ED had arrived sometime in the middle of the day while we were all sleeping. She gave all the guards a scare, but thankfully Skyline had informed Lily about her sometime yesterday. Though, this made breakfast awkward, seeing as Notepad was throwing half thought out questions while he looked like he was about to pass out. Remind me never to ride inside ED, apparently it really does a number on you.

Most of us sat around a long, wooden table that stretched through the broken wall that used to separate two of the Multiplex’s living rooms, making for a sort of dining hall with a kitchen at both ends. Carlotta and Sky sat together at the end closest to Longbow, who was cooking up a storm in the kitchen under the room where we had slept. Notepad had taken a seat across from me, though, my gurgling stomach was distracting me from most of what he said.

“So, you just jumped off the burning roof without thinking?” He had his head propped up with a hoof, his heavy eyelids fought a losing war against the exhaustion he was in. He let out a yawn, causing him to lean to the side and flop out of his chair. I scoot my chair back a bit and leaned my head under the table, watching as Notepad didn’t get back up, instead giving out a soft snort before snoring.

“Well then! More for us!” Carlotta smiled and pulled Skyline close. The succulent smell of fried hay and oatmeal wafted through the air as Longbow cooked up what was about to be the most amazing breakfast I’ve ever wanted. She turned and gave me a smile, not even watching as her magic tossed a few pieces of Gecko steaks into a pan. I almost felt bad for using the exotic meat, seeing as it was impossible to get fresh steaks from the Las Pagus area, but Lily had insisted that we used anything we wanted in the pantry.

Longbow’s smile dropped slightly as she stared behind me, the odd thumping of heavy hooves making their way down the stairwell caught my ear as I turned around to look. Casserole was helping Fruit Cup along, propping him up as he got used to walking on only three legs. He gave us all a weak smile before wincing as he came to a stop.

“H...hey guys. What’s for breakfast?” He asked nervously, looking around and turning himself to try to hide his stump leg. I pushed my chair back and got to my hooves, taking a step back and gesturing for him to take it. “No… I couldn’t.”

“Fine, but can I ask you a quick question?” I knew it was awkward, but my curiosity had gotten the better of me. “Why did he take it off? Why not just use a Hydra on your leg?”

“He only had the one.” He looked at me for a moment giving me a weak, but sincere smile. “He figured that my injury was a survivable one, and that if somepony came in like you did who really needed it, then they should get it.” He looked to the floor in shame. “It’s… it’s fine. It was my own mistake going out in the open like that.”

“No, it wasn’t. We all fought our best out there, no exceptions.” Casserole patted Fruit Cup on the back and pulled him close. “Trust me, when we get back to HQ, all those scribes are going to want a piece of a brave stallion such as yourself.”

“I don’t think…” He started, his nervousness kicking in as he pulled away from Casserole a bit.

“You can get them, and you will. Fruit, we’ve been friends for quite a while, so listen when I tell you to shut up and get laid already.” Longbow chimed up behind me, already one step ahead of me as he snapped to attention. “Now sit your flank down and get ready for the best damn meal you’ve ever had, courtesy of Brass Tacks cooking lessons.” She turned back around and stirred the oatmeal with a spoon while opening a half rusted can of green beans.

“I don’t expect it to compare, but at the very least I’m sure he’d be happy with it nonetheless.” Maple shouted proudly as he entered through the open front door, Lily coming in close behind him. She looked like she hadn’t slept since we last spoke, but somehow still managed to pull off the look of a respectable business mare. “And Fruit, I want you out of that armor and getting some R&R before we leave. Doppler radioed ahead and Ol’ Doc Mercy’s got a prosthetic all ready for you. We’ll have you up and about again in no time.”

“That, and I took the liberty of finding that part you asked for.” Lily reached a hoof back into her saddlebags, drawing out an odd glass sphere attached to a pair of silver cylinders. She hoofed a switch on the back of it and the object was immediately filled with a prism of energy in the center, purple bolts flashed against the glass walls momentarily before she flicked the switch again and the light show died. “One working Hydrospark Magnetosphere Regulator Mark Two, as promised.”

“Thank you sir.” Fruit Cup’s mood had improved immensely over the last minute with the news. The gears in my head spun for a moment as that last observation made me realize that I hadn’t actually heard the news as of late. “And thank you ma’am. I appreciate what you’ve done for us. Though, where did you happen to find a working one? We’ve scoured Manehatten and Filly for one, but could never find one that hadn’t burned out.”

I froze for a moment, the gears in my head kicking into high speed as I worked through it. Twilight’s audiolog had just mentioned a regulator that burned out. But I’m sure that it’s not the same kind. There has to be plenty of different types of regulators about...

“You know, I got lucky and found that one three months ago sitting out west at a power substation next to Whinney.” The gears in my head came to a crunching halt as Lily’s words echoed in my head. “Damn thing was made to be extra durable than the normal model and the only other working one I know of is powering Friendship City’s old tidal generators.”

You’ve got to be shitting me.

“FUCK.” I shouted, turning and slamming my head against the table hard. “How could I have missed that!” Longbow’s magic enveloped my head as I went to drop it again, my outburst having caught them off guard. “That’s why she went there! Why she plans to fight at the bridge!”

“Backlash, what are you talking about?” Skyline’s voice was as usual, full of worry, but I picked up something else in it. Disbelief. Not the same kind of Disbelief as shaking off a lie, but like she couldn’t understand my words. I looked at her as I shook my head.

“The regulator, don’t you see, it runs the machine!” I laughed as my own words ran through my head. Of course they didn’t see, I’m the only one who heard the logs, no wonder I sound like a crazy stallion. “Just, hear me out. The machine they built to make 42, it’s run on a hydrospark regulator. The problem is that they would burn out when they used the machine, so Twilight commissioned an extra tough model to make sure that it could handle the process! If she gets her hooves on one, she can make as many copies as she wants!” Everypony turned to look at the regulator in Fruit Cup’s hoof, his own eyes trained on it as he sat there in thought.

