Chapter 11: Carried on False Wings

“He’s been in there awhile, Starburst,” Rimfire said to me. I blinked myself out of my concentration and glanced at Rimfire. She had her rifle held across her body and her eyes were sweeping the building’s front.

“He sure has,” I said. I kept my eyes on the two machine gunners next to the balcony. They’d watched us for a little while after Short had been escorted in but they quickly lost interest. I squinted my eyes, trying to get a better view at the few windows on the front of the building. I glanced at the small clock in my field of vision. Short had always wondered why I rarely wore my helmet and I hadn’t ever told him. A few years back the scientists in my base had created a certain spell that overlayed what would have been in my helmet's HUD directly onto our eyes. Of course it was still practice to wear the helmet for missions and patrols. With the HUD I could see available ammo counts, armor stability, and a few other odds and ends thrown in there. Currently there wasn’t any piece of information shown to me that made me worry.

Except for the clock, and that information worried me. Short had been gone for over three hours.

“Why would they just let him in?” I asked Rimfire.

“He was probably expecting Short, you know he wasn’t quiet about coming here.” She was speaking sense.

“You think someone overheard him and ran here to warn Church?” I asked again. She nodded silently. “I just hope he’s okay,” I muttered quietly. Bolt stood behind Rimfire, always making sure to watch whatever Rimfire was.

I looked at Bolt with a wave of sadness. It hurt me to see her out here so young. What she really needed was a home and a family, something that very few ponies got out here anyways. I could see the way she acted now was becoming even more wastelander by the hour. She couldn’t sleep unless someone was on guard and she took to that duty like no one’s business, she could scavenge like no one’s business, and she had eyes like a hawk. It was obvious how much she looked up to Rimfire, but why I just couldn’t figure it out. Maybe there just hadn’t been a really strong mare in Avacyn, maybe it was just right for Bolt to be out here.

Originally I’d been cross at Short for bringing her out here. Even when she’d kill that stallion at the outskirts of Camel I wasn’t sure. I’m still not sure, but I had hopes for her. Short had given her the Guns and Ammo magazine immediately after he’d finished it and she began reading it. She tried to hide the fact that she had to mouth the words to read although we’d all caught that fact. At least I had. There wasn’t a chance in hell that Rimfire didn’t know either. What Short thought was anyone’s guess, he’d become reclusive lately.

Exponentially by the day he had become reluctant to talk, eager only to march forward to Church forever. And now we were here. Rimfire had talked only once behind Short’s back and that was all the way back before we’d even gotten to Avacyn and in the midst of my addictions. Before I’d approached Rimfire I’d taken half a tab of Mint-als just to clear my head, give me enough clarity to think straight and not get angry. We stood off the platform and talked about Short, and not all our words were good or encouraging. We had doubted him, but for some reason we’d still followed him all the way to Manehattan. Together, Rimfire and I ignored the changes we saw in him, his violent tendencies, his pinpointed focus at revenge. Maybe he’d be better after this.

A shadow in behind the door of the balcony snapped my attention back to reality. The thoughts of just a second ago clearing the way like smoke in the breeze. The door opened and a strange pony walked out, he looked to be dragging something behind him but I couldn’t make it out. He glance at the gunners to the left and right of him. they hadn’t paid him any mind yet and he waited until they saw him. When at last they turned, he drew quickly and shot them both with revolvers.

“Short?” I croaked. It didn’t look like Short at all. Instead of a familiar coat he had pink, fleshy skin covered in red welts and lines. It was nauseating to look at. He cast a sidelong glance at us before he picked up something behind him in magic and leapt down from the balcony. The ponies who had been guarding the door from up quickly turned their guns around and started shooting at Short. Rimfire started to pick off the guards she’d sighted before and I launched a salvo of rockets into the sandbags.

The air was thick as dirt and sand as Short trotted up to us. I could see the package behind him, it was the burned body of a stallion I’d never seen before. The body had been ravaged. Eyes cut out, limbs mangled, ears torn, it made me look twice at Short.

“I took care of it,” Short said, his voice raspy and dry, like he hadn’t had a drop of water in ten days. One of his eyes looked red with fire behind it.

“What happened?” Rimfire asked, horrified at the appearance of her old friend. If he cared at all what she thought, he didn’t seem to show it.

“I took... care of it. That’s what happened,” he said slowly.

“But Sh-” she started again only for him to cut her off.

“What? I said what happened, Rimfire.”

“Don’t talk to her like that,” I said to him. I glanced at Bolt, she was holding strong but not looking at him directly. I didn’t blame her at all. He turned his attention towards me.

