• Published 16th Feb 2021
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Fallout Equestria: Blue Destiny - MagnetBolt



Far above the wasteland, where the skies are blue and war is a distant memory, a dark conspiracy and a threat from the past collide to threaten everything.

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Chapter 46 - Champagne For My Real Friends, Real Pain For My Sham Friends

“Tell me everything,” I said quietly, sitting down on the other side of the planning table on in the Raven’s Nest. Maybe I should have come in demanding answers and yelling and making a lot of noise because the other ponies in the room just gave me sort of a worried look.

“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Quattro asked. She was leaning back in a chair with her rear hooves up on the table, totally at ease. The yellow mare somehow managed to look composed and serious despite being a fraction of a degree from having the chair under her fall backwards.

“The last time I saw Dad, he surrendered himself just so we could get away,” I said. “I have to at least try.”

“It was his decision to make,” Quattro pointed out. “I don’t know what kind of pony he really was, but he did a decent thing right at the end.”

“He was a jerk and never really seemed all that interested in actually being a parent,” I said. “I don’t think he liked me, or anypony else. But he’s still my dad.”

“Mm. You remember the ship that picked him up, the Juniper, swung around here and really messed up our plans to go to the surface,” Quattro said. “We think he’s still on board, and we know where the ship is.”

“Attacking a battleship head-on is…” I hesitated.

“Impossible,” Captain White Glint said. She said it firmly, with a commanding presence. “You’d have to be suicidal to even try without fire support.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “It only barely worked when I did it.”

The room went quiet.

“Anyway, we don’t have assault armor to do the heavy lifting,” I continued. “But we’ve snuck onto ships a few times. We just have to be quiet and careful.”

“You’re right, but also wrong,” White Glint said. “Emma?”

“When we were trying to track you down after you fell to the surface, I got in touch with a lot of the ponies I knew from the military,” Emerald Sheen said. “Since we saved the Shoals and mostly cleared our names, they’ve been pretty sympathetic. I’m not exactly going to get my commission back, but they’re not going to arrest any of us on sight.”

“That’s good,” I said.

“The word going around is that the captain of the Juniper, Polar Orbit, knows he overstepped his bounds and is trying to butter ponies up,” Emerald continued. “He’s hosting an officer’s ball at a resort and sent out a lot of invites.”

“He should have gotten arrested for getting into a shooting match with the ponies here, but a military tribunal cleared him of charges when he explained how he believed Dashites had taken over the city after the death of Governor Tilt Fuse.” White Glint said.

“Polar Orbit explained it to them very carefully while stuffing bits in their pockets,” Quattro said. She sat up straight, letting the chair hit the floor. “It’s just how things are. He’s got powerful backers and what seems like an infinite amount of money.”

“His ship will be at the resort, huh?” I asked. “No problem!”

Emma shook her head. “Big problem. The resort is already a military facility, extremely heavily guarded. And with so many officers there, there won’t be any holes in the security or guards sitting around bored with the routine. Everypony will be at the top of their game.”

“So what are we supposed to do, then?” I asked. “You wouldn’t bring all this up if you didn’t have a solution.”

White Glint motioned to the map on the table. “We have a rough idea of what the security is like. There’s one important thing to remember. This is a resort, a vacation destination for Enclave higher-ups, not a military base.”

“That means no guards standing around inside the resort making things difficult,” Quattro explained. “The security perimeter is extremely tight, but it’s outside the resort. Once you’re on the other side of the cordon, you’re in the clear.”

I nodded. “So we just need to get jobs as waiters and maids, work at the resort during the ball, and infiltrate the ship!”

“That would have been a good plan six months ago when we could have gotten people on the inside,” White Glint said. “But we have something else in mind. The interim Governor, Commander Farsight, got a VIP invite for the officer’s ball as an apology for all the trouble the Juniper caused.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Really. She wasn’t going to go, but since we kept a bomb from going off and leveling half the city, she’s feeling more generous. You’re going to go with her as her plus one.”

“Me?”

“It’s your father, and you’ve proven you can operate on your own,” White Glint said. “If you want one of us to go instead, that’s fine, but I have to offer it to you first.”

