It was hard to control myself as I practically tackled Sunny in a hug. It just felt so nice to have my friend back and to my delight she returned the embrace.

“The other one was here, wasn’t she?” She asked with an almost disappointed look.

“Yeah, Downpour right?”

“Yeah, how long was she with you?”

“Just about two days.”

Sunny turned around and kicked the wall hard enough to leave a hole in it, mumbling under her breath as she did. She turned back towards us yet didn’t look us in the eye. “It’s so hard to know what going on when she’s in control and she stays in control longer and longer.”

“Are you going to be ok Sunny?” Grim asked, placing a tender claw on her shoulder. Sunny shied away from his touch and shook her head.

“I’ll be fine it’s… everything’s fine.”

I knew a lie when I saw one. The look on her face was a troubled one, something about this whole situation was bugging her more than she would admit, even to me.

“Sunny if something’s bothering you, please tell me.” I tried to place a hoof on her shoulder but she wouldn’t let me touch her.

“I said I’m fine Sparks!”

I flinched away from the sudden shouting. “I’m sorry…I was just trying to-”

“My demons are my own, nopony else’s. So do me a favor and please just drop it.”

Without another word she retreated back into her room and shut the door on me and Grim.

“Neither of them were great at introductions it seems.” Grim quipped before turning to head back down the stairs. “Come Sparks, give her a moment to gather her things, we’ll wait for her downstairs.”

I looked at the door then to Grim and back at the door. I had to stop myself from knocking. Whether it was warranted or not I was worried about her and I really just wanted to help. But really what could I do? She had possibly lived her whole life with her other self buried inside. Even if I could help she didn’t want it, at least not from me. I sighed softly before joining Grim on the way downstairs. It didn’t take long for Sunny to make her way downstairs with a smile on her face as if everything from a few minutes ago never happened, which was probably for the best. We would deal with that another time. We took a moment to explain Grim’s presence and where we were currently going as well as what Downpour had done in her ‘absence’. “She reported the attack on the stadium to DJ Pon3? Huh, she must like you.”

I can honestly say that I never got that feeling from Downpour. “What does she usually do?” I asked, sort of fearing the answer.

“I really couldn’t tell you for sure ‘cause when she’s in control I only see vague images or ideas.”

Grim was tapping a claw against his beak. “Fascinating, you really have a second personality.”

“Yes, she normally only comes out in dire circumstances. The slave pen was the last straw for her.”

“Is that why you were unresponsive when we were captured? Was that Downpour trying to come out?”

“Actually it was me trying to keep her from coming out. There was no telling what she would have done if she took control in that pen with you and a bunch of slaves.”

A terrifying thought to be sure. To watch through your own eyes as your body is controlled like a puppet.

Sunny adjusted her hat for no discernable reason as she sat up. “Anyway, we should get moving. The sooner were done with the Rangers the better.”

We gathered what little we had and set out continuing our way north. The sun was gently shining through the cloud cover and the walk was a relatively nice one with only the sound of the dirt crunching under our hooves and the distant smell of the ocean blowing out over the ruins from the east. Occasionally we would see some kind of mutant wildlife that Sunny would pick off with amazing accuracy if they didn’t immediately flee from us. Grim was in the air scouting our surroundings but after a moment or so he flew back down and landed next to me. “The radio broadcast never mentioned you were from a stable.”

“Is it really that important?”

“Well no, not exactly but I’m curious. Why are you outside If I may ask?”

Just like before I wasn’t sure if I wanted to tell anypony what had happened back in the stable. Sunny had never been nosy enough or cared enough to ask. If they were going to help me get back into my stable then I guess they would find out eventually and they were putting a level of trust in me. It was only fair to do the same for them.

“My stable was built for the purpose of selective breeding and genetic modification of the pony genome. They wanted to create ‘the perfect pony’ that couldn’t know hate and stuff like that. But that was only the half of it. Above the labs and such were regular ponies like me and my family. We lived our lives and maintained the stable and were getting along just fine. Then five days ago I was selected to have my genes harvested.”