The arcanotech globe exploded in a shower of sparks and glass as Carlotta’s service pistol smoked in her talon. “One down, one to go.” She blinked, realizing that all eyes had turned onto her. “What? Now that pink bitch can’t use it. I figure we go to Friendship City and smash the other one to bits as well.”

“One, a little warning would have been nice.” Fruit Cup dropped the now scrap metal device to the floor, putting his hoof down again to steady himself. “Two, that was supposed to power the piledriver to get our Rangers into the orchard.” He sighed, walking over to the chair I had previously offered. The gears in my head were working again, the near constant use of them today making me feel like I was back in the game again.

“Well, we can deal with it after breakfast.” Longbow’s magic opened a cupboard across the kitchen, floating out a stack of glistening white plates for us to eat off of. I knew that the gears in my head were getting close, pulling up information I had read somewhere about pre-war construction equipment.

“Well, what about…” I found my lips pulled taught by longbow’s magic, and my jaw locked in place as she looked over her shoulder at me with an annoyed look.

“No more talking about business until AFTER we eat. So everypony sit down and shut up.” Her words carried the voice of the Steel Ranger I had first met outside Sorbet’s bunker, and that made me shiver. We all did as she asked, finding places to sit as she divvied out the delicious smelling meal. I’m not sure you could have seen the whole group of us relax at once as we took in the smell, but from the chorus of our hungry stomachs, I’m completely sure you would have heard.

As Longbow took her seat, her magic faded from my muzzle, allowing me to salivate over the meal. I was about to dive right into it, my muzzle only inches away from some of the steaming green beans, when the unthinkable happened. The gears in my head found what I needed, and without even so much as waiting to see if my brain would allow it, forced the words from my muzzle.

“Alcohol engine!” I sat upright in my chair, gasping as I forced both of my forehooves against my muzzle. Longbow sighed and planted her face firmly into her food, sitting there as the others waited in the awkward silence only a moment before digging in. Longbow looked up from her plate, half of her oatmeal had stuck to her forehead, and she had a green bean in her nose as her eyes told me that she had just wanted this one moment of peace.

I gave her my best ‘I’m sorry’ smile and looked down at my food. As I leaned forward slowly to start eating, I felt a pressure of the back of my head push me forward, smashing my face into the plate of warm food. I sat up without another word, and licked a piece of the fried hay from the side of my mouth, savoring the flavor as the oatmeal on my face dripped down and back onto the plate.

“Yeah, I deserved that.” I smiled and laughed, finally getting down to eating the best damn meal I’ve tasted in a long, long time.

After we finished with breakfast I had spent time working on the marauder, trying to pry the rebar spears from it. The bright lights that beamed away the night did little to keep me from feeling like I was still being watched from the sky, but I really doubt that I’d ever lose that feeling after last night. I was happy to find that she had taken little in the way of permanent damage during the fight, only having cosmetically shredded most of the body, but unfortunately for me, one of the spears took out the drivers side rear tire. It would have been a simple fix, had my spare not ended up sitting chained to a statue outside of Reference Pointe. For now, I’ve just got wonderglue, assorted rubber scraps, and the prayer that it wouldn’t shred while we were going 80 down the road, to suffice.

“You know, I thought you were crazy.” Carlotta spoke up from right behind me, making me jump and hit my head on the sharp rips in the roof. I felt as a line of blood ran down my head, dripping onto the ripped and torn bench seat. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. Just Griffin instincts for hunting.” My blood sent up a little plume with each drop that hit the leather seats, telling me I should get out of the car before I do any more damage to it or me.

“It’s fine, I wasn’t exactly listening either. Got a lot on my mind.” For some reason, I had thought it would be a good idea to climb out the window than to open the door. Unsurprisingly, I misjudged my hoofing, slipped, and fell to the ground with a whump and a groan. “You were saying?” I rubbed my sore head, wincing as all I ended up doing was grinding the dirt on my hoof into the new cut.

“You’re obsession with this thing.” She gestured to the Marauder as I got up. “It’s actually turned out to be fairly useful, even though I didn’t think so, you turned out to be right.” My ear perked as her voice faltered, a note of Skyline’s worry coming through for a moment. I couldn’t help but smile at that. Here was this tough as nails talon merc, who despite her best efforts, has started to give in to her softer side. I caught her look at my smile, only making the serious look on her face deepen. “Backlash, you are my employer, and even though you have my talon contract, I’m done.”

I blinked in confusion. “Done? What, like you quit?” I pressed my hoof to my bleeding wound, trying to think of what Sky was going to say. If Carlotta quit, she’d have to go back to… where ever it is that she came from. “Did you at least tell Skyline?”

“She’s the reason I’m done. We’re too close, and I can’t let her get in the way of my obligations to the contract. I’m sorry.” Her eyes were drawn to ED as she came stomping around the perimeter of Futura, giving a light smirk of approval. “Besides, even with my help, you’ve got her to be your bodyguard and you still nearly get yourself killed. No, I need to focus on what’s important.”

“Then you are freed from your contract.” There wasn’t much more that I could say. I guess she had a point, and that if she thought she was no longer able to protect me to the best of her abilities, then it makes sense that she would want to seek a different contract. “So, I guess this is goodbye then.”

“Goodbye? The hell Backlash, I’m not fucking leaving.” She looked like I had offended her, puffing up her chest as she pointed to behind her. “Sky is the only one I’ve cared about since I left Van Hoover, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to leave her any time soon.”

