Fallout Equestria: False Notions

by Chaotic Dreams

Subterranean

        “Here is your room,” our escort announced to us, his yellow eyes regarding us warily. I think his name was Orion. Like the rest of the lunar pegasi, his coat was very dark in color, and the pupils of his eyes were tall, menacing slits. Two large bat wings were pressed neatly against either side of his dark grey torso, shifting slightly every few seconds to maintain his balance. He motioned with a hoof to the space we were supposedly going to live in for the next few days or so. It was cozy and surprisingly well-furnished, with smooth, glossy wooden paneling underneath our hooves and creamy yellow walls. There were chairs and a rug and a coffee table to complete the look. It kinda reminded me of Mom’s house. Except cleaner.

        “Thank you, kind sir.” Diz’s teeth flashed at the stallion, but they quickly hid behind his lips to avoid a ferocious yellow glare.

        “I can’t believe I have to give a room to a Luna-damned draconequus and a fuckin’ zebra... thing,” Orion grumbled as we entered the room, turning and ending his rant with a powerful slam of the door via his back leg. I think I felt the floor shudder beneath my hooves, and suffice it to say that I freaked out a little bit.

        No, don’t mind that I was clinging to Diz’s arm for dear life. The thought of a building collapsing while I was in it just kinda unsettled me. I wasn’t freaking out. Totally.

        “Uh... Nuke? Can you let go of me? You’re making my arm fall asleep,” Diz laughed, wiggling his limb to coax me off.

        “Sorry,” I said as I released it, parking my rear on the floor and gazing out the window. Orion may not have liked us, but the room he gave us certainly had a view. There was a whole city of these bat-pegasi beneath Applewood, with multitudes of buildings constructed in a huge hollowed-out cavern underground, lit by buzzing fluorescent lights. Diz said that it reminded him of his ‘The City’ back in his homeland.

        Focusing, I could see that this place was quite well-populated. There were whole families here, as I could tell from the little bat-winged foals playing in the parks and the soft-eyed parents passively watching them, making sure they stayed safe. I felt a sudden pang of loneliness, remembering all the times Mom had taken me outside to play, just like those foals. I never had any friends back then... but I had Mom. I could still remember her smile, her laugh, the twinkle in her soft eyes whenever she saw me happy. I remember her embrace, and how she used to read me bedtime stories at night and kiss me on the forehead just before turning off the lights.

        A wet fire kindled behind my eyes and in my chest, and I swallowed, trying to keep myself from breaking down. Not in front of the others. But, as I looked on to the foals laughing and squealing as they ran and jumped and played tag, my muscles began to feel weak. And then I laid eyes on a mother nuzzling her young foal, a gentle smile on her face, and the floodgates creaked open.

        “He sure has a chip on his shoulder,” Mono snarked, obviously referring to our gracious host. “You’re not mad at him, are you, Diz?”

        “Nah, not really.” Diz chuckled. “I’m kinda used to it by now. I’m not sure about Nuke, though.” There was silence for a few seconds. “...Nuke?”

        More silence. The only sounds in the room were my irregular breathing and a soft plip as a tear dripped off my chin.

        “I think it might have hit him a bit hard,” Mono whispered. I wasn’t entirely sure if they knew I was crying. “Look at his ears.” Huh? Oh, they were folded, universal pony body language for ‘I’m upset.’ I tried to perk them back up, but they quickly fell as I futilely groped for a reason to be happy. Surrendering, I lowered my face into my forehooves, shaking.

        “You okay, kid?” I hesitantly lifted my gaze to my mismatched companion. He had floated to my side without me noticing, gazing at my glistening cheeks with two gentle, sympathetic crimson eyes. Frowning, he reached over my withers with his dragon claw and brought me close to him, a gesture that I gladly accepted, burying my face into his soft fur. “Nuke?”

The occasional hiccup leapt up from my suppressed sobs, shaking my body and racking me with shivers. I’ve been called much worse than ‘zebra thing’, but I didn’t feel like telling anypony about Mom, so I stayed quiet. My entire body felt cold, empty and hollow. I still felt awful. I wanted my mother back.

“Shh... It’s alright, li’l bro...”

Hold on, what did he just call me? Did he see me as a stand-in for—oh. Ohhh... I suddenly felt sad for him, but I just nuzzled further into his coat instead of asking about it. I needed this hug... maybe he did too.

I really wouldn’t mind being a sibling to him, anyway.

“Well, isn’t that cute.” Chrome’s voice had a sharp edge to it, and it stung. Her sister whinnied in shock and disapproval.

        “Chrome! We’ve been over this,” Mono hissed. “Stop. Now.”

        “But he’s—”

        “Chrome!”

        A defeated grunt met my ears. “Okay, fine. Whatever.”

        I lifted my head out of the damp patch I had created on Diz’s coat, looking around. I could swear there was a tendril of lightning hissing and crackling between the twins’ eyes. White Light was fluttering about the room, taking various books off of the shelves bolted to the walls and skimming through them. Sunfire was sitting in a very strange upright position on one of the chairs, her cyan wings tucked in tight against her sides. Her posture looked uncomfortable, but the relaxed smile on her face suggested otherwise.

        Diz cleared his throat, his voice barely above a whisper. “Uhm... I-I’m sorry for asking this, but...” Oh, great. “I’ve been wondering... Are you... uhm.. part... zebra, or something?” When I didn’t turn to face him, he grew quiet.

