As we walked away from Tenpony tower, I winced as the fresh bruises Skyline gave me stung. I guess I deserved it though, I mean hell, I almost died. Dragging my hooves as I walked, I stared solemnly at the dirt. It was just getting dark and we still had a ways to go, but I just couldn't stop thinking about what Pinkie Pie told me. Wait, do I actually believe that had actually happened? I mean, I was grievously injured. My mind could have just been playing tricks on me.

I froze in place as I felt the base of my tail twitch. I turned my head to see what had caught it just in time for a sizeable chunk of concrete to slam down on the path in front of me, missing my head narrowly. I think I may have screamed, but I'm sure that I broke Equestria's high jump record.

"THE FUCK!" I pressed my hoof to my chest in a futile attempt to calm my heart as it threatened to escape my body.

Skyline drifted down to eye level. "Why the hell are you so jumpy?" Her voice gave away that she was genuinely concerned. "The last few days you haven't seemed yourself. Is there something going on?" She reached out in comfort.

I gave her a cold shoulder. "I'm fine." I trotted past her in a huff. "We have a long way to go and I still want to pick up the Marauder. We don't have time for this." She zipped in front of me, putting both her forehooves on my shoulders.

"Leave the car for tomorrow." She said in a forceful tone as she narrowed her distressed eyes, tears forming again where they had obviously been just hours before. "You need to tell me what possessed you to run off without me in the first place and how the hell you ended up...." The tears started streaming down her cheeks, her voice wavering as she reached back and slapped me hard across my muzzle.

"Dear Celestia you are not fine! You died today. Did you even know that!?" She swung with her other hoof, catching me square in the cheek. Honestly, I was too surprised to move on my own, although the hit she gave sent me falling into the dirt.

"I... I died?" I lay there in the still warm evening dirt, unable to even blink or speak. Skyline collapsed into a crying heap next to me, shivering and wailing out because, yet again I had tried to play the hero and done something without thinking. I just lay there gazing at her with tears streaming onto the ground, unable to even reach out and comfort her.

I heard her sobbing fits finally die down after a few minutes. I couldn't even look at her anymore, not after what I had done. I just layed in the dirt and mud with my eyes clenched shut, unmoving. I heard her get up and walk over, I felt her hoof brush through my mane as I shivered at her touch. I wanted to call out how sorry I was, I wanted to do something to show how much I didn't mean to hurt her. But I knew there was nothing I could ever do to make up for the hell she just went through.

"You are all I have left..." She said with a voice so faint I wasn't sure she said it at all. "Let's go home." She turned and started walking down the path. I wasn't sure I had the strength to move, let alone get up and walk. But after everything I just put her through, it would be selfish of me to want that, and I won't leave her alone ever again. I climbed shakily to my hooves and followed her as the light from the setting sun dimmed completely.

We had been walking for about an hour when we reached the outskirts. As soon as the garage was in sight she took off into the air, silently gliding up and disappearing into the third floor. I sighed as I made sure she was gone, and sat down in the rubble alongside the road.

The cold night air seemingly whipped at my skin. I closed my eyes and pointed my head to the clouds, taking in the quiet night in Manehatten. Clearing my head of everything from before, I tried to focus on the emptiness around me. I sat there for a moment, letting myself sit in utter darkness. My ears perked as the wind picked up, the low drone permeating the air as it passed.

"heeheehee"

My eyes shot open as the giggle echoed in my head. I looked around quickly, seeing nothing but the darkened streets and the dim lights coming from Tenpony. I got to my hooves and growled back at the wind.

"What do you want? Huh?!" I nearly yelled out as I spun around, the wind picking up on my face. "Show yourself! No more games!" I picked up a rock and spun as the wind changed directions again. "Fuck you!" I yelled and hurled the stone with all my might, letting it sail off into the darkness before loudly cracking against some pile of rubble. I breathed in deep gasps that stung my healed hide.

"I will not put her through that again! I can't!" My knees wobbled and I sat back into the rubble, half sobbing again. "Luna, what the hell is wrong with me... am I going insane? Or is there really such a thing as destiny?" The wind had seemed to have died completely, leaving nothing but the cold, unanswering night air. I wiped away the tears and slowly walked back to the garage door.

"I guess I should have known you wouldn't answer." I said softly.

Walking in, I could hear Skyline pacing about upstairs. I shut the door loud enough she would be able to hear it and walked over to my mattress, lighting a candle and setting it down on the floor. Scooting the large bed over, the dull metallic doors to the maintenance bay seemed to glisten in the flickering light. I bit down on the rusty handle and pulled the door open with a jerk.

The well greased hinges didn't make a sound as the door swung back to reveal a small stairway. My mind immediately went back to the bunker stairway and I started to shiver. I shook the thought out of my head before I lost myself to it, grabbing the candle in my mouth before walking down the steps.

I flipped the switch on the wall and the small room was flooded with light from the single bulb left in the warehouse. The walls contained a myriad of pipes and cables that ran out of the walls to meet at the single, bronze generator set into the wall. The only wall not covered in tubes contained the small safe that we kept our profits and personal documents in.

I pulled the spark battery out of its generator mounting and threw it into the bin labeled "to trickle charge". Digging around a pile of scrap on the floor, I pulled one out with "40-ish percent." scrawled on it in marker. I shoved it into the socket and gave it a good slam. The generator shuddered and let out it's normal soft whine as it fed power to our humble abode.

Satisfied I turned and grabbed the candle again, taking a step before looking back at the piped wall next to the generator. From here I could see something stuffed in between the generator and pipes, why had I never seen that before? I mean, I must have never looked from just this angle, but now I was curious. Reaching up I couldn't quite fit my hoof into the gap. Sighing, I figured I'd have Skyline remove it in the morning.

I returned to the Garage floor, closing up the hatch and sliding my mattress back over it before curling up tightly on it. As the darkness carried me off to sleep, my thoughts constantly drifted back to the old man. Today I almost didn't keep his business going. Today I almost didn't fulfill my promise to him. And tomorrow, somehow I had to find a way to make everything up to Skyline.

