Chapter 7: Dust and Shadows.
Chapter 7: Dust and Shadows.
“Are you cuh-razy?!”
So basically, Ace, the Ant, and I made our way back to the main road. It was barely hard because of my pipbuck maps. The sun was still rising in the morning sky, and the air was filled with morning freshness. You’d think that’d be rare in the wastelands, but there were times where you can glimpse that tiny moment of beauty between the beautiful blue skies and the yellow sands with the small, dark, green shrubs and bushes. It was pretty.
We followed the road for about an hour before we met a traveling trader. Of course, I had to hold back Ace once we found out he was a Federation merchant. But when I realised what he was selling, Ace had to hold me back. Apples from my fucking farm. Now, there were two options here- either these apples were about a month old and the merchant was severely overpricing us, or these were freshly picked and some fucking Fed bozo had taken my family’s fucking apple orchard and was now profiting from my fucking orchard. I was just about ready to tear shit up.
It took me a few rage-filled minutes to chill out, finally nab all eight of his apples at a threat-induced discount (partially thanks to Ace’s machete and my family pride), and purchase a few other ingredients from the overpricing fucker before he scurried off down the road, heading back west.
“What a cunt,” my unicorn companion said. “Charging ten caps per apple..."
“My apples,” I seethed, “that I planted, that I grew, and probably that I harvested... fucker.”
The ant just stared at us.
We started walking again, but it only took us about five minutes until Ace’s tummy rumbled with the force of a stick of dynamite. Well, not really, but it was loud. She smiled sheepishly at me. “Uh..."
“Hungry?” I asked with a chuckle. We hadn’t eaten in... sheesh, I didn’t remember. Of course, thinking about it made me hungry.
“Break time?” Ace asked, licking her lips. I nodded, slowly. Ace licking her lips... it seemed to go in slow motion as the hot mare- Dammit! It would never happen, stop thinking about it!
Ugh.
Anyway, we found a small, open area vacant of bushes, shrubs, and rocks. Just dry, packed earth and a small pile of ash surrounded by ash. I guessed it was a popular camping spot. We sat down and Ace stared at my saddlebags, hungrily, continuously licking those luscious lips... moving on.
Pulling my saddlebag off of my flank, I pulled out a small rag and placed a few of the ingredients I bought from the merchant. Two apples, a small block of fresh brahmin cheese, and a few herbs. All of that was so fresh! Say what you will about the Feds, but their farms really kick this wasteland’s ass!
Ace almost lunged at the food, but I managed to stop her. “Not so fast, Acey. I said I’d cook for this meal, and I sure as hell will.” Ace gave me a curious stare. “Just watch. This is an old recipe my dad taught me.” I looked through my pack and groaned in frustration. “I need a knife..."
Ace picked up her machete. “Well, you could use this, or..." She glared at the little ant that was following us. The little... well, giant ant, sat on the ground next to me, seemingly staring into space. “We could pull his knife out.”
I looked at the knife sticking out of the little ant’s body. “That would hurt it, wouldn’t it?”
Ace nodded. “Probably like hell, but it can’t be healthy.” She looked down at the ant again. “It’s probably infected or something.” I took a few minutes to think about it. I really didn’t want to hurt my little subject, but... Ace was right. “I could spare maybe one health potion.”
“Isn’t that our last one?” I asked. Ace pulled out three. “Where did you get that?”
“Down underground,” Ace chirped with a smile. “Keepin’ ‘em for a bad day.”
I patted the ant’s head. Dunno if he liked it... “Okay, lets do it.” I looked into its big buggy eyes. “Is that okay with you?”
The ant stared at me. Okay then.
“Ready?” I asked, putting my hoof on the knife. I really didn’t want to do this... Ace uncapped a potion and readied it. The ant stared at me. Taking a deep breath, I pulled on the knife. That began the most intense moment of my life. I desperately hoped the now silently flailing ant didn’t turn its natural flamethrower on us.
It took a few intense minutes to finally yank the knife free of the ant’s body, and it let out an almighty skree of pain. It’s like the knife was its volume control. Weird. Ace was quick at administering the potion to the now open wound. I’m no expert at ant anatomy, but I didn’t think it was infected. The ant slowly started to calm down with a light petting.
“That... thing is fucking weird..." Ace said, shaking her head at the ant. “It’s like he’s not a mindless drone or something.” She was right. That lovable little buggy was actually... smart? Maybe like a dog? Did I have the pet dog... ant... that I’ve always wanted? I think that was a yes as it climbed onto my back and started to warm up. It was... actually cozy...
“But what’s weirder is that,” Ace said, pointing at the knife.
The knife was strange indeed. The ant’s blood and ichor seemed to just slide off the blade seamlessly. Within seconds, the knife was stainless. I looked between the knife and Ace.
Ace was staring at the knife. “Bet you fifty caps you can’t lick it,” she said with a sly grin.
I looked back at the knife. It shone in the light, completely stainless. I gave Ace a disgusted frown. As if I would lick a knife that was inside an ant.
But fifty caps was a steal, and the blade looked pretty clean. What was there to lose? I’d heard stories of ponies eating ants before. I wanted those caps. Sticking out my tongue, I pressed it to the knife. I clamped my eyes shut, anticipating the worst thing I would have ever tasted.
Nothing.
It tasted like nothing. No bad flavours at all. I licked up and down the side of the blade, mostly in confusion.
“Dammit!” Ace cursed, facehoofing. “I’m out fifty caps..." She floated a small baggie to me, filled with caps. “You’re fucking gross, y’know that?”
I chuckled and put the knife on the cloth. “Well, you did make a bet.” I looked at the blade. “But it’s clean as if I just washed it.”
The unicorn’s tummy rumbled loudly. “Okay, I don’t care anymore, let’s eat.”
She lurched for the food, but I stopped her. “Hey, not so fast. I need to uphold my part of the deal.”
“Your part of the deal?” Ace asked, rubbing her hungry belly. “Can’t we just eat?” she moaned.
“To cook,” I stated, nodding. “And I do have a small treat that my father taught me.” Slicing a small section from the apple, I applied a small slice of cheese and a few of the herbs. “Try it.”
The beige mare picked up the slice in her levitation field and looked it over. “Cheese and apple?” she asked, looking at me with a dumbfounded expression. “That sounds horrible.”
“Won’t know until you try.” I encouraged her. “Do it.”
Ace put the slice down. “Hell. No.” What, didn’t she trust little me? The supposed spy? Was that a stupid question? I think so...
I sat back and let our little insect companion scurry down beside me. “What are you?” I asked with a smirk. “Chicken?”
Ace glared at me. “Nopony,” She picked up the slice, “calls Ace chicken.” She took an almighty chomp out of the snack and munched on it. She stopped and stared at me, her eyes growing wide. She chewed slower before swallowing. She continued to stare.
“Well?” I asked with a smile. “How is it?”
She blinked. “That was good..." She looked at my ingredients. “Very good.” She looked back up at me, a smile breaking out on her face. “Make me more. Now.”
Rolling my eyes, I got back to making lunch. Cutting with my new knife was so easy, like the blade was made for slicing. I mentally facehooved. Of course it was meant for slicing. It’s a knife. Before long, I had exhausted our apples, cheese, and herb supply and had filled two hungry bellies. Job well done.
Ace patted her belly and sighed, “Well that was something..." She looked up at the wide, blue sky, and took a moment to think. “Different.”
I sat back and smiled. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” I patted my little ant friend’s head. But he wasn’t there. “Where’s the ant?” I really had to come up with a name if he was gonna be my little buddy.
Ace looked around and shrugged. “No idea, amigo.” Well you’re useful.
Well, she was useful, but still.
