The next morning marked another early start for Megamart as traffic had begun picking up again at the cusp of dawn. Dandy woke up and got her day started relatively early as well. But, even so, Handy and Gearing had already made themselves scarce as Swift stayed near Dandy’s cot and sorted through her own supplies and kept watch. Once she was fully awake and situated, Dandy and Swift started a quick circuit around Megamart for Dandy to take care of a bit of business.

Dandy can’t help but feel a bit embarrassed about having someone foalsit her, a fact that’s magnified by the one doing the actual foalsitting is an actual Reaper, but she doesn’t argue nor fight about it. She knows it’s pretty much needed. Not to mention she’s not sure how serious Iron Hoof Swift is taking this particular assignment. On another note, it does help that Swift herself is attracting a lot of attention of the leering variety. The less ‘potentially interested’ looks focused on Dandy, the easier it is for her to focus and keep her mind from wandering down dirty gutters. Although the glances and silly smirks instantly get directed elsewhere moments after Swift locks eyes with them and gives them her ‘I’m not amused’ glare.

Dandy considers it a personal victory to have avoided propositioning Swift herself. Being in perpetual proximity to such a cute fit pegasus mare is positively painful for her. But, she’s managed to maintain enough sense to realize it’s not a good idea. They are doing her an immense favor and to try and get under her tail at this point would be ungrateful beyond measure. Though the idea for feeling out the possibility later becomes an insidious nag in the back of her mind that promises many late sleepless nights of frustration to come. Swift is positively irresistible, even without hormonal assistance. Dandy flushes as she wonders if others around them are thinking that ‘alluring smell’ is coming from Swift, instead of herself, and how bad it’s got to be for them if that’s the case. She needs to get out of here and off to work before something bad happens. Especially if it happens because of her and her inability to control herself.

After swinging by a couple of Dandy’s contacts inside of Megamart, they start tracking down Gearing. Though, it wasn’t entirely hard to find him given Swift had a good idea of where to start based on his train of thought when he left her alone to watch Dandy that morning.

As the pair are walking up to the Megamart clinic, Gearing is standing off to the side holding up one notebook, book, and folder of papers after another as he argues with the stained lab coat wearing older brown unicorn stallion.

Dandy walks up and looks between them as she asks, “Hey, Doc Bonesaw, what’s up?”

Bonesaw rubs on his head with a forehoof as he readjusts his glasses on his nose with his magical field. “Hello, Dandy. Do you need some help?” He leans towards her and asks softly, “Please say yes, this buck is driving me insane.”

Dandy looks over at Gearing and frowns as she asks, “Gearing, what are you doing to poor Bonesaw?”

Swift looks between them and asks, “Are you hassling the only medical pony around here, Gearing?”

Gearing sets down the papers he’d held aloft with a hoof and looks between them. “I’m just trying to get a straight answer, here!”

Bonesaw looks over at him and scowls through his glasses as he says, “And I’ve told you all I know! I can’t help you any more than I already have.” He shakes his head. “It’s nasty business that nopony really understands. Go ask the zebras about it!”

Gearing points a hoof at him as he grumbles, “That’s bullshit, and I know it! That’s why I keep asking, because it doesn’t add up!”

Bonesaw rubs a hoof over his face as he grumbles. “Go bother somepony else. I don’t have time for this.” He looks over at Dandy and nods towards Gearing. “Friend of yours?” Dandy and Swift nod. “Great, would you kindly get him out of my mane before I call Keystone.”

“For what?!” Gearing asks indignantly.

Bonesaw stares at him and grumbles, “For being an annoying ass and giving me a headache!”

Dandy rolls her eyes and shares a glance with Swift before looking over at Gearing and asking, “Hey, Gearing, you up for some more work?”

Gearing looks over at her and tilts his head as he asks, “What’d you have in mind?”

Dandy walks slowly up to him and grins as she swishes her tail excitedly, “Got word of a contract to go clear out some bandits out near Stockyard.”

Gearing frowns and points off to the side. “It’s not one of those bullshit notices on that board is it? Those things look sketchy at best.”

Dandy chuckles as she shakes her head. “No. It’s through my company’s contacts.” She waves a hoof dismissively. “Don’t worry, it’s legit.”

Gearing shrugs as he starts walking their way. “I’ll take a look, sure. If it’s something I can help with, I will.”

Dandy prances in place as she giggles. “Bigger shares, yay!”

Swift looks between the two then narrows her eyes at Gearing. “Are you going to be able to behave yourself around her? Her eyes have been wandering all morning already.”

Dandy flushes and she snaps before she looks at Swift, “They have not!” They stare at each other for a moment before she hangs her head. “Well… you might be right.” She looks sheepishly at Swift as she says quietly, “Even more of a reason for me to get out of here.”

Swift reaches out her PipBuck laden hoof towards Gearing and says flatly, “Tag, you’re it.”

Gearing chuckles as he taps her hoof with his own as he grins. “Yeah, yeah. I got this.” He looks around as he asks, “Where’s Handy?”

Swift vaguely waves a hoof in the general direction of the center of Megamart. “He’s mainly hanging around that booth waiting on that buck to get back. Not really much else to do at the moment.” She looks at Gearing as she tilts her head. “And here you are, going off and having some more fun while you’re leaving me stuck in here with all these creeps shopping. Why didn’t you invite me along on your little adventure?”

Gearing narrows his eyes as he says, “Handy’s one reason.”

Swift leans towards him as she puts her powerhoof in his face. “I’m a grown ass mare, and I’ll go where I want. He’s my husband, not my owner.”

Gearing rolls his eyes. “Yeah, but he wouldn’t want to stay here by himself while the rest of us left. And at least one of us needs to be here for when either that buck gets here or info on him comes in. The entire trip here was to get equipment and if we just skip out on that now because of some boredom it’d be a waste.” He raises an eyebrow as he asks, “Or would you rather I stay here, while you and Handy go with Dandy to deal with the bandits? Go ahead and think that line of action through, and where it’d probably lead, for a few moments… I’ll wait.” He sits and folds his forelegs across his chest as he stares at her. He pointedly glances at Dandy, then back at Swift as he arcs an eyebrow.

