Fallout Equestria: Aces High

by Vinyl Scoot

Ch. 2: The Road

Chapter 2: The Road

“Enslave the town? That was your plan to get me out?”

“Fat lot of good it did, you weren’t even there!”

“I escaped in the chaos. Five’s pissed though. We’ve been in contact.”

“Yeah, he sent me a message. He won’t listen to reason though.”

“Well of course not, you just enslaved one of his villages! Look, I’m not asking you to sort it out, I said earlier a war might be just what we need.”

“How? How is a war what we need? I’m fine with what I own, all of us are except Five, and he’s just always pissed! And if a war breaks out, what if he has balefires? I know Three does, and we’re lucky he’ll never want to use them.”

“So keep it petty. Don’t escalate it, you’ll be fine. This is an order, Seven, and I expect you to follow it. I’ve been in captivity far too long to let this slip away.”

“Yes, sir!”

*************

“...and the radgators have been docile since. This has been DJ Pon3, bringing you the truth... no matter how much it hurts.”

I turned off the radio. Nothing about Pride or the Stable Dweller Symptom mentioned yesterday. Another two hours of walking along a dirty brown path with nothing to distract me from the boredom.

“You know, there’s other radio broadcasts other than DJ Pon3, Ace.” I looked over at Monarch, who was levitating and apple and eating it as we walked. Once again, I lamented not having a unicorn horn. “I’ve heard plenty of distress signals and whatnot from just turning the dial.”

I frowned at him. “You heard distress signals? Did you go help the ponies sending them?” Monarch looked away and kept eating his apple. “Oh yeah, you just hid under a rock.” He grunted than levitated up a pair of binoculars.

“Hey, Symptom, that look like a caravan to you?” he asked, floating the binoculars over. Symptom glanced through them and nodded. “Well, Ace? Wanna go see what they have for trade?” He looked at me hopefully. “This was my last apple, and I’m really craving some cider.”

Blueprints and I exchanged an exasperated look. King or not, Monarch was a royal something. I sighed. “Why not.” I flew up in the air and tried to wave the caravan to stop. To my surprise, one of them flew up in the air too. “Well, what do you know. Another pegasus.”

Blueprints froze. “Wait, pegasus? Pegasi are not a friendly sight in the wasteland, Ace!” He started panicking and running around in circles. Monarch levitated the binoculars up to me. I looked through them and...

“Never mind, it’s not a pegasus. Just... some kind of half eagle, half lion thing.”

This had the opposite effect I’d hoped. Blueprints started babbling incoherently and Monarch spit out the piece of apple he’d just bitten. Symptom just froze in place.

I was leading the biggest group of cowards in the Wasteland.

I waved the hybrid thing over to us, and, sure enough, the caravan turned and started travelling towards us. I landed next to Blueprints and rammed my hoof in his mouth. Monarch had regained some composure and Symptom began walking again. A few minutes later, we met up with the caravan.

“A pegasus, earth pony, unicorn, and ghoul huh? Not quite what adventurers look like here in the North,” the hybrid said, glancing over each of us as she did. “I’m Spear, and this is Rend and Luck.” I looked behind her and saw two more of the weird hybrids.

“I’m Ace, this here is Blueprints, Monarch, and Symptom,” I responded, pointing at each of my friends. “I don’t mean to sound rude, but, what are you exactly?” Blueprints collapsed at the question. I kicked him without turning away from the caravan and gave my best apologetic grin.

The hybrid laughed heartily. “Not often you find a pegasus who’s never seen a griffin before!” She turned and the three griffins began digging through their supplies. I grabbed my caps out of my saddlebags and counted them. Monarch gave me his and Symptom dug out Blueprints’ from his fainted body. “That looks like Stable barding, there, pegasus. Good for light weaponry, but anything bigger and you may as well be wearing cardboard. You from a Stable? I didn’t think any pegasi went to one.”

I glanced down at my barding. “No, but my town had a Stable underneath it. Completely empty. Of ponies anyway. And it’s worked well enough for me so far.”

Rend walked a circle around me. “I think we may have a better set in our inventory. Oh! What’s this?” She peered closer at my foreleg. “I’ve never seen anything like this before...”

“It’s just a Pipbuck. Just a little stronger than others.” I lied, trying to avoid too much examination. How did she not notice earlier? The gold stands out a lot against the dark blue. “I got it from the same Stable.”

Rend nodded. “Fair enough. Looks pretty handy.”

I brightened and started digging in my saddlebag. “I have another in here that I don’t need. Want to buy it?”

Spear’s eyebrows rose quite a bit. “You’re just carrying two by chance? I think a Pipbuck for improved armor is a fair trade...” she trailed off questioningly. I agreed and shed the Stable barding for the better armor. As I put it on, however, my Pipbuck started clicking. I looked at it and saw that the radiation meter was moving.

“Radiation? Why are you irradiated? Actually...” I turned to Monarch, “Why aren’t we irradiated?”

“The bombs fell two hundred years ago, and very far away from here. What radiation there was is long gone, though its effects still remain, as you can see,” he answered, gesturing towards Symptom.

Spear nodded. “Right, and we just came from Equestria proper. The radiation down there is still horrible, so we probably have trace amounts on us and our stuff.” Makes sense to me. We finished up the trade and I slipped on the new armor. “We got it from a dead Enclave scout troop. It’s not the fancy armor you see the commanders wear, but it’s a hell of a lot tougher than your Stable barding.”

Monarch bought his cider and I slid the armor over my Pipbuck. With the flashy gold covered by a slick black, I felt considerably better about my ability to hide. We waved goodbye to the griffons and watched them disappear in the distance. I heard a groaning and looked over to see Blueprints struggle to get to his feet. “Fucking Celestia, I feel like I was hit by a train. What just happened?”

