Fallout Equestria: Wasteland Shuffle

by BEBOP!

Equestrian Blues

Fallout: Equestria: Wasteland Shuffle

~Bebop n’ Company

Chapter 1: Wasteland Blues

“...your very own pipbuck!”

I saw my father once, briefly. My real father. I wasn’t supposed to be there; a place away from the cameras’ eyes. She wanted to show me. It was nice. He looked like a pleasant stallion. I’d thought him quite a bright individual. Literally and figuratively. His coat could’ve been spotted a mile away- bright, as though he’d never aged. The man taking care of me had long since faded, as I would. I wished I’d gotten to meet him again. Talk a while. Ask him how things were going. What he was like when he was my age.

That was all a very long time ago.

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Yep. Haven’t moved in a while. The air was beginning to smell. Yes. Very much so, and in a bad way. Iridescence (might as well call her something easy to say) didn’t seem to mind at all, on the other hand. Wow, it’s hot. She still wouldn’t talk about anything that had happened, though. Sure. Leave me in the dark.

“We need to get going. Now would be preferable,” I remarked casually to my quietly whimpering... friend. (It feels like I should be kicking myself for thinking that.) She stood on the bed, shook her head, and wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her barding. I levitated out my reading glasses and case from the top of my coat rack. (What was the point of that thing, anyway?) Who knew if I was gonna be able to read later, but I’d rather have ‘em and not need ‘em than need and not have.

Iridescence hopped off my bed just as I grabbed an issue of Meeting Ponies from the corner. She caught it in her teeth. She looked at me once, paused, turned, and bucked me in the face! “Now isn’t the fucking time for that!” Now she was a red bar. That’s what that was, “I see you don’t have any sense of morals or-or-or anything! I knew you were stuck up and spoiled b-but t-t-taking... that is jus- st p-plain out un-unsensitive!” she started crying again. I rubbed my jaw and noticed a warning on my pipbuck saying that I’d apparently already cracked a tooth, and my neck had come close to being snapped! She didn’t say much, but she sure as hell got her point across.

I dropped the Meeting Ponies Before she could do any more damage. I wanted out, but I also didn’t think the outside could be uninhabitable. I sincerely hoped it was, though. Maybe it was selfish, but I really just didn’t want to be here with all of these... bodies. My room’s air conditioning had kicked back on and I was starting to feel better already. But there was something different about the air. It smelled... fresh? Woah, starting to like the smell of rotting flesh?

Iridescence looked miserable as she made it to the door. I suppose my patent appearance of indifference didn’t make her feel any better. I might be more empathetic if I hadn’t been only been conscious for two and a half hours and had no idea what actually happened, “the last thing I remember is that my father’s head was sliced clean off. Know anything about that? Know why? I’m sure you do. I think that you really, really do. Seriously, give me a-”

She wasn’t paying attention. So the little filly won’t talk? No more red bars on my E.F.S. Even Blind Iridescence had returned to being white. She definitely wasn’t happy with me, but my pipbuck didn’t register her as hostile. Good. I think I’ll be avoiding any and all hoof-to-hoof conflict for a while. Actually, make that forever. If I you have a choice, you’re going to avoid hoof to hoof combat because it hurts too much? My condolences.

I stopped stymieing myself and downed half the healing potion to fix my cracked tooth. I didn’t feel like tasting copper for the next several hours. I looked around my room one more time. Funny; I never really thought of this place as my room. I never really thought of this place as my stable. Never even really considered that in a while, this place would’ve been mine. Huh. Too late for that now. I wondered how many other ponies must have been forced out of their homes for crap out of their control. Judging by how Stable-Tec fucked ours over, I’d guess most, if not all of ‘em.

I pressed the button and the door opened as it should. The E.F.S. still showed ten other white bars. I turned to Iridescence, “Two things we need to get straight. I plan on getting this situation under control before anything else, but I digress, can I call you Iridescence?”

She looked up, startled, “Uh... yeah. Sure,” she sniffed and looked back down. I knew she wasn’t used to hearing other people take charge. Maybe that’s not why she was startled. I don’t know why I was the one that had to this time. I’m okay with it, but still.

“Second: I see ten or so ponies on this thing,” I said, pointing to my pipbuck, “we’re gonna go find ‘em, ‘kay?” The second thing got her to look up and stare into my eyes. Hope. –Before blinking and looking down, a despondent aura all about her. Iridescence is a good name for her. She nodded and nickered at herself before and walked out with me and the door closed.

Well that was major mistake number one I made today. My already vomit covered hooves and mane got even more... covered, “thanks,” She looked up at me, surprised. Did you just say that aloud? “Sorry!” Are you really? She looked back to the floor, shaking and embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to say that,” I whispered to myself. I had to lead her in the right direction with my magic while she kept her eyes closed. It occurred to me at this point, that I never had to use anything but basic telekinesis. I didn’t think I’d ever used anything else. Ever. A problem, maybe?

“It’s fine,” I heard her whisper, almost inaudible. I couldn’t do anything but nod.

We made our way slowly across the hallway, stumbling every other step. The next pony had locked himself in a locker. Golden Heart... I guess it was ‘make everypony sick’ on Bebop hour. It didn’t really matter, so long as that air conditioner kept going. We were going to have problems if it stopped.

We went room to room, hallway to hallway, looking for everypony else that managed to survive the onslaught of... whatever it was. Again, nothing but long (claw?) marks and dismembered bodies. Curious. Disgusting, yes, but curious all the same. Nothing had been taken, so far as I could tell. I took assorted foodstuffs and the spark battery from a downed robot butler with his tray in the hall. I’d never been more glad that I’d been able to mess with these things when they broke down. I seemed to have taken my freedoms for granted around here. And now I was leaving just in time to never need to use the knowledge I had.

The last pony to get turned out to be Choufleur. However, the most amazing thing of all was that there was a dead... thing in the room with her waiting patiently behind an overturned desk. She seemed to have pinned it under her clothes bureau before working at its neck with a cleaver for what must have been an hour, judging by how think the hide was.

Tall, scaly, and it looked like a dog! A huge, scaly dog! Its claws were incredibly sharp, but it seemed to have a naturally curving spine that didn’t particularly work to its advantage. I think it wasn’t able to get up, just roll on its side and slide around on the daily-waxed floor under a heavy wardrobe.

She was also the only pony that didn’t lose her stomach the second she checked the hall. Regardless, I don’t think she was in a very good state for a while afterward. We exchanged glances and wordlessly apologised for what had happened earlier.

