Fallout Equestria: An Honest Soul

by _STELLAR

9 - Octapedal Equines

Chapter 9: Octopedal Equines

We all spent the rest of our day in R7, helping construct all manner of buildings in support of the new settlement. Ella, Dad, Zulu and I were helping to build the hospital, a couple hours after midday.

It was a relatively hot summer's day - as hot as the pegasi's cloud layer permitted at least - so I was working without my heavy barding, working in the nude, save for my braces and hat. Without a word, Zulu decided to leave, heading for one of the construction site's several water kegs. It had been a couple hours' hard work, so I thought nothing more of it. Ella, though, was watching him, like an angry mother suspicious about their child; she still didn't trust him, despite the collar, and my telling her he wouldn't hurt her.

Zulu returned with three flasks of water, and hoofed Ella and I one each. I thanked him, but Ella stared into the open flask, examining it as though she thought it were poisoned. Without a word, though, she sipped, staring into him as she did.

"So, you think a spider can help find Brandy for us?" she challenged Zulu after she had finished.

"Queen Octan respects me. I am confident she will help."

Ella made a judgy-looking face. "So it takes a creepy crawly to respect you. Not surprising," she said, a little too bitchily for my liking.

Zulu sighed, looking towards me with distaste, as if Ella's bitchiness was my fault. "I was told Stable Ponies would judge me for my actions, not my stripes."

"This has nothing to do with stripes, you moron," she said. "You nearly got me killed!"

"Look," I interrupted. "that's in the past now. If Zulu does something bad, I can just get him with the collar. That was the deal, right?" I now challenged Ellabelle. Forgiveness was a virtue. Just as much as Repentance.

"I don't care about a stupid collar, AB. It's him," she pointed accusingly at Zulu. "I understand you feel safe around him, but I don't."

"You think I feel safe just because there's a piece of leather around his neck? He's already tried to kill me, like, twice since the schoolhouse."

"Yeah, then he kissed you," she spat. "He has a soft spot for you, AB. But I wanna stay as far away from him as possible. I don't think you understand how awful being dragged into that treehouse felt. Paralysed. Being told I was gonna be taken away. We barely escaped with our lives. That was on him. I don't want anything to do with him."

"As I said," Zulu spoke up. "you cannot come with us either way. We will be gone soon, and you won't be with us."

"And where exactly are you going?" she challenged again.

"I think south-west of here," he said. "I will have to check a map before we leave, but the Cave must only be little more than a couple hours' trot from here."

"Is it safe?"

"Is anywhere?"

"Is it safe?"

"Of course not. If it were not for me, they would capture Applebuck as soon as they saw him. They would then drain his life essence and share it with the colony. And if that does not happen, the radiation will slowly sicken him."

"Your home is radioactive?!" We asked in stereo, amazed at his not being dead right now.

He sighed. "You will see."

"I don't think so," said Ella. "If that place is dangerous, AB is staying here. You go on your own, and bring back this Tracker of yours."

He smirked. "Alright then. I will leave for the Cave, and will return with our Tracker."

"Oh nice try. Then you hide in the Cave forever and never come back."

"I am a zebra. Not an ursa-major."

I sat between the two. I feared this would either end in a hoof fight, or angry kissing. Unfortunately, I knew it would be the former. "Fighting is getting us nowhere. Zulu - can you bring me to a Tracker?" He nodded. "Ella - can you look after people in this hospital when it's done?" She nodded. "Good, then that's what's gonna happen. Got it?" Reluctantly, they both nodded.

"Then we'll leave tomorrow morning, Zulu. The sooner we find Brandy, the sooner we can come back here. If, by some miracle, you can prove to me that you're worthy of being set free, I'll make it so. Until then, you stick by my side, and if I find you've stolen anything, you get the collar. As Maamsir says: capisce?"

Not meeting my gaze, he reluctantly nodded. I turned to Ella, and spoke more calmly. "Look, I just want him back. Dad was right. I wasn't happy in the Orchard. I just wanted Brandy. So I'm gonna do everything I can do to get him back."

She sighed. "Please do. And if it's at all possible, try to bring back more resources for R7. Maybe Zulu's thieving might come in handy that way. We could use as many resources as possible."

I nodded. "I promise. And don't send anyone to get me if I don't come back. If I'm not back in a year or something… well…"

"Well you better get your ass back here." She smiled. "No more Brandy. No more AB. My only friend will be your Dad! That's just weird."

We both laughed. It was a lovely little moment for us, one I didn't realise I had been desperately craving. Friendship. And I was willingly walking away from it to rescue another friend. Very quickly our laughter was cut off by a sound I dreaded ever hearing again.

"Applebuck!"

I winced, remembering that final day I spent in the Orchard. Like on that final day, once again Loveberry chided me for being distracted at work as everyone but her worked hard to build the hospital. Zulu Ella and I carried on working, praying not to get a verbal beating from her.

I supposed I had sort of come full circle. Where once I was working for Loveberry, now I was working for Loveberry. Again. But the circle wasn't complete yet. It would never be complete until Brandy was brought back home.

And mark my words: I would bring him home.

***

That night, myself and the others were spending the night at the same place most of the Stable was: a shelter, using sleeping bags, mattresses, or even just a blanket and some old hay if you were unlucky enough, for sleeping in.

Most of my friends were asleep, but I knew from the night before that Zulu wasn't asleep yet.

"Who's Queen Otctan?" I quietly asked from beside him.

No response.

"Nice try, but I know what you sound like when you sleep. Spill it."

He sighed. "She is the Queen of the spider-ponies."

"Oh? They're ponies now, too?"

"The spider-ponies are a race as old as the Wasteland. They were bred from the radiation. And they come in all manner of shapes and sizes. The Queen is the tallest and most powerful. Others are small, others are thin, others are fat. Some are black, some are brown, some are white, and so on. Our Tracker is on the small side, and resembles more so a large spider than a spider-pony."

"Okay, so what about the radiation? Won't that kill us?"

