There was so much pain. She never quite felt anything like this, she couldn't open her eyes, there was just unbearable pain and the vague feeling that her body was being moved around.

The dull murmur of words touched her ears but felt like cold iron blades scraping against her skull. The little earth pony finally managed to open her eyes, and despite the glasses still perched on her nose, she could only see a blurry mess. But as things began to shape up. The dark blurry vision was a more brighter blurry vision and while she could basically only groan and whimper in pain, she was confident that Croce and Oso were there with her.

"At least she's alive..." Croce's voice still sounded dull and distant to her, but despite the pain, she was overjoyed to hear it.

She reached up to try and embrace her own head but massive talons pushed her hooves back down. "No... stop that. Just drink."

She barely noticed something being pressed to her lips, all she saw was blurry purple. Her mind concluded it was a healing potion. She tried to ask what had happened, but all that came out was a long painful whimper.

Thankfully, Oso either understood or gave the answer coincidentally. "Stay still... you've been shot."

"But seriously though, can we go back to the wolves, I want one of those talismans." Croce chuckled flipping something about in his talons.

Sipping the purple potion as fast as she could, slowly she began to feel a bit better, but she could clearly tell just by opening her mouth and closing it that her head was quite swollen. But the confusion was still there, her face and head hurt like nothing she had ever felt and she was swollen.

"Yeah, well... it's a good thing I got her the iron token, otherwise she would be extremely unbelievably gone right now." Oso swiped the object Croce was toying with. "I'm still quite surprised it broke... I mean hell, these things are crazy effective. The hell did the raider shoot her with?"

'Blurry' Croce picked up a weapon off the ground. "Eight gauge tungsten slug." Croce whistled happily as he pulled a small bag up with the gun and slung it over his shoulder. "And its an auto shotty... shit condition, but shes a pretty girl." She could hear the clacking and clicking as he fiddled with it.

"Tungsten... well I guess that explains the damage, I'm surprised she's still alive." Croce pushed the potion to her lips again and she sipped painfully.

"Well, it's not just the material of the slug. You gotta take into account the type of propellant and the amount, then the make of the gun, the length and even weight of the barrel, all sorts of stuff. I'm surprised you don't know this stuff. How old are you?" Croce poked at the much larger bird and earned only a loud sigh.

"I don't like using guns. I will if I have to, or if it's super convenient, but I prefer to use melee weapons. I got a lot of mass, I prefer to use it in a more flattering way than just being a flesh tank lugging around some 40mm cannon." He squinted at Croce who leaned in waiting for the answer to his other question. "And I am none of your damned business years old."

There was a loud pop which shot a cold shock down Lexi's spine. Her vision swam even more but the pain started to die down. Oso looked over and his rather stoic features betrayed a touch of relief. "Aye... up little one... I'm going to be carrying you for a while."

She started to protest until the very moment she started to really move. Instantly she doubled over as the pain shot back to life like fire and she vomited.

"Stop thrashing... Your skull just barely knitted back together!" She could feel Oso's talons over her midsection as he lifted her. The pain was extreme but with a sudden soft prick a numbness shot through her and she became even more dazed.

She noticed Oso's voice, but she couldn't make out what he was saying, just that he was angry. And she felt she barely placed Croce's retort. There was some back and forth before everything faded so much that she couldn't tell what was going on. Everything was just one massive blur. The last touch of sensation was her body coming to a rest before things began to get dark.

Lexicon sputtered awake. Head aching like no other and her body felt numb and tingly, but she moved just a little before she felt something VERY uncomfortable. She pushed the blanket she was tucked into away to find a catheter had been placed into her. She was a little shocked and a bit more embarrassed. But she took quick stock of her situation.

Her forehead was heavily bandaged, her vision was back, but her glasses were stuck to her snout with blood. She still hurt horribly and she started to panic a little. But a set of talons landed on her shoulder and she looked up to Croce. "Gah!... wh... what happened?!"

