Chapter 2

The Mare With the Machine Gun

That voice... I don't remember that voice.

This is something I realized after Maud managed to calm me down and I was laying in a back room, one embarrassing scene later. I didn't remember that voice. I did feel a familiarity with it, but the voice was honestly new to me. It's similar to seeing the color red and relating it to blood. I heard her voice and related it to fear.

"Demi," I heard Maud call, opening the door into the dimly lit storage room. "Are you okay to talk?"

"I don't know," I answered honestly.

"Well, we're doing it anyway." Pink Lemonade barged past her sister and into the storage room.

"Lem, I told you to stay out there, you're only going to make his condition worse."

"What condition, he was just scared and freaked out a little," countered the paladin.

I sat up and said, "The paladin is right, I should be fine. It's not like I lost blood or anything." I then looked to Pink Lemonade. "I'll assume this has something to do with that voice. I'll answer you now, I don't remember her. My fear was instinctual."

"Instinctual fear of a pony?" Maud asked.

"Yeah, that doesn't make sense," Pink Lemonade agreed.

"Yeah, instincts are in your nature," Maud explained. "Fearing the dark would be instinct."

I waved a hoof and shook my head. "I know that instinct isn't the right term to use, but it's the one that feels the best. I guess a more correct way to say it would be that she left a powerful impression in my mind that erasing my memories of her could not get rid of."

We heard a voice coming from the main bar. I couldn't make out any words, but I could tell it was a voice.

"Oh, Lantern is here," the paladin pointed out. She got up and went to leave the room, but before she opened the door, she looked back to me and said, "Are they really so dangerous that they can confidently challenge Applejack's Rangers?"

I looked to the floor, unable to meet her gaze. "The most I can say for sure is that your lives may be in danger."

With a sarcastic, "Welcome to Equestria," Pink Lemonade left the storage room, entering the bar, greeting the Lantern mare who just walked in.

Maud and I sat in silence for the next few seconds. Finally she asked, "Do you know any memory spells?"

I looked to her and thought about it. Finally, I nodded, looking back to that one spot in the floor. "Yes, a few. I can read the surface memories of an idle pony and I can extract memories into a memory orb. I also know a spell that can simply delete memories. I suppose I used that one on myself after extracting something else. if I know any more, then I'm not remembering it right now." I started to regret letting that memory orb fall. I was now very curious to see what was on it.

I looked up to Maud who wore a look that said she was thinking deeply about something. I touched her shoulder and she jumped. I quickly retracted my hoof. We both relaxed. "Sorry," she said apologetically.

"Are you alright," I asked.

"Yeah, I was just thinking..." She paused. She shook her head and changed the subject. "Demi, you just rest in here. When everypony arrives, we can decide our next step." With that, she got to her hooves and headed out the door.

Another few seconds of silence.

"We're alone."

"And I was starting to think you had forgotten about me," inviso-mare replied. It was time to find out what this thing was. "Don't speak aloud. I don't want that paladin barging in here because you're talking to yourself."

Alright. Lets start with who you are.

"That is a harder question than you'd think."

Is it really?

"Yes it is," she replied.

Well give it your best shot.

After another few seconds of silence, she spoke. "I don't have a name. All I know is that I am a CI turned AI that dwells within the PipBuck - Omega."

CI turned AI?

"The Omega was a PipBuck with a CI, conditional intelligence, program that allowed the user to control the PipBuck - Omega with their mind."

Many questions, but first: what's a conditional intelligence?

"It's pretty much what it's called. A CI is a program that is given sentience that it's only able to use within the bounds of its programming. In my case, I was supposed to allow easier use of the 'mind control' feature of the Omega. I'm not exactly sure why, as I don't have all of the development notes, but I speculate that regular algorithms weren't responsive enough, and a VI would take more time than needed."

And a VI is?

"Virtual intelligence. It's just a CI with a personality. This Omega is just a prototype, so the development team didn't want to spend too much time trying to create a decent personality before the PipBuck went to the secondary test phase."

Wait, so this PipBuck was created before the war?

"That is difficult to say. After searching folder upon folder, file after file, I haven't found a single date or even a name. Only talk of a team and early development. I don't even know what those files are doing on this thing anyway."

Searching? Does that mean you're not the PipBuck itself?

"No. I am just one program of the PipBuck. I can control the PipBuck and enter the back-end folders that you can't, but that's as close as we get."

So, I thought, laying down on my side, how did you get turned into an AI?

"The PipBuck's been getting little packets of information all day, since you put it on. Updates, most of them say. Which actually should be impossible. Most of them I haven't installed yet, but have organized so that I can inspect them later. The first one turned me into an AI. As a CI without any real judgement, I automatically installed it. It gave me a personality and sentient learning capabilities as well as some basic knowledge, such as speech, arithmetic and how to use the PipBuck - Omega."

So that was you who installed SATS-D? And that night vision thing?

"Yes, but don't flatter yourself. If I hadn't, I'd be dead too. That's not a concept I had until this morning. Also, I thought I'd repay you for getting your ass out of the artillery zone."

What other spells are compatible? I sat back up now and listen eagerly to the mare.

"Sorry, Demi. I can't find them. It seems SATS-D is also a CI. I have to actively search for these spells it's archived. It seems it's been instructed to hide them. Whoever sent these programs to the Omega doesn't want to make this easy for us."

What makes you think somepony sent the updates?

"What makes you think somepony didn't?"

Fair point.

"Demi, could you come out here?" I heard Maud call from the bar.

"I'll get out of your head now. I haven't finished organizing these new files, anyway."

Now alone, er... now with one voice on my head, I lifted myself to my hooves. A sudden wave of fatigue washed over me. I had been tired since I woke up this morning, but now I was really feeling it. I fought the urge to just lie back down and trotted my way into the bar.

I trotted slowly into the bar and saw nopony. I just heard Maud from outside the door, where did she go? With very little inspection, I found Maud behind the bar, levitating tiles from the floor. Through the empty spaces, I saw something black and metal. I was pretty sure that's not what's supposed to be under the floor. I approached Maud from behind, who looked back to see me, then continued her work after saying, "I found a hidden safe."