It might be relevant to note, however, that when Iridescence got a look at it, she started hyperventilating again, and I instinctively pulled her closer before she could run for it. It was at this point that I managed to get a good look at her own pipbuck, painted... ‘her’ pink. The screen had been ripped apart from corner to corner in a straight line. Even the spell matrix had been wrecked. I didn’t think she’d be using it again any time soon. Too bad.

“What’ll you do, now?” I asked Choufleur (for the first time it hit me that her name was extremely odd.)

“Nopony here quite knows. You were out of the picture, from the looks of it– everypony else is talking about it, and you seem clueless,” she remarked, then with a grin added, “although that would be the norm for you, wouldn’t it?” She seemed quite pleased with herself for that one, “I don’t mean to make this sound... rushed... or anything, but do you think... maybe you could see if we can live out there? See if anything could pose as a kind of civilisation?” Well I knew who could read minds.

The whole “civilisation” thing threw me through a loop, though, “I’m sorry, but uh... weren’t you always the one preachin’ ‘bout how the outside was uninhabitable?” I mean, there was nothing wrong with the stable, there were no rumours of anything big on the rise, it was a completely normal day. No reason to go outside, so why should we? There shouldn’t even be speculation of an outside community. I didn’t think that there could’ve been much of a chance that she’d had too much time to think specifically about leaving. Oh, there was no reason to leave?

“Let’s get something straight right now, young stallion, I only taught what I was told to teach. But there’s also something far more important,” a pregnant pause, “I want you to take Blind Iridescence out there with you, she seems to cling to you like... well... chems to an addict,” this was new information! “And if I had to guess, everyone else she had ties with is dead, so that leaves you, besides, you might need somepony like her. You’re level-headed... not to mention that ‘Blind’ fits her all too well. You’re not panicking or vomiting, at least. We’ll move all of this... waste... away before it gets too hazardous or unpleasant to be around. We’ll take everything we can with us and go wherever is safest, but I think if that smell in the air is what I think it is, then I’d be happy to walk out of here as quickly as I could.”

She had been right about the smell I’d noticed earlier. It was stronger here. Wet.

I stared at her for a moment before saying, “I’m sorry to keep ya from taking care of yourself, but what was that part about Bli- err Iridescence, again? You know she an’ I don’t get along too terribly well and I don’t think she really clings to me as much as you say she does. No more than anypony else, right?” I gave my best... okay, let’s face it, it was a pretty bad-looking concerned smile.

“You don’t pay very close attention to her, do you? Which way do your, ah... barn doors swing, anyway?” She blushed at her own comment. Gotta say, it didn’t look very flattering on an ancient mare. Moreover though, was that it struck me as rather inappropriate to ask that now, given that we were standing no more than twenty feet from decomposing ponies.

About as calmly as I could, I replied, “one way only,” I realised that really could’ve referred to anything and added, “I prefer to push them in, and I don’t like mine to do the same. While you may have taught us that the golden rule always applies, I don’t think it actually does in this context. I’m just sayin’, miss.” While that still could’ve left the answer quite open-ended and nonsensical, I think I got the point across. I turned around and grabbed Iridescence with my telekinesis and dragged her to the overmare’s office with me. There were a few things we were gonna have to get straight.

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Of course she was dead. And of course there was a gaping fucking hole in the wall behind her desk. And her head. Couldn’t have just used the door one story down, eh? It smelled wet and there was a rather chilly breeze coming in from the dark hole. I checked the E.F.S. Just us.

With a bit of effort, I picked up a table from the corner of the room and covered up the gap where part of a terminal should’ve been. Just as I set it down, there was an earsplitting KABOOM! as something made the entire room shake.

I don’t know what that was, but I knew I never wanted to hear it ever again. It made me jump out of my skin! Iridescence had curled up in a ball, as if she wasn’t hard enough to talk to as it was. To my relief, at least some ponies care, several of those we’d found rushed to the door and shouted at us. “Everything okay in there?” I wasn’t completely sure how to answer, and ended up nodding for a few seconds before I realised they couldn’t see me and answered, “yeah.”

“Okey dokey lokey,” I could hear one say on the other side, followed by weak, almost painful laughter. Dusk and company. Everything else was as it should be. No sign of a real fight, no scavenging of anything, though I doubt anypony else would have been dumb enough to come out of their hiding place just to do that. Around the room was simple enough: another door leading to her bedroom and bath, her work desk welded securely to the center of the floor.

The overmare lay in a collective slough of dried blood in and around her office chair. I exhaled deeply and moved her away so I could get a look at the contents. Inside was a holotape. Correction: two holotapes, a sparkle cola, a key (I assumed for the stable door locking mechanism– now pointless, it would seem, looking at the hole) and twenty more ‘clips’ for Octavia. I twisted the cap off of the sparkle cola and gave it to my borderline hysterical companion while I promptly sat in the middle of the floor and listened to the first holotape.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

“This is City Lights, acting overmare of Stable 34. It has come to my attention that there was some slight shaking in this wing earlier this morning. I’d like to see if the emergency shock absorbers are still functioning. Note: this is for maintenance for the 26th of this month. (Oh, damn, I’ve put everything out of order!)” There was a quiet scraping in the background that was hard for me to ignore. She must have made the recording recently. I probably would’ve been the one to go down there and check the springs. I would have to take a look before I left. “There is a strange noise coming from my wall, and it is reported that there was a similar complaint coming from the lower levels. Something about a lizard biting somepony’s head off. Or was it a leg? So she was in on it too. Well, that’ll be all. I have to deal with another F-shift student.”

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

It clicked as it ended rather briefly, just as I’d gotten the bass and treble to where I liked them. That was short, but at least I figured out she’d made it right before talking to me. I must have been the F-shifter. I wondered what had happened to the scratching while we had talked.

It occurred to me that this was made strikingly close to what must’ve been the incident leading to her punctured skull. Well, there’s no time to worry about that now. The stable apparently wants me to leave. They must not like you very much. But before I did that, I’d be needing a shower and sleep. And a talk with the kid.

“Okay,” I said standing and stretching, “I’m going to need you to do something for me; I need you to get extra clothes, and round up some food. Oh. And check in the lower wings for tools or more of these...” I checked the label, written on crude electrical tape wrapped around the center of a clip, “energy cells. We’ll get some sleep, sanity permitting, and we’ll leave whenever.” Oh-one hundred ante-mareidian. Wonderful. It was be like high school all over again.

