Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

by Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 20: Deceit

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 20: Deceit

“When people start to feed negative thoughts, they start to feed the seed of doubt. The seeds of doubt take root. The root develops into tree of despair.”

As always, Sunshy awoke to the sun shining in his face. Sunshy pulled the cloud blanket over his face in an attempt to force it away. Something bounced on his bed, making him bounce and fall onto the cloud floor with a thud. Groaning, the pegasus stood up and groggily turned to whatever had forced him awake. Lying on his bed, beaming with the cheery grin of a morning person, was Shooty. She giggled and started bouncing on his bed.

“Rise and shine, sleepy head! It’s time for breakfast!” She proclaimed gleefully.

“What are we having?” Sunshy asked as he stood up and stretched. He felt a sort of satisfaction from his bones popping.

“Maize mush, typical above-ground pegasi food. We still have the cloud cover and cloud seeding, so as long as we’re in his home that’s what we’ll eat.” Shooty cracked her neck back and forth in response to Sunshy’s joints popping.

“I thought you said you had ground food?”

“We do, but dad won’t let us eat it.”

Following Shooty downstairs, Sunshy found the parents already eating at the table. Quick Shot was sitting facing them, but he held a newspaper in front of his face. The title proclaimed that the Enclave would survive. Golden Rays was cooking the last of the mush. So this maize mush was some form of oatmeal? Maizemeal?

“What’s maize anyway?” Sunshy asked no one in particular as he walked into the kitchen.

“It’s pretty much corn.” Shooty replied as she took a seat diagonally from her father.

“Good to see you both awake! Oh, Sunny, you didn’t sleep with that saddle on your back did you?” Golden asked worriedly.

“I tried to set it down, but it began to sink through the floor.”

“Well there’s your problem! Should’ve put it on the dresser. Floors and tables can only take a few pounds of solid objects, but the bigger furniture can take a good three hundred pounds. How much does that weigh, anyway?” Shooty asked.

Shooty walked over and took the saddleboxes off Sunshy’s back. She then slid them over her head and squirmed until they sat on her back. As her half-brother always did, she let her wings sit above the straps.

“Huh, feels less than a hundred pounds. For stuff this big, I’d think it’d weigh a lot more.”

“With a body frame like his, one good kick could bowl him over.” Quick droned out.

“What ‘cha got in he-hehe whoa! That’s a crapload of stuff.” Shooty had opened only one of the boxes. This was the side with all his medical supplies. The other side held his rifle, ammo, and anything valuable he had come across.

“Cupcake, that is not a word. Please, will you two sit down and eat?” Golden finished setting out the food on the table.

Four bowls of maize mush lied at the table that sat six, two on each side, with the corners unoccupied. Golden sat beside her husband as Sunshy sat across from her. Shooty was still standing and nosing through all of Sunshy’s medical supplies. Curious to this form of cooking, Sunshy took a small lick. Finding it was quite delectable, he began to eat with gusto, which made Golden smile.

“I get it! This is like that thing from The Doctor!” Shooty exclaimed as she left to set the saddle boxes down somewhere in the other room.

“Doctor who?” Sunshy questioned between eating.

“The Doctor! He was around before the war. Apparently, he said he was an alien, a Time Lord, he called himself. They say he had two hearts.” Shooty opened her eyes wide in the strangeness of such a statement as she sat down next to Sunshy. She turned to him and continued, “Apparently he went all across the galaxy and time itself! He always had someone with him, like a companion because he was lonely, since he was the only Time Lord left. Anyway, the story goes that the Time Lords were pros at making things small that were bigger on the inside! He’s the reason we ponies have spells like the one on your boxes.”

“I got those from a zebra.”

“Zebras can’t use magic.” Shooty waved a hoof dismissively as she chuckled a little.

“Yes they can, through an art called shamanism. It’s not as easy to use and takes years of study, but zebras can use magic.”

“I’d rather we not talk of those striped foreigners.” Quick Shot stated coldly.

“Why not? Sunshy says he’s engaged to one, dad.” Shooty put her elbow on the table and her head propped on her hoof.

Quick Shot lowered his paper, revealing his half-empty bowl of mush and an unreadable face. He and Shooty had quite the stare-down while Golden and Sunshy simply tried to eat their food through the growing tension in the air.

“Is this true, boy?” Quick Shot kept his eyes on his daughter. Sunshy squeaked and jumped a little.

“Y…yes…” He admitted just barely above a whisper.

“Up here, ponies are encouraged to be colt cuddlers and filly foolers to keep the population down. Why is this suddenly different when some zebra you’ve never met is involved?” Headshot questioned with a surprisingly frosty tone.

“I’m going out.”

Just like that, Quick Shot walked to the door and somehow managed to slam it shut. His paper fluttered on the breeze from the open window. Golden sighed as she picked up his half-empty bowl and set it in the sink. Shoots licked at her food with a rather moody aura, while Sunshy cleaned off his bowl mostly out of politeness.

