”Look, I know how hard it’s going to be, but you need to stay off your wings until they are fully healed.” Suture’s magic was tightening bandages around Carlotta’s wings, binding them to her body. “Your backside and wings took the brunt of the shrapnel, so you need to keep from stressing them.” I just didn’t understand how a pony his size had a voice as soft as his.

“Yeah, yeah. This isn’t the first time I’ve been through this song and dance. Broken wings are our most common injury.” She was huffy, but I could tell through her words that she was grateful to have even survived at all. “It may be hard for you to believe, but my line of work is not exactly what you Ranger’s would call ‘safe’.”

“INCOMING!” Skyline shouted before landing square on my back, forcing me to the dirt as both her and Pallet piled on. I saw stars for a moment before Pallet’s happy laughter put my mind to ease. Getting some fluids and food into her sure gave her an abundance of energy to spend, but then again, being held in a cage for over a month would make anypony want to run around until they collapsed.

“That was fun Mrs. Sky!” Pallet’s squeaky voice made me cringe, but it was just reflexive. To be honest, I had even forgotten how she sounded when from we found her in Ponyville. As much as a voice like that would aggravate me normally, today, she is the filly that lived, the filly that 42 didn’t get to silence. “Can we squish him again?”

I gasped for air as my lungs finally realized that being pressed that much was bad for my health. Carlotta just rolled her eyes as she walked up and hugged Skyline, giving her a long, drawn out kiss. Skyline flushed through her red coat so much I was sure she was shining brighter then the lamps of the Rangers around us.

“Eeeew!” Pallet rolled off of Skyline and scrambled away with a grin. “Kissing is gross!”

Sky got off my back and turned to me, holding her hoof out with a ‘I’m sorry if I hurt you’ kind of look. “In a few years, you may not think the same way.” She looked over to Pallet and stuck her tongue out at her, which Carlotta promptly grabbed with her talon.

“Gross? Come on, kid. I thought you were tougher than that.” Carlotta smiled and let go of Sky, kissing her softly on the nose. “See, that wasn’t too bad, was it?” She pat Skyline on the head, freezing as Skyline hooked a forehoof around her neck and pulled her close.

“When we get home…” Sky’s voice came across as a low growl, soft enough that it was hard for me to hear it at all. Even then, I could only pick out a few of the words. “Punishment. Bad Giffin. Scream.” The gears in my head locked up as they knew the context as to what she was inferring. I nearly gagged as I got to my hooves, cantering down into the quarry as fast as I could go without tripping. Which, as it turns out, meant I should have been going slower.

I tripped and flopped onto my face, the rest of my body using the momentum to raise up and painfully drop down ahead of where I had been. I let out a soft groan as a fine layer of dust covered me, and Carlotta’s uncontrollable laughter filled my ears.

“Laugh it up, fuzzball!” I called out, getting to my hooves as Longbow and Maple trot from the entrance to the bunker. Using my hooved to pat myself down, realized that one of the rocks had drawn a light gash across my burnt flank. I did my best to wipe the blood off my hoof and onto my coat, shaking my tattered mane while the two stood a few feet from me. “Find any traps at the entrance?”

“No, but I suspect it’s hard to trap a hole like the one she made going in.” Longbow’s voice was filled with more than just a few notes of fear. “It looks… bad in there. No bodies, but there’s blood smeared everywhere.”

“The interior lights are also off, possibly an issue with the main reactor. The secondary seems fine, as it’s powering the exterior light and emergency lighting inside.” Maple started up, trying his best to hide his own fear from what he saw. My own curiosity made me wonder exactly how he looked right now under that helmet. “We will be dividing into teams to make the search faster. You, Frosty, and I will start your search at the reactor level to see if you two can’t also get the light’s back on. Longbow, Suture and Casserole will start on the residential level and work their way up. Finally, your griffin friend, Doppler, and Fruit Cup will search the barracks and command levels.”

I ran that through my head for a moment, the gears realizing the count was off. “What about Skyline?” I wasn’t going to leave her up here without somepony else to warn her if 42 was still around. Longbow took her helmet off with a hiss, levitating it to her side.

“I thought you said she would make sure Pallet got back to her relatives at Tenpony when we got her back from 42.” Longbow strained her voice through the obvious lie, her eyes telling me that she desperately wanted me to go along with her story.

“oh… OH! Yeah, sorry.” I chuckled to myself and shook my head. “Been a rough month. My mind…” I was stopped as Maple put his hoof on my chest. I was worried he would be angry at my obvious lie, but what he said wasn’t at all what I expected.

“My son… he really was a good friend to you, wasn’t he?” His words were painful to hear, tearing at my mind. I looked into the soulless eyes of his helmet, trying to convey just how much he had meant to me.

“The best.” I sighed as he put his hoof down, his body relaxing enough that I could see it translate through his armor. “I’m sorry about my behaviour at the base. I didn’t know who you were.”

“As you said, it’s been a tough month for all of us.” He was trying to keep from choking up as he spoke. It may not have been obvious to the others, but I could hear him slowly breaking down. “I just… wish I could have known him better.”

The light in the entrance went down, plunging most of the quarry into darkness. The sounds of power armor auto loading mechanisms working nearly insync filled my ears as the hiss of Longbow securing her helmet told me it was time to move.

“Backlash, say goodbye to Sky, get Carlotta, and meet us back down here.” Longbow barked to me as her headlamp glowed to life. I nodded to her, turning and trotting up the hillside to where the others were. Suture had stayed up there to provide illumination for the others, but looked anxious to get down and join the others.

“Sky, take Pallet to Tenpony.” It felt good to use such a stern tone with her when I actually had a good reason to do so. She looked like she was about to speak up, but she knew that we couldn’t take Pallet in there with us. She simply nodded sadly, pulling Pallet close to her.

“Pallet? Do you want to go see Dj Pon3?” She asked softly, her voice wavering as she looked back to Carlotta and I. “He’s the stallion on the radio, I promise you’ll like him.” Pallet smiled and dove at Sky’s leg, latching on and nuzzling it with a squee.

“He’s so neat! He’s was always talking through the box thing at the store back home!” She squeaked and smiled before looking over to us, her expression slowly slipping. She let go and galloped over to Carlotta, pressing into her chest plumage as she tried to hug her. “Thank you for saving me. I don’t care if you do gross stuff, just please come back and see me.”

