“BULLSHIT! THIS IS TOTAL BULLSHIT!”

Oso looked back at Croce lazily as he offered his talons to help Lexicon up the next set of jagged rocks. “Well you probably shouldn’t have sworn a contract to her… she said you didn’t have to come…”

“Fuck you turkey! You know I can’t just back out of a contract!” Croce spat angrily, slipping and barely catching himself as his wings flapped to reduce his weight. Fortunately the winds were not as harsh in this location so he was not torn from the cliffs and thrown into the air as Oso had previously warned may happen if any griffon or pony spread their wings on such a climb.

Lexi struggled to keep up, it was only two hours and already she was exhausted and chilled to the bone. The barbed horse shoes she got certainly helped her on the icy climb, but they were made of iron and combined with the full body suit which Oso did his best to convince her was not leather and fur, both combined were more than enough to drastically increase her weight. Lexicon was not exactly a star athlete to begin with.

The North in general was never a warm place, and as Lexi had come to learn, it was fall and temperatures were plummeting. Heading north was going to be very cold, even colder as the last of the sunlight had faded away just a few moments earlier, but they had certainly geared up for it. Annoyingly, aside from insisting on heavy clothes, Oso had been very stern that they had to eat an odd salty preserved food. She found that it was not terrible but she was very reluctant to eat it simply because of what he explained it was for. Apparently this extra tough foodstuff was designed to drastically add weight to whoever ate it. Lexi wasn’t a vain pony, but she did at the very least try a little. She always ate healthily and maintained a good and mildly flattering weight. However, when Oso explained the massive amount of calories that would be burned in the climbing and trekking, not to mention the frigid cold they would have to combat, she reluctantly agreed and began munching.

Croce, still cursing under his breath pulled himself up after Lexi and tugged his coat tighter around him. He grumbled more flapping his wings uncomfortably with the supplies Oso told him to keep under them. Bottles of water to keep from freezing with his body heat, and a small pack fastened to his chest filled with a mixture of Radaway, healing potion, Sparkle Cola, and just a touch of whiskey. They all had one of these pouches and were to sip gingerly once Lexicon’s pipbuck began clicking.

Lexi huffed and struggled with her climb looking up at the massive Griffon leading the way. “So… why aren’t we taking the old rails? The mountain is cut up specifically to give easy access.”

Oso’s massive talons dug into the cliff side and tore a small boulder free before tossing it down the cliff, for a moment he looked like he was aiming at something but he quickly gestured to the spot no longer occupied by a massive stone and helped Lexicon up and over the next ridge. “Because that is where all the critters settled. They were there before the bombs fell and now they are there, larger and not just in number… and anyway, that is where anypony sinister would be waiting… if you get my meaning.”

“You have got to be fucking kidding! Sinister? Who the hell is going to set up an ambush way out here? I can kill a few woodland critters… hell I can even kill a few bigguns, I managed to bag a hell hound once…”

Oso gave him an unsure look which caused the smaller griffon to grumble even more.

“It was already injured… and.. Well I don’t quite know if I actually killed it or it just ran off.” He pulled his pistol from its holster and stuffed it into his coat hoping he could keep it from freezing further up into the mountains.

“Well… I wouldn’t mind a few good fights or some adventure, but despite my intimidating appearance, I don’t quite enjoy hurting animals. The real point being, it is a lot easier, safer, and faster to go around rather than use the old rails. And anyway, you know that the little one here would be gobbled up instantly.” This brought out a laugh from Croce and a shiver from Lexicon.

“Yeah… I don’t want to be eaten… or to die in general.” She struggled up the next ridge and beamed with a relieved smile seeing nothing but an open plain, relatively flat terrain and without a sign of a living thing for miles. She hated leaving anything close to civilization, but if she had to go on this trek, she was going to be happy to have the smallest amount of climbing and trekking as possible.

She turned back to see in the very furthest distance, the dot that was Pasternville. The trek was long and hard for her, but she looked at it all and figured that an unladen earth pony other than herself could have made the trip in one fourth the time without much effort. She could only imagine how fast it would have been if it had just been Oso, she could imagine him simply plowing up the small mountain in just a few leaps and bounds, or tearing through the breezes with the utmost ease instead of going a few yards and hauling her up the steep climb then going again and again almost like an inchworm climbing up a tree.

“Alright, the sun is down and so is the temperature, you two will likely freeze to death up here unless we put together a shelter.” Oso prodded the snow and ice before starting further away from the cliff and continuing.

“More bullshit! It's not that cold out. And on top of that even when the sun sets we still have a LONG ways to go before it gets cold enough to kill.” He flapped his wings until his paws barely came off the ground, crossing his arms as he glared at Oso.

