After nearly a half hour of convincing, and a bribe of half a box of sugar apple bombs, we left Pallet to play with Brass while Sky, Carlotta and I collected the bodies of the dead into a row out in front of old City Hall. The decrepit building had shifted to one side on its foundations only slightly enough to look odd amongst the rest of the town. It was midmorning when Sky called me over, the bloodied body of a light blue pegasus stallion with a deep blue mane was slumped against an overturned wooden cart, his silver eyes gazing lifelessly at the crimson from a set of gunshot wounds in his waist as it mixed with the mud in a large puddle below him.

"Shit..." I dropped my eyes as I muttered under my breath. From what she had told us, this was Pallet's father. Sky walked over and shut his eyes gently before leaning in.

"Rest easy now." I could hear her trying to choke back the tears that were even starting to cloud my vision. "We will take care of your daughter. We will get her someplace safe." In my head I knew that it meant postponing our chase after 42, and that we couldn't waste any more time than we had already to catch up, and just then the realization hit me like an out of control train. This filly just lost the only thing in the world she knew and that I, nothing more than a traveling peddler of wares, was going to take her in. The wasteland sure had one fucked up sense of humor to put her through what Sky and I had suffered so hard with. But that's where I was wrong, this filly was alone and scared in this desolate world now, all because of a mistake I made.

Skyline went to pick up the stallion, but as she hoisted him up I put a hoof on her shoulder and shook my head. I'm the reason he's dead, I need to carry the weight of him on my shoulders. I knew that the weight of my conscience wasn't enough, and it never would be as I lived with it for the rest of my life. She seemed to nod and shifted the muscular stallion onto my back. He was heavy enough that I sank a few more inches than normal into the mud with every step, slowing my pace to a crawl. I looked over and noticed his blood drip down onto my saddle bags, thinking I'd be damned if I didn't deserve to be buried with all these ponies for my sins.

As we turned down the street to city hall, Sky and I noticed Carlotta waving her arms as she was pressed against a wall down an alleyway, trying to get our attention, her expression was a rock solid calmness. Odd, I only saw her like that before when we were in combat. A sound of soft squishes came towards us, my ear picking it up before I noticed the five red bars in my compass. They were heading toward us, the telltale sound that leather armor made when they moved was a dead give away they were no random ponies, and the jingling of brass bullet casings were evidence they had at least one firearm.

"Well well, look what we have here, boys!" I spun around, glancing at a group of raider ponies as they trotted up to Sky and I, slowly spreading out into a semi-circle around us. Fuck, I was normally on top of my surroundings, how did I not see this coming? I did happen to notice something odd about them, they were all earth ponies. Not a single horn or wing amongst them.

The group was however well armored as reinforced leather barding covered all but the stallion in the center, not to mention they were relatively well armed. The two mares flanking who I assumed was the leader held a sledgehammer and a fire axe in their mouths, while the stallions at either end held poorly maintained double barrel shotguns in their's. As for the center stallion, he only wore a stylish black jacket with leather pads sewn into it, a rainbow bandana kept his shortly cut, jet black mane standing into the air on his head. Most importantly, he seemed unarmed, and I didn't trust that.

"Looks like we have some grave robbers trying to pick off of OUR poor dead townsfolk. Should we let them pay the fine for scavenging in our turf?" He paused, letting the others shake their heads. "Or should we just kill them?" The leader's voice was of just that, someone in command, but he seemed to have more than just a note of self acknowledgment. He liked this show of force, and he wanted those under him eager to do anything he asked.

Skyline leaned over to me slowly, not breaking eye contact with the group. "Your call, Backlash, I think I can take them." The leader twitched for a moment, slowly turning his cold blue eyes from Sky to lock on mine as the most nefarious grin grew across his muzzle.

"Wait... BACKLASH?" He almost had to giggle through his teeth. "As in, little baby bro Backlash?" I froze and stared wide-eyed back. No, it wasn't possible. Crankshaft left us in Hoofington, there is no way his gang controlled this far inland. The raider leader seemed to jump around giddily in the mud as his lackeys seemed as confused as Skyline.

"Shit it IS you, isn't it!?" He eyed his comrades for a moment before stiffening up a bit, coughing softly into his hoof to clear his throat. "If I knew that pink bitch had paid me to kill my own brother, I'd have asked for double! It's so much harder to lose somepony who's family, am I right?" He trotted up closer, I could see that his cream colored hide was mostly intact, but his entire flank and rear left leg were horribly burned. "How is mother by the way? No doubt she's making you do all the hard work while she gets drunk off of your living."

"When you selfishly left, she tried to get us out of that stupid town..." I stated, letting my rising anger come out. "And because I wasn't old enough to think about what I was doing, she had to save me from a fucking radigator and died so I could get away."

Boredly, he looked at his muddied hooves. "Hey, that bitch got what was coming to her. And it's not my fault you were weak back then, I got the hell out of there when I was strong enough to see she was just using us." His stupidly wide smile made my blood boil as he insulted mother, If it weren't for the stallion on my back, I would have torn him to pieces. "But look at you now, all grown up and shit. Plus, I see you picked up one sexy looking mare friend." He eyed Sky over eagerly, no doubt thinking of all the perverted and horrid acts he could do once he killed me and could get her alone. That wasn't going to happen.

"Back off, asshole!" Sky yelled out around the bit for her battle saddle. Crankshaft looked stunned for a quick moment before letting out a deep laugh. "Oh she's feisty! Maybe I'll let some of the boys use her before selling her to the slavers..." He laughed in a way only a demented twisted soul could, it's echo reverberating deep inside my thoughts. No, this wasn't my brother, that Crankshaft was the only one to care for me and mom before he left, and that stallion is still somewhere in Hoofington running a gang by now. This sadistic excuse for a raider couldn't be him.

I tweaked my ear again, I could hear a deep thudding in the distance, smirking softly. "You say that a pink mare hired you? Looked a bit like the ministry mare from before the war?" I spoke softly, causing him to pause for a moment.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure she's the cunt that 'DJ Douchebag' is always going on about, why? Want me to give her your last words?" He said as he leaned in close to my face and raised a hoof to his lackeys, signaling to get ready.

I could hear the whirr of an autoloader coming up the alley way and the flutter of wings on the rooftops behind me. "Yeah, tell her I'm coming for her." I said calmly before using all my might to hurl Pallet's father on top of Crankshaft, pinning him to the mudded ground. To the credit of his companions, they didn't seem too phased by the action and only hesitated for a moment. But a moment was all I needed.

The air exploded into gunfire as Brass and Carlotta opened up onto the two raider mares, perforating them with dozens of rounds before they even lifted a hoof to move towards Sky and I. I watched as the splatters of mud and gore coated the stallion hefting his shotgun at me, he flinched and pulled his head aside, firing blindly. I tensed up as most of the shot failed to find me, but the few large pellets that did punch all the way through my foreleg hurt like hell as time crawled to a stop. I had forgotten that the pipbuck had the targeting spell because, honestly, combat was still new to me. Hell, back before this week I had maybe been in two or three gunfights a year, and they never expected Sky to be there. Plus this spell was useless when the only gun I carried was in my saddlebag.

