Chapter One: The Original Sin

“Don’t worry, I’m a doctor.”

With a loud, resonating grinding noise, the massive steel doors to Stable Eight shut behind me.

I could still scarcely believe it. Back during the trial, when I heard the Overmare’s sentence, it was understandable that I couldn’t. But now, as I am physically outside of the Stable, shouldn’t my mind had come to terms with the reality? That the Stable I called home wasn’t my home anymore?

Then again, I suppose given my situation, I shouldn’t be surprised if my mind was still catching up with the events. It was my home. I’d spent the entirety of my short life in Stable Eight. The Stable that, until now, nopony had ever left. The years I spend inside of it were flashing before my eyes, the few precious good times and the plethora of bad…

Was being banished really such a bad thing? I wonder…

“Oh, well,” I finally said; I must have stood a while in silence, because my voice sounded like thunder to my ears, “It’s no use lamenting over this.”

I forced myself to stop thinking about the past; though a part of me was hurting, I knew there was no going back. Not for now, at least. I had to focus on figuring out what I was going to do next.

The space I was in wasn’t exactly dark, as I realized looking around. There were several rays of dim light, falling through something I assumed were wooden boards, but from so far away I was not sure. Still, though, I couldn’t very much see where I was, so I activated my PipBuck’s light.

On that note, I wasn’t exactly sure why I was allowed to keep it. This was one of the pre-War wonders, a small terminal-like device worn on the foreleg, created by a blend of unicorn magic with science. It was capable of many things; I knew that, despite using it mostly as a recording device.

With a smirk, I realized that was probably the reason why they hadn’t removed my PipBuck; they didn’t want data like that to remain within the Stable. Truth be told, I was fairly certain they would go out of their way to remove any trace of me ever existing.

“Honestly,” I sighed, “all those years I spent getting everypony to look past the ‘little white freak all the kids bullied’ thing, going to waste like this…”

My surroundings didn’t do much to improve my mood. I was in a cave.

No, not a cave.

On the ground, right next to my hoof, there were remains of two sets of rails, laying apart wide enough for a minecart to travel by them.

This used to be a mine once. Probably years before the Last Day, maybe even the War. Made sense. What better place to build a Stable designed for unicorns than in the place where ponies used to mine magical crystals once?

“Still, this entranceway is hardly wide,” I mused as I slowly started trotting towards the light. “Must have been chaos on the day the bombs fell. Trying to get everypony inside…”

Even I had to shiver a bit as I pictured it.

I reached the wooden door, because it indeed was what I saw. An old wooden door, made from boards so ruined that the light was falling through the gaps between them. I could make out some shapes on the other side of it, but I would need to open the door to get a proper look of them. I could smell the air from the other side; it was cool, but at the same time, it was much more… rusty. As if there was something stale around...which could be the case. Hadn’t we all learned in school in Stable Eight that the Outside had been dead for about two hundred years?

Naturally, when one did necessary calculations, it quickly became unrealistic that out of all Equestria, only this one Stable would survive, with only around five hundred unicorns (currently four hundred seventy six, with three more on their way). Nor did it seem plausible that the zebras had the means to create so many Balefire Bombs that would be required to completely annihilate Equestria. No, life endured on the surface, I was sure of that… which was probably one of the reasons why I was taking my banishment relatively well.

A single white hoof reached towards the door… and stopped. I hesitated. What awaited for me beyond this door was a new world. Was I prepared to look upon it? I looked at my hoof, the white fur of my leg mostly hidden beneath the lab coat I was allowed to keep. It was shaking.

Shaking with excitement.

I smirked again. The scientist within me was itching to get out and see for herself how the real world looked like. Once again, my curiosity seemed bent on leading me into trouble.

Funny, that. They used to say “Curiosity is the first step to hell,” didn’t they? Well, I wouldn’t have gotten banished from the Paradise of Stable Eight if it weren’t for my curiosity.

And now I was stepping into the Equestrian Hell…

Taking a deep breath - and coughing once a bit of dust got into my throat - I carefully opened the door.

Ruins were laid out before me. The rails led out from the mine into what once must have been a miner town or an outpost. All that was left of it now were several pillars, ruined walls with pipes sticking out of them, boards… nothing of any significance, really.

My gaze travelled up… and up. My eyes widened…

… only to narrow with disappointment.

What was this? Unlike the vast blue space I’ve seen so many times whenever I looked up in the atrium, cafeteria, or swimming pool, thanks to the illusion spells placed on the ceilings of them, what I looked upon was… gray. Not a monotonous kind of gray, there were lighter and darker patches of gray across the sky, but it was disappointing nonetheless.

“Are those… clouds?” I pondered out loud. The unicorns responsible for maintaining the illusions in the Stable conjured the images of them as well across out fake skies, but they were always small and white. This looked as if somepony mashed together hundreds… no, thousands of such clouds and used them to obscure the sky from everypony.

Could this have been caused by the zebra’s megaspells? It didn’t seem like it. Even assuming that the Balefire bombs caused some disturbance in the atmosphere, it would be unlikely for the sky to not clear up in two hundred years. In that case… was it done by somebody else? From those scarce books we had in Stable Eight that weren’t about spells, I knew that the pegasi, a tribe of ponies who didn’t have horns but wings sprouting from their backs, used to control the weather above Equestria. Could this be their doing then? By why would they obscure the sky with clouds?

I sighed, closing my eyes. “I suppose I will have to ask somepony about that,” I decided, examining the ruins around me. “Though credit where credit is due, the unicorns who first cast those illusion spells managed to recreate the width of space almost perfectly.”

I tried to imagine my reaction if I wasn't used to staring into such wide wonder (despite knowing that the ceiling was just a few feet above me). I would quite possibly have a panic attack.

Shaking my head, I tried to focus on the important matters. I had no food and no water, and by the looks of it, neither did this place. I needed to find someplace where I could get those, preferably a settlement of sorts. I looked around, but there was nothing that would tell me where the closest town was. Outside of the circle of ruins, barren wasteland stretched out as far as eye could see. The road leading to and from this mining settlement was long since destroyed by wind, sand and time, along with any roadsign.

Pondering what to do, I glanced at my PipBuck. When I was busy contemplating the sky and the ruined wasteland, the map-maker had began working. Apparently, I was at “Stable Eight”.

That’s helpful. I rolled my eyes, turning around…

… and paused. There was a trail of smoke visible in the distance.

Smoke meant fire. Fire, in turn, quite possibly meant settlement.

“Well, it’s not like I have any better idea as to where to go,” I hummed, turning toward the direction of the smoke.

Before I started walking, I made sure my Eyes-Forward Sparkle, a spell in PipBuck that automatically marked for me any living being by either friendly or hostile, was on. By doing so, I also discovered that I was picking up several radio transmission. Back in Stable Eight, there was only one station, which most of the time played some music, though from time to time there were some news broadcasted on it. Intrigued, I switched my PipBuck to play the first one on the list, and began trotting towards the unknown.

“-rations, the hard-working ponies of Equestria toiled to build this great land, and the leaders sat back and reaped the benefits. And not only them…”

*** *** ***

Well, it probably was a settlement.

Of course, my usage of the past tense in that statement could have been wrong. However, seeing that from the direction where the smoke was coming from a big group of ponies was approaching, with many of them in chains, I felt certain that I was looking at that settlement’s former residents.

When I spotted them, I was already walking for a good half an hour. Despite being relieved to find a sign that ponies indeed lived in this place, I had the foresight to hide behind the billboard on the side of the road (because, as I soon found out after leaving the ruins of the mine town, I was indeed following a road). I also turned off the radio. The beautiful tunes of Sweetie Belle - which I found on another station after getting bored of that self-righteous speech - that I was familiar with from my Stable’s radio, were silenced, as I observed the incoming ponies from the relatively safe hiding space.

I was, after all, really easy to spot…

The incoming group counted sixteen ponies in total, seven in shackles and nine without. Out of those in the former group, two were pulling a wagon, and the others trailed behind, flanked by four ponies from the later group. Two others were on the front, while the remaining three were sitting in the wagon.

Suddenly, one of those three rose. Something was levitated by him, and I heard a very sharp noise. A whip.

“Step on it, you stupid fucks!” I heard him shout.

Well, isn’t this lovely…

The group was approaching rapidly, and I had to decide quickly what to do. For now, all of them were marked as “friendly” on my E.F.S., but I had a feeling that it was going to change.

Hiding was not an option; the area surrounding us was plain. There were occasional rocks around, but the moment I would move from behind the billboard, I would get spotted.

Ironically, the billboard had the words “Pinkie Pie is watching you FOREVER!” written on it, with an image of a strange pink mare that seemed to glare right at me in the middle.

Running away also wasn’t a good idea. I wasn’t a good runner; this little trot I had earlier alone was tiring for me.

Both hiding and running were suicide, then. Fighting? Considering their numbers, suicide with a bunch of kittens dying.

Luckily, though, none of those three were my preferable options.

Those ponies just came from a battle. They’ve been fighting, which meant some of them - if not all - were wounded. Even if they won, the attackers must have wounds here and there; even if they didn’t, they obviously wanted the ponies they attacked alive for whatever reason.

Either way, they could probably use a doctor.

I took a deep breath, and stepped outside from the billboard.

To say that they were surprise would be an understatement. The ponies in front - the two pulling the wagon and their guards - stopped, stunned, and stared at me with wide eyes. The one on the left even dropped the sledgehammer he’s been carrying in his mouth. The one on the wagon who earlier whipped his captives dropped the whip.

I sat down on the ground, waiting for them to recover and come closer, as we were still a bit far from each other. I tried to not think about how dirty my cloak was getting...

After several seconds the captor ponies started laughing. “Well, would you look at that!,” one on the front, who was levitating a long object made out of metal and wood, said. I quickly recognized it as a gun, despite how different it was from the magic guns Stable Eight’s security ponies carried. “Slaves are now throwing themselves at us or what?”

Another realization. Slaves. The ponies they’ve captured were now their slaves. Kind of obvious, come to think of it now…

My attention focused on the buck that dropped his sledgehammer. He was picking it up, again in his mouth, which I found odd. I began to wonder why he wasn’t using his magic… but then I realized he couldn’t use it. He didn’t have a horn.

I was looking at an earth pony.

I’ve read about them, but I never expected to see one. Their kind lacked horns and the ability to use magic, nor did they have wings or the ability to control the weather. However, they made it up in physical strength and ingenuity. They were responsible for the technological progress of Equestria during the war - weapons, terminals, factories, you name it.

That mare on the billboard was also an earth pony. That must have been what made me think of her as “weird”.

I was itching to learn just how different they were from unicorns...

“What are you waiting for?! Get the white bitch!”

Oh wait, I was still in danger.

At the order of the pony with a whip, the two slavers started walking towards me. I noticed a pair of shackles sticking out of the saddlebag of the pony with a sledgehammer.

“Good morning, gentlecolts,” I greeted them, smiling pleasantly.

The pony with a gun also smiled, though his expression was far from pleasant. Rather vomit-inducing. “Well, aren’t you a nice girl. Maybe you will be nice and put those chains on yourself, eh?”

Okay, not ten years ago I was still getting bullied, been thought of as a freak, and ponies avoided speaking with me. Now (or, well, until a few days ago), though, I had practically the entire Stable wrapped around my hoof.

How long would it take to convert those barbarians in similar manner?

“Oh, I don’t think those will be necessary,” I replied, nodding at the shackles. “I actually hoped you would have a job for me. You see, I’m a doctor-”

I trailed off as I found myself staring into the barrel of the gun.

“I don’t care if you are a doctor or a princess,” the buck told me, raising a gun a bit. He grinned “Who you are matters shit now. Stand still, and I might…”

From the wagon’s directions, I managed to catch; “Wait, did she say she’s a doctor?”

“I think your boss is of a different opinion,” I interrupted the slaver innocently.

The buck grimaced, but before he could reply (or shoot me), one of the ponies sitting on the wagon shouted: “Sawed-Off, Smash, get ’er over here!”

Not waiting for either of the bucks, I headed towards the wagon. The two slaves who were pulling it were in terrible condition; they had bruises all over their faces, their barding was ragged and bloodied, and were taking quick, pained breaths.

They probably got shot… and the bullets must have broken some of their ribs, I noticed, passing them. Healing potions don’t restore crippled bones, after all…

I turned my attention to the ponies on the wagon. The one with the whip was, as far as I could tell, healthy. The other two, though, definitely needed medical attention. The earth pony mare had her foreleg bandaged, and was also taking short breaths. The buck was laying on his side, his torso wrapped in bandages, with four spots marked by blood.

Oh, how I wanted to examine the mare properly… the smell of blood wasn’t helping me fight off that urge...

“Ya’re a doctor?” the mare asked, rasping. One of her orange eyes she kept closed due to the pain she was in.

I nodded, jumping at the wagon, and ignoring the shout of protest from the whip-wielding pony. “Hello sweetie. What exactly is the problem?” I asked politely.

I could always use the Diagnosis spell to quickly tell me what was wrong with her, but until I was certain that they weren’t going to attack me, I figured it would be best to not light up my horn.

“What, ya’re blind?” the mare snorted. “Ah have a broken leg. Wish Ah killed that fucker...” she added under her breath, glaring at one of the slaves pulling the wagon.

“What about your chest?” I inquired. “How many broken ribs do you have?”

The mare looked surprised, but before she could answer, the pony with the whip came in between us. “Can I ask why exactly we’re not putting this bitch in chains?”

“Cause Ah want to get fuckin’ healed, Whip Crack,” the mare bristled. “We’re still hours away from Appleloosa, and if she can put my leg back in place and make me stop spittin’ blood, Ah will make a fuckin’ petition t’ Black Widow to have her take yar boyfriend’s job if ya don’t fucking shut up!”

Put my leg back in place… open fracture?

“You-” the buck, Whip Crack, looked as if about to attack her, but he seemed to calm down a bit. “Pff, whatever. Did I say that you could stop!?” Apparently, having lost interest with me, he decided to take out his frustration on the slaves. “Move your sorry asses!”

As his whip once again cracked, I returned my attention to my patients. “I will first take care of your leg, then I will cast a spell to see what else is wrong with you. Okay?” I asked.

As I said that, the wagon and this slaver’s caravan began moving again.

She nodded. I began to untangle her bandage, but she immediately cringed in pain. Seeing this, I concentrated my magic.

Her eyes widened in alarm when a flash of light shot from my horn and hit her leg, but her expression quickly turned into a puzzled one. “Wha- what did ya do?” she asked, stunned.

“Anesthetic spell,” I replied, unwrapping the bandage. “Basically, I removed feeling from your leg. It should return in about an hour.”

I could feel her gaze on me, as well as that of the slavers and slaves marching behind the wagon. Even Whip Crack, who, based on what the mare shouted earlier, was interested in the other gender, was glancing at me sideways, though it had probably more to do with my condition.

“What are ya, anyway?” the mare I was healing finally asked what all of them must have been thinking.

Resisting an urge to chide her that it would be polite to first ask about my name, I replied: “I assume you are referring to the whiteness of my coat and mane and to the color of my eyes?” Without waiting for an answer, I said. “I’m an albino. It’s a congenical disorder. My body lacks pigment.” A glance at the mare’s face told me that she understood none of it. “It’s not contagious,” I assured her, taking off the rest of the bandage and looking at her wound.

As I had guessed, this was an open fracture. Her radius was broken in half, and it pierced her skin. I concentrated again, and lowered my horn. Red aura surrounded her leg. I focused on the bone, putting it back in its place and mending it, making two halves become one again. It was a very difficult spell, requiring utmost attention… but luckily, I was an experienced medical doctor, with vast knowledge about equine anatomy. True, until now all my patients were unicorns, but, anticipating the different density of the bone, I adjusted the spell correctly.

With the bone whole and put back in its place, closing the wound was a matter of second. “Done. Now hold still, I need to check your chest,” I said, moving my head closer to her body and scanning magically. “Ribs from fifth to seventh on the left are broken,” I said out loud, “several bruises, but nothing life-threatening… what is this?” I asked, puzzled.

My Diagnosis Spell was giving me weird feeling. It was a similar one to how it reacted to a sickness, but much weaker, plus I couldn’t see any visible signs of the mare being sick.

“What’s wrong?” she asked; I detected a hint of panic in her voice.

“What could this-” I muttered, but then it hit me. “Oh wait, I think this is radiation poisoning. Sorry, I used to live in a Stable until recently, hadn’t really got an occasion to diagnose one… it’s only minor one, I can try curing it later, though given how small it is, you can safely wait until later to use a Rad-away. As for the ribs…” I focused my magic on them, putting them together. The mare gave a grunt of pain. “Done.”

“Ya could have warned me…” the mare muttered, massaging her side with her right foreleg. “Whoa, ya really healed me already… Somethin’ like this would take Cutter ages to heal-”

“Hey!” Whip Crack shouted from up-front.

“Quit yar whinin’, Ah was jokin’ earlier,” the mare replied.

While those two bickered, I focused on the laying buck. Scanning him with a spell let me know that there were three foreign objects in him. Bullets, by the look of it. He was lucky; they missed his organs. However, removing them was still going to be a bit tricky. Removing objects from a body could be done by one of three ways. I could simply use magic to make his body regenerate and direct it to push the bullets out. That, however, would require more energy from me, and I wanted to retain most of my strength. I could also try using my levitation to pull the bullets off, but for that I would need to know how they look. And the last option would be simply using scalpel and or tweezers, which I didn’t have… but I could make them.

I unwrapped bandages above one bullethole and paused. With a spell, I conjured a small knife made entirely out of magic, thin enough to be used like scalpel. This spell didn’t require much energy, and had the advantage of being perfectly sterile. I manouvered the red blade perfectly above the wound.

“Ah’m Apple Core, by the way,” the earth pony mare, who finished her argument with Whip Crack, spoke.

I turned back to her and smiled. “Doctor Angel.”

The mare snorted, though not in the mean way. “Really?”

“Yeah, my parents used to call me ‘their little Angel’,” I giggled. Turning back to my current patient, I added: “Now please be quiet, I need to focus. This is going to hurt,” I told the buck. “I can use Anesthetic spell, but it would have to affect your entire body, making you a vegetable for an hour. Want me to cast it?”

The buck, who stayed silent through the arguments between Apple Core and Whip Crack, shook his head. “Nah, I’ll be fine. A guy like me can take a bit of pain,” he added with a wink.

I stifled a giggle; I figured I would let him keep his dignity a bit longer, despite how adorable he was right now. “Alright, let’s start then…”

Three removed bullets and a lot of high-pitch screaming later, the buck was good as new. He jumped off the wagon, to help the other slavers guard the slaves and nurse his pride.

“That was fun,” Apple Core commented, grinning. “So, ya’re lookin’ for a job?”

I nodded, sitting down on the edge of the wagon and crossing my hind legs. “Yes, though I don’t want to replace this… Cutter?” I asked, glancing at Whip Crack. It was a rather weird name for a medic… then again…

Turning back to Apple Core, I caught her staring in the direction of my marehood, which was shielded by my hind legs. “Sweetie, it’s impolite to stare,” I chided her, crossing my legs a bit tighter.

Apple Core blushed and immediately looked up. Several slavers chuckled. “Ah’m not into mares!” she snapped. “Ya’re just… sittin’ weirdly.”

I shrugged and smiled. “So I’ve been told. Going back to the subject - as I said, I don’t want to replace Cutter. I will be perfectly happy to work as his helper. I’m sure that…” I paused, looking for the right words, “... in your line of work, you could use a second medic.”

“Yeah, Cutter keeps complainin’ about havin’ too much to do,” Apple Core said. “And seein’ how medics are hard t’ come by, Ah’m sure Black Widow will gladly take ya in.”

“I still say we should just put her with the rest,” Whip Crack said from the front. “We’re one slave short anyway. She would fetch a big price, being a unicorn and all.”

“And hot,” Smash, who was listening in on the conversation, commented, grinning back at me.

“Oh, shut it,” Apple Core told both of them. “And we wouldn't be a slave short if ya weren’t so trigger happy!” she glared at Whip Crack, who merely shrugged.

“So, do you want me to heal up your slaves?” I asked, glancing at the shackled ponies.

“Sure ya want to work with us? That kind of softness doesn’t bode well,” Apple Core said.

I giggled. “Oh, trust me, I’m anything but soft. I was merely concerned about our speed. Besides, as a doctor, I am obliged to heal and cure ponies.”

“Good, we need to keep them in good condition before we sell them,” the mare chuckled. “Ya’ll get to cure them once we get to Appleloosa.”

“Would you mind if I would ask you some questions?” I asked carefully. So far, she seemed friendly, but seeing in what kind of line of work she was in…

“Sure, we’ve got a while ‘til we hit Appleloosa.”

*** *** ***

The talk I had with Apple Core during the ride back was certainly informative. Even though she didn’t know all there was to the Equestrian Wasteland - as I learned Equestria was now called this days - she certainly answered a lot of my questions. The fact that those answers led to further questions was another thing.

She told me that the cloud cover was indeed the work of the pegasi. Apparently, when the zebras blew up Equestria, the pegasi decided to abandon their earth-bound brothers and sister and closed up the skies. Since then, they lived up there, ruled by the Grand Pegasus Enclave. Occasionally, though, one or two of them would come down and live on the ground for whatever reason. Those were called Dashite, and were considered outcast by their own people. One such pegasus was living somewhere close to New Appleloosa, and was using the slavers my new friends sent in that direction as shooting practice.

I would love to examine him…

I also learned that those ponies would get sold to a certain griffin in Fillydelphia by the name Stern, who worked for a pony called Red Eye - the same one, as I had learned, who was making that boring speech I listened to on the radio. Small wasteland.

“Yeah, he keeps making those speeches ‘bout rebuildin’ Equestria and such, how all of us have to play a part in it” Apple Core told me. “As long as he pays for his ‘workers’, Ah ain’t complainin’.”

“That seems… noble,” I commented carefully. I had some misgivings about this Red Eye. This whole ‘rebuilding Equestria’ seemed a bit fishy.

I would need more information to form a concrete opinion.

Apple Core also gave me some information about the more important settlements (meaning, the ones that were too big for them raid and gather inhabitants to sell later), such as New Appleloosa, or raider-invested Ponyville and Shattered Hoof, and those further away like Tenpony Tower, Friendship City and Bucklyn Cross. She also warned me about more dangerous places, like Manehattan and Fillydelphia, or the most lethal: the Everfree Forest, Canterlot, and Splendid Valley.

Before I could ask for specifics about those three locations, I’d been informed that basically everywhere in the Wasteland was dangerous. Apple Core was astonished when I told her that during the half-hour between when I stumbled upon their caravan and when I left my Stable, nothing tried to kill me.

I wish I could have pulled more information out of her - and I would have, if Whip Crack wouldn’t have kept interrupting us and telling us to shut up - before Appleloosa came into view. It was… certainly different from a Stable. It stood next to a railroad, a collection of several dilapidated wooden buildings, boxcars, some metal structures and cages for slaves.

This was to be my new home for the time being. All things considered, I suppose I should’ve been happy that I wasn’t going there in chains.

“You certainly took your sweet time,” came a comment as we passed the first buildings (and first set of guards). I turned around to see a black unicorn mare approaching. She wore a red dress, much unlike the armor the other slavers wore.

This was the leader Apple Core told me about. Black Widow.

“What’s with the chariot?” Widow asked, trotting alongside with it and giving Whip Crack an annoyed look.

“Apple Core and Muzzle got messed up, had to drive them part of the way,” Whip Crack replied, shrugging.

Widow raised an eyebrow. She turned to look at Muzzle, who was together with the other slavers shoving chained ponies into one of the empty cages, and then to Apple Core, who was now together with me jumping off the wagon. “‘Part of the way’?” the black mare asked, turning to Whip Crack.

“The white freak healed them up.”

Since I basically grew up hearing things like this, I didn’t take offense, but I was touched when Apple Core bristled on my behalf.

“I’m going to assume he’s talking about you,” Widow said, turning to me.

While I nodded, Apple Core quickly explained. “We picked her up on our way back. Said she’s a doctor, looking for a job.”

“Really now? That’s rather new.” She looked me over, her eyes stopping on my PipBuck and the Stable barding under my lab coat. “Shot in the dark: you’re from a Stable.”

“Indeed,” I nodded once again. “Due to certain events, though, I was thrown out of it. I’m Doctor Angel.”

“Huh, a working Stable somewhere nearby?” Widow smirked. “Feel like having a little revenge on them?”

I smiled. “I do not mean to sound offensive, but I doubt your ponies could survive an encounter with Stable Eight’s security.”

“Oh really?” Widow raised an eyebrow. “I think I would disagree with you on that, but I suppose we can discuss this some other time. So you’re looking for a job?”

“Yes.”

“She’s good?” she asked, turning to Apple Core.

“Had a bone stickin’ out of mah leg and three broken ribs, fixed me in like seconds. I think she’s better than Cutter,” she added, giving Whip Crack a dirty look.

Widow chuckled, noticing the look. “Then I’m sure he will appreciate her helping him out. Whip Crack,” she called out to the buck. “Take her to your coltfriend and introduce her. And do mention that he has to check those new slaves.”

“Sure,” Whip Crack rolled his eyes. Turning to me, he added. “Let’s go, freak.”

“I will talk with you later,” Black Widow told me, extending a hoof. “Welcome to Appleloosa.”

I shook her hoof. “Thank you, I promise you won’t be disappointed.”

The black unicorn smiled and began to leave. “Ah also have to go,” Apple Core told me. “Ah need to have a drink and hit the hay. Ah’ll show you around later.”

“Thank you, I look forward to it,” I said earnestly. “Thanks for everything.”

“Don’t mention it,” the earth pony mare replied, already walking away.

“Hey, are ya coming freak?!”

*** *** ***

Cutter’s clinic had definitely seen its better days. The slavers’ medic had made his home in a building on the outskirts of Appleloosa, in what used to be an actual clinic or a hospital before the Last Day. The symbol of the Ministry of Peace, three pink butterflies in the middle of a cross, was displayed on a sign above the entrance. The building used to be multi-story, but all that was left of it now was the ground floor. The floors above it got destroyed either by time, nature, or some explosive; only a few jagged pieces of wood and metal remained of them, now making up the clinic’s roof.

I followed my annoyed guide as he opened the door. Behind it, what greeted us was what used to be a waiting room, with a reception desk right next to the entrance. Now there were two camp beds standing on the opposite sides of the room, with curtains placed around them to offer the patients some privacy. Further I could see doors to two other rooms. I guessed that in the past they served to take in the patients for things like regular check-ups and medical visits, while more serious cases, such as accidents, were treated upstairs. On the opposite side from the rooms was a ruined stairway and a hole that must have once had remains of an elevator in it, before the slavers or somepony else looted them for materials.

On the walls of the room were many posters (with graffiti painted over some of them) from the Ministry of Peace, which I was familiar with from the medical books I studied. “War? Fear? Death? We must do better! Ministry of Peace”, and “You don’t need to be a Steel Ranger to be a Hero! Join the Ministry of Peace Today!”

Oh, so that’s why the name “Steel Rangers” seemed so familiar to me when Apple Core had mentioned them.

There was also another door, leading to a bathroom. I wondered if the plumbing in this town still worked...

“Yes, who is it?!” a gruff voice came from behind one of the doors, obscuring the sounds of a strange, tuba-heavy music coming from a radio on a drawer near a bed.

The door opened, revealing a gray unicorn buck. He appeared to be in his forties, but seeing how he lived in a different environment than I was used to, I couldn't be sure if I gauged his age correctly. Either way, he appeared to be slightly older than Whip Crack. He wore a ragged white lab coat, similar to mine, though much dirtier and bloodied. It also didn’t cover his legs.

His eyes softened when he looked at the dark brown buck beside me. “Hey, hon,” he greeted him. Then his expression grew once again harsh as he focused on me. “Who the hell is this?” Cutter asked, trotting towards us.

“Your new nurse,” Whip Crack answered for me before I could even open my mouth.

Ignoring the jab, I cleared my throat and smiled. “Good evening, mister Cutter.” I could have used “doctor” there, I suppose, but I seriously doubted he had any form of proper medical education. “Black Widow agreed to hire me as your helper. My name is Angel,” I felt certain that it wouldn't do me good to brag about my title. “Do you have any jobs for me?”

Cutter blinked, surprised, then looked me up and down. “Hm, I suppose I could use a hoof with all those patients they keep sending me. I hope you don’t expect me to pay,” he added, his frown suggesting he wouldn’t be happy if I would try and correct him.

I shook my head. “Considering my situation, I am perfectly happy with having a place to sleep and food to eat.”

For now…

My new boss snorted. “Fine, then. I will give you caps for something to eat from time to time.”

Caps?

“You can sleep behind the reception desk,” Cutter continued. “Those beds,” he pointed at the two camp beds, “are for patients, but in the storage room,” the other door, next to his office, “you will find a free mattress. Also, if you find a way to open those damned doors to the basement, you can sleep in there. Since you’re back,” Cutter said, turning to Whip Crack, “I’m guessing we have new merchandise?”

“Yeah, seven of ‘em.”

“Good, then you can start making yourself useful,” Cutter told me, going back to his office. He came out shortly, with several sheets of paper held by his magic. “Go heal the new meat. Take how many supplies you will need from the storage, but don’t overdo it; we just need to have them be alive until we sell them, got it? I’m not a fucking charity.”

“Of course.”

“Once you are done, fill those forms. Since we need some form of organization in the business, we need to write shit like name, age, race, cutie mark, and where we caught them. Got all of that?”

“Yes, sir,” I said, taking the sheets of paper.

“Good, now beat it, Whip Crack and I are gonna be busy,” he said, giving the other buck a suggestive look.

I nodded and began leaving, giving them their privacy. Behind me, I could hear them both walking back to Cutter’s office.

“You’re sure about leaving that white freak to do everything?” I caught Whip Crack’s voice. My ear twitched. “What if the boss figures she’s more useful than you-”

“Oh please, that bitch will never fire me. I have too much shit on her,” Cutter chuckled.

I closed the door behind me, smirking. Thanks for telling me she won’t cry if you were gone…

*** *** ***

“Name?” I asked, looking at my last patient.

The night was already falling. Back in Stable Eight, it would mean that the lights would be turned down, so it was never really truly dark in there; out here in the Wasteland was a different matter. It was rapidly becoming pitch black. I already had to turn on my PipBuck light.

Treating those seven ponies was tiresome. Though the slavers avoided hurting them too seriously (as they still needed to make the journey back to Appleloosa), they were all in bad condition. Those two that were pulling the wagon were the worst, with broken ribs, fractured bones and punctured organs.

After examining them all, I had to go back to the clinic to pick up some bandages and healing potions. I could use my magic to heal them, but those two worst cases would require most of my strength. After taking the supplies from the storage quickly (and trying to ignore the sounds coming from the closed room), I raced back to the cages and got to work.

The group of ponies were from a settlement known as Mudhill (Original.), that was basically just a few houses huddled together, as I learned while tending to their wounds. I quickly learned why this was a medic’s job to get that information; ponies were more eager to talk with somebody healing them. Of course, I’m sure that most slavers would be quite happy beating the answers out of them, but Black Widow apparently didn’t want them damaging her merchandise more than it was needed.

Of course, there were exceptions to that rule.

The last pony didn’t react to my question. Unless you count glaring at me as if he was about to kill me as a reaction. Recalling that this was the same pony who hurt Apple Core so badly, I made sure his chains were still in place before I spoke to him again.

“Look,” I said gently, “I understand that given your current status you might be uncooperative, but if you don’t answer me, they will bring in somepony who won’t be asking politely.”

“Good,” the earth pony buck replied. “Let them try. I will fucking kill them.”

“You’d best leave him alone, Doctor,” one of the other slaves called to me. “Bulk Build’s wife died in the slavers’ attack.”

Me ears dropped hearing that. Now I understood his attitude. I recalled Apple Core mentioning Whip Crack killing a pony during their attack. She must have meant Bulk Build’s wife. Turning back to him, I said: “I’m sorry.”

“Fuck off,” Bulk Build replied, looking the other way.

I sighed uncomfortably. I truly felt for him. Stepping closer, I lowered my voice and tried again: “I also lost ponies dear to me, so I understand-”

“You understand nothing!” he hissed back. One of the guards near the slave cage pointed his gun at him and took aim, but I quickly waved him that everything was okay. I wanted to hear him out. “You’re some little filly from a Stable!” he continued. “You have no idea what the Wasteland is like! You never had to see somebody you love be murdered!”

Tears had began to form in his eyes. He buried his face in his hooves. “I will kill that fucker, I swear, I will make him pay…”

My ears twitched. An idea started forming in my head. Paying no heed to my safety, I trotted closer and crouched next to him. “Killing him won’t be enough,” I whispered to his ear.

His head turned sharply to me. “Wha-” he started, but I silenced him by pressing my hoof to his mouth.

“Stay quiet, or we’ll both be in trouble,” I told him, knowing that the guards were observing us. I patted him on his head, trying to look as if I was comforting him; they couldn’t fault a doctor for that. “I was also wronged by others,” I said, keeping my voice quiet. “Life in a Stable isn’t exactly as perfect as it might seem.”

Bulk Build was listening to me, though I could tell he wanted me to get to the point.

“I was wronged, and I sought revenge. But I didn’t kill them; that would have been too easy. All it would do is make them get away from their punishment, into the realm that was beyond my reach. Instead, I chose an adequate revenge for what had been done to me. Take you, for example; your wife had been murdered. Wouldn’t it be a fitting punishment for her murderer to suffer like you do?” I asked, and lowered my lips to his ear. “Wouldn’t it be fair to take away from him the one who is dearest to him?” I whispered.

Now I had his undivided attention. He was looking at me, his eyes a bit moist after crying into his hooves, and I could practically see the gears in his head turning. “Yes…” he finally said, nodding. “That… would be better… That fucker deserves to suffer.”

“I can help you,” I offered.

He quickly became suspicious. “Why?” he asked, his eyes narrowing. “Why would you help me? What’s in it for you?”

“I have a few reasons,” I admitted. “One being that I genuinely feel sorry for what was done to you,” I said gently, placing a hoof on his own. “The other… because it will benefit me.” I smirked. “Tell me, that pony who murdered your wife, he was the dark brown buck called Whip Crack?” When he nodded, I knew I had him. “Tomorrow, I will make sure he and his special somepony will be somewhere nearby, and you will understand why it will benefit me to have him killed.”

Bulk glared at me, but he nodded. “Alright, I can understand that. But how do you plan on-”

I once again pressed a hoof to his lips. “Tomorrow night I will let you out,” I said, and finally left his side.

I walked out of the cage, writing Bulk’s name in the form. “What was with the hugging?” the guard asked me as he opened the cage for me.

Smiling, I explained: “I am a doctor; what’s wrong with being concerned with my patients’ emotional well-being?”

The guard gave me a puzzled look. “Um, well… wait, if you care about them so much, won’t you have a problem with us selling them?”

“Sweetie, a doctor’s job is to save lives,” I told him, lifting my hoof to brush his cheek; he seemed younger by a year or two than me. As I expected, he practically melted at my touch. “If they spend it in chains is none of my business.”

Oddly, as I left the smitten buck behind and headed towards the clinic, I found myself wondering if that was really true. Until today, I had never seen slaves, ponies in chains waiting to be sold to somepony like they were property. It was… degrading. Ponies were ponies, living beings. Having them in chains was one thing, but being treated as objects?

I entered the clinic, my mind already abandoning that reasoning and focusing at the plan of having Cutter taken out of the picture by Bulk Build. I would not be his “nurse”, as his coltfriend put it.

Speaking of, I noticed that there were no noises coming from the room. My E.F.S. told me they we still in the room, so they must be asleep. I pondered going to get Bulk now, but I decided to let those two have one more night.

I took one of the mattresses from the storage room and put it behind the reception desk. I was really tired; the toll from today’s events had taken on my was starting to get noticed by my body. But before I would call it a night, I still had one more thing to do.

Actually, make that two.

*** *** ***

About five minutes later, I was unhappy. After making my business in the bathroom, I was disappointed to find out that there was no running water. I was never so happy to have learned the Disinfection spell as I was now. I never expected I would have to resort to using it to clean my whole body.

I left the bathroom and headed towards the ruined staircase. Cutter mentioned something about a locked door to the basement. I wanted to check it out.

The stairs leading down led to a massive steel door, which, by the look of the dents, cracks and gunshots, many of my new friends tried to open by strength in the past. Also, as I took a closer look at the lock, I noticed that it was busted.

However, I was in luck. There was also a terminal next to the door.

I turned on the small computer and tried to hack it. Working around terminals’ systems was a useful skill to have in a Stable, and it looked like it was going to be equally useful in the Wasteland.

As I began to try and hack the terminal, I expected that it would be difficult, considering that nopony had figured out how to open this door in the past two centuries. I thought I would need to find the correct password in the strands of code, rebooting the terminal to avoid it locking down, over and over again.

I got it on the second try. The password was “defibrillator”.

Aside from making me question the intelligence of everypony in this town, this also gave me an idea…

Ignoring it for now, I unlocked the door through the terminal. Grabbing them with magic, I slowly opened them, curious to what I would see.

The basement beneath the clinic was filled with many drawers and cabinets full of medical equipment. I could see in the green light of my PipBuck braces, ampoules, tweezers, scalpels, tubes, syringes, microscopes... There were IV stands in the corner, and a few refrigerators. I opened one and found several medicines and blood pacs in it.

I continued to scan the room. There were a few generators in the center. Probably a backup source of power in case of emergency. I wondered if they still worked…

A pony could create a laboratory down here, I noticed, smiling.

There was a desk with a terminal in the corner, as well as a strange spherical object next to it. It was made of metal, and there were folded limbs attached to it. Some kind of maintenance robot?

I turned my attention back to the desk. The were two things on it other than a terminal. One was a magazine called The MoP Field Guide: Saving Lives with a Smile. The other, far more interesting, was a statuette, a statuette of a pony to be exact. But not just any pony. The statuette was depicting a yellow pegasus mare, with long pink mane and tail. Her flank was adorned by a symbol of three butterflies.

So, this was Fluttershy, the Mare of the Ministry of Peace. The mare who dedicated herself to healing everybody during the war, no matter if they were a pony or a zebra.

I grabbed the statuette gently with my magic… and shook. I felt as if a surge of magic had washed over me. I looked at the statuette, puzzled. Was it magical? There wasn’t any magic in it that I could sense…

As I looked at it, I realized that there were words written on the pedestal on which Fluttershy stood. Two words that I should have expected, given what little I knew about this mare, but still took me by surprise.

Be Kind.

I put the statuette back on the desk, glaring at it. Somehow, I felt as if it was… accusing me. Shaking my head, I concentrated on the terminal instead. Unlike the previous one, I hacked it quite easily, on my second try. However, much to my disappointment, it contained nothing but notes of a doctor that used to work in the clinic during the War.

Entry One:
I can’t believe so many ponies in this town got drug problems! I grew up here, and I never noticed there were any junkies in Appleloosa. I suppose it might be due to the war, difficult times caused ponies to seek escape in drugs... I had to move out of my office to make room for the patients being treated for addiction. Had to strap them down somewhere until the detox can flush their bodies of whatever the hell they've been all taking. Until then, I guess I’ll have to make do with this as my office.

At least the broken janitor will keep me company. I wonder when they will send somebody to fix it?

Entry Two:
Got the results from the analysis of the patients with addiction’s blood samples. According to them, they all got hooked up by the same drug. That, alone, wouldn’t be so surprising, if it weren’t a drug that was one of the forbidden Zebra drugs! What in Celestia name is going on? Not so long as a month ago there were MoM goons in town; shouldn’t they have been found if somepony was smuggling illegal drugs to Equestria?

I should report this, but what if the MoM had missed this on purpose ? What if somepony in the higher ups was secretly making money out of this smuggling deal? I… I wouldn’t want to get into trouble… you keep hearing what those guys from the Ministry of Morale do with ponies…

It’ll be best if I just send in a report to Canterlot about what the blood analysis showed and leave it at that. Hopefully, if something wrong is going on, then somepony in the Ministry of Peace will work it out from there.

Entry Three:
I cannot believe what happened today! Fluttershy, the Mare of the Ministry of Peace, came here! She wanted to personally congratulate me on my efforts in Appleloosa! She even brought a team of medics to help out!

Oh my gosh, I still can’t believe it! That mare is the reason why I became a doctor! For her to talk with me, to thank me... I cannot find words to describe how happy I am! But that’s still not all!

When the ponies she brought tended to the patients, relieving me and everypony else at the clinic for a few hours, Fluttershy and I went to get some lunch (of course, there were a few bodyguards nearby, just in case). I told her how much I admired her, ever since I saw her helping ponies and buffalo wounded during that battle back when I was a colt, and how I became a doctor later on and joined her ministry, and how I too hated this war. I stopped talking, though, when I noticed that she was crying, but soon it turned out that she was crying because she was happy (thank Celestia, her pet rabbit looked as if he was about to tear me a new one). She was happy that I told her that, that her efforts inspired somepony. She then gave me a statuette of herself as a thank you gift, so that I would remember why I wanted to help ponies every time I looked at it.

I could tell that there was something wrong with her, making her more emotional. Something was clearly bugging her, but when I tried to ask, she smiled and said it was nothing. I’m not sure what to think of that… Either way, she had to return to Canterlot, so she said her goodbyes soon after giving me that statuette.

I am honored for this gift, but honestly, I was just glad Fluttershy had promised to look into this Zebra drug thing, and urged me to forget about it. Took a load out of my mind!

The entries ended after the third one. Looking at the dates, I could tell why. This buck wasn’t making those notes every day since he moved down into the basement, there were two-to-three day intervals between each of them. The last one was made two days before the bombs fell.

*** *** ***

“Are ya going t’ sleep all day?”

I yawned and opened my eyes. Apple Core’s head was hovering above me, and her hoof was prodding my shoulder. I found myself tempted to once again joke about her being interested in me, but decided against it.

“What time is it?” I asked, yawning and raising from my mattress. My lab coat that I used as a blanket slid from my body.

“Around nine. Ah thought Ah would bring ya somethin’ t’ eat; can’t imagine Cutter being a carin’ boss,” she muttered, glaring at closed door to his office.

I, on the other hoof, looked at the plate on the reception desk. It was full of the same canned food Apple Core treated me to yesterday during our ride to Appleloosa. I sighed, noting that the food will be probably the hardest part to get used to.

“Thank you,” I said, not wanting to sound ungrateful. As I started eating it, I turned to her. “So, what plans for today?”

“Ah hoped to show you around, Cutter usually ‘opens’ this place at ten, so ya should have some free time now. Not sure how yar day will look after ‘at. As for me, Ah got guard duty until nightfall. Maybe we can hit the saloon after that?”

“That sound lovely,” I said, smiling and turning to her. I noticed then where she was looking at and the smile turned into a smirk. “Sweetie, are you sure you’re not into mares?”

Apple Core gagged, taken by surprise. She blushed furiously and glared at me. “Ah was lookin’ at yar cutie mark!”

I giggled. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself.”

The mare calmed down. “So, what is that thing anyway?” she asked, pointing at my flank.

A smile crossed my muzzle as I looked down on my cutie mark. “It’s a dragon that devours it’s own tail,” I said. I pressed my hoof to it and drew a circle, trailing it from tail to head.

“Looks like a snake.”

I rolled my eyes. Wasn’t the first time I heard that. “Either way, it’s still a creature that devours it’s own tail. Took me a while to figure out what it meant, but I finally found it in one of the books in my Stable’s library. It was once a symbol of the eternal life cycle, eternity and unity, known as the Ouroboros. And yeah, even in that book it wasn’t written if it was a dragon or a serpent.”

“How in the hay can ya get a cutie mark like that?!” Apple Core asked, perplexed.

“Oh please, sweetie, a mare has to have her secrets,” I told her, giggling. “I did not ask how you got your cutie mark… and, since I am polite and do not stare at ponies’ flanks, I don’t know what it is.”

She gave me a dirty look. “It’s a row of apple cores placed right next t’ each other,” she informed me. “Ah’m good at roundin’ ponies up.”

“Really?” I asked, growing curious. Rising from the now empty plate, I continued as I picked up my stable barding. “I would love to hear how you got it. Will you tell me about it while you show me around the town?”

*** *** ***

It didn’t take Apple Core much time to show me around Appleloosa. Other than the clinic, a building I was already familiar with, the only really important places were the town hall, where Black Widow slept and ran things from, an armory, a station for the train, and the saloon. There were also some ‘barracks’ in which most of the slavers slept in and cages for the slaves.

Noticing a cauldron with some liquid-like substance near the cages, I trotted over to take a whiff. Immediately, I pulled back. “Ugh, and I thought those potatoes in cans you keep giving me were bad,” I said, turning to Apple Core, who rolled her eyes. “What is this?”

“Oatmeal,” one of the slavers guarding them replied.

I looked at him. “Oatmeal? Are you crazy?” I put a hoof on the edge of the cauldron. “Have you ever seen an oatmeal?”

The sleeping drug I prepared last night dropped from my hoof into the liquid, ensuring that once the slaves would get fed shortly before nightfall, they would all go to sleep.

“Who cares, it’s for slaves,” the guard said, shrugging.

“Well, I wouldn’t eat if even if you’d pay me,” I said, turning to look at slaves. When I managed to catch Bulk’s eyes, I tapped at the cauldron.

He looked at the cauldron and nodded.

“Speakin’ of payin’,” Apple Core said, “boss wanted me to tell ya to go meet ‘er tomorrow, t’ make it official ya work with us. Ya know, stuff like payment and shit. Although, given how ya work under Cutter, he will ‘ave most to say about that matter.”

“Why tomorrow?”

“She’s busy preperin’ a new offer t’ send t’ Stern.” Her eyes suddenly narrowed. “And speakin’ of stern…”

I followed her eyes and saw my boss and his special somepony trotting towards us. My eyes darted towards the slaves inside the cages, searching for Bulk Build. I didn’t have to worry; he was already glaring at the buck who murdered his wife.

It was starting to look like a gift from the Goddesses. I planned to send Cutter later to check on slaves, saying something like “I never treated a pony in the Wasteland, I’m not sure if I did the job right,” then bump into Whip Crack by accident in Appleloosa and start thanking him for putting up with me and lead him to his coltfriend, but this was going to save so much of my dignity!

“Good morning, boss,” I greeted him, not needing to fake happiness. “How may I be of help?”

“You can start by not sneaking off ever again,” Cutter replied, frowning. “Somepony needs to run the clinic. Go do that; I will give the slaves a check up.”

Apple Core looked as if she wanted to say something in my defense. I delicately poked her so that the bucks wouldn’t notice and shook my head. Turning to them, I pouted. “Do you not trust me to do my job?”

Cutter rolled his eyes. “Actually, no, but I have to do this everyday either way. Some idiots around here like to damage the merchandise when nopony’s looking. Come to think of it,” he added, brushing his chin, “it’s most usually a merchandise of the female variety.”

The thought of a gay buck checking on the mares was oddly comforting. “I see. Well then, I guess I’m off to the clinic then,” I said, nodding my head and beginning to trot away.

Whip Crack nuzzled Cutter. “I need to go, got guard duty. See you tonight.”

Cutter replied by kissing him.

“Awww! You guys are so sweet!” I called back at them, while Apple Core was making puking sounds.

The two buck glared at me. “Fuck off!” they both said in unison before they parted.

My eyes, however, were no longer on them, but on the slave inside a cage. Bulk Build was now observing Cutter very intensively.

*** *** ***

“Can’t really understand what Cutter was complaining about” I said, trotting together with Apple Core through Appleloosa towards Salt Block, the town’s saloon. “We hardly had any patients today.”

“That’s because there weren’t any raid parties returnin’ today,” Apple Core pointed out. “Wait until Cracker’s group will come in a day or two, they were sent t’ a bigger town than Mudhill. They’re bound t’ come with more slaves and wounds that we had.”

“So do you often attack settlements like that? Seems to me that you would have run out of villages around here already.”

“Nah, we’ve been doin’ that only since Black Widow became the boss. Earlier, we usually just tried capturin’ some travelers.” She looked around after she paused. “Ya know, Ah have no idea how ya can ingore all those ponies starin’ at ya.”

I giggled. Indeed, as we walked through Appleloosa, both now and in the morning, as well as yesterday, ponies kept turning their heads to gawk at me. “I’m simply used to it. I was always perceived as an oddity and was stared at. A very hot oddity since I grew up, I might add.”

“Well, Ah wouldn’t know about that part,” Apple Core rolled her eyes, “so Ah’m gonna take yar word on it. Changin’ subject, how are ya copin’ with workin’ for slavers?”

“I already told you, sweetie, I’m not a pony you would call ‘soft’,” I reminded her. “The only issue I have is with killing; but since that actually hurts your business, you try avoid doing that. So to be honest, I could have landed worse after leaving my Stable.”

With those words, I swung open the door leading to the saloon we had finally reached. A music - the same annoying one as I heard before; couldn’t they change to that other station with Sweetie Belle’s songs? - was barely heard above the chatter of the patrons, majority of them slavers. Apple Core, however, pointed out for me a few merchants that lived in town as well as we made our way to the bar.

Of course, we couldn’t do that without me attracting the attention of everypony. A lot of ponies pointed at me and muttered between themselves; some called and waved, inviting me to their tables, and some chuckled and made obscene gestures to their friends.

“Hey Apple Core, what will it be?” the bartender asked once we sat before the bar.

“Beer for me, and… what d’ya want?” Apple Core asked, turning to me.

“Something without alcohol.”

The earth pony’s eyes became round as plates.

“I don’t drink,” I added.

“Don’t drink?!” She looked at me as if I was crazy. “Angel, ya can’t be serious. What, didn’tya have any alcohol in yar stable or somethin’?”

“Oh, no, we had alcohol,” I assured her. “But I don’t like it.” Apple Core looked at me as if I offended her. “The taste doesn’t sit with me, it ruins your liver, and don’t get me started about how it makes you do stupid things-”

“Tch, fine, whatevs,” Apple Core interrupted me. “One beer and… Ah dunno, a sparkle-cola, Ah guess,” she said, turning to the bartender.

A few moments later, Apple Core was chugging down her beer, while I was looking sceptically at the dark drink. I gave it a sniff; it had a strange smell. Shrugging, I finally decided to take a sip. To my surprise, I found the taste of it rather pleasant; it was carrot flavored… and carbonated?

It was quite good. Very different from the tea I usually drank back in the Stable, but still enjoyable.

A tap on my shoulder took my attention away from my drink. I looked back to see two slaver bucks I was not yet familiar with.

“May I help you?”

The buck grinned. I noticed both of them were missing a few teeth. “You’re than white doctor chick?” one of them asked. “My friend and I wondered if you would like to come over to our table and… examine us.”

I smiled and shook my head. “I’m afraid my schedule is full, try to make an appointment for a future date,” I said, turning back.

“Oh, I see,” the other buck smirked. “You have a thing only for mares.”

“No sweetie,” I told him, looking over my shoulder. “I have standards.”

Several of the patrons that were close enough to hear us laughed, Apple Core being the loudest one. As I returned to my drink, I noticed that she had already finished her beer, and was ordering a new one.

“Another one?”

“What are ya, my mom?” she replied, chuckling.

“I’m just concerned if you have drinking problem,” I shrugged. “Also, a few more of those and you might try to hit on me-”

“Yeah right,” Apple Core interrupted me. She taken a gulp of her beer and continued: “Ah already told ya, Ah’m not into mares.”

“Sweetie, have you taken a look at me?” I asked, raising an eyebrow and putting a hoof on my hip. “Nopony is that straight.”

“Yeah, right…”

*** *** ***

“Hey, Angel…” the very intoxicated Apple Core started, her foreleg around me and her face so near mine that I had difficulty not gagging at the smell of alcohol in her breath. “What’ya say we ditch this place and go play doctor?”

“So how long has it been?” I asked the bartender with a raised eyebrow, who was laughing and shaking his head. Turning back to Apple Core, I pressed a hoof to her chest, gently pushing her away. “Sweetie,” I started, smiling, “I would love to ‘play doctor’ with you, but you’re drunk. I don’t want you to wake up tomorrow regretting anything.”

“Aw, c’mon,” Apple Core continued to try hit on me, though she moved back a bit. “What’s the harm? At’m not gonna spank ya or anythin’!”

“Pity,” I smirked. “Either way, I need to use the little fillies’ room-”

“What are ya, eight?”

“- I’ll be back in a bit. Will you be alright?”

“Pff, what, do Ah look like Ah won’t be?”

“Please don’t make me answer that,” I sighed. Turning to the bartender, I asked: “Can you keep an eye on her?”

When he nodded, I headed towards the bathrooms. Luckily, the fillies’ one was empty, and, what’s more important, still had a working lock. I locked the door and opened the window.

Alright, I thought, pulling myself up the sill. It’s already dark. Even with my white coat, I should make it to the slave cages without being noticed.

Still, to increase my chances, I removed my lab coat and left it in the toilet. With just my stable barding, I was much less conspicuous. I jumped out of the window and started making my way around the town. The saloon was almost on the opposite side of Appleloosa of the slave cages, so I had quite a distance to run, on top of being careful to not get noticed. Thankfully, I still had my E.F.S to warn me if somepony was behind a corner of a building, so I didn’t run into anypony. Also, the guards were more worried about ponies trying to break in or out of Appleloosa, but not so much about sneaking around the town. Thanks to that, not even ten minutes had passed since I left the Salt Block, and I was looking at the cages.

I paused, catching my breath. I really hated running.

The eleven slaves other than Bulk Build were already asleep, thanks to the drug I had slipped to their meal earlier. However, there were two ponies guarding the slaves. I needed to do something about them.

This was going to be tiresome…

*** *** ***

“What did you do?” Bulk was asking me several minutes later.

I picked the keys to the cage from the sleeping guard with my teeth. “Aww put thwem t’ seeph,” I said, but realising how it sounded I spit the keys to my hoof and tried again. “I’ve put them to sleep,” I told him, nodding at one of the slaves who was snoring. “As for them, I put a sleeping drug into that oatmeal. Took me most of the night to prepare a drug strong enough to work on so many ponies.”

“Tough,” Bulk commented, clearly not interested in my troubles. Pointing at the lock, he added: “Can you?”

Nodding, I got to unlocking that cage. We had to hurry; not only was somepony bound to want to use the bathroom in the saloon soon, but also my sleeping spell wouldn’t last long.

“So, you want me to kill that medic so you can take his place?” he asked as I unlocked the door.

“No, I’m a homophobe,” I replied sarcastically, rolling my eyes. “Yes, that’s the reason. He’s in his clinic, right over there,” I said, pointing in its direction. I risked using the Levitation spell on the keys, despite needing to preserve my energy for later, and moved them to unlock the chains binding Bulk’s legs. “Whip Crack should be with him, so you’ll get to kill his lover right before him. You should have no problem getting there, as long as you stick to the shadows and don’t make noise. Now hurry up,” I said, dropping the keys together with the chain on the ground in the cage, and starting to move the guard who had them near the cage. This way, it would look as if Bulk Build took the keys after the guard fell asleep. “They’re gonna wake up soon.”

Bulk nodded, and without as much as a thank you, he began heading towards the clinic. Wishing him luck silently, I began running back to the saloon.

*** *** ***

The alarm was raised just as I jumped back through the window. On the street, ponies called out to help looking for an escapee. I quickly put back on my lab coat and, after sperring a moment to clean the sweat on my face from all the running and to catch my breath,I left the bathroom.

There was no queue forming behind it, but I assumed that any mare that wanted to use it simply went to the male’s bathroom. I trotted calmly, as if nothing had happened, back to where I left Apple Core.

Who was now tongue deep in some buck’s throat.

“How long was I out?” I asked, sitting next to her.

Apple Core pulled her mouth away from the buck with a loud smack. “The hell did’ya eat?! Ya’ve been gone like an hour.”

“Rubbish, it’s been half an hour at best,” I corrected her, blushing a bit from embarrassment over her accusation. “And I’m still getting used to the food you have up here.”

The mare rolled her eyes, losing interest, and returned to her make-out session. I ordered another sparkle-cola and waited.

The saloon was too far away from the clinic for us to hear any commotion, especially with the music playing. But we didn’t need to hear it, the commotion came to us. After several minutes, a few slavers that were on duty ran in, yelling to stop the music.

“Is Doctor Angel here?” one of them called out, his eyes searching through the crowd.

“Here!” I called out, leaving Apple Core behind and trotting towards them. “What’s the matter?”

I didn’t need to fake nervousness. It could be that they’ve figured out I was the one who let Bulk Build lose. But that was a gamble I had to make.

However, such worries evaporated from my mind when the slavers’ faces betrayed their relief at the sight of me. “You need to come with us, Doctor; there’s been an accident.”

*** *** ***

I gasped. “What happened here?!”

We were at the clinic. It was a mess. Several cabinets were knocked over and there were sheets of paper everywhere; clear signs of a fight. More obvious, thought, were two dead bodies.

I quickly ran to Cutter, sparing Bulk Build a mere glance; there was a small puddle of blood around him, and his chest was full of holes. I gently moved Whip Crack away from his lover’s body and pressed my ear to his chest, while at the same activating my magic.

“We heard gunshots and then Whip Crack screaming for help,” the buck who came for me informed me. “We’re not sure what exactly happened; he wasn’t too helpful-”

“Strangled,” I cut him off; his throat bore bruises from Bulk’s hooves.

The glow from my horn disappeared.

Pressing my hooves on his chest, right above Cutter’s heart, I started resuscitating him. I pressed him with the weight of my body thirty times, them opened his muzzle to give him mouth-to-mouth. After two breaths into his mouth, I listened to his heart once again.

“Dammit!” I snapped, giving it another go.

I could tell that there were ponies moving around me; somepony trotted to make sure Bulk Build was really dead, a few just came in and were asking what happened; others simply watched my tries to save Cutter’s live.

I once again breathed into his muzzle, and listened if his heart resumed it’s work.

“Shit,” I said out loud, moving away. “Stand back!” I ordered, lowering my horn to his chest. Concentrating, I cast a spell. My magic turned into an electrical charge that I directed into Cutter’s heart. In normal cases of cardiac arrest, a shock like that could kick the heart back into action.

Unfortunately for Whip Crack, it was not the case.

I listened to his chest one last time. When I straightened and looked at Whip Crack, who was looking at me hopefully, I had to shook my head.

He broke down, crying.

*** *** ***

“Those guards couldn’t have picked a worse moment to take a nap,” Black Widow commented as she and another pony (probably a bodyguard) joined me.

It was morning. I caught a little sleep last night; there was a lot of commotion involved after the death of the town’s medic. Go figure. Ponies tried to find out just how exactly the slave escaped from the cage, and why, out of all ponies, he murdered Cutter. As some guards remembered seeing me comforting him yesterday, I was of course questioned. I mentioned only that Bulk’s wife was killed.

And… that was it. Nopony suspected me of anything. Apparently, everypony assumed that since I tried so hard to save Cutter, I didn’t have anything to do with his murder.

As for the slaves I drugged, they all woke up after a good shake. Some slavers thought it weird that they all fell asleep at the same time, but nopony questioned it.

It didn’t take long for the slavers to find out that Bulk’s escape was caused by the two guards falling asleep. What exactly happened to them, I did not know, and wasn’t sure if I wanted to.

I was currently watching Whip Crack burying his lover not far away from the clinic when the boss of the slavers approached me. I nodded in agreement but didn’t turn to her yet. “Consequences were tragic, especially for him,” I pointed at Whip Crack.

“Not for you,” she said, her voice neutral.

“Are you-” I started, turning to her.

And froze.

The other pony I heard come with her wasn’t a pony. It was a zebra.

I jumped to him, ignoring Black Widow. I’ve never seen a zebra! Obvious, seeing how I lived in a Stable full of unicorns, but that was beside the point! I looked him up and down, taking in all of his… exoticness! The white coat with black (actually, kind of more dark gray than black) stripes covering his face, back, and legs, as well as mane… the potent muscles, visible even through the barding he wore… the different tail, with hair starting around the third coccygeal vertebra…

It was shocking to see how much alike he was to an earth pony.

“I see you like my bodyguard,” Black Widow said, amused by how I was prancing around him (which only now I had realized I was doing).

Clearing my throat, I nodded. “Sorry, I’ve never seen a zebra. I’m Doctor Angel…” I started, wanting to introduce myself to him, but Widow stopped me.

“Don’t bother; see that scar on his head?” she asked, pointing at his right side.

I had to walk around him to look at it. The right side of his face bore a massive scar, starting from just below his empty eye socket and leading well past where his ear should have been. I delicately lifted some of his mane to see that it was practically covering half of his head.

“He’s practically a walking vegetable,” Black Widow continued. “However, he can still listen to basic commands, eat, piss, and most importantly, fight. All I need to do is point at something and order him to attack. Makes you wonder what kind of zebra he was before, huh?”

