“Good morning!”
SwiftHaze had felt like she had finally fallen asleep after a restless night. Now, OrchidRays was standing over her, begging her to wake up. Haze groaned, and placed a wing over her face.
“C’mon Hazy! There’s so much out here we still have to see! Can’t see it if you’re asleep!” Ray cheered.
“Don’t call me Hazy,” the drowsy Pegasus mumbled. She opened her eyes and saw GleamingChance staring at her from across the room.
“We let you sleep in,” he told her. “May as well get up now. Most days in the wasteland won’t give you the time to sleep.”
“Then it’s stupid to wake me!” Haze snapped.
“But Mr. EchoBeat’s making us breakfast!” Ray said.
Haze sat up. Food did sound appealing. She got up and entered the kitchen.
“I’m not the best cook,” EchoBeat admitted. “But SilverFlash has taught me some things over the years. I want you to save the food you already have, when you really need it. Eat while you’re still here.”
“Thank you so much,” Haze expressed sincerely. “You’ve been so kind to us.” Haze knew that there were ponies out there that could really use a safe place to stay, or a full meal. “I don’t know how we’ll repay you.”
“Oh, nevermind that,” Echo assured. “I’ve sheltered many ponies in the past. This is nothing new.”
“But,” Haze argued, “You’re really doing us a favor. Is there something we can do for you in return? An errand or something?”
“Yeah!” Ray agreed. “Maybe we can help you! Are you sure there’s nothing you need?”
For a few moments, EchoBeat thought carefully. “Well, I suppose there is something.”
“Tell us!” Haze urged with a smile.
“Actually, you may enjoy it but… It might be dangerous. You see, HyperBlitz and his wife kept memory orbs. I bet there’s still some left at his old home, but I’ve never dared to trek that far. I prefer staying out of the fighting, and out of sight,” Echo explained.
“That sounds awesome! We’ll do it!” Haze accepted, a little too quickly.
Ray whispered in her ear. “What are memory orbs?”
Haze hummed to the tune of “I don’t know.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Echo asked carefully. “I don’t know how dangerous that part of town is these days.”
“Of course. Just- what exactly are we looking for? What do these ‘memory orbs’ look like?” Haze said, waving her hoof in a circular motion.
“Dark, glass-like spheres. They fit in your hoof. They usually come in sets of four in a wooden box. The boxes are a little smaller in length than a vinyl case,” Echo described. “And be careful with them. They’re fragile.”
“We’ll get them for you.” Haze paused for a moment, stumped. “Um, where do we go? Can you mark it on my PipBuck’s map?”
“Sadly I don’t possess the technology to do that,” Echo replied regretfully.
He entered the front room and the others followed. He found some paper, sat down by the coffee table and picked up a pencil with his hooves. After writing something, he passed the paper over to Haze. “This is the address.”
Haze just stared at it. “Um, so is there a way I can put this in my PipBuck or…”
“Let me see,” Chance said and levitated the paper out of Haze’s hoof. He studied it for a moment and then reached for his saddlebag which laid on the couch. Floating out of a pocket was a map, which Chance unfolded.
“You have a map with you?” Haze questioned.
“Yes. Every smart wastelander should have one,” He defended, and added in a murmur, “also maps are kinda my thing.”
What, is his special talent reading maps?
“I know how to get there,” Chance announced. “If you’d like me to take you.”
For a moment, Haze hesitated but so decided, “Alright. Sure.”
OrchidRays and SwiftHaze were guided by GleamingChance through the streets of Los Pegasus. Haze happily fluttered above her companions, free from SilverFlash’s nagging. A thought struck her.
“So, how long have you known Flash?” Haze directed at Chance.
“Awhile. He said it’s only been a few years, but it’s closer to ten years. I guess time gets skewed if you’ve lived as long as he has,” Chance explained.
“Ten years, huh? Wait, how old are you?” Haze wondered.
“Twenty-six,” Chance replied.
“Three years older than me,” Haze noted.
“Five years older than me! That’s a lot!” Ray chimed in.
“Five isn’t a lot,” Chance countered.
“That’s nearly a quarter of my life!” Ray said.
“Well, if you put it like that…” Chance considered.
“Hey you!” A voice called out from behind them.
Swiveling around in the air, Haze faced the source of the voice. Two Pegasi hovered above her. They wore dark plated armor and one’s face was covered by an insectoid-like helmet.
The other Pegasus, a sky blue mare, spoke. “Hey, Pegasus boy!”
‘I think you need your eyes checked!” Haze taunted. “I’m a mare!”
