Sutro was a small settlement towards the center of San Prancisco and not too far from Marendon and Stable 97. It was also the site of Rebel Radio that broadcast over San Prancisco with its pro-Enclave message, that was definitely worrisome to me.

Honestly as we left the Underground I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The settlement wasn't under Enclave control but they were definitely sympathetic to them. What was this kind of place going to be like? Were we going to be arrested or even just thrown out of town?

When I climbed out of the underground it was just another settlement. I almost felt a little disappointed at that but there wasn't much I could do.

"Welcome to Sutro," Morning Glory said as we brushed ourselves off. She looked over at me and shook her head. "You might want to get cleaned up, you have a little Slaver... like, all over you."

"Is there a place to bathe?" I asked as I looked around.

"Yeah, Sutro has a Water Talisman taken from one of the nearby Stables that was abandoned," Morning Glory said as we started down the street. She smiled a little as a few ponies took notice of us and waved. "I'll deal with the ponies here and make sure you're not given any trouble."

"Thank you," I said as I looked over at Cherry. She was starting to feel a little less uneasy, that was a good sign at least. "How long have you had contact with Sutro?"

"They reached out to us after the first broadcast, we've been trading and using the Settlement as a point where we can rest after leaving the underground," Morning Glory said with a nod. "They're good ponies really, don't judge them just because they picked our side in the war."

"Why do they not like the NCR anyway?" Mariposa asked as she looked at a mare who had been glaring at her because of her Ranger armor. "We haven't really had any contact with this settlement."

"I think that's the problem, you haven't done much to stop the Raiders in this city, and that was even before the war," Morning Glory said with a sigh. "We're doing our best to help these ponies, but there's only so much you can do."

"Yeah..." I said with a sigh as we stopped in front of one of the buildings.

"Well, here you are, this is more or less a communal bath house but the water should be clean enough," Morning Glory said and gave us a smile. "Don't worry, you won't be harmed as long as we're here."

"Thank you," I said with a smile as we headed inside and Morning Glory walked off to talk with the ponies in charge of the town about us.

"Oh wow, this feels nice..." Cherry said as she eased herself into the warm water of the bath. I smiled at my marefriend as I sat down next to her and wrapped my wing around her gently.

"Yeah, very nice," I said with a smile as I kissed her softly on the lips. "I haven't felt this good in forever."

"Get a room you two," Serenity said with a laugh as she splashed us lightly. "Or are you two going to just do it right here in front of all of us?"

I blushed a little and rolled my eyes at the filly's crack. "Trying to make up for the lack of Arc being here to tease us huh?" I asked with a groan.

"Maaaaaybe," Serenity said with a giggle as she laid back in the water. "This really does feel nice, why don't we have one of these in the Crystal Empire?"

"I, don't know," I admitted with a shrug as I nuzzled Cherry gently. "Really I'm just glad we got the chance to relax... I just don't know how we're going to get to the Stable tomorrow given everything that's happening. I just hope that we can leave to get there."

"Yeah, the Enclave isn't exactly the most trustworthy group in the wasteland," Cherry said with a sigh. "Though Morning Glory seems to be okay, do you think we can at least trust her?"

"I think we can trust her, its the rest of the Enclave here that I don't trust," I said with a sigh as I leaned back and closed my eyes. "I don't like the fact that we're at a ceasefire with them and I know its not going to last, but there's something about Morning Glory that makes me think we can at least trust her."

"I hope you're right Scootaloo," Mariposa said with a sigh as she looked over at me. "I don't like this, the Enclave is being too nice and we don't really know why. Do you think its possible that they're going to stab us in the back?"

"I think anything is possible at this point, but we need a chance to at least relax," I said with a sigh. "We'll take turns keeping watch tonight just to be safe. Tomorrow we go after that Stable and all bets are off."

"Do you really think the Stable might be better off with the Enclave in charge?" Cherry asked as she looked at me confused. "I didn't think you'd ever say something like that."

"Winter Breeze started her career as a Schoolteacher," I said simply as I looked over at our friends from Stable 97. "As much as I hate to agree with the Enclave, some of the Stables do need help and 97 is one of them. The problem is that the NCR is spread too thin to give them the help they need, and that's going to be a problem for them in the long run."

"But if the Enclave moves in, they can give Stable 97 what they need, like a proper education," Serenity said in understanding. "I don't like it though."

"I don't like it either, but its the only chance they have at this point," I said with a sigh as I leaned over and pulled Serenity in close. "When this is all over we can change things, we can change Stable 48 too, I promise."

"I hope so," Cherry said as she nuzzled me lightly. "I really hope so Scootaloo."

"Me too... I love you both so much," I said with a smile as I wrapped my wings around the two gently. "We're going to get through this, somehow."

"Alright, I've talked with the ponies running the town and they've agreed to let you stay the night," Morning Glory said when we met up with a now asleep Serenity laying on my back. "I'm glad we could keep from causing a problem Scootaloo, I just wish that we were on the same side of this war."

"Me too," I said with a sigh as I brushed my mane back. "Do you ever regret your decision to side with the Enclave again?"

"Sometimes," Morning Glory admitted with a sigh as she looked at Serenity. "But at the same time I know that Winter Breeze is trying to help Equestria in her own way. She's not a bad pony, she just has to do bad things in order to do what she feels is right. Were you any different during the war?"

"Well... I..." I said, honestly I had no idea what I was going to say to that. She was right of course, I had legitimized my actions in the same way but I hadn't gone to war over them. Was I really any different from Winter Breeze? I honestly didn't know, maybe we were the same and maybe we were different.

At the same time, maybe it was what made us similar that made everything work out like it had. We were both ponies trying to do the right thing even if it cost us our souls. Maybe it was also a sign that we could stop Winter's plans with something other than violence, at least I hoped so at least.

"So what are we going to do tomorrow?" I asked as I looked at Morning Glory for a long moment. "I'm sure the ponies under your command aren't happy that you've agreed to let us go."

"Not particularly," Morning Glory admitted with a sigh. "But I'm part of the President's Inner Circle so they don't have a choice but to listen to way I say. I just hope that they're not going to find some way to stop you from leaving anyway."

I sighed and nodded as I looked down at my hooves. We were going to have to figure something out if we were going to make it out of the Settlement and reach Stable 97.

