Fallout: Equestria- Chasing Stars

by not_me

Earth Ponies

Earth Ponies.

Earth ponies are probably the least understood of ponies. Historically they were considered the lesser three of the pony races. However, in the story of Hearth Warming Eve, they were said to be the only pony race capable of growing produce. They are also said to be among the best cooks. Their understandings of the Earth’s working later proved to be a great benefit to technological development of Equestria. They learned to harness coal for fuel, crystals for arcane uses, and metals to control electricity giving them the ability to reproduce the gifts of the other two races using earthen materials. However to make the wasteland, the gifts of all three races were required to reshape the world.

Morning Mist stood above me waving her hoof. I was lying on the ground, head in agonizing pain. With each heartbeat I would feel a stabbing pulse of pain echo inside my skull. I could barely make out the sounds she was making as words. I tried to sit up, but she pushed me back down. “Are you alright,” she called out a third time before I could understand her.

“Yeah, yeah.”

“He says he is okay,” she yelled behind her.

“He could be lying, ask him again!”

I made to lift my hooves, but noticed they were covered in blood. “How many hooves am I holding up,” she asked waving one hoof in my face.

“One.” I looked around and saw sand as far as the eye could see. Everything was orange from the setting sun. There was an overturned cart torn in half and on fire with two brightly colored Earth ponies milling around a bunch of dead bodies. I was near the edge of a circular crater. “Where are we?”

“What is the last thing you remember Star?”

“We were in Broccoli waiting to leave. What’s going on?”

“He has some memory loss,” she screamed behind her.

“How much?”

“I don’t know, like a day!” She turned back to me. “Do you remember the robo-ponies?”

“Robo-ponies? No, I think I would remember robo-ponies.”

“He forgot about the Steel Rangers.” She called out again.

“Can he stand,” called back Soaring Skies

“I don’t know.” She turned back to me. “Come on lets see if we can get you up.” She grabbed me by my hooves and helped me to my feet. Everything felt unsteady.

“Whose blood is this?”

“Don’t worry, it’s mostly the serpents,” she said waving a hoof dismissively. I looked around some more. We were definitely in some desert. Across from the circular crater was Soaring Skies standing next to several ponies wearing burlap cloaks.

“Serpent, what serpent?”

“I’ll explain later. First lets go see how Soaring is doing.” I made to take a step but fell down. At first I thought it was because my wooziness, but the ground underneath me started to give away. One of the Earth ponies near the caravan screamed, as Morning Mist reached out her hoof and grabbed me. The pit had started expanding pulling me down. I heard Skies distinct guns blaring out before puttering to a stop, as she quickly needed to reload. As much as Morning tried to pull me up the sand underneath me kept sinking. Eventually the blood loosened her grip and I started sliding down the ever-expanding hole.

At the base was a metal monstrosity covered in blood. It had an open maw full of grinding drills pulling the very ground towards its mouth. I slid down the pit and pulled up my pip-buck and selected explosives. I was all out of dynamite despite distinctly remembering having some sticks left, but I had two things called pulse grenades. I selected them and pulled up VAT’s. Time stopped and I could see what was trying to kill me. It had a long snake like body consisting of half metal and half scales. The entire head was encased in metal helm. And, it was spurting blood from its eyes, which had been shot out. It registered as half dead. All I could think was, ‘this must be the serpent Morning was talking about.’

I threw the first grenade and it bounced off its head exploding two feet above it in an electric field. The drills stopped, but the creature could still move and struck out towards me. The second grenade entered its mouth exploding into a blue field encapsulating its whole head stopping the thing dead. I finally finished my slide and ended up harmlessly in it mouth. Even though it wasn’t moving I did not want to be here. I tried running out but kept sliding right back into its open mouth. I tried two more time with similar results. “Damn it Star Chaser, just teleport up here,” called out Soaring Skies from the top of the pit. Teleportation, why hadn’t I thought about that? I was up and out of the pit in a second.

A zebra wearing a cloak trotted up to me. “Hold still,” he said. He grabbed my hoof and messed around with my pip-buck. I tried to pull my arm away but a white hoof stopped me.

“You can trust him. He’s kinda like a doctor, at least the closest we’ll find out here,” replied Soaring Skies as the zebra looked on.

“This thing says his head is crippled. Just give me one second. I have something that will fix you real quick.” He pulled out a healing potion and crushed up some party-time mentals. Next, he pulled out a flask and poured some liquid into it. “A dash of vodka for personality.” He gave it a quick swirl and the whole thing fizzled. “Drink this.” It didn’t seem smart to drink mixed chems from a stranger, but I obliged. The whole thing had a strong kick to it. As I downed it I could feel my head throbbing, as a chill seemed to run through my brain. My head cleared up and my dizziness faded. My memories slowly returned.

“Thanks, Paris I needed that,” I said shaking my head after a few minutes.

“Glad to see that you remember me,” he replied.

“What was that thing?”

“I don’t know,” replied Paris.

“Pony monster,” suggested a zebra mare

“It was a war machine, duh!”

“That still doesn’t narrow it down,” squeaked Morning Mist.

---

Earlier that morning just after dawn I was waiting outside a broken down farmhouse. Unlike Morning Mists shack in Broccoli proper, this was a real house made of recycled timber. There was a porch and everything, and I had been sitting on a barrel on the porch for an hour. Sky meanwhile had abandoned her two guns to go for a morning flight. She was pulling a triple backwards loop spiraling up into the air closing her wings as she reached a crescendo holding herself motionless in the air for a brief moment. As gravity worked its magic, she twisted her body into a swan dive picking up speed before unfurling her wings and pulling herself back up at the last possible second. She landed without a sound and cantered up to me with a wide smile on her face.

“Wow, have you ever thought of sky dancing professionally,” I said sarcastically.

“You’re an ass, you know that right.” She made herself towards her guns and started slipping them on.

“No I’m not. I am an unicorn.”

She finished attaching her heavy battle saddle and flew up to the barrel I was sitting on. “You’re an ass with a horn, but an ass none the less.” She shoved me off my perch. “Move it, I want a pickle.” She dove her head into the barrel right when Morning Mist walked out of the house.

“Don’t worry Hope, I have these two protecting me if anything goes wrong.” Morning waved a hoof at us. Hope, Morning’s older sister, looked over at us. I was lying sideways on the ground where Sky had pushed me, and Sky pulled her head out of the barrel, soaking wet with brine, smiling while eating a pickle.

“And I didn’ know why I was worrying,” deadpanned Hope. Hope was a paint like her sister. They looked almost identical, but where as Morning Mist was spry and wirily, Hope was tall and muscular. Also, Hope didn’t wear glasses. “I’m not gonna be able ta talk ya out of this, are I?”

“Nope, I made my mind.” Hope walked up to her little sister shaking her head. She gave her a great big hug that went on for several minutes. She was whispering in her sister’s ear, but I couldn’t make out a sound. Every once in a while I would hear Morning Mist reply with an ok, yes, and an uh-huh. Eventually she let go of her sister, her eyes watering with tears. She gave me and Sky a death glare and walked back inside slamming the door behind her.

