//------------------------------// // Chapter 1.4 - Of Heroes and Emperors // Story: Fallout Equestria : Black And White // by Philweasel //------------------------------// Chapter 4 – Of Heroes and Emperors “Good evening Wasteland... *sigh*... this is DJ-Pon3 with the news. Yes, before anypony sends me any more reports about the weather, I know. Rain across new construction sites, terrible drought above farmland, all across the wasteland the weather has turned against us, wild and unpredictable. But DJ-Pon3, what does this mean? Has the Lightbringer abandoned us? First of all, don’t call her that. She has a name, Little Pip, and she’s only as brave, scared, loving and selfish as any of you could be if you gave it half the chance. Right now I’d say the dominant emotion might well be scared, and that she might need a few new heroes more than ever. Because yes, you heard it here first... the Single Pegasus Project is malfunctioning. Yes wasteland, those few of you without babyfur behind their ears might be wondering what all the fuss is about, and indeed you should all be listening to your elders. The NCR has already started to send out weather teams to take care of the worst of the errant weather and yours truly has been sending out calls to the best and brightest to work out what’s going on with the SPP. Of course a certain awesomely handsome and unfailingly modest DJ will be co-ordinating efforts so I might have to leave you all for a little while, until normal service resumes you will just have to put up with my beautiful assistant...” “Hey!” “Sorry, ‘handsome and totally masculine’ assistant Rusty Needle. You all know and love him I’m sure, so just go a little easy on the little pony for a while. Until then just... keep calm, and hold Little Pip in your thoughts. And as for the Twilight Society and Applejack Ranger ‘thing’? I knew Steelhooves, and I’m still a member of the Twilight Society, so if both of you don’t grow up and put down your toys daddies’ going to have to bash some heads together. Uh, I’m depressing even myself, so here’s some music to cheer us all up. This is New Alicorn, with Bring me the Light. Enjoy.” Dust stood in the radio station beneath Star Fall command, amazed but not entirely surprised to find out that they already had DJ-Pon3 programmed into the system, and had done ever since Little Pip had boosted his signal with Red Eye’s hub. He had started to wonder how Star Fall knew so much about them, and here at least was one reason. The content of the signal was certainly food for thought however. Things didn’t seem to have got any better back home, “Well... it’s always worrying when you hear that.” Zenai spoke up, the mare going over some technical manuals at the back of the room, “What’s that? The SPP?” “No, DJ-Pon3 sounding upset. He’s always so unstoppably upbeat, even when he’s angry.” Zenai pondered it for a moment, stepping over as she replied, “He knew Little Pip didn’t he? Maybe it’s worse than he’s letting on.” Dust Kicker considered this, not exactly a possibility he wanted to entertain. The Lightbringer was... their Goddess. Beyond the corrupt politicians, beyond the softhooves and their laws, beyond the pain and uncertainty of the wasteland... there was her. The Vault Dweller, strider of the wasteland, tougher, stronger and better than any that had come before or after. The paragon of the wastes. Killer of Red Eye, Destroyer of the Goddess, the spear that pierced the Enclave and brought sunlight to the wastes. Dust shook his head, accepting the possibility that it could indeed be true, “It’s almost certain. DJ-Pon3 asked everypony to keep her in their thoughts, and that was when he sounded most upset.” Zenai’s voice sounded small and scared, “Do you think she’s dead? That the SPP has shut down because she can’t control it anymore?” “No.” Dust answered quickly, and a little desperately. He couldn’t believe that the Lightbringer was that mortal, that her story could end like that. She had killed Red Eye after all. Red Eye was the smartest, toughest son of a hellhound in the wastes, and no one who could bring him down could die from a simple... accident? Illness? What could get at her while she was in there? “I’ve never seen you so flustered either.” Zenai gave him a small, curious little smile, “Do you know Little Pip as well or something?” Did he? He felt like he did. Those two moments, those fragments of a second where he had seen the pony that would one day become so much more... She looked like an ordinary mare. Rather plain and mousy, small and innocuous... his sights had fallen on her, his trigger tightening... And he had known then. That he couldn’t kill her. That she was special. That she would have killed him, just another body in her wake. She still terrified him, that little mare half his size, “If she is going to die... I want to kill her.” Zenai burst out laughing, “You wouldn’t stand a chance.” “She’s been lying in pretty much a coma for the last seventeen years.” “You still wouldn’t stand a chance.” “I know.” Dust found himself smiling, chuckling to himself as he thought on the mare. Sometimes he almost felt like he was in love, some kind of impossible, twisted crush, “She killed dozens of my friends, she destroyed everything I put my trust in, she eradicated my world and I would never be anything more to her than another target in her gunsights.” “You sound like you have a crush on her.” Zenai pinpointed his thoughts exactly as she chuckled, adopting a sly smile, “Would you, if she offered?” Dust grinned from ear to ear, “Oh, in a heartbeat.” “Really? How much would you pay?” “Everything. Everything I am, everything I have.” Dust chuckled to himself, lost in that impossible fantasy, “I can’t take it with me after all.” Zenai raised an eyebrow, “Sounds like you don’t think you would survive.” “Of course I wouldn’t. Ask Star Swirl, she’s the Destroyer. The last ranger, living avatar of death for my kind.” He shook his head, absolutely certain now, “Death could never take her. She’s fine. Bet you anything it’s just a burnt out fuse.” Zenai chuckled, looking at him oddly, “You almost make me believe all that rubbish myself.” Dust grinned at her, “Then what do you think she is?” “Like DJ-Pon3 said, a mare. A... good one, and a skilled and clever one. But just a mare.” She shook her head, moving over to the console, “Come on, let’s see what Canterlot is saying about all this.” “-aterlot radio, bringing you important updates and news straight from the Heart of the NCR. This is Swiftfeather, with the news at five. At the top of the headlines, Arbiter Regina spoke yesterday to address some of the concerns facing the NCR today. Let’s hear her speech, exclusively on New Canterlot Radio.” Regina’s familiar voice sounded out across the airwaves, clear, powerful and imposing as it had ever been. She had a good voice for radio, it had to be said. “Good evening all. We stand together today, our NCR besieged on all sides. The pillars of our society rent asunder. The Single Pony Project, malfunctioning. Two of our founding organisations, the Applejack Rangers and the Twilight Society killing each other in our very streets!” A loud bang sounded out, the microphone ringing in sharp feedback. It was no secret why, ponies had already started calling the merciless punching of tables ‘pulling a Reggie’. “The NCR will not tolerate flagrant disregard for its laws from anyone! I will restore order! I have already deployed a team to look into the situation with the SPP, and have mobilized the army to restore order to our streets. If anyone breaks our peace I will show no mercy in attributing blame to the very highest levels and reacting accordingly! I will allow no one, no one to destroy this Republic we all fought so hard for!” Regina paused for a moment to catch her breath, and quite possibly wipe some spittle from her beak, “I am Arbiter Regina, wishing all peace loving citizens a good night.” Swiftfeather spoke again, his voice as unfailingly neutral as it ever was, “Protests have already been lodged against the Arbiter’s words by several officials, with Elder Peach Trees of the Applejack Rangers expressing his ‘anger and disappointment over her attribution of blame for the hostile actions of the Twilight Society’. Midnight Sceptre on the other hand reiterated his stance that the Twilight Society was ‘merely a free access group of concerned citizens, and that they had simply been trying to retrieve some stolen property when the Applejack Rangers fired upon them’. Unaffiliated with either group, councilmare Elderberry simply criticized Regina for taking such a firm stance in the first place, as lacking clear evidence such an approach was constitutionally nonviable...” Dust switched it off, not really wanting to hear any more. For his part he agreed with councillor Elderberry, Regina simply didn’t have the clout to do anything about it. Damn the constitution, he knew how power worked. When it came down to it ‘Arbiter’ was just a pretty title, “Regina’s so in over her head...” Zenai frowned, “She’s a good pony, she deserves your support.” Dust could only snort, both at her naivety and the fact that a zebra should use the term ‘pony’ so universally. Was Zenai really that ignorant about the workings of power? “Regina is going to deploy the army against the Rangers and Tenpony Tower? She wishes she had that kind of clout. Tenpony would buy them off, and the Rangers are so integrated with the army that it would be like asking them to shoot each other.” “At least she’s passionate.” Dust Kicker laughed, “Yeah, a bird of fire, trying to live underwater. Politics doesn’t work on passion, it works on cunning, charisma and knowing when to pick your battles.” “She does pick her battles.” Zenai frowned, “It’s not her fault there are so many targets out there.” Dust looked down at the little Zebra in interest, he really seemed to have angered her by criticizing Regina, “You voted for her I assume?” “Of course!” Zenai stood tall (or as tall as she could manage at least), sticking her chest out proudly, “This is Regina! She stood with Littlepip at the Everfree forest, stood with her mother at the battle of Neighvarro, stood with the Elements of Harmony against the Screwball conspiracy, protected them when they activated the Gardens... they should have stuck the Element of Loyalty on her and made her a national hero, the least I could do is vote for her in some popularity contest.” “She refused the Element of Generosity, as I recall.” Dust turned back to the console, shaking his