“The injury must have caused brain damage,” I noted, looking at the scar with fascination. Was it from a bullet wound?

“I was leading a group looking for slaves when we found him, a couple years back, among the dead. I think he and his buddies were attacked by Red Eye’s army, and the survivors were taken to Fillydelphia,” she shrugged. “Either way, when I realized that he was alive, I had him taken to Cutter and sewed back together. Turned out to be a rather good deal; it’s not often one finds such an obedient servant.”

“Fascinating,” I agreed, turning to her. “You wouldn’t mind if I would examine him later, would you?”

Black Widow chuckled. “Sorry, but I like to have him around in the way he is; I wouldn’t want you to fix him by some miracle. Although…” she paused, looking the zebra up and down. “I might be persuaded to part with him… for a price, of course.”

I smiled. “I will turn to you, then, when I will start getting some caps.”

It was still weird to think of something as simple as bottle caps as currency. When Apple Core explained this to me yesterday, I half thought she was pulling my tail.

“Seeing how you are now the town’s medic, it might not take you too long,” Black Widow smirked, turning to leave.

“Can I ask two quick questions?” I asked and she stopped, nodding. “What’s his name? And why doesn’t he have any weapon?”

Black Widow smirked. “I call him Khan; had to think of something other than ‘Mute Zebra’. And as for a weapon - he has four of them.”

She walked away, her bodyguard following her like a shadow, on four powerful legs.

*** *** ***

I sat back next to the desk in the clinic’s basement, my back to the wall, hind legs crossed, and Fluttershy’s statuette on my hoof. I held it on eye level with me. I still felt as if it was accusing me.

“How was I not kind?” I asked her, frowning. I knew, of course, that I was talking with an object, but something was compelling me to speak to it. “Thanks to me, Bulk Build is now back with his wife. A murderer received a just punishment.”

A weak groan sounded from the opposite end of the basement.

“And I ensured Bulk hadn’t murdered anypony,” I added, putting the statuette back on the desk.

I rose and trotted towards the pony strapped to a desk - which to make a room for I had to move most of the objects to the side of the basement (I had so much cleaning ahead of me… maybe I should look into repairing this janitor robot?) - as he began to wake up.

“W-what… where am I?” he gasped, looking around.

“Hello, sweetie,” I told Cutter, standing next to him and smiling. “I’m glad to inform you that you are still alive-”

“What is this!?” Cutter interrupted me, realizing that he was in shackles. “The fuck is this?!”

“Oh, those are chains I borrowed from somewhere,” I said, shrugging. “Amazing how easy it is to find shackles' in slavers town. As I was saying-”

“What the fuck is this!?” he cut me off again, glaring at me with hate and fear. “What are you-”

He trailed off when I levitated a scalped to his throat. “I’m beginning to lose my patience,” I told him coldly. “I am going to explain your current situation now, but if you interrupt me again, I will cut out your vocal cords. Do you understand me?”

Now there was only fear in his eyes. Cutter nodded his head, weakly, mindful of the blade pressed to his neck.

“Splendid!” I said, smiling, and moving the scalped away. “As you might remember, you were attacked by a slave last night. He strangled you, and you passed out due to the loss of oxygen. When I got to the scene, I cast a Stasis spell on you, stopping all your body’s functions. It’s difficult to cast and it’s weak, only lasts for a day, but it was enough to get you here.”

“W-why?” he asked, growing more and more terrified.

“Why, I need a new test subject!” I said, surprised. I thought it was obviou- oh wait. “You know, it surprises me a bit that none of you slavers thought to ask just why I was kicked out of my Stable. Do you want to know why?” Even though Cutter looked as if he didn’t want to know, I bend down to his ear and whispered. “I was banished, after I was convicted of kidnapping sixteen ponies, of casting on them experimental spells and performing surgical experiments, as well as being responsible for the deaths of four of them.”

I pulled away and giggled. “Isn’t this rich? The Overmare threw me away in an act of punishment. Everypony thought I would die on the Outside. But instead, she sent me to the world of endless possibilities for me to continue my research!”

“You… you're fucking crazy!” Cutter finally snapped. “Let me out of here, you crazy bitch! Whip Crack is gonna fucking murder you once he gets here!”

“Considering he buried you today, I doubt he will,” I told him, shattering his hope. “Digging you out was such a pain, but I couldn’t let you suffocate, now could I? Now, hold still,” I told him, lifting a syringe. “I want to examine your blood sample and compare it with mine. I’m curious if living with all the radiation affects pony’s DNA.”

“W-what the hell are you?” Cutter asked me as the needle of the syringe pierced the skin of his foreleg.

I giggled. “I am the one who will discover the Truth of this world,” I told him, once again lowering my voice. “I am Doctor Angel, but from now on, you will address me as the Mistress.”

Footnote: Adventure Started!
Name: Angel
S.P.E.C.I.A.L.:

Strength: 1

Perception: 8

Endurance: 3

Charisma: 8

Intelligence: 10

Agility: 6

Luck: 4

Chapter Two: Settling In

View Online

“Civilized? You think you're civilized because you live in the burnt-out ruins of a beforetime town? Tell me something else.”

“Good morning, everypony! This is your host, DJ Pon3, and this is the news. Strange things are apparently happening in the vicinity of Manehattan Blast Zone. Several ponies have claimed to witness a fire erupting there suddenly. I got a report from a ghoul who was out there scavenging that one of the few mostly intact buildings had been burned down. By what? Nobody knows. Anypony who is crazy enough to travel through that highly irradiated area, please remember to re-read Equestria’s fire safety instruction book.

“In other news, remember how mommies used to tell you to not litter food, because that’s how you get ants? Well, somebody didn’t listen. A trader was attacked by giant ants that had moved out of nowhere somewhere between Friendship City and Gutterville. As if the manticores weren’t enough of a pest problem around those parts.

“That’s all the news for now. Tune in later for a public service announcement and more news. Now, here’s more of Sweetie Belle, singing about that one great truth of the wasteland: every pony has done something they regret.”

I lifted my head away from the microscope’s lense as the sweet music of Sweetie Belle replaced the voice of a buck that called himself “DJ Pon3”. I’ve begun to like that station more and more. Not only did it play very good music (including songs from Sweetie Belle’s repertoire that I already liked back in Stable Eight, but also from a certain Sapphire Shores that I grew to appreciate as well), but it proved to be a somewhat reliable source of information.

“Giant ant,” I said out loud as I scribbled it on the clipboard I picked up, where on the top of the page I’ve written ‘SPECIMENS TO ACQUIRE’. I paused for a few moments, mentally going over DJ Pon3’s broadcast. “Manticore!” I exclaimed, writing that one down as well.

Still, the information relayed by this mysterious buck weren’t always one hundred percent accurate. For instance, I’d already heard him refer to Appleloosa as a place ponies needed to stay away from at least twice. Although I was sure that it applied in most cases, my own personal experience made me beg to differ.

It has been two days since the ‘death’ of Cutter. I had now completely moved in to the clinic and taken over his duties. According to my contract with Black Widow, I was required to tend to the slavers that got hurt while catching ‘merchandise’ for free, as well as making sure that the slaves were in relative good health until they were sent out of Appleloosa. Aside from that, though, I could charge as much as I liked for medical services to ponies living in the town (such as the bartender) or slavers that got hurt while off-duty. Not to mention treating illnesses. However, from those earnings I had to pay ten percent back to Black Widow at the end of each month.

Ugh, finances. Why do I have to bother with those?!

Shaking my head, I turned my attention back to the microscope. I’d just finished checking the DNA I extracted from Cutter’s blood sample. As far as I could tell, there was no change in a pony’s genomes brought on by the radiation. Of course, this was a simple microscope; to check the DNA strain thoroughly, I would have needed more precise equipment.

One more thing to acquire, I sighed. Except the chances of finding such a device that’s still working… There might be some in old hospitals, but from what I heard so far about the Wasteland, I could find those only in the ruins of big cities. And all of those are far away.

So getting specialistic lab equipment was one of the later goals. I looked at my clipboard to review the ones I could complete much sooner: a complete examination of an earth pony (a corpse preferably), an earth pony test subject, securing a more stable way of getting funds (Will need Apple Core’s help with this one.), finding some readable books, and… resuming my experiments, finally.

I turned to look at the door of what was now currently Cutter’s prison. There were several experiments that I’ve never managed to complete back in Stable Eight, but which should I start with first? I glanced at my clipboard.

I lost two subjects on regeneration research… I mused, cringing inside. So perhaps I should start with something more safe, at least until I secure more test subjects. Hm… truth serum? Would be useful… Of course, I frowned with annoyance, I wouldn’t need a truth serum if Stable-Tech had thought about leaving any books about Ministry of Morale’s memory spells in Stable Eight.

A yawn interrupted my musing. I looked at the time on my PipBuck and saw that it was almost ten, the time to open the clinic. Guess it’s too late to start working on the truth serum. Oh well, I shrugged as I raised from the desk and began to leave the basement. Maybe I should have woken up earlier… but there’s no coffee here! How am I supposed to work?

Once I closed the door to the basement behind me, and entered the empty clinic, I found myself getting almost immediately distracted from my experiments. I hadn’t even crossed half of the way to my new room (previously belonging to Cutter and Whip Crack, but the latter had already moved back to the slavers’ male barracks), when the door of the clinic opened, and Apple Core walked in.

I smiled at her pleasantly. “Good morning, Apple Core,” I greeted her.

The light brown mare didn’t meet my eyes. “Um, hi,” she muttered, looking somewhere around my hooves.

I frowned. “Is it still about you hitting on me while you were drunk? Sweetie, I told you, you have nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Easy for ya t’ say,” Apple Core replied, and I noticed she was blushing.

I rolled my eyes and decided to not remind her that so far, I hadn’t stated my orientation to anypony in Appleloosa. Even if she was right…

Instead, I chose to tell her something that hopefully would make her forget about her embarrassment. “Apple Core, you’ve done nothing to feel ashamed of,” I began, walking slowly toward her and gazing into her eyes. “I am an angel of Celestia and Luna; I’ve descended from Paradise bearing to ponies gifts of both life and death alike.” I stopped before her; by then, Apple Core had finally looked at me, and her eyes were wide open in shock and her mouth hang open. “To desire me is not a sin,” I continued, struggling to keep the serious (and a bit lustful) expression on my face, “for it is natural for ponies to love one that-”

Finally, I couldn’t go on. My features faltered, and lips quivered. A second later I had to cover my mouth as I began to laugh. “You should have seen the look on your face,” I managed to say while Apple Core began slowly to understand what was going on.

She snorted with laughter and looked at me with half-frown, half-amusement. “Dang nabbit, girl, ya almost ‘ad me!” Apple Core told me, glaring at me humorously. “Ah almost bought that bag of horse apples!”

“I can be convincing when I want,” I replied, sticking out my tongue. “Besides,” I continued, regaining a more lady-like composure, “I am a doctor; you can’t fault me for having a bit of a goddess complex, now can you sweetie?” I joked; contrary to what ponies at my trial had said, I knew that I did not have a goddess complex. But I could still joke about it in the right company.

Apple Core shook her head. “Better stop then. Ya seem crazy ‘nough as it is, no need for ya t’ go around town sayin’ crap like that. Folks might start thinkin’ yar one of ‘em Preachers.”

I was confused by her statement, especially that last sentence, as I’ve so far heard nothing about any ‘preachers’. But I decided that I had more pressing matters to take care of for now. “While it is always a joy to see you, sweetie, might I ask why have you come? I believe you were supposed to be on duty until noon.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I was sent t’ get ya. Guards spotted a caravan comin’; must be Cracker’s group.”

Well, there go my plans to start my experiments, I thought, stifling a sigh. I’d already heard that a certain slaver by the name Cracker was sent with a big group to capture ponies living in a small town a few days trot away. By the looks of everything I knew so far, I was about to spent half a day treating both slavers and slaves. Still, though, I tried to remain optimistic. Perhaps one of them will be seriously wounded, with low chances of making it…

“I’ll get some supplies ready; will you help me carry them?” I asked looking over my shoulder as I trotted towards the room that Cutter had used as a storage room.

Apple Core agreed and helped me pack healing potions, bandages and several medicines into saddlebags. Each of us taking one, we left the clinic and headed towards the entry to the town. Now more at ease with me after my amusing performance, Apple Core made some small talk. “Ah wonder how many did they get?”

I just assumed this was what usually passed for “small talk” around slavers.

“Hope they didn’t do too well.”

“Concerned I will have too much work?” I asked teasingly.

Apple Core snorted. “Nah. Well, a bit,” she admitted, grinning at me. “But we slavers get paid based on how many slaves we catch. Like, Ah and others will get credit for those seven ya’ve seen. Cracker will get caps for those his group caught. Also, it increases our ranks around the slavers. Can’t let the snot get ahead of me…” she muttered, a grimace sullying her normally nice features.

“I see… and how exactly does the ranking system looks like?”

“Well, f’course, Black Widow’s on top, she’s the boss. She assigns all the patrols, guard duties, and plans the raids on towns. Second in command is Butcher; ya haven’t met him yet. Maybe ya’ll understand what the hay he’s sayin’, half of folks can’t. He’s out with a small party, catchin’ travelers; he pissed the boss off a month ago and she hadn’t let him go on bigger raids since.”

Maybe she won’t miss him…

“How did he piss Black Widow off?”

“He played with a slave a bit too much, killed her. Black Widow doesn’t like losin’ slaves like that,” Apple Core replied, shrugging. “Anyways, after Butcher there’s me, third in rank.”

“Really?” I exclaimed, impressed. I’d guessed by now that Apple Core was of a high rank amongst the slavers, but I had no idea that she was just two ponies below Black Widow. I looked at her alluringly. “I wasn’t aware that I’ve made friends with such an important pony…”

Apple Core glanced at me. “Yeah, well, it’s not all that great. Ah mean, sure, Ah get more money and get to lead groups once in a while, but Ah still got to obey everythin’ Black Widow says. Ah suppose it’s more of a peckin’ order than actual rankin’... anypony who has a problem with somethin’ Black Widow says, they get better acque-... acquant-...”

“Acquainted?” I hinted.

“Yeah, that,” Apple Core nodded. “They get better acquainted with that zebra pet of hers.”

“Khan?” I asked with interest.

Oh, how I wish Black Widow would let me take a close look at him...

“Yeah, him. Ah’ve once saw ‘im pull somepony’s head off along with most of his spine,” she said and shuddered. I couldn’t blame her; it must have been rather gruesome sight.

Note to self: don’t ever get on Black Widow’s bad side.

Despite the thought, I began to wonder how to get Black Widow’s permission to check Khan’s brain; I was curious to see just how damaged it was. It was strange that despite apparently losing the ability to think and speak, he could understand simple commands and execute them.

“And what is Cracker’s rank in the pecking order?” I asked Apple Core, not wanting her to think I lost interest in our discussion.

“He’s fifth, right behind Whip Crack. And given how since Cutter’s death he became more of a dick that he already was, Ah expect he’ll fall down a rank. Or a head.”

She was right; only yesterday Whip Crack had both beaten up one slave, then got into a fight in the saloon. If he continued to be so aggressive, he might find his head removed from his body by Khan.

My musing and our discussion were stopped when we reached a large group of ponies gathered near the cages where the slaves were kept. Among them was heralded a group of fourteen ponies in shackles, all greatly battered and wounded, with bandages poorly wrapped around them. Surrounding them were slavers, all looking relieved to be back in Appleloosa. One of them, a large light gray earth pony with spiked horseshoes and a coiled rope as a cutie mark (Or is it a snake? I pondered briefly; I couldn’t get a good look from that angle), was talking with Black Widow. The black unicorn mare was listening to him, while at the same time looking over the gathered slaves with an appraising look.

We managed to reach close enough just in time to hear the pony - Cracker, I assumed - say: “... we killed three of those raiders and captured the other two, but they’ve killed one slave.”

“Shame,” Black Widow replied, frowning slightly. “Still, running into a raider group could have much worse repercussions. They’ve been getting even more aggressive as of late. I wonder if we should give up on the hunting grounds near Ponyville, even if that group still lets our patrols go for a small fee.”

“Yeah, I swear, every time I have to talk with them, I half expect them to just blow my head off.”

“Hm. At least you’ve got one extra slave out of this.” She finally noticed me and Apple Core. “Ah, Doctor Angel; Cracker, meet Appleloosa’s new medic.”

“New medic?” Cracker asked, turning to us. “What happen to- Hello Baby!” he exclaimed, smirking, as he looked me up and down. “Where have you been hiding?”

I noticed Apple Core bristled slightly beside me, and I felt touched. “In a Stable, sweetie,” I replied, smiling at him. “I’m terribly sorry for eavesdropping, but I’ve happened to overhear that you lost one slave. You don’t happen to have their corpse, do you?”

Even though I already knew the most likely answer, I had to ask.

Cracker look at the me with raised eyebrow, and he wasn’t the only one confused; Black Widow and Apple Core mirrored his expression. “Uh, no, why the fuck would I bring a fucking corpse?”

Frowning a bit at his language, I replied: “Well, for you, of course, it would have no value. Still, I had to ask, because I had hoped that, if it was a corpse of an earth pony, I could perform a post-mortem examination. I’ve studied only the physiology of unicorns, you see, and although there’s not much difference between the two, there are still minor differences. The bone density, for example, or the muscle structure…”

As I was talking, I was beginning to be more and more aware that the only one that seemed to understand remotely what I was talking about was Black Widow, and even she was looking at me as if I bored her. The other two were also looking at me with deepening confusion.

I cleared my throat, stopping my lecture. “The point is, I would really appreciate if the next time a pony you’ve captured had unfortunately died during the journey back, you would bring his corpse. If it was close enough, of course.”

“How much would you appreciate that?” Cracked asked almost immediately, taking a step towards me.

Black Widow spared me the need to reply to his allusion. “Doctor, don’t you have patients to check?”

I nodded at her, smirking, and turned around to the crowd of wounded ponies.

“Everypony who can move, please form a line over here, and wait your turn,” I told them. “Ponies too wounded or in too much pain to move, please stay where you are and groan.”

Although a little taken aback by my orders, ponies began to line up, slavers pushing groaning slaves to stand. I shook my head, dismayed with their brutality, and headed towards them. Behind me, I could hear the trio of slavers talking.

“Could ya stop starin’ at her flank?” I heard Apple Core hiss. “Ya can’t even see it under that coat.”

“Why do you care?” Cracker snorted in reply. “Anyway, Boss, there’s one more thing I wanted to mention; when we were getting out of Rock Gulch, one of the boys swears he saw the Hooded Figure. I took a few ponies to check it out, but-”

The rest of the conversation was lost to my ears, as I had to concentrate on a misfortunate pony who had lost half of his teeth, his face looked as if it was minced, and had several broken ribs.

*** *** ***

A yawn escaped me as I was finally done with the last patient. Cutter wasn’t kidding when he had complained on his work; on busy days it was really a lot for one pony. I’d started working on that group around ten in the morning, and it was already almost midnight.

“Do you have to be so brutal with them?” I asked with pretense one of the slavers that was keeping an eye on the slaves in the clinic.

The state of three of them was so serious that I had to operate. I was surprised that they’d made it to Appleloosa in their state; that is, until somepony told me that their kin carried them for most of the way. One of them, for example, had an ugly, purulent wound on his leg; I had to cut out a lot of flesh to save his life.

My question caused both guards to chuckle. “Ponies don’t usually line ‘emselves up to become slaves, Missy,” one of them said.

“Doctor,” I corrected him.

I walked over to the closest slave, ignoring the guard’s reply. Each of them was sedated, chained, and laying on a mattress. I double-checked to see if everything was in order, before I finally nodded in satisfaction.

“I’m going to Salt Block for a glass of Sparkle-Cola; don’t break anything, sweeties,” I smiled at them as I turned to leave. I stopped for a moment. “That extends to my three patients as well; I hadn’t spent the better part of today fixing them for you to break them.”

“Sure, sure,” one of them replied, rolling his eyes at me.

“I’m not in the mood for fun anyway,” the other added, shrugging.

Not really feeling comfortable with leaving them in my clinic, I hurried to the saloon. I’d closed the doors to my room, the storage and to the basement, but I felt slightly concerned about the fate of the slaves; those two didn’t really convince me they wouldn’t do anything to them. I hoped to find Apple Core and be done with my business quickly.

However, I was in for a disappointment; Apple Core wasn’t there.

“She got up and left about an hour ago with Snare,” the bartender told me when I asked him. “And it looked as if they were going to be busy.”

Another one? I thought, frustrated that I couldn’t talk with her tonight. That’s the third time since I came to Appleloosa; I wonder if it’s because of how she acted when she was drunk… either way, I’d better ask her about what method of contraception she’s using.

I ordered a glass of Sparkle-Cola, figuring that I might as well drink something since I was already there, as well as ordering some potato crisps. After paying him, I took my order to an empty table not far away. As I sipped my Sparkle-Cola, I scanned the crowd; several ponies who had noticed me were smiling smugly at me and were shouting for me to join them. I just smiled and shook my head; it didn’t take much of a genius to figure that their main intention was, to put it gently, copulation. Sadly for them, their chances were none-existent… unlike mine, which I thought were at least plausible.

So far, I’ve met only three people in the Wasteland that I would consider making love to, and it doesn’t look like any of them are going to show similar interest, I sighed, annoyed. Can’t believe it’s already been a few months since-

My train of thoughts was stopped abruptly by the angry and surprised shout coming from the room behind the bar, followed by the sound of several objects falling. I wasn’t the only one who heard it; other patrons were also looking in that direction, surprised.

Being the closest one, I was the first to react. Urged by my curiosity, I hurried from my table, jumped on the bar’s counter and jumped down on the other side. My E.F.S. was flashing me four bars; one friendly, and three- two hostile. One hostile bar just disappeared the moment I entered the backroom.

Then I saw what caused the bartender to start such a commotion. Next to him, on the ground, were two tiny, brown colored creatures, each about the length of my leg, scattering around on the floor one their six legs, their antenna twitched in the direction of the bartender, beneath whose hoof were the remains of their kin.

As the pony raised his goo covered hoof in the air, I screamed: “Stop!”

My shout had the desired effect; the bartender looked back at me, confused. I paid him no mind; I had to hurry. Although I was tired, I still had the strength to cast two anesthetic spells. Were they going to hit their targets, though…

Not wanting to lose such a chance, I activated S.A.T.S.

Immediately, everything around me froze. Or, to be more precise, my perception of my surroundings had been drastically sped up. The Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell, one of the spells included in my PipBuck, had begun to work. With it, even with my total lack of combat experience, I could hit two of those critters easily (because, as the S.A.T.S. informed me, I had over eighty percent chance of hitting them). Taking a deep breath (figuratively speaking, as I was unable to move when S.A.T.S. was in effect), I lined up two spells, one on each target, and let it do its work.

My anesthetic spell worked; both insectoid creatures dropped on the ground, unable to move. I smiled, pleased with myself. And a little bit surprised. I knew how S.A.T.S. worked, of course, as I checked out every possible use there is for a PipBuck years ago, but using it in an actual combat - or, well, resembling combat at least - was another thing.

I snapped myself back to attention when I noticed that bartender was now giving me an even more confused stare. “What-” he started, but I cut him off.

“Mind if I take them?”

*** *** ***

“Ya’re keepin’ radroaches as pets,” Apple Core deadpanned.

“I know!” I exclaimed cheerfully. “Aren’t they cute?”

It was morning the next day; we were in my room in the clinic. Most of the things in it had belonged to Cutter: drawer, table, wardrobe, sink (not working), fridge, and bed (with the mattress changed). Of course, they were empty; Whip Crack took most of the things he and Cutter had kept in them, but I wasn’t complaining.

The only visible thing that belonged to me was an aquarium, with two radroaches I rescued the night before safely in it, chewing on a bit of brahmin (whatever that was) meat. Their brethren’s remains were down in the refrigerator in the basement. There wasn’t much that was left of it that wasn’t smashed, but it was still a valuable source of information.

“First of all,” Apple Core started, replying to my question, “‘cute’ ain’t in mah dictornary-”

“Dictionary,” I corrected her patiently.

“Ugh, tryin’ speakin’ fancy around ya… second of all, Ah’m pretty sure those things are the very opposite of ‘cute’.”

I giggled. “Well, I suppose this depends on the pony.”

“No, it ain’t,” Apple Core once again deadpanned. “Like, really. Those things are gross.”

“Beauty is an abstract idea, it is defined by our personal standards. What to one pony can be the most beautiful thing ever, could very well be absolutely hideous to another.”

When I turned back from the aquarium (The way they ate was so cute! With those little chelicerae…), I was met with a blank stare. “Can’t ya speak normal?!” Apple Core exclaimed once she recovered.

“Define normal? After all, I am a product of my upbringing, which is safe to assume was much different than yours…”

I trailed off when I saw Apple Core’s annoyed gaze. She sighed as I giggled. “Let’s change topic ‘fore mah head explodes; where the fuck did ya get this glass thingy?”

I frowned hearing her curse. “Can’t you ask in a nicer way? You really curse too often.”

Apple Core facehoofed and muttered something incoherent.

“That ‘glass thingy’ is called ‘an aquarium’. Before the war, ponies used to fill them with water and keep fishes in them.”

“The hell are ‘fishes’?”

“Scaly animals that used to live in rivers, lakes and seas,” I replied simply. “And as for how I got the aquarium, it was in Forty Caps store when you showed me around. I bought it from him.”

“Wasn’t the store closed?”

“He was in the saloon,” I replied, shrugging. I looked back at the radroaches, frowning. “What do you think I should name them?”

“Itchy and Scratchy?” I raised my eyebrows. “What? It fits ‘em.”

“On the other hoof, I don’t think they need names just yet.”

“Whatevs. What did ya want anyway? Smash told me ya wanted t’ talk about somethin’.”

When the slaves woke up early in the morning, they had to be placed back with the others. Smash, who was one of the two ponies that guarded the slaves overnight, had agreed to carry my message to Apple Core. I admit, I was surprised he did so. I suppose I was being prejudiced; I still remembered how he and Sawed-Off were eager to put me in shackles with the slaves.

“Yes, I do,” I told Apple Core, looking her in the eyes. “I was wondering if you would like to earn some caps?”

That got her interest. Her eyes widened, but there was now more attention in them. “What ya mean?”

“Well, you seem to know pretty much everypony around here,” I began slowly, not breaking the eye contact. “And since you are the third important pony in Appleloosa, you would have a much easier time to-”

My soon-to-be-partner stomped angrily. “Just get t’ point!”

“Would you like to sell drugs to ponies?”

Her eyes grew wider again.

“Think of it as a small side business,” I continued, pleased with the effect my words were having on her. “I would provide you with drugs, and you would sell them to slaves and merchants in Appleloosa. I figure you would easily learn what everypony needs.”

“Where would ya get drugs?” Apple Core finally asked.

“You know how there is a door leading to the basement here?”

“The one that nobody could get t’ open?” I nodded and grinned. Apple Core sighed. “When did ya open it?”

“The very night I first came here,” I replied cheerfully. “Inside there was a supply of several drugs and medicines. I have plenty of ingredients to create Buck, Dash, Rage-”

“Ya KNOW how t’ make drugs?”

I couldn’t help myself; I had to laugh at the surprise in her voice. “Sweetie, those things, from a technical point of view, are medicines. Of course I know how to make them. Even if my Stable was supposed to be more ‘magic-oriented’, they provided us with enough Ministry of Peace’s books for me to learn about the drugs as well. In fact,” I giggled, “did you know that the drug that enhances combat effectiveness and numbs the pain, commonly known as Stampede, was invented during the war by somepony named Angel? I just had to learn how to make it!”

“Why do Ah feel like ya just went back in time and invented it?” Apple Core deadpanned again.

“Oh, don’t be silly, that’s impossible,” I quickly told her.

“Yeah, Ah know-”

“Stable Eight’s excessive studies on the subject showed that even though it is possible for a unicorn to travel back in time with a correct spell, it would be impossible for him or her to change historical events.” Ignoring the stare Apple Core was giving me, I continued: “Inventing a battle drug would be one such event. Of course, if-”

My next words were muffled by the hoof pressed against my mouth. “Ya know what Ah hate the most?” Apple Core asked me, frowning. “That Ah can’t say whether ya are fuckin’ with me or not right now.”

I rolled my eyes and moved her hoof away. “Then to avoid such situations, I would advise you to not make sarcastic jokes.”

“Fine, Ah will remember that in the future,” Apple Core sighed.

“Speaking of future-”

“NO!” she shouted, almost shoving her hoof into my mouth. “Ah do not want t’ hear anythin’ more about time travel! Let’s get back t’ drugs!”

Her hoof was stopping me from replying. I looked at it pointedly, then back at Apple Core. She grunted with annoyance and removed her hoof.

“So here’s my offer,” I resumed, as if there wasn’t a hoof in my mouth just a second ago. “From the caps you’ll get from ponies, we subtract the cost of materials, and we split what’s left between us.”

Apple Core frowned. “What ‘cost of materials’? Ya just said ya’ve got everythin’ in the basement.”

Sure, she cannot spell ‘dictionary’, but knows what ‘subtract’ means.

“Sooner or later, I will run out of them,” I explained. “That means I will have to start buying ingredients to make more.”

“From where? Ah don’t recall Forty t’ have any of that kind of stuff. Not t’ mention that Black Widow would notice somethin’s up when ya would start buyin’ chemicals and shit around here and she would want in on this business,” Apple Core pointed out.

I smiled. “True… unless I was buying them from someplace else. When is the next train from New Appleloosa coming?”

Her jaw dropped, causing me to smirk. That smirk quickly turned into a frown, however, when she said: “Ya sneaky bitch- Sorry,” she apologized, noticing my expression. “Um, Ah think it’s two weeks from now.”

As I’ve learned since coming to Appleloosa, New Appleloosa would send a train with various goods every once in a while in order to trade. And by send, I meant have a bunch of ponies pull it, as they had no coal. Either way, the train was the fastest way of traveling. New Appleloosa itself was not only the closest big settlement, but was also a major trading hub in the area. Somepony there was sure to have what I needed.

“I plan to talk with the ponies from that train about if they could arrange some trading agreement, and if not then I will travel to New Appleloosa myself to orchestrate one,” I told Apple Core. “To be honest, I would prefer the second option; I would like to see that town for myself.”

Plus, there is that pegasus that lives in the area… I mused, almost squealing inside at the thought. Perhaps he would agree to let me examine him and run a few tests…

“Black Widow might not like ya leavin’ town,” Apple Core pointed out.

“Leave Black Widow to me, I will find a way to convince her to let me go,” I assured her. “I am good with words, after all.”

“Yeah, Ah can see that,” Apple Core admitted.

“So, what do you say?” I asked her, although I was pretty sure she would say-

“Sure, Ah can use more caps. Ya have yarself a deal,” she said, extending a hoof towards me.

I pretended to frown. “I was hoping we could seal the deal some other way…”

Apple Core began to growl, causing me to giggle. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself,” I said, grabbing her hoof and shaking it.

It appears that I won’t have to worry about the funds for my research. If only the trip to New Appleloosa goes well, that is.

Footnote: 50% to next level!

Chapter Three: Angel Lust

View Online

“I think you need a doctor.”

“So...” I said slowly, looking from the mash of cables and other parts to the book and back again, “according to this, one of its sensor modules has blown… and according to those readings,” I added, glancing at my PipBuck, which was connected to the robot's access panel, “the spark battery’s energy levels are really low…”

I sighed and took a step back, massaging my temples. Though I was second to none when it came to healing ponies, repairing robots continued to prove a difficult task. And, according to this TLC Squared: “Tender Loving Care for Totally Lost Causes" I bought from Forty Caps, this Mister Handy wasn’t a too complicated robot to fix. Well, compared to some other models at least...

In the two weeks since I began my partnership with Apple Core, our small drug cartel had proven to be quite successful. Definitely much more successful than my attempts in fixing the maintenance robot. Or my research, I remarked bitterly. As there wasn’t any way for ponies of Appleloosa to acquire drugs, other than waiting for the train from New Appleloosa, we had plenty of customers. As we didn’t want to alert Black Widow, Apple Core would sell only a few doses of Dash, Buck, or whatever it was the specific pony wanted, every few days. That way, the risk of a pony being under the drug influence for too long a period of time or, Goddesses forbid, overdose, was practically non-existent. Of course, the whole process was monotonous, but it allowed us to gain quite a bit of caps over the time. Even after dividing the shares between us, I was left with enough to allow myself a few luxuries - like this book I had hoped would help me to finally fix the former hospital’s robot - while still retaining caps for my trip to New Appleloosa.

As for Apple Core, I believe she had spent most of her share on alcohol.

Returning to the subject of the eventual trip, I was still not certain whether I would go or not. Or, if I could go. Black Widow would probably not like if her only medic would leave for a day or longer. Because of that, I decided that I would first determine if I really need to go to New Appleloosa; as much as I was curious to see new places and possibly get a chance to meet that pegasus, I could wait until my position was more secure.

That being said, the train from New Appleloosa would arrive today, and since there was a slim chance that I would be leaving with it, I needed this robot to be up and running. After all, I couldn’t let my dear subject die of starvation, could I?

I flipped the pages of the book, looking for a specific passage. I had hoped I could repair Mister Handy, but I didn’t have the parts for it. If I don’t have the parts to fix it, then I will have to… cheat, I thought as I stopped.

The TLC Squared: “Tender Loving Care for Totally Lost Causes" was a book about mechanics in general; it had only one chapter dedicated to robots. Luckily for me, this one chapter also covered the subject of making the robot work when it’s damaged.

“Alright…” I said outloud, my eyes going back and forth between the book and my PipBuck, “since few of the primary electronic systems seem to be fully functional, and the redundant systems are all working, if I reroute its power output to bypass some of the primary systems, the secondary systems should compensate enough to make it work!” I finished, clapping my hooves in excitement.

Without wasting any more time, I started poking in the robot’s programming to make it work. While I was at it, I also changed its settings, so that it would obey me and not consider me as an intruder in the hospital. For whatever reason, every Mister Handy was built with a small saw blade at the end of one arm and a blowtorch on another. Maybe it was supposed to incinerate dirt? Either way, I had no desire for it to use either of those weapons on me.

On a whim, instead of reprogramming it completely (which wouldn’t have been too hard; years of hiding my experiments from other Stable dwellers hadn’t been possible without messing with PipBuck tags, hacking into security systems, and changing medical records), I simply registered myself as the hospital’s new (and currently only) doctor.

I smirked. “Well, let’s see how it went,” I whispered as I pressed the “activate” option on my PipBuck. I quickly pulled the cable connected to Mister Handy and backed away.

The robot came alive shortly after. It rose to the air as its levitation talisman kicked in, stretched out its three mechanical limbs, and turned around as its three cameras focused on me. “Good morning, Doctor Angel,” said an oddly cheerful sounding mechanical voice, emerging from the robots speakers. “How may I be of assistance?”

Inside, I was gleeful. On the outside, I managed to stay calm. “Good morning, sweetie,” I greeted Mister Handy. “Could you please identify yourself, and then run a diagnostic scan of your systems? A very basic one?” I added, not wanting to prolong this moment any more than necessary.

“Of course, Ma’am. I am Mister Handy Type-I model robot, designated as ‘Janitor’, serial number MH10001.” Janitor then fell silent, at least his voice. His body emitted a few clicking noises. “My diagnostic scan suggests that I require repairs; I am running at minimum capacity.”

“But you will be functional for several days, right?”

“Of course, Ma’am. However, I would implore you to call technical support.”

“I will at the closest possible convenience.” When the Equestrian Wasteland becomes the fertile and prospering land of Equestria again. “Now-”

“Ma’am, if you’d excuse me,” the Janitor interrupted me, “according to my internal clock, I’ve been offline for over one hundred ninety-eight years, seven months, twelve days, nineteen hours and two minutes.”

“Yes, that sounds about right,” I said, confused.

“May I ask if the patient that had damaged me by accident had safely given birth since then?”

My eyes widened. “Those… damages that caused you to cease functioning were caused by a mare during birth?”

After helping deliver several foals back in Stable Eight, I knew that mares could get… violent during birth, but since the Janitor's casing wasn’t dented or fractured, I was certain it was something internal that had disabled him. Now, if that had been a unicorn, I could understand, but from several friendly chats in the saloon I knew this was an earth pony town.

“Actually, this happened during one of the patient’s control visits,” the robot replied to my question; it sounded a bit embarrassed. “I believe I must have startled her when I came to take out the trash. It was a busy day, you see, and that visit hadn’t been scheduled, so I didn’t know-”

“Alright, calm down, I’m sure you hadn’t meant interrupting the patient’s visit,” I assured him. “And as for her, I’m sorry, sweetie, but the previous doctor failed to show me old medical records. As such, I cannot tell you what became of her and the baby.”

Regardless, chances are they both died in balefire...

Shaking my head, I turned my thoughts to focus back on the more important issues. “I am sure the hospital provided the best possible care for them. Now, lets get back to the present, shall we? Are you able to perform nurse’s duties? We are short on hooves at the moment.”

“Of course, Ma’am. Although I would prefer to resume my normal duties; this place is a mess.” My brows furrowed. This robot is going to be Mom all over again… “I fear to guess in what state the ground floor and upper floors are.”

Are its probability algorithms capable of predicting that the upper floors had been blown up?

“I’ll make a note of that, but for now you are confined to the basement level. And it’s not a mess, it’s organized chaos, so don’t you dare move anything,” I told him sternly, before smiling sweetly again. “There is only one patient here, but he requires special attention. For his own safety, he has to be tied down and fed. Are you capable of feeding a patient, as well as giving him his medication?” I asked, pointing at the canned food and syringes I’ve prepared on the table.

“But of course, Ma’am,” the robot replied. I could almost hear the pride in its voice. “I might not be one of those fancy medical bots with their medical spell matrixes, but I have been programmed to be able to perform basic nursing duties.”

“Great. I might be leaving tomorrow, so I would need you to look after him. How about you demonstrate me your skills?” I asked, turning to Cutter’s “cell” and opening it.

The time Cutter had spend under my care was not doing well for his complexion. His gray coat became paler, and he was thinner. His muscles had began to deteriorate due to lack of movements, with which the small size of the basement’s cell I kept him had nothing to do with. Cutter was still chained to the same table I chained him to over two weeks ago when I dug him up. The only difference was that, in order for the table to fit into the cell, as well as in interest of hygiene, I moved it to stand vertically. Had to tighten his shackles, but now he could defecate straight to the bucket below him.

He grunted unhappily as I entered his cell. “Good morning Cutter, how are you doing today? Oh come now, you could be a little more optimistic,” I said as he failed to respond. “I feed you, clean you, and from time to time I leave you the radio. I haven’t even started any experiments on you yet. You could at least reply.”

While I had, more or less, decided to start testing the formula I theorized would create a truth serum, I hadn’t had the time to prepare samples. Most of my time was divided between caring for ponies and creating drugs to increase my income. Not to mention that I had to create a supply of spellbane potions for my subject.

Besides, it wouldn’t really be a scientific experiment with only one test subject. I would need a proper control group, made out of - preferably - ten ponies. Once I deal with New Appleloosa, I should probably start thinking about acquiring more subjects… Preferably some earth ponies. Oh, I cannot wait to see if a transplant would work between a unicorn and earth pony!

Though I wouldn’t call that an improvement, my words at least coaxed Cutter into replying. “When are you going to let me go?” he asked, his voice rusty, tired, and weak. I frowned a little, stomped and tilted my head. Cutter grimaced, but added: “Mistress?”

“We’ve been over this, Cutter,” I said once again; what was that, fourth time? “You have to address me properly, and seeing what I plan to do to you, you cannot exactly call me ‘Doctor’. Mistress is the only acceptable term.”

“Excuse me, Doctor Angel,” Janitor's robotic voice came from behind me. “I don’t understand.”

“You don’t need to,” I said, turning back, before addressing Cutter again. “It so happens that you might be deprived of my company for some time. That is why I’ve made sure you will be taken care of well when I am gone. Janitor,” I turned to the robot, “please feed the patient.”

“What the... where the hell did you get that thing?” Cutter asked, panic in his voice, as the Mister Handy entered the room.

“Why, it was under the clinic the whole time,” I said, standing by the wall to make room for Janitor. I was slightly confused by Cutter’s sudden fright, but I understood the moment the robot started to open the can with its saw blade. “Oh, don’t worry, sweetie, he’s just going to feed you and give you-”

I was cut off by the sharp sound of metal being cut. Maybe I should have asked Janitor to do that outside, I pondered, noticing that Cutter’s panic increased.

“Get that thing away from me!” he shouted, shaking in his shackles.

“Sweetie, calm down,” I said, trotting closer to him. Janitor, who, as the lack of that awful noise indicated, had managed to open the can, stayed back, its programming probably realizing that it had done something wrong and letting me take care of that. I rose on my hind legs so that my and Cutter’s eyes would be on the same level as I extended a hoof to his cheek in calming gesture. “I assure you, nothing is-”

I stopped talking as his horn began to glow.

For what felt like a lifetime, all I could do was stare at his horn while a maelstrom of thoughts exploded in my head. His horn is glowing! Why is his horn glowing?! Is he casting a spell?! It cannot be, the dosage I gave him yesterday should still be in his system! But his horn is glowing! How is he doing that?!

The next heartbeat, I was flying backwards, a whoosh of air in my ears and blinding pain in my cheek. I screamed in pain as I landed on the floor, the taste of my own blood on my tongue, crawling away as Janitor injected Cutter with spellbane potion while saying: “Please refrain from harming the hospital personnel!”

I let my magic sweep over my face to let me know how serious the wound was. Despite how painful it felt, it wasn’t very bad. I had a deep gash on my cheek. Cutter’s conjured scalpel pierced it and left about three inches long cut. I cast a healing spell, mending the wound and removing the pain.

I released the breath I had been holding. Though the pain was gone, the shock made it hard for me to focus. It took me a moment to realize that Janitor was hovering next to me, asking if I was okay.

“Y-yes, I’m fine,” I said, raising slowly. I was starting to get my breathing back under control. There was still blood in my mouth, though it didn’t really bother me; I knew I hadn’t lost enough of it to be alarmed, and I liked its taste. I licked the inside of my cheek clean and swallowed, contemplating what to do. “I’m… impressed,” I finally said, turning to Cutter. The unicorn was shaking from mild pain, an aftereffect of being injected with spellbane potion that lasted about ten to twenty seconds. “The spellbane potion stays in a pony’s body for twenty four hours, and the unicorn should still be unable to cast spells within the hour after it disperses. And yet you managed to direct your magic and give it the shape of a scalpel. Have you started to form some sort of resistance to it? Or are unicorns of Equestrian Wasteland more resistant to it than unicorns of Stable Eight?”

My voice didn’t quiver, which I was a bit proud of. I wasn’t certain if I sounded as interested as usual, but Cutter probably couldn’t tell.

“Though to be honest, what I am the most interested in right now,” I said, narrowing my eyes, “is what you had intended to do. Judging by the height on which my head was when I backed away as you cut me, and the distance… I would say that you had planned to separate my head from my body. My, how horrible!” I exclaimed, raising my hoof to my lips. “To cut the head of a young maiden such as me… have you no heart?”

My horn lit up as I asked that question. Magic reached for Cutter and within three seconds, the chained unicorn started to twitch violently, his eyes bulged while he tried to catch breath as my spell stopped his heart from beating.

“No, it’s there,” I said, stopping the spell. Cutter’s chains clinked as he winced and exhaled heavily. “Oh well, the Wasteland is a ruthless place. And it’s not like I was in real danger,” I lied.

Cutter chuckled. “Y-yeah, you screamed like a filly for funzies,” he said, still shaken after my Heart Attack Spell.

I smiled. “Just because I cannot die from something like this, sweetie, doesn’t mean that I cannot feel pain. But you don’t have to believe me,” I said, once again nearing him and raising on my hind legs. I pressed my forehooves on the vertical table for leverage, one on each side of Cutter’s head. “When I’ll cut your head off,” I said quietly, conjuring a scalpel of magical energy of my own, “take it into my hooves, and turn it around so that you will see your headless body, you will know I am speaking truth. As well as finally realizing that I hold your life in my hooves,” I added, barely stopping myself from giggling at the thought of how literal that would be.

Cutter’s face became white as milk. “N-n-no… Wha… B-b-b-but you said you wouldn’t kill me!”

I leaned back a bit, tilting my head in surprise. “Who said anything about killing you? I am going to sew you back together after the lesson.”

“That’s impossible!” he shouted, his eyes wide as plates.

This time I did giggle. “Oh, sweetie… Do you know what saying we had back in Stable Eight?” I asked, leaning closer to him again. Our eyes, mine red and quiet and his brown, bloodshot and panicked, were inches apart as I whispered: “‘If something seems impossible, it’s only because nopony invented the spell to do it’.” I giggled again. “Various spells had been researched for almost two hundred years in Stable Eight by the time I started studying medicine; what I am going to demonstrate now wouldn’t even rate in the top ten,” I told him, pressing the red blade to Cutter’s neck.

My horn’s glow became brighter as red aura enveloped my subject’s whole body… and it dispersed as my PipBuck began to ring.

I turned to look at it, surprised. “Oh, it’s that late?” I said; repairing Janitor must have been more time consuming that I had thought. No wonder Cutter had managed to shake off the aftereffects of the spellbane potion enough to cast a single spell. “It would appear that we must reschedule our lesson,” I said, turning to the unicorn as I turned off the PipBuck’s alarm. Despite being saved, he still looked as if about to lose control of his bladder. One would think that as a medic he would be thrilled to gain such experience. “I have an appointment. Don’t worry, I will visit you again before the day is over.

“Feed him, then lock the door,” I told Janitor, walking away from the cell. “Afterwards, I would appreciate it if you would enter sleep mode; I want you to save your energy until you are repaired.”

“Of course, Ma’am,” the robot replied obediently.

I closed the door behind me, not interested in listening to Cutter begging Janitor for help (which had no chance of working), and finally sighed. “That was too close,” I muttered quietly.

Though adrenaline rush was over, my heart was still beating faster than it normally would. I could still recall the searing pain in my cheek, when I’d close my eyes I could imagine how I must have looked like with that cut… I looked around my laboratory, trying to focus on something so that I would stop thinking about that incident. Pots, with drugs, on turned off hot plates, shelves with medicines, terminal on desk… her.

I frowned eyeing the Fluttershy statuette. “You think I unnecessarily scared him like that, don’t you?” From time to time, I imagined that the statuette was the real Mare of the Ministry of Peace. Her eyes were so expressionate that I always felt like I knew what she’d say if she was here. “You think I should have been nicer. He almost killed me!” I hissed, coming closer to it. “He wanted to cut my head off!”

But it’s your fault he’s here. You’ve imprisoned him! And plan to do Celestia knows what!

I snorted at the imagined response. “He’s here because his boyfriend is a murderer, among some other things. And do you seriously think his comfort or life are more important than that of everypony who would benefit from my research?”

You mean you?

The eyes of the little statuette bored into my soul. I tried to stare it down, wondering how anypony could make such a seemingly realistic toy, before I finally shook my head, losing interest.

I glanced at the set of syringes next to the statuette. Each had a dosage of spellbane potion. The were so many different medicaments in the basement’s storage that preparing them wasn’t too much of a problem.

It wasn’t exactly my invention; with a Stable full of unicorns, there had to be some countermeasures against magic. The spell security ponies learn, the one that enables them to dispel magic, was one. Another was the spellbane potion, which after drinking would make the pony release enzymes affecting their nerve cells, causing a reaction throughout the nerve system up to the horn, completely disabling the casting of spells… for an hour. My version, applied directly to the bloodstream, lasted much longer.

It should last for a week… Janitor shouldn’t have problems, I concluded, finally turning towards the door. Let’s see now… in about an hour, the train from New Appleloosa should arrive. I will go see what sort of goods they’d bring for trading, and then…

I bit my lip, pondering, as I exited the basement. I really, really wanted to go, even if I’d manage to assure I would receive supplies for my little drug cartel regularly. I wanted to see a another town, some more of the world, new ponies (Especially that pegasus...). But how could I convince Black Widow to let me go? I was the medic of Appleloosa. Even if there are no slaves for me to heal, an emergency can always happen.

All of the slaves were sent to Fillydelphia a few days ago. Black Widow would have sent them sooner, but she was waiting for Butcher to get back from his “patrol” around the slavers territory with his group, hoping he had captured some travelers. However, there was still no sight of him, so as she sent Cracker to deliver slaves to Fillydelphia, she also sent Whip Crack to look for the missing ponies. From what Apple Core told me, it was rather unlikely that something bad happened to them. It could mean that they were being lazy, or chose to leave Appleloosa altogether. And the latter would mean that something terrible was definitely going to happen to them once Black Widow unleashed Khan.

I wonder when they are going to get back, I mused, as I closed the door to the basement and entered my clinic. My ear twitched when I heard hoofsteps coming from my room. “Apple Core?” I called out.

“‘Ere y'are!” the earth pony replied, coming out. “Where were ya-” Apple Core began, only to stop as she looked at me with wide eyes. “What the hell!? Why’s ‘ere blood on yar face!?”

“Blood?” I repeated, blinking, as my heart skipped a beat. How could I forget to clean my face?! “Oh… don’t worry; it’s my own,” I assured her as I turned towards bathroom to see the mirror.

I could almost hear Apple Core cringe in annoyance. “Alright, let me repeat: what the hell!?”

“There was a damaged Mister Handy robot in the basement,” I replied calmly. The mirror in the bathroom was as clean as everything else in it, but I could still see my reflection in it. My cheek and neck under it was covered in half-dried blood. I cast a Disinfection spell to remove it. “I tried to repair it. Do you know who thought it would be a smart idea to give those robots a sawblade?” I asked as I finished the spell. My coat was again pure white, and the blood landed in the sink.

Apple Core chuckled. “What, really? Ya did that to yarself tryin’ to fix a robot?” Her chuckle became a laugh; I rolled my eyes. “Aren’t ya supposed to be a genius?”

I looked at her, annoyed. “I am a doctor of medicine. I could probably ‘factorize’ a pony’s body and put it back together, with my eyes closed, but I cannot repair a broken robot without parts. And a proper blueprint.”

“Alright, alright, don’t get yar panties in a bunch. What ‘factorize’ means, anyway?”

“I was under the impression we were supposed to meet in Salt Block,” I said, ignoring the question. “Did something happen?”

“Ya hadn’t heard?” my companion looked at me with surprise. “Damn, how long ‘ave ya been down there? It’s all over town!”

“What, chlamydia?” I asked, frowning.

I suspected that it might be the case ever since over a week ago, when Apple Core came late to take my drugs to sell. “Sorry Ah’m late,” she had said, rubbing her eyes. “Stayed up late doing… things.”

“Yes, I can tell,” I had replied, wrinkling my nose; you could have smelled sex from her. “Honestly, it’s what, the sixth one since I’ve known you?”

“And seventh,” she have replied, making me raise my eyebrows. I hadn’t been sure if I should be concerned or intrigued. “What do ya care?”

“I’m just concerned about your health. What contraceptives do you use?”

“Conce-what?”

“Anticonception methods, birth control-” I had explained.

“Aaa... Ah make the guy pull out.”

I'd turned to her, shocked. “That… that’s it?” When Apple Core nodded, I had facehoofed and groaned: “Apple Core…”

“What?”

“Well, for starters, that doesn’t necessarily prevent you from getting pregnant.” As Apple Core stared at me in disbelief, I'd asked: “You know what precum is, right?”

“W- yeah, but ya can’t get pregnant from that!” she had retorted.

“Sweetie, I’m a doctor of medicine,” I had reminded her. “I’m afraid that yes, you can. In rare cases, it contains living sperm, so conception is possible”

Apple Core had grimaced. “Well… fuck. Wait! Ya said ‘rare cases’!”

“Yes,” I had admitted. “There is a chance, but a very unlikely one-”

“Then what the hell are ya scarin’ me for?!”

“Also,” I had continued, “and more importantly, that method doesn’t protect you from venereal diseases.”

Apple Core had sighed. “And what the hell are those?”

“Diseases transmitted sexually?” I had explained, surprised that she didn’t know that. “Spread by sex? Especially vaginal intercourse?”

“Oh…” Apple Core had exclaimed, then twitched. “Is that why Ah’m feelin’ sore down ’ere?”

I'd stared at her with wide eyes. “Alright,” I'd said after a few heartbeats, “turn around and lift your tail.”

In the end, it turned out that she was free of any venereal diseases (which bordered on being miraculous), and she was sore because one of the bucks she had been the night before was rough. Nevertheless, I learned, thanks to that experience, that her method of anticonception was quite popular in Equestrian Wasteland. Between slavers abusing slaves and several ponies' slightly slutty behaviour, I was surprised that I hadn’t noticed anypony showing signs of infection so far.

So when Apple Core told me about “it” being “all over town”, first thought that came to me was naturally that the time had come. “I am not sure if I have enough antibiotics for the entire town…” I muttered, doing the math in my head.

“What are ya talkin’ ‘bout?” Apple Core asked, tilting her head. “Ah’m talkin’ about Whip Crack!”

Oh… that makes sense too, I suppose. “He’s back? Did they find this Butcher pony?”

“Well, yes and no,” Apple Core replied. “Whip Crack’s talkin’ with Boss, but ‘is ponies talked. They’ve found Butcher and ‘is guys… well, butchered.”

This day keeps getting darker...

“I thought you said that there was nothing around that could cause them trouble,” I recalled. “Also, did they-”

It said something about how well Apple Core got to know me when she yelled: “Nopony brought ya a corpse! Anyway,” she continued as I rolled my eyes, “yeah, there shouldn’t be, ever since ol’ Red Eye got that big ass raiders group sometime ago and carted them off to Fillydelphia. Now the nearest big group of ‘em is in Ponyville.”

“Could it be one of those hellhounds you’ve told me about?” I asked, half worried, half intrigued. Oh, how I’d want to get my hooves on one specimen of their kind… Monstrous, huge canine creatures, with claws able to tunnel through solid concrete, intelligent enough to use magical energy weapons. It would be hard to keep one… oh dear, would I have to chop off the poor dear’s limbs?

“Nah, they ain’t comin’ to those parts,” she replied, though I noticed she was slightly nervous.

Though they sometimes harassed slavers’ caravans during their treck down to Fillydelphia. I hoped Cracker wouldn’t encounter any; unlike Whip Crack, he was nice to me. Granted, it was probably because unlike the other buck, he was interested in my gender’s parts, but…

“‘Sides,” Apple Core added, “guys say that they had bullet ‘oles in ‘em.”

“I see… well, either way, it seems like there is nothing we can do about it now,” I said, though I was curious about what was going to happen next. Would that mean that my chances of going to New Appleloosa were even smaller than this morning? “How about we carry on with our plans for today and go get something to eat?”

Apple Core knew what I meant by “something”. “Aren’t ya gonna give up?” she asked, her tone clearly suggesting that this try would end as all the previous one had.

“It’s not my custom to give up,” I replied, trotting past her. “Just let me feed Snuggles and Wigglebutt and we can go.”

“Did’ya say they can probably live for ‘well over a week’ without food?” Apple Core called after me as I went to feed my radroaches. “Also, those names suck.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to starve them. And I don’t recall asking you for your opinion.”

“Yes, ya did!”

*** *** ***

“So,” Apple Core asked from across the table, her head resting on her forehoof; her expression was a strange mixture of curiosity and boredom, “how does it feel?”

I didn’t answer, instead concentrating on chewing… but it was all for nought, as immediately after I swallowed I had to lean towards the bucket.

Apple Core - as well as several other ponies who watched my try yet again to eat meat - laughed as I puked out the bite of the brahmin steak. “So, are ya done wastin’ food?” she asked after I finished.

I looked at her sternly from above the bucket, still convulsing. “Adaptability is an admirable trait-”

“- which ya don’t have -”

“- and the way ponies of the Wasteland had become accustomed to a carnivorous diet and became omnivorous is simply remarkable. If I am to live in the Wasteland, I must adapt,” I concluded, turning back to my plate. I raised the steak with my magic and tried to take another bite, but as I smelled it, my stomach turned in rebellion. “Oh Goddesses,” I mumbled as I pressed my hoof to my mouth, “I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Want me t’ start diggin’ yar grave?” Apple Core jibed as I turned away from my plate.

Before I could reply, probably trying to suggest that she would definitely die first (my possible thoughts and plans regarding the subject of my own death being too complex to explain over a brahmin steak), somepony grunted from behind me. I looked back and saw Whip Crack. We hadn’t exactly spoken with each other since shortly after ‘death’ of Cutter, as he was taking his stuff from the clinic. Curious about what he could want, and hoping to hear more about Butcher’s group, I opened my mouth to greet him.

“Black Widow wants to see both of you,” he said before I could say anything.

Words of greeting died in my mouth as I glanced at equally surprised Apple Core. “What does she want?” Apple Core asked.

“Beats me,” Whip Crack replied, shrugging, and left us.

I watched him head towards the bar for a few seconds. He seems to be in better spirits, I mused, wondering if he was starting to get over his lover’s supposed death. Oh well, even if he is getting over it, then he still suffered longer than Bulk Build had.

“Ya don’t think she had learned ‘bout our… business?” Apple Core asked me in a lowered voice.

I looked at her; she was alarmed. I had to give her, that was the most probable reason as to why Black Widow wanted to see both of us. Though the timing seemed strange; Whip Crack had just returned from reporting what his party had found, I noted. Does Black Widow want me to go there and examine the bodies?

Hopefully, not. I would miss my chance to travel to New Appleloosa. And I wasn’t exactly in a hurry to risk meeting the individuals responsible for ending Butcher’s and his slaver party’s lives.

“I suppose we will have to see,” I finally replied. “Though just to be safe, let me do most of the talking.”

“Ah hope ya’ll know what ya’re doin’,” the earth pony said. “Ah really don’t want t’ be on Boss’s bad side. If we’ll need t’, we’ll share profits with ‘er, got it?” It wasn’t an ideal option, but definitely better than risking our lives, so I nodded. Apple Core seemed to relax seeing that. “Alright,” she said, raising, “let’s go.”

What, now? I pouted. “But I hadn’t finished eating yet.”

“And at the rate yar goin’ ‘bout it, ya never will. Not t’ mention how it will all end up in the bucket. Now c’mon, Ah don’t want to keep the Boss watin’.”

Resigned, I also rose. I followed Apple Core, looking at the steak one last time before we left. This is ridiculous, I thought, irritated. I can perform post-mortem examination right after dinner, I’ve cut living ponies open, and I even find the smell and taste of blood to be pleasant. Why can’t I eat meat!?

I tried to imagine how Fluttershy would’ve replied, hoping to get some sort of clue, but it wasn’t as easy without looking at her statuette, so I gave up and trotted after Apple Core.

“How long until the train arrives?” I asked as we walked towards the town hall, glancing in the direction of the station.

“Dunno, should be soon Ah think.”

Well, at least I should be able to look at their goods and talk with ponies… I think.

Like on all buildings in Appleloosa, time had left its mark on the town hall. I assumed it once had a clock tower, but the clock, along with half of the tower, was gone. There was also a hole in the roof, and the all of the windows had been left with only shards of glass on the edges.

I always found it odd that there were no guards stationed there. Then again, I thought as we entered the building and headed towards the room where we know Black Widow had made her “office” of sorts, Khan is probably all she needs for protection. And I suppose there might be an issue of how much one can trust a slaver to guard you.

The door opened when Apple Core pressed the knob. The room wasn’t too big, nor was it too large; a desk near one wall, behind which Black Widow sat, looking through the window and waving at us to join her. There were also ruined shelves and other similar furnitures around, as well as a frame on a wall with something that might have once been a painting. And of course, there was Khan standing next to the doorway, not moving, just staring with empty eyes at nothing, ready for his mistress’s command.

“I suppose you’ve already heard about what Whip Crack found?” she started without greeting as we sat down.

I noticed Apple Core glancing at me unsurly. “Yes, we heard,” I replied for both of us. “And I was so looking forward to meeting Butcher.”

Black Widow snorted. “You are probably better off not meeting him. Butcher was the most brutal slaver Appleloosa had likely ever seen. Did you know he used to be the leader of slavers once?”

That took me by surprise. “I did not actually. Apple Core had once told me only that he is second in rank after you…” I said, looking at the earth pony who shrugged. “... and that I ‘maybe understand what he’s saying’, whatever that means.”

“He spoke with such a terrible accent,” Black Widow explained, then grimaced. “Doez bitch wantz my cock?” she said in lower voice, then rolled her eyes in disgust. “About… twenty years ago, before my time, he became the leader of the slavers. During his eight year long reign, slavers of Appleloosa had basically became no different from raiders; slaves would be beaten half to death before being sold, and those were the lucky ones. I even heard stories that Butcher ate those ponies that he couldn’t sell.”