"So, what are you going to do now?" I asked as I looked at Morning Glory. "We both know that only one side can get access to the terminal. Stable 97 has the last key the Enclave needs and we want to stop you from getting it. This is where everything comes down to the wire."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Morning Glory said with a nod. "I'm sure that everything's going to be okay, we'll make sure that if we win the ponies in Stable 97 are treated well."

"Yeah, well I just hope you're being honest," I said as I looked at her. "The Enclave isn't exactly high on my list of favorite ponies right now given everything that's going on."

She nodded as we stopped in front of a small building. "Its not much but this is where you'll be staying the night," Morning Glory said as she pushed the door open. "Just don't go throwing any wild parties, okay?"

"Well, I'd say given everything that's happened we lost the deposit years ago," I said with a chuckle as we entered the small building. It had just two rooms with a couple of beds.

"I'll see you in the morning, sleep well," Morning Glory said as she walked off.

"She, seems agreeable at least," Cherry said with a sigh as I gently placed Serenity into the bed and she shifted a little. "Are you going to be okay Scootaloo?"

"I honestly don't know," I admitted as I laid back on the bed and yawned. "I know this isn't going to be easy, but we have to sleep well tonight to make sure that we can make it through tomorrow."

"Yeah," Cherry said as she laid down on the opposite side of the bed as Riva made a bed for herself on the floor and the others went into the other room. "Sleep well Scootaloo, I love you so much."

"I love you too," I said and gave her a kiss and then lightly kissed Serenity on the forehead. "Good night you two."

Cherry nodded and yawned as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. I smiled and draped my wing over the two of them gently, these two were part of my family in the Wasteland. I loved them more than anything else and I wanted to make sure that they were going to be safe.

I smiled a little and closed my eyes as I drifted off to sleep next as Riva stood guard. I knew that one way or another everything was going to be okay.

"So Scootaloo, how do I look?" Cherry asked as she modeled a set of light armor that she had purchased from one of the shops in the Settlement. "I figured it would make sense to wear something else other than my old barding, what do you think?"

"You look..." I started to say with a light blush on my face, the armor looked great on her it really did but I had no idea what to say. "You look amazing Cherry."

"Thanks," Cherry said with a smile as she slinked over to me and kissed me lightly on the lips. "I thought you'd like it, I wish I could've gotten some extra armor for my stomach but I had to take what I could get."

"You know I don't know why most of our clothes don't actually cover our hindquarters..." I said and paused a moment. "I asked Rarity about it once and she didn't really have much of an answer either."

"I'll never understand Fashion I guess," Cherry said with a shrug. "Well, at least I look good I guess."

"Very good," I said and leaned in and kissed the pink mare gently on the lips as I pulled her in close with my wings. It was a nice feeling to be close to my marefriend. I continued the kiss and squeezed her lightly.

"Grown ups are so weird!" Serenity said from near us which ruined the moment.

"Yeah, but you're going to be doing that with Pure Heart in no time!" I said with an evil grin as I trotted over to her and tickled her, causing the filly to break out in giggles.

"No fair, your feathers are so much bigger than mine!" Serenity protested through the giggles. "And I keep telling you, we're just friends!"

"Uh-huh, just like me and Cherry were when you kept teasing me," I said with a roll of my eyes as I hugged the filly tightly. "I think you two would make an adorable couple, what do you think Cherry?"

"Yep, I definitely agree," Cherry said with a giggle. "So, do you think about her like that?"

"No comment," Serenity said with a grumble as I just giggled and ruffled the filly's mane gently. "You're enjoying this way too much aren't you?"

"Yes, its fun," I said with a laugh as we headed towards the entrance to the settlement where the rest of the group was waiting with Morning Glory. "Do we have everything we need?"

"Yeah, we got all the medical supplies we could afford," Mariposa said as she looked over at Morning Glory and her Enclave escorts. "Are we going to leave on good terms or is the fight going to start right here?"

"No, we're going to keep our side of the deal," Morning Glory said as she shot a look over at one of the Enclave soldiers. "Is that clear? We don't attack them until after one group reaches the Stable."

"Yes, very clear," the soldier said with a grumble.

"Alright, then lets get going," I said as I secured my battle saddle and we started walking out of the settlement. We stopped at a fork in the road and I looked at Morning Glory for a long moment and nodded before we started walking along the left path.

I sighed and we started walking towards the Stable. I just hoped that we were going the right way.

"So, how far is it to the Stable?" Centerpin asked as I checked the map on my PipBuck. "We can't be that far away can we?"

"Well, the good news is that it won't take that long to be there," I said as I looked at the map and compared it to the map we had of the city. "The bad news is that we still have to deal with at least one group of Raiders on the way."

"Figures," Brick said with a growl as I lowered the map and we kept walking.

"I know this isn't going to be easy, but we're going to make it one way or another," I said with a sigh as I looked back at Centerpin and Heart Ache. "What about you two, are you going to be okay with heading back to your home Stable?"

"Yeah, we'll be fine," Centerpin said with a shrug. "We left to find help in fixing the power thingy in the Stable, if you can help us with that that's all we really need."

"Well, we'll help out as best we can," I said with a nod. Actually I was really wishing that Arc was here, she knew better about this kind of thing than any of us but at least I could try. "We're glad to help as best we can."

"And we're happy to help you stop the Enclave," Heart Ache added as she checked over our medical supplies. "I hope you ponies know what you're doing though. So, what kind of Raiders are we going to be dealing with?"

"Pretty much the usual from what I understand, didn't they give you trouble when you left the Stable?" I asked as I looked at the two Stable Dwellers.

"Sure, a little, but we were saved by our friends so everything was okay," Centerpin said as she looked over at Brick and Mariposa.

"Well, we're going to just have to be careful," I said as I looked back at Cherry and Serenity. "We have to make sure that we don't let those two get hurt either above ground or in the Stable. We just have to get into the Marendon School and down into the basement."

"Of course its the basement, its always the basement," Cherry said with a sigh. "Well, I guess that makes sense when you have to build it underground."

"Well, yeah, though Stable 97's door was actually built with an elevator," I said with a shrug and Serenity blinked a little at that. "What? We had to get it down into the bedrock, we had to make sure that everything would make it through the bombs, its not the only one, just the only one we've run into so far."