head, “That’s her problem. Her mother would have sucked it up and accepted the damn thing, no matter how unworthy she felt. Regina has to make everything such a Celestia fucked crisis of honor. I wonder if she can take a shit in the morning without a moral debate about it.” Zenai frowned, “Someone has to take a stand.” “No, they really don’t.” Dust sighed, not wanting to debate it anymore. He missed Red Eye. Red Eye let the ends justify the means, he didn’t go on about honor and morals. Pride, that’s all they were. Dust did what he felt right, never worrying too much about why. That sort of shit just led ponies round in circles, “Come on, let’s call Silent Steel already.” Yet against Zenai looked inexpiably nervous, jaw clenching and eyes widening. She had done it every time Silent Steel had been mentioned, like she was frightened of talking to him. It made no sense, and that made Dust nervous. She eventually managed to speak, almost tripping over her words in her haste, “Ok, but let me talk first.” “Why?” “Just... some things I want to clear up.” Dust frowned but moved aside, letting Zenai at the console. She fiddled for a moment or two, inputting the frequency and setting up the array for long range broadcast. Dust heard it rumble into position above them, still impressed the thing actually worked after two hundred years. The screen flickered for a while before a ‘connection established’ sign flashed across in green text, followed by ‘audio only’. Silence reigned for a second or two before Silent Steel’s cool tones floated from the speaker system, “Hello, who is this?” Zenai burst in almost instantly, making very little effort to disguise the nervousness in her voice, “Sir, this is Zenai. I wanted to tell you that the mission is going well so far, we have established friendly contact with Star Fall and a possible way to import large amounts of fuel for the Equestrian factories.” Consular Silent paused for a moment before speaking, his voice carefully measured, “Excellent. Indeed, I need to thank you Miss Zenai.” “T...thank me?” “Indeed. You have successfully hidden an important asset from the Twilight Society, protecting it when they came for it at the airport.” Zenai looked like she was going to be sick, her face contorting, “Thank you sir...” “And the Applejack Ranger? Her name was Gentle Streams. She was nineteen years old, just earned her armor. Only child, parents couldn’t be prouder that she achieved her dream. Been with her boyfriend two years...” Zenai shouted the words, her voice high and strained, “Sir!” “...actions have consequences Zenai. I wanted you to understand that. I’ve already spoken to your mentor, he states that this is a lesson you have always had difficulty comprehending. I am pleased to aid in your education.” Zenai’s face fell for a moment, though she quickly recovered. She looked back up at the screen with determination in her eyes, teeth clenching, “I know the consequences sir. I’m just not afraid of them.” “You are a brave, clever young mare indeed Zenai. Is Dust Kicker there?” Dust stepped forward, glaring at Zenai as she only continued to arise his suspicions, “Here sir.” “Protect Zenai well, she has just become an asset to me beyond her immediate mission. I have no doubt the Twilight Society will eventually come for you again, and they are not to be underestimated.” Dust nodded, that was what he wanted to hear. To hell with shadowed whispers, clear missions were his area of business, “It’s a danger outside mission parameters sir. Need to renegotiate.” “Do you think you can pull off this Star Fall deal?” “I think so sir.” “Protect Zenai and bring me fuel deals and I will make you wealthy beyond your wildest dreams. Six zeroes, a penthouse in New Canterlot, VIP membership at Hoofbeats... whatever you want.” Dust Kicker smiled. He could keep the penthouse and hoofbeats membership, but at this point all the pay was just keeping score. And becoming the highest paid mercenary in the wastes was a pretty nice score all things considered, “Done.” “Thank you. And Zenai?” Zenai grimaced, “Yes sir?” “At some point I will come to retrieve my property. I really hope you are accommodating, because as of right now I am your only friend. I pay mercenaries to protect you, I run interference with the growing number of people wanting you dead and I will make sure you still have a place here when we’re done.” Zenai squeaked her reply, “Yes sir.” “Do not get me wrong, I like you. I like your nerve, your wit, your drive. The Followers really wasted someone like you.” “Sir...” “Actions have consequences Zenai. Keep me updated.” The communication cut off, Dust keeping his glare fixed on her. She continued to avoid his gaze, Dust finally just speaking angrily at the zebra, “Well?” Zenai still wouldn’t look at him, “You have your orders.” He... that was brahmin dung! He didn’t play shadow games, that was actually written into his contact! “Play me Zenai and it will go badly for you. I’ve lived a long time, I’m very hard to catch off guard.” “Don’t threaten me Dust Kicker.” Zenai turned to glare at him, Dust rather impressed by how fearsome she looked. He stared harder but she continued to hold it, baring her teeth a little before growling her words, “You’re the least scary pony I’ve made friends with lately, and though I have no intention of doublecrossing you... understand this. I’m not bad at this game myself, and if you look like you’re considering getting a better offer I will cut you loose. Permanently.” Heh. He was proud of the little filly, she had teeth. Adorable, baby teeth, but they all started out small, “Wouldn’t dream of it princess. Shall we call Far Go traders next?” “Sure.” She curled her lip up as she continued to glare, “And don’t call me that.” ~ “So, did you manage to contact your friend?” Dust nodded as he exited the radio facility to see Mint Engine standing in the corridor, fiddling with some complicated looking device levitating in front of him. He couldn’t help feel somewhat relieved and in some way almost disappointed by Star Fall’s chief scientist, who seemed almost sane. Dressed in a smart white suit and tie, the mint blue unicorn wore his mane neat and had a water talisman cutie mark, not to mention his manner was more ‘pleasant civil servant’ than ‘raving loon’. He wasn’t sure if that was allowed in post-war scientists, or if Mint Engine was just some sort of aberration, “You have a nice set up here. Amazed it all still works after so long.” “Oh no, most of it has been replaced over the years.” Mint Engine lifted his glasses, smiling genially, “Since we have the original designs to go on it hasn’t been too much trouble, and we’ve even managed to upgrade some of the infrastructure. The plumbing for instance was built for half the number who reside here now, one of my biggest challenges has been meeting the sanitation needs of such a big community.” Dust grinned, looking around at the mountain interior, “So this is civilisation huh? The big volcano based research laboratories researching plumbing rather than genetically engineered death robots.” “We have a military research wing, I only have indirect supervision over those projects though.” Mint Engine gave a light chuckle, “My father was the previous council member in charge of science, he was so disappointed that my inventions didn’t explode or kill people. I eventually realised I would have to pick a field that played to those talents.” Dust actually felt sorry for him, the soft little scientist in a world that respected martial power. After all it was like what he felt sometimes, only inverted, “So what do you think of the alliance with Equestria?” “I’m simply exited that we will have other scientists who we can compare notes with. Collaboration is the central element of science you know, otherwise you end up with things like Rohohuki or Alicorns.” “Rohohuki?” “Pink Gas.” Mint Engine lifted his glasses again, pretty much seeming to be a nervous tic at this point, “A rather... unimaginative nickname, also referred to as the Littlehorn Agent. Originally created by the Harbringer, an insane cultist and terrorist. Despite years of study it’s almost certain that he was the only one who ever really understood its properties.” Dust Kicker didn’t think it was that complicated, “It kills people, melts them into their clothes and liquefies their organs.” “Indeed, but it also provides incredible regenerative properties and endows those affected with enormous amounts of physical strength. Caesar spent years trying to create super soldiers with it apparently, likely killing hundreds of his best and brightest.” Dust didn’t know whether to laugh or shiver, “An army of Canterlot Ghouls. A scary thought.” “Hardly more scary than your alicorns.” Mint Engine locked him with a questioning gaze, “You should really keep an eye on yours by the way. Security spotted her going into the Church of Celestia, hardly a safe place for an impressionable young mare.” Dust raised an eyebrow, “Why not?” Mint Engine gave him an utterly serious look, “Its matriarch Sunshine Ivory used to run a mercenary band on the mainland, she is now an important political ally of Councillor Themba and his ambitions.” Sunshine Ivory was a mercenary? The pretty Celestia lookalike with the butter wouldn’t melt voice? “And those ambitions?” “Those ambitions being Star Fall invasion of the Golden Coast.” Mint Engine nodded gravely, “The Church of Celestia still ranks behind the Church of the Holy Flame here, and is not particularly well established on the mainland. Sunshine Ivory hopes to enable Star Fall to regain its old territories, in return for making the Churches of Celestia and Holy Flame the official state religions. I hesitate to think where an actual living alicorn could figure into her plans.” Everyone wanted something. He wasn’t too fond of organised religion, but it helped him to consider it just another war for territory and influence. Another layer of government and control, no bad thing in itself so long as it allowed holes for an old killer to slip the net, “She’s not likely to hurt Star Swirl is she?” “Oh no, she would never let an association with violence anywhere near her church. Just... advise your friend not to trust unconditionally.” “Fine... ugh, the last thing I need is for that filly to get involved in local politics.” “You might not have a choice. She looks like a combination of Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna, however you present it she’s a walking political statement.” Mint Engine just shook his head, giving him