It's really more of a cave. But he's fixed the place up so much that it feels like a house.

My stomach was pressed against a cold, metal surface under my own weight. The air was cold and still, and I heard the soft hum of electricity echo throughout the room I was in, giving me the idea that this place was big.

I cracked my eyes open to find this place was dimly lit. To my left and right were a variety of shelves and lockers filled with electronic equipment and gear. Turning around, I found a door at the end. Above it was the Steel Rangers logo, painted in white.

Did they... capture me...? Was I back in the bunker? Why was I here!?

I got up and ran for the exit as my heart pounded in my chest and pulled against the door handle, but it was locked tight...

"Hey!" I shouted. "Let me out of here!" I pounded my hooves against the door, before ramming my shoulder against it. "I know you can hear me! Let me out!"

"Well, I don't know if they can hear you." A certain, optimistic serial killer said softly. "But I sure can."

I turned around to see Happy standing there, smiling softly at me as he leaned against a metal shelf.

"I'll have to ask you to stop yelling. It's rude."

"What are you doing here...?"

"Me?" He raised a brow. "Well, this is sort of my second home." He pushed his weight off the shelf and started to come towards me in a calm, dancing motion. "What are you doing here?" He proceeded to point a wing at me, and I noticed a cigarette was tucked between his pinion. He took a long pull off it before continuing. "I never invited you. And I certainly didn't request this scenery. That's you." He pointed the cigarette at me. "It's just so..." He paused and looked around him as he continued making his way closer. "Doom and gloom..."

I froze for a moment as I stared at his wings, then looked back at my rear hoof to find it was organic again. My original.

I traced my forehoof along the top of my head to be greeted with a horn.

I was in the battery again...

I died?

"Where is Tuner?" I asked calmly, regarding him again.

Happy's smile widened a little. "Right this way." With that, he turned around and started walking deeper into the massive storage room, swaying his body a little, as if moving to the beat of a song.

We walked for a while in complete silence, before I started to hear a song play down one of the aisles abruptly. One from Tuner's inter dimensional playlist, probably. That seemed to be what he usually played. I personally didn't recognize the tune.

Happy stopped at the end of an aisle, then turned to me with a smile, before nodding to where the music was coming from.

I stepped in to find Tuner lying on a crate he had pulled from a bottom shelf, looking up at the ceiling as he bobbed his head to the beat; his rear legs crossed with each other.

Just then, did the singer start. He moved his lips with the words as I approached.

Follow me, don't follow me

I've got my spine, I've got my orange crush

Collar me, don't collar me

I've got my spine, I've got my orange crush

Tuner sat up and looked at me as he cracked a smile.

"Tuner, I need to talk to-"

We are agents of the free

"T-Tuner, c-"

I've had my fun, and now it's time to serve your conscience overseas

Comin' in fast, over me

"Tuner, seriou-"

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

"Tuner!"

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

The steady beat of the guitar started to go without any singing, and I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and hanging my head down. I was too tired for this...

"Tuner, can we seriously just stop this and talk? I don't want to yell or anything... But I really need to talk to you. So please, can we just-"

Follow me, don't follow me

I've got my spine, I've got my orange crush

Collar me, don't collar me

I looked back up at him, getting more and more frustrated that he wasn't taking this seriously. I half expected to hear the crackling of electricity.

Then, as he looked down at me, two cylinder containers popped up into thin air from his magic; one was green and yellow, and the other was orange. They both had a specific design to them.

I read the labels of the capsules as he spoke the lyrics, instead of lip singing them, though I felt he made it up a bit as he went along.

"I've got my Sprite, I've got my Orange Crush." He gave me a grin, but I stared at him flatly, before glancing at the two items he conjured up.

"Ah, come now, Charger." He hopped off the crate and blinked once as the can that read 'Sprite' vanished, and the Orange Crush can opened with a hiss of escaped carbonation, to which the music stopped. He wrapped a hoof around the back of my neck, looking deep into my eyes. "Laugh a little." He said before taking a sip of whatever was inside. "Ya want some agent orange?" He jiggled the can a little, keeping his grin up. "I mixed it with a nice, lethal substance called 'Napalm.' Tastes wonderful when you're already dead." He winked afterwards.

I took his hoof off me, keeping my eyes locked on his. "Why are we in a storage room back in the bunker, if I don't remember this place?"

He gave a soft sigh as he regarded me, blinking the drink away. "Chargie, Chargie, Chargie..." He shook his head as he clicked his tongue. "You have lots to learn. Perhaps Petiole can teach you more about it than I, but... just because you can't remember it, doesn't mean it's not buried in your mind somewhere. I assure you, you were here once. You just can't remember it."

"When was I here?" I asked, looking around the scenery. "There's no way I could have been here. Unicorns... and I... we weren't allowed in storage rooms. We had to-"

"Yes, yes, I know." Tuner rolled his eyes. "Sign paperwork to request parts to use for repairing sections of the bunker, cause your earth pony psychopaths were freaked out at the idea that you unicorns would use the parts to slowly build up an arsenal and fight back if you were granted free access to the storage rooms."

"So...?" I gave him a questioning look, to which he shrugged.

"So?"

"So why do I supposedly have a memory of a bunker's storage room, if I have no recollection of being in one?" I asked, glaring.

"Now, that's the million cap question. The missing piece to the entire puzzle. But once it's found, the picture will be complete." Tuner smiled as he patted me on the back. "If you truly want the answer to that question, you're gonna have to go back to the bunker."

I sighed and sat down. "Not yet... I still have things I need to do before I go there..."

He sat down before me and spread his arms out silently. His smile became warm and welcoming...

I scooted closer and wrapped my arms around him tight, closing my eyes as my chin rested on his shoulder.

"Tuner..."

"Yes, Charger?" He whispered.

"Am I a bad pony?"

There was a moment of silence, and I opened my eyes, worried. Just as I did, he responded.

"No..." He paused. "You're not bad. You've just made mistakes..."

"What I did to that colt-"

"Was not your doing." He interrupted harshly. "You had no control over that... And I'm sorry that happened. For both of you."

I felt myself begin to shake as I closed my eyes again, shuddering under my breath. "I need all the evil to just... stop..."

One of his forehooves ran down my spine gently, before going back to the top and starting over. "You live in a world that's been consumed by evil, Charger... It's never going to stop..."

I froze for a long moment, before nodding slowly. "I... I know..." I squeezed him a little tighter, just for a moment, and continued. "I won't let it consume me... not again... I can't..." I paused and shuddered just from the thought I was having. "What happened to that colt... That almost happened to Fluky... If I lost her, I'm afraid I'd lose myself, too..."

I felt his muzzle press to my ear lightly, and his soft breath brushed past my fur, making my ear flick instinctively. "Then make sure you never lose her..." He whispered softly.

"That's easier said than done..." I muttered.

"But you got what it takes to keep her safe." He replied. I turned my head to him to find he was smiling softly. Our eyes met; our muzzle inches from each other. "I believe in you, Charger. It's time for you to believe in yourself."

I sighed, closed my eyes, and nodded.

"Midnight Skies is wondering why you haven't told Fluky about her, yet. She really wants another friend around her age."

I looked back at him. "I'll try and remember this time."

"If you don't, I'll send more hints to Para to do it for you."

I felt my spirit start to be pulled as we looked at each other, holding one another in our arms. Tuner's smile grew a bit as he regarded me.

"Get out of here, Chargie. There's a certain mare waiting for you in the real world."

I nodded and hugged him a bit tighter for a second, before letting go. "Thanks, Tuner..."

And with that, I felt myself get pulled away from the battery.

My back was pressed up to a hard surface. The place was dark though my eyelids, suggesting it was either night, or the sun's light was being blocked from something.

My body ached. My neck especially. But I could breathe. The taste of health potions coated my tongue.

My ear flicked to the sound of other ponies in the distance, conversing with one another. I heard waves, and I both tasted and smelled salt in the air.

There were a variety of blue blips on my E.F.S. It was nice to see nothing but friendlies again...

"Fuck..." I groaned, keeping my eyes shut.

I felt the presence of another tower over me, before a hoof caressed my cheek. I smiled softly at the contact and took her hoof in mine.

"Mm... Snow Star..."

"Not quite..."

I froze upon hearing the voice, before opening my eyes.

I had hoped that Snow Star would be the first sight my tired eyes would lay upon, after waking up from the dead. So when I saw a zebra mare with the most unusual stripes towering over me, her dark red eyes staring deep into mine, I jolted back as my hoof flared up. The stripes were the least I was focused on, once I saw she had the horn of a unicorn! How was that even possible!?

"W-who are you!?" I shouted, keeping my eyes locked on hers as she stood there calmly.

"You would know me as Hollow." She replied, regarding me coolly.

The black stripes around her light grey neck swirled around, almost taking the pattern of orbital paths of planets and moons, while the stripes over her face were thin, jagged, and horizontal, as were the ones around her limbs. The stripes that marked her barrel were vertical, starting at the spine, and the exact symbol of an orbital path with a big, black dot in the center marked her flank. Every smaller dot reserved a line that enclosed the center.

Her mane was cut short in a mohawk and had two shades of grey for a striped arrow pattern, pointing down at her face; one shade much lighter, and the other, darker. Her tail was closely cut to the base.

"Y-you're... Hollow...?"

She nodded slowly.

"But you're a unicorn... zebra..." I was getting a headache trying to fathom that... "How is that even possible!?"

Her eyes softened as she kept staring. "It's not so easy to explain." She took a few steps forward. "Don't raise your voice. It is in need of resting." She held out her hoof, and for a while, I stared down at it, completely baffled with what I was witnessing.

Eventually, I shook myself from the shock and took her hoof, to which she helped lift me up.

"Where's Snow Star?" I asked.

She raised a questioning brow, and I continued.

"I heard her just before I... went somewhere else. She's around here, I know it."

Her eyes grew sad as she looked on, and shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry, Charger. Snow Star isn't here. That voice you heard was me."

"... Oh..." was all I could get out as I felt my heart sink into a deep pit of darkness. I sat on my haunches and looked down.

There was a brief silence before she lifted my head back up with the tip of her forehoof to my chin, looking back in my eyes.

"You will find her. I'm going to help you..." She paused to take a deep breath and backed up. "Your friends are around town, selling what they don't need. We'll need the caps for the trip to New Pegasus."

"Town?" I looked around my surroundings and found all my belongings in the corner of the shack we were in, on top of a stained mattress.

She nodded.

Guess that was the only answer I was getting. Clearly I missed something while I was away...

"Why don't we just teleport directly to New Pegasus, instead of having to trek all the way there?"

"Every time I teleport, I risk endangering myself... and those around me. If I can help it, I try to avoid using my magic. You're not the only one being hunted, after all." She regarded me silently for several moments, before speaking again. "I risked my life getting you out of that town, Charger."

"Why?" I asked, tilting my head and raising a brow, to which she answered simply.

"Because it's the right thing to do." She paused for a moment and closed her eyes. "Our ride should be leaving shortly."

"Our ride?"

She opened her eyes again, looking back into mine with a soft smile, before nodding quietly.

I stood at the docks of the town, alongside Hollow, who went back into her armor, which I discovered was nothing more than a small metal pad when it wasn't being used. But when she put it on, it expanded much like the chair... thing... I got from the apartments.

My mouth hung open as I stared at the massive, pre war functional battleship that was being loaded up with cargo and passengers that paid their way on board.

The name along the side, towards the front, read 'E.S. CERBERUS.'