“I’ll go,” I said. “If I can rescue him with my own two hooves…” I wasn’t sure what would happen. I’d pay him back for letting himself get captured? He might start to respect me? I’d be able to call that part of my life over and done with?

I’d have to figure out what I wanted out of this on the way. I didn’t have time to worry about my own feelings.


“I can’t believe they won’t let me go with you!” Destiny said. “First the bomb mission, now this? Do you have any idea how boring it is to sit in a cargo hold all day?”

I leaned closer to the mirror, brushing my mane carefully. “Weren’t you stuck in one place for like, two hundred years?”

“Yes, but I was also unconscious that whole time so it doesn’t count,” Destiny retorted. “And I didn’t have a crazy know-nothing scientist trying to pry me apart for secrets.”

So there was the real problem. “Herr Doktor is just excited to see amazing BrayTech technology,” I said. I brushed out the last knot and stray curl, pinning my bangs in place sort of artistically. A little more work, and I had the rest in a tight bun. Now I needed to figure out makeup. I looked at what the others had brought me and paled. I had no idea how to use any of it, or what half of it even was.

I picked up the smallest brush I’d ever seen and looked at it with fear in my heart.

“Want some help?” Destiny asked, plucking it from my hooves. “I’m getting the impression you don’t get makeovers very often.”

“More like never,” I said. “Mom wasn’t really into fancy clothing and… well, now she’s a monster.”

Destiny floated in front of me and got to work, the brushes and pencils and other things that I didn’t even have words for orbiting her and occasionally pressing against my face.

“At least up here they have makeup,” Destiny said. “I don’t think you’d be able to find blush or eyeliner down in the wasteland no matter how much you were willing to pay for it.”

“And Dark Harbor was apparently in really good condition,” I reminded her. “A lot of ponies there said that things were worse in other towns.”

“You’d think with two hundred years ponies wouldn’t still be living in mud,” the ghost mumbled. “There. You’re good.”

She floated away and I looked into the mirror at a pony that I barely recognized. Destiny must have known a few spells she hadn’t told me about because she’d transformed me into a completely different mare.

“Oh wow,” I whispered.

“A little goes a long way,” Destiny said. “It’s the least I can do. I wish I could go with you.”

“I wish you could come too,” I told her. “But I think security might not like me showing up with a suit of power armor and a bunch of guns.”

“She’ll have a radio,” Quattro said. I turned quickly, blushing. I hadn’t even heard her walk into the room. Quattro tossed something at me. I caught it and found myself holding an ear piece. “A replacement for the one you broke.”

“It literally got shot out of my ear. I didn’t break it.” I wiggled it deep into my ear canal where it was mostly hidden.

“Everything else is going to be procure-on-site,” Quattro said. She held up the dress lying on my cot and looked over it. I couldn’t read her expression through her sunglasses, but I caught a glimpse of wistfulness when I expected amusement. She put it down carefully, smoothing out a wrinkle. “It’s a military ball, and it might be possible for you to get away with carrying a beam pistol but…”

“My aim is terrible.”

Quattro shrugged. “Not just that. It’s more likely to get you into trouble than out of it. You don’t want the guards to have any reason to remember you. There’s nothing we can do about that--” she nodded to my right forehoof. The slick metal always shimmered and gleamed like there was an oil slick across the surface. “--But the dress comes with socks, and if they give you trouble you can just start yelling about them abusing a poor, disabled mare.”

“Should I cry or yell for the manager?”

“Both! The last thing they’ll want is to look bad for their commanding officers.” Quattro smiled. “It should be easy. You remember the extraction plan?”

“I signal Commander Farsight and she claims she needs to get back to the Shoals to take care of an emergency,” I said.

“Right.” Quattro took a deep breath. “And if you get in real trouble?”

“Fight my way out and cause as much chaos and confusion as possible!”

“You can’t complain that the plan doesn’t cater to your strengths.”


The dress should have been uncomfortable. I should have felt like I was wearing somepony else’s skin. It was actually light and airy and made my wings and flank look amazing, and I kept sneaking glances at myself. I felt… really good. I was definitely hoping I could keep it after the mission was over.

