“She’s one hell of a catch, Backlash.” Twain had a water bottle filled with snow pressed against the back of his head with his hoof, icing the large lump that adorned the back of his skull thanks to Longbow. “Some fine legs on her.”

“Watch it.” Skyline warned with a growl as Longbow’s magic plated the beans, cornmeal, and radhog bacon onto our plates. “The grease in the pan is still hot, so if you’re still feeling cold by the way, keep talking and I’ll make sure you’re nice and toasty.” As soon as the plate Longbow’s magic held touched down, I buried my muzzle in the steaming dish. “Wow Backlash, doesn’t that hurt?”

I quickly shook my head as I screamed internally from the pain of the near boiling grease on the roof of my muzzle. Normally I’d take my time, but my body was freezing, and I was damned hungry. The clock in my pipvision clicked over to noon, and I knew that we needed to get moving here as soon as we could. Skyline poured the grease into the empty beans can and set it aside for later, tossing the dirty pan into the sink with a clang before joining us at the table.

“Hey Twain, you were over at Tenpony, did you happen to see Carlotta at all?” Sky’s question was less casual than she offered, the tones of worry were painfully obvious in her voice. Even so, I’m curious if the Doc found any way to speed up the process of healing. I kept my ears perked as I slurped the last bit of corn off my plate.

Twain didn’t even stop eating to answer, apparently quite adept at speaking with a full muzzle. “Unfortunately yes, I spent quite a bit of time avoiding her actually. I try to never let myself get injured the same way twice, and my cheek still stings from where she hit me.” As he finished, Sky grit her teeth in anger, and while I wondered why, I could see plain as day that there was disappointment in her eyes.

“Sky?” Longbow spoke softly across the table. “Is everything alright?”

“It’s fine. Dr. Fitz had Ditzy bring him some hydra when she came back from Friendship city, and he offered Carlotta a choice.” Sky’s mood jumped from anger, to relief, to fear, before it returned to anger. “She knows what it’s done to you, Backlash, and I’d hoped that she would have chosen not to use it.” Sky got up and walked towards the door to the roof, stopping as she hoofed at the handle. “I just need a few minutes to think some things over. I’ll be ready to go when you are.” She disappeared through the door and the room dropped into an uneasy silence.

Twain let out a deep belch as he finished his meal, leaning back with a look of content across his muzzle. “So, Backlash, about that payment.”

“Yeah, just hold that thought.” I wiped my muzzle clean and took a step back from the table, turning and heading towards the third floor door. “Just give me a minute.” I hoofed the door open, not sure what I could say to Sky to help, but we can’t lose focus in a fight like the one coming. Stepping through the door and into the freezing mid morning air, I found Sky perched at the edge of the third floor, gazing off into the distance through the ruins. Among the toppled buildings and snow covered rubble heaps, the skyscrapers of Manehatten stood as monoliths to ponykind’s past. Among the ones that I could see from our vantage point, was the Ministry of Moral building tucked towards the rear, almost as if to hide, trying to downplay it’s role in the events of my life.

I sat down with her, just taking a moment to take everything in. “You know,” She started, sounding like she was off in her own world. “I’ve hated the last month. Everything seems to have gone wrong. We've seen so much suffering, we've nearly died and then we lost Brass… Carlotta’s made it all worth it to me.”

“I know.” I shrugged. “Throughout everything, the one good that came of it for me is Longbow.”

She nodded, but kept her gaze averted. “Carlotta though… I don’t know if she wants to settle down with me.” As she spoke, I could see the muscles around her muzzle tense as a great longing filled her eyes, a longing I haven’t seen since mother died. “She has... reservations about raising Pallet. I’ll let her tell you if she feels like talking about it, but I can tell how much the fights relieve her stress. I can feel it on her when we’re close. I can’t say for certain, but I think she opted to use the hydra for the enjoyment fighting gives her. She hasn’t been thinking of the consequences it might have.”

I didn’t think that one was going to be an issue. “Sky, you know Doc Fitz said my mutation…” Her sudden, piercing gaze made the words trail off from my muzzle. Her flames of anger I knew well but this look was much different.

“How many do you think she’s taken in her line of work? Where’s the reward in taking the risk in using just one?” Her muzzle trembled slightly as she spit out her words with such disdain and blind hatred. In that moment, I understood her look and smiled.

I let out a chuckle and reached out, putting my hoof around Sky. “The reward I would think is you.” Sky looked away as I spoke, her true motives having been revealed. “You know I would endure a thousand mutations for you all. Even if it meant that I needed to die to keep my family safe, I would choose that option in a heartbeat.” What I said was only half of what I thought, knowing that if it came down to it and I needed to sacrifice myself to stop 42, then it is not a choice rather just what must be done. I pulled her close and sighed. “Now come on, lets go see her. If you really want, you can fly on ahead if you want some privacy.”

“No.” Skyline’s decisive reply startled me as she whipped her head around. “I said no more splitting up, and not even seeing Carlotta early can override that.” She pulled herself away and strode across the snow covered roof. “That being said, it would be nice if I can get a few minutes alone with her once we arrive. I’m sure the time it will take for you to barter what little we have away will be good enough.” She took one last look back at me and gave the faintest hint of a smile. “Thank you though, your advice matters to me Backlash.” Her muzzle dropped back to a frown. “But I hope you know that you are wrong. You don’t have to suffer for us, not when we can be there to help share the burden.” With soft hoofsteps and a quick flutter of her wings, she dipped down the stairway and went back inside.

I was left sitting alone on the rooftop. I turned my gaze back to the Ministry tower while Sky’s words resonated through my thoughts. There has been so much suffering already, so much death brought about by my own hooves. Even with their strength, I’m afraid that the debt in souls I’d racked up would threaten to crush us all. The twenty eight from ponyville, the seven in whinney, and Harmony alone were too many when this whole adventure started. Add on the innocents that died when Bishop’s tower fell, Captain Tempest, the ones in the pool when it exploded, and… Brass.

