Fallout Equestria: Tales of a Courier Reloaded

by a friendly hobo

Chapter 8: Psychiatric Ward.

Chapter 8: Psychiatric Ward.

“Is her face gonna stay that way?”

“Clover!” A voice called to my right. I was running. Running and running. Where? I couldn’t remember. Looking up from the grass I was pounding beneath my small hooves to see where the voice was, I saw my brother running along the right side of a large, lush field.

The green grass was soft beneath my hooves and the air smelled of mildew. The Apple Plains. Wide green pastures untouched by the plague of radiation. Why did I leave again?

I threw the ball I was carrying on my back over to my brother. “Look out!” he called. He was too late as something slammed into my side with the force of a ten ton anvil. I ended up hitting the ground and landing in a heap, and my whole side ached. Oh I would be feeling that in the morning.

“Hey!” I heard my brother call out. “Lavender?! What the hell?” Ponies started gathering around me. I was the youngest one, and Lavender was about Shamrock’s age and twice my size. He was like a boulder ramming into me at full speed. All I could see was Lavender’s yellow coat as he lay over me, pinning me. “Get off him!”

The massive brute crawled off me. “Sorry, Shamrock,” he snorted, obviously not meaning it. “Thought I’d be tackling a real pony.” He returned to his peers, some snickered. I stayed on the ground in a daze. Everything hurt, and stars danced in my vision. If I could think straight, they might have been ‘pretty’.

“He is a real pony, dick-head,” Shamrock seethed as he jogged over to me. He knelt down beside me. “Clover... Clover, can you hear me?”

I saw blobs. Green blobs, orange blobs... blobby blobs. Was that a yes, or a no?

“Clover?”

Something tapped my cheek as my vision started to clear. My brother was leaning over me, tapping my cheeks. “You okay?” he asked.

I blinked a few times and looked around. “Uh...” Then I winced as my entire side pain kicked into high gear. “Owie!”

Shamrock looked up at Lavender. “You fucking idiot! He’s just a kid!” He got up and turned to Lavender, and he was pissed. So pissed. I could almost see the smoke coming out of his ears.

“Yeah, exactly,” Lavender said with a smirk. “Hoofball isn’t a kid’s game.” He looked down at me and sneered. “Get outta here, kid. You don’t belong here. Runt.”

I frowned. “I’m not a kid!” I whined. “I’m twelve!” That made Shamrock, what... nineteen? I couldn’t ever tell. He was always so big and so mature. It was like he never changed.

“Still a kid,” Lavender laughed. “Now git!”

“Shut the fuck up, Lav,” Shamrock yelled. I didn’t like being called a kid. I was a big pony! “Or you’ll answer to me.”

“An’ m-” I said, trying to get up, but I was cut off.

“Ooooooh,” the large yellow earth pony jeered. “I’m sooooo scared.” He looked at his peers and nodded at Shamrock. “Gettim!” Some of the ponies were hesitant, but they moved forward.

“I thought we were friends...” Shamrock growled, looking at the ponies surrounding him.

Lavender stomped back over to me. I tried to get up and run, like always, but my side hurt too much. He took joy in picking me up with one fetlock and held me up to his face. Shamrock wasn’t there to help me. He had fought hard, but he was overrun and being held down.

“You’re despicable.” My brother grunted.

Lavender didn’t even glance at my brother. “Lets just see how tough you are,” the maniacal pony grumbled, looking me over. I was just a kid, but Lavender was my brother’s age! He was an adult!

“No!” I squealed, trying to break free. “Don’t touch me or... or... or you’ll be sorry!”

The giant pony just laughed. My brother was looking more and more worried. “You don’t want to do that!” He called out. “You’ll regret it!” Yeah! When Shamrock got free, he’d kick Lavender’s ass!

“You’re goin’ nowheres.” Lavender raised a hoof to smack me.

Time slowed as I reached a realisation. My brother wasn’t there. He was still pinned under a ton of ponies. My father wasn’t there to call them off. Just air between me and Lavender’s hoof. I was gonna get the stuffing beat out of me, and there was nothing I could have done about it. But there was something I could do... my forelegs were trapped, but my hind legs...

“I said no!” I yelled, and flailed my hind legs. My powerful earth pony legs finally connected with Lavender’s nose. A crack echoed over the plains and blood ran from Lavender’s face. I fell to the ground as Lavender collapsed, holding his face.

The other ponies froze, as they watched the giant pony fall. Shamrock took the opportunity to break free and lay the smackdown on the ponies. He sniffed and rolled his shoulders when he finished then cleared his throat. “Nothin’ to it.”

He trotted over to me and picked me up. “Let’s get you home.” He looked at the large yellow stallion, rolling and howling on the floor with a broken muzzle. “I'm proud of you, bro.”

I looked up at my brother as I hobbled next to him. I had just stood up for myself! On reflex too! He was as proud of me as I was!

I had just stood up for myself for the very first time. And I never had to deal with Lavender again.

Did have to find new friends to play hoofball with though...

--- --- ---

My chest blistered with pain as I took a deep breath. I moaned in agony as I tried to open my eyes. My eyelids were heavy as I looked around to see where I was. It was dark. Very dark. I couldn’t see anything, but I could smell something. Like... alcohol. Not the fun kind either, but the clean, sharp kind.

A scuffling to my left turned my attention to the enterence. I couldn’t really see the entrance, but the light peeking around the door frame was a dead giveaway. Raising my foreleg to shield my eyes from the light, I watched as the door creaked open, and a unicorn’s head peeked in. Taking small, shallow breaths as to not hurt myself again, I cleared the buildup from my throat and opened my mouth to speak.

“Save your breath, hun,” the unicorn said with a chuckle. “No need to be alarmed.” She flicked a switch on the wall, and the room lit up. My eyes screamed in pain and I covered them with my forelegs, moaning in protest. The unicorn just gave a quiet chortle as she trotted over to the bed I was on.

The bed I was on was surprisingly soft, and the blanket was cozy and warm. I hadn’t felt like this since I left the Apple Plains. All I needed was Gunter and... oh... Gunter... how I missed that raggedy bear. With his little ears and his cute button nose. Even his many patches held a memory.

“Where am I?” I asked, my voice raspy and painful.

My eyes slowly adjusted to the light, and I looked up at the unicorn mare. My body lurched as she came into focus. The unicorn mare’s coat was a lime green and her mane was done up in a big pink mohawk. All sorts of lines and swirls were shaved and... inked into her coat. From her forelegs to her head, she was covered in them! I didn’t think I trusted her pulling the blanket off my chest and checking my bandages.

“Healing up nicely,” she cooed. “That was one hell of a shot you took, kid.”

I looked her over, slightly in distress. “Who are you?”

The mare smiled at me. Her teeth were perfectly intact from the look of it, and her eyes were a deep purple. “My name is Lollipop.” She pointed at the patch on the right sleeve of her... interesting white and khaki barding. The patch was of a pink butterfly with little white circles on the wings, red crosses inside them. “I’m a medic.”

“And a Fed too,” I heard a familiar voice growl. My friend Ace stood in the doorway.

A tiny griffin stood between her forelegs. “I don’t get it,” she stated, looking up at Ace. “Why do you hate Feds so much?” That was a can of worms just waiting to explode.

Ace glared at Tallie. “Don’t go there.”

The medic, Lollipop, just rolled her eyes. “I left the Federation ages ago.” She looked back at me. “I was a combat medic.” She glared towards Ace. “And I saved your friend’s life.” Oh right, yeah, I was shot after kicking so much ass. And murdering those ponies. Tore them apart with my knife.

No, it wasn’t me. It was Trailblaze. I didn’t do it.

“Yeah,” Ace muttered. “But he’s fine now.” The beige mare walked into the room, giving the lime unicorn a glare. “Can we go now?”

Lollipop looked down at me, then to Ace. “Does he look like he’s going anywhere?” Truth be told, I didn’t feel up to it. My chest was burning, my legs ached, my lungs felt like they had been torn apart and put together all wrong, and my throat was so scratchy. I wanted to say something, but I degenerated into a fit of wet coughs.

"What's wrong with him?” Ace whined. “We have healing potions! Shouldn't he be up and about by now?"

"No, there is something much more wrong with him. He has a lung infection, pneumonia from the damage that he took. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but..." Lollipop trailed off.

"But?"

"Well, he was shot with this." The medic trotted over to a pan sitting by the bed and levitated a small, green tinged and squished bullet.

"Yeah, it's a poisoned bullet. Contains a specialized Zebra toxin which targets the immune system called a cytotoxin. It's slowing his healing down to a crawl. He won't be able to live like this for long. If he's going to have any chance of survival, I need antibiotics to help curb his infection so his body can focus on healing."

My companion picked out the bullet from the medic’s magic and looked it over. “Fuck...” she sighed. “That sucks major balls...” She put it back into the pan. “Any idea where a bunch ‘a lowly bounty hunters got it from?”

“What is it?” Tallie asked before Lollipop could answer. That was my question exactly, and I didn’t have to say it. If this kept up, I’d never have to speak again! Score!

The beige unicorn levitated the bullet down in front of the griffin, but just out of reach. “A poison-filled bullet.” She shifted her attention to Lollipop, who had gone back to looking me over, doing medical things. I couldn’t really tell what she was doing, but it looked doctor-y.

Tallie piped up instead of Lollipop, again. “That’s impossible.” She fluttered her wings and slowly, with a lot of effort, rose to Ace’s back. “The poison would have either burst out or boiled away when it was shot. At least to the point where the poison would have been rendered relatively harmless.” Well, isn’t some griffin a smartypants.

Lollipop looked between Ace and Tallie. “Well... not these ones.” She levitated the bullet and looked it over. “Special heat resistant poison, only produced by one company out there... if you can call it a company...” I could see her bristle at the last bit.

