Fallout Equestria: Aces High

by Vinyl Scoot

Ch. 3: Port Mortuary

Chapter 3: Port Mortuary

“I hope you understand why we’re doing this, Five.”

“Frankly, I don’t. I’m having trouble believing it’s you, sir, it’s been way too long. How are you even alive?”

“I could ask the same of you. I need you and Seven to work together on this. I know you’ve had your differences in the past, but this could be our chance.”

“I don’t trust him, sir. He wants me dead, I just know it.”

“And yet you trust Six?”

“I trust him even less. They’re all out to get me, except maybe Four, and he’s just lazy.”

“All this distrust can’t be good for business. You’re brothers!”

“Brothers who never get along. And don’t forget about Sis. She’s been sending some odd messages lately too.”

“You two are in touch?”

“In more ways than one.”

“...That’s kind of disturbing.”

“I thought you knew.”

“I wish I didn’t.”

“So what’s this I hear about a pegasus? Seven told me...”

“The pegasus is harmless. He was where I was being held captive, and he got the shit beat out of him daily. No way he could cause any harm.”

“That sounds like something a super villain would say right before the hero destroys his Doomsday device.”

“Cliche, isn’t it? ‘Fools! You will never defeat me!’”

“Very funny, sir. I’ve got work to do, so if we could hurry this up...”

“Fine fine, just remember to keep the war between the grunts. Don’t let it escalate.”

“No offense, but that’s like telling a bomb not to explode.”

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

I’ve always liked night time more than daytime. Even if clouds blocked out the sky, the darkness felt more soothing than the gray, foggy daytime. The sounds of the fire crackling was also pretty relaxing. I stood watch on a hill overlooking Pipsqueak Port, watching as the lights in the houses clicked off. The walls surrounding it looked smaller than I remembered. I took in a deep breath of the cool night air and smiled.

“Are you done standing there like an idiot, or are you going to help us set up camp?” Leave it to Symptom to ruin a nice moment.

“Yeah, whatever, darling, I’ll be right there!” I called back. I took another look at the city and closed my eyes for a second. Then I turned around and trotted back to the camp. From the looks of it, camp was already set up. Colgate had happily donated a few tents for us and Monarch set them up without breaking a sweat. “How exactly am I going to help here? Looks like everything’s done.”

Symptom walked out of one of the tents and threw a bag at me. “You can cook dinner. Then you can say you did something productive.” I made a face at her as she turned back into the tent. Blueprints walked over and grabbed the bag himself. “And hurry up, I’m starving!”

“Isn’t she a pleasant one,” Platter commented from over by the fire. “You pick your friends well, don’t you?”

Blueprints and I cantered over and sat down. “I’d ditch her, but I doubt she’d actually leave,” I confided. “That and she is actually kind of funny when you get to know her.”

Platter harumphed but stayed quiet. Next to him, Monarch stared into the fire, deep in thought, a cigarette floating by him. He looked up at me as we sat down. “What was a Steel Ranger doing there?” he asked, looking back down into the fire. “They guard technology, sure, but I didn’t see anything technological there. In fact,” he looked back up at me, “your Pipbuck was probably the only thing he would have been interested in, but it looked like he hadn’t seen it while he was shooting at you.”

I glanced down at the bulge on my leg, concealed by my Enclave armor. “Steel Ranger? That’s what he called himself, but what is it?”

Blueprints answered promptly. “Technophiles is the best way to describe them. They take technology and protect it. They don’t care about ponies anymore, if they ever did. It’s going to be hard to get in the port if they’ve taken over.”

“Wait, they’ve taken over the port?” I asked. “How do you know that?”

“The guards outside yesterday were Steel Rangers, didn’t you know? And Monarch, put that thing out, it’s disgusting and will probably kill you.”

“Nah,” Monarch answered. “A lung purge every few months and I’m perfectly healthy.” He did crush the cigarette in the ground anyway. “Weren’t you supposed to be cooking, Ace?” Oh yeah, I was. I opened the bag and pulled out the various cooking equipment needed and set up some stew to boil.

Symptom finally came over while I dished out the stew into bowls. “Just in time for the eating,” Blueprints muttered.

Symptom rolled her eyes and sat down next to Monarch. “Like I’d ever eat anything a pegasus cooked up.” I froze and turned to her, anger flaring in my eyes.

“Don’t take it personally, Ace, she doesn’t eat anything,” Monarch said guardedly. I glared at them, but wisely decided to drop it. “So what’s the plan? How are we going to get in?”

“I dunno. Fly? Magic? Shoot our ways in?” I said sarcastically. Nopony criticizes my cooking. “I suppose I could throw my evil pegasus food at them and watch them melt!”

Symptom started to growl, but Blueprints cut her off. “What took you so long in that tent? Did you need a little special alone time?” he asked, punctuated by giggles from Platter.

She glared at Platter for a few seconds before she answered. “That shitty rocket launcher I bought at Fort Periwinkle nearly fell apart when I shot it. I was looking to see if I could salvage it, but it’s pretty much gone beyond repair.” That’s kinda sucky. I liked that rocket launcher; it was good at killing Steel Rangers.

We finished up our dinner and set up a guard rotation. I started off the night back on the hill overlooking the port, the other four cozy in their tents. The rest of the port had gone to sleep. Back in Indianpony, there was always somepony up late with lights on all night. From the looks of the port, the Steel Rangers had set up a curfew. I took another deep breath and sat down to watch the guard rotations at the gate. The efficiency of it surprised me. There was no way all five of us could sneak past that.

“You’ve gotten yourself in quite a situation here, haven’t you?”

