Chapter 4 - A Town Called Unity “Another settlement needs our help.”

As the two of us walked towards the town, Sunny kept up the conversation. She was a lot more talkative than I was. Not in an annoying way, but I’d have preferred if she stayed silent. The envelope in my saddlebags remained a constant nagging reminder of the job I was currently neglecting. “I know, I know!” I thought, dismissing the imaginary voice of Fair Trade in my head. How important could one little report be? Only one thing on the agenda: figuring out where those raiders got their hooves on Enclave weapons.

Every now and then I’d turn to look at her, and she’d stop talking for a moment before continuing. As if she was waiting for my approval. Things were still a bit tense after she saw how I looked at that Enclave helmet from the crash site. I felt like she was probably worried that she’d make me mad again. We were coming up on the woods where I had first glimpsed the town, and I began to search for some signs of it. Nothing.

I grumbled to myself, causing Sunny to put a pause again in her speech.

There was little for me to say though, otherwise. I was too focused on finding the place. However, I was starting to pick up on the mare’s more subtle cues now that I was paying more attention. She acted like she was on her own for the first time. Afraid and on constant alert, even though she did a good job acting like nothing was wrong. She was searching for her family. That detail alone made it hard not to feel at least a little sympathy for her.

We both stopped on the edge of the woods, staring into the forest. It was too difficult to see through. Everything was obscured by a thick morning haze that permeated the whole forest, that made the dead trees appear like ghostly silhouettes through the mist. Something about it looked familiar to me, but the name of the place didn’t come to mind immediately. Instead, only vague recollections of the area. I took a quick moment to glance around, but it was nowhere in sight. “I know I saw it around here somewhere...” I muttered, checking over over my shoulder again to make sure that we weren’t being followed.

I had hoped that maybe I’d get lucky here, but I was beginning to grow tired of all the dead-end leads. The downed vertibuck struck me as potentially valuable, but there was no telling if its contents would be of any use at to me all. I didn’t have the technical know-how to sort through any of it myself, and neither did she as far as I knew.

Sunny watched me nervously as I got a bit closer, and began listing off potential points of interest in my head. To onlookers it was like any other forest in Equestria, but temperature-wise it felt noticeably warmer. The name was on the tip of my tongue.

“What would a town be doing way out here anyway?” Sunny asked.

“Search me...” I answered, as I got a bit closer.

“You’re sure you saw a town?” she asked, checking over her own shoulder.

“Yes,” I answered bluntly. Squinting, I could almost make out something that looked like a town on the other side, if just barely. “Bingo. It’s on the other side of these woods. C’mon, let’s go through.” I gestured her to follow me, but she seemed reluctant to move. Somehow, I also felt content to stand there. Everything was warmer in the forest. It was a nice feeling, almost peaceful in a way.

“This place is making me nervous,” Sunny worried aloud. I could only make out bits of petrified forest, and the occasional ghostly shimmer as sunlight reflected against the eerie haze. As I got closer, I walked so that I was standing just inside of the woods, trying to see if I could get a better view through the thick haze. For a second I thought I saw a figure there as well, standing tall amongst the trees.

I blinked twice to make sure I wasn’t seeing things and stood there in shock as she came into view. It was an alicorn, except her coat was completely white. I had seen mutant alicorns in the wastes before, but always in shades of green, blue and purple, never white. She turned to look at me directly with her piercing, bright green eyes. We exchanged glances as it lowered its head, as if to beckon me closer. Whatever she was, the creature had an unusual quality about her that was both beautiful and slightly creepy. She also looked quite lanky and emaciated.

“Roulette?” Sunny called out my name.

I shook myself vigorously, snapping out of my daze. When I looked again the alicorn had gone. “What the heck?” I blinked. “That was weird.” Though my train of thought was interrupted by a sharp tingling sensation in my shoulder around where the bullet had hit.

It was suddenly hot, and I was burning up just standing there. I wiped away sweat from my brow. That was when I noticed several signs posted around me to mark the area. One of them pointed towards town. The rest were all warning signs for radiation. With even more of them posted deeper inside the woods, warning travellers to “stay clear”.

“Uh, Rou?” Sunny called out to me, pointing to one of the signs. Even though my scavenged PipBuck was screen-locked, I could still hear the geiger counter ticking like mad inside my saddlebag. My entire shoulder felt began to tingle with painful, white-hot pinpricks, and an intense throbbing caused me to draw back and clutch my arm. It was then that the name of this place suddenly clicked in my memory. This was the Whitetail Woods, one of the most deadly irradiated spots in the whole Wasteland! And I was standing right in the middle of it! I dashed quickly out of the pale of dead trees, taking deep gasping breaths, but not before soaking up a good amount of rads.

After taking a moment to catch my breath, I stood up and turned to Sunny. “Did you just see that?” I asked.

“See what?” Sunny cocked her head.

Frowning, I looked back a second time, and then back at the mare. It was seriously creeping me out. “Nothing...” I muttered.

She gave me a funny look as I exhaled and let go of my foreleg. The painful feeling in my shoulder began to subside, but I still felt a slight burning in the flesh around where the bullet was lodged. It made me slightly nervous to take off my jacket. I took a long, deep breath, completely in awe of the stupidity of the idea, and shouted at the top of my lungs, “What in the hell is a town doing next to the Whitetail Woods?!”

“... Whitetail Woods?” Sunny asked, cocking her head again. The mare looked completely lost.

I spoke softly, staring back into the woods. “My brother told me that this place was struck by a few dozen megaspells a long time ago, right at the end of the war. Now it’s one of the deadliest and most irradiated spots in Equestria.”

She paused for a moment to process that information, before exclaiming, “What the heck! Who builds a town next to such a dangerous place?!” Sunny cried. Then she sheepishly added, “You’d think they’d have posted a bigger sign… Wait, you have a brother?” Her interest was piqued by that detail. I rolled my eyes.

“Welcome to the Equestrian Wasteland,” I quipped, stretching my foreleg around to make sure it was still mostly functional. Aside from the hitch and the now lingering burning pain in my shoulder, it seemed mostly okay. Luckily for me, I had been standing on the very edge of it, but I still sure as hell wasn’t looking forward to minor rad sickness that I was probably going to experience later. Thinking I could see tiny glowing points in the distance, I looked closer and saw that they appeared to be glowing feral ghouls shuffling around in the haze.

“C’mon, let’s go around,” I told Sunny.

We both skirted the outer edge of the forest until I could see the town coming up around the trees ahead of us. “We’re here. Just stay alert, you never know what kinds of strange things towns in the middle of nowhere are always hiding.” I warned.

“Don’t worry. I can take care of myself.” Sunny chided.

As we walked into town it felt like my shoulder was burning hot. The pain was mostly tolerable, so I just grit my teeth and ignored it.

The place looked like nothing but a ghost town, just a collection of weird shacks and structures nestled on western side of the woods. It would be like any other peaceful little settlement in the wasteland, if it weren’t sitting next to one of the deadliest irradiated spots in all of Equestria. A radiation barrier ran straight through the middle of the town with warning signs posted across it. Strangely enough, all the amenities of prewar life seemed to be present: a sheriff’s office, a bar with crude lettering posted above the door, a water pump and various housings. Buildings dedicated to work and maintaining the small town were built from scavenged corrugated metal sheets and wood.

My eyes fell upon an oddly-built metal structure on the opposite side of town, which looked like it was supporting some sort of arcane coil device that was in-turn supplying electricity to the rest of the settlement.

“Maybe it’s just a normal town?” Sunny offered.

“It’s never a normal town. Places like this in the middle of nowhere always keep some sort of dark secret hidden away...” I replied, not ready to let my guard down. “Have to give ‘em credit, though; not every settlement looked this good after the Enclave Wars.”

As I observed the small settlement, I noticed the scrap-metal archway greeting us with Hearth's Warming lights. It was arranged around a large painted sign, that read: “Welcome to Unity.” Taking out my gun as I came to the sudden realization of what this place was and cursed myself. “Dammit. Now it makes sense.” I spat.

“Wait. What’s the matter? Is something wrong?” Sunny asked, not quite sure what was going on. Before I had the chance to explain, a tall dark green figure stepped out of the sheriff’s office, which stood closest to the entrance of town. She had to duck underneath the door frame in order to exit the small shack, and raised her head to full posture. The mare’s coat was dark green and she wore her mane in a light green braid. Wearing scrapped-together bits of power armor and a wide brimmed sheriff's hat, her golden star-shaped badge gleamed proudly on her chest. Her regal horn glowed with magic as she noticed me and spread her wings! She approached the two of us slowly and I brought up my rifle, ushering Sunny to get behind me.

“Stay back,” I threatened. “Just because you’re a gigantic mutant alicorn doesn’t mean I’ll hesitate to pull the trigger on you.”

The tall mare stopped in front of me, her sheer size making me look almost like a small filly by comparison. She looked down at my weapon curiously and smiled. “I like your gun. It’s very cute.” she giggled, not taking me seriously at all! I grit my teeth, both confused and slightly irritated. Admittedly, I wasn’t expecting such a reaction. She bowed her head to me, “Welcome to our town. Just call me Sheriff Green.”

I half-squinted one eye, still not quite sure what was going on. “We were just leaving,” I insisted, “So don’t try anything!”

“Really?” the sheriff drew back, apparently confused by my reaction. “But you just got here.”

“I don’t have the time to deal with you jokers today, and neither of us want anything to do with your little supremacist cult! You’ll find that neither of us are unicorns, so sorry to bother you.”

“Cult? This is a town...” She stated, rather obviously.

“Unity?” I pointed out, getting annoyed.

The alicorn chuckled to herself lightly and then burst out into laughter. I blinked twice just to make sure I was still in Equestria and not some alternate dimension. When she finally managed to compose herself, there was still a slight smirk on her face. “Sorry, I think you misunderstood me,” she explained, wiping a tear from her eye. “Unity is just the name of our little startup here. Mutants and Normals have made peace here since Sunshine and Rainbows. It’s not the same as the movement that gained prominence in the past, we like to think of it as a place where all creatures can live together regardless of petty differences. We called it ‘Unity’.”

“Oh, so the type of thing Gawd was saying over the radio in her big speech? About a brighter tomorrow and whatever?” I questioned, allowing myself to ease up on my rifle.

“I suppose you could put it that way, yes. It’s our own little slice of Equestria that just so happens to be located on the edge of an irradiated deathtrap. The high levels of rads don’t really bother alicorns. Just don’t cross the radiation barrier and you should be alright.”

“Perhaps we’d get more visitors if we had decided on a different name.” she mused, then sighed to herself, “Too bad we already had the sign painted.”