“Why not?”

“Because we’re all friends,” I reminded him. He narrowed his eyes, nodding slightly and slowly.

“Oh yeah, friends. I guess I got a little mixed up in the head in there,” he said with a smirk. It was good that he still had something inside him that remembered us. Rimfire had a temper, we all knew, and a few more remarks by Short would have had her blow up like a megaspell.

“What’s the plan now?” I asked them both, and Bolt of course, not that I thought she’d answer. She was still hiding behind Rimfire, looking like she was wondering whether or not she should shoot Short. I hoped she would make the right choice in the end.

“We’re going back to New Pegasus,” Short said firmly. His eyes watched each of us, looking for something. I kept eye contact with him the longest. I looked back at the Church, I knew it wouldn’t take long for us to wear out a welcome now.

“Let’s discuss this while walking at least,” I said. They agreed silently. We turned and started down the back towards the West side. The street seemed more hostile that it had been. I felt glaring eyes piercing me from every window. “We should spend the night or a few here in Manehattan,” I offered as we walked. Short was in front; Bolt, Rimfire, and I stayed next to each other behind him. Instead of walking to the end of the street he took a turn to the right and started us walking North. “North?” I asked.

“Trust me?” Short offered. I didn’t take it.

“Where are we going?” Rimfire asked, I could hear a bit of tension. Short just looked as calm as he had been since he’d come out. Despite his burns he hadn’t tried to take any potions or chems. Had he accepted that fate already? It didn’t add up to me, and I was worried.

“We need a place for the night, right? There’s a place called Tenpony up a ways.”

“Where’d you learn about that?” I asked him shrewdly. His mouth dropped open a little, his jaw wavered a bit.

“A mare was only o-too-willing to tell me about Manehattan.”

“Why?” Bolt asked. She whimpered as she spoke. Short slowly glanced at her. When his gaze lay fully on her she shrunk back. Short took a step forward and lowered himself to her level.

“I just asked really nice and she told me,” he said cautiously. He gave me a sideways look again, his mouth curved into a smug grin, as if to think he’d fooled us all with his meaning. I turned my head from him, trying to get him out of my sight, but my eyes caught onto his revolver, I was sure he’d called it the Luna at some point or Rimfire had. Mostly I saw the embossed, wooden butt of the gun. Yet the picture wasn’t of Luna, all I could see for the life of me was Nightmare Moon, the terrible and evil pony from the history books. It made me wonder if he knew. He probably did, they way he fondled that thing.

Short turned around from Bolt and started to walk down the road again. Not much further from us was an onramp to a highway of sorts and we took it. The pavement cracked underneath our hooves. Beneath the concrete I could hear the strain of metal. It didn’t sound like Manehattan would be here in another 100 years. My chest felt tight when I thought about what would happen in the future. Year by year you could hear ponies talking about new deaths and more gruesome sights. It felt like next to nopony was trying to help out. You heard a few good stories if you listened hard enough, but it would never be enough. And once time had taken its toll on the landscape it’d be like none of us had ever existed.

“Where is Tenpony, Short?” I asked. He used a forehoof and pointed straight ahead of us. I could see the building clearly. Instead of being mostly rubble it stood proud amongst the old carnage. It was thick, tall tower that stood a mile down the road.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” he asked.

“I guess,” I said plainly. It wasn’t pretty, but it did look a sight better than the Church had looked.

“Short,” Rimfire spoke softly, her voice cracking a little, “Shouldn’t you cover up those scars?” He gave a disgusted glance at her, had he always been this cruel?

“I don’t know, Rimfire. Should I?”

“I think so,” Bolt said timidly. She had been scared, but when she heard him being unkind to Rimfire she showed how much she could bite.

“Well what do you suggest I do? I don’t quite have the power armor that Starburst does. You think I should be bound and gagged? I thought we appreciated the freedom in ponies...”

“Freedom in ponies?” I asked astounded. “We’ve never said anything about that, Short. You need to relax.”

“Perhaps,” he said nonchalantly, “We’ll see in the end.” Rimfire was digging through her pack. After a minute she pulled up a long, length of leather. Looked to be some sort of coat.

“We can make this into some sort of hood or something, Short. I don’t mean to be a cunt but you look like shit.”

“My appearance could be useful one day,” he said as he took the leather in his magic and started to wrap it around his head once and trailed the rest down his side which the armor had cracked open and opened his skin to whatever had boiled the rest.

