We all sat down at a pair of tables that had been pushed together at the Roundhouse pub, Hispano shrugging off her large gun and leaning it against the table as she pulled her chair out. I still clutched at my gut a little, the rockiness of the tank ride having quelled my normally ravenous appetite, the pegasus beside me letting off a sigh. “Oh, calm down, Static, you were fine on the boat, but riding in a small tank was a bad trip? And how the heck did you drive the half-track with such a weak stomach?” Night Strike said, giving me a light push on my shoulder. I groaned a little, shaking my head as I reached for the glass of water a waiter was now placing in front of me. Blugh, just don’t ask me to talk before I get something cold in me. Taking a sip as the waiter began to take the others’ orders, I turned to look at the stage, where a ghoul was heckling a few of the audience members.

“You know, for a pony that goes around smacking people with an umbrella, you sure do have a weird obsession with caps. What's up with that? You’re hardly a mercenary ‘kill for any price’ type, especially with how you did back in Bridleshade, and you aren’t exactly in need of weapon maintenance and ammo all the time, either.” Hispano gave a stretch after a few moments, leaning back in her chair. Night Strike gave a soft snort, grinning as she rolled her eyes in response, looking towards the stage. I looked back to the table, blinking a few times as I tried to shake off the remaining dizziness - wuugh, it looked so smooth from the outside, how can it be that rough inside?...

Calming down, I shrugged a bit, taking another sip of water. “I dunno, who doesn’t like having more money? I was always running deliveries for my dad once he stopped trying to keep me out of the wastes all the time. If I didn’t get picky about getting the right price, we’d have probably been cheated out of half of our caps. Drill Bit never wanted to pay full price whenever he ordered new dental coats. ‘Course, he probably got the money back from all the appointments.” I rubbed my cheek a little, remembering a particularly painful check-up.

Hispano raised her eyebrows, looking both impressed and confused. “Sheesh, you guys actually have a dentist up there? How the hell does Vanhoover barely have a full police force, and Hopeville’s Triage seems pretty understaffed, but you guys have enough security you’ve got a professionally trained dentist?” I took another sip, averting my gaze. Well, I never said he was -professionally- trained. Just somepony with a talent for causing things pain would be a more apt description... “So, anyways, what’s the plan for the rest of the night? You guys heading back on out right away, then?” Hispano leaned back in her chair, as Aerith fiddled with her silverware. I shrugged, not having been focused on any plans past ‘stop feeling like you’re going to vomit on somepony’, which I suppose I could at least mercifully check off my list at this point.

“Eh, probably just hanging around, doing stuff and things, all that kind of non-descript jazz,” Night Strike joked as the waiter left to gather our drinks. Hispano rolled her eyes as we turned our attention to the comedian, who was now having a strange battle-of-wits with a drunk heckler sitting near the front of the stage. The pony looked about ready to fall under the table, and yet was somehow winning the argument. Well, I suppose it’s as good an entertainment as any nowadays...

---

Trotting out of the bar a few hours later and a couple pounds heavier, the sun still hung in the sky, if just barely. “Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m heading back to see those tanks again. I bet I can persuade Epine into showing what that new tank of hers can do before the night's out, she said it was pretty fast.” Night Strike gave off a small nod as she began to trot back towards the tank shed. Hispano hefted her cannon's carrying strap over her shoulder, letting off a soft grunt as she gave us a small wave.

“You guys have fun, I probably ought to check in with Dad, see how things are going with the guys on the warship. Also might get more target practice in while there's still a free range up here, never can have enough, y'know?” She broke off from the group, spreading her wings wide and darting off towards the edge of town. As I watched her leave, my gaze followed the line of railcars, stopping on the control tower at the far edge of the yard. My jaw dropped as I remembered the Triage researcher Aerith and I had met there - Sheesh, she’s probably been wondering when the heck we were actually going to bother giving her our report of Shady Shores, hasn’t she? Guh, our fault for being so distracted every time we came back through here...