There were six main artillery batteries total; three in front of the bridge, and three behind it. Each battery housed six cannons in rows of two.

Along the sides of the ship were AA guns, all of which were left pointing up at the sky.

I also spotted a vertibuck resting on a tarmac at the rear of the ship.

I didn't think CrimsonThunder... er... Titan, I guess was his name now... I didn't think he stood a chance against Cerberus.

"That's our ride...?" I asked quietly, staring up at the beautiful war machine.

Hollow nodded. "Everything's already been paid for."

I raised a brow and looked over at her. "How?"

"I used some of the stuff we got from the apartments. Drugs pay well. Bits are decent, too."

I opened my mouth to speak in protest, but she cut me off. "I paid with my share."

I calmed down and nodded, before looking back up at the ship. "I appreciate that, but you don't have to do stuff like that."

"Yeah, Charger. I kinda do." She looked down and took a deep breath. "Besides... I make easy money. I can get it all back later."

I don't know why she kept taking deep breaths like that at random. Maybe she had a breathing problem, or something... I wasn't gonna ask, though. Maybe later, but not now.

I looked around the docks at all the busy ponies in the vicinity. Cranes were being used to haul the heavier cargo on board the vessel.

I kept eyeing that vertibuck...

"Say, Hollow..." I smiled as I kept my eyes locked on the vehicle. "Any chance the captain would be willing to part with that?" I nodded to the object of interest, and Hollow turned and looked at the vertibuck for a few seconds, before turning back to me.

"Do you know how to fly one?"

"No, but I know somepony who does." My smile widened.

"Good luck trying to steal it. It's locked up tight."

"Steal?" My smile vanished as I regarded her. "No. Never. I was thinking on buying it off the captain."

"I can assure you that you don't have enough caps for that. But feel free to ask him and embarrass yourself."

My ears fell flat as I turned away from her. I caught a familiar group in my peripherals, and turning to my left, I found Petiole with Fluky on his back, Oku following close behind, and the ranger outcasts around the zebra, almost as if they were protecting him from the others in the area, in case they tried something.

The group got quite a few weird looks from the others as they kept their distance. I suppose it was rather odd seeing Steel Rangers, an Enclave pegasus, and an LED-lit, armored pony that carried a filly on his back with a firework launcher, escorting a zebra through the marketplace.

They stopped before Hollow and I, and Fluky levitated a sack from her saddle bags carefully, before slowly bringing it to me.

"It's your share." Petiole said, looking at me behind a green LED that occasionally flashed blue.

"My share?" I asked, raising a brow at the lot of them.

"We made some great sales." Thorne replied. "With your apartment heist, and my team's salvaging, together, we made up to 12k in caps."

"A little over that, actually." Petiole stated.

My lips curled into a small smile, which, over time, grew wider, until it formed a grin. My eyes lit up, and Cobalt chuckled.

"Reckon that made his day." She said quietly.

"That's together." Petiole remarked. "Your cut is a little over 1,300."

I shrugged, keeping up my smile. "I'll take it." And with that, I stuffed the sack of caps in my saddle bags.

Para trotted up behind them with a small bag of candy canes in his mouth, smiling as he beamed at us.

"Oh, here we go with the candy canes again..." I muttered.

"Heyyy!" Para's eyes shot open wide as he saw me, but kept his teeth locked tight around the pouch hanging from his mouth, displaying the various flavors of candy canes. "He's finally awake! You really should sleep before we start our hikes, Burger."

"Burger?" Hollow looked from him to me, then him again.

I sighed as I hung my head down. "He never gets my name right... just roll with it." At least back then, he always chose something that rhymed with my name! Burger had no connection to Charger!

Para stopped before me and patted me on the head a few times, to which I smiled softly at him. "Good to see you too, Para."

He beamed at me in response.

A horn bellowed across the land moments after, and we all turned to look at the ship as the last of the cargo was being brought on board.

"That's our cue." Hollow said, moving towards one of the ramps that led up to the ship. "Let's get going."

Together, we made our way up to the massive ship that would have a Steel Ranger cream themselves. There was an elder stallion with a navy captain's hat and uniform on, at the bottom of the ramp. He looked healthy for his age, which was a surprise. I imagined most ponies were lucky to live past 30 on the surface, unless they were ghoulified. But he seemed to keep himself in good shape.

He had a dark grey, well groomed mane, and a baby blue coat.

A security guard stood at his side, holding a rifle in her magic as the ponies the captain nodded to walked up the ramp.

As we came up, he turned to us and froze, before whispering something to the mare. She looked at my party, then cocked her rifle.

"Something tells me something's about to go down..." I whispered to Hollow.

"Just let me do all the talking." She whispered back, before trotting up to the captain and his guard.

"Are you insane?" The captain said as he looked at the lot of us as we approached. I stopped beside Hollow, to which he pointed a hoof at me. "This one has a huge bounty on his head! Taking him on board risks my entire operation. Not to mention Steel Rangers and the Enclave pegasus that's with you. That's a whole world of trouble I don't need interfering with my business."

"You already took the caps." Hollow stated. "You've accepted the payment."

"You neglected to tell me about the condition of your party!" He snapped. "I'm sorry, but you can't go on board. I'll give you a refund."

I smiled softly as I regarded him. "How about this?" I started, taking a step forward. The mare pressed the barrel of the rifle to my head, to which I calmly turned to her, keeping my smile up. "Love, you're gonna need a lot more than that flimsy rifle to kill me."

She kept her eyes on mine for a moment until the captain nodded to her. At once, she backed off.

I turned back to him. "You keep the caps she gave you, and in return, we get that sexy vertibuck resting on your ship."

"T-the verti-" He burst into laughter and stomped his hoof on the ground a few times. I frowned at his response.

"Told you." Hollow said in a soft tone.

"Look, kid..." He calmed down and looked back at me. "It's one hundred per occupant. Hollow paid a thousand caps for all of you. There's no way I'm giving up my vertibuck for a thousand caps."

"What if I sweetened the pot?" I said with a hopeful smile.

The captain shook his head and smiled. "Kid, I like your style. But unless you piss machine oil, puke up coolant, and shit out artillery shells, there's nothing you can do that can convince me to give it up."

"Nauticus." Hollow stepped up. "I don't think the Steel Rangers are going to make the sacrifice to attack your ship. Look at her. She's a fortress. They'd be giving up more than they can part with, and that's assuming they'd even know Charger was here."

He paused for a moment, looking at her, to which she continued.

"You think if the Steel Rangers could attack your ship, it'd still be here? They don't want to risk the chance of losing the fight."

Nauticus cracked a hint of a smile and looked up at the ship for a moment. He glanced down at the mare with him, then back to us before nodding. "Alright, you're free to go on board. But don't start anything, or your ass is overboard and in the water... and if the radiation don't kill you, the monsters that lurk beneath will."

"Duly noted." I replied, nodding to him.

"You all wanna share a room? Or is this a personal space situation?"

"I'll take my own room." Hollow said, starting up the ramp.

"Take 45-C." He called out after her, then turned to us. "What about the rest of you?"

"I'll share a bunk with Charger." Petiole said, stopping at my side. "If that's alright by you?"

I nodded and smiled. "We gonna get it on? Test out the bed springs?"

"Don't push it..." He said abruptly as his LED flashed red, before going green again. "Fluky and Para can share a bunk."

Fluky hopped off his back and joined Para's side, putting her teddy bear on her back.

Nauticus nodded to us. "43-C."

Petiole nodded back, then began making his way up to the ship. I followed beside him as we embarked.

As Petiole opened the door to our room and started to slowly walk in, I rushed in front of him with a broad smile on my face, pushing him against the steel door frame as he grunted and began coughing excessively from the impact.

"I CALL TOP BUNK!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, before climbing up to the second story of the bed and rolling around on the mattress, claiming my territory. I started giggling as I conquered this new place.

"Char-" He broke into another violent wave of coughs as he hunched over, standing in the doorway. "You fucking cunt..." He managed to get out, before the coughing resumed.

"My, it sounds like someone needs to lay off the cigarettes." Para said as he trotted past, with Fluky walking alongside him. "Smoking is bad for your dental health, anyways."

He spun around as he coughed within his armor. "Shut up. Just shut up. Just shut the-" He was interrupted by more coughing as his LED flickered blue and red. "Just... Just shut up, go over there, and shut up." With that, he grabbed the wheel of the door and pulled it in, slamming it shut and spinning the wheel around. The latches clicked, and he took a deep, raspy breath as a few more smaller coughs came out, before turning back to me.

I looked down at him with a sheepish grin as my ears folded back. "Er... sorry, baby." I stuck my tongue out playfully. "If you wanna share the top bunk..." I patted the spot next to me. "There's always room for one more."

"You shut up, too." He said behind another cough. Shortly after, his LED went green, before flickering blue some more. He lied down on the bottom mattress, leaving my sight.

My smile faltered, and I grew more worried as time went on.

I peeked my head down to see his LEDs were still flickering between green and blue. "Hey, Petiole..."

He looked up at me. "Hm?"

"Are you... okay?" I asked sincerely. "Your suit's been acting up with the whole light thing... If there's something on your mind, you know I'll listen... right?"

He nodded slowly as he regarded me. "Thank you, Charger. But this... This is something that's better left unsaid... I can't do that to you..."

I stared at him for a while, before reaching my hoof down and tapping the tip of it against his armored muzzle. His LED flashed blue for a moment as he snapped out of whatever he was thinking, then looked up at me again.

"Boop!" I said in a quiet voice, smiling softly.

He ran his hoof across his muzzle and chuckled a little, but it died shortly after it was born. "Charger... I need to ask you something..."

"Anything." I said, letting my arm dangle beside my head as I hung over the edge of the bunk bed.

"Why is finding the truth out about your parents so important to you?" He asked in a gentle tone. "I mean... has the thought ever occurred to you that some things are best left alone? That what you know can't... hurt you...?"

I stared silently for the longest time. Where was this coming from? Wait... Was this...?

"Is this related to you and Hollow coming back from the apartments? Cause ever since, you haven't been the same. And I highly doubt it was because of the beast from 32. And, well... I'm not complaining. You were an asshole before that. But... something happened with you and Hollow, and it's been eating away at me for some time."

"Charger..." He paused, before standing up and inching closer to my muzzle. "I think it would be best if you avoided the bunker completely. Go find Snow Star... Forget about Bristle... Forget about the chapter. I beg you. It doesn't matter where you came from. It only matters who you are... What matters is that you're here. I'm begging you, Charger... do not go after Bristle."

Electricity flickered around my hoof, but before anything could catch fire, I lifted it away from the flammable cushion.

"What are you hiding from me...?"

"It's really not important..."

"No, I want to know." I grabbed his face with both forehooves and looked deep into his visor... which was a poorly made decision, since it was a glowing light. I looked away for a moment and blinked a few times, before shaking my head and looking back at him from a safer distance. The lights had been stained into my eyes, even when I closed them. "What the hell are you hiding, Petiole? What do you know?"

"Charger..."

"Answer me."

"Please..."

"Fucking answer." My hoof flared a bit more as I spoke.

"I know that if you find the truth out, you'll be begging to have it ripped from your memory, assuming you don't kill yourself first. You will be shaken to your very core. You think it's bad now, but it'll get so much worse. To levels you can't even begin to imagine. Sometimes, the truth is best to be left in darkness."

I let go of him and sighed as he backed away from me, leaning against the wall and taking slow, deep breaths. I pulled myself back up on the mattress and lied on my back, looking up at the ceiling with my arms spread out.