“That sounds great!” Sunny wowed with enthusiasm. “Hi! I’m Sunny by the way!”

“Welcome, Sunny.” She bowed her head, acknowledging her with a tip of her hat. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Sheriff Green.”

Sunny pursed her lips together looking puzzled, “Sorry to be rude, Miss Sheriff, but isn’t the name Green a bit… y’know, on the nose?”

She laughed, finding the question in good humor. “Well, it’s short for “Greenhorn”, actually. A friend of mine convinced me to shorten it, because he thought it was ’no name for a lady’. I could never understand why he was so against the idea. My horn is green, isn’t it?” She turned her nose up and drew her lips into a pout, as if she were pointing out the obvious. Sunny seemed to buy that explanation, but I was less than convinced that she knew the meaning of that word. It was hard to ignore the irony.

“You’re awfully well-spoken for an alicorn,” I pointed out, drawing the Sheriff’s attention again. This bizarre conversation was already getting too weird for me.

“I’ve had practice,” she replied. Then, craning her neck forward so that we were staring face to face, her eyelids lowered and she spoke in a low even tone, “We’re not going to have any problems, are we?”

“No. Sorry, I’ve had a rough morning,” I admitted, sheepishly lowering my weapon.

“Good!” She smiled, seeming to accept my apology. There wasn’t really anything for me to rebut or any clever comments that I could think to make, so I just stayed silent and kept my sarcasm to myself.

Rubbing my head with my hoof, I looked off to one side and back to Sheriff Green. “To be honest, I wasn't really expecting to find a normal town like this out in the middle of raider country, let alone one built on the edge of the Whitetail Woods.”

For a moment it was just the three of us standing around, but that quickly changed as a steam whistle blew nearby and the other residents began to move about the town. Ghouls and alicorns began to shuffle in and out of what looked like a working machine shop and across the rad-barrier. Some of them came out of the woods carrying piles of tech, which I assumed was from the Hippocampus facility. Suddenly the barren town seemed much more lively.

She smirked. “It’s an easy mistake to make. We’re not on any major trade routes, so we pride ourselves on our hospitality.”

Curious about the place, I pointed out ,“Seems like you’re doing pretty well for yourself. How long have you been here? And where did you even get the metal to build all this? I haven’t been to this part of Equestria in a while, but I’m certain there wasn’t a town here before.”

The Sheriff beamed with pride. “That’s because our little startup has only been here since Sunshine and Rainbows. To answer your other question, there’s actually an old Hippocampus Energy Plant that had an intact megaspell reactor that was nested deep inside the woods. So we siphoned scrap from there to build the town. Other things we scavenge from the facility we usually just end up selling to passing traders. I send my ponies out in daily shifts in order to collect useful pieces of salvage… Things have been a little slow lately.”

“Yeah, I noticed you’ve got a lot of interesting-looking technology… you wouldn’t have anypony who knows a thing or two about old tech living here, would you Sheriff?” I asked, pointing to some of the strange architecture behind her.

“Ah yes, Professor Mercury Switch. He lives in that big tower-like structure on the edge of town. If you see any strange inventions around, there’s a good chance they came from his lab. it’s his laboratory that supplies all the electricity to the town. In fact, The Professor’s help was invaluable in getting this place started after Sunshine and Rainbows. Any useful tech my ponies find in the Hippocampus facility we bring back to the Professor, and we purge it of rads. Then he figures out if we can use it to help the town or if we should sell it off to passing traders. He works day and night to help keep our town afloat… I’ll admit, we owe him a great deal.”

“Do you think I could speak with him?” I asked.

She put a hoof to her chin, thinking to herself aloud. “He’s probably busy with his work, so no guarantees that he’ll see you. But if you absolutely need to speak with him, then just tell him that I sent you. Otherwise, his work is extremely important to our town, so please refrain from doing so unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“Consider it noted…” I said. “Tell me Sheriff, have you been having trouble with the raiders lately?”

“Raiders?” she scoffed and smirked. “Raiders don’t tend to attack towns populated by alicorns, ghouls and hellhounds. But that doesn’t mean that they haven’t caused problems for us in the surrounding area. It’s true that things have been rougher than normal lately, but we’ve survived worse. I’m glad that you happened by, we haven’t seen a new face in a while.”

“You should try putting up a bigger sign,” I suggested, with a slight hint of sarcasm.

“I suppose. So what brings you to our little town?” the sheriff asked.

“I’m under contract with the New Canterlot Army. ” I said, intentionally leaving out the part how I was basically a glorified courier.

“Curious. You don’t look all that official.” she noted.

“Don’t worry, it’s an easy mistake to make.” I assured her, echoing her line from before.

“She’s super official! Trust me.” Sunny added, really overselling it. I rolled my eyes internally, but at least it appeared she bought it.

The lawmare squinted, as if she were measuring up my story. Or maybe she was measuring me up, it was hard to tell. “So are you with those soldiers patrolling around south of here? I was under the impression that they wanted little to do with us.”

“Uh no, I’m here just on some non-official business.” I replied. Green’s eyes widened, seemingly finding that specific detail about me being with New Canterlot particularly interesting.

“In that case, it may be fortunate that you happened by after all... I might have some work for you if you’re interested. I’ll be sure to make it worth your while. If you wouldn’t mind stepping into my office, that is?”

I shook my head, “No thank you Sheriff, I’m not interested in looking for work.”

“Ah, I understand.” she nodded. There was a tinge of sadness in her voice, which she attempted to hide.

“Could I ask you a few questions, though?”

The Sheriff blinked and nodded in agreement, “Sure, what do you want to know?”

“Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary lately?”

“Ordinary, like what?” she asked, tilting her head back. “I’ve seen more than my fair share of weirdness since Sunshine and Rainbows, on this side of the Whitetail Woods alone.”

“Fair point, stupid question…” My ears folded back as I rubbed the back of my neck. “Like attacks on caravans being carried out by raiders using high-end modified Enclave weapons?”

Sheriff Green raised one of her eyebrows. “Well it’s not exactly uncommon for raiders to have access to Enclave weaponry nowadays. More of it has been circulating around since the Enclave Wars.” She said rather matter of factly, although I doubted that she’d know the difference in models.

“Did you happen to notice any Enclave ships flying over the Smokey Mountains yesterday?” I asked, pointing towards the hazy mountaintops on the horizon with my hoof. They were almost visible from where we were both standing, but less so from this elevation. I desperately hoped that she or someone here had seen something. There was a glint of that determination in my eye and I tensed up, awaiting her answer.

She frowned, thinking to herself she shook her head. “Sorry, can’t say that I did. I would imagine that sort of thing would be difficult to miss.”

“Dammit...” I groaned, hoof-smacking my forehead.

The lawmare bowed her head apologetically, “Wish I could’ve been more help.”

“Thanks anyways…” I let out a dejected sigh. “In that case, would you mind it if I asked some folks around town?”

The alicorn smiled and nodded. “Not at all. ”

“Thanks, are there any other rules I should keep in mind while around town?” I asked.

”Same as any other civilized town.” she said as though it were obvious. The novelty of the conversation was beginning to wear thin on me.

“Right...” I replied.

“Thanks Miss Sheriff!” Sunny beamed happily.

The sheriff gave me a tip of her hat before stepping back into her office, and left Sunny and me to converse between ourselves. “Enjoy your stay. I’ll be in my office if you change your mind about that job. Feel free to visit our saloon and general store if you’re looking for food and supplies while you’re in town. Oh, and: ‘Welcome to Unity’”

Through a small window, I saw her sit down at an old wooden desk. She noticed me watching her and waved hello. I pretended not to notice. The lawmare probably thought we weren’t crazy enough to try anything, or the town was just really that trusting.

“Hey, thanks for playing along back there Sunny.” I said. The mare blushed a little, surprised by my compliment.

“Oh, uh... no problem. Something on your mind?” she asked.

“Yeah, I don’t know if I like this place,” I muttered, motioning around the town.

Sunny frowned, a little confused. “Why? The Sheriff seemed nice enough.”

“I’ll let you know if I think of anything. ” I replied.

As we both trotted around the small village on the non-irradiated side of town, something felt off to me about the place. Maybe it was being so close to the Whitetail Woods that put me on edge, but I couldn’t put a hoof on it. My shoulder also felt like it was acting up more the longer we stayed here.

By all accounts it seemed like your perfect happy settlement, despite the strange residents. One of the ghouls walked by, giving Sunny a tip of his hat. She tried hard to smile and be polite, but her face ended up looking more like a contorted half-grimace. I snickered to myself, side-stepping out of the way of a huge purple alicorn that was accompanied by two other blues. “Pardon us” they said, each with a slight nod. Alright, this was getting too much for me. I needed some lunch.

I looked across the radiation barrier and into the forest, seeing a chainlink fence. Radiation signs were posted across it. Some of them looked a lot older. Factory made, unlike the other painted ones we saw when we first arrived. There was also a welded-together scrap metal sculpture, made to resemble a suit of Steel Ranger power armor. The proud metal stallion seemed to be staring in our direction, like he was watching over us and the town. Something possessed me to think, “Why here of all places?”

All current questions were shoved to the back of my mind as I felt my belly rumble, and turned to follow a couple of ponies who went into the saloon. The seafoam mare stopped me, putting a hoof on my shoulder. “So are you gonna speak to ponies around town?” Sunny asked. “What’s the game plan?”

“I need a moment to think.” I said, lightly pushing her away, and I looked off to the side. “All I had for breakfast was a protein bar, and I don’t want to think on an empty stomach. So, are you coming or not?”

“Oh, okay... I’ll follow your lead then.” She said, seeming to go along with it.

“Don’t forget: This is still raider country, so stay sharp.” I cautioned. Sunny nodded, sticking close as we both walked into the building with “bar” spelled out in broken red neon letters.

A few of the patrons watched us as we entered the saloon, allowing light from outdoors to flood into the dim establishment. We both looked around inside as the door shut behind us, and began to search for a pair of seats together. It carried a cramped steamy atmosphere about it, while upbeat prewar tunes played from an old radio. Ghouls, alicorns and some rough looking ponies were amongst the other patrons. There was a terminal for keeping track of the business numbers that hummed in a back room, behind the counter. Electricity, plumbing, and gasoline. Even a restroom with working toilets! This place had everything!

Most of the other tables were occupied. Mutants and Normals all sat amongst their own kind, painting a slightly different picture than the happy town just outside.

Sunny clung to me nervously as I glanced around for other ponies wearing Jagged’s mark on them. We ended up taking two seats next to a hulking beast of a hellhound whose head, even while seated, was almost touching the ceiling. Sunny sat down next to me on my opposite side. The hellhound glanced over at two of us and very visibly rolled his eyes, letting out a sharp grunt.