a kind smile, “Take care of yourself Dust Kicker. It’s a wild world out there.” ~ Dust lay awake on his bunk, counting the dust mites as they floated past his head. He was really stiff and achy from all the walking around the previous day after so long cramped up in a small space, the last thing he wanted to do rise from his warm and comfortable bunk. Still he was convinced that was the first step on the road to old age, and besides the first hours of day were some of his favourites. The coolness, the stillness... With that motivating him he kicked the covers away and gave a stretch, slipping out of his hammock and trotting over towards the exit. Ice Break and Loose Trigger were curled up together on their bunk, Dust suppressing a chuckle as he passed. Cynical about love as he was, a cute couple could always warm his heart. The Enclave had encouraged homosexual relationships for population control reasons, offering financial benefits and under the table promotions, and Dust Kicker certainly knew many who had gone and seduced an older, superior officer out of pure ambition. If that had been the case here it certainly seemed to have developed into something more a long time ago. Heh, bless. It had been too long since he had lain with a nice mare. Middle aged widow, a little lonely, willing to feed and provide a room to a traveller for a week or two in return for some companionship. He had lived a long time and was still convinced there was little better than that in this world. Dust Kicker continued out onto the landing bay, spotting a lone guard standing duty at the entrance to the main terminal. He slipped a cigarette out of his saddlebag and offered it to the pony but he just shook his head, Dust shrugging and lighting up himself. It was herbal, not quite the same as his old brand, but damn if he wasn’t getting any younger. He needed what was left of his lungs. “You’re up early.” “Always am sister.” Dust Kicker turned his head to Star Swirl, the mare as normal hesitant, apologetic and unbelievably earnest looking. He gave her a grin as she continued to stare, turning back to his cigarette, “Guess you don’t smoke.” “I’ve... never tried.” “Don’t. It wouldn’t look good on you.” Star Swirl paused for a few more seconds before finally getting it off her chest, “Sorry... for throwing you against that wall.” “Not the first mare who’s said that to me.” Dust Kicker chuckled, just staring out into the misty morning as he took a long deep drag of his cigarette, “No harm done. You’re a good kid, I can see that. That little zebra and the buffalo are lucky you came along, even if they don’t feel too grateful now.” “Actually... I think Sabah is going to be ok. She’s staying with the Church of Celestia, I convinced them to look after her.” Dust Kicker heard the pride in her voice, along with the searching need. She wanted his approval. Strangely given his reluctance to engage in any sort of long term relationship he had always been a paternal sort, and he was flattered by the fact that she really seemed to like him. It wasn’t a tall order to flatter a cute mare’s ego for a few minutes, “That’s a good thing you did. More people should care about what happens to foals like her, at the very least it means there’d be a damn slight less fucked up adults when they grow.” Star Swirl advanced forward a little so she was next to him, looking down for a second before speaking, “What was your childhood like Dust Kicker?” He resisted the urge to make any ‘dawn of time’ jokes for the sake of good taste, “Normal sort of thing. Out in the wasteland, scavenging for junk, clip around the ear or an extra helping at dinner depending on what I brought back. Got older, da taught me how to use a gun, how to hunt.” He sighed, trying to remember the specifics. He hadn’t thought on those days in a long time. Didn’t even remember his father’s face, or even his mother’s name. There was no sadness to it, he had left that life behind a long time ago, “Wasn’t my happiest days, but I turned out alright.” “What were your happiest times?” He wasn’t sure if he should answer that question, but she had caught him at an unusually sentimental moment, “Red Eye.” “You worked for him?” “I did some jobs, yeah. At the time it really felt like he was the best hope for the wasteland.” Dust sighed, letting himself relax as he remembered, “Before I’d just... fucked about. It was all meaningless. It’s still meaningless now. But working for Red Eye... I was a part of something that mattered.” “Do you think this new Red Eye is the real deal?” Dust sighed, that being a good question. But in the end... “However much I want it to be... no. You just have to look at his actions, it’s quite insulting really.” His thoughts once against turned to his former boss, feeling his heart ache just a little for more simple times, “This new Red Eye, he’s leading an army of raiders to capture slaves from the surrounding wasteland, putting them to work in his factories and spouting off on the radio about creating a new world.” Star Swirl blinked, waiting for the next part, “And? That’s what...” “No, it isn’t. It’s all just window dressing, Red Eye did that because that was the only way he could successfully round up and deploy the workforce needed to build a new world.” Dust turned to look her in the eye, a bitter look on his face, “I’m not deluded, Red Eye would be working with the NCR if he was really back. This new Red Eye on the other hand is just fucking everything up, destroying bastions of civilisation and creating nothing but new weapons for his army.” “So... he’s a fake?” “He’s a calculated insult, and everyone seems to have fallen for it.” Dust shrugged, sighing gently, “I keep wondering if it’s all some carefully formulated plan, but if it is I can’t see it.” Star Swirl looked up at the grey sky, “I guess nothing is really the same anymore... where were you on the day of Sunshine and Rainbows?” “The Cathedral. Couldn’t see the sky, too busy digging my way out of the rubble. Missed the whole thing. What about you?” “Maripony. Busy being under a cloud of nuclear ash.” Dust Kicker chuckled, “Seems we both missed the world being saved. Still can’t see it myself. Thought there would be more harps and great queens with flaming swords. Just the same old shit, just we vote for the corrupt bastards now.” “We have the Elements of Harmony...” “Five of them at least.” Dust Kicker chuckled, kicking back and spitting his spent cigarette onto the landing pad, “Hey, here’s an idea. You take up magic, and I’ll have... hell, generosity I guess.” “I think you have to be friends with the others.” Star Swirl gave him a wan smile, “I don’t think even Velvet Remedy could pick me out of a crowd, and she’s my boss.” “Went on a mission with Calamity once.” “Really?” “Long time ago. Doubt he remembers another wasteland mercenary.” Dust Kicker chuckled, stamping out his cigarette, “He was a real punk back then. Bet he’s still a punk, just one with some fancy jewellery and a nice chair at NCR Command.” Star Swirl gave him a nervous smile, “You sound jealous.” “He picked the winning side.” Dust chuckled, looking up at the morning skies, “I’m allowed to be a little bitter about it.” ~ The ‘Golden Coast’ came into view shortly after they left Star Fall, Dust realising the area was well named. While large areas of the beaches were stained black, golden sands could still be seen in numerous inlets that dotted the coastline and the scrubland beyond was covered in twisted, yellow bracken. The trees too all sported yellowish leaves, and the odd splash of colour from the other vegetation didn’t do much to break up the overwhelming... goldenness of the area. Since this place had been named before the war Dust Kicker figured it was much the same as it had always been, turning to Zenai for confirmation, “So what can you tell me about this area? Pre-war I mean?” “The golden coast?” Zenai asked self evidently, before returning to her eager schoolteacher tone, “It’s the coastline facing north-west from the Zebra lands, so it’s always been the centre of trade between here and Equestria, the Griffon Territories and the lands beyond. As such it’s always been more... cosmopolitan than the eastern lands, even during isolationist periods. They even spoke a somewhat pidgin form of Equestrian as the common language in areas.” “Doesn’t look very farmable.” “Well this is the coast, further inland it was apparently more fertile. The silt here is actually really good fertiliser, once it’s added to soil.” Zenai looked across the black staining before shrugging her shoulders, “Well, it was before the war. I’m not sure what the pollution has done to it. This area once was said to host fields of yellow flowers, now all l see is bracken.” “Doesn’t look in that bad shape though.” “No. I guess North Star really did stop the Equestrian attack from hitting this area.” She looked up at the blue skies above, “Not having the Enclave cutting off all the natural sunlight must have helped too.” “We’re approaching the turn now, I’d advise you to brace yourselves because it’s going to be a little tight... hey, we have something incoming. To our left, anyone got a better view?” Dust and Zenai were facing that direction, both of them searching the skies for their mysterious incoming. Dust could certainly see something, though it was pretty much a dot on the horizon. He trotted over and unhooked his sniper rifle, propping it on his front hoof and taking the side grip in his mouth to bring the sight to his eye. He had trouble keeping up with the approaching object with the view too magnified, but he could definitely see a pair of wings. It also appeared to be travelling quite fast, “A pegasus or griffon.” “Or a zebra with a blood wing potion.” “It’s travelling at supersonic speed, it’s definitely something built for flight.” Dust lost his view and took his eye away to locate the object on the skyline, squinting against the sunlight, “Can a zebra fly that...” The object announced itself with style, the sky lighting up in a huge sonic rainboom that expanded outwards with bursts of kaleidoscopic colour. The boom hit them a moment later, though Dust was already entranced by the spectacular view in front of him as the flyer span in a corkscrew that left a shimmering contrail of rainbow light twirling about itself before banking towards them. Whatever the flyer was, he got a short glimpse of an oddly shaped figure before it passed by and positioned itself above the altostratus. ”Heh, I would know that flying anywhere! She hasn’t lost her