No. I refuse to let anypony bear these burdens because they are mine and mine alone. I have to keep going and I have to keep fighting or their deaths will mean nothing. They must mean something, even if their death wasn’t worth whatever that meaning is, I have to give them my best and try to make up for the sins I’ve committed.

After scraping together every cap we could find, pulling our savings out of the safe, and packing everything we thought might be usefull into the Marauder, I was fairly certain we were ready. As we made our final preparations to go, I took a last look through the garage for anything we missed. I took the party cannon in my hooves and looked at it longingly, wishing it would work just one more time. I stuffed it into my saddle bag on the off chance it did work again, not wanting to leave anything whatsoever that could be helpful. Now, the bare shelves and strewn about junk was all that met my eyes, and I couldn’t help but want to apologize to the old man. I’d failed him, closing the caravan service because of the stupid decisions I’ve made. I wanted to believe he’d understand my reasons.

We all piled into the front seat of the Marauder, (even Skyline) and took off towards Tenpony. The snow that blanketed a thick layer across the city proved annoying to drive through, but the extra weight from our supplies gave us the traction we needed to keep up at a decent speed, pulling up to Tenpony after only an half hour of eventless driving. It seems that today, even the gangers around here knew where we were going, and didn’t wish to interfere with whatever fates waited ahead for us. As I pulled the Marauder close to the front of the building, the furious look of the building admissions mare caught my attention as she carefully made her way down the icy front steps.

“No, you can just take your misery and leave us be!” She shouted, trudging her way through the snow to us. I shut the Marauder off and stepped out with the others, doing my best to smile and avoid her gaze. “Every time you show up, something bad happens, so I refuse to let you into the tower.” As she spoke, I made my way around the back of the Marauder, hoofing open the door and pulling out the first box of components to sell. “Are you listening to me? You need to leave, NOW.”

Skyline groaned and turned towards the mare. “Look, we just need to trade some things, then we’ll leave.” She flared her wings out as Longbow levitated one of the boxes of electronic scraps onto her back.

“You will do no such thing!” The admissions mare stammered. I moved from being politely ignoring her, to just plain tuneing her out now, and walked through the snow towards the building, looking up to the two shivering door guards who seemed unsure as to what to do. “No, what are you doing!? Stop right there.” Her magic lifted the box off my back and dumped it to the ground, scattering the sensitive components that were probably now all ruined by contacting the snow. “Move another hoof and I’ll have you detained.”

I turned my gaze as I felt the need to beat the mare rise inside me, but looked back just fast enough to see Twain give her a strong left hook that connected to the side of her muzzle. She dropped into the snow like a sack of rotten potatoes, and lay there unmoving as the guards in front of me struggled to ready their weapons.

“Look, you don’t want to do that. You know who I am, correct?” I called out to them, forcing them to stop and think for a moment, the small nods I received came as a welcome sign that they knew what was at stake. “We meant what was said, we’re just going to do some trading and then we’ll be off. While we probably shouldn’t have hit the mare,” I eyed back to Twain, who froze with a nervous grin as he gathered a box of old toasters. “She’ll be fine as long as she’s moved inside and kept warm.”

The two guard ponies looked at each other, and after a moment, both came to the same conclusion and re-slung their weapons. They walked down the steps to gather the unconscious mare and took her inside. I felt Longbow put the top half of my tool chest across my back, the heavy weight of it not nearly as annoying as the fact that the metal was ice cold. She stepped up beside me with a loving smile that made my heart pound, and kept moving forward towards the doors. I returned her smile and followed, carefully making my way up the icy steps and towards the boarded up lobby doors.

Once inside, we walked through the halls toward the market when something unexpected happened. The busy halls of the merchant tower seemed to slow down and freeze in place as Longbow and I worked towards Tower Grociers, the normally loud market turned silent as everypony simply stopped and observed us, the few who spoke barely whispered. I wasn’t sure if it was out of fear, or out of respect, but they cleared a path for us.

“Preparing for war?” The voice that finally broke the silence was one I’d missed hearing the last day, the crowd around the stairs across the way parting wider than they had for us as Carlotta limped forward. I flashed her a smile and stopped so she could get to me while Longbow disappeared into the shop. “You better be, cause I’m itching to murder some assholes after having missed the bridge assault.”

The mention of the botched bridge attack wiped away the joy of seeing her again. “We’re gearing up for Red Wing. It’s 42’s last stand and I don’t plan on leaving until the ponies there are safe and she lies dead.” My words made Carlotta’s face light up and she actually looked like she was excited for it. “But,” That one word snapped her to complete attention. “If you aren’t at one hundred percent, I don’t want you there. I can’t afford to have you distracted by pain, anger, or anything else in this fight. More than ever, I need you to show the detachment you had when I met you.”

Carlotta sneered at that. “I’ve been fighting for a long time, Backlash, don’t tell me how to do my job.” She prodded me with a talon and took a step forward in a move to look more imposing. “As for being at one hundred percent ready, I’m a Thistledown. My family never lets an injury or ten get in the way of a job, not until it’s over. Give me a gun and point me at the Pink bitch, we’ll see who comes out on top.”

I just shook my head with a smile and put my hoof around her, pulling her into a hug she wasn’t expecting. “Thank you Carlotta, we can’t do this without you.” Her feathers bristled with my words before she ultimately relaxed and I let her go. “Skyline needs to talk to you. Please remember, whatever she says, it’s because we’re a family.” I looked up to her, seeing that her tough gaze had softened. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some bartering to do.”

