My PipBuck vibrated me awake, the memory had long since faded. Slowly, my vision focused to the scar across Nyota's chest. All night, for once, I hadn't moved. My body felt peaceful, as if it hadn't been ravaged by the memory. I was warm, in a soft embrace, and—most of all—safe. Nyota's eyes popped open as soon as I shifted to stop the vibration. The sound of a bed spring broke the silence of the room. I winced at him, and he held up a hoof to his mouth with a shush motion.

Carefully, he helped me out of bed to make as little noise as possible. I took the que and followed his hoofsteps as closely as possible. In spite of this, I tripped over my helmet, dropped my revolver, and clattered my hooves over the grenade belt. I was like a clumsy bull in a china shop! Nyota rolled his eyes and we looked at the other two beds. Either Alguacil and Quick Stitch were heavy sleepers, or had been out so late that nothing could wake them. I am not a stealthy pony.

He locked the door behind us and we made our way to the outdoor top floor of The Roof. In the predawn hours this place seemed tranquil. Insects were quiet, the gray clouds had a silver lining to them, and occasionally a star winked through the layer of grey fluff at us. It was like having a cloudy night and waiting for the sun to rise and drive them away. Nyota made a campfire, and the scent of coffee filled the air. He handed me a cup, and as I looked at him we exchanged a smile.

The warmth of the coffee in our hooves was matched shortly by the warmth of sunlight hitting our skin. We stayed in this ruin of Las Pegasus and looked on at the dawning light. I leaned against Nyota and he leaned back; a feeling of warmth spreading through me and I could sense a reduction in the tension in both our bodies.

We didn't talk or move, we just softly let out long slow breaths and took droughts of coffee. There were butterflies floating in my stomach while goosebumps rolled down my back. The view of the rising sun was the most beautiful thing I'd seen in days. Sweet red rays mixed with beautiful orange and a hint of white crossed the horizon as our eyes stared at the very beginning of sun’s arrival.

The warmth of a new found day embraced by warmth of a friend against my body. The goosebumps were suppressed by Nyota's hoof caressing my back muscles, right where they wanted to rise up. I didn't argue; a back rub felt amazing, a new sensation I hadn't truly embraced until now. We had so little to care about in that moment, gazing at my namesake slowly rising into the cloud layer. The joy that filled me was something I had never experienced before and I simply did not wish to let go.

Hot Cross Buns was safe, at least for now. Nothing was pressing us to hurry or move quickly, and by the Goddesses I wasn't about to right now. Hmmm... back rubs, cuddles: these are things I can appreciate. So nice. My thoughts were interrupted by the EFS registering three reds dots. They were not there for long, just a few moments but it was enough to pull me from my stupor. Nyota noticed the moment I shot upright with a renewed alertness to an unseen danger.

His expression had already changed before my EFS had even registered whatever was going on. I really need to learn to look at that more often! You'd think it would show things like rad-roaches under buckets or a horde of ghouls just beyond my vision. Nyota nudged me as I took another sip of coffee, staring in the direction of those red pips but seeing nothing.

What was the range of EFS, again?

“Sunrise, I think we need to get inside.” Nyota started to move away despite my whimpers of protest. “Get some breakfast and gather our friends to get moving towards the shanty today.” I took my last sip of coffee and made after Nyota, who just kept looking at me as he walked. I swore he trotted into the doorway, but he did not, his hooves guiding him smoothly aside like he knew it was there the whole time.

Breakfast at the restaurant from the night before, started out with us walking in to find Chifundo and Picline. The scent of their previous night washed over us. Even I could tell what they had been up to, and the smell was only masked by the coffee taste on my lips. Which I eagerly sipped another cup of, it wasn’t the food or Nyota next to me, but the coffee that was keeping the scent of mating at bay. We took a seat with them and soon had ordered real food.

Pancakes that were dripping with honey and some form of butter I wasn't familiar with. Coffee; this blend not as good as the black nectar from Silver Fang Shanty. Its taste was still delicious, but something about it did not quite scratch that itch for coffee I had. I had no idea where they got their stock, but they also had Apple Juice, REAL APPLE JUICE! Somehow it had none of the wasteland-bitter radiation after taste, and was the purest, sweetest thing I'd ever tasted.

Picline and Chifundo were wonderfully happy, but as the meal was halfway through Alguacil arrived and dragged a chair over to our table. “Chifundo, dear, how many of your friends are depth-perception challenged?”

Nyota and Alguacil both glared at her. I scoffed, but Chifundo was as oblivious as ever. “What do you ever mean, you can't possibly speak of my friends to demean?”

Picline laughed and shook her head. Oh I'll give you something to laugh about! You sound just like those high society ponies that I didn't care for at the Gala! Why you—

“Sunrise, I think we should take our breakfast elsewhere,” Nyota said before I could protest anything. I looked at him and started to speak, but then I saw the look in his eye. The same look he gave when he was about to strike one of those enclave soldiers. Any pony could sense that if we didn’t leave, there might have been a physical fight on our hands.

“Nyota, are you sure we can't just explain and overlook it?” I pleaded, hoping to not start a fight.

Alguacil snorted at the suggestion. “Sunrise, if he can't take a joke, maybe he doesn't need to be here.”

Okay then! Had not expected that one!

Nyota and I left in a hurry, eating our breakfast as we gathered gear from the workshop. Still, pancakes were so delicious after days of canned foods. I felt like some part of the old world had come to life for just long enough to say 'Hello,' and then was gone again. I did try to slip 50 caps into Nyota's saddlebags. He noticed almost immediately and grabbed my hoof before I could complete repaying him.

“Don't worry, I made quite a haul making potions last night,” He reassured me with a nuzzle of my cheek, and his hoof moved the bag of caps back to my saddlebag. “It was a nice thought, though,” he added, while I just made grumbling noises about him paying for everything.

We gathered at the exit to The Roof slowly. Guards watched cautiously as the group got larger and larger. Ponies I hadn't had a chance to learn the names of, Hot Cross Buns, his teenage dragon friend called Jackal, and our group. Well, all our group except Corners.

I called the group of ponies to order by slapping a hoof on concrete a few times. The echoing noise made the guards pay even more attention to us, and two of their stallions got out weapons. They approached us as I called out, “Has any pony seen Corners?” There was a murmur of confused ponies, and my friends all looked at me. “The Box Pony.” Now they caught on to who we were talking about. After a quick check, no pony had seen Box Pone or heard from her since we arrived at The Roof.

“I'll go find her,” Nyota volunteered as Chifundo and Alguacil approached me. Quick Stitch chased after Nyota.

“I'll help you, hopefully she hasn't hurt herself,” Quick Stitch called out. They continued on out of sight, towards the inn.

Alguacil was apparently still fuming as he stepped in front of me. The tall griffin towered over me and I felt like a Twilight charging Nightmare Moon. We stared each other down for what felt like hours, then I broke the silence.

“Alguacil, something wrong?” I asked through gritted teeth as I felt the eye of regulator glare me down. Surely he's not still-

“You called us raiders! What kind of sick bucking joke do you think that is?” The griffin shouted out, loud enough that all the murmuring stopped. Everypony stared at us. Chifundo started to take a step forward, only to have Hot Cross Buns stop him. The pegasus shook his head and Chifundo backed down.

“It was the first believable thing I could think of. I just wanted the Enclave to have no reason to—” Alguacil however wasn't going to let me talk or finish that statement.

“That said, Sunrise. It took me a good bit to calm down,” he spat at my hooves and cocked his beak at me like a predator about to snatch its prey. “But I can't help but yell at you about it! Don't! EVER! SAY! WE! ARE! RAIDERS! EVER! AGAIN!” Each word was punctuated by a stomp of a talon that started to break the concrete. He stepped closer towards me with every hammering blow to the floor, and Alguacil lowered down till the two of us were muzzle-to-beak.

“Alguacil, please, I didn't know it was that sensitive for you.” I had hoped to keep speaking, but just pausing to take a breath was enough for the regulator to interject.