I had never seen this look on Carlotta’s face before as tears came down her cheek, pulling Pallet close and hugging her tightly. “Don’t worry, I will.” This is what Carlotta looked like when she was happy. Not when enjoying herself, not when having fun. Just pure and simple happiness. As Pallet let go and ran back to Skyline, Carlotta’s expression stuck just long enough until she saw me staring. “What?”

“Nothing. Just nice to see you smiling is all.” I rolled my eye and nodded towards the quarry. “Come on, the others need us to help.”

“You haven’t seen me really smile until you’ve seen me on payday.” She cooed as she turned and rose to her legs. That made me cringe, just for the fact that I had no idea how much she was going to ask for. “Oh, and what a smile I will have THIS payday.”

With the fear of just how much I would owe Carlotta keeping all my other fears at bay for the moment, Maple, Frosted Cakes, and I made our way down the flights of stairs, closely following behind Longbow’s team. They split off from us as they hit the landing below, the clinking of their armor down the dark halls eerily echoing over the stomps of my team only momentarily.

“Red, blue, status update.” Maple spoke up as we continued winding our way down. “Roger, keep your eyes peeled.” As soon as we had entered, he ordered the others to maintain radio silence unless there was a need to report something unusual. On top of that, all teams were required to report in every two minutes.

As we circled around yet another flight, the low drumming of the reactor level came through my hooves, just enough to know that this was the level I had been kept on when we were here before. The biggest problem I could see with being down this far was that if 42 had a trap waiting for us, then there was no easy escape. My hope was that she was long gone, and that she had slipped up again with the wagon outside.

As we reached the bottom of the stairwell, we all stopped to inspect the shredded doorway. It was far beyond what anypony in power armor could do to it, and was a testament to the fact that if 42 wanted something, nothing would stand in her way.

“Fuck. What the hell did this?” Frosted’s voice came over her speaker with a sense of awe. “I’ve gotta find some explosives like this.”

“Not explosives. 42.” I replied, pushing my way past her. “Come on, this way.”

“How do you know where to go? I know you said you were here, but I got the impression you were on the detention level. Have you been down on this level before?” Maple spoke up, his simple, but strikingly good question shot a pain through my heart. I missed Brass’s questions.

I pointed to the pipes on the ceiling. “Induction pipes for the water recycler. We follow these and they take us right to the reactor.” I stopped dead in my stride as a foul stench hit my nose, something all to common in the wasteland. “Fuck. We have dead up ahead.” I used my fetlock to pinch my nose as we continued, really cursing the others for their cheater suits and their air filtration systems. We followed the pipes around a few dark corners as the stench grew bad enough that it smelled just as bad with my nose covered as without.

“Sir, red and blue teams report an all clear so far.” Frosted looked back as she trot in front of us, turning the corner ahead before letting out a loud gasp. She back pedaled hard into the wall behind her, slamming into it. A power armored hoof reached down from the pipes and lay on her shoulder, letting her breath a sigh of relief. “Glad that somepony made…” She reached up to pat the hoof, only to have it slide forward in front of her, the severed limb inside painting a crimson streak across her chest.

She twisted and yanked her helmet off just in time to double over and puke, pausing for just a moment until the smell hit her hard. She heaved and groaned before spilling the rest of her lunch onto the floor. After wiping her muzzle, she held her breath and resecured her helmet.

Maple and I trot up and looked around the corner to find what she had seen. Never before in the wasteland, had I seen such a horrible display. The bodies of dozens of ponies had been rigidly posed in the long walkway heading toward the reactor bay’s door. Stallions, mares, foals. It didn’t matter to 42, who had posed them all in the exact same way. They stood on their hind legs, forehooves extended and raised up, holding their own shredded entrails above them as if to be joyously throwing them into the air, the flat stumps of their necks dribbled the still wet blood that covered their now monocolor coats.

I nearly fainted from the sight, slipping to the floor as my hoof pressed along a slick puddle of blood. I looked up as I lay there, finding, if you can believe it, a more disturbing sight just through the grating in the ceiling. The severed heads of all the ponies gazed down to me, the eyelids of them all torn off, and each ones muzzle stripped of it’s skin just enough to make it look like they were smiling. I couldn’t help myself now either, heaving heavily and throwing up what little contents I had in my stomach.

“How could somepony do something like this?” Maple’s voice came across his speaker shakily. I could see through his armor that it was taking all of his will to keep from throwing up as well. “Let alone… just one mare.”

The thought of 42 doing this just to get to me made my blood boil. After the last month of innocent’s dieing to her, I just couldn’t feel anything anymore. Carlotta’s close call got to me because I knew her. These ponies? I couldn’t feel sorry for them anymore. I pulled myself up and trudged forward, my hooves squishing on the bloody floor as I wound my way through the maze of bodies. With this many down here, I doubt there are survivors.

“Sir! Red Team reports they have a survivor!” Frosted Cakes voice rang out over the dull tone of the reactors. “They say they found him in one of the storage lockers in the armory, he says he is scribe Manilla Folder.” My mind couldn’t decide on whether or not I should be happy that he made it, or angry that he wasn’t murdered by 42.

“Tell them to send him to the surface and continue searching.” Maple and Frosty continued after me, their heavy hoofsteps easy to keep track of as we continued. I stopped as I reached the control room door, not wanting to open it as I’m sure there was another trap inside. Frosty checked the doorframe for traces of contact wiring or other explosive devices, but gave the all clear after a minute of looking. She twisted the handle and kicked the door open.

The high pitched hiss of a steam piston firing filled the air before it looked like Frosty’s head exploded, covering me in chunks of blood and gore. I wiped my face and looked up, watching as Frosty did the same. The sharp spike of a unicorn’s horn jut through her ear armor as the rest of whomever’s skull it had been dripped down her helmet, the long, deep gouge in her helmet telling me that if I had been the one to open the door, I’d be dead right now.

“FUCK!” Frosted Cakes roared as she hoofed the horn from her ear, the insuit repair and medical functions already starting to close the gaping holes. “This bitch is dead if I find her. NOPONY deserved to be used as a weapon. This is just sick.”