"It will kill you, yes. But only after prolonged exposure. You will feel rad-sickness far sooner. The spiders partly feed off of the radiation, though physical food is far more nutritious for them. Also, they have a special venom in their fangs that acts as Rad-Away. Prolonged exposure to that will result in a natural resistance to radiation. Though even I must take the anti-rad venom when exposed to the Cave for so long."

"So all I have to do is get bitten by a radioactive spider and I'll have the rad-resistant powers of one?"

"No you fool. It would take years, as it has for me. The venom's effect on you will be very temporary."

Oh. I was kinda hoping I could get super powers for a second there.

"Are there any other non-spiders in the Cave?" I asked.

"None."

"Then why do they trust you?"

He didn't respond for a moment. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Hey, you used a verbal contraction!" I said a bit too loudly, and immediately covered my mouth.

"A verbal what?"

"You know, 'I've' instead of 'I have', or 'can't' instead of 'cannot'. I've never heard you use one before. And come to think of it, I don't think I've ever even heard you use my name until today, back in the wagon. Why is that?"

No response.

I tried a few more times, but he never replied to anything I had to ask for the rest of the night.

***

The next morning, there was no time for dallying. Everyone was up bright and (fairly) early, so they could get to working on the town ASAP. My friends didn't go to work though. They were busy saying goodbye to Zulu and I.

Junction R7 had several boxcars for a few residents to stay in that came from an old rusted train. The train itself however, served as a barricade at the entrance of the soon-to-be town, where myself and Zulu were facing Dad, Ellabelle, and Mixen, ready to say goodbye to us for the foreseeable future.

Dad and Ella were hugging me tightly. They knew where I was going was dangerous, but they couldn't convince me to stay.

"Bucko, please," my Dad said as we departed our hug. "If I can't stop you, at least let me come with you. We can look out for each other. Tackling the Wasteland as father and son."

I smiled at him. "I'd love that, Dad. But I'm doing this with Zulu. Your place is here. And my place is nowhere without Brandy. I promise, we'll be back ASAP."

He sighed, hugging me again. "I understand why you need to do this. But if there's any doubt that you're getting yourself into a situation you might not walk away from, don't hesitate to bail. There's no shame in that."

"I'm not coming back without him, Dad."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

We departed our embrace, and I got one more look at my Dad, then Ella, the closest thing to a sister to me.

"Don't do anything stupid, stupid," she smirked at me.

"Hah. No promises, Ell."

"Yeah, well promise that you'll bail if things get ugly," she said with a bit more seriousness.

I sighed. I really didn't want to make that promise. I already danced around it with Dad. Maybe she knew I would only agree if I physically said I would, not being one to lie. Reluctantly, I agreed. No going back now.

I looked to Zulu and Mixen, who was holding his shoulders and counselling him. I could tell she was worried. She looked more like his mother than his sister right now. I made a promise the other day that I'd protect him, as well as myself from him. As I saw the worry in her face, despite his blatant lack of care for it, I knew I still had to stick by that promise.

So Zulu and I left Junction R7, determined to survive the trip. But I had a somber feeling in my heart. My mission may already have been over if Brandy was already dead. No! I had to stay optimistic. At the very least, Zulu was going home, and I was about to experience that, as well as get a helping hoof from the people he called his own. High hopes may not have been with me, but my perseverance carried me regardless.

I knew that by the end of it, whether it be in a week, in a month, or in a decade, I would walk this trail again. Only this time, with a purple earth pony by my side as we walked home. Many things may get in my way, but nothing would stop me. Nothing.

***

Fetchway rejected Zulu because he was a menace to their society. A thief who you could never feel safe around, constantly thinking about ways to swindle you.

But there's a home for everyone somewhere. And if there's a home, there's a people.

Zulu was leading me south towards his home. Mixen claimed she would be staying at R7 for a couple more days, putting her wings to use and lending a hoof or two, then she'd return to Fetchway. Zulu and I, on the other hoof, were walking along the bank of a fast flowing river. It looked surprisingly clean compared to most other water sources I'd seen in the Wastes up to this point, though it was still too muddy to tell how deep it was.

After lying perpendicular on the bank and dipping my forehoof in it, feeling the cool water flowing quickly around my hoof, my Pip-Buck alerted me that the river was slightly irradiated. I may still have been a bit smelly due to all that manual labour yesterday, but I wasn't desperate enough to have a bath in a river that could replace my legs with cancerous tentacles.

And like most Stable Dwellers, my ability to swim was non-existent. And being practically encased in metal didn't help one bit.

I noticed Zulu hadn't stopped to wait for me, and was further ahead of me than I'd liked, so I stood up and started for him. My hindhoof suddenly fell as the edge of the bank gave way where my hoof stood, and with a yelp, I barely managed to get a grip on the edge with my fronthooves as my midsection fell into the river. Grip or no grip, I was a heavy pony, and my weight was quickly causing my grip to loosen.

"Zulu! Help!"

He turned his head and quickly ran back to me, but his run turned to a canter, then to a light stroll.

"Hurry! I can't hold on!"

He gradually pranced up to me, a shit-eating smirk on his face. His smirk didn't waver as he lied down in front of me.

"Need a hoof?"

"Please!"

"Hmm… no." His smirk somehow stretched further. His hooves shuffled forwards, touching mine. "With you out of the way, they'll never know where to look for me. Freedom is now within my grasp."

His hooves pushed mine slightly. "Wait, Zulu. What about my Dad? He needs me!"

His hooves pushed further still. Very quickly my grip was losing. I tried to push up the bank with my hindlegs, but it only caused my fronthooves to completely lose traction. Instinctively, my fronthooves released and took a hold of Zulu's. Down I went into the river, with the zebra still attached to my hooves, his arrogant smirk shifting to shock in a nanosecond.

The water was cold, which was the first place my mind went as I was submerged. Unfortunately, my quickly sinking to the bottom immediately made my mind panic, as it was far deeper than I first thought. I pulled Zulu into an embrace as he struggled furiously to get to the surface, but I wouldn't allow that. I held on tight, and as my metal-covered hooves hit the river-floor, I found the river was about as deep as four ponies standing on top of each other. Three ponies taller than I had liked.