He grimaced a little and cleared his throat. "You were shot in the head. Damn... right between the eyes. But you're alright... I think."

She blinked, recalling Oso's blurry voice spouting that off. But she turned and looked him in the eyes. "How?"

He blinked and ducked his head slightly looking back behind him. "Well, you remember those things we got from the wolves? They are some sort of Talismans, one keeps you warm, and the other apparently makes your flesh as durable as iron. So instead of killing you instantly, the tungsten slug just cracked your skull and broke the talisman." He fidgeted a little and raised a talon. "You were in so much pain that I just shot you full of Med-X... Oso yelled at me because apparently there was something about not pumping someone full of drugs when they have a severe head injury. But I just didn't want you thrashing about while he was trying to carry you."

She recalled something about such precautions, but she had to be honest, she was just happy to be alive. Then she remembered the horrible hell she was in and while her opinion did not pull back she did rethink the thankfulness. "Wait!... what about the raider who shot me?"

She vaguely recalled pulling the trigger, but she didn't know what had happened. Focusing she remembered Croce talking about the shotgun used against her. A sudden pang of guild shot through her. She wasn't certain, but as her near vacant glare dropped she questioned it. Did she actually kill another pony?

She bit her lip as the thoughts ran through her. It really was him or her, but in this case she guessed it was both. But it gnawed at her insides. She had killed somepony.

"Oh. I shot him..." Croce spoke in his usual carefree nonchalant tone.

She jerked her head towards Croce hard enough for the pain to shoot through her again. Holding her head she looked at him glancing at her like she was stupid.

Relief ticked at her and she sighed. But something still gnawed at her. She shook it off and looked up blushing uncomfortably. "An... and... the catheter?"

He rose his talons and backed up. "Nope! That was Oso, you can't pay me enough to touch your coochie."

She huffed at the words and struggled to fight back the blush again remembering how eager he was back under the snow. She shook it off and winced at the pain once more. "Ahem... so... what now?"

She did not want to try and fall back asleep after sleeping for who knew how long. So she looked to Croce who calmly walked away, only looking back as he got to some trees. "Get some rest, the sun's up in about an hour or two."

She watched him walk into the shadows and she felt a touch of loneliness. She felt safe at least, but she was just extremely stressed. She grumbled and pulled her blankets up as she poked about her bags. Mumbling under her breath she flinched as her fidgeting tugged at the catheter. Still blushing she focused for a bit and pulled it free. The image of Oso putting it in sent a flush of heat into her and she buried herself into her blankets.

She flustered and pulled out one of her books and pushed through it reading through the pages quickly. But as she flipped pages, she couldn't tell if it was disinterest or her fluster, but she felt impatient. It was as if her reading was getting in the way of something. It was more than a little frustrating but soon she simply pushed the book back into her bag and reached for another. But she couldn't bring herself to pull another out.

Flustering and gritting her teeth, she near frantically looked left and right before ducking under her covers. Biting her lip she reached low and took in a deep breath imagining Croce back under the snow. She flinched as her heart raced, imagining the possibilities, what if Oso hadn't interrupted? What if Croce didn't turn her down? She had felt him literally milliseconds away from actually doing the deed, the rush, the excitement, it made her shiver just thinking about it.

Her hoof slowed as her memories of his rejection flooded in and started to taunt her. She swapped out Croce for Wax Seal, imagining him for some odd reason getting involved with her back in the stable. But the moment she tried to put some plot to her fantasy she remembered his death and even more flustered she dredged up the thoughts of other stallions before she thought of Oso. The acknowledgement that he had put the catheter in was just barely enough. In order to do that he would have had to gotten pretty familiar with her business downstairs.

