky?"

"Yeah." she said, rubbing her ears.

My helmet retracted, I picked her up and nuzzled her forehead, "I'm sorry."

"It's f-fine," she said, pushing away, "let's j-just go already."

"Right, any more security Beta?"

"Negative, the next room is clear."

"Open it."

"Not possible, even if I had the clearance, which I don't, the bulkhead sustained critical damage. I would recommend manual entry."

"Manual entry?"

Rawr brushed past me, cracking his knuckles and grumbling. He slammed his claws through the tiny gap in the bulkhead and groaned as he pried it apart. I galloped up next to him and helped pull on one side while he pulled the other.

The bulkhead sparked and squealed, but we got it open wide enough so we could all move through.

The room within had two large pods with one of the sleeping twins in each, along with several terminals that looked infinitely more advanced than any of the other terminals I'd seen in my travels.

"Alright," I muttered, looking over the complicated machinery, "how do we crack those cases?"

"Allow the suit to plug into the terminal between the pods, I will partition myself and dedicate one portion to reviving them. It should only take a few minutes or so."

I trotted over to the terminal and extended a hoof, the armor formed a tendril that wormed into the jack port, then disconnected and retracted back to the rest of the suit.

I sat down next to Token with a sigh. She grinned and nudged me.

"Looking downright sexy in that new gear babe." she said.

"Thanks, just wish I knew how to get out of the damn suit..."

"One moment."

I jumped as my armor crawled over my skin, folding neatly into a small backpack style pod on my shoulders with muscle like straps looping through the pits of my front legs.

"Interesting..." I muttered once again, looking over myself, I was a bit more toned, my muscles a little bit tighter, I looked good, really good... I'd go as far to say damn good in fact, and I wasn't the only one taking notice.

Token of course was enjoying the view thoroughly, a smug grin plastered on her face, but I was surprised when I glanced over to Hex and saw her staring at me intently, blushing when I winked at her.

"Sorry..." she muttered, throwing her hood up, then ducking her head to let her mane cover her face, her ears were poking through the hood but laying flat in embarrassment.

She peeked back up, still blushing, "Don't be ashamed dear," I said reassuringly, "it's perfectly natural to admire the equine body."

She squeaked inaudibly and fidgeted, I smiled and rested my head on Token's shoulder, sliding my goggles back over my eyes and yawning.

"You tired?" she asked.

"Nah, just really bored, the stupid VR chamber ran out of robots for me to kill."

"I don't mean to interrupt, but a comm line has just become available."

"Who's line?"

"A suit of pegasus powered armor, callsign Crimson Death."

"I think that's BB, can you hail her or patch her through or whatever the fuck they say?"

"One moment."

My ear pieces buzzed, instantly I registered the sounds of heavy gunfire.

"An' just who in the wide world of flying fuck is calling me?!" Blood Bolt shouted.

"It's me, how you holding up?"

"Specify who 'me' is fuckwad, these radios ain't exactly crystal clear ya know!"

"Oh, sorry, it's Bandage."

"Bandage? Shit, where in the hell did ya get mah radio frequency?"

"Long story, everything alright?"

"Does it sound alright ya fuckin' idjit?! We're crotch deep in ghouls out here an' things is gittin' worse a shite side faster than there gittin' better! We already lost Blood Nap an' her crew, an' Big Bird took an AM round to his fuckin' wing, we don't get backup soon Ah reckon we're fucked!"

"Okay, try and hold out a few minutes longer, we'll meet you as soon as we can."

"Copy, we'll do our best... Where the fuck did ya'll git off to anyway?"

"Like I said, long story, I'll fill you in later."

"Roger, seeya in a few Ah guess."

"Count on it."

"Ah am countin' on it dumbass!!!"

She hung up, I rubbed my temples and tried to think of something.

"Beta, how much longer?"

"Done." she said just as the two pods cracked open and let out a hiss.

The mares inside blinked tiredly in unison and stumbled out of the pods, Token and I galloped over to help them stand.

"Easy," I said, "you've been asleep for a long time."

"We know," the earth pony said as they both pushed us away, "we've been aware through all of it-"

"Running simulations in virtual reality." the unicorn finished.

"Never did find out how to make the perfect auto cart..."

"Had plenty of space-"

"Handled well-"

"Comfy interior-"

"Great safety features..."

They both blinked and smacked themselves on the forehead, "Cup holders!" they declared in unison.

"Put us back in Beta!" the earth pony shouted, moving to clamber back into her pod.

"Apologies ma'am, but I believe my new operator has more pressing issues to attend to than cup holders."

"Indeed..." the unicorn muttered, she'd somehow made it to a video terminal without me noticing and was watching the battle outside.

Her sister trotted up next to her, looking over the screen and nodding, "We could activate perimeter defenses to lend them a hoof-"

"But, the building is kinda..."

"Fucked?"

"Yes, fucked."

"Though that's an easily remedied problem."

"You lot may want to hop upstairs and help out-"

"We've got to shake the cobwebs off down here."

I nodded and galloped back to the teleporter, Token right behind me, my armor reencasing me as I ran.

I smashed the button with my hoof as Token entered and rapidly blinked away the blindness, then sprinted and leapt over the makeshift barricade Adze was hunkered down behind, onto the back of a Marked pegasus that was somehow still flying with no feathers.

It hissed and screamed at me as I wrenched its wings and aimed us at the ground. I pushed down on its head just before it hit the ground with a meaty splat, landing next to BB and the bodies of Blood Nap and her remaining crew, sending a geyser of rotten brain out 2 metres in front of me. She was on her back behind a crate, her head ducked low to avoid the ridiculous amount of led being sprayed at her.

"The fuck?!" she asked.

"Long story," I said through the armor's speaker, "why aren't you in the air?"

"Oh Ah don't know Bandage, perhaps it's because o' the huge fuckin' guns those skinless bastards are sporting?"

"I'm sensing some hostility in that statement, everything alright?"

"Fuck you Bandage!"

"Now seems like a bad time," I said casually as I picked up a couple of assault rifles and fixed them to my sides, "let me get us out of this tricky situation and run it by Token and I'll think about it."

"Huh?"

I prepared several magical arrows and looked down at her, my visor temporarily losing its shade so she could see the wink I gave her, then leapt over her and sprinted at the entrenched ghouls.

"Ya know that ain't what Ah meant!!" she shouted after me.

I jumped over a Marked One manning an LMG, grabbing its head and twisting it, firing the rifles wildly as we spun in a quick circle, managing to stagger the two with it.

I held the creature in a choke hold, though the choking part of the hold was moot considering ghouls didn't need to breathe, and blasted three magical arrows into the heads of the two at its sides. The think continued to hiss and squirm until I clenched hard and popped the head off, dropping the corpse in a messy heap.

Just like that it was over, I blinked, confused, and called out to BB, "Thought you said they had big guns?"

"Not them idjit!"

"Then wh-" my armor lurched, forcing me to duck, a missile wizzed past my head.

I turned to see 6 Marked Ones, 5 in pieced together riot gear, all armed with dual miniguns, led by a much larger ghoul in wrecked power armor that looked a size too small and had swollen chunks of red muscle bulging from the poorly maintained seams, armed with two grenade machineguns and a back mounted missile launcher.

I coughed nervously and waved, "Hi there! Don't suppose we could solve this nonviolently?"

No noise except for the distinct sliding sound of a fresh missile being chambered.

I sighed, "Didn't think so..."

The group fired, I side stepped a missile and sprinted at the big one, firing both rifles at its exposed knees, doing little more than knocking it off balanced, then hopped and bounded off its head, releasing both rifles and sprinting yet again to dodge minigun fire.

I ducked, serpentined and rolled, unfolding Whisper as I went, ignoring the 25mm grenade shrapnel deflecting against my shield and integrating the massive rifle into my armor. I stopped, turned and pivoted, ready to unload a powerful round and turn the big bastard into pulp! Then got hit in the face with a missile...

I yelped as my shields popped and the blast sent me flying, smacking hard against a canyon wall. I recovered and spun around, firing the instant the targeting system locked onto the leader.

It exploded, like, big, into thousands of tiny chunks, meat and shrapnel peppering its comrades, those that weren't knocked on their assess by the shockwave anyways.

I wasn't deaf this time, but my ears were still ringing badly, leaving me slightly disoriented while 5mm rounds sparked against the exoskeleton, the integrity meter on my E.F.S rapidly being chipped away.

I looked up, trying to shake off the dizziness before they tore through, something was rapidly descending on them, at first I thought it was BB, then I noticed the stripes...

A winged zebra in hide armor with dozens of potions hanging off her landed on a ghoul, her forehooves crushing it into the rock while her rear hooves bucked the head off another.

Another turned its guns on her, I snapped back to focus and sprinted forward, tackling it and rapidly crushing its skull with my right hoof, the slight sense of satisfaction made me realize why Stripe always fought close quarters.

I spun around and drilled two magical arrows into the eyes of another preparing to fire behind her. She tore the head off the one she had pinned, then spread her massive wings and leapt on me, pulling me down and sucking on a potion bottle around her neck, then spit, a stream of fire came billowing from her mouth and engulfed the last ghoul.

"Thanks for the assist." I said.

Her strange pink eyes glanced me over, she brought a hoof up to my face and tapped my visor.

"Got a face under there?" she asked in an odd accent, like the basic Trottingham one but more exotic.

My helmet retracted and I grinned stupidly at her, she snorted and cocked her head, her messy striped mane sweeping over her face.

"Like what you see?" I asked, winking at her.

She smirked, revealing a set of very sharp canine teeth.

A rifle cocked, "Get off her bitch." Token growled.

The zebra glanced behind her at Token, then shrugged and climbed off me, helping me to my hooves. I nodded at Token, she hesitated, warily looking over the strange mare, but nodded and slung her rifle through her bag loop.

"Sorry I didn't get here sooner," the mare said, "had to fly back to Hopeville and get permission to engage."

"The community at the end of this pass?"

"Yeah. Saw the commotion while I was out hunting for boar, wanted to lend a hoof but the Doc Morbid says to come ask him before we make contact with ponies, old man was pissing hot glass when the scouting party brought that guy in yesterday."

I extended a hoof, "Bandage."

She bumped it, "Kimba."

"So, what the hell are you?"

She chuckled, "One half zebra, one half pegasus, one hundred percent bad bitch."

I smirked, "That have a name specifically?"

She shrugged, "Morbid said we were normal zebras a long time ago, then we just started changing, eventually grew wings, says he didn't think of a new name because he just considers us to be zebras with extra hardware."

"Amazing!" the uniform voices of the Twins shouted. I glanced over, they were sprinting at us at break neck speed. Rawr was walking slowly and casually behind them, the girls on his shoulders watching the sisters.

"Lore!" the unicorn shouted, "Sample those corpses while I examine this magnificent creature!"

"On it Data!" her sister called, b-lining for the dead Marked Ones.

"Fascinating..." Data said when she reached us, scrutinizing Kimba, "Your not a hybrid, must be a biproduct of Project Chimera yes?"

Kimba growled and moved towards her threateningly, "I'm a 'biproduct' of my parents, and I'm a person, so quit looking me over like I'm some sort of lab rat."

"Stifle dear," Data said calmly, "I didn't mean to offend, merely making observations."

Kimba snorted and turned her back on us, sauntering over to a confused looking Blood Bolt.

Adze approached us next, bleeding severely from his injured wing, "Who the fuck are these two? Where'd you get the armor? And what's with the fucking zebra thing over there?"

"Watch your mouth bird!" Kimba shouted, "Otherwise I'll make a meal out of you!"

I rolled my eyes, "Long story to the first two, ask her to the third.

Adze sat down with a sigh, stretching his wounded wing, doctor mode switched on instantly.

I smacked him over the head with a hoof, "Don't stretch it stupid!" I yelled, gripping it gently with my magic and slowly mending the complicated wing tissue.

The griffon whimpered softly, "Shouldn't I be asleep for this or somethin'?"

"No time to apply anesthetic, this needs fixed right away, what happened exactly?"

"Big ass bullet hit me, good thing some rubble landed in front of me otherwise he woulda finished me off."

"Speaking of rubble..." Data muttered,fishing a tiny metallic sphere from her labcoat and nuzzling it, "Wake up dearest, Mummy needs you to rebuild her bunker."

The tiny sphere sprouted small wings and adorable eyes and looked at her expectingly, "Hungry dearest?"

The sphere seemed to nod, then flew at the building. In seconds half the rubble was gone, a huge swarm of robotic bugs replacing it, in mere minutes the building was restored to its former, and upright, glory, a newly cleared passage where it had laid moments before.

"Nanosprites," Lore explained, "Horse invented them-"

"But we perfected them." Data finished as the swarm consumed itself and returned to her coat pocket as a single sprite.

They both smacked hooves and trotted casually to their new building, "Keep in touch." one said.

"Stop by if you ever need the armor calibrated."

"I had questions!" I shouted after them.

"Tough shit!" they called back, laughing and hoof smacking again as they disappeared into the facility.

"They're joking," Beta said, "the professors have a very subtle inside humor, feel free to follow and make your inquiries."

"Okay, I'm going to head inside guys, let me know if anything happens."

"Got it babe." Token said, slouching on a crate and resting her rifle between her hind legs, still warily glancing at Kimba.

***

"Really hating that you have full clearance..." Lore muttered as I entered their lab.

"You're not even an agent." Data finished.

I snorted, then frowned slightly when the gesture reminded me of Stripe, "Considering no formal Equestrian government exists, I really don't think it matters."

"Valid point." the two cerise mares said in unison, tossing their lavender manes to the side.

"So-" Data started.

"Questions?" Lore finished.

"Yeah," I said, "just wondering exactly what the point of all this is?"

"We created Sleipnir when we were twenty, mostly as a way to one up that joke of an invention they call power armor."

"Thunder Crash was our first recruit and test pilot, showing that even with severe physical disabilities the Sleipnir modifications would make for a totally superior soldier, and even heal a cripple like Crash in ways that put him in better condition than before his accident."

"Naturally, the military got involved, and funding increased exponentially, allowing for the creation of three more suits and this base of operations."

"Crash went from test pilot to squad leader. He hoof picked his team, Eclipse, his sister's foalhood friend and a master sniper, and Dart, his little sister but also an excellent flier."

"And Silver Stripe 'volunteered' one of her maniacs from Project Steel Pony-"

"We jumped on that right away, the results of system on system integration was..."

"Intriguing, to say the least. She even had the decency to provide Crash with a new wing."

"Years went by, we created four AI custodians for the suits, each coupling and balancing their operator's personality-"

"Wait," I interrupted, "AI? Beta said she was a VI, is there a difference?"

The two smirked, "A VI is designed to mimic intelligence, an AI truly has intelligence," Data stepped up to me and seemed to scold the armor, "Beta you naughty girl, selling yourself short again?"

"Apologies Data, but your guidelines state that I lie and announce myself a VI for protection's sake."

Lore grumbled, "Fascists and their ridiculous bans on creating something that can think for itself..."

Data snorted, "Anyway, Beta isn't just a high tech computing system, she's a fully sentient being with her own emotions and the ability to learn, a very calculating personality to couple Eclipse's general... quirky, nature."

"Alpha is a hard ass like the old man, totally compatible match."

"Gamma was more outspoken and gun ho than Dart to counteract her partner's nervous tendencies and hesitation."

"And Delta is as sane and calm as we could possibly make him to keep Chryses' psycho ass in line."

"An army of eight minds rather than one of just four soldiers."

"Ten if you count us love." Lore said as her sister trotted back to her side.

"More like a hundred if you count us, we're bloody geniuses!"

Lore hugged around her neck, Data around Lore's midsection, "I love it when you use botched mathematics to show our obvious intellectual superiority, so sexy..."

She leaned forward, both of them closing their eyes, I recoiled and looked away in disgust, only looking back when the laughter started. The Twins were leaning on a desk grinning at me.

"Did you really think we would kiss?"

"That'd be bloody disgusting!"

"Trust us, we know."

"Worst, Hearths Warming, ever..."

"Agreed."

"Worst morning after Hearths Warming ever..."

"Stop talking Lore."

"We were in the same bed with Thunder Crash..."

"Lore..."

"We smelled like sex..."

"Lore, seriously, stop talking."

"So many condoms..."

"Lore!!!"

"You know, I think the worst part was not remembering it? He was utterly exhausted and I have a feeling he might've done a stand up job."

Data covered her ears and started shouting 'la la la la la!', Lore rolled her eyes and went back to her terminal.

"So dramatic..." she muttered.

"Excuse me for not wanting to discuss a forgotten three-way between my sister and our best friend!"

"Darling, it's literally ancient history, get over it."

Data pouted and slumped down against one of the pods, Lore rolled her eyes, trotted over and embraced her.

"You're such a baby."

"It's an unpleasant memory..."

Lore nodded thoughtfully and squeezed her sister tighter, "Is it weird that I've really missed being able to hold you?"

"A little, nice sentiment though."

Lore chuckled and tousled Data's mane before going back to her terminal.

"Bandage right?" she asked without looking away from the screen.

"Yeah."

"You should really kick your parents' ass for naming you that... Anyways, c'mere for a second, I have an upgrade to upload into your armor."

I trotted over and let the suit plug into the terminal, "What kind of upgrade?"

"More of an upgrade for you really, another gene altering chemical, allows for enhanced regenerative abilities."

"Enhanced regeneration?"

"Mmhmm, significantly boosts the rate of cell replication, you won't grow back limbs or anything but it'll let your body patch injuries much faster. Saves energy and protects you if you get hurt while out of your armor."

"White blood cell production is vastly increased as well, in the off chance you get sick again you'll get over it rather quickly."

"Not to mention your cells will be replaced at such a high rate that your lifespan will be virtually limitless."

"Wait," I said, "like immortality or something?"

Data nodded, "In a sense, you won't age but getting shot in the head would definitely knock the whole eternity train off the tracks."

"Is this one going to hurt like the others?"

"Probably not, no."

A surging wave of pain hit me and I dropped to the floor screaming, when it was finally over I rolled over and glared at the twins, who smiled down at me sheepishly.

"I THOUGHT YOU SAID IT WOULDN'T HURT!?!?" I screamed.

"I said it probably wouldn't hurt."

"With genetic alteration you can never be sure."

"Fuck you both!" I yelled, "And stop finishing each other's sentence! It's annoying!"

The two glanced at each other and smirked.

"Finishing-"

"Each other's-"

"Sentences?"

"No idea what you're talking about." they said in unison, grinning down at me smugly.

I groaned and smacked my hooves to my ears.

***

We finally continued through the pass, following Kimba, she assured us it was safe so I was walking around with my armor in its backpack form. Rawr was grumbling about not getting paid the entire trip to Hopeville.

"No point to bitching Rawr." I said.

He snorted, "Easy for pony to get work, not so easy for dog."

Adze spoke up, "Blood Nap said we'd get paid by a contact of hers when we reached the southern end of the Divide, we don't need her to get our caps."

"Hear that Rawr? No point to bitching."

The Hellhound snorted again, "Can Rawr bitch about having to carry little ponies on his back the whole trip?"

I shrugged, "You could, but I never asked you to do that, you just kinda started doing it."

"Oh."

Shaky pressed her forehooves on his head, covering his eyes up with his hood, "Shut up R-rawr, you know y-you like us."

He grumbled and fixed his hood.

I chuckled and looked back ahead at Token and Kimba, who were chatting casually, I was mentally comparing their flanks as they went.

"Ah'd say Kimba's got the better ass," BB said quietly beside me, "what d'ya reckon?"

I shook my head, "Have to give it to Token."

"You sayin' 'at cuz she's yer mare or cuz Kimba's a zebra?"

"I'm saying that because it's what I think, don't get me wrong, Kimba has a fantastic flank and is definitely more toned than Token, not to mention the stripes really highlight her haunches, but I have to give it to Token for more mass and that fantastic hip sway she's got."

"Well hell, if we're factorin' hip sway in then yeah, Blue's got it in the bag, but Ah'm talkin' from a purely aesthetic standpoint."

"Okay then, look at the suppleness of it then, Token's has just the right amount of jiggle, Kimba's is really taught and muscular."

"I think Token's butt is better." Hex said, having somehow climbed onto my backpack without me noticing.

BB snorted, "An' in yer expert opinion, why is it better?"

"Well," she said a bit nervously, "it's bigger."

The pegasus chuckled, "Oh kiddo, you've got to factor in more than mass."

"We're talking from a totally opinionated standpoint, really it boils down to preference, and personally I think bigger butts look better."

"I can agree with that." I said.

My friend shrugged her wings, "Big is okay, personally Ah prefer a nice, muscular ass."

I nodded. It was good to see Hex come out of her shell for a bit, even if it was for the perverted business of talking about flanks.

"Overall though," Hex whispered, unsettlingly close to my ear, "I'd say yours is the best flank here."

I went bright red, Hex chuckled and ruffled my mane, "Looks like I got you back for embarrassing me back in the lab."

I laughed too, my blush fading, "Yeah, guess you did, nice work."

"Goggles as trophy!" Hex declared, though only barely louder than her normal quiet tone.

"Fine," I sighed, letting her pull them off me and put them on, "I want them back in an hour though."

Hex folded her forelegs on top of my head and peeked over to look at me upside-down with the goggles, her long mane tickling at my nose. I made a goofy face at her and she stuck out her tongue before hopping off my back. Rawr scooped her up and unto his shoulder as he walked by, as if by instinct.

"She makes a point though Bandage," BB said, staring intently at my flank, "ya've probably got the best ass here."

"Oh I know." I said confidently, swaying it more than usual as I picked up pace and walked past her, she bit my tail and gave it a soft tug, pulling me back next to her.

"Ya know," she said with a grin, "earlier ya said you'd think about throwin' some o' that ass my way."

I chuckled and shook my head, "I also said I'd run it by Token. Not to mention..." I muttered, my eyes locking on to Kimba's flank once again, "there's some new prey on the field I'm looking to pursue..."

"Mmm," she mumbled with some disappointment, "well, happy hunting Ah guess."

"Don't worry," I said, planting a kiss just under her ear, "if I can't pull it off you're my rebound ass."

"Thanks, Ah think..." she muttered as I walked past again.

I stepped in between the two, nuzzling Token's neck affectionately when I reached her. I may have been up there to hit on somepony else, but there was always time to give my marefriend some love.

"So." I said with a grin, turning on Kimba.

"Not interested." she said without even looking at me.

I pouted, "You don't even know what I was going to ask."

"Yes I do, I can smell you all over Token and her all over you. You're lesbians, that's cool and all, just not my thing."

"Why not?" I whined, hanging around her neck and being dragged along.

"How to put this, you're lacking the preferred piece of anatomy."

I wrapped a foreleg around Token's neck and dragged her over, "She's got toys, it's basically the same thing, better even!"

Kimba chuckled and pushed me away, "No thanks, I'm just not attracted to mares."

"I'm confused," I said, more jokingly now, "how can you not be attracted to mares?"

"Um, I'm straight?"

I recoiled in mock disgust, "Ewww, straight!"

Token tugged my ear with her magic and pulled around to her other side, "Behave." she scolded.

"Token," I whispered loudly, "she's straight! How's that even possible?!"

Token rolled her eyes, Kimba glanced at me with a smirk, "Your pegasus friend back there is straight."

I recoiled, "BB is not straight! She'll fuck anything regardless of gender, species or status as a living creature."

BB shouted after us, "Ah'd resent that, but, it's pretty much accurate."

"So," I said with a raised brow, "no sex?"

"No sex." Kimba said with a nod.

"No chance of sex at all?"

"Not a one."

"Not even if you were really really really drunk and I was wearing a certain something to simulate a certain something?"

She sighed, "Tell you what, get a lot more scars and get me positively smashed and wear that whatever you were talking about, and I'll think about it."

"For real!?" I asked, the excitement obvious in my voice.

"Yeah."

"It's a date." I said with a wink.

"It's a slim chance of you getting laid," Token said, "stifle yourself or I'm going to gag you."

I hung a foreleg around my mare's neck again and brought my face up to hers, blinking innocently, "You promise?"

She smiled, rolling her eyes, and pushed me off.

"Hey, my mane look okay?" Kimba asked, combing it with her hoof.

"Ravishing," I said with my newly mastered shit eating grin, "why do you ask?"

"This guy got brought in the other day, he's kinda sexy and I've been trying to get his attention."

"You don't need his attention darling, you've already got my attention."

"You don't give up easily do you?"

I shrugged, "One of my many flaws."

We reached the wall of Hopeville, met by some very well armed winged zebras.

"Who are these assholes Kimba?" the buck on the right asked, warily looking us over.

"The ones Doc told me to help out," she growled, forcefully shoving him out of the way, "so open the fucking gate and quit wasting my time."

"Yes ma'am." he said, giving a nervous salute and flying with his partner to the top of the gate to pull matching levers. The gate made up of two sky carriages welded together was lifted up by a set of pulleys, Kimba waved at the two and motioned for us to follow.

***

Hopeville was large and well populated, with hundreds of homes built into the natural rock wall surrounding it. No shops, to my dismay, the community worked as a whole unit and had no need for caps.

Kimba was leading us through the crowds of her kind that were coming to look at us, zebras (sorta) of all ages existed in Hopeville, surprisingly young and surprisingly old.

"Morbid spends most of his time in the nursery." Kimba explained, folding back a flap and tanned boar hide that acted as the door for a cave. We all moved to enter but she stopped us, "Just you Bandage, Doc doesn't care for visitors." I nodded and stepped in, expecting babies, instead the cave was filled with several hundred gigantic glowing mushrooms, leading down a path further into the cave.

Kimba tapped me on the shoulder and moved past me, I followed her through the winding passage until we reached a sort of spring at the bottom.

A zebra ghoul, who I assumed was Doc Morbid, was on the very dark far side of the room, applying a sort of balm to the badly wounded side of a very large pony that I could barely distinguish.

"Doctor?" Kimba said quietly.

The ghoul turned, "Eh? Heu, Kimba, libenter te fecit eam. Qui hoc?"

"Bandage, the leader of that group you had me assist."

The large figure on the table shifted, "Bandage?" a familiar voice said.

I teared up and sat hard on my haunches as Stripe stepped out of the shadows, smiling warmly with his newly scarred face.

"That's, that's not..." I muttered dumbly.

He limped over to me, sat down and pulled me into a hug. I returned the gesture, hesitantly, still not sure if it was really him. I pressed my face to his shoulder, picking up his distinct scent of cordite and tobacco. The tears flowed freely and I squeezed him back tightly.

"Good to see you too," he grunted, "can ya ease up a bit? I'm still pretty tender."

"Sorry," I gasped out in a half laugh half sob, pushing away and smiling at him, "how?"

"That big fucker broke my fall, gave me time to put my guts back in and suck down every healing potion I had along with a couple shots of Stampede, killed most of the others before I passed out. Woke up down here with that pretty thing next to you and the Doc lookin' me over."

He wiped my eyes and we smiled at each other, my eyes drifted down to his injuries, five massive wounds on his side and tummy that weren't quite healed all the way and a nasty indentation on his leg from the bite.

I glanced back up and gently ran a hoof along one of the three scars now spanning his face.

"Fuck up my face did they?" he asked with a slight frown.

I chuckled and shook my head, looking down to let fresh tears flow freely, "Nah, makes you look handsome."

He propped my head up and wiped the tears away again, "Ya best knock that off, 'wise yer gonna make me cry too, an' I won't be cryin' in front of pretty mares."

I nodded and hugged around his neck, pressing my face to his chest. He hugged me back and rested his head on my shoulder.

"We thought you were dead..." I whispered.

He snorted, "Takes more than a few overgrown scaly glowsticks to finish me off boss."

"C'mon," I said, helping him to his hooves, "I know a few people that are really going to want to see you."

He nodded but looked back at the ghoul, "Mister Morbid?"

The ghoul waved us off, "Go boy, your companion and I can speak later. Though, please stop trying to lift heavy things."

My friend chuckled, "No promises Doc."

The ghoul grumbled, "Servare oculo in eum Kimba."

"With pleasure." she said, winking at the injured zony, who winked right back.

***

Shaky turned into a sobbing mess when we stepped at of the cave, running at Stripe and leaping into his outstretched forelegs and hugging his neck tightly.

"Hey kiddo." he said softly.

"Hey D-d-dad," she said, nuzzling his cheek, then she pulled away and punched him in the chest softly, "I th-th-thought you were d-dead, you s-son of a b-b-b-bitch."

"Sorry." he muttered. She shook her head and hugged him one more time, then climbed down and crawled up my frame, hugging me and trembling.

Adze came up and grabbed the back of his head, pulling him forward and pressing their foreheads together. Neither said anything, just sat there with their eyes closed, ending with a silent pat on the shoulder before they separated.

Token actually smiled when she approached, hugging him and planting a friendly kiss on both his cheeks.

BB hugged him last, whispering something in his ear that actually made him blush.

***

I was in a bed with Stripe, chatting, filling in gaps.

"When did she start calling me dad?" he asked. I'd filled him in on everything that had happened in his absence, this was the only thing he had a question about.

"Just now, as far as I know."

He nodded thoughtfully and yawned, I smirked and rested my forehead on his.

"Tired so early?" I said mockingly, locking eyes with him.

He snorted, "Doc has me on some kinda pain killer, makes me groggy as fuck. Why, planning on funny business?"

I chuckled and shook my head, then snuggled close to him. "Night big guy."

"Night boss." he yawned

"...good to have you back."

No response, just light snoring. I smiled and pressed my face to his chest.

***

I was woken up early the next morning by Kimba, I tried to get Stripe up as well, even going so far as to shake him. Kimba chuckled and dragged me off the bed.

"Don't bother, he's usually knocked out cold until noon. C'mon, Morbid wants to speak with you."

I nodded and followed her outside, "Remind me to ask the Doc what he's got him on."

"Actually, I made it, I can find plants growing in the badlands and boil them down into a brew, much more potent than most pony medicine with no chance of addiction."

"Interesting, you may want to reduce dosage though."

She snorted, "He's on the minimum dosage I can give him that allows him to sleep comfortably."

I nodded, "How bad were his injuries?"

She paused, "Let me put it this way, he shouldn't be alive."

"Yeah, a doctor told me that after I got shot to bits a couple months ago."

"You guys don't get many brakes in the injuries department do you?"

"Well, let's see, Stripe and I have been torn up pretty bad, the girls have both been raped, BB took an AM round through the chest, and Token-" I blinked, "Actually, I don't think Token's been injured too badly our entire time out here, a few cuts and bruises but nothing too serious."

"Must be pretty lucky."

I chuckled, "You have no idea. In school she'd ace every test just by guessing half the questions, she won the rations lottery three times in a row, she always got matched with great guys. Really the only unlucky thing that's happened to her was being matched as my best friend..."

"Why's that?"

I frowned slightly, "If we weren't so close, she would've let me be exiled by myself, and she wouldn't be out here..."

"Seems like she likes being out here with you."

"And I like having her with me, I just don't like that she's constantly in harm's way."

"It's the wasteland honey, we're all in harm's way, all the time, ain't nothin' changing that."

I shrugged, Kimba walked into the nursery. My eyes immediately snapped to her flanks as she stepped in front of me, her potion bottle shaped glyph holding my attention for several seconds.

"Have a mentioned you have a fantastic ass?"

She snorted, "You really are persistent."

"Only when I see something I want." I said with my 'bedroom voice'.

She glanced back at me with a smirk, her sharpened teeth glinting in the dim light, "You know you're not getting any, right?"

"As I recall we made an arrangement in which I would indeed 'get some' given the completion of certain parameters."

"And the chances of completing said parameters are slim to none."

She stopped just before we entered Morbid's work space, "Go on in."

"You're not coming with?"

"I've got errands to run, don't be nervous, Morbid may be a cranky old fart but he's a sweetheart."

"Alright, kiss for good luck?"

She rolled her eyes and gave me a shove as she walked past.

"Pretty please? You might like it."

"I'm good, thanks."

I pouted and trudged sullenly into the dark dank of Morbid's lair. The ghoul was at a work bench, mixing potions.

"Bandage right?" he said in his exotic, gravely voice.

"Yeah."

"We've got some things to discuss."

"I'm all ears."

"Hopeville is filled with the descendants of my tribe, they're like a family to me and I am very protective of them. I need you to promise me that the existence of this community remains a secret."

"You have my word."

"Verbum veteres hostes tenet paulo meritn." he said in his native tongue.

"I'm sorry?"

"Apologies, I am not used to speaking your language on such a frequent basis. I mean to say that I don't readily trust ponies, old grudges and such."

"You have my word as a mare of healing that nopony will learn of this place through me or my friends."

He cocked his brow, "A doctor eh? Yes, I suppose our shared oath will suffice."

I shifted uncomfortably, my oath to do no harm had definitely been bent over a barrel the last few months. I cleared my throat and changed the subject, "Doctor Morbid, odd name for a zebra."

He chuckled, "Not my given name, a nickname my young assistant thought of to better capture my personality."

"Mind if I ask how your people got the way they are?"

He nodded, "Same reason I'm a walking corpse, the same reason Diamond Dogs became Hellhounds, the same reason bears and pigs and alligators and parasprites are twice the size and have twice the aggression, magical radiation and mutation."

"Living in this canyon just after the collapse was hazardous, the fungus growing in this cave actually saved us, eating it allowed for a radiation purge similar to Rad-Away. But, the intense radiation greatly increased the rate of mutation, and my people adapted to something better suited to life in the Divide. Basic evolution really, just with a more potent catalyst."

"Fascinating..." I muttered.

"Indeed. Unless there is anything more you wish to discuss, feel free to leave."

I nodded and turned to leave but stopped myself, "Actually, there's something we need from you."

"Go on."

"A few weeks worth of supplies and a competent guide to help us reach the southern coast through these canyons."

"A simple request, easy enough to satisfy, but, as they say, gratiam gratiam, a favor, for a favor."

I cocked an eyebrow, "What'd you have in mind?"

"A few days ago, a nomad sect of our community went out to investigate a newly opened tunnel as a possible location for a new settlement. Their orders were to send back a messenger if they decided to set up camp, they have not returned. I would ask you to look for them, and if my worst fears are confirmed, I'd like you to collapse that tunnel."

"I'll need to discuss it with my team."

"Speak to Kimba when you've decided."

Shaky and Hex met me when I stepped out of the cave. I trotted up and planted a kiss on both their foreheads. Shaky made a face and rubbed the spot, Hex blushed and started mumbling to herself.

I smiled and leaned down to her eye level, "Hex, the way you keep getting flustered, one might think you have a crush on me."

She blinked and shrunk away, going an even brighter red, my grin widened and I held out a hoof, "My goggles please, I do believe I've won this round of our little conquest."

She grinned, her blush fading, and took off the goggles, using her magic to rest them on my forehead.

I nodded my thanks. She glanced over at Shaky, smiling in an uncharacteristically mischievous manner and kissed her on the cheek.

Shaky blushed and just stared at the other filly nervously.

"Gotcha Shakes," Hex said quietly, "gimme a trophy."