I sighed. “No, Dusty, I really haven’t. I’m just busy. Nothing wrong with me except the bounty on my head and the wings on my back.”

“Who’s Dusty?”

I looked down and saw my Pipbuck wasn’t glowing like it did when Dusty was there. I turned and saw a spritebot floating near me. “Oh, Watcher! Not a situation, I’d say. Just busy.”

“Who’s Dusty?” Watcher repeated.

I hesitated. Could I trust him? I already had, hadn’t I? “Dusty is the pony living inside my Pipbuck,” I finally answered.

“A Pipbuck?” I slid up my sleeve to show it him. “That’s... very ornate. I’ve heard that name before...” Watcher trailed off. “Never mind, it’s probably not important. By situation though, I mean your friends. You’re just asking to get shot here.”

I frowned. “Why do you say that? And not all of them are friendly.”

“A ghoul, a mutie, and a pegasus walk into a town... That sounds like the beginning of a cruel joke. Be on your guard, and don’t trust anypony, especially,” he put a lot of emphasis on that word, “Steel Rangers. Never let them see your Pipbuck either, or they’ll mount your wings over their fireplace.” They’ve already tried that, hadn’t they?

“Weren’t you the one who told me to go out and make some friends, anyway?” I asked. “Kind of hypocritical of you, isn’t it?”

Watcher sighed. (Can robots sigh?) “That doesn’t mean go out and get yourself killed. Look, I’ve got to go, I can’t spend too long in these things. And I’ve got other ponies to look after.” And with that, the bot flew off playing an annoying sounding polka.

I shook my head and smiled down at the ground. I could watch myself just fine. As long as I kept my head down and wings out of sight, I could blend in with any crowd. I could take on the world and win it over. I could start actually doing my job and investigate that rustling sound. I looked up sharply, the rustling coming from my right side. I stooped down and crawled silently to the moving grass.

I caught a glimpse of a green tail before a flash of purple caused it to disappear. “What the hay was that...” I muttered to myself, standing up to get a better view. Laying in the grass that had just flashed purple was a brown bowler hat, threatening to blow away with the wind. I cautiously approached it and gave it a poke with my hoof. No reaction. I picked it up and examined it. No nametag, no hidden weapons, nothing. Just a hat. I rolled my eyes and tucked it into my saddlebag.

The rest of my shift went by rather uneventfully. I did learn that radroaches show up on EFS fairly often as red, even though they’re almost harmless. I practiced my aim, trying to avoid using SATS as much as possible. Eventually, Blueprints came out to replace me and I headed into the tent for a well-deserved sleep.

It felt like only a few minutes before Symptom kicked me awake. “Wake up, Cloudcolt, we have a busy day ahead of us.” Oh joy, another day with the queen of insults. “And hurry up, I’m explaining my plan before it starts raining so we can get in shelter quickly.”

“You have a plan?” I mumbled groggily.

Symptom sighed. “If you had listened to me as we left town, you would know that I have a plan for getting in the port.” We walked over to the remains of the fire where the other three stood sleepily. “Okay, here’s what we need to do...”

As Symptom laid out the points, the word insanity kept popping in my mind. That was the only way I could describe Symptom’s plan. And from the look on Monarch’s face, he was thinking the same thing. I saw Blueprints’ horrified expression before I even looked at him. Platter seemed pretty shaken as well. I peeked my head out of the covered wagon we had set up to hide behind and looked through Monarch’s binoculars (where did he get these?) at the gate guarded by the same Steel Rangers as the day before. I put the binoculars down, looked up at the cloudy sky and sighed.

“Anyone else got any ideas?” No answer. “Great.” Was it just me, or was it starting to feel a little cold? I turned back to my ragtag peacemaking team and sighed again. “Then we’re going with your plan, Symptom. Only thing is, I can’t carry Monarch and Blueprints.”

Symtom looked at me blankly. “I didn’t think you could, nor said you had to. Fly one over and the other can sneak by invisible. Me and Platter here can chase off the guards. Not like they aren’t itching to kill a mutie.” She stood up and stretched, glancing up at the sky as she did so. “And we better hurry. It’s about to rain.” Couldn’t argue with that logic. I did not want to be in the Wasteland during a radioactive rainstorm.

Blueprints found his voice. “What if one of you two gets caught and killed?” Then we’re down a useless pacifist and an outcast ghoul? Okay brain, let’s be a little more tolerant. Got it? Okay, now that we’ve got that settled, let’s put on a concerned face.

Symptom let out a bark. Ghouls bark? Add that to a list of things that are useless to know. “Relax, Mr. Therapist. We’ll be fine. I’ve had to escape from guards before and this guy’s a lot more mobile than Monarch.” I gazed curiously at Monarch. What had they done before I met them at Rock Hope? Irrelevant now, I guess. “So are we going to do this or not? I haven’t slept in a real bed since I was alive.”

I nodded. “Alright. Let’s do this.” Symptom handed Monarch the stealth cloak, and she and Platter then walked out and started for the gate. I knew this could take awhile, so I attempted to start a conversation.

“Any idea what the weird flying robots are for?” I asked.

Blueprints looked up. “Spritebots. They fly around, playing that weird polka, recording everything. I think they had some purpose during the war, but now, I don’t know who controls them.”

Monarch popped in. “They were owned by the Ministry of Morale. So I bet if you got into one of its hubs, you could get into the Spritebot memory banks, although how much they’ve recorded in the past two hundred years...” he looked at me sharply. “Ace, that information could tell you almost anything you needed to know about Equestria now. Somepony could know everything. Watch everything.” I looked away and tried not to look suspicious. I still didn’t know if I could tell them about Watcher or Dusty; I wasn’t sure either of them were even real!