        Wait, had he not figured it out yet? I kinda thought from White Light’s rationalization of my alchemical skills and Chrysalis calling me a ‘zebra mule’ that Diz and the others would’ve already concluded that I was half zebra. I looked up at Diz, my maroon eyes meeting his, and stared for a long moment before giving the tiniest of nods. His eyebrows jumped up, but he said nothing.

        Then, with a small smile, he ran an index claw along one of the stripes of my face, chuckling quietly to himself. “Ooh, chaos...” he whispered in approval. He was right, I guess—ponies and zebras weren’t supposed to mix like this. I was pretty chaotic. Maybe that caused him to like me, since draconequui love things that don’t make sense. I half-expected him to start gushing about my mix-and-match genetics to the others, but after he no more than glanced at them before looking back at me, it seemed that he wouldn’t. Oh, thank Celestia... he was more sensitive than he let on.

        Ker-chak. Turning my head, I saw that our room’s door had opened to reveal another lunar pegasus, this one female and with green eyes. She was smiling, balancing a tray of little white bars on her bat wings. They looked like bars of soap, but the delightful scent that suddenly flooded the room told me that it was actually food.

Yay, food!

“Room service,” she announced, bending her front legs and letting the tray slide off her back onto the wooden floor.

        I stared at Diz, my sorrow having mostly run its course. “W-we ordered room service?”

        “No worries — I paid for it,” Sunfire chimed from her chair, reclining and releasing a soft sigh of contentment. She sunk into it, and for a moment I was afraid that it was going to swallow her up. “Traded some stuff we got from that crazy laboratory.”

        I frowned as a wave of guilt washed over me, the memory of what I was forced to do to her still fresh in my mind. Thank Celestia she hadn’t been badly burnt, saved by the strange magic that coursed through those metal arms.

        Speaking of the laboratory, if it hadn’t been for Nocturne, we would probably never have escaped. She had opened a solid pathway through many of the testing chambers, allowing us to reach her, before opening another pathway for us to get out. Mono had been helping me levitate Diz along with us, after he passed out. I was the one who insisted on taking him with us instead of leaving him to die in the laboratory, because... well... he was the first real friend I’d had since my mother died, and the only creature who seemed to actually like me because I was so different. It just didn’t feel right to leave him.

        With Nocturne’s help, we escaped the crazy freakin’ science labyrinth of science, the front door of the facility dumping us back in the robot-infested city of Applewood. Fortunately, instead of us having to deal with the disk-laser robots again, our friend kindly guided us to a secret passageway that led far, far underground.

        And here we were, in the city of bat-pegasi. Nocturne had led us to this hotel of sorts, then we said our goodbyes.

        ...Oh man, those food bar things smelled tasty. “Thanks, Sunfire!” A flash of my horn and one of them was floating in front of my face. Jeeze, it really did look like a bar of soap. It was obviously synthesized instead of grown, but hey, it smelled delicious.

        Chomp.

        It was like Celestia herself had blessed my tongue. It was hot and creamy and it melted in my mouth, smoothly gliding down my throat like warm tomato soup and effortlessly warming up my stomach. “Mmm...”

        I noticed that Diz had been giving a questioning look to the delectable food bars, now specifically at the one in my fiery telekinetic grasp. “Is that a bar of soap?” I almost choked on my bite in amusement.

        “Well, if Nuke likes it, then...” After making sure that I had calmed down from my previous distress, Diz slithered away to the platter, the others gathering in suit. Good ponies — leave me alone with my food.

        “What are these, anyway?” Sunfire asked, her gaze locked on our dinner. “Soap?” My face red, I couldn’t keep myself from snickering, ducking my head into one of my forelegs and lightly pounding the floor with the other. I was definitely getting weird looks. After taking a bite, Sunfire’s expression glossed over with pure bliss. Yeah, it’s kinda like that, Sunny.

        The others reacted in a similar way, except for White Light, who claimed that the bars had no flavor and that he felt insulted by the waiter. Thankfully, Sunfire stopped him before he was able to storm out and voice his complaints.

        Our stomachs filled, we all started to slow down a bit. I wasn’t entirely sure, but I think it was getting close to midnight. I couldn’t exactly see the sky from down here. My eyelids were getting heavy, and smooth silk gently brushed the length of my spine and neck. My mind was fogging, reality giving way to fantasy. I was getting sleepy. The others were still chatting away, although they too were beginning to tire.

        The unhitching of the door announced the return of our waiter, who picked up the serving tray in her teeth before turning to leave. I held out a hoof to her. “Wait.”

        She dropped the tray, smiling at me. “Yes, young one?”

        “What time is it?”

        “It’s one-thirteen AM.” My eyes widened in surprise, and my front hooves were immediately on the windowsill. “Yes, there are many ponies up and about. Down here, it doesn’t matter if it’s day or night, so ponies just sleep when they see fit. It’s also why we’re encouraged to be quiet at all times — somepony could be sleeping nearby.” She smiled at me. “Are you getting tired?”

        I hummed the approval, trotting to and laying down next to the nearest soft thing. I was tuckered out from today’s craziness. “Thanks for telling me,” I yawned, resting my head.

        It took me a few seconds to realize that the ‘soft thing’ was Diz, and I flinched. I jerked away in panic, but he just smiled at me.

        “Aww,” the waiter said with a little smile. I stared daggers at her, but she just chuckled and left. Grr. I was not cute! With an angry snort, I turned back to Diz.

        “C’mere, Nuke.” The draconequus beckoned at me with two fingers, and I reluctantly complied, my seething anger replaced with curiosity. I lied down next to him, resting my head against his side, and he nimbly curled around my smaller form.