After their breakfast, Shooty insisted on taking Sunshy over to the main city. The main city was as large as he had thought Cloudsdayle had been before the war. However, there was a depressingly small number of pegasi walking around. No matter how large the buildings, how many twists and turns the streets had, it could not make one forget that there were so few cloud-walking ponies.

Even still, it was surreal to be surrounded by so many fellow pegasi. Truly, it was more of a culture shock to him than living in Savannah. Everypony gave him a mix of reactions as he passed by. Most were impassive towards him and his half-sister, but a few gave him quizzical looks upon noticing his artificial wing. Some were angry, having jumped to the conclusion that he had been a surface pegasi. Others actually came up to him and thanked him for being a veteran. He didn’t have the heart to tell those few that he wasn’t part of the Enclave.

When the feelings of being uncomfortable in a city were too much, Sunshy requested Shooty to take him back home. Once there, he slid his saddle boxes back onto his back and told the two that he was going to go and see if Ditzy Doo had any work for him. Golden smiled and patted his cheek with a wing, calling him her “hard working-boy” with fond warmth. Shooty immediately began bouncing on the cloud, begging to come along. Apparently, she had never been allowed to go farther than old Appleoosa when it came to the surface.

With Golden’s permission, Shooty bounded around the house with glee before racing out of the front door as though she was hyped up on Dash. Sunshy had seen Dash-addicts. Their actions were rather similar to those born with ADHD along with the strange ability to go faster than they could before. Shooty quickly flew back in the house, grabbed Sunshy by a hoof, and flew him outside.

All the way down to New Appleoosa, Shooty went over everything she knew about the surface world. Unlike most other pegasi, she did not think herself above those that were forced to live on the ground. In fact, she held a healthy appreciation for those who had the fortitude to live in such a terrible land and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. In that regard, she truly was related to Sunshy.

Upon arriving at New Appleoosa, the blue-on-yellow pegasus was dancing in place and making high-pitched squeaks of excitement. Just like a pony on Dash, she began running around and asking questions about everything. What was this? Who are you? What do you do here? What is that? What’s this button do? You gonna eat that? Are you done reading this?

While Sunshy tried to find her endless streams of question and boundless energy endearing, he couldn’t help but feel she was a slight annoyance. The residents seemed to share the same idea, as many huffily walked away from her. Soon, though, she returned to Sunshy’s side just inside the border of the town. Even though she had sped around the entire town in less than ten minutes, she was still bouncing with energy. What was she made of?

Much more calmly and maturely, Sunshy walked over to Absolutely Everything and walked inside. The buck was greeted by Silver Bell welcoming him.

“OH MY GOSH you are the cutest thing I have ever seen!” Shooty dashed over to stand before Silver Bell and smushed her own face with her hooves. At least she didn’t smush the filly’s face…

“You’re weird. But thank you!” Silver Bell replied seamlessly.

“Awesome! You’re a unicorn. Tell me your magical secrets.” The pegasus’s attitude turned deadly serious. Her bright blue eyes seemed to bore into the filly.

Sunshy saved Silver Bell from the uncomfortable stare by pointing to a pot and saying, “Look, shiny!”

“Where!?” Shooty ran over to item and began browsing everything on the wall.

“Sorry about her, I think she’s high on Dash.” Sunshy admitted to the little unicorn, then immediately wondered if she even knew what Dash was.

“Drugs are for losers! I’m high on pure life, bro!” His sister replied immediately.

“If you say so…you really act like someone on Dash, though, miss. So mistur Sunshy, what’d you come here for?” Silver Bell questioned with a beaming smile, hoping to have a customer.

“I was hoping to help your mom make deliveries.”

“Sweet! Garrus should be able to help. Gary!”

“What do you need, kid?” This new voice came from a deep-sounding buck.

Upon the creature entering the room, it was found he was not a buck. No, in fact, this was simply a male griffon. This griffon walked on all fours, wore some black armor, and had deep blue feathers around his eyes and growing at the tips of his feathers on his head. Sunshy was surprised that he had to look down at this griffon. They were normally tall! Then again, a tall freak like him was used to looking down at everyone.

“Damn you’re tall.” Garrus commented. Then he coughed into his claw awkwardly, as though he hadn’t meant to let that slip.

“Don’t worry; I get that all the time.” Sunshy waved the comment off with his hoof.

“Ohmygosh!” Headshot was suddenly standing right in front of Garrus, which made him rather uncomfortable. He moved back a few steps. Sunshy saw his tail swish in annoyance; scorpion tails on lion bodies acted just the same, who knew. “You’re hot!”

Sunshy smacked his hoof against his face. He’d known his sister for all of a day and was already embarrassed by her beyond belief. She’d just called a griffon hot! He’s not even of the same species, how could he be hot?! Although…he did have a rather nice build—NO! Still engaged, still have Zen. Right, engagement band, oh look at how sparkly it is, yes. So shiny and pretty, focus on that.

“You know you’re a pony, right?” Garrus actually sounded amused by Shooty’s outburst.