She knew the feeling of his impossibly strong talons picking her up like she was a kitten. She imagined those same talons gripping her hips. She winced at the thought of somepony that size having his way with her. But somehow she shivered in pleasure, sure it would be difficult, and probably painful, but something about an act that required so much... force.. made her excited. she winced playing on the fantasies weaving them into her mind. Picturing herself in a pretty collar, being herded about on command. She could almost hear Oso's deep voice rumbling telling her to present to him. A slightly more intense urge shot into her and she pictured him making her beg, walking her on a leash even showing her off and things that nearly made her squeak just passing through her mind .

She was so close, her teeth nipped into her lip and she just barely drew blood, her mind a flurry she imagined him more and more, anything she could to add to the fantasy, ordering her to be "a good girl'. The rush, such dirty and nearly taboo thoughts roiling about in her. She was teetering on the edge and bit down hard imagining the wolves who had caught her. She could almost hear their voices, imagined the scrawny creatures pinning her and...

The thought died where it sat, she had to stop. The pleasure and desire for such pleasure was very strong, but the last thought was almost too much. Self loathing Lexi screaming in her ear as shame bubbled about drowning out even Horny Lexi. A touch of self disgust hit her like a sky bus and she buried her face into the blankets hating herself. "That? That's what I ... errrg!!"

She mentally beat herself up as two dozen Lexis argued and or retched within her. Her mind screamed, demanding why she would want that in her mind, even at the apex of her fantasy.

She paused and slapped the label of 'Shameful private time' onto that section of her memories. Logical Lexi shouted at her that it was just a reaction, she had just yesterday came so close to something she never had, it was just natural to explore with fantasy and scenarios. Another Lexi told her she should be ashamed, other Lexis clobbered her for that as even others offered anything from excuses to criticisms to theories. But she ached and fought the guilt mentally. But it wasn't very long before she found herself reaching beneath the covers again despite the gaggle of angry Lexis.

She forced herself to stop. Her mind on fire with all the issues on hoof. Even if she needed sleep there was no way she could at the moment. But then it hit her, all the flustering and grumbling, she was likely at the beginning of a heat. Without questioning it, she latched onto the explanation and dumped the blame on the chemistry cycle. She remembered her first heat. She was clever, but her mother was always on top of things. She got the talk that first time, but it was her mother's talk. After her dad whom she still had never met, her mother was explicitly misandrous. She remembered what little other ponies she may have been able to call friends, many of them spoke of their heat troubles, they always talked about having phallic toys or objects, some even had coltfriends. But like always, she was a bit behind the curb. She once saved up and purchased something for herself when she was younger, but her mother thoroughly objected with an extreme livid persecution of everything phallic shaped. Prior to the world ending, her sole relief from heats were her romance novels.

She pushed the blankets into her face and groaned loudly, but she shot upright like lightning when something cluttered just a little ways off. She viciously seized the opportunity to escape her own thoughts and whipped about to see Oso starting to pack up.

Noticing her, the giant Griffon set aside his current task and slowly began making his way over. But he hesitated looking at her making her even more uncomfortable. She couldn't help but to cringe at the idea of him possibly knowing of her fantasies just minutes ago. But to her relief his words were a very welcome distraction. "You're ok?"

She nodded quickly and started to stand up, but looked about for the trousers. It wasn't exactly so cold that she needed to wear them, but she wanted something, anything to cover her rump at least. "Y..Yeah... I woke up just a little while ago... Croce told me what happened. I'm ... I'm feeling a lot better."

He nodded with a half satisfied and half relieved look about him. "Aye...So long as you're up and about you can get your stuff packed up. We've got just a little ways to go."

She looked up at him and questions bubbled. But the desire to hide at least for the moment made her remain quiet. She didn't really know where they were going, but she figured it was a long way. She bumbled about sliding on what clothes she had and pushing items into her bags when she flinched, she noticed Oso was looming over her. Turning about she blinked at the large Griffon. The look on his face told her he wanted to speak with her about something that he was hesitant to request. Her mind instantly fell back on her fantasies and a mixture of hope and horror shot through her.