        “Diz?” I asked quietly, my head nestled in the crook of his neck. He was still really soft. He made a good pillow, and a great blanket. My back left hoof was still furless from its regrowth, and it had been stinging in the cold air all day, but my friend’s body heat seemed to be nullifying it. For the first time in a while, I felt relatively safe.

        His rabbit ear twitched. “Yeah?”

        I paused for a moment, collecting my thoughts. “...Why?”

        He swallowed, and I felt his adam’s apple move next to my head. “I’m just trying to be a good big brother this time.”

        This time.

…I guess he needed this a lot more than I did.

        I heard a yawn from the other side of the room. “Those two have the right idea... Let’s hit the hay.” Mono’s voice was accompanied by a sharp click, and then there was complete darkness aside from the gentle glow of the city lights filtering in through the window. I closed my eyes, letting my fantasies drag me away from the world to the soft sound of Diz’s breathing.

        My saddlebags bounced with each step I took, the caps inside jingling softly. The city — the bat-pegasi here called it the Catacombs — was as dark and sunless as always. I still didn’t know what time it was, but the ponies I saw walking to and fro seemed to have wildly varying body clocks. There were ponies who looked disheveled as if they’d just woken up, ponies who looked and acted spick-and-spin, and ponies who were absolutely dead tired. And the foals, who seemed to always be hyperactive regardless.

        My group needed some supplies, so I opted to go out and see if I could purchase any from around town. Sunfire and Mono came with me, just in case I were to be attacked. Judging by how Orion acted yesterday, the lunar pegasi were not fond of zebras, and I very much looked like one. Just with a horn. And green.

        “Are you a zebra, mister?” yet another foal asked me. I looked down to see a pair of tiny red eyes with slitted pupils gazing up at me in wonderment. It took me a while to notice that these pegasi had teeth designed to cut and shred meat, unlike normal ponies. Fangs. I didn’t notice it last night, but I chalk that one up to it being one-thirteen in the morning.

        “No,” I half-lied with a smile and a shake of my head.

        The foal’s ears folded. “But... you have stripes n’ stuff!”

        I tapped my horn. “I also have a horn. Obviously, I’m a unicorn.” The little filly’s eyes scanned me quizzically for a moment, flicking between my horn and the rest of my body before she was snatched away by her mother. The older pony looked at me with a mixture of hatred and fear.

        “Don’t talk to the zebra, sweetie...” she scolded. “Zebras are the reason we live down here.” Her foal scowled up at her.

        “He says he’s a unicorn, not a zebra!”

        The mother simply grabbed her filly, took one last look at me, and jumped into the air to fly away. I sighed morosely. I was not enjoying this. It was like my childhood all over again.

        Don’t ask.

        A cyan hoof slung around my shoulders, and a voice said into my ear, “Hey... don’t worry, okay? We know you’re not a zebra.” I smiled a half-smile at that. She didn’t know the truth, but maybe I would tell her — and the rest of my friends — later. I was... still a little scared of how they’d react. I took a huge shot in the dark when I told Diz, but draconequui love things that don’t make sense, so that didn’t really count. Telling the others was like jumping off a cliff and diving headfirst into the tides below, completely unaware of how deep it’ll be where I touch down. I might crack my skull.

Chrome really, really didn’t like me. I could tell by how she acted. If I told everyone that I was part zebra, she would probably be eager to shoot first and ask questions later. I shuddered.

Shaking my head for a moment, I pressed forward. I felt hundreds of eyes on me, their expressions a homogenous blend of hatred and fear. Ignore them, I told myself. Just ignore them.

After hobbling through the city for twenty minutes, passing several shops selling a variety of commodities (including soap — I cracked up all over again), we came across what looked like a gun store. A white lunar pegasus, possibly an albino, looked up at me with sapphire eyes. He looked young, around my age. “Can I help you?” His light, airy voice was unfalteringly friendly, dripping with ‘the customer is always right’ vibes.

I placed my front hooves on the table, and the snow-white pony flinched and squeaked. My eyes roamed over the back wall, at the nailed-in-hooks and the various firearms they held. Hmm... those price tags were hefty.

Sunfire was fluttering just above me, a hoof curiously rubbing her chin. A very well-polished high-powered magnum pistol caught her eye, and her face lit up. “Oh! Oh!” My vision began to jerk left and right. “Can I have that big handgun?”

“S-Sunfire,” I stuttered, taking a step away from her. “I’m not sure if we can afford that...” I motioned to the gun, more specifically the piece of paper duct-taped to the wall beneath it. ‘500 CAPS’ was hastily scratched on it in dark black ink. My pegasus friend pouted, planting her hooves on the ground behind me.

“If we’re low on cash, we should get some more.” Two silvery eyes stared down at me from Mono’s white face, sat upon two shoulders that stood higher than most ponies. I looked at her like she had two heads before turning to Sunfire.

“You mean like, get jobs?” I asked. I motioned to the cyan wing of my friend. “Seeing as everypony here can fly, I think only White and Sunny would fit the ticket...”

“Sunny?” The pegasus standing next to me gave me a silly grin. “Is that your nickname for me?”

I blinked. “Uhh...”

While I was mowing over ways to explain myself, Mono had struck up a conversation with the salescolt. “Can I get some fifteen millimeter rounds too? Good for tearing up robots.”

“Right away!” The little albino bat-pegasus was much more sociable when talking to Mono, probably because she didn’t resemble a zebra. Ducking out of view for a moment, he soon popped back up with a few magazines of bullets in his teeth. The rounds were scattered across the bartering table. “That’ll be forty caps.”

        Mono’s silvery eyes blinked, before her face fell into a pitiful frown. “Oh... we don’t have quite that much... Will you take thirty-five?”