touch!” Dust’s ears perked up at Trigger’s voice, instantly identifying who he was talking about, “So this is the famous Clear Skies?” ”You betya! Looks like she’s guiding us in, everypony strap yourselves down for the descent.” Dust and the others strapped themselves to the bulkheads, fortunately positioned so they could still see out the windows. The altostratus passed the coastline before banking as Trigger had warned, turning into a tight arc that threw them against the straps hard. Dust heard Star Swirl give a panicked yell as she tried to open her wings and quickly got herself tangled, checking she wasn’t in any real trouble before taking the opportunity to chuckle at her predicament. They straightened out after a moment and headed off north down the coast, Dust spotting Clear Skies following along beside them for a moment before shooting off ahead with a booming mach cone, “She’s a good flier.” “The best. No one flies like Clear Skies!” Evidently. Dust settled himself in for the rest of the journey, watching the golden coast sweep by. Next stop, Demonnivoire. ~ After Star Fall Dust had warned himself against underestimating this new land again, still the city of Demonnivoire took his breath away. Unlike Star Fall it was a beacon of green in the yellow wastes, gardens and farm land surrounding and intruding into the city itself. Irrigation had been set up, a series of small rivers used to feed farm land in areas without weather management, and small microcommunities spread out for quite a way with a series of stone guard towers to protect them from threats. The city itself was built upon a hill, a disorganised but visually stunning series of yellow stone structures climbing across its face towards the palace that sat at the summit. The structures themselves were rather boxy, still the primitive architecture was mitigated by the composition and setting, not to mention the magnificent greenery made possible by a series of rivers that flowed down from the palace above. Dust wondered how they had achieved it, magic? Pumps? Either way it was impressive, even for a pre-war city. “I guess all the megaspells aimed here were intercepted...” Zenai had her face pressed against the window in awe, “Isn’t it beautiful? Back before the war this place was one of the poorest of all the ports in this area, falling into decay when the mineral deposits in the local mines dried up. To think, it’s now the capital city of a whole empire.” “It looks well inhabited.” Dust looked down, they were a little far away but he could still make a rough estimate of the dots running around on the ground, “About seven thousand at least, that would quite possibly put it above New Canterlot.” Zenai chuckled, giving him a wry smile, “Sizing them up for invasion?” He always did. He had been attacked by the most unlikely ponies, and liked to be prepared, “I’m the only one with any real combat experience, least I can do is try and bring back a reasonably accurate assessment of their defensive and offensive capabilities.” “The towers are arranged so whichever you attacked, you would be under crossfire from another. The approaches are all cleared too, no cover at all. I can see replaceable gun emplacements on the city rim, they could see any attack coming from a long distance away and intercept them with artillery fire. And... there are concealed bunkers down there. I can see the door to one.” Dust raised an eyebrow as he turned to Star Swirl, the alicorn intently studying the area on the other side. He could back up her assessment of the towers at least, though her eyes were obviously more acute that his for the other details, “Well look at you Star. You know your military tactics, who would have thought it?” Zenai snorted, “She was a member of the Goddess’s army you idiot, she’s served in combat. She just doesn’t like it.” Star Swirl turned to them, looking embarrassed. Dust studied her guilt ridden and avoidant expression for a moment before grinning, “I really can’t see it Star Swirl, sorry. You don’t strike me as being remotely scary.” Star grinned ever so slightly, “I... I’m trying my best not to be...” Heh, the girl was too easily to read. He had also noted Zenai tended to reveal interesting information when she was angry... “So it’s just you who’s green as grass huh Zenai?” Zenai looked down her nose at him, displeasure wrinkling her muzzle, “I scavenged the wastes with my father until I joined the followers at fourteen. I put a lot of hours into exploring some pretty scary places, I certainly learned how to fire a gun and deal with raiders.” He grinned, there you go. So her father was a prospector then? “Well, I can’t wait to see you in action.” “You are infuriatingly smug, you know that Dust?” They were just approaching the city when Caesar’s welcoming committee flew out, a host of four zebra with bloodwing potions and three sleek arrow shaped robots. They surrounded the Altostratus and guided her down towards the palace, waiting until the ship was fully down before flying off in all directions with elegant turns. Dust watched them go, sizing them up, “His flyers seem well trained, and were those robots there?” Ice Break nodded to Dust as he walked out the cabin, “Pegasi called them hornets, air to air hunter killers designed to shred our pegasus forces. Whole reason we adopted magical energy weapons so widely is to combat them, apparently they were deadly little bastards. Nice stuff, Caesar must have raided some high end armories for them.” “Well let’s see what else he’s got for us.” Dust gave Ice Break a questioning look, “Staying on the ship again?” Ice Break nodded, “We were told to leave this part to you. We’ll pause here for two days, then we’re headed back to Equestria. We have to submit our flight computer so the NCR can map out safe routes across the sea.” “Thank you for your help Ice Break.” Zenai trotted over, bowing her head formally, “You went beyond the call of duty for us, and we all appreciate it.” “Yeah, well your alicorn hasn’t thrown herself out the ship again so we’re all toasty.” Ice Break gave them all a firm salute, “Take care of yourselves out there, it looks like a dangerous country. Don’t get killed, and don’t get us into any wars.” “We might have to, lots of people wanting the NCR to join their gang.” Dust smirked, “But we’ll try not to get into a fight with all of them at least.” Zenai shot him a glare, “Not even our job anyway Dust, we’re on a scholarly mission remember.” Dust smirked at Zenai, “We’ve already made one alliance, you were boasting about it to Silent Steel.” Zenai blushed, quickly replacing her embarrassment with anger, “Well... circumstances permitted it. Just remember, we’re not allowed to commit the NCR to anything, ok?” “Fair enough.” Dust waved a hoof to them as he started towards the exit, “Come on, let’s go meet our hosts.” They stepped out into the open, having taken about three steps down the walkway before Dust heard a sharp whistle. He looked up in alarm as a pony jumped from the roof of the Altostratus to land in front of them with a thump, oversized wings folding around her as she turned to face them. Dust took a step back in surprise, the creature before them certainly... well... Distinctive? The creature was one of the most unfortunately looking pegasi Dust had ever seen, and he had met Ditzi Doo. Like her she (it?) was a ghoul, but was odd looking by even their standards. Her jaw was malformed, her teeth on the left side jutting alarmingly and her eyes slightly too far apart. All things considered the ghoulification wasn’t too bad, but the patches of snot green fur didn’t make things much better. Neither did her hopping, limping gait, one leg clearly deformed and useless and another limited in its movement by a malformed hip joint. Dust almost laughed as he saw her cutie mark, a felt picture of a sun shining over still waters sewn into her flank. He made a wild guess, “Clear Skies?” “Mah repwetation prehsfeeds me!” The pegasus gave a broad, if odd looking smile, Pweesfed to meet you!” Dust wished she would stop trying to pronounce the letter ‘P’. And ‘S’ for that matter... Star Swirl’s familiar voice cut him off mid thought, “Oh, so that’s why you can’t walk in a straight line! You’re a ghoul!” Dust turned at the offending, and loudly stated, comment, rolling his eyes. Words on the other hand could not express Zenai’s expression as she stared in dumb struck horror at the mare beside her. A million responses seemed to pass through her head as she mouthed wordlessly, eventually settling on something simple, “Star!” Star Swirl averted her eyes from Clear Skies in horror, “Oh... I didn’t... I mean...” Clear Skies cut them off with an extremely odd sound, which Dust eventually realised was laughter. She waved her deformed forehoof at them, grinning happily, “You’a sfilly pony. And I’ve awayfs been pwetty gimpy, even before my sfin fell off.” She stuck out a little pink tongue, “My moffer wasf welly fort fighted, so ee fort my father was jusft being dramatic when ee fain’ed at the fight of me.” “Clear! You scoundrel, how are you doing!?” “Wigger!” Clear Skies waved an exited hoof to the pony behind them, stumbling a few paces before a pair of huge, oddly shaped wings opened up and she leapt, soaring elegantly above their heads to slam into Loose Trigger and pin him against the ground, “Miffed you!” Trigger chuckled, enduring her nuzzles with good humour, “Alright, alright... you never call you know?” “Don’t haf radio. Hate othfer pony.” She gave a wide, surprisingly cute looking grin, “’’Cept you.” “You never change Clear.” Trigger pressed a hoof against her chest and disengaged her hold on him with a quick half roll, shoving her backwards to summersault neatly through the air and land on the ground in a battle ready crouch. He waved her off quickly, chuckling as he introduced the mare, “Fillies and gentlecolts, Clear Skies. I’m... not sure how to introduce her.” “Bweeing spwastic befwor Derpy made it cool!” Dust smirked, she certainly was a character even beyond her appearance, “Ditzi... and you do remind me of her.” “Pweze.” Clear Skies stuck out her tongue, wiggling it around for good measure, “Everywon always Ditzi dis and Ditzi dat. I was swonic rainbooming long before her, I wasn’t soopid enough to get my tongue cut out eewer.” “Mores’ the pity...” Clear Skies shot Trigger Happy a profoundly disturbing smile, “I seem to wemeber you wather liked my tongue Wigger...” Trigger promptly went bright red, shrinking back a little, “Clear, that’s... low blow!” Dust winced, not