Well that’s… nightmarish. I concluded, wondering how screwed I could have been if I’d joined them during that time.

“Not huge of a surprise there, seeing how Butcher’s father was a raider.” Seeing my interest, she answered the question before I could ask it. “He got killed in the great raider wars a few decades ago, and his wife and kid got sold here. After little Butcher killed several slavers, they let him join them, though I have no clue what exactly became of his mother.” Her tone of voice suggested that she didn’t care to ask. “Eventually Butcher became the leader of the slavers, until he bit off more than he could chew; he attacked a patrol of Steel Rangers twelve years ago. He survived, but was incapacitated for over three months. While Cutter was getting him back on his hooves, somepony had to step up for the leader position. That somepony was my late husband, Eulogy.”

“Your husband?” I asked, surprised… before I mentally facehooved.

“Did you think I was born with a name ‘Widow’?” she replied, smirking. “I used to be called ‘Dark Lady’. Regardless, under Eulogy’s leadership, the slavers fared much better than when Butcher was in charge. So much so that they decided that he would be the leader. Of course,” Black Widow added, “it wouldn’t have been possible without the advice I gave my dear husband. I greatly contributed to the successes of slavers. So it was only natural that after Eulogy’s unfortunate passing I was chosen as the leader.”

I was curious as to how exactly he had died, but I felt that asking about it wouldn’t be the smartest move.

“Of course, Butcher was pissed,” she continued, “but most of his closest allies had died in that fight with the Steel Rangers. There were some fights, but it eventually calmed down. It helped that with age he started to be more reasonable, but Eulogy would still have to occasionally rein him in. Would have been much simpler to kill him, but there are advantages of having the best fighter - well, minus Khan - in this part of the Wasteland on your side.”

“But enough of this,” Black Widow suddenly snapped. “I didn’t ask you two to come to listen to history lessons. Firstly,” she turned to Apple Core and smiled, “congratulations are in order. You do know that with Butcher’s death you are now second in rank, right?”

Guessing by Apple Core’s expression, this had slipped her mind. “Ah… yeah, Ah mean, Ah do know. Just been too concerned ‘bout ‘em dyin’ to think ‘bout it. Thanks Boss.”

Black Widow nodded. “I am even more concerned. Butcher was, for all his faults, a good fighter, and he was leading five more seasoned slavers. It’s hard to imagine them all getting killed.”

“Do you have any clue who could have done it?” I asked, also concerned.

“Not exactly,” Black Widow replied, crossing her forelegs. “According to Whip Crack, the bodies had already started to decay by the time they found them, two days away from Appleloosa. Some of the corpses had been partially eaten, though seeing how there were plenty of bullet wounds and cuts we can safely assume it was done by something that can use guns and melee weapons.”

“The Hooded Figure?”

I glanced surprised at Apple Core, who had said those words quietly. Hooded Figure? Hadn’t I heard that name somewhere else? I wondered. Yes I did; I recalled that Craker had told Black Widow that he might have seen this Hooded Figure, whatever that is, when he got back. Pity I didn’t overhear Black Widow’s response, I noted as I watched her look now at Apple Core bemused.

“What’s a ‘Hooded Figure’?” I asked.

“A myth,” Black Widow said dismissively. “Some ponies a couple years back saw a strange creature completely covered by a robe with hood over its head. ‘It walked like a pony and talked like a pony, but nopony saw what it really was’,” she said in a scary voice before rolling her eyes. “It was supposedly seen in several different towns, including both Old and New Appleloosa. And a few of those times somepony was found to have died in a gory fashion. If you ask me, everypony who saw him had drunk too much, saw something, already heard that story somewhere, and thought ‘Celestia fuck me, I just saw the Hooded Figure’. What a load of hay… I didn’t take you for being superstitious, Apple Core.”

I wonder if Apple Core knows what that means…

“Ah’m not, Boss!” Apple Core was quick to say. She still looked nervous. “B-but it doesn’t hurt t’ ask.”

“Well, regardless, it seems that this is some tribals’ doing,” Black Widow said. “Seeing how there were no slaves with Butcher and the rest, I wouldn’t be surprised if some tribe saw them leading ponies in shackles and determined to take them for themselves. Or if Butcher underestimated them and attacked first.”

“Excuse me,” I butted in, slightly confused. “‘Tribals’?”

“A group of ponies living with a primitive lifestyle,” the other unicorn replied. “I suppose you could call them ‘families of families’.”

“But weren’t all the tribals ‘round ‘ere killed or sold by that big raider group Red Eye ‘ad captured?”

Black Widow shrugged. “Guess with them out of the way, it was a matter of time for a new tribe to try and settle in. Especially since small group of ponies had already moved into all those empty settlements. I don’t have to tell you that I plan to have them captured, do I?” She frowned and and her gaze drifted to the the window, and what laid beyond it. “They killed my ponies and either stole or freed the slaves they were bringing. I am not going to let that slide. That being said, we are six ponies short, including our best fighter. Coupled with all the ponies delivering merchandise to Fillydelphia, we are too short-hoofed to try and fight them, especially knowing next to nothing about them. And that is why you are here.”

Here it comes, I thought, glad that she was finally about to tell us why she summoned us.

“I’m sending the two of you to New Appleloosa.”

My jaw dropped. What? My ears twitched. Did she seriously just gave me what I wanted?

“I’m afraid I don’t understand how exactly it’s going to help with our predicament,” I said, in case Apple Core was about to blurt something unnecessary.

“New Appleloosa tends to have far more visitors than we have here,” Black Widow started to explain. “For example, a mercenary duo of a unicorn and a griffin-”

My heart skipped a bit. New Appleloosa not only has a pegasus living nearby, but a griffin too?! I felt my tail twitch at the thought of examining one of that species…

“-though DJ Pon3 had mentioned such a duo about a month ago somewhere in Manehattan Ruins, so you’re probably not going to meet them,” she continued, crushing my hopes. “But there might be other mercenaries there, or at least one of the travellers had heard of some group nearby, maybe even one of the Talons. I want you to find them and convince them to come and negotiate a contract with us.”

Pushing away the feeling of how unfair life was, letting me dream of having a griffin to examine and then taking it away in the span of seconds, I focused on the task Black Widow wanted us to accomplish. Her plan seemed logical; bolstering her forces when faced with an unknown enemy. However…

“I don’t understand why do you want me to go along with Apple Core,” I pointed out what seemed wrong for me. “I’m the town’s medic.”

“You’re not going along with Apple Core. She’s coming along with you,” Black Widow corrected me. Turning to the said earth pony, she explained. “Don’t take offense, Apple Core, but you aren’t exactly a diplomatic individual.”

“Oh… ‘S'alright,” Apple Core said dismissively.

“You, on the other hoof,” Black Widow continued, turning to me, “have a way with words, are attractive and manipulative. I still don’t have a clue how you got that slave to kill Cutter for you.”

I gasped. For a second, I was left speechless. “How… how could you?” I managed to say, my lip quivering. I hid my face in my hooves. “Do you know how much I regret talking with Bulk Build?” Because doing that so openly risked suspicions like those. “How many nights I couldn’t sleep because of what happened?” Those nights would have been funnier if I’d started my experiments, not just prepare spellbane potion. “How much I wish-”

“Oh for-” Black Widow exclaimed, loudly enough to cut me off. “Let’s say I believe you, I don’t have time for this.”

I nodded meekly to show that I got it, and took my hooves off my face. Rubbing them against my eyes made me appear as if I’d been about to cry. Black Widow hadn’t bought it, if her rolling her eyes at the sight was of any indication, but I didn’t care. I knew she was suspicious of me since Cutter’s “death”. If it were just the two of us in the room - minus the poor Khan - I would have gave a miss to that performance. However, I wasn’t quite sure what Apple Core would have thought of the part I took in Cutter’s fate.

Not to mention that with her visits to the saloon and drinking habits, I am not sure if she can be trusted.

Black Widow seemed disinterested as she continued: “Then lets say that a fine example of your manipulation skills is how you talked a group of slavers to give you ride right after coming out of a Stable.”

“Um, Boss?” Apple Core interjected. “Ah was hurt, so-”

“-you decided to be magnanimous and not shackle her with the rest after she healed you,” Black Widow finished, smirking, “But don’t you find it weird how a Stable pony just came to a group of slavers and talked with them? Calmly?”

Apple Core blinked and pondered her words. “Hm, yeah, now that ya’ve mention it…”

Is she trying to turn her against me? I frowned, then it hit me. She sends Apple Core with me. For protection, mostly, but probably also to make sure I won’t betray her. Seeing how she knows we became close, she’s trying to plant seeds of doubts in her.

“Of course,” Black Widow added, leaning back, “I might be wrong, and she is just crazy. Certainly wouldn’t have surprised me.” I ignored the joke, but when Apple Core snorted I frowned at her. “Still, you are probably a far better choice to handle negotiations than Apple Core here, and definitely better than Whip Crack. And given the situation, I feel it would be best if I remained here.”

“But what if you are attacked?” I pointed out. “Who would heal you? And what if another fight breaks out in the saloon?”

“I doubt they would have the balls to attack an entire city. As for fights, if some testosterone-driven idiot gets some bruises, then he probably deserves them.”

I felt that I should point out that Apple Core and other slaver mares had also taken part in those fights, but I just frowned instead. “Still, I will save several healing potions, just in case.”

Black Widow shrugged. “No problem with me. Apple Core,” she turned to the other mare, “you’re in charge of keeping our doctor safe. I want her back in one piece. You can pick two other ponies,” she added once Apple Core nodded, “that’s all I can spare. Be sure to pick ponies who can think and be on their best behaviour; the last thing we need right now is losing our good relationship with that town. Also, I expect you to help her in the task; I’m sure citizens of New Appleloosa will be more eager to talk with you.”

I made a mental note to ask Apple Core what she meant by that.

“There’s another thing I would like you two to do for me while you’re there,” Black Widow continued, addressing both of us. “This one should prove a much easier task. Basically, I would like you to do some shopping.”

“Shoppin’?”

“Since that mysterious escape of one of the slaves,” the leader of the slavers said, glancing at me briefly, “some of our ponies have been saying that there’s not enough security around the cages. So I figured, what the hell,” Black Widow smiled wickedly, “lets put mines around them.”

My eyes widened in surprise. That… could be problematic. If I were not told the location of the mines, and had to just do my check-ups outside…

If that was Black Widow’s plan, then it was very smart. In one move, she would calm down those slavers who could get afraid of another slave escaping and killing somepony - even though most of them would never admit to fearing such a possibility - as well as increase security around the slaves and making sure I couldn’t pull the same idea again.

“There ain’t any in the armory?” Apple Core asked.

“No. I want you to buy… let's say thirty. Twenty should be enough to surround the cages, and we will have some spares. I will give you two thousand caps for your expenses.” She waved her hoof. “You can spend the change on beer or whatever, just make sure you complete your objectives. Oh,” Black Widow said, turning to me, “and just in case you would think about running away with my caps-”

“Why are you looking at me that way?” I asked in sad voice. “I hadn’t given you any reason to distrust me.”

Black Widow shrugged. “Don’t take it personally, Doctor Angel, it’s just business. You’ve been here two weeks; Apple Core captured slaves for me for years. Regardless;” she said, her voice turning cold, “if you run away with my caps, I will hunt you down and feed you to Khan.”

I was taken aback by the threat. I glanced at Khan, who was standing as calmly as ever with his vacant expression, then turned to Black Widow. “Does he eat ponies?”

“Do you really want to find out?”

Apple Core quickly replied: “No.”

“Maybe,” I said at the same time. Seeing the looks the other two mares were giving me - Black Widow surprised and Apple Core shocked - I added: “If we used another pony, sure. Sounds kind of interesting.”

Apple Core facehoofed and muttered something under her breath. Black Widow just shook her head in disbelief. “You will be leaving tomorrow morning together with the train. Once it arrives- ah, there it is,” she said as wailing sound assaulted our ears. Is this the train whistle? I wondered, glancing through the window; there was still no sign of the train itself. “Once it arrives, I will talk with the train ponies to take you with them, and then bring you back once you’ve completed your tasks.”

Black Widow had to stop then, as there was a sudden metallic noise incoming, growing increasingly louder. The next moment, though, it became high-pitched, as the train ponies hit the breaks and the train started to slow down as it reached the Appleloosa station. Even though the station wasn’t close to the town hall, I had to cringed at how loud it all was.

I’m supposed to ride in this?

Slowly, the sounds died down. “As you have earlier pointed out, Doctor Angel, you are Appleloosa’s medic, and as such it would be unwise if you were away for too long. You have maximally a week.” She narrowed her eyes. “Maximally. I will know if you’d somehow find mercenaries within a day and then spent six dicking around.”

Is she going to pay one of the train ponies to observe us? Or is there one such pony already on her payroll?

I stopped musing as Black Widow raised. “That is all. I will give you the caps tomorrow morning. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to arrange your transport with the train ponies,” she said as she nodded meaningfully in the direction of the door.

Without wasting a second, we left the town hall. Apple Core because she was unnerved by Khan standing so close, and me because I had to think this over. While I had planned on making this journey, it was to be on my terms. Now I was going because Black Widow ordered me so. It annoyed me that it wasn’t my decision anymore.

More importantly, though, I had to analyze everything that Black Widow had told me. The short lesson of history, caused most likely by nostalgia triggered by Butcher’s death, made me realize some things… or to be more precise, make several assumptions.

I really should question Cutter about what he meant by “I have too much shit on her”, I contemplated. Earlier, I hadn’t done so, as I had more important things to do before I could start undermining the local authority, but now, with Apple Core being second in rank…

“Congratulations on the promotion,” I said as we exited the town hall. Black Widow closed the door behind her and headed towards the train station together with Khan without saying a word. “Though it’s a pity that it had to happen in such circumstances.”

“Eh,” Apple Core sighed, “Ah didn’t really like Butcher.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that aside from him five ponies had died,” I pointed out as we began to walk back towards Salt Block. “And that you apparently have troublesome neighbors.”

“Yeah, Ah ‘spouse thats true. But nevermind ‘at, we’ve got ourselves vacations!”

I frowned, “Sweetie, it’s not ‘vacations’; we are being sent with an important task-”

“Yeah yeah, whatevs,” she said dismissively. “Doesn’t mean we can’t ‘ave fun ‘ough. Now, who should Ah take with us…”

“Please tell me it won’t be ‘the sixth’ and ‘the seventh’.”

Apple Core snorted. “Ya know, Ah’m gettin’ a feelin’ ya’ve started t’ think Ah’m some sort of slut, miss ‘Ah act like a vagina predator but Ah’m chaste as ice’.”

I stopped and looked at her in surprise. “Okay,” I said as I recovered, “couple of things. One; I don’t think that, I was simply concerned that you might get too distracted to help me with our task. Two; you know I wanted to examine if you caught a disease.”

Though admittedly, I could have phrased it better, I thought, recalling her reaction.

“Three; I am not chaste. I simply haven’t met a pony who would meet my criteria for a lover. And last; wasn’t that part about the ice from pre-war literature?” I asked, tilting my head.

“Ah dunno, maybe? And what sort of ‘criteria' can ya have?”

“Well, it helps if they actually like me,” I replied, winking. As Apple Core rolled her eyes, I giggled. “They also have to be interesting.”

“Ah don’t wanna know what ya think is interestin’,” Apple Core said as she resumed trotting. I followed her. “Also, ‘lover’? What are ya, five?”

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. “Getting back to the more important subject,” I said, “this is a great opportunity regarding our business. Now I should be able to negotiate supplies from New Appleloosa without problems and without raising suspicions.”

Though I was happy about this, I felt as if a shadow had been cast on my thoughts. Things were going too well for me. I didn’t like to rely on luck. Because sooner or later (and in my cause, it was usually sooner) luck runs out.

“Yeah, all’s good,” Apple Core replied, oblivious to my brooding. “Oh, hey, this gives me an idea,” she said as she suddenly stopped. I followed her example and turned to look at what took her attention. “Since we’re goin’ t’ travel a bit, ya should get yarself a gun.”

We were standing in front of the armory.

I felt a shiver run down my spine. “No,” I said, and turned to walk away.

There was nothing in Appleloosa’s armory that could possibly hold any value for me.

“Wha- Hey, get back ‘ere!” Apple Core exclaimed. Despite her words, it was she who followed me. “That old coot will probably give ya a discount, and it’s not like ya ain’t able t’ afford it.”

“Apple Core, I said no,” I replied, not turning to look at her.

“C’mon, ya can’t be that bad of a shooter,” the earth pony continued despite my words. “And Ah can teach ya-”

I had enough. I stopped and looked her in the eyes. “Apple Core,” I said in the voice that allowed no interruptions. “I am never going to carry a gun.”

Apple Core stared into my red eyes in shock, her ears flat. “Um... okay?” She slowly said. “Why?”

I mentally sighed. On the outside, though, I smiled, closed my eyes and tilted my head. “Do I need a reason, sweetie?”

“Well, yeah! Ya’ve just gone and flipped out!”

“Why would I need a gun?” I instead replied. “I have my magic.”

Though I really don’t want to test my spells in an actual combat...

“Yeah, and what good’ll healin’ do ya when somepony’s shootin’ at ya or a monster tries to bite yar head off?”

My smile turned into a smirk as I looked into Apple Core’s eyes. “Did you know,” I said, “that for every spell there is a spell that is its opposite? It’s one of the first things fillies and colts learn in Stable Eight.”

“‘Kay, so?” Apple Core asked, puzzled.

I narrowed my eyes. “Try to think what could possibly an opposite spell of healing spell do.”

Apple Core’s eyes grew wide as plates. “Um… kill?”

I covered my mouth with hoof and giggled. “Well, no. Or at least, not exactly. To guess it correctly, you would need to know how exactly a healing spell work, which sadly not everypony, even my peers in Stable Eight, know. But if you are curious about an array of my offensive spells,” I said, changing the subject, “know that I am able to use the same spell with which I captured Snuggles and Wigglebutt on ponies too, as well as conjure knives-”

“‘Kay, Ah don’t need t’ hear the details,” Apple Core interrupted me. “Important is that ya can take care of yarself. So, what are ya gonna go do now?”

I glanced in the direction of where the train station was. Beside it, on the tracks, there was the train. A machine made out of several cars, with only the front and back being significantly different. There were several ponies gathered around it and the station, some carrying shipment to the stores. I noticed a barrel being carried by a pony towards Salt Block.

“I think I will go look at the merchandise they’ve brought and talk with them,” I said. Maybe I would find something interesting? “I will just have to go take some caps and saddlebags from the clinic.”

“Gonna go ask how the train works?” Apple Core asked.

I tried not to snort. “I have little interest in such primitive machinery. That’s good for maintenance. And what about you?” I asked the earth pony.

“Gotta go find two more ponies, remember? Ah think Mouse will agree…”

Hadn’t expected that. Mousetrap, as was her full name, was a mare.

“What, thought Ah would pick bucks?” Apple Core asked with a smirk, noticing my expression. “Ah know that there are guys already in New Appleloosa, why the heck would Ah drag bucks from ‘ere t’ there?”

Hm, makes sense I suppose. “Oh, this reminds me; what did Black Widow mean when she said you’d have easier time asking ponies around there?”

Apple Core chuckled. “Why, Ah’m from that town. Lived in New Appleloosa ‘til Ah came t’ work ‘ere. Still got a brother there, in fact.”

“Really? I can’t wait to meet him then,” I replied, thinking how much this should make things easier for us.

*** *** ***

“So you’re saying that those were sent by this Candi pony?” I asked, pointing at a small box with healing boxes and some other bottles.

One of the train ponies (the one who brought it along with other goods to the store), looking slightly annoyed that I interrupted his conversation again with Forty Caps, turned to me. “Sent? She’s gettin’ money out of this.”

“Of course, but since she’s not here, it would have been weird to say ‘those are being sold here by her’, wouldn’t it?” I asked innocently.

The train pony looked at me confused. “Ah… what?”

Forty Caps, a scrawny unicorn with light blue coat, chuckled. “Ignore it, she could go on for hours like that.”

I frowned. “Sweetie, when I engaged with you in that discussion about the basic principles of economy last week, I only talked for ten minutes about-”

“Yeah, basic,” Forty Caps intervened. “Sorry, Doc, but I don’t need that ‘interactive decision theory’ thing to run my business.”

Well, I suppose I should be happy he at least had remembered the name, I thought, pouting.

Though I was mainly interested in medicine, biology, magic and arcane-sciences, I had some knowledge in the other areas. I tried engaging in debates about various topics, but my efforts were in vain; ponies in the Wasteland were more interested in practical knowledge.

Getting my thoughts back to the matter at hoof, I glanced at the box again. “So Cutter would buy medicines from you? Instead of arranging trade from New Appleloosa?”

“Well, what can I say?” Forty Caps replied, shrugging. “The old Doc had no head for business. He liked when things were simple. Trotting over here and buying stuff from me is simpler than negotiating a trade deal with another town.”

“And I’m sure you hadn’t taken advantage of that and had him pay a foreleg and hindleg for them,” I said, smiling and looking at him through narrowed eyes.

Forty Caps gulped nervously under gaze. “Um… well-”

“How much?” I asked, turning my attention to the box.

Six healing potions, Buck… I thought as I examined the context of the box, until something caught my attention. Oh? What’s this?

Behind me, Forty Caps had recovered. “For all of it? Well, I usually would have taken six hundred caps from Cutter, but since it’s you, how about-”

“Three hundred,” I interrupted him, levitating from the box a bottle with contents I didn’t recognize.

What is this? I wondered, taking a closer look at it. It’s a liquid… but it’s not a healing potion. I cast a quick spell, not to different from the one I’d use when examining a pony. Hm, it’s concentration is denser than healing potion… is this organic?

“Three hundred? Are you joking? I was thinking about smaller discount, like five hundred and fifty. Of course,” he added, turning slightly red, “I could drop it even further if you… w-well…”

I turned to look back at him. “Not many mares like bucks who are so indecisive, you know,” I said, moving the bottle towards Forty Caps. “You’ll give me a huge discount, because this is the first time I am making such a big purchase, and before I’ve been constantly buying little things from you. Like that aquarium that was standing here for years. I can pay three hundred and fifty. Now, could you tell me what this is exactly?” I asked, wiggling the bottle a bit.

Judging by his grimace, Forty Caps wasn’t exactly happy at the moment. “What, this?” he asked, glancing at the mysterious medicine. “That’s Hydra.”

“Hydra?” I tilted my head, confused.

His grimace turned into a grin, “Well, would’ya look at that, Doctor Know-It-All doesn’t know something.”

I rolled my eyes. “Are you angry for my earlier comment? Come now, sweetie, I know you aren’t a petty pony, just tell me what ‘Hydra’ is.”

It was the train pony who replied. “A super-healin’ potion.”

“Basically,” Forty Caps added. “It’s a very rare drug around this part of the Wasteland, which is why I can only get one every month.”

“That’s interesting, but what exactly makes it ‘super-healing’?” I asked, intrigued.

“Aside from healing, Hydra can restore crippled bones, and I’ve even heard of them making a pony grow back a hoof or an eye.”

My eyes grew wide. I moved the bottle of Hydra back to me. Can it be true? Can this actually allow a pony to regenerate entire body parts?

Forty Caps, no doubt seeing my interest, tried to haggle again. “So, how about-”

“Four hundred.” I replied, not taking my eyes of the Hydra. “Since Candi could afford to sell one,” I said as I turned to the New Appleloosa’s pony, “I assume this means she has several more of them?”

His answer wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for. “Um… maybe?”

Not happy with the answer, I turned back to the drug. She must have, I decided. No sane medical pony would sell their only dose of such drug… assuming it really works…

Forty Caps cleared his throat. “How about-”

“Four hundred is my final offer,” I told him. Smiling to soften my words, I added: “You still gain profit out of this deal don’t you?”

“Well, yeah…”

“Then it’s settled?”

The show owner sighed. “Fine.”

“Thank you, sweetie,” I said sweetly, though my mind was on other matters.

Within ten minutes, I had left the shop, got back to the clinic, put everything aside of the Hydra on one of the beds, rushed down to the basement, locked the doors, and entered Cutter’s cell.

Cutter’s eyes shot wide open at my sight. “N-no! Please y- Mistress, I’ll be good!”

His outburst so surprised me that I stopped, forgetting my plans for a moment. What is he on about? I wondered, confused.

He’s scared because of what you tried to do to him earlier, I quiet voice in the back of my mind reminded me.

“Oh right, that!” I exclaimed, and shook my head. “Sweetie, I’m afraid something more important came up. Right now, I need to check something.”

Without further ado, I grabbed the table to which Cutter was chained, and - being careful to not topple the bucket - I began to move it out of the cell into the main room of the basement. It wasn’t easy; I could levitate small objects easily, but something as large as the table was a hoof-ful. Sweat began to form on my forehead as I turned the table to horizontal position and laid in on the floor. At least I didn’t need to move Janitor, who entered sleep move in the corner of the basement.

I gasped from the exertion. I will need lights, I noted as I brushed sweat of my forehead.

“W-what are you doing?” Cutter asked as I flipped the switch for the lights. He then gasped as the room basement became much brighter.

“Shh.” I shushed at him. “I will get right back to you, sweetie.”

Where is it, where is it… I thought as I began to scan the shelves. I had created beforehoof a preparation just perfect for this, but where did I put it… Ah, there it is! I smiled. The transparent container was filled with a preserving bio med gel, created through the mixture of medicine and magic.

Satisfied, I put it on the desk, together with Hydra, and turned to face my test subject. Cutter was looking at me, frightened. I smiled reassuringly and activated my PipBuck’s recorder.

“Audio recording of Doctor Angel, number 2.03. Today, I had acquired a drug called Hydra, which based on the information I had received drastically accelerates cell growth in order for pony’s organism to heal grievous injuries. Apparently, it can restore fractured bones, and there have been cases of it causing regrowth of entire limbs and organs. I will now attempt to verify that information with the help of test subject Cutter. I will first remove the left eyeball-”

“WHAT?!”

“- and cause a fracture in right foreleg’s radius, then I will make the subject drink Hydra.” I continued, ignoring the interruption, although I did raise my voice so that the ringing of Cutter’s shackles as he began to tussle wouldn’t obscure my words. “As a precaution, I will place the eyeball in canopic gel to preserve it, in case Hydra doesn’t work as promised.”

And if it will, well, I will have a spare eyeball. I could try transplanting it to Khan… no wait, he’s a zebra. Even though zebra and ponies seem to share many biological similarities, I would have to first run some tests…

I shook my head to focus more on the current experiment. “I am now going to remove the eyeball,” I said to the recorder, then grabbed grabbed surgical equipment in a telekinetic grasp and walked closer to Cutter.

“NO!” he shouted. “Please, I’ll do anything!”

I frowned, but then I facehoofed. “What am I doing? This is going to hurt!” I placed the tools on the desk and cast an Anesthetic spell on Cutter. Immediately, the ringing of his chains cased, as his body fell limp. “Perfect. Now…”

I used the forceps to keep his left eyelid open, then I grabbed scalpel. Carefully, I slid it in between the eyeball and bone. Slowly, carefully... When the scalpel was deep enough, I paused and concentrated. A red aura surrounded the entire eyeball before I moved the scalpel to sever the optic nerve and helped my magic to pull it out.

Plock!

Surrounded in red aura, I placed Cutter’s eyeball in the container with canopic gel. After I made sure the lid was closed tightly, I released the spell and turned back to Cutter. His body unable to move thanks to Anesthetic spell, he was quite an excellent patient. I released my spell around the empty eye socket, and focused on the right foreleg.

Breaking a bone wasn’t as easy as removing an eyeball. Or healing it, I remarked, as I concentrated my magic. Thankfully, when I studied medicine, I learned the method invented about one hundred and sixty years ago in Stable Eight for removing tumors, and the basic idea should apply here.

I fired a magic bullet from my horn into Cutter’s foreleg, which passed through the skin and flesh and into the bone. As bone was much sturdier than tumor cells, and I wasn’t too good with this spell, I wasn’t surprised when the radius hadn’t fractured with the first bullet. Or the second. The third finally did the trick, as a silent Snap! let me know.

I checked to be sure, and nodded with satisfaction. “The test subject’s body has been prepared for the test,” I said for the recorder, “and now I administer Hydra.”

I grabbed the bottle and placed it by Cutter’s mouth. I then opened Cutter’s mouth, moved the neck of the bottle between his lips, and tipped the bottom up. Since he was under the effects of my spell, I pressed on his throat gently to help the muscles drink it down, while I started at his empty eye socket studiously.

My eyes grew wide. There was something moving inside!

I watched, fascinated, as red flesh began to form, pulsating and vibrating… and I was soon staring at an exact same eye that I had just removed.

My jaw dropped. I raised to look at the desk, where I saw the eyeball still in in the gel, and back at Cutter’s face. It really regrew… I thought blankly as I moved to stand over his limp body. I tilted Cutter’s head to the side to get a better view. It really worked… A quick spell to check the foreleg, and I found that the bone had also been healed.

This… is… AMAZING!

I laughed and bend down to kiss Cutter’s eye. “It worked,” I said. I sat down on Cutter’s chest and continued to talk to my PipBuck. “The experiment was a success. The ability of the Hydra drug to heal crippled limbs and restore organs was confirmed. I will have to acquire additional samples to research it more.”

Turning off the recorder, I returned to kissing the eye. “Isn’t this amazing?!” I asked Cutter as I rose. As he failed to respond, I giggled. “I suppose after such excitement, you deserve some rest.”

As my spell put him to sleep, I gently closed his eyelids and walked away. I decided to let him sleep in that position for tonight, I would put him back into his cell before I left.

But more importantly, this Hydra… I thought as I looked at the now empty bottle. This certainly wasn’t invented back before the war or during it, otherwise I would have known about it. How did the ponies of the Wasteland create it? Not even in Stable Eight had we managed to discover how regrow an entire organ.

“I thought my Stable to be superior to the ponies of the Wasteland,” I told Fluttershy’s statuette, giggling. “But you accomplished something I alone had been trying to for years!”

But did you have to hurt him? Couldn’t you just believe what those ponies told you?

I smiled sadly at it. “You will have to excuse me, Mare of the Ministry of Peace, but I wasn’t going to believe that such a wondrous drug existed. Besides, what’s the harm? Even if it were to be ineffective, I could have always healed him.”

You’re a monster! Have you no regard for how much pain you are causing?

“Of course I do! Why do you think I cast the Anesthetic spell?” I shook my head. “Sweetie, this isn’t the peaceful Equestria you knew when you were young; I would have thought that you had came to understand that during the War.”

Equestria might have changed; it doesn’t mean the ponies should have.

“Evolution.” I countered. “Organisms that don’t adapt to their environment will cease to exist.”

You grew up in a Stable. One which, according to your words, seemed to be a paradise. How could this wondrous place create a psychopath?

I blinked. I was surprised at the sudden ferocity with which I imagined the real Fluttershy would say the last word. Psychopath. I giggled and patted the statuette on the head.

“That’s a story for some other time. You know, I think I will take you with me to New Appleloosa; I find our imaginary conversations refreshing, and I can’t just picture Fluttershy’s voice without you,” I told it. I giggled once more as I turned around. “Hydra… I wonder, how many more fascinating secrets are there for me to discover in this Equestrian Wasteland?”

One thing’s for sure. Learning all of it will be surely fun!

Footnote: Level Up!
New Perk : Horse Sense -- You are a swift learner. You gain an additional +10% whenever experience points are earned.

Chapter Four: Sightseeing

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“Hey there! Welcome ta A-a-pplelooosa!”

The echo of my hoofsteps carried across the dark empty hallway. I looked around, searching for something - or rather, somepony - as my tiny hooves carried me forward, step by step, until I reached it.

The door.

I stared at the switch to open it, hesitating. “I shouldn’t,” I said out loud, taking a step back. “No, I can’t. A good filly never interrupts grown-ups,” I recited in her mind, beginning to turn around...

“Nah, don’t be silly!” a voice exclaimed suddenly. I stopped in mid-turn and listened. “Aren’t you curious?”

“W-well, yes…” I replied, “but Daddy and Mommy say that it’s rude to-”

“Ugh, are you gonna listen to everything your parents tell you?” the voice replied, sounding annoyed. “You should loosen up, break a rule or two, have fun! And c’mon, out of everything grown-ups forbid us, why would opening a door be bad?”

I had to admit, he had a point. “Okay,” I said; my voice quivered a bit, revealing that I was still uncertain about breaking a rule, that there was still doubt in my heart. “No,” I thought, shaking my head. “I’m not going to disappoint him!”

Resolved, I breathed deeply, and pressed the switch to open the door.

From inside, something big and fast emerged, pushing me away. Barely a shriek escaped my mouth as I felt being grabbed and lifted up into the air. Something wrapped itself around my body, rendering me unable to move. Terrified and shocked, I looked up…

… right into red, reptilian eyes.

“When you open doors,” the Ouroboros said as the end of his tail brushed my cheek, “you must be prepared to walk through them.”

I wanted to reply to him, but words escaped me. I watched as the Ouroboros’ mouth opened and descended upon me…

*** *** ***

I woke up with a startle.

“Nightmare?” Apple Core asked, raising her voice so that I could hear her over the noise the train was making.

I raised a forehoof to cover my mouth as I yawned, pondering how to reply to her question. “More like a reminder,” I finally replied; however, in my sleepiness, I forgot that I had to speak louder, and only murmured the answer. Before I could repeat it louder so that Apple Core would hear, I noticed - to my mild annoyance - that the earth pony mare had already lost interest and returned to her card game with Mousetrap and Nice Catch. Frowning, I rose and trotted closer to them.

Outside of the passenger car’s window the landscape rolled by. Though yesterday I spoke truthfully when I told Apple Core that I had no interest in such primitive technology, I had realized that the ability to travel between distant places relatively quickly would be quite useful to have. Especially to somepony whose activities could be put at odds with others.

My fellow stable dwellers had banished me, but how would the ponies of the Wasteland, where to kill one another isn’t uncommon, react? I wondered. Not to mention that my… hm, townmates? I hesitated briefly, pondering. I suppose that’s a good term. Not to mention that my townmates have a questionable morality. Meaning that if they’d learn of what I’m going to do to Cutter and some others, they’d either try to kill me or try to enslave me and sell me at Fillydelphia. Being able to get away quickly would be most useful indeed. I suppressed an urge to facehoof. If I knew I would end up in such a position, I would have learned that stupid teleportation spell…

“Want me to deal you in?” Catch, the oldest mare in our little group (but not much, she was only a few years older than Apple Core), asked me as I joined them.

Assuming that meant whether or not I wanted to play, I shook my head. “No, thank you swee-tiee,” I finished awkwardly, yawning again.

Trying to ignore the shaking caused by the train moving, I sat down, wondering if I should try napping again. Though I didn’t consider that dream from earlier to be a nightmare, I wasn’t exactly comfortable with seeing it again.

“Geez, what were you doing last night?” Mousetrap asked. “You slept for like an hour and you’re still yawning.”

“I had to stay up a bit last night to prepare some healing potions, in case Appleloosa would need them while we’re gone,” I replied truthfully.

As the other mares resumed their game, I looked through the window and thought about my dream again. It wasn’t the first time I had it, but it had been a while since the last time; the first occurrence of such a dream since I was banished, in fact. Why now? I wondered.

At some point during my studies I read about the subject of dreams. They mostly occurred during the rapid eye movement stage of sleep, when the brain activity of a person resembles that of being awake. Oneirologists had been trying to discover why we dream for centuries. Most have agreed that they were connected to our subconscious minds, that they projected our deepest desires and anxieties.

Of course, in my Stable, ponies had tried to research dreams with magic. Admittedly, they had some success in that field; they invented spells that granted dreamless sleep, and even some that to some extent could control what dream a pony would have when they’d go to sleep. However, no unicorn from my Stable had managed to reach their ultimate goal of this research - to discover how to walk freely in the dreams of others. Such power had belonged to only one pony in history.

One of the Goddesses, Princess Luna.

The power of the Goddess… it was no wonder that the ponies in my Stable had desired it; and it was no surprise that in the end they had to give up trying to discover how that kind of magic worked. It would take somepony very talented and brilliant, who could conduct a long research on the subject… I’d probably give it a shot at some point in the future.

However, for now, I was restricted to just deductive reasoning if I wanted to figure out what caused my dream.

When you open doors, you must be prepared to walk through them… every action we take has its consequences… what happened to me recently? I thought back to the previous day. The discovery of Hydra? Hm… does my subconscious mind worry what it might lead to? What is my unconscious mind trying to say?

Oh, you don’t want to go there, a tiny yellow pegasus in my head said.

I was about to retort, when I realized what just happened. Blinking in surprise, I turned to look at my saddlebags I had placed against the wall of the car. Inside was the statuette of Fluttershy. Since I had found it, I had taken to imagining the Ministry Mare replying to me when I’d talk to it, basing her character on what I saw. However… this time I hadn’t been trying that.

Okay, either there is some magic in this statuette, or I have started to develop schizophrenia. I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. Could it be that somepony put a spell on it to contain some sort of... imprint? Or a recording… of the Ministry Mare Fluttershy’s mind, and cause it to speak to the mind of whoever possesses it?

Mmm, excuse me? the tiny pegasus asked, a bit meekly, interrupting my train of thoughts. Why do you not consider at all the second option? If you don’t mind me asking that is, she added as I was about to reply.

Because Mom had me tested. Which, I added, if you were really a figment of my mind, you should know; I have reviewed medical records of a unicorn who suffered from a personality disorder. So either you are not, or you are and you’re just trying to confuse me.

I waited for the little pegasus to pop up in my mind again, but as the seconds dragged on, I realized she wasn’t going to reply. Um, hello? I thought, and was again met with silence. I frowned. Oh, you’re going to be like that, huh? Well-

“Why are ya makin’ faces?”

Apple Core’s voice snapped me out of my reverie. I blushed from the embarrassment and turned to her. “Forgive me, sweetie” I said, hoping I looked more calm than I felt. “I was lost in thought. Were you saying something?”

“Ah was tellin’ them again what we’re ‘spposed t’ do in New Appleloosa,” Apple Core told me; to my relief, she wasn’t too interested in my behaviour. She almost immediately turned back to Mousetrap and Nice Catch. “As Ah was sayin’...”

I quickly shot another look at my bags. This isn’t over, I said in my thoughts to the statuette, I will figure out what you are. I only hoped it wouldn’t come to cutting the statuette to pieces to learn what sort of spells had been used on it. Those weird magical properties aside, it was also very beautiful, and I liked it.

“... and Black Widow said ‘at we’re not allowed t’ ‘dick ‘round’,” Apple Core finished briefing the other two. “However, Ah figure we’ll still ‘ave plenty of time to have fun. Most mercenaries will be hangin’ out in Turnpike Tavern anyways, so-”

“That brother of yours is a bartender there, right?” Catch interrupted her.

“Is he hot?” Mousetrap asked when Apple Core nodded.

“How the fuck would Ah know that? Still, if one of ya three wants to fuck ‘im, go ahead,” she said dismissively. “Might make ‘im feel better about slavers.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, surprised.

“Well, it ain’t exactly somethin’ most ponies would be proud for their kin t’ do,” Apple Core explained, rolling her eyes in annoyance. “Still, he’s a business pony, and has no problems tradin’ with us. Most of the ponies in New Appleloosa are cool with slavers in fact. Well, except that walkin’ carcass,” she added, snorting with discontent. Her comment took me by surprise, but before I could question what she meant by ‘walking carcass’ she turned to me. “So, we three will be spendin’ most of our time in the tavern; what will ya be doin’?” I shoot her a questioning look. “Ya don’t drink, and Ah hardly see ya doin’ anythin’ fun for that matter.”

“I guess I’ll walk around town then. We were also sent to buy mines, remember? Somepony has to do it.” It would actually only work in my favor for them to get busy looking for mercenaries. I could buy ingredients for drugs, ask about the Hydra, and examine the statuette… Wait, what did she say at the end? “And I can do fun things,” I said, pouting.

“Yeah, right,” Apple Core snorted with amusement. “If Ah weren’t takin’ ya out to the bar and stuff, ya’d be spendin’ all day in yar clinic.”

“Forgive me, sweetie,” I said, annoyed, “but are you implying that what you are doing - getting drunk and having intercourses with random bucks - is fun? Or” I quickly added as Apple Core was about to reply, “that those are the only fun things to do in Appleloosa?”

She paused to deadpan at me before she said: “Well, at least Ah’m gettin’ laid.”

I rolled my eyes, but I chose to not pursue the subject. I suspected that in a settlement like Appleloosa being a little… promiscuous was normal and maybe necessary. If I ever get back to Stable Eight, I might try to write a doctoral thesis for psychology on them. Regardless, I was looking forward to seeing how different New Appleloosa was.

“Anyway, I’d advise you to keep in mind what we’re supposed to do,” I said, returning to the subject. “I’d hate to disappoint Black Widow.”

Mousetrap snorted. “Yeah, because she might let loose that freakish zebra of hers on us.”

“I wouldn’t use the word ‘freakish’...” I started; inwardly I was happy that they’d taken the bait.

“I would,” Mousetrap interrupted me. “The fact that he’s a zebra is disgusting enough, but that thing is practically a monster.”

“He’s insanely strong and knows those old zebra fighting moves,” Catch explained. “Back when Black Widow was going on raids and patrols, she’d let him loose on all the idiots trying to fight. I’ve seen her pet single-hoofly kill six ponies with his bare hooves. Heck,” she added, lowering her voice to a whisper, “somepony swore to me that they’ve seen Khan once rip off some buck’s skull and then beat him to death with it.”

“He beat somepony to death with their own skull?” I repeated, raising an eyebrow. “I’m… pretty sure that’s not medically possible. Although,” I added, musing, “theoretically, it-

Catch interrupted me. “The point is, Black Widow’s pet is a monster, and it’s under her total control. It’s no wonder that she remained our leader even after her husband’s death.”

I was a bit annoyed that she stopped my train of thought, but I was more interested in Black Widow than Khan at the moment. “She had mentioned that to me yesterday. How did he die?”

“He got shot,” Catch said, cringing.

“You mean he was murdered?” I asked, pretending to be horrified; I had expected something along those lines.

Was this what Cutter had meant by ‘having too much shit’ on Black Widow?

“Gee, what could ‘got shot’ mean other ‘an ‘murder’?” Apple Core said sarcastically.

“Well-” I began, her question causing me to recall ‘shots’ of vaccines, but the other mare covered my mouth with her hoof almost as soon as I opened it.

“Just… don’t,” she told me, frowning.

“Anyway,” Catch resumed as Apple Core draw her hoof back “we never caught who did that; the shot came from outside of Appleloosa.”

“Beg your pardon?” I said, blinking in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“It was a sniper. And a good one; when we checked the direction the shot came from, we couldn’t find any tracks.”

Apple Core snorted. “It was probably that darn pegasus.”

Catch shook her head. “That happened years before he first showed up.”

“Then maybe it was one of ‘is buddies. Who knows how many of those winged a-holes up there could be watchin’ down through a scope.”

It hadn’t taken me too long to realize after my banishment that the pegasi were generally despised by ponies of the Wasteland. I couldn’t fault them for that; though it might not be them who had decided to abandon Equestria two hundred years ago and save their own coats, it was them that continued to keep the cloud cover.

“I heard that it was the Hooded Figure,” Mousetrap spoke up, joining the discussion.

“Yeah, and I heard also about fifteen other stories as well,” Catch said, rolling her eyes. “Some idiot once even suggested that Black Widow could have been behind it.”

Apple Core frowned. “Wait, Ah think Ah ‘eard ‘bout that pony. Was that the one Khan had-”

“Yep.”

“Ugh!” Apple Core exclaimed, cringing.

“Black Widow doesn’t like ponies suggesting she might have had something to do with Eulogy’s death,” Catch explained to me. “Which is a mistake only newbies make; everypony who worked with her longer knows better. She had no reason to kill him; she was already making most of the decisions in Appleloosa anyway. But with Eulogy out of the picture, even with her pet her position amongst slavers could have been endangered. Not everypony liked how she got so high in the pecking order just as soon as she had joined.”

“Just as soon as she had joined?”

“Yeah; she had waltzed into town one day together with Eulogy’s group, about twelve years ago, as his girlfriend. Nopony had any idea where she came from…”

I nodded absentmindedly, deep in thoughts. Apparently, she already knew Eulogy rather well when she came to Appleloosa... could it be… A theory began to form in my mind, but I hadn’t had enough information to be certain whether it was true or not. I’ll need to have a talk with Cutter when I get back.

*** *** ***

After several more hours, the train was finally about to stop.

About time, I thought when Apple Core said we were getting close to New Appleloosa. The train began to slow down. Not that conversing with three slavers hadn’t been entertaining and informative, but all those hours I could have spend studying…

Of course, not wanting to lose so much time, I had brought the TLC Squared: “Tender Loving Care for Totally Lost Causes" , but I had finished reading it a while ago and had to entertain myself by reviewing files stored in my PipBuck. And besides, while I hold all form of knowledge in high regard and I had found this book to be quite interesting, mechanics and robotics weren’t my top interests.

Maybe I’ll find some book about medicine in New Appleloosa? I wondered as I stopped reading notes in my PipBuck and began to rise and stretch my legs. Even though, realistically speaking, the chances of me stumbling upon a medical book containing something I don’t know already are rather low… but then again, just yesterday I had learned about this Hydra medicine, so who-

My train of thought was violently interrupted as the actual train suddenly stopped. At least, I assumed so; how else could the fact that I’d been sent flying across the car’s floor while surrounded by a cacophony of screeching sounds be explained?

I yelped in pain as I hit the train car’s wall, my head spinning from the confusion. Instinctively, I curled up into a fetal position, waiting for the world to stop spinning around.

My companions were even less enthusiastic about the sudden stop than me. “What the fuck?!” one of them exclaimed; I couldn’t tell which.

“Ugh, somepony must ‘ave pulled the emergency brakes…” groaned Apple Core as the train finally ceased moving and stood completely still.

Though my head stopped spinning, I chose to remain on the floor as I checked my PipBuck’s medical scan to make sure I hadn’t suffered any more serious injuries than bruises and possibly a mild concussion. “Is everypony alright?” I asked weakly as I let my healing spell wash over me, curing my wounds and making the pain go away.

As if in reply, somepony began to cough. I rose to my hooves, prepared to treat whoever was wounded, but then I had realized that the coughing sound wasn’t coming from any of them.

It was coming from my PipBuck.

Paralyzed, I could only stare at it. I knew what I was going to hear next.

“I… don’t look too good now, huh?”

Finally snapping, I tapped my PipBuck and canceled the playback. I glanced at my companions. They were still getting up from the floor, massaging their bruises and not paying me too much attention. However, they had heard the playback, and after a few seconds Catch asked: “What was that?”

“It… it was a recording of one of my former patients back in Stable Eight,” I said nervously. “When the train stopped I must have hit a button on my PipBuck and it started playing.”

Whether none of them pressed on this matter because they were still shaken by our abrupt stop or bought my explanation (and assumed my state had also been caused by the stop), I didn’t care.

“How the hell did this fucking train just stop?” Catch asked Apple Core, turning to her. “It’s pulled by those train ponies, right?”

“One of the guards in the caboose must ’av pulled the breaks,” Apple Core mumbled, grimacing as she massaged the back of her head. “Give me a second, Ah’mma gonna ask who t’ shoot in the knee for ‘at.”

After saying that, Apple Core checked the small firearm she had strapped to a holster on her foreleg and trotted towards the car’s door. The other two slavers followed her as she opened it and jumped outside, while I stayed behind.

I sat down, sighing. Of all the audio logs recorded on my PipBuck, what were the odds of that one starting to play? I wondered as I looked at the device. I suppose I should be glad none of my experiments's records began to play… that could’ve made things awkward…

It was hard to believe how long it had been since I heard her voice. When was the last time I played it? I tried thinking back; it must have been months. And to think that there was a time when I’d spend hours listening to it over and over…

I sighed again. This wasn’t the place and time to start being reminiscent. Actually, there currently wasn’t any place for that, much less time, not in the Wasteland. My clinic wasn’t exactly private; my basement didn’t quite have a mood for looking back on the past. And my bedroom… it wasn’t home. It wasn’t filling me with the same sense of security I had back in Stable Eight, with the same… warmth.

Alright, time to pull it together, I finally thought, shaking my head and standing up. I should probably join the others before anything bad can happen.

I snorted at the thought, amused; Apple Core used to live with those ponies, and she and the other two were seasoned Wasteland ponies. I sincerely doubted that they would pick a fight over something like some bumps and bruises, not when we they had a job to do-

“Are ya shittin’ me?!”

… There’s always margin for error, I suppose, I concluded after a second before I rushed to join my companions.

When I jumped out of the car and into the unpleasantly dry and rough-on-the-hooves ground, it quickly became clear what had angered Apple Core so much. “Why the fuck were ya ponies takin’ a caravan across the train track?!” she asked a big group of ponies. I recognized some of the ponies around the group as train ponies, but most of them were unknown to me; I quickly trotted towards everypony.

“Why was the train coming back now instead of yesterday?” one of the ponies in the group, a weathered buck, asked in turn. Frowning, he added. “And what are you slavers doing here?”

“None of yar business, ya-” Apple Core began, but I stepped between her and the buck and cut her off.

“What my companion meant is that we hadn’t come to cause any problems, if that’s what you’re suggesting,” I told the buck, smiling friendlily. Everypony from the buck’s group looked at me, a familiar surprise at my appearance in their eyes. “Or at least, we hadn’t meant any,” I added in apologetic tone. “Based on what Apple Core here was saying, I assume your caravan had been going across the train track? You have my deepest apologies for causing you a fright.”

My gaze moved from the leader of the caravan to his ponies; there were easily ten of them in their group (it was hard to say with New Appleloosa’s train ponies standing next to them). Among them I could see several big piles of various items on carts, with odd shapes next to them. However, before I could make out what they were, the lead buck spoke, forcing me to focus my attention back on him.

“Ah, well, um, no problem, miss. I mean, no harm was done,” he said, blushing.

I smiled and glanced back at Apple Core and the other two. All three were glaring at me with annoyance; no doubt they weren’t happy with me apologizing. I rolled my eyes and gave them a stern look, hoping they would read this as “this has to be done this way,” and not interfere.

“I hope Apple Core hadn’t been too unpleasant to you all,” I said, turning back to the caravan leader (I assumed). “When the train stopped, we ended up getting a few bruises, so we were a bit… edgy.”

“Oh, don’t worry, it was nothing,” the buck quickly replied, waving his hoof nonchalantly. He then looked at me more closely. “Hm… I don’t mean to offend you, miss, but you don’t exactly look like a slaver.”

Giggling as if such notion amused me (when in fact I was a bit offended), I replied. “That’s because I’m not. Allow me to introduce myself; I’m Doctor Angel, Appleloosa’s medic. My three companions are here as my bodyguards; it would have been foolish to send the town’s only medic without protection, wouldn’t you agree?”

“I guess that makes sense.”

I gave the buck a smile and looked past him, at the walls of the city. Apple Core had been right that we were close; it was about a ten minute trot away. “It would seem that our premature stop left us awfully close to New Appleloosa,” I noted, turning back to the caravan leader. “It would seem pointless to travel the rest of the way by train. Would you mind if we trotted the rest of the way with you? It’s always more fun travelling with a big group, even if for such a short distance, sharing stories and gossip.”

“Sure, miss, I don’t see a problem,” the buck replied. He turned back to his ponies and barked orders: “Get the brahmin moving, boys!”

Likewise, I began to turn to Apple Core, Nice Catch and Mousetrap, intending to explain to them why I wanted to walk together with caravan the rest of the way, but as I did so I noticed something in the corner of my eye. One of the shapes I had spotted earlier had began to move, urged by ponies and it pulled one of the wagons. As I finally took a better look at it, I was left speechless.

For about a second.

“What are those?!” I shouted as I raced to stand closer to them.

Several ponies jumped away from me, but I didn’t care, the strange creatures had my full attention. They were massive, each much bigger than a pony. They stood on four legs that ended with cloven hooves. Under their bodies hung bloated organs, located between their stomach and hind legs. None of them had much coat growing on them, and the skin underneath it was reddish. However, those weren’t the characteristics that caused my reaction at their sight, not even those bloated organs.

Each of them had two heads.

There were three of them; six heads, some which turned to look at me. As I stared in turn at the closest one, one of the caravan ponies answered my question. “Um, those are our brahmin, miss.”

I recognized that name; their meat was the most expensive meal to buy in Salt Block, one I had attempted numerous times to try and eat. “Those are brahmin?” I asked, turning to Apple Core with a frown. “Apple Core, how come you hadn’t mentioned that they have two heads?”

Apple Core was standing with the other slavers and looking at me with a frown of her own. “Must ‘av slipped my mind,” she replied, shrugging.

“How do you forget to mention something like that?” the caravan pony that had answered me earlier spoke before I could. “That's like not remembering your first girlfriend turned out to have a dick. Right?” he added, glancing at the buck next to him with a sneer.

The slightly obese (How can you get obese in this Wasteland? This caravan must be quite successful,) buck sighed. “Sometimes I'm sorry I even told you that story.”

I stopped paying attention to everypony and focused on the closest brahmin. I tapped my PipBuck as I trotted to stand before it. “Audio recording of Doctor Angel, number 2.04. I have encountered three specimens of a ‘brahmin’ species, which seem to suffer from polycephaly. Based on the description of the Wasteland ponies, the brahmin are a natural bicephalic species. They are quadrupedal animals with cloven hooves, which coupled with their bloated organs under their bodies - which if I am not mistaken are a set of udders - leads me to forming a theory of them being descendants of bovinae animals... probably cattle,” I added, thinking back to foalish books with pictures of the different animals that used to live in pre-war Equestria. Cows bore strong resemblance to these brahmins. “Due to the obvious differences between cattle and brahmin, it may be possible that the species has mutated over the years, probably due to radiation.”

Focusing on my examination, I gently grabbed the brahmin’s muzzle (the one looking at me; the other appeared to be disinterested in me) and looked into its eyes. “Initial observation leads me to speculate that the each of the brahmin’s head can show different level of interest in its surroundings and/or intelligence levels-”

The head I was holding shook briefly. “Well, that there’s puttin’ it mildly it is,” it said, chuckling.

I blinked, bewildered. “Beg your pardon?” I asked, tilting my head.

The head I’ve been touching nodded at the other one. “Ah mean that he ain’t too smart-”

“You can talk?!” I interrupted her, overjoyed. “This is wonderful! I have so many questions for you! Do you consider yourself separate entities? Does each one of you control half of your body, or do you control it together, which would indicate that you possess some basic form of telepathy? Would you mind if I conducted exploratory surgery on yo-ough!” I exclaimed as I felt something pulling me back.

I lost my balance, falling on my chest. Whatever it was that had pulled me, it now began to drag me away from the brahmin. Startled, I looked back… and I realized that it wasn’t anything dangerous. “Apple Core!” I shouted in annoyance and surprise. “What exactly are you doing?!”

As she held the end of my lab coat in her teeth, she didn’t answer. Apple Core just rolled her eyes and continued to drag me back to Mousetrap and Nice Catch.

Both of them, along with other ponies, were now snorting in amusement or outright laughing. I huffed angrily, feeling heat on my cheeks. I turned my recorder off and waited for Apple Core to let go of me.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait too long. The earth pony mare released my lab coat as soon as we reached the other two slavers. “Well, sweetie,” I began as I rose from the ground and started to dust myself off, “I hope you have some explanation for interrupting me in such a rude and - might I add - immature way?”

She looked at me in a bemused way. “Ain’t ya the one who said ‘at work comes first?”

“But that was work for me too!” I countered, then I frowned. “No, come back; that was science! That’s much more important!”

“Yeah, Ah don’t care much ‘bout that,” Apple Core said dismissively. “C’mon, let’s go.”

I hadn’t even realized that everypony had began moving. The pulling ponies were strapping themselves to the engine in front of the train, and the guards jumped back into cars. The caravan ponies and their brahmin hurried to leave the railroad tracks and head towards the city.

I should have probably explained to my companions why I had decided to walk the rest of the way - that I had hoped some of the caravan ponies had heard something about this tribe that had apparently settled near Appleloosa, and we could gain information by simply befriending them and asking how their journey went - but I was too dismayed with Apple Core to think about that.

“You could have pointed out to me that everypony’s leaving in some other manner, sweetie,” I told her as I joined her. Mousetrap and Nice Catch followed as well.

“Ah did,” answered Apple Core, to my confusion. “Ah called yar name like three times ‘fore Ah pulled ya back.”

“Oh… you did?” I asked, honestly surprised.

“Eeyup,” she said, and the other two (along with several other ponies) nodded.

I frowned and played back the recording from earlier on my PipBuck. My latest audio log ran normally, without anypony calling my name during it. I was about to give Apple Core a look, but just then…

“I have so many questions for you!”

“Angel…” came Apple Core’s voice in between my excited exclamations.

I blushed in embarrassment as I continued to listen. “I have so many questions for you! Do you consider yourself separate entities?”

“Angel.”

“Does each one of you control half of your body, or do you control it together-”

“Angel!”

“-which would indicate that you possess some basic form of telepathy? Would you mind-”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake…”

“-if I conducted exploratory surgery on yo-ough!”

I turned the audio log off when it reached the point when Apple Core began to pull me back. “It... would appear that I owe you an apology, Apple Core,” I told the other mare, wishing I hadn’t accused her earlier of not first trying to gain my attention. “I… have been told before that I sometimes stop paying attention to my surroundings when I get like that,” I said, smiling awkwardly.

Apple Core, however, waved my apologies aside. “Nevermind ‘at. We ‘av more important things. We might ‘av problems,” she added in a hushed voice, so that only I would hear her. I straightened my ears and listened. “There was one less of ‘em train ponies.”

Recalling what Apple Core had told me, that her special talent was “rounding up ponies”, I didn’t doubt her. Instead I merely asked: “What could this mean?”

“They must ‘av send ‘im to the town, probably to inform ol’ Railright about us. He’s pretty much in charge ‘ere. And given how long we’ve talked, Ah reckon he’s probably right now talkin’ with that pony.”

“Would that be something bad?” I asked her. “I’ve been under the assumption that ponies here have peaceful relations with slavers?”

“Yeah, but that’s ‘cause we usually don’t come t’ their town,” Apple Core explained. “They probably want ‘im t’ keep that trigger happy pegasus away. But Ah thought ya might wanna start sweet-talkin’ ‘im like a the minute we see ‘im.”

I raised an eyebrow. “‘Sweet-talking’?”

“Ya know, like ya do with everypony.”

“That’s called ‘being pleasant to others’, sweetie,” I said, shaking my head. “But nevermind that. Would you be so kind to get to help me get to know those caravan ponies?”

“Why?”

“So that we could engage in friendly conversation with them, possibly learning if they heard anything about the tribe that killed our ponies,” I told her. “Or if they heard of any mercenaries that are free to hire,” I added as the idea came to me.

Apple Core agreed that it was worth trying, and all four of us engaged in conversations with several ponies from their group, traders and guards alike. As per my advice, my companions hadn’t outright asked about the tribals or mercenaries, but instead tried talking with them like they would normally in a bar or tavern. Subjects such as weapons, their maintenance, raiders and the Hooded Figure were touched upon. I myself asked about the Wasteland in general, as I was certain that there was much, much more to learn about it. (Especially since I know that Apple Core forgot to mention brahmin have two heads; who knows what else she could have omitted?) However, I hadn’t learned anything new by the time we reached New Appleloosa's limits; the caravan ponies mostly complained about raiders from Shattered Hoof. Apparently they’d often come under attack from them during their routes.

I broke my concentration away from discussions and looked around New Appleloosa. It was… a touch different from the slavers’ Appleloosa, that was for certain. Inside its walls, it became clear to me that before the Last Day this used to be major rail hub of sorts. Derailed train cars made almost all of New Appleloosa’s buildings. Even the walls, on closer examinations, turned out to be boxcars. I could see between buildings many railroad tracks, practically confirming my guess. There was also a very tall metal spire-like structure in town, with a long outstretched arm and a hook attached to it.

The ponies guarding a big metal gate opened it without a word. Not surprising, since they’ve been probably told about both our groups by that train pony Apple Core noticed was missing. However, we passed the gate without anypony making any problems for us. There were also ponies to greet us, too. Most were focused on the caravan ponies, though several said hello to Apple Core when they recognized her. As the slaver mare replied to them, I noticed a black and grey buck trotting towards us, seemingly with a purpose.

“Been awhile since we’ve seen ya ‘round these parts, Apple Core,” he said as he reached us.

Apple Core turned to him. “Black Widow doesn’t give us too much a free time,” she joked. “Good to see ya too, Railright.”