But the Lexis within all went silent as his features showed a touch of worry and sorrow. "There is something... I REALLY shouldn't give you the option, we've been trying to get our project running for a very long time. And well, my original offer has to change. You helped us a lot... but I wont force you to help us with this project. So I'm going to offer you this one chance..." He looked her over and a great deal of uncertainty washed over him.

"Wh..what?" Part of her beamed with curiosity and hope that he would tell her more, but the rest of her noticed something was a tad wrong.

"You can leave now if you want to. With Croce... I wont stop you if you decide to go..." His eyes looked distant and pained. But Lexi gave her best 'I have no clue the hell you're talking about' face and Oso shook his head. "Originally, the offer was that if you help us, I'd let you hang out around our base, you could come in for food and safety. You would ideally spend the rest of your life there. But... The Susi's conditions for their assistance changes everything. Look... I will be overjoyed if you stay. But if you do, you will be going with us, everywhere we go. I don't think Tyrin will put you in danger intentionally, unless you anger him. But if he knows you are the only reason we got the Susi to help, he will not let you go."

She shivered and Logical Lexi looked to caution Lexi who both hummed and grumbled as they passed whispers to eachother. But both flinched along with Lexicon herself as Oso's talons caressed her chin and pushed her to look into his eyes. "If you try to leave after this, Tyrin is very likely to kill you... Make your choice, if you leave, I'll tell him the truth, you were shot in the head on our way back..."

He yanked the bandage off prompting Lexi into a soft yelp. She couldn't see the injury , but she was certain from the hefty scab and still horrendously aching skull that it was going to be a rather impressive scar. But scars aside, the whole idea terrified her all over again. She never wanted to hear gunfire again. But even with Croce at her side for a year, she had seen just a touch of what the wasteland held. Even Croce couldn't defend her fully. But she couldn't be asked to be on the battlefield again.

She was wrenched out of her thoughts as Oso turned about and started packing up again. A touch of panic teased at the edge of her mind. She had no idea what to do. This Gods awful land would take her at the drop of a hat, but what would she do? Her mind buzzed and Logical Lexi practically frothed at the mouth trying to make a choice. She remembered very clearly how little Tyrin cared about the lives of those around him, quite literally referring to her as a thing and that he would kill her simply for convenience. She shuddered at the thought of having to spend time near the old Griffon. But she blinked as she felt Logical Lexi tugging at her attention and pointing at a part of her mind she was neglecting. "Oh... the hell am I going to do if I don't go with them?"

She grumbled and shoveled the rest of her gear into her bags. Sure she could probably make it for the first year with Croce helping her out, but after he left, and she knew he would leave. As much as she fantasized about the Griffon sticking around for her, the more and more she got to know him the far FAR less it seemed he would do anything close to that. There was so much in the air, but if she was the only thing keeping their project going, then maybe someone as mean as Tyrin would be willing to keep her safe and not hurt her.

Clamping her eyes shut she hissed through her teeth grinding the options against her mind. But she wasn't fooling herself. Even the Lexis inside were already getting ready. She took up her bag and slung it over her back and struggled up to Oso. "I'm coming with you..."

He looked to her, almost with a touch of sorrow. But he nodded and as he slid the last of the gear into his pack he made eye contact. "I can't be there to protect you all the time, and Croce will likely get a little roughed up once or twice, but I will do everything I can to keep you safe..."

Then came something that surprised her a bit. His talons rested firmly on the top of her head. A simple pat. But when he turned away, a flurry of emotions washed through her ranging from embarrassed to downright naughty as the majority of the Lexis went hunting for horny Lexy to tie her up beat her senseless and throw her into a closet. But alas, her heat gave horny Lexi special logic defying powers. Unable to find Horny Lexi and wreck bloody vengeance upon her, logical Lexi dropped a shell to try and snuff it out entirely. 'He sees you as a kid! He's patting your head because he's literally your foalsitter!'

"You make some weird faces little one..." Oso chuckled and turned about. Almost instantly, Lexicon snapped to and grumbled.