A fancily dressed ghoul bartender with an eyepatch and what was left of a moustache came up to us in a typical old fashioned bartender geddup. “Howdy ladies, welcome to the Dirt-Stop Saloon! ‘Name’s Gimlet, what can I get for ya?” he asked. “Drinks?”

“None for me. I’ll have a glass of water and a bloatsprite slider. Make sure the glass is clean, thanks.” I said, putting bottle caps on the counter.

“That’ll be extra.” he said.

“What?! That’s the price written on the menu!”

“We’re having a supply shortage at the moment. So increased price for increased demand.” then he added, “Last pony to stop by was some pegasus stallion about a week ago. Usually we don’t get too many tourists.”

“Pegasus?” I frowned, “He wouldn’t have happened to have a big orange mohawk?”

“Yellow.” he answered curtly.

“No wonder nobody comes here...” I grumbled reaching into my bag and pulling out a few extra bottlecaps. I placed them on the polished wooden counter and the ghoul greedily scooped them up in his hooves.

We both looked at Sunny, waiting for her to chime in. She eeped and nervously looked down at the mouth written menu, unsure of what to order. The both of us waited impatiently for her to decide, until she pushed her menu to the edge of the counter and sheepishly added, “I’ll have what she’s having...”

She reached into her blouse and fished out a single bottlecap. The seafoam mare blushed, and turned to me with wide blue eyes.“Would you mind covering the rest? I’m a little short on caps right now,” Sunny asked, putting on her cutest face and pouty lips.

Groaning again, I pulled out more bottlecaps and placed them on the counter. “Thank you, for your business.” The ghoul said, as he greedily snatched up more of my hard earned caps. He shoved them into a counting device on his foreleg and then shouted into my eardrum. “That’ll be two bloatsprite sliders and a couple of waters, non-irradiated! Coming up!”

After the bartender left, I kept thinking to myself as I listened to the radio. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure what I was supposed to be doing. The upbeat music of the back-when-times gave me a moment to think, and provided an easy distraction from the pain in my shoulder. Then just as I was enjoying one of the songs, the track suddenly cut out to make way for a boisterous yet familiar DJ’s voice. It had been a while since I heard him on the air.

Hello Equestria, it’s DJ Pone3 coming to live from Tenpony! Feel’s like it’s been a while since I checked up on y’all! Don’t worry though, because I won’t leave my faithful audience hanging for too long! I’ve got some special new reports coming your way from my very own studio. Feels like just yesterday we were fighting ole Red Eye and the Enclave over the fate of the very wasteland, doesn’t it? Thanks, that was one heck of a speech yesterday Gawd! Talk about a brighter tomorrow, am I right? I can’t quite place it, but something tells this old DJ that something special is coming to Equestria and it's just around the corner! Now for the news…

Reintegration for the Pegasi will continue, with combined efforts by the Followers, Gawdyna, and Applejack’s Rangers. Along with any towns willing to take in new residents. With those mean freaks in power armor gone, it’s up to us to pick up the slack. Remember folks, Pegasi are ponies too!

All the politics and petty squabbles were the reason why I generally didn’t pay attention to the news, but I felt like I was finally motivated enough to begin to change my ways. Reports of wasteland heroism and ponies all doing their part like Gawdyna was talking about yesterday in her speech. DJ seemed on board with it at least.

News from Manehattan. There’s been a collaboration between New Canterlot Mercs and the Twilight Society to aid in the city’s refugee crisis, and not without some some disagreement over how to best handle the situation. A section of Manehattan center city has been restored to accommodate the arrival of new residents, with vagrants setting up camps in some of the rougher areas of the city. Including some folks who have actually settled into an Enclave raptor half sunk into the harbor! Now that’s what I call one heck of a housing shortage!

Reminder: if you’re still having trouble locating family and loved ones after the crisis, speak with Followers or at a refugee center to see if they’ve been accounted for. We’re all in this together.

Unfortunately, the report on Friendship City just made my mind drift back to Radar, and I zoned out during the rest of the broadcast. Details on current events flew over my head as I was lost in my own thoughts.

Sunny leaned in close to me and put her hoof on my shoulder. “Hey, Rou? Do you maybe want to talk?”

“No.” I huffed, brushing it off and folding my legs on the counter. “Lemme just focus on what we need to do, alright?”

“Okay, just know that I’m here for you.” Sunny said, sounding like she was almost sincere. With that she turned away from me and began looking around the bar to occupy herself.

“Whatever... ” I sighed dismissively. “Did I look like I wasn’t okay? I’m fine.”

When I turned to look at her again, Sunny was whistling, busy keeping herself occupied glancing around at the other patrons. Particularly the bartender. Part of me wondered if she had ever seen a ghoul before. She seemed sort of out of her element, but I hadn’t cared enough to ask her right then.

She had undone her ponytail and was busy stroking her silky blonde mane, pretending like she was the only pony in the room. After she finished, I watched her retie her mane again into the same style then turned back to look at me. We made eye contact and she tilted her head curiously, and I looked away awkwardly in the other direction.

A heavy grunt broke my train of thought.

I noticed sunny looking up nervously at the massive hellhound sitting next to me that was giving us the stink-eye. He blew heavy breaths out his nose, not at all being subtle. Unphased by his hulking stature I turned to look up at him. “You got a problem buddy?” I asked.

He snarled, “You smell funny...”

“What the-? You’ve got a lot of nerve pal!” I snapped.

“Bah! No, Dirt horse! There’s something off about your scent!”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I asked, getting slightly irritated.

A low bestial growl came from the hellhound as he bared his teeth, a hulking mass of claws and muscle towering over me. Sunny’s was breathing nervously. “You ponies are rude! Sitting here with your strange smells. You’re hiding something! Don’t think I didn’t notice! Let me enjoy my meal in peace!”

“You want to make something of it?” I snarled as he lowered his hulking mass to my level. We both exchanged glares, but I still didn’t flinch. Sunny eeped, and I could practically feel her shaking behind me.

“Bah! Nevermind then!” The hellhound spat, losing patience with the conversation. “Seems all you ponies smell strange in some way or another...” He then picked up his dog chow, taking heavy steps towards the front of the establishment, and squeezing through the frame as he mumbled about rude ponies and strange scents.

I turned back in my seat, getting hungry. “Well, he was pleasant,” I quipped. Sunny laughed nervously, more relieved than anything. The seafoam mare leaned in close to try and ask me something else but was cut off by the bartender bringing us our meals.

“Order up!” the bartender came back to us with two wet steaming pieces of bloatsprite meat, and placed the two plates of questionable looking wasteland cuisine in front of us. It looked like mutated insect flesh and steamed fresh vegetables wedged between two pieces of hardtack. A bit soggy, but also delicious. My mouth watered as I leaned down to take a bite. Sunny was watching me with utter disgust.

“Y-you’re not seriously going to eat that, are you?” she asked, pointing to the food.

With my mouth full of bloatsprite meat, I gave her an incredulous look. “...Yeah?” I replied, spitting out bits of mutated insect flesh. Sunny covered her mouth with her hoof like she was going to vomit.

“Don’t you have any normal vegetables?” she asked, pushing her plate to the edge of the counter.

The ghoul snickered, “Picky eater, huh? The Professor might be able to help you with that, he’s got a whole hydroponics setup in his laboratory; all our fresh vegetables come from there.”

I interrupted their short conversation, my ears perking at this Professor's name being mentioned again and he seemed happy to talk about him. “I keep hearing about this Professor, doing all these things to help this town. He sounds like a real stand up guy.”

“This town owes a lot to him. All of our fresh produce comes straight from his laboratory. Like somethin' out of the old world!”

“Do you know anything about him?” I asked.

“Not really." the bartender shrugged, working away at an empty glass mug to make it something at least marginally cleaner than something sitting around for a couple hundred years, "The Prof’ helped this town when it was just starting up and gave us a place we could call home. Not everywhere is so welcoming to us Ghouls and Muties, so he’s constantly working on crazy new inventions and theories to help improve our quality of life here."

“Does he know anything about Enclave tech?”

The ghoul paused his polishing, and slowly turned his attention back to me, lowering his voice a tad as he leaned on the bar.

“Now that’s oddly specific. Sorry, it’s against my policy to divulge information on local residents." He said, gesturing past me to the rest of the crowd, "A lot of ponies... they come here with pasts that they don’t want to talk about. Unity? It's a fresh start. We respect that here and don't take too kindly to ponies that want to dig up things that are best left buried.”

I got irritated and reached into my bag, pulling out my Pipbuck and slammed it onto the counter.

Gimlet's rotted eye jumped between me and the disabled device. “Ah, so you’re a Stable Dweller?” he asked.

“No. Just a mare with a few questions.” I replied, countering his lean with a lean of my own.

“Right, right. A lot of ponies have them... In theory. He might know something about these things."

“Would he be able to bypass the encryption key on it?” I asked, holding the device up in my hoof.

Gimlet shrugged again, clicking his tongue. “I don’t really pay attention to all that sciency mumbo jumbo. And the Professor is a busy fella. Just hire a code breaker at the Raptor Graveyard near New Appleloosa and find out that way. That one’s on the house. Anything else will cost extra.” He casually motioned his hoof to ask for more caps. I shoved the old device back into my bag, huffing at the old ghoul. He was beginning to grow tired of my questions, but I didn’t care. His apathetic disposition was only pissing me off further.

“That would run me down several thousand caps with no guarantee of return!” I shot back.

“Your problem, not mine. Sorry. I can’t tell you anything more.” he said, brushing me off with a half-hearted apology.

“Can’t or won’t?” I challenged.

The old ghoul rolled his eye “I’ve got other patrons here. Anything else I can do for you girls?" our host asked, regaining that false sense of hospitality that was starting to piss me off.

“Yeah, you still haven’t answered my questions.” I said, putting a hoofful of caps onto the counter. It was most of what I had left.

He laughed, picking the glass back up and resuming his cleaning job. “Don’t you have anything better to do, kid?”

“I’m serious.” I spat.

“And I’ve got a serious business to run. But don't worry, this town won’t be around much longer if things keep up as they are. It's not like you’d care about a poor struggling town of ghouls and muties.”

I began to grow annoyed with his sob story “So the raiders don’t care about this place, but their presence is causing issues for your business. Which is it, then? Are the raiders a problem for you or not? Answer the damn quest-”

“Oh, no! Is this town in danger?” Sunny asked.

Gimlet gestured towards her with an approving nod, “You’re a lot more pleasant than your marefriend here missy.”