Even the skywagon was comfortable. It was a civilian model, or had been before a lot of work was done to it. It had to be twice as long as the original design, with the interior done up in plush velvet and crystal. I peered out a small window, trying to catch a glimpse of the resort.

“You won’t get a good view of the outside,” Commander Farsight said. The pale blue mare was in a dress uniform starched so heavily it probably counted as body armor. “The windows are bulletproof and have multiple mirrored layers to deflect beams.”

“Let me guess,” I said. “Tilt Fuse was worried somepony would take a shot at him when he built this?”

“He should have been more worried about somepony running head-first at him and stabbing him in the face,” Farsight said, without any apparent emotion. “He was an embarrassment. I’m not sorry to see him go. Unofficially.”

I nodded. “Thank you for this.”

“From what I understand, and I don’t understand much, this might ruin Polar Orbit’s whole night, right in front of all the ponies he’s trying to win over.” Commander Farsight turned to glance through the armored porthole. “Having to play nice with him might make it worth being able to see his face when it happens.”

“If we do everything right--”

“If you do everything right,” Farsight corrected. “I don’t want to know the details. All I know is that I’m bringing along a date that’s going to cause trouble. Now, try to smile and look respectable. If you do anything I disapprove of, I’m disavowing you and you can deal with it on your own.”

The stretched skywagon slowed to a halt, and the armored hatch hissed open, pneumatics helping move the door out of the way. Commander Farsight stepped out first, taking my hoof as I stepped out onto the red carpet.

The resort was a huge pre-war hotel, almost like a stylized castle sitting in the middle of the most carefully-tended cloud garden I’d ever seen. It was almost as surprising to see that much green as it was to see the lake.

“An artificial beach?” I asked.

“You don’t expect anypony important to actually go down to the surface, do you?” Farsight asked. “Anything might happen to them. Even if they're a Grand Admiral.”

I looked past the facade of the resort to where the ships were docked, at the edge of that hoofcrafted lake. VertiBucks parked in a fenced-off field. The Juniper loomed closest, probably visible from every window in that resort as a reminder to the ponies inside about who had summoned them, the unusual shape of the cloudship giving it an unmistakable profile.

“Yeah, anypony might happen to them,” I agreed quietly.

The building looked more like the faded, once-grand buildings of Dark Harbor than anything that belonged above the clouds. Ponies had put a lot of time and effort into making it look like something it wasn’t -- white and grey clouds swirled together to look like marble, panels of rainbow that looked like wood or stone to a quick glance. It must have taken constant, obsessive upkeep to keep it all from falling apart.

The red carpet led us past bowing servants in black and towards the soft music of a ballroom. We stepped in together, and I scanned the room while Farsight was announced. I thought I’d be out of place in the crowd, but I should have known better. This was an officer’s ball. Sure, half the guests were the kind of ponies to buy their positions, but just as many had earned their rank with hard work. I was hardly the most dangerous-looking pony in the room.

“Don’t get into trouble,” Farsight whispered, before letting go of my hoof. I gave her a polite bow and walked away. I wasn’t exactly intending to mingle, but I was going to have to play nice until I could figure out a way to slip away.

Also, the buffet table called to me like a stormjoy luring its prey into its clutches. A siren song of tiny, extremely intricate bites, each one crafted to be perfect in every way.

I had to resist licking my lips as I stalked up to the buffet table like a predator. I could see the perfect prey already. Something simple, unsuspecting, a cracker topped with a slice of bright red, a sprinkle of white, a drizzle of black, crowned with a bright green leaf. It didn’t even see me coming before it was too late, and I had already ensnared it.

“Mmm~” The taste was enough to almost bring tears to my eyes! Sweet tomato and bright vinegar with salty and herby flavors to balance it all out.

“It seems the canapes meet with your approval,” sad a smooth voice that sent a shiver down my spine. I’d heard it before. Over the radio.

I turned and tried to fake a smile.

Two unicorns had peeled themselves away from the crowd. I eyed up the taller of them, a slender unicorn stallion, tall enough to look me in the eye, with pale lavender fur that was almost white. His mane was a darker shade of the same color, held back in a bun. His uniform was stark white with overly ornate cuffs and a gold collar.

“Polar Orbit,” I said.