Now I’m just straight up confused. “Then why cancel the contract?” I tried to think , but all I got in return was a headache. My guess is that the gears in my head are still a bit worn out from all the earlier use, because right now they aren’t helping me figure out anything. Carlotta took a step forward as anger flushed over her face.

“Because of that shit you pulled last night! You may have been right about the car being useful, but what you did is something I can’t stand behind.” She stepped up, prodding at my chest. Yeah, I agree that offering up my sister as a reward was something that I shouldn’t have even done, regardless that I had no intention of letting him touch her, but we were out of options. “I’m not going to sit there and take orders from you when you do that shit. She means too much to me to let that fucking happen, so, I quit.” She snorted as she leaned in, her piercing gaze locked on to mine.

“Look, I get it, it shouldn’t have happened. Nopony else here know’s this like I do, because this has all been my fault.” I prodded her with my bloody hoof, not even thinking about it until I saw her wince. “But if that’s how you feel, then you need to take her and go.” That comment made her blood boil. “I don’t fucking care if you’re under contract from me or not. I’m telling you, right now, that you need to take her away from me. You know I care about her as well, and she’s suffered enough.”

“You’re a fucking idiot, you know that?” Carlotta reached back and swung hard, connecting with my muzzle and sending me sprawling to the dirt. “You say that, but you know she’ll never leave you. She’d rather suffer and die for you, hell, I still would. But if you fucking hurt her like that again, if you so much as MENTION something like what you said in that bar, I promise that I will make sure that you will never speak another word again in your life.”

The front door to the house of tomorrow flopped forward comically from it’s hinges, Skyline looking slightly shocked as it slammed into the dirt. I got to my hooves slowly as she strolled out, stopping with a gasp as I dusted myself off.

“Backlash, you’re bleeding!” She rushed over, grabbing my head in her hooves and tugging it about, trying to get a better look at it. “What did you do, Carlotta?” Her voice had more than a note of annoyance to it.

“She didn’t do anything. I cut myself when working in the Marauder is all.” I spoke up, batting Sky’s hooves away. “Carlotta just came over to tell me she quit her contract to be with you, nothing more.” I eyed at Carlotta as she watched me closely, relaxing slightly as she figured I wasn’t going to bring anything back up. “Look, Sky, I’ve been thinking. With 42 waiting for us at the bridge, and the entirety of the Manehatten Steel Rangers as backup, why don’t you and Carlotta stay at Tenpony for a while and spend some time with Pallet.” I watched as Sky was about to answer, so I responded by putting my hoof up. “I don’t want to hear it. Besides, I’m sure Kontra will let you stay in the same room she lent us before.”

The two looked at each other for a moment, a look of sorrow appeared on Skyline’s muzzle. “Backlash, Kontra… she died a few days ago, while you were still unconscious. DJ Pon3 said that there were complications after the birth of their foal, and that she’s gone.” I sat down hard at the words, the gears in my head spinning as I remembered her fainting spell the first time we met, and the pain she was in after I broke in for Isaac.

“Oh, I see.” I had already hoped to make a stop at Tenpony on the way in to make sure DJ Pon3 tells everyone to stay away from the Bucklyn bridge, but now it’s just something I must do. “Well, even so, you should stay there. At least until the fighting is over.” I was surprised when Skyline dropped into a hug, holding me tightly.

“We aren’t going to sit back, you know that.” She pat me on the back and sighed. “No, I should have been there when this started, so I’m not going to stay back when you end it. We will do this, all of us together.”

Doppler burst through the doorway to the Multiplex, her bright yellow eyes looking around in a hurry before spotting us. I pushed Skyline off of me as the bristling antenna’s on her jiggled and whipped about as she galloped towards us. She skid to a stop a few feet away, panting and prancing on her hooves nervously.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop when I overheard you from my window, but I picked up a distress signal from Tenpony. The building is in lockdown and the DJ is calling for anypony in the area to assist against the attackers.” Doppler’s words were full of shame as she spoke. “I picked it up this afternoon but didn’t think it meant anything seeing as the regular radio programming hasn’t been interrupted.”

“What do you mean? He’s just calling for help between songs?” Skyline rubbed at the back of her head as she was just as confused as I was.

“No, the system in the tower is capable of broadcasting on several frequencies and bands at once. This is barely coming over only Steel Ranger channels this far out, which is really odd. I mean, why wouldn’t he call for help over the actual radio if they were in trouble?” She wheezed heavily as her shame poured through her helmet. “I had no idea you knew him, and so I just thought you’d want to know, please don’t hate me!” She let out a whine as she shrank to the ground.

“Hate you? I love you for having that extra equipment! I’m sure he knew we were with steel rangers, so he’s been trying to find us that way!” I shouted, looking back at the marauder. The other pieces of rebar would have to stay, even if it made the damn thing look like a beast of hell. Maybe the gangers will stay back if they see this thing barreling down the streets, and we can get there fast enough to keep 42 from breaking into the tower. “Go, get the others.” I pointed my hoof to the House of tomorrow, watching as she nodded and ran off. I turned to Sky and Carlotta with a smile. “We were going there anyway, but this is now a priority, so I feel like trying out a service only Ditzy Doo ever runs.”

“Oh?” Carlotta crossed her talons with a smirk. “I didn’t think she had any services that guarantee the personal injury of the courier. Or insure the destruction of the delivery vehicle, or...” Sky nudged Carlotta, who just rolled her eyes with a huff. “What’s the plan?”

“DJ Pon3 ordered a rescue? Why not settle for express overnight delivery?” I smiled and watched as both Skyline and Carlotta facehoofed (Yes, I get Carlotta can’t cause she has talons, and I feel very sorry for that disability.)