Scratching my head, I got up and looked around. “Ant?” I called out. Nothing. Couldn’t even see it. “If only we had a tag or somethi-” I’m a genius. I pulled up my EFS thingie and looked for the white tick. There were two on my compass, Ace’s tick and a new one. I picked up my gear and slipped my knife into my upper foreleg sheath. It fit perfectly.
I pointed in the direction of the tick. “That way, methinks!” I started my march. He was heading north, away from the road. Where was he going? Back to his nest? Wait, the queen was dead, and I became que- king, so why would he go back? Something was up...
“Leave him! We have a city to reach!” Ace called after me, pulling her gear on.
“Nah!” I yelled back. “Can’t let my favourite subject run off on me!” No way could this end badly.
It... could have been worse. I mean, sure, we had basically walked into a sandstorm and now had no idea which way was down, but it could have been worse!
"You're a fucking idiot! You're gonna need these!" Ace called over to me. She had put on a pair of goggles and a bandana to protect herself from the sand and was holding a second pair and an old rag out to me. I opened my mouth to reply... I looked, well squinted, at her, trying to get that spare. I couldn’t talk though.
“Fifty caps!” Of course she would try to get her caps back... digging out her caps, I passed them through the storm to Ace, and she passed me a set of goggles and a rag. It wasn’t very dirty, but I didn’t know what she used them for. Don’t think I wanted to know either...
Putting them both on, I looked back at her. “You followed me!”
“I didn’t want you to get hurt!” she yelled back.
I stopped and turned to her. “Why?” She never seemed to care before.
Ace stopped. I watched her hazel eyes think for a moment. “You cook well, and I want to know what’s for dinner.”
Rolling my eyes, I turned and started following the white tick again. “Whatever!”
Ace facehooved. “Clover, let’s just get out of here!” Ace called. “Before we get caught!”
Caught? What would try to catch us out here? “What are you talking about?” I called back. Nothing could ever find us in this hell hole. I could barely see four hooves in front of my nose!
“dust devils!”
What? The fuck is a dust devil? I looked back at the mare like she had four heads. “Are you nuts? What the hell is a Dust-” A red tick on my EFS popped up. Followed by another. And another. “Oh shi-”
The ground beneath me started to rumble, and about three hooves to my left, a huge horse-like creature with massive yellow eyes shot out of the ground. It hovered above us, watching us. The huge horse seemed to be made of sand and dust and had an ethereal feel about it. The lower half of its body seemed to just disappear into thin air. It screeched and two more of the ghostly creatures shot out of the ground.
“Fuck!” Ace yelled. “Fucking run!”
I marveled at the ghostly horses. Then, as ordered, I took off. Bandits were one thing. Ghouls were another. But giant horses that are made of sand? Fuck that. Way beyond my realms of imagination.
“Duck and weave!” Ace yelled, dashing from side to side. Why would she-
I quickly found out.
A huge column of sand slammed down behind me. If I was still there, I think I would have either been crushed, or suffocated. You’d be surprised by the amount of things you can be severely motivated by. Duck and weave it was.
“I fucking told you we’d get caught!” my unicorn companion yelled at me as we sprinted through the howling storm. We were being buffeted from all sides by sand and dirt, we had no idea where we were going, we were now being chased by giant ghostly horses made of sand, and we were narrowly dodging pillars of sand that were both crashing down from above and shooting up from below. Life was grand.
Ace levitated her shotgun behind her and fired at the beasts. The dust devils just roared in anger as they absorbed the buckshot. That was when I realised we were really fucked.
“How the fuck do we kill them?!” I yelled at my shotgun-wielding amiga, my voice cracked with worry and fright. My heart was racing, but I was starting to get that warm, powerful feeling of adrenaline.
Ace just roared with frustration. I guessed she had no idea.
We desperately needed to find shelter. If those dust devils could only traverse through sand, we’d have to get somewhere where there wasn’t sand.
“We need to get to shelter!” I called across, ducking just as a column arced over me.
“No shit, genius!” was the reply.
“No need to be a bi-” I couldn’t finish my sentence as a pillar of sand slammed into my chest from below. It threw me high into the air and I was seeing stars. When I came to, I was still in the air, not even being able to see which way was up. I didn’t even think I was falling, more drifting. Felt like... like I was flying. Like a white, fluffy cloud across the wide, blue skies. My forelegs started to flap by themselves as a smile crawled across my face. I was flying!
Of course, that came to an end with a dull whump as I hit the ground hard. The taste of blood started to dance across my tongue. I couldn’t see Ace, and my pipbuck’s duct tape snapped, making the device fly off so I had no EFS to tell me where I was.
Slowly getting to my aching hooves, I looked around. The right lens on my goggles was cracked and my throat was full of sand. “Where... am I?” I asked nopony in particular. I could have been miles from where I took off. My chest ached, but I didn’t think there was anything broken.
Looking up, I saw the faint outline of a giant horse. I thought it was just my imagination, but then its large yellow eye opened and turned to face me. Its eyes pierced into my very soul with a cold chill.
A huge pillar erupted snakelike from the ground behind it and arced over the dust devil. Wondering time was over, running time was now. Even though I started running as fast as my hooves could take me, the dust devil was right on my ass.
Everything ached. My hooves were stumbling over rocks and small shrubs, my midsection was killing me from the blows, and my coat felt like it was ready to rip itself off from the sand. I was going to be killed by a giant ghost-thingie that could move sand like it was wind. Lucky me.
The dust devil was closing in on me with its giant pillar-snakes of sandy doom. I cried out in both fear and frustration. My goggles were fogging with the heat I was exerting, and sweat was streaming down my face. My heart was racing, and my lungs aching. My whole left side was tingly and achey, but I still kept going. It must have been from that landing.
My running ended in vain as the column slammed into me, making me land on my back, and pinned me to the ground. The sand almost solidified around my legs as the yellow eyes of the beast above me glowed brighter and brighter.
Aim for the eyes...
Now there was an idea. Thanks conscience... or Trailblaze... whoever was whispering in my ear. I pulled the latch for my harness over my mouth and the sniper rifle on my side readjusted itself. The scope flopped over my eye. Now or never.
The dust devil stared down at me, its eyes pulsating. I think it was taunting me, as it hadn’t brought the column down on my face. Just got to zero in on its eyes...
The thin crosshair of my rifle honed in on the beast’s right eye. The pulsating yellow glowie eye... My rifle opened up, launching a large bullet at the beast. The bullet flew straight into the dust devil’s eye. It exploded into a shower of yellow incor and blood that steamed and showered down. The dust devil reared and roared, and the area around its eye started to solidify and turn to glass.
The beast looked down at me, half of its face turned to glass, and growled as yellow vapour and incor leaked from its now destroyed eye. That did it. It wasn’t dead, but it was pissed. Great plan. I tried to ready another shot, but the damn gun jammed. Stupid sand!
The column of sand behind the beast flailed but then righted itself, pointing right at me. This was it. Good as dead. The only thing I could do was hope for a miracle. I braced myself for the inevitable smash of the pillar.
“Clover!”
I heard something faint against the howling winds. Like a tiny bug was calling for me, just within earshot. The dust devil didn’t seem to hear it as it watched me. The column was coming down faster and faster, right for my face.
A blast of fire and magma shot out from right under the dust devil. The beast roared and flailed, and the column of solid sand and dirt crumbled above me, burying me up to my neck in sand. The righteous fire spread along the beast’s midsection as it slowly started to shimmer and turn to glass. Fuck yeah! I couldn’t tell if I cheered because of the rag in my mouth, or the howling winds.
The fire spread across the rest of the beast until the massive beast had been completely engulfed, looking like a stallion made purely of fire. The sand storm seemed to let up a bit as the beast fell down to earth, smashing into tiny pieces. The storm kept going none the less.
I blinked and looked around, spitting out the rag that had lodged itself in my mouth. “Hello?” I rasped.
