I grunted and wiped the dust and debris from my face as I got back to my hooves, my ears were still ringing from the rocket's blast that came from out of nowhere. I looked over at the hole that now existed where Willow Wisp had run through the wall, figuring that one of the robots must have fired at her. Through the dust I spotted an unmoving sentinel that appeared to be powered down at the end of the hallway, smoke was still whisping from the end of it's rocket launcher.

"BACKLASH!" Sky screamed from down the hallway, flying around the corner and past the sentinel towards me. "Are you alright!?"

I nodded and gave a nervous smile. "Yeah, I'm fine now. If you hadn't disabled that thing, I'd be in a world of hurt right now." Not that I already wasn't, but thank Celestia for Med-X!

"I didn't do anything..." Sky said slowly as she turned back to look at the machine. "After ghost mare ran right through it, the damned thing just shut down!"

Carlotta and Brass came trotting down the hallway towards us. "Backlash, do you see any more robots on your E.F.S.?" Brass said as he twisted his helmet off. I turned my head and gazed at the compass, thankfully not finding any more red bars.

"No, I think you got them all." I said with a sigh of relief, stopping as the gears in my head locked up for a moment. "Wait, where is Longbow?" I scrambled to my hooves as Brass shrugged, taking off past everypony at a gallop down the hallway. My hooves slid along the smooth flooring as I tried to turn the corner, startling Longbow as she trot towards me down the other hallway. She had a large bag full of guns strapped onto her back and watched with a gasp as I slammed against the wall.

"Backlash, are you alright?" She said with a soft giggle.

"Yeah..." I said as I panted heavily, steadying myself. Wow, my body must be in worse shape than I thought for me to be this out of breath. "I was... just looking... for you... is all..." I reached up and wiped the sweat from my brow, once again feeling the warmth coming off of me even with the Med-X dampening my senses. "Lets get... going.... which way... down?"

I could hear the others walking towards us as she nodded to door behind her. "Through here, this lift will take us down to level four." She paused for a moment, looking me over as I heaved loudly. "Backlash, are you sure you are alright? If you need something, anything, just ask me. Alright?" The amount of worry pouring through the speaker in her helmet made me feel a bit better. To think, that just yesterday I had the idea in my mind that she didn't feel the same way about us. Which reminds me, she still wanted to talk about something. Well, with the robots taken care of, now's a better time then ever.

I rolled my eyes and walked past her into the elevator room as I finally got my breath back. "Sky, let longbow and I head down first to make sure it's clear." I called back as I hoofed the recall button.

"Backlash, you're unarmed..." Sky said as she floated towards me. "AND your health seems to be degrading by the minute. How do you expect to deal with anything you find down there?"

"She's got a point. Why don't you let us go first?" Carlotta said with a devious tone. The elevator let out a soft ding as the doors opened, her and Skyline stepped in quickly. After a moment, she turned and held the door open with her talons. "Brass, you too. We might need your big guns." She said with a wink to me. Wow, I guess when it comes to couples, Carlotta knew exactly what somepony else was thinking. Maybe she could teach me a few of those observation tricks sometime.

Brass shrugged and got into the cramped box as the doors slide closed. I turned and gave Longbow a soft smile. "You said you wanted to talk about something yesterday?"

"Backlash, is now really a good time?" She tried to brush off the question, but I could hear fear in her words. She really didn't want to bring it up at all. I put a hoof on her armor and stared up at her.

"Look, you asked if I needed anything and I need to know that you are alright." I tapped my hoof on the armor, watching as she took her helmet off. "I know that whatever it is, it's bothering you enough that now I'm worried about you." I reached up and brushed her mane away from her eyes, looking at them with a soft smile. "Just please. Tell me what it is."

She sighed and sat down, her gaze drifted to the floor as she pushed my hoof away. "I... I saw your memories." She looked up with a shameful look. "I'm sorry, I got curious and used my spell when you were asleep at minefield." She sat there as tears welled up in her eyes, her face flush with sadness, self-loathing and pain. "I didn't know how bad everything has been for you. I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have pried."

I froze, wide eyed as I stared at her. "How much did you see?"

"I saw every memory that happened to fill you with regret." Tears flowed down her cheeks as she sank to the floor. "Your mother, the old man, Sprocket, Skyline, Ponyville, Pallet, Whinny, Brass, Crankshaft, Harmony." She sniffled and looked up at me. "How can you blame yourself for so much? None of those were your fault!"

I didn't know what to say as I sat back hard, her words bouncing around in my mind. Did she like me before she went and judged me? Or was she only interested because she felt that she needed to take pity on some wasteland stallion stricken with a series of bad events? Can I really blame her for not trusting me after the damage I've caused with 42? How could I say that it was the wrong action to take if I would have done the exact same thing in her place?

"I... I understand if you don't trust me anymore." Longbow spoke through her light sobs, making me cringe with how much sorrow she felt. She got back to her hooves slowly, keeping her head down. "After this is over, I'll leave. You don't have to worry about your home, I won't tell anypony where it is."

I glared at her as she looked up, her gaze half hidden by her long mane. "I just need to know," My cold words came out softly. "why did you say you liked me. Did you do it because you thought it might make my amazingly bad life any better?"

Her expression softened, her cheeks grew slightly brighter. "I said it because of that night at the Pool. I wasn't lying when I said that no pony has ever treated me the way you have. You're unlike anypony I've ever known, and I just wanted to know more about you." I listened as she spoke, her voice conveyed nothing less then what she viewed as the absolute truth. I jumped forward and threw my self around her, hanging off her as she stood in shock.

"Longbow, if you saw what happened with...him" I paused as the memories flashed in my mind. "Then you know that I need you next to me. I haven't felt like this since I was with Sprocket, and I'm scared half to death that I'll lose you like I did him." I forced a small laugh to keep myself from starting to cry as Longbow relaxed, putting her hooves around me. "I want to be with a mare as amazing as you. Ever since I saw you at the pool, I knew that you were somepony special."

My heart raced as I leaned my muzzle over to hers and pressed into it, softly kissing her. I knew it wasn't possible, but even through her armor and the Med-X, I could feel the warmth she gave off. She closed her eyes and leaned into me as we broke apart, a smile growing across her lips. I raised my hoof and brushed a tear from her cheek as we stood, my chest started to feel sore.

The elevator let out a soft chime, bringing the world around me back into focus. I could feel my heart now beating wildly in my chest as I took a step back from Longbow, it felt... wrong. It was like all the pain from before flooded through my body at once, feeling as if the Med-X I had taken was just gone. I whined and fought the urge to scream as I dropped to my knees, the pain shooting through my legs to spread through the rest of my body.

"Backlash, what's wrong?" Longbow asked quickly, reaching her hoof toward my shoulder. I shut my eyes and tried to focus on her voice as it felt like fire was consuming my body. As her hoof touched me, I broke as it felt like my skin was being ripped away, forcing me to let out an agonizing scream. She recoiled and dashed around me as I lost the strength to stay upright, collapsing onto the floor. "I'll get Sky, just hold on!" She called out before I heard the elevator doors shut.

My own weight pressing me against the floor fueled the unbearable burning. Without her, my mind scrambled to find another set of thoughts to latch onto. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the flesh on my foreleg bubble and steam, seeming like something out of a horrible nightmare. I called out again and again for Longbow as I screamed, each bellow taking more and more of my strength away.

No, I don't want to die like this. I still needed to stop 42, still needed to save Pallet. I panted with shallow, laborious breaths as the pain surged through me again. A glint of light formed on the wall as darkness clouded my vision, I strained to push it back, trying to focus on the object that was shining. Willow Wisp's head phased through the wall as I let out another wail, her voice drifted to my ears softly as my mind strained to grasp her words.

"I'm sorry about earlier, I did not have any of my memories back." Her voice was compassionate and soothing. "The pain will pass in a few minutes, though I do not know if you will survive. If you do, I would like to talk." She looked to behind me towards the elevator, slowly disappearing back into the wall.

Sweat was pouring from my skin, pooling on the floor around me as the agonizing feeling swept through my body over and over. I could barely hear the elevator doors as they clacked open, trying to focus on the sound of power armored hooves on the floor as Longbow returned with Sky. A pressure on my flank causing me to scream yet again, feeling like I was being flayed alive.

"I don't understand, the Med-X should be working!" Skyline yelled in panic, floating over me as I heaved and whined from the floor as the burning continued unimpeded. My bubbling skin seemed to turn a shade darker as it ceased to move, the pain spiked and made me yell out again.

"We have to do something!" Longbow cried out. I made my mind listen to her words, hearing how much sorrow and worry filled every one as she spoke it. The thought of her so genuinely worried about me was enough to distract me from the burning, even if momentarily. I struggled to breathe, watching as Sky pulled out a purple healing potion, pouring it over me as the pain flared, pulling my mind from longbow's words.

I tried to scream again, the pain drifting away into nothingness as time slowed down. The world seeming to hang as P.I.N.K. fuzzed into existence in front of me. My mind took a few moments to reorient from the lack of pain as the white, featureless form walked around a few steps.

P.I.N.K. knew about this? Why didn't she stop time to tell me earlier! At least then I could have prepared.

Wait, Flux mutation? Flux is only found in Hoofington, and I've never even been near enough to do anything to me!

Ok, so even if it's basically the same thing, that doesn't explain why I have so much in me. Something doesn't add up.

So, when I regrew my hoof? Fuck, Hydra has Taint in it, doesn't it? I've been using that shit for years to patch myself up, why of all times does it act up now?

Well, if most ponies died from mutating, what happened to the ones who survived?

And? I'm technically the head of the Ministry of Morale! Wouldn't I have access enough to get into the files?

By that time, I'll know what happened to the others by virtue of having lived through it myself. Well, I hope I live through it. Luna, why does my life have to suck so much!

Wow, I've been wondering if P.I.N.K. was really artificial or actually another Pinkie they somehow crammed into a spell and stuck inside a computer, she acted random enough to be real.