I immediately interjected myself into their conversation. “Oh, so you’re the Railright I’ve been hearing about,” I told the buck, smiling. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, sweetie. I’m Doctor Angel, Appleloosa’s medic.”

“S-so Ah’ve heard,” he replied, slightly taken aback. Nevertheless, he took my outstretched hoof and shook it. Which in turn took me aback, as I expected him to kiss it. Are there no gentlecolts in Equestrian Wasteland? “Now, not that we ain’t pleased t’ have y’all, but would ya kindly explain why y’all here? It’s a rather unusual situation.”

“Oh, most certainly,” I replied. “But we've had a long trip; would it be a problem if we talked in some more comfortable location?”

*** *** ***

About ten minutes later, we were sitting next to a table in the mayor’s “office” (I was pretty sure it was actually Railright’s living room), drinking Sparkle-Cola. Apple Core had no doubt wanted a stronger drink, but I had intervened before she could have asked for it.

“There are two reasons why we’ve been sent here, mayor,” I began when he repeated his question from earlier. “One is to buy several goods that we need. Primarily medical supplies, which is why I have been sent, but also some others.”

Railright frowned. “Ah thought Candi sent y’all some medical supplies on the train.”

“Oh, yes, we’ve received them. However, those supplies actually went first to a trader in Appleloosa, and then I had to buy them from him, an arrangement the previous medic had established. I had hoped to have my own trading agreement with Candi, was it?” I asked to be certain.

“Hm, seems logical,” Railright mused as he nodded at my question. “Speakin’ of, what happened to the previous medic pony of Appleloosa? Um… Cutter, right?”

My ears dropped, but Mousetrap answered before I could. “One of the slaves killed him.”

“It was most unfortunate,” I added; I would have felt much more comfortable if she had refrained from using the word ‘slave’. Ponies here might accept it, but it seemed unwise to remind them that they were owning ponies in the next town. “It must have been Goddesses’ providence that had led me to Appleloosa; without me they’d have been without a medic for good two weeks now.”

“Indeed,” Railright agreed, then changed the subject. “Ya’ve mentioned that there was ‘nother reason for y’all bein’ ‘ere?”

“The other reason is a bit more important. Several of our ponies had recently been killed by unknown assailants.” As I said it, Railright’s expression grew serious. “We were asked to see if there are some mercenaries in New Appleloosa or anywhere nearby, eager to earn some bottle caps by helping us deal with this problem.”

“Y’all ‘av no idea who did that?” Railright asked.

“There were several assumptions made in Appleloosa; Black Widow’s guess that some tribe had come to live in our area seems the most logical to me. Have you heard something about it, sweetie? Some travelers mentioning a large group of ponies, anything like that?”

Railright shook his head. “Sorry, lass, heard nothin’ of ‘at sorts. But ya’re in luck; some mercenaries came t’ town earlier today.” I blinked it surprise; that was lucky! “They should be in Turnpike Tavern. Ah believe ya remember the way?” he added, turning to Apple Core, who chuckled. “‘Av to warn ya though,” Railright continued, “they mentioned that they ‘av somethin’ to do in the area, so it might not be easy t’ hire ‘em. Also, Ah didn’t like the look one of ‘em gave me. Be careful ‘round ‘em.”

“Of course, sweetie,” I replied, smiling. “Thank you so much for your help. And hospitality, of course, of you and your town. I admit, I was a little bit worried… I’ve heard that there is a ‘trigger happy’ - as my companions had described him - pony living in New Appleloosa, a pegasus of all things.”

My attempt at gaining information on the pegasus caused Railight to erupt in laughter. “‘Trigger happy’...” he repeated covering his mouth. “Oh, can’t wait to tell ‘im that… Y’all can relax, Calamity’s not ‘ere. He left this mornin’, guardin’ a caravan.”

I frowned inwardly. Of course; mercenary team comes in, a pegasus specimen goes out. You can’t have everything.

“Should be a couple of days ‘fore he comes back,” Railright continued, ignorant to the fact that he wasn’t putting me at ease but further upsetting me. “And besides, he doesn’t live ‘ere. Ah keep tellin’ ‘im to move in - we could always use such a good shot, ya know - almost ever since he came down. Must be three years now… But he always refuses the offer!”

“Some ponies are loners by nature,” I tried to comfort the buck. “Though I agree, it seems such a pity to not have such valuable pony living here.”

“Ya said it,” Railright nodded, then rose. “Ah think Ah took enough of yar time. No point in keepin’ ya from doin’ yar job ‘cause of some pointless conversations.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t call any part of our conversation pointless, sweetie,” I told him. “However, you are correct in reminding us of our duties. Perhaps we could talk some more on a later date?”

Railright seemed pleased at that prospect, and he wished us good luck as we left his house. “What a charming buck,” I commented as we trotted onto the street.

Apple Core glanced at me with a raised eyebrow. “Do ya have a thing for older bucks? ‘Cause that would explain some things…”

I sighed, not interested in that kind of talk at the moment. Not even to point out that he wasn’t that much older than her. “Railright told us there are mercenaries in Turnpike Tavern. Your brother works there, right?” I asked Apple Core, who nodded. “Then it shouldn’t be much of a problem for the three of you to gain information on them and get to know them?”

“Probably not. But where are ya goin’?”

“I want to talk with their medic pony, Candi, and have all this trading agreement business sorted out quickly. I might also look into buying those mines before I come and join you.”

“Wait, so you weren’t kidding about this medicines thing?” Nice Catch asked, raising eyebrows. “I thought we were buying just mines.”

“As friendly as this town is to the slavers, I just couldn’t imagine the good mayor not frowning if I’d told him ‘we came to buy explosives to kill ponies who’d try to escape the life of a slave’,” I replied. “The trading agreement is something I had planned to arrange anyway, so I mentioned that in greater detail to drawn his attention. As for that not being a part of our mission here, I honestly can’t think of Black Widow being mad at me for ensuring I have medicine for everypony.”

“Even if she was, Ah doubt she’d do somethin’ to Appleloosa’s only medic,” Apple Core said, shrugging. She then pointed to the right. “Clinic is that way. We’re goin’ there,” she added, pointing a a big train car-turned-bar. “Don’t take too long.”

“Of course. If you meet those mercenaries, don’t talk to them about business, wait for me with that. Just-”

“Ah’m pretty sure Ah know better about befriendin’ ponies in a bar than ya,” Apple Core interrupted me, sticking her tongue.

I had to give her a point there. Laughing, I parted with my slaver companions.

*** *** ***

“Ya won’t find too much of Hydra on this side of the Wasteland,” Candi told me, much to my disappointment.

The medic pony of New Appleloosa was - in huge contrast to the only other medic I had met in the Equestrian Wasteland - a kind earth pony mare. She had greeted me friendlily when I entered her clinic, and when I told her that I hoped she could start sending more medicines to Appleloosa, directly to me, she had agreed.

“Ah ‘av lots of spare healin’ potions, not t’ mention other chems,” the mare - who like me had a white coat but had a pink mane; she also wore one of the pink and yellow nurse’s dresses I had seen on some MoP posters - had said, waving her hoof dismissively. “Ah usually sell ‘em anyway, so Ah might as well send ‘em to ya.”

After a brief discussion regarding the exact amount of medicines and how much would it would cost, we had an agreement ready. The speed with which we had concluded this business might have been partly due to Candi needing to check on some patients in their house; we left the clinic right after we finished, in fact. I had offered to go with her, but she had told me it was just a routine check.

As I had nothing too pressing to take care of, I walked with her part of the way. It was a pleasant change to be able to talk with a fellow medic pony. So pleasant, in fact, that I lingered with asking about Hydra and asked her about unusual cases, secret healing methods… Candi had told me that she sometimes mixed healing potion with apple schnapps to make the medicine “go down better”, as she had phrased it. Though I would obviously never try such a method, I had to admit that it was intriguing.

I finally brought up the subject of Hydra when Candi told me we were almost there. I had already known she had used up all her supply during our business discussion earlier (in fact, the pony she was going to see now was the one she had used it on), but now I questioned as to where one could find more.

“Hydra is only made in Hoofington,” she continued. “Well, at least, as far as Ah know; Ah wouldn’t be surprised if there were other places.”

“Hoofington?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. “That’s quite a distance from here, isn’t it sweetie? I don’t mean to pry, but I’ve been led to believe that you keep a somewhat steady supply of it. Do you send your train all the way there as well?” I questioned.

Candi giggled. “Nah, New Appleloosa - Appleloosa is the only line. Tracks in other directions are all destroyed ‘ere and there. Anyways, Ah buy Hydra from ol’ Ditzy.”

“Ditzy? I’m afraid I hadn’t had yet the pleasure.”

“Yeah, Ah didn’t expect ya to. She runs the general supplies store, Absolutely Everythin’, right over there,” she said as she pointed at three train cars that were melded together into a single building with a smokestack, a little further down the street.

“Well then, I guess that’s my next destination,” I thought, gazing at it.

I was about to ask Candi next just how exactly this Ditzy acquired Hydra, but my fellow medic spoke first. “Ya might ‘av problems talkin’ with her…” she trailed off and then facehoofed. “Ugh, that was in horrible taste…”

“Why, what do you mean?” I asked, puzzled by her behaviour.

Candi sighed. “Some slavers cut off poor Ditzy’s tongue a few decades ago, ‘fore Ah was even born.”

My eyes widened. “Oh…” was all I could say. This is indeed going to complicate talking to her… oh, now I get it! “You’re right, that was in horrible taste.”

Candi blushed in embarrassment, even though I could tell she hadn’t meant to joke about this Ditzy. She cleared her throat and resumed: “As ya can figure, she doesn’t trade with slavers. And since the word about slavers bein’ in town with an albino medic pony had no doubt reached ‘er by now…”

“She might refuse to conduct any business with me?” I finished. To be honest, I found the thought of somepony outright disliking slavers in this town to be refreshing. “Hm… if there was an available, compatible donor, I could offer to transplant it and…” I mused out loud.

“Ya could do that?” Candi asked with wide eyes.

“Assuming I would have a donor, most certainly,” I replied. “Of course, since most ponies wouldn’t want to part with their tongues, the donor would have to be recently deceased…”

Come to think of it, I wondered, would Hydra make the tongue grow back? Maybe it’s too complicated an organ… and it certainly wouldn’t work on Ditzy, as in decades the wound must have closed up, but on a donor- wait, decades?!

“You said that it was decades ago?” I asked Candi, who nodded. “Forgive my surprise, sweetie; I was under the impression that living for so long must be quite a feat in the Equestrian Wasteland on its own, let alone with a disadvantage like the one Ditzy has. She must be quite a survivor… exactly how old is she?”

To my surprise, Candi giggled, as if something I said amused her. “Ya know,” she said after a few seconds, “Ah think my patient can wait a few more minutes. Ah’ll go and introduce ya to her.”

“Really?” I asked, pleasantly surprised… and suspicious. I had a feeling that I was about to become a subject of a joke for a second time today. “That’s very kind of you, sweetie,” I replied, resigned.

I can suffer a few more laughs.

“Great, c’mon!” Candi said enthusiastically, giggling.

“There’s one thing that’s confusing to me, though,” I said as I trotted alongside her. “How does she get Hydra all the way from Hoofington?”

Instead of answering my question, Candi pointed at the signs below block letters forming the shop’s name. When we were close enough, I read them, intrigued:

Yes, I do deliveries!

No hooves, nasty stingers? No service.

Ask me about special orders! I won’t answer, but I’ll get right on it!

Wasteland Survival Guide! Available now! First copy for every family is free!

“‘Yes, I do deliveries’?” I read outloud, frowning. “Sweetie, that doesn’t explain my question… wait, Wasteland Survival Guide? What’s that?”

Candi looked at me, surprised. “Ya don’t have any in Appleloosa? That’s a book with survival tips and such, written and published by Ditzy. It’s really useful.”

My jaw dropped in a such an unladylike manner that my Granny would have chastised me.

“Y-you mean…” I stammered, “that in these remains of a civilization, there’s a pony who managed to write and publish a book, and she’s right behind these doors?!”

When Candi realized that I was excited, she laughed. “Well, the counter is a bit further in the shop,” she joked as she opened the door.

I could scarcely believe it. To be able to write a book and publish it, making enough copies to give them away free… And on such a subject no less! If she had written it in Stable Eight as a thesis for Social Sciences she would have definitely gained a PhD!

This pony is amazing! I thought as I began to follow Candi. Oh, what a pity that she hates slavers! I must convince her to give me a chance; after all, I am not a slaver, even if I work for them. Still, this could be difficult… I must do my best. I’m sure if I treat her friendlily and professionally, Ditzy and I will become best of friends.

“Hello, Ditzy Doo,” Candi called over the noise several ponies were making in the store. “Ah’ve dropped by to introduce somepony to ya.”

I looked from behind Candi to see Ditzy… and at first I was confused. Was this the joke I feared Candi was preparing for me? I wondered as I gazed at the corpse behind the shop’s counter.

A decaying corpse, at that. It had already lost all its coat, and the skin was flaking away. Its dry eyes stared in different directions. A few strands of mane were yellow in color. Hm, female, earth pony, I began noticing automatically as I trotted closer, age… a bit difficult to say without examination…

Before the thought of how weird it was for a corpse to be put behind a counter in a shop hit me, I was forced to stop my thinking process altogether. The corpse’s head moved towards me, and its face formed a frown. It then reached to a small sign on the counter and raised it; the words ‘NO SLAVERS’ were written on it. As if to make sure I read it, it tapped it.

“YOU’RE A GHOUL?!” I finally realized.

I could hear Candi snorting with laughter beside me, but I stopped paying her attention. I had heard about ghouls; in Apple Core’s words, “corpses that continued to live”. I’ve tried asking ponies about them, naturally curious what could cause such a condition, but nopony could offer much information in that regard.

And now I was seeing one before my eyes.

I raced towards it (Her, I corrected myself,) around the counter, much to the surprise of Ditzy and probably anypony else present. “You’re a ghoul?!” I repeated more quietly, but still as excited. I then did a double-take at her. The counter hid another unique feature of her - two appendages growing from her back. “You’re a pegasus ghoul?!?” I exclaimed, my eyes round. Ditzy Doo, whose face had by then lost its earlier stern demeanor, was looking at me with a mixture of confusion and fear. Which I ignored, too absorbed in the moment. “You’re a pegasus ghoul who wrote and published an actual book in this largely uncivilized world?!? This. Is. Amazing!” I squeed as I threw my forelegs around Ditzy and hugged her tightly. “Oh, I love this town!”

Footnote: 50% to next level!

Chapter Five: The Morality of Angel

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“I'm cleansing the world of all that is evil!”

“That's quite nice of you, but 'evil' is very subjective. What or who you might consider to be evil could very well be the opposite to someone else.”

“Oh, this is just wonderful!” I exclaimed as I continued to hug Ditzy. “I have so many questions for you!” Finally releasing her, I grabbed her by her shoulders so I could look her in the eyes. “Is your body actually dead and is it being sustained by the necromantic fallout of the Balefire Bombs, or has the exposure to it caused some kind of nonlethal variant of necrosis? Do you require substance or sleep? How does your body react to further exposure to radiation? Did you develop your eye alignment disorder before or after you became a ghoul?” I added, tilting my head curiously as I noticed one of her eyes was once again looking the other way from the other. It appears to be strabismus... Seeing confusion in the eye that was looking at me, I decided to that perhaps it would be better to take more direct approach. “Would you allow me to conduct exploratory surgery on you?”

Ditzy opened her eyes slightly wider, and after a brief hesitation she turned to Candi. The white-coated mare was standing on the other side of the counter, probably having trotted up from the shop’s entrance while my attention was focused on Ditzy.

“Candi, sweetie, why didn’t you tell me Miss Doo is a ghoul?” I asked her, letting go of the pegasus to turn towards Candi and stare at her with pretense.

The earth pony mare was in turn staring at me with a mixture of amusement and bewilderment. “Ah thought it would be funny seein’ a stable dweller react t’ seein’ a ghoul for the first time,” Candi replied, giving me a somewhat awkward smile. “Kinda was, Ah s'oppose. But Ah expected a reaction more along the lines of ‘Sweet merciful Celestia, what is that!’ or somethin’,” she explained, pressing her forehooves to her cheeks and raising her voice as she portrayed what reaction she had expected.

“Would ‘ave preferred seein’ that than whatever this here was,” a pony that was already in the store, browsing the merchandise, said while Ditzy Doo frowned at Candi, then picked up a chalkboard from the counter and began to scribble on it. “For a minute there Ah thought she’s gonna strangle poor Derpy.”

“Derpy”? Must be because of the eye, I noted, quite familiar with the custom of giving ponies nicknames based on their defect. However, I didn’t turn to scold the pony, curious what Ditzy was writing.

Wasn’t very nice of you, I read on the chalkboard as the ghoul pony showed it to Candi, who promptly rolled her eyes.

“She just asked ya if she can cut ya open and ya’re givin’ me the heat?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Apparently, Ditzy hadn’t realized what “exploratory surgery” meant, as now she immediately spun around and stared at me, more with bewilderment than fear. I merely sighed.

“Why does everypony react like that whenever I want to perform exploratory surgery on them?” I exclaimed, asking nopony in particular. “Both in my Stable and in Appleloosa. I am a professional doctor, with surgeon license and doctorates in medicine, arcane bioengineering, and biological hippology, and I’ve been conducting exploratory surgeries since I was a filly with none of my patients ever complaining afterwards.”

“Okay, no need for exaggerating, Ah get that ya’re a competent doctor,” Candi replied, rolling her eyes again. Before I could contradict her claim that I was exaggerating, she continued: “But ya do know that it sounds mighty creepy when a stranger comes out and ask somethin’ like ‘is, right? And no offense, but the name of the town where ya practice yar profession won’t endear folks to yar request.”

Sometime during my enthusiastic reaction to seeing Ditzy, the pegasus ghoul must had forgotten about her reservations regarding me. Now she was once again frowning at me and reaching for her 'NO SLAVERS' sign.

“Miss Doo, it would appear you are under the incorrect assumption that I am a slaver,” I began to say as Ditzy tapped her sign. I brought a hoof to my chest and looked her in the eye, continuing. “I assure you, sweetie, I am only working for the slavers, as the medic of Appleloosa. Which hadn’t exactly came about by my choice; my Stable is located not far from that town, and when I came out of it I ran into one of their patrols. If I hadn’t offered them my services, I would have become a slave myself.”

Ditzy’s stern expression softened a bit, although I suspected she probably considered what I had done to be at least a bit selfish. She did stop staring at me, though, as she picked up her chalkboard, wiped, and wrote another message. Why are you here?

“The leader of Appleloosa sent me and three others here,” I replied, seeing no point in hiding it from her. “Some ponies had killed one of the slavers patrols, and Black Widow wants us to find some mercenaries and convince them to come and help to deal with this issue. As to why I specifically am here, it’s because I am considered to be a diplomatic individual. At the same time, though, I had hoped to come and visit New Appleloosa, as I needed to rearrange a trading agreement the previous medic had with Candi here,” I added, nodding at the said pony.

“Diplomatic, eh?” the buck that had spoken up earlier interrupted as he came to the counter. “Yar boss mustn’t ‘ave seen ya huggin’ strangers. Derpy, how much for cigarettes?” he asked, putting a small box on the counter.

I would have commented on how unhealthy it was to smoke those things, but I didn’t want to deprive Ditzy of her client. As the pegasus ghoul quickly conducted the transaction, she returned to our discussion, wiping her chalkboard again and writing next message. You’re going back there? Why?

Now it was my turn to be bewildered. “Sweetie, I have now obligations to the town and it’s citizens, both those that are free and those that are not. I’m a doctor, I took an oath to help ponies. While my employment in Appleloosa might have been forced, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m their medic.”

Ditzy blinked in surprise hearing my explanation, and quickly her frown transformed into a warm, happy smile. She hastily scribbled on her chalkboard: All ponies should help each other like that.

“I couldn’t agree more,” I said, smiling back at her. Satisfied that her opinion of me had been amended, I extended my hoof to her. “We’ve sadly started on the bad hoof, let me introduce myself properly and make a good impression this time. Hello sweetie, I’m Doctor Angel, but you can call me just Angel,” I told her, smiling.

Before taking my hoof, the ghoul pony wiped her chalkboard and wrote another message. She showed it to me as we shook hooves: Ditzy Doo. You can call me Derpy if you want. Pleasure to meet you.

“Likewise, sweetie,” I agreed. “Would you allow me to conduct an exploratory surgery on you?”

A very loud slap sounded beside us, startling me. Looking to my side I saw that the source of the noise was Candi, who had facehoofed herself. “Ya’re impossible,” she sighed.

I frowned at her before returning my attention back to Ditzy. To my delight, her reaction was much more promising; she covered her mouth as she closed her eyes and made a rasping voice that I recognized as giggling. No, she wrote on her chalkboard after a few moments. You’re funny.

“Alright, fine,” I sighed, giving up. “How about a physical examination then? Completely non-invasive procedure,” I quickly began to ensure her as she tilted her head. “I will measure your vitals, heart rate, temperature, nerve reaction, scan your body for magic residue, the… extent of your body’s degradation,” I added, looking her up and down thoughtfully. “Fortunately I should be able to tell if it extends to your insides by magic and by touch if I have to, so you can be assured that I will not cut you. Oh oh, and your muscle structure!” I realized, excited. “I’ve never seen a pegasus pony! I need to feel your wings up and the muscles that are attached to them!”

“Wow!” Candi exclaimed, interrupting me again. When I glanced at her, she was looking at me with her eyebrow raised. “If Ah didn’t know any better, Ah would say ya seem awfully determined t’ get close with Ditzy here,” she said, grinning at me.

“Well… yes, sweetie, a physical examination requires being close to the patient,” I replied, confused. “Forgive me sweetie, but where exactly did you get your medical degree?”

Candi opened her mouth and blinked at me with surprise. “No, Ah… um, Ah meant it sounded like ya’re tryin’ to get really close with Ditzy,” she explained, emphasizing the words ‘really’ and ‘close’. “Ya know, with all the talk ‘bout touchin’ and feelin’ up?” Candi tried as I continued to stare at her in puzzlement.

I glanced at Ditzy, who was smiling somewhat embarrassingly. She rolled her eyes and shrugged in response, and I tried to put together what Candi was insinuating and what Ditzy apparently had figured out already- “Oh!” I exclaimed, finally realizing what she had meant. “You were implying that I was desiring a coitus with her and that I was using the physical examination as an excuse. Honestly, sweetie,” I told her, looking at Candi reproachfully, “it’s a good thing you do know better. I would take a great offense to both suggesting that I would use an important scientific research as an excuse to attempt to seduce somepony, and that I would want to make love to a mare I’ve just met.”

For whatever reason, Candi’s eyes grew wider and she opened her mouth, as if my statement had confused her. What in the world could be confusing about it? I briefly wondered as the other mare continued to stare at me.

“Um…” she finally mumbled after several seconds, frowning and raising her hoof, but I cut her off.

“Now that this immature discussion is over,” I said, giving Candi a meaningful look before turning back to Ditzy, “let us return to my query. Would you allow me to perform a physical examination on you? I am prepared to offer a compensation for your time of course,” I assured her.

Ditzy covered her mouth, giggling silently for some reason, before she replied: No need for that, she wrote, but why do you want to examine me?

“Isn’t it obvious?” I asked in turn, surprised. When Ditzy shook her head - and Candi was facehoofing again, was I missing something? - I sighed and began to explain: “Question: what does a doctor do? Answer: she makes ponies better,” I told Ditzy. I was delighted to see that I had her full attention; too often when I had tried to explain anything to anypony, they listen to me with half an ear, even back in Stable Eight. “She heals their bruises, lacerations, diseases, and most importantly, conducts research on improving her methods of healing and devise new ways of improving their healths. Your body, sweetie, by my initial examination, I would declare as belonging to a deceased pony,” I told her, looking her up and down again, before pointing my hoof at her. “But you aren’t! You are here, communicating and moving, as if you were alive. Whatever effect the balefire radiation had on you, it appears to be clear that it kept you alive, even if it’s only ‘after a fashion’, as ponies say. By what Candi had told me about you, you’ve also been around for several decades, meaning that this effect is very long lasting. Just imagine what ponykind could do if we were able to harness this and devise a method of using it to help ponies, without the negative side effects,” I exclaimed as I smiled at the thought. “Unfortunately,” I added, my enthusiasm ebbing away, “I realize that it would take a long time of studying of ghouls and the balefire fallout priorities to come to such discoveries. That’s why for now, I will be satisfied with learning about ghoul and pegasi anatomy,” I said, cheerfulness returning to my voice. “I won’t be able to effectively heal ghoul patients if I would lack information about them, nor would I be able to reattach wings of pegasi ponies if I won’t familiarize myself with their build. And while I conduct the research beneficial for my immediate patients, I will make initial notes for the long term research for the benefit of the future of ponykind. Does that answer your questions, sweetie?” I asked, tilting my head and continuing to smile.

Ditzy tapped her chin thoughtfully, thinking over all what I had said. I think so, she finally wrote on her chalkboard, only to quickly swipe it and write a longer message: You could have just said that part about anatomy you know.

Looking at the smirk and raised eyebrow she was giving me, I found myself blushing in embarrassment. “Yes, well, I have been told that I tend to get excited when talking about medical research. Those that mean you’ll agree for the physical examination?” I asked her, pointing at her own words on the chalkboard.

Of course! I’ll be closing my store in about three hours, you can come then, Ditzy wrote, giving me a cheerful smile.

“Oh, thank you so much!” I exclaimed, hugging her again. This time, Ditzy enthusiastically replied, her decayed forelegs wrapping around me. “I’ll be looking forward to it,” I continued as we pulled apart. “I’ll be out of your mane for now, I’m sure you will be having some customers soon. See you soon, sweetie,” I said as I began to back away, waving at Ditzy.

Ditzy waited only as long as it took to write on her chalkboard before she waved back. See you!

Smiling, I turned to Candi, who was now again staring at me. “Candi, sweetie, didn’t you say that you have to go see one of your patients?” I reminded her gently.

The earth pony mare shook and blinked energetically. “Yeah, sorry, was just… processin’,” she replied as she rose to her hooves. “See ya later Ditzy,” Candi called back as she walked through the door and left them open for me.

Waving to the pegasus ghoul one last time, I left the store. “Oh, thank you so much for introducing me to her, sweetie,” I told Candi as we trotted through the streets of New Appaloosa.

“No problem. So, listen… ya don’t plan on doin’ anythin’ besides givin’ her a physical, right?” she asked me, giving me a serious look.

“Well, it’s going be more of an examination than a ‘physical’...” I began, but then I realized what Candi must have been implying. Frowning, I replied: “Sweetie, first of all, both me and Ditzy are adult mares-”

But Candi’s eyes almost bulged out. “Wha- no! Not that!” she quickly exclaimed, blushing, as she began shaking her head. Covering her eyes, Candi murmured: “Ugh, stop givin’ me mental images like that…” I felt slightly puzzled by those words, but before I was given a chance to even ponder whether or not I should ask her of the meaning behind them Candi had recovered and turned to me again. “Look, what meant is, ya’re not gonna do anything t’ harm her, right? Ah mean, no offense,” she quickly added, “but ya were pretty hung up on performin’ exploratory surgery on her, and ya’ve sorta got this ‘insane scientist’ vibe goin’ on.”

“No offense taken, sweetie,” I assured her. “I find your concern for Ditzy to be charming. I’ll admit, I would like to perform exploratory surgery on her and see for myself the state of her organs, but I wouldn’t do something like that to such a nice pony against her wishes. You have my word on that. And as for the ‘insane scientist’ part,” I added, once more looking at her with pretense, “I assure you, I am not insane, my mother had me tested.”

I admit, I would have felt better if this wasn’t the second time today I had to tell this to somepony. The first pony being a little statuette of a Ministry Mare from two hundred years ago that I had started to hear speak to me in my mind.

“Alright, sorry ‘bout that one,” Candi said, waving her hoof.

“If you still doubt me,” I continued, “feel free to come join us. I’m sure that Ditzy won’t mind, especially since you’re the town’s medic.”

“Um, thanks, but Ah’m… busy, this evening. Yes, busy,” she said, sounding somewhat nervous. And… was she blushing? After clearing her throat, she added: “And it ain’t that Ah doubt ya, but Ah’ve never seen anybody ask another pony if they can cut ‘em open.”

“I’ll admit, in my excitement I might have forgotten about the proper etiquette. But believe me when I say, sweetie, if not because of me not being - as you had put it - insane, but because I gave you my word. You see,” I said, turning my head to look Candi in the eyes, “there are only two things in this huge, wondrous world that I despise, and breaking one’s word is one of them. Perjurers, betrayers… I despise them from the depths of my soul,” I added, pressing my hoof to my heart.

Candi raised her eyebrow. “Ya know, crazy or not, Ah wish ya were livin’ here. Ya’re entertainin’ t’ talk with, that’s for sure,” she added with a giggle as I deadpanned at her. “Anyways, Ah really oughta go see that patient. Hope we’ll run into each other later,” she said as she prepared to leave.

“Oh, before you go sweetie, could you point me towards the Turnpike Tavern? I’m supposed to meet up with my companions there.”

As Candi explained to me how to get there, I found myself wondering what Apple Core and the others have been up to. I hope they found those mercenaries and made a good first impression…

“So,” Candi said as she finished giving me directions, “anywhere else ya would like t’ go? Since Ah apparently became yar tour guide,” she added, rolling her eyes and smirking.

I was about to reply, but then I hesitated. I have three hours until I can examine Ditzy, I thought as I tapped my chin, but talking with those mercenaries couldn’t possibly take me such a long time… and I would really not want to be so long in the same watering hole with Apple Core, last time she nearly forced me to drink alcohol. So…

“Actually,” I told Candi, turning to her, “if you could tell me one more thing…”

*** *** ***

Wrinkling my nose as the smell of alcohol hit me - noticeably less intense than in the Salt Block back in Appleloosa - the moment I entered the Turnpike Tavern, I looked over its interior, trying to spot Apple Core, Mousetrap and Nice Catch.

It’s quite crowded, I noted, unable to find my companions amongst all the ponies that were enjoying drinks, playing games or listening to the music. I looked to the counter. Apple Core said her brother is the bartender, and he should know where they are.

However, I made no more than three steps towards the counter, when a pony stepped in front of me. I backed away, startled. He was an elder earth pony buck, in his fifties perhaps, with a muscular body covered by gray coat. His face was adored by a groomed handlebar mustache, and his breath reeked of alcohol, almost making me gag after being exposed to it so suddenly.

At the same time as I took in his looks and his sudden appearance, the stranger had been looking me up and down appraisingly. “Well now, what have we here?” he asked, his speech - surprisingly coherent; despite my initial assumption, he wasn’t at all inebriated - bearing a slight hint of an accent I was not familiar with. “Looks as though you dinnay know much about the sweet science at all, do ye?”

“Excuse me, darling, but what are you talking about?” I asked, confused.

“Well, it’s just my educated opinion, but I can see by the way you move that you could do with a few pointers.”

“Pointers?” I raised my eyebrow, my confusion only growing deeper. “With what?”

“About the sweet science, of course,” the stranger replied, as if it was obvious. “The sportin’ art.”

Sporting… art? What in the names of the Goddesses is he talking about?

“What are you talking about, darling?” I asked out loud politely.

“Pugilism,” he said, finally clearing this up for me, “the buckly, uh, and marely art of hoof-to-hoof combat. That’s what I mean.”

“Oh, I see,” I exclaimed. “Hm, well, I guess it’s true that I could use some help with that…” I said slowly, reminiscing.

Before I could go too far down the memory lane, however, the older pony had apparently took my comment as an agreement too… whatever this was. “Well, let’s go outside and see what I can teach you. You see,” he continued, about to lead me out of the Turnpike Tavern, “it’s all about getting your whole body to snap just like a whip…”

“I’m terribly sorry,” I interrupted him, “but I don’t have time for this right now, sweetie. Perhaps some other time?” I asked, smiling at him.

The older pony shrugged. “Sure, lass,” he said, sounding not disappointed that I wasn’t going to train with him right now. He turned back to a table by which he must have been sitting before he came to talk to me, where a tankard of beer was waiting for him, and added: “You can find me here most of the time.”

“Thank you for your offer,” I told him before leaving him and heading towards the counter.

Well, that was… odd, I thought. I must remember to ask somepony if it happens often, ponies offering random strangers to train them in hoof-to-hoof combat. I wonder… assuming I will have the time, should I take him up on his offer? I asked myself as I sat by the counter and waited for the bartender to finish serving some clients.

While so far I had successfully averted any conflicts that came my way with my words, I came to realize that the Wasteland was an extremely dangerous place. True, if worst came to worst, I had always my magic to call upon, but I wasn’t satisfied with the thought of relying on it all the time. I was a doctor first and foremost, I couldn’t risk overusing my magic and suffering a magical burnout, my magic could be needed to save somepony’s life.

Either I’ll learn some combat skills, or I’ll have to have somepony at my side with those skills that I can trust, I concluded, a bit unhappily. Well, I have Apple Core, but it still might be a good idea to learn how to defend myself. Besides, my mentor always used to say: “to train the mind, first train the body”. His only lesson I hadn’t taken to heart… I thought fondly; he was one of the few unicorns in Stable Eight besides the security ponies that regularly visited the gym. The practice that he failed to instill in me. Although, to be fair, he wasn’t the first pony to try encouraging me to partake in physical exercises, and he had accomplished better results. I suppose it’s about time I at least try following his idea. After all, I am aware just how healthy for the body some exercises would be. Still, I thought, the corner of my mouth curling into a smile, learning hoof-to-hoof combat? Me? He would laugh so hard-

I stopped mid-thought, as my thoughts turned away from my mentor and began to focus on him. Would he?

He who?

D- I began, only to stop. Oh, you’re back, I thought, frowning at my saddlebag, where Fluttershy’s statuette was. I’m curious, was it something I had said, or does this spell allows you - whatever exactly you are - talk with me only for a few moments every few hours that caused you to stop talking to me earlier and start now?

Oh, I wouldn’t know, she replied. I could almost picture her now, a tiny yellow pegasus mare with pink mane, her demeanor somewhat subdued as she looked down and prodded the space underneath her. So, um, who were you thinking about?

So you admit that you are not a figment of my mind?

It’s just… your feelings changed so drastically when you’ve started to think about him, the tiny pony continued, ignoring my thoughts. There was only one other time when that happened… although the effect that recording had on you was far more-

Sweetie, I interrupted her, my cordiality requiring some effort, do you think that just because you can speak to me within my mind I will answer your rather personal questions?

Oh, you’re right, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude, she replied, downcast. It’s just… I’m wondering what could have led a pony to performing such horrific actions. I thought that maybe if I’d knew you better I could understand you, and maybe... convince you to stop…

I won’t stop, I told her resolutely and definitely. Nothing you could say would make me stop. Not until I discover the Truth of this world, not while ponykind continues to suffer, and not while there are those who discard their right to be called ponies. In a bit softer tone, I added: I will never stop.

The tiny pony cringed in fear and covered herself with her wings. One of her blue eyes peeked from between feathers. I expected her to continue pestering me about him or the recording, about my experiments and plans. But she didn’t. She asked me a single question.

Why?

“Ya must be Angel!” The sudden jovial exclamation almost made me jump. Returning my attention to my surroundings, I found myself looking at a light brown unicorn buck, who stood behind a counter. “Mah sister told me about ya.”

I raised my eyebrow. “Sister?” I asked, forgetting about the conversation I had in my head for now. The statuette must have decided to put it off as well. I suppose I should be thankful she doesn’t want to talk to me when I’m speaking with ponies, that would be rather distracting. “You mean you’re Apple Core’s brother? But… you’re a unicorn!” I exclaimed, practically shouting in my excitement after he nodded in reply. Ignoring some confused stares and giggles from ponies around me, I leaned closer to Apple Core’s brother. “So it is true that unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi can crossbreed without the loss of fertility of their offspring?”

“Um…” the buck stammered, hesitating. “Wow, Apple Core warned me ya speak funny like ‘at, but Ah didn’t believe ‘er. Sorry girl, Ah didn’t understand half of ‘at last sentence.”

Rolling my eyes, I hastened to explain. “Forgive my excitement, sweetie, but you are the first living proof of one of the first things I had learned from my biology books. Namely, that all ponies belong to the same species, with unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi being more akin to ‘subspecies’ even though the level of diversity between them is unique when compared with diversities between subspecies of other species. Regardless,” I continued, noticing the deepening confusion on his face, “as they all belong to the same species, it means they are able to produce fertile offspring. I assume one of your parents, grandparents, or further ancestors was a unicorn?”

“Y-yeah, mah and Apple Core’s grandma.”

“Hm, so it is true that the genes determining the kind of pony can remain dormant…” I muttered. Seeking the expression on the buck’s face, I shook and smiled apologetically. “Please forgive me, sweetie, it’s just that… there weren’t many books regarding genetics in my Stable. Would you be so kind to allow me to collect a blood sample from you, so that I could seclude your DNA and compare it with Apple Core’s?”

“Yeah…” the earth pony replied slowly. “Ah’m gonna go with ‘no’. Anyways,” he continued, ignoring my pout, “name’s Apple Whiskey. Pleasure t’ meet ya. ‘Fore ya go join mah sis and others, what would ya like t’ drink? First round on the house for Apple Core’s friends,” he added, winking.

Sighing, I made a mental note to ask him again later for a blood sample. “I don’t suppose you serve coffee or tea here, do you?” I asked, not even hopeful. When Apple Whiskey looked at me as if I was mad and shook his head, I tried something else instead: “I would have some sparkle-cola then.”

“Really?” Apple Whiskey asked, surprised. “Ya sure ya don’t wanna somethin’ with more ‘kick’ in it? Ah’m sure Apple Core must have mentioned about mah speciality, apple whiskey.”

“I’m terribly sorry, sweetie, I’m sure your apple whiskey is truly magnificent,” I assured him. “Unfortunately, I don’t like alco-”

The rest of what I was going to say was muffled by somepony’s hoof. “Ya wanna embarrass me before mah brother or somethin’?” Apple Core, to whom that hoof belong to, asked me as she held me in a headlock, covering my mouth and preventing me from speaking. “Give her some whiskey,” she told her brother, further irritating me.

“Now we’re talkin’!” Apple Whiskey replied enthusiastically, his horn lighting up.

I rolled my eyes, unable to voice my protest. Oh, how tempting it was to disable the muscles in your foreleg for a moment, Apple Core. I pondered the idea, but in the end, though, I sighed and gave up. Oh well, I guess I can suffer one drink. Even if it tastes horribly, I added, shaking at the thought, and returned my attention to Apple Whiskey.

He was currently holding a golden apple with his magic, which he laid on the counter before him. He then washed his horn over it, and with a flash, the apple was transformed into a bottle of what I guessed must have been his trademarked apple whiskey.

Honestly, I would have preferred the apple.

“Nice, huh?” Apple Core said, finally releasing me. “Bet’chya there ain’t any unicorn like mah brother in that ‘super magical’ Stable of yars,” she added, punching me lightly in the shoulder.

“That is indeed very impressive,” I agreed, deciding to not mention how the entire lower levels were flooded with wine about sixty years ago.

“Pick’it up and come with me,” Apple Core instructed, turning around as her brother put on a small glass next to the bottle. “Oh, and brother,” Apple Core added, glancing back, “we’re gonna run out soon, bring us more would ya?” While Apple Whiskey rolled his eyes and nodded, I reluctantly lifted both the bottle and the glass with my magic, and, after thanking Apple Whiskey, hurried after her. “We’ve met those mercs Railroad had mentioned,” she told me as I fallen a step beside her. “There’s three of ‘em there, fourth is out scoutin’. He’s also the one in charge of ‘eir lil’ group. However, they’ve said they can listen to our offer.”

“And what is our offer?” I asked, raising my eyebrow.

“Hell if Ah know, ya’re the ‘diplomatic’ one,” Apple Core replied, smirking, after which she pointed with her head at a table at the dark corner of the room.

Around it were five ponies, two of them being Nice Catch and Mousetrap. The other three were all bucks. Two were earth ponies, and guessing by their similar features - such as maroon coats and dark manes, but also their facial features - I assumed that they might be related. The other one, though, was a brown unicorn. He was clearly older from the other two, being near late thirties while the earth ponies appeared to be in their mid-twenties. He was also different from them in his… demeanor. While the two younger bucks were relaxed and in good spirits, the older of the two having his foreleg wrapped around Nice Catch’s shoulders, the unicorn was sitting a bit further away from anypony, his expression stern as he slowly drank his beverage while constantly keeping his eyes on everypony. All three, however, were wearing some kind of combat armor underneath their ragged cloaks, each bearing a few marks of previous damage.

“Oh, Apple’s back,” the older of the two earth pony bucks noted as we approached. “And I’m guessing this must be your medic?”

“I’m Doctor Angel,” I nodded in affirmation and in greeting as we joined them by the table. I laid the glass and bottle on it carefully and sat down. “Pleased to meet you.”

“Likewise, darling,” the buck replied, winking at me. “Name’s Blast, this is my brother Burst,” he said, pointing at the younger earth pony; I noticed that while he smiled friendlily at me, he also slightly blushed, “and the brooding guy there is Scope. Don’t mind him, he’s always like that,” he added, waving at Scope, who glared at him with annoyance.

Blast, Burst and Scope? I think those might be what ponies call ‘stage names’.

“It’s nice to meet all of you,” I said out loud, giving each of them a warming smile. “It’s heartening to see that such obviously hardened veterans of the Equestrian Wasteland can so courteous,” I added, turning to Blast, who grinned at me in return. “I’ve been told that there’s another member of your team?”

“Yeah, Jack, he pretty much calls the shots here,” Blast replied, shrugging.

Jack? I repeated in my thoughts, surprised. What a peculiar name for a pony…

“I look forward to meeting him,” I said, focusing on the matter at hoof. “I trust that my companions had mentioned to you about why we want to talk with you?”

“They’ve said you have some problems back at the old Appleloosa and that your boss is looking for some extra guns, yes,” Blast nodded. “Question is, darling, why should we take a job like this?”

“Whatever do you mean, sweetie?” I asked calmly.

“Well, whatever problems you have, it’s obviously serious, otherwise you wouldn’t want to hire mercenaries,” Blast replied. “Especially since most hired guns aren’t keen on working with slavers. Moral issues aside, capturing ponies isn’t in our job description.”

“Those are some excellent points,” I agreed, joining my forehooves and leaning my muzzle against them. “What is in your job description, if I may ask?”

Blast grinned again, but it was Scope who replied. “Search and destroy, search and recover, investigation and guarding,” he said in a rough, gruff voice.

“Then it would appear this job falls under your group’s work offer,” I replied. “One of the slaver parties was ambushed and killed by what appears to be some sort of tribe. Black Widow asked us to find some professionals, who could help her ponies fight them. Being able to track them would be a nice bonus, I would imagine.”

“Hm…” Blast hummed, pondering what I said. He exchanged a look with Scope before he asked: “And how much would we be getting paid if we’d help you?”

“Black Widow would like to negotiate the terms of your contract herself. I’m sure her offer would be very generous,” I added, noticing the frown on Blast’s face. “Also, we can pay you a considerable sum as an initial payment. Would three hundred caps be enough to convince you to journey to Appleloosa with us?”

“Three hundred?” Blast repeated, snorting with short laughter. “Maybe if pay three hundred for each of us, darling. Of course,” he added, smirking, “we could be… persuaded to lower our price,” he said, looking me up and down lewdly as his foreleg moved from Nice Catch’s shoulder down her body.

“No, we can’t be persuaded,” Scope said in annoyed tone before I could reply, earning an even more annoyed glare from Blast. “You know Jack’s opinion about professionalism.”

“Ugh, fine,” Blast replied, rolling his eyes. “I was pulling her legs anyway...”

“I’m starting to rethink my opinion regarding your courtesy,” I finally said in a humorous tone. Turning to Burst, who so far hadn’t contributed to the conversation, I added: “I hope you don’t follow your brother’s example when talking with mares.”

“Um…” Burst stammered, seeming surprised and taken aback. “W-well, I wouldn’t say I do…”

“I’m relieved to hear that. Tell me, sweetie, is everything alright?” I asked, frowning and leaning closer to him. “You hadn’t spoken much since I joined you.”

“Um, no, everything’s fine,” Burst hastily explained, growing red on his face. “I just-”

“-don’t know how to speak around mares,” his brother interjected, grinning with amusement.

Burst’s head at once turned to him. “Shut it!” he snapped, glaring at him.

“More importantly,” Apple Core interrupted loudly before the argument could escalate, turning to me, “he still talked more ‘an ya drank with us.” When I looked at her, I realized she had poured apple whiskey to my glass and had pushed it closer to me. “Drink.”

“Apple Core, honestly,” I said, trying once more to see if I could talk my way out of it.

“Ah had known ya practically since the moment ya came out of yar Stable and Ah have yet t’ seen ya drink,” Apple Core replied decisively. She tapped the table with her hoof and repeated: “Drink.”

“Wow, really?” Blast exclaimed in surprise (buying me a few precious seconds to prepare myself mentally). “How long she had been out of her Stable?”

“About two weeks,” Apple Core replied, shrugging, before turning back to me. “Drink.”

Reluctantly, I took a hold of the glass with magic. “You know, sweetie, if I were of a wanton mind, I would consider it rather suspicious that you are so adamant about me drinking alcohol.”

“Stop speakin’ fancy and drink,” Apple Core said, her glare letting me know that she understood what I meant (and snorts of amusement from others that they did too).

Sighing, I poured the contents of the glass into my mouth. The liquid immediately burned my throat as I swallowed it, making my eyes water and entire body tensed and shook. I probably must have had a very amusing expression on my face, considering everypony burst with laughter.

“Ha! Finally!” Apple Core exclaimed after she stopped laughing, slapping me hard on my back. “Ya’re almost a true wastelander now. All ya have left is killing somebody.”

“If those are the criterias one has to meet, being considered a ‘true wastelander’ became much less appealing,” I said in a hoarse voice, massaging my throat. I could already feel alcohol affecting me, like a wave gently spreading through my body. “Alas, considering that I sadly already have a few ponies on my conscience, you can consider me one.”

“Wait, what?!” Apple Core asked, her eyes round as plates. “Ya killed ponies?! But, but… ya’re a freakin’ doctor! And ya said ‘at ya only take issue with killin’ ponies when ya started workin’ for us!”

“Just because I ‘take issue’ with that, it doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen, much to my sadness,” I replied, my ears dropping as I looked down my empty glass. “I was one of Stable Eight’s doctors for seven years, five of which I served as its chief of medicine, and during that time I cured hundreds of my fellow stable dwellers, saved even in many cases. But like my mentor used to say, sooner or later each and every doctor screws up, makes a mistake, and it’s burned into their conscience forever.”

Which is the truth, I remarked, even if they were not my patients but test subjects at that point.

“Well… shit,” Apple Core replied with her usual level of empathy and eloquence. “Sorry t’ hear ‘at. How many ponies did ya… Ah mean, ya know…”

“Five,” I replied, poking my glass.

“This calls for another shot,” Mousetrap interjected, nudging Apple Core and pointing at the bottle of apple whiskey.

“Mmm, alright,” I hummed in agreement, without any resistance as Apple Core poured me another drink.

“Shouldn’t it be another four shots?” Blast asked as I grabbed the glass again. “Since it was five ponies she killed and she already had one?”

“As much as Ah want to see ‘er drink, Ah doubt she could take ‘at much,” Apple Core replied. “‘sides, we still need to discuss business with y’all.”

“Oh, right,” I exclaimed, my trip down memory lane causing me to forgot about it for a brief time. Hastily, I drank my drink again, and found this shot much easier than the previous one. “Now, where were we… Ah, yes, getting your team to come to Appleloosa!” I said, laying down my glass and leaning against the table, feeling a bit unsteady. “Considering that all we’re asking you is to come with us aboard the train back to Appleloosa tomorrow, we’re willing to give you four hundred, one hundred for each of you. You will negotiate a contract with Black Widow, and if you decide to not accept the job, you will be able to get back here on the train. All you would lose is a bit of your time.”

“Hm, that’s true I suppose,” Blast said, rubbing his chin as he pondered. “Still, one hundred per each is a bit cheap… and besides,” he added, grabbing his own drink and taking a sip, “we can’t go tomorrow, we have a job in the area.”

“But you could come with us,” Scope spoke up suddenly, looking at me. “You could be useful.”

“We don’t need four other ponies for the job Scope,” Blast countered before any of us could reply.

“I don’t mean all of them, just her,” the unicorn said, pointing at me.

I blinked, surprised. “Me? W-what sort of job is this, exactly?” I asked, feeling unsure as to where this was going.

“Not important right now,” Blast told me. He seemed to think over the idea. “I suppose it would be useful to have somepony who can patch us up, even if it doesn’t look like a dangerous gig.”

“True, but that’s not why I think she would be useful,” Scope replied. “You said you are from a Stable, right?” Kind of a moot question, seeing how I was wearing a stable barding underneath my lab coat. “Then that thing on your foreleg is a PipBuck. It has an Eyes-Forward Sparkle spell in it, it alerts her to presence of nearby life forms and whether they are hostile or not.” Looking at Blast meaningfully, he added: “Considering where we’re going, it would be really useful.”

“Oh yeah, I recall hearing something about those Stable toys,” Blast nodded. “Would you be up for it?” he asked me. “I mean, the decision in the end would be up to Jack, but he wouldn’t mind somepony with one of them PipBucks, especially since you’re a medic. And he would be more likely to agree to your offer if you’d do that. Even if you’re going to pay us so little...” he added, rolling his eyes.

“W-well, I, um…” I stammered.

I was just asked to go out into the actual Wasteland, help a bunch of ponies that I had just met who fight and kill professionally, and the worst part was that I practically had no choice. Black Widow told me to recruit mercenaries, and they were currently the only ones in New Appleloosa. To say I was scared was an understatement. “Y-you see…”

Calm down, I told myself, concentrating. It would have been easier if I wasn’t slightly inebriated. Remember what he told you; when facing adversaries, you can’t show fear. If they know you’re afraid of them, they’ve won. You didn’t show fear when you were on trial or when you were banished. Don’t be paralyzed by fear over something you don’t know! That’s nothing more than ignorance!

Do you have to be so loud? tiny Fluttershy, her ears pressed against her head with her hooves, asked me meekly in my mind, but I ignored her.

“Forgive me, sweetie,” I finally said, smiling at Blast, “I’m afraid the alcohol affected me more than I had expected. Your offer is interesting, to say the least. However, I’m afraid I won’t exactly feel comfortable venturing into the Wasteland with ponies I don’t know. Why won’t you invite my companions as well?”

“Fair point,” Blast admitted. “But eventual trust issues on our part aside, if we were to go in such a big group, we would attract attention. The reason why our leader is away scouting is so that we can reach our objective without having to fight anything on the way there. There’s nothing more annoying that having to waste ammo on raiders. And trust me, darling, there are things much worse than them.”

“That’s a very smart point,” I admitted, surprised that I hadn’t realized it. “It would appear that there is much I have to learn about surviving in the Equestrian Wasteland. Still,” I added, “I would ask you to let at least one of my companions come.”

As Blast and Scope exchanged a pondering look, Burst spoke up: “There’s no need for that. We don’t expect to fight anybody at the- the place,” he quickly said, apparently stopping himself in the last moment from revealing where they were going. “And even if we run into raiders we can protect you.”

“I think she’s more worried about us buddy,” Blast cut in, smirking.

“Maybe she wouldn’t have if you hadn’t made that lewd suggestion,” Burst countered, looking at his brother with dismay.

As Blast waved his hoof dismissively in response and rolled his eyes, I cleared my throat to get back their attention. “I have no doubt that you would be more than capable of protecting me,” I told Burst with a smile, causing him to blush. “And while I admit that our conversation made me somewhat weary,” I added with a glance at Blast, “I do not suspect you of any ill intent against me.” After all, they would have three slavers waiting for them to come back that would ask questions if I were missing. “However, I do know that the Wasteland is an extremely dangerous place. I have been fortunate to have spend most of my time since leaving my Stable within safety of a town, and as such I find the prospect of going out into the ‘wilderness’ without somepony I know I can trust rather… unnerving.”

“I suppose that’s fair,” Blast replied, sighing. “Fine, you can take one of your friends with you, I’m sure Jack will understand.”

“Thank you kindly, sweetie,” I thanked him, after which I turned to Apple Core and looked at her questioningly.

“Ugh, fine, Ah’ll come,” she said, frowning unhappily. “And here Ah hoped Ah’ll get t’ drank mahself stupid until… when would we be back by the way?” Apple Core asked, turning to the mercenaries.

“If everything goes without problems, we should be back the next day around noon. Around midnight tomorrow if we decide to not to make a camp.”

“Huh, yar ‘objective’ must be close,” Apple Core noted, raising her eyebrow. “What kind’a job could ya possibly ‘ave so close to New Appleloosa?”

“Sorry, you’ll have to wait until Jack gets back. He should be here in four, five hours.”

“Unfortunately,” I spoke up, “I had made an appointment with Ditzy Doo at Absolutely Everything, and I don’t know how long we will be busy. I’m afraid Apple Core will have to fill me in on the details, whether it will be tonight or tomorrow morning. Speaking of, when would we need to be ready?”

“About eight in the morning,” Blast replied.

“Why are ya seein’ that walkin’ carcass?” Apple Core in turn asked.

“Sweetie, that’s a really insulting way to talk about a pony suffering a condition like hers,” I replied, frowning.

“Yeah, it’s called an insult,” Apple Core replied without batting an eye. “Why are ya seein’ her?”

“So I can better understand ghouls’ physiology,” I said, resigned. I knew chastising her would be pointless. “I often lost track of time when conducting physical examination, so I might be forced to spend the night at her shop, assuming she would allow me. If not or if I finish it quickly, where are we staying?”

“Just come back here, mah brother will lead ya t’ a free room,” Apple Core said, rolling her eyes and waving dismissively.

“Then I shall take my leave. It was a pleasure to meet you, I hope tomorrow will be an enjoyable experience for all of us,” I told the mercenaries as I rose. I staggered slightly and felt my head spin as I did. “I really don’t like drinking…” I muttered, pressing hoof to my head.

“Yeah, get used t’ it, we’re gonna celebrate after comin’ back,” Apple Core said, grinning, before looking somewhere above me. “Right brother?”

“Hm? Sure, whatever,” Apple Whiskey said, stopping by our table and placing three more bottles of his speciality. “Hey buddy, ya’re Scope right?” he asked, looking at the older unicorn. When he nodded, Apple Whiskey continued: “There’s somepony by the counter askin’ for ya.”

“Probably some old contact,” Scope replied calmly, although he seemed a bit surprised. “I will see what’s that about; maybe it will be info about some new job,” he said as he rose.

“We kinda already agreed to their offer, so don’t go making any promises,” Blast told him as he began to trot towards the counter.

“Before ya go too,” Apple Core spoke up as I felt her nudge me, “one more for the road?”

She was pointing at my glass, which once again had apple whiskey in it.

“Apple Core…” I began weekly, but she shook her head.

“Ya got me into goin’ out helpin’ them tomorrow, the least ya can do is drink one more shot,” she replied adamantly.

I pouted unhappily, but then an idea struck me. “I will drink it if you promise you’ll stop calling Ditzy a ‘walking carcass’.”

“Ya really oughta stop that,” Apple Whiskey told his sister as she rolled her eyes. “Most folks from ‘ere really like ol’ Derpy.”

“Fine, Ah will try to stop calling ‘er that,” Apple Core groaned; I had a feeling that she might have just said that to get both me and her brother off her back. “Now drink.”

Oh, and for me to drink, of course.

Sighing, I decided to get it quickly over with, and poured the apple whiskey down my throat. I shook as I felt it go past my pharynx and I coughed. She could have at least offered me wine instead of whiskey, I thought, patting my chest as I tried to recover. It’s easier to swallow.

“I’ll see you all later,” I said, my voice hoarse again, before turning around and trying to make my way out of the Turnpike Tavern without staggering or falling down.

The key word being try.

“Alright, ya guys wanna bet how many times she falls over?” I heard Apple Core ask behind me.

I was very satisfied about taking away from Apple Core the chance for both getting some laughs and earning some caps, as I had managed to get to the exit without falling. I did stagger all the way, drifting left and right, bumping into two ponies if I had counted correctly, and nearly tripping over a bottle somepony had dropped on the floor.

Honestly, I thought when I passed through the door and stopped outside the entrance, annoyed despite how relieved I was to be outside, when I have the time I will have to look into improving either my organism’s resistance to alcohol or the speed of it processing it. After all, I added as I cast a Detox Spell on myself, if I could have discovered a way to improve the Stable Eight Inoculation that improves the immunology system-

I paused my train of thoughts abruptly. As my magic washed over me, purging alcohol from my body, my motor skills, reflexes, senses and reasoning had returned to normal states. It also removed that feeling of… lightheadedness, allowing me to concentrate properly. Because of that, I realized that I could hear two ponies talking nearby; and I could recognize one of them.

What kind of ‘info’ could this pony bring to Scope that he would go talk about it outside, away from ponies? I wondered. My curiosity getting the better of me, I crept closer to the edge of the tavern’s wall, as quietly as I could, perking my ears in the direction of the dark alley between two buildings.

“And you’ve been told to give this to me?” I heard him ask as I crouched by the tavern’s corner.

“Yes, well, sorta,” an unfamiliar voice replied; given its depth, I assumed it belonged to a buck. “Ah was told t’ deliver this holotape t’ somepony matchin’ yar description, as soon as ya stroll down those parts, after I hear somethin’ ‘ad happened t’ ‘im. And given that he’s dead-”

“He didn’t give you any name?” Scope interrupted him.

“Nah, thought that was weird but hey, he paid me well enough t’ not ask dumb questions. And he also mentioned that after ya listen t’ it ya will probably pay me a few hundred caps.”

A few hundred caps? I repeated in my thoughts, surprised. Just for this holotape? What could possibly be recorded on it that would make anypony sure Scope would pay after he already listened to it? And why would somepony want it delivered after something happens to them? It won’t be much of a help to them now, apparently...

“Oh, and before ya even ask, Ah ‘ave no idea what’s on it,” the stranger quickly assured Scope. “Ah ain’t got no terminal t’ play it or anythin’. So Ah dunno anythin’, ‘kay. And, uh, ponies ‘round ‘ere would ‘ave notice if Ah’d disappear, ya know, just sayin’,” he added, sounding nervous.

“You’ve read too many of those pre-war comics,” Scope replied; he in turn sounded completely calm. “I’m not going to harm you. I’m going to go and listen to this holotape someplace quiet, meet me at this tavern at midnight. Assuming the contents of it prove valuable you can expect getting paid for this.”

It seemed to me that it’s rare to find a pony putting that much value on information, I commented. Apparently, the pony who left this holotape was certain Scope would. Did he know him? He must have, or at least know about him, but If so, why didn’t he tell this pony Scope’s name? This is really- I began only to cut myself off, noticing that my E.F.S. was showing them moving closer. In a matter of few seconds, they were going to pass this corner, and see an albino unicorn crouched behind it. Oh no, I was too lost in thought… think of something, think of something!

As skillful speaker as I was, I doubted that I could talk my way out of this situation. Similarly as to how I doubted that Scope and this other buck were going to react understandingly to me listening in on them. I couldn’t even start moving now and bump into them, pretending it to be an accident, as nopony wouldn’t find it suspicious. And besides, I was supposed to be intoxicated, Scope had to hear Apple Core tell me to drink another before he left-

Wait, that could work!

With only seconds to spare, I cast Emesis Spell on myself, causing me to throw up on the spot. To complete the illusion, I purposefully tripped myself taking a step forward, falling down on my own vomit.

I heard both bucks back away in alarm as I fell right before them. “What the-” the unfamiliar one exclaim in surprise.

“Oh, Doctor Angel,” Scope in turn said; his voice, too, sounded as if he was surprised, but he quickly regained his composure. “I figured you were a stranger to alcohol, but this...”

“Ugh, so disgraceful…” I groaned, trying to raise myself on shaking hooves. I turned my head to them, squinting my eyes. “M-mister Scope? Oh, this is so embarrassing…” I said, sitting down carefully and pressed a hoof to my head.

“It’s alright, really, it happened to anypony at some point,” Scope said comfortingly. “Although it usually takes more than just three shots. Here,” he added, levitating to me a relatively clean piece of cloth, “you, hm, got a bit on your face there.”

“Oh, thank you so much, sweetie,” I said, pretending to light up my horn as if unable to concentrate, before grabbing the cloth with my forehoof.

“Hey, ya’re that Appleloosa’s new medic, right?” the other buck asked me.

I finally took a good look at him. He looked ordinary, an earth pony like any other in New Appleloosa. If I were to pass him in the town, his appearance wouldn’t capture my attention.