Morning Mist walked up to Sky and me flashing us a wry smile. “I’m ready. Let’s go.” We walked in relative silence away from the Morning Broccoli Farm. Though Hope and Mist were only two years apart, Hope had been married for four years and already had two foals. Their parents died in a bandit attack some years back. Eventually we made it back to the main road and headed north. “So where are we going first?”

I had no real idea. “I need to find a networked computer. So we’ll just follow the road to the next major town and look there.” This morning before we left town I snuck into the main building that made up the old military base to hack the computer. Turns out there wasn’t even a security code and it was just filled with notes from after the war by the old mayors. Apparently before Broccoli grew broccoli the town was called Rainy Days after the first mayor. Other than that I learned nothing from the computer.

“The next major town would be Salt Cube City. It’s a bit of a ghoul den and the city core is radioactive,” answered Sky.

“So more glowing zombies. Hopefully this time they won’t be semi-immortal griffin warriors.” Sky and me chuckled while Morning looked perplexed. “So, I guess Morning is the new member of our little company.” I kept walking as Sky stopped. “Is something wrong?”

“Shoot I didn’t think that. Oh no, this messes everything up.”

“No it doesn’t. She can just take an extra share.”

“No that’s not how a company works. There has to be discussions and deals. The arrangement needs to be commonly agreed upon.”

“Ok, than I move to vote we add a new member to our little nameless organization, and we all split our shares evenly. All for it raise your hoof.” I raised my hoof. Sky stood hoof firmly planted on the ground. “Ok, what’s wrong now?”

“Well now we have to split up ammo and the death payout clause. I refuse to split your pip-buck and any 5 mm ammo.”

I rolled my eyes. “Morning.” I pointed my hoof at her. She squeaked and hid behind Soaring Sky.

“Yes?”

“Do you want my pip-buck?”

“Its nice, but no not really.”

“What weapons do you use?”

“I have an altered hunting rifle that uses 3.47 bullets and a 10 mm pistol.”

“Ok, same deal as before but she forfeits all rights to my pip-buck upon my death. She has first right to all 3.47 bullets and half of the 10 mm bullets with you taking the other half. Also in event of either your or her death we split your guns. All for it raise your hoof.” I raised my hoof, Morning raised her hoof, and we looked at Sky. She sheepishly raised her hoof.

“Fine.”

“Alright Morning. Welcome to our company.” I smiled and resumed walking down the path. Sky solemnly followed, while Morning didn’t move. “What? Is something wrong?”

“Well its nice and all that you let me in to your company, but what do you do and what is our name?”

Sky face hoofed. “We’re adventurers. We help each other to finish our ends. We split any payout from scavenge and odd jobs evenly. And, we don’t have a name. I guess were Morning Sky and Star for now.”

“So were mercenaries.”

“No mercenaries take on only security and battle related duties, and do not scavenge. We on the other hand take jobs on with discretion, but make most our profit off of scavenge.”

I turned to Morning. “So we are kinda like mercs, but not.”

“Exactly,” replied Sky.

“Ok, I guess we need to make caps. However, I am not really too hot on the name.”

“Whats wrong with it. It has all of our names on it,” replied Sky.

“Yeah but Soaring is your family name, not Sky. So shouldn’t we be called Morning Soaring and Star?”

“But Morning Sky sounds better then Morning Soaring. Besides I don’t like the name Soaring, it sounds like a stallions name.”

“But Soaren was so cool. You should be happy to be his descendant.”

“Wait, whose Soaren?”

Sky turned to me “He’s my great, great, great grandfather and the orgin of my family’s name. He was one of the original Wonderbolts, back before they became part of the Equestrian Army as the Shadowbolts. Today the Wonderbolts are the premier hit squad for the Enclave. However, my pappy was loyal to the crown. He never left his position even after the world ended. It makes me sick that the Enclave would go on using his memory for propaganda but ignores the fact that the last original Wonderbolts were completely against them. I’m proud of him to be sure, but I would rather not have the stigma of the Wonderbolts associated with me. And! Morning Sky makes more sense cause it matches your name Star.”

“Well if we want to make it make more sense wouldn’t Dawnstar be cooler. I mean morning sky refers to dawn.”

“I like it, I vote we call our selves Dawnstar.” I raised my hoof and Morning Raised her hoof.

“You just enjoy railroading me, don’t you Chase.” I nodded with a grin. “Fine our name is Dawnstar.” Morning clapped her front hooves together in happiness while Sky walked off grumbling. “He gets his name in the company’s name, but I don’t.”

We followed the road towards a huge tower in the distance. I was informed that the tower was some Steel Ranger base. Living in the Bison herd we heard stories about the Steel Rangers. To sum them all up, Steel Rangers are dicks. To be more exact, if they think you’re gear is sufficiently advanced they think you do not deserve it and it is their goddess given right to take it by force. Essentially, they are fancy bandits. Unfortunately, the main road went right to the tower. Under Mornings suggestion we decided to circle around it giving the Ranger base a wide berth. Plus it didn’t hurt that her route cut out two miles from our trip. After crossing through some hills we finally reconnected with the main road before lunch time.

“I know you have only heard bad things about the Steel Rangers, Star, but they aren’t all that bad. Some ponies even consider them heroes. They fight for their ideals and they help keep this area clear of raiders and bandits,” said Morning suddenly.

“That’s cause they don’t like the competition,” replied Sky.

“No, the tower acts as a training ground for new recruits. The different tribes that take up position along the Big 52 tend to keep out most raiders and bandits, but the Steel Rangers almost exclusively protect everything from the desert to Broccoli. Besides the occasional territory dispute it is relatively peaceful.”

“Yeah there is only a war here every other year.” I couldn’t tell if Sky was being sarcastic or not. “Nah most locals are to busy running down ponies who try to sneak past their territory before paying the tax.”

“Tax,” I asked.

“Unlike Broccoli, most other settlements don’t have anything to sell. So they make caps charging ponies access to their land. The caps go to paying mercs to keep peace, or at least it’s supposed to,” answered Monring.

“Just sounds like more crazy pony logic to me.”

“But you are a pony,” cried Sky and Morning in unison.

“Only by blood,” I called back. I lead on as they followed. As we passed over another hill I saw two ponies clad head to tail in metal coming up the other way, only twenty yards away. We stared at each other, as Sky and Morning caught up to me. My brain stopped working I found myself only able to say one thing. “Robo-ponies?”

I checked my EFS it was blue, not a threat. I felt myself relax; maybe they were the protectors of the land. Then one turned red. It nudged the other one. “Have you ever seen a gold pip-buck before?”

“Never,” he replied. My EFS now read two red marks. “I’m reading red on all three now. Open Fire!” Shit of course they would have the same arcane technology as my pip-buck in their suites. They’d probably have espresso machines built in to if the Ministry of Wartime Technology thought it would have helped the war effort two hundred years ago.