“Maybe,” I admitted. I didn’t know about Rimfire or Bolt, but I’d seen the effects of intimidation on other ponies. That was part of the reason Steel Rangers existed. Short stood stock still as he inspected his work. He looked strange to put it lightly. All you could see from his head were vague reflections from his eyes and a little of his snout. The small bump his horn put on the leather was there too. Other than that he was a mixture of brown leathers and whatever was left of his coat. Of course his tail still hung loose behind him.

“How do I look?” he asked, and it struck me. He sounded just like a ghoul when you couldn’t see the rest of him.

“You’re great,” I said as truthfully as I could. Maybe Tenpony would have an auto-doc that could help him. A thought poked its way into my head, ‘maybe Pon3 would know.’ I wanted to stop thinking that, but it was persuasive. Pon3 could tell us anything we needed to know. He might even know what happened to Elder Soap.

My heart ached for news about my home. About anything that would tell me my friends and family were okay, that the Enclave hadn’t attacked, not yet. When Short had given us the key, we knew we’d be a target. The NER would never let something like that go, and we had it on good word that they were working with the Enclave to some extent. The hair on my neck tingled. If the Enclave had taken one step into the base I’d kill them all. That thought I had to put elsewhere. I couldn’t let vengeance cloud my head.

I couldn’t become what Short had.

I got out of my head and looked forward, that’s all I could do anyways. Something ahead struck me when I saw it. The ‘highway’ we were on didn’t go to Tenpony at all. What I saw on its sides had been railroads for subways.

Eventually we made it to the front entrance of the tower. A few guards with heavy weapons stood outside the doors as we made our approach. They didn’t even take the time to aim at us.

“Hold up,” one of them said, a stallion, as we approached. I could barely make out any physical traits of him behind his old, black armor and coat. His voice was soft, considering where he was. Not many ponies with soft voices lived long lives. “Put your ammo in the bin, you’ll get it when you come out.” He was speaking to Bolt, Rimfire, and I. Then he turned to Short. “No ghouls.” I could feel the tension mount as he said it.

“I’m not a ghoul,” Short said with a hint of irritation. The guard in charge swallowed hard on something, probably a couple remarks.

“Prove it,” he said slowly. Nopony moved. “Show me you’re not a ghoul,” he said again.

“You see I’ve suffered quite a bad burn and this helps me keep comfortable. Won’t you let an old pony be?” Short asked. The guard shook his head slowly. I saw the other guards grip their guns tighter, one even checked his magazine.

“Rules are rules,” the guard asserted. I thought Short was about to reach for his gun, but he just shrugged.

“Fair enough,” he said. Short took one end of the leather that wrapped him and uncoiled it. The guards couldn’t hide their disgust from his gruesome looks.

“Oh Celestia,” I heard one mutter under his breath. Short was just smiling at them.

“Is this pony enough for you?” he asked. The guard started stammering an answer. Short stepped closer and closer. “Come on, aren’t I a pretty pony?” he asked as he walked. When he was face to face with the guard, the guard spoke.

“Just drop your ammo and you can go,” he stammered out finally. With a creeping smile Short began to drop all the ammo from his guns, belts, and bags into a reasonably sized tray. Rimfire and Bolt followed suit. I removed what ammo I could, if only to appease them. After two minutes of ammo grabbing they let us into Tenpony Towers, the finest place I’d ever seen.

We walked into a large atrium with a few ponies walking around, all of them in rather regal dress and attire. I could see a few signs saying where things were, but it looked like it had been made from an old building, a similar design I hadn’t seen for a long time. It made a pony think.

“We’ll find a place to sleep and something to eat,” Rimfire offered. I knew she was referring to Bolt to go with her.

“You do that,” Short said. “I’m going to take a look around.”

“Don’t make any trouble,” I said seriously. It looked like he didn’t heed me at all.

“What are you going to do, Starburst?” Bolt asked.

“I’m going to see if I can’t see Pon3.”

It turned out that getting to see Pon3 was a lot more complicated than I’d first imagined. No matter who I went up to none of them knew where to find him. The best anypony could offer was that he had an assistant, what he looked like no one knew, at least they didn’t say if they did know. I must have spent several hours asking up and down the halls of that damn building trying to get a straight answer out of anypony who would listen to me. Eventually due to sheer tiredness I had to take a break.

I stopped at a cheese shop with decent prices, decent for Tenpony that is. There wasn’t anything cheap in that tower. The owner looked gruff, like he’d just been outside. It struck me that he seemed to have been the only pony who even knew that there was an outside world. In the end I only had enough caps for a couple slices of cheese and a loaf of bread. Not that I was complaining, it was the freshest I’d eaten in days or a week or two. The time slipped by these days and it was hard to keep track. I took my meal to a corner of the building and started to eat. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a pony looking at me. Mostly I saw her because of her electric blue hair that clashed with her grey coat. I tried to look like I hadn’t noticed her yet.