“Wait wait wait…” Grim interrupted. “You’ve only been out here for five days?”

I didn’t know what to say to that and truthfully I didn’t want to answer. I hadn’t done anything spectacular or heroic. I just took the credit for a kill that resulted from pointing Downpour’s fury in the right direction. Nothing about what I did should be recognized yet here I was, The Harbinger of Hope, making everypony’s life ‘better’ in the wastes.

“Hmm, after I was selected for harvesting I found myself down in the lower labs and I learned the true nature of my home. But I escaped and accidentally set fire to the labs. The smoke from below filtrated up to the upper levels and sparked a full blown riot in the stables population. Since I was already marked for harvesting, I wouldn’t be safe even after the riots so my sister-in-law, the head of security, gave me her armor, gun, and code to open the stable door. I escaped with my life but my family is still in there, trapped at the mercy of the harvest and since I destroyed some of their data I think they’ll start harvesting more frequently. So that’s why I’m outside, to find a way back inside to save everypony.”

Nopony spoke for a while after that, whether they were stewing in their own thoughts or just plain had nothing to say I didn’t know.

“Bringing them out into this world might not be the wisest decision. It isn’t like death is any less likely out here.” Sunny didn’t turn to face me as she spoke.

I looked up towards her. “I know that but it’s better than leaving them down there to face a certain death.”

“I don’t know.” Grim started. “I think Sunny has a point. At least they are safe in the stable. Getting killed might not be a certainty but they will never be safe out here.”

I stomped a hoof in frustration. “You wastelanders will never understand. I’ve made up my mind and that’s final.”

That’s good Sparks push your only friends away. Sunny never actually agreed to help me. Downpour kept following me after the stadium because of Sunny’s subconscious influence. I didn’t know why she kept going along with me but I was too afraid to ask in fear that she would leave me. We kept on going in silence. It wouldn’t have surprised me if both of them were thought about leaving me to face the Steel Rangers by myself. Then I heard a little sound from my PipBuck. A little notice on the top right of the screen read ‘Stable 71 Emergency Frequency’

“Hey guys hold up for a second.” Grim and Sunny both stopped in their tracks and looked at me with curiosity as I placed the ear-bloom in my ear.

This is an distress signal from Stable-Tec: Stable 71. Message begins: I’m sending this message out on all frequencies. This is Overmare Junebug of Stable 71, We are under attack by…they came through the door and opened fire on…please if anypony can hear this help us…please. Message repeats.

Some parts of the message were obstructed by static but after picking up the frequency with my PipBuck I figured we could do a perimeter search to find its source.

“Guys I just picked up a distress call from another stable, they are under attack and need help.”

“Are you sure about this Sparks? Running in blind…” Sunny wavered off.

“If we can save them, then maybe they can help me get back into my stable! C’mon we can do this.”

“Alright I said I would help you and I meant it, I’m with you.” Grim said fluttering over to land by me. “Sunny?”

Her expression showed that she wasn’t entirely sure about what we were doing but she nodded anyway.

“Okay I think we can find the source, follow me!” I said as I turned and started galloping towards where the signal started to get clearer. I didn’t give any thought to what we might face. The prospect of helping them getting me back into my home was the only thought on my mind. After close to fifteen minutes of searching we arrived at what looked to be the remains of an old shopping complex where the signal was strongest. Cracked pavement stretched out from its entrance and several destroyed sky carriages littered the premises. The auto-map in my PipBuck labeled the building the Bridlestar Mall.

The door was knocked out of its frame but whether it happened recently or when the bombs fell was beyond me. The first floor was mostly just a reception area with desks to both the left and right with old computers with blown out screens and plants that had long since decayed to dust. In front of us was an out of commission escalator leading down to the actual shopping portion of the mall.