Oh, was that all? "What did you need me for?"

Maud levitated a screwdriver from the bar counter and dug it into the tiles around the safe, trying to free the safe door from the floor. I waited patiently as she did, and when she was finished, she lifted the remaining tiles obstructing the safe. She levitated the screwdriver and a bobby pin from somewhere under her robe. "I'm not very good at picking locks."

Had I not been distracted trying to decide my next course of action, I might have remembered that Maud was fairly good at picking locks. I'd seen her at the supermarket before. I took the tools on my magic and went picking the lock. It wasn't until I heard the click that I realized what I'd just done. I looked to Maud with a awed look on my face. She looked back with a smile.

"How did I—" I began.

"I figured you might need to be reminded of what you know," Maud explained, motioning to the now open safe. I nodded, as it was a safe assumption, seeing as I'd remembered my spell after seeing it in action. I turned my attention to the contents of the safe. It was under the floor the whole time, it must have something good in it.

"These might sell. What's the currency here again? Caps, right?"

"Sell? What's in—Oh my!"

Inside the safe was a treasure to any lonely pony who enjoyed their mares with horns. Judging from Maud's reaction, she was one such pony. She was blushing and trying to keep a steady breath, but she clearly couldn't take her eyes away. I'll admit the mares were very attractive, but I wasn't drooling. I closed Maud's mouth, dragging her attention from the... strategically positioned unicorns.

"Sorry, it's... been a while."

"If that's your reaction, how well do you think they'll sell?"

"I don't think you should be worried about raising funds right now, Demi," said a voice behind us. We turned to see that Pink lemonade and the two unicorns who'd come earlier had returned.

"I'm not," I replied in a serious tone.

The paladin turned serious as well. "It sounds like you made a decision that I'm not gonna like."

"Not unless you like living."

"We get it," Pink Lemonade said, adopting an annoyed tone and rolling her eyes. "These ponies are dangerous. So is half of Equestria."

"These ponies are more than dangerous," I said back, slightly irritated. I took a deep breath to calm myself and continued. "I don't remember anything about that mare or whoever she's with, but I just know that we can't win. How many ponies are at Bucklyn Cross?"

"At least thirty on standby and maybe a dozen more out on missions," a black unicorn mare answered proudly. I recognized her voice as the one of Lantern, who arrived earlier.

"I feel they have less ponies than that, but I can honestly say that I can see all of your ponies dead."

The room went silent. It was silent for a few minutes more until the second unicorn, a stallion with a voice I recognized, Silver, whispered, "Says the amnesiac."

That was enough to get Pink Lemonade started up, "Yeah, stop trying to weasel your way out of Bucklyn. Applejack's Rangers can take a few raiders."

I was breathing slow and deep now, attempting to cool my head. It wasn't working. My muscles were tense and I felt a dull ache at my side, where my wound was. Magic can only heal so much. My jaw was visibly clenched. I was pissed. Why was I so angry? It didn't make sense to be angry, which only made me angrier. As if on cue, somepony came barging through the door and tripped on the stairs. I was quick enough with my magic to catch the mare before she fell all the way down, but she seemed to already be hurt.

"Mech Pencil!" Maud called from behind as I gently set the pony down on the bar counter.

"Brim... He's... Brimstone..." the grey ranger muttered weakly.

"Brimstone? What about him? And where's your power armor," asked lantern from behind Maud, giving her space. Silver went into the back room to fetch Maud's equipment, as he was ordered.

Mech Pencil attempted to focus and say what she wanted, but she could only get out a few words through deep breaths. "J.P... Dead... Weird Ponies..." She nearly lost consciousness but was able to regain focus. "... It hurts so bad." With that, Mech Pencil closed her eyes and her head rolled to the side. Blood poured from one of her left hoof. No, there was no hoof. It'd been cut off. No, that's also wrong.

Somepony tore Mech Pencil's left hind-hoof off.

Maud had already come to the conclusion and was trying to stop the bleeding with her magic.

"She probably trotted all the way here..." Lantern mumbled softly.

"You cringe at a skeleton, but keep your shit at this?" Pink lemonade asked, disturbed.

It took me a few seconds to register that she had spoken to me. I had nothing to say to justify my reaction. I just felt that this was more familiar territory; the blood, gore and pain. Not reminders of what once was. Instead, I asked, "Where do you think her armor is?"

"That's not important!" Lantern screamed at me, slapping me across the face.

I kept my cool, rubbing my burning cheek with a hoof. I found odd that I could keep calm now. I said, "It might be more important than you think. From looking at your power armor, I can't figure out how to get it off. Can somepony from the outside do it?" Pink Lemonade's eyes widened when she figured what I was getting at. "They can't, can they? Not unless the pony in the armor was standing still."

"Whoa," the paladin stopped me. "Are you saying that Knight pencil allowed her armor to be removed?"

"Or not."

"What does it matter?!" Lantern yelled at me again, too distraught to follow. She didn't seem to be a medical scribe, like Maud and Silver, and was clearly not used to seeing such injuries.

"Power armor is useless against these ponies," I said bluntly.

"Or not as effective as usual," Maud put out, optimistically.

"Your three knights and final scribe are still out there. If they attacked Brimstone and Mech Pencil, I can only assume one of two things: Either they don't intend to wait for me and the ultimatum was an illusion of choice, or, the preferable choice, though I say it with a heavy heart, Brimstone and Mech Pencil were simply unlucky and—"

This earned me an interrupting buck from the armored paladin. She sent me flying into the storage room door and actually knocked it off its hinges. I fared little better than the door.

"Hey! One injury at a time!" scolded Maud, not moving from Mech Pencil's leg. Quietly she added, "If we can help it."

I, on the other hand, was trying to keep conscious. As I thought: the paladin could buck me fairly far. I coughed and gasped as I got to my hooves, slipping once and having to get back up. Twice, now, SATS-D didn't guard against an attack. Even my E.F.S. deemed Pink Lemonade and Lantern hostile. Did Omega's AI do something?

"Hey, don't blame me. I'll see what I can find out, but I still haven't made this place livable."