It seems my mind was back to normal as I slept through the night with not a single dream of grassy hills, old cannons, or pink fillies. I awoke to the sound of cooking upstairs, the smell of meat permeating the garage as I opened my eyes. My gaze locked at where the Marauder had sat for the last 120 years, the gears in my head turning before I realized I had nearly forgotten yesterdays events.

"Damnit..." I groaned and rolled over, getting to my hooves. "I was hoping it was just a bad dream." Yawning and climbing the stairway to the kitchen, I lazily swung the door open and walked into the bathroom where Skyline was brushing her mane out.

"Good morning" I said as I stepped into the tub, turning the knob on the faucet to hot and letting the water loosen my stiff muscles. "what's for breakfast?" Skyline glared at me, giving me a snarl and the sarcastic answer I expected.

"I don't know? I'm not making it, am I?" I smirked to myself before my head noticed it sounded off, it... sounded genuine...

"Huh? What do you mean?" I shut the water off abruptly and stepped out of the tub, still soaking and peered around the doorframe into the kitchen. A green-maned, golden-coated unicorn not much older than a colt was frying meat over our stove. His flank bore a cutie mark of a metallic disk with a point sticking out of the middle. The gears in my mind whired again as I stared blankly at him.

He must have wondered why it got quiet again because he turned and looked at me. His eyes went wide in shock, I could see him tense up, and his expression was of....guilt? My head gears locked up as I made the connection.

"YOU!" I Yelled at him with all my might, stomping heavily over to him. He started to shrink down, tremors of fear coursing through his body. "You are paladin Brass Tacks! aren't you!" He nodded slowly, whimpering softly.

"The hell has gotten into you!?" I turned just in time to see Skyline's right hook slam into the side of my muzzle. I stumbled into the table roughly, I could feel the burning in my side return with the shortness of breath from the day before, and my rage began welling up.

"ME!? This... foal..." She cut me off mid sentence.

"Save your life. He hauled you all the way from where ever Celestia damned hole you went to when you left me. He didn't need to save you, but he chose to bring you to Tenpony. I don't know what the hell you did yesterday but he's the only reason you are still around at all!"

I stared bullets into the young colts head as he winced at her words. Myself thinking over what Skyline had just said, I was pretty sure he didn't tell her that he was the reason I almost died in the first place. Now, I'm not the vengeful type and as much as I want to beat the ever living hell out of this kid, I don't want to kill him. But if Skyline heard the truth now? She'd kill him in an instant, nothing would hold her back. And this was just a colt for Luna's sake! He didn't deserve cruelty like that, no pony did.

Brass Tacks expression seemed to tense up in the silence that followed. As I relaxed I could see more and more that he was breaking. The sweat on his brow, the nervous twitch in his neck, and his darting eyes all pointed out he was going to tell her. Fuck I hate my life sometimes. He gasped and screamed out.

"OK I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T..." I moved quickly, landing a solid uppercut to his jaw. He stumbled and slid down onto the floor, whimpering up at me with his head in his hooves. Skyline grabbed me to try to pull me back. Quick, think of some bullshit...

"That's... for not running from the manticore!" I feigned the anger and raised my other hoof to strike him again, knowing full well Skyline would stop me. And as if on cue, she pulled my hoof back again. "Trust me next time. They'll tear right through that flimsy armor you wear and take your head off." The colts expression slowly transitioned from one of fright to one of shock. I shook myself out of Skylines grip and slowly trotted to the stairs. "Kid, don't you ever try to be the lone hero." I glanced up at Skyline as she softened her glare at me. "I know that road... it doesn't end well."

I walked down into the Garage, shutting the door behind me. I slid the mattress aside and opened the hatch to the generator room again. Stepping down to the bottom step, I flipped on the light. Sure enough, it was a mannila enveloped crammed back against the wall. I heard the door to the kitchen open and someone walk down the stairs. I peered up as Skyline came up and hugged me tightly.

"I was just so worried about you. But, you saved that colt's life. And when he showed up this morning to talk to you, I thought maybe he wanted you to pay him for what he had to do." Skyline let out a nervous laugh as she stood back into the stairwell. "I was even going to hold you down so he could beat you up if he wanted to." She gave me the most gentle smile I had ever seen her give. "Just promise me you will never do that to me again."

"I'll promise, but first, I need your help with something." I pointed a hoof to the folder in the crevice. She looked at it, puzzled.

"Has that always been there?" She reached in with her small hooves and pulled it out. The yellow folder was covered in dust, giving the whole thing a bland look. The only color on it was a blue wax stamp in the shape of a balloon. "Huh, I wonder what it is." She scraped at the wax with her hoof, futilely trying to pry the small seal off.

I pried the envelope out of her hooves as she gave up and looked at it, I couldn't make out the words hidden under the layers of dust, so, turning away from her I held it out and blew on it. The dust flew off and the wax seal popped off with a click, dropping to the floor with an unceremonious crack and shattered to pieces. The sudden crack bringing back the cannon from my dreams.

"Follow the breeze..." I said under my breath, astonished at what had just happened.

"How did..." Skyline asked in amazement. I brought the folder up to the light to read the faded text. I locked up with a seemingly synchronized gasp with Sky. In big block letters, the letter bore the type:

I opened the folder and slid out the yellowed page, the paper seemed to be a mouth written note. I read it outloud.

To my dear future relative Backlash,

It has come to my attention that I, Pinkie Pie, can no longer stop Equestria's fate. The war will end with most of the world being destroyed, but Ponykind will live on. I leave this letter to you to in your time of doubt to not only guide you and your friends, but to reassure you that you have what it takes to change Equestria for the better. The friends you make along your journey will help to heal the damage we've done and will become more valuable to you than you can even know.