"I'm going after Bristle. I will destroy him... I will find out the truth."

"You're making a mistake..."

"My whole life is full of mistakes..." I replied softly, keeping my eyes on the grey, steel ceiling. "What's one more?"

A voice spoke through the ship's speakers after two high pitched beeps. The first beep was a lower pitch than the last.

"This is captain Nauticus speaking. We're now enroute to southern Equestria, making drop offs at each checkpoint along the way. From there, we will be crossing the ocean and plotting a course for the Zebrica Wasteland, then circling around toward Hoofington."

"Let's just... rest. Okay?" Petiole said softly. "I think we both need it. All of us need it..."

I closed my eyes and rolled over on my side, trying to shut my mind off. Being dead wasn't being asleep, and I was tired, and there was a great deal of pain in my back, throat, and the hoof that got sawed through.

And my poor, poor ass...

I had laser rash again... Goddess fucking damn it...

But out of all that, the one thing that hurt the most was me... My heart... My soul... I needed the truth... And it seemed that everyone knew more about me than I ever did...

And no one was going to tell me...

I lied there for hours in silence, just trying to shut all the feelings off. The pain, both physical and emotional. The thoughts on what Petiole was hiding from me. It was all too much for me...

The only sounds to greet me were the clops of hooves walking down the corridor outside the room, the heavy rhythmic thumping of the engines below, and the oceans waves outside that caused the ship to creak every so often.

This ship would've been great to use against Bristle, if the bunker was anywhere close to the ocean, and unicorns weren't being held hostage...

I sighed and slipped off the bed, grabbing a hold of the edge, before dropping down safely. Petiole was lying there quietly, but his LED was still flashing between green and blue.

"Where are you going?" He asked, refusing to move.

"Can't sleep..." I muttered. "I'm going on a walk..."

"Be safe, Charger..."

I turned the wheel and pushed the door open, before closing it behind me and locking it up again. From there, I made my way up to the deck.

The sun must have been close to touching the horizon when I came up, because the sky on my side was growing to a darker shade of blue.

Ponies worked around the deck, either mopping up, or keeping watch out for anything that could strike.

I stopped at the railing across from the stairs and looked out at the land in the distance, on the left side of the ship. Aft, starboard... I wasn't a sailor pony. I had no idea which was which. Never really studied on naval codes, since I never thought I'd actually see the ocean, let alone travel across its waters on a battleship.

"Distance gives a whole new perception on beauty." Hollow said as she came up from behind.

I spun my head around to look at her as she looked out at the land. I joined her at the sightsee.

"You look at something from afar, and it paints a whole new beautiful picture that you couldn't imagine until you saw it personally."

"Agreed..." I said softly, sitting down carefully. I sat on my haunches to avoid putting any pressure on my butt. "Hollow, what is it you and Petiole-"

"I can't answer that." She replied quickly. "I'm sorry, but it's not my place."

I sighed and looked back at the mainland. "Right..."

"My recommendation - and it's just that - is to focus on finding your lover."

I nodded and took a deep breath. "Yeah... maybe you're right. Finding her was the whole reason I planned to leave the bunker. And I have a lead. That's more important than some revenge kick right now..." I paused before turning to her. "But before I die... I want to save the unicorns that are being held prisoner in there... It's the least I can do for them, after everything I did..."

"And when you're ready to act, I will be there with you." She replied softly, looking back at me.

I opened my mouth to ask why, but she resumed before I could speak.

"Because it's the right thing to do."

I stared for a moment, smiling softly at her, before turning back to the mainland. "How long is it gonna take for us to walk to New Pegasus once we hit ground again?"

"It's funny you assume we're going to be walking there." She replied simply. I turned back to her, raising a brow.

"Well, it's not like we can cut through the land with a battleship."

"We're taking the vertibuck."

I gave her a skeptical look. "But... I thought..."

"I had a talk with Nauticus, and he agreed to have us flown to New Pegasus for a small price. The vertibuck isn't ours, though."

"Let me guess..." I deadpanned. "You paid."

She nodded, to which I sighed.

"Why?"

"I'm rich. I have the caps to spend. You don't."

A smile grew on my face as I regarded her. "You wouldn't by any chance be willing to pay for an entire battleship, would you?"

She paused for a moment, before calmly turning to me. "My generosity only goes so far."

That smile quickly devolved into a frown as I slouched. "Yeah, figured."

"Even if I was willing to pay for it, I know Nauticus, and he's not looking to retire. Ever."

Suddenly, a klaxon went off in two single notes; the first being low, stretched out, and deep, and the second being quick and on a higher note, before it shut off completely.

Ponies in Nauticus' navy ran out from below deck and rushed to the AA guns. The batteries all started to rotate at a slow pace; aiming at the mainland simultaneously.

"All hooves on deck!" Nauticus spoke over the speakers of the ship. "Stay alert!"

The mare that had been with Nauticus earlier ran up to me, glancing at Hollow for a moment, before looking back at me. "The captain wants you up at the bridge, stat."

"Go." Hollow said calmly, still looking at the mainland. "I'll go check on your friends and make sure they're all okay."

I nodded, before getting up. The mare spun around and started running back from where she came. I chased after her, though it was a bit more difficult with my ass hurting like it did.

Whatever was happening seemed serious. Serious enough for me to get an invitation to the bridge...

After climbing a series of metal stairs, catwalks, and rushing through doors that granted us access to lower floors of the tower, we finally made our way up to the bridge. Windows wrapped around the room, slanted so we could easily look down at the rest of the ship. The vantage point was much better up here.

Nauticus turned around to face me as the guard and I rushed in.

A young buck looked through a set of binoculars, out at the mainland.

"He's not doing anything..." The pony that looked to be in his early twenties stated. "He's just... standing there."

"We got a problem." Nauticus said as he stopped before me. "You have an unwanted guest." He nodded to the buck. "Let him see who he brought with him."

The buck pulled the binoculars away from his eyes and levitated them toward me. I took them with a forehoof and looked through after stepping up to the window on the left side of the room.

Far off, in the distance, I saw what they were talking about...

Titan stood tall, facing the ship directly. Several Steel Rangers stood around him as he flashed his headlamps on and off, catching attention even without the binoculars.

"Shit..." I took them away from my eyes and gave them back to the spotter.

"In all my life, the Steel Rangers have never tried even showing themselves near Cerberus." Nauticus stated, regarding me coolly. "I let a Steel Ranger fugitive on board just once, and they show up. Not only that, but they brought a walking tank with them with enough heavy ordinance to blow my baby up ten times over." He pointed a hoof at the flashing lights as he glared at me. "That can't be a coincidence. What exactly did you do to piss them off?"

"Listen..." I said quickly, trying to avoid getting into that headache of a story. "I know them. They wouldn't even attempt destroying your ship. Elder Bristle lost his shit when he heard how the HMS Celestia blew up, over in Hoofington. He wants to preserve tech, not destroy it..."

"Doesn't sound like it." Nauticus replied, before nodding to one of the mares at a ham radio. She turned to the controls and started working on them, before tapping a button on the top of the device.

Titan's voice spoke from inside the room, but at a much softer volume that wasn't so ear piercing than my last encounter.

"Captain Nauticus of the E.S. Cerberus. For years, we have watched you squander the talents the tech you possess has to offer. We have continued to let you do so, and under orders of Elder Bristle, we will continue to let you do so, if you return Charger Outlet Surge to us. He doesn't have to be alive, though if you bring him to me alive, I will pay you 500 thousand in caps. I have some raping to do to him, and I'd prefer he felt it. If you refuse our offer, I will rain hellfire down on you and everything you hold dear. There's no escape. You have ten minutes to shut your engines off, or I open fire, and we climb aboard and kill everypony on board."

Always with my full name, huh...?

The room fell silent as we all just stared at one another.

"That was four minutes ago." Nauticus filled in, looking down at a small puddle of blood that trailed off in drips towards the door. "Our lead radio operator had the misfortune to hear the undoctored message with the headphones. He suffered a brain hemorrhage from the volume alone, and died seconds after."

"Sweet fucking Celestia..." I muttered.

Nauticus turned to the radio operator. "Prepare the others for a salvo strike. On my mark."

"Yes, captain." The operator said, before turning back to the intercom once again to relay the message.

Once she finished, I turned to the radio. "Wait..." I paused, then trotted over to the radio operator. "Can you get a channel open? I need to speak to Titan."

She looked to her captain for a moment, to which he nodded once. She got to work, and I grabbed the intercom, putting it to my lips.

"Alright, you're set." She stated, looking up at me.

I pressed the button on the device down and held it there as I spoke. "You've always been the dumb one, haven't you? You destroy the ship, you destroy the battery. You're after it, which means you know of the power it holds. If you destroy it, then the entire planet is gone. You don't win, either way. And even if you did manage to not destroy the battery on some off chance, it'd be at the bottom of the ocean, and I highly doubt anyone will survive long enough to find it. Or even get close to it. So who are you really trying to fool? Us into submission? Or yourself into thinking we'd actually buy that lame ass bluff?"

There was a long moment of silence from the ponies in the room. Only the sound of static was left to us, until suddenly, a bright red beam of death that I witnessed turn a church into dust shot up at the heavens, coursing through the clouds like red lightning. Through the massive roar, came the heavy, metallic screams of rage and frustration.

As the sky turned red from the beam of light that shortly ceased after, I heard him still screaming in the distance.

"YOU CAN'T HIDE FOREVER! WHEN I GET YOU, I'M GOING TO POUND YOU UNTIL YOUR FUCKING MOLECULES CEASE TO EXIST!"

With a smile plastered on my face, I sat up on the edge of the table, crossed my hind legs, pressed the button down again, and spoke in a soft, teasing voice. "Then it's a date. See you then, shithead."

The buck lifted the binoculars back to eye level, looking out at the mainland again. "Looks like he's leaving."

The room broke into a victorious cheer of laughter as some of them jumped up and down, hugging each other with ecstatic smiles. Nauticus looked on at me with a soft smile. One that spoke respect.

I felt a tap on my left arm, and looking over, I was quickly greeted with a gentle kiss on my cheek, next to the corner of my lips, from the mare that operated the radio.

A small smile crept up on my lips before she pulled away, then smiled back. "That was pretty badass." She put a hoof to her forehead and saluted me. "Kudos to ya. You just saved our asses. And yours, it seems."

Nauticus nodded slowly. "I'm afraid to know what you two were talking about, in regards to this... battery..."

"I'm more worried about whether or not we're at war with the Steel Rangers, now..." The driver stated. I wasn't sure what a driver for a ship was called... if it had another term, or something...

Nauticus looked to him, then to me, mentally asking himself the same question. I could see it in his eyes.

"Well..." He started. "It's kinda too late to turn back, now." His lips curled into a smile as he turned to the driver. "Stay on course. Stay steady. Next stop, I'm popping open the finest of champagne in my possession. All drinks, on me."

"Aye, captain!" The driver replied with excitement as he pushed his hoof against a lever on a dial beside him, before quickly pulling it back towards him, only to stop it at a green light in the middle. It made a series of metal clicking sounds in the process.

I hadn't paid too much attention to it before, so I had no idea what it was originally set on... or what it was, for that matter.

I should've studied more...

"Hey, do either of you got a cigarette?" I asked with a small smile.

"You know what...?" Nauticus reached into his chest pocket and pulled out a small tin. "I'll give you one better." He held the red container out to me.