“I have a bad feeling about this. Tread carefully.” Sunny said as she took the lead down the escalator. What was left of the next floor down was limited to piles of debris and stores that were long ago looted. Some lights were still intact, giving us a few dim patches of light.

Grim walked up to me and whispered. “If we have time we should take a minute to look around when we’re done, you know for supplies.”

I nodded yes. It was probably a good idea as I don’t think I had ever taken a proper inventory of our supplies. That auto-sorting spell in my PipBuck was going to see some use in the future. Sunny was still leading the pack as she went down a second defunct escalator to the third floor.

I couldn’t fathom why Stable-Tec would build a stable under an underground shopping mall. I guess you could argue that if the mall was full when the last day came the stable would fill up very quickly. Maybe Stable 71 didn’t require reservations for occupancy? We reached the bottom floor to see a similar scene of looted stores. In the center of the floor was a dry white marble water fountain.

“Soooo…” Grim trailed off. “Are we getting any closer to the-” Sunny quickly covered Grim’s beak with her hoof.

“SHH!” She pointed towards the fountain where through the hazy lighting I could see the shadowed forms of several figures meandering about. We all ducked down low and silently shuffled back behind the escalator. Once we were out of their line of sight I took a second to glance at my EFS. I couldn’t tell how many of them there were due to how clumped together they were but one thing for sure was that they were all hostile.

“Did anypony get a good look at them?” I whispered. “What are they? Ghouls?”

“Give me a second. I’ll go take a look.” Grim declared as he quickly snuck around the escalator and disappeared into the shadows. Having dark feathers was no doubt a great help to his stealth. Sunny took a moment to make sure all her weapons were loaded and ready for action and I followed her lead and did the same. Grim returned after a short while and reported what he saw.

“I don’t know what those things are. They look like ponies but they are all malformed, bloated and…and.”

“What? What is it?” Sunny hissed.

“They all have wings…and horns.”

“Alicorns? Oh shit.” Sunny looked back towards the fountain with a look of dread.

“Alicorns?” I questioned. “Like the Goddesses? That’s a good thing right?”

“No Sparks.” Grim had the same look as Sunny. “Alicorns in the wasteland are nothing like the goddesses of old. I don’t think these are the same though, these ones just look…wrong.”

The look on Sunny’s face seemed to lighten after that. “Then maybe we have a chance.”

“So what’s the plan?” I asked, hoping they had some kind of idea.

“If you still want to help the stable, then we have to get through them.” Sunny said, biting the mouth bit of her battle saddle. “You two cover me, I’ll get their attention.” Sunny leapt out of cover with amazing agility and fired her shotgun across the room. One of the beasts on the far side took the full brunt of the buckshot and toppled over dead. The rest were now aggressively moving towards the source of the attack.

Grim grabbed me by the hoof and pulled me through the shattered window frame of an old storefront. He pulled out two submachine guns and peppered another one of the Alicorns into a hole-riddled mess on the floor. No wonder Griffins were praised for their skill in combat, it must have been a huge advantage to hold his guns in his claws rather in his mouth like most pony weapons. Whatever these things were, they looked like they had been tampered with in the sense that some of them had bits of armor grafted to their sides, weapons fused to their hooves and parts of their bodies were bloated and malformed.

One turned towards the storefront where Grim and I were taking cover and snarled. “Ponies! Try and hide from this!” its voice was deep, raspy and distinctively feminine.

Grim’s eyes widened in horror. “Scatter!”

Fear wracked my body as I desperately tried to jump through the window as a soft *Thoom* was almost instantly followed by a fiery explosion that ripped through the front of the store. My armor absorbed most of the damage but I could feel where the flames singed my coat and the intense pain where a fragment of the wooden countertop pierced my leg. I hobbled as fast as my legs would carry me. I ducked behind a stone support pillar as bullets from one of the monsters ricocheted off my cover, flicking me with bits of tiny stone shrapnel.

