210 years ago…

Lavender Steel stood at the doorway of his childhood home. He was wearing the dress uniform for his regiment, a stone-grey jacket and pants with several medals, sleeves going far beyond his wrist. His eyes where red, and black bags where under his eyes as he sighed. He was standing on his hind legs, a “leaner” style cane next to him to support his weight without putting pressure on his wrists. He brought his hoof up and let it hover on the door knocker as he debated whether he wanted to go in or not.

However, before he could make a decision, the door opened, and the face of an ebony colored human looked back, his hair peppered as he stood looking out. It only took a few seconds before the old man smiled warmly. “Steel… it’s good to see you again.” he said as he stood off to the side, his back straight as Lavender hobbled forward. It took the unicorn a few seconds to recognize the face, and once he did, he looked back at him, his eyes misty.

“Jethro…? It can’t be. I thought that you where going to retire years ago.” Lavender reached out to the human, his lower lip starting to tremble. The older man looked at the unicorn, his own eyes misting up, as he gave Lavender a hug.

“I couldn’t leave Lady Diamond without a suitable replacement. It’s so good to see you, m’boy.” He couldn’t help but chuckle as he patted Lavender’s back, then pulls him out to arm’s length. “By Celestia… I haven’t seen you in a uniform since your time at the academy.” He said proudly, looking at the medals on Lavender’s uniform. Then, he saw one of the most recent ones, and Jethro looked into Lavender’s eyes. “I read about what happened in Goodsprings. Just know I keep you and the others in my prayers.”

Normally, when anyone talked about Goodsprings, Lavender would instantly get on the defensive, as though as if the person speaking was finding a way to use the incident for some sort of political play. This time, though, Lavender couldn’t help but smile warmly at the man. He was always there for him when he was younger, and the head servant of the home, he was the reason that Lavender even went into the service, and despite his… actions during the past few months, he never blamed Jethro for his life. There was enough blame to rest on the Legion.

“Thank you… the doctors said that, aside from strange growths in my hoof bones, I’ll be as good as new in a few weeks.”

The moment came and passed, Lavender wiping his eyes with his sleeve. He sighed as he leaned against his cane, and slowly began to make his way down the hallway, accompanied by Jethro.

“Lady Diamond and your sister are waiting for you in the green house. I had just finished planting a few bulbs of Moonwart the last month, so there isn’t as much greenery as there normally is, but-“ Jethro was about to continue as Lavender looked over to him, stopping him in his tracks.

“Is she mad at me?”

The older man stopped talking, obviously trying to find the right words to say, and then lets out his held breath slowly. “Yes. She is. But not for the reasons I know your thinking. She was beside herself the night she found out what happened.”

Lavender scoffed at the explanation at first, but as he looked at the way Jethro’s body tensed, he knew that he was telling a half truth. With regards to his mother, that did mean something. They shuffled along, silently and slowly making their way down the marble flooring, only stopping to look at a painting, or when Lavender needed to rest. A walk that, for a human or pony, would take a minuet, tops, took the two ten to finish, a silence filling them as they simply enjoyed themselves. At the end, Jethro patted Lavender on the back. “Your Mother loves you and your sister. She shows it in a different way, but she does.”

Lavender stood looking at Jethro, who had opened a set of doors leading to where his mother and sister where at. He made his way to the door, and smiled back at Jethro, who stood at attention proudly as he let the young unicorn through.

The calm ended as a mare’s voice called out from the room. “What has taken that old fool so long to go to the door and answer it? I could have done it in a quarter of the time.” She complained.

“Mother! Did you forget what we talked about? You know that Steel can’t move that well right now.” His sister’s voice carried as Lavender finally looked at the two, sitting at a wooden table with a simple tea set and three seats. The two that where there matched the two voices who were heard seconds ago. He saw his mother, now looking right at him with a mix of slight horror, and a sad happiness as she stood up and, in a dramatic fashion that could easily be considered fake if no one knew her well enough, cried as she held onto Lavander’s barrel.

“My little boy is back! My sweet soldier!”

It took Lavender a few seconds, his eyes fluttering about as he looked down at his mother. The grown mare was crying as she hugged him. He wanted to push her away, to yell at her, but he could only manage to gently pull her off. “I’m okay, Mom.” He said, reassuring her as she wiped some tears from her eyes.

Lavender walked over to the empty seat next to his sister, putting his walker to the side. Flure gave Lavender a pat on the shoulder, and a smile as their mother returned to her seat. Lavender looked at his mother, and noticed how similar she looked like them, the only things that separated how they all looked was a small scar on Lavender’s chin and the beginning of crows feet around their mother’s eyes.

The three sat, akwardly looking at each other, till Lavender sighted loudly. “So, Mother… what was it that you wished to talk about?”

His mother looked him in the eyes, her mouth opening and closing as she wanted to say something, maybe an insult? Lavender didn’t know what the original words where going to be, but rather quickly, she smiled and answered. “Simply put? I think I can get you a promotion to lieutenant. That way, you will never have to go through that ghastly ordeal again. All you would need to do is –“

“No, Mother, I will not marry, or sleep with, or buddy up with anyone. I got this far into the Iron Legion on my own merits, I will continue on and get my rank to Paladin.”

“Which will just mean you’ll be the first one to be put into the line of fire if your called to fight those horrible Ceasers’ Legion! I’ve heard about how they are rebuilding! Their accursed slave system and barbarous ways. Let the other side deal with it for a time. Our colonists can handle their rabble. We have those Zebrican Nationalists to worry about here. It may be more political hot-hoof, but it’s better than being in that dreadful place.”

“Mother, that place… I don’t know why, but the Wasteland feels like a part of me. I know it sounds silly, even suicidal…” Lavender stopped as he saw the look on his mother’s face, like she was looking at a ghost, or more like she was looking at her own sins. “Mother… are you alright?”

It took a few seconds, but she finally blinked and looked at her tea, picking it up with her hooves in an awkward manner. Fleur put a hoof on their mother’s shoulder, smiling sadly, confusing Lavender even more.

“I’m fine, child.”

“She’s just had a lot on her mind…” Flure said as she looked back at Lavender. “So… little brother… I know you don’t like the idea of being away from the Wasteland, but what Mother was talking about, is actually something you might enjoy… once you recover, that is.” She smirked as she tossed a manilla folder to him. Lavender opened it up, and quickly read it, a spark slowly returning to his eyes as he read and reread the first paragraph. He looked up at Flure with a wide grin.

“Sis… I… I don’t know what to say…”

“Get your ass into gear and get over yourself, little twerp. You know that Fancy only let me give this to you because of your little excursion to the Capital Wasteland with Princess Twilight and the other researchers. It’s one-part nepotism, and three parts charity.” She sighed as she laid back in her chair in a casual way, much to the chagrin of her mother that allowed it with only a brief glare to showcase her displeasure.