But first, you must go to my bunker and reclaim it for the Ministry you have now taken command of. The Steel Rangers must not get their hooves on it. Show this letter to your friends and go immediately. Great events have now been set in motion, and as my descendant it is your destiny to stop them. I will continue to visit you in your dreams to help as I can, but I cannot be held responsible for the events to come.

Help Equestria, Backlash. You are our only hope.

- P. D. P.

I flipped the paper over and looked for anything else in the envelope, finding nothing. I turned to see Skyline's jaw agape as she just stood looking at the note.

"You're related to one of the ministry mares!?" She questioned with her trademark worried face, she fidgeted nervously as she paced up and down the stairs. "Ooooh this is bad....very bad..." I pressed my hoof to her muzzle to stop her.

"Calm down. I haven't seen you this nervous in years. Now, let's go upstairs and we can talk about it, ok? You need to show this to Brass up there." She seemed to relax a bit, nodding softly before heading up to the kitchen. I flipped the light off and climbed the stairs, swinging the door shut and slipping the mattress over it, I took a moment to think to myself.

"What in Celestia's name have I gotten myself into?"

So, as a descendant of a ministry mare, I got bumped up to the top of the Enclaves' hit list. Apparently being able to walk through shields was a crime punishable by death up there, or something, but I wasn't worried about that. Brass Tacks was apparently quite knowledgeable about pre-war history, and knew Pinkie Pie had some kind of sixth sense for things, so seeing the note wasn't so surprising to him. He was more honored to join at a ministries' request.

By the time we had left, it was about midday and starting to rain pretty hard. Thunder boomed in the distance as Skyline scouted up ahead of us with wide, sweeping passes, giving Brass and I room enough to talk without her hearing.

"Why did you lie to her?" His voice coming through the speaker in his power armor. "Why would you protect me?" I wiped my wet mane out of my eyes, gazing into the emotionless sockets of his bulky helmet.

"Because you are just a colt, if she knew what you did, she would tear you limb from limb. Not even your fancy armor could stop her." I stopped and pointed at him. "How the hell do you even fit in there? aren't you a little small to be a Paladin?" He stopped walking and stared down as the rain pelted off the suit.

"I'm not actually supposed to have this armor, I'm just an acolyte." His voice giving off a somber note as we continued forward through the mudded street. "I was part of a scouting mission into the Ministry of Morale headquarters when our group was ambushed by robots. We had brought enough pulse grenades to deal with it, but I was tasked with carrying all of them. When the fight started, I panicked, I had never been in combat before and I didn't have any training with grenades."

He sat into the mud with a thick plop. Removing his helmet, he slowly tilted his head to the sky, tears flowing down his cheeks, gazing as if asking for forgiveness from Celestia herself. "I hid behind a desk and threw the bag of pulse charges at the robots, I got them all somehow, but... not before they had cut down the other acolytes and Paladin Back Blast. I was the only one left." He sat there as the rain streamed down heavier than ever, the street becoming soupy with mud.

"I took the armor and ran off. I wanted to go back, but I was afraid they would punish me for failing the mission. So I wandered the city, passing myself off as a paladin until I found my way back to that bunker outside." The thunder roared closer as Skyline flew into the open second story of the house next to us. She peeked her head out.

"We should take shelter until the storm passes." I nodded and trotted over to the front door, spinning and bucking it open.

"Come on Brass, we can talk more later." I turned back to enter the house.

"No." His voice was as low as the distant thunder. I could make out the sound of his overwhelming sorrow through the sheets of rain. "What use is a coward to you? I'm no paladin. I'm a poor excuse for a Steel Ranger at that, you'd be better off leaving me here."

"Brass. Get inside. Now." I stood, unwavering in the face of the pounding rain. "That is an order." He turned and stared at me with cold hatred.

"You can't..." The thunder cut him off.

I stomped and continued before he could regain himself. "I can. My orders come from higher up than even your elders. I don't know how, or why Pinkie Pie knew about the three of us, but we have a job to do. So suck it up and get your flank into that building now!" He grumbled and plodded off inside. I sighed and cantered over to his muddy helmet, gripping it in my teeth. A soft flutter and some movement catching my eye down the street. I turned and looked over the buildings, trying to see anything out of place, but the driving cold rain was finally taking it's toll. I shivered and galloped into the house.

My barding was completely soaked. The reinforced khaki stuck to my hide uncomfortably as I tried to start a fire in the brick fireplace. The wind howled outside as the storm tried futilely to pound the Manehatten ruins into submission. Brass was off in the corner, wiping down his armor with some old towels he had found, seemingly in a better mood. Skyline lay on the remains of a couch, tinkering with the Gauss rifles from the sides of her battle saddle.

Brass, content with the job he had done, threw the rag in the corner and sat next to Sky, watching as she cleaned out the parts for the tenth time in the last hour. His eyes following as she deftly broke down each part, looked it over, wiped away whatever contaminant she found, then reassembled it.

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen a more beautiful sight. So delicate, yet powerful, sleek and strong. If only the guys and the base could see me with you..." Brass said with a soft smile, before gazing up into Skylines disapproving gaze.

Skyline spit the screwdriver out of her mouth and poked his nose. "Hold it right there, Casanova. Before you go any further, I'm sure you are a nice stallion and all, but you are bit young...and not really my type." Brass gasped and put his hoof to his chest, looking outraged.

"I was not referring to you, I was referring to... her." He let out a light sigh and pointed his hoof at the polished rifle. "Never before have I understood the beauty of guns, but she is just gorgeous, don't you agree?" Skyline pulled the rifle close to her, shifting uneasily on the couch.

"I do, and that's why..."She" is mine. Get it?" He didn't even seem to be listening anymore. I stood up as the fire crackled to life, unzipped my barding and laid it out, glad to be finally out of it.

"Oh don't give him such a hard time with his first crush" I said lightheartedly.

"Well he's going to get crushed alright if he doesn't stop salivating on me." Her words seemed to snap him out of his stupor.

"I guess you have never seen something so beautiful that you could not help yourself." He said with an air of arrogance.

