Okay, are you hungry? Oh no! Some Kirin trapped in a well? Okay. Baby. Baby fish. Big. Big. No, baby fish mouth? Did something? Anything? AGH, just write it down! Ergh, this is making me FURIOUS! ... Would you excuse me, I'll be right back...

My body tingled as my geigercounter went berserk. Both halves... for some reason, even through all the agony of being split in half, I could still feel my legs.

There was no more thunder, rain, hail or lightning. Nor was there a horde of ferals eating us.

But there was screaming. And crying.

I looked down to see Fluky was gone. My tentacles still thrashed around violently, seeking nourishment.

The air was hot and heavy, and the scent of burning flesh filled my nostrils.

I looked around at my surroundings as fire danced around grey trees, and old buildings. Several dozen bodies laid strewn about; all with gunshots. A red dust covered the earth.

We were in Saddle...

Right back at square one, only now we were suffering the after effects of detonating a nuclear reactor.

Fluky was on the ground, a few feet away, coughing blood as her guts spilled out of her, half eaten. Her horn wasn't glowing anymore, and her eyes were back to normal...

Fluky was going to die...

She was looking at me, bursting into tears.

"D-daddy! Please, da-daddy! I don't want to die! It... it hurts so much... Luna save m-meeee!"

I crawled over to her, my 'entrails' dragging and wriggling around behind me.

"Hang on... Fuck, hang on!"

I felt a pebble hit me in the back of the head...

I looked around at the surrounding party, who were also in mortal peril. Hollow and Petiole were the only ones left standing. Happy was bleeding profusely, but still smiling as he lied there on his back, breathing heavily. Riot's neck was left torn open, and he was choking on his own blood. Destrier had his chest, back and rear hoof ripped open, and Thunderwing had a half-chewed wing, cutiemark, and ear.

"I need a health potion over here!" I shouted, looking at Hollow, who turned to look back at me.

She looked around at the lot of us, then shook her head. "Not here. We stay, we die."

"There's nowhere else to go." Petiole stated, stepping up beside her.

"There is." She nodded as her horn lit up.

In an instant, we were transported and warped into a completely new area.

One of clear, cold air.

We were inside the living room of an old house. Fluky's cries were getting softer, and her eyes were forcing themselves closed gradually.

"D-daddy... I'm scared..." She said as she looked up at me in tears. "I don't... I don't... I don't wanna..."

"Shhh..." I petted her softly, feeling tears of mine escape. "Save your energy... I won't let anything happen to you..."

"I'll take care of Riot." Petiole stated as his choking started to fade to nothing.

She continued to look up at me, whimpering. "It hurts so much..."

"I know... Just try and take it easy..."

"I'm so tired..." Her eyes started to close. "I... don't... wanna... slee..."

"Fluky, hey... Wake up. C'mon..." Tears flowed freely as I held her limp body in my arms. "Wake up... Please, Celestia, Luna, somebody... Don't take her..." I hugged her close to my chest as tears washed down my face. "Please, no..."

"Good." Hollow stated. I didn't bother turning back. "You stayed."

"You had peaked my curiosity." A new voice joined us. I finally glanced back to see a zebra standing with Hollow. Petiole was standing at a distance, keeping a close eye on him behind red LEDs.

On the zebras back was a small crate filled with health potions.

Still holding on to Fluky, I turned to him more. "Save her. Please!" I bawled.

Hollow nodded upon him looking over her casually, and he nodded back before trotting to me and her.

He set the crate down beside us and pulled out a bottle, unscrewed the cap, and tilted the neck to her lips gradually.

Some of it escaped from her lips, sliding down her face.

"C'mon..." I muttered behind my tears. "C'mon, Flukes... Please... Come back..."

As he carefully fed her a bottle of the purple liquid, the more I felt like I had lost somebody special... The more the bottle drained, the more I felt a loss... Like I was too late...

Her body was still healing, despite her unconsciousness. That was a good sign, right...?

Normally, I'd be wary of a zebra just being around me. But I was willing to do anything, if it meant saving Fluky's life. She was far too young for this...

The zebra really didn't really pay me any mind, oddly enough. He seemed more focused on feeding Fluky the medicine.

Once the bottle had about a quarter of the juice left, she burst into a coughing fit. Some of the purple liquid spurted out from her mouth, dripping down her chin and getting on her chest.

The zebra pulled the bottle away from her lips and regarded her in a calm manner, before speaking softly to her. "You need to drink it all, little one."

"Everything hurts..." She said as tears began to emerge once more, trying to pull away from the bottle.

"Please drink it, Flukes..." I whispered in her ear as the zebra held the bottle a small distance away from her lips, waiting to try again. "It'll make you better..."

She whimpered, before reluctantly nodding, to which the bottle was lightly pressed against her lips and gradually tilted; a gentle flow of the medicine washing down her throat as she gulped repeatedly.

Her intestines pulled further back into her gut, and as they did, the bite marks started to close up to nothing. She cried and whimpered during the process, and after a second bottle of the stuff, her gut finally closed up completely. But I was more than sure that some of my blood... my infected blood... had gotten inside her...

I guess we were going to cross that bridge when we came to it...

"I'm so tired..." Fluky muttered under her shaky breath. "I... I need to..." She took a deep breath as her eyes started to close. She leaned her head back, and I felt her body go limp.

"Fluky...?" I shook her gently. "Fluky, w-wake up..." More tears washed down my face as I wept for her. "Please don't leave..."

Petiole stepped up and put a hoof to her neck gently for a moment, before pulling away. "She's still alive, Charger. She just needs to rest. We all do."

I looked up at him to see he was standing away from me as he warily watched behind me with blue LEDs. Then I noticed the zebra was, too.

Then everyone else...

From a safe distance...

I looked back to see my lower half crawling over to me with over a dozen black, thick, oily, yet smoky tendrils coming out from the massive wound that had been inflicted on me. Only then, did I begin to notice I could feel them, as if they were actually a part of me, now that my mind was put at ease and pulled into focus on my surroundings.

Some had spilled out of me from my upper half as well, but they only seemed to want to reach out to my lower half, as they waited still and patient for my legs to come back to me.

Once my two halves got closer, the tendrils did the rest of the work in pulling myself together. It burnt against my wounds, but the moment my body made contact with itself, the pain was already starting to subside. I could feel my hide and internal organs fusing back together, slowly but surely.

I carefully lied down on my stomach and let my body do its thing. The process wasn't nearly as fast as the healing potions were, but I wasn't going to bother with any of the potions. The others weren't regenerating like I was. They needed it far more than I did.

I was regenerating because I was infected with a darkness. It wasn't a gift. Hell, I didn't even wanna be alive anymore.

"Vakaa..." The zebra whispered as he looked down at me; eyes wide open with a certain realization of... something. I couldn't tell what, but I knew he was piecing something together in his head. He stared for a while, before turning to Hollow.

Before I knew it, she was by my side, looking down at me for a long moment. I kept my eyes on her hooves, but I could feel her eyes on me. There was a certain coldness behind her stare... and her silence...

Then, in her calm, monotone voice, she spoke.

"Can you walk?"

"I... I don't know..." I closed my eyes. I was so tired... and hungry.

"Petiole." She began.

"Yeah, what?"

"There's a bedroom upstairs for Fluky. Take her up there. She needs a bed."

"What about the others?"

"Oku?" She asked curiously, to which the zebra responded.

"I have the..." He paused as he tapped a hoof to his chin, looking up at the ceiling, unsure of himself on something. "Sleeping area..."

"Infirmary." She pushed into his sentence.

"Yes. That. It is ready."

"Good. Take the others there and get them treated. They got severe radiation poisoning. Charger will take the couch out here."

"What? Why?" Riot asked.

"With how everyone's been acting with his condition, I figured it would be in everyone's best interest if he was kept from everyone else."

Okay, ow...

"She's right..." Thunderwing muttered. I opened my eyes and looked at her as she held Destrier in her arms. He kept his eyes closed. She glanced down at me and sighed. "It's for the best, Charger." With that, she got up, bringing Destrier up on his hooves. "C'mon, everyone. Let's rest up..."

Her team did as they were told. The zebra known as Oku led the way to the infirmary, in another part of the house I couldn't see from here. It was on the first floor, at least.

Petiole gently lifted Fluky on his back and carried her up the stairs in the living room that we had all spawned in, bringing her to the bedroom Hollow spoke of.

... All...

That was a lie... We were missing two...

And all for what...? A metal box?

Hap... er... Para leaned his back against a recliner in the corner of the room, watching me with his stupid ass grin, as if nothing bad happened. As if Blaze and Tezu didn't die screaming as they were glued to others and torn apart!

Fuck!

"Para, go in the infirmary with the others."

"Awww, but why?"

"Now." I snapped, and my hoof burst into a crackling energy. "I don't want to hear it right now. Just go. Rest up."

His smile faltered, and he nodded slowly before getting up off his seat and calmly walking to where the others went; all with that slight dance to his movement. His Little Buddy followed close behind.

"Rest now." Hollow replied softly, gently lifting me off the ground with her magic. I thrashed around a little bit, but my body wasn't ready to move. I winced and groaned in pain shortly after and gave in as she levitated me over to the couch, setting me down gently. "You all need it."

I lied there for what felt like hours, unable to sleep. From the agonizing pain in my body as it slowly regenerated through the virus I had in my body, from the fear of losing Fluky, even though she was saved. She was safe now... but still, the fear... the realization of almost losing her invaded my heart and mind, and it wouldn't go away.

I lied there for hours on the couch, staring up at the weathered ceiling. Her screams and pleas played on loop in my mind.

I didn't want to move. Everything hurt... inside and out.

Every so often, Hollow would come in and check on me. In those first two times, I managed to get a few Med-x shots from her to help numb the pain. But after that, I seemed to be pushing my luck.

My armor was thrashed and in a heap on the floor of the living room. It would take some serious TLC to get it back to its former glory, if that was even possible at this point. And the helmet was a goner for good.

The house was quiet throughout the whole day. By the time I was able to move without any serious pains in my body, save for the never ending migraine, it was nightfall.

I stayed at the window next to the front door, looking out into the darkness as I sat in candle light.

I didn't really know where we were or what it was like outside of this house, but that was on my to-do list, starting tomorrow.

The place seemed peaceful enough... We hadn't had any intruders since we arrived.

"Charger."

I turned around to see Hollow standing before me; her identity still sheltered by her armor.

"Hey." I nodded slowly, then turned back to the window.

"I'm assuming you feel better?"

I shrugged my shoulders, keeping my eyes fixated on the darkness outside. "Eh."

There was a brief moment of silence before I heard her step closer. I turned around to see her beside me at that point, joining me at the window.

"What's up?" I asked, giving her a puzzled look.

She turned and looked at me in her calm manner. "Petiole and I are going to be gone for some time tomorrow."

"Why is that?" I raised a questioning brow as I regarded her.

"We're going back to retrieve Tezu and Blaze's body. Thunder's wishes."