Dandy looks off to the side as she says, “If ya’ll are coming instead, I’m still getting half the reward. It’s my contract… split the other half between you however you want…”

Swift narrows her eyes at Dandy, but she’s doing an excellent job of looking at Bonesaw’s advertisement sign for various treatment options at the moment to allow herself to see it. Though she can certainly feel the daggers being stared at her.

“You got a point,” Swift relents with a sigh. She looks over at Gearing and says, “Somepony’s gotta stay here and hold down the fort, and it wouldn’t be right to just take off on Handy like that.” She points her powerhoof in Gearing’s face again as she grins. “But you’ve gotta promise to take me somewhere nice!” She waves the hoof around as she giggles, “Somewhere I can really stretch out my muscles.”

Gearing chuckles. “Well, the way the schedules been filling up up here, it probably won’t be too long before there’s something we can go do.”

Dandy’s eyes light up as she asks, “We ready to go? Just the two of us?”

Swift raises an ear as she looks at Dandy sideways with a single eye. She leans towards Dandy and taps her on her chest as she says, “You, little miss horny head, behave yourself!”

Dandy’s eyes go wide as she looks into Swift’s eyes and can only help but nodding quickly as she says, “Yes, ma’am!”

Swift whips the powerhoof over to Gearing’s face as she says, “And you… don’t go letting your snoot get you in trouble.”

Gearing rolls his eyes and starts walking away from Bonesaw’s clinic as he says, “That stuff doesn’t affect me, I keep telling you this.”

“And yet… somehow I don’t believe it,” Swift says as she watches him leave before turning to trot off to find Handy.

Dandy looks between them then happily trots over and along side Gearing as they head towards the front door. “You need to grab anything?”

Gearing shakes his head. “Nah, got everything on me I’d need I’m pretty sure.” He looks at her sideways as he asks, “You got everything you need? And where are we going anyway?”

She nods as she replies, “Yeah. I’m good. And it’s out near Stockyard.”

Gearing looks at her as he asks, “Got a direction for me? Or some landmark that’s been around for two hundred or so years?”

Dandy snickers then points off to the south west. “Stockyard’s south west of here… Just south of the Fluttershy Medical Center… The area we’re looking for is off the main roads to the east of that, in between here and there. So we’re going to have to leave the road right in front of Megamart.” Gearing stops and slowly turns to look at her as he mentally starts mapping out what she’s saying. Dandy tilts her head as she likewise pauses walking and asks softly, “What? What’s wrong?”

“We’re not going near Miramare Air Station, are we?”

Dandy shakes her head. “No, that’s quite a bit south still… We’ll be going about half way between here and there though, but that’s it. Why?”

Gearing looks around as he tries to do the mental math, then finally nods as he says, “Okay, that should be fine… But no further…” He looks at her and frowns as he says softly, “That’s on my list of ‘no fly’ zones until further notice. I’m sure it got hit hard and I don’t want to mess around with an area like that.”

Dandy nods quickly as she says, “Oh, you’re right. It’s got a massive radioactive crater from what I understand. But, don’t worry, we won’t be going that far.”

Gearing smiles with a nod of thanks for the confirmation before he waves her forward. “Great, lead the way!”

She motions towards the door with a tilt of her head and then leads the rest of the way out of Megamart and back outside into the light of the hazy morning. But, even in the dull diffused light of the morning they can clearly make out the group of bounty hunters still camping out in front of Megamart. The pair makes a sharp turn to avoid the group as a whole, as they have bigger problems to deal with at the moment than greedy wannabes. As they are crossing the road, Dandy looks over her shoulder and smirks as she asks, “Uh… Gearing?”

He locks eyes with her and raises an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“Did you just have me get in front of you… for your own entertainment purposes?” She gives him a sly grin as she swishes her tail.

Gearing shakes his head as he chuckles. “Oh boy… don’t get fresh.”

“That’s my line!”

After they’ve been traveling for a while by cutting cross-county, and talking about random things here and there, Dandy asks, “So… what was that argument about that got Bonesaw so riled with you?”

Gearing lets out a sigh as he shakes his head and says, “It’s just about this ‘enervation’ crap.”

Dandy walks along next to him as she asks, “What about it? I mean, it’s freaky and sucks, but what about it?”

Gearing looks at her as he says, “Exactly!”

Dandy stares at him for a moment before reaching over and tapping him on the head repeatedly, “I can see why Bonesaw was getting annoyed with you. You’re not making any sense at all, Gearing.”

He stops and puts a hoof to his face for a moment as he takes in a deep breath. Both actions entirely unnecessarily for the conversation, but do an excellent job of buying him enough time to process his thoughts. “Look, the entire thing doesn’t make sense. From what everything I’ve read said, they are blaming it on zebras and said it’s left over mumbo jumbo like radiation from the weapons they fired.”

Dandy looks at him and tilts her head as she asks, “Yeah? So? What’s so mysterious about that?” She waves both forehooves around them as she says, “If you haven’t noticed, they’ve fucked Equestria over right and proper, so why are you hung up on this one thing?”

Gearing looks her in the eye as he says, “Because the zebras didn’t do this!”

Dandy sits down and rolls her eyes as she says, “Uh huh… right… and you know this… how?”

Gearing pulls off the cowl of his cloak and stares at her as he raises an eyebrow and asks flatly, “Really? You’re going to ask that of me?”

Dandy’s eyes go wide as she sees the expression in his own. She puts her forehooves together and takes in a deep breath with her eyes closed before opening one and giving him a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry. Really. I’m not trying to call you a liar. I know how old you are. But… Walk me through it… would you?”