“Sunrise, I've killed so many pieces of raider trash, I can't even count 'em anymore!” He didn't let up and put his body weight into me, forcing me to sit on my flanks or fall over. “Th' shit I've seen that those animals pretending to be—,” He paused and grabbed my shoulder in a threatening squeeze. Even through the armor I felt him threatening to punch into my skin. “—PONIES! Or whatever they claim, it ain't right! I don't care what else you say, but I will not be called them, even as a ruse!”

I slid back away from him enough that I could stand up, my mane standing up on end and my spine feeling a chill of death down it. How do I calm him down? Just admit you were wrong and hopefully we can move on? “Look, I'm sorry. I was just trying to make sure they had no reason to come after these ponies. I won't do it again.”

“Sunrise, you don't understand!” This time the griffin flew his wings out to full length and raised up on his hind legs.

“Sunrise MOVE!” Pink screamed and I did as Nyota trained me to. I rolled backwards away from him as his talons stomped down where I had been to end up on my hind legs in the fighting stance of Fallen Caesar. It was awkward but quick enough to clear. Everypony gasped and thought a real fight was about to start. Chifundo started to rush between us and Alguacil held up a talon to stop him as he lowered his head. His words were not screams but still cut deep, “‘I'm sorry’ doesn't cut it. How do you think a police pony would take you calling them a drugged-up, murderboner rapist! How would he take it!?”

Nyota, thankfully, arrived with Quick Stitch as he shouted this. I felt like I'd hurt him in some way we never knew, like his blind quest for vengeance was burned in him deeper than any of us had ever suspected. Nyota was carrying a box in his mouth, the one Corners normally took shelter in. Nyota looked from me to Alguacil. I could see the springs of his muscles starting to coil.

“Alright, Alguacil. I'm sorry, don't break us apart over my ignorance, okay?” The griffin just squawked at me and took a few steps back. Can I keep trusting him like this?

The box in Nyota's mouth dropped to the ground. “What the hell is wrong with you Alguacil!? Did you just try and strike her?” He rushed forward and stood between us, on his hind legs and ready to deliver a strike. I put a hoof against his flank and shook my head.

“No, Nyota, it's over and it's fine. Let it go, okay?” I tried to be as reassuring as possible and looked at Chifundo, Quick Stitch, as well as everypony else present with a reassuring, nervous smile. “I'm sure we'll work it out later, when he is more calm.” I am completely not sure of that, but it's the best I can do. Please, please don't fight. Alguacil snorted and stomped off towards the exit, standing there looking through a slit at the road outside.

Chifundo, Nyota, and Quick Stitch all grouped around with the box and physically put themselves between Alguacil and me. I rubbed Nyota's neck with a hoof to keep him from jumping the gun, “Please, what's in this box exactly?”

“We haven't checked yet; it was left for us, according to the innkeeper,” Quick Stitch replied and nudged it open. Inside was a large note on top of several smaller boxes. Nyota picked up the note and read it aloud:

To my friends,

Thank you all for sticking with me. I'm sorry that I did this in the middle of the night, but the thought of saying goodbye in pony was too much to bare. I want to start a life, I wantto be happy, I want to be loved. I need to spread the good word of the box religion and of the actions of Sunrise. 'Be Better'. I have left to focus on my priestess duties. We will meet again,

Sugarcube Corners, aka The Box Pone.

There was a somber note played between us as Nyota finished reading the note. We all took a long moment of silence to draw in what felt like losing a friend. I failed. I hadn’t convinced Corners she could be saved. She left us, because I was a terrible friend. I… I can never make it right. PInk deflated in my vision, her hair seemed to pop like a balloon; sound effect included. I could feel my tail sag as I stared at the ground, fighting the urge to cry.

Maybe I can still find her! I looked at my PipBuck and its tag tracker. Corners was just inside range for only a few seconds, almost 2500 meters away. It would take us nearly ten full minutes at a gallop to catch up to her. That assumed the ruins of Las Pegasus were cooperative and we ran into no trouble. Then, the tag winked out as she went beyond range.

I have the direction, at least, and she is heading the opposite way we need to go. Towards the battlefield from yesterday. It took her hours to cover that distance, it would take all day to catch her. Is this really goodbye? I took a good look around at my friend's faces as I felt tears rolling down my cheeks. Only Alguacil had dry eyes, but no pony spoke; even the rescued ponies and dragon were silent. There was a collective sigh of resignation between the five remaining members of our group.

We had little choice but to accept this, as right now a search for her was out of the question. We had a small horde of ponies and a teenage dragon that still had to get back to Silver Fang Shanty; including Hot Cross Buns. Corners was heading in the opposite direction with a 2.5 KM head start minimum. We can look for her later, and she is strong, she’ll still be there. We have to get the rest of these ponies to safety, first. I looked at the rest of my friends, seeking the words to comfort them and hopefully give some form of strength in order to make us not dwell on our missing companion.

I stumbled over my words as I spoke, fighting tears that could be heard in my voice, “We'll see her again. If a radscorpion the size of a house can't kill her, we'll see her again.” I assured my friends and wiped the tears away that hadn’t fallen to the ground. “We'll find her, and when we do, we can hug our friend tight.” The crudely wrapped paper packages called to us; they had our names written on them in the markers that Huey, Duey, and Luey had used on the box.
Each of us took a box and opened it in turn. My note said, “Tell me how zebra dick is.” Dammit, Corners! Seriously!? We haven't—I haven't even—YOU LITTLE—! When I get my hooves on you!

“You'll what? Whisper the answer in her ear while you hug her tight?” Pink giggled and all I could do was glare at that stupid, pink pony. I realized I was turning white with a blush as everypony looked at me, expecting me to read the note out loud. Quick Stitch took a step towards me and looked at the note, then burst into laughter.

“Oh, Goddesses! That is good!” He laughed, and I kept trying to bat his nose, only to hopelessly miss because I was too embarrassed to actually hit him. “Go on, Sunrise, how is it?”

“I wouldn't know horny head!” I looked over to see Nyota shifting from his normal deep black to Chifudno’s solid pink stripes. Chifundo cracked up as he looked over his fellow zebra's shoulder to read the note in his hoof.“My question is not one I shall waste, exactly how does a Sunrise taste?”

Nyota and I could only look at each other, slowly turning more blushy by the second. Everypony around us was laughing, cheering, or jeering at us. Nyota looks away, still with a dumbfounded expression on his face. I made a decision and starting moved forward at the moment; one there was no coming back from.

I closed the distance and hopped up onto the box with my forelegs, Nyota turned to lean down into the box but only made it halfway before I stopped him; with my lips. I kissed him on the cheek, gently and softly; just enough to let him know I was there. Nyota froze in stunned stillness as he blushed even harder; almost to the point we could not tell him and Chifundo apart from colors alone.

I held the gesture only for a few moments, but that was long enough that my cheeks began to burn. I pulled away and both our eyes darted away from each other. We blushed as pink as Chinfundo's stripes all the while stealing glances at each other. I stared at him like he was going to pass judgment over my actions, which thankfully never came. His star filled eye drew my gaze before I shyly turned my head and hid my blush behind a hoof The moment passed soon enough, as reality set back in and our task at hand continued to unravel.

Beyond the notes, there was only a rubix cube inside my little box. It didn't actually work, as it wouldn't twist. Quick Stitch and Chifundo had invitations that I didn't understand, but we did get to see the Chifundo blush a lovely color of red between the pink stripes. Alguacil just growled and tossed an empty boxed away with the word “Bucks” written on the side of it. “Figures, nothing I didn’t expect.”

We all exchanged long, sorrowful looks, and then Quick stitch spoke. “Well, I guess that is goodbye,” he sniffled as he spoke, but I put a hoof up to his shoulder and Nyota placed his hoof on mine. Chifundo continued the improvised ritual chain to each of us and we all looked at Alguacil. The griffin hesitated, then huffed and placed a talon on Quick Stitch, completing our impromptu show of solidarity.