        “Alright?” Several rounds of ammunition were deposited into my saddlebag by colorless wisps. Mono turned her head just enough so the salescolt couldn’t see one of her eyes, and then winked at me with it. I smirked. We definitely had enough caps for those bullets, but thankfully adolescents weren’t worldly enough to detect a well-executed sham. But I happened to have two adults with me! Ha ha!

        “Thank you so much!” Mono leaned over the counter and gave the colt an affectionate nuzzle, which he humorously shied away from. Ah, good ol’ Mono — going the extra mile to make herself look believable.

        Later, we had gathered around a very large fountain in the town square. Smooth, perfect sheets of crystal-clear water reflected light like liquid mirrors as they twisted and contorted into spectacular patterns on their journey into the pool below. I swear, I spent fifteen minutes just staring at the water. The trajectory was so perfect that it looked like a vibrating glass sculpture. I could see right through it. It was hypnotizing.

        Tearing my gaze away for just a moment, I realized that I was not the only one engrossed with the sight. Many bat-pegasi were gathered around it, staring at it like zombies, oblivious to the world around them. Some were even sticking their hooves into the cascading sheets of water, fascinated by how smooth it felt and the way it parted seamlessly around their limbs. They didn’t even notice me.

        As luck would have it, I accidentally stepped on one’s tail as I got up and left. The sudden pull on her hindquarters perked her ears and turned her head, and she gasped, her wings snapping out behind her. I laid a striped hoof across my mouth in response. “Shh.”

        Blinking, she eyed me as I walked away, but her attention was steadily retaken by the fountain. I laughed softly and returned to Mono, who had parked herself on a bench. “Any luck?” I asked.

        “I dunno... Sunfire’s not back yet.” She motioned down a street with one hoof. “She went that way looking for something we could do for caps.” We weren’t exactly low on caps, per se, but I had a backbreaking hunch that our funds would become that way very soon if we didn’t have a source of income. Seeing as we’d be staying here for a few days...

        As if on cue, a rush of wind blew my mane sideways as our friend landed next to me, vomiting a torrent of words into my ear. “Guys guys guys! I found somepony who could really use some help with something! Youseeheworksatahospitalandhe’srunninglowonherbsandhewantedto—mph!” The vocal deluge that was making my head spin was stopped by a white hoof stuffing itself into Sunny’s mouth.

        “Slow down, sister,” Mono laughed. “Say that again? Slower?”

        The pegasus took a deep breath. “Well there’s this pony who works at the hospital—er, yeah, these ponies have a hospital—and he told me that he’s almost out of medicinal plants that he uses to cure ailments and stuff. We could go get some for him! He said he would pay us handsomely!” She accentuated the  last word by drawing a horizontal line in the air with her hoof. “Can we go? Please?” An eager grin split her face as she nodded vigorously at us, strands of her cerulean mane falling every which way.

        As soon as we gave even the slightest hint of ‘yes’, she practically dragged us off by our tails. She probably would have done it literally had we refused.

        
“I see you’ve fetched your friends.”

        The bat-pegasus was an old one, his black fur disheveled and face wrinkled with age. The muscles in his wings, scarcely used in his senior years, were weak with atrophy. The bifocals balanced on his snout shifted as he smiled at us. “A unicorn and a—... Oh.” His head turned to face me, but his smile didn’t falter, his amethyst eyes glowing with grandfatherly wisdom. “You’re a unique one, aren’t you?”

        My ears folded against my scalp, but I said nothing. He simply chortled warmly. “I’d wager that you’re the offspring of a unicorn and a zebra. Very well,” he concluded, shifting his weight backward until he fell into his rocking chair.

        Cold seeped up my neck, and I turned my head ever-so-slightly to look at my friends. They were both staring at me, but their eyes snapped away as soon as they noticed that I was staring back. “That’s ridiculous,” I refuted, trying my best to keep my voice level.

        “I’m old, boy. I’ve seen quite a bit, and I know what you are. But I’m also too old to judge.” He laughed to himself. “Now, didn’t the nutty blue one say that you would give an old stallion a hoof with his work?”

        Some of my anxiety gave way to amusement, and I smiled, happy for a momentary change of subject. “Nutty?” Sunfire echoed in bewilderment.

        “What was it you needed help with again?” Mono asked.

        A wrinkled hoof tapped a grey chin. “Oh, yes... you see, I’m running low on an important plant that I use to make medicine for the local ponies. Silkroot composes the chemical base of most of my medicine, so without it, I’m at a loss.”

        “So you want us to get it for you?” I asked with a smile. Looks like this would result in some easy caps. I idly wondered why he couldn’t just go get them himself, but I kept quiet.

        He nodded sagely. “Yes. Unfortunately, the only place they grow in abundance is crawling with radigators.” Oh Celestia damn it. There just had to be a catch, didn’t there? “But you young’uns probably won’t have trouble. Probably.” He smirked.

        “Uh huh...” My friends had resumed staring at me, and my face lit up like a Hearth’s Warming Eve light as I began to feel extremely uncomfortable. I stared back at them with pleading eyes.

        “The Silkroot ‘farms’ are just north of the catacombs, so it ain’t a long walk. But watch your step. Don’t wanna get pulled under all the muck by one of the creatures lurking within.” His eyes sparkled at me, and I began to wonder if he was intentionally trying to scare me. Perhaps he wasn’t too old to judge a pony by their fur pattern after all. Jerk.

        Nodding and barely suppressing a fiery glare, I promptly made my way out of the one-floor hospital, my friends following. The interior was covered with tile that was so damn shiny that the lights were making my eyes hurt. I was relieved when I finally got out of there.