“That would be perfectly true if not for that…” He gingerly gestured to the northern horizon. Where Lexicon could only see white. “There’s a massive storm and if you can’t tell, the wind is blowing south almost directly. So we need a good spot where we can take shelter. And anyway… If you can’t tell, the little one is drenched in sweat. Did you ever wonder what happens when sweat snap freezes over your body?”

Croce just groaned and Lexi gave an affirmative nod looking for a place that looked at least a little nice to set up camp. She actually knew exactly what would happen, and she was not too keen on dying of hypothermia. She would have much rather be back home to bathe and try again some other time, preferably years or decades from today, or never.

“We wouldn’t have had this problem if we stayed the night in Pasternville.” Croce angrily gestured to a small shallow cave almost as if the shelter was a passing thought.

“No… That would have been very stupid. The book I got from the apartments was very highly sought after, not to mention the others in this one’s collection. No telling just how many clients Rusty Hammers sold his information to. My friends and the Rangers don’t have much to fear except each other, but there could have very well been a few others who would only strike when they were confident that eyes were closed and darkness shrouded their actions. To put it plainly, they would have to be insane to follow us.” He chuckled as he prodded the snow a with his talons.

He didn’t flinch when the monster of a bright red centipede burst from the snow snapping its jaws at him. As if it was an average Tuesday he slipped out a bladed pick from under his wing and planted it firmly in the creature’s head before giving it a twist to scramble the giant bug’s brain and drag its body out of its hole, still thrashing in its death throes he didn’t seem concerned.

“Um… is… is it...um…” Lexi inched closer but Oso gave her a firm look.

Oso's arm shot out and gave her a firm nudge back. It was only then that his beak opened and he spoke.“Even if I seem confident, don’t trot up on things like this, no telling when something will come back, even if just for a moment and tear you in half.” He tossed the giant bug over the cliff side and began pushing into the monster’s hole. It wasn’t long before he came out and ushered them both in just as a new layer of snow began to fall.

Flustering just a bit at Oso throwing orders around at her, she couldn't help be feel the hair on her back stood up straight as she shivered at the mass of bones and messy evidence of a mutated predator having taken up residence within the hole. “Is this really safe?” She looked about and shivering she sat down between a few of the larger dry bones.

“As safe as you’re going to get for tonight… now.. You two snuggle up I recommend sharing bedding to fend off the cold, but you will still survive if you don’t” He chuckled planting a lantern between them and cranking it up. The soft hiss filled the air and though its light was dim, the heat was much more important. “Get some food in your belly, warm up some tea on the lantern, use the little mares room, and get as much sleep as you can. Tomorrow we are up and out as soon as the sun rises.”

Lexicon looked down and tried not to blush at the thought of sharing bedding with anypony at all, but she looked up in both relief and insult flooded through her. Croce planted himself as far as he could away from her as he grumbled something about ‘mud ponies’. She was certain he said something about how fine an ass had to be before he took interest but she was tired, not to mention still frightened senseless.

She put a little tea on the lantern when she noticed that Oso planted himself upright in a sitting position facing the entrance that he had messily sealed off with snow. His weapons were out and handles up in the snow easily within reach. She saw the soft glint of gold lost within his talons before the powerful digits closed like iron jaws to a trap. She was no expert by any means but she had the distinct feeling that he noticed her staring and whatever it was, was something he did not want to share. So she turned back away and pulled her tea from the lantern sipping gingerly as her eyelids became heavy and her joints sore.

Unrolling her bedding she looked over it, old waterproof military issue bedroll that Oso had grabbed back in the store. It felt unnatural. She only once ever camped out anywhere. Her mother’s back yard, she thought it would be fun but even then as a filly her expansive knowledge of things that could possibly go wrong drove her back inside crying for her mother.

“Mother….” She rolled the word around in her mouth and the thought around in her mind. Her mother always had looked out for her, but she was so critical about what she couldn’t give. Lexi’s teeth clenched tight at the repeated realization that she was gone, they all were. Snuggling up in her bag she noted a spot where her rear hoof popped the seam, the bag was after all over a hundred years old, so she didn’t go into a tizzy about it, she just continued letting her mind blaze.

Croce propped up on one of the larger bones and draped his sleeping roll over himself hugging his pistol to his chest. Lexicon didn’t watch for long, she did her best to suppress the giggle mentally linking his appearance to her first pet. She could remember the kitten falling from her mother’s magical grasp into her waiting hooves.