I looked down and sighed softly to myself, before looking back up at her visor. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

She shook her head. "I'm only going as a means of transportation, and Petiole is only going because he's immune to the pink cloud, and feral ghouls ignore him. Besides." She looked back to the window. "You still need rest."

I sat on my haunches, feeling both a demon and a reality grow inside me. Something I had felt my whole life, but never put attention towards until recently.

Guilt...

"There's something on your mind." Hollow stated matter-of-factly.

I glanced in her direction, then groaned softly to myself.

"Share if you like. If not, so be it."

Heh... sounded like she had been hanging around Petiole too much. Sounded like something he'd say...

"Hollow..." I looked back up at her as she stood at my side. She regarded me, emotionless behind that visor. I couldn't believe I was about to vent to a total stranger who barely knew me. Or I her... "Do you think it's my fault they're dead?"

For the longest time, she stared in silence... empty behind that visor. Empty within that armor. Cold... empty... and silent...

She looked to the window for a moment before turning around facing away from it. "Rest, Charger. You will need it."

And with that, she started back for where the others resided, leaving me alone in the living room with my thoughts. The thoughts I would drown out at the bottom of a glass or a bottle, whenever I had the opportunity.

I walked over to my saddle bags and pulled out the bottle of vodka I took from the tower. I couldn't read the whole label, but my best guess was that it was labeled 'Dead Horse.' Interesting name for an alcohol, but if it did the trick, then I wasn't gonna look too deep. If it lived up to its name, then bonus points for whoever managed to kill me.

I plopped down on the couch and tore off the cap with my teeth, before spitting it out and chugging down the contents until my throat couldn't take it anymore.

Light drowned the darkness, and pain came flooding into my senses. My head felt like someone was trying to bash it in with a girder, my eyes felt like they were being drilled into from within my skull, my stomach had turned against me, and dried vomit coated my lips. Spiked with vodka my body couldn't take.

I cracked my eyes open, instantly regretting it as sunlight stung my retinas. I groaned and curled up on my side, sheltering my eyes with both forehooves.

"Morning, Robutt."

I moved my hooves away from my face and looked up at the second floor to see Fluky walking down the stairs slowly, wincing every so often.

"F-Flukes." I sat up quickly, only to lie back down as the head rush came in.

"Don't call me that." She smiled faintly as she reached the bottom step. "Are you... okay?"

"Only if you are." I replied with a half smile. Fuck, it was good to see her on her hooves again...

"Petiole said I'll live." She stepped up to my couch, then stopped a few feet away from it once she got a good whiff of the vomit I had around me. She scrunched her muzzle and looked down a little. "You really need a shower, Robutt."

I chuckled softly before coughing. "Yeah, that I do."

She nodded a little before looking back up at me with a pained smile. "Petiole and the new lady said they prepared a bath just outside of the house, on the side." She glanced down at the empty bottle of vodka that laid on its side against the cushions of the couch. She sighed and looked back up at me with a flat expression.

"Rough night..." I muttered, holding my arm with my hoof.

She rolled her eyes and went back for the stairs.

"You called me your dad." I stated abruptly, to which she froze, keeping her eyes forward for a moment. She turned to me a short while after with a shocked look, to which I continued. "Yesterday. When you were..." I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. "You kept calling me daddy. You were... scared. But... it seemed you looked to me to help you..."

She looked down; her mane curtaining her eyes. "I..." She tensed up. "I don't know what you are to me, Robutt... You're not my friend... and you most certainly aren't my dad... No, you killed him... or your buddies did..."

"They aren't my-"

"Point is..." She interrupted. "I may have said some things in the heat of the moment... Things that weren't true... but..." She looked back up at me once more. "I know one thing is true. You've helped me. You saved my life back in Saddle. And I hate you for it..." She closed her eyes and sat on the bottom step of the stairs. "But I also... kinda... eh..." She shrugged. "I like you as well... And I hate that I like you... But..." She smiled faintly as she regarded me. "I know that if I need help... if I need saving... you'd be there for me. I can look to you for that."

Our eyes met for the longest time as we smiled at each other. Eventually, she slowly got back up on all fours and started up the stairs. Halfway up, she stopped and looked back at me with that same, soft smile.

"I don't remember anything on how we escaped the towers, but... Petiole and the new girl said you sacrificed yourself to help keep me safe. Is that true?"

Hesitantly, I nodded.

She paused for a moment, thinking to herself. "And... you were... torn in half... to save me...?"

I nodded again.

Her smile brightened just a little as she looked down at me. "You risked your life for me..."

"And I'd do it again, Fluky. In a heartbeat. I owe you anyways."

Her smile faltered a little bit as she nodded slowly, then turned away from me, resuming her climb up to the second floor, back to her bedroom. "Thank you..." She said softly, before disappearing from my presence.

I lied there for a moment, looking up at the second floor, until I caught movement in the corner of my eye.

I turned my head to see Para trotting in from where everyone else had gone to rest the other day... which made me realize I had stayed in the living room the whole night, only catching winks of sleep.

He beamed at me upon eye contact and stopped before me. "Ah, can you just take in that sweet, fresh air! Gotta love that H20!"

I smiled softly and nodded to him. "It's good to see you again, Para."

"Don't you mean O2?" Thunderwing asked as she stepped in from the hallway that went under the stairs. "The element for oxygen is O2, Para."

It... it was? Fuck, I felt stupid...

She regarded both of us coolly, then took a seat on the bottom step of the stairs. "You look like shit, Charger."

"So do you." I said with a half smile, taking notice to the bags under her eyes.

"Didn't sleep well..." She said in a monotone, looking up at me with a blank expression. "Tends to happen when you lose two very close friends..."

Guilt washed over me as I hung my head down and sighed. "Thunder... I-"

"Don't." She looked me dead in the eye. "Don't start getting all apologetic on me. I don't want to hear it."

I tensed up as she snapped, refusing to make eye contact as I kept my head down. "... As you wish..."

She rolled her eyes and leaned her head against the railing. "I need a smoke..."

"I might be able to help with that." I stated as I started to rummage through my saddle bags, only to pull out a crumpled pack of cigs. I opened the pack and looked inside, before slowly giving it over to her. "One left..."

She looked at me in silence for a few seconds, raising a brow, before taking it, putting it between her lips, and lighting the end.

"Thanks..." She muttered before the smoldering end brightened as she breathed in.

"I take it Hollow and Petiole are gone?"

She nodded slowly before exhaling a torrent of smoke, looking straight ahead at a wall. "Yep..." She gave the air a few whiffs, then scrunched her muzzle as she turned to me with her dead, tired look. "You smell like how I feel. Go out there and wash up."

I nodded slowly and turned to the door, showing myself out. Para followed me out and closed the door behind me. As I walked around the house, he joined my side with that small dance to his movement.

Damn it... even in horrible circumstances, he had too much optimism... or ignorance... Both, perhaps. It frustrated me that he didn't take much of anything serious...

The land outside was surprisingly mostly green. There were patches of dry, dead fields, unfortunately. But long blades of green stood tall, swaying with the fresh, rich air that the gentle breeze carried. The sky was a bright blue, and only a few clouds resided above us, all of which were cotton white.

In the distance, I could hear something like waves of an ocean, and the calling of seagulls. Salt filled the air.

"Tuner, you there?" I called out as I walked around the corner of the house. The tub of water sat there, pressed against the wall. In the distance sat a hill of that green, healthy grass. The land beyond that was out of my sight.

To the north, in the distance, was an unnamed factory building. It was hard to determine what it was for originally.

"Who?" Para asked, raising a brow as his tail whipped my flank.

"No one..." I muttered. "Just... tired." I stopped at the tub and stretched my limbs, before turning to my friend. He stood there, looking at me with his damn smile. Damn it, he was adorable, but fuck, he needed to take things more serious... "Can I help you?"

That smile turned into a grin before he began. "The real question is 'can I help you?'"

I recognized that voice...

"What do you want, Happy?" I asked as my ears flattered. I stepped into the tub and sank down to where the water reached my neck. It was already turning black as my blood slowly washed off my coat.

"Simple. I want to help." He stepped closer to the tub, looking me in the eye.

"With?" I asked, raising a skeptical brow.

"Your future." He began removing his apparel and set it down on the grass next to the tub. Little Buddy snuggled up in the heap of clothes as he carefully stepped into the water and sat down on the opposite side, facing me as he sank further into the water slowly, smiling softly.

In most cases, I would have refused having someone share a bath with me. I was infected. I didn't want to infect anyone else. But as he climbed in, I remembered that he too, was infected with the same virus as I. Maybe not the F-virus, but I still had time left before it reached that level, according to Petiole. And I wasn't bleeding anymore. All my wounds had been patched up. So even then, chances were he would have been safe from that.

Our rear hooves crossed with each other as he began washing his coat down of the black gunk that came from his body. He didn't seem to care much about his blood being black. Or mine, even. I guess he already knew what was happening to him. If Tuner knew, surely everyone else in that battery did as well.

He continued to rub his coat down with water in attempts to clean the blood off for a moment, before coming to a stop and looking at me with a small smile curling on his lips.

"What?" I asked, giving him a weird look.

Suddenly, in one quick motion, his forehoof lunged out of the water, intentionally splashing my face.

I stared flatly as my ears dropped. "Really?"

"Just trying to get you to wake up."

I shook my head and began washing myself down some more. The blood came off fairly easy. About as easy as blood was to wash off. Thankfully. This almost had the same consistency of normal blood, so at least there was that.

Happy proceeded to hum the tune to the song that Para was dancing to in the park, when Petiole, Fluky, and I ran out of Stable 32, as he reached around his back and started washing hard to reach places. Of course he made it look easy. Flexible show off...

Shortly after, he started rinsing out his hair. As he did, he playfully ran his rear hooves along mine, smiling at me.

"Chin up, Charger. The best thing to do is don't worry. Be happy."

"Easy for you to say, you optimistic psychopath."

His smile faltered a bit, before it was revived again. "Now, now. No need for name calling." He spun his hoof around in a circular motion once he stopped cleaning out his mane. "Turn around, so I can get your back. I know it's hard for you to reach back there."

Hesitantly, I did as he said. Shortly after, did I feel his hooves press against my back and wash down my coat with the now dirty water in the tub. Like this was going to do anything for me...

Still... his hooves felt great...

I closed my eyes and folded my fores on the rim of the tub, arching my back a bit as he got to work.

He continued to hum that happy little tune that I first heard in the blazing inferno that was once a park as he washed - or at least tried to wash - my back.

"Happy..."

"Hm?"

I hung my head down a bit as he started to wash the back of my neck. "Do you know about my past?"

"You mean apart from being a unicorn?"

I tensed up at the word. "Y-yeah..."

He began running his hooves through my mane, washing out all the black blood that had stained it. There was some gunk here and there that fell out.

... Okay, so maybe it didn't have the consistency of blood in some areas.

"I do."

I looked over my shoulder with plea in my eyes. They were starting to burn with tears already. "Can you please tell me what happened to me? I need to know. Please, Happy..."