        Since pegasi have a natural sense of direction due to a small deposit of magnetite in their foreheads, I asked Sunfire which way North was. After taking a seat and rubbing her chin for a moment, she flicked her hoof in some direction, and off we went. Gator huntin’. Fer weeds. I almost wished I had a straw hat and a stalk of wheat to chew on to complete the image.

        Even after the buildings had dwindled and given way to dripping stalactites in a dark tunnel (Mono was providing light with her horn, but it was obstructively dim), the uncomfortable silence that had settled over our group yet remained.

        A cyan figure silently fluttered next to me. “Nuke...?”

        “Do you think we’re almost there, Sunfire?” I rebutted. I had a hunch of what she was planning to ask me about. By the way Mono’s horn-light was flickering, perhaps she was deep in thought about the very same subject.

        “I-I dunno, but... I wanted to ask about what that stallion said about y—”

        I fixed her with an incriminating glare coupled with a clearing of my throat. I did not want to talk about that. I very slowly shook my head, taking note of Mono silently listening in the background, her ears perked with attention. Her head turned away as she realized that I had caught her staring, the shadows on the walls dancing.

The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife as I locked eyes with Sunfire. “Was he right?” she asked.

        I heaped as much ‘drop this subject right now’ undertone as I could into my voice, which unfortunately lowered it to a furious growl. “No.” She looked taken aback for a moment, but I could tell that she could see right through my lie. She looked at me softly, sympathy and pity mingling in her eyes. Familiar icy fingers gripped the back of my neck. “No!” I repeated, louder.

        “Nuke...”

        Ugh, screw it! With a frustrated growl, I lit my horn and took off ahead of my friends, ignoring their voices as they shouted after me in worry. Why didn’t they get it!? Yes I’m a half-zebra, I don’t want to talk about it! If I confirmed it, Mono would tell her sister, and then she would shoot me!

I then learned that running with one’s eyes closed will almost certainly result in their face getting acquainted with the ground. I laid there, groaning for a moment, before violently dragging my hooves down over my ears as I heard hoofsteps approaching. My blood was boiling, my temples searing with hot fire as I drew in short, frustrated breaths, the cold hand of fear still gripping my neck. I felt angry and upset and scared all at the same time, and I wasn’t sure which one to heed. My mind was a roiling, lashing mess of emotions and I couldn’t think straight.

One of my friends was talking to me. I wanted her to stop, to leave me alone. I felt a gentle hoof on my withers. “I’m sorry...” an equally gentle voice said into my folded ear. “I’m sorry... I... I just won’t bring it up again...”

Yeah, sure, you won’t talk about it ever again, you won’t whisper about it behind my back, you won’t be plotting to beat me up just like everyone else just like everyone else JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE—

Wait. Wait. No, that wasn’t right. No one ever did that to me. My childhood was lonely, but it was great. I never really went outside the house, staying mostly with Mom. I didn’t need to. The world outside sucked. I never went outside, and there weren’t ponies who would walk up to me with rusty lead pipes. I wasn’t held down. They never hit me. I never cried out for help. I always received it. Everypony around me cared. The ponies nearby didn’t just stand back and watch and... laugh. There aren’t multitudes of various scars on my belly underneath my fur. It’s just dirt. Dirt that won’t wash off for some reason.

What was I doing again? I lifted my head up and looked behind me, noting the concerned expressions of Mono and Sunfire. I wiped some liquid off of my cheeks, but my eyes were still burning for some reason.

“Are you okay, Nuke?” the taller white pony asked. When I didn’t answer, she shoved her elbow into the pegasus next to her.

“What?” Sunfire whispered in befuddlement, flapping her wings to regain her balance and turn around.

“Look what you did! I knew he didn’t want to talk about it. I wasn’t going to ask. Why did you?!” Mono hissed, her eyes softening as they briefly flicked to me, before hardening again as they focused on Sunfire.

“I’m sorry, okay?!” A cyan hoof slammed into the rocky floor of the cave with indignation. “I didn’t think this would happen!”

“Can you not read body language? Every time someone associates him with a zebra, he gets quiet and anxious and gets into a posture to run away. Maybe he is associated with them somehow, but I don’t think it’s anything bad. Personally, I think he’s scared of how ponies will treat him because of how he looks.” I winced; she was dead on. Apparently she knew more about me than I thought. “That in mind, you shouldn’t just bring it up of nowhere and demand answers! That’s... that’s rude!” I began to suspect that they no longer cared if I could hear them.

A blue jaw hung open, before Sunfire’s chest swelled as she raised her voice. “I didn’t demand answers from him!! I just wanted to know if... if...” Her voice grew quiet as she reluctantly cast her gaze my way. Her eyes had a slight shimmer to them. “I’m sorry, Nuke... I didn’t mean to pry...”

I stood up, shaking myself off as I faced them. “It’s fine,” I muttered dejectedly, before turning around and continuing on our path. At least I now knew that Mono already suspected my zebra heritage, but wasn’t going to tell her sister. Oh, thank Luna.

Unless Chrome already knew. When I felt the freezing hand closing around my neck again, I shook my head to dispel the thought. I was a little tired of being afraid, especially since this little fiasco brought back a very unpleasant memor—No. What memory? My childhood was great. Quit looking at me like that.

        The dirt on my chest stung as I walked, sore from my previous impact with the ground. A small green flame flickered at the tip of my horn, sending waves of uncomfortable, burning heat down the length of my body. I didn’t like it, but the dim grey light from Mono was barely bright enough to navigate by, let alone see details with. I don’t think Mono was too happy about it, judging by the look she gave me, but... I needed more light.

