Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

by Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 11: Smile, Smile, Smile

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 11: Smile, Smile, Smile

”Pinkie Pie’s is a personal favorite of mine: Laughter.”

“My name is Pinkie Pie, (Hello!)/And I am here to say, (How ya doin?)/I'm gonna make you smile/And I will brighten up your day!/It doesn't matter now, (What's up?)/If you are sad or blue, (Howdy!)/'Cuz cheering up my friends/Is just what Pinkie's here to do!/'Cuz I love to make you smile, smile, smile!/Yes I do!/It fills my heart with sunshine all the while!/Yes it does!/'Cuz all I really need's a smile, smile, smile!/From these happy friends of mine!

“I like to see you grin! (Awesome!)/I love to see you beam! (Rock on!)/The corners of your mouth turned up/Is always Pinkie's dream! (Hoof bump!)/But if you're kind of worried/And your face is made of frown/I'll work real hard and do my best/To turn that sad frown upside down!/'Cuz I love to make you grin, grin, grin!/Yes I do!/Busted out from ear to ear/Let it begin!/Just give me a joyful grin, grin, grin!/And you fill me with good cheer!

“It's true, some days are dark and lonely/And maybe you feel sad/But Pinkie will be there to show you that it isn't that bad!/There is one thing that makes me happy/And makes my whole life worthwhile/And that's when I talk to my friends and get them to smile!/I really am so happy!/Your smile fills me with glee!/I give a smile, I get a smile/And that's so special to me!/'Cuz I love to see you beam, beam, beam!/Yes I do!/Tell me what more can I say to make you see/That I do!/It makes me happy when you beam, beam, beam!/Yes, it always makes my day!

“Come on everypony, smile, smile, smile!/Fill my heart up with sunshine, sunshine!/All I really need's a smile, smile, smile!/From these happy friends of mine!/Come on everypony, smile, smile, smile!/Fill my heart up with sunshine, sunshine!/All I really need's a smile, smile, smile!/From these happy friends of mine!/That's the perfect gift for me! (Come on everypony, smile, smile, smile!)/It's a smile as wide as a mile! (Fill my heart up with sunshine, sunshine!)/To make me happy as can be! (All I really need's a smile, smile, smile!) (From these happy friends of...)

“Smile! Smile! Smile! Smile! Smile!/Come on and smile! (Smile!)/Come on and smile/Come on and smile/Come on and smile.”

Sunshy floated happily as he led the Brahmin outside. Pretty Cow had given him a small portable radio as a sort of apology gift. So he put a strap around it and hung it around his neck, allowing him to work while listening to music. He was surprised to hear a pony song on the station for zebras, but that didn’t stop him from loving it.

Sunshy truly loved Pinkie Pie even more than Fluttershy. Fluttershy was awesome in her own right, but Pinkie Pie was just so fun and with the life he had as a colt, he needed fun. So he turned to the Element of Laughter to help him learn how to laugh and always keep his chin up.

Today, he found her inane ability to bring laughter from beyond the grave especially needed. After all that had happened yesterday…Well, he needed something to cheer him up. It had been quite the week…

Sunshy jerked back and stared up at the sky. It had only been a week…It had been only a week since he left Drakon? The pegasus did some mental calculations…First day, out like a light for a few hours, slept after work…then slept after clearing out Gebo…then there was the party…then being captured and taken to Oasis….Now it was the third day of working as a slave. Wow, it really had been a week and so much had happened. Did this always happen to those in the Wasteland?

Sunshy shook the idea out of his head. He noticed the bright orbs of Daisy staring at him. “Are you alright, dairy?”

“Fine.” Sunshy answered with a smile. Pinkie Pie’s song on cupcakes on the radio slowly faded out.

”Those were two songs from the passed-on Pinkie Pie. I hope her joy makes you feel like you can fly. I know that we need some joy, so do not play coy. Here is some news, brought to you buy someone with less blues.

“The ghoulish rhinos have been beat, something that was quite a feat. It is now safe once more, unless you run across some rogue boar. None have stepped up to claim their fame, but it seemed they used the power of flame. Perhaps a dragon that wanted to help or wanted to stop hearing us yelp.

Caesar’s Legion is on the move, looking for more soldiers to improve. So if you see a zebra with a cold-hard stare, run away from such an affair. While we all need a hero or two, don’t let them stick to you like glue. They target those with a reputation and a name, so try to stay far from fame.

That is all the news for now, so to you, Red Stripes says, ‘ciao’.”

“Liking that radio the old lady gave you, I see.” Royal Lace said casually as she trotted over.

“Well enough. Not as good as DJ Pon3, but Red Stripes is alright.”

“Is this some Equestrian radio voice?”

“Ayep.”

“You don’t have the accent to talk like that.” Lacey remarked as she nudged the pegasus on the shoulder. “You’re looking much better today.”

“Thanks, I feel a lot better. Nothing like some Pinkie Pie cheer to keep you happy.” The song on the radio was sadly not Pinkie Pie, but it was still an upbeat tune full of drums.

“The Ministry of Morale mare? Didn’t she go completely crazy trying to keep everyone from being evil traitors?” From her tone, Lacey was not happy with the ideas of the Ministry Mares. Her frown turned into shock when she saw Sunshy’s bitter smile.

“Who wouldn’t go crazy? In the middle of a war, after thousands of years of peace, no one knows what to do…and separated from your best friends…Anyone would go crazy. I always feel so sad for her and all of the Ministry Mares. Pinkie Pie, especially. She tried so hard to stay happy and make everyone else happy…but…” Sunshy wiped away a tear that had managed to form at the edge of his eye. “Sorry…”

“…I never thought about what they had to be going through. Most everyone knows just enough to blame them for turning the war into shit instead of fixing it.” Lacey dug a hoof into the ground awkwardly, feeling guilty.

