Intermission I -
Tales of the Republic
Endless cloud cover roiled above, as the group of foals no older than five stood together at the edge of the strange and unfamiliar settlement. They were promised that ponies here would be nice and take them in, but it was always hard meeting strangers for the first time. Grappling with the fact that this is how things would be from now on was difficult, regardless.
A little tan coated filly didn’t remember what happened to her family, and barely had any recollection of who her parents were. All she had was Radar, the old grandfatherly pegasus who had saved her and a handful of other orphans from somewhere out in the wasteland. She was the youngest of all of them, but none of them were related by blood as far as she knew.
“Nah, it’s best not to think about that for now youngin’. Just imagine sunshine and rainbows!” Radar assured with a smiling face, but there was a deep uneasiness present as she looked upon the Republic for the first time.
The others were just as lost and confused as she was. Radar was the only other adult any of them knew with clarity, and all of her other memories seemed fuzzy and hard to remember.
Two adults were discussing things they were far too young to understand. Radar was arguing about adult things with another older pale white unicorn mare. She wore thick circular glasses and had her dark mane styled into a bun. Immediately she gave off bad vibes that made the young filly nervous.
“Out of the question! Introducing unforeseen factors from outside a controlled environment could ruin the experiment.”
“Still on about that nonsense? Since when has the wasteland been a controlled environment? Science adds context to chaos. If your hypothesis held any water to begin with, then your system would be able to account for it!”
“It’s not perfect, but I make due with what I have. So is that why you came here then. To insult my work? If those children mean so much to you, then why don’t you just take them to some other place that accepts destitute wasteland orphans.” She suggested coldly. “Olympus comes to mind.”
“I’m not really on great terms with Olympus. Bunch of old fogies, the lot of them…” Radar grimaced. “‘Sides, realistically, there ain’t that many of those. Believe me, I’ve already thought of it. Their best chance is here, Lune.”
“It’s Doctor Luneshine,” she affirmed, “and what you’re asking is me to risk everything I’ve built here, Radar. I have a responsibility to the ponies who’ve put their faith in me. I don’t suppose there’s some convoluted reason why you can’t just raise them yourself?”
“C’mon, be real for a minute. Kids don’t want to be raised by an old geezer like me. They need ‘real’ family. Besides, you’re looking to expand anyways, so what’s the problem?!”
She scrunched her muzzle in annoyance. “Family that you aren’t able to provide, obviously.” the mare replied, coldly pushing up her glasses. The words they were exchanging sounded serious, but the foals were too young to understand and instead the filly cocked her head in confusion.
“Oh so it’s about that, is it?” The old pegasus groaned to himself as he looked around. “Alright. Where’s m’boy...? Is he here?”
Luneshine sighed exasperated, and replied with a slight nod. “Nadir is doing well. Although, he’d be doing much better if he had his father in his life. I’m sure there are many like-storied bastards missing their father out there in the wasteland...”
“Stars above Luneshine! Did ya really have to name him that?” He chided. “Such an awful thing to call a colt!”
“It’s a great name!” snapped back a mustard coated adult pegasus who had been listening in. He wore an old farmer’s outfit, and stood proudly with his head raised high. His dark brown mane and facial features greatly resembled Radar, although much more youthful in appearance. “It means that I know my place is right here. Something you could never seem to figure out!” he spat.
Radar made a paltry attempt at understanding, but the younger pegasus didn’t seem to buy it. “It’s not like that junior...”
“For all your chasing adventure and science experiments you were always too ego-driven to see what was right in front of you! And now you’re leaving again!”
The old pegasus groaned disinterestedly, seeming at a loss for words.
“Don’t talk that way to your elders, junior...” The old mare lectured, causing him to storm off into the compound where he sulked to some dark coated earth mare. She peeked out at the older stallion, before closing the door. Luneshine sighed in apology.
“You’ll have to forgive him. He’s still bitter about things. It's difficult to help. He’s brilliant in his own way, but sadly he doesn’t have that same spark of genius as his father.”
“It is what it is. I don’t have enough youth potion to make another trip back to the zebra lands since I used most of it up on this last mission. Gonna have to make this one last until I can figure something out...” he said forebodingly.
The older mare scoffed. “Off again, already? And all you have is a group of orphaned youngsters to show for it this time.”
“The plan for now is to hide out and lay low for a while. I’ve got connections in Friendship City who can keep a secret.”
Luneshine scoffed. “And what about next time? Are you just going to keep galavanting off on adventures?”
“It’s looking like there won’t be a next time! I promise ya, I wouldn’t have come back asking for this favor, Luneshine. Not unless I really needed it. The Enclave’s outlasted me, and I can’t keep fighting anymore. Not with these old bones. There aren’t enough youngins out there willing to take up the fight either. Might be time to think about settling down...” Turning on his old grandfatherly pegasus charm, he flashed a small grin, “C’mon, how about for old times’ sake, Luna?” he nudged her, giving a wink. “Do it for me.”
The old mare blushed and sighed. Removing her glasses for a moment to look back at her old flame, she smiled. “Very well. For you, Radar… I’ll make an exception. I suppose they’ll have a place here. Where did you say they were from again? Tribals?” she asked, and Radar nodded in return. “You know, there’s always a place for you here if you should change your mind.”
“I know, Lune. I know...”
One of the small fillies cocked her head in confusion, wondering why they were being forced to say goodbye. It all just flew straight over her head.