“Sor-ree, Pegasus girl. I see you're from Stable 47, huh?”
“How the fuck can you see my number but can’t tell I’m a mare?” Haze quipped.
“Haze, don’t engage with them,” Chance warned from below.
“Actually it’s because Stable 47 is the only active Stable around here that lets ponies out. Also the only Stable around here known to have Pegasi on their record,” the blue mare explained.
“And just what do you know about Stable 47?” Haze challenged.
“Not as much as we’d like, admittedly. Say, what are the chances you’d let us in your Stable and give us a look around?” The tone in her voice didn’t make the proposal sound friendly.
Haze sneered. “Pretty sure the overmare doesn’t let in outsiders. Besides, I wouldn’t let in a snobby ass bitch like you, anyway.”
“Haze!”
“You wanna fucking go?” the mare threatened, jolting forward.
“Stop,” the masked Pegasus said. “We need this one alive.”
The sky blue one nodded. “You may want to rethink our proposal, okay, Haze?”
SwiftHaze only glared as they flew away.
“You know, Flash does have a point about flying making you more obvious,” Chance pointed out.
Haze rolled her eyes and fluttered to the ground. She trotted with the rest of them. “Who were those bastards anyway?”
“The Enclave,” Chance disclosed with a groan. “They run this city.”
“What do you mean?” Haze asked.
“I mean they’ll do anything they can to control the ponies here. They like to hoard technology, although they have to compete with the Steel Rangers for that. And they want to eliminate any creature or pony they deem as ‘impure,’” Chance explained.
“Sounds like trouble.”
“They are. I suspect they were interested in you because you are a Pegasus,” Chance guessed.
“What’s that have to do with anything?” Haze wondered.
“The Enclave are only Pegasi, and the majority of Pegasi are controlled by the Enclave. They see you as a possible resource- maybe a new recruit. They want all the Pegasi on their side.”
“Is that why they want in the Stable? To take the Pegasi?” Haze mused.
“Probably. Also just to take whatever useful technology they can,” Chance said.
Haze just grumbled, displeased with this new information. This explained why Flash and Echo were speaking as if she was seen as an alien to other ponies. Ponies feared the Pegasi. In Los Pegasus. Yeah, that makes sense.
Haze noticed Ray had been quite silent most of their walk. She fell back a few hoofsteps to meet with the Earth Pony mare.
“You alright?” Haze said.
“Huh? Oh, yeah,” Ray responded. “I… don’t really know how to talk about these things.”
“That’s okay,” Haze told her gently. “I just want to make sure you’re doing okay.” Ray gave her a thankful smile.
“Hold up,” Chance announced and halted. Haze nearly bumped into him. “Mines.”
“Huh. What?” Haze glanced left and right, confused. “What are you talking about.”
Chance used his magic to grab hold of Haze’s head and set it forward. “Look.”
He was pointing down at the road below an overpass. A pillar of the overpass was painted with the image of a skull, perhaps with blood. Garbage littered the corners under the overpass. In the road were what looked like small, circular rocks. Their color made them almost impossible to notice.
“What are they?” Haze asked.
“Mines. They’re explosives. Don’t step on them.”
“Why are they here?”
“Raiders must have set them up,” Chance replied. “I think they used to camp here, but must have moved on.” Chance levitated out his map. “Erm… there’s a way around the overpass but we gotta sidetrack back a few streets. That or I disarm the mines… would make for good bartering loot,” he added, almost to himself.
“How long would it take you to disarm them compared to going around?” Haze inquired.
“Hmm, maybe about the same amount of time.”
“Then why don’t you disarm them? You said you could barter with them,” Haze allowed.
Chance nodded and proceeded to carefully inch forward. “I probably won’t disarm all of them to save time, just enough to lead a clear path. You better be careful when walking through here.”
“I could always fly over,” Haze reminded.
“Is disarming them dangerous?” Ray questioned.
“Only if you don’t know what you're doing. I’ve disarmed dozens of mines, maybe hundreds,” Chance claimed.
He lifted a mine ever so gently in his magic and began tinkering with it. Once he was done, he pocketed it and moved to the next one. Impatiently, Haze flew above the overpass and waited for him on the other side.
“Okay, Ray, walk in a straight line towards me,” Chance commanded once he had finished. “Just keep your eyes forward.”
OrchidRays seemed to be shaking in her own hooves. Slowly she crept forward, into the darkness. She kept her eyes on Chance, however she glanced at Haze every few seconds. One she passed the shadow of the bridge, she perked up, relieved.
“I made it!” She grinned.