"H-huh?"

I looked over Shaky and shook my head, "I don't really see anything of hers you could keep as as a trophy..."

"Hmmm," Hex mumbled, scratching her chin with a hoof, "oh! You could give me a kiss..." Shaky blushed brighter, "On the lips." Hex leaned in with the utterance of the last phrase, flaunting her newly acquired, and possibly already mastered shit eating grin while she pressed her nose to the nose of a neon bright red and wide eyed Shaky.

Shaky nodded and gulped, "'Kay, b-but close y-your eyes first."

Hex closed her eyes and puckered her lips, Shaky reached out with her teeth and tugged Hex's hood over her face before running away laughing.

Hex fixed her hood and limped after her as fast as she could, "No fair!!!"

I chuckled and ran after Hex, scooping her onto my back and then sprinting after Shaky, who glanced over her shoulder at us and screamed.

I got up next to her, Hex rolled off my shoulders and tackled Shaky to the ground, relentlessly nuzzling and kissing the top of her head. I fell into the pile next and tickled the crap outta both of them.

***

"I'm game," Token said, "we need the stuff and it doesn't sound too difficult."

It was noon, and after several hours of filly shenanigans I'd collected my group and given them the rundown of the plan.

"Ah'm in too."

Adze nodded, Rawr just grunted.

"I'll g-g-go."

"I should probably stay here," Hex said, "you may need to get out of there pretty quick and I'm not a very fast runner."

Stripe limped out of his room, a pained smirk on his face, "Ya know damn well I'm in."

I shook my head, "You're staying here, you're in no condition to be walking through caves and brawling with Tunnelers."

"Boss," he objected, "I can-"

I raised a hoof and shook my head again, "My mind's made up, you're not going."

He huffed and glared at me, I got up and pushed him back to his room, shutting the door behind me.

"Stripe, do you seriously think you're at a hundred percent?"

He glanced away, then looked back with a smirk, "Nah, hundred and ten percent."

I scowled, he sunk his head and sighed, "No ma'am."

I propped his head up and pecked him on the nose, "Then you're staying here, play a few rounds of chess with Hex and we'll be back before you know it."

He sighed and rested his forehead on mine, "When we got separated, I didn't know what happened to you guys, I don't think I can deal with that again..."

"After seeing you torn up like that, I thought you were dead, and I know I can't deal with that again. You don't need to worry, we're big kids and we can take care of ourselves."

He chuckled, but his eyes kept that worried look. I leaned up and gave him a long kiss, he hesitated, but kissed back and placed his hooves on my hips. I didn't know why I'd decided to do that, emotions was my first guess, it also could've been slight attraction, I didn't love Stripe in that way but I did love him, and oddly enough something about him struck me as sexy.

I broke away and smiled up at him, "Trust me, nothing bad is going to happen."

He smirked, then frowned slightly, I rolled my eyes and punched him in the chest softly, "What's wrong now?"

"Was that kiss just some in the moment stuff or-" I interrupted him with another kiss and smirked at him teasingly.

"Guess you'll have to wait 'til I get back to find out huh?"

He frowned more, "I'm bein' serious here. I like you Bandage, a lot more than any other mare I've met, you're smart an' funny an' sexy, and I want you, so if this is just a now thing I'd like to know before the thought gets lodged in my mind."

I hugged around his neck and smiled, "You're my best friend Stripe, and I love you, but I don't think it goes past a hug and a kiss."

He glanced away and nodded, "'Kay."

I kissed him again, "I wanna hear you say it back."

"Say what back?"

"That I'm you're best friend and you love me."

He smirked and squeezed me tighter pressing his nose to mine, "Bandage, you're my best friend, and I love you."

"Now kiss me you fool!" I said dramatically, going so far as to toss my head back and throw a foreleg over my eyes.

He grinned and kissed me hard, even leaning me back in a cliche romantic fashion.

I opened my eyes when he was done, blushing, "The things I would do to you if you were a mare..."

"Yeah," he sighed, "unfortunately the gods damned me with a masculine form and a huge penis."

I shook my head, "It's a cryin' shame."

He chuckled and kissed me again, "Go on an' get outta here, seeya when you get back."

I kissed him one last time and hugged his neck tightly, then smiled and trotted towards the door, stopping when he gave my tail a gentle tug with his teeth.

I looked back at him, he smiled sheepishly and kissed my flank, then glanced up questioningly. He'd been a sweetheart, and I certainly did find something about him attractive... I decided to indulge him, smiling and nodding.

His next kiss landed a little further to the right, I shuddered slightly with pleasure at the feeling of his strong lips on my nethers. My front knees buckled instinctively when his tongue ran over my folds.

He mounted me carefully and tenderly, kissing up my back as he moved over my frame. I stifled a moan when he entered, he was being gentle, which was good considering the amount of stallion he had to throw around.

He started pushing in and out, I groaned softly and bit my lip, he kissed my ear and whispered to me, "Need me to slow down?"

"Harder dammit." I said through gritted teeth.

He recoiled slightly in surprise, but nodded and quickened his pace, grunting and wincing from the discomfort all this activity was putting on his injuries.

I bit down hard on my foreleg to silence another moan, managing to draw some blood. He pulled out and looked at the tiny wound, giving it a gentle lick and glancing at me apologetically, I smiled and kissed him passionately, then rolled onto my back and nodded down at my crotch.

He nodded his understanding and kissed my lips, then down my neck and chest and tummy. He licked me again, I writhed slightly and bit my lip when his tongue ran over my exposed and stiffened button, I groaned loudly and clamped my thighs around his head when he started sucking on it.

He kissed back up my body and planted a hard one on my lips, I opened my mouth and allowed his tongue entry, tasting myself.

He pushed in again and I moaned down his throat, he started thrusting, harder and faster than before, his eyes watering from the pain.

We both groaned loudly as we climaxed, he slumped off to my side, sweaty and panting, wincing with each breath. I pressed against him and kissed his neck, he smiled tiredly and pulled me close with a foreleg.

"You alright big guy?" I asked, looking him over with concern.

"I'm fine boss, just a bit sore."

I nodded and leaned down, cleaning his member off with my tongue.

He coughed awkwardly, "Ya really don't have to do that..."

I looked up at him with a smirk, he gulped as my magic gripped it firmly and started tugging, "I'm not done with you just yet Stripe..."

***

Waking up in the strong embrace of a stallion was not something I was accustomed to. Sure I'd had sex with bucks before, I'd just never stayed the night or been tired enough to pass out, but Stripe had worn me out thoroughly.

He was good, not as good as any mare in my opinion, but still good, fantastic by stallion standards. I kissed his nose and wriggled out of his grasp, not worried about waking him up, he'd actually started crying from pain during out third go and I'd forced him to take his pain killer. He'd been a trooper, pushing through another five rounds before finally hitting the proverbial hay.

I rolled off the bed and groaned as I stretched, I looked down at my armor on the floor and whistled sharply, in an instant it crawled up my legs and rested on my back.

Everyone was staring right at me when I left the room, Token and BB grinning, Hex and Shaky blushing, Rawr and Adze snickering quietly, Kimba covering her mouth with a wing to stifle a laugh.

"What?"

"Um, Bandage," Kimba said, straining to hold in laughter, "the walls are kinda thick, but that reed door isn't exactly sound proof..."

I blushed and my ears laid back, the room erupted with laughter, with even Hex chuckling softly. Shaky was the only one in the room besides myself not dying from laughter, instead hiding her face in her forelegs with embarrassment.

Token wiped tears from her eyes and approached me, throwing a foreleg around my neck, "How was he babe? Cuz with all those times you called out his name, I'm figuring pretty damn good."

I sunk my head in chagrin, Beta did the most awesome thing ever, covering me in my armor so my face couldn't be seen.

"Thanks..." I muttered, blinking in confusion when the laughter stopped abruptly. I looked around the room, everyone was still going nuts, Rawr was even holding his ribs.

"I have activated the helmet's mute function." she explained.

"Cool..." I muttered, then blinked when I realized something, "Hey Beta, why haven't we been using this when I shoot Luna's whisper?"

The AI was silent for several moments, before answering in an uncharacteristically animated tone, "Uhh, my bad?"

"It'll be your bad when I go deaf you silly cyber bitch."

I trotted through the room, stepping around my asshole friends and scooping up Shaky before I walked outside into the faint moonlight.

My helmet retracted when I shut the door behind me, "Sorry if you were embarrassed kid."

"Me? Y-you're the one who cried out 'y-yes d-d-deeper! Sweet Celestia d-deeper!' Why the f-fuck would I b-be emb-barrassed?"

I shrugged her off my back and kept walking, "You're sleeping outside with the manticores tonight, no dinner."

"Oh c'mon," she chuckled, galloping up next to me, "I'm just t-teasing Mom."

I sat down and tousled her mane, she grinned up at me and fished a pack of cigarettes from her saddle bags, pulling one out with her teeth, then fumbled a lighter around in her hooves.

I sighed and took it with my magic, lighting her cigarette for her, she took a puff and exhaled the smoke with a long sigh.

"Thanks."

"I really wish you wouldn't smoke."

She shrugged, "Nicotine calms my nerves."

"There are other ways to calm your nerves."

"I've tried Steady b-before, it works a lot b-better, I don't even st-stutter when I'm on it, b-but it's kinda expensive."

"You really shouldn't use chems, especially not Steady, it can cause nerve damage that results in the shakes and jitters."

"So, b-basically the exact f-fucking opposite of what I use it for?"

"Yup."

She took another drag and sighed, "B-bummer."

I frowned and took the pack from her, "Savor that cigarette, it's your last."

"What?!" she whined, "B-but-"

"No buts. I'm weaning you off nicotine."

Shaky pouted, her lower lip trembling, her eyes begging, I scowled and shook my head.

"Y-you suck!" she shouted.

I shrugged, she hugged my leg tightly and looked up at me, her eyes starting to water, "P-please Mom, please."

I pulled away, "Your reaction is proof that you need to quit, you've got a severe nicotine addiction."

She slumped, then sucked down the rest of her cigarette and spit the filter out on the ground, grinding it with her hoof and trudging inside.

I sighed and rubbed my temples with my hooves, "Am I a bitch for doing that Beta?"

"Did you do it with the intent to aggravate her?"

"Of course not."

"Then no, you are not a 'bitch', you are a mare concerned about your child's health."

I nodded and waited until the laughter from inside died down before I trotted back in. I kept my head low and brushed past everyone, tossing my armor aside and flopping into bed next to Stripe when I reached my room.

The zony stirred, just long enough to pull me close to him and mumble tiredly before passing out again.

I smiled and kissed him softly, then pressed my face to his chest and fell asleep.

***

I was woken up by somepony nibbling my ear affectionately.

"Mmm," I mumbled quietly, "good morning..."

"Mornin'," Stripe said quietly, planting a kiss on my forehead, "time t' wake up, ya got shit to do t'day."

"Five more minutes." I grumbled, nestling closer to him.

He shook me a bit, "C'mon an' get up."

I shook my head and buried my face in the thick fur on his chest, "Nooo," I whined, "you're warm! And I'm tired!"

He pulled my head back and gave me a very hard kiss on the lips, I blinked my eyes open and blushed, "'Kay, I'm up."

I looked at him expectantly, he smirked and pushed me out of bed.

"Hey! Not cool!"

He leaned over the bed and smirked down at me, "Go gallivant through some tunnels, I'll see ya when you get back."

I sighed and got up, my armor encasing me, "Fine..." I muttered.

I trudged out of the room, Hex was in the next trying to play chess with a frustrated Shaky.

"Oh g-good," Shaky said, knocking all her pieces over, "we c-can leave and I won't have to p-play this stupid g-g-game anymore."

"You're getting better." Hex muttered, resetting the board while Shaky huffed and folded her forelegs. She glanced up at me and smiled, "Good luck today, be safe."

"Please," I scoffed, "since when are we not safe?"

She chuckled and shook her head, I fished my goggles from my bags and hung them on her horn by the strap.

"Keep an eye on those for me okay?"

"Sure." she said, putting them on and making goofy faces at me. She stopped and looked at Shaky, her mischievous smile on her face yet again. Hex grabbed the other filly by the sides of the head and pulled her in for a surprisingly long kiss, breaking away with a near silent "mwah."

Shaky was silent, staring blankly, not even blushing... Then she melted, smiling dumbly at Hex and blushing a brighter red than I'd ever seen.

Hex giggled and pecked her on the nose, "Bye Shaky."

Shaky said nothing, just continued to smile and stare, I rolled my eyes and dragged her out of the room, "C'mon lover girl."

"B-b-bye Hex." Shaky said when we had already left the hut and closed the door.

"She's inside love, she can't hear you."

"Oh... I knew th-that."

"How is she at kissing?"

"Really g-good." she said, still smiling and blushing.

"Hmmm, might have to try her out myself."

Shaky snapped back to attention and punched me in my armored knee, "B-back off! I've g-g-got dibs."

"Stifle dear, I'm just messing."

Kimba touched down in front of us, "You guys ready to go?"

"Yeah, where's everyone else?"

"At the entrance of the tunnel, it's not too far from town."

"Alright, let's go."

***

“So,” I said for the second time in my life, “anypony else get the feeling we’re all going to die?”

"It certainly appears that way..." Token muttered, looking over the pile of bones just inside the entrance.

"Requiem in pacem fratres..." Kimba muttered, "Let's get this done already."

"Got the explosive charges Adze?"

"Yes'm, got the detonator Rawr?"

The Hellhound grumbled and scratched his dead eye.

"Alright, BB, Kimba and I have point, Token behind us, Shaky stay with Token, Adze and Rawr, watch our backs. Got it?"

They all nodded, were entered cautiously, watching everywhere for glowing eyes and spines.

Kimba spotted something and trotted ahead of us, frowning at a pair of disemboweled zebras cradling each other.

"My cousin and her husband," she explained quietly, "I don't see their foal Shadis anywhere, I doubt he got away but-"

"There's a chance." I said, patting her on the shoulder.

She sighed and shook her head, "Come on, let's just get this done already."

We descended lower in to the cavern, finding more bodies and body parts as we went, still wary, still watching every shadow.

We all halted the instant we heard it, faint whimpering, coming from a heap of corpses.

"Smell anything Rawr?" I whispered.

"Death." he muttered quietly, shouldering his rifle and looking around.

"Right... Stay frosty, I'm moving up."

"Careful babe." Token said when I started carefully trotting forward.

I reached the pile and started shifting bodies away, the whimpering getting louder and louder.

A 2 month old baby zebra was lying at the bottom, curled in the fetal position and crying softly, he turned to look at me, his blue eyes wide and frightened, his right ear was cut in half, a nasty infected scab in its place.

"Kimba, I think I found your cousin's colt."

She stepped in next to me and smiled, scooping him up in her wing and nuzzling his nose, "Hello little one."

"Mind if Shaky takes him outta here? We need you down here with us."

She nodded and set the colt onto Shaky's back reluctantly.

Shaky smiled up at her reassuringly, "D-don't worry Miss Kimb-ba, I'll take c-care of him."

"Just, just be careful on your way out of here, okay?"

"Of course."

"You remember the way back to Hopeville?"

"Sure d-do."

Rawr tapped me and pointed up, there were glowing eyes looking down at us from the ceiling.

"Shaky, move, now."

She was already gone, her hoofsteps echoing from the entrance passage.

"Keep it tight guys, don't let anything past."

A Tunneler landed just in front of me, I reacted quickly, ducking a swipe and charging forward, knocking it on its back. I leapt up to its chest and started hammering on its head, the loud crack of bone sounding out with every blow until finally its skull popped, fluorescent green brain matter spilling out several feet and spraying all over me.

More were in the shadows, but were backing away. I reared up on my hind legs and pounded my chest.

"That's right motherfuckers! You, can't, fucking, han-" Suddenly I couldn't speak, the wind knocked out of me, a cough escaped, splattering the inside of my visor in blood. I looked down, long claws were protruding from my chest, blood spilling out of my armor.

They pulled out, the force spinning me around. I brought up my forelegs to try and block, the insanely sharp claws slicede through them both, even through my PipBuck, cutting each into bits. The longest claw cut through my armor and slit my throat, the index claw dragged across the bridge of my nose.

I fell backwards, gurgling as I tried to scream out in pain, blood spewing from my new stumps as I tried to move my front legs. I couldn't hear anything, probably in shock. I could barely make out the faint sound of what could've been Token screaming, and a light thumping that could've been her heavy zebra rifle.

The 12.7mm rounds slammed into the Tunneler's face, mulching its head in mere seconds, more bullets and energy beams swept over, the rest of the team engaging the rest of the Tunnelers.

My head was elevated, Token's face came into view, she was crying, her mouth was moving but I couldn't hear the words, and my vision was too blurry to read her lips.

I felt something, the sharp stab of needles all over.

"I am sedating you." Beta explained faintly, I nodded, my vision was going black, the blood was nearly to my nostrils inside my helmet.

I let out one last gurgling sigh, the precious remaining oxygen in my lungs uselessly bubbling in the ocean of dark red filling my helmet.

oooOOooo

I felt wrong, there were parts that shouldn't have been their, male genitalia was the first that I noticed, the one right wing was the other.

I was in moderate pain, my entire left side itchy and irritated, except for my eye and wing, which were missing.

I was Thunder Crash, or at least I was somehow living his memory, laying in a hospital bed, bandaged all over, a tube jammed down his throat pumping healing potion into him.

The Twins were at the foot of the bed, explaining something, he was nodding, almost absently though the stallion was trying his best to fight through his pain killers and listen to what they had to say.

"I'm in." he croaked out when they finished, his throat irritated from the tube.

---

"You'll do fine," one of the Twins said in his ear. Crash was armored now, no longer in pain, though shifting nervously, trying to comb his crimson mane over his eye patch, "just be your charming self and we'll get that extra funding."

"Ah dunno," he said in his drawling, raspy voice, "what if she don't support the project cuz Ah'm a, you know-"

A hoof turned his head to the left and a younger Lore came into view, "You're not a cripple, Crash, I've seen you tear a sentry bot in half, cripples don't do that." She ruffled his mane and smiled at him, "Now case up and let's go show you off to the princess."

He nodded, his helmet overtaking his face. The large doors in front of them opened and Data stepped out, a bat pony in armor at each of her sides.

"Shall we Lieutenant?"

Crash gulped and nodded, matching pace with Lore's easy stride and walking through, Data stepping in line with the two of them.

I would've gasped if I could, Luna, the godess of night, speaking to a bat pony guard. Data cleared her throat and the two glanced up, both of their eyes snapping to Thunder Crash, who's heart rate immediately jumped.

"So this is Sleipnir," Luna muttered, "it looks as impressive as its reputation sounds. This is your test pilot?"

"Yes ma'am," the stallion said, snapping into a salute, "former Lieutenant Thunder Crash, honorably discharged from the Shadowbolts for severely debilitating injuries sustained in the line of duty."

"I'm aware of your record Lieutenant," she said, stepping closer and circling the nervous pegasus, "An explosives malfunction correct?"

Crash chuckled, "If ya call mah grenade belt takin' a round from a stripe sniper an explosives malfunction then yeah."

The princess of the night grinned, I could feel the relief pour through the stallion, "Has this armor brought you back to fighting condition?"

"It's put me in better condition than Ah was in before Ah reckon, don't recall ever bein' able to rip robots apart with mah bare hooves before the accident."

"Interesting... How much would it cost you to create a team of soldiers equipped like this?"

"Several billion bits at least." Lore answered.

"Though a blank check would more than suffice." Data finished.

Luna smirked and nodded, "I'll have somepony fill out the necessary paperwork."

---

Thunder Crash stretched his new robotic wing, sitting across from Chryses in the hold of an armored sky carriage. The red buck smiled, "Adjusting well to the new hardware?"

"Not quite like the real thing, but better 'an nothin' Ah reckon."

"I wouldn't know, never had wings before, it's certainly interesting."

"So, what'd ya do before Steel Pony snatched ya up?"

"I was an actor, for a time, then I got a taste for war."

"An' how exactly does an actor get a taste for war?"

"The thrill of the hunt I suppose, going after a zebra that could easily end my life. Unfortunately, the old brain couldn't take it and I formed some rather nasty homicidal bipolar tendencies. They carted me off to High Tower to rot, a mare from the O.I.A offered me a job, I was modified, and here I sit, waiting to be put in a flashy suit of armor that's going to twist my genes like a kitten playing with a ball of yarn."

Crash chuckled, "It ain't so bad, just hurts in ways ya can't imagine for a few seconds an' it's over."

"Hmm, thankfully Steel Pony has gotten me used to pain..."

---

Full vision now, Crash was lying in bed, his bedside lamp on, staring at a picture of a little pink filly with bright blue eyes, smiling and playing in the sun, somepony shifted in bed next to him.

"Still looking at that picture love?" Lore asked, resting her head on his chest.

"Yeah, the light keepin' ya up darlin'?"

"No, my boyfriend looking at a photo like he's the one who pulled the plug in that poor girl is keeping me wide awake though."

He glanced away, she turned his head back and pecked him on the lips, "Crash, don't you think that filly would be happy to know her eye is helping a hero fight to win the war for Equestria?"

The pegasus sighed and stretched his wing, "Ah don't much feel like a hero these days Lore, just a well outfitted murderer that can hide behind a cause."

"Then why keep fighting?"

He chuckled and rested his head against the back board, "Cuz it's the only thing Ah do well darlin'."

The earth pony climbed on top of him, smiling seductively, "I know one other thing you're good at Crash..."

He smiled and kissed her, then frowned, "When can we tell everypony that we're, ya know, datin' an' shit."

She sighed and laid down on him, "I don't know darling, maybe when this stupid war is over, or when I think Data is ready to hear that kind of news."

"...'Kay."

"I'm not ashamed of you or anything Crash, it's just that she wouldn't take it very well is all."

"Ah know... It's just, Ah don't like sneakin' around like this, don't feel right."

"I know, just bare with it a little longer, alright?"

He nodded and smiled at her, "Ah love you Lore."

She smiled back and kissed his nose, "I love you too Thunder Crash."

---

Walking through a house, yelling from the next room, loud yelling, Crash kicked in the door, tearing the top hinge off and denting the door. An older pegasus was in the room, screaming at Dart who was screaming right back. Eclipse was on the bed, hiding behind a pillow.

Crash spun his father around and got up in his face, "Ya got no fuckin' business yellin' at her like that you old fucker!" he shouted, loudly and firmly.

"An' you got no fuckin' bidness raisin' yer voice to me in mah home ya fuckin' cripple!"

Crash picked him up and slammed him to the floor, denting the hardwood, "YOU DON'T FUCKING CALL ME THAT YOU WRINKLED SON OF A BITCH!!!"

"Crash," Dart said softly, putting a hoof on her brother's shoulder, "calm down please."

He nodded, letting his father up and shoving him out of the room, his mother following him out, and slamming the splintered door shut behind them.

"Ya'll okay?"

Dart smiled, "Yeah, thanks. Didn't think you approved."

"Ah can't necessarily say Ah do sis, but it ain't exactly mah business so Ah ain't gonna oppose it neither."

She approached and hugged him tight, "Thanks big brother."

---

"Crash?" Lore asked softly, he was at his desk, looking at a photo of Dart, a half empty bottle of Wild Pegasus whiskey next to it.

He sighed and turned, "Yeah sugar?"

"We just got word that- that Cloudsdayle was hit with a balefire missile..."

The pegasus nodded solemnly and turned back to his desk, he passed her the picture of Dart, "Ya may want t' leave the room."

"Of course."

The door closed, Crash sighed and chugged the rest of the whiskey, then threw it at the far wall.

He screamed out in anguish and slammed his forehooves on the desk, splitting it in half and chucking both pieces across the room, splintering them on the wall, then he destroyed everything else in the room, only stopping when he saw the small picture of the pink filly.

He sat hard, panting, crying, and picked up the picture, running a hoof carefully over the surface, he tucked it under a strap his armor had formed and walked out of his quarters.

"You alright sir?" the gruff synthetic voice of a buck said.

"No Alpha, Ah'm pretty fuckin' far from alright."

"Crash," Lore said as he turned the corner, several pegasi in black trench coats were waiting at the teleporter entrance, "this lot is here to speak with you."

"Lieutenant," one of the mares in front said, "the Pegasus Enclave has a proposition for you."

oooOOooo

I was in pain, immense pain, and I was drowning, a thick viscous fluid filling my lungs. I could see, just barely, the glass of the tube I was in was polarized, there were figures through the glass, watching me.

oooOOooo

The lack of testicles certainly made this next set of memories more comfortable, the wings were still there though, and judging from the camera in front of me and the white mane in my face, I was Dart.

"I dunno Crash," she said in her very soft voice, "I'm a photographer, and a model, what good would I do in a fancy suit of armor?"

"Yer a damn good flyer sis, need someone with those kinda skills."

"I'm sure you could find someone better suited."

"Ah also want somepony Ah can trust."

"Get one of your Shadowbolt buddies to help you out."

"...Eclipse is in the program too, Ah'm sure she wouldn't mind havin' you along."

Dart paused and scowled at him, "That's a dirty trick."

"Ah'm serious, took her in last month as our sniper, she's got the best marks of any sharpshooter the army's ever had."

She sighed and looked back to her camera, "Fine, I'm in."

---

"So," Dart said, slight anger evident in her voice, "me, your best friend since we were five, asks you for a date for years, and gets nothing, he, some asshole psycopath you just met last year asks you for sex, and you fuck him right away?"

"Dart, it's not like that, he's-"

"I don't care what he is..." she said quietly, trotting out of the room and into her quarters, locking the door and curling into a ball to cry.

"Hey sugar," a drawling synthetic mare said, Dart's armor crawling over and encasing her, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing, just that the mare I love is never going to return the sentiment..."

"Oh hush, there's still hope, just give her time, she'll come around."

"I don't know Gam, I've already waited so long..."

---

Kissing an ancestor was an odd sensation, but it was just a memory, and given the circumstance it was kind of cute to witness. Eclipse pulled away, blushing, Dart smiled at her lazily, her head swimming.

"I've waited way too long for that."

Eclipse chuckled and rested her forehead on Dart's, "Yeah, it wasn't so bad I guess, don't think you have me won just yet though miss Dart."

"Not won, but definitely a lot closer to my goal than I've ever been..."

---

Her face was flushed, she was shifting from side to side, Eclipse was smirking at her with an eyebrow cocked.

"Are you trying to ask me out on a date Dart?"

"Um, yes."

"Sure, why not."

Dart deflated, "Oh, okay then, I'll just-"

"Hey goofball, I said yes."

Dart brightened again, peeking eagerly through her bangs, "Really!?"

"Yes, really, pick me up at nineteen hundred hours, sharp."

"Yes ma'am!" Dart said, smiling and saluting.

---

Dart felt sick, drooping, tired, only a few strands of her mane were left to hang over her face, Eclipse was hugging her tight, crying, Dart was just smiling, trying to soothe her.

"You can't leave leave me," the unicorn sobbed, "I love you."

"I love you too," Dart said weakly, "and believe me, I don't want to go, but it's my time."

"How long?"

"A few weeks."

Eclipse nodded and pressed her face to the dying pegasus' chest, "I'll be there when you go, I promise."

oooOOooo

I was awake again, still in a lot of pain but now I could see a bit better, the glass no longer polarized, and the fluid flowing through my lungs felt more natural. I glanced down, my forelegs were being rebuilt, the muscle between the massive gashes knitting back together. My chest was open too, the flesh bulging out of the wounds and twisting back into shape.

Lore waved at me through the glass and mouthed out something, the only thing I recognized was "pain", I nodded, she smiled sympathetically and pressed a button.

oooOOooo

I felt natural, like I was in my own body, a unicorn mare, whipping golden mane out of her face. Eclipse. Crash was sitting across from her, sipping coffee.

"So," she said, in a voice only slightly different than mine, "this suit latches onto me, bonds with my nervous system, and then augments my muscle structure?"

"Basically, the Twins could probably give ya a better rundown than mah stupid ass."

She nodded, thinking while she sipped her latte, "Okay, I'm in."

---

In pain, lots of pain from below, my host was screaming, writhing, pushing with all her might, until finally something came loose. She slumped in exhaustion, but smiled when a foal started crying.

"It's a filly," Crash said, proudly passing a tiny, wrapped up Red Dawn to eclipse, "good work Momma."

"Thanks mate." she panted, affectionately brushing the new born's short wet mane away.

"What are you going to name her?" Dart asked next to her.

"Hmmm, well, I'm an astronomer, and she's red, how about... Red Dawn?"

"Why the hell not." Crash said with a chuckle.

"Sounds great." Dart said, patting Eclipse's lap.

---

Out in a field, standing above a blushing Dart, who was lying on her back. A crown of wild flowers sat on her head, and her mane was spread around her face, glowing like a halo when the sun hit it.

"I love you." Dart said quietly, Eclipse leaned down and kissed her very tenderly.

"I love you too."

---

Standing in the back of an armored sky carriage with the rest of the team, her suit sealed, a respirator breathing loudly. They were high, upper atmosphere high, looking down at a speck of a battlefield below.

"This is crazy!" she yelled.

"This is a HALO jump!" Crash shouted back, "I did these all the time in the Shadowbolts!"

"You had wings!"

"Oh, guess I did, oh well."

Eclipse screamed as somepony pushed her, flailing wildly while she fell, Crash latched onto her just before she hit the ground and glided them both 'safely' into a bunker full of zebras.

Crash charged ahead first, knocking enemies away left and right, crushing skulls with kicks.

Eclipse pulled two assault carbines from her back and rested them on her sides, spraying all over the room, dropping targets as more and more poured out of the the tunnels below.

The halted, Crash was shaking crushed bullets off his armor, Eclipse was letting her rifles cool down, steam pouring off the barrels.

"Easy peasy." she muttered, fresh mags loading into the carbines.

"Lemon squeezy." he finished, snapping the neck of a still breathing zebra.

---

Eclipse was holding Dart's hoof, crying, wincing every time the heart monitor beeped, Dart was smiling tiredly on her hospital bed.

"I love you, Eclipse." she said weakly.

"I love you too baby." Eclipse choked out.

Dart smiled one last time, her eyes brightening for just a moment, then she sighed and closed them, her hoof going limp as a loud tone rang out.

Eclipse hung her head and sobbed, Crash screamed and pulled the machine from the wall, then chucked it out the window.

"Goodbye Dart." she whispered quietly.

oooOOooo

Footnote: Level Up!
Challenge Perk: Tunneler anatomy: Turns out getting them in the head works pretty well! Headshots do +10% more damage to Tunnelers, regardless of weapon type used.

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Still some slight pain, but it was bearable. The pod was dark again. I looked down at my forelegs, they were healed, with 4 scars going the circumference on both, my PipBuck was gone, most likely destroyed, its absence made my leg feel odd for some reason.

My chest was healed too, small but nasty scars in place of wounds, and a tiny plastic IV was jabbed through my tummy, feeding tube, wonderful. I looked at my reflection in the polarized glass. A long scar over my throat, another over the bridge of my nose. I sighed, an especially strange sensation when breathing a liquid.

"Glad to see you're awake Bandage," Beta said in my ear, "to answer some obvious questions, you are in a restoration chamber, breathing a liquid oxygen solution while powerful healing magic works to restore your body. You have been kept heavily sedated, and in times of intense pain you have been subjected to memory orbs."

I cocked an eyebrow at the mention of liquid oxygen, "The holes in your lungs and your sliced trachea made it impossible for you to breathe air, by putting you in a continuous fluid substance, you were allowed to breathe unhindered by your injures.Would you like me to remove the tinting on the pod so the others my speak with you?"

I tried to reply, but couldn't, instead I nodded. Things got bright in a hurry, once my eyes adjusted I noticed Stripe and Token curled up in front of the pod, Shaky and Hex sleeping between them. I smiled and tapped the glass, Token's ears perked up and she stirred, smiling when she saw me waving.

"Good morning love." she said, I cocked an eyebrow in confusion.

"I am receiving what she says and transmitting it to your ear pieces." Beta explained.

I nodded my understanding and smiled at her.

"Are you in much pain?" she asked, looking me over with concern.

I shook my head and held my forehooves a few millimeters apart, she frowned when she saw the scars.

"Want me to get Lore? She can put you under again."

I shook my head, then pointed at myself, tapped my chest and pointed at her. Token looked confused for a moment, then smiled understandingly, "I love you too babe."

I pressed my lips up to the glass, she rolled her eyes but did the same. I grinned and pointed at her crotch then tapped the glass, then tapped my muzzle.

She grinned and looked behind her at the others, then nodded and pressed herself up against the pod. I swam down and started licking the glass, she started giggling, but did me a favor and let out some fake moans. I swam back up and licked my lips, she smiled and pressed her forehead to the glass.

"You're such a nerd Bandage."

I matched the gesture, pressing my head to hers, then I mouthed "how long?"

"You've been in there a few days, Lore said you'd be ready to be let out in another four days."

I frowned but nodded, Shaky stirred behind her and trotted up to the pod tiredly, then pressed her head to the glass, "Hi Momma."

I swam down to her level and kissed the glass, mouthing "I love you."

She smiled sleepily and nuzzled the glass, "I love you t-too Mom."

Hex woke up next, throwing a foreleg around Shaky's neck and waving at me, "Morning Bandage, I kept your goggles safe for you," she tapped the red lenses on her forehead, "see?"

I smiled and nodded, tapping my horn.

"No problem." she said, understanding instantly.

***

Stripe woke up hours later after everyone had left the room for lunch, I smiled and blew a kiss at him, he smiled back and approached the pod, pressing his forehead and a forehoof to the glass. I matched the gesture.

"Hey boss, how ya feelin'?"

I nodded.

"That's good... I told ya you should've let me go too..."

I thumped the glass and scowled, he sighed but nodded, "I know I know, it's just, when Blue came in cryin', covered in blood, an' told me what happened... I feel helpless when I can't protect you guys, know what I mean?"

I nodded sympathetically, then grinned and pointed at his face and my new scar. He chuckled, "Yeah, that's a nice one... The set makes ya look pretty sexy."

I smiled coyly and batted my eyelashes at him, he rolled his eyes.

I started chuckling silently, both our eyes widened when blood started mixing with the fluid I was exhaling.

"I'll go get Lore." he said frantically, limping as fast as he could out of the room.

***

"Nothing to worry about." Lore said, looking over my vitals on a terminal, "Just some residual bleeding from one of the lung punctures, you agitated it a bit when you laughed. Try to keep yourself from doing that, this machine works miracles but your wounds are still pretty sensitive."

I nodded, frowning glumly, she smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry, just about four more days and you'll be right as rain."

I nodded again, then tapped my left foreleg, Lore snorted, "That StableTec hunk of scrap you wore on your leg? Destroyed, doesn't matter, the armor has all the same systems, better even."

I frowned more, all MYSTIKZ' dubtrot music had been in my PipBuck.

"I did copy the files from the storage unit, all the navigational data that it had recorded, as well as several dozen songs which are now ready in the suit's playback logs whenever you want to hear them."