“And I’m up for experimenting.”

“OKAY! You’re leaving now. No talking like that in front of a filly that can’t comprehend it.” Sunshy began pushing Shooty outside, despite her digging her hooves in and whining.

When he was at the door, the pegasus gave his sister a final push, making her land face-first onto the dirt ground below. Her rear end was giving salutations to the sun. She muttered something that sounded along the lines of, “Dirt hurts, bro,” as Sunshy turned and walked back inside.

“I’m so so so very sorry about her.” Sunshy bowed his head to the griffon and unicorn filly.

“I don’t know what happened, so I’m fine!” Silver Bell responded with a chipper attitude.

“Weird sex predator aside, did you need something, Silver?” Griffon inquired of the pony. She nodded enthusiastically.

“Mistur Sunshy here needs some work delivering!”

“You didn’t think to check the help-wanted board? Ponies put up ads all the time.”

“I’ll look at it!” Where did Headshot come from?!

Sunshy was startled into his fainting-goat trick. Damn it, he hadn’t done that in months! Now everyone was staring at him. His face was burning up and he wished to be turned to goo and melt through the floor.

“You do that too! Mommy says it’s genetic, so that’s another thing we share, bro! There’s no denying we’re related, isn’t that just great?” Shooty swept up her much taller and skinnier brother into a warm hug radiating love. Part of Sunshy wondered just what in the world could scare this girl that took everything so casually.

Garrus coughed into his eagle claw again, and Shooty remembered that there were others there. She immediately dropped Sunshy and turned her attention to the help wanted board. While she scanned over advertisements, Silver Bell was telling her how badly she needed some boarding, saddlebags, and weapons if she was going to take on odd jobs. This excited the pegasus to virtually no end and quickly began haggling with the unicorn. Sunshy knew that he would have to pay, as Shooty had no way to hold currency on her. Never mind, she pulled out a sack of caps from her tail.

“So, about delivering…”

~*~

Three weeks passed by in a flash.

Halfway through the first week, something strange had happened. There was some great warmth that spread through everything. There was a ring of color that spread out from the only large mountain left in Equestria. It was like a sonic rainboom, only on the ground and so much softer. The ground was purged of all its radioactivity and taint. While this was great news, Ditzy was now busier than ever. She had started to sell dirty water to her fellow ghouls all around Equestria. She called it “Aqua Cura” for some reason.

During his time in Equestria, Sunshy would travel across the land making deliveries that Ditzy was too busy to make, accompanied by Celly every time. While they were out doing that, Headshot made quite a name for herself. She took up virtually every help wanted ad available that she felt were within her capabilities. Somehow, that translated to everything. The most surprising thing was…she survived.

From going down an irradiated shaft with nothing but a radiation suit, some Rad-X, RadAway, and an assortment of magical energy weapons, to escorting a caravan, she would do it. Only rarely did she have some sort of companion, normally a griffon working for someone named Gawd. They made a lot of jokes based on her name.

All of their money was brought back home. Golden Rays was the only parent honestly proud and happy with their work helping everyone. Said money was almost always bottle caps, but sometimes they were paid in material things of value. Sometimes it was a rare sort of boarding or helmet, sometimes a weapon in pristine condition, and sometimes just whatever they found during their quest.

At the end of the second week, Sunshy had his armor modified by a customer in payment; his leather armor was now imbued with a spell that kept him as well protected as heavy armor, but without the weight. He was given various weapons as well, but only kept a grenade launcher along with his zebra assault rifle. Everything else he sold.

Headshot ended up with full-covering slim power armor from the Enclave, but without the scorpion tail and helmet. She knew how to use it, having learned from her father—who Sunshy learned had forced Shooty to learn everything from mundane tasks to stealth missions in order to find her cutie mark. She received plenty of “land dweller” weapons, but she did have one opinion that reflected the Enclave a little: guns were rather beneath her notice. A nice, soft, no-kickback energy weapon was for her.

She did have to sway that idea for a beautifully made one-of-a-kind sniper rifle. This was built with a sky blue color, matching her mane and tail. It was long and wonderful and came with its own battle-saddle mount, which was needed as the kickback was terrible. The rifle stuck out a hoof’s length out from her face. For those who thought they could hold it in their mouths, the grip was made of soft padding of the same color. According to her sorter in her armor, it labeled it ‘Invisibility’. Headshot said it was because when she held it against the sky, it practically vanished.

The one thing Sunshy was disappointed by was that he didn’t see Drakon. Even after the weeks had passed, there was no sign of the old dragon. Those living in New Appleoosa said that he moved on to clean out another place dearly in need of help. Hoofington was the name.

Three weeks was the magic number. It had been roughly five months since Sunshy had left Drakon’s cave. So much had changed. Hell, he’d heard the story of the Stable Dweller. Everything she did was within the span of two months! If that wasn’t impressive, he didn’t know the meaning of the word.