“Aw, gee. Thanks mister!” she blushed.

I practically rolled my eyes into the back of my skull and plopped down in my seat again. I nearly forgot she was there.

“Ole Gawdyna’s been making a big push to clean up raider activity in her territory since day one, driving unlawful raidery activity and otherwise unsavory ponies past the 52. The Canterlot Valley may look like something out of a fairytail from before the war, but a lot of places like this? We’re still living in the wasteland. New Canterlot doesn’t want nothin’ to do with us, and all the Caravans that would pass through here have all dried up. So the Raider Clans control this stretch of dirt, mostly because Gawd doesn’t give a shit.” The old ghoul shrugged. “Desperate times, kid.”

“Well you’re in luck, because Rou is actually with the New Canterlot Army!” Sunny exclaimed. “She could help!”

“Sunny...” I warned.

“Is it true? Are you with the New Canterlot Army?”

“Only under contract as a mercenary.” I admitted reluctantly. Sunny smiled meekly as I glared at her. “My reasons are my business.”

“I see.” he replied, not outwardly showing what he thought of my 'declared' allegiance. So I simply went back to what we were just talking about.

“Has this town been having raider troubles since it was set up?”

“What, are you supposed to be some sort of big hero, or what?” he laughed, and gave me the same line that Sheriff Green gave about raiders not bothering with a town like this. Something in my brain wasn’t adding up, so I took another approach.

“Does the name ‘Jagged Knife’ mean anything to you?” I asked.

When I spoke that name, Gimlet went silent and the bar felt slightly more quiet than before. I could see him glancing down at the mark on my chest and then try to play it off like he didn’t notice it.

“You know him?” I pressed. “I need to know where he’s getting his Enclave weapons.”

“Sorry, I-...No more questions! I Never even heard of the guy! Don’t go coming into my establishment causing trouble!”

“I’m not trying to start trouble! This guy’s going around killing innocents!” I shouted back.

"Bahahaha!" We both paused as mocking laughter cut through my little 'interrogation'. Slowly, I looked back to see a thin, grease ridden-pony with bloodshot eyes dealing cards on top of a wooden table sitting there, having interrupted his own conversation to turn and look at me. He had that scummy look about him like he was perpetually up to no good. Loosely clothed in ill-fitting armor that he was probably hiding a few hits of chems underneath.

“Something funny jackass?” I raised an eyebrow. A few of the other patrons and the bartender turned to watch me as I walked over to the other side of the room to meet him. He was sitting with a scrawny friend of his, and got skittish when I shot him a glare. The overly smug looking stallion seemed unphased as I stood over him.

He chuckled to himself lightly, like he just told a shitty joke. “That wasteland hero crap won’t get you anywhere nowadays. Who do you think you are, the fucking Stable Dweller?”

“Wanna try me then, asshole?” My eyes narrowed on him as I cracked my neck and walked up to him. A few of the other patrons stood up, but I barely paid them any attention. I felt my muscles tighten at wanting to punch that smug look off his face.

“I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” The bartender insisted.

Sunny nudged me and whispered into my ear. “Rou, let’s get out of here...”

“He knows something.” I whispered back.

“We can come back later.” she pleaded.

I stared angrily for a moment at the smug asshole who I desperately wanted to punch in the face before agreeing. “Fine... but I’m taking my bottlecaps!”

Everyone in the bar watched me as I gathered my things and stormed out the front. I nearly took the door off its hinges in the process, barely making an effort to hide how pissed off I was. Sunny followed me shortly after and the two of us stood alone together in the center of town. I turned to Sunny and snapped at her, not sure whether or not the ponies inside the bar could still hear me outside. “What was that for? I was handling it!”

She shrunk backward at my sudden outburst with a slight gasp. It was a little painful watching her do that, but she also showed me a side I hadn’t seen from her because she displayed some confidence in that moment and fired back. “We can’t just go around starting fights with everypony who might know something! How do you expect to get anything useful if you get us both kicked out of town?” She seemed passionate about this in particular. I was surprised to see she had this side to her, but I was still caught up in the heat of the moment.

“I’ve been on my own up until now!” I countered, brushing her off. “The way I’ve done things up to now was never been a problem before.”

The mare huffed, “Well then what do you know about this Jagged Knife so far?”

I scoffed, not taking her entirely seriously. “I know I’m going to kick his ass when I find him.”

“So nothing, then?” she pointed out, and I got red in the face.

“He’s using specially modified Enclave weapons! That’s all I care about.” I insisted.

My shoulder was flaring up to the point I could feel it stronger than normal. I brushed at it with my hoof, mostly ignoring the pain and too pissed off to care. “Are you even planning on keeping up your end of the bargain?” I asked.

“Rou, I’m trying to help you…” she pleaded, looking almost hurt. “Just trust me.”

“Okay... I will.” I huffed, nodding.

“This town is struggling because of the raiders. Aren’t you the type of mare who ran out here on her own to help others, regardless of the risks involved?”

“It’s not my problem.” I insisted, turning to face her again. What the hell did she expect me to do? “I’m not an enlisted pony. My job is to take this envelope to Major Silver Spur, and that’s it! I’m already not supposed to be out here and there are more important things to put our attention towards! Whatever happens to a failing town, isn’t our concern. They wouldn’t want us getting involved, anyways!”

“The New Canterlot Army claims that they’re trying to help ponies, but they’re not here...”

“What does New Canterlot have to do with this?” I asked, not sure what she was getting at. The mare pleaded with me on this for some reason.

“I know you’re a good pony deep down. Don’t you think we should do what little we can to help this place?”

“The Enclave weapons stuff… t-that’s different!” I tried, but she had me pegged. I let out a deep breath. Her words resonated with me and I felt calmer than before. “Fine. I'll think about it.”

She hung her head apologetically and looked at the ground. “I’m sorry, Rou… I didn’t mean to snap at you like that.”

“It’s alright, Sunny” I replied, putting on a weak smile. “I needed it.”

“So how do you want to play this one?” She asked me.

I briefly glanced back to the bar, then back to her. “That guy knows something he’s not saying. It’s obvious.”

“Yeah, I know....” she agreed.

“I’m going to go speak with Professor Mercury Switch. I’ve got a hunch that he might be able to help clear all this up.”

“You think so?” she frowned.

“There’s something off about this place. A small perfect little town like this on the edge of the Whitetail Woods, out in the middle of raider country? One with all sorts of technology and they haven’t had raiders try to attack them once? Jagged’s ponies fuck with Gawd’s caravans on a regular basis and somehow they haven’t managed to pin him down yet, he’s got more than enough firepower to burn this town to the ground, alicorns or no. I’ve seen it myself, first hoof. Those weapons are no joke.”

“Well when you put it like that, it is a bit strange… Should we bring this up with the Sheriff?” she asked.

“No. I want to speak with him alone.”

“Let me do it. I’ll try and get the information on my own.”

“You?” I asked doubtfully.

“Yes, I had an idea. Plus it’s part of of our agreement, right? We’ll be able to cover more ground faster if we split up.” She said. This was another side to her that she didn’t show when we met initially. I stood by, silently weighing the options and had to admit, the mare had a point. Only after I forced myself to realize that it was the best option available, did I agree with her proposal.

“Fine.” I nodded. “Be careful, alright?”

Sunny nodded. Then having a second thought, she bashfully held out her hoof, giving me that look again. “Um Rou, could I have the rest of your bottlecaps? I’ll buy us some supplies for the road.”

“Aw, but this is all I have left… ” I pouted. That face is a cheap tactic. Sighing heavily, I fished out my remaining bottle caps and hooved them over to Sunny.

“Don’t worry, I can take care of myself. I’ve been on my own up until now too!” she teased, giving me a poke.

Suddenly, the pain in my shoulder flared up again. “Agh! What the-?” I grunted. Having something annoying under my skin that I couldn’t get at sucked. Then, I realized that Sunny was still watching me.

“W-What’s wrong?” she asked, with a hint of worry and confusion.

“It’s nothing.” I insisted.

She didn't look entirely convinced, but we both heard the steam whistle blow again behind us, marking the end of the current shift. That was our cue to get moving. Both of us nodded to each other and split up to focus on our respective tasks. Admittedly, I wasn’t sure how much faith I actually had in her ability, but I figured that she couldn’t get into much trouble as long as we were in town.

I glanced down at my shoulder briefly with growing concern. It felt hotter than before, and the burning feeling had gotten worse since I came to town. This place was so irritating.

“Dammit...” I grunted.

I walked up to the oddly shaped bungalow, staring up at the humming coil of arcane energy on top. Wires ran from it all over town, some of which were decorated with multi-colored hearth’s warming lights. Occasional power fluctuations burst forth from the arcane coil, creating the odd bolt of electricity. Tons of electronic measuring devices dotted the outside of the lab, with various warning signs of high voltage posted around the perimeter. One of the the bolts almost struck my hooves, causing me to raise an eyebrow at the structure.

The front door was locked with a complex electronic mechanism, lined with hearthswarming lights around the doorframe. The added touch of a welcoming mat, struck just the right balance between “welcome” and “get out”. There was only one window in the whole place, but the blinds were shut so it was difficult to see anything, anyways. I was getting the impression that Professor Mercury Switch was a bit of a hermit.

A voicebox with camera security sat right beside me. I stared into the lens directly with my eye, and tapped on it a few times. “Hello?”

No answer. I pounded on the heavy steel door with my hoof.

I knocked again, this time harder. Still not sure how to get inside, I pressed a button on the voice box and heard a loud buzzer that made me jump. “Hello...? Professor Mercury Switch?” I asked.

There was a click and a staticy voice chimed in over the intercom, “What do you want? I’m very busy!” it asked.

“Sheriff Green sent me.” I answered.

“Ah, Green. What does she want this time?” He sighed.

I heard an alarm buzz, and the sounds of electronic mechanisms shifting and unlocking themselves. The steel door swung open to reveal a short grey pony with round thick-rimmed glasses and a white labcoat. His white mane was combed-over, and he gave the impression as to the kind of the pony who hadn’t gotten a good night sleep in years.

“Professor Mercury Switch?”

“I don’t believe we’ve met.” He frowned, adjusting his glasses.

“No, we haven’t,” I said, “but I was hoping that you could clear a few things up for me.”

The old pony squinted at me, then looking down at my chest where he noticed the pony skull symbol on my armor, and his face went almost completely white. He quickly tried to slam the door in my face, but not before I managed to stick a hoof inside. “Sorry, we’re closed!” he grunted.

“I just have a few questions!” I said, struggling to pry it open. He was stronger than he looked. After a bit of fighting with him I finally managed to open the door. “Don’t worry, I’m not with whoever you think I’m with.” I said, huffing.