“There were a lot of book on them in the Stable.”

“Weird. Don’t let Cow know you can read.” Lacey teased. She too knew that the mare was not an evil wretch and easily stopped holding her grudge. Their wounds were healed, she too had acted brashly out of jealousy in her life, and she was given a warm bed and food.

“Would you mind living here for the rest of your life?” Sunshy asked while watching the horizon, only partly listening to the radio.

“I could live here. Can’t say I like working for no caps, but food and a place to sleep is always a nice payment, too. Why, would you?”

“Yes, I would mind. I’m a doctor, and as much as I enjoy living around animals, knowing I have safety and comforts…I don’t need that. I need to be out there, helping people. I miss Celly and Zen and I know they’re out there somewhere looking for me. I can’t stay here.” Sunshy explained rather sadly.

“Then I’ll come with you. You need a good bodyguard, right?” Lacey winked at Sunshy, who flattened his ears and smiled awkwardly. He hadn’t told her exactly what Zen and Celly were…

“You don’t have to, Lacey. My friend and sister kinda are bodyguards.”

“Can either of them use magic?” She wiggled her eyebrows in a way to emphasize her horn.

“Well, no, but—“

“Then you need a unicorn! And that’s that!”

Sunshy sighed in defeat when she stamped her hoof down. The stamp was metaphorical and literal, he knew. Sunshy was somewhat sure she had to be part earth pony; from all his history lessons, they were rather stubborn. There was that, and he gave up way too easily.

“What’s that?” Lacey pointed up to the sky, at something Sunshy could not see.

To fix that, he lifted the binoculars to his eyes and peered out at the direction her hoof was pointing towards. Off in the distance, to the south, was a dot in the sky. It was too far away to be much of anything but a speck.

“A dragon, maybe?” Sunshy guessed.

“Could be.” Lacey agreed, although she didn’t sound too sure.

The pegasus gagged when the binoculars were pulled away from him and sent him to the ground, as the strap was still around his neck. The object was held in pink magic around Lacey’s eyes. She was looking at the thing she had pointed out, as well. Lying on the dirt, even with leather boarding and his doctor’s coat, was not very comfortable. Having a strap around your neck slowly break your spine was not fun either. The radio’s cherry songs did nothing.

“You should probably get to higher ground and see if it’s clearer.” She said as she mercifully released the binoculars, allowing them to fall and smack Sunshy in the head.

With a smarting skull, he stood up and gave Lacey a rather angry look, rubbing the hurt spot. She smiled sheepishly before shooing him away with a wave of her hoof. The pegasus rolled his eyes and snorted before slipping off the radio and then opening his wings and flapping. A couple of strong beats later, and he was off the ground. Another couple while angling his body just right, and he was soaring upwards.

As another apology for everything and a show there was no bad blood, Pretty Cow had increased the range of their collars tremendously. They could be halfway to Equestria before it would even start beeping. So Sunshy was able to land softly on top of the ancient barn, keeping his wings partly open in case the ceiling collapsed under him. When his hooves touched down, he heard them groan under his weight, however minute.

Cautiously, pausing at every creak and groan, Sunshy sat down upon the roof. Without the magic to levitate things, he needed to sit to be able to use his front hooves to hold the binoculars to his eyes. The speck was slowly growing, meaning that it was getting closer to him.

Within ten minutes of concentrated observation, he was able to make out a bit of the outline of the silhouette. Mostly, it was just that he could see wings and something like a head poking up. From such a great distance, he could not tell what it truly was.

“See anything?” Lacey asked as she used a spell to magnify her voice.

“Just some wings and a head.” Sunshy shouted back, “Might be a small dragon.”

“I’ll go get Pretty Cow; she’ll want to deal with it.”

The pegasus looked away from the speck long enough to watch Royal Lace gallop to the mansion-house. He felt admittedly less secure without a guard around. Then again, she wasn’t much help when push came to shove. Sunshy shivered as the picture reappeared in his head. To distract himself, he went back to looking at the blot.

After five minutes, in which Pretty Cow came to the barn with Short Stuff and Royal Lace, the blot grew a few more distinctive features. The wings were leathery, like those on a dragon; he could see this by the way the wind interacted with them. The creature seemed to do more gliding than flapping, as well.

Also, it seemed to have two heads.

Correction, it had one head straight forward and another that poked up every few moments, only to find the wind too strong and had to duck again. It was not some two-headed dragon monster—thank the Goddesses, Hydras were terrifying—it was something carrying something smaller on its back. What those two somethings were, he still had to figure out.

“Is it a dragon or not?” Pretty Cow said, her voice amplified by Lacey.

“Not sure yet.” Sunshy responded, having to actually shout. “It’s carrying something on its back, though.”

“A baby?!” Shorty bounced in excitement on the ground.

Sunshy remained silent, as he hadn’t heard the child. His ears were folded back in concentration. All of his focus was on that slowly growing dot. Soon enough, the sun shone directly on the dot, allowing him a perfect view of the coloring.

“CELLY!!” Sunshy shouted with all his might, lowering the binoculars.

While he knew that he couldn’t hear anything from it, the flying creature beat its wings harder, speeding up in response to his shout. The binoculars fell off the barn as Sunshy shoved himself off the roof, pounding his wings to catch as much air as he could. Lacey saved the binoculars and tucked them away into her duster while Pretty Cow and Shorty watched the pegasus fly at the brown creature.

As the two creatures flew as fast as they possibly could, they were able to finally recognize each other within a few seconds. The lioness’s face lit up and let out a roar upon seeing the yellow and red pegasus. Sunshy pushed his wings to their limit, a grin breaking his face.