Zulu got desperate, and took a hold of one of my frontlegs and bit down hard on it. I gave a sharp yelp before I covered my mouth, chiding myself for wasting my precious air. Unfortunately, this distraction was just what Zulu needed to escape my grip and make his way to the surface.

Plans of escape raced through my head as I fell to my back. If I removed my armoured barding, legs and horseshoes, I'd probably float, at least a bit, but I wouldn't be able to use my hindlegs to stay afloat. And that's ignoring the fact that I'd then be unable to walk if I ever got out of the river.

In terms of plans of escape, that's all I could manage before I started to struggle with my lack of oxygen.

"Reach out, dear."

for what?

"Please. Just do it."

My lungs were in agony now. It was all I could do to hold out my hoof - weighted with the metal of my armoured barding, my Pip-Buck, and my horseshoe - and calm my mind enough to reach out.

Mind. Spirit. Body. But all of it was dying. All in pain. All starved of oxygen. But I could never give up. Dad was right. I was stubborn, like my Mom. And if I had even a fraction of her true stubbornness, there wasn't even a 1% chance that I wasn't going to save myself.

I reached out, my mind focusing on nothing in particular. Before, I had an object to focus on - Mixen's bolt cutters. But now, I was blind. Too panicked to think to open my eyes. I felt that same strain I had felt when the cutters were in my magical grasp, and after an agonisingly long moment, Suki told me to open my eyes.

At the same time, my hoof touched something. When I opened my eyes, a long tree trunk, held in front of me by my magic, was set before me. I held my other hoof to it, pinning it between my hooves, and released my magic.

Up I went, feeling the slightly muddy water rushing past me, and within seconds I was on the surface, exhaling and taking a deep lungful of air as I held on for dear life to the tree trunk as it drifted through the river. After a few moments, my mind started to calm down, drinking in oxygen like Dad drinking in gin on a saturday night.

Down the river I rode with my tree trunk, but gazing about, I found Zulu was nowhere in sight. I thought about saying the Z-word to keep him in place, but realised that might get him killed. A cruel part of me was okay with that. He was perfectly okay with murdering me a moment ago. He was clearly enjoying it, actually.

I rode the river for a while longer, and very soon, I found some good news. Or bad, perhaps. Near the bank of the river, I saw Zulu holding on for dear life to a tree branch, only it was still attached to a dead and blackened 'tree' on the edge of the bank. He was in a terrible position. The branch wasn't quite close enough for him to climb to the bank, and the river was too strong for him to swim to shore if he let go.

As my tree trunk approached, he caught sight of me, and fear was in his eyes. Whether he lived or died was very much up to me now. If I were Ella, I'd probably just drift right past him, like any other apple bobbing down a river.

But I wasn't Ella.

I concentrated on using my magic to create little bursts of magic that propelled me towards the bank slightly. It wasn't easy, and focusing on my Mind, Spirit and Body was very hard with the noise of the river raging in my ears, but progress was being made. All I needed was time. Which was very quickly running out.

Zulu was about a meter in front of the tree trunk, but about two meters to the side of it. One meter later, he was just a few inches out of reach as I passed him. He let go of the branch and I barely managed to grab a hold of his hoof before I drifted past him, traveling far too quickly for him to ever catch up.

As he held tightly to the tree trunk, I gave him all of five seconds to catch his breath before I unleashed my wrath.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!" I shoved him for further emphasis. "I have a family waiting for me back home! You wanna explain to my Dad why his only son miraculously drowned?"

"I'm sorry."

"No, you're not!" I stared at him. He wouldn't meet my eyes, simply staring down, at least having the decency to look ashamed. I doubted he actually was, though. "My life is important to others, Zulu. You may not like me, but this isn't about me. Did my Dad do anything to you? Or Ella? Do they deserve this? No! So suck it up and get me to where we need to go."

"The location is marked on your Pip-"

"It doesn't matter! I'm stuck with you either way because of Maamsir! I promised I'd take off that collar when you were ready. You're not!"

"What? It does not matter! Remove it and I will be gone, and you will never be in danger of me again! You lose nothing! Just remove it, you idiot."

"No. I made a promise. And unlike you, I'm not a liar. Thief." I practically spat the word out. "This is why no one trusts you, Zulu. Because when they do, you betray them. You want ponies to accept you? Then start acting like someone they want to trust."

"I never said I wanted to be accepted, idiot."

"Then what do you want?"

"I want you to set me free!"

"Not until you're a better person. That was the deal. Maybe if you didn't steal in the first place, you wouldn't be in this situation."

"Well I will be out of it soon enough. You will see."

"Yeah, we'll see about that, thief."

With no further comments to make, we drifted in silence thereafter. Luckily for us, the river flowed roughly in the direction we needed to go, so we stayed on the trunk for a while, as cold as we felt.

I checked my Pip-Buck for the location of the Cave. We would have to get out of the river soon if we didn't want to end up in the middle of nowhere. More than we already were, at least.

"Tell me about these spider-ponies." I was beyond asking Zulu with a formal 'please' at the moment. He wasn't my favourite person right now.

"I already described them to you."

"I mean what are they like? If they don't like outsiders, will they like me?"

"As long as you are with me, they will not kill you unless I tell them to."

"And if you do, I'll say the Z-word."

"Fine with me. A few moments is all you will have before the only sound escaping your mouth will be screaming, as they implant their eggs in your less meaty areas, and take your more edible areas for the colony to feed on. Our Tracker is particularly fond of equine eyeballs."

He smirked as I glared at him. Shaking my head, I told him we needed to get out of the river. Promptly, I tried to get on top of the tree trunk, only to find attempting so only caused the trunk to turn, nearly dumping Zulu and I in the river.

"Any idea how we're gonna get off?" I asked.