“Yes… well, I do hope with that being said, that we can continue-“ A crash was heard, and Lavender could tell it was far away from them. His mother blinked her eyes as she stood up and began to mutter under her breath.

“That useless, lazy, good for-“ she continued to say as she stormed off. Flure helped Lavender stand up to follow their mother, and where about to talk when they heard the loud, sad sound of their mother wailing. Flure ran forward, and Lavender cursed under his breath as he continued to walk, almost hobbling over himself as made it to the wall next to the phone.

It only took a few seconds for Flure to look around the corner back at Lavender. “Call the Hospital! Jethro fell down!”

He used his magic to call the emergency line, and it didn’t take long for him to tell them what they needed to know, which lead to him coming back to where his sister and mother went. They stood over Jethro as he laid on the ground, a mark on his head that looked far too much like someone had struck him. He looked about him, trying to find any signs of forced entry, only to hear the hoof falls of the paramedics rush into the mansion’s front doors. A unicorn and two earth ponies ran in, and looked him over.

“Concussion… leg is bent in an awkward angle. He’s breathing, but he needs attention soon…” One of the earth ponies, a mare with a red and green main and a green coat, said as she looked him over. “We will be teleporting directly to Canterlot General. If you wi-“

“I’m going!” Lavender heard his mother interrupt as she stayed close to Jethro, keeping herself from brushing his hair with her hoof. It was a strange tone shift, a strange way for her to act to someone that, for as long as he could remember, was focused on making Jethro’s life just a touch more difficult. He looked over to his sister, who looked at Jethro, then her mother with a hoof over her mouth, looking frightened.

He was so bewildered at the sight, that he barely noticed the teleport away from the home as he looked back. Flure began to take deep, calming breaths, eyes closed as she walked to the phone. “I’m… I’m going to call Fancy, tell him what happened…”

“Fluer… why did Mother…?” He couldn’t help himself as a few tears drop down his cheek and cursed himself.

He shook his head in an attempt to get his mind focused and began to walk back down the hallway, following his sister. He had questions, but none that where as important as “Is Jethro alright?”. He walked past a family portrait, his Sire standing imposingly in the background, the white and grey stallion showing his cold loathing of his children even after the one and a half decades of death. His mother stood at his side, a miserable look to her face, like a dog who knew she was going to be beat by her owner. And then himself and Fluer, sitting in front of them both. They looked like porcelain dolls, a forced half smile on their faces as they looked forward.

The picture sent shivers up his spine every time he looked at it, and he had wondered why his mother never got rid of it. He looked about and saw a photo, framed on a shelf, with Lavender’s mother standing comfortably next to her servants. The way she smiled was much more genuine, and he could only guess as she was standing, front and center, with Jethro to her right side.

Then he looked at Jethro. The look he had wasn’t of a man who was smiling for his job. He was, honestly and with no doubt, loving being there. That thought began to ruminate in Lavender’s mind. Why would he be so gun ho on working with a mare that constantly berated and nagged him? A normal servant barely lasted two years, but he toughed it out. Why did he do it? Why did his mother act so different when he was hurt?

It hit him. The facts fell into place and he began to realize it all. He looked up at the second painting again and remembered that he wanted to be in it. He begged his mother if he could be in it. Her reaction was odd, to say the least. She smiled till she looked up at the family portrait. She looked sad when she said no. She sighed to herself as she took her place, and then Jethro cheered him up with a warm smile, patting him on the head.

He turned to a mirror, looking at himself, examining every inch of his face. It was like he was looking at his sister, an unnerving feeling, till he stood up fully on his hind legs. His shoulders set far more naturally, broader. His hips, while they hurt from not being used to being used in such a matter, just… felt more naturally set as he stood, like they were made to hold his weight while standing bipedal.

He could only stand like this for a few minutes, having to lean back into his walker, but it was unmistakable. He looked back down at his hooves, and more questions rose. Questions he would have to ask later. He had to go to the hospital.

Flure watched as her brother slowly hobbled away to the front door, just finishing with calling Fancy Pants. She wiped away a tear as she watched her brother realize that something was kept from him, and she cursed herself for not speaking to him about it earlier. She closed her eyes as she sat on the floor, trying to concentrate as she thought of everything that could go wrong.

///////////////////////////////////////

It was the dream again.

A memory of years long past. My brother and my own skeletons that should not have been in the closet. I miss those days when that was the worst of things to worry about, when base racism and our family members where the enemies of the day. Before nukes and mega spells, the Princess’ where “goddesses” of the sun, moon, love and friendship, and walked with us and showed their imperfections to dispel such tales. When groups of ponies would erupt into song for no true reason save to cheer a filly up. Humans would walk the streets of Canterlot selling their wares. So many things I remembered that filled me with joy and sorrow.

I opened my eye and found myself sitting, ramrod straight, over my desk. I had switched myself into sleep mode once more, my false parts doing computations and preforming tasks as I slept. I hated the way the machine relegated my flesh in such a paltry way, pulling me from the waking world on a moment’s notice when it sensed a need for me to sleep. But I could tell that it did keep me busy, doing as I wanted it to do. The map I was working on was updated, ready for Jerry to scan it into his PipBoy. My weapons where cleaned, as where my bed and clothes.

The walk back from Buck’et Town was uneventful, from what I remembered. Even when Jerry told me about the griffon cultist throwing a scroll at him randomly truly didn’t phase me. I was, however, surprised at the “request” he was given at who to bring. I did not enjoy the idea of Sunburn with Jerry and my Angels, but for separate reasons. I worry for Jerry’s safety if Sunburn would attempt to assert his dominance. I, also worry about how many limbs Sunburn would lose if he got my bladed angels angry. My current guess is either one, or all “five”. Granted, I knew Rip and Tear would not kill him.

They don’t like him enough.

I looked out the window, recollecting my thoughts. The sunlight was reaching out from behind the clouds as I heard Rag Doll take her position at the clock tower. I turned to see Sunday stepping towards me, sitting on the floor in front of me, resting her chin on the table. She was not looking well since we returned. I didn’t feel any hostility from her, but she still looked in a bad mood.

“Boss… Why did you let them go off like that?”

I was surprised that she didn’t waste any time hemming and hawing at questions this time around. She was looking at me in the eyes. She is truly worried about Jerry, and it’s making me wonder, exactly, if Discord is having any affect on us. I suppose it doesn’t really matter at the moment.

I refocus on Sunday with a slight smile. “Because Jerry needs to figure out what his abilities are here. I have my suspicions that he is floundering with his role in our group, and so if we put him in a place with no set leader and plenty of opportunities to grow, he will find himself capable of showing some kind of skills that he can use to be of use to us. If your fears are dealing with Sunburn, I believe that Daisy will take care of any kind of troubles he could possibly create.”