Sunny was right in the fray dancing around the bulk of the Alicorns. She easily side-stepped a sloppily casted spell and blasted an alicorn separating its leg at the knee. It gracelessly hit the ground where a stream of bullets from wherever Grim was drew a line of blood across its body. I dashed out from behind the pillar and fired a charged lightning bolt at the alicorn with the grenade launcher. It hit the alicorn in the neck making it start to violently spasm so it couldn’t move. Sunny must have seen the bolt as she took advantage and blasted the alicorn in the back of the head plastering the wall and parts of the ceiling with dark gore.

I jumped over an adjacent stores counter scarcely dodging a hail of bullets, showering me with wooden splinters. The sound of gunshots continued followed by the sounds of wet splattering. I hid behind the counter for a moment as I gripped the shard of wood in my leg in my telekinesis and quickly yanked it out. I grunted in pain as the wound was treated to a heavy throbbing followed by a gush of my blood. A shadow engulfed me from above. I looked up at the head of one of the twisted beings as its face contorted into a savage grin.

“I’m going to crush your bones pony!” I watched an overlapping aura of magic wrap around its horn as it prepared whatever spell it was ready to kill me with. I reacted as best I could, taking advantage of its inept attempt at spellcasting by pressing my pistol to the underside of its jaw, blowing its teeth out the top of its skull, raining blood and bone fragments all over me. By the time I wiped the blood from my eyes most of the battle was already won. With the combined threat of Sunny and Grim the rest were quickly dispatched. When I jumped out of my cover to try and help the last of the Alicorns was tackled to the ground by an airborne Grim where once it was prone it had its throat shredded by his claws. It gurgled with a disturbing sound as it tried in vain to take in breath. Grim’s beak curled in disgust as he put a bullet through its head. I limped up to where Grim and Sunny were standing.

“Where did these things come from?” Grim asked nopony in particular. “They definitely weren’t normal alicorns.”

“I don’t think they’re natural.” I added. “The way they tried to cast spells like they never had before…it’s like they weren’t born that way…”

“Grim, do you have any healing potions?” Sunny interrupted with a shaky voice.

I gave her a good look over to see that she had at least three gunshot wounds, one in the right shoulder, one just above her right flank and one through her foreleg.

“Oh shit, yeah hang on a second Sunny.” Grim quickly dug through his bag and passed her a potion. She drank it down calmly as her wounds quickly closed up.

“Thank you. C’mon we should keep moving.”

Grim tried to offer me a potion as well but I refused it in favor of a magical bandage, my wound wasn’t bad enough to warrant a potion even though I would be limping for a bit. We looked around through several of the stores until we managed to find a strange contraption on the underside of a desk in the back office that pulled the fountain back in the main room to reveal a set of stairs heading further down.

Even after what we just encountered upstairs I was still in a delusional state of mind that everything was going to be ok and that the stable ponies would help me get back to mine but as we walked into the entrance all of that was shattered. The stable door was wide open and just inside the door were four bodies that had been dead for quite some time. I fell back in defeat as Grim walked up and inspected the bodies. I felt a hoof on my shoulder and turned to see Sunny behind me giving me a tender look. It was a defeating moment but in a way I think I deserved it for building up the idea in my head that even if we had made it in time that they could have helped me. Grim motioned with a wing for us to come over to look at the bodies.

“They’ve been dead for a couple months at least and they were killed with magical energy weapons.” He deadpanned.

“So what does that mean?” I asked, hoping for a satisfactory answer.

“It means that this wasn’t just some raider attack, if the attackers had this kind of gear it means that there are very few groups who could have done this.”

An answer that only brought more questions to be sure, questions I wanted the answers to. So I motioned for the both of them to follow me into Stable 71. It was an unsettling image. It wasn’t because of blood or gore or anything like that, it was seeing a place so eerily similar to my home in such a state of decay. It was a sight that literally hit too close to home.