He paused for a moment and then opened the door, releasing my hoof. The professor looked over me silently for a moment before motioning me to come inside. “Come in then, let’s get this over with.” he sighed.

I entered through the door into the metal structure which shut behind me, locking itself with an electric whirr. Once inside, it immediately opened up into the main work area, and I was greeted by a number of things befitting a mad scientist’s laboratory.

The indoor walls were sleek metallic, with ceramic black and white floor tiling, projects were piled on top of projects and disassembled tech that was strewn about everywhere at his workstation. Several gadgets that I couldn’t begin to comprehend the meaning of were pushed off to the side to clear space, while computers and data processors were shoved off into another corner of the room as they produced constant readouts from the measuring equipment outside. Despite the size of the architecture from the outside, it still felt rather cramped indoors.

Down a single hallway, I looked to see several other steel doors leading to extra rooms. When I looked back I was surprised to see a robotic tortoise hovering via a propeller in front of my face. Its body was entirely composed of weathered steel, that looked like it’d seen better days. With bright glowing red eyes, its shell seemed to house other various tools within it. Several lenses adjusted, zooming in and out, as it appeared to examine me. It snapped with its steel beak and then flew around, circling the room several times before perching itself on one of the large data processors in the corner.

The professor waved his hoof, gesturing me to follow. “Don’t worry, that’s just T.A.N.K.. I found him and fixed him up in my spare time. Awful attitude, but good company. Don’t know his model number, probably older, but he seems to enjoy meeting new guests for some reason. He’s harmless.” The little robot beeped at me and then supposedly putting himself into “sleep” mode, but I could see him subtly keeping one of his eye-lenses open. Somehow, I got the feeling the little thing was giving me the eyeball.

“That’s...uh, interesting?” I replied.

An impressive-looking arrangement of planters, growing fresh vegetables briefly caught my attention as well. I presumed it was the aforementioned hydroponics setup the ghoul was talking about. I glanced at the large terminal giving out constant data on the plants' status and growth rate, among other numbers and symbols that were frankly lost on me. But of all the things in the room, my eyes were drawn towards a white tarp draped over a workbench at the back of the laboratory.

“That’s just the small version.” the Professor quipped, drawing my attention. He spoke with a slight tinge of pride, noticing me admiring the overgrown science project, “We have a whole building dedicated to growing food for the town.” He stopped in the center of the room and turned so that we stood face to face. Although, I was taller than him so I had to look down slightly.

“It all looks pretty fancy. Practically everypony in town pointed me here.” I said looking around. “Where’d you learn how to do all this?”

He pushed up on his glasses again, to re-adjust them. There was some attention to carefulness in his actions, as he kept me at a hoof’s length. “Just a few things I’ve picked up here and there over the years. Figured I could put my skills to some good use. So if you’re not with them, who are you?”

“My name is Roulette. I have my reasons for wanting to speak with you.”

“Really? And what would those be?” the Professor asked, then noticing a smudge on the lens. He took out a spare cloth from his labcoat and began cleaning his glasses with it. His eyes were tired, like the look of a pony who had given up on hope. I knew that look, but I wouldn’t have expected it from a pony like this that was owed so much to by the town. That just added to my suspicion.

“Something’s been bugging me since I got here…” I said, causing him to raise his brow. “I mean, a town on the edge of the Whitetail Woods out in raider country? And not just that, but with fresh food? Water? Fucking electricity?”

“Never seen a settlement use technology to its advantage?” he asked.

“You’d be surprised, actually.“ I answered. “That big lightning generator outside, doesn’t really look too far off from Enclave tech. If I didn’t know any better…” Trailing off, he didn’t respond immediately. That seemed to grab his attention, at least. He finished cleaning his lenses and put them back on, returning the cloth to a pocket in his labcoat.

“No kidding?” He laughed a little, returning his glasses to their proper place. “So you actually do know a thing or two...”

Getting impatient, I pulled Sting’s laser pistol out of my bag and held it up in front of his face. “Specially modified. Not standard issue. I’m no scientist, but I know when things look out of place. You seriously expect me to believe that raiders haven’t looked at this place once?!”

He observed it briefly and then shot his gaze away with a flinch. The professor had an obvious tell. Something was clearly off here. The constant question dodging around here was getting on my nerves, I just wanted some damn answers.

“You recognize this weapon, don’t you?” I pressed. He stammered with increasing instability.

“I, um-…” The professor looked away apprehensively. “Times have changed. We don’t have trouble with raiders anymore. ”

“It’s called ‘raider country’.” I reminded him. It was obvious he knew something. Then, I lowered my voice. “Do you know a pony named Jagged Knife?” I asked. The old pony’s face immediately went pale and his mannerisms shifted completely. He ran up and attempted to usher me out the door with his meager strength, but because I had the advantage in both strength and weight, his efforts were in vain.

“Sorry if this is inconvenient timing, but you should really get going! I’ve got a lot of work to do, and I don’t need another youngster trying to involve themselves in my work!” He grunted between panting breaths.

“This is my problem just as much as it is yours!” I shouted. My shoulder was starting to flare up as well, but I pissed off to the point where I could ignore it. “I knew ponies who’ve been killed by these weapons!”

As soon as I said that I felt the old professor stop dead in his tracks and he fell completely silent. I stopped feeling him trying to push against me, and he almost stumbled over as I effortlessly stepped out of his way like he wasn’t even there. After that, he stood there staring at the ground with a slightly dazed expression. It was like he was considering all his options, before he finally huffed and slumped over. “Oh, what’s the use? They’ll find out sooner or later anyways.”

“If you know something, then tell me!” I demanded. He sat there, completely unresponsive, not even acknowledging me for several seconds. “... Professor?”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me...” he sighed, walking over to a steaming pot that was sitting at one of his work stations. The Professor poured himself a cup into an old ceramic coffee mug. I watched him curiously as he did this. Then he took a sip and turned to me. “Tea?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Tea is good for the mind. Helps you keep your composure” He said finishing his cup and then placed the empty mug on the table.

“I don’t want tea!” I said, raising my voice. The robotic flying tortoise flew up right in my face again, this time with aggressive beeps. Slapping my hoof around in the air at him, T.A.N.K. evaded my strikes easily, snapping his beak. He flew away beeping rudely at me. “Back off you little flying tin can!”

“Sorry, he can get defensive sometimes...” The Professor sighed, setting his mug down on a workbench next to some of his other unfinished projects. He wore a deep contemplative look for a moment, and didn’t say anything.

“Tell me what you meant by that earlier comment!” I pressed.

"I... no, it’ll be easier if I show you.” He shook his hoof, gesture me to follow him down the hallway to his personal study. When T.A.N.K. attempted to follow us, the old scientist insisted that he speak with me alone. The small robot let out of a low dejected beep.

It was a small room lit only by a small desk lamp, with a bookshelf and a desk that had studies, periodicals, and hastily scribbled notes laid out across it. Diagrams and a number of books on biology were set on top of the small coffee table. There was a couch as well, where he offered me a place to sit, but I chose to stand.

“I'm starting to get tired of being dragged around like this.” I echoed my frustration growing with all the running around I’d been doing. “I'm not leaving until you tell me everything!”

The professor turned to look at me through his peripheries as he undid the buttons on his labcoat. Without saying another word, he shed the old white coat to reveal a pair of wings and spread them to nearly their full length. I could feel my body tense up, and the pain in my shoulder flared up along with it. Muscles in my legs tightened and my jaw clenched shut. “Relax, they’re just wings.” he attested.

I managed to get out a word. “Are you…y’know?”

He finished my sentence for me, “Enclave? No.” he replied, and I felt myself relax a little. “I was born in a Stable. Ninety-eight, if memory serves. It’s been a while. But that was before the Enclave came and cannibalized the place for resources... You didn’t think that just any old wasteland scientist was capable of building all this from nothing, did you?” The professor grinned slightly.

After he put his lab coat back on, the initial shock of that revelation wore off. I wasn’t expecting that, but I still had more questions that needed answering. “Okay, so now that’s out of the way, tell me what’s the deal with the Enclave weapons.” I said, while doing my best to keep my emotions in check.

“Is something the matter?” He asked “You look shaken.”

I shook my head. “No, just that the Enclave took something from me too.”

“Ah, I see...” He said, solemnly removing his glasses so that we could see each other’s eyes and all I could see just how tired his looked. His voice was sober, with hardly a hint of emotion at all as he spoke. “Well I have seen those weapons before, but they didn’t come from my laboratory originally.”

“Do you know anything about where they came from?” I asked.

“The short answer is no.” he replied.

“What’s the long answer then?” I pressed.

“In order to tell you that, first I have to give you a bit of a history lesson about this place.” He said, clearing his throat and returning his glasses to their proper place. I groaned out loud. History was one of my least favorite subjects.

He gave me the same spiel that Sheriff Green gave me when I first arrived in town: about harmony and mutual cooperation regardless of background, and all that. With added details about its founding. It was nothing I hadn’t already heard.

I nickered. As he spoke I did my best to not appear bored out of my mind.

“When I first came to Unity, the town was struggling. So I used what scientific knowledge I had to the best of my ability in order to help this place. Soon a number of talented individuals from many backgrounds came together to work towards a common goal-”

“I don’t want to hear about the town!” I snarled.

He puffed back at me. “Haven’t you heard that patience is a virtue?”

I grumbled. “So what’s with the Steel Ranger statue then?”

The professor nodded. “It was meant to honor Green’s Steel Ranger friend, with whom she founded the town with. Unfortunately, he had a heart condition... There was little that could be done, and he ended up passing away shortly after the town’s founding.”

I nodded along, half-interested. “Uh huh...”

“He was a hardy Steel Ranger stallion... though my description doesn’t do him much justice. However he did leave a lasting impression on Miss Green. Oddly, a lot of her strange mannerisms and personality quirks she picked up from him. It’s a strange phenomenon, having your personality imprint on an alicorn to that degree. Something I’ve observed among them following their separation from the Unity. New abilities have begun to manifest in their isolation as of late. The most notable I’ve observed is among the green coats, how they’ve taken to forming mental links between themselves and others-”

“That’s... interesting.” was all I could think to say.

“Apologies, I’ve gone and gotten ahead of myself.” The professor cleared his throat, and continued, “I saw this as a place of opportunity, where I could settle down and put time into my work. I wanted to use my scientific knowledge for the benefit of both pony and mutant-kind living here. The town was failing, but with my help we managed to turn around. Not only that, we managed to turn it into something spectacular! What I didn’t know I managed to pick up from old books, and I knew just enough to be dangerous. I worked daily to expand my knowledge and came up with new solutions.”

