“No way kemosabe! My barn door don’t swing that way!”

Walking into The Strip I noticed the incredible difference between, it and Freedom Town. It was almost like walking into a time warp that brought me to a time before the war. New Pegasus was amazing in all its glory. On my left was The Lucky Horseshoe Casino which was the tower I saw on the way into town. On the other side of the street was The Emperor’s Palace.

The Lucky Horseshoe looked like it didn’t have any entrance at its base. I pondered whether it might be a Pegasus Only casino and only had a top entrance. I mean it kinda made sense since this place used to be both a surface and cloud city combined.

The Emperor’s Palace was A LOT different. First off, it wasn’t a giant tower and second, there were mares dressed in skanky outfits dancing outside the front doors.

There were two others I could see along the strip that still looked like they were up and running. One was The Grand Royale Casino Hotel and the other was The Applewood Resort & Casino.

The Grand Royale was a tall V shaped building that lacked much exterior decoration apart from the fancy fountain shooting what looked like clean water around like it was a big performance. Even though it lacked decoration, it still had the appearance of having class.

The Applewood Resort & Casino was a pretty flashy place at first glance with all of its references to old celebrities and not to mention the Applewood sign that was their logo.

“I’m gettin’ smashed tonight,” Stardust said next to me as he also took in the appearance of the pre-war city made anew.

I gave him a confused look, “Smashed? You mean drunk? How old are you? I doubt anypony is going to sell any kind of alcohol to somepony who’s underage.”

“What? Underage? Nopony cares how old you are in the Wasteland. There isn’t an age limit to drinking alcohol. My poison of choice is Applebuck Rum. Especially when you put two shots of it in a pint of Sparkle-Cola.”

Okay, New Pegasus was now my favorite place EVER, “We should see what the prices are at one of these hotels. It’d be a good idea to rent a room and get some rest. That Grand Royale place looks nice.”

At that Aura chimed in, “Nuh-uh. I’m not going to that hoity toity place. The White Hoof Society gives me the creeps. Plus, I’ve heard rumors that some guests that stay there have gone missing and that The White Hoof freaks were behind it.”

Noted. Avoid the places I want to go from now on. I guess The Strip is still part of the Wasteland, it’s gotta have its flaws somewhere. I didn’t care though, it was just a rumor anyway, “I’m sure the place is fine Aura, let’s give them a chance.”

Stardust spoke before she could, “Yeah, what gives? They’re just rumors, and they’re hundred-year-old rumors at that. That’s the only place in New Pegasus that actually still has a working pool, C’mon…”

“Fine whatever,” she snapped, interrupting him, “Don’t blame me when you’re being dragged out of the room in the middle of the night.”

As we walked toward the Grand Royale I noticed other buildings that looked like they were being used. As we came past The Applewood there was a building to our left that looked like an old train station and further down the way was another hotel called The Stable 21 Hotel. “They have a Stable here?” I asked feeling a little uneasy at the idea.

Aura gave a long sigh and pinched the top of her beak again like she was annoyed, “Ugh… Yeah there’s a Stable here… It’s not nearly as dangerous as the last one you were in though. A few years back when the residents opened it and left, some mare decided it should be a hotel and gift shop. When it started getting more business than the other hotels, Mr. Tops got pissed because the rest of The Strip started losing caps. So, he took initiative and had three-quarters of it filled with concrete.”

Stardust gawked, “Really? What a dick. How’s anypony supposed to make it out here when they’re continuously held back by shit like that?”

“I agree with Stardust. That’s pretty fucked u… where’s Wingnut?” I’d just noticed that we were no longer being followed by the blue colt.

Finally, I saw where he went. He was talking to some ghoul wearing (gag) lingerie. He pointed to us and when she looked she brightened up and started to call over in a voice that sounded like she’d smoked at least ten-thousand cigarettes in her lifetime, “Dusty boy… C’mere and give Gramma a kiss!”

“Oh fuck. I thought we were good when we got passed the gate,” Stardust moaned tilting his head back and letting a sigh escape.

Aura was practically wetting herself on the ground and I looked at the ghoul pony in shock and then back at Stardust with the same expression, “Your Grandmother’s a ghoul? I thought you were from a stable. She’s not even a pegasus.”

He gave a long sigh, “She’s not really my Grandma, she just acts like she is because I remind her of her Grandson from before the war,” he sighed again before saying, “I guess I should go say hi.”

We left Aura to die laughing in the middle of the street and walked over to the scabby looking mare. To my amazement, she actually still had her mane, even though it was as brown as week old dishwater. When we got to her the question finally popped into my brain. Why was she wearing that? “Dusty. It’s been so long since I’ve seen ya. Why dontcha evah visit anymore? I havetah get my own beeah and cigarettes now.”

“Sorry Granny I’ve been busy helping the Wasteland the past couple months, in any way I can. Plus, you know why I can’t stay here long anymore.”

“Yeah, cause yourah too much of a pussy tah tell those Enclave muthafuckahs tah piss off,” Damn. She was really condescending, “And what’s with that stupid bandanna on ya face? Ya look like a two-bit hood,” she asked as she went to grab for it.

He blocked her reach and pulled his head away, “No! Don’t touch it!” I started to softly snicker as I watched and remembered why he was wearing it, (Thwack) “Ow! Granny that hurt.”

She grabbed at it again and succeeded in getting it off, “Oh boy. What a work of ahrt. Whoevah did this went into epic detail, they even got a few veins in there. You coulda told Grammy ya got a tattoo, I don’t judge.”

She interrupted me before I could finish, “You mean tah tell me that he’s actually grown a penis on his face. That’s da most ridiculous thing I’ve evah heard.”

Aura finally recovered and was standing by watching the events unfold. She interjected and started to giggle once more as she said, “Actually, it’s just a permanent marker drawing that I did as payback. This just makes it ten times better. I saw Shrimp number two taklin’ to ya. How do you know him?”

“Who? Dis little guy?” she asked pointing a hoof at Wingnut, “He’s Granny’s little helpa. He used tah bring me groceries sometimes when I was livin’ in Freedom. I always wanted him tah meet Dusty so he had a kind of big bruddah, I guess fate brought dem togethah in the end.”

“Shut up. You guys are being really girly,” Wingnut protested as his face turned almost beet red.

“Yeah guys, seriously. Quit it,” Stardust protested along with him, “Hey Granny. Did you just say that you don’t live in freedom anymore?”

“I sureah did! I got me enough caps to move into The Palace. I’ve been gettin’ customers non-stop since I did too.”

“Wait a sec… I thought they didn’t allow ghouls on The Strip,” Stardust said with a confused look.

“That’s what I thought too, then one day, one ah those securiponies came up to me and gave me a special pass that came straight from the big guy himself.”

“Yeah whatevah. Anyway I gotta go, there’s a customah waitin’ who’s got an appointment.”

Stardust had a disgusted look on his face as she walked away. Somehow, I didn’t think it was because of the way his friend was acting. Personally, I think we were thinking the same thing. Mr. Tops was using Granny to rake in more money for The Strip. I don’t know how though, “Hey Stardust, what does she mean by customer?” I was pretty sure I already knew the answer, but I needed to confirm, “What I mean is. What does she do for a living?”

All three of my friends looked at me like I was an idiot. After a dramatic pause of disbelief, he finally spoke, “You’re serious?”

Aura was rolling on the ground again while Wingnut and Stardust gave her a menacing look. Through her laughter, she managed to get out, “Dickface likes crunchy ghoul sex!”

“Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! The look of your fugly face is priceless. Shrimp number two get a picture!” Aura said pointing at him.

I looked at both of them as Stardust’s face got greener and Wingnut looked a little more ashamed, “Why would you guys hang around an old whore like her? I mean sure she seems nice I guess, but she’s still a prostitute.”

I don’t think Stardust could talk without vomiting as he nudged Wingnut as if to answer for him, “We don’t think of her that way. I don’t know about Stardust, but to me it was like having a real family to visit every once in a while. After my parents died a few years back and I started living in Little Hoof, it didn’t feel like I was accepted. When I met Granny, she was working a corner and pretty much attacked me calling me the… um… uh…”

He sighed as he started to blush, “She said I was the cutest, most precious thing she’d ever seen and then asked where my parents were. Of course, I got emotional because it wasn’t long after they died. So, she ended up taking me back to her place in Freedom and I was able to vent my emotions and talk about them with her. She shared some things about what made her sad too and told me how she made herself feel better. However… I don’t think I could compensate with sex like she does. Just because she’s a whore doesn’t mean she isn’t somepony with a good heart.”