I tapped her horn a few times before she looked up, half-filled bottle in her iridescent, telekinetic grip. (It’s like her parents knew the name was going to fit her so well! Or did she adapt to fit her name? Some things, ponies like me would never be able to figure out.) “I heard what the teacher said. I heard what you said. It’s okay. I’ll go find what you need, and we can go.” She seemed insistent that we leave quickly. I think I’d rather take my own damn time, thank you very much.

As she trotted out the door, I smelled myself. Yeah, still vomit. Most of it wasn’t even mine. The air conditioners stopped. Confound these hourly cycles! I shucked off my barding and walked into the overmare’s shower before standing there for a good ten minutes, water streaming over me, letting everything soak in and wash out. I didn’t feel sad, or remorse, or regret. Just tired. I thought harder about what happened today than anything else, looking for some sort of connection, something I’d missed leading up to this. It couldn’t have just happened all at once for no reason. Could it? Or maybe it could. Who knew? Not you.

I walked out, black and green mane covering up most of my vision, only a part in the center formed by my horn that allowed me to see much of anything. And then two things manifested themselves within my mind that froze me in place. Things sure are coming in pairs of two today, aren’t they? The first was that I sent Blind Iridescence down there with the other opening on the other end of the stable! The other was that I sent her down there without a key to any of the tool rooms. Celestia damn my incompetence!

I ran past everypony in the dining room, apparently the place they’d decided to sleep from now on. (Not what I would have picked.) Avoiding the dead bodies and slipping on the floor and falling onto one of said bodies.

My mane was whisked out of my eyes as I galloped down the stairs. Shit! The E.F.S! I checked it just long enough to lose concentration and trip halfway. I stumbled and fell down the remaining steps before coming to a stop. I’d seen a white bar. Just a white bar. Everything else was behind me, “Oh goddess. A white. Bar. Thankgoddessthankgoddessthankgoddess,” I nickered to myself before resting my eyes for just a moment. Only a moment.

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I awoke to the tapping of a hoof on my forehead. “I’m sorry!” I said automatically as I got back up. A guilty conscience?

“Sorry for what?” Asked a young mare’s voice. It was her. Good. How could I have blacked out, I only fell... huh, it didn’t seem like I’d fallen very far at the time. I never realised how much of a drop it was from the middle basement to sub-basement.

“I uh. Well, I sent you down here without a key to anything, and I heard sompony got hurt down here because of one of those... dog. Lizard. Things,” casting a glance around the room, though, there were a few ponies more than just “hurt” down here. Also, one of the tool closets was open, and I know E-shifters don’t have keys, “and how did you get that door open?”

“I am a painter in my spare time,” she replied with a smirk, “lock picking isn’t unlike the swish of a paintbrush against a leveling tool to keep it going in the right direction.” A mystery solved: how she always managed to get into ponies’ rooms with them none-the-wiser.

“But... how? I don’t even know where you would begin, to be honest,” I guess I just didn’t know how locks worked. I’d never needed to. I’d always had a key to everything.

“That’s for me to know, and for you to find out later.” She turned and swished her tail my face, showing a few... parts, I don‘t think she intended.

I looked away out of courtesy to the younger pony, and stammered, “you, um, just get s-some sleep and I’ll be r-right up,” I looked back and noticed she was carrying somepony else’s saddlebags. They weren’t ‘her’ pink. “I just bumped my head on the way down, if you hadn’t noticed.” I said, wondering why she hadn’t said anything about the condition she’d found me in.

As she sauntered up the stairs, she replied, “I actually thought you were dead at first. I was really about to scream, but when I got to you, your pipbuck said you were alive, well, you were breathing, too, but I didn’t figure that out until afterward. You should probably see about that ‘bump’ you got, but I don’t think you should... worry too much,” she sounded much more calm now than she was earlier. Oh-one hundred forty five hours ante-mareidian, read the pipbuck. I’d still be getting more sleep than I thought I would tonight.

A quick look around told me a lot; it also felt fresh and wet down here, E-shift had probably been some of the first to go, judging by the smell, and that there was an even larger hole staring into a blowing darkness. There wasn’t any surface to see, even with light pouring out from the hole. Wow, was it dark out there. I grabbed another two tables and put them in place from around the floor’s surrounding rooms. Anything that could serve as a possible deterrent to whatever was out there. At least I found out how the first pony got hurt.

So, wait. The first pony was hospitalized for the lack of a leg and poisoning. I seriously hoped something that dangerous wasn’t poisonous, too. Or, rather, venomous, as it may have been. A trot to the shock absorbing springs (gotta love that earth-pony magic!) showed no signs of decay or malfunction. Now my guess shifted from earthquake to whatever it was that made the room shake earlier.

Checking all of the tool rooms, I became aware that I was not wearing anything. I may not have been shy about showing my cutie mark, but I still felt more comfortable in clothing of some sort. When in one of the unlocked closets, I took a flame-retardant article of barding and put that on. (And here I thought I’d never get to wear a welder pony’s suit.) Upon finalising my inspection of the sub-basement, I concluded that Iridescence had taken just about everything of value, save a few cartons of cigarettes: a pass-time betting currency that would never be used again.

When I got back upstairs, the other (twelve!) told me that the sounds persisted, and that one, Finale, had theorized that there was thunder and lightning wreaking havoc about the land! Amazing. The other two ponies had apparently come up from the generator rooms, where pipbuck signals got fuzzy. How convenient. Ultimatum and Corduroy had been skipping work when everything happened. Whatever had attacked, they ignored that room. Lucky for them, considering everyone else’s fate. These two were inconsolable, though; nothing anypony had said or did would get them to stop crying or staring off into space. I just hoped they wouldn’t go crazy.

After checking everypony else, I went on to the overmare’s room, where Iridescence had drifted to sleep on the tremendous bed that took up a fourth the room. (My parents had had a strangely platonic relationship.) I wondered what job Iridescence had had in mind when she said she wanted to change. Did she really care? She was an excellent artist. The only one the stable had seen in two generations. Interesting: the more you think about it, the more boring it gets.

I took off her barding as carefully as I could, stripped myself of my own and lay down on the opposite end of the enormous bed. i don’t care what she thinks, I’ve never had the chance to sleep on something like this, and now that I have the ability...