"Well, I guess if it makes sense to you," Cherry said with a shrug as we came within view of the Raider camp. "Well, it looks like its time to fight."

I nodded and checked to make sure that my weapons were all set up. We were going to have to approach this carefully. I made a motion to my friends to get everything set to get ready to take on the Raiders.

"Okay, here's the plan, Brick, Mariposa, I want you two to distract the Raiders with a frontal attack," I said and they nodded in agreement. "Serenity, I want you to stay behind with..."

"Aww, I want to help!" Serenity protested. "Why do I always have to stay behind?"

"Because, its going to be your job to make sure that Cherry doesn't get hurt along with Riva," I said with a nod as I looked at Cherry. "Its the most important job right now, okay?"

Serenity just pouted a little and looked between Riva and Cherry before nodding. "Okay, I'll keep her safe!" She said with a weak smile. "I just don't want to be left out of the fighting, you know?"

"Something tells me this won't be the only time we're going to to have to fight today," I said as I ruffled the filly's mane gently. "Don't worry, as soon as we're done here we'll be one step closer to Stable 97 and stopping the Enclave. I'm trusting you with one of the most important ponies in Equestria to me."

"I won't let you down!" Serenity said as she saluted with a smile.

"Cherry, make sure she's safe too okay?" I whispered to Cherry and she nodded in agreement before I kissed her lightly on the lips. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Okay," she said as we headed down towards the Raider camp. It wasn't going to be easy, but we were going to stop these Raiders here and now.

We held back while Mariposa and Brick started their attack on the Raider camp. There were more than a few screams as they tore through them quickly.

"Well, your plan seems to be working out pretty well," Heart Break commented as the sound of gunfire was heard from the camp. "What's our part?"

"Well, basically we need to get in there and take out the boss of the Raiders," I said quietly as we moved into the camp in the midst of the confusion. "Raiders run on a society where the strong runs everything, so if we kill him or her everything should work out... I hope."

"Well, its a plan at least," Centerpin said with a nod. "Its more than either of us have."

I nodded as we came across a group of Raider stragglers that were on their way to join the fight with our friends. They went down in a few quick shots from our weapons as they disintegrated into piles of ash.

"Well, the Raiders are definitely going to be a problem, lets just hope that not a lot of them are going to be here," I said with a nod as we moved in closer. "Though knowing my luck we're going to have to fight a lot of them."

Heart Ache nodded as we dodged a bullet from a Raider sniper. Well, that figured at least, at least compared to fighting the Enclave, Raiders were a piece of cake.

I raised my rifle and aimed it at the Sniper as I looked down the sight. The sniper was trying to get off another shot at us, I wasn't going to give them the chance though. I aimed at the head of the Raider and pulled the trigger on the SOAR and fired an energy bolt into its head.

"Well, that's one more Raider down," Centerpin commented as we got to our hooves and pushed further into the camp. "So, where do you think the boss is?"

"I honestly don't know," I said as I looked around. There was a large tent at the center of the camp, that was probably where we needed to go. "Over there,"

We quietly moved forward as we took out another group of Raiders. We quietly moved into the tent where there was a large throne that looked like it was made of rusted metal.

"Well, I must say I wasn't expecting to run into you again," a gravely voice said from the throne and we looked to see a Ghoul Unicorn stallion with rotting flesh and dressed in metal armor. "Hello Scootaloo, its been a long time since we last crossed paths."

I narrowed my eyes a little and raised the SOAR to aim it at the Unicorn that was clearly in charge of the Raiders. I didn't know what was going on here, but I did recognize who it was. "Hello Night Stalker, I must say I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"Do you know this guy?" Heart Ache asked as the stallion grinned with his rotting teeth.

"Yeah, he and I went to college together," I said with a groan as I aimed my rifle at him. "He's nothing but trouble, he was a rather... well you'd have to have known him but I'm not at all surprised that he's running a Raider gang."

"Oh, you think we're Raiders?" Night Stalker commented as he walked over to us. "This is our home, sure we have to steal in order to survive..."

"You nearly killed us when we left the Stable!" Heart Ache protested and I facehooved a little.

"Okay, bad example," he said with a groan. "Why do you even care? You're still not getting over the fact that I wasn't interested in you were you?"

"Are you kidding? You were a plothead, and you tried to rape me!" I said with a growl. "You're lucky they didn't ship you off to somewhere worse than they did. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just shoot you now!"

"How about the dead pony's switch that's in my suit?" He asked with a grin. "If you kill me, enough P-4 to destroy this whole camp is going to explode.

"Well, that's definitely not good," Centerpin said as she looked between the two of us. "What are we going to do?"

"I, honestly have no idea," I said as I glared at Night Stalker. "You're really willing to blow up your entire camp just to spite me?"

"Of course, I'm not going to let you get away with your false..." Night Stalker said as I rushed forward and punched him in the face, sending him sprawling on the ground. "What was that for?"

"That was to get you to shut your muzzle," I said with a growl as I raised my rifle and aimed it at his forelegs. "I don't have to kill you to put you out of commission you know, you're going down right now."

Night Stalker looked like he was going to say something before I fired a shot into his leg and he let out a scream as his leg exploded in a burst of blood and gore. "You're just as bad as we are, you're just not wanting to admit it."

"I'm nothing like you Raiders," I said with a growl as I slammed the butt of my rifle into his skull and he was knocked out. I took a deep breath and walked out of the tent in a huff. "I hate that stallion so much..."

The Raider camp was quiet, most of the Raiders had been defeated in the initial assault as Brick and Mariposa trotted up to us as they looked around.

"All Raiders dead," Brick said as we started out of the camp again. "What we going to do?"

"Hopefully, get to Stable 97 without any further problems," I said with a growl as we pushed our way out of the camp past the corpses of the Raiders.

"What happened with her?" Mariposa asked as she looked at her friends.

"Its... a long story," Centerpin said as I headed to where Cherry, Riva, and Serenity were all waiting.

"Scootaloo, are you okay?" Cherry asked as we trotted up to them and I hugged her tightly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just had a run-in with a really unpleasant memory of mine," I said with a sigh as I looked back at the camp and narrowed my eyes a little at some large cannons that were in the camp. "Uh... what exactly was stopping the Enclave from just flying straight to the Stable?"

"Well, that would be the AA guns set up around the city to defend against dragon and Zebra assaults during the..." Mariposa started to say when her eyes went wide. "Are you saying that..."