Out of the sand, I could see two dark silhouettes- one small, stout one with large antennae, and a unicorn, her mane blowing in the wind. Ace and my little ant. They finally came into view, and Ace stood over me. I was still buried up to my neck.
“Uh... little help?” I asked, looking around. “I seem to be neck deep in trouble.”
Ace chuckled. “Trouble alright. It’ll be trouble getting you outta there.” She kicked the sand. “Welp. I tried.”
“Ha ha, fucking ha,” I muttered and tried to dig myself out. “Now dig me ou-woah!” The ground beneath me shifted and something pushed me out of the sand. Something that felt like an ant. I looked down, and there he was. My little friend, the ant, holding me in his mandibles. Gotta hand it to him, thing was strong as fuck.
Getting up and dusting myself off, I noticed that we were still in a sandstorm. Not as intense as before, but I still couldn’t see anything more than ten hooves from my face.
“We found a cave,” Ace called, dropping my pipbuck at my hooves and turning around. Thought I’d lost that. “Come on. We’ll chill there until the last Devil leaves.”
I quickly caught up. “I thought there were three of the bastards!”
Ace nodded. “Yeah, your ant killed one when he found me, and you saw what he did to the one coming after you!”
I looked down at the ant. He looked fairly proud of himself. He scuttled up my foreleg when I held it out to it and clung to my back. I like my ant.
It didn’t take us long to find the cave. The only setback was trying to avoid the last dust devil. We had spotted it only briefly in the winds as it combed over the area, either searching for us or searching for its friends. Poor dude. But his friends tried to kill us. So fuck ‘em.
We stepped into the cave. It was really quite cave-y. Sort of like a mouth in the desert. Okay, it might not be such a great description but I couldn’t see very well, my leg was burning, my chest was aching, my ear was stinging, and I was tired. Ghouls then dust devils was just too much, really.
I took a brief second to replace the duct tape on my pipbuck and looked around. Yup, cave-y. Everywhere was rocky and kind of damp, with the only form of light coming from outside and our Ant’s body. He needed a name still. Maybe later.
“Dark much?” Ace asked to nopony in particular. “Anyone got a light?”
My ant buddy fired his flamethrower, making Ace jump.
“G-Gee, th-thanks..." Ace muttered, picking herself up. She mumbled some more, but I think its best I didn’t know what.
“I think that might be a little too dangerous, anty,” I said, patting his warm head. He looked at me, feelers dancing, and scuttled up my leg to sit on my back, making me feel warm and fuzzy. I guess that meant he understood.
“Creepy,” Ace stated. “Use your pipbuck light.”
My pipbuck light... I pressed some random buttons on my pipbuck, and a flashlight opened up. Neat-o! Even in the light of my pipbuck, it still looked cave-y. But now it was longer than I thought it was. Much longer. It was becoming more tunnel-y.
My leather-clad companion rubbed the back of her head with an armoured stocking and looked outside. “Well, we aren’t going back out there..." I was inclined to agree. “We could stay by the entrance or go further in. Make sure we won’t run into any surprises.”
I looked down the tunnel, then outside. “I’d rather stay here, but-” I turned and saw Ace already trotting further in. “Hey!”
“Of course you want to stay out here, you ninny,” Ace chuckled. “You wimp.”
“But... but..." Ace kept walking. “Fuck!” I stomped after her.
The rocks were grey and slightly damp, and looking up was a mistake. I don’t like those long pointy thingies. They could fall at aaaaaaaany moment... let’s not think about that...
I kept moving beside Ace. Have to admit, I was pretty scared. Who knew what was in that cave? Maybe a mad hermit? A swarm of scorpions? A bear? Oh please not a bear. Not that I don’t like bears, but after having Gunter for so many years, I don’t think I could kill a bear. Man, I missed Gunter. Would I ever see him again? Someone had invaded my home and started growing apples, so the prospect looked... bleak... my only hope was that somepony from the Apple Plains may have our stuff in storage. I should really go home soon... no time. Maybe after revenge. Yes, that sounded good.
Maybe we would find... crying? Wait, what?
I looked at Ace. “You hear it too?” she asked, ears swivelling. My sniper switched to fire mode and shifted forward. “No,” my companion stated. “Use your SMG. Probably actually hit something with it in here.” Good point. I put the sniper back into safety mode and unholstered my SMG.
“Ooo furfst?” I muffled around my gun. Ace just rolled her eyes, levitated her pump shotgun forward, and took point.
My heart started to speed up, and my teeth rattled around the gun. It was definitely crying. Sompony young by the sound of it. Maybe a filly or a younger colt. Why was I so scared? I guess it was a fear of the unknown.
We turned a corner in the tunnel and were presented with a grim sight. Basked in the pale light of a dying lantern were two bodies, with a smaller one sitting between them. Three griffins- the largest of which was riddled with bloody holes. He looked like a true badass, with a scar going down his face, his jet black armour, and the massive shotgun that looked too big for even Ace to use.
The other griffin was just a little smaller, with the same armour. She was a female that was heavily covered in makeup and really gussied up. Beside her sat a broken sword that was shattered into several pieces. She too was riddled with bullets and seemed to have a broken leg.
And between them sat a young cub, only about the age of nine or ten, sitting and crying. The patches around her eyes and the tips of her head feathers were a blood red, and the feathers behind her head were fashioned into a ponytail. She sobbed and pushed the large body, rocking it slightly.
“Wake up, daddy... please wake up..." she sobbed. She tried shoving again. “Please don’t die..."
My heart sank. These were the cub’s parents. The griffins that had looked after her her entire life. The griffins that she had loved and cherished. Gunned down in front of her. I could feel my heart breaking.
“Shit..." Ace muttered. “That’s not good.”
The cub heard us, screamed, and picked up the massive shotgun. It had to be twice the size of the cub, and she wobbled while trying to lift it and point it at us.
“Get down!” Ace hollered. I complied and hit the deck.
The cub wobbled and tilted backwards. Pulling the trigger, she shot up at the roof of the cave, and she was thrown across the floor. The gun clattered to the ground with a huge thump, and the tunnel came to silence, other than the crying of the cub. And the faint growling further down the tunnel. Uh oh.
Ace walked over to the cub. “Hey... don’t shoot at us.” So good with kids, that Ace. “We’re not the bad guys.”
“You killed momma and daddy!” the griffin squealed and scooted back, covered in scrapes and bruises.
“Uh... Ace?” I asked, turning around. We weren’t alone down here.
“We didn’t kill anyone, kid,” Ace replied to the cub. “We just got here.”
The growling got louder. “Ace..."
“Not you, stupid!” The cub shouted. She pointed at me. “Him!”
I turned around. “Wha-”
The growling turned into a roar as a giant thing pounced from the shadows and sprinted at Ace and the kid. Ace was smart enough to jump out of the way, but the cub looked petrified. She curled up into a ball in defense.
No time to think, only time to act. Swinging my smg around, I unleashed a torrent of bullets into the beast. I kept firing until the gun clicked empty, and the dust settled. The beast we had killed fell dead right before the kid. Walking over, I got a better look at the thing. It looked like a giant cat like creature but way overgrown. I looked closely and saw... scales? Maybe mutated from when the bombs dropped? No way those extra long claws and teeth were natural.
“Fucking hell..." Ace exclaimed, shuffling back over to me. The ant on my back crawled off and sat next to the cub, basking her in a warm glow. She was scared stiff. “I’ve heard of the Dune Cats, but I didn’t think they were real.”
So that’s two new beasties I had to avoid. Great. I would have inquired further, but I didn’t think this was the time. I trotted over to the cub.
“Hey,” I said in a soft voice. “It’s okay. We’re not here to hurt you.” I saw the tiny cub peek out from under her arms and peer at me. “I’m Clover. I’m your friend.” She just looked me over. “What’s your name?”