Both Chance and Haze turned and began trotting forward. Ray skipped with excitement. Carelessly, she grazed a mine which Chance had missed. BEEP. Chance spun around in alarm. Ray jumped back, wide-eyed. BEEP. Orange magic enveloped the circular mine and flung it away towards the ramp of the overpass. It exploded, causing a few fragments to rain back towards them.
“Chance! What the fuck?” Haze reprimanded.
“Sorry! I must have missed one!”
Haze cantered over to OrchidRays who was stiff with shock. “Are you okay?” Haze placed a hoof on Ray’s shoulder. Pivoting her head, she glared at Chance, who shrugged with a grimace.
Finally they made it to their destination. The gate of the mansion was wide open, and overgrown plants overran the yard. However, unlike EchoBeat’s home, they were not trimmed along the path. Instead grass shot up from between cracks. Graffiti stained the outside walls, and trash was scattered everywhere. Ponies had been here before, but hopefully hadn’t looted the inside.
Chance approached the front door with a screwdriver and bobby pin. “It’s jammed,” He reported. “There’s gotta be another way in. Let’s look around.”
Haze led them around the deteriorating building. She took in the sight of the tall windows. Many of them were boarded up, as if to deter ponies from getting inside. However, some windows on the top floor were lacking wooden boards. Who put these here? Was someone already here before them?
A wide door spanned in front of her. It was raised a few centimeters off the ground, and appeared badly damaged, concave. Haze peeked at the crevice below, but could barely make out what was inside.
“Over here,” Chance spoke up.
He had found a side door to the shack-like structure, and was beginning to pick it. Haze stepped up just as he clicked the door open. She turned on her PipBuck’s lamp as they entered. A vehicle of some kind laid dormant in the room. For a moment, her heart lurched as she picked out a pony-shaped shadow. Relieved, she realized it was only a set of heavy armor.
“Would you look at that. Power armor!” Chance remarked, illuminating it with his horn.
“Ooh! Can I have some armor like that? Haze was telling me I need some armor!” Ray queried.
“Ray, how are you supposed to put on this armor with your leg?” Haze said bluntly.
“Hmm... Cut the armor leg off?” She suggested.
“Doesn’t matter,” Chance stated. “This looks like armor for a much taller pony.”
Chance proceeded to pick the lock of the next door. Haze wondered why this armor was here. It didn’t look fit for a Pegasus.
Finally inside, Haze asked, “So where would we find these orb things?”
“Most likely in a bedroom,” Chance replied. “Probably upstairs.”
Through the kitchen, several chairs were knocked over. Chance stopped to look through the cabinets.
“What are you…”
“Doesn’t look like this place has been touched. Perfect for scavenging,” Chance explained.
“Can we do that after we find these orbs?” Haze scorned.
In the living room were broken picture frames. Haze used a feather to dust off a photo. A middle aged yellow stallion smiled pleasantly, his wings wrapped around a pretty tan Earth Pony. This must have been HyperBlitz, and presumably his wife, who’s name Haze didn’t know. She must have been really pretty when she was younger, Haze thought. She shook her head, as if to fling the thought from it. She pressed on.
“Hey, I found a bedroom!” Haze followed Ray’s voice.
The room was upstairs, just as Chance had predicted. The room appeared mostly empty despite the full sized bed in the middle. Near a closet were stacked up cardboard boxes. Under a wide window was a desk.
“I don’t see any small boxes, but I did find this weird case,” Ray reported.
Under the desk was a long, grey case. It had a strap and a handle. It’s shape suggested what was in it.
“Actually, I think this is a gun case.” Haze fell to her haunches and used her forelegs to lift the case up. There was definitely some heft to it. She attempted to open it, but it wouldn’t budge. “Locked.”
Haze sprang up and headed for the hallway. “Hey, Chance!”
The mares found a second bedroom, which must have been the master bedroom. There was a king sized bed, which GleamingChance was laying on. Confused, Haze approached. His head was down, his horn touching a small, dark ball. A memory orb? Haze nudged him with a hoof. He didn’t respond. She shook him a little harder, but he still didn’t wake.
“Oh no, he’s dead!” Ray wailed.
Panicking, Haze shouted, “No! He’s still breathing, but he won’t wake up!”
“What do we do?” Ray pleaded.
“I don’t know!” Haze snapped and began pacing. Maybe he’d wake up eventually. Did the memory orb do something to him? Haze couldn’t focus, and headed back downstairs.