Aura then chimed in with her opinion, “That’s sweet and all but it’s still kinda weird for a kid like you to be hanging around a hooker like her. If you keep hanging around her, eventually when you’re older other ponies are gonna think you have a ghoul fetish like Dickhead does.”

“I don’t have a ghoul fetish!” Stardust snapped, “When I first met her yeah she tried hitting on me because I swear she wants to fuck anything and everything that moves but, when I refused her services politely she thanked me. Apparently, there are some ponies who think it’s funny to belittle her for trying to earn extra caps by exploiting somepony’s weird fetish. We started talking for a while and she told me about her Grandson from two hundred years ago, who was also a pegasus and how I reminded her of him.”

Aura suddenly looked disappointed, “Fine. You win….But only because it was sappy.”

Getting tired of their endless foalishness I decided to lay out some ground rules, “Could you guys seriously just stop fighting or calling each other names for one day? One fucking day? It gets super freakin’ tiring listening to you two when all I want to do is get shit done and get on with our mission. Which by the way is something we still haven’t completed. I need to bring the package in my bags to the NLR Embassy wherever the fuck that is. And after that I want to relax in a decent bed, eat something that doesn’t have the remains of buckshot in it, and take a FUCKING BATH. In the past week, I’ve gotten blood and/or rotting gore all over me only to be rinsed off by the slightly radioactive rain. Have you seen my mane? It’s not supposed to look like a dirty washrag, it’s supposed to be silky soft and PRETTY. So, here’s how it’s gonna go down… you two are going to have a truce for the entire time we’re here so I can do what I need to do and enjoy myself in a pre-war tourist attraction. Agreed?”

All three of them or at least Aura and Stardust looked at me in shock. Wingnut looked like he was about to piss himself. The two looked at each other and then back at me saying in unison, “Agreed.”

The Grand Royale was a bit more extravagant than I’d first thought. As we got closer I could see that there were lights built into the wide steps to the entrance that would turn on one by one in the same patter as if to say ‘come right in’. When we walked in I was expecting to see giant chandeliers and engraved gold-plated walls with couches and chairs filled with sophisticated ponies talking about brunch or whatever rich ponies talked about when they were bored. What I got however was a round room with a bar in the middle surrounded by green-topped tables with ponies in creepy masks passing out cards behind them. The walls didn’t even have gold on them, they were the most horrible shade of blue.

As I stood there one of the masked ponies came over to me, “Excuse me, but could I trouble you to hand over all of your weapons before you continue any further?”

“Oh, pardon me,” he said as he proceeded to speak louder and slower, “Could I trouble you to hand over all of your weapons before you continue any further?”

“I’m not deaf. Your creepy ass mask just caught me off guard. I’m not handing over my weapons.”

“Lemme ask you something. How’d you like me to take that prissy looking cane and jam it up your ass until you taste wood?”

We walked out and Stardust gave me a nudge, “Y’know, every casino or hotel is gonna ask for your weapons. It’s what they do to make sure ponies stay safe in their establishments.”

“I was going to, but I didn’t get a chance with you talking to the concierge like you were.”

Aura was starting to snicker, “Yeah, but when you threatened to stick the cane up his ass; that was fucking hilarious. It’s no big deal though we can just crash at the Stable 21 Hotel.”

Really? She wanted me to stay in the hotel that was made out of a Stable? “But I wanna stay somewhere nice,” I whined, “Not go back to sleeping in a stuffy stable.”

Wingnut finally broke his silence and suggested, “Let’s just go to The Applewood Resort. That place is pretty nice or so I’ve heard.”

“Ugh fine. Just as long as I get to bathe. I can’t stand feeling like this much longer.”

We once again started walking down the street toward the next hotel and I noticed something I hadn’t before, a gate. Not the gate at the main entrance but a different gate at the end of the street next to The Grand Royale, “What’s behind that? Is it another entrance?”

Aura clarified, “No, it’s not another way in. it’s a barrier gate to separate the casinos from the other establishments on The Strip. Behind that gate is where the Talon’s HQ is along with the NLR Embassy, a detective agency, a mega-mart, the radio broadcast station, some apartment buildings, and a few other places.”

“Oh! Who runs the detective agency?” I asked remembering what Elder Appleslice said about Lonely Hearts.

“I need to talk to him after we go to the NLR Embassy. Elder Appleslice said that he might know where my mother is. Well at least he’s the last one to have seen her.”

“I can fire you, y’know,” something felt off, “Hey where’d the other two go?”

“I guess they ditched us and went to the hotel without us. Let’s go see if we can find them.”

The interior of The Applewood was exactly what I’d pictured it’d be like. Well… somewhat. I can say this much. It looked a lot better than The Grand Royale. It wasn’t full of super up-tight ponies from The White Hoof Society and didn’t make me feel uncomfortable for being underdressed and not wearing one of those incredibly creepy masks.

I gave up my weapons at the door and walked with Aura to the elevator. The concierge told us that Stardust and Wingnut told him to tell us that we’d be staying in suite 217. While we waited for the Elevator to arrive I was looking around at the posters of Sweetie Belle (A pre-war singer and former Stable-Tec Head of Public Relations), celebrity memorabilia, and large pictures and posters of Applewood and Los Alicorn.

The elevator ride was awkwardly silent for some reason as we ascended to the second floor which was actually the fifth floor because the three levels below it was labeled as the casino floor, the cocktail bar, and the recreational area. Casinos are dumb. Why can’t they just label the rooms and elevator buttons with their actual floor numbers?

We came into the hotel room to Stardust and Wingnut being typical males and hoof-wrestling on the table between the two sofas in the living room area, “Oh, hi guys,” Stardust said right as he slammed Wingnut’s hoof to the surface of the table. “Isn’t this room bitchin’? And before you go and ask how we could afford it, I’m just going to tell you that it only cost 350 caps.”

I was already pissed that he and Wingnut ran off and checked-in without us. Now I was even more pissed that he spent 350 of my hard-earned caps without asking me first, “350, caps!? Are you fucking kidding me!? That’s more than a quarter of our caps!”

He smiled making me that much more pissed, “Correction, a quarter of YOUR caps. I figured you wouldn’t want to spend that much so I split it. In reality you only payed 175 caps and so did I. For things to be fair though, shouldn’t Aura pay her part of the room fee to us?”

She looked surprised that he actually uttered her name from his mouth, “Uh y-yeah… I’ll figure out the numbers and pay you guys,” I think she was amazed that he was holding up his end of the truce.

Right then Wingnut made eye-contact and gave me a mischievous grin, “Yeah I noticed. I could smell you getting off the elevator.”

Stardust looked at him in awe as I glared intensely at him, “Damn, you got some balls dude. I’d run if I were you.”

After about ten minutes of me trying to catch Wingnut so I could slap the shit out of him I finally gave up. (I forgot how fast Earth Ponies could run) During that time Aura left to go downstairs to get something to eat and Stardust decided to go down to the casino to gamble. I gave up trying to catch Wingnut and told him to go find one of the other two while I took a bath.

The suite was bigger than I expected it to be. Instead of it just being two beds and a bathroom with tiny soaps that look like breath-mints, it was more like a small apartment or condo. It had a living room, a decent sized kitchen for a hotel, three separate bedrooms, and a luxurious bathroom with a massive bathtub.

I closed the bathroom door and stepped into the steaming, bubble-filled water. It’d been so long since I’ve had a hot bath. As I let my body sink deeper into the water I could feel my fur loosen up. As I lied in the water alone with my thoughts which probably wasn’t a good thing, I noticed a button on the side of the tub. I went over to it and stared at it curiously, “I wonder what this does.” (Click) I pressed it and all of a sudden, submerged jets started to push out water making it that much more relaxing, “Aaaahhhh… I needed this.”

There was a radio on the table that sat next to the tub. I turned it on figuring it’d enhance the mood a little. What I heard next was unexpected.

“Hello everypony this is Mr. New Pegasus. I just wanna say that it’s been a nice couple of months since I replaced Poker Chip and Bitmap after they left for Whinnieapolis. Looks like it’s time for the news once again so let me put on my News Pony Fedora. I’ve heard reports that non-other than the Courier Mare has been spotted around Freedom and at the gates to the strip. My good friend and colleague DJ-Pon3 shared some news with me from back East. He’d previously reported the escape of two stable dwellers from Stable 2. It appears that one of them freed some captured ponies and killed the raiders occupying Ponyville. Also, there’s a new sheriff in town in the Hoof. Just recently a mare who DJ calls Security has also been bringing raiders to justice from Mega-mart to Withers. And in other news… the battle between the NLR and the Romans wages on as the Romans capture the town of Neighson. This is a warning to any passers-by to not enter the town under any circumstance. That’s all for now so sit back… relax… and enjoy this track….”