        Over time, the air in the cave became damper, and I wa fairly certain I wasn’t walking on something dry. It sloshed around my hooves as I tried to walk through it, and every step I took caused me to sink a bit deeper. Ewgh...

        A noise whispered into my ears from all directions, sounding almost like rats scurrying about, although looking around in the green light from my horn-flame I could not see any other creatures in the vicinity. Until I looked down and came face-to-face with two glowing yellow eyes staring up at me from just beneath the surface of the muck.

        Uh oh.

Hooves on stone make an interesting sound; a very sharp clacking noise. With the throngs of ponies milling around, it sounded like thousands of tiny rocks were falling everywhere in the cavern at all times. Aimlessly wandering was a surefire recipe for disaster and death in the wasteland above, but here in the cavern, it felt like the norm. As the saying goes; when in Roan, do as the Roans do. It felt so... surreal to find such peace in here. For once, I could actually see foals running around, not in pain or in fear, but in joy and laughter. Soon, I arrived at the fountain. Seeing as the ground was covered with observers, I decided to give my wings a little workout. Spreading them, I tensed a little, then took to the skies. While weaving in between some of the flying lunar-pegasi, I took the opportunity to observe the fountain.

It was an amazing sight to behold. Apparently, a high-pressure stream was running directly under the cavern, so some of the lunar-pegasi decided to not risk the possibility of the water pressure breaking the floor and instead used it to make a ‘natural’ fountain. The result of this was an incredible vista where the water rose out of the fountain, curved in mid-air and bounced off the foundations. The water then curved back in on itself, splitting off in different directions. This generated a slight mist around the middle region of the fountain, while at the bottom the water curved and twisted. It was truly a magnificent sight. Soon, I was aimlessly wandering again. I really need to keep track of what I’m doing, else I may end up in trouble, I thought to myself. An incessant ringing noise sparked my curiosity, and I soon ended up walking to the source. As I was walking, I met some... thing that, frankly, scared me more than anything.

        “Hey, its my pony, Whitey! What’s up brony? Wandering around too?”

Diz. The... abomination....

        “Hello again, Diz. I’m quite surprised to see you here, and—...what are you doing?” I asked, pointing at a cart that he was pulling just behind him. It was piled high with scrap metal, everything from broken gaskets to slightly dented pistols, some of which even looked like we could use.

        “Oh, this thing?” he asked, gripping the cart and giving it a gentle shake for emphasis. “I’m taking this to Mr. Forge’s forge! He says that he’ll give us 50 caps for every full cart I bring in, and he even lets us keep some of the nice guns that he doesn’t want! Hey, I’ve got an extra cart here; why don’t you come along too?”

        If it were any other pony, I would have accepted in a heartbeat, but this, ‘draconequus’, he... it seemed so... impossible, as if its... his existence in the world was a complete mockery of the laws of the universe. Even though he was... complex, he did save us from loads of things, and it’s only fair to help him. And the chance to visit another forge... ah, Luck is a wonderful mistress!

        “Well, this forge does sound intriguing, and 100 caps a trip is nothing to scoff at. Hoof over the extra cart, if you would be so kind?” I tried to keep my voice neutral, but judging from how he scrunched up his face a little, I knew that he noticed my hesitance of him.

Filling the carts was an easy task, and it also allowed me to gather my thoughts. I constantly asked myself, why am I so aggressive towards him? Actually, when did I start hating him? At Applewood? In the test chambers? After rescuing Forty-four? Sadly, the cart was filled too soon, and the tense atmosphere returned like a miasma, throttling both of us.

"Ooh! It's so wobbly! This spring is soooo cool! Look Whitey, look! It wiggles and wobbles and waddles so chaotically!"

Well, one of us, at least...

Glancing at him, he actually didn't seem too bad. If only he wasn't so weird. He did genuinely seem to care for Nuclear, even though he was a zebra. I think. I don’t think there were any zebra unicorns out there. If my suspicions were correct, one could only imagine his childhood, and how scarred he might’ve come out of it.

I cleared my throat. "Diz, what do you think about Nuclear Force?"

A stiffening of mismatched shoulders. "What about him?" Brows creasing.

"I'm not trying to be hostile or blame him for anything, believe me. I just want to have your honest opinion of him."

Tensed muscles relaxing.

"Well, speaking honestly, it's kinda obvious that my lil bro's a ‘you-know-what’, even though he keeps denying it. To me, as ironic as it sounds, what he really needs is some... ’harmony’ or 'normalcy' in his life." A weary sigh escaped from his lips, signalling his displeasure with much of the world. “I remember what he told me this morning...” he began, his voice uncharacteristically quiet. He cast a somber gaze at the ground. “It doesn't matter if someone is a ‘battle-hardened warrior’ or not. That kind of childhood... it would surely dent their psyche."

I stared at him with wide eyes. “Childhood? What did he tell you?” He then gave me a look that suggested I was prying into very private information, so I quieted myself. He looked at the ground again. It was quite jarring, to see Diz looking so melancholic, but something kept bothering me nevertheless.

"Erm... So that's the reason you're constantly looking out for him, am I correct?"

He laughed, the short bark echoing in the cavern. "Doesn't matter if he's a zebra or not, can you just look at those huge eyes and that adorable face without thinking 'Aww, he's sooooo cute!' I mean, seriously, look at him!”