“Was… that a joke?” Carlotta smirked as she put her talon down. “Seriously, that was so painful it’s a wonder that I didn’t lose a leg to it.” Sky stifled a chuckle from that, drawing my glare. “Or hell, it’s a miracle that I’m still conscious. You are the most durable, yet least awake pony I’ve ever known.”

“Oh come on, that’s a low blow!” I groaned and held up my pipbuck. “I’ve only lost three, and this one is still my original!” Sky shook her head and headed towards the Multiplex, Carlotta following after a moment as she just shrugged and turned with a smile. “Get your shit together, we leave in thirty minutes!”

Due to the shoddy condition of the Marauder, and the fact that the patched tire was literally being held together with my hopes and dreams, I had taken it upon myself to drive the whole way. It had gone great for the first hour, crossing the dark wastes without little more than a sighting of life. But stupid me had forgotten that it had been over a month since the first frost, and tonight, the temperature here dipped way below freezing, and the next two hours was a stress test from hell.

If it was the one good thing about my barding was that it had been warm, but seeing as it lasted all of twenty four hours before it was destroyed, I was now freezing my flank off. The lack of a windshield had stripped the heat from my body bit by bit, and it was getting hard to focus. So I did the only thing I knew would help keep me thinking straight, and flipped on the radio.

“... other news is that Reports have been coming in that the trade hub of Futura has fallen under siege by those alicorn monstrosities that have been a bane on the wastes for years. Well, my little ponies, instead of turning tail and running like sensible folk, the good folk there decided to stick it to them and fought back. I can sense you’re all wondering whether you can cross Futura off you travel maps, but as it turns out, the fighting attracted the attention of our ever present eyes in the sky. That’s right, the pegasi enclave decided to show up and do some good for once, chasing off the attackers and saving the hub before disappearing back above the cloud cover. So if you are planning to make a run out there to do some trade, fear not, because Futura isn’t just a memory of the old world yet.”

There was a lot that DJ Pon3 needed to hear when we got back there, starting with the fact that Willow is going to hold off the goddess, and that 42 plans to make her final stand from the Bridge. I also need to ask if he can call in any big favors to Friendship City so we can take their hydrospark regulator and smash it to bits without too many repercussions. When this all started, he told me that the resources of the tower were at my disposal. Well, it’s time to see if I can use them.

“And it looks like we’ve got our first request of the night! The note here reads, ‘to my very special friend Backlash, can’t stand the thought of another night without you. With love, Scarlet Letter’.” Fuck you 42. I get it, you’re impatient. “Well, sounds like somepony needs to hurry back and give them a night to remember! Here’s a song just for you two, it’s Sweetie Bell with ‘We’ll meet again’.” I shut the radio off angrily, ignoring the groan that Frosted Cakes gave off as we went back to riding again in silence. 42 doesn’t need to remind me what I need to do, she just needs to sit still long enough when I get there for me to shoot her down.

With nothing but the whistling winds of the dark wasteland, and the thrumming of the engine to listen to, I felt like the cold got worse by the minute. After what seemed like forever, we had barely made it to the still burning remains of the pool before I was shivering so badly that I couldn’t steer anymore. The others agreed that if we didn’t get me warmed up soon, I probably wouldn’t even make it past Red Wing.

“Thank you.” I smiled up to Longbow weakly as my pipbuck clicked slowly, my muscles were relaxing more and more by the minute, and I expected us to get out of here soon. She had taken it upon herself to trot me to the remains of the Red Lantern to try to find a blanket amongst the ruins while a small balefire flame in an old barrel warmed me. Maybe if she couldn’t find anything, I could rest until warm, then we could just take a few to warm up at Red Wing. I could use the time there to inform them of the Ranger’s need to convert the Pile Driver’s engine to an alcohol one, so Pariah won’t be caught off guard. That and I should probably inform him of the rangers coming in the first place...

“I had hoped that something would have survived the blast, but I can’t even find a washcloth that’s not entirely burnt up.” Longbow sounded angry as she spoke, but fortunately it wasn’t directed at me. I thought about asking about it, but we need to focus on getting to Tenpony. “How the fuck can she live with herself.” The anger bled through as it looked like she would answer me on her own. “She can just walk through a Ranger base without issue, so what is she waiting for? Why all the theatrics?” It was a good point, but I already know the answer.

“It’s a game to her, it’s always been.” I pushed myself up, my muscles feeling nice and hot now. “And games are no fun to play unless you have somepony to beat. She wants me to try to win, even with how improbable it seems.” I could feel my stomach clench up as talking about it was bringing my rage to a boil. “But, I know I will win.”

“Don’t you fucking say that.” Longbow poked her head up over a charred pile of wood that used to be the roof. “Just because she see’s it as a game doesn’t mean it is. The moment you start treating it that way, you’ve already lost.” I blinked as the words of wisdom sunk in. She was right, the stakes were real here, not something I could just shrug away when everything was over. Why have I been pulled in so deep to start thinking that way? Was it because 42’s treated it this way all along? Or have I done it to try to convince myself that the repercussions of my choices have all been justified as long as I kill 42?

“You know, if you’re cold…” A raspy, unfamiliar voice called from around yet another pile of rubble a few rooms down. “I have this rug here that might work.” The green tinted light of a pipbuck shone under the fabric of a large cloth as a dark hoof waved it over the pile the stranger was behind. As the blanket shifted on their hoof, I could see it wasn’t a pipbuck, rather it was the glowing exposed leg muscles of a ghoul. The ragged glowing stallion in a torn up labcoat trot out from the remains of one of the other rooms in the hotel, pulling an rotten looking wood cart behind him that was filled with an assortment of items..

“Stop right there!” Longbow’s voice was calm and controlled as the autoloaders for her rifles whirred and clicked, but I knew she wouldn’t hesitate if the ghoul tried anything. Thankfully, the stallion did as she asked.