“Well, this town seems to think pretty highly of you anyways.” I said.

“They really shouldn’t…I’m just a pony of science. I read whatever I can get my hooves on and put it into practice as best I can. In my spare time I study theoretical biology.” he sighed. “I get way more praise than I deserve…”

“You see, from our increased prosperity my laboratory quickly drew interest of one raider in particular. But it so happens they never attacked the town. They wanted the technology…” he said grimly. I stood up, detecting a hint of sadness and regret in his voice. He had my full attention now.

“About a month later, I heard a knock at my door and a pair of stallions were standing there. One of them looked like your average pony turned raider. He was a small, slightly effeminate unicorn male. Hardly the type you’d expect to want to be a part of that life.” I recognized Mercury’s description as sounding like Sting, remembering how I nearly beat him to a pulp the previous day.

“The other pony never gave his name. He wasn’t particularly large or imposing but something about the way he carried himself. Like he was aware that I knew he would kill me for any reason, if he so much as fancied the idea or if I challenged him.” As Mercury spoke, his voice lowered to a hush and his eyes never left mine. “Those icy blue eyes of his looked like something that only the wasteland could dream up.”

“Who is Jagged Knife? Could you tell me what he looked like?” I asked, hoping for anything.

“He never gave his name, personally, I’ve only heard his contacts speak it...I do remember that other stallion’s coat was a light grey-green, almost resembling a snake’s... His mane, a dark blue with white mohawk running through it, with some rather distinct facial hair that had a similar coloration. He also wore a tattered old, rust-colored jacket. Marked with that same symbol on your armor.” Then he pointed to it and added, “You might want to be more careful when wearing that around in the open, in the future.”

“Thanks for the advice.” I said, committing the description to memory. It wasn’t much to go off of, but it was better than nothing. “What did he want from you specifically?”

Mercury Switch wore a puzzled expression on his face. “He showed me some advanced technology I had never seen before. On closer inspection, it appeared to be some form of data storage device. Except, the technology was too advanced to crack with even my best lab equipment! I nearly burned through several data processors trying to figure it out, but there was no way to access the data without completely destroying whatever was inside. I’m almost ashamed to admit that it was beyond me... When I couldn’t tell him anything, the stallion said 'now that I knew his face, he couldn’t just let me go. Unless I did him a favor and kept things quiet, he’d simply kill everyone in town and shut me up that way. He also said that he’d be sending his friends to check on me every now and again, ‘from now on.’”

“Where does the Enclave tech come into it?” I asked.

The Professor led me back into the main room of the lab, to a workbench covered by a white tarp. He tugged on it to reveal a strange partially assembled creation in the shape of an energy weapon. Green energy crystals and sleek black parts. It looked almost Enclave in design, but it was slightly off. More like he had taken recovered Enclave tech to make his own design. T.A.N.K. hovered over it, his mechanical propeller whirring as he bobbed up and down to get a closer look. “Like I said,” he sighed. “Just a few things I’ve picked up over the years...”

I looked over the small armory of weapons and Enclave technology and my blood went still. Everything suddenly began to click into place as my suspicions were confirmed one by one. “So that means: you’re the one who added those extra modifications...”

“Yes, this indeed looks like my handiwork. The models he showed me were a more advanced version of the Sunburst Rifles used during Operation Cauterize. He just had me make a few tweaks to the overall design so his raiders could use them more easily.” he then gestured to the incomplete weapon on his workbench, “And this was something I had been working on, in hopes that he’d let the town alone once I gave it over to him.”

My jaw clenched, and I could feel my internal temperature rising. “You’ve got blood on your hooves!”

Mercury sighed wearily, “He allowed the town to keep on prospering, and told me that if I or the town ever crossed him by doing something stupid, then he’d just kill us all anyways. In exchange for letting us live, I’d help him make certain upgrades to his Enclave weaponry and agreed to help him with any new tech he found. That was the arrangement…”

“And you just went along with it?!” I raised my voice, letting my anger get the better of me for a moment. “It should’ve been obvious that this town was in cahoots with the raiders somehow.“

A static-ridden voice chimed in over the intercom, interrupting our conversation. “Hey, Professor? Sheriff Green said she needs your help with something. She asked me to check on you.”

We both looked over to it, and I could see Mercury Switch reaching over to it. He stopped, looking over to me. “Does the Sheriff know about this too?” I snarled under my breath.

”No. Green is innocent here. This was all my doing.” he shook his head and I could tell he was being honest with me. At least that way, I knew the entire town wasn’t complicit in all this. That helped temper my anger a little, but not by much.

His eyes motioned towards the intercom. “ Don’t worry, I’ll send him away.” he assured me.

I released his hoof and he leaned over and press the button on the device. “I understand Deputy, but I’m currently in the middle of something. I’ll be sure to speak with her later.”

“Alright, I’ll let her know.” the voice chimed, and cut out. I let out a sigh of relief, looking again at the Professor.

“Why the hell did you do it then? Surely, you knew he’d just turn these weapons on other ponies.” I asked.

“Deep down I knew what he was doing, but I lied to myself. I wanted to preserve the innocence of this place. Shortly after, I realized that if I never came here in the first place, then Jagged would’ve never been interested in the town. Green welcomed me here without so much as a second thought. It was a place for me to continue my research, and I wanted to repay that debt of gratitude. I didn’t want to soil that. So if I could solve the problem on my own, then perhaps he’d allow the town to go on existing?”

“All of what you just said is a load of bull. Giving them what they want isn’t going to help anyone!” I shouted.

“I know I’m a coward, but it wasn’t like the Stable Dweller was coming to save us! I had to do it, because I felt responsible for preserving the harmony of this place. It was a second chance past all the sins we’ve committed in the wasteland and I wanted to believe in their dream. Ponies like Jagged just teach us the cruel reality of things. That those inspiring words over the radio aren’t worth a damn.”

“That’s why I’ve been working day and night to try and come up with some sort of invention that he’ll leave us alone. Something that’ll help the town and solve all our problems. As a way to make up for everything i’ve done and all the sins we’ve committed. It was never my intention to hurt others.” His eyes squeezed shut, and he wiped his tears with a handkerchief. It was a pathetic scene. I was almost finding it a little hard to be mad at this guy.

“Of all the stupid-” I rolled my eyes.

“Don’t you see? I had no choice but to do it!” the old pegasus snapped. Flaring his nostrils and beginning to sweat profusely, he started growing more hysterical the longer he spoke. “Maybe children like you are too young to remember what the wasteland was like, but here’s a quick refresher course: It was a wasteland! A true hell realized, conjured up by Nightmare Moon herself and perpetuated by us! What’s the damned point?! There’s no hope left for any of us-”

“Oh, don’t give me that load of brahmin shit! I remember...” I cut him off and he halted mid sentence. “But hey, I’m glad that you can still show a little backbone.” The old professor was left totally speechless. He had gotten himself all worked up, but it was still a good change from the defeated pony I was speaking with a few minutes ago.

He stammered and went silent. He pushed up on his glasses which had become loose during his tirade. “I-I’m sorry…I never wanted to hurt anyone. I just wanted to keep the special thing this town had alive.”

“Jeez, you’re not going to make me watch you cry again, are you?”

“I’ll be alright.” he said, dabbing his eyes with his handkerchief and shoving it back into his coat pocket. “What difference does it make though? Eventually, he’ll hear about you coming here, it’s only a matter of time.”

“Well, sorry to break it to you but the Stable Dweller isn’t coming to save you.” I said, then muttered to myself. “I swear to Luna, this guy is really pissing me off.” Now I was getting mad for another reason entirely. Professor Mercury had been so busy trying to help the town, they barely even noticed something was off. Worse was how the Sheriff just allowed Jagged’s raider contacts to come and go as they pleased while they unknowingly took advantage of the place. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. A town called Unity? What a joke.

“So all is lost then. Everything we worked for...” He said, giving a defeated sigh.

“Relax, the town will be fine.” I assured him, picking up my things that I left stashed by the entrance. “Nobody is going to be attacking anywhere.”

“How can you be sure of that?” he asked me, unsure of where my endless confidence was coming from.

“Because I’m going to kick his ass, and figure out where he’s getting his Enclave weapons.” I stated matter-of-factly and blew a heavy puff of air. “I guess, it would be too much to hope for that you’d know where he was getting them, huh?”

The Professor shook his head and and I stood facing away from him in the doorframe.

As I moved towards the door, I stopped to look back at Mercury Switch. “I’ve got one more question before I go: There’s this really smug asshole that hangs out in the bar, selling chems. Is he one of Jagged’s too? I didn’t see a mark on him.”

Mercury Switch shook his head. “I have no idea, if you’re referring to who I think you are.”

“Alright, thanks Prof.” I said, pushing the button to open the front door. The electronic mechanisms spun in place, and I heard a swishing noise as the door opened. “There’s something I need to take care of, so I’ll be back later. In the meantime, tell that little robot to-- Ah!” I cried as I felt a sudden jolt of pain shoot through my shoulder, and grabbed it reflexively.

“What’s the matter?” He asked, giving me a strange look.

“It’s nothing.” I said, stepping out the door. “I’ll be back later. Seeya, Tank.”

T.A.N.K. beeped at me again as I trotted outside. I thought I had some idea of what he was saying, but I ignored him.

I entered the Dirt-Stop Saloon again, seeing Sunny speaking with the bartender about something. She looked almost alarmed to see me, and was stammering to get out a sentence.

“Oh, hey Rou! Um, did you find what you were looking for?” she smiled walking up in front of me. I lightly moved her out of my way and she stood still watching as I strolled across the room, straight up to the overly-smug pony’s table. He was all alone this time.

“Let’s talk.” I said, glaring at him while ignoring the ghoul’s protests. The stallion was laying back in his seat pretending to ignore me, so I turned and spat in his drink.

He looked down at the saliva filled glass and muttered, “Well, that’s just gross.”

“You got a name?” I asked.

“It’s Slag” he answered.

I stuck my hoof on the table and looked him directly in the eye. “You’re going to tell me everything you know about Jagged Knife.” I demanded.

“Haven’t we already been over this?” The stallion chuckled, his attitude only serving to piss me off further. My blood was already at a boiling point when I walked through the door, and the burning pain in my shoulder was just a mild irritation by comparison. I swept my hoof across the table, causing all his food and drink to spill on the floor. He rolled his eyes off to one side. “What makes you so sure that I know anything?”

“Because if you didn’t, then you wouldn’t be such a smug asshole about it.” I replied. “I know you’re not one of his, but you know something.”