“Sunny!!” Zen shouted as his head poked up from Celly’s back, tears streaming from his squinting eyes at the wind.

The zebra, in a moment of thoughtless excitement, launched himself off the safety of the manticore’s back. The pegasus dove and caught his falling friend before he even had time to register that he was falling. Once in his hooves, the zebra laughed and hugged his friend, not caring or not aware that they were still falling. Sunshy tried his hardest to keep them from falling, but his wings strained and protested against the weight that he simply could not carry.

Celly was able to dive and catch both equines in her paws. Then she pushed her wings hard and angled straight up. As she moved up, the manticore spun around and roared in happiness, crushing the two in her hug. Then she glided down, angling towards the ponies and zebrony colt. The adults cringed at the wind and dirt sweeping up as the large bat wings beat against the ground, softening her landing. Shorty was bouncing in excitement.

Even out of the manticore’s grip, the zebra refused to let go of Sunshy, holding him around the neck and pressing their faces together. While Sunshy was equally happy to have his friend and sister back, Zen seemed to forget his own strength.

“Can’t…breathe…” Sunshy gasped out, his face slowly turning blue.

“Sorry!” Zen quickly loosened his grip on the pegasus, allowing him to suck in glorious air.

Then the zebra kissed him, making his eyes widen in shock. Maybe it was the light-headedness from lack of oxygen, maybe the excitement of seeing his family again, but whatever the reason, Sunshy felt like he was flying while on the ground, even after the short kiss ended. “Oh my gods, Sunny, you have no fucking idea what I went through to find you, I mean I fought Raiders and zookeeper assholes, and did you know Oasis is gone and who the hell are these people?”

Zen let go of Sunshy, as he had continued to hold him, and let the pegasus fall to the ground, still dazed. Celly took it upon herself to roll her brother onto his belly and try to lift him up. Although his legs didn’t seem to want to work, so she let him lay in a comatose state between her front paws.

While that was going on, Zen pulled his retractable lance out of his saddlebag, clicking the button that changed it from a short stick to a terrifying weapon. Though he aimed it at no one, he glared at the three equines before him. In his mind, he was sizing them up as threats.

’Pinkish purple unicorn: cool hat, ratty duster, nice shotgun; wastelander, but has a slave collar, no go. Kid in the middle: harmless, although he shouldn’t stare at a weapon in such open awe, they’re dangerous. The red unicorn: cowpony hat, no boarding, levitating a shotgun at my face. No slave collar.’

“You’re the one who bought Sunshy.” Zen accused through the weapon, angling his fired-up lance at Pretty Cow while he crouched in preparation to fight. She glared defiantly at him, keeping the shotgun aimed at his head.

“Ah’ve been keepin’ ‘em safe here while yew’ve been off havin’ adventures.” Pretty Cow retorted.

“Really? Because it looked to me like some gang attacked your farm; attacked Sunshy.” Zen’s eyes narrowed as he brought the electric lance closer to Cow’s neck.

“How would yew know?”

“You sent word to Salai that his sister was killed in a raider attack. He then sent word to me that you let it slip you had two brand new slaves, one that looked like he wasn’t fit to be in this world.” Zen was close to pressing the end of the lance against her throat.

“He’s fine, no harm done.”

“But, ma, what about—“ Short Stuff tried to argue.

“Hush, boy.”

“What were you going to say, kid?” Zen asked, keeping his eyes trained on Pretty Cow.

“Miss Lacey said he killed some zebra.”

The lance fell out of Zen’s gaping mouth. He blinked in disbelief and looked between the three of them. Anger, childish confusion, guilt. It was true…

“Sunny?” Zen turned to his friend, who had recovered enough to sit with his legs under his body. The pegasus stared up to Zen with those cerulean eyes. He didn’t have to say anything…Zen could see it.

That spark of innocence, of love in the world, of hope…it was dulled, almost gone.

It happened to everyone in the wasteland. Zen was never sure why or what…but something always died inside. The act of taking another life, especially when you never wanted to…

“Are you alright?” Zen whispered as he lied down before Sunshy, everything else in the world gone to him. Sunshy shook his head slightly and looked away. “Raider?” A nod.

The zebra lied his head around Sunshy’s neck; Pretty Cow swiftly herded her son back home. Lacey stared for a few more moments before catching the eyes of Celly. Those golden orbs were so deep, so tortured, but they were so hardened and steely. They were the eyes of someone who had been though a lot. Really, everyone in the wasteland had eyes like that…except children and Sunshy.

Royal Lace nodded to the manticore and walked away. Once the unicorn was gone, Celly lied down with the two and rested her head on their backs. Sunshy wept at the pain of such a fresh wound on his soul. As he wept, he blubbered out the story of what had happened, despite Zen shushing him.

When he was finished, the pegasus wiped his snot on his leg, and wiped that on the ground. Zen gave him nuzzle on the side of his face, making the virgin blush lightly. Any other time, Zen would have teased him for it.

“It’s hard to kill…I was raised to kill with cold-hearted precision. It was still hard for me to kill. My first one was a raider too. It didn’t matter that he had my friend as a body shield…it’s just really hard to take a life. Don’t worry, Sunshy…I’ll make sure you never have to kill again.” Zen knew how to handle these situations. It came from a lifetime of comforting his comrades too scared to admit they hated killing. Even after leaving the Legion when he was young, he encountered this all too often.

“Pinkie Pie Promise?” Sunshy questioned, wondering if he even knew what he was talking about.

“What’s that?” Zen questioned, part of him thinking Sunny had gone off the deep end.