The warm fire in the fireplace, a quiet happy little hearth's warming celebration, her mother smiling from her desk as Lexi cuddled the napping kitten to her side as she read Daring Do out loud. It was perfect, but what made it all the better was the warmth of her mother as she smiled cuddling up with them both bringing hot chocolate and scooping the book up.

She loved hearing her mother read, it was like nothing else existed. Her voice was reality, Daring Do always sounded so brave in her mother’s voice, the bad guys so evil, so cunning, Daring Do must have been so smart to outwit them. She must have been so brave to stand up and continue when the monster’s roared. They roared so loud.

Her mother’s grasp on her tightened and the roar came again. Her mother’s voice acting was so good, so believable. So…

The roar didn’t just echo but boomed and shook the icy cave. Lexicon’s eyes snapped open only to see Croce’s eyes wide and full of fright as his pistol leveled at the entrance of the cave where an ear splitting roar repeated again and again, answered only by a booming powerful screech.

Words failed her as Croce, her own mercenary stood shaking and trembling, eyes locked forward. She started to get up but he quickly pushed her back down. Not being used to anything remotely close to battle this just made her panic more. She wanted to be back in her dream, she wanted her kitten, she wanted her mother, she wanted anything but this.

The next roar cut out half way with a loud boom. Nothing but the sound of the wind howling filled the air, even the hissing of the lantern was deafening. Croce tensed as thudding steps sounded off and Croce almost fired off a shot when Oso stepped back in. His left wing hung limply to his side, dragging on the ground. It wasn’t until he rammed the snow back to cover the entrance that Lexi noticed her pipbuck clicking.

Croce stepped back but didn’t put away his pistol. His voice was shaky and unsure. “The fuck was that?”

Oso opened one of his pouches and popped a small pink berry into his mouth before washing it down with a healing potion. He reached back and wrenched his wing into place and pulled a rope around it before sighing. “I think it’s called a Maulwurf. Damned durable, but easy to evade… I had to kill it before it dug up the cave.”

“How the shit did you do that?” Croce starred with eyes that betrayed a sense of suspicion.

“Balefire egg. Which sucks because I only had two… these suckers are impossible to find.” He grumbled as a steady crackling sound came from his wing. “I had to chuck it into his mouth… had to get really close… I hate doing that with something so big.” He flexed his talons but looked over at Lexi as if he was only just now realizing how much terror the roaring had caused.

Croce still didn’t put his gun away and Lexi herself poured over the knowledge within, she knew that Maulwarfs were extremely durable and exceedingly dangerous, even before the bombs dropped. Everypony and especially every griffon kept leading her to believe that everything in Equestria went from worse to much worse, she could only imagine the badlands being filled with mountain sized mutated dragons that could melt half of Equestria with the slightest sigh.

“This… this is … it's just too much…” Lexi shivered and swallowed staring up at the massive griffon. He had a calm smile but it was not enough to bring back her mother and Hearths warming night. She could see Croce was still on edge, as if he couldn’t tell if Oso was a monster or just a really big griffon. She got her answer as he slowly slid his pistol back into its holster.

She didn’t think she could ever sleep again, her face must have shown it because of how Oso reacted. His massive talons gently pat her on the head and he whispered sweet nothings to her which she barely heard before two of his digits closed on either side of her neck, there was a dull pain but her vision dimmed and quickly, the world swirled away into darkness. It wasn’t Hearth's Warming with her mother but it was certainly unconsciousness.

Her eyes opened, but she felt sore, sore and cold. However, the thing that was most odd was that she could see a bright light shining in her eyes. Groggily she mumbled and opened her bag and rolled over hoping to get up and out to use the little filly’s room. And that is when she entered freefall.

It took her a few moments to realize the ground was a good two thousand feet below and quickly rushing up to meet her. She could not tell if she was dreaming about falling or this was some sick joke. Either way, her scream would most likely be heard for miles.

“Fucking mud pony! The shit are you trying to do?!” Croce’s talons wrapped over her forelegs and just barely managed to slow down her descent.

She did not stop screaming, even as a much larger set of talons scooped her up and Oso’s eyes pushed into her face as he brought them both into a hover. Croce mumbling as he hovered off the the side. “Be quiet… and listen little one… I’m going to put you back up on my back… just don’t piss on me or scream into my ears ok?”

Her heart was beating so hard that it almost drowned out his words. Swallowing and shivering she just stared into his eyes shivering for about half a minute before she finally barely managed to nod. He let out a loud sigh and tossed her onto his back as all three slowly began to descend.

“I told you we should have just walked” Oso grumbled at Croce but the smaller griffon shook his head firmly.

“I stand by the judgement… we covered a thousand times the amount of ground we would have covered just flying over that damned storm…” He waved his talons dismissively at Oso who scoffed.