He sat down and raised his hooves in the air. “Okay, okay! I'm just trying to help.” He lowered the hoof holding the rug, holding it out toward me as he gave me a smile. His tone was genuine about helping us, and his expression (Well, what was left of his face) showed no attempt to deceive us. “You smooth coats can freeze if you want, but I was under the impression he needed it.”

“Thanks…” Longbow answered with a high amount of suspicion, levitating the stained cloth over to me. I quickly bit down on the corner, ignoring the moldy taste as I rolled myself over and wrapped it around my still shivering body. Longbow relaxed, lowering her weapons as she looked around for a moment. “What exactly are you doing here?”

“Really? A pony walking through a ruined wasteland with a cart full of junk and you're wondering what I'm doing here.” He let out a wheezing laugh that made me wonder if he was trying to force out a lung rather than express amusement. He turned his head to the rubble pile beside him and began hoofing through it. “I’m just doing the same as you all, trying to make a living off of the dead.”

“What do you want for it?” Longbow spoke up with a sigh, sounding like she had finally realized that he wasn’t really a threat. Her words perked his ears and drew his glowing gaze over, a confused look hung on his face.

“Want for what now?” He looked almost surprised at his own question. Maybe Longbow should be on edge, as this ghoul looked as if he could just lose his mind and go feral at any moment.

“For the blanket. I don’t have much, but I’m grateful.” She continued as I squinted my one eye at his coat. I could barely make out the image on it as the symbol for the Ministry of Arcane Sciences, wondering just where he found something like that. Maybe he’d been in another hub, or some other research facility.

“You can take it for free, consider it a gift from a friend.” He smiled and was about to turn around before he stopped himself, a (literaly) bright smile formed across his muzzle. “Funny story actually, a few years back, I met another glowing one quite a bit north from here, she kept going on and on about the importance of friendship. I didn’t think about it at the start, but it really helped me sort some things out when I was in a bad way. She encouraged me to help others in the name of friendship as payment, so that’s what I’ve been trying to do.”

He put his hoof on his chin and rubbed it, making the rotten skin around it stretch his gaping open sections of skin in a way that was just too gruesome to look away from. “Wait, was it few years back? Or was it a few from now? Everything gets so jumbled up in here, you know!” He laughed again, tapping his head before his wheezing devolved into a sharp set of hacks that cause him to spit out a black mass onto the dirt by Longbow. “Sorry about that, am I rambling? I'm rambling, aren't I?”

“If I may ask, where did you get the coat from?” As odd of a ghoul as he seemed to be, with the thought of freezing now out of my mind, my curiosity was killing me. “Are you from before the war?”

“Yessiree! Used to work at the Ministry of Arcane Sciences as an administrative assistant!” He straightened his stance, speaking proudly, his voice faltering at his title. “Well, I was going to be one, was just a young intern when the bombs fell.” He shook his head as his tone made it clear that he didn’t enjoy dwelling on the past. A smile returned as he nodded to us and turned around. “Good luck to the both of you! Remember what I was told to tell you, and that is that friendship is magic!”

And with that, he trotted around the corner of the Red Lantern and disappeared into the night.

“Now that I have a blanket, do you want to leave before…” I started, Longbow cutting me off before I could even finish.

“Before anypony weirder than him show’s up? Yeah.” She walked over as her horn flared, her magic picking me up and setting me on her back lightly. I was truly greatful for the help, and wanted to get his name so I could track him down later and properly thank him, but Tenpony was more important. “So, I guess that means I’m driving?”

I gave Longbow a smile, happy to be snug as a radbug in my rug, even if it made my coat itchy. As we left the town, and approached the bridge. I gave a small sigh and let my vision drop to the rocky road below me.

“Longbow, at the other end of the bridge… do you mind?” It was the last place I had seen Brass alive. I just wanted to say my last goodbye from the spot where his life ended. I didn’t have to look up to know Longbow gave a nod of understanding, trotting softly across the creaking, half burned beams of the bridge that marked the entrance to the graveyard that the pool had become.

She stopped just before where he had died, turning so I could look at the spot. It’s funny how quickly the wasteland can swallow a pony. Nothing remained in the spot where he fell, no trace of a stain, no sign that my best friend had ever even been here. I hated it. I wanted to build a monument about him, made of the sternest stuff I could find just to show the ponies in the decades to come that Brass Tacks had been one of the finest damn ponies to ever exist, and that the wasteland wasn’t going to just remove every sense of hope and innocence from it.

That’s what I wanted, but that was not what the wasteland was going to allow me to do. Maybe after I kill 42, I’ll come back and build it. He deserved more then he got, and he deserves to be known.

“Alright Longbow, lets go.” I muttered softly, closing my eyes and listening to the howling of the frigid winds. “We’ve still got a long night’s drive ahead of us.”

As we got back into the car and pulled back onto the road, I leaned against Longbow and gave a yawn. I did sleep all day, but I might as well get in a quick nap while we drove. I regret not taking one back at Ranger HQ, so why not take advantage of my free time at this moment? Before I closed my eyes, the gears in my head spun up, throwing out the idea of listening to the last audiolog on my pipbuck. I might as well, seeing as I still hadn’t switched the fuses back. So with a quick flinch, I slipped into S.A.T.S. and the world around me ground to a halt.

I selected the audiolog with my thoughts and played it, listening as it crackled softly before the voice of Twilight Sparkle came through it.

“Ministry of Arcane Sciences Chief Twilight Sparkle project log 32 - Project Golem final project status report.

With no data pointing to just what in the cloning process went wrong, too high of risk to the well being of the staff to attempt to repeat the experiment, and the trouble that subject 42 has given us, I am shuttering the project as of today. This log will contain my personal thoughts on the program for later reference.