All around the hallways were broken, flickering lights and blast marks from energy weapons. Near the doors to the other wings were spinning orange emergency lights and the half melted metal remains of roof mounted turrets. We continued along finding much of the same all throughout the stable. As we walked into the atrium I saw something I never thought I’d see. The atrium was completely empty. Sunny walked around looking here and there before turning back towards us.

“There was obviously a fight here.” She said. Motioning around the room at the various blast marks and sparse blood splotches. “But where are all the bodies?”

She had an interesting point. Other than the four at the entrance there wasn’t a body to be seen. Here and there we did see blood but there weren’t any trails to indicate that the bodies, if there were any, had been removed. Which meant…

“The population was captured alive.” Grim finished my thought for me.

“But why? Why would anypony do this?” I asked frantically.

“The only ponies I know who regularly raid stables are the Steel Rangers or raiders and neither of them care about cleanup or taking prisoners.”

“Then who could have done it?”

“That’s what’s scary about this…I have no idea.”

Sunny had a look on her face like she was recalling a memory, a memory that terrified her. She shook her head and muttered something to herself.

I took a few steps towards her. “Sunny? Are you okay?”

She shook her head again before facing me.

“I’m fine Sparks…It can’t be what I thought…”

“What are you talking about Sunny?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

An uncomfortable amount of silence permeated the room as we all just stood there in the atrium.

“Well…since it seems safe in here I’m going to go see what I can salvage Okay? Okay.” With that Grim sped out of the room.

“Yeah that’s probably a good idea.” Sunny said as she herself slowly walked out a different door. Leaving me alone in the big empty room.

I looked up at the large circular window above the atrium that, if stables followed similar designs, was connected to the Overmare’s quarters. At the very least I should disable the radio beacon so others don’t waste their time exploring a mausoleum. There was a third exit from the atrium under the Overmare’s window and figured it was my best bet to get where I was going.

I was still having trouble accepting what I was seeing. I remember when I first came outside and how helpless I felt at just how big and empty it was. I never thought I would feel like that inside a stable. To feel such a crushing emptiness from small corridors and low ceilings. Walking through a hallway where barely two ponies could walk side by side knowing that nopony would cross my path. Thankfully I was pulled from my misery when I found the stairs up to the Overmare’s quarters.

The security panel next to the door was in pieces on the floor from where it was shot or possibly blown off. The inside of the room was laid out in a circular fashion with a large desk near the back wall flanked by the window overlooking the atrium. To the left of the desk were two filing cabinets with a beautiful tapestry in between them depicting Princess Luna and Princess Celestia flying around each other over their once peaceful kingdom. To the right was a secondary door that presumably led to the sleeping area and bathroom. Sitting in the chair behind the terminal on the desk was the slowly decaying corpse of Overmare Junebug. Her head was slumped over with her mane obscuring her face. In the middle of her body was a large stab wound surrounded by burn marks. She had been stabbed with something hot given the lack of blood the wound produced.

I very gently pushed the chair out from in front of the terminal and took my own awkward stance in front of it. The terminal itself was not locked which was a small and the only blessing the stable was fit to grant me. I found the commands to disable the emergency radio beacon and lift the lockdown from the stable. As I selected them I heard the faint sound of machinery clanking as the lighting returned to its normal brightness and the emergency lights retracted back into the walls. Among a few other bits of information like administrative and breeding policies I found a sort of diary from the Overmare. Maybe something in there would tell me about what happened. I started with the first.

Today was a momentous day. For the first time in centuries we received a signal from the outside. It wasn’t from Stable-Tec but instead from an organization called the GPE. They claim to have the authority of Stable-Tec to command our door to open so that we may integrate the stables population into theirs. I am hesitant to trust such a message. The GPE doesn’t appear in our records of the branches of the Equestrian government and my orders dictate I am not to open the stable door until I receive the All-Clear signal from Stable-Tec themselves. News of outside contact has already spread like wildfire throughout the general population with many in favor of opening our doors to the outside and others who wish for us to remain isolated. I find myself on the latter side of the argument for now and need to see about how to properly handle this situation.