“It’s a promise that you have to keep forever, or else.” Sunshy smiled at the serious joke, “It goes like this.” Celly stood and moved back so Sunshy could sit upright and go through the motions, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Zen chuckled before he sat upright and copied Sunshy’s movements and words. Then he spit on his hoof and held it out to Sunshy. The pony laughed before spitting on his own hoof and hoof bumping; Celly growled and cringed at the gross. Then the zebra stuck his head into Sunshy’s mane, making the pony freak and jump back.

“You do have things in there!” Zen said, rather surprised.

“It’s…for emergencies…like I said…” Sunshy replied awkwardly, staring at the ground.

“On others or yourself?” The zebra questioned.

“…Depends.” He kicked a hoof at the ground, not able to meet Zen’s eyes.

“Totally understandable.” Zen nodded and pressed his nose against Sunshy’s. The zebra was pleasantly surprised when the pony did not move back.

“I’m not strong…” Sunshy muttered. Zen wasn’t sure if he was talking about a relationship or possible suicide by his own hooves.

“That’s why you’ve got us.” He replied, earning a nod and nuzzles on both their faces from Celly.

“If you lovebirds are done, we need to talk.” Royal Lace interrupted.

Zen glared at the unicorn for ruining their moment, Celly stood and unsheathed her claws, but Sunshy simply asked, “About what?”

“Pretty Cow is adamant. She’s not letting you go unless you can pay back all of her caps.” Lacey grimaced at being the bearer of bad news.

“Fine, how much?” Zen demanded, stamping a hoof.

“Six-hundred thousand caps.” Royal Lace deadpanned. Zen’s eyes widened and he fell to his rump. His mouth moved, trying to form words that would not come. The unicorn mare rolled her eyes, “Apparently doctor ponies are expensive. If I knew that, I’d have become one long ago.”

“What? Why?” Sunshy wondered. It had been at the back of his mind since reading that sign.

“The sign even said that they wouldn’t sell to anyone who wouldn’t treat you right. Legitimate doctors, not just alchemists, are really rare in the Savannah Wasteland. So, if you’re sure about leaving, keep yourself on the down low, okay? News of you is already getting around; any more and you’ll get scooped up by the Legion.”

“That won’t happen.” Zen stated with finality, snapping out of his brain’s overload.

“Really?” Lacey asked with obvious suspicion.

“Yes. If not under my power, than under Celly’s power.”

The manticore nodded and nuzzled the side of Sunshy’s face affectionately. Royal Lace frowned as though she was not sure if she could accept that answer. Zen stood and picked up his lance, retracted it, and tucked it back into his saddlebag. Then she sighed and levitated out her gun.

“This is worth at least half of what she paid for you.” Lacey floated it into Zen’s saddle bag.

The zebra checked his PipBuck, nosing the buttons until it went to his weapons inventory. Then he hummed as the machine had labeled it as, ”Rose’s Thorn” with a value of 350,000.

“It’s worth fifty-thousand more than half. How old is this gun?” Zen asked, actually worried if he was capable of handling such a valuable item.

“Dunno; pre-war.” Lacey tried to shrug, but it was not nearly as easy for someone without wings.

“No duh. I meant, is it some family heirloom or something?”

“Probably, I dunno. My foster parents kept it in a velvet-lined safe and told me to never use it. Since I kinda have to out here, I take good care of it to make up for breaking that promise. I guess that’s why it’s worth so much.”

“With the lance I’ve been using, and a few other things we can scrounge up from some raider nests, we should be able to pay off that six-hundred-thousand debt. My god, that is way too fucking high.” Zen stomped his hoof.

“You don’t think I’m worth that much?” Sunshy asked blandly. Celly stared at the zebra levelly.

“You can’t put a price on a life. You’re especially priceless.” Zen gave the pegasus a shameless smile.

“Oh, I’ve never heard that one before. Great save there, buddy.” Royal Lace said with very heavy sarcasm.

“I don’t like you. I really don’t.” Zen replied with a glare.

“Good, I’m not so thrilled about you, either. Only reason I’m helping at all is because Sunshy is a good pony and he deserves my help.” Lacey shot back with equal distain.

“Hey, ah need yew two to get back to work. Sun-boy, ah need you to fly over mah crops and water ‘em.” Pretty Cow jumped right into ordering as soon as she got within earshot of the group.

“On it.” Sunshy opened his wings and lifted into the air.

“Wait.” Zen said; Sunshy stopped and hovered. The zebra looked to the deep red unicorn mare. “What’ll it take to get you to release my buckfriend?”

“Zen!” Sunshy’s face flushed full red.

“Shh, I’m negotiating.” The zebra waved a hoof at Sunshy, keeping his eyes on Cow.

The unicorn snorted her laughter and muttered something that sounded like, “I knew it.” Then she cleared her throat and stated, “Well, if’n ya can’t pay me what ah paid fer him, ya c’n do me a favor.”

“Name it.” Zen stated firmly, ready to take on any challenge.

“Take her with ya and take care of ‘em.”

“Say what now?”

With a smile, Pretty Cow levitated out two remotes with two buttons and a knob. One red and one green, so that even an idiot would know what does what. The knob changed the range of demolition. She levitated the buttons onto the ground and pressed the green buttons on each. With two clicks, the collars opened and fell to the ground.

Sunshy landed in a daze, staring at the thing that had been a constant reminder of his slavery. Royal Lace took her sawed-off shotgun from Zen’s saddlebag and quickly unloaded two 12 gage slugs into her collar, reducing it to worthless scrap. She quickly reloaded and did the same with Sunshy’s collar. Then, she put one slug into each of the remotes.