I am disappointed that I could not help ease the burden of those fighting on the front lines with this project, but an idea that Fluttershy brought up the other day may have rendered this program obsolete altogether.

Part of me is glad to see that subject 42 destabilized as fast as she did. If this kind of mental degradation had taken longer to show up, then there is no telling what kind of disaster this project could have turned out to be. That said, I do have one final point of data to log. In attempting to recall subject 42 back into the mirror pond, my spell appeared to have no affect on her, leading me to believe that the magic in the process was so cohesive, that she simply cannot be broken down and sent back. I wouldn’t go so far as to call her a real pony, but she is definitely not a basic clone like the others.

Killing the subject would be a waste, as after the war I might like to revisit the project to devise just what went wrong, and if 42 can be rehabilitated then there is a hope she could become a productive member of pony society. I offered to Store her at the newly completed East Orchard, but Pinkie refused, telling me that she has a place in mind that will keep her locked away, but I am not sure what kind of place she has in mind. I’ll have to make sure she shows me next time I’m in manehatten with a schedual opening.

On a related note, subject 42’s last words before being sedated for transport was that she ‘would rise after the fall of equestria to raise an army to conquer the world’. As unlikely as it may seem, thousand year prophecies became a surprisingly bad problem for us all not too many years ago. For this reason, I am sealing the Mirror Pond inside of it’s transport containers, and then sealing those inside of a protective casing of quartz not unlike the ones to absorb any magical energy a control console might give off that would be harmful. This should assure that I am the only one to know of it’s location. It cannot fall into the wrong hooves under any circumstances.

For now, my next project is to help get Pinkie set up with her pinkie sense expansion idea. She and Zecora have brewed up what they say could be a mental function enhancing powder that they want me too take a look at. My next audiolog will be the start of that project.

Project Golem is now officially closed. End of final report.”

As the log ended with a click, I thought to cancel S.A.T.S., slowly returning back to real time. A few things in the log troubled me. The first was that she mentioned another pony had a program that was worse than this one, and that it was suggested by the one who the museums told me had thought up the megaspells in the first place.

Wait, or was it the megaspells that Twilight was talking about? I don’t know, nor do I care to get involved with anything else prewar from ANY of the ministries. One psychotic abomination was already one too many for my lifetime, no need to go awakening any more. The other thing that troubled me, was that I still had no idea where the pond was or how to destroy it.

I let out another yawn, shutting my eyes slowly as we cruised along the dark wastes. I just need to focus on killing 42, because once she’s dead, I can find the pool. But, before anything else tonight, I’m going to need a quick nap.

As most of my ideas the last month have been, falling asleep turned out to be a really bad idea. I awoke to the sound of gunshots pinging off the marauder before the engine over-revved and I was suddenly thrown airborne. I barely had enough time to register the sound of the Marauder rolling over and crashing before I slammed into the dirt, my warm rug twisted up tightly enough that it kept my legs from being broken as I rolled.

“Woo! That’s how you fucking kill some ponies!” I didn’t recognize the voices that filled my ear’s, but as I opened my eyes, I found myself staring at the east face of Tenpony, where the sun was brightening from the edge of the horizon. The heavy groan of my poor car as it was pushed over made me wonder if Skyline and the others were alright, but the immediate surge of gunfire that erupted from the crash made me glad that they had been wearing their cheater armor. Though, Carlotta hadn’t had any... Shit.

I groaned and got to my hooves, shaking my dizzyness off before feeling like somepony yanked my tail and pulled me to the ground. I panicked as I was dragged away from my rug and pulled up against the rusting hulk of a skycharriot.

“You moron. Don’t go standing up without a gun.” Carlotta’s voice was furious as she pulled my saddlebag open. “Here, take this, now kill them all.” She handed me one of the twins, taking the other for herself and trying to figure the best way to use it in her talons, before pulling herself up the wreck to fire a few shots over it. I bit down on the gun I was given and pushed myself up, spotting the group attacking us, and presumably had locked down Tenpony.

It was a fairly well known gang from the north end of manehatten, zebra supremacists who made anypony who wanted to join bleach their coat and have stripes permanently burned onto them. Funny thing, was that I had never seen an actual zebra in their ranks, that is until today.

“We do not get paid to die. You are zebra, you fight like zebra, and you get paid to win!” The zebra speaking moved like none I had seen before, effortlessly dodging every rocket, grenade round, and burst of fire the rangers laid down. If that’s an experienced zebra fighter, I’m glad I’ve never actually found myself in a fight with Xin! I ground around the bit of the gun in my muzzle, taking my time to try to get a shot lined up, finally pulling the trigger.

The hammer fell on an empty cylinder as I realized that I hadn’t reloaded it since the fight when we were leaving manehatten. As though some sort of divine pardon for my lack of ammo, the Zebra leader exploded into bloody ribbons, the gauss rounds that punched through him spread his bits onto the others around him. The sudden meat spray, and lack of continued speech, caused a few of his comrades to stop and look, consequently allowing the Rangers to mow through them. The fighting was over in another few seconds, as the last of the gangers who had any intelligence hit the dirt and threw their weapons down.

“Clear!” Maple shouted, strutting out from behind the crumpled form of my car. Now that I had a second to survey the scene, I could see just how many had been keeping the tower at bay, as there were at least fifty striped bodies around. I turned my gaze back to where the Marauder lay, wanting to feel angry that it had been totaled, but as Longbow dipped around the side and looked over to me, I couldn’t help but feel like nothing else mattered but her. I trotted over to her and threw my hooves around her in a tight hug. Maple cleared his throat as he trotted up to one of the surrendered zebra mares. Or, should I still call her a pony?