We would be heading out the next day to goddess-knows-where. An aspiring psychology and maintenance pony, son of the ruling powers of the stable and apparently no spell expertise as per anything that wasn’t rudimentary, and a painter and clergy pony. How the hell were we supposed to get anything done? There were so many questions that I wanted answers to. Maybe tomorrow... oh-three hundred forty three. Damn. I wasn’t going to get much sleep.
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Waking up was the hardest part. It always is. My eyes slowly opened and closed. The air conditioning hummed to life. Half of my mind told me to rest just a bit longer, the other told me that I had a job to do. Why is it your job? Somewhere in my semi-conscious slumber, I’d turned on the vault’s radio system. My song was on.

“It ain’t your business to lie,
It ain’t your business to weep,
You’ve gotta get up er’y day,
And dig in deep!

Gimme a cheer! (yeah!)
Now move your plot;
Everypony knows the cow-pony bebop!”

The tune got me to keep my eyes from closing again, at least. I checked my pipbuck again: 06:34. I inhaled deeply before thinking aloud, “I got three hours of sleep,” annoyed at how little actual shut-eye I’d gotten. I was awake now. Funny, though, was the fact that the booms had subsided, and I could hear the faint pitter patter of what sounded like water. I couldn’t quite put my hoof on what I thought it was.

A glance to my left showed that the bedroom door was still closed. Nothing had happened. This time I exhaled with relief, a breath I hadn’t realised I’d been holding. A look to my right– woah! Iridescence was just a bit too close for comfort! I could feel and smell her breath on my neck. She was right up against me. I wasn’t particularly fond of the thought that there was a mare so close to me without getting to know her better first.

However, waking her up wasn’t exactly the first thing on my to-do list. I checked my vital signs: sure enough, I’d gotten a concussion when I fell down the stairs. I wasn’t crippled per se, but it probably wasn’t good for my health. Most ponies never got more than a scraped knee in their entire lives down here! I carefully levitated over my saddle bags and got the half-filled healing potion out, uncorked and downed it, the purplish fluid beginning to course through my veins.

Iridescence (her name really grows on you) shifted next to me and started to yawn. Here comes the awkward moment when she wakes up pressed against me. Instead, though, she nuzzled the nape of my neck and ensconced herself snuggly in place. Now it was even weirder.

Then, I had an idea. Probably a bad one. Actually, it was more a tugging sensation at the back of my mind forcing me to do it. I used my magic to keep her body weightless while I painstakingly slithered off the bed and hit the floor with a muffled thump. I proceeded to slowly release my grip so as not to disturb her, beads of sweat forming across my face. Almost dropped her.

When I was done, I tip-hoofed to both of our saddlebags. Inside mine was the transparent sparkle cola, Octavia’s –, 70 clips of crystal ammunition. Actually, upon closer inspection, the latest bit I gathered appeared to be glowing a bit more brightly than the other ones. They weren’t labeled any differently, though, so I put them back with everything else, assuming I’d figure it out later. The remainder of the pack was filled with one half a syringe of Med-X, (Half?) a 200-year-old fancy buck cake snack (good until the thousandth anniversary of Luna’s return!), 20 pre-war bits, and five bobby pins. (Again, why were those in there?)

I slipped into my welder pony’s barding, a slightly shinier version of normal vault attire, and stuck my head out the door as the two pieces slid up and down with a metallic hiss. I could see where the dining room was from here. Actually, you could see where almost everything branched off to from here! My song came to a crescendo as it faded away into piano-heavy blues. I was certain that if I hadn’t heard it a million times before, I’d think the music mix was pretty classy.

I trotted down the hallway before looking into the room. Somepony had been up all night moving the corpses of the fallen. Eleven ponies now lined up and down the farthest wall on double-stacked mattresses made up what was the new stable hostel. Some crying or whimpering in the light coming from the doorway, others showed deep, slow breathing. At least I didn’t feel too bad about being able to sleep after all that had happened. Cauliflower, (that’s what I’d be calling her from now on), on the other hoof, surprised me by coming from the inside corner to my left, apparently keeping watch over them, and spoke to me.

“Are you ready to go out there? Is Iridescence ready? Will you be okay?” She didn’t sound worried or concerned about what might happen, just anxious. She looked out into the hallway and down at the floor, the red and white linoleum blending seamlessly into dull grey. I wondered briefly if that was some kind of hidden metaphor
one of the designers at Stable-Tec had thought of to convey feelings of their days going to blend together in here. Nah.

My answer was a quick one, not really thought out, but supposed to relay my thoughts effectively, “Yeah. Yes. Should be.” Mr. Eloquent, it would seem. She looked at me and gave me an expression of earnest sympathy. It made the old mare look downtrodden.

“I just want to make sure that you’re prepared. I hope it isn’t... too dangerous out there. Please come back as soon as you can. We’ll wait for four weeks, no more. Personally, I hope you’re back long before then, but I understand that things do happen. Take some food and water with you, oh, and a blanket,” she picked up a spare one from the corner and held it hovering in front of me before I enveloped it in my own, blue, telekinetic grip, “If it takes any longer, though, I’ll gather everypony up and we’ll go south from the stable door. Good luck. I think you’ll need it.” I stuck the blanket in one of my saddlebags and nodded with a melancholy sigh.

“I’ll get right to it, ma'am. I’ll make sure Iridescence doesn’t get hurt, and that everypony has a home in a month’s time. Do me a kindness, though: don’t nag everyone’s ears off.” I meant it to be a facetious statement, but without the ability for me to form a smile, it just sounded like I was being mean. I gave what most likely looked like the most painful smile in existence to make up for it.

Cauliflower rolled her eyes at me and turned away, mumbling under her breath about how I never could figure out when I looked like an idiot and correct myself in time. I hated admitting she was about as right as she could possibly be about that.

On the counter, next to a scratched-up robot butler, were twenty bottles of water, and forty bottles of paste-based hay tubes. What a feast. Oh, but what was this? Two boxes of dandy buck apples? I’d be taking these, as well!

“Have a nice day, good stallion!” said the robot as I walked away, his volume module most likely damaged during... the slaughter. Whether or not those had been for us, they were now; Ms. Cauliflower had begun to nod off in her corner again, and nopony else seemed to give a damn. They wouldn’t miss it anyway. (Cauliflower may have said take food and water, but I don’t think she intended to take almost six week’s worth!)