“No way,” Ace stated, matter of factly. “As if bounty hunters could afford that. That’s just stupid.”

“Way to keep us in suspense,” the tiny griffin piped up again. “Who is it?!”

Lollipop had gone back to fixing my bandages before nodding at them approvingly. “Gun Runners,” she sighed. Tallie just gave her a look to carry on. “Complete and utter bastards. Drug dealers, arms manufacturers, and all round bad ponies.” She trotted over to a bin and disposed of my old bandages. “Anyway, about your friend.” She looked back at me. Guess the spotlight was on me again.

“Clover,” Ace said, naming me. “Infection. Right.”

Lollipop nodded. “And I’m all out of antibiotics.” I guess that was medicine for the infection. Balls. “But I know where you can get some.” The tattooed mare cantered over to a small chest of drawers in the corner of the room.

By now, my eyes had fully adjusted. The room’s walls were covered in white panels and smelled like cleaning solvents. I was laying on a soft bed with an old, grey, weathered machine beside me. The machine was silent where it stood, and in front of it sat a small utensil tray with all sorts of tools. All of them remained very clean.

Ace was sitting in an old chair and Tallie decided to look around now that Lollipop had turned her back. I watched her as she made her way to the big machine. She marched out of sight and behind the big thing. It was only a matter of time before I heard some clunking and muttering from the inside.

“Tallie...” I rasped, my throat and chest still very sore. “I don’t think you should be in there...” I doubt she heard me as the sounds kept on going. Ace was oblivious to the whole thing, keeping a wary eye on the tribal-looking medic.

“She’s fine,” Lollipop chuckled as she came back. “That thing’s been busted since I got here.” She gave the base a little kick and looked at me. “Alright, so.” She cleared her throat and levitated a large, rolled-up piece of paper up beside me.

“You were shot by a poisoned bullet.” I gathered that much. “Not to mention the blood loss, you were drowning in your own blood, and going into shock; you know that contributed as well.” That was true. “And then it gave your lung an infection.” Her ears drooped a little. “An infection I couldn’t get rid of during the operation.”

Ace interrupted her. “So we need antibiotics to get rid of it.” She looked between us. “Is it really necessary?” She pulled my pipbuck out of her bag. “We were supposed to be in Iron City last night, and I should be recovering from a hangover right now.”

The medic just glared at her. “Your friend is very sick and you’re cracking jokes.” She shook her head and looked back at me. “Smashing.” She unrolled the paper she was levitating, and let me take a peek. A map. Lovely.

“Yes, the antibiotics are highly necessary.” She poked my chest. “Because that infection will spread and eventually kill this fine gent.”

My heart skipped a beat and my eyes shot open. “We... we need those meds...”

The lime green mare nodded. “Yes, and here’s where you get them.” She poked a hoof on a spot on the map with a large red circle around it. “Ruby Heart Hospital.”

Seemed like a good idea. I mean, it was a hospital. It was bound to have meds. Wait. “Why would a hospital still have meds... after two hundred years?” It most likely would have been raided long ago. Ace sat up in her chair, and the machine continued to clang as Tallie... did whatever she was doing...

Lollipop nodded. “Yeah, but this isn’t a regular hospital.” She pointed at a long arc on the map going from the left side to the bottom of the page. “That’s the Red Zone border,” She then pointed at the hospital... inside the Red Zone. “And there’s the hospital.”

“Fuck...that...” I rasped. No way. Red Zone’s the fucked zone.

Ace looked between us. “Gotta agree with Clover on this one.” She trotted over and put my pipbuck on my belly. “Red Zone’s radiated as hell!”

The pink-mohawked mare just rolled her eyes. “Of course you generic wastelanders would think that.” She pointed at the map again. “This area isn’t irradiated any more. Maybe another seven-fifty meters or so, then the rads start to pick up.” She rolled up the map again. “Not that anypony has decided to even try and find out. They’re all scared shitless.” She grinned an oddly sharp grin. Like a wolf stalking its prey. Odd....

“Then it’s probably filled with muties,” Tallie said, coming out from behind the machine. She was holding different components and wires in her hands and was covered in dust and grime. “Y’know, from the bombs ‘n’ stuff.”

Lollipop picked up the griffin and sat her at the end of the bed. Tallie wasn’t the most pleased about that, fluffing up and pouting. Lollipop booped her nose. “There’s nothing out there, sweety.” She looked back at Ace and I. “I go out there for supplies regularly. All sorts of untouched medical equipment.” She turned her attention to the shelves behind her, covered in medical stuff. “Just haven't come across antibiotics in a while.” The mare shrugged as she looked Tallie over, much to the griffin’s discontent. “There’s probably a whole stash of goodies deeper inside.” She gave up trying to give the griffin a checkup when Tallie tried to bite her hoof. “Haven't got deep enough, myself.”

Ace giggled as Tallie showed her rebellious side. “Right, so how far?” Tallie said, then jumped off the bed and straightened her feathers out, retying her feather ponytail.

Lollipop tapped her chin. “I think the storerooms might have some...” She took another moment to think. “They’re in the basement towards the back of the building...” She shrugged and smiled a surprisingly white smile. “You’ll find it, I’m sure.”

Our little griffin friend started to shove the wires and components into my saddlebag across the room. “So you aren’t coming with?” she asked, organising the wires. She twisted them around each other in a figure-eight before wrapping them around the middle. She dropped it into one of the vacant pockets. That reminded me- I really needed to take inventory.

The medic shook her mohawked head. “Nah, I got stuff to take care of.” She looked out of the room through the open door. I couldn’t see much from the bed, but it looked like a lounge with a battered couch. “...stuff indeed...” She looked back at us. “You guys better get goin’. Time’s a wastin’.”

Nodding, I tried to get out of bed. Everything resisted, instead urging me to loaf until the healing was done, but I had to stay strong. Couldn’t avenge my brother if I was dead. Looking up to the ceiling, I let out a long sigh. I wondered what Shamrock would think of me lying there, poison slowly killing me off. I missed my bro...

My unicorn companion came to my side to help me straighten out. “Quit slouching,” she ordered. There I thought she was genuinely trying to help me. “Ruin my rep if anyone saw me hanging out with a wimpy pony like you.”

“I ain’t a wimp,” I rasped. “Feck off, ya gobshite.” Hm. Bringing out my Emerald side seemed to make me sound a lot tougher. Then again, it did sound like I was gargling gravel. Ace just rolled her eyes and guided me to my equipment in the lounge. The eyerolling stopped when I tripped over my own hooves. I was actually slightly amazed when she caught me. She didn’t say anything as we walked into the lounge.

The lounge was just like any other. Two large windows on either side of the front door, a large table next to the couch, a busted entertainment system, and a bunch of shelves, some had dusty old worn books, probably from before the war. Old crunchy carpets rustled under my hooves and the gull blue wallpaper was peeling. Didn’t seem like Lollipop had been here long. Pretty boring really.

“Alright, antibiotics,” Lollipop announced as she followed us out. “Should be labeled plain as day on a bottle about yay big.” She showed us roughly the size of the bottle with her hooves. Was about the size of a hoof, really. She didn’t have to make that much effort. “Simple. As for dosage...” She looked me over, mumbling to herself. “Hmm... harder to prescribe for adults...”

“Why’s ‘at?” Tallie asked, climbing up onto the couch. Dunno why she didn’t just float up.

“The Feds may have trained me to give meds to soldiers...” She continued to look me over. “But you ain’t no soldier, and your case is special... now, if you were a foal...”

Tallie picked her nose as she listened. “Why would that be easier?” she asked, flicking a booger off her talon. At least she didn’t eat it...

Lollipop wrinkled her nose slightly at the booger flickage and rolled her purple eyes. “Because I have more experience with foals.” she stated simply. “I was a pediatrician before I signed up... before... well, that.” She pointed towards a shelf. I don’t know how I missed this, but there was a huge machine gun sitting on the shelf. It was bulky, and the ammo box huge. It was kept in surprisingly good condition. “And well, this.” She pointed at the shavings and tattoos.

“Why do you look like that?” Ace asked, picking up her packs. They seemed heavier than before. “Y’look like a raider or a tribal. Won’t make many friends that way.”

Lollipop looked at Ace and sighed, “Keeps ponies away.” She turned her back to us and trotted over to her machine gun, examining it with a forlorn frown. “I think just two pills when you wake up, at lunch, and before you go to bed...” she sighed. I looked between Ace and Tallie. We all exchanged looks of understanding, and slight weirdness, for a couple of seconds before looking back to Lollipop.

Ace shrugged and used this time to use the little mare’s room. Guess she didn’t really care.

“Are you okay?” I rasped. Sad ponies make me sad, and when I’m sad, I tend to cry. So I’m a bit of a crybaby, so what? Judgemental so-and-sos...

The tribal unicorn soldier medic sighed and scratched behind her ear. “I don’t wanna talk about.” She pointed to the exit. “You have meds to find.”

Didn’t have to tell us twice... “But....we haven’t pa-”

“I don’t care,” came the reply. She just kept looking at the gun with sadness. Wrapped up in the past no doubt. Best not pry.

I didn’t just want to leave without saying thanks or paying. I shuffled over to her, but didn’t risk touching her. She seemed... unstable... “Thanks, doc,” I rasped. “Hope to, uh...” She turned to me, a primal look in her eyes. “See you again...” I eeped and scootched back. “We’ll be leaving now.”

Ace bounced out of the bathroom, yes bounced, and bounded over to me. “Good to go?” she asked excitedly. She must have shat out the demon or something, because she was actually pleasant. I nodded quickly and motioned for the door.

Ace glanced at Lollipop and then opened the door before me (Shut up! I was still achin’!). I put on my saddlebag and my rifle harness and exited. Man, I wish I still had my sunglasses, or a hat. It was bright as fuck out here! Ace and Tallie quickly followed, shutting the door behind them. Followed by a crash. Thank whoever’s up there that we got out in time.