I grinned wide and smacked my hooves together, taking off an ear piece and smooching it over and over.

"My pleasure Bandage."

"Um, Bandage? I know you saw some of Crash's memories, I'd like to ask if you could keep he and I's relationship a secret?"

I nodded, moving a hoof over my lips and tossing away an imaginary key.

"Thanks. I never told Data, wouldn't want it to hurt her feelings."

***

Four days went by routinely, the gang would gather round the pod and keep me entertained in various ways. Kimba and Token would chat while passing a wobbly legged Shadis between them, Rawr and Adze would do their best to out cheat one another at a card game called 'Caravan', BB and I would shamelessly watch each other masturbate, and in the evening Shaky would sit down next to Hex between Stripe's forelegs and read me a chapter from the Daring Do book while Shadis sat on Stripe's head and gnawed on his ear studs.

The week passed, my feeding tube was pulled, the liquid oxygen was drained out, including the stuff I had to cough out of my lungs, and the pod opened, allowing me to stumble out into the warm embrace of a towel so the Twins could clean the gunk off me.

I tried to talk, freaking out when I couldn't, Data rolled her eyes and smacked me hard on the back, making me cough up a final mass of liquid.

"Oh." I muttered, smiling sheepishly.

Token mauled me as soon as I was dry, smothering me with kisses and nuzzles and hugs, I tried to keep up with her enthusiasm, but apparently she was craving me pretty bad that whole week.

"Oh! I've missed your scent and your feel and- I've just bloody missed you!" she yelled, "You know that's the longest we've been apart since we met right?"

"I'm aware darling, and I've missed you too, but you're starting to worry me a bit."

"Me worry you?!" she shouted, glaring at me, "I should thump you for getting torn up so badly!"

BB came up behind her and pulled her away, "C'mon silly filly, let's give the gal some time t' adjust t' breathin' air before we thump 'er."

Stripe walked up, actually walking normally since his injuries had healed during my time in the tube. He kissed me, I kissed back, hugging around his neck, "You see, why couldn't Token given me this sort of calm, sweet welcome?"

"Figure she loves ya a helluva lot more than I do boss."

"Mmm, probably." I kissed him on the cheek and looked him over, "How are your wounds?"

He shrugged, "Little sore, but I can shrug it off without medicine now, might even be able to go a few rounds in the sack without tearin' up."

"I should certainly hope so."

He chuckled and helped me to my hooves, "C'mon, girls probably wanna seeya."

I nodded and looked at the Twins for approval.

"You're free to go," Lore said, "but I recommend you stay here and rest a few more days."

"No strenuous activity," Data ordered, "we don't want to have to piece you back together again."

"Don't worry about it." I said with a grin before following Stripe.

The girls had apparently missed me, the instant I turned the corner Shaky leapt at me, giving me just enough time to sit and extend my forelegs. Hex limped after her and crawled up into the hug, I grinned and nuzzled them both.

"Good to have you back Bandage." Hex said, nuzzling me back affectionately.

Shaky punched my chest softly and scowled up at me, "You're n-not allowed to g-get hurt that b-b-bad anymore, stupid m-mare."

"I'm sorry sweetie, I didn't mean to get sucker punched by a Tunneler."

"No excuses," she muttered, clambering down, "c'mon Hex, let's go p-play or some sh-shit..."

Hex nodded and hopped down, grunting when she landed. The two trotted off down the hallway.

"'Play or some shit'..." Stripe muttered, "The fuck do you suppose the some shit portion of that is?"

"Hmmm, cunnilingus maybe?"

He chuckled and shoved me slightly, "That's fuckin' sick."

I bumped his flank with mine, "I'm surprised you even know what that means."

"One, it's a sexual term, and I know all sexual terms. Two, I've got more books than you've ever seen, remember? I'm a fuckin' walkin' dictionary."

I threw a foreleg around his neck and poked his chest with a hoof, "And yet your basic vocabulary is simple and brutish."

He grinned and pressed his nose to mine, "It's a key piece of my rustic charm."

I pulled away, smiling teasingly and scratching under his chin with a hoof, "Is that what you call it, rustic?"

"Mmhmm," he mumbled quietly, putting his nose to mine again, "wanna see another piece of me that's even more rustic?"

"Mister Stripe," I said quietly, blushing slightly, "if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're trying to seduce me."

His emerald eyes went very soft and locked with mine, "Maybe I am, s'pose it depends on whether or not it's workin'."

I kissed him, biting his bottom lip gently when I broke away, "It is... But, I think we might want to wait a bit, I'm pretty sore."

He nodded and kissed me softly, "'Kay... lemme know."

I giggled and kissed him again, "You'll be the first to know when I'm in the mood for stallion, promise."

He chuckled and nuzzled my cheek, "Thanks. I'm gonna go chill with Kimba for awhile."

"Alright, have fun."

He snorted, "Yeah, havin' long conversations in zebra, it'll be nice to knock the dust off that particular dialect."

"You speak zebra?"

He shrugged, "Ego commaculare."

"No idea what you just said."

"Vere? Ego figuratur te ita didicit in in pulchrius puncta aliena lingua."

I stared at him blankly, he chuckled and brushed against me affectionately before trotting into Crash's room, scooping Shadis up onto his head, Kimba waved at me before the door closed again.

I strolled through the corridors, checking on the rest of the team. Rawr and Adze were in Chryses' room, they had a table set up and were playing a low stakes game of Caravan. Dart's room was empty, but Beta informed me that the girls had taken it over, and that they were in the "SkyNaut" hanger, playing hide and seek. Token and BB were waiting for me in Eclipse's room, lying tangled with each other, smiling at me seductively.

I chuckled and shook my head, "Sorry girls, the Twins told me very strictly to avoid strenuous activity."

"Don't worry darling, we'll be gentle, won't we BB?"

"Mmhmm, real, real gentle..."

I rolled my eyes and glanced down, considering the offer, "While I highly doubt that, I suppose a little mare climbing will do me some good..."

"That's the spirit!" Token said brightly, "BB, fetch her."

"Yes'm." the pegasus said, climbing out of bed and pulling me in next to Token.

My mare wrapped her hooves around me, giving me a very long kiss. BB eased in behind me, kissing up my spine and sucking on my ear, her forehoof worked around my side and started rubbing between my thighs. I moaned into Token's mouth, she broke away with a smile and sat us all up, her hoof went between my thighs, BB's moved up to hold my midsection, Token started nibbling my ear, BB eased up and started licking at my horn with her electrically charged tongue.

I moaned softly as an odd sensation went through me, an electric tingle, going from the tip of my horn, spreading through my skull, resonating down my spine, and ending in a very nice, very tender place.

The two continued their work diligently, I closed my eyes and sighed lazily, occasionally groaning when a jolt went full circle. I was turned, my back pressing against BB, I heard Token giggle just before something was placed over my eyes and tied behind my head.

***

I yawned, warm, sticky and satisfied under two softly snoring mares. I glanced to the side at Token, giggling and wiping away a small stream of dribble from her mouth with my hoof before planting a kiss on her muzzle.

I wriggled out of the pile, somewhat reluctantly, the two filled the space in their sleep, snuggling close to each other.

I stepped out into the hall, making my way for the shower room, grinning dumbly at naughty thoughts of the old Sleipnir team having group showers back in the day, I'd need to look through some memory orbs... I stopped just outside Dart's room, somepony inside was making noises, I opened the door and craned my head in, instantly going bright red.

Hex was at the desk, panting softly as her forehooves moved between her thighs, blushing with arousal as she looked over the dirty pictures of Dart sitting on the desk.

I shouldn't have said anything, I should've gone back into the hall and left the filly to her business, instead, my dumbstruck and half asleep brain sent the "what the fuck" signal to my vocal cords, resulting in a painfully loud, "Uhhh."

She stopped, looking up with an expression crossed between terror and embarrassment, she glanced back at me slowly, her one visible violet eye going wide. In an instant a picture frame impacted the wall next to me, I yelped and ducked my head back into the hall.

"What the fuck Bandage?!" she shouted, her tone reaching the same octave of Shaky's normal speaking voice.

"Sorry!"

I heard the sound of filly head hitting oak desk, something I'd grown accustomed to in 80 from the nigh hundreds of times Mum had walked in on me, "I'm so fucking embarrassed!"

"I know, I'm so sorry!!"

"You're sorry?! I'm the one that just got caught touching myself!!!"

I looked down in chagrin, glad I was out of the room, but my ears perked up as a thought hit me, "Hey Hex, how old are you?"

"...Twelve," she said warily, "why?"

I chuckled and shook my head, "I was nine the first time I got caught masturbating."

"...Nine? You're joking."

"Nope, dead serious, ask Token."

I caught the faint sound of her giggling and sighed to myself with slight relief, "What were you doing that for at nine years old?"

"Our stable put a lot of growth hormones in the food so we'd reach sexual maturity faster, in case anything bad happened to a large portion of the breeding population. I hit estrus for the first time a few days after my ninth birthday and decided to, you know, relieve myself..."

"Oh my gosh." the filly snickered out.

"Anyway, my mum trotted in and, well, you can probably fill in the rest on your own..."

She laughed, probably dying considering it was as loud as Shaky's normal laugh, I chuckled along with her, covering my eyes with a hoof from embarrassment.

"Thanks Bandage," she said once the laughter had died down, "just uh, knock first before trotting in, okay?"

"Okay... hey Hex?"

"Yeah?"

I smirked slightly, "There's more of those dirty pictures in the desk drawer..."

No response, but after a few moments the door was closed by a yellow magic field. I chuckled again and walked down the hallway, Shaky was walking towards me, I got frantic for a moment but smiled brightly.

"Heya Shakes, whatcha up to?"

She cocked an eyebrow at me curiously, "G-goin' to my room t-to see Hex, why?"

"No you're not!" I said, still trying to sound cheery as I wheeled her around, "We haven't done anything together in a week, let's go bond or some shit!"

"'Kay," she said, confused, "c-can Hex come?"

"She's trying to love, that's why we're going somewhere else."

"Huh?"

"Nothing..."

***

Not the shared shower I was having fantasies of, but still nice. I was sitting under the warm spray of water, humming a tune about something called "winter wrap-up" I'd learned from my dad while I scrubbed shampoo in Shaky's surprisingly dirty mane.

"How does your mane even get this messy?"

"I c-can w-wash my own mane d-d-dammit..." she grumbled.

"Apparently not, cuz this is filthy."

I pushed her head into the stream and rinsed all the now filthy shampoo out, then levitated a bar of soap on a rope around her neck.

"Now, go to the next shower head over and soap yourself down."

She shrugged and trotted over to it, smacking the button to turn on the water, "I'm surp-prised you're not g-gonna do it for m-m-me."

"Me rubbing you down with suds would be weird, I'm horny and covered in sex juices."

"Eww."

"Hey, one day you'll be lying on the floor, covered in the Hex's juices and probably the juices of several other mares you don't know, and you'll think 'huh, guess Mum wasn't so gross after all.'"

"You're the most d-disgusting p-p-pony I've ever met, p-please stop t-talking."

"I dunno," Stripe said, his heavy hoofsteps echoing over the sound of the water, I could just make out his silhouette through the thick veil of steam, "I kinda like how repugnant she is."

I chuckled and closed my eyes, sighing as the warm water washed over my scarred and filthy coat, the soreness from my injuries and the grime from the pod washing away.
I smiled when I felt my stallion wrap his forelegs around me from behind, giggling as he kissed up my neck, "Hey." he said quietly, resting his head on my shoulder.

"Hey," I replied, glancing over and kissing his cheek, "you know, one more stallion and one more mare and we'd have the kind of group shower I was thinking of earlier."

"Really now? Hmm, too bad we ain't got another stallion in our little crew, though, I s'pose I could handle the workload of two..."

I chuckled and reached a hoof down between his back legs, "I don't doubt it stud, but without another stallion you won't have a big, strong hoof stroking your-"

"Guys!" Shaky shouted, "I'm r-right here!"

We both looked over at her and snorted, "Oh yeah..." I muttered, "Earmuffs sweetie, and you also might want to look away."

She stared at us flatly, a distasteful frown on her face, I sighed and shrugged Stripe away, "Fine, no sexy talk in the shower, happy?"

She nodded curtly and went back to washing herself. I looked over to Stripe apologetically, he shrugged and started washing himself.

"Hey," I said, bumping him out of the water we were sharing, "plenty of showers, go get your own."

The zony pouted and leaned up to me, I chuckled and gave him a long kiss, "Better?"

"A little," he said glumly, "guess I'll go over here and be lonely..."

"Oh hush." I said, grabbing the sides of his head and pulling him into an even longer kiss, scratching behind his ear with a hoof when I broke away, "Now, go bathe."

"Yes'm." he said with a loving smile, giving me one last quick kiss before trotting over to his own nozzle.

He sighed loudly when the rush hit him, "Fuck that feels good..."

I nodded, picking up humming my tune where I'd left off, relaxing considerably as I scrubbed the grime off myself. I glanced over as another set of hoofsteps hit the tile, letting out an impressed whistle when Kimba trotted through the steam. She smirked and rolled her eyes, activating a nozzle across the room from me, jumping slightly when the water turned on.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"No," she said, curiously looking over the shower head, "just never had an actual shower before."

I grinned mischievously when she looked away from me and started washing herself. I approached her from behind, she jumped again when my hooves touched her back.

"Goodness me," I said with obviously faked innocence, "you're so tense, let me help."

She gulped, but sighed loudly when I started working my hooves in small circles on her back, she really was tense. I found several spots where her already tight muscles were knotted up, especially around the wing joints on her back.

"I'm guessing you do a lot of strenuous flying without stretching before and after?"

"Yeah," she grunted, I smirked when I noticed the strain in her voice, poor thing was resisting some mild euphoric sensations, "how can you tell?"

I snorted, "You've got knots in your muscles the size of my hoof. I'm surprised you're not in constant pain."

"Guess I should start stretching or something..."

"That would be best, anywhere else you're feeling tension? Might as well sort you out right now."

She coughed awkwardly, "My haunches, but I don't think I'm comfortable with you down there..."

"Kimba, I'm in doctor mode right now, and though you have a fantastic ass, I'm more focused on helping you relieve the tension so you'll be more comfortable. Now, are you going to let me help or not?"

She sighed, but nodded and laid down. I went to work on her haunches, doing my best to ignore how good those taut muscles felt under my hooves. They weren't nearly as bad as her back, I had all the knots worked out in a minute or so.

"All done, feel better?"

"Much..." she mumbled quietly.

I leaned down and kissed one of her glyphs, she jumped again and glared back at me, "What? That's my seal of approval, you're in excellent health."

She snorted and stood up, pushing me away before going back to washing herself. I chuckled and whipped her flank with my tail as I trotted back across the room.

Hex trotted in next, still blushing slightly, a satisfied little grin on her face. She limped over to a shower away from everyone, Kimba snorted and approached her.

"Come here kid, I'm sick of seeing you walk that way."

Hex recoiled a bit, Kimba snatched her and reached under her bad leg, her hoof very close to an inappropriate area, Hex blushed more and her face twisted into a frightened look, my eyes widened and "uh oh" rang through my mind.

"Kimba," I said, "you may not want to-"

"Hush." Kimba said strictly. She jerked her hoof, Hex yelped and scrambled away from her as a loud pop echoed through the shower room.

"You alright?" Kimba asked.

Hex curled into a ball and shook her head, tears starting to flow, Kimba reached down to her and she screamed, "DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!!!"

"Everypony out." I ordered, Stripe nodded and pushed Kimba out of the room, who was still looking over the distressed filly with concern.

"Shaky." I said, motioning her over. She nodded and galloped to Hex's side, pulling the other filly into a hug and rocking her softly.

"It's okay Hex, she w-wasn't t-trying to... you know, d-do that."

"I know," Hex sobbed, "but, she touched me there and I just, I just- it all came back Shaky, it all came back..."

Shaky nodded sympathetically and stroked her mane, trying to hush her.

"I'll leave you guys alone for awhile, let me know if you need anything alright?"

"Yeah, thanks."

***

Hex and Shaky walked out half an hour later, Hex was smiling sadly, occasionally looking back at her now fixed leg.

"I can walk normal now." she said quietly.

I smiled and tousled her mane, "That you can, maybe we can go down to the VR room and let you run."

She grinned, then stretched her leg and bolted past both of us.

Keeping up with Hex was actually proving difficult, the filly was eager to test her new running abilities, really the only time we were able to pass her was when she lost balance and fell on her face, and then Shaky was instantly at her side to help her back up.

They raced the last several yards to Dart's room, Hex won, easily, rolling when she skidded to a stop, Shaky barrelling into her and both of them giggling when they slid across the metal floor tangled with each other.

I scooped them up and tossed them onto the bed, climbing up after them and flopping down on the mattress.

They mauled me, biting my ears playfully and tugging, pulling on my neck, pushing my head down. I was too tired to do anything about it, but thankfully they got bored after a bit and just curled up next to me.

"You're boring Bandage." Hex huffed.

"Yeah Mom, you s-suck."

I smirked and kissed her on the forehead, "Only Stripe, but yeah, guess I do."

"And you j-just kissed m-me eww!" she exclaimed, frantically trying to push away from me. I rolled over on top of her and planted kiss after kiss on her forehead, she squealed and tried to wriggle out from under me. "You're t-too fat! G-get off!"

"You'd think you would've learned the first time around that calling me fat does not place you in the realm of my good graces."

Hex chuckled quietly and pushed me off, collapsing on top of Shaky and dangling her mane in Shaky's face, "I'm not fat am I?"

"No." Shaky huffed, pouting in defeat.

I smiled, watching Hex tease Shaky with her mane was cute beyond belief. My ear pieces buzzed, Beta said BB was patching through.

"What's up BB?"

"Hey Bandage, ya wanna see somethin' cool?"

***

"Fuckin' a..." I muttered, looking over the beast of a sky carriage sitting in front of us.

"Eeya," BB said, clicking her tongue on the roof of her mouth, "this thing looks like an Enclave gunship ripped off its ass on Buck."

"Ah the SkyNaut heavy dropship," Data said, walking up it and patting it affectionately, "one of my favorite inventions..."

BB hovered up next to her and crawled under it, "Gimme some specs Momma, what's 'is little lady packin'."

"Four inch thick stubbornite armor, reinforced with heavy kevlar plating, armed with a fully automatic 30mm turret mounted in the rear cargo door and two front mounted heavy plasma cannons in the cockpit, supported by targeting talismans. The spark battery has been replaced with a centrifugal force magnetic engine, far more stable, infinitely more efficient, the engine itself is protected by a six inch thick stubbornite undercarriage. The repair system is composed of eighteen individual repair talismans of the highest quality. All of this is backed up by several dumb VI custodians that keep the systems squeaky fucking clean."

"Only three ever made, two of them went to Phoenix Island for the purpose of defense, one was kept with Sleipnir and used as the team's personal dropship for several years and countless missions."

"An' what d'ya call this bad bitch?"

"Dart always called her Pearl."

I snorted, "Pretty name."

"Indeed," Data said dryly, "ironic considering I didn't build her to do pretty things."

"Can't wait t' fly her." BB said, jumping slightly.

"You're gonna have to," I said, giving her an apologetic slap on the back, "we've got to stay grounded so Token's PipBuck can pick up all the nav data."

BB's ears laid back and she pouted, "Can Ah at least paint the decal Ah wanted."

"Sure."

***

When we returned to the barracks hallway things had changed, rooms had been added, name plates above the existing ones had been changed. Everyone had their own room now, except for the girls who were still sharing Dart's old quarters.

"Wow." I muttered.

"Ah the wonders of nanosprites." Lore said brightly, stepping out of Kimba's room with Shadis curled up asleep on her back, drooling on her lab coat, "Enjoy your new digs folks."

I nodded and yawned, Stripe brushed against me and nuzzled my neck, "Wanna crash at my place tonight?"

I slumped against him, "That sounds lovely."

He nodded and walked me into his room, taking me over to his queen sized bed. I flopped down, my eyes heavy, it wasn't full of deadly combat and monsters, but the day had been a long one. Stripe eased in next to me, kissing my neck tenderly.

"I suppose I owe you some sex, eh big guy?"

"You don't owe me anything," he said quietly, kissing just under my ear, "you can sleep if ya want."

"You sure?"

He held my head and looked me in the eyes, "Bandage, I love you, I don't care about the sex, don't get me wrong, it's fantastic, but I don't need it, and I don't want you to feel pressured into givin' it. So if you wanna sleep, sleep, an' I'll seeya in the mornin'."

I teared up slightly and smiled at him, planting a sloppy one on his kisser, "You are, hooves down, the biggest sweetheart in the Wasteland."

He chuckled and sat up, I sighed as his hooves started massaging my back, and slowly I drifted into sleep.

***

He woke me up at 6:50 with a kiss under the ear, I forced myself out of the warmth of his bed and to the girls' room with breakfast the food synthesizer in the mess hall had made. No meat, to my dismay, not even eggs, just fruits, vegetables and cereal.

I couldn't help but smile when I opened the door, the two were curled up tightly, Hex resting her head on Shaky's shoulder and Shaky with her face pressed to Hex's chest. I sat them up with my magic, sat down at the edge of their bed, and set the tray of food next to them.

They grumbled and rubbed the sleep out of their eyes, I smiled brightly and tousled their manes, "Good morning sleepy heads."

"Morning, is it seven already?"

"Seven ten, I let you sleep in cuz I'm a benevolent bitch like that, eat your breakfast and we'll go have a run."

Hex nodded, biting into an apple, not caring that juice was dribbling down the sides of her mouth.

"Busy night last night?" I asked, smirking at them.

"You're a sick mare." Shaky grumbled before burying her muzzle in a bowl of cereal.

"You're the one with your mind in the gutter, I just thought you'd stayed up playing all night."

She chuckled and rested her head on my chest tiredly, nestling against my fur, I winced when her head started putting pressure on my still tender scars, but let her stay, missing the feel of her sleeping next to me. She was snoring a few moments later, slumping against me.

"Goddesses," I said, hugging her tightly before gently easing her head back to her pillow, "Hex must've plum worn you out."

Hex giggled and finished off her apple, then hopped out of bed and stretched, "Let's go run."

I nodded, Beta buzzed "One moment." in my ear and a few seconds later the floor opened up.

Hex took off immediately, running around the massive room with a huge grin slapped on her face, panels started glowing, the filly halted when pillars started appearing in her path.

"Beta?"

"I thought she would enjoy an obstacle course."

Hex let out a squee and started bobbing and weaving through the pillars, jumping on top of the short ones and hopping from one to the next.

I smirked as I watched her go, and go she did, for more than an hour without a break, she pouted when the room shut down, all the pillars disappearing, I motioned her over and brushed her sweat drenched mane out of her face.

"Fun?"

She nodded, panting, "Really fun."

"Tired?"

She smirked, "Not at all."

"Good, let's go get you a shower."

***

Hex shivered once her shower was over, I nodded and wrapped her up in a towel. She fell right back to sleep the instant I set her on her bed next to Shaky.

I trotted down the hall and knocked on Stripe's door, motioning for him to follow when he opened it, tickling his face with my tail as we went, he grinned and nipped at it.

He grinned wider when we reached the shower room, I smacked a button, sighing loudly when the warm water hit me, smiling through the gaps in my wet mane. He approached, one hoof sliding down to my hips, the other brushing the mane out of my eyes and pushing my goggles up to my forehead.

"Hey." he said quietly.

"Hey."

"I believe last time we left off you was tellin' me 'bout some big strong stallion strokin' somethin' of mine?"

"Mmm, sounds about right, probably wouldn't be something you'd be interested in though."

He shrugged, I smirked and pressed my nose to his, "And what does that shrug mean hmm?"

His face scrunched a bit, "Let's just say, I've taken a lot of lovers in the past and leave it at that."

I grinned mischievously, "Oh no no Mister Stripe, I think I need to hear about a few of these 'lovers' you speak of."

He sighed, but I caught the faintest hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, "There may or may not have been this stallion, he may or may not have been a Steel Ranger scribe, and I may or may not have spent a week shacked up with him."

"Ooh my, and what did you do in said shack hmmm?"

He blushed, actually blushed, I couldn't help it, I laughed, hard, I had to slump against him just to keep myself upright.

"He had mare hips..." Stripe muttered, scratching behind his head.

I grinned and wrapped my forelegs around his neck, "You don't have to explain Stripe, you're bi, it's hot."

"I ain't bi!" he said defensively, "It was just once..."

"Sure, sure... so, you'd have no reaction to thinking about it?"

"Nope."

"Really? Nothing when you think about your muscular bodies moving over one another between the sheets, your strong lips meeting passionately, your big, throbbing- hey Stripe?"

"What?"

I wore my best shit eating grin, possibly the best ever executed in the history of the gesture, "You're hard."

He glanced down, his eyes went wide and his face went bright red, I died, rolling on the tile floor, laughing my ass off, my abused ribs and lungs aching.

"Caught ya!" I managed to gasp out, Stripe glanced away, doing his best to hide his erection, failing miserably.

"Oh come on, it's not a big deal. Like I said, it's hot."

"Shut it." he spat.

I rolled to my hooves and hugged him, kissing his neck while one of my hooves went down to his member, "I'm just teasing you, ya big baby. Now, would you like some help with this?"

He grumbled, but nodded, I grinned and pushed him onto his back, sliding up his body, my belly grinding against his hardness.

He finally smiled again and kissed me. I slid back down his frame, licking the tip of his member.

***

I was humming again, washing myself, pondering the taste of stallion in my mouth, I giggled when Stripe hugged around my hips from behind, nibbling on my ear, "Is he happy?" I asked quietly.

He nodded, "Very, very happy."

"Glad to hear it."

He nuzzled my neck affectionately, "Love you boss."

I leaned back and kissed his cheek, "Love you too Stripe."

He was quiet for awhile, his eyes closed while he let water pour down his mane and over his muzzle, "So, when're we buggin' outta here?"

"I dunno, whenever I think I'm at a hundred percent."

"An' how long do ya reckon that'll be?"

I shrugged, "A few days, a week, I can't tell you for sure, why, eager to leave the hot showers, fresh food, sound security and constant sex?"

He rested his head on my shoulder and sighed, "Haven't killed anything in awhile, I'm kinda bored."

I turned around to face him, pressing my nose to his and staring into his eyes, "I'm sure I can think of some way to keep you occupied..."

He grinned and leaned me backwards, "An' what'd ya have in mind?"

"Well, biologically speaking our parts are compatible, so I was thinking that we could, you know, put them together."

He chuckled and kissed me for what felt like hours, only breaking away when somepony cleared her throat, I looked over and smiled at Token, who was looking us both over with that mischievous grin of hers, "Room for one more?"

"Hell yeah!" I said brightly, Stripe just chuckled more and waved her over.

She rolled her eyes and trotted over, stealing a kiss from me, "I certainly hope you've been treating my mare well Stripe."

"Yep."

"Good..." she muttered, staring at me hungrily, she looked back at him and winked.

Stripe turned me around and pushed his way in, Token kissed me hard to silence the loud groan that tried to escape me. I looked back at Stripe, he grinned menacingly and stood up on his hind legs, getting a yelp out of me when he thrusted hard. Token giggled wickedly and kissed down my belly to my stuffed sex, licking up Stripe's shaft and over my button.

She smiled up at me with that familiar malicious look of hers, "Oh the plans I have for you babe..."

***

Waking up sandwiched between my mare and my stallion was... well, let's just chalk that moment up under the priceless list.

I was hugging Token, her face pressed to my chest, Stripe was pressed to my back, his face in my mane, his forelegs stretched over the two of us, pulling us close to him.

We'd gone sixteen rounds, half of them in the shower, the other half in my room, it'd been brutal, physically exhausting, and beautiful, all at the same time.

I couldn't have moved if I wanted to, I was drained, thankfully I didn't want to, I was more comfortable than I'd ever been in my life.

Token stirred, I smiled down at her tiredly and pecked her on the lips.

"Hello babe," she said sleepily, nestling up against me, "wild night eh?"

"It was certainly a memorable one..."

"Stripe still asleep?"

"Yeah, he will be for awhile, he did most of the work."

She nodded, pressing her face back to my chest, "Can't say I enjoyed the male company too much but it definitely wasn't bad."

"I didn't think I'd care for it too much either, but I guess the big guy has a way with me."

She yawned and nodded, "Of course he does, he loves you."

"I know, I love him back."

"No, darling, he loves you, like, a lot, probably almost as much as I do. You love him as a very dear friend with some rather generous benefits, he loves you in the can't live without you way."

"You think?"

"I know, frankly it's plainly obvious to everypony but you, he gets all soft and sweet when you're with him, and he was almost as upset as I was when you got hurt."

"Wow..." I muttered, glancing back at him.

"Yeah," she sighed, "we've got a lovely little triangle going here don't we?"

I propped her head up to look at me, "You know I love you more, right? That you'll always come first?"

She smiled wanly and kissed me, "I know babe."

She started shoving me out of the sandwich, giving one last good push to force me out of bed, "It's nine in the morning, you should've woken up the girls two hours ago."

I pouted and walked out of the room, my brows instantly furrowing at the scent of cigarette smoke. I cocked my head to the left, Shaky was sitting outside her room smoking.

"Aww fuck..." she muttered when she noticed me scowling.

I delved down deep into myself, evoking every bit of motherly scolding Mum had ever given me and channeling it towards my child.

I approached her, glaring, and snatched the pack she was trying to hide behind her back with my magic and waving it in front of her face, "Wanna explain this?"

"Um, n-not really?" she said with a sheepish grin.

"Not an option." I growled, narrowing my eyes.

She gulped and nodded, "I st-stole them out of your saddleb-bags..."

"Right..." I muttered, tossing her cigarettes in the incinerator chute to my left, "Don't do it again."

"Hey!" she whined, "I want my f-fuckin' cigarettes b-b-back!"

I pulled my goggles down over my eyes and folded my forelegs, "Deal with it."

"This is b-b-bullshit..." she grumbled trotting sullenly into her room. I followed her in, my eyes widening at what I saw inside.

The bed was tidy, and Hex was on the floor, sweating and doing push ups.

"Hey." I muttered, watching her work.

"Hey," she replied, "sleep well?"

"Yeah... so, what's up?"

"Well, I felt like exercising today, and you didn't come and get me so I could run, so I just started working out."

"Right, well let's go get you a shower and some breakfast and then we can go run if you feel like it."

She nodded and trotted past me, stopping for a moment to kiss Shaky on the cheek, who promptly melted.

"You're such a dork Shaky." I said, tousling her mane before following Hex out the door.

***

I chewed my sugar bombs tiredly, not even half ass trying to keep the milk on my spoon, Hex sat across from me, greedily chowing down on an orange. Lore trotted over, Shadis eagerly climbing all over her back while trying to flap his tiny wings. She set a cup of coffee down in front of me, I picked it up and took a long sip, nearly gagging at the bitterness.

"Tastes like shit." I grumbled.

"Always has," she said dryly while she prompted the baby zebra to drink from a bottle, "and I doubt the two hundred years of neglect did wonders for our coffee maker. Your pegasus friend has been in the hanger all night by the way, she slept in the Pearl."

"Weird, guess she's got a girl boner for that SkyNaut."

"Girl boner?" Hex asked, then a worried look struck her face, "Are those real?"

"Mmhmm," I mumbled around my coffee, Lore even nodded her head, winking discreetly when I glanced at her, "happens every three times you go into heat, you sprout a big penis and a set of testicles, and it stays erect for ten whole days."

"It's an adaptation," Lore explained, keeping her face remarkably straight, "meant for pony populations with a high female to male ratio so they can continue to reproduce."

"Hermaphrodite metamorphosis," Beta said, "an anomaly first discovered fifteen hundred years ago that is unique to unicorns."

Hex gulped and glanced down, that did it, Lore and I cracked up, even Shadis laughed along with us though I highly doubted he got the joke.

"Oh to be young and gullible." Lore said, giving Hex's mane a tousle.

"You guys suck." the filly muttered, ducking her head to hide behind her mane and nibbling at her orange.

I reached across the table and patted her shoulder, "We only fuck with you because we love you dearest."

"Whatever..."

I smirked and went back to my cereal.

***

"Wow..." I muttered quietly, looking over the Pearl's new paint job. BB had painted a white pegasus mare with a wet and pearly white mane, laying in a seductive stance on the name Pearl, written out in large ornate printing.

Hex was staring intently at the mural as well, blushing slightly, "Yeah, that's uh, really nice..."

"Ya like it?" BB asked brightly, poking her grinning paint covered face around the other side.

"Yeah, it's really impressive actually, where'd you learn to paint like this?"

"Mah ma taught me 'fore she died, used to make these big murals on the Raptors with raw spectra, then when the rains washed 'em off she'd start over."

"Cool."

"Yeah, Momma was pretty fuckin' awesome."

***

I peeked my head in the door and smirked, Token was still passed out on my bed, drooling slightly, Stripe was nowhere to be seen.

I stepped in quietly and sat down next to her, stroking her mane gently. She snorted and snuggled up against me.

"Five more minutes babe..." she mumbled tiredly.

"Sleep in as long as you want love, just came in to check on you and Stripe, where is the big guy anyways?"

"Data came in and said something about getting him some new gear or something, I dunno for sure, I was half asleep."

"Guess I'll go look for him, anything you need while I'm in here?"

She nodded, still not opening her eyes, "Give us a kiss babe."

I leaned down and held her head, pressing my lips to hers very softly, she smiled tiredly when I broke away, "Thanks mate."

"No problem." I said as I pulled my blanket over her with my magic.

***

Stripe was a colt in a candy shop, cradling his two new miniguns, both slightly bulkier than his old one.

"10mm machineguns," he said eagerly, "like a minigun on Buck."

"Armor's pretty nice too." I complimented as I looked my stallion over. Jet black power armor, his signature white stripes still drying on the legs, more advanced looking than his salvaged set, no air tubes, more protection but less bulk around the joints.

"T-54 prototype," Data explained, not looking away from her computer, "those amateurs at Ironshod sent over the schematics to have us work out the kinks. More protection, more efficient repair systems, EMP resistant spell matrix, less weight. Still a piece of shit system in my opinion but it's certainly a polished piece of shit compared to the original model."

"You're the best D!" Stripe said as he gave her a rather impressive bear hug.

"I know," she said flatly, "now get out of my armory."

"Yes'm..." he muttered, winking at me before trotting out.

Data sighed and rubbed her temples, sitting hard on her haunches. I approached and rested my hooves on her shoulders, she tensed up immediately.

"You alright?" I asked.

She glanced back at me and sighed again, "I'm fine, just a bit on edge."

"Hmmm, adjusting and all that?"

"Yeah, guess you could say that."

I smirked slightly and rested my head on her shoulder, kissing her cheek. She didn't tense or recoil, just glanced at me with a surprised look, just the reaction I was looking for...

"I can help you out, if you want."

She looked me over warily, "What'd you have in mind?"