On a warm summers evening, on a train bound for nowhere, I met up with a gambler we were both too tired to sleep. So we took turns at staring out the window at the darkness, till boredom overtook us and he began to speak, He said “Son I’ve made a life outta reading people’s faces. Knowing what the cards were by the way they held their eyes. So if you don’t mind me sayin I can see you’re outta aces for a taste of your whiskey I’ll give you some advice.”

Listening to somepony other than DJ-Pon3 was a little weird, but Mr. New Pegasus seemed easier to listen to than DJ. He didn’t have that overly upbeat charisma that scared the shit out of you when he suddenly burst into a rant after a peaceful song.

So I handed him my bottle and he drank down my last swallow, then he bombed a cigarette and asked me for a light. And the night got deathly quiet and his face lost all expression said “if you’re gonna play the game boy you gotta learn to play it right”.

You gotta know when to hold em,
Know when to fold em,
Know when to walk away, know when to run.
You never count your money when you’re sittin at the table,
There’ll be time enough for countin when the dealing’s done…

However, the song he played right after the news wasn’t that great. I turned off the radio and noticed something in the corner of my eye. Turning my head, I saw Aura standing by the door watching me as I soaked in the tub. For a long moment, the two of us just stared at each other. Deciding to break the akwark silence I asked, “Something wrong Aura?”

“Um…then why are you just standing in the door way watching me take a bath?”

“I wasn’t watching you take a bath, I’m just keeping an eye on you is all. It IS my job.”

She had a point, but still. Did she have to watch me like THAT? “Um…true, but I’m sure I’m safe in the bath, I don’t think random raiders are going to just pop out of the drain and attack me.”

Looking away she made a chittering noise, “Look, I really don’t have anything to do. I went down to the casino floor, one of the employees asked me where my pony was. Since I’m your bodyguard they don’t want me wondering around without you. Since I’m no longer a Red Talon, I have to either have a passport like you, or be with you since you’re my contractor. So, I figured I’d just come up here and check on you. I can leave and wait for you to finish if you really want me to.”

I sighed and laid my head against the wall, “No, you’re fine, just don’t stare at me like you were, it’s creepy.”

I looked at her with a blank expression, “At least come sit down, you need to relax a little.”

Doing so, she came and sat next to the tub resting against the wall opposite of me, “So, is there a plan?”

“My plan for right now is to relax, maybe go check out the casino later. Y’know, have fun.”

I sighed, “I do, but really, I don’t know what to do next. I’ll go take care of the delivery later, Apollo didn’t say when I needed to arrive, so I’m in no rush. As for finding that detective, I’m starting to get cold hooves.”

“Why? I thought the whole reason you left your stable was to find your mom.”

“Part of it is, but for the most part I left because I had to escape the fuckin’ cunt-flap of an Overmare we had. She wanted to cut off my foreleg all for a stupid Pip-Buck.”

“That’s beside the point Shadow. Why are you getting cold hooves over talking to the detective?”

Bringing up the note from my mother on my Pip-Buck I turned my hoof and showed her, “She left me this, it was hidden and a friend was able to unlock it.”

She looked over and took a moment to read the note, “So what? Why would you let a note from a long time ago stop you?”

“She didn’t want me to follow her, she wanted me to get out one day, but she never wanted me to go looking for her.”

“Yeah, and that’s why she left that Pip-Buck for you, so you can just leave and go live back east. A Pip-Buck, mind you, that is extremely rare.”

“Oh get over yourself Shadow. Think about it, if she did want you to just take her rare Pip-Buck and go back east to live out your life, then cool. She’s a better mother than most are. Thing is, most people out here don’t do things like that. There’s always a motive behind what they do.”

I looked back at my Pip-Buck, the note still up. What if mom did want me to find her, but left the note on there in case somepony else found it? She was really smart and I wouldn’t put it past her, “But, what if she really didn’t want anything to do with me anymore? What if she did leave because she just didn’t want me anymore?”

“Then you cry for a while, eat a tub of brahmin milk ice cream, feel sorry for yourself, and then get over it. Trust me, I know the feeling, luckily for you, you have friends who care about you that will be there for you,” she gave me a small smile as she said it.

Smiling back, I reached a hoof out and put it on her rear paw, “Thanks Aura.”

She stiffened for a moment when I touched her paw then quickly rose, “I think I should let you finish your bath, let me know when you’re done. I think I should clean up a little too,” she started to head out the door.

“You can always join me, it’s big enough for two,” I meant it as a joke, but the look Aura gave me was…how should I put this…awkward.

She looked back over her shoulder her eyes wide and a small blush on her face. It took her a moment to respond, “Um…yeah…I mean no…no that would be…weird.”

Thoroughly confused I asked, “What’s the problem? We’re both girls here, it’s not that weird.”

She didn’t even respond, only walked out the door and into the living area leaving the door half open. Deciding not to think about it too much I took another minute to clean my mane, then deciding that I couldn’t sit in the bath all day, I finally got out. Looking back at the bath, I noticed how nasty the water was. (Ewww, yeah, I’m glad I took a bath now.)

I was about to towel off when the door opened again, thinking Aura came back in for some reason, I turned to say something. Aura however wasn’t the one who was standing in the doorway. Wingnut, stood at the door his eyes wide as saucers. I was still standing there, magic holding the towel drying my tail, giving the colt more of a view than I would have liked. (That’s what I get for not shutting the door.)

“I...I…I…didn’t…I…didn’t…I mean…” the colt stuttered, his eyes stuck on my flanks. The blue buck turned red, and he was shaking.

“Dammit Wingnut! Don’t you know how to knock?” I asked lowering my tail and turning, my magic working the towel over my mane.

“I didn’t mean to look,” he said quickly, his hooves still planted to the ground, “Please…don’t kill me.”

Rolling my eyes I used my magic to move his head up to look me in the eye, “It’s okay, I should’ve shut the door. Why’re you so embarrassed?”

I hadn’t thought about that, he’d only been with us for a short time, and I always had my barding and duster on, “You’re right, I’m sorry I didn’t shut the door.”

“It’s okay…I mean, it wasn’t a bad thing to see, just unexpected,” he was smiling now. The little perv was actually smiling and his eyes even wandered back down to my flanks.

Finishing drying off I turned him around and walked with him out the door, “Listen, you really shouldn’t get any ideas just because you saw more than a colt your age should.”

“What are you talking about? I’ve seen that kind of thing before, it’s just never made me feel so… weird,” he said trotting a few feet in front of me as we walked back into the living area.

“He walked into the bathroom when I was drying off, got an eye-full,” I said lifting the colt with my magic and setting him next to Aura.

She started to laugh a little, “Just like a guy to find a way to go peek in on a girl like that. What? Did you think you’d watch her take a bath or something?”

“No,” he was blushing again, “I didn’t know she was in there still, I wanted to clean up too.”

Still laughing Aura got up and walked toward the bathroom, “Likely story kid, next you’re gonna tell me you have wings. I’m gonna take a bath, I’ll see you two love birds later.”

“Oh, shut up Aura,” I said as she disappeared into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

Now I was standing in the room with a young colt who had just seen more than I’d have liked. He was still looking over at me blushing, “Did you have a buckfriend in your stable?”

“I had a friend that was a stallion, but not like you’re thinking I’m sure.”

Were we really going to have this conversation? I mean hell he was a colt, he shouldn’t be thinking like this, “I wasn’t interested in him, not romantically at least. I had my eyes on somepony else when I was still in my stable.”

He surged, “I dunno. It’s just, you’re a really pretty mare. I thought guys would be going nuts over you all the time.”

I laughed and walked over sitting next to him, “Life isn’t that black and white. In Stable 28 I was the only unicorn. Well… I was once my mom left. Most of the population didn’t like me for that fact alone, and they didn’t trust me because I wasn’t born there. I was an outsider, stallions didn’t look at me and see a pretty mare. They saw a unicorn and an outsider.”

“That had to suck, I couldn’t imagine growing up like that. In Little Hoof, everypony is given a fair chance to prove themselves. Nopony cares if you’re a unicorn, earth pony or even a pegasus, though we’ve never had a pegasus in the town before.”