Three weeks passed before he had any word from back in Savannah. There was a knocking at the door that Sunshy opened. He found an adolescent dragon hovering before him. This one was green and red, an odd color combination he had to admit. The dragon asked if Tall Soft Heart, aka Sunshy Rays lived here. Sunshy nodded and took the letter handed to him. After receiving a tip of twenty caps, the dragon made a motion as though to tip a hat at him before flying off.

Sunshy went into the kitchen and sat down. He set the letter down with the back facing up. Sealing the envelope was red wax with the indentation of the rearing lion roaring ferociously. It felt like a shame to break such a perfect picture, but he was given this for a reason. So he walked over to his saddlebag and opened the side with his weapons. On a whim, he counted his ammo while digging for something to open the letter. There was a lot less than he remembered…when had he spent them? Oh…the arena in Peponi. He had probably blocked it out; even now it was still fuzzy. The weight of his robotic wing suddenly felt much too heavy.

Once he thought a bit, he face-hoofed. The pony then opened the other side and pulled out a scalpel. He went over to his envelope and broke the seal. Then he pulled the letter out and unfolded it, which was written in messy mouth-writing in Zebra.

Dear Sunshy Rays/Tall Soft Heart of the Dry Land clan,

As you know, civil war has been raged in the Savannah Wasteland for generations. We of the Remnants strived to continue what our Caesar of war times began. It has come to our attention that your fiancé Brother Strong Peace/Zen is working against our ideals. While he claims to not be a Separatist, he certainly does not care at all for our goals. In simple terms, he will be killed within a week’s time from when this letter was written. We request you return to the city of Paradise to arrange the funeral or cremation, take stock of his worldly things, and because you left before you could even begin your job that my leader requested of you.

Sincerest, Legate Brutus Grim

P.S. I tried writing this with a quill, but those are for unicorns. Too sloppy trying to write with it in your mouth.

P.P.S. I wrote twenty of these damn things. One better find you.

P.P.P.S. My jaw hurts like a mother fucker.

P.P.P.P.S. This is the only letter with PS’s so I hope you don’t get this one. Fuck me if you do. Takes the drama out of everything. Curse the Caesar line for their oddball ways rubbing off on me.

P.P.P.P.P.S. I didn’t mean that.

The many post scripts distracted Sunshy for a bit, as they were where his eyes immediately wandered. When he did read the main portion of the letter, any humor he found vanished. Near the top right of the letter was a date written. It was the day he left.

Three weeks ago.

Zen was long since dead, according to the letter. He was probably buried in the ground and cold. Or just a pile of ash in a jar. Maybe not even in a jar…what if he was just dust in the wind now?!

“Sunny? Why are you crying?” Headshot questioned as she walked into the kitchen. In response, Sunshy slid the letter over to her. Shooty read it over while Sunshy placed his head in his hooves. “I can’t read Zebra.”

Sunshy sniffled and took a deep breath to calm himself. Of course she couldn’t read Zebra, she lived in Equestria and above the clouds her whole life. She had no reason to study their language.

“Basically…Zen is dead. They killed him for being a traitor to the Legion.” Sunshy bluntly told her. Shooty gasped and stared at the words that were foreign to her on the letter. Eventually, she wrapped her brother in a hug complete with wings.

“I’m so sorry. I wish I could do something for you…”

“It’s…we’re two weeks too late. I can’t believe…” Sunshy hiccupped in a breath and tried to control his breathing.

“If you want…I can leave. Let you…cry it all out.”

“No, no…I…I…I just need to…go to Peponi, Paradise. Besides, I…can’t know for sure he’s dead until I see it for myself. Honestly, I don’t trust all these Legion zebras…Probably just lying to me to get me to come back. Heh, took them three damn weeks to find me, so they’re probably really anxious.” Sunshy got off the chair and walked back to his saddle boxes.

“Can…can I come with you? I’d love to go to another country and…well, we’re siblings. I want to be there for you no matter what.”

“Thanks. I’d like that. Should we tell mom?” Sunshy questioned as he put on his boarding and coat.

“I’ll go tell her while I get my stuff.” Headshot quickly flew up the stairs.

Sunshy slid his saddle boxes over his back. He waited at the end of the stairs. Moments later, the pony was tackled to the cloud ground in a flying hug. Golden was babbling and sobbing out too much too fast. From the snippets he could understand, Sunshy gathered that she was told everything, she understood, and she would let them go with her best wishes.

Once Headshot was fully suited up in her Enclave armor, they were ready to go out the door. However, Quick Shot was standing vigil at the door, waiting for them. Golden was in the family room, trying not to cry.

“Take off that damn second-rate armor.”

“What?! NO! Dad, I’m going with Sunshy and you—“

“Go. Take. It. Off.” Quick Shot ordered. Shooty stomped her hooves and screamed in anger. Then she stormed up the stairs, shouting all the while.

Awkwardly, Sunshy shifted on his hooves. He wasn’t sure what to do now. Quick Shot wasn’t even looking at him. Not long after, Shooty stormed back down, glaring daggers at her father. Her expression melted into confusion as Quick held out a folded-up Enclave armor body, complete with tail, wing protection, and helmet.