“T-Tallie..." she whispered, still trembling.
I gave her a warm smile. “Hello, Tallie. It is nice to meet you.” I looked over the bodies of the older griffins. “Do you want to tell me what happened?” She shook her head and hid again. “Well that’s okay.”
Ace just stared at us, shrugged, and snooped around. She tried to pick up the massive shotgun but sighed in frustration when three large components of the gun fell to the floor with a clang. She dropped it, claiming “Dead weight.” and continued to search.
I sat down beside Tallie. “We want to help you, Tallie.” I nodded at Ace. “That’s Ace, and this,” I pointed at the ant. “This is... uh... Anthony.”
The little cub just rolled her eyes. “You called your ant Anthony?” I tilted my head in confusion. “Really?”
I shrugged. “Benjamin then.”
Tallie shook her head. “Still stupid.”
“Clayton?”
“Nope.”
So Tallie’s one of those kids, huh? “Alright, what do you think?”
Tallie sat up and rubbed her chin. “Zippo,” she stated simply. “Like the lighter.”
The ant radiated warmly. “Zippo it is then,” I chuckled. What puzzled me was the fact that the kid now seemed unfazed by the deaths of her parents. She was sitting there, looking over Zippo.
She finally caught me looking between me and her parents. “Okay, look,” she sighed. “They may have been my parents, but I didn’t exactly love them like parents.” What? “I don’t wanna talk about it..."
“Alright then,” I said with a frown. What could they have done to her? She got up and walked around the ant. Then I saw it. A series of thin, but long scars down her back. I think I got the point and shut up. Ace saw some sense and did the same.
“Dust devil’s still out there,” Ace muttered as she pulled a small journal, some shotgun shells, and some caps from the dead griffins. “Neat.”
“Hey!” Tallie piped up, taking her attention from the ant. “Those caps are mine!”
Ace deposited them in a small purse-like sack and floated them over. “Fine. Want this journal? Sure as hell can’t use the shotty shells.”
The little griffin shook her head. “Diary of a madman, and I don’t have a shotty. Keep ‘em.”
My leather-clad companion shrugged and deposited the journal in my saddlebag. I was about to protest but she just smirked. “You’re into history. Maybe you can read it some time.” I was going to protest again, but I had to admit that I was intrigued.
Tallie walked past us and into the tunnel, heading back to the entrance. “You two lovebirds can stay here, but I’m sick of corpses.”
Ace and I looked at each other. I blushed heavily as she burst out laughing. I looked away and followed the griffin. “Don’t you want to bury them?” I asked. I know that if it was my family, I’d want to bury them... just like Shamrock...
Tallie looked over her shoulder. “They were bad griffins.” She looked forward and walked on. “They don’t deserve a grave.” A cold shiver shook down my back. She was at most ten and yet so grim? What the hell?! We would have to talk about it at some point, but I don’t think now would have been a good time. We followed her to the cave entrance.
“Still sandy as a scorpion’s belly,” Ace muttered as she looked at the cave entrance. She sat down and pulled out a magazine. She quickly grabbed my hoof, tore off the pipbuck and sat it down next to her for light. I scrambled in the dirt for a few moments before sitting up.
“Do you mind?” I asked, rubbing my foreleg were my pipbuck was. Thankfully, the duct tape wasn’t attached to my coat.
Ace just chuckled, “Nope.”
Tallie sat opposite us, snickering. She quickly went back to a frown of slight depression. Whatever those parents of hers did, she still must have loved them. I didn’t mention it. “What’s that?” she finally asked, pointing at the gauntlet on my free other foreleg. The small gauntlet I had gotten from the basement last night before the ambush and zombies. Fucking zombies...
“Uh..." I looked at the gauntlet. It looked like an overly large black hoofband but more armoured. The inscription on the side read ‘Recollector V1.7’ “A... Recollector of some sort.” I looked up. “Dunno what it does, but I think it’s a pretty nifty piece of armour.”
Ace flipped through her ancient magazine. Something about shotguns by the look of it. “Most say you can view memory orbs through Recollectors.” She flipped a page, without looking up.
I tilted my head at her. “How?”
“You put the orb in some magical slot, thingie,” she said and yawned.
I saw a little, perfect dent in the machine about the size of a billiard ball and half as deep. I pulled the memory orb we found in the basement of that soldier’s house and looked it over. I moved it to the slot. “Like this?”
“I don’t think its a good ide-” She spotted me putting the orb in. “No! Don-”
oooOOOooo
Woah, what the fuck?! The world seemed to swirl around me and sink from view like water down a drain. I felt like I was slowly being poured back into my body but all wrong! It was like I was waking up from a nightmare but so much more vivid. My legs refused to move, and my eyes refused to open. I was a prisoner in whatever it was I was in. Was the orb a trap? Oh no! Ace! Get me out of here!
My eyes opened of their own accord with a sudden flash, like they were opening from a blink. I was standing on some sort of platform next to a railroad track. There were ponies milling about all around, all sorts of shapes and sizes. I saw two ponies in very fancy outfits and a bunch in gowns and suits. Some had hardhats and pickaxes. I saw two colts and a filly running around the stacks of luggage, playing tag as their parents watched on.
I couldn’t move anything. Not even my eyes. I felt like I was watching a movie from the perspective of the protagonist. First person, that’s the one. In the distance I caught glimpses of a quaint little village and a large farm. Beyond that, a great mountain.
“Pound..." I heard a mare whimper. The head of the pony I was living in turned its head and looked at the source. A plump, blue mare with a tall, pink mane stood a few hooves away. Her eyes were misty, and she had a worried look on her face. She was wearing an apron with ‘Sugar Cube Corner’ embroidered on the chest.
“Yeah, mom,” my host replied. I was inside a young stallion, maybe a year or two younger than me. That sounded really bad out of context. Hell, even in context that sounded weird. What the hell was happening?! My host trotted over to the voluptuous mare. “I don’t want to go either, but we know its for the best.”
The mare hugged my host and almost squeezed his eyes out. “I know... I know..."
I felt a hoof on my shoulder. My host’s shoulder. Fuck, I felt like a ghost! My host turned to see a tall, skinny yellow stallion with a curly orange mane. Wait, I had seen these two before... He wore an apron with the same logo as the mare’s. He too looked worried. My host brought him into the cuddle.
“We’re going to miss you too, son,” the stallion spoke.
My host smiled and broke the hug. “We’ll miss you too, dad. But as soon as the war’s over and we win, we’ll be back.” My host pounded his hooves into the floor and stood tall. “You can count on it.” Something felt super weird just then. Like I had not only one but two boners on my back. Sorry for being so blunt, but that’s how it felt. It dawned on me. I was looking through the eyes of a pegasus. Hot damn.
The two older ponies smiled. “We can’t wait,” the mare said before blowing her nose. She looked around. “Now where is your sister?”
As if on cue, my host looked past the crowds of ponies to a small building on the platform. I saw a cute peach unicorn with a frizzy orange mane floating two tickets close to her. She put them in her casual barding’s pocket and smiled. “Got the tickets,” she said with a smile.
The big blue mare burst into tears and hugged the smaller mare. “I already miss you!” she wailed. My host and the other stallion patted her on the shoulder to calm her down. The smaller peach unicorn was starting to turn a little blue. The large blue mare composed herself and blew her nose. “Sorry... I don’t want you two to leave..."
The peach mare gave my host a small, friendly punch in the foreleg. “Didn’t you tell her we’ll be back before she knows it?” My host smiled and nodded. The unicorn turned back to the blue mare. “See? Give it six months, a year tops.” She trotted over to hug the mare, and probably would have if she wasn’t slammed to the ground by a massive pink blur.