The foals were then invited into the compound, but as Radar stretched his old wings, prepping to fly off, one of the small fillies ran up and clung to the elderly pegasus’ leg sobbing to prevent him from flying off. “Wait! Radar, please don’t leave! I don’t want you to go!!!” she cried, “I don’t want to be alone!”
The others watched while the oldest of the colts sighed impatiently, already knowing that it had to be this way.
Looking down at the foal with aversion, the elderly pegasus clearly did not know the first thing about parenting. “Uh… c’mon kid. Luneshine will give you a much better life here in the Republic than I ever could. You got your brothers and sisters here too!”
“But I don’t wanna live with her! I wanna stay with you!” she sobbed.
“I’ll come back and visit ya, I promise. But you gotta be strong for me, okay? You’re a strong lil filly. Y’know that, right?”
“I-I am?” she whimpered, wiping a tear away.
“That’s right. Way stronger than me when I was your age, kiddo! But you have to promise you’ll be good here.”
She nodded in agreement, wearing a weak smile. “O-okay.” she sniffled.
Best of all, he gave her his special jacket for her to remember him by. It was an old military style jacketed, almost like the one he was wearing, “but better” he told her. Even though it looked suspiciously like something he had just found lying around, and she was a little disappointed that hers was different than his, but it made her feel special all the same.
He smiled and ruffled her mane and the little filly felt all warm and fuzzy inside.
Radar wished the six of them goodbye and they watched as he flew off and disappeared into the distance. After that, Dr. Luneshine smiled at them and showed them all inside the ecompound, upon which they were immediately greeted by an overly friendly mare. Her name was Creampuff. An older mare closer to Luneshine’s age. She told the kids that they would simply love it here. A stallion named Mr. Flowers staffing the security gate smiled and waved to the new foals. The gate which was powered by a magic spark-generator, shut behind them.
Slowly, the fears they were having started to fade with heartfelt assurances provided that everything was going to be alright from now on. Though they still felt uneasy about the happy settlement upon seeing it for the first time.
Radar was the only pony they had ever known, and the Republic was a settlement practically cut off from the outside world by four high concrete walls on either side, and auto-turrets defending the perimeter. While the inside of the compound was made up to evoke an image of old Equestria, with colorful murals of ponies playing in the sunshine together on its southern wall. They found farms and a number of simple barracks and other buildings. Approximately nine in total. With Miss Luneshine’s house existing separately from the others on the far end.
This was going to be their life from now on...
Currently, the number of families living in the Republic was small, but Miss Luneshine had plans to expand. Once all of the foals were properly evaluated, they would all be adopted by new families. Which sounded nice.
Luneshine believed that without a benevolent monarchy like the Celestial sisters, ponies would be forced to make due by self-rule. For that reason, a republic was the best system of government to foster peace and harmony throughout the wasteland, but ponies would have to be shown the way to rebuild society by example. She also would often rant to herself about her frustrations about how ponies refused to see the value in her work, but insisted it was a process. That was the reason for the Republic’s existence. For that reason everypony here was expected to do their part. Even the foals.
As they were shown around the compound, and each building, one by one, other fillies and colts peeked out look at them. They were newcomers. Ponies from the outside.
They were introduced to some of the adults. A young mare named Mrs. Tulip who was pregnant with another foal along with more of the adults, all of them extremely friendly.
“My name’s Double Digit. You can call me Mr. Digit,” waved a smiling stallion.
The only pony who wasn’t smiling was Nadir, who looked down and scoffed at the group of foals before going off somewhere else.
On the first night, while the fillies and colts were supposed to be in bed, one of Republic colts leaned over and whispered to them. “Hey, what’s your name?”
“I don’t know. I don’t have a name…,” the filly whispered back.
“No name?” he asked in innocence and confusion, “Did your parents not love you or something?”
“I-I never knew my parents…” she sniffed. “I miss Radar.”
“None of us did.” answered a blue colt in her stead. He was slightly older than the others, and was the only one among them who already had his cutie mark. It was a shield with a lightning bolt streaking across it. “I’m not too sure where in the wasteland we’re from, but Radar was the one who saved us. We stayed in his old shack for about a week until he brought us here. You can call me True Blue, and that’s Cherish and.... uh, I don’t know all of our names…” he admitted.
Another colt told them, “Don’t worry. It’s not so bad here.”
“Nice to meet you. My name’s Amber,” smiled another young filly close to her age. She was sleeping near another two colts adjacent. With olive and khaki coats respectively. “Wanna be friends?” she asked, extending a hoof.
“Sure!”
“So is it true...? Did you all really come from the wasteland?” they asked.
“Sure did!” one of the foals said. A cocky orange colt who stood up on his cot proudly boasted. “The name’s Wheelie! Don’t wear it out. At least if I had a name that’s what I’d call myself. Out in the wasteland, we found these awesome posters of pro-scooter riders! But Radar wouldn’t let me take any of them with us.” The young colt crossed his hooves and pouted. “‘Only essentials’, blegh.”
A turquoise colt from amongst the group of foals introduced himself as well. “I guess you can call me Zap if you want. I like computer terminals and comics and stuff. Especially the Power Ponies!”
“Wow! That’s so cool!” said one of the Republic colts.
Stealthily climbing out of bed, they all crowded around the new group of foals, suddenly hitting them with a barrage of questions about the wasteland. “Wow, what’s it like out there? Is Lifebloom still alive? We’ve only heard stories from the adults.”
One of the fillies leaned in closer to ask the nameless filly, “Was it scary?”