"You will know when the time is right, Charger." He smiled softly as he continued washing my mane out. He looked me in the eye and continued. "But that time is not now. You have to wait."

After my bath with Happy, I went back to my couch in the living room of the house, flipped over the cushions to the cleaner side - which was putting it lightly - and lied back down. Not long after, did I fish around the pouches on my armor until I found the magazine from the apartments. Happy, smiling for eternity in the immortality of a photograph, looked at me from the front cover. Even through a dusty, 200-some year magazine, he still had perfect teeth.

'Dentist of the year!' was plastered on the cover in bold, yellow letters, followed by 'Happy's ten steps to having the best dental hygiene.'

A smaller headline on the bottom right hoof side read, 'Dr. Arum Petiole and Dr. Floe Glaze come to a groundbreaking discovery on the science behind cryo-stasis; What it could mean for the future!'

I began flipping through the pages, but everything I was reading was rocket science to me. I didn't understand a single thing in this magazine. Most of it was filled with dental and medical yawn material, but three pages were reserved for Petiole and Floe Glaze.

Who was this Floe Glaze... Why did that name sound familiar...?

Wait... Floe Glaze...

Wait, she was the one that captured Happy in a block of ice! I didn't know her and Petiole worked together!

There was a picture of the two of them standing side by side on a stage. Petiole wasn't all that smiley. In fact, he looked tired and depressed. But Floe was smiling as she looked at their audience.

The text was just more yawn material. I didn't understand a thing about cryogenics. I didn't even really believe it worked, until the recent discovery that Happy was frozen in a block of ice for over 200 years, and was still alive and breathing.

I was into more fictional material. It was a nice escape from my shitty existence. Alcohol was, too. And drugs. But reading was definitely the healthier alternative.

Pfft... Like I cared about my health anymore.

I closed the magazine and tossed it on the floor at a yellow set of hooves as they approached. I looked her in they eyes for a second, before dropping back down to the floor.

"I didn't hear you come in." I said softly.

"My branch in the Enclave focused a lot on taking the stealthier approach." Thunderwing replied, sitting at my rear hooves. She looked exhausted. "How are you holding up?"

I grabbed the empty vodka bottle that lied on the floor and looked inside. "No more alcohol. So I'm not holding up."

She stared silently at the bottle for a moment as my pipbuck's geigercounter started clicking upon me grabbing it.

"You took that from the tower, didn't you...?" She asked; her jaw dropping a bit.

I nodded. "Mhm."

"And you... drank it...?"

"Mhm."

"C-Charger..." She quickly got up and reached into her saddle bags with the pinions of her wing. She pulled it back out with a few packets of Rad-Away in her grasp. "Drink these!" She threw them, and two smacked me in the face, while the third struck my chest and stayed there.

"Hey, what gives?"

"You may as well have drank pure radiation, that's what gives!"

I rolled my eyes. "You think I care?"

"Charger..." She gritted her teeth as she glared down at me. "Do not get selfish. Blaze and Tezu were a part of my family, you fuck! They gave their life to help you. We did not go to that damn tower just so you could kill yourself after. Stop being a pitiful asshat, drink the Goddess-damned Rad-Away, and find out how to operate whatever this weapon is that Tuner spoke of, and pull yourself together! No more pity!"

She stood up and swung the front door open, before flying out and taking to the skies.

I lied there for a moment, looking out the window as she took off. More guilt...

I bit down on one of the pouches and began drinking. It tasted horrible, but it needed to be done.

I stopped drinking from the pouch after a few gulps, feeling my stomach turn from the flavor. Blegh...

I fished around my saddle bags for a moment in hopes to find something to help with the flavor, before pulling a can of carrots out. Radioactive...

Damn it... Well... I didn't eat anything yet...

I tossed the canned carrots aside, then dug back in, taking two cans of cinnamon apple slices out. I opened both and scarfed them down with no hesitation.

With a belly full of radioactive goodness, I washed it all down with the packets of Rad-Away Thunderwing had given to me. Especially fast, considering my geigercounter was going crazy. Even when I tossed the empty cans away from me, it still didn't let up.

Happy had given me the radio without causing any issues when I asked for it. I didn't tell him why I needed it, but I think he figured it out himself.

I sat atop the hill behind the house at a ledge that dropped off into a violent ocean, where the waves slammed relentlessly against the rocks.

Off in the distance, towards the south, were a series of towers that stood tall from the ocean. Catwalks were built around them, and cannons rested on top. Smaller turrets were built into the walls of the pillars, and the edge of the walkways. By smaller, I meant they were small from where I sat. But seeing as the base of the towers almost touched the horizon, the turrets must have been pretty fucking big if I could see them from here.

I didn't quite understand what that was all about, but that wasn't my main focus at the moment. I had other things I needed to do.

"Tuner." I said softly, looking at the infinite field of water that touched the horizon.

"Charger."

I set the metal cube down on the grass before me. "So what do I need to do with this thing?"

"Put your hoof on it."

I did as he told.

"Close your eyes."

I closed his eyes, as per his request.

"Concentrate, and think of what you want. It can be anything. You want to use this against the Steel Rangers? Think carefully and thoroughly on what this weapon is going to be. What is it going to look like? What is it going to do? How does it work?"

I nodded. "I can take it from here."

"Good luck."

I hung my head down as I listened to the rushing waves of the ocean crash against the cliff side. The strong gusts of wind blew past my form, brushing through my coat and mane.

My armor was shredded, so there was no use in bringing it with me. As dangerous as it was, feeling the wind and letting my body breathe without the confines of any apparel was something I needed in my life. I never thought that I'd get to. I was relaxed. I was calm.

For a small time in all my life - for the very first time - I was at peace.

That peace was quickly swept away as I started to think about the Steel Rangers, and what I wanted to do to them. My hoof crackled as a result of my thoughts.

What would be good against the rangers... Hm...

A super gun, perhaps? Hollow's cannon, but with shorter cooldown? No... I needed to think bigger. Badder. Something that would terrify every chapter that walked this planet, and then some.

Maybe a giant spider-like machine? With a cannon on the top. Yeah, that sounded more like it. Three cannons. No, four!

Spikes for legs? Fuck it, why not?

The cannons would shoot-

I heard hoofsteps approach from behind, and I looked over my shoulder to see Happy coming up. I quickly went back to my task, closing my eyes and concentrating again.

The cannons would shoot red beams of death, much like Hollow's cannon, and the cooldown would be shorter with the nice, big, glorious vents in the sides. It would be activated telekinetically. That way, it would only respond to my commands, and no one else's! Hah! This was fool proof!

He stopped at my side and spoke. "Ah, man. I could really use a seat!"

Damn it!

My brows knitted as I tried hard to keep the intrusive thought of chairs away, and bring back my idea of a weapon.

I gritted my teeth as chairs invaded my mind. One last image came into view, before I heard the device start to morph.

Fuck, no!

I opened my eyes as it started to unfold before me.

It was a chair.

A fucking chair...

"That's more like it."

"Happy, why would you do that!?" I glared at him as he smiled at me.

"Do what? My legs hurt from all the running we did. I was just stating I needed to rest my muscles."

"I was WORKING ON SOMETHING IMPORTANT!"

He shrugged. "Looked like you were sitting."

My hoof flared, and I took a deep breath. "Tuner, is it possible for me to retry?"

"Sorry, Charger. This was a prototype. There's nothing that can be done now."

"Goddess DAMN IT!" I shouted, stomping my forehooves down against the grass and dirt. I pointed an accusing hoof at the suspect as he grinned on. "Look what you made me do!"

"Hey, thanks." He stood up and sat on the chair. "I wasn't looking to get credit for this one, but since you're giving it..."

I took a long look at the chair, glaring for a moment, before realizing this wasn't an ordinary chair.

It had the legs that I imagined for the spiderbot, only there were four. Behind each leg was the barrel I imagined for it, too.

Okay, this was getting a little better... Still not what I had planned to use against the Steel Rangers, but at least it wasn't a complete and total waste...

It was all metal - Tungstian by the look of it, which was the same metal material I wanted to use for the spiderbot. It didn't look the best to sit in, though.

Just... one more thing.

I closed my eyes and thought carefully about the barrels of the... chair, I guess...

I heard them hum softly, but nothing was happening.

So I imagined pulling a trigger in my mind.

At once, the sound of four of Hollow's beams went off underneath the chair, blasting away at the earth below.

My eyes shot open wide as I grinned. "YES!"

Happy jumped a little, then looked down at the light show, before hopping off.

I pulled the mental trigger again, but nothing happened. My grin died as a panel slid open on the side, and a Microfusion cell jumped out and landed on the grass before me. I looked down at the ammo to find it was spent.

... Hold on a second...

A free 26-MCF cell came with the chair... and I just wasted it on some grass...

I planted my face in a hoof as I sighed. "Good going, you idiot..." I muttered.

Steam hissed from the back of the chair for a moment. Happy was watching it until the ventilation ceased, to which he turned to me with a soft smile.

"Happy Hearthswarming."

"Fuck you." I deadpanned, though my hoof flared a bit. "I made a Goddess damned chair because of your loud mouth. I was trying to make something more useful!"

"And look at that!" His smile brightened. "You made a chair that provides a light show. This will surely make others happy as well. It is our objective, after all."

The electricity in my hoof grew wilder as Happy trotted away, and Tuner stepped in.

"Calm down, Charger. It's still very effective. It's still a weapon."

I sighed and hung my head down as my ears drooped. "Yeah, I know... But..." I looked at the instrument and pointed a hoof at it in disbelief and distaste. "It's a chair..."

"And a weapon."

I shook my head and stood up. "The tower was a waste of time, and a waste of two lives... Blaze and Tezu died for a fucking chair... Fluky almost died for a chair! We all almost died for a Goddess-damned, fucking CHAIR!" I stomped my rear hoof down against the earth, and electricity traveled across the ground in a shockwave as thunder rolled. "Damn it, Tuner! What are we doing!?"

"I assumed we were going to take on the Steel Rangers. Isn't that what this game is all about?"

I gritted my teeth as anger boiled further inside me. "Enough about the fucking game! Stop with the game! This is NOT. A. GAME! I got two people killed for THIS!" I gestured both hooves to the metal chair. "What kind of sick joke is this!?"

"A joke called life." Tuner said in a monotone. "This goes back to something a wise, horny mare once said a long time ago. How did it go again?" He paused as I took rapid, deep breaths. Fuck, I wanted to scream... "Ah, yes. 'That's life. And life is a sadistic, fickle, bitch.'"

Quite suddenly, the metal furniture folded in on itself, resorting back to its original form.

I stared down at it, now curious. "What happened?"

"My best guess is you wished it away. Wanted it gone, judging by the context of this conversation."

I nodded slowly. "So... I have another chance to make something more useful than a chair?"

"Like I said... It's a one time use." Tuner replied in an exasperated tone. "It's forever going to be a chair. It's just more portable now."

I bit my lip as I grabbed the box, then turned back to the two story house.