While I made my way back, I paid special attention to my pipbuck’s functions, as I figured I’d be using them more from now on. Needless to say, it was a slow walk back, my falling and tripping into things making me stumble and stop almost every other step. Apparently I had roughly one hundred and ten (bits?) worth of things in my inventory, not including Octavia. Most notably, however, the sparkle cola: diamond went for a whopping seventy-two, as opposed to pre-war bits which were measured in a way that only allowed them to be worth much of anything in bunches. Also, I could apparently activate something called S.A.T.S. or the Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell. The pipbuck’s pre-installed notes didn’t do much in the way of explaining anything other than it would allow me to more accurately get a lock on enemy combatants. Obviously intended for security purposes. In what context would that kind of spell be necessary in a stable?

The only thing it didn’t give even the most perfunctory of descriptions was as to how it managed to assess everything and give it a value in a currency that may or may not have been in existence. I’m not even sure the pipbuck technicians could’ve been bothered to answer that one well enough to suit anypony.

In the last few steps to the overmare’s door, however, lay a boxy looking thing with a trigger and 6 metallic rectangular cartridges strewn about near a pool of dried blood. It was in good condition, seeing as security had to clean their weapons on a monthly basis. It was definitely one of the things I’d heard go off outside the overstallion’s door. I picked it up and shoved it into my saddlebags, too. Something told me Iridescence was going to need it.

As the door opened, the same fresh, wet scent came back with gusto as a cold wind blew through the desk-covered open hole. The overmare’s body still lay in the center of the room. Who says you have to respect the dead? Holding my breath, I dragged her out by my teeth and laid her against the wall. When I walked back in and through the next set of doors, I got a good look at Iridescence resting peacefully on the bed, having moved only a bit since I left. The scene very nearly brought a smile to my face.

07:28. Probably a good time to get going. Or maybe sleep. Maybe just for a moment. I took off the saddlebags again and curled up next to Iridescence. This was the last time I’d get to do this in a stable, at least for a while.

^^^***^^^

09:02. Cauliflower had been knocking on the door to wake us up. She didn’t even seem surprised to find us curled together on the bed. She didn’t ask questions. I hope she didn’t get the wrong idea. Either way, when she escorted us to the stable door, something I’d only ever seen a few times when we had to work on the spring system, the goodbye was wordless. There needn’t have had any further verbal exchange: we knew what we had to do, and we were going to do it.

The door screeched open. Iridescence had received the 10mm pistol as we walked past the door and into a cave. The door shut behind us, and all I could think about was how a total of 14 ponies from stable 34 out of hundreds had managed to live. Goddesses damn it, I hoped not everything was that dangerous out there.

And then there were two. Two of us in a cave leading to a very dim light at the end of a narrow tunnel. If this was any kind of foreshadowing about my future out here, I wasn’t going to be very thrilled about life out there. I hoped that Cauliflower’s doubts about the outside, including radiation and poisonous ash were justified and correct. The tunnel seemed interminable, cruel, and cold. Mostly the last bit. Frankly, I enjoyed it... Iridescence was shivering, though. Then it hit me: Cauliflower had given me one, count ‘em, one blanket, and I was pretty sure she didn’t have one, unless it happened when I wasn’t looking. Not even a possibility, is it?

Luna rip me a new one. Was she legitimately trying to tell me something, forgetful, fucking with me, or a combination of two or more of those things? There was a gust of wind, and Iridescence jumped. The walk to the door was simultaneously solemn and tense. We paused at the door, hesitating, and then pushed it open in one swift movement.

The ground was soil, like from the potted plant my father kept by his bed, but more... dead. There were trees down the hill from where we were: black, leafless versions of those that I had seen in picture books as a foal. There was a long, ever-expanding bridge to my left. An enormous mountain, encompassed by what looked like an outline of the back end of a city, grey and lifeless to the south, according to my pipbuck’s E.F.S. (Canterlot?)

A tall tower sprung up out of the ruins of another decaying past metropolis, far to the east, across rolling hills, and other small buildings along a series of snaking, branching roads. Then there was the ceaseless water, pouring from the– “Oh shit!” I shouted and looked down with my eyes clenched tight. Iridescence was kissing the ground, and I wouldn’t move. Weren’t we a pair?

It must’ve been the sky. Ponies used to live under the sky. This charcoal, menacing sky. No. It was blue in my picture books: it had been on the adjacent page to the word, “perception” in my You’re SPECIAL book. (“P is for Perception, a long and funny word, it means what I tasted, smelled, saw, and heard.” –Look at me, referencing children’s literature when I feel like I’m going to be sucked into my death!) These were clouds. Pegasi lived on and in them. They controlled them. I was going to be okay. I steadily opened my eyes, one at a time, keeping my focus toward the ground ahead of me. I’d have to get used to the great, smoky expanse looming over my head later. Shelter from this downpour was first on my list of things to find.

Iridescence was being a nuisance at this point, edging her way to my hooves. She hadn’t said anything since we’d gotten up. I hoped it wasn’t because of where and how she had awoken. No, she’s petrified, you idiot! I inhaled sharply and floated her up to her feet, holding her upright with my magic.

My mane was completely drenched, and my barding was beginning to cling to my coat. The only bits of us that were going to be dry in the next few minutes would be restricted to the places where our pipbucks covered our legs. I looked around for anything nearby that could’ve passed for shelter. Nothing in sight. It was too hazy to see anything that wasn’t enormous and had a definite outline. A burst of freezing air assaulted us as we shook in the cold, not more than five feet away from the door we came from.

Seven minutes and counting, and already more miserable than I’d ever been. And yet, I felt alive. It crossed my mind that I’d never felt this way ever before, and I was... really diggin’ it. Hot damn, was I ever going to start liking it out here! Regardless of the water streaming through my mane, I felt that I could do better. Far better. I wasn’t going to just sit here. My pipbuck revealed five red bars on my E.F.S. when I made a sweep of the area.

“Iridescence, go back inside. Wait there for just a second, I’ll be right back, okay?” I let go of her with my telekinesis, and she stayed. She nodded and walked with aching slowness back to our home.

For the next little bit, I was going to ignore the gaping hole that threatened to throw me into nothingness and saw that the entrance was located within a rather tall, rocky hill. There was a slight, curving slope going up and around. The whatever-they-were must have been on top. I didn’t care what or who they were. The pipbuck said ‘hostile’ so I was going to take care of it. Arrogant, much?

Keeping my eyes forward and looping around the oddly shingly half-mountain, (if the hulking prominence to the south was anything to go by, that was), I paid close attention to my E.F.S, one white bar and five red ones. As I neared the top though, a certain something piqued my interest– trees. Not like the black, scraggly things down below, but green (pine?) trees! Just like in my books! I was fascinated by how something no more than perhaps five hundred feet higher than the expanse of what I had dubbed, ‘the floor.’ It was like a wonderland of beauty that just begged to be written down, sketched, and shared with everypony.