“There could have been an Enclave presence up here… it's a big risk we took.” The tone of his voice made it clear that the Enclave was something he was familiar with in a not so friendly way.

“This is way too far north, and they are stupid flying ponies, what could they possibly have on us?” He cast a watchful eye at the pony frozen in fear whom he had sworn himself to protect.

“Well, your optimism is promising little one, but they are the strongest military force around… have you ever been chased after by a full squadron of laser spewing power armored ponies? It gets old pretty damned fast.” Oso’s tone softened as they touched down.

The moment Oso’s talons and paws thudded to the ground Lexi pounced off his back and onto the ground shivering and shaking in fright. However, she did not have very much time to celebrate her new found safety. The moment she touched down, her pipbuck began to steadily click and she hopped right back up on Oso’s back.

“Oh for the love of all that is holy!... this is why I gave you that packet… get dressed and SLOWLY…. Sip on the medicine.” Oso’s wings brushed her back off and unloaded her gear as well. He had unceremoniously strapped it to his underside and equally unceremoniously dumped it into the snow.

Croce just laughed as he watched her panic in the snow trying to find anything to get out of the radioactive fluffy substance.

It was another ten minutes before they were back on the road. Oso had to swat her over the head three times to keep her from panicking and gulping down the medicine. Her panic seemed to increase for every click off her pipbuck.

“You are just going to exhaust yourself. Relax and just focus on something else.” Oso gave her rump a nudge making her jump. But she didn’t seem to calm down at all or stop focusing on the clicking.

Fortunately Croce came to save the day, most out of his own annoyance of her panicked breathing than an actual desire to know. “What are these Susy things you were talking about that we are going to meet.?”

Lexi’s attention perked a little and Oso smiled. His soft deep voice chuckled before he began. “Yeah… I figured I was going to have to explain that… Um… lets see. First off, its the Susi. They are… well um.. Lets just say they are the very VERY distant relatives of diamond dogs.”

“Oh… great so something like Hell hounds?” Croce mumbled almost to himself but smiled when he noticed the attention in Lexi’s eyes.

“Oh… well, kind of. You see, the diamond dogs are their own kind of pathetic, and taint turned them into hell hounds. Susi on the other hand. They have always been very… um.. Intimidating.” He gave a nervous chuckle.

“Taint?” Lexicon’s inquisitive tone actually brought ease to Oso’s mind.

“Yes, it's a kind of magical byproduct to experiments by the Ministry of Arcane sciences or something. Radiation can get you, but you can always drink some radaway… but taint… there’s no cure, no cure and just a little bit… it changes you at a fundamental level. Incurable mutations near instantly. Like a poison that has no cure, almost nothing is immune.” He grumbled in thought before continuing. “Its kinda rare though… thankfully. But no, the Susi are just extremely powerful and skilled warriors. They don’t use advanced weapons though. They have their own… um.. Interesting warfare tactics… but let’s just say nopony… or nothing at all really picks a fight with them. Hell their staple food for at least two thousand years has been a special breed of dragons that lives in the far north. They are isolationists and just keep to themselves. Even when the war came around, they stayed clear out of it. Not many knew they existed before the war and even less know they are alive now, kinda like the Breezies.”

“The shit is a Breezie?” Croce wore a face that made it clear he was 100% certain Oso was just making it up as he went along. “Sounds like a crock of shit…”

Oso’s eyebrows raised with some level of happiness as it was Lexicon who answered. “No… they exist, we even launched an investigation on the breezies for shields or something. They had some sort of magical way of separating themselves from the rest of the world, but the investigation team came up empty hooved so it got passed on to the M.A.S.”

Oso grinned. “Yes, like that only less well known. The Susi were thought to be EXTREMELY territorial, willing to kill anything that breathed for coming within ten miles of their borders. However, their violent reaction was due to an odd religious doctrine. The only Susi that Equestria encountered save for very few incidents were actually old Susi trying to find a worthy death in combat. Needless to say, Equestrian research and political envoys did not give them the challenge they were looking for, and thus they were only known as vicious slaughtering barely sentient animals.”

Lexi’s attention had fully been captured making Croce chuckle as she tumbled on rocks and ice almost as if she didn’t notice. “So… how did you find out about them?”

“Actually, that is quite the story. It was Tyrin who found out, even now we don’t know if he went to them to try and get them to enter the war or so he could die. He’s kinda… complicated. But he went there and did some sort of battle ritual with them. Ever since then he’s been accepted amongst their kind. However, due to a philosophical divergence… They are not quite on speaking terms. In fact, this will be about the fifth time we’ve come up this way to try and get over this problem. Now that he’s not here I think we actually have a chance.” Oso’s voice erupted into a happy laughter giving Lexicon the feeling that though they traveled together, Oso and the old Tyrin just did not get along at all.