really wanting to think about that one. Well... all tastes he supposed. He hoped it was before she became a ghoul, though he had heard of ponies who were into ‘that’ as well, “You’ve been here a while now Clear Skies?” “Uhuh.” She pulled an indecipherable face, “A pwersfonal gueft of kqifar.” He figured that was ‘Caesar’, the word seemingly designed to promote spittle from the mare, “What can you tell us about him?” “Kqifar? He...” Clear Skies thought for a little while on the question, seeming torn about how to reply. Eventually she suddenly just tensed up, her ears perking (even they stuck out at strange angles!) and her eyes widening, “I’lltellwolata!” She exploded up into the sky with such force she almost knocked them all off the platform with the downblast, her form soon a dot on the sky line. Dust cocked an eyebrow as she disappeared from view, “She’ll... what?” Trigger looked slightly worried, however he quickly nodded towards the stairway at the other side of the platform, “She said she’ll tell you later. You have guests.” Dust turned to see the uniformed troops of the Caesar of the Golden Coast marching up the stairs and lining up before them, spears gleaming and their elaborate centurion uniforms clean and pressed to perfection. Dust studied them, rows of handsome square jawed zebras with hard disciplined eyes and fierce expressions, noting himself impressed. Sure, they were show troops, still the discipline needed to present men in this way could not be underappreciated. He noted too that along with the anachronistic and fairly useless spears they all sported shiny and well maintained submachine guns too. The last two were different from the others, the first in a similar uniform but a little more armoured and not wearing a helmet, revealing a battleworn and solid jawed zebra mare who studied Dust back with a similarly assessing glare. The other’s expression was a mystery, the creature totally sealed within an armoured jumpsuit, eyes hidden behind a pair of tech goggles and respirator. After a moment to line up beside their fellows the mare moved forward, her voice loud, clear and slightly accented, “All honour to Great Caesar, Lord of the Zebra, protector of the Golden Coast, warden of peace and prosperity for all under his benevolent hoof! Bear witness now to his magnificence!” “My magnificence.” The voice was velvet smooth, soft yet demanding of attention, tones full of nobility, the zebra who emerged from behind them matching. He was... gorgeous, though Dust Kicker wasn’t normally one to apply such words to stallions. The zebra kind of excused it by being positively androgynous however, his body solidly built but complemented by smooth lines in all the right places, his green eyes bright and intelligent. His purple velvet robes draped elegantly off his form, gold chains holding glimmering gemstones looped about his neck. His long silken mane was swept through his robes in long tresses, made possible by the careful and graceful way that he moved. He smiled at the group as he moved past his men, an expression that actually made Dust Kicker’s heart flutter a little. Yeah, this zebra was really making him question his sexuality, not to mention being about twenty years younger than his normal tastes. What the hell was he? “I... am Caesar.” He gave a sly, cunning little grin, turning his attention to Zenai as he slunk towards the similarly spellstruck zebra, “Welcome to you, visitors from the great Equestria. It is an honour to host such guests as the three of you.” “Of... of course great Caesar... I...” Zenai gulped as she was faced with those piercing green eyes, steeling herself before continuing with slightly more dignity than before, “We have many fine gifts from Equestria as gratitude for your hosting us, we are all hoping our stay will give us opportunity to learn more about your civilisation and open up future peace between us.” “As are we Equestria.” Caesar nodded to them, waving a hoof towards the stairs, “Come, let us speak in comfort.” “Of... of course.” Dust followed behind as Caesar led them past his troops and to the stairs beyond, the metal gantry leading down towards a veranda walkway across the top of the palace. Caesar turned to check they were all following before speaking once again, his smile still mesmerizingly pretty, “I hope you don’t mind, but my subjects are very eager to learn more of my new arrivals. A few of them have lined up on the streets outside the palace, I was hoping we could honour them with our presence briefly.” “Of course Caesar, but... how did they know we were coming?” Zenai looked at the others as she followed, a little confused, “We didn’t send any word ahead.” “My dear, nothing happens in the Golden Coast that I do not know about, and as for the crowds? Why, they have been waiting since this morning, your arrival so momentous.” Caesar waved a hoof at the balcony a short distance away, “Come, let us greet them.” Zenai shot a nervous glance at Dust before following Caesar, gasping as she reached the balcony and looked out over it. Star Swirl just froze with dilated eyes at the same sight, Dust hurrying forward a little to see what all the fuss was about. He heard the roar the moment Caesar reached the edge, growing louder as he approached... The balcony looked out onto a huge courtyard below, sitting at the end of the long steps from the city to the summit. It was absolutely filled with zebra. “Hail Caesar! Hail to Equestria!” “Celestia’s teats...” Dust was both impressed and horrified, wondering just how long Caesar had kept at least three thousand zebra standing around waiting for them. Many of them waved banners proclaiming Caesar’s awesomeness and how happy they were that Equestria could now appreciate such awesomeness themselves, Dust deeply suspicious about how happy they all seemed. He could appreciate a good dictator as much as any pony, but he started to worry about their self perception when they started lining up thousands of subjects to look happy at gunpoint, “They certainly seem enthusiastic about your rule Caesar.” “Of course. After so many years of thankless toiling in the post apocalyptic dirt my father freed them from the tyranny of Star Fall, returning them to the rule of our ancestors.” Caesar placed his hoof on the balcony, looking down with obvious pleasure at his subjects, “And now I build them a fine new civilisation to go with it, giving them all hope for the future.” Dust stared down at the crowd, looking for something wrong with this picture. He soon found it, the tell tell sight of soldiers in civilian clothes, eyes alert for any infraction. The crowd too was somewhat ‘wrong’, many of them looking far too desperate and scared to be genuine. Dust could only smile, the sight reassuring him somewhat, “They seem appreciative great Caesar.” ~ They made their way into the palace, Dust surprised at how utilitarian it was. A few banners and tapestries stood around and several stately rooms branched off from the main corridor, for the most part however large parts of the palace looked to be used as storage. The building too was showing its age, the plaster crumbling in areas and clear signs of subsidence. He ventured a guess that the level of education here wasn’t enough to repair a pre-war structure, filing away that information for later as Zenai moved onto a separate topic of discussion, “So, how did you found this kingdom great Caesar?” “My father founded this kingdom actually, unifying the tribes of the Golden Coast against Star Fall.” Caesar turned to look at all of them as they walked, fortunately they all managed to keep poker faced about it being the second time they had heard this, “Apparently you visited it before reaching the coast?” Zenai nodded, “Yes, we stopped there to resupply.” “Well then you should know its origins at least. Sadly it is a story repeated in many wars throughout history. You see when Equestria died in nuclear fire it’s armies didn’t all die with it. And like all such orphaned armies, they soon realised that they were devoid of further supplies, heavily armed and free of government oversight.” He looked to them, eyes filled with quiet anger, “You can guess what happened next.” “They raided the villages around them.” Dust stated it simply, already knowing this bit, though interested to hear it from the other side, “How did your father beat them if they were so much better armed than you?” “Arrogance on their part, cleverness on his. At first.” Caesar laughed at the memory. True to form it was a joyful, sweet sound that sounded like music to Dust’s ears, the Zebra continuing with his story, “Technology can only help so much, my father’s grand gambit was simple. You see he pointed out to the tribes that there was a lot more of us, and after a few victories we had enough guns to make them count.” Dust figured as much. The population of this city alone exceeded that of Star Fall, and as an island nation they had a far more unstable supply train. Logistically they would find it difficult to fight an extended war with the mainland, their one advantage was always fear of the weapons they possessed, “And they elected your father to the rank of Caesar?” “No, my father... is not a romantic.” Caesar turned away, seeming troubled as he searched for his words, “When he was forced to step down I took the title, to cement my claim and reclaim some of the glory of the past.” Zenai asked the question with careful tones, “May I ask about your father my lord? I heard he was sick, and that you rule in his stead.” “Sick?” Caesar let his head fall for a moment before raising it again, determination on his face, “My father is indeed sick, his once fine mind is not what it once was. I have placed him in comfortable seclusion, so the people will always remember what he once was.” “I’m sorry my lord.” “My alchemists work day and night, so none would be struck down as he has been.” Caesar waved a hoof at his (rather unimpressive) palace, “All this? This is for him. I built this civilisation on his legacy. I give peace and prosperity to all because he won me a birthright. But now... I stand next to him and he doesn’t even recognise me.” “Maybe we can help?” Star Swirl looked over at Zenai with quiet desperation, “Maybe the medics of Equestria can...” “Star, the last thing we want to is get his hopes up, the treatment of organic mental disorders is still one area Equestria has almost no success in.” Zenai shook her head, bowing her head to Caesar, “We are truly sorry great Caesar.” Caesar waved them off with a