I turned away from the only griffin I’ve ever respected, my mind now clear as I headed into the old world food market. The moment I stepped through the door, Longbow gave me a smile and trot past with a large, mesh bag of ammunition in tow that looked to be every bullet the store probably had in stock. As the door shut behind me, I approached the counter and gave a nod to the toolchest on my back. The shopkeeper was a younger unicorn I knew as Gold Bit, who just rolled his eyes at the prospect of losing any more caps today, but across his face sat the look of guilt and shame. For the life of me, I couldn’t exactly tell why.

“What do you need for it?” His horn glowed with a soft green as he lifted the heavy item effortlessly, setting it down behind the counter. His question threw me off, being so far from the start of a negotiation I had to take a moment to make sure he just asked me how much. “Look, everypony in the tower knows what you’re doing. We have families to look after, and we want to help, but we can’t go with you. So tell me what you need.”

“I assume you just sold us all your ammo, so next I need food.” He gave a quick nod and started pulling all of the cans on his shelves over, setting them one at a time into a large sack. “We need any food you can spare in case the survivors at Red Wing need it.” I watched as he finished filling the bag, leaving only a meager amount of food left on the shelves, a box of which caught my eye. I walked over and snatched it in my muzzle, setting it on the counter and imagining that a full box of fancy buck snack cakes might be a good last meal if it came down to it. “I’ll pay for these normally.” I hoofed through my saddle bag, drawing out the sack of caps I retrieved from our safe.

To my surprise, Gold Bit gave a chuckle and waved my caps away. “I thought you only liked the doughnuts from the bakery.”

“Heh, yeah.” For some reason, I felt nervous about buying a whole box of snack cakes for myself, and the fact that I was still overweight just hung in my mind making it worse. So what do I do? “They’re for my Special Somepony.” I blurted out and almost facehoofed. Yes, because lying to cover up for the fact you want something that tastes good before you potentially head off to your death makes all the sense in the world.

“Yeah.” He shook his head with a smile, the sarcasm oozing from his expression as it only served to make me feel ashamed at even trying to lie. Instead of just coming clean, I felt compelled to dig myself deeper. My actions reminded me of the bit of normalcy I had left behind months ago. It felt good to have what I could consider a normal transaction with somepony, one where I didn’t desperately need a certain supply, or have to barter for the safety of others. Even with how I felt right now, I embraced the shame at my simple lie, holding dearly onto the feeling of being normal again.

“She’s pregnant.” I gave an exasperated sigh, fighting to defend the lie I’d created. This only brought a wider smile to Gold Bits muzzle, and the guilty look he had when I stepped up here was gone completely.

“Uh huh.” He stifled another chuckle and I knew he saw through my thinly veiled attempt at a lie and was just enjoying himself now, seeing that I was doing the same.

“Bag it.” I rolled my eyes and looked toward the door with a smile slowly creeping across my own face.

“Big time.” He untied the sack and tossed the box in. “You know, Backlash, to be honest, Dad was really looking forward to you moving into the tower. He knew that you’d be a great rival of his if you had, and that you could drum up some much needed business around here.” His voice was taking a more serious tone, the sadness he reflected across his expression told me of his sincerity. “You’re a good stallion, Backlash, everypony here knows it even if they don’t have the will to say it. I can’t speak for the others, but I think we should be out helping. We’re just too afraid to lose what we’ve got. I envy how you can go out there, knowing that you might never come back.” He held his hoof out across the counter for me.

“Thanks, Gold. It means a lot to Sky and I to have praise like that.” I turned back and took his forehoof in my own and gave a firm shake. “Though, don’t be so sure that I won’t be moving in here. Even if I have to rebuild my business from the ground up, I will be back.” That got another smile from him, even if it was only a small one to match the hope in his apple green eyes. “You’ll get your rivalry, it just might take a few years to build back up.”

Days, months, years. I don’t know how long I have left if Dr. Fitz can’t get me the treatment he wants. As long as 42 falls, I will try to fight to hold on to life. The door to the shop shook open as Twain stood on the other side with the back half of the tool chest, straining under it’s weight as he looked to me pleadingly. Why the hell had he chosen to bring that in by himself over the toasters?

“A… little… help?” He groaned and offered a forced smile to Gold Bit, whose horn lit up and gently tilted it from his back and stood it on it’s wheels. With a sigh of relief, and a wipe of his brow, he flopped onto the floor as the magic wheeled it into the shop. “Thanks… it weighed a ton.” He caught his breath and stood up, nodding to me. “Everything’s out of the Marauder. We just need to bring it all in.”

“Whatever you need, Backlash, it’s yours. Take it.” Gold Bit gave a sigh. “Consider it a loan though. I expect you to hold up what you said about moving in here, and until then, just remember you owe me.” He had a bit of his normal eagerness back in his voice, and as he levitated the food over to me, I simply nodded and walked over to Twain.

“We need armor, weapons. Anything and everything that might be useful against 42.” The gears in my head snapped out a reminder, and I reflexively stuck my hoof back into my saddlebag. I drew out the odd gold rectangle I owed him. “Here, you’ve more than earned it.”

“Thanks.” Twain took it with a smile, staring at it for a moment before looking up to me. “I was wrong about you.” His words caught me off guard and I just sat and stared at him quizzically. “Back in Futura, I said you were no fun, and I was wrong. You’re more than just another uninteresting asshole, you know that?” He picked himself up off the floor, putting the gold object into his own bag. “After this is over, if you ever need a merc on your side? Call me first.”

“Thank you, Twain.” I gave him a pat on the shoulder and left the store, heading back out towards the Marauder. It took me a moment, but I noticed that the halls had cleared out, and that there wasn’t another pony in sight. Had they fled in shared fear of what the administrations mare said, or had we really made that much of an impact on them as Gold Bit had said?