My brain hadn’t caught up, it was still stuck on ‘robo-ponies.’ To my surprise the first shot fired came from our side, and it wasn’t from Skies twin guns. Morning at first sight pulled out a rifle from her bag. She was balancing on her front hooves holding the gun aloft to her shoulder staring down the sight. Her right hoof hovered over a lever mechanism that acted as the trigger. Next thing I knew I was flying through the air as Sky lifted me up and threw me ten feet away behind a boulder on to my head. Saving me from an incoming missile fired off by one of the rob… Steel Rangers, which flew off somewhere towards the horizon. Meanwhile Morning fired her entire clip into the head of the closest ranger before grabbing her gun in her teeth and making her way to my position as another missile connected with her previous position.

I heard Sky’s guns blare out somewhere in the air above, while Morning slid out a 10 mm pistol from a holster in her jacket. A grenade ricocheted off the boulder we were using for cover exploding ten feet above us in the air. I am unsure what happened next. I think my mind broke. The only thing I could think was ‘these were the protectors of the wasteland.’ In what sick world were over powered robo-pony bandits considered ‘good?’ If there were no raiders, slavers, or bandits they would be thought of as scum, and that was all they were. The ghost was right, there was no good or evil, just ponies in different factions, and I was done sitting on the sidelines. I should have said screw the bison’s and done the right thing, and destroyed Appeloosa when I had the chance like the Stable Mare did. I should of killed those old mares instead of hiding and waiting for Sky to come and finish the job, and most of all I should be showing these dumb earth ponies not to fuck with a unicorn just because you think your armor will protect you.

Since, I had no idea what the smart thing to do in this situation was, I decided to just go ahead and do the dumb thing instead. I teleported back to my original position and entered VATS as soon as I felt my feet on solid ground. Time stopped and I sized up both combatants. The one that Morning shot in the face already had his armor fully regenerate. He was armed with a double grenade launcher battle saddle and was preparing to fire on Mornings position behind the boulder. The other had only a single rocket launcher and was lining up a shot on Sky who appeared to firing on him from directly above. So to sum up my situation, I was facing two armored opponents with magically self-repairing armor armed with weapons that could kill any one of us if we were caught in a direct hit. Trading blows was out, giving them distance was out too. I knew what I had to do.

I loaded up three magical bullets at the grenade launcher pony. His armor could regenerate, so what about his weapons. I aimed for the belt feed on the back of his gun. My first shot ripped out missing by inches. A shot from Morning rang out contacting him in the head. My second shot made home connecting with the grenade launcher doing partial damage. Morning’s next shot hit his neck, as a grenade pumped out. My third shot rung out crippling the belt mechanism. I had hoped for an explosion, but the launcher read dead so mission accomplished. All I had to do was maneuver around to get in a few good shots at his other gun after I fell out of VATS, but I was stuck in it. Time still moved slowly, and reality failed to return. Then I saw her.

A mare wearing a red dress and a red veil was standing on the other side of the ranger. It was Lucky! She had her magnum floating in front of her lining up a shot at the ranger. I single shot belted out connecting with a grenade as it was being belt fed, causing a chain reaction of explosions erupting his back in an ever expanding flame. Still time did not return. Instead Lucky turned and ran away downhill. She rounded a corner and as soon as she was out of sight time returned. I immediately felt the heat from the exploding pony in front of me as blast rung out towards my face. His buddy stood in silent reverie watching the burning pony wreathed in flames. Morning and Sky both stopped firing as well. I slammed my hoofs on the ground, “Enough!” I grabbed the burning pony in my telekinesis and rolled him on the ground until his flames were out. The other ranger stupidly lined his rocket launcher towards me. I lifted his half dead friend up between us.

“This is fucking stupid. You attack me try to take my shit and we are forced to blow up your friend. Instead of tending to him, you try to shoot me! Well here’s your friend take him.” I threw the steel pony at rocket launcher knocking him off his hooves. “Use this time to save his life. He rolled his friend off of him and stood.

“I am not leaving without that pip-buck.”

“You want this so bad, go three days over the mountain and have her make one for you. You want mine, than be a buck about it and take off that armor and fight me one on one for it.” The exploded pony let out a groan as he fought for consciousness. The standing ranger looked down and weighed his options.

“Fine, we’ll leave.” As he made to pick up his buddy group we were interrupted.

“What is going on here?” Morning squeaked as a unicorn mare in a red cloak along with four more armed robo-ponies flanked us.

Rocket launcher dropped his buddy back on the ground. “We came across these savages with an unusual pip-buck. We made to ascertain it, but came under heavy fire. We halted combat and the black unicorn offered to let me go peacefully so I decided to take on his offer, sir.”

The unicorn must have had rank. She turned her head sizing up my pip-buck. “I admit I have never seen that model.” Oh Luna, not again.

“Well we I offered your partner a chance to take me on hoof to hoof, but he refused. He was too scared to find out just how badly I would beat him. I’ll offer you the same choice. Take me on if you want my stuff or save your friend. Of course if you think you need to fight us ‘savages’ with power armor, than I am perfectly happy to show you how to blow up a pony in a can.” Please just leave me alone, is what I actually meant.

She turned towards one of the other armored ponies. “Help carry the injured initiate back to base.” Oh thank Luna. She turned back to me. “Very well I accept you’re offer of one on one combat.” Damn you, Celestia! She took off her jacket and made herself ready as the three rangers trotted off. I turned towards Sky who was giving me a ‘this is a bad idea’ glare. Morning sulked away from her boulder and made her way towards me. I took of my jacket and hat levitating them towards her. The unicorn cleared her throat. “What are the terms of the dual?”

I smiled. “We’re both unicorns, so light armor, hooves and magic only.”

“Very well, shall we commence?”

“No,” I replied.

“No?”

“If this is a duel everything must be equal. I am putting up some top grade gear, what do I get if I win?”

“You get the pip-buck of course.”

“I already have the pip-buck. I am very attached to it, literally. Should I lose I stand to lose something very dear, so it stands to reason you should stand to lose something of equal measure should you lose.” The mare put her hoof up to her muzzle in thought. Apparently forgetting she could just order the remaining three rangers to open fire.

“Fine, I offer you a very dear memory orb. It was obtained by the Brotherhood many decades ago and features the earliest memory of the goddess found to date. So, are we agreed?” I nodded my head in agreement. “My name is Scribe Scroll, Scribe of the Big 52 Steel Rangers, under the purview of The Ministry of Wartime Technology, and student of High Scribe Scold.” She curtsied to me before rising.

Not one to be out done I reared myself on my back hooves and neighed as loud as I could before slamming both my hooves on the ground. “I am Star Chaser, Wastelander of the Bison Herd of the West. Last descendent of Stable 77.”

“And member of the Dawnstar company,” Called out Sky behind me.

“Wait, that Stable 77,” asked one of the robo-ponies.

“You’re joking right, that’s just a legend. There’s no pony from stable 77.” I pointed towards symbol on my barding Scribe Scold shook her head in disbelief.

“So we doing this, or not,” I asked. She nodded back taking her stance. We stood still for several seconds.