For a moment I was mowing over the possibility that he had dodged the question, but I was quickly interrupted. Although nopony asked for it, Diz proceeded to attempt to imitate the adorable-ness of the little pony. His face scrunched up, his bottom lip jutting out slightly more than his top lip, and he unleashed the most terrifying of weapons ever known to pony-kind.

The puppy-dog eyes.

The sheer adorable-ness of that face, as weird as it looked on a draconequus, prompted a quiet 'aww', followed by some not-so-quiet snickering, at least until a toy-like 'squee' filled the air. All seemingly from nowhere.

"Umm...what was that?" I asked slowly.

"Don't ask, don't need to know."

The rest of the journey to the forge was as quiet as a tomb. If the tomb had been filled with cymbals whilst rocks were being dropped from the ceiling.

"Hey, when was the first time that you got laid, White? Or should I say, Mr. Light? Or is it Dr. Light?”

Footnote: 75% to Level Up
+2 History points with companion ‘Dizzy’
New Companion Perk; Vindication: When talking with your companions, after a speech check, you have a chance to understand and help them deal with issues plaguing them. Portable Psychologist!

The ‘marketplace’ (if it could be called that) was quite disappointing compared to some of the other town’s shops, though seeing as the locals lived underground, it could hardly be helped. To some ponies, the constant yammering of shopkeepers and buyers haggling out prices could be considered ‘oppressive’ or ‘annoying’, yet to Chrome, it was something akin to a distraction from the abominations.

I just... CAN’T believe that they actually trust him... it, she thought.

Although he... it... helped us, I still can’t believe that he would actually KILL his own brother! I mean, I can’t even imagine what would happen if I were to lay a hoof on Mono in anger...

But... he did it for his own kind to survive...

T-That doesn’t matter; he still killed his own flesh and blood!

Sometimes, one has to be sacrificed to prevent the bloodshed of a thousand.

He could have run away! Injured him instead! Made him change his ways!

Could... should... would... none of these are definites. It is him that will never forget, and it shall be his burden to carry the title of ‘Oathbreaker’.

“ENOUGH!!!”

The silence after that shout was overwhelming, as if the lips of everypony present had been sealed in an instant. Chrome dimly registered that she had said that out loud.

Blushing slightly, she hurried along to the nearest stall and attempted to haggle with the shell-shocked owner, whom had half a mind to give a quarter of his stock to the ‘crazy mad-pony’ so that she wouldn’t attack him.

But only a quarter of it. The shopkeepers weren’t quite as naive and prone to manipulation as she would’ve liked.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, we’re here!” Diz proclaimed with the air of a show-pony. “The magnificent forge of Misterrrrrrrrrrr FORGE!”

Honestly, it wasn’t that much of a big deal, but seeing as Forge had quite a large smithy, it wasn’t anything to laugh at. The forge was larger than the one in the village I had stayed in, measuring at almost 10 hooves in diameter. The forge was constructed out of concrete and brick, which in itself was an achievement, seeing as it would be quite difficult to find said materials in this cave. Openings were present every 6 hooves, allowing up to 5 ponies to simultaneously work on their own creations, but what was most surprising was the rest of the smithy.

Several animal skins were present, from radhog to radigator, and some barding looking suspiciously like radhog armor.

“Heeeeey! Mr. Forge!” Diz yelled at the top of his lungs. “We’re baaaaaaaaaaaack!”

A mountain of an earth pony emerged from the forge, with dark-grey fur and enough muscle to carry a carriage by his lonesome. His eyes were like swords; bluish white and sharp as knives. Patches of his fur were charred, and scars were strewn about his hooves, a testament to his fervor for his life.

“Aah, there’s the metal I asked for. Good job, Diz.” Forge’s voice wasn’t just loud. It commanded attention, booming out like a force of nature. “How much did I offer to pay you again? 20 caps per cart?”

“50 caps!” Diz half-shouted indignantly, before he realized his mistake and slightly cowed, replying in a softer tone, “I mean... you said 50 caps earlier...”

“Hmmph, so I did. And who’s this pegasus here?” I could see he was searching me with his eyes, looking for something.

“I’m White Light... err... sir.” Normally I would be quite alright with new ponies, but he was just scary with his overwhelmingly tall body and hooves that looked like they could crush rocks.

“You ever worked in a forge before? You’ve got a good build on ya.” He reached over and thumped me on my back, not so soft that it would be a tap, but not hard enough to send me sprawling. Although, it did knock some wind out of me.

“Errm... yeah, I did work in a forge for a few years or so... Made simple things such as signs, pots, the occasional ring or hoofguard...”

“Do you want to learn how to truly use a forge?”

The question came out of the blue, and in such a neutral tone that one wouldn't believe that the speaker had offered to divulge secrets that were likely meant solely for him and his kin only. Looking up at him, I saw him smirking at me.

"W-wha...?"

"Don't act like you didn’t hear me kid, that's just insulting. So? Wanna learn how to mould iron and steel into weapons and armor fit for soldiers?"

In an instant, all hesitation, nervousness, and tension between him and I were gone; things of the past. Here, was a pony offering to share his life's knowledge with me. Here, was the chance to actually be able to do something useful, instead of just soaking up precious potions. "Yes Master, I'm ready to learn."

Forge cracked a smile, laughed a little and stared at me with a dangerous look in his eyes, a devil-may-care grin adorning his muzzle. "Kid's got some manners, I like that! Diz, bring over those carts. I've got some skills to pass on."

Diz saluted and brought the two carts over to the furnace, allowing for quick access of the material.

"Go put on those special horseshoes and that barding next to the cooling trough. I've got something fiery in this here furnace, and you might get broiled without any protection.”