“Ace introduced us to some griffons and you collapsed,” Symptom said bluntly. “I’m still not entirely sure how you’ve lived so long. And why are you cursing a dead princess? Seems kind of stupid to me.”

Blueprints rubbed his head. “Celestia’s not dead, she ascended to the sky and became a Goddess,” he replied.

Symptom let out a barking laugh. “You believe almost anything you’re told, don’t you? She died two hundred years ago, when the bomb fell on Canterlot. She can’t hear or help you now, so you might as well forget about her. She’s gone.”

Monarch finished a gulp of cider and nodded. “Luna too. And everypony else who died when the bombs fell. The ones who died in the war, the ones who died after the war. All gone forever. Never to be seen or heard from again.”

I paused to think about what he said, then shook my head. “They may be dead, but they’re not gone. At least, not forever.”

Symptom glared at me. “Then where are they? Nopony’s coming back from the dead, that’s impossible.”

Blueprints steadied himself against me and said, “Celestia and Luna were powerful enough to transcend death. The flew to the heavens and continue watching over us from there.”

Monarch put down his cider. “Then why are their bodies still in Equestria? Desecrated in the halls of Canterlot probably, by the Pink Cloud ghouls roaming the castle.”

“Their souls escaped to take control of the sun and moon!” Blueprints retorted. I nodded in agreement.

“There’s no such thing as a soul, fucktard,” Symptom said advancing towards us.

Blueprints said the stupidest thing I’d ever heard. “Then how do you explain why we are us?”

Apparently Monarch and Symptom agreed, based on their stunned faces. “Uh, care to explain what that means?” Monarch questioned.

Blueprints stopped in thought. “Well,” he began, “look at Ace.” Me? “He’s sneaky, thieving, backstabbing, and pretty unemotional...” A little harsh aren’t we? “...but he’s willing to defend a spineless little merchant like me from raiders.” Okay, that sounds a little better, but I wouldn’t say spineless... “He may not be a perfect pony, or even decent, but it’s who he is.” Damn straight. “If he was any different, he wouldn’t be Ace. He’d be somepony else.” I nodded in agreement to his explanation.

Symptom shook hers though. I was beginning to regret letting her follow us. “If that’s true, what happens to his soul when he dies? Locked down with his dead body? Floating throughout the world devoid of purpose?” Downer, much?

“No...” Blueprints said slowly, “he’ll join Celestia and Luna in paradise!”

Monarch, Symptom and I all stared at him in disbelief. “Where the fuck did you hear that shitty explanation for death?” Monarch asked incredulously. “And what about the raiders? After living a life of raping, killing, and pillaging, do they go to paradise too?”

Blueprints shook his head with a smile. “It’s not a shitty explanation, it’s the truth. And no, the raiders are going to go be tortured by demons in Hell!” Symptom shook her head and sat down, lost for words. Monarch opened his mouth, closed it, and turned back to his cider. I looked from pony to pony in utter confusion. Blueprints smiled smugly and promptly fell over. On the ground, he started giggling like a maniac.

Cowards and insane. I sure can pick friends.

*******************

We continued along the road, Blueprints wobbling with Monarch’s support while Monarch floated his cider in front of him. Symptom followed behind him, right in step. I smiled inwardly at the image, then unrolled my sleeve to get to my Pipbuck.

I flipped through the radio channels hoping to find a distress signal that Monarch mentioned. Why wait until we get to Pipsqueak Bay to start helping? My persistence was rewarded. “...surrounded. Only about ten of them, but they still outnumber us. Please... we can’t hold out much longer... Help! A raider party has our fort surrounded. Only about ten of them, but they still outnumber us...” I switched it off and glanced at my map. Fort Periwinkle was flashing not far to the south. “Come on, guys! We have a fort to save!” I looked around at my friends. Monarch was finishing off the last of his cider, while Symptom stared at me unblinking. Blueprints wobbled over to me, still dizzy from his faint.

“Ace, are we really equipped to go attack raiders? The last couple fights we’ve gotten out of through dumb luck or by being rescued. And I’m not entirely sure we should rescue every single pony who asks for help.”

I looked at him sharply. “All we need is some experience. And what do you mean we shouldn’t rescue every pony who asks?”

Monarch was the first to respond. “He means, what if they are slavers?”

I stopped. What if they were? “Well, we’ll just have to find out when we get there, now won’t we?”

Blueprints shook his head, apparently still tired from the last argument. “Whatever you say, glorious leader. Lead on.”

We began running towards the fort. As it came into view we slowed down to a trot. I took to the air to see if I could find see the raiders’ encampment. Unfortunately, as I soon learned, flying makes you an easy target. A bullet clipped my wing and I spiraled to the ground. I slowed just enough for a soft landing, though Symptom didn’t think so. “Get off me, you flying ton of bricks! I’m not a fucking pillow!” Such a wonderful friend.

“Well?” Blueprints asked as he helped me and Symptom up. “What’s it like?”

I stretched my wing out, thanking Celestia that pegasi wings were the strongest part of the body. “There’s a lot more than ten down there. We do have the element of surprise though. Anypony got any ideas?”

Monarch spoke up. “How about you and Blueprints go down and kill everyone while Symptom and I hide out up here.”

Was he serious? “The only reason you guys are with us is so we have backup! If you two sit and do nothing, we’ll just die down there.”

“That’s not our problem,” Symptom said with a smirk.

Blueprints shook his head and threw my sniper rifle at her. Wait, how’d he get that? “If you don’t want to get up close and personal, at least snipe some.”

Monarch gasped. “I can’t do that! You’ve seen me with a sniper rifle!”