///////////////////

“I SWEAR TO GOD, SUNBURN, I WILL END YOU!”

“HOLY FUCK! IT WAS A JOKE, DAISY!”

“Blood and Meat! Blood and Meat!”

“IT’S OKAY, DAISY! HE ONLY DISLOCATED MY WRIST! I’LL BE OKAY! Why won’t anyone listen to me?”

“Because you’re not that bright, boy. And what do you mean, you’ll be okay?”

Long story short: Boy Scout Mountain Climbing, and not being prepared.

/////////////////////////////////

Sunday looked me in the eyes, only to turn away. “Even if I did disagree with you, there would be no way to talk you out of it.”

I couldn’t help but grin as I heard that. It was good that Sunday was learning, bit by bit, some of the lessons I was feeding to her. Maybe, within a few more years, I’ll step back and let her be in charge, officially. Granted, I cannot let all of my eggs fall into one basket. I made that mistake before and I learned from it.

However, before I could rest myself, I heard her looking right back at me. She always made a noise when she still had problems with my decisions. I didn’t look up, and flicked my ear up, making sure to aim it towards her. My invitations for interruptions, even the most important ones, are seldom and only for those who know me well enough to read me. It took her a few weeks to learn that, and I only had to break her foreleg once.

“Boss… I want to know… is there anything I need to know about the Pip-Boy?”

I could have easily dismissed her. Tell her a lie. However, with what has been going on recently, I knew better. “Yes. I can only tell you this much for certain. The program inside of it is not working correctly… or, more accurately, it is working abnormally. It is still working according to it’s intended purpose, but it will work in a manner that neither myself nor Jerry will be able to control. In all things relating to the Pip Boy, I want you and everyone else to rely on Jerry’s intuition.”

She didn’t look at me. She didn’t say anything. She simply stood up, and walked out of the room.

I have been with Sunday long enough to tell you this. She was not happy with what she heard. She did not need me to yell at her right now. And I had an idea at what she was mad at, and me chastising her from walking away in the middle of a conversation was by far one of the worst ideas I could have come across.

I went back to my studies, only to be surprised by her walking back to me, eyes glued to mine. “Boss… I know there isn’t a lot you can tell us… either because you think you don’t need to, or that you don’t know the answer to it… I just want to say that you haven’t steered us wrong yet. You’ve done right by us, but so help me, if you get any of us killed I won’t have any problems with killing you. I hope you understand that.”

I stared down at her, and almost found that I had difficulties keeping her eye contact. I smiled and nodded. I was looking forward to the rest… but not yet.

Not till I see this till the end.

//////////////////////////////////

We’ve been on the road for most of the day. Rip and Tear where floating about, playing “Hide the Knife”, which I’m pretty sure is tag if it was renamed by an emo kid, as well as keeping an eye out for ambushes… well, at least they are supposed to be.

“FUCK YOU, GHOUL SHIT!” a small band of raiders, two earth ponies and a ghoul, ran to us, all wearing heavy armor and brandishing, of all things, pool sticks, while a turret shot over their heads and right at us. Daisy, Sunburn and I-

“Ahem…”

Right… Daisy, Sunburn, Discord and I where stuck behind the corner of a small store, while Rip and Tear continued to play their game.

Sunburn brought out his shotgun and waited while I held onto my auto-shotgun. Daisy was setting herself up as the first earth pony turned the corner. Stallion, just a touch shorter than Sunburn, with a sickly green coat, turned the corner, mouth open in mid shout, right as Sunburn shoved the barrel into his mouth. The Stallion’s eyes grew wide with terror as Sunburn only smirked back for a solid five seconds before speaking.

“Suck it.”

I turned my head away just in time to hear the sickening blast and wet pop of both shells flying out of the back of the poor SOB’s head. I turned back around, aimed by shotgun at the head of the mare.

“GeT ON thE GROUND!” I managed to squeak out. And she did… and slammed the pool stick right into the side of my hip. She jumped up and was trying to choke me out with the pool stick, but I managed to grab hold of the cue and kept it off my windpipe. I looked up and saw that Sunburn was busy reloading, and as the Ghoul made his way around the corner, that he wasn’t just carrying a cue.

I heard the revving of a Ripper as he used the cue like a spear, throwing it at Daisy, who narrowly dodged the projectile, and Sunburn had to dodge from two hard slashes as the mad Ghoul continued his assault.

“Focus!” Discord shouted as I looked back at the mare who was nearly snarling at me.

“I AM focusing you asshole!”

The Mare looked at me with a touch of confusion, which gave me a chance. I let go of one side of the cue, making her loose her center of gravity, as I… well… I tickled her.

See, the heavy armor was more like the typical barding for horses on our world during the middle ages… except made from scrap metal and, at least on one side, the door of a fridge. So… unprotected belly.

The randomness of the moment, the life and death struggle, and the fact that she was very ticklish, made her loose it. I continued my assault, fingers traveling under her forelegs, down to her belly and back up again as she rolled to get away from me. I was a man possessed, fingers running over her ribs over and over, hooves in the air, kicking about as I sat next to her. Her tortured screams and laughter filled the air as I continued my assault, till the mare went still and didn’t move as the sound of liquid hitting the ground could be heard.

I didn’t look down. I simple stood up, stepped back, and noticed that I wasn’t hearing anything. I looked over at the others and noticed that everyone was staring at me, especially the Ghoul and Sunburn. Both hands up, I looked at them as I smiled. “Uh…. Instinct…” I explained.

The Ghoul looked dumbfounded, which gave Sunburn just enough time to recover, and punch the Ghoul right in the face for a sneak attack, knocking him out. Daisy and I aimed our guns at the now blushing and helpless mare on the ground, covering herself up as best as she could. I was about to say something when Rip and Tear swooped in, and after a few seconds, made short work of the turret and the dead body, a whirlwind of limbs and knives. The sickening screaming of muscle and metal being broken and torn asunder. I didn’t even, really SEE what they were doing, just that afterwards… well… best way to explain it is if you took a can of soda, put batteries in it, then put it into a blender. Messy, but it could have been a lot worse…

I looked back down at the mare, and her eyes where wide, her pupils pinpricks as she looked at the trail of blood leading away from us. She looked back up at me, obviously terrified.

“L-look… take what we’ve got and leave me be… I promise I won’t go looking for ya!” She begged right before a sick snap from nowhere in particular could be heard, as well as a bit of giggling and even…

NOPE! Not getting into it!

“Your caps and half of your supplies.”

“Yours! Just don’t kill me!”

I smiled as I looked at Daisy and Sunburn. Daisy returned the smile, walking past me and petting my cheek with her tail. Sunburn frowned and kicked the unconscious ghoul, making him wheeze as he walked away. I looked back down and, taking the pool cue in my hand, stood up, making sure that my eyes where on her as I got my shot gun back. “You know, your lucky. Very lucky. Normally, I’d think these guys would just shoot ya and be done with it. Take your stuff and go on. You only lost one guy out of three, and your turret. You might be able to get another one if you scrounge around about… oh… three miles south in that old city? Cleaned it up from all the raiders there, so you’ll be good to go for scavenging there.”