“You have the better of me,” he said, bowing politely with a hoof to his chest. “I saw you arrive with Commander Farsight. I was going to ask after her mood, but I find you quite intriguing as well.”

“I don’t trust her,” said the mare at his side. The second she spoke up I could tell the little orange mare was barely old enough to be in the uniform she was wearing. I glanced at her and the light caught marks around her horn. I’d have recognized those marks anywhere. Four Damascus had the same scarring.

“You’re augmented,” I said.

She bristled at that. “How do you know about that? And why can’t I hear your thoughts?” She narrowed her eyes, and I could just barely feel it. A kind of pressure coming from her. “You have some kind of special training, don’t you?”

“Don’t be rude to our guests, Cube,” Polar Orbit chided. He smiled at me. “I apologize on her behalf. May I have your name? You seem to know mine, and it’s terribly rude of me not to have learned yours.”

I couldn’t use my real name. He knew too much about my parents. My name had to have come up at some point. I’d thrown an alias at him before, when we’d briefly spoken back in Cirrus Valley. It would probably be stupid to use the same one. I just had to be really clever and think fast and come up with something. I glanced to the side.

“Uh… Wing,” I said. “Wind Wing.”

His eyes narrowed, and he smiled. It was a great name and he definitely believed me.

“I see,” Polar Orbit said. He offered me his hoof. “Would you join me for a dance?”

“I’m not really much of a dancer,” I said. “Maybe next time. I think you’ve already got a mare to escort anyway.” I looked at the little mare. She blushed.

“Next time,” Polar Orbit agreed.

I watched him go, and Cube shot me a look as they went to the dance floor with the change of music. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Jealousy? Suspicion? I felt something when she was looking at me, but it wasn’t as distinct or powerful as anything I’d felt from Four.

I glanced around. A lot of ponies were taking the opportunity to join in. Nopony was looking at me, so it was the perfect time to slip away. I stepped up to one of the waiters.

“Excuse me,” I whispered. “Could you tell me where the powder room is? I just need to freshen up.”


Ponies always say they like to take long walks on the beach at night. It’s kind of a cliche. This was the first time I’d actually tried doing it. It was boring. Maybe it would have been better if it had been a real beach on a real sea and not a fancy swimming pool.

I still had my fancy dress on. There hadn’t been a good spot to take it off, and if somepony saw me, I could try making excuses about leaving the party to get some fresh air. It was almost true.

The shadow of the Juniper fell over me. The cloudship was massive, and the shape of it was subtly wrong, not the sleek knife of a Raptor-class or the huge anvil shape of a Thunderhead, but like a bird balancing on three storms caged by spells and steel, one in each wing and a third in the tail.

Something about it looked like it was ready to dive out of the sky and snatch me up.

I spotted a pony at the bottom of the gangplank. I hid behind a puff of cloud that looked a bit like a rock if you didn’t notice how it was carved and angled like a gem.

“You there?” I whispered, tapping my ear to turn on the radio.

“We haven’t heard any alarms on our end. I’m guessing things are going well?” Quattro asked.

“I’m almost at the Juniper. It looks like there are still ponies on board. I can see a guard at the ramp.” I peeked around the edge of the rock to get a look at him. He hadn’t spotted me yet. There was something off about his uniform, just like Polar Orbit’s. It was formal. Plush. Ornate and embroidered. Perfectly clean and brightly colored. “It’s not a normal enclave troop.”

“That’s not much of a surprise. Polar Orbit doesn’t trust anypony. They’re probably his personal guard making sure he’s got an exit strategy.”

“I’m not sure about the weapon he’s got, either.” It didn’t look like the beam weapons I was used to seeing. Instead of being boxy, it was round and smooth, with almost organic curves.

Quattro chuckled. “Be careful. I know you’re the world’s cutest armored vehicle, but if things go loud you’ll be in the thick of it.”

“There’s just one guard?” Emerald asked.

“That’s all I see,” I confirmed.

“Hold your position. If there aren’t at least two sentries, there’s probably a perimeter patrol.”

I waited, and only a minute later, two pegasus ponies in that same ornate uniform flew past, waving to the sentry on duty.