"Yeah, I have; your mom. Now step back! This is my rifle, and I'm going to CLEAN IT!"

I couldn't help but start to laugh. It felt so good just to see them I just doubled over in uncontrollable giggles. The two of them paused and looked at me before bursting out alongside me. As the storm raging outside was drowned out by us, I couldn't help but think how good it felt and how lucky I was just to have two friends in the desolate wastelands of Equestria. As night time came, the storm had died to a low drone and we had huddled next to the dying fire. Skyline snored softly with her battle saddle pulled snugly against herself. Brass and I stared into the glowing embers, each silently lost in our own thoughts. My thoughts bouncing around between the events of the last few days. Brass broke the silence.

"I'm sorry. About the bunker, I mean." I tensed up at the words. Slowly feeling the rage in me rise as I glared over at him. He shrank down and trembled, slightly. "I didn't mean to buck you so hard. I'm not used to power armor." I grunted and crossed my forehooves, turning my gaze back to the fire. "I didn't want to seem like a coward, so I put on the attitude of a strong stallion and I lost myself in it. I know you can't forgive me, but, I am sorry. If your hoof hadn't fallen through the shield, you would have died. And I wouldn't have been able to live with myself."

I did die I thought in my head, and by Celestia I wanted nothing more than to just reach over and strangle the life from him for what he put Skyline through... no, it wasn't him. I was the one who ran off without her. If anything, he deserves a break. Hell, I had just thought him a 'friend' a few hours ago. I know I keep telling myself that the wasteland sucks and you deal with it, but he was too young to be sent out. Anypony should have seen that. And if I ever had the good graces to meet up with their elder, I'd give them a few good breaks of their own.

"It's fine. I forgive..." I was cut off by the sound of gunfire close by. Brass got to his hooves and levitated his helmet over, securing it with a hiss. I shook Skyline awake as what sounded like a full on war seemed to be taking place a block away. She stretched herself out and nodded quietly to me, quickly swinging her battle saddle over herself and fastening it.

"See what you can find from the air." I put a hoof on her shoulder. "fly as high as you can, stay out of sight, then get back here." She nodded again and galloped up to the open second floor and took off into the night. I spun around as Brass's weapons whirred and clicked as the suit's auto loader came to life. I put my hoof to my lips to signal to be quiet. We waited in silence for a minute or so and glanced as Skyline came barging down the stairs, her frightened face illuminated by the red embers.

"We have to leave. NOW. There is an entire wing of those Alicorn things tearing up a raider hideout down the street." I nodded and cracked the front door open. The rain had ceased a while ago but left a sea of mud and puddles out in the street, so it was going to be impossible to get through the streets quietly or unnoticed. I left the door open and paused for a moment.

"Running is no good. Did either of you find out if this house has a basement?" Brass Tacks nodded and waved for us to follow. He swung open the door and walked down the steps. His suits headlamp illuminating a basement that was nearly completely flooded with dark green water. He disappeared under the surface before popping back up on the stairs.

"If we hide in here, we should be safe." His speaker played out louder than I would have liked, causing me to notice that the gunfire had stopped and it was unnervingly quiet outside. Skyline uneasily stepped down into the murky depths as I shut the door softly. As I dipped into the slimy water, I heard the thump of a pony landing upstairs. Brass shut his headlamp off and sank into the water as we could hear the intruder walk down slowly, step after step into the living room where we just were.

The steps grew closer to the basement door. Skyline and I ducked down under the opaque surface as the door handle turned, clinging on to the sides of Brass to keep from floating back up. The alicorns' voice pierced even the water as she spoke out.

"We believe them to have fled us, they left few of their supplies. We shall continue the search elsewhere." I heard the door shut and for a moment, her steps back up the stairs before silence. I fought my way to the surface, gasping heavily at the damp air, dragging myself onto to sides of one of the steps, wiping the muck from my eyes. Skyline came up a few moments later, sucking in a deep breath.

"You really are out of shape." She smirked and paddled over, pulling herself up and out to the doorway. Cracking it open and peering out into the living room, looking around for a moment before turning back to us. "It's clear."

"You remember how I just recovered from all sorts of fun chest trauma?" I managed to spill out between heaves. Honestly, I wasn't the most fit stallion, but that was just a low blow. Brass's headlamp kicked on as he clambered his way upstairs, the thick green muck slicking off of his armor. I got up and followed just in time to see Skyline shake herself off, dousing what was left of the fire, and with that, our heat. We were left with nothing but the cold, wet, dark.

"Let's just get some sleep."

The morning light filtered in through the dust laden windows as we finally got up. I had mostly dried off with the few hours of sleep that we got, but was annoyed by how it made my barding stick to me again. Skyline spent a good half hour cleaning the gunk out of her guns as Brass Tacks looked on in barely contained giddiness. We each snacked on a box of sugar apple bombs and some cram before setting out.

The streets had mostly dried out, only leaving the largest puddles and deep pits still wet. We all kept a constant look out for the alicorns as we silently trotted towards the M.O.M. hub looming closer in the distance. None of us had spoken a word all morning, we didn't want anything catching us off guard again. Skyline had even taken to trotting with us, although uncomfortably, but presumably to not give away our position to anyone who happened to glance skyward.

It was deathly quiet out, like someone had slain the wind itself, which of course amplified every sound we made. Every rock we kicked, or splash we made sounded like a grenade going off. But it did work both ways. If any other ponies made noise, we would hear them coming from a mile away. (I don't think that literally, it's just a phrase.)

I was so lost in thought as we walked, I almost missed it. The flutter noise from the day before. I held my hoof up, as we all froze. I swiveled my ears around to try to find where it came from, but the ruins of the city just bounced it from every direction. I did my best to direct them to take cover, getting nods from both as we formed a tight circle.

And there we sat, tensed up behind a few pieces of rubble on the side of the street, waiting for whatever was around to slip up again. After a few minutes of waiting, Skyline tapped my shoulder, I spun around to see her point to a dark figure slowly walking around the corner from the next block up. A dark brown griffin walked slowly towards us. The bright blue tips on her feathers really contrasted the sleek black armor that went up to her neck. In her beak she held a stick with a large white flag.