“Inventory check!” Tallie screamed from Ace’s back. She smiled at me with a smug grin. I hadn’t know her long, but she was quickly becoming annoying.

Ace opened up her pack. “Alright, I got shotgun shells, shotgun parts, some bandages, box of chips, some water, hair clips, bobby-pins aaaaaaaaaand...” She yanked out a large knife. “My machete!” She grinned. “What do you you got?”

Delving into my own pack for really the first time was weird. I don’t even remember half the stuff I had come in with. “Uh...” Three pockets lined the inside of the bag. In the first, Tallie had stuffed wires and electrical stuff. She squealed in annoyance when I tried to move them. I guess they were staying? From then on that compartment was the ‘Wire and Component’ pocket.

The second pocket held bottle caps. If I counted correctly, I had twenty-two. Wait, didn’t I have more? Guess not. The third pocket was larger than the others, and held an assortment of medical stuff. Ace must have shoved it in there when we were chilling in the cave the day before. We had a bottle dubbed ‘Rad-X’ a few other assorted medical stuffs like bandages and plasters and... and... a vial of Med-X... with a needle! I instantly threw it out of the bag and onto the ground.

Tallie picked it up. “Nope, no bugs.” She glanced back at me, raising her eyebrow. “What’s so freaky?”

“Bugs?” Ace asked. “What’s scary about them?”

“Well, y’see,” Tallie said, plopping the needle of doom into Ace’s saddlebag. “Ponies are hardwired to freak out at stuff that scuttles, and...” She received the ever so uninterested look from Ace, as well as her yawn. “Okay, I’ll shut up now.”

I breathed a silent sigh of relief and went back into my pack. Some food, the engraved ammo for my sniper, the regular ammo, and a few magazines for my SMG. And my SMG of course. Wait. There was something else. I pulled a small box out of the bag and opened it. A long cylinder rolled out into my hooves. It looked like a rifle barrel with a screw on one end. “Oh!” I exclaimed with slight glee. “I remember!” I had picked up this silencer back in the communications array.

“Fancy,” Tallie said with an impressed look. She jumped off Ace’s back and strutted her way over to me and my new piece of equipment. She yanked it from my hooves and turned it around in her griffin hands. I watched as she grinned and grabbed my harness. She began to examine the barrel, then started to attach the silencer. “Neato burrito!” She grinned at her handiwork. “Now you can be a super cool assassin, or something.”

The green sniper did look pretty neat. “So this makes me silent, eh?” I asked. I wasn’t exactly impressed, but humouring the kinda cute little griffin seemed to be a better idea. “How did you learn how to do that?”

The griffin climbed up Ace’s jacket and sat on her back. Hey, I’d take a free ride too, if I could.

‘Specially if it was on Ace.

Shuttup! Anyway. Snickering at my now red cheeks, Tallie went on. “I pride myself on tinkering.” She narrowed her pretty red eyes at me and her smile dissipated from her beaky face. “As to why I know about tinkering, I don’t want to talk about it.” She turned away and watched the horizon. “You can probably tell why. Now can we go?”

Of course, we were still outside Lollipop’s house. It was a squat building, with just two levels. The side of it was grey and worn, while the rest of the old wood building was a chipping white. Most of the windows had been blown out, and the roof was... gone.

My pipbuck displayed that we were about half a mile from where I was shot. Which made it somewhat of a miracle that I was still alive. My throat, chest, and head pounded with agony, but I knew that eventually, if I didn’t get the drugs for this infection, I’d be a goner.

“Wait,” I said, looking around. “Where’s Zippo?” The large fire ant was nowhere to be seen. He probably wouldn’t be welcome in Lollipop’s house, so maybe he was waiting somewhere?

“Haven’t seen him since you were shot,” Ace chirped. She really didn’t seem to care, all things considered.

“Let’s gooooo!” whined Tallie, being the impatient kid she was. That was gonna get real old real fast.

“Let’s!” Ace cheered, skipping away with Tallie on her back. Weirdo. Though according to my pipbuck map she was heading down the right route. We were... in the Red Zone. Radiation Zone. Death Zone. Gulping hard, my throat burning, I followed after Ace down a very worn road and kept an eye out for Zippo. How do ants track each other? They probably had a more intuitive way of keeping track of each other than us ponies.

The area around us was more desolate than before, if that was possible. We passed several dead trees, each pointing behind us, blown in one direction from something, probably a balefire bomb. Yeah, that seemed like a pretty big something.

“We gettin’ any rads?” Tallie asked, glancing over her shoulder at me after Ace had mellowed. Are we getting rads. I assumed that meant radiation. I looked around for the tell tale signs of green goo and giant bugs, but I couldn’t see any. “On your pipbuck, bozo.” Say what? I gave her a very confused look. Was it leaking radiation? The griffin crawled down from her mount and skipped over to my pipbuck and pointed at a small meter. “Rad meter. Remember that, you dodo.”

“Am not!” Such a little... smarty pants! There! I said it! “And no. Nothing,” I replied, “but looking at the map, we’re getting close to the hospital.”

“‘Bout time,” Ace cheered with a grin. “Let’s get to lootin’!”

My mane prickled as we walked along the road. The entire area around us was brown, yellow and... lifeless. Nothing green or a soul in sight! It made me wonder how anypony didn’t know it was safe down here. There must be so much around to loot! But we weren’t there for that. We needed to get the antibiotics, get to Iron City, get some dirt on Double Down, find him, and kill him. That would be one kill that I would not regret.

But all the others I’ve killed... sure, most were zombies, but they were ponies once. But those bounty hunters I slaughtered... no. No. It wasn’t me. I didn’t do it. It was Trailblaze. He found a way out and did it. Not gonna happen again. After I kill Double Down, he was next on my list. Try to figure a way to get rid of him. But then there were the Seperatist ponies I had killed...

My mind remained occupied with the inner conflict of killing. I had to do it, and I’d have to keep doing it. This place was horrible. Why couldn’t it be like the Federation and safe? Nopony in the Federation carried guns! Anypony that murders another pony is taken away. Rumour is that they were taken to Vladivostrot in the far north and... executed...

I couldn’t go back. I’m a killer. There was nothing I could do about that. I ended lives. Somepony’s son or daughter. They were foals once, just as I had been. And now I’m alive and they weren’t.

Time passed slowly as we trekked. My legs ached and I couldn’t even begin to describe my lungs and throat. The world around me got even more dead as we walked into what remained of a town. Lots of blown-down houses and old buildings. The only ones that stood were those made of anything tougher than wood. Each of the blown-down buildings had fallen to the north, which probably meant the explosion was to the south.

The road into town remained untouched. Carts of all sizes stood idle, each charred black and the occupying skeletons... the same. We passed by a bus and I couldn’t help but look inside the window. What I saw really made the brutality of war set in. Stallions, mares, foals. The ponies and zebras spared nopony. At the other side of the coach sat two skeletons, with a smaller one between them. On the smaller one’s lap sat a small charred train and the only thing that remained on the skeleton was scraps of old overalls. My heart sank to my stomach. Nopony spared.

None.

The armoured plate on my riot armour’s shoulder shifted and tugged slightly. I looked at the beige hoof on the plate and looked into the beautiful chocolate eyes of my travelling companion.

“Come on, Clover,” she whispered, looking into the coach. “Nothing we can do for them now.” She turned her head back to me and gave me a small smile. “But we can help the others.” She landed a playful punch on my foreleg. “Like you, now c’mon.”

Sighing again, I turned from the coach and looked down the road. I liked nice Ace. She was much nicer than bitch Ace. She gave me a sweet smile and turned down the road. I couldn’t help it, but she was so hot. I have mentioned that before, right? She was... wow. Dammit! Digging myself a hole here! It will never happen. Ever.

To take my mind off it, I let my eyes wander away from her. There was a billboard we were passing that was largely intact. The faded lettering read “Sunrise Sarsaparilla Urban Challenge! Paintball war, team sign-ups end...” the rest was too faded to make anything from it. The main picture was a pony in black and green armour and a helmet with goggles, totally enclosed. There was a reward, but I couldn’t read it.

Paintball, the old world art of shooting each other with balls of paint. Fun and a great way to keep fit. Unlike real war. Okay, time to think about something else. Ace seemed in a good mood... I guess I could ask about what happened last night.

“Ace...” I rasped, getting her attention. “Last night...” The mare stopped and looked back, looking... I couldn’t tell what she looked like. Worry? Frustration of stopping? “When you tried to save me... you seemed...” Worried? Sad? Freaking out? “upset.”

“I was.” Ace stated. I wondered why. She saw my expression change from curiosity to surprise. “You’re a nice guy, Clover. A friend and I enjoy your company.” That... okay, wasn’t expecting that. “But that’s not why I was breaking up.”

I shuffled a little closer. “Then... why?” Seems like a good reason...

Ace looked away and into the town. “I...really don’t want to talk about it...” I opened my mouth to say something, but I shut up.

Maybe I should change the subject. “I do have a question about the memory orbs.” Ace took a deep breath and motioned me to keep moving. I did and walked along beside her. Tallie seemed to perk up at the mention of orbs. I dunno why she was still tagging along. I’d ask later.

“Well...” I started. Bringing forward the memories was a little harder than expected. “The memory was about a boot camp...” Oh! That’s what I wanted to ask! “The sarge guy yelled ‘this godforsaken desert’. Shouldn’t that be ‘Goddessforsaken’?”

Ace shrugged. “No clue.” She kept walking, staring forward. I don’t think she really cared. “Little trivial, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but I still find it intriguing...” I muttered. Guess that was the end of that thought.