“Didn’t I tell you to get out?!” Gimlet attempted to shout over me, but I barely even cared.

“Go get the Sheriff,” I uttered in as low a tone I could muster, barely containing my rage. I hardly acknowledged him as he hurried out the door as fast as his rotted legs could carry him.

Sunny scolded me in a harsh whisper. “Rou, what are you doing?” I didn’t turn to look at her, but for some reason she was pretty peeved by the sound of it. She was probably in the middle of her own interrogation when I burst through the door.

I kept my eyes locked on the smug looking pony in front of me, but tried to reassure her. “Trust me, I’ll explain later.” I promised. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to do things her way, right now.

He laughed, “That mutie bitch won’t do shit.”

“Why do you live here, if you dislike mutants?” I asked.

He spoke like he was proud of himself, bragging about his operation. “I got a good thing going here. Some of these mutie freaks are my best customers! Got a few regular patrons hooked on my chems. They don’t say a word because the town is all about a fresh start, so it’s easy for a pony like me to sit back and reap the rewards while I play cards in the bar. They don’t ask questions. Plus if I’m gone, who’ll provide their fix? Green wouldn’t want a bunch of addicts all going through withdrawal.”

“Well, you’d better hope the sheriff gets here soon, or you’ll have to deal with me.”

“And what are you gonna do, hero?” he mocked, keeping up with his usual attitude.

“Spit it out, or you’re gonna find out what I do to raiders.” I threatened.

“I ain’t no snitch, you dirty tomboy dyke.” he jeered.

“Wrong answer,” I snarled. He shrunk back as I leaned in closer to him and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. “Jagged Knife is the one that’s been organizing the attacks in Gawd’s territory, and I need to know where the fuck he got those weapons.”

“Give me one good reason why I should!” he said. The longer this took the more pissed off I was getting.

I leaned in so our faces were almost touching and snarled “Cus’ I’m a pissed off mare that you don’t want to fuck with. Sunny!” She almost jumped when I shouted her name and glanced in her direction.

“Y-yeah?” Sunny stammered anxiously. “Everything going okay?”

“Change the radio station to the New Canterlot Trade Reports. I have a feeling that they’re going to be reporting some updated information on the caravan attacks, soon. So we’ll learn whether or not our friend here is going to live to see tomorrow.” I said, not taking my eyes off him.

“Oh, right!” She nodded and began struggling to work the old radio, turning the sticky dials until it tuned to the right station. Eventually, she found it just as the songs were cutting out, and we heard Daily Day’s voice blaring over the decayed speakers.

“Tell me what i want to know, and nobody gets hurt.” I promised.

“What the hell?! I ain’t got nothing to do with that shit!” he objected.

“Hello, this is Daily Day, back with the daily trade reports. We’ve received another report this morning in regards to another caravan attack that occurred near the 52 Outpost. This comes as a surprise, since it follows so closely to the one from yesterday. Supposedly, it occured late last night in the cover of darkness. New Canterlot officials are claiming this most recent attack has helped them narrow in on some key suspects.”

“You hear that?” I grinned, menacingly cracking my neck and joints. “Bad luck.”

“Hey c’mon kid! They’ll kill me if Jagged hears I was talking about him to other ponies behind his back.” he begged.

“Tch! And I’m supposed to care?” I scoffed, picking him up by the collar of his shirt and lifted him off the floor. The stallion yelped. “Tell me what I want to know first, and then I’ll let you go if I’m feeling generous! Tell me where he got those weapons!”

“Hey, let go of me!” he cried. “I don’t know, alright?”

“Then give me something I can use!”

We both turned to listen to the radio, to hear Daily Day reading off about the breaking news story, but there was a pause in the broadcast as another pony came into the studio. I almost hoof-smacked my forehead as we all listened to her whisper something into his ear as he nodded along.

He started sputtering “I got out of the game because because it was getting too rough for me. The only reason I’m here is because this town looks the other way to me being here. I didn’t have anywhere else.”

“What, was being a raider too tough for you?” I scoffed.

“Okay? Yes, we’ve just received a big report here at the station! This just in, regarding yesterday’s caravan attack: A lone mare was sighted leaving the scene of an attack en route to Junction Town yesterday. She was a young adult, noted as having an auburn colored mane with a white stripe, a tan coat, and she wore a forest green jacket with a pair of chevron stripes on either side. New Canterlot officials are saying that she should be considered a suspicious pony of interest until she’s been brought in for questioning on the matter. If you’re listening, please turn yourself in and submit to the proper authorities.”

“...Shit.”

She quickly shut off the radio. There was a long awkward pause where everyone in the bar seemed to turn and look at me. Slag broke the silence, bursting into fit of unabashed laughter. I desperately looked over to Sunny, who was staring at me speechless.

As I stumbled over my words to try and explain myself, I couldn’t think of anything to say that would help my situation. Slag’s ongoing fit of laughter was starting to annoy me, so I shut him up quick by giving him an extra-hard boop on his nose. I would normally smirk as he clutched his face in agony, but I was simply too stunned by the current turn of events to take any pleasure from it.

It was then, that I noticed the Sheriff standing in the doorway. She stepped towards me, followed shortly by the bartender. All the attention in the room was drawn by her presence alone. “Put him down!” she boomed, in a loud authoritative voice. I complied, dropping Slag onto the floor and I turned to face her as she approached. Sunny tried to hide herself in plain sight, not knowing exactly how to handle the situation in front of her. I felt guilty for stressing her out like that.

“Sheriff, before you say a word. I can explain about the raider thing-” I started, but Sheriff Green cut me off.

“I never took you for a raider,” she said, raising one eyebrow, “but I’d love to hear your explanation anyways.”

“Were you aware that raiders have been covertly operating in your settlement?” She managed to humor me as I pointed at Slag, who had lost his smug expression. “This pony let on that he knew about all the recent caravan attacks that have been plaguing your town, but the bartender kicked me out when I started asking questions!”

“I told ya to lay low here, ya freakin’ moron!” I could hear Gimlet’s voice in a harsh whisper, directed at Slag. He pulled his hoof back like he wanted to smack him upside the head.

“Did you know about this?” The Sheriff slowly turned to look at the bartender, who nervously shrunk backward and threw his hooves up in the air. He stammered trying to explain himself, while Green’s eyes narrowed into slits.

Gimlet’s level of commitment to his story was impressive as addressed Green, trying to appear relatively calm. “Alright. Now, I know this looks bad, but trust me I can explain...”

“We’ll talk about this later.” She said, tabling the issue and turning back to me.

I raised my voice so that the whole bar could hear me, puffing my chest out. “Something was throwing me off about this place from the moment I got here, but I couldn’t place it. So I spoke with the Professor on my own, since nobody else in town would tell me a damn thing! He told me everything, about how you basically allowed Jagged Knife and his raiders to walk right into town without any trouble! They threatened the poor professor at gunpoint into making their weapons for them and it got innocents killed! Honestly, that really pisses me off. The so-called peace and harmony in this town is nothing but a load of brahmin shit! And you have the gall call yourself a damn sheriff?!”

“Is that so?” she asked, seeming unphased by my insults and accusations. The alicorn craned her neck down to look at the small pony, half-her-size. I had to admit, that she was much more intimidating than I was. The type of mare that you really didn’t want to piss off, if you could help it. Slag began to sputter at the gigantic lawmare in front of him, when she turned to address him directly. She raised one eyebrow, waiting for a good explanation.

He looked around, darting his eyes from side to side, then back to the Sheriff. “I’m not a raider no more! I got out of that life like a lot of us did!”

“And I’m supposed to believe that story?” she snorted.

“It’s true! Things have been different since Sunshine and Rainbows, there ain’t no place for us anymore! It’s true that Jagged’s been sending his boys to town every now and then, but he cleared out recently, in the last few weeks! I’ve got some connections who’ve told me little bits and pieces! Didn’t hear much, just that it was somethin’ big with the other clans! I think it’s something to do with ole Gawdyna’s army and the caravan attacks!”

“Then why have the caravan attacks been getting more frequent?” I countered.

To my surprise, he turned to address me instead of Green, “Look kid, Jagged’s always been a player behind the scenes, but he only really hit the big time after he crossed paths with the Stable Dweller and survived! Some settlement he hit a while back. I don’t know the full details, just that you really don’t want to get on his bad side. Take my advice from before and walk away. That’s all I know kid, I swear. C’mon, help me out here!”

“So the raider game was too tough for you, so instead you took to getting ponies hooked on chems to turn a profit?” I spat sarcastically. “Not my problem, asshole.”

“Roulette, right? I need to speak with you.” Green stood over me, demanding my attention. “Privately.” she insisted.

I nodded silently, in agreement.

As she left, Slag shouted at her in desperation. “H-Hey!” he said, getting back to his hooves. “You can’t throw me to the wolves after I’ve told you what you wanted! Jagged’ll find out I talked! If they catch me out in the wasteland now, they’ll kill me! And if Gawdyna catches me in her territory and finds out that I’ve committed crimes then she’ll toss me in Arbu Prison and throw away the key!”

Green stopped at the door and turned to address the stallion before leaving. Her words were harsh, carrying a callousness that I hadn’t seen from her up until now. “I don’t care what you do.” The ex-raider stallion couldn’t respond, it was as if he was left still trying to process his situation.

Before following her, I turned to ex-raider stallion one last time. He looked totally desperate, so I gave him what little scrap I could offer, pity-wise. “Why don’t you put your skills to use doing something that’s actually beneficial for the town, instead of sitting here pushing chems all day? Maybe then they’d change their minds about you.” He tried to get a word in as Sunny and I followed Green out the door, but I wasn’t listening.

“It’s a shame things turned out this way.” Green sighed.

I found myself sitting at a wooden desk across from the Sheriff. Most of the furniture in her office was wooden or had an old fashioned looking aesthetic. She also had a small jail cell built into it, that probably rarely ever saw use. A framed photograph of the Sheriff and who I presumed was her deceased steel ranger friend, sat next to her on the desk. The Sheriff sat with her hooves folded, appearing much more serious than the happy hooved greeter I met when I first arrived. Considering her tall stature, the desk she sat at looked positively miniscule by comparison. Sunny had been left waiting for me outside, while I talked business with her.

“So you’re saying this raider boss has been acting behind the scenes, using top quality Enclave weapons to hit New Canterlot aligned caravans past the 52 in Gawd’s territory. You also say that there was another pegasus who was wrapped up in this mess somehow and you’re trying to get to the bottom of it. Do I have all that right?

“Yep. I just haven’t fully figured out what his game plan is yet.”