Looking down, she tried her best to remember, but most of her memories were fuzzy. “Well, uh… There were monsters and stuff out there,” said the nameless filly. “Like giants made of steel, and also big scary creatures that’ll eat you if you’re not careful. We barely escaped the steel giants, but luckily we had Radar with us for protection.”
“Cool. Tell us about the steel giants!” they asked enthusiastically, immediately forgetting about Wheelie to crowd around her. Causing him to pout with envy.
She was obviously shy as she spoke, but did her best. “Well… they’re made of metal, so they have to find machines n’ stuff to eat. And they get really mad if you try to keep technology from them. But thankfully, they’re really slow. So Radar managed to trick them.”
They wowed in amazement, clearly impressed. “I think I heard about them. Miss Luneshine said that she used to deal with them before she founded the Republic. She didn’t like them too much because they wanted to steal her research.”
True Blue asked some of the foals who lived here and they learned a little about the Republic. “Radar told us that he and Luneshine were longtime friends?” he asked.
They nodded. “They used to go on adventures together out in the wasteland and did research together.” said one of the other colts, one with a greenish coat. “Radar’s so awesome! We hear about him all the time from Luneshine here.”
“Tell us more! Tell us more!” said the others. “Tell us what creatures were the scariest? I’ll bet you saw all sorts of terrifying stuff out there.”
“Oh, um...okay,” the nameless filly nodded, growing a little more comfortable. “There were lots of really bad ponies out there who kept trying to get us. I think that Radar said they were ‘rayders’? Normal ponies can turn into them, and there are lots of them out in the wastes. Most of them don’t act like ponies. They were really scary…”
“Oh, raiders? We hear adults talk about raider attacks sometimes. They’re a constant threat on the outside, but they can’t get us here in the compound! Mostly we just trade with some of the caravans that pass by, and sometimes ponies will even stay here. Miss Luneshine made special crops that can grow even in irradiated soil and with minimal sunlight, so lots of ponies want em. They taste a little funny, but it beats living out there.”
The orange colt scoffed, trying to act brave. “They weren’t that scary.”
Lowering her voice into a whisper, the other fillies and colts crowded around her listen as the nameless filly told the story. Shining a flashlight under her face for extra spooky effect.
“Well probably the scariest thing I saw out there though were the black demons.” she told them. “They’re supposed to be servants of Nightmare Moon… but I think maybe they got into an argument with her? Because they didn’t seem like they’re working together anymore.”
“Nightmare Moon isn’t real and there’s no such thing as black demons!” Wheelie heckled.
The other foals shushed him and True Blue urged her to finish the rest of the story.
“Yeah, there are! I saw them… One of them tried to get me, but Radar saved me. You have to be careful or she’ll take you back to her castle in the Everfree Forest and you’ll never be heard from again. I think I saw Nightmare Moon too while we were out in the wasteland, but Radar was there with us, so I think maybe she was too scared to try anything.”
All of the fillies and colts were awed at the nameless filly’s story, offering some support.
“You’ll be okay here from now on. There’s nothing ‘that’ scary here. I mean, maybe Nadir. He’s only sorta mean though.”
“The wasteland is scary, but… it was also sorta fun too.” she said.
“Fun?” One of the Republic fillies groaned, giving her a strange look. “That’s weird. You’re a weirdo.”
The orange colt joined in with mocking insults, “Your name should be crybaby from now on because of how much you were crying earlier. “Waaaaah! Radar, don’t leave!” Don’t you know, he’s never coming back?”
“Radar is coming back! He promised me!” she shouted.
“Radar lied because he doesn’t want you! He doesn’t want any of us.”
“S-Shut up or I-I...I’ll punch you!” she sniffed, beginning to cry.
“Nice try, but everypony knows that colts are stronger than fill- ow!”
Wheelie shut his mouth and pouted after receiving a punch from Cherish who was older and therefore stronger by default.
Cherish stuck her tongue out at the colt as the young filly started crying loudly and the older filly from their group attempted to comfort her. That is, until Nadir came in and yelled at all of them to go to bed. Disappointed at having been caught, they all climbed back into their beds and got underneath the covers.
Wheelie whispered to the colts near to him spitefully, “She’s a lost cause.” Before going off to sleep himself.
“Hey, don’t bully her!” The other filly scolded him harshly. “She can have whatever name she wants!” She leaned close to her bedside with a smile. “You never talked much when we were in the cabin. I don’t know my parents either, but we sort of look like each other! So maybe we’re sisters?” The young filly was taller than she was, and her coat was more of a butterscotch. She had a red mane with a pink and yellow stripe going through it, kind of like iced cream. Or at least what the old two hundred year old packages said ice cream was supposed to look like. Radar had said it was tasty.
“Yeah, maybe,” the nameless filly replied.
“We should all think of a name for you.” Cherish said thinking to herself, tapping her chin. “How about Hope?” she suggested excitedly. “That’s a cute fillies’ name!”
The younger filly shook her head and shrugged, not fond of the name. “Nah, Lost Cause is okay. Thanks though...”
Cherish frowned before pulling the covers over her head.
Their first day had been strange, marked by lots of crying and confusion, but they were all determined to make the most of what they had been given tomorrow. A chance at life in the Republic.
The next morning they woke up early.
Rather quickly, they found out that Luneshine wasn’t nearly as nice as the freedom and fun-loving Radar. Here they enforced a rigid rule-set with social structures and schedules for them to keep to: Wake up. Eat breakfast. Do chores. Education. More chores. Eat again. Homework. Then sleep. Then they’d wake up and repeat the same schedule the next day.