I stepped further into the room and levitated my saddlebags onto my back. I exited the room again only to face an angry pink mare blocking my path.

"Applejack's Rangers would only rally together after this and hunt those raiders down. Don't act like you have to sacrifice yourself to save us." Then she said something else that I thought a bit to philosophical for her. "We often exaggerate our fears, Demi."

My gaze fell from Pink Lemonade Pie and shifted to Lantern, who glared back at me. Then my eyes passed over Maud and settled on Silver, who didn't seem to care about my situation at all. Finally I looked to Maud, who looked back without stopping her work on Mech Pencil's leg. We held the look for what felt like minutes, but could only have been less than a second, lest Mech Pencil bleed out. My eyes went full circle; back to Pink Lemonade.

As I looked up to her, defeated, I expected an order, but she looked at me with unusually calming eyes. Then, with an equally unusually calm and soothing voice, she said, "Why don't you go lie down, Demi. You've had a long day."

I had almost taken the suggestion, turning to walk back into the storage room and lay down and just sleep. But I stopped, a thought coming to my mind.

"Paladin?" I questioned. "If you don't want to leave me alone, come with me."

I turned back to see she'd taken up her usual hard look, but she'd stayed silent, which I took as a sign to continue. This was a long shot, but... "I don't want to go to Bucklyn Cross—"

"Here we go."

"Just hear me out." I took a deep breath and started again. "There may be another way to find out how this PipBuck was modified." That got her attention. It was going better than expected. "The PipBuck has Friendship City marked on its map. I don't know what's significant about it, but it's the only location on my PipBuck that I haven't heard of yet."

Maud had finally finished bandaging Mech Pencil's leg and joined the conversation with, "You were going to escape us and head there?" I nodded my affirmation. "What do you think you'll find?"

"Something. Anything. I don't know. Quite honestly, I'm grasping at straws," I said, unsure. I simply wanted a purpose to live. So far, all I had was 'get to Friendship City.'

The room stayed silent as Pink Lemonade closed her eyes and made her decision. She gave a sigh and asked, "And you want me to come with you?"

"Yes."

"Heh... You're willing to lead these ponies to a large city, with foals and the elderly, but you won't lead them to a heavily armed and fortified military base?"

"It's always been less about 'where I led them' and more 'where I was going,'" I responded.

"So you don't care about Applejack's Rangers?" the paladin asked with a smirk.

"I don't think I have the capacity to care for strangers," I said. "Either way, I've made up my mind. I would just prefer that we cooperate."

"Fine, Demi," Pink Lemonade said, surprising everypony in the room.

"Le—I mean, Paladin!" Senior Scribe Maud started, alarmed. "You can't just leave the rangers. You're the paladin of this platoon, and the paladin—"

"Except that paladin and senior scribe are equal in rank on the field since the first restructuring," Paladin Pie countered.

"I can't just let my sister go alone on some epic quest without me," Maid declared, proudly. "Besides, what if you get a boo-boo and your big sister's not there to kiss it."

"I'll have the filly kiss it."

"Oi!" I interject from the sidelines of this conversation.

"Knowing you, you'll have him do a lot more than kiss it."

"Really? Nothing about the fil—m'kay," I said, still ignored.

"I'm a strictly 'stallions only' mare, and you know that."

"Yeah, any stallion."

"That one still doesn't fall under that category."

"I am male. I can show you. Most of the traits are physical," I said, still not receiving any recognition.

"Maybe not in front of everypony, but when you're alone and you get bored, you know you'd jump him."

"If I had the choice to pleasure myself with a frozen iron pipe or him, I'd choose the pipe."

"I'd rather not buck you either, but that's just mean," I commented to myself, done trying get a word in between the two.

Suddenly, Pink Lemonade turned on me. "And what's wrong with me?" she queried, in my face.

I fell on my ass and stammered out, "Gah! Dah—er! y-You scare me!"

"See, Maud? I scare him. Therefore, no sex," Pink Lemonade told her sister triumphantly.

"That doesn't even make sense!" Maud exclaimed.

"How so? He thinks I'm gonna bite him with my filly parts, and I think he's stupid."

"That's also what you said about Archer."

"Hey, he saved me from some raiders. I had to repay him somehow."

"He happened to shoot a couple raiders behind you. They didn't even have guns, just boards of soggy wood. Look, you're practically already on top of him!"

"You both are so adamant," I said, from earning a look from both Pies. The conversation ended when we heard a weak giggling from the bar counter. We all turned to Mech Pencil, who had barely regained consciousness. "Didn't the pain just make her lose consciousness?"

"Anesthetic spell," Silver explained, lazily. "She can't feel a thing. It usually also knocks ponies unconscious, but when it doesn't it make them a bit... distraught."

Mech Pencil slurred in a weak, but cheery voice, "Youg guys 've mmuch chem'stry t'gedder."

The comment seemed to cheer the five of us up. Even lantern, sniffling in the corner. I looked up to Pink Lemonade and said, "You should deal with your subordinates. I'll grab my saddlebags."

"What'd I say about telling me what to do?" Pink Lemonade warned.

"Not everything is a challenge," I countered.

"Whatever." Pink Lemonade rolled her eyes and walked into the storage room. "Maud, we should ditch our ranger equipment for now."

"Yeah. We'd stick out like a pink mare, in the rubble of Manehatten," Maud teased, walking into the room behind her sister. Once behind the threshold, she levitated the door back up and held it there.

I called in, "You are aware that ponies don't normally wear clothes, right?"

"The Pies do," Silver said behind me. Mech Pencil just giggled and fell asleep. Lantern continued to glare at me from the corner. I started feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Finally the Pies exited the room and allowed me to retrieve my saddlebags. Maud and Pink Lemonade both wore dresses. Identical dresses, save the colors. I decided not to comment on that and just to leave the building. Pink Lemonade didn't stop me, so I waited outside.

Five minutes had passed and neither Pie had come from the bar. I was starting to debate going back in and getting them, but I decided against it. I decided to pass my time looking around. What were taking those mares?