A pink earth pony with a huge, poofy, dark pink mane with fading streaks had engulfed the peach mare. “Idon’twantyoutoleeeeave!” she bawled. The mare was wearing some form of formal attire, a blue blouse with yellow frills and a matching hat, but we could still see her cutie mark. Three balloons.
The peach mare looked squished under her. “Pinkie... you’re... suffocating me..." The pink mare clambered off her, still crying. “Its okay, Pinkie. You can always come visit us.”
“I wish..." the pink mare sobbed. “But I can’t leave the hub long enough.” She blew her nose, loudly, on a bright pink hankie. “Stupid war!”
My host trotted over to the pink mare and hugged her. “Its okay, Pinkie. Like we told mom and dad, we’ll be back.” He pulled away and prodded her nose. “You just watch.”
The mare gathered both my host and the peach mare in a giant hug and made it feel like our heads were about to explode. “But I don’t want you to leave!” She tightened the hug. “I’ll miss you sooooo much!”
“We... know..." my host grunted. Happy memories? More like torture. “Please... let go..." The mare dropped us. The pink pony stared at me and the peach unicorn, still crying a river.
The two older ponies walked over and patted the pink pony on the back. She continued to cry as a rumble started to shake the platform. “There’s your train,” the large blue mare said with a sad smile. The pink mare burst into a fresh wave of tears.
The peach mare looked at me, and we both smiled. “I guess this is goodbye,” the unicorn stated, her horn starting to glow. “But there’s one last thing..."
The poofy pink mare sniffed. “Huh?”
A huge bag of white flour exploded above us, covering us from snout to tail in powder. We both struck a pose and smiled, holding back the urge to cough and sneeze.
The pink mare giggled and sniffed as we dusted ourselves off. She opened her pink forelegs and hugged us. “Be safe,” she whispered. The other two joined the hug as a train screeched to a halt behind us.
“We will, aunt Pinkie,” the peach unicorn said, her voice catching in her throat.
We finally broke the hug, and the pink mare gave us both kisses. The blue mare and the yellow stallion kissed the peach mare on the head. “Goodbye, Pumpkin.” And they kissed my host on the head. “Goodbye Pound.” I felt my host’s heart flutter and the urge to cry rise up. But we fought it down. The peach mare wasn’t doing so well. She blew her nose and smiled at the three older ponies. We picked up our bags and turned to the train.
It was a massive beast of a machine! The locomotive was huge! Easily bigger than six or ten carts. We stepped into a massive red carriage and put our bags on the luggage racks. I followed the peach mare as she shuffled into the forest green seats and opened the window. We poked our heads out and waved at the three ponies lined up on the platform, each sobbing and blowing their noses.
“Bye mommy and daddy! Bye aunt Pinkie!”
The older ponies all waved. “We love you!”
“We love you too! Be back before you know it!”
The conductor’s whistle blew loudly from the platform, and the massive locomotive’s whistle replied, much louder and mightier. The train lurched forward and we began to move. The peach mare, Pumpkin, and I, Pound I guess, stayed at the window, waving until the last second.
We sat back in the seats and sighed. The peach mare leaned on my shoulder. “A whole new adventure..." she whispered. My host stroked her mane.
“To the Ponave, and beyond.”
OOOoooOOO
“-ello?” was the first thing I heard as the world whooshed back into existence. The transition out of the orb was a whole lot smoother than going in. More like I had just woken up, and the world was fading into existence. The first thing I saw was Ace waving a hoof in my face.
“What the hell did I just witness?” I asked, sitting up. The back of my head was achy, and I felt a little dizzy. Ace shrugged when I looked at her for answers.
“You saw the memory of a dead pony,” she stated, trotting back to her magazine.
Tallie sat beside her. “Is he always this dumb?” she asked my leather-clad companion.
“Yes.” Bitch.
I looked at the orb and pulled it out of my Recollector gauntlet. How the hell did that work? Fucking magic. That’s how, I bet. I sat befuddled for a few moments. “How long was I out?”
“About an hour,” Ace grumbled, passing a different magazine to the little griffin. One about explosives I think.
I rubbed the back of my head and grunted, getting to my hooves. “Damn these side effects hurt.”
The unicorn mare laughed. “Side effects, shmide effects.” She pointed at the ground behind me. “You hit your head in your fall. Idiot.”
“I made you breakfast,” I stated, narrowing my eyes. Ace giggled and rolled her eyes. She was starting to break our little deal. Then it was decided that she would starve. Mwahahaha.
Deciding that the world outside was still far too sandstormy, I sat my ass back down on the cold cave floor. The little griffin sat with her magazine across from me. “So Tallie.” Okay... now what...? I didn’t know how this would go down, but it was worth a shot. “Where will you go now?”
The griffin just shrugged. I could see she was holding back. Not sure what though. It seemed to be a juggle between rage and sorrow. Poor kid. Reminded me of a certain somepony, but not. I was fucked up when my brother died, but she seemed to be taking this too well.
I looked at Ace. “Well... we’re going to Iron City... so...” I looked back at Tallie. “You’re welcome to come with if you’d like.”
The griffin looked at me like I was stupid. “With you?” she sneered. “Why would I go with you?” Ah, the tough girl act.
I looked at my rifle and SMG. “Because we’ve been through the heat of war, cleared a building of bad guys, blown through legions of ghouls, killed two dust devils, and saved you from being mauled by that overgrown kitten back there.” I raised an eyebrow. “Wasteland’s a dangerous place, kid. You’ll get hurt without friends.” I pointed at my clipped ear, then the scars on my leg and head. “Trust me. I’d know.”
The young cub looked me over. I was still in my armour and coat, and if we added that to the heroic pose I decided to strike, I bet I had made a good point. The young griffin took a long minute to think.
“He’s right, y’know,” Ace piped up, giving a slight chuckle. “You should have seen him.” She looked up at me. “Hasn’t wet himself once.” Thankfully. “And he beat the stuffing out of a much bigger pony.”
“Which you forced me to.”
“Which you lost.”
Touche.
“Yup, we’ve been through hell on his path for revenge,” Ace continued. She looked back at the small griffin. “We make quite a team.”
My turn to chuckle. “More like I get us into shit and you pull me out.” It may have been harsh to say so, but it was the truth. Ace had always been there for me. She did, however, give me shit for it. A decent trade-off if you ask me.
“Teamwork!” Ace laughed.
Tallie failed to suppress a laugh. “Alright. Sure.” She looked us both over. “But I’m not sharing a room with you two lovebirds.”
Ace laughed while I blushed. “Don’t be silly,” the mare giggled. “We’ll share a room, and he can have the couch.” She brought herself under control. “And we aren’t together.”
“Deal then,” Tallie said, holding her hand out to Ace. The unicorn shook it as I rolled my eyes. I was fine with the couches, but I felt outnumbered in our little group.
I looked down at Zippo. “Well, looks like we’ll be bunk buddies.”
“Hey,” Tallie chuckled, turning back towards me. “We’re gonna need a heater in our room.”
No. I stomped on the rocky cave floor and scrunched up my face. “Okay, that’s where I draw the line.”
Tallie just rolled her eyes at me and smiled. “Fine, princess prissy pants.”
“That’s Queen Daisy,” Ace corrected her, extracting a wince from me. Tallie gave her an odd look. “That’s a tale for another time.”
I huffed and trotted to the cave entrance, after Zippo had climbed onto my back. The dust devil must have moved on, because the winds were starting to settle. “Any minute now,” I muttered. Ace and Tallie still sat in the light generated from my busted pipbuck, reading their magazines. Where did Ace even get those mags? I decided that it was either in the house, or she had always had them but didn’t feel like sharing them with me. I liked reading too...
“How far do we have left to go?” I asked as I sat down beside them. “Feels like we’ve been walking for ages.”