Sky jumped in the air and screamed, “Fight!” With out hesitation I teleported next to her blindsiding her with a double buck to the face, sending her flying. She bounced twice on the ground before rising to her hooves, but I covered myself in telekinesis and launched myself at her swinging my pip-buck hoof right into muzzle. I tried to get her with another quick jab, but she put up some sort of shield. Her horn started glowing brightly so I jumped back. She dropped her shield only send out two waves of flames. They shot out in arches in front of her. I managed to dodge the first but was hit by the second.

“That’s for setting my initiate on fir…” I didn’t let her finish. I entered VATS and lined up two shots of magic bullets at her left knee. Both rang out but only one hit the mark. She had her shield back up. I raced around her as she hobbled on her knee. I made to get in closer and she dropped her shield and shot two more waves of flame crossing them at where I was standing. I rolled away unscathed. This time however the flames stayed lit forming whips. She waved them about, but they were too slow and not very distanced. After four seconds they burned out. I dashed in hoping to take advantage of the opening, but she brought her shield back up. Undeterred I placed my hooves on her shield and rang out a pulse wave from my hooves shattering it. I got in one free shot before she shot out another wave of flames. I easily dodged them, but gave her plenty of space. Meanwhile, she hobbled away. We stood together facing each other breathing heavily. Above her head three white arrows formed shooting strait and fast. The first two missed, but the third grazed my side, cutting into my barding and removing a good 4 inches of skin. She smiled. “You don’t fight like most unicorns, it’s almost like fighting an Earth pony who augments himself with magic.”

I smiled right back. “And you use magic mixed with fire arms. You’re shield and flames take too long and telegraph your attacks. Your arrows need to be summoned before they can be used. It’s all designed to force your opponent to give you an opening shot. Face it, you’re out classed. Give up now and I won’t embarrass you in front of your comrades.” She just shook her head and conjured three more arrows. I charged my horn in preparation. Just before she formed her third arrow I attacked. She was too distracted to notice I had covered the entire battlefield in my telekinetic field. I threw sand at her eyes from every possible direction and flared my horn taking out her vision. All three of her arrows launched out blindly nowhere near me. As she rubbed her eyes she formed two sweeping waves of flames spreading them out as wide as possible in hopes of hitting me. She was too late. I had already teleported safely away five feet above her. I fell slamming my elbows into her back, flattening her. I wrapped my back hooves around her shoulder and used my left hoof to choke her neck, while diving my right hoof into her horn taking out her magic. “Tap out.” She shook her head. I slammed my hoof into her face. “Tap out.” She shook her head. I repeatedly punched her in the face while cutting off her circulation. “Tap out. Tap out. Tap out. Tap out.” Punch, punch, punch, punch. Finally she did. I teleported back to Morning and Sky. Sky’smouth just hanged open while Morning covered her eyes unaware the fight had ended. I levitated my jacket and hat back on before turning to see the three robo-ponies helping Scribe Scroll on to her hooves. The right side of her face was already starting to swell and bruise. She shook off their help and hobbled towards me.

She stuck out her hoof. “Good fight.” I tapped her hoof with mine. She turned and levitated her jackets towards. It hung in the air as she pulled a clear orb from her pocket. “Here take it.” I levitated over to my bag. “It’s been a while since I lost a fight. You were holding back weren’t you?”

“No, you put up a good fight.”

“Horseshit! You could have dodged all my hits with teleportation, and could have shattered my shield at any time. What they hay did you do to my leg, and what was that thing you did with your hooves when my shield shattered?”

“I call it a magic bullet. Its compressed air enervated with magic, propelled out as a stream by a flash spell. I can form it in a bullet, or direct it through my hoof.”

“Why didn’t you end the fight earlier?”

“Truthfully?” She nodded. “I wanted to see what spells you had. I’ve never seen magic arrows and flame whips before.” She nodded, apparently accepting my answer.

“Take care, enjoy the memory.” She hobbled off towards her acolytes sipping on a potion. By the time she reached them, her gait returned to normal. I turned towards my group.

“That was dumb. We could have taken them, now all we got to show for this exchange is a loss of ammo and some stupid orb that only unicorns can use.” Sky walked off talking mostly to her self. “And you forgot to mention our company. At least we can use this get some publicity. But what does that say about us. Dawnstar, we punch mares in the face!”

Morning waited for me. I walked a bit slowly to allow Sky some distance. “I liked your magic. Did you use the magic bullet thingy to blow up that ranger?”

“That wasn’t me. The robo-pony was hit by Lucky.”

“Whose Lucky?”

Star, don’t talk about crazy hallucinations, I told myself. “She’s no pony. No pony important. Never mind, I think I took a hit to the head when Sky threw me.”

“Ok,” replied Morning. The rest of way to the desert was uneventful. We kept to the road and stopped for nothing. Any major threat was already dead, sporting exploded limbs courtesy from the steel ranger patrol from earlier. Eventually, we came across a caravan of two traders stopped on the road before a broken bridge. A large pole, about twenty feet high was embedded in the ground. At the top was a red flag. I looked off in the distance and noticed another one every three hundred yards or so going out to the horizon. We made our way to the caravans only to find three cloaked zebras arguing with one of the caravans.

“I don’t care how many caps you stripe basterds have. I ain’t selling you no ammo. I’ll sell you food, but there is no way I ain’t getting shot with my own goods.”

Morning walked up to the vendor. “Well will you sell us ammo.”

He stopped and considered for a second. “Screw this I am outta here. You lot are just going to turn around and sell my goods to these goddess killers.” He grabbed his brahmen and trotted off. As he trotted off, Morning shrugged.

“While, at least I tried.”

“Thanks anyways,” said the zebra mare. The other two zebras were both males. One was older than the other three and the other was broad shouldered and half muscles. The older zebra turned to the remaining caravan.

“Well do you have any ammo?”

“Sorry, I only have medicine, clothing and food.” Suddenly he bolted up. “Wait, I do have some ordinance though.” He gestured to a small mare sitting in the cart. She dug through and plopped down two apple shaped grenades with blue bands on them. The older stallion made some gestures with his hoof at the larger zebra, who only shook his head. “He only wants bullets right now, sorry.”

“I’ll take them,” I chimed. “What are they?”

The confused caravan turned to me. “Pulse grenades,” chirped the small mare who couldn’t be much older than a filly. “They destroy machines.”

“And nothing else,” chimed in Morning. The merchant glared at her. “Sorry, but they are an extremely specialized weapon used specifically for robots. They emit an EMP field that kills the power source on unshielded circuitry.”

“But they explode right?”

“Yep,” nodded the caravan owner.

“I’ll take them.”

“Well that is all and good, but we weren’t done with our transaction yet,” replied the zebra mare. “Do you have any sugar apple bombs?”

The zebras ended up buying out most of the food. Sky bought out all the remaining food, much to Mornings disgust. “Ponies are not supposed to eat meat,” she cried out. Everypony (and zebra) laughed out at her. We stocked up on potions and the traders went on his way, following the flags into the desert. Hungry, I pulled out my pan and started cooking us up some bacon, dandy boy apples and broccoli medley.