I had trotted my way into a back alley to pick at the dumpsters. I thought that maybe somepony not very smart would stash something in there, thinking nopony would look in a dumpster. After lifting the lid, I realized that maybe those ponies were smarter than I gave them credit for. Nearly vomiting on my hooves, I hurried back onto the street.

I stopped to take breath free of that horrid stench. I mean, the wasteland, so far, was one horrid stench, but that one was like Tartarus in your nostrils. I was sure that was a body, but I didn't want to check.

While shuddering from the rank smell still in my nose, I was flashed with a bright light. I quickly looked up and, my night E.F.S. not able to convert to regular vision fast enough, I was blinded. I exclaimed and covered my eyes, blinking rapidly. That's when I heard a mare ask me, "Demi, is that you?"

Surprised to hear my name, I screwed my eyes and tried to see through the light as my eyes adjusted. I saw that the pony flashing a light on my was a ranger. Based on the grenade machine guns, and the fact that Brimstone is dead, I assumed this was Archer. With him was a scribe. It was that dark unicorn I bumped into in the office building. I didn't know his name. Behind him was a young, white unicorn mare in a clean white dress. She was looking to me though her teal-green mane with wide eyes, full of hope, fear and confusion.

"Archer? Could you—with the lights?" I asked.

"Sorry, Demi. I thought you were a raider, or one of those ponies from the radio," Archer explained as he moved the light off of my face.

While my eyes readjusted, I asked, "You heard that too?"

Archer laughed and said, "Even DJ Pon3 heard it. He even said a few words about it."

"Pon3?" I asked, not having heard the name before.

"He's the one with the only radio station worth listening to. He's—"

"Archer," the unicorn interrupted.

"Ah, yes. Where are the others?" Archer asked.

"In the bar," I pointed behind me.

"Demi?" The unicorn spoke up. "Do you know who this mare is?"

The mare visibly swallowed and stepped from behind the scribe, shyly. I looked her up and down, but I didn't recognize her. I shook my head and the mare looked like she broke, collapsing onto her haunches and stared into the ground. It felt like she was willing the ground would open underneath her. She mumbled something under her breath. I didn't catch it. Then it hit me: this was somepony from my past. What was she doing here?

I took a step back and bumped into something. I looked back to find Pink Lemonade and Maud. The paladin wore a smirk and said, "Oh my, what a filly killer."

"Oh, bite me," I said, rolling my eyes. I was really surprised when she did.

"Yeah, she'll really bite you," Maud warned, a bit late.

"Demi! How could you?!" The mare leapt from a depressed state right into anger, jumping to her hooves.

I turned on her and shot back, "I don't remember, so i can't answer that." Then, automatically, a hoof reached out a tapped her horn. She let out a cute little squeak that seemed to stop the world. Everypony seemed to have their minds blanked by the sound, including me. Well, everypony except Pink Lemonade, who was desperately trying to stifle a judging laugh.

The mare held her horn in her forehooves and looked up to me hopefully, once more. I shook my head and said, "I don't remember anything from before today. Did you hear that broadcast?" She shook her head. So she can't tell me anything about those ponies. We did seem to have some sort of history if tapping her horn like that was a habit of mine. I looked back to Pink Lemonade, who caught my gaze and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, your marefriend can come."

"Oi! Sister!" the mare corrected. "I'm his sister." Well, that was a surprise for everypony. Just what was going on?

"Well, what do I call you?" I asked.

"You should know," she grumbled. Then she sighed and said, "Laguna."

"Okay, Laguna. Welcome to our little group, I guess," I said, unsure about the situation. A bigger group just means slower travel, but this mare seems to be a link to the answers I want. I had to take her with us, especially if she could help when we arrived at Friendship City.

"Demi," Maud said, grabbing my attention. "Let's be on our way."

"Archer, Dusk. Silver and Lantern are in the bar with Mech Pencil. They have your orders."

"What?" Dusk asked.

"Where are you going?" Archer asked, just as puzzled.

Maud, Laguna and I started trotting away as Pink Lemonade whispered something to the two stallions. If I didn't know better, I'd think that there was something that mare didn't want me to know.

Huh. I guess I don't know better.

"Tells us about yourself, Laguna," I heard Pink Lemonade ask from the back of the group.

"Well, I don't know much about myself," the white mare replied, brushing her teal-green mane out of her face with a hoof.

This caught Maud's interest in the mare. "Did you have your memories erased, like Demi?"

Laguna shook her head, trotting beside me. "No, brother did it without my consent."

"I did?" I asked, alarmed. I mean, it sounds like something I feel I would do if I had to, but why would I have to erase my and my sister's memories?

"Yeah. I'm not sure why, but you left me with a memory orb containing a message to me. You said who you were and that you erased our memories. Then you said..." she paused and continued trotting.

"I said, what?" I pursued.

"Uh... Nothing," Laguna dodged, badly.

"Say it, colt."

"You really have a problem with genders, don't you?" I called back to Pink Lemonade.

"Shut it, filly."

"Lem, cut it out," Maud scolded.

"But, he's egging me on," Pink Lemonade complained.

I rolled my eyes and said to Laguna, "Ignore the young one. She sucks."

"See, Maud?" Pink Lemonade pointed out. Then she added, "And his face is very slap-able too."

"Hey, he's right," the elder Pie agreed.

"Ouch, Maud. Just, ouch."

"Speaking of ouch, you pack a mean buck, Paladin," I complimented and complained at the same time, rubbing my sore back.

"Aww, thanks. Want another one?"

"Up yours."

"That's the general idea," Pink Lemonade replied, earning a groan from both me and Maud.

Laguna, however, gasped. "You..." she hesitated then whispered loudly, "had relations with the sucky one?"

"I am the sucky one," Pink Lemonade answered, fishing for more reactions.

"Celestia, this is horrible," I prayed, wishing she'd stop.

"This mare just loves to get any reaction out of you," Omega's AI commented in my mind.

Yeah, I thought in reply.

Maud said to her sister, "Lem, we went over this: no bucking my patients."

Pink Lemonade replied, "Oh, he's fine."

I asked, "I thought I was a filly."

"Oh, that was just in front of my friends," Pink Lemonade admitted, shamelessly proving her sister right. "I haven't had a good stallion in too long."