"You have telekinesis magic. Just lift us to the bank," Zulu suggested, as if lifting him was as easy for me as it was for his sister.

"It doesn't work like that. I can drag a small object across the floor, but I've never lifted a person before."

"You blasted me into a wall," he stated flatly.

"I was panicked. I can't just lift something that heavy on command; I need to be… energised? I guess? I need to feel strong emotions."

"You're a stupid mud-pony with a disgusting green coat, and your Dad has pink hair."

"Gee, thanks. Now I feel insulted. But not emotional."

Zulu held his hoof in front of my face, waving it from side to side slowly. Very abruptly, he smacked me hard on the nose.

"Ow! What wa-"

He cut me off with a slap across my cheek.

I then realised he was trying to get me angry. It was working. Hoping to seize the opportunity to use my magic, I thought about trying to send Zulu flying, but I knew I'd probably hurt him at this range. His hoof kept striking me, progressively harder, and in my conflicted frustration, I slammed my hoof into the water, causing a small magical blast to splash water in every direction. Very pretty, but very useless.

Smack.

My agitation started to turn to anger as my temper started getting the better of me.

Smack.

I stared into the eyes of the zebra smacking my face as I felt the stinging linger, reddening my cheeks

Smack.

His crimson red eyes reminded me of Silver Eyes' crimson red magic.

Smack.

The enemy. My enemy. The pony after Suki and her magic.

Smack.

Silver was a liar. I refused to believe what he had told me about saving Suki.

Smack.

He was manipulating me! Trying to get to Suki through me!

Smack.

Those crimson eyes - they belonged to the zebra who nearly got my friends killed.

Smack.

Ella hated Zulu for what he did to her and Brandy.

Smack.

And you know what?

Smack.

So did I!

My face scrunched up in anger as I yelled and slammed a hoof down on the tree trunk. Blue light bathed us as the trunk split and splintered, and the recoil projected me upwards, landing me hard on the bank of the river.

I stood up wearily, shaking myself off. I was still pretty miffed, and more than a little frustrated, and the realisation that I would now be walking around in wet barding all day only made things worse. But the release from the exertion felt great, if a little painful.

I saw Zulu struggling to stay afloat in the rough water - the remains of the trunk out of his reach as he drifted down the river. Entirely at my mercy. The only thing standing between him and drowning being my choice to save him.

Hmm...

"Don't you dare," Suki warned.

I sighed. I didn't need to be warned. As annoyed as I was at him, I was never gonna leave Zulu to whatever fate would await him at the end of that river. Murder was not a level I was going to stoop to out here.

I started along the riverbank, making sure to keep a safe distance so as to not risk falling in again, and caught up with Zulu. As I cantered along, I asked Suki if she had any ideas on how to get him to shore, to which she told me to run further up ahead, then lie down on my stomach.

After doing just that, I asked what next. "Close your eyes. Calm yourself and your breathing. Reach out again. You can do it."

"Lift a whole zebra!? You must be joking. I could barely drag a pair of bolt cutters the other day."

"But just a few moments ago you held a huge tree trunk under water. That's no easy feat, darling. Stop seeing Zulu as a zebra, and start seeing him as a tiny, lightweight rock. And hurry! Time's running out, dear."

Zulu was catching up quickly. How was I supposed to imagine him as a rock? I hadn't even seen a real life rock until just recently! But time was quickly running out, so I shut up and closed my eyes. I held out my hoof, focusing.

Mind, Spirit, Body. Mind, Spirit, Body. Mind, Spirit, Body. This became my mantra as I tried to connect myself to just those three things in order to use my magic. I eventually felt like my Mind, Spirit and Body was connected to Zulu, as well as myself - as though we shared a body, or maybe even a soul. And without even opening my eyes, I knew in my heart and soul exactly where Zulu was in that river.

Locking onto him, I engulfed Zulu in my magic, and created an upward lift, though it wasn't quite strong enough to elevate him.

Logically speaking, weight is equal to the mass of an object multiplied by the local gravitational field. If we remove gravity from the equation, all we have is Zulu's mass, which will be easy to move, as it will become weightless without gravity. In order to remove gravity, we need to counter Zulu's weight, which means all I need to do is-

"For Celestia's sake, Applebuck! You're overthinking this! Just imagine him as a rock. Stop thinking logically, and just lift!"

Stop shouting at me!

I regained my concentration, and I tried to imagine the weighty, zebra-shaped being in my mind's eye was just a little pebble. But it was hopless. Instead of a weightless pebble, all I could think of was a titanic bolder. So I tried a different approach. As I felt Zulu pass me and start to drift further away, I tried to imagine him as an apple.

I could easily picture it in my head: a beautiful, healthy apple - like the ones grown on Deadmare's Oak's branches. The imaginary apple turned heart-shaped, like my cutie mark, which brought back memories of when I first joined the Orchard Crew. When Brandy and I were new in the Orchard, my Mom taught us all the stretches needed for apple bucking.

A smiled formed on my face as I remembered my first day there. My legs ached by the end, so Dad took me and my new best friend to get ice cream with him and Mom.

I heard a soft thud near me. Opening my eyes, I turned my head and gazed in wonder. I realised then that Zulu was already on the bank with me.

I had done it already? That cordate apple in my head was so easy to lift, I hadn't even realised I was doing it, but why?

"Because you stopped seeing it as a zebra, rock, or even an apple, darling. All you saw was the love you formed with others. As cheesy as I may sound, dear, is there any power more grand?"

Friendship?

"Is there any difference?"

Before I could contemplate further, Zulu had fully comprehended our victory over the river, and laughed victoriously. "A mere river cannot defeat us! We are unstoppable!"

"We?" I laughed as I caught sight of his cute little victory dance. "All you did was get yourself into trouble. I saved myself from drowning, then I saved you, then I saved myself again, and now I saved you again. What's with this 'we' business?" I smirked.

He blushed, grumbling to himself as he started to walk in no particular direction. He then paused and sighed as he bowed his head. Quickly, he returned to me, mumbling, I think: "Which direction is the Cave?"