“It isn't goodbye, not this time. It's until next time, agreed?” They all looked at me, expecting something inspiring, and all I had was what the ministry mares taught us. “When you separate from your friends, so long as you draw breath, it isn't goodbye. It's just ‘until next time’.” We nodded in agreement and Nyota gave me a coy look from the corner of his eye. I smirked back at his look.

“Where did you learn that?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“A book, by Twilight Sparkle.” The smirk on my lips calmed down everyone down, and we set out from The Roof towards Silver Fang Shanty. With us was Hot Cross Buns and Jackal, the teenage dragon, both of whom were keeping to themselves. They wouldn’t really talk, and anytime I tried to talk to Hot Cross Buns, I found a dragon’s cyber claw blocking my way for a private conversation.

In addition to this, we had the pair of unicorn twins, Emerald Eye and Ruby Reader. One was colored dark gem-green with a deep red mane, while the other was the opposite. In addition to them were an earth pony named Wild Salt and his grandcolt, Rock Salt. We were quite a collection once you added my companions and myself to the mix. A very large group, that was heavily armed and armored; even Rock Salt had a pistol, a knife, and a foal-sized flak vest. I doubted anypony would want to mess with us without a whole lot of extra friends. My PipBuck marked the path we needed to take, for some reason, a feature I couldn't decide whether to find creepy or reassuring.

We were barely two hours from the roof, when those red blips returned to my EFS. Quick Stitch and Nyota got ready, but nothing happened after another hour of waiting. Pink kept trying to stomp those little blimps out of my HUD every time they popped up, and they acted like pogo springs. We staggered ourselves apart based upon what I had read in the officers tactics manual. Our group of five was separated out in the lead of the other survivors and Hot Cross Buns. Nyota was somewhere ahead, but none of us could really see him. Only when he popped out a hoof from behind a rock or a bit of brush to assure us to continue forward did we notice him.

Chifundo and Quick Stitch were at the rear of the pack ,while Alguacil and I were at the front. The discussion we had earlier hadn't solved the tensions between us. Any chance I had to talk to the ponies behind us was silenced by EFS red blips popping up. The same two who moved strangely behind us and then either side before vanishing again.

Everypony with us was armed to the teeth, and now that I had a good look, I could see just how crude the attached metal wing was for Hot Cross Buns. It wasn't pretty at all. His muscles clearly strained to keep the weight up against his side.

“We should make camp soon, off the road,” Nyota spoke to our group loud enough for us to hear, but everypony looked to me for a decision. Why am I the one who has to make this decision? I’m the smallest, not the most experienced? What did I do? I nodded to him in agreement. Within ten minutes we were just beyond the sight of the road, covered by a set of brush that grew in spite of radiation poisoning.

Our silent trip had been full of paranoid eyes and constant looking over our shoulders. Ponies gathered around the camp tightly, and I found myself sitting between Quick Stitch and Hot Cross Buns. Nyota was cooking dinner for all of our ragtag group while Alguacil walked a long patrol. The veggie soup was as nice as ever; bland, mostly tasteless from years of being canned, but it at least filled our stomachs and lacked radiation.

I nudged Hot Cross Buns, “Alright, the question that has been killing us all. Why did the Enclave abduct and torture you?”

The camp around us got quiet and we all looked at him, staring for a while. “It's a weapon, something the zebra technicians put together mixed with unicorn and pegasus magic. It’s really quite a marvel and very advanced,” He hesitated and gave a half-hearted smile. “But you shouldn’t worry about all those details.” I pressed him for more, but the pegasus clammed up like I was some sort of interrogator. He wouldn't even answer questions about Sparrow. He got teary eyed and withdrawn.

“Hot Cross, why don't you go ahead and turn in. You've been through a lot and need to make sure you are well rested before we get back to Silver Fang Shanty,” Jackal suggested and put his large scaley weight between myself and Hot Cross Buns. The amount of relief on the pegasus's face was only exceeded by him hearing that Sparrow had sent us to find him. He trotted off. I really wanted to know more about this weapon and why ponies would kill for it. Furthermore, I felt like we had a right to know why we had risked our lives to save him. That, however, was interrupted by a flash of white in the corner of my vision. Quick Stitch had pulled out something bloody and wrapped in a cloth.

His horn levitated out a white ear from the cloth. It had been cut for the left side of his head to match where he had lost his own ear. A quick scan around the camp revealed no ponies were missing an ear, so I got up and pressed a hoof against his flank to get his attention. “Where did you get that?”

“Corners' present had it inside. It's incredibly well preserved, and as far as I can tell, it will fit with some minor adjustments.” He explained, and a horrifying thought hit me like a ton of bricks.

“You don't think Corners—”

Quick Stitch snickered at me and shook his head. “No, it's too large for her and my magical examination says it likely came from a donor with my blood type. Corners when I healed her didn’t have my blood type” He explained as he levitated the ear and held it up, slowly rotating it while his magic started to get out medical supplies.

“Do you have a doctor's kit?” He asked. I checked my PipBuck and shook my head. “Pity, I used our last one on your leg and couldn't get the supplies to replace it in The Roof. What about a sewing kit?”

I reached into my saddlebag and got my mouth wrapped around the cloth that contained my thread and needle. Quick Stitch took it from me and levitated it up and he cast some sort of spell on it that made it significantly cleaner in the blink of an eye. “There we go, now I need a way to use this before it goes bad. I'm not sure how long the preservation spell will last.” I pulled out a syringe of med-x along with a healing potion.

“You wish to assist me?” he asked and I nodded.

“If it helps restore part of you, then yes. I'll help, just tell me what you need done.” We didn't banter any further, he injected the Med-X against the base of his ear. Then the stallion started working to cut the remains of his own ear away. Blood poured from it while I held up the sewing kit's mirror. I had to use my tail to soak some of the blood, getting it matted through the appendage. Thankfully, my tail was cooperative, or at least Pink was being that way. I watched in morbid fascination, for once not grossed out by the blood pouring from my companion's head.

It felt like, somehow, this was restoring a piece of him; a piece of his very soul needing mending. It wasn't perfect, it would scar and the ear color would be different, but a sense of wonder filled me up as I witnessed the spectacle. A few other ponies watched, but I was biting my lip and staring at him for every second that passed while holding the PipPuck close and keeping the mirror steady. His facial expression turned to pure determination, and he didn't stop simply because it hurt.

Quick Stitch kept working his knife till his ear was cut precisely in the shape required to receive the transplant white one. Nerve endings stuck out with blood vessels, as the scar tissue had been cut away. He worked every one of them, my eyes drawn to watching the precise movements that happened on a scale that I could barely perceive.

I wasn't sure how long the surgery was going on, but the fire started to die down. I turned on the PipBuck light and contorted myself to an awkward angle. Between holding up a mirror, dabbing away blood, and now being the source of light, I'd say I looked like a flesh and blood autonurse. Quick Stitch kept working, his horn’s aura getting brighter. The strain on his face began getting heavier.

I grabbed a cloth and kept the sweat from his eyes. The sewing kit was difficult to work with, especially since the smallest needle I had was far larger than this work needed. He made do, though, and eventually he tied off the needle and thread. Quick Stitch packed the sewing kit away while I cleaned the last of the blood with the healing potion soaked bandages.

“Sunrise, it doesn't fix what my mom did to me, but...” he flicked his ears a few times, even pressed it against his head. A smile slowly spread across his face as his horn glow faded. “But it does feel much nicer to be more physically whole. I will have to thank Corners deeply for this.” He started to tear up and I smirked at him as Nyota approached us.
“It's been almost six hours since ponies started to turn in, Quick Stitch, can you take watch now?” He asked. Nyota! RUDE!

“I suppose I—” He began, but I wasn't about to have that.

“Nyota, I'll take watch. We won't get to cuddle as much, but Quick Stitch is probably close to burn out. He needs rest after a surgery like that,” I replied to him and stood up. Nyota looked wounded but nodded to me. We stared each other down for a bit, and despite the eye patch I could see his star eye under there looking into my soul. My heart fluttered and I blushed, as there was some longing between us that had started to build. Now, this was the stare of disappointment, and it filled me full of guilt. I'm gonna have to make this up to him, somehow.