Suddenly, Emberwing burst out of the furnace with a shriek and flew straight for Diz. With a girlish yelp, one of the world's few remaining draconequui, a servant of one of the most powerful beings ever created, a loyal helper of 'Lord' Discord, was seen shrieking like a filly who’d encountered a spider the size of her hoof. Holding his hands up to his chest, he ran away from the phoenix, who looked like he was having the time of his life chasing the strange mismatched creature.

A moment of silence was given to Diz in respect of his deeds, before we both fell to the floor in a fit of laughter. Ponies passing by frowned at our behaviour before seeing the phoenix chasing the draconequus. Some laughed, while others frowned, and even after they departed, their glowers still darkened the atmosphere.

“Alright, kid. Let’s get down to business, shall we?”

Forge then disappeared amidst the roaring flames. Soon I followed, not scared in the slightest, my brown eyes alight with determination.

“Sir, I must admit, 300 caps for 2 pieces of barding is too much, how about 200 caps?” Chrome wasn’t having much luck at haggling for cheaper prices — the few colts manning the stores only sold low-quality things, and this was the best place for armor this side of the cavern, which unfortunately also meant that this was where to find the most crotchety owner this side of the market.

“Ach, lassie, ye be makin’ me lose a wee bit more caps that I would prefer to lose.” The shopkeeper wheezed. “Can ye see I cannae even afford me medicine?” With his back leg, he surreptitiously shifted a large crate labelled “Premium Health Potions” further out of sight of the mare. “I ain’t takin’ any less tharn 250.”

Ugh, this old coot is making this harder than it has to be. Even though we actually do have enough caps, it would be best to save some rather than lose so much. We’re still low on ammo and most of us can’t use melee weapons other than Sunfire, she thought.

It was too troublesome to haggle, so she sighed and hoofed over 250 caps.

“Pleasure doin’ business wif ya lassie!” The old stallion was ecstatic; armor worth only 150 caps at most was sold at 250 caps! Next time, he would try for double the price before being assaulted and his wares stolen.

She trotted all over the caverns, and the only place that actually had quality armor and weapons was the forge on the edge of the town. Moaning a little about how her hooves were killing her, the mare set out to find it.

The fires roared intermittently, the clangs of the hammers driving back the gloom and the silence, returning life to the once quiet forge. Bellows pumped air into the hungry coals, turning them from cherry-red to a incandescent orange. Heat flowed out in waves, scalding the skin and charring the fur. Sweat flowed like tiny streams, flowing down the well-built bodies of the two pegasi, both as different as winter and autumn. The water hissed and sizzled as hot metal was dunked inside to cool, steam trails curling and floating away haphazardly on the air currents. Suddenly, the fires were dimmed, and the clangs were muted. The air was silent once again as the crafters examined their respective works.

Forge had created a pair of hoofguards out of steel, inlaid with silver and obsidian to create a stylized picture of a cloudless night sky on each. The moon was made of pure, untainted silver, the obsidian background studded with miniscule opals representing the countless star in the sky. These were different from normal hoofguards in the aspect that whereas normal ones only covered from the forearm to the fetlock and only protected the front, these covered from the knee till the coronet, covering the hooves and the back of the leg as well. They were segmented to allow movement of the hoof as to not chance a break. This gave the guard much more durability, as the added weight would only help in bludgeoning the opponent.

My offering was less fancy, but as reliable and useful as Forge’s. I had chosen to make a helmet for Sunfire. The forehead was reinforced, so there was some extra burden on the wearer, but the benefit was that it would deflect more and cave in less. The helmet was not made of iron or steel, but of a mixture of steel, iron and bronze. The resulting alloy, which I made by accident (Yay!), possessed an unnaturally high durability in exchange for heavier weight. I had cut grooves in the helmet while the metal was hot, to allow blood to drain away along the channels and to also create a design akin to flowing water. The grooves that interlocked with each other were there to ensure that if the helmet was close to distorting, it would press against the rest of the helmet to cause it to bend, which further increased the strength of the helmet. Instead of traditional ear protection, I discarded it and attached metal pegasus wings jutting out 180 degrees from the sides of the helmet to act as a ‘shield’ for the ears. The interior was padded with soft leather, and had wool for the middle layer to act as a cushion. Honestly, it wasn’t as exquisite as Forge’s, yet I felt within me that this was something I could rely on to protect my beloved from harm.

Diz, on the other hoof, did something different altogether. Growing bored of the repetition of ‘hit metal, cool it, change shape, heat it, and repeat the cycle’, he pulled out some thick gloves from nopony knows where, and also started crafting. Strangely enough, he didn’t make armor, but instead, made a small locket, not large enough to fit nicely for a stallion or a mare, but just the right size for an adolescent pony. It was a simple affair, with not much decoration except for an emblem which depicted a small fire. Inside, was just enough space to put a note which would read: “To my dearest brother,  this locket ensures that some part of me will always be with you.” and a small self portrait, but nothing more.

Forge took a look at my helmet and proclaimed it ‘passable’, but he did smile a little, so that should count for something. Diz’s locket was called ‘wonderful’, with no exaggeration. I too called it amazing that a complete novice was able to create something like a locket without any imperfections.

“Well there, kid, that’s a real nice helmet there. Keep it safe, you hear? Those are MY materials that you used!” Forge grinned as he jokingly berated me.

“Will do sir...will do,” I replied with pride.

The tenderness of the moment was shattered, however, when one pony arrived at the forge with no small amount of grumbling. The moment she saw Diz, her eyes narrowed, and a snarl was beginning to show.

Chrome had encountered Dizzy, without her sister to hold her back.