"Gimme your hoof." I said quietly, reaching around her front and guiding her forehoof with mine, she tensed slightly when it reached it's destination.

"Uh-"

I kissed her on the neck softly, "Relax, I'm just helping you relieve some stress."

"Bandage," she said nervously as I started to move both our hooves, "I'm old enough to be your thrice great grandmother, in fact I knew your-"

I kissed her neck again, "Relax, you've got two centuries of pent up stress, just let me help give you some relief, please?"

She sighed, blushing slightly, but nodded. I nibbled her neck gently and pressed on her hoof more, she shut her eyes and smiled with euphoria.

"Feel good?" I whispered.

"Very..."

"Good..." I muttered quietly, biting her lab coat and sliding it off her shoulder. She sighed happily when I planted a kiss on her shoulder, and giggled when I licked up her shoulder and neck to nibble her ear. "Keep rubbing yourself." I ordered calmly, she nodded and continued without me, I eased over to her other side and slid her coat off, biting her shoulder softly, rewarded with a quiet moan.

"Legs at your sides."

She complied, I eased her out of the lab coat and tossed it, then pressed back against her and slid my hooves up and down her body. Over her cutie marks, up to her chest, down between her thighs...

"Bandage-"

"Relax." I whispered in her ear, turning her around to face me. She blinked as I took her glasses off.

"I'm blind as a bat without those Ban-"

I kissed her, easily the best way to shut somepony up, "I know," I said quietly as I broke away, ruffling her overly tidy mane with my hoof and resting the glasses back over her eyes, "just fixing your mane."

"But you just messed it up..."

I smirked and pressed myself to her, "Do you know the lesson of this little fling?"

"Um, masturbate often or horny mares will jump you?"

"No," I chuckled, kissing her bottom lip, "every once in a while, let your mane get messy, ditch the lab coat, and relax. Take some time for yourself to just chill out and melt away all that stress you've been building up, got it?"

"Got it... I uh-"

I kissed her again, easing her to the floor, grinding my crotch against hers. She moaned into my mouth and tensed against my body, I broke away, licking at her neck and down her frame, kissing her desperate, neglected sex tenderly, sending a shiver through her body that culminated in a back arching moan...

***

Data sighed happily and shifted under her lab coat, which we were using as a sort of blanket. I chuckled and planted a kiss under her ear, she giggled and pressed her nose to my mine affectionately.

"Better now?" I asked.

"Much," she said quietly, resting her head on my neck, "thanks Bandage, I know I'm not the most attractive mare but-"

"Hush," I said, rubbing my tail between her flanks, making her blush, "you're an exceptionally attractive mare, brimming with sexuality."

"You're just being nice..."

"Bullshit, just because you're smart and you wear glasses doesn't mean you're not attractive, in fact..." I kissed up her neck and licked behind her ear, "I find a big brain incredibly sexy."

She chuckled softly and rested her head on my forelegs, "It's been far too long since I've been able to fool around like this."

"How long?"

She shrugged, "Since I was nineteen, I think, so, eight years and a couple of centuries."

"Who was she?"

"One of my students, Lore and I were teaching at the Trottingham college at the time, she was twenty, very pretty, not very smart with experimental robotics, but an excellent philosopher."

"And what happened?"

She sighed and picked her head up, resting it against mine, "I broke it off to pursue my work on Sleipnir, and I assume she either died in the Balefire Quakes or from old age in a stable, doesn't really matter at this point."

I nodded sympathetically, "Well, cherish the time you had, or something."

She shrugged, then perked her ears and looked at me nervously, "Speaking of marefriends, what would yours think of this?"

"Token doesn't mind, she lets me sleep with whoever I want, I take advantage of that perk on a consistent basis but she knows she's got my love, that's what counts."

"You're a bit of a tart aren't you?" she asked with a mocking smirk.

I rolled her onto her back and pinned her to the floor, "Do behave, professor."

She made a face at me, I leaned down and kissed her, probing her mouth with my tongue, she bit my lip hungrily when I pulled away.

"Can, can we go again?" she asked hesitantly, managing to look completely adorable.

"Hmmm, I'm not sure, I've got some pain in my chest, makes all that hard breathing during sex pretty rough on me."

She pouted and glanced away, I laughed and helped her to her hooves, "We can go as many times as you can manage, but we should take this party to my room."

"Why's that?" she asked as we started making our way to my quarters.

"Well, there's a bed for one thing, might be a bit more comfortable than this metal floor. Also I really don't think your sister would enjoy the surprise of walking in on us."

She nodded, "Excellent point."

***

I sighed and rested Data's glasses on the nightstand.

"Why do they always fall asleep..." I muttered, massaging between the sleeping mare's shoulders.

"You have a way of really taking it out of a mare," she mumbled tiredly, her eyes still shut tight, "not to mention I haven't done anything like that ever in my life..."

I smiled and snuggled in next to her, "You like?"

"Mmhmm, where'd you even learn to do that anyways?"

"500 Positions to Spice Up Your Love Life, one of the best books I've ever read."

"Sounds helpful."

"Very."

"So what was that called?"

"The Blossomforth Twist, requires a lot of flexibility but it's worth it."

"No kidding, you nearly broke my spine..."

"Got the job done though, didn't it?"

She smiled tiredly and nestled closer to me, "It certainly did."

"Get some rest, I'm gonna pop over to the mess hall and get some lunch."

She nodded, I smirked and kissed her on the forehead before hopping out of my bed and trotting out the door.

Kimba was leaning against a wall in the hallway, smiling at me.

I shook my head apologetically, "Sorry mate, gonna have to turn you down, I'm supposed to be recuperating and I've basically just been having a lot of rough sex, starting to do a number on my wounds."

She rolled her eyes and motioned for me to follow with a wing, "Aww c'mon Kimba!" I whined as I trotted after her towards the mess hall, "You're not even gonna blush or anything cute like that?"

"Nah mate, figure I'm just gonna ignore ya."

"Bummer."

"How's the professor? I heard something about spine breaking."

"Bah, she's fine, just complaining cuz I bent her a bit more than she's used to. Should be no problem for you, I'm guessing she's nowhere near as flexible."

She smirked back at me, "You're not giving this up are you?"

"Of course not, you're a beautiful mare and I'd love to have the privilege of exploring your body."

"Not gonna happen, unless I have some sort of radical change in thought process and sexual orientation."

"Which is why I keep prodding, so I'm ready in case such a radical change should occur."

She sighed and looked back ahead, "Can you just come to terms with the fact that I'm not into mares, please? This is starting to get irritating."

I brushed up against her and grinned, "Don't knock it 'til you try-" I cut off, yelping as somepony's magic yanked me hard by the ear. Token stepped between us, scowling at me.

"I told you to behave," she scolded, "she doesn't want any, so leave her be."

"Sorry." I said quietly, laying my ears back and giving her the sad eyes look.

She rolled her eyes and pushed me to the girls' room, "See if they want something to eat."

I nodded and opened the door, immediately grinning, "What's up guys?"

The fillies were snuggled close, slight blushes on their faces, a book laid out on their forelegs.

"Nothing," Hex said calmly, "why?"

"No reason... so, what'cha readin'?"

"Nothin'." Shaky said, a little less calmly.

"Daring Do or something?" I asked, still grinning wide as I trotted over next to the bed and peered at the book.

"N-no, just some b-b-book."

"Some book huh? What's it about?"

"Stuff." Hex said at nearly a whisper, easing the book away from the side of the bed I was on.

"What kind of stuff?" Token asked, stepping in on the other side of the bed, a similar grin slapped on her face.

"Just stuff." Shaky muttered, hiding the book between them.

"Hmmm, you know, I recall Dart having some pretty naughty books in here somewhere, that wouldn't be one of them would it?"

Shaky cracked, "It's just a r-r-romance novel!"

"There's nothing bad in it," Hex said, "just kissing and hugging and stuff like that."

"Awww," Token said, "they're reading a romance book together, that's so cute."

"Shut up!" Shaky shouted, her redness brightening.

I wrapped them both in a hug and pulled them to me, "Don't be embarrassed, you're just reading together, probably making out a little bit, it's adorable."

"We were n-not m-m-making out!" Shaky yelled.

"Who's makin' out?" Stripe asked, craning his head in the doorway.

"Shaky and Hex," Token explained, "they're reading a romance novel together, probably got them all mushy and affectionate."

"D'aw, that's cute."

Both the fillies went bright red and buried their faces in my chest, I chuckled and nuzzled both of them, "We're just teasing."

"Doesn't mean it's not embarrassing..." Hex muttered.

"C'mon, let's go eat some lunch, you can describe to me in vivid detail all of those deliciously graphic sex scenes you're not telling us about."

"Mom" and "Bandage" were both shouted at once, the latter much more quietly than the former. I laughed hard and set both of the neon red fillies on the floor, they scampered away instantly, darting between Stripe's legs and around the corner.

I grinned smugly and trotted out the door, immediately flanked by Stripe and Token, the former nuzzling me on the cheek, the latter kissing me under the ear.

"Aww, I feel loved."

"You should." Stripe said.

"A lot." Token finished.

I smiled and threw a foreleg over both their shoulders, "I love you guys too, maybe when I'm all healed up you can take turns ravaging me again."

They both rolled their eyes and shoved me to the floor, leaving me there while they continued down the hall.

"You guys are no fun!" I shouted after them.

***

BB had actually gone out and killed something for lunch, a massive boar that Stripe immediately dragged into the kitchen to skin. Shaky and Hex sat apart from everypony, whispering amongst themselves. Adze and Rawr sat at another corner, arguing about a card game. I sat with Token, trying to steal kisses from her while she chatted with Kimba, quickly getting nowhere. BB had gone to wake up Data for lunch, it'd been half an hour and she wasn't back yet. Lore was sitting across from us with Shadis on her lap, trying to teach him zebra words, but failing miserably and instead just laughing and nuzzling the playful colt.

"My little cousin seems to like you." Kimba commented.

She waved a dismissive hoof, "Bah, it's just because I feed him."

"Cibus!" the baby said eagerly.

Lore chuckled and tousled his mane, "Cibus indeed."

Shadis pouted and shook his head, then pointed at his mouth, "Cibus Mater! Cibus!"

"Oh! You're hungry, sorry little guy, forgot how fast you're learning. Token could you be a dear and pop in the kitchen? There's a bottle of formula ready for him in there."

She nodded and got up, whipping my face with her tail as she walked away.

Kimba paused, watching the young zebra across from her flapping his tiny wings, smirking as Lore cheered when he got half an inch of lift off.

"Fuga!" he said brightly, hugging Lore and pressing his face affectionately to her chest, "Mater, Shadis potest fugere!"

Lore smiled and hugged the foal back, "Yes you can."

Kimba smiled with them, "Have you realized he keeps calling you Mother?"

Lore nodded and prompted him to sit back down, "I've noticed, it's not a big deal, I'm sure he'll start calling the next mare that takes care of him m
Mother as well."

Kimba shook her head, "His tribe was wiped out, and we've got no room in Hopeville for another child. Maybe you should hold onto him? This place is safe and I'm sure you've got a lot to teach him."

Lore went blank for a moment, "But, I don't think I could-"

"Nonsense, you'd make an excellent mother, and he obviously likes you."

"What if he's got questions about your people?"

"Hopeville is right down the road, if he's got questions you can't answer you can take him to see Doc Morbid."

"Well, how's he going to learn how to fly? I don't exactly have wings."

"He'll learn on his own, it's instinct, you've got that VR room and a roof for him to practice when he gets old enough."

"But-"

"Stop making bloody excuses," Data grumbled, stumbling into the mess hall tiredly with a grinning and blushing BB at her side, "we've got room for him, and you've always wanted foals, so quit bitching and keep him."

Lore nodded, looking down at the colt, Shadis cooed and smiled up at her, the few teeth that had come in glinting, she smiled back and nuzzled him on the nose.

"There," Data muttered, easing down into a seat, BB scooting in next to her, "problem solved... Oh bloody hell, this makes me an aunt doesn't it?"

"Yeah," BB giggled, then sent an electrically charged lick up her ear, causing her mane to stand up, "and yer a damn sexy one..."

Data huffed and rested her head on the table, combing her mane back down, "No more funny business please, I was exhausted from Bandage and then your sparking ass had to come in and wear me out even more."

BB pouted and nuzzled under her ear apologetically, "Ah thought ya liked mah sparkin' ass?"

The older mare sighed and slumped against the pegasus, "I do love, believe me, but I need a break from the sparking ass, I've had my fill of it, and once I've had some rest I'll gladly partake in some more."

"Glad to see you back in the game old girl." Lore said, Data snorted, BB smiled and hugged her.

"Oh Ah love smart mares, they drive me wild."

Lore smirked, "Well, be gentle, she's two hundred some years old, probably a bit fragile."

BB grinned wide and pressed her muzzle to Data's neck, "Ah beg t' differ, this pretty miss can take one helluva poundin', not to mention a decent amount o' voltage."

Lore grimaced, "That's a lot more information than I needed... Where's Token with that bottle? Shadis is getting fussy."

"Sorry," Token muttered, stepping out of the kitchen looking like she'd just been sick, "Stripe bet me five hundred caps that I couldn't eat that boar's heart raw."

Lore grimaced again and motioned for her to give her the formula, Token nodded and eased into the seat next to me before passing it across the table. I patted her on the back sympathetically, "How'd that work out for you?"

"Well, I got it all down, but half of it came back up..."

"It's official," Data grumbled, getting up from her seat, "I've lost my appetite. I'll be taking a nap in my quarters if anyone needs me."

BB got up with her, catching a suspicious look, "I said no more funny business today."

BB just grinned again, "Ah was just gonna walk ya to yer room, tuck ya in and shit."

Data rolled her eyes and left the room, BB right in tow.

"Hey!" Stripe shouted after them, a huge platter of cooked meat on his back, "Where the hell are they goin'?"

"To sleep, BB and I took turns wearing her out."

"I wouldn't worry about it big fella," Lore said, "Data and I are old school ponies, meat isn't a part of our diet."

The zony frowned, looking like a disappointed child, "I spent hours cooking, injected it with allegro and marinated it in pineapple juice, even rubbed it down with red pepper and gunpowder to give it that special smoky taste, will ya at least try it?"

Lore smiled but shook her head, "Sorry hun, not my cup of tea."

My stallion sighed and trotted over to the table, setting down the platter, "Well, good thing I got some apple cabbage stew cookin'."

"Sounds lovely, would you mind getting another batch of formula going for Shadis? Little guy already burned through this bottle."

"Sure, what'cha got in that anyways?"

"It's just basic formula."

"Ya oughta be puttin' some sorta protein in there, factors for the mostly meat diet his momma was on when she was feedin' him."

Lore blinked, "I'll be damned, I hadn't thought of that."

"I'll toss somethin' into the next batch, ya'll go ahead and dig in. If I come back and see anyone not stuffin' their face and I'll knock 'em the fuck out."

Everyone nodded and started piling meat on their plates, Adze and Rawr each grabbing a huge haunch for themselves. I loaded a couple chops onto my plate and followed Stripe into the kitchen.

He glanced at me when I walked in and continued stirring his stew, "Sup boss?"

"Hey big guy, what's with the feast?"

He shrugged, "Figured I'd treat everyone, we're gonna be walkin' a desolate fuckin' road for awhile, I'm just enjoyin' the amenities while we got 'em."

"Makes sense." I said absently, pretending to look the kitchen over while I approached him, "I think I'll be ready to move out tomorrow morning, might need to partake in one more shower before we go..."

He tensed slightly when I brushed against him, "Wanna help me scrub my back?"

He snorted and grinned, "Sure."

I pouted and hugged around his neck, "Aww c'mon, talk dirty to me."

He thought for a moment, then shook his head, "Nah."

"You're so mean!" I whined, pulling his neck more.

He grinned again and pressed his nose to mine, "You're tryin' to be cute, wanna know why it ain't workin'?"

"Enlighten me."

"Too many scars."

I frowned, legitimately upset, this wasn't the first time I'd felt self conscious about my scars, but it was the first time someone pointed them out as a flaw in my appearance, let alone someone I love.

I reached up and ran a hoof over them, blinking when I realized my eyes were tearing up, pulling my goggles down and looking away when Stripe frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm not pretty." I whispered, staring down at my hooves, wincing when I spotted the disgusting blemishes on my forelegs.

"Bullshit." he chuckled, trying to prop my head up with a hoof. I jerked away, he forced it a bit more, making me look at him, "Bullshit. You're damn pretty, just not cute."

I frowned again, his face scrunched, "Poor choice of words. I mean to say, you're not adorable or anything, you're sexy, an' that's a whole lot better in my opinion."

"My scars are ugly..."

"No, they're a part of you," he blushed nervously, "that makes 'em beautiful..."

I smiled and pressed my face to his neck, the corny statement helped, barely, "Didn't figure you for a dork Stripe."

"Well, I've got the glasses and the book collection to qualify."

"Yeah, been meaning to ask you about those glasses."

"Bah, I'm basically blind anywhere between one to fifteen feet, can make out silhouettes, details are kinda iffy though."

"So," I said, pulling away from him, "about right here and you can't see me?"

"I can kinda see ya, just can't pick out that sexy mug of yers."

I smiled and eased closer, pressing my nose to his, "Better?"

"Much..." he muttered, his eyes softening, then going wide when he started sniffing, "Soup's burnin'!" he shouted, turning around to tend to the stove.

I chuckled and trotted back into the mess hall, grinning when I saw Token wasn't paying attention, taking the opportunity to prowl up behind her.

I mauled her, tearing her out of her seat and wrenching her laughing to the floor, pressing all my weight down on her, "What's gotten into you?"

I buried myself in her fur, rubbing my muzzle all over her coat, "I caught your scent, got me all hot and bothered."

"Well, perhaps I could help relieve you of your infatuation..."

"I'm t-tryin' to eat here guys." Shaky said, I glanced up at her, Shaky was glaring at us distastefully, Hex was looking us over intently, blushing slightly.

I grinned more and licked up Token's chest and neck, she caught on instantly, giving a fake moan in return. Shaky made a show of gagging at us, Hex's visible eye widened slightly, her face flushing further, "Hexy doesn't seem to mind..." I said quietly, still grinning at them while I nestled further into Token's chest fur.

Shaky snorted, "Hex hit pub-berty already, that b-basically makes her a b-b-bona fied p-p-pervert."

Hex smiled and pecked her under the ear, making her go neon red in an instant, "You know you like it Shakes."

"Shut up..." Shaky muttered, rubbing her cheek with a hoof.

Hex shook her head and hugged the other filly, rubbing her head against Shaky's affectionately, "Not until you admit you like it."

"Get off."

"You're a lot stronger than me Shaky, if you wanted to push me away you could do it easy, only reason you're not is cuz you love it."

Shaky shrugged her off, more aggressively than needed, then stormed past us and out of the room, giving me a wide birth when I reached a hoof towards her.

"What's up her ass?" Token asked as she pushed me off.

"She's been kinda angry today," Hex said right next to us, once again managing to somehow sneak across the room and make me jump, "I dunno why."

I sighed and helped Token up, "Let's eat, give her some time to calm down and I'll go talk to her."

***

I rapped my hoof on the door, answered with an angry "What?!", preparing to dodge a flying picture frame when I stepped through.

Shaky was on the bed, lying on her back while she manipulated a thread spool in her hooves, "Hey kiddo, brought you dinner if you're hungry."

"Hey B-bandage, I'm not hungry, give it to Rawr or somethin', stupid d-dog loves t-t-to eat."

For some reason, hearing her say my name stung, "Bandage? What happened to Mum?"

She sighed and rolled over, "Go away."

"Nah." I said as I trotted across the room, setting her plate on the night stand.

I climbed into bed next to her and blew on her ear, "Bit for your thoughts."

"B-bits aren't worth shit, j-just like my thoughts apparently..."

"What makes you say that?"

She shook her head, still not facing me. I rolled her over with a hoof, she was crying, "Hey, what's wrong?"

She shook her head, trembling more, I tsked and hugged her, breaking a barrier in an instant, sending her into a sobbing fit.

"F-first I think D-d-dad dies, then I think you d-die, I had to go through my p-p-parents dying again and nop-pony even asked me how I felt ab-bout it. They j-just expected me to shrug it off while everyone c-clustered around you when Stripe got hurt and around Token when you g-g-got hurt, nob-body saw I was hurting too, not even Hex..."

"Oh sweetie." I squeezed her tighter, letting her bury her face in my chest for comfort, doing my best not to wince as she rubbed her head on the tender tissue. "You could've talked to us about it, Hex always listens, and Stripe and I love you."

"I wanted to b-be strong for you guys..." she said quietly.

"You are dearest, you're so very very strong all the time and I am so proud of you, but talking about these things doesn't make you any less strong or make us any less proud, got it?"

She nodded silently, then looked up at me with those gorgeous gold eyes of hers that I hated seeing dripping like this, "Can you stay in here with us t-tonight? I miss sleeping next to you."

I grinned and wiped her tears away, "You sure you want me in here? I'm a filthy sexual deviant."

She nodded, wiping some snot away, my smile softened and I kissed her on the forehead, getting a giggle out of her when I nibbled on her ear playfully, "Stop!"

"Nuh-uh, your ear is delicious!"

"No it's not!"

"Oh yes it is! Tastes like delicious imported chocolates of the rarest qualities."

She successfully pushed away, still giggling, failing to scamper off the bed when I nipped her tail and tugged her back to me, pinning her under my chest.

"You're trapped, I win."

She squirmed for a bit, then huffed and gave up, "Fine, what are your t-terms?"

"First, eat your dinner, Stripe busted his ass fixing us a good meal before we leave tomorrow. Second, apologize to Hex for being a bitch earlier, real apology too, as in there damn well better be a hug and at least a five second kiss on the lips."

"Eww."

"Oh bollocks, you like kissing Hex, told me so yourself before we went to the cave."

"Well, why d-do I have to kiss her?"

"Because she's ridiculously affectionate to you all the time and I think it hurts her feelings when you don't return those gestures."

"Nah, she gets that it m-makes m-me uncomfortable, she knows I'll warm up to it like she did eventually."

"Hmmm, your fillyfriend is pretty smart... You sure I can't have a go at her?"

"That's gross."

"Oh c'mon! I'll romance her first, and I'll be really gentle too, probably... Nevermind, probably not."

"Mom, seriously, she's twelve, you're like, t-twenty something, it's wrong to even joke ab-bout."

I huffed and rested my chin on her shoulders, "You're no fun."

"Whatever, guess I'll eat d-dinner now, if you feel like g-g-getting your f-fat ass off of me."

I chuckled and rolled off of her, "I'm going down to the VR room to train with Hex, you better come down and apologize when you're done."

"'K-kay... Hey Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"What's with the socks?"

I shifted nervously and glanced down at the striped socks covering my scars and coughed, "My hooves were cold."

"Is it c-cuz you wanted to hide your scars?"

"...Maybe."

"Why? They m-m-make you look b-badass."

I sighed and sat down hard, slumping against the doorway, "I've been stricken with a sudden surge of self consciousness."

"Huh?"

I sighed again, "Token has always been the pretty one, I'm fine with that because I know I still look decent, now- now I've got all these damn scars and I guess, I just don't feel attractive anymore."

She snorted, "That's dumb, you're super p-pretty, Hex won't fucking shut up ab-bout it. P-plus Token and D-d-dad like your scars."

"Yeah, but-"

"No b-b-b-buts. You're pretty, and if you d-don't b-believe that I'll b-beat you until you're not as pretty."

I smirked and glanced back at the little grey ass kicking machine sitting on the bed, "Thanks Shakes."

"No problem."

***

Couldn't sleep at all, I was comfortable, just restless. The girls had fallen right to sleep, both of them curled up tight with each other on my chest. I could feel their heartbeats, surprisingly strong for such little things, and the sound of their soft breathing was oddly soothing.

I was excited mostly, the last few days had certainly been fun, but I was missing the danger to some degree, missing the adrenaline rush battle supplied me with.

Stayed up until 4 in the morning, thinking, finally dozed off...

***

We'd been traveling for a week, fighting ghouls, watching for ambushes, avoiding caves and tunnels like the plague. Currently we were camped in a riverbed, a deep one, too deep for a pony to climb out of, and the storm clouds to the north were certainly making everyone nervous.

"What do we do if a flash flood hits?" Token asked.

I snorted, "BB and Kimba will grab the kids, Adze will grab the supplies, the rest us will either swim or drown."

"Very morbid of you babe."

"Realistic, not morbid, Stripe and I have sealed armor with respirators, we'll be the ones swimming, you and Rawr will be the ones drowning."

The Hellhound grunted, "Rawr can climb out if he needs to."

"Ah, good point, guess you're drowning alone love, sorry."

"Well, remember me fondly I guess."

"Speakin' of the fliers," Stripe muttered, "they should've been back awhile ago."

I sighed, "I'll get BB on the horn."

"She is out of radio range ma'am."

"Fucking fantastic..." I muttered, "Okay guys, let's pack shit up and start hauling ass down river."

Everyone nodded and starting breaking down camp, Rawr stopped suddenly, his ears perking and his one eye going wide.

"What is it?"

"Carry what you have packed and run!" he shouted, throwing Hex onto his shoulder and bolting past all of us, Token galloping after him. I grabbed Shaky and followed, Stripe's heavily armored hoofsteps right behind me.

"What are we running from exactly?" Token shouted.

I glanced behind me, my eyes going wide when I saw the gargantuan surge of water filling the river bed.

"You don't want to know!" I yelled over the deafening roar of the oncoming flood, "Keep running!" I galloped up to Rawr's side and nodded for Shaky to hop off, she leapt onto his free shoulder, grasping his cloak tightly, "Rawr! Climb!"

The dog nodded and leapt to the wall, digging his claws in and rapidly ascending. The rest of us kept running, as fast as we could. I stopped dead and pivoted when I heard it, a scream, far behind me and almost faint compared to the roar of the water.

Rawr was still climbing, nearly to the top of the 50 foot incline, Hex was the one to scream, looking down with a hoof outstretched, crying while Rawr pinned her to his shoulder with his head. Shaky had fallen, and was currently lying on a now broken wooden crate, completely limp, her head bleeding, the surge nearly to her.

It went by in a flash, my helmet encased my head, the respirator activating, the targeting spell homing in on my filly. The wall of water hit her, sweeping her away in an instant, the suit moved my body, leaping forward into the rapids and catching her, curling me around her in a protective ball.

I was just along for the ride now, going faster than I'd ever gone before, desperately looking at Shaky, clutching her tight, like the precious cargo that she was, praying when I saw the opening in the ground ahead of us.

Down we went, swept into the fissure like bath water through a drain. I glanced below, rolling myself into harms way when I saw solid rock below us, thankful for the sealed helmet when I hit with enough force to knock the wind out of me.

We were in a sort of underground pond, slowly being dragged by current into another passage, slowly enough that I was easily able to swim to the edge while I held Shaky above the water with my magic.

She was still limp when I set her down on the stone. Frantically I cut her barding away with my combat knife and pressed my ear to her chest, crying out at the absence of a heartbeat. I started CPR immediately, forcing myself to stay calm so I didn't crush her ribs.

"C'mon baby," I panted while I pressed her chest repeatedly, "breathe." I pried her mouth open with my magic and leaned in, exhaling all that I could, tearing up when I started pumping again, "Just breathe Shaky, please just breathe."

My armored hooves started whining, the bottoms glowing and sparking, I blinked through the tears and pressed them to her chest, managing to choke out "Clear" just for procedure's sake, sobbing when her body jolted from the electric charge, gasping with relief when I pressed my ear back to her chest and heard a faint heartbeat.

I exhaled into her mouth again, pulling away the instant a spout of water and bile shot out, rolling Shaky onto her side and patting her back while she coughed up the liquid contents of her lungs.

"Easy baby, easy, deep breaths."

She nodded, trying her best not to gasp, I fought off the urge to hold her long enough to dig through the soaked first aid kit Lore had placed in my saddlebags and fish out the BVM, pressing the mask to her muzzle while my magic squeezed the bag.

"That's good, just keep breathing easy." She nodded and slumped against me, I stifled a sob and wrapped a foreleg around her, "Congrats kiddo, you were clinically dead for over a minute."

She looked up at me tiredly and pulled the mask away, "I woke up to you k-k-kissing me, that's fucking gross."

I laughed, gasped, and sobbed all at once and gave her an affectionate squeeze, "I didn't enjoy it anymore than you did dearest, goddesses willing we'll never ever have to do that again."

"What happened?" she asked as I started working my healing magic on her forehead gash.

"I guess you fell off Rawr's shoulder and hit your head, a crate broke your fall and the flood swept you up, I grabbed you and we got washed down here."

She nodded, absently and tiredly, "You should try and c-call Dad, b-bet he's freaking out."

"I'm afraid he's out of radio range, we are several hundred metres underground."

"Lovely, you sit and rest kiddo, I'm going to have a look around."

"I'm c-c-cold."

I frowned and pulled the emergency blanket from the first aid kit, sighing and laying it out flat to dry, my armor slid off of me and I scooped her up, holding her wet form close to give her some body heat. She nestled in, burying her face in my unkempt chest fur and shivering.

"You're still wearing socks." she mumbled quietly.

"I'm wearing my thong too, surprised you didn't ask me about that."

"Fine, what's with the p-panties?"

"There's places a mare just doesn't want radioactive sand getting into."

"Gross." she giggled tiredly.

We sat there for ages until she was finally dry, and eventually I prompted her to eat an M.R.E, the only food in my knapsack that wasn't ruined.

Once she was settled I went through all my ammunition and weaponry, everything was still there, just soaked, every magazine needed to be emptied, every breach cleared, every weapon taken apart to let the parts dry individually, and every single round needed to be wiped down thoroughly.

Thankfully most of the medical supplies were with Token, so I didn't need to worry about it, though the gauze I had on me was useless now, and all the potion bottles had broken when I landed, the Med-X was fine, didn't do us much good though.

"So, see anything while you were under?"

She shook her head, "Just b-b-black, it did feel like somep-pony was pulling me though."

I smiled and rested a hoof on her shoulder, "Somepony was."

She smiled too and crawled back onto my lap, "I love you Mom."

I wrapped us both in the now dry emergency blanket and nestled my muzzle in her mane, "I love you too baby."

***

It was night by the time we woke up, light no longer filling the hole in the roof of the cavern, the only illumination coming from small mutated plants at the bottom of the pool.

"I'm freezing!" Shaky whined, I frowned when I saw the blush on her face and pressed my hoof to her forehead, just to the right of her new scar.

"You're burning up, at least you're not feeling warm, I've been worried about hypothermia." I grabbed the cleanest rag I had in my knapsack and dunked it in the frigid water, then wrapped it around her head.

"I d-don't n-need that I'm freezing!"

"You won't be for long, you're going to feel pretty hot here in a few minutes." I levitated my canteen up to her lips, "Drink, you need to stay hydrated."

She didn't need the prompting, poor thing sucked down the whole canteen in just a few seconds.

"Alright, stay here, resist the urge to curl up with the blanket and call for me if you get too uncomfortable, I'm going to look for a way out of here."

"Okay."

The cavern's perimeter was small, I walked all the way around it in just under 5 minutes, and it was a fruitless walk, the only visible way out was the roof, which was hundreds of metres above us.

I sighed and laid down on my back, Shaky stirred from her feverish sleep and curled up on my chest, "Find any way outta here?"

"Nope, just the roof. We're waiting now, if we're lucky the guys'll find us or a Tunneler will make an exit, otherwise we just starve to death in this hole."

"B-b-bummer."

"The flares in my knapsack are dry, I could try and shoot one up through that hole but I doubt it has the range."

"I recommend firing Luna's Whisper, the significant percussion should prove far more effective."

"Good idea," I yawned, "we'll get on that tomorrow, give Shaky some time to sleep off this fever."

"Affirmative, sleep well Bandage."

~~~

Sometimes I wish we just had basic wooden doors to slam shut, so much more satisfying than smacking a button to close a bulkhead.

"How was work?" my mother called from my study, she was staying at my place much more frequently now since Dad officially moved into the maintenance deck.

"Stuff it Mum," I growled, "I'm not in the mood for chit chat."

"I take it work went well then?" she said, poking her head around the corner with a stupid smile slapped on her face.

"Other than having my ass smacked by a patient and then being scolded by syringe for cold cocking the bastard? Yeah, work was fucking lovely."

"Hmmm, old man must be warming up to you if he didn't call Security."

"He did, thankfully Token answered and wrote it off as self defense."

"Good, good. Well, go wash up, try and cool off, I'll order us some of those noodles you like so much."

"Thanks Mum."

"No problem dear."

I closed my room door behind me and exercised, hard, managing to break one hell of a sweat. I sighed with relief when I finally unzipped my jumpsuit, letting my sweat drenched coat and sore muscles free and trotting into my restroom to run a bath.

I sighed again and closed my eyes languidly as I eased into the steaming water, the stress of the day melting off. Minutes went by, the talisman Mum had rigged into the tub (illegally) doing it's job and keeping the water at a steady, pleasant temperature.

I smiled when familiar hooves pressed down on my shoulders, biting my lip when they starting working in small circles over my aching muscles.

"Feel good?" Token asked quietly, her mouth right next to my ear.

"Very..." I mumbled.

"Move."

I nodded and scooted forward, letting my best friend ease into the tub behind me, giggling when she hugged around my neck and eased me back to rest on her.

"We haven't shared a bath since we were fillies."

"Yeah, figured you'd need a good massage after a hard workout."

"How'd you know I'd work out?"

"Uh, cuz I'm your besty best friend and I saw how pissed you were after I wrote up that fight in the clinic."

"Mmm, what'd Riot say?"

"I explained to her what happened and she agreed with my decision... You know," she slid her hooves down my frame, resting them on my flanks, "can't say I blame the guy for giving this choice booty a good smack."

"Knock it off." I giggled.

"How long did it jiggle afterwards? Or did it at all, you are pretty muscular."

I smirked, "Why is this pertinent?"

"Important info for my report."

"Ah the report, of course, I'll have you know it didn't jiggle at all, more of a ripple really."

"Mental note taken."

I laughed and leaned back against her, "I love you like a sister Toky."

"Yeah, sister..."

~~~

I sighed and levitated my glass up again, Hops looked away from his conversation and nodded, carrying over another bottle of scotch, "That's your fourth glass tonight, maybe you ought to slow down?"

"Nah, I feel like getting drunk."

He sat down in the chair across from me and filled up my glass, "Rough day?"

I paused, taking a sip, sighing after the smooth alcohol poured down my throat, then nodded, "You could say that."

"What happened?"

"Some prick from Maintenance smacked me on the ass."

My friend only smirked, "Can't blame him, it's a nice ass."

"Ha ha, heard enough of that joke from Token in the tub thank you."

His smirk stretched further and he cocked an eyebrow, "You and Token share baths huh?"

I shook my head, "Haven't since we were kids, but she treated me with a massage today."

"Oh a massage, do tell."