"It's been less than a day," Maud said.

"Has not!" was Pink Lemonade's only argument.

"The entire platoon could hear you and archer going at it in that motel," Maud informed her sister.

I looked back to see that Pink Lemonade shrug her shoulders and say, "I said good stallion."

"He doesn't have any memories, how would you know if he's any good?" Maud countered.

"I'm not sure whether I should be insulted or agree and make her stop." I murmured.

Beside me, Laguna complained, uncomfortably, "Could we please not talk about... intimate relations?"

"Sorry, dear," Maud apologized for her and her sister, who we all knew wouldn't.

I turned back to Laguna and asked, "So, what did I tell you?"

I heard her curse under her breath, then mumble something unintelligibly. I poked her ribs, earning another ticklish squeal from her. Finally, Laguna admitted, "You said not to go looking for you."

I trotted in silence for the next few seconds, wondering what was going through my mind at the time. Eventually, I said, "Well, I don't remember saying that, so I guess I can't scold you for no listening." That brought a smile to the young mare's face.

We trotted in silence for a few minutes more when Pink Lemonade said what I'm sure we all were thinking. "Trotting is boring!" She more yelled it than she did say it, but the point was clear.

"Don't, like, raiders exist, or something?" I asked Maud.

"We're getting closer to Bucklyn Cross," she answered back. "Insane or not, most raiders still at least have a general concept of self-preservation. Nopony would be stupid enough to set up camp too close to one of the more powerful outposts of an opposing faction. Y'know, unless they were competent."

Laguna tripped and landed on her face. After I helped her up, she complained, "How, in Luna's domain, can you see? It's so dark!"

I tapped my PipBuck. I doubt my point got through to her, as she probably couldn't see my gesture, nor did she know about the night-vision. Pink lemonade, however, stated bluntly, "I'm following the two light blurs." Maud was silent in agreement.

Laguna asked me, "Well, how much longer until we can rest? I've been trotting all day, and I woke up exhausted." I understood the feeling better than I wanted to.

I looked to my PipBuck to find that the map of Manehatten had already been loaded. I spoke as I traced a path mentally to find the path being drawn on the map as well. "Well, I want to avoid Bucklyn, but that's in the same direction as Friendship City. We also don't know where those ponies from the radio are, despite their claim to be at the warehouse."

"Paranoid, much?" Pink Lemonade teased.

"Paranoia or not, it doesn't change the fact that being cautious might save our lives. We'll avoid as much sidetracking and exploration as possible, assuming we don't run low on supplies. So, we move closer to the crater."

Maud voiced her concern with sarcasm. "You mean that irradiated crater where the balefire bomb exploded two hundred years ago? The same one with the creepy critters, some of which are still only just being discovered?"

"Yes, that's the one," I confirmed, but quickly added, "But we, of course, don't get too close. Just close enough that we avoid detection from Bucklyn."

Laguna asked, curiously, "Why do you want to avoid this 'Bucklyn Cross' place?"

"He's under arrest, by order of Paladin Pink Lemonade Pie," the paladin answered.

"That's... Wait, isn't that you?" Laguna asked.

"That's off topic," I interjected. "We'll continue this way until we come across some decent and defensible shelter, agreed?"

The mares all agreed and we continued on with our trot, this time Laguna behind me, following the light blur.

We walked for about another hour before Laguna didn't look like she could last for too much longer. I offered to go ahead and scout for a place while the mares rested, but Pink Lemonade didn't want me going off alone. In the end, we agreed to let her scout for a place to rest for the night.

Meanwhile, Laguna laid on her side, next to me, not moving an inch. She might have been asleep, but I didn't want to check. I laid on my stomach, watching over the mare who claims to be my sister.

Maud stood over a small fire in between us, dropping some old books she had found into the fire. The fire was just bright enough to return my vision to normal, now able to see in colors other than shades of green.

I stroked Laguna's teal-green mane with a hoof, noticing a familiarity with the action. It was clear that she was awake when she smiled and nuzzled into me. Despite my actions and their familiarity, I still didn't feel close to this mare. She was supposed to be my sister, but she feels more like a friendly acquaintance.

Once Maud was satisfied that the flame would last until the younger Pie returned, she sat beside Laguna. We were all silent. We didn't have much to talk about, so I didn't try to force anything. Maud, however had something on her mind.

"I'm sorry about Lem," she said sincerely, honestly surprising me. "She's really a good mare, honest. She just... She's always on edge and it stresses her out."

That piqued my interest. "Always on edge?" Even Laguna's ear perked up. Pink Lemonade certainly didn't seem always on edge.

"I know she doesn't want me talking about it, especially to you..." She said, leaving me unsure if she was ending it there or not. Eventually, she said, "It's hard to explain, and I really don't think I should be the one to do it." Then she looked me in the eyes and pleaded, "Please, just humor her. Just until we have to part ways." Quickly she added, "And by humor, I don't mean... you know."

I did know. I nodded and said, "I'll try, but I don't seem to like verbal abuse all that much. Also, she scares me. We aren't going to... you know, anytime soon."

Maud smirked, knowingly, "That's what archer said."

Laguna groaned, apparently just realizing what we were talking about. Maud and I shared a look and laughed, but it died down quickly though.

There was silence again. It wasn't an awkward silence. It was very natural, but it was overwhelmingly noticeable to me. I didn't like it, but I didn't hate it either. I just noticed it. It bothered me, as though I was used to constant noise, but also soothed me, like it was a calming change of pace. I didn't know what to think of it.

So I didn't. I pushed the thoughts from my mind and asked the mares, "Why are you wearing dresses? Ponies don't normally wear clothes."

Laguna mumbled, "Woke up in it." I was sure that's all I could get out of her. She was nearly out of it. If Pink Lemonade didn't return soon, we might have to just camp here.

Maud didn't respond right away like my sister. Eventually, she just shook her head. I waited for something else, but there wasn't anything next. I took that she didn't want to say. There was a short, but awkward, lull before Maud asked Laguna, "Did Demi not leave you with saddlebags?"