"I'm going on a walk to clear my head. Alone." I looked to the north, at the factory in the distance. "I'm dropping you off at the house."

My armor was shredded, so I didn't bother taking it with me. I did however, take the saddle bags from it and bring those with me, as well as the rifle. I had attached it to my left shoulder before heading out.

I had also taken the... ugh... the chair with me. It rested in my bag, with the spare dual-sided magazine.

I stepped up to the parking lot of the factory, where a series of abandoned wagons sat. The road out went one direction only; east. There were no other roads around here. Not even to the house.

There was, however, a set of train tracks that led out of the factory as well.

Bottles laid strewn about the compound; some shattered, some still intact.

I lifted the closest one up to examine the label.

"Everfree Brew...?" I cocked a brow before a smile crept up on my lips. I picked up another bottle to see the same label. And another. Another! Yes! My eyes lit up as I grinned. "BEER!"

I rushed for the front doors of the factory and burst in.

At once, a series of red blips appeared on my E.F.S., and I stopped dead in my tracks, looking around,

"... Beer...?" My ears wilted, and my smile was no more.

Some of the red blips began moving, and I heard the rolling of sentry wheels, and the squeaky operation of cogs.

Shit... Robo-brains...

I spun around, now seeking the exit, but as I did so, I was caught by surprise. I hastily put my mouth on the bit to my rifle as I stared back at another pony.

A pony dressed in T-45b power armor...

"Who are you?" He asked as his laser rifle stayed locked on me.

"Piss off!" I backed away, glaring at him. "You already know who I am!" I reached into my bag and pulled out the metal box. It expanded into the dumbass chair Happy made me make, and I pointed the leg... cannon things at the ranger.

"SEARCHING." A deep, metallic voice said behind me.

The ranger looked past me for a moment, before focusing on me once more. "That's a chair."

"It's also a weapon!" I blurted. "Fuck off!"

"You're outnumbered. Are you sure you really wanna go down this path?"

I noticed on my E.F.S. that more red blips were closing in on the entrance.

"Who are ya interrogatin' this time, ya..." A mare in the same model of power armor stepped into view and turned to me, pausing. "O-Oh..."

"Report." Another mare spoke through their radios.

"Uh... C-code C.O.S., madam."

There was a moment of silence as I stared silently at the two of them. They stared back for a moment, before the mare turned to the first ranger. She shoved his shoulder.

"What do ya think yer doin', ya idjit!?"

He looked at her a moment, then lowered his rifle a little.

I spun around as the wheels of the sentry and the treads of the Robo-brain grew louder.

Just as I looked at their blips, they went from red to blue.

Just as they rolled into view from the end of the room; out of the halls that went left and right.

I kept my weapons on the two rangers. They couldn't be trusted!

"Mah 'pologies." The mare continued, stepping forward. I stepped away from her as she got closer, to which she stopped. "Yeah, she said you'd be wary of us steel-clad folk..."

I looked back to the robots behind me, but they paid me no mind.

The mare chuckled. "Sorry 'bout the scare. They're safe now."

I looked back at her with a raised brow. "Who are you ponies? And who am I to you?"

She removed her helmet to reveal a slightly disheveled light grey mane, and a dark grey coat. Her eyes were a light blue, and a white diamond marked between her eyes. She had a few freckles, too. "Name's Cobalt. Doofus over there..." She looked back at the first ranger, then back to me with a half smile. "Well, ya can just call 'im Doofus."

"That's not my name."

"I reckon I could call ya Dipshit, instead." She stared back at him flatly. "She ain't gun be happy ya did that to 'im, ya know."

"Who am I to you ponies?" I reiterated. My hoof crackled softly as I glared at the two.

Cobalt looked back at me in surprise as red electricity channeled through my hoof.

One of the blips ahead of me started moving quicker from the right, and another ranger stepped into view. They looked at me for a long period of time, before stepping forward slowly.

"It really is him..." She said softly.

"What are you going on about?" I asked, getting more frustrated by the second. "What's going on here?"

"Charger..." The third ranger took her helmet off and set it on the ground before her. She was a bit older. About as old as Bristle, which was roughly around the age of 40, last I checked.

She had a dark grey - almost black - coat, and a dark purple, messy mane. Her eyes were a dark purple.

"How do you know my name?" I asked, scowling.

"I'm Thorne... Bristle's sister."

Wait...

WHAT!?

Bristle had a sister!?

My jaw dropped as I stared at her, unsure of what to do. Was she good? Bad?

I lowered my guard a little.

She nodded to me before she spoke. "Something tells me we're gonna wanna drink for this."

"My sentiments exactly." I said, lowering the chair.

She smiled softly as she picked up her helmet. "Onyx, come on in. It's safe. Let's find someplace to sit and talk."

The group of steel-clad ponies and I ventured further into the warehouse, grabbing a few beers along the way. There weren't any signs of hostiles, and the place was surprisingly relatively clean!

I mean... for a building that hadn't had any physical contact for over 2 generations... allegedly. I had reason to believe this place had been forgotten long ago, judging by the thick layers of dust that covered the cold, dead machinery and flooring.

We made our way up to an office on the third floor, and as I walked up the stairs with the others, I observed the new visitor referred to as 'Onyx.'

She wore Enclave armor! And she was traveling with Steel Rangers! How was that even possible!? It wasn't just for protection, either. I took a good long look at the armor plated wings. There really was a pegasus in there!

Due to the electricity being shut off here for quite some time, the entire building was dark, but with my pipbuck light, and the headlamps on the rangers, we found our way quite easily.

We sat down in what appeared to be the manager's office, back when this building was still running.

The back of Thorne's armor opened, and the grey coated mare stepped out from her protection, walked around the mahogany desk, sat in the chair, and perched her rear hooves up on the desk's surface, regarding me coolly. Cobalt and Doofus - Dipshit - stood on both sides of her.

The pegasus stepped out from her armor and slipped a black cap on her head. The hat itself bore the mark of a set of a steel wings.

She had a few deep scars in her tan coat, along her chest and barrel. Some of them even went up to her neck.

The wasteland chewed you up too, huh...?

She had hazel eyes, and a red and white mane and tail. She was young. Too young to bearing the scars she wore.

Her wing tips faded into crimson.

Her cutiemark was that of a lit-up terminal with a series of binary code covering the screen.

Dipshit and Cobalt had also slipped out of their armor to rest their haunches and stretch from the tight confines of their suits.

Cobalt had a boulder with a pickaxe stabbed into the side for a cutiemark.

Dipshit - I couldn't believe I was referring to him as that - had a laser rifle as a cutiemark.

He had a dark green coat and a dark brown mane. His eyes; a mix between blue and grey.

"So..." Thorne began, cracking open a beer against the edge of the desk as she looked at me. I noticed her cutiemark was a bush made of barbed wire; its branches made of steel. "How did you escape?"

"Who said there had to be one?" I asked, taking one of the bottles I snatched from the bottom floor and slamming the cap against the corner of the desk, popping it off in one try. I pocketed the cap. Every little bit helped. Yet, the question remained on what I was going to spend all my caps on. Mercs? Guns and ammo? A means of travel?

She gave me a wry smile, before shaking her head and taking a few large gulps from her beverage. I sat down and had a few gulps myself.

Hey, this was actually pretty good! Always loved a good stout.

She swallowed the contents in her mouth before speaking.

"You and I both know Bristle. He wouldn't let you just leave so easily." She twisted her hoof around in the air as she rolled her eyes. "Hell, it was a challenge for me alone to get out of that bunker, and I'm his sister."

I nodded and sighed.

"So, I'll ask again." She gave me a stern look as she spoke in a harsh tone. "How did you escape?"

I took another few gulps from my beer and hung my head down as I replied, my eyes glued to the ground before me. "Through a series of bad life choices that define who I am today..."

The group remained silent for a moment, and looking up, I saw they were looking at one another in confusion. The only one that didn't look puzzled, and shared sympathy in their eyes, was Thorne. She understood.

"What matters is that you're free now." She replied softly. "They can't hurt you anymore."

"I heard stories of that there bunker." Cobalt started. "Can't imagine what horrors ya went through..."

"I know of one..." Thorne muttered, tapping her hoof against her head a few times as she looked at me. "Kinda, anyways..."

"You're referring to my missing horn." I stated matter-of-factly.

She balked a moment, before closing her mouth and raising a brow. "You know...?"

I nodded. "I don't know how I lost it, but I found out quite recently that I was a unicorn at one point in my life."

She looked down at the desk between us a moment and ran her hoof along the surface gently. "I remember you with a horn. You were adorable. But... I'm afraid I don't have the answer to its disappearance either."

I sighed and took another few gulps from my beer.

"I'm sorry... I wish I knew."

"I wish I did too." I finished off the bottle, tossed it against the ground, and watched as it shattered upon hitting the surface. I grabbed another bottle and popped it open on the edge of the desk. Another cap for my collection. "So... adorable, huh?" I smirked, blushing a little before taking a drink.

Thorne chuckled softly and finished off her drink. "You were a foal. Unfortunately, I took my leave about a month after you were born. Sticking around would have been the death of me."

I nodded slowly before gulping down about half of my second bottle. "So, what are you doing around these parts?"

Thorne smiled faintly before taking her rear hooves off the desk and leaning forward a bit. "My team and I go around the wasteland, searching for scrap. Salvage what we can. Anything worth selling, so long as ponies will buy from us."

"Reckon the armor don't help none, hoss." Cobalt stated, smiling at her commander.

Thorne looked over at her with that same smile. "You're probably right, but... it is great protection. That gauss rifle would've shot your head 50-some yards clear off your body if your helmet hadn't deflected the worst of it." She turned to me and continued while Cobalt quietly, yet clearly thought about the 'what if,' judging by how quickly her smile died, and how fast her eyes grew distant. "Couple days back, bunch of caravan ponies opened fire on us at first glance."

"Shoot first, ask question never type." Onyx stated. "Gotta love that..." She flexed her right wing a bit and groaned softly. "My wing is still sore from the shrapnel of that grenade."

"Turned out their guards were armed to the teeth." Dipshit filled in. We were still calling him that? Dipshit?

"We managed to pull out of there, but not without sustaining some injury." Thorne said, folding her forearms on the desk's surface as she looked at me. "I don't like the idea of wiping out caravaneers. We're all just trying to make a living. I can't live up to the ranger's reputation."

"I admire that." I smiled softly.

She nodded faintly, smiling again. "Thanks, kid." She leaned back in her chair and grabbed another beer beside her off the ground. "We came to this place cause it looked like it hadn't yet been picked clean. We've been having troubles with our salvage runs, as of late. We were gonna hit the house south next, if you wanted to join us." She cracked her beer open, and together, we drank.

"Actually..." I started shortly after gulping down the contents in my mouth. "My friends and I are staying there for a while."

She raised a brow out of curiosity. "You're not alone?"

I shook my head, to which she raised her bottle and smiled.

"Good on ya. Never travel alone. Here's to friends."

Her and I both drank.