“Celestia and Luna weren’t always godesses, y’know,” Tallie piped up. She scratched her unkempt, messy feathers and mulled something over. “Ponies out here used to worship male gods or something.” Well... that was interesting. Kinda. “What? I like history.”

“That makes two of us,” I rasped with a smile. History was something ponies seemed to forget nowadays. Good to remember the past for the sake of the future. “Do you know who those gods were?”

Tallie shrugged. “I’m just spe...spu...spec-u-la-ting.” She gave herself a smug grin. “History was one of the things I occupy myself with.” A hobby is good for a kid. From what I could assume about what Tallie’s mentioned... and not mentioned about her home life, it must have been the only thing keeping her sane.

My old hobby was fun. I had a trainset my brother gave me. It was great! I made Gunter the conductor and we travelled the world of my mind, with its lush forests of candyfloss and candy mountains! It was great! The memories felt really good. Really uplifted my spirit. I managed to stop myself before I thought of my brother. This high was what I needed.

“So, Tallie,” I said, ignoring my burning throat and trying to change the subject again. “Tell us about you.”

The griffin looked between us. I doubted she would talk about the scars on her back and the base of her wings, or her home life, but anything to get her to even open up a tiny bit was a win for me. “Not much to tell,” she started. “My name’s Tallie, I’m a griffin, I’m thirteen, almost fourteen, and my parents were cunts.”

We did know all tha- wait, come again? “Thirteen?” She looked ten!

Tallie nodded. “How old did you think I was?” she asked, looking slightly offended. “Was it my art... articu... articulation?” That did make me think ten, but then again... “Equestrian is fucking hard when you have to teach yourself everything.” True. Ace looked at me, expecting an answer. Her face looked slightly puffy... as if she were holding in a laugh...

“I, uh...” I scratched the back of my head. “You looked... ten...”

Ace burst out laughing. “No she doesn’t, you twit!” she took a long few minutes to try and recompose herself. “Not very perceptive, are you?”

Welp. Just made a fool of myself. Again.

“I am skinny and small...” Tallie said, looking herself over. “Kinda expected since my parents gave me fuck-all to eat and I had to get it myself.” Her face darkened and she turned her head back to me. “If you hadn’t saved my ass, I would have been pissed, but since you did, I’m just gonna say it was an honest mistake.”

Sweat crawled down my face. Scared of a thirteen-year-old. Such a badass.

“Uh... I...” Oh please Luna, Celestia, hell, even Discord, somepony get me out of this awkwardness.

My prayers were answered as the old, cracked asphalt of the road beneath us started to vibrate. The shaking got a little more intense as a patch of dirt near the road crumbled and imploded. A second later, a large, red ant head poked out, feelers dancing.

“Zippo!” I cheered, followed by a small coughing fit. “There you are!”

Ace rolled her eyes and sighed deeply, either with boredom of frustration. Hard to tell. Tallie just looked at me like I was nuts. “Is he, like, in love with that ant or something?”

Ace chuckled. “Nah, he’s like a... weird pet to Clover.” She looked at me and the ant as it climbed up out of the hole and up my side, sitting on my back. Mmmm warm. “Wanna know how they got to know each other?” My eyes must have been the size of dinner plates. Nononono, please don’t tell her! Tallie nodded and Ace grinned. “Actually... it’s not really that interesting.” Wait, what?

“Tell me!” The little griffin squealed, starting to grin. Please no!

“Well...” Nononononono... “We were on our way to Iron City, and we found a nest.” She grinned evilly. Here we go... “One of the ants dropped an egg on Clover, and Zippo decided Clover was his new friend.” That’s not what happened, but I refused to complain.

The red eyed griffin deflated. “That’s pretty ew and pretty meh.” Hopefully we’d never have to tell her the real tale. I would never hear the end of it.

“Now let’s go, Queen Daisy.” Fuck. “We’re wasting too much time.” Ace turned and started back down the road and further into town. Zippo was firmly on my back, tickling my neck. We had to get moving. Time wasting wasn’t going to get my hooves around Double Down’s neck.

--- --- ---

The hospital had seen better days. The buildings around it had either blown away, crumbled inwards, or fallen down. Good thing for us, they were all a maximum of three floors, so it didn’t obstruct our progress.

The front windows of the hospital pointed south and were blown in; the wall was charred slightly black. The whole front of the building sloped, having crumbled mostly inside. A faded poster with the face of a yellow pegasus with a pink mane, smiling very sweetly, was clinging to the wall amongst a bunch of other more faded posters. Just looking at the mare filled me with calm, and it seemed to have the same effect on my companions, even Zippo. The only thing I could make out of the faded writing was “Ministry of Peace”. Shows how effective that had been I guess.

The other posters looked like propaganda and recruitment posters, each more deteriorated than the one with the yellow pegasus. The Coalition ones featured a creme stallion wearing a helmet and glasses, smiling. “You patch us up, we fight for victory. Join the medical corps today.”

“Pretty,” Tallie stated. “We’re here to save C-dude’s life, right?” I guess that was me then.

My beige coated unicorn companion grinned. “And to get tons of loot that we can sell in Iron City.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Tallie squealed. Those two were getting along well. Guess I was the useless one. With a sniper rifle and an SMG. Oh and the psychotic murderer in my head. Fun times!

“But first,” I mentioned, butting in as the one not getting ahead of himself, “how do we get in?” The only windows were a floor above us, and the large doors were stuck tight with boards barricaded across them. Looked new too, like a month new. Maybe Lollipop put it there to stop looters and forgot to mention it? Am I grasping at straws and making excuses? Probably.

“Easy.” Was the response. Ace dropped Tallie off at my hooves. It made me realise she was bigger than she looked, me just being a head and shoulders taller than her when she stood at full height. Still, she was only over half as tall as me.

Ace looked the door over and tapped her hoof. She made a huge show examining the door over and over, knocking on the wooden planks, and looking over the exposed metal pieces. “It has come to my attention...” she started, turning towards us. She reared up and unleashed a mighty kick into the exposed metal with an echoing clang. The entire door just fell backwards, kicking up whirls of dust. “That this door is my bitch.”

“I concur,” Tallie said, nodding and looking very intellectual. “It is indeed your bitch.”

“Alright, ladies. Lets get to saving my sorry hide again,” I said with a chuckle. The situation did warrant slight amusement. This was, what, the bajillionth time I’d been saved since coming to the Ponave? This desert really wasn’t the place for me, the little farm boy. Too dangerous.

We stepped into a huge, dark lobby, covered in rubble and dust. The only light illuminating the building shone through cracks and openings in the walls, remains of windows, and cave-ins. The room was huge, both in width and height. Several floors overlooked the lobby, each dark and quiet. The only sounds that could be heard were the creaking of metal, the drips of water, and the wind whistling through the cracks in the structure.

“Cozy, ain’t it?” Ace asked, kicking a piece of rubble. The rattle of the small ball of cement echoed through the building.

Tallie climbed off Ace’s back and took a look around. “Better than home...” she muttered. Her face scrunched up in disapproval and pain, maybe? She rubbed her side, revealing to me a small scar, slightly covered by fur. Now that my attention was drawn to her sides, I saw several scars. Not as many as her back held, but still a few. What hell did she live in before?

I hated to say it, but her parents really didn’t deserve a burial if they did or allowed that to happen to her. Bastards.

Rubble and old papers crunched under my hooves as we made our way inside, the light from my pipbuck illuminating the dark spots. Zippo didn’t seem to like the dark as he grew a lot warmer and emanated a bright light from his thorax. That’s the butt part of the ant, right? Anyway, point is he glowed like a lamp.

“If I were a bottle of antibiotics, where would I hide...?” Ace mused, looking around. There really wasn’t much to look at other than rubble and decay. Old posters, mouldy banners, and faded paintings plastered the walls along with old photos that really didn’t matter any more.

And bullet holes. Lots of em.

My hoof knocked a small metal tube on the ground, and it rolled away before coming to rest against an old brick with a small ‘tink’. The bullet shell was rusted and worn, definitely old. Maybe even pre-war.

“Come on...” Tallie muttered, her griffin hand stuck inside the back of a computer. I moved to pull her away from it, but before I could, the screen lit up and Tallie’s face lit up with glee. “Got it. Yeah, I really am that awesome.”

I merely nodded in approval. Dunno what would have happened if I’d patted her head or something, she seemed unstable as it was. “But you shouldn’t be shoving your hand in electrical equipment. Don’t want you to get shocked.”

The little griffin just waved a hand dismissively. “Maybe if I was an idiot, but I’m not, so its all ‘kay.”

“Great kid, but don't get cocky,” Ace said, ruffling the griffin’s feathers. Finally! Somepony had to say it. “And if you’re travelling with us, we expect respect, so listen. We aren’t like the sick fucks your parents were.” Wow, okay. Little bit blunt, but it seemed to work. Tallie looked almost confused. Like she hadn’t heard anypony say that to her before.

“Really?” she asked. She looked between us with slight confusion. “You two actually care about a random griffin you picked up?”

“Forget our little talk about friends already?” I asked. I felt really good about that little talk we had about friends having each other’s back.

Tallie tilted her head at me, her messy feathers following suit. “No, but I thought that was all horseapples.” As if. “But... you really care?”

Ace and I nodded, looking at the child. “Yeah, because we’re nice ponies. We don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Yeah, so don’t go running off like some big damn hero, hide behind us so we get hurt and not you,” Ace added with a warm smile. The thought of being a meat shield was fairly disturbing, but Ace had originally brought me along for that reason.

Tallie looked between us again, looking conflicted. “Um...” She really didn’t know what to do with herself. She looked up at me, then to her paw, which she scuffed the floor with. “I’m sorry.”