Some of the chores were difficult for foals, but they were told it was all necessary to build strong character and backbone. The cloud cover also acted like an oven sometimes, making the work days hotter than normal.
“If only the pegasi would be nice ponies and open up the skies again,” Lost whined.
All of the other foals and adults in the Republic didn’t seem to mind. They did their part here and they were all expected to do the same. Mrs. Tulip would sometimes offer the children lemonade as they worked to make it easier.
Miss Luneshine always spent her time in her little white house, working alone. It was more immaculate and separate from the buildings, with little lawn ornaments outside. Rarely was she ever seen, except to discuss important matters with the adults. Otherwise, she barely ever said a word to them. Her son would often strut around the compound in her stead giving out orders to keep the Republic running in her absence.
Whenever Nadir spoke it was almost always a punishment or to add extra chores, so the children quickly learned to avoid him where possible. He was mean to the kids, almost like he was taking out his own frustrations on them. They always had to whisper behind his back for fear of punishment.
As the days went by, the foals began to find out more about the daily goings-ons of the Republic.
After a filly or colt here got their cutie mark, they were finally allowed to have a say in what went on around the Republic. It was in a strange process called ‘voting’. A vote could be called over anything, but mostly it was when enough of the adults spoke up on a particular issue. They counted heads to determine questions over direction and leadership. Although Luneshine being the matriarch almost always won. Lost got scolded harshly for saying it was unfair.
This was what Equestria was like back before the war? Ponies must’ve had it really hard back then.
By one month all of the foals who were brought to the Republic were showing remarkable promise. They made progress twice as fast as the other foals, and all of the adults seemed excited for them and for the future of the Republic.
‘Lost Cause’ as she came to be known by the Republic, was the only filly who seemed to be lagging behind the others, so she got the short end of the stick often. Being forced to work longer hours, despite being the youngest. Her studies didn’t interest her so she was often slacking. She wanted to go live with Radar instead, secretly wishing that he’d take her away from this place.
Days passed, then weeks, then months, and still no sign of Radar. Though he promised he would visit her, so every day she would peek outside the compound when the adults weren’t looking, hoping to see him returning to visit her, but every day would end in disappointment.
One day while she was out working in the field, attempting to pull up roots with her teeth, Lost heard a small voice coming from underneath one of the sheds. She looked around, but couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from. The other adults weren’t watching her so she went to investigate. She slowly approached where she heard the noise but didn’t see anyone. “Do buildings talk...?” she thought in horror.
“Psst!” she heard again.
She peeked underneath and saw the other foals Radar had saved along with her. “Psst!” the orange colt whispered again, ushering her to join them in their hiding spot. She looked both ways to make sure nopony was watching, then slipped underneath and crawled over to their hiding place.
True Blue made a shushing motion with his hoof and gestured for her to come over. “The adults don’t ever think to look down here, so we made it our secret hiding spot.”
“Won’t they get mad if they find out that we’re skipping out on our chores?” she asked.
“Not if they don’t find out.”
That made sense. Crawling towards them, the young filly plopped her rump down next to them, all sitting in a circle together.
Zap groaned, rubbing his sore hindquarters. “If this is what old Equestria is supposed to be like, then maybe we’d be better off in the wasteland,” he whined.
True Blue told them sternly, “That’s just how it is here. Radar gave us a new life together. We shouldn’t screw it up, guys.”
The turquoise unicorn colt scoffed. “You’re just saying that because all the adults like you best…”
“It’s better than being out there.”
They all nodded reluctantly.
Lost’s ears fell back and she frowned. “I still miss Radar. I wish he’d come back...” The filly sniffed, drawing some sympathy from her sister who patted her on the head.
“I’m sure Radar will come back and visit you soon.” she smiled, offering some comfort. Looking to the others, “But here we’ll be adopted into new families. That's a good thing, isn’t it?” she asked.
“I guess, it could be worse…” Zap shrugged.
The young filly’s ears perked up. She could barely make out a faint conversation behind the wall. It was difficult to tell what they were talking about. “What’s going on?” Lost asked the others.
Cherish turned to her and whispered in her ear. “There’s another pegasus outside, talking with Nadir.”
Lost’s eyes beamed. “Is it Radar?!”
True Blue shushed her again and answered, “No. It’s some rust coated pegasus, but he has Radar’s same cutie mark. I only caught a glimpse of him outside.”
The filly’s excitement turned to disappointment. Then confusion. “That makes no sense. How can two ponies have the same cutie mark?” the filly asked doubtfully.
“I think it’s supposed to mean he’s an ‘exile’,” he replied. “They call them Dashites.”
“What does ‘exile’ mean...?” She tilted her head, now even more confused.
They heard the conversation outside ending on a sour note, and the sound of pegasus feathers taking flight. Nadir came back into the compound, and looked around muttering to himself. “Where’d those damn brats get off to? Shirking their chores again, probably.”
The eldest whispered to the others. “We should get back to work so the adults don’t get suspicious. Remember: the password is ‘wasteland’.”
After that conversation was when they began to notice that there were a few things that felt a little off about the Republic.
Things like schedules shifting ever-so-slightly. Or how the adults would say that the water pump would be out of commission one day, but it would be completely fine the next. Most often it just ended up resulting in more work, but none of the other ponies seemed to notice.
Then one day there was an announcement about raider attacks which riled up the adults.