Because she had eyes closed, it took Laguna a few second to realize the question was directed to her. She shook her head, well, shook it as well as she could with it against the ground. She said, out the side of her mouth, "He left me with one, but I woke up in raider territory. They would have taken me too, but they had weapons." She didn't say anymore.

Blessed Luna, these mares did not like to talk about things.

"What exactly does that mean?" we heard Pink Lemonade say, as she approached from behind us.

"Just that: they had weapons," Laguna said, rolling onto her stomach and rising to her hooves. Then she seemed to realize that she wasn't with familiar people. "Oh... Well, it's my special talent. I don't want to get into it."

Maud nodded in, what seemed to me to be, sympathy and changed the topic. "Lem, what did you find?"

Pink Lemonade seemed to leap onto the new topic as well. "I found a roof and four walls."

Laguna walked in the direction opposite of where Pink Lemonade approached us, saying, "Well what are we waiting for?"

"This way," I called out to her. She immediately turned around and fell on her face. There was a muffled statement of pain, but that seemed to shock her awake enough to move in the right direction.

Pink Lemonade lead us for ten minutes to what could have been anything from a spark energy station to a corner store. Probably both. That wasn't where we were staying though. Beside the building was a back alley, one that would normally be missed if you weren't looking for it. The alley was narrow, so Paladin Pie lead the way, followed my Maud. I was going to let Laguna go through before me when we were stopped by a couple of ponies.

"Hey," came the, quite frankly, annoying voice of the green stallion on the right. He levitated a submachine gun at us. "You should drop everything you have, right now."

"Myeh," came the muffled addition of his red-orange earth pony marefriend, the same kind of gun in her mouth.

Luckily, I could see the cyan lines extending from their guns, denoting the trajectory their bullets would most likely take. I bent low, getting ready for a fight, hoping my PipBuck wasn't going to let me down again.

Laguna, however stared, annoyed. Her horn flashed a teal-green the same color as her mane. It was a quick spell, but it was effective. In the blink of an eye, the guns of the muggers had been taken apart, each piece floating in the air just inches of where they used to be a whole, floating in a field of Laguna's teal-green magic.

Laguna's horn glowed again. I stood as I watched the pieces of the weapons float over to the young mare, coming back together as they did. The two SMGs floated at her side and Laguna stated simply, yet clearly, "I want to go to sleep. I am willing to kill you to do so."

The two muggers charged and were quickly gunned down with their own weapons. Laguna didn't stop firing until the guns clicked. Then she broke them down again and scattered the pieces around the rubble. I watched in awe as she sleepily lumbered past Maud and Pink Lemonade, who rushed back out at the sound of gunfire.

They looked to me for answers. I simply shrugged and said, "They... had weapons?"

The next morning, no notable events happening during the rest of the night, Pink Lemonade and Maud confronted me and Laguna about what they saw Laguna do. They made it pretty clear that gun manipulation of Laguna's caliber was extraordinary and a nearly impossible feat in this day and age.

"Then how do you repair your weapons?" I asked.

"Well, taking apart guns and putting them back together isn't really an amazing feat," Maud admitted, but then added, "but the way she did it, and that speed..."

"Coupled with the fact that the guns sounded as though that had been cleaned and oiled, despite looking like raider junk," Pink Lemonade added in.

Laguna was awake for the first part of the conversation, but she took advantage of my curiosity and managed to fall asleep once again. Once I saw that she had, I groaned and woke her again.

"Laguna, cut it out," I said.

"Hmmgm!" she groaned at me, defiantly, rolling away. I poked her ribs, like I did last night, earning one of her squeals as well as her attention. "Fine, fine!" Laguna grumbled, getting back to her hooves.

"The one ticklish pony in the Equestrian wasteland," Pink Lemonade announced, raising her hooves, as though to present Laguna to the audience of two.

"Laguna," Maud started, totally ignoring her younger sibling, "how exactly did you do that?"

"It's my special talent," Laguna said again. "I don't really want to get into it." Last night, it was harder to tell, as she was pretty much half-asleep, but now I could tell that she was simply disinterested about the topic, as opposed to uncomfortable talking about it, like Maud had been.

Maud, however, didn't press further, despite looking like she really wanted to. Neither did Pink Lemonade. At the time, I didn't understand why, but I understood that I also didn't want to press the subject, unless I wanted to get hit by the pink one again.

"Let's just get going," I suggested to group. Pink Lemonade and Maud left the small storage room. Laguna was on her way behind them when I stopped her and whispered, "We'll get into this later, understood?" We shared a look for a second before she nodded, understandingly. Finally we followed the Pies out of the room, through the alley and back into the city of Manehatten.

The bloodied corpses of the muggers still laid outside the alleyway. I guess it's too much to wish for someone to clean up the bodies when you're done with them. I mimicked the Pies and their rangers and searched the bodies. I probably could have done so last night, but Laguna was tired.

The mare didn't have anything besides spare ammo, which I took despite not having a gun to use them with. Laguna helped me check the stallion. As I would have suspected from a stallion like him, he carried all of the good stuff.

I found a healing potion, some syringes and another gun, complete with ammunition. It was a different one from the one in the front pocket of my saddlebags. Instead of having a cylinder that held the rounds, it had a clip that you put them in. I wish I'd known half as much about guns than I did technology.

I levitated it to Laguna who instantly said, "A nine millimeter semi-automatic pistol." To took it into her own field of magic and updated, "Weight suggests a full clip, and so does that pocket with the spare mags. I'll take these." She levitated the magazines out of the pockets of the dead stallion and they simply floated in the air with the gun.

I hadn't noticed, but while we were searching the corpses, Maud and Pink lemonade had gone to search through some rubble. I didn't realize this until Maud had called us over. "Guys, I found their stash!"

As we approached I asked, "What do they need a stash for?"

Maud looked to her sister, the look most likely telling her, 'It's your turn to explain stuff.'

Pink Lemonade groaned and started, "It's nearly impossible to travel too far from home without a saddlebag holding food, water and other various supplies that keep you not dead." She lifted a large piece of debris seemingly effortlessly, knocking it yards from it's original spot, revealing two saddlebags. "And sometimes muggings go wrong. The smart bandit leaves their bags somewhere hidden so that, if they need to run away very fast, they can come back and get their things and continue to travel, eh... relatively safely. Small groups of bandits like this are becoming more common as the larger raider gangs are being killed off."