Just as I started to really get into looking at the bark and sniffing the needles hanging just over the edge, my eyes peaked over the plateau that this hill turned out to be. There were ponies out here! No one from the stable; they were all wearing a weird mish-mash of barding and they all had rusty things at their side: what looked like a crowbar and a golf club, and a strange tube-thing with a handle and levers. The word sounded weird in my mouth as I tried it in a whisper, “rifle.”

Then there was something that really struck me, “Heh, did you hear about the hell hound migration? Biggest one yet! They were supposed to have been here just yesterday! Can you believe that?” Golf Club seemed quite interested in this migration, but his companion, Crowbar, on the other-hand seemed more interested in why whatever had happened did.

“Winter is commin’ y’ijot! This happens every year! Winter also means more food coming down this way from Wintertrot! Migratory bein’s an’ all that shit, all comin’ this way! Food! Fuckin’ food! I’m so tired of having to look for it!” He seemed ecstatic. All this over food?

Crap Rifle seemed to share my opinion and interjected, “oh, be quiet. You ain’t gonna get much anyway. Half the shit that migrates is too fast for you to hit. Actually, I’m pretty sure it’ll be just as hard to get along this fall as it was last year. Luna damn, you two are idiots. Just be on the lookout, we need food. We’re out. You know what that means,” it all sounded a tad like they were talking about birds. Weird, but whatever works. The concept of eating meat wasn’t entirely alien. I could understand it if you didn’t have anything else. Actually, I knew that anything sounded pretty good if you hadn’t had anything in a while. Hunger is the best spice and all that.

Then they went and fucked up my vision of fowl of some sort roasting in an oven. Well, actually, the only thing I had to go on was a picture in the diner of a family eating a meal of salad, an owl perched in the corner. So I guess, more accurately, I had pictured that owl in an oven. The more I thought about it, the weirder it got. Just when I thought that I was going insane, I was proven wrong, that I could, indeed, be crazier, by none other than No-Weapon, “Ponies!” There seemed to be just the faintest sound of insanity in his voice. The others Mm-hmed in calm unison. I couldn’t see their faces, but I was willing to bet at least one was wearing an inane grin.

Oh no you don’t! There were things I could accept: equinsexuality, freedom of expression, death, and even really bad piss jokes. This, on the other hoof, would not ‘fly.’ I don’t think I could ever learn to accept cannibalism. Until today, that had been a word in a book, an ineffable abstraction of somepony’s consciousness. I was quick to judge, and I was willing to spare whomever they had intended on killing in exchange for the lives of a few would-be unlucky souls.

Fuck being sneaky, “May Celestia have mercy on your souls, you bastards!” They jumped as I concentrated as much as I could and levitated Crowbar as high up as I could and dropped him off the edge, sending him rolling. Goddess damn it, that made my horn sore! I brought Octavia out as more of a forethought than anything else. The other four scrambled, now that I could see them, my own face just poking over the rim, they were all earth ponies. Good, none of them had any advantage in particular. I activated S.A.T.S. as quickly as I could, stumbling over the spell matrix as I went about it for the second time in my collective existence.

Levitating that buck had seriously drained my magic, it seemed. I only had about forty percent of my spell charged. I could take a whole one shot... but with startling accuracy. That one shot went straight from the end of Octavia to a raider’s face. A look of surprise formed on his face as it was burned raw. He dropped and his marker turned white. He wouldn’t be an issue anymore. Three left.

That left Golf Club, No-Weapon, and Rifle. The mare with the rusty-looking thing had drawn it and fired before I could’ve done anything about it. There could be no better words to describe what happened, other than, ‘oh shit, how the fuck am I alive, it was pointing right at me.’ I was pretty sure if that thing hadn’t been absolute shit, it would’ve made a nice sized hole right between my eyes, instead, it found a home in the tree just to my right, splintering wet wood everywhere. Before he could do anything else about it, I aimed Octavia right at him and fired, praying that it would hit something.

I hoped that a full, white, horizontal bar by a weapon in inventory indicated that it was in good condition!

It burned straight through his barding and scorched his hide. I was really beginning to like how this weapon handled! I shot another one at him before he could do anything else, and it hit the tree he ducked behind. This was going to get frustrating.

I hopped up onto the same plane as everyone else; it wasn’t all that big, but it did have a tarp strung through the trees and on the ground, keeping five mattresses off the ground, a trench built around it ensuring that they could have a fire and keep their beds dry. There was at least some thought behind these ponies’ actions.

While the one that had had his face scorched was lying down and whimpering, there were still three calling out for me, “come out ya stupid pony, we know you ain’t another Littlepip! Your coat’s too nice! Run away from the Pony Feathers?” Who the hell are Littlepip and Pony Feathers? Those sounded like over-the-top codenames for a foal’s game!

Another jumped in and said in an almost worried tone, “what if it’s one of Security’s friends?” Now it just sounded like they were fucking with me! With S.A.T.S. recharged, I could fire two shots at Rifle’s flank. Eh. A hit is better than no hit. Both shots went through the air, red electricity arcing as the bursts of energy rushed through the falling water and met their target. His barding was for naught: it made nice holes right through it and made his skin raw and pink through his brown coat. His cutie mark was gone.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to get this over with as quickly as possible. I could care less if you bastards live or not. I don’t know who Security, Pony Feahters, or Littlepip are, so you can cram it. Either leave, or I will not hesitate to throw you off the cliff with your friend!” My ears flicked to attention when I heard No Weapon start running toward me. I pointed Octavia and shot, pressing the button down with my magic. No hesitation. He’d be getting a burn for this.

To my utter astoundment, a second later, he was ash floating away with a stream of water. A screaming red pony one second... a pile of embers the next. You killed a pony! You definitely killed a pony. I’d already killed a pony, but I think I was starting to regret what I’d begun at this point, turning one to smoldering embers was brutal, but there was no going back now. Golf Club, now a white bar, ran out from behind his tree and yelled, “don’t shoot, don’t shoot!” after letting him pass, not moving from my spot, I heard him say in astonishment, “you’re alive?!” I guess the other pony must have lived. One less burden on my shoulders. I just hoped they’d run by the stable entrance and not notice it.