Halfway through eating I noticed she was gone. In three quick bites I finished off the rest, got on my legs, and trailed her. I turned the corner where she’d been and saw the quick retreating blue tail turn down further along the hall. I hurried down and turned to see the mare staring right at me, poised to attack.

“You looking for Pon3?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said trying to act cool. She nodded slightly.

“I’m his assistant, Homage. What do you want?”

“I need help.” She narrowed her eyes a little, but she loosened her poise and stood normally.

“A lot of ponies need help,” she said. “What do you need for starters?”

“Can Pon3 tell me about the Steel Ranger base around New Pegasus? I received a distress call from my Elder and then nothing more. I’m afraid it was Enclave.”

“You’re from New Pegasus?” she asked bluntly. I could hear the interest in her voice.

“Yeah,” I said. “Why?”

“Not a lot of news get out of New Pegasus. There used to be a ghoul who’d send information in once in awhile.” I thought back to the Ghoul we’d left as he walked back to New Pegasus.

“I think we met him once,” I said trying to be of interest to her so she wouldn’t leave.

She smirked. “Come with me.” She turned and I followed her down a few more corridors. Eventually I found myself following her into some sort of a recording booth, yet I couldn’t quite remember how I’d gotten there. “So why don’t you tell me a little about New Pegasus. You know, what’s going on, who’s coming to power?”

“Why do you have to ask me? Why can’t you two just find it out with magic?” She slid a hoof under her chin and smiled a little.

“Humor me?” she asked. So I did. I told her about the NER and I even divulged a little on what I knew about the underground facilities. She listened with rapt attention, and when I stopped she seemed disappointed. “Wow,” she said.

“It’s a bad time there now,” I said bitterly with a sigh. I looked into her eyes. “Can Pon3 tell me anything about the base?” It was Homage’s turn to frown, it didn’t do her face justice.

“I’ll have to ask him,” she said, it sounded like the truth. I got up to stand when she motioned for me to sit down, so I did. “Who was that pony that came in with you?” I know who she was talking about.

“Short Change,” I said. “Do you watch every pony that comes in?”

She shrugged. “Just the noteworthy ones.”

“Does that include me?” I asked.

“Yes it does.”

“Why? No one ever seemed to take an interest in me before.” Homage looked thoughtful for a moment. She must be remembering something pleasant, I thought.

“You keep with an interesting gang, Starburst,” she said. I blinked when she said my name, I hadn’t remembered saying it outright, but she must have heard it when I was looking to find her.

“That’s for sure,” I said. I looked at the clock on the wall, it was way past midnight. “Late already?”

“Do you want to sleep?” she asked.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I don’t even know where Rimfire or Bolt ended up.”

“Coffee then?” I looked at her incredulously.

“Is that even a question?”

“I’ll get some then,” she said. She got up and sashayed out of the room. I waited in the chair and thought to myself. So Homage couldn’t help me, until she asked Pon3 tonight or tomorrow, probably after I left. A couple of minutes later I heard a few hoofsteps approaching the door.

“Homage?” I asked hopefully. That coffee would have been sent from heaven. A deeply masculine voice responded. I knew it at a heartbeat even though it’d been a long time since I’d heard it.

“‘Fraid not, Starburst,” Pon3 said from the hallway. I got up to meet him but he continued. “Stay there, my man. I’ve got a little news just for you.”

“What?” I asked desperately.

“It seems that your base was hit by Enclave, that’s major bad news.”

“Did anyone survive?” I asked hopelessly, as if I knew the answer.

“I don’t know,” he said grimly.

“I need help getting back there. You have to help me!”

“I’ll do what I can. Give me until noon, but for now, DJ’s gotta get his beauty sleep.” I heard his hoofsteps disappear into the distance. About ten seconds later I heard another set approaching. Homage walked into the room with two white cups held in her magic. She placed one on the table in front of me. As she sat she sipped the other.

“I need you to do me a favor,” she said. I took a long gulp of the coffee. It was hot as Tartarus and black as sin, but it was good.

“Okay,” I said. She looked a little surprised at my statement.

“Why are all the ponies I meet so eager to help?” she wondered aloud. I shrugged and took another swig of coffee.

“I guess you’re just lucky,” I said. I wanted to be happy for her, but all I felt was a shiver, like a cold, winter breeze that had wrapped me in a perpetual gale. Could I live if all the ponies I had ever known were dead? She looked happy at least, that was nice enough for me for now.