Laguna levitated the bag that looked to be in better condition onto her back, strapping it on. She didn't bother to see what was in it, but she place her weapon and ammunition in the same places I did in my bags. Maud and Pink Lemonade took the second one, transferring everything they deemed worthy enough of taking with us to their own saddlebags.

While they were doing that, I was checking our bearings on my PipBuck. We were still not as close as I'd like to have been by now. I didn't know how long it would take for us to reach Friendship City from here. I couldn't judge distances accurately on this thing yet. I could, however, see that it was around ten in the morning. Two hours until she came for me. Just thinking about it made me shudder. Why was I so scared?

"Dunno," my PipBuck's AI said, abruptly. "I wasn't programmed to understand the equine mind. I was, however, programmed with the ability to search the Omega. I found why your shields didn't guard against that ranger's attack."

Well, shoot then. It's not like I can actively respond to you.

"Yeah, right. Well, the SATS-D software can only predict projectiles that come from weapons. It'll guard bullets, rockets and grenades launched from a weapon just fine, assuming they are within range, but if somepony, say that ranger, wants to buck you across the room again? You're on your own."

Is that right?

I lowered my right foreleg as I thought about this information. I know now that SATS-D has a range, can only predict projectiles that are fired from weapons, and therefore only defend against said projectiles. I also knew that the face shields can effectively guard against multiple bucks from Pink Lemonade, as well as grenades, and most likely other explosives and bullets as well. I also observed a bolt of magic sliding through this shield, but not shattering it, which happens when it has broken. It was also apparent that SATS-D was powered by my regular S.A.T.S. charge, and that the shields were tiring to cast repeatedly without the help of the Omega.

It's get some good pros, but it's also got cons. It's balanced like an ability in a game.

"Yeah, I can see that. But this isn't a game, Demi."

I'm well aware of that.

"Good. I'm going to do some more digging in the PipBuck, this time in the update packets. The input of information is finally slowing down."

You do that.

Coincidentally, my conversation with the PipBuck - Omega's AI (maybe I should name her?) ended just as Maud and Pink Lemonade finished taking things from the saddlebags. Laguna saw me look back and trotted up to me, a smile on her face. Maud and the paladin were right behind her.

"What's next, Demi," Maud asked before her sister could insult me.

"Well," I said, with not much to say, "We trot onward."

It was almost noon. I suggested we duck into a restaurant, as they seemed to be plentiful in this part of the city. It seems this was Manehatten's food court back in the day.

We chose a diner on the corner of a block with a downed chariot right in front of the entrance. Maud looked at it, as though inspecting the damage done to it. It seems this one wasn't good enough. It was almost like she wanted to know if she could restore it to working condition.

We'd gotten a deal closer to Friendship city, but not yet past Bucklyn Cross. Entering the diner together, the Pies dropped their saddlebags and made themselves comfortable. While I removed my saddlebags and set them behind the counter, I could not relax. I kept an eye on the E.F.S., waiting for it to tell me when a new radio signal was found.

"You're going to put yourself through that again?"

I'm calling you Omega, now.

"Yeah, cool. I have a name. Woop-dee-doo," She declared dryly. "Demi, are you seriously going to put yourself through hearing that mare's voice again just on the off-chance she gives you a couple of answers?"

Yup.

Omega was silent for a second, then said, "You are the most desperate, courageous or stupid pony in Equestria. I'm voting for stupid."

Desperate, Omega. You're in my head, you should know that.

"Whatever. What about Laguna? If you two really grew up together, she must have the same fear of that mare."

I hadn't thought of that. I looked to Laguna, wondering what to do. She was taking apart her new gun, checking each piece individually for any faults. My eyes wandered to Maud, sitting in a booth. She was also looking at me. Yes, maybe Maud could help. I motioned her over with my head.

When she got close enough for me to whisper, I asked, "Could you take Laguna out, I dunno—scavenging or something?"

Thankfully, Maud whispered back. She said, "What for? We've barely touched what we... Oh, it's almost noon, isn't it?" I only nodded. "Are you sure you don't want her here? You could comfort one another. Lem and I don't really know what this is about, so we could..." She then realized what she just said. "I guess you guys don't either, huh?"

I shook my head and then asked, "Then she should stay?"

"Well, that mare never said she was going to broadcast at noon, did she? She just said that she was going to hunt you down," Maud said, making a valid point. I nodded, pondering my decision. Should I send her away? I dove under a table. Will I react the same way? Will Laguna?

My thoughts dissipated as a voice seemed to emit itself from the walls. "I gave simple instructions, Demi."

Instantly, the same crushing fear tried to force me into the corner of the counter I stood behind, but I was ready for it this time. I physically braced myself for it. I felt the emotion wash over me, almost physically. That's when I realized it was magic.

Laguna, however dropped the piece of the pistol she was working on and froze, wide eyed. We all looked at her for a moment before she let out a blood curdling scream. She tried to shove her hooves into her ears, screaming still. A quick look to Maud sent her over to comfort her.

"Your tricks won't work on me again, mare," I declared, confidently. Honestly, though, I was still afraid. I had quite a few theories on different magics buzzing through my brain, and those were just the ones I'd remembered so far. But when I thought of emotional magic, I drew blanks.

"Oh, poo." The voice changed. No longer was it the deep gruff voice that frightened me before. It was now sweet and soft, but still very menacing, in a way, and she also spoke in that accent you could find only a hint of in my own speech. Additionally, Laguna stopped screaming. She was, however, panting to catch her breath, which was unsteady and shaking.

"I was hoping I'd get you under the table again," The voice now came from the entrance to the diner. All eyes shifted to stare at a mare, white in coat, mane, tail and eyes, with a blissful smile always on her face. She trotted a few steps into the building, eyes fixed on me. "That was quite amusing."

I leapt over the counter top and asked, "You said 'we' on the radio?"

"I decided to come alone. There are others."