"That we just knocked out the only thing in the area keeping the Enclave from getting a straight shot at the Stable," I said and facehooved at our own stupidity. "Come on, we need to hurry!"

We pushed forward down towards Marendon. We weren't going to let the Enclave win this, not here, not ever!

"Okay, so you put the Stable under a School?" Cherry asked as she looked at me strangely as we approached the ruins of the old Marendon school. "Does Stable-Tec have a strange sense of humor or something?"

"Well we were originally going to put it under the Colt Tower down on the waterfront, but the owners didn't want to give up the property," I said with a shrug. "Which of course figures because we had to go right into the heart of the city, we did not really think these Stable locations through did we?"

"Well, I don't think you expected to have to make your way through a warzone to get to it," Serenity pointed out as we stopped in front of the school. "So what's the plan?"

"We get into the school, hope there's nothing nasty waiting for us, and get into the basement, its short, simple, and to the point," I said as I pushed the door open. "There doesn't seem to be any signs of anypony making it in here recently so at least that means we're here ahead of the Enclave."

"Lets hope so at least," Heart Ache said as we started down the hallway. There was the matter of getting to the basement now but that was going to be easy as long as...

There was a familiar growling sound and I cringed as a small group of rotting feral ghouls came out of one of the classrooms. The worst part wasn't that they were ghouls, they were all foals, they must've been the ones that didn't make it into the Stable below before the bomb went off.

I tried to line up a shot but I hesitated for a split second. These were foals, children even if they were Ghouls. I couldn't bring myself to shoot them, what was I supposed to do?

"Scootaloo!" Serenity shouted as one of the zombified foals lumbered towards me. It took me a moment to register what was going on as a shot rang out and a bullet went through the foal's head. "Scootaloo, they're not foals anymore, they're not going to hesitate to kill you!"

"But..." I started to say but stopped as another one was closing in on Serenity. I narrowed my eyes, she was right, I couldn't let myself hesitate when ponies I cared about were in trouble. I aimed the SOAR at the filly and pulled the trigger, taking her out just as she was about to leap at Serenity.

I turned my attention back to the small herd who was falling back. I breathed a sigh of relief, I didn't like having to kill foals even if they were Ghouls. I looked between my friends and gave them a nod.

"Come on, lets move forward," I said as we pushed forward towards the door leading into the basement. "We need to hurry, we don't want to run into any more Ghouls."

The basement was easy enough to get to as we looked around there was nothing in there that wanted to eat our brains or whatever. I sighed and looked at the gear shaped elevator in the floor.

"So, how does this thing work?" Cherry asked as I went over to a terminal against the wall. "I'm guessing its not as simple as just pressing a button."

"No, I need to put in my Stable-Tec code," I said as I looked over at Heart Ache and Centerpin. They had to have had some sort of codes or a key that allowed them to get in and out of the Stable, that was at least a sign that things were going okay down there.

I typed in my code and the words scrolled across the page.

WELCOME SCOOTALOO.
YOUR LAST LOG IN WAS *@((%@ YEARS AGO
WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACCESS STABLE 97? Y/N.

I hit the Y key quickly and a new message flashed on the screen.

ACCESS TO STABLE 97 GRANTED. PLEASE STAND ON THE ELEVATOR, ACCESS WILL BE GRANTED IN 1 MINUTE.

"Come on, lets go," I said as we all gathered on top of the gear shaped elevator. "Lets do this."

After we were all in place the elevator started to move down towards the Stable. I took a deep breath as the faded metal walls started to pass us. This was where everything would come to a head, I just hoped that the ponies down in the Stable wouldn't get caught in the crossfire of the battle.

I took a deep breath as we looked at the actual Stable Door that was in front of us. It had a fairly standard Stable Door in addition to the elevator that we had just taken.

"So, what should we expect in there?" I asked as I looked over at Heart Ache and Centerpin. "We know the Enclave isn't in here yet, are we going to have any problems from inside the Stable itself?"

"No, if you're here to help they'll be easy enough to convince," Centerpin said as she looked at me. "So, what are you going to do when we get in there?"

"Make sure that the Enclave doesn't get access to the Overmare's terminal as well as get the reactor repaired," I said with a nod as I walked over to the Stable's terminal and started putting the commands in. "This shouldn't take long I hope. Hopefully we'll be able to manage everything before its too late."

"Do you think the Enclave will be able to make it into the Stable?" Mariposa asked as I started putting in my personal code. "I mean, they want access to the terminal, and we're trying to stop them, so how are we going to actually stop them from doing that?"

"Well, I'm still kind of working out the details on that," I admitted with a sigh as I hit the last button to open the door. "There is only one way to keep them from accessing the terminal, but I don't know if that's going to work."

The door opened up with a screech and Serenity covered her ears. "You couldn't have made doors that opened quieter could you?"

"Its just how we got it, okay? I admit they are a bit annoying at this point," I said with a shake of my head. "Come on, lets get..."

"Hold it right there!" A mare's voice said and I groaned a little as I looked over to see a group of ponies dressed in Stable Security barding. "What are you all doing here? Did you two find somepony who can help us?"

"I'm Vice President Scootaloo from Stable-Tec," I said as I dropped my trigger to make sure that I didn't look threatening. "We're here to try and help you get your reactor working again and make sure that your Stable isn't put in danger from an enemy who want to get access to your Stable for... well its a long story."

"I see," the security pony said as she looked us over. "Are you going to be able to help us deal with the power problem we have?"

"Yeah, hopefully," I said as I looked around. "We just need access to the reactor and to the Overmare's office. Everything will be just fine, I promise."

She nodded and we headed further into the Stable. I took a deep breath and looked around, there were a few ponies around that didn't pay us any attention other than a few curious looks. I sighed a little as I looked over at Cherry and Serenity who gave me a nod.

"So, you said you work for Stable-Tec?" The Security mare asked as she looked over at me.

"Yeah, during the war I was its Vice President," I said as I brushed my mane back a little. "Don't ask me how I'm still alive after all these years, its a long story."

"Alright, I won't," the mare said with a shrug as we walked past a room where the ponies dressed in Stable 97 barding were working on tests. A stallion in the same barding looked up at us and our eyes met, I shook my head and kept walking.