Generally most raiders would avoid the compound entirely except for the ones so hopped up on chems they could barely form out coherent sentences besides mad cackling, though sometimes the auto-turrets would lock onto small wasteland creatures by mistake. This time though, the auto-turrets hadn’t gone off outside.
The announcement told them that there might be raiders with weapons that could disable their security system so ponies would need to be on extra alert from now on. Lost was scared, remembering the raiders from out in the wasteland, but True Blue assured her that they were safe and that was enough for her to calm down. If raiders ever did break into the compound, he promised that he would protect her.
Otherwise, things more or less continued as normal.
The threat of raider attacks was constant, but there never seemed to be any raiders. They asked some of the other foals who had been living here longer about it when they got the chance, but they shrugged and admitted they got used to it.
They also noticed that a lot of the adults in the Republic revered Dr. Luneshine in an almost creepy way.
“Oh, Dr. Luneshine? She’s a genius! I really admire her work!” said Civic Duty.
Ms. Goldenrod sounded as if she were speaking about Celestia. “She’s going to save us from the wasteland!” she declared, glowing with pride.
“I really like her mane!”
Though most often she would rarely be seen outside of her house. The group all thought it was weird, and came up with wild guesses as to what went on inside. Trying to figure out what weird experiments must’ve gone on in there.
On an unassuming Thursday, Lost Cause was being forced to do chores in Nadir’s house, away from the other fillies and colts. She had been given the task of moving provisions into storage. His wife was nice, but the young filly couldn’t imagine why she would be with a mean pony like him.
As she was working, trying to get it over with as quickly as possible she noticed him standing behind her in an imposing and scary manner, showing the clear difference in size between them. “You’re the one the other children call Lost, aren’t you?”
“U-Uh, huh…” she replied hesitantly.
The older pony sneered. “So you look up to my father, right?”
“Y-Yes,” she squeaked. “I like hearing stories about him. I want to grow up to be just like him!”
“Ridiculous, grandiose dreams about adventure and heroism are certainly something a child would dream of. You should focus on the real world. Actually work at trying to make something of yourself so you can better Equestria.”
Her ears flattened. “But Radar said I could grow up to be whatever I wanted...”
“You won’t help anyone that way. My father doesn't know the first thing about responsibility, or the sacrifices that need to be made for the sake of rebuilding Equestria. If he truly cared about you, or about doing what was best for the wasteland, then he’d be here helping what we’re trying to accomplish.”
“That’s not true though. He saved me… he’s a hero!”
“You have a rebellious attitude from being in the wasteland too long, but we’ll break you of those thoughts soon enough. You’ll make a fine housewife one day to one of the colts living here.”
“B-But, I don’t want to be a wife! I wanna fight and be a cool hero and stuff!”
“Useless aspirations like that have no place here in the Republic.”
Kicking Nadir had landed Lost in deep trouble. She had hurt his leg much more than she was expecting to.
As a result, she was sent to see Miss Luneshine in her cottage for her punishment. She’d never set hoof inside her house before. Outside were unassuming plastic lawn ornaments decorating the front porch, but the imposing door loomed over the small filly. What lurked beyond the happy cottage was unknown to her. She timidly raised her little hoof to knock once, but before she could knock a second time, the door opened in front of her and the old mare stepped out. She looked down at the frightened filly, adjusting her glasses again before inviting her inside.
When the filly stepped through the door, she had been expecting torture devices in a dark room, but all she saw was antique furniture, old photographs, and strange knick-knacks. Various papers and books were scattered about, but otherwise it was very neat and tidy. A pony could’ve even mistaken this for the house of a nice old grandmare. However, the looming threat of her punishment hung over her head like a storm cloud.
“I heard from my son that you’ve been misbehaving,” she said coldly. “You’re a lot stronger than you look for your age, young citizen.”
The young filly shook her head frantically and apologized, even though she wasn’t sure what she had done wrong. “I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to- !” she cried frantically. “I just liked those stories about Radar! About the wasteland!”
Luneshine poured tea for herself but didn’t say anything.
“I see. You’re the one the other foals call Lost, correct? The youngest of the five Radar brought with him.”
“Y-Yes.” She squeaked.
Luneshine levitated up a clipboard adjusting her glasses as she flipped through notes, only half-watching her. “You seem to be rather disinterested in your studies. I noticed on your CAT examination and on your worksheets that you intentionally leave answers blank despite clearly knowing the solution. It seems you prefer to sit and daydream. Do you think this is a game, young citizen? Everypony here must do their part.”
The filly repeatedly apologized, sniffing like she was about to cry as the older mare looked down at her coldly. After she felt it had gone on for long enough, she patted her head to calm her down.
“Calm down, young citizen. There’s no reason for you to be afraid.”
Lost Cause looked up, confused.
“You aren’t in trouble. In fact, I need your help.”
“You need my help?” she asked in surprise.
“Absolutely, You’re a bright young filly for your age. And in order to complete my research to help the wasteland, I need a young mind like yours. Nadir said you were displaying rebellious attitudes, so I felt you might benefit from some private sessions with me.”
“But you’re super smart. What do you need my help with...?” she frowned. “Private...sessions?”
“All of the foals that Radar brought the Republic are remarkable. I want to know more. I want the opportunity to mold your bright young mind into something beautiful.”
“My brain, you mean?”
“In order to rebuild the wasteland, first I need to be able to build young minds. And you seem to possess a very unique one.” Luneshine smiled, then offered her tea and cookies which she accepted happily. “Tell me, do you know of the Princesses? Celestia and Luna?”