Ace and I looked between each other, partly in disbelief. I looked down at the little griffin and held a hoof out for a hug. “No problem,” I said with a warm smile. She hesitantly approached and awkwardly hugged me. She jerked at first contact and shook for the length of the hug, but I felt she needed it. If there was anypony that knew awkward, it was me, and I didn’t want to make that moment any more awkward than it needed to be so I hugged back. She shuddered slightly. I don’t think she was used to getting a hug. Couldn’t really blame her. “Welcome to the team.”

She backed up and jerked her head at the now operational terminal. She rubbed her eyes and looked back at me. “Might have a directory, or inventory, or some shit that might help.” Smart lass, but something was wrong with her voice. It seemed... strained, and very familiar. The swearing was a little much, but its not like Ace and I don’t swear. The only one of us that didn’t swear was the ant on my back. Unless he was constantly thinking of swearing. Sneaky one he was.

The screen on the computer was still booting when I looked it over. It was very grey and boring. I guess you could say it looked staticy but not. It was hard to explain- that was until Ace wiped the screen off with an old rag, revealing a bright green screen underneath. The only words on the glass machine was “Identification required” with a little pegasus with a long mane and a magnifying glass in the corner. It resembled the pegasus on the posters, oddly enough.

“Alright, gang,” Ace announced. “Lets split up and look for clues. Maybe a name tag, or a cheat sheet, or-”

“Found it!” Tallie called out from on top of a pile of rubble. She was holding up a very worn name tag attached to a clip and an old nurse’s shirt. She yanked it and pulled it and the shirt, and the ribcage underneath free. I honestly couldn’t look. The pony that ribcage belonged to used to help save ponies. Didn’t deserve to just be dumped like that.

The griffin brought it down and held it up to me. The bulky buttons clicked and clacked as I entered the name and ID number into the machine. It took its time to check the credentials and load up the next screen. There were four lines of random letters and numbers, and when clicked would show just a simple ‘corrupt’ message, and three other entries. The wallpaper on the computer was of a small smiley face saying “Everything will be okay!” Oh the irony. Everything will be okay! Right until you’re killed by the bombs.

The other two had lost interest, none of the entries showing what they wanted. Zippo had climbed off my back and started picking at the rubble around me, looking for something. Not sure what though. Ants are weird. In case any hid clues as to where we could find med stashes, I clicked the first entry. From a journal by the looks of it.

“Hey journal.

Well, my little Green Meadows graduated from the academy. He’s now a member of the fighting force that is our Coalition of Ordered Species military. I guess it’s not as glamorous as I make it out to be, but I’m proud. He looked so cute in his dress fatigues with all the other ponies and griffins and such. I mean, he looked tough. Real tough. But still adorable.

Anyway, I’m not one for politics, but rumour is that our beloved government is negotiating with Equestria over annexing the Ponave and Western Territories. That won’t be good for us at all if they do take over. Bye bye neutrality, hello casualties. Lets hope it doesn’t come to that, hmm?

Ciao! - Nurse Sugar Spoon.”

A mother too? Oh man, that ribcage is going to haunt me forever. She needed a proper burial. No, she deserved a proper burial Then again, if I kept up that mentality, I’d be burying skeletons all over the wastes. They were all in a better place, their bones nothing but husks. One day there’ll be monuments to the fallen. One day. I clicked the second one.

“Well, it happened.

We are now part of the Equestrian machine. The changes have already started. The first one to tick me off is the new computer system. It was down for three whole days, and the only thing that changed was my damn wallpaper. It’s just silly.

The biggest thing ticking me off however is the damned Ministries butting in. Already had agents from the Ministry of Peace and from the Ministry of Arcane Science marauding through here. The MAS have even cordoned off a whole damned wing for themselves! We’ve been moving patients all day long! Their agent is really creeping me out too. Can’t get a straight answer for him. Calls himself Seeker, or some buffalo shit. Saw a new one and he gave me the same answer! Must be a generic name for all their agents or something.

I think it’s silly.

Sincerely, a really ticked-off Sugar Spoon.”

I knew Equestria had annexed already. This data mine seemed to just be churning up history instead of stuff I could use. I looked up and saw Ace and Tallie inspecting some bullet casings on the ground, and discussing what could have fired them. Gun-nuts. Time for more history. Clickity-click!

“It’s happening!

Frontline soldiers are pouring in by the cart loads! So many casualties! We’re overloaded with wounded and finding it hard to keep up. Five nurses have already had breakdowns!

Soldiers from everywhere, too. Some in Equestrian armour, some in Coalition. I’ve seen a few different armours, like a camo one with circles on his chest plate. Spec ops?

I saw a pony today, his belly riddled with bullets. He’s holding on, but I recognise him. He graduated the same day as my Meadows. I’m really scared. I want to see my son!

Another batch just came in. They’re jabbering on about the Legions being only a few miles away. Oh gods above. I’m so scared...

-Sugar Spoon.”

Just more history in this land of shit and death. I looked around the huge lobby, trying to picture it full of wounded soldiers. The image was too easy to see. Bad idea too, so I just decided to shut it out. But where were all the skeletons? Shouldn’t this place be full of them? Maybe something good happened after. I hope it did.

“Anything?” Ace called over, now standing on a mound of what used to be ceiling. She looked up into the opening in the roof several floors up. The light shone down on her beautifully, highlighting her lush mane and curvaceous body. I felt perplexed by her figure. “Well?”

I snapped out of it and straightened myself out. “Nah, nothing,” I rasped. The pain in my lungs spiked and my throat felt scratchier as I coughed up a storm. “Let’s get going before this infection kills me.”

Ace nodded in approval and skidded down the rubble like nopony’s business. Nimble hotty. Ugh, got to stop thinking about her that way. She’s a friend and nothing else! She looked at Tallie, who was dangling from a rather high and very old piece of rebar sticking out of the broken concrete and motioned her to come down. Zippo scuttled along beside us as we chose which way to go.

A large double door stood at the end of the hall, and three other corridors protruded from the main lobby. The walls in between were riddled with bullet holes and mould. I dared not think about why the bullet holes were there, but I knew the answer. We all did.

We chose the big double doors. Ace took the lead and tried to push the door open, but it didn’t open. It fell down with a loud thud, kicking up dust and small pieces of rubble. I was bombarded with the scent of rust and decay, amongst other things I couldn’t put my hoof on. Probably didn’t want to either.

A long corridor stood before us, and seemed to stretch on into oblivion. Or, knowing this desert, a door that would open up into some snowy mountain lands. From what I’ve seen, from civil war to zombies to sand-controlling ghosts, anything was possible. We still marched down it.

The girls looked in each door, looking for a medical box or some hint of medicine, but what they did find was a lot of nothing. Ace still gleed at the prospect of salvage and started to fill her saddle bags, but I took no pleasure in it. We walked down that hall for a little longer before Ace ended up right in front of me.

I was mystified instantly by the curvature of her backside, my head bobbing in rhythm with it. I just wanted to reach out and touch the beige behind and caress it. My self-control peaked when I willed myself to look straight down and think of something interesting. Oh look, my hooves! Hm, that set of riot armour needed boots. My hooves were getting all dirty and dry. I sighed and kept moving.

The messages on the terminal started to seep back into my mind. I imagined how Sugar Spoon would have reacted if her son had come through those doors, horribly injured. Or what she was doing when she was killed by the bombs. Manning the front desk? Hiding? Fighting for her life? I began to wonder how fast it was. How painless. I hoped her gods were merciful and made it quick and painless. Otherwise I couldn’t bear to consider the alternative.

The thoughts of the zebra invasion creeped up, stemming from the worries for Sugar Spoon. I imagined zebra storming through the front doors, massacring the wounded and raiding the dead. They couldn’t have been that bad, could they? Killing the helpless? No, nopony was that bad. Were they?

I grumbled in frustration, just getting myself depressed. Had to think of something else, something different, something that I could think of for hours while I searched. Then I thought of Shamrock. How he was, back in the day, and how he was then. Buried in the ground without so much as a casket.

Tears stung my eyes, just thinking about how he went from glory to grub food. I couldn’t think about it. He may be physically dead, but his spirit will never die. His spirit will be immortalised in me and my future generations. But given my record with mares, that was doubtful. I only got close to one mare who actually liked me, but she left a long time ago. Wondered if I’d ever see her again.

I couldn’t think anymore, just stare at my hooves as we walked. I must have drowned everything out because all I could hear was my own hooves and my own heart beat.

“Ace,” I said, without looking up. “Have we found anything yet?” Silence. “Ace?” I asked, looking up. But there was nopony there. “Ace?” I asked again, looking around. I was alone. Completely alone. “T-Tallie?” Nopony. “Zippo?” I almost squeaked that last one. Not even my ant was by my side. Alone.

Alone.

--- --- ---

My lungs burned and my throat ached from shouting in each direction, trying to find my friends. “Ace?! Tallie?! Zippo?! Anypony?!” Nothing. Just echoes and the wind whistling in my ears. My heart began to pound, and my breathing started to quicken. My eyes darted from side to side, trying to see everything but seeing nothing. My haunches hit the ground and I backed into a corner in panic. The room I was in was dark, so very dark. The only light was coming from my pipbuck.

Get a hold of yourself, you dolt.

The voice in my head was at it again. I really didn’t need this. Not at all. I slowly started to calm, trying to analyse the situation. I still had my guns, and I had my pipbuck. Better than most situations.

I took a deep breath and started to mellow. My heart was still racing, and my lungs were on fire, but I was starting to calm down. I was in a room, that’s all I knew. The light from my pipbuck illuminated a bed with a machine and a chair in the corner. There was a shattered window along the side of the room leading into the hallway and the door I think I came through.

My knees buckled as I tried to right myself, my eyes still darting from feature to feature. On the bed lay a skeleton, strapped down. I almost went catatonic again at the sight. If he’d survived the bombs, he would have been trapped. No way out with those bindings. More remorse for the dead. Just what I needed.