I was starting to get a really bad feeling about this. Stable 97 had been another mistake among the Stables, even if they had survived this long, it was just another failed Stable.

I sighed a little and looked at the others. I hated that we had done this to these poor ponies, I just had to hope that we were going to figure something out and soon.

"What kind of test are they taking?" Serenity asked curiously as she looked up at me.

"Its, a long story," I said with a sigh as I pushed my mane back a little. "Stable 97 was not one of our better ideas as I've said before. They take these tests pretty much daily and correct answers are... discouraged."

"Why would..." Cherry started to say.

"Don't ask, please don't ask, it wasn't one of the better things we did," I said with a shake of my head. "We're going to do our best to make sure that everything changes... even if it might mean giving over control to the Enclave if we don't have any other choice."

"After you disable the terminal right?" Serenity asked and I nodded. "I hope it doesn't come to that."

"Me too," Cherry said with a sigh as we headed towards the Overmare's office.

It was time to end this here and now, I just hoped that everything would be okay.

"So, you're the help that Heart Ache and Centerpin have found," the Overmare said as she looked at me for a long moment. "I must say, I was expecting you to look a little more..."

"Like an engineer or something?" I asked as I looked at her for a long moment. "Well, I know I don't look like much but I helped build these places and I had some experience fixing things when I was a foal. I may not be the best engineer in
Equestria, but I can get your reactor back up and running."

Mind you the reactor in Stable 97 was built so simple that just about anypony could fix it if they knew what they were doing, this was really not one of our better ideas.

"Alright then, we'll let you take a look at the reactor at least," the Overmare said as she looked over at Centerpin and Heart Ache for a long moment. "As for you two, while we're grateful that you succeeded in your mission..."

She was cut off when there was a sudden alarm that went off. I froze a moment, that alarm meant only one thing, the Stable elevator had been activated above.

"Do you mind explaining what's going on now?" The Overmare asked as she looked at me for a long moment.

"That would be the ponies that I mentioned to your Security force," I said as I looked over at my friends and sighed a little. "I was hoping we'd have more time before they got here."

"What do they want with us?" The Overmare asked as she looked at me harshly. "What have you brought to our Stable?"

"Its a really long story," Cherry said as she looked over at me. "What are we going to do now Scootaloo?"

I sighed a little and looked at the Overmare. "You need to stall them for us, talk to them and maybe they'll leave if you don't allow them to get access to the Stable. But if they threaten violence, let them in, I don't want anypony getting hurt because of this war."

"Understood," the Overmare said with a nod as she got to her hooves and looked at the Security mare before they headed out of the office.

"So, what now?" Cherry asked as she looked at me.

"Now, we do what we said we'd come here to do, and hope the Enclave is stalled long enough," I said as we got to our hooves and headed out of the office.

It was time to head down to the reactor.

I opened up a panel on the reactor and glanced back to where Cherry and Serenity were. They had stayed away from the Reactor given that it may be dangerous and we didn't want to put Cherry or her foal in danger.

"I've looked over this thing more times than I can count, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it," Centerpin commented as I started working on the reactor. "What do you think Scootaloo?"

"Yeah, its strange, there doesn't really seem to be any problem with it at all..." I said as I looked it over strangely. "Not to mention these things are built to last for centuries. This reactor shouldn't be going offline this early in its lifespan without some sort of..."

I paused a moment and backed up as I took a long look at the reactor itself. I checked everything to make sure my hunch wasn't correct, everything seemed to be intact until I found that the lines that connected it with the rest of the Stable were partially being re-directed.

"Now that's not supposed to be there," I commented as I looked at the wires for a long moment. "I'm starting to think that this wasn't an accident."

"What are you suggesting?" Centerpin asked as she looked at me.

"I think the reactor was sabotaged, but I don't know who did it or why," I said with a frown as I looked at the wires again. I followed them to a junction box where everything seemed to stop except for a few wires.

I frowned when I looked at it, I recognized the technology, it was Stable-Tec's work. "What in Celestia's name..."

"Scootaloo, what's going on?" Centerpin asked as she looked at the device. "What is that thing?"

"Its Stable-Tec technology... somepony working for Stable-Tec sabotaged the system," I said as I blinked a little. "This complicates matters a lot."

"Wait, Stable-Tec? I thought you were the only survivor of Stable-Tec," Cherry commented as I got down from the junction box. "Or did I miss something?"

"I think I heard about a Stable-Tec pony living in Trotson," Serenity commented. "But that was just a rumor so who knows really."

"Well, no, Stable 97 actually does have ponies working for Stable-Tec in it, sort of," I said as I rubbed the back of my head a little. "Part of the experiment was set up so some of the ponies born in here would be taken on as running the experiment, its who was giving that test we saw earlier."

"Okay, that explains that," Cherry said as I looked through some tools. "Can you fix it?"

"Sure, fixing it is the easy part," I said as I picked up the necessary tools and went to work. "There is still the matter of the hard part though."

"And what's that?" Centerpin asked as I started removing the equipment that was circumventing the power.

"We need to figure out who did this and why," I said with a sigh as I finally got the last of it removed. "I don't like that they did this, something very wrong is going on here. I want to know what it is and why."

"So, what are you going to do?" Cherry asked.

"I'm going to talk to the pony in charge, looks like I'm going to have to pull rank on them," I said with a sigh as I adjusted my hat and did a quick check to make sure everything was working. "Come on, lets go."

They nodded and we headed back upstairs towards where the Stable's school was.

We headed into the Stable's school where the students were all giving their tests to a stallion seated behind a desk. He had a short grey mane with a brown coat and was wearing a standard Stable jumpsuit with a pair of glasses perched on his nose.

"Yes, yes, this is all excellent," the teacher said as he looked through the tests that had been given to him. The ponies filed out of the school and past us. He looked up at us curiously and adjusted his glasses a little. "Well, I wasn't expecting you to come visit, I had heard we had some visitors in the Stable."

"You're in charge of the Stable-Tec side of things in here aren't you?" I asked as I trotted over to the teacher who was seated behind a desk.

"Yes, that would be me, Hard Knocks is my name, can I help you?" He asked as he peered at me behind his glasses carefully. "What's it to you?"

"Short version, I'm your boss," I said as I looked at him harshly. "I'm the Vice President of Stable-Tec and I'm here to, check up on your progress."