Quick Stitch rose to his hooves and got his own bedroll out. Within a few minutes he was out like a light. Chifundo and
Alguacil had already gone to bed; they had been asleep for a while. I clicked off the PipBuck light and found myself trying to occupy my time while Nyota zipped our sleeping bags together. He stood up and looked at me expectantly.

“Nyota, it's my shift. You need sleep just like the rest of us. I'll wake up Alguacil in four hours.” I said over my shoulder.

Look at me. Commanding some pony to sleep, staying up on watch with a shotgun at my hooves. Every pony counting me on to... Dammit! That zebra is right. I'm growing up and having to make decisions that I would have no business making before Megaspell day.

“HA! You finally got it, didn't you? You aren't fourteen anymore, you're...” Pink trailed off quite a long time not finishing her statement. I waited with anticipation and then she let out a squeal which caused me to jump and looked at EFS in every direction. I panicked for a bit but when nothing revealed itself, I growled at her. “Sorry Sunrise, I almost gave it all away but you aren't a little filly anymore. Haven't been for a while, let's just say you'll find out later.”

The argument between myself and Pink persisted for well over an hour, with neither of us making any headway. I even talked out loud through pieces of it, but I got no closer to knowing the truth. I only found out I had been out of Stable 43

“Several Times”, and each time was different. Pink finally stopped talking and trotted off out of my vision. I checked the EFS, and saw nothing. The night went by uneventfully. Alguacil protested when I woke him up as well.

“Why don't ya get your new boyfriend to take watch,” he declared indignantly, rolling over to go back to sleep.

“Because he already took it while Quick Stitch worked on his ear. Come on, Alguacil, I'm tired. I've been arguing with Pink for nearly three hours. I wanna go to bed,” I whined, and even tried the pathetic upset filly face on him. But this was Alguacil, it worked about as well as flirting with him would; that is to say like trying to make a balloon full of lead fly with concrete as filler.

“Fine! But, tomorrow night, we'll decide watches before we go to bed.” Alguacil snorted with a huff as he stomped off to do his patrol. I let out a sigh of frustration and nodded. Slowly I got out of my armor while the griffin got up and put his on. It felt so strange, now, getting out of armor to sleep. My helmet off and duster taken away, next the armored leather socks were taken off my rear hooves. I got all of the armor stuffed against my saddlebags before climbing in. I tried very hard not to disturb Nyota. That failed horrifically: as soon as my hoof lifted the noisy, winterized fabric his eye was open.

I took a look around with my EFS, nothing but green pips. Not even gray ones anymore, all green. “Anything happen?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Just red pips occasionally, but nothing approaching us,” I explained as the zebra shifted to give me more room.

“Like when we've been walking around?” Nyota leaned in curiously as he spoke. I nodded, then crawled closer to him. The ground was rough but his warmth was welcoming. It made me feel like some semblance of safety was achieved; despite no longer wearing all my armor plating. Nyota grumbled as I felt his hooves against my head.

“You aren't taking off your barding?” He shifted against the stubbornite plating of my armored jumpsuit.

“No, not while we aren't somewhere completely safe.” My tail adjusted my weapons to be within its reach and I shifted in closer, once again fading to sleep in the zebra's embrace.

Day two also passed with nothing except the flickers on my PipBuck. Every single time I saw those red pips, every pony around us tensed up. The one thing I can say? It wasn't the same as camping. Chifundo and Quick Stitch spent their time trying to figure out where the ear came from. Alguacil took first watch this night while Nyota and I spent time together. Hot Cross Buns and his other freed prisoners kept to themselves.

They were not overjoyed or overly happy; they were paranoid, not only of any potential noise around us but of us five. It was disturbing that every time I tried to talk to them, I got rebuffed by Jackal or Hot Cross. They didn't like me or take any special time to get to know me. It was like I creeped them out, or some pony had told them I was horrid. It reminded me of lunch at school, where many other ponies refused to associate with me, all because I was nearly old enough to be a mare and yet still had no cutie mark. Maybe they really didn't like zebras or ponies they perceived as zebra lovers.

Nyota lifted my chin and broke my thoughts as he turned me to face him. “Sunrise, pay them no mind. They have only known us for a few days and only in circumstances that are life threatening.” Nyota softly rubbed my mane, as he had done for the past few nights, but it didn't relax me tonight.

“Yeah, but it's like the other foals at school or like other ponies treated zebras.” I said. Nyota placed his head on top of mine and pulled me close while we sat by the fire.

“Sunrise, two days ago, they were being told they were going to be executed. Now, they are traveling with improvised arms and armor, along with a bunch of ponies who stormed in throwing bombs everywhere.” He held me close and whispered,

“Would you trust any pony so easily after all that?”

I looked up at him, “I trusted all of you, didn't I?”

Nyota's face scowled and he flustered, “I—umm...”

I looked at him and shook my head. “No, Nyota, something else is going on here and we'll find out when they are ready to tell us.”

“Why so suspicious, Sunrise?” he asked but I shrugged and curled into him tighter as every other pony started to lay down to sleep. We had covered a lot more ground today and my body was screaming for a break from the walking. The PipBuck EFS beeped and I saw two more red pips moving around.

Damn EFS shadows! I swear this spell is defective! I've reset the matrix twice today, and yet two....THREE! There are three now. Nyota's head was already on a swivel while my own looked in the direction of the three dots which winked out one by one till they were gone. Nyota let me go and stood up on all fours stretching our and arching his back. “Shall we get to practicing while we take our watch?”

The campfire gave us something of a dancing rhythm, crackling flames turning materials we gathered to ash. We moved with the sounds of the fire, and our dance of practicing death kept hammering. We made almost no noise except huffing out air and starting to draw ragged breaths. The red pips occasionally popped up and our practice of the brutal arithmetic of combat stopped. Nyota could sense something and so could I. Some pony was out there, certainly, as the pips retreated beyond my Eyes Forward Sparkle range.

I started to resume and Nyota held up a hoof to stop me from attempting to strike him. “That's enough tonight. I'm no master and you're learning rather quickly.” I smiled and swayed on my flanks. I'd gotten used to getting up on my rear hooves, as well as the movements Nyota had shown me with how to buck and twist. It all still felt awkward, but wasn't as hard has it had been the first night. “You must have some pegasus blood in you, or at least some very agile earth ponies for parentage.” He paused and mused a bit with a grin. “Maybe even a zebra in your ancestry.”

I giggled at him and walked up to him, giving a soft hug. “Perhaps, instead of more training, since those red pips keep popping up, I should tell you about my parents?”

Nyota gave a queer look at the term red pips. Soon enough, he understood what I meant and smiled at me; leading towards the campfire where we took a seat. We had agreed to stay up and take the first two shifts, meaning we'd get to sleep in when it was time to move tomorrow. “So, both my grandmothers were earth ponies,” I turned my head to him.

“My parents as you might have guessed, are a pegasus and a unicorn.” My voice hesitated at the end. It was always strange to explain to others why I lacked wings or a horn. I never truly wanted either of them; but it was still difficult and surreal to let those words roll off my tongue. Seeing mom or dad, I never noticed his wings or her horn till they did something to make themselves known. I always just saw; mom or dad or the parents they tried to be.

Nyota stared at me like I was about to explode into candy corn, or burst forth with rainbow sparkles that healed the entire wasteland. “Your parents are a pegasus and a unicorn!? How are you somehow not a pegasus or a unicorn?”

I shrugged, “Since my grandmothers were both earth ponies, my parents both had the earth pony genes in them. So I ended up, well, like this.” I said and he took a measure of me. “If I’d had a brother or a sister, they likely would have been more like mom or dad, but I got cut right down the middle.”