“I need you to go into the Ministry of Arcane Science in New Pegasus,” she said, continuing.

“Holy hell, lady. Didn’t you hear a word I said about New Pegasus? The Arcane Science building might be a death trap for all I know,” I said, and it was true. There weren’t many Steel Rangers who went into New Pegasus unless we used a spy. I could count the number of times a spy had come back from the Ministry section using no hooves. “If it’s even there at all,” I added. Her face lost a little bit of the upswing but she kept at it.

“What if I told you that at least these two Ministry buildings are connected with a high-speed rail system?” My ears perked up. I drank a bit more coffee before responding, had to act like I wasn’t dying on the inside to board that train right now.

“Sounds a bit outrageous,” I said finally. She shrugged.

“I guess you’re right, that would be ridiculous. You’ll just have to walk all the way back to base.” Those words were a dagger to me, in addition to what Pon3 had told me.

“You’re telling me it’s real? And I don’t want any bulltshit, lady.” I could hear the wavering of my voice under the anger.

“Checked it was there last week,” she said and it sounded like the clearest truth I’d ever heard. I leaned back in my chair after pushing the empty cup of coffee forward. She widened one eye. “You drank that awfully fast.” Her words struck me as an odd thing to say. It hadn’t been that strong, only in taste.

Then it hit me why she’d say something like that.

“You drugged me?” I asked, but I didn’t have to know what she said, I could feel it in my extremities already. “Why?” Homage had a grimace on her face.

“I thought this might have played out differently, Starburst!,” she pleaded, “You don’t see many nice Steel Rangers around here.” The dizziness was working its way up my body.

“So it’s nothing personal?” I asked.

“Not really,” she said while looking pitiful. Instead of letting the drug work its magic I decided to do my own thing. Steel Ranger armor works with a mental magic that not many ponies knew about. It was a great thing because none of us were unicorns and it gave us a lot of control. Basic chem lessons taught me that certain chems like to counteract each other, and just like when I’d saved Short back in that Ghoul’s lab, I could do it for me. So I just willed my onboard magical computer to administer a dose of Mint-als. It was wonder Steel Rangers died at all. The dizziness seemed to vanish instantaneously, it probably wasn’t the strongest stuff, and was only working fast due to the speed in which I’d drank it.

“Well don’t do that again,” I said.

“You’re not affected?” she asked. I straightened out in my chair.

“I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeves.”

“Can we put that on the news?” she asked playfully.

“I’d rather you didn’t, but whatever,” I said in kind. It was fun talking to Homage. She was a great-looking mare, and I had a feeling she was into me. Only time would tell if I’d get to act on that however. Now wasn’t the time for games. “Tell me more about that rail system.”

“I don’t know much myself, and what you told me really gave me all the information I know about that place. Even Pon3 doesn’t have eyes everywhere.”

“So that ghoul was his informant?” I asked. She nodded.

“He told us about that ghoul Doctor’s death. Gruesome with details though. Can’t say that Pon3 was incredibly sorry to stop hearing from him, but he needs eyes there. If what you say is true, morale is at an all time low.”

“The NER and the casinos are like a poison to the ponies.”

“Then help us change the Wasteland to make it something better,” she said. Her words and promises sounded like so many I’d heard before. But this was Pon3 and Homage... had they ever been wrong before?

“Homage, I’ll try. All you two did for me was well worth it, even though it wasn’t the greatest news.” She beamed.

“I’ll have the parts ready for you tomorrow. Do you want me to tell you what you need to do tonight?” I nodded. “Very well. The MAS buildings are all connected via a magical transceiver, but the one in New Pegasus in broken and Pon3 hasn’t been able to contact it in a long time. If you can fix it, we can start broadcasting news about New Pegasus, and maybe the NER will back down from being bullies.”

“That would lead to a massive crime wave,” I said. “They’re pretty much the only thing holding back the gangs and such.”

“Then we’ll have to discredit the gangs too. Let ponies know they have a chance at freedom.”

“Freedom?” I asked, astonished. “They aren’t slaves.”

“Aren’t they? They come to New Pegasus to make caps, but when they lose, why don’t they leave?” She had a point, not all slavery was physical. She saw my understanding and continued. “Don’t you think there’s a chance?”

“There sure is,” I said. “How do I fix the machine?” Homage pursed her lips.

“I’m not even sure what’s wrong with it, Starburst. You’ll have to play it by ear once you get there.”