She looked at me with a haunted expression. I didn’t know what she was thinking as I stepped away from her and let her breath. “What is with the act? Why don’t you kill us?”

I didn’t look her in the eyes as I sighed. I shook my head and gave a weak smile. “I just got here, and I don’t want to kill folks. Best way to get rid of enemies is to make them into friends is what my mom taught me. With that said, I’m not expecting you to be all buddy buddy with me. Especially since Sunburn killed your friend there.”

She looked at the body, then back at me with a smirk. “Wasn’t a buddy… if anything, I’m going to have to thank your friend for getting rid of an extra mouth to feed.” She chuckled as she got up on her hooves.

I brought by laser pistol up, just as a precaution, as I put my shot gun up. “Well, that’s a shame… I’d probably find better friends that are smarter.” I said with a smile.

“Oh, haha… He was a bit of an idiot. Actually thought that the Princess rose the sun and moon before they died. Ridiculous, right?” She said, looking down at her hooves.

I blinked a few times, and looked up at the sky, at the sunlight. That was something that was bothering me, ever since I came here. I mean, I know that, according to head cannons from all sorts of folks on YouTube that a lot of unicorns had done the job of raising and setting the sun, but I don’t think folks right here are actually focused enough to actually do that right now. Could that mean that there was a group of Alicorns that where around, doing that job? And how would that work? I mean, in the fan fic, Unity was an attempt to create a hivemind of fake Alicorns… is THAT what is happening here?

“Fat Boy! To the left!” Discord nearly screamed as I heard something running at me. I had just enough time to see the mare, a knife in her hooves, jumping right at me. I… I froze. I didn’t think that that was going to happen.

The blade sank into the left side of me, as I looked down at her. Her eyes, glaring up at me with such hate.

“Now, keep quiet and I’ll make this… quick?”

I could feel her grip relax as I saw the shadows on the ground. I looked up, still shocked as Rip and Tear, covered in red, descended onto the now disarmed mare. Her screams… her face looking at me as I saw them do their work. It was… it was…

I’m hearing my name a lot now. I guess I messed up.

I’m... going to go to sleep now….

///////////////////

I heard it. I looked out the window and heard it.

“Rebecca, are you alright?”

It was one of the strange people that he left me with. I don’t like them that much, but they are better than THEM.

I closed my eyes as she asked me again, and I focused on what I heard.

I don’t like that sound. I’m going to make it better.

Maybe he’ll know it was me and come right back? That would be nice. He’s a lot better than a lot of the folks here.

Come back, Jerry.

///////////////////

I heard Rip and Tear yelling. I ran out and saw it. I ran as fast as I could and slid to Jerry’s side. His eyes where closed, but I could hear him breathing. He was bleeding, but not nearly as much as I was thinking, but I knew we had to get him out of here.

“SUNBURN! GET YOUR ASS HERE NOW! WE’RE LEAVING!” I yelled as Rip and Tear where crying as they stabbed the pile of gore on the ground. “Girls! GIRLS!”

They both looked up at me, their faces covered in crimson and streaks of tears down their cheeks. “Clean yourselves off and fly up! Tell me where the closest structure is, Now!”

They didn’t say or do anything besides what I told them to. They climbed up and I saw them creating and pulling pieces of clouds on themselves, a quick wash with rain as they circled around. It didn’t take long till one shot towards the east, and Tear dropped down next to me.

“Rip flying! Going to borrow stims! Make Blood Man well!” She was trying to smile, nodding as she looked down at the knife still sticking from Jerry’s side.

“Good… get back up in the sky and keep an eye out for your sister, alright? We’ll be heading east…”

“Oh, Holy Cadence’s Tits, what happened?” Sunburn yelled as he looked on what was going on in front of him.

“a cascade of fuck ups…” I couldn’t help but pet Jerry’s cheek as I looked down at him. “Get a mattress and bring it here.” I ordered as I looked up at him. He was still looking at the knife. “STOP! AND! FOCUS!” I nearly screeched as I looked at him.

He cowered away from me as he heard me yell at him, and another growl made him scramble back inside. He is a lot easier to control when he is afraid of me. I like to keep him there. It helps to keep him from screwing up too much.

It didn’t take long for him to come back with a mattress, and a harness around his neck. I gently picked up Jerry and put him on the makeshift transport. I simply waved Sunburn forward, and he began to pull Jerry. I kept my eyes on Jerry, but my hands on my rifle. I’m not going to let him die.

My heart is beating so hard, and… and I want him now! Why now of all times is this creeping up on me?

I shake my head hard, growling as I raise my rifle up into the air, making sure that it wasn’t pointing near where Tear was flying.

As we continued forward, time didn’t make sense to me. I couldn’t tell if the sun was going down, or if I was imagining it almost being reset high into the sky. If it wasn’t for Tear leading us in a proper direction, I would have thought we where lost. Then I saw the small flash of light in the distance. I saw Rip rushing right towards us, carrying someone in her hooves. As she flew low, I could see the expression on both of their faces. Fear was just soaked in Rip’s eyes, as was her “friend”, a young griffon, who had to be hardly older than 15, looked at us with terror. He wore a black cloak that fluttered in the wind as he was dragged towards us. The fact he wasn’t screaming meant that he was doing this willingly.

Hmmm… till I know he’s older, I’ll do my best to think of him as younger than sixteen. Keeps my hands to myself.

Rip stopped hard, twenty feet above us as she let go of the griffon. It was at that moment I realized that he was a doctor. “A-a-alright… l-let me s-s-s-see the p-p-pa-pa-patient…” The griffon said as his wings spread open and let him land next to Jerry. He looked at the wound on his side and smiled. “G-g-good job on n-n-n-n-not pulling the blade out. Kept your f-f-friend from bleeding out.”

I was about to say something before he hushed me, and jumped onto the mattress. The way he shifted his body weight on the mattress made me think he had done this before. Rip sat next to me and smiled nervously. “No stims. Found chicken doctor! He fix Blood Bag, right?”

The griffon took out needles, thread, and what I guessed where anti-bacterial wipes from his bag. He was muttering to himself as his front paws worked out the knife, while the back paws riffled through his medicine bag. Seconds after he was even on the ground, and he was removing the knife with the care and precision a surgeon twice his guessed age could do. The amazing part was when I saw the blade, the rusted edges from years of misuse and disuse, pulled from Jerry’s body what looked like a disgusting, twisted sausage that looked overstuffed. His clawed hand held up the strange thing, and looked back down at Jerry. “H-h-his insides… th-th-they’re flipped… I-i-interesting…” He muttered out loud as he pulled up a jar and stuffed the thing inside of it.