“Don’t be stupid, Monarch,” Blueprints said. “What good would that do? If you were sitting in a room watching everything, you couldn’t do anything about what happened. You’d have to get other ponies to do your dirty work, and why would they trust you? It’d be suspicious if somepony knew that much about everything.”

“Or ponies might view them as some kind of God or Goddess and do whatever they say,” Monarch countered. “You were arguing so much yesterday that Celestia became one, so obviously somepony could trick others into worshipping them.”

“Yeah, but.. but... Ace!” Blueprints sputtered before turning to me. “You understand my point of view, right? Who would be stupid enough to listen to them?”

I chuckled nervously. “Yeah, I get you. Monarch, ponies are smarter than that, they wouldn’t blindly follow somepony without knowing anything about them other than they know a lot of stuff.”

Monarch looked at me cooly. “So why is Blueprints following you? Why am I following you? I don’t know anything about you! You show up one day claiming you’re going to save the Wasteland or something and we’re just supposed to follow you?”

I stood up angrily, the binoculars still in my hoof. “You volunteered! I didn’t force you! If I hadn’t come along, you would still be hiding behind a rock firing potshots at raiders!”

“That’s still better than risking my life trying to get into a closed port for no other reason than you want to go!” he yelled back. “I’m beginning to rethink my decision to join up with you.”

I grunted. “Well it’s too late now. You’re little ghoul friend is out doing the life-risking part anyway. And she didn’t want to come in the first place.” Monarch’s gaze lingered, then he turned and started to walk away.

“If you’re adamant on becoming king, earn the respect you desire,” Blueprints said quietly. Monarch stopped. “Turning and hiding like a coward won’t win over the ponies you want to rule over. And believe me, you need the support of everypony to become a king.”

Monarch turned back around. “Then what am I supposed to do? I can’t help being a coward! It’s in my blood. I can’t handle being in danger. I run and hide and let other ponies do the dangerous stuff. I know it’s not noble, but it’s survival.”

“Fear isn’t a bad thing,” Blueprints pointed out. “It’s okay to be scared. True bravery is being scared and still facing danger.”

Monarch lowered his head. “Come on, Monarch,” I whispered. “We’re here. We’ll always be here. I swear to you, in the name of Celestia herself, that I will keep you alive.” Monarch glanced up, but lowered his head again.

“Trust me Monarch,” Blueprints said after a few moments, “we’ll be fine. I know Ace can keep us alive. I’ve been about to die at least three times in the past few days and he saved me every time.”

Monarch looked up, a ghost of a smile on his face. “Thanks. I’ll try to keep my fear under control. Now, what’s taking Symptom so long?”

Before anypony could answer, we heard shooting. I threw the binoculars in my saddlebags and flipped out my wings. “Showtime!” I exclaimed. I flew up, grabbed Blueprints’ mane, and we were off to Pipsqueak Port. I watched the Steel Rangers chase after our ghoul and mutie as we flew towards the wall. I dove down and landed inside the gate. Not too much later, the gate open and closed and Monarch materialized in front of us. We nodded and turned to the main street. It blew my mind how well that first phase went. We turned around a corner and our jaws dropped simultaneously.

It was beautiful.

I gazed, speechless at the bustling streets and plentiful shops. A few ponies ambled past us, chatting pointlessly about butterflies and nonsense. There were Griffins, Unicorns, even Zebras hidden in the large market place, all shopping, talking, comparing weapons. I heard somepony’s radio playing Saphire Shores and ponies of all colors eating at nearby restaurants. But the things that caught my eye were the six tall buildings at the end of the street, three on each side. One purple, one yellow, one cyan, one pink (pink?), one white, and one orange. Even the ponies living here seemed to look in awe at them.

Naturally, I wanted to go explore them.

Unfortunately, we still had to get Symptom and Platter in the Port. Which meant we had to do phase two of Symptom’s plan.

Talking to the Guard Captain.

Given my last time talking with a Steel Ranger or any kind of captain, I wasn’t expecting any miracles. Nor did I have the slightest idea where the guard barracks was. So we decided to do the most sane thing. We asked a passerby pony.

“Excuse me, miss, but do you know where the barracks are?”

I was expecting a yes or no. Not a scream and hoof to the face. Alright, Ace, keep calm, causing trouble won’t help the situation. Of course, neither does the fact that there’s a pony screaming in front of me, acting like I assaulted her or something. I focused the pain out and concentrated on what she was screaming.

“Enclave! Enclave! They’re here to steal our souls!”

What. The. Fuck.

“Miss, He’s not Enclave! He’s the Outcast!” Monarch stepped in. Her screaming subsided. I rubbed my nose, praying to Celestia it wasn’t broken.

Her attitude changed instantly. I stared amazed at the way her eyes grew wide, as did the ponies around us. “He’s the Outcast?” “He don’t look like much” “Probably got lucky with those raiders” “DJ Pon3 never lies about these ponies, but seriously” I felt my face getting hot again. Was I still a joke to them?

Blueprints pulled the attention off me. “Can we please get directions to the barracks? We’re kind of in a hurry.” All the hooves pointed off to our right, the ponies’ eyes never leaving my face. Was my nose bleeding? “Thank you!” Blueprints nodded and grabbed my mane. Thus, I was dragged off to the barracks, nose bloody, staring dumbstruck at the ponies gathered around the street. What an image I was giving myself.

I stood up and turned to walk alongside Blueprints and Monarch. Monarch floated a handkerchief over to my nose and wiped the blood off. I began to feel a bit like a foal. We approached the barracks and stared apprehensively at the door. I turned to Blueprints and nodded. He opened the door and we went inside.