She stopped about half a block from us. From closer up, I could now see her face was nearly covered in scars. Her armor at a distance didn't reflect this either, but from closer, it was dinged and scratched up all over. Brass stiffened up and stepped forward.

"State your Name, Company, and Mission." His speaker barked. The words carrying down the streets, giving off distorted echoes as we all stood our ground.

"Carlotta, 2nd Talon company, and to report to the trader named Backlash for personal bodyguard services." She puffed up her chest and gave a stern look back, eyeing us over, sizing us up no doubt. Skyline and I traded bewildered looks as Brass took another step forward.

"And who out there would hire you to protect him? What do they want from him?" I could see Brass flinch slightly. He was trying to look imposing, but doing a pretty poor job at it, he was probably scared shitless of her. Hell, I nearly am. I can't get a read on her at all.

"I don't know, but it's in my client's best interest to keep Mr. Backlash alive and out of Alicorn hooves." She dropped the white flag and let the cloth reveal her two large battle rifles strapped in low to her saddle. "Most ponies don't let colts do their talking for them." She addressed me personally with a piercing gaze.

I walked past Brass and up to her, looking her over suspiciously. "Most don't let them walk around wearing armor like that either, so I'm pretty sure it works out." She gave off a sly grin at that. "Well, Carlotta was it? Great of you to want to join us, but the thing I've noticed is that we're all fucked up in some way, and before we can welcome you to our little group. You need to answer one thing." I hooked a hoof around her neck and pulled myself close, her smirk dropped into a frown. "What's fucked up about you?"

She shook me loose before grabbing me by the collar of my barding and lifting me up. "As much as I sure would love to be a part of this fucked up dysfunctional family you have going here, I'll pass. I'm here for the job." She dropped me on my flank and straightened out her saddle.

"I'll mark you down for 'Has issues making friends'." I said as I rubbed my muddy rear. Skyline dashed over and gave her hardest right hook at the tough griffin, connecting with a meaty slap. I watched as Carlotta took the hit seemingly willingly, a wide grin stretching over her beak as blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth.

"I like your marefriend. Sexy and feisty!" She let out a loud cackle as Skyline blushed and stomped over to help me up. "But in all seriousness, I'm not your friend. For you to be one, you'd have to fit into one of two categories, Fast or Fe...." A shot rang out from somewhere down the street, the round pinging harmlessly off of Brass Tacks helmet. I hit the ground as Skyline jumped up, taking off effortlessly into the sky. I could hear the whine as Brass's side mounted minigun spun up to speed.

Carlotta stepped in front of me as her twin battle rifles roared to life. Down the street I could see a gang of raiders firing from various points in a building with a gutted first floor. The short drones of Brass's minigun filled the gaps between the loud cracks his Anti-machine rifle sent out. In just a few short seconds the supports to the building gave way as the entire three story brick structure caved in on itself.

The echoing reports of the gun battle drifted away as dust filled the streets. I got back to my hooves and walked up next to Carlotta, peering through the dust for any sign of movement. A shine and clack from further down the road, gave it away.

"GET DOWN!" I screamed as time seemed to slow to a crawl (it always had a habit of doing that when I was doing something stupid). I pushed and heaved Carlotta to the side with all my might. I don't think that if she had been expected it she would have budged an inch, but she tumbled to her side and slid a few feet. Pain enveloped my chest as I gasped for air. A sickening snap was all I heard as I lost control of my legs, tumbling into the dirt as something metallic rolled in front of me. The towering form of Brass tacks standing over me seemed to drift out of focus as darkness crawled into my vision. The last thing I saw was Skyline standing above Carlotta, her Gauss rifles sending pulse after pulse out as she screamed something that was lost as the minigun above me fired again, the low drone seemingly carrying me off into the darkness.

The grass below me was warm, the sun beating down through the tree next to me felt good. I felt relaxed, letting the breeze wash over me. I opened my eyes slowly, squinting at the brightness. Something was different though... the clouds. They were shaped like giant party balloons.

"HIIIIII!" I jumped to my hooves as the high pitched voice yelled behind me. Spinning around I was once again met with the tiny pink filly as she stared back at me with the widest frown I have ever seen. Oh, wait, she was hanging upside down off of a low hanging branch. "Back so soon? I bet it's because you missed your aunt Pinkie so much you came back as soon as you could!" I felt a pain stab into my chest for a moment, I winced and gasped.

"Oh, did I catch you at a bad time?" She giggled and dropped onto her hooves. "It's ok, we'll just have TWO parties next time to make up for it!" She turned and started to bounce away down the hill. I felt the pain subside and I could breathe again.

"Wait!" I called out. She froze in midair before slowly sinking to the ground. "I need to ask you something before you go." She spun around and bounced back over to me (how she bounced on her hooves and floated through air was a mystery to me... wait, this is a dream, why do I care?). "How did you know I would find the letter?"

She bounced around me and giggled excitedly "It's my Pinkie sense, silly! I get various signals that can predict immediate and vague events!"

I rubbed my chin quizzically. "Well, how does that work?"

The small filly bounced up onto my back and over my head to land in front of me. "You remind me of my friend Twilight. She didn't believe either..." The pink filly's frizzy mane seemed to droop, a look of incredible sadness appeared on her face. "Well, she was my friend until I screwed everything up."

I leaned down, lifting her chin with my hoof. "Hey now, I did something similar to my best friend once. I don't know if I can ever fix it, but I know we all make mistakes." I wiped the tear from her eye as a small smile crept over her muzzle, in turn, bringing one to mine. Her hair seemed to rise again until it was as frilly as ever, she gasped in delight.

"You have my gift too!" She launched herself at me, hugging me tightly around the neck (She was far too strong for a filly...for my imagination... whatever!). She squealed in delight as she resumed bouncing around me. "You can make anypony happy! And if you can do that, you can use my other gifts as well! YOU ARE THE GREATEST RELATIVE EVER!"