“Ace? Tallie?” I called out again, making my way over to the corridor, and shining my pipbuck light outside. I couldn’t see either end of the hall, just room after room, each the same as this one. “A-Ace?” Nothing.

Gulping down the huge knot in my throat, I climbed out the window. The only things that broke the silence was the air whistling through the halls, the occasional drip of water, and the rubble under my hoof. Darkness was all around. I squeaked and tears stung my eyes. This must have been what Sugar Spoon was feeling. The absolute dread. But instead of fear of somepony coming in, it was fear of not getting out. This place seemed like a dark maze with no way out.

My legs wobbled and felt like jelly as I chose a direction and started creeping down it. A tortoise would have walked faster, but I couldn’t. The fear was crippling, not letting me move, like I was bogged in mud. Another whimper left my quivering lips. How did I manage to wander away from Ace and Tallie?! How did they not notice?! They were looking for me, right? Right?!

My voice caught in my throat, and I felt a rumble in my stomach. It was tying itself in knots, wringing the bile out like dishwater. I felt it rise in my throat until I had to stop and eject whatever I was given for breakfast when I was still knocked out, so it was probably something easy to eat. Whatever it was, it was horrible going out. My throat was in agony, I could barely swallow the disgusting taste in my mouth. I pressed on, walking around the puddle of vomit.

The hallway was grimey and strewn with rubble. Nothing indicated a way out, or any directions to the lobby or anything. I found an old sign that must have been directions, but when I held my pipbuck up to take a good look, it was too faded to work out. “NO!” I yelled as loud as I could. “Tell me how to get out!!” I grabbed the sign and shoved it right up to my face, but I still couldn’t make it out. “No!” I yelled again, ignoring my throat which was really not happy with me.

I followed the direction of the arrow regardless. I had to find a way out. Rubble kicked against my hooves, making my spine twitch in fear. The sound of the rubble skidding along the floor made my skin itch and almost made me skitter in fear. Occasionally, I’d look inside a room and see either a well-made, mouldy bed or a skeleton, or I’d pass one in the corridor. The walls were blank except for the odd propaganda poster or rotation rosters for the nurses.

At the end of the hall was a doorway, which I peeked through. This had to be the way out. The room was lined with bunk beds, but it only had two inhabitants- a skeleton in the remains of blue scrubs and one in light green, clutching a scalpel like a weapon. I carried on through.

Each of the beds were dusty and the linens had become mushy due to the ages. The only one that I would even remotely think about resting on was the overturned one. But that was covered in rubble, so there was no way. Like I’d sleep anyway.

Another door loomed before me, leading me out into another hall, but there was a light. A faint green one nearby. “Zippo?” I called out, hoping he could change colours. “Tallie?” No answer. I looked towards the light and saw it was a monitor, sitting on a table in what looked like a nurses’ station. The other halls were empty and silent, so I made a beeline for it and looked it over. Looked light enough.

I pulled the small desk over and hid in the corner, the computer in front of me. If I’d had another table, I would have made a fort. No doubt about it. Two entries had survived the ages. I hesitantly clicked one.

“They’re here.

The Zebras. They bombed the city. It’s a miracle they didn’t hit the hospital. But they came for the survivors. So many dead outside... the Coalition soldiers defending the hospital fought and fought, some doctors and nurses taking to arms, but we couldn’t stop them.

They fought through the halls. Killed anypony who fought back. They... they need us. Medical staff and equipment. They told us they’d let us live if we helped...

Some of us hid, like me. They found Bitter Sweet. Oh god they found her. They didn’t kill her though. She was forced to treat their comrades. And when she was done... when she was done...

The passed her around like a whore! She has two kids for fuck’s sake!

These creatures aren’t civilised.

They’re animals.

- Nurse Sugar Spoon.”

Wow...that was... that was scary... and very dark, but explains the bullet holes. Fucking zebras... but some of the skeletons didn’t have holes in them. Like they’d been killed by the bombs. Something must have happened between the zebras and the bombs. I clicked the next message.

“It’s been... four days.

I don’t know how I survived. Too many close calls. I’ve been hiding in the vents, not even daring to leave. Not for food. The only water I’ve had was the moisture from the vent walls. Thank fuck I can fit. These vents will become my home for a while. The zebras have dug in, and they don’t look like they’re leaving.

They’ve locked Bitter Sweet away. Like an animal. All the survivors are locked up. Soldiers who surrendered are being interrogated. Some have died. I saw the corpses. They cut them up like butchers. Leaving only enough so they would live to tell the secrets. I’ve thrown up too many times.

I think I’m going to die soon.

I miss Green Meadows. I miss him so much.

- Nurse Sugar Spoon.”

No, it couldn’t end there! Sugar Spoon had to survive the zebras! She couldn’t have died in the vents! One more to go.

“Six days....

The only food I’ve had I managed to steal from the cafeteria while they slept. I hadn’t eaten in days. It wasn’t enough. I’m hungry again. I have water, but no food. So hungry...

They’re still there. The zebras. Why did Equestria have to get us involved? Why? Couldn’t they have just left well alone? Kept the war going between themselves? Fuck em. Equestria can go die for all I care. Luna can go fuck herself. Celestia is a useless idiot coward. Fuck Equestria.

This world is coming to an end, and I’m stuck in a vent. Great.

I did manage to steal a knife. If the world doesn’t end soon, mine will.

I just want to see my son again. One last time.

I can hear gunshots. They must be executing. I can hear their howls of joy.

I’m going to die...

- Nurse Sugar Spoon.”

No! Nononononononono! Not like that! It couldn’t end like that! It couldn’t be over!

I kicked the computer away in a rage. It moved back a little and came to a halt. Sugar Spoon couldn’t have died in the vent. Why would she be near the front desk if she’d died up there?

Maybe she was above her station, dead, when the bombs came. Knocked her down. No. No. She was alive. I refused to believe that she died. She had to have seen her son again, but not died up there.

She was dead nonetheless.

Acceptance is a horrible thing. Something that could make or break a pony. I was broken. Broken into small pieces. The wasteland had torn at every fiber of my being, leaving nothing but a ragged skeleton. Just like my bony brethren that littered the ruins.

Unlike them, I was still alive. If I was broken, could I be fixed? I had to try. I didn’t want to die. I had to kill Double Down, then I could die. I wasn’t going to let my brother die for nothing. My brother’s spirit was supposed to be immortalized in me. If I died, his spirit does too. I wasn’t going to let him down. I was going to stay strong. I got up off my haunches, looked into the darkness and steeled myself. I wasn’t just going to get out of this hospital for me. I was going to do it for Sugar Spoon.

Making my way through the dark halls of this hospital was less frightening than before. Maybe it was my sense of duty, or I was just getting sick of being scared. Either way, I was turning corners much easier and faster than before. But each corner I turned, only darkness met me. Where the fuck were all the windows?! In fact, how the hell did I get lost?! I was walking right behind Ace. This place must have been depressing as fuck before the bombs.

I sat and let out a frustrated shout. With any luck, Ace and Tallie would find me, or Zippo would tunnel in from under me. When I had finished, I was met with silence and darkness again. Sighing deeply, I ran my hoof through my hair. Just had to stay calm and keep walking. This hospital couldn’t go on forever. My lungs disappeared as a spike of pain lanced through them. I got to my hooves and kept moving.

Some sounds echoed through that hallway. Creaking, dripping, the occasional rattle... and music? Yes! Music! I could hear the faint sound of music coming from nearby. My hooves picked up the pace as I followed the sounds. My SMG was firmly in my grip, just in case things got hairy, but this place was abandoned. Well, supposed to be abandoned. Lets hope it still was.

The music was getting louder, and when I turned a corner, I saw a faint light at the end of it. As I approached, I saw that the light was emanating from a small room. The music got louder as I stood in the doorway. The light was coming from a small, flickering light bulb above a pony playing a small organ. Maybe that pony would help me get out!

“Excuse me?” I asked, walking forward. “Hello?”

The pony didn’t look up, and he kept playing. He looked oddly familiar. Grey coat, black mane...

Walking around the pony, my heart sank. It was me, playing the organ. My... his eyes were closed as his hooves glided along the organ. I backed up a few steps, until I hit a wall, and the other me opened his eyes. Instead of emerald eyes like mine, his were a blood red. A slow smile started to creep across his face until it resembled a crooked, unnatural grin.

“Who... who are you?” I asked, my lips quivering. This place was supposed to be abandoned! Not filled with twisted clones!

The pony looked at me and began to cackle. “Do you not recognize yourself? The crazy little shipwreck of a stallion?” His coat started to darken, faint wisps of black smoke started to rise from him.

I closed my eyes and looked away. It’s not real! It’s just a figment of my imagination!

“But is it?” I opened my eyes and I saw I was looking in a mirror. There was no organ, just the flickering light. My reflection was twisted in the cracked glass, and my coat had turned a pure black. “I am as real as you are, my friend.”

“What are you?!” I screamed at the mirror. “Get out of my head!”

The reflection seemed amused. “I am many things, my friend.” He crept out of the mirror and started walking towards me. “I’m a servant, I’m a leader. A saviour and a sinner.” He kept his dark march, even as I scrambled back to the doorway. But it was closed and it wouldn’t budge. I hammered on the wooden door but it refused to move an inch.

“I’ll be everything you’ll ever be. I’m a loser, number zero, play the victim and end up a hero. I’m a teacher, preacher, and a liar!” He marched forward as I scrambled into a corner and looked for an escape route. “I am anything and everything.”

My hooves covering my face wasn’t enough to stop his cold dark aura from striking into my very core. “I’m a mover, and a shaker. The oppressor and stimulator. I am anything and everything.” He moved my hooves from my face. “And anyone.”