“I know that Princess Luna watches over young fillies and colts in their dreams!” Lost smiled brightly. Growing more comfortable with a mouthful of cookies.
The older mare chuckled in amusement. “How quaint. They ruled before the Great War, for a millenia. Although, that was mostly Celestia. Luna took up the throne in her sister’s place during the war and well… the result is waiting right outside this compound. That’s why I made this place.” After she had finished her tea and cookies, she urged the filly to follow.
“Okay!” she agreed, trotting along happily.
Luneshine led her through the bright and happy house to a long dimly lit hallway, with a cold steel door waiting at the end.
“What do you do here?” Lost asked, standing still and gazing upon the door at the end. Trying to imagine in her head what might lay beyond it.
The mare stepped to the end of the hallway where she stopped and looked back.
“Psychology, and social engineering, mostly…”
Lost frowned in confusion, unable to recognize most of those words. “Sike-ol-ogee? What’s that?” she asked innocently, unsure of her confusing words.
“The entire Republic was set up as an experiment. It’s a proving ground for a system that I’ll use to make the wasteland a better place. In the absence of the Princesses, you could say we fell into a waste without their guidance. My aims is to provide that guidance, young citizen. I’ve dealt with many hardships over the years trying and failing to restore the rest of Equestria to its former glory, but true science takes courage. To step beyond the bounds of what some might call ethical.“
Luneshine turned the latch and opened the cold steel door, and a stinging of cool air crept down around her hooves. Only staring at the blackened room just beyond the doorway, the young foal felt her heart rising and falling in her chest.
No longer wishing to be here she looked up nervously at the older pony. “C-Can I go back and finish my chores, Miss Luneshine?” she pleaded.
“Don’t doddle, young citizen.” the older mare commanded in an authoritative voice, so she had no choice but to go along with it.
As she stepped forward one hoof in front of the other, her heart beat faster. She stepped through the metal doorway and it closed and locked behind her.
Doctor Luneshine urged her inside, where it was dark and sterile and full of beeping machinery. A single blinding light hung over her head that hurt the filly’s eyes and glared off of the older mare’s glasses, casting a frightening shadow over her. Doctor Luneshine urged her to take a seat where she was fastened to the chair with leather belts.
At her small stature, her eyes could barely see over the table, but when she climbed onto the cold chair, she shrunk back in fear at seeing the various syringes laid out in front of her.
Her heart began to beat a little faster.
“I have high hopes that this project will yield different results. Once we can show others what we’ve built here, we can help the rest of Equestria rebuild and become more than just a wasteland.”
The doctor took out a tiny black notebook, flipping to the first blank page and jotted something down with a pencil.
“You have no parents, or family history. That’s rather curious. In fact, Radar didn’t give me anything regarding your birth records or medical history. Could you tell me why that is...?”
“I-I never knew my parents… Radar was the one who saved us.”
“From where?”
Lost Cause shook her head, not sure how to answer.
The older mare sighed. “That pegasus has always been something of a brain-bender… but whatever his reasons, they no longer matter between the two of us. We can both figure those questions out together. You’re the youngest, least developed foal amongst your group, so you’ll be the perfect candidate.”
Luneshine tightened the straps on her chair to the point it hurt and levitated a syringe with her telekinesis in front of her. Lost’s eyes widened. As the needle approached her forcibly outstretched foreleg she begged and cried for mercy. “No! I promise, I’ll be good from now on! I’m sorry!” As the needle pierced her foreleg, she cried out in pain.
“Let’s begin. Subject #1. From this day onward, your name is Citizen.”
“T-That hurt...!” she sobbed, clutching her tiny foreleg.
Luneshine’s horn lit up with magic. “The pain will stop shortly, young citizen. Please remember that this is for the good of Equestria.”
She screamed but no one could hear her.
Lost was told that she couldn’t tell anyone about what happened during their sessions, since it’d ruin everything they’ve been working towards. She was being given a tremendous responsibility to the citizens of the Republic, and they would all be very disappointed in her for ruining Luneshine’s work if she told anyone. Her brother’s and sisters had to be kept out of the loop too.
Nadir walked with a slight limp in his step now, showing contempt for her specifically whenever he saw her. Even taking her special jacket away and forcing her to apologize. She became afraid of him whenever he was around with her tail tucked between her legs and her ears flattened backwards.
“If anything, for their sake.” She thought of how much they must’ve loved it here. And Radar was the pony who saved her from the wasteland, so it would be wrong to burden them by making them worry about her.
After their sessions together, Luneshine would always act incredibly kind and tell her what a good job she was doing. Despite the praise she was given, Lost only felt hurt and empty inside. She didn’t realize helping Equestria would hurt this much, and she prayed to Princess Luna every night that Radar would come back soon and save her from this place.
The sessions grew more intense with each passing week. Each month. Soon the foals would’ve been living at the Republic for a whole year. Lost never gave up hope that one day Radar would come back for her, often spending time alone.
After that, Lost started to become more distant from the others. Soon they began to notice something was off about her too.
The kids were going to be split up and adopted into different families soon. They would still be around the compound, but they might not get the opportunity to be as close as they used to. Though during this time, the group had been talking amongst themselves.
True Blue saw Lost hiding one day, alone under the shed in their spot along and went to speak with her. “Wasteland.” he smiled. She looked startled and rubbed her eyes as he crawled over to meet her. The smile wasn’t returned. “What’s up? Have your sessions with Dr. Luneshine been going okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine…” she mumbled. “They’ve been fine.”