After she finished about half her bottle, she pulled it away from her lips and continued in a faintly slurred tone. "The house is off limits, then. I can respect that."

I smiled with nothing short of relief. "Thank you." I finished off the bottle and tossed it in my pile of broken glass, adding to my collection. After my second bottle, I was starting to feel it.

I popped open another bottle, raised it to Thorne and her group, and drank.

"So what's up with the chair?" Onyx asked, stepping forward and observing the small metal box beside me. "I've never seen tech quite like this before."

I sighed as I looked at the disappointment that was my craft. I didn't want to keep looking at it as a chair, so I kept it in its compact box instead. "To be fair, it was supposed to be a lot bigger, badder, and deadlier than what it turned out being." My hoof began to crackle softly, catching everyone's attention.

"And what's up with the cybernetics?" Onyx continued to ask.

"Don't worry. It's safe." I looked down at it as it continued to emit the red electricity. "It's tied to my emotions, and right now, I'm..." I paused, gritting my teeth. As I continued, the electrical current grew a bit more. "... annoyed that I got a chair, instead of what I desired."

"And what did ya desire?" Cobalt asked.

"Something a lot bigger." I turned to her with a dead look in my eyes. "Something to destroy Bristle and his chapter."

Thorne and her team looked to one another in silence for a moment, before turning to me again. "You want to take on Bristle?"

I nodded. "Is that a problem?"

Thorne grinned. "Hell to the no. I've wanted that fucker dead since we were kids. And if it's all the same to you, I'd be honored if I was there to see him fall."

I grinned back as some small, cold part of me was filled with joy. "Welcome aboard."

She beamed at me for a moment before Onyx continued.

"So how did you get a metal hoof that conducts red electricity, exactly?" She raised a brow, regarding me.

I looked back calmly as I spoke. "I got it shortly after a tentacle ripped my hoof off. That was right before I got throat fucked by even more tentacles. Wriggling, writhing, whipping down my throat as they released their fluids within me. Went for my nostrils, too." I took a few large gulps of my beer to try and forget about how it all tasted.

The team looked at me with dropped jaws and knitted brows.

Onyx mouthed the word, 'tentacles...?' She looked beyond horrified with what she just heard.

Dipshit broke the brief silence among us. "Y-you're kidding... Right?"

I regarded the lot of them as I spoke calmly.

"Do any of you got a smoke?"

The team and I hauled a few crates full of beer as we made our way across the acreage of grassy plains, back to the two story hours. Three, if I counted the attic.

"Firebright still there?" Thorne asked, walking alongside me.

I nodded silently.

"How's she doing?"

"She's a cunt." My hoof flared up as I voiced the profanity.

Thorne went quiet for a long while after that. I felt a bit of tension grow between the two of us as all of us stayed silent in our journey back to the house.

Just as we were coming up to it, a thought occurred to me.

I spun my head around to Thorne hastily. "Would you, by any chance, happen to know of a Snow Star?"

"Snow Star?" She looked back at me behind her dark visor. "Snow Star... Snow Star... Hm... The name sounds familiar."

"She was a unicorn in the bunker. But she was banished. I've been trying to find her since."

"Oh boy..." She shook her head as she looked forward. "You do realize that if she was a unicorn banished from the bunker, then chances are she's dead."

"Maybe..." I said softly. "But I heard that she had gotten as far as Virtue all on her own. I have to try."

"Well..." Thorne paused. "Does this mare have a description to her?"

"White coat. Long, dark blue mane and tail. Probably cutiemarkless. Beautiful, crimson eyes. Does that ring a bell?"

She thought to herself a moment, before shaking her head slowly. "I'm sorry, I can't say that it does."

"Damn it..."

"But..." She continued. "If you need help with finding her, I can do what I can to help."

I raised a skeptical brow as I looked at her. "Are you sure you're related to Bristle? You're too nice to be related."

"Only by blood." She replied softly. "There's not much else there."

"HOLD IT!" Thunderwing shouted as I saw her fly over the roof of the house and land on the edge, keeping her rifles aimed down at the team. "Who sent you!?" She blurted, glaring down at them.

"Wait, Thunder!" I shouted, stepping up to the house. "Don't shoot! They're on our side!"

"Likely story! ANSWER MY QUESTION! WHO SENT YOU!?"

"T... Thunderwing...?" Onyx started to step forward.

"How do you know my name!? Did Bleeding Skies send you, that slippery fucking snake!?"

"Thunder, it's me!" Onyx shouted back, slowly removing her helmet to reveal her features. "It's me..."

She removed her helmet and set it down before her, and Thunder froze as her eyes grew wide in disbelief. "Wait... Onyx!? What in the bloody fuckin' hell are you doing here!? Are they sending my own friends to hunt me down now!?"

"N-no! No, no, no!" Onyx waved her forehooves as she shook her head. "I was on a recon mission, and we got ambushed by raiders. I was left for dead." She looked to her commander. "Thorne and her friends took me in and took care of me. I chose to stay on the surface. At least for a little bit longer." She turned back to the pegasus on the roof. "It's me, Thunder."

The Enclave fugitive turned her guns on the Steel Ranger outcasts, glaring them down. "And what about the lot of you? What's your excuse?"

The commander took a calm step forward as she continued. "My name is Thorne. I'm in charge of this group." She began to point at each individual team member of hers as she called them out. "That's Cobalt, Astral-"

"Ya mean Dipshit..." Cobalt muttered under her breath.

"Fuck you too..."

"And I guess you already know Onyx. I'm from the same bunker that Charger came from, but we're outcasts, just like him."

Thunder raised a brow as she glanced at me, then back at her. "Wait, you used to live in Bristle's bunker?"

She nodded. "I'm his sister."

Thunder slowly lowered her rifles as she continued to stare at them, softening her glare all the while. "And... you would know where the bunker is?"

She nodded again. "It's been a while, but yes. I have a general idea of where it is."

Thunderwing chuckled softly to herself as she flew down. "Well then..." She landed before the mare and reached out a hoof. They shook. "We got off to a bad start. My name's Thunderwing." She looked over at Onyx and stepped closer to her. "Sorry for... holding you at gunpoint. Thought you were to take me out or something."

"No. Never." Onyx wrapped a hoof around the Dashite and pulled her in for a warm embrace, which Thunder returned. "Unless it's out to dinner."

They both shared a small laugh for a moment.

"Missed you too, girl..." Thunder whispered in her ear.

"Thunder, for the love of Celestia..." Riot started as he stomped out through the front door of the house. "Destrier and I are trying to get some much needed rest after becoming the chew toy of a thousand starving ferals, so either shut the fuck up, or go scream somewhere el-" He stopped as he observed the new guests that quietly looked back at him. He looked at Thunderwing for a long moment, stammered as his mouth hung open, then turned around and walked back inside awkwardly, gently closing the front door behind him.

I turned to the Dashite shortly after, knowing exactly where this conversation was going to end up, and hating it just as much. But she was gonna find out sooner or later. "Hey... Thunder?"

She looked over curiously. "What?"

"We need to talk..."

"YOU MADE A FUCKING CHAIR!?" She shouted as we stood in the field, away from the house. She glared down at the metal chair between us, then back up at me, as if she couldn't believe her eyes. "YOU MADE. A FUCKING. CHAIR!"

"Hey, I'm not happy about this either. Alright?" I replied in a calm manner. "This wasn't my fault. Ha-er... Para distracted me by talking about sitting down or something. I didn't want this."

Thunderwing closed her eyes and hung her head down, taking a few deep breaths. "Okay... Okay. I hear what you're saying... Just... IT'S A CHAIR..." She spoke in disgust.

"Well, the silver lining is that some of the things I had in mind for my creation are built into it, therefore still making it a weapon. I was hoping it'd be bigger, but..." I shrugged, keeping my head down. I took a deep breath of the fresh air and closed my eyes. "Thunderwing..."

"Yeah...?"

"Do you think they died for nothing...?"

There was a brief silence before she answered quietly. "I sure hope not... They were like family to me..."

"Do you..." I paused, almost afraid to ask the question, in fear of the answer. "Do you blame me...?"

More silence.

"Partly. But... I also blame myself. I thought we could have handled it. I was wrong. As a leader, I should have had better judgement. I knew what we were walking into, but I still went through with it. I really thought we could all make it through. See, the difference between you and me as leaders is that you're not as experienced in being one. And you're relatively new to the surface. So you don't know as much as I do. I've seen that area of Portlandia before. So I knew... And instead of trying to stop us from walking into a trap, I ended up... paying the price. And now two of my friends are dead. We all nearly died..."

She shuddered softly for a moment, before I felt two hooves and wings tightly wrap around my body. Caught by surprise, I stiffened up a moment, before loosening a little and hugging her back. Her muzzle pressed into my mane as she sobbed.

"I forgive you, Charger... But I can never forgive myself..."

I gently stroked my hoof through her mane as we sat there in the field of green.

She nuzzled my neck gently, before sniffling and backing up a bit to rub her eyes free of the tears. She cleared her throat and looked at me, speaking in a broken tone of voice. "Thank you, Charger..."

"For what?" I asked, raising a brow.

"For being there for me."

I smiled wanly as I regarded her. "I'm glad to help, Thunder."

She let out a deep, shaky sigh as she closed her eyes and hung her head down. "Let's just hope this chair actually proves to be useful."

I nodded as I turned to the weapon. "It takes microfusion cells for ammo."

She smiled softly as she looked to me again. "Good to know. I'll give you some to work with when we get back." With that, she stood up and stretched her wings. "Let's get back there and start planning ahead on what we're gonna do next."

I stood up and mentally folded the chair back into its compartment. "Clearly, we need to."

I grabbed the box and proceeded back to the house, walking alongside Thunder. For a while, things between us were quiet. A good quiet, though. I didn't think there was any tension between us now. If there was, there wasn't a whole lot of it. We were starting to open up to each other more. We still had a ways to go, but we were making progress.

"Hey... Thunder?"

I suddenly felt a wing wrap around my back, and I looked over to see Thunder was smiling softly. I could tell she was still sad. But she was trying to shed light on a difficult time.

I glanced over my shoulder for a moment as her pinions lightly caressed my side.

"Hey, Charger?" She looked over and stepped closer to me. Our sides were lightly pressed up against each other.

"Uh..." I paused for a moment as my eyes stayed locked with hers. Eventually, I closed them and turned away. "Can I... tell you something?"

"Duh." She nudged my shoulder with a hoof.

I nodded and took a deep breath, trying to mentally prepare myself from not having a breakdown. "When I died... back at the weapons depot... I... I went somewhere."

She raised a brow as she looked at me. "Oh?"

"I saw the inside of the battery. I saw the souls trapped inside. And... well..." I hung my head down. "Do you think if the soul is left bare, we see someone for who they really are...? Like, who exactly they were in their former body?"

She looked up for a moment, pondering the idea. "I mean... it makes sense. Why?"

"... I'm a unicorn..." I muttered, before rubbing my eyes, trying to resist the burn of tears.