My smile widened as I opened the tin, to find it was packed full of cigars. I looked up at him. "Thank you." I pulled one out and grabbed my zippo lighter from my saddle bag. I lit up and reached the tin back out to him after closing it, but he shook his head with a light smile on his face.

"I need to quit smoking those cancer sticks, anyways. Consider it yours. As a sign of my gratitude."

"Permission to speak, sir?" The radio operator asked, looking at him.

"Permission granted."

"Work on your sales pitch." She smiled, glancing at me. "'Oh, this box of cancer is a sign of my appreciation to you. Have at it.' Doesn't exactly scream 'thank you.'"

He let out a dry chuckle as he regarded her. "Duly noted."

These cigars, I wasn't going to eat. These were too special. A rarity in the wasteland. Instead, I was going to enjoy every second of these priceless treasures.

I stood at the rail, down at the deck of the ship, looking out at the dark waters. I could hardly see the land from where we were. All around us was darkness, and the crashing of waves. Spotlights lit up all around the ship. Usually, I would have considered this a dangerous move. But considering what the E.S. Cerberus was capable of, I wasn't too worried about it.

I had the impression that this ship asserted its dominance over the many seas. Not even the monsters that lurked beneath the waves dared to reveal themselves.

I took a pull off the cigar I had lit as I stared out at the vast emptiness, tearing my eyes away from the cigar tin and sliding it within my saddle bags with care.

I heard a set of hooves behind me, and turning around, I was greeted with Nauticus' presence. I nodded to him with a smile; the cigar still between my lips, before turning back to the darkness.

He stepped up, and I saw the blue aura of his magic glow around his horn in the corner of my eye. I peeked over to see him looking back at me.

I looked away a second and released a torrent of smoke, before going back to him.

"Cans got me thinking about what she said." He stated. "About the whole 'thank you' deal. So... I decided to give you another gift before we parted ways."

"Oh?" I raised a brow.

"I can't give away my vertibuck. But... I pulled this from my personal collection." A full, unopened bottle of champagne levitated around from his side and slid into my saddle bags carefully. "It's a 296 year old 'Lunar Eve.' Rumors say it was princess Luna's favorite drink, back then. So the company dedicated it to her. It's extremely rare... I have only come across three within the 68 years I've been here... So choose each gulp wisely."

"T-thank you..." I said quietly. "But the cigars were enough. You don't have to do this."

"I know I don't." He smiled faintly, patting me on the shoulder. "Granted, none of this would have happened if you weren't on my ship, but you fixed the problem. You just saved my whole operation. So... I'm eternally grateful. Besides, I got one more bottle for me and my crew."

"What happened to the other bottle?" I asked, raising a brow. "You said you came across 3?"

He winced and shook his head. "Goddess damned raider was shooting at me way back when... Shattered the fucking bottle... Still hurts to think about..."

I cringed a little myself just at the thought.

"Cans and Servos made that bitch pay when they pumped her full of lead, so there's that..." He went silent for a moment, before clearing his throat. "We should be reaching the next checkpoint come first light. I'll have some pilots fly you off to New Pegasus then."

"Alright..."

"Now if you'll excuse me, that's enough sappiness for one day. I'm gonna take a shower." And with that, he trotted away.

I nodded slightly, before looking back out at the waters. "Thank you, Nauticus..."

The flight to New Pegasus was long, but Tuner kept the others entertained with some music.

Usually, in my situation, I would have cared less for the music. But there was something uplifting about the song that played as we flew over the Mojave. It spoke to me. Made me feel just a little more important. Made me feel powerful.

It had a fast paced, upbeat, yet chill vibe to it, and a guitar very similar to the one I heard in the song outside of Saddle while on the run from CrimsonThunder.

I hadn't slept at all last night, and it was starting to take its toll on me. I had stayed up all night at the deck, just listening to the waves. I had tried to get some shut eye, but my mind wouldn't let me.

Nightmares awaited me.

They were waiting... and I didn't want to deal with them right now...

As the lot of us sat in the airborne vertibuck, I sat at the edge; my back pressed up against the door frame, as my right rear hoof dangled off the edge. My left hind leg was stretched out; the tip of my hoof touching the other end of the frame to the exit. A lit cigar hung between my lips, and my aviators sheltered my eyes from the sun's blinding light.

I looked down at the sandy dunes below, with the occasional camp or ruins of a town here and there. I caught sight of a few hellhounds, too...

Ugh...

They were right up there in my list of things to hate in the squalor of the wasteland, now... Right there, alongside Handy units and buzzsaws... and tentacles of the fungal variety.

I almost ate my cigar right then and there, just thinking about it.

The shadow tentacles that I now owned weren't that bad, oddly enough...

In fact, they seemed to want to help me.

Para happily bobbed his head to the music, Fluky snuggled with her teddy bear and went back to sleep, and the rest of us sat in silence. The two pilots that accompanied us didn't have much to say, either.

The vertibuck touched ground outside of New Pegasus, after a six hour flight, and the lot of us disembarked from both exits on the sides.

There were a few guards stationed outside of the metal wall that sheltered the city, but I noticed that once Hollow stepped into their view, they calmed down.

Once everyone was off, Hollow tapped the side of the vertibuck with her rear hoof, facing the city, which took off soon after, making its way back to the ship.

They certainly had a long flight ahead of them...

Tuner quieted down with the music once our hooves met with the ground again, but Para was still bobbing his head to... something.

I noticed a few griffins here and there, near the entrance, dressed in leather armor. Mercenaries... Oh, great... Wasn't I wanted?

The few of them looked at me and tensed up for a moment, but when Hollow stepped closer to my side, they averted their gaze.

"I got notification that the help I requested is already waiting inside." She replied calmly, before stepping up to the guards.

As the lot of us followed, I stuck by Onyx's side, to which she regarded me behind her Enclave armor.

"Hey, you didn't mention anything about Happy with anyone else, did you...?" I whispered.

"No..." She replied. "Should I?"

"No..." I shook my head. "Thank you for keeping it quiet..."

She nodded slowly. "Thorne, Cobalt, and Astral haven't said anything, either. We kinda just figured you had a reason."

I nodded back. "It's complicated... but Para is harmless. Happy is in the battery, but when he comes out, I make sure to keep him on a leash and not attack anyone."

"Okay..." She whispered as she regarded him in front of us.

As Hollow approached the two guards, one nodded to her, and the other tapped on the large gate of steel scrap two times, before sliding a hoof along its surface, and tapping it three more times. At once, the gate parted into two, revealing the slums of New Pegasus. The casinos could be seen in the distance, but the one that stuck out the most was a giant tower, with four points at the top, pointing north, east, south, and west.

Both the guards and the mercs watched us as we ventured past the gate, into the side of New Pegasus I wouldn't be seeing on any postcards anytime soon.

There was a sign that was made of salvaged parts of other neon signs that read 'Freeside.' Each letter was in a different font, which just made my eyes hurt.

Ponies - the majority of them were poor folk - went about their business, refusing to look at Hollow or the party that accompanied her.

The stench of piss and shit wafted over us like a tidal wave, once the gates were opened, causing many of us - myself included - to recoil a bit. I scrunched my muzzle before covering it with a forehoof.

"Blegh!" Fluky let out, covering her muzzle with both hooves. "It smells worse than a can of farts!"

"They can farts?" Para asked curiously, looking at her.

"I wouldn't be surprised if somepony did." She responded nasally.

There were gun shops and general good stores, and even a small prewar Ministry of Peace office building, as we walked further into the city.

There was a tattered poster behind a display case next to the two wooden doors that offered access to the building, with a picture of Fluttershy, looking back at me with sorrow in her eyes. As if she was seeing the world for what it was...

At the top of the poster read, in big, bold letters, 'WE MUST DO BETTER.'

Above the two doors was a medical cross with a pink butterfly in the center.

I trotted up to Hollow as we made a left turn at an intersection, heading towards a dead end. "Hey, what's the Ministry of Peace building used for?"

Hollow turned to me slowly, before answering softly. "It's a hospital now." She turned ahead again. "A discount hospital for the residents of Freeside. Even when the world is dead, we still work together to keep it going. I can respect that." She stopped at an alley way, before looking to the others, and then her surroundings. She nodded to herself, then began walking in the gap between the two buildings; both of which were boarded up and looked as if they hadn't been used in years.

I followed in after her, and the rest of the group followed me.

We stopped at a door built in the left side of the building, at a dead end, which was left unbarricaded. She ran the tip of her hoof around the center of the door in a clockwise motion, then counter-clockwise, before tapping with the utmost precision, as if pressing numbers on a pad.

After a series of taps on the upper half of the door, she went back to the middle and pressed her hoof against it, keeping it there until the door clicked. She pushed it open and stepped aside, waving her hoof to the door.

"You first." She said calmly.

I looked at her with skepticism. "What is this...?"

"It's quite safe. Trust me."

Reluctantly, I stepped inside, bringing my chair out from my saddle bags and keeping my guard up as I did. My team followed close behind, looking a bit alarmed as well.

However, upon entering, I found that this room was left bare. A few crates and barrels in the corners of the dust-ridden room, but that was it. The front door was boarded up on the inside, too, and beside it was a stairwell that went up to the second floor.

Hollow stepped in and closed the door behind her once everyone was inside. The lock latched, and Hollow calmly moved over to the back of the room, facing the wall. She stood up on her rear legs and touched the very top of the wall with the tip of her hoof, before sliding it down a straight line, hitting the ground. She did the same thing a few feet away to the right of that, and as she waved her hoof in front of it, the wall faded to- wait... what the fuck?

As the wall faded from existence to reveal a cave, everyone but her, Para included, stared in bafflement. Fluky rubbed her eyes and opened them again, as if she couldn't believe what she just saw.

I couldn't believe what I just saw!

"Ooo!" Para grinned. "That was awesome! Do you have any other magic tricks?"

Hollow didn't acknowledge him, but instead, walked into the cave.

"Follow." She said as she ventured into darkness.

I activated my pipbuck light, and the outcasts activated their headlamps, lighting the place up. Onyx seemed to be walking very well without one, which made me think that her visor had a night vision capability. It made sense, especially for an Enclave pegasus. I know they worked under the cover of night a lot, using stealth as a strategy to most of their operations.

The wall materialized from nothing behind us, blocking us in, and the rest of the world out.

Despite being cut off, this place still seemed to carry an oxygen-rich atmosphere, so that was a plus. Not only that, but it smelled kinda nice here. It felt good to breathe, for once. There weren't too many places like this left on Equus.

Shortly after we had entered the cave, I caught sight of a faint, flickering light ahead of us. The closer we got to it, the more I suspected it was from fire. I heard two soft voices talking to one another, but my E.F.S. picked up three friendly blips from that direction.

I folded the chair up and shoved it back in my saddle bags.

Just as we came into the light, we turned right, into an opening. There was a fire pit in the center, with two mares roasting marshmallows, putting them on what looked like a chocolate bar, and squeezing them between two graham crackers.

One was a unicorn, and the other, a pegasus, but she wasn't a Dashite. She still had her cutiemark; a blue shield with the letters 'M.o.S.' within its frame. She had a dark, charcoal mane and tail, about as messy as mine, and glasses. Her coat was a dark grey, and the tips of each feather on her wings faded into black. Her eyes were purple.

The unicorn wore a white coat, and had a black mane and tail, with two thick, white stripes. It was straight for the most part.

Behind her left ear was a black and white, long feather that seemed to almost glow, and in her right ear were two black, ringed piercings on the edge; the bottom one bigger than the top.