I smirked back and belted down the rest of my drink, "Hilarious Hops, simply hilarious, you're a fucking riot."

He chuckled and poured me another, "Thanks, I'll be here all week."

"So, how's the whole prostitution thing going?"

"Thankfully I've convinced most of my regulars to see other ponies, so I'm working the bar now more than the bedroom."

"Good for you mate."

"Gotta say though, I do miss your company from time to time."

"Bah, you're just sayin' that. Frankly I'm ashamed for forcing you to pleasure me all these years."

"You in particular didn't force me, I actually liked dropping everything once a week to go screw around with you, made me feel normal."

"Still, it's not right that you have to whenever somepony asks."

He shrugged, "It's not so bad, in nine more years I'll be past my prime and won't have to anymore."

"Well," I said, raising my glass, "here's to nine more years mate, may they be kind to you."

"Cheers Bandage."

~~~

I woke up late the next morning, in a surprisingly excellent mood considering last night's binge drinking, stretching languidly and sliding a hoof down my frame to a region that would put me in an even more excellent mood if I treated it properly.

After a little "morning delight" I trotted out of my room, smiling at Token who was fixing coffee.

"Good morning." I said brightly.

"Morning mate, sleep well?"

"Fantastic," I said, trotting over and hugging her, even planting a kiss on her cheek, "no doubt thanks to your excellent massage last night."

"Stick around tonight, it's my day off and I'm feeling generous enough to doll out a full body work up if you can manage to sweet talk me into it."

"Full body? What like chest and lower back and legs?"

"Yeah... and flanks, and um," she coughed, "you know, other uh, areas..."

I paused, then went wide eyed when it hit me, "Ohhh, full body, got ya. Um, I dunno, I'll think about it."

"Nothing sexual of course!" she said, almost frantically.

I grinned at the opportunity to fuck with her, leaning in close and putting my mouth next to her ear, "You're sure you don't want to make it just a teeny bit sexual Toky?"

She smirked and pressed her nose to mine, our eyes locking, "You're not going to beat me at this game Bandage."

I grinned wider and licked her lips, making her recoil and blush 10 shades of red, "Who's playing games?"

"Bandage, I-"

"C'mon Toky," I said, adopting a seductive expression, "let's practice kissing like we used to..."

She backed away, I prowled after her, pinning her to a wall with my hoof and leaning in with half lidded eyes, stopping with my calm lips mere millimeters from her quivering ones, "Bandage, you're making me uncomfortable."

"Am I? Funny, I recall you saying I wouldn't beat you at this game."

She gulped and gripped the sides of my head, kissing me hard, massaging my tongue with hers, then pushing me away onto the floor, climbing on top and pinning me with a mocking smile on her face, "Like I said, you're not beating me."

I looked up at her, blushing bright, "Token, do that again."

She blinked, "Huh?"

"Kiss me again, please."

She blushed and eased up the pressure she was putting on my chest, "Bandage-"

I did it for her, smacking her hoof away and grabbing her head, pulling her to me into a long, sloppy, passionate kiss that felt right in so many ways when I knew it was wrong, hesitantly breaking away only when we needed to come up for air.

She panted and slumped against me, kissing my neck while I held her, "Bandage, I think we took our game of chicken a bit too far."

"No shit," I whispered, licking her cheek affectionately, "what we just did was so fucking illegal it's ridiculous."

She kissed me again, biting my lip gently and letting out a soft moan as she broke away, "Who gives a fuck?"

I grinned, "Can I give you a fuck?"

She blushed brighter and laid her ears back, "Bandage, making out is bad but sex is-"

"Worse?"

"We could get banished, or executed, or sterilized."

I smiled and brushed her gorgeous blue mane out of her face, "Execution and banishment is a tad extreme for same gender relations, and if they make us sterile it won't matter who we have sex with..."

She bit her lip and looked me over nervously, "C'mon Toky, we both know you've been wanting this for awhile..."

She nodded, I pulled her back in, we slid each other out of our respective barding, moaning happily at the pleasant feel of our naked fur writhing together. She backed up, pulling me to my hooves, our tongues staying locked as she guided me to my study, simply because it was the closest room.

I got rough, forcing her to the desk, cupping her ass in my forelegs and setting her down on the hardwood surface before climbing up after her, we finally broke our impassioned kiss off, only for the necessity of oxygen.

"Uh, what do we do first?"

"Well," I muttered, looking her over, "the main erogenous zone is here," I poked her stiffened clitoris with my forehoof, making her moan, grinning at the response, "guess we'll start there."

~~~

We sat in the warm water of my tub, holding each other like the night before, but as lovers instead of friends, Token's hoof gently tracing circles through the wet fur on my chest, me resting my head comfortably against hers, sighing happily from the sheer perfection of this moment.

"Why did we never do that before?"

"Same reason we shouldn't have done it today, it's illegal, a Codex regulation that we offended."

"Mmmm, and we certainly did offend it... Twice on the desk, thrice on the sofa, once on the bed while the bath was running... And, I'm certain neither of us will mind offending it in the future..."

Token sighed and kissed the top of my head, "Darling, I don't think we're going to get the chance."

I paused and rolled over, staring at her sad face with concern, "Why's that?"

She looked away, ashamed, "Your study is bugged, in the heat of the moment I forgot, they've probably gotten the necessary authorization to send in a team to arrest us by now, might even be on their way."

"Why's my study bugged?"

"The Overmare wanted to find out if something at home was affecting your match success, I convinced her to only bug the study, she ordered me not to tell you... I'm so sorry."

I nodded and hugged her, "It's okay, and no matter what they do, we had tonight, remember that always, we had tonight."

The door in the next room opened and the sound of several sets of hoofsteps echoed through the apartment. Token started crying and pressed her face to my chest, Riot peeked her head around the corner, a sad smile on her face, "Sorry to interrupt girls, would you mind terribly if we had a quick word with you?"

I nodded and kissed Token on the forehead, still holding her tight to my chest, "Yeah, just uh, just give us a minute, please?"

"Take your time Bandage, and sorry, I hate that we've got to do this, I really do."

"I know Riot, it's okay, you're just following orders..."

~~~

Recall, we finally figured out his special talent, memory removal. Riot let us hold each other while we waited for him to prepare, Token was still crying, I was dying on the inside, wanting to leap over the table and smash the Overmare into a fine paste.

She sat in the chair across from us, shaking her head, in disappointment of all things. Riot was standing behind her, glaring at her scornfully with those piercing violet eyes of hers.

Recall finally walked in, trying to smile reassuringly, "Who's first?"

"I'll go." I said flatly, Token sobbed and squeezed me tighter, I propped her head up and gave her one last long kiss before two Security officers pried me away.

"I love you!" she called after me just before the door of the next room closed.

"I love you too." I whispered, softly banging my head on the door.

"Try and relax." the old stallion said as he laid me back on a comfortable therapy couch.

I nodded, fighting off tears as his magical field started enveloping my head.

***

I woke with a start, nearly knocking Shaky off my chest, crying angrily. The filly stirred slightly, I set her aside with my magic, wrapping her up in the blanket and kissing her forehead before storming off to the other side of the cavern to have a fit.

My armor encased me as I walked past it, "The mute function on the helmet works both ways, I assume you don't want to wake her up."

"Thanks."

"You're distressed, is everything alright?"

"No Beta, everything is a shite side far from alright."

I curled up in the corner and screamed into my helmet, furious at what our stable had done to us, wanting to kill something, aching to get payback on that cunt Rector.

Stupid name for a pony, she started as a clergypony, shouldn't have even been made Overmare. If Riot had won the election and been put in charge she would've let it slide, she knew like most of us did the original Codex was outdated. Rector on the other hoof, had no idea how to lead ponies, so instead she used the Codex as a crutch. In fact, the only reason that dumb bitch won is because she was prettier than Riot.

If I ever saw her again, I'd snap her flimsy back like a twig...

I continued venting into my helmet for several minutes until a small hoof touched my armored tummy, I glanced down at Shaky, my helmet retracting.

"You alright Momma?"

"I'm fine sweetie, what's up?"

"There's something in the water."

I nodded and trotted to the pool, grabbing my pistols and loading fresh magazines.

I'd seen some weird shit in my time outside, mutated animals, ghouls, an Alicorn, a stallion dressed in mare's lingerie, but what was swimming in the water was by far the strangest thing I'd ever seen in my life.

It was half pony, its bottom half merging into a tale that was shaped like an eel, or a snake, but had the same smooth skin the top half did. It had a webbed spine along its back, and though it had forelegs of a sort, there was smaller spined webbing along the backs of its limbs.

The sea blue colored creature was moving along the bottom of pool, harvesting the largest of the glowing stocks and placing them into a satchel, an odd grace to it's movements, it stopped, glancing up at me with surprisingly gorgeous orange eyes and smiled, swimming up to the surface.

"Hey," she said as her head emerged, swimming to the edge of the pool and resting her head on her folded forelegs, blowing her soaked silver mane out of her face and stretching out the three weird appendages on each side of her neck, "what brings a pretty mare like you to my garden?"

"We got washed down here by the flood," I replied absently, too preoccupied with her strange appearance, "I don't mean to be rude, but what the fuck are you?"

"A sea pony," she said nonchalantly, then she extended a foreleg, "name's Shimmer, nice to meet you."

I bumped it... kinda, "Bandage, likewise."

"That's a funny name, who's your little friend?"

I waved Shaky over, resting a hoof on her shoulder when she reached my side, "Sh-shaky, hi."

"Hi." Shimmer said with a friendly smile.

"I'm gonna go b-back to sleep Mom."

"Okay," I said, kissing her on her still warm forehead, "sleep tight."

"Cute kid." Shimmer said after Shaky had fallen asleep again.

"She has her moments." I said fondly as I looked my daughter over.

"You alright? Looks like you've been crying or something."

"I'm fine, just remembered some seriously fucked up shit from my past and it shook me up a bit."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Nah. More concerned with looking for a way out of here."

"I know a way, sorry to say it's not a dry one though."

"It's fine, we're going to fire my mag rifle tomorrow morning, hopefully our friends will hear it."

"Don't see how, fissure's sealed shut."

"Huh?"

She pointed up, I looked and sure enough the roof had somehow closed while we slept, "Fuck..."

"Don't worry about, you can just follow me, there's enough air pockets along the way to keep you from drowning."

"Shaky's sick though, I don't think she should get back in that frigid water."

"Frigid?" she asked with a baffled expression. I frowned and dipped my hoof in, the water was perfect, like a comfortably warm bath.

"How?" I gasped.

"This garden is a part of hundreds of interconnected hot springs, a flood occasionally sweeps in and cools it off for about twelve hours or so."

"How'd the ceiling shut?"

"Surface is constantly shifting, lots of minor seismic activity, results in some pretty weird shit, random caves and fissures."

"Well, if we follow you out of here, do you know a way up to the surface?"

"Yeah, the zebra route, every once in awhile the local tribe pops down to trade food, they bring us meat, we give them cave plants."

"Cool... Hey, would you mind if I-"

"Take a dip?" she said with a slightly mischievous smile, "Be my guest."

I nodded thankfully and stripped my gear, blushing when she whistled at the sight of my underwear, blushing further when she cheered as I stripped my socks and wriggled out of my panties.

"Very funny." I grumbled as I eased into the pool, closing my eyes to relax, jumping slightly when I reopened them and she was gone, "Shimmer?"

I looked around the clear pool, no sign of my new aquatic friend, "Shimmer?"

She emerged just in front of my face, the appendages on her neck flaring while she smiled behind her wet mane, "Yes Bandage?"

"Nothing, just worried, you disappeared for a second there."

"Aww," she hugged her foreleg things around my neck and wrapped her tail around my waist, tickling near a very tender area with the tip, "here we've just met and you're already worried about me," she pressed her nose to mine, "that's so sweet."

I coughed nervously, then shook it off and grinned, resting my forehooves just under her rear set of fins, where I assumed her flanks would be if she was a normal pony. Her skin was smooth, rubbery... oddly sexy, "I'd love to indulge you, but I'm afraid our parts don't quite match up."

"Well, I know zebra mares like it right about..." her tail wormed inside of me, tickling the walls of my sex, making me squeeze her tight and moan softly. She giggled, "There. And there are ways I can show you to get a sea pony off..."

I nodded and leaned to the side, licking one of the appendages on her neck, making her body tighten, "These?"

She coughed awkwardly, "Uh, no hun, those are gills, I need those to breathe underwater..."

"Oh," I muttered, my face flushing, "sorry."

"It's fine, new anatomy to get used to and all that," she pushed against my belly with her tail, lifting her tummy up to eye level, specifically something a ways lower than her belly button that certainly resembled my favorite piece of anatomy, "there's what you're looking for..."

I grinned up at her, "You're a mammal."

"Mmhmm." she said with a wink.

"Fantastic..." I muttered to myself before giving her slit a good lick, rewarded with her tail going limp and the moaning sea pony gripping me tightly. I lowered her back down into the water and kissed her tenderly, she massaged between my hindlegs with her tail, occasionally putting pressure on my button with the tip.

I reciprocated, rubbing her folds with a forehoof while we explored each others mouths. Eventually she broke away, her eyes half lidded, a thin strand of saliva still connecting our lips, she smiled when I wiped it away and leaned forward again, kissing me quickly before descending back into the water.

She had one key advantage over Token, she didn't need to come up for air...

I writhed comfortably as her tongue expertly hit all the right places, biting my lip with strain as I tried to hold in groans. My horn fired up, illuminating things a bit more as I went to work with my bedroom spell, giggling when bubbles started rising to the surface and the mare under the water started writhing, worming her tail into her own sex and getting it in surprisingly deep.

She got aggressive, sucking hard on my clitoris, making me moan, writhe, and eventually pop. I didn't let up though, hammering her with my spell, even diving under the water when she broke away, pulling her tail out of her and burying my muzzle in her sex, moaning into her when her tail bored its way deep inside of me.

I felt her pop, heard her cry out, caught the distinct taste of mare ejaculate mixing with the water in my mouth, cried out myself under the water as she sent me through another orgasm, both of us panting above the water as she dragged me to the edge of the pool.

"Holy shit," I gasped, slumping against the edge of the pool, Shimmer draped over my back, kissing my shoulder, "that was... holy shit."

"Yeah," she panted, "you're fucking amazing."

"No no, you're fucking amazing."

"We're both fucking amazing, let's leave it at that."

"Agreed."

"...Round two?"

"Fuck yes." I replied, turning around to face her.

"Shoo be doo..." she said before pulling me into another passionate kiss.

***

Sex with a sea pony was going up under weirdest thing I'd ever done. But that was okay, because it was fantastic, easily surpassing two normal mares. The only problem I had with it was the lack of cuddling afterwards, she couldn't stay out of the water too long or she'd dry out, and I couldn't stay in the water much longer without pruning. Instead we sat at the edge of the pool, me on land, she in the water, occasionally sharing a kiss or a nuzzle or a playful nibble.

Her ears perked and she smiled behind me, waving with a foreleg, "Oh jeez," Shaky said tiredly, "you g-guys had sex huh?"

"Duh," I replied, turning my head to face her, "what else were we gonna do to pass the time."

"You're n-not even the same species!"

"So? She's half pony, and a part of that half includes a va-"

The filly squealed and covered her ears with her forelegs, "I d-don't need to hear anymore thanks!!"

I sighed and turned back to Shimmer, giving her lips a soft peck, "Kid can't handle the thought of a sea pony and a unicorn getting it on I guess."

She shrugged, "You have to admit it's a bit odd."

"True, Token's probably going to ask a million questions about it."

"Token?"

"My marefriend."

"Oh," she said quietly, her ears laying back and her gills drooping, "marefriend..."

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's just that uh... never mind."

"Shit, I'm sorry, I thought this was just harmless fooling around."

"It was, I just uh... I thought I finally found someone to give this to." She lifted the small medallion around her neck for me to see, a clam shell with ornate carvings etched into it, "It's a cultural thing, we save it for, you know, special someponies..."

My eyes widened, "Are you saying that-"

"Yeah," she said, glancing away shamefully, "but you're taken, so..."

I hugged her, tight, nuzzling her cheek apologetically, "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," she chuckled, patting me on the back, "if the feeling isn't mutual it's not meant to be, not the first time it's happened and it probably won't be the last."

"Can you even do that? I'm not a sea pony."

"Yeah, we're kind of a weird race. We reproduce asexually, a set of twins when we're about twenty, and we don't have males, so we can just fuck whoever we want from whatever other species with no consequences and pick a 'mate' if the feelings are there. No sea pony's ever made me feel that way so no sea pony's ever gotten my charm."

"Tough break."

She shrugged, "If I would've taken one of them I probably wouldn't have gotten to have that excellent sex with you, so it's all good."

I smiled and pressed my nose to hers, "It was excellent wasn't it?"

She pressed back, "Totally, if you're ever back in the neighborhood you should swing by and we can do it again."

"It's a date." I said quietly, pecking her lips again.

"Well," she coughed swimming away from me, "get your stuff packed up and I'll lead you two out."

"I d-don't wanna g-get in that water," Shaky muttered, "you guys fucked in it."

"The current's probably washed out all the juices by now you big baby."

"So not the p-point..."

Shimmer grinned and climbed out of the pool, sliding on her belly across the smooth stone floor and stopping just in front of Shaky, "I'm clean, see?"

Shaky recoiled, but apprehensively reached a hoof out and poked the sea pony's rubbery tummy, getting a giggle out of Shimmer, "Tickles."

"You're really smooth..."

"We all are," she said, rolling onto her back and sliding backwards into the pool, "sea ponies need to be really streamline to swim this well."

"Cool..."

I grinned at Shimmer, "Do you ladies come in filly size? I think she wants one."

Shimmer winked, "Sure, I can fix her up Ripple, my great granddaughter, really sweet kid."

"Wha- no I-"

"It's fine dear, these sea ponies are pretty promiscuous, I'm sure you and Hex can share one no problem."

Shaky flushed, "No I-"

"Oh yeah," Shimmer said, "that'd be no trouble at all, Ripple's got enough affection to easily handle two fillies."

"B-but-"

"Has anyone taught her how to do that thing you did with your tail?"

"Guys-"

"That? Pfft, that's instinct, basically just how we masturbate."

"Ewww!"

***

The swim to the sea pony village was basically five minutes of swimming with 30 second intervals of Shimmer elevating shaky into an air pocket to catch het breath every minute or so.

We gasped when we arrived, the waterway opened up into a massive cavern, gigantic glowing mushrooms like the ones we'd seen in the Hopeville caves were growing everywhere, and huge clusters of different gemstones were embedded in the ceiling, which was at least a quarter mile above us.

"C'mon," Shimmer said, swimming on her back ahead of us, "Mire is this way."

"Kinda hard to see." Shaky said.

Shimmer nodded and swam over to a mushroom, scooping a clump of freaky looking glowing maggots into a jar from her satchel, looping it on a stray stick and swimming over to us, giving the stick to her.

"There you go."

"Thanks."

"No problem kiddo, c'mon, we've got a ways to go."

I nodded, tossing Shaky onto my shoulders and piling my stuff onto my rump to dry before wading after her.

"Try and keep up hot flanks." she called back to me.

I grinned and picked up pace, passing her easily, "Try and keep up, uh, hot gills?"

She laughed, matching pace with me in the water, her forelegs folded behind her head while her tail lazily propelled her forward, "Hot gills, I like that."

We slogged for awhile, half an hour or so, until finally we came across a rocky outcropping with a ramp leading up to a surface dotted with hundreds of well made reed huts, a several story tall mushroom in the center, sea ponies sliding around on the unbelievably smooth surface and swimming in the surrounding waterway, going about their daily lives.

"What's with the mushroom?"

"It's the Grand Toadstool, She's our god."

I stared at her, smiling awkwardly, she held a straight face for several moments before busting up laughing, "I'm fucking with you, we just keep it around as a light source."

I let out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness, I thought we might've stumbled upon a village of nut cases."

Shimmer rolled her eyes and swam ahead of us, "You can stay at my place tonight, I'll show you the way out in the morning."

"Sounds great."

She led us up the ramp and through the "streets", occasionally stopping to chat with her fellow sea ponies.

A filly slid up to us, stopping right in Shaky's face and greeting her warmly, making her cringe, "Hi! I'm Ripple what's your name that's a really cool scar how'd you get it first time underground-" Shimmer slapped a foreleg over the fast talking filly's mouth.

"Sweetie, I know you're excited to meet someone your own age but you need to calm down, cuz you're freaking her out."

Ripple nodded and slid back a few steps, extending a hoof- a sea- a webbed- a seahoof? Yeah, seahoof, "Hi."

Shaky reached out and shook it gingerly, "Hi."

"What's your name?"

"Shaky."

"Nice to meet you Shaky, I'm Ripple, wanna go play?"

"Sure."

"Cool! Try and keep up, I move pretty quick!"

The young sea pony belly slid to the ramp and down to the water, Shaky looked at me questioningly, I smiled and nodded, she smiled back and galloped after her.

"Sweet kid," Shimmer said absently, "talks a bit too much though, just like her mother."

"Bah, it'll be good for Shakes to be around somepony with a bit more pep, Hex is the sweetest filly I know but she's awfully quiet."

"Hmmm, I guess."

She stopped at a hut and pushed the reed door aside, the inside was comprised of several shelves on the walls with various shells stacked on them and a bed sized pool in the middle of the floor. She slid past me, splashing into the water and sighing comfortably.

"Home sweet home."

"Cozy." I said, setting my gear aside and hopping in after her, wading over to her with a bit more hip sway than I usually sported, sliding up her frame and smiling seductively.

"Sorry, but a reed hut doesn't exactly have the sound proofing required for the type of recreation we have in mind."

"I just want to cuddle." I said quietly, gently running a hoof over her supple flesh.

She blushed slightly, I giggled and licked her nose, "You don't like cuddling?"

"No, cuddling's great, just uh-"

"What?"

She blushed brighter and wrapped her tail around one of my legs, "Having you this close is kinda, tempting..."

I giggled again and rubbed my head on her neck, "C'mon, I'm not even all that sexy, surely you can resist temptation and just hold me for awhile."

She smiled and wrapped her forelegs around me, lowering us down into the water, kissing me on the muzzle. I gave her an affectionate nuzzle in return, sliding my hooves down her side, pouting when I reached her back fins.

"I kinda wish you had an ass..." I muttered.

She chuckled and rubbed her tail between my flanks, wrapping the tip around the base of my tail and tugging gently, "I think you've got more than enough ass for the both of us."

"Hey!" I whined, "It's not that big."

"Oh yes it is! It's all big and muscular, like your ass ate another mare's ass, I love it!"

I pouted more, she giggled and kissed me, "I said I love it, don't be so self conscious, you're fucking drop dead sexy."

"Am not," I huffed, slumping against her, "I'm all scarred up and shit."

"So? Scars are hot."

"Are not."

"Are so." she countered. I huffed again, she propped my head up with a seahoof, "Seriously, stop being so self conscious, if I didn't think you were sexy I wouldn't have fucked you back in the garden and I wouldn't be cuddling with you now."

I sighed and rested my head on her chest, closing my eyes and letting her wrap me in a tight hug, listening to the faint trickle of the water, and the sound of her breathing mixed with the soft but steady rhythm of her heartbeat, completely relaxed.

"Hey," she whispered after awhile, "can we try something?"

"Sure," I mumbled tiredly, "what'd you have in mind?"

She kissed me, easing me backwards until we were both completely submerged. She didn't break away, even stopping me when I tried to go up for air. Her gills flared, and an air pocket filled my mouth, letting me inhale. I grinned around her lips and exhaled through my nose, sending tiny bubbles cascading over her face and to the surface.

We stayed there like that for ages, long enough for the skin under my coat to prune, finally interrupted by two fillies splashing into the water with us.

I popped back up to the surface, gasping sharply for air, scowling at Shaky and Ripple who sat across from us with smug grins slapped on their faces.

"You're fucking hilarious girls."

"We d-didn't interrupt anything did we?" Shaky asked, batting her eyelashes in innocence so fake I could almost smell the bullshit.

I snorted and climbed out, my legs wobbly, "I'm gonna go take a walk."

"I'll join you." Shimmer said, hopping out of the pool and sliding after me as I trotted out of the hut.

"So," I said absently, "show me around I guess."

"Not much to show I'm afraid, if you're up for a bit of a slog I could take you to see the falls at the edge of the cavern, there's this big drop off with gem clusters going down thousands of feet, really spectacular view."

"Sure, my legs could use a stretch."

"I wouldn't know."

"You've got forelegs, kinda."

"I think of them more like forefins, basically what their purpose is, and they don't get much of a workout so they never get sore."

She slid ahead of me and down the ramp, splashing into the waterway below.

"That looks fun."

"What, sliding? It's okay I guess, kinda lost the wonder after I mastered it."

I hopped slightly and went spread eagle, awkwardly landing with a soft grunt and sliding down the ramp and a totally pitiful speed, "Fuck..." I muttered.

Shimmer giggled and pecked me on the nose before darting off underwater, occasionally jumping to let me know where she was. I followed at an easy pace, climbing on fallen mushroom stalks along the way as a form of dry land, diligently watching for movement in the crystal clear water in case she decided to pounce me.

I whistled when I saw it, drop off had been a huge understatement, this was the fucking mouth of the world opening ahead of me. It was beautiful, clear blue water cascading in from all sides, mushrooms and gems dotted on the walls all the way down.

"Yeah," Shimmer said next to me as she guided me down into the water and to the edge, "it certainly is something."

We sat there at the edge for ages, admiring the wonder of nature, then for some reason a question started nagging in the back of my mind.

"Hey, before you said Ripple was your great granddaughter?"

"Yup."

"How old are you exactly?"

"Uhh, kinda lost track, seventy something I think."

"You're kidding."

"Nope, sea ponies can pretty much live indefinitely, eternal youth and a hardy constitution. Wasteland or heartbreak or a combination of the two usually takes us when our life partner dies though, I guess that makes me kinda lucky I haven't chosen anyone yet."

"I'm gonna be riding the immortality train myself, mind if I ask what it's like?"

She paused, thinking, "...I've given both of my daughters back to the sea, immortality has its perks, but I assure you that outliving the ones you love is not one of them."

I nodded thoughtfully, trying to think about what it would be like to outlive Stripe and Token and Shaky, either I couldn't or I didn't want to, and I just left it at that.

I glanced sideways at another wonder of nature, the mare next to me, sitting in shallow water with her tail curled under her as a kind of cushion, her smooth skin glistening, tiny droplets of water dripping from spine to spine on her dorsal fin, her long silver mane reflecting the fluorescent blue light shining off the mutated mushrooms dotting the cave... she was gorgeous, flawless in every way, and for whatever reason I had the sudden impulse to reach out and rest a hoof on her foreleg.

She looked at me with a hint of surprise, but smiled with genuine coyness when I turned to face her.

We leaned in, sharing a very tender kiss that had a lot more to it than just frivolous fooling around, breaking away hesitantly, both of us smiling bashfully with deep red blushes on our face.

I pulled her in again, resting my forehead on hers, our red and orange eyes locking through the thin veil of our wet manes, the two of us just smiling.

"Close your eyes." she whispered.

I nodded, she moved away from me for a moment, then a string was hung around my neck.

My heart nearly skipped a beat, "Is that what I think it is?"

"Depends," she whispered, pressing her nose back to mine, "what do you think it is?"

I gulped, "I think it's something you probably should save for-" She kissed me, just for a moment to shut me up, but it was passionate, and there was a spark deep in my mind that was reminiscent of what I felt when I was with Token, nowhere near as strong, but still there.

I opened my eyes as she broke away, glancing down at the tiny medallion now draped around my neck and back up to the gorgeous creature smiling fondly at me.

"Okay, I'll keep it."

"Do you-"

I shut her up this time, matching the kiss she had given me, feeling that spark yet again, breaking away and whispering to her, "We'll see."

She smiled again, starting to tear up, I frowned and wiped them away, "Something wrong?"

She shook her head and slumped against me, hugging me tight and wrapping her tail around my waist, "Will you make love to me?" she whispered.

"Thought I already did?"

"That was just sex, I'm asking if you'll make love to me, like, tender and shit instead of kinky."

I smiled and tilted her head to the side, kissing her up her neck and around her gills to her ear, then leaned her backwards into the water she was sitting in, "Sure."

***

I was pruning again, but I didn't care, I was resting comfortably in a shallow pool of pleasantly warm water, nestling against a beautiful mare with unbelievably supple skin.

She'd dozed of, and was now snoring quietly, snuggling against my chest with her tail wrapped around my waste, the tip absently rubbing my cutie mark. I had her held tight in an embrace, stroking the back of her head with a forehoof, levitating her medallion in front of my face, looking it over to pass the time.

"Wondering how I carved it?" she asked tiredly, peeking up at me through the tiny gaps in her mane.

"Yeah actually, the lack of a horn must've made it pretty difficult."

She chuckled and winked at me, "You've seen what I can do with my tail, working a carving knife was no problem."

"Ah, mystery solved. Speaking of your tail, it's been rubbing my ass while you slept."

She shrugged and nestled closer to me, "What can I say, it's got good taste."

I chuckled and pressed my nose to hers, brushing her mane away so we could lock eyes, "You have stunningly beautiful eyes, you know that?"

"Mmm, yours are really pretty too, I could just sit here staring all day."

"As much as I'd love to, I'm already pruned up, and I think we ought to get back, who knows what kind of sick debauchery Shaky and Ripple are up to in your hut."

She gasped, "You're right! The amount of sexual atrocities they could've committed in the time we were gone is boundless!"

I laughed and pulled her into a quick kiss before standing and shaking some of the water out of my coat, "I'll race you there."

"You're on!"

"Try to keep up hot gills!" I shouted behind me as I bounded from mushroom to mushroom back towards Mire.

Shimmer leapt through the air in front of me, pulling off several graceful front flips before diving back into the water with little more than a ripple on the surface.

At our set pace we reached Mire in mere minutes, she gracefully slid up the ramp on her belly, I aggressively leapt 15 feet in the air and over it, managing to tie with her.

"Shenanigans!" she shouted, "I demand a rematch!"

"Deal with it." I replied, pulling my goggles down and trotting past her.

We heard giggling as we approached Shimmer's hut, I peaked my head in the doorway with my usual grin, then blinked.

Ripple had one of my socks over her tail and was trying desperately to get out of it, Shaky was simply sitting in a corner laughing at the spectacle.

"One of your tail warmers got stuck on me and Shaky won't help me get it off!"

"It's a sock dear," I explained, trying to hold in giggles of my own as I used my magic to take it off her, "for your legs, not your tail."

"Well I tried that but they wouldn't fit over my fins."

I chuckled and pulled all my socks back on, then donned my panties, giving my ass a little shake so they'd fit properly. Shaky facehoofed and shook her head.

"What?"

"You look like you're ab-bout to go solicit sex at a dubt-trot club."

"Hey, the socks keep my legs warm and the panties keep my snatch out of plain view, I don't get how not being naked is considered indecent."

"It just is."

"So, nopony can see my downstairs, and that makes me look like a whore, but I can look at you and plainly see yours without a second glance and that makes you look totally decent?"

"You cannot!" she shouted.

I nodded, Shimmer nodded next to me, Ripple, in what I assumed was a completely innocent gesture, swam over to the edge of the pool Shaky was sitting near and peered between her legs, "I can see it really clearly from right here."

Shaky went bright red and wormed her tail between her legs, covering herself. Shimmer and I laughed, Ripple just looked at her with genuine confusion.

***

Shaky was asleep, nestled next to me under the blanket, I was at the edge of the pool, my forehead pressed to Shimmer's, occasionally sharing a kiss or whispering sweet nothings to her.

We didn't sleep that night, just stayed there doing the same thing until morning. It was nice, but something in my brain kept nagging me that this was wrong. I'd had sex with plenty of mares, but she was the only one that ever made me feel like Token did, and oddly enough this was the only time I had ever felt like I'd legitimately cheated on Token.

It felt like an affair almost, not quite the same considering fidelity was basically obsolete in our current time but still, it made me feel bad, treacherous, deceitful, and all the other adjectives I could think of to describe a lying bad pony such as myself.

Token wouldn't care though, she was open minded, and she'd made it plain in the past that she didn't mind sharing me, as long as at the end of the day she knew was still the mare that had me, and would always have me.

And she was, Token had my heart... nearly all of it. Shimmer had just whittled away a microscopic piece to keep for herself, sorta like Stripe had.

***

Goodbyes were somewhat difficult, Shaky and Ripple parted hesitantly, both saying goodbye to the first friend they'd made in ages, Shimmer and I had a bit more complicated set of emotions to sift through though.

"You promise you'll come and visit when you get the chance?" Her eyes were teary, pleading.

I nodded, kissing her before pulling her into a tight embrace, "I promise. We'll be at the ocean in a few months, think there's any way you could meet me there?"

"Of course, there's a few waterways I can take and be right there."

"Okay, goodbye I guess."

"Goodbye." she said quietly.

I patted her on the back and broke away hesitantly, turning around to follow Shaky who was already ascending the long path to the surface. I didn't make it far before turning back and galloping to my new lover, giving her a long and passionate farewell kiss.

"I love you." I whispered in her ear as I broke away.

"I love you too." she replied quietly as I trotted back up the path.

"Token's gonna b-be p-p-pissed." Shaky said absently when I caught up with her.

"Why's that?"

"You just told Shimmer you love her."

"How'd you even hear that?"

"I didn't, b-but the way you two were acting yesterd-day and the way you just galloped b-back like that m-m-made it pretty obvious."

"Well- what makes you think I'll tell Token?"

The filly snorted, "B-because you're an idiot and you tell her everything."

I stopped and frowned, "Oh yeah..."

***

The zebra tribe on the surface was surprised to see us but welcomed us all the sane, I was surprised myself when a certain blue pony squealed and barreled into me at top speed and commenced a nuzzling the likes of which I'd never been subjected to.

Shaky received similar treatment from Hex, but was a bit too solid to let the gaunt filly knock her over. For once she wasn't trying to push her away, instead she hugged right back, even returning a few nuzzles.

"Where the hell have you been?" Token asked.

"Long story, I'll tell you about it later. Right now I think we need to talk about something I remembered..."

Footnote: Level Up!
New perk: Toughness(2)

Author's note: This chapter is SOOOO GAAAAAAAAY!!!!
I'm happy with how it turned out, but pissed at myself for flying so wildly off course with what I had planned. The sea pony encounter was planned, then I got to thinkin' "Hmmm, Bandage would most likely fuck one." so that whole shpeal with Shimmer went down, then my inner romantic went haywire and now I'm left with this. For anyone that gives a shit, sorry for the long wait and really sorry that you're going to have to wait even longer for chapter 11 and all that Lonesome Road goodness you were expecting in 10. I'm going on a short hiatus to work on something new for awhile, be back to writing the Divide in a couple of weeks.

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Token was furious, I was furious, nobody else on the team had any fucking idea what the hell we were talking about.

I explained to her what I had remembered, how Rector had fucked us over and violated our memories. We were ranting, raving, plotting sick schemes of vengeance that would likely never be played out.

We gradually slowed the pace, until it was night and we were both too mentally exhausted to think of anything else.

Everyone woke up bright and early the next day, the local tribe we'd spent the night with was kind enough to replace half the supplies we lost in the flood in exchange for BB's... romantic services.

We'd made it through the Badlands, which hadn't been all that bad really, now we were on our way to Manechester, walking through a narrow pass, stopping dead when Kimba did.

"What's up?" I asked quietly, trotting up beside her.

She nodded ahead, lots of wreckage piled in our way, nothing we couldn't climb over, "What, the scrap?"

She shook her head and pointed up, at the top of the canyon, secured to the walls by 4 chains was a skeleton, taken apart and put back together in a disturbingly intricate design.

I whistled, "What do you figure that's for?"

Stripe snorted, "Keep out sign."

I prepped my pistols, pressing them to my armored forelegs, letting it encase them in makeshift holsters, then walking ahead of my friends, "It almost worked."

***

We walked over, through and around heaps of twisted metal for hours, until finally the pass opened up onto a cliff face overlooking what could quite possibly be hell itself.

Manechester, once the crown jewel of traditional hoofball, had sunk thousands of feet below sea level. We could only see the top, a few scattered, decrepit sky scrapers and massive fallen radio towers, all lying atop mountains that had erupted up through the city and torn it to shreds. There were canyons in between, a long, wide, winding path leading to the ocean that was so far in the distance it may as well have been a puddle of salt water. That was the path we'd be walking, for four long months, a crumbling and lonesome road.

"Well," I said dryly, "I for one am excited to get down there and explore, how about you guys?"

"Shut up pony." Rawr grumbled, brushing past us to walk down the path to the right.

Stripe emerged from the wreckage last, whistling when he saw the expanse before us, "Damn, this must've been the epicenter of the Balefire Quakes."

"It certainly saw the worst of it." Kimba said quietly.

"Ah shoulda stayed in the village with all the horny zebras..." BB grumbled.

Shaky sighed, "We should've stayed with the sea p-ponies."

"Agreed."

"What sea ponies?" Hex asked.

Shaky and I both snorted and followed Rawr, who was working with Adze to pry open a blast grade bulkhead. Stripe and I ran up to help, working our hooves between the several inches they'd managed to pull apart and using all of our considerable combined strength to heave the heavy metal open.

Token helped us the last few inches with her magic, I held it open with mine so everyone could get through before diving in myself, the bulkhead slamming shut with a resounding boom behind me, disturbing the layers of dust that had settled in the room.

It was a large room, several doors leading to several different corridors, the most interesting aspect was the window on the far side, showcasing a massive rocket, tipped with a leaking balefire warhead, blue fire arching here and there, licking at and slowly melting away the thick metal walls of the silo.

"How not good is this Stripe?"

"Really not good."

"Scale of one to ten?"

"Ten being the worst?"

"Yeah."

"Twenty two and a half." he said dryly, "Judging from the scorching on the walls this thing just recently went to shit, but it's eating through the fuel tanks on that rocket pretty fuckin' quick."

"Meaning?"

"The fuel itself ain't enough to even destroy that silo, but if the rocket is destroyed it could send the warhead flying to the floor and crack the case more, which would basically unleash a balefire storm."

"A what?"

"Big blue swirling ball of unholy fuckness that would fill this entire facility and send us to hell."

"Damn."

"Yeah, I'd recommend we find an exit, like now."

"Good thinking, everyone split up, take a different corridor and see if we can't find an ex-" A big floating orb hit me in the face, knocking me on my ass, then it hovered just above me, a fucking robot.

Everyone's guns clicked at once, the safeties switching off, the energy weapons humming to life, then a tinny mare's voice from inside started pleading, "Vait don't shoot! I've only got a few of tese tings and te message is important!"

I nodded, everyone lowered their weapons apprehensively, except for me of course, who still had both pistols pressed to its undercarriage.

"Explain."

"I need you to destroy tis facility."

I blinked, "Say again?"

"You need to crumble te support, bury tis facility, ottervise te blast vill take down tis whole mountain and bury myself and my troops in te location ve're hunkered down in."

Adze snorted, "Sounds like your problem."

"If it's any incentive, you won't be able to get off te mountain in time to escape."

"Three of us have wings."

There was a long pause before he responded, then the facility's alarms started blaring, "I've just activated te missile defence systems and have my team monitoring and controlling tem, if you try and fly avay before te job is done, ve vill blast you out of te sky."

"...Well shit."

"I'd hoped to remain civil, but you left me no choice, te lives of my team are paramount to your own. Knock out tis facility and you'll be free to leave. I'll be monitoring you if you have any questions... or try anyting funny. Good day."

"Well..." I muttered, "Thoughts, ideas, comments?"

Stripe tapped his head for a moment and clicked his tongue, "BB could fly Hex outside and they could lace the cliff face with C4 while the rest of us move to a safe distance, kid knows explosives and I can walk BB through where to place 'em."

"Hex?"

"I'm game."

BB nodded, "Me too."

"Okay, let's get that door open and you two can get to work."

The robot clicked and the bulkhead grinded open, "See?" the tinny voice said, "Cooperation."

"Whatever... Alright, the rest of us need to haul ass through this place to the other side and get to the minimum safe distance."

"I should warn you that automated security has been activated and I have no way of shutting it down."

"Great, Beta?"

"Apologies ma'am, the time it would take me to hack into this facility's defences remotely is far greater than the time it will take the warhead leak to destroy the rocket. You're better off fighting your way through."

"Lovely, what're we looking at?"

"Standard megaspell protection outfit, mark three sentry bots and mark four turrets."

"Well then, shall we get to work then folks?"

"Stop wastin' time tryin' t' be cliche asshole pony," Rawr growled, prying open a door like a tin can and stepping through, "we got shit t' do."

***

"How's it going Hex?"

"It's uh, really high..."

"She's doin' fine boss, just needs t' listen when Ah tell 'er not t' look down."

"It's hard not to, we're a long way up."

"Psh, Ah'll show ya a long way up when we're done with this business."

"Be nice, she's never flown before."

"Ah'm bein' perfectly nice, ain't Ah Hex?"

"Please stop talking, this is delicate work and I need to focus. I'll call you when I'm done Bandage."

"Okay, be safe."

Token nudged me, "Didn't feel like telling them eh?"

"Yeah..." I muttered, staring at the gaping, melted hole in the hallway ahead of us, more specifically the huge radioactive spouts of blue fire pouring in. Thankfully it had completely destroyed all the sentries when they came out to greet us.

"Could we j-just run through really quick or somethin'?"

"Bad idea," Stripe said, "you'd basically just be incinerated, and if you survived you'd probably go ghouly from the fuck load of radiation."

"Any other ideas?"

He sighed and looked around the hallway, "We could find an alternate route."

"But?"

"But, that would take a awhile, and judgin' from how much that leak's progressed, we ain't got that kind of time."

"Other ideas?"

"We could go through the wall into the next hallway, the radiation would still be there but not intense enough to, ya know, torch us."

"So, blow the wall, pop some Rad-X and run like hell?"

"In theory it could work."

"Better than nothing."

Rawr grunted and stepped over to the wall, clawing through it easily and prying it open with Adze's help. I passed out the Rad-X pills and stepped through the hole first, wincing at the sound of crunching bone under my hooves. The hallway was full of skeletons, pony and zebra, wrecked chunks of robots, a few destroyed turrets, and lots of ruined armor from both sides.

"It's clear."

My friends followed me in, stepping lively, Shaky would occasionally stop to pull scraps of armor from the pile, other than that we were moving as quickly as possible. Token's PipBuck came to life, the gieger counter clicking wildly.

"Nine rads per second, we should probably move."

We all nodded, sprinting the rest of the way, slowing to a run when the ticking subsided, stopping completely when the building lurched and slammed us all into the far wall.

"Um, Bandage? You guys might want to get out of there, one of the charges just went off prematurely."

"Fuck." I groaned loudly, planting my hooves awkwardly on the wall that was now the floor, making my way to the exit. We moved quickly, hopping over supply closet doors and emergency lights, then climbed up through the exit out onto the crumbling cliffs on the far side of the building.

"Okay Hex we're clear, blow the rest of the charges."

No response, but we spotted BB and Hex flying off just before the cliff face under the building exploded out into massive chunks of splintered stone, sending the silo falling into a seemingly infinite gorge at the bottom of the canyon.

Several seconds later there was an explosion, even at this distance it was the loudest I'd ever heard, a huge gout of blue flame followed it, billowing out of the gorge, reaching about 500 feet in the air before subsiding back into the depths.

The sprite bot with us hummed again, "Excellent vork, te defenses have been shut down, I'd ask tat you follow tis contraption to my location so I can tank you in person."

***

We followed the little round robot for hours, weaving down a path in the cliff face and squeezing through tight passages, emerging down below, in Manechester. There was an intact facility amidst the wreckage of old world buildings, with a large black banner draped over the face, a dozen or so very well armed earth ponies guarding the entrance behind sandbags and deployable cover, and a few pegasi on the roof looking down on us. All of them wore full black riot armor, perfectly uniform, and they all had weapons that looked brand new, factory made brand new.

Assault carbine battle saddles for all the earth ponies, the pegasi were all sporting sniper rifle battle saddles and flare guns strapped to their forelegs, and the unicorn buck looking over the troops had a magical energy shotgun slung over his back and a rapier sheathed on his flank loop.

"Paragons," Stripe grumbled, "it had to be fucking Paragons..."

"Who?"

"Assholes from the Blasted Lands, they're unicorn supremacists, but they use other pony races and zebras as soldiers and workers. They 'assimilated' hundreds of tribes up north, have a force that could crush the Union and the Trinity and still probably have enough to go stomp Red Eye into the dust over in Fillydelphia when they're done with those two."

"What do you think they're doing here?"

"Hell if I know, they've got more military factories under their control on their own turf than we could ever hope for down here, lot better condition too. Could be scrounging old tech, they do that like the Steel Rangers, 'cept they actually use it."

"Right... Any thoughts?"

"Yeah, be ready for a fight if shit hits the fan, these guys don't mess around."

"We better hang back Stripe," Adze said, "don't want 'em recognizing us as Walkers, could get nasty."

"Good point, call me if things go south boss."

"Will do, let's go guys."

We all moved up, minus our power armored gunners. The girls stuck close to Rawr, BB and Kimba flanked Token and I. One of the soldiers called something out to the unicorn as we approached, who nodded and stepped forward to meet us.

He took his helmet off, revealing a neatly cropped mane, "Te Marquise is expecting you," he said, his voice gruff and his accent thick and strange, "follow me, and please keep your veapons holstered, you're being vatched."

I nodded, he snorted and led us to the doorway, opening it and waving us through. The inside was oddly clean, very large, lots of terminals with ponies in lightly armored jumpsuits working diligently. In the center of the room looking over a central terminal was a unicorn mare, incredibly beautiful, tall and slender frame, pearly white coat, long and expertly styled fuchsia mane.

She was wearing riot armor, like the ponies outside, but hers was white, with ornate gold trim, and white robes stitched on in certain places.

"Marquise," the unicorn leading us said respectfully, "your guests are here."

She looked back at us, her green eyes glancing us over quickly, then smiled, "Excellent, tank you Defender, you may return to your men."

The soldier bowed politely and went back outside.

"Excellent to meet you in person," she said with that same odd accent, still smiling, "my apologies for te... forced tone of our previous engagement."

"You mean when you took us hostage?"

She winced at the word, "Hostage is such an uncout vay to put it, I merely used leverage to convince you to do te right ting."

"Right." I said dryly.

"You know," she said as she approached us, "you're a velcome sight in tese hostile lands, a strong, pure unicorn mare, leading a united collection of our fellow equines."

She swayed off and looked at Hex in particular, "Hello little one." she extended a hoof, Rawr growled and put a protective claw in front of Hex.

"Touch her and die pony."

She recoiled, even taking a few steps back, "Hell Hounds, always so ferocious, no civility, I see why Sentinel Aegis has you mutts executed on sight."

Rawr's growl deepened, I rested a hoof on his side, shaking my head when he glanced at me, he nodded and backed down, the offending unicorn gave me an impressed smile, "Keep your mongrel on a short chain eh? I like tat."

"You really ought to stop insulting him." I warned, though secretly hoping she'd keep it up.

She continued to smile and strolled away from us, "I'd like to speak vit you in private miss."

I glanced at Token, she shrugged, I sighed and nodded, reluctantly following Marquise.

She led me up several flights of stairs on the far side of the large room, stopping to return salutes from various soldiers along the way.

"My apologies for te long climb, te Specialists still haven't got te elevator in vorking order."

"I don't mind."

She snorted, "Tis sort of vorkout hardly befits te highest race, don't you agree?"

I didn't answer, just kept climbing the steps, I'd failed to realize the sheer size of the facility, and the amount of troops they'd brought with them. Three floors, just as large as the first, were dedicated to barracks, earth ponies on the lowest, pegasi on the next, and the last a sort of officer's quarters where the unicorns slept. We went further up, reaching a smaller, but much more organized and tidy room, with a comfortable queen sized bed instead of a basic cot, and a desk on the far side with a black banner hanging on the wall behind it. It was a penthouse, looking out over Manechester.

"It's not much," she sighed, "but it's home, for te time being."

"So Marquise, what is it you wanted to talk about?"

She chuckled and trotted to the fridge, pulling out a couple Sparkle Colas with her white magical field, "Please, call me Deacon."

I cocked an eyebrow, "That soldier called you Marquise."

She chuckled again and passed me a beverage, I took it hesitantly and cracked it open, tossing the bottle cap in my saddlebags.

"Marquise is my title," she explained, "I'm a member of my nation's aristocracy."

I snorted and took a sip, "I'd bow, but I'm a free agent, loyalty to the highest bidder and all that shit."

"Ah, a mercenary. I have a great deal of respect for your profession."

"Do tell."

"Being a part of a nation comes wit rules of course, but a citizen sacrifices a modicum of teir free vill in exchange for a great deal of protection. A free agent such as yourself has no one to back tem up."

I nodded, taking another sip, "So can we get down to business? I don't like dealing with slavers."

She recoiled at the word, looking utterly offended, "Miss, we are not slavers, we do not force our fellow equines into anyting, tey choose to give up teir freedom, to become a part of someting far greater tan temselves."

I rolled my eyes, "And now you're going to tell me about your people's plan to revive Equestria right?"

She scoffed, "Revive? Please, Equestria is dead and gone, and for good reason. Do you know te story of how Equestria vas founded? Peasants, warriors and nobles squabbling over vhat belonged to who, my country never had tis problem. Te pegasi and te eart ponies knew teir place, and ve vere unified by our roles, not torn apart. Ve carved a prosperous empire out of the far Nort vhile Equestria vas still shitting its diapers, long before tose abominations you call princesses came into being. And even during te Great Var ve trived, ve stayed neutral, trading to bote sides, and ve vere revarded vit terrible veapons raining down on our innocents, turning our empire into a frozen, decrepit land. And still, ve succeed!"

She approached me, her eyes angry, "Ve emerged from our bunkers, twenty-four tousand ponies packed into six stables, each keeping its races' genetics pure and its ponies avare of teir roles. And one hundred tousand strong ve retook our homeland from filty squatters, forging a new empire from te soiled lands of fire eaters and snake charmers, turning two hundred and twelve squabbling tribes into a unified and powerful army te likes of vhich te new vorld has ever seen before! Ve have built cities, an air force, a navy, and enough veapon factories to supply and protect tem all, vhile te most Equestrians have done is erect a few pitiful hovels, mere shadows of vhat teir 'nation' used to be vhile half of your numbers fled to te clouds. Revive Equestria? No, crush te maggots crawling on its corpse, give it a proper burial, build a nation far more powerful tan te old vorld could've ever hoped for on te clear foundation left after var and rebuild the vorld te right vay, te unicorn vay, te Paragon vay!!!"

She was panting now, small beads of sweat on her forehead, I sat unimpressed, taking another sip of cola, "Nice outburst," I said dryly, "really drove your philosophy home, mind getting to the point though? I've only got a few months to reach the coast before my boat leaves and you're holding me up."

She coughed, collecting herself and trotting around to sit at her desk, "I vould like to offer you a position in our army, ve have many informants, and all of tem have told us you have a great deal of skill, Bandage, and ve can use tat." I stared at her flatly, she coughed again before continuing, "You'd be a valuable asset, and tat value vould be vell revarded, you could be a Sentinel, with time Her Highness may even grant you a lesser lordship, and believe me, nobility has many, many, perks."

"I can tell, out here in the ass end of nowhere, real great perk."

"I'm here to cull te undead filt from Manechester, salvage te ancient technologies buried here and turn tis city into a functioning naval outpost, it is a great honor to be te emissary of Her Highness Queen Essence, an honor tat vill most likely result in a generous promotion."

I snorted, she shook her head impatiently and trotting around behind me, resting her hooves on my shoulders and whispering in my ear, "You could command your own regiment, lead tem into battle against our enemies and crush tem into te dust. Earn a title like I did, you'd have power, wealt..." she paused for a moment, kissing my neck, sending an uncomfortable shiver down my spine, "mares. Your heart's desire vell vitin your reach, and all for agreeing to serve your fellow equines, not a bad deal, eh?"

"All for the price of betraying my friends..."

"Not te unicorns, not your lover, and te little one, Token vould be taken care of as te bride of a noblemare, and Hex vould go into officer's training, emerge in several years as a Defender, in time and vith both of our good vord follow in your hoofsteps as an accomplished Sentinel, even a noble. And you could formally adopt your 'daughter', your fellow nobles may find it amusing, a powerful aristocrat caring for a peasant eart pony, very droll indeed. Not to mention I could use you... vork my vay up in status, become Duchess Deacon, who brought Marquise Bandage up into nobility, and after tat..."

She kissed me again, that same unsettling feeling shooting through me, "Te trone, ve vork togetter, overtrow te Queen, I'd be te new monarch and you'd be my right hoof mare, power beyond te likes of vhich you vill ever know, High Commander Bandage, leader of all te Paragon's armies... Has a nice ring to it, does it not?"

I paused, thinking of how ridiculous this all was... and at the same time, about how good it all sounded.

"...Token would be taken care of?"

"Yes."

"And Hex, and Shaky?"

She kissed my neck again, it felt... better, "Of course."

"And in time, I'd lead all of your armies?"

"Te unparalleled and undisputed varlord, second only to me."

"And we'd be helping ponies?"

"Building cities, farms, schools, bringing our vorld into a new golden age, togetter."

"...And my other friends? Rawr and Adze, Kimba, Blood Bolt, Stripe?"

She snorted between gentle nibbles on my neck, "Te dog? Collared if you vish, seems loyal, could be a decent bodyguard. Te pegasus vould be an excellent addition to our special forces division. Te zebra can return to her tribe. Te hybrid and te bird can go back to te Valkers. I know you vouldn't be asking tese tings if you veren't at least considering my offer..."

I sighed as she bit my neck, smiling and leaning my head against hers, letting her put her hooves around my waist, "It's... tempting."

"Perhaps tere's someting I could do to sveeten te deal? Svay you completely?"

"You're doing a damn good job of it right now... it just- it seems wrong, pushing the other races down."

"It's vhat makes society vork, true harmony, by vay of keeping everypony in tere rightful place."

I paused at that, brushing away the cloud in my judgement, everypony. "What about zebras?"

She scoffed, "Lesser tan eart ponies, but tey serve all te same."

Slavers, I'd formed a natural dislike of slavers since I emerged from my stable and nearly been made a 'fuck puppet'.

"...So, you enslave zebras?"

"Of course not, te only slaves ve have are tose equines vit defects or tose tat are deemed too rebellious for armed service."

I paused longer, thinking, I didn't like slavery, but honestly I could live with it, all that power for me was well worth sacrificing the freedoms of some ponies and zebras I didn't know. Then I thought of Token, and what she'd think... Token was good, and if I sided with tyrants like this, she'd hate me, or worse, she'd be ashamed of me...

I grunted and shrugged her off, trotting past her to the stairwell, "No deal."

"Vhy not?!"

"Because it's wrong."

"Wrong?! To put te defects of society to vork in te name of te progression of all equine kind?!"

"Yes."

She stopped me and turned me around, "You're trowing avay an opportunity at nigh infinite power, because it disagrees vit your moral code?"

I frowned, shrugging her hooves off me, "Not mine, but somepony's who opinion of me matters more than all the power in the universe."

"You're an enemy now Bandage, tis place is neutral, ve'll let you leave, but encounter any of our platoons in Manechester..." she glared, her tone dropping, "tey'll not hesitate to kill you."

"Good for them." I said snidely, turning to leave.

She stopped me again, pulling me into a kiss that was really, really nice, carnal and angry, breaking away with a much softer glare possessing her eyes, "Should you ever reconsider my offer, tis facility vill remain neutral to you and your party, you can come and negotiate vit me."

"Come and negotiate?" I said with a super deadly 5x shit eating grin combo, "My my, the Paragons certainly treat their guests well."

She snorted, I turned around again, she stopped me one last time, wrapping a foreleg around my neck and whispering in my ear, "I vould have ravaged you."

I chuckled and kissed her on the cheek, "I'm sure, unfortunately we're going to be at each others throats until one of us kicks the bucket."

"...Tat doesn't mean ve can't be, partners."

I laughed, smacking her hoof away and descending the stairs, "Now I know I have to go, you're way too naughty for me."

"How'd it go?" Token asked when I finally got back downstairs.

"I turned down a very powerful spot in the glorious Paragon army and sex with a crazy chick, and on that note I'd really like to leave now."

"Is sex with an angry chick good or?"

"You tell me," I said, brushing past her, "I was fucking for two for awhile there remember?"

"Oh yeah, I didn't really notice too much of a difference, afterwards though..." she trailed off, smiling to herself, "Damn..."

***

I scanned the area again, looking for silhouettes in the darkness, whether they be Marked Ones, a Paragon hit squad, or the Marquise herself, wearing lacey white lingerie, coming to subjugate me to the justice of her warm, moist- focus Bandage, no drifting off into wet dreams while you're on watch.

A hoof poked me, I jumped, pressing my knife to the neck of- Hex, just Hex, looking at me with her head cocked. I sighed and sheathed my knife back in my shoulder armor, "Shouldn't sneak up on me like that kiddo."

"Sorry, thought you could use some company since you took all night watch."

"Yeah, being the only one with a night vision visor kinda blows sometimes."

She nodded and crawled up into my lap, "See anything?"

I nodded when I spotted a ghoul patrolling an old roof in the distance and shouldered Victory, then stopped myself and pulled away from the scope.

"Hey, wanna learn how to snipe?"

"Sure."

I picked her up, cradling her in my foreleg and setting the rifle in the right position for her, "Okay, flip that switch on the scope to activate the night vision, then find him in the sights."

She nodded, flipping the switch and peering through the scope, frowning immediately, "I can't see anything."

I chuckled and brushed her mane out of her eye, making her blush awkwardly, "Oh..."

She paused, peering through the scope again, "Okay I see him."

"Alright, the range finder on my E.F.S says he's one kilometer away, which is a little over a thousand yards, so you need to center him in the scope and then aim up one hash mark."

"O-kay... got it."

"Wait for him to stand still, take a deep breath and hold it in, then gently squeeze the trigger with your magic, and then you can breathe out."

She nodded and moved the rifle slightly, taking a nearly silent deep breath and wrapping the trigger in her magic.

A suppressed percussion and an exploded ghoul head later she exhaled, smiling at me brightly. I grinned back and tousled her mane, "Nice shooting Hex."

"Thanks... Can I shoot something else?"

"Sure. Go on back to bed, if something comes around I'll let you know."

"Nah, I'll sit up here with you."

"But what if some sniper starts taking pot shots and you get hit?"

She turned around and grinned up at me, pressing her nose to my visor, fogging it up with her breath, "Then you can revive me, mouth to mouth maybe?"

I laughed and pushed her away gently, taking my goggles out of my bag and resting them on her head, "I didn't blush, but you're getting an a for effort on that one my young friend."

She nodded smugly and sat back down in my lap, and there we stayed, like that, for hours. Finally she started shivering, throwing her hood up and nestling closer to me. I let my armor form back into a pack, then held her to my chest and wrapped us both in a blanket.

"Thanks." she said quietly.

"No problem, try and get fresh with those wondering hooves though and we're gonna have a problem."

"No promises... that's a pretty necklace by the way, where'd you get it?"

"A uh- a very dear friend gave it too me."

"When?"

"Um, about a week ago."

"...was she a sea pony?"

"Uh-"

"I heard you and Shaky talking about them, and I've read about them before. I thought they only gave those to their special someponies?"

"They uh- they do."

"Oh... guess that's why you haven't told Token yet huh?"

I sighed and rested my chin on her head, "I don't know how she'll take it, and I couldn't stand it if it breaks her heart."

"She's open minded, and she loves you, explain it to her and she'll understand."

"Yeah."

"...so, what's her name?"

"Shimmer," I replied, smiling slightly at her mention, "her name's Shimmer."

"Is she hot?"

"Totally," I chuckled, "and there's the great thing she can do with her tail..."

I couldn't see her blush but I felt her get warm almost immediately, "Oh my..."

"Yeah, it's fantastic, all long and thick and flexible..."

"I think I'm gonna go to bed." she said very nervously and hastily, getting up and climbing down the scrap tower I was posted on.

I chuckled again and wrapped the blanket tighter around myself, slowly drifting off.