“I learned to get over it when I was younger. I had my two friends and Auntie, they made my days there seem less miserable.”

“So, this buck you liked, he didn’t like you back because you were a unicorn?” I really couldn’t read this colt. One minute he was looking me over like I was a prize of some kind, the next he was asking me about growing up in my Stable.

“The buck I liked wasn’t a buck, she was my other best friend Milkshake. She only had eyes for my other friend.”

“Oh…I didn’t know you liked mares,” he seemed to take that a little hard but was doing his best to recover, “If you liked her, then why didn’t you just tell her how you felt?”

“Again, it’s not that black and white. My stable forbids relationships between ponies of the same sex. If I would’ve told her, I could’ve ended up in a lot of trouble. They would’ve said I was sick or needed to be reeducated.”

“That sounds stupid. But you’re not in your stable anymore, why do you want me to keep it a secret that you like mares?”

I sighed, “Because, I’m still getting used to the way things work in the Wasteland. And it’s not true that I only like mares, I like stallions too. I just haven’t met one that caught my eye, and I can’t lie that I do prefer mares a little more.”

A glimmer of hope seemed to enter his face as he looked back at me with a smile, “So, there’s a chance that you could like a buck, one like me?”

“Wingnut, you’re not making this any easier. First of all, you’re too young for a mare like me, and you don’t even know me that well. If you were older then… I dunno… maybe.”

He jumped to his hooves, “There is always hope! I’ve had enough of this mushy talk, I’m gonna find Stardust and tell him what I saw!” then he ran out the door before I could stop him.

“You little rat! I’ll fucking kill you if you tell him…fuck,” he was gone. Turning I walked over and shut the door to our room then started to bang my head against it.

When I finally stopped trying to crack my horn off, I heard a strange sound coming from the bathroom. Turning toward the door I walked over. What the hell was going on now? Cracking the door open, I peeked inside. Aura was laying the bathtub with her eyes closed and her beak open wide. She was arching her back and one of her talons was under the water between her legs. She was moaning intensely as her foreleg moved back and forth under the water, her wings open wide.

Blushing myself, I closed the door and walked back to go sit on the couch, “I saw nothing!” I told myself, now thinking that bathroom was cursed. Next, one of us was gonna walk in on Stardust… “Ewww! No! Go away dirty thoughts about my friends,” I proceeded to dig a hole in my head and bury the thoughts there.

I got up off the couch and went to the closest bedroom. It wasn’t a very big room but it wasn’t small either. There was one bed with two nightstands on each side. Amazingly enough the bed had sheets on it that actually looked clean. I lied down and slipped under the covers as the weight of my fatigue came over me as I drifted off to sleep…

…It was a bright beautiful morning and Mom was making me stay inside. Why won’t she let me go outside and play? She says I’m sick but… I feel fine. I don’t like being stuck in the house all the time, it’s so boring. All I wanna do is go outside for a while and play with my friends.

I hate just lying in bed like this. There’s nothing to do, but sleep or think, and when I think, I think about playing with my friends. Wait… who are my friends? Why can’t I remember their names? Stardust? Aura? Wingnut? No… that’s not them… it’s Milk…something and uh… I don’t know.

“Are you okay Shadow?” Mom asked from the door to my bedroom, “You look like you’re confused.”

“Yeah, I’m okay Mom. For some reason, I can’t remember my friend’s names.”

“No. I keep remembering different names that sound familiar, but I know it’s not what theirs are.”

She walked over to me and sat next to my bed, “You probably just have another fever. Lemme take your temperature.”

She lifted a thermometer and stuck it in my mouth under my tongue, “Mom, this this tastes weird. Can I take it out soon?”

“Just a minute Shadow. I need to know if I need to bring you to the hospital again.”

“I don’t like the hospital. There’s always ponies bleeding or throwing up in the waiting room.”

She took the thermometer out of my mouth and examined it, “I’m sorry Shadow but we have to go. Your fever is pretty high and you’re just a filly. If we don’t go you could go to sleep and never wake up.”

I was awoken by the sound of the alarm on my Pip-Buck. When did I set that? I looked around and saw that Wingnut was asleep on the end of the bed. Even though my alarm was going off he seemed to sleep peacefully through it. He was on his side facing away from me, his head resting below my hooves. With a force that was hard enough to wake him up but not hurt him I kicked him in the back of the head, “Ow! Ugh… what was that for?”

“I was tired and Stardust said that guys don’t sleep in the same bed because it’s weird. I asked Aura if I could sleep with her and she told me to go in here because she didn’t want me groping her while she slept. I don’t know why she’ think that, she’s a griffon, ewww.”

I looked away at the wall and asked him quietly with a little bit of a blush, “You didn’t touch ME did you?”

“No. I was tired. All I wanted to do was sleep and this was the only other place I could go because this place only has three bedrooms. I didn’t want to sleep on the couch because it was uh…um…”

He looked like he was embarrassed to tell me, “I’m uh… y’know… um… afraid of the dark.”

“If any monsters showed up from the darkness, I figured you or one of the others would protect me.”

“You’ve fought monsters before in the Wasteland. What makes monsters from the darkness so different? I’m sure you could defeat them if you tried.”

Either he was really good at making up lies so he could sleep in the same room as me… or he was genuinely scared. I took pity on him in the end though, “Okay. I’ll see if we can get one of those portable single beds brought up here and you can sleep in Stardust’s room tonight. We have this room for another night so they should be okay with it.”

We both got up and walked out to the living room to see Aura sitting on the couch reading a beat up Daring Do book. She looked up at me as I walked in, “Ooo… couldn’t wait to indulge the little freak’s fantasy could ya?”

“Really? You’re still on that? We didn’t do anything for one, and two, he’s just a colt. That’s seriously fucked up.”

“Nah he’s still passed out rattling the room with his snoring. He got a little drunk last night so he’ll be out for a while.”

I went to his room to get him up when I could swear I heard him talking through the door, “No Shortcake………I don’t wanna use the whipped cream……….”

When I opened the door, he was still asleep mumbling away in his slumber. Okay this was going to be fun. I walked in and shut the door as quietly as I could. Without disturbing him I crawled onto the other side of the bed and lied down as if I was sleeping there and kicked him in the hind leg.

“Oh, Goddesses no! We didn’t! Did we!? I couldn’t have been that drunk!”

“What!? Are you saying if we did something you wouldn’t have liked it or something!?”

That stupid part of my brain took over again as I sat up and interrupted him, “I’m what? Not pretty enough? I’ll have you know that even though I cringe at the thought of doing ANYTHING sexual with you that I’d at least not be a bitch about it.”

“If you’d let me finish I was going to say. It’s just that you’re not someone I’d do that with. Yeah, you’re pretty and all, but you’re also my friend and I don’t like you that way. That’s why I was so freaked out.”

“Oh…sorry. I didn’t mean to freak out on you like that. I don’t like you like that either, I just thought it’d be funny to play a prank,” I got off the bed as he got up and I sat on my haunches, “Who’s Shortcake?”

“I should tell you that you talk in your sleep. From what I heard she likes whipped cream.”

He blushed and looked down, “She’s uh… this mare I used to uh… y’know… have a crush on in my Stable. She worked in the kitchen or at least she always wanted to. My Stable was probably a lot different than yours. We were more like a Stable full of soldiers in training. Sure, we still went to school and everything, but most of the time after school we were all in practicing hoof to hoof fighting, practice shooting, using the combat simulator, or exercising to stay in shape. I was there when she got her cutie mark. She snuck out of her room along with me and one of our other friends to make some strawberry shortcake for one of our instructors because he used to yell at the other cadets about how he’d rather be enjoying that instead of watching them fail miserably at whatever they were doing.”

Now I was curious. He was finally opening up about himself, so I pushed him for more details, “So… your stable was like a military stable?”

He gave me an ice-cold look, “No. Enclave. I didn’t know the Enclave was a bad thing until the day I left that place. All the years growing up I was always taught that The Enclave were the saviors of Equestria. They told me that when Equestria was destroyed, our stable was left vacant, and that fifty years after the war The Grand Pegasus Enclave took refuge there from the poison that was outside. Little did I know that it was a lie. Instead of fifty years after the war, they really took over the Stable about twenty years ago, and it wasn’t vacant.”

“Goddesses that’s horrible. Why did they take over a Stable if they had refuge in the sky?”

“I ask myself that question all the time. Why invade somepony’s home and kill every last one of them when you could just go back to the sky and forget about the surface? Sometimes I think about going back there and killing every single one of those Enclave bastards.”