"But... I don't know..." She stuffed a kazoo in my muzzle as another boom sounded with confetti falling from the sky again. The boom made me remember something... but what was it... Suddenly the sharp pain in my chest returned with a vengeance. Knocking me flat onto my side, I sharply gasped for air I couldn't find again. The smiling pink filly just bouncing in place.

"Don't worry! just let yourself do what feels natural at the time. You'll put two and two and two together to figure out the meaning!" She squealed again and jumped high into the air, falling onto my head with all four hooves, and sending me back into the solemn darkness.

I opened my eyes slowly, hearing the crackling of a fire and the whistle of the wind. It was dark out, and I was still in the street, but it seemed it was not the same one as before. I could see the form of Carlotta curled up next to the fire, Skyline was sitting across from her, her eyes glazed over as she stared into it. Brass was nowhere to be seen, which worried me. I tried to roll to my hooves but groaned loudly as a sharp pain shot through my chest. Skyline let out a light gasp and ran over to me, her eyes tearing up at the edges. She reached down and pulled me into the most painful hug I've ever had. I bit down on my lip and tried not to whimper.

"See... I promised I wouldn't leave you." I said with the best grin I could muster through the pain. She let out a sigh of relief and wiped her eyes. "What happened? Where is Brass?" I tried to sit up, she pushed me back onto my side.

"You need to rest, and Brass is out patrolling the neighborhood." She brushed my mane from my eyes. "You were hit by a 25mm armor piercing grenade round. You know, the ones designed to go off once it hits armor and melt through it. Your chest and your ribs cushioned it enough that it didn't have enough force to set the explosive off. You got extremely lucky." I tried my best to ignore the fact that she sounded like she had just called me fat again. "And if it had hit Carlotta's armor? We would have had to pick bits of her off the street. You saved her life." She said, pausing for a moment before smacking the back of my head with her hoof. "That's twice you've almost died saving somepony's life! Can't you find a way to do it without getting yourself injured?" I reached back to rub where she hit, sending stabs of incredible pain through my chest.

"You didn't fix it?" I gasped out. She shook her head.

"We can't use the hydra until someone resets your ribs. We will be heading out for Tenpony at first light. I think that..."

"We can't wait any longer." I snapped back. "You read the note, we don't have the time to go back. I haven't shown any signs of dying anytime soon. So I'm going to use that hydra, we are going to open that bunker, and inside, we'll use whatever it is to save the whole of the Celestia-damned wasteland!"

"He's right you know." Carlotta chimed in as she got up and stretched out. "We risked moving him this far, if he doesn't take it now, it will set wrong regardless and it will be weak enough it could break again."

Skyline grumbled, searching through her saddlebags to pull out the injector, unceremoniously pricking it into my chest. All at once, my chest felt like it was freezing and on fire, I screamed out as I could feel the bones meld together in an alien fashion. The sensation dulled and I panted heavily as I could hear heavy stomps coming our way. Brass Tacks tore into camp, skidding to a stop next to Sky.

"I heard a scream, is everypony alright?" He sounded slightly out of breath, but seemed no worse for the wear. And speaking of the wear, his armor gleamed in the firelight. It seems he didn't take a single hit during the fighting except for the shot that started it. Those raiders had incredibly poor accuracy... well, all of them except the pony with the grenade launcher.

"I'm fine." I pulled myself to my hooves slowly, the throbbing pain in my chest the fun reminder of just how fucked up my ribs now were. I was pretty sure that if they got hit again by anything, they would just rip themselves out and retire somewhere warm and far away from me. "How long until dawn?"

"It will be light enough to travel in a couple of hours, rest up until then." Carlotta stretched her wings as she spoke. "I'm going to go take a look around until then. might be a good idea for you to grab something to eat as well, you know, just in case you need to stop another grenade round with your chest." She laughed haughtily as she flew off into the night. Why was everyone suddenly commenting on my weight? I wasn't that bad, was I? I shook the thought from my head as I noticed Skyline nervously pacing around the campfire.

Sky spoke up suddenly. "I really should go with her... you know... in case she get's lost." She stretched her wings out, inspecting them quickly.

"Get lost? In the sky? when we have the only campfire for miles probably?" Brass Tacks reply was both perfectly timed and logical enough to catch her off guard.

"Well, yes, I mean..." as she struggled to say something, I squinted suspiciously at her. She got her brush out, briskly untangling her mane, instead trying to her best to ignore him.

"Really... her?" I tapped my hoof on the dirt. "Well, if that's what you want. Go. Just..." She squeed and bolted off into the sky with a red stripe as if she were rainbow dash incarnate, disappearing over the ruined buildings and out of sight before I could finish. "... don't be late."

"What was up with that?" Brass said as he removed his helmet, sitting down next to the fire.

"You remember what she told you yesterday when you eyed her gun?" I decided to take Carlotta's suggestion, pulling out a can of beans and opening it. (Screw what you think, I don't have a weight problem).

"Yeah, she said I wasn't..." He stopped for a moment, I could see on his face, the exact moment the gears in his head stopped as he figured it out. "She likes mares?!" I smirked and ate a spoonful of the beans, pleasantly surprised that this can didn't taste like mud as per the norm. "This whole time I thought she was with you!"

I gagged at the outburst, spitting and coughing the beans onto the dirt.

"The hell!? She's like a sister to me!" I gasped and pounded on my chest, adding that my lungs would be joining my ribs in their retirement if I kept this up. "That is sick, Brass. I would never... is that really what you thought?"

He looked surprised at the reaction. "Yeah! I mean, a stallion and a mare living and traveling together for years..."

I pointed my spoon at him "NO, no. nope. hell no. nuh-uh. never. Now drop it and let us never speak of this again. If you do, I swear that not even Celestia herself will save your soul from my wrath." He let out what I could only describe as a squeak as he nodded and stared back into the fire.