Damn, but it was nice in there.

The room was lit by several candles hanging off each wall, next to which pictures of ponies in militaristic poses hung. There were many tables spread throughout the room, but only two or three had ponies at them. It seemed like they were in the middle of a card game. One of them looked up at us and a scowl appeared on his face. I grinned nervously back and scratched the inside of my leg. He stood up and lumbered over to us. Celestia almighty, he was big.

“What do you want?” I felt the remains of Symptom’s plan blow off in the wind. Apparently so did Blueprints, which could explain him fainting. He needs to stop doing that. I heard Monarch suck in his breath. Yeah, this was going to go really well.

“Well,” I began, “we were kind of hoping you to let our friends into the city with us... if that’s okay with you,” I shrunk down a bit.

He relaxed. “Is that all? We’ll take care of it.” I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. Steel Rangers are very intimidating. “Anything special about your friends that prevent them from coming in?”

I hesitated before answering. “One’s a ghoul, the other’s a mutie.” I mentally chuckled at his momentary eye-widening. “Neither of them are bad ponies... though the ghoul can get... unfriendly at times.”

He nodded and his eyes relaxed. “We’ll find them. In the meantime, why don’t you go explore the Port? I can get Carrot Cake to show you around.” The three of us nodded; we didn’t need to get lost in this weather. “When you’re done, come back and ask for me. Name’s Star Paladin Buttercup. And if you laugh at the name, that’s a fight.” I didn’t know whether to take him seriously or not, but I was hoping to Celestia he wasn’t. I don’t think I held in the mental smirk. He called over Carrot Cake and soon after, we were walking down what he called Ministry Walk.

“Of course, this isn’t the walk in Canterlot, but it sure is in better condition,” Carrot explained as we walked past the colorful buildings. “I assume you three know about the Ministry Mares during the war?” The three of us nodded, still staring awestruck at the colorful buildings around us. “Who better than the Elements of Harmony to head the Ministries?”

I burst into his monologue. “That’s just an old pony tale, isn’t it?” Apparently not, as shown by Blueprints’ facehoof. I shot him an angry glare.

Carrot shook his head. “No, it’s true alright. They were Rarity of Image, Rainbow Dash of Awesome, Fluttershy of Peace, Applejack of Wartime Technology, Twilight Sparkle of Magic, and Pinkie Pie of Morale. Six ministries to regulate the war. Six friends to lead them.” He frowned. “All of them are long dead.” Duh. “These hubs here are probably the only true surviving hubs in Equestria. And Hoofsmith and Colgate may have disagreed on a lot of things, but both protested having the hubs here.”

“Why do you think they did that?” Monarch asked with a frown. “Seems like the neutral area would be the best place to put hubs for research.”

Bueprints answered. “Well, I guess because having ponies working for the war here would make the North a target for Zebra agression, which is the whole reason Hoofsmith lead the pacifists up north in the first place.”

“But having no military around here would make the Zebras look even more aggressive than the normally do. And attacking unarmed cities might violate their sense of honor.”

“Yes, but look at where else hubs have been put. Manehatten. Fillydelphia. Hoofington. Canterlot. All of them deadly and contaminated.”

Carrot interrupted their fight. “The point is moot. The hubs have been deserted and locked anyway. The only one still in use is Wartime Technology, and it’s been confiscated by the Steel Rangers. Speaking of which,” he gave a quick glance around us, “don’t let your guard down around them.”

I tilted my head, curious. “Why? Buttercup didn’t seem too bad...”

Carrot facehoofed. “He’s plotting. I’m not a Steel Ranger. I was the original city guard captain, until the Steel Rangers came in and took over. If he’s out looking for your ghoul and mutie friend, he’s shooting to kill.”

“Think about it, Prints, if you had to put a research hub anywhere, you put it where it’s least likely to get attacked.”

“Leaving it completely undefended would entice the Zebras into attacking it! It’s common sense, Monarch!”

I rolled my eyes at their continuing debate, but it was cut short by a loud alarm call. “What’s that?” I asked, as ponies around us started dashing for their homes. “Attack?”

Carrot shook his head. “No. I haven’t heard that alarm in a long time. It’s the Pegasus. It’s come back.” And before I could ask about it, he dashed back off to the guard barracks.

The street had deserted completely, yet Monarch and Blueprints continued their bickering. I figured they might go on for awhile, so I slipped into the Cyan building closest to me. I lookd above the welcome desk and saw a picture of a cyan pegasus with rainbow hair. She was saluting the camera and her eyes were narrowed in determination. Underneath it read “Join the Equestrian Military today!” I wondered if this was Rainbow Dash... then slapped myself mentally. A quick look around was all it took for me to realize I was alone.

Thank Celestia.

I finally had time to think. I walked up to the welcome desk and looked at the receptionist book. I turned it around to read it better and saw the last date on there was over 150 years ago. I pushed it back. Why was everything so dusty in here? The chairs and stairways looked a few shades grayer than the dark red they used to have been (probably). I went around the desk and sat in the chair.

That’s when I remembered Colgate’s orb.

I pulled it out and examined it. It was dark blue with a white stripe seemingly in the middle. “So, what are you? What do you do?” I asked out into the silence.

“That’s a Memory Orb.”

I sat up and pulled my armor sleve up, and my Pipbuck shot out a hologram of Dusty. “Well, that’s new. Haven’t seen you in awhile, Dusty,” I commented.