Ace simply pointed at me. “Your fault.” I gave her an offended look. She shrugged and stared at me. “Just a fact. The walk is a two-day hike, going at a leisurely pace. Faster if you’re walking with a purpose. And we had to restart so we could give your brother the send off he deserved.” She went back to her magazine. At least she understood that Shamrock deserved to be buried, and that he wasn’t some nopony like me. The page she was on detailed a certain shotgun shell thoroughly. “Anyway, we’ve just got to go through Grim Gorge and we’ll be in the Iron City region.”
“G-Grim?” I whimpered with a gulp.
My companion rolled her eyes. “Don’t be such a baby. It’s called that just because of its scythe shape.” She raised an eyebrow at me. “Think nothing of it.”
It did kind of help, but the fact that anypony would call it ‘Grim Gorge’ set me on edge. No, wait. I remembered something. I had seen the name Grim Gorge before...
Oh! That’s right! It used to be part of the old railway system. I remembered reading about the Great Western train line that ran between the far western shores, to where Fort Crossroads now resides, then all the way into Equestria. Huge trains used to ride on those rails, and some of the smaller trains pulled materials on the branches around the Ponave. How do I know all this? I fucking love trains. With a passion.
I silently squeed. Maybe there were still trains there! The excitement bubbled up in my tummy as I looked outside. The storm was dying down, but so was the sun. It would be dark before long. “Thank Celestia!” Ace cheered. “‘Bout fucking time.” She stomped out of the cave and into the dying winds. I collected my things and headed out after her, but I looked back.
Tallie stood at the mouth of the cave. She wrung her hands and looked back into the cave with a look of sadness in her eyes. She was breathing heavily. I sighed and shuffled over, putting a hoof on her back. “I think I know how you feel.”
The cub looked up at me, her eyes full of sorrow. “How?”
“I lost my brother a few days ago and my father a few weeks ago.” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. “I’m all that’s left of my family.” The griffin looked at me for a long moment and nodded understandingly. I gave her a sad smile. “But we go on. We live to fight another day.” I offered her a hoof. “And we fight side by side.”
The griffin stared at my hoof. She took a deep breath and took it, walking out of the cave. “I hated them...so much...” She looked over her shoulder. “What they did to me...” She closed her eyes and shuddered. “But... they kept me safe...”
I nodded and picked her up, putting her on my back. Zippo would just have to walk. “That’s why we’re here. Friends watch each other’s backs.” She looked into my eyes and gave a tiny smile. “And we won’t let anything get you.” I looked back at the cave. “Now. Are you sure you want to leave them there?”
Tallie looked back again. “I...they...” She stared for a long moment before looking back at me. “Should I?”
“I think that’s something only you can answer, Tallie,” Ace said, walking back to us. “Do they deserve a proper burial? Or were they that bad that they deserve nothing more than to rot or be eaten by Dune Cats?”
Tallie took a long moment to herself. Ace and I looked between each other a few times before the griffin came to a conclusion. “They hurt ponies... sold them for their own gains... hurt me over nothing...” She looked up, rage building in her eyes. “They did nothing in their miserable lives that makes burying them worth anypony’s time.” She looked out into the desert. “Let them rot or be eaten. At least now they can do something of use and help the circle of life.” Ace and I looked between each other. Tallie pointed forward. “Lets just get to Iron City, find the fucker who killed my parents, and put him down. That fucker needs to pay.”
My stomach felt odd, and my heart had an odd rhythm to it. Tallie was really starting to scare me with her whole parent hate thing going. “Who killed them?” I asked, walking back into the desert. The surrounding areas were completely windswept, and I had to watch my hoofing because of the shards of glass poking out all over the place.
Tallie growled and inadvertently dug her talons into my back through the grooves in my riot gear. I winced but my armour took the brunt of it. “Some merc fuck with a stupid M1 painted on him. Fucking mercs...”
M1? Where have I se-
That one dude in Buckwheat. The one that killed those Separatists and walked off the bullet wounds. The one-pony tank. Oh shit... Ace and I exchanged looks again, meeting the same conclusion.
The unicorn mare was the first to pipe up. “Yeah...we’ll find him...”
I nodded, shuddering. If that guy wasn’t dead and still out there... Celestia help us all...
--- --- ---
A cold breeze wafted through my mane as I looked up at the full moon, starting its ascent over the sky. Once again, thanks to my pipbuck, we found the main road. And once we were moving again, it would be just a short hike to Iron City. Until then, however, we hunkered down and set up a small camp in a ruined house.
Only two of the walls had been left standing, and the roof had been blown clean off. A remnant of the forgotten times of love and tolerance. I guess there’s kind of a metaphor in there somewhere. How this house must have been loved and given tender love and care, now a totally lost cause. I sighed and looked back into the small fire Ace had lit.
“Poor kid...” Ace sighed, looking at the cub sleeping beside the fire, bundled up in a small blanket Ace had found. Where did she find all this stuff? Real scrounger that one. “Parents taken from her... but more importantly, what they did to her...”
“I dunno, but those scars aren’t natural,” I grumbled. I glanced back at Ace. Something had been eating at me since we left the cave. “What did she mean by her parents selling ponies?”
My chocolate-maned companion rubbed her chin and scratched her head. “Uh....how do I put this...” She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “They were slavers. They took ponies and sold them for slave labour. Can’t put it simpler.”
What?! That was... that was... what?! “No way... they... that can happen?”
Ace simply nodded. “Doesn’t happen a whole lot anymore.” She prodded the fire with a stick, huddling up a little tighter. Man that desert got cold at night. “One good thing the Feds did when they came in was send them into hiding.” She grinned and through the stick into the fire. “And the Resistance are the ones to find them and clear ‘em out.”
Noble... but there was something wrong with that. “Why? Sounds silly risking little resources on finding hidden enemies...”
Ace scoffed, “That’s not why they did it. They found them and took them out for the gear.” She shrugged. “That’s what I think at least. I’m not Resistance, no matter how much I support them.”
“So... they get their gear from slavers...” My mind was trying to fart out some kind of logic from this. So slavers had huge snipers, griffin power armour, vertibucks... “Okay, no way. I’m calling bullshit.” Ace raised an amused eyebrow at me. “No way is it just slaver stuff.”
Ace laughed and quickly stifled it when Tallie yawned loudly and rolled over. “They have some old Coalition stuff too. Probably have an old base.” She shrugged again. “Again, I wouldn’t know.”
I nodded in defeat. She had brought up a good point. We may never know for sure, but whatever.
I let my mind drift for a few moments before it landed on the gauntlet around my hoof. My new Recollector. That experience was unreal. Being in somepony else’s body, seeing what they saw, feeling what they felt, hearing what they heard... being them. It was absolutely fascinating. Seeing the world like it was before, and actually being there...
“You still have that other orb, right?” Ace asked, catching me staring at the gauntlet. I looked up and blinked. Stupid daydreams. I settled on nodding dumbly. Ace looked around. “Well, seeing as you’re a history nut... why not take a peek?”
“The last one put me out for a bit though...” I replied with worry. Being in a cave was bad enough, but we were out in the open. Wait, we had to sleep eventually...
Ace just chuckled. “I’ll hold down the fort, ya big baby.”
Rolling my eyes, I pulled the other orb out of my saddlebag and looked it over. This one was a dull cobalt with a slight greenish tinge about it. I looked at Ace and thought about it. Should I? She nodded, and that was the only confirmation I needed. The orb slid seamlessly into the gauntlet and the world faded away like it had before.
oooOOOooo
Wheeeee, transition! Even though I knew what was coming, it was still fucking insane. The world snapped back to normal as I entered my new host. Two back boners. Pegasus.
My host was staring straight forward at a white building, topped with sandbags and barbed wire. There was a propaganda posted on the front wall of a griffin pointing at the reader. He was wearing a basic helmet and equipment, but looked very cheerful. Underneath him was “Join the Coalition of Ordered Species today, and ensure a future- the Ponave way.” Nifty.