~~~

I was getting overwhelmed, I may have been stronger and better at fighting than all of them, but 5 older colts were proving a bit too much for me.

Zest's big hoof hit me square in the nose, slamming me into the far wall and knocking the wind out of me. The rest trotted over and pummeled the hell out of me while I was down, forcing me into the fetal position.

I couldn't even defend myself, just lay there and let the hooves rain down while my bruised face got progressively bloodier. Token, the reason for the fight, was trying to pull Zest away, yelling at him to stop while tears spilled down her face.

Somepony else was shouting, but they continued, and suddenly Token was pulled away and Zest was thrown clear down the hall.

Yellow hooves started flying, smashing into the colts's faces, sending them sprawling across the floor. I was barely conscious, but I still had the energy and coherence to grin at Riot, the black maned filly that had taught me fight.

She was 15, only a couple years older than me, but she was good, elite Security training combined with a natural urge to beat up on ponies made her uniquely formidable. Her namesake was obvious, it fit her future job, Riot Control, the guys that got to beat down angry crowds, more of a threat than anything, hadn't been an actual riot in half a century.

She grinned back and helped me to my hooves, "What have I told you about fighting Band-aid?"

"Only do it if I've got a good reason to."

"I also told you not to bite off more than you can chew."

Token ran up and hugged me, then punched me in the shoulder, "The fuck's wrong with you?! Taking on five boys twice your size, you insane?!"

"They were picking on you." I mumbled dumbly, trying my best to shake off a concussion. Riot shook her head and hefted me onto her back.

"C'mon, let's get you to the infirmary."

I grumbled quietly, Token scowled at me as we went along, I just smiled, making her frown more, "You're missing a tooth, we're not going to be able to hide this from your mum."

"Bah," Riot said dismissively, levitating out a cigarette and lighting it, "I've had my horn broken off before, Syringe has spells to make bone grow back."

"You got beat up so bad..." Token said quietly when we reached the elevator.

"Good thing I came when I did, could've gotten a lot worse."

"How?"

"Five colts ganging up on a filly that's too beaten to defend herself, what do you think?"

Token gasped, "They wouldn't! They're assholes but they're not rapists."

"Not on their own, but I got taught about this thing called mob mentality, when you're in a group you do things differently. A mare got raped twenty years ago in basically the same circumstance."

"Goddesses..."

Syringe sighed when we entered the clinic, "Set her down over there, and put out that cigarette young lady."

Riot nodded, extinguishing her cigarette with her tongue and easing me onto a bed, Syringe trotted over with a ophthalmoscope and started examining my eyes while he gave me the standard 'concussion quiz', "What's your name?"

"Bandage."

"What day of the week is it?"

"Tuesday."

"Who's the current Overmare?"

"Topaz."

"Okay, done, your eyes look fine and you answered all the stupid questions right, I don't think you're concussed but you ought to take it easy. Now open up so I can fix that tooth."

I nodded and opened my mouth wide, Syringe just sighed again, "Make that teeth..."

~~~

Riot chuckled drunkly and leaned against me. She, Token and a few other Security mares had been getting progressively smashed during Token's 18th birthday, impressive considering Riot was notorious for her ability to hold liquor.

Token was the one making her chuckle, dancing in the middle of the bar in the most ridiculous way anypony had ever seen, doing her best not to fall over into her other friends.

"She's so bad." Riot snickered.

"Go easy on her, she's never been drunk before." Token laughed, falling over and taking three other mares with her, I snorted, "She is pretty bad though."

Somepony slid into the booth next to me and kissed my cheek, I grinned at Hops and gave him one back, missing my mark completely and planting it on his lips.

"Sorry," I muttered quietly, "drunk."

He smiled and pressed his nose to mine, "I noticed."

Riot wrapped a foreleg around my neck and pulled me to her, licking me on the cheek, "Back off Casanova, this one's mine."

He laughed and got up, refilling my scotch and giving Riot another bottle of beer before walking back to the bar.

"I think he likes you."

"Duh," I said between sips, "not like it matters though, he's infertile and I'm banned from the brothel."

She giggled softly and nibbled on my ear, "I like you too Band-aid."

"Shut up," I chuckled, shrugging her off, "I get enough gay jokes from Token."

"...who's joking?"

I blinked, turning to face her, met by Riot falling forward drunkly and accidentally pressing her lips to mine, making both our eyes shoot wide open, "Sorry," she muttered, pulling back and wiping her lips, "drunk..."

I opened my mouth to say something but Token collapsed into the booth beside me, "Partying hard over here eh?"

"You could say that..."

"Do it again."

"Huh?"

"I'm the birthday girl, and I want to see you kiss again, so do it."

"Token-"

"Okay!" Riot said eagerly, turning me around and grinning mischievously before repeating her mistake, though with a lot more gumption.

I made a show of gagging and belting down my scotch when she broke away, she laughed and shoved me, "Wasn't that bad, big baby."

"You taste like shitty booze."

"Hey!" Hops shouted from the bar.

"Sorry!"

"Insult her, not my hooch dammit!"

"Um, your kissing lacks finesse."

"Oh wow," she said, laying her ears back and pretending to look hurt, "too mean Band-aid."

I stuck my tongue out, she leaned forward and licked it, legitimately making me gag, which made my two friends laugh uncontrollably.

I got up, dragging Token behind me, "C'mon, let's go home."

~~~

Riot ducked my punch and pivoted on her front legs, sweeping mine out from under me, knocking me to the floor, then leapt backwards on top of me, pinning my head to the mat with a foreleg.

"Twenty six moves," she complimented, helping me to my hooves, "you're getting better."

"Still getting my ass kicked." I grumbled.

"You're a doctor, I'm chief of Security and head Riot Control officer, bound to be some ass kicking taken on your part."

I sighed, "At least I'm good enough to throw Zest and his friends all up and down 80."

"Yeah... hey it's three o'clock, shouldn't you get back to Toky?"

"I came down here to get away from Token, all the crying is stressing me out."

"Her mom died last month, she's supposed to be crying, and you're supposed to be giving her lots of support and hugs and gallon jugs of ice cream."

I snorted, "A month of mourning is a bit excessive considering her relationship with her mother, I guarantee in the last thirteen years my mum did more of the raising than either of her parents ever did."

"Not the point Band-aid, she's your besty, she's upset, and she needs you, so get your happy ass down to your apartment."

I sighed and nodded, "One more match?"

She smirked, "Still not tired of getting your ass kicked?"

I just smiled back and shrugged my shoulders.

***

I snapped awake, throwing myself backwards down the slope when a rifle round whizzed past my head, my armor encasing me while I rolled into camp.

Everyone else jumped awake when I crashed through the campfire, grabbing their weapons and diving behind cover.

"What's with the rude awakening boss?"

"Sniper."

Stripe grumbled, his armor loading fresh magazines into his machine guns, "It's too early for this shit."

I snorted and clambered back up the scrap heap, "Stay low guys, I need to grab my rifle."

"Careful babe."

I reached the top and pulled my bags and weapons to me, yelping when something hit me square in the visor, popping my shields and throwing me back down.

I screwed my eyes up, looking at the red hot .50 calibre AM round lodged a few millimeters from my nose directly in the center of my cracked visor, which was working to repair itself and push the offending object out.

The glass flexed, popping the metal out and sending it to the fractured concrete with a ping. Stripe ran up and yanked me to my hooves, then tackled us both away from the blast of an explosive round that impacted the ground only a few feet from us.

BB flew high overhead in the direction of the shots, "Where are you going?"

"Ah saw the muzzle flash, gonna go hit 'em."

"Be safe."

No response, probably out of shortwave range, but several minutes later a flare arched through the sky over the Manechester municipal building.

"Think that's Sparky?" Stripe asked.

"Maybe, don't know why she wouldn't just fly back though..."

"What's the plan?"

"Kill the fire and move up I guess, keep our heads on a swivel."

"Okay, I'll get the gang rounded up, you just watch our asses 'til we're ready to move yeah?"

"Gotcha mate."

***

An uneventful slog to the municipal building, a few ghouls up on the surrounding rooftops, watching us, not engaging, just scouts.

I stepped into the decrepit structure first, met with a riot shotgun stuck in my face. I snorted when I saw the wielder, an emaciated unicorn filly, fifteen years old or so, very dirty, lots of small cuts dotting her army green fur, wearing pieced together gear in the likeness of Marked One armor, scraps of Union and Trinity armor, held together with license plates and street signs.

"Stow it or I'm taking it kid."

She didn't seem to acknowledge me, just looked us over cautiously and slung the shotgun across her back, then trotted to the stairs across the room, waving us over.

More children on the next 2 floors, various ages and races, sitting around with their weapons. I spotted a teenage unicorn across the room with an anti-material rifle laying on his lap. My helmet retracted and I winked at him, he snorted and took off his breathing mask for a moment spitting off to his left.

The silent filly poked me and pointed at the stairs, I nodded and ascended, perking my ears when I heard BB's giggling.

She was sitting on a dirty mattress, a teenage pegasus, 17 or 18, was laying over her back, preening her wings with his mouth.

I smirked and cleared my throat, BB glanced at me and grinned, her young charge immediately blushing and hiding behind her to conceal his rather impressive shame.

"Gone for an hour and you're already seducing the locals? Shame on you BB."

"Sorry boss, can't help it."

"Who's your friend?"

She smirked and leaned over, kissing him on the cheek, making him blush bright and let out a near inaudible squeak, "This is Fringe, he'd introduce himself but he's pretty shy, an' Ah reckon mosta his brain blood is occupied elsewhere."

"I'm sure, we'll give you guys a few minutes to finish up or whatever, meet us downstairs."

"Gotcha boss. You heard 'er kid, foreplay's over."