Gearing bobs his head around and then motions with it for them to continue as he says, “Okay… right… That’s fair…” They keep to low areas as much as they can as he continues, “I didn’t just pull this out of my ass, but I’m sure the zebra didn’t have anything to do with this…” He looks at her as she walks next to him as they plod along through the mostly undeveloped landscape. “The biggest bit of evidence I can give you is the area of deployment.” To the raised eyebrow he gets in response he leans towards her and says quietly, “You travel around a lot, right?” She nods. “Even over in Equestria proper?” She nods again. “So, have you ever run into anything like this ‘enervation’ anywhere else besides Hoofington?”

She scrunches her mouth to one side before she says softly, “Radiation is everywhere, Gearing… so… yes.”

Gearing shakes his head. “This isn’t radiation. I’m not talking about radiation. Only ‘enervation’, have you run into anything, outside of Hoofington, that you can point at and say ‘Yes, that is definitely enervation!’?” She starts scrunching up her mouth in a variety of ways. And, as she’s mentally chewing on that, he adds, “Radiation is a byproduct. A shity byproduct, and unquestionably lethal, but still just a byproduct of the primary effect. It is a continuous release of energy.” He raises his PipBuck so she can see it as he adds, “The energy released can even be measured with devices like this… And the thing about radiation is that, eventually, it’ll wear itself out.” He bobs his head around as he says softly, “It could take a long looooong time… As the energy it’s casting off is the same radiation that can kill… but... eventually it’ll burn itself out and be inert.” He locks eyes with her as he points a wing at her sideways. “But the one thing that’s constant about it, is that it gets progressively weaker over time.” He looks forward as his eyes narrow. “But apparently ‘Enervation’ has been getting stronger… In some cases it’s just cropped up, in areas where it used to be safe. With no explanation. Just… poof… enervatioooooon.”

“But… why don’t you think the zebras had anything to do with it?”

Gearing stops, spins around, and sits in front of Dandy as he says, “Okay… hold on a minute…” They look at each other for a few moments before he says, “From everything I’ve read, and Bonesaw was able, or willing, to tell me… This is not a new phenomena… But it crops up in new areas… but always… all of the areas are in the Hoofington region. So, I ask you this, why isn’t it anywhere else?”

“I… don’t know? Maybe we just haven’t detected it anywhere else?” Her eyes go wide as she stares cross-eyed at the brassy hoof suddenly pointing at her snoot.

Gearing gently taps her on the nose as he says, “And that’s exactly the problem… wanna know why?” Dandy runs her eyes from his hoof, up to his eyes, and then slowly nods. “The zebras didn’t like Celestia because of her politics and the war in general… but they, as a whole, absolutely despised Luna. Or as they called her, Nightmare Moon.”

Dandy frowns as she says, “Nightmare Moon was defeated though… Luna wasn’t the same being, right?”

Gearing shrugs as he says, “Whether she was or not, doesn’t matter, once Luna took over it was a call to action against the horrors of ‘Nightmare Moon’ and there would be no convincing the zebra peoples, as a whole, otherwise.” He leans towards Dandy as he says, “They would have given anything to get rid of Luna.”

Dandy frowns as she looks around at the ground. “I knew it was bad…. But… goddesses…”

Gearing taps on her nose again to get her attention. And, after achieving that, he leans in and asks, “And that was a fact… So… If Roam had some kind of super weapon. One where its effects could only be measured in sickness, weakness, and death. One that you had no chance of fighting and had to simply flee the affected areas, permanently…” He tilts his head as he raises an eyebrow. “Why in the hell would Roam scatter that out around Hoofington… instead of Canterlot?”

Dandy’s eyes go wide as her mouth drops open.

Gearing nods as he points at her repeatedly. “See? If Roam had something like that, Canterlot should have been ground zero for the worst of the worst. Shield or no. They could have simply surrounded the city with it. Got as close as they could. And, trust me, they could get quite close, even inside the city. This enervation crap included. But it wasn’t… Canterlot and the majority of Equestria’s never even heard of it. The only common factor to enervation is Hoofington itself.”

Dandy looks around then leans towards Gearing as she asks, “So… what? You saying the problem is Hoofington? Not some zebra weapon?”

Gearing lets out a long frustrated sigh before he looks her sternly in the eye. “Look. Dandy, I can’t get into it. But I am very familiar with Roam’s weapon capabilities. I’m aware of shit that most didn’t even know was in development.” He puts a hoof to his chest as he bobs his head a single solitary time for emphasis as he says, “Please trust me… if Roam had some shit like that under their robe… I’d have known about it. They would have been more than happy to use it. And use it in mass. But their targets would have been entirely different. And they would have gladly done so when the time came.”

Dandy holds up a hoof as she looks around and asks softly, “Okay… okay… let’s say I believe you… that you had some kind of super secret information access…” She waves at him and gives a sheepish smile as she says, “Your… augments… lend that some credibility… so… then what? If not a zebra weapon of mass destruction, then what?”

Gearing looks her in the eye and says softly, “I can’t be sure, but I have a guess… and I don’t really think you want to hear it.”

Dandy beckons with a hoof as she looks off to the side. “Come on… what’s the worst that can happen?”

Gearing looks around as he says, “Well… given what we know… and what I know for a fact… That the weapon didn’t come from Roam… That Canterlot, and the rest of Equestria has been spared… That the focus of it seems to be in Hoofington… And that it’s actually getting stronger over time, not weaker… There’s only one thing I can think of…”

After a few more moments of silence, Dandy beckons with a forehoof again as she asks, “If all that’s true, then what? What’s wrong?”

Gearing looks her in the eye and says softly, “We did it.” He shrugs as he looks around, “It was us not the zebra…. Probably some secret weapon or project buried deep in The Core of Hoofington… A project that’s still running, feeding the effect… Which is why it’s getting stronger over time. And why it’s localized to Hoofington… for now…”

Dandy’s eyes wander around as she says softly, “No way… you have any idea how many have died because of this… and you’re saying we did it to ourselves?!”