“We can’t keep in communication?” I asked. She rubbed her chin, thinking with a loud hum.

“Do you have a radio in that thing?” She indicated my armor.

“A small one, but it works.” She scratched her chin again. “I’ll ask Pon3 what he thinks, and I’ll let you know tomorrow. Okay?” I nodded. The small energy gain off the Mint-als was wearing out and I could feel the tiredness pulling all my muscles down.

“Think we can finish talking tomorrow?” I asked. She nodded with a smile.

“Do you know where you’re sleeping?” she asked.

“In this chair probably,” and I passed out.
Sleep found me delirious after all the worries of the day. Instead of a calm nothingness I found my way into a dark abyss of thought and turmoil. I was sitting next to Short and Rimfire back in one of the long, narrow hallways of Tenpony. Short was showing Rimfire all the scars that ran down his face and side while she controlled the urge to break into tears. He said he’s evolving into something new. The old Short is dead, he said. He’s the pony destined to take justice to everypony. The NER’s time is over. The NER is a mold that must be burned to be cleansed, and it’s not like it just happened either, the NER had always been a parasite digging into the lives of those it infected. He said that’s the way it’s always been with ponies. There’d always been a parasite in pony society, and the last time it had grown too large and caused an apocalyptic war. Short lifted a hoof and held it close to Rimfire’s eyes. I could see it from where I sat. Black pus was dripping from his scars and falling onto Rimfire. Where it touched she began to turn black and it spread up her body.

I jumped up when Short turned to me. It’s time for us all to stop it, he said. I turned down the hallway and broke into a run, but the end never seemed to get closer. But the more I ran the more the hallway behind me turned to darkness and the hall in front of me me turned to light. With a sort of knowledge that typically doesn’t happen in dreams, I felt that the floor beneath me had turned to train tracks, and the light ahead is a train screaming down the tracks, blowing its horn at me to move, to get out of the way. I tried to turn and run, but my legs were glued to the spot. Just as the train was about to hit, I’m was somewhere else. A room shaped like a bowl with a lid. In the center of the ceiling was a hole with a grate on top. Short stood on the grate, laughing at me. He said I could go one way or the other and black pus began to flood the room, with nowhere for me to run. As the liquid started to pool around my legs I woke up with a jolt. I was still in the chair in Pon3’s recording room. Homage was nowhere to be seen.

I did my best to calm my heart and wipe the sweat from my brow. It’d been a long time I’d woken up like that to a nightmare. Although when I put it with the night I’d had, I didn’t put it out of the question. A glance at the clock told me it was nearly eight in the morning; I couldn’t spend all day in here. I had to find Rimfire and Homage. I shivered when I thought about finding Short too. Regardless, I had no idea how to get out of here. If only my modest computer had the maps that PipBucks did, but there wasn’t a point in faulting it now. I’d lived a long time without one, I could go longer. I stepped out of the recording booth into a long hallway that stretched off in either direction. I could see a few doorways leading off on either side.

‘I should probably find Homage or Pon3,’ I thought to myself. That was easier said than done I soon found out. I spent nearly half an hour going from room to room. I found a kitchen, three bedrooms, several rooms of just technology, and one massive library. I stayed in the library when I found it, I figured she’d find me soon enough.

In the center of the library was a huge statue of Twilight Sparkle, the ministry mare of Arcane Sciences. I’d heard many ponies who’d use her name as a curse. Most of them blamed the bombs on her, but I didn’t know why. Anypony whom I knew blamed her said it had to do with memory orbs or surviving books they’d read. I never knew enough to make my own opinion so I just went along with them if they asked. I said nothing if they didn’t.

I’d read books, but not often. They were a hard commodity to get a hold of in the wasteland. Few books survived the war and the years. I walked up to a shelf at random and pulled the first book I saw. It had a deep crimson cover and binding. The title was ‘The Zebra and Pony Compendium’. Moving the book had displaced dust which found itself in my snout, causing me to sneeze loudly. The sound echoed through the hallways.

“Starburst?” I heard a voice from another room ask. I stuffed the book back into the shelf and turned to see Homage walking into the library. “There you are,” she said, “I was looking all over for you.”

“I didn’t go that far,” I said, “I fell asleep in the chair.”

“Did you sleep well?”

“Slept fine,” I lied.

“Well that’s good. I found your friends. They’re going to meet us downstairs.”

“Short too?” She nodded. The memories of the night still haunted me. “Want to tell me the plan?”

“Wouldn’t it be best to tell everypony at once?”

“Yeah,” I conceded. I really just wanted to hear the plan. Getting back to the base wa nearly all I could think about. Homage stopped in a corridor and turned to me.