“This is what she does. If we don’t stop her, then more of this is what is coming to the wasteland.” I entered the room and head straight for the control panel. Even without the dim light of the others lamps, I could already feel myself straining to understand what to do. Only once had I worked on a reactor like this. Gin had needed my help in fixing one of the turbines to friendship city’s external backup generators, but that was a few years ago, and much more straightforward with what was wrong.

“Ah-ha!” Frosted called out from the panel behind me. There was a resounding click of a toggle before all the lights slowly flickered on. The turbine to the main reactor whined to life and the glowing readouts of the controls before me brightened and fed out readings. She walked over and peered at the numerous dials and indicators. “Good, good. Looks like it was only put into safe mode. Everything else here checks out.”

“Good, then lets work our way back up.” Maple called out, turning towards the door. Both He and Frosty froze and put their hoofs to the side of their head. “Alright Backlash, blue team found the Elder. She’s in research level 2, let’s go.” And with that, we took off. Even though I didn’t feel anything from it, as we ran around the corner and left the celebrating dead behind us, I couldn’t help but think that my nightmares weren’t going to let me forget what I saw.

I was heaving heavily by the time we had made it up the stairs, but the thought of if I slowed down, Longbow had more time to try to kill her. As we galloped through the halls, I couldn’t help but think that this was all too easy. The traps that 42 left were too easy to find, and a lot less elaborate than I thought they would have been. Something just wasn’t right here.

“She’s locked in one of the biochem storage rooms.” Maple spoke up as we turned down the hallway to the room marked ‘Biolab’. The windows are four inch thick reinforced glass. The only way in is through the door.

“I got just the explosive for the job.” Frosted Cakes callout happily as we trot through the door. I spotted Longbow as we entered the room, smiling now that I knew she was safe. My gaze drifted over to the slumped form of Strawberry Sorbet as she rolled her head back and forth, holding a gaping wound on her side closed.

“We’ve got a problem. Breaching the door with explosives could kill her with the injuries she’s got, and it also might trigger the fail safe system for the room.” Her voice told me that she had come to terms with her anger, and showed genuine concern to getting her out of the room alive.

“Failsafe systems?” I realized I sounded like a moron here, but I didn’t get to grow up around these kind of things. The only fail safe systems I’ve ever seen were on old military computers, and electronics, designed to render them inoperable if they were ever captured. Funny enough, they were never that hard to disarm, which makes me wonder why they even made them at all. “As in, simple explosives?”

“No.” Maple shook his head. “Bio-chem fail safes are a lot more complex than the ones on standard hardware.” His voice was traveling into the tone to where he wanted to sound like a smart ass AND stroke his own ego. “You see, you can’t just blow apart one of these rooms, seeing as they contain things like plagues and diseases that would wipe out everypony in the wastes. The systems here are designed to completely incinerate all biological and chemical traces…”

“The system light’s things on fire.” Longbow cut him off, mercifully saving the rest of us from falling asleep. “If there’s a breach, then the alarm goes off and woosh, the whole room is hit with a 2000 degree incendiary agent.

“Thank you Paladin Longbow for you’re valid, although simple explanation.” He sighed in annoyance. “As I was going to say, unless the system can be overridden, or the Elder opens it from the inside, the door will stay shut inevitably.”

I trot over to the door controls and looked at it, quickly finding the intercom button. “Sorbet, open the door.”

She looked up from the wall, her gaze seeming distant as she smiled and got to her hooves. She limped over to the door, trailing a thick line of blood behind her. Hoofing at her intercom, she spoke in quick bursts.

“Don’t you see? She’s the end we needed! She can wipe the wasteland clean! She tore them to pieces in front of my eyes!” She turned her head, looking directly into my eye as she laughed, slipping down against the window and hitting the release button. The door opened with a hiss. “Then we can just use the megaspells on HER!”

“Quickly! Get the field dressing out!” Maple shouted as the group all but poured into the sterile, white room. Just as soon as they made it through the door, it shut with a slam. The loud report of a revolver behind me startled me as the control panel sparked and died. I spun quickly as a pink flash dropped from the rafters.

Instinctively, I pulled up S.A.T.S. and thought to pull out one of the twins. Unfortunately, all that I saw was note #182 from the Project Golem files. The gears in my head worked too slow, just now reminding me that I hadn’t swapped the fuse back to the inventory after I got the pipbuck back. I cursed my forgetfulness as I dropped out of S.A.T.S., figuring that I could go hoof to hoof if I could get close enough.

“Tisk tisk tisk. And you were doing so well.” My good eye burned as she walked forward, looking decidedly less melted then the last time I saw her. “I’m wondering if you got the welcome card I left for you up top?”

I smirked. “Yeah. I’m sure Pallet will remember it in the years to come after you die.” I spat at her, my muzzle only pulling into a tighter grin as she grimaced. She raised her revolver, twisting it subtly as I glanced at it, remembering that I had dropped it.

“Thanks for leaving me my gun. It was so helpful in murdering the poor foals here.” She mock pouted, trying to rouse me to anger. After a moment without a reaction from me, she smiled. “Although, I do miss my rifle. I bet Brass does too.”

That was where I drew the line.

I charged at her, watching as she threw the revolver at me with all her might. My tail caught on something and dropped me just enough that I fell out of the trajectory of the gun, tensing me up enough to drop into S.A.T.S. again. I cued up two hoof strikes to her, ignoring the low chance to hit. I finalized the strike, leaving only a sliver of spell power remaining as time crawled forward. My first swing missed it’s mark, pulling me around uncontrollably to my left as she dodged out of the way. Just as I was going to wonder how the system would work the second strike when I wasn’t even facing my target, my rear leg was assisted in bucking up. I felt it connect to something solid, the all too familiar snap of bone filling the air as the spell finished up. I spun around as 42 slammed against the storage room door, amazingly denting it slightly. She got to her hooves with a laugh, stopping halfway to cough out a patch of blood onto the floor.

“I really misjudged you Backlash!” She looked up to me with a smile. “You’re more than just another Pinkie family member. That kind of strength can only come from one pony.” The gears in my head worked hard as she talked. One hit was good, but I needed something more. “You have to be it then, it’s the only thing that makes sense.” She belted out another laugh, gripping her side as she did. I must have broken a rib with that kick, which is just payback for the ribs I’ve had to deal with thanks to her.