Stepping outside again, Pallet jumped around in the snow and fluttered her wings about as Dr. Fitz waved to me from the Marauder. “Can we build a snow pony Mister Giggles!?” Pallet’s shrill voice made him cringe, but before he can answer, the tiny filly noticed I had come outside and was bounding towards me. “Hi there Uncle Backlash! Want to build a snow pony with me?”

“Uncle?” I scrunched up my muzzle at the notion.

“Yeah! Miss Carlotta told my aunt that she wanted Miss Sky to be my mom now!” Pallet’s face seemed to radiate unending joy as she stood in front of me beaming, but her eyes told me that as enthusiastic as she was, she still mourned her father. It was something that she would have to deal with as she grew up. At least she even get’s to become her own mare, and Sky was as good a choice as anypony to show her how to be strong. “So that makes you my Uncle!”

“So it does.” I ruffled her mane with my forehoof, pondering Carlotta’s decision when Sky made it sound like she was against it. Figuring I’d ask Sky and Carlotta about it later, I looked over to Dr. Fitz. “Enjoying the first snowfall?” I set the bag of food down, content to wait for the others here.

“Honestly, I am. This time of year always brings the best out in ponies, and the snowy months always have the fewest injuries.” He rubbed the back of his head with a smile. “Though, little fillies who catch colds playing in the snow are always an issue.” He sent a playful glare to Pallet, who fired back by sticking her tongue out at him. “I wanted to give you this, Backlash. Carlotta kept going on and on about how all the most ‘badass’ griffins in her family have lost at least one eye and wear an eyepatch. She wouldn’t stop complaining until I gave you one.” He floated a small trapezoid shaped, plastic eye cover with leather straps on to my head, securing it with a buckle.

“How’s it look?” I reached up and hoofed at it, feeling the strange new addition as the hard edges rubbed against my skin. “And why is it plastic? I thought they were always made of cloth?”

“The plastic should keep you from poking at the socket when your depth perception sticks you with the sharp end of something.” He shrugged. “As for how you look, I can’t really say. I’m a doctor, not a fashionista.”

“You look like a pirate!” Pallet screeched, forcing a cringe and shudder from Doc and I. “Just like the books your friend let me read! Mr. Dipstick told me that you found them for him a long time ago, and that I should read as much as possible to get smart!”

“Incoming!” Carlotta’s voice filled the air shortly before a pair of snowballs exploded against the side of my face, sending me to the ground. Pallet screamed in delight as she was showered with powder from the griffin attack, the shock of the whole event going right over her head. As I recovered, I watched as Skyline swooped down next to me with a content look on her face.

“Sorry if we caught you by surprise.” She spoke with a blush to Dr. Fitz, who just sighed and shrugged, mumbling to himself that we’re all crazy for wanting to stay out in the cold before he trudged toward the doors. He stopped as I got up and shook myself off, turning with a wave.

“Take care to come back in one piece Backlash.” He called out to me, competing with the frantic screams and laughs of the snowmageddon going on behind me. “And for once, I hope to see you back here soon.” Continuing up the steps, he opened the doors and disappeared back into the tower.

Sky looked around nervously as I turned around. “Backlash, about Pallet…” She bit her lower lip as she paused, hesitating and looking conflicted. Mercifully for her, the worry of telling me was misplaced thanks to Carlotta.

“You’ll be a great mother.” I reached out and pulled her into a stiff hug that caught her by surprise. “Both you and Carlotta will raise her to be an amazing mare, I’m sure of it.” Skyline relaxed in my hold, rubbing my good backside softly.

“Thank you.” She sniffled and wrapped her wings around me. It had been a long journey for all of us, and I’m not sure that there was anypony it had affected more than Skyline. In that time, she had transformed from the sister who thought we only needed to be tough to protect me, into a pony who wanted to care for those she called her family over anything else. My moment of reflection was broken when a snowball smacked Skyline’s wing, and pallet let out a small eep before hiding behind Carlotta. Sky smiled and took a step back as I knew what started to run through her head.

“Skyline, dear sister. What do you say we show these ruffians what our family is made of?” I spoke loudly, keeping my eyes focused on the little filly giggling behind Carlotta’s legs. But the response I got, was not one I had been prepared for as a snowball exploded on my muzzle. I looked over in outrage at Sky, who crossed her forehooves and stuck her tongue out at me as she floated over to the two others. “So that’s how it’s going to be, is it? Three against one? I’ll take those odds.”

Carlotta smirked and used her cheater talons to quickly form a snowball, hoisting it up and tossing at me with a ferocity I knew she normally reserved for combat. I flinched as it came at me, but was surprised to see it slow down as an aura enveloped it. Carlotta’s smirk dropped into a grimace.

“Shame on you Carlotta.” Longbow used her magic to propel it back at her, the snowball splatting against her chest as she didn’t even try to dodge. “At least make it a fair fight.” Both the love of my life and Twain stepped up to my side, the both of them dropping their bags next to the bag of food I had set down. Longbow glanced quickly to Twain and I with a sinister grin on her muzzle. “Let’s make this quick, boys, and then we’ll hit the road.”

Then started the most brutal of snowball fights the likes of the wasteland would never see again.

I admit, having a snowball fight shortly before you are supposed to spend the next eight hours driving through the freezing air was probably not a smart idea. We all had the blankets that Twain had picked up from Gold Bit wrapped snuggly around us so we didn’t freeze solid as the Marauder struggled to find traction on the road out of the city. Turns out, all the added weight from the supplies we sold was the only reason we had gotten there so fast. At this rate, I’m not even sure if the Marauder could get us to Red Wing by tomorrow night!