I heard another desperate squeak as I walked back down the stairs, "Be gentle BB!"

***

It'd been an hour or so of waiting, Shaky and Hex were in the corner with some kids their age, Stripe was talking to a large teenager, helping her repair her minigun, Kimba was making some kind of shady looking trade with a couple of zebra kids, Token was passing out some MRE's we'd found in a crate near our camp, Rawr and Adze were playing poker with a small group of earth ponies.

I was sitting away from everyone with Victory across my lap, cleaning her, the quiet unicorn from before trotted up with a chalkboard in her mouth, setting it down in front of me and writing "Hi." on the surface.

"Hey." I said absently. She frowned and erased the board, then wrote something else and tapped it to get my attention.

"Deaf, hard to read lips at night, use board please."

I nodded and took a piece of chalk from her chest pocket, "Better?"

"Yes, thank you."

"What's your name?"

"Don't have one, other kids call me Radar, but that's just a nickname."

I smirked, "Why Radar?"

"Can feel things moving around with my hooves, how I knew you were about to walk in the door, how I know when bad guys are coming before everyone else."

"Where'd all you guys come from anyways?"

"Slaves, Paragons brought us here on the boat, used us for pass clearing and stuff like that, Fringe and Trigger helped us all escape, stole a bunch of weapons for us too, we've been hitting the Paragon camps ever since."

"Trigger?"

"The grumpy prick sitting by the window with his rifle, he's my big brother."

"Seems like a sweet kid."

"He's okay once you get to know him, doesn't trust grown-ups, that's why he shot at you guys."

"Why'd the Paragons enslave you if you're unicorns?"

"Defects, not officer material, I'm deaf, Trigger's got breathing problems."

"Bummer, I hear they've got great benefits."

She just smirked wanly in response, then glanced over at the stairs. BB walked down, an amused smile on her face.

"Where's Fringe?"

"Poor kid passed out, fuckin' trooper though, kept goin 'til Ah popped." She chuckled, "Musta creamed six times or so 'fore he actually got the job done."

I snorted, "In all your years of slutting around, how in the hell have you not gotten pregnant yet?"

The scars on her backside sparked and she flicked her tail, a small red lightning bolt arching into a piece of rebar in the wall, "Electricity makes fer an excellent spermicide, fries the little fuckers before they git where they're goin'."

"Right... guess we're not talking to him until morning."

"Probably not."

"Well, shoo, private conversation going on here."

She snorted and trotted back up the steps, I turned back to the board, "Sorry about that, just discussing the details of Fringe's molestation at the hooves of my dear electric friend."

Radar rolled her burgandy eyes and erased the board, "So what brings you guys to Manechester? Pretty obvious that you're not Paragons and I can't think of anyone else with reasons to be here but them."

"Mapping it out for a Union contractor, they want to know what's here."

"Union?"

"You don't know?"

"I'm from the Ice Lands, don't know anything about Trottingham."

"Ice Lands?"

"Old World name for Blasted Lands, it's what the Paragons always had us call it. Hey it was nice talking to you but I'm really sleepy, gonna go rest for awhile."

"Okay, goodnight."

She smiled and picked up her board, then trotted off into the next room. Trigger shifted from his spot and approached me, his violet eyes fuming, "How's it going?"

He took a deep breath, his respirator whining, "Stay... the fuck... away... from my sister... hear me?"

"Why the hostility? If anything I should be pissed at you, you shot me."

"Fringe... may trust... you assholes... because that pegasus whore... threw him some pussy... but I... know better. Remember this... I'm always watching... pull any shit... and I'll fucking kill you."

I smirked when I heard the distinct click of a hammer being cocked, winking at him when I felt the cold tubing of a revolver barrel pressed under my chin, "I don't doubt that you've got the guts to blow my brains out, but you wouldn't really kill a pretty thing like me would you?"

"You're not... that pretty."

His eyes went wide when he heard it, I just grinned, Token was behind him, her rifle pressed to his head, "I disagree. Put the gun down or I'll fucking paste you."

He nodded, holstering his pistol, I smiled at Token and nodded her away, she snorted and trotted back over to Stripe.

"Sorry about my marefriend, she can be a tad overprotective. Now, I'm not your enemy, but I'm not your friend either, and frankly I don't care to be either. I just want to talk to Fringe, see if we can get some directions or if there's anything we can do to help you kids out, and then I'm gonna be on my merry way, savvy?"

His glare softened and he nodded, his respirator whining loudly as he sighed, "Sorry... for being an asshole... it's just that... the last unicorn that... talked to us... ended up killing our parents... and forcing us... into slavery."

"I understand. You ought to hit the hay, growing boys need their rest."

He chuckled, his respirator gasping irregularly, "Fuck... you."

***

BB had to force Fringe up, eventually just smacking his ass with an electric tail whip when every other tactic failed.

He jolted awake, a familiar squeak escaping his mouth, BB chuckled and hugged around his neck, pulling up his beanie and giving his ear a lightning charged lick, "Yer kinda cute when yer startled."

The dark orange colt blushed bright red and pressed himself to her neck, at first I thought he was trying to hide his face, then I realized he was rubbing against her affectionately. BB chuckled again and squeezed him tighter, "Daw, romantic little guy ain'cha? Can Ah keep 'im boss?"

"We'll see, mind going downstairs for a minute so he can focus?"

She frowned slightly but nodded, "Sure."

Fringe frowned as well when she stood up, she smiled and leaned down, pecking him on the cheek and making the shy pegasus beam before walking downstairs.

He sighed, standing up and walking to the other side of the room to turn on a hot plate, "We just met, she's at least five years older than me, and I know she's gonna be moving on pretty soon, but I really like that mare... I'm putting some coffee on, want any?"

"Nah."

"I didn't catch your name, unless it's Boss."

"No, infinitely more stupid than that, Bandage."

"Not so bad, better than some of the nicknames we come up with."

"I dunno, Radar's a pretty good one."

He snorted, "It fits, girl can literally sense trouble."

I chuckled and trotted to the edge, looking at the eastern route we'd be taking, "Any major activity through here?"

"Not much, sorta why we picked it, enough traffic for us to pick off lone squads without getting noticed, Paragons don't care if they lose a few grunts, we keep the supplies, working well so far. Marked Ones are the only consistent attackers, and it's usually just a few scouts."

"Anything you lot need while we're here?"

"Actually yeah, we've got two other outposts in Manechester, if you could steal a few radio nodes from that big Paragon base we could keep in touch with each other without risking couriers."

I nodded thoughtfully, "I'll see what we can do."

"Thanks, we'd do it ourselves, but if we get caught it's back to the slave pens."

"I get ya, want me to send BB up?"

"Nah, I've got some messages to deliver to deliver to Vermin's outpost, gonna be gone for a few hours."

"Good luck."

BB was waiting for me downstairs, smiling nervously, "Hey."

"Hey."

"So... what d'ya think o' Fringe?"

"Nice kid I guess, why?"

She blushed slightly and glanced away, a little smile tugging at her mouth.

"Oh... you're serious?"

"Yeah, n-no... hell Ah don't know. Ah know he's younger than me but, he's different."

I cocked an eyebrow and sighed, nodding her upstairs, Fringe had already flown off, "Okay, explain."

"He's the only guy what's ever, ya know, romanced me. It wasn't sex right away for once, we talked for a long time, neither of us brought it up either it just sorta... happened. And he's the only guy that actually worked to please me after he already popped, most fellas'd just be done with it and tell me too bad, but Fringe..."

"He cares?"

She smiled, "Yeah."

I sighed and patted her on the shoulder, "He's a good kid, and he likes you, so if you want to try I'd say go for it."

"Thanks boss... So, got any wildly violent shenanigans for us t' git into today?"

"Yeah actually, still figuring out a plan though... Hey Beta, does the suit have some kind of parachute?"

"Yes, something along those lines."

"Good... Beebs, get your gear, I'm gonna need a ride."

***

It wasn't true flight, but it was close enough for me. BB had taken me up high above the Paragon base and dropped me, in response the suit sprouted wings, four of them, in the shape of bee wings, filled in the middle with my red magical field.

I was gliding down slowly, enjoying the odd sensation of freedom the open air was giving me. Meanwhile Beta was picking targets, locking onto the three pegasi patrolling the roof.

I landed on the first one, snapping his neck with my forehooves once I'd pinned him to the ground, I dispatched the other two with my pistols, sending one .45 each into their visors, dropping them instantly.

I smirked when I heard the other guards below mobilizing and fished the five grenade belts out of my bags, pulling the pins with my magic and tossing them over the edge. A loud boom, a few body parts flying just high enough to clear the roof, all the bars on my eyes forward sparkle disappearing.

I chuckled and turned around, walking over to the radio nodes on the roof, "This was easier than expected Beebs."

She chuckled over the comm line and touched down next to me, "Eeya, reckon the hard part is gonna be gettin' three o' these heavy motherfuckers back t' the outposts."

Kimba and Adze landed next to us, the latter rolling his neck before hefting two nodes onto his back, "Don't know why you're bitchin', not that heavy."

BB snorted and picked hers up, both of them pumping their wings to get airborne. Kimba wrapped her forelegs around my chest and ascended with them.

***

Rawr was fighting off the pegasi trying to land on the roof with a few kids, Stripe was out in front of the municipal building trying to keep the hoof soldiers from moving up, Token and others were pouring fire out of the second and third story windows.

BB and Adze dropped their loads and flew up with Kimba to fight the large group of Paragon flyers circling the outpost.

I just sighed and prepped my weapons before sprinting headlong into the fray.

Thankfully Stripe had all of their attention, the first earth pony I attacked didn't notice me until I leapt on her back.

She yelped as I wrenched her around to face her comrades, manipulating her weapons with my magic and hosing them with dual assault carbine fire, their armor was thick though, sponging most of the rounds.

I grunted when she started trying to buck me off, resolving to wrap my forelegs around her head and snap her neck.

I rolled to the side behind a large heap of scrap when the rest turned to return fire, pulling the weapons from her battle saddle and fixing them to my sides before leaping to the top of the cover.

Stripe and I had them cornered now, I forced a few to run out of their foxholes while Stripe mowed them down, taking out 5 before the carbines ran out of ammo.

My shields flared, I ducked the next clustered blast of pink beams, rolling out of the way of a third.

I sprinted at the Defender, leaping over his head to avoid another magical shotgun blast, knocking his helmet off with a glancing blow from my forehoof and ripping his shotgun away with my own magic when he staggered.

He unsheathed his rapier and charged, I just laughed when it scraped uselessly against the surface of my armor.

"Careful buddy, swing that any harder and you might scratch the paint job."

"Bandage, the armor is not painted, the grey color is due to the hue the collective nanites are-"

"I'm toying with him Beta, I don't need the facts."

"Apologies."

He swung again, I sighed and dodged it, then pulled out Tolerance and shot just above his forehead. The rapier clattered to the concrete, its owner followed, curling into the fetal position and clutching the jagged bony stump where his horn had been a moment before.

I tsked, slinging his shotgun onto my back and picking the blade up as I approached him. I sat down on his midsection and wiped the dust from my new sword off on his fur, making him cringe.

"The fuck's wrong with you guys eh? Attacking a bunch of kids, fucking despicable." I hummed softly, pulling out Tolerance again and pressing the barrel to his head, "Be glad I'm in a good mood, otherwise I'd do something sick like torture to death or make you sing jaunty show tunes."

He tried to say something, but I fired before he got it out, chuckling quietly when he jolted, humming again while I wiped the blood and brain from my pistol.

I glanced up when I noticed the red bars on my compass moving closer, depolarizing my visor and grinning at the Paragon hoof soldiers moving up on me cautiously. There were only 20 or so, but if they all fired at once I could be in trouble.

One moved ahead of the group, I whipped the magical shotgun off my back and aimed it right at her, "Ah ah, let's not be hasty, I'm willing to find a diplomatic solution to this little skirmish."

They all jumped as the burnt body of a dead pegasus hit the ground next to me with a dull thump. I chuckled sheepishly, grabbing it with my magic and dragging it behind me, "Uh, don't let that detour from what I said, diplomacy and shit."

All of their weapons cocked, the leader of the group moved closer, "Surrender yourself and face judicial execution at te hooves of Sentinel Aegis, or fight and face summary execution, it matters little."

I sighed and fired, peppering her with pink beams, turning her into a pile of crackling white ash.

I charged at the rest, or rather through the rest, bolting to the municipal building and jumping over their entrenched comrades while their combined fire chipped away at my armor.

A round punched through the armor on my ass just as I launched through the door, sending me sprawling, "My perfect ass!!"

I squealed when I felt the sharp pinch and pressure of the bullet being dug out of my left cheek, glaring behind me at a sheepishly smiling Radar, who dropped the bloody hunk of led in a dented metal bowl.

"You'd better kiss it or you're in trouble."

She cringed, I chuckled and rose to my hooves, casting a healing spell on my own sore rump.

Token came screaming around the corner and down the stairs, tackling me to the floor and looking me over, "Oh thank goodness!"

"Yeah love I'm fine."

"I don't think it's going to scar."

"Uh-"

She rubbed her head against my butt affectionately, "My poor baby, I can't stand to see a blemish on such a perfect thing." she scowled back at me, whipping my face with her tail, "Be more careful with my eye candy, reckless idiot."

Stripe stepped in, bullet holes in his armor steaming while the repair spells went to work, kicking the improvised metal door shut and throwing us both to our hooves, "Small war goin' on outside ladies, no time for goofy bullshit."

"Right, you stay down here, mow them down if they breach the door, Token you're on the second floor laying down fire, I'm gonna pop up to the roof and help Rawr out."

"Got it babe."

"Gotcha boss."

I turned to the stairs, stopping when somepony poked me, Radar was standing with her board in her mouth, "Me?"

"Umm, stay down here and let Stripe know if they start moving up I guess."

She nodded, stashing the chalkboard in her satchel.

***

The roof was... well, Fringe's impromptu office was completely fucked. Charred and mangled corpses of Paragon flyers lying everywhere, quite a few more bullet holes than before too.

A pegasus landed on Rawr's back just as I emerged from the stairs, promptly being thrown to the concrete roof with back breaking force.

He panted and sat down under a metal awning with a few of the kids that were reloading their weapons, clutching a pair of bullet holes in his gut, waving me over when he saw me.

I nodded, dodging enemy fire and friendly lightning bolts as I ran to him, sliding to a stop on the concrete when I reached safety.

"Making a mess are we?" I said with a joking smile as I went to work on his wounds.

He grunted, lighting himself a cigarette and letting out a strained sigh after taking a long drag, "No thanks t' you pony."

"My apologies for our late arrival to the party, had to pick up a few things from the grocery."

He chuckled, banging the back of his head on the wall, "Better late than never- gah fuck! Careful pony!"

"Aww, is da wittle puppy sensitive?"

He snorted, "Be glad you have hold of Rawr's guts, otherwise Rawr would crush your stupid pony skull."

"I'm sure..." I said absently as I finished up, "There, all done, wasn't so bad now was it?"

He grunted again, propping himself up with his rifle and rising to his feet, "Rawr needs new physician."

"Bollocks to ya."

BB touched down in front of us, holding a pegasus in a head lock and electrocuting her to death. Kimba landed next to her, immediately belching a tiny puff of flame, BB smacked her on the back, "Ya'lright? Drinkin' 'at many fire potions can't be good fer ya."

"I'm fine, just won't be tasting my meals for a week or so."

BB chuckled, "Lucky bitch."

"Where's Adze?"

"Big bird? Judgin' from the steep ascents an' the screamin' Ah'd imagine he's pickin' them poor dirt kickers up an' droppin' 'em."

I chuckled, stopping when I faint beeping went off in my ear, growing progressively louder, "Beta?"

"Friendly tracking beacon, the IFF reads it as agent Chryses'."

"Meaning?"

"Agent Chryses is inbound."

The beep formed a solid tone, and suddenly the shooting stopped.

I cocked an eyebrow and went to the edge of the roof, the Paragons were occupied, staring down a hooded figure standing in the middle of them, covered in filthy and ragged robes.

One approached, tentatively, my ears perked involuntarily, and suddenly I could hear the soft crunch of her hoofsteps on the scorched earth, and the faint gasping of her frightened breathing, "You're impeding a property retrieval operation, leave now or we'll be forced to-"

She stopped, choking, a dark red glow forming around her neck, matching the glow of the hooded pony's exposed horn, "Rudeness," a polite but impatient voice said, "I, hate, rudeness."

Her neck snapped to the side and she went limp, slumping to the ground in a heap, he cleared his throat, composing himself, "Now, is their anypony here that can address me with the respect a stallion of my stature deserves?"

They all remained silent, he sighed, shaking his head. All dead, in an instant, if I would have blinked I'd have missed it. He picked all 30 some soldiers up simultaneously, and twisted, snapping their backs, then just dropping them.

He looked up, locking onto me, "I know you're listening, so would you kindly come down here and greet me properly?"

I nodded, hopping off the roof, and sliding down the slanted face of the building, "Keep everyone inside Beebs."

"'Kay boss, be careful."

Chryses laughed when I approached him, throwing his hood back, unleashing his long and messy streaked mane, "So you're the one that picked up Eclipse's old suit, not very impressive are you?"

My helmet retracted and I smirked at him, "The hundred or so ponies I've killed in my lifetime might beg to differ."

He snorted, taking off his glasses and boring into me with the ominous red glow of his cybornetic eyes, "You've killed peasants and wastrels, easy prey. In fact the one time you went up against a uniform military group you were pushed back into deep cover, you're pitiful child, simply pitiful, not fit to wear that suit."

"Not fit to wear it? Think awfully high of yourself don't you?"

"Do you know who Sleipnir is? The Fell god of the North, gifted with super equine strength and speed. That's the reason the program was given that name, ponies with the power of a god at their hooves. We were trained before we got to use the suits, unlike you, who I'm guessing stumbled upon it and got assimilated into the system. Now, the scum out here may think you're some kind of badass, but me?"

He chuckled and narrowed his eyes, "To me you're just a foal playing with a bomb. Now, you're going to take off the suit and give it to me, or I'm going to kill you and tear it from your corpse."

I snorted, my helmet encasing me, he sighed and shook his head, "A damn shame."

I moved first, deciding to cheat, reaching for Whisper and firing the instant the targeting locked in on him.

The round had fired but it hadn't done anything significant, or anything at all really, he didn't even bleed. The rifle hadn't fired with any of the power it had before, so basically I'd just shot a bulk 5.56 round at somepony with metal grafted to his skeleton.

He rubbed his head while the flesh reformed itself, blinking away the disorientation of the impact, "Sorry to steal the luster from your weapon dear, just a simple dispell on the magnetic rails, can't let you kill me that easy now can I?"

I tossed my weapons aside and charged him, leaping forward to punch him, he ducked, spinning under me and kicking me in the gut, sending me flying off behind him.

"Direct approach, not bad, but let me tell you a zebra warrior is significantly more impressive at close quarters."

I huffed, climbing to my hooves and focusing my magic into arrows, 20 of them, firing them all at once.

In an instant he had 20 individual spells up to block them, perfect placement. Wards, spells specifically for blocking spells, Security was trained to use them, Token and Riot always bitched about not being to use them properly, came back from practice with a few singes on their fur too.

He laughed, wrapping my chest with his magic and lifting me up, "Please, I've had two centuries to develop my arcane skills, trained a trio of young Alicorns to master their own unique magic, your spells are nothing, you are nothing, an insect, and do you know what I do with insects?"

He smirked, I screamed as he crushed my chest plate, breaking all my ribs before dropping me to the ground in a gasping heap.

"Now, before I kill you I might as well give you a lecture on-" the beeping from before interrupted him, he grumbled, donning his sunglasses and looking to the rapidly darkening sky. The beeps went solid, and soft thunder started echoing, "Bollocks..."

I lightning bolt hit him directly, sending him flying hundreds of metres away in a fireball and crashing into an iron beam, tearing it in half and collapsing the building on top of him.

A pegasus in Sleipnir armor touched down next to me, sparks jumping across his suit and his cybornetic wing. He approached, instinctively I tried scooting myself away, failing miserably.

"Easy kid," that familiar gruff voice said, "Ah ain't gonna hurt'cha."

I cried out as the suit started popping my ribs back into place. He walked over and gently rolled me onto my back, "Rest up fer a bit, Ah got an old friend t' catch up with."

"A fucking sky scraper just fell on him," I said weakly, "he's gotta be dead."

"Nah, probably just pissed 'im off."

The huge pile of rubble erupted and Chryses emerged, fully armored, his cybornetic wings outstretched, tossing the remains of his burned robes aside.

Thunder Crash moved forward, his metallic wing stretched upward and gathering electricity, Chryses charged, rapidly flying forward. Crash's wing was struck by lightning, he didn't flinch, just flapped it, directing a huge bolt of red energy at his opponent, cracking through his shield and melting away the armor underneath, literally stopping him dead.

Chryses was just standing there, his metallic skull exposed and smoking, all the flesh from his face burnt away. His armor lurched, moving in place of his skin and shifting color to match his red coat before restoring his helmet.

The cyberpony smiled politely behind his visor, "Have to try harder than that, old man."

"Way Ah figure it yer a lot older than Ah am, stasis keeps ya remarkably fresh."

"As does being mostly machine. You were old even when we were young stallions Crash."

"Yeah, got even older when they popped mah case twenty five years ago, but Ah got an upgrade since then, restored some o' mah youthful vigor. Don't imagine it applied to ya, you bein' mechanical an' all."

"Mmm, is there a reason you're stalling? I imagine you've got something wicked cooked up."

Crash took off, the force cracking the concrete at his hooves, he formed a bubble, remarkably similar to BB's, then slammed into Chryses full force, the percussion from the impact enough to knock loose precariously hanging chunks of building lodged in the canyon walls. Then he flew up, far up, into the cloud cover he'd brought in, lightning striking the both of them as he rose, each bolt expanding his bubble and making it grow brighter.

Then everything went white, rendering me blind for a few moments, like a massive electric flash bang in the sky, instantly disintegrating the cloud cover not just over the Divide, but over a huge portion of Trottingham, giving us all a glimpse of the Enclave city hanging over our heads.

The sound hit us next, shaking the dust off everything, loosening rubble, displacing cracked chunks of roadway and making my entire body vibrate for several seconds.

Crash landed amidst several bubbling masses of sparking molten plasma that melted and boiled the concrete, his armor was white hot, distorting the air around him and putting off the unbearably strong scent of burning ozone.

He looked up, sighing, "Enclave ain't gonna be happy 'bout this one lemme tell ya."

I rose to my hooves unsteadily, my newly mended rib cage shifting uncomfortably in a few places, "Please tell me that killed him."

"Nope, fucked 'im up pretty bad an' launched him into the ocean though, he'll lay low for a couple months, lick 'is wounds. Probably get bored of the idea o' huntin' ya an' leave you be by that time."

"Guy's fucking ridiculous!"

"Keep in mind he an' 'is suit're basically an integrated machine now, nothing left of him that's actually pony, hasn't been for centuries, suits slowly been converting his organic parts to inorganic parts. Hell, just before the bombs fell Lore said that even his brain was replaced with a nanite colony."

"So he's just a robot then?"

"A mass collection of nanites with his soul trapped inside, forming a sophisticated synthetic body with it's own organs and bodily functions, least that's what the professors told me."

"Wait... nanites are robots?"

"Yeah?"

I screamed, frantically trying to peel my suit off, "Beta what the fuck why didn't you tell me the suit was fucking robots?!?!"

"Your irrational fear of robotic machines foreshadowed this exact response, I did not wish to evoke such a reaction."

"I'm covered with millions of microscopic death bots! THIS REACTION SHOULD BE FUCKING EXPECTED YOU ARTIFICIAL BITCH!!!!"

"My apologies, would you like a sedative? You're causing a scene."

"FUCK YOU!!!"

"Goodnight."

"I-"

***

I woke up a few hours later, groggy as hell, "Beta, if you had an ass I'd be kicking it right about now."

"My apologies ma'am, but you were becoming hysterical."

"Yeah, sorry, robots just... they freak me out."

"I understand, if it helps, you could think of the nanites as only components of the suit, instead of a grouping of machines forming the suit."

"It's whatever, I don't really mind that much now. Where is everypony anyways?"

"The roof."

I stood up, shaking myself awake before walking onto the roof into the cool night air.

The team was gathered around a small bonfire, Radar smiled and waved me over.

"Hey guys."

Everyone muttered hellos. I stood next to Fringe, gently extending his bandaged wing with my magic and looking it over, "What happened?"

"Vermin's outpost was under attack too, lost almost everypony by the time I got there, took a round to the wing just before BB and that other pegasus swooped in and mopped up the Paragons."

"And where are they?"

"Left to go ferry the survivors over to Rawhide's place an hour ago, should be back any minute."

Wing beats overhead, sure enough, BB and Crash touched down on the roof, the former trotting over to Fringe and snuggling up to him, planting a kiss under his ear, "Yer wing okay?"

He nodded, glumly resting his head on her forelegs.

Crash trotted over, his armor in pack form. He looked younger than he had in the memory orbs, a lot younger, like early twenties, guess the genetic upgrade I'd gotten affected him too, regenerating his old cells back to their prime.

He looked like a male version of BB actually, stunning similarities, "Ah'm gonna go downstairs an' catch a nap, Ah'll trade watch with the griffon in an hour or so."

"'Kay Daddy," BB replied, "sleep tight."

He nodded and descended the steps, I blinked and turned to look at BB, "Uh-"

"He married mah momma couple years after he got outta stasis," she explained, "didn't know he had a suit like yers though, never wore it when Ah was a kid, the wing neither."

"Right, guess that's summed up." I muttered as I trotted over to the mattress to look the girls over. Sound asleep, somepony had even tucked them in, Radar poked me and held up her board.

"Kept shivering in their sleep, gave them my blanket."

I smiled, nodding my thanks, then leaned down to kiss the tops of their heads.

***

Everyone had gone to sleep, except for a few of us. I was staying up to help Rawr on watch duty, BB and Fringe were occasionally conversing with us, Radar was just up enjoying the company.

She started shivering after midnight, flinching when I sat down next to her and threw a foreleg around her shoulders. I smirked, taking a piece of chalk from her, "Easy, just keeping you warm, not trying to steal a kiss or anything."

She smiled back nervously, "Yeah, thanks."

BB was giggling, Fringe was whispering in her ear with a mischievous smile on his face. She cleared her throat and they both stood, "Mah young stallion an' Ah are gonna retire fer the night."

I smirked, "Have fun."

She pressed her mouth to his ear, hugging him with a wing and sliding her tail between his legs, "Oh he will, won'tcha Fringy?"

Fringe just squeaked in response, getting a laugh out of her while she walked him downstairs.

Crash landed a few minutes later, trotting over and sitting hard in front of the fire, "How's yer ribs kid?"

"Sore, though considering your track record with disfiguring injuries I suppose it doesn't do me much good to bitch."

He chuckled, "Reckon so."

Rawr snorted, the pegasus glanced him over warily, "Ya know, Ah've seen what you dogs do t' folks in Filly, surprised ya travel with ponies."

"Rawr tolerates ponies, reason dogs kick Rawr out." The scarred Hell Hound smiled, baring his large razor sharp teeth, looking especially menacing with the shadows of the fire dancing on his face, "Rawr's too friendly."

Crash snorted, "Friend, Ah've stared down entire legions o' pissed off zebras, the whole intimidation thing yer tryin' t' pull off ain't gonna work fer shit."

Rawr shrugged, leaning back against some rubble and lighting himself a cigarette, "Worth a try."

"So, spot anything while you were out?"

"Not really, few ghouls pickin' around, nothin' to worry about. Real trouble's gonna start when we get everyone movin' east tomorrow."

I cocked an eyebrow, "Move?"

He nodded, "Talked about it while ya was knocked out, ain't safe for the kids t' stay here now that the Paragons know they're here, movin' 'em all t' Rawhide's place."

"Sounds lovely, how much you wanna bet we stumble across the motherload of Marked Ones?"

"A lot." he said dryly. "You can head downstairs an' catch some shut eye, Ah got things covered up here."

"You sure? You've been flying all day."

His mood darkened, "Ah stopped sleepin' a long time ago kid."

I shrugged, nudging Radar and motioning for the stairs. She collapsed next to Trigger on his mattress as soon as we walked downstairs, snoring quietly in just a few seconds.

I crept up quietly and climbed onto Stripe, snuggling against his frame, he stirred, hugging me tightly and kissing my forehead, "Hey boss."

"Shhhh, sleepy..."

"So am I, but you woke my ass up, so let's talk for a bit."

I whined quietly, "C'mon, I've been pulling all night watch the last two days and only slept six hours in between."

He chuckled, patting my back gently, "Fine lazy bones, but ya owe me a kiss first."

I smiled up at him and we shared a sleepy kiss, smiling again when we broke away and settling into the grooves of each others bodies.

Despite all his muscle mass, my stallion made an incredibly comfortable cushion, and the ever present scent of cordite in his fur was oddly comforting.

"Night Stripe." I mumbled tiredly.

"Night boss."

***

"We've been walking for hours!" one of the younger children whined, "My hooves are sore!"

"Quit... your bitching," Trigger wheezed, "we're almost... there."

"Yeah," I said, "plus you've got nothing to whine about, Rawr's the one hauling most of your gear."

The dog snorted, a small puff of smoke shooting from his nostrils, "Rawr just don't want t' hear ponies whining, complaining neither, in fact, best if ponies just shut the hell up."

I trotted up beside him, taking half the gear from his back with my magic and placing it on my own. He looked at me suspiciously, I just gave a friendly smile and winked.

He snorted again, adjusting the cigarette cocked in his mouth, "Thanks pony."

"No problem dog."

The convoy stopped, I frowned and looked ahead, Radar was standing completely still at the front, her ears twitching wildly.

She started sprinting away, everyone quickly following.

"What do you think it is?" I asked Rawr as we ran.

"Who cares pony?! When you see Radar pony running you run!"

Somepony screamed behind us, a Tunneler had torn through the ground and attacked Trigger. I stopped and spun around, tossing the gear from my back and charging, barreling into the scaly beast and knocking it away.

It got back to its feet and paced in front of me, scraping its claws on the road. I charged first, ducking its swing and leaping up between its arms, headbutting it and sending a few jagged teeth flying.

It staggered, throwing a wild swing that I ducked easily before riddling its body with magical arrows. It let out a pained roar and slumped over, I stepped onto its chest and drew my rapier, stabbing downward through its eye and twisting.

I whisked the blood from my sword and ran to Trigger's side, pushing his head back down when he tried to sit up.

"Lay still kid."

"I- I can't... feel my legs."

I lifted his shredded barding and winced, a huge hunk of his abdomen was missing.

"How... bad is it?"

"You'll be fine," I lied, smiling with false reassurance, "I'll get you patched up right away."

He scowled, roughly jerking the back of my head with his magic, "Don't bullshit me."

I sighed, "Your intestines, liver, and one of your kidneys are pulp, I'm guessing you can't feel your legs because your spinal cord is severed."

He nodded, his respirator whining sharply as he took a deep breath, his magic fumbled at the clasp, the weak field dispersing after a few moments, "Can you... undo my mask... please?"

"But you won't be able to breath."

"I know... but I'm dead anyways... in a lot... of pain... and I'm guessing... you don't want to kill me... so just... undo it. Not to mention... it's damned uncomfortable."

I nodded and unclasped his mask, pulling it off and gently trailing the breathing tube out of his trachea. He smiled tiredly and rested his head back, letting out a long, weak sigh, his eyes glazing over.

I shook my head, shutting his eyes with my hoof and placing the respirator rig in my saddlebags.

My EFS started lighting up, and the ground started shifting, I sighed and opened Trigger's bag, taking out the satchel charges and arming them, placing them on his body.

"Take a few with you kid..." I grabbed his rifle before running after the convey, which had made considerable ground.

***

I didn't catch up with the group for an hour, I winced when I saw Radar frantically looking around the small camp they'd set up. Her ears twitched and she looked in my direction, a hopeful smile on her face, instantly dashed when she spotted me alone.

She paused for a moment to write on her board before running up to meet me.

"Trigger?"

My ears drooped, her eyes went wide when I pulled out his respirator. She sat hard, snatching it from me and holding it to her chest, tearing up, gasping sobs escaping her.

I wanted to say something soothing, useless since she couldn't hear it, and writing it didn't hold the same sincerity. I settled for pulling her into a hug and letting her cry on my shoulder.

It went on like that for hours, until finally she just cried herself to sleep. I stayed there with her until morning, gently stroking her mane while she slept, left me exhausted by the time everyone was ready to move, but Rawr was nice enough to carry me so I could sleep, for whatever reason.

***

"We here pony, wake up."

I grumbled and blinked my eyes open, rolling off Rawr's back to give him some relief. He'd been walking on all fours for several hours, the instant I dismounted he stood up straight and cracked his back.

"Didn't have to carry me more than an hour Rawr, told you I just needed a power nap."

Rawr just snorted in response and lit himself a smoke.

Radar nearly tackled me when I started walking to the front of the convoy, burying her face in my chest and whimpering softly.

I sighed and patted her back, then propped her head up and smiled, "You gonna be okay?"

She nodded, then shook her head, then just scrunched her face up.

I nodded sympathetically, but still pushed her away, "We'll have your pity party when we get you lot settled, where are we anyways?"

She scribbled something on her board and held it up, "The stadium."

I blinked, "The stadium... like the stadium? The Manechester United hoofball grounds?"

She nodded, in an instant an excited scream escaped me and I bolted through the crowd to the front, eager to get a view of- of... the huge pile of rubble erected in front of us.

"It's destroyed." I mumbled quietly, "It's all bloody destroyed..."

"No it's not," Fringe said, "this is a fallen sky scraper, the stadium's behind all this."

I squeed and grabbed hold of him, giving him a bone shattering hug and a very sloppy kiss on the cheek before tearing through the pony made opening in the wall of rubble, stopping dead when I saw it.

Old Trotford, the Manechester United hoofball team's prize grounds, standing in front of me in near pristine condition, aside from a few broken windows in the entrance building and some cracked concrete here and there, it was exactly what I'd seen in pictures.

I couldn't keep myself from sprinting towards the entrance building, though the squad of well armed Marked Ones emerging from the doorway stopped me in my tracks.

I snorted and prepped my weapons, ready to purge these bastards from every hoofball hooligan's holy ground.

Fringe tackled me from behind, "Easy Bandage they're with us."

"What?!"

A ghoul with a cowpony hat cocked on his head approached, smiling brightly with those rancid teeth, all the muscles contorting in his face clearly visible.

"Howdy Fringe," he said with a cheery but gravely voice, "get your bunch moved did ya?"

Fringe was about to reply but I bucked him off my back and eagerly galloped up to the ghoul, "You live here?!"

He recoiled slightly, "Yeah?"

I melted, "Can I have a tour?"