“Go now!” Emerald ordered. I surged into motion. And then I tripped over the hem of my really amazing, beautiful dress, flipped head-over-hooves, and face-planted into the ground right in front of the guard I was trying to surprise.

“Ow,” I mumbled into the packed clouds.

“Are you alright?” he asked. I groaned, and he helped me back up. “That looked like a nasty fall.”

“I think my pride is hurt worse than anything else,” I sighed. I hissed when I stood. “Ow! My hoof!”

“Let’s go get that checked out,” he said. He grabbed his radio before I could stop him. “This is Position 2. I’m escorting a civilian to the hotel doctor.” He paused, listening. “It’s not an emergency. Just a little bump and scrape, but you know how the Captain is.”

“Thanks,” I said. He slung his weapon over his shoulder, motioning for me to lean against him. I smiled.


I thought about dumping him in the lake, since ponies wouldn’t find him there, but he seemed like a nice pony and I didn’t want him to drown, so I only dragged him behind a rock so he could have a nice nap where nopony would see. I really needed to do something about the dress but what was I supposed to do now -- ditch it on the ship in some closet? I mean, objectively, yes, it was just a dress, but it made me feel fancy.

Also I’d read a couple of spy thrillers back when I was a filly and they always did everything in fancy ballgowns and tuxedos. I just needed a pocketwatch that had a hidden glass cutting mechanism and a micro-explosive. Or maybe a pen that was actually a deadly poison dart thrower! Or whatever kind of gadget would get me past the security barrier I found when I got down into the heart of the ship.

Because I was distracted pretending I was Lightning Blonde, I almost walked right into a trap like the big dumb idiot I actually was.

“Emerald?” I whispered. “You know Enclave security systems. How do I bypass, uh…”

I looked at the grid of magical beams across the corridor.

“A laser wall? It looks like a laser wall.”

“That’s an unusual system,” Emma replied. “Deadly lasers, or just bright lights?”

They sizzled. I could taste the ionized air. “I’m pretty sure they’re deadly.”

“Okay. Do you see a pad anywhere with controls? Maybe a combination code?”

I looked around. “No. There’s a pad next to it, but it’s sort of shaped funny. There’s a mark for a hoof and a camera or something. There aren’t even any controls. Should I smash it?”

“No! Don’t smash it!”

I lowered my hoof. She’d only barely been in time to stop me.

“They must be using some kind of biometric scanner. You won’t be able to bypass this on your own. It takes specialized tools and training. If you just break it off the wall, you’ll set off every alarm on the ship, and then that’s probably going to cascade into everything blowing up.”

“Right,” I mumbled. I rubbed my chin. Maybe that was exactly what--

“That’s bad, Chamomile,” Quattro said. “It’s not Plan B. Or Plan C. Figure something else out.”

I made an annoyed sound and looked around. If I was going to come up with a better plan than running directly into deadly lasers and alerting everypony that I was there, I had to use all my brainpower. I had to hide because I caught the shadow of somepony coming around the corner on the other side of the grid!

I scampered back the way I’d come, hiding around the side of the intersection. I didn’t have any fancy gadgets, but I did have earrings. I carefully took one out, waited until the guard was close, and tossed it low, letting it hit the floor on the other side of the intersection with a clatter.

“Huh?” He stepped out into the intersection, looking towards the noise. Just as planned.

I grabbed him from behind, one hoof hooking his neck, the other grabbing the pistol from his belt.

“I have a wife and kids!” he said immediately.

I frowned. “You had that rehearsed.”

He shrugged a little. “I want to live long enough for it to be the truth.”

I rolled my eyes and slammed him into the wall. He wobbled a few times and fell down. I jammed the gun into my dress. Then I realized I should have made him open the laser gate before I knocked him out. I swore under my breath and dragged him over to the scanner.

“How do I work this thing?” I asked.

“Press his hoof against the mark on the pad,” Emma instructed, I hefted him up and held his hoof against it. A small yellow light appeared.

“Uh. Now what? The laser is still turned on.”

“You mentioned a camera?” Destiny cut in. “We had some biometric scanners back in the Cosmodrome on the secure labs. If it’s the same kind of setup, that might be a retina scan. Hold his hoof to it and make him look into the camera at the same time.”