The first hour out of the city we moved at a snails pace, the pipbuck map saying we had made it only twenty miles, and as I looked across the open plain before us, a menacing wall of white blotted out the road a few miles up. It was a tremendous storm sweeping across the land, stretching wide enough that I bet it encompassed the entirety of the range around Foal mountain. What if we didn’t make it in time? What if the storm slowed us enough to where we couldn’t get there before 42’s deadline? What if that’s exactly what she planned?

We had to try, and even though I could practically feel the apprehension off the others as the white wall approached us, even I was starting to have second thoughts. Maybe we should just head back to Tenpony and have Ditzy fly us in. She could just take us over the top, right? The wind picked up quickly into a dull roar, swirling like an enormous cyclone that I could feel start to drag us closer, lifting the Marauder just enough so we lost all traction. We were left only to brace ourselves against the brunt of the storm as it slammed into us, giving the Marauder a jolt and slamming my head forwards against the steering wheel as the car shifted back and felt like it had been hit by a skybus. I wasn’t sure if it was just the suddenness of the storm, the pain and ringing sound in my head, or the fact that my one good eye might not be working right, but it got dark outside as we were now past the outer wall.

When the shock of the front wore off, I had to squint just to make out the others in the car. Longbow’s horn glowed softly, giving me a point to focus on as I shivered from the cold, trying to burrow myself further into the blanket. The one piece of good news that I had, was that with the winds pushing down on us, I could feel the wheels grip through the powdery snow. I hit the pedal and started up again, using the compass in my augmented vision to guide us forward.

The snow and wind were getting worse the farther we traveled, becoming bad enough that even with traction, I had to slow to a crawl just so I could avoid simple things like boulders and dead trees. I have never seen a storm this bad in my life, and given the choice, would have probably chosen to take my chances in Canterlot for the goddess than to have willfully driven into this storm. The moans and howls that came through the broken windshield sent it’s own brand of shivers up my spine, and I thought that some monstrosity would most certainly come charging through the blinding white at us.

My pipbuck blinked for a moment, and I thought it might have gone out again, but instead now displayed a small triangle just to the west of us on it. As the cold cut through even the blanket I was wearing, I was beginning to worry that not only would the pipbuck die before we got there, but so would we. As if it were a gift from a divine force of mercy, the front of us started to clear, and the light of day once again brightened the flurry of snow that whipped around before us.

With a jolt, we passed through the inner wall of the spinning storm, the form of the mountains rising sharply to the west of us had me confused. No, this was all wrong, the pipbuck confirmed that we had been following the road west the entire time. There is no way we should have come up alongside the mountains this quickly. As I stuck my head out the window and looked up at them, I realized something. The storm formed an enormous dome overhead that had been spinning in a clockwise fashion as we drove through it. If the winds were strong enough, maybe we had been swept into traveling diagonally by the strong winds.

The peak of the storm dome wrapped around the midsection of Foal mountain, and immediately I knew that 42 had to be causing it. Somehow, she had made this storm happen, and whatever thing she was using to make it was on my list of things to break right after I destroy the cloning machine. The thought that anything like this could even be made by ponies hurt my brain. Even the gears in my head refused to work at figuring it out, instead shoving the idea into my mind that I needed to figure out just where we were. I unbundled myself as the wind died down, pulling out my pipbuck and looking at the map. Once again, I was surprised to see where we were. It was only another ten minutes drive to the old gas station we used as a rest stop, which meant that somehow the storm had pulled us nearly ten miles in the short time we were stuck inside it.

“B...Backlash,” Longbow shivered and leaned over. “We n...need warmth.” I looked back to the others, who were shaking just as badly as her and huddleing close together.

“Don’t worry, the gas station is just a few minutes away. We can huddle up there and build a fire.” I gave a smile as I did my best to wrap myself up again, stepping on the pedal and getting us to roll forward. The gears in my head clicked together and gave me an idea that might help them cope with the cold for the short trip, using the hoof I had on the steering wheel to flick on the radio.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts.” It was the voice of DJ Pon3 that came through the speakers, and as unexpected as it was to hear, everypony turned their ears to listen intently. “This afternoon I’d like to talk to you about something a little different instead of the news. Over the last month and a half, I’ve told you about the exploits and good deeds of the wasteland crusaders. Well I’m here this afternoon to tell you that the Pink Mare has issued an ultimatum for them, to either give her what she wants at the town of Red Wing, or join the battle for the town, and fight her to the death.”

“As this broadcast goes out to you, I know that some of you have family members who have chosen to help out those in the embattled town. Some of you have stood up against the oppression and injustices in the wasteland and have been given the will to fight for it to be a better place. I am here to tell you that at this moment, our very own crusaders are out there heading for Red Wing. They are willing to stand next to everypony else and fight for what they believe is right, asking for nothing in return except a safer wasteland. Now I ask you, my children; if a simple merchant can cast aside his own needs to bring us the hope of a better life, even at the costs he’s endured, do we not owe it to be better ponies? Do we not honor the sacrifice the few make by committing ourselves to live by the example they have set?”

“And though we may never see anypony like them again in our lifetime , as citizens of the wasteland community, I ask you to remember those ponies who fight for you. To the crusaders themselves, should they be listening, I wish you good luck, we’re all counting on you.”

“T...that was... nice.” Longbow shivered as the soft tunes of the normal radio music filled the air, the trail that lead up to the abandoned gas station was so buried in snow that I almost missed it. I swung the Marauder around towards the hill and realized that I wasn’t even sure if she would make it up without any weight on the back. I shifted the car into park and turned myself to look at the others.

“Alright everypony, we don’t have enough weight on the back tires to get enough traction required to climb that hill. Sky’s the lightest of us all, so I need us all to get on the back frame of the Marauder while she drives it up.” As a wave of groans and grumbles came from them, I cast off the blanket I was wearing and pushed myself out the driver side window.
As was becoming the norm, I slipped on it and tumbled muzzle first into the snow, stifling a scream as my burned half flopped into the waste deep snow. Instantly my body began to violently shiver, making it hard to pick myself up from the ground, and even harder to walk to the back of the Marauder.