Gearing shrugs as he looks down. “It’s the only thing that makes logical sense… yeah…”

Dandy hops over and grabs his face with both forehooves, forcing him to look at her as she asks, “Well what the hell is it? What do you know that you’re not saying? How the hell do we turn it off?!”

Gearing looks her in the eyes and shrugs. “I… I don’t know…”

She leans in and gets face to face with him as she yells, “The hell you don’t know! You seemed pretty damn confident that it wasn’t the zebras before, and now it makes just a bit too much sense on why you were so adamant on that fact. So what the hell, Gearing?!”

Gearing says softly, “Dandy, compartmentalization was critical during the war. If you weren’t a part of a project, you likely didn’t even know it existed.” He motions towards himself with a forehoof. “My implants were a joint effort between ministries, and even with that, I was limited to only that one area. It was all need to know. And I didn’t need to know, so not only was I not told, I didn’t want to know. Less chances of leaks getting out that way.” He looks off to the side as he says, “And Arcane Sciences were never my strong suit…” He motions towards his head. “No horn, remember?” He shrugs. “I can work on things, use what I’m given. Figure it out that way. But this kind of crap? I can guess at it, but that’s all.”

She gently rubs on his cheeks as she says, “Gearing, I’ve had some rather lengthy conversations with Swift about you...” She taps him on the end of his nose. “You are a brilliant repair pony and technician… I’m sure if you got your hooves on it, that you’d be able to figure out how to deal with it... maybe even shut it down.”

Gearing bobs his head around as he says softly, “Yeah… but that’s part of the problem.”

She raises an eyebrow. “And… what’s that?”

Gearing looks her in the eye and frowns as he says, “Most likely? It’s inside The Core. And not in a tower either, probably in some deep underground facility to keep it safe.”

“Oh… that’s what…” she says softly. “And that’s sealed up tighter than a Steel Ranger bunker.” He nods and looks down again with a sigh. After a few moments she asks, “Any ideas?”

Gearing nods as he takes in a deep breath. “Yeah, actually.”

She manipulates his head to look up at her as she asks, “Oh? What’s that?”

Gearing gives her a wide grin as he says, “Simple… I just gotta break into The Core.”

Her eyes bug out as she asks with a breathy gasp, “You’re kidding!” He shakes his head. “You’re not kidding…” He shakes his head again. She gives him a wry smile as she asks, “Well… when are we going?”

Gearing reaches up and grabs her hooves on his cheeks as he says, “Dandy, I gotta go alone.” She opens her mouth to say something, but he clamps her muzzle shut with both of his wings as he says, “No. It’ll have to be me and me alone. If I can manage to get in, there’s shit set up in there that’ll fry anyone walking around without proper clearance. And I can’t do anything about that until I’m already where I need to be, which means anyone with me would get ashed.”

Dandy gently pushes his wings off her muzzle before she looks down and says softly, “And you’ll be fine… because you do have the proper clearance… right?”

“I did, yes.”

Dandy hangs her head as she lets out a long slow groan.

Gearing taps on her shoulder and says softly, “There’s something else.” Dandy looks up at him and raises an eyebrow. “Don’t tell Swift or anyone else about this either… You have enough of a lick of sense to listen to reason, Swift doesn’t… If you tell her about this, I’ll have both her and Handy up my butt and it’ll probably end with her three kids being orphans… so don’t say anything.”

“Uhg… that’s heavy…”

“Tell me about it…”

“When are you going?”

Gearing pulls back and starts standing up to leave as he says, “As soon as I get a few other things sorted out first. I can’t just disappear and leave Swift, the kids, and everyone in the lurch. Once that’s sorted, I can start… Few more days, a week maybe?”

“Great!” Dandy chimes with a grin. “That means we can get a few more assignments done before you just disappear on me.” She trots up next to him before she asks, “You… are… planning on coming back… eventually… right?”

Gearing chuckles as he says, “I hated the fugly ass place before. I’ll only stay in as long as I have to.”

“Well, that’s good to know. Would suck for someone of your abilities to just up and disappear without a trace.”

Gearing looks at her sideways and smirks as she trots along with him. “Are you referring to me being the right pony for the job to scratch off your contract lists… or for scratching your own itches?”

Dandy smirks then gets a bit giggly as she asks, “Both? Can it be both? Because it’s totally both.” Her grin gets wider, but then so does the spread of the warm blush across her cheeks.

Gearing rolls his eyes as he continues walking along and snickering to himself.

“And, uh, hey, since you brought it up and everything...”

Gearing stops walking as he takes in a deep breath before letting it out in a sigh. “Really? Again? And here of all places? Don’t we have things to do?” He waves a hoof around as he asks, “Isn’t that what the whole idea of staying busy is supposed to be for?”

She waves a hoof dismissively, though the rapid deepening and spread of the blush across her cream face and neck says otherwise. “I didn’t mean that, I just had a question… well… it is related to that, but not that exactly, if you get what I mean so I just thought I’d ask, that is if you’re comfortable with it, are you comfortable with it? Because if not I totally won’t ask-“

Gearing chuckles as he holds up a hoof to stop her. “Well I can’t tell you if I’m comfortable with answering a question unless you tell me what it is… so… how about you just ask, and I’ll tell you if I’m willing to answer it or not.”

“That’s fair,” she comments as she looks around at the ground.

He stares at her for a few moments, then starts raising an eyebrow as he’s waiting for her to finally continue.

After a few moments longer her eyes jump wide as she says, “Oh, right. The question…” She starts walking again, with him falling in line next to her, as she begins rambling, “So, I’m not trying to be weird about it or anything, and I don’t want to offend, so if it’s offensive, just say so and I’ll shut up, but I was just wondering about how you do things.” He looks at her and opens his mouth, but she continues, “Well, I don’t mean how you do things, because, I kind of already know by now.” She starts giggling before she says, “I mean more along the line of… well…” She reaches over with a hoof and taps his shoulder. “You don’t have any organic parts, and with the way everything is, I figured you’d be pretty much solid metal. But… it’s so weird… even though you’re solid metal, or at least as solid as a bunch of individual parts coming together can be, you were surprisingly gentle.” She bobs her head around. “I mean, at the time, I was so out of my mind turned on and horny that I couldn’t think straight, but afterwards I started thinking about it, and even now I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“Do you have a point to this or are you just throwing around innuendo and going to talk about what’s between my legs all day?” Gearing asks with a raised eyebrow.