“Yeah, you put a bullet through my leg,” I reminded him. “So it’s you and me, Prints.” I pulled out my shotgun and checked the ammo. A little bit down, but enough to survive. “Come on. Let’s go.” And before I could get distracted again, I jumped down to the encampment.

“Intruders! Intru-” a guard yelled, cut off by a quick shot from my gun. Blueprints hopped down after me and began targeting the scrambling raiders. I activated S.A.T.S. and quickly targeted the three nearest me. My Pipbuck began putting up shields, but my barding was still taking some fire. I threw a grenade towards a group of raiders, scattering them. I heard shots from a sniper rifle being fired off, and I’d hoped Monarch was actually killing some ponies.

The fight went way smoother than the one at Tin Town. Soon there was one raider left, and Blueprints had him pinned down. “Any last words?” I heard Blueprints taunt. The raider spat in his face. I felt a surge of anger greater than I’d felt before. Without quite comprehending what I was doing, I had my gun in the raider’s mouth and was pulling the trigger.

“What the fuck?!” Blueprints yelled, snapping me out of my trance. I looked up at him. “Dude! You... That... I... Fuck!” Blueprints stormed off. I watched him curiously. What did I do wrong this time?

“Are they dead?”

I turned towards the fort and saw a green mare sticking her head out the gate. “Yeah,” I answered, looking back at the headless corpse. “Definitely dead.”

**************************

We sat inside Fort Periwinkle, waiting patiently for the leader of the ponies here to come talk to us. Monarch, as it turns out, didn’t fire a shot, letting his fear of taking a life get the better of him. Symptom, however, seemed to think nothing of callously shooting every pony in raider barding.

“Ace, it’s not your fault,” I heard Blueprints say. “We all lose control sometimes. Just work harder at keeping yourself in check.”

Symptom spoke up. “He didn’t lose control. He just used his anger to fuel his combat prowess. Raiders are evil ponies and that one probably deserved a shot in the face twenty times over,” she logically explained.

Blueprints looked at her incredulously. “Did becoming a ghoul make you lose all your compassion? Because I can guarantee that any other pony would lament over a lost life.”

Before she could retort, the door opened and the captain of the fort walked in. Symptom slipped into the shadows, pulling on some cloak that vanished her from sight. Before I could wonder why she did that, the captain began speaking. “I’m glad some ponies got the distress signal. I’m Captain Apple Thunder, descendant of the first Overmare of Stable 78. Who might you three be?”

Blueprints looked up. “Stable 78? I thought that was in Mesa City! Wouldn’t you be working there for Pride?”

The look on Thunder’s face turned from delight to stony anger. I mentally kicked Blueprints for not thinking before he spoke. At least he spared her his horrified look. “Actually, I do work for Pride, and I’m not going to hear anything against him in this fort.” Okay, there’s the horrified look. “Listen, I’ve got to go inspect some MEAT vendor in the market. He spurned ME when I asked him for identification last week, but I didn’t want to make a scene at the INN. THE only reason I didn’t exile him then and there is because he’s COURTing my daughter. Well, hopefully I can see you again before you leave. This room is only a YARD from your rooms, so be sure to get some sleep.” I raised my eyebrows at Blueprints. This pony chose some weird words to exaggerate. Monarch, however, was nodding. I looked at him curiously.

“Well, thank you, I guess,” was all I could say.

Thunder shook her head, then walked out of the room, muttering something which sounded suspiciously like “dumb pegasi.” When the door closed, Symptom re-materialized from the walls. Monarch turned and grinned at me. “Well that was informative.”

Did I miss something here? “I didn’t get shit except how she prattled on about an illegal meat seller,” I asked. Monarch facehoofed. Yep, I definitely missed something. “Alright, what am I missing?”

Symptom answered. “She wants us to meet her in the courtyard, dipshit. Possibly to reward us for the fort’s rescue. Or to kill us all in a convenient locale...” she trailed off thoughtfully. I stared at her awestruck. “I thought you were supposed to be a smart pony,” she finally said when she returned from Ghoulland.

“Just well-read, or as well as I could given the situation,” I admitted. I was about to ask how she could have figured out her message, but decided to drop the issue. “How and why’d you disappear when she came in here?”

Symptom pulled out a cloak. “Zebra stealth cloak. Makes me invisible. Most ponies don’t trust ghouls, you see, so I like to stay out of sight.” I pondered over this for a minute. “I looted this off a dead zebra awhile back. I didn’t think she needed it anymore.”

We stepped out of the room and headed for the exit to the building. “Well, she didn’t say when to meet her, so let’s just agree to go to the courtyard in an hour,” said Monarch. “I need to go see what this fort has to offer food-wise.” We agreed to split up, and that’s how I ended up in the library.

The library.

Books! So many books! I stared in awe at the sheer sizes of the bookshelves. There had to be a thousand of the things in here! I walked up and pulled a book out, glancing at the title. The Founding of The Wild North. I put it back and looked for a more interesting one. I found one about life in Equestria several hundred years before the war even started. There was an eye-catching one about so-called “Elements of Harmony” but it seemed like a Pony’s Tale to me. I left the nonfiction(?) section and stumbled into the fiction. Set up on a pedestal in the middle was a brown book with gold trim along the sides. I stepped closer to the ropes surrounding the book and squinted my eyes to read the title. Heroes of Equestria.

“Ah, interested in our Heroes Archive, huh?”

I whirled around to see an aging caramel colored mare with a book cutie mark. “Heroes Archive? What’s that?”

The librarian smiled. “It’s this library’s record of heroes through Equestrian history. You’re a very lucky pony, as I’m about to add a new name to it, so I’ll let you flip through it if you want.” I took a look at the book. It seemed to call out to me, begging to be read. The librarian unhooked the rope around it and pulled the book out. I followed her to a table and watched her open it. I read the names as she flipped through the pages.

Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Wheels, Sir Lemon Drop, and Martial Law were the names on the first page, but I couldn’t read much more than that before the librarian flipped towards the middle where the book was empty. Wait, no, there were six names on the top of the left page. Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack. “Who are those ponies?” I asked the librarian.

“Oh, those were the Ministry Mares, and the Elements of Harmony before the war. They stopped Nightmare Moon and Discord and formed the six Ministries,” she answered before picking up a pen. I watched as she wrote a new name in the book: Stable Dweller.

“What’s the Stable Dweller done now?” I wondered aloud. I remember both Symptom and DJ Pon3 mentioning her and was now genuinely curious.

“DJ Pon3 always puts props up to random ponies who try to do good in the Wasteland, but this is the first one who’s had tangible effect. She’s cleared both Ponyville and Old Appleloosa out of Raiders, reopening trade with New Appleloosa and Mesa City. She even dropped a train on an alicorn!” How in the fuck could she do that? And they don’t even have a proper name for her? Well, this pony’s certainly something special.

I stepped back and took one long look at the library. “I need to check out a few books...” I started towards the reference section and started skimming the titles. “Blueprints might like this one...” I muttered aloud.

“I knew them, you know.”

I stopped and closed my eyes. And Dusty returns. “I honestly don’t care all that much, Dusty. They’re long dead, and it’s not like they matter to me anyway.”

“Celestia’s long dead too, but it seems you think she’s watching over you,” she replied tauntingly. “They deserved to be in that book. That librarian didn’t even begin to tell you how much they accomplished in their lives.”

I was starting to feel a little hot. “Oh yeah? Like starting a war that would destroy Equestria? Finding better ways to kill other ponies? Causing me to end up as an outcast before I could even talk?”

“They tried to end the war! They didn’t start it! The reason they moved some hubs north was to research peacetime technology.”

“Yeah, well they didn’t do very well, did they? They didn’t end the war, the zebras did, and in the only way they possibly could. I know my history, Dusty, even if I’m shaky in other subjects.” I felt tears coming to my eyes, and tried to blink them back. “Everything I’ve gone through, my entire shitty life, is because of their fucking war, and I’m not about to forgive them about it.” Dusty remained quiet. And alone in the library, I sobbed into the silence.

***************

Dry-eyed, I walked into the courtyard of the fort and saw Blueprints, Monarch, and Symptom waiting for me already. Blueprints’ armour looked a bit more protective, Monarch was sipping on some more apple cider, and Symptom... “Holy shit, is that a rocket launcher?”

Symptom gave a small smile. “Best I could find. Hope you don’t mind me selling your sniper rifle for it.” Oh great. Now I have to get up close and personal for battle. “I thought you might be unhappy, so I bought you these,” said Symptom as she tossed me some hoof claws. Oh great! Now I can get up close and personal for battle.

Blueprints stood up and stretched his legs. “Where did you go? We didn’t see you at the market...” he said.

I grinned. “I went to the library and checked out a few books. Check ‘em.” I pulled out Battle Saddles and their accessories, 1001 ways to hide in plain sight, and A History of Magic Warfare and tossed them to Blueprints, Symptom and Monarch respectively. “I thought you ponies might like them.”

Apple Thunder walked into the courtyard and over to us and Symptom disappeared. “Good. You’re here. I’ve sent scout parties to find you, and I wanted to talk to you.” Well, it’s not like we were hiding. “I’m under orders to kill you on sight.” And now would be a good time to escape. Okay, wings, let’s get out of here. I felt a pony grab onto my mane. “Hold your horses, Ace, I’m going to let you free. I am the rightful heir to Stable 78 and Mesa City, but Pride took over. I’m not too happy about that.” My wings went back to the rest position. “He knew killing me would not go over well with the Stable, so I’m the only Earth Pony in his ranks.

The only Earth Pony? And all Pegasi were supposedly Enclave? That could only mean... “All his troops are unicorns? I never knew that” Blueprints articulated our thoughts.

“That’s right,” I was surprised to see Monarch answer. “Pride thinks Unicorns are the master race, so he kills all other ponies on general principles.” Okay, so now I have a legitimate reason to hate him. I was beginning to like Symptom’s rocket launcher.

Thunder paced in front of us. “It’s treason already to let you go free. So if Pride finds out, I’m dead. Which is why I want you to kill him. Soon. When he’s gone, I’ll assume control of Mesa City.” That made sense to me. Why put somepony who doesn’t know what they’re doing in charge? I found myself nodding and putting up a fighting grin. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave tonight.” And my grin faded. “I don’t want to push my luck, which is why we are having this discussion out here. I’ve put some food and clean water in your rooms. I’ll let you wash up, but I want you gone by morning.” She turned and left.

Monarch turned to Blueprints with a winning look on his face. “Looks like your idol isn’t the pony you thought he was.”

“Oh shut up,” Blueprints grumbled. “Ace, are we really going to do this? I’ve seen the city, and not even the Enclave could get in without heavy losses.”

“Then we won’t just run up and attack it. When we have small numbers, we try to stay undetected.” I explained. “And why do you keep bringing up the Enclave? I keep hearing about them and still have no idea who they are.”

“They live in the sky,” Blueprints answered. “Haven’t you noticed the constant cloud cover? Probably used to it like everypony else. Nopony has any idea what they do up there or why they refuse to let the sun in, but it can’t be good.”

“Some ponies think they’re planning an invasion,” interjected Monarch. “They’re up there building an army while we’re down here killing ourselves. Gonna swoop in and take over once we’ve whittled ourselves down to nothing.”

“That’s why a lot of ponies are going to shoot first when you’re around,” continued Blueprints. “Better safe than sorry when concerning the Enclave. Never trust a pegasus.”