“Great,” I mumbled, struggling to get him in position, pulling his eyelid open with one hoof and holding his mane in my teeth. The yellow light turned green, and the lasers turned off. I spat out his mane. “Oh hey! That worked!”

“Now make sure to go through quickly,” Emerald said. “We don’t know how long it stays off.”

Just as she finished the last word, it snapped back on.

I swore loudly enough that they heard it over the radio, then levered the unconscious pony back into place. This time, the instant the lasers turned off, I hefted the limp stallion and stepped past the barrier before it could turn back on.

There was a convenient janitor’s closet right on the other side of the barricade, probably so ponies cleaning that area didn’t have to use the scanners over and over. I opened it up and tossed my new friend inside.

“Have a nice nap,” I said, waving goodbye and closing the door behind me. I was starting to feel extremely clever. I’d managed to sneak inside, gotten past security, and nothing was on fire! Honestly, just getting this far with no explosions was a big step up from my usual methods.

I looked around and carefully made my way forwards. I wasn’t sure exactly where I was going, but if they put some crazy security systems in place, I had to be headed the right way. A laser grid like that would be a great way to secure prisoners. Or an armory. Honestly, I’d take either one.

Something tickled at my awareness. It was that feeling of being watched, the coat on the back of your neck standing on end because you could just sense the eyes boring into you from somewhere nearby. A door at the end of the hallway beckoned. It might as well have had a big sign on it that said ‘this way’.

Whatever it was, stealth probably wasn’t much of an option. I walked up to the door and hit the control, popping it open with a quiet hiss of pneumatics. Inside, it was a cargo bay, with a big armored door on the far wall. Crates and tarps and digging equipment were stacked and strapped down around the room, but I barely even noticed them. The young orange mare, really just a filly, leaning against the armored door and glaring at me? She had all my attention right now.

“I think Polar Orbit said your name was Cube?” I asked.

“How did you know what I was?” she demanded.

I took a deep breath. “I knew a pony who had the same procedures done to them,” I said. She needed to hear the truth. “She suffered a lot because of it. Her memories were erased. I tried to help get them back, but… she died.”

“If she died she was pathetic,” Cube spat. “The only measure of success for a weapon is victory!”

“Ponies aren’t weapons,” I retorted. “Four wanted to be more than a tool. You don’t have to be one either. Why don’t you come with me, get a chance at being--”

“I will never betray my father!” Her horn blazed with pink light. It was like pressure surging out of her body, and part of me was screaming ‘DANGER’. I didn’t even catch what she was doing until it was too late.

Laser pistols flew out and away from her, spinning through the air and surrounded by her aura. They snapped into place pointing at me and flew like tiny drones, firing before I could even react to what was going on. One beam caught me in the neck. Another in the chest. A third hit my shoulder. I threw myself behind crates, trying to get out of her line of sight.

“That was too easy,” Cube said smugly. “I saw those shots land. If you’re not already dead, you will be soon.”

I bit back a retort. Those laser blasts had really stung! I touched my neck. There was a little blood, and I stunk like burned hair.

“If you’re not bleeding too badly, why don’t you tell me who you’re working for?” Cube asked. I stayed quiet and listened. She was getting closer. I could feel it. “It won’t save your life, but it would be polite.”

She was right on the other side of the crate.

I flew out of cover, roaring and pushing my body, letting everything go out of control. The world slowed to a crawl and I saw the shock and horror on her face when she looked at me. I snapped my blade open and cut one of the pistols out of the air, the ruptured power cell exploding. Before the shrapnel had even landed, I spun and threw the blade at a second gun. A shot hit my back, and I landed hard right behind Cube, pulling the fourth pistol out of her magical grip and pushing it against her head. The world surged back to life, the cold frozen world erupting into heat and making me flush with fever.

“Drop it,” I warned through the gun in my mouth.

She looked back at me with terror in her eyes.

“But… I shot you…” she whispered.

“And you ruined my dress. Drop the gun.”

She tried to yank the pistol from me. I turned my head and shot just past her.

“Last warning,” I cautioned her. The aura around her horn fizzled out, and the last laser pistol dropped to the ground. I held up my metallic hoof and with a force of will, my blade spun through the air back to me, clicking into place and sliding back between my bones. Four-- I mean, Cube-- just stared at it.