It’s been three days since we were contacted by representatives of the GPE and they continue to push for our doors to open. I responded to them for the first time yesterday informing them of my orders to remain closed until certain requirements were met. They responded by transmitting many of the proper codes identifying them as Equestrian Military personnel... beginning to consider opening the door. They possess many forms of proper identification to back up their claims and the fact that they are outside waiting for us indicate that the outside is capable of sustaining life once again. Although I still remain skeptical as my orders are clear on the matter of waiting from word from Stable-Tec.

One week ago we established a line of communication with the outside. Since then, the talk throughout the stable has been about what to do. Many still favor opening the door and the chief of security informs me that the open door supporters are starting to get violent about their cause. While I still have my doubts about the whole situation, I can’t risk a riot in my stable. So tomorrow I will be giving a stable-wide address from the atrium about my plan. To appease the opening supporters and to give those who want us to remain closed a chance to have their voice heard. We will be holding a vote to decide the stable’s course of action. I hope this is the right thing to do. Luna guide me.

The results of the vote were just barely won in favor of opening the door. I have informed... our decision and they await the doors opening ceremony. Security Chief Saltlick has volunteered himself and his family to be the ones to greet... gesture of peace and cooperation. We almost had another incident regarding the ponies who wanted the door to stay closed but we avoided any kind of violence by agreeing that nopony has to leave if they don’t want to. Tomorrow will be a most historic day as we open our door and rejoin Equestria.

…massacre. As soon as the door was opened Saltlick greeted... family was quickly cut down by a hail of gunfire... stormed the stable and... started taking... the security force stood no chance... locked myself in my quarters and activated the emergency beacon... couldn’t protect them. Luna forgive me.

I wish I had more to go on but I had just as much information as when I started. It definitely didn't help that bits of the journals were corrupted. I skulked around the room no better off solving the mystery of what happened and managed to find a couple cases of bullets in the sleeping area as well as the gun they went to. I supposed if there was anything at all to be thankful for right now it was that the foalnappers didn’t take anything other than the ponies. I returned to the desk and nodded sadly at the Overmare's corpse. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a set of tools tucked away under the desk. I hadn't had a set of tools like this since I left stable 63.

"Sorry about this Junebug." I whispered as I pulled out a special key that was among the tools and removed her PipBuck, placing it in my saddlebags carefully.

I gradually made my way back to the atrium hoping that the others were there waiting for me. Sure enough they were. Sunny and Grim were talking between themselves about what they managed to find. They noticed me come in and now were showing their finds to me. Grim found enough chems and meds to essentially make himself a walking clinic and Sunny did the same with ammo, guns and armor.

“The next time we find a trader we should be able to come out with quite the haul. We might even be able to get some caps for the stable.” Sunny said, kicking her full bags for emphasis.

“Like sell its location?” Grim asked, squinting his eyes.

“Maybe, ponies will do a lot to keep themselves safe and what’s safer than a stable?”

I found the conversation a little more than ironic considering we were standing on the site of a mass foalnapping.

“I found something in the Overmare’s office.” I started carefully. “They were contacted by a group called the GPE. They demanded the doors to open and when the stable relented…” I finished sadly, my ears falling back against my head and my gaze met the floor.

Sunny walked over to me and lifted my face to meet hers.

“You can’t save everypony Sparks and dwelling on things that you couldn’t have changed won’t do anypony any good. You’ve got focus on what you can do now rather than what you could have done. Now, lift your head and let’s get going. You want to see your family again right?”

As much as I wanted to protest, as much as I wanted to say she was wrong, in my heart I knew she was right. Whatever happened here had happened well before I left Stable 63 and nothing I did would change that. I still had a lead with the Steel Rangers and getting to them was my new focus. I lifted my head and nodded with determination. Sunny and Grim both made sure that our weapons were all loaded up and ready and that we were in fighting shape.