***

I'd had a mare boner the entire time Rawhide was leading me through the different facilities of the stadium. The Red Cafe, the Manechester United museum, the trophy room, the still functioning souvenir stand, where I had bought myself a pristine condition red hoody. But I have to say, the stadium itself easily took the cake.

Massive, with the roof mostly intact, the spells mimicking a beautiful sunny sky still active, all the stands relatively clean, though most of the suites were occupied.

The field though, the field was absolute perfection, green and healthy grass, perfect length for a match, two goal nets set up and the lines all painted.

I stepped out onto it gingerly, then smiled and laid down on the comfortable green cushion, rolling onto my back, folding my forelegs behind my head and staring up at the "sky".

"Enjoying yourself babe?" Token asked, smiling and laying down next to me, resting her head on my chest.

"Paradise my love, simply paradise."

"I remember when Security and Maintenance and the Lower Deck and the cooks all had a hoofball league, then we started getting rowdy and Rector made us split it up."

"Mmm, one more reason to kill that bitch..."

She chuckled quietly, "You were our biggest fan, always cheering us on at those piss ant games we held on the Ag deck."

"Hey, you and Riot were pretty good. That's compared to ponies that were utter rubbish, but still, pretty good."

"Bollocks to ya... Actually, I recall you thinking Hops was pretty amazing too."

"Oh shut it."

"Yes that's right, you'd sit on the sidelines with him while he was on bench, hanging on his neck like a cheap piece of jewellery."

"Token seriously-"

"Better than how Riot was with you though, couldn't get her off you once she was on."

"Hey! Riot was a friend."

"Oh I know, very good friends."

"What're you getting at?"

She scoffed, "Please Bandage, not even you are blind enough not to see what was going on there."

"What? So Riot and I were close friends, you and I were best friends before that incident."

"Yeah, and look how it ended."

I cocked an eyebrow, "So you think Riot had a crush on me?"

"Babe, I don't think, I know. It was painfully obvious."

I frowned slightly, thinking back on all my memories of Riot, and other than Token's birthday where she'd basically been too drunk to stand, I couldn't think of any signs of more than platonic feelings, "I'm not seein' it."

"Seriously?" I nodded, she sighed, "You really never noticed how she'd constantly throw a foreleg over your shoulder? Or how she'd always laugh at your jokes, even if they were pitiful. Or-"

I put a hoof over her mouth, "I get the point Toky, I was completely oblivious to the subtle come ons of my dear friend, no need to continue."

"Why did you think she was always so affectionate?"

I shrugged, "Same reasons you were I guess, just some sisterly love."

She snorted, "Definitely some sort of love..."

I stuck my tongue out, she leaned forward and kissed me, "I'm just glad we got the opportunity to take a match of gay chicken too far before you and she did."

"Aww, that's romantic, I think..."

"You know, I find it kinda funny how hot and heavy you and I got the original first time we kissed as opposed to the first time we kissed outside."

I smirked and pulled her closer to me, "It's because inside 80 it was prohibited, made it lusty and sinful, plus I masturbated that morning, was still in the mood I guess."

"Hmmm, you know, I think I've got an idea of how to bring back some of that lustful sin..."

"Oh? Do tell."

"Well..." she grinned wide and pulled a leather crop from her bags, giving my flank a quick smack with it, "Somepony in the municipal building had naughty tastes, Hex found this in a locked desk lodged in a pile of rubble."

"Nice find, but how's that gonna spice things up?"

"Mmm, there's this lovely fetish called bondage, mixes pleasure with restraint and just a hint of pain. You've had a taste already, that night in Old Trottingham remember? Figure I just need to keep adding to my collection and I'll have enough, um, equipment, to keep us both superbly stimulated."

I just blinked, "You may not be aggressive, but as I said once before, you're a freak."

Her ears laid back, "Is that bad?"

I chuckled and shook my head, squeezing her tightly, "No, it's excellent."

***

I leaned down and kissed Shaky on the forehead, she grimaced, I smirked and dropped a pillow over her face, "Night love."

"Night Momma."

I fluffed her pillow and put it back under her head, then eased out of the suite, careful to step over Hex and her mattress, gently closing the door behind me.

I smiled to myself and trotted down the hallway, taking a step back when I passed Crash's suite and peeking my head in.

He was watching the artificial moonlit night through his window, a familiar photo cradled in his hooves.

I rapped my hoof on the door frame, he glanced back at me, stashing the picture under his pillow before nodding me over, "Come on in kid."

I trotted over and sat down next to him, "How's it going Crash?"

"Decent Ah reckon, just gittin' used t' bein' young again. Ah mean, Ah'm younger now than when Ah got the suit, younger than when Ah was put under. Ah grew old after Ah got outta cryo, raised three kids, loved a good mare... guess Ah got used t' it, middle age, achin' joints, stiff muscles, prostate the size of a grapefruit, and now Ah just feel... outta place."

I nodded absently, "Well, you've got pretty much forever to get used to being young, cellular regeneration and all that."

He snorted, "Yeah... funny, mah whole life Ah bitched about bein' a young stallion in a used up buck's body, now Ah'm bitchin' about bein' a used up old buck in a young stallion's body."

"Think of the bright side, you're back in your prime, a force to be reckoned with."

"Kid, the point is, Ah lived mah life, lived through mah prime, those years, they was hell, an' Ah don't wanna relive 'em, make sense?"

"Yeah... Hey, I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Shoot."

"Chryses, how was his magic so strong?"

"Practice, he was good before the bombs dropped, now he's had a couple centuries t' master 'is craft."

"...How do propose I match him?"

His eyes widened and he stared at me, "Come again?"

"That much power," I said decisively, "how would I match it?"

"Uh, well, yer magic field determines how much ass you can kick in that suit. Learnin' an' practicin' new spells oughta strengthen that field but Ah don't think-"

I smiled and stood up, smacking him on the shoulder and walking away before he could continue, "Thanks for the tip, I'll get on that sometime."

"Kid-"

I closed his door behind me continuing down the hall towards the far side of the stadium, there was somepony I needed to see.

***

It'd been over an hour, and my coat was soaked, but Radar still hadn't stopped crying.

I just kept rubbing her back, trying to be a comfort. I understood of course, she lost her brother, the only family she had left in the world.

She started slowing down, letting out a broken whimper and pulling away from me, wiping her nose with the back of her foreleg.

I smiled reassuringly and patted her shoulder, she smiled back half heartedly and reached for her chalkboard, "Thanks Bandage."

I tousled her mane, "No problem kiddo."

For some reason she blushed, then picked her board back up, "You can go, or stay... you know, whichever you want..."

I cocked an eyebrow and smirked, "Did you actually go through the trouble of writing a bashful sentence? That's bloody adorable."

She smiled sheepishly, her blush deepening slightly, I blinked and stood up, "Actually I think I should go, I'm in courtesy box fifteen with Token if you need anything."

Her mood depressed slightly, but she nodded, setting her board on the nightstand and flopping back onto her bed.

"You sure you're okay?"

She sighed, rolling her eyes, "Come on," she said, her words clumsy and labored, "I just put the board up and now you want to talk again."

I smirked, levitating her board and a piece of chalk to her, she sighed again and took them, "So, if you can talk, why use the board?"

She glanced away, scribbling absently and turning the board to face me, "My voice makes me sound dumb."

"Not exactly your fault, you can't hear."

She shrugged.

"So, what's with all the blushy coyness?"

She frowned, "You ask this after you decided to get up and leave?"

I just smiled, nodding once, she sighed, "I'm lonely, Trigger was my only friend, and even then we never talked, he had to keep his mask on to breath, so I couldn't read his lips, and he didn't no how to read or write so I couldn't use the board. Everypony else just ignores me until my ears start twitching, you're the first pony to ever really want to talk to me, and I guess-"

She pouted, her board filled up, quickly erasing it, "I guess I like you, or whatever."

I chuckled and shook my had, "Darling, you are the sweetest little deaf girl I have ever met, but you're about three years too young and not really my type."

She frowned again, "I thought you liked mares?"

"I do, key word being mare, you're still a filly."

She huffed, I leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek, "Do me a favor, save your affections for someone your own age that's actually going to stick around, okay?"

She pouted, but nodded, picking up her board, turning away before showing me what she wrote, "Kiss?"

I turned her head and gave her a quick peck on the lips. She shot me a dissatisfied scowl, I chuckled and pulled her in for the real thing.

She smiled slightly when I pulled away, I smiled back and tousled her mane, "Sweetheart like you ought to find somepony in no time."

She rolled her eyes, "I'm serious, just go have a conversation with someone, they'll like you."

She sighed, "There's this zebra girl, Chain, I could go talk to her or whatever, I guess."

"Good, what suite's she in?"

She cocked an eyebrow, "26, why?"

I pushed her off the bed, dragging her behind me, "We're gonna go talk to her."

Her eyes widened, and she frantically scribbled on the board, "Like right now?!"

"Yep."

She was resisting slightly but it didn't matter, I made my way to suite 26 with Radar in tow, knocking on the door softly.

"Come in." a young but exotic voice said, what I imagined the traditional zebra accent sounded like as opposed to Kimba's blended one.

"Hey!" I said, smiling brightly at the two zebras in the room, "Which one of you is Chain?"

The one with several piercings in both ears, two above her right eye, and one in her left nostril raised her hoof, glancing the two of us over questioningly with her exotic purple eyes.

"Hi there, you know Radar right?"

"Of course." she replied, smiling politely at Radar, who squeaked quietly and shuffled behind me.

"Well, she thinks your really cute and shit and she's told me how much she'd love to get to know you better."

The board was crammed in my face, "I can't read your lips at this angle, what are you saying?!"

I smacked the board aside and smiled, "So, if you're not busy tonight, she's wondering if you'd like to hang out."

Chain shrugged, "Sure."

I smiled wide and pushed Radar forward, she shook slightly, letting out a meek, "Hi."

Chain just smiled again, "Hi. Sis, you mind giving us some privacy?"

The zebra with her stood and walked out with me, "So what's your name?"

"Knick Knack," she replied, "I deal in basic supplies and... shady goods."

I smirked slightly, "Shady goods huh?"

"Chems mostly, weapons we steal from Paragon camps, things the bosses don't want around base."

"Why no chems or stolen weapons?"

"Fringe didn't want a bunch of addicts with us, and Vermin doesn't like us sneaking into Paragon camps and stealing their shit, says it's a good way to get captured. Kid wants a fix or some firepower they can trade with me for stuff my sister and I need. Spare ammo, rations, those sorts of things."

"There's food and ammunition everywhere, why do you need them to trade it?"

"We don't, but it's what we use as currency around here, helps to have a good stockpile."

I nodded, "So you're a merchant, what's Chain do?"

"She's a good thief, good at making chems too, mixes this stuff called Rushing Water, gives kids the Dash fix they want without getting them addicted, keeps Fringe off our ass and our customers happy, win win situation."

I nodded again, looking out over the field, my ears perking when an idea hit me, "Hey Knick Knack, know how to play hoofball?"

***

Apparently, pegasi and zebras are both really good at hoofball, and when you combine those two, you get the best player ever.

Even with her wings bound, Kimba was capable of kicking the ball fifteen feet over Token and Knick Knack's heads and leaping after it.

I smirked and caught it between my forehooves, tossing it up and giving it a good double buck, Kimba leapt forward and headbutted it back at me, landing it between my legs and into the net behind me.

She landed gracefully, a smug grin slapped on her face, "What's the score now Bandage? Ten to two? We said first to ten wins right?"

"Shove it," I grumbled, "no one on my team can pull off that fancy midair bullshit."

"Aww quit whinin' boss!" BB shouted, "We beat ya fair."

I huffed, kicking the ball away, Stripe trotted over and patted me on the back, "Think on the bright side boss, this wasn't a league match."

I scowled at him, "Hilarious."

He grinned, wheeling me around, "I thought so too, now c'mon, let's go get shit faced before we all die grizzly deaths tomorrow."

"Have I ever told you how much I love your optimism?" I asked dryly.

"Most do, it's one of my finer qualities."

I chuckled and bumped against him, "I also love that subtle tone of narcissism you throw into your sentences."

Knick Knack galloped over to catch up, "Hey! Sorry I didn't play very well."

"It's fine kid, wouldn't have won anyways, too far outmatched."

"That was really fun though, if you ever come back we need to play again."

"Sounds good."

Token galloped up next, tackling me and pinning me to the ground, "You can't goal keep for shit babe."

I grinned at her, easily flipping her onto her back and pinning her with my hips, "And you couldn't cover a kick if your life depended on it Toky."

Kimba barrelled into both of us, getting us in headlocks, "And as per our arrangement, both of you are buying the drinks."

"Mmm hmm, think I might get you drunk enough to fulfill that other arrangement we have?"

She pulled my head up and kissed me on the cheek, then let us both drop and stepped over us, "Not a chance mate."

***

I slumped against Stripe, huffing impatiently. He glanced at me sideways, finishing off his fifth bottle of Wild Pegasus before propping me back up, "Maybe ya oughta slow down boss?"

"I'm not drunk, I'm pissed off."

"Why?"

"I'm on my tenth glass of vodka, I should be piss drunk by now, but I don't even have a light fucking buzz."

"Maybe it's watered down?"

Rawhide cleared his throat from the bar, "It ain't watered down an' it damn sure ain't vodka, that's moonshine, mah own brew, little lady oughta have alcohol poisonin' by now at the rate she's going."

I huffed again, "Well what the fuck?!"

"Your cellular regeneration is causing your blood to rapidly metabolise alcohol, I'm afraid you're incapable of becoming intoxicated."

I pouted, slamming my head on the table. Though my ears definitely perked when they picked up the drunken giggling of two mares.

I glanced up, scowling instantly when I spotted Token leading Kimba out of the room with her tail. I kicked the table forward, tearing the floor bolts free and sending it crashing into the bar.

Rawhide called after me as I ran down the hallway but I didn't pay him any mind. I caught up with the pair just before they entered Token and I's suite, "Hey!"

They both looked at me quizzically, "What's wrong babe?"

"Mind if I ask what's going on here?"

"Oh we were just gonna fool around a little, that a problem?"

I snorted, "Considering what you let me get away with, no, not really a problem, it's just, how'd you get Kimba to agree?"

She chuckled, "Babe, you went the straight forward and raunchy path, unsettled the poor thing. I took the gentler approach, explained to her what it's like and what we'd be doing and she said she's open to it."

Kimba leaned her head out of the room and tugged Token's tail impatiently, "C'mon already."

I smiled at Kimba, she just chuckled, "Still no chance."

I pouted, Kimba stuck her tongue out at me and ducked back inside, Token giggled quietly and kissed me on the cheek, "I win, ha ha."

I frowned, my ears drooping, "You're awful."

"I know." she said brightly, entering the room and kicking the door shut behind her.

I sighed and made my way to the girl's room, quietly peeking my head in, instantly frowning.

Shaky was crying, Hex was hugging her, rocking her back and forth.

"What's wrong?"

"She had a nightmare, said she doesn't want to talk about it."

I trotted over and sat down, pulling them both onto my lap, "You okay sweetheart?"

Shaky shook her head, pressing her face to my chest and letting out a muffled sob. I kissed her forehead and rubbed her back, doing my best to calm her down.

"You sure you don't want to talk about it sweetheart?"

"I'm sure d-d-dammit." She wiped her nose, pushing away from both of us and trotting out of the room, "I'm g-gonna go t-t-take a walk."

"Okay." I said quietly, wrapping my forelegs around Hex's tummy and resting my chin on her head, "So, what do you think it was?"

"I dunno, must've been bad though, haven't seen her this broken up in awhile."

"Yeah... my date skimped out on me, wanna make out?"

She murmured something, I glanced down and grinned, holding out a hoof, "You're bright red hon, goggles please."

Her blush faded as she pouted in defeat, tearing off my goggles and hanging the strap on my hoof, "Thanks hon... so we gonna make out or what?"

"My gut tells me to say eww and no, but I can't tell if you're joking or not..."

I laughed and shoved her off my lap, sending her tumbling onto her own mattress, "Of course I'm joking, fucking perv."

"Oh okay then. Eww, no! Kissing's icky and stuff."

I pouted and stood up, lowering my head to her level and approaching, getting my face only a few inches from hers, "You think I'm icky?"

She smirked, instantly seeing through my bullshit, "Yup."

I smirked back and tousled her mane, "Bollocks to ya then."

She chuckled quietly, then frowned, "Think we should go check on Shaky?"

I sighed and flopped down onto the mattress with her, "No, she wants to be alone, and it's been my experience that we should let her have her space... Ya know, we've both got nothing better to do, let's just have a girls night in, chat it up."

"Sure. What do you wanna talk about?"

I put on an exaggerated expression, trying my best to pull off the look of a giddy teenager, "Boys!"

She looked at me flatly, her visible eyebrow cocked, "You're an idiot."

"Fine, mares, slutty mares with great big round haunches."

"...So, we're gonna talk about you?"

"Oh ha!" I exclaimed dryly, "You're a fucking riot Hex."

"It's true though, you have tons of sex and a huge ass."

I gasped, "I do not have a huge ass!"

"Yes huh, it's the good kind of huge though, all big and sexy."

I smirked, pressing my nose to hers, "Oh Hexy, you wily enchantress, you know just how to compliment a mare."

She pressed back, grinning wide, I chuckled and pulled her hood over her head, pushing her backwards and laying down on her back. Her ears poked through the holes, I grinned and bit down on one gently.

"Stop!" she giggled.

"No, you're delicious."

"But it tickles!"

"It does?" I stopped, then started tickling her ribs with my hooves, "How about this?"

"Bandage!" she managed to squeal through her laughter, "St-stop!"

I gave up, hugging around her neck and kissing the top of her head, "You're really ticklish Hexy, good to know if I ever have to extract some information."

She giggled quietly, "You wouldn't need to tickle torture me, sexual favors would get you just as much information, maybe more."

I chuckled and pulled her hood down to cover her eyes, "Bet there'd be just as much squealing."

"Oh totally." she said, rolling over in my embrace to smile at me, "You remind me of my big sister."

I smirked and cocked an eyebrow, "You and your sister exchanged sexual innuendo?"

"No," she giggled, "but we talked all the time just like this, and your personalities are similar."

"Where is she?"

"Port, I think, she left when I was ten to go join the Walkers."

"Why'd she leave?"

"Said our dad was molesting her, Mom didn't believe her, or didn't want to, so she left, wanted to take me with but I didn't really understand what she meant so I stayed."

"...Ever wish you would've gone with her?"

"A lot when I was in that place, not anymore after I met you guys."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, that experience was awful, and it scarred me, but if I'd have left I would've never met Shaky, or you. Shaky's the first filly I've ever liked this much and you're basically the best friend I've ever had, so it was all worth it."

"Aww hon," I smiled and pressed my nose to hers again, "you're such a sweetheart."

"What're you g-g-guys d-doin'?"

We both glanced over at Shaky in the doorway, "Well, up until you interrupted us we were having a pretty righteous dry hump session."

She rolled her eyes and trotted over, laying down and nuzzling Hex on the cheek, "What have you actually b-b-been doing?"

Hex just grinned, "What Bandage said was pretty much accurate."

Shaky sighed and rested her head on my foreleg, I leaned down and nuzzled behind her ear sympathetically, "We've just been talking, had a tickle fight a little bit ago. How was your walk?"

"Fine," she mumbled tiredly, "D-dad is really drunk b-by the way."

"Mmm, did he at least collapse somewhere reasonable?"

"Yeah, Rawr and Adze walked him b-b-back to his room."

I nodded, rolling onto my side and pulling them both to my chest, "You guys ready for bed?"

Shaky huffed and slumped against me, "G-g-goddesses yes."

Hex nodded in agreement, I kissed them both on the forehead and nestled us all closer, "Night babies."

No response, just quiet breathing, I smiled to myself and rested against the pillow.

***

I knocked on the door for the fifth time, finally answered by a yawning Kimba, "Morning Bandage."

"Morning, my intrepid young lover up yet?"

She smirked tiredly, "Nah, we wore each other out pretty well last night."

I huffed, "Keep rubbing it in..."

She grabbed my head and kissed me, a thoroughly surprising gesture, opening her mouth to swap spit. It was odd, running my tongue over her sharp teeth, and aside from the morning breath, it was a very pleasant kiss.

She broke away, licking her lips and grinning behind the veil of her disheveled mane. A series of familiar cracks from behind her, Token approached, hugging around her neck and leaning forward to kiss me, "Mmm, always better in the morning isn't it Kim? Feels... sharper."

Kimba cocked her head to the side and shared a kiss with Token as well, smiling even wider when she pulled away, "Last night was great mate."

"Mmhmm, you picked up the right techniques pretty quick."

Kimba chuckled, hugging around her waist and pressing her against the door frame, "I had a good teacher."

Token giggled, glancing sideways at me gaping at the both of them, "Don't sit there looking all shocked darling, it was one kiss."

I smirked again and piled into both of them, knocking them to the floor and engaging in a painfully awkward three mouth kiss. They broke away, pulling me between them and nibbling at my neck and ears.

"Oh please let this be turning into a threesome..."

"As much as I hate to break this up," Stripe said from the doorway, "and believe me, I really hate it, we gotta get movin', no more time to waste."

"Aww come on Stripe!" I whined, "I've been waiting weeks for some zebra ass, you can't split this up now."

"Any other day and I'd be crackin' open a beer and pullin' up a chair to watch the spectacle, but we're on a schedule."

I huffed and pressed my face between their chests, "You're a bastard."

Stripe pulled me away, though it was more like prying me off with his teeth by the hood of my Manechester hoody, the two mares under me pouted and snuggled closer to each other.

I sighed, scowling at Stripe as we trotted through the halls to BB's room, though the scene inside brightened my mood a bit.

Fringe and BB were snuggled close, the former wrapped in BB's wings with his beanie pulled over his eyes, snoring softly. BB was absently rubbing her head on his neck in her sleep, stopping and winking an eye open when I started approaching.

She whined quietly, "Please don't make me get up boss, he's so sweet, Ah don't wanna leave."

I smiled sympathetically, "Sorry Beebs, we've got to get moving."

She sighed, then started nibbling on his neck to wake him. He smiled tiredly, Stripe and I smiled as well as a certain piece of his anatomy started waking up.

BB smirked at us, throwing a blanket over his waist to hide her young stallion's endowment, "Perverts... wake up Fringy, Ah wanna give ya a proper goodbye."

His ear perked and he pulled up his beanie, glancing back at her, "Goodbye?"

She frowned slightly, kissing his cheek, "Yeah sugar, Ah'm sorry but Ah gotta go."

"Oh... yeah guess you've got stuff to do, don't know why I thought you'd-" She silenced him with a long kiss, squeezing him tighter as she broke away.

"Ah'm comin' back when Ah get the chance Fringe, just gotta put a three month hiatus on you an' me, okay?"

He frowned and rolled over, hugging her tight, "Okay..."

"Oh sugar..." She hugged him back, the two of them embracing each other with their wings.

I smiled and stepped out of the room, "We'll give you awhile, meet up in the cafe."

"'Kay boss." she said quietly, nestling against his neck.

***

I sipped my coffee, doing my best to warm up next to the campfire, absently looking over the map of the new Manchester Fringe had drawn up for us, "What's this square up here?"

"Vermin's place," BB replied, pointing ahead to the completely trashed collection of buildings collapsed in on each other a few hundred yards away, "it's just ahead there, not much good t' have in on there though."

I nodded, "And this mound looking thing with the skull and crossbones?"

"It's a dragon roost, 'round the bend a ways, pretty obvious when ya see it, Ah'd highly recommend avoidin' it."

"Right, and if there's no way around?"

"Move low an' quiet and as fast as we can."

"Right... let's get moving."

"'Kay." she muttered, flying off ahead of the group and touching down just before reaching the outpost.

I sighed and cantered after her, "You alright Beebs?"

"Yeah," she mumbled absently, picking over a partially melted piece of riot armor, "why d'ya ask?"

"I dunno, you seem off."

She shrugged her wings, "Just a little down in the dumps... Ya know, Ah've never come back to a place Ah've torched before, looks a lot different, metal warps pretty wildly once it cools."

"Sure... so?"

She sighed, drooping slightly, "Fringe uh, he- never mind."

I nudged her, smiling when she looked up, "What's up?"

She huffed and smacked me in the face with her wing before trotting past me, "It's nothin', let's just keep movin'."

I grumbled and walked after her, "So, I don't see a way around here, this is a pretty narrow pass."

"Eeya, kinda a weird setup they got goin', we move up the stairs over there, then move up and down the stairs inside to move from buildin' t' buildin' 'til we reach the other side."

We all trotted up the first set of stairs together, except for Stripe, stopping when the metal works groaned in protest at the addition of his considerable armor bound weight.

The interior was wrecked, more so than the other buildings we'd seen in Manechester, the walls scorched and melted from magical energy weapons, blasted apart from explosives and gunfire.

The whole building shifted as Stripe approached our position, he sighed and sat down, "Guess I'll move through when yer all out, building's kinda unstable."

"Good idea."

We ascended the first ten story building, gingerly stepping across a fallen concrete column into the next structure, their were bodies in this one, mostly burned, indistinguishable. BB stopped me, guardedly looking around the room.

"This ain't right," she whispered, "we didn't burn any of the bodies."

I caught something in the corner of my eye, a burnt piece of paper, swirling like it'd been blown by a breeze, though the bowl canyon we were in was blocking any and all wind.

My ears perked involuntarily again, still nothing, actually there was unsettling lack of noise. A bent can near the stairs shifted slightly, I squinted my eyes, noticing the faintest trace of air distortion for a brief moment.

"Stay here guys." I said quietly, tentatively moving to the stairs, drawing my magical shotgun as I went.

I reached the top floor, stopping when blue pair of lights in the shape of eyes flashed, I lowered my weapon slightly and cocked an eyebrow. Blue sparks formed around a faint zebra shaped shimmer, unveiling a stripped down suit of black riot armor with wires all over it connecting to a blue glyphed gem embedded in the chest piece. The helmet was different too, blue, softly glowing eye pieces, and the top plate was gone, letting loose the zebra's short striped mohawk.

The zebra moved around me, its steps tentative but resolute. I smiled through my visor, slinging my shotgun and shifting into a defensive stance.

It lurched suddenly, gracefully bounding at me, I dodged, just barely, its hoof clipping my head hard enough to crack my visor. I spun underneath it, bucking its underside, slamming it into the ceiling hard enough to crack the weak concrete and knock loose a few small chunks.

It hit the floor, rising to its hooves and shaking the dust off, going invisible in an instant as I leapt forward. I twisted as I landed again, the crack in my visor sealing as I carefully scanned the room.

A hoof smashed my helmet, denting the right side and completely shattering my visor, I recoiled and rear bucked at air, impacting something, blue shards of gemstone shattering on the floor as the uncloaked zebra went flying across the room, hitting the wall hard enough to embed itself.

It fell from the wall, clutching its crumpled chest plate as foamy pink blood oozed from the dust filter on its helmet.

I trotted over, the remains of my helmet retracting, reaching out a hoof. It smacked it away weakly, I smirked and leaned down, gently lifting its head with my forehoof and removing its helmet with my magic.

It was a buck, surprisingly young considering he had the strength to crush my armor, 18 maybe.

"Speak Equestrian?" I asked casually as I popped his chest plate off, tossing the advanced equipment aside and going to work on his rib cage.

He nodded in response, tapping his chest weakly and letting out a pained gasp.

"Easy, almost done."

A pair of hooves impacted my side, hard, cracking a few ribs and slamming me through the wall outside onto a weak mesh of rusted rebar.

Another armored zebra was standing over the injured one, picking him up and throwing him over the ledge. I reached up with my magic and caught him, laying him on my back and leaping onto the roof of the adjacent building, setting him down gently.

He tried to stand, I shook my head and pushed him back down, "Rest, I'll be back in a sec."

I turned back to face the other zebra, met with three more standing in front of me.

"How many of you fuckers are there?"

One lunged forward, I swung Victory around and shot him in the face, dropping him in an instant.

"Sorry, I'm done with the fancy martial arts bullshit for now."

The two looked at each other, then back at me and nodded, stepping back. I nodded curtly, then lurched backwards involuntarily as the concrete in front of me was pulvarized with a massive barrage of green magical plasma.

I glanced up, there was a unicorn in a suit that was an odd fusion of riot gear and power armor, two heavy casters sparking with green energy strapped to his sides.

He leapt down to my rooftop, the building creaking under his weight.

I cocked an eyebrow, unfolding Whisper and fixing it to my side, "And who the hell are you?"

"Sentinel Aegis," he replied calmly, with the same odd northern accent Deacon spoke with, "and you're Bandage yes?"

"Yeah, nice to meet you, so who are these invisible assholes?"

"Te Black Ghosts, one of our special forces groups, tis of course is a squad of novices, in her visdom te High Commander did not grant our expedition more experienced soldiers. Up until now tey've been a more tan adequate asset, but it vould appear tat a mare of your caliber is a bit too much for tem."

"I dunno, this bloke here behind me put up a decent show."

"Oh? Vell, Roho is one of our most promising recruits."

"Yeah, makes me wonder why his buddies there tried to kill him."

"Bah, te tribes in our region have tis odd rule, if you're alive and not fighting your opponent it counts as surrender, really conflicts vit our army's policy of killing anyone tat surrenders and ve haven't been able to beat it out of tem so it stays."

"Interesting, well I'm going to shoot you with this really big gun now."

"Ah, a magnetic rail rifle yes? Beautiful veapon, but vouldn't te percussion shake tese flimsy buildings apart? And I believe your companions are all still downstairs, te rubble vould crush tem."

I snorted and folded Whisper back up, tossing her into my saddlebags and drawing the rest of my weapons, "That's fine, I've got plenty of guns."

He was silent for a time before turning back to his 'Black Ghosts', "Disperse." he ordered.

The two nodded and leapt down the side of the building. His weapons hummed to life, I dodged to the left, yelping as my shields popped and my side heated up, looking back at the bubbling remains of the armor on my right flank as it dripped to the ground, hissing and steaming as it melted through the concrete.

"Hey! Watch the ass alright? My marefriend loves it."

"Marefriend? Ah, tat vould explain vhy te Marquise asked me not to kill you, it vould appear she's smitten."

"Yeah... I wouldn't worry about it, she kinda gives me the creeps."

He chuckled quietly through the speaker in his helmet, "Yeah, me too, and don't vorry, I don't plan on taking her orders to heart..."

I dropped all my gear and charged the instant my shields recharged, bobbing and weaving his onslaught, my sides heating up and my shield's integrity slowly dropping.

I got up in his face, using my forehooves to crush the long barrels of his casters, he head butted me in response, smashing my visor yet again. I ducked a punch, then hopped backwards away from a powerful stomp, falling with him through the roof into the building below when his hooves demolished the flimsy concrete.

We both smashed through the next two floors, only managing to splinter the hardwood on the sixth story. We rose to our hooves, shaking the dust off. His broken weapons fell to his side, sparking and hissing wildly.

He kicked them at me, I brought up my forelegs to defend myself, getting thrown backwards by the explosion of the unstable spark batterys, stopping abruptly when I hit a steel beam, slumping against the bent metal, sighing when my opponent charged me again.

I planted my hooves and rushed forward, crashing into his chest and using his own momentum to lift him up and slam him down behind me, splintering wood and cracking the concrete beneath it.

He grunted, bucking me hard with his rear legs, bouncing me off the ceiling and back to the ground while he pulled himself from the wood I'd embedded him in.

I swept my legs to stand quickly, cracking my neck. He did the same, the servos in his armor whining.

He charged, I shifted my body, bringing my forehooves together and swinging, hitting his head hard enough to tear off his helmet and lodge it in the ceiling.

The blue buck behind the armor stumbled past me, hitting the floor with a dull thud.

He rose unsteadily as I approached, but I rested my hoof on the back of his head and slammed him back down face first.

I trotted past him, he rose back up behind me, spitting blood and glaring at me. I smirked, he bellowed and tore into me, smashing us both through the far wall and out, down two stories into a window. We rolled as we hit the floor and I kicked him away, he
landed on his hooves and twisted, tearing up a slab of rebar enforced concrete beam and chucking it at me.

I caught it, the weight forcing me to roll on my back and kick it off behind me. In an instant he was standing above me, rearing back in preparation of a blow that would likely crush me.

Then a familiar zebra was on his back, his forelegs wrapped around Aegis' neck and my rapier gripped tight in his teeth.

With a quick jerk of his neck the blade slashed deep into the Sentinel's throat, opening it wide, wet crimson raining over me while his exposed windpipe desperately sucked air.

The zebra rested his forelegs under Aegis' chin and jerked his whole body backwards, tearing the head free from the neck and sending it rolling across the floor, wide eyed as it trailed blood along the warped concrete.

The zebra, Roho, approached me slowly, cleaning the blood from my blade off, laying it and the rest of my gear down at my hooves.

"Thanks." I muttered, cautiously looking him over.

"You spared my life," he said quietly, his amber eyes looking me over in return, "I owe it to you."

He turned and trotted back up the stairs, "I need to collect the gear from the Ghost you killed, my current armor is useless. I will meet you at the southern end of this compound should you allow me to travel with you."

"Sure." I muttered, he nodded.

***

We were all warily watching Roho as we went, except for Hex, who had for some reason taken a liking to him.

"So, any family?" she asked.

"Dead." he replied, almost casually, "You?"

"Same, mostly anyways, I think my sister is still alive."

"Miss them?"

"My mom, not my father though, you?"

"When I was young, but they beat the pains of loss out of you early in the army."

"What's it like?"

"The army? Ups and downs I suppose, three hot meals a day and a clean bed versus following orders I did not agree with on a moral level, though I suppose they beat morality out of you early too."

"Sounds rough."

"It was, I am glad to be rid of it... What about you, do you enjoy traveling in dangerous lands with dangerous people?"

"Yeah, these guys are cool."

Stripe nudged me, I glanced at him and nodded, stepping up pace until we were both out of earshot, "What's up?"

"We really trustin' this guy?" he asked quietly.

I shrugged, "He saved my ass, I've got no reason not to."

"He's a fuckin' Paragon, and a Black Ghost at that, you know what kind of atrocities they've committed up North?"

"Hey, if you don't trust him, that's fine, don't trust him and waste your time watching him like a hawk, but I do trust him, and until he does something to change that, I'll keep trusting him, savvy?"

"Yes'm." he grumbled, glancing back at our new companion.

I nudged him, nodding ahead at the huge crest of rubble in the distance, strewn with sun bleached bones of all shapes and sizes.

"Seems like a nice place," I commented brightly, "think they've got room and board for ten?"

"Ha ha." Stripe said dryly, throwing on his helmet, his armor loading different magazines into his machine guns.

"What's with the ammo change?"

He snorted, "Armor piercing in the left, explosive in the right, I ain't goin' up against a dragon with anything less."

"Think we can take it if it jumps us?"

"Depends on the age, anything older than seventy five and I'd say we'd be fucked without some sorta anti ship arsenal."

"Recommendations?"

"Get that mag rifle prepped and try to aim for the eyes."