“He sounds like a dick…” Croce spat out the words as comfortable as possible on the icy tundra.

To her mild surprise, Oso responded with a laugh. “Oh… he is… but you get used to it…”

Eager to learn more about a race she was very surprised to have never heard of and less interested in two griffons trash talking a third, Lexi chirped up. “So… what exactly did the Susi do during the war and why are we seeing them now?”

Oso gestured to her baggy and she took a moment before she realized she had to gulp down the horrid tasting medicine. Only when she had taken a mouthful did he continue. “Well, the weird thing is that they even at the north pole had an obscenely powerful military united under this warrior king or something. But once the war started he ordered them to stay out of the war and then vanished, the whole nation fell under the control of his daughter I think, but even that didn’t last long, their seers began to go crazy and proclaim the world was doomed and tainted, this lead to some infighting that the king would have otherwise been able to stop. Sadly, a revolution rose and was violently put down with so much excessive force that the nation basically just split into tribes. Shortly after the bombs dropped, the tribe we are on our way to see had already killed and eaten the yaks then they happily made Yakyakistan their home.”

Lexicon shivered and looked up at Oso who did not seem too phased. “Eaten?..”

“Yes… they are wolves after all.” The massive Griffon slowed his stride and smiled. “Ah… I think this is the place….”

Lexi saw nothing but endless tundra. The skies far above were calm enough but the ground to the north looked like fragmented glaciers and low mountains. “I suppose you are saying that despite this obviously not being Yakyakistan for a reason?”

“Yes of course...If we want to go any further just over the snow… we will run into the glowing storm… and even if we make it through that, the wildlife will likely eat us.”

“Glowing storm? You never mentioned that” Lexi fidgeted in place as she looked further to the north.

Croce grumbled and looked about as if searching for something. “The glowing storm is the storm that never dies up in the north over the glowing tundra. Glowing tundra glowing storm… same thing really… but the storm always existed, well almost always… “

Croce’s attention was diverted as Oso fished around in his bags, but as if to distract them he picked up where Croce left off. “Yes… the Crystal empire had their heart artifact which kept the storm at bay and even completely lifted it from their lands when properly fueled. But as you can see… that’s not the case here… take a look…” He calmly gestured outward as he pulled something from his bag

Lexi could see nothing but the distant wall of snow and wind, as if it were a magical force field that barely contained the raging storm. However, she could plainly see it expanding and guessed that it let off waves of bad weather much like the storm she slept through as Oso carried her. She even took notice that the storm seemed to glow ever so slightly, however her vision spiralled as Croce tackled her to the ground and a deafening boom echoed across the land.

“THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM TURKEY?!?” Croce pulled himself out of the snow and Lexi looked up to see the green mushroom cloud just a ways off.

However, Oso seemed fixated on watching their surroundings. With a happy ‘aha!’ he started in one direction. “The storm buries the entrance so the way we find it with a large concussive blast… it sends up a little plume of frost from the shifting pressures and we just go on over…” He pointed at where the air had a fair bit of white powder still fluttering away.

Lexi was frightened and very concerned about the minor nuclear spell going off so close to her. But Croce was more angry, she could safely say it was probably being pulled in on the trip. She could only venture to guess, Croce had always fought for himself, if he wanted something done he would do it himself. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. It didn’t come to her right away because she never really had that kind of ability. Even at work, her authority was only conditional to her field of work. She never really had power, Croce was used to having power and authority within his life and wasn't taking too well to having none in this ‘adventure’. Her mind then rolled in the opposite direction and she wondered if maybe his on edge outbursts were because he was used to responding to everything with violence and anger.

“Onward… these tunnels can be hard to navigate but it should be easy enough… there are markers which me and my friends have followed many times…” He happily stood on the edge of a large opening which would have been nearly impossible to see from the ground or the sky unless they had been very close.

Oso happily started on his way down the tunnel and Lexicon followed closely. It was dark and echoed menacingly. However, her biggest problem with it was the bones littering the floor of the massive tunnel, it reminded her far too much of the centipede's lair. Not wanting Oso to leave her in the frozen wasteland she quickly followed after his steady pace and just as fast she could hear the loud cursing and griping of Croce.

“D.. Do I want to know about the bones?... more victims of the wildlife?” Lexi did her best to keep her voice from echoing off the walls which even in the quickly fading light seemed more and more smooth.