I opened the map on my Pip-Buck. Either it was lucky timing with the river, or fate had stuck us, because the Cave was only a twenty minutes' trot from here. Based on Zulu's alacrity after I told him this, I assumed we'd be there in fifteen.

***

Roughly ten minutes after our battle with the river, Zulu found himself at the entrance of a cave tunnel leading into a hillside. I, meanwhile, found myself a fair few yards behind him, after having walked not nearly as eagerly as he had been.

When I caught up to Zulu, my Pip-Buck was quick to warn me about the radiation coming from the Cave. Mild as it was now, I knew that clicking coming from my foreleg was gonna get much more frequent the deeper in we went.

"Wait here a moment," Zulu said as I caught up, then he started for the Cave without any further explanation.

"I'd feel a lot more comfortable following you," I called, though he didn't even bother to look back at me as he responded. "Do you want to get mauled by very big, and very carnivorous bugs?"

I sighed. "No."

"Then wait here. I will be only a moment."

I'd heard that one before. Defeated, I backed away from the Cave a little so the clicking would stop, then I simply waited. I fiddled with my hooves for all of three minutes before something caught my attention. My ear twitched as I thought I heard a sound from somewhere nearby. But I was wrong, mostly. It wasn't a sound I'd heard, at least not one that my ears heard. No, this sensation, it was a type of sensation that I felt rather than heard. It was like a sixth sense, and I felt it earlier on the riverbank when I could feel where Zulu's soul was without opening my eyes.

Using what I learned on the Riverbank, I closed my eyes and concentrated. Where was it, whatever I was feeling? When I opened my eyes a moment later, I found that, without even meaning to, I was pointing my hoof to the side of the hill.

"Excuse me? Is someone there?" I called.

There was no response.

"I'm not out to hurt anyon-"

Whatever I was going to say was immediately silenced, as I saw a horrific figure creep into view from the side of the hill. It was hideous. It had a huge, brown, bulbous body with six hairy legs jutting out of it. At the front of the body was what looked like the front half of a pony sticking out the front. Its pony arms were equally hairy, however they seemed to have three extruding claws coming out where its hooves should have been.

And it's face. It had the shape of a pony's head, sure, but its features? On its brown head were two black, beady eyes with a set of two much smaller eyes on the top and bottom of both eyes, totalling ten eyes on this creature's face. Its snout had a set of ponyeating fangs sticking out, coloured a disgusting yellowy colour, which would make Stable Two's designated dentist faint with shock.

Speaking of shock, the creature locked eyes with me, and my body was paralysed with fear. Before I could open my mouth to speak (maybe 'scream' would be more accurate), the creature quickly started for me, maw open wide, and claws open for attack.

As the creature rapidly approached, I tripped over myself in my panic to run away. Forget attack or defense; I needed to get as far away from this thing as possible! As I fumbled to get away, I heard the creature hiss out. Rather than a battle cry, this hiss seemed more like a cry of plight.

I looked at the creature and saw it attempting to tug at a shimmering, pale-white noose that was now strained tight against its neck. Almost in harmony with myself, the creature looked behind itself and found Zulu holding the other end of the rope in his teeth. When the creature saw him, it stopped struggling, and when it did, Zulu spat the rope out.

"He is not food, Loki."

"Zulu!" The creature cheered. It had a bit of a raspy voice, one that fit its appearance well. I didn't care what it sounded like, though. As long as it didn't see me as food. Or anything worth killing.

As the creature removed the noose, Zulu approached me.

"Who's the pony?" 'Loki' asked as he rubbed his neck with a claw. I was too shocked to speak myself.

Zulu stood beside me and held a hoof before me. "Loki, Applebuck. Applebuck, Loki." I took the hoof in my own as I gave an awkward smile at Loki, but Zulu shook me off.

"Hey. I'm looking for a Tracker?" I awkwardly asked. The sight of the pony/spider hybrid still caused my heart to skip a beat in fear when I looked at him, but if Loki was a friend of Zulu's, that at least meant I was safe for the moment.

Loki looked at me side on, then looked to Zulu and shook his head.

"What mess have you gotten yourself into now?"

***

Loki led Zulu and I through the Spider-pony Cave. It had webs of all sizes lying about the place, and various caverns and tunnels leading to who knows where, harbouring who knows what. It would have been Ella's worst nightmare, as you could clearly see evil-looking, glowing eyes gazing through cracks and holes in the Cave's walls every now and then. Even I was getting the creeps from those eyes.

Zulu spoke with Loki in some weird whispered language, rather rudely leaving me to my own thoughts. I couldn't figure out what they were talking about, but even if I did, I don't think I would have spoken much, as the new and frightening environment spooked me into silence anyway. Before long, we made our way to a secluded area, with webs used as curtains across a doorless opening.

Loki pulled back the curtains with his claws, and Zulu entered first, followed by myself, then Loki, who had to duck slightly to get in, being just that bit taller than the average pony.

The room we had just stepped into was in an apocalyptic mess. Hoarded possessions lied about on the floor either individually or in piles. Disposable trash and food wrappers were left wherever they fell. The bed was unmade, with the sheets strewn about near the bed, stained and uncleaned for more time than I dared to imagine. And the culprit of this bomb-site had just casually hung his damp stealth-cloak on a coat rack, and started prancing towards his bed.

Loki bowed and left us alone in the smelly stone-walled room. Even after I hung my damp barding next to Zulu's cloak, I still felt a mild coldness from the room - we were in a cave after all - but it seemed warm enough to be comfortable in. If you ignored the mess at least. And the smell...

Zulu now sat on his bed and emptied his bag onto the mattress, proceeding to sort out what stolen goods went where.

"Um… what happens now? Will we be seeing the Queen soon?" I asked. Being in Zulu's bedroom seemed like a moment of opportunity in my dreams. In reality, I felt incredibly uncomfortable being in such a dirty place; his mother would not be proud.