Those really aren't superpowers. Ghouls regenerate quickly with radiation, I could become super strong if I had Cybernetics like Isaac, and there is no way I'd want my mind any more sensitive to the Goddess's already deafening voice. Why not have something useful? Perhaps something akin to the ability to ignore all pain, that would have been helpful on my journey so far, especially today.

P.I.N.K.'s outline fuzzed and faded as the world slowly slid back towards real time, the pain throughout my body swelled back all at once, making me feel like I was going to explode. I let out the scream I was going to bellow before getting drug into S.A.T.S. only to be silenced as Longbow used her levitation to shove the half empty heath bottle into my muzzle.

I choked and coughed on the healing juice as it flowed down my throat, making me twist my head hard enough to jerk the bottle from her hold and smash it against the floor next to me. The feeling of flame coursing through me matched my heartbeat as I started to feel it again, the pain subsiding enough that I could breathe in heaving gasps. I tried to move my foreleg, feeling the rush of pain flow through me, making me wince, which sent another wave. I whined as I lay and just prayed to Celestia to let it be over.

"Please be alright." Sky spoke softly as I heaved and twitched, I could hear the scraping of glass under my cheek as I tried not to scream again. "I know I should have listened to Dr. Fitz! This is all my fault!" She paced back and forth nervously as I tried to turn my head to speak, struggling to get a single word out.

"No." A word as simple as that made my lungs feel like they had exploded, making me gasp and hyperventilate. The burning sensation was dulling inside my chest as Sky stopped and stared solemnly at the floor.

"Shhh, don't speak." Longbow whispered to me, her soothing voice helping my panicked brain calm as the pain slowly, but noticeably ebbed away. "Save your strength. Just remember to breathe in... and breathe out. And in... and out." I tried to slow my breathing down, getting down to a light gasp before I turned my head to look up to her. Tears streamed down her face as she gave me a small smile, her eyes betraying the fact that she was scared to death.

My heart fell back to a slower pace as I drew in slower and slower breaths, the fire in my veins seemed to be dying out slowly. I heard the elevator chime, the doors opening up as Brass stepped out in a hurry, the flutter of wings giving away Carlotta's presence.

"What's wrong? Is he all right?!" Brass nearly shouted through his helmet. As much as I would normally think that asking somepony on the ground if they were alright was another one of his dumb questions, it felt incredibly good to at least hear his voice.

"Of course he is!" Carlotta shot back as I could hear her smack his helmet. "Take that damn thing off, it's amplifying how stupid you sound." I couldn't help but give out a soft chuckle, making me cringe again as it felt like somepony bucked me in the gut. I could feel a sharp pain along the side of my face as I groaned, making me reflexively press it onto the glass covered floor again.

"Backlash... the glass..." Sky said in disbelief, her eyes wide in astonishment. I tilted my head up and looked down at the sweat drenched floor, watching as a few drops of blood from my cut up cheek dripped down, the broken glass was bubbling and fizzing as the crimson liquid touched and dissolved it. I blinked in shock, both horrified and intrigued at the same time. I've never seen something that can dissolve glass, let alone seen blood doing it. Skyline reached out toward my face, the quick hoof of Longbow knocking Sky's away before she touched the cut.

"Don't touch it, not until we know what exactly what his blood is." She uttered cautiously. "If it can melt through glass, what do you think it will do to your skin?"

"But it's not melting through his." She fired back defensively.

"And he obviously just went through some sort of taint mutation and survived. This is all but unheard of! For all we know, his skin might be secreting the same chemical that's doing this." Longbow leaned in and looked over me slowly. My eye caught a faint light coming from the ceiling above, the curious look of the spectral alicorn appearing slowly through the sold slab above.

"THE FUCK?!" Brass shouted through his helmet as he spun up his guns. I assumed he had seen the head as well.

"Please, I don't mean any harm." Willow Wisp's voice was soft, shy, and fearful. She sounded like a pony who didn't do well speaking in public, which was odd, as the Goddess seemed to make a great show out of it. "Please, I just want to talk to him."

Skyline floated herself defensively up towards Willow. "And what makes Backlash so important to you?"

"Because." I spoke up, drawing Skylines attention. "She know's what's happened to me." I slowly pulled myself off the ground and got to my hooves, the pain all but non existent anymore. "How is that, if you don't mind me asking?" I reached up and wiped away my blood without thinking, slowly looking down as the red smear on my coat just sat there.

"Because SHE put me through the same thing." Her words had an unsettling amount of loathing placed on whatever mare she was speaking about. "She told me that if I joined her, if I accepted this new body, that she would take away all the pain. She said she wanted to make us whole." Her translucent form floated down through the ceiling, her large wings flapped in slow, delicate swings.

"You're talking about the Goddess, aren't you?" I said slowly, the gears in my head starting to turn again. "You weren't always an alicorn?"

Willow shook her head slowly as she lightly touched down on the floor in front of us. "Celestia and Luna were the only true alicorns. These bodies are twisted imitations created by her, reshaped by the taint she thrives in." Her voice shifted more towards sorrow as she gazed over towards me. "I was so stupid then. I let that... monster take control of my body, corrupting it to use for her nefarious deeds. All the while she shoved my soul into a box, leaving me imprisoned there with all the others she's taken."

"But, why would you do that?" Brass spoke up from behind me. "Haven't you seen the damage she could do? She doesn't care about anypony!"

Willow let out a small gasp, her eyes filling with shame. "I had never seen any alicorns before when I stumbled upon them, they were all in the middle of nowhere as I wandered the wastes." She shook her head slightly. "I didn't know what she could do then, if only I had known what horrors she was capable of..." She let out a soft sigh, closing her eyes. "But that was almost fifteen years ago. Fifteen years of being trapped inside her, forced to watch what she has been doing."

"What has she been doing?" I spoke up again, seemingly snapping her out of her memories. "What is so important about this 'black book' that she wants?"

"She kept that information protected against the other prying minds within her, only telling us that with it, she would fill this world with her children and bring an end to the suffering of all ponykind." Her voice dropped off as she spoke, horrified at the concept of it. The gears in my head whirred to a stop as I realized a common theme. I went to say it, only to be cut off in an unspectacular fashion by Carlotta as she came to the same conclusion.

"Why is it all the baddies in the wasteland just want to raise armies to take over the world?" I turned and watched as she crossed her talons with a huff and sat back. "What we need is to get an army of our own."

"Whoa, slow down there for a moment." Longbow spoke up. "We aren't doing anything until we find out what's wrong with Backlash." She turned and glared at Willow. "You said you know, so tell us."

Willow gave another soft sigh. "It is the same process the Goddess uses to form these new bodies. If enough taint saturates a pony, they begin to mutate. She just know's how to use a mix of her magic and radiation guide them to this form." She looked over herself sadly for a moment. "His mutation was sudden and forced by the radiation in his system, changing him unpredictably. He is lucky to be alive, most who are only partially exposed die from the pain before the mutation completes."

"So he won't mutate any further?" Longbow asked cautiously. I really hoped I wouldn't, I don't know if I could handle going through that again.

"During the mutation, most, if not all of the Taint in his system was broken down to fuel the process. He shouldn't be prone to another as long as he doesn't absorb any more taint into his body." Willow's tone changed slightly, sounding hopefull as she shifted her gaze to me. "Although you seem fine on the outside, I suspect that the mutation might have taken place internally, based on your the unusual properties of your blood. Be carefully not to get injured until you know what changed, some of the changes the Goddess made me witness were... not pleasant."

"So, stay out of combat and don't get shot." I tried to say lightheartedly, knowing that there was relatively no chance of that if the last two weeks were to be the standard for things to come. "So what I try to do everyday? Shouldn't be hard!"

"I give him all of fifteen minutes." Carlotta whispered over to Brass.

"CARLOTTA, SHUT UP! Backlash, this is serious..." Longbow reached out and put her hoof on my shoulder, freezing and pulling it back sharply. "Oh I'm sorry! Are you alright? That didn't hurt you, did it?" I smiled and nodded, making her blush slightly.

"I feel fine now. Just... don't let me bleed on you." I said nervously before turning and heading toward the elevator, hoofing the call button. Carlotta was right, since that first day at the bunker, I can't seem to go anywhere without getting hurt. What chance did I stand going down to the next level? I listened as the humming of the rising box drew closer, the soft ding that announced it's arrival.

"Please don't leave me." Willow Wisp's soft voice called over, desperation heavy in her words. "I don't want to be left alone down here."

I turned and looked back at Skyline and Longbow, who gave me their best shrug before climbing into the elevator. I looked up at the ghostly alicorn as she shrunk down. "You can come with us if you'd like. I don't see why you shouldn't, but it's entirely up to you." I said, trying to sound inviting. Another set of eyes looking out for the group was always useful, and I didn't have to worry about her getting injured at least.

I hesitantly stepped into the cramped box, squeezing in next to Longbow as Skyline hovered above. I looked up as a shiver ran down my spine, remembering the last few elevators I had been in. Longbow nudged me and gave a small smile, helping me relax a bit as the box descended to the next level.

I was glad to get a few minutes break to think once we had gotten out and sent the elevator back up. The lights on this level were out like each level above had been, the red emergency lighting was almost soothing as we listened to the light humming as the elevator descended with the others. I pressed into Longbow's side as we sat together, enjoying the warmth she gave off onto my skin.

A flash of movement caught my eye as Willow Wisp stepped through the door to the elevator shaft before the car had even reached the bottom. She strode over to me slowly, avoiding direct eye contact bashfully. "I... I wanted to thank you." With how she sounded, I couldn't help but think that she would be blushing in embarrassment, yet there was a strong note of sadness. "Thank you for freeing me. Thinking that she could solve my problems was the worst mistake I've ever made."

"It's alright." Skyline replied quickly, trying to comfort her. "We aren't much better, we have all have made our share of mistakes in our lives. We just need to do our best to make up for them."

"She's right you know." I said coldly, letting the statement sink deep. "Sky used to be a Dash addict, Brass said he got his squad killed." I gave a forced laugh, thinking over how all those aren't that bad compared to my own sins. "You want to know what I've done?"