“What brings you out to the desert crossing,” asked Sky.

“We are headed to Tunnel Town to meet up with some of our friends and family. What about you three, are you mercenaries,” replied the older zebra.

“Oh not, we’re just a company of adventurers. We do everything from technical, magical, or odd job work.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. We needed some mercs to escort us across the desert since we are almost out of ammo,” replied the disappointed zebra mare.

“Oh, we also do work of a mercenary nature as well. I’m Soaring Sky, she is Morning Mist, and the unicorn with the pan is Star Chaser. What’s your name?” She stuck out her hoof. The older stallion slowly reached out his hand and quickly tapped her hoof before retracting it, like her hoof might be a poisonous snake.

“I’m Paris. The young mare is my granddaughter Zolka, and the brooding lump is Knox, family friend. Don’t mind him he doesn’t talk much.”

“I can talk, I just can’t hear that good.”

"Yeah, yeah. He’s deaf,” whispered Zolka.

“Hey, I can read lips too. And I am not deaf. I can hear gunshots and explosion just well.”

This was going to take a while. I added some more food to the cast iron pan, enough for six. Sky was debating about the price of our aid with Paris. Zolka was off talking with Knox, well more talking at him. The conversation was one sided. Morning grew board with the negotiations and came and sat next to me.

“What’s your take on them?”

“Who?”

“The zebras.”

“They seem rather relaxed at the prospect of crossing the desert. I mean who travels with no ammo.”

“You do! You don’t use any weapons.” I pulled out my knife and used it to stir the pan.

“I use weapons.”

“I don’t mean to cook with.”

I set my knife down and showed her the bottom of my hooves. “See I have on iron horse shoes on. Gives my kicks a good heft. Plus I have offensive magic, and I don’t mind explosives.”

“But you don’t use firearms and have almost no range. I admit you have some fancy magic, but if we ever get pinned down you have no recourse.”

“Sure I do. I can just teleport us away. Besides I don’t need to use guns, I have your rifle and Sky acting as a flying mobile turret. Don’t I?”

“I am just saying limiting yourself does not seem like such a good idea in the wasteland.”

“Look my people got along just fine without firearms. Hell we outlasted most of the world. It wasn’t by being strong or fast, not that neither one of those hurt. It was by being smart. Most ponies die doing stupid shit, like going into a building full of monsters, picking sides in fights they have no part of being in, or taking on an army all by themselves.”

“But, you and Sky wandered into an irradiated ghouls nest, you stopped some bandits trying to steal from a town you had no affiliation with, and took on the Steel Rangers. You broke every rule you just listed.”

“Yeah, but none of that was beyond my capabilities. Can you do me a favor and tell everypony lunch is done.” I gave the pan one more quick mix with my knife and stomped out the linen I used for the fire.

“We’re not done yet,” said Morning as she walked away and grabbed Sky and the zebras.

“Sky turned and flew over to me. Don’t tell me you cooked for the zebras too.” I nodded my head and showed her the pan. She face hoofed. “I was just negotiating the meal payouts. I got them to agree to cook us every meal on top of the agreed upon payment.”

“Well consider this a good will gesture, or something. Either way this bacon was going to go bad. Better eaten than wasted, you know.”

“Fine.” We all ate up everything leaving nothing to waste. After lunch we set out to the desert. We walked in single file. Sky took the lead, followed by Paris and Zolka. Knox had the middle while Morning and me took the back. We moved relatively silent. The zebras seemed abashed to talking while traveling. According to Paris it just brought on unwanted attention. All together it was boring. Worse yet a swarm of flies, regular ones (not of the bloat variety) found our sweat a good substitute for water. Every two seconds I was flipping my tail or tossing my mane to keep them off of me. Poor Morning seemed to get the worse of it. She was a magnet for horseflies, and kept on getting bitten. Her theory was they liked the taste of all the broccoli in her blood.

“Will you two shut up! You are going to attract raiders if you keep this up. And no, flies do not like the taste of broccoli, Morning,” yelled Zolka. I scanned the horizon with my EFS.

“There is no red, we're clear. This thing picks up hostiles, its like a raider detector.”

“I am not going to trust some crazy pony techno magic gizmo that no pony even knows how it works. Just be silent.” The rest of the trip was even more boring than scouting duty. At least Lightning allowed us to speak to each other as we prowled the endless plains. The desert wasn’t all that different from the bison lands. Just more sand and less sage. Suddenly, I saw two red bars.

“Everypony hold up. I am seeing red.” They all stopped in place. I saw the two bars become four as I trotted up the hill. I pointed to where the reading was coming. The zebras backed away as Morning and Sky came up to me. I looked again. I was now reading eight. I tapped my hoof eight times and gestured towards the largest grouping. I waved them to come in closer. “They’re over the hill, Morning take the sniper position up the hill. Sky do your thing in the air, just once it starts get to the other side of the battlefield and maybe drive them into Morning’s fire. Just do me a favor and hold up until after I engage them first.”

“Why?”

“I’ll soften them up and gather them into one spot.”

I circled around the hill while Morning slowly snuck up the hill, Sky just sat there rubbing her nose. As I crested the hill I saw the merry band of raiders pillaging the caravn that left ahead of us. The young mare was nowhere to be seen, but two ponies pinned down her father as a unicorn mare wearing metal armor was punching him in the face. The remaining five were digging through the caravan. One of the raiders wearing spiked armor drinking wine straight from the bottle looked up. “Wait, Wait. Why don’t we just take the whole damn cart with us.”

“Fuck, that we already killed the brahman. Hell, Skull already took a bite out of it and I sure as hell ain’t pulling this damn thing.”

“No, no. Get the asshole to pull us. Shit we can make him pull us all.”

The unicorn in metal armor stepped away from the merchant. “Aww, I was hoping to cut off his face. I was going to turn his skull into some shoulder pads.”

“Shut up Skull, you can do that when we get him back home.” The two earth pony raiders grabbed him and dragged him back to the cart. I looked over, Morning was in position. I had no clue where Sky was. They dropped him in front of the dead Brahman. All eight were around the cart. It was now or never. I teleported into the middle of the cart and bucked the wino raider knocking him towards Skull and her two associates. I entered VATS and punched the closest pony in the face, after two hits I felt his jaw shatter. Another, pony pulled out a gun and fired off one shot. Somehow he managed to miss a point blank shot. I heard Mornings rifle fire shoot into the metal unicorn. I grabbed the closest pony and used him as a shield as I backed out of the cart. The other raiders did not care they unloaded into their own buddy. Knocking me off of the cart. I landed hard on my head with the dead raider bleeding on me. Right then Sky unleashed both mini-guns into the whole bunch. I backed away and pulled out one of my remaining sticks of dynamite and tossed it into the cart.