What he said next, though, did.

“Talk ‘bout coincidence,” he said, glancing at Scope.

Coincidence? I repeated, so surprised that I forgot that I was pretending to be inebriated, focusing my eyes as I began to contemplate what he had said. Fortunately, Scope’s attention shifted to the other buck, so he hadn’t noticed. Something to think about later I suppose, I thought as I again as I let my gaze became unfocused, wiping my face of my own vomit while Scope glared at his informant.

“What do you mean, sweetie, do you need to see a doctor?” I asked in a tired voice. “I’m afraid that I wouldn’t trust myself with curing anypony for a bit…”

“Nevermind that,” Scope replied instead. “Are you okay? Would you like me to take you to the local medic?”

“Oh, no, sweetie, that’s so kind of you to offer, but I should be fine now,” I assured him. “Well, by now I mean in an hour or two, but I feel better than before. I don’t think I should vomit like this again… especially since my stomach is empty right now.”

“Still, I best walk you to make sure you’re not going to trip again,” Scope said. Turning to the other buck, he said: “We’ll talk later.”

“Oh, right, sure. Nice meetin’ ya, miss,” he said as he passed me in a wide circle, going back to the tavern.

“I’m sorry if I had interrupted anything,” I told Scope, finishing cleaning my face, mane and chest. “Did I get all of it?”

“Um, yes,” he replied, looking me over. “And don’t worry about it, we were done with our business. So, shall we?” he asked, offering me his shoulder to lean on. I nodded and took him up on his offer, remembering to move carefully and in the same staggering manner as when I was leaving Turnpike Tavern. “You mentioned you’re going to that store Absolutely Everything, right?” Scope asked me as we began to trot together.

“Oh, no, sweetie. I mean, I am,” I quickly corrected myself, “but, you see, Ditzy had agreed to see me after she closes her store.”

“Ah, I see. So where are we going?”

“Well, I thought I could pass the time by examining brahmins. Of course, I realize now that I am not well enough currently to perform a precise physical examination,” I added, sighing, “but perhaps I can gain some informations just through talking with them.”

“You…” Scope began; looking at him, I saw that he was staring at me with one eyebrow raised, “You want to go talk with brahmin?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked, confused.

“Well, for starters, the barn all the traders’ brahmins stay at when they’re in town kinda… smells. Which in your condition could be easily nauseating,” he pointed out.

“I had been warned about it,” I replied, recalling Candi’s words after I asked her about where the brahmins were. “I’m confident that I can tolerate the smell.”

“Also, you would be lucky if you’d find a single head in there that could talk to you, let alone with intelligent speech,” Scope continued. “Besides, why would you want to learn about brahmins of all things?”

“Oh, sweetie, I am very curious about everything there is in the Equestrian Wasteland. I intend to become familiar with physiology of every species living here. And the thought of there being a polycephalic species that I can examine truly excites me!” I added, grinning in my excitement.

I could tell that Scope didn’t share it, but he merely shrugged. “To each’s own, I suppose. You are quite educated, aren’t you?” he asked, changing the subject unexpectedly. “Using all those smart words, I mean. Although I suppose that’s not surprising seeing how you were chief of medicine of your Stable. Especially considering your young age. You must be quite a brilliant doctor to have attained such an important position.”

“Why, thank you, sweetie,” I replied, pleased upon hearing his praise. “Although my ‘brilliance’, as you put it, wasn’t the reason I had been given that position. Or rather, not exactly.”

“What do you mean?”

“Important positions, such as chief of medicine, are acquired in Stable Eight through mentorship system, so that everypony can be sure the leadership of the Stable passes to the hooves of competent ponies,” I explained. “The reason why I was elevated to my position so soon after becoming a doctor was purely caused by my mentor wishing to resume his retirement.”

“Oh, I see,” Scope replied, nodding. I admit, it was refreshing to talk with somepony so interested in my Stable. “Still, that must mean your mentor had picked you through among few other doctors.”

“Three other doctors, to be precise.”

“Then it proves you are a brilliant doctor since you were chosen,” Scope said, smiling. However, he then frowned in confusion. “How come you had to leave, though?”

Having expected such a question, I didn’t panic. Sighing, I replied: “It’s… not that I wanted to leave, but was forced to. Suffice to say that there were ideological differences between myself and the Overmare.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. That Overmare must be quite a bitch I take?” I tensed momentarily, causing me to stagger, which thankfully Scope must have attributed to my ‘state’. “I’ve never heard about any stable ponies with number eight on their barding walking around the Wasteland, so I assume it’s not often something like this happens?”

“That is correct, that was the first time the doors were opened since the day the bombs fell,” I replied, forcing myself to not respond to his comment. With my mood soured, however, I couldn’t help but attempt to end this discussion. “May I ask why are you so interested in my Stable, sweetie?”

“Just a professional curiosity, Doctor Angel,” he replied, shrugging; if he had noticed that my voice become slightly colder, he didn’t show it. “It’s not often that I hear about a Stable that actually worked; most were turned by Stable-Tech into deathtraps.”

I frowned. “Apple Core had mentioned this to me, but I had assumed she was exaggerating.”

“Oh, believe me, it’s not an exaggeration. I’ve been hired in the past to scour what had remained of some other Stables. In most cases, something goes wrong in them, they kill everypony, and turn the Stable into a near-lethal trap for anypony that would enter them. And often also destroy all of Stable-Tec’s equipment inside, making my job pointless,” he added, rolling his eyes. “Surprisingly nopony wants to pay too much for excavated junk. I hope this current job proves more profitable...”

“I’m sure you’d know better than me whether it will or won’t,” I replied diplomatically. “I do not know about what this current job of yours is, after all. But I’m sure you and your group had done similar assignments in the past, right?”

Something about the smile Scope flashed me made me wonder once again what this job could be. “You could say that. To be honest, I wasn’t a part of this group for long, just the last two months. Jack, Blast and Burst had been working together for almost a year now. I did know all of them before, however; you tend to keep tabs on other professionals in this business.”

“Oh, I see,” I exclaimed, surprised. “What made you join them, if I may ask?”

“It’s safer than being alone, plus I suspected Jack had a lead on some other job I was looking into,” he replied, waving dismissively. “But that’s all I am going to tell you for now.”

I pouted at him. “How come, sweetie?”

“Because we’re at the place you wanted to go to.”

“Oh,” I exclaimed, blinking as I looked around.

Just as Candi had described it to me, the barn housing all the brahmin present in the town had been constructed using several old train carts, similar to most of other buildings in New Appleloosa. What set it apart from them was, aside from maybe its size, was that it had several wide entrances, probably to make it easier for traders to lead their brahmin and take them out without disrupting anypony. Also, like I had been warned, a pony could detect a mixture of unpleasant smells in the air coming from it.

Possibly a reason for it being located at the edge of the town, I noted, sniffing the air and reflexively wrinkling my nose. Or why there’s nopony in sight. Oh well, I will get used to the smell shortly. I’m just glad it’s within the town’s wall.

“It’s true that time flies when you’re in a good company,” I said, pulling apart from Scope, shaking a little. “Thank you very much for assuring I would get here without tripping, as well as for that delightful conversation.”

“The pleasure’s all mine, Doctor Angel,” Scope replied. Nodding at the barn, he added: “I hope… this, goes well for you. See you tomorrow morning,” he said, turning around and beginning to trot away.

“We’re going to a Stable tomorrow, aren’t we?”

My question caused him to stop and sight. “I should have known not to talk so much about Stables. Do me a favor and don’t mention to others about this. Jack didn’t want us talking about it so that nopony would follow us to the Stable and attack us,” he explained, turning back to me.

“As long as you won’t mention to my companions about… well, what happened when I left the tavern, I will keep quiet about this,” I assured him. Apple Core would never let me live it down. “So there is a Stable somewhere near New Appleloosa?” I asked, curious.

“Three, actually, each several hours of trotting away from here,” Scope replied. “The one we’re going to is located near where Rock Farms were.”

“‘Rock Farms’?” I repeated, confused.

“Earth pony thing, they somehow grew gems from rocks before harvesting them,” Scope explained; his expression suggesting that he didn’t know how exactly that worked himself. “Used to be run by families, but due to high demand for gems during the war all of them had expended. With all those workers living there they were practically a small community, big enough for a Stable to be build there.”

“I see,” I hummed thoughtfully; ‘growing gems’ aside, that all sounded logical. “Are those farms currently inhabited?”

“I’m pretty sure nopony lives there. Between the raiders and your buddies from old Appleloosa, it’s too dangerous to try and make a living there. Both old Appleloosa and Shattered Hoof aren’t that far from them.”

“Sweetie, you have a gift for making a place sound appealing to visit,” I told him humorously, although inside I felt some of my worries regarding this trip return.

While I wasn’t too worried about running into slavers - especially since Black Widow wouldn’t risk sending patrols with this tribe looming nearby - I was concerned about those raiders from Shattered Hoof. As well as that tribe, although I assumed that if they moved into those farms, which seemed quite sensible, this Jack pony would undoubtedly find them while scouting.

Besides, if I am not mistaken, those Rock Farms are on the opposite side of Appleloosa from where Butcher’s patrol was killed… I think, I added; Scope did say they weren’t far from Appleloosa and Shattered Hoof, which the traders we met after leaving the train had told me was north-east from it, and Apple Core had mentioned that Butcher had been looking for ponies south-west from the town. Come to think of it, if I went a different direction after leaving my Stable I might have run into him. If all I heard about him was true I might have not even lived long enough to be ‘rescued’ by those tribals.

“Hey, don’t worry, like we said it should be an easy job,” Scope assured me. “Going in and out of the area is different than trying to make a living there. All we have to worry about are raiders patrols, which is why Jack is scouting a safe route. And trust me, it’s still safer than if we were going to the Stable that’s west of here. It’s right near Ponyville.”

“That’s the town with raiders, right?” I asked, recalling what Apple Core had told me once. When Scope nodded, I said: “Then it is indeed a safer Stable to visit. If I may ask, why are you going there?”

“Ugh, that’s a long story,” Scope replied, rolling his eyes. “It comes down to a pony from Tenpony Tower wanting a certain pre-war item. Back when we were in Manehattan, we found out it was sent to one of the ponies living on the farms that had been accepted to this Stable.”

“Really? I’m impressed, sweetie, that’s truly remarkable work you and your teammates have done,” I praised him, truly meaning it. “If I may ask, what’s the item?”

“Hadn’t I answered enough of your questions, Doctor?” Scope asked in turn, almost teasingly.

I smiled. “You are right, of course. I won’t pry. But can I ask how come you know so much about Stables?” It troubled me, to be honest. “I mean, you know how many Stables there are near New Appleloosa, and how to get to them… are their locations a common knowledge?”

“Not exactly. I mean, I think some ponies around here know about this closest one. But if the location of every Stable was known, even despite their reputations there would be plenty of idiots trying to break into them and find some valuables. Meaning that either they would have all been discovered and emptied already, or the population of Equestrian Wasteland would be even smaller. No, I merely know about them because I make my business to know things like that,” he said, smirking.

“Aren’t we’re going to a Stable?” I pointed out.

“We’re professionals,” Scope replied, again rolling his eyes. “Now, I think I answered enough of your questions to repay you for telling me about your Stable. So if you excuse me, there’s a drink with my name on it waiting for me back at the tavern.”

“Oh, of course. Have a nice evening,” I called after him as he left.

Well, he was certainly informative, I mused, watching him go for a few seconds before moving into the barn entrance. I didn’t want Scope to think I was distrusting him. Which I kind of was. While I am not surprised, considering his age, that he would have a considerable knowledge about the Equestrian Wasteland, I am surprised he would be so willing to reveal it to practically a stranger.

He could just be nice, tiny Fluttershy told me.

True, I suppose, I replied, not even arguing with the apparition in my mind. Or questioning again why did she suddenly speak up. I would consider that he and the rest of his team plan to kill me and Apple Core after we help them, so he isn’t concerned about telling me so many secrets, but they wouldn’t gain anything worth doing that. Hm… could it be that he hopes it will in turn encourage me to reveal more information about Stable Eight? Perhaps he had noticed when my mood changed and thought I had grown suspicious? Asking all those questions about my Stable was indeed a bit weird after all… not that I would be worried about four mercenaries making their way past Stable Eight’s security. Rather, I would be worried about them throwing their lives away.

You’re surprisingly compassionate at times, Fluttershy said, seemingly surprised.

If you are going to base your entire opinion about me based on how I act towards Cutter, you won’t understand me, which you claimed you’re trying to do, I told her. And speaking of Cutter, Scope could have talked with me about all of that because he might have suspected that I overheard something, despite my ‘state’.

So… you think that the one who asked this pony to deliver the holotape was Cutter?

It would seem the most logical answer, I replied. During the entire time I had been talking with Scope, I had been pondering this at the back of my mind, unable to stop myself and unable to find any other answer. Why else would that pony say ‘talk about coincidence’? And it would make sense, he couldn’t have learned before about Cutter’s ‘death’, as the train had returned today.

I… guess, Fluttershy say uncertainly. I’m sorry, I’m just not good with all this scheming.

That poses a question; I said, ignoring her; several, in fact. What could be on that holotape? Why would he expect something happen to him? Why would he want that holotape to reach Scope? And most importantly, given my current situation, just who is Scope?

You already have some theories answering all of those questions, don’t you?

Indeed, but most of them are just theories, I admitted. Especially regarding Scope’s identity. As for why Cutter had expected that something would have happened to him, he did say that he has some, quote, shit, unquote, on Black Widow.

He did?

Oh, right, that was before I found your statuette. Thanks for confirming once again that you’re not a figment of my mind, I told her, causing the apparition to cross her forelegs and deadpan at me. Anyway, I suspect that he hadn’t told Black Widow about it, and planned to reveal it to her only if she would ever hint that she plans to take some action against him. He probably left this holotape as an insurance.

What could be on it, though? Cutter must have been sure it would make her unwilling to harm him. And, well, she doesn’t seem like a pony who gets… discouraged easily, she said, somewhat bashful. She’s really scary.

She is, I agreed. I have my suspicions, but to be sure I will have to ask Cutter when I get back. I would rather not make any assumptions based on uncertain facts and theories. It might affect how I interact with Scope from now on, which could end badly.

That’s probably for the best, tiny Fluttershy agreed, sounding relieved. Discussing all of that made me really nervous.

I rolled my eyes; I did not ask her to join my contemplation. Or to appear in my mind, for that matter. Anyway, I did come here for a specific purpose, I thought, turning toward the interior of the barn. Let’s examine some brahmins.

*** *** ***

I wasn’t sure what to think about the condition in which the brahmin were being kept.

The barn, having been constructed from a few boxcars fused together, was divided into two segments. Looking by the mismatched color of the wall separating them, I guessed that the second segment was made from two cars, while the first one was from three. Most of the walls from the boxcar in the middle and the two adjected to it had been removed, leaving pillars of sorts, in between which ponies had arranged booths in which brahmin were resting.

They’re treated like animals in those pre-war zoos were, I noted, looking back as I trotted towards the other half of the barn. Then again…

There were five brahmin in this half. I tried to start a conversation with them, but all ten heads gave me only blank stares at best, with some not even raising from their troughs.

I’m pretty sure none of them is the brahmin that was with those traders that caused our train to stop, I thought, taking one more look at them. And come to think of it, the head that talked to me said that the other one isn’t too smart. Could it be that such level of intelligence is rare among them? I thought Scope had been exaggerating, I added, recalling his comment.

Resigned, I walked past the wall to the other part of the barn. I hope those traders hadn’t left the town yet, I thought as I looked from one brahmin to the other in the booths in front of me, from right to left. Which one was it- oh!

Oh! tiny Fluttershy exclaimed, then blushed and covered her eyes. Oh my!

Oh, you’re back, I thought; to be honest, I had been slightly surprised when she remained quiet during my earlier musing. Would you like to discuss this with me?

No, I don’t think we should… Fluttershy said quietly, trying to look away.

Do you think that interspecies relationships are common in the Equestrian Wasteland? I asked, ignoring her discomfort.

I… Angel! she snapped suddenly, surprising me. Stop staring at them like that! Give them some privacy!

This is a public place, I pointed out, and besides they are too busy kissing to realize they have company.

Looking away from the head the colt was kissing, I realized that the other one didn’t have the vacant expression I saw on all the other. In fact, she was acting a like filly her age would; she was blushing and glancing at the other head and the colt, covering her mouth with her hoof and giggling.

Good, now leave! Fluttershy told me, staring at me sternly (and doing her best to ignore the kissing… couple?).

Do you think they’re about to have intercourse? I asked, too intrigued to indulge her.

W-what?! she exclaimed, the fur on her face becoming red. A-angel! They’re just kids!

Kids? I repeated, my attention shifting from them to her in my surprise. The colt appears to be at least twelve years old, he must have already gone through puberty. He has a cutie mark, too, I noted, glancing at the symbol on his flank. It appeared to be a “lasso” catching three bottle caps on his flank. As for the brahmin… judging by her size when compared to an adult, I would say she’s on the same stage of life. I wonder if their lifespans, growth and development are similar to ponies’…

Then they are still kids! Such young ponies-

She’s not a pony.

-are too young to be doing things like that! she finished adamantly, ignoring my comment.

How exactly- I began, but then stopped. Wait, I don’t understand, do you want me to leave or do you want me to stop them? Because-

“Ah, ya’re ’at funny mare from earlier!”

Startled, I stopped arguing with the tiny Fluttershy in my head. So focused I was on the two kids of different species kissing that I hadn’t realized that in the booth right next to theirs was the brahmin that I had been looking for.

As one might have expected, her speaking so suddenly resulted in the colt and young brahmin (If they had descended from cattles, would that make her a ‘calf’? Hm, I think the female calves were called ‘heifer’.) jumping away from each other and looking at me, alarmed.

“Wha- Belle!” the right head of the brahmin (the one that was kissing with the colt) glared at the left one angrily, both her and the colt red on their faces. “Ya were supposed t’ keep watch!”

The other head - apparently named Belle - blinked. “Ah was?” she asked, tilting her head, before gasping air. “Oh, Ah was! My bad,” she said apologetically.

As the other head facehoofed, and the colt continued to stare at me silently, I turned to the older brahmin. “Hello again,” I greeted her. “I had hoped you’d be here. You kids don’t have to mind me,” I said, glancing at them briefly, before returning my attention to the adult brahmin. I noticed that her other head wasn’t even looking at me. “I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced-”

“Hang on a fuckin’ second!”

I turned back to the heifer, wide eyed from shock at being so rudely interrupted. The colt, seemingly also shocked, stared now at her as she climbed over the gate of her booth through which the two had been kissing.

“We’re not supposed t’ leave…” the head named Belle tried to say, but the other head ignored her, jumping down from the gate on the other side.

Her movements are perfectly coordinated, I noted as she walked up to me, stomping angrily. I had seen that and other brahmins simply walking, but this heifer climber over an obstacle in a matter of seconds, like a single-headed being of similar build would.

Aside from observing her motor function, I also took the advantage of her being so close now to take a better look at her (Or them? It’s a bit confusing.). Like the adult brahmin I was already familiar with, their body was practically furless with reddish, almost pinkish skin. She was smaller than me, but was a head taller than the colt that I assumed was her age. Her body was also more slender than an adult brahmin’s. Being still a heifer and not a full grown cow, she had very small pair of udders, barely visible from where I was standing. Each head had a pair of small horns protruding from her skull above her their ears. Curiously, their horns weren’t identical; the horns of the angry head were slightly bigger and a bit curved, while Belle’s were straight.

I finished my observations as they stopped before me. “Jus’ how long were ya standin’ there watchin’ us?!” she asked, still angry and still blushing, punching me in the chest with her cloven hoof.

“Um, Anna…” the colt tried to interject, finally giving me a name for the right head of the heifer, but she silenced him with a glare.

“Shush! Well?!” Anna asked again, turning back to me. “Are ya some kind of fuckin’ pervert?!”

Hearing her swear again caused me to frown. Alright, enough of this.

“Young lady, there’s no need for such language here!” I scolded her, looking down on her.

Anna stared at me in shock, her jaw hanging open as she instinctively backed away. Apparently she hadn’t expected such reaction, nor did the colt whose expression mirrored hers. However, she quickly recovered and stomped the ground angrily.

“Ya stand there spyin’ on me and Caps Wrangler and ya lecture me?!” she asked in disbelief. “Ya better start ‘splainin’ yarself, lady!” Anna added, sarcastically saying the last word as she lowered her head slightly and kicked the ground, exhaling sharply.

“I wasn’t spying on you, I merely walked in on you two kissing,” I replied calmly. Strangely, saying the word ‘kissing’ out loud caused both Anna and Deal to quake and become more embarrassed. “If you’re uncomfortable for some reason with others bearing witness at your displays of affection for one another, I’d suggest waiting for a later hour. Now, if you’d excuse me-” I began to say, intending to finally talk with the adult brahmin (who was observing this exchange with amusement), but I was once again cut off.

“W-wait, did ya say ‘for some reason’?” the colt asked me, looking at me with disbelief.

“That is what I said, yes,” I replied, not understanding why did that surprised him.

Caps Wrangler and Anna exchanged equally confused looks. “Wow, and Ah thought Belle’s dumb,” Anna said, pointing at her other head.

“Hey!” Belle exclaimed, upset at the remark.

“Young lady!” I once again said, frowning at Anna. “It’s not nice to call others names, especially when they are your… “ I paused, for the first time in a very long time having completely no idea what to say. What word would describe their relation best? Sister? Other self? “... your other head,” I finished after two seconds of hesitation. “Apologize to her.”

“Ya’re… ya’re kiddin’, right?” Anna asked, looking at me as if I had lost my mind. When my expression didn’t change, she sighed and glanced at Belle. “Sorry sis.”

“Aww, it’s alright!” Belle replied happily, tilting her head to brush against hers.

“Anyways…” Caps Wrangler said, trotting closer to me. “Miss, would ya mind not tellin’ anypony about… what ya saw?” he asked, his face growing red once again. “Ah would be in trouble with mah parents.”

His parents would have objections to him dating her? I thought, puzzled. I suppose this means interspecies relationships aren’t common after all. Then again there could be other reasons… I think...

Not wanting to prolong the colt’s discomfort, however, I didn’t voice any of the questions regarding social norms in the Equestrian Wasteland that had popped up in my head. I merely smiled down at him and nodded. “I had no intention of doing that in the first place, sweetie, I am not a gossipy pony.”

In contrast to Caps Wrangler, who was visibly relieved to hear that, Anna once again stared at me wide-eyed. “S-sweetie?!” she repeated barely a second after I finished my sentence, then again stomped the ground. “Watch it, ya perv!”

“Anna!” Caps Wrangler hissed at her, then smiled apologetically at me. “She’s, uh, jus’ jokin’ ‘round.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” I replied, smiling back at him; apparently he was under the impression that I might change my mind based on Anna’s rudeness. “Even if she wasn’t, I won’t go back on my word. Your secret is safe with me.”

“Thanks, Miss. Ah better go,” he said, turning the Anna and Belle. “Mah parents will be wonderin’ where Ah’ve been. Ah’ll be la- um,” he cut off mid-sentence, glancing at me quickly, “Ah’ll see ya later Anna. Bye Belle,” he added, turning to leave and waving back. “Bye Miss.”

“Bye Caps!” Belle called out as we waved.

Do both of them wave, or just one of them? I wondered, glancing at them.

At the same moment, Anna turned to once again glare at me. I waited for her to speak, but as the seconds dragged on with her just glaring silently at me, I asked: “Is there something you want, sweetie?”

Anna’s ears perked in surprise when I called her ‘sweetie’, but she quickly returned to glaring at me. “Ah’m watchin’ ya,” she told me, turning around and heading for her booth.

Belle in turn gasped. “Ya’ve noticed how pretty her coat is too?” she asked, causing Anna to sigh.

I smiled hearing the cute exchange, before finally turning to the adult brahmin. “I’m sorry this took so long,” I began, looking at the talking head; I wasn’t sure whether or not address both of them.

“Don’t ya worry, this was fun t’ listen to,” she replied, grinning. “Ya said ya hoped Ah would be ‘ere?”

“That’s correct. I don’t believe we were properly introduced. I’m Doctor Angel,” I said, and I was about to raise my foreleg and offer it to her, but I hesitated; adult brahmin’s appendages didn’t seem as maneuverable as calf’s were, making me wonder if she could shave hooves with me.

“Pleasure meetin’ ya, Doctor Angel,” she said, standing as still as before and looking down on me from above her booth’s gate. “Ah’m Bess, and this quiet fellow ‘ere’s Bob.”

Bob? I repeated, surprised. I’m pretty sure that’s a male name.

“Say hello to the kind Doctor, Herbert,” Bess said, looking at… Bob?

“Um… excuse me,” I said as the other head didn’t as much as perk his ear, “is... his name Bob or Herbert?”

“Oh, it’s Bob. Ah just call ‘im Herbet to get on ‘is nerves,” Bess explained, chuckling.

“Oh, I see,” I said, nodding; truth be told, I still felt a little confused. “He doesn’t talk much, doesn’t he?”

Before Bess could reply, a loud snort came from my left. Searching for the source of the sound, I saw that the heifer was still outside of her booth, and Anna was once again looking at me. Belle, however, was drinking water from their trough, having pressed her head through the space between the small gate’s bars.

“Ya ain’t really perspective, ain’t ya?” Anna asked disparagingly.

Frowning thoughtfully, I replied: “If you are referring to my question, I wouldn’t say it had been caused by the level of my perspectives. Rather, it was caused by my lack of knowledge regarding your species, desire to attain said knowledge, and my need to be certain whether my observation had been correct or not.”

Anna stared silently at me for a second, then tilted her head. “Huh? Can’t ya talk normally?”

I sighed. “What I meant was that I don’t know too much about brahmins, I hadn’t even seen any before today.”

“Ya’ve never seen a brahmin? What, were ya livin’ under a rock or somethin’?” Anna asked, frowning.

“I suppose you could say that,” I agreed. “I used to live within a Stable until not long ago. As such, I am extremely curious about everything there is to know about the Wasteland and its inhabitants. And I must say, you brahmin are really interesting.”

“Interestin’?” Anna repeated, shocked. “Ya really must be dumb if ya think that.”

“Sweetie, what did I say about insulting others?” I asked, frowning at her once again.

Anna rolled her eyes, but before she could say anything in reply, Belle finished drinking. “Ya could stop sayin’ all those mean words,” she said, her head raising from the trough as they backed away from the gate.

“Mind yar own business,” Anna told her, glaring at her sister.

“Ah think Ah have to agree with the youngin’,” Bess cut in. I turned my attention to her as she continued. “Ah don’t see how ya can find us interetin’. Most brahmin are dumb as posts. Even mah other half ‘ere,” she added, glancing at Bob as he lowered down to their trough and began to eat… whatever it was that ponies gave them to eat. Didn’t smell very tasty.

“That’s actually one of the reasons why I find you so interesting!” I replied, beaming up. “I never imagined there could be a species whose members could be so diverse in terms of their intelligence level!”

“Glad t’ be a member of a dumb species,” Anna snorted, looking away.

“But that's not the only reason,” I continued, ignoring her comment. “Obviously, your bicephaly - that you have two heads - is also really interesting, that you can have two different personalities despite sharing the same body, and that it doesn’t impend your motor functions! Sweeties,” I turned to Anna and Belle, “how did you get over your gate?”

“We climbed over it, obviously,” Anna replied, confused.

“You said ‘we’, despite that you were the one that wanted to come to speak with me, while Belle was reluctant,” I said, then looked at her other head. “Belle, sweetie, could you come over here for a moment?”

“‘Kay!” Belle exclaimed happily, and began to trot towards me.

“Wait, hang on,” Anna said, and they stopped. Not only that, they also dug their hooves to the ground, as if reading to attack me. “Why?”

“I just wanted to evaluate how you walk. It would appear that you can decide by yourself to move if you want, but you are also capable of taking back control from the other… am I correct?” I asked, scratching my chin thoughtfully.

“Hm… Ah dunno,” Belle answered, scratching her head. “Ah think we usually move together… except when sometimes Anna starts bein’ bossy,” she added, pointing at her other head, resulting in Anna rolling her eyes. “Oh, and usually when she and Caps-”

“Belle!” Anna shouted, her hoof shooting to cover Belle’s mouth. “So, um, movin'!” she said, turning to me; judging by her blushing again I assumed Belle had been about to reveal something embarrassing to her (Not surprising, considering it included her young buck.), and was trying to distract me. “Yeah, like she said, we move together most of the time. As for that ‘bossy’ part, what she meant was… ugh, how should Ah ‘splain this…” she mused, releasing Belle; her sister hadn’t seemed to mind being silenced, though. “It’s like, one of us want t’ go somewhere and we both go. But if one of us doesn’t want t’, we can stop. Ah ‘sppose Ah’m usually the one t’ make the call,” she admitted, glancing at her sister, probably to see her if she was gloating that she was right, but Belle was merely smiling at me.

“Hm, curious…” I mused. Is it because she’s more authoritative from the two of them? Or does Belle simply trust her to know better? Regardless, if they truly ‘move together’, it implies some level of telepathy between them… But I don’t have the means of checking if that’s true or not. Unless… “Would the two of you mind assisting me with an experiment?” I asked.

Angel! Fluttershy suddenly exclaimed in my head, looking at me with mixture of horror and anger. You can’t possibly mean-

Of course not, now be quiet, I told her, doing my best to act normally.

“What I mean is,” I quickly added, not wanting the magical apparition to interrupt me again, “is that I would like to examine the two of you, concentrating mostly on your individual reactions. Seeing how you two are the only brahmin here with both heads capable of speech, you are the only candidate for this research. I would like to conduct this research the day after tomorrow if possible,” I added, “as I will require some materials, and I will be away for tomorrow.”

“Ya’re outta luck then,” Anna replied, shrugging. “We’re leavin’ town that mornin’.”

“Wha- really?” I exclaimed, downcast. “Can’t you stay another day?”

“Lady, ya seriously think we have anythin’ t’ say in the matter?” Anna added, raising her eyebrow. “We and two other brahmins belong t’ Caps Wrangler’s parents, we carry the crap they trade from town t’ town.”

“Oh… I see,” I said. I recalled that brahmin were generally being used as pack animals. Seeing how most of them were unable to even speak, it was understandable. Although considering the intelligence those two have… you can’t put them on the same level as all those mute brahmins! I thought. “Do they treat you two right?”

“Yeah, they’re really nice!” Belle immediately replied. “They don’t make us carry as much as Butter, Cup, Pepper and Mint do, and they always make sure we’re ‘ave ‘nough t’ eat!”

“I’m glad to hear that,” I said; I noticed that Anna was once again rolling her eyes. I guessed that not everything was as great as Belle claimed. Which I suppose was understandable, seeing how she and Caps Wrangler must have had a reason for hiding their relationship from them. “Would those other two brahmin happen to be your parents?” I asked instead, hoping to get some information about brahmin reproduction.

Now Anna snorted. “Oh, please. We’ve never met our father, and as for Mom, well…” she trailed off, looking away.

“She was sold,” Belle answered instead, her ears dropping.

“Sold?” I repeated, surprised.

I worked in slaver’s town, so I wasn’t unfamiliar with the concept. Still, to separate mother and her children…

“She was old,” Anna spoke up. She was once again looking at me. “Her milk ‘ad dried up after we grew up a little, and she couldn’t keep with the caravan. Try t’ guess what happened,” she finished, snorting again.

I frowned, confused, but the enigma was solved for me. “Ah, probably been sold for meat,” Bess said, nodding her head. “Sorry t’ hear that.”

“Meat?” I repeated, staring at Bess. How could one eat a sapient being-

The brahmin steaks at Salt Block in Appleloosa.

Oh… Oh merciful Goddesses, I thought, frozen, as my brain tried to process this information. I… I was trying to eat…

Until today, I didn’t know that brahmin were sapient. Nopony back in Appleloosa had told me, not a single time I had ordered them and tried to eat, believing that their status as highest priced meal must translate to their quality. The thought of consuming a sapient being, or even a member of a species that just could have been sapient, was so unrealistic to me, that it had taken me this long to realize that I had tried to do exactly that several times.

“Anna, Belle?” I spoke to them, my face still facing Bess. “Could you come closer to me?”

“Sure!” Belle replied happily, and I heard them trotting towards me.

“What do ya want?” Anna asked as they crossed the small distance between us.

Instead of replying, when they stopped next to me, I turned around quickly and pulled them into a hug.

“What the-” Anna exclaimed somewhere below my left ear; as I hugged them, I squeezed my head and neck between theirs. “W-what are ya doin?!”

Hiding my face from them. I didn’t want them to see my shock, my… horror.

My guilt.

And besides that, those two deserved some comfort.

“I am so sorry this had happened to you,” I said, hugging them a little tighter with my forelegs.

It was a weird sensation, to hug somebody with two very different minds. Their body would occasionally twitch, as if about to try and free themselves from my hug, but then quickly resuming to calmy return it.

“Aww, this feels so nice!” Belle hummed happily. “Almost nobody hugs us.”

“I can’t imagine why,” I said, moving my foreleg to stroke her head. “You’re such a charming heifer, sweetie.”

“Ugh, don’t make this weirder,” Anna whined as she finally seemed to give up.

“I’m so sorry about your mother,” I whispered after a few seconds as I moved my other foreleg to pet Anna’s as well; Belle seemed to really enjoy it, as she began to grind her head against my hoof. She stopped momentarily though when I mentioned their mother.

“Thanks, Miss,” she said in a more somber tone before resuming enjoying her treatment.

“Y-yeah,” Anna added, a bit awkwardly. I felt their forelegs hug me tighter briefly in turn as I stroke her head. “It’s alright Miss, it’s been years since then.”

“I’m glad to know you have coped well with it,” I said; finally, I felt myself calm enough to safely talk with them face to face. Still, we remained in this embrace for a few more moments before I parted away. “It’s a pity that you won’t be able to help me with my research, and I wish we would get to know one another better,” I said, looking from one to the other. “I hope we will get to meet again someday.”

“Oh, do ya have to leave already?” Belle asked, saddened.

“Hm? No sweetie, I still have…” I paused to check the time on my PipBuck. I was surprised to find out that I had less than an hour left before meeting Ditzy. “I have about forty minutes left before I have to leave.”

“Then can ya play with us?” Belle asked hopefully. Anna in contrast rolled her eyes. Again. “Only Caps Wrangler plays with us. And lately he only plays with Anna,” she added, pouting.

As Anna grew red on her face again, I began to reply: “Well…”

I had came here to research the brahmins. To learn more about them, by talking if possible, and by examining them physically. (Not though exploratory surgery, sadly, I knew there wouldn’t be enough time to close them up afterwards.) I didn’t come here to play games with a child.

Worried about the little heifer’s feelings, I searched for the most kind words I could think of as I was about to decline, looking back into her blue eyes. Her big, pleading, gazing at me with hope blue eyes...

“... of course,” I finished, smiling. “I’m afraid I’m not good with games, though,” I added as Belle beamed up and Anna looked at me with disbelief. “I only really liked one when I was your age, and I don’t think you’d enjoy it.”

“That’s okay, we have plenty of games!” Belle exclaimed, practically jumping from happiness. “Come over t’ our booth, Caps brought us our ball earlier!”

A… a ball? I repeated with dread as I followed her. Oh dear…

I hoped she didn’t intend to play a game that would require scoring points. I was not looking forward to being completely humiliated by a teenage heifer with two heads.

*** *** ***

Ironically, despite having lost my drive to conduct my research on the heifer that day, our time spent playing proved quite informative. When first Belle made us play ball - which fortunately only included throwing the ball between us, nothing more complicated than that (didn’t stop Anna from counting how many times I didn’t catch it though) - I was able to evaluate their hoof-eye coordination.

It was better than mine.

The next game we played, Twenty Questions, actually proved much better way of evaluating their intelligence than some of the tests I had planned for them. Right away I learned that they can’t read each other’s thoughts. By measuring the time it took them to formulate her questions and figure out the answer, however, I deduced that while Anna was on the same level of mental development as a pony her age would be, while Belle was a few years behind. I suppose I could have figured that by observing how foalish she acted. Sadly, for this to be relevant research, I would have to conduct it with more brahmins and compare their results.

Oh, and I won that game.

After Belle decided that this game was taking too long to play and was boring, she made us play tag. Which I suppose allowed me to evaluate their physical abilities.

And allowed them to learn that I can’t run to save my life.

“Okay, Ah change mah mind, this is pretty fun,” Anna laughed from the other end of the barn as I sat down on the ground, trying to catch my breath.

“Hm… maybe we should pick another game…” Belle mused as they trotted back to me.

“A… actually...” I tried to say, breathing heavily. “I’m… terribly sorry, sweeties… but my time is up.”

According to my PipBuck, Ditzy would be closing her shop in about ten minutes. As much as I didn’t want to disappoint Belle, I really needed to get going.

“Oh,” Belle exclaimed sadly, “okay. Hope we meet again!” she added, beaming up. “Ya’re fun!”

“Yeah, fun,” Anna said, her sarcastic tone and eyeroll suggesting that she didn’t mean it, or at least not as much as her other head. But then she glanced at me and added: “Ah guess ya’re okay for a pony. Still dumb, pervy and little crazy though.”

“Aww, ya like ‘er! Belle shouted, smiling widely at her. As Anna sighed Belle began to brush her head against hers. “Yay!”

I smiled seeing them show their affection for one another, then turned to Bess and Bob, by whose booth I had been resting. “I hope you at least will be here when I’ll get back to New Appleloosa. I would like to familiarize myself with an adult brahmin’s physiology. If there will be something ailing you, I will heal you free of charge,” I added, confident that my Healing Spell would work even with only basic knowledge about their biology.

It was, after all, only the matter of how effective and how much magic it would require to heal her in such case.

“We should be ‘ere a while,” Bess replied, smiling; I suspected that after watching me play with a heifer for over half an hour she developed a liking to me. “And Ah have a few aches.”

“Then I hopefully will see you two soon,” I said, nodded at both of them friendlily.

“Miss Angel?” Belle’s voice caught me by surprise; as I talked with Bess, she and Anna walked over to me. In my exhausted state, with my heart still pumping blood fast enough to the point that I could hear it in my ears, I hadn’t noticed them. Now they were sitting beside me, with Belle looking at me pleadingly with her dark blue eyes, and Anna looking somewhere at the ceiling. “Can we hug again for goodbye?”

I was surprised to hear such a ridiculous question. “Of course, sweetie,” I replied, hoping my voice didn’t betray my surprise; I did recall her mentioning that almost nobody ever hugged them.

Belle mooed happily in response, and then proceeded to practically tackle me. Somehow managing to not fall down to the ground, I wrapped my forelegs around her as they did the same.

“I really hope I run into you someday,” I said softly as we parted a bit, letting us look at each other. Belle was smiling back at me, but Anna was now looking at the ground, her cheeks burning a bit.

Curious how she would react, I leaned closer, first to Belle, then to Anna, kissing both of them on their foreheads.

Belle giggled and blushed, but Anna jerked in surprised. “W-what the hell!?” she asked, rubbing her forehead and glaring at me angrily. And blushing. “Ya… ya crazy perv!”

Now it was my turn to roll eyes at her. “Just a bit of affection, sweetie. Goodbye,” I said, waving as I began to trot out of the barn.

“Bye!” Belle replied, waving enthusiastically, while Anna, after she finished brushing her forehead a few more times, kicked the ground and said something sounding like “See ya.”

That was… really surprising of you, Angel.

I smiled as I turned my head away from the heifer. Is that a praise I hear in your voice, Fluttershy? I asked the apparition.

When I reached the barn’s entrance, a gust of wind blew, causing my mane to wave on it. As I tasted the fresh air, I realized that I probably smelled bad after being so long with all those brahmin, not to mention playing with one.

Well, yes, tiny Fluttershy replied as my Disinfection Spell washed over me and my clothes. I’m really happy you decided to spend your time playing with them, instead of trying to examine them or worse.

Worse? I asked, raising my foreleg to sniff my lab coat, wanting to make sure the spell had cleansed me. While I didn’t find the brahmin’s smell repulsive, I expected other ponies would.

Well, you are holding one pony against his will and conducting experiments on him.

My leg fell to the ground.

I was afraid that you might be trying to come with a way of taking her back to Appleloosa and looking her up along with Cutter, Fluttershy continued, chuckling nervously, oblivious to the effect her words had on me.

Is that… all that I am in your eyes? I asked, turning to look at her (forgetting that, since this apparition appeared only in my mind, I didn’t need to turn my head to look at her) in disbelief.

Apparently, my reaction confused Fluttershy, as she returned my look with uncertainty. W-what do you mean? she asked, hesitantly.

Do you consider me how I am when in my basement with Cutter to be the real me? I explained, still staring at her. What about whenever I hang around with Apple Core, or earlier with Candi in Ditzy, or with Anna and Belle? Do you think that me is a mask I put on when I’m outside my laboratory?! As my mental voice increased in volume - at least, I thought it did, I wasn’t too familiar with any sort of telepathic magic - my stare turned into glare.

I… W-well, um… tiny Fluttershy stammered, probably having realized how upset I was.

I snorted, barely containing myself from pointing a hoof at her. You are the same as everypony. You have no idea what motives drive a pony, and don’t care, you just know their actions go against your morality and that is enough to condemn them! Well, I continued, calming down; I was no longer “shouting” mentally, but my thoughts turned cold, here’s a valuable piece of information for you; not everybody follows the same morals as you, or even as majority of sapient beings in the planet. It does not mean they have no morals at all. I would never kidnap somebody like Anna and Belle to use them for my experiments! Nor Ditzy for that matter! I added before looking away from her. You are in my head; how could you think that?

Inside, in a part of me that I hoped was inaccessible to whatever she was, I thought: If something with access to my mind thinks so… what did-

A-angel?

Taking a deep breath, I replied: Yes?

Um… Fluttershy stammered. When I turned to her, she was looking at the ground, not meeting my eyes. When they banished you from your Stable, did it hurt? she finally asked.

I raised my eyebrow, surprised at the question. No, not really. At first I was… shocked, I admitted. I suppose it took me a while to come to terms that it had really happened. Looking back at it, I am glad that it did; out here, there are far more possibilities for me to pursue in my research. And I never felt angry at the Overmare or anypony for banishing me; I had broken the laws of the Stable. Even if I disagree with those particular laws, I do understand that. So no, being banished did not hurt. I looked away. What they thought did. I could see it in their eyes, during my trial and when I was being led to the door of Stable Eight. None of them understood, and I don’t think any of them even tried.

It wasn’t exactly true, as the Overmare had asked me questions during the trial. But she had proved unable to comprehend the answers I could give her.

Angel, Fluttershy said carefully after a few seconds had passed. I’m… I’m sorry how that made you feel. I really, truly am. But... I rolled my eyes, knowing what was coming next. … if so many ponies reacted that way when the truth about your experiments came to light, doesn’t this mean that maybe the morals you hold are… wrong?

Do you think Cutter has morals? I asked instead of replying.

Huh?

He is a doctor, like me. Surely, he must have learned somewhere those skills to be Appleloosa’s medic for so many years. And what he had done with that knowledge? He never cared about any of his patients, I said, despite knowing Fluttershy was with me as I heard various stories about Appleloosa’s past during the last two weeks. He prioritized patients based on how much caps they would bring the slavers. He let foals die. He did nothing to help or prevent the slaves from being violated, only that they were alive and healthy to be sold. I know that I’ve been forced into the same role, but you can’t deny that I am trying to do what I can for them.

I… I know, Fluttershy admitted. Showing a shadow of a smile, she added: It was funny when you told those slavers she had that made up venereal disease.

Ugh, don’t remind me, I thought, still feeling the urge to facehoof at the memory from last week. How could anypony with half a brain believe there was a disease that would cause necrosis in your penis after an hour?! The point is, I continued, returning to the original subject, I know it’s wrong to conduct such experiments on ponies. No, I corrected myself, on sapient beings. Which is why I do not conduct them on sapient beings; only on those who had discarded their right to be considered such. Which reminds me, I added, pondering, do you think the Salt Block’s bartender is aware that brahmin are sapient beings?

… why do you ask that? she asked, already knowing the answer.

Because after coming back to Appleloosa I am going to finally resume my experiments, and I will need more test subjects. Fortunately, I should be able to arrange his ‘death’ without any suspicion from Black Widow, seeing how I have seemingly no reason for harming him-

Angel! Fluttershy, who probably had needed a moment to recover after this rather blunt declaration, exclaimed. He… he did nothing wrong to you! And he seems kind-

For all we know, Anna and Belle’s mother might have been sold to him, I pointed out, frowning; I knew that chances of that being the case were slim, but it was a possibility nonetheless. And that’s beside how many other sapient brahmins he might have sold as food.

I… I guess that’s true, Fluttershy admitted.

Oh, and he killed Snuggles and Wigglebutt’s friend, but I could overlook it on account of radroaches being not sapient and him acting in self-defense, I said.

Self-defense?! Fluttershy exclaimed, shocked. What could possibly those little ones do to a grown pony?! I’m not saying that it’s worse to what he did to all those brahmins, she added as I gave her a surprised look, but, I mean, he could have thrown them out!

I agree. Does that mean I won’t have to fear you trying to mentally deafen me when the time comes? I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Fluttershy frowned. Angel, this… this isn’t something that should be up to you, deciding whether a pony should be punished like that. And it’s not something that I am going to commend you for.

I sighed, figuring as much-

However…

I stared at her, wide-eyed.

… while I can’t commend this, I can… understand it, somewhat at least, Fluttershy admitted, reluctantly. And while I would prefer you wouldn’t do it at all, I will try to not oppose it when it happens to bad ponies. Well, not as strongly at least.

It took me a moment to reply. Thank you, Ministry Mare Fluttershy, I finally said, positive there were tears forming in the corner of my eyes.

The apparition gave me an awkward smile. Just Fluttershy is fine, Angel.

Sorry, old habits, I replied, giggling. We’ve always been taught to address ponies properly in Stable Eight. And don’t worry, I will never conduct any experiments on somebody who doesn’t deserve it. Well, not the invasive, painful ones, I amended.

I suppose I can only hope you will stay true to your morals, Fluttershy sighed. As… weird as they might be.

I snorted, amused. You know, the funny thing - or worrying thing to you, I suppose - is, I realize that if I didn’t have any morals, my experiments would produce results in a much faster rate. I probably wouldn’t have even left my Stable, I would find a way around everypony’s mindset. It’s been… tempting, to try. To let go. Especially those last few months. But, I added, before Fluttershy could start to worry, every time I begin to think like this, I remind myself that my morals make me who I am. If I were to discard them, I wouldn’t be Angel anymore. Turning to the magical apparition, I smiled. I started this journey as Angel, I intend to finish it as Angel. No matter what happens to me in this Wasteland, I will not discard what makes me, me.

Fluttershy smiled. I hope you’re going to remember that when we’ll go into the actual Wasteland tomorrow.

Ugh, don’t remind me, I grunted mentally, more than a little worried about tomorrow’s expedition. Now that we had this talk, how about we go to Absolutely Everything? I can’t wait to examine Ditzy! I exclaimed, giggling from excitement.

You’re in charge, tiny pegasus nodded.

With my mood greatly improved, I set off to Ditzy’s store. As an afterthought, I realized how lucky I was we had this argument on the outskirts of the town at such a late hour. I could only imagine how it would have looked to any onlooker, a pony standing still and occasionally making faces.

Oh, and Fluttershy? I added.

Yes?

I just wanted to let you know… it’s nice being able to talk to somepony, I admitted. I know that you don’t approve of my experiments, and I don’t know exactly what you are, but… I’ve never talked with anypony about this part of me. Thank you for being inside my head, I finished, giggling.

It doesn’t appear that I have a choice, but you’re welcome, Fluttershy replied, smiling.

I made a few more steps in silence before adding: For the record, sweetie, if you were corporeal, I would hug you and kiss you on the forehead, too.

Oh! Fluttershy exclaimed, caught by surprise. Um, th-thank you, she stammered, her face growing red.

Although, I suppose I could do that with your statuette-

No no, it’s alright, you don’t need to!

*** *** ***

I sighed in relief as the door to Absolutely Everything opened; being a few minutes late, I was afraid Ditzy might have closed the store already. She clearly remembered our earlier agreement, as the moment when I set a hoof inside, her head raised from behind the sales counter, holding a note with the words Hello Angel! written on it.

“Hello again, sweetie,” I greeted her. “I’m terribly sorry about being a little late.”

She shrugged, smiling, as if saying “it’s okay”. As I came closer, she let go of that note and picked another from the counter, passing it to me.

Need to check everything before closing, I read. You can wait in my room. I left some snacks on the table, feel free to help yourself to them.

I looked up from the note to see Ditzy pointing at the door further in the back of the store, leading to the private part of her store, as I assumed.

“Thank you for being such a gracious host, sweetie. Don’t worry about making me wait, take as much time as you need,” I said, smiling at her as I headed towards the door.

Ditzy’s room was surprisingly small. A bit bigger than the one I had in my clinic, but not by much. Small bed, small table, some drawers in the corners with books on them. A lot of room took some mechanical contraption set in the corner, which after taking a careful look at I identified as probably the printing press Ditzy used to write Wasteland Survival Guide.

That reminds me, I still need to buy a copy, I noted, excited at the idea of reading a book about the Equestrian Wasteland. And I originally wanted to talk with her about the Hydra… and after seeing the size of her store, it would be nice to take a look through her merchandise…

I let my thoughts wander along those lines for a while, but they all stopped the moment my sight stopped on the table. Or, to be more precise, on the box of Fancy Buck Snack Cakes and apples that were on it.

My body took this time to remind me that I hadn’t eaten since morning. As if often happened in the past, my excitement about learning new things had distracted me from things such as eating. As my stomach gave out an embarrassing growl, I was suddenly very glad that Ditzy Doo still wasn’t in the room with me.

I hastily ate one of the apples, as well some of the cakes. I didn’t want my body to make a noise like that when Ditzy would join me. I also made a mental note to eat something nutritious before leaving tomorrow morning.

It would look really bad if I were to collapse out of hunger, I thought. Then again, overlooking all the possible dangers, an expedition through the Wasteland could be quite informative… would my excitement keep me on my hooves throughout it? Probably not, I decided, sighing. Considering all the walking it would include…

Just then I heard a sound of hoofsteps behind me. Swallowing the biteful from the second apple quickly, I turned to Ditzy. The ghoul pegasus came into the room, holding a chalkboard. Sorry it took a while.

“Oh, don’t worry about it sweetie,” I told her, smiling. “Are you ready to begin?”

Of course, she wrote as she sat beside the table next to me. What exactly do you need me to do?

“Nothing complicated, I assure you. First, I would like to ask you several questions, then I will need you to not move as I start examining you, unless I say so. I will also ask you to breath deeply at one point. Does that sound alright?”

Ditzy nodded, smiling, and motioned for me to begin.

“I’ll also be recording everything,” I added, raising my left foreleg and showing her my PipBuck. “Will that be alright with you as well?” Another nod from Ditzy. I smiled and said: “Then let us begin.” I cleared my throat and tapped my PipBuck, beginning recording. “Audio recording of Doctor Angel, number 2.05. Today I had encountered a pony suffering from a condition caused by the balefire radiation. Ponies like her are known in the Equestria Wasteland as ‘ghouls’ or ‘zombies’; the latter is considered to be an offensive name. Pony in this condition appears to be a reanimated corpse; her skin is flaking away, her flesh had begun to rot.”

I paused, both to catch my breath and to look at Ditzy’s reaction. A thought occurred to me that most ponies wouldn’t like to hear them being described like that. Fortunately, the ghoul pony didn’t seem to mind. In contrast, as if figuring out why I looked at her, she closed her eyes and smiled in a silly manner, as if saying “I don’t mind”.

Relaxed, I resumed my audio recording: “I will now attempt to examine the patient, and try to determine what exactly the balefire radiation had done to her. It is important to note that the patient had lost her tongue in an unrelated event, and as such she is incapable of speech. As such, any answers to my questions will be read out loud by myself after the patient finished writing them. I will begin now recording her personal data. Name: Ditzy Doo. Sex: female. Species: pony, pegasus. Age:...” I paused to give Ditzy a meaningful look. She nodded in understanding and quickly scribbled on her chalkboard her age. I glanced at it, about to read it out loud-

I pressed pause on the recording seeing the three-digit number.

“You’re… you…” I stammered, trying to wrap my head around it. “You’re over two hundred years old?! That’s… that’s amazing!” I exclaimed, leaning closer to Ditzy. To her credit, she leaned back only a little. “I had no idea it’s possible to extend pony’s age so drastically! And your body shows no signs of aging! Well, I suppose ‘no such advanced decay signs’ in this case,” I added in the afterthought. Shaking my head, I turned to Ditzy again. “So wait, you actually lived before the war!” As Ditzy nodded, I fell back on the floor. “Wow… I never thought I would get a chance to meet another pony born before the Last Day…” I murmured, shaking my head in disbelief, before once again leaning closer to her. “You have no idea how many questions I have for you!”

Ditzy smiled and quickly wrote: Well, that’s why we’re here, right?

I blinked. “Oh, right! The examination,” I exclaimed. I started the recording again and read Ditzy’s age, then paused again. “Thank you for reminding me, sweetie. Can we talk about the times before war later?” I asked.

Ditzy tilted her head thoughtfully before she wrote a reply. Sure!

Delighted at her seeing her smile, I resumed the audio recording. “Residence: New Appleloosa, Absolutely Everything. Occupation: proprietor of the Absolutely Everything general store.” Seeing Ditzy’s puzzled look, I paused again. “It’s just a routine ‘checklist’. Oh, marital status?” I asked.

For some reason, Ditzy found this question rather amusing. You really need to know that? Single, she wrote after she finished chuckling.

“Like I said, just a checklist,” I replied as I started recording again. “Marital status: single. Characteristic traits: the patient is a ghoul, suffers from strabismus, and is missing a tongue. I will now begin the physical examination of the patient. Casting the Diagnosis Spell.”

I rose to my hooves and stepped close to Ditzy. I lit up my horn and let my magic wash over the ghoul. She raised a hoof, which was now surrounded in a thin red aura, to her good eye, and waved it, but otherwise she didn’t seem to mind.

“Huh,” I murmured as my spell began gathering information, more to myself than for the audio recording or to Ditzy. “It would appear that… the patient is deceased, but her organs continue to work… what?” I asked nopony in particular, puzzled. “The patient’s heartbeat is within accepted norms, her blood travels through her veins around her body… but on the other hoof, her entire digestive system seem to be… Can you eat something?” I asked Ditzy, wanting to check.

The ghoul pony nodded and grabbed an apple. But not before writing on the chalkboard: Would have prepared muffins but there wasn’t enough time to go buy them. Ignoring the remark (but still making a mental note of it), I focused on the reading my spell gave me as food traveled down her esophagus. (It really would have been easier if she had agreed to exploratory surgery.

“The patient had taken a bite of an apple. She was able to swallow the bite and it traveled through her esophagus to her stomach, which began to digest it… except... not really?” I had to stop my spell, using it for so long on such bizarre body started to give me a headache. “It… seems that the patient’s digestive system mimics how it’s supposed to work, but only when she decides to eat something…” I said, trying to make sense out of it.

It escaped my notice that Ditzy was once again writing something on her chalkboard. When she was done she showed it to me. You could have just asked. Ghouls don’t need to eat. But we still enjoy it!

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “You don’t…” I began, looking at Ditzy’s amused face, but then I recalled the audio recording. “The patient informed me that she doesn’t require nourishment, a trait that apparently extends to all ghouls. Is it the same with breathing?” I asked her. When she nodded, I scratched my chin. “The patient doesn’t require oxygen, either. It appears that ghouls are being sustained by…” I paused to once again cast my Diagnosis Spell. I noticed it before, but was too focused on Ditzy’s dead/not-dead organs to check it. I’d recognized what it was now, although I seldom had an occasion to treat ponies suffering from this. “... radiation. My patient has absorbed a small amount of balefire radiation. As I had been informed, ghouls are ponies who had been exposed to lethal amount of radiation and somehow avoided death. It would appear that aside from changing their condition, the radiation is being used by ghouls as source of nourishment. Interesting…” I mused. I looked over Ditzy as I continued: “While I am not familiar with the Balefire Bomb megaspells, I had read in memoirs of the first Stable Eight’s chief of medicine that they are made from necromantic spells. And as it is a well known fact, all megaspells leave behind a magical fallout. Theoretically, it is possible for the fallout of a necromantic spell to affect the body of the deceased pony and animate it… but the patient isn’t just an animated corpse, she’s fully sapient. I… suppose it means her soul must be bound to her body… ugh!” I exclaimed in annoyance as I paused the recording. “Why couldn’t they put any book about necromantic magic in Stable Eight!? Forgive me my outbursts, sweetie,” I told Ditzy after taking a deep breath. “It’s just that it’s annoying that I am reduced to theorizing about somepony’s condition because nopony thought about providing the Stable dedicated to studying magic with a book about the magic that destroyed Equestria,” I frowned, crossing my forelegs and pouting.

There, there? Ditzy wrote, trying to help despite being a bit confused (and a bit amused).

“Thank you, sweetie,” I smiled, then sighed. “I’m terribly sorry, but it appears that you are, in fact, deceased. And if that is true, I am not sure if it would ever be possible to return you to your previous condition, even for me. Reversing the effects the necromantic had on your body would also most likely reverse the effects it had on your soul, releasing it from the mortal plane and causing it to ascend to the Goddesses embrace,” I finished, frowning.

It’s alright, it’s not that bad. Really! Ditzy wrote, smiling.

I suppose it’s not, I mused. Not having need for nourishment and expended lifespan…

I cleared my throat, offered Ditzy a smile back again, and resumed recording. “Ditzy, would you be so kind to tell me how did you become a ghoul? And as you write your reply,” I added before she started, “I will begin examining your muscle structure… especially wings.”

Ditzy nodded in agreement and spread her wings as she began to write on her chalkboard. Trotting closer to her, I sat on my haunches and delicately pressed my forehooves at the base of her left wing, causing her to shudder for an instant.

Tickles, she wrote at the bottom of the board before she wiped it and resumed writing at the top.

As I did my best to identify all her muscles by touch and magic and describe them out loud - making a note at the beginning that someday I would need to find a book about pegasi anatomy to learn the actual names of the muscles and bones in their wings - Ditzy finished her reply. Since her entire reply wouldn’t fit on the small board, she filled it as much as she could, let me read it out loud for the audio recording, then wiped it and wrote the next part. It might cause the recording to be a bit messy, but I would later edit the entire thing when converting it to a written form on the terminal back in my lab anyway, so I wasn’t worried.

“It didn’t happen right away. It took months to change. I was flying from Cloudsdale to Canterlot, delivering goods for MoP, when the megaspell destroyed Cloudsdale. The force of the blast caused me to fall and lose consciousness. I was wounded. Met more wounded ponies. We used the supplies to heal ourselves, and tried to figure out what was happening and what to do. Our hair began to fall out, and over the next few days, skin. The whole process took weeks, can’t really remember how long exact it was. Hm,” I mused as I finished reading. “So you had been exposed to a massive amount of radiation, but you survived… but the radiation remained in you, and you started to change… I suppose being on the surface didn’t help. The entire Equestria would have been covered in varying levels of the necromantic fallout.”

Ditzy nodded and wrote another message. “Few months later winter came. The snow was green. And with no pegasi to control it, it was horrible,” I read. I paused my recording, snorting. “Abandoning other ponies, breaking their own vows taken upon the founding of Equestria…” I shook my head, utterly dismayed at those traitors. I resumed the recording. “I’ve been told that ghouls over time become ‘feral’. What exactly does that mean?” I asked as I began to check her other wing (just to be sure).

Even with the always-happy attitude Ditzy seemed to posses, she found this question saddening. I could tell as I read it that she didn’t like the answer she was giving me: “They say radiation eats ghouls brain. Dunno if it’s really true. They slowly become like zombies in old stories. Stop recognizing friends or anybody, don’t even talk, just attack you on sight.” I moved to stand before Ditzy after I finished reading, frowning. “Eats their brains? I suppose it could be that the decay had reached the concerned ghoul’s brain and damaged the temporal lobe, and maybe frontal lobe to some degree as well… But it doesn’t make sense.” I pointed at Ditzy. “You are most likely one of the first ghouls ever, and yet this hadn’t happened to you. And being exposed to more radiation doesn’t cause any changes in you anymore, right? It now nourishes you. So it can’t be that somehow being exposed to more radiation could cause to ‘eat ghoul’s brain’. What ignorant pony said that?” I asked, rolling my eyes. “No, the reason behind that must be somewhere else…”

However, no matter how much I try to figure out what it is, it will only be speculation, I noted, sighing. Unless I would manage to examine a feral ghoul, preferably alive.