I struggled to wrap my head around this. They lived in the sky, on the clouds, probably controlling everything, yet nopony trusted them? “How do you know they exist then?”

“There’s been plenty of scouting parties they send down,” Blueprints said. “They’ve got a section to themselves in Mesa City, and Pride just left them alone. I assume the rest of them do too.”

“The rest of who?” I asked.

Blueprints looked at me surprised. “The rest of his siblings, of course! There’s seven of them, all spread out in the North. Pride and Wrath are the only ones that have real power, though. And of course they never agree with each other.”

My head was starting to hurt. Power struggles, mysterious enemies, a few death threats... “Coming here was probably a mistake.”

“No shit, Sherclop,” Symptom said, rolling her eyes.

We left to our rooms for the night, and by morning, Fort Periwinkle was behind us. DJ Pon3 was blabbering on about some raiders in Manehatten when Blueprints said the first thing about the previous night. “So what now? Pipsqueak Port?” I nodded at him absentmindedly and flung out my wings. I took off and felt the pleasure of flying again. Then pain. My right wing was on fire! I dove and slid on the gravel road. I heard Symptom snicker. I looked up at her and glared daggers. “Ace... your wing...” I heard Blueprints say. I looked at it and saw a hole from the fight yesterday. “Hold on, I’ve got some bandages here...” He dug in his saddlebags and wrapped my wing up. Symptom snickered again.

“Keep laughing Symptom and I’ll try out these claws you gave me.” Yeah, that shut her up. “So how long am I grounded, doc?” I faintly smiled at Blueprints.

He shook his head. “Hard to say. I’ve heard Pegasus wings heal fast, so probably a day.” I groaned and stood up. “So I guess you’re walking like the rest of us.”

I dusted myself off and looked at my map. We were getting closer to Pipsqueak Port. “Well, let’s not tarry then.” I started walking towards the flashing dot. Monarch levitated out Magic Warfare and started reading. I felt a pang of jealousy, but shook it off. There’d be time to read when we got there.

An hour of silence later, Monarch spoke up. “I can see our destination.” I looked up eagerly; sure enough, there was the ocean and port. “I estimate we’ll get there in about thirty minutes. Unless we step up our pace.”

That was all the motivation I needed. I burst into a gallop and heard the others follow suit. “Race ya’ll there!” The road blurred past us and I glanced at the many dead bodies on the sides. Wait... dead bodies? I slid to a stop and the others crashed into me. “Uh, guys? Something’s not right...”

I hate it when I’m right. Ponies in raider barding jumped out from both sides of the road. I didn’t have time to pull out a gun. I jumped at the first raider I saw and smashed my claws into his face. I glanced at my EFS and was relieved by the low numbers. I pulled out my shotgun and fired a shell at the nearest raider and heard Blueprints’ Battle Saddle fire off. I turned around and slipped into SATS to take down two more. I saw Monarch float out a sword and haphazardly swing it at a raider. Wait, where’d he get a sword? I didn’t have much time to ponder this as a fired off my shotgun at another raider. Symptom bit out at the raiders surrounding her.

“Ace! Get her off me” I heard Blueprints yell. I snuck a look towards him and saw a filly in raider barding biting on his back. Without thinking I fired off at her and saw her head explode. Before I could react, a head from a newly beheaded raider flew past me. Soon the firing stopped and the dust began clearing. Blueprints drank a healing potion and Symptom began looting the bodies.

“Well that was unnecessary,” said Monarch as he sheathed his sword.

I glared at him. “Really. No shit.”

Blueprints frowned. “Ace, you just shot a filly with a shotgun...”

“She was trying to kill you. She knew what she was doing,” I shot back at him. “No regrets.” Symptom finished looting and nodded at Monarch. We continued towards the city walls.

To say I was amazed at the gates is an understatement. They were ornately designed, made of a durable Redwood with metal plating in the curved inwards along the edges. They stood at least twenty feet high and flanking it were two of the most heavily armed ponies I’d seen in the Wasteland. About a foot taller than normal ponies, they were covered in such heavy armour, I couldn’t even see flesh.

“State your business here in Pipsqueak Port, traveller,” one of them said in a bored voice.

I hesitated. Why were we here again? “We’re just passing through really. Here to help.” I heard one of them yawn in his suit.

Monarch spoke up. “We’re a scouting party from Mesa City.” That sure got a reaction. Both ponies stood up straighter and glanced nervously at each other. I looked over at Monarch curiously. What was he going at?

“M-Mesa City, huh?” one of them stammered out. “Why is Mesa City interested in us?”

Blueprints caught on. “Orders from the top. We just came from Fort Periwinkle with a command to investigate the... uh... defenses of... this... port...” he trailed off weakly.

The guards burst out laughing. “Like Thunder’s that big of an idiot! Pride wouldn’t violate the treaty. I bet you’re all just little babies running away from home.” I looked over at Monarch and noted how he was nearly as big as them. The rest of us were dwarfed, but we certainly weren’t foal sized. I was beginning to feel a little hot in the face and significantly less impressed with the door now.

Finally, the guards began to calm down. “Listen, kid, I don’t think you need to be hanging around this Port. It’s no place for little foals, so go be on your way. Maybe when you get a few battles around your belt, you can come back.”

I fumed. Little foal? Kid? I pulled out my shotgun and heard my friends gasp. “Don’t make me use this,” I growled at them. Bad idea. Suddenly both ponies had very large guns pointed at me. Nopony was laughing anymore.

“If you really want to get in here, go clear out that mutie infestation down by Colgate Bay. Those guys have been bugging the port for weeks and our captain can’t spare the ponies to take them out.”

“Fine then. I’ll be back tomorrow with the Bay clear of them,” I spat in his face. “Come on, guys, we have muties to kill.” I turned and walked away from the doors. Blueprints followed right after, but Monarch stayed in place.