“Oh? And what’s that?” I needed to stall her for time. My head finally threw out the idea that her gun was sitting on the floor just to my right. If I could just get to it, S.A.T.S. could do the rest. I took a step towards it.

“Isn’t it obvious? Your late blooming senses? Your ridiculous tolerance to my attempts to murder you?” She took a step to her left, subtly glimpsing at the revolver as her play as well. I took another step as she stopped. The gears in my head spun up again from her words, searching for the answer she was leading me to. I didn’t need the answer, I needed that gun.

“I’m just that damn lucky.” She took another step, the agonizingly slow progress only made worse by the fact that my mind was inching closer to an answer. I know what she’s talking about, it seems so correct. It makes so much sense.

“Backlash, you just… Do. Not. Get. It.” She dropped her voice into a low growl, keeping her twisted smile as she peered right into my gaze. She spoke at the same moment the gears in my head shot the answer to her puzzle to me. “You and I? We’re family. They took my foal from me before they locked me up, sent her away to some boarding school in Hoofington! One hundred and twenty four years later, and my progeny lives.” I missed my step, letting her throw herself to the revolver and point it up at me. “We can rule together, you and I. Why can’t you just understand that we are better then them? With our senses, our strength, our guidance, we can make the world better for everypony.”

“Better? Like how you made Ponyville better? How you made Whinney or the Pool better?” I took my step towards her, feeling the barrel of the gun press up under my chin. “You won’t kill me. Not yet.”

“Look’s like you’ve finally learned the game.” She smiled and ran her hoof through her bouncy pink mane, a clump of it pulled out and dropped to the floor, fading away in a purple wisp before it hit the ground. “Good thing, cause now you’re out of spring training. Ready for the big leagues?”

“With how sloppy you’ve gotten, it’s more like you’re hoping to tie it up for overtime!” I screamed as I reared up to smash her. She rolled out of the way of my hooves as I brought them down, my angry strike actually sending cracks along the concrete floor. The revolver fired again, it’s round pinging harmlessly off the storage room door, starting a yellow light turning as a loud alarm spun up.

“Tick tock Backlash. Bring me my pond.” She laughed as she sped off to the door. I was about to give chase when my brain reminded me of what the alarms ment. “Free them, or chase me? Only enough time for one!” She froze at the corner, looking back as I tried to make a decision. “See you at the bridge!”

The lives of the ponies inside meant more to me then getting to her. The gears in my head spun and spit out the truth, which was that the life of only one of the ponies inside that room truly mattered to me. Longbow hoofed at the intercom, her voice coming through softly.

“Don’t worry about us, our…” With that, the room exploded into flames. The intercom speaker let out a high pitched wail as it melted inside before cutting out completely. The glass gave off a soft glow as it fogged over with black, the swirling of thick smoke inside hardly visible through it.I slumped to the floor, having lost again. I slammed my hoof against the door in anger, finding that my sense of pain had returned, and the strength of the door was too much for me to handle.

There was a loud thud from the other side, quickly becoming a paced knock. Once again, their stupid cheat suits had won out. I should have remembered steel is tougher than 2000 degree heat! Though, I can’t say I feel sorry that Sorbet didn’t have her armor on, seeing as she deserves that special place in tartarus reserved for ponies like her an 42. So the problem I’m faced with is I’m not sure how long the rangers can last in there, seeing as the door is sealed and presumably all the air just burned away. The gears in my head reminded me of the only good thing I took out of the pool. Lil’ Zeus’s combat knife!

I quickly hoofed it from my saddlebag, biting down on the handle and watching as the Pipbuck registered it in my compass as ‘Lil’ Zeus’. As I thought about how unremarkably unthought out the name was, I lifted my good hoof up and looked at it. This was going to suck, but it will be worth it as long as I can save Longbow! Now, I just need a quick flick…

As I pushed the blade down, I realized I hadn’t compensated for how smoothly it cut, slicing much deeper than I thought. I let out a scream as it nicked the bone, dropping the blade to the floor reflexively as I pressed my bleeding limb against the glass. The acidic crimson worked quickly at melting through, but as it streamed down the glass, and I could no longer see straight, I realized that I must have severed an artery.

The world of darkness I’ve grown so accustomed too, welcomed me again with open hooves.

The feeling of his kiss was the greatest thing in the wasteland.

“Come on honey, it’s time to get going.” The familiar voice had called out as a hoof shook me to keep me from falling back to sleep. We had both stayed up late after I showed him Luna, spending our time talking as we just watched the stars drift by.

“No, can’t we just stay in bed all day?” I pulled the stallion close to me, hating how he tugged back. “We’ll make the time up, I swear.” It was a particularly bright afternoon when I had woken up, the sun was actually beaming down through the spacing by the tower. With a bit more prodding, I had rubbed my eyes and was finally starting to wake.

“If we don’t meet up with Skyline, she’ll never forgive me.” I won’t ever forget the smile he wore. I had thought that nothing could ruin that moment. But the sky darkened, at first, just as much as if the clouds had covered it up, but then it continued, and after a few moments, both Sprocket and I had climbed out of the tent.

It was hard to make out, but there was a round shape covering the sun. The gears in my head at the time had reminded me that I had read of it in the Museum of Equine History. It was a phenomenon called an eclipse that hadn’t happened after the times that Celestia and Luna became rulers of Equestria. I was about to speak up, when there was an earth shattering crack that split the clouds. It was so loud, that it had felt like it moved the ground. Little did I know that it had.

“The hell was that?” I had spoke with a smile, amused at the moment for how odd it was. But that changed when I looked up to find Sprocket whimpering on the grass, a gaping hoof sized hole punched clear through his back to his stomach. I had been a fool, not stocking up on something as good as hydra before we left, when that was the only thing that could save his life.

So there Sprocket died in my hooves. Shot down by a starmetal meteorite in Luna’s anger for showing her off.

I blinked, and I was floating in the dark sea once again. The bright, silver disk in the sky hung over the cold water, the shape of the mare in it seemingly watching me back. The water grew colder, drawing me down as I knew it was time to head back. As the darkness filled my eyes, I welcomed it warmly, know that I had still kept my promise since that day. I would not make that mistake again.

“Can it Maple, she’s a friend.” Why did I know that voice? Better question, why did my head hurt so much? “Plus, what are you going to do? Shoot her?” Oh, right, that was Longbow.