“Yes and no...” Oso calmly spoke, his every stride seemed confident and calm, it seemed to be in a lot of contrast to Lexi’s and even Croce who’s every step was filled with

nervous and suspicious ticks and glances. It was very clear he was not a fan of the location, his suspicion never stopped for anything and Lexi’s only relief came from Oso continuing his explanation. “...Back when the bombs fell, a lot of ponies from both the Crystal Empire and northern Equestria fled the radiation, this is kinda a place away from the bomb sites. They just didn’t expect the storm to quadruple in intensity nor for it to pick up all the radiation in the area. They all died here… and the critters kinda cleaned up. That’s why no skeleton is complete or undisturbed.”

They continued in relative silence, until Lexicon nervously sipped on her rad pouch and heard the unbearable sound of a straw slurping at an empty container. Her eyes wide and slowly slipping into panic she raised a hoof but Oso was already there. “Here… take mine, I have the berries anyway.”

She gave him an odd look as he undid the straps and swapped the bag. She was not one for noticing things, but his bag was entirely full, he hadn't even started to sip on it. Listening carefully she could hear the sloshing of Croce’s bag. “Um.. Oso?.. Did you…”

He laughed giving her nose a soft poke. “Yes, we use these tunnels often, we cleared em out and we almost never have to fight anything inside, no worries, but stay close all the same…”

“No, I mean did you drink any of this?” She gestured to the bag and looked up at him for any hint that he would not be telling the truth.

Either he had no reason to tell a lie or Lexi as she already knew, was terrible at reading people.

He grinned and chimed. “Nope… I have the berries.”

She tried to think of a way to ask while being a little less nosy, but Croce chimed in with the question that Lexi was thinking at 90 decibels.

“So the shit are the berries? Not much grows out in the wasteland… I’ve heard rumors about the Enclave having crops, and possibly berries but what is this crap, you pop them at least once every few hours.” Croce’s much keener eyes panned over Oso’s features and picked out something that made him look like he wanted to ask more questions.

“Well, the red ones are healing, the orange ones are for radiation, the pink ones are a special medicine specifically for me… there are few others like the blue one… It’s just a sweet berry, they last a long time and don’t spoil easily.” Oso’s talons waved about easily in the dim light as he spoke.

“And where the hell do you get something like that?” Croce’s eyes panned over him eager for any reaction which would hint at a truth.

“I hate to say it little one… but that’s something I just don’t feel comfortable telling you yet. Succeed in this mission, and stick around, then you will likely find out.” Oso’s eyes shifted from his calm and almost kindly relaxed state to a narrowed glare which gave off an unnerving amount of what she could only label as violent capacity.

Croce was clearly suspicious and extremely uncomfortable. Even if they had a massive sky overhead for him to try and out maneuver the larger griffon, he was very uncertain of his chances if he tried to challenge the massive bird.

“S..so what about this tunnel? I’m clearly no expert but this does not look like a natural formation.” Lexi tried to push herself between the two and breathed a lot easier when Croce strayed back to watch their rear.

Oso yet again gave her nose a poke and chuckled when she recoiled. He reminded her of a stereotypical older brother. She never had any siblings but he reflected the same stereotypes she enjoyed in her fiction back before the world ended. She scrunched her nose but let him have his mildly playful moment.

“Half right… These were originally just caves that coincidentally ran through the area, first the Yaks tried and failed to use it to mine iron, then sold it to the Crystal Empire who tried to sell it back as it was too difficult to cut through solid granite for a hundred miles and the idea of having a subterranean railway leading around up here while appetizing for Equestria and the empire, the natural tunnels just didn’t go where the ponies thought they did. In the end, they figured they would build tunnels along the main areas, then a hub in the center which would double as a military installation and a Stable then just spiderweb out to have a literal bombproof city.” He chuckled and came up alongside a tattered tarp covering something littered with rubble. When he banged his heavy knuckles over it Lexicon could clearly hear steel.

She looked over the pile covered by the tarp judging the length, width, and depth as well as the sound of the banging. “Railway rails?”

“Bingo! You’ll find em all over the place down here. The bombs dropped before the rails could be put into place.”

Lexi could see Croce’s features backing up as if he wanted to ask more intruding questions, but before she could distract any further Oso seemed to notice something and pick up the pace before stopping in front of a small formation of rocks.

“What is it?”

Oso grinned before giving what looked to be a salute of some sort then turning back to her. “The next leg of our journey… This is the grave of a Vanhat Susit… he died here in the mines… his brother buried him… I think…”

“Giant turkeys… mysterious, historians, and spiritual mediums! Why don’t you make shit up that sounds more believable.” Croce spat and grumbled looking over his shoulder at Oso with his usual grumpy scowl.