“Oh crap, ah, I’ve got to go talk to somepony. I’ll meet you guys there!” I said, hurrying off towards the control tower. Night Strike looked over to Aerith, confused, but the alicorn held the same look of realization as she placed a hoof over her face. Trotting briskly towards the yard tower, I slipped between a few ponies wandering through town, soon reaching the bottom of the steps. I hurried up the snow-covered wood stairway, only to slip and fall, banging my chin painfully on the step above me. Gaah, ow! That was stupid, that was stupid!

The sound of a door opening above reached my ears, and I spotted the researcher learning over the railing to see me get back to my hooves. “Oh my goodness, are you alright? Ah, come on, let me have a look...” She trotted around to help me up the stairs and into the shack at the top. She quickly sat me down in a nearby chair, pulling the door shut behind us as her hooves started moving myself about. Ugh, can I have one day where I'm not injured in some way before the end of it? “Alright, consider yourself lucky, it just looks like a few bruises. I’m sure I have a spare potion for helping with the pain lying around, if you need it. What in Equestria were you in such a hurry for, anyways?” She began to rummage around in her desk, pushing aside papers in search of the medicine.

I rubbed my tender chin, my legs aching a bit where they had collided with the steps as well. “Sorry, I only just remembered that you sent us off to inspect Shady Shores. We did that… admittedly, a long time ago, if you still need the report. Honestly, nowadays it's... kinda more just a place to go if you're a ghoul...” I said, letting off a weak chuckle. The researcher pulled a small vial of red potion out from a collection in one of her lower drawers, passing it to me. I gave a small thanks before popping the cork out and drinking it down.

“Oh, is that all? You didn’t need to risk a smashed larynx just for that, I got a report from the Hopeville branch ages ago! You sent them the robot, right?” I nodded as the potion went to work fixing up my wounds, and I handed back the bottle. She dropped the vial into her desk before waiving for me to follow, leading me over to another table. “Well, from what I could study of a sample they sent up, I think I’ve actually managed to figure out something useful those creatures can actually be used for. Take a look at this!” The mare grinned widely as she picked up what looked like a broken piece of carapace from one of the anglerponies.

“This carapace is even more protective than I originally thought, none of the specimens we managed to procure before had anything this thick! And best of all, it’s already molded to fit pony physiques! With a bit of sanding, polishing, a few straps, and possibly an undersuit for mounting, we could actually make this stuff into proper armor!” The mare beamed as she set the shell plating back down, rifling through her notes. My eyes went wide as I gave an impressed look - well, that’s certainly a better use for those things nowadays than whatever it was Pearl was programmed to make them do originally. I mean, you'd still have to find more of them to actually make more of the armor, but still... “I sent a message to the Triage a while back, if they can have that robot send up the chemical components of the chitin. Would love to be able to research this more, this stuff is about as tough as an inch-thick steel plate. The only major problem I can see is weight, exoskeletons were never meant to get this large and this armor definitely shows that. Those anglerponies must have some serious muscles to be able to haul this stuff around constantly. Then again, if they do stay in water most of the time, that would counter-act the weight somewhat through buoyancy…” The researcher trailed off, mumbling to herself as she pulled out a few more notes and began to scribble things down. After a few moments, she let off a sigh, looking back towards myself

“Well, anyway, thanks for checking in. If I’m lucky, I’ll get enough support to start armoring some of the ponies up here with what we have of this stuff. Well, assuming they ignore the leftover viscera that might still be stuck to the inside. We should probably make sure we have a proper cleaning job done on these before we send them out, too...” She scraped off a bit of flesh that was attached to the inside of the carapace, before flicking it into a trash bin. I stood for a moment, not sure what to do, as the mare ignored me and began to pull out a few more research papers.

“Of course, I… guess I’ll head out, then.” I began to make my way towards the door, the mare giving a wave in my general direction as she poured over her notes. Stepping back out into the chilly air, I quickly made my way back down the steps, careful not to slip again, before trotting off towards the tank shed once again. I passed by the shed where the engines that powered the town resided, a few incomprehensible shouts just barely audible above the loud but steady exhausts of the motors. It wasn’t too long before I was stepping inside the garage to see several ponies all gathered in a circle, all watching something. The sounds of scuffling could be heard among cheers and jeers, a few of the ponies letting out cries of triumph here and there.