“You wanted to know about communications?” she asked.

“Yeah, what did Pon3 say?” She looked slyly to the left and right.

“He said there’s a spell I can use to make your radio work all the way back here, but you have the fix the MAS in New Pegasus to get it to reach us here.”

“Can you do it now?” I asked. She cocked a grin and her horn started glowing around the breastplate of my armor. After just a moment she was done and looked at me expectantly. “That’s it?”

“Yes,” she said. “Now let’s meet your friends.” She started leading me down the hallways again and we went further and further down the dark and mysterious building. Eventually we met Rimfire, Bolt, and Short in front of a large metal door that had withstood the years with ease. There wasn’t a hint of age on it. Short was pushing his body against it, trying to open it.

“That won’t work,” Homage told him. He pushed off the door and glared at her.

“Why not?” he asked.

“Magic,” she said matter of factly. Short grunted at her as she passed by. A single touch of her hoof opened the door.

Beyond the door looked like an old, one-sided subway platform. On the rails in front of the platform was a train carriage shaped like a bullet. It was matte-gray with no discernable features except the very thing outline of a door. The back of it looked like an array of rockets.

“This thing looks like suicide!” Short exclaimed and I practically agreed with him.

“Is it safe, Homage?” I asked.

“No one’s ever taken it,” she said. “The parts to fix the MAS array are in there at the back. There are three seats so the foal will have to take a lap.”

“How long will this take to get us there?” Rimfire asked.

“I’d estimate five hours,” Homage said.

“Hell,” I muttered aloud.

“It’s this or a week of walking or more,” Homage said. Her horn glowed for a moment and the door of the train opened up. Rimfire and Bolt got in first, but took the backseat. The three seats were arranged in a line. Each of them looked like old bus seats I’d seen with interlacing straps to keep a pony in.

“I swear if this doesn’t work, I’ll be back,” Short threatened. Homage paid him no mind. He got in the train and took the first chair, which left the middle for me.

“I’ll talk to you after I’ve fixed it, Homage. Do you think Pon3 will be available?” I asked.

“I don’t know, Starburst. I’ll do my best to get him for you.” I thanked her and got into the last chair, strapped in, and shut the door. It locked into place automatically. Inside the cabin with the closed door was lit only by red emergency lighting. There weren’t any windows or screens to look at. With all the straps on I couldn’t even turn to see Rimfire or Bolt. I could just barely see the top of Short’s hood above his chair back. How did they expect ponies to sit in this things anyway, I wondered.

“How do we start it?” Rimfire asked.

“There’s a button up here,” Short said, “I’ll press it.” That was the last coherent thing I heard besides a few shrieks of terror. The last thing I felt was my organs hitting the back of my spine. My last thoughts filled my head with panic and drowned out all my other senses.

The next thing that surprised me was a loud squeal which seemed to echo into my very core, shattering every thought process as it started to happen. My body jostled against the restraints, seemingly aching to be let loose. I heard Bolt scream, a tiny pin drop against the pervasiveness of the squealing brakes. But as quickly as it had started it stopped. I gasped for breath like it’d been a thousand years since I’d tasted fresh air. The door to my side slid open to a platform not unlike the one we’d seemingly just left. I unstrapped myself from the seat and limped my way to the stone floor of the platform. It felt cool against my flushed face. Bolt walked crookedly out next. She flopped to the floor next to me. I could almost feel her labored breathing through the armor. The platform was thick with dust and smelled like it too. It had an old, sterile smell to it, almost pleasant. I wondered if it’d really been five hours.

I got to my legs and hobbled back to the train. Short was stirring in his seat, Rimfire had unbuckled herself and had fallen to the floor. Panicking, I dragged her out to the floor and lay her next to Bolt, who didn’t seem to mind at all. I took another deep breath, trying to calm my still irrationally beating heart and walked back into the train. I located the box of supplies behind Rimfire’s seat and started to drag them out of the train by its strap.

“I’m fine by the way,” Short grumbled as he finally removed the last of his restraints.

“I knew you woul’ be,” I said, my mouth full of old leather. Short rubbed his forehead, the hoof making audible cracks against his hard skin.

“Yeah, alright,” he mumbled and stepped out of the carriage. I followed suit with the box and dropped it, panting. Rimfire was coming to.

“That heavy?” Bolt asked. I shook my head.

“I just can’t breathe for some reason.” I looked at the rest of them. They were all breathing normally, now at least.