“Um, Ace? What are muties?”

I stopped. What were muties? I looked over at Blueprints and Symptom, but neither of them looked like an expert on the subject. I sighed and looked over at the guards. “Well? What are muties?”

Apparently, this was funny too. After the guards got back up, one of them decided to explain. “Muties are mutant ponies. None of the Balefire bombs fell more north than Manehatten, so when the wind brought the radiation here, some ponies were mutated. Their minds are twisted more than their bodies are, and that’s saying something. If you come across one, shoot first and ask questions later, and,” he turned towards Symptom, “I normally say the same about ghouls too.” I glared at him, but wisely decided not to press the issue.

Symptom was not so wise, “And I’m sure that does wonders for your love life.” Yeah, time to go now. I am not having much luck with other ponies in the Wasteland. After we lost the guards a few miles away from the Port, I turned on Symptom.

“Well, I can see why ponies don’t like ghouls much.”

She snorted. “Please. I’m perfectly nice to ponies who aren’t so pretentious. Of course, I prefer to avoid confrontations, which is why I like hiding when in town.”

“Wouldn’t you rather have tried to change his opinion about ghouls by acting, you know, civilized?”

“His opinion is deeply rooted in his brain. One kind ghoul isn’t going to change it, so why bother? I don’t regret what I said, and I think you should just drop the issue.”

I was about to argue more, but Monarch gave me a drop-it look. I grumbled and looked at the map to see where we were going. Surprisingly, Colgate Bay was fairly close-by. “Well, let’s go kill us some muties.”

Blueprints facehooved. “So close...” he muttered. I shot him a confused look. “From what the guard said, muties are ponies too, Ace. You were so close when you felt remorse for the filly, but now you’re ready to go kill more, and they may not even be hostile!”

I threw the thought through my head a bit, then replied. “How about we only shoot if they shoot first?” This seemed to satisfy Blueprints.

The Bay was really close. Closer than I could’ve imagined. Like literally over a hill away. The sight of the city startled me. Not surprise. Startle. It looked... completely normal. From where I was, I could see ponies moving around, shopping in a market, sitting in a park, eating at a restaurant.

I was picturing dark and depressing. This was... happy. We walked up to the entrance of the city, and a dark green pony with a boneless leg hanging limply off his side approached us. “Oh no... more ponies from the Port... Please... we don’t have any more supplies!”

Wait, what? Was he begging me for supplies? I looked back at Blueprints and he shrugged at me. I turned back to the mutie. “Uh... is this Colgate Bay?” The pony nodded slowly. “We were sent here to stop raids against the Port.”

The pony looked surprised. “We haven’t raided the Port. We’ve sent a few merchants for food, but we’ve no weapons here. We’re nonviolent, most of us.” I looked past him at the other muties in the bay. Most were even sadder than he was. One had a third eye and a stump leg. One had a wing sticking erect out of his back and a few more legs than normal. One had a horn where his eye was supposed to be. I take back what I said about it being happy.

Oh Celestia, this was a nightmare.

“Can we talk to the leader, or captain, or mayor, or whatever of this town?” I asked the pony.

He nodded eagerly. “Right this way. My name is Platter, by the way. Dinner Platter. Who might you be?”

“My name is Ace. Ace Flight. But I really prefer Ace. The blue-hoofed one is Blueprints, the black unicorn is Monarch, and the ghoul is Symptom. If you aren’t violent, we aren’t here to cause trouble.”

He gave a large smile. “You’re friendlies?” He turned towards the town. “Everypony! A normal pony who doesn’t hate muties!” All eyes (and a horn) were on us now. I began to feel a little uncomfortable. As we walked to the town hall, Platter introduced us to everypony he saw. I didn’t remember a single one of their names. Platter didn’t seem to notice my unenthusiasm. When we got to town hall, he stopped and his smile faded a little. “This is where I leave you. I always get the creeps in there.” What could give a mutant the creeps? But with that, he galloped off.

I looked at my friends and they nodded. We walked into the town hall.

It was a one-room building. The walls were painted a sickly green and there were dusty books and weird orbs on all the bookcases. Sitting behind a desk on the opposite side of the room, floating a pen on some papers, was a light blue unicorn mare. Her mane was split between blue and white in a way that strangely reminded me of toothpaste. She looked up at us and smiled warmly. “Welcome to Colgate Bay. I’m Colgate. Who might you be?”

I blinked then stepped towards the desk. “I’m Ace...” I paused. “I’ve heard the name Colgate before...”

“Yes, The first Colgate was one of the settlers of the North during the war. She got into a disagreement with the other settlers and settled along the water’s edge. I am one of her descendants. All of the port cities were owned by her at one point. Now...” she sighed, “all that’s left is this city of muties. They are a pleasant bunch, but it’s not a true dominion anymore. That and we are constantly under threat of destruction.”

I was about to answer, but Monarch stepped forwards. “Milady, that is simply terrible. We shall see that this fine city shall not come under harm. I swear on my father’s name that I will unite the North under one crown.” Wait, what? I turned and opened my mouth to say something, but something stopped me from speaking. Colgate looked thoughtfully at Monarch. Symptom walked up to Monarch’s side and nodded. Blueprints and I glanced at each other the shrugged.

Colgate smiled. “Very well then. I shall trust you four with defense of this city. Now, Ace, do you want to see a doctor about that wing?”

I shook my head and smiled. “No ma’am, it’s perfectly fine now.” I ripped off the bandages and threw out my wings. The hole was mended and my wing felt stronger than ever.