"Wait, what...?" She balked.

I stopped walking and looked at her. My heart was pounding...

She stopped and looked back at me, taking her wing off my back.

I sat on my haunches and whimpered, planting my face in both hooves. "When I was in the battery, I had a horn. And my talk with Thorne at the factory over there helped confirm that I was a unicorn." I pointed at the large building in the distance. "I was raised to believe that I was just a weak, sorry excuse of an earth pony. I don't know what happened to my horn, Thunder." I looked at her, on the edge of tears. "I don't know why I don't even have a scar, or anything that could hint that I'm a unicorn... But everywhere I turn for answers, I keep hitting dead ends! And I don't know what to-"

I was cut off when she unexpectedly put the tip of her hoof to my lips, and wrapped both wings around me.

"Shh..." She whispered, before pulling me closer to her.

My breath became shallow as my tears broke free. Damn it, I didn't want to be crying at the pony that needed the emotional support! Fuck! I couldn't even be a shoulder to cry on right!

I sobbed and shuddered uncontrollably as I wrapped both hooves around her tightly.

"I don't even know who I am!" I blurted behind snotty tears.

"One broken pony to another..." She whispered in my ear, before pulling away a bit to gaze into my eyes. "Make the most out of what ya got." Then, another surprise came as she gently placed her lips to my forehead for a moment, kissing softly. When she pulled away, there was a soft, caring smile on her features as she looked into my eyes.

I swallowed as I closed my eyes and shuddered, hanging my head down. I began wiping my tears away. I had to force myself to stop. This was something I needed to do in my own time. Not right now...

"I'm sorry you had to see that..." I chuckled faintly.

"You saw me cry. I'd say we're even." She smirked, tilting her head to the side a little. "You're all good, Charger. Based off what you just told me, I'd say you're handling this pretty well."

I looked over at the house in the distance and sighed. "Let's get back to the house. We have some planning to do."

About half a minute or so away from the house, the front door burst open, and Onyx ran out in a panic. She looked over at the two of us and shouted. "Get over here! Quick!"

The two of us wasted no time running the rest of the way. The closer I got, the more I started to notice a lot of shouting going on inside the house. And... one of the screams were that of a filly... in pain...

My hoof burst with electricity as fear grew for Fluky.

I rushed into the living room to see the group standing close to the walls or exits, while Fluky lied in the center of the living room, twisting around and screaming as black spewed from her lips.

No, no, NO!

Happy sat by her side, trying to hold her. He looked up at me in worry.

"IT HURTS!" She screamed as she flailed about.

I rushed to her other side. "What happened?" I asked, looking around in a panic.

"She was fine one second." Thorne stated. "She said she felt funny, then dropped and started screaming."

"Then that weird black stuff came out." Cobalt finished, grimacing.

The zebra was muttering something to himself in his native tongue, but I didn't know that language. It was forbidden in the bunker.

"Tuner, why is this happening?" I asked desperately as I observed her.

"Well, you infected her, for starters." He answered through the radio.

"Yeah, no shit!" A pebble struck me in the ear, and I glared at Happy. "But why is it hurting her?"

"I'm a DJ, not a doctor."

"Goddess fu-" Pebble. "Dam-" Pebble.

My hoof flared up more from the intrusions, and I slammed one of Happy's hooves as I glared at him further. "THANKS FOR NOTHING!" I looked down at Fluky and carefully slid my forehoof under her head. "You're gonna be okay. Just hang on."

"I can't!" She blurted as tears washed down her face, mixing in with the black and staining her coat. "It hurts!"

I looked up at Oku. "Do we have anymore of those health potions?"

He nodded, staring from me to her, to me again.

"Get me some."

He nodded again, then retreated for the room that Thunder and her team had been occupying for the past day.

I looked back down at the filly. "Hold on, Flukes. You're gonna be okay. I pro-"

Before I could finish my sentence, she heaved, and as more black oozed from her mouth, a set of tendrils slid out. She began screaming in terror, shaking as they whipped around violently.

"Sweet fucking Celestia!" Thorne blurted. Her and her team kept their guns on Fluky, but they didn't open fire. "Are those the tentacles you spoke of!?"

I shook my head before turning to Happy. "Hold her down!"

He nodded and pressed his forehooves down on her shoulders. She fought, screaming as more tentacles began sliding out of her. Tears soaked her face.

Despite the weather being clear outside a few minutes ago, I heard the rolls of thunder closing in. Lightning began to flash outside, and rain pounded against the house we resided in. The land outside grew dark.

"Hold still!" I shouted as I grabbed some of the tendrils. At once, they wrapped around my hooves, allowing me to pull on them easier.

Oku stepped back inside the living room carrying several health potions on his back, before stopping in the doorway, watching silently as I worked on removing the creature that was trapped within Fluky. His jaw dropped a moment before he started rambling in his native tongue, looking disturbed with what was displayed before him.

Within a manner of seconds, that same creature I regurgitated back in Saddle slid out from her throat. It writhed around, staying glued to my hoof. Fluky gasped for air, trying to back away from the tendrils that whipped around at her, hitting her in the face a few times.

Once I brought it out of reach, it diverted its course and started to run up my arm, shrieking.

I threw it against the wall, but once it hit the ground, it scurried off towards the rangers in a zig-zag motion, raising two tendrils up like that of a spider when it gave warning to back off.

The lot of them opened fire at the specimen. It didn't take very much for it to burn away from the weaponized laser energy.

The lot of us stared down at the fried pile of tentacles in silence for a short while, trying to collect our thoughts. Dipshit - otherwise known as Astral - broke the silence first.

"What in the hell just happened!?" Pebble. "What the fuck was that thing!?" Another pebble.

"A thing of nightmares." Thunder replied, looking at me with a flat stare. "You infected Fluky?"

"I-I didn't mean to!" I balked.

"Who else is infected?" Her brows knitted.

"Infected with what...?" Onyx asked with concern.

Happy grinned and raised a hoof. "Yo."

Thunder looked to him for a moment, before turning back to me. "Petiole too?"

I shook my head. "Not to my knowledge, but he's infected with something else. Hence the armor he never takes off. I think he's trying to keep it contained."

Thunder planted her face in a hoof and sighed. "If I find any of my team dripping black, or have tentacles coming out of them, I'm coming after you."

"What infection?" Onyx reiterated.

"It's complicated." Thunder and I both said simultaneously, still looking to one another.

I finally tore my eyes away to look down at Fluky as she whimpered. "I think it's over..." I said softly, caressing her cheek with a hoof.

She nodded, still whimpering as she looked up at me. I gently ran my hoof along her lips, wiping some of the black goo off her. "Do you need any health potions?"

She shook her head. "N-no... I think I'm okay."

I noticed that the storm outside was very short lived, for the rain had ceased completely, and the thunder and lightning were no more. The land outside was bright again.

I nodded. "Para, can you get her cleaned up?"

He nodded in response and helped her up, heading for the tub outside.

I sighed and looked at the surrounding party, before taking a seat on the couch. "I guess I have some explaining to do."

After a lengthy conversation about everything I had gone through in all the time I spent in the wasteland - including the not-so-fun experiences where I helped shoot up an entire settlement for a stupid generator - the party stared in bafflement, with the exception of Thunderwing, Riot, and Destrier.

Through my storytelling, I discovered my teeth were starting to ache for some reason...

My saddle bags rested on the floor next to the couch I sat on.

Happy and Fluky came in about halfway, but I had already gotten past the whole story of Saddle, so she didn't have to relive that whole moment again.

"So you blew up Saddle by detonating a Stable's nuclear reactor?" Thorne asked, raising a brow.

"Forget that!" Cobalt exclaimed. "There's another you out there, walkin' 'round with static eyes!?"

"I'm more curious on your death." Onyx filled in. "And your experience with the others in this... battery..." She looked to Para's radio.

"He is cursed." Oku stated. "Cursed from the stars."

Thorne rolled her eyes and shook her head, looking at Cobalt and tapping a forehoof to her temple. She crossed her eyes and let her tongue hang out from her mouth.

Oku looked over, glaring. "You ponies are all the same. Ignorant. Skeptics. But I mean what I say when the stars have ill intent on us and want nothing more than to see us dead as a whole. They helped kill our world off a few times now. They helped with the day of fire, but they know they failed their main goal. And now they're sending their plagues on us." He pointed at the dead creature that remained on the living room floor.

"What tribe are you again?" Thorne smiled mirthlessly as she regarded him again. "Propoli? Mendi? Starkatteri?"

Oku gasped, before glaring at her. "Achu."

"Bless you." Happy smirked, to which Oku turned his glare on him. "What? It sounded like you sneezed."

He turned back to Thorne, purposefully ignoring Happy's statement. "I resent you thinking of me as Starkatteri. They are a blight on this world."

"They're all the same to me." Thorne muttered, biting her lip in frustration.

"Enough." I stood up quickly, glaring at her. "You're not better than Bristle if you treat zebras like a lesser being."

Thorne tensed up as she regarded me, but then sighed and nodded. "Yeah... Right." She turned back to Oku. "Sorry. Just... our past history and all..."

Oku softened his glare and nodded. "I understand." He held out a hoof. "Can we make peace?"

She took his hoof and shook it gently. "Yes."

He smiled softly before turning to me. "I suppose I am cursed, too."

"What makes you say that?" I tilted my head, raising a brow.

"Because I have heard what the messengers of the stars, and the demons that serve them have had to say."

"Messenger of the stars?"

"I think he's referring to you." Thunderwing stated, looking at me.

"Oh... I'm just a normal pony."

"Cause normal is when you have tentacles as a physical part of you." She smiled faintly, though I could tell she was still rather disturbed.

"I was also referring to the one you call Hollow." Oku filled in. "She is... different. Even from you."

"She is rather strange..." I muttered. "What do you know about her?"

"Not very much. But she had helped me on my journey to the west. She has the horn of a unicorn, but the skill of an Achu fighter."

"Bless you." Happy grinned.

Oku deadpanned at him for a moment, before continuing. "Do not disrespect the name of my tribe. Know where your words lie."

I turned to the wingless pegasus and tapped his shoulder. "No more of that."

He shrugged, but kept his smile up.

I turned back to Oku. "Regardless, it's interesting... Have you seen under her armor?"

He shook his head. "No. She's yet to show her true self to me. And you, it seems. She's been helpful, but to fully trust someone, they must first remove their masks."

I nodded in agreement.

Thorne began rubbing her chin, looking down as her brows knitted.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Hm?" She looked up at me and put her hoof down. "Oh, nothing. Just... thinking." She smiled faintly. "Alright, so what are we gonna do with this Bristle situation? It sounds like he wants that battery really bad. And if it's really as bad as you say it is, then we need to make sure he never gets his hooves on it."

"So you're on board on trying to wipe his chapter out?" Thunder grinned.

Thorne looked over and smirked. "I've always wanted to kill him, but now I have more reason to do it. It's not just a revenge kick now. It's for the fate of Equus." She turned her smile over to me.