“What about your parents? I’m sure you wouldn’t just kill THEM like that.”

“I didn’t have any parents growing up, none of us did. We were told that they lived in a separate part of the stable on the upper levels and that we’d eventually be given clearance to move up there when we were old enough. I’d never get to meet mine though… they died when I was a newborn. Some kind of virus that was accidentally released in one of the laboratories.”

His story was making me want to tear up, but I held it back, “How did you find out that they lied to you and everypony else? And how did you get out alive?”

He got a pained expression on his face as he started to explain, “My best friend was being his usual idiot self and snuck up to one of the restricted levels and saw some things he wasn’t supposed to and told me about it. He was amazed that he didn’t get caught. He asked if he could talk to me privately in his room and told me all about it there not knowing that The Overmare had bugs in every domicile to make sure she wasn’t being plotted against. Later that night… Security came into our rooms and arrested both of us. We were interrogated and scheduled for reeducation.”

“That doesn’t make sense though. How did you get out if you were arrested?”

“We had help. I don’t know who did it, but the cells suddenly unlocked and we ran for it. It didn’t take long for Security to catch on that we escaped the holding cells and by the time we got to the Stable door we were being chased and shot at by about half of Security.”

“Maybe… she was good with computers, but I don’t think she knew we were in lockup yet. It was the middle of the night when we got out of our cells. Whoever they were though, killed the three Security ponies outside the door where the holding cells were.”

When I asked that question he looked like somepony just murdered his whole family right in front of him, “H-he didn’t… when we got the door open, we set it to close before we got out so we couldn’t be followed,” I could see the pain written on his face, “When we were running out… those bastards managed to shoot him in the leg. H-he…he fell to the ground in the threshold and… he was… my best friend… was slowly crushed by the Stable door like he was no more than a tiny insect,” I could tell he was holding back.

For a moment, I didn’t know what to say. I’ve never seen my friend so distraught like this. I could understand losing a life-long friend, but not like he did. His best friend died trying to escape with him, mine lived, “I-I had no idea. I’m sorry about your friend… I don’t know what I would’ve done if I was in your place.”

He recovered a bit and said, “I know you wouldn’t have. I don’t think anypony really knows what to do in a situation like that. I was so scared that I just ran out of the short cave and didn’t look back. After about twelve hours I was already being hunted by The Enclave out here, I thought they were just ponies from my Stable that were tracking me with my Pip-Buck. I thought I’d never escape their eyes, but I got lucky. I met a pony who had a master key and they removed it for me. The only stipulation was that they got to keep it afterward.”

“Wait… you told me only higher-ups got Pip-Bucks in your Stable,” I said accusingly.

“Yeah… sorry about that. I only lied to protect myself. I figured the less ponies knew about my Stable, the less likely they were to tell The Enclave where I was in order to get something in return. Course all The Grand Pegasus Enclave would do is pay them with a bullet once they told them. C’mon, let’s get out there before they start making up scenarios in their heads,” he said changing the subject.

We walked back into the living room to see both Aura and Wingnut staring at us. Aura was giving me that googly-eyed ‘ooooo’ look as she spoke, “I knew it was gonna happen sooner or later. You have been pretty lewd showing off your marehood to everyone including Wingnut and yours truly.”

It was right then that Stardust started to hold back a laugh, “Pfft… Aura saw it too? Wow you really do need a release.”

At this point my sympathy for him was almost completely gone as sorrow turned to pissed-off, “I’m gonna go braid my mane so we can go do what we came here to do. When I come out of that bathroom which by the way I think is cursed, this whole subject will be history,” at that I stormed away and into the bathroom.

I started braiding my mane in the mirror as dirty thoughts once again surfaced in my head about my friends. No! Go away, nopony likes you! When I went to grab, a mane tie I noticed that they weren’t where I left them last night. Holding the braid in with my magic I searched the entire bathroom to no avail, “I can’t go out with my hair down. I’ll look horrible,” there was something up. I don’t just lose things, one of them had to have taken them, “Guys! Where are my mane ties!?”

Okay I know I’m not a morning pony, but I’m still usually pretty pleasant unless somepony pisses me off. I trotted back into the living room and glared at all three of them maliciously, “Who…took…them?”

They all showed me no fear, even Wingnut as he spoke up again, “I got to talking with Stardust last night before he started drinking and told him about what I saw in the bathroom. I also told him how pretty you look with your mane down.”

“Are you kidding me? First of all, I DON’T look good with my mane down and second, you only think that because of what you saw.”

Stardust decided at that moment to chime in, “I dunno Shadow, I think you look better without that braid you always have,” he sighed, “How about this. We’ll hold on to them for a day or so and after that if you feel like you want to put your mane in a braid then go ahead.”

I thought about his proposal for a minute and considered having Aura break their truce and take them back by force. She has to do everything I tell her to, right? As long as it’s in the contract? However, I decided to humor him, “You guys suck. Fine, but only for a day, but if you don’t give them back by then, I’ll let Aura do whatever she wants to both of you.”

It felt weird walking around in public looking the way I did. Almost every pony I passed by was staring at me and it was starting to make me feel even more uncomfortable. I tried to take my mind off of it by looking around as if I didn’t notice. While looking around I saw a sign…

“Going to the cocktail bar to see some ponies perform. It’d be an interesting change from killing psychos and mutated bugs in the Wasteland.”

“I gotta stay with Shrimp the whole time I’m here anyway so I have no choice. And I don’t think either of you two trust Shrimp number two alone in the room for a second.”

We entered the other part of The Strip and I noticed that it wasn’t too different from where the casinos were. Everything was lit up in neon, ponies crowded the streets, and there were securiponies keeping guard. You couldn’t miss the NLR Embassy, there were flags with a two headed ursa all over it. The inside wasn’t as flaunting though, it basically looked like any other office building would look like.

As we entered a mare dressed in a tan pre-war uniform came over to us, “Welcome to the NLR Embassy, what can I help you with today?”

“Yeah, I’m a courier with Equestrian Express, I have a delivery for a Lieutenant Blazer.”

“I’ve been keeping up with your story ever since you took down that Raider Camp.”

Aura was snickering behind me, doing my best to ignore her I continued, “Yeah, that wasn’t much fun, and more luck than anything. Can we get back to why I’m here?”

“Oh right, I’m sorry. I’m Corporal Timber. I can show you to the lieutenant, he’s in his office right now.”

“Follow me,” she started to walk away, leading us up a set of stairs and toward a room. She knocked on the door then poked her head in. “Sir, there’s a courier here with a package for you, should I let them in?”

She looked back at us and smiled, “He said you can go in,” then looking at Stardust, her ears drooped a little, “You may want to have you’re pegasus friend wait outside though.”

“He isn’t a fan of pegasi, not ones like him at least. New Pegasus is neutral ground for all, even The Enclave, but the Embassy is NLR soil. I was okay with letting him in, but Lieutenant Blazer won’t like it.”

I moved forward and pushed her aside, “He’s not Enclave, and I don’t want give two shits what he thinks.”

I walked into the office and looked at Lieutenant Blazer. He was a strong looking buck, his light orange coat mixed well with his green mane. He looked at me with his silver eyes and gave me a smile. What I wasn’t expecting though was for him to have wings. The Lieutenant was a pegasus?

“Welcome to the NLR Embassy Courier Mare. I’m Lieutenant Blazer, of The New Lunar Republic. What can I help you with?” then his eyes fell on Stardust who was standing right behind me, “What is THAT, doing in my office?”

“Oh, don’t start.” I protested. “This is Stardust, he’s my friend and not an Enclave solider,” Goddesses, why did everypony have to jump to conclusions about my friend all the time.

“Seeing how the Enclave is hunting me like I’m a pot of gold, yeah I’d say she’s sure,” Stardust said in his own defense.

“Hmmm, if that’s true, you must be a lucky stallion to have escaped The Enclave with your Cutie Mark intact,” Blazer said, sitting back down behind his desk, “Where were you from before you got away?”

“Fine, suit yourself, sooner or later though I’ll find out. I like to keep an eye on other pegasi who live near NLR’s territory.”

The whole situation was starting to make me feel a bit uneasy. Especially since I didn’t understand the problem, “I’m new to the Wasteland, but I really don’t understand what the big deal is about a pegasus having his cutie mark. I’m sure other pegasi have escaped The Enclave with theirs.”

Come to think of it, the only pegasi I knew apart from Enclave was Stardust and Wind Thrasher, but she didn’t really count, “No, I haven’t.”