Together, they started to walk as she started to wonder where Croce had gone off to, but in mere seconds he seemed to just pop up to her side and walked with them.

"Why aren't we flying?" Croce's tone was firm and pointed at Oso who simply glanced back lazily.

"Because I'm a pretty damned big target, and perforated eardrums are better taken in shifts..." Oso jutted a thumb at Lexi who struggled for a moment to think before she took offense. She was still plenty blurry and wobbled about from her head injury.

"Oh come on, just gag her and tie her up... Hell... I'll help." Croce poked into his bag and without even thinking about it, a thick blush covered Lexi's cheeks. She caught herself and forcefully thought of literally anything else.

"Tell you what... there's an Enclave station just a few miles ahead. You fly in and out to show me it's safe, and we'll fly... I'll even carry Lexi." He reached over and scooped her up.

"Gah!! put me down!" She squirmed and Oso glanced at her curiously before his eyes widened ever so slightly and he set her down. That one vague sign shot blush over her as Logical Lexi screamed 'HE NOTICED!!!!'

She scooted back and did her best to not look him in the eyes, but Croce's grumbling saved the day. "That would be suicide you dipshit!"

Oso looked away from Lexi and nodded. "Exactly. And that's why I'm not flying up there... I might be pretty fast but I'm still 900 lbs of bird...And if you didn't know... they are quite trigger happy with their little cannons." Oso stepped forward between Croce and Lexicon, Lexi quickly attempted to compose herself as the two Griffons chatterd.

"Well, we can just fly low." Croce did a quick looptiloop weaving in and out of the dead tree branches.

"Yeah... there's a problem with that too little one..." Oso snapped his wings open to their fullest span and actually knocked over one of the nearby trees. "I might be sneaky when I need to be, but at high speeds I don't really do obstacles."

"You have a fucking excuse for everything!" Croce's words began to fill with anger as he glared the giant Oso down.

"No... I have a plan for everything, a plan based on reality and experience. Exactly how do you think someone my size has survived all this time?" He stepped closer quite literally looming over him to the point where he nearly had to look directly down to make eye contact.

"In fucking Dr. Frankenpony's lab you giant fucking turkey!" Croce looked about ready to start swinging and while Oso didn't look angry or concerned he did look like he was ready to pluck the little Griffon up and knock him out just to get some peace and quiet.

"C... can we just go forward? I don't really want to fly but we are wasting time not doing anything..." Her voice was nearly a squeak at first but the more she put into it the more she felt relieved as she was getting her mind off her heat and onto anything else.

And to her surprise Croce squinted at her still fuming but he grumbled and turned about walking slowly as Oso looked to her and smiled but did not speak. The trip was relatively quiet, the only excitement was in form of a few raiders who spotted them but ran for the hills when Oso uprooted a boulder and hurled it with quite some impressive range. At least the big Griffon would spare her from the terrors of the raiders.

The sun sagged in the sky behind the impenetrable clouds. Lexi's head was still aching and her joints were stiff, but this was about the time they started looking for an easily defendable spot to hunker down for the night. But to her confusion, she saw no hints of Oso slowing down. Even Croce seemed a little concerned, but all together they continued until finally Oso stopped and cleared his throat.

"Aye... you see that down there?" He gestured to a small thicket of bushes.

"Yeah?" Croce scoffed. "What? Are we hiding in the bushes for the night?"

Oso chuckled. "Well, I don't blame you for not noticing, it has a pretty strong enchantment on it." He smirked and Lexi looked over at it, but for some odd reason she felt like she couldn't be bothered. Staring at the bushes was not only boring but noticeably annoying. She looked over at Oso and he smiled a little brighter. "Look around... no other living bushes for miles, just go through and wait for me..."

"Wait for you? What are you doing?" Croce seemed a bit unsure but he inched closer to Lexicon.

"I have something I normally do at this place." He gestured for them to continue and didn't seem like he was going to move until they left.