As she did that, the rest of the gathered creatures flinched and backed away from the look of pure rage on her face. Sunshy had actually cowered between Celly’s front paws with Zen. The manticore then lowered her head to cover them from the psychotic unicorn and put on her angry face. Pretty Cow had just backed away, a look of terror on her face.

“Yew sure got some anger issues, ah see…”

“Uhm…not that I’m not grateful and everything,” Zen said cautiously as he slowly moved out from under Celly’s paws. Lacey put her shotgun back and was trying to regain her composure, “but…I have to ask…why are you giving them up so easily all of a sudden?”

“Seems like the right thing to do. Ah’ll make do on mah own for a while or find cheaper help. Now, do ya promise?”

“I’ll Pinkie Pie Promise.”

“Yew gone off the deep end?”

Zen rolled his eyes and shook his head. Sunshy cautiously walked out from under Celly, who kept her eyes on the puce unicorn. Lacey managed to clean up her mane, as strands had come out during her attack on the collars.

“I swear we’ll protect everyone.” Zen told Pretty Cow.

“Good. Now, yew youngins get along. Ah ain’t one for tearful goodbyes.” Pretty Cow waved the group away.

“I think we should go to Nchi Kavu first; sort our stuff and let Chief Fluffy Doom know we’re okay.” Sunshy offered.

“Good idea.” Zen agreed.

“So quit your yapping and let’s go.” Royal Lace said just before galloping off to the south-east.

The zebra opted to trot in the same direction, with Sunshy trotting along his side and Celly at the rear. It was nice to simply have the group back together. Even with the addition of a mouthy unicorn mare. Zen trotted closer to Sunshy, brushing his nose against the side of the pegasus’s face. There was that adorable blush that always brought a smile to the zebra’s face.

As they made their way to their home, Zen told the story of what he had been doing the past three days. After being taken by the tribals, they had been ambushed by raiders when the caravan wandered too close to an ‘abandoned’ skeleton of a city. During the distraction, Zen was able to slip away and hide, letting them fight it out. When it was over, he went back to get his stuff and scavenge anything valuable.

After that, he went back to Nchi Kavu to see if anyone there would have any leads were Sunshy and Celly went. Some trader told him about the zoo to the north and offered to take him there. As he had no leads as to where Sunshy could be, he took the opportunity to find Celly. She was indeed there at the zoo, being the new attraction. Obviously, she was not happy and mauled anyone that tried to get too close, so they had planned to put her down.

After ‘persuading’ the owners of the zoo to let her go, Zen had to swallow his fear of heights and ride on her back if they wanted to find Sunshy within good time. They went back to Nchi Kavu, where Salai informed Zen of the farm to the north-west, where he believed Sunshy was being held. And then they arrived at Pretty Cow’s farm and the pegasus and unicorn knew the rest.

Royal Lace took it upon herself to tell the story of how she was there to help Sunshy in the slaver camp, save him from the raider, and be an all-around better person than Zen. The zebra shot back that good people don’t boast. Lacey countered that she was merely stating facts. The two quickly got into an argument that somehow turned into ‘Who Sunshy likes better’ in which Lacey stated that she was the one to take his first kiss.

“You took his first kiss, you bitch?! That was supposed to be mine!!” Zen yelled at her, to which the unicorn stuck her tongue out at him.

“I’m guessing I had no say in that?” Sunshy asked grumpily. His mood had turned sour as soon as his friends began fighting.

“NO!” Zen said before thinking. He quickly cowered with his ears down as Sunshy gave him a glare; it was hard to walk and cower at the same time. “I mean…I thought you like me?...” Zen put on his best puppy-dog face.

“You two keep this up and I’m flying off with Celly.” Sunshy stated, to which Celly growled in agreement.

“Sorry…” The other two equines said simultaneously. They glared at each other for that, but quickly looked away in huffy moods.

“I swear you two act like those characters in romance books. Keep up all this hate and everyone will start saying you need to have sex and get it over with.” Sunshy pointed out, still rather upset.

Both pony and zebra shared the same idea as they made retching motions and complained about how disgusting and disturbing that idea was. At the pegasus’s level look to them, Zen walked up and kissed him forcefully. The winged pony fell to his rump, slightly dazed and tingly all over. His wings were raised slightly as well, something neither of the other equines understood.

“Now why would I do that if I wanted to fuck her, hmm?” Zen teased, slapping the pegasus on his flank with his tail before striding past the dazed buck.

“You broke him!” Lacey shouted at the zebra as she walked over to Sunshy, lifting him in her telekinesis and setting him down on Celly’s back.

“Did he do that when you kissed him?” Zen asked, looking over his shoulder to the unicorn. Seeing her angry blush, he smirked and said, “Didn’t think so.”

“You’re such a jerk!”

“I’ve been called worse.”

“Fuck you!”

“In case you missed it, I have the buckfriend you wanted.”

“Go to hell!”

“Too hot for my tastes.”

“I hate you!”

“I can keep this up all day, missy.”

The unicorn, after having all her insults swatted down by the calm zebra, yelled in frustration and stomped in place. Then her horn glowed and she vanished in a small explosion of magic. She reappeared in front of the zebra and quickly bucked him in the chest.

Zen responded by staring flatly at her, completely unimpressed. This only infuriated the pony more. She floated out her shotgun and aimed it at Zen, her magic just about to squeeze the trigger. However, she was not aware Zen was a trained warrior.

As soon as her horn began to glow, his training took over. The world slowed as though he was in S.T.A.T.S. and his mind targeted every part of her body, unconsciously finding her weak points and what pressure points would do what damage where. The zebra reared onto his hind hooves as he planned his attacks. During the time it took to float out the gun, his hoof hit her chest, beside her leg; her magic would implode in ten seconds.