We sat there for a good half hour keeping the fire going and waiting for the girls to return. The whole Brass and I stare into a fire buddy time was getting to be a regular thing. But as with before, he was going to screw it up. He started kicking at the dirt a few times. I just knew he had something else stupid to ask me. "What do you want to ask now..."

"Why don't you carry a gun?" He said blatantly.

I grunted, scrunching up my muzzle. Wow, I was not expecting that. But to his credit, it was a good question. I mean, so much can go wrong with one to make you have a really bad day. either the ammunition is bad, the gun is in disrepair (which for me was obviously not a problem), it jams because it's dirty (I've never seen a gun jam on Skylines saddle... ever), or someone takes it and uses it against you. But even then, none of those really mattered to me. I scrunched my muzzle up tighter in thought.

"I guess the simple answer is, I've never needed one. Hell, we don't really carry any medical supplies either. Just some chems to use in emergencies to get back to a doctor." He looked puzzled by my response, but seeing as he grew up around the idea that guns were more important than ponies, it's an understandably foreign concept. "When I travel around I've always had Sky with me, she's always been all I've ever needed." I paused. I really did sound like I was in love with her, didn't I? "But the last few weeks, things have been different. There seemed to be more raiders than civilized ponies, more alicorns have been reported all over, and the wildlife is becoming more venturous, attacking settlements head on. Seeing as we'll probably be in more conflicts in the future, I guess it's about time I got myself one."

"You boys enjoy the time alone?" Carlotta came in quickly, flaring her wings as she stopped, fanning the near dead fire back to life. Skyline came in behind her, lightly trotting upon touching down, and as she straightened her saddle, she seemed more relaxed so I'm guessing things went as she wanted.

"Get yourself one what?" She said as she popped open her box of snack cakes, tossing one to Carlotta, who proceeded to tear into it with an almost excessive amount of violence. I looked over to Brass, who was just turning to answer.

"Oh Celestia no..." I muttered under my breath.

"Backlash was just saying how he wanted to get a gun, he..." I was immediately knocked onto my back by Skyline, Brass eyeing us over the fire as she squeezed me tightly. I was wrong, before was the second most painful hug I had ever had. Bones could heal, but I think my reputation died as she tried to force the life out of me.

"I knew this day would come! We are going to have so much fun shopping!" The pitch in her voice somehow getting higher than I even thought possible. "It's going to be so awesome! Maybe we'll get you something big and imposing! Or maybe something small instead, so you can take it literally anywhere you go!" Oh sweet darkness, come back and save me. I'll hang out with Pinkie all day, I don't care! Just make it stop!

The sun peeked over the horizon and filled the clouds with it's normal tones of vibrant greys and dark greys. I was happy to learn that they had hauled my injured flank nearly a mile further before making camp, so it was just another hour or so walk to get there. It had started to drizzle again, not much, but just enough to be obnoxious. Carlotta had taken 'point' as she called it, and was flying a few blocks ahead of us to make sure we didn't run into any ambushes.

Which apparently were the flavor of the month because we walked right into yet another one. A grey earth pony slammed through the door of a grocery store just up the street, he pointed his submachine gun back through the doorway and emptied the magazine into it. We all dove for cover as he screamed and ran towards us. I peeked up over the slab of siding I was hiding behind just in time to see a long piece of rebar float out the door and hurl itself through the fleeing pony's neck, he tumbled down and went still.

A large, purple alicorn strode out through the door, unfolding its wings as it turned this way. I ducked down, hoping my companions kept out of sight. I could hear her walk closer, her hoof beats steady and calm. She stopped just short of my pile of rubble.

"We have deemed this area cleared and think he might have headed back to the tower." I could hear the beat of another set of wings come close, setting down right next to the alicorn. A separate voice speaking up this time. "We found this one flying as well and subdued it. What should we do with the griffin." I cringed. Holy Celestia why did things have to go so bad so fast?

"We should eliminate it as it could warn him." Fuck fuck fuck fuckity FUCK! I wracked my brain for a way to save Carlotta from what I assumed was now two alicorns. "But that would imply this Griffin knows his location. We could always search her memories." I'm going to do it, I'm going to do something stupid again. I could just feel it coming on.

I jumped to my hooves, rounding the debris and into the view of the... one, two...THREE? OH COME ON! ONE CELESTIA DAMNED BREAK FOR ONCE! I had forgotten that while using their shield spell, the green ones might have well been statues. But here I am, I finally collected all three colors of the fucked up alicorn rainbow. Carlotta was suspended in the air by the large bubble, unmoving but uninjured it seemed.

"Let her go, she has no part in this." I kept what was probably the best damn poker face I have ever worn strong as I walked up to the dark blue one in the middle.

"Why should we now that you have so foalishly turned yourself over?" Her muzzle was still, her voice boomed only in my head. And now that I thought about it, I hadn't heard one of these things speak until the other night. She strode up a few steps and leaned down, staring at me with her yellow, slit eyes.

"Because you need me. If you don't let her go, I will never do as you ask." I stiffened up, trying to keep as imposing as was laughably possible.

"Who said we were going to ask?" She gave a deep laugh and tapped me with her glowing horn. I felt my vision cloud for a moment before she stumbled back. "We cannot read your memories. The logic is jumbled, explain how this is possible."

The purple alicorn chimed in. "A relic of his heritage. We have seen this before, it was to be expected. We suggest we comply with his demands." The towering blue figure stepped back slowly, seeming to think about it for a moment.

"Agreed, the great and powerful goddess will surrender the griffin if you will accompany us to the bunker." A slight smile creeping across her muzzle as she spoke.

"Then we have a deal." I knew this was going to be a bad idea but I wouldn't have someone die in my place when I could prevent it. The green alicorn dropped her shield, dropping the unconscious Carlotta to the ground with a thud. The blue and green stretched their wings, turning and taking off towards the tower as the purple one strode over to me. I turned around just in time to see Skyline cry out as the world was suddenly engulfed in a momentary blinding light.