“If you’re going away, you’ll represent this family properly. No second-hand armor you won from doing odd jobs. You’ll wear my old armor.”

With new reverence in her eyes, Headshot took the armor and quickly put it on. It was strange for her to have her tail enclosed in the armor. She did like her helmet, despite how it gave her a strange insect-like appearance. Almost immediately, she was having fun with the E.F.S.

“Does it fit? You’re not as bulky, but it is made to fit anypony. This armor saved my life plenty of times. I hope to the Goddesses you don’t face anything that makes you claim the same thing. Stay safe…both of you.” Shooty quickly pulled her father into a big hug. He returned it with a smile.

Once they parted, the buck turned and stared up to Sunshy. “I know I haven’t acted the best towards you, and I apologize. You’re a good pony, Sunshy. I’m proud to say you’re my son, even if just through marriage.”

Quick Shot then hugged Sunshy, which he returned after a shocked moment of hesitation. Then he stepped away from the door. Shooty saluted her father, who returned it and said, “Dismissed.”

Before she could join Sunshy out the door, Shooty ran back inside. A minute or so later, she returned with her sniper mounted on a battle saddle. The two shared another hug with their mother before going out the door. Celly, who had been given a permanent cloud-walking spell, was nowhere to be found. She normally stayed outside, basking in the sun close to home.

Silently worrying, Sunshy dove through the cloud cover and turned east. Shooty followed close behind and was close on his tail. The two passed over New Appleoosa and flew until they reached the end of the Everfree Forest. Sunshy called out for Celly, but received no reply. When the wait became agonizing, the pegasus ventured inside.

Headshot kept close to her brother as her night vision kicked in, as he seemed to know where he was going. Every little noise was eerie and spooky, causing her to jump. Something about this place was unnatural. It was afternoon, but inside the forest, it might as well be midnight.

All the while they walked, Sunshy called out for his other sister. Eventually, they arrived at the mouth of Drakon’s old cave. Even from outside, his pile of treasure could be seen sparkling in the artificial light. Again, Sunshy called out for Celly, but there was no response.

A rustling in the bushes captured his attention. Shooty had her mouth on the bit that controlled the firing mechanism of her sniper rifle. She positioned herself as the rustling grew. Then out came a big, scary manticore with a giant mane! Not Celly, it’s dead!!

Headshot’s visor changed to red with crosshairs. It bleeped a few times until it locked onto the head of the manticore. Easy as pie, surrounded by that big mane. Hay, why was it getting bigger? Oh…

Shooty was forced onto her rump as the manticore shoved his face in hers. She smiled wanly as her E.F.S. labeled this as a friendly. The male manticore growled as he moved back and smacked the pegasus upside the head with his scorpion tail.

“Check Eyes-Forward Sparkle first…” She muttered as she rubbed the side of her head.

“Excuse me, sir, have you seen a female just a wee bit taller than you?” Sunshy questioned.

The male nodded before shoving his head into the bushes. His face was pushed back by another manticore, this one lacking a mane and with a narrower face. The male gave her a smile before standing aside and letting the female move forward. Celly moved her head down and nuzzled Sunshy affectionately.

“Is this your boyfriiiiieeeeend?~” Headshot teased in a sing-song voice.

Celly nodded to her before rubbing her face against the male, who did the same with a purring growl. Sunshy smiled and put a hoof on Celly’s shoulder. She folded her ears down and licked his head.

“I understand. You’re plenty old enough to start a family of your own. We’re going to head back to…to Zen. I’ll see you when we get back, okay?” Sunshy smiled as he gave Celly a parting kiss on the nose before he set his hoof down.

Celly gave them both a lick on the heads before turning and walking back into the thick flora. The male turned as well, giving them a wave with a wing as he followed Celly. Shooty jumped up and took off into the air. Sunshy gave a final goodbye before following his half-sister.

The sun was far down on the horizon by the time they stopped to rest. All the while they flew, Sunshy informed Shooty of everything she would have to know. Of course, training her to speak fluent Zebra was out of the question, as that could take years. So he gave her a crash-course in their history, beliefs, religion, and factions.

Since Sunshy had failed to mention Nchi Kavu, for he was still upset over Chief Fluffy Doom, they had not stopped there. Instead, the two camped outside with a campfire, the stars their only companions. Shooty took the first watch, which was a foreign concept to Sunshy. Having a giant manticore sleeping beside you all the time really made you feel safe twenty four-seven. Without her…Sunshy felt rather cold as he curled up on the ground, no warm body to press up against.

Hours that felt like minutes passed before Sunshy was shaken awake. Shooty had her helmet off. She looked terrified. The night was cold and dark, which meant the fire was down to cinders.

“Sunny, there are these…eyes just staring at us…” She whispered while staring around in paranoia.