"I see," he said as he narrowed his eyes a little at me. "I must say, I wasn't expecting you to show up, well, ever. Its been a long time since the Stable door was closed, what are you doing here now?"

"Well, its a long story," I said as I looked him in the eye. "I need some answers about what's going on here. We found out what happened to the Reactor."

"You found out what happened to... I see," Hard Knocks said as he adjusted his glasses and looked at me harshly. "You have a lot of explaining to do if you really are who you say you are."

"Right, because I'd totally lie about being one of the ponies who put so many lives in danger with the Stables," I said with a roll of my eyes. "And I'm not the only one who has explaining to do. It was Stable-Tec technology that sabotaged the reactor, and there are only a few ponies in this Stable who would know how to make it work."

Hard Knocks stared at me for a long moment and let out a growl. We had to make sure that everything was going to work out somehow, the Enclave was already here in the Stable and we were going to have to figure out what to do. There was still the matter of the key's terminal itself, that was going to be hard for the Enclave to access given the way it was set up.

I just hoped that we weren't going to have a problem already.

"I don't really believe you to be honest, its been over 200 years so you're probably an impostor," Hard Knocks said as he glared at me. "You're going to have to do a lot more to prove that you're who you really say you are."

Okay, I probably should've seen that one coming. I didn't have any reason to lie sure, but that wasn't going to be easy to prove. I sighed a little and adjusted my hat a little as I looked over Hard Knocks.

"I know this isn't going to be easy to accept," I said with a sigh. "There is something in this Stable that the Enclave wants access to and I'm here to make sure that they don't get at it. But if you put the ponies in this Stable at risk, then anything that happens to them is on your hooves, not mine!"

"What are you talking about, if you hadn't set up that damn box in the Stable in the first place," Hard Knocks said as he slammed his forehooves down on the desk in front of him. "If you really are who set everything up here, then you created this place as meatshields for whatever you put in that box! I don't believe it, if you really who you say you are, then you're responsible for everything that happened in this Stable!"

"Meatshields? I..." I started to say, I honestly had no idea what to say to that. There was no way that anypony in the Stable should even have access to the information on the Key and this was going to take a lot of explaining really fast. "I think you have it all wrong here. Yes we did set everything up to keep a key in this Stable, but..."

"But nothing, these ponies deserve better than to be treated like this by Stable-Tec," Hard Knocks said with a growl. "We've done our job for over 200 years, but you created it all to try and protect some critical item. You're nothing more than a monster!"

I blinked a little at that, how was I going to explain this? Actually the fact was that I had no intention of using the inhabitants of any of the Stables to try and protect the keys from somepony who wanted access to them. If I had, why would I have put one in Stable 26? That Stable was supposed to empty out, something about all of this made no sense.

"Look, Hard Knocks you have it all wrong," I managed to stutter out as I looked over at him. "Is that why you sabotaged the reactor? If you really had the best intentions of the Stable dwellers at heart, why did you put their lives at risk?"

"To get all of them out of this deathtrap before whatever you hid away in here became a target!" Hard Knocks said as he glared at me even more. "We know you hid something in this Stable, we don't know why, but we're not going to allow you to get anypony in this Stable hurt over it."

I sighed a little and looked at him, this was going to be really hard to explain. Even if we hadn't come here to cause any real trouble, the fact was that we had brought danger to Stable 97 in the form of the Enclave. We weren't going to use them as meatshields as he put it, but we were already putting the ponies in danger.

"Look, I know that we're going to be in a tough spot given everything that's going on," I said as I brushed my mane back. "The Enclave wants access to the box that you're talking about, and they're here in this Stable now. I don't really know what we're going to do to be honest, there's a chance that they're going to hurt ponies in this Stable if we don't give it to them."

Hard Knocks looked thoughtful at that as he thought it over. There were a lot of problems with what was going on here, a lot of problems. I just had to hope that the Enclave was going to cause more trouble, though I had no doubts that whatever was going to happen next we would be able to figure this out, somehow.

"Look, I don't know what's going on above ground, I just know that you're putting these ponies in even more danger than you already have," Hard Knocks said as he looked at me for a long moment. "Can you promise me that you're going to do everything in your power to keep the ponies in this Stable out of harm's way?"

"I'll try my best, I don't want anypony to get hurt," I said with a nod as I looked back at my friends. "We're not the bad guys here, the fact is that we can't help the Ponies here. Not in the way they really need it at least given what Stable-Tec did to them. Right now I just need to get access to the terminal that has what the Enclave is looking for and then we'll need to leave and fast."

"And what, leave us to the Enclave?" Hard Knocks said.

"If that's what the ponies here want, yes," I said with a sigh as I looked back at Serenity. "Being here is putting us all in danger, not just us but you and your ponies here. But this Stable's experiment needs to stop, this whole thing was a mistake and we need to stop it here and now. These are good ponies who we put in danger, you put in danger by continuing the experiment."

"We've just been following orders..." Hard Knocks said as he looked at me. "Are you saying that we were following the wrong orders or what?"

"I'm saying that your job is done, as soon as this is over, one way or another, Stable 97 is going to change," I said with a sigh. "The Enclave is going to make an offer and its up to all of you whether or not you take it. I suggest if its what I think it is, you take it and do your best to make sure that the transition is handled smoothly, the future of every pony in this Stable depends on it."

"Alright, fine," Hard Knocks said with a sigh as he looked towards the door. "If you're telling the truth, it may already be too late."

"I know, which is why I need to get at that terminal," I said as I headed back to my friends and we headed out of the school.

I just had to hope that we weren't too late.

"Why are we going into a storage room?" Cherry asked as I started putting a code into a door deep in the Stable. "I thought all the keys were in the Overmare's terminals."

"Well, normally they are... Stable 97 is different because of the way it was structured," I said with a sigh as the door opened. "I know that its hard to understand, but the ponies in this Stable wouldn't exactly know how to run a terminal unless they were with Stable-Tec. I locked it away in here in hopes that nopony would ever try and get access to it, obviously it didn't quite work out as I had hoped."

"Your own employees want to keep anypony from even having it, figures," Serenity said with a sigh.

"Scootaloo..." Cherry said softly and I looked back at her. "You really didn't set these up in Stables to use the inhabitants as some sort of meatshields did you?"