This played on Lexi's nerves, but she did trust Oso far more than she trusted most people. Even Croce had showed he could be trusted very slightly less than the big Griffon. Looking back she nodded and started forward. Croce grumbled and followed. Pushing into the bushes she noticed very little other than it seemed like a tremendous waste of time. The feelings running through her made complete sense. Despite the fact that it was the only living plants for miles she never would have noticed it if Oso hadn't pointed it out, and even going through it flooded her with emotions and opinions that it was just a bad idea or a waste of time. Truly, this was the perfect way to hide something. Quite literally, nopony but those who knew how to find it would get into it.

They continued along making a few observations, there was another entrance just a little ways off, and one up in the ceiling, she could even feel the magical repelling emotions as she stared at these other entrances. The area itself was something like a dimly lit cavern made from what looked like a collapsed bridge, a crashed airship, the crumbled ruins of a building and a cliff side. Even stranger, she saw absolutely no sign of such things on the outside, or at least she didn't remember such.

"Maybe there's magic hiding the outside too..." Lexi's gentle strides continued with Croce at her side, she didn't slow down until she spotted what she figured they were there for. But she still had no idea what she was looking at. It was an old oak tree beside a wide circular clearing of cobblestone arranged with an odd symmetrical design. "Is this where we are going to camp?"

She looked at Croce who shrugged, but her next step sent her sprawling with a yelp. It took her a moment to realize it but she had tripped over something living. Croce quickly drew his pistol but slowed a bit as a gray one eye'd Griffon stood up and mumbled. It leaned in at her and she nearly had to cover her nose at the extreme stench of vodka.

Looking at the drunk Griffon a little closer she could see the lines under its eyes. He was old, not ancient, but easily in his mid to late fifties. And as her eyes dropped low at the clinking of bottles she spotted at least four bottles of vodka. She was able to tell two things right away. If her memory was correct, this was Oso's companion Tyrin, and he was completely and utterly drunk off his ass.

"Um... Hello?" She nervously spoke but froze when his talons came up and seized her head with a mild grasp. He tilted her back and forth before turning her around. Her face lit up bright red as he lifted her tail, and just under a second later he shook his head and grumbled.

"Naww... pass..." Tyrin let go rolling back and went to fumbling for another bottle.

Lexi fumed blushing so bright that she almost didn't notice Croce rolling over laughing.

"It's official mud pony!... You're unfuckable!" Croce nearly choked as he rolled about. Lexicon nearly snapped at him but she was still in shock as well as all her injuries. She just wanted a place to hide until Oso came back, and it didn't help that the Lexis inside were crying or frothing at the mouth in utter livid rage.

Hope sparked to life in her as She noticed Oso striding in, he seemed like he was in a bit of a hurry. But oddly, his weapons were stuffed into his bag, even popping out of them, instead of under his wings. Though, she grimaced at the reason he was hurrying. She could plainly hear movement and shouting outside.

"Aye, everyone onto the... Tryin? The hell are you doing?" Oso paused in front of the drunk Griffon.

Tyrin stood and blinked, squinting at Oso before grumbling and clearing his throat. "Earl kicked me out of the castle, said if I wanted to get fit shaced... I had to do it somewhere else..."

Oso groaned and finally the voices outside made their way in. A small group of Pegasi fluttered down into the little cavern from the hole above, at their lead was a Pegasus dressed in a very fine slender suit of power armor. The two to her sides had something akin to half a power suit on with heavy energy weapons attached to battle saddles, and two more had mounted laser rifles mounted on battle saddles. Lexi had to guess this was the Enclave Oso had been speaking and warning about. The power armored mare at their lead looked extremely impatient and levied her gaze directly at Oso. Despite all his talk on how little a threat the Enclave was and why they shouldn't be afraid to fly everywhere, Croce seemed a touch worried, taking out his Susi rifle and popping a round in as he seemed to step back and orbit near viable cover.