"I have asked Loki to make an appointment with the Queen, who will make a direct demand to our Tracker. She is not busy, the Queen, and will see us within the hour," Zulu answered casually as he sorted his items.

"Well what do we do till then?" I asked, almost afraid of the answer.

He quickly looked straight at me with a demanding glare. "Do not. touch. my stuff."

I rolled my eyes. As if I'd want to touch anything in his dirty, smelly stallion-cave. Regardless, I strolled over to the side of the bed and parted a few Fancy Buck Cake wrappers so I could sit down (I assumed he wouldn't mind me moving some blatant rubbish).

I quickly noticed the fox doll on the bed among a lot of what I had seen the other night when I looked in Zulu's bags. I also noticed the white rope from earlier, and could see that it closely resembled the spider webs I had seen in the Cave hallways. My eyes then fell on Silver's memory orb.

Asking Zulu where he was gonna put it, he simply told me, "It will remain here. I found it. And I will keep it."

"You stole it," I corrected. "Can't I use it as a bargaining chip for Silver Eyes? Like, if he helps me find Brandy, he can have the orb?"

"He does not care about the orb. From your conversation after you blasted me, I would assume he was after your hat. I do not understand entirely what makes the hat so special, but believe me, a memory orb that is special to an earth pony is only special due to its sentimental value, not because it will provide personal gain, like information; he already knows of the memory in the orb, or he wouldn't want it. If he wants it back, he will just have to take it from me himself.

I guessed Zulu had a good point. I didn't know what was in the memory, but judging by the colour of the orb, and the context of it being 'Silver's' orb, it would be safe to assume Silver already knew what was in it. Meaning he didn't need it. Only want it. Zulu was right, it wasn't a bargaining chip. It was just another reason for Silver to chase me.

My eyes stayed on the zebra for a moment. As I lingered on his eyes, I wondered if all zebras had red eyes. Red was quite a rare colour in pony eyes, but were they maybe common in zebras, I wondered? I then lingered on his mane as I noticed it was still wet from the river. I wondered if the spider-ponies had working showers for Zulu to use.

Hey... the river!

"Oh, before I forget: Zeeb!"

He exhaled deeply. "What was that for?" he asked angrily as he stared daggers into me.

"For letting me fall into the river. Why'd you even try that, zeeb?"

"I saw an opportunity, then I took it."

"An opportunity for what? Murder?" I was starting to get annoyed by his casually violent attitude.

"For freedom. I want to stay here. This cave is my home. So are its people. They accept me in a way that ponies do not. You know this."

"Then why were you living in ponyville?"

"Raider territory has plenty of stolen or raided property. If I can sneak about undetected, all the raiders' belongings are mine for the taking. The schoolhouse was a temporary home for me while I stole what I could; I was only visiting for a short while. Unfortunately, I had to leave a little earlier than I had planned, because someone led a group of raiders to my hideout."

"Hey, that wasn't my fault. I wasn't the one with the gun."

"Regardless, you should keep your friends in check. If you want to survive out here, you need to stop making stupid mistakes like that."

"It was our first day! We had been in the Wasteland for like, twenty minutes at that point!"

"Believe me, twenty minutes is more than enough time to get yourself or others killed. That is why you need powerful allies, like I have with the spider-ponies."

"And why is it that they even like you in the first place?"

"I never said they liked me. I said they accepted me. I bring them food, usually the remains of a brewster wolf, and they allow me to live here. They also have no possessions to steal, so they have no reason not to trust me. We live in harmony, and everyone wins."

Zulu then left his bed and grabbed a pile of junk from the bed and moved it to a far larger pile on the floor in a corner of the room. I was surprised at even my own emotions as I felt a twinge of hatred as the fox I had bought him was buried under that pile.

"Have you no respect for your stuff?" I huffed, my bitter bitchiness leaking through slightly.

"That is none of your business."

"Well you could at least respect the stuff I gave you. I traded my cloak for that doll. And you just dump it into a pile, not even on display. You know how many Stable Dwellers would have loved to have a doll like that as kids?"

"Trading that cloak was your choice. Perhaps your error. I will do with my stuff as I please, just as you did with my cloak as you pleased."

"'My'? If you think that cloak was still yours after Maamsir stole it from you, then I bet 99% of the stuff in this room is someone else's. Don't you dare imply that I stole something from you. You of all people."

"I could not care less, Applebuck."

"Couldn't, not 'could not'. Which reminds me, you didn't answer my question last night: why don't you use contractions?"

"If you must know," Zulu said as he layed back on his bed after merging the final pile with another bigger pile. "I was not raised in a Ponish-speaking household. My father did not speak Ponish, and when my mother took me in, she taught me how to speak your tongue. 'Contractions' as you call them, were never something she taught me however. And do not expect me to change on your behalf. I may wear your slave collar, but I refuse to be your slave."

"You're not my slave, Zulu. I just need your help. If you cooperated, I wouldn't need the collar. I never wanted to put it on you anyway."

"Regardless, you still use it."

"Well of course I do; you're a murdering pain in the ass!"

To my surprise, I heard him chuckling at my retort. "If I promise never to attempt to kill you again, will you never use the collar again?" he said through laughs.

"Well, no. You could still run off, or steal something. But if you promise me you'll do better, and prove to me that you have, I'll release you. You need to earn your freedom, Zulu."

He seemed to ponder this for a moment. "I once read an old war poster that read: 'freedom is the right of all sentient beings'."

"It probably should be. But that poster was made a long time ago, and the Wasteland doesn't care about our rights. Or anything, really. In a perfect world, everything works out fine. In the Wasteland, you're gonna have to earn the things you want. Even if you deserve them by right."

Before we could discuss any further, a knock was heard by the curtained doorway, followed by the sight of a black spider-pony. This one was a fair bit smaller than Loki, about the size of a lanky filly, and had eight eyes instead of ten.

"Queen Octan awaits you, Zebra Zulu." She bowed. She then noticed me sitting next to the bed. "Who might you be, dear pony?" She asked in her raspy spider voice.