“That would explain it then,” he stood and walked around his desk and turned so I could see his cutie mark. Only he didn’t have one, it looked like somepony had burned it away leaving a black scar that was shaped like a cloud with a lightning bolt in its place, “This is the mark of a Dashite, it’s the punishment you get when you’re banished or turn against The Enclave.”

I was taken aback for a moment, the thought of anypony doing that was just wrong, “Why would anypony do that?”

“It’s a way for Enclave to know who’ve betrayed them. It’s the mark of Rainbow Dash herself. It used to be a symbol that we all looked up to, that was before Rainbow Dash left The Enclave. The betrayal felt by pegasus kind was so great, that the leaders back then started using this as a way to mark those who betray their way of life. Seeing an escaped buck like your friend who still has his, is extremely rare, sooner or later The Enclave catches up to you.”

Blazer was the one who answered, “If he’s been running for a while, then no, they won’t mark him, they’ll kill him. The council doesn’t like to look like foals, they’ll make an example of him, if they ever catch him.”

“Can we drop the subject? Yeah, The Enclave wants me, that’s old news. I’m not worried about it and you all shouldn’t be either,” he said then walked out of the room.

I wanted to go after him, but I had a job to do, so I looked back at the stallion, “I’m sorry to side track our conversation. I’m Shadow Star, a courier from Equestrian Express. I have a package for you from a griffon called Apollo.”

He brightened up at hearing the griffon’s name, “I haven’t seen that old bird in years, it’s good to hear he’s still doing well.”

Removing the package from my saddle bags I gave it to him. The first thing he did was open the letter that was attached to the top of it. It took him a moment to read it over, then he went and sat back down at his desk, then looked over at Aura, then back at me.

“Now that I made my delivery, I should be heading out, unless you have a response for Apollo.”

“I don’t,” he responded then looked back at Aura, “I take it that you’re Aura Bloodtalon,” it wasn’t a question.

“Your father asked me to check and make sure you were under contract with this mare. If not, he wanted me to offer you a job.”

Wait, her father, how did this pegasus know who Aura or her father were? Aura seemed to understand, and she looked livid, “I don’t give a fuck what he wants, yes I have a contract with Shadow Star.”

“Indefinitely, and my contract can’t be broken or sold unless Shadow wants to do so, so don’t even ask. I don’t give a fuck what Apollo said to you in that note, or what job you have for me.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to. He only asked me to check and to offer you a job if you weren’t under contract. That was all,” then he looked back at me, “Courier Mare, before you go, can I ask you something?”

At this point I was still trying to wrap my head around the situation, “Uh… yeah, sure.”

“Are you by any chance affiliated with the Steel Rangers? I saw the bandanna your pegasus friend was wearing and it bore their insignia.”

“No. They did offer me a position in their ranks as a knight, but I refused for exactly this reason. As a courier, I can’t be biased toward a certain group or faction.”

“I see. I can understand your reasoning, but just so you know… The New Lunar Republic and The Steel Rangers don’t get along. If you change your mind on that offer and we find out about it, you will be an enemy of the NLR. I’m pretty sure the same goes if you enlist with us. Choose your friends wisely.”

Why was he telling me this? It’s not like I actually want to join The Rangers or the NLR. “Noted. Don’t piss you off or I’ll regret it.”

“Exactly, now I have a lot of paperwork to go over so you should probably head out. I’ll send for you if I decide to send any kind of reply to Apollo.”

We walked out of his office to Stardust pacing back and forth, “What’s wrong? Is it what Blazer said?”

He stopped, “Nah… no that’s a lie… yes. I’ve heard stories about Dashites before and they’re not pretty. They don’t just burn off your cutie mark plain and simple, they use this chemical to do it that makes it feel like you’re being skinned alive, then they brand you with the mark itself. I’ve heard that there was an Enclave officer who refused to leave some Wastelanders to their fate and was banished to the surface. They used to call him Deadshot Calamity.”

Surprisingly Aura spoke before I did, “Try not to think about it too much. If they catch up with us, we won’t let them brand you like that.”

“Thanks, I guess, but they won’t brand me. They’ll kill me like the Lieutenant said. I’m not one of their own who betrayed them, I’m lost property that’s been tainted by the Wasteland in their eyes. I don’t wanna talk about this anymore, let’s go,” with that he walked out.

I was surprised at what Aura said. It actually sounded like she was genuinely being nice to him, “That was kind of you… what you said I mean. He passes off that nonchalant exterior but I think on the inside he’s scared to death.”

“Yeah… I guess we all have our fears that we hide behind a mask of false security.”

We walked out and met Stardust next door at the detective agency. The place looked pretty cool from the outside. On a big red neon sign it read ‘Lonely Hearts Detective Agency’ and next to the words was a neon outline of a broken heart. The outside looked nice, but the inside was a mess. There were two desks and quite a few filing cabinets stacked and stuffed with files.

There was a mare with her back to us fiddling in one of the cabinet drawers mumbling to herself, “Hey. Excuse me. I’m here to see the detective.”

“Oh!” (BANG!) she jumped and hit her head on a drawer that was left open above her head, “Ow! Fuck that hurt!” she looked back at us rubbing the top of her head, “Pardon my language. What can I help you with?”

I stammered a bit at what she looked like. Her coat was the color of sand and her mane was shiny black and she was gorgeous, “Wow… you’re REALLY pretty,” (No don’t just blurt things like that Shadow! You’ll look stupid.)

“Oh… why thank you. You’re quite a looker yourself ha-ha. If you’re here to see the detective he’s out on a case and he’s a little late getting back. He’ll probably be back later, but if I were you I’d come back tomorrow, he’s probably going to have some paperwork to do.”

Paperwork to do? By the looks of his office it didn’t look like he ever did paperwork, just let it stack up, “Alright then, we’ll come back tomorrow. Thank you.”

“I’ll be sure to let him know you stopped by, have a nice day,” she said in the cutest voice ever.

Walking back outside, Stardust’s demeanor changed from doom and gloom to manic. Ugh he’s so hard to figure out sometimes, “Y’know what’ll brighten up our spirits after this shitty morning?”

“No idea, oh wisest of the wise. How about you enlighten us,” Aura responded sarcastically.

“Well when I was on my way to the bar last night I saw that The Applewood has a functioning pool like The Grand Royale. We should go there for a bit and unwind some more,” the look he had on his face made him look like a foal that was overly ecstatic that the hotel had a pool he could play in.

I only say that because Wingnut had the same look on his face, “Yeah! Can we go! Can we!”

“Yeah, Shrimp. We should go, might be fun,” Aura said adding to the charisma of the other two.

I couldn’t say no to all three of them so I gave in, “Let’s go, seeing as we have nothing better to do until later anyway.”

The pool wasn’t as disgusting as I thought it’d be, the water was actually clear. It was warm too. I kept closer to the shallow end while the others swam around in the deep end. Stardust kept picking up Wingnut and flying him up to the ceiling so he could drop him in the water. The colt didn’t mind though, in fact it looked like he was enjoying it.

After a while Wingnut started to play with Aura instead as Stardust waded around on his back propelled by his wings. He drifted over to me and asked, “Why aren’t you hangin’ out by us? You look like you’re bored to tears.”

“I’m fine just watching you guys,” I figured the others couldn’t hear me so I continued, “Also…I can’t swim.”

“You’re kidding, right?” I shook my head, “I could teach you. It’s not that hard.”

“Course I’m sure. Think about it. If we get into a situation out there where you fall into deep water, you’re gonna need to know how to swim.”

“Okay fine. But don’t make fun of me if I fail miserably,” I said pointing a hoof at him.

We went over to the deep end of the pool, I held onto the side to keep myself above water as we did. When we were far enough in the deep end Stardust pulled me away from the wall and kept me afloat with his hooves, “Alright so what you’re gonna have to do is kick your hind legs like this,” he demonstrated and I followed every instruction he gave me.

Soon I was holding my own and no longer needed his help. He tried to show me how to float on my back. When he did he pushed on my flanks with his forehoof to level me out, but… I got the wrong idea and slapped him in the face. After that he gave up on trying to teach me anything else.

After a while more ponies started to come to the pool so Stardust and I sat in the water against the edge. That’s when I heard it… “Dun-dun,” the voice sounded masculine but feminine at the same time, “Dun-dun,” getting closer I could see a blonde pompadour sticking out of the water like a fin. I looked away when it stopped moving to see if the sound came again, “Dun-dun dun-dun dun-dun-dun-dun,” (SPLASH) “Heeelllloooo gorgeous!”