“She’s one of those…things!” Maple shouted back, making my head pound worse. I blinked, worried for a moment when I couldn’t open my left eye as my right struggled to focus. I reached my hoof up to rub my left eye open, instead hoofing at the socket as the gears in my head were once again just a little too slow.

“Well, if it’s not too much trouble… I just needed to speak to Backlash.” My eye focused on the bright source of the voice, resolving the glowing form of Willow. She turned her gaze to me, frowning as I yawned and rolled to my hooves, pushing against them, but not finding the strength to stand. Why did I feel so tired?

“Woah there.” Suture came over quickly from… somewhere. I just couldn’t focus for some reason. “You lost a lot of blood.” Well, that’s probably a good reason. “The potions will take some time to help you make more, but you’ve got to take it easy for a few minutes.”

“Thank you.” I gave him a soft smile, as I flopped back down. “I’ll just… lay here for a bit then.” Longbow trot up to me slowly as my vision blurred again, I noticed she was wearing a torn up white shirt. “You look good. We should… go out some time.” My eye refocused, revealing the shirt to be wrappings of bandages. I think she could see the concern on my face, because she used her freakish strength to hold me down, using a single hoof to pin me. “You’re really strong… you know that?”

“Oh, just shut up.” She laughed softly, leaning forward. Even as tired as I was, the feeling of her kiss… it was just like that day. But for the first time since that day, it didn’t bother me. I had kept my promise to the Old Man, and Luna had no reason to interfere. As she stood back up, she cleared her throat. “Willow is here because there is a problem at Futura.”

I yawned, stretching my hooves out. “Yeah, alicorns, we know this.”

“It is… not that simple.” Willow called over as she strode up. “I wanted to… at least see them one last time before I went, but the alicorns were already there. Dozens of only the blue variety are, but they are positioned about the town, invisible and waiting. I’ve never seen so many gathered in one place, the Goddess hasn’t done anything like it before.”

“Waiting? For what?” Longbow was on the ball today. Come on gears, why are you slacking? My head thudded as I tried to force them to turn, remembering again, that the blood loss was probably the reason. Stupid blood.

“I… don’t know. If I try to read them, they will know I am there.” Willow’s voice snapped my attention back to her. “I wanted to leave a note for them, but wasn’t sure if they would panic and force the Goddess to attack.”

The gears in my head spun, trying to think of some way to use this pause to our advantage. We charge in, we die. We sneak in, we die. No matter what we do, she’ll see us coming and we die. On top of that, if we wait too long she might attack anyway, and we lose Futura.

“What about a diversion?” Longbow piped up happily. And that’s my thinking mare for you! She’s so smart! “You could get her attention and lead them away. She’ll have to see this kind of tactic coming, but with what you can do? I’m sure she’ll want you more then the town.”

“That may work… You realize that after an hour or so, she will give up trying to get to me and just decide to destroy the town.” Willow brought up a good point.

“But an hour is a long time to get the people ready.” I yawned out shaking my head as I could slowly feel my body get stronger. “Willow, wait until we are a few miles out, then cause your diversion. If we can hold out until morning, then maybe some of the other rangers might have made it out there.”

“The others aren’t coming.” Maple called down from the ridgeline. “With the threat of Forty Two, all the paladins other than this squad have been recalled to defend HQ. We are on our own.”

“Then we’ll make due.” I tried to push myself back up, shakily standing up as my head felt like it was exploding. “We can’t afford to wait any longer. We have to try.” I took a step forward, crying out as my leg gave out and dumped me back down. I was hoisted up by Carlotta from behind, being thrown over her shoulder as she walked on her hind legs, giving me flashbacks to Xin. “Longbow, can I suggest you drive?”

“No way, flab flanks. She drove last time you were out of it, so it’s my turn.” Carlotta called up, turning and walking towards where we had parked the Marauder. I felt a twinge of fear as we reached the top of the slope, afraid that my car wasn’t going to be there again. But, as if to show a small sign of balance, the universe saw fit to let me keep her.

“Wait, Carlotta, put me down for a moment.” I tapped her on the back softly with my hooves, trying not to irritate the already bruised sections too much. She grumbled and let me down. “Can you call Longbow over, I need to talk to her alone for a moment.”

“Hey Longbow, get over here!” She shouted down the hill with a screeching yell, surging the pain from my headache as I did my best to cover my ears. Longbow bolted up the hill with heavy steps, not wasting any time to get to me. The silver armor was still emitting clicks and whirrs as her magic locked the plates in place, having just been hastily put on.

“What is it? Is something wrong?” She panted lightly as she looked me over.

“No, nothing is wrong. I just wanted to talk for a moment.” I smiled to her before turning my gaze to the grumpy face of Carlotta. “I believe I specified alone.” And with that, Carlotta turned and stomped off to the car. “Longbow, I need you to head back to Manehatten. You can coordinate with them for the attack on the bridge.”

“I know Elder Strudel’s tactics are simple, but she shouldn’t have a problem planning the attack.” She ran her hoof through my mane, sitting down next to me. “Besides, I can do more good if I’m here to help you.”

“I just think that heading back would be safer.” I scrunched my muzzle up as I went to correct myself. “I mean, the safer bet.”

Longbow’s gaze shifted sadly to the dirt. “Is that what this is about? You think I’ll end up like Brass?” She shook her head and stomped her hoof unnervingly close to my head. “I’m no stranger to combat, and right now, Futura needs all the help it can get.”

“Is it that bad that I don’t want you to die for me?” I reached up and tried to brush her mane from her eyes, only to be stopped as she lightly batt my hoof away.

“For you? Backlash, do you even hear yourself? You aren't trying to protect Futura for YOU. You and I both want to help them out because WILLOW asked.” She crossed her hooves with a huff. “Besides, I don't see you complaining about Skyline or Carlotta.”

She was right. Maybe I was being too selfish by trying to protect her. But why shouldn’t I be? So far, I haven’t gotten anything out of the last few weeks that I can claim has improved my life, other than her.

“Because I love YOU. Yes, I don't want Sky or Carlotta to die either, but I can't lose you. Not after Sprocket. Not after Harmony and Brass.” I pushed myself up, hooking my arms around her as she stood in silence. “You are all that is keeping me from breaking down.”