“Lost? Are you doing alright? You seem… different. You never talk to anyone anymore. You don’t talk to your friend Amber anymore.”
The filly buried her head in her hooves, choosing not to speak about it. “I said, I’m fine.”
“You ever feel like this place is kinda weird?” he laughed, quiet enough so the adults wouldn’t overhear.
The filly glared at her brother with contempt. “Not at all. Miss Luneshine says it’s for the good of Equestria. You have a big responsibility.”
“I mean… that’s what all the adults say, but really, this place rubs me the wrong way sometimes. I mean, what does Luneshine care if you like mares or stallions?”
“You shouldn’t talk like that. You’ll get in trouble, True. Friendship is just a distraction from my studies. We all have to work hard to better Equestria.”
True Blue frowned, “Now you’re starting to sound like Nadir.”
“I’m great! I love it here! You’re just jealous because I’m getting special attention from Luneshine and you’re not. I’m gonna work extra hard today to better Equestria like Radar would’ve wanted me to.”
She stood up and went back to the field, where she began overexerting her little filly body to try and look extra busy.
“If you say so…”
Lost felt a small nudge in the middle of the night that night, and she woke up to find a small hoof covering her mouth. She almost screamed until she realized it was True Blue standing over her.
The young colt put his hoof over his lips and urged her to be silent so she wouldn’t wake the adults. She nodded and followed him out of bed, sliding out from underneath the covers.
As they crept out of the barracks, she followed him without saying a word. Cherish was awake too, the slightly older filly watching her with a look of concern. A few of the others also seemed to be awake, but they all stayed in bed, simply watching.
Together, the two foals snuck outside and crawled underneath the shed to their secret spot. Thankfully it wasn’t raining, although the dark cloud cover still rolled overhead.
Not sure why they were out here, her eyes fell to the side and instead they just sat together until True Blue finally broke the silence.
“Is everything alright?” he asked. “You barely talk anymore. You used to go on about how Radar was the coolest and the wasteland all the time, but you never talk to us anymore. You barely talk to anypony.”
Lost didn’t know how to respond, but her body tensed up and she could feel her heart beating faster. She swallowed. “I’m sorry I haven’t been the best sister...” she apologized.
“No, I mean, you stopped wearing your special jacket that Radar gave you. You also styled your mane differently. It’s weird. Is everything alright?”
The filly scoffed and looked to the side. “I like my mane styled this way…Besides, that jacket was dumb. Miss Luneshine said that my obsession was a distraction from my studies.”
Searching for the right words, the colt groaned to himself. “Sorry. It’s just, all the other ponies have been acting strange too. Weirder than normal anyways… Don’t you feel like things here don’t always make sense?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I dunno, that maybe you feel the same way. It’s just I figured, since you’ve been talking to Luneshine directly, maybe you’d have some ideas of what’s been going on?”
Lost didn’t answer, her eyes falling to the side. “Miss Luneshine has her reasons, I’m sure…”
True Blue stood up and sighed. “That’s okay, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. Maybe I’m the one who isn’t normal. I guess we should get back to bed in that case or we’ll get in trouble with Nadir.”
She paused as if debating something to herself inside her head, then swallowed and held out her hoof. “W-wait...” she barely managed to squeak out.
The young colt turned back in surprise to look at his younger sister. “Yeah?”
She didn’t say anything at first, but her eyes told a different story. Her body language and the way she was desperately avoiding eye contact.
Finally, he began to catch on. “Is everything alright, sis?”
She swallowed and spoke in stutters. “S-She told me not to tell anypony, or it’d ruin everything… and then everypony would be really mad at me,” she mumbled, having difficulty making eye contact. “I-I don’t want anypony to be mad at me. If I screw up then Radar won’t come back for us. He said I had to be strong for ‘us’...”
“C’mon, what could be so bad?”
She looked fearful of something, her breathing and heart rate steadily increasing.
“You can tell me, I promise. I’m here for you,” he assured her. “It’ll be okay.”
All of the feelings that she’d kept pent up for the last year and a half began to well up inside of her. The young filly choked and tears began to well up in her eyes. True Blue pulled her close and let her cry into him so that she wouldn’t wake the adults with her muffled sobbing.
She was barely about to choke out a sentence at first, but managed to calm down enough to tell him. “I-I… don’t like it here!” she cried. “I get in trouble for doing the wrong thing, and I get yelled at when I make mistakes or if I can’t follow directions properly. Miss Luneshine pokes me with needles in my arm and takes my blood, and then she hooks me up to a machine and does weird tests. She makes me answer questions and writes it all down. T-Then s-s-she says it’s for the good of Equestria though and that I’m letting Radar down.”
True Blue was stunned after hearing all that, but there was more. With each word, the look of horror that crept over the colt’s face gradually gave way to anger as tears streamed down her face.
“I didn’t want to do it, but she tells me how selfish I am and that Radar would be disappointed in me, and that I’m not doing well enough. I-I just thought that if I put up with it for long enough, then you’d all be okay and Radar would come back for us. Then we’d all live happily ever after together, but I don’t want to do it anymore. I just want Radar to come back…”
When she finished, Lost could see anger, clearly visible, reflected in his eyes.
“I- I’m sorry True. I don’t want anypony to get mad at me. Please, don’t tell anypony!” she begged.
Her brother looked her straight in the eyes and put his hoof on her head. “Don’t worry, Lost. You don’t have to do this anymore. Ever again. We’re leaving tonight.” he told her, and suddenly she felt a wash of relief, seeing a light from the outside.