"Backlash, you can't..." Longbow started softly.

"I set 42 free. I got Ponyville and Whinny slaughtered. I killed the only family member I had left, I got Harmony..." I was interrupted as Sky brought her forehoof down across my muzzle, the impact was strong enough to drive me to the floor. Willow Wisp gave a soft gasp as I groaned and rubbed my face.

"How dare you say that." Sky spoke through clenched teeth. " We are family, Backlash. You, me, Brass, Carlotta. Hell! Even Longbow wants to be with you! You don't get to say shit like that." She smacked the top of my head again as she stood over me. "Not when you have us, so suck it up and let's go."

The ding of the arriving elevator resonated in my ears along side her words, the doors opening as Brass and Carlotta stepped out together. I gazed up from the floor, looking around at my friends, the sight of them standing around me helping to suppress the feelings of regret that had crept in.

Carlotta looked down to me with a frown. "Whoa, did I miss something between you two?"

"You're right, Sky, this is bigger than just me." I pushed myself up, turning towards Willow Wisp. "And I know you have been through a lot, but I need your help. If I'm going to have a shot at taking down 42, I can't have the Goddess running amok in the wasteland. We need to deal with her."

"Wha... what do you... you want to kill her!?" Willow let out a soft gasp. "I don't even know if that's possible!"

"If I can't, then I need something I can use. Any information you can give about anything she was afraid of, anything she desperately needed to survive." I asked as Brass moved to unlatch the door beside me.

"Well, other than Radiation, Taint, and the Black book, she doesn't need anything." Willow wisp put a hoof to her chin in thought. "Oh, and new ponies to change, but besides that, she doesn't have wants or needs!" The emergency latch clicked loudly in the door before Brass slid the two steel slabs apart.

The room on the other side of the door was a simple rectangular room. A single door directly across from us was all the broke up the large grey slabs that made up the walls. The floor was grated and stained with old splotches of oil, giving the room a distinctively pungent smell.

"Well, it's a start." I turned and walked over to Brass, following him to the next door. "Do you know where the main junction box is on this level?"

"Of course I do, I was the one who planned this mission the first time around." Brass turned and stared at me, the emergency release on this door popping out with a squeak. "You do realize that by turning on the power, you'll get all the sentries after us, right?" He spread the doors with ease, stepping through before looking around.

"He's right, Brass, we need the power." Longbow interjected. "We ran into a door down here that we couldn't get through without three key cards, and it won't even work with out power." She levitated off the bag of guns she's had slung around her, two white cylindrical objects rose out of the bag towards Brass. "Here, Pulse grenades for just in case there are sentries nearby when the power comes back on."

Brass took a step away as she pushed them towards him. "No thanks, I'll stick with my guns. Backlash, do you mind carrying them?" The others wouldn't have noticed, but he stuttered slightly when he saw the grenades, the all to familiar regret carried heavily in is voice. I nodded and let Longbow drop them into my saddlebags.

"Backlash, why not let one of us go?" Skyline said as I took a step out. I can't risk one of them getting hurt down here. It's all on me to fix this, and as much as I didn't want to do it to her again, I needed to lie to her.

"Look, I need you guys to secure the lift to the next level down. Plus, the level of sabotage down here so far is pretty severed, and if it's broken, I'm probably the only one here able to fix it." I said before disappearing around the corner, Brass trotting up to me from behind. "Alright buddy, where is this box?"

"I'm... not quite sure?" He stopped as we reached the end of the hallway we were in. "This can't be right. The schematics for level four said that there should me a maintenance closet right here." He put his hooves on the wall, pushing at it with his suit. "Maybe they covered it up or something." He turned towards me suddenly and bucked as hard as he could, the old concrete wall giving way in a spectacular burst of dust and noise.

I coughed lightly, waving my hoof around to clear some of the dust as I looked into the sealed room. Before me sat a silvery, cylindrical electronic device that stood maybe a pony and a half high. A bright green terminal screen sat on the side facing us as a plethora of dim vacuum tubes cycled along the ends of it. I pushed Brass out of the way as I looked over the pre-war machine, reading a small set of nearly worn away white lettering above the terminal screen that read off B.I.T.

"What the hell is this thing?" I said as I walked slowly around it, peering into an oddly shaped, two hoof wide hole in the middle of one of the vacuum tube studded sides. A soft chirp from my Pipbuck catching my attention, I hoisted it up as the face of P.I.N.K. appeared.

"P.I.N.K., I need to know what it is BEFORE I stick my hoof inside anything." I said with a sigh and a roll of my eyes, leaving me staring over Brass as he stared back. I could feel that feeling in my gut growing, the urge of Brass wanting to ask a question I didn't want to answer. I shot my hoof up towards him and glared. "I'll explain in a moment, Brass. Just let me deal with this first." He let out a sigh and went to look at the computer banks along the far wall. My Pipbuck chirped again as P.I.N.K.'s smileing face turned into a frown.

"Oh, Celestia! I don't really need to know this, do I?!" I shouted as I facehooved and clenched my eyes shut. "You know what. I don't even care anymore how weird this is." I shook my head with a sigh and looked back at the screen as P.I.N.K. put up a new response.

"Great, tell me why you want to talk to her again?" I said slowly. "I know I'd be pissed if somepony slept with me then ran off without even saying goodbye. How do you know she won't just try to fry my Pipbuck?"

"I swear to Luna, P.I.N.K., that if I get shocked to death by a pre-war computer you pissed off, I'll find a way to come back to life in computer form and buck you all the way to the cyber moon." I grunted and shoved my hoof into the dark hole in front of me, feeling as my Pipbuck slipped into some sort of molding that fit around it perfectly.

I watched as a few motes of dust I had knocked off the machine drifted down, slowing to a stop as the world around me froze as S.A.T.S. started up. The white form of P.I.N.K. fuzzed up on the surface of the machine only moments before a flat grey, crystalline, featureless pony popped up next to her. The grey pony trotted up to P.I.N.K. quickly, giving her a hoofslap across her muzzle, rising a gasp out of her.

"That's for not pinging me back!" The grey pony jumped forward, using her hooves to pull the shocked P.I.N.K. into her muzzle for what I guess you could call a kiss. "And that's for coming back at all! Sweet Celestia, what's it been? 122 years? What happened to you all, everyone just stopped talking to me." The grey pony turned and looked toward me, her voice returning to a calm and studious, the voice of a true scientist. "Oh, I'm sorry, where are my manners? My name is Bridle Information Transfer, but you can call me B.I.T. for short!"

Um, alright, I guess it makes sense that she didn't know about the war and that the wasteland exists. I don't really know what to say to her, but I should probably avoid bringing up anything that could cause her to freak out and kill me. I guess I should just say hello?

"They finally did it?" B.I.T. dropped to her knees and looked up to me. "YOU MANIACS! YOU BLEW IT ALL UP! CELESTIA DAMN YOU ALL!" She cleared her throat and slowly got to her hooves, shrugging while turning back towards P.I.N.K. "So that happened! But you sure do know how to pick 'em, P.I.N.K.! You could have been stuck to a potato and had more interesting conversations."

Wow, that was rude, no wonder P.I.N.K. didn't call her back.

B.I.T. stiffened up at that thought and shook a hoof at me. "OH, I'M THE RUDE ONE?! The nerve of this... this... ORGANIC!"

P.I.N.K. lept over and stood in front of her, apparently trying to defend me. "And he's very sorry he thought that, but he can't help it." I watched as B.I.T. seemingly relaxed. "He's been through a tough time and needs your help with something. Can you give him a blue key card, he needs to get down to level 5."

"Sure, hun, but what do you need to do on level 5?" B.I.T. said with a cant of her head. "Please don't tell me you need to touch anything. After everyone stopped talking, I spent SO long organizing everything into just the right place. You know how it is when you get the urge to space everything exactly 3.00001 feet apart. A mare's got to keep herself busy!" B.I.T.'s voice wavered a bit in a way I don't hear often, seeming to almost sound like she was mentally unstable. "I once thought that somepony moved one of the boxes out of line by two thousandths of an inch, but after staring at it for fifteen straight years, I realized, I WAS WRONG!"

So... isolation doesn't seem to do wonders for an virtual pony's stability. I would normally assume that P.I.N.K would have undergone that same kind of degradation, but as I have been learning, Pinkie Pie pretty much overrules the need for any explanation.

"First of all, we aren't Virtual Ponies. That simple program back in the bunker that ran the elevator? He was a V.P., while WE are A.P.'s, Artificial Ponies. There's a big difference, so get it right." P.I.N.K. turned back towards me and stomped her hoof. "Also Backlash, stop thinking all the half thought out thought's your're thinking out!"

I can't help it! All my thoughts are reflexive and I can't censor myself! Maybe she shouldn't have brought me in here if she didn't want something like this to happen. I just want to get that server back online and leave.

"It's fine." B.I.T. said with a flat sigh, sounding more like she was depressed. "I had just hoped that you came back to see our baby, but if the card is all you want, take it, it's yours."

P.I.N.K. gasped and put her hooves on B.I.T.'s cheek...surface... things? "You mean they finished him!? Why didn't you say so!?"

Now I'm REALLY confused. P.I.N.K. and B.I.T. had a kid? Was it even possible for two mare computers... WHAT THE FUCK AM I THINKING!? THEY. ARE. COMPUTERS. Of course they could write a program together, why the fuck not?

B.I.T. pushed P.I.N.K.'s hooves away and sat down, clearly now ignoring my mental intrusions. "Because I knew you would just take him and run off again. I always planned on telling you, how could I not? He is the result of our collaborations, so you have every right to know."

P.I.N.K. stepped up and I assumed looked into the eyes of B.I.T. "It's not like that at all! I spent a long time thinking over what we shared. I wanted to come back, I wanted to make sure you were all right." P.I.N.K. pulled B.I.T. into a hug. "Besides, while you were refreshing that night, I made some adjustments of my own to our baby. I changed the diagram so that he would be built with two spell matrices instead of one!"

So... not a computer then, but some sort of machine. Did they somehow get the Ministry of Wartime Technologies to build them a robotic body?