“Don’t you think I feel the same way?” She wrapped a power armored hoof around my back. “I… I don’t want to lose you either. That’s why I have to go.” She pat me slowly and sighed. “Let’s get going. We can do this, together.”

With the fact that Carlotta had joined us in the Marauder, we had to kick Maple out to ride on the back frame. He said he didn’t mind, but I could tell that from the whimpering he made over the wind, he wasn’t having the best of times. It probably also didn’t help that Carlotta kept trying to ramp us off everything that remotely had a slope to it. In the hour it had taken us to drive, I had recovered from my blood loss. Restoration potions certainly were an amazing item.

The bright lighting of Futura was a beacon in the darkness. The tall stadium lighting from the Baltimare arena that had been set along the domed roof of the old community center helped to invite travelers in, while the heavy, ten foot concrete wall reminded the rest of the wasteland that Futura was well defended. I uttered a small prayer to myself that the Goddess had fallen for the trick and was gone, at least giving us a small window to prepare. That is, if I can convince everypony of what was coming.

Carlotta thankfully dropped our speed as we approached the front gate, several armed ponies trained weapons on us, spreading out around the marauder as we came to a complete stop. I hoofed open the door I had been crammed against, getting out slowly.

“What’s yer business here?” The stallion asking the question was not one that I recognized from my time here before. “Them armored folks ain’t welcome inside.”

“My name is Backlash, let me speak to Passwall, he know’s me.” I had really hoped he had been at the gate tonight, but I can chalk it up to abrupt timing. “I came to speak with Tiger Lily. The Rangers are with me, they will not cause a problem.”

“Passwall’s dead.” The stallion shifted his tone to one of disdain when he spoke. “Some idjit trader brought in killing joke last month, what happened wasn’t pretty.” I looked over to the other guards, nodding to them. “Ya’ll stay right there. I’ll get Tiger fer ya.” He turned and cantered off through the guard hut toward the community center.

“You sure they’ll even let us in?” Maple shakily stepped back onto the ground. Although I felt bad for having to stand on the back frame of the marauder, it did help to keep his pompous attitude in check.

“Just give it a moment.” I sighed, motioning for him to get back onto the car. He groaned but reluctantly did as I asked. There was a buzzing noise from the gate, the whole thing shuddered and swung open as the motorized winch pulled it back. I got back in as well as we were ushered through with just enough space for the marauder to pass before they closed the gate again. “What did I tell you?” I turned around and smiled through the rear window as Carlotta pulled us up to the front of the community center.

The large faded words ‘The House of Tomorrow!’ were barely readable under the immense lights that beamed away the night. The street around us was completely bare tonight, and not even the bars were lively. Something just doesn’t seem quite right. We all piled out of the Marauder, eager to stretch our legs again after being cramped in there.

“Well well! We haven’t seen you around these parts in a while!” Tiger Lily spoke up as she trot around the side of the building. I turned to face her with a smirk, looking her over as she stopped dead in mid step. “Though… maybe too long. The hell did that to you and where can I get one?”

“Trust me, you don’t want to know.” I looked up into the well lit house. “Mind if we go inside to talk? Time is short, and what I have to tell you is of great importance.”

“Fine, but the goon squad stays out here.” She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Your sister just stopped in a few minutes ago and woke me up. This shit better be big.”

I looked over to Longbow, who gave a nod. I trot over to Lily, who opened the door and led me inside. The stark white of the hallway gleamed under the bright fluorescent lighting, still spotless after over a century. The whole interior of the house was like this, having been enchanted with some sort of protection spell that kept it clean. The walls of the hallway we walked down was filled with picture frames, each one holding a different schematic that showed off the features of the concept homes that made up the main buildings of the settlement.

The biggest draw to this place was the fact that each of the houses had been fit with their own self sustaining spark reactors, and contained their own water tanks with integrated water talismans. Of course, when Tiger Lilly and her company moved in, they knew it was too good to pass up and advertised it as a safe haven for all the wandering traders and merchants the wasteland has. On any given day, you could find anything you wanted here, provided you had the caps and knew your way around the equestrian language.

We turned and entered into what had originally been designed as a home office, but had since become the mayors chambers. As soon as we walked in, Skyline got to her hooves and hugged me tightly. I could tell from her expression that she had noticed the bandages around my hoof, but she kept quiet as Tiger Lily sat down behind her desk.

“We have under an hour to prepare Futura’s defences from a large scale attack from Alicorns.” I spit it all out, watching as my words slowly sunk in. She smiled and let out a cackling laugh.

“AN HOUR?” Skyline yelled and jumped into the air, hovering as she drug her forehooves down her face. “How do you know?” Skyline’s sudden reaction cut Lily’s laughter off, her expression now more confused. She studied her over, looking for the telltale traces of a lie.

“Willow showed up and warned us.” I looked back across the desk, making sure she could see how serious we both were. “She’s acting as a diversion to buy us time. I know this is a lot to ask, but I need you to get everypony you have that can fight, get your big guns up, and get the others somewhere safe.”

Tiger Lily cupped her forehooves together as she sat back, contemplating for a moment before giving us an answer. “How do I know that this ‘Willow’ is giving accurate information?”

“Because she’s your Willow.” I sat down and shook my head softly. “Willow Wisp didn’t die, she became an alicorn.”

Lily turned almost as pale as Willow looked, leaning forward slowly. I could see the flood of emotions wash over her, ending as she sneered in rage. “Get out.” She pointed her hoof to the door. “I don’t know who you paid for that information, but you can’t bring up my past and assume I’ll do as you say.”

“Look at me when I say this. She. Sent. Me.” I braced myself against her desk. “You want proof? I only need one word.” She glared at me, leaning forward and slowly reaching her forehoof for the gun she had propped against the desk. “Mudd.”

Her hoof dropped, as she stared at me. “You… nopony know’s that name.” She collapsed back into her seat. “But… how do you know?”

“Look, Lily, I’m telling the truth. She’s an alicorn and she’s buying us an hour. She’s buying YOU an hour.” I relaxed as well, taking a step back to let it all soak in. “We need to get ready. How many can you get to fight with us?”

“What?” She sounded so lost in her thoughts. I wish I had more time to tell her, or better yet, have Willow come here with us, but we were running out of time. She shook her head and stood up, albeit shakily. “The guards out front are all I’ve got. You might find some ponies in the bar, but other then that, it’s just us.” She walked around her desk and to the door, motioning for use to go with her.