I hurried over to see what the commotion was about, trying to peer past the shoulders of everypony else. In the middle of the impromptu ring stood Mad Jack and an unfamiliar mare, both of them slowly circling each other. Mad Jack was wearing an aloof grin while the mare’s cold yet determined expression gave me a case of the chills. Mad Jack suddenly made a lunge for the mare, but in a movement so quick I could barely register it happening, the mare ducked down under the stallion and swept at his legs, knocking him off balance. Jack tumbled down onto the mare’s back for a moment, before she bucked out with her hind hooves, sending Jack tumbling down to the concrete floor. He let out a grunt of pain as the wind was knocked out of him, stunned. He lay there for a moment, gasping for breath as the mare stood tall, a small smug smile crossing her own face. My eyes went wide as I gave a look of amazement - how the heck did she manage to take him down that quickly?!

A few of the ponies gathered around cursed as others cheered, and the sound of caps changing hooves could be heard briefly as the unfamiliar mare helped Mad Jack onto his hooves. Despite his defeat, he gave a smile and trotted back to his tank, limping slightly on one of his hooves. “The heck was that all about?” I asked Night Strike, as I spotted her amongst the crowd.

“Jack had a bit too much to drink, started barking about how nopony could beat him in a hoof-fight. Ironside said he’d never seen Epine lose in a barfight yet, some of the other tankers started placing bets, you can probably figure out the rest from there. Never sen Mad Jack that hammered before...” She chuckled. “Honestly, you missed some of the good stuff. Jack might’ve actually won if he hadn’t already been drunk enough he was seeing double... and had kept his helmet on.” I spotted Crash Dive standing away from the crowd, Aerith and Scouring exchanging a few of their caps as Aerith grinned smugly. Night Strike gave off a small chuckle, as she turned and started towards them. “I told you not to take that bet, Scouring. You don’t bet on a drunk fighter.”

Scouring rolled his eyes, grumbling a bit. “Ya’ve never seen what Decisive can do once he’s got a bottle o’ scotch in him. It’s like he cannae even feel his teeth being knocked oot anymore.” I looked back to watch Epine take a seat around a table, pulling out a bottle of Sunrise Sarsaparilla from her saddlebags. I tried to contain a smirk as I watched the respect for the mare seem to drain from Night Strike’s face. C’mon, Strikey, it’s just a soda brand. Walking over to Epine, I tried to strike up a conversation.

“Hey, uh, Epine, right?” She looked over to me as she took a drink of soda. “Uh… do you mind if I ask where you learned that take-down? That was a pretty impressive move.” She looked me up and down as she drank her soda, leaving me to stand in awkward silence for a moment.

“If you really want to know that, it was way back when I was first training in the barracks at Maresailles, but I’m willing to bet that you’re only curious because you want to learn it yourself,” she said, taking another sip. Welp, I tried to not be so obvious. “And without any sort of basic training in unarmed combat, the best I think you’d be able to do is give somepony an uncomfortable back rub. Do you actually know anything about fighting with your hooves, or are you just good at using that... umbrella, of yours?”

I was taken aback somewhat, my expression turning sour. “I think I know enough that I can learn how to sweep somepony’s legs. And I’d like to see you block a Hell Hound’s claws with your bare hooves.” Epine gave me a small chuckle, before she stood up to toss her now empty bottle of soda in the trash.

“Ah, calm down mon ami, I’m only tugging your tail. The move is quite easy to learn, so long as you haven't merde pour le cerveau, don’t need to get so sensitive.” I opened my mouth to object, realized she had a very good point, and closed it again as I tried to hide my embarrassment. “Just, ah, be ready for a few painful hours.” She took a stance in front of me and motioned for me to move in. I did so, and before I knew it I was on the ground, gasping for air. Oh boy, this isn’t going to be fun…

---

I rolled over in bed, groaning as I felt my Pip-Buck leg shaking and beeping loudly. Fumbling about with my eyes still shut, I smacked the wrist-mounted computer a few times, before managing to press the snooze button. Good thing these things are nigh-indestructible... Slowly opening my eyes, I sat up in the small hotel bed, wobbling a little as I tried to remain awake and not flop back down asleep. Guh, what were even doing last night, again?... Oh, right, testing out the strength of my spinal column. Throwing the covers back, I half-fell out of bed to find Scouring still snoring noisily, his armor resting at the foot of his bed. I rubbed my sore limbs from yesterday’s training as I went to rub some warm water over the healing bruises.