“I’m a coward,” He shifted into me, “and a fighter.” Into Ace. “But most of all.” He shifted back to me. But this time, it wasn’t me. An older me by the look of it. “I am you.” The fake me started to melt away and was replaced by Trailblaze.

The evil spirit laughed and cackled. “Make no mistake, your mind is breaking! I’m going to tear it down and watch it all burn!” He took a triumphant moment to laugh at my cowardice. I was fixed in place by pure fear. “It’s a revolution, a celebration, a graduation! Just sit back and watch my world awaken, Clover. There’s nothing you can do to stop it.” He laughed again, making me cringe and sob. “Just let it go and let it die.”

“No!” I yelled in a fleeting moment of courage. “You aren’t real!” I got to my hooves and started my own march. “Why did you kill those ponies?! How did you take over?!”

“Because my friend, you are a coward.” He made that point before, but it wasn’t enough. “You couldn’t have done anything to stop them, and you would have been killed. We need you to live, so we can kill Double Down. We both want this goal, and I’m going to kill anything that blocks our way. Even if that means you.”

“Just get out of my head!” I yelled in his face. “Fuck off and die!”

“You don’t want that, my troubled friend.” The ghostly pony grinned his sick grin. “We are two of a kind, violent and unsound of mind! We are one and the same, and someday I will replace that big frown on your face with a smile and a beautiful, murderous glare.” The glare that Trailblaze was oh so accustomed to. “All because you had one bad day and your mind let go of the wheel!”

“Shut up!” I screamed. “I don’t want to hear your lies! I’m not a coward! You’re the coward! I will fight you until the day I die!”

The twisted pony grinned. “Prove it.”

And just like that, my torment was over. The pony was gone. Everything hurt. My eyes, my throat, my lungs, everything. The next few moments were filled with me sobbing and trying to forget what just happened. Was my mind was slipping away and becoming a slave to this demon inside of me? Why couldn’t he just go away? Why did I have to be his plaything?

Minutes passed, and I started to calm down. The only way he’d leave me would be if I prove that I’m not a coward. That I’m not going to give up. I got to my hooves and looked around. The door was still locked, but there was a new one. One I hadn’t seen before. That, or Trailblaze had hidden it from me. It creaked open and I poked my head through, finding I was now in a large, wide hallway, a big red double door at the end.

The door was surrounded by a thick frame of steel, and the doors wouldn’t budge. There were lights around the frame and two large signs. One reading “Ministry Of Arcane Science”. The other reading “Keep Out”. It looked like it was my only option at that moment. There was no power to even open it. I couldn’t turn back though. The door was blocked. Maybe if I found a power box.

The door must have been brand new before the bombs because there was still some exposed wiring, and if the Ministry was all it was cracked up to be, they must have had backup power. I followed the wires into a very dark corner of the room. There stood a small box, hooked up to a construction generator. The box wasn’t locked, and there sat a switch. A power switch by the look of it. Plus the big white writing that read “Power”.

What would be waiting behind that door? It had to be locked for a reason. But that was probably just to keep ponies out. Like a wing for MAS employees and stuff. I wouldn't normally press it, and just turn back, but that was the old me. I wasn’t a coward any more, I was gonna show Trailblaze what I was made of.

I flicked the switch.

The lights around the door lit up, then a green one lit up right above the doors. With a long hiss, the doors slowly opened, and lights lit up inside. Another hallway. My hooves clip-clopped against the remarkably clean tiles that lined the hall. Peeking into each room, I saw that they were all very well-preserved. The beds looked very comfortable, but all were empty.

I opened the door at the end of the hall and poked my nose in. Something stank horribly. I gagged and poked my head back out. What was that?! All the other rooms seemed to fresh and clean, but that one smelled like old socks lost in a septic tank in a junkyard!

Holding my breath, I looked through the door again. Big mistake. It was some sort of laboratory. Beds stretched from wall to wall, some loaded with skeletons, but others with... creatures. Demented ponies and griffins, some with pipes running along their bodies, and some missing body parts. Each one had milky white eyes.

I wanted to back up, but my legs wouldn’t move. Each body stared up at the ceiling, unmoving. I couldn’t move at all. The horrors trapped me in that room. The smell didn’t even register anymore.

“Who...” a growling, sludge-like voice sounded from the far corner. “Who disturbs... my experiments...”

A grotesque... thing came out of the corner. It looked like a unicorn, but its face had half-melted, revealing bone and spoke with a disgusting, gooey voice. Its horn had displaced to what used to be its nose. Its voice was distorted by a rebreather attached to its mouth, its melting flesh seeping over it. Its body was bloated and a sickly green; its mane and tail didn’t even exist anyway. Its cute mark had distorted and melted away. The only thing covering its slimy, melted flesh was a very worn, old lab coat.

I squeaked in fear, but I couldn’t move. Nothing was registering, other than the ugly, sickening creature that stood at the other side of the room.

“Another... another subject?” the thing gurgled. “Excellent...” It levitated a scalpel with its displaced horn, and began to shuffle forward, leaving a sickening trail of ooze. I turned to flee, but I tripped over my own hooves and faceplanted.

“It’s... trying to... escape!” the thing growled. “Get him...”

The other things on the beds started to jerk and rise as if rising from graves. They moaned and groaned, each seeping a disgusting rainbow liquid. The pipes along their bodies hissed and rattled, weaving in and out of their flesh. A mutant griffin rose from his bed, his wings having long since melted away. Its talons had to be the size of machetes as it carved its way out of its bindings.

I scrambled to my hooves and bolted. I tried to get my SMG out and load a magazine, but I dropped the mag. I tried again, and I fumbled again. I ran to the exit but the big red doors had closed. My hooves slammed at the door, trying to dig my way out, but it wasn’t working. My back slammed against the door, trying to use my weight against it, but it wasn’t working. “No!” I screamed, slamming against the door. “Help!”

“Nobody... escapes...” the thing gurgled, lurching through the doors. Its gang of mutant abominations crowded behind it, letting their leader make the first incision. It was now levitating a scalpel, bonesaw, and three needles. Needles! I burst into tears and slammed at the doors again. “Nononono!!”

The thing slimed its way over the clean floor. “Nobody... escapes... Doctor Perfect... you will... become... perfect...”

“No!” I screamed, and fumbled my SMG. “I don’t want to be like you!”

The monsters all howled and gurgled behind the doctor. There was no way out. I was doomed! Doomed to become one of those things! With their rainbow ooze and their demented, melting faces. One of them even had tentacles!

The monster was almost right on top of me, its ragged breath seeping from its muzzlepiece. “You will... be perfect...” It lifted its tools, ready to bring them down on me. This was it. I was dead. No way out.

A creaking from above broke through the suspense. A few tiles loosened in the ceiling. The mutated doctor and I looked up. More tiles fell, and were absorbed by the doctor’s sludge-like body. “Perfection... waits... for nopony...” it gurgled. It looked at me again, but before it could bring its tools down, a mighty groan sounded from above.

The ceiling started to crack and split as the doctor looked up. The doctor blinked a few times, then whimpered. The ceiling exploded as a huge portion of a ventilation shaft crashed through, right on top of the mutant.

The shaft slammed down on it, sending ooze and bits of mutant in all directions around it. The tools dropped around me, and all the other mutants watched in shock. The doctor was dead, squished under a ventilation shaft.

A little griffin head poked out of the side, looking dazed. “Fuck me sideways,” she moaned, rubbing her eyes. She looked around at the scene, then to the goo, then to the mutants, then to me. “Oh hey, there you are.” She looked at the mutants and the goo again. She climbed out and skipped over to me. “Totally meant to do that.”

I grabbed the little griffin girl and held her tight. I couldn’t be more happy to see Tallie in my life. She had just saved my life. I guess karma really does work. She looked at the mutants, starting to get themselves together, and looked at me. “Your friends are ugly.”

One lurched forward, starting its attack run. “They aren’t my friends!” I squealed, still crying.

“In that case,” Tallie said with a grin. She picked up my SMG off the ground, reloaded it, and pointed it at the mutants. “Come get some, bitches!” She pulled the trigger and let rip, not even bothering to aim. She just held it against her hip and watched as the mutants exploded into showers of goo from the SMG rounds pounding into them.

The doors behind me flew open, and a loud bang sounded out over the SMG’s ratatat. Buckshot filled the air and felled two more mutants. There was Ace, looking very badass with my ant on her back and levitating a shotgun. “Eat it, fuckers!” she yelled.

Only a few more mutants remained, but both Tallie and Ace had to reload. The griffin mutant leaped forward, aiming to take down Tallie, but Zippo got to her first. He scrambled under the mutant and started to glow an intense white. Zippo exploded into a ball of flame that incinerated its torso. The ball turned into a jet of flame that roasted the other mutants, turning them to charred ashes.

Quicker than it started, it was over. I was laying at Ace’s hooves, curled into a ball, Tallie was reloading the SMG with a magazine I dropped, and Zippo was smoking. He was alive, thank fuck. The ball of flame seemed to erupt from large pores along his body, then concentrated around him. I felt so proud.

“‘Bout time we found you,” Ace said with a smile. “Had me worried.” She helped me up, and I grabbed her in a very tight hug. She jolted a little, being surprised, but then hugged back. “Don’t wander off like that, again. Alright?”

I nodded and whimpered a little in affirmation. I felt safe now, hugging Ace. She and Tallie were my guardian angels and Zippo my little devil. I sobbed a few times, still hugging Ace.

Tallie wasn’t pleased. “Sheesh, get a room you two. Seriously.” She tucked the SMG into my bag and looked over the charred remains of the bodies. “Euch, nasty sons of bitches, ain’t they?” She didn’t seem disturbed at all by them. “Something out of a monster flick or something.”