“What was that?” I asked myself out loud, and the griffin looked up at me momentarily before looking back down at his work.

“Appendix… u-u-useless piece of f-f-flesh near large intestine… u-u-usually found on th-th-the other side… p-perhapes advanced case of situs inversus? Y-y-yes!” He held his head onto Jerry’s chest and nodded as his claws finished cleaning/closing up all the cuts (Both inside and out) in a matter of minutes.

I’ve never seen one claw do so much before! I almost jumped him then and there, but then saw the doctor pull out a bag of blood and smelling his still bloodied claw. He shook his head and put the blood back in and pulled out another one, which was met with a big smile.

“O nega-ga-gative… very rare… synth blood will be needed later if he is accident prone.” With that, he looked at me, as though as if I knew. I just shrugged.

I… I don’t know anything about Jerry. I mean, besides a few things here and there about what he shared with Sunday and Ragdoll, but besides that… he’s never sat down with me and talked with me about anything.

Why do I care? I don’t want anything more than a nice, warm bed with him.

No, that isn’t it, is it?

Focus, girl! Why is this happening!?

I looked up and saw Rip circling around us. Tear was doing her best to focus on the area around us. Her flight has changed so much. It’s… It’s getting to be too much. So much is swirling inside my mind…

“Stop”

I looked over to Sunburn, one eye looking at me as he walks. He stopped walking! Why is he…

I felt it… something isn’t right. I looked back and saw something I thought I never would see again. Teeth and darkness covered in a robe, stained red, a hand raised up, reaching for me! I raised my gun up, snarling. “GET HIM TO A SAFE PLACE!” I said as I shot at where it’s head was supposed to be as it passed through with no resistance! I fire again, and again! Nothing… he’s supposed to die! He’s supposed to be dead!

Then… nothing but a hand resting on my thigh, and… and I was back… just walking. Jerry’s eyes looking up at me, his hand using up so much strength to get my attention. “Stop… and focus…” I could have sworn that it wasn’t Jerry’s voice. And as soon as he finished talking, he blacked out again. The Doctor cursed and looked at his vitals. After a few seconds, he sighed, a smile on his face as he looked up at me. “He’s stable for now… p-p-pick up sp-sp-speed. One m-mile. Straight.”

I shook my head, trying to make sense of what happened to me, but it only lasted for a moment. Focusing came easier for me this time, and I couldn’t care how. Jerry just needs to be okay.

/////////////////////////

The Bloodbag was hurt!

We have to do something.

We have to hurt! Hurt the one who hurt Bloodbag!

Knife and blood, Rip and Tear makes more with teeth and hooves! Anger bleeds! Anger wails! Blood must be saved!

Tears and cries ring from anger, then love-sister runs to us. She yells, and orders. We obey. Up into the sky we fly and wash away our anger-blood.

Help Bloodbag! Bloodbag still warm! We separate, one to protect, one to rush to get Stims!

We separate and… and we become two. Tear stays. Rip… I fly hard forward. I see place filled with others. They look up at me, and do not yell or scream. Buildings are old and smell bad. One looks big and old with a lot of old things inside it. Letters I can remember read “Museum”. Our Boss, blessed Blood Boss, told us of them! They help us! I know it! I land and see one with red “t” on it’s house. I grab him and he makes weird noises. I yell, and others panic. Weird bird-cat is shivering as I go back. I explain, but he’s stupid. Asks questions. Headache! Got to help Bloodbag!

We’re one again! We can talk easier! Rip drops the bird-cat on the ground and he gets to work. Jumps on and does things, and we can’t help! Tear and Rip, me and her, together, and we can’t do anything! Love-Sister feels the same way. We can feel her going back into an ungood thought. We’ve seen it so many times. We help, but it only does so much, and with The Bully around and the cat-bird…

Griffon… yes, griffon. With the griffon there, we can’t help. But…

We look at each other as we feel it. “Mama’s friend!” we say. We remember him… we remember stories of him! When Mama still let us with her, she told us of a friend of hers! He was big and long and silly and drank glass and broke milk! We loved those stories! Of good people being good! She is so old… Mama said that he was waiting for someone. Is the Bloodbag who Mama’s friend was waiting for?

We want to meet Mama’s friend so badly, but we can’t! We can’t, because we want to help OUR friend! Mama would say to help our friend first, because it’s what Good Blood wants. And Good Blood gets what Good Blood wants!

///////////////////////////////////////////////

The

Fucking

Hell

Happened?

I swear, I was just minding my own business, looking at all the loot we got, when I heard it. Rip and Tear screeching and tearing into something. I thought that they where just kicking the turret apart. They HATE robots and turrets. If they saw that Sentry Bot in the Bad Dream’s hide out, they would have made it into scrap faster than those three Night Stallions did!

I walked back out, just behind Daisy, and then I saw Rip and Tear, just like back when we first met them in that Hell hole. I’ve seen some messed up shit, but that place… and this? I’m never getting the look of that mare’s eyes out of my mind. I looked down at where the ghoul was let down, and noticed that the fucker ran off!

Fucking fuck! Every fucking time!

I was about to tell Daisy, when I noticed the Fat Man on the ground with a knife in his gut. “Oh, Holy Cadance’s tits! What happened?” I yelled out as I tried to figure out everything that was going on.

“A cascade of fuck ups. Go inside and get a mattress!”

I jump right to it, cause… well, fucker may be annoying, but I ain’t going to just let some asshole raider who ended up as Rip and Tears chew toy kill that Fat Man!

Fuck, it would look shitty on my record if I let one of my subordinates die like a bitch! So, inside I go, and hook up the mattress to myself, as well as a few bags of our awesome loot we’ve got!

I started walking after Daisy put Fat Man on the mattress. There wasn’t much to it, though. Just walk as fast as I can and follow Tear to where we needed to go. It’s nothing but walking till Rip came back with a scared shit-less griffon in her forelegs. I couldn’t make heads or tails of what he was saying, so I just focused on moving forward. A few things here and there about “Useless intestine meat” and whatever “Citrus Inventory-us” is. I didn’t care about the words, just if he was doing his thing or not. I looked back and saw Daisy’s face. She was back there. Her mind was thinking of that guy from a year ago. She swore it was a demon or a ghost, but ghosts don’t rub their hands all over you and… and do things.

Look, you can throw a rock in any direction where folks are at and hit some guy who was the butt slave to raiders or some monster or another. But those fuckers you can kill. That guy…

“Stop.” I heard myself say. I don’t know what happened then, and I stopped moving. I could only move my eyes to look at Daisy, and that heart wrenching look in her eyes. “Stop and just focus”

I felt a bit weird. Like it was what I really wanted to say to her, but… but if I did, it would have came out wrong. She was looking at the Fat Man, but I didn’t care that time. Daisy was going to be okay from whatever it was that happened, and that was okay with me. I continued forward, picking up speed when the griffon stuttered his instructions out, and the twins where in rare form, focusing on getting us to where we needed to go.