“So you ended up being the most agile, smartest earth pony I'd ever met, and we should probably work on some strength training?” He added the last part like it was some sort of surprising fact. I growled at him, but Nyota nudged my neck in response, my defensiveness melted instantly. You're already learning to press buttons I didn't know I had! Not fair!

“Sunrise, you can barely hurl a grenade more than fifty feet, and that shotgun of yours almost takes you off your hooves every time you fire it. You can't tell me you aren't missing some of that legendary earth pony strength.”

I let out a sigh and hung my head. He's right, I have dad's flexibility and knack for fixing things, and I got mom's brains and none of my grandmothers' strength; just their looks. “I...yeah. I don't have the strength that is suppose to go with being an earth pony.”

Nyota smiled and nudged my cheek, “We can put some extra weight on your saddlebags as a start, maybe train with you wearing weights or heavy saddlebags on your legs, too.”

I looked at him and gave a half-frown half-smile. Then I gave in. “Ya know, I've seen your parents in that picture you carry. I can say they would be very proud of you now, because I feel like my parents would be proud that I chose you.”
“Sunrise, what do you mean, you chose me?” He blushed and hid his face against my mane while continuing to speak. “Last I checked, I called you cute and asked you about being more than friends,” he replied, and I nodded.

“While true, I could have said no.” I teased him and ruffled his mohawk with a hoof. My tail even joined in teasing the eye-patch on the other side of his face. “Not like I haven't taken time to think about the flirty eyes I get from others. Or how one mare treats me like a foal and another mare checks out my flanks while I'm covered in explosive residue.”

We went on for a while, and he asked what Rainbowrise's shop had been like. What legal cases and law research Shadow
Window worked on. How our lives had been before Stable 43. I even went over the memory dream from going into the stable I had while we had been under The Roof. Nyota listened intently through the entire memory and was thoughtfully tapping his chin when I finished.

“Sunrise, you've been through more than I thought.” He moved his hoof up to me and pulled my chin to look at him. “They tortured you? You certainly don’t show any of the physical scars.” Then he pulled me in for a gentle hug, “But, that more than explains why you don't like beds. It isn't the feeling of them; it's the sound, isn't it?”

I nodded back to him and my PipBuck started to vibrating. I looked at the time on it: 01:01 am. “Nyota, yes, and perhaps this discussion can wait. If we are going to travel tomorrow, we need to sleep.” Both of us walked to the griffin that was sleeping, and woke him as gently as possible. We had the same argument we had the night before until Alguacil realized we had let him sleep since just after sundown till now.

We started to curl up and Nyota nudged my stubbornite breastplate with a smirk. "I thought it was a bit silly when I first met you, but it has grown on me." I blinked at him, confused, while he nuzzled my chin and neck as we curled up under the cloudy sky.

"What was a bit silly? My stable-suit?" I asked. Nyota nudged the plates again and kissed my cheek before responding.

"The suit. It's just cloth, there was nothing to protect you. Now, though?” His hoof smacked the stubbornite plate and then the reinforced shoulder pads. “Now it's proper armor, and you even made sure that I was effectively protected."

I looked down at my plating and then took a look at his own. I blushed, rather ashamed of a secret I'd kept from everypony else. "I've kept it because it still smells like dad. Only slightly, but I miss his tacky grease and cologne smell.” I winced, expecting Nyota to laugh at me like I was childish. Then, when he just stared at me, expecting me to say something else, I continued. “The obnoxiously blue stable-tec sleeping bag has a faint smell of jasmine, like mom. So, yeah, I had to keep them, armor them up somehow. Make them something to last."

I measured his expression as he kept examining my plating and the Stable-Tec jumpsuit. Then it hit me like a sack of bricks, "Wait a minute! You are actually concerned I'll get hurt? This is how you're... you're... showing it.” The loud voice made several ponies shift in their sleep and Alguacil shot us a look. After everything quieted down, the griffin resumed his patrol.

"I may be blunt, but I don't enjoy hurting ponies or seeing ponies get hurt. I really just want ponies to get along." He took a breath and nuzzled into me to hide his blush. I wasn't going to have any of it, though, and pulled him back so we could look into each others eyes again. "So of course I am... even more so,” He rubbed the back of his head, trying to speak and licked his lips like they had dried out. “Now, you mean a,” Nyota stopped and gulped hard. “A whole lot to me.”

I mumbled at him incoherently under my breath, but couldn't help but keep my eyes on his. I stared into the eye patch, knowing it could somehow look through that leather back at me, as well as his sweet emerald eye. His words brought warmth to my cheeks and goosebumps down my spine. "Are you really that worried I'll blow myself to kingdom come, or some pony will shoot me and leave me crippled for life?" I spoke and puffed my chest out a bit. I felt nearly invulnerable in my armor, and no pony could really hurt me through it, right?

He nodded and he lifted the chest piece of his own armor with one hoof. Then with the other shifted some of the coat of his chest to the side. There was the puckered scar there, the one I'd rested my head on just a few nights ago. "Even the best armor gives against a powerful weapon."

I didn't speak at first, just leaned in and nuzzled the scar. I felt so very special that he shared his hurt with me, and he shared his worries like they were something that needed to be liberated. "Maybe, one day, you'll tell me where you got this. But, for right now, I guess I have reasons for going out of my way to protect you." I pressed my hoof against his armored plating and grinned at the craftsponyship Corners had done.

He leaned in and kissed my cheek right on the jawline. "Mhmm... I think we both do." He let out a happy whine as softly as he could and then kissed my forehead. Then, his mouth got up against my ear to whisper, "And, not to lie? I'm actually kinda curious about the answer to Corner's question."

Butterflies pulsed in my stomach, my heart fluttered, and I felt tingling between my hind legs. It took a while to collect myself enough to speak and resist the urges that I wanted to act on, right then and there. The whole time I turned white with a blush that I swore went down to my hooves. "You may only be slightly older, but when the whole estrus thing hits I suppose we'll know, right?" I couldn't get more out, just grumbles, mumbles, and stifled protests that no pony could understand. I felt so meek and yet so safe right now, despite being out at night, in a sleeping bag, potentially surrounded by all sorts of lethal creatures.

He kept up his bombardment of nuzzles, even as he whispered into my ears. "It is rather curious that you haven't had your first yet, given you're more than old enough." He pulled the sleeping bag up all the way to my chin and over his shoulder. I looked around, not wanting it that high but he held the covers there. My face looked quite a bit worried. I shot a pleading expression to him and even let out a soft meep. Nyota raised a hoof to my lips, gently this time to keep me quiet. "Don't worry, the angry chicken of justice has the watch now."

I couldn’t help but giggle as the tension left me, and it was enough to break my blush. I looked at him and pulled back enough we could see each other again. "Corners was a bit more blunt than I had ever thought..." I trailed off again, trying to put thoughts into words. So many conflicting physical feelings and emotions.None of them bad, but all of them making me question every word I wanted to say. Finally, I curled into the bedroll tightly and my free hoof gripped onto his mohawk striped mane. "Nyota, how long would you be willing to, umm... wait on finding out the answers for Corners?"

Wow, Sunrise! What a way to phrase that!

"I must admit, I'm curious, but it wouldn't be to find out for Corners," he looked at me warmly, with something in his eyes I could not identify. "I would be finding out as a tangent to making you feel good. So, I'm happy to wait until you're ready." His words were the happiest I'd ever heard him. What he didn’t know was how high my heart was soaring to hear them. I had never expected to feel so loved and respected all at once.

"I, umm, haven't really explored a whole lot other than the occasional fantasy," I managed to say through stammering lips and trying to suppress the need to embrace him then and there. I looked around quickly for anything to save me and nothing came. Something about the difference in how ponies treated me now and before Stable 43 just felt completely off.

"I hadn't even been asked out on a proper date, since I hadn’t had a cutie mark, well, every pony thought I was off limits."

"Oh, well, we've both had our first date just two days ago," he replied with a smile, "And I've had more than a few fantasies myself.” He stopped talking for a moment and lowered his chin to stare at me. “So, any fantasizing about me?" he asked with a sly grin. He still had a warm glow to his cheeks and stripes but also decided it was time to tease him a bit.