I sat back down on the couch, looking at Thunderwing. "I think we should wait... We need more resources before we push for something like that..." I hung my head down. "We made the mistake of going into something big unprepared yesterday, and it almost cost us everything. Two of Thunder's team were killed. Fluky almost got killed... and now she's infected with a virus that's doing Celestia knows what to her..."

Thunder frowned and hung her head down, and Fluky curled up in a ball, looking away from me. She was holding her teddy bear close to her chest.

"We need to wait until we know we're ready to take Bristle on."

Thorne nodded. "We're ready whenever you are. No matter how long it takes. We can wait."

I nodded back. "Thank you."

"I am willing to help." Oku stated.

"Great." I stood up once more to stretch. "Let's follow up on this tomorrow. Give ourselves some time to brainstorm."

"Sounds like a plan." Thorne said, before making her way outside. Her team began to follow, with the exception of Onyx, who stared at my saddle bags.

Happy and Fluky went upstairs to the bedroom that she had occupied, and Riot helped navigate Destrier back to the infirmary Oku had prepared for them in the other room.

All that remained was me, Thunderwing, and her friend, Onyx. Thunder looked at her, then at me, before going to her again.

"What's wrong?"

She pointed a hoof at my bags. "What's up with the glow?"

I looked down to see there was a soft white glow emanating from within. I opened the flap and pulled out the memory orb that was given to me in Virtue, from Para. Presumably the same memory orb I had found in the safe in Saddle.

"Oh!" She quickly trotted up to me. "Can I see that? I found a little trick out about these things. A way for all races to be able to see into these, instead of just unicorns."

I handed it over, and she began to fish around in her saddle bags, until she pulled out a headpiece.

"This is probably a stupid question, but have you already seen inside?" She asked as she tampered with the two devices.

"No."

"Do you want to?" She looked up at me, all while keeping her head down.

"Yes."

"Then today is your lucky day." She beamed at me. "Hold still." With that, she slid the headset on me and pulled out a small tablet from her bags, before clicking on the screen a few times. "You may wanna lay down." She smiled sheepishly. "Entering these things kinda makes you black out."

I got back on the couch and did as I was recommended. She looked back down at her tablet, typing something in.

"Okay... we got a hoofshake. Everything's synced. You ready?"

"Is this safe...?" Thunder asked, stepping up beside her.

She snorted and looked over at her friend. "Did you forget who I am while you've been down here?"

Thunder rubbed her hoof nervously as she sat down beside her. "Right... Sorry."

"You worry too much." Onyx said, booping her muzzle with a hoof before going back to the tablet. "Alright, Charger. You ready? You won't be able to leave the memory orb until the memory is finished playing. You're going to feel everything the pony that owned this memory felt at this time. Usually it's something like an every day activity. Sometimes it's a sex trip. Sometimes, a government conspiracy. The lack of labels makes it a mystery." She bit her lip nervously. "Though... I've heard rumors that some people never wake up when they enter them. Some sort of trap that puts them in a coma or something... I haven't come across it myself, but... I could see something like that existing." She looked at me for a moment in worry. "Are... you sure you wanna do this?"

I nodded, remembering the note that was labeled 'Happy' underneath the orb when I first found it. If this was the same orb, then it wasn't a trap. "Yeah, I'm ready... Let's do this."

Thunder and her looked to each other for a moment, before Onyx took a deep breath and hit a button on her tablet.

"Here we go..." She muttered.

The world went black as my body warped to another place in another time. My body; morphing into a different size and shape.

I found myself in the body of a pegasus. A wingless pegasus, actually. I could feel the bandaged stubs. That right there was a dead giveaway on whose body I was occupying in this memory.

He wore a black overcoat that I had only seen in wanted posters, but there wasn't a hat to accompany him.

The landscape was a dark red, and the sky, the color of blood. There was a harmonious choir that bellowed across the decayed landscape.

A strong wind rushed past not just the body, but the soul itself. Had I been in my own body, my skin may as well have crawled just from the feeling.

The trees were dead and withered; nothing more than brittle bones of that which once held a beauty.

Everything was wrong here. More wrong than the wasteland, and that was saying something.

Yet... at the same time, this all seemed familiar.

Had I not encountered a similar sight back in Saddle, after I had my guts torn open from a machine?

My host was focused on a shack not so far away from where he stood. It was in shambles, but the doors and windows had been boarded up. A long time ago, by the looks of it.

He began to trot towards the structure calmly. I could feel a grin creep up on his face. While I could feel what he felt, I couldn't hear what he was thinking. I guess memory orbs didn't work that way.

He began to hum the tune to the little song he sang the first time I saw him kill someone. He came to a stop at the door, before gently tapping on it with a hoof, which I had just noticed was covered in the blood of someone else.

"Come on out!" He said in a cheerful tone. "You're missing the wonderful weather!"

"Piss off!" A mare from within the confines the walls offered shouted.

At once, several gunshots pierced through the wooden door he stood before. A sharp pain grew in my shoulder, but he didn't flinch or show any sign of pain whatsoever. But Goddess damn, did it hurt!

"Don't yell." Happy said, keeping his smile up. "It's rude." He continued to knock on the door, before speaking again. "You have something of mine, and I'd very much like it back."

"Stay the fuck away from me, you psychopath!" The mare inside the small, boarded up shack shouted behind hot tears. "Just leave me alone!"

Happy paused for a moment, before looking up at the blood sky. The vortex I had seen way back in Saddle hovered in the distance, but I didn't see nearly as many of those white orbs of light getting sucked in as I did the first time I had witnessed it. It was gradually crawling closer to Happy's destination, and I began to notice the haunting choir that I initially thought was the wind rushing past was growing louder too.

He looked back at the door as he placed his hoof gently upon its surface. His smile faltered as he spoke. "You're suffering. I can relieve you of your pain. Let me help you feel happy again."

At once, he repeatedly slammed his hooves against the door. With each blow, splinters flew off the barrier that kept him from the terrified pony inside.

She cried out as he began breaking through. I could see her through the cracks; a silver coated mare with a rifle aimed at the entrance. Or exit, in her case.

Blood had stained her coat and light purple mane, and I took notice that she was bleeding from her rear left hoof.

"SWEET CELESTIA, JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed as tears washed down her face.

Once the door was weakened enough, he rammed his body through and stood in the doorway. Wooden chips lied around him that once resembled the planks that helped fortify the door he just obliterated.

Bullets whizzed past, but in her panic, none of them hit her target. Her gun clicked after the fourth pull of the trigger, but despite the lack of ammo, she tried relentlessly to blast Happy with lead.

Meanwhile, he remained in the doorway, smiling at her. "Don't worry." He spoke softly as he approached in a calm manner.

"No..." She threw the rifle at him and backed up against the wall. The rifle slid along the ground before stopping at his hooves. He proceeded to step over it. "Just leave me alone..."

"The worst part is over..." His grin widened as he regarded her. Her pale pink eyes looked into his as tears continued to flow.

"Why are you doing this?"

"It's why I'm here." He responded simply.

She lunged herself off the wall and began to dart past him for the exit, but before I could even register, he grabbed her by the neck with one hoof and slammed her down into the ground. She choked and gasped for air as her windpipe had been crushed, holding her throat with both hooves. Blood spewed from her lips as she lied there, struggling to move or breathe.

She whimpered and cried out as Happy caressed the side of her face, wiping some of the blood from his hoof onto her coat. He inched closer to her muzzle.

"Shhh..." He whispered with a soft smile. "All I really need's a smile, smile, smile." He said in a soft, singing tone. "Fill my heart up with sunshine, sunshine." He grabbed a broken shard of glass off the floor and pressed the edge to the corner of her mouth, moving up her cheek as he sawed through her face. "All I really need's a smile, smile, smile from all these happy friends of miiiine!" He continued to sing as she cried out in pain. Blood leaked from the large gash in her cheek.

He stopped cutting through her cheek - and evidently, some of her tongue - when he reached her temple. By then, he moved on to the other side. Shortly after, did her eyes grow distant, and her body still. Her voice ceased, and she went limp.

He proceeded to hum the tune to the song he was singing earlier, all the while.

When he reached the temple on the other side of her head, he dropped the shard that her blood dripped from and observed his handiwork with a proud smile of his own. He pulled out a yellow smiley face sticker and pressed it to her chest after.

His attention went to a corner of the room, where a severely damaged set of bloodstained leather barding sat.

The choir was rising, and he looked back down at her as a white orb began to slowly rise from her chest and ascend to the ceiling. He patted her lifeless body on the shoulder and stood up on all fours, before making his way to the armor.

Lying beside it, on the aged wood-planked flooring was a bronze compass. He opened the lid, still humming softly to himself. The needle was pointing east, roughly.

He picked it up and held it in one hoof, still observing it. At that moment, the needle went up a bit, pointing him off to the northeast.

He closed the compass, stored it safely in a pocket in his black overcoat, and looked up as the orb began to phase through the ceiling.

"I'm almost there."

I awoke on the couch, and opening my eyes, I stared up at the ceiling. Thunderwing was gone, but Onyx stayed, keeping an eye on the instruments to make sure everything was working right.

I noticed my teeth weren't aching anymore.

I took the device off my head and reached it out to her. She took it and began putting her equipment back in her bags.

"Well, that was..." I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "Needlessly graphic..."

"What did you see?" She asked, looking me over.

I rubbed the back of my neck and hung my head down, sighing. "Nothing good... Do you know anything about the Killer Grin? Happy?"

She raised a brow. "Should I?"

"If you're down here with the rest of us, then you may as well." I looked back at her as I leaned my back against the couch. "Happy is-"

"Uh, wait... Hold on..." She moved closer to me, looking down at my mouth. "Can you open?"

"Why?"

"Just really quick... I thought I saw something..."

Hesitantly, I opened my mouth, and she used her hooves to move my lips away from my teeth.

"Hm... That's odd." She backed up, looking back up into my eyes as she took her hooves off me.

"What's odd?" I gave her a weird look.

"You have fangs."

"I do?" I used my tongue to feel around my teeth, and low and behold, there they were. Two fangs on my upper row of teeth. "Where did those come from?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." She shrugged.

Happy trotted down the stairs, glancing at Onyx and I. He nodded to us with a smile, before leaving the house.

I'd have to figure out the fang thing later... The sooner I warned wasteland newbies about the Killer Grin, the better chance they had at surviving.

I shook my head and closed my eyes. "Nevermind that right now. Back on topic. The Killer Grin is a psychopath from before the bombs. But he survived, and he's still out there... Somewhere. Still killing ponies. He's dangerous. And if you see him, then run the other way. Or better yet, fly."

"I don't even know what he looks like."

"There's wanted posters all over the northwest of him. Won't be hard to find one."

"You seem scared of him." She replied, keeping her eyes on mine.

"After what I just saw... I have every right to be. Everything was in disorder and chaos. And I witnessed one of his victims." I shuddered and closed my eyes, holding myself.