Lexi was beginning to wonder if Croce even could smile. But Oso’s next words at least got him to stop frowning. “His name was Kari, he came through the tunnels hoping to find a worthy death. It was my first experience with the Susi, I didn’t know what to expect and I didn’t like the idea of just up and killing some poor old wolf… But despite his advanced age… that sucker was harder to put down than a hellhound pumped on Stamped. I was lucky and ripped open his throat. Tyrin was laughing his ass off reminding me that every single Susi, from the oldest and frailest of elders to the youngest and smallest of pups need to be treated and acknowledged as warriors. It was humbling, I mean I wasn’t a warrior but I’m not a small guy, I’m not used to not being the most powerful one in the room.”

Lexi starred in concern, Croce couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. But Oso gave a soft nod and started to clear out a spot. “His brother… or his son, I can’t remember… Thanked me, and buried him right here. His grave now serves as a marker for me and them, I know I’m on the right track and they don’t let their Vanhat Susit seek death beyond this point.”

Lexi had questions, but one thing jumped into mind first. “Um… what are you doing?”

He didn’t even look her way as he shoved a large boulder out of the way and gathered some spare lumber from the crumbling scaffolding. “We are camping here. We can keep going, but, your body is likely to quit halfway through the night.”

Croce gave a confirming look and started to set up camp. Lexi herself felt like she could keep going, even though her body felt like it was on fire. Her every joint and muscle burned and ached, but the cold numbed her just barely enough to ignore.

Lexi gave it a little more thought before she too started to set up camp, but then was promptly sat down by Oso. “No offense little one, but the less you move now, the easier it will be for us in the morning, and again… no offense, but you are not the best at setting up or taking down camp…”

He gave her a firm pat on the head which she scowled at. She knew she wasn’t exactly physically strong but she had at least some pride. Clearing the stones from a small portion of the camp, she rolled out her bed and set one of her books out but then began to notice her legs felt almost rubbery. She couldn’t help but feel a little panicked, her legs were numb and very weak, increasingly weak as she continued to set up. She looked herself over to see if she could spot any bites or stings from local wildlife. It wasn’t until her rear legs gave out and she simply fell back into a sitting position that Croce sighed.

“Are you serious?...” She looked over at him, his words echoing at her and with a little bit of panic she started to speak but he cut her off.

“It's called exhaustion. You and everyone else holds it off until it's time or getting close to time to rest. Nothing is wrong with you, you are just tired and will be extremely sore in the morning. Have you never exercised or even worked in your life?” Oso Grinned a little gesturing to her calmly.

“I.. um… well… I…” She stuttered and fumbled with her words but Oso gave her a soft bop on the nose as he passed.

“Just go to sleep, no reading, no complaining, I’ll make your tea, just get to sleep.” He continued to work and she did her best to wriggle into her sleeping bag but looked over at the two griffons. She was an earth pony, she was supposed to be strong, these two griffons were so easily outdoing her. She found herself mumbling angrily but stopped in thought. She couldn’t think of a reason why she was angry, but here she was.

Her book dropped on her head and she looked up at Croce, his picking on her seemed to be the only thing that would bring a smile to his face.. “You ok there mud pony?... you look like you’re going to strain something thinking too hard.”

Flustered and exhausted, she was surprised she hadn't broken down mentally and simply been incapable of recovering. But something in her burned, she couldn't put her hoof on it but nevertheless, there it was, just poking her and screaming. “We should have kept going…”

Croce let out a sharp laugh trying and failing to suppress it. “Aye't, look mud pony, if you kept going you wouldn’t be able to move when we pack up. And that means that either me or the Turkey would have to carry your sorry ass…”

She grit her teeth and glared at him angrily, though despite the fire in her heart and as much as she tried to put it in her eyes for him to see he just casually glanced at her with raised eyebrows as if to remind her that she would get winded trying to think of a clever line to get him thinking before a sucker punch. This seemed to only burn in her brighter. “I’m stronger than you think.”

“No… you really aren’t.” Oso’s tone was clear even from the other side of the cave. Oddly, even Croce nodded in agreement. She figured he would just grumble about the ‘turkey’ interfering in his conversation.

“I hate to break it to you mud pony… but you aren’t all that durable. Hell, we might have overdone it as we are now. Just get your sleep and we will pick up tomorrow.” He rolled out his bedding and got out his cleaning kit before he began on his pistols.

Lexicon sat up in her bedding angrily and even grumbled when Oso came along with her tea. She snatched it up and didn’t make eye contact.

“You’re discovering you are not necessarily as independent and powerful than you thought.” She looked up at him with angry eyes, but instead of scoff like Croce, Oso’s eyes were kind.