Still half-asleep, Sunshy barely registered her words. However, he did register that even while laying on the ground, he could see some glowing eyes just off in the distance. Unnerving. To his sleep-foggy brain, Sunshy decided the best idea was to bark. Shooty stared at him with an expression that he was a total idiot and about to get them both killed.

Her disbelief changed to panic as the eyes moved and showed glowing teeth. One of them moved enough to bark in response. Shooty donned her helmet and took aim. Well…there were countless yellow lines as far as her E.F.S. could pick up. No matter what her awesome magical armor said, she certainly wasn’t about to trust things that kept on the edges of their line of vision.

Then some of the most awesome creatures walked into the faint light of the crescent moon. They were like dogs, only their body structure was a little different. All of them were brown, black, and white. Each one had a different coat. The wild dogs walked forward cautiously. One of them closer to Sunshy sniffed at him before lying down next to the pony.

Seeing one of their own do this, the rest decided to join in and sleep around the pegasus. Shooty stared as no less than twenty of the dogs piled around her brother. She gave up, fluttered over the dogs, and fell asleep amidst the pile of warmth.

The next morning, they awoke to find the wild dogs still around. Although they were now eating the rotting carcass of some animal they had presumably killed before. It sure wasn’t there when they went to sleep. Fighting the urge to upchuck, the pegasi quickly flew away, as they had not left anything behind. Though the wild dogs whined at them, they did not pursue on foot. Sunshy gave a goodbye wave and thanks for keeping them warm and not eating them.

Though they tried their hardest to stay in the sky, the two couldn’t help but land every couple hours to make sure that their wings would not strain. Even still, it took them another day and a half to reach Peponi. It was in the middle of Savannah, after all.

Both of the pegasi agreed to arrive on hoof at the front gate. Just as they touched down, it seemed as though that was expected. Legate Brute walked over to them. Shooty’s eyes widened in surprise as she stared up and up and up!

“WHAT MADE YOU?” Shooty belted out, unable to grasp how very large he was.

“…The…the gods?” Brute replied with an expression of confusion.

“You’re huge!”

“Really? It’s not like I have to look down at everyone.” His sarcasm was dripping from every word. He must get that a lot.

“How tall are you?”

“Eight foot seven inches, alright? Look, Caesar told me to—“

“I thought you were the Remnant? Don’t the Separatists have a Caesar and not you?”

Brute slapped his face with a hoof and dragged it down. “We lied. We do have a Caesar but we tell everyone we don’t so that they are lulled into a false sense of security. If you’re quite done asking dumb questions…” The coldest glare in existence that made even Shooty cower, “Good. Follow me.”

In complete silence, they followed. Shooty was too scared to make him angry. He could crush her under one hoof! Sunshy was too anxious about what was to come. As the group passed, zebras would bow to Legate Brute and nod or smile politely to Sunshy. Seemed they still remembered him. Apparently, he was either famous for his freak-out mass murder or they all completely forgave him. He suspected the former. Shooty, however, got nothing but glares or taunting smiles. A zebra ran away shouting tauntingly, “Oh no, the Grand Pegasus Enclave is here to wipe us out!”

Even though she couldn’t understand a word other than Grand Pegasus Enclave, Shooty blushed in angry embarrassment. The zebras had laughed after that one obviously made fun of her. She decided to take her helmet off its hook around her shoulder and put it on. Now she couldn’t give them the satisfaction of knowing their bullying got to her.

“The Enclave is a bit of a joke, since they weren’t able to do anything in the war. Don’t take it too personally, Sister of Sunshy.” Brute told her in a stoic tone.

“Shooty. My name is Shooty.”

“Unique. Short for anything?”

“Headshot.”

“Is that accurate?”

“I have a sniper rifle attached to my side. No, I’m terrible at shooting. I aim for the knees.”

They became quiet once again. Other still reacted as they walked. Sunshy soon found this was unfamiliar territory they were entering. It reminded him of Mrahaba, all nice and shiny. More guards and those in Legion armor were walking around. These zebras stopped in the middle of whatever they were doing to bow to the Legate. Along the trip, Sunshy noticed his glyph mark was a scythe. This was strange, as he carried no weapons on him, just his armor.

They arrived at a building that was identical to those around it, which all looked like apartment buildings. Just like those buildings in the small cities scattered all around. Legate opened the door and slid inside effortlessly, as it was obviously made to be large enough to allow his extreme bulk through. Going through the large door made the two pegasi feel tiny. Normal-sized ponies and zebras must feel microscopic.

Through the door, down a hallway, left, right, upstairs, straight, up, left, left, right, right, up, down, left. Soon Sunshy decided Brute was purposely leading them around in circles. Long after his hooves ached from all the walking, the Legate stopped at a door just like all the others. He knocked twice, paused, knocked once, paused, and then knocked thrice.

The door opened, revealing someone Sunshy and Shooty couldn’t see. Legate Brute dipped his head before walking inside and standing over to the right. The pegasi cautiously walked inside after him.

The room was…unorganized. Unfinished war maps decorated the walls. As was custom, pillows were all around, pulled together in piles. Brute took a pile and lied down with his hooves tucked under his belly. At the back, there was a doorway with no door. Nothing could be seen in the back room from where the pegasi stood.