"Applebuck, ma'am-"

"Pony Applebuck," she bowed again. "I believe her Majesty awaits your arrival also. Follow me."

***

Through the rocky tunnels again we traveled. It baffled me how these spiders knew their way around here. Did they even? Putting myself in their horseshoes, even by the day I left Stable Two, I still had to check a nearby map in order to find a place that I didn't normally go to. It was probably the same with these spiders, I thought. But I didn't see any maps on any walls like in Stable Two. Maybe they had special navigators, telling people where to go? Was this spider one of them? More likely, she was probably just a servant of the Queen, and just knew how to get to her throne room. Did the Queen even have a throne room? I knew if I was a king, I'd have a throne room.

As I pondered the lore of this Stable-like cave, I stuck close to Zulu as we followed this new spider-pony. I didn't know if Zulu was even safer to be around than the spider, but I at least knew Zulu. All I really knew about spider-ponies was that I was a potential meal for their queen. I wondered if my highly apple-based diet made me taste like apples.

We eventually found a large opening, covered by similar curtains that Zulu had in his room's doorway. Judging by the sheer size of this doorway and its curtains, I had a pretty good idea of who was behind them.

"Is the Queen nice?" I whispered to Zulu.

"From this point on, you only speak when you are spoken to. Understood?"

Gulp.

Our escort ducked under the curtains and made a rather dramatic entrance.

"Visitors! From the Surface!"

The curtains then opened. I assumed they were rigged to some rope (or more likely some web) to be pulled by a pair of spiders on the other side.

Zulu stepped in slowly, with dignity, despite the poorly hidden worry on his face. I followed his lead by his side. The room we had stepped into was huge. There were various webs hanging from the walls and the ceiling, some large, some small, and some friggin' massive, just like the spiders dwelling in the center of said webs. Forget Ella's distaste for creepy crawlies; even I thought my braces were gonna be stained yellow if any of them made any sudden movements.

It definitely didn't help when I looked directly forward. Across the large, dark room was a giant throne, crafted out of what looked like solid webbing, with a web-pattern aesthetic all along it. Sitting on that throne was the arch rival to any raddragon my darkest nightmares could conjure.

A monster of terrifying size. Queen Octan shared a similar shape to Loki, however she was a dull yellow colour, with a large pair of rich green eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness of the room. As her two beady eyes lit her face up, it appeared she preferred to keep her four other smaller eyes shut. To my mild interest, this spider-queen seemed to have stringy, webby hair growing out the top of her head, the shade of a dirty orange.

"Queen Octan." Zulu bowed as low as he could, and I quickly followed his lead. "We require your assistance, your Majesty."

I returned from my bow as he said this, but realised he was still bowing, so I quickly resumed the position.

"Zebra Zulu," she spoke slowly and carefully, but had the beautiful voice of a regal and healthy mare, rather than the raspy and sandpapery voice her subjects seemed to have. "you have brought a pony to my throne room. Does it speak for itself?"

"Usually, your Majesty, but I have requested that he only speak when spoken to. Unless you desire otherwise, your Majesty."

I turned slightly to see Zulu's face. He was as nervous as a radroach spotted by a ten year old with a BB gun. And there wasn't a hint of dishonesty in his words. I was starting to fear this spider more than I already was if her presence alone forced Zulu to be honest for a change.

"Rise," she said, and we did. "Speak, pony. Freely. And introduce yourself."

I gulped. "Uh.. um, my name is Applebuck. I'm a Stable Dweller. From Stable Two."

"Stable Dweller, eh?" She rubbed her chin with a claw. "Stable Two; is it still running? After all this time?"

"No, your Majesty. Stable Two was attacked by Surface Dwellers recently. We were forced to live on the Surface, but one of us has gone missing. I'm on a rescue mission to seek him out and bring him home."

"I see. How unfortunate, Pony Applebuck. Tell me, where does Zebra Zulu come into this story?"

"I bumped into him along the way. He offered me assistance, your Majesty. He said there was a Tracker among your people who could help find my friend. Please, your Majesty. His life may rest in your hoo- um… c-claws?"

Zulu's face shifted. I thought I had made a slip up. A faux-paux, perhaps. But the Queen simply laughed. It was a beautiful, charismatic laugh, quite unlike her subjects' voices. It still made me feel helpless, despite its charm.

"Pony Applebuck, you are quite funny. Tell me, why should I lend my resources to you? Will I perhaps be compensated for my helpfulness?"

"Um. Well, what would you like, your Majesty?"

She closed her eyes, rubbing her chin in thought. "Can you promise us food?"

"Probably not, your Majesty. Nor water, for we have very little of both as of now." It wasn't technically a lie. Stable Two's water talisman was still in the Stable, and good food was hard to come by for anyone out here. "Is there something else I can provide? Y-your Majesty?

"I believe," said the Queen. "that you have yourself. Might we use you in our breeding program?"

I nearly choked on my own breath hearing the request. "W-would I be harmed in any way?" I asked as a blush formed, and a flutter appeared in my stomach.

"You would be fed to the babies after your usefulness has ended, yes."

Freaky insect sex followed by an imminently painful demise? Yeah… maybe not…

"Then I'm sorry, your Majesty, but that has to be a hard 'no' from me. Us ponies don't trade lives. If there's a way to rescue him, we'll work together. That's the pony way."

There were murmurs among the spiders around the room, and Zulu looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack. How dare I tell the Queen 'no'. The Queen simply sighed, though.

"I remember my youth as a pony," she said wistfully. "Many moons ago it was, Pony Applebuck. Yes, I was once an earth pony the same as yourself. I was a Farmer Pony."

"Oh, I know a thing or two about farming, your Majesty. I don't like to call myself a farmer, but I worked in a subterranean orchard in Stable Two, working with apple trees. Were you an apple farmer specifically? It's possible we could be related, if so."

She smiled at this. Not to be judgy, but it wasn't a pretty smile. "No, Pony Applebuck, I wasn't an apple farmer, but a carrot farmer. I lived in Ponyville, not far from your Stable, as a matter of fact. What my name was before the bombs, I will not say, however I believe I was acquaintances with a relative of yours. Perhaps an ancestor?"