“Will have to think about it later, I suppose,” I said to Ditzy. “Thank you for answering my questions, the examination is almost over. Just a few more things.” I tapped her shoulder. “You can feel that, correct?” I asked as Ditzy looked at me, puzzled. When she nodded, I glanced at her bed. “Could you sit on your bed, please? Hind legs outstretched. Thank you, sweetie,” I said as she did as I asked. I brought my head closer to her legs as I activated my magic, sending a small bolt to her knee, causing her leg to immediately jump. “Reactions are within normal levels,” I noted, then realizing the slightly offended stare Ditzy was giving me, I quickly apologized: “Oh, sorry, forgot to explain that I will be checking your reflexes. I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Much to my relief Ditzy quickly lost the offended look and shook her head, smiling again. Sighing in relief, I once again moved to stand before her. Raising my PipBuck on her eye level, I turned on the light.

“Hm, pupils dilating correctly. Try to follow the light with your eyes,” I asked her as I moved my PipBuck. Only one of her eyes moved along with it. “Sweetie, you developed strabismus, your eye condition, before you became a ghoul, right?” I asked. When Ditzy nodded, I gently grabbed her face and tilted it a bit, giving me a better look at her odd eye. “Hm…” I hummed thoughtfully as I drew closer. “If you weren’t a ghoul, I might have been able to do something with it… I would have needed to examine it closely to be sure, of course. But I have no idea how your condition as ghoul would affect any attempts at fixing it. For I know, if I were to surgically correct it, it would reverse back when you would find yourself in a place with high radiation level,” I explained, frowning.

Ditzy shrugged, however, and in a corner of my eye I noticed her trying to reach her chalkboard with her wing. “‘It’s alright, I don’t mind’?” I asked. When she nodded and smiled, I smiled too. “Why couldn’t there be more ponies like you in Stable Eight… Hm, open your mouth please,” I asked, pushing away the brief feeling of nostalgia.

As she opened her mouth, I moved my foreleg so that my PipBuck would illuminate it a bit. I frowned seeing the stump that remained from her tongue. Like the entire interior of her mouth, it was rotted too. “Similarly with tongue, I don’t know how your condition would affect attempts at transplanting it. Maybe a tongue from a non-ghoul pony would work, maybe only from another ghoul, or maybe just a decayed one from a corpse would be enough. I’m just thinking out loud, sweetie,” I added as I felt her shudder uncomfortably.

Moving my hoof out of the way so it wouldn’t obscure my view, I looked over her mouth once again. “Hm, surprising amount of teeth considering your state,” I noted as I gently held placed my hoof on the side of her head. “Still, I would advise you seeing a dentist with- could you not roll your eyes at me?” I asked, frowning. As she once again shuddered, this time because of giggling, I resumed my examination. Unpleasant smell, but not possible to originate what is causing it. Could be coming from her teeth, entrails, her tongue… speaking of, over a half of it has been cut off. Judging by the surface, it was immediately cauterized, probably used a heated knife, could be why radiation couldn’t make it regrow... Feels-

Um, Angel?

Oh, hello Fluttershy, I replied, surprised at her interruption. What do you want? I’m a little busy.

Um, y-yes, I noticed, she replied sheepishly. Was she blushing? And why wasn’t she looking at me? Um, Angel… you… you might not have noticed, but, um…

Yes, what is it? I asked, starting to feel a bit impatient.

You’re kissing her.

I froze. I’m what?

You’re kissing Ditzy, Fluttershy replied, red on her face.

I opened my eyes (When did I close them!?) and realized that it was indeed true. I was still holding Ditzy’s head, but my own head had moved and instead of looking into her mouth, I now could see only half of her face from this angle, along with the side of her head. I also could see her eyes staring at me with wide open, as it was possible given our proximity. And as I moved my tongue, I felt the stump of Ditzy’s tongue and her decayed tonsils and palate, confirming that I was, indeed, kissing her.

Immediately I pulled away from her. A foreleg length away. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” I exclaimed, horrified. “I-I didn’t mean for that to happen, I swear! I don’t know what came over me, maybe it’s because you are so fascinating and nice and kind and cute and funny and friendly, and maybe because we were sitting so close and I was touching you and we are in your room and you sitting on your bed and I hadn’t been with anypony in moths-augh!” I yowled, feeling something hit me in the head.

I shook, concentrating on my surroundings as I massaged the place where I was struck. To my utter horror I realize that it was Ditzy who hit me, with her chalkboard. However, that feeling quickly passed as I noticed that she wasn’t looking at me with anger, but rather concern. Better? she wrote after I calmed down.

“Um… yes, I think so,” I replied, looking down at the floor, my ears dropping. “I’m so embarrassed. I didn’t intend to hit on you, and I certainly didn’t intend to just start kissing you out of nowhere.”

I heard her writing, so I looked up. It’s alright. I was relieved to read that, but when I noticed Ditzy’s expression, I was… confused. She was too, apparently, as she was looking at me puzzled.

“Then what’s wrong?” I asked, worried that I ruined my relation with her.

You do realize that I’m a ghoul, right?

“Well, yes?” I replied, now even more confused. “So?”

Ditzy’s mouth hang open, causing me to worry for a moment that maybe I had caused her to pull some muscle somehow when I kissed. She closed it, however, and shook to recover before she wrote her next message. So I smell a little? As in, like a corpse?

“Um, so?” I asked, the snorted, amused. “Sweetie, do you have any idea how much time I used to spend around corpses? I am used to that smell.”

I had expected my answer to cause Ditzy to calm down, but it appeared to only deeper her… what was it exactly, confusion? Actually, now it seemed to change into fear… As I noticed that the apparition of Fluttershy was holding her face in her hooves, I realized that she might have misunderstood me.

“This is the moment when most ponies would say ‘this sounded a lot better in my head’, right?” I asked, blushing from embarrassment.

Kinda, Ditzy wrote.

Except… It didn’t really sound better in your head, Fluttershy added.

“What I meant was, I used to spend a lot of time when I was studying medicine,” I explained. “In my Stable, ponies sometimes offer their bodies for studies after they die, and medical students usually have priority when it comes to having access to them. We need to familiarize ourselves with pony’s body, after all. I used to spend hours without break studying them. I got used to the smell, it doesn’t bother me.”

This time, my reply seemed to calm down Ditzy. However, she was still… unsettled by what had originally caused her to be confused. She was about to write on her chalkboard again, but she hesitated for a moment, looked at me, then back at the chalkboard. Finally she sighed and wrote: Are you a necrophile?

That… really, really, really surprised me.

“Um… no? I don’t think so. Why would you-” I began to ask, but then I realized the answer to my own question. “Ditzy, you are not a corpse,” I told her firmly.

I know, but normal ponies don’t kiss ghouls! she wrote; I could tell that she was embarrassed about this.

I opened my mouth to reply, but then I realized why we were having this problem with communication. It was because of one word, one that was now written on the chalkboard.

Normal.

“I… I suppose you’re right,” I said, once again looking away from her. “I’m sorry, I… I know that I’m not a normal pony.” I chuckled and looked at my white hoof. “Right down to my DNA, actually. And… that doesn’t even begin to compare to my… personality. Normal ponies don’t talk casually about corpses, cutting ponies open and hugging ghouls, right?” I asked, glancing briefly at Ditzy. “Sorry I’m weird.”

Angel… Fluttershy began, placing a hoof on my shoulder, but then glanced in Ditzy’s direction and disappeared.

Looking up again, I realized that she was again showing me her chalkboard. It’s okay. You’re good weird. Turning to Ditzy, I saw looking me in the eyes with a smile before she leaned closer and hugged me.

Good weird… I repeated in my mind as I hugged her back. Would she still say that if she knew…

Did it matter?

“I’m sorry about kissing you without any warning,” I said after a few seconds of silence. “And… sorry, but I just don’t see why I wouldn’t kiss you just because you’re a ghoul,” I added as we pulled apart. “It just doesn’t matter to me. It probably makes me sound a bit… sluttish?” I asked, uncertain.

Ditzy scratched her chin before she replied. Dunno. Are you?

“Oh, sweetie, that’s just rude,” I frowned, but then (after both Ditzy and tiny Fluttershy looked at me with one eyebrow raised) I added: “But I suppose I did stick my tongue into your mouth without permission… I don’t think I am,” I replied. “I only had two lovers in my life. That points against it, right?”

I think so, Ditzy replied, then added below: Anyway, I’m sorry for the way I reacted. I didn’t mean for you to freak out. She waited for me to read it, before cleaning it and writing: I guess I was just shocked.

“‘Just shocked’?” I repeated, then smiled. “Does that mean that you didn’t mind it?”

No, was just surprised, she wrote, smiling back.

For the first time in months I felt something stir in my chest. “You know, Ditzy,” I purred, “I meant it when I told Candi that I wouldn’t make love to a mare I just met. But... I have nothing against kissing,” I said, leaning a bit closer.

Ditzy’s eyes snapped wide open. She practically jumped in the air as she began to hastily write a single word.

Straight.

I felt my ears drop as I saw Ditzy nervously pointing at herself. “You’re kidding,” I murmured, surprised. When the ghoul pony gave me an apologetic look, I sighed. “It’s alright. Just… figures I would find myself in such a situation with a straight mare.”

Despite her nervousness, Ditzy still crept closer to me. Sorry, she wrote, and looked like she really meant it. Then she added: You?

I snorted with amusement. “Do you know what decides which sex we are born with?” I asked instead.

Ditzy looked at me, puzzled. She hesitated before she wrote a reply. Yes, it’s the chromo-thingies with the DNA, right? Almost as if sensing I would raise an eyebrow at that, she also added: Been a while since high school.

“Yes, that’s correct. To make it short and simple,” I began; I knew from experience that ponies usually don’t like going into such details, “most of the DNA in our body is contained in chromosomes. They come in pairs, and we are given one set from our fathers, the other from our mothers. What decides our sex is the last pair. If the chromosome we inherit from the father is the chromosome X, then we are born as females. If it is the chromosome Y, however, we are born as males.” I turned to look Ditzy in the eye. “One chromosome. That’s all.” I leaned a bit closer. Ditzy shuddered nervously, but didn’t back away. “Isn’t it silly to decide your sexual orientation because of something like that?”

Footnote: Level Up!
New perk: Cherches La Filly -- +10% damage to the same sex and unique dialogue options with certain ponies.
Quest perk: Ghoul Physiology -- You have learned about ghoul's physiology, as well as how to to exploit their specific weaknesses, and gain a +5 healing when treating one and a +5 damage bonus when attacking one (you can also use your knowledge regarding ghouls’ physiology for… other purposes).

Chapter Six: Wasteland's Ideologies

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“...you shouldn't let anypony pressure you into doing something you don't think is right. Sometimes you have to tell even your closest friends 'no'.”

Stirring up from the best sleep I’d had in months, I reached with my foreleg to Ditzy, only to discover the spot on the bed beside me to be empty. Opening one eye I saw that indeed, the pegasus ghoul had left.

Considering that her body doesn’t require her to sleep, it was very nice of her to cuddle with me for the night until I fell asleep, I thought, yawning, as I rolled on my other side. The mattress itched slightly against my bare coat, but I didn’t mind. Then again, her mind would suffer due to sleep dept... I think? I’ll have to ask her to let me examine her cortex and basal forebrain after she wakes up and twenty four hours later, measure whether the level of adenosine varies or not, I added sleepily as I ran my hoof through my mane.

Um, wouldn’t that be rather invasive? Fluttershy asked me uncertainly. Unsurprisingly, I could perceive the apparition despite having my eyes closed. Still, by habit, I opened one of them to look at my conversationalist as she continued. You are talking about examining her brain, right?

Hm? I asked, in my drowsy state having problems to comprehend what she was talking about. However, repeating her words in my mind caused me to snap out of it. Oh, right, you’re right. Yes, that would be invasive. Sorry, drowsy, I explained, somewhat sheepishly, as I yawned again.

Yeah, I figured, Fluttershy replied, giggling. You know, if you don’t mind me saying, I didn’t expect you to like falling asleep while cuddled to somepony.

Really? I asked, surprised a bit. To be honest, that’s my favorite way to sleep, and one of my favorite aspects of a relationship. Being able to sleep beside somepony, two bodies pressed together, both expressing trust in the other pony… wait, I suddenly thought, my mind now completely roused. I rose to a sitting position and rubbed my chin thoughtfully. Are Ditzy and I in a relationship? Or are we just, um, friends who kiss and cuddle? I waited a few seconds in silence, then frowned and added: Fluttershy, sweetie, I’m actually asking you.

The small pegasus stared at me in surprise, wide-eyed. Um, w-why would you ask me? Fluttershy asked, blushing. How should I know? Shouldn’t you know?

Sweetie, didn’t you notice last night that I am not a normal pony? Or earlier for that matter, I added, rolling my eyes, recalling our arguments regarding my experiments and tests subjects. I might be “good with words”, I might be “seductive” when I want to and affectionate towards ponies I care about, but it doesn’t mean I’m good when it comes to relationships, romantic or otherwise.

Then why did you… um… initiate things with Ditzy? Fluttershy asked, embarrassed even though we were talking just about kissing and cuddling. I mean, if you aren’t sure what you two are…

I did kiss her, even though I didn’t intend to, I replied. It seemed silly to not continue… And besides, I added, I’ve been… lonely. Ditzy is so nice, so good and kind, and it’s been months since…

Since...

So, I said, dropping that train of thought, about my question, what do you think we are?

What makes you think I would know that? Fluttershy replied again, her embarrassment starting to give way to frustration.

Sweetie, you historically had five good, close friends, I reminded her, then pointed a hoof at her. That means you had a far better grasp on personal relations than I do.

Fluttershy sighed and covered her face with a hoof, but then she abruptly looked away, as if startled. Turning back to me, she pointed a hoof in the direction she had looked at. Um, Ditzy’s here.

Startled, I turned to look at the doorway, where Ditzy was standing, her head tilted in confusion. Or at least, as titled as it could be while holding a tray with some breakfast in her mouth. The reason for her confusion was obvious, seeing how I was still pointing my hoof at apparently nothing. Not to mention what kind of faces she had seen me make while standing in that doorway for Goddesses know how long.

I smiled, hoping I hid my embarrassment from the lovely pegasus ghoul. “Good morning Ditzy. How did you sleep? Or would it be more appropriate to ask just ‘did you sleep’ considering your condition?” I asked, forgetting about my embarrassment as I began to ponder the question. “I saw that, sweetie,” I added absentmindedly after Ditzy rolled her eyes.

Already trotting towards the bed, Ditzy once again rolled her eyes at me again, then put the tray beside me. She then showed me her chalkboard. Good morning! I made us breakfast!

“Thank you, Ditzy,” I said, smiling as I leaned closer. I put my hoof around her shoulders and pressed my lips against hers, kissing her for several seconds (and causing the apparition of Fluttershy to blush and turn around, hiding her face in her hooves). “It looks ravishing,” I added when we parted, staring into her eyes intensively, unmoved by her odd eye looking somewhere else.

Ditzy blushed, but she did manage to hold my gaze for several seconds before finally giving in to her embarrassment and closing her eyes, covering her mouth and giggling, as if she was a teenage filly.

“You’re so adorable,” I said, kissing her on her cheek, before turning my attention to the breakfast.

I already consumed the first sliced piece of an apple when Ditzy scribbled another message on her chalkboard. What were you doing when I came in?

I suppose I can’t escape this, can’t I? I thought, sighing. Oh well, might as well use this opportunity to discuss our relationship.

“I was having an inner argument,” I explained. “I like to gesticulate during them, and yes, I know it makes me look weird, but as we had established, I’m already weird, so…” I trailed off, finishing my sentence with a shrug.

Ditzy nodded with understanding, accepting my explanation, and sat beside me on the bed, while I tried to think of the best way to approach the subject that had bothered me. In the end, though, as I wanted to discuss this before she started to eat, I just asked, “Ditzy, if you don’t mind me asking… what do you want the two of us to be?”

The pegasus ghoul turned to me and tilted her head again, confused.

“I… it may come as a surprise to you, seeing how I convinced you to partake in our activities,” I began to explain; this time, it was me that was nervous and embarrassed for a change, not Ditzy or Fluttershy, “but I actually have some problems when it comes to my own relationships. And I mean in general, not just with lovers” I specified. “Interpersonal relationships are… troublesome for me, to comprehend properly. Like a normal pony,” I added, looking away in mild annoyance at my own disability in this field. Clearing my throat, I continued, “What I mean to say, Ditzy, is that I am perfectly happy with us being what you want, but I would appreciate if you could… specify it for me. My first romantic relationship taught me that it’s best when both ponies are clear on all the rules,” I explained further, rolling my eyes. “Which is ironic, considering-”

I was cut off mid sentence by a hoof pressing against my mouth. Just like last night, Ditzy decided to stop my prolonged monologue, although this time she had decided to use a more pleasant manner than hitting me with her chalkboard. For which I was grateful.

After talking her hoof back and making sure I stopped talking, Ditzy gave me a long, thoughtful look. It appeared that she, too, wasn’t sure what we were, or even what she would want us to be. Which, seeing how yesterday was the first time she kissed a mare, was understandable. Finally, she wrote on her chalkboard: Honestly, I dunno ‘what I would want us to be’.

Oh, thank you, sweetie, that’s really helpful, I sighed mentally as Ditzy scribbled her next message.

It sort of been a while since the last time I tried dating, plus there’s the issue of you living in another town. And the age difference. It's kinda creepy.

Beside it, Ditzy drew a face with a tongue sticking out. I looked at at her and saw her grinning in amusement.

“I suppose that is true,” I said, shrugging, despite knowing that Ditzy was making a joke. She was, after all, over two hundred years older than me. The age difference was a valid point to bring up in this situation… if it regarded a ‘normal’ pony. “Though honestly, I don’t really see that as an issue.”

My words had seemingly amused the sweet pegasus ghoul. She giggled, then, blushing, she wrote: Yeah, that, and several other things don’t seem like an issue for you. I kinda realized that last night.

I had to smile at that. “You didn’t seem to complain if I recall correctly,” I replied alluringly, but then quickly returned to my previous composure. “But the fact that we live in separate towns does seem like a valid problem if we chose to pursue a romantic relationship.”

Also, Ditzy scribbled, I don’t think I like you that much.

“Oh, I’m hurt,” I teased her.

You know what I mean, she wrote, although she did giggle. I do like you, though, and it’s been fun last night. So maybe we could be friends who, you know, are affectionate from time to time?

I smiled when, after showing me her chalkboard, Ditzy scratched the back of her head in embarrassment. Giggling, I leaned closer, nuzzling her affectionately. “Hmm, I like the sound of that,” I hummed. “I wish I didn’t have to go with those mercenaries today, we could do so much more…”

Blushing, Ditzy pulled away from me so she could write on her chalkboard. Apparently I was distracting.

You could have said no to their offer, she pointed out.

We had talked about how long my stay in New Appleloosa would be, sometime between me nibbling on her neck (or wings, I couldn’t remember the precise order) and snuggling. Ditzy had been worried when I revealed that I was going into the Wasteland with some ponies I met a few hours ago. The fact that I was bringing along a slaver did not calm her down, not surprisingly. Ditzy did relax, though, when I mentioned Blast and Burst. Apparently, she knew them well enough to know they wouldn’t “backstab” me.

I used to trade with their parents several years back, got to know them a bit, she had scribbled on her chalkboard. They’re good ponies, even if Blast is a bit of a meanie sometimes. Stay close to them, they will keep you safe. Just keep an eye on Blast’s frisky hooves.

Ditzy was far less enthusiastic about the purpose of this escapade, of course. It seemed that now we were about to have this argument again.

“Whether I like it or not, I am currently employed by Black Widow,” I pointed out again. “She told me to find some mercenaries for her to hire.”

To help her fight and probably enslave a tribe that disrupts her business, Ditzy quickly scribbled, then signaled for me to wait as she erased those words and wrote next message. I would rather start them a fanclub.

“Ditzy, sweetie, you yourself had said last night that you hadn’t heard of this tribe, and that a lot of them can be as bad as raiders.”

A lot, but not all.

I smirked. “Well, then I suppose, when it would come to that, I would have to interfere somehow, wouldn’t I?”

I didn’t elaborate, despite Ditzy’s borderline pestering. Truth be told, I had no idea how this situation was going to develop, and it unsettled me. There were too many variables for me to calculate what could happen. That left planning my own actions somewhat difficult.

Back in Stable Eight, all I really had to worry about were my patients and experiments, I thought as Ditzy finally gave up and we began to eat the breakfast she had prepared. I still had some time before I’d have to start getting ready, which let us enjoy the meal and each other’s company. But with all its faults, it was a paradise when compared to the Equestrian Wasteland. The way things are out here… I might be forced to improve ponies lives much sooner than expected, on a smaller scale.

What do you mean? Fluttershy asked me, suddenly appearing. I thought that all you cared about was finding the ‘Truth of this world’, whatever that means.

That is my goal, I admitted, but not my ultimate goal. What good is knowledge if it can’t be used? I am, after all, a doctor, a mare that makes ponies better, I thought, smirking under my muzzle. More importantly, or at least, more “presently”, the issue with what will come from the confrontation between Appleloosa and this tribe bothers me. The slavers can’t possibly capture all of them alive. A lot of ponies will die.

And you do not want to let this happen, Fluttershy told me, and there was only a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

Indeed. Even if they have sinned and committed acts that would deprive their right to be called sapient beings. I would much rather have those bound in my laboratory as test subjects. Regardless, I added, even with my limited options, I can’t plan my actions and their direction that far ahead with so little information. I need to wait and see how this matter with the mercenaries is resolved, then I should know more.

And then what? tiny Fluttershy pressed curiously. You’ll take over Appleloosa?

That was a problematic option. Hm… even though my employment was somewhat forced, I do not like the idea of “revolting”. No, I will have to wait and see what Black Widow will do before I can decide whether or not I would take such actions.

Really? I mean, you plan to experiment on ponies for less than she had done, she pointed out, surprised and confused.

Have you forgotten what I told Candi yesterday? I asked her instead, levitating playfully a sliced apple into Ditzy’s mouth. I despise those that break their word.

*** *** ***

I frowned as I checked my inventory list with my PipBuck. Aside from bottle caps, the Fluttershy statuette, lab coat and stable barding (both of which I had already put back on myself), all that I had with me were a few healing potions that I had brought from Appleloosa with the intention of selling them, and a small case with empty syringes (on the off chance that I would have an opportunity to pick up some interesting blood samples). Had I known that we would be required to journey outside of the boundaries of New Appleloosa, I would have at least brought some RadSafes and Rad-aways, not to mention some helpful chems. Unfortunately, before leaving the slavers’ town, my primary concerns were revolved around increasing my resources and being comfortable.

There was a limit of items I could carry in my saddlebags.

Not that medicines were heavy, mind you. Even with my meager physical strength, I could have carried an even greater number on my person. They did take some space, though, and the saddlebags I had under my lab coat, and some pockets inside of it, could only fit so much.

Which brought me to the source of my frustration: the healing potions. Their size was, in my opinion, disappropriate to the amount of injury drinking them would heal. Hm, maybe instead of starting to work on the truth serum, I should focus on this issue, and other more practical research. If I could remove the ingestible oxidation agent from the healing potion recipe, I should get the basic formula for an injectable version, I mused, thinking back to how I converted the spellbane potion. They would take up a lot less space if they were in syringes... and possibly they would be more effective, too. I also should consider improving the formula of chems, I added, making a mental note. If I could figure out how to limit the side effects-

Raised voices coming from Ditzy’s shop brought me out of my musing. I was still in her bedroom, the pegasus ghoul having left me after we finished breakfast to prepare her store for opening while letting myself get ready for my little expedition in peace. It appeared now that she was having an argument with somepony.

And since I was pretty sure I recognized that voice, I hurried up and went to stop the argument.

“Listen, ya- oh, there ya are,” Apple Core exclaimed, frowning as I entered the store through the back door and trotted towards them. She was standing before the counter, behind which was Ditzy, pointing at the same ‘NO SLAVERS’ sign she had showed me when we first met.

“Good morning to you too, sweetie,” I greeted her, looking at her disapprovingly. “Is there a reason why you were speaking to Ditzy in a raised voice?”

“Ya mean other than ‘er bein’ a pain in the ass?” Apple Core snorted, glaring at Ditzy unfriendly, who gave her back as good as she got. I rolled my eyes at their animosity and continued to trot towards Ditzy. “Ah just came t’ get ya, we need t’ go meet up with the mercs. Also t’ see if she ate ya,” she added with a malicious smirk at Ditzy.

Seeing the sweet pegasus ghoul’s brow furrow at the hurtful remark, I stepped beside her and wrapped my hooves around her in a warm hug. “I’m sorry, my companion can be insensitive and uncivil at times,” I told Ditzy after she looked at me, slightly startled by the hug, but quickly relaxing in my embrace. Smiling with relief as she brightened right up, I turned to Apple Core with a disappointed frown. “Apple Core, sweetie, Ditzy had been nothing but a courteous host and a pleasant company. You should apologize for your remark.”

“Why are you huggin’ ‘er like that?” Apple Core asked instead, ignoring what I said and looking at us with disgust.

“Because I can be very affectionate towards ponies I like a lot?” I asked in return, not understanding why she was this shocked.

Ditzy’s ear twitched, tickling me, and she turned her head to look at me. Seeing her blush, probably from embarrassment, I couldn’t help but think of how adorable she looked, and I leaned closer to kiss her. I felt her shuddering in my embrace at the unexpected kiss (Then again, she’d often reacted like that to kissing anyway.), but she quickly relaxed and opened her mouth wider for me.

This very nice moment was ruined the next second by the throttling sounds Apple Core began to make. I opened my eye to look at her as she said: “Oh Goddesses-” before she pressed a hoof to her muzzle, her cheeks beginning to swell.

Realizing what was about to happen, I quickly cast a spell on her esophagus, forcing her to swallow back her vomit.

“Ugh, fuck,” she exclaimed, grimacing as she glared at me.

Pulling away from Ditzy, I told her: “Sweetie, if you’re going to vomit, I suggest you do it outside.”

Whether casting that spell on her really angered her, or was she indeed going to vomit again (and judging from her face, she was), Apple Core hastily left.

I frowned as the door closed behind her. “So that’s how a ‘normal pony’ would react to kissing a ghoul pony?” I asked, glancing at Ditzy. “I must admit, scarcely have I been so glad of being ‘not normal’.”

Ditzy grinned in reply and pressed her forehead into my neck, as if saying: “You’re terrible.”

“I’m sorry about Apple Core, I’ll make sure that she will come to apologize after we get back,” I said. “She’s actually a nice pony when you get to know her. And if it weren’t for her, I might have ended up a slave.”

The pegasus ghoul made a sound akin to snorting, probably because she wasn’t really convinced by what I said about Apple Core, but as she lifted her head I saw her rolling her eye. I chose to accept that as “Ok, I believe you.”

I sighed as I leaned my head against her shoulder. “I better go with her… and join the mercenaries and go into the Wasteland. I really don’t like the idea of walking for so long…” I groaned, causing Ditzy to giggle. “Oh, don’t give me that, you have wings,” I told her, frowning. As Ditzy continued to laugh in her manner, I hugged her tighter and nibbled playfully on her ear. “You better hope I am in better shape than I think you must be assuming,” I whispered sensually as she once again shuddered. “I think you’d like me to return as soon as possible, considering what we could be doing…”

I trailed off, allowing Ditzy’s thoughts to wander around the subject. Her thoughts weren’t the only ones wandering, though. As she once again shuddered and looked at me sharply, red one her face (as red as ghouls could, I suppose), I realized where my hooves had traveled.

“Oh, sorry sweetie,” I exclaimed, embarrassed and worried; I didn’t want Ditzy to feel overwhelmed. Cursing at this slip up I subconsciously committed, I moved my hooves back up from her teats to her chest. “I suppose I can’t keep my hooves off you,” I offered, smiling sheepishly.

To my relief, Ditzy was only surprised by the unexpected grope. Giggling, she kissed my on the cheek, then reached for her chalkboard that she had placed on the counter. What was it you said about you not being sluttish yesterday? she wrote, smirking at me.

I deadpanned at her. “Sweetie, I’m affectionate, not sluttish,” I corrected her, inclining another giggle from the pegasus ghoul. “And for the record, it’s the first time I had heard somepony complain. Then again, you are only the third pony with whom I shared this level of intimacy…” I added thoughtfully, before shaking my head. “Sadly, we must put such pleasantries on hold for now. I should get going, if Apple Core came to pick me up she might want to discuss something before we meet up with the mercenaries.” Reluctantly, I released Ditzy from my embrace. “Thank you for the wonderful time and meal, Ditzy.”

My pleasure, she wrote in reply. She then quickly added: I packed you some food and got you some water.

I looked in surprise as she brought up a lunchbox and a canteen from under the counter and gave them to me. “Oh… thank you, Ditzy,” I murmured, really touched by the gesture.

The pegasus ghoul smiled, then wiped her chalkboard and wrote another message. It’s the least I could do, considering you refused to wear any armor. Her expression gave away what she still thought of that decision.

Another conversation from last night. “I’ve been told that we’d be trying to avoid any possible encounters along the way,” I reminded her again. “If I have to spend most of the day walking, I want to at least do it wearing clothes that I’m comfortable in.”

Ditzy looked to the floor and sighed, knowing it would be useless to argue with me now. Instead, she just wrote: Be safe.

Despite knowing that I might very soon run into more danger than I had ever faced in my life, I smiled at Ditzy with confidence. “Do not worry about me, Ditzy. You’ve seen my cutie mark, after all,” I added, leaning closer to kiss her on her cheek. Ditzy replied in kind, but at the same time she shot me a confused look. “The Ouroboros doesn’t have an end. Neither do I,” I explained, winking.

*** *** ***

It took us about a minute or two more to finally say our farewells before I finally, with the last kiss on Ditzy’s cheek, closed the door to her store behind me.

Well, I thought, turning around, overlooking Apple Core’s episode, this was a pleasant way to start off the morning-

“Ugh, ‘bout fuckin’ time!”

I feel like I should have seen this coming, I commented in my thoughts, glancing briefly at the apparition of Fluttershy, who just smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

Turning my attention to Apple Core, who was standing right infront of me, I realized that she had been pacing impatiently before the store waiting for me. I also noticed a small puddle of what I assume used to be her stomach’s contents.

“Sweetie,” I began calmly, realizing that for her, this morning hadn’t been quite as pleasant as mine, “there’s no need for such language.”

Apple Core deadpanned at me. “Oh, Ah’m sorry, did Ah interrupt ya some munchin’ time with yar dead marefriend?” she asked in a surprisingly calm voice.

I blinked. “Alright, sweetie, couple of things. One, Ditzy is not dead.” I decided to not add that her body technically is though. “Two, we’re not marefriends. And three… ‘munching’?” I asked, frowning. “I’m afraid I’m not familiar with-”

“Fuckin’,” Apple Core explained, her expression unchanged.

“Oh,” I exclaimed, now understanding. Offended, I frowned at her. “Honestly, sweetie, I met Ditzy yesterday. I wouldn’t make love to somepony I just met,” I told her, closing my eyes and turning my head.

“Oh sure, that’s the issue ‘ere,” Apple Core snorted. I glanced at her just in time to see her roll her eyes. “Ya did realize that she’s a ghoul, right? Or were ya too busy clingin’ t’ yar prudish rules t’ notice?”

“Divisions such as medical conditions or races are of little concern to me,” I replied, choosing to ignore the jibe. I turned to step around her. “Was there a reason why you came to pick me up sweetie?”

“Don’t change the fuckin’ subject!” Apple Core hissed as she immediately followed me. She continued to argue as we headed to meet up with the mercenaries. “How could ya kiss a ghoul?! And don’t ya fuckin’ dare t’ say ‘with mah mouth’!” she told me with a glare the moment I opened my mouth.

“As I had already said,” I replied (instead), “whether she, or anypony else I would be affectionate towards, is a ghoul or not matters little to me. I chose to spend some lovely time with her because of her, not her state.”

“Her state of decay, ya mean?” Apple Core asked with a sneer. “Goddesses, ya’re so fucked up!”

“I don’t think I care very much for those insults,” I told her, glancing at her with a frown. “Honestly, if I didn’t know you only express romantic interest in myself when you’re inebriated, I would presume you were jealous. Why does it bother you so much that I had spend the night kissing with Ditzy?” I asked before she could retort angrily to my comment.

“‘Cause it’s gross!” she exclaimed, loudly enough for a pony who was walking on the other side of the road to glance our way curiously.

“‘Gross’? I repeated, raising my eyebrow. “Next I suppose you will tell me I’ve got cooties now?”

Apple Core’s jaw dropped. “That’s not even…” she tried to say, but then she sighed and shook her head. “Forget it, Ah’m done tryin’ t’ talk sense with ya. Ah’ll be focusin’ on all the bottle caps Ah won thanks t’ this.”

“Bottle caps? What do you mean?” I asked, confused.

“Oh, there’s a bet goin’ ‘round Appleloosa whether ya’re into bucks or mares,” Apple Core explained casually, much to my shock. “Since that ghoul still counts as a mare, ya just earned me a few hundred caps.”

She seemed to take a weird pleasure in telling me that I’ve been a subject of a gamble. Was I supposed to be offended? To be honest, I was mostly surprised that an the town had nothing better to talk about.

However, it didn’t meant that I was going to allow such disinformation be. “Sorry to disappoint you, sweetie, but I’m ‘into’ both mares and bucks,” I told her, causing the slaver to immediately frown.

“Oh, fuck ya!”

Strangely, I found myself completely not interested in explaining Apple Core my reasoning for it like I had with Ditzy. Possibly because I doubted she’d be interested.

“Now, was there a reason why you came by to pick me up?” I asked before this conversation could continue down this road.

Apple Core murmured something under her breath - something that sounded akin to “Freakin’ prude,” if I was not mistaken - before replying. “Yes, Ah wanted t’ make sure that ghoul hadn’t eaten ya. But also,” she added before I could chasten her (Then again, I should be happy she’d stopped referring to her as ‘walking corpse’.), “Ah’ve met Jack, their boss.”

That piqued my curiosity. “I see. Did he agree to the arrangement?”

“Yeah,” Apple Core said, but even before she continued I could tell by her expression that things weren’t as good. “But Ah got a strong feelin’ he had only done that ‘cause Blast and the rest had already pretty much made the deal with us. He didn’t seem happy t’ take us along.”

“I’m sure I will be able to smooth things over with him,” I said, confident in my diplomatic skills. “What did he say about coming to work for Black Widow?”

“He agreed to go to Appleloosa with us and hear ‘er out. Dunno if he’ll take the job though,” she added, “couldn’t tell how he feels ‘bout slavers.”

“That’s for Black Widow to worry about, sweetie,” I calmed her down. “All we were told to do is convince them to travel to Appleloosa. Let us focus for now on helping them with their job.”

“Yeah, ya’re right Ah ‘spouse. Oh, and speakin’ of,” she added, turning to me and looking me up and down, “are ya sure ‘bout goin’ like this?”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“Well, aside from the fact that ya still don’t ‘ave a gun on ya,” she began, her comment causing me to sigh with mild irritation, “don’t ya wanna wear some protective barding? Yar smelly kiss-toy could ‘ave gave ya some, Ah’m sure she has somethin’ like that in ‘er store. Ya could ‘ave at least left yar coat there,” Apple Core added as I was about to reply.

“What’s wrong with my lab coat?” I asked instead, confused.

“It’s white, will make ya stand out and make ya a nice target for a pony with a gun. Ya’re smart, ya should ‘ave figured it out,” she added with a smirk.

“Or,” I countered, “it will make a pony with a gun realize that they’re dealing with a doctor and they won’t shoot at me? After all, it is doctor’s sacred duty to help everypony in need, why would anypony try to kill somepony like that?”

Judging by the deadpan Apple Core gave me, it would seem she didn’t agree with my opinion. However, she gave up; the slaver pony shook her head and sighed loudly.

Satisfied that I won this argument, I decided to turn the conversation into a more friendly banter. “Can you honestly see me wearing something like what you’re wearing?” I asked, pointing at the leathery barding and the firearm in a holster on her foreleg. I didn’t even want to imagine myself in such attire.

Apple Core snorted. “Yeah, not really. Ah suppose if we’d run into caravan or some shit it would be good t’ ‘ave a pony who’s obviously not a raider with us,” she added in an afterthought. “Although the mercs might still comment on yar lab coat… oh, and speakin’ of which,” she said, nodding at something in front of us, “there they are.”

I turned my head in the direction, surprised. I had assumed we’d be meeting with the mercenaries at the town’s entrance, seeing what time it was. However, it seemed that they weren’t exactly keen on being punctual, or maybe by “ready to leave by eight” they only meant that they would be leaving the Turnpike Tavern (which we were about to pass), not the town itself. Regardless, they were just walking out of the watering hole, Scope, Blast, Burst, and…

“Oh my gosh!” I exclaimed, staring wide-eyed at the fourth person, who could only be Jack, the leader of this mercenary team. Before anybody knew it, I was already beside him. “Big feathery wing,” I said, grabbing the huge wing almost the size of a pony with my forehooves and spreading it forcefully, “feline hind legs, paws with claws and pads underneath,” I continued, raising one of his hind legs, “a tail ending in a hairy tuft,” I said, briefly lifting the end of his tail with my magic, “forelegs ending with scale-covered talons,” I added, grabbing the limb and examining its four digits, very intrigued by their capable mobility and all the possible functions they could perform, “and a face with a beak - you’re a griffin!” I exclaimed excitedly, holding his head and looking him in the eyes.

Suddenly, the four digits I had been so intrigued by clamped tightly around my muzzle, forcing it shut before I could ask whether he would allow me to perform exploratory surgery on him (which, considering the answers and reactions I keep getting whenever I ask this question, was probably a good thing). Jack, a blue-grey griffin (with light gray feathers covering his head), looked at me sternly. Like the other mercenaries, he was clad in a combat armor, one that was appropriate for his body. With mild surprise, I noticed that there was a sword strapped to his back, its hilt poking out above his left wing.

“And you’re annoying,” he told me in a sharp, but young sounding voice. Glancing to his side, he asked: “Guys, what the hell is this?”

A loud sigh stopped me from trying - and probably failing, seeing how I couldn’t open my mouth - to introduce myself. “It’s me losing a hundred caps in a bet, that’s what it is,” Blast commented before reaching to his saddlebags, picking up a small bag and throwing it to grinning Apple Core.

“Ah bet ‘im ya’d ‘ave a nerdgasm when ya see Jack,” Apple Core replied to my questioning gaze.

I rolled my eyes. Just how many bets concerning me somehow did Apple Core make so far?

“‘A nerdgasm’?” I asked instead, seeing no point in arguing about those bets now. However, due to the talons holding my muzzle closed, what came out of me sounded like: “Ah huhham?” which was ignored by everybody.

“That’s the medic we talked about,” Blast answered Jack, then glanced at me. “I thought she was a bit weird, but I thought something like that would have been too ludicrous to actually happen.”

“Ya should ‘ave seen ‘er when she saw brahmin for the first time,” Apple Core said, then grimaced. “Or what she and the ghoul did, ugh.”

“Wait, did she do something to Ditzy?” Burst asked, a concern in his voice.

“Yeah, with her tongue,” she replied, and for a brief moment she appeared as if unsure whether she should be still disgusted or snort with amusement.

Everybody turned to look at me in silence, expressions ranging from surprised to shocked as all of them figured out easily what Apple Core had implied. Finally, the silence was broken by Blast erupting with laughter. “You might wanna let go of that muzzle buddy,” he told Jack, holding his sides as he fell on the ground.

The griffin, who had an eyebrow raised at me quizzically, after a brief hesitation slowly released my muzzle. I moved my lips around a bit to make sure he hadn’t injured me - which I didn’t think so, despite how firm his hold was he was surprisingly gentle at the same time - before I smiled at him.

“Thank you, sweetie. I deeply apologize for my earlier… excitement. I had never before seen a griffin, and being a scientist as much as a doctor of medicine I am positively ecstatic at a prospect of learning more about your species. I will, however, condone myself with a proper composure and etiquette from now on. Also, regarding my companion’s comment,” I added, glancing briefly at Apple Core, “let me assure you, what me and Ditzy ‘did’, as she had put it, hadn’t been because of her condition. Also, I do hope you have a better opinion regarding kissing a ghoul that Apple Core has. But enough about that,” I finished, turning again to Jack and smiling. “I’m Doctor Angel, sweetie, pleased to meet you.”

Jack had continued to stare at me with mild surprise throughout my monologue. “Anybody ever tell you you talk a lot?” he asked a moment after I had finished. Before I could reply, though, the griffin shook his head, which I took as a sign that he didn’t really care about the answer. “I’m Jack, and I’ve been told about the negotiations from yesterday. If you and your friend there will help us out with job, we will go to Appleloosa, that much I can promise you for now.”

“I’m happy to hear that, sweetie,” I replied; while I already had heard that from Apple Core, it was a relieve to actually hear it from him as well.

“This doesn’t mean we will agree to work for your boss,” he added, beginning to walk down the street and signaling for everybody else to move along, “but we will see. For now I hope you two will focus on this little trip of ours. Which brings me to my next point: aside from your PipBuck’s E.F.S., what exactly can you contribute?”

I smiled again. “Why, sweetie, I’m glad you asked!”

“Oh, dear Celestia,” I heard Apple Core utter, causing me to pause for a moment to shoot her an annoyed look (which she didn’t see, as she was facehoofing).

Clearing my throat, I answered the griffin’s question. “I’m an expert medic with a surgeon’s licence, with knowledge of probably every healing spell devised by ponies, both before the Last Day and in my Stable, barring the healing megaspell of course. Although I could maybe try to recreate it’s formula…” I mused, more to myself, rubbing my muzzle thoughtfully. Shaking my head, I decided it was something worth thinking about, but at a later date. “I am, of course, capable of performing surgeries with just surgical tools, though sadly I do not have any with me. I do have six healing potions on my person, which, if such need arises, you can use for no charge. I do believe that my own healing skills should be enough to keep you alive and healthy, however.”

Jack stayed silent for a moment after I finished speaking, letting Blast cut in with another laughter. “Figures we get an expert medic for a job where we expect no shooting whatsoever,” he commented, somewhat bitterly.

The griffin rolled his eyes at his friend and focused on me again. “How about self-defense? Apple Core told us that you don’t have any gun on yourself.”

“Sweetie, do you honestly think that, in an event that we would face something that the five of you combat-experienced Wastelanders couldn’t deal, would one more gun carried by somepony utterly inexperienced with firearms make any difference?” I asked in return.

Now it was Jack’s turn to faceho-... um, facepaw? Facetalon? “I’m sorry I asked,” he murmured, his face covered by his talons.

“I do know of certain spells that should help you in combat should we find ourself in such situation,” I continued, undisturbed. “While the thought of fighting doesn’t excite me, I do realize that the Equestrian Wasteland is an extremely dangerous place.”

“Then why aren’t you carrying any gun with you?” Burst interrupted, confused. “No offense, but I hadn’t met any unicorn who could survive out there with their magical abilities alone. You’d be much safer if you had any firearm.”

“None taken, sweetie, and while I you’re probably right, I will never carry a gun,” I told him, then cleared my throat and, hoping to put all questions regarding this matter out for good, recited: “‘I will carry your books, I’ll carry a torch, I’ll carry a tune, I’ll carry on, carry over and carry forward, but I will not carry a gun’. It’s a quote from memoirs of my Stable’s first chief of medicine,” I explained, noticing the confused stares I received in return, “Doctor H-”

“Ya’re such a nerd,” Apple Core interrupted me, deadpanning at me.

I paused to give her another annoyed look before resuming: “The point is, I am a doctor of medicine. I’m the mare that makes ponies better, not shoots them.”

“Great, an ideologist,” Jack commented, rolling his eyes. I frowned, confused, but before I could ask why he seemed annoyed, the griffin had again shaken his head. “Look missy, all I care is that we do this job quickly and professionally. That means both of you will have to do what I or the others say. And seeing how I probably won’t ask you to shoot anybody,” he added with a meaningful glance at me, “will you have problems obeying my orders?”

“Meh, basically same job as in Appleloosa,” Apple Core replied, shrugging. “Ah ‘ave no problem.”

“I would have problems only in the unlikely event you’d ask me to shoot somebody,” I in turn said, earning myself an annoyed glare from Apple Core. “Sweetie, I have to be honest,” I told her, causing her to roll her eyes. Turning back to Jack, I added: “That being said, I trust you to not have any impossible demands of me. I will follow your expertise and do what you ask of me.”

“Good, then I ask of you to stop talking,” he said, pointing a talon at me. I balked for a moment, surprised at the slightly offensive command. I quickly recovered, though, and smiled at Jack and nodded. Satisfied with my answer, he turned away. “Burst,” he called to the younger earth pony, “if we run into trouble, you’ll stick to her and keep her safe.”

Burst, who had been checking his shotgun, glanced at me. “Sure thing,” he said, before resuming examining his weapon.

“Ya know, Ah could-” Apple Core began, frowning, but Jack interrupted her.

“No offense, but I’ll prefer if the only non-fighter in the group is protected by somebody whom I know can handle protecting her,” Jack replied, lowering his voice a bit as we came close to the town’s gates. “You and Blast will be covering Scope if we’ll have to fight.”

“And why I can’t cover the hot medic?” Blast asked instead, turning his head to me and winking at me.

Jack just deadpanned at him. “You know why,” he told him finally, before signaling the pony guarding the metal gate to open it.

“Meh, killjoy,” Blast sighed, rolling his eyes as we waited, the gate slowly opened to let us through.

“So ya mind tellin’ us what exactly are we helpin’ ya with?” Apple Core asked, looking from Jack to Blast.

“Yes, in a moment,” Jack replied her. “I just want to be out of the town’s limits first.”

Apple Core sighed and looked up into the clouded sky. I had the feeling she was thinking something along the lines of: Paranoid much?. Actually I was surprised she hadn’t said it out loud.

I guess she must be a little intimidated by him… or that sword, I noted, glancing again at the melee weapon. It was the first time I was seeing such a weapon. Almost everypony I met so far in the Wasteland was carrying a gun, and the few melee weapons I had seen were usually knifes, or more primitive and crude blunt weapons. I wonder why he carries a sword? Surely, firearms are far more effective in his profession. He even has one, too, I noted, seeing a pistol strapped to his waist, on his right side. Maybe he uses it with his one forepaw while with the other he uses the sword?

I continued my musing, trying to imagine how Jack’s body would move in a fight, as we finally walked past the New Appleloosa’s gate, with Apple Core briefly saying “Hi Joe,” to the guard pony. Only when I heard the gates beginning to close behind us I stopped, realizing that now I was practically in the actual Wasteland.

Glancing back, I thought how earlie similar this was to when the door to Stable Eight closed behind me. I was about to yet again step into a dangerous world. Only this time, it wasn’t as unknown as it was then, nor was I alone.

Calming myself by thinking that I was with people who knew how to survive in the Wasteland, I focused on the excitement from the prospect of exploring more of this world. That I would get to see with my own eyes what the war had done to this land and how it had evolved during those two hundred years. Possibly even seeing some of the wildlife; although considering all I heard about it, it would probably try to eat us.

And my companions would kill it, I thought with a frown; I would prefer much more to capture some specimens alive. Although I would at least get to examine the carcass… assuming it would be small enough for me to carry, as I doubt anypony would agree to carry it for me.

I shook my head, focusing on the present moment, and hurried to follow my companions.

“Alright,” Jack said once we were some distance away from the town. “This should be fine.” Turning to Apple Core and me, he said: “Our objective is in a Stable located south-east from here, near those old Rock Farms.”

While Apple Core cursed very loudly (and very obscenely I might add), I, still having the order to stop talking fresh in my mind, merely opened my eyes wider and stared. Of course, I had known where we were going already, thanks to Scope, but I didn’t want him to get into trouble.

Not to mention that if I’d reveal what he told me, he might decide to “return the favor”, I added in my thoughts. The prospect of Apple Core learning about my little performance isn’t very appealing.

“Ah should ‘ave figured ya’d drag me into a deathtrap,” Apple Core said, glancing at with annoyance.

I rolled my eyes and opened my mouth to reply, but then, mindful of the order, stopped. Instead I turned to Jack and raised my hoof. “Um, permission to speak?” I asked uncertainly, taking his raised eyebrow as a permission to ask my questions.

A low growl of annoyance escaped his beak, and his talons raked the ground beneath his paws. He did nod though, while glaring at Blast and Burst, who both were chuckling.

“Thank you, sweetie. Honestly, Apple Core,” I said, turning to the slaver, “do you think our companion would go into a, quote, ‘deathtrap’, unquote, if they weren’t confident they could survive it? And besides, why do you assume it’s a ‘deathtrap’? It could be still populated. After all, I came from a Stable that is doing very well.”

“Yeah…” Apple Core began, but unfortunately I cut her off.

“Which brings me to a question,” I said, turning to look at Jack and the other mercenaries, “what exactly do you plan to do if the Stable would, indeed, be still populated?”

Blast snorted, but Jack merely shrugged and replied calmly: “We do not kill people on whom we don’t have a contract for if we can help it, if that’s what you’re suggesting. Besides, our employer didn’t strike me as a sort of pony who enjoys the thought of innocents dying, so she would probably refuse to pay. In case there are still ponies living there somehow, we’d negotiate.”

“I’m relieved to hear that, sweetie,” I told him, smiling. “May I ask then what is it that you want from this Stable? You said that your ‘objective’-”

Faster than I could react, his talons once again clamped around my muzzle, stopping me mid-sentence. “I know what I said,” he told me, frowning. “We’re looking for music records.”

I blinked. Music records?

“Our employer asked us to track down some pre-war songs for her,” Jack continued to explain. “After checking some shipping records in Manehattan, we found out that a pony in Stable Eleven had a record of a certain singer named ‘Countess Coloratura’. Assuming they didn’t end up blowing themselves up, it should still be there.”

“Ya came all this way from Manehattan for just some pre-war music?” Apple Core asked, raising her eyebrows in disbelief.

The better question is, does acquiring music records in the Equestrian Wasteland really require hiring a team of mercenaries that are armed to their teeth? What a sad place the Equestria has become…

“She’s paying us very well,” Jack replied, shrugging, and releasing my muzzle.

That got Apple Core’s attention. “How well?”

“Well enough,” was all that he replied. “But the point is, we’re not going to kill ponies over some dumb music records.” I frowned. If it weren’t for having my muzzle only recently freed and fearing he would grab it again, I would have began to argue of the importance of music in pony’s life and its beauty. “I’m sure we will be able to work something out if there are still ponies living there. But for that we would have to gain their trust, which is why, under any circumstances, you cannot say that you are a slaver,” he told Apple Core.

The slaver mare snorted. “Ah’m not stupid. Are ya gonna tell me next t’ not say it at Tenpony Tower as well?”

To Jack’s credit, he didn’t raise to the bait. “If it turns out to be empty, however, you’re welcome to pick some souvenirs. Consider it your cut for helping us out.”

My ears twitched at the idea. Though I hoped that the inhabitants of that Stable were safe and well, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that the notion of picking up some medical equipment sounded intriguing.

It would be wonderful to finally have some proper equipment, it would really speed up my research. Although I doubt anypony would agree to help me drag it back to New Appleloosa… I mused. I guess this means I should pick up only things that I could carry without problems. Still, maybe there would be some talismans or surgical tools...

Which, if the Stable is still inhabited, are probably still being used, Fluttershy pointed out.

I blinked, realizing where my thoughts had gone. You are absolutely right, Fluttershy. Forgive me, I got carried away. I am sure those ponies are doing fine, I added; the lives of ponies were far more important to me than medical equipment, so I didn’t feel regret while thinking it. They live in a Stable, which was designed to survive a megaspell detonation. Nothing from the Outside could have harmed them…

I trailed off, noticing the small obstacle in Jack’s plan.

“Put your hoof down and talk,” he told me with a dangerous glare in his eyes even before I finished raising my hoof, stopping his explanation of which way we were going to reach Stable Eleven.

“How do you plan to enter Stable Eleven?” I asked, frowning. “If the door is locked, it can be only opened from the inside or with an override code, isn’t that right sweetie?”

“Does she call everybody ‘sweetie’ like that?” Jack asked Apple Core, ignoring my question.

“Ya learn t’ tone it out after a while.”

I shot my slaver companion an annoyed look as Jack began to answer me. “We do have the override code for Stable Eleven,” he said, surprising me. “Costed most of the provision for this job to get it, but I was assured it would work. Actually…” Jack added after a moment, glancing at my PipBuck before reaching to one of his bags and pulling out a holotape. “Here, play it in your PipBuck,” he said, giving it to me. “It will be probably easier to access the control mechanism through it. It has the code as well as the location of the Stable on it.”

Picking up the holotape with my magic, I quickly opened the holotape player and put it inside. Immediately, my PipBuck read it and displayed a short message:

Stable Eleven override code: 11GRDST3

The map in my PipBuck also got updated. A new, undiscovered location, titled “Stable 11”, had appeared to the south-east of New Appleloosa. Hm, looking at the distance between the two marks, comparing it with the distance between the marks for Appleloosa and New Appleloosa, then seeing how long the journey took and how fast did the train travel- wow, that’s going to be a lot of walking! I exclaimed in my thoughts as I quickly did the math, my hooves already aching at the prospect.

“That’s… a lot of ground to cover, sweetie,” I said diplomatically as I ejected the holotape and returned it to Jack.

“Which is why we’ll better get a move on,” Jack replied, putting the holotape back into his bags. “I scouted the area yesterday, I didn’t see any raiders or much wildlife, but we should still move swiftly and silently. I’ll be flying over you, if I see anything dangerous we will try to walk around it. I think that’s all,” he said, glancing at Scope, Blast and Burst with raised eyebrows. When the other three either nodded nor shrugged, Jack spread his wings, getting ready to take off. “Make sure they stay close,” the griffin told them before jumping into the air, quickly flying higher up.

“Let’s get going then,” Blast said, taking the point with others following.

Resigned, I trotted along, hoping I would be able to catch up with them a few hours from now.

*** *** ***

“This seems a lot of trouble t’ go through t’ just get some music records,” I heard Apple Core ask a few hours later

I turned my head to regard her and the mercenaries. We weren’t “forbidden” from talking, as Jack would have spotted anything dangerous that could be potentially alerted by our voices long before it could get within earshot. They should also appear as red bars on my E.F.S. However, everypony else walked in silence, exchanging a few sentences at most every now and then, so I opted for silence as well. I spent most of the journey so far admiring the scenery, and occasionally having conversations with the apparition of Fluttershy in my mind.

The views were interesting, to say the least. The mountains that made the borders of the valley we were going deeper into were visible even from New Appleloosa, and they only grew larger the more we walked. They were strewn with blackened remains of trees and sickly looking green grass that also were growing in few patches around us as well (which I took some sample off when we passed some before). Occasionally we would also pass testaments to the destruction wrought upon the civilization, namely a giant billboard advertising some product (Sparkle Cola in this case) or destroyed sky chariots and wagons that must have been blown out of the sky on the Last Day. Those sights were, while very interesting and informative, slightly depressing even for a pony such as myself.

Weirdly, seeing Jack flying in circles high above us only seemed to cement the depressing mood of our surroundings for me.

Focusing on the conversation, I listened to Apple Core ask: “Couldn’t ya find any within Manehattan? I mean, it just seems like a long way t’ get somethin’ like that.”

“Well, we did find some other shipping addresses,” Blast replied, shrugging. “But what are the odds that those recordings would still be there after two hundred years? Two centuries of looting and scavenging means that if you’re looking for something specific, chances are somebody already took it. Stables, however, aren’t places that one can just waltz into and take shit.”

“Huh, Ah guess ‘at makes sense,” Apple Core said thoughtfully.

“We did have one more promising lead, about some different records” Burst added. “But, well… there was a slight problem with it.”

“The place where those records are is practically overrun with manticores,” Blast quickly explained, then grinned. “And Jack can’t stand manticores. He’d literally prefer to come all the way here and blow most of the provision for a holotape than just face one of them, let alone an entire pride of them. And considering how many of them were there, we didn’t argue.”

“Really? If that is a result of some phobia, maybe I could help him?” I interjected, unable to stop myself. “I did read several books about psychology, and while I didn’t bother to get a degree in it, I think I’m competent enough to be a psychiatrist.”

“Oh yeah, then why don’t ya ‘ave a degree in it?” Apple Core turned to me with a smirk.

“Because there were more useful fields I wanted to get decrees in before psychology,” I replied, surprised that I had to explain something so obvious. “I had planned to acquire doctorate in cell biology next, then genetics, then-”

“Alright, fine, Ah’m sorry Ah asked” Apple Core interrupted me, rolling her eyes as I frowned at her.

“Anyway,” Blast cut in before I could tell her that she was being rude, “I don’t think that it’s a good idea for you to play shrink for Jack. On the other hoof though, I think I would really enjoy seeing that,” he added with a snort of laughter.

“Um, no offense, sweetie, but any sessions between me and him would have to be confidential,” I said, not understanding what was funny about it. “Regardless,” I added with a shake of my head, “there is something else I would like to discuss with you. You said that there’s an entire pride of manticores at that place you mentioned?”

“Well, yeah, I mean, there are plenty of them throughout Manehattan actually,” Blast replied, confused.

I brightened up hearing that. “Do you think-”

“No,” Apple Core interrupted me.

“Beg your pardon, sweetie?” I asked, blinking in a surprise.

“Ya can’t ‘ave them bring’ya a manticore to Appleloosa,” she told me with a frown.

I blinked again. “Why not?”

*** *** ***

I spy with my little eye… something beginning with… “r”, I thought as, after looking around the surroundings, I closed my eyes.

“R”? Um… rocks? Fluttershy tried.

Honestly, sweetie, do you think I would have chosen something so obvious?

Oh, of course. Um… is it the “Robronco: Order your Mister Handy today!” billboard that we’re just passing under?

… yes, I finally admitted, sighing. Your turn sweetie.

I’m not sure if that actually counts-

Sweetie, we’ve been playing this game, with breaks, for hours now, we’re in the place called “Wasteland”, and my hooves are, figuratively, killing me, I told her, my increasing exhaustion making me a little irritated. There aren’t many things to “spy on”. We passed by an interesting billboard, advertising, I assume, a product of a company making robots, so I thought I would pick it, and use the subject of the advertisement as its name rather than “billboard”. I don’t think there’s a reason to make an argument about it, isn’t it?

Oh, no no, of course not, Fluttershy quickly agreed. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you… she continued to apologize, but I stopped her, having already calmed down.

No, I’m sorry sweetie. I didn’t mean to snap like that, it’s just… I am starting to think that during this journey I’ll walk more than I had in all my life prior to this morning, assuming I hadn’t passed this mark already.

You can’t be serious, Fluttershy said, giggling at what she thought was a joke.

Well, you’re right, but that could easily become reality. You don’t really have to walk too much when you live in an underground shelter, where on every floor there are multiple portals installed as a form of public transportation, and you spend most of your time studying, I explained. And I would have walked even less if I had learned the Teleportation Spell, which you wouldn’t believe how much I regret right now.

Oh… I see.

… There was a portal right outside of the hospital wing and another one just ten feet from my quarters, I didn’t learn that spell because it would have been a waste of time. How would I know that I would end up being banished from the Stable?

I um, I understand, Fluttershy said, clearly uncomfortable with listening to me complain and make excuses for myself for not having learned the Teleportation Spell.

Sorry sweetie, I apologized, sighing. I realize that I’ve been difficult to talk with for the last few hours. I guess I’m handling physical exertion worse than I thought. Anyway, back to our game - it’s your turn.

Oh, right. Um… I spy with my little eye…

*** *** ***

“Did you have to kill it?” I asked Jack, looking at him sternly.

The griffin, who was standing above the remains of a bloated insectoid creature and wiping his sword of its blood, raised his eyebrow. “Why, did you want to keep it as a pet?”

I opened my mouth to reply, but Apple Core spoke before I could: “She has two pet radroaches in Appleloosa, what do ya think?”

Glancing behind me, I saw that she wasn’t the only one who ran after me. The other three mercenaries were trotting along with her, the expressions on their faces ranging from (rapidly decreasing) worry to (rapidly increasing) annoyance.

Realizing that I was the cause of their grievances, I blushed. When moments earlier I had spotted a red bar pop up on my E.F.S., I immediately warned everypony. They all had readied their guns and pointed them in the direction I told them, but it quickly turned out unnecessary. From high above, Jack also had noticed the threat, and had already been nose-diving at it. However, at the same time, I had noticed that this threat was nothing more than small insectoid animal, and had run towards it, ignoring the pain in my legs, shouting to Jack to not kill it.

Now it was in two pieces, my legs hurt even more, and my companions were annoyed with me.