I think I’m doing pretty good for my first taste of being a leader.

//////////////////////////////

Darkness becoming light becoming darkness becoming light.

Really, that’s all I remember when I fell asleep… or whatever it was. I moved around, trying to get comfortable, only to find out that I can’t get to my side. With that little discovery, my eyes open slowly, and I find myself looking at… well… a ceiling. An ugly, worn out ceiling. An ugly, worn out, flipping Bob Vela the bird ceiling.

Still better than the Library’s ceiling, though.

I was about to sit up when I saw two hands reach out and hold onto my shoulders. I look to my right and saw Daisy, looking me in the eyes. “Hold on there. Don’t be moving yet, hun.”

Her voice seemed to slip into a southern twang before she held out a straw to a bottle of water. I eagerly started to sip at it, only to realize that the “straw” was actually made from old paper. I blinked to myself a bit as I stopped, looking at the straw, then looking up at Daisy. “How long have I been out?” My voice sounded horrible. Like I swallowed sand for a living.

“More than half the day… it’s actually midnight, if your Pip Boy is right. You feeling alright?”

“Alright… I feel a lot of pain right now, but I think I’m good. If we got any stim pacs, I can-“

“Oh, no! We aren’t having you grow any extra heads on my watch.” Daisy said, glaring down at me like I was trying to light a firecracker with an oily rag in my teeth. “How many Stims have you used since you’ve got here?”

I sat there, wide eyed as I saw a side of Daisy I never thought I’d see.

“Exactly what I thought you’d say… we’re going to use some healing powder on you instead. It’s not as fast acting as Stims are, but you aren’t going to start growing tumors, either.”

“Is that really a thing? Stims causing cancer?”

Daisy raised an eyebrow as she looked at me in the eyes. “Who said anything about cancer? I said tumors.”

“Stim Tumors, to be e-e-exact! Over ab-b-bundance of materials for quick re-re-regeneration can cause serious side effects, such as the development of benign tumors that can grow into separate entities. St-st-stim tumors happen when someone uses Stim’s more than six or s-s-seven times a week. They are more for d-d-damaged area’s that are instantly fatal, to gi-gi-give the patient a chance to survi-vi-vive.”

I followed the voice and saw, perhaps, the fourth cutest thing in the world! Small griffon, couldn’t be older than ten years old if he was a human, with pale green feathers and fur, in an oversized lab coat, with oversized hypodermic needle! I mean, the needle had to have been a good seven inches, maybe ten inches long! Ridiculous! Criminally cute! Like a puppy with a katana in it’s mouth!

“Oh, my God, your adorable!” I managed to keep myself from saying that bit out loud, but then realized something… he was coming close to me with the damn needle. “Oh, my God, your terrifying…” I did not say that softly as I struggled in my bed. Daisy held out my arm, and I pouted, looking at her like I was betrayed.

“N-n-no, not in the arm.”

Oh, thank goodness, thank you little bird doctor! … wait, why is he flipping me…?

Oh, Fish Sticks!

////////////////////////////////////////////

In a dimension just shy of our own, a lone figure, a great scientist, puts the finishing touches on his greatest creation. A creature that is built for speed and durability, using advanced echolocation to locate and kill all who it and it’s kin could find to make way of the scientists own species.

The grey skinned creature carefully, and calmly typed in the information, knowing that even the slightest of noises could disrupt the delicate process, and not only ruin decades of work and doom his planet, but cause his own death. Then, he saw an odd sight.

A ripple in space-time appeared before him, and he began to hear the soft rumbling from it. The Scientist’s eyes widened as his mouth hung open, and doom was spelled out from-

Okay, okay, I had my fun. That really didn’t happen. Jerry simply whimpered as he was stuck several times with a series of shots to make sure he didn’t get any serious infections, and all I did was sit around watching the whole pathetic thing, but lets be honest! What I just made in your monkey brains?

Perfect comedy…

Okay, maybe not perfect, but it IS better than what REALLY happened.

“FISH STICKS!” indeed. Now, if you’ll excuse me…

//////////////////////////////////

I laid on my stomach, eyes wide open, groaning.

So much pain.

So many needles.

God? Are you there? It’s me, Jerry. Why did you allow my butt to become a pincushion?

“Because you’re an idiot.” Discord’s voice rang through as I recovered. “You can’t, can’t, CAN’T put your guard down! Ever! Your lucky that you survived this.”

Damn it…

“No, you listen! You’ve been lucky so far! Very damn lucky! TOO damn lucky! How many times have you been close to dying because you didn’t think things through?”

Lets see… there was the time when I was shot at by Daisy, the time I-

“THAT WAS RHETORICAL!” Discord screamed in my mind as he glared at me. “Listen to me, Fat Man! You are not in Missouri any longer. Your biggest problem isn’t going to be how much gas costs, or whether you’re going to have to replace your toilet after eating at questionable fast food places! You are going to die if you don’t get over the idea of killing people. And there is no reloading the game for you. If you die, that is it. You’ll find out if there is an afterlife. You will be an ex-human!”

Don’t you think I understand this? Do you think I’m just walking around thinking that I’m going to be alright? That I’ll just steamroll over anything that happens to me? I’m going to tell you something, Discord. Dying doesn’t scare me.

I can think of hundreds, no, THOUSANDS of things scarier than being dead. Oh, sure, the act of dying scares me, but I’ll get to that when it happens. But losing people? Especially people I could save? That haunts me. I don’t feel bad about what happened back there, Discord. Even if I died, I wouldn’t feel bad. She made a horrible mistake, and she got what she deserved. And if she hadn’t gotten herself killed? I still wouldn’t hold it against her… entirely.

With that said, I will admit something. I made a mistake that almost made me break a promise to a little girl. I’m not going to have anyone, and I do mean anyone, say that I broke my promise. You understand me?

Discord was quiet for a while. I saw his eyes lock onto me before he finally relaxed. He looked to the side, as though as if he was looking at something just out of my sight. “The next time you are put on guard duty, I’ll keep my eyes open to make sure you don’t screw up nearly as bad.”

And that’s all that I ask for, dude.

“DON’T…. don’t call me ‘Dude’, boy.” Discord growled, trying to keep himself from bursting out with anger. He regained his composure rather easily, his own eyes closed as he brought his hands together. “I need you to get better, Jerry. To BE better. I’ll keep you alive as best as I can. You have to help out. Promise me that you will.”

I looked at Discord for, Lord, it must have been at least five minuets, fifteen tops. I nodded my head just enough for him to realize that was what I did, before I felt my eyes droop. “Now, get some rest and a bit of shut eye. You’ll be out of commission for a few days while I try and fix you up.”