“Are you getting sick on us?” Short asked, the most compassionate thing he’d done in a day or two. At least that was progressing, maybe the force had knocked some sense into him. I tried again to steady my breathing to some success. We couldn’t lag here forever. We had to fix the broadcaster. I spotted the door out. It had the same design at the last door had, except this one had the letters ‘LP’ emblazoned in faded, black paint. It opened to the touch of a hoof as I got close enough. The lights in the hallway beyond were off or broken, I couldn’t tell. Reaching into my bag I popped out my helmet and placed it on the head. The soft psssht of the pressure system was reassuring even at the worst of times.

The visor showed the world with a much more defined Heads-up Display than I’d been used to in recent days, and it startled me. I thought for a moment my stalled breathing would send me into a coughing fit, but for the time being I was fine. With a simple flick the lantern at the top of my helmet flickered into life and sent illumination streaming down the hallway.

It was silent as a night in the desert and had the stale smell of disuse. The hallway went on straight for ten feet or so at which point it ended in a staircase leading upwards. I figured we were just as underground as we had been in Manehattan, and judging from how long we’d descended in that tower, we were deep down.

The stairway lead us up into a long hallway, beset on both sides by doors that looked like relatively well-used. None of these looked like they’d been used more than a day ago. My eyes were caught by a poster on the wall. It had a picture of a strong-looking mare, behind her were rows and rows of unidentifiable ponies. All of them just black shapes surrounded by white lines and white dots for eyes. Above them all the phrase ‘We Trust In The Overpony’ was written in a large type.

I swallowed a knot in my throat. Why would this be posted in a ministry building, and why did it look so good? The implications made me feel queasy.

“What does it mean?” Bolt asked.

“Stable,” Short said, “There used to be some where I grew up. Not as nice as this one though.” I thought back to when I’d first met Short, back in that biological research facility, I’d seen similar posters. A few of the facilities had them, a stable built in to the place. Next to none of them had been approved by Stable-tec and had failed within a few months after the bombs. One or two had been decent quality, but only one that I knew of was still locked. Had Stable-tec actually made Stables in New Pegasus after all?

Without another word we moved along the hallway, ignoring the doors on either side of us. The dimly lit hallway ended with a turn to another, brighter hallway. My ears twitched with the sound of the talking of ponies. I could hear laughing, joking, talking, and singing. All the doors along the hallway had small, darkened windows, except for one. One door in particular stood out. The window was bright and vibrant with lightly shifting light bursting out of it. On the tarnished silver door were taped notes and streamers. We didn’t even speak, we just got ready. Short pulled up both his revolvers and checked the chambers. Rimfire drew her rifle and turned off the safety. Bolt just furrowed her brow and looked serious. I checked to make sure my machine gun would fire, using explosives down here would probably kill us all. Oxygen was too high a purity, even tiny fires could sometimes clean out a Stable if the oxygen talisman was on the fritz. We got into position outside the door. Short and I in front, side to side, Bolt and Rimfire behind and on either side. I was afraid of what I’d see beyond the door.

Nopony likes to be afraid. Fear is the enemy of love and faith and robs us of all serenity. It steals our sleep and our sunrise and makes us evil, cruel, and dishonorable. It fills our bodies with poisons and takes aways any bit of ponykind in us. It destroys our self-respect. If you've ever been truly afraid, afraid in a way that makes your coat slick with sweat, turns your skin gray and fouls your mood, and you can’t even pray for good luck, lest your prayer be a concession to the conviction that you now hold saying that you are about to die, you know the fear I’m talking about. There is no cure for this fear but motion, no matter what kind. Any pony who’s experienced war or catastrophe or calamity knows this. The surge of adrenaline is so great you could pick up a carriage with just hooves, plunge through a glass window in flaming buildings, or attack enemies whose weapons and numbers outrank yours. No fear of self-injury is as great as the fear that turns your insides into gelatin and shrivels your soul to the size of a marble.

I was afraid of what lay beyond that door. You couldn’t put anything past New Pegasus or the San Palomino. In the deepest pit of my heart I knew the Enclave were behind that door, laughing at the carnage they’d wreaked on my base, and I was afraid they were there too. Life hands us lemons at the worst of times. The door slid open without any of us moving. I saw the legs of a pony as the door climbed up its track. Short was the first to react, he always was. His bullet tore through the chest of an unarmored pony as his chest was revealed, but something was wrong, my eyes scanned the newly revealed room.

Balloons, streamers, bottles of sparkle-cola, party hats, and a foal screaming at the door where a stallion clutched his bleeding chest and ponies turning to stare at us.

End of Chapter 11
No Level Gained