"Hey, hey now." She patted me on the back. "You're okay." She paused as she slowly took her arm off me, then resumed. "The Enclave don't really focus too much on anything the surface has to offer, so it's no real surprise I never heard of him. But, I mean... All ponies are dangerous killers now. That's just life..."

Thunderwing trotted in from the infirmary, looking at her friend. "Onyx, do you have a minute? I need help with something."

Onyx looked back and nodded. "Yeah, of course." She got up and looked back at me. "You gonna be okay, Charger?"

I nodded and gave her a forced smile. "Yeah. Don't worry about me. I'm fine."

Hesitantly, she nodded back and trotted over to Thunder. They disappeared back into the infirmary. I still didn't know what that room was originally. I didn't bother looking.

I wasn't going to find out at this exact moment, either. I was gonna give them their privacy.

I stood up and stretched, before heading for the front door. Upon opening it, I began to trot out, but I was stopped dead in my tracks when I discovered Happy waiting on the other side, looking into my eyes. His lips were curled into a mischievous smirk.

"W-what are you doing, Happy?" I kept my volume low.

He nodded his head to his right before walking in the same direction. Warily, I followed close behind.

The sun was starting to tuck itself underneath the vast ocean in the distance. How long was I out?

"I take it you've seen the memory orb?" He asked calmly, glancing back at me.

"I... yeah, why?"

"It means you're ready." We walked across the field towards the cliffside.

"Ready for what?"

There was silence for a moment between us, but as we stopped at the edge of the cliff, looking down at the ocean as it slammed mercilessly against the rocks below, he started again.

"It certainly is a lovely sight." He sat down, watching the sunset.

I sat beside him, looking around. "Happy..."

"Hm?" He tilted his head to me a little, but kept his eyes locked on the view.

"What exactly do you see...?"

He scoffed and shook his head.

"What color is the sk-"

"What do you think you saw in that memory orb?" Happy interrupted.

"I saw needless killing." I said quickly; my brows knitting. "I saw one of your victims, and what you do to them. I saw a decayed landsc-"

"We are saviors." Happy replied back hastily. "How can you not see that we are ridding this world of pain? Do not be like them, Charger." He turned to me finally, gritting his teeth. "It is by our hooves that we make this world better."

"Torturing and killing ponies isn't making the world better, Happy." I snapped. My hoof began to build up a charge. "It's making things worse."

"Open your eyes. The rest of the world is asleep. Don't be like them." He glared at me. "We have a job to do. So wake up, and get to work."

I rolled my eyes and looked away from him, trying to ignore all this bullshit. "Why did you bring me out here? So you can kill me, too?"

He paused, and looking back at him upon no response, his look softened. "Charger... No." He sighed and put a hoof on my shoulder, looking into my eyes and smiling softly. "We need each other." He shook his head. "I don't kill, for the record. I release ponies from their pain. I make them happy. And no. I didn't bring you out here to release you. Not yet. You have a job to do, as do I. No..." He reached into his pocket and pulled the compass out. He held it out to me. "I brought you out here for this. It's of no use to me now."

Reluctantly, I took the compass and opened the lid. The needle pointed off roughly to the east, despite facing west.

"Well, what does it do? It's obvious by now it's not a normal compass. What is it pointing me towards?"

Happy smiled brighter as he regarded me. "What you seek. What you truly seek."

I looked back down at the compass.

East...

There were only three things I knew of that I was looking for. Bristle, the bunker, and Snow Star. But what was I seeking out the most...? I didn't rightly know...

But the compass did.

I looked back up at Happy. "I have a question..."

"Shoot."

"What is that vortex in the sky?"

He looked up over the ocean for a long while, before returning to me. "I'm afraid I don't have the answer to that question. I've never really looked too deep into it. It just follows me around sometimes. I help it. It helps me." He looked over his shoulder soon after. "Heya, Fluky!"

I looked behind me to see Fluky approaching us slowly and quietly. Happy waved at her, and she smiled softly at him.

She sat between Happy and I, looking out at the ocean that reflected the sun's light across its tide.

Happy wrapped an arm around her shoulder and placed a kiss atop her head.

Fluky smiled a little more at the contact, before looking up at him. "Hey, Para... Can I have some time alone with Robutt? I need to talk to him..."

He paused for a moment, looking from me to her, to me again. "Yeah, of course." He stood up and stretched. "Take it easy, Fluky." He patted her on the head and trotted back to the house.

I placed the compass to my left, away from her sight.

Her eyes stayed locked with mine for a long while. Nothing was said between us. We just... stared at each other.

I opened my mouth to say something after what felt like a minute had gone by. "Fluky, I-"

"Shh..." She moved closer and put her hoof to my lips. "Please..." She spoke in whispers, keeping her eyes on mine all the while. I noticed they were starting to well up with pent up tears.

I ran my hooves along her shoulders as I kept my eyes on hers, and her lips began to tremble. I knew what was coming.

I pulled her in, pressing her to my chest, and at that exact moment, she broke down. Her hooves wrapped tightly around my form, clinging to me as if her life depended on it.

I put one hoof on the back of her head, while the other stayed around her back. "Let it out..." I whispered; my muzzle pressed to the top of her head.

Her shoulders bounced with each sob, and I noticed her inhales sounded labored. "Slow breaths, slow breaths..."

I lost track of how long we sat there, holding each other, but by the time Fluky had started to gradually calm down, a little more than half of the sun was underneath the ocean.

"Am..." She sniffled and pulled her snotty muzzle off my chest, looking apologetic for a moment once she noticed she stained my coat. "Am I really infected with whatever that... thing was inside me...? Is it true you really infected me...?"

I sighed and looked down at her. "I'm so sorry, Fluky... I never meant for this to happen. I swear." My answer was starting to make her quiver as she held back another wave of tears. "I don't know for sure if you're actually infected. Have you felt you needed to puke a lot lately?"

She thought for a moment, before shaking her head. "N-no..."

I smiled softly and caressed her cheek with a hoof. "Then let's look at that as a good omen. Alright?"

"M-mhm..." She nodded faintly and looked down at my chest, wiping her hooves along the snot-stained area. She giggled softly and shook her head. "I'm sorry I made a mess. This whole thing was just silly."

I put a hoof underneath her chin and lifted her head up to have her look me in the eyes. "No, Flukes. Your feelings are never silly."

She froze for a moment as she regarded me, blushing a little. "D-don't call me that..." She looked as if she were contemplating something, before sitting up straight, wrapping her forehooves around the back of my neck, and placing her lips against my cheek. She pulled away after a few seconds, smiling softly.

I smiled back at her and patted her on the head as she looked up at me.

She looked down at the ground, and her horn lit up faintly. That same aura of magic grew around her saddle bags, and after about five seconds, the flaps were folded back. Two Everfrees were slowly levitated out. Every so often, her telekinetic grasp would slip, and the bottles would plummet back down, but she managed to catch it before that happened.

She levitated one bottle of the stout to me, before it plopped down on the ground at my hooves, and dropped the other to my right, before taking a seat there. She nuzzled my side as she sat there, staying close to me.

"Your magic is getting better." I stated.

"I've been trying to teach myself for some time. Petiole's been helping me since we arrived here. While he was here, I mean." She pulled the teddy bear from Stable 32 out of her saddle bags and snuggled with it.

"Petiole... the racist." I chuckled and shook my head. "I'm glad he's helping you out with that. Bit of an unusual choice in terms of help, but I won't judge."

She levitated her bottle and closed her eyes, gritting her teeth. "Come on... Open already." She muttered behind clenched teeth. Sweat began to form on her brow, and she slumped over, giving a resigned sigh as the bottle fell from her grasp.

I picked up my bottle and smiled over at her. "You know what this is, right?"

She glanced at the bottle, then looked at me. "Isn't it a soda?"

I chuckled softly and pressed the cap against the edge of my metal hoof, before slamming down on it and popping it open. I held it out to her. "Try a sip."

She took the bottle with both hooves, examined it and its label, then took a sniff at the top. She scrunched her muzzle and backed away from it a bit. "Whoa... It smells funny."

"Just try it. It's safe."

She looked to me, then back at the bottle before taking a small sip from it. Her eyes went wide, and she pulled away, holding the bottle out as she spat and shuddered. "Blegh! What is that nasty stuff!? I didn't know it was possible for soda to go bad!"

I took the bottle from her, laughing softly at her reaction. I took a few gulps from it.

"How are you drinking that disgusting stuff?" She balked.

"It ain't soda." I responded softly, smiling at her. "It's beer. Glorious, delicious beer."

"There's something wrong with your taste buds then. Is that something that happens to adults? You all just become dummies when it comes to flavor?"

I laughed a little. "Yeah, perhaps. I thought you knew what alcohol was, though. Back at the motel in Saddle, you gave me a bottle to either drink or use on my injuries."

"Beer bottles are different..." A look of regret grew on her features, and her ears wilted as she turned to watch the sunset. "I'm... sorry for saying that stuff to you, Robutt."

"Don't call me that." I smirked.

She looked over, but upon seeing my expression, she smirked back and lightly pushed my shoulder with both hooves. "Never." She paused and looked back across the ocean. "I don't mean all the things I said to you back there. All my thoughts. Me wanting you dead... I take it all back. You're a good pony. You're a butt. But you're still good. It'll take me some time to forgive you, but... I don't want to hold a grudge anymore..."

I sighed as regret washed over me. "Fluky, I'm not good... I've done things. I don't deserve forgiveness. From anypony."

She looked up at me. "Petiole told me what you had to do, back at the bunker. I most certainly don't agree with it, but I'm not sure it makes you bad. You were just trying to stay alive. You're a good pony that was put through an unfortunate situation."

"Fluky, please don't... Don't treat me like I'm the victim. Face it... I'm a monster."

"I thought so too, at first. But I'm starting to see you for who you really are now. You're just as much a victim as the ponies you've killed. So long as you don't have any intention of needless killings like at the bunker, then that's what matters."

"Of course I don't..." I looked down at her, to which she nodded.

"Then you're alright." She scooted closer to me and leaned her head against my side. I wrapped my right forehoof around her shoulder.

For the rest of the day, we sat there together on the cliffside; watching the sun descend into the ocean. Admiring the beautiful view that most ponies probably haven't seen in all of two generations. We didn't say much to each other from there. We mostly just seemed comfortable with each other's company.

For the first time in quite some time, both our days ended on a good note.

Together.

Author's Notes:

I hope this chapter gives some enjoyment in these trying times. Stay safe out there, everyone. And for the love of God, STOP BUYING ALL THE TOILET PAPER!

Special thanks to Kkat for FoE (SHE'S BACK, EVERYONE!), Somber for PH, Mick Gordon for much inspiration on my writing (the new Doom soundtrack is orgasmic), Nylten for the artwork, though she's been having troubles lately, what with this whole disaster and work and stuff. Alchestbreach for radio hating, and all of you readers out there who've been giving some feedback on Radio Static. It's made me really happy to see this story grow. Thank each and every one of you. I even got two coworkers at my workplace reading this now!

Stay safe, everypony. We'll get through this.