I got really flustered now, and felt my coat turning a bright layer of white. The rush of thoughts I'd had about Nyota that I'd kept to myself flooded my mind. I pulled my head against his chest and clung there. He just stroked my mane softly and waiting for a reply. "That note may have suggested one or two. But, I, umm... what about you?" I asked with a teasing smirk.

"Well, I am a stallion, so as awkward as this is to admit..." he reached up and scratched the back of his head, then tried to hide his own blush in my mane. "Yes," he finally confessed and then brushed up to whisper in my ear, "Though I'm sure my imagination pales in comparison to reality."

"Just because you're a stallion doesn't mean I assumed you had fantasized. You do an awful lot of meditation while I lay here with butterflies in my stomach and..." I trailed off again, and my blush hadn't gone away, "... and other feelings I've had to fight when we were kissing."

"Meditation is to try and focus my mind, but it doesn't keep me from having urges or lewd thoughts..." he paused and his face seem to be putting thoughts together, fully registering everything I said. "I... I uhm..." he stammers softly, "You feel funny when we kiss? I either feel really happy—”

"Happy, yes. That is a good word, but also like, ‘urges’ I guess, is another good way to describe it." I blushed so much it hurt. Finally, I had to break this and act, it was like an instinct as our lips met for just a moment. Nyota murred into the kiss in return, and gently pulled me closer by my mane. We held it just long enough to get my urges satisfied, and I pulled away as quickly as it had started. Now I could talk and communicate with just a taste of Nyota on my lips. The taste of well seasoned sandalwood mixed with a hint of sweat. I liked it, I wanted another kiss but held myself back. "And immediately afterward, I guess you would call them lewd thoughts. I wish some pony had talked to me about this stuff."

"I learned a bit from my parents,” The zebra replied as he blushed and squirmed against me to shift for a comfortable position on the ground. I could clearly feel why, and it made my cheeks warm with a blush. “But it was mostly stuff like 'you'll understand when you're older.' or 'don't be in such a rush to grow up.'” He rolled his eyes and spoke in a mocking tone when he quoted what he had been told.

“Well... I'm in kind of the same boat as you... I know about sex from what I managed to find in magazines...” We both blushed, as I knew the magazines he was talking about, and he was embarrassed to admit it. “It's fun... but other than that? I'm just sure that I don't want to jump in to learn something new, especially if it's going to hurt someone I care about because it was rushed." I looked at the scar on his chest and realized now that there was more to that story that he wanted to tell yet.

"Nyota, don’t take this the wrong way because I really REALLY like you, but," I bit my lip to try to process the words. "As much as my heart screams at me, I assume the effects you have on my body are hormones. I'd like to at least wait till we are in a safe, private place.” I snuggled up against him and laid my head over his neck. “And I'd like to get used to the idea that some stallion finds me cute."

"Agreed, out here it's not safe, nor private," Nyota wasn't going to just let me lay on him through. He moved so I was now against the sleeping bag pillow and he was on top, not smothering, but protectively. "I still want to hold you, though. It seems to help you a little when you wake from the... dreams." nodding slightly he looks around for a moment, "Also, it would be pretty rude to wake the others with the sounds that we might make," he shuddered from head to toe. I held him close and smiled as he managed to get more words through dry lips. "I'd rather be somewhere we can indulge without interruptions."

I felt the blush building but ignored it. I simply clung to his chest and waited for the rush of hormones and butterflies to pass. "Goodnight, Nyota. I think...I think this is what they call love, isn't it? If so, I like it." I couldn't wait for him to reply, and finally I embraced the sweet darkness of sleep. My memories rose up and it was time to sleep; while they played havoc on me.

“So Stalliongrad didn't realize ponies could get in and out of there so freely,” Silver Zoom broke the silence as we flew in the Sky Carousel Mini Mark I. She was over a decade old, but my dad had gotten it for free and fixed her up. This bucket of bolts was probably older than me, come to think of it. Anytime I'd gone anywhere that required flight, it had been in this old iron passenger car. Mom normally sat where Silver Zoom was, he looked at me like there were questions on his lips. I ignored him and stared out at the clouds of early winter below us. We were wrapped in jackets with a heating blanket draped over us, as the Mark I lacked atmospheric controls. It was still sealed by metal and windows, but it lacked any amenities from later models; ya know, radio, heating and air, windows that could roll down, hydraulic assisted turning or electric locks.

“I've seen the siege for almost a year now. School was cancelled two months ago. We've got ways in and out of the city that the zebras can't stop, but they haven't let up.” I looked out the window in the distance, the bright sun creating wonderful silver linings across the white clouds around us.

“Sunrise, you're what, fourteen?” Silver Zoom asked and pulled me back away from the window.

I shook my head at him, “Thirteen actually. I'll be fourteen at the end of summer.”
“Wandering Sunrise, let me ask something,” I hate it when ponies use my full name, it always means something bad. “Is there a time you remember when there wasn't a war?” All I could do was shake my head at him. Everyday, from the earliest I could remember, there was news from the front. New weapons being used, zebras pushing in and then being pushed back. News that the war was almost won, with the Equestrian army getting closer to breaking the Zebracian backs, and Caesar would be forced to negotiate.

I'd heard that almost a year ago now, yet Stalliongrad was still under siege. Boats came up the Stalga, and tunnels we had dug for trains allowed traffic in and out of the city. It was like the siege was some distant news story associated with the war. Even mom had stopped practicing law and doing legal research work for drafting up new bills. No, her days were now almost exclusively devoted to the emergency medical brigade. She always came home washing blood off her hooves and clothes. Her horn always sparked like it was on the verge of burnout.

Life finds a way to continue, somehow. I was lost in thought when Silver Zoom nudged me. “Sunrise, hey. The war really is close to an end. We've been using Stalliongrad as a linchpin for the zebra army for nearly a year,” He explained while we broke through the clouds. “They keep up the siege. They keep trying to find the relocating tunnel network and failing. They know the entrances are all the way back in Manehattan. They just don't know how to target a tunnel that moves itself,” Silver Zoom explained, and I looked at him.

“Yeah, pretty crafty, but I wonder what will happen if they ever do,” I mused while looking down, away from him.

“A tunnel that magically teleports itself and everything in it, every hour. That repairs itself from any damage and shields occupants.” Silver Zoom laughed and shook his head. “Your generation will never know what it was like for sieges before. Starvation and lack of supplies are a thing of the past. There we have a city that can shield itself in a moment's notice from harm. Megaspells are amazing.” He made a broad gesture outward as we dove down and arrived in the inspection line to enter the tunnel to Stalliongrad. This was the first of six lines we'd have to pass through before entering the tunnel itself.

The layers of security meant that if one inspection line was damaged you could be moved ahead to the next one and still get through it on your way along the undercity. Soon we would be enclosed in layers of earth and reinforced concrete for several hours.

“Yeah, you're right. I wouldn’t know what it's like without these wonders. I also don't know what it's like to not be at war. Peace is the word, isn't it?” Silver Zoom looked taken aback and hung his head. He shuffled underneath the blanket and then looked out at my dad as the inspection occurred. Dad flashed his travel pass and they opened the mini to check us.

A standard anti-zebra inspection was to have a unicorn check everything with their magical auras. Water splashed upon our faces to ensure that everyone was not dying fur coats to hide stripes. Unpacking all our luggage, and that inspected as well. Then, finally, our entire carousel along with driver were soaked in a spray of water to see if any invisible figures appeared in the downpour. We had to go through this another five times to reach the tunnel that would take us under the Celestia Sea, across to what used to be Griffonstone station; now it was Stalliongrad, on the renamed Stalga river.

For some reason, back when the war started, an unknown stallion held Griffonstone Station for six days against two entire companies of zebras. He fell as the Equestrian army finally sent reinforcements. Three days later, the zebras were pushed back across the river, and slowly the city of Stalliongrad formed to support the frontline. I was born there when both mom and dad were in military service.