“Wait, seriously?” Blast asked Apple Core.

“Yep, she calls ‘em ‘Snuggles’ and ‘Wigglebutt’,” she replied, causing the earth pony to snort with amusement.

And it would appear I became a subject of laughter, too.

“I would appreciate if you wouldn’t find my pets so amusing,” I told both him and Apple Core; Jack and Scope still appeared to be more annoyed than amused, and Burst, to my relief, was frowning at his older brother.

“Sorry, sorry,” Blast replied, shaking his head, “just… didn’t peg you for somepony that would keep bugs as pets,” he said, still amused.

“So?” Burst asked, coming to my defense, “That’s not that weird. Doesn’t one of the Hoofington’s Reapers keep radroaches as pets too? I would love to see you laugh to his face about them.”

“Maybe, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t give them such ridiculous names,” Blast retorted.

“Oh, I’m so sorry the names I gave them aren’t to your liking, sweetie,” I interjected, offended.

Blast turned to me, rolling his eyes. “Look baby-”

“Enough,” Jack interrupted him, his voice low with a warning. “We’re still in a dangerous area, you two can argue and hit on her when we get back to New Appleloosa, got it?”

I blinked. They were hitting on me? I thought as both Blast and Burst, one annoyed and other embarrassed, had replied “Fine.” I mean, both of them? It had been hard to miss Blast stares and suggestions, but Burst… Oh, I will figure this out later, I decided, shaking my head, right now I have more important thing to worry about.

Turning to the remains of the insectoid creature, I cleared my throat and began recording with my PipBuck: “Audio recording of Doctor Angel, number 2.06.”

“The fuck is she doing?” I heard Jack ask somepony; I ignored it for the moment.

“During the expedition to Stable Eleven, which I partake in due to a business agreement, I encountered an unfamiliar species of animal.” (“It’s somethin’ she does from time t’ time, apparently. If ya want I can drag her away.”) “Unfortunately, a member of the expedition had terminated it before I could capture it. I will now attempt to shortly examine its corpse and describe it, a proper post mortem examination will have to wait until returning to Appleloosa.” (“Oh for… Ya’re not takin’ this thing!”) “Side note: make an additional recording later on about the mentioned member of the expedition, possibly during physical examination.” (“Um, did she just say she wants to bang Jack, or was that not an innuendo?”)

I paused the recording. Having fresh in mind what Apple Core had done during audio recording number 2.04, I paid some attention to what the people around me were talking about (which, considering I was about to examine a corpse of an animal rather than a living, sapient one, was easy; the former was far less captivating). For better or worse, this resulted in me hearing just how many interference there would be in my recording.

Even my patience has its limits, I thought, turning to my companions.

“Excuse me, sweeties,” I began, smiling at them kindly, “would you mind being less noisy while I’m in the middle of making a scientific recording?”

All five of them, four ponies and one griffin, let their jaws hang open as they stared at me, apparently each trying to think of how to best respond. Finally, the ponies turned to look at Jack, clearly expecting him to be the one to deal with me. The griffin gave out a half-annoyed, half-tired sigh, and covered his eyes with his paw.

“What the hell are you doing, Doctor?” he asked, his voice almost polite and curious sounding; I got the impression that he was forcing himself to remain so civil.

“I am recording a species that I hadn’t met previously,” I explained; I felt it would have been a bad idea to add ‘obviously’. “Since you had went ahead and terminated it, sweetie, and this isn’t the right time or place to perform proper post mortem examination, making an audio recording with my initial observation is all I can do at the moment. It won’t take long, so I would appreciate your cooperation,” I added, smiling again.

Jack opened his beak and raised his forepaw, but he hesitated before speaking. His talons curled, as if grasping something, while he struggled to find words, his blue eyes staring at me. The griffin let out a short growl, that quickly changed into a sigh.

“Fuck it. We’re taking a break,” he said to everypony else, turning away from me.

“Wha- seriously?” Scope asked, his eyebrow raised. He pointed at me and continued: “You’re letting her-”

“Yes, I am,” Jack interrupted him, glancing behind. “Because if we were to continue this argument, I am certain I would try to cut her head off.”

“Oh,” I exclaimed, staring at him in shock. “I… I am terribly sorry I'm causing you to have such violent feelings regarding my person-” I began to say, but, like Scope, I was interrupted by Jack.

However, where with the unicorn mercenary Jack only used his words, in my case he whirled around at me, shot his forepaw and grabbed my muzzle, again. “Shut. Up,” he told me quietly after a second passed. “Do your stupid audio recording whatever, then eat and drink something. Same goes for the rest of you,” he added, releasing me and turning to the others. “We made a very good progress so far, should only be about two hours to reach the Stable if there won’t be more problems.” Why did he glance at me when he said that? “We all deserve some break, and this place offers good cover.”

I suppose it did. Before us rose another billboard, laid partially toppled before us, and there were some rocks by it as well, forming a quite cozy space. To spot us, somebody would have to either be in the sky, or stand in the way in which we had came here.

“You’ve got twenty minutes tops,” Jack added, then, as everypony began making themselves comfortable, turned to Burst. “Burst, tell her about bloatsprites, should make this bullshit quicker.”

“‘Bloatsprites’?” I repeated, surprised, then glanced at the remains.

I had heard that name from Apple Core, back when I had asked her to tell me about the Wasteland, but her description of them was somewhat… lacking in details. It’s body was spherical (at least, I assumed so; with its organs spilling out from both halves of its remains, it was rather… deflated), with big round compound eyes, insectoid mouthparts that I would identify later, two pairs of large membranous wings, several appendages at the bottom that were possibly legs, and a few orbicular bulges.

Certainly, it should take more than the two words Apple Core had used to describe them.

“That’s the, quote, ‘flying turd’, unquote?” I asked Apple Core, frowning at her.

“Ah stand by it bein’ an apt description,” she told me, shrugging, and took a sip from her canteen.

I rolled my eyes and focused on Burst, who was standing now beside me. “I trust you can tell me more about them?”

“Sure,” he replied. “They-”

I raised my hoof, stopping him. “Hold on a moment, sweetie.” I brought up my PipBuck and unpaused the recording. “A testimony regarding the species from Burst, male, pony, earth pony, early twenties, mercenary:” I said, then extended my left leg to him and motioned for him to speak.

“Um, well… this species is called ‘bloatsprite’,” Burst resumed, looking a bit uncertainly at my PipBuck, but seemed to grow more confident as he talked. “They used to be smaller and not as dangerous before the war, I think they were called parasprites then, but they mutated due to Taint. They attack ponies and practically everything on sight, shooting their stings at you.”

“Biological projectile weapon? How interesting,” I mused out loud. “So they eat meat?”

“Yeah, but in most cases it’s from some carcass. You’d have to be very unlucky to get killed by them, they’re considered more of a nuisance than an actual threat.”

“And yet they attack on sight? Hm, a surprisingly aggressive behaviour… could they be defending their territory or young? How do they reproduce?” I asked Burst, curious if there were more bloatsprites. None showed on my Eyes-Forward Sparkle, true, but they could be out of its range. And if there were, maybe I could capture a living one. “Do they lay eggs or-”

“They, um, sorta…” Burst hesitated, looking for the right word. “They spit a new bloatsprite after they’ve eaten enough.”

I was stunned. “They reproduce asexually?!”

“Um… yes?” Burst replied, confused. “I think that’s what that means at least…”

“And not only that,” I interrupted him, to excited to wait for him to finish, “when they reproduce, their offspring is fully grown?!”

At least, that’s how I understood “spit new bloatsprite”. If I wasn’t mistaken…

“Yeah, it’s nearly identical to the ‘parent, I guess,” Burst said, somewhat uncertainly, but it was enough for me.

“That’s amazing!” I exclaimed, but my mood quickly grew sour when I remembered that the bloadsprite was dead. Frowning, I turned to Jack. “And you killed it? Just like that?! Do you have any idea how much I could learn from it?!”

“No,” the griffin replied after he finished chewing a bit of some meat (It better not be brahmin’s meat!), “but I have this weird feeling you’re about to tell us. Seriously,” he suddenly added, looking at Apple Core, “how come nobody in Appleloosa killed her yet? Most of you slavers are barely a step up from raiders. You’re telling me she didn’t annoy anybody enough to kill her yet?”

“We don’t kill ponies that work with us just ‘cause they’re annoyin’,” she told him, frowning. “‘Sides, she grows on ya.”

“I somehow doubt that,” Jack retorted, then turned back to me. “Alright, I’ll bite; would the good doctor tell me what could you possibly learn from a bloatsprite?”

“Honestly, sweetie, I would have thought it to be obvious,” I stated, and despite the stares I got in return, I honestly meant that. “Asexual reproduction produces an offspring that arises from a single organism. Now, as I am sure all of you know, during sexual reproduction, which is how, for example, ponies and griffins reproduce, the offspring inherits the genes from both parents.” Ignoring the annoyed groan Jack uttered, and that both Apple Core and Blast had seemingly stopped listening, I continued: “However, an organism that reproduces asexually receives genes from one parent. Their genetic material is identical! It is, in simple words, a cloning process! And this species” I added, pointing at the remains of the bloatsprite, “gives life to a literally identical organism, already in its adult form!”

“And that means?” Jack asked, rubbing his temples; in contrast to my excited shouts, his voice sounded tired and resigned.

“That means, sweetie, that if I research this biological process, with the help of magic I should be able to learn how to create perfect clones of ponies and other sapient beings, which could provide organs and limbs for transplants!” I began to pace around, too excited to hold still. “Back in Stable Eight we came up with many theories regarding therapeutic cloning, but with those bloatsprites, I could turn those theories into reality!”

I turned to my companions, eager to hear them express their reaction to this revelation. To my surprise, though, I was met with mostly confused and unsure stares. And doubtful, too.

“Ya seriously think ya can figure out how t’ clone a pony with those things?” Apple Core asked, her eyebrow raised skeptically. “Ah knew ya were little off, but didn’t think ya were this crazy.”

I frowned hearing the comment. “Well,” I nickered, “I will be sure to remember this, sweetie, when you develop an alcoholic liver disease. Which, if you won’t decrease your alcohol consumption as I had advised you to numerous times, should happen within the next ten years.”

But as I had expected, Apple Core began to roll her eyes even before I finished warning her for about fifth time since we met. “Yeah, no, that’s ain’t gonna happen.”

“So wait, you really think that it would be possible?” Burst asked me before this could develop into an argument. “To clone organs and stuff?”

“We had a saying back in Stable Eight,” I replied, smiling. “‘If something seems impossible, it’s only because nopony invented the spell to do it’. And unlike what most of my former fellow stable dwellers think, not everything has to be resolved solely with magic,” I added with a roll of my eyes. “Quite the contrary, science offers far better and easier solutions to problems, and when you combine science and magic…” I trailed off, smiling as I sighed dreamily. “Yes, sweetie, it would be very much possible.”

A sudden clap! startled me, almost making me jump. Looking around, I realized it was Jack who was clapping his forepaws. “Alright, we are all impressed. If we pass another bloatsprite, I will be sure to leave it to you to deal with it. Now, can you please finish making this audio recording or whatever and eat something? You’ve got fifteen minutes of break left, and I don’t want you to collapse because of exhaustion. Last thing we need is worrying about carrying you,” he added, returning to his meal.

“Oh, of course, sweetie,” I replied with a smile, despite sensing a patronizing tone in his words. “Thank you for taking such interest in my well-being.” I turned to my PipBuck with the intention to resume the recording, only to realize that I forgot to pause it. “Oh, how unprofessional of me…”

About five minutes later, when I had finally finished describing the bloatsprite’s remains for my audio record (Would have been easier if it wasn’t cut in two pieces!), I gathered them to a tightly bound sack Burst gave me after he took his supplies out of it.

“You’re seriously taking it,” Scope, who was sitting on top of a rock keeping watch, commented.

“Of course I am,” I replied, surprised that there were even doubts about it. I took out three healing potions out of my saddlebag to make a room for the bloatsprite’s remains. “Here sweetie,” I told Burst, passing to him one of them with my magic. “Once again, thank you for all your help.”

“Oh, no problem,” the earth pony replied, slightly blushing. “It was nothing.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say-”

“Doctor,” Jack interrupted me; he was looking at me sternly. “You have ten minutes left to catch your breath, eat something, and rest. I’d advise you to stop talking and use them.”

I was about to reply “Oh, of course, thank you sweetie”, but something in Jack’s stare told me that, if I would, he wound leap towards me and grab my muzzle shot before I could finish that sentence. So instead, I merely nodded, passed the remaining healing potions to him and Apple Core, and sat beside Burst.

“Sorry about Jack,” the mercenary whispered as I made myself comfortable and took out the lunch box Ditzy had prepared for me. “He’s… not comfortable with having ponies unfamiliar with combat out in the Wasteland.”

“It’s alright, sweetie,” I assured him, matching his voice’s volume. “In all honesty, I should probably accommodate myself more with his orders, seeing how much more experienced he and the rest of you are with the Wasteland,” I admitted as I stretched my sore limbs.

I must have grimaced from the pain, because Burst asked: “Are you okay?”

“Well, to be honest, sweetie, I’m afraid I’ve started to develop a muscle fatigue in my legs due to all this trotting,” I admitted as I unpacked my lunch box. “I should be fine, but hopefully we could get a longer rest within Stable Eleven. Possibly with a hot bath.”

Not that it will prevent me from getting delayed onset muscle soreness later, I remarked. I might have a hard time getting back tomorro- oh, I exclaimed as I saw the contents of the lunch box that Ditzy had made for me, that’s so sweet of her!

Aside from two small apples and some Fancy Buck Snack Cakes, there also was a muffin.

Surprised and touched by the gesture, I forgot about my legs. I wonder when she had the time to make or buy it, though? I wondered briefly as I sniffed it. As most of the food I had tasted in the Wasteland, it was, to say gently, not quite as tasty as Stable Eight’s muffins. Certainly not like the ones my grandmother used to make. However, after weeks of eating two hundred year old food supplies, they seemed to be the most delicious things ever. I must remember to return the favor. Even though I’m not the best cook…

“You’re doing quite well for somepony who’s, well, not used to those sort of things,” Burst said as I devoured most of the Fancy Buck Snack Cakes, saving the muffin for the end (and apples for journey back). “I guess you didn’t have to walk as much back in your Stable, huh?”

I swallowed before replying. “You are correct, sweetie. Even without having learned the Teleportation Spell like a lot of ponies in Stable Eight, I didn’t exactly trot through such long distances.”

“That’s an advanced spell,” Scope unexpectedly commented. I glanced up at him, surprised; he was still sitting on the rock, but his attention turned to me and Burst. “And you’re saying there are a lot of ponies in your Stable who know it?”

“Yes, of course,” I replied, recovering. “Even those less magically talented unicorns can learn ‘advanced’ spells, provided they dedicate enough time to mastering it of course. And with all the free time the majority of ponies in Stable Eight have, it’s really not surprising how many of them know Teleportation Spell.”

“Oh yeah?” Apple Core chimed in, grinning. “How come ya don’t know it, then?”

“Because, sweetie, I had far less free time, obviously,” I told her, glancing at her. “Not to mention that I was always far more interested in learning medical spells. Besides,” I added, shrugging, “with all the portals in Stable Eight, I never even considered Teleportation Spell as being useful-”

“I’m sorry,” Scope interrupted me, jumping down from the rock and coming closer, “what?! Did you say portals?!”

“Well, yes,” I replied, slightly surprised by his interest. “We use them in Stable Eight for public transportation between levels and sections.”

Scope’s jaw dropped, and it took him a moment to recover himself. “You came up with a magical transportation never developed in Equestria, even during the Great War, and use it in place of elevators?!”

I frowned hearing the criticism in his voice. However, before I could ask him just how else would he expect ponies living in a Stable to use portals, Jack had interjected.

“Scope, keep watch; you can talk magic with her later.”

The unicorn glared at him, but obeyed the order after a second. However, before he turned around, I could see him roll his eyes. “Keep watch for what, exactly? We’ve been walking for hours and all we’ve seen was that bloatsprite. That tribe they’ve mentioned must have hunted down most of the creatures here.”

“Or it was the Hooded Figure,” Apple Core added with a snort; I wondered if her canteen didn’t happen to contain some apple whiskey, seeing how ‘perky’ she became after taking a few sips. Whether my guess was right or wrong, she continued, adding in a scary voice: “Ya know, that creature completely covered in a robe that walks and talks like a pony. One of our guys said he saw ‘im a few weeks ago ‘round those parts.”

“Oh please, everybody knows that’s a myth,” Scope replied as he resumed surveying the area from atop of his rock.

“Um, no, it isn’t?” Blast cut in, frowning.

Apple Core looked at him, surprised. “Wait, ya believe it’s real?”

“It’s not a matter of believing, it’s a matter of meeting the guy,” Blast replied.

“Wait, what?”

“When was it, two years ago?” the earth pony asked his brother, who nodded. “Back when we were working as caravan guards. We stopped at that small town in Manehattan, Arbu. He came shortly after us, about this high,” Blast said, raising his hoof high above his head, “and covered from head to hooves in dark cloak with a hood on his head, so all that you could see of him was the edge of his muzzle.”

Apple Core continued to stare in silence, utterly stunned. Scope was also looking at Blast, but while he did seem surprised, there was disbelief in his eyes as well. “Well… holy shit,” Apple Core finally said, blinking and shaking her stupor off. “So what did he do? Did he kill or maim anypony or somethin’?”

“Nah, nothing like that. Spoke little, bought some Micro-Sparkle Cells from one trader in the caravan… also wanted to buy some meat from ponies in Arbu, but after he sniffed some he seemed to change his mind,” he replied, shrugging.

“Huh, so he’s just some big weirdo who likes to walk ‘round in a cape? That’s kinda… disappointin’,” Apple Core said, frowning. “What are those Micro-Sparkle thingies he bought?”

“It’s an energy source for some magical energy weapons, sweetie,” I said, absentmindedly, my thoughts focused on this mysterious Hooded Figure.

So apparently, it’s not just a myth or a rumor, he actually exists, I thought. While it is possible for a pony to grow to such a height as Blast had claimed the Hooded Figure had, the fact that he’s only seen with his body completely covered might point out to some sort of mutation or other deformity that he’d wish to hide from others… Probably why he interacts with ponies so scarcely that he’d be considered by many to not be real, too- Why is everybody looking at me?

I blinked, stopping my contemplation and looking around. Everybody was staring at me with surprise, for some reason. After a very brief pondering, however, I realized what was probably the cause of it.

“Magical energy weapons are a part of the Stable Eight’s security’s armament, even though there had never been a case of them using them, if I am not mistaken,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“‘Kay, Ah can believe that,” Apple Core said, frowning, then pointed her hoof at me. “But how come Miss ‘Ah’ll never carry a gun’ knows anythin’ ‘bout security’s guns?”

Frowning, I turned to her. “Well, sweetie, if you must know…” I began, but I trailed off. I suddenly realized that there was some weird sound coming from someplace. “Do you hear something?” I asked, flickering my ears as I tried to locate the direction it was coming from.

“Don’t change the-” Apple Core started to say, but she too stopped. “Wait, she’s right. Is that… is that music?”

It was indeed music that we were hearing. I frowned in confusion. I hadn’t expected to hear music out in the Wasteland, unless I’d use my PipBuck to listen to DJ Pon3. Just as I began to wonder whether there was some kind of radio nearby that suddenly got activated (how come the music gradually became louder was a mystery I planned to solve later), I noticed that there now were six bars on my E.F.S.

Intrigued instead of worried, as the sixth bar was green like the others, marking it as a friend, I climbed on top of the rock beside Scope, hoping to spot whoever the bar represented.

To say I was surprised was an understatement.

“Is that another bloatsprite?” Even as I asked that question, I realized it wasn’t one. The… thing that was floating between hills towards us had the same shape as a bloatsprite, though, for reasons that I couldn’t figure out at the moment. It’s metallic body, and the fact that it was the source of the music, pointed out to it being some sort of robot. “Wait, is that a robot?”

“Yeah, that’s a sprite-bot,” Jack, who landed on the rock beside me, said. “How come you can make that out from this distance?” I turned away from the ‘sprite-bot’, stunned. “I thought albinos have poor eyesight.”

Color me impressed!

“Why, Jack, sweetie, I’m impressed!” I exclaimed, genuinely impressed. “Seldom had anybody in the Wasteland recognized my disorder, and they hadn’t displayed knowledge of its some, shall we say, less visible symptoms!”

My enthusiasm was quenched a tad as Jack sighed heavily. “Why did I even… thanks, I guess. Can you just answer my question, preferably shortly?”

Trust my luck to meet a person with some understanding of albinism that wouldn’t want to talk about it in further detail.

“Well, if you must know, sweetie, I can see as well as a normal pony, thanks to several ocular arcane surgeries I had undergone as a foal,” I replied. As soon as his eyebrows had raised, betraying a hint of interest, I began to elaborate: “Using a focusing crystal, the doctors modified my optic nerves and retina to be no different than those of ponies who don’t suffer from albinism and preventing me from developing visual problems. Although,” I admitted grudgingly, looking up at the clouded sky with a grimace, “if Celestia’s sun hadn’t been covered by those pegasi, it would still probably be best if I wear some protective eyewear.” There were a few times back in Stable Eight when looking at the illusory skies at the ceilings I would find the illusory sun to be hurtful to my eyes.

“Huh, that’s actually... neat,” Jack admitted, sounding impressed.

“Thank you, sweetie. Now,” I began, turning back to the music-broadcasting robot, which had drew even closer as we spoke, “could you tell me what is this ‘sprite-bot’, exactly?”

And why is it playing the March of the Parasprites? I wondered, finally recognizing the tuba-heavy music as the one I had heard on Red Eye’s radio broadcast, the only other radio station besides DJ Pon3. Admittedly, while this music is a bit too monotonous for my tastes, it is more enjoyable than that pony’s speeches at least…

“Nothing interesting,” Jack replied, shrugging, “there are tons of those things patrolling the Wasteland like that. They were supposed to boost the morale of Equestria’s citizens back during the war with the ‘uplifting’ music. And no,” he added, jumping back down from the rock, “I don’t know why they were modeled after those insects’ ancestors.”

Surprised, I glanced at Scope, who just shrugged and resumed watching the area. “And they continue to do so after two hundred years?” I asked, following Jack down. “How come?”

“They simply continue to do what they were programmed to do,” Blast replied. “Like most robots. Which is why a lot of people get themselves killed exploring places, ponies often used robots as security back then.”

Being stuck performing a duty that no longer matters? What a sad existence. I thought back to Janitor, the hospital’s Mister Handy that was currently working for me. He had a programmed personality, probably due to his workplace, but there were limits to his “consciousness”. Considering that if he hadn’t been turned off due to the damage he would have been cleaning that basement for the past two hundred years, it’s probably for the best. I can’t imagine how a true Artificial Intelligence would cope with such a fate.

I stopped my musing as I heard Apple Core groan with annoyance. “Ugh, Ah forgot how annoyin’ that music is! Ya guys mind if Ah shoot it?” she asked and, without waiting for reply, she reached for her gun.

“Yes, because we don’t want to attract attention,” Jack told her sternly, stopping her.

“What attention?” Apple Core asked, rolling her eyes. “There’s nopony ‘ere!”

“Yeah, and the moment you start shooting, it will turn out that there are raiders behind one of those hills or billboards. I would rather not take those chances.”

“If I am not mistaken, sweetie, the music is about to end anyway,” I told Apple Core as the mare rolled her eyes at Jack. “And besides, it would seem that the sprite-bot is bound to hover somewhere away eventually.”

Unfortunately for Apple Core, it appeared that this particular sprite-bot’s programmed path led by our “camp”, as the music continued to grow louder. However, as I had said, it ended about ten seconds later, causing the slaver mare to let out a loud sigh of relief.

Now it was my turn to be annoyed.

“That was the March of the Parasprites,” a gravelly voice announced, completely pointlessly, when the music ended.

I did my best to tune him off as the speaker was about to announce Red Eye’s speech. Of course, with the sprite-bot being only about ten or so feet away as it continued it flight, I wasn’t very successful.

“Not a fan of his speeches I take?” Burst asked as I sighed.

“I suppose you could say that, sweetie,” I replied as the speaker continued. “I had listened to a few on my PipBuck after I left my Stable, and later on the radio in Appleloosa. Let’s just say that I disagree with that buck’s philosophy.”

“Ya do realize he’s our major source of income, right?” Apple Core asked.

“Yours, sweetie” I corrected her. “You and the rest of the slavers sell him slaves. I am Appleloosa’s medic. And while I don’t have much against that, I do take issue of what he is doing with those slaves.” Looking from Apple Core to Burst and back, I took advantage of their attention and (hoping to drown out the radio so I wouldn’t have to listen to a repeat of Red Eye’s speeches) began: “He claims that everything those slaves are building is for the future of Equestria, right? But tell me, isn’t a pony - or any sapient being,” I added with a glance at Jack, who raised his eyebrow; I don’t know if he was already listening or not, but there was a spark of interest in his eyes as I continued, “- aren’t they entitled to the fruits of their labor and sweat of their brows? Red Eye speaks only about the future, but not about how he plans to get to it, aside from some nonsense about ‘Unity’.” I shook my head dismissively. “Vague promises. If he truly means to restore Equestria, he should truly work with workers, not slaves. Pay them instead of beat them. But, as he mentions in one of his broadcasts, it would hamper the progress and stave off the future. He has eyes on only that, the future, and completely ignores the present. Sooner or later, it will bite him in the tail.”

“You seem to put a lot of thought into that,” Jack noted while the other two, now joined by Blast as well, continued to stare silently.

“Like I said, I have listened to some of his broadcasts; I had time to think his vision and promises over,” I replied, then, reluctantly, I turned one ear to the sprite-bot as the speaker finally finished announcing Red Eye.

“One of the children asked me, ‘Red Eye, what is your cutie mark?”

Hm, hadn’t heard that one yet, was the first thing I thought. The second was: Children?

“Meh, Ah don’t really care ‘bout that as long as he stays in Fillydelphia,” Apple Core began to say, but I shushed her with a gesture, curious where Red Eye was going with this broadcast.

“To that child, I answered ‘I do not have one.’”

I blinked, surprised. He had to be an adult; probably was older than me by decade or two. I had heard that much about him to know that. How could a pony that old not have a cutie mark?

“Of course, the next question was ‘Why, Red Eye?’ Why don’t I have a cutie mark? Because I choose not to have a cutie mark.”

My jaw fell. “Come again?” I asked out loud after a heartbeat, utterly stunned.

“Why would I want one? Am I really going to let a picture on my flank determine my future?”

My body jerked.

“If I find something that I really enjoy, do I need an icon on my ass to tell me? Of course not. To too many ponies, cutie marks are more about what you can’t be. How can you expect to be a great scientist if your cutie mark is a rake?”

The corners of my mouth twitched and started to curl as I continued to listen.

“Or an amazing artist if your flank has a picture of a pile of hay? Who is going to give you the chance? But if your flank is bare, then the possibilities are endless.”

“Um, Angel?” Apple Core asked, worry in her voice as I began to giggle. “Are ya okay?”

“And the choice is up to you. That is why I had my cutie mark removed.”

That did it for me. Not caring for the slightest where we were and what sort of dangers could be lurking, I erupted with maniacal laughter. Ignoring my companions’ surprise and confusion - not to mention the hastily growled command to be quiet - I grabbed my sides and fell down on the ground, laughing like an insane pony, after hearing the pony that had claimed he intends to restore Equestria to say the most idiotic nonsense I had ever heard of.

I continued to laugh even when Jack’s talons had again clamped on my muzzle, except now my laughter was muted. Apparently, it either was still too loud for his liking or I was plain annoying him, because he grasped me by my barding with his free paw and lifted me from the ground, pressing me against the rock.

“Stop laughing so loudly,” he growled at me quietly.

The little pain he had caused me helped me calm myself a bit, so I nodded and managed to stop laughing. I took a deep breath as Jack released me and took a step back, in an attempt to further calm down. “I’m sorry,” I managed to say; I couldn’t stop smiling. “I know I shouldn’t laugh… Radiant Celestia and Brilliant Luna, glory to thee, forgive me for taking such amusement in the wandering of that misguided soul, grant him strength and wisdom to see the error of his ways,” I prayed, making a circular motion with my right hoof over my heart, then on the other side of my chest and a bigger one around both points before bringing my hooves together, all while shaking my head. Noticing that the others were still staring at me, I giggled and began to explain. “I just… I just never expected to hear a pony who obviously must be intelligent say such…” I struggled to find the right word, “... such nonsense! I mean, did he honestly believe that erasing his cutie mark would free him from what he is?!” I asked my companions as I uttered a short (and quiet) laugh, shaking my head in amusement and wonder.

Apple Core was first of them to break the silence. “Oookay,” she said slowly, “so Red Eye is an idiot, got it. Can ya stop bein’ freaky now?”

“And loud,” Jack added, glaring at me with annoyance. “I swear, if this area wasn’t so empty for whatever reason, you just would have attracted everything within ten miles!”

“Yeah, ‘cause she was that loud,” Apple Core retorted, rolling her eyes. As the griffin glared at her she added: “And like ya said, there’s nothin’ ‘ere, so-”

She was interrupted by Scope, who jumped down from the rock. “Five raiders coming in from the north,” he said, levitating his sniper rifle beside him.

“Oh, ya’ve gotta be kiddin’ me,” Apple Core exclaimed, facehoofing.

My amusement quickly evaporated as I heard that, even without the cold stare Jack shot me.

“That sprite-bot had a few bullet marks on it, so they are probably chasing it,” Scope added, shrugging. “You might want to take that under consideration before you kill our medic.”

“I wasn’t going to kill her,” Jack snapped, clearly annoyed. He grunted and massaged his temples. “You're sure it’s only five of them?”

“Only five?” Apple Core asked, bewildered, as Scope nodded.

Her answer was a short chuckle uttered by Blast. “Just stand back and watch,” he told her before turning to Jack. “How do you wanna do this Jack? Throw grenade at them when they get closer and have Scope pick off those that would get away?”

Jack shook his head. “No, the entire point of getting to Stable without any trouble was to avoid additional expenses such as grenades or ammo.”

“I told you that you should have just killed that Steel Ranger and taken the holotape instead of paying so much,” Scope said.

“I’ll sneak up on them and take them out by myself,” Jack continued, ignoring the unicorn’s remark. “You just give me cover, and shoot only if they notice me.”

“W-wait,” I spoke; I had been lost in my musing as to why would those ponies had shot at the sprite-bot, which I think was what Scope had been implying, as well as berating myself for not noticing that myself. The fact that I had little interests in machines like those and annoyance towards Red Eye’s speeches was no excuse! However, I still had paid attention to what was being said, and I wasn’t sure I liked where this was going. “Are you going to kill them?”

Everybody stared at me. “Um, yes?” Blast said, raising an eyebrow. “They’re raiders, and if we don’t take them out they will kill us all?”

So apparently everybody agrees on raiders needing to be shot on sight, I thought. I had, of course, listened to DJ Pon3 warning about them on his station, and heard plenty from Apple Core and some others about them, but myself having met only one, who was heavily bound during his stay in Appleloosa on top of that, I had my doubts.

I know, Fluttershy unexpectedly chimed in, but to kill them, even though they haven’t done anything to us…

I think so too, I quickly assured her. Let me deal with this.

“But they haven’t harmed us yet,” I began to argue.

“Please tell me she is joking,” Jack said, turning to Apple Core, who was facehoofing.

“We could simply wait for them to pass us-” I tried to say, but Scope cut me off.

“They probably heard you earlier.”

The glare Fluttershy’s apparition gave me did not help me feel better about the realization that I might have led five ponies to their death.

“Well… how about I’d go and convince them to leave us?” I said. In light of all I had heard about raiders, it was probably my least preferable option, but apparently it was the only one that would lead to everybody leaving this place with their lives. “I am quite convincing-”

Jack’s talons were once again gripping my muzzle, stopping me in mid-sentence. “No,” he said, glaring at me with annoyance as he released me.

I was about to start arguing with him but I received and unexpected help. “You know, that’s not exactly a bad idea to let her go,” Blast said, causing everybody to look at him. “At the very least, she would be a good distraction for you.”

I frowned, disappointed that this was the reason why he’d be willing to let me try.

“As much as annoyin’ she is, Ah’m not lettin’ ya get ‘er killed like that,” Apple Core said, seeming even more upset than me.

“Oh please, they’d try to rape her before killing her,” Blast scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Jack would have plenty of time to kill them before they’d even touch her.”

“I’m having less time to do that as we continue this stupid argument,” Jack said, leaning up to glance behind the rock. “I don’t need any distraction, the hills will be enough of a cover for me to get a drop on them.”

“But sweetie-” I tried again, only to find myself being stared down by Jack.

“Look,” he said, pointing one of his talons at my chest, “I am not letting you get yourself or anybody else killed because of your naivety with the Wasteland. Do you remember what you said before that mental breakdown, about ponies and all other sapient beings entitled to some things? Those things,” he pointed in the direction where the raiders were (so it happened that now they were in the range of my E.F.S., so I could see red bars in that direction), “murder, mutilate, rape and often eat everybody they get their hooves on. Doesn’t matter if you’re a mercenary, doctor, trader, or whether you’re an adult or a foal. They had long since given up the right to be called ‘sapient beings’,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “They’re not entitled to anything, and should be killed on sight.”

I blinked, surprised. Even as I myself mulled over his words, Fluttershy said to me: Isn’t that the same reasoning you have for why you perform experiments on some ponies? That they had lost their right to be called sapient beings?

Yes, it’s word to word, practically, I admitted.

“Alright, sweetie,” I told Jack, sitting down to emphasize that I was leaving this matter to him.

“Wow,” Apple Core exclaimed, staring at me, then turning to Jack. “Ya gotta teach me how t’ do that.”

The griffin was still frowning at me, probably wondering whether I truly had surrendered or not. “Keep an eye on her,” he finally told Blast and Burst, then turned to Scope. “Give me cover. I’ll be right back.”

With those words, he gracefully lifted himself slightly into the air and began to fly around the toppled billboard, most likely intending to circle around the raiders behind one of the hills, all while keeping himself so low that his chest was almost brushing the ground.

“Are ya sure he can take out five of ‘em by ‘imself?” Apple Core asked Blast and Burst, while Scope climbed up the rock as far as he could without letting his head stick out above it, and placed his sniper rifle between its crevices, letting him observe the raiders.

“Um, duh!” Blast replied, snorting. “Like I said, just watch. Is it safe to look?” he asked Scope.

Scope glanced back only so long as to deadpan at him, before he returned to observing the raiders. Blast rolled his eyes and jumped up the rock beside him to see for himself. Apparently, the raiders either were far away enough or weren’t looking in this direction, as he motioned for us to come up as well.

Curious, I followed Apple Core and Burst as they climbed on the rocks. Leaning my head slightly above them, I was able to see five ponies, as Scope had said. They… well, to be honest, they looked exactly as they had been described to me. All of them were clad in some ragged leather barding and carried various weapons, two of the three unicorns carrying the biggest of them with their magic and one earth pony carrying just a knife in her mouth. Even from this distance - they were more or less in the same spot as the sprite-bot had been when I first saw him - I could see that their bodies were marked by a lot of scars and that their manes were unevenly cut, making their appearance seem even scarier and more violent.

Although appearances don’t make a pony, I hummed, a part of me still not convinced if I was doing the right thing submitting to Jack’s opinion.

“I swear I heard somepony laugh!” one of the raiders growled in annoyance, looking around as they walked between a hill and some debris.

While some of my companions glanced at me, a raider mare giggled scornfully. “Sure, and the sprite-bot was spying on us. We believe you.”

The first raider - who appeared to be their leader - turned around to face her. “If you have anything to say bitch, do so. I’ll be sure to listen before I break your muzzle in.”

The mare backed away slightly. “Alright, I’ll shut up. Geez. So since there’s somepony here, does it mean we’ll give up on catching that stupid robot and have some fun with them?”

“Yeah, I’d much rather do that,” another raider commented, while the remaining two nodded. “Plus, I’m starving.”

I’m starting to think everybody had been right.

The first raider seemed torn, making me wonder why he had been so interested in catching the sprite-bot, but ultimately he grunted and nodded. “Fine, yeah, let’s find those fuckers,” he said, turning around.

In the exact moment as he did, Jack flew high up into the air from behind a hill. With the raiders moving in the south-east direction (Meaning they would have missed us, I noted with slight annoyance) none of them saw the griffin as he inserted himself right above them, and then swiftly dived down.

He first targeted the unicorn raider who was at the back of the group. As Jack dove at him, his right forepaw reached for the hilt of his sword, and just when he was right above his mark, he spread his wings, stopping his descent, while at the same time he draw his blade. The griffin stroke so swiftly that I could have sworn the unicorn’s firearm had still been held by his magic for a split second after his head had been separated from his body.

The other raiders, alarmed no doubt by noise behind them, began to turn back, but Jack didn’t wait for them. Without looking back at the pony he just killed, he moved on to the earth pony who held a knife in her mouth. A quick thrust and the sword went through her throat, spraying blood around her like a fountain water. As she fell, Jack grabbed the knife she had let go of, and threw it at another raider, plunging it right between his eyes, hilt-deep.

Turning his attention to the two remaining raiders, Jack brought his sword to his side and leaped at the one of his left. The two were the unicorns I noted earlier to be carrying the biggest weapons, some type of rifles probably; my knowledge on those types of firearms was severely limited. Jack, however, seemed to consider them the smallest threat, seeing how he had killed off the other three before them. He swung his sword, aiming not at the raider but at his gun, pushing it out of his way and with the barrel pointed towards the last raider.

Right as its owner began to shoot.

Three shots fired at his companion before he released the trigger, although it was hard to tell whether he had done so on his own accord, or because Jack’s free paw’s talons had pierced through his chest. As the griffin took his blood-covered paw out of the raider, the unicorn fell down on the ground, beside the raider he had unwillingly shot.

It was over as quickly as it had began.

Beside me, Apple Core was staring at the scene with her mouth agape, causing Blast to chuckle in amusement. I myself also stared at Jack. While I oppose violence in general, and I would have still preferred if we could have avoided killing those raiders, I couldn’t deny that the proficiency displayed by him, along with the way his body moved - swift and with a purpose, without any signs of hesitation or doubt - had deeply impressed me. There was a certain… beauty to it, in its own way.

As I watch him wipe the blood off his paw and sword, I heard Apple Core start hesitantly: “So, it just hit me… he’s a griffin with a sword, and he can do all that… he ain’t a member of Bloodtalons by any chance, ain’t he?” she asked, looking at Blast.

“Well, he used to be.”

“Oh, Celestia fuck me with her horn!” she exclaimed, facehoofing. “And ya guys just let us talk back to him?!” she asked Blast, ignoring the offended look I was giving her for using the Goddess’ name in such profane manner. “If Ah knew he was a Bloodtalon, Ah would ‘ave kept my mouth shut! And make her shut it too!” she added, pointing at me.

As Blast and Burst both snickered at Apple Core’s reactiong, I turned to them with a confused frown. “Could somepony explain to me who are Bloodtalons and why is Apple Core making such a commotion about it?”

“Well…” Blast begun, but Apple Core cut him off.

“It’s just the most deadly mercenary group in the entire world!”

“Yeah, that,” Blast agreed. “Also probably the first mercenary group, at least when it comes to the Talons. Jack told us that his family had been in this business since before even the Great War.”

Really? I thought, musing this over. Hm… If that’s the case, I wonder…

“And as for talking back- hey, where are you going?” Blast asked as I jumped down from the rock and began to trot away.

“It is safe now, isn’t it sweetie?” I asked, glancing back without stopping.

Um, what do you plan to do? Fluttershy asked me as I continued to walk towards Jack.

I want to make sure I made the correct choice, I replied. And to get a better picture of what kind of person Jack is.

If you plan to do what I think you’re doing, I really hope you’re right. I did not like what he just did.

Me neither, but you heard what he said about raiders. Since that’s what everybody keeps telling us about them, we should assume it to be right.

Still…

“When I said that I would be right back,” Jack commented as he noticed me approaching, “I thought it was clear that I implied to not come here.”

“Well, if you had made it clear, I would have argued why it’d make little sense, seeing how there’s nothing dangerous around anymore,” I replied, causing the griffin to sigh and roll his eyes. “I must say, your… performance was quite fascinating. I never had a chance to see anybody display such level of physical skills.”

“Thanks?” Jack replied, raising an eyebrow in mild confusion.

“Don’t get me wrong though, I would have still preferred if this matter could have been resolved without bloodshed. I sincerely hope you had been right about the raiders having lost their right to be called sapient beings. In fact,” I added, turning to one of the bodies on the ground, the one which was still bleeding out and that my E.F.S. was still showing as a red bar, “I’d like you to prove it to me.”

Before Jack could ask what I meant - and most likely try to stop me - I cast the Healing Spell on the raider who was shot by his friend, mending his wounds. Two of the three bullets were still buried within his chest, while the last one had exited his body leaving only the wound. I left them, for now at least, while I healed the damage they had done to his lungs and closed the entrance and exit wounds so he wouldn’t bleed out. Taking them out would take too much time for what I intended.

“What do you think you’re doing?” the griffin snarled at me, sounding more annoyed than angered; which, considering what I saw him do about twenty seconds ago, was a relief.

“What a doctor should do,” I replied calmly, my eyes on the raider as he drew still pained but deeper breath now. Not giving him a chance to rise, I cast an Anesthetic Spell, rendering him unable to move, and turned back to Jack. “He lost a quite a bit of blood and some got into his lungs, but he will live.” I began, avoiding mentioning the two bullets still in his body. “After my Anesthetic Spell wears off, he will be able to go back to wherever he and the other four came from. Which, if you are right, will lead to him harming more people in the future.”

“If you have a point,” Jack interrupted me, visibly irritated, “I suggest you make it.”

“It’s simple, really,” I told him, looking him in the eyes. “Kill him.”

The griffin held my gaze for several seconds. I wished I could read what was going through his mind, as nothing of it showed on his face. After a few moments, his eyes darted to the motionless raider, and he snorted. “He’s unarmed. I won’t kill somebody who can’t defend himself,” he said, raising from the ground and turning to leave.

While on the outside I continued to maintain a neutral expression, inwardly I smiled briefly. I was right about him.

“I thought you said that raiders aren’t entitled to anything?” I reminded him. The griffin stopped and looked me in the eyes. “Were you lying? If not, I see no reason why you’d refuse to kill this one.”

“The fu- The fuck are ya doin’?!” Surprised to hear Apple Core’s hiss, I broke the eye contact with Jack to glance behind me. The slaver mare had followed me along with Burst, with Blast and Scope trailing a little behind. “Why are ya plain’ some mind games with ‘im?!”

“I’m not playing mind games, sweetie,” I corrected her, “I just want to know whether I can leave this place with my conscience intact or not.”

Hearing pawsteps coming from Jack’s direction, I turned back to him. Before I finished doing that easy and fast motion, though, I heard another sound; the slashing sound I had heard his sword make as he swung it at the raiders. By the time I had turned my head to look at Jack, the blade had found its mark. A small line of blood splattered on my face as the griffin separated the raider’s head from his body.

“Please don’t heal him from that,” he said, starting to wipe his sword once again with some rag.

I decided to not comment on the sarcasm I detected in his voice. Instead, I sighed deeply with relief. “Thank you, sweetie.”

Grunting in acknowledgement, Jack sheathed his sword. “Sorry about the blood,” he added, drawing a line over his face that I assumed must reflect how the blood had splattered on mine. Undisturbed, I cast a Disinfection Spell on myself to remove it from my coat. Meanwhile, Jack turned to others. “Since you’re all already here, help me search their bodies for valuable things. Preferably bullets and caps.”

“Oh, please undress them while you’re at it, could you?” I asked as I made sure my coat was clear of blood. “I’d like to record their cutie marks after I take their blood samples.”

I was about to take out the case with syringes from my saddlebags, but I noticed the stares everybody was giving me. Before I could ask what was wrong, Jack glared at me and asked: “You are just determined to give me a brain aneurysm, aren’t you?”

Frowning, I began, “Sweetie, that’s not-”

“I know that’s not how it works!” the griffin exclaimed sharply, his wings flaring in his annoyance. “By the Egg, what is wrong with you?!”

“Um…” I stammered, baffled by his reaction and the question. “You mean, besides albinism? Well, I suppose-”

Jack’s talons grabbed my muzzle, again, as with the talons of his other paw he massaged his temples. “It was rhetorical, shut up.” He paused to sigh and turned to look at me. “If you somehow manage to explain shortly why you want to take blood samples of those raiders, I might allow this.”

I took a deep breath as Jack released my muzzle, quickly thinking of how to best accommodate his request. “I want to examine their blood to learn more about the state of ponies population’s health in the Wasteland. That can only be done by conducting a test on a large number of ponies. Also,” I added, hoping it would show that I was being fairly reasonable, “I would actually prefer if I could examine their entire bodies, or even just the brains, but I do realize that I can’t expect you to carry them for me or for you to wait until I cut their skulls open to remove their brains; not that I have the means to transport those safely, mind you.”

Something told me that last bit might not have accomplished what I had hoped; quite the opposite, if Jack’s and other’s expression were of any indication. I smiled uncertainly as I awaited the griffin’s verdict. Jack continued to glare at me, but after a few seconds he sighed and again massaged his temples. “Start looting the bodies then get moving,” he told the rest before turning to me. “You do whatever you do, then catch up. I need to clear my head,” Jack added as he spread his wings, preparing to fly away.

“Wait,” Burst stopped him. “You want us to leave her alone?”

“I will be keeping an eye on her from the air,” Jack assured him. “I just want us to start moving as soon as possible, the good doctor can run after she’s done.” He jumped into the air and was about to fly away, but then stopped and turned around, hovering mid-air. “If you take too long, I will drag you by your tail,” he told me before flying higher up.

“Thank you sweetie,” I called after him, then turned back to the corpses.

I levitated the case and took out the first syringe. No way to mark them, I noted, frowning. I will have to mention in the recording the order I put them in the case.

“Would you like me to stay with you?” Burst offered as he and the others began checking the bodies, searching for any valuables. “There still could be something dangerous around.”

“Thank you for your offer, sweetie,” I told him, touched, “I really appreciate it. However, I fear I might have pushed Jack’s patience to the proverbial limit, and I wouldn’t want to annoy him further by causing you to disobey his orders. Don’t worry sweetie,” I quickly began to assure him as he opened his mouth to argue further, “I still have my Eyes-Forward Sparkle turned on. If any red bars appear, I will start running after you.”

Burst didn’t appear to convinced, but he nodded. “Alright, if you say so. Just don’t be too long,” he added as he took some bullets from one dead raider and the gun that laid beside him.

The others had also finished (apparently, those raiders didn’t carry too many valuable things with them) and were readying themselves to leave as well. “Yeah, Ah would offer t’ stay too,” Apple Core began as she adjusted her saddlebags, “but whatever ya’re gonna do sounds creepy and probably will be, so Ah’m out.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Don’t worry, sweetie, I won’t be far behind you.”

As Apple Core and the rest began to leave, I began to turn back to the closest body, but I realized Burst was still lingering beside me. “You mind if I ask you something?” he asked after a few seconds.

“Of course, sweetie, what can I help you with?” I said, turning to him again.

“What exactly was that with telling Jack to kill that raider?” Burst asked, tilted his head in confusion.

“Like I told Apple Core, sweetie, I wanted to make sure my conscience was clear. Please bear in mind that I hadn’t personally bore witness to the multitude of atrocities everybody mentions raiders commit,” I explained, feeling a little ashamed to admit to such lack of experience which was apparently very common in the Equestrian Wasteland. “Though I had submitted to Jack’s decision and let him deal with this matter the way he saw fit, there was still doubt in my mind, which weighed heavily on my conscience.”

Burst listened to me surprisingly attentively. “Alright, but how does Jack killing the raider you healed helped you clear your conscience?”

I smiled. “Your brother had mentioned that his family has practiced the mercenary profession since before even the Great War, remember? Now, I admit, it was a big assumption of me to make, but I theorized that since Jack came from a family that had been following their traditions for so long - traditions that date to before the war - he possibly follows some code of honor or morals that he would hesitate to break, even when facing people who lost their right to be called ‘sapient beings’.” I glanced back at the raider I had healed and that was decapitated by Jack. “My theory was confirmed when Jack hesitated; plainly refused to kill him, even. I assume he planned to ask one of you to do the deed,” I added, turning back to Burst. “But when he ultimately ended the raider’s life, I know he was speaking truth; raiders aren’t entitled to anything, not even our own morals. Now I no longer feel the weight of doubts I had earlier,” I finished, smiling again.

“I see…” Burst said slowly, frowning as he contemplated my words. “You know, this entire… plan, of yours, it all was banking basically on Jack not being an asshole, which it so happens that most griffins actually are?”

“I was not aware his species had such opinions,” I replied, frowning; since Burst himself, along with his brother, seemed on friendly terms with Jack, it was highly unlikely his remark had been caused by some kind of prejudice towards griffins. Making a mental note to learn more about griffins and how they are viewed at a later date, I shook my head. “That might be true, sweetie, but you have to admit, if that were the case, he wouldn’t be quite as… courteous as he is while dealing with me. I know I can be annoying at times, but I think I never caused such annoyance to anyone as I seem now to be causing Jack. And yet despite that, aside from holding my muzzle, he hadn’t done anything to me.”

“I suppose you have a point there,” Burst agreed. “But I wouldn’t call you annoying, just… um… unfamiliar with the Wasteland and stuff,” he stammered, blushing a little.

“You’re most kind, sweetie,” I told him, smiling. “I look forward to learning more from you and the others. And speaking of learning,” I added, nodding at the corpses, “if you’d excuse me, I have work to do.”

“Right. Don’t take long,” the earth pony said before hurrying after his brother and the rest.

I like him, Fluttershy commented as Burst left. He seems nice. And he obviously likes you.

Indeed, I agreed, plunging in the syringe into the first corpse and taking a blood sample. I like him too. He seems interested in more than just my physical attributes… a rarity amongst bucks who displayed interest in me in the past. What do you think of the others?

Oh, well… Blast seems… nice too, in his own way. A bit nasty when compared to Burst, but I think he has a good heart. And Jack… I’m glad he hesitated when you asked him to kill that raider.

Me too, I replied, growing sullen as I glanced at the disembodied head. I didn’t enjoy asking him to do that, you know. But… I had to know. If I hadn’t asked him, I wouldn’t be able to stop thinking whether I’d made the right decision or not, and it would probably result with me going to a raider base or something to see for myself what kind of ponies they were. Based on everything we heard, including those five’s gossip, I don’t think you’d like that any more than I would.

Yeah, probably, Fluttershy’s apparition murmured, looking down.

Anyway, I said, securing the syringe with the blood inside of it, if you don’t mind, sweetie, I need to focus on making records for them now.

Oh, of course, go ahead.

With my mind becoming quiet, I started to make the next audio recording, describing the pony I had taken the blood sample from. I tried to be as precise as I could in the short time I had - I was aware that I’d have to run after the rest, and since my legs were already aching I had no desire for the distance to grow too large - but I knew that I couldn’t do much more than record whether they were unicorns or earth ponies, their coat colors, some distinctive features such as scars and cutie marks.

If I already hadn’t been convinced that raiders weren’t sapient beings anymore, the sight of their cutie marks would have done it. All of them seemed to revolve around pain and suffering. The worst was the cutie mark of a head of a teddy bear, with nails in his eyes and bloody tears falling down.

I wonder what that Red Eye pony would have thought if he’d see such a cutie mark? I wondered as I began recording the last body, all five blood sample already taken. Probably that the pony should have removed it the moment they got it, I replied with a roll of eyes, banishing the thought. It wouldn’t do me good to start laughing the futility and pointlessness of removing a cutie mark, much less the very faulty reasoning behind it.

A movement on my E.F.S. caught my attention, making me pause for a moment. Mindful that I was alone and what I had promised Burst, I had kept in mind to check it constantly. Until recently the others were still within its range (as only a few minutes had passed since they left; I did say I wouldn’t be far behind, after all), but when their bars had disappeared, I noticed that there was currently a single bar moving on the edge of my vision. However, it was a green bar, so I relaxed immediately. As I couldn't hear any hoofsteps, I guessed it must be Jack, flying back to check on me… or possibly to start dragging me away by my tail, as I took too much time.

Finding the idea not appealing in the slightest, I hurried to finish my audio recording. I described the raider’s cutie mark and looked over the rest of the body to see if there were any scars worth noting when he spoke.

“Hi-”

Pausing the recording briefly, I quickly interrupted him. “Yes, I know,” I said, waving him off without turning around, “I’m almost done, sweetie, just checking whether there are some distinctive scars on this last body.”

“Oh, okay.” He stayed silent for a few seconds, but then asked me: “Why are you doing that, exactly?”

I sighed, annoyed at another interruption, and paused the recording again. “Like I said, I’m trying to gain more information regarding pony’s population health in the Wasteland…” I trailed off and paused, frowning and flickering my ears.

Something was… off with Jack’s voice, that in my fixation on the bodies I hadn’t realized at first. Namely, that it wasn’t Jack’s voice. Or Burst’s, or anybody else from our little group. Confused, I turned around.

A sprite-bot was hovering behind me.

I blinked, surprised. After a heartbeat, I lifted my left leg and unpaused my recording on the PipBuck. “End log,” I said, turning it off. Tilting my head in confusion, I moved closer to it. “You’re that sprite-bot from before,” I stated.

A short chuckle emitted from the robot. “Well, sorta,” the metallic voice said, “I actually just hacked into this thing to talk with you. You can call me Watcher.”

My ears flickered when he said ‘hacked’. “I’m doctor Angel, pleased to meet you, sweetie,” I replied. A thought occurred to me, and I frowned. “Wait, if you can talk to me through this robot… does it mean you can hear and see me?”

“Yep. Why?”

I blinked… and then giggled, unable to stop myself. “Oh, that’s clever. Very clever.”

“What do you mean?” Watcher asked; because of the metallic voice it was hard to tell, but I think he sounded confused.

“Back when I left my Stable, I passed a billboard that said ‘Pinkie Pie is watching you forever’ - ‘forever’ written in capital letters - and now I see what that meant. Pinkie Pie was the Ministry Mare of Ministry of Morale, correct?”

“Yes,” Watcher replied; I half-expected the robot to nod.

“And as one of my companions had informed me, those robots were supposed to boost ponies morale with that music, which means that they were, most likely, the property of Ministry of Morale.” (I mean, it’s in the name, right?) “Meaning that they had Goddesses know how much of Equestria under their surveillance, with the cameras right out in the open. You’ve got to admit, that’s clever,” I said, pointing my hoof at the sprite-bot. “Morally questionable depending on the motives behind this idea and what was done with the gained knowledge, but clever.”

“I… suppose you could say that, yes,” Watcher agreed, though I got the impression that he wasn’t in complete accord with me on it. Which, considering what he was using it for, would be ironic.

“If I may ask, sweetie, why were you spying on me and my companions? And those raiders earlier?” I asked, recalling what the raiders had said between themselves before Jack descended upon them.

“Oh, I send the sprite-bot to their camp further up north from here to to see if they were holding anypony.”

“Commendable,” I commented. “Did they?”

“No, fortunately, just more raiders,” Watcher said, causing me to sigh with relief; I highly doubted I would be able to convince the others to go rescue them. “As for you, well, I was curious. You don’t see many ponies arguing about sparing raiders.”

I sighed. “If you’re going to berate me, like my companions, know that I learned my lesson.”

“Yeah, I saw.” The sprite-bot stayed silent for a few moments, then added: “I’ll be honest, I don’t know what to make of you.”

“Well, sweetie,” I said, smiling friendly, “that makes two of us. What should I make of somebody that spies on others, Watcher?”

"Fair point,” Watcher replied. Again he paused for several seconds. “Are you friends with those ponies and that griffin?”

I raised my eyebrow, surprised by the change of subject. “It… would depend on you definition of friend, sweetie,” I said slowly. “I would say that Apple Core is my friend, certainly - despite her tolerance issues - but as for others, I had met them only yesterday. Well, Jack earlier today to be precise,” I added with a roll of my eyes. “I do like all of them though.”

“That’s good to hear,” Watcher said. “You can’t survive long in the Wasteland without friends. What did you mean by tolerance issues, though?”

“You would understand if you had seen her reaction to me kissing Ditzy,” I sighed. “Or how she talked about her.”

“... Ditzy Doo?” Watcher asked after a few seconds.

“Yes.”

“The author of ‘Wastelands Survival Guide’?”

“That’s correct, sweetie,” I replied happily.

“... the ghoul pony?”

I immediately frowned. “I suggest you chose your next words carefully, sweetie.”

“No no, I didn’t mean anything offensive! Just…” Watcher struggled for words, then finally sighed. “You do realize that’s a bit… unusual, right?”

“It has been brought to my attention, yes,” I replied, shrugging. Slightly mollified, I added: “I won’t let such little things as ‘unusuality’ stop me from displaying affection on somebody I like, though.”

“That's… commendable,” Watcher immediately said. “I’ve got to admit, you’re certainly an interesting pony. I would love to talk more, but time is almost up.”

Time? Can he hack into those robots only for a certain amount of time? I wondered, frowning.

“I will try to talk with you again if I spot you through one of the sprite-bots in the future. Quick advice before I go; stick close to your friends. You… well, don’t exactly look like you could make it on your own.”

I rolled my eyes hearing that, but as I opened my mouth to retort, the sprite-bot suddenly began to once again play the March of the Parasprites, turning around in the air and slowly flying away.

Well, that was… that was weird, right? I asked, hoping Fluttershy would reply.

I was not disappointed. Um, yes, I think so, the apparition said, raising an eyebrow thoughtfully as we watched the sprite-bot slowly drift away.

I wonder how this Watcher is able to hack into them? I wondered. Remotely, I might add. If I am not mistaken, such a feat would require a powerful transmitter… that was really high up… I trailed off, staring into the far away.

Ever since I came outside of my Stable, there were those structures I could see in the distance. Huge, cloud-reaching towers, which apparently were scattered across all of Equestria. When I asked ponies about them, however, all they could tell me was that they were something ponies had built during the war. Aside from one drunk pony in Appleloosa adding that they were columns keeping clouds for falling down on us, nopony offered any more explanation.

Do you think it might be connected to those towers? I asked Fluttershy.

I wouldn’t know, the tiny pony replied. But, um, Angel…

I mean, there has to be a reason why ponies built so many of them… I continued, entrapped by my musing.

Angel-

Not to mention why they are so big-

Angel!

I almost jumped, startled. Fluttershy, sweetie, you’re in my head, you don’t need to yell, I told her, turning my attention to the tiny pegasus.

Um, yes, I’m sorry, but… you remember that you’re out here alone? Fluttershy asked, sounding concerned.

I blinked, and looked in the direction where the others had went. I couldn’t see them anymore.

And that you were supposed to hurry up? Fluttershy added.

Sighing, I looked up. Jack was still visible in the sky, and, just as Fluttershy had suggested, he was flying towards me.

Well, it’s a good thing I had already finished, I thought, taking a last wistful look at the bodies before starting to follow after the rest. Do you think he really plans to drag me by my tail?

Um, I hope not.

Though he had undoubtedly noticed that I had started to move, Jack continued to fly towards me. “I thought I told you to hurry up,” he said as he stopped above me, glaring down at me.

“I’ve done my best to accommodate your command, sweetie,” I replied; I decided it would be best to not mention about the Watcher. For all I know, it would yield similar results as mentioning that there was a tiny pegasus in my head trying to play my conscience.

Jack frowned, but he seemed to accept my reply. “Trot faster,” he said, slightly increasing his fly speed.

Frowning, I increased my pace to match him. Um, Angel?

Yes Fluttershy?

Maybe… um, he seems upset with you, so maybe you should apologize? I mean, it would be a nice thing to do…

I hummed to myself, thinking it over. Maybe you’re right… he did express his annoyance with me several times today.

“Jack, sweetie?” I called out, causing the griffin to look back.

“What now?” he asked, glaring.

I slowed down and stopped, finding talking and borderline running at the same time to be too strenuous. And inelegant. Jack growled, but he circled around and landed before me.

“I wanted to apologize. I… realize I can be difficult to work with,” I said, my ears dropping as I looked away. “I’m afraid I can only imagine how annoying I must be to you, given our surroundings and dangers that could be lurking in them. I didn’t mean to cause you any grievances, but I did, and for that,” I added, turning to look him in the eyes, “I am sorry.”

It was difficult to read Jack’s reaction, but he seemed to accept my apology. He nodded and started to turn around. “It’s alright. And, ugh…” he hesitated, looking back as he spread his wings. “Sorry for threatening to drag you by your tail and stuff.”

“It’s alright, sweetie,” I replied, smiling pleasantly at him.