“Savages.” Maple’s voice was instantly filled with the pompous attitude he had lacked since leaving Ranger HQ. Frosted Cakes trotted over and stomped on the smg that lay next to another surrendering stallion. “Frosty, can you honestly believe that a pony could be so idiotic as to think they could take on a squad of civilized rangers and win?”

“No sir, but they can’t be all that stupid.” She trotted around to one of the other guns laying on the ground and smashed it with her hooves. “They surrendered, didn’t they?”

“I do believe you have a point…regardless, follow protocol and gather them all up. They can be overly violent with each other if they still want to fight.” He turned toward me and gripped at his helmet, taking it off and flashing a smile to me. “Oh, and if anyone gets pushy with you, just… you know... shoot them.”

“Shoot them, sir?” Frosted asked with a tone of heavy uncertainty. A tone I would have shared, seeing as that seemed to just contradict everything he just said. She huffed and rolled her eyes as the few survivors got the hint and huddled up. “I thought we were the civil ones.”

“Then shoot them politely.” He sighed and continued over, stopping as the screech of talons on metal made everypony shiver. “We’ve already given them much more mercy than they'd have given us.”

“Politely shooting gangers makes the difference between ‘civilized’ and not?” Skyline’s snarkiness was a warm welcome to my ears. Another gunfight finished, and my family was safe. Sky put her hooves to her cheeks and feigned shock. “I’ve been going about killing bad ponies wrong all these years, oh Luna forgive me!” Sky flopped back onto the rusted chariot behind her, looking back over it to where Carlotta was. Then she turned pale. “Suture, get over here NOW!” Skyline called out as she ducked behind the car we used for cover. Carlotta screamed out as the rest of us ran over, Skyline hoofing at Carlotta’s rear right leg, which was off center and twisted almost backwards. “Now for the other one. One… Two…”

“JUST FUCKING…!” Carlotta let out another scream as Skyline pulled her broken leg into alignment, the jutting piece of bone that stuck from her knee didn’t slip back in, instead shifting just enough to let a fresh line of blood pulse down into the dirt. Suture pushed past us, barking orders to Skyline, but I had stopped hearing things in the world around me. Which was odd, seeing as it wasn’t the only thing that had stopped. Why couldn’t I feel anything anymore?

I screamed out, pain washing over me in an instant as it had before when inside the orchard. Immediately, I lost focus on everything, able to do nothing other than feel like my body was being immolated slowly from the inside out. I had shrugged off the other injuries I’ve gotten recently because they weren’t that bad compared to what I felt as my body mutated. Hell, even having to remove my rear legs had been better than this, purely for the fact that I could pass out.

I clenched my eye shut, as even the tears coming from it felt like they were made of jagged glass. My legs had locked themselves, even as they burned, my mind had made sure I didn’t fall over, knowing that it would feel that much worse. An odd burning churned inside of me, feeling like the bubbling I had felt after being saved with the Hydra. My eye shot open as the feeling spiked against my chest, making my muscles spasm, pain exploding from my forelegs and making me drop down. The added pain didn’t take away from the bubbling moving up my throat, the pressure making me release a gurgling scream before I puked out gobs of half liquid, half coagulated blood.

As I lived through the hell that had engulfed my body, the one thing that gave me peace was the view of Longbow standing over me. But while my vision started to fade, and my body started to lose feeling, I couldn’t help but feel that it wasn’t fair. Everything had just started to go my way, and I couldn’t afford to die without having killed 42. At the very least, maybe I’ll wake up with a few of those superpowers P.I.N.K. had joked about, that is, if I woke up at all.

I opened my eyes slowly as I heard the dulled electronic humming of some piece of equipment nearby, the stinging pain of whatever the hell happened to me was now gone. The bright lights of Tenpony infirmary met my eyes and the pipbuck’s clock in my vision told me that it was 9 am. My good ear picked up the light scribbles of a pen on a clipboard as I tried to turn my head to see who it was. That was a bad idea, as the second I even turned my head to look, the world became a spinning light show of blurs and colors.

“Woah there Backlash, you need to stay down.” It was Dr. Fitz, which was odd, seeing as I thought he’d be out getting that supply cache I directed him too. “I told you to remember to keep taking rad away, but you just seem so determined to die by radiation poisoning, I don’t even know why I bother saving you anymore.” The world reoriented itself as he stepped up beside my bed, tightening the straps holding me down in place. “Actually, the only reason I agreed to it this time was because it seems like you’ve had another taint mutation. You’re the only case that I think anyones ever seen that’s survived two. Quite lucky to be alive at all if you ask me.”

“It didn’t feel like I was lucky while it was happening.” I could tell I was speaking with slurred words. I licked my lips for a moment, tasting the sharp tang of vodka on it, smirking as I realized that alcohol induced numbness was a great alternative to Med-X. “So, what happened this time? Did I get super powers?”

He sighed, his expression looked heavily forlorn. “Backlash, there’s no easy way to tell you this, but you have cancer.”

Ok, that’s… kind of scary. “Oh, I… I see. Well, you can treat it, right? I mean, some cancers are removable as well, right?” Yeah, but I just don’t have that kind of luck. I know it’s bad, it’s just a question of how bad. “Or is it one of the ones you don’t get better from?”

“Backlash, do you know what makes Hydra so effective? It flows through your bloodstream and stimulates growth of new cells around the traumatized area, a sort of localized cancer.” He shook his head, looking over the clipboard. “The problem is that the mutation used the hydra as it's fuel, amplifying the cell generating process wherever it sat. Since your entire body has been in such bad condition…” He gave me a moment to let that soak in.

“So I’m pretty much a dead stallion walking.” I sighed and closed my eyes. “Don’t sugar coat it, I know that I have a limited amount of time left.” I let out a chuckle and I thought to myself that this is what it’s come down to. “How long?”