hoof, moving into an expansive hall hosting a large statue at its centre, “I learned to accept it long ago. Indeed, this here is most appropriate to the subject at hand.” He moved over to the statue, the work obviously aged but still impressive in its artistry, depicting two Zebra standing side by side, an older one in front of a younger. Caesar stood in regard of it for a moment before speaking, “We all learn from the past. This statue has given me much solace in my time as ruler.” Zenai looked up at it, “Who are they?” “The royal family of the United Zebra Territories, Caesar Remicon and his son Nashar.” Caesar had a complex look to him as he stared upwards at the statue, a mix of regret, pride and resolve. He paused for a little while in contemplation before finally speaking, “Remicon was a great Zebra, he alone had the strength to unite the territories, bringing down the warlords and corrupt merchant kings to create a country worthy of us. He alone resisted the reaping of our resources by Equestria, instead using them to build an industrial revolution of our own. When war came he did not flinch, showing the ponies’ arrogance in assuming their easy victory was just that, leading a technologically inferior force to victory through cunning and resourcefulness. And Nashar...” He turned to the younger Zebra, strong and noble with a heroic sweeping mane and a determined expression. “He had a different courage. He saw that the war was no longer about national pride or resources, but simple hate. He lobbied to end the war, worked with likeminded ponies to put a stop to it before it destroyed us all. In his time he was considered by many a traitor. What would he be called now, had he succeeded? Nashar the peacemaker? Nashar the great?” “Zenai spoke softly, “He sounds like he would have been a wonderful leader.” “And who better to emulate?” Caesar turned to them, green eyes shining, “I will complete his task. My father forged a nation, I will lead it into an era of peace. Your new Equestria will have my friendship, the friendship of all those under my banner.” “It’s... good that you speak of peace Caesar.” Zenai spoke hesitantly, “We bring two such offers today.” Caesar lifted a perfectly groomed eyebrow, “Hmm?” Zenai hesitated for a moment before bowing low, her muzzle to the ground, “Great Caesar, Star Fall also extends its hand to you, wishing your long conflict over.” Caesars transformation was instant, soft smiles to haughty grimaces as he rose to full height. His eyes burned like icicles, sweeping an angry hoof as he made his proclamation, “I made my offer to the NCR because they are a peaceful nation based on the ideas of justice and fair representation, created by the sort of heroes spoken of with Zephre, Zanbardra, Star Swirl and Celestia. Not a raider outpost, which pillaged the golden coast for two centuries!” Zenai looked nervous, Dust could tell. It spoke to her credit that she still advanced, her voice quiet but firm, “They were trying to keep civilisation alive, many did worse. There are good ponies there, who only wish for peace.” Zenai nodded to the windows, “North Star may not have been legendary, but it was because of him that the golden coast was saved.” “North Star was a criminal! He burned civilians in their homes, poisoned water and food stocks!” Caesar’s composure was completely lost now, the great lord pacing wildly as he ranted into the air, “Rainbow Dash, no innocent herself, lobbied for his removal! Referred to him as a sociopath who cared for nothing but victory! One action born of pragmatism does not make him a hero, and even then I note he had those who disagreed with him killed!” “It... is hard to make peace when pride and national interests have been replaced by hate...” Caesar twirled on Star Swirl, his anger forcing her to back away in fear. His tone was incredulous, “You throw my words back at me?! Use Nashar’s example to shame me?!” “I...” “You... dare too much, for those who do not deserve it. It reminds me of another, though I dared not...” He shook his head, haughty once more as he turned away with a swirl of his cape, “Very well, but my negotiating position just got stronger.” “Um...” Zenai gave the other a nervous look before stepping forwards, “What do you want great Caesar?” “A better diplomat for a start. You...” Caesar turned to the small zebra, looking her up and down with a critical eye, “The mercenary, the alicorn, the Pegasus... these are interesting to me. You however are merely a zebra who thinks she’s a pony, and I’ve seen enough of those.” Zenai looked totally thrown by this, her face desperate and confused, “What kind of pony do you want...?” “I want her.” Caesar grinned wide, looking way too pleased with himself, “I want the Element of Kindness, I want to see her for myself.” Zenai looked positively terrified now, “V...Velvet Remedy?” Dust suspected it already, Caesar’s expression only confirmed it, “He means Fluttershy.” “What?!” Zenai looked between Caesar and Dust Kicker like they had both gone mad, “We can’t bring her here!” Caesar smiled smugly, “Why not?” “Because she’s... in her seventies for a start!” “Is she in poor health?” “No, but... she’s still old.” Zenai gave him a pleading look, “We can’t drag her all the way over here...” Caesar waved a hoof, cutting her off with a fierce glare, “I’m not dragging her anywhere. I demand she be brought her in all the luxury your NCR can provide, so that the zebra people can show their gratitude for her actions during the war. It was her who fought for peace, she who extended a hand of friendship to our people. I will not sign anything unless she is there with me.” Zenai looked to Dust, desperate now, “Dust, help me. We can’t do this.” “We can only ask.” Dust thought she was being a little over the top about all this. The NCR would have to send someone important eventually, and Fluttershy was a respected diplomat with ties to the issue at hand. He didn’t pay attention to politics but he was pretty sure he had heard something about her carrying out a visit to the buffalo to provide a final signature on a treaty there only a few months ago, “Is there something we don’t know about her health or something?” “No... she’s healthy.” Zenai let her head fall, abashed, “I just... I hate to tax her too much. She’s important to the Followers.” “She’s important to us.” Caesar stated it bluntly, standing tall in front of her, “I promise, she will be treated with the greatest dignity while she is here.” Dust nodded in agreement, wondering if it was truly because Zenai hadn’t seen nearly enough years to realise that life didn’t end at twenty five, “She’s not a china doll Zenai. She fought Discord and Nightmare Moon, she can take care of herself.” Zenai sighed, looking up at Star Swirl, “Star?” The alicorn quickly shook her head, “I’m staying out of this.” Zenai shot her friend an ugly look before sighing, acquiescing just a little, “I... I’ll ask.” “Thank you.” Caesar bowed his head, his little coup seeming to have cheered him up immensely, “And I also want you to do something else for me, though the details can’t wait. In the meantime, why don’t you explore my palace for a little while? There are many old zebra carvings I’m sure you will find interesting. Dinner will be served at seven, just find one of my guards and they’ll escort you.” Dust looked to Zenai for a response; however the zebra seemed content to sulk for now. He eventually took it upon himself, bowing low and trying to sound as polite as possible, “Thank you for your hospitality Lord Caesar.” ~ Dust decided to explore on his own, Zenai running off in a huff and Star Swirl quick in pursuit. He preferred it that way to be honest, Zenai wearing on his patience a little of late. She was lying to him pretty openly about something, not to mention the stuffy and unjustified self regard that she seemed to hold herself in. It was always the pretty ones, and he admitted that the filly was also pretty smart. It was a curse, fooling her into jumping into situations way above her competence. Once again it had left her looking stupid, and he was certain it would continue until she learned to better assess her chances of success and failure. He had a lot of time to think, the palace fulfilling his earlier assessment by being pretty boring. It was obvious only a small part of it was actually Caesar’s residence, with the rest allocated to storage and barracks for his personal guard. He had headed there in hope of assessing their actually competence, and what he saw was both impressive and rather dull. Their quarters were comfortable but utilitarian, their equipment well made and moderately maintained, the men solid and unimaginative. It was a well ordered, well drilled army and Dust Kicker rated them a little above the more enthusiastic but somewhat undisciplined NCR military, and was pretty sure they could put up a good fight against the Applejack Rangers. He could see how they had won against Star Fall for a start. From what he had seen the Star Fall troops had been much better armed with an array of fancy custom weaponry, but more resembled a mob than an army. Though of high quality they had very little cohesion in their armaments and armour, likely scavenging their own equipment from the stores. That was an advantage in skirmishes and small actions, but in large scale battles? Commanding such a force would be an exercise in futility, and Caesar’s father had taken them apart will well disciplined tactics. All in all it depended on their numbers, and if the rest of the army matched up to the troops here. Dust was doubtful on both counts, without the farmland of the NCR Caesar couldn’t maintain a population anywhere near Equestria’s, and these were the zebra stationed in the palace itself. They might possibly be a threat to the NCR if they joined up with Star Fall, but Caesar had already demonstrated why that was unlikely to be successful. Besides, Caesar wouldn’t have let him wander around like this if he intended invasion. He had initially wondered why indeed he was allowed access at all, but then realised with Caesars vanity he was likely only too eager to show off his military might. This wasn’t the NCR after all, this was likely the most professional military force in the zebra territories. He heard the sound of yells and clashing sticks, heading forward to see a sign bearing some zebra characters. Fortunately, if somewhat oddly, it was easily decipherable. Dust had used zebra writing several times as a simple way of encoding messages, and conveniently the sign