When the gun had to be aimed, he landed another blow, this time to the side of her neck; there went her back legs. As she collapsed, the zebra hit her on the shoulder, her body seized and she was paralyzed.

The unicorn was on the ground and unable to move before she knew what happened. Zen fell back to his four hooves and snorted, digging a hoof into the dirt. Rose’s Thorn was still floating, and the unicorn had the idea to fire it at him. Then her magic was gone and he caught the gun in his mouth before it could fall to the ground. Lacey would have screamed if she could; she always levitated her gun so she wouldn’t have to clean slobber off all the damn time!

Then, just as suddenly, she was able to move. Part of her thought that he had missed what he was aiming for, but the zebra knew it was a short paralysis attack. The first thing she noticed was the bursts of pain from the attacked spots, but she ignored it. The unicorn stood up quickly and enveloped her gun in her magic, intending to tear it out of Zen’s grip.

Finding that he was fighting her, she pulled harder. The zebra dug in his hooves and gritted his teeth around the gun tighter. While she pulled with her telekinesis, the mare bucked him in the chest repeatedly. It began to hurt, but Zen was in fight mode, the pain was shoved away as he kept his grip on the gun.

“Stop it!!” Sunshy shouted, fluttering down beside the two.

Royal Lace stopped bucking Zen and let her magic fade as she turned to face the pegasus. The zebra loosened his grip on Rose’s Thorn, but continued to hold it as he too turned to Sunshy.

“I am very disappointed in both of you! No, I don’t care who started it, you’re both in trouble with me! Zen, you walk in the front, Lacey, you walk at the back. Celly and I will stay in the middle, to make sure you two don’t start fighting.” Sunshy admonished the two adults as though they were children. At that moment, they felt like it.

Zen silently put the gun on Lacey’s back before staring at the ground in shame. The unicorn levitated Rose’s Thorn and wiped away the spit in her magic before stowing it away. Also shamefaced, she sulked past Sunshy and Celly and stood at the back.

“Now, it’s going to rain soon, so we’ll have to stop in those buildings over there or risk catching a cold. Let’s go.” Sunshy stated, pointing out a cluster of run-down and crumbling buildings.

Silently and still shamefaced, Zen nodded and began walking in the direction his PipBuck had tagged. It was still strange to him to see dots, a compass of sorts, and a little arrow in his vision. But all he had to do was turn off the E.F.S. to make it go away. However, he was too sad to do so.

The group was halfway to the cluster of buildings before Zen realized something. He suddenly stopped walking and looked up to the sky, then back down to Sunshy.

“Are you making me out to be some kind of idiot?” Zen asked with confusion. The pegasus reacted with similar confusion.

“No?”

“It’s not even that cloudy and you said it’s going to rain.”

“Pegasus, remember? We’re more attuned to the weather because we used to control it.” Sunshy flapped his wings while staying on the ground.

“How long before it rains?”

“Only a few minutes after we get inside, if you keep walking.” Sunshy walked past the zebra and continued towards the decrepit buildings.

The zebra sighed before turning and trotting past Sunshy, getting to the front once again. Once they were close enough to the buildings, Zen shushed the others before taking off his saddlebags and putting on his invisibility cloak.

Celly, not one to wait around, put Zen’s saddlebags into her own before she flew up to the roof. By the sounds that quickly followed, she had pounced upon a group of snipers. Zen would probably go up that to take their guns later. Meanwhile, the two ponies waited outside, one rather impatient, as a layer of dark clouds rolled over their heads. Lacey stared up at the dark and thundering blanket in the sky and then to Sunshy with awe. He meekly shrugged his wings.

Then Zen popped out of nowhere and promptly kissed Sunshy with no warning whatsoever.

“Stop doing that!” Lacey shouted at Zen, as Sunshy had done his fainting goat trick, this time with a blush.

“You’re just jelly.”

“Wha—you’re crazy!”

“And I love it!” Zen replied with a rather eerie cackle.

Celly landed beside the group, toting a few sniper rifles in her saddlebag. She might have more, but it was impossible to see. Only the muzzles of the guns poking out were enough to tell them of what she had scavenged. Then the manticore sniffed the air and quickly ducked inside the pony-sized doorway. She had to crawl on her belly to fit inside.

“Come on, you.” Zen bit down on Sunshy’s tail and began dragging the pegasus towards the building.

Then he was enveloped in a pink glow and floated. Lacey walked past, floating Sunshy at chest-level, with a smirk. Zen glared and grumbled as he walked in after them. A second later, the entire inside was illuminated in a flash and was swiftly followed by a thunderclap. Then the rain poured down.

“Damn. Good call, Sunny.” Zen mused as he looked out at the heavy rain. As an afterthought, he kicked on his PipBuck lamp spell.

The pegasus shook himself as he was released from the magic, muttering a thanks. Celly pulled out a lantern from her bag, pushed a button and hung it around her neck. The glow it emitted was light blue and rather…unnatural feeling. Everyone recognized it as a werelight, a bit of fire conjured by magic.

Then Royal Lace did something rather perplexing. She stood as though she was bracing herself and her horn glowed. A barely visible layer of pink magic bloomed from her horn. It flew out as a visible dome, passing through walls and the creatures gathered. A few seconds later, the glow faded away and Royal Lace began panting.

“What the hell was that?” Zen asked bluntly.

“A sort of echolocation spell.” She replied once she had caught her breath, “It lets me see the structure of the building, giving me back a mental map of the place and where things are. Like there’s a grenade bouquet up a few floors.”

“Yeah, I saw that. But since all I know how to do is pull a pin and throw, I didn’t want to risk blowing this place apart.”