“Awfully brave of you to come out here on your own.” she said. “Despite this news, the raiders are not my biggest concern. ”

“Do you know why this town is so important to me?” The Sheriff asked me directly. She quickly answered her own question. “Because it was built on a dream that both me and another pony who was very special to me both shared, and I’ll do whatever it takes to protect that dream.”

I scoffed, although I didn’t take any satisfaction in being proven right. In truth, I knew from the beginning that it was impossible for such a prosperous town to be completely untouched by the wasteland. This experience made me start to wonder if what Gawd wanted to do was even possible, even though I was still gung ho about joining up with the New Canterlot Army at the time. I only hoped deep down that she and the Stable Dweller knew what they were doing.

She hung her head longingly and stared intently over at the photograph on her desk. Probably speaking from both shame and anger, “I was stupid and they took advantage of our hospitality. It’s true that this town was built on our past sins, but here in the town of Unity we like to leave our pasts behind us. All that said, I’m going to be forced to do something drastic about this.”

I gulped, “You mean about my punishment?”

“Please, I never believed you were a raider. So that detail doesn’t interest me.“ she said dismissing the issue, and I let out deep a sigh of relief. Then she took on a much more stern and authoritative tone, “That doesn’t change the fact that I don’t appreciate folks coming into town and starting trouble. Given the circumstances, however... I am willing to compromise.”

“Compromise? Were you even aware that the Professor was keeping information like this from the rest of the town?!” I shouted back, well aware that I was pushing my luck right then.

Sheriff Green shook her head. She kept her voice measured during our exchange, but sounded noticeably disappointed with herself. “I suspected there was a problem, but I had no idea it was this bad… If Mercury told us sooner we would’ve done something, but the time has passed to think about what could have been, in this regard.“

“Like hell it is! You didn’t for a second suspect that something was wrong?!” I shouted over her, allowing myself to get a little heated. As I looked off to the side, I fell back into the chair with a thud and huffed at the hell of a situation I’d gotten myself into. “Look, I’ll take whatever you want to give me. If you want to turn me in, that’s fine too. But I’m going to go after these raiders one way or another.”

“I’m glad to hear that actually,” Green said, “The the thing is… It pains me to have to ask you this, but this town needs your help.”

“...Wait, what?” I felt dumbstruck.

“We’re all grateful to you for sorting out that detail with the Professor, but I need to ask another favor. This town means everything to me, and this new information has put us in a tough spot. The raiders’ very presence in the area discourages trade to our settlement. Since we rely on trading scrap, they’re threatening our entire way of life here and I won’t stand for that. It turns out that they were a bigger problem than I realized. So I would like you to ask Gawdyna to send her troops to secure trade west of the 52. We’re willing to pay you whatever it takes.”

My mouth hung open in complete shock. I definitely wasn’t expecting that. “What?! Didn’t you hear over the radio?! New Canterlot wants to bring me in for questioning! Argh... my mane’s already going to be full trying to deal with this crap, I’m hardly in a position to bargain with Gawdyna. Not to mention Fair Trade is gonna chew my head off when he finds out!” I clutched my head in my hooves, wanting to scream.

“I know it’s a lot, but I’m swallowing my pride to ask you to do this,” she exhaled, “I can’t say I’m sure that I trust a bunch of former mercenaries to hold Equestria’s best interests at heart. In all honesty, I wanted to avoid this... but this is beyond my personal feelings now.”

Even though I was planning on speaking with the New Canterlot soldiers anyways, this was a little far past even what I was willing to do. I sputtered out, trying to make excuses, “I couldn’t even begin to ask for something like that ...I’m not even enlisted! It’s true that I was planning on trying after I finished this job, but-”

“A town like this could be valuable to Gawd. Especially one out here in raider territory. Unity could provide a strong foothold into the area, and the scrap from the Hippocampus Energy plant might be useful in supplying her army. It’s not much, but it’s all we can offer. If anything, you’d get credit for bringing this information to her attention, and if that’s not enough I can give you more.”

“Jeez, there’s no way I could take payment from a town that desperate…” I let out a big huff. There was no telling how this was going to turn out in the end. “Alright, I’ll do what I can. Just, no promises, okay?”

“Thank you. That’s all I ask.” She smiled, looking somewhat relieved.

Sunny met me outside of the Sheriff’s office, wearing a smile that almost convinced me there was nothing to worry about. Green escorted us both to the edge of town where the Professor was waiting for us, much to my surprise. He was holding something in between his hooves and seemed like he was in a good mood despite the situation.

“Hey Professor...” I said, not feeling too talkative.

“Hello, Miss Roulette and Miss Green! Lovely weather we’re having!” He greeted us cheerfully, “I just wanted to give you my thanks before you left. Seems we’re both stuck in an interesting predicament! Such fascinating probabilities, eh?”

“Yeah, don’t mention it…” I grumbled.

He turned to Sunny and bowed. “And hello to your marefriend as well!”

I groaned. “She’s not my-”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Sunny!” she smiled and stuck out her hoof.

“Ah, delighted to meet you my dear.” Mercury said, shaking it like a gentlecolt. I groaned harder. He turned to me again, and gave me a satchel containing basic medical provisions. The old pony smiled, “I’ve prepared a few medical supplies for you both from my lab to aid you both on your mission.

“Is the Professor gonna be alright in the meantime while I’m off getting arrested by New Canterlot soldiers?” I asked the Sheriff and she gave a slight nod.

“We’ll keep him safe. Enclave weapons or no, I honestly think there’s little to worry over from these raiders. They won’t be bothering this town again.” She insisted in a grave voice, that seemed to suggest she felt personally slighted by these raiders.

“There’s a healing potion and a few packets of rad-away for you in there. You should both drink a packet for safety’s sake. Even residual radiation from the Whitetail can be dangerous if you’re not careful! Feelings of nausea are only temporary.”

Sunny and I both drank a single packet rad-away. It had a gross aftertaste, and didn’t seem to do anything except make me feel like I was going to vomit. Meanwhile, my seafoam colored travelling companion looked completely fine, beaming happily. “Aw thanks! That was so thoughtful of you!”

“It was no trouble, really!” He waved his hoof in the air. “Your friend here is really the one to thank. I would still be cooped up in my laboratory if not for her!”

Bleh.

Mercury Switch looked over to Green puzzled at first as if trying to solve a difficult problem, before coming to the sudden shocking realization and gasped. “Miss Green, you didn’t! You don’t really think that asking Gawd for help is a good idea, do you?”

“No,” The alicorn mare , “and I trust the Stable Dweller even less, but I’ve made my decision. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to protect this town. So we’ll have to see if those words over the radio are the real thing or not.”

“What about your dream? Do you think he’d approve of you potentially gambling everything away like this?” He asked with an uneasy looking frown.

“He’s not here, so my main concern is the safety and wellbeing of Unity and its citizens.” The sheriff spokle clearly raising herself to full posture. A light stamp of her hoof settled the matter.

Feeling another sharp jolt of pain, I gave the old scientist a nudge. “Hey, Professor. I’ve got a quick question for you.”

“Oh-?” he began, and I suddenly dragged the Professor aside with my foreleg wrapped around the back of his neck. He looked confused at first as I asked him in a low whisper.

“Can we speak privately?” I asked.

“I-Indeed...” He replied, pushing his glasses higher on his snout. Sunny and Green were both watching me like I was crazy. Sunny turned and whispered something to into the alicorn’s ear. I had a feeling it was something about me...

The seafoam mare turned to the Sheriff, appearing somewhat timid. “Hey, Miss Green? Could I ask you a question?”

She blinked and answered. “Sure, ask me anything.”

The Professor and I spoke off to the side while Sunny and Green were busy speaking about Luna knows what. I double checked to make sure that they were ignoring me before saying anything. “Okay, I don’t want to make a big thing out of this, but...” I began, “yesterday, I got shot in the arm and sealed the bullet inside with a healing potion. It’s been giving me this weird hitch in my shoulder since then. Everything was fine until I came here and it started flaring up all of a sudden…”

“Oh my, don’t you know it’s dangerous to leave a foreign object like that inside your body?” he scolded.

“So I’ve heard… Say, would you be able to get this thing out of me?” I laughed nervously.

The Professor frowned, doing a quick mock examination. “I don’t have the the medical equipment here to perform such a procedure, nor am I a qualified surgeon. You should get that treated by a doctor as soon as you can.”

“Isn’t there anything you can do?” I asked.

The professor frowned, putting his hoof to his lip. “Sounds abnormal. You could have some sort of mutation that’s causing that reaction. The proximity to the Whitetail Woods might simply be inflaming it. Just a hypothesis. Although radiation levels beyond the barrier should be mostly nontoxic.”

“Well, I did take a quick dip in the Whitetail Woods when I first got here...” I admitted, and the Professor looked shocked to see I was still alive. “Mutation? That’s nothing dangerous, right?" I asked.

“That highly depends on the nature of the mutation. Mutations are fairly common in the wasteland. It could be anything, even a long dormant one in your system due to years of exposure. There’s no way to tell without doing some tests. If you want, we could go back to my lab and I could draw some blood samples-”

“No! Nononono!” I cut him off, vigorously shaking my head back and forth. “I-I hate needles...”

“What…?” He paused, surprised by my sudden reaction. “This is no laughing matter!”

“I don’t like doctors, alright…?” I admitted in a hushed voice, embarrassedly turning my head away. Then I turned back to face him with a genuine hint of concern in my voice, trying to keep it together “Is it really that serious?”

Unfortunately, he couldn’t give me a straight answer, but he tried to give it to me as easily as possible. “Mutations are a bit of a genetic gamble. It could be completely benign, or worst case scenario... it could kill you. You should get that checked as soon as you can.”

“So, there’s a small chance that everything’ll turn out alright if I ignore it…?“ I laughed weakly. The Professor remained serious, in spite of my meager attempt at humor.

“Take a small dose of the healing potion every few hours until you can find a doctor. That might help the symptoms for now, but it won’t do anything for the underlying issue. The effects will only be temporary, so I’d recommend getting in touch with the Followers of the Apocalypse as soon as you can, they’re good with this sort of thing.”

“‘Kay, thanks Prof...” I sighed. “Great, one more thing to worry about...” I thought, flexing my foreleg.

Sunny poked her head next to mine. “What’s this about the Followers?” she asked, being as nosey as ever. Apparently she had finished her conversation with Green while I wasn’t looking.

“Nothing.” I huffed.

“Hey Professor, I know you’ve had a rough day, but I do have another favor to ask.” I said, reaching into my saddlebag. Mercury Switch examined closely as I pulled out the pipbuck and vertibuck black box from my saddlebag. He studied both of the items, an