was actually Equestrian written in zebra script. Thinking about it he had yet to hear any language other than Equestrian, lightly accented at that, wondering if Star Fall’s influence had them all speaking the lingo. That would be useful, Dust hardly wanted to rely on Zenai and Star Swirl for all discussion. Regardless, the sign read ‘combat training’. That sounded promising. The door led out onto a balcony, looking down on a wide hall that had been set up with multiple movable concrete walls to simulate urban combat. A unit of about twelve zebra were advancing through the maze from various directions, long sticks held in the crook of their forelegs. He noticed one was wearing different armour than the others, painted a different colour. It didn’t take long to realise that it was the zebra mare from before, or that the others seemed to be advancing towards her. She easily got behind the first zebra to cross her path, the poor buck not even getting a chance to face her before her stick jabbed him in the side and he backed away with an embarrassed grin. It distracted the mare for a moment however and another guard attacked her from the side, his staff swinging for her shoulder. Dust grinned wide as the zebra mare pivoted expertly, striking the staff to the side and knocking it from his mouth with a thrust, finishing off the zebra with a light jab to the throat. Two more attacked her at once, the mare ducking the first and striking the legs from the second with a lightning fast dash, spinning to plant her staff between the first’s shoulder blades with a crack. Both dropped like a stone. ~ “Not bad out there. You certainly know what you’re doing.” The zebra mare turned to look at him as she pulled her head away from the bucket of water she was using to wash away some of the sweat, her eyes narrowing in vague suspicion, “You Caesar’s NCR guest.” “Yeah, he said I could take a look around.” He checked the zebra mare out as he advanced, seeing as this was the first time he had seen her out of her armour. As with Zenai he felt slightly cheated that her cutie mark meant about as much to him as any other collection of random black lines, though judging from her heavily muscled frame and little demonstration he would bet it was something to do with violence, “Nice fighting there, though I question how useful sticks are in a real fight.” “Heavy rifle, liability in close combat. Turn it into an asset, heavy, can be made balanced for swinging.” The mare fixed him with a haughty, proud glare, “Dragoon units also can devastate groups of armed men in short time, not think spear useless if you faced them.” “Well, I’m sticking with my shotgun.” He chuckled, moving closer to the mare, “I presume you’re the captain of these troops here?” “I am Caesar’s Ganzen. His... protector.” She paused, looking slightly embarrassed at her language difficulties, “My name is Oteka.” “Dust Kicker. I’m doing the same job for the two fillies I was with.” “Hmm.” She studied him for a moment, “Are you spying on us Dust Kicker?” He smiled at her, found out so quickly, “Checking out the competition. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t be doing the same.” “So you are honest. That is good.” She gave him a slightly warmer expression, though she was still prim and standoffish. After a moment a small grin edged in, “Would you like to fight me?” “In close combat? You would flatten me sister.” Dust chuckled, “I’d bet I’m a better shot than you though.” She shook her head, “Not target shooter. Santu... aimed shots with submachine gun close to opponent, fast reactions.” “Sounds like we would make a good team.” Dust grinned at her, seeing her visibly relax a little, “So, have you worked for Caesar a long time?” She nodded, looking proud, “His father saved my village, I protector there. Join him, fight many enemies. Protect children since baby, helped noble Caesar grow strong.” “You think he’s a good ruler then?” “No need to lie. Noble Caesar is clever zebra, skilled at numbers and direction of men. He rules country as zebra should be rule, looks to future.” Ah, here we were, the interesting part, “What future is that?” Oteka frowned in quiet annoyance as she explained, “Nanamu... wastes of east. Filled with kanna, idiots, worship idols, invisible gods. Hate ponies for things done to grandfathers, live in houses of mud. Caesar extends great rule to them, great Caesar as meant to be.” “Fair enough.” Dust still wasn’t sure if he really thought this Caesar could pull it off. He seemed smart enough, and charismatic with that, but he also reeked of vanity and petulance. Naturally he didn’t say that, this mare seemed pretty loyal after all, “He certainly looks the part of a ruler.” “Do not say that.” He looked at her in suprise; she had stated that very firmly, “Excuse me?” Oteka furrowed her brow, “Many zebra, make fun of Caesar all life. Not act like stallion, too many books, nice clothes, not big hairy stallion like father or brother.” That was new, “Caesar has a brother?” She nodded firmly, “Big, strong, bold. Good fights, lots of drinking. Zebra say he make great leader, see how strong and stallion he is.” “And...?” “Kill young lovers, stallion first then mare. Tries to sex her, she fight. Before that, too much fight, too much trouble. Angry often, take it out on others.” Oteka turned her eyes away, obviously hurt by the memory, “Come home, covered in blood. Father sees he gain his spiral mark too.” That didn’t sound good. He wondered what a rapist and murderer cutie mark looked like, “What was it?” “Many stars, mark of demon. Father send him away, into wastes to die.” She shook her head, “Zebra not mind gentle ruler anymore, not make fun of books and dresses. Get... worried about hobbies sometimes, but Caesar good ruler, no fights and trouble.” “I... see.” “Did someone mention fights and trouble?” Dust was just about to question the mare further when a dark black shape brushed past him, sliding past to plant itself right in front of him. Dust retreated quickly, his body tensing for a fight as the armoured form shimmered in the light, visor glinting. Dust spluttered a challenge, “Who are...?” It interrupted him before he had a chance to finish, its voice like silk across a cheese grater, “Ah, was the big mercenary too entranced by Oteka’s eyes to notice me come in?” Oteka frowned, “No one talking to you Chigaru.” “Oh, really? Because I thought I heard a silly little mare talking about our mighty Caesar to a complete stranger, in far too intimate a tone.” The strange stallion stepped back a little, his motions leonine beneath his all encompassing armour, “You were always a gossip Oteka. Someone has to rein you in.” Dust really didn’t like this arrogant little shit, everything about him rubbing Dust up the wrong way. He quickly tried to steer the topic back into safer waters before it got any uglier, “You speak very good Equestrian.” “We’re not all illiterate thugs.” Chigaru chuckled to no one but himself, flexing rather disturbingly under his armour, “I spent my happiest days killing your kind, the least I could do was learn your language.” Dust grinned, “Was that an attempt to provoke me?” “Oh no.” Chigaru sounded almost sincere, though with his swarmy voice it was hard to tell, “It was a complement. I loved fighting your kind, there’s nothing I would like better than this deal to go wrong, to give me a chance to match myself in battle against Equestria again.” Dust frowned at his rather odd choice of words, “You... fought against Equestria?” Oteka explained, her voice carefully neutral, “Chigaru survivor from the war.” “Hmm...” Dust stared at the armoured zebra, enigmatic and unseen beneath his armour, “Ghoul then?” “Why don’t you look for yourself?” Chigaru chuckled, angling his head slightly. Dust made absolutely no move to call his bluff and Chigaru withdrew with a smooth giggle, “Good call. I’ve seen better days, that much is true.” Once again, Dust really didn’t like this asshole, “I presume you’re Caesar’s attack dog.” “Me and Oteka, we’re his sword and shield.” He looked to the mare, it obvious from her expression that she shared Dust's disdain, “She plays nursemaid, I bring him the hearts of his enemies.” Oteka cut him off, delivering a firm series of words in her own language. Chigaru simply laughed at her before stepping to the side a little so he could face the pair of them, “Caesar wants you both to know that you’ll be travelling to Estelle to deliver Caesar’s terms to the self proclaimed ‘King’ Abartili.” Oteka looked worried, brow furrowing, “And leave his highness’s side?” “He’s a big boy Oteka. He wishes to make sure nothing unforeseen happens to our guests.” Dust Kicker looked at the pair before asking the obvious question, “Estelle?” “Settlement on border of Land of Sands, Caesar claims it as territory.” Oteka turned to look at Dust, “King Abartili not co-operate, recruit mercenaries.” “So you’re going to take it by force?” Chigaru snorted, “We’re going to point out that even with his hired thugs we outgun him many times over. Fool is obviously trying to get his citizens killed.” Dust had seen it before, small trading settlements with three rifles among them standing up to Red Eye. Raiders he could see ponies thinking it was better to die fighting, but against an organised army? Resistance just pissed them off, “Who is this Abartili pony? He openly an idiot, or just making a stupid decision?” “Merchant king, fat lazy, but not stupid. Caesar not sure why he suddenly so stubborn.” In Dust’s experience even the smartest people occasionally got stupid, but was as suspicious as Caesar in this case. Otherwise smart warlords didn’t antagonise greater powers unless they were very sure they had an adequate deterrent or even more powerful friends, “What civilizations are there in the land of sands?” “The Ticari Federation, merchants, together for trade. Not strong enough leadership to challenge Caesar.” Chigaru yawned, “What she said, a unified response would require the consent of a dozen of the smelly, self serving bastards. Challenging Caesar is not good business.” “What about the eastern wastes?” Chigaru smirked, “Them? The speciest fucks would never accept a leader who wasn’t a zebra.” That didn’t sound encouraging. They were planning on pacifying these lands so Equestria could benefit from their fuel reserves, having the vast majority of the population hate ponies was an added complication they could do without, “They’re still sore from the war?” “Oh don’t be so logical about it.” Chigaru snorted, throwing his head up, “The war started because it’s natural for species to hate each other. The only thing holding us together was greed, and eventually the Zebra realized they were getting the bad end of the deal.” Dust frowned, this Chigaru really knowing how to irk him. He had served with griffon all his life and despite occasional bouts of misplaced pride they were among the best he knew, buffalo and minotaurs were meat headed but unfailingly decent. He hadn’t had much of a chance to work with hellhounds or zebra yet but certainly didn’t hold anything personally against them, and Star Swirl had really started to grow on him, “Personally I think it’s the ‘bad end of the deal’ thing personally. There were zebra in Equestria during the war, and they got on fine.” Chigaru sniggered nastily, “Sure, if you listen to the ministry of image.