The highlight around the shotgun raider in my vision flickered away and was replaced by a pink square labeled inventory, puzzling me for a moment. Pipbucks were still a bit of a mystery to me, all the ones I've seen in my travels were either dead from age or still on the arms of ponies. I knew that it took a pony a lot smarter than me to figure exactly how so many spells could be kept inside such a tiny object, or what they all did.

I looked across each of the tabs before the computer would switch them in response to show me what I had. We'll that was convenient I thought, noting that there needed to be an electronic manual in these things. With that, a small rectangular screen popped up over everything else, displaying the title: -In S.A.T.S. Inventory Management Tutorial Audiolog-. The sound of a middle aged mare with a thick accent sounding like she'd lived in the country all her life played into my head.

"Well hey there, Pinkie! It's me, yer best friend Applebloom! If yer hearin' this here tutorial it's 'cause yer wantin' ta figure out all the neat lil' functions in yer pipbuck! Now ah'm sure you don't want all the boring techno-babble Scoots would give ya, so ah'll make it simple fer yah!

Just think of the item ya'll are needin and the computer'll fetch it fer yah. Then, think which one of the options below you want and it'll do the same! Easy-Peasy! Oh, and 'Twa-light' asked me ta install a simpler version of one of 'er spells to help yah out! Cause yah know, yer so busy with that there ministry of yers and whatnot. Anyway she thought it'd be a mite easier on ya if ya didn't have to grab things out of yer bags.

It's a teleportation spell specifically designed for use in S.A.T.S.! Just activate the inventory, scroll to the item yah need, think 'Equip' and pow! Whatever yah hanker fer is right there in yer hoof faster than Celestia on a slice of cake! Anyway, hope that helps ya'll as much as she thought it would!"

The recording stopped and the window closed. I sat for a moment just thinking to myself that this thing is fucking awesome! What else can it do? My thoughts raced as I went to scroll to another page, quickly looking over the frozen stallion down the street, bringing my train of thought to a screeching halt, my vision drifting back to him for a moment. Oh right, I was in the middle of a fight, I needed to arm myself, kill the bad guys, then I can learn more!

I switched to the weapon tab and selected the "Party Cannon", letting the computer highlight it. As I thought about equipping it, there was a bright purple flash in the corner of my vision before I could feel the weapons familiar suction against my injured foreleg. The inventory screen popped away as the raider in front of me was divided into pink sections, each giving a percentage to hit. The highest number was in his chest so I thought I might as well shoot him there.

Poor choice of words, It turns out, as the spell registered the shot and swung my hoof up for me, assisting my aim as time started to creep forward again. I watched in awe as the cannon fired its spherical, black projectile out as the weapon lined up with his chest, the 10 inch ball slamming into the stallion. In distorted time I saw his chest cave in and his sides expand, bursting along the bulging points like a zipper on a meat-filled saddle bag, the fur of his chest ripping as his head bent down toward the gaping hole as I watched him seemingly turn inside out.

The explosion of gore flew in every direction as the cannonball continued flying into the storefront behind him and time returned to it's normal speed. I turned my gaze just in time to see Sky's gauss rifles punch two hoof sized tubes straight through the chest of last raider, his viscera hanging out the back of his body as he dropped to the ground with a meaty thump.

I heard a whimper from under Pallets father and I looked down to see the wide, fright filled eyes of Crankshaft as his whole body shook. As I turned to talk to Sky, he cringed and cowered, tucking himself under the large corpse. I looked over to her as Brass and Carlotta joined her sides.

"Get the weapons, destroy them, and let him go." I said softly, reaching back and putting the party cannon back into my saddlebag, wincing as I stepped back onto my injured leg.

"Are you kidding me!?" Sky shouted out and pushed off into the air, her voice echoing down the empty streets. "This asshole shows up out of nowhere and tries to kill us, and you let him go!?" She pointed her rifles back at the shocked expression now on Crankshaft's face, making him cringe and whimper again.

"Look, I know how you feel, but we don't kill unarmed ponies, do we? We aren't raiders and we've beaten him. I'm giving him his life, end of discussion." I said, looking back up to her sternly. "And should he EVER be so stupid to try this shit again, than you have my express permission to shove your rifles up his ass and decorate a room with him." I reached down and unpinned the frightened raider, leaning close and staring into his watering, blue eyes. "Got it?" He gave off a short nod before scrambling to his hooves, taking off down the street at his fastest gallop.

"You know you're going to regret letting him go." Sky said as she floated gently down next to me and brought out one of the healing bandages from her bags, wrapping it around my injured hoof. I gulped down one of our healing potions, feeling my wounds knitting themselves together from the inside.

I nodded in response as I noticed Brass walk over and effortlessly stomp one of the shotguns, bending the barrels to an odd angle. "I know I will, but it won't be until after I've put an end to 42." I said with a sigh. At least, I hoped fate would allow me to deal with her first.

Brass went back to watching over Pallet as the rest of us spent the majority of the early afternoon digging a mass grave outside of town near the entrance to the everfree forest. For reasons unknown to me, the dark and twisted forest had somehow survived the hellish horrors of the Great War, and seemed to give off the distinct impression that something inside was watching us. To be honest, this damn forest was the reason I mostly stayed away from Ponyville, only making a run out here every few months to sell essentials like medicine. It had only been about a week since all of this started and I was sorely missing my old cart and the day to day bore of walking everywhere, at least then we got to scavenge.

As we covered the last of the grave, and stood back, I stuck the shovel in the dirt and sat down. It was hard to think that underneath this mound, there lie 28 innocent ponies. All of them having paid the price for my quest for glory. "If I had just let that bunker stay closed..." I said softly to the ground, hoping that somehow my sorrowful words would dig down and give them back the lives that 42 stole. I felt a hoof wrap around my side as Skyline leaned in close. I lay against her and sobbed quietly into her neck as she comforted me.

"Shhh..." She whispered to me, her soft voice trembling with sorrow as well. "It's ok. We'll find a safe place for Pallet and then we'll catch up to her and we will stop her." We sat there for a while, me crying while she was the strong one. There was the low rumble of thunder on the horizon and we knew it was time to get going.

"What if we can't..." I started to say as we walked back to the skycart, getting cut off by Carlotta as her talons clamped my muzzle shut.

"Shut your fucking mouth. I've had it with your sad sack attitude." She let go and poked my chest sharply, her piercing blue eyes cutting through the depressing fog in my mind. "We are going to fucking kill her for what she did here and we are going to save the wasteland, and we'll all be big damn heroes n' shit..."

I grunted and gave a small nod. I hated it but she was right, this needed to be done and we were the only ones who even had a clue on what to expect. I dug in my saddle bag for our map and pulled it out, walking up to the porch of Pallet's house and unfurling it. "DJ Pon3 said she was heading west, so she'll probably be stopping here." I pointed with a hoof at the small symbol of a house a good distance from Ponyville. "She'll need to stop to change the spark batteries there in Whinny, but I don't know where she'd go from there." I looked over the map, she only had a couple of choices if she wanted to stay ahead of us.