I hung at the back of the pack as we passed through the stable door and salvaged the PipBucks of Chief Saltlick and his family, placing them with the Overmare's in my saddlebags. It was then a thought occurred to me. Hadn’t I seen GPE somewhere before? Yes I had seen it on my PipBuck’s radio list when I first arrived in Black Town. I checked the list again and it wasn’t there. Could I have imagined it?

“You said GPE right?” Sunny said, waiting for me by the fountain stairs. So it wasn’t my imagination.

“Yeah, why?”

Sunny didn’t respond, rather she seemed to be deep in thought as she absently meandered around the alicorn bodies. “Interesting.” She must have come to some kind of conclusion with herself. One that must not have been worth sharing judging by her silence.

We did a quick sweep of the mall above finding very little worth mentioning, a few bits of salvage there or a few caps here. Telling me that the mall was inhabited by ponies at some point after the war but long since gravitated elsewhere. We made our way back out to the surface to be reunited with sort of fresh air and light through the clouds. We continued to the north still skirting the bulk of the Baltimare ruins.

Before long we bypassed the view of looming skeletal skyscrapers and I was gifted with my first view of Horseshoe Bay. Very far off in the distance by each peninsula were the remains of a large bridge that once connected them. On the south peninsula I could see huge warehouses and giant cranes. The most interesting thing of all though, was the gigantic boat that was centered right into the middle of the bay.

“Hey guys, what’s that boat doing there?” I asked pointing a hoof at it.

“Oh that’s the wreck of the Lunar Liner. An old world cruise ship.” Grim said. “I don’t know if it’s anchored there or if it’s stuck on something but I hear rumors that there is some kind of cult living there.”

“I’ve seen it pretty lit up at night so I’d say that it’s more than a rumor.” Sunny jumped in.

“Pfft, that’s ridiculous. Just because there are lights at night doesn’t meant there are ponies living there.”

“I’m just saying that lights on a boat don’t last forever…unless there’s some ponies taking care of it.”

Sunny smiled slyly as she turned her attention forward. I had to suppress a chuckle watching the two of them. Grim trying to dismiss that ponies were living on the wreck and Sunny trying to scare him like a little colt. It was an enjoyable distraction and the last one we would get for a while. Hours later we approached the academy on the northern peninsula but were stopped by a tall wrought iron fence with a well-protected gate guarded by two giant metal ponies. The sign above the gate read ‘Equestrian Naval Academy’ which then appropriately was restated for me by my PipBuck.

“What the hell are those things?” I asked, pointing a trembling hoof at the metal monstrosities.

“Those are the ponies we are here to see. Those are Steel Rangers.” Sunny stated matter-of-factly.

“I don’t think that’s what he meant Sunny.” Grim added, giving Sunny a ‘you should know better’ look. “Steel Rangers are the only ponies in the wasteland that have access to power armor.” He said, looking at me. “That’s why they look like that.”

That did little to dissuade the growing fear in me as I noticed that they had battle saddles like Sunny only they were packing giant death dealing guns of some kind.

“So how should we approach them?” My voice was uncontrollably shaky. It was my own fault as usual. I didn’t ask any questions about who I was going to meet and from what I’ve heard thus far they didn’t sound like the most agreeable sort.

“I don’t think they’ll open fire on civilians, maybe we just ask for help?” Grim shrugged.

He didn’t sound convinced by his own plan. We bickered back and forth trying to think of the safest way to make our presence known. While we argued we hadn’t noticed Sunny walk out from behind the rock we had ducked behind and make a beeline towards the rangers. Grim and I held our breath as we watched in silence at the group interact. I could see Sunny’s mouth moving but she was either just far enough away or speaking just quiet enough so I couldn’t hear. She pointed back towards us and the rock. One of the rangers looked right at our hiding spot and one of the massive guns on its side started spinning.