Dandy looks at him and raises an eyebrow as she says, “I just don’t understand how you didn’t squish me! I mean, you were all over me in the absolutely best ways possible. Really. But, with how much I was sure you weighed I just can’t figure out how you didn’t just make me pony jelly. I mean a good rough rut is one thing, but I can’t figure out how I’m not a paint stain on the stone tile floor of that business building.” She looks forward as she’s rotating her head and picturing the events in her mind’s eye again as she gets another goofy grin on her muzzle. “I mean, it wasn’t simply you holding up your entire weight on the floor or something. There was a couple times that I was entirely supporting your weight and while it might have made it a bit harder to breath,” she leans over and taps him on the shoulder, “Not complaining by the way… but... it wasn’t in an ‘Oh Celestia I’m going to die and be turned to jelly!’ level of weight… More like an earth pony buck hopped on for a ride… But then that one mare you jumped on, before shooting her in the head, you practically did turn her into paint just from partially landing on her… So how is it I’m still alive, let alone still able to walk right now?”

Gearing keeps staring at her as he asks, “Are you trying to ask about my particular techniques, or simply my weight?”

She grins at him as her cheeks turn especially rosy. “I’d love to hear more about your techniques later, but… weight… How’d you not squish me when you did squish that crazy gang member of Cookie’s?”

Gearing rolls his eyes as he lets out a gush of air. “Well, your gut’s right. My standard weight is well over a metric ton-”

Dandy stumbles a bit as she cuts him off. “A metric ton?!”

Gearing chuckles as he says, “Yeah… I can drop a ton of whoop ass on someone just by stepping on them… but… anyway… One of my implants manages my weight.” He shrugs. “It makes me lighter so I can walk around on things without breaking everything.”

“Okay… so that explains why I’m not currently being carried in a jar labeled ‘Dandy Jam’, but what about that mare you jumped on?”

Gearing looks at her and grins as he says, “Oh… I turned it off for a bit of an extra crunch.”

Dandy cringes as she looks at him. “Yeeeesh… When you’re not messing around, you really aren’t messing around.”

“When it comes to a fight for life and limb of me and mine, no… No, I don’t.” He looks around as he asks, “So, since you asked a question, mind if I ask one myself?”

Dandy looks over at him and gives her hips and tail a few vigorous swishes back and forth as she partially closes her eyes as she says softly, “By all means.”

Gearing rolls his eyes before shaking his head. “Well, you seem to have your own line of contacts for contracts. And somehow I’m pretty sure some company that wants to stay reputable wouldn’t simply blurt out their various contracts…”

Dandy frowns but nods as she confirms, “That’s true. Plus it would cause too much competition between our own members. Don’t want more than one going after a particular bounty at once or you start stepping on each others tails.”

Gearing nods before he looks at her. “So how’d everyone hear about the bounty on Security then?” He waves off to the side as he says, “I ran into some wannabe’s all the way down in Megamac that heard about it on the radio, supposedly, but who would be doing that?”

Dandy rolls her eyes as she groans, “Yeah… That’d be Redbeard’s doing… Such a creepy asshole.”

Gearing looks around as if he’s waiting on someone else to provide him with some as of yet unknown information before asking, “Who’s that?”

Dandy stops and sits down as she stares at him. “He’s a slaver jackass that operates Paradise Radio. He’s been getting everyone riled up to go after Security. She’s bad for the slaver business. Which means it’s bad for Usury and Paradise.”

Gearing lifts his PipBuck and starts scanning signals for stations and after a few moments a buck’s voice comes across like he’d been gargling nails for fun. It’s a bit soft, indicative to Gearing that the signal’s a bit weak or coming from far away, but strong enough to listen to it as long as they aren’t moving around.

Dandy instantly frowns and sticks her tongue out in disgust as she groans, “Yeah, that’s him… Got a voice like 20 grit sandpaper on my horn.”

“…-ukers are just coming out of the woodwork! I told you. Didn’t I tell you?! I knew there was something up with this Securicunt! If we don’t deal with this, and right damn NOW, we’re going to get overrun. Our whole way of life. This is OUR home and those Manehattan bastards can’t have it!

So if you’re out there working, keep a lookout. Because if you find Security, that’s one hell of a pay day. But keep your eyes open, because Tenpony’s sent backup for her, and now we got this zebra commando in power armor sneaking around and killing off us hard working folks. Nothing more than a soulless attack dog. He’s remorseless, and will kill even helpless old stallions in a heartbeat. Smashed that old buck’s head in right in front of dozens of witnesses and DARED anyone to do anything about it!”

“Is he talking about you?” Dandy asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Then the psycho tracked down another buck that was going after Security, and blew his fucking head off while he was sitting down to dinner! So much for Megamart being neutral ground!”

“I’d say so, yeah…” Gearing replies as he looks at his PipBuck.

“There’s not a bounty on him YET, but if this keeps up, there might just be one soon. Maybe we can start up a pool for it. For our own protection if nothing else. So if you see this fucker, put his ass down as quickly as you can. You’ll be doing yourself, and everyone else, a favor. Hell, stop by Paradise with his helmet and I’ll buy you a drink.” There’s a grumbling of annoyance before a hoof bangs on a table repeatedly as he continues. “I don’t know what this bastard’s deal is. Going through all of this shit just to get on Security’s good side? Is that it? Hey, buck, whoever the hell you are, if you’re listening, there’s easier ways to get a piece of ass. Stop by Flank, they’ll set you up… I just don’t get it. Besides being the most desperate buck in the wastes. What kind of fucking loser are you? You’ll get yours, you self-righteous prick! I-”

Gearing turns off the radio and sits there staring at it for a moment as he thinks things through.