“I’ve been a bit busy. Now that the Stable walls aren’t keeping me in the Pipbuck, I’ve been exploring the technology around Equestria. Enjoying it too. So much improvement in so little time. Although the Sprite-bots are off-limit it seems...” she trailed off thoughtfully. “But anyway, how have you been? I deposited some of my magic into the Pipbuck so you wouldn’t even know I was gone.”

I stared at her, my mouth slowly growing wider. “It’s been a little more than a day since I last saw you, how can you have done all that?”

She shrugged. “I’m good with computers.”

“Whatever, what is this thing?” I asked, gesturing towards the glowing ball. “A Memory Orb? What’s it do?”

Dusty smiled. An evil smile. I didn’t like it. “Let me show you,” she said, and her horn started glowing...

oooOOOooo

I felt... weird.

I was walking along a hallway. Trying to stop did nothing, so I guessed that I couldn’t do much of anything. I sighed and drooped my head. Suddenly, I could see something different about my body.

I realized why I felt so weird.

No wings either. But I had a horn. Okay, so female unicorn. Maybe Colgate? Or one of her ancestors? My host reached her destination; a large room with a fireplace and large red square rug. The room’s sole occupant was a violet buck with a large “7” on his flank. He had his back to my host and was staring into the fire. My host gave a small cough. He turned to the door and smiled. A very fake smile.

“Ah, Colgate, you’re here! I trust you’re happy with the arrangement Hoofsmith and I came up with?” He even sounded slimy. This was not a good pony, I could already tell.

Colgate knew it too. “Actually, Pride, that’s exactly why I’m here. You’ve brought war here to the North. And Hoofsmith and I were very clear on our policies.”

Pride just smiled again. “It’s not war if nopony fights back. Consider it a bargain. Hand over all control of the North to my family and we’ll spare your lives. I’m feeling generous even. I’ll leave you the ports and Indianapony to Hoofsmith. Do we have a deal?”

I could tell Colgate was aching over this decision. “What about the Zebras? What are you going to do when they come invading when you prove a threat to them?”

Pride laughed. “The Zebras? The Zebras are nothing compared to the power I have. They take one step into my family’s new domain and they’ll regret it for the rest of their miserable lives.” The smile on his face faded. “You will too if you don’t accept the proposal. I don’t want to have to hurt you.” My host teetered on her hooves a bit, before saying something I could barely make out. “What was that?” Pride asked, his smile growing back.

“Fine. But if I hear anything about an army, military experiements, or any threats of invasion, I’m going straight to Celestia herself,” Colgate growled.

“I think you’d soon find yourself in unspeakable horrors before Celestia could help,” Pride sneered. “Now get out and go to your pony friends. I know they’re anxious to hear how the negotiations went.”

Colgate stayed where she was, glaring at Pride, for at least another minute. Finally though, she turned around and left. Soon after, I felt myself seperating from Colgate again.

oooOOOooo

I woke up on the floor of the building, Dusty sitting in the chair reading the book on the desk. “Eye-opening? Probably not, it was nothing you couldn’t have guessed,” she said without looking up.

“What did he mean about the power he had? He’s just a unicorn, isn’t he?” I asked whilst rubbingmy head. I stretched my wings out and sighed a sigh of relief to have them back.

Dusty looked up. “I don’t know, that’s where I got lost too. Other than that one line, it seemed just like a normal, failed, negotiations. I didn’t even see the point in you having it.”

“Colgate must have had a reason for giving it to me,” I mused. “Well, maybe it was just to show me that she tried to stop them from taking over.”

“The funny thing is, soon after they took over, the balefire bombs fell on Canterlot, Manehatten, all of the places that were destroyed. And they went their seperate ways, each controlling their own part of the North.”

That was news to me. “I thought only Pride and Wrath had strongholds up here?”

Dusty shook her head. “Nope. Pride has Mesa City, Wrath is in Manetreal, Lust controls Las Pegasus, Sloth is out at sea on the Isle of Mane, Envy lives in New Colt City, Greed has his own castle near the southern border and Gluttony is out in the east with Barcepony.”

I stared at Dusty. “Pride, Wrath, Lust, Sloth, Envy, Greed, and Gluttony. Are you shitting me? Who would name them that?”

Dusty smiled faintly. “Don’t laugh too much, Ace. They’re all powerful and not to be taken lightly. And they all know about you now. Keep your guard up...” she trailed off looking at the door. “Sorry, got to go,” she said before disappearing back into my Pipbuck. Just then, the door swung open, a yellow mare leaped in and slammed it shut.

“Uh... hi?” I said, watching her blockading the door with nearby plants. “Who are you?”

She turned and I saw surpise on her face. “I didn’t know anypony was in here. There’s never anypony in here...” I saw her eyes travel to my wings. “Of course. A pegasus would always go for the Ministry of Awesome first. Well,” she pulled a gun out of her saddlebag and leveled it at me, “Equestria can always use less pegasi.”

“Wait!” I yelled, thinking furiously on how to get out of this. “I’m hiding from the city guard too!”

She lowered the gun. “Really? Obvious hiding spot for a pegasus is in here, so you’re not doing a very good job.” I can’t believe that worked.

“Yeah, well, I’m good at hiding in plain sight, now, who are you again?” I questioned.

She threw the gun into her saddlebag. “My name’s Flint. I’m the captain of the Pegasus.” Well isn’t that convenient? Confused about it five minutes ago, and learn about it instantly. “You wouldn’t happen to know about the bickering gay couple outside, would you? I need to thank them later for distracting the guards.” Bickering gay couple? Yeah, I could see that.

“Are they still going at it?” I asked. “I dashed in here to get some silence from their constant blah blah blah.”