"Don't let what Hard Knocks said get to you, he only has part of the story," I said as I headed over to the box where the terminal was being kept. "The keys were placed in Stables in an effort to make it harder to get to them, nothing more. Stable 26 was built to have the ponies leave as soon as it was possible for them to leave, and Stable 14 was emptied years ago. If they were meant to be meatshields, why would the Stables have been allowed to open at all?"

Cherry thought that over for a moment before she nodded in agreement. "You're right, I don't think you'd do that kind of thing, you're not that kind of pony... are you?"

"Cherry... I'm not going to lie to you, I made mistakes, big mistakes that cost lives," I said with a sigh as I looked over at her. "Stable One was probably the worst of them... I knowingly trapped ponies in there for what could've been a long time. I put other ponies in situations that lead to their deaths, I may not have killed them but I didn't stop their deaths either. I have a lot of blood on my hooves because of my mistakes, and I'm here to make up for them if I can. You know that, we all know that, but would I ever deliberately put ponies in danger? No, never on purpose, that wasn't the point of the Stables."

Cherry was about to say something when there was the sound of hooves against the metal floor. Before we could say anything a pony dressed in the black armor of an Enclave soldier had grabbed Serenity tightly and pressed a gun against her head.

"Alright, if you don't want the filly to get it, you're going to open that box for me nice and slow," the soldier said with a growl as he looked at me. "I've got orders to get this thing out at any cost."

"Let me go you you big bully!" Serenity protested as she tried to worm her way free of the Enclave soldier's grip. "I'm nopony's bargaining chip!"

"Shut up or I might just shoot you anyway," the Enclave soldier said with a growl as he pressed the gun closer to her skull. "So what are you going to do, is the Mare in Black really going to just let a filly get killed?"

I scowled at the soldier, this was not a good sign, but I didn't have a choice. He had Serenity and I wasn't about to let her get hurt or killed and he knew it.

"Fine, I'll unlock the box," I said simply as I turned and looked back at the box with the terminal in it. There was no way I could get this thing disabled if he was looking over my shoulder, we had lost. "I just need a minute to input the code."

"No funny business," the soldier said and I could hear Serenity continuing to struggle against his grip. "This is your one and only chance to get this right."

I gulped a little and tapped the keypad on the box to input the code. I heard Serenity let out a protesting scream from behind me as I hit the last button and closed my eyes as the box opened up revealing the terminal inside.

"Good, now just give me a..." The soldier said before his voice trailed off.

I turned back around to see the soldier had gone quiet, his mouth was agape as he stood there with blood dripping out of it. His forelegs went slack as he let Serenity go free and he slumped over with a knife sticking out of the back of his head.

"Bad pony," Riva said as she gripped the hilt of her knife and pulled it out of her victim and gave Serenity a nod. "Stop Enclave."

"Right," I said and turned my attention back to the terminal, there was only one choice at this point. The Enclave knew about the code which meant that they were going to try anything to get it open even if I closed it again, so there was no real point in even trying to close it.

"I need a minute, cover me," I said and gave my friends a nod as they moved into position around the door. "Are you okay Serenity?"

"I've been better, thank you Riva," Serenity said as she looked over at Riva who gave her a small nod.

I opened up the back of the terminal and got to work. There was only one way to get this done, I had to make sure that the power crystal for the terminal was removed. There was only one crystal that would work for the terminal, so the Enclave would be stuck with a useless terminal.

It took some doing but I finally got the crystal out and into my bag just as we heard the sound of hooves on the metal hallway outside. I quickly closed it back up, the terminal would run on some excess power for a short time so that would at least buy us enough time to escape.

"Well, you've certainly made a mess of things," the Overmare commented as she looked down at the dead Enclave soldier lying there she pointed at me, Centerpin, and Heart Ache. "You three, come with me, now."

"Cherry, get Serenity and the rest of them up to the Stable door, I'll be okay," I said with a nod as I looked at the Overmare. "We'll come peacefully, just don't let the others be hurt."

"Fine," was all she said and we followed her out of the storage room.

I took a deep breath and looked around the office as we entered. Morning Glory was standing there along with Hard Knocks and it looked like the two had been talking about something.

"The Dashite and the two ponies from our Stable as requested," the Overmare said and moved behind her desk as Morning Glory looked at me.

"Well, I must say its been quite the ride," Morning Glory said as she walked over to me. "I assume that the pony I sent to get the terminal accessed is dead."

"He threatened Serenity's life," I said simply as the grey and purple mare's eyes went wide. "I'm guessing that wasn't part of his orders, was it?"

"No, he was told only to get the key by any means necessary," she said with a scowl. "I apologize, and President Winter Breeze would agree that these methods were not necessary. Is she okay?"

"She's fine, just a little shaken up," I said as I looked at Morning Glory harshly. Even if she hadn't ordered it, it was hard to forgive her for putting Serenity's life in danger even unknowingly. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"We've reached an agreement," the Overmare said as she looked over at Hard Knocks who nodded. "Stable 97 has agreed to the Enclave's terms, we will join them and grant them access to the terminal in return for food, medical supplies, and proper education as provided by the Enclave."

Centerpin and Heart Ache cringed a little at that. They didn't like the idea any more than I did, and they had lived here all their lives. What was going to happen to them now?

"Alright then, we had a deal after all," I said with a sigh as I looked at Morning Glory. "But the Enclave had better keep up its end of the bargain no matter what. We both know that its the only way you're going to get anything done in this world is if you don't break your word."

"We will keep our word, as long as you leave this Stable," Morning Glory said and I nodded in agreement. "Then we are agreed. I will get access to the terminal and unlock the final key, you will all leave alive and unharmed."

I sighed a little and nodded. "Alright, we had a deal, we'll leave as soon as we can get everything together."

"There is still the matter of the two of you," the Overmare said as she looked over at Heart Ache and Centerpin. "You two have a lot to answer for right now."

"We do? What did we do?" Centerpin asked and looked between me and the Overmare. "Mom... I..."

"Both of you be quiet," the Overmare said with a glare. "Centerpin, you shouldn't have been out of the Stable to begin with, this mission was Heart Ache's alone and you left without permission. On top of that, you brought these ponies to the Stable and they have brought nothing but trouble with them. You have brought the Wasteland into our home, and I cannot stand for that."