With a boom the raiders died spreading blood and gore all over my face. A few seconds later all fire stopped. Sky landed on the cart and started to poke all the bodies to make sure they were all in fact dead. Morning slowly ambled her way down towards us. “Did it work? They are all dead, no pony hurt. Is the merchant alive.”

“I am alive.” He jumped up and waved at me. The Zebras slowly peeked over the hill and trotted up to the caravan. “Thank you so much I thought I was going to be killed.”

I saw Sky smile. She turned towards him, “Great all we have to do is settle out first. You owe us the standard hero fee.”

“Oh, of course, of course. What is it, 100 caps?” Sky nodded and the poor sap hoofed over the caps. I facehoofed, but didn’t try to stop her. A little pony ran down from another hill. “Dad, your alive. Oh, thank Celestia.” She threw herself at her bruised father. Sky hopped out of the cart and ambled towards the Zebras. I followed her.

“Great jobs. It seems we chose a good group of ponies for security detail,” chimed Paris. We heard a large lurch. “What was that?” There was an explosion of sand and earth and night turned into day. I turned to find a tall shadow twenty feet high. It was a large metal serpent. Half of its scales were metal and the rest were purple. Over its face was a metal helm, which appeared wielded to it, with four horns jetting out its back. It had two glowing red eyes and it screamed out. Less of a roar, but more of a cry of anguish. It stayed still and surveyed all of us. It dove right at the cart and bit down taking half of it in its mouth. I heard grinding gears and the thing spit it out at us. Everypony ran for it. The serpent leaned back and unleashed a fury of flames where we stood.

For once I was the first to react. Well it was leaning down spiting flames. I ran and jumped on it wrapping my hooves around it horn I climbed on it. The creature was furious and roared. I heard Skies rifle fire. I crawled foreword until I saw its eye. It started punching it until I heard a squirt. The creator roared and writhed in pain. All I could do was hold on for dear life. I felt a stream of blood flow and splatter all over me. Eventually I lost my grip and flew towards the earth. As soon I was out of the way Sky unleashed a fury of bullets into its face. Knox ran up and helped me up.

I got up in time to see the creature jump up and try to bite Sky. She turned in the air and dove at it guns blazing. As its jaw snapped shut she managed to corkscrew around it. She hit the ground at a dash as it swept out its tail. She leapt over it and took off into flight putting as much space between her and it. Still, Morning kept on and stole its attention. Knox pulled out a pistol and fired on it, but after one clip he put his gun away and retreated. Meanwhile I used the time to pull out all of the dynamite I had left. I held it in front of me as I lit the first stick. I failed to notice its tail whip out and slam into me. The dynamite exploded and the world went dark. I heard more gunfire. I caught sight of the creature dive back into the sand. Morning fired one more shot, there was another roar, and everything went silent.

---

The battle was over, the serpent dead. Paris healed me up, and the merchant pony gathered up as much goods they could salvage before turning back towards the Steel Ranger tower. We got as much ammo we could gather. Apparently, Sky had the foresight enough to gain first rights to all salvage. None of our group wanted to go near the serpent, so the Zebras happily salvaged as much parts they could get from it. The sky was growing dark and no pony wanted to stay near here. We walked another hour before calling it a day. The zebras were adamant about not lighting a fire, which was fine by me. Sky took the first watch and Morning had the second, and I was to cover us through to the morning after her. I was tired and just threw down my bed spread at the first bit of flat land I could find and laid down to sleep.

My body was tired and sore. I wanted to sleep but could not force myself to actually fall asleep. I remembered the orb I won earlier today. I rummaged though the bag until I found it. If I remembered correctly Scribe Scroll said it had the earliest memory of the Princess. I focused my magic on it and the world faded away.

I was in a castle. The pony I was riding in was a unicorn wearing armor. He trotted up a flight of stairs up a tower. The walls were lit by torchlight and the ivory walls glistened in the flickering light. We approached a pair of double doors. The unicorn stopped and made to knock on it. He withdrew his hoof. I really wish I could hear what he was thinking. He stood in silence, before placing his ear to the door. I heard nothing. Eventually he just pushed the door open, foregoing knocking.

He trotted into a large room. It lead into common room with several tables surrounded by cushions. The walls were made up of bookcases filled with a mixture of books and artifacts. We took a step in and sitting with her back to us was a lavender mare reading a book. My host loudly cleared his throat. The pony didn’t notice. He walked behind her.

“I was ordered to report to you, mam.”

The lavender mare jumped up. Slammed her book shut and turned to me. It was Twilight Sparkle. She smiled, “Oh, you scared me. You shouldn’t sneak up on a pony.” We didn’t sneak up on her. We were quite noisy, but my host didn’t react her words.

“Princess Luna, has told me to report to you and carry out whatever task you require.”

Twilight Sparkle walked to me, I mean us. She inspected us and seemed to look at my hosts horn. “You should do. What is your name guard?”

“I am called Private Corn Dog, mam.”

“Have a seat.” She waved a hoof acroos the table at a rather comfy looking pillow.

“I’d prefer to stand.”

“Sit down,” she commanded dropping any hint of cordiality. It was quite clear this was an order not a request. Corndog obeyed. Once we were sitting across from her, her cheery disposition returned.

“Do you know who I am, Private?”

“Yes, you are the Princess Celestia’s protégé, and one of the six heroes of Equestria. They call you the Element of Magic.” She nodded. Apperently she wasn’t a Ministry Mare yet.

“And, what do you know about memory spells?”

“I know the princesses have been working on a memory orb that allows for unicorns to observe other ponies memories.”

“They aren’t working on it any more.” She hovered a clear orb similar to the one I was now in. “They finished it a while ago.” She set it on the table and hovered out a large cube crystal the size of a ponies head. It was covered in gold inlays. “Do you know what this is?” My host only shook his head. “This is a memory shard. It was an ancient magic artifact that allowed ponies to store memories. It is not as advance as a memory orb, and were much harder to produce on a large scale.” At that moment the door behind them opened.

In walked an indigo alicorn two hooves taller than my host. She had a set of wings larger than a pegasus and a horn twice as long as any I had ever seen. She was wearing a blue carapace and had a long flowing ethereal mane that shone like the midnight sky. She was the most beautiful pony I had ever laid my eyes on. On one side of her was a pink earth pony. It was a young Pinkie Pie, her hair was still all pink and were missing the characteristic white streaks. On the other side was Rainbow Dash, dressed in a dark blue suite. With out hesitation my host postulated himself on the ground. “Princess Luna!”

The royal alicorn surveyed the room. “Oh, have ye not begun Twilight Sparkle?”

“I was just getting to it your majesty.”

“Very well, do not let our presence heed ye any further.” They all came up and sat at the table. Twilight looked at the princess. “Go on,” said Luna waving her hoof at the future ministry mare. Twilight shook her mane and regained her composure.

“As I was saying, this artifact has some dangers to it. It runs off of a unicorns own magic. It can drain ones magic completly and has been known to put unicorns to sleep for days. We have been going through and transferring the information on the shards to the newer orbs. However, we cannot seem to do a direct transfer on this particular memory. We want you to look into it and will take the memory from you and transfer it into this orb.”