Now, we were in a line of various vehicles from individuals to families, walking or flying down a tunnel to get back to the city born and forged in war. As we finally got to the tunnel and dad took flight again, we watched bright lights pass by while covering another two hours of flight to get to the city.

As we got close, Silver Zoom changed our conversation, from history I'd learned of Stalliongrad and the life I'd had, to how things were to change with the Ministry of Morale mission. “Sunrise, I know Pinkie Pie asked a lot of you. But, you have to understand, if it goes public that one of the top ten in the M.O.M. have gone power hungry...” Silver Zoom trailed off, and I nodded at him.

“Yeah, and my family's choices were cooperate and help, or get my brain zapped of half of the memories of the last two months. So, what did you think I was going to—” I drifted back to Silver Zoom but what I looked at sitting beside me wasn't the silver-coated pegasus. Instead, he was bright yellow now, with a solid red mane. His cutie mark had changed to a raincloud, and he was taking off his Wonderbolt clothing. “How did you...?”

“Something we picked up from the zebras. Invisibility is a bit hard, but a magically infused disguise pill,” he chewed a few more times and swallowed. His eyes changed last, to a violet color that matched my own. “And suddenly, I'm Rain Bolt.”
His words were not comforting, and I just glared at him in distaste. He let out a gulp and couldn't meet my gaze as his brain put two and two together.

The expression on his face was simple: How Much Damage can an Earth Pony do in a confined space? “Look, I know Pinkie Pie didn't offer you a lot of options but, could you at least not want to kill me over it? Not like I get much choice in assignments at my new job, either.”

“Just go over what I need to do again, for clarity's sake?” I asked, looking at the pegasus with my hoof testing his coat to make sure it was real.

“You just need to be you. Do what comes natural and everything your parents say. 9 has to believe that no pony is investigating her. We need more evidence than just the memory orbs I got from you,” He explained, for the fourth time since we'd been in Pinkie Pie's office. “Just know that—”

I put a hoof into his mouth. “I know already! I'm saving ponies doing this. I have to play my part, just like Rainbowrise and Shadow Window have to play theirs! I get it.” I looked at him and wanted to smack him. “I'm not as young as you or every other pony keeps thinking I am. I just don't have a cutie mark.” I looked away from his stewing with my forelegs crossed.
Silver Zoom stroked my red mane with a sigh, trying to get me to turn back to him. “Yeah, I noticed that. Listen, when this is over, I'll make sure you get all the counseling you need. And if you want the memories removed, we'll have the best doctors in all of Equestria to take care of that.”

“Silver Zoom, just make sure she gets a chance to be better.” I looked back out the window; the tunnel was coming to an end, according to the signs. We'd have inspection checkpoints to go through again shortly.
The former wonderbolt turned spy shook his head and groaned, “I swear, Sunrise, you're full of surprises. Just hopefully not explosive ones.”

Damn, if only Silver Zoom could see me now... is that noise my PipBuck? Time to get up? One thing about these dreams, I gotta say, I miss not having a HUD across everything in the world. If I could safely take my PipBuck off from time to time, it would be nice.

Another overcast day, like it had been every single day in this accursed wasteland. Nyota and I slept, holding each other again. It was by far the nicest feeling I'd ever had. Except, when I woke up and he had already gotten up to cook breakfast. We ate the canned food in silence and I finished off the last of the coffee we had prepared before we left The Roof. Yay! Fresh Coffee Tomorrow! This was the last leg of our trek back to the shanty. We had circumvented the minefield, and now that we knew where we were going, it was faster as well.

It was just after noon when my EFS lit up with signals all in front of us as well as behind. Nyota and Quick Stitch stood at attention and were both looking, tracking towards those red dots on my navigation bar. Alguacil jumped onto a nearby rock with a flap of his wings, while Nyota gave a signal to Chifundo. The pink-striped zebra took out his rifles. But, for all of this, we saw nothing, even when the road in front of us lit up with red pips. I looked at them, confused, and the ponies with us gathered around Jackal and Hot Cross Buns as we tensed up.

“Quick Stitch, stay with Hot Cross, make sure they are alright. Alguacil cover us. Nyota,” I turned and he had disappeared.

“Yeah, that.” I motioned Chifundo with my hoof to follow me forward. Slowly, we crept up until I thought I was right on top of those red dots. There wasn't anything there, though. I looked at Chifundo and leaned forward just slightly.

“Umm.... Hello?” I called out, looking at Alguacil, then Quick Stitch to make sure they were in position. The group of rescued ponies were huddled around, like circling the wagons, and then I heard a wire snap and my attention was brought back to the front of us. Then, my chest exploded in pain.

I was frozen in place, and I felt light headed. Slowly I looked down at my chest and saw metal shards sticking out of my chest plate. I staggered back and groaned. Nyota appeared from seemingly out of nowhere and started pulling the sharp shards—which were shaped like little stars—out, while pushing a healing potion into my mouth. He and Chifundo exchanged looks, both of them discussing something in that hidden zebra tongue. I felt the wounds heal, but my chest still hurt; the bones behind my chest plate had probably been damaged from whatever those metal stars were.

A gunshot caught all of our ears, we all looked up to see white smoke billowing out around Hot Cross and his group. Quick Stitch disappeared from view inside it. Alguacil fired off another shot and Chifundo did the same. We couldn't see what they were firing at. Nyota disappeared again. I watched the red blips in front of us disappearing off my E.F.S. There were still two red blips in front of us, as Quick Stitch emerged from the smoke along with all of Hot Cross Bun's group at a full gallop. Jackal was bringing up the rear, as a bipedal dragon couldn't outrun ponies.

Nyota just appeared beside me again and nodded to me. “I've disarmed the traps ahead, motion them to go on.” In the chaos I heard Alguacil squawk out in pain as Quick Stitch dashed that direction. Chifundo fired another shot, but we still couldn't see our assailants. “Sunrise! S.A.T.S.! Use it!” The world slowed down as my tail activated S.A.T.S. I scrolled through the targets, all green except for one. That one S.A.T.S. registered as some question marks, but it was a red pip at the same time, with the faint outline of a pony.

“That's it, Sunrise! That is the pony who threw the smoke bomb! Get her!” I looked at Pink and raised an eyebrow. I checked my inventory and selected a molotrot cocktail. Pink rolled her eyes. “Use some real explosives, silly!”

No! I have to give them a chance to give up. I felt the world speed back up as S.A.T.S. ran out, and the molotrot flew through the air. It impacted and dispersed the smoke in every direction, pushing it aside with the force of the blast. A pony figure emerged after shimmering against the flames that tore at their body. There were zebra stripes on their nose under the cloak they wore. I felt my tail pulling out something from my saddlebags.

“Sunrise! These are bad ponies! They want to kill you all! I'm taking over!” Pink shouted at the top of her lungs.

You're what!? I turned to see a pair of the jury rigged magical fission cells; the same ones I'd rigged into grenades when we were in The Roof. Their energy bars turned red and they started to whine. NO!

I reached a hoof towards the grenades and hit one as my tail flung them. The other one was on target. I was in conflict with my own body as the overcharged MFC bomb landed barely two hoof steps away. Pink! NO! I leaped forward and dove on the grenade, pressing my duster's outer plating against it. Rifle shots echoed from Chifundo as he worked the bolt as fast as I could.

“Sunrise, WHAT ARE YOU—” Pink was interrupted by my world becoming one of burning, raging pain. I thought for certain that the plasma detonation should turned me to pink goo or rainbow colored ash. Instead my layered, plated duster absorbed the green death blast. My ribs and side felt like they were on fire. My legs were burned; badly charred fur clung to my skin that screamed in rage. My eyes stayed closed. I didn't wanna open them and find out the damage to my face, which felt like I had bathed in an inferno. I shuddered and slowly opened my eyes, surprised they were still working. I saw the zebra, covered in a cloak, on fire, and charging.