"Oh? What makes you think so?" I quickly corrected myself with a quick 'Y-your Majesty?'

"That hat is recognisable from a mile away, dear Pony Applebuck. A family heirloom, I take it? You know, your ancestors gave a great deal to Ponyville. Your grandmother, Pony Smith, provided the trademark Apple Family apples to Ponyville during her younger years. And your uncle, Pony Macintosh, was a war hero. And Pony Applejack - most likely your newer generation grandmother - was a government official during the dark times, during the War. And let us not forget Pony Applebloom, co-founder of Stable-Tec, and your auntie. Very important has your family been in Equestrian History."

"And here I am, half a pony who used to be just a glorified gardener," I quipped. But in all seriousness, the Queen's history lesson on my ancestors put my position into perspective in a way I didn't like. How unimportant was I if that was what I had to live up to? I mean, a war hero? How could I compare? "Maybe the Apple Family lost its touch after the War."

"My dear Pony Applebuck," the Queen said. "Their actions reflect the people they were. The people they were reflects the way they raise their children, and their children after them, and so on. There was always something special about the Apple Family, I feel. After all, they founded Ponyville, so perhaps I owe it to your family to return the favour."

"My family founded Ponyville?" Zulu seemed just as surprised to hear this as me.

"Indeed, Pony Applebuck. Countless moons ago, before the town was built, all that existed of Ponyville was the Apple Family and their little house, or so said Pony Smith when she retold the story years later. Young Pony Smith ventured into the Everfree Forest in search of food for her family, as their newly planted apple orchard had yet to bear fruit. In the Forest, she found a most peculiar fruit. A zap apple, she called it. Rainbow in colour, with a stem resembling lightning, the zap apples were collected, and their seeds were planted in the orchard. Within the blink of an eye, the zap apple trees sprouted, and their fruits were beloved by all who visited the Apple Family. If not for their sheer beauty, then for their exquisite taste

"Some decided they would stay and create a small settlement nearby, which would quickly grow, and grow, like the apples that started the settlement, and become what is now known as Ponyville."

All that because she was hungry? Thousands of people went on to have a place to call home because of my grandmother? "Does that mean Smith was Ponyville's Overmare?"

The Queen laughed her regal laugh. It felt a little condescending, even a little insulting, but I still wanted an answer, so I wanted patiently for her to give me one.

"What, may I ask, is an 'Overmare', dear Pony Applebuck?"

"W-well, it's like you, I guess. The leader. The pony who's in charge and looks after everyone. So, the Queen, I guess? Was she Queen Smith?"

She chuckled again. "Ponyville had a Mayor, not a Queen. And no, my dear, you're not the rightful ruler of Ponyville."

Shoot. I didn't have any need to be a ruler, especially if the town was full of corpses and had raiders about, but it still would have been cool to be an Overmare. Overstallion?

"I digress," said the Queen. "What I was saying is that your family is owed a debt. Pony Smith allowed for my home to exist. I understand a home is not complete without all of those whom live there, so I believe your request for Atterclop is a fair one, given all that your family has given me.

"I accept your request, Pony Applebuck, Zebra Zulu. And I am happy to help one who's family gave me so much, and without even realising it."

My brain took a second to process, then bliss registered on my face. Zulu who looked as surprised as I was joyed at the Queen's enthusiasm to stick her neck out for me.

"Um, what did you say the Tracker's name was again, your Majesty?"

She chuckled again, and closed her eyes, humming a constant and soft hum. A noise from above caught my attention, and I saw a figure slowly descend from a single string of web. Before long, a peculiar spider stood between us and the Queen. It was small for a spider-pony, no larger than a Pip-buck, with no pony-like features at all. Just a really large spider, with a pretty white coat that reminded me of Suki's coat in the mirror, and six beady eyes the same colour as mine and Suki's magic aura.

"This is Atterclop," said the Queen. "My most efficient Tracker. Though we have little need for Trackers, - Hunters are far more practical - they still have their occasional uses. She is to obey your every command, however the price of that is that she is within your care. I permit you to borrow her, so long as you promise to return her in working condition as soon as her usefulness comes to an end. Pony Applebuck - does this agreement seem fair to you?"

Brandy missing, Tracker good at tracking, Tracker find Brandy, AB return Tracker to Spider Queen. Seems fair enough. I told her as much.

"It's settled then," said the Queen. She then spoke to Atterclop, saying something in their spider language. Atterclop made a short squeak, bowed, then crawled over to me. As she looked up at me she squeaked something inaudible that didn't even sound like the spider-language.

Zulu leaned next to me, saying: "She says she wants to see your foreleg. The one without the Pip-buck." With a furrowed brow, I complied. I didn't see why she wanted to see my leg, but I- Ow!

I felt a sharp pain, and found Atterclop's fangs were sunken into my skin. I pushed her off and examined the bite, finding two small fang holes; they were lightly leaking my own blood, as well as an odd orange liquid.

"It is not safe down here for Surface Dwellers," said the Queen. "Please excuse our method of treatment, but you would have become sick without our radiation treatment."

I had drowned out the clicking from my Pip-Buck ages ago, to the point that I had completely forgotten that I was even being rad-poisoned. I thanked Atterclop and the Queen for their 'treatment', despite their lack of a polite warning, and thanked them both again profusely for their offer to help in the first place. The Queen then warned us to make haste, before another dose was needed, and the three of us did just that.

With our Tracker sitting snugly atop Zulu's back, I was one step closer to finding Brandy. Next stop, his last known location. That meant we were back to the Double Eff for another run of the Stable trail.

Almost there, Brandy. Almost there.

Comments

[Madmadmad123]

Loving this

[_STELLAR]

11278874
I'm glad to hear it. ^ ^

Any specific feedback on the chapter?

[Madmadmad123]

11278926
Not really i dont have any experience writing anything but i am enjoying it