“S… should have w...worn more.” Twain remarked through chattering teeth as he looked at the exposed metal we had to stand on. “W… where do we h...hold on to?” He looked up to me and gave me a look that I read as being concerned, but it was hard to tell seeing as every muscle on him was twitching and shaking.

“J...just pin y...yours...self somewhere.” I didn’t exactly plan to install hoofholds on the car in the event that the trunk was ripped off by some psychotic prewar mare, so I was at a loss as well. The only reason the rangers could stand back here is because their armor has the weight to it to not shift around so much, and the rubber tips on their legs kept them from sliding easily.

Another thirty seconds is all it takes for us to cram ourselves as tightly as we can on the steel beams. Myself at the bottom of the pile pressed up against the frozen metal of the car, sitting only inches away from the snowy ground. My hooves hooked as best as they can be around the frame, while the others use me as a baseboard to stand on, which I would say is uncomfortable, but the heat they were radiating onto my back was simply divine. I heard a couple of bangs come from the car as Carlotta tapped the roof, signaling Sky to go. As the wheels started to turn, I prayed to Luna that this would work, and that Sky wouldn’t steer us all into a tree or something. Walking the rest of the way to Red Wing in this cold was not something we had prepared for.

The engine roared out and pulled the Marauder. We picked up speed quickly, the extra weight giving the car enough grip to get going at a good clip when we came up on the hill. As we shifted angles, the others pressed into me and did their best not to be thrown back. The snow under us skimmed past as we climbed, the hill gently leveling out the further we went up, eventually reaching a point to where Sky thought we would be good to get back in. She stopped the car and put it into park, letting the engine idle as the others piled off me. I gave out a grunt and pushed against the frame to stand, but my chest wouldn’t budge. I looked down and saw that the slightly bloody bandages around my chest had frozen to the frame, each tug bringing a sharp pain spike from my chest.

“B...Backlash, get in!” Longbow called out from inside, her voice only driving me to tug harder. A whine escaped my muzzle when one of the tugs brought a ripping sound to my ears as part of the bandage gave way. In a classicly stupid move, I decided that this predicament was best solved like an adhesive bandage, and worked out better if you just ripped it off all at once. So in bracing myself for the pain, I maneuvered my legs to push myself and tear free from the car. 42 already ripped an oxygen tank from my chest, how much more could this hurt?

I stiffened up and pushed with all my might, an immense tearing sound filling my ears as the gears in my head reminded me that I had at least been unconscious for the tank. This was a whole lot worse than a bandage. Flopping back into the snow, I let out a scream and grit my teeth wishing that I could be numb for once. I writhed and coughed as the snow around me melted from the heat of my body the water mixing with my blood and sending foul smelling wisps of smoke up.

I felt a pressure around my hind legs and was quickly drug from where I was, the warm blanket I had used in the car was draped over me as Carlotta and Longbow quickly wiped me down and wrapped me in it, holding their breath to avoid the smell. I let them help me as the world spun. I felt myself get picked up, quickly traveling through the air before the off color of the marauder filled my vision, and I felt the softness of the seat underneath me. I groaned as the pain in my chest burned like a wildfire, and I felt the wetness of my blood seeping into the blanket.

As my head righted itself again slowly, the concerned face of Longbow sat peering over me, her caring eyes quenching the flames on my chest, and bringing a smile to my muzzle. Then as the shock of the event passed, the cold hit me all at once and I began to shiver again. Skyline moved behind Longbow, propping herself on the dashboard as she squinted out the front.

“Somepony h...has a fire up ahead, m...maybe a ha… half mile or s...so.” She pointed her shaking hoof and I did my best to wiggle myself up to see where she was pointing, finally righting myself with the help of Longbow’s magic. Even with my one good eye and the dark storm swirling overhead, I could see the dark smoke rising into the sky that was the telltale sign of a bonfire. With a renewed interest, I turned myself on the seat so that I could steer again, shifting us into drive and stepping on the pedal to creep us forward.

We wound around the small split in the forest that the road was on, following it for two minutes or so until I could clearly see that the fire was in the clearing in front of the station. A dozen or so shapes moved around in the light, quickly shifting back and forth the closer we got. Friend or foe, it didn’t matter. 42 needed me alive so if they were her goons, they couldn’t hurt me, and on the off chance they were friendly, they could help us get warm. The only issue would be if they were raiders but at least that would be one hell of an interesting fight.

As we rolled closer, the ponies ahead stopped moving, taking up defensive positions around the fire. We came around the final bend and I spotted a pair of armored ponies standing directly in our way up ahead. The shine of the plastic masks they wore filled me with relief, at least we wouldn’t have to fight. The I tried to think quickly,reminding me that we only were safe as long as they knew or believed us to be the ones 42 wanted, and with a dozen ponies each training a gun on us, that was one hell of a point I needed to clarify first. I pulled up and stopped ten feet from the pair, who had their battle saddles trained on us and seemed hesitant to make the first move. The one on the right took a step back as we sat there. I shut the car off and cleared my throat to tell them not to attack, but I was cut off by someone I didn’t expect.

“Take what you want, I ain’t with these ponies.” Twain spoke up from the back as he raised his hooves in the air, slowly drawing all of our looks in disbelief. “What? I didn’t plan on dying today.”

“Then you should have stayed back when you had the chance.” I grumbled and turned back, watching as the two in front of us exchanged glances. “We’re the Crusaders, 42 wants us to arrive alive, so I suggest that you put down your weapons and let us warm up at the fire.”

“Oh, right.” Twain blurted out again, leaning forward as he raised his voice. “In that case, I am with these ponies.” His quick move for redemption made me sigh and facehoof. He’s a hell of a fighter, but dear Celestia was he just annoying to be around at any other time.