That zebra mare took one second to slap a hoof into my side and I felt a rib give. Blood welled up into my mouth, while agony overwhelmed my senses. “Stupid dirt pony, wish I could have killed her. Now to take care of the targets.” My whole body erupted in pain, and I could barely keep my eyes open. The world was black with tunnel vision, and I couldn't drive myself to move.

I'm still alive! I could feel dozens of plates in my armored jumpsuit and duster fused together. When I tried to move, they were rigid and ground into my damaged ribs. I tasted blood from my nose and somewhere deeper inside. Any attempt to move made me cough up more of my life essence. My legs were numb or disconnected for the moment.

“Sunrise, you idiot! These ponies literally will kill you! Get up! You have to save your friends!”

The sounds of Jackal crying out in a roar of agonized distress hit my ears, and adrenaline started flowing in response. I staggered to my feet to see Chifundo shooting the flaming zebra that had kicked me. He worked the bolt as fast as possible to fire another shot, while every pony around her was emptying pipe weapons and magical energy blasts into her.

The armor underneath her stealth cloak was thick and deflecting the rounds. She was feeling it, but just barely. Nyota ran through the pack of ponies that were pumping out gun fire. He pushed Jackal aside with his flank and pivoted to do a full on rear legged buck. Both of his hooves found their mark on her head, like a hoofball player going for a home run. Time paused, Nyota in a full on buck while the sound wave of a snapping neck brushed out through the air. I realized I was in S.A.T.S. again.

We hadn't used the full charge earlier, and now the spell was giving me the exact moment that zebra died. Her head was turned completely around at least twice. The cloak from her head fell off, and I could see the wide eyed surprise through the broken visor. The zebra infiltrator helmet hadn't saved her from Nyota's freight train assault. She was looking right at me, and I was looking at her while time moved at less than 100^th the normal speed. The life burned out of her eyes, agonizingly slowly; I watched her soul depart in that piece of frozen time.

“Sunrise, do you see now? She thought you were dead, and she left you there. Just gave you a good kick and that broken rib to make sure you were dead.” Pink walked into view, wearing a square scholar’s cap and carrying a teaching ruler. She was slapping the image before my eyes, like Miss Learned had when I was in the schoolhouse. Except this was very real, no matter how cartoonishly she interacted with it.

“Sunrise, I know deep down inside you wanna save ponies, and not hurt any pony. But that doesn't mean they won't hesitate to do it to you.” Pink took another breath. “This one is handled, but there are two more red dots on your Eyes

Forward Sparkle. One of them is about to kill Alguacil. Now get up and go save him!”
I don't want to kill any pony, Pink, I just want to stop them. If I kill like they do, it proves nothing. I need to show them mercy! A better—

“Sunrise! NO! You are a good pony, the only ponies you've killed are either by accident, or you warned them before the bomb went off and they ignored it.” Pink did a full facehoof and shook her head, “You need to find a better way than just accepting that everypony is worth saving. Some of them aren't!”

No, Pink, I refuse to accept that. Turn off the S.A.T.S., let's go save Alguacil. I felt a prick in my side and a sudden coolness that my nerves welcomed. My tail had spiked two shots of Med-X into my flanks. One where it should go, and the second one onto the broken rib. Pink then dropped S.A.T.S. for me, and I rushed to my hooves, running towards the blip that was marked as Alguacil on my EFS. There was a red pip next to him along with one off to our left, somewhere down the road we had come. I blitzed forward, my tail brought my shotgun out and I cleared the rocks with a pain in my side that was agonizing, despite the drugs. I felt something digging into my barrel, while my insides screamed and more blood flowed up to my lips. My body whined against me, my head pulsed with each pound of my heart. My body wanted to lay back down as the initial adrenaline rush faded.

Another mare held a glowing, rainbow colored knife in her mouth. Our griffin justicar was covered in deep slashes, and his armor had deep cuts through it. I hit S.A.T.S. and hoped there was enough left for a shot. I was barely eight hooves away. The knife was moving, and I queued up a shot at the foreleg of the would-be assassin. However, immediately that unqued and the shot realigned for her armored mask faceplate.

Pink? You can do that? No, I refuse! I'm not going to kill her! I won't let you trick me again!

“Sunrise, you have six seconds in S.A.T.S. to decide.” Pink glared at me angrily and pointed at the knife. Time slowed down even more, till it stopped somehow. “You can decide to spare this assassin, who wants to kill you, your friends, and those ponies you rescued. Or, you can save Alguacil. No middle ground!” The angle the knife was already at and the momentum were obvious; it didn't take a rocket scientist to know that if I shot her in the legs, Alguacil would still be stabbed. Whatever knife that was, it had cleaved through his armor like a blowtorch. The griffin regulator was bleeding from several places, he was shaking, and his eyes looked shocked and surprised. A wrong cut might finish him off.

Pink I don't want to-to-to KILL A PONY!

“Sunrise, choose! Alguacil, or this pony trying to kill you!” I didn't think about it anymore, I just let the spell go and closed my eyes. The shotgun slammed into my shoulder and that was it, my ribs couldn't take anymore. I fell in a heap, holding my side, eyes shut tight to the world. I was barely holding on to consciousness; the plasma grenade had done more damage than I thought.

It was hard to breath, and my eyes slowly opened up to see Alguacil looking towards the rocks, aiming his pistol and firing off two shots. He coldly turned to me and tapped his sombrero at me. He had just double tapped the pony I'd put buckshot into. I had no idea where I'd hit her, or if I had killed her or if Alguacil had done it. I didn't want to know. All I wanted was the taste of my own blood out of my mouth.

Nyota helped me up slowly and my tail put a healing potion up to my lips. Quick Stitch rushed over and stopped me from drinking it, his hoof pulling it away. His horn glowed and I felt him shifting around my damaged ribs inside me. “Sunrise, you can't take healing potions right now. Not while your ribs are this bad off.” He kept moving his horn, and I felt my insides shifted sickeningly again. Nyota tried to get his hooves in to help my sides, but fused armor plates not only ground against my damaged bones but prevented him from getting to close.

I groaned in agony and clung to him. He'd been super zebra, today, and here I was, barely holding myself together. This wasn't like when I first met him, molerats tearing him apart and me saving him. Now he was paying it back. Quick Stitch helped me off the rocks while Alguacil searched the bodies of our attackers. There was still a red pip on my E.F.S., but that faded as it got further and further away. “There is another one... down the path where we,” the E.F.S. dot winked out, “...came from.”

Nyota looked and stared, then Chifundo approached. “Nyota, our attackers were legion, I’ve never heard of them in this region?”

Nyota shook his head, “No, legion would have attacked us all. They went right after Jackal and Hot Cross Buns. They were assassins. Enclave likely sent them in.”

It was that moment, the Med-X decided to stop working. The extreme agony drove my conscious mind away like a rat from a sinking ship. Nyota sounded miles away, even if he was right next to me. Quick Stitch was speaking, but I couldn't hear his words. I struggled to keep my eyes open. I felt the scream in my throat as they looked at me before the world went black.

I awoke being carried by Nyota again, but he didn't insist I stay there. Instead even Quick Stitch insisted I try to walk. He injected my ribs with Med-X, which felt so amazing. I wanted more than what he’d given me, but I didn’t ask. It hadn’t completely dulled the broadcasts of pain, but it was enough that I could walk. We blazed a trail as fast as I could move. Everytime I started to slow down, another sweet embrace of Med-X was injected into me by my tail, much to Quick Stitch’s dirty looks.

We kept going well past the time the sun set. Everypony was on edge, and my E.F.S. returned with a red pip every few minutes. Something, or some pony, was chasing us. It was well after dark, my PipBuck read 9:58pm, when our salvation came into view: Silver Fang Shanty’s walls.

Level Up Progress: Level 7 Achieved!
New Perk: Egghead - You think about stuff way too much and study it far too in depth. Gain +2 Extra Skillpoints per level.

Cosplayer at babscon who played Corners made a cosplay of Box Pony: