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Chapter Seven

Dear Princess Celestia, I got some tail!

"Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up the o-er wrought heart and bids it break."

I didn't think about it.

I was rewarded with a squeal as I drove my hips forward. The poor boy mewled below me and shivered with each thrust. It was difficult not to think of him as an adorable mewling colt. He was an adult of course, just small... small with shapely hips. We were at our peaks though, and his writhing made it difficult to control myself. The stallion below me beat me to it. His body clamped down on me as he painted the bed with his release. I moaned as I finished too, filling the stallion below me. I collapsed on top of him, buried to the hilt and panting with a large satisfied grin on my face.

Don't think about that red light.

I didn't have a thing for the young, I swear I'm not that kind of pony; but this young stallion's innocence was definitely an arousing aspect, as was his femininity. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find a feminine stallion in the Wasteland? I liked masculine stallions too of course; I'm not stuck to one type of partner. But between mares and stallions, I always preferred one quality... the squealers. It was like music to hear my partner elicit the loudest noises possible. Masculine stallions just were not that vocal in my experience. They preferred to grunt their way through it. Which can be fine for a quick relief... but for a real slutty feminine stallion or a squealing mare to be on the receiving end of a good hard rutting... nothing better.

Don't think.

"You alright there?" I asked, my face stretched into a smug smirk.

Blue Barrel nodded weakly, not yet having found his voice. Slowly we rolled onto our sides so we didn't have to support ourselves in a difficult position. I made sure to keep him close, and in fact, kept myself buried inside him. I wanted to go for a second round in a few minutes. I looked at the cute blue stallion. He was still gathering his wits about him.

"I want to make sure we're on the same page," I began steadily, "this was just a bit of fun. I'm not after starting anything big." I'd told him this before I'd touched him of course. I remember the look on his face as I'd re-entered the armoury, finding the colt (stallion) alone, still polishing his 'Frankenmare' gun in a way that only encouraged me. The boy had fallen out of his chair when I had mentioned that I 'needed some relief' and 'thought he'd be interested.'

Then when I offered -very candidly I might add- that we 'go back to his room where I'd make him scream so loud we get told off by the Overmare', the boy became instantly -and obviously- excited before leading me back to his room. He had been like a shy puppy with his ears flat against his head. He had also tried his best to hide the prominent bulge he was sporting in the oh-so-tight stable garment he wore. I'll admit, even if this was a fun fling, it was one I'd love to repeat sometime; the boy was great at taking cock.

I smiled at the thought and, in a moment of self-indulgence, I wrapped my hooves around Blue and pulled him close against my chest. I'd already started softening inside him, but unlike species such as diamond dogs or griffon's; ponies had the benefit of penile control. And I wasn't about to retreat back into a level of modesty just yet. Right now, I was enjoying the warmth and closeness of having some kind of intimacy.

Don't think about it.

I felt the stallion snuggle into me, and I must admit, it was nice to feel someone this close. It had been a while.

"So, you're leaving soon?" Blue asked, sounding hopeful that I'd correct him and say I was staying. But truth be told, I had to break the poor boy's heart because me and the troop were indeed on our way out in a few hours. And yes, I do mean 'break his heart', because even though he nodded and agreed that this wasn't anything big, I knew his type. Poor boy was a 'heart on the sleeve' kind of fellow, he'd probably already fallen for me, or would if I stayed much longer.

Then again, who can blame him, I'm irresistible.

Blood. Screaming. That red light.

"We got what we needed," I answered, "and I get the feeling your Overmare doesn't like us much."

Blue shrugged, "she doesn't like anyone." He grumbled. I chuckled, the poor kid was already pining for me; It was adorable.

"Even so," I smiled warmly, nuzzling the back of his neck, "we should head out. We've got things to do, places to go, towers to see."

"Towers?"

"Yeah, we're going to one of those white towers." I informed him, recounting the basics of what we'd found.

Earlier, when I'd entered the Library I was in a bad mood. Channelling Futurity's condition I think. He'd lost an eye, I'd lost a hoof, together we were kindred spirits in losing body parts.

"How's the crazy guy?" Asked Aero.

"Shut your fucking cock-hole!" Aero jumped at my sudden shout. I didn't know why I suddenly snapped. "You have no idea what it's like to lose something like that! Keep your bird brain out of shit you don't understand!" I was fully aware I was overreacting; I just didn't care. The room had gone silent at my shout. I felt justified regardless of logic.

I turned to go to a section of books I'd been combing through on my last visit to the library, only to come face to face with Stranger blocking my path.

"What?" I spoke sharply.

"A word." Stranger's voice was deep with warning. If I tried to refuse I was sure he'd drag me. I left the prying wary gaze of a dejected Aero and the shocked filly to leave the Library and enter the empty hall outside.

"What?" I snapped again, not up for one of his judgments.

"Enough." He said firmly, his single visible eye stared at me with a narrowed gaze. He looked upset with me. "Your prejudice and emotional issues are causing problems."

"I'm causing problems? He-"

"Yes!" Stranger shouted. I jumped. I'd never heard him raise his voice before. It had a weird effect, suddenly something inside me welled up and I felt like I was being chastised by a parent. What the fuck. "It is," Stranger's voice had returned to its calm demeanour, but he was looking at me with a paternal expression that said 'you need to do better'. "You need to let it go. Aero is here, and his presence is beneficial to the group."

"Yeah," I smirked, feeling defiant, "beneficial for setting ghouls on us and getting us into shit-"

"Getting us out of it too." He countered. "He saved your life, remember? He saved all of ours."

I opened my mouth to protest but... I couldn't. But Celestia, I wanted to. I needed this. This fight. I needed to just... break something. But... he was right. It wasn't even the reason I was upset... I was just angry. Angry since...

"He fixed my rifle. He's young, brash, irresponsible... but he's smart when he wants to be, and more skilled than you give him credit for, and has made efforts within this group that you have not appreciated." Stranger said calmly, "you owe him."

I glared up at Stranger, staring into his eyes in rebellion. Seriously, when had Stranger become my father. I felt my blood starting to boil. My anger choosing this subject to latch onto. To justify itself. Fuck this shit. I wasn't going to take it. I kept the gaze, I stared into his eye, my brow narrowed and I held steadfast in my resolve... but sadly, unlike me, he didn't need to blink and I did. The moment I did I felt like my anger faltered and something inside almost broke... like it was crumpling under the weight of something. I'd instantly lost this particular argument, so I looked away first. My prosthetic hoof slammed on the floor in a petulant manner.

"They abandoned us." I said foalishly.

"He didn't in the forest."

I couldn't argue with that. Bile rose up in the back of my throat and I thought I was going to be sick... but I swallowed it down and nodded in defeat. The emotions inside, as they flashed red... as red as that eye. I swallowed them. I buried them deep.

I moved around Stranger, avoiding his eyes, and walked back into the library, all the while I could feel Stranger's gaze on the back of my head, that judgmental look of his burning my scalp.

I looked to Aero, and nodded to him stiffly. "I'm sorry, you didn't deserve that. And thank you for saving our lives in the forest." The words were flat and without emotion. Aero, to his credit, tried his best to be casual about the apology, brushing it off with his hooves; but the way his eyes widened at first before he cleared his throat showed he was more surprised at the apology than he had been at my shouting.

That was how Futurity found us, seeing Stranger with his eyes narrowed at me, me looking somewhat uncomfortable, and Aero and Sonnet both giving me an expression of confusion.

The sight of Futurity had a knot in my stomach forming so fast it felt painful. I did my best to avoid looking at his face.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"No." Stranger answered. Futurity's good eye flashed wide for a moment at Stranger being the one to answer.

The feeling in the room was one of profound awkwardness. Suffice to say the subject changed quickly.

Apparently, Futurity had downloaded all of the data from Winters brain into the computer system. At our request, he pulled us into a small cupboard sized room that held a terminal. It looked like it was a broom closet, but the sign on the door said 'Futurity Champron'. Was this his office? He sat in a chair that looked like it had seen better days and began tapping away on the computer, the green glow of the screen bathing his red coat, the colours melding into a sickly brown. He input his password, logged onto the system and brought up the data connection to the external storage device. The screen lit up with a long list of recordings.

"Each recording covers a week," he'd told us, "the bracket you might want to look in first is around here." He highlighted a long list of over a hundred entries. "Just spam through them, they only recorded movement so there's a lot of hours in them but not as much as you might think. Happy hunting." He stood up and Aero slipped into the seat as Futurity left us to browse at our leisure.

It took seven hours.

Seven hours, three coffees, one meal, and a donut that was surprisingly nice, before we finally found what Aero was after.

His father was similarly coloured to Aero himself, a grey coat with blue eyes, but his mane was a fiery red; which told me the tips of Aero's mane might not actually be dyed. Did I owe him an apology for that assumption? I hoped not, one apology to a Pegasus a day is all I'm willing to give. His father, flanked by three other Pegasus clad in standard Enclave power armour, travelled out of Whitetail Prison with a sample of something that looked eerily similar to the Pythia serum. He travelled down south towards the border of Equestria, where he'd entered what looked to be one of those White Towers.

The tower was a few miles from the border of Equestria and part of it had been struck by a megaspell. The Tower's shield systems had protected most of its structure, but had obviously fallen against the force of the blast. The white tower now sported a large hole in its side and the shield seemed to be gone entirely. It had looked abandoned in the images, but that could have changed of course, these recordings were twenty years old... a lot can happen in twenty years.

"Are you sure you want to go there?" Futurity said. "That's the border to the Zebra Territories. I don't know for sure, but they could have patrols there. It would make sense for them to police their own borders."

"That's if there are any Zebra's left." I countered, "they could easily have been wiped out. Equestria had megaspells too ya know."

"That is a point of contention." Futurity replied, "what little we know of the war does not suggest pony's had anything more than a healing megaspell; while the Zebra's had Balefire."

"We had megaspells." Aero said simply. "They were mobile ones that used chamber systems and a whole herd o' Unicorns to work the spell; but we had a few that were offensive. The 'Celestia One'_was a right powerful one that I don' think ever got used in the war." Aero continued then looked between us as he realised we were watching him with confusion. "I ain't no good at history, but we've been tryin' to find the '_Celestia One' chamber for years. It'd be a big find for the Enclave."

I made a mental note to ask Aero more things; he seemed to have a wealth of knowledge I hadn't expected. Which irked me. I don't like being wrong about people, being right about them is something I'm supposed to be good at.

But that still left us with a few nagging issues. This whole situation was convoluted. I agreed with Lucky's thoughts. Helping someone to help someone else so that we could get help from said person was a bore of a concept. But then again, Futurity's situation was done and dusted; he was home, safe and whole... well, minus an eye (the knot in my stomach tightened), but safe and _mostly_whole. And in return he'd given us the security footage we'd wanted and we had indeed found a lead as to where to go next for Aero's father. Technically everything was going smooth; but we had an ever growing line of clues.

First they'd led Aero to Fillydelphia, then they'd led him to Whitetail Prison, and now to a tower on the Equestrian border? Would that lead to some answers for Aero? Or just another crumb on an ever expanding trail?

Sonnet's mother was in Steam Bolt's care, much like the rest of her Stable. If they were good and behaved themselves, theoretically they would be safe. Uncomfortable and not in a good place, but safe.

But the longer we left it, the more mental and physical damage would be done to her mother. I didn't want Sonnet to be reunited with a broken mother. But Fillydelphia was not a place we could barge in on, and we needed Aero's help. It's not like we could force him at gunpoint, the kid had cannons and wings, two very good excuses why forcing him to do anything would be very difficult if he really didn't want to do it.

I sighed at the thought.

"Tome, Sir?" The stallion in my hooves asked. "Are you alright?"

I was brought out of my reverie and looked down at the cute stallion in my arms. I chuckled, lightly, a soft grin spreading over my features, "yeah, I'm alright."

Blue Barrel wriggled his body against me and I admit to letting out a slight moan, his movements brought new life to my nethers still buried inside him. Well, guess it was time for round two. What better way to break the blues than sex?

I pulled out to the tip only to drive back in, grinning as he squealed.

*** *** ***

I exited Blue's room with a spring in my step. I'd spent an hour in the shower and felt clean. And yes, some of that time was spent fucking and just getting dirty again. The rest was just me enjoying the rare commodities that are soap and clean water.

I opened the door into the Library and stepped inside.

"Finally," announced Futurity as I walked in, "deal with your filly." He grumped. He brushed past me then, letting the door slide shut behind him.

"Mister Futurity, sir!" The filly yelled, trotting past me as she headed for the door. "But it's wrong!" She stamped petulantly.

"Wrong?" I asked her, wondering what had happened in my absence.

"The Stable!" She clarified. "I saw a map of it and it's wrong."

I raised my brow. "Wrong?" I repeated a dubiously.

She ran to one of the books, opened it and showed me a fold-out blueprint of the Stable.

"The orchard is too small, the Overmare office isn't in the right place, they have an extra floor that shouldn't be there and where the rest of the Orchard should be, THEY HAVE A PRINTING PRESS!"

Oooooo-kay...

"Maybe Stables are just built a little differently depending on what they were needed for?" I reasoned.

Her cheeks puffed up at that answer. "No. It's just wrong." She said petulantly as she slumped into a chair.

"Well," I began, "you won't have to put up with it much longer. We're going soon."

"We are?"

"Yeah, we know where we're headed. If all goes well, Aero should have what he needs in a few days. Then he'll be free to help us." I smiled. Then added, "to help you."

Her smile stilled and something flashed across her face. She'd almost forgotten about her mother, about everything that was going on, and why it was happening. And I had brought it back. She swallowed. Damn, she was going to cry and it was my fault. But she didn't. Instead she just nodded.

I nodded back. Filly was getting stronger.

Aero burst into the room loudly. "Got our gear!" He shouted as he dumped a large bag on the floor. I shuffled around inside it and found both my rifle and my pistol, surprisingly in better condition than when they'd been taken.

"I tuned 'em up. Your pistol was on its way out, rifle too, but not nearly as bad. I fixed up Stranger's gear too, he's got some good stuff. And I purchased this from their armoury." He pulled out what looked to be a dart gun. A crossbow style weapon that used elastic propulsion to shoot darts of poison. Not very common, and not very effective either. They were however, great for those that weren't up for killing lots of things. The darts could be made to simply knock the target out rather than kill them.

I turned to Sonnet and smiled. "Hey, Aero got you a gift."

She looked up from a book she'd shoved her nose into and cocked her head at the sight. "What is it?"

"It's a dart gun."

"A dart gun?"

I nodded and showed her the trigger mechanism. "So far you've only blasted and stamped on ghouls, you haven't had to deal with other ponies. But eventually, you may end up in a situation where you need to defend yourself. This'll be good for you."

"Does it go bang?"

"No, and that's the point."

"What's the point of a weapon that doesn't go bang?"

I balked a little, "erm, blades don't go bang."

"But they still kill," she countered, "does that kill?" She asked, pointing a hoof to the dart gun.

"Well it can, it depends, but right now... no." I was getting concerned.

"Then I don't want it."

I stared at her. Her expression was defiant. "You want to kill?" I asked her carefully.

"I'm going to kill." she answered flatly. "That's what this place does right? It makes ponies bad. Even when they think they're good."

I watched the filly stand up from her chair, pad over to the bag of weapons and retrieve the 10mm I'd given her at one point. She slipped the holster of the weapon around her body in a casual manner, and headed for the door. She stepped out leaving me and Aero in silence.

*** *** ***

Futurity had indeed done us a solid. When arriving here he'd told the Overmare that we'd learned about their plight and had wanted to help. It was the only reason we'd been taken care of by their medical facility, and why we'd been allowed to explore and run about the place without supervision; as a show of trust. What that led to however, was an expectant meeting with the Overmare.

After all the drama of Futurity's condition had calmed down, we'd been given a day to gather ourselves. That day revolved around me grabbing a cute stallion to enjoy, and reading with Sonnet. When that was all done, I felt distinctly uncomfortable as to what was expected of me next.

What made it worse was that she only wanted to see me. Aero was a Pegasus, and Sonnet and Stranger were Unicorns; she had no interest in having them anywhere near her. She wanted to see me, not because I was respected, or smarter, or apparently the leader of our ragtag group... but because I was an Earth Pony. And that's all that mattered to her.

I want to say her racism irked me, but my own Pegasus prejudices made me second guess being that kind of hypocrite. But hey, at least I had reasons for my issues.

"Tome Tale." The Overmare greeted me as I sat opposite her. She was an orange mare with brown eyes and a deeper orange mane. She wore the standard stable barding with her mane in a bun. "Have you enjoyed your stay with us? Are you well rested enough? Being fed? Is everything comfortable?"

I didn't like how chummy she was being.

"The facilities are nice." I said stoically. "The food could be better." My criticism of the food made her eye twitch.

"Surely that can't be so." She challenged, "I can't imagine much decent food grows out there."

"Oh it doesn't. But ponies out there eat meat now, something of a necessity; so your bland apples don't really hold up against a Brahmin steak."

"O-oh..." The Overmare had turned an amusing shade of green. "That's... interesting information." She made a note on her terminal, the glow from the screen made her face seem greener.

"So, you need help with something?" I asked.

"Resources." She stated simply, "we need resources. Weapons, armour, things like that." She said firmly. "We've started to get reports of more attacks from the Forest, the Timberwolves are starting to become a problem. They've found three ways into the Stable so far due to Radroach breaches; we've patched them up, but they'll probably find more." She sighed. "I don't want my Stable in more danger."

"And the inbreeding?"

The Overmare laughed, "oh you haven't subscribed yourself to Red Eyes opinions have you?"

"Is that really what you should be calling him after such recent events?"

The Overmare balked and turned away. "Perhaps not... force of habit." She clopped her hooves together awkwardly. "Look, R-Futurity... means well. He does." She said in a kind and motherly condescending manner, "and there's no doubt the buck is brilliant. But sometimes... a little wrong on the bigger picture."

"Stallion. And that picture would be?"

Her brow raised at me correcting her verbiage, but she continued anyway. "The inbreeding does cause problems, yes. But all of those problems we can fix with augmentation. When a risk presents a problem, and you stop that problem being a problem at all, the risk becomes moot." She informed happily. "The issue of inbreeding is a non-issue, why address it? Why not let my people act as they desire?"

"And what if Futurity can find the cure he wants, to make the risks of inbreeding a non-issue -as you say- so that it becomes safe and the need for augmentation becomes the moot point? What then?" I asked, making sure to use the same terminology as the Overmare.

The Overmare's brow narrowed. "This meeting was to establish an alliance, and trade and resource agreement." She said flatly, "if your only interest is criticising our Stable, then you and your friends can leave." She said.

She was being defensive. People like this were often firmly set in their ways. I had begun to wonder if the desire for augmentation and 'improvement' was less a level of necessity as it was a point of pride. Like the inbreeding was an excuse. Or maybe the augmentation was the excuse to continue with the inbreeding. How did that start anyway? Almost two hundred years, a five hundred starter populace, many of which full families... even then genetic diversity should have been relatively safe for much longer than this. Who started the inbreeding? And how had it become a habit for this Stable?

I wouldn't get any information from this mare though. The back of my brain itched for my attention, demanding I focus on this new intriguing mystery, but instead of giving into the urge I filed it away in the category of 'Mysteries I'll Try To Deal With Later, But Likely Won't Get Around To'.

The Overmare's mouth was tightly shut, her eyes were narrowed, and her posture strong. She wasn't confident, oh no, she was fucking terrified of me. I could see that behind her eyes. But she had a faux confidence to deliver, and I admired her efforts in the presentation.

I leaned back in my chair and made a point of looking her over carefully. "What can you offer us?"

"Safe harbour, a place to return to when you need to relax and recuperate."

"A place we have to travel through a deadly forest to get to." I countered, "we need more than that."

The Overmare glared at me. I don't think she liked my attitude. Good, I didn't like her face!

Her glare softened and a smile spread across her features. It was sickly, but spoke of a little cunning. "We have mares and stallions that might be interested in giving you... special services."

My brow rose, "I'm already fucking the boy in the armoury." I replied candidly. "I don't need those kinds of offers. I am however interested that you'd prostitute your own Stable to further your needs. Do they know you hold them so cheaply?" I gave her a cocky smirk.

"What do you want?!" She suddenly snapped. "What do we have, that you want?"

My smirk only widened. She was desperate, much more than she wanted to let on. "It makes me wonder what kind of help you really need."

"What do you mean?" Her teeth were grinding together. Oh she was fun to toy with.

"Well it seems to me," I began, "that you'll probably keep to the bargain until you've aided us more than enough that you feel you could ask more. That's my prediction, anyway. That you want us to do something for you that you aren't comfortable with saying right now. Something we might refuse to do."

Her following silence was confirmation enough.

"A power talisman." The Overmare finally answered, her voice low. "Our one was damaged in an... accident. It's fine for now, able to last us. At the rate of degradation, we have about a year."

"You want us to get you a new one." I chuckled, "and why was this so difficult to ask for?"

"Because there's only one place you'll probably get it."

I raised my brow, "oh?"

"Canterlot." Said the Overmare. "At the Stable-Tec headquarters."

"You know about Canterlot?" I asked curiously. It was a little further than Futurity had ventured, so how could she know its situation.

"Futurity's recordings."

"Ah." So his excursions into the Whitetail Prison had been for more than I'd thought. I figured he'd been using the place to research the ghouls healing ability for his people, and to study the ponies via the camera systems for the Stable. But it seemed he was also gathering information on those areas he was looking at.

At least now I knew why she'd been hesitant to outright ask for it.

"Canterlot," I began, "is full of Ghouls. Cannibalistic undead ponies that cannot be hurt or killed. They heal in radiation, and Canterlot is an irradiated hole fit for Tartarus. And the Ghouls are the nice part." I watched her brow raise at the words. "The worst is the air itself. Tinged with pink and more deadly than you can imagine. The Pink Cloud will melt the flesh from your bones, fuse your clothing to your skin... you will die if you breath it in. But not quickly... no, it's slow, painful, you feel every inch of it degrading and burning through every fibre of your body... your hooves become fused to the pavement, your clothing sinking into your flesh at it slowly gets torn and eaten away, while inside... your lungs and organs begin to melt. That is where you are asking us to go."

Silence descended for a moment. I saw a shiver run through her and she had the decency to look down at the table rather than up at me. "You're right-"

"-so when would you like us to leave?" I interrupted her, giving a smirk.

"You'll... do it?"

I leaned back and put on a thoughtful expression. "We will provide you with weaponry. We will make three drops in the next two months. These drops will include alternative foods as treats; armour, weaponry, and we will provide protection for you while here. We will also provide errands and courier services as needed for your Stable when we are not otherwise occupied with our own projects and aims." Something glinted in her eyes. This was me accepting that oh so dangerous mission. But I could see something beneath that glint, the worry. She knew this would come at a high cost. "You will provide us with three month's-worth of supplies before we leave here today. You will also provide, as part of those supplies, a water talisman. I hear you have a spare." I smirked. "When kept in a container, we can pass our water through it and provide ourselves with as much clean water we need on our travels."

The Overmare predictably balked. "A Water Talisman is not for portable use! It's supposed to regulate an entire area's water supply, from waste to drinking water!" The very concept of us using it for something as simple as drinking water on the road seemed to have offended her.

"Then it should have no problem purifying a few RADs and dirt from a local stream on our journeys." I commented casually. "Oh, and yes, we will use this place as a safe harbour should we ever desire it. You'll also increase the working pay and/or benefits of that nice stallion in the armoury, Blue Barrel; and you will provide Futurity with absolutely any resources he desires for his projects. And a bigger office." I gave her my most confident smile.

"No."

I raised my brow at her single answer. "No?"

"No." She repeated. "We're not giving you a Water Talisman."

"You seem to cling quite desperately to your talismans. I thought you disliked Unicorn magic." I chastised, smirking internally.

"Talismans are Zebra magic actually, and how they are made is hardly the point. One Water Talisman is worth more than anything you could offer us. Even the Power Talisman, there are always more options."

"Is it worth more than your life?"

She froze at my words. The lights suddenly dimmed, and a red light began flashing as an alarm suddenly blared out.

"What did you do?!" The mare was suddenly on her hooves. She reared up at her keyboard and tapped buttons frantically.

"I did nothing." I smirked, knowing exactly what was happening.

I could see the scared look on the Overmare's face as she brought up the camera feeds on her monitor. I knew what she was looking at. When down near the armoury and the security systems, there was a group of worker ponies, laughing and joking. One with robotic limb, another with an entirely cybernetic jaw-frame who was quite ugly. They'd been working on the wall of the Stable that had come loose. I could see beyond the wall slightly. It looked chewed through, Radroaches likely. It was thick enough to shield against radiation, but I admit to being surprised the walls weren't thicker. But then again, they were supposed to lead straight into rock, but beyond there was darkness. I think it was a tunnel, like that side of the Stable led into catacombs. Which made sense. The Stable was built underneath the old 'Castle of the Two Sisters' from what I'd read in their library. That castle had catacombs and dungeons, and they'd built into those tunnels. It was much less defended than most other Stables. Something had found its way in.

"Timberwolves." The Overmare said. She grabbed the intercom and pressed 'active', "this is the Overmare!" Her voice called out through the speaker system in the Stable, any pony with a PipBuck would also hear her voice through the EarBloom system. "We have a breach in the Lower levels. Timberwolves. Get into your homes, lock the doors, and stay there. Security will handle this!" The moment she said that, a horrible sound came from her terminal. Somepony was screaming. The Overmare stared at the screen, her hoof still on the 'active' button, the screams echoed through the intercom as she watched a security guard get torn apart. She let go of the intercom button, and the sound of the stallion's screams were cut off from the Stable. But we still heard it, me and her. His screams echoed around the room before a crunch cut them off. A howl followed.

"So about that Talisman." I said casually.

"Are you fucking insane!" She suddenly screamed, her hooves striking the table in a cold fury. "Fuck you! Get out!"

I shrugged and stood up, heading to the door.

"Security, get those Timberwolves under control!"

The corridor was a bustle of activity when I stepped into it. Ponies ran about, the green light of PipBucks reflected on the walls as they passed. I crossed the corridor, went down the stairs and towards the Library.

"Tome?" Aero asked as I stepped in.

"Sorry about the commotion," I began, "they're having a Timberwolf problem. It cut the meeting short." I said, knowing it was only vaguely the truth. I sat down and picked up the book that I had started earlier. This was a new one, this book was about cybernetics, written by a one Dr Horse himself, a doctor in this facility. It described his entire process of becoming what he was, a machine, how he'd downloaded himself into the memory banks of a Mr Hoovesy robot to immortalise himself. And apparently he was pleased with the change. Hooves were not nearly as good as having many different limbs that were all delicate and precise in committing to any task. The idea of meeting him was both creepy and intriguing simultaneously. The way he wrote almost made becoming a robot seem worth it.

"Shouldn't we be helping them?" Aero asked curiously.

I shrugged in response. "To get where we need to go, we need supplies. For supplies we either need to trade, or buy them. We're low on both trade items, and caps. And the Overmare refused the offer for our services."

"So you're going to let them possibly die because they won't pay you?"

As Aero said the words I could feel Sonnet and Stranger turn to look at me expectantly.

I sighed and laid my book down and looked directly at Stranger. "Your judgemental stare is misplaced my friend," I began, watching the crease in his bandages that showed his brow had raised, "you should be directing it at them. They're the ones that refuse to hire us for the sake of a single Talisman. But... lets work this out." I smirked. I wasn't going to take this bullshit. And I knew my argument was solid. "We have two places to go. One is a personal destination, the other is to continue our errands for Aero, which will take us many miles to the south of Equestria, near the Badlands, and to the border of Equestria, and the Zebra Territories. By your reckoning, how long will it take us to reach there if we left right now and bee lined it?"

Stranger's single eye narrowed, "four days. Without rest."

"You hear that, four days without rest." I repeated for Aero who was looking at me with a familiar expression of disgust, and Sonnet who was looking shocked this was even a conversation. I continued, "and how much food do we have?"

"None." Stranger answered immediately.

"And why do we have none?"

"The Raider attack," he answered, "we were forced to leave our bags behind."

I smirked at my comrade, and I could see in his eye he was feeling defeated by my argument. "We need food to survive. We need rest so expect the journey to take the better part of a week and we can't survive a week without food. Especially when we're dragging along a child."

"Hey!" Sonnet yelled indignantly. I ignored her.

"And you think this justifies lettin' 'em get their asses killed by Timberwolves?" Aero said, standing to his hooves.

"Won't they give us food? For helping them?" Sonnet asked, showing an adorable amount of naiveté.

I raised my brow at Stranger, who turned away from me and sighed.

"Supply and demand." Stranger said, his deep voice almost felt like it vibrated through the floors.

"What?" Aero looked confused.

Stranger sighed again, it was a heavy defeated one. "Few ponies act against their interests. The only way to secure a deal, is to make what you are offering needed enough."

"What does that mean?" Sonnet asked, her small voice sounding behind me from her chair.

"It means," I answered with a smile, "that they're going to hire us, because-" The door suddenly opened and the Overmare rushed in, looking very frazzled and in a state of panic, her eyes wide and a look of desperation on her face. "-they're not going to have a choice."

I smirked.

*** *** ***

We were hired. Obviously.

Seven ponies had died so far. Three since I'd been kicked from the Overmare's Office. The moment the third had died she'd ran to find us.

Security of Stable 101 were not the best. They had a total of twenty ponies that were trained in weaponry, well over half of which had never had to fire their weapons out of a gun range. They were green, unblooded, and five of them had already been killed. The other two deaths had been civilian ponies in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Previously, they'd had three other invasions of Timberwolves. The first had been three of them, the next had only been one, and the third one had been only two. They figured they could handle themselves quite well, only having lost one pony per invasion. They weren't expecting a full pack of ten Timberwolves.

I pulled out my rifle. To my left, Stranger pulled out his newly refurbished rifle. He looked it over with an expression that was akin to an art appraiser looking on a beautiful painting. It was like he was in love. His gun was clean and polished to a shine. The insides had been taken apart and cleaned thoroughly, some of the parts had even been repaired or replaced entirely. It was in perfect working condition. That rifle hadn't been in this good a condition since it was first made two hundred years ago. I had to admit, Aero knew his stuff.

Sonnet beside me pulled out her pistol. I considered for a moment offering the Dart Gun to her again, but it would be pointless. Not only did I doubt she'd take it, but I doubted a Dart Gun would be effective against Timberwolves.

We were at a set of stairs. Below us were the residential areas where the Timberwolves were skulking about. The strong doors of pony's homes were holding them off for now, but those claws were strong and sharp, and I didn't expect them to hold up for very long.

"Here's what's going to happen." I began. "There are two directions down there, if the Timberwolves are all together, Aero will take the direction with the most wolves and blow them away with his cannons, me and Stranger will take out the other direction with Sonnet providing support if they get too close to us. If, however, they're spread out on this section... me and Stranger will do our best to deal with them individually. But if we see a group of them, it'll be your job, Aero, to blow them to smithereens. Sonnet, your job remains the same. Back us up, make sure they don't get close, and don't put yourself at risk. Okay?" I asked. Everypony nodded.

Sonnet didn't look afraid. It made me wonder what the constant violence had done to her psyche. Stable fillies fresh into the Wasteland shouldn't be gripping a gun with confidence within a few days. It was probably my fault, but there was no time to dwell on it.

I took point by slipping down the stairs towards the corner. Aero was next to me, and Stranger behind him. I glanced around the corner and quickly glanced both ways. One direction had two Timberwolves, the other only had one. So they were spread out. I gestured for Aero to slip back and motioned for Stranger to join me. This'd be up to both of us.

Stranger slipped around first. A bullet erupted from the muzzle of his rifle and tore right through both the Timberwolves in his sight, sending a hole right through one and into the other. I dashed into the corridor, turned the other direction and aimed at the only Timberwolf in my direction. But the beast had already began reacting. Fast fucker! He was on me quickly, jumping high, it's claws lashing down. My rifle raised up. BANG! The bullet smashed through the Timberwolf's neck. It collapsed beside me and scrambled over the floor as glowing green sap poured from the wound. I rolled over and brought down the butt of my gun hard on the wound, crushing more of its throat, wrenching it apart. The head was now only attached via a sliver of gory bark. It struggled for a moment before the light in its eyes died, and its body slowly fell apart into a barely recognisable pile of twigs and sickly sap.

I heard clambering behind me and turned to see Stranger's Timberwolves getting back up, the holes in their sides starting to close.

"The head, you dolt! Get the head!" I chastised.

He took aim again and his next shot blasted the head from the one closest, it's body erupted in response. The second one dived over its partner's corpse and ran at us. Then my ears were ringing and the Timberwolf exploded.

Aero stood beside us, his cannons smoking. He turned to us, and despite the helmet I was sure he was giving us a judgmental expression.

"Sorry," said Stranger, "I forgot."

I rolled my eyes and looked to make sure Sonnet was okay. She was busy rubbing a hoof against her ear.

"Come on." I said, moving forward. "The others probably heard that, they'll be coming for us." I heard Aero's cannons load and cock with another heavy round in preparation.

We turned a corner, rifles taking aim and paused. Nothing. No noise. No Timberwolves. We'd only taken out three, if the count was accurate, we'd still have seven left. So where were they?

I heard something nearby. The light scrape of a claw on metal. We froze.

"What-" Sonnet began before my hoof stuffed her mouth.

"Shush." I hissed as I lowered myself to the ground.

The head of a Timberwolf was poking around the corner ahead of us. I aimed my rifle carefully, then fired. My bullet struck the wall though and the beast scampered off. I should have had Stranger take the shot really.

I followed the Timberwolf, leading the others with me. I cantered down the hallway and rounded a corner. There it was! I fired again, only just missing it as it ducked around another corner.

"Why's it just running away?" Sonnet asked.

"It's herding us," I said as I glared down the hallway, "it's leading us to the others."

"You sure they're that smart?" Aero asked.

"Apparently so."

We moved down the corridor, slowly.

"What're we gonna do?" Aero asked.

I shrugged, "that depends on how smart they actually are."

"And if they're really smart?"

I shrugged again, was I supposed to be a Timberwolf expert now? "They'll be leading us into a baited area. We'll focus on the bait while others attack us from different angles that we don't see. Pincer movement." I guessed, not because I understood them, but because it's what we'd do.

"They're animals." Aero stated.

I chuckled. "Out of all the things you should have learned down here, 'never to underestimate anything' should have been very high on the list."

Aero grumbled at that.

The white walls gave in to grey ones in an interesting change of décor. The blue line that was halfway down the wall was scratched off or removed entirely, and our steps echoed differently as we moved. I had to remind myself that while stables were built downwards, they were also built inwards. Even though we weren't on the lowest level, that didn't stop us being deep in the Stable. The doors here were marked with numbers only. They looked residential, and to check I pressed the access button on one of the doors. As I thought, it wasn't locked. In the far left there was a small makeshift kitchen area, on the other side a couch, a coffee table, and another doorway that lead into what looked a bedroom. However, there weren't any personal belongings and there were piles upon piles of boxes labelled 'spare bedding', 'spare screws', and 'bed parts'. Spare rooms then... how many had they expected to live here? I'd probably enquire about that at some point.

"Tome." Stranger said, interrupting my thoughts. I turned to look at him. He'd moved ahead and stood at a corner in the hallway. I walked up and glanced around the corner.

Three of them. Two were skulking about, pacing back and forth while the third stood still. They were probably waiting on us.

I slipped back around the corner while Stranger stayed to keep his eye on our quarry.

"Okay, here's how this is going to work," I began, tapping my hoof on the ground as I spoke, "I'm going to set one of our nice mines around this part of the corridor. I'm going to pressure set them so they won't go off by proximity. Aero, you fly over them, blast the bastards down the corridor once and dash back to us. You need to stay in the air and you need to move fast to avoid the blast."

"Why don't I just blow them up with cannons and save time? I could get them all from this distance?" Aero countered.

"Because they're decoys. Likely more will be in the rooms or hiding somewhere."

"It's a straight corridor. They ain't gonna be opening any doors." Aero said smugly.

"Just humour me." I urged. The Pegasus grumbled but eventually shrugged his acceptance. At least he was listening.

I pulled out the mine and a few tools. I used a screwdriver to pull out some screws and open the lid. I found the power wire to the proximity sensor and split it. I used some tape to stick one part of the wire underneath the mane plate cover and the other part inside, I then pulled out a spring and fitted that to the inside with some tape (ah, good old tape, always useful). I used a file to wear down the screw bearings so the screws would be loose in holding down the main surface plate of the mine. Once that was done I fitted the plate back on and screwed it in place. The result was a top that was held up by a spring but kept down by loose screws. If something stepped on it, it'd push the top down, connecting the circuit on the inside. I flipped the switch on the side, reactivating the mine. Without power, the proximity sensor wouldn't go off... but step on it and it'd suddenly have power. You can't get in much closer proximity than stepping on it.

I placed it on the floor and pulled out another mine. I did the same to that one and placed it down too. Then I looked into a nearby room. It was dark and empty, no boxes in this one. I motioned for them to get in and everyone stepped inside other except Aero.

"Alright, you need to be fast with this. Get to the end of the corridor. The space here is small; it'll contain the blast so it'll probably stretch down the hallway. You need to be able to outrun that, or at least get far enough before it goes off at all. So-"

"-I get it. Go fast." He said with a grumbling. He continued after I shut the door, his voiced muffled by the door's metal. "Fucking earth ponies, telling a Pegasus to go fast, they wouldn't know fast if-" The rest was lost as he moved away.

We waited.

Our breathing grew loud in the darkness. I looked at Sonnet, expecting her to be shaking, to be worried. But she was calm, collected, listening intently. She seemed... solid. I wasn't sure if I liked that. Of course I wanted her to be strong, but I wasn't sure I wanted her to lose herself in the process. But I was becoming aware that maybe that was just the trade-off in the Wasteland. The place took your sense of who you were in exchange for survival.

I reached up for the handle and cracked the door to peak out. I almost jumped out of my skin when Aero's cannons boomed. My good hoof pressed to my chest to calm my startled heart as I watched our feathered companion rush back around the corner. He was flying as suggested, his armour gleamed in the dull lights of the corridor as he whizzed past us. The Timberwolves were right behind him. Two of them bounded around the corner. I realised something that sent a cold shiver down my spine. Aero wasn't fast enough. I watched one of their feet step on one of the mines just as it jumped up. I slammed the door closed again as I saw Aero get dragged down to the floor by the weight of a Timberwolf on his back. I waited for barely a second before I realised something was wrong. I opened the door again and glanced at the mine. The light wasn't green... it was blue. Shit. The proximity sensor would need to initialise... there was a delay!

I looked back at Aero as the Timberwolf snapped its jaws down onto his throat. I watched blood erupt and splash over the ground as Aero's screams turned into a gurgle. I watched more of the Timberwolves came around the corner, there HAD been more, hiding somewhere. I was about to dive out to grab Aero when I saw the blue light turn green.

I barely slammed the door shut in time. The explosion rocked the ground and slammed against the door with enough force to bruise my shoulder as I braced against it.

"Aero!" Sonnet screamed in panic, trying to push me out of the way to get through the door.

"There's nothing we can do," I yelled at her, "he's got armour, he'll be fine!" I lied. I knew he wouldn't be fine.

I opened the door the moment I felt it might be sort-of safe. The mines had torn the walls open, revealing the rock beyond. The corridor was a mess of dented and scorched metal, and the burning remains of Timberwolves. I stepped through what felt like a wall of heat. The place was cloudy with smoke and heat prickled my fur. The metal floor was so hot my hooves stung at the contact. I looked down the corridor and saw a black dent in the far side, and the crumpled remains of Aero.

"Shit!" I galloped to him as fast as I could.

*** *** ***

"I thought you were leaving?" The blue colt asked beside me.

I looked down at him. Blue Barrel's body was more comforting than I'd expected. I looked from him back through the glass window into the medical room. On the table was a pony that was thin, his ribs visible through his dull and listless coat. He seemed frail. Everything about him spoke of a pony that was malnourished even by Wasteland standards.

Aero was not a healthy pony.

When I thought about it, I didn't remember seeing him eat.

Apart from his obvious malnourishment, he also sported burns and lacerations. These could be fixed with a healing potion, but there was a problem. A healing potion would seal all of the wound's, including the one caused by the large scrap of metal that stuck from Aero's stomach and out his back. That wouldn't help him at all. The suit could repair itself and administer poultices as needed, but it couldn't conduct surgery. The moment the suit had registered that the damage would require such a thing, it had automatically unlocked itself. I'd left the armour where it was, ready to be collected later while I carried its occupant to the medical facility. I had Stranger watch our back in case any Timberwolves came up behind us, but there were no signs of them. Whether the explosion had killed them all or there was some still skulking about, we didn't really know.

"Mister Tome Tale?"

I turned to the voice and saw a brown pony with a sandy grey mane. His eyes matched his coat and his expression was flat. I hoped this was a good sign, he wasn't putting any effort into seeming contrite, so maybe he wasn't about to deliver bad news.

"Yes?"

"My name is Shiny Scalpel. I'm your friends Doctor. Please have a seat."

Okay, now I was worried. The doctor's tone matched the unmoving features of his face, I had a feeling this was a disability. With his face unreadable, I instead focused on his body language. He sat down beside me and leaned forward, his hooves gently tapping together. This was a practiced motion. It simulated awkwardness, shyness, nervousness, the hesitation of delivering bad news. It was in an effort to gain a level of emotive sympathy for his position as the bearer of such news, to make it more difficult for the receiver of the news to blame him for it. This was of course, marred by the straight gaunt expression, but I could respect his efforts at least.

"He's dying." I concluded simply, wanting to give the pony an easier time with the delivery.

"He's not going to die." The Doctor answered to my surprise. "Removing the metal from your friend's chest will be easy, healing him with healing potions afterwards, will be easy. These are not his, nor my concerns."

"Then what is your concern?" I asked carefully. He turned to me and met my eyes. I could see the slight indentations on his cheeks, scars... nerve damage? No wonder he couldn't emote.

"His right foreleg," he answered, "it was shattered and eviscerated during the blast and the crash into the wall. If he's given a healing potion, it will set wrong and he'll become permanently lame."

"And you can't just set it right?"

"No."

"Why not?" It seemed a simple thing.

"Because the leg wouldn't survive. Blood vessels were cut off by bone fragments. The leg has already started to die. If I committed to surgery, it would take hours to fix the leg and with no guarantee of success. And any success I did achieve would be diluted by the reality to follow. The nerves would likely remain damaged. It could never bear his weight."

"Healing potions are magic. Fixing shit is what they do. Why won't they work on his leg?" I challenged, it was times like this where I really wished I had skipped ahead on my player to listen to more advanced details on magic and potions.

Doctor Scalpel sighed. "Because healing potions magically duplicate the body's natural healing process at high speed. It can mend cuts and wounds of near fatal proportion, but it cannot regrow complex bodily structures. A healing potion cannot fix his leg for the same reason that no healing potion could ever return to you, your leg."

I bristled. I couldn't tell if he meant it negatively or mockingly, but I was suddenly overcome with a strong dislike for this stallion.

"Is there no way to save the leg?" I asked through grit teeth.

"Of course, such a thing would be within the capabilities of any pony advanced in healing magic, but alas, we are wanting in Unicorns."

We stared at each other for a moment.

"Fine," I relented. "So what's to be done?"

"I will save everything else on him, and then my assistant will take over."

I looked towards the door where a grey pony with a dark grey mane stood wearing Stable barding. He didn't look shy, simply curious. He had a monocle over one eye that had several frames for extra magnification. He was a colt, barely a teenager.

"A child?"

"Silver Slaughter is the Stables best at Cybernetic implantation. He'll be in good hooves."

With that the Doctor got up and padded back into the medical room. The nurse that had tended to me when I'd first woken up was in there with him, as well as a green stallion I hadn't seen before. The door was closed and the blinds were shut in preparation for the surgery that would remove the metal from Aero's chest, and replace his hoof with a metal one.

My own hoof ached.

*** *** ***

"What kind of name is Silver Slaughter anyway?" I was whining, I knew it. But I didn't care. "Luna, I can't believe Aero did this to us. I can't believe he'd be so stupid, or so slow. Fucking bird brains. Fucking Pegasus. Like to live in the fast lane but never fast enough when it really counts. Fucking scummy shithead!"

A hoof on my shoulder stopped me. I looked down into Sonnet's brown eyes. She gave me a soft understanding smile. "I'm worried about him too."

I gulped on a hard lump in my throat.

"I'm not worried. Feather-brain can die for all I care." I insisted.

The door opened and the nurse poked her head out. "The surgery was a success," she said with a warm smile, "you can see him now if you like."

I was the first to rush past her and into the operating room. The room was silver and white, Aero laid on a table in the centre, operating tools were around in various places and the beeping of machines were an accompaniment to the dimly lit room. The doctor and colt were in the corner, watching as we entered.

The smell of blood and bile was strong. Blood had drooled onto the floor and the blanket covering Aero was stained red from the surgery. On a table nearby was his severed hoof. He looked almost peaceful as he laid there. I grabbed the sheet and lifted it, looking at the work. His leg ended just below the knee. It was swollen and looked bloated with puss as it led into the grey metal of the prosthetic. I looked closer at the cybernetic leg and noticed a few things about it.

"Doctor?" I asked in a low voice.

Doctor Shiny Scalpel approached with Silver Slaughter at his side. "Yes?"

"Is this prosthetic made out of..."

"-The metal that punctured his stomach," interrupted Silver Slaughter with a proud smile. "Not much metal, but I was able to outfit it with some other parts we had lying about."

Pieces of a puzzle slotted into place in my brain. The stone in my throat dropped to my chest and I did my best not to react as my emotions spiked. "I need to speak with the Overmare." I left the room briskly, brushing past Stranger and Sonnet; they watched me in confusion as I passed.

They didn't follow me, which was just as well. I would prefer they watch over Aero, and I wasn't about to let Sonnet see this.

I approached the Overmare's area. It required going through a door and up some stairs, so that was annoying, but a few heavy knocks and she answered via the intercom.

"Yes?"

"It's me, I need to speak to you." I said, trying my best to sound calm.

The door buzzed and I pushed it open. I ascended the stairs and into the office room at the top. I padded into the familiar office. Like usual, the Overmare sat behind her metal desk, her computer glowing softly to her left, bathing her orange coat with a slight green tint. "Tome Tale, can I help you?" The Overmare asked.

I padded over as casually as I could and sat in the chair opposite her. Then I let out a soft sigh as I forced myself to remain calm.

"I have a question."

"You do?"

I nodded. "Your cybernetics and those of everypony else in your Stable. Where do you get the materials to make them?"

Her brow rose, "interesting question. Most are recycled after a pony dies. Why do you ask?"

I let out a slow breath before I spoke again, "and initially? Would I be right in saying you've been repurposing Stable materials? Stripping parts as and when required?"

"Of course, we weren't exactly left a host of materials down here."

I launched myself at the Overmare, grabbing her by the collar of her barding; as she squealed in surprise I dragged the mare from her chair and over the table. I turned and slammed her against the wall, pinning her there while my eyes bore into her with a furious gaze. I was shaking.

"You have been stripping the Stable to fix your bodies... AND YOU WONDER HOW THE TIMBERWOLVES GOT IN!" I yelled, trying to hold myself back from beating the shit out of this stupid excuse for a pony. I took a deep breath and forced myself away, letting her drop down to the floor, staring up at me terrified. "Some of the walls," I began, controlling myself, "are paper-thin. You have stripped the deeper unused parts of the Stable to such a point that the Timberwolves have managed to claw their way in from the catacombs." I turned to her and glared. "The blood that was spilled here today, is on your hooves." I said in what probably sounded like a growl.

The Overmare coughed and looked up at me, her eyes defiantly angry. "The decision to use the Stable walls was made by Overmare's long before me and long since dead!" She barked in defence.

"You are their leader." I said, surprised at how calm my voice was, even if it was dripping with venom for the mare. "They are your responsibility, and that makes this your responsibility." I turned from her glare and left the room.

I didn't want to look at her anymore.

*** *** ***

I snorted as I was jolted awake by a jab in the side from Stranger.

"Wha-?!" I barked as I shot up from my doze, noticing that Aero was awake and watching me. "Oh, hey. How do you feel?" I rubbed the sleep from my eyes before slipping my glasses back onto my nose.

"You saved me." He said.

It wasn't a question.

"Wouldn't be the first time." I shrugged, wondering what he was getting at.

"I know," said Aero.

Stranger stood up beside me and headed for the door.

"Where you going?" I asked.

"To tell Sonnet he's awake." Stranger answered as he left the room. He closed the door behind him, leaving Aero and I alone.

"Tome." I looked back at him. The Pegasus had seen better days. He had bags under his eyes despite heavy sleep, and he looked weak. He also needed a damn shower.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"For what?" I was confused, he was looking at me weirdly.

"I haven't said it to you yet. You've done a lot and you deserve it. And I'm sorry-"

"Oh shut up." I mumbled, cutting him off. "You'll say 'thank you' and 'sorry' now while in a hospital bed, but you'll be up and about before you know it pissing me off as usual." I feigned annoyance, but a small corner of my mouth curled into a smile.

He smiled too. "Yeah, probably... you asshole."

"Featherbrained shithead."

"Abusive cunt." He said, his smile spreading into a smirk.

Oh I couldn't let that go unanswered. "Uncultured twat."

"Mud-hooved, lowbrow, cunt-nugget."

I snorted at that one. "Illiterate wank-stain."

"Whats a 'wank-stain'?" Sonnet said from the doorway. Oh fuck me.

*** *** ***

'...As found in research on adults, virtually all of these studies find a dose-response effect: the more directly a child lies in harm's way, the more severe the risk of PTSD. Similar Developmental psychopathology and terrorism Neuropsychopharmacology dose gradients have been observed in research...

The sound of my tape had lulled me to sleep hours ago. It wasn't the first time I'd fallen asleep listening to it, I often just rewound to what I could remember the next night I used it.

I'd fast-forwarded this time, using the contents listed at the beginning of the tape to find the Child Psychology section and had looked specifically for treatment of mental trauma. I had a feeling I was handling Sonnet badly and should probably do some reading. I wanted the child to survive the Wasteland, not be broken by it.

My dreams were full of her that night. She was screaming a lot in them, terrified... before her screams turned to laughter. I saw her surrounded by blood, licking the blood from her hooves as she shook and laughed maniacally. I watched as she placed a gun I hadn't noticed before, under her own chin as she laughed into the night.

I tried to get to her.

I felt like I was running through syrup, wading through a thick atmosphere of tar as fast as I could. But no matter how fast I ran, I couldn't get close to her.

BANG!

The shot of the gun echoed around me and I saw skull and brain splatter the ground. The shot echoed out and descended into a low growl. It didn't stop. It wouldn't stop. The growl continued... and then it rose.

I lurched upright in my dark room. I froze and listened for the growling. I held my breath, waiting for some indication that I wasn't alone in the room, but the only one that was in there with me was Blue Barrel. He laid beside me, snoring into his pillow.

I let out my breath when my chest began to ache. I'd just been dreaming... that's all. I sighed to myself and slowly laid down, closing my eyes. I rested there for a moment, taking in a deep breath to relax myself, my eyes opening to look up at the ceiling.

Green eyes stared back at me. I almost thought I was still dreaming.

I stared into those eyes for a moment, the green swirling and the veins that followed the joints of the creature bathed the ceiling in a dull glow that seemed hazy without my glasses on. I considered reaching over to the bedside table and grabbing them, but I was afraid to make any movement at all.

A shuffling beside me was met by the embrace of Blue as he snuggled up against me, his hooves wrapping around my torso. The smaller stallion took a deep breath of my scent and his eyes fluttered a little. His hoof stroked my chest and a goofy smile spread across his cheeks.

"Hey... you okay?" His voice was part concern, part hope. His hoof was slowly slipping beneath the covers and gently stroking over my stomach with the hint of going lower.

Any other situation I'd reciprocate, but in this moment my hoof found his and held it tight. "You need to get out of this bed."

"What?" His eyes finally opened and he looked at me with a hurt expression. He probably thought he'd done something wrong.

"I'm going to throw you out, it may hurt a bit, but I'm sorry. Are you ready?"

He began to sit up, looking at me in confusion, "what are you talking ab- OOOUT!"

He squealed as I grabbed his hoof and launched him with all my strength. I threw him bodily over me and off the bed just as the Timberwolf dropped. I thrust my hooves up but the Timberwolf was on me. I shoved my hoof up into its jaws as it tried to bite down. My prosthetic grated as its teeth clamped down. I looked up into its eyes and noticed the glint of metal at its neck. My knife... looks like someone wanted to finish its meal.

I kicked up with my hind legs and launching it off myself. It crashed to the floor. I dived from the bed and grabbed the whimpering Blue and dragged him through the door and into the corridor.

"Come on!"

"I thought you got them all!" He yelled, panting as we rushed around a corner. There was a large crash as Timberwolf burst out of the room.

"This one seems particularly tenacious!" I yanked him around a corridor and pointed to the stairs. "Go, go get help!" I pushed him towards them as the Timberwolf skidded around the corner. It didn't pause. Blue Barrel was closer to it, but it didn't spare him a glance. It was me it wanted.

I ran around another corner, letting my hooves carry me. I skidded up to a door as the Timberwolf got close and forced myself through it just in time to feel a lash of pain down my back. I fell to the cool floor of the Library, scrambling onto the rug as fast as I could.

I turned around, watching through blurry vision as the Timberwolf snarled from the doorway. Green slobber dripped from its mouth and its growl was a violent threat that promised unsavoury things if it got close. I backed away and almost knocked over the side table that stood beside the chairs. I glanced up at it before turning back to the Timberwolf. This was gonna suck.

The Timberwolf launched itself, my hoof struck the small table. 'Tales of Equestria: Poems and Myths' fell onto my stomach. It was a large sturdy book that I grabbed and thrust upwards into the Timberwolf's mouth as it landed on me, forcing the pages into its throat while it choked and spluttered. I saw a silhouette in the doorway, a large gun raised and the cracking bang that erupted shocked the room and stopped my heart. The back of the Timberwolf exploded, legs and rump blown into splinters. The Timberwolf pulled away from me, yelping around the book in its jaw.

Then I was on the beast, pinning the rest of it down. I reached forward and bit my teeth down on the handle of the knife still stuck in its neck. I began to saw back and forth as hard as I could, the beast flailing below me. My knife dug deeper and deeper with each saw, back and forth, forcing it through the magical wood. Then something gave way and my blade struck the floor.

The Timberwolf exploded into fagots below me.

I sat there, panting among the sticks as Blue Barrel threw the gun to the side and wrapped his hooves around me protectively. "Are you okay?" He was panting more than me.

I gulped and shook my head as I reached into the remains of the Timberwolf. "No." I said, slowly pulling the chewed and now ruined book into view, "I really liked this book." I mumbled sadly.

*** *** ***

"Are you sure there are no more?" The Overmare sounded uncertain.

I nodded. "The one I killed was the Alpha, I'm sure of it. We swept all of the lower levels, and the cameras couldn't find any."

The Overmare nodded, still looking worried. We watched as extra plates of metal were punched into place over the grey walls.

"This isn't a permanent solution; you know that right?"

"What do you suggest?" Asked the Overmare, turning to me.

I shrugged at the question. "Stop feeding the need for augmentation. Outlaw inbreeding."

Her brow raised before it narrowed darkly. "You realise that is an impossible request, don't you? We are almost all related. There is not enough genetic diversity."

"Bullshit." I replied, giving her a smirk. "Do you know how long it should take for inbreeding to reach that level. And even then, such genetic issues should only have occurred if two genetic markers were wrong in both parents. The amount of diversity doesn't correlate to the genetic issues you've been facing."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Miss Overmare, that for some reason, your Stable began interbreeding on purpose, favouring relations rather than genetic diversity. You did it to yourselves, willingly."

I left her with that thought, padding away from the confused mare and down the corridor. I slipped down a few flights and sought out the medical room. I poked my head inside, to see Aero sitting on the table looking extremely grumpy as a nurse took his blood.

"Do I have to be doing this?"

"Yes." I chuckled as I padded inside. "I promised Futurity that he could test you and Sonnet; a little blood sample is better than being dissected."

He grumbled like the distinction between the two didn't matter to him. Then yelped as three feathers were plucked from his wing.

"Ouch! The fuck!" He yelled, "Could you not have taken it from both sides, they need to be even ya know. Now I need to preen." He said indignantly.

I heard small hooves behind me as I laughed. "Are we going now?" Sonnet asked

I nodded to her as I turned. She was wearing new Stable Barding, but they'd been kind enough to re-embroider the one they'd given her with '2B' rather than '101'.

"We're just finishing up."

"You're all done now." The nurse said, smiling warmly. "We'll do a full physical when you return. Here is your medication. Open up please."

The medication that would stop the cybernetics from being rejected by the body and becoming infected, had been thoughtfully prepared into a cylinder delivery system for his suit. The back compartment of his suit opened up, and a new slot for the cylinder was presented. It was slid into place with a hiss and the hatch was closed. Aero would be automatically dosed by his suit periodically as needed. Aero had programmed his helmet with the assistance of the nurse.

When that was sorted, Aero, Sonnet and I slipped out of the medical area, waving goodbye to the nurse.

"She was cute." Aero said after his helmet slipped away from his face. He had this stupid grin on his mug as he walked, a slight skip in his step. I noticed he was walking fine despite the new leg. It was instinctual of course, it worked with the same nerve responses as a normal leg would, as long as he didn't think about it, it'd work fine. But the moment he tried thinking about it...

"And old enough to be your mother."

"Oh fuck off. I could have her. Go fuck pretty boy." He chided.

"How's ya leg?" I asked.

"HEY!" Aero yelped and fell over immediately, sprawling on the ground in an awkward heap. I quite fondly hoped that he'd never get over this particular flaw with his cybernetic, it was fun to play with.

I smirked at him as he glared. "Fuck you."

My hoof swatted him around the back of the head as he got to his hooves. "The filly's present." I chastised. "Besides, thanks for the suggestion concerning pretty boy, but I already have, quite vigorously."

His glare deepened. "She's got a worse potty mouth than me." He defended, "and don't give me details, last thing I need is more frustration."

My brow raised as we stepped through a large door. "Frustration?" I smirked. "You like stallions too?"

He shrugged. "Most Pegasus do. Laws and the like encourage same-sex pairings up there, if ya want relief, it's what ya gotta do."

Huh, I wasn't aware there were laws like that up there. Oh well. I pushed it aside as I stepped up onto the platform. We were in a large room. Metal flooring clanked under our hooves as we moved.

I stepped up beside Futurity who was there to see us off. The room was more mechanical than most of the others. It was filled with catwalks that were only a few feet from the ground, and sturdy looking equipment meant for unsealing the huge gear shaped door of the Stable.

"So I'll see you soon?" Asked Futurity as I stepped up beside him.

"Well we have to, don't we?" I turned to him. I forced myself to look at his eyes, and the knot inside me that I'd almost forgotten about... tightened. "Now that Aero's bound to this Stable by the medication he needs for his leg."

"Bound like me." Futurity said softly, staring at the far wall.

"Why can't you do what Aero's doing?" I asked curiously. "Ya know, take medication with you, go out and come back for more?"

Futurity shrugged. "The injections need to be admitted at irregular intervals. As and when infections occur and rejections begin; or the body could develop a resistance. I have no way of knowing that till my eye starts swelling, which could already involve dangerous bacteria." He sighed. "His suit has sensors and will automatically dispense it. I'll need check-ups to know when to dispense mine." He gave me a mirthless smirk. "I'm stuck here."

Stranger stepped into the room, distracting me from Futurity for the moment. Trailing behind my large bandaged friend was a familiar cute stallion that seemed somewhat fretful.

"Okay, remember to clean her regularly, and check the firing mechanisms, and don't let her rust. That's a big problem with the bolt system..." Blue Barrel looked nervously at Stranger. Beside Stranger, floating in the air, was the sleek chrome and black 'Frankenmare' rifle. He looked from Stranger to myself and he blushed. "T-Tome... you'll... come back right?" Poor kid.

I nodded to him and slipped a hoof up against his cheek. He nuzzled into it lightly in an adorable fashion. "I'll be back... but we probably shouldn't make a habit of us." I told him.

He went stiff and swallowed, looking up at me. "Why?"

"I'm not the kind of pony you want to get caught up with. Thanks for the gun though. And hey, thanks for saving my ass earlier. That guns a beast." I smiled warmly to the sad stallion.

The Overmare finally joined us. She padded up, flanked on either side by two other mares. She looked me up and down with a severely displeased expression. She turned her head a little and nodded. The mare to her left stepped forward with something in her hoof. It was a cylinder with something lying on the bottom of it.

"Your water talisman." The Overmare explained, her brow narrowing.

I smirked and took it from her. "Thank you kindly."

"What will you do first?"

I thought about the question and shrugged. "The Tower. I have a personal errand to run, but the Tower is closer and I still have time. We'll go there, gather resources on our way, and circle back for what I need. Then... well after that I guess we'll have to wait and see."

She seemed to think about it before nodding in reply. The large gear door gave a loud hiss and the powerful machinery began to pull the door away from its placement, only for it to slowly be rolled to the side, revealing a darkness beyond.

"I'll see you around." I said to her before turning to Futurity. "You gonna be okay?" I tried to keep the edge out of my voice.

He nodded and smirked. "I won't be stuck in here for long. I'll find a way back out there." He said, grinning broadly.

I smiled too. "I believe it." I said, tapping his shoulder in a friendly manner before heading for the gear door. Sonnet climbed up onto my back and held her hooves around my neck. She kept glancing behind her. I doubted she wanted to leave the relative safety of a Stable again. Aero and Stranger stepped into the darkness with me and then up through the cave. We were bathed in light as we found our way into the mouth of the cave.

Before us lay the vast Everfree Forest, waiting for us to pass through. This time we had maps from Futurity that would allow us to get through the safer areas, hopefully in one piece.

We were at an elevated point, and out there, over the tree's we could see the Wasteland stretched out before us. The day's travels, the nightly terrors, and the heartaches and violence waiting to happen. Yet the Wasteland was strangely beautiful, and to me, it felt comforting. I'd grown up in this harsh world, and had come to know what to expect from it.

"Hey Tome." Aero chimed up, stepping up beside me. "I heard ya talkin' to the Overmare. Somethin' about a personal business after the Tower?"

I chuckled at his curious tone. "Yeah, just somewhere I'm due to go, an errand."

"Where's it at?"

I smiled to myself and took the first steps forward back out into the Wasteland. "Home." I answered.

Mother would be hungry.

Footnote: Level Up.

New Perk: Friends with Benefits- With friends by your side, you gain +5 Critical! But watch out for those that falter! -5 Luck to any comrade that goes it solo!

(A/N): FINALLY!!!!! It's out and done. I hope you all enjoy it, and please do remember to read and review. Thank you so much to my Editor for the amazin work he's done despite his own irl difficulties in finding the time. Please do read and review, and if you like the work I do, consider supporting me on patreon. ^-^

(This has now been edited again. A few minor changes. After the tone of Chapter 6 I felt chapter 7 didn't really fit properly. There is a reason for its disjointedness, and it's all to do with Tome's state of mind, but I realised I needed to be a little more detailed with that. So, in an effort to improve it, I've made some minor edits. Hope it's better now.)

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(E/N: Hmm, I wonder how Lucky's fairing?)