We were face to face with a tan earth pony wearing sunglasses inside like a jackass, when Stardust opened his mouth, “Hey Shadow I think he’s talking to you.”

Mr. Sunglasses Inside interrupted me when I started to say something, “Oh no Pretty Buck. I was talkin’ tah you with those allurin’ pink eyes of yours.”

It was at that moment Stardust put his hooves up and lost it, “No way kemosabe! My barn door don’t swing that way!”

However, the stallion wasn’t giving up, “That’s whatcha say now, but they ALL come around. There ain’t no resistin’ Sugar Buck baby.”

“Dude. You’re really freakin’ me out,” Stardust looked at me expectantly and whispered, “Shadow, do something.”

Sugar Buck looked at me and then back at Stardust, “Hahaha, your kiddin’ right? She’s about as straight as a circle,” Goddesses how did he know? Plus, that’s not the whole truth, “How bout this… I’ll find ya later when ya lose the BEARD,” at that I could see a shiver run up and down Stardust as he floated there.

“Shadow I’m ready to go back to the room now. We should go CONSUMMATE our union.”

“I’m no…” Wait… why did he say consummate like that? Then what he meant hit me, “Oh… yeah… let’s go.”

After that Sugar Buck swam away in the flamiest way he could making sure Stardust could see him as he did.

We all went back up to the room so we could wash the chlorine out of our coats and eat. After we were in the pool it looked like the wang that Aura drew on Stardust’s face was gone. I could only see it faintly if I got really close to his face and squinted hard, but every time I did that he looked uncomfortable.

It was later in the day and after some gambling we were up 1500 caps so we decided to treat ourselves a little and went to the cocktail bar like we planned on earlier. As we walked in, some sort of rock band was just finishing a song. The song sounded like it was about suicide, to be honest I actually kinda liked it. We all went over to the bar, except for Wingnut of course, he stayed up in the room to sleep for a while. I guess he burned off all of his energy earlier. I never wanted to leave this place and return to the Wasteland, it was so nice here. Nopony had to worry about being suddenly attacked by raiders or mutated monsters of any kind, except for Granny. You could probably consider her something that would attack you, but not in the way that something in the Wastes would.

Stardust was out on the dance floor with Aura as they banged their heads and danced with the music. I was sitting at the bar when a stallion came up and sat next to me, “Haven’t seen you here before. Are you new to town?”

“Uh… yeah. I’m a courier with Equestrian Express, I’m here on business. I’m Shadow Star, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Cool, I’m Little Buck,” the stallion wore a small black fedora over his light brown mane. His gold coat contrasted well with his piercing blue eyes. Then I got this funny tingly feeling inside as I continued to look at him, “Something wrong? You’re kinda staring at me funny.”

Why was I so nervous? This isn’t my first time talking to a stranger, “No reason. No reason at all,” I looked down at his cutie mark and noticed that it was some sort of weird looking missile with a music note behind it. I took the opportunity to change the subject, “That’s an interesting cutie mark. How’d you get it?”

“Oh that? When I was little I liked to sing a lot and my parents used to say that my lyrics hit hard like a bomb. That missile right there is a little buck megaspell missile. It’s kinda funny considering that’s my name ha-ha.”

“Yeah, I’m one of the performing acts tonight. My bandmates are getting everything ready in the back. How about I buy you a drink or two and we can enjoy the show and talk a little before I have to go on.”

Did he just ask to buy ME a drink? ME? And is he hitting on me? But I’m not even worth his time, not to mention that I don’t look the greatest right now with my mane being down, “Sure, sounds like fun.”

What could he mean by that? Wait Stardust said something earlier about his poison of choice was Applebuck Rum, he must mean liquor, “Uh… I don’t know… I’ve never had alcohol before. You see I’m from a stable, they sorta frown upon ponies my age drinking. So you pick.”

“Okay, Wild Pegasus it is then. Barkeep get this beautiful young lady a glass of Wild Pegasus on the rocks on me, and I’ll take a Sparkle-Cola Dark!” after he said that the bartender brought over a glass of the whiskey and a black rocket shaped bottle of Sparkle-Cola that had the word dark in all capital letters on it, “I would’ve gotten Wild Pegasus too but I don’t wanna get too buzzed to perform. Go ahead, try it, here they only serve the single-malt that’s been aged.”

“Wouldn’t all of it be aged two-hundred years? There wouldn’t be any difference between the two now.”

He closed his eyes and shook his head with a smile, “There’s a big difference between aging it in a bottle and aging it in the barrel. When they brewed that whiskey, they left it to age in the barrel for twenty years before bottling it so it soaked in that crisp flavor from the apple-wood barrel. Go on try it, I’m sure you’ll like it.”

“Oh, that makes sense I guess,” I brought the glass of brown liquid up to my muzzle and took a small whiff before I sipped the delicious whiskey, “Oh sweet Celestia that’s freakin’ amazing.”

“I know right? Single-malt is my favorite because it has so much more flavor than regular Wild Peg. Drinking the other stuff just seems like drinking water after you’ve had something as good as this,” he popped the cap off of his drink and took a long swig, “Now there’s something I should tell you since you’ve never drank before. Liquor before beer, everything’s clear. Beer before liquor, never been sicker.”

“What before what now?” I asked before I finished off the glass and signaled the bartender to get me another.

“It has something to do with how the two mix in your stomach. So, tell me about yourself. I’m curious about you.”

I took a drink and started to explain, “I’m from a stable a little back east, not far from Cartwheel. Stable 28. My mom left the stable when I was little for some reason and now I’m trying to find her,” I pointed a hoof at my friends on the dancefloor, “Those are my friends over there, they’re helping me out.”

“Me? No. Not unless you’re planning on hitting on Stardust. (Drink) There was this weirdo guy who was wearing sunglasses inside like a jackass hitting on him earlier and (Drink) Stardust’s barn door doesn’t swing that way so I helped him out a little and said he was taken by none other than yours truly,” Finishing another glass, I went to order another, “Don’t worry I got this one.”

“Don’t be silly, I got the caps. Somepony as pretty as you shouldn’t pay for her own drinks the first time she’s drinking,” he took another long swing from his bottle of hard soda and looked back at me, “So, you’re single then?”

Before he could answer the host came over the loudspeaker right as the music stopped, “That was Applewood Undead folks! Next up is Fallout Buck on stage in five minutes!”

He took one last drink of his Sparkle-Cola Dark and said, “I gotta get up there. I hope you like the show.”

Once again, I was alone at the bar with nopony to talk to. I finished the drink I had in front of me and ordered another. Right about then I was noticing that I was starting to feel funny. Not like ha-ha funny but like oooOOOooo funny.

A couple minutes and half a glass of whiskey later the curtain rose. Little Buck was on the stage with three other stallions with instruments. As soon as the curtain stopped moving they started to play music and he started to sing.

My chest throbbed as I watched him dance and heard his voice utter such beautiful words into the microphone. Soon I found my hooves moving toward the dance floor, weaving around the dancing ponies. My balance wasn’t the greatest, but I was able to keep from falling as I got closer to the stage. Little Buck gave me a wink as he broke into the chorus of his song, the music growing louder. My hips started to move, seemingly on their own as I let the music take hold of my body. Soon my head was bobbing to the beat, my hooves not far behind. Then with a long-held note, I let it all go.

I never thought I could dance like this before. Before I wouldn’t have even tried, always judging myself before giving myself a chance to shine. The band moved onto a new song, something about wanting to dance like somepony. I knew that I sure wanted to dance, maybe it was the Wild Pegasus, or just the look I was getting from the lead singer. I whipped my mane around, slamming my hooves down on the dance floor, then bucked into the air, surprisingly not hitting anypony in my wild display. Even though I didn’t know the words, I still found myself singing along, letting my voice fade away with the music. Soon I found myself laughing, it was the strangest thing ever, but I felt so free, so alive.

The music finished and the band stepped off the stage, looking around breathing heavily, I noticed that nopony was dancing anymore. They were all looking at me eyes wide. Oh shit, what did I do? I saw Aura in the back of the crowd smiling at me. Before I could ask what was going on, the ponies around me started to stomp their hooves on the floor, cheering. I wanted to shrink away, figuring I was in the way of the band who just finished and were walking off stage.

To my surprise, Little Buck walked over to me, “I think they are applauding for you.”

“No, they can’t be. You and the band did a great job up there, I’m sure that’s for you.”

I did, they weren’t looking at Little Buck, they were looking at me. A stallion whistled, another shouted, “That was amazing,” Celestia, they really liked me dancing like an idiot?