As I got the shower running, I heard Scouring stir in his sleep, snorting a few times as he slowly woke back up. There was a knock at the door, and Scouring groaned before throwing back his own covers to answer it. Gingerly tending to my wounds, I leaned out of the bathroom to check who was at the door. Unsurprisingly, it was Crash Dive, Aerith and Night Strike standing behind her. “Five minutes, Valkyrie. We’re heading out as soon as we can.” She began to trot back down the hall, the others following suit. Scouring nodded, closing the door and turning around to slip into his armor as I stepped out of the bathroom. Sheesh, I know she’s an early bird, but it’s not like it takes us four days to get here anymore. Scouring trotted over to the bathroom to splash some water on his face, as I slipped on my jacket and slung my saddlebags over my back, wincing a bit from the weight. Guh, yeah, not sure if a nifty takedown is really worth this much pain. I really should grab a healing potion when we get back to the lighthouse...

It wasn’t too long before Scouring and I were heading down the hallway towards the lobby. The perpetually exhausted receptionist still sat in her office chair, her head bobbing up and down as she tried to remain awake. She reached for a mug sitting on her desk, taking a sip as her eyes remained shut, heavy bags underneath each one. Does she survive solely on coffee alone? How the heck is she not dead? Unless... eh, nah, I doubt she'd be related to Jumper Cables.

Scouring and I stepped out into the cool morning air, the sun only just starting to rise above the horizon. We trotted along the outskirts of town towards the large twin tracks in the snow created from the tank ghouls' many vehicles. The large bomber sat just beyond the outermost row of railcars, Aerith, Night Strike, and Crash Dive standing near the short ladder into the cockpit as they waited for us. Upon noticing our arrival, Crash Dive and Aerith began to climb up into the bomb bay, as Night Strike continued to wait by the door.

“Morning. You still fighting through a broken back?” Night Strike asked as Scouring went to join the others in the bomb bay. Nodding, Night Strike gave a look of pity before we headed up into the cockpit, the small door closing behind us. Agh, oww, I doubt that whoever designed this thought about ponies recovering from injuries... “Well, it should be relatively uneventful until we can get back to the lighthouse. Shouldn’t be shot at by any more trains, at the very least.” I raised an eyebrow, but Night Strike didn’t notice or care to explain as we slipped into our appropriate seats.

The engines roared to life as they always did, Night Strike taking control of the plane. We rolled forward slowly, the central turbine kicking into gear behind me as we began to rise upwards, Night Strike easing the controls around to point us southwestwardly. The ground below us raced by as the turbines mad the switch and we picked up speed, myself taking hold of the armrests as we took a particularly sharp turn. Out of the cockpit window, I was able to spot the edge of the wasteland that marked the bomb that destroyed Shady Shores' detonation radius, the ground still looking as if it was glowing from all the latent magical energy.

Night Strike turned us further south, racing along the coastline towards the lighthouse. I glanced out of the window, watching as the cliffs flew by below us, the ocean splashing up against them in the early morning sun. As I looked down below, though, I noticed something off in the distance. The submarine pen that stood at the edge of the cliffs looked… busier than it should have, for being abandoned. I leaned forward, trying to get a better look as Night Strike noticed the same thing as well. Drawing closer, I finally remembered the valkyrie's forward camera, flicking in on to look through it at the concrete bunker, and seeing... “Uh, Night Strike… I don’t think I like the look of this.”

Several jets of flame shot up into the air, and three large robotic dragons took to the skies, swiveling about to focus in on us. Oh yeah, I definitely don’t like the look of this.

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