“Alright you worthless sacks of shit!” a booming voice yelled from somewhere to my right. “You little whiny inbreds are here to grow a pair of brass balls to ensure the survival of this god-forsaken hell hole of a desert!” God-forsaken? Goddess he means, surely...
My host took a peek to his right. The voice belonged to a hard-looking grey stallion with a well-trimmed white beard in military clothing. He was making his way up a line of ponies, griffins, and donkeys, each in very basic fatigues.
“I am Sergeant Major Chestnut, or Chester if you feel like you have the balls to even think about calling me that.” Chester? No way... “It’s my job to get my hooves dirty and mold you shit-for-brains recruits into the backbone of the C.O.S army.” He stopped at a small donkey. “Which means you eat when I tell you to, shit when I tell you to, and breathe when I tell you to!” The poor donkey looked like he was about to wet himself while holding his breath for dear life.
The sergeant major continued down the line, letting the donkey take in a breath and almost pass out. “By the time I’m done with you, you will run into enemy lines and not get your face raped by some big mother fucker with an even bigger gun.” He looked over the group again. “I know some of you cock-suckers are zebras or minotaurs, but since you’re here, I’m safe to assume that you’re willing to fight your own kind if they decide they’re bored with those fancy pants Equestrians and bring the fight to a tougher enemy.” I heard some shuffling and mumbling behind me. “But if you’re not, then get the fuck off my base and back to your backwater countries and your mud huts.”
He continued down the line, and stopped at a large, muscular earth pony. “Why are you here, boy?”
“Sir!” The pony stiffened and straightened out. “I’m here to become the best of the best of the best, sir!”
“Damn right you are, dirtbag. What division are you looking to grace with your presence?”
“Sir! Sniper corps, sir!”
Chester burst out laughing. “You?! You look like a fucking tank boy. Those fucking cock-sucker fucks will see you coming from a mile away.” He looked him over. “You’re more likely to be a grenadier or a heavy weapons pony, boy!”
The stallion didn’t even flinch. “I believe I have what it takes, sir!”
Chester slowly stopped laughing. “Yeah? That’s what I like to hear, twinklehooves. We’ll see what your test scores will say about it though.” He started down the line again. “What about you, pretty boy? What’s your name?” He was talking to a familiar looking golden pony with a blue mane.
“Valentine, sir! Ponave Pipes, Sir!” was the pony’s response. Where had I seen him...?
“Grenadiers, huh?” The sarge leaned in. “Your looks won’t save you when a grenade goes off in your hoof when you fumble.” He stood back up straight. “And you won’t be brushing your mane with no prissy brush, either. When you’re on the battlefield, you’ll be using the bones of your enemies.” The golden stallion cringed. “Get the fuck used to it pretty boy. Heaven forbid you actually make it to the grenadiers. You’ll be seeing a lot worse.”
He left the poor boy and continued, stopping at a very familiar peach unicorn mare with a frizzy orange mane. “Well lookie here boys, we have a little filly here!” He bent down low. “You think you have what it takes to play with the big boys, huh?!” The mare squeaked and shrunk a little. “Why are you here? What are you aiming for, girly?!”
“I...I-I-I...” She tried to straighten out a little more. “I...I don’t know...”
“You don’t know?!” The stallion roared with laughter. “You sorry excuse for a soldier will never become half the warrior any of these other ass-dragging recruits will be with that attitude!”
My host frowned in anger and ground his teeth. I could feel the sweet sensation of adrenaline surge through his veins and his muscles tense up. “You don’t talk to her like that!” He bellowed at the sarge. Everyone around him gasped.
“Which one of you cock-suckers said that?!” The sarge roared, turning red with rage. He looked directly at us. My host just raised a hoof, the sarge charged at us.
“Who the fuck are you?!” he roared, grabbing my host by the collar, spittle splashing over his face.
“Her brother!” my host shouted back.
“You little degenerate, scumbag, pussy-fearing, hoof-dragging piece of lousy cow shit!” He shoved my host into the dirt and stood on his back. “Give me fifty for disrespecting your superiors, boy!” My host dug his hooves into the dirt and started to lift himself in a push-up. The sarge dugs his hooves into our back, making it harder and harder. “You’ve got balls, kid, but that won’t get you far without a way to use them!”
My host managed to look at the peach mare and the rest of the group. They looked on with awe, holding their hooves over their mouths. My host smirked and looked back into the dirt, lifting himself up with the blissful help of adrenaline. “I’ll show you balls, sir!” he growled, as he lifted himself up. His muscles were on fire, and he was drenched in sweat, but he still smiled with sheer determination.
“That’s what I like to hear!” the sarge roared and shoved my host’s head back into the dirt. Did I mention how delicious dirt was? “Come on! Lets see if you can manage five more, let alone forty-nine!”
I felt my host feel like laughing, but I didn’t get to see it happen. The memory started to blur and distort, before being sucked away into oblivion. Wheee! Transition!
OOOoooOOO
Well that was insightful. Oh wait, no it wasn’t. At least now we know who Chester was before the bombs went boom. Wait a sec...
“And that was your biggest mistake,” I heard a voice say. Hold on. I couldn’t move. Was I still in the memory orb? I was still in the Ponave... and pinning some dirty-looking, blood-covered pink earth pony stallion down. What the actual fuck? “What did you think would happen? You’d... what... kill us? Rob us? Enslave us?” The stallion just whimpered. My host looked around.
Three more ponies were strewn about, all of them drenched in blood. They all wore pretty basic leather armour, and their weapons looked so very basic. My host looked over to Ace and Tallie, and my heart began to sink. Tallie looked like she was still asleep, but Ace looked like she’d been hit over the head with a club.
“Your friends paid the ultimate price...” my host chuckled. “But you... you have the honour of living for another few minutes.” He looked back at the stallion. “Why. Are. You. Here?”
“A-A b-b-b-bounty’s been placed on yer head...” the stallion choked out. “W-We just w-w-wanted to c-c-collect...”
“Another big mistake,” my host whispered, and I felt a huge, unnatural grin spread across his face. “So who’s the unfortunate little pony to want to come after the Painless Jester?” Who?
The stallion gulped under our hooves. “S-Somepony from the Strip!”
My host growled. “Double Down?”
The pink stallion squeaked, “I don’t know! The only thing on the contract was DD.”
“Good enough for me,” my host whispered with a grin.
“C-Can...” The stallion gulped and looked around. “Can I go?”
My host let out a maniacal cackle and looked back at the poor stallion. “Did you really think that I would ever let you go?” The pony’s face drooped in the realisation that he wouldn’t be leaving. His eyes started to water. “If you did, I’m sad to say, it simply isn’t so.” My host’s grin grew larger. “I will never set you free...”
“No! Please!” My host drew a knife from my sheath and held it above the pony. “Don’t do this! Please! Let me go! I’ll leave bounty hunting! Just let me go!” Listen to him! His friends are dead! Please!
My host drove the knife into the poor pony’s neck, causing it to erupt in blood. The pony’s eyes grew in terror for a moment but quickly rolled back into his head, his screams silenced by the blade.
My host pulled the knife out and sheathed it, blood dripping off the blade. “And that’s that.” He looked into a piece of discarded glass, letting me see his reflection.
It was me.
But...not. My eyes were burning a blood red, and my riot armour was covered in blood. I... I had killed those ponies... while I was in a memory orb... but...
Ace moaned and sat up slowly, holding her head. “What... what happened...?” She winced and held her head. “Oooooh that’s gonna sting in the morn-” She glanced at me and her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. My eyes faded back to normal, and I slowly regained control of my body.
I looked back at Ace. What do I tell her? I couldn’t tell her the truth! That she’s travelling with a psycho? No way! Think, Clover... “Bounty hunters... tried to claim a bounty on me...” I shook my head, clearing my head. “I guess I really am lucky...” I looked at the bodies. So much blood... So much blood that I had spilled.