Colgate stood up and walked in front of the desk. I noticed her cutie mark was an hourglass. I also noticed how her flank looked very nice. My wings straightened a bit. I heard Blueprints suppress a chuckle. Colgate walked up to Monarch and smiled. “Well then, I give you full power of this city. May it best serve you well.”

***********

“That was some quick thinking there, Monarch.”

We were inside a house generously donated to us by Colgate. Blueprints lounged on a couch, reading his book on Battle Saddles. Symptom was polishing her rocket launcher and new assault rifle. I had finished performing aerial acrobatics for the amused mutie townsfolk and was now sitting across a table from Monarch. He had been in deep thought for the past couple of hours, and I was beginning to get antsy.

He finally answered. “I just said what came naturally. It’s my talent, I think.” He looked back at the crown on his flank. “I’ve had this since I got the vision of creating an empire, but I never figured out what it represented. I assume it means that I’ll succeed. Why else would it be there?”

I shrugged. “Beats me. Pretty easy to figure out my talent, especially given the lack of pegasi anywhere.” I turned to Symptom. “What about you, Zombie-mare?”

“Don’t have one,” she stated gruffly.

“You don’t have one?” Blueprints looked up. “Everypony has a special talent. Isn’t there something you do better than most?”

Symptom looked up and glared at Blueprints. “No,” she answered. “Nothing, zip, nada. I’m useless. Always have been.” Her eyes lowered. “Always will be.”

“Now that’s not true,” Monarch interjected. “You have a talent, you just don’t have a cutie mark. Understandable, given what happened.”

“Why? What happened?” I asked curiously.

“Nothing happened,” Symptom blew me off and went back to polishing her guns. “I met Monarch, he saved my life, we went to that rock and hung out there for a couple of years.”

Saved her life? Hung out at a rock for a couple of years? I turned back to Monarch questioningly. “Anything to add?”

Monarch glanced over at Symptom and chuckled. “Of course there’s more. But I’ll let her tell it when she’s ready. You know,” he leaned closer to me and whispered, “she still doesn’t trust you. Or Prints. Probably never will.”

“Why not?” I whispered back.

“She’s just not a trusting pony. You’ll know why when she feels like telling the story.” I sighed and stood up to start pacing. “Don’t rush her or she’ll close you out.”

“Yeah yeah, whatever,” I waved him off with my hoof and looked over at Blueprints. “Got any ideas on what to do now?”

Blueprints closed his book. “There’s lots we can do. We can stay here for the rest of our lives, we can go back to Pipsqueak Port and try to get in, we can head south and hide out in Appleloosa...”

I stopped paying attention and started thinking about how to get into the Port. Large armored ponies guarding it with very big guns, high walls that I can’t carry anypony over... the place looked pretty hard to get into. I shuddered at the thought of trying to get into Mesa City. It dawned on me how much in deep shit we were in.

“So we have Pride, Wrath, Pipsqueak Port, and probably fifty other ponies pissed off at us now,” I interrupted Blueprints’ monologue. “Fuck me...” I muttered.

“Not in your life, winger,” Symptom growled. “And having them pissed off might be a good thing. Anger blinds.” Anger blinds? That sounded like something meant to be deep but was really just fucking stupid.

“She means that they won’t think clearly,” Monarch explained. I groaned and sank back into my chair again. “Cheer up, Ace, it’s not that bad. Turn on some music.”

Oh yeah, I have a radio. I flipped on DJ Pon3 and we sat listening to some smooth jazz. I closed my eyes and tried to relax, letting the music flow through my body. Soon the music faded out and the DJ began talking.

“And that was some Yardpony, an old jazz artist brought back through his immortal music. And now a report. There have been slaves piling into Fillydelphia from all directions, South, East, West and North. If you see any slavers, or ponies you suspect to be slavers, do not confront them, or be seen by them. And speaking of the North, some very powerful ponies are in an outrage over a rogue pegasus attacking their troops.” I opened my eyes and slowly turned to my Pipbuck. “From the description, he sounds like an Outcast from the Enclave, so please thank the Outcast if you see him. If you can hear me Outcast, don’t bite off more than you can chew, but let Celestia guide you. In other news, the railway linking New and Old Appleloosa will be out of order for a few months...”

I flipped the radio off, looked up and saw three ponies staring at me, one happy, one awestruck, one sour. Blueprints jumped up and grinned broadly at me. “Listen to that, Ace! You’re a hero! Pon3 doesn’t mention anypony unless they’re important.!” I grinned weakly back, but my hooves had started shaking. Furiously.

Monarch’s mouth slowly broke into a smile too. The only frown left was on Symptom as she picked up her guns and left the room. I looked over at Monarch and asked “What’s her problem?” His smile faded, he shook his head and walked after her. “Damn it! Just when something good happens, somepony gets pissy,” I muttered.

“Well, to be fair, you really haven’t done much,” Blueprints pointed out. “It’s just, up here, good ponies are hard to come by. You have to look out for yourself. Not many ponies make friends for fear of being sold into slavery.”

I looked at him incredulously. “How do ponies live like that? It’s mad is what it is. Virtually undamaged by the centuries old war and still in chaos. If the Enclave were really going to swoop down and liberate everypony, they’ve had ample opportunity.”

“What, you think they’re planning something else up there? What else could they do? Anyway, don’t mind them, they’ll come around eventually.” Blueprints stood up and started pacing. “Actually though, recognition won’t be good. If your name is out on the streets, ponies will avoid you. Shun you. And the rest of us.”

“And because I’m a pegasus, it’ll be easy to point me out in a crowd...” I mused. “But I’m used to that. Shunned, hated, bullied... I really am just an Outcast. How did the DJ know that?”

“He has eyes and ears everywhere. Probably has the most connections in Equestria. Wouldn’t surprise me if he had known who you were the minute you walked out of Cormount.”