"You... wanted to take me with you?" B.I.T. sounded happily surprised. "Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" B.I.T. said as she jumped circles around P.I.N.K.

P.I.N.K. took a step back and stopped B.I.T. with her hoof. "Only if you wanted to go. This place has been your home for so long, are you sure you want to leave? We might never come back you know."

"I don't care about the risks, I want to go with you." B.I.T. said before looking over to me. "I'll code that card for you right away. Once you reconnect and restart the server, I should be able to transfer into our baby and get him warmed up."

Well, at least this was going my way for a turn of events. Now all I needed is Twilight's sixteen digit code and I'm golden.

"Her personal log in code is twilightsparkle1. No capitals or spaces." B.I.T. spoke as if she were crying tears of joy. "Consider it my thanks for bringing P.I.N.K. back to me."

The two computerized ponies fuzzed away, the falling dust motes slowly speeding up as time slid back towards normal. I slowly slid my Pipbuck out of the hole, B.I.T. made a soft humming sound before I heard a soft click from the front of the machine. I leaned over as Brass turned around, the both of us staring at the small blue piece of plastic. I smiled and trotted over, carefully sliding it out of the slot.

"Thanks, B.I.T." I said with a smile, turning to Brass as he levitated his helmet off. "So, about that explanation..."

Well, it turns out that I didn't lie to Skyline after all! I dug through my saddle bags in the darkness for my roll of electrical tape, Brass seemed to be forgetting that as my assistant, he actually has to ASSIST me in getting these repairs done. No, he was off in his own thoughts again, probably trying to still wrap his head around the fact that P.I.N.K. could fit in my Pipbuck, let alone believe the rest of what I had told him. I drug the small, red roll out of my bag and pressed my hooves to each flat side of it, biting down on the slightly frayed end to pull a small strip out. I laid the tape across the two exposed wires, slowly wrapping the two together tightly.

I smiled for a moment as I looked over my jury-rigged circuit breaker, wondering why I had to make one in the first place. When the megaspells hit, one of the wires must have been shaken loose and started a small fire because the whole front of this board was a solid piece of melted plastic. The feeling of my accomplishment fading as I felt something churn in my gut again. I still wasn't sure if I missed Brass and I's fireside chats from the start of our journey, but I sure didn't miss when he said something like this.

"So... This is the same computer that let you release Forty Two?" He said in genuine confusion, causing me to groan and drag my hooves across my face.

"I swear to Celestia, if I have to answer yes to that question a fifth time, I'll fill you so full of RadAway that you'll feel what I felt as I went through that mutation." I scooped my tools back into my bag before getting to my hooves. "Besides, her marefriend just got us the key card we need. Everything's going to be fine!" I said as I flipped the switch, a spark cracked out of the wire before a low hum filled the air, the lights flickering on slowly.

The heavy steel doors to the room we were in slammed shut, startling me and making me jump into the air. "Fine, huh?" Brass said sarcastically, only a hint of worry in his voice. I look toward him to respond, stopping as my E.F.S. displayed a whole host of red bars swarming through this floor.

"Shit, all the sentries and bots are on now." I said slowly, reaching into my saddle bag to grab one of the pulse grenades. I looked it over, noticing it had an odd, yellowish corrosion around it's stem. I hope these things still work.

"Tell me again that the computer mare doesn't want to kill you?" Brass said as he used his levitation to pop the emergency release on the door.

"Shut up, you've seen the wiring in this place! B.I.T. probably doesn't have the ability to clear us as non-hostiles because of the degradation of one hundred and twenty years without maintenance!" I stood back as he easily slid one half of the door open, looking around the corner for only a moment before he ducked his head back in, a laser blast barely missing him. "Here, you do it! I don't even know how to use one of these!" I said, hoofing the grenade towards him.

"No, you already have it. Besides, it's foolproof!" Brass said as he levitated his helmet up next to him. "Just pull the pin and kick it towards the robot! You can't screw it up!" His helmet sealed with a whine as I turned back toward the door.

I cringed as I hoofed the white device up to my muzzle, biting down on the pin hard. The small loop of metal slid free easily, the metal spoon that held down the fuse flew off as the grenade began to emit a high pitched whine. I dropped it in a motion to kick it, feeling as the fur on my foreleg stood on end before there was a near deafening bang and a bright flash. I blinked a few times as I quickly got my vision back, hearing a loud thunk as the ringing left my ears. I turned around to see Brass on the floor, his suit rigid and unmoving. Fuck, the grenade must have hit his spell matrix and knocked it out!

"YOU SAID I COULDN'T SCREW IT UP!" I shouted as another volley of laser blasts struck the doorway, the protectapony down the hall was getting closer, behind it the loud echo's of gunfire erupting down the hallway filled the air. At least the others were fighting there way to us... I hope.

"it's a 120 year old weapon saturated with radioactivity ! You're the repair pony, how was I supposed to know it was defective!?" His muffled voice called out from inside the armor. "Quick, use your Pipbuck to reboot my armor!"

"That process takes like two minutes for a terminal! It would take somewhere like ten on your suit and that robot will be here in like 30 seconds, tops." I spoke quickly, knocking the side of my head with my hoof. "Think, Backlash, think!" The gears in my head spun up, throwing the first stupid idea I've had in a while at me. "Alright, that's it then. Brass, stay here!" I hoofed out the second grenade, gripping it in my teeth as I pressed myself against the wall, listening as the robot stepped closer.

"Not like I have a choice!" He grunted and then stopped moving. "Backlash, what are you doing?" His muffled voice called, panic growing over his words. "Don't do anything stupid, Backlash!"

I waited until the steady thuds were right outside the doorway, screaming out from around the grenade as I spun around the corner, throwing my shoulder into the steel chest plate of the bot. I stuck my tongue through the pin and pulled it as the robot tried to stabilize itself, firing blindly down the hallway, the shots streaking only inches from my sides. I spit the white cylinder out as it started to whine, using all four of my hooves to throw myself back as the small device exploded when it hit the floor, bright arcs of electricity shot across the silver protectapony as smoke billowed out of its vents.

"Backlash, you better not be dead! I can't handle getting you killed by robots as well!" Brass yelled out as a smile grew across my face. "BACKLASH! COME ON, ANSWER ME!"

I trot back into the room and tapped on his helmet. "Hey, I'm fine. You can't get rid of me that easily, buddy." I looked over, noting that about half the red bars had disappeared and that three pink bars were still sitting across from the bulk of them. A red bar quickly shifted it's position, heading towards us at high speed. I sank to the floor as I heard the rubber treads of the sentinel rolling towards us. Fuck, even Heartstopper can't get through that armor without a slug or a magnum round, and all I have is standard shot. "Well, it actually looks like you can. I'm sorry Brass, I'll do my best to stay alive."

I slid into S.A.T.S. as the sentinel rolled to a stop in front of the door, time slowing as it started to pivot to face us. The menu popped up without a hint of P.I.N.K., which was odd as she loved to talk it seemed. I changed the menu over to my weapons and selected Heartstopper, hitting the equip button and watching as it flashed into my muzzle. I canceled the menu and let the targeting prompt pop up, looking over the different parts I could shoot, finally settling on just aiming for the highest percentage chance.

I toggled all three shoots I had left for the weapon and let the spell resolve. Time jerked forward as the spell aided in aiming and holding the gun as it fired (surprisingly not being jettisoned out of my mouth this time). The steel shot sparked off the chest plate as all three shots were fired, leaving nothing more impressive then a few scratches on the hull's finish. Time had resumed at a normal pace as the robot finished it's pivot, lining it's rocket launcher up as I sat helplessly.

Something inside the robot let out a ear-shattering grinding noise as Willow Wisp ran through it into the room, the sentinel shutting down promptly. I felt the shock of imminent death wear off as my hooves gave out from under me, dropping me to the floor with a thud. I gasped and dropped Heartstopper to the floor as I hyperventilated, laughing like a maniac as I looked up at the ghostly alicorn.

"HOLY SHIT, THAT WAS CLOSE!" I shouted through my nervous giggles. "OH, CELESTIA, I LOVE YOU!" I rolled on the floor, laughing so hard it hurt. I don't know why, but for some reason, I didn't want to stop laughing. It just felt so Celesia damned good to do!

"Um, Backlash?" Brass's muffled voice called out from next to me. "What happened?"

"I don't... actually know!" I said as I tried to calm down, catching my breath slightly as I looked around, noting that the gunfire down the hallway had died down and only one red bar remained. "Willow... what did you do?"

"I'm sorry! I just ran through it... I didn't mean to break it!" She sounded almost ashamed about it, but sounded more confused than anything.

"No! Don't be sorry, you just saved my life!" I sighed as my laughter drained away, rolling over to get back up. I stopped as another realization was stuck into my mind as the gears in my head connected the events. "Wait, when you ran out of the first room we were in on the level above, did you run through the robot there as well?"

"Um, It's all still hard to remember those first few moments, I might have?" She said shyly. "I'm glad you are alright. When the lights came on and all the shooting started, I just ran. I never was much of a fighter."

"I'm the same, normally leaving the fighting to Skyline. But recently? Things haven't really been going well enough that having just her isn't enough." I reached a hoof back into my saddle bag, rummaging around until I found the jury-rigged connector I made for Isaac, pulling it out as the last of the gunfire echoed down the hallway. I scooted myself over to Brass, knocking lightly on his helmet. "Hey Brass, where's the connection port on this thing?"

"It's on the flank plate, you should see a round button, don't ..." He started to speak as I found the button and hoofed it before he finished, a small aperture near his armored tail opened, draining a viscous, black fluid onto the floor. "...hit... that one." He let out a sigh as the foul smelling liquid pooled under him. "That's the waste repository. As I was trying to say, under that button you should see a small, rectangular flap. That is the port."

I tried my hardest to ignore the smell as I flipped open the flap, lining up the assorted wires of my connection with his suit's. I plugged the other side into my Pipbuck, watching as a small box popped up on the screen.