Ace and I finally separated. She gave me a sweet smile that I felt was contagious and smiled back. She nodded to the door. “Come on, we found the stockpile. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

Now that I was back with my friends, I felt safe. Nothing could touch me, not while Ace had her shotgun, and Tallie had her fearlessness. Seriously, why wasn’t she disturbed? Her childhood must have been fucked up beyond repair.

Ace’s saddlebags looked like they were ready to burst. One had medical equipment and drugs, while the other held all sorts of salvage. I was going to ask about them, but Tallie interrupted.

“Those vents were real handy. Good thing we found that terminal.” I looked at her with curiosity, after wiping my eyes from tears. “It said that the vents were good hiding spots, so I climbed up to look for you. Heard you screaming something awful.”

Gulping down the lump in my throat, I followed Ace. “Was it one of Sugar Spoon’s entries?” I asked. I had to find out what happened to her. I had to.

Tallie nodded. “Yup. How did you know?”

“I’ve been reading her other entries. What happened in yours?”

Tallie rubbed her griffin chin as she toddled along beside me. “Well, turns out the shots she heard from the last entry were from the start of a Coalition counter-attack, the zebras were executed, and she was saved. By her own son, nonetheless. Pretty cool story, if you ask me.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. A good ending to a bad story. Well, the ending came with the bombs, but at least Sugar Spoon saw Green Meadow again. She deserved that much, if not more. My heart felt weak but happy. It had been beating like a snare drum all day. I needed a rest.

A long rest.

--- --- ---

The lobby to the hospital was the most welcoming sight a pony could have - well right after being saved by his friends of course. The doors were still open, and the sun was still in the air. I stayed by Ace’s side like glue. Never ever going to wander off again ever.

“Alright, so,” Ace began, sitting down on some rubble and pulling out a bottle of well-preserved pills. “Antibiotics.” She counted the amount of pills Lollipop suggested for me and hoofed them over along with a canteen of water. “Here, should feel better in no time.”

The pills tasted like honey, and went down my throat easily with the help of some water. A few minutes later, my lungs started to hurt less. They still hurt, but now they were bearable.

“So what have we learned today?” Tallie asked, sitting beside me. “Zebras took over the hospital, Coalition took it back, Zippo’s an incendiary bomb, and the MAS were up to no good. I mean seriously, those experiments were fucked up. They looked like the ‘Thing from the Froggy Bottom Bog’. Love that movie.”

So that was why she wasn’t scared? Looked like something from a movie? I guess that’s one way to get by...

“Everything about Equestria is fucked up. I bet they’re responsible for Mustang too, with all their experimenting,” Ace said, crunching on some potato chips.

“Mustang?” Tallie and I asked in unison.

Ace nodded and swallowed her mouthful. So graceful. Not. “Yeah. Fucked up place between Iron City and the river. Nopony ever goes there. It’s like the Red Zone, but worse.”

“How?” I asked. The Red Zone seemed fucked up enough, if you ask me.

“Can’t breathe there,” Ace said, simply. “Literally. Something in the air kills you. Plus, it’s fucking cold. Nopony knows why.” That didn’t make any sense, but nothing out here did. I decided to just shrug it off.

“So what next?” Tallied asked, petting Zippo’s warm head with a hind paw. “We got the meds, now let’s get to Iron City. Gotta find the dude that killed mom and dad.” Ace and I gave her a little look of worry. “What? I want to thank him, then blow his head off. He did kill my dad, which I’m thankful for, but he almost killed me. That shit don’t fly, yo.”

Ace and I exchanged looks of worry and slight fear. This griffin was broken. But then again, who wasn’t? I came from a comfy life to a dead land. Tallie went from abuse and neglect, I assume, to freedom. Ace... I dunno really. I know nothing about her.

“Well, we’re farther from Grimm Gorge, so maybe the old mine shafts?” She muttered to herself and gently grabbed my pipbucked hoof to check my maps. “Yeah, the old silver mines. Built into a cavern in the cliffs. Get through there, we hit the Iron Defender checkpoint, then it’s onto Iron City!”

“Neato-burrito,” Talle said, hopping down from the rubble. “Enough rest, lets go.”

“Clover’s still sick, y’know,” Ace stated, much to my surprise. She actually cared!

Tallie rolled her eyes and walked over to the main doors. “We’ll walk slow then!”

Ace chuckled and looked at me. I must have looked a mess.

“Kids, huh?”

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk!

“Tough Hide.”

Exposure to very minor Taint from the mutants. You’re very lucky as only your hide has slightly mutated, making it a bit tougher. Yay! +3DT.

New Companion Perk (Zippo)!

“Blaze of glory!”- When in intense combat, Zippo can use the fire deep within him to its optimal efficiency by expelling it through his body’s natural pores and orifices, becoming a fire bomb. His fire attacks gain a temporary boost.

Special thanks to my new editor Matkingos, Adder1, Julep, Kal, and Darcy for the help.

Thanks are in order for the great and all powerful Kkat for creating the FoE Universe that I implanted my work into.

Comments

[AnimalHouse]

Chapter 8's comment box has been invaded and occupied by Darcy.

also

If you’re still reading! Go read this!! http://www.fimfiction.net/story/52573/Fallout-Equestria-%27New-Stalliongrad%27

media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mba80aftd61r98pof.png

[Adder1]

Alright. I promised a review. You're getting it. You popular, featured author you.

Having read the original version of ToaC, I found the changes to Doc (now Lollipop) rather interesting. She (genderswap!) seems to have much more of a backstory already, and given how she's reacted to questions about her unique tattoos and the minigun hanging on her wall, it should be an intriguing one.

Tallie's changes are welcomed as well. In the first version, she was more or less helpless. Here, she's noticeably older- even if just a bit- and has much more evident expertise. I'm eager to see how she plays out, given she at least seemed to retain her backstory from the previous version. I've already had a glimpse of her history through the Tavern. I want to see how you flesh it out here.

What I most liked about this chapter above all others is your decision to explore the remnants of the past in it. The memory orbs and the ghouls don't handle it well enough; this chapter with the walk through the destroyed suburb and the hospital did just that. You covered it all I think- the despair, the brief glimpses of hope, the longing that there must be something one could do, and the realization that it's all done and everywhere. I think it's Clover's eventual desensitization to it that struck me. I don't know if he's already shrugging all of it off, but we'll see when there's more of that kind of content in future chapters I suppose.

Clover's chat with Trailblaze... okay, I'll admit. I saw a few cliches, and it was a tad overblown in some places because of that. Granted, it's supposed to be mindfuckery, but the organ and the mirror scene to a lesser extent broke it a little for me. It was still a good scene, to be sure, but I felt that Trailblaze just being there, maybe hovering in his vision would have held more impact. Even if Trailblaze is the theatrical type, there are some limits to it, I believe.

That last scene with Clover and the mad scientist... I'm conflicted on that, to be honest. The mad scientist is a bit borderline on-the-nose cliche, though I don't think I can really fault you for that since I know there are quite a few other side-stories and even the main story itself that use such a trope. Clover getting saved by a freaking ventilation shaft falling from above and then having Ace and Tallie essentially kick abomination ass broke the tension you were building up. I don't think I can berate you for that since you informed me that it was meant to be a humorous scene while I was editing, though, but it still gives me that sucker punch feeling- and not in a good way. That there was a happy ending for Sugar Spoon- until the bombs fell that is- also really yanked us out of the grimdark feeling of this chapter.

Overall, it's still a good chapter- don't get me wrong, especially since this is still technically your first story. A lot of what I put here is my own personal opinion on the matter. Keep it strong, Hobo. You're doing a much better job than the previous version, and I see plenty of character development the more I read the story.

Now get your mind out of the gutter with Ace, Clover.

Until next time,
Adder1

[Deathpony]

another good chapter

[Iron Sides]

Fucking Epic bro, just fucking epic.

[Joey]

Really nice. Good chapter.

[mrjerrio]

Hmm, a lot of that chapter felt like a dream. But he could have been hallucinating some things. Maybe he has no friends and they're all just hallucinations! *gasp* Nonsensical conspiracy theory go!

[SpikedPunch]

...moar... please?

[Jonny5300394]

"“You don’t want that, my troubled friend.” The ghostly pony grinned his sick grin. “We are two of a kind, violent and unsound of mind! We are one and the same, and someday I will replace that big frown on your face with a smile and a beautiful, murderous glare.” The glare that Trailblaze was oh so accustomed to. “All because you had one bad day and your mind let go of the wheel!”"

I see what you did there! I love hunting for your Miracle of Sound references. I was hoping you'd use this one too.

I have to agree with what's-his-face though, the mad scientist bit felt a bit off for some reason.

Although personally I liked how you handled Trailblaze's theatrics.

[a friendly hobo]

1395509

It's all under control, the scientist thing.

I have plans.

[Chakat-Whitetail]

I love this series so far the way you wright it paints the entire story perfectly in my head.

oh and nice use of Let it Die that was very clever and I indecently had the song on while reading this

[a friendly hobo]

1423679

In time, my dear Regolit, in time.

1434238

Thanks!

[Otterjoy]

The Legend of Spyro- Zippo style!

Unleash the true fire ant within you!

[a friendly hobo]

1452857

Neeeeever played it

[FireStorm2247]

This is a good read so far. Look forward to the next chapter!

[Msvman]

Tis a nice chapter. WE SHALL WAIT FOR MOAR!!!!

[RevelRomp]

"A little griffin head poked out of the side, looking dazed. “Fuck me sideways,” she moaned, rubbing her eyes. She looked around at the scene, then to the goo, then to the mutants, then to me. “Oh hey, there you are.” She looked at the mutants and the goo again. She climbed out and skipped over to me. “Totally meant to do that.”"

Lawl.

[Mal Masque]

Am I the only one who thought that Doctor Perfect would sound a lot like a distorted Doctor Mobius from Old World Blues?

[That One Hunter]

I imagine Clover's voice as Jacksepticeye.