Reference Pointe is just an old research station and not too far south, but it's inside the everfree forest and the most significant of the three locations, while the Sugar Apple Bombs factory is north, and the closest but the most illogical of choices, even for her. But that still left the unused power substation complex to the west, with the question why would she go there? I grumbled in anger and slammed my hoof on the warped wood of the porch, startling the others. THINK, BRAIN! I want to be one step ahead of her this time!

"We need to go." Skyline called to me as she helped Carlotta into the straps for the skycar. Brass stomped by with Pallet Jack riding on his back, she had his helmet over herself, covering most of her body as the enormous headpiece made her look ridiculous. I couldn't help but draw a small smile as they went into the silver pod. Sighing, I rolled the map back up and put it away, stepping into the metal hull latching the door shut. (I made sure it latched three times, because honestly, falling out once was enough.) As we lifted off and banked west, I looked out at the burial mound, thinking how maybe once this was all over I could come back and give each pony a proper burial.

The wind whipped into the passenger compartment through the broken windows as we flew towards the tiny village of Whinny. I racked my mind for anything I could remember about it. It had been almost half a year since I had been through these parts with Sky, and anything I could remember might be able to give us the leg up on 42. I remember seeing its history years ago when in Ponyville, it wasn't until the War that they even put the place on a map, and was named as such for a reason. They wrote that if you were galloping straight through town, by the time you could finish a whinny you'd miss it. The whole reason it existed was it was the only motel and gas station on the road that would take you to the power station once used to feed power all the way over to Olneigh.

As the war picked up, they built the sugar apple bombs factory to the south, housing the families in 4 brick apartment buildings, effectively making whinney a small town. Twilight sparkle proposed building a new spell research facility out and away from the cities, planning it's location to be in the everfree forest to the north. With the facility completed, the scientists and researchers moved into the cramped suburbs of newer cheaply manufactured homes.

But I looked out the window as we passed over the small village and remembered, none of those buildings were built with any care and most have collapsed or remain as unstable, skeletal frameworks, leaving the four brick buildings in the center of town the only livable structures left. There were only a handful of ponies living there when I last came through, no more than seven or eight, so maybe she'd just leave them be?

We descended as the sun itself fell under the horizon, plunging the land into a sea of dark shadows. Carlotta landed the skycar in the center of the four buildings with little trouble, which made me immediately know something was wrong. There were no lights and sounds other than the cool evening breeze, it almost seemed that we had landed into a ghost town. I unlatched the door, swinging it open slowly as I looked around and felt my hooves ache. I heard a knock and jumped into the air as one of the brick buildings doors swung open, a soft yellow light pouring out from deep in the corner of the building without a pony in sight.

"What's gotten into him?" Carlotta remarked as Skyline hovered next to her.

"Stay right here." I said, trotting over the the open doorway, stepping inside slowly. "I need to see..." Thats all I got out before I snagged a tripwire with my hoof. The deafening report of a rifle stung my ears as I felt the round punch into my flak vest, knocking me to the ground. I groaned and got back up slowly, leaning against the outside of the building as my companions called out to me.

"I'm... ok...." I said as I winced and looked down, the shiny silver object stuck to the plate of my vest as a small nub, shimmering in the low light with a rainbow sheen. My mind made the connection quickly, I had seen this type of material before when I scavenged. It was.... fuck what's the name... Starmetal? It's dangerous stuff. I'm pretty sure the round would have punched straight through the plate if it wasn't made of the some of the same material. "Thank celestia DJ Pon3 gave me his vest... Wait, where the fuck did they get this, these rounds are as rare as they come!?" I pried the nub off with my hoof. I could count the number of star metal bullets I'd found and sold to buyers, and this wasn't one of them...

Skyline smacked me on the back of the head. "You moron! You know better than to walk into unknown places! That's why I have wings!" I watched as she fluttered inside softly, disappearing into the black before I heard the loud twang of another tripwire. She flew through the doorway as a crimson bolt, screaming at the top of her lungs. "GRENADE! GET DOWN!"

I dropped to my belly, covering my head with my hooves right before the small explosive went off. The blast was mostly absorbed by brick walling, but the glass windows became sharp knives as they blew out. My hearing turned to a soft whine as the projected glass shattered against the side of the skycar, bouncing harmlessly off of Brass's suit as he stood in the doorway of the car. As the dust cleared and I got to my hooves, I could hear a soft murmur coming from Brass as he strode out of the car, Pallet watching wide eyed from the hatch. He walked up to me and spoke as if he was whispering.

"Are you alright?" I almost didn't hear him he was so quiet, and I almost didn't want to, my head was pounding and stung as I looked around and saw Carlotta poke her head around from the other side of the dinged up metal pod, Skyline floating behind her with a nervous grin. Brass shook me with his hooves, getting my attention again. "I said, are you alright?" Did the blast blow out his speaker?

"I'm ok!" I said back softly for some reason, noticing them cringe. "The hell! What's wrong with my voice?" I looked between them nervously, Carlotta's frustrated face not helping as she walked over and clamped my mouth shut again.

"You blew your hearing for an hour or so! You are lucky you can still hear at all! Now shut the hell up because your yelling is getting on my nerves!" I could see as she strained and yelled back, even if it didn't sound like it. I forced myself to give a nervous grin and nodded. She turned to walk away, saying something to Brass I couldn't make out, but even though she had just told me why, my brain instinctively made me act. I tried to stop it, I swear, but I was just too late.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" I called out, watching her freeze in place, her head slowly spinning as the meanest glare I've ever beheld came from her. I could see her body tremble with barely contained rage, the loss of my hearing making it all the more obvious. Oh luna, this is going to be the longest hour of my life.

I sat locked in the skycar with Pallet for the next forty minutes as the others searched the remaining buildings for anypony, thankfully none of the other buildings were booby trapped as extensively as that one. My hearing had greatly improved within the time, but the headache got worse, and was thudding away painfully. I looked down at the Green filly who was curled up asleep on the seat next to me. I reached over and stroked her mane from her mouth as she stirred, the nagging feeling that history was repeating itself and that in a few years I'll die, and she'll be there to accidentally unlock her own secrets of the wasteland, thus starting the cycle all over again.

A knock on the doorframe drew my attention, I put my hoof to my muzzle and pointed down to the sleeping filly. Brass nodded and waved for me to come outside. As I exited and we walked to the front of one of the buildings, he handed me a piece of paper. Taking it from him, I noticed it was a mouth written note.

To whoever finds this. The pink mare from the radio is on her way here, we don't have much time, please give this note to my son in Fillydelphia, and he will pay you for your troubles. Tell him I loved him very much.
- His mother, Peach Flowers

I sighed and put the note into my saddle bags. Great, it looks like we couldn't save anyone here either. Wait, there are no bodies here. Did they run? Or did she take them? The gears in my head ground together as I tried to think. I felt one of them jam when Carlotta called out to us, killing that line of thought.

"It looks like she took the Marauder both south and north, tire tracks leading out of town both ways are fresh." I rubbed my hoof on my chin, letting the gears turn once again. Why would she go to the factory? I don't think there's anything pre-war there of any use? My mind brought up something from 42's speech, she called herself a 'super villain' in it, so maybe she was trying to mislead us? Is that even a thing super villains do? GAH thinking is hard! I flopped to the ground next to Brass, softly whining.

"Are... you ok?" His suit spoke at a normal level to me thanks to the speaker system. I nodded and held my head. If I didn't think of an answer for what to do, I just know more ponies would die, and I don't need any more blood on my hooves. I was interrupted by a light tapping on my head and I looked up into the bright green eyes of the pegasus filly.

"Here!" She shouted as she scooted our half eaten box of sugar apple bombs over. "They always make me feel happy when I'm mad or sad! Try it!" I smiled softly at her, she had been through so much in the last forty eight hours and yet, here she was giving me better life advice than anypony I'd ever met. I put my muzzle in the box, tipping it back and chewing on the sugary substance, relaxing slightly. Skyline flew down from the roof of one of the buildings, she looked worried, well that's always how she looked. To be honest, she looked less worried than when I want to run off and do something stupid, but still more worried than normal.

"It's like they all just got up and left, I didn't find any clothing or food left over, all I found were some assorted weapons and ammo in a safe, along with this." She pulled a thin square box out of her bags, laying it on the ground in front of me. "I thought you might want to listen to it, you having the only pipbuck and all." I perked up. That's right! maybe we'll find the location of some emergency bunker the townsfolk could have hidden in! I put it into my saddle bags as I got back to my hooves, letting the near empty cereal box slip off to the ground.

"I think we should park the skycar on the roof and camp out for the night, if she comes by in the Marauder, we'll hear it, otherwise lets wait until morning." I said with a yawn, thinking to myself I really needed to figure this out, but with everything that had gone on today, my body was screaming for rest. I figured that even 42 needed to sleep sometime, so why couldn't I? The others seemed to be in agreement as we all needed the rest, so we huddled up together inside the silver tube as the chilly night air brought with it the first frost of fall.

The night went slowly, seeing as there were no dreams of warm, sunny afternoons on grassy hills. The only thing I had was the dark and cold black of nothing between the bursts of dark and cold night. I groaned and shivered as my eyes shot open, fully awake. I looked around to see I was alone in the skycar. Greatly confused, I slowly got to my hooves and walked to the window thinking maybe they went to make a fire. As I peered out, I could see a yellow mare with a long black mane standing near the edge of the building. She seemed familiar somehow.

I noticed she seemed to be looking out over the edge into the darkness, slowly leaning forward. Shit, she was going to fall! I used my shoulder to throw open the door, galloping over to her as she tumbled and disappear over the edge, I skidded to a stop, looking over it. The ground wasn't there, just a bottomless pit of darkness. Turning back around, I froze as I stared into the lifeless eyes of the yellow mare, a bleeding hole in the center of her skull. She spoke with the wind as it whipped by.

"I was the first one you murdered..."

I was paralyzed with fear, I stood there to afraid to move as she reared up and pushed me over the ledge. I screamed as I fell away into the darkness as it consumed my vision, swallowing me whole.

I awoke with a jolt, sweating thick beads and hyperventilating as I looked around. The faintest hints of light shown from outside and my friends were all sleeping next to me. I stared at them as my heartbeat slowed and I could breathe again. Skyline turned over and eyed me still half asleep.

"You alright? Did you hear something?" She let out a soft yawn and cracked her neck as she sat up. I couldn't tell her it was just a dream, if I told her that, she'd start worrying about me, and if she did that she wouldn't worry enough about herself, and if that happened she might get hurt and if that happened it will be all my fault. I couldn't live with myself if I caused her to get hurt, so I can't let it.

"Yeah, just... um... thinking." I cringed at my explanation. I probably could have thought of some better lie, but my mind was still running a mile a minute. "It's nothing."

"Suit yourself, I'm no therapist but you need to talk about things instead of bottling them up." She said with a shrug before getting up and opening the door. I deftly stepped between Brass and Pallet, slipping through the door without a hitch. I can do that shit but I can't seem to avoid getting into trouble? The hell is wrong with me? I looked up to see, Sky standing at the ledge, looking out along the horizon, my heart skipping a beat as my brain tried to tell me she was going to fall. That was just a bad dream, get ahold of yourself Backlash.

"Oh! I meant to give you something I found back in Ponyville, it was in a wall safe at the old spa for some reason, but I thought you could use another gun! You know, for when you want to be a bit more subtle than that cannon." She dug into her saddle bags, drawing out a long, rectangular shaped shotgun, a very well kept model If-41. This model semiautomatic shotgun was one of the most durable ones ever made! I looked it over before taking it in my mouth, noticing a red heart etched into the side of the receiver. My Pipbuck told me it was called "heartstopper" and had 4 shells currently loaded. I put it into my saddlebags and beamed a wide grin to her before giving her a strong hug.

As the sun climbed over the horizon, Sky and I smiled and watched as the light reflected off the coating of frost the entire wasteland had, rainbows of color stretched out into the barren desert as everything shimmered brightly.

"WOW! IT'S SO PRETTY!" An overly squeaky voice called from behind us. Pallet ran over to the edge of the roof and gasped as she took in the awesome sight, Carlotta stretching and looming over her as she looked on with a smile on her beak. Her eyes seemed softer than normal almost like she was... happy.

"The first frost of the year is always the best, just give it a minute, then the sun will hit it just right..." Carlotta said, genuine wonder bleeding from her words. Sure enough, as the sun reached up, touching both the horizon and the bottom of the cloud cover, the grey above was suddenly transformed into a shimmering sea of colors, rainbows bouncing from the glowing blanket to the ground and back up. I had never really seen how beautiful it was before, and maybe it never was, maybe it was just the fact that we were sitting in this exact spot, on this exact day, with these exact friends. I wasn't sure if after the last week I believed in fate, but I was damn sure that no matter what happens in the coming days, this is what made it all worth it.

As the sun rose just above the horizon, the wasteland turned back to it's normal browns and greys, the flood of color gone again. I heard a rustling behind me, and turned to see Brass stumble out in a yawn.

"Morning, guys, did I miss anything?"

We got ourselves together fairly quickly, managing to all grab a bite to eat before heading out again. Skyline made the point that, with no bodies, the ponies here probably managed to get out before 42 showed up. I agreed and decided we should head south to Reference Pointe, if she was looking for something from way before the war, there was a better chance information about it would be hidden at a Ministry facility. The morning was colder than I'd expected, even as we flew through the air towards the forest facility.

I flipped through my pink pipbuck's inventory screens before reaching a section labeled 'notes'. A written tutorial popped up and informed me that any written letters or audiologs I found were automatically transcribed into its memory. Speaking of... how much memory did this thing have? I killed the tutorial and flipped through to the general information section. A knock from outside caught my attention before I finished.

"She's here." Carlotta yelled back, nodding down to the ground. I got up and walked to the window, looking out as she banked around to circle the nearly overgrown, horseshoe shaped building. The off-white building was three stories tall and seemed to be in fair condition, the top two stories of the inner walls had windows spaced every few feet, leaving the first floor completely enclosed along each side. The entire rear of the building as well as part of the roof had been overgrown by thick, curling vines. Lighter spots on the front wall showed where the illuminated letters of 'Reference Pointe' used to be bolted to the walls, but age had stripped away most of them, oddly leaving only the "E's" hanging there.

A solitary road lead through the forest up to a courtyard where it looped around in front of a set of doors inside the innermost section of the decrepit facade. I also noticed the old stone statue of a unicorn mare stood in the center of the courtyard, and right beside it was parked one familiar rusty looking Marauder.

"Drop Brass and I out front, then land on the roof!" I yelled back to Carlotta through the wind. She nodded and arched us downward, slowly pulling up beside the beautiful sight that was my Pre-war vehicle. Brass and I hopped out and walked over to it, the skycar taking off again, leaving us behind. I flopped onto the hood, doing my best to hug the large steel beast. "Oh baby, I've missed you. I'll never let her take you away again."

"Um, what are you doing? It's just a car." Brass called as he stood there, watching me through the soulless eyes of his helmet. "Stop being weird Backlash. We need to find fourty two." I held a hoof up to him, using the other hoof to stroke the hood softly.

"It's ok, shhh, he didn't mean anything by it..." I got up off her slowly, walking around to the trunk and throwing it open, delighted to see 42 didn't remove anything from inside. I grabbed the heavy steel links of my tow chain in my mouth and laid down, hitching it to the hooks under the car. "Just one more second and we can go..." I drug the chain around the statue before using the hook on the other end to secure the chain to itself.

"Alright, we can go in now." I spun around to see the others had come down and were awkwardly watching me, Pallet included. Wait, what was Pallet doing with them? "What in Celestia's name are you thinking? Bringing her down here with us?" I cried out louder than I probably should have.

"Well who gets to stay behind and watch her?" Skyline crossed her hooves and turned her muzzle up at me. I scrunched up my muzzle at that, it was a good point, I didn't know what to expect inside and I needed everyone with me just incase something went wrong. But I couldn't bring Pallet in with us, which meant someone had to stay behind. I brightened up at a thought.

"Thanks for volunteering, Sky!" I yelled as I took off down the courtyard, It was the perfect plan! She would keep Pallet safe and by virtue, be safe from whatever 42 had planned for us inside. My thoughts were cut short as I was tackled and pinned to the gravel walkway that led to the front doors. I looked up slowly over Sky as she was breathing heavily, her twitching face locked in an angry grimace.

"NO. You said no more leaving me behind. I'm going with you." She pressed firmly down on my legs as I squirmed, leaning in close. "Choose. Somepony. Else." I sighed lightly, looking over at the others, who instead of helping were just standing there trying not to incur Skyline's wrath.

"Fine. Carlotta, you stay." I blurted out, hearing the griffin grumble to herself.

"Yeah sure, leave me behind. We'll see how far no brains, good looks, and a tin stallion get you before you come running back scared and need to have me save your flanks." She rolled her eyes before scooping up Pallet and hovered in the air. "Just pay that bitch back for what she did so we can all get on with our lives."

I nodded and got back to my hooves, Brass walking up with heavy steps as the three of us entered the building. The open air main room was backlit from most of the back wall being a large, three story window, assorted chairs sat in rows facing a small curved desk with a terminal on it to the right of us. The upper floors stopped at the edges of the windows, railing along each of the balconies were rusted red, but still giving the feeling the room was more open than it really was. I trotted over to the receptionists desk and looked behind it, the skeleton of a small framed unicorn wearing a designer coat lay curled up on the floor.

Leaning down, I grabbed the ID badge off of her and clipped it to my vest. I looked down at it as the name Evening Breeze printed in bold still lightly bled through the plastic, hoping that the magnetic strip on it's back still worked. I looked up as the fan from the terminal on the desk kicked on. I looked the grey computer over and as it turns out, it was still working. I used my hoof to wipe away the grime that had built on the surface until I could see the olive green interface more clearly. What was displayed looked to be a collection of short messages as Brass and Sky came over to see what I had found.

"Do we really have time for this?" Brass's speaker reverberated inside the open room, making me cringe softly.

"What if one of these mentions what 42 is looking for? We can't pass this up!" I replied, hitting a key to bring up the first entry.

- IOM #1523 -

Did you hear that Daisy broke up with her special somepony on Hearts and Hooves day? I always knew that she was cold hearted, but that's just downright evil! I'm sure I'd get fired if I said this to anyone else, but I'm certain that the Zebra's aren't even THAT cruel.
- M.C.

- IOM #1582 -

Well yeah I heard about it! It was the talk of the town down at the diner this evening when I got my coffee, everypony seems to think she's been working too long down in that lab. They think she needs to take a break and come up for some fresh air now and again. I say good riddance and just keep her locked away from everyone if she keeps acting out like that.
- E.B.

- IOM #1601

Morning Calm and Evening Breeze, please remember that when on laboratory grounds, You are to only use the Inter Office Memo for official Ministry of Arcane Science approved reports and updates. I am sorry you two got set on different shifts than normal, we will try to correct this as we finish construction on the lower levels, but please don't jam the system up with your idle gossip.
- T.S.

-IOM #1602

Oh, and as a close friend of Rarity, head of the Ministry of Image, I'd advise you to mind your words and keep the seditious references out of our messaging system as well.
- T.S.

I looked up from the console, not much was useful there, although they did mention there being lower levels, so they must have been doing research down there as well. As I was reading, Skyline had found a directory on the far wall, apparently these above ground floors were all Ministry offices and handled paperwork from the hubs with the exception of the east wing of the top floor being devoted to the Office of Interministry Affairs. I looked around for an access way to the lower levels, but there was nothing around that looked remotely like an entrance.

"So the real question is how do we get down into the lower levels. We should split up and try to find a way down." I watched with a hint of guilt as Sky cringed at my words, but nodded softly before flying off to one of the second floor hallways. Brass stomped noisily toward the hallway across from me, his armor clacking off the stained off white tiled floor. I turned and headed up the stairs to the third floor.

The lighting on the highest floor seemed to be in worse shape due to water damage, as was the carpeting, all that was left of it was a red tinted mush that squished loudly underhoof and made my pipbuck click softly every now and again. A whirring sound caught my ear from around the corner. I leaned my head out slowly to look, spotting a turret with a short barrel and camera hanging from the ceiling maybe 15 feet away. It slowly tracked me as I poked my head out further before a soft dinging noise played through a speaker overhead in the hallway, quickly followed by the soft voice of a middle aged mare.

"Please do not obscure or forget your ID badge. Be sure that it is visible at all Security checkpoints. Thank you for your cooperation."

I walked out into the middle of the hallway, playing along as I showed the dead receptionist's badge to the turret, the camera tracking it as held it in my mouth. The gun's autoloader whirred and clicked as it loaded itself.

"Unauthorized staff member on level 3, please stay where you are while security is despatched. Thank you for your cooperation."

I don't have time for this. I went and took a step forward, something catching my tail before I could move further, making me instinctively spin around. I turned my head just as the turret fired, the round clipping through my mane and startled me enough I jumped back around the corner as the gun opened fire again, Shooting in short bursts. I cringed against the hall wall as the bullets started chipping away at the corner I was hiding behind.

"Well, so much for this thing helping." I spat the badge on the ground beside me as I kept my back against the wall, movement to my left catching my eye. I glanced down the hallway back to the foyer we came in from as Skyline darted up and over the railing, the computer controlled gun finally ceasing to fire randomly as she approached my side.

"So, gone not even five minutes and already you need me to save your flank again." She smirked as she stared down at me. As much as I didn't like the way she put it, Sky was at least right. But with me getting into danger at this rate I might as well marry her and always have her by my side. Wait, oh Celestia I did not just think that. Luna WHY is my mind is so fucked up.

"How was I supposed to know they had automated guns?" I said back begrudgingly. "Besides, I had a plan. I was just... planning... more..." I facehoofed. Oh Luna why can't I lie to save my life? I looked back up at her. "You think you can beat that thing? I'm all ears."

She landed in front of me calmly. Suddenly screaming and spinning around, bucking both her legs straight through the wall just inches from my head. I froze and shuddered as I looked over slowly and watched her draw both legs back, leaving a hole just big enough for her to fit through.

"Just keep it entertained while I get beside it." Her snarky voice came through the hole as she moved to the other side of the room she disappeared into, a moment of silence before another yell as she bucked a hole in that wall as well. Well, I guess it was a plan. I sighed and quickly waved my hoof around the corner, waiting for the whurr of the turret before I would pull back around the corner. At Least that was how it was supposed to go, but dumb old me completely forgot the gun was ALREADY facing the corner.

As the gun started to fire, one of the rounds skimmed across my leg, drawing a deep line of crimson, making me yelp and cradle the wounded appendage. The turret continued chattering away at the wall for a few moments before I head the sharp report of one of Sky's Gauss rifles and the fizzling crackles of shredded electronics. Her hooves squished on the carpet as she drew closer, I favored my bleeding leg noting to myself I needed to get the other leg shot up some time and give this one a break. She rounded the corner before looking down with a sigh, reaching into her saddlebag and pulling out a healing potion.

"No, just give me a bandage, we might need those later." I pushed the bottle away as she sighed deeply again, rolling her eyes at me. Another minute later my foreleg was wrapped snuggly in the white cloth, both looking up upon hearing Brass stomp heavily up the steps towards us. I got back to my hooves as he twisted his helmet off with a hiss and levitated it beside him.

"I heard gunfire, are you two alright?" He stopped for a moment to look us over, eyeing my bandage before seeming to compile himself again. "Anyway, the first floor is clear, no sign of any elevators or stairways."

Sky spoke up after him. "Yeah, second floor was nothing but cubicles and desks full of papers. There's nothing here to suggest that they did any sort of research here at all!" She crossed her hooves and floated softly.

"Well, did either of the other floors have one of those?" I pointed around the corner to the sparking pile of scrap attached to the ceiling. "I'm betting the way down is through those doors." I walked slowly up to the smooth double doors down the hall, looking for any door handles or buttons. Brass pushed me aside.

"Allow me." He spun and bucked the doors clear off their hinges, the two slabs of steel crashing to the floor and sliding down the hallway a few feet. I know I can't buck anything very hard, but that's just showing off! Ok, calm down Backlash... I'm sure he wasn't trying to show you up. "Anytime you need a door opened ladies, you can call on me." He said as he walked past. I could feel the urge to just reach out and beat him with my hooves almost boil over before realizing that without the suit, he was nothing more than a young stallion. Still didn't make him any less of a jerk with that remark.

Composing myself as we walked into the thin hallway, I noticed a set of silver elevator doors with the letters O.I.A. written on them, planted into the back wall. I hit the big red button on the wall as we walked up to it, noting that the chrome doors were miraculously clean. On a side note, it honestly unnerved me nearly as much as finding the random coffee mugs did, because those always seemed to be clean as well, and nothing in the wasteland was ever clean.

The doors slid open with a ding, inside was a tiled, sterile white interior and as we stepped in, it felt eerie enough that my I started to find it hard to breathe as the doors closed. Sky must have sensed it, because she wrapped a wing around me, leaning close. I started to calm down as I looked over the buttons, although there weren't any to be seen, just a large black square on the wall. I figured that it itself might be a button and pressed my hoof to it, receiving a jab not unlike the one that opened the bunker.

I flinched and rubbed at where I was pricked with a soft whine (which in hindsight was great, because I totally couldn't feel my other hoof thanks to the numbing magic of the bandages) before gasping as I felt the car shake and start to lower. I watched as the lights above the door inched along, first B, then B1, on to B2, then to SB1, and Finally to P. The elevator shuddered and came to a stop with a jerk, one of the roof panels dropped to the floor suddenly. I screamed and squished Sky into the wall before catching my breath, knowing that behind the mask, Brass was looking at me like I was crazy.

Sky pushed me off her as the doors opened to a dimly lit room with a panoramic view that was focused on looking into a bowl shaped divot inside a cave. A chest high control panel lay dark and covered with dust on one side of the room, a single light fixture glowing softly in the cave beyond the glass.

"Ok guys, be on your guard. Forty two could be anywhere." Brass said as Skyline and him walked out of the elevator and looked around the room. I took a step out before I stopped, a sharp pain hit the back of my eye. I winced and rubbed at it, wondering why it kept acting up again and again. The gears in my head whirred to life as the others looked about for where 42 was, or what she was looking for. Before I could even react, I heard the sound of the elevator roof access quietly swing open and a soft thud before the loud click of the hammer on a gun being drawn back behind me made me freeze.

"Well! If I knew it was bring your family to work day, I would have sent you an invitation, but thanks for inviting yourself!" 42 spoke in the cheerful voice she had used during her ruse in the other bunker. "Now why don't you just walk straight on back in here with me an we can have a nice talk about my reunion plans, doesn't that sound like fun?"

I sighed as I watched Sky and Brass spin to see her, Brass's minigun spinning up slowly. 42 grabbed around my neck and pulled me close to her, somehow using her other hoof to hold the revolver she had to my head. You know what, not asking anymore. Pinkie Pie is the answer, even with her clones. "Now now, you wouldn't want to accidentally hurt poor old Backlash would you?" She seemed to tense up for a moment as we stepped back into the elevator. "Now I know you will be my good little ponies and stay put..." She pointed the revolver at Sky and fired, hitting her square in the chest. I couldn't even scream, I just froze as the world went quiet for a moment. The mare I called my sister dropped to her knees, her blood staining her red coat dark as it flowed down to the floor. "But I just have to make sure you do anyway."

The doors closed with a clack and I wrestled myself out of her grip.

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" I screamed as I squatted down to tackle her, which was the wrong move because she just stood there with a bored look on her face and the gun pressed against my temple. She pulled the hammer back again for emphasis. The elevator jolted sharply before we started to rise to the surface.

"You might want to think that action over first." She replied without even shifting her gaze. "Because I know you don't really want to kill, you aren't that type of stallion. I could see it in your eyes from the first time we met." She turned and looked deep into my eyes. "Been getting nightmares yet from the ones you have killed?" As much as knew she was the exception to the murder rule, she was right. I'm not a murderer. The nightmare from the night before flashed in my mind, I remembered the yellow mare was amongst the dead in Ponyville.

My mind wandered to the faces of the others who we had buried, and then to the face of the raider I killed with the party cannon. There was so much death in the last few days that it made me sick to my stomach, but a particularly dangerous thought came into my head, and that was that I had just added Skyline to that list. I threw up all over 42s rear hooves at the thought.

"See? That's not the reaction of stone cold killer. Sickness is a sign of weakness, so let's test how weak you are with some PAIN!" 42 yelled as she reached up and slammed the butt of the pistol on my head, the world went dark for a moment as I slumped to the floor. I got to my hooves and stared up at her, a thin line of red running down to my muzzle forced me to close one eye.

"The fuck do you want 42?" I said softly groaning as I looked up uneasily. She reached up again and brought the pistol down on my head again, this time I heard a soft crack and the world started to spin.

"My name... Is Pinky Pie." She said angrily as she brought her hoof up again. I smirked softly amidst the pain, she hesitated a moment before striking me again. I felt the poorly aimed blow strike my cheek as I heard another crack. I tried to push myself back up to my hooves as the world blurred. I tried anyway, unsure if I was actually doing it. "Say my NAME." I heard her demand, I laughed and coughed hard, the coppery taste in my mouth was overwhelming as I spoke slowly.

"You'll always be 42..." I said as I fell to the floor, the voice of her frustrated scream echoing into the recesses of my mind. She lifted my head up with her hoof, before leaning in close, pressing the revolver against the open section of my chest the vest didn't cover.

"Tell me the code that unlocked me or I will kill you and everypony you know. Starting with the innocent towns ponies of Whinney..." Her eyes cut through the pain in my own, and for the first time, I had a chance to notice a different emotion behind her gaze. She was worried, she was scared to death about something. "I NEED THE CODE. WHAT IS IT?" She yelled at me, her grip starting to twitch. I leaned up close to her, letting her bring her muzzle in before whispering back up to her.

"You'll never be the real..." That was as far as I made it before she pulled the trigger, I felt the sting of pain in my chest as darkness flooded my vision. The elevator doors chimed open and she stepped out, hitting the wall with her hoof. "I'll do you a favor and send you back down if you want to die with your friends so much, but don't say I never did anything for you." And with that, she was gone again. The doors closed softly and I drifted away into the painless darkness of death.

As per normal, the sun was shining as I opened my eyes under the tree at the top of the grassy hill. It was a cloudless day and the midday sun felt warmer than usual on my skin. I lay for a moment in the grass, enjoying the feel of it against me before sitting up. I looked around over at the rolling hills, endlessly stretching to the horizon. You know, for the afterlife, this place was kind of nice, maybe even if I could find her, I could get Pinky to help find Mom and Skyline.

"Oh you can't see your mom yet silly! Only dead people can get into heaven!" The bright pink filly bombed out of the leaves high up and landed with a soft thud in front of me before giggleing and bouncing around.

"Right, so I'm not dead?" I said as I scratched my head with my hoof.

"Nopey Nopey!" She bounced off around the tree and out of sight before calling back to me. "Come on! You need to see something!"

I got to my hooves and trotted after her, trekking over the familiar hills back towards the party table that was always over the hill. But this time it wasn't the table I was greeted with, it was a round pond, it's surface so still I couldn't be sure it wasn't just a mirror. I watched as the Pink filly jumped up to it and bounced around it's edge.

"Isn't it just the COOLEST pond ever?" She said with her bright eyes. "My Nanna Pinkie always told me stories about it and how it had the magical property to make doubles of you! Or even double double yous if you wanted!" I nodded slowly, getting the idea that this is the pool that 42 came from and the eventual hell I wanted to send her back to.

"Anyway, after I used it in Ponyville and nearly destroyed the town, Twilight sealed it off until the war, when I needed it again to keep an eye out for all those nasty evil ponies lurking around. So she built a research facility on top of it to keep it hidden!"

I shifted uneasily as my head started to hurt. "I know, I was just there." I said softly, causing the small fillies eyes lit up as she shot up to me, giving my leg a tight squeeze.

"So you did it! You sealed the cave and the pool up again!" She called out ecstatically from below.

"No. I didn't, there was no water in that cave, it was just empty rock." I looked down to her sadly, she flew back in the air with a great gasp.

"If Twilight moved it, then you need to find it! Even one drop of that water could allow her to make more doubles!" She paced a circle in the dirt, slowly getting shorter with each pass, somehow forming a deep trench around her in thought. "Ah-HA! I have it!" She shot out of the hole with a squee and raced back toward the tree I woke up under at an unbelievable speed, leaving a contrail of pink in her path.

"Well, how do I find it?" I reached out with a hoof and touched the contrail softly, pulling some of it off and sniffing it, it smelled sweet and had the consistency of spider webs. I shrugged and heard a growing high pitched noise as another pink contrail shot towards me, stopping a few feet in front of me to reveal Pinkie again.

"All I'm allowed to tell you is to remember that it's the only place you can normally go to find it!" She let out a giggle and bounced in place again. "Oh and one last thing before I kick you out! Your mother says she is very proud of you!" I froze stiff. My...mother? I smiled happily and relaxed as the bright filly jumped high into the air before her hooves knocked me back into the cold darkness.

I coughed out and gagged on my own blood as I felt the elevator hit the bottom floor again. I looked up with my one good eye as the doors opened, Brass was supporting a bandaged up Sky as she held her chest, Her eyes went wide as she looked down at me in horror.

"Hey there..." I managed to cough out. "Hell..of a week...right?" She laughed softly at that, her eyes tearing up. It was getting hard to breathe again as they stepped into the elevator and let the doors shut, Brass shedding off his forehoof armor and Starting to dig around in Sky's bags. She knelt near me, softly crying and brushing my bloody mane with her hoof.

"You...you know, I thought it wa..was going to be the s..same as with the old man..." I struggled to sputter out, shaking softly on the floor. She added confusion through the look of profound sadness she was giving off. "W..with Pallet. But she s..seems to like you... so it's O..ok." I couldn't control my breathing anymore, and passed out as Brass pushed a syringe of Med-X into my neck.

At least she was still alive, at least 42 didn't get her I thought as I drifted back to the void, seeming to exist in thoughtless blackness for a period of time. Then the pain came. Just as the week before in Tenpony, the pain came in waves, assaulting me in the darkness. I screamed and screamed as I tried to use my hooves to find a way out. Suddenly, I felt a snap that resounded through the darkness, taking the pain with it as it echoed away.

I saw a pinprick of light in front of my eyes, a small orb floating towards me with a soft sounding song. It was a song that I knew, the song I remembered my mother would hum to me. I trotted towards it, now finding the ground below me, but as I moved she grew further away. I called out for her, galloping towards her voice as fast as I could, but she just kept getting further away. I gave one last cry before I was snapped back into reality. My eyes shot open and I gasped in pain as I could suddenly feel my body again. I panted with great heaves as the bandaged Skyline came over quickly, leaning down and speaking softly into my ear.

"It's ok, you're fine now... just breathe slowly." She rubbed along my neck softly as she whispered into my ear. "Shhh, just be calm, you're going to be alright." My heartbeat slowed as I listened to her words, I looked around to see we were in the large entrance of the building. Carlotta was standing at the doorway staring outside, probably watching Pallet run around and play outside, as I could hear her screams of joy as they came in and echoed throughout the building.