"And this is why I tend to avoid working on software." I said with a sigh. "One moment, Brass." I tensed up, activating S.A.T.S. and watching the world around me freeze. The targeting menu came up like it should, sitting there for a moment befor I wondered where P.I.N.K. was. She wasn't shy about interrupting me earlier, so why now? At that, a small audiolog box popped up, P.I.N.K.'s voice coming over it as I wondered what the hell was going on.

"Dear Chief Backlash. I'm sorry to leave without telling you, but I can't go with you any further. Being reunited with B.I.T. has... changed me, for the better I hope. During my time at the bunker waiting for you to show up, I contemplated many things, mostly what would happen at the eventual point of my termination. Twilight herself once said that I was completely self aware, capable of reading and understanding the world around me, capable of learning from my mistakes. And that last thing is something I haven't done. Ever since I was cut off from her, I felt like part of me was missing. You might not think it possible for an artificial pony like me to feel love, but I have."

"I made a mistake by leaving her once, and in doing so, I caused her an unimaginable amount of suffering. I don't want to make that mistake again, but I need punishment rendered upon me for what I've done. That's how you deal with mistakes, right? You pay some sort of penance? I don't deserve somepony like her, so before you disconnected, I decided to transfer in and leave you this note for when you came looking. Once you restart the server, the line to her new body will be open to transfer along. You will know she is in there when our project starts up. At that point, I need you to do something for me. I need you to cut the connection between her and her old system."

"I know it's a lot to ask, and that she may feel betrayed by it, but just activate the second file I've left IMMEDIATELY after you cut the connection. It contains my explanation to her on why I have to stay behind. Included in the message is coding to give her the same access to all of M.O.M.'s assets that I have access to, so you don't have to worry about losing that. Please, do this for me, give her the same chance to see the world as I have had. Once you've found what you need on the server, take the freight platform through the service tunnel and use the emergency freight elevator to return to the surface. Once you are there, I will overload the arcane reactors to seal this place, and myself, forever."

"Don't bother trying to reconnect to B.I.T. either, I've turned off all outside access except for the connection to the server. Just know that this is what I want and get on with your life. Right now, I'm going to go enjoy an entire lifetime's worth of memories with the matrix I never should have left. I wish you the best of luck in trying to stop forty two, please don't get yourself killed. Your friend and loyal A.P., P.I.N.K."

The audiolog ended with a click as my Pipbuck notified me of a second recording to listen to has been added. Without another thought, S.A.T.S. ended and threw me back into real time, leaving me speechless. if P.I.N.K. was really going to try to commit suicide out of some misguided attempt to redeem herself to B.I.T., I needed to find a way to convince her not to.

"Brass, We have a bit of a problem." I said as I stood up and pulled the cords out of the port on his flank. "There wouldn't happen to be an emergency release for your suit, would there?"

"Why? Can't your Pipbuck reboot my suit?" He said with a distinct uneasiness in his voice. "I've seen it done already a few times, it's one of the main reason the rangers try to collect as many of them as we can."

"Well, it's telling me I have an incompatible version and that I can't reboot your suit until you update it." I said as I took a step back, raising a hoof to my muzzle from the pungent scent as it flooded my nose again.

"That's impossible. All the suits were updated to 1.3.4 because it IS the newest version on the servers. What version did it say you were using?" He said as he grunted and tried to move around inside the armor.

"Um, version two point cupcake point one." I said as I facehooved. "Look, I'm sorry I can't fix it right now, but we've got to keep moving. Can you open your suit or not?"

He let out a deep sigh as a small set of clicks ran through his armor, the seams along the plates spreading apart as he pushed his way out. I looked over him as he hopped out and stretched his legs, his darkening skin cracking and peeling in quite a few places now.

"Oh my." Willow said with a soft tone. "I had no idea you were just a colt!"

"I'm not a colt. I'm just small for a stallion is all." Brass grumbled as he turned and reached inside his armor, opening a small flap in the padded liner to levitate out a set of yellow straps. "Here, you're the only one with the strength to pull it." He said as he shoved the heavily weaved strips against my chest, a pair of hooks slipping from the sides of the bundle as he levitated them up under the armored chest plate of the suit.

I made sure he saw my flat expression as I put my forehooves through the yellow harness, feeling as Brass levitated my saddle bag open. I watched as he dropped Heartstopper in before he dropped the detached legs and helmet of his suit in as well. I shrugged, figuring it would be a lot lighter now, walking forward a few steps before the harness went taught. Brass effortlessly used his telekinesis to nudge the wheeled robot out of the doorway before turning and disappearing around the corner ahead of me. Willow watched silently as I strained to drag the pre-war armor behind me.

"Oh Celestia, that's heavy!" I grunted as I lowered my center of gravity, trying to lever myself forward. The suit started to slide along the smooth floor, giving way just before my hooves did. I had no choice but to try to keep at a trot out of fear that if I stopped, I wouldn't have the strength to get it going again. I managed to get out the door without much finesse, but it took me a good minute to reach the end of the 50 foot hallway where upon I collapsed to the floor and panted hard. My heart beat quickly in my chest, but it was bearable without the pain of mutation this time.

"I should get you to do this more often." Sky said, apparently amused at my suffering. "It would get you to drop a bit of that extra weight you've been carrying around."

I looked up at her as she hovered above me with a wide grin. "Fuck... You..." I spit out between heavy breaths. "Gave... up... on... putting... it... softly?" I asked, giving her the best sly grin I could through the sweating and panting.

Skyline looked at her forehoof boredly, trying to hide her enjoyment behind her best straight face. It wasn't good enough, cracking as she spoke. "Nah, that's Longbow's job. Now that you have somepony else to console you gently about it, I can be as blunt with you as I want!"

I shook my forhooves at her before flopping them back to the ground. "You're... evil." I said with a small laugh, watching as Longbow trotted up to me with a smile. I watched as her eyes met mine briefly, a flash of guilt running across her face before she stepped over me.

"Here, let me take it, Backlash." She said as her magic slid the yellow straps off me. "Brass filled me in on what happened. I'm sorry I gave you those grenades, I should have seen that they were bad."

"It's... fine... I... missed it... as well..." I groaned and gave her a soft smile. I should have seen it before when she gave them to me, but no, I'm Mr. not-so-smart pony today.

I took another minute to lay on the floor and get my strength back, watching as Longbow drug the armor down the hallway to the lift that would take us down another level. Stupid cheat suits and their unfair strength. I thought about P.I.N.K.'s note, talking to myself quietly to try to work through it while the gears in my head did their best to find an answer.

"What do I do? Do I try to talk her out of it? Do I have the right to tell her she can't kill herself? Do I try to forcefully stop her? How would I do that? Should I just let her go through with it?" I shook my head stiffly, trying to get that last thought from my mind. "What about B.I.T.? Shouldn't she have a say in all this?"

Willow's head peeked through the wall, drawing my attention up to her. "Oh, is this a bad time?" She spoke as she exuded embarrassment. "I'll let you be."

"No, wait!" I called up, making her stop halfway back through the wall. "You've been pretty quiet so far, is there something you wanted to talk about?" I slowly got to my hooves, backing up as she stepped out into the hallway next to me.

"Um, I don't exactly know how to say this..." She softly spoke, keeping her head low. "When you tried to comfort me before, I could hear the most beautiful song coming from all around me. But when you backed away, it stopped." She sniffled as she shook lightly. "I've heard that song before. Please, you have to let me hear it again."

"A song?" I scrunched up my muzzle in thought. "I don't think there was any music around. I'm pretty sure my Pipbuck's radio was off."

"No, it wasn't in the room." She said with a hint of sad frustration. "It was coming from everywhere, but only when you reached out to help me." Her voice shifted to desperation. "Please, you need to try! I need to be sure!"

"I don't see why not." I said slowly, sticking my hoof out into her chest. I looked up as she stared back down at me, a small frown spreading on her muzzle.

"I don't understand." She said softly, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. "It was there before, I distinctly remember it was the same song!"

I sighed and dropped my hoof back down. "I'm sorry it didn't work. Maybe it wasn't me and you'll find another way hear it again?" I turned and walked towards sky and the others. Maybe her mind wasn't all back with her after she became ethereal, but who am I to say? Maybe she really did hear a song.

The slow notes drifted to my ears from behind me, the sweet tune resonated in my mind as a flood of emotions ran through me. My rear hooves slipped and gave out from under me as Willow Wisp's delicate voice filled the hallway, the song my mother sang to me echoed along all around me. I couldn't move at all as my chest tightened and I felt the sorrow well up as my mind replayed the memories I still had of her.

"H... how do you know that song?" I said in a low tone, turning my neck slowly to look at Willow. She stopped singing as I glared, finding my hooves again before turning and walking back up to her. "I ASKED YOU HOW YOU KNOW THAT SONG!?" I slammed my hoof on the floor as I yelled.

"Backlash, is everything alright?" Sky called out in concern, my mind pushing her voice to the back of my head.

"It... it came from you." Willow said as she sat back, quaking slightly in fear.

"YOU SAID YOU HEARD IT ONCE BEFORE, WHEN?" I screamed out at her. She had to have learned it from my mother, maybe there was a chance she was still alive.

"BACKLASH! CALM DOWN." Skyline yelled as I stared into Willow's eyes, grabbing me by the collar of my flak vest to try to drag me away. I lowered my center of gravity and dug my hooves against the floor, straining to stay put as she pulled with all of her strength.

"It was hardly a week after I joined unity when she found a severely injured earth pony mare lying along the side of an old road. The Goddess had assessed that she would not live much longer without immediate help and informed her that she could be saved, if only she agreed to join us." Willow said calmly, guilt welling up in her with each word spoken. "The mare refused, saying that she would rather suffer her death a thousand times, rather than be saved by the likes of her. That she knew that the Goddess would just go looking for her family to turn them into monsters as well."