“Good idea. Lucky for you, I’m a demolition expert and should be able to disarm that baby. Be right back.” With that, she vanished in a burst of magic.

“Well, now that we’re alone…” Zen walked over to Sunshy and pressed himself against the pegasus, causing him to flush a deep red.

A growl from Celly reminded the zebra that she was still there. He merely waved her off as he nuzzled Sunshy. The manticore took a step forward, as Sunshy appeared uncomfortable. She didn’t have to break them up, as the two jumped apart when another teleportation spell brought back Lacey.

“What the fuck does a zebra have to do to get some fucking alone time?!” Zen shouted to the wasteland before groaning angrily and walking past the unicorn and manticore.

“Did I interrupt something?” Royal Lace asked with a forcibly hidden grin.

“You knew, didn’t you?” Sunshy counter-questioned flatly.

“A buck like that? Of course he’d be over you the second I’m gone. Oh, and I managed to disarm that bouquet, so now we’ve got three pretty grenades. There are some other traps around here, but—“

BLAM!!

“Fuck!”

Sunshy flew as fast as he could, zipping up the stairs and frantically searching around. A flash of lightning allowed him enough light to see the black and white tail lying on the ground outside of a doorframe. He ignored the bodies lying on the ground. The doctor forced his panicking thoughts to the back of his head as he flew down the hall and turned into the room. There was a shotgun mounted on the wall to the immediate left of the door, a broken tripwire, and Zen lying on his side with bleeding bullet holes in his side, cussing colorfully.

“Calm down, Zen, I’ll help. Here,” Sunshy slipped off his saddle boxes and opened them. He pulled out a piece of sanded wood and held it out to Zen. Lacey ran in at that moment and instructed, “Put it in your mouth, stupid!”

“Don’t shout at me!” Zen shouted back before hissing and wincing at the pain in his side. He took the block into his mouth and positioned it so his entire mouth held onto it. “N’w wut?”

“Now,” Sunshy pulled out a pair of sharp tweezers that shone in the light from the PipBuck lamp spell, “I have to pull out the buckshot.”

“Nu-uh.” Zen spat out the wood and said, “Just give me a healing potion.”

“No, if I do that your skin will heal over the bullets and then you have the risk of internal damage.” Sunshy said as he laid out his equipment on a clean towel.

“I’ve done that all the time and I’m fine.” Zen stated offhandedly, but felt his gut twist at the look of fear and shock on Sunshy’s face.

“Wha…you’ll need surgery for something like that…Can’t do that here, too risky. We’ll have to find somewhere equipped for such a thing.”

Lacey floated out one of the towels and pressed it on Zen’s bleeding side. He hissed at the contact, but allowed it. He was already becoming dizzy from the blood loss. Once all of his equipment was laid out, Sunshy took out a thing of Med-X and injected the zebra. Then he lied out a blood pack, some surgical tubes, and with Lacey’s help, set it all up so that the blood would transfer into the zebra.

“This will still hurt, so bite on the wooden board so you don’t bite off your tongue. I’d also appreciate it if you don’t squirm.”

“Easy for you to say, you’re the doctor.” Zen muttered before Lacey shoved the board into his mouth. He shot her a glare. Then he shouted through the wood and involuntarily kicked his legs out as the needle dug into his side.

The unicorn quickly used her magic to try and hold down the zebra’s legs. Celly picked up the unicorn by the mane and dropped her off on the other side of the injured zebra. She then lied down with her legs over Zen’s legs, preventing him from kicking. She also held the blood pack in her mouth so that Lacey did not have to hold it in her telekinesis. All the while, Sunshy professionally kept his calm and dug out one bullet. Then he dropped it into a basin of clean water, dipped the tweezers in, and went back to Zen’s side.

A bolt of lightning was flashed outside. The unicorn acted quickly and used a mute spell, preventing the thunder from startling Sunshy. Zen squeezed his eyes shut and tensed his body as the tweezers dug into his side again. It was the oddest thing, to feel a scream tear from his throat, and yet hear nothing.

An agonizingly painful and slow hour passed before Sunshy wrapped Zen up in enchanted bandages, all the bullets meticulously pulled out. The zebra was shockingly pale and coated with sweat at having to endure such an experience. It took more energy restraining himself than it did to fight back. Once the procedure was over, Celly dried off the zebra with a towel while Lacey and Sunshy put his things away.

“Can’t I have a healing potion?” Zen questioned as soon as the sound turned back on.

Grudgingly, he had to be impressed by how long Lacey held such a spell. She was so exhausted that she was doing everything manually. The unicorn mare didn’t even bother to try lifting anything with her telekinesis. She looked about as exhausted as Zen felt.

A little bottle of some green slush was placed before the zebra by a yellow mouth. He noticed that Sunshy appeared exhausted too.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, not even bothering to look at the healing brew.

“Being a doctor isn’t easy. Putting those you care about through torture, telling yourself that it’s to save their life.” Sunshy smiled bitterly.

“Don’t beat yourself up. Hell, I should get a bucking for walking into such a fucking stupid trap.”

“No, it’s my fault for not warning you. I’m sorry.” Lacey piped up.

“Anything else we should be aware of?” Sunshy asked, not feeling up to doing this or something like it anytime soon.

“I’ll go disarm everything like I should have in the first place.” Lacey walked out of the room, stumbling a little.

Celly quickly got up and used a paw to keep the unicorn mare upright. The manticore crouched down and went out of the room after Lacey. Sunshy smiled at Celly’s helpful nature. Then he looked back to Zen, who was still lying on his side with a blood-and-sweat soaked towel on the ground next to him. He was staring out the glassless window to the rain, lightning, and following thunder.