I blinked, what was happening here? Were they really going to be kicked out of the Stable just for bringing us in here? I was about to say something when Morning Glory shot me a look.

"This is an internal matter Scootaloo, neither of us have a say in it," Morning Glory said and I sighed a little.

"The two of you are to leave the Stable and never to return," the Overmare continued. "Effective immediately."

The two Unicorns just stared in shock at the Overmare before they bowed their heads and headed out without another word. I sighed a little and looked at the Overmare and Morning Glory for a long moment.

"Good luck, lets hope you haven't just made a deal with the devil," I said and put my hat back on my head before I followed the Unicorns out.

It was time to leave this Stable and hopefully make it back home safely.

“So, what are we going to do now?” Serenity asked as we stepped out of the Marendon school.

“Honestly? I don’t know,” I said as I checked my bag for the energy crystal. “We need to get back to Ponytraz Island, but I really don’t want to have to go back through the…”

I paused when I saw a friendly marker on my EFS that was approaching fast. I looked up at the sky for a moment before a familiar shape burst out of a cloud bank. The Quetzal came fully into view though it looked different. There was extra armor welded onto the hull of the ship as it moved in close.

“What is that?” Serenity asked as she looked at the airship in awe. “Where did that come from?”

“That would be the Quetzal…” I said with a groan, we were being helped by Gambit again, that figured. “Lets just say you’re going to meet with an old friend of mine.”

“A very old friend…” Cherry commented as the Quetzal descended, the metal keel dug into the ground as it came to a halt. The ramp swung down and crashed to the ground with a thunderous bang. Into view stepped the familiar figure of that ‘old friend’.

“Hello again Gambit,” I said as I looked at the Alicorn. “I wasn’t expecting to run into you here.”

“Well, you shoulda thought of that before you turned on a distress beacon strong enough to be heard halfway across equestria.” Gambit retorted “Then again, this thing is so unreliable I hardly ever know what’s going on.” She said and gestured to the newly acquired PipBuck on her leg.

“Well, when you’re being held by Alicorns who will either kill you or turn you into one of them for their experiments in trying to rebuild the Unity, you don’t have a lot of time to think about how strong your distress signal is,” I said with a sigh as I looked back at my friends. “Well, I’m glad you’re here actually.”

“Uh, before you continue - those Alicorns you were talking ‘bout, Uh... “ Gambit said before she took a quick glance behind herself into the ship “They wouldn’t happen to be from a place I think they were calling New Maripony or anything like that, would they?”

“Yeah, they were, we were in the Underground and came across them,” Serenity said as she looked at Gambit curiously. “Why?”

“Please don’t tell me you have some of the Alicorns who captured us on board that ship…” I said with a groan.

“Yea. well, about that - Remember where you activated that distress signal? You kind of brought me straight to them… “ Gambit said with a sigh and rubbed her head. “See, they didn’t attack me or my crew - In fact they seemed pretty happy to see me, thought i was some fragment to something they called unity.”

“Well, that’s just great… this is going to be a fun trip home,” I said with a sigh as I looked back towards Marendon. “Well, long story short, we need to get out of here before the Enclave finds out that we stole an energy crystal from the terminal they’re trying to access. Do you mind giving us a ride out of here?”

“I’m not against the idea, and I’m fairly certain the other passengers aren’t going to be overly hostile to you, But uh.. You’ll probably want to stay on deck, and I’ll tell them to stay in the hold.” Gambit said with a nervous smile.

I looked between the others and they all nodded. “Alright, we’ll stay clear of the other passengers. We just really need to get back to Ponytraz, and then Junction Town.”

“Right, well get up here we haven’t all day, oh - and Scoots, I’ll want to speak to you in my quarters later - Uh, it’s the door on the main deck, kind of hard to miss it.” Gambit said with a nod of her head, before she disappeared back into the darkness of the hold.

I nodded as we all got aboard the ship and looked around. I took one last look back towards the school. The Enclave didn’t look like they were coming out just yet, that was a good sign at least.

Maybe, just maybe this was a sign that things were going our way finally. I was about to breathe a sigh of relief when the door to the hold burst open and a familiar blue Alicorn came out in a huff.

“I don’t care if you’re the Harbinger or not, this is completely unacceptable!”

Crap.

“These ponies! They cannot be trusted, They brought nothing but death and destruction to us; They and those enclave ponies killed many of us!” Bluebird said as she neared the door “You cannot force us to share a ship with the likes of them!”

“Bluebird, I thought we agreed that this was behind us when you boarded my ship.” Gambit said calmly. “You view me as a Harbinger to your unity, you need to trust my judgement and understand that forgiving the past is the only way to build the future you seek”

Bluebird burst from the door, yelling back into the room “We will see.” Her attention turned to me, hatred and anger raged in her eyes. “You! You may have fooled our Harbinger, and made her believe your lies, but we will not be fooled so easily.”

I just stood there for a long moment and looked over at Gambit. “I… don’t even know what to say to that right now. I just had to deal with the Enclave and a bunch of Stable dwellers and Stable-Tec employees who thought they were doing the right thing by nearly killing everypony in the Stable. Crazy zealot Alicorns trying to reform the thing that threatened to destroy the freedom and individuality of every pony in Equestria is the last thing I want to deal with right now.”

“I’d like to say - they really mean well, I heard them out they really think they are doing the right thing, it’s why I convinced some of them to follow me, give up the whole ‘reforming unity’ thing, and realizing that they can have unity - without unity… if you understand what I mean.” Gambit said with a sigh “It’s complicated.”

“Sorry, its just been a really long few days…” I said with a sigh as I looked up at the sky. “Let’s all just try and live together, okay? It’s not going to be for that long.”

“That’s all we want, alright? They wouldn’t be on this ship if they didn’t agree that there is a better unity outside of the unity they know.” Gambit said with a groan. “Look, She isn’t happy you’re here, you aren’t happy she’s here - it’s a big ship, just stay away from each other and everything should be fine.”

I nodded and looked over at Bluebird for a moment before I headed over to where my friends were. This was going to be a long journey, I just had to hope that everything was going to be okay.

LEVEL UP!
Perk Received: I beat Kobayashi Meiru.
Details: You've been stuck in the no-win scenario and made it out by bending the rules. You get an extra point in your luck stats.

Author's Notes:

As always, the parts with Gambit were written by Natalie and she gets full credit.