I nodded slowly. “I guess that’s true... so what about you?” He looked at me puzzled. “I’m going to be the most wanted pony in the North, and it’s been almost two days since my home was attacked. You’re welcome to leave and ditch me. Go join up with Pride again, or flee.”

He looked offended. “Why would I leave? You saved my life! And I don’t have anywhere else to go, I’m just as wanted as you are.” I smiled and nodded again.

Monarch walked back in the room, his head drooping a bit. I opened my mouth to speak, but he waved me off. “She’s fine, she just needs to be alone.”

“Is there any reason she reacted like that?” Blueprints inquired.

“I don’t really know, she’s probably in denial or shock or something. I’ve never been able to read her very well. Something to do with what happened when she was a filly.”

I rolled my eyes. “And you’re still not going to tell us?”

He shook his head. “Give her some time. She’ll come around, I guarantee it.”

I sighed and rubbed my head with my hoof. Then I realized I hadn’t asked the obvious question. “How do you intend to use this city?”

He looked up. “I’ve been waiting to hear you ask that. We need to get weapons for the citizens here. We also need to re-establish trade with Pipsqueak Port and Mesa City.” I looked up shocked at the mention of the city. He seemed to note my confusion. “Well, after Apple Thunder takes control anyway. We also need to spread the idea that muties aren’t evil.”

Platter had snuck up on us while he talked. “Excuse me, sir, but did you say weapons?”

I nodded, catching on. “That’s right. We need to get this city a proper guard.”

He gave me a horrified look that rivaled Blueprints’. “But we are a nonviolent people! Fighting would remove from us the idea that we are real ponies!”

I mulled this over. “Elaborate on that for me.”

“Before the war, ponies didn’t fight. Sure we had guards and such for protection from wild animals, but a pony hurting another pony was unheard of. The war with the Zebras was the first time Equestria had a military, and ponies found out they were good at fighting. Several ponies, including Colgate, were against the idea of war and moved up North to form a nonviolent community. The war isn’t what destroyed Equestria. It was the fact that ponies never figured out how to stop fighting. If we take up weapons, we risk ruining what’s left of being a pony.”

I was stunned. “If this was a nonviolent community, what about the raiders? What about Pride? And those armored guards at the Port?!”

Platter shook his head. “Ponies shouldn’t war. We refuse to take up weapons.”

Monarch and I exchanged a look. He was about to say something when an alarm went off. We were on our feet and heading for the town entrance in an instant, Monarch slowed down to pull out his sniper rifle. I floated out my assault rifle and slowed down to a trot, Blueprints beside me. Standing there was a single armored pony, bigger than the ones we saw at the gate of Pipsqueak Port. He saw me and readied a miniturret.

I let out an “Oh, shit!” before he started firing and flew into the air. I started rolling and evading the bullets, my Pipbuck throwing up a shield every time one got close to hitting me. I fired potshots at him every time I got a chance, but the bullets just bounced off his heavy armor. I saw a bullet clip his ear and he turned to Monarch and Blueprints. I watched them scatter, but the muties behind them stood frozen. “Get the civilians out of here!” I yelled at my panicking friends. I dove back down towards the hulk of armor and landed on top of him. I turned and tried to buck the miniturret off, but it stayed firm and heavy.

“Get off me! No pegasus should touch the Steel Rangers!” He yelled before trying to buck me off. I flew off and tumbled behind a nearby trash can. The... Steel Ranger was it? turned back to me and readied his turret again. I closed my eyes and shot a prayer to Celestia. Just five minutes ago, I was listening to my name on the radio, and now I was about to die. Must be a new record.

I heard an explosion and the bullets stopped. I opened my eyes and saw four hooves and pieces of metal. I looked to the center of town and saw Symptom with a smoking rocket launcher and a scowl on her face.

I flew over to Symptom and Blueprints and grinned. “Nice shot!” I said, patting her on the back.

Symptom glared at me. “This doesn’t mean I like you or anything. And I was going to say you were my best shot at surviving, but now...” she looked over at the flaming chunks of metals, “I know I’m going to have to save your life more than once in the future.”

I grinned. “Well it’s nice to have you on the team.” I turned to Platter who had walked over, visibly shaken. “Yeah, so, that’s kinda why you guys need weapons. We’re real ponies and we only kill to protect other ponies and ourselves. Ponies shouldn’t be malicious, you’re right. But being nonviolent is just downright stupid.”

Platter shook his head. “You don’t understand. And probably never will. But after that...” he shuddered. “We will take any help we can get.” Monarch caught up to us and put away the rifle.

I turned to Monarch. “So how do we do those things?”

He smiled. “Weapons are easy. We just need to find a certain griffin named Spear.”

I laughed and punched the air. This wasn’t going to be too hard after all. “And re-establishing trade?”

Monarch’s grin faded. “I haven’t thought about that part yet. We need to get into the port for starters...”

Symptom cut in. “I just thought of a plan to get in, but I need a mutie’s help. And him and I are going to be in quite a bit of danger...” she looked over at Platter and winked suggestively. “I’ve got just the mutie in mind...”

****************

The five of us, Platter, Symptom, Monarch, Blueprints, and I, stepped out of Colgate Bay. Colgate stood right outside and walked up to me. “Here, take this. Watch it when you get the chance. And use it to remember me by.” I nodded and slid an orb into my saddlebags, mentally reminding myself to ask Dusty what it was. “Return safely, Ace. Don’t try anything out of your league.”

Monarch stepped between us. “Let us be on our way, Ace. We have a lot of ground to cover.” I nodded again and the five of us stepped out.

Back into the Wasteland.

Note: Level Up!

Perk added: Acrobat - when flying, you are 20 percent harder to hit and resistant to bullets

(Thanks to Kkat for starting the whole snowball)