Flint giggled. “So you do know them. Well, bring them by my ship later, and my crew and I can thank them. So I’ve answered your question, now answer mine. Who exactly are you?”

I smiled. “I’m Ace Flight, the most agile pony in Indianpony, more commonly known around here as the Outcast. Well, I say known, but I’ve only just got here, they only know me from the radio...” I trailed off from the look on Flint’s face. “Is something wrong?”

“Indianpony? Look, the guards are going to be searching in here soon, so I’ve got to go, but I need you to visit my ship tonight. Bring your friends,” she said with a worried look on her face. “All of them,” she added.

I looked at her, puzzled. “I... okay?” And with that, she ran out the door and disappeared. I followed her out.

“I’m telling you, Spitfire as the Wonderbolts captain led the best Wonderbolts I’ve ever seen!”

“No, Prints, it had to be Wind Tunnel! They repelled a dragon without breaking a sweat!”

I shook my head. “Guys, what are you even talking about?”

Monarch turned to me. “Explain to him that Wind Tunnel was the best Wonderbolts captain of all time.” Wonderbolts?

“Is it really that important?” I asked. They looked at each other and answered simultaneously: “Yes.”

“Well I’ve got something more important to share. There’s a ship in the harbour waiting for us and we’re not entirely together right now.” Blueprints opened his mouth to interrupt but I shushed him with my hoof. “Symptom and Platter are in danger, don’t ask me how I know, but we need to go rescue them.” Monarch nodded and Blueprints shut his mouth. “Now then, we need to go. And try to keep quiet, you were making fools of yourselves.”

**********

We walked out the front gate and noted with satisfaction that the guards were still gone. Unfortunately, we had no idea where Symptom and Platter had gone. I picked a direction and started walking. “Ace? Where are you going?”

“That way!” I said, pointing dramatically. I heard the sound of a hoof hitting a face and smiled inwardly. “I’m just feeling this way,” I explained, not telling them that Dusty figured out where they were.

“Well, you haven’t steered me wrong yet,” commented Blueprints.

“Better than no direction at all,” Monarch added. My inward smile came out as I turned back to them. Monarch’s eyes were focused off behind me.

“Something behind me?” I asked, my smile fading.

“No, I just thought I saw a flash of purple back there, but I guess it was my imagination.”

“A flash of purple?” I asked, all traces of my smile gone. “Like a big ball? Think hard!”

“I don’t know, yeah I guess. Why?” Monarch tilted his head curiously.

“Because last night while I was standing guard, I heard a noise nearby. I crept over to examine it and there was a big flash of purple light. When I got there, there was a bowler hat lying there,” I explained.

Monarch and Blueprints just stared at me. Then Blueprints started shaking his head. “You’re mental, Ace. It was late, and you probably just imagined it.” Imagined it? There was definitely a flash there!

“I’m not entirely sure about the flash just now either,” Monarch added. Oh come on! He even saw it himself! “We don’t have time to debate this,” Monarch said before I could open my mouth. “You said it yourself, we need to go now.” I nodded and we ran in the direction I had decided on.

Minutes later, we came across a bunker. I say bunker, but I really mean giant hole in the ground with lights. Which, admittedly, is pretty much what a bunker is. Nevertheless, I was disappointed in Symptom’s choice of hiding place. “Well, look who finally showed up,” I heard from deep inside. I heard Monarch breath a sigh of relief. “You may have gotten Platter, but you won’t get me!”

I tensed up. We got Platter? An orange dot appeared down the hallway and started running towards us. I saw bullets flying past it, followed by an explosion. “Symptom! Here!” I yelled down the hall. At the other end, I saw the Steel Rangers come around the corner. I pulled out my assault rifle and backed up. Symptom ran past me and ducked down behind Monarch. I readied SATS and got ready to fire at the incoming soldiers...

And the door to the bunker shut.

“Oh, what the fuck?” I yelled, throwing my gun at the door. “Who closed the door?”

Blueprints looked at me from beside a terminal nearby. “They’re trapped in there. Stable walls were meant to hold back a balefire bomb so...” he shot the terminal, “nothing they can muster will dent it.”

“Idiot, that’s not a Stable, that’s just a random bunker!” Symptom exclaimed. “They could get through that in a minute!”

“Oh...” Blueprints scratched his head. “Well, we have a minute to think up a plan now.”

“Yes, and you won’t be doing it,” Symptom snapped. “Look, just keep them busy for a second, I’ll be right back.” And with that she ran off.

“Keep them busy?” Monarch yelled after her. “How are we supposed to do that?”

“Can’t talk, being brilliant!” she yelled back.

“Blueprints, why, in the name of Celestia, did you think that would work?” I asked.

“You never know, maybe they’re really stupid and don’t know how to get out,” he answered sheepishly. I raised an eyebrow. “Okay, I don’t do well under pressure, but you know that! Remember the mole?” Oh yes, I remember the mole. And the dead mare and filly. And the Dragon twins.

The door clanged and a giant dent appeared. “Wouldn’t dent it huh?” Monarch snapped. “What are supposed to do? I’ve only got this sniper rifle, your gun wouldn’t even phase them, and Blueprints can’t do anything right at all!”

“I’ll tell you what we’re not going to do,” I looked Monarch straight in the eye. “Panic. Symptom’s got a plan, she always has a plan. We just need to buy her some time. Let’s see,” my eyes darted around the door, “aha!”

Blueprints looked at me, surprised. “You found something?”

“No, but I do realize that they’re on the inside and we’re on the outside. We have a lot more space than them so...” I hit my head repeatedly with my hoof, “think, Ace think! How can we stop them? What can we do to keep them from getting out here... of course!” I jumped and pumped my hoof in the air. “Radiation! If they see a high radiation level. they won’t come out!”