“Six months with meds.” Fuck. “If I could get to that auto-doc you mentioned, I could guarantee at least a few years, but I know you have to go and stop that mare first. There's no sense in me telling you to stay here and rest when I know you'll just head out anyway. So go.” I could tell this was a whole lot harder for him to say than it has been for me to hear, and he honestly didn't believe that I'd make it. If I don’t stop 42, I get to live long enough to either have her kill me, or watch as she tears apart the wasteland. Or, I kill 42, and get to spend my last few months or years with my family and friends.

“Ahh, it not so bad then Doc.” I opened my eyes and smiled up to him. “I’m a tough customer, maybe I’ll just get over it.” That was the biggest joke of my life, I’m sure of it, but as he stifled a laugh through his sad eyes, I wasn’t so sure if I had told it to help him get through it, or if it was infact more for myself. “Do the others know?”

He shook his head. “I believe in doctor patient confidentiality, and why I’ve been casting this muting spell over us.” His horn dropped the flair I hadn’t noticed it was giving and the off tone of the walls returned to their normal, non-spell covered look. He gave me a pleading look. “The others should know of your condition, but if you don’t want them to know, then I won’t tell them.”

“Please keep this our secret for now, seeing as they’ve been through a lot throughout the last few days.” The doctor’s magic undid the straps as I spoke, allowing me to sit up before he raised the bed’s back to allow me to lay upright. “Just… do me a favor and get that auto-doc. I’ll hold on as long as it takes for you to save my flank yet again.” My words made him laugh, giving me a nod before turning his head toward the door. The sound of his magic unlatching it was shortly followed by a wave of ponies falling in, tumbling over each other as they had presumably been pressed together trying to eavesdrop.

“Hey guys.” I smiled as they picked themselves off the floor, hoping that any look of worry I had would be misconstrued due to my half burnt face, or the alcohol in my system. “How’s Carlotta?” Even the rangers were here, well, two were missing. Frosty and Fruit Cup were the only ones absent as everypony crowded around my bed while I dizzily looked over them.

“She’s doing alright.” Skyline’s voice sounded ragged and tired, her words were full of the kind of pain I wouldn’t even trade the mutations for. Even though she almost lost the only two she’s ever loved tonight, she still forced a smile and hugged me. “Once Suture set all her fractures, and stemmed the bleeding with some healing potions, he rigged her up in this crazy sling contraption. Said she’ll need to be there until he can either get some Hydra, or her bones heal naturally.”

“I’m sure she’ll want the hydra. Bones can take months to heal on their own.” Longbow spoke as she stepped up to the side of my bed, leaning in close and giving me a soft kiss on my forehead. “But, how are you? Doc said it was a taint mutation, but wasn’t sure what one it would be until he could ask you a few questions.”

“Looks like I’ve got more acid blood.” I chuckled, receiving an unamused look from her. “No, seriously! It’s like a roll of the die every time, and I guess I happened to get it again or something! So it’s extra strength now, please, don’t worry. I’m fine. Just, don’t even get near my blood.” And that was the biggest lie I’d ever tell anypony in my life. From the look on Sky’s face, only the hint of doubt was prevalent, but just to be sure, it’s time for me to change the subject. “Hey, where’s Frosty and Fruit Cup?”

That got a groan from Maple. “She thought she could get your car repaired a bit while you were getting checked over. Fruit is also trying to help, but I’m pretty sure even if he had his other forehoof, it’s still a lost cause.” He rolled his eyes and shook his head. Even though his words were truthful, he did have an approving tone to it. “That hunk of junk’s more liable to explode than help us further.”

“Hey, don’t talk about my baby like that.” I frowned and shakily raised my hoof to the door. “Okay, she won't be winning any ribbons for beauty, but she's still solid. A car like that? She'll take you wherever you need to go until the day you die.”

“Cause it's a deathtrap.” Skyline commented with a smirk and stepped back from the bed with an unassuming whistle. I groaned and shut my eyes, sitting for a moment before there was a knock at the door. I blinked and watched as the ponies before me separated, revealing DJ Pon3 standing there.

“Mind if I talk to Mr. Backlash alone?” His voice was soft, and full of both anger and profound sadness. Nopony said a word as they shuffled out of the room, Dr. Fitz shutting the door as he walked through it. His horn flared as his magic enveloped us in a bubble, most likely the same muffling spell that the Doc had. “First off, how bad is it? And don’t lie to me, I only want to hear the truth.”

“It’s bad. Doc says I’ve got six months.” I shook my head lightly, watching as that didn’t even phase him. “It won’t matter though.” That got his ears to perk a bit. “I’m sure you know about 42 by now. The thing is, I know what she’s after now.”

DJ Pon3 cocked an eyebrow. “Oh? And what would that be?” He sat down, levitating a cloth out and cleaning his glasses off. “I thought she was after the pond.”

“She still is, but she needs a mechanical component to run the cloning machine.” I tossed the blanket that was covering me off, pushing myself off the table and onto my hooves. Pain spiked through my extremities for a moment, the alcohol in my system had been burning off quick. “There’s only one working one left that I know of in the wasteland, and you’re not going to like where it is.”

“Let me guess, it’s here.” He smirked, shaking his head as he put the glasses back on.

“No, it’s worse. It’s under Friendship City.” My words made his coat go paler than it already was. I could tell that he was thinking of warning them, maybe planning on evacuating the population, but I couldn't let him. “I need you to do something for me, and it’s not going to be fun. First, I need you to contact Ditsy Doo however you can, and get her to come here with a skycart. Next, I need you to contact whatever pony is in charge over in Friendship city and inform them, politely if possible, that I need to smash their tidal generator to bits.”