The pony with the burned face got up and limped away, a scowl on his face (although it may have just been from him closing his eyes more tightly than a newborn foal.) Rifle was all that was left. He was one resilient bastard, I’d give him that. He leaned around the tree and shot. He caught my ear... my ear... what. The. Fuck? It wasn’t so much a redundant question as it was an order for Luna and Celestia to tell me how I’d just come so close to dying twice in one day. Oh yes, let’s just forget about the one you did kill.

I felt the warm liquid flow from my ear and run down my cheek, “you son of a–” I checked myself. There was no need to be angry about anything. It wasn’t worth getting upset about. I drew in air, released it, inhaled... exhaled, “stop right now, before I have to do something we’ll both regret.”

His head swiveled around the tree, trigger in his mouth. Before he could do fire, I brought up S.A.T.S. again and aimed for his weapon. There was a pretty nice chance I’d hit it, too! (At least if I missed, I’d probably shoot his face.)

Fzzat. The shot made his weapon disintegrate into a mound of dust. In reality, however, the thing was ready to do so on its own. His marker turned white. He stopped what he was doing. I put my weapon facing toward the ground, still gripped in the dark blue light that was my telekinetic field. He practically whispered, “don’t shoot, I’ll leave,” as he tucked his ears behind his head and galloped away from his camp.

I’ll be damned if I had to do that again in less than a few days. Dealing with the murder of another pony was going to stay with me, though. It was never really my intention to kill. Maybe by association; starvation, thirst, getting ripped apart by what must have been a hell hound. Other ponies. Did that make me a bad pony? Maybe it does.

^^^***^^^

On the way back to Iridescence, I could see how somepony might have missed it on their way up. The vault door was high up where there wasn’t a clearly marked path, carved directly into the mountain. It looked more like a mine shaft than anything else. When I entered, the dusty-pink pony had gotten her bearings it had seemed, and was inspecting her ruined pipbuck.

“Your ear!” she exclaimed as I walked over to her.

Oh. Right. I had almost forgotten it was there. Ow, “it’s nothing... I just, um, tripped, is all.” That was most likely the worst lie I’d ever told in my life. And she went along with it. (How do you justify a hole in your ear with a four and a half foot fall?)

“I heard thunder... I think... when you were gone. Are you sure it’s safe out there?” It almost felt wrong to lie to her. It sure as hell wasn’t thunder.

“Yes, definitely. There’s also something I’d like you to see. I think you might be surprised by what’s out there.” That got her going.

We trotted out unceremoniously, eyes cast to the ground, my magic keeping her from falling to one side or another until we reached the hilltop. She didn’t say anything for a good, long while. She just looked up at the live trees and stared in awe, and eventually said to me in her most filly-like voice possible, “it’s like a foal’s picture book!”

“My sentiments, exactly,” instead of standing in the rain, I moved to the cover of the tarped camp the... hunters... had set up. There was a fire still going, albeit barely, with a strange, green locked box to one side, with a faded three-apple logo on the side. A bullet looked to be in order.

I turned to Iridescence, holder of the 10 millimeter pistol, and motioned toward the box. She raised her eyebrows and rolled her eyes. She, in turn, motioned toward my saddle bags. I opened them, and she took out my five bobby pins. and added them to a bundle of ten or so she kept by her side, wrapped in a veritable rainbow of magic.

She set to work on it, while I sat on one of the old, moldy mattresses. It wasn’t comfortable, but the feeling of languor hit me so hard I didn’t think I could keep my eyes open any longer. I ran through my pipbuck before seeing my it had three markers on a map section nopony used. Vault 34, Black Mesa Peak (my current location,) and Tenpony tower far to the east were marked. (How did this thing know where I was before I did?) Oh, well, I couldn’t be bothered. I went to my notes and checked the other holotape with my eyes closed.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

>Static

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Well, that was a waste of time. Before I realised what I was doing, I sifted through the radio broadcasts and selected the PA system. Nothing, Duh. The next thing to do was look to see what else there might have been. The next station had very clear tuba music playing. While I was positively stupefied by the fact that a patriotic radio station apparently survived, I wasn’t really interested in the melody.

The next, however, had a lilting jazz tune. I thought I’d stop here and wonder about it later.

A golden bird,
Today I heard,
Sitting upon a silver branch,
His little song was very long,
Which made me sad and start to laugh,

My sister he,
My brother she,
But there is only me in the family,
When I grow up,
I'll go down,
The river to the Singing Sea...

“Hey there ponies of the wasteland. That was Sapphire Shores with The Singin’ Sea. It’s your host, DJ Pon3. What’s a Disk? Hell if I know, but I’ll keep jockeyin’ for ya, anyway. But movin’ on. It’s time for the news:” I bolted upright. If there was someone still alive with a radio station, this place was definitely inhabitable and definitely worth my time, “first off, we’ve got Security in the Wasteland, and don’t ya know it? Ponies are startin’ to behave themselves” I didn’t get it. Were they referring to armed guards? “Ever since Pony Joe’s was wiped out near The Hoof, raiders are startin’ to doubt the safety of their own territory! But let’s not forget our favourite little crusader of the century! The Vault Dweller’s been helpin’ out all over, I hear tell, and she’s plannin’ on helpin’ some ponies out toward Old Appleoosa! My hat’s off to ya, Dweller!” This pony was really charismatic, I’d made a note to meet him one day.

“Finally, though, it’s seasonal warning time. Autumn is around the corner, and we all know winter comes early for Buffalo Springs. Hellhounds be migratin’, so you best be watchin’ your backs, my little ponies. If you can find shelter, make it top on your priority list of things to protect! Or, if you can, pay off ol’ Pony Feathers, if not... get someplace high. That’s all, children. Now back to Lavender Melody with It All Started With Your Smile!”

You ask me time and time again,
How did this start, how did it all begin,
And I will tell you one more time,

It was your smile,
From across a crowded room,
That first drew me to you,
It was that heartwarming smile...

Even Iridescence had turned to listen, the lid to the box already off its hinges. Damn thing must have been pretty rusty, “what was... who was?” she asked, obviously intrigued by the broadcast that had just played, “he had a nice voice!”

While I had to agree, this pony would have to wait. There were more important things to be done. Pony Feathers sounded like an excellent place to start looking. Whatever that was. (Whoever?) That is, so long as this DJ PON3’s boradcast is legitimate and not a repeat. It had to be fairly recent, though, considering the hunters’ reference to it/him.

It wouldn’t be long before this... rain... stopped. I hoped. If I had to estimate, I’d say the downpour had lasted for days, and I strongly doubted that it was the perpetual norm. At most, I assumed it would last another few days. With luck, it would last another few hours. Either way, I was confident that the torrent wouldn’t impede our progress much longer.