“Couple of problems with that Ace,” Monarch said. “One, where do we get radiation, and two, they’ve got some of the most sophisticated armor in Equestria, I’m pretty sure that radiation won’t hurt them.”

My heart sank. “Oh, right... Well, I tried.” The dents grew bigger. “Let’s get out of the way before the door ex...plodes...” I trailed off and a smile grew on my face. “That’s what Symptom’s doing! Trying to get a way to blow up the door! So...” I ran over to my gun and aimed it at the terminal, “let’s see what happens when I shoot this some more.” I fired.

The door shot off and the Steel Rangers sprinted out. “Well well, it’s that little colt from yesterday. What a nice surpise.”

“Before you shoot, I have to tell you something,” I said, lowering my gun.

“And what is that, ya little rodent?”

I grinned. “Don’t look up.”

At that, both immediately looked up and saw Symptom land on their backs. Before they could react, Symptom bucked them both in the back of the heads and jumped off. “Run!”

We turned away and sprinted as fast as we could back to the Port. “What did you do to them?” I yelled to Symptom.

“Sticky explosive residue,” she explained. “Stuck to their heads. Second anything lights up near them, boom!”

We made it back to the gate. “That’s nice and all, but won’t they still chase us?” Blueprints asked.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” said Symptom. I closed my eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. “Now the bad news. Platter might be dead. Probably. He may just be hiding very well. My point is, I lost him.”

“We split up and he disappeared! He’s not dead! Probably!”

“You just said he might be dead!”

“And he might not be!”

I sighed. “We’ll have to find him later, we have a meeting to go to,” I said, creaking open the gate. “Symptom you may want to stay out of sight.”

Monarch frowned as Symptom vanished. “Meeting? Meeting with who?”

I smiled. “You’ll see.”

We snuck our way to the harbour and ducked inside, hiding behind a few crates. I peeked my head out and gasped at the ship. On the bow there was a seapony statue, turned green with the sea air. It dwarfed all the other fishing boats nearby and its masts shot up in the sky like giant ladders to the clouds. “Is that where we’re going then?” Blueprints whispered from beside me. I nodded slowly, then jumped over the crate. “Wait! What if it’s a trap?” hissed Blueprints.

I flipped my hair back. “Then we’ll walk right into it. That captain knows something about me, and I intend to find out what.” I crept over to the gangplank. “Flint! It’s me! We’re here!” I called up. The yellow mare appeared by the railing and motioned me to come aboard. “Come along, fellas, we’ve been invited to dinner,” I called to my companions.

As we walked aboard, Flint used some kind of scanner to wave us through a shield. “Hold on a minute,” she whispered. “Why is she invisible?”

“Ghoul,” Monarch replied. “Best to stay hidden. You understand, right?”

Flint frowned. “No. Why hide anything? She’s fine on this ship. Come on out, ghoul, I won’t bite.”

Symptom materialized glaring at Flint. “Let me get something straight here, sister. You don’t tell me what to do. How to live. I don’t take orders from you.”

Flint glared back. “My ship, my rules, you little freak of Celestia. One word and I can have you thrown overboard.”

Blueprints stared off in the distance, oblivious. “I’d like to see your men try. I can take all of them, two hooves tied behind my back. So come on!” Symptom challenged. Oh Celestia almighty, this was not going well at all.

“Symptom! Mind your manners!” Monarch barked. Symptom growled, then settled down. I let out a sigh of relief. Blueprints continued to stare off behind Flint. “Blueprints, what are you staring at?”

“Nothing,” he answered dully. “Thought I saw something green, but I think it was just the water. You’re not the captain either,” he turned back to us.

“Yes I am!” Flint stomped her hoof. “Go back to arguing with your little coltfriend! Ace, I need to talk to you. Now!” And with that, she turned and marched to the cabins.

“She’s not though,” Blueprints explained. “I’ve seen this ship before, some old stallion captains it. She’s just the cabin filly, last time I saw it.” So she was promoted. Big deal. “And before you say she was promoted or something stupid, this is a pirate ship. The only way she could have taken over is through mutiny.” Oh, that’s bad. “Be on your guard.” Why is everypony telling me that?

I followed Flint to the cabins, hearing Monarch mutter something about coltfriends under his breath, and I suppressed a chuckle. I walked into the cabin hall... thing, and Flint beckoned me to the captain’s cabin. I sauntered in and she shut the door behind me. She walked to the desk in the room and sat down on the other side. “You claim to be Ace Flight? From Indianpony?”

“Well, yeah, we already established this in the Ministry of Awesome,” I replied confusedly. What was she getting at?

“Just confirming that you weren’t lying.” Why would I be lying? I was beginning to get intrigued.

“Do you know me somehow?” I asked tentatively.

“That’s just it. I do. I’ve just never met you, nor did I think you were alive,” Flint answered. Wait what? “Your parents were banished from Indianpony and fled here to this port. Your dad got into a drinking contest and one thing led to another and he owned this ship.”

“This ship?” I asked incredulously. Flint nodded. “Like, the one we are standing on right now? Holy shit, is he here? Wait a minute,” I said, piecing it together. “If he owns this ship, wouldn’t he be the captain? What did you do to him? And my mother?” I yelled, jumping up on the desk.

Flint shook her head slowly. “They told me you weren’t the smartest colt. You still haven’t figured it out yet. I’m your sister.” I froze in my accusing pose on the desk and slowly lowered my hoof. Did that mean...? “No, mom and dad are still alive, but they’re not here,” She answered my unasked question and I sighed in relief. Wait, I don’t even remember my parents and I’m happy they’re still alive? I wasn’t even aware I was worried they were dead! “But they’re captured, held on the Isle of Mane.”