I felt a shock go through me as the light started to dim, revealing the street outside the bunker. I smelled burnt hair and shuddered as I could move again. A shine out of the corner of my eye showed me a glimpse of the most beautiful sight I had ever beheld in the wasteland. I dove into the familiar stairwell beside me as the squad of power armored steel rangers down the street opened fire. Perforating the monstrosity with hundreds of holes. I skid through the shield and got to my hooves, dusting myself off, catching a glimpse of a spot of dried blood on the concrete floor. My blood from earlier. I shuddered as I pushed the thought from my mind.

"You there!" The shrill voice of an older grey colored mare called out as she walked down the stairwell to the shield. "I am Eldar Strawberry Sorbet and this bunker is Ministry of Wartime Technology property. I don't know how you got in there but I am ordering you to deactivate the shield and vacate the premises."

"Wrong. This bunker is property of the Ministry of Morale, and as the last surviving heir of Chief Pinkie Pie, I will do no such thing." I beamed a smile at her rage filled red eyes. "Now, you have two other alicorns inbound from the air and I'd say a minute or so before they get here. You can either talk to me, or pull back your squad. You got lucky with that first one, but once the other two see what you've done, they won't be so easy to kill."

She let out an annoyed grunt and walked up the steps. "We have 2 alicorns on the way, fall back, return to your outposts. The bunker will still be here tomorrow." She glared at me as the group galloped back down the road. "We aren't done here." Her voice solid as stone. I think I had just made my first real enemy. Well, other than raiders, slavers, Enclave, and now alicorns.

I turned around, looking for a way to open the massive steel door, pressing at the walls around it in search of a button. Something sharp on the wall jabbed my hoof. I pulled it back in pain as a red spinning light activated on the ceiling. A computerized voice emanating through a series of hidden speakers crackled to life.

"YOU FOAL!" The familiar voice of the blue alicorn called out into my head. "WE HAD A DEAL. WHY HAVE YOU BETRAYED THE GODDESS'S TRUST?" No wonder these things never talked if that's how they spoke. I couldn't help but laugh at the show she was making of it, but if it kept her from hunting me down, I guess I could put up with it a bit longer.

"If you are talking about your friend, I didn't kill her, there was a squad of Steel Rangers here protecting the bunker, she didn't stand a chance. I infact convinced them to leave. And if you are talking about the bunker, just tell me what you are looking for and I'll bring it to you."

She showed a look a genuine shock as the large door slid into the wall behind me with a soft ding. "You would still help us? I MEAN OF COURSE YOU WOULD STILL HELP THE GREAT AND POWERFUL GODDESS! FIND US THE BLACK BOOK AND YOU MAY GO FREE." I nodded and turned around, staring into a pear shaped elevator with clear glass walls, a silver band of metal ringing the upper interior held the buttons for floors. stepping inside the steel outer door shut slowly with a mechanical hiss. A shimmering green shield enveloped the open side of the craft and a soft light illuminated the interior.

I looked up to read the floors, only to find half of them weren't even numbers, or really possible for that matter. last time I checked sideways and diagonal were not ways any elevator could travel. The last button on the list had a little glass cover over it that read 'push to break fourth wall'. Ok, definitely didn't want to break anything after having gotten this far. I tried to think, scanning over the buttons again for any hint until I remembered what Pinkie Pie told me to.

"Wait, where is ...42?" I said softly as I perused the buttons again. The elevator jarred to life and the familiar computerized voice played out again.

The elevator seemingly flew around the complete darkness. Tossing up and down, left and right. I was starting to get sick right before the elevator slammed to a stop, throwing me out of the shield and onto a smooth walkway, the whole trip only lasting 10 seconds or so. Stumbling up to my hooves, I stared down the illuminated walkway at a single oval shaped door. I walked hesitantly to it and pushed it open. Inside was a small room lit by a single overhead lamp, a small table sat with a terminal on it. I took notice that this one's interface was pink instead of the olive green of every other terminal, and it was on the login screen, a question posed instead of the normal user entry setup.

Taking a guess, I reached forward using my hoof, carefully typing the 4 and the 2. I paused and held my breath as I hit the return key. The login cycled for a moment before putting up a new readout.

I let out a sigh. Well that was a bust. The screen flickered and the readout refreshed again.

I felt like that stopped making sense at somepoint. "You know, Conciousness is spelled with a C, right?"

I thought to myself. What was I supposed to do now? All the instructions were to get me here, but I still didn't know why.

"No thanks, do you know the location of the black book?"

Great. Now what... "Show me.... 42?" I thought if it had gotten me this far, maybe it still meant something.

The command prompt popped up. As I reached out for the key, my chest burned hotly, I stabilized myself on the table and put a hoof to my chest, nearly paralyzed with pain.

I scrambled to find the key, punching in Y and slamming return as the countdown clicked down.

The pain in my chest disappearing almost as soon as it had appeared, replaced by a sharp stinging behind my right eye. Not enough to cause issues, just more an annoying pain. I tensed as I heard four massive metallic slams.

With a loud hiss, the wall behind the terminal split horizontally, folding back to reveal a sterile white chamber with a large cylindrical glass tube in the center full of blue liquid. Floating inside, was one, middle aged, bright pink, ministry mare.

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

LEVEL UP!

+10 survival
+ 5 science

New Perk: Made of Sterner Stuff - You gain +1 to your endurance because of your extreme resilience to pretty much everything as well as +10 DT when a nearby ally is hit with a critical hit!

New Trait: Wacky Wasteland - You already have two traits, but you're a relative of Pinkie Pie! Screw the rules, references are fun!

Author's Notes:

I’d like to thank Kkat for thinking up this amazing world. Somber for the epic whisky expansion. No-one for building Dice and Hired. And last but not least Mimezinga for making Puppy a joy to read. Oh and to all the Fic’s I haven’t read that are awesome, keep up the good work!
And a shout out to my proof reader Bad Pun, who constantly puts up with all my bullshit on a daily basis.