I nodded in affirmation, my eyes drifting back together. I was too tired to deal with anything else. Killing had set me on edge, drained me as well. Five hours of sleep. Oh Goddesses, I was tired. Too many surprises for one day. Too much to absorb. I could put up with being wet for now.

^^^***^^^

When I awoke, I found two things in particular to be out of place. Well, not so much out of place so much as in place. Nothing alarming. The first thing was that the blanket that had been given to me had been placed over me at some point in the day. The second was a warm presence hugging me tightly from behind. I was going to have to get used to this.

The thrumming sound of rain against the grey-blue tarp above us started to lighten. 15:30. At least I could say I’d gotten a nap. A little shut-eye was just what the doctor ordered. I didn’t bother moving. I could feel Iridescence shifting. I expected nothing less than the awkward scene that should’ve been the time we left this morning.

Instead, she sighed and hugged me more tightly. This took me by surprise and I coughed, letting her know I was awake. Immediately, her grip went slack, “do you sleep with me out of habit; sleeping with your parents, maybe? Or is there something you want to tell me?”

She hopped to her hooves and shook her head violently. She can move pretty quickly. “It’s nothing! Really! I’m sorry! I’ll stop!” She looked hurt, almost.

“You’re a mistake waiting to happen,” I facehoofed and walked toward the opened ammo box, now fully alert. The contents that had been in there before hadn’t been moved since the lock snapped open. The rain, almost purring, slackened further to a light shower. Finally.

Iridescence kept quiet as I peaked inside. There was a note, three clips of energy cells, twenty 10mm rounds, and four rounds of a caliber that looked... well... significantly larger than the ones that I’d seen prior. A whole two, three, kinds? The note read as follows:

I guess this stupid thing is a diary. Or whatever. First thing: I’d like to make it clear that I hate hunting for a living. It sucks pony cock, is what it does. We’ve got one ammo box, my rifle’s in terrible condition, and just about everypony else is forced to use whatever they can to bash things’ heads in. I really don’t like getting close to radigators ‘n such. Oh, and I guess it might be wise to mention that we did find (and by that, I mean hired,) some weird pony a while back. I think he might’ve been a raider... keeps going on about killing other ponies. I guess we’ll have to put up with him if he’s willing to work. It’s something we have to do, sometimes, but fuck if I don’t hate it. I hope no one tries to take this camp, there’s no way I’d be willing to kill somepony if they don’t kill anyone in the party. Even if they do, I don’t think I could put up much of a fight. Stupid virtue.

Virtue? And what’s raider? A few things were explained in that note, but not enough. Worse, it brought more questions. “Why is everything out here so different?” The question was purely rhetorical, of course, but I couldn’t help but feel slight frustration at the whole thing. The rain stopped abruptly, though thunder could still be heard in the distance. Long, loud booms.

I added the note to my pipbuck and checked the map marker again. Maybe this had been a tourist attraction earlier. It was nice up here. You mean, like, not charcoal and dust?

Suddenly, the clouds parted directly overhead, but only above the hill we were on. I could feel what must have been sunlight through the tarp. Everything underneath it was bathed in a blue luminescence... it felt nice. Warming up to this place already? Smooth jazz, unlike the bebop in the stable, played from my pipbuck in a relaxing way, “it fits the scene nicely,” I said aloud.

“Huh?” Iridescence started as she started laying back down, “what do you mean, it’s just music. It’s nice, but still, it’s just music, right?” I was split between telling her she was right and ignoring it all, kicking myself later, and arguing that music was more than just that. It has to be, hmm?

I decided, instead, to give as neutral an answer as possible, “hm,” I grunted. It was a win-win. It seemed, at the very least, to pacify her incoming speech on materialistic needs and wants and existentialism. I wasn’t up for it, to put it as bluntly as possible, “you realise we have to go now,” her lying down wasn’t going to get us anywhere.

We could see around us a bit better now; yes, the city around the mountain must have been the backside of Canterlot, Manehattan must’ve been the city with the huge tower. There were a few rising hills like this one, albeit without any sunlight, everything else was too far away to make out very well. Iridescence got up and stared along the ridge with me, “I see why they were up here now,” I absent-mindedly commented.

“The hunters?” she asked, “I read the note. That’s what they were, right?” She seemed about as up to date as I was, at least.

“Yeah, them. You can see more from up here than you can down there,” my mind lingered on that statement for a while, “but it would be kind of dangerous; I don’t think they were going to stay for much longer. This tarp isn’t exactly what anypony would call camouflage, and it looks pretty out of place with the amount of light coming down. It’s like a spotlight, and you’d be a sitting duck if you were up here too long, I may not be especially smart, but you’d be blind if you didn’t see that much,” I concluded. I got my plot out of the mud and rolled up the blanket telekinetically. I was about to start walking back down the hill, Iridescence on my tail, when I caught something out of the corner of my eye.

“Stop,” I said, “stuff,” way to sound mentally capable. I trotted back to the tree holding up the far left corner of the tarp. There was a hole under there formed by overgrown roots. Water dripped from the bows and needles of the tree onto my head as I poked around until I saw it. Grey-green: a duffle bag. I echoed my thoughts aloud and pulled it out in my teeth. The hunters hadn’t even had time to grab it when they left.

It was full of... meat. As I took each chunk out, my pipbuck sorted and labeled them, ‘bloatsprite, brahmin, radroach, radigator.’ One question half-answered, three more in its place. Magnificent. I took the brahmin and radigator meat; I wasn’t sure if I was going to need this or not, but taking chances wasn’t something I was prone to doing... realistically, I wasn’t even 100% sure that ponies could actually eat meat. I guess, considering there were hunters, somepony somewhere must’ve wanted it. The other two things sounded like they were some kind of insect. Keen on eating that, I was not. Overall, I was figuring a lot out all at once- I was getting a feel for how these creatures must have adapted. They all had weak points in certain areas on their bodies, judging by their muscle-mass and tissue buildups. If you hit the right area, you’d definitely do a lot more damage toward something.

I showed it to Iridescence and asked for something to write with. Nothing. I levitated up some mud and wrote on the underside of the tarp, “sorry we killed one of your members and took your food. ~Bebop,” I thought that would suffice as a thank you note. Iridescence looked at me in vague annoyance as we began our curving descent toward... wherever we would go.

--------
Hoofnote: Level up!
Perk: Hunter: you do an extra 75% critical damage against animals and mutated animals.