“Well,” Dandy starts, “If your goal was to get under his skin… congratulations.” She grins at Gearing as she says, “I think you’ve got him scared… I’ve never heard him so rattled before.” Gearing keeps looking at his PipBuck and Dandy asks, “You alright?” A moment later she asks softly, “Don’t tell me you’re actually putting stock in anything he has to say…” She smirks as she tilts her head. “We both know you’re not exactly desperate.” She gives him a wink as she walks over to sit next to him.

“Dandy,” Gearing says softly.

“I was just teasing…” Dandy quickly replies as she looks at his PipBuck and tries to see what he’s doing. But his screen is just a selection list of available frequencies within range.

Gearing looks at her and asks, “If they do put a bounty on me, can you tell your company to ignore it?”

Dandy’s eyes go wide, before she leans over and wraps a foreleg around his shoulders. “Oh… Gearing… don’t worry… I wouldn’t go after you…”

Gearing closes his eyes and sighs before he opens them and looks her in her eyes. “Dandy… I did this to draw out scum that have no problem killing innocent people for caps… If I get a bounty on my head, and any of your company comes after me…”

She looks from one of his eyes to the other before she closes her eyes and lets out a long sigh. “You’re asking me… because you don’t want to have to kill any of my friends… is that it?”

“I’ll do it, Dandy. I’ll do it in an instant and won’t hold back,” Gearing says with a flat finality that refuses any argument. “I’d really rather not. But I will if I have to.” He shakes his head. “Please don’t put me in that situation.”

Dandy shakes her head. “We wouldn’t normally go after those kinds of bounties anyway. Paradise is shady as hell. They’re just as likely to slap a bomb collar on you as to pay out… But, I’ll send word along the line, and make sure everyone knows the score. Just in case they try some crap with lying about the reasons or whatever.”

Gearing nods as he looks down at the PipBuck, and closes out of the screens. “Thanks.”

“So… Mr. Tenpony-Attack-Dog… ready to go sniff out some trouble?”

Gearing chuckles as he looks at her sideways, “I prefer the term watch dog, but sure… Woof!”

An orange buck with a coffee mug sits in one of the many break rooms of this ubiquitously designed government building. The walls have the typical propaganda messages from the Ministry of Image with Fluttershy pleading for everypony to ‘Do Better’ and Steel Rangers asking for new recruits.

Neither of them are paid much mind by the members of this office.

The gray unicorn mare standing near the coffee machine says with a reproachful tone, “You know you shouldn’t talk like that,” as she pours herself a cup of coffee and doesn’t even look at the grumpy buck sitting at the table.

He looks over at her and frowns. “Why, because his freaky ass is going to make me disappear or something? I tell ya there’s just something fundamentally… wrong… with having someone like that… that… attack dog in our office.”

The gray mare scowls as she spins around and nearly spills her coffee as she says, “And what’s wrong with him? What has he done to you personally that makes you hate him so much?” She walks over to her side of the table with her cup floating next to her as she glares at him. “You do nothing but bitch about him. I’d like to know why!”

He shivers and shakes his shoulders as he looks around. “It’s just not natural, I’m telling you.” He looks her over and tilts his head as he asks, “Are you seriously going to stand there and tell me that you are perfectly okay with something like that running around?” He leans across the table as he says in a stage whisper, “Making life and death decisions? On the fly? Apparently just because?” He shakes his head as he pulls back. “No one should have that much freedom, let alone something so cold and calculated as that thing!” He looks at the door out to the hallway before leaning over and asking, “What happens when it runs the numbers and comes to the conclusion that the rest of equinity needs to be put down? How long are we safe until it decides it doesn’t need us anymore!”

She glares at him with her eyes partially closed. “That’s not how he works. If you knew anything about him, you’d know that was complete bullshit.” She tilts her head as she grins. “Do you think he actually needs you? Huh? Well, you’re your own best proof that what you’re saying is bullshit. He hasn’t just simply killed you already. So what makes you think he’ll suddenly go rogue later on?”

He looks her over for a few moments before he says, “Nothing is entirely secure. It only takes one bug to get through and suddenly, bam, our own best resources can be turned on us. It’s just a matter of time. Don’t you see this?!” He looks around quickly as he says, “How am I the only one that realizes this?!”

She tilts her head as she says, “The only thing I’m realizing right now… is just how fucking stupid you are…” She sets the coffee cup down on the table, then rears up and plants her forehooves on the table as she leans across it and gets in his face. “He’s done more for Equestria than you’ve even thought of… You wonder why he has so many friends? Because he’s taken on jobs that nopony else would even consider, and not only got them done, but returned to do it again!” She tilts her head the other way as she says, “Just off the top of my head, he’s been involved in the Combat Search and Rescue ops that had rescued friends or family of at least six members of this office alone. All while not suffering a single casualty.” She starts heavily tapping on the table with a hoof as she says, “Including my little sister!”

She pulls back and sits down on her haunches as she folds her forelegs across her chest and scowls at him. “So if you wanna talk some shit bout him… you better start figuring out why you don’t like him in the first place. Because, honestly, this,” She waves a hoof limply in his direction, “All sounds like gossipy bullshit, and nothing anyone would take seriously from you.”

He leans over and tilts his head as he asks, “You haven’t heard the kind of shit he’s gotten into? I mean have you seen him? I mean actually seen him? It’s freaky! Nopony should be willing to go through whatever the hell he did to end up like that. He’d gotta be cracked in the head, mark my words!” He shakes his head violently before he says, “And, eventually, that dog’s gonna bite the hoof that feeds it!”

She slowly leans on the table as she scowls at him. “Yeah… I’ve seen him… And I probably know a lot more about him than you have clearance too… So one thing I think you need to keep in mind, before you keep running your mouth all over this outpost… is this.” She raises a hoof, then leans over and pops him in the nose with a quick flick of it. “If he’s Dash’s ‘Attack Dog’ as you put it… you’d be doing yourself a favor to remember that when she sends him to ‘fetch’…. It can very well mean anything, up to and including somepony’s head.”