The lead pony stiffened at the news, looking back to the other, who simply shrugged. The one in front whistled and looked around as nearly a dozen more shapes rose from behind the fallen trees and various boulders out here. We had been surrounded and I hadn’t even known it. The lead pony lifted his mask off with a smile and pointed his hoof at me.

“You all are really the crusaders? The same Crusaders the DJ is always talking about?” He sounded far too excited to see us, and I was starting to wonder if 42 had put a bonus out for whoever brings us back to her. I simply nodded and stared at him quizzically as his smile widened. “Come then and get yourselves warmed up, we were just about to start dinner.” The overexcited stallion walked up to my window and held his hoof out. “My name is Railspike. Welcome to the resistance.”

We hadn't asked any questions about what this group was doing out here, choosing instead to wait until we had warmed up a bit before figuring that all out. In that time, Railspike, who seemed to be in charge around here, had a pair of mares treat and rebind my chest up while he stirred a large pot of fairly good smelling soup.

“So, Railspike.” I broke the silence first, immediately drawing his attention. “Why are you all out here? Are you refugies of Red Wing?” I hadn’t seen any of these ponies in the standoff I had with Pariah, but I know that not everypony in town had gathered to stop us then. Railspike shook his head slowly.

“No, a few days ago we heard a rumor back home that the crusader was probably going to help out with Red Wing, seeing as you’ve been ending up where there’s been trouble recently. So quite a few of us decided to go fight with you against the ones seigeing the town. I didn’t expected you to show up so quickly, but I see now why you can get around so fast.” He pointed a hoof to the Marauder with a smirk. “Last news I heard of you, were on your way to fight the pink mare in Manehatten. Did you kill her finally?”

His words sank into me like knives, even if he didn’t mean it. “No,” I looked towards the fire as my mind replayed the moments on the bridge, ending as I remember the scared look in Skyline’s eyes as I fell away from her. “She’s in Red Wing now.”

This drew a laugh from him, shattering my train of thought. “Well damn. I had caps riding on the fact that you’d kick her ass.” The sheer astonishment that ponies could think that this was a sport they could watch from the sidelines infuriated me, but at the same time, wasn’t it me who thought of it as 42’s game? “Guess I’ll just have to do all I can to make sure you win that fight then.” I looked back to him as he nodded to himself, glaring into the fire as I had been.

“Where are you all from then? Why are you risking your lives to fight?” Longbow spoke up from beside me, pulling Rail’s attention to her. He looked her over in a way that made me jealous, but it was not lust that was on his expression, but admiration.

“Me and the others, we lived out in Filly as part of a downtown scavenger group. I’ve kinda been promoted to the head of the settlement, and this lot are all the most courageous and loyal ponies I know. We know everything about each other, and they knew my mother lived out in Whinney.” He paused for a moment as sorrow flushed across his face, and the gears in my head started to spin. I lifted my pipbuck and flipped the S.A.T.S. fuse to the administrative socket, flipping to the notes page to pull up the one Brass had brought to me. “I hear that you tried to save them, thank you for having the courage to try when nopony else would.”

I stammered at the thought of what he had gone through. “She... left you a note.” I held the pipbuck up so he could see it, his weary eyes softening as he pulled it close and read it. He smiled and let out a sniffle before slowly pushing my hoof away.

“Thank you.” He wiped the tears from his eyes and looked back to the fire. “I don’t have the money she promised, but I can fight for you that much harder with a clearer mind.”

“As a voice of reason, I would like to point out that what awaits your group at Red Wing is an army.” Carlotta called out from across the fire. “And you will most likely be heading for your deaths if you continue with us. No offense, but twenty five ponies with barely any equipment to their name won’t be enough to make a difference, no matter how hard you fight.”

Railspike let out a quick laugh. “Why do you think we have the masks? We had planned on being let in and then striking them when they least expected it.” He had a hitch in his voice when he said that, as if he didn’t believe his own words. “The problem is you are right. We are so under equipped, there was a strong chance they would know it was a rouse and just kill us all on sight. But each one of us were ready to take that chance.” He looked at me with a renewed look of hope. “But with your arrival, there’s no way they’ll be looking too closely at us!”

“Wait, that’s your plan? It’s to just hoof us over to them?” Skyline poked her head around the fire. “How the hell do you trust that you won’t find some way to screw us over?”

Railspike sat and rubbed at his mane. “How could we? I mean, if you showed up on your own, you’d just be escorted in, not to mention he said the pink mare was expecting you all anyway. Why not go in with us and at least have some backup if things do end up going sideways?”

It still didn’t make sense to me! “But… why? Why risk yourselves in a fight you had no part in creating?” At this, he dropped his brow and rubbed at his chin.

“You know my reason, but I can only speak for myself. A lot of ponies been following what you’ve done and decided that if the wastes were to be made safe again, we were going to have to work together to help clear that pink trash from the face of it.” He shrugged and looked back up at me. “We all have our own reasons, and we know that somepony has to fix it, so why not us?”

“If you all want to risk your lives sneaking in, then I have a favor to ask.” I spoke up, sparking a glare from Sky as she slunk back behind the fire. “42 told me that she had taken the ponies of Red Wing hostage. If they are alive, I want you to get them out.” He nodded as I talked, giving me a determined look. “But, I’ve heard her say this before, and you know what she did to the good ponies of Whinney.”

His face wore a grim look for a moment and he took a deep breath. “If there is anypony still alive in there, I promise you we will do our best to get them out of there.” He looked to his left as a dark blue mare strode towards the fire. “Marrow, make sure the others know what I’ve said and to double check their disguises. We’ll get in just fine, but I don’t know how long they’ll be fooled once the Crusaders are escorted off.”