Her eyes were green, and her cutiemark was that of a sniper's crosshair. Beside her, resting against some saddle bags, was a rifle.

The third entity, however, was none other than Rivet...

He looked at me as I came into view with a sorry look in his eyes.

"What the fuck is he doing here?" I said aloud, glaring at him as my hoof flared with electric red. At that moment, a pebble struck me in the ear. "Para!"

The two mares looked at me, then at him, then at each other, saying nothing, before turning to me again.

Hollow turned to me as Rivet looked down at his talons. "He's with us, now."

"He only saw me as a means of profit. Fuck him." Pebble.

"Charger..." He said softly, keeping his eyes down.

"No, shove it up your as-" Pebble. "Para, I swear..." I grit my teeth at the frustration that built up inside me. I focused back on Rivet. "I don't want you here."

Hollow shook her head slowly. "Don't be difficult. You said you wanted help without politics getting involved? This is what you get."

I sighed and looked at her. "But he's hired by the NCR to 'watch me.' So having him around is a political move in and of itself!"

"Not anymore." The white coated mare said softly as her horn lit up. She smiled as a folded sheet came out of her saddle bags and unraveled before me. "He's yours, now."

What I saw before me was his contract... The ownership of Rivet as a mercenary...

I took the sheet of paper carefully, skimming through it. "How did you get this...?"

"Two ingredients." Hollow started. "Asking politely, and a big bag of caps."

"And let me tell you..." The unicorn filled in. "The price was still steep." She frowned at Hollow, to which she nodded. "I had to put some of my own money down to get his contract. The NCR really likes him, apparently."

"I'll compensate you later. Thank you, Bullet Storm."

Rivet grumbled to himself softly, but I still heard what he said from where I stood.

"He better not make this a sexual thing..."

"Hell..." Pebble. "... no. There's only one I want to fuck." Wet pebble.

Ugh...

I wiped the water droplets from my ear and scowled at Para.

"Firebright and the other rangers back at the bunker? I seem to recall a few stallions having fun with you." Petiole asked, to which my eyes shot open wide as I spun around at him. My tail stayed glued to my ass as my mouth hung open in shock, and my hoof burst with electricity. "T-that doesn't count! I didn't have a say in that!"

Petiole nodded slowly. "Right... sorry. I shouldn't have said that..."

... Well, he seemed sincere enough...

I sighed and turned back to the new guests. "So, you're Bullet Storm. Who's the quiet one?" I asked, stepping closer to the campfire as I pocketed the contract Bullet held in front of me. My group, Hollow included, followed behind. Some of them took a seat around the fire, but Oku sat against a wall.

"My name's Sora." She replied simply, taking a bite from the tasty, gooey treat she had made, shortly after.

Bullet looked my body up and down, before focusing on my groin region as I sat down. "Hm..." She smiled softly, before looking back into my eyes. "Small for an earth pony, but big for a unicorn... Not bad. Not bad, at all." She gave me a wink and a cheeky grin as a shade of red grew on my cheeks.

"Uh... t-thanks...?" I said nervously.

Sora smacked her upside the back of her head, glaring at her while she sheltered her head with her hooves, nearly dropping her snack from her telekinetic grasp. "Bad. Bad Bullet. Dream Catcher would disapprove!"

"Hey, I can still look! Besides, her and I have an agreement about choosing a stallion when one of us are in heat."

So that's what I was sensing off her... Oh boy...

Petiole seemed disturbed by it, and Astral and Oku seemed a bit restless, but Para didn't seem to be phased by it.

"And are you in heat?" Sora asked, scowling at her.

Bullet looked at me and grinned as she winked, then flicked her tail upward.

"Look, don't get me involved in... whatever this is." I waved a hoof at the two of them.

Bullet turned back to Sora, still smiling. "It's not like I haven't caught Dream Catcher staring at your flank."

Sora paused, and a blush started to grow on her features. "W-wait... she has?"

Bullet nodded.

"O... Oh..."

"Hey," I started, catching their attention again. "How did you see my, uh... junk through my armor?"

Bullet laughed a little. "Cybernetics. I can see through obstacles... much like your new friend, here." She pointed at Hollow.

Hollow turned to Thorne. "Charger, Bullet, Sora, and I have some business to tend to." She pointed down another cave to the left of where we all came from. "There's a place to relax down there. Running generator and lights, some reading material. Beds, if it's sleep you're after." She turned to Rivet next. "You can go with them, if you desire. We're gonna take a bit of a walk."

Bullet chuckled softly as she regarded me, then turned to Sora, before whispering in her ear. Sora recoiled a bit and shoved her.

"Hey, what did I say about personal space? I don't like being touched!"

"Right, right..." Bullet said, backing up a bit. "Sorry..."

Sora sighed and smiled softly, looking to her friend. "Sorry I snapped."

"It's okay. No worries." Bullet nodded gently, before standing up.

The rest of my group, Rivet included, took Hollow's advice and followed Thorne to the resting area she had described.

Astral was the last to leave with the group, and as he passed me, I heard him mutter. "Lucky fucker..."

"And if you hear moaning or screaming, don't worry!" Bullet called out with a shameless smile.

I covered my face with a forehoof and shook my head, smiling a little.

Sora stretched her wings as she stood up and groaned softly, and Hollow started to walk down to a separate tunnel. I kept my pipbuck light on so that I could see where I was going. Bullet walked alongside me, Hollow walked ahead, and Sora took my six.

"So, where are we going?" I asked as I tried to distract myself from Bullet's tease. I could feel my armor getting tighter...

"Think of it as a planning center." Hollow said with slight amusement in her voice.

Bullet laughed a little and nudged my flank with her own. I blushed a little, but said nothing. Sora remained quiet the whole time.

A couple minutes in, I started to hear droplets of water echo across the caverns, along with a bubbling sound. Droplets burrowed into my mane, sending a cold shiver across my body as we trekked through the tunnel. My pipbuck didn't click even once when I was exposed to water, which had me think that this was pure. Radiation hadn't seeped into this place.

Every moment that passed, the splashing and ripples of water grew louder.

We came to an opening, but all around me was darkness, as the pipbuck light didn't do much for seeing farther out. The highway tunnels outside of Saddle was enough evidence of that.

I caught sight of a few plants here and there; red and blue mystic beauties that had never been mentioned in any of the books I had read, back at the bunker.

A comfortable warmth started to envelop around me.

"You're up, Bullet." Hollow said as she walked further into the darkness.

Bullet's horn lit up in a bright, white aura, before an orb of light launched from her horn and hovered over a body of bubbling water. Steam rose to the ceiling, building up a moisture on the rocks and allowing droplets to form and come back down, only to repeat the process.

"Welcome to nature's jacuzzi and sweat lodge." Bullet said as she nudged my shoulder with a proud grin. She stretched her legs out and groaned as I heard bones pop.

"I thought we were gonna figure out where to look for Snow Star." I stated, looking around. "I mean, the place is beautiful and all, but..."

"Hey..." Bullet said as she wrapped a hoof around my shoulder. I felt her magic start to mess with the zipper that kept me confined to my barding. As it slid from my groin, up to my neck, she continued. "Relax, Charger."

"You'll find it to be much easier when your mind is put at ease." Hollow filled in. Her armor started to disassemble itself as she stood there, looking out at the water, revealing her body to me. With how short her tail was, I saw quite a bit...

She looked over her shoulder and smiled softly at me as Sora trotted up to a boulder that arched over the pool. She spread her wings and flew up to the top, before laying down on its surface and crossing her forehooves with each other, looking down at the water, smiling softly.

Hollow's armor folded in on itself at her chest, before becoming a small metal box, similar to the one that turned into my chair.

She put it down beside a plant and walked over to me as Bullet just finished unzipping my suit. She took my saddle bags in her mouth and lifted them off my body, carefully setting them down next to her stuff, while Bullet stripped me down.

"You're comfortable with me being here with you three?" I asked, looking from Hollow to Bullet. "Y'know... seeing as I'm a male with an active sex drive...?" And with three gorgeous mares - one of which was in heat - that are all naked, along with me, about to be in a glorified jacuzzi together...?

This was starting to sound like a porno...

Hollow laughed softly under her breath, looking back at me with a flattered smile, and Bullet giggled as she slid my forehooves out from the barding and worked her way down my body. "You're not so bad, yourself." She whispered in my ear.

Wait... how did she know I was thinking that...?

"But you could've fooled me on being a male, at first glance." She continued. "You have a very feminine look to you."

I deadpanned as I looked ahead. "Yeah, thanks for reminding me..."

"Hey, it's cute!" She said reassuringly, sliding my barding away from my flank and down my legs. Soon after, she whispered. "Nice ass, by the way... Very cute..." I felt her magic start to caress something a little more sensitive than my ass...

I bit my lip and closed my eyes for a moment at the touch, before shaking my head and scowling. "Okay, you know what...?" I looked over my shoulder to see her eyeing a more private part of me. My tail quickly sheltered that from her view.

"That's enough, Bullet." Hollow said, looking at the two of us with a gentle smile. "If he doesn't want to do anything, then let's respect his wishes."

"Alright, alriiiiiight." Bullet rolled her eyes, smiling softly.

Hollow's smile widened a little, before she stepped into the water and sank down to her neck. She swam to the other end and leaned her back against the wall, stretching her arms out and keeping them on the rim of the ledge behind her, looking at the two of us with a satisfied look.

After Bullet got the rest of my barding off, she ran for the spring and jumped in, curling up into a ball.

"GERONIMO!" She shouted as she plummeted down into the water, disappearing beneath the surface. When she came back up, poking her head out from the surface, the feather in her mane started to glow brighter. She laughed as she swirled around. "Come on in, the water's great!"

I was gonna need to take a cold shower or something after this... That, or take care of something a bit more personal, by myself...

The teasing didn't help.

I smiled softly as I calmly stepped into the water, sinking down to my neck. It was starting to get deep enough though, that I couldn't touch the ground with my rear hooves, and that gave me pause. I looked at the others as they stared back. Bullet's smile faded, and Hollow cocked a brow.

"What's wrong...?" Bullet asked, swimming closer to me.

"I, uh... I don't know how to swim..." I looked down at the water, unable to see under portions of it through all the bubbles.

"Oh..." Bullet paused for a moment, and Sora looked down at me with a raised brow.

"The bunker I was from didn't really have swimming pools or anything. Just showers."

"It's nothing to be embarrassed of." Bullet's smile came back, and she moved in close, taking my hoof in hers and putting it around her shoulder. "Here, I'll help..."

Together, we made our way across the body of water, over to Hollow. She carefully let me go at Hollow's left, and Bullet took a spot at mine. I felt both their hooves wrap around my shoulders, and Bullet scooted a bit closer; her hip pressed to mine.

Sora smiled softly, before resting her chin atop her forehooves. She took her glasses off with the pinions of her wings and closed her eyes.

"So, where exactly are we?" I asked, looking around. "There's no way this is under New Pegasus."

Hollow nodded. "Spot on." She turned to me; her muzzle almost pressing to my cheek. Her breath was hot against my fur. "We're miles under Zebrica, currently. This place is unknown to many on Equus."

"Wait... How did we go from New Pegasus to Zebri-" I raised a brow and looked at her, but in doing so, my muzzle pressed up against hers, and our lips almost met. We stared silently at each other as a deep shade of red formed on my cheeks.

"You were saying?" She whispered; her breath on my lips.

I pulled away, and found she was smiling at me. "S-sorry..."