What about the chaos energy reserves?

“I will make due. Don’t worry about it.”

I’m not going to have a dream again tonight, am I?

“No, and it’s for the best. Certain… elements are becoming far more intrusive than I want. You being conscious there could be a problem.”

Flag?

Discord flinched as he looked back at me. “Yes.”

I felt a cold chill go up my spine, but soon my eyes felt heavy. It didn’t take long for my mind to slip into a dreamless sleep, my last thought being “At least I’ll get a cool scar to show for my time here when I get back.”

/////////////////////////////////////////

I looked over at the Doctor as Jerry fell asleep. My hand nearly instinctively went to brush some of Jerry’s hair out of his face as I looked at the young griffon’s face. “I can’t say enough how thankful I am, Doctor.”

“P-P-Percival, Ma’am. Percival P. St-st-Stanwick. At your service.” The griffon said with a much more relaxed tone than he once had. “Y-your husband will be happy to know your companion is alive and well.”

I looked at Percival with a smile. “Husband? You really take me as the marrying type?” I couldn’t help but bring out a bit of a pur. Something about making this feathered ball of insecurities stutter just made me feel good.

“Y-yeah. The way you and he argued made you s-s-sound like a couple. It was k-k-kind of sweet.” He said with a happy sigh. He shook his head and went back to looking over Jerry’s wound one last time, and standing up. I didn’t notice before how he typically only stood on his hind legs without a slouch, his wings just a touch smaller than other gryphons I have met. It then hit me.

“Are you half human, by any chance?”

“Y-yes. Father’s side. Father died protecting my mother and my siblings. M-mother hatched me when she and siblings got here. Taught me everything I know.” He frowned as he looked at his hands, that looked a lot more nimble with claws not nearly as sharp as a typical gryphons, but still dangerous if he knew how to use them. I’ve seen those eyes before, filled with anger that was just contained by will. “I l-lost her not to l-long ago.” His hand curled into a fist and he brought it down, behind his back as his smile returned.

I knew the best way to get his mind off of that. I carefully slid behind him and draped my arms around his shoulders, giving him a hug. “Just so you know… that big guy out there and I aren’t a couple. If you have a little time, I can make a first installment for payment.” I purred into his ear. He shivered, and didn’t try and get away from me.

“I… I am of age… if you have been-“

That’s all I needed to know. He didn’t have a chance to finish as I pulled him out of the room. I do not want to be interrupted by the twins this time!

I.

Need.

This.

//////////////////////////////////////

I can’t believe I’m doing this. This is so fucking annoying, waiting, hoping that the fat kid is alright, and just waiting! Rip and Tear have been flying outside, causing some trouble here and there, and that was fun for about… an hour. Especially when they stole one of the hats from one of them monks, and passed it between them. The skinny guy was running around in a full sprint trying to chase after them, it was priceless!

But when the old gryphon appeared and shouted at them, they stopped and gave it back to the guy. Got yelled at by the old dude, and found out he was the head honcho. Father… something or other. Gordon? Griffith? Garry? Damn, I need to pay more attention. Anyways, he told me to get Daisy to talk with him, and I’ve been looking all through this building since! Big hospital. I think most of the folks live here, since not every room is made to hold patients.

Cool, I guess. The village down the hill is boring as crap anyways. I’ve been doing some… shopping… when I began to hear something.

Voices.

I start walking down the hallways and I could hear something going through the air. Sounded familiar, but I could’t put my hoof on it. I just continued walking down the hall, trying to remember where we where supposed to set up, when I just went “Fuck it.” And decided to open every door I saw.

Empty.

Empty.

Jerry looking stupid as he sleep.

Empty.

Empty.

Empty.

Griffon trying to have sex with Daisy.

Empty.

Oooo! Supply Closet! Locked, but still! Who did I lend my hair pins to?

Wait… hold on….

DAISY! She has the hair pins!

I go back two rooms and see Daisy trying to talk the now mortified griffon boy back to getting into the mood. Don’t care. “Daisy! Need hairpins!”

“GOD DAMN IT, SUNBURN!”

“Oh, crap…” It was at that moment that I realized I done fucked up.

/////////////////////////////////////

Oh! They are doing it again! Rip and Tear looked through the windows, both of us enjoying the sight of the mean one being chased by the pretty one as the cat bird watched on. It was funny seeing her… Daisy… seeing Daisy chase Sunburn around! Hey! This is awesome!

“Rip! Rip! I remembered their mommy and daddy names!”

“What! That’s great, Tear! Lady is Daisy… what is mean one again?”

“Sunburn! Sunburn!”

“Sunburn? SUNBURN!”

We giggled as we celebrated. We have been trying to learn other names for so long! Boss is Boss, no problem. Sunday, easy too! But Smart Stupid’s name is a no-no name. Dolly does not like our name for her. Fat Man is Fat Man, and will always be Fat Man! He is so much fun!

//////////////////////////////////

“How many?”

“Two Pegasi, a unicorn, a half breed, and a human. Human injured, Pegasi are idiots, and I think the unicorn can’t use his horn.”

“Hell yeah! Are the others getting’ ready?”

“Yeah. Ready to attack tonight. Focus on the village?”

“No… we burn down the hospital. We need to send a message. Only the words of Brother Blood can bring us salvation.”

///////////////////////

204 years ago…

Things where getting better for Pinkie.

Her mind was focused on the work she had. She was able to think about Nigel without a hint of sorrow filling her thoughts. And the law was going to be thrown at Redrum soon.

The stallion who started the whole nightmare in Ponyville, the one who had harrassed and hurt many people, was finally being charged with the crimes he committed. She couldn’t help but smile at that, her tail dancing behind her as she stood at the cash register.

She was invited to go to the ruling that was going to be presided by a fair judge, Just Rule, who she knew would make sure that, when Redrum was charged, that he would be sent to the Wastelands to serve his sentence.

She didn’t like the idea of punishment in and of itself, but she knew that some ponies and humans could not be rehabilitated, and you had to protect the population. But she knew she would be lying if she said that this one case, this one person, deserved so much more than what he was getting.

She heard the door open with a jingle as Bon Bon raced in, looking panicked. Pinkie smiled and looked at the earth pony, trying to cheer her up. “What’s Bonnie, Bonnie? You look like your in the mood for a croissant.”

“Pinkie, I got…”

“Let me guess, you decided to get something to snack on for tonight when the whole mess with Redrum is done?”

“No, Pinkie! Just let me-“

“Oh, right. Not really a time to be celebrating. Just try and get on with-“

“He was aquitted.”

Pinkie stopped in mid sentence as she heard the words. “He was… what?”

“He was aquitted. None of the witnesses actually saw him there, just heard his voice.”

Pinkie’s eyes narrowed as she looked right at Bon Bon.

“He was there. I heard him as plain as I’m hearing you.”