“Um, Backlash?” Longbow put her hoof on my shoulder and leaned over to me. “Twain was telling me that he grabbed every weapon in the shop and anything that could be considered armor. Maybe they could find some use in it? I mean, we have more than enough that we can spare some things.”

“Yeah. We aren’t so much in danger of getting shot at with this plan, so anything that could help with getting the rest of Red Wing to safety is worth using.” As soon as I said that, I found myself pulled into a tight hug, as Railspike squeezed the air from my lungs with a grin across his muzzle.

“You really are something!” He laughed, feeling like he ratcheted his hold tighter with each breath. “I wish there was a way we could repay you for your kindness!” I was starting to see stars as I wiggled my back hooves futilely.

“You could start by letting him go.” Carlotta acted as my saviour onces again as she appeared beside him. I felt him release me, and like a great set of bellows, my lungs sucked in air with a high pitched whine as they reinflated. I slid to the ground with a whump and cringed as the cold snow pressed against my bandaged chest. I looked up at Carlotta’s frowning beak as she stood over me, just watching me catch my breath. “We gotta talk. Alone.”

She grabbed onto my forehoof and yanked me up, pulling me to my hooves before turning and heading towards the edge of the clearing. I followed quickly, turning and watching as Longbow gave me a parting smile and went back to staring into the fire. As I looked back to where I was going, I almost ran right into Carlotta as she sat down, staring out into the frozen forest. Without even looking at me, she pat at the snow next to her.

“Your wings look better.” For once, I felt nervous to talk to her, and I felt like this was going to be a fairly serious conversation.

“They’re shredded. Could take months until I fly again, but that’s not what we need to talk about.” She gave out a sigh. “As Skyline most likely told you, I had my reasons for wanting her to watch over Pallet.” She began even before I sat down, the subtle twitches the blank look and subtle twitches of her face told me that this conversation was likely to be more serious than any before. “I don’t think I ever told you exactly why I took the job for Myron, did I?”

“No. I assumed your reasons were purely your own.” It was surprising how little I knew of the mercenary that dropped into my life a month and a half ago. My original joking at how she was part of my fucked up family then turned out to be true, and she grew to be my good friend simply because I could rely on her. I guess there is something to be said about friendships forged on a battlefield, and how even though I had never believed anypony else who talked about it, here I was today.

“I’m the youngest of four other hatchlings. I had three brothers and and a sister back home in Van Hoover, and as is expected of the children in my family, we all joined the talons.” The hint of a smile crept across her beak as she remembered her home. “We were all damn good Talons, but that was before the curse hit.”

I scoffed at the notion. “Really, you believe in all that mumbo jumbo like Isaac?”

She didn’t move a muscle, but her eye glared down at me. “My parent’s took a contract to protect a merchant who needed to deliver some fertilizer to a tribe of zebras south of Van hoover. Turns out he was some pony purist and used the shipment as a makeshift bomb when he got there. Torched himself and most of the settlement.” She shifted her gaze back to the forest. “They tried to do the right thing and help the zebra there, but they were sent away and the zebra cursed them. A month later, they we both killed when the building they were fighting in collapsed without warning. A month after that, Maurus, my eldest brother was killed when an empty refinery tank exploded during a mission. Three months later, Rico was blinded and crippled when a mortar airburst next to him, and Rioco died when another struck and broke her neck mid flight.”

A building collapse is uncommon, but not unheard of, and refinery tanks are dangerous when still filled with fumes. But a perfectly timed mortar shell, and a perfectly aimed dud striking two aerial targets, and all these in the span of five months? Maybe… maybe their curse was real.

“Quila was the lucky one. Through all this, she had her fiance to lean on. But I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t stand waiting around to see the rest of my family die from this curse.” Carlotta shook her head. “I flew to Las Pegasus, changed my name, and made the job my life. No one I care for can die when I don’t love anyone, right?” She looked back to me, and suddenly I could see the fear in her own. “Then there was you. It was just another job, but… your sister, she was beautiful and she knew how to talk to me. I thought maybe, maybe with a different name and a different job I could get away from it. But then there was Brass, and the fact that I almost died twice in the last few days, those thoughts have started to creep back in. Now there’s Pallet and all I can think is how much I want them to be my family, but what if the curse takes them?”

“I… I don’t know.” I gave a deep sigh and thought how yet again I wanted to just have Carlotta go and take Sky away. “Once I’m inside with 42, you need to take her and go.” Carlotta didn’t even flinch at the suggestion. “She won’t leave before then, but you both can’t risk yourselves when Pallet needs you both.” I shook my head and facehoofed. “It was a stupid idea for you two to even accept Pallet when you knew where we were going, but that just means you don’t get to die.” I glared up at Carlotta. “Curse or no, If anything happens to Sky and you are still alive, then you get her the fuck out of there and you make sure she gets to die an old and grumpy mare. Do you understand that?”

Carlotta gave a stiff laugh and pat me on the shoulder. “I knew you were in there somewhere, Backlash. I’m glad to see the old you is back.” She got up and walked back toward the fire as I just continued staring out into the forest. This really was it, wasn’t it? Nopony expected to walk away from this fight, but if that happened, then there would be nothing I could ever do to redeem myself. I turned towards Carlotta as she walked away, trotting through the snow after her.

“So… if Carlotta isn’t your real name, what is it?” If we were going down as a family, then I want to know who to thank the goddesses for my friends in the afterlife.

“It’s Halia. Halia Thistledown.” She smiled to me as she said it, and for the second time in my life, I saw what a truly happy griffin looked like. “Now let’s get some grub. I don’t know about you, but I skipped breakfast this morning and I’m starving!”

Author's Notes:

Normally I'd post the thanks here, but because I'm posting the last two chapters together, I'm going to post it at the end of the next chapter.