No. I didn’t spill it. It was Traiblaze. Yeah. Him.
“No way,” Ace said, worry tinging her voice. “No way did you kill these fucks. Not you. Not on your own.”
“I had help,” I blurted out. “Somepony helped me.” I looked around. “I dunno where he went though.” Ace looked me over. I didn’t exactly lie, I did have help. Just... not the help I wanted... “Some sort of... mysterious stranger.” Now that was a plain lie... I knew exactly who it was.
It was Trailblaze.
Ace just looked at me as Tallie yawned and rubbed her eyes. She looked around and cocked her head. “What?” she squeaked in a drowsy daze.
“Clover and some dude just saved our asses,” Ace stated, a hint of pride in her voice. She actually bought it? She must have been dumber than I thought...
I scratched the back of my head. “It was...uh...” What was it? Eh, fuck it. I shrugged. “It was noth-”
*BANG*
My body went cold. Behind Ace lay a mare, a pistol in her bloody teeth.
The world turned silent as I took shallow, painful breaths and looked down. My armour had been punctured, and blood seeped from the wound. The only things I could hear was my heart and my breaths. Each starting to slow.
Ace’s eyes grew in panic and looked at the bloody mare. She roared in rage and slammed her over the head with a shotgun as I fell into the dirt, clutching my chest. My lungs were starting to fill with warm blood. My own life force killing me. Ironic, isn’t it?
Ace rushed to my side and threw a rag over my chest, putting pressure on the wound. I looked down at her hooves, slowly turning red with my blood. Her face was covered in worry as she levitated all sorts of medical equipment from her saddlebag. She dropped some of it in a panic as she looked into my eyes. Her eyes were beginning to water.
I coughed blood all over her forelegs and my head finally came to a rest in the dirt. The only thing I could see now was my right foreleg with its flashing red pipbuck, sprawled out ahead of me, and darkness creeping in from all around.
“No! Don’t you die on me!” I could hear. My hearing was starting to become fuzzy and muffled. I saw a pool of blood slowly start to form around me as I stared at my hoof, laying on the cold dirt.
“Help!”
The world was becoming so dark... so cold... so... so...
...peaceful...
Footnote: No Level up.
New companions: Zippo, Tallie!
New companion perks!
“I Want To See That Blow Up!”: Tallie's sharp eyes help you target opponents when aiming.
“Living Blowtorch”: Zippo's flame breath can be used to help with welding, giving a bonus to repairs. Also, the flame can be used help with breaching, granting a bonus to forcing locks.
Special thanks to Adder1, Menti, Mittens, and Julep for editing and art.
Thanks are in order for the great and all powerful Kkat for creating the FoE Universe that I implanted my work into.
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"My host drove the neck into the poor pony’s neck"
That doesn't seem physically possible.
1096319
Goddamnit. Fixed.
just a pure fucking awsome chapter keep em coming!!!
When i finished the chapter my reaction was
"No! You can't stop there!!!!"
Awsome chapter like always!!
I enjoyed this chapter, it was humorous with good character and plot development. I do think that the addition of a child to the group may be bordering a little on the cliched side of things for an FOE fic, considering they're all doing it these days; but at least it isn't some delicate little innocent filly who just wants to see mommy and daddy again. For Chestnut I assume you were channeling a bit of Drill Sergeant Dornan from Fallout 2 mixed with a bit of R Lee Ermey from Full Metal Jacket. The only real problem I had was with the end of this chapter and the large inconsistencies that it would have if it were to happen in real life. I'll try to keep this as lecture-free sounding as possible.
SPOILERS!
First off
This would not happen in real life. If Clover's lung was punctured his lung would have deflated, this would allow air to rush in and equalize the air pressure between the lungs and the outside world (Bad). However, Clover has the advantage of having two lungs. His breaths wold be very short and shallow as the un-punctured lung attempts to compensate for the other, collapsed (I am assuming that this is what happened). His heart rate would speed up and blood pressure would plummet as well due to his body going into circulatory shock from the blood loss, panic, and lack of oxygen gas exchange occurring in his lungs because, once again, one of them is non-operational. In short, I don't think that Clover would have immediately passed out from being shot in the lungs, as he did in the story. What would've more than likely happened was he would have lingered for a bit, in a semi-lucid state as his body went into "Oh fuck I am dying!" mode.
Matingos is right but anyways still a good chapter all in all like always you never fail to deliver
looking towards the next 
Well. Let's get to it.
The first portion of the chapter has me thinking that after paying a visit to Iron City, there'll be a detour to Clover's farm to check on the situation there. Given that his father, his brother, and likely the rest of his family is long passed, I wouldn't be surprised if the Feds were running it as a collective by now. But we'll see what happens.
Now... the dust devils. They're an interesting concept, and I think that they would have been all the more interesting if they had a more intriguing design instead of a loosely equine one. That said, I do believe that the most important part of that segment was the increased presence of Trailblaze's advice. We definitely saw... more of him this chapter. More on that later.
Tallie! Hello there! I was wondering when she would show up in this story given that you were still using her in the Tavern and thus gave me the impression you were still planning on using her for Reloaded. I can't say for sure that this is a much better way for introducing her, but she's different this time around. Last time, I imagined Tallie as much younger- closer to five or six. Here she's around ten years old, and it shows a little better. Waiting to see how you develop her. Already had a bit of a sneak peek from the Tavern, but I'll wait and see.
And now the memory orbs. I'll be frank- memory orbs are serious business. Unless if they're central to developing the story, it's recommended and I would recommend leaving them out completely. Of course, that's your call in the end. Given that Clover's practically using the Cakes' equipment and weaponry and we're bound to see more of them later, I think there's still some reasoning behind these orbs. Maybe I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt, but hey- more power to you, right?
And... Trailblaze. It seems to be a running thing among characters that if there's something freaky going on with the main character, he or she will hide it from the others. To be truthful and given Clover's current character, I guess it could flip-flop either way in that case. I don't quite think I can judge your exposition of Trailblaze just yet. I'll wait until the next case to make a more complete review of that particular case.
Well, there we go. Until next time.
Adder1
1096521
a-thank you.
1096586
A-thank you too.
1097454
...dammit.
Hoping no one would pick up on that ><
1097825
I'll try and get this one out faster, but I have exams coming up, so might not be for a while...
1097834
Yay! Review!
1098376
You liked Stitches?
Well... maybe? I'm not sure yet. Maybe as a cameo.
Woah, intense. "Painless Jester", though? Doesn't Trailblaze know you don't pick your own nickname? And that killing all witnesses won't allow a nickname to spread anyway?
And yay Zippo! Good name
Onto the section you've been expecting and dreading: Corrections!
> as a giant thing pounced from the shadows at sprinted at Ace and the kid
"[and] sprinted at Ace"?
> trotted to the cave entrance,after Zippo
Missing space after the comma
> it wouldl be just a short hike to Iron City
"would"
> and breath when I tell you to!
breathe
1100116
Does TB give a shit?
and thank Kashin for the name.
Fixed all corrections.
1096319
that's just what he kept saying!
Really getting interested in this world now, keep up the good work!
1104058
I was gonna make him be involved in the Enclave, but I've thrown that out the window.
1138801
Thanks! THIS IS MY WORLD!
1166578
That Chester. What a silly.
It's so beautiful
1199331
I know I am, thanks. What do you think of the story?
1311437
Glad you think so, amigo!
1312840 You feel like you know what's gonna happen but than out of nowhere the story takes a turn to the unknown and I love it
1313327
Heehee. What are some of your forecasts? Send me a pm!
Great chapter, I really enjoy your story Hobo.
The line from Jekyll and Hyde. Very nice.