The tension in the room could be bitten into. Pink Lemonade was going to move, but I gave her a look and waved her off. She looked to Maud for final judgement, who nodded, before taking a seat in one of the booths. The white mare finally broke eye contact with me and looked about to room. Her eyes stopped on Laguna.

"Oh, Forty-five!" She said, sounding pleasantly surprised. "I didn't know you were here! I wouldn't have used that spell had I known. I know how it causes you pain you don't understand."

Laguna responded by burying her face in Maud's chest, who embraced her consolingly.

"Who are these two, Demi?" she asked, her attention back on me.

"One usually gives their name before asking—"

"Then I take back my question, because I don't really care." Despite her words, the white mare sounded so sweet.

"Hey, Demi," Pink Lemonade called from her booth. The tension was so thick, I even glossed over the fact that she actually called me by name. "She doesn't have a cutie mark."

"What?" I replied, giving the paladin little more than a glance.

"Oh, it must look that way, doesn't it?" The white mare showed me her flank to prove that it was, indeed, blank. "I do have a cutie mark, honest. It's just hard to see something... invisible."

"This is the mare you were so scared of?" Omega whispered in my mind, even thought only I could hear her anyway.

She was using magic, I thought in reply. "So, I gather that you've been right behind us the whole time? I doubt you could cast that spell on me from so far away as the warehouse."

"Oh, you always were the smart one."

"So, what now?" I asked, unable to dance around the big questions any longer. "You kill them and take me, like you said?"

"I could," The blank mare said, completely confident in her ability to do so. "However, the good professor said something that weighs heavily on my mind. I have to confirm his suspicions first."

I felt something grab my body. I just knew it was magic, but there was no aura. I couldn't move as she trotted closer to me. A quick look from side to side showed that my companions were having the same trouble.

The white mare stopped just in front of me. I tried to back away when she leaned forward and touched her horn to mine. I could feel her trying to get into my mind, but I couldn't stop her. She was on a completely different level than I was. I finally ceased resisting and just let her through in order to save myself a headache. When she found what she was looking for, she backed away, looking quite surprised. Her damn smile even turned into a frown momentarily.

She sighed and said, "It seems, as usual, the professor was correct. I jumped the gun. I underestimated your ability with memory magic. You aren't ready."

"For what?"

"In due time. I can't just tell you. It doesn't work like that. Magic is a fickle thing. It might not even return." At this point, she was mostly talking to herself, but I still listened to every word, trying to get answers, but only getting more questions. However, she didn't say any more aloud. She proceeded to make her way out of the diner, releasing us from whatever froze us in place. "I'll keep observing you, Demi. I hope you become ready soon. It's pointless to follow through with the rest of my ultimatum now."

"Wait," I said, casting a face spell in front of her as she continued to trot right through it. She did stop, but not until she was halfway through. I hesitated for only a moment before asking, "Who are you?"

"Oh, well I am many things. Just call me..." She seemed to ponder a name to give to me before deciding on, "Mystery. It fits with the situation, doesn't it?" Finally, she just kept trotting, passing the rest of her body through my shield, and continued on to pass through the downed chariot.

"Did she just..." Pink Lemonade started to ask.

"Yup," was all I could think to say.

"That's..." Maud joined in.

"Yup."

We all shared a moment of silence to honor our fallen sense of reality.

Eventually, we got our minds back together. Pink Lemonade and Maud seemed unfazed by the whole ordeal, but clearly they were putting up some sort of strong and stoic Ranger front. Laguna, however, passed through several emotions before settling on angry. She bitterly continued to inspect each piece of her gun, looking like she really wanted to use it on somepony.

Between Pink Lemonade and Laguna, I've come to the conclusion that little sisters are a terrifying race of ponies.

When Laguna pieced her weapon back together, we were all ready to move on. We let Pink Lemonade have a few second to try and figure out how Mystery walked through the chariot. After finding nothing, we continued on our way to Friendship City.

I was wondering why Pink Lemonade even let me continue to Friendship City now that there was no death hovering over our heads. Well, none more than usual. I would have asked, but I didn't really want to be taken someplace against my will.

I wasn't really sure what to make of our situation. We all knew that mare was following us, but no matter how much well looked around, all we saw was rubble, rubble, rubble, debris, raiders, rubble, debris—

"Paladin!" I warned, lowering my body. I levitated my revolver from its place in my saddlebag and held it up.

Maud stood behind me and Pink Lemonade jumped to the front of the group. I counted four raiders charging at us, crazed smiles on their faces. Their pupils all seemed dilated, something I could tell even meters away. They were hopped up on some kind of drug.

"I am not in the mood," came the ominous voice from beside me. Laguna's horn flashed just as it had before, and the guns that the attackers had readied all split apart. Two of them stopped, confused, but the others didn't care. They continued to charge. Laguna, with a furiously annoyed look on her face, assembled the weapons in the air and fired on the two from behind, quickly ending their charge. Those two that had stopped seemed to sober up quickly, realizing their situation. They ran, several shots biting them in the rump as they did so.

The two weapons, SMGs like the other muggers had, disassembled themselves once again and the trail of pieces found their way into Laguna's saddlebags. Bitterly, she simply continued trotting, like it was all in a days work.

"Hey, remember when I said we were going to get into it later?" I asked my sister in a cheerful voice, trotting along beside her.

Quite bluntly, she explained, "My special talent is in weapons. Any kind. Especially guns, though. I can take them apart in a blink of an eye with magic. It's a spell I created that I like to call 'Machine Gun'." With that, she pushed the dress of her skirt up to reveal a cutie mark of one of those SMGs she had disassembled into her pack. "I think I have more spells related to my talent, but I haven't remembered them yet."

I backed off of the clearly irritated mare and we continued to trot silently.

"The Mare With the Machine Gun, huh? Catchy."

Compiling Data...

Level Up...

New Perk: Quick Talker - CHA 5 - You've never been the best at convincing other ponies, but at least you think quickly. You gain +5% to Barter and Speech skills and some dialogue skill checks will be reduced.

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Mystery- Right behind you

You've failed to meet her demands, but she no longer immediately needs you. Mystery and her ponies will be keeping an eye on you until they do.