He opens his mouth to say something, with a scowl across his face, but he’s cut off by a voice from behind him as his eyes practically jump out of his skull.

“I am very… very… disappointed in you…”

The orange buck slowly turns his head around to look behind himself as the blues of his eyes shrinks down to nearly nonexistence. His mouth slowly hangs open as his breathing jumps into high gear. His breath comes out in pants, as he quickly tries to think of something to say, and say it in his own defense, but nothing comes out except fear induced gasping and deep throaty squeaks.

“Oh damn…” the gray mare says as her eyes likewise shoot open in surprise. But not to the same level of the orange buck who seems to be mentally tripping over himself every fraction of a second.

Gearing, sporting his typical dark blue skin, steps towards the table they are sitting at, one slow step at a time, as he tuts them and waves the tip of one of his blue wings back and forth. “Truly. I’m not really sure what I should say about this…” He steps up to the table, between the two, and casually points his blue muzzle one way then the other as he looks them over and says, “Really, of everything you could have come up with… that’s what you chose?”

He closes his eyes and puts a hoof to his chest as he says slowly, “I’m so…. So disappointed in you.”

“Bu- uh- I- but-“ the orange buck sputters as he tries to lean back in preparation for running away from the looming figure next to him. But he tries to make it so it’s not so obvious that that’s what he’s doing. However, it’s plainly obvious to the others in the room, especially with the way he keeps scooting away with one inch spontaneous and sudden jerks.

Gearing looks over at the gray mare and says, “I thought this organization was supposed to be clever ponies?” He leans towards her as he asks, “Was I wrong? Or did they simply change policy while I was on vacation?”

She smirks at him and shrugs as she says, “Nah, I’m pretty sure somepony’s just been slipping some dummy-berry juice in the water or something.”

Gearing nods as he looks over at the sink. “That must be it… something in the water.” Gearing lets out a long sigh before he looks over and down at the orange buck that’s managed to scoot away a whole foot and a half, but freezes in place as Gearing stares him eye to eye. After a few moments of this intense eye contact Gearing narrows his eyes as he frowns, “‘Attack Dog’? Really? Out of everything that could be said about me, that’s the one you all have decided to stick with?”

The gray mare puts a hoof to her chin as she looks at him, “Well… as stereotypical as it may sound… it is in the right ballpark…”

The orange buck’s focus jumps over to hers as he points a hoof at her and lets out a long squeak as he obviously can’t believe she’d have the audacity to say that to his face.

Gearing looks back over at her and rolls his eyes. He tilts his head and leans towards her so that he has to look ‘up’ at her as he says, “I didn’t say it was inaccurate…” He brushes his blue mane out of his eyes with a hoof casually as he looks over at the orange buck and finishes, “I’m just saying it’s not particularly clever… especially with how much you both know about me.” He tuts them and puts a hoof to his chest as he says in long slow tones of disappointment, “I thought I could count on the ponies around me to be clever enough to come up with something better than that! Such a disappointment...”

The gray mare grows a grin across her muzzle as she props her head up with a hoof and looks at him. “Oh?” She waves towards him as she asks, “Then, mister clever pony… You’re the master… what would you have come up with?”

He looks at her for a moment before looking off and to the side as he says in a huff, “Oh, it’s so oooobvioooouuuusss… It’d be an insult to say it at this point.”

She leans towards him as she grins wider, “Ya can’t really think of anything else either, can ya?”

Gearing glances at her sideways as he asks, “Have you met me yet?”

She nods then waves across the table at the orange buck that’s managed to get nearly four feet away from the table at this point with his slow jerky crawl motion. “Well, come on then, master of the linguistic arts… How about you bequeath upon us pooooor lowly peasants a bit of your superior intellect?”

Gearing glances at her and pops his eyebrows up repeatedly as he says, “Well… I guess I am a… cunning… linguist… aren’t I?” and gives her a quick wink as he smirks in her direction.

She rolls her eyes as she giggles. “Oh boy, this shits gettn’ deep…” She looks him over then limply waves a hoof at him as she asks, “Well… what’s your big cunning clever pony description that’s sooo much better?”

Gearing stares at her for a moment then looks over at the orange buck again, who’s only managed to make it another foot away with his slow rocking away while not being directly observed. “Well… Given everything I do to safeguard Equestria… and watch over everything… Saying I’m a watch dog would make much more sense, and be far more clever.”

The orange buck pauses as he tilts his head before saying softly, “But… that’s about the same thing… You’re not mad about being called a dog?”

Gearing grins at him as he says, “Well this dog’s got bite…” He chomps and clicks his teeth together with a grin. “And, no… it’s not the same thing… And calling me a watch dog makes far more sense.”

The orange buck looks back and forth between the two before asking softly, “Why’s that?”

Gearing drops the illusionary disguise covering himself, with the various coatings that make up his synthetic pseudo skin retracting back into his body. In a matter of seconds he’s sitting there in his golden colored brassy form. They stare at each other, maintaining hard eye contact for a few moments before Gearing motions towards his face with a forehoof and says, “I’m not an attack dog… If anything, I’m Dash’s watch dog… Because I’m a clockwork…” He rocks his head side to side on the end of his neck in time with each word as he says, “Tick tock, mother focker,” and finishes with a swirl of his head on his shoulders and a cracking snap sound from the tip of his wing.

The orange buck recoils at the sound, and the intense stare, before he gets up and starts nervously chuckling. “Y- yeah. You’re right… That- that’s much better… Well, I’ve goofed off on break long enough, time for me to get back to work!” Then he starts walking towards the door, slowly picking up his pace before he gets to the door. And, once he’s out in the hallway, they can hear the clear hoof beats as he stampedes down the tunnel as quickly as his hooves can carry him away.