“Yes, but the words that he said… he’s argueing that someone recorded his voice and played it durring the… the…”

“The Murder.”

Bon Bon shuddered when she heard it. “Since the others in the mob where wearing hoods… they… But that’s not the important part! You need to get to the back of the store now! Please, don’t ask, just-”

Pinkie Pie was going to start yelling when the doors opened once more. This time, an earth pony stallion, standing tall enough to look right into the eyes of a typical human walked in. His coat was pitch black, and his mane a white and washed out pink. On his face was a bored experssion as he looked about the bakery. On his flank was a cutie mark in the shape of a pint of ale and a horse shoe.

Pinkie froze into place as her eyes where glued onto the stallion as his heavy feet hit the floor. He then stopped right in front of her, looking down at her. His mouth slowly inched to a melevolent smile. “Hello there, darlin’.”

Pinkie was shaking out of pure rage as she looked into the black eyes of this murderer, till she felt a pair of hooves on her whithers pulling her into the back as Mr. Cake stepped up. “You ain’t welcomed here, Red Rum.”

“And why is that? I’m just a simple stallion, looking for something to celebrate a hard won battle. Just getting something to eat would mean so much.” Red Rum said with a growl. Mr. Cake was frightened, no doubt about it. The only stallion in Ponyville that had a chance of beating Red Rum in a fair fight was Big Mac, and he was more than likely at home, tending to the farm right then. Calling for the guards now would be out of the question, considering the time it would take for them to get here… if they wanted to.

Pinkie stopped herself from shaking and stood up on her hind legs, making Mr. Cake stumble a bit as Pinkie turned and marched in front of Red Rum. With her voice hinting at a forced sweetness, she smiled up at Red Rum. “How can I help you?”

Red Rum looked surprised, but simply hid it with his crooked smile. “I’d like a dozen of your peppermint doozle cupcakes, please.”

“Peppermint doozles… we only make them for Hearthswarming Eve!” Mr. Cake stumbled as he looked at Pinkie with concern.

“just a Dozen? Come on, Red. You’re a growing boy. Why not two dozen?” Pinkie said, a hint of anger being heard.

“Alright. Three Dozen, and at half price.”

“Deal.”

“Pinkie!” Mr. Cake looked at her then the hateful stallion as Pinkie raced past him and began to bake. He followed her into the kitchen, looking as Pinkie Pie quickly began to add the ingrediants. “Pinkie, what has gotten into you?”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Cake, I’m just a bit crazy right now. I’ll pay for the ingrediants! Aha! There you doozles are!” She picked up a sack of doozle berries as she began to work even harder. “Make sure he knows I’ll be done in about half an hour.”

“Pinkie, you have to stop this! Your going to hurt yourself!” Mr. Cake begged as he watched her add the ingredients chaotic expertise, using her tail, her hair, and all four hooves to blend, chop, stir and pour out the concoction into the needed molds and put them into the oven.

Pinkie turned to Mr. Cake, the first few tears beginning to fall down her cheek. “It’s what Nigel would have wanted, Mr. Cake. Just let me get this done….”

“Pinkie, he’ll keep on doing this… not unless we toss him out right now.” Mr. Cake began as Pinkie turned, glaring at him.

“No! You listen.” She hissed as she got closer to her employer. “You will not endanger your family like that! You toss him out, he’ll come back and destroy your business because of me! Best case scenario, he’ll trash the place. And I am not even going to entertain what the worse case scenario is. I’ll bake him what he wants. I’ll pay for it. He’ll have his laughs and he’ll go away. That simple.”

All while this was happening, Bon Bon stood nearby, eyes glaring at Red Rum as he leaned against the counter, whistling a tune that meant nothing to anyone. He finally saw her and smiled at her. “And you are that Bon Bon… the friend of that monkey lover?”

Bon Bon didn’t say anything as he chuckled. “Shame what happened to them. Is the monkey able to walk now, or is he being pulled around by that ex-pony?”

Bon Bon’s eyes flashed for a moment a briliant crimson right as Pinkie came in. “It will be an hour before your order will be completed, Reddy. Mind if I gave you something to sample while you wait?”

Red Rum glared at Pinkie as he heard the nickname, and was met with a wide, goofy smile that unsettled him. “S-sure…”

Pinkie set a few cupcakes that looked like they where studded with rubies and saphires throughout. “Alright, Reddy, here we have a Mock Ruby-Saphire blast! A pony edible cupcake that is a variation of the Dragon Blast cupcake.” She gushed as she waited for Red Rum to reach for a cupcake, only for her to stop him. “Oh, hold on… “ She held up the cupcake he was about to take and took a closer look, then added a few flakes of gold to it. “There we go! Eat up!”

Red Rum and Bon Bon looked at her with wide eyes, till Red Rum carefully took a bite of the cupcake, as though as if he was being forced to. In moments, the look in his eyes went from worry to wide eyed pleasure. Then, as it waned, it returned to worry. "On... second thought... cancel my order. I'll be back, though." He cracked a smirk as he turned and began to leave. "I'll have plenty of time to." He said right as he began to whistle, his relaxed facade easily flaking away as he tried to make his way away from the bakery.

Pinky's own smile only persisted, but her eyes began to water as Red Rum left. A few more seconds passed, and Red Rum was gone, and so too was the smile. Pinky collapsed onto the ground, weeping hard as Mr. Cake picked her up as carefully as he could, and turned to Bon Bon.

"I'm sorry, Bon Bon... we're going to be closed for the rest of the day."

Bon Bon only nodded as she saw the ever giddy party pony being pulled up to her room. She turned back to the door, and a dark thought came to her mind. That thought, ruminated, fed on other thoughts that tormented her. Then one word came to her.

“Wait.”

As she left the store, she saw Red Rum with a pair of his cohorts, looking back at Sugar Cube Corner. “She’s gone crazy. I tell ya, she’s going to be in the mental ward after the end of the week if I keep on going in there.” For the first time, Red Rum looked guilty. “This is why we’ve got to keep those beasts away from our mares. Everyone will see that we don’t need ‘em, and we can get on with our lives. I just hope she gets over that thing. For all our sakes.”

Bon Bon watched Red Rum’s lips, but they did not move. Then, one of the cohorts nudged him on the shoulder. “You alright?” The smaller stallion said, with no doubts that he had spoken.

Red Rum jerked away a bit, but recovered, the smirk and cock-sure attitude returning as he turned away fully. “Yeah! Lets get out of here, before we get more of those Monkey Lovers.”

Before she could respond, Bon Bon heard the words in her mind again.

“Wait.”

She nodded, and went her own way, her eyes now with a glint of red, and her shadow along the ground warped ever so slightly as a wisp seemed to lash out at nothing in particular. “Patience is a virtue… Right?” Bon Bon said back to the voice in her head.

“Yes… a virtue…”