“Step out from behind the rock. Now!” the voice had a speaker effect like I was talking to Watcher but this one was distinctively male. The expression on Sunny’s face was alarmingly neutral as the ranger pointed his gun at us. We very slowly and cautiously stepped out from behind our cover and walked up to join Sunny.

“Sunny what were you thinking!?” I whispered harshly. I hadn’t realized how close to her I was as our muzzles were pressed against each other.

“Sometimes if you need something done you just have to do it.” She turned and made a motion like she was presenting me to the two rangers at the gate. I was sweating heavily under their expressionless stares.

“What is it you want from us local? This mare claims you need something from us now speak up.” He spoke with the authoritative tone that reminded me of Overmare Rose Thorn.

“Uh…H-hi, my name is Sparks and I was told you could help m-me get inside uh…a stable?”

The two rangers exchanged a glance with each other before returning it to me.

“Yes my brothers and sisters are capable of breaching stable doors but the decision to do so is not mine.”

Grim’s feathers were visibly ruffled, whether from fear or irritation was anypony’s guess. “Well whose is it?”

The second ranger spoke this time, with a mare’s voice. “It is up to Elder Atrox Lions and Star Paladin SteelSkull.”

“Well may I speak to the Elder?” I asked taking a tentative step forward.

They both took a step towards me aggressively, blocking my path.

“Only Steel Rangers are allowed onto the academy grounds.” The stallion growled.

I lifted a leg as if to shield myself from his words while taking a few steps back.

“Please I need to get into that stable.” I implored but it was impossible to gauge their reaction through their helmets.

“I don’t care, my orders are clear. Nopony is to pass through this gate without authorization.”

I got this feeling in my chest like I was falling, as if everything I had done up until that point had been for not. I closed my eyes to blink away tears that were starting to form when Sunny and Grim took a position in front of the rangers.

“There’s got to be something we can do to help.” Sunny started.

“Maybe we help you and you help us?” Grim finished.

The two rangers shared another glance at each other before turning around and discussing something amongst themselves. It couldn’t be that easy could it? They turned back to face us.

“There is indeed something you could help us with.” The stallion began.

“Paladin Sureshot was deployed on a recon mission several days ago and has not returned or checked in with the Head Paladin.” The mare continued. “We can’t spare the personnel to mount a search and rescue but if you can find out what happened we might be able to help you.”

The stallion approached me and pointed at my foreleg. “Let me see your PipBuck.”

I did as I was told and held out my leg. He worked with it for about thirty seconds before letting go.

“There, I’ve programmed Paladin Sureshot’s ID tag into your PipBuck. The broadcaster in his power armor has considerably short range but once you get within about five hundred meters of it you should be able to track it.”

“You should start by going south towards the College. It’s very likely the Paladin stopped there for supplies or for information. Tell the guards that you’re working for Elder Lions and they should let you pass.”

I was at a loss for words. “What are your names?” The only thing that I managed to get out.

“My partner here is Flint.”

“KNIGHT Flint.” The stallion corrected upsettingly.

“Right.” She shuffled slightly in her heavy armor. “And I’m Knight Freesia. Now you better get moving, you don’t want to be caught in the ruins after dark.”

“Understood.” Sunny saluted at them and started walking south, nodding for me and Grim to follow.

I was still wiping tears from my eyes but not because of fear or sadness but rather they were for my friends. My friends who stood up for me and wouldn’t let me walk away from the Rangers without something. The falling sensation from earlier was overtaken by a warm glow. I had friends and they would see me through. Just that thought alone made me feel like we could take on the whole wasteland. I had friends. Watcher was right.

Footnote: Level Up!
New Perk: Teamwork – You’ve learned the Magic of Friendship. Whenever all members of the party are within sight, you gain a +5 to all skills.

Next Chapter: Chapter Seven: Into the Open Estimated time remaining: 29 Hours, 11 Minutes