Lexi took a second to wonder how they had gotten in, but it was logical to assume that if anypony saw someone go through the entrance, it would be enough mental stimulation to power through the wards. One look at the lead pony and she easily guessed the mare had more than the needed amount of mental stimulation to follow Oso, she looked very angry.

"And now I've finally caught you... To think you've been so damned illusive this whole time. This was pretty damned easy." Lexicon only vaguely could read the insignia on the mare's armor, if she was reading it correctly and if they used the same or similar ranking insignias from before the war, the Enclave mare was a lieutenant colonel. But the way she walked and the way the soldiers followed her showed a great deal of confidence but at the same time, uncertainty among her troops. Either she was known for doing unsavory things or she was somewhat new on the job and the others hadn't quite taken to trusting her yet. She had seen such things when her division got a new chief of security. The guards would follow orders to the letter, but always seemed a little unsure, as if trying to test the water to see what kind of a leader they had.

However, the mare's words grabbed everyone's attention, even the drunk Tyrin. But by the way Oso had come in and his constant fussing over the Enclave, she felt safe assuming he was at fault somehow.

"Pissing off the mentally feeble army upstairs Oso?" Tyrin chuckled before standing up straight. "You can have these two... I don't even know who the fuck they are or whatever... but I need the big guy..."

The lieutenant colonel did not look amused, but to Lexi's surprise and the lieutenant colonel's anger, it was Oso who got in the next word. "Actually Tyrin... We need them..."

"Bullshit... and I'm not in the mood for it..." He picked up a bottle and shook it before smiling at the light splashing noise.

"No... We NEED them... We have the Susi's help, but they'll only help if she's on the project, and he's her bodyguard..." He raised a set of talons as if trying to calm him down.

Tyrin seemed to think for a moment before grumbling clearly annoyed and even personally insulted that he had to deal with Lexi and Croce. "Fine! But if I get pissed off I'm killing the body guard..." He shot a glance at Croce and Croce seemed at a loss of what to do, with his bravado, Lexi swore he would have talked back, but he seemed to just sink back a little.

Tyrin squinted his one eye and stood upright. "Ayet... So we're keeping em all... you guys can go fuck off or whatever..." He stumbled about, swaying from side to side before bringing the bottle to his beak and with a complete lack of grace, he knocked it back draining what little he could down his throat. But in an act that made Lexi jump, the impatient lieutenant colonel fired a bolt of energy through the bottle shattering it. Lexi was a touch surprised at the lack of a speedy reaction from Tyrin, she would think he would at least flinch, but all he did was turn ever so slightly and glare at the fuming lieutenant colonel.

It was about this time Lexi took notice of something else, the others at her side seemed very nervous. And she got the reason why when one of the lieutenant colonel's men spoke up. "Ma'am! This Griffon matches the description and known locations of a level five threat. In fac..." He swallowed, sweat beading up upon his brow as he sputtered out more. "In fact... I happen to know for certain this is the exact Griffon. We need to just let him be."

The mare glared daggers at him and turned about, fuming as she growled out her next words. "You are mistaken, and I don't care. We are have power armor, and five soldiers, he's a drunk, his stench is likely the most dangerous thing about him. You could probably smell the vodka all the way back at thunderhead."

The soldier fumbled with his words. "He'll kill you fast... He'll kill us all..." He seemed almost delusional with fear. It made Lexi stare at the drunk Griffon with a great deal of confusion, he was still struggling to stand upright, not exactly the image of something that earned that much fear.

Tyrin grinned and dipped low as he swayed on his paws and talons. "Oh little feathered buddy... if I wanted to kill somepony..."

"You would have done it already? How cliche can you get? Screw it all, arrest them all and ready them for transport!" The unamused lieutenant colonel growled but went silent when she blinked and Tyrin was already in front of her, as if he had teleported without a flash, he was simply there, his talons gently caressing her visor, but simultaneously gouging deep gashes into the protective material.