“Isle of Mane...” I mutttered, “where have I heard that before... Dusty!” I yelled and started jumping on her desk in glee. “Dusty told me! That’s where one of them lives! But, uh, which one?” I stopped jumping and looked at her.

“Sloth. I’m surpised he’s even managed to build up an army there, that place in unihabitable for anypony who’s not a ghoul. It’s a wonder he survives there,” Flint answered. “And please get off my desk.”

I grinned sheepishly and bounded off the desk. “Sorry. So I guess a direct assault is out of the question?” I asked.

Flint giggled. “Unfortunately, but I like your style. Listen, I’ll have to depart soon. Our parents are tough; they’ve been through a lot. And I don’t have nearly enough supplies for the rest of you so you’ll have to stay here. We come to this port at least four times a year, so if you come back in a couple of months, we’ll be here again.”

“Why do you have to leave a day after you show up?” I asked sadly.

“The Steel Rangers are after us. This port is the best place for drinks, so we come here to stock, but the Rangers are after our water talisman. If they get it, we can’t move. And before you open your mouth and make me question your IQ again, we use the talisman to move a water wheel that moves the ship. It’s radiated water too, so we have to stock up on fresh water seperately.” My head started hurting from all the random stuff she was saying. “I’ll walk you out of the docks.”

I nodded and we walked out of the cabin rooms. On deck, Symptom sat on the gangplank looking lost while Blueprints and Monarch were debating the effects of smoking. “Cut the chatter, colts, it’s time to go.”

Symptom looked over her shoulder at us. “Finally. This ship is a ghost ship. There’s nopony here except her majesty and the idiots over there.”

I shook my head, smiling. “We’ve got work to do, Symptom. Don’t forget the reason we’re here in the first place.” She shrugged and threw the cloak back on. Monarch and Blueprints trotted down the gangplank after her. Flint and I went last, sneaking through the various crates and barrels we went through to get there. As we stepped out of the docks and back onto the main street, I turned to Flint and nodded a goodbye. “Take care, don’t sink the ship.”

“Please, I’ve sailed bigger. If you get shot when I get back, there’ll be Hell for whoever did it. And you lovercolts!” She yelled past me to the duo who had resumed arguing. “Make sure this idiot doesn’t kill himself! See you later, Ace.” And with that she disappeared back into the docks.

“Wait, does she think we’re...” Monarch started.

“Enough arguing, if you two keep at it, I’ll be crazier than Platter. Now...” I grinned, “does anypony know a good spot to spend the night?”

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

The next morning, after Monarch’s snarky comments on not having slept in a bed for months, we headed for the Dragon’s Fire, as suggested by Symptom. I’ve come to trust her more and more; it really seems like she knows what she’s doing. Monarch I walked in the bar (Blueprints insisted on staying outside and Celestia knew where Symptom was) and we were immediately accosted by a unicorn filly. “Please, sirs, just a few caps and I can pay for her release, just donate to the cause!”

“Who’s release?” Monarch asked warily.

“Her mother,” an older mare answered for her from a nearby table. “Pride’s been getting bold recently and taken to raiding all the towns near him for slave labor. Guards around here aren’t as worried as they should be. Every town he invades gets closer to this port, and the guards just sit around keeping us “safe” from mutants.” I looked at the filly for confirmation and she nodded. “Of course, if the slave is a unicorn, Pride’s willing to ransom them to family members for outrageous costs. This little filly has been begging around here for nearly a month and still doesn’t have a cap to show for it.”

“I think I understand the situation,” I replied with a smile. “What’s your name?”

The little filly examined me cautiously. “I’m Mayflower, but why do you-”

I cut her off, “Well Mayflower, I’m Ace and I’m going to rescue your mother, free of charge. How’s that?” Her eyes widened and a smile grew on her face. “Just stay out of trouble, I’ll be back with her before you know it.”

I winked at Monarch and we stepped back out of the bar. “Well that was fast,” Blueprints remarked.

“We’ve got a mare to save,” I said heroically and started trotting to the gate.

“Ace, where is she being held?” Monarch called after me. I tripped and fell into the dirt road, and a raindrop landed on my nose. “What’s that? Okay, we’ll save her don’t worry. Thanks you! Ace, I know where she is now!” Wonderful, Monarch. Why couldn’t you save your snide comments until after I regain my dignified pose?

“Any idea where Symptom went?” asked Blueprints, after he trotted over to me and helped me up.

“Nope, but she’ll turn up. She always does,” I replied. Monarch caught up to us and we stepped back out of the port. I slipped on my hoof claws, Blueprints cocked his saddle and Monarch pulled out another apple. We nodded and set off for the destination that Monarch still hadn’t told me. Seconds later, Symptom materialized and nodded at me coldly. I nodded back and the four of us turned our attention back on the road. The road that would lead us to heroism. The road that would lead us to death. The road that led us to our destiny.

Note* Level up!

Perk added - “Defender” When allied with an unarmed companion, bullets tend to aim more towards you and do less damage.

(Thanks to Kkat for writing the original)

Comments

[Vinyl Scoot]

Okay, I've been gone for, well, pretty much the whole summer, and anyone waiting on this story had probably been pretty disappointed with me. I spent most of the summer with an editor working through the majority of the story making it a much higher quality and, well, not crappy, at least in my opinion. The chapters should start coming out again soon, though it will take awhile before I can get a set schedule on them. Again, I am really sorry for the long wait, just bear with me another month or so.

Cheers!