“...B-But we can’t leave. What about the Republic? What if Radar comes back for us…?”
The colt sighed, “I don’t think Radar is coming back for us, Lost…”
“Radar said he’d come back though. He promised!”
“Radar’s too busy hiding from the bad ponies to come looking for us. He said that when he left us here.”
“But he promised…” she whimpered. The filly looked out at the mural of happy ponies painted on the grey wall, imagining what was just beyond. “We can’t survive in the wasteland on our own without him.”
“We were all born in the wasteland, so we’ll probably be fine out there,” True Blue answered her semi-confidently. “I heard stories from the other foals, about how there was this one colt who escaped before us. The adults all say he died, but I heard that he’s living in a great big tower now.”
Lost wowed. “In a big tower, r-really?” As she stared at the wall, she thought of the bad ponies, and the steel giants, and the monsters that lurked around in the wasteland and her heart rose in her chest.
True Blue nodded. “If he could do that, then we can probably do anything once we’re out there! We could live in a tower as a family together. You won’t have to think about this place ever again. But I have this, just in case,” he said, revealing a metallic object he had been hiding. Lost gasped when she realized what it was. “I stole this from the adults,” he whispered. “I can use it to protect us.”
“You’re not gonna kill anypony are you…?”
He didn’t answer for a moment, then replied, “Maybe, but that’s just how the wasteland is. It doesn’t care that we’re just fillies and colts. The adults here are all scared of the wasteland, but we were born out there. The wasteland is our real home. We might have a home that we left behind somewhere. Don’t you want to know about all the stuff Radar didn’t tell us?”
“That sounds nice, but I’m not sure...just us?”
“The others are coming too. We all came from the same place so we’re a family.” He wrapped his hooves around her and pulled her close into a hug. “Don’t you remember what Radar said?” he asked. “As long as we have each other, we’ll be a family. You won’t ever have to feel alone anymore, Lost, I promise. I’ll always be there for you.”
“Y-you promise?” she sniffed, hugging back as she held back more tears.
“Stick a cupcake in my eye.”
Lost Cause sniffed, wiping more tears from her eyes. “N-Nadir took my special jacket from me… It’s still in Luneshine’s house. Maybe we should leave it?”
“Stay here. I’ll get it for you.”
“D-don’t get caught.”
True Blue grinned back at her, crawling out from underneath their spot. “Don’t worry, I won’t.” he said and urged her to wait there for him.
While the young colt snuck out to get her special jacket, she sat in silence. Her heart raced at being unable to do anything but sit and wait, but she also felt a small sense of relief. Like hope was finally in sight for her. There was still a fear though in the back of her head that Nadir would pop out at any moment and she’d get sent to the dark room again.
Hearing movement, she jumped thinking it was Nadir, but it was just the others and she let out a sight of relief. The butterscotch filly Cherish crawled up and hugged her. She seems to be more upset than Lost was. Wheelie was here too, but he didn’t say anything.
She wondered why all of the ponies looked so sad for her. She was never much of anything to anypony before, so why were they all so sad?
Lost sniffed and looked up at all of them. “So… none of you guys want to stay either?” she asked in disbelief.
All of them shook their heads in return.
“A-And I’m not ruining everypony’s chance to have a happy life?”
Cherish gave her a warm smile and hug, “There’s no way my little sister could ruin anything that‘d be worth more to me than her.” Then all the other foals joined in. Even Wheelie, even though he had to be dragged into it, causing him to make a gagging face at first. Cherish helped her undo the braids and ruffled the young filly’s mane.
“As long as we’re together, we’ll always be a family.”
True Blue came back with Lost’s jacket shortly after, who hugged the article of clothing and nuzzled it before putting it on again. The colt looked at each of the others who were all sitting together with him and they knew what they had to do.
“Why hello there. Shouldn’t you kids be in bed?” asked Mr. Flowers, the security officer, upon finding Zap attempting to amateur hack his way into the gate’s security terminal with an open manual.
The older pony’s mouth then clapped shut and he stared wide-eyed at the ten millimeter pistol levitating in front of his face.
Seeing the young colt standing there, True Blue threatened him in a hushed whisper, “Open the gate. I don’t want to have to hurt you.”
Mr. Flowers smiled, growing steadily more relaxed. “Easy now, junior. How about you kids march on back to your quarters and-” The stallion began to shout, trying to alert the others. “Everypony wake up! The kids are trying to es- !”
BANG!
The older pony fell over in a lifeless heap with a bloody hole in his head. True Blue holding the smoking gun in his magic. He had killed him without hesitation despite it being his first kill.
Staring out into the silent abyss of the wasteland, Lost asked her brother. “I-Is it safe...?”
Hastily, the young colt fished the keys off the dead stallion’s corpse as lights in the Republic began to turn on. He jammed the key into the lock and the gate swung open. “You’ll get the hang of things quickly...” he assured.
“I disabled the security system!” Zap said, typing a rush. He struck a single key which caused all of the auto-turrets outside the compound to disarm and begin to malfunction. Zap then looked down at his glowing flank to see an insignia of a lightning bolt and three sparking gears had appeared. “Woah, hey! I got my cutie mark!” he beamed.
“Celebrate later.” The blue colt huffed. He turned to the other foals, and took a deep breath. “Everypony run!” he shouted.
Together they galloped past the gate as far as their little legs could carry them. Leaving the compound and its gray walls behind, they fled off into the wasteland night, where the outside world was waiting for them.