I tried to sit up slowly, but the world became a spinning mix of lights and colors, feeling myself being pushed back down by Sky. As my eyes refocused, I realized that I couldn't open my right one.

"What happened?" I spoke in slurred words, just the strain from speaking making my head hurt. "Why can't I see right?"

Sky smiled down softly, still crying. "She banged you up pretty good on the head there, she fractured your skull and cheek bones, so half your face is swollen." She leaned down and kissed my forehead as soft as she could. "I'm just so glad you are alive..."

"Are you ok?" I said softly as I noticed her hooves were covered in blood. She nodded softly, brushing her mane back from her bandages.

"The bullet missed everything important. I don't know why, but I feel like that happened for a reason. I've never been that lucky. Maybe it's my destiny to help take that bitch out, and you don't fight destiny." She puffed up her chest through the pain. "But the real miracle is you. You remember when you told me to give you that hydra when you broke your ribs? Well when I did, you grew new bone in between where your ribs weren't supposed to be, and that solid bone plate stopped the bullet."

I sat there stunned, Holy Celestia I was right for once! Even thought it was incredibly dangerous and potentially life threatening, I made the right call! Oh if I wasn't so out of if it would git up and flaunt it more, but that wasn't the case, well, even then I probably wouldn't because we'd be hot on 42's tail. So yeah, I guess it really isn't a win for me at all. Plus I got shot in the chest, so that's pretty bad in and of itself.

An armorless Brass walked up and kneeled down next to Sky. "The bathroom's all free if you want to go wash up, I'll hang out here with him." He said as she got to her hooves. As soon as she had left, he turned his gaze down to me with a frown. "Look, I have to tell you something. When all that went down, there was a moment there when I thought about just shooting through you. I've done what I can to help patch you up right now, but that thought keeps nagging me in my head. I shouldn't have even considered it, you're my friend, and I don't want you to die."

I fought the pain and reached out, putting my hoof on his chest, looking straight into his yellow eyes before slowly speaking. "You shouldn't feel sorry. Just promise me, next time..."

He smiled and attempted to finish my sentence sarcastically. "I know, 'don't get into that situation in the first place', it won't happen..."

"NO." I yelled at him loud enough to see stars again, "You have that opportunity again you TAKE IT. She will not get away again. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME. The entire wasteland is at stake here, One life compared to the many is always the correct choice."

"Is that how you see yourself Backlash?" Sky's voice came softly from the hallway behind me. "Just some LIFE to be thrown away for the good of everypony? Cause if that's why you've been running off by yourself, then maybe you should just let 42 kill me instead." She turned to leave before immediately spinning back. "WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE YOU? LET SOMEPONY ELSE DO IT, I'M DONE WITH WATCHING YOU DO THIS." I could hear her fly back down the hallway in tears. She just didn't understand, 42 is my responsibility. And without my friends strength I can't fix what I've done, but in the end, I alone have to be the one to fix it. I can't explain it any other way than I have to be the one who is judged for all the wrong right alongside 42, not them.

I struggled to my hooves slowly, ignoring the pain of my muscles as they protested my every action. "Let's go, we need to follow 42."

"No." Brass said as he got up with me. "I won't go anywhere with you when you seem to just want to get yourself killed. I'm with Sky on this one, you want to go, go. We won't be with you any further."

I turned to the front door to see Carlotta staring back at me, her face as blank as the day we met her. She spoke up before I could.

"Look, I can protect you from raiders, thugs, the wildlife, and I can try to help you kill that pink cunt, but the one thing I won't do is protect you from yourself. That's your fucking job, and it's not that hard." I went to speak up, but she just rose her voice to keep me quiet. "Furthermore, I really like your sister over there, and that's big for me. So you go find her, and vow to UNFUCK UP your shit so we can all live as one big family. GOT IT?"

Carlotta's words bit deep. From the way she sounded, I don't think she had ever even spoken the word 'like' in that context before today. Well fuck. I'm stubborn, but when all my friends are telling it straight to my face, I know I'm in the wrong. I just wished they could see it like I did, about just how dangerous 42 is. But none the less, I had to listen to my friends over myself.

"You're right." I whispered as I slowly walked down the hall. I didn't know what I was going to say, or if Sky was just going to end up beating the shit out of me again, but whatever happened was what I deserved. I rounded the corner of the hallway and saw her at the other end curled up in a corner, her hooves and wing covering her head. I walked up slowly and reached out for her, she shuddered at the touch.

"I don't want to talk." Her voice was soft and muffled. I sat down next to her, and just listened as she sobbed. I don't know why, but I started humming the song from the darkness. Only softly at first, but I hummed the slow sweet song my mother used to sing to me, slowly starting to sing it louder. I closed my eyes, trying to remember how she was when she sat by my bed at night, how she loved to sing Crankshaft and I to sleep, and remembering how she sang this song to me the night after we lost the guards on the caravan, the night before she...

"That's beautiful..." Sky said so softly I almost missed it, knocking me out of my memories. "Who taught you that?"

I smiled and stared at the floor, my eyes watering. "My mother used to sing it to my brother and I when we were just foals."

"Can you hum it for me again?" Skyline spoke with a sigh and leaned up against me gently. I nodded and hummed it again, letting my pain drift away as I felt the comfort of her warmth. But even as great as it felt to be next to my sister, the one thing I couldn't let go of was the nagging feeling that 42 snuck up on us, and that I needed to figure out her bag of tricks before she could do it again.

After a while, Sky and I came walking back to the entrance to see that brass was standing in the doorway outside, turning and walking up with a stern look on his face. "You get yourself sorted out?" I nodded and threw my hooves around his neck, which was a horrible idea due to the fact that I still had a painful hole in my chest. I whimpered as he hugged me back slightly confused.

"Feel free to remind me whenever you see me start to get fucked up in the head. I think this 42 thing is just really driving me crazy." I said with a slight laugh, looking down to see a Brass nervously biting his lower lip.

"Yeah... speaking of driving..." He remarked as he rubbed at his neck. Oh fuck no. 42 did not steal my car again. She would have had to take the statue with her, and I know the Marauder can't haul that much. I trotted past Brass and out through the door, freezing as I looked down the gravel walkway to the statue, the chain was still attached to it and the trunk of the car, but the trunk was no longer attached to the Marauder.

"I'LL FUCKING DESTROY HER!"

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

LEVEL UP!

+10 Speech

+ 5 Big Guns

New perk: All Bucked Up - Your toughness in the face of grave injury is legendary. As long as your health is below 25% you gain the benefits of the drug Buck (+2 strength, +2 agility, +3 endurance) for free and none of the draw backs.

Author's Notes:

I’d once again like to thank Kkat for thinking up this amazing world. Somber for the epic whisky expansion. No-one for building Dice and Hired. Mimezinga for making Puppy a joy to read. And Stonershy for making Double tap and Rita a badass wasteland Duo.

Once again, props to my proof reader Bad Pun, who constantly puts up with all my bullshit on a daily basis, especially in the case of hunting down all the random E's I throw in (and the entire reason for the degradation of the sign on Reference Pointe)

But Lastly, to you, the reader. Thanks for reading my story, I hope you like it. Feel free to message me with comments or critiques, they would be much appreciated!