Gearing slowly turns his head towards the gray mare as he says flatly, “I do believe that buck may be working a bit too hard.”

She falls onto the table as she starts laughing with tears quickly forming along the edges of her eyes. She hits the table a few times with a hoof as she snorts and giggles before she looks up at him and smiles. “You do realize you damn near scared the soul right out of him when you just popped out of nowhere like that, right?”

A slow grin crosses Gearing’s muzzle as he says, “Well what fun would it have been if I’d done it any other way?”

She giggles some more before she lifts her head and props it up with a forehoof as she stares at him. “He’s so scared of you, I’m honestly surprised he didn’t piss himself, shit himself, then die of pure shock.” She glances at the door as she sighs, “He’s pretty solidly convinced right now that you’re going to kill him.”

Gearing puts a hoof to his chest and turns his head to the side as he says flatly, “I would not kill a member of the Equestrian government… What kind of monster does he take me for?” He leans towards her and pops his eyebrows a few times as he says, “Well, unless Dash said, ‘Gearing, go fetch!’” He pops his eyebrows a few more times as he says, “Woof, woof!”

She giggles a bit more and covers her muzzle with a foreleg as she shakes her head to keep from being too obnoxious with her laughter. She pulls back her hoof from her muzzle as she says with a tear streaked twinkle in her eye. “You’re horrible.” She grabs her coffee with her levitation field and finally gets to take a sip from it as she explores his smirking face. After taking a satisfyingly hot sip, she sets the cup down and smacks her lips as she looks at the wall across from her and asks, “So, what do you think? You going to do anything about him?”

Gearing glances over at the door then looks back at her as he asks, “I don’t know enough about him, one way or the other, to really do anything yet.” He leans on the table carefully as he blocks her line of vision to the wall and asks, “What do you think… Really?”

She lets out a long sigh as she slowly drops her eyes to the table where her coffee is sitting as she slowly mulls it over. She knows Gfessional. And expects her to do the same. “I think he’s a security risk. He startles toearing well enough that she knows he’s not being vindictive, he’s simply being thorough. Proo easily. Starts dreaming up shit with little to no provocation, nor reason. And seems unnecessarily combative…” She looks over at him and her eyes narrow as she says flatly, “And, possibly worst of all?” She takes another sip from her cup before she says with a scowl, “He talks too fucking much in general, especially about things he really shouldn’t be talking about at all.” She motions towards Gearing as she says, “In case you didn’t pick up on that with this one conversation alone.”

Gearing nods as he looks back over at the door. “A scared little shit bigot I can put up with, but a security risk is something I can not abide…”

She nods as she gently taps her forehooves together. “So, how do you want to do this? Transfer out or…?”

Gearing looks over at her as he says, “He’s obviously under more stress than he can handle. Give him a vacation, and use the time he’s gone to switch him to a new, less sensitive, area.”

She sips her coffee as she nods. “So… give his memory a few whacks, then put him in the expert care of the Ministry of Peace for his Wartime Stress Disorder… and have him placed elsewhere… got it.” She looks over at him as she says softly, “You know, considering all that horrible shit he’s been saying about you, I don’t think anyone would have blamed you for cramming his head through a vending machine.” She shrugs. “You’re position aside, the little shit woulda had it coming.”

He takes in a deep breath before looking over at her and sighing. “I use whatever tool I have for the job. I’m not going to use a sledge to drive in a brad nail if I have a hammer. Always use the lowest cost tool you can for any situation… and, as far as I’m aware, not even that pink-maned nurse’s infamous spell matrix can fix dead… So… that’s only a last resort.”

She shakes her head as she looks down into her coffee. “You’re restraint is fucking ridiculous…” She glances at him sideways as she says, “I wanted to trounce him for it and he wasn’t even talking about me.” She continues looking over his golden metallic body as she asks, “I still don’t see how you manage it… even with the enemy. So many missions with nonexistent body counts. On either side?”

He gives her an easy smile as he says, “Like I said… right tool for the job. And as long as I have options, I’ll make it work.” He watches as she goes back to staring into her black as night coffee. And, after she’s not said anything for a while he asks, “Speaking of, how’s your sister doing?”

A smile cracks across her lips as she slowly shakes her head. “Damn, you’re amazing…” She looks over at him as she takes in a deep breath and says with a choke, “Good… she’s doing good.” She starts slowly rotating the cup with her hooves as she says quietly, “They’ve already got her walking again… and she got her first prosthetic leg yesterday… but they said it’s going to take some time for her to get used to it.”

Gearing looks around as he frowns. “Yeah. It’s not always possible to regenerate them if the damage is too severe.” He looks at her and gives the faintest bit of a smile as he says, “Hey, I can tell ya, metal legs aren’t the end of the world, ya know?” He holds his forelegs up and starts wobbling and wiggling them around limply as he grins at her.

She snickers and shakes her head as she says, “You’re awful… sweet… but awful.”

Gearing slowly switches back to his blue pelted form as he stands up. “Hey, I do what I can.”

She giggles as she holds the cup with her forehooves. “Yeah, I know…” She glances at him as she asks, “So… Mr. Cunning-Linguist . . . You keep promising me a dissertation…” She gives him a wide grin as she asks, “So when’s my turn to find out just what that bit stacking tongue of yours can do?”

He leans in towards her as he rolls his eyes up at the ceiling and says softly, “Welllll….”

She leans towards him and rests her cheek against his as she asks, “Wellllll?”

He gives her a quick wink while looking at her sideways, “Well… enjoy your coffee.” He steps away with long legged steps that leave his head in the same place as long as he can as he grins at her before he quickly steps away and out through the door.

She scrunches up her muzzle to the side as she lightly pouts, “You always say that.” She polishes off her coffee and looks at the damp bottom of the cup as a smile crosses her muzzle and she says quietly, “Fuckn’ tease.”

---

Footnote: ‘credential matrix’, sync failure. Retrying. . . please stand by. . .

‘credential matrix’, sync failure. Retrying. . . please stand by. . .

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