Lying down on the pile of pillows in the dead center of the room was a zebra. A zebra in the armor of Caesar, but he was definitely not Caesar the twelfth. This zebra was coated head to tail in scars, most of them appearing to be fresh and healed over with healing potions. His glyph mark was lost to the branding.

A jagged scar ran from the base of his right ear and drew down over his eye until it came to rest on his cheek. Said eye appeared unnatural. Sure, it was still brown like the other, but there were sections that were…strange. Like a contact lens over his eye that had coloring, but in sections. Comparing the eye to a cock, around eight to ten were purple streaks. Two to four were blue with numbers flying by too fast for anyone but him to see. The pupil had a hint of red glowing from the center. Not so much to be a distraction, but it was still noticeable.

Caesar the thirteenth stood up with a pained effort. No wonder…his left back leg was gone. In its place was a mechanical replacement. It was shaped exactly like any other leg and hoof, but made out of metal. Slap on some fake skin and a coat of paint and no one would know the difference. Even though his field wasn’t in robotics or technology of any sort, Sunshy knew on a medical level that replacing limbs was normally an arduous task. For a missing limb, it would take at least a year or two for rehabilitation.

Sunshy noticed his front right leg held a PipBuck. This one had the picture of a smiling zebra buck wearing a crown. The name under it read Caesar XIII.

Since her brother was silent, Shooty decided to be the one to introduce them. She removed her helmet and hooked it on her shoulder. With wings raised proudly—why did the zebras look surprised?—she held a hoof to her chest.

“I am Headshot of the Shot family, normally called Shooty. My father was a proud Enclave general. This is my half-brother, Sunshy Rays. It is a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

“Why are your wings raised like that?” Caesar questioned. His voice had a robotic edge to it. What sort of attack caused damage to his vocal cords?

“To show my pride, of course. Pegasi raise their wings for a multitude of reasons, and yes, one of them being what others lovingly call a wing boner.” Shooty lowered her armored wings and frowned.

“Anyway, as you may have guessed, I am Caesar the Thirteenth. It is a pleasure to meet the both of you, Shooty and Sunshy. Do all pegasi have names that begin with ‘S’?” Caesar smiled as though he thought he was clever.

“Do all zebras have a name that begins with ‘Z’?” Shooty shot back.

“Touché, madam. Now then, I am to assume you are escorting and protecting your half-brother?”

“Correct. Haven’t seen him in the field yet, but I’m a trained fighter. No matter his skills, it’d be stupid to not have me around.”

“Very pompous, but in a good way, I suppose. Legate, will you give them the collars?” Caesar turned to his Legate.

The large zebra stood and walked into the back room. He returned moments later with two collars in his mouth. Sunshy broke his gaze away from the PipBuck that he hadn’t stopped staring at to glance at the collars. They were not slave collars, thank the Goddesses. They appeared to be the sort of collars one would give to a…a dog…They were leather and red with a little golden tag hanging down with the same picture as the one branded on Caesar’s flanks. Whatever. Sunshy returned to staring at the PipBuck.

“Don’t take offense to these, but without them, you’ll have your memories torn from you when you exit this building. You will also be attacked ruthlessly without them, as they have a strong shield spell.”

“I guess that makes up for it.” Shooty grumbled as she allowed Brute to place the collar on her neck. Sunshy was quiet as the Legate did the same.

“Stare any harder and it might burst into flame.” Caesar teased as he waved the PipBuck at Sunshy. The pony stared straight into those doe brown eyes. Unmistakable brown eyes. They blinked as the expression changed. Recognition.

Sunshy dug into his miscellaneous saddle box and pulled out the letter. He chewed it up and then spat it out right at Caesar. It bounced off the right side of his brow.

“You…LIAR!!” Everyone was blown away from the force of his shout. Not literally, only the Royal Canterlot Voice was that powerful. Just the sudden complete change in such a quiet pony was such a shock that everyone moved back.

“Three weeks, huh? That’s how long you’d wait for me? Three weeks! You couldn’t even wait a whole month! And don’t give me some bullshit that you thought I was gone for good. You sent me these fucking letters begging me to come back!” Sunshy was fuming and on a roll. He had no idea how his throat survived the first shout, but it was still going strong.

“I…wha…Sunny…” Caesar—Zen, was completely caught off-guard.

“Don’t you even start! So from this letter, I’m guessing you meant ‘death’ as ‘turning from Zen to Caesar’ right? You probably didn’t even wait a whole damn week for that! You know what; I’m not even sure why I’m surprised! This is just like you, too. Because absolutely nothing is clear-cut with you.”

“I don’t—“ He was utterly confused and defenseless.

“Everything I learned about you, I found out from everyone else. Your name isn’t really Zen, its Zuberi? Thanks Ruby. Oh, your favorite food is celery? Thank you so much for finding that out for me, creepy-as-fuck plant-pony in that goddamn Stable.”