"Nothing to be sorry for." She glanced at Bullet, then back at me. "Just say the word, and it'll happen. We both know you're thinking it. Seeing as we're 'three gorgeous, naked mares.'"

"And one of which is in heat." Bullet whispered in my ear.

"Oh, for the love of the stars, get a room!" Sora shouted from atop her boulder, frowning down at us.

Bullet chuckled. "Well, maybe not from her. But Hollow and I are a different story."

I was tempted, admittedly...

"I'm flattered." I said with a soft smile, regarding the two of them individually, before focusing on Hollow again. "But I have to keep myself in check. I'm loyal to Snow Star... and she's out there somewhere. She has to be. So I'm gonna have to decline the offer."

Hollow kept her smile up as she nodded. "And I respect your decision. Though..." She paused, and as her forehooves dipped into the water, I felt their tips rub along my excitement gradually; all the while, her eyes stayed locked with mine, before whispering. "You may wanna take care of that later..."

I gasped softly at the contact and bit my lip again.

"We're not gonna stop teasing, though." Bullet said with amusement.

Shortly after, Hollow chuckled and brought her forehooves back up on the rim of the ledge.

I sighed and looked down at the water again. "I already messed up, honestly... At the bunker, I didn't really have a choice. It was either sell my body as the price of survival, or die in that bunker... but when I got out of there, I ended up fucking another mare. I was blacked out drunk, but that's no excuse..." I looked up at the two mares at both sides of me. "I regret it."

This time, Hollow scooted closer and kissed me on the cheek. "Believe it or not, you're better than a lot. I've been around, and I've seen various ponies cheat without a second thought, and even after they commit the act, they don't care. You seem to, though."

"And even then, it's not really considered cheating, because... well..." Bullet paused. "... Who knows where Snow Star is? And it's not like you two are together anymore."

I looked at Bullet Storm as my jaw dropped, to which she grit her teeth nervously. "Er... I didn't mean it like that. Sorry... I didn't... fuck..." She covered her eyes with a hoof and sighed. "I mean... surely you've thought about that, right...?"

Reluctantly, I nodded. "I also thought about if she fell in love with someone else. The thought hurts, but in the end, I just want her to be happy. So I have to know. She doesn't have to take me back... Just as long as I know she's happy..."

"And ponies say love is dead." Sora replied softly, keeping her eyes closed as she held her smile up.

"How did you know about all that?" I asked as I gave Bullet a questioning look.

"Hollow filled me in."

"Oh. Right..."

Well, that was a relief. I was tired of having to tell the same story over and over again.

I wrapped both my arms around their shoulders and leaned my head back, closing my eyes and taking in the feeling of the hot spring water soaking in my coat.

"Goddesses... I needed this..."

"I dig the fangs, by the way." Bullet stated. "It's a good look on you."

I cracked an eye open, looking at her as I grinned. "Thank you. Still unsure why I have them, though."

"Just be careful." Bullet continued. "A certain singer from somewhere might mistake you for a bat and eat you."

My eyes opened wide as I looked up at the cave ceiling for a moment. "What...?"

Bullet and Sora both let out a laugh, and Hollow chuckled softly.

"ALL ABOOOOOOOARD, HAHAHAHA!" Bullet shouted, before swooping in and pinning my back to the ledge with her body. But in doing so, I felt a certain, pleasant something slide between her legs, causing me to yelp and shoot up from the surprise. She gasped for a moment as her muzzle pressed to my neck, but she didn't let up, and started nipping.

"H-hey!" I blurted. "Hey..." My eyelids flickered closed as I breathed softly.

"M-mmm! Bat mea... meat..." She started to speak softer, before backing up and quietly looking into my eyes, panting softly as she gently slid along what was between her legs. I looked back, panting a little bit myself, wondering what the hell just happened.

I wish this damn boner would just go away...

"H-Happy Corona!" She said with a soft grin and a light blush.

Hollow chuckled softly as she shook her head. "Careful, Bullet. You know the rules about the natives. That doesn't exist here."

"Yeah, yeah..." Bullet rolled her eyes, staying in front of me, intentionally moving back and forth a little bit as a tease. "But you of all people know that rules are meant to be br... broken... Otherwise, how are we supposed to have any fun?"

"Uh... w-what... what are you two talking about...?" I asked, raising a brow as I stayed pinned against the ledge, looking at the two. Bullet kept her hooves around my back, still smiling at her little adventure.

Damn it, this felt too good...

We weren't actually having sex. It was more rubbing than anything else. A part of me was wanting it more and more as time went on, though...

Bullet looked at Hollow for a while in silence as she contemplated something. "Well, I suppose Charger would be an exception... Tuner had already spoken to him, so he knows things..."

They knew Tuner...?

Bullet's eyes lit up as she turned back to me, stopping her motion. "Sora, Hollow, and I aren't from around here."

"What...?" I looked at the three of them. Sora was now watching with a gentle smile.

"Technically speaking..." Hollow started, snuggling a bit closer to my body, before pressing her muzzle to my ear. "We're aliens."

"Extra terrestrials from the stars." Bullet filled in. "Each one of us is from a different universe." She raised her forehooves out from the water and waved them around a little bit on both sides of her head as I felt her rear legs work on keeping her afloat. "OOOOooooOOOOooooOOOO!"

I observed the three of them for a moment, before a small smile crept up on my lips, and I replied simply.

"Oh."

Bullet and Hollow paused as they regarded each other. Sora spoke up.

"Guess he knows more than you think."

"I wasn't... expecting that." Bullet frowned. "Damn. I'm kinda bummed out about that, now."

My smile widened a bit. "I kinda always figured there was something more out there. More life. It only made sense. Why would this be the only planet with life, in a sandbox so vast and infinite? Tuner kinda proved it was true, when he talked about his music, and even then, I didn't have much of a reaction to it. So it was never really a surprise to me."

"Most ponies would have been shitting themselves at this point." Bullet stated simply.

"Let's be glad he isn't." Hollow filled in with a disgusted look. "I'd rather not be swimming in someone's fecal matter."

Bullet chuckled and nodded. "Agreed."

"Well..." Hollow said in a soft tone, looking at me with a gentle smile. "Now that that's out of the way..."

Her muzzle inched closer to mine as she looked down at my lips; her eyes half-lidded. Bullet kept me pinned against the edge, nibbling at my ear as she continued her motion.

I heard Sora express her disgust in the whole thing vocally.

Just before Hollow's lips met mine, her forehooves pressed down on my head, dunking me in the water for a second.

She let go soon after, and I sprang back up, coughing and hacking as water washed down my throat. I felt my insides writhe from the warmth of it.

Bullet laughed as she backed up a bit, and Hollow just stared on like a smug bastard.

I turned to Bullet after calming my lungs down, and grinned, revealing my fangs. "Oh, if you think it's so funny..." I lunged forward and grabbed a hold of her, to which she screamed in the middle of her laughter.

"Agh, help!" She shouted as I lightly nipped at her chest. "Hollow, don't just sit there, HELP! Hahaha!" Her hooves wrapped around my upper back as I started to descend under the water more, sliding down her body as time went on. My muzzle pressed to her stomach, and I slowly went towards her navel. She kicked her legs rhythmically to keep herself above water. All the while, I could still hear her calling for help amidst her laughter.

I heard water splash behind me, and soon after, I felt hooves wrap around my barrel from behind. A body was pressed up to my back as my muzzle was buried further into her navel. Bullet went quiet for a moment, before I was lifted back up to the surface.

Once my head was back up, I took a deep breath, smiling at the entertained mare before me. Looking down, I found Hollow's hooves meeting at my stomach. Bullet kept close to my front.

I had to admit... I was having fun.

I wasn't too sure about how I felt with the flirting and teasing. It was all just playful, but if it got too far, I could always just say no.

"Y-you got pretty close to my tits, Charger." Bullet said with a blush, to which I felt myself do the same.

"I did...?"

She nodded, and I chuckled. "Bet you would've loved that."

"M-maybe..." She averted her gaze, still smiling as her cheeks grew more red.

"Alright, let's relax, before things escalate any farther." Hollow said, letting go of me and swimming back to her little spot.

Bullet and I both nodded to each other, before we made our way back to Hollow, taking our initial spots.

"Apologies for all that." Hollow said. "It's been a while since either of us did anything with a stallion. Sora too, actually."

"And I intend to keep it that way." Sora called out. "No mares, no stallions, and no aliens!"

Bullet and Hollow chuckled, to which the unicorn muttered. "Someday..."

"It's been a while since I did anything with a mare willingly and sober, so... It's all good."

Hollow nodded and took a deep breath as she closed her eyes. She exhaled through her mouth slowly.

"How's that going for you?" Bullet asked, looking over.

Hollow turned to us and smiled softly. "It does the trick."

"May I ask why you keep doing that?" I asked, regarding her. "Is it like a breathing problem, or...?"

"My lungs aren't organic. I prefer having cybernetics, but every once in a while, I want to feel organic again. So manually breathing helps remind me I'm still alive."

"Why are they cybernetic?"

Hollow smiled faintly, but looked away. "It's not important." She paused for a moment. "So... Do you have any clue where Snow Star might have gone?"

"I was told she was last seen headed east from Virtue."

"Virtue." She nodded. "I know where that is. Okay. You, me, and whoever you want to come with you can start from there. Bullet Storm can search along the northern and southern hemisphere. Sora can travel along southern Equestria."

"It was years ago that she was last seen." I pointed out.

Hollow smiled. "So we keep walking until we reach the eastern shores. I'm always up for a little adventure."

"Hear, hear!" Bullet cheered. "I consider this a vacation for me, so a little wasteland stroll sounds pleasant."

"If any of us find anything, we'll signal you, of course." Sora filled in with an assertive nod.

"As much as I hate to wait," I started. "I suggest we let everypony rest up before the long hike. Give them maybe a week? I still got some life left in me." Assuming the shadow virus inside me didn't kill me, first. That's something I had to take into account.

The three mares all nodded in agreement.

About forty or so minutes passed, before we stepped out of the hot springs. Hollow, Bullet, and I lied down on a ledge that dropped down into the water, across from Sora's boulder. I lied on my stomach with my forehooves crossed, looking down at the spring with satisfaction. I guess I really was stressed out. Too stressed. I definitely needed this little get-away.

Thankfully, my body decided to finally calm down, and the excitement died.

Hollow lied on her back with her rear legs crossed with each other, looking up at the flora and vines that hung from the cavern's ceiling. Bullet rested her back against my side as she knelt her head down.

Sora stood up from her boulder, stretched, spread her wings, and flew over to us, making a soft landing beside Hollow and sitting at the edge.

"Nice for you to finally join us." I said, regarding her.

She gave me a faint nod and smiled tenderly. "I wanted to join in on the fun you're all having here. Better than being alone."

"True. That." Bullet said emphatically as she raised her forehoof to her eye level.

"Hey, Bullet?" Hollow asked, sitting up a little and looking over my body.

"Yes, mommy?"

Hollow paused as she deadpanned. "Don't... call me that. I'm not your... mom..." She shook her head gently and smiled.

"Awww, I thought that was your thing, though!" Bullet said in a teasing voice.

"No, that's your thing."

"Alright, alright, fair enough, fair enough..." Bullet tilted her head back, leaning against my spine. "What's up?"

"How is he?" Hollow asked quietly.

Bullet went quiet for a moment. "He's pissed. As always. Trying to find you."

"He has every right to be." She responded, lying back down and staring up at the ceiling. "I wish I could make it up to him..."