My host put a hoof to his chin. “If it’s not too much to ask mam, why don’t you just observe the memory yourself?”

“We cannot chance losing Twilight Sparkle for two days. Not with Celestia’s upcoming announcement. Tis’ is not a request soldier! We need the Elements of Harmony to see this memory.” Poor Corndog shook in fright. Luna could really turn the scary on. He gulped and leaned foreword focusing his magic on the cube. Nothing happened. “It has a lock. The key is Selene casus.”

“What’s ‘Selene casus’ mean?” the world faded away. Everything seemed to shift. There was a sudden image of a fire and screaming, everything faded black again. Some time passed and this time I found myself in a purple earth pony mare. It was a memory in a memory! The purple mare was standing before a door staring into the polished floor at her reflection. She turned behind her and I could see Canterlot. The castle ground was finished, but the city was still being built. We waited for a minute, before the door opened. A guard pony wearing golden armor opened the door. “The princess will see you now.”

The earth pony mare walked into the throne room. It was a long majestic hall with stained glass windows. At the end were a large series of steps leading up to a throne with two pegasus guards at the base. My new host walked up to the steps averting her eyes. Once she reached the base she bowed down low. “Princess Celestia!”

“Rise.” The mare rose and looked upon the princess. She was an alabaster alicorn, taller than her sister, with larger wings and horn. Her mane flowed on ethereal currents and shone the colors of pink, green, and blue. “Guards leave us.” Without delay they marched out the room and shut the door behind them. The alicorn majestically stepped down the stairs up to the mare. At the last step she rushed foreword and embraced the mare, breaking decorum. “Kimono, it has been so long. Too long.”

I felt a smile spread across Kimono’s face. “I have missed you too princess.” The alicorn set us down. “Why have you called for me?”

She looked down, for a second looking embarrassed, before instantly regaining composure. “Tomorrow is the 555th Summer Sun Celebration. Do you know what happened 555 years ago, Kimono?”

I felt a hoof rise to my chin, before slamming it back on the ground. “It is the anniversary of your defeat of Night Mare Moon.”

Celestia slowly walked foreword in the hall. Kimono closely followed. “Tell me what do you know about Nightmare Moon.”

“She was another Alicorn. She attempted to usurp your rule and establish an unending night.”

“But do you know who she is?”

“I’m afraid I do not understand your question.”

Celestia just slowly ambled away, “I figured as much.” She stopped at a particular stained glass window. She stuck out her hoof and placed it on the figure of an indigo alicorn fighting some strange dragon along with an ivory alicorn. “Her name was Luna before she was Nightmare Moon. She was my sister. Together we defeated Discord using the Elements of Harmony. We established our rule as equals. I controlled the sun and she the moon.” She turned and stared us in the eyes. “It is due to her I refuse to take the title of queen. You see, even if my sister is in the moon, she yet still lives. She too is the rightful ruler of Equestria.”

I felt Kimono gasp. “But Princess, the legends say you alone are the bearer of the Elements of Harmony.”

Celestia laughed, and kept on laughing until her voice sounded out as a cry. “Legend! It is not legends, it is history. To me it’s not even yet ancient history. What decades are to you, are centuries to me. I was forced to steal control of the elements and use them against the other bearer of the elements. I turned the most magical creation in the land into stone just to banish my own sister. Tell me Kimono, you’re a historian, what does history say about the Elements.”

I felt Kimono frown. She looked at her own hooves. “They are the strongest known magic in the world. Nothing can override their effects. Only those chosen by destiny can ever wield them. They are the last know defense in Equestria, and that you alone are the sole bearer, Princess.”

The Princess nodded. “All true, though I fear that soon they too will fall away to legend. I am the last bearer. As long as they are tied to me their spell cannot be undone.” Celestia looked very sad. “If I were to die, the chain will be broken. Destruction this world has not known for thousands of years will be unleashed. Maybe even my sister will return.”

“Pray it never happens Princess.”

Celestia turned cold, anger in her eyes. “Pray that my sister not ever feel the earth beneath her feet again.”

Kimono averted her eyes and bowed. “No, that you shall ever pass on, your Highness. We would be lost without your guidance.”

Celestia turned away. “I’m sorry dear Kimono. I am not myself today. The truth is, as long as a single bearer of the Elements of Harmony yet lives, and remains connected, the magic effects of the Elements will carry on. I believe my sister’s banishment shall carry on until the next bearers appear. The Elements are always on the search for their next bearers. Should a group be worthy, the elements will accept them. The chain has never been broken. The elements have always found a replacement group when the last bearer passed away. Not a day has passed in Equestria without the continued influence of the Elements of Harmony. If I were to die today, the Elements would designate a new group of bearers and all the magic my sister and I used could potentially be reversed.” The Princess slowly returned to her throne. She stopped at the first step, back facing towards us. “What do you know of the events eighty years ago?”

“Do you mean the Dragon Griffon Conflict?”

“I forgot that also happened. No I mean here in Equestria to the south.”

“It was another legend, your majesty. It was said a star fell in the desert.”

“You’ll soon find Kimono, that legends have a habit of turning out to be partial truth.” She turned; there was a smile on her face. She conveyed hope. “A star did fall, but that is not all. It came and sung. It sang a song that could one day save us all. However, that is not all, something else came that same day, something that could change Equestria.” The princes walked back up the stairs to her throne and took her seat. Her royal presence fully returned. “Kimono, I have an assignment. I need you to travel to the village of Hoofington, There you’ll find a contingency of soldiers who will do your bidding. Your assignment, should you chose to accept it, is to uncover the complete history of the area. The fate of my sister may very well lay in your hooves.” At that a green flame erupted from Celestia, summoning a sealed envelope. It whisked through the air and landed at our hooves.

“Very well, your Highness,” responded Kimono in a low bow. The memory ended and the world turned black. I found myself back as Private Corndog. We were laying our head on a table. We opened our eyes to see Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie playing a game of checkers. Pinkie Pie noticed our return first.

“Hey, he’s back. Welcome back soldier pony,” She said waving happily at us. Dash nudged one of her pieces before rising.

“Hey this unicorn is awake now.” She sat back down as Twilight and Luna returned. Pinkie pie rubbed her chin before picking up a piece and jumping two of Rainbow Dashes.

“King me!”

“Hey that’s unfair. Let me take my move back, I was distracted.” Twilight pushed the Pegasus out of the way.

“Private Corndog, how are you, did you experience any memory loss.”

“No mam. It was a success,” I felt myself say. Twilight seemed relieved. Luna looked disappointed.

“That’s a shame. Twilight, remove his memory up to when he came in the came into the room.

“If you say so Princess.” Her horn glowed and I was forced out of the memory.

I was back in the camp. Morning snored next to me. All of the Zebras were crashed out. I couldn’t see Sky anywhere. I assumed she was on patrol. I laid my head down to try to get some sleep. The only thing was I found myself trying to imagine the world 700 years ago. I fell asleep thinking about the princesses. They were easily the two most beautiful mares I have ever laid eyes on. I think Luna was prettier.