“I did tell you about me!” Zen argued, his slightly robotic voice cracking with conflicting emotions.

“Yeah, what I could find out for myself! You hate the Legion? So does half of the fucking population here! The real information I wanted was; Why? Why do you hate them? Is there some big reason, or do you just hate them out of principal? Oh and don’t even argue about your past lovers. The last fucking thing anyone wants to hear about is knowing that they’re not your first. Sure, it’s a fact I accepted from the beginning, but you just fucking shoved it in my face! I’m not even sloppy seconds, I’m…fucking thirds!!”

“I told you about my failed relationships to make you feel secure!” Zen’s eyes were watering as he tried to argue.

“Did you really? Or did you just want to explain away why some gross-ass zebra off the streets started coming on to you? It’s just…You never seem to do anything you should! I get where you’re coming from, but you’re doing it just…I just always felt like there was this fucking wall between us…” Sunshy grit his teeth and turned his head away, trying to find the right words.

“You know what I am? I’m a fucking open book. Not only that, I’m an open book in two languages. I translate everything for you, no question needed! But you? You’re a leather-bound book with five padlocks put into a sack tied with steel cables in the most intricate knot ever conceived thrown into a safe with a password, number code, DNA scanner, hoofprint scanner, eye scanner, and voice recognition with a required password thrown down the deepest well in the world! And then you take this dinky little notepad about everything you’ve seen and know and pass it off as everything anyone needs to know about you.”

“That’s…that’s not true—“ Zen felt hot, angry tears escape.

“You know what, it doesn’t even matter. So fine, Caesar, I get it. Now, will you please tell me where my Zen’s grave is? Because I’d like bury my heart with him.” A tear fell from Sunshy’s face with his final, heartbreaking and angry words. He then took off his engagement band and threw it at Zen. It hit the middle of his brow, bounced, and clattered to the ground.

No one moved as Sunshy turned and ran from the room. A heartbeat passed before Zen tried to follow, but fell forward onto his face on the pillows. Colorful curses passed through his mouth as he struggled to stand on three working limbs and one deadweight chunk of metal that refused to fucking work! The stream of curses turned to the subject of his own uselessness as he collapsed into a sobbing heap beating up defenseless pillows.

Shooty was jolted into action after Caesar—Zen?—fell forward. She flew as quickly as her wings could take her, following the red trail of tail that marked where her brother was. Any time she lost him, the zebras in armor that loitered around pointed her in the right direction.

Sunshy tried to find the exit, but even with his strong sense of direction, he was utterly lost. Somehow, he ended up on the same floor as before even though he was sure he never once went up! Either way, he could hear Shooty shouting for him. Though her intentions were no doubt good, he couldn’t bear company. The tears were still falling and blurring his vision.

Giving up, Sunshy opened the first door he came to and went inside. As the door had opened inward, he began piling everything from the walls in front of the door. While he did that, he found that this had to be a closet. No other room would have a broom, mop, hammer, wrench, bucket, toolkit, and very heavy metal shelf.

Moments after he finished his work, something banged into the door. Even over his panting, he could hear Shooty complaining about her head and the goose egg bump that was about to grow. She landed and began knocking on the door. Softly, she would call out variations of his name in between or during her knocking. She also said other things, but he didn’t care. In front of him was a sink, with a mirror right above.

Staring back at him was a reflection. His coat was full of color and shining from constant cleaning and brushing. On his muzzle, he could see the lines of his tears that had flowed down. They still were. And above all, he saw the red. So much red…the same color as his heart.

Without knowing it, he picked up a serrated knife that was sitting at the sink. So he tilted his head, held the knife out, and cut it. As the red fell to the floor, he decided to keep doing this. He cut and cut until there was only a short mess of hair on his head and a cropped tail. There…now he looked…nothing but sad. This had accomplished nothing but a mess of hair on the floor. The useless knife couldn’t even clatter from landing on all the hair.

No…now he remembered why he did this. Less red, because red was blood, which led to the heart. His heart was broken. Each beat felt painful. He had heard of a broken heart before, but never had he thought it was a literal expression. Now he knew better. Sunshy lied down on the pile of his red hair. He didn’t cry, he was too empty to cry.

Level up! You are now level 20!

Perk added! Ditzy Doo’s Delivery Buck!: You’ve been all around Equestria making deliveries for Ditzy, and it’s paid off more than just in money. You know your way around the land like the back of your hoof. Ponies are more inclined to recognize you, as well. Too bad you’re not in Equestria anymore.

Companion Perk added! Natural Dash: Your sister is a hyperactive ball of energy, reminiscent of Pinkie Pie…If she ever used Dash the drug. Her insane speed, on land or air, influences your own speed by 30%. You’ll reach places much sooner and outrun any enemies.

Comments

[NeverKnown]

0_0 wow that was a twist Great chapter man

[Freeflyingwolf]

152409 Which part was the twist?

[Freeflyingwolf]

162829 Thank you
163984 I try.