"With how he's been talking, something tells me he's never going to give up until either one of you drop dead."

"Who exactly are we talking about?" I asked, raising a brow.

"The one that's hunting me down. I... did something to him..." Hollow started to speak quietly. "I've been running ever since."

"What did you do?"

"Metaphorically speaking, the same thing the bunker did to you."

My hoof crackled softly as I turned, glaring at her.

"I mean... I took away everything he fought for. Everything he cared for. His entire future, gone..." Hollow took a deep, slow breath and closed her eyes. "I was being stupid. But there's nothing I can do to make things right. He's hunting me, and the people he looked up to are hunting him."

"It sounds like you care about him a lot." I stated as my electricity started to diminish, and my expression began to soften.

She opened her eyes again and looked at me with her calm, gentle smile. "I do. He's one of the good ones. Even now, he has a good heart."

"What are you gonna do if he finds you?" I asked, to which Hollow sighed, hanging her head down.

"I'm not going to kill him, if that's what you're implying. But I'm not going to let him kill me, either. I stared death in the face once before, and I've been terrified of it ever since."

The group fell into an awkward silence for a long while, before Bullet broke it with her enthusiastic charm.

"Hey, wanna hear about space?"

"Oh, here we go with this, again..." Sora sighed with a soft smile. "Whatcha got for us this time, boss?"

Bullet rolled over on her stomach, laying across my back. Looking over, I saw she was grinning ecstatically.

"-and then, Charger, there's these things called black holes. They're big, they're mean, and they're strong. They are the masters of sucking! Not even I can suck as good as them, and let me tell ya, I am great at sucking! I'm fuckin' Kirby up in this bitch!"

Who the hell is Kirby...?

Sora rolled her eyes and shook her head as we walked back through the tunnel we came from. Our coats were damp from the bathing and the moisture in the air from the hot spring, and our minds were relaxed and put at ease. Well, Hollow, Sora, and I. Bullet was rambling on about how space worked, and what was in it.

"And what happens when you get sucked by a black hole? Do you know?" I asked.

Bullet burst into a rambunctious laughter as she stomped her forehoof down a few times. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA no. Never get sucked by black holes." She lifted her hoof to eye level as we walked. "Death by suckage might sound nice to some, but not with these bad boys. They'll tear you apart." She paused, looking up at the ceiling in thought. "Or maybe that is your thing. I dunno. I've known a lot of weird fetishes, but I'm no kinkshamer."

Sora sighed and hung her head down. "How is it you manage to compare space with sex? Like, all the time!"

"Hey." Bullet grinned, looking her over. "If there's one thing I love, it's space and sex. And bacon. Glorious, wonderful, mouth-watering bacon..." Drool started to drip from her mouth as she got lost in her fantasies.

Hollow chuckled softly. "Only Bullet..."

"Stay with us, boss." Sora said, waving a wing in front of her eyes.

Bullet blinked a few times, then looked around, before wiping her lips dry of saliva. "Heh, woops..."

We stepped back into the opening where the campfire was, and Bullet levitated her things, along with Sora's as we made our way down the cavern where the rest of the team took off to. Hollow's belongings, as well as mine, rested comfortably on our backs, folded neatly, with the help of Bullet's magic. Hollow dared not use hers for even basic spells, like telekinesis. After what she told me, I could see why.

A couple minutes through the cave I had yet to explore, there was a fork in the path. Three options. Left, straight ahead, or right.

We proceeded straight ahead, towards a series of floodlights run by generators that were almost dead silent. There was a soft hum to them.

It curved off to the right, before coming to another opening. In here, was a series of beds, weapon lockers, chests, and even a bookshelf filled with literature that seemed to be in pristine condition.

Onyx was reading a sci-fi fiction book, judging by the cover. She was using her wings to hold the book and flip the pages as she sat in a bean bag.

Astral was laying on a mattress with his forehooves behind his head, crossing his rears with each other. Both their power armor sat in the corner of the room.

Thorne and Cobalt must have been elsewhere, as well as Para, Petiole, and Fluky, because they weren't here. Oku however, was sitting on a bed quietly, until Hollow stepped in.

At the sight of her, his eyes shot open wide, and his jaw dropped, before he quickly shot up from the mattress and pointed a hoof at her, shouting in his zebra tongue. I knew nothing of their language, but it was safe to assume he was fuming.

Onyx shot up from her book, gasping as he started screaming at Hollow in his native language. She replied back in a soft tone, in that same language, trying to be the reasonable one.

He spun around to me, glaring. "Why are you traveling with this demon!? This... This devil!"

"Uh..." I looked to her, then back at him as everyone else stared quietly. "I'm not sure what's happening here."

He sighed before muttering something under his breath. I couldn't make out what it was he said, though. "Long ago, when the planet was fresh and rich, the Starkatteri tribe had an OBSESSION with stars! They talked to them, bargained with them, and not long after, a mare came down from the stars that represented not only six different zebra tribes, but one of you unicorns, as well!"

"Achu, Carnilia, Mendi, Orah, Roamani, and of course, Starkatteri." Hollow filled in with a soft smile as she regarded me.

"Silence, she-beast! Hold your snake tongue!"

"Okay, but why is this a problem?" I asked, raising a brow at the two.

"She was worshipped by the Starkatteri as a Goddess, and a messenger. And she convinced them to try and take over everything! Rule everyone! Helped make them see themselves as the better tribe! Because of that, hundreds of thousands, if not millions died from a meteor strike on the land that THEY summoned, all for their Goddess! She tried enslaving us, and when we fought back, she tried killing us! We almost lost!"

"Uh..." I looked at Hollow. "I mean, her design is a bit peculiar, but she'd be nothing more than dust at this point. Don't you think?"

"Actually," Hollow started. "It was me that led the Starkatteri against the Twelve." She smiled softly and sat down. "I don't deny that."

Oku turned his glare to her. If looks could kill, she'd have been a pile of battered meat by now.

"You are evil incarnate! I was a fool to be swayed by your infectious words, Aurora!"

"Aurora?" I looked over at her, to which she nodded.

"It was my name, back when I was their Goddess. But I went my own way, after they failed their task. Abandoned them." She paused and looked back at Oku with soft eyes. "Yes. It's true. I led the Starkatteri against the Twelve, and they became the One for it. It's true that I tried enslaving and taking control over every other tribe by using the Starkatteri, by becoming their Goddess. But what I did not do was summon the meteor strike to rain down on everyone and everything. That was their decision. They made that choice on their own, and for that, I left them as their punishment. To show them that their Goddess was disappointed in their actions. Up until a generation ago, I left my slumber and arose from beneath the soil to join the world again."

"How are you still alive?" Astral asked, regarding her.

"I suppose that, in some sense, I am a Goddess." She replied with a soft smirk. "Not in a literal sense, but... I don't age."

"Neither do we." Bullet stated. Sora nodded in agreement. "I'm 108 years old. Sora is 89. And Hollow?"

"103,562 years old, in this dimension alone. I spent a lot of it watching the planet from afar, until I found my opportunity to become a part of it and shape it to my liking."

Oku huffed and looked away from her, sitting back up on the bed as he muttered to himself in the language I didn't understand.

I looked back at Hollow with worry. "Did you choose Aurora yourself?"

She shook her head. "It was the name I was born with. I later switched it to Hollow, after what I did. Using my original name here was the only exception."

I sighed as I made my way to a pile of pillows and 'pomfed' down on them. "You do know I don't condone slavery, right?"

She nodded. "Neither does Sora. But what I did was a very long time ago. I've changed. You of all ponies know that anyone can change."

I nodded slowly in response. "True..."

She turned to Oku with a soft smile, before walking up to him. He recoiled a bit as he glared at her, but she reached out a hoof. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused."

"I really am cursed, aren't I...?" He whispered, looking down. "I can't believe I'm traveling with a star demon and a Goddess..."

"Hey, it's not every day you get an apology from a God." Bullet said with a grin plastered on her face. "Consider that a deep honor."

Hollow smiled faintly as she looked over her shoulder. "Can we stop calling me a Goddess? I stopped being that when the Starkatteri went against my better judgement."

"What is it you want from me...?" Oku asked, looking up at her with worry in his eyes. "What is your end game?"

Hollow kept her smile as she regarded him. "I've done a lot of bad." She stated calmly. "I have a lot to make up for. Because it's the right thing to do."

After things had settled back down, Hollow started digging through one of the weapon lockers and pulled out a small metal box, very much like the one I had that turned into a... sigh... a chair...

Bullet and Sora had stepped out of the cave once everyone calmed down again, but I had no clue where they went off to.

Hollow pulled out three depleted power cores, before turning to Astral and Onyx. "Do any of you have dead cores?"

"My core is running on fumes at this point." Astral pointed out. "Does it have to be dead?"

"No." She shook her head. "Can I take it?"

He waved a hoof to his power armor. "Be my guest. I have a few cores left."

"Sorry." Onyx said softly as she looked up from her book. "I always just tossed my empties off into the wasteland, and my last one is at 50 percent."

"Hey..." I said as I shuffled around a bit in my bed of pillows. "Para was collecting my depleted cores, back when I had power armor. Maybe he still has them."

Hollow nodded. "Good. I'll ask for them when he comes back from the pantry."

My ears perked up at the word. "Pantry?"

A hint of a smile cracked on her lips as she nodded. "That's right."

"Just how big is this cave, exactly?"

"Big."

"Very descriptive of you, Hollow." I said with a dry chuckle as I started to go through my pipbuck. "I'm gonna go look for Petiole." I said as I clicked on his tag.

"Don't get lost." She replied as she took out the core from Astral's armor and set it next to the others that she had made a collection of.

I stood up and started following the blip on the map that was on my screen, back towards the forked path, on my right side.

As I entered another cave opening, I started to hear a shower head running... which was odd, considering we were in a cave. But I wasn't gonna look too deep into it, seeing as Hollow had set up quite a bit of tech here. There's no way she could have done all this on her own, though. Bullet and Sora must've helped out.

Petiole's pipbuck tag was just ahead, to the left a bit.

With a small smile creeping up on my lips, I slipped all my inventory off my back and quietly walked in.

I was surprised to see him out of his armor as well, standing under a downpour of steaming water with his head hung down. His mouth hung open as he breathed softly, and his eyes stayed closed. The branch sticking out of his head looked bent out of shape from being trapped under that helmet for so long.

I carefully made my way forward, and I soon discovered small torrents of pink coming from his mouth, only to be washed down on the ground, turning the puddles into a lighter shade of the color.

He cracked open his eyes and turned to me as I approached, then gave me a hint of a smile before closing his eyes again and hanging his head back down.

I stopped at his side, took a deep breath, and closed my eyes.

My tongue slowly slid along the wrinkled, rotten hide of his neck, to which I heard him gasp.

The taste wasn't the best, but... it was definitely better than fungal tentacles. I could have gone for another lick.

In fact...

My tongue dragged along from the bottom of his cheek, to his temple, before he pulled away.

"Do you mind?" He rasped, pulling away.

I opened my eyes and smacked my lips, before smiling. "Mmm, ghoul. Not as bad as I thought."

He rolled his eyes and shook his head, before stepping closer again.

"Oh, you want more?" I grinned.

"No. I want the shower. Stop hogging all the water."

I pressed my flank against his as I let the water wash down both our coats. I started running a hoof through my mane and coat, rinsing myself.

"Do. You. Mind?" He reiterated, looking at me.