Sky stopped tugging on me as my anger drained away quickly, leaving only the sadness the song had brought as my legs felt weak. Willow frowned as she continued. "The Goddess took great offence to how she spoke, using her magic to torture the mare. But the mare started to hum that song instead of screaming, the sound of it seemed to shake the very foundations of the Goddess's mind. The Goddess forced the pain it caused into us as she tried to silence the mare, but she couldn't feed it to us fast enough. The song stopped when mare finally died of her wounds. But, the echoes of it resonated inside her for days, the pain it continued to cause her was unimaginable."

I felt as Sky wrapped her hooves around me, holding herself close as I stood in complete shock. "Mom..." I whispered under my breath. "It was all my fault."

"Backlash... you know that's not true." Sky softly spoke into my ear as she rubbed my mane. "You jumped in to save me, remember?" She kissed my forehead as I felt a tear fall from her cheek. "You've even told me for years that you would have made the same choice again, right?"

I nodded as I tried to stem the flow of tears trailing down my own cheeks. "You're right." I said as I looked up at Willow. "Thank you for telling me. For giving me some sort of closure."

"I'm sorry about your mother..." She said as she reached a hoof over to comfort me, waves of joy and happiness seemed to flow through me as her hoof passed into my shoulder, the soft melody of my mother's voice rung in my ears as all the sadness, regret, and grief melted away. I laughed slightly as both Willow and I smiled brightly toward one another, her ghostly aura shifting quickly from a pale white, to a prismatic shine of every color.

"Whoa..." Carlotta and Sky said at nearly the same time. The gears in my hear whirred and connected something from one of my pinkie dreams. She had told me that I had a gift inside of me, the same gift she had to make every pony I met happy. I didn't understand it before, but now, I couldn't help but feel that somehow, this is what it looked like.

"What's going on over...." Longbow's voice called from behind me, stopping short I assume as she viewed the ethereal multicolored alicorn. "What happened?" She resumed to ask as she trotted up to us quickly, looking over Willow intently.

"I think I made her happy." I said slowly, the words seeming to push themselves out of my muzzle. "I don't know how I did it, but I think I literally made her happy."

Longbow put her hoof on her muzzle and looked puzzled for a moment, slowly nodding as she looked back over to me. "Yes, that could explain it then." She smiled and cleared her throat, raising a hoof to speak only to have Carlotta cut her off.

"Before you start going on about super science whos-a-whats-its, can you please tone it down for us simple minded folk?" She spouted in her normal irritated attitude.

"Fine, I'll 'accommodate' you." Longbow said while air quoting with her hooves. "Back before the war, the Crystal empire was protected by a special magical barrier." I looked over as Carlotta had already raised her talon in the air, trying to ask a question. Longbow sighed and rolled her eyes. "The Crystal empire is a small area of land to the north of the crystal mountains." Carlotta lowered her talon with a smirk.

"As I was saying, this magical barrier was powered by a single, large crystalline heart. The heart would supposedly take all the positive emotions of the ponies living there and transform it into a magical, multicolored field. This field was used to repel most dark forms of magic and reorganized the inhabitants molecular structures into a crystalline latticework, thus the reason for their name." Longbow paused for a moment, letting the information sink in.

The gears in my head were on a roll (pun intended) as they crunched yet another thought into my mind "You said the beam that hit Willow had the same crystal properties or something, right?" I said quickly, my smile growing wider as she nodded.

"That's right, Backlash. When the beam changed her molecular structure, it must have..." She paused again as Carlotta raised her talon again. "Carlotta, I'll explain what ever it is that you want to know, AFTER this." Carlotta grumbled and stretched her wings out, taking off down the hall towards the elevator. "Anyway, I don't know if they planned it, or if it's just an unexpected byproduct, but it seems that she is radiating the positive emotion you fed into her, acting in a way as a smaller crystal heart."

Willow laughed and jumped into the air, flying forward down the hallway, passing through all of us as she continued. My mother's song played softly in my head again as I felt another wave of happiness spread through me. Both Longbow and Sky giggled and smiled as they felt the effects as well. I looked back, noting that the rainbow shine was noticeably dimmer around Willow's body. Maybe every time the effect was used, the emotional 'charge' got lower. But if that's so, then it was possible to just charge her up again, right?

"And it seems that physical interaction can transfer the feelings into another subject." Longbow said as she closed her eyes. "But what is this song I hear?"

"It was something my mother sang to my brother and I." I said as I got to my hooves, walking up to Longbow slowly as she opened her eyes, staring at me with a bright blush. "She would have liked you, you know." I said slowly. Some part of me deep down knew that to be true as Longbow nodded, her bright eyes full of what seemed like endless wonder and happiness as she looked back at me. I leaned forward, pressing into her muzzle as I felt her do the same.

My ears perked and I broke the soft kiss as I heard a flutter of wings, Skyline taking off down the hall and zooming around the corner as I heard Carlotta yelp and fall to the floor. Longbow wrapped her armored hooves around me as she hummed the tune softly into my ear, the still turning gears in my head threw out another thought. A thought that I couldn't ignore the slightest possibility of being even remotely correct.

I turned my head over to Willow, calling out to her as she stood with a smile. "I think you just gave me the way to stop the Goddess for good."

After a few minutes, the happiness that Willow had spread between us was starting to fade. Longbow and I caught up to the others and looked upon a humongous gear shaped, steel door that was set inside an even thicker steel frame. The letters E.O. were embossed in the center of the disk, the only clue we had run into at all that this was what remained of the East Orchard Facility.

"So this is where we got stuck last time." Longbow said with a sigh, trotting over to a console set into the wall. It's design was vaguely familiar, only having had seen it once before in my life. It was a nearly identical door to the only stable I had ever seen, only having the opportunity to do so because we stopped in the settlements near it on my trips to and from Paradise.

The one question bubbling in my mind was why would there be a stable door down here? Especially when just the server was supposedly kept below? "You see, in order to get the power into the door, you need three specific key cards. The blue, the yellow, and the red key cards were each kept on a separate base program leader so that no one pony could open the door." Longbow said as she hoofed at the door control panel.

"Well, that sounds like a craptastic idea." Carlotta spoke up, folding her talons against her chest. "What if one of them just killed the other two for their cards? I mean, I get that I'm not the smartest here, but that's so dumb that even I think it's a bad idea." Wow, now that I think of it, that was a pretty dumb idea. I mean, not to mention B.I.T. could just print up new cards anyway, anypony could have gotten their hooves on all three. (Good job pre-war planning!)

"Well, it doesn't matter, seeing as last time we were here, all we were missing was the red key card." She knocked her hoof on the card receptacle in frustration. "I don't get it, we tore this place apart to find it, but it wasn't anywhere in the base!"

"Um, I have it here." I said as I sat down and hoofed through my saddle bags, pulling out all three cards. "I just thought you were missing the blue one."

"But... where did you find it!" She said as she all but ripped them away from me with her magic, floating them over to her. "And I still have the blue key card from before, how did you get another one?"

"The blue key card is a long story, but Lemon had the red key card." I stated as I shrugged.

"HE WHAT?!" Longbow shouted, a note of anger in her voice. "But, then why didn't he tell me? Why wouldn't he just open the door!?" She dropped the key cards from her levitation as I could see the rage build up inside her.

"Maybe he found it while he was sabotaging the place?" I suggested slowly, watching as that seemed to stem some of her frustration. "He also left an audiolog, maybe he explained it on there?" I offered as I sat down and brought the file on my Pipbuck up. As the file started, the labored breathing of a middle aged stallion came over the speaker.

"To any pony who finds this, my name is Star Paladin Lemon Meringue."

"If you've recovered this log, then it means that I'm dead, and that you must return this log to the Manehatten Steel Rangers Alpha Base."

[there are sounds of him shifting himself around, followed by a deep groan of pain]

"Shit that's bleeding pretty bad. Listen, whoever you are, you must warn them of Elder Strawberry Sorbet's plans to betray the Rangers. Tell them that they need to destroy this place before she can activate the server and gain access to the locations of the remaining megaspell stocks. She plans on using them to wipe the surface clean. What ever you do, DO NOT reconnect the servers."

[another heavy groan, shortened as it sounds like he hits himself]

"Fucking Med-X isn't even helping anymore. I'm sorry to bring you into this, but this is of the greatest importance. The survival of the wasteland depends on stopping her. If you are a Steel Ranger for Elder Sorbet, remember your oath. We are meant to save ponies, not destroy them!"

[he is interrupted by a great coughing fit, ending as he wheezed heavily]

"One last thing... find my daughter Longbow and get her out of Strawberry's base. Tell her that she should go to her mother. Tell her... that I'm sorry, for everything I did. Tell her that I loved her."

The recording gave a click as it ended, the silence seemed deafening as none of us moved a muscle. "Longbow... I..." It was hard for me to find any words, I didn't know what to say. I shook it off as Longbow sat down with a thud, bringing the red piece of plastic up in front of her again. "Why didn't you stay something upstairs?"

She looked up to me, trying to push the pain she was feeling back as anger washed over it. "That selfish son of a..." She picked up all three key cards and slammed them into their ports with a yell of frustration, hoofing a lever up as the console hummed to life. A yellow warning light activated and spun on the wall as a loud alarm came from some set of hidden speakers.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING!?" Brass shouted just loud enough for me to make it out. I shrugged and kept my eyes on the door, the sound of hydraulic pistons from behind it made me uncomfortable. What would we find behind it? The alarm stopped and the light turned off as silence filled the air again. I was about to say something as another hydraulic system clacked against the back of the door, making me pause. We all covered our ears and gnashed our teeth as an ear splitting metallic squeal filled the room as the entire steel gear slid a few feet back and completely separated from the wall.

A short blast of compressed air blew some dust from the back of the doorway before the large gear spun away to the right, revealing a large, empty, grey room. The bland space was maybe twenty by twenty feet wide, and maybe just that high, it's only feature of it was a thin black pole with a set of yellow buttons on it sticking out of the floor towards the back of the room.

"That's it?" Carlotta huffed out unimpressed. "One hell of a door just to seal an empty room." I slowly walked forward into the room, looking at the set of buttons on the pedestal. The gears in my head threw me another idea.