That night I had another dream, this time it was a memory. In it I was a foal playing ‘hit the sprite-bot’ with Lightning. She was faster and stronger, but back then we were evenly matched. We ran together. The machine bobbed and weaved. It acted unlike a regular one, which generally ignored us even as it got smashed in. Lightning tripped and I took the lead. I jumped up and grabbed the machine in my hooves. Instead of playing that annoying march it was silent. The electronic eye focused on me and the thing spoke. “Hello, can you please not destroy this unit. I am trying to use it for something.”

“Silly robot, we can’t let a spy bot go.” I hit it in my hooves. As it started to spark I threw it and laughed at the explosion. Then I heard another explosion and it wasn’t from my dream. I opened my eyes in time to see a ring sweep across the sky clearing away the cloud canopy exposing the starry sky beyond. Unlike the first time I was unable to see the moon, but the heavens were just as beautiful as remembered.

“Wow, its so pretty. I’ve never seen so many stars,” chimed Morning. I only nodded in agreement.

“This can’t be good,” responded Sky, already putting on her armor and battle saddle.

“What makes you say that?”

“Enclave don’t appreciate cloud bursts. I am plenty sure whatever caused this will be rectified soon with extreme prejudice. Besides, Paris and his cohorts already took of into the desert. We are going it alone.” I looked around and sure enough there were only three bedspreads and no zebras in sight. I was going to argue, but I noticed Morning was already packing.

“I suppose it won’t hurt if we head out now.” I rolled up my bedding and threw on my coat and hat when a bright light from the air shined on me. I turned and stared into the light only to see a red line scan over me. The light shifted towards Morning and Sky repeating the same process. As it turned I made out a floating triangular ship floating silently in the air not making a noise. The light turned off.

“That’s not Enclave,” screamed Sky.

“What do we do,” asked Morning.

“Run,” screamed Sky and me. And, we were off to the races. As we dashed while the ship followed silently. Next, came a noise. It was like two hundred tons of metal scraping together. It was so loud I felt the vibrations of the noise force me to the ground. I could not think, I actually felt pain. I turned and saw morning on the ground wreathing in agony, hooves covering her ears. Slowly the ship hovered directly over us and the bottom opened up. I turned towards Sky who was saying something, but no sound reached me. She opened fire and the noise disappeared. The ship suddenly shot the opposite direction as Skies bullets harmlessly hit an invisible shield. Morning pulled out her rifle and soon joined Sky. A part of the shield started glowing red and a moment later a shot of light flashed from it. It was pointed nowhere near us, hitting thirty yards away. The light disappeared and the ground it hit explodes throwing all three of us high into the air. I found myself falling towards a group of sharp rocks aimed to impale me. I charged my horn and teleported myself as quickly as I could manage.

Unfortunately, I did not have time to designate a location and found myself hundreds of feet in the air free falling. All I could do was scream as the ground came closer. However, before I had fallen even half way a blue circular light shot out and caught me, holding me in the air. No longer in imminent danger I surveyed my surroundings. Morning and Sky where nowhere to be found, and I was unable to move. Slowly the light drew my in towards the ship, but out of nowhere Sky flew up behind me and yanked me out of the light; as we lifted we flew over the ship. It rang out another loud sound knocking me loose from Sky’s grip. Now Sky and me were in free fall together. I reached out my hoof and she reached out hers. Just as got a hold of one another’s grasps, the ship shot out another blue light snatching both of us out of the air.

“Well this sucks,” Said Sky.

“Where is Morning?” I heard a rifle fire off in the distance at the ship. “Oh there she is.”

As we lazily floated towards in opening in the ship, Sky called out. “Morning save your ammo and run. Were not taking this thing down any time soon.” An explosion rung out behind the ship. “Well that might take it down,” said sky gesturing towards a large Enclave ship. The blue light faded and we were in free fall again. Only this time Sky had me in her grasp. Just before we hit the ground she pulled up. I felt my hooves touch the ground and started running. Sky dropped me as I dashed off towards where I heard Mornings rifle fire earlier. Sky dropped besides me and ran for a little to gain up speed before leaping into the air and flying next to me. Our path was lit by flashes of red and pink behind us.

I heard a loud explosion. I turned and saw the ground a quarter of mile back was erupting in flame. I saw the enclave ship shooting pink beams of light into the alien ships shield, while the alien ship was shooting its red death beam at some target on the ground. Out of the Enclave ship I made out dozens of pegasi taking to the air to engage the ship. I turned my head and saw Morning jumping up and down trying to get my attention off in the distance. I felt Sky’s tail brush my face when I was hit by an idea, which hurts a lot less then getting hit by just about anything else. I grabbed her tail pulling Sky to a stop. She turned, anger covering her face. Before she spoke I teleported to Morning. I wrapped a hoof around Morning and teleported as far north as I could muster. The three of us hit the ground maybe a mile and half north.

I turned to check on my comrades, they were both sizzling. “Sorry, I’ll try to be gentler next time.” As I giggled at my own lame joke Morning Pointed her hoof to the south.

“Look.” The battle suddenly ended. Everything went silent before a castrophany of noise roared out.

“That was a sonic boom. No Enclave ships are capable of breaking the sound barrier. Their cloud components would break.” Morning and me searched the sky for the source of the sound. “Don’t bother looking, that sound means it is long gone.”

“What was that ship,” asked Morning to no one in particular. I was going to answer, but Sky beat me.

“That was a star beasts ship.”

“Star beast?”

“A monster from beyond the stars. They have freaky technology and come from the stars.”

“It was a human craft,” I corrected.

“Humans don’t exist,” said the two mares in unison.

Morning shook her head. “I can accept some space pony, but not humans.”

“Silly ponies that was a star itself. Coming to reap the souls of pony and zebra alike.”

“Not you too Paris. Wait! Paris!” I turned behind me to see Paris, Zolka, and Knox standing behind us. “I thought I would never so you’re stripes again.” He smiled.

“Sorry for leaving you three, but when the sky opens up it usually is time to run,” apologized Zolka.

“Oh thank heavens,” screamed Sky as she tackle hugged the unsuspecting zebra mare. “I almost thought we weren’t going to get paid.”

“Yeah, I was worried for you too Soaring Skies,” deadpanned Zolka back.

Footnote: Level up! Level 8

New Perk: Lady Luck: Sometimes when you enter SATs the mysterious Lady Luck will appear and help you out with her special Magnum.

Unarmed Level 100

Authors Note:
I had real trouble with this chapter. I actually gave up and rewrote it, moving stuff that was supposed to happen later forward. I generally try to keep the length down to make these chapters more manageable, but I felt I needed to cover the entire desert crossing in this chapter. In fact, the beginning of this chapter was originally going to the beginning of the next chapter, but it worked so well with this one that I left it. Thanks to all my readers and KKat, Mimezinga, and Lauren Faust for their respective works and inspiration. I’ll try to pick up the release of the next chapter quicker.