“What do you mean? You’ve got thirty plus ponies always on guard around here!” Skyline remarked as we trot out the door.

“Yes, normally. But ever since the raider and gang attacks have targeted Merchants, most have left for more stable, and less dangerous jobs. The ones who’ve stayed are the ones who had no other employment lined up.” She forcefully pushed open the door back to outside, looking around before spotting the gate guards lazing about in their hut. “Check out the Gilded Gecko, it’s your best bet for anypony you can get to fight.”

I nodded and spun around to go tell the others, but found myself smashing right into Carlotta’s chest. “Where you going? Bar’s over there.” She calmly remarked as I took a step back. “No time for you to blab to your marefriend, Longbow can handle the other tin cans. Let’s go.”

Not having the grounds to argue didn’t mean I didn’t want to, but I knew she was right. We need help more than I need to talk to Longbow. So off we walked, heading for the large, patchwork, sheet metal shack that sat next to the brothel. I don’t care who is in here, be it slavers, gangers, mercenaries, or hell, I’d take a few Detrot Deadmare if they happened to be in town. But, as per the norm, when I pushed open the door, I was severely disappointed that the universe decided to balance out 42 not taking my car with this.

There was a single drunk stallion sitting with his face down at the bar.

“Really. One? That’s all there is?” I shook my head as we approached him. “Guess you’ll have to do.” I knocked the beer he had his hoof on and waited for him to sit up. “Sober up quick, you’re hired.”

He curled his other, bandaged fetlock around a shotglass, shooting the brown liquid down before letting out a loud belch. “Hey, hold up just one minute, hot shot. I don’t know who you think you are, but I count for at LEAST another 5 and a half stallions, or only 3 mares if you want to measure it that way.” Thankfully he wasn’t as drunk as I had first assumed, but as he leaned closer, I could smell the thick stink of it on his reinforced leather coat. “That’s cause 3 is the most I could ever handle at once, if you know what I’m sayin!”

“Dear Celestia, just… shut up and come with me.” I used my hoof to attempt to waft away the stench, but I just found it much easier to take a step back.

“Nope, I ain’t budgin until we discuss terms of payment. And I only discuss payment when somepony else is buyin my drink.” He smiled at me with his eyes half lidded and tapped at the bar.

“You get paid if we survive, we can come to an arrangement then.” I stepped around him and slid the glass away, shooing off the bar pony who looked like he was just getting ready to close up. I looked over to him before he went back to the kitchen. “Hey, Barkeep. Lily wants to see you.” If he can fight, we need him as well, but Lily can deal with talking him into it.

The foul smelling merc groaned as he got up off his stool, closing his eyes and wobbling for a moment. “You are just no fun at all, you know that, mister?” He opened his eyes looked past me for a moment, the red form of Skyline reflected in his goggle lenses. “Just so you know, I’m flexible when it comes to… compensation.” He pushed past me, walking to her in what was about to be his biggest mistake of his night. “And hot stuff? Just so you know, I’m just plain as flexible as you want me to be.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, yet with the obviousness of a freight train, Carlotta stepped in. “Let’s test that theory.” She swept out a rear hoof from under him, grabbing his bandaged forehoof and twisting it around to his back, before pressing him against the table next to her. He struggled for a moment before Carlotta tweaked his hoof to elicit a whine from him. I’d have to remember never to piss her off that badly.

The merc laughed. “Oh! I love it when it’s ROUGH. Not normally one for Griff’s, but I guess you could spice things up.” His drunken words were hard to read, but he didn’t sound afraid of her in the least. “How bout we make it a threesome?”

Carlotta grabbed his mane with her talon and slammed his head against the table, a line of blood running from the end of his muzzle down to the old wooden table. “Carlotta, stop.” I ordered as she pulled his head back, answering my order by slamming him down again. “Carlotta, we need him. ALIVE, please.”

“I won’t kill him, Backlash. I’m just…” She slammed him down one last time before letting his mane go. “...teaching him his place. He’s just a waste of our time.” The blood matted the fur on his muzzle as he coughed a few times and slid to the floor in a heap.

He let out another laugh as he rose to his hooves, quick to recover. “Normally, I’d just say fuck you. But you know what, this job is going to cost you. BIG TIME.” He wiped his muzzle with his forehoof, turning the yellow stained wrappings around it crimson. “You want me to help you? You’ve got me, but I’m getting whatever I want at the end of the job.” He turned and gave Carlotta his biggest grin. “Even if it’s a night with your sexy pegasus friend. Do we have a deal?”

“Fine.” I growled out.

Carlotta grabbed me by my barding and pushed me back against the bar. “Backlash, what the FUCK are you doing?” She was furious, and rightly so. She know’s that I’d never sell out my own sister, but she was too angry right now to be rational. “You don’t get to give Skyline away.”

“And you don’t get to ignore my orders.” I barked back. “I asked you to stop. Not slam his face into a table, not to teach him a lesson.” She let go of me with nothing more of a grunt. “I’m the contract holder, so you get your FUCKING head on straight.” I turned to the asshole I had just hired, watching as his grin dropped to the floor. “You will not touch my fucking sister. Period. Anything else in the wasteland is your’s, but you keep your hooves off of my family.”

“Goddesses, I hate the dramatic ones.” He huffed and trot over to the entrance, kicking open a trunk and hoofing out a fairly pristine looking ISF-60 machine gun. The saddle he wore didn’t have a mounting for it, instead, it held four boxes of ammunition that ran to a feed shoot he hooked into the side of the gun. “So, what’s the job?”

“In forty five minutes, this place is going to become a warzone. The job only has two requirements.” I pushed past Carlotta, and steered my gaze away from Skyline as I walked up to him. “Kill alicorns, and don’t die.”

“This is my personal workshop. If you think you can throw something together in the next half hour, feel free to.” The basement to the House of tomorrow was a large, circular round area. In the center was several tables covered with assorted arcano-tech items. Most of the walls were a mix of parts lockers, storage bins, and workbenches, with the only clear section of it devoted to the houses Spark Reactor and Water tanks. “Don’t worry about using any parts you find, if you are sure it will help, then we need whatever advantage it will provide. I’m going to see if I can go get the main cannon working. The hydraulics take a bit to warm up, but she should shoot true.”