In the living room she uncovered more photographs. In one, HyperBlitz appeared much younger, without grey in his mane. In his tattooed hooves was a young, orange colt. His son? In another, two pink fillies clinged to his wings as he laughed. They looked like identical twins. A touch of sadness hit SwiftHaze. These ponies were gone, and so were their memories. Except for in these photos and EchoBeat. And perhaps memory orbs? Haze wasn’t quite sure what the spheres were.
Haze placed an ear bud in one ear and played the first Linkin Pony song she scrolled to. She tried to imagine the Pegasus stallion singing. Hyper’s gentle smile matched much better with his soft, sweet singing -Haze’s preference- than with his screaming vocals.
“He’s awake!” Ray shouted from upstairs. Haze stopped the music.
Haze raced up the stairs and barged into the bedroom. “Chance, what the fuck happened?”
He was sitting upright on the bed, blinking in confusion. “I looked at the memory,” He said.
“What?” Haze sat back on her haunches, feeling drained.
“Unicorns can look into memory orbs and relive the memories,” he explained.
Haze rubbed her eyes with her hooves. “Don’t ever do that again!”
“Sorry…” Chance winced. “But I did find this one.”
“There’s a box over here,” Ray spoke up. In the open wooden box were four more of the dark orbs.
“If there’s four in there, that means this one’s separate, or belongs to a different set,” Chance guessed. He slipped the ball into his saddlebag.
“What was the memory?” Haze inquired as they continued to search.
“It was a ceremony,” Chance answered. “An orange stallion receiving a medal or something. I think it was military.”
“Orange… maybe it was Hyper’s son,” Haze wondered, remembering the photo.
“Oh yeah, I need you to open something for me.”
It wasn’t long until Chance had unlocked the gun case. Haze sat down and opened it. Inside it was a long, powerful looking rifle. It had a kickstand and a scope. On the stock a flaming lightning bolt was painted, slightly faded. Haze whistled. She picked the rifle up.
“It’s a lot lighter than I expected,” Haze observed.
“There must be enchanted gemstones in it,” Chance said.
“Gemstones?”
“Yeah. They can make the gun easier to carry,” Chance told her.
“I need to try this baby out!” Haze declared excitedly. She stood up and mounted the desk. Next she unlocked the window.
“What the hell are you going to do with a gun like that?” Chance questioned.
“She’s really good with guns!” Ray commented, smiling.
“Yeah right. A Stable girl?” Chance scoffed doubtfully.
Through the scope, Haze peered at a bird perched on a street lamp far down the street. She pulled the trigger and felt the kickback from firing. The bird fell limp and dropped to the ground.
Chance was gaping.
Haze smirked. “I wish I could take a picture of your face right now.”
Chance recomposed himself. “The bird was sitting still. No big deal,” he claimed.
“I could have shot it even while it was flying!” Haze boasted.
Groaning, Chance rubbed his forehead with a hoof. “C’mon, we gotta keep searching. There could be more memory orbs, and I want to loot at least the bathroom.”
“Fine.” Haze rolled her eyes.
She strapped the sniper rifle to her left side, mirroring the assault rifle on her right. She knew carrying two guns at once would be taxing, but it would be worth it. She bagged the ammo from the rifle case as well.
Down the hall the trio entered into a new room. It appeared to be a home office. Books were filed on a tall shelf with a few scattered on the floor. An acoustic guitar leaned against the dusty shelf. Ray was immediately drawn to the instrument. In the middle of the office was a wooden desk with a terminal sat on top of it.
“Aha!” Chance let out as he approached a shelf.
Instead of books there was a box identical to the one they had already found. Chance opened it and sure enough, three orbs were there. He levitated the lone orb out of his bag and back into its set.
“What’s this?” Haze asked, staring at an object next to the box. It was a metal crown-like item with gemstones embedded in it.
“That’s a recollector,” Chance said. “Non Unicorns can use it to view memory orbs.”
“Sweet!” The Pegasus took the recollector for herself.
“Uh, I’m pretty sure Echo already has one of those,” Chance notified.
“Yeah, but I want one for myself!” Haze justified.
She placed the recollector in her bag and faced Chance. “Can we go now?”
Chance just blinked. “No. I told you I want to look through the bathroom. There may be medical supplies. There’s probably food in the kitchen too.”
“You eat old food?” Haze gasped.
“It’s been magically preserved,” Chance said matter-of-fact-ly.
Haze shook her head. “You go ahead. I’m gonna go outside and practice with my new gun.”
“But…” Ray was protesting, “There’s so much to look at here! It’s the home of HyperBlitz! The singer of Linkin Pony! Isn’t that amazing! Oh, what if he made music in here!”