“What… you’re augmented too!?” she whispered.

“Something like that,” I agreed. I grimaced. I’d taken a few laser shots and it was really stinging, like burning yourself when you cook except worse because it was from a directed energy weapon and not like a splatter of oil or an unexpectedly hot pan handle. “You’re going to take me to my dad.”


I motioned for Cube to open the door. She sullenly put her hoof on the panel and looked into the camera, the lock panel flashing green and the door sliding open on well-maintained rails. I wasn’t sure what I expected. A bunch of tiny cells and iron bars? Maybe he was being kept in bare quarters, locked up like a bird in a cage.

A big room with stacks of books, shelves, lab equipment I couldn’t identify at a glance, and a bunch of trash and artifacts being carefully dissected was not what I was picturing.

Dad looked up, already a little surprised at the door opening. He was even more shocked when he saw who it was.

“Chamomile?!” he gasped. The thick glasses on his face dropped right off their precarious perch on the tip of his snout and fell to the floor.

“I’m here to rescue you!” I said, around the pistol’s grip.

“What? No! I can’t-- Chamomile, I’m working on something!”

“Are you serious right now?” I took the gun out of my mouth and shoved Cube to the side, storming up to Dad. “You can work on whatever it is later! We need to get the buck out of here!”

“You don’t understand, Chamomile! Your mother is dangerous! This is the key to stopping her! These are--”

“I know she’s dangerous!” I shouted. “While you’ve been busy sitting on your flank, I already killed one of the other SIVA dragons! And then Mom showed up and ate it! Now she’s like… like some kind of double dragon!”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” Dad sighed. “She’s going to try and absorb the other SIVA cores. These artifacts are the key to finding them first! They’re debris from the Exodus White!”

“Wrap it up to go,” I said. “I’m sure Destiny will be excited about it.”

“You’re not going anywhere.”

The pistol I’d stuffed into my dress and forgotten about was yanked free, and Cube held it close, where I couldn’t reach it. She pointed it at me, then frowned.

“No, you’re some kind of freak. You probably won’t care if I shoot you.” She adjusted her aim, threatening my Dad. “But I don’t really care what happens to him. He’s not my dad.”

“Cube,” a stern voice called out. “Please don’t antagonize our guest any further.”

Polar Orbit was standing in the doorway, looking very calm for a pony watching a mexicolt standoff.

“Father-- I mean, Captain! I’ve captured an intruder!”

Polar Orbit looked at me, smiled, then turned his attention back to Cube. “I’m not sure that’s entirely accurate.”

“But…” Cube looked unsure. The pistol in her grip wavered. Polar Orbit’s horn lit up with soft midnight blue light and he took the weapon from her.

“Which name do you prefer?” Polar Orbit asked, putting the gun down on a table. “Wind Wing? Sugar Cane? Chamomile? Some of the ponies who’ve seen you in action have taken to calling you the Blue Devil because of that armor of yours, but I think you’re actually more intimidating without it.”

“Chamomile is fine,” I said.

Polar Orbit nodded. “I suppose you’re going to threaten me with some display of violence if I don’t agree to let you leave with your father.”

I pointed the pistol I was holding at Cube. “I was thinking of threatening her instead. She did shoot me a lot.”

Dad knocked the gun away. I blinked and looked back at him in surprise.

“You can’t! She’s…” he looked down. I saw something in his eyes. Something hurting and broken. “She’s your half-sister.”

“What?!” Cube and I yelled, at the same time. I could feel her pure disgust and surprise. She looked at me with new hatred, like a pony turning over a rock and finding something disgusting underneath.

“Your mother and I were very close,” Polar Orbit said, without even a trace of mockery in his expression or voice. He actually sounded… mournful. “When she was supervising the archeological dig at the Smokestack, she was reporting to me. I heard about what happened and knew I had to take action myself.”

“You… and my mother…” I felt my legs start to go wobbly.

“I want to help stop her too,” he said softly. “I want to save her if I can, and if I can’t, it is my responsibility to deal with her. I believe you feel the same way. Your father agreed to help me. Will you do the same?”

He held out a hoof.

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