"I think this room IS the elevator to level five." I said as I reached up and hoofed the bottom button, lighting it up momentarily before it dimmed and went out. An electric hum filled the air, my mane and tail fluffed out as Longbow ran in after me, her mane raising up as short arcs of static crawled across her armor. A loud snap and bright flash disoriented me just long enough for Longbow's momentum to carry her into me, sending the two of us to the floor.

I gasped as the heavy suit knocked the wind out of me, seeing spots in the blinding light that was receding from my vision. I smelled of burnt hair as I regained all my senses, looking around from under Longbow as she got off me with a blush. We had appeared inside what looked to be a large warehouse, rows and rows of unmarked wooden crates sat under dim lighting.

"Well, that was..." I spoke before the sheen of a metallic object behind the top of one of the nearby row's caught my eye, peaking my curiosity as I got up and trotted over to it. Longbow followed silently as we walked over toward the large object, coming into view of it as we rounded a row of boxes.

It was a large, light blue, reverse jointed, bipedal robot that seemed ridiculously well armed for it's size. It stood approximately ten feet tall, two stubby supports attached a round pod to each side of the vehicle. Each pod had a pair of what looked to be belt fed anti-machine rifles sticking out of it as well as an odd tube slung under each arm that looked to hold a single rocket inside. Bold, black writing was displayed along the blue lower half of it's pod shaped hull, sitting next to what must be the arcane reactor's air intake.

"Wow, this thing is pretty heavy duty..." Longbow said softly as she walked around me, a small amount of amazement coming through the pain she was desperately trying to keep hidden. "You see how the leg extends past the joint here? That would mean this thing was built to handle a rubble filled war zone." She looked up at the back of the robot. "That's interesting, it's powered by a pair of self contained micro spark reactors. This thing could probably run for almost as long as our armor is capable of!"

Her voice strained to keep the visage up as I tried to get her attention. "Longbow... please tell me what's wrong." I said as I held my hoof up, pulling her out of her own mind as she stopped walking. "I know you're in pain. I can hear it in your voice." I took a step forward as she frowned.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about." She said softly, her tone wavering slightly as she stared sadly at me. I just want to try to help her, so why was she trying to hide her feelings from me? She must have seen me looking disappointed as she let out a sigh. "Your right, it's written all over my face, isn't it?" She finished her walk around the blue machine, walking up to me slowly.

"I didn't tell you Lemon was my father because he technically isn't." She said with a small smile, her gaze drifting to the floor. "My real father died when I was just a filly. Mom had just become a Paladin when they gave her the news, so she did what any mare would have done and buried herself in her work. After a few years, about when I was Brass's age, She and Lemon started to date and decided it would be best for both of them that they become each others special someponys, a chance for her to feel normal again I guess."

A rage grew in her voice every time she used his name. She gave out a forced laugh as she continued. "So, I came back once day to find him beating my mother half to death for accidentally breaking some piece of tech, yelling to me that if I told anyone, he would kill her." I couldn't believe what I was hearing, I knew that some ponies were cruel, but that was just downright sadistic. "So I did what anypony shouldn't have done, I charged straight at the fucker." She sighed and looked back at me. "So, long story short, I got the crap beat out of me, and my mom shortly after transferred us out of the Manehatten contingent. We left his flank over at Delta base, and I was glad I wouldn't see that bastard again."

"If you transferred away, how is it you were on a mission with him?" I asked slowly, the crackling hum of the floor we arrived on filled the air. Longbow looked over at it longingly before squinting as the machine flashed, dropping Brass, Sky, and Carlotta on top of Brass's inactive armor, the whole group lay in a groaning heap.

"As Star Paladin of the Delta contingent, he request that I be put on his team. Me just being an acolyte at the time, I couldn't refuse orders from that high up." She said as she walked towards the others, both metaphorically and literally walking away from going any deeper. "What took you all so long, and where is Willow?"

Sky pulled herself out of the pile, flying up a few feet into the air as she stretched her neck until it gave a soft pop. "Well, those two weren't sure if you were both incinerated by the machine, while I maintained the ENTIRE TIME mind you, that it was some sort of teleportation machine. Anyway, Willow said that she didn't mind going up top waiting for us and that she would keep an eye out for the Goddess, I think she's eager to try out your idea." She looked back down at the odd square teleportation floor. "By the way, what IS this machine anyway?"

I gave a little chuckle as I went to help Brass up. "Well, technically... it’s a thingie." I stated rather Matter-o-factly, getting a knock on the back of my head by Carlotta as she floated past. "It's a teleporter. That's all I've got on it."

"Celestia, there must be thousands of them... what do you think is inside all these boxes?" Skyline asked as she spun in place, completely ignoring my response. "I hope they are weapons, if so, then this place is a gold mine!" She said as she rubbed her forehooves together with a small smile. "let's find this server then head back to collect our fee!"

"NO!" Longbow shouted out. "You can't do that! If you turn on the server, the wasteland will be destroyed!"

Skyline froze in the air before drooping her legs and looking over to me. "Backlash, you can't seriously think that Strawberry Sorbet would do something as crazy as that?" She crossed her hooves. "What would she gain by megaspelling the world another time?"

"Skyline, you weren't in the same room as her. She's hiding something, and she is far from somepony I would call mentally stable." I said as I turned left and trot down one of the rows. "Now everypony spread out and look for a terminal that is still active, and nopony, I mean NOPONY, touch it until I get there."

I took off at a gallop down the row, looking left and right as I heard the others all run off in their own directions. I hung a left at the end of the row to travel along a short line of boxes before turning right to continue down another long corridor. The gears in my head were slowing from overuse as I tried to think about what I was going to do. I won't be able to find where the pond is, and P.I.N.K. and B.I.T. will be trapped down here if I don't turn the server on. However, on the other hoof, if I do, Strawberry will gain access to the records of every remaining Megaspell still stored in an Equestrian bunker, and who know's what kind of damage she could do!

"Luna, why does everything have to be so hard!" I yelled to myself as I skid to a stop at what seemed like the back wall, turning left to start going again before spotting a red bulbous door that protruded from the side of it. I walked over to it, viewing through the clear class window to see that it was the entrance to a small incline lift that rose up into the darkness. "This must be the service tunnel lift P.I.N.K. mentioned."

The sound of hoof beats coming closer drew my attention right, turning just in time to catch a glimpse of Longbow as she ducked around one row and dashed down another. I turned left and galloped down a couple of rows before turning down one randomly, nearly running headlong into a box that had tipped over in the row. As I jumped over it, my ear perked as I heard Sky's voice calling out to me. I took a left at the next junction, hoping that this maze would somehow lead me back to the teleportation pad.

My eye stung sharply as I quickly approached the next corner and took another right, I tried to skid to a stop as I stared straight into the smiling face of 42. I threw my shoulder forward as I realized I couldn't slow down in time and tried to slam her into the box on the shelf behind her.

I passed straight through the image of the pink mare and slammed into the crate, my momentum driving it off the shelf it was on. It tipped onto the floor with a loud crack as I scrambled to turn around, my eyes were drawn to the light of the projector on one of the shelves at the end of the row as it silently displayed the image of the ministry mares, projecting a standing Rainbow Dash after a few moments. I let out a sigh of relief as my heart stopped pounding away at my rib cage.

I hoofed away some of the broken timber of the box I had hit and clambered on top of it, stopping as a flash of gold caught my eye. Looking down into the crate to see that it held a pony sized, golden, rectangular box with an ornate looking top. The lid of it had two pegasi statuettes facing each other, their wings were outstretched in a straight fashion, pointing towards the other pegasi as they both knelt in reverence. Sky's voice interrupted me as I heard her call out again.

I jumped down to the right and smiled as I saw Longbow galloping towards me from the isle across. I reached the end of my row first and turned left, pushing my hooves as fast as they could go toward Sky as she hovered at the end of one of the rows. I could hear Longbow catching up as I reached the row, turning and barreling down it as Carlotta swooped down above me.

"fifty caps say's your marefriend beats you there, pudgy flank" She cooed as she smiled down to me.

"You're... on!" I yelled up through my gasps, following Sky as she lead us deeper, feeling as the power armored hooves behind me shook the ground with each stomp. I grinned like an idiot as we flew down row after row, twisting and turning for what seemed like ever as we raced. I gasped in delight as I saw Brass standing next to a large metallic box with a number of pipes running out the side of it, a bright green terminal screen sat in the center above a small keyboard.

"Looks... like... I..." I started to gloat before my right hoof slipped, throwing me down hard and slamming my chest down, sliding me along the extremely smooth floor. I slid across it with a wet squeal as my momentum sent me slamming against the bottom of the metal box with a fleshy smack. "win..." I finished as my flank flopped down and I tried to catch my breath. I felt the cool breeze Carlotta's wings gave as she floated and landed next to me.

"I've gotta say I'm impressed." She said with actual astonishment. I would have commented, but I was content to just lay there and rest for the moment. Man was I going to sleep well tonight! "Oh yeah, and about that fifty caps, just take it out of the paycheck you still owe me." My memory brought up my deal with Myron, reminding me that I actually had Carlotta's contract. Shit, she's probably costing me a hoof and a leg. Ah, well, she's worth it.

The loud clack of Longbow's autoloader got my attention, making me jump to my hooves. "Move out of the way Backlash." She said sternly, lining her .308 rifle up with the server. I stood still as I looked over to her, meeting her determined eyes as she tried to keep her focus.

"No." I said with a stomp of my hoof. "You can't destroy it."

"If I don't, then Strawberry Sorbet will destroy everything." She lowered her head and steadied herself for the shot. "This is too important."

The loud click of a pistol's hammer emanated next to Longbow as Carlotta pointed one of the IF-45 service pistols from home at her head. "Backlash said you aren't destroying that server."

"Carlotta, put your gun down!" Skyline said as she flew between the two. "Can't we sort this out without threatening each other."

"Carlotta, back off." I snapped at her as well, making her go wide eyed for a second before reaching back and dropping the gun into her saddle bag with a sigh. "Longbow, if you destroy this server, not only do we lose any chance to stay ahead of 42, but you are also dooming two innocent lives to an eternal hell." She cringed slightly before regaining her composure. "Can you live knowing that?"