Afterward we met back up at the bar and enjoyed another drink and talked as we waited for the next act to come on. The Host’s voice came on again and introduced the next performer, “Now coming to the stage for the first time in New Pegasus! The Super-Duper Party Pony himself! Cheese Sandwich!”

I could see why it was his first time performing in New Pegasus, he was a ghoul. As a matter of fact, he looked like the same pony from the Sunrise Sarsaparilla bottles, “Heeeeeyyyyy…. I-I know him,” I slurred out, “He’s singin’ bout being a doctor and doing surgery stuff with guts and scalpels, but he’s lying. He’s just a sticker on a bottle.”

Little Buck gave me a funny look, “Shadow, I think we’ve had enough. I think we’ve ha… oh wait I said that already. C’mon let’s go… we should probably both um… I dunno what… but we’ll do something.”

“Uh-uh,” I said as I pulled away and proceeded to stumble to the stage. I carefully made my way up the steps to the right of the stage and after a minute of celebration for the accomplishment of not falling on my ass, I did my best to stomp over to him and exclaim, “Hhheeeeeyyyyy!” The music stopped and I continued, “You’re not a doctor! You’re a big fat curly-headed fuck!” Feeling proud of my next accomplishment I vomited all over the stage, “Oh…. Sorry everypony…. (Gag) I just had a little trouble holding my li(gag)quor,” and it was all downhill from there.

We both got kicked out and somehow ended up in Little Buck’s hotel room making out. It’s kinda gross considering I’d barfed all over the stage and stuff, but I think we were too drunk to care. Besides, I felt a lot better after that. From there making out turned into making out on the bed and then my stupid half took over once again. I didn’t tell him that it was my first time but to be honest… if I did tell him he probably wouldn’t have listened anyway, he seemed too focused. At first it was kinda painful, but as we continued it turned into bliss. During this time, I didn’t even think about where the others were, only about where I was. This was my moment to decide for myself and not be that terrified mare who had to run for her life from her home into the desolate decrepit Wasteland. Right then I was happy to be out of that rusty hole in the ground.

The next morning arrived as I awoke to the pounding headache I now had. I noticed that Wingnut wasn’t sleeping at the end of the bed like the previous morning. The room looked a little different too. That’s when I looked to my right to see Little Buck fast asleep and noticed that the sheets felt like something had dried on them overnight, “Oh Goddesses. Did I really have sex with him?” I whispered to myself.

I slowly but carefully crawled out of the crusty sheets without waking him and grabbed my stuff. Right as I walked out the door I thought I saw him wake up and look at me as I left. Honestly, I felt ashamed, I don’t know what I was thinking last night. Oh yeah… I was drunk for the first time ever. Did I seriously call somepony a ‘Big fat curly-headed fuck’ or did I just imagine that in a drunken stupor? I couldn’t really say for sure. That’s when I got my answer as I ran into Cheese Sandwich in the hallway, “Oh… hi there. How ya feeling? You looked pretty bad last night.”

Taken aback by him being so nice to me after what I did I replied, “I’m good. Little bit of a headache and some shame… but still good. Sorry about what I said to you last night. I was pretty drunk, I’m what my friend Stardust would call a lightweight. Honestly, I liked the song, it was good.”

“Well that’s good, glad to hear it. Thank you for apologizing, most ponies would’ve just tried to avoid me after doing something like that out of embarrassment. I mean I can plainly see that you’re embarrassed, but at least you had the courage to apologize to me. It means a lot, and even better I’ll have a great story to tell.”

“That I got insulted and party-cannoned on by the one and only Courier Mare.”

Of course, he knows, everypony knows, I’m sure Little Buck even knew but didn’t say anything because he wanted to rut the newly famous Courier Mare, “Yeah, great story. I gotta go. Maybe I’ll see ya around.”

I walked into the room to the sound of silence as I saw Aura and Stardust passed out on the couch together with Wingnut. Well this’ll be an interesting to make fun of those two for later, “Hey! Wake up!” all three of them practically jumped out of their skin and I’m pretty sure Wingnut almost wet himself.

“Yeah me too. Wait… why am I on the couch with HER?” after realizing who was next to him he rolled off the side of the couch with a thud and started to crawl to the bathroom, “Ugh… hangovers suck.”

I sighed as I went from watching him melodramatically and pathetically crawl across the floor to looking at Aura laying on the couch still with her eyes closed. I knew she wasn’t sleeping so I asked, “Where were you guys last night after what happened?”

“What? You mean when you totally blew chunks all over the place? We were on the dancefloor watching from the sidelines, when Stardust and I saw you with that singer guy we thought we’d just let you have your fun.”

I noticed Wingnut was still in the room so I stopped. Curiosity showed on his face like a giant blinking sign that said in all capital letters ‘What!? Tell us!’, “Something wrong Shadow? You’re kinda standing funny. Did you hurt your legs?”

Good Goddesses. That little jerk is messing with me, “No. I’m fine. Aura and I need girl-talk, go in the other room or make sure Stardust didn’t mistake the sink or bathtub for a toilet.”

He went into the bathroom to check on Stardust and Aura was staring at me, “So… Whaaaat happened?”

“I don’t remember everything, but…” I couldn’t say it, instead I sat next to the couch and started balling my eyes out.

Aura looked utterly lost on what to do. I pressed my head to her shoulder, unable to control myself. A moment went by then I felt Aura’s talon starting to rub my mane, “Okay, take a deep breath, stop crying, and tell me what happened.”

“I drank too much, and ended up going back to that Singer pony’s room. And we…you know…did it.”

Fresh tears started to fall again as I replied, “I was drunk, I had no idea what I was doing. He told me I was beautiful, then I started to feel weird, and then we were kissing, then we went to his bed…it was my first time! I lost my virginity, to somepony I don’t even know!” I was yelling at this point.

“That dirty little fucker, I’ll rip his dick off, just like I did back at that fiend infested shithole.”

“No…don’t do that, he was drunk too, and I didn’t even tell him. I just feel really stupid, and ashamed of myself.”

Okay, that was a new one, Aura rarely ever apologized for anything. I sniffed, “Sorry for what?”

“I should’ve stayed with you last night, but I got all caught up in the moment and drank too much too. I should’ve been keeping an eye on you to make sure nothing like that happened,” she sounded pissed.

“No, I shouldn’t have drank so much, I should’ve told Little Buck that I really didn’t want to do that kind of thing, not with somepony I didn’t know. Goddesses, what if he knocked me up? I can’t deal with that right now!” Oh great, there I go again, I was crying like a new born foal.

“Um, is everything okay in here?” Stardust said poking his head out of the bathroom door.

“Maybe I can help though,” he said walking out the door followed by Wingnut.

Turning my tear-soaked face toward the two, I exclaimed, “GO AWAY!” they bolted for Stardust’s room, I went back to crying. As soon as they left, I felt bad for yelling at them, but I could apologize later. Right now, I needed this.

It took a while for me to calm down, and finally get the full story out for Aura. For once she was being a good friend and listening to me, giving me advice, and telling me about how to be careful when drinking. After I felt better and apologized to Stardust and Wingnut, we started to pack our things to check out of the room. Aura was taking care of checking out, Wingnut by her side as Stardust and I both made our way outside to wait for them.

“Hope that Detective will be back, I’d hate to keep waiting around for him just so we can continue on,” Stardust said stretching his wings slowly.

“Yeah, I hope so too,” I really didn’t want to leave this wonderful place, it was the first time since I’d left Stable 28 that I felt normal. Was it so wrong that I’d be okay with not meeting with the Detective today, it’d be a great excuse to stay a little longer.

“Hello Courier Mare, fancy running into you here. Oh, and hello to you too Stardust Night, I’ve been looking for you for a long time…” turning I saw the unicorn from the other day. Pride was standing next to The Applewood, a smile on his face, and dark magic hovering around his horn…

[FOOTNOTE: LEVEL UP!]

NEW PERK ADDED!

A Friend Indeed: Wandering the Wasteland alone can be tough, it’s a good thing you have friends to keep you company and watch your back. Gain +1 Luck and +5% chance to score a Critical hit in S.A.T.S. while one of your friends are near.

Whisky Mare: You’ve grown fond of the taste of Wild Pegasus, even if the after effects aren’t so great. Gain +2 Agility and Strength and lose -3 Intelligence when you consume Wild Pegasus.

Fallout Equestria: Falling Shadows

by Drako Moon

Chapter 15: Luck Be A Lady