Sunshy lied down on with his hooves tucked in to Zen’s left, away from the blood. The pegasus held out a wing and draped it around Zen’s body. “Take your medicine,” He muttered as he laid his head next to Zen’s mane. The zebra chuckled before drinking up the healing brew.

“What do you believe in, Zen?” Sunshy questioned, staring out at the dark and dreary scenery.

“Reality.” The zebra answered simply.

“No Goddesses, no afterlife, nothing?”

“That’s for ponies and the Nchi Kavu.”

“So what does ‘reality’ mean?”

“We’re born, we live, and then we die. Anything after is irrelevant. Anything not related to elephants is irrelephant.”

Sunshy snorted in laughter and smiled, to which Zen smiled as well. “Knock it off, I’m being serious.”

“But I like seeing you smile.” Zen answered as he rolled onto his belly with his hooves tucked under his body. He shimmied until he was pressed against the pegasus and then lied his neck across the other stallion’s neck.

“That’s a sort of depressing way to see things…”

“Sure…but it helps me focus on the now. If I don’t worry about what some dead alicorns think about my soul, I feel free to do whatever I want.”

“Isn’t that how raiders are?”

“Oh sure, but I’m different. I have this great inborn sense of right from wrong. Killing people for no good reason: wrong. Killing bad people that kill dozens of people for no good reason: not nearly as bad. Saving lives for no reason other than just because you’re a good pony: really good.”

“So there’s no afterlife for you?”

“None that I believe in. Really, I see religion as a crutch.”

“How so?”

“This world is shit, and every day it’s a fight just to get up out of bed. Hell, some people don’t even have beds; they have whatever plot of dirt they collapsed upon, like we’re doing. So it’s no wonder people turned to a religion to keep them going. If you believe that there is a divine being up there, watching over you, of course you’ll want to do something with your life. It’s not for me, but I see why others believe in it. They couldn’t face themselves, let alone the world, if they didn’t have that sort of help.”

“What keeps you going?”

“It changes constantly. I lived for Caesar, then for myself, and then to help others see their true selves…and now I want to live for you. To keep you safe. You did just save my life, and do you know what that means?” Zen lifted his head up and nuzzled Sunshy’s face.

“I…I think I read about that somewhere…” Sunshy stared up at the ceiling, as though it would give him answers.

“It means you’re responsible for my life now. Unless I decide to take it back, you have full authority over me.” The zebra nipped at the pony’s ear, making him flush and shiver. “So you can do whatever you want to me.”

“That’s quite a way to look at it…I…I’ve been thinking, Zen.” Sunshy looked down to the floor as his face flushed.

“I’d be surprised if you ever stopped.”

“I…I think I’m ready…”

“For what?”

Thoroughly confused, Zen looked to Sunshy and was met with those bright cerulean orbs. They shone quite nicely in the light of the PipBuck. Those eyes were staring rather intently, a small part of them telling Zen he was a bit dense. And then it hit him.

“OH!” Zen quickly stood up and fidgeted on his hooves, looking around at everything awkwardly. “I…I know how I’ve been acting, but I mean…I only kissed you earlier today for the first time and…yesterday you…”

“That’s why I feel I’m ready, Zen. I…I can’t let some stranger looking to gut me right after take my virginity. I want you to be…to be my first.” Sunshy stood up, went over to the zebra, and nuzzled him as he spoke.

“Don’t you think this is a little fast?” Zen questioned, “I don’t want to ruin what could be a really good thing by…by…”

Zen felt his willpower waver and slowly collapse. Damn it, that pegasus was doing it again! Those eyes half-lidded, hair partly over his face, and said rather beautiful face coming ever closer. The zebra’s fight crumbled as the pony kissed him. Enough welled up for him to say, “Promise you’ll love me.”

“I already do.” Sunshy replied in a lusty whisper. And there went the last of Zen’s willpower.

Celly tilted an ear and looked down at the floor. She pressed her head down to the floor and folded her other ear down, to make sure she was hearing correctly. Royal Lace finished disarming a mine and tucked it into Zen’s saddlebags she was borrowing. Then she noticed Celly’s strange position. She poked at the manticore, but that yielded no results.

Mentally shrugging, the unicorn mare went to the stairs, intent on walking back to the two boys and showing them her haul. Lacey yelped in shock as the manticore bit her tail. The diva in her screamed that the stupid lion thing was ruining her tail and wanted to tear it out of her mouth. However, she didn’t, as that would have ruined her tail more.

“What are you doing?” Lacey asked in anger.

Celly shook her head with her eyes wide, screaming at the pony not to go downstairs. Lacey looked at her in angry confusion. The manticore rolled her eyes and then began walking backwards. The unicorn tried to dig in her hooves, but eventually she just let the large creature drag her into a room that was cleaner than the others in that it did not hold any bodies. Then Celly used her scorpion tail to close the door. She promptly flopped down onto her side and closed her eyes. Resigning herself to sleeping there, as the tail was still in front of the door, Lacey lied down next to the warm body and slowly went to sleep.

Level up! You are now level 11!

Perk added! Way of the Voice: You sure know how to throw the verbal punches or you can get anyone to be happy. Centuries-old dragons will cower in fear if you get mad at them. Suicidal sadsacks will see the light of life. It all depends on how you use your power.

Companion Perk! Don’t fear the bomb: Royal Lace is an expert at disarming any sort of bomb. You gain +25 to Explosives just by being around her.

Comments

[SteampunkBrony]

that ending of the chapter was... interesting

[SrFrog]

Things are going real good for Sunshy to be true, now i need to go play fallout again

[Freeflyingwolf]

63708 Yes, indeed.
63716 DO IT