"Oh my little pony... you need to let grownups finish when they speak. I mean, I might be a little cliche, but that doesn't mean I don't like to have my fun." He smiled pressing his forehead against her visor closing his eye as he muttered. "Now... if I wanted to hurt somepony.... There is literally nothing within your capability that could keep me from doing so..." His eye snapped open and instantly an odd glowing black tar began to drip from his socket.

The mare threw herself back and unloaded her energy weapons at him, but he vanished, trailing a darkness like smoky ink through water, he plowed through the soldiers, the two lightly armored ones simply tumbled, screaming in pain with hyper extended legs or a fractured jaw, but the two armored personal escort to the lieutenant colonel fell to the ground with gaping wounds in their necks and heads, their bodies twitching and spasming, their armor cracked like the shell of a walnut.

The lieutenant colonel spun about and unable to lock onto Tyrin levied her aim at Oso who actually looked like he was caught in a panic, but even with a slew of power armor guns aimed at him, he didn't take to the air. He just bolted for cover, but it was unneeded as Tyrin plowed into the mare and his talons, trailing sickly black ink latched onto her visor and tore away at the armor like it was cardboard. Exposing the left side of her face and neck. "Oi... if you're done being an obnoxious cunt... and you want to be a good girl... I'll let you leave with just the flesh wound."

He grinned but she squinted in confusion at his remark as she tried to struggled and squirm free of his oddly powerful grip, other than being a little battered and her armor decimated, she was relatively untouched. Until Tyrin's talons rested on her neck and began to apply pressure, digging into her flesh. The mare broke into a scream as Tyrin pulled back his grip tearing off a bloody chunk of her body. Lexi staggered back with wide eyes before she doubled over and vomited, even Croce looked put off, but the younger Griffon didn't vomit, not until Tyrin dropped the bloody chunk of meat into his open beak and swallowed with a happy sigh.

"Nice and sweet... Now... You ready to fuck off or do I have to rip off more body parts?... I bet I that eye would pop out easy, blue eyes do taste best after all..." Tyrin reached for her exposed face but stepped off of her allowing her to do a severely panicked fumbling dash to the exit desperately holding onto the hole in her neck currently gushing blood. The other Enclave soldiers followed in an equal panic flying as fast as they could as their legs had a few rather serious injuries.

Lexi simply stared, speechless, mouth agape in disbelief. The only thing that snapped her out of it was Oso slowly walking up and patting Tyrin on the back. "Their gone now..."

Tyrin all at once went limp and fell to the ground in a grumbling pile. "Aye... drag me to the nearest bottle please..."

"No!" Oso grabbed the old Griffon's tail and dragged him to the cobblestone circle before gesturing for Lexi and Croce to follow. "They will come back soon and they'll be looking for their dead comrades. They'll find you before your power returns..."

Lexi raised a hoof with a still confused look about her, Oso raised a single talon to her and grumbled. "Not right now... I'll explain it later."

Lexi slowly lowered her hoof and Oso leaned in and as if speaking to the cobblestone he spoke loud and clearly. "Yin... Six!"

Lexi waited patiently but squirmed, nearly dancing like she needed to pee. The whole scenario left her with endless questions she needed to ask. Curious Lexi was practically having an aneurysm. But all that curiosity went to dread as the ground beneath her hooves gave way. A harsh green glow exploded outward and everything on the cobblestone was sucked down. The hungry earth sucked them in and her vision filled with blinding green light, but oddly it smelled like a vast forest untouched by industry or even primitive hooves. There was an eerie primal fear, and oddly a comfort as well. Then a cold shock of an endless darkness grabbing at her.

Footnote: Level 5 Achieved.

Perk added: Character analysis: You're getting better at reading faces and sensing motives, unlocks unique dialogue options and gives you a bonus when trying to convince or bluff.

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:

Sorry it too so long, I've been sick and my head is still pounding. I'll go back through it to look for mistakes and more later.