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” Chigaru sighed, the lights on his visor glinting, “Nothing. You ponies all take things so personally, especially when you’re confronted by something that counters your ‘friendship is magic’ braminshit.” “Enough Chigaru.” Oteka stated it firmly, the effect more piercing than if she had shouted. She fixed Dust with a solid gaze, “I apologize Dust Kicker. Please, tell your team to mission, I will do the same for mine.” His team? Zenai would undoubtedly have something to say about that, “Sure thing. I’ll see you later Oteka.” ~ Even despite her status as a fellow zebra it seemed Zenai left an impression, Dust finding it pretty simple to locate her through the trail of guards whose second glance she had attracted on her way through the palace. He briefly considered locating Star Swirl first, still apparently Zenai had set off for the radio room and Dust was eager to hear if she had successfully contacted the Followers. He located the room easily enough, Zenai just standing outside with her head bowed. She... looked like crap. Her eyes were dead, her face fallen, all hope drained from her. Dust Kicker had to say that he was confused, wondering what the Followers could have said to get such a reaction from her. He had a horrible feeling it was somehow related to that weird conversation with Silent Steel, his uneasiness about this operation getting more and more acute despite their initial success, “Did Fluttershy say no?” Zenai looked up in suprise, not even having noticed he was there, “No... no. She said yes. She’s coming.” “Then why do you look like you’ve been told you have six minutes to live?” “Because...” Zenai shook her head, looking scared and desperate, “It... doesn’t matter...” “Tell me.” “No!” “Zenai, tell me or I’m going home. To hell with the contract, you’re lying to me straight to my face.” The zebra peered upwards at him, deep pain in her eyes, “It’s nothing to do with you or your money you greedy little... mercenary! You’re fine!” Dust felt a little relieved, it’s true. He still wasn’t satisfied however, “Then it’s about you? Fluttershy replacing you?” “I... yes, I guess so...” “That’s rather cold. Didn’t think the Followers were that brutal.” Zenai puffed out her cheeks, hesitating for a few brief moments before finally breathing it out, body deflating as she did so, “I... wasn’t even supposed to be here. I lied to get this mission.” Dust raised an eyebrow. This was unexpected to be sure, Dust trying to work out quite what that meant, “You... you’re not a diplomat?” “I’m a librarian.” “Well... fuck me. Why?” Zenai glared sullenly at him, “I had my reasons.” “So I guess the Followers were angry.” “Angry?” She chuckled, not particularly happily, “I... they kicked me out Dust Kicker. They kicked me out of the Followers.” Dust felt a small itch of sympathy for the filly, still it wasn’t much. She had to realise it would lead to this, it wasn’t like she had knocked over their favourite pot plant, “You hijacked their peace project, impersonated a higher level member in negotiations with other factions. You thought they would just let you back in?” “No, but... I didn’t...” Zenai shook her head, almost tearful for a second. She gulped back a burst of emotion, looking up at Dust Kicker with lonely, desperate eyes, “They kicked Star Swirl out too! She didn’t have anything to do with this!” Dust had to say, this made him twitch, “You got her into this.” “But she didn’t know what the consequences were, I never told her anything...” “And that just makes her naive and your crimes even worse.” Dust faced her head on, eye to eye with the zebra, “These things have consequences. Star Swirl would have been in trouble just for being your friend, by following you she’s an open co-conspirator.” Zenai shook her head, trying to deny it, “I know, but... I didn’t...” “Was it worth it?” “Yes.” Zenai stated it flat and hard, eyes focused and determined once again. She nodded her head to emphasize her point, “I never wanted Star Swirl to get hurt... but this is bigger than me and her. I needed to do this.” “And you won’t tell me what your reasons were?” Zenai stared firmly at him, “Dust Kicker, you’re a mercenary. I can’t trust you.” Fair enough. He wasn’t about to let her go that easily though, “Is it to do with you being a zebra?” “What?” Zenai’s face contorted in anger, real, fierce and explosive. She slammed a hoof down, head extending forth as she yelled back at him, “How could you even think that? Is that how far we’ve come, that I’m still considered a traitor because of the colour of my coat?” Dust simply snorted, not about to allow himself to get trapped like that, “It’s not me who thinks you’re the traitor. And if you don’t tell me anything I’m forced to guess.” “I love Equestria. My family have lived in Equestria for four generations, my great, great grandfather worked in the Academy for Gifted Unicorns. He was honoured for his service twice!” Zenai’s hoof thudded against her chest a couple of times, “You know what, Caesar’s right. I am a zebra who thinks she’s an earth pony. I’m the only one who seems to care about Equestria these days, instead of grasping for power like the Twilight Society or Applejack Rangers.” Dust shook his head at the little filly, so full of righteous justice. He had seen it too many times before, “You honestly believe, I get it. I’m not sure that’s better. An honest believer is one of the scariest things on this planet, because it allows them to do the craziest shit with no regrets.” “You miserable old... gah!” Zenai shook her head violently, ponytail whipping about like a flail. She repeatedly stomped the ground, glaring upwards at Dust Kicker with fury, “You... you...” “Are you looking for the word ‘fuck’?” Zenai withdrew her rage back into herself, leaving it simmering quietly behind her eyes as she continued to take slow, deep breaths, “My father raised me better than that. He raised me to care about ponies, to try and make this world a better place! You act all superior, mocking me, and Regina... you talk about her now, but I bet you were right along with everyone else in mocking Littlepip before she came out and saved the fucking world!” “You think you’re the Lightbringer little hayseed?” “Someone has to be!” Zenai’s petulant little face glared up at him, “If you only know what the Twilight Society and Applejack Rangers have been doing...” Dust Kicker chuckled, “Don’t want to know. Don’t care.” “You... you’re trying to get a rise out of me. You’re trying to get me to... monologue or something?” Zenai looked honestly hurt by this, averting her eyes and looking abashed, “Is that what you think I am? A villain?” Dust kept his impassive face. The filly was really too easy, “As I said, you won’t tell me anything.” Zenai turned her head back to Dust Kicker, desperation in her eyes now. Her voice was low and husky, strained by her histrionics, “I need you Dust Kicker, I need you to help me. I can’t outthink you, you know that... and you’re right here with me. Keep as close an eye as you want, try and stop me if I’m doing something wrong. I just want to help Equestria, you have to believe that.” That puppy dog face, the flattery of his abilities, outright saying that she ‘needed him’? Did she think he was born yesterday? Still... this was a job, one he was still getting paid for. He didn’t believe Zenai was openly fanatical or insane, just driven and foolish. By staying he could keep a close eye on her, and by accepting her offer he would allow her to become overconfident in his ability to manipulate him... “Fine. But I’m doing this for Star Swirl. She believes in you.” Zenai gave a sad nod, “I know she does. She’s right to, she understands.” Dust repressed a snort. Star Swirl was following Zenai for various reasons, envy of her conviction, a deep seated crush and fear of losing the one real friend she had, but he wasn’t really sure identification with her goals was one of them. He wasn’t going to say that though, not about to make the same mistake as Zenai in openly revealing his emotional weaknesses, “Remember though, I’m your mercenary, not your friend. You put me in a bad situation and I’m waving my fee and getting the hell out. My life is worth a lot to me.” Zenai nodded softly, “Fine. Are you going to tell Star Swirl about this?” “You kidding?” Dust Kicker gave a joyless smile, turning about and walking away into the corridor beyond, “Tell Star Swirl that you got her kicked out of the one family she has in disgrace? That’s all yours honey.” _______________________________________ Footnote: Level up! (18) New Perk Added: Sceptic - “Well, I still don't believe all this... "special power" stuff. It's just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo!” You are less than convinced by all this mystical nonsense. You gain a 10% damage resistance or chance of failure (as appropriate) against common magic, increasing to 20% against more esoteric supernatural forces (not including beneficial effects from close allies). This fanfiction is based on Fallout Equestria by Kkat, it is highly recommended that you read that first for context. Reading Fallout Equestria: Pink Eyes by Mimezinga will help understanding, but isn’t required. Many of the characters and much of the setting are not mine but are on loan from the very awesome Kkat, or are taken from My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic by Hasbro. This story makes no pretentions at being canon with either, and is merely a ‘what-if’ set in the same world. If you enjoy Fallout Equestria Side Stories, you will want to check the Fallout Equestria Side Stories post on Equestria Daily and the Fallout Equestria Side Stories thread on Ponychan.