"What?" I said with a cheeky smile as my muzzle pressed to his. Thankfully, he wasn't releasing that pink smoke anymore... He seemed to have some control over it. Regardless, he pulled away a bit, frowning. I continued. "Back at the bunker, I'd shower with the rangers all the time. Mares and stallions." I moved in close and whispered in his ear. "It's natural. Just let it happen..."

Quite suddenly, he burst into a fit of coughing and shook his head. "You just have a way of ruining the little things I enjoy!" He blurted, before his coughing got worse, and puffs of pink cloud shot out of his mouth.

I backed up at a safer distance as he wheezed. He spat some blood on the floor and cried out as his eyes shut tight.

Okay... I was actually starting to feel bad, now...

My ears wilted as I watched him struggle just to get control of his throat. "H-hey... Are you okay...?"

"N-no!" He was starting to sound like a pony that had smoked 10 packs of cigarettes every day for the past year.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean for that to happen." I said in a tender voice.

He shook his head and glared at me for a moment, before closing his eyes and taking a slow, deep, raspy breath. He opened his eyes again and looked at me calmly. "It's fine... I'm actually kind of glad that you're here. I'll need your help with something once I'm done with the shower."

"Oh?" I raised a brow. "What's that?"

~~~

"Ow, careful!" He hissed.

"Well, if you stopped moving around so much, this wouldn't be a problem." I said as I looked down at him. His muzzle was buried in the fur of my chest at this point. "Don't go spitting any pink crap at me. I may be suicidal, but I have preferences on how I go out, and that's not it."

"Ow! Charger!"

"Oh shush!" I said as I lightly bapped his head. "I didn't even do anything that time!"

"It's sensitive!"

"You're sensitive. Let me focus." I slowly brought the trimmers to the tip of the branch in his head. "Hold on..." In one quick motion, I snipped a small chunk off. He yelped, before coughing. Before he did, I made sure to turn his head away so that none of the pink would get on me.

I wasn't even really sure if I could die from the pink toxin, now. As far as I knew, it didn't have anything to do with a heat source. Every method that I knew could kill me had something to do with heat. Lasers, plasma, megaspell, fire... I imagined explosions would do the trick, too. But it got me wondering if I was okay to be exposed to the pink material that Petiole exhaled.

I wasn't gonna willingly find out, though. If I was wrong, I didn't wanna have to pay the consequences...

Once his coughing ceased, I brought his muzzle back to my chest.

"Why don't you just do this from behind?" He asked softly.

"I like to live on the edge." I replied with a gentle smile, carefully running my hoof along his head. "Besides, I get a better angle this way."

He nodded a bit, and I put the trimmer blades to the top of his branch. Before I could cut, he spoke softly.

"You smell nice, Charger..."

My smile widened to a cheeky grin as I felt a soft blush grow. I spent a moment basking in his words, before taking a deep breath. "Y'know... it'd be easier and faster if I just cut the whole thing off in one go. And you wouldn't have to go through so much pain."

"In many cases, I'd agree with you. But I don't want to pass out after this. I want to stay awake. I have things to do, and the more you cut off in one sitting, the more it hurts..."

"Fair enough..." I whispered, before cutting another section of branch off. He quickly spun his head around and cried out as he winced his eyes shut. More torrents of pink smoke spat out from his muzzle as blood oozed out of the stump from the branch.

I sat there quietly as he struggled with himself... I felt bad every time I cut a part of him off, but he wanted me to do this. He trusted me to do it for him...

"Are you okay...?" I asked in a near whisper as he started to calm down.

He looked at me and nodded faintly. "Y-yeah... It's just a pain in my ass, dealing with this branch..." He poked at the branch a bit, then winced. The blood stopped flowing from it, and he sighed, closing his eyes and pressing his muzzle to my chest again.

"We can stop if it's too much for you." I looked down at him, but he shook his head.

"I need this to go away. Please, Charger..."

I took a deep breath and looked back at the branch sticking out of his head. "Alright..." And with that, I snapped another section of branch off, only to hear him cry out again, before he turned his head and coughed violently from the strain of his vocals.

Guilt washed over me, every time.

Eventually, I had gotten down to the very base, but there was a bloody patch on his head now. He shuddered as he washed the blood off his wrinkly coat. The wound in his head, he slowly sealed up with a can of food I had once had on me from the apartment heist. His pipbuck clicked from the exposure, and when it was healed up, he stored it back in his saddle bags.

From there, he looked at me with a soft smile. "Thank you, Charger..."

I nodded for a second. "Next time... can I knock you out or something? I felt horrible doing that to you..."

He chuckled dryly. "We'll see..." With that, he started to walk down the cave, leaving all of his belongings behind. He stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Are you coming?"

"Where are we going?"

He simply smiled and nodded his head down the dark cave, before resuming his walk. I followed close behind, curious on what this was all about.

Upon reaching the forked path again, we took the tunnel on the right; or straight ahead, in our perception.

As we ventured in silence, I saw a light in the distance. Silhouettes of ponies moved along the left rock wall that the light shined on, making it known to me there must have been another opening on the right side.

Just as we were about to turn the corner, I heard Fluky talking to another filly.

Upon entering, I found my group, along with Bullet, Sora, and Rivet all around a table. There were boxes wrapped in colorful paper, and for some reason, somehow, balloons pushing against the ceiling. Where did they find balloons...?

In the center of the table was a cake made entirely out of a series of fancy buck cakes, all glued together with icing and filling. Para's candy canes were sticking up all around the cake's top, and in the center was a lit candle.

Bullet took off an apron stained in cake ingredients and sighed happily as she studied it, then looked at me. Her eyes lit up as she grinned.

"It's the birthday boy!"

At once, everyone looked at me and smiled.

"Happy birthday, Charger!" Midnight Skies said over what looked like a new radio, which Fluky held to her chest as she beamed at me.

Para lunged from his seat, spreading his arms wide as he shouted. "SURPRISE!"

Rivet frowned at him. "I thought we agreed it wasn't going to be a surprise birthday party."

"Actually..." I started, looking around. "I am surprised. I didn't really know it was my birthday."

Everyone looked at one another quietly, before Cobalt turned back to me, raising a brow. "Ya... didn't...?"

I shook my head. "Never really bothered celebrating it, no. Never really had a reason to."

"Well..." Her smile came back. "Now ya do. Yer surrounded by friends."

Bullet's horn lit up, and a white aura undid some rope on the ceiling, above the cake. It rolled out a long strip of fabric that read 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHAR.'

Sora chuckled nervously. "Sorry we couldn't fit your name on it. I told Bullet there wasn't enough room, but she didn't want to shorten it down to 'B-day.'"

"How did any of you even know it was my birthday?" I asked, regarding the lot of them.

Para stuck a party horn in his mouth and blew into it.

Petiole nudged my shoulder, and I looked over to see he was smiling softly. He moved in a little closer and whispered. "I've been in your mind, Charger. I know you never celebrated your birthdays. You deserve at least one good day, before..." He paused and bit his lip nervously. "Enjoy the party."

Wait... he planned this...?

And he didn't want to pass out, all for this...?

Oh... Petiole...

My forehoof was lifted with another, and looking back at the others, I was greeted with Bullet smiling at me as she held my hoof in hers.

"I-" was all I could get out before she pulled me in the cave opening, spun around, and pointed at the radio.

"Hit it, Tuner! We're celebrating!"

At once, an upbeat song started to play. Bullet started bobbing her head to the music as she kept her eyes on mine, smiling happily. I wish I had her energy...

I looked back at Petiole to see he was still standing there, watching quietly, but with a soft smile on his lips as he regarded me.

Hollow stepped in with a few presents of her own, and behind her was Oku, Astral, and Onyx.

I kinda wished Thunderwing was here...

Destrier, Riot... Blaze... Tezu...

A snow white hoof reached around, pressed against my cheek, and had me look back at Bullet just as she started singing along with the song, dancing with the beat.

All year

All day

For a fact in my age

We can see it

Counting down on the days

Might be halfway

But I don't wanna wait

Sora sighed softly and rolled her eyes, shaking her head with a soft smile. "This song again... I hear this every year..."

Hollow stopped by my side, smiling softly as she nuzzled my cheek. Then, she started singing with the song as Bullet levitated the gifts off her back and set them beside the table. One of them was a large, wrapped box.

Bullet seemed to give her the next verse.

No more delay

Lay the party God slay

Later my b-day

And y'all are my slaves

My day, my way

Gotta do what I say

"That's not funny!" Oku barked.

Hollow shrugged and rolled her eyes, smiling.

"Come on, Charger!" Bullet shouted happily as she started moving much like Hollow did. "Dance with us!"

"I-I don't dance."

"Nope, you're dancing." Hollow stated as she got up on her hind legs and lifted me up on mine.

"Wha-hey!" I nearly fell at that moment, but Bullet seemed to do well with balancing on her rear legs as well, and had caught me before I collapsed. At once, they both started singing as they had me dance with them... if I could call my flails 'dancing.'

Time to get gnarlayyyy!

Happy Birthday Party, Partayyyy!

Come on, everybodayyyy!

Happy Happy Birthday Party, Partayyyy!

I waved my forehooves around frantically as I grit my teeth, trying my best not to fall. It soon became evident to me that I was sandwiched between Bullet and Hollow; the zebra in front of me, and the white coated unicorn being at my rear as the two of them had me dance with them.

Once I started to feel safer, I started moving with the beat a little, finding myself smile with sincerity. This actually wasn't that bad!

Still, I had no idea how they both managed to stand like that on their own.

Bullet took the next verse.

Get dumb

Have fun

Rip it up to the grave

Let's thrash, b-day bash

Everybody be gay

Don't wait

Too late

Ain't got no time to waste

I started moving more fluently with them as I started to laugh softly, and I soon found the rest of the group were kinda bobbing their heads to the beat. Even Petiole, kinda!

Hollow put the tip of her hoof under my chin and directed my sight back to her as her muzzle inched closer, and her eyes stayed glued to mine. She started singing the next part of the song.

Ain't none more fun

Than a birthday partayy

Forget the date

Birthday rage at my place

Replay

Holiday

Everyone celebrate

Hollow and Bullet quickly danced around my form simultaneously, ending with Bullet in front of me, and Hollow holding me from behind. Again, they shared the next line of the song, and I started to join them. Together, the three of us sang. I was still unsure of the lyrics, but I knew the majority of it.

Time to get gnarlayyyy!

Happy Birthday Party, Partayyyy!

Come on, everybodayyyy!

Happy Happy Birthday Party, Partayyyy!

Happy Happy Birthday Party, Partayyyy!

Happy Birthday Party, Partayyyy!

Happy Happy Birthday Party, Partayyyy!

My tongue slipped a few times, as I was unfamiliar with the song, but I quickly recovered.

My forehooves held on to Bullet's shoulders as we danced with the pleasant beat that seemed to lift my spirits right up. It went to show me that not everything was so horrible. There was still a life worth living.

I just needed to learn to appreciate the small things that came with it...

Author's Notes:

Long chapter. I'm glad to be done with it now. But I really loved making this chapter. It's a special one.

First song: Orange Crush, by REM
Second song: You Won't Stop Us, by Little Barrie
Third song: Happy Birthday Party, by DOM

Sorry I didn't have the lyrics for You Won't Stop Us. As much as I love the song, the vocals are hard to make out in some areas, and believe it or not, there's not any lyrics on the internet for the song. It's severely underrated, apparently.

Special thanks to Kkat for FoE, Somber for PH, Nylten for her fantastic work, and all of you for sticking with the adventure of this story.
Stay safe out there.