Haze smiled a bit at her friend. Ray was thinking of Hyper like a celebrity. Haze thought of him as an average pony. He had lived here with his family.
“Wanna look around with me?” Chance offered. “You could help me carry stuff.”
“Sure!” Ray accepted.
Haze departed from her friends. Friends… she had begun to consider GleamingChance as a friend. He had been kind and patient enough to answer all her questions she had about the world outside.
As she trotted down the stairs, she could hear the planks creak underneath her. The added weight of her guns must have put pressure on the old wood. She quickly lept to the ground floor, afraid the stairs would give out on her. Hopefully Ray wasn’t carrying too much to cause that to happen to her.
Passing through the house, Haze felt a pang of regret. There was so much here she could learn about the past and her lineage. Perhaps she should take more into consideration. She could have looked at the terminal upstairs. She’d look into the memory orbs, she decided, when she had the chance.
Outside, Haze tested looking through the scope of the sniper rifle. She didn’t want to waste any ammo, so she only got the feel of carrying it. She found it was quite easy to carry it in both her hooves while hovering in the air. She concluded that she’d have to only carry one gun at a time.
In the corner of Haze’s eye, she could see a glint of silver. She turned to see a sprite-bot floating towards her. This one wasn’t painted like the one from the zoo. Also, she noticed it wasn’t playing obnoxious music. It approached her.
“Hello there,” the robotic voice greeted her.
“You again?” She wondered.
“I see you have a new weapon. But still the same armor.”
“I’m working on it,” she grumbled. “Except I’d like armor that won’t completely cover my Stable suit. I don’t want to look like an Enclave soldier.”
“Enclave soldiers have very specific armor,” Watcher informed. “I highly doubt you’d be mistaken for one of them. Although I do find it quite curious that a Pegasus came from a Stable. So far, I have only seen earthbound ponies.”
“Well, my ancestor was a Pegasus, so you have him to thank for that!” Haze quipped. She realized that she had been giving HyperBlitz more credit for her birth than her own mother.
“What do you want with me anyway?” Haze snapped. “Who are you? You’re not in the same bot as before.”
“I hack into these sprite-bots,” Watched explained. “But it’s quite difficult getting range this far west. Almost all sprite-bots here are already hacked by the Enclave.”
Haze grimaced. “Wonderful.”
“Anyway, I’m just here to check on you. I want to make sure you’re still headed on the right path,” Watcher said.
“It’s only been a day! Do you really think anything’s changed?” Haze retorted.
“Such a quick temper for someone looking to help others.”
“And I’m still going to help others,” Haze reassured and then admitted, “I just… need to figure out what to do next.”
“Maybe you need to find your virtue to help guide you,” Watcher suggested.
“Virtue?” Haze raised a brow. “That's very specific advice. You mean like… patience or discipline?”
“Yes, but there are many other virtues. It’s a positive quality that will keep you going. Something that will aid yourself, as well as those around you,” Watcher revealed.
“Um…”
Before Haze could question anymore, she heard the voice of OrchidRays call out from the house. Both she and GleamingChance were exiting now. Haze turned her gaze back to Watcher, but the sprite-bot was now bobbing away.
“This place is a treasure trove of loot!” Chance remarked with a smirk. “We should come back sometime.”
“Well, then you should lock the door so nobody else gets in,” Haze suggested.
“Already ahead of you!”
“Hey, Haze! Look what I found!” Ray approached with a photo in her hoof.
Depicted were six stallions; Linkin Pony. Haze recognized HyperBlitz, but not the others. They all appeared to be in their thirties, sharply dressed. A cream Pegasus, two Unicorns, one purple and one blue, and two Earth Ponies, one red, and one orange. Haze realized that she did recognize the red one; EchoBeat.
“You’re taking that?” Haze wondered.
“It’s all the Linkin Ponies together!” Ray grinned. Haze stifled a laugh at Linkin Ponies. “Can’t I have a picture of all of them?”
“I guess so,” Haze said. I suppose someone should remember them.
“You girls ready to go?” Chance announced. There was a sparkle in the Unicorn’s eyes, surely energized by scavenging.
“Yeah.” Haze gathered her guns and bounded after him.
“Oh, and Chance,” Haze was saying as she caught up. “Thanks.”
“For what?” He asked genuinely.
“For guiding us here and… for dealing with us in general,” Haze told him.
“And I thought you didn’t trust me,” Chance teased.
“I may have misread you,” Haze admitted, her eyes peering away.
“It’s all good,” Chance assured. “Let’s get back to Echo’s and try not to get almost blown up this time.”