“No one likes to be humbled…” He struck flint against steel and brought the wood he had gathered to a flame. “If I had to venture to guess, there isn’t much you’ve ever tried and actually failed is there? Granted you haven’t attempted many physical things… but you aren’t used to not being able to do things…”

She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Logically it made sense but something in her didn’t want to admit it. But the look in his eyes told her she didn’t have to.

With a heavy talon he gestured to the grave. “He was old… very old. But never before had I felt such a strike. I had gone my whole life believing the world was made of glass, that if I wanted to, I could just destroy everything. It was just one thing in a long string of events that made me realize how small I was.”

He sat down next to her and he poked at the fire. “It was Tyrin actually, he ordered me to fight the wolf, I had initially refused because I didn’t want to feel like I had just murdered some poor old wolf. But when he told me he would do it if I wouldn’t, and trust me, if he says he will, you can guarantee that it will be done with the maximum amount of force and the most minimal amount of mercy ever recorded. It was only afterwards when I came to realize he was showing me the world was much bigger than I had known. His son was endlessly thankful, which just confused me more.”

Lexicon’s eyes showed her anger was lost in his story, he didn’t feel like bringing back grumpy Lexi, so he continued, but his voice had an odd sorrow to it. “Griffons have a very long history and culture surrounding honor. Honor, and unfortunately greed, but honor was always a big thing. Give us something to fight for and we will die without a single word or twitch of defiance. But the wolves, the Susi, they are something else. From the moment they can stand, their mothers place weapons in their little paws and they follow their fathers on hunts. They believe it a shame to die from old age. It was my ignorance and my overconfidence, my faith in my own natural strengths and talents… my pride which almost cost me my life, just like your pride and faith in your ability might cost you yours.”

He gave her a nudge and with a smile he stood up and walked to the far side of the cave, intently staring in the direction they had come. His eyes looked so focused, as if he was absolutely certain he was warding something off. But Lexicon spent very little time focusing on such details.

It was hard for her to take his words in. She didn’t like the idea of having a pride problem. But the more she thought, the more she realized, at the very least he was right on her disposition. She didn’t want to call it pride and she certainly didn’t want to be humbled. But she had never failed before, never naturally. Even before the world ended, the only time she had failed was when she was assigned to a research team and the lead had intentionally ignored her. She guessed it was because she was young, but he did give her a look that made her feel rather uncomfortable.

Croce caught her attention as he reached into her bags, but before she could object he showed her what he was withdrawing. “If you shut up and go to sleep, I’ll clean and repair this sucker…” In his talons dangled the 10mm pistol she had taken what felt like years ago.

She thought for a moment and remembered that devices of all kinds needed maintenance of some sort and that weapon had been rusting for over a hundred years. She knew that she knew just as much about cleaning and maintaining firearms as she knew about using them. So with a nod she grumbled and snuggled up in her bag. She found it odd that she did not impulsively take off her glasses. But they had stayed perched on her nose thus far. Part of her didn’t want to tempt fate by taking them off. She closed her eyes and instantly felt like her bedding was sucking her into sleep.

Croce’s ticking and fumbling with her pistol sounded like beautiful music in her drowsy state. She could hear nothing but the constant drowning dulled noises pulling her deeper and deeper into sleep. She just hoped that when she woke up, she wouldn’t be under attack or be free falling. She needed something she could do or say that would push her the final distance to sleep. It felt odd but she found it by whispering another mild regret she knew she would never be able to settle, but it felt good to say.

“Goodnight mom…”

Footnote: Level 3 Achieved.

Perk added: Carefully medicated, drugs are substantially more effective with your close eye watching endlessly on your stats. Healing, Radaway, and any other drug is now 20% more effective.

Quest perk added: I'm sure you cheer pretty hard, You may not be a fighter, but you are surrounded by those who have had their fair share of combat. You gain 10% of the XP when your companions fight. Still not a very fast method of leveling.

This fanfiction is based on Fallout Equestria by Kkat, Fallout Equestria Pink Eyes by Mimezinga and Fallout Equestria Project Horizons by Somber; a familiarity with the source material may aid your understanding.

Author - Sanguine Eyes
Chapter editor - Currently N/A
Earl: Concept artist, Proof reader.
Nick Valentine: Artist

Author's Notes:

Aye, It took forever to get this out, I've been drowned in work and short stories for Equestria Amino. There's probably a mistake or two, Ill go over it a few times when I wake up again.

But for now, you enjoy. Please let me know what you thought in the comments. I want this story to be perfect, so I'm all to happy to make corrections and more.