“Thanks again.” I followed her down, stopping as she flipped up a section of the carpet to reveal a pony sized floor safe. “What you got in there?” I averted my eyes as she hoofed the combination into the keypad, only turning back with I heard the screech the door gave as she pulled it open.

“Just some souvenirs I got from a Ministry bunker at the foot of Canterlot mountain.” She leaned into the safe, biting down on the straps to a battle saddle and dragging it out. The threat of the alicorns and the earlier encounter with 42 were gone as I glared at one of the weapons on it.

“THE HELL!” I shouted, startling Lily into dropping the saddle and go stumbling back into one of her work benches. I trot up and looked over the Shredder, remarking to myself on how I had thought it would be bigger. “I grabbed the plans for this thing when I was in the East Orchard. Goddesses it sure is something!”

“Yeah, MY something.” She pushed herself up and grabbed the saddle with her hoof. “Feel free to take ANY of the other weapons in here. This one is mine.” She unhooked a belt fed shotgun from the other side of the harness, dropping it to the floor. Pushing past me, she reached a hoof in and fumbled at a bright white bucket with a blue stripe along the rim. “Damnit, I can never get the handle.”

As she spun the bucket, I realized it had a handle just like the party cannon. “You’ve got to be shitting me.” I forcefully pushed her out of the way, knowing it was rude, but also knowing that she wouldn’t care. The familiar suction of it against my hoof was something that actually helped me relax a bit. I pulled it up as my EFS recognized it as the ‘Bass Cannon’.

“How did you do that?” Lily was entranced on my hoof, looking around it for how it worked.

“Because Pinkie Pie.” I replied, setting it down in front of her, looking into her eyes as they reflected a small amount of fear when she looked at me.

“You… you’re the one who opened the bunker in Manehatten?” She shook her head in disbelief “This is unbelievable. You’re the one that mare was after all along.” She pulled the cannon close to her, breaking eye contact and attaching it to her saddle. “I’ll… I’ll leave you be.” She slung the saddle onto her back and left promptly, leaving me listening to the hum of the reactor.

Even here, my failure to stop 42 has had an impact. It didn’t quite hit me how far it had gotten until she looked at me that way. I could tell 42’s wrath had cost her a lot. Not just in caps, but in friends. The traders that had been hunted down were my fault, and I’m sure that would alienate me for the rest of my life in the wasteland. But I deserved it.

I got to my hooves and looked over a few of the weapons on the wall, finally deciding to use one of the sleek looking ISF-128 miniguns. They were quite rare in the wasteland, being as they were the last model to come out before the end of the world. They utilized a high speed motor and low torque transmission to keep the 6 barrels turning at a blistering fast rate, but the issue with it was that it took 3 seconds to get up to speed.

Rushing through the 30 minutes we had, I removed three of the minigun’s barrels, and dropped the high speed motor in favor of a lighterweight slower one. I also changed up the gear ratio, adjusting it for higher torque to spin the new set up to it’s target RPM near instantly, though the extra draw meant I had to attach a spark battery to the motor, but it should last for the fight. Well, I hope it does.

With no time to test it, I secured my new rig to a battle saddle and strapped it to myself. I checked that the ammo can and feed belt were secure, biting down on the bit and texting the auxiliary trigger. The barrels spun up with the blink of my eye, whining so a stop as I released it. With no formal training, and no real combat experience for something like this, I was finally ready.

As I climbed the stairs, it hit me just how much this whole rig weighed. I hadn’t had an issue with holding still, but there was just no way I’d be able to maneuver very well out there. No wonder I only see the steel rangers with these things! I trot through the living room, glancing out the back porch window to see Frosted Cakes tinkering with the large cannon that Lily had mentioned. If it wasn’t running yet, we had a problem. As I hoofed open the sliding glass door and exited, I noticed that it was a standard 8.8 field gun with an auto fire enchantment on it, bringing back the thought of when I got my cutie mark.

“What seems to be the problem?” I asked abruptly, startling Frosty into banging her helmet on the underside of the gun. “Oh, sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.” I walked around the gun slowly, looking it over.

“It’s fine, I just can’t figure out why the damn jackscrew won’t depress the gun.” She kicked the gun with her forehoof, letting a sigh escape through the speaker.

“These models sometimes had a manual disconnect under the breech, try looking there.” I trot back up to the fuse box to just double check that she hadn’t missed a bad fuse instead. She scoot around under the end of the gun, running her hoof along it until there was a soft click. “There. Now we just need to fire it up!” I flipped the master circuit out of it’s lockout setting and into the on position, the gears in my head throwing out something I should have seen coming. Hell, I made this exact same mistake as when I got my cutie mark!

“No, wait!” Her warning was wasted when the auto-firing enchantment powered up with the locked breech, the cannon firing off it’s shell into the night sky with a thunderous crack. The recoil buffers stopped the gun from smashing Frosty’s head in, but the shell ejected out and slapped her instead. The dent in the side of her helmet told me it most likely hadn't caved her skull in, but I assumed she was out cold by the way she slumped and lay still.

And that’s when all hell broke loose.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to Kkat for giving us this amazing world that we too have been able to smash, destroy, and break! I'd like to thank Somber for keeping the story of Blackjack going (Almost done too!). I'd like to give a thank you to Mimezinga, why is that? Because: Puppeh. period. Many thanks to No_One, who without Hired being as awesome as she is, this story wouldn't exist! Thanks to Stonershy for breaking Tap, and keeping Rita a complete spaz. Thanks to John Colt, who has stuck Craft into every nook in my mind to keep me always guessing. So much love for Hetnu, who gave me the idea that earth ponies always hate how unfair cheater magic and cheater armor is. Thanks to Xjuan, who's kept me open to whole new ideas for FoE. Thanks to Sawyer, who's been great as my editor, and who without, this chapter would not have been posted! Thanks to Tinker, who'd Deadmare I loved enough to throw in a reference to, and finally Bad Pun, for their inspiration and support in the writing of this fic!

Oh, and to Regolit, Deathpony, and Retl, who are fantastic readers, and who I'm thankful too for their feedback.

Lastly, thanks to you, the reader. You've supported the characters in their journey so far, and with their story soon coming to a close, I just would like to remind you how much it means to me. You all are the best.