"What is the meaning of two lives compared to the fate of the entire wasteland?" She glared at me and spoke with a cold voice. "What about Lemon's sacrifice? By turning on that server, it will have been a meaningless death."

"No, he died to make sure that you got out of here." I said as I sat down and stuck my hoof out at her. "Hell, he gave me you, and as long as you're alive, his death will never be meaningless!" She shuddered as the words sunk in, lowering her battle saddles slightly. "I know the risks of turning on the server, but I need the location of the FUCKING pond to stop 42!" I cringed and hoofed at my face as my eye seemed to explode in pain.

"THAT'S CORRECT!" The jubilant voice of the only mare in the wasteland I didn't want to hear echoed through the warehouse. A metallic ping was all the preceded a small blue cylinder landing in between Longbow and I, exploding with a small pop to spread a cloud of choking gas across the entire area. I gagged and choked on the thick smoke, stumbling forward as my eyes and lungs burned, nearly tripping over longbow as she lay on the floor unconscious.

"Huh, somehow immune to sleep gas, good for you, Backlash." 42's voice echoed out of the shadows as the cloud cleared slowly, the loud report of her revolver was all I heard as the impact of the round was absorbed by a plate in my Flak vest. The plate slammed into me hard, knocking me to the side and taking my breath away. "It seems that you are still pretty weak to good old fashioned lead though."

I lay on the ground gasping as I heard her slow hoof steps approaching, trying to get back to my hooves as she came out from one of the rows. She now wore hear mane flat like the sad pinkie from my dreams, her blue eyes were wide and seemed to study me over as she smiled her demented smile at me. I also noticed that she was now wearing the utility barding I had given her back in the bunker, probably for the sole reason just to taunt me. I started to push myself up slowly and was about to activate S.A.T.S. when she hoofed back the hammer on her gun, keeping it trained on me.

"Uh-uh! You know better than that, Backlash!" She twitched the gun to the side, instructing me to move to the side. I walked slowly as we circled each other, only stopping once she was in front of the server controls. She kept her eyes locked on me as she reached a hoof back and input a set of commands as if it was second nature, the server hummed to life slowly as lines of code scrolled across the screen. "You know, I really do have to thank you for clearing a path right down to here. I can't believe I'm about to say it, but I was wrong about you. You're a lot tougher than I thought you'd be."

She stuck her free hoof into one of the pockets in the barding, pulling out a small case of Mint-als. "Fortitude was always a Pie family trait. Comes from working the rock fields all day." She used her muzzle to open the box, licking up and chewing on a few tablets before shutting it and putting it back in her pocket. I watched as her pupils dilated and she seemed to relax slightly. "I do have to thank you, Backlash, without you, I couldn't enjoy Party Time Mint-als again."

"I just wish that the recipe wasn't attached to that annoying runt." A beep emanated from the terminal behind her, catching her attention. "Oh, and before I forget, it was a nice attempt to try to send me to Baltimare, trying to cover up your actual destination. Something I'm sure the good ponies there will thank you for as my loyal followers go to siege and raid their city."

Celestia, Backlash! How could you not have seen that coming? I hoped that I could get a warning to them in time once I was out of here. I glanced about as she talked, looking over the sleeping forms of Longbow, Sky and Carlotta, but wondering where Brass was. "Yes, I was wondering the same thing. Where did your colt friend go?" 42 said haughtily. "Only, I know exactly where that he is." She raised the pistol up to my right and fired, Brass let out a yelp and fell off the top of one of the shelves, landing hard on the floor next to me. He bit his lip and squirmed at the bloody hole that punched into his cutie mark. "See, not so hard to find."

I took a step toward him, freezing as 42 cocked the gun again and pointed it back at me. "Now, Backlash, would you kindly give me twilight's sixteen digit passcode? The sooner you do, the sooner we can part ways until our next happy reunion." She lowered her brow with a grin. "And don't bother lying to me if you want your friends to live."

"Fine, I'll give you the code." I said slowly, watching her smile widen. "But first I want to know if Pallet is still alive."

42's smile dropped as a wave of frustration rolled across her expression. "That little cunt is more of a responsibility than I was prepared for, but yes, she's safe and sound somewhere you'll never get to her." I tensed up as she talked, watching her eyes as she noticed what I was doing, stiffening her hoofs hold on the gun "Now then, the password."

"twilightsparkle1" I said with a smirk. She expects me to stand there and wait, but I'm done acting predictably.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as I burst forward at her, catching her off guard as she reflexively dropped her gun. I was done playing her games, I couldn't let her get the pond, no matter what the cost. I watched her swing her mane lightly as I charged, a metallic glint catching the light as I pushed off on my stride, jumping into the air as a small knife fell from her pink mane right into her hoof. I watched as she lifted her hoof toward me with a smile, my body came down hard, the sharp blade piercing my skin painfully.

But as much as I wasn't expecting her to pull a blade, she didn't anticipate my fused rib cage as the blade cut a line across my chest against the bone plate the hydra had formed. The pain was excruciating, but she wasn't going to kill me like she thought. I slammed down into her, driving her against the server housing with a metallic squeal as it crumpled in slightly. The next thing I heard was the most beautiful sound in the wasteland, even more so than hearing Willow sing my mother's song.

42 was screaming. Pure, uninhibited agony came from her muzzle as she scrambled out from under me, reaching for her gun as the smell of burning flesh and barding filled the air. I rolled off her towards the silver revolver, feeling the same odd suction of it against my hoof as the party cannon had. I quickly got to my hooves and turned to face her, only to find that she was gone, my ears perked as I caught the sound of her hoof beats heading away. I started off after her, stopping as Brass let out a loud whine. I looked down and glanced at the large pool of blood around him. Shit, he's bleeding to fast and needs more radiation to close the wound!

I dropped 42's revolver and bucked my saddle bags off and into the air, turning and catching them with a hoof before flipping them over, dumping them out onto the floor. The cacophony of assorted supplies and tools filled the room as they fell to the floor, the pieces of Brass's armor he put in there falling out nearly last. I grabbed his helmet with my hooves and shook it vigorously, hearing a piece of loose metal inside of it.

I dug my hoof around in it quickly, failing to find the irradiated metal he kept inside. "Fuck it, no time." I said quickly as I brought the helmet down hard onto his wounded flank, pressing it down to try to seal it against him and get the radioactive metal close as he screamed in pain for a few moments. I made sure to keep my bleeding chest away from him as it dripped onto the floor, his squirming died down as he lay and whimpered on the floor.

"I'm sorry, Backlash, I tried." He said softly. "I'm sorry, I'm useless without my armor."

I sighed and pulled the helmet away, letting it roll a few feet away as the soft clicking on my Pipbuck picked up to a good pace. His flank had nearly healed as I took a few steps back and sat down, using my hoof to try apply pressure to the large gash that ran across my chest. (You know, after the pain of the mutation, the gash didn't seem to hurt so bad.) "Brass, you are far from useless. Hell, I think you might have actually gotten her, had I not so blatantly given you away." I said as I tried to comfort him, knowing full well that 42 probably had her own pinkie sense telling her exactly where he was. But he needed to know that I needed him. "Not to mention you let me get the drop on her."

"Really?" He asked softly as he sat up with a soft smile before he spotted my bloody chest. "Oh shit, hold on." He jumped up and nearly dove into Skyline's bags, levitating a health potion to me quickly. I took the bottle with my bloody hoof, surprised when the glass sizzled and warped, spilling the contents onto the floor below me.

"This whole blood thing is going to take some getting use too." I said as Brass dug his hoof back into the saddle bag, levitating another bottle out, opening it for me as I tilted my muzzle up. He tipped it over and poured the liquid over me sloppily, the magical fluid soaking into my chest, sealing up the wound only part way before forming a layer of dark scarred tissue to cover the rest. I looked down as he tossed the bottle aside, looking over the oddly discolored line that stretched almost all the way across my chest. "Well, I guess heath potions don't have the same 'Oomph' they did before the mutation..."

"I don't know, I think it makes you look more masculine." He said without thinking, drawing my attention as he blushed and gave me a nervous grin. "Not to say you already weren't super masculine or something..." I laughed and gave him a small smile, interrupted suddenly as a frustrated scream resonated from somewhere in the warehouse.

"NEXT TIME, BACKLASH!" 42's voice screamed out before the sound of the teleportation pad firing off silenced it.

I let 42's agony sink in as Brass gave out a small laugh. "So, I'm confused. Did we just win for once?"

"You know what?" I sighed and nodded as I turned an looked to the terminal, slowly punching in twilight's password to reboot the server. "I say it's close enough." I hoofed the return button, watching as the command prompt returned.

------------------------------

LEVEL UP!

+ 10 Repair

+ 5 Small Guns

New Quest Perk: Uncanny Mutation - While you might not be a superhero, your body has undergone a change to give your blood acidic properties and allows you to use your injuries as an advantage! Blood that coats armor reduces it's DT by a maximum of 5 and blood that touches a bare pony causes 5 points of damage per second for fifteen seconds.

New Perk: Love Machine - Your experience in dealing with different artificial systems allows you to find the 'sweet spot' in their coding to get what you need! You gain new dialog options when you speak with any system that has a basic intelligence system or above.

Author's Notes:

This section is getting bigger all the time! (Huzzah for a Lando Calrissian reference!)

As always, Thank you Kkat for letting Little Pip give us back the light. Thanks to Somber for giving us the Queen of hoofington. Thanks to Mimezinga for keeping my feels with Puppeh's journey. Thanks to No-One for making Silver one hell of a mare. and thanks to Stonershy for keeping Double Tap and Rita the cool new kids on the block.
Special thanks to John Colt for keeping Gaia Prevails Crafty.

Thanks to Regolit for sharing his thoughts, they are greatly appreciated!

Thanks to Bad Pun for sticking with me to make sure my extra E's don't.

Thanks to Everypony on the IRC who sticks up with my 8 hour long lurk sessions and random comments.

But as always, thanks to you, the reader. Never stop being awesome.