Nodding once again, Jack took to the sky. “Now start moving.”

I sighed, then whined unhappily as I looked at my hooves before resuming my trot. Above me, Jack also sighed, but before I could turn to ask him why, he suddenly flew right at me. I uttered a shriek, surprised as his forepaws grabbed me, but after a second I realized he hadn’t attacked me, or anything of that sorts. He just… grabbed me.

And continued flying.

Realizing what had happened - and, more importantly, what continued to happen - I gasped, looking around. The ground was below us, just several feet away, maybe a dozen at best. With the way my heart was beating and how wind blew in my face, it was difficult to focus. And for the moment, I didn’t care about it. Or about Watcher, the towers, the raiders, how much my hooves ached or anything.

I was flying.

Though my forehoof clang to Jack’s forepaw, I leaned my head a bit forward, enjoying the sensation of wind brushing past my mane. Of being unhindered by gravity.

Of being free.

Footnote: Level Up!
New Perk: Empathy - You have studied other sapient beings, giving you a better knowledge of their emotional reaction to you. You get a better idea of what to say to others.

Author's Notes:

Thank you all for reading the second chapter in a row that turned out to be sooo long. The next two should be shorter. I hope... Thank you for reading this story, the thought of my scribbles and bizzare imagination entertaining people is one of the best things ever!^^

Anyway, just wanted to address one correction I had to make in the previous chapter. As you might remember, the term "sentient beings" had been tossed around quite often and... what I had ment to write was "sapient beings". So yeah, screw up on my part. Though in my defense, from what I read on the internet, a lot of science-fiction works often use the term "sentient" when they mean "sapient", too. And also english is my second language, so, you know Anyway, wrote it right this time and corrected it in the previous chapter.

Also, since I am already here, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Kkat for creating this amazing universe of Fallout Equestria (I still remember how reading it the first time I was like "Oh my God this is so awesome!" every chapter). Also Somber for creating Project Horizons, which is considered in my story as much canon as the original FoE (there are not enough words to describe how much I love Project Horizons^^) And lastly but not leastly, I want to thank my editing/proofreading team, especially Zaleros, Bazing, and guardianxela, who all worked on this chapter, correcting some of my stupid mistakes and advising me in places where I had doubts. Also thanks to Lazygamer313 and Sage Probo for their work too; even if they didn't work on this particular chapter, like the rest they've been working with me for long time. Sorry I don't tell all of you more often how much I appreciate you all.

And lastly... I will mention this on my blog later too, but I will be attending IX Wrocławski Ponymeet (9th Wroclaw Ponymeet) on June 17th. I doubt that any of you live anywhere nearby or would travel such a long way to meet me (seriously, don't, I'm not worth it), but I thought I would still bring it up. It's not big enough (and I'm not big enough) for me to have my own booth or anything like that, but if anybody wants to say hi to me or something, I will be wearing a badge or something saying Borsuq... and t-shirt with Blackjack holding a bottle of Wild Pegasus and word "Whiskey" underneath her^^ (I did mention I love Project Horizons, didn't I?^^)

All the best guys^^

PS: See, this is why I try to not write author's notes too often, I end up writing a wall of text under what is already a wall of text.

Chapter Seven: Political Clash

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“If you want to see the fate of democracies, look out the windows.”

“This is where the entrance to Stable Eleven is?” I asked, looking dubiously at the crumbling remains of the Rock Farm’s ‘main office’ building that was visible in the distance.

Admittedly, the wooden rectangular structure seemed to be in a better state than the rows of barracks around us that used to house all the ponies working at the surrounding farms. More than a few had only a few bars and boards left of them, while others had missing roofs and such. Compared to them, the main office looked almost brand new.

It would appear that the stability of the workers’ housing wasn’t the top priority, I commented. Still, I added, looking around again and counting the barracks around us, Scope was right yesterday; there must have been enough ponies living around here to form a small community. And that’s besides all the families that lived on the surrounding farms.

“Probably somewhere around it, actually,” Scope replied to my question. “The entrance should have been easily accessible for ponies.”

“What was this, anyway?” Apple Core asked, glancing at the building with mild confusion. “Ah thought those Rock Farms were run by families and shit, this seems more… company thing or somethin’,” she finished, masking her awkwardness with a grimace.

“Equestria needed more gems during the war, farms needed more hooves to farm them,” Scope explained with disinterest, shrugging. “Some of the families banded together and organized, began hiring ponies, eventually built this place. Then they needed an office to keep track of who was working at what farm and how much they were getting paid.”

Apple Core was frowning in attention throughout Scope’s explanation. “Seems way over complicated,” she finally said when he was done.

“That was usually the case,” Jack spoke up, cutting off the unicorn mercenary before he could reply to Apple Core.

I looked up, slightly startled; our griffin companion had been flying above the barracks around us, making sure there were no immediate threats in the area. Even though I could track him with my E.F.S., I was still surprised by his appearance as he quietly landed on one of the more stable buildings. Blast and Burst, who had been looking around scanning for threats, also seemed startled, and they were actually on the lookout for moving things.

“At least as far as I can tell,” Jack added, shrugging. “Anyway, beside the building is a cellar door, probably leads to the Stable. So if you’re done with the history lesson, let’s get a move on.”

Suppressing a sigh, I forced my tired and sore legs to follow everypony as they sped up, spurred by Jack’s words. The brief rest my limbs got a little over an hour ago did little to help me.

At least we’ll finally be at the Stable, I thought, passing by a collapsed barrack. Looking up at the gray clouds covering the sky I added: I hope if there are still ponies living there they’ll let us stay for the night, it won’t be long before evening now. Oh, how I can’t wait for a hot bath and clean bed!

I was pulled out from the daydream involving the two commodities the Wasteland had denied me as I felt a hoof pressing lightly against my chest, stopping me in my tracks.

“Ah just realized somethin’,” Apple Core said in a hushed tone, frowning. “Back when we first met, ya said that yar Stable wasn’t far from there, right?”

“Why, yes,” I replied, confused. “Why are you bringing this up now, sweetie?”

“‘Cause there’s nothin’ in that area. No pre-war settlement like this place,” she said, waving her hoof around at the surrounding us ruins.

Huh, she has a point, I realized, surprised I hadn’t thought of it sooner. I mean, there were remains of a few buildings outside the mine, but not enough to house an entire population that came into Stable Eight. Besides…

“You’re sure there aren’t any ruins there?” I asked Apple Core. When she shook her head, I frowned and pondered: “Hm, that is strange. According to memoirs I’ve read, my ancestors had been-”

“You guys coming?” Blast called out, interrupting me.

I glanced behind Apple Core; our companions had already reached the main office’s building, having either not realized that we had stopped or not caring due to the lack of threats. “We’ll be right along, sweetie,” I called back before turning to Apple Core. “I believe we’ll have to continue this conversation some other time.”

My slaver friend nodded and we trotted after the others. “Just makin’ sure ya ain’t lyin’ t’ me,” she said, giving me a suspicious look.

“Oh, sweetie, that’s just hurtful,” I told her, giving her a hurt look in return. “I wouldn’t lie to you. Do you think I could have traveled a longer distance or something? Because you must have realized by now that I am not the most physically fit pony in the Wasteland. And besides what possible reason could I have for making such a lie, anyway?”

“Ah dunno, protectin’ yar Stable?” Apple Core guessed, shrugging. “Tryin’ to hide their real location?”

I blinked, then uttered a giggle. “So that you and the other slavers wouldn’t come for them? Sweetie,” I said, looking her in the eyes and lowering my voice, “believe me, if it did cross my mind and I would have lied, the lie wouldn’t be protecting my Stable, but all of you.”

Apple Core frowned in confusion. “Just what the hay is ‘at supposed t’ mean?”

I was about to reply, but I was again interrupted, this time by Burst. “Are you sure you don’t want us to check out the building first?” he asked Jack as we caught up with the mercenaries by the side of the mentioned building.

“What’s the point?” the griffin replied, shrugging. “At best there would be a terminal filled with data on the workers here, at worst, there would be radroaches or some shit. And I don’t even want to think about how she would react to the sight of more giant insects,” he added, pointing at me with his talon.

I frowned unhappily hearing his remark. Back when he picked me up (a bit unceremoniously, if you’d ask me) and carried me through the air, I had assumed that he had grown fonder of me. Even after he had dropped me (again, a bit unceremoniously) besides the others, I hadn’t reconsidered that opinion. However, whenever we’d talk in our little group on the way here after that, he would glare at me whenever I had as much as opened my mouth.

I can’t believe I’m actually thinking this, but maybe it would be better if we wouldn’t run into any new creatures, I thought. I don’t think it would be wise to annoy Jack further… then again, perhaps his annoyance stems from the comment Blast had made regarding him carrying me…

“Keep watch while I check if this leads to the Stable,” Jack added as he opened the cellar doors and swiftly went down the stairs.

“Oh for- keep watch for what exactly?” Blast called after him, frustrated. “The only way we could get hurt here is if this building crumbles on top of us, there is nopony here!”

“Nevermind,” Jack’s voice came from down the cellar, “get your asses in here.”

Guess this means we found Stable Eleven, I noted. As the others began to enter the cellar, I followed them slowly, taking a closer look at the entrance. It’s wide enough for three ponies to walk in at the same time. Was there enough time on the Last Day to let everypony in?

I’m sure they would have built it bigger if there could be a chance of some ponies not making it in time, Fluttershy’s apparition told me as it appeared.

Hm, I suppose it’s true, I replied, squinting my eyes as somepony suddenly turned the light on. When my eyes adjusted, I saw that the cellar was a short corridor, about two feet wider than the stairs we had just walked down, and leading to a massive steel door with the number eleven written on it. After all, the entrance to my own Stable wasn’t that much bigger and everypony had entered it before the door had shut two hundred years ago.

Um, since you brought up your Stable, Fluttershy began timidly, was what Apple Core had said true? About there not being any settlement around it?

Well, yes, I didn’t see any sign of it aside from the remains of that small mining town or outpost, I told Fluttershy; suddenly I found myself wishing there was a way to just show her my memories instead of thinking about them. Maybe I could look into that later… But I know my ancestors hadn’t come from there. In the memoirs of Stable Eight’s first chief of medicine, I’ve read that-

“Doctor, you’re up.”

If I were superstitious, I would say that the Goddesses seem determined to not let me finish telling anypony what I’ve read, I told Fluttershy in slight annoyance as I was interrupted again, this time by Jack.

Oh, it’s alright, I don’t mind finding out later, Fluttershy quickly assured me as I turned my attention to the griffin. He was standing under the Stable’s door, right besides a small control mechanism. This seems more important. Besides… I don’t think you should make Jack wait.

Agreeing wholeheartedly with that statement, I was already trotting to him. I decided to not point out that we could still continue our discussion, as it was taking place in my mind. After all, if Stables were as dangerous as everypony seemed to say, it would be better if I’d start focusing more on my surrounding rather than what was happening in my head.

“Alright guys, remember,” Jack began, turning to the others as I connected my PipBuck to the control mechanism and began to work on getting it to open the Stable Eleven’s door, “if somehow there are still ponies in there, we negotiate. I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out to get the music records or their copy or whatever.”

“Yeah, sure,” Blast said; I glanced at him just in time to see him roll his eyes. Turning to others, he asked: “Hey, anypony wanna take bets on what killed all of them?”

“Sure, Ah’m in,” Apple Core replied immediately.

Both myself and Jack sighed with exasperation as the two earth ponies began to take their bets. I missed most of the conversation that followed as (after receiving a glare from Jack) I resumed trying to input the override password (not that I cared much about it anyway), but I am pretty sure that Blast had bet on everypony killing each other, while Apple Core put her caps on the water talisman failing and ponies dying of dehydration.

Slightly appalled by the morbid bet, I decided to not point out that in the event that the water talisman had failed, any logical pony would decide to open the Stable and either search for a replacement on the Outside, or lead everypony away and find a new place to live. If it would be the latter, it would probably result in the door being already open.

Maybe this will teach my oh so cheerful friend to think further ahead, I commented to Fluttershy, who giggled awkwardly, as I finished working on the control mechanism. Ough, I forgot how loud this is! I thought, covering my ears, as the massive door began to open.

Judging by the cringing faces my companions had made, the terrible grinding noise had a similar effect on them as well. Regardless, we all bore through it as we waited for the way into the Stable to open.

As the door slowly turned around itself to the left, I peered curiously at the entrance of the first Stable other than Stable Eight that I’d get to see. Almost immediately my eyes grew wide as plates and my mouth dropped in shock at the sight that awaited us inside.

The door opened to reveal four skeletons, “wearing” ragged stable bardings with number eleven, right in front of where it been while closed, with the fifth one lying beside the control mechanism on that side.

“So much for negotiations then,” Jack commented; I was taken aback by the almost casual tone of his voice. The griffin entered the Stable and leaned over the remains, examining them. “Doctor, how good are you with post mortem on skeletons?”

Shaking off my shock, I hurried over to him, stepping around the skeletons carefully. I frowned as I got a better look at them. “I must say, sweetie, I’m surprised you’re actually asking for my opinion,” I said, turning to Jack and pointing at the bullet holes in their bardings.

“I want to know if you can tell whether there was something wrong with them other than getting shot. You’d be surprised-”

“Ha! Called it!” Blast exclaimed, laughing, and turned to Apple Core. “Pay up.”

“Ugh, fuck!” Apple Core in turn groaned, almost at the same time. “Let ‘er do ‘er thing first,” she told Blast, obviously hoping I could find out some other reason for their deaths. “‘Sides, they could’ave always started killin’ each other ‘cause there weren’t enough water t’ go ‘round,” she pointed out, shrugging with faked nonchalance.

Turning back to Jack as they began to argue what that would mean to their bet, I saw the griffin mercenary glaring angrily at the pair. Burst and Scope must have noticed it too, as they stayed silent and simply entered the Stable, trotting around the remains.

“You’d be surprised by all the shit that went down in Stables around Equestria,” he continued, choosing to ignore the pair. “Can you tell if they were infected by some disease or exposed to some toxin or something along those lines? I want to know if we’re about to walk into biohazardous environment.”

“Hm…” I hummed, glancing briefly at the skeleton beside the control mechanism before turning back to the remains in front of the door. The second from the left were the biggest, so I focused on it (Finally I get a chance to examine an earth pony’s skeleton.). “Well, depending on the disease, it can lead to skeletal deformities… but none I can think of that would be transferrable by air, especially at this point,” I said as I carefully removed the barding protecting the bones (which I held with my magic to prevent them from rearranging) and began to examine the skeleton. “As for toxins, those ponies would have to have been exposed to it over a long period of time for their bones to show any signs of that. There could be some changes in their chemical composition, but to tell you that I would need a laboratory.”

“Just tell me what you can then,” Jack replied, shrugging, and left to explore the rest of the entrance.

As I began examining the bones one by one, searching them for any signs of deformities (other than the bullet marks, of course), Apple Core and Blast finally entered the Stable as well. “How do we even know that they were shot by other stable dwellers?” Apple Core demanded from the mercenary.

“They were shot in the back while trying to open the door,” Jack called back before Blast could reply the slaver. “Or, well, that guy was,” he amended, pointing at the skeleton beside the control mechanism. “The others-”

“Sweetie, that’s a mare’s skeleton,” I corrected him, having already taken notice of its pelvis back when I looked at it.

Jack stopped talking as I interrupted him, staring at me as his eyelid twitched and Apple Core snorted with amusement. Just as I began to suspect that I had, again, annoyed him, he covered his face with his paw. “I swear, she’ll be the death of me…” he murmured as he rubbed his temples.

Confused, I frowned and turned to him, abandoning my examination for the moment. “Um, sweetie,” I began to ask, “are you referring to me or to-” I began to ask as I turned to look at the skeleton, only to find my muzzle being forcibly shut.

Wasn’t he standing about two yards from me half a second ago? I wondered as I looked at Jack, who now stood right beside me, his talons grasping my muzzle.

“The others must have instinctively run away after their friend got shot,” Jack resumed talking to Apple Core, who was trying to hide her snickering from the griffin mercenary. “Judging by their positioning and the locations of the bullet wounds, their killers must have stood over there,” he added, pointing behind him at the entrance’s door.

“And they were probably the ones who left the tripwire,” Burst called out.

I turned my head (as much as I could with Jack holding my muzzle) towards the door on the other side of the entrance, leading further into the Stable. Burst and Scope (joined by Blast a few seconds later) were standing there, examining the wall and something on the floor. As Jack released me and went to take a closer look himself, I raised my head higher to try and see what it was that got their attention. To my confusion, I noticed that there was some sort of wire set before the door, about less than a hoof length above the floor and connected to the wall.

“There it is,” Blast said, pointing with his head upwards at the ceiling.

Following his gaze along with everybody I saw some kind of cylindrical object that I couldn’t identify, hanging from the ceiling right above where the wire had been set. However, judging by how carefully Scope cut it off after having enveloped it in his magic, I figured that it couldn’t be anything good.

“What the-” Apple Core began to exclaim as she trotted closer to the mercenaries. “They ‘ad explosives ‘ere?!”

Explosives? I echoed, my eyes widening.

“Makeshift,” Scope replied as he lowered the explosive down to his eye level and began fiddling with it. “Made in the Stable, most likely.”

“They must have been called away from this post and decided to leave a trap for whoever came by next to try to get away from the Stable,” Jack commented as he leaned over the wire and cut it with his talons in one swift move. “Obviously, nobody came later anyway…”

They made a trap for ponies that tried to leave? I thought, turning my attention back to the remains I’ve begun examining. And killed the ones who tried before… Stable ponies killing stable ponies? Everything in my very being screamed “wrong” at that. I just can’t imagine something like this happening in Stable Eight-

I stopped, a sharp pain emanating from my chest as those thoughts triggered a memory. Grinding my teeth, I forced it back into the dark recesses of my mind.

Angel? Fluttershy’s quiet voice sounded within me, a tone of worry in it.

I can’t imagine other ponies in Stable Eight killing each other, I continued, ignoring her. Using guns and explosives… This isn’t just murder, it’s… fighting. It’s just… I paused, looking for the right word.

Horrifying, Fluttershy finished for me, slightly shaking.

Nodding in agreement, I picked up the skull with my forehooves and held it before me, staring into its empty eye sockets. What happened in this Stable?

Jack’s question pulled me out of my musing. “Found anything, Doctor?”

Pulling my gaze from the skull to the griffin, I replied: “As much as I can tell, sweetie, there are no disfigurements on the skeleton, aside from three bullet marks, on the right femur, left third rib and on the occipital bone.” To emphasize my point (and because I wasn’t sure if he knew where the occipital bone was) I turned to skull I still held around and showed him the hole bullet left in the occipital bone, then shook it a little so he could hear the clinking of the bullet still inside. Shrugging, I continued: “However, I didn’t have the time to check all the bones-”

“Really?” Apple Core interrupted me, a smirk on her face. “The brilliant doctor of medicine ain’t finished checking a few bones?”

“Sweetie, a pony has around two hundred and five bones in their body,”I replied, bemused. “Even I can’t look over so many within a minute.”

“Alright, keep yar coat on,” Apple Core snorted, rolling her eyes. “Ah was just messin’ with ya.”

A growl escaped from Jack’s beak. “Are you two done?” he asked, a threat in his voice and ice in his gaze.

Apple Core actually shook and immediately straightened. “S-sorry boss,” she said, smiling nervously.

I wondered if her newfound respect or fear of Jack was caused just by learning he used to be a part of those Bloodtalons, or by seeing him kill five raiders without any effort. In either case, her reply seemed to satisfy Jack, as he nodded and motioned for both of us to follow. As Apple Core hastily trotted after the mercenaries as they went deeper into the Stable, I stayed behind to put the skeleton back together with my magic, then slid it into the pony’s barding and placed it where it had been for the past century or two. As I turned around to follow everybody, my gaze lingered a moment longer on the remains, my eyes narrowing, before sighing and leaving.

When I passed the door, I was surprised by a notice appearing on my E.F.S. informing me about my PipBuck picking up two new broadcasts. Frowning, I was about to tell my companions about it, but then I realized that they were all staring at what was under the wall on the opposite side of the chamber.

Two more skeletons within Stable bardings.

“This is getting depressing,” Burst commented, sighing, then glanced at me.

Is he worried about how I will take the sights of so many dead? I wondered as I stared back at him for a moment, then turned again to the two skeletons. How sweet of him to worry…

Would it even, um, have an effect on you? Fluttershy asked, doing her best to not pay attention to the remains. I mean, you seem so… used to seeing remains.

The sight of ponies’ remains does not bother me. But… the thought of so many lives lost is deeply saddening, I confessed, my ears dropping. If this Stable is as big as my own, we might see hundreds more skeletons before we leave.

Oh… Fluttershy exclaimed, growing pale.

“It will probably become even more depressing as we go further,” Jack replied to Burst’s comment, probably having come to the same conclusion as me.

“So did those two get killed by the same guys as the five before?” Apple Core asked.

“Probably,” Scope replied, shrugging. “But unlike them, those two weren’t trying to run or hide.”

“Eh? What d’ya mean?”

“Standing right under the wall, a single bullet to the head each,” Scope explained, pointing at the holes in their skull. “They were executed. They were captured, and made to stay here before their killers passed their sentence.”

“They were captured, and yet killed?” I repeated, appalled. “What kind of stable ponies could have done that?”

As some of my companions rolled their eyes at me, Jack seemed to have an answer to my question. “Probably those that followed that mare,” he said, pointing with his talon at something over my shoulder.

Surprised, I glanced behind me. What Jack was pointing turned out to be a poster hanging on a wall. Parts of it were damaged by time and Goddesses know what, but the stoic, smiling unicorn mare in glasses it depicted was still clearly visible, as was the words above and below her.

VOTE FOR STRICT FRAME

TO CONTINUE SERVING AS YOUR OVERMARE

FOR THE NEXT 5 YEARS

I blinked several times as I read the poster, too shocked to comment on it immediately. “‘Vote’?” I finally exclaimed after several seconds. “They chose their Overmare by voting?! Merciful Goddesses, what sort of… intellectually challenged individual thought that it was a good idea?!” I demanded from nobody in particular as I struggled to not utter a curse in the same sentence in which I had called upon the Goddesses.

“And what is wrong with voting for your leader?” Jack asked, sounding strangely surprised. When I turned to him, however, I found him glaring at me with mild anger. “Shouldn’t people have a say as to who leads them?”

“What is wrong with voting for your leader, sweetie, is that it’s not the most qualified pony that becomes their leader, but the most popular one,” I said, feeling a slight grimace of dismay crossing my face briefly; I was unable to hide just how (deservedly) low an opinion regarding this system I held. “Ponies would chose the candidate who promised them the most, not even knowing whether those promises were possible to fulfill or not, or what kind of price they would have to pay.”

“Which is why you give them only a few years of tenure at the job,” Jack interrupted me, frowning. Why did this discussion upset him so much? “So that you can kick them out when they screw up. And how do you even decide what makes a person ‘qualified’? And more importantly, how does your Stable work?” I blinked, taken aback by the sudden question, as well as by the narrowed look he gave me. “Is Overmare a hereditary position there?”

“Sweetie, don’t be ridiculous,” I almost snorted in reply, actually annoyed by his tone. “As it is with every administrative position in Stable Eight, the Overmare chooses her own successor, training her for years before retiring. Although,” I amended, slightly reluctantly, “the Second Overmare chose her great-granddaughter as her successor, and the Third Overmare had been preparing her daughter to succeed her, but-”

“Nepotism, got it,” Jack snorted, rolling his eyes as he interrupted me again. Beginning to actually grow upset, I opened my mouth to retort, but the griffin silenced me with a wave of his paw. “Look, we can continue this over a drink back in New Appleloosa, ok? Hell, I will even pay for those drinks. But right now I want to get this job over with,” he said as he turned to walk further down into the Stable.

Although I wanted to continue our argument until he’d apologise for that last remark, I had to agree that he had a point. “Very well, sweetie,” I told Jack, nodding graciously, “but before we go further, there’s something I would like you to know,” I added, earning myself an angry glare from the griffin. “A moment ago my PipBuck picked up two broadcasts.”

That got Jack's interest. “Probably both are on loop since they all killed themselves,” he said thoughtfully, glancing at Scope who shrugged and nodded. “Recorded before shit hit the fan… Play them both for a moment.”

I probably shouldn’t mention that he could have said “please”, I thought as I looked at the broadcasts on my PipBuck. Hm, I would have expected one of them to be Stable Eleven’s PA System, I noted, surprised, as I selected the one with more intriguing name: the “Celestial Radio”.

“- and the Overmare assured everypony that tomorrow’s commemorations will not be interrupted, saying that security would immediately arrest anypony acting odd, on the suspicion of them belonging to the post zebra-sympathising group, the so called ‘Freedom Fighters’,” a pretentiously sounding buck was saying on the looped recording. “The group that, may I remind you, faithful listeners, had murdered the previous director of this station, Father Gemstone, as well as several other acts of terror in our fair Stable. The chief of security had reported recently that they are close to catching the ponies responsible... Though there is no doubt in my mind that upon their deaths the Goddesses will cast their souls into Tartarus, I am happy to hear that soon they will be caught, made to face justice, and the threat those heathens represent in the blessed Stable Eleven to be over.”

Heathens? I blinked as I listened to the broadcast, liking it less and less as the Goddesses know how long dead pony continued. Well, at least the name of the other broadcast, Radio Freedom, makes more sense to me now; it must have been related to that group called Freedom Fighters.

“And with the Stable Eleven Council election coming up next week, I’d like all you true believers to remember to place your votes on the candidates from the Adherents of the Royal Sisters party, the one true party, so that they may continue leading our Stable into the bright future together with the re-elected last year Overmare Strict Frame.”

“Huh, guess that explains that,” Blast commented; when I turned to look at him, he was pointing at the wall next to the door that we had just passed.

Following his hoof, I found myself staring at another election poster, this one apparently for this “Stable Eleven Council”. It didn’t have any pony on it, only words:

Don’t be a traitor,

do your duty and vote for a member of

ADHERENTS OF THE ROYAL SISTERS

to represent your block at the

STABLE ELEVEN COUNCIL

like every true citizen of EQUESTRIA would!

So they’d also choose ponies to represent blocks from the living quarters in this council? I thought, my curiosity momentarily getting the better of me, despite my growing distaste for this Stable. I wonder what were their responsibilities, exactly…

“To the few who plan to vote for members of Citizens of Equestria party,” the pony on the recorded transmission continued; my ears twitched from the venom in his voice when he said the name of this other political party, “I pray that the Goddess’ wisdom will shine upon them and they’ll remember the disastrous tenure of the CoE government, all the years of corruption, their attempts of controlling the Church and our station, and perhaps worse of all, their plans to open the Stable! Will you let them subjugate us to their zebra overlords?! Vote for the one true party, it is the only way we can stay free and cultivate Equestria’s traditions and values! That’s all for the evening news,” the voice said after a brief pause. “Now, let us return to our evening prayers, everypony. Psalm 17, the Lunar Penance.”

As I listened to the religious song, different from the ones I had heard at my Stable’s Church but at the same time similar enough to instinctively made me want to sit down and bring my forehooves together before my chest, Jack waves his paw again. “Alright, turn that crap off.”

That was a command that I was glad to obey; the fact that there was actual psalm playing on this station only added to my dismay. “What kind of blasphemous, propagandist radio station was that?!” I exclaimed in disgust as I turned it off.

I shuddered to think how my mom would have reacted if she’d ever heard that.

Jack rolled his eyes and opened his beak to reply, but Burst spoke before he could. “Yeah, I gotta say, that was just… wrong. And I’m not even that into the whole Goddesses thing,” he added.

“Well, that’s what you get when you get too into it,” Jack commented, shrugging. When I gasped and glared at him, opening my mouth to rebuke him, he quickly added: “I meant the listeners of that crap. No wonder they couldn’t make this little republic of theirs work if they got all worked up on this religious hatred.” He shook his head in annoyance. “What’s on the other station?”

Though I grew curious as to what he knew about this type of government and how he knew that, I hastily let the other broadcast, the “Radio Freedom”, play on my PipBuck. I hoped it would be a more… objective view on the Stable Eleven’s life, and that it would shed a little more light on what had happened here. I blinked in surprise as a song began to play.

Stay true, stay true to yourself,
Never let go of what matters to you most.
If somebody comes along and takes it,
Then fight with all your heart to get it back!

“That’s it,” Jack said, a gleam in his eyes. I turned off the broadcast as he continued: “That’s a chorus of one of the Countess Coloratura’s songs we are supposed to get.”

“Guess the trip here won’t be for nothing after all,” Blast commented, sounding relieved. After a second he frowned and asked: “Wait, how do you even know that’s it?”

“The music record order we found had also lyrics of some of those songs,” Jack replied, rolling his eyes.

“Do you want to listen to that station a little longer, sweetie?” I asked Jack, ready to resume the broadcast, but the griffin shook his head.

“No, I don’t really care about it. And you better not play it on our way down; in case there are more tripwires and other traps there, it would be useful to hear if somebody springs one of them.”

Why do I have this weird feeling that he meant me when saying “somebody”? I wondered.

“That being said, I would appreciate if everybody would watch where they put their hooves,” Jack continued; although he said ‘everybody’, the glance he cast at me left no doubt this time that he definitely meant me. “We’re going to the Overmare’s office first, she should have the list of all of the Stable’s residents in her terminal. We find the quarters of the pony who had the music record and then go there. If it’s not there for whatever reason, we look for wherever this other radio broadcast is coming from.”

“Would you mind if we looked for the source of the first broadcast and turned it off, sweetie?” I asked, earning an annoyed glare from him. “It really upset me to hear somepony use the Goddesses’ names in such blasphemous way.”

“I’m with her on that, actually,” Burst spoke up, causing the griffin to roll his eyes.

“Fine, let’s just go already,” Jack sighed as he turned around. “Somebody watch where the Doctor is putting her hooves.”

Well, at least now I know for certain that he meant me.

*** *** ***

“Would it hurt life to be easy for once?” Jack asked nopony in particular as the door to the Overmare’s wing refused to open.

Walking down all the way there was… eerie for me, to say the least. I never really appreciated just how much effort the maintenance crew of Stable Eight put into caring for our Stable. Aside from the rusty metal walls and churring noises of various generators, the entire Stable Eleven was just depressing. The illusions the maintenance crew cast on the ceilings and the plants they’d make grow together with the gardeners on the walls and floors truly made Stable Eight feel like a paradise; if I had to live in Stable Eleven, or any other Stable, I fear I’d feel like I was in prison.

Adding to the depressing mood that overtook me as we went deeper were the skeletons and signs of fights. It seemed as if a war took place in Stable Eleven. Not far from the entrance we found three skeletons in Stable security barding, probably responsible for the deaths of the seven ponies from before. Jack commented that they must have been ambushed on their way to the Atrium, and that whoever killed them took their firearms. We continued onward, passing a few more skeletons, and entered the Atrium.

In Stable Eight, the Atrium was often used to host various kinds of social gatherings. Concerts, sporting events... During holidays, the Overmare would make her speech there. Whenever it wasn’t used for those purposes, it was open to everypony. Families would come during the day to enjoy a picnic beneath the illusion of a sunny sky, in the shadow of one of the four trees growing in the corners of the Atrium. Couples would come during the night to lay under the Moon and the starry sky.

In Stable Eleven, the Atrium had also been used for social gatherings. A torn banner hanging from the wall beneath the window of the Overmare’s office pointed to that, its message illegible due to the passage of time. However, on the day that this celebration - whatever it had been about - took place, it had been turned into the site of a battle.

It had been turned into a graveyard.

Dozens of ponies’ skeletons were scattered across the Atrium. Some had clearly been killed instantly, some had tried to run away back to the living quarters or the cafeteria. Some had barricaded themselves with some chairs and lockers in the corridor leading to the Admin, where the Overmare’s wing (with her office and private quarters) were as well as Stable security. Not that it had helped them much, considered the skeletons still clad in security barding scattered right behind those barricades, and more as we walked along the corridor. Before I had followed my companions, I took a glance around the Atrium, especially at some of the skeletons at the back, near the door leading to the living quarters.

They were visibly smaller than an adult pony’s skeleton.

So is this Atrium, come to think of it, I had noted, trying to distract both myself and Fluttershy’s apparition; upon seeing the foals’ remains, tears welled up in her eyes and she kept her gaze downcast. It’s smaller than it should be, I mean. Stable Eight’s Atrium is… at least about 5 times as big as this. Did Stable-Tech change their Stable’s design after they’d finished my Stable?

Fluttershy remained quiet as I trotted after the others.

I sighed. Sweetie, it must have been well over a century since they died.

They were just foals, she replied, tears falling from her eyes.

Their souls are with the Goddesses now. Free of the sufferings that life can bring about. Those skeletons out there are nothing.

I had wanted to continue reassuring Fluttershy that those foals were now in a better place, but at that point Jack had discovered the closed door and uttered his comment regarding life. With an apologetic glance at the apparition, I focused on the griffin.

Said griffin was glaring at the door that had stayed closed, as if trying to make them open with his look alone. As I approached, however, he turned to me. “If in your Stable the doors to the Overmare’s wing were closed, how would you open it if you tried to sneak in or whatever?”

“As Stable Eight’s chief of medicine, I was privy to knowing the spell that would open the Overmare’s wing’s door, so I wouldn’t have to worry about that, sweetie,” I replied, deciding not to mention than even besides that, there would be seldom a moment when I wouldn’t have been welcomed there for the past few years. Noting the glare Jack gave me, however, I quickly added “But there also used to be a keycard from the time of the First Overmare, before we began to use magic for… well, practically everything. Let me think a moment, sweetie...” I trailed off as I wondered where the keycard to this Stable’s Overmare’s office could be. “I think our best chances to find it would be in the Security… and maybe in Maintenance.”

“At least that’s some starting points,” Jack said, sighing. “Scope, you’ll stay with me, we’ll check both of those. The rest of you, divide into two teams and begin going through the living quarters, see if you can find those records.”

“It’s gonna take forever,” Blast pointed out, visibly disliking the idea.

“If you have an idea on how to find the room where this Pacific Glow had lived, I’m all-”

“Actually, sweetie,” I began, interrupting Jack, “I think I might have an idea. A doctor has to keep records of all her patients,” I continued hastily as he turned his annoyed glare at me, “so if I could get to the clinic here, I might be able to find the room you’re looking for. You said the pony’s name was Pacific Glow?”

“Yes,” Jack nodded, sounding interested. He actually smiled at me! “Alright, you and Burst will go to the clinic, see-”

“And why does he get to go with her?” Blast asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Because I trust he will be on the lookout for traps rather than trying to get under her tail,” Jack told him flatly. Pointing at Apple Core, he added: “And I expect that one to kick your muzzle in when you try.”

“Only if she doesn’t like it,” Blast pointed out, turning to Apple Core and winking.

It was safe to say that it didn’t amuse Jack. “Blast, take the slaver and start checking the living quarters. Now,” he added, growling.

“Fine,” Blast replied, sighing and rolling his eyes. “But we will be on a lookout for a nice bedroom, if you know what I mean,” he added as he turned around and went back the way we came.

Unsure, I leaned to Burst. “Does he mean that he’ll look for places to sleep, or that he want’s to have a coitus with Apple Core?” I asked in a hushed voice.

“Um, the latter,” the younger mercenary replied, slightly blushing.

In the meantime Jack had turned to Apple Core, who was about to follow after Blast. “Will you kick him in the balls or something?” he asked, exasperated.

“Hm…” Apple Core hummed, her eyes on Blast as she looked the mercenary up and down. “... Ah dunno yet,” she admitted, a smirk briefly crossing her muzzle, before she remembered whom she was talking to. “Um, Ah mean, sure, no problem boss. Stay close to him,” she told me, pointing at Burst, as she hastily trotted after his brother.

Jack watched them go for a few seconds before turning to me and Burst. “They’re gonna fuck as soon as they find some bed, won’t they?”

As I hesitated with my answer (wondering whether the promiscuous nature I had seen Apple Core exhibit would point out to her doing exactly what Jack had said), I caught Burst giving me an embarrassed glance before he told Jack “Honestly, I was surprised to hear him say he’d look for a bed first.”

The mercenary’s answer must have been enough for the griffin, as he grabbed his head with his paw, muttering: “For the love of… Do you know how to geld a pony?” he asked, turning to me. “Because I’m seriously considering paying you to do that to him.”

“Sweetie, while I sincerely doubt that this particular procedure would pose any problems for me, I’d never perform such barbaric surgery on anypony,” I replied, frowning.

Jack sighed and shook his head. “It was a joke. Nevermind, just go find the clinic. If there aren’t any records there or something else happens, just start going through the living quarters as well.”

Wondering what exactly “something else” could happen, I nodded and followed Burst as we began to trot back the same way Apple Core and Blast had gone. At the same time, Jack and Scope went to check the Security.

“So, um…” Burst began as soon as they were out of earshot, somewhat awkwardly, “do you know which way the clinic is?”

*** *** ***

In order to get to the stairs leading to the lower lever, where the clinic should be, we needed to pass through the Atrium again. Mindful of how the Fluttershy’s apparition reacted to the sight of all the skeletons, especially of the foals, I focused once again on how small this space was compared to Stable Eight’s.

“I don’t understand why it’s so small,” I mused out loud as my eyes travelled across the wall, measuring it.

“Hm?” Burst, who was walking beside me, looked at me. “What is?”

“This Atrium,” I explained, spreading me my foreleg around the room. “It’s a few times smaller than my Stable’s Atrium.”

“Really?” Burst asked, blinking as he looked at the room that we were about to leave. “I could swear it was the size it was supposed to be.”

“What makes you say that, sweetie?” I asked in turn, surprised, as we began to walk down the staircase to the lower level.

“Well… I’ve been only to one other Stable before, and while the overall layout seems a bit different I am pretty sure the Atrium there was the same size as this one.”

“Really? Hm, it’s two Stables then…” I hummed thoughtfully. “Could it be that the Dimensional Transcendentalism Spells had been cast by ponies of my Stable themselves rather than Stable-Tec? I suppose it would be logical-”

“Um, Dimensional What’s-it Spells?” Burst interrupted me, confused.

“It’s a spell that manipulates the dimensions of the space that it was cast on in relation to its surroundings,” I explained. However, noticing the blank stare my companion was giving me, I realized that I had to find a more understandable explanation. “Um… it makes rooms bigger on the inside?” I tried.

“Bigger on the inside?” Burst repeated, frowning in concentration. “But on the outside they stay the same as they were?”

“Exactly,” I said, pleased.

“Wow, that’s… difficult to grasp,” he confessed, his brow furrowing in concentration as he tried to picture it. I couldn’t blame him; it used to puzzle me a lot back when I was a filly. “Do you think you could show me later?”

“I’m sorry, sweetie, but I don’t know how to cast that spell. I only know about it because they’ve told us about it in school. Actually, I don’t think there is currently anypony in Stable Eight that can cast it, except maybe for the head of maintenance… The spell’s formula is somewhere in Stable Eight Library, but only she would have an access to such a complex spell from, hm, the Maintenance’s area of expertise,” I explained, a bit wistfully; if I knew Dimensional Transcendentalism Spell, maybe I could increase the size of my laboratory in the Appleloosa’s clinic’s basement. “From what I was led to understand, it is extremely difficult to cast-” I continued, but I was forced to stop as Burst’s hoof suddenly shot before me and pushed me back.

Looking at the earth pony with confusion, I saw him nodding down. We were just about to exit the staircase and step on the floor from the lower level. There was a strange metal contraption right where I was going to put my hoof on. It was circular, with sharp fang-like blades on the edges, and a plate in the middle.

“Bear trap,” Burst explained, stepping around it carefully. “Can break a pony’s leg.”

“‘Bear’ trap?” I repeated, my confusion only deepening. “What would there be a trap for bears in a Stable, sweetie?”

My question had seemed to baffle Burst. “Um… It’s just a name. It works on ponies fine, trust me. And it’s fairly easy to make, you just need some steel, some gears and a spring.”

“Oh, I see.” I stepped down carefully as well, reminding myself that there could be a lot more traps like those around.

Looking around the corridor on this level, I saw several skeletons, indicating that the battle hadn’t been confined only to the Atrium and the entrance. On the walls there were tons of posters, it was almost impossible to make out the walls themselves. Unlike those we had seen by the entrance, those were trying to convince ponies to vote for blocks C, D and E’s representatives in the Stable Eleven Council. (Guess this means blocks A and B are in the level above us, behind the Atrium.) A lot of them, though (most of which seemed to promote the candidates from Citizens of Equestria party) had been painted over, with either ridiculous mustaches or beards added, or had profane words written on them.

With mild disgust at what this system had led to, I forced my gaze away and focused once more on the trap next to my hoof. “Why are they called that, though? Were they used on bears before the war?”

“I... don’t know. Anyway,” he quickly said, as if wanting to change the subject, “that Stable of yours sounds amazing! How else is it different from this one? You know, aside from still being populated and, um, not having skeletons all over?” Burst added, smiling awkwardly as he nodded at another skeletons further in the corridor.

“Oh, in many ways, sweetie!” I replied, happy to tell him more about my former home. As we began to trot through the corridor in the direction of the clinic, I pointed behind us at the staircase that we had just used. “There would be vines all around the walls here, as well as in most of the corridors. Above us,” I continued, pointing at the ceiling, “there could be an illusion of a sky, with the Stable’s light appearing as either Sun or the Moon, depending on the time of day. I say could because not all the corridors have them, the illusions need to be maintained, if they were on every ceiling the Maintenance wouldn’t be able to keep up with them. And the Atrium…”

Burst’s eyes widened as I described to him how Stable Eight’s Atrium appeared to ponies, with actual grass and trees growing in it and massive illusion on its ceiling. “Wow, that’s just… amazing! Your Stable seems like a paradise! Why would you ever leave a place so beautiful?”

“Ideological dispute,” I replied, giving him the same explanation as I gave Scope yesterday. Eager to change the subject back and feeling warmed by Burst’s enthusiasm regarding my Stable (I hadn’t even told him about the magic constructs yet!), I said: “But yes, sweetie, Stable Eight is an amazing place. And it’s in great deal thanks to being led by responsible and qualified ponies,” I added, remembering the brief discussion I had with Jack. I practically snorted as I repeated what he said. “‘Nepotism’! How dare he? I studied and worked hard to earn my position as the chief of medicine, the fact that my father had held it had nothing to do with it! And Emerald would have made an excellent Overmare if-”

“Wait, your father was the chief of medicine as well?” Burst interrupted me again; in hindsight, I was glad that he did. “Wow, that’s cool! So you wanted to follow in his hoofsteps?”

“Of course, sweetie,” I told him, smiling as a wave of nostalgia washed over me. My annoyance with Jack faded as I continued. “I wanted to be just like him since I was little.” To be the pony who makes others better, I thought fondly, remembering how I used to wait until late at night when Daddy would come home from work and I would bombard him with questions as he tucked me in to sleep. “What about you and your brother? Ditzy had told me that your parents were traders.”

Burst chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you could say that Blast and I don’t really have heads for business. Ever since our dad taught us how to shoot or make explosives we’ve been making our living this way. First we worked as guards for our folks, then after they retired to Tenpony Tower we guarded some other caravans, and finally we became mercenaries. We wanted to do something a little more exciting,” he explained as I gazed at him questioningly. “Being a caravan guard is a stable job and it’s well paid, but it’s really boring. We’ve traveled along all those trade routes for years now, and raider attacks aren’t that dangerous when you know how to fight. Besides, they don’t happen that often, anyway.”

I nodded, understanding that for somepony who had travelled across the Wasteland for years there probably weren’t many new places they could discover. Personally, though, I would have loved to see more of the Equestrian Wasteland - assuming, of course, that I could find a way to do that without needing to rely solely on my own four hooves.

We paused for a moment as we reached a crossroad of corridors, having encountered another tripwire. As I waited for Burst to disarm it, I glanced at the signs under the ceiling. Although the clinic was the same level in this Stable as it was in mine, its location was slightly different. I was a little confused by it, but fortunately it turned out that it was closer than I had expected. It only took us about a minute to reach from the crossroad.

The smile that appeared on my muzzle as I walked into the clinic quickly faded as we discovered a lot more skeletons in there. What was worse, they were all close to the beds in there, which pointed out to them all being patients.

“Ugh, that’s just wrong,” Burst, having probably come to the same conclusion as I had, commented. “C’mon, let’s find those records and leave.”

However, I shook my head. “Before that, sweetie, I would like to see if there’s any medical equipment here that’s still usable.”

“Jack would prefer if we start looting after we finish our work here,” Burst replied, frowning. Before I could say anything, though, he added: “But how about you start going through those records and I’ll check what I can find around here?”

“Sounds good to me, sweetie,” I said, smiling at him with appreciation, and turned to the door leading to the doctor’s office.

When I took a step towards it, however, Burst quickly stepped in front of me. “I’ll just check if there isn’t any trap there first,” he said over his shoulder.

“Sweetie, I doubt a doctor would put a trap in their office,” I remarked, rolling my eyes in.

Burst didn’t reply, as the hiss the door made as he opened them would obscure his words. When he looked into the office, I could see him cringe a little. “Yeah, um, maybe this one should have.”

Already imagining what I could expect inside, I sighed and trotted after him.

The skeleton, probably of one of the Stable’s doctors, lay in the middle of the office. The Stable barding and lab coat that covered it had been partially torn away. The metacarpal and metatarsal bones had been broken, and the similar fractures on the skull along with the dent mark on it indicated that it had been done by a hammer.

They first broke her legs, then killed her, I noted, gazing at the remains sadly. What a cruel thing to do, and to a doctor… I experimented on my fellow stable ponies and hadn’t been as much as kicked or punched, and her… I shook my head and sighed.

Of course, there were some… odd elements in my Stable, so to speak. Not straight out murderers with hammers, thank the Goddesses, but murder isn’t the only act a pony can commit on other pony. Everypony has some darkness in them, after all, and not everypony manages to deal with it. That’s why the Stable Security deals with them.

Except some of them are subtle, I remarked. And some technically don’t break any law. Wish I could have gotten my hooves on those that did this to this doctor, too… what interesting experiments I could have performed on them...

Taking my eyes off the skeleton and letting my train of thought trail off, I checked the office. Like the clinic behind us, it was much smaller than its Stable Eight counterpart, of course, but other than that it was rather similar. There was a desk with a terminal on it, which no doubt housed all the Stable Eleven’s medical records. A few lockers stood by the wall, and on the other side there was a small bed, next to which a toppled hospital screen laid.

Thinking back fondly to the times when I would be so consumed by work that I would sleep in a similar bed in my own office instead of going back to my quarters, I headed for the desk.

“Do you want me to, um, move them outside or something?” Burst asked me as I stepped around the skeleton, pointing at it.

“Why would I want to trouble you like that, sweetie?” I asked, confused, as I sat before the desk. “They’re just bones. And some fabric.”

“Well, yeah, just… some ponies might be uncomfortable around corpses and such,” he explained, slightly blushing and rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. “I mean, usually they have some flesh on them and stink, but still…”

I smiled at him as he trailed off. “Thank you for such a concern regarding my comfort, sweetie,” I told him, grateful for his good intentions and that I was paired up with such a kind pony. “But in this case, it’s completely unnecessary. Those remains are nothing more than an intriguing composition of collagen and carbonated hydroxyapatite that contain that pony’s DNA to me, and my only interest in them would be scientific; I might be interested in examining them closely if I had the time and means to do so. The pony whose body had been supported by those bones is long gone, her soul having left her mortal vessel to join her loved ones and the Goddesses in the Afterlife.”

As I turned my attention to the terminal, I noticed in the corner of my eye Burst blinking at me. “So, um…” he began, sounding uncomfortable, “... you believe all that? The Afterlife, Goddesses and souls, I mean,” Burst added as I looked at him.

“Why shouldn’t I, sweetie?” I asked, surprised.

“No no, not saying you shouldn’t just… w-well, most of the smart, science-y ponies I’ve met tend to not believe in the Goddesses and everything.”

“Oh,” I exclaimed, now understanding what he meant. “Yes, I suppose that’s not surprising to hear, sweetie. My own mentor has a similar outlook on religion and beliefs. You should have seen the expression on his muzzle every time somepony would say ‘thank the Goddesses’ after he had told them good news regarding their health,” I added, giggling at the memory.

“And yet you do believe in them?” Burst asked.

I nodded. “That used to annoy my mentor, too,” I admitted, but I shook it off and continued “Don’t get me wrong, sweetie, I don’t believe that praying to the Goddess can cause miracles to happen, and to be honest, I am unsure whether They actually still move the Sun and Moon from the Heavens. I mean, it technically could be possible, seeing how much potential magic holds and how little is know about alicorns,” I said, more to myself. “But I do believe They exist. That they look down on us from the Afterlife, embracing our souls as we die. That They still wish and hope all the best for us in our mortal lives. After all,” I added, seeing how he was looking at me with some doubt in his eyes, “They give hope, strength, reassurance and comfort to countless ponies who believe in them. Doesn’t that make them real, even if they wouldn’t be?” I asked, smiling.

Burst blinked after hearing that, then slowly smiled. “I… guess that makes sense. Never really thought of it that way.” He stayed like that, smiling, for a few more seconds, before he blushed and cleared his throat. “A-anyway,” he stammered, “I’ll look over the clinic. You look over the records… oh wait, it might be password protected,” Burst added as he was about to leave, turning back to me. “Do you want me to try and hack it?”

“Thank you, sweetie, but I consider myself a capable hacker,” I told him. “Don’t worry, I know how to not get locked out of the system, so if I won’t be able to find the password I’ll let you try.”

“Ah, alright. Have fun then,” Burst said as he left the office.

Smiling after him, I slowly turned my attention back to the terminal. As Burst had guessed, it was password protected. Sighing, I began trying to hack it.

You really think all those ponies are now in a better place?

I do. I wouldn’t lie about something like this just to make you feel better, I replied, trying another word, only to see it wasn’t the correct one either. Gently, I asked How are you, sweetie?

A little better, I think, the tiny Fluttershy replied. The apparition’s eyes were a little red; was she crying? It’s just… hard to see so many ponies dead. And so many of them so young, too.

I understand, I told her, logging out after my third failed attempt, resetting the terminal. Just because I believe ponies go to a better place after their passing, it doesn’t mean their time on this plane should be short. Far from it, in fact. As long as a pony, or any sapient being, is alive, they can change. Grow. Evolve. Just thinking about all the possibilities that could have happened to so many ponies… I trailed off and shook my head, concentrating on hacking again.

So… would you also want to change? Fluttershy asked me.

Hm… change isn’t exactly the word I would use, sweetie, I said absentmindedly, slightly confused by her question.

But, um… wouldn’t you want to become better? If you believe in the Afterlife, aren’t you afraid that the Princesses would view what you do to ponies as evil and punish you after you die?

Oh, I exclaimed, now understanding where she was going with this. Don’t be ridiculous, sweetie, I won’t die.

Um, Fluttershy began, looking at me oddly, but as she was about to continue I interrupted her.

“Finally,” I exclaimed out loud as I found the correct password. “Alright, now the patients’ records…”

Just as I had expected, the doctor had kept all her records in the terminal, and like me, she had kept them in an alphabetical order. While it made my job of finding Pacific Glow’s quarters much easier, I felt slightly disappointed that I didn’t have an excuse to look at the records of all of the Stable Eleven’s citizens.

That disappointment quickly faded as I simply downloaded them to my PipBuck to read later.

Alright, Pacific Glow’s quarters were… Block D, room 19. Smiling, I glanced at the door. I could hear Burst moving around the clinic, searching for medical supplies and equipment. Well, since he’s still busy… I mused as I looked at what the doctor wrote in Pacific Glow’s record about her last visit. I was a little surprised to see how long the entry was.

Two broken ribs, several lacerations and bruises. I keep telling that stupid mare to stay away from “politics”. Especially in her age! What good do protests do anymore, anyway? The Adherents control everything, and will continue to do so until the next election. Which they will probably rig, just like the last Overmare’s election…

Pacific Glow didn’t recognize the ponies who assaulted her, but is certain that it was either the Stable security or those Stable Youths assholes. Honestly, I don’t know what’s the difference between the two these days, both are Adherent’s dogs, everypony knows that. Stable Youths… bunch of stupid kids that barely remember the Outside and believe everything the Council and “Father” Gemstone’s radio tells them. Limestone Pie should have had them all thrown out of the Stable when she was still the chief of security. Now they are everywhere causing trouble for ponies who say anything bad about the Council or the Overmare, and security doesn’t give a crap.

Hopefully Pacific Glow will stay low for a few days, at least until the “celebrations” are over. Maybe one of the “retired” security ponies could hang around her, just to make sure nopony assaults her again. Could probably use one or two here, actually. This was the fifth assault victim this week, sooner or later they will start coming for my patients to finish their job.

My eyes slowly drifted from the entry to the skeleton. “I guess they indeed finally came,” I noted sadly. Giving the terminal one more glance, I wondered how many more of those reports would contain such… rants from her. How badly things must have gone for a doctor to focus more on the politics than the patient’s injuries? (Although, granted, they weren’t that serious, even when taking the mare’s age into an account. I would have fixed her in less than ten seconds.) Sighing, I turned to the remains again. “They came and killed this mare, and for what?” I asked out loud, grabbing the skull gently with my magic and placing it in my forehooves. “So that they could all die?”

I… don’t understand this, either, Fluttershy replied. Some ponies just… want an easy answer to their problems, I guess.

I nodded absentmindedly, staring into the empty eye sockets. To where, almost two hundred years ago, the eyes of a mare had been. “It’s sad, isn’t it?” I asked after a few seconds of silence had passed. Sensing Fluttershy’s puzzlement, I explained “That this is what we all turn into. That our souls ascend and bodies become this.” My forehooves’ grip on the skull grew tighter. “The undeniable Truth of this world.”

I almost spat that word.

I almost jumped as the door hissed. “Well, a lot of things were either broken or stolen, apparently,” Burst said as he walked in. On his back there was a new saddlebag, a white one with butterflies on it. “Found this behind one of the beds, put some surgical tools I found for you in it… why are you holding a skull?” he asked, eyeing me with confusion and worry.

Realizing how unusual this may look, I smiled sheepishly. “I suppose you could say I was… ruminating? I read an entry she wrote for Pacific Glow’s last visit,” I continued to explain as Burst continued to stare at me. “This mare had a lot on her mind, and this was how she was rewarded for worrying about her Stable so much. If she were alive I would have hugged her, but… now I can only hold her remains and think how sad everything is,” I finished, sighing and shaking my head.

“I understand,” Burst said, sounding sympathetic. I wondered briefly if he truly did or if he was trying to be kind again. “Do you, um, need a moment, or…”

“No sweetie, I’m fine. Thank you for your concern,” I told him, smiling.

Burst smiled back, then cleared his throat and resumed. “As I was saying, I found some surgical tools and other medical equipment, like that, um, listening thingy-”

“Stethoscope, sweetie,” I gently corrected him.

“Yeah, that. There were also some some oxygen masks,” Burst quickly added, as if embarrassed that he didn’t know the name of the device, “I think their oxygen talismans are still working, but I’m not sure.”

My ears perked with interest hearing that. “I believe those are breathing oxygen talismans, sweetie,” I corrected Burst gently as I placed the skull of the doctor back at it’s place on her skeleton and I trotted around the desk to him. He took off the saddlebag and gave it to me. Glancing inside, I saw one of the masks he had mentioned; on its side there were holes for small tubes that a doctor could use to move breathing oxygen gas directly into patient’s lungs if they couldn’t breathe for themselves. “There are more gasses than just oxygen in the air. Those talismans allow to regulate the proportion of them in the air a pony would breathe in through the mask.”

“Huh, I see,” Burst replied, sounding a bit abashed, but quickly shrugged it off. “There wasn’t anything else back there worth taking,” the earth pony continued as I looked around the bag; he also found an otoscope, a few scalpels, tweezers, forceps, and surgical saw, and some other equipment. “Whoever did all of this must have taken stuff like healing potions or Med-Xs.”

“It was either the Stable security or Stable Youths,” I said absentmindedly, examining his finds.

“Stable Youths?”

“The doctor mentioned them in the entry I read. Apparently it was a group of… zealots, of sorts, comprised of ponies too young to remember the life on the Outside. They didn’t like anypony who disagreed with the Overmare and the Council.”

Burst sighed. “Fucking Stable.. sorry,” he quickly added, grimacing. “So you hacked it? Did you get that mare’s quarters?”

“She used to live in room nineteen in block D, sweetie,” I told him. “Shall we go and claim your objective before the others do?”

Burst chuckled and smirked. “Let’s just give this office a quick look too, no point in going back here.”

*** *** ***

“Hey, after we find those music records, wanna check their cafeteria and kitchen?” Burst asked sometime after we had left the clinic. “Maybe there’s still something edible in there.”

“Well, it has been some time since my last meal,” I noted; the rush I felt upon entering Stable Eleven had gradually evaporated and the long hours without food or proper rest began to remind my body of themselves. “But we have time, don’t we sweetie? We’ll be staying here for the night,” I reminded him, then shook with glee at the thought. “Oh, I can’t wait until we all can rest! So far everything in the Stable seems to still function properly, so its water talisman and heating talismans should still be working. I’ll finally be able to take a long, warm bath!”

As I pranced a little, unable to contain the happiness surging in me, Burst chuckled. “Yeah, pretty much the only place in the Wasteland you can get one is the Tenpony Tower, so opportunities like that don’t happen often I’m afraid,” he said as he glanced at the numbers above the doors we’d passed, looking out for number nineteen.

I was about to ask if he could tell me more about Tenpony Tower - as most of what I knew came from Apple Core, who had never been there - but at that moment… I… I stopped, trying to clear my head and wondering just what I had felt.

Angel? I heard Fluttershy ask at the same instant. Can you go into that room? Please?

Confused by her request, as well as the quiet determination her voice held, I turned my head in the direction where the apparition was pointing. The direction I had felt a… tugging from. The doors on my right, beside which I had stopped, were closed, but as I pressed a button on its side they opened.

“Angel?” Burst asked. Glancing at him, I realized that he had gone ahead without realizing I had stopped, probably having been busy with both looking for the room we searched for as well as traps on the floor. However, hearing the door hiss caused him to turn back. “What are you doing?”

“I…” I paused; what was I doing? Checking out a room that didn’t have what we were looking for because an apparition of the long dead Ministry Mare that was tied to a tiny statuette had told me in my mind? Without asking any question why she wanted me to do that at that? “I’d like to take a look at this room, sweetie,” I told Burst, hoping he wouldn’t demand a more complex explanation. “It won’t take long.”

Burst’s eyes darted from me to the room, blinking in confusion. “Um, okay… I’ll go find Pacific Glow’s room,” he said, pointing at the rooms behind him. “Don’t go anywhere without me, okay?”

“Of course, sweetie,” I replied, thankful.

As Burst began to trot away - casting a last worried and intrigued gaze at me - I turned my attention to what laid past the door I had opened. Having already realized that there weren’t any rooms in Stable Eleven that had the Dimensional Transcendentalism Spells cast on them, I wasn’t surprise to see how small this one was. It was the same as Stable Eight’s normal class citizen’s quarters would be, spacious only enough to contain a bed, drawer and cupboard, a desk with a terminal on it and some free space in between.

My eyes were drawn to the skeleton lying on the bed.

I crept slowly closer until I stood right beside it. It was a skeleton of an earth pony mare, who, as far as I could tell, had been well into the fall of her life by the time of her death. In fact, if it hadn’t been for all the remains I had seen in this Stable, I would have thought this pony had died from natural causes; her bones showed no sign of any physical trauma. However, my interest in the skeleton quickly dispersed as I noticed what was under its right pastern bones and coffin bone.

It was a statuette of a pony. Unlike the one I had found in Appleloosa’s hospital’s basement, it was depicting a bright pink pony, who looked as if she was about to bounce up and down on her pedestal. As a matter of fact, just like Fluttershy’s statuette, it looked as if it was alive. Having seen her already on few billboards and in in a textbook in Stable Eight, I easily recognized the Mare of Ministry of Morale, Pinkie Pie.

Is it the same kind of statuette as yours, sweetie? I asked Fluttershy, tilting my head as I noticed that on this one’s base, too, there were some words written.

Awareness! It was under ‘E’!

I frowned, confused. I don’t get it. Awareness doesn’t begin with “E”... and why would it be “under” it? I wondered. As Fluttershy remained silent, I thought back to how she had wanted me to come into this room. Had she know this statuette was here? But how? Turning my head to the skeleton’s skull, I remembered a strange sensation that fell upon me as I passed the room, as if something was tugging me in this direction. Could it have been what Fluttershy had felt, and I somehow felt it through whatever spell had been put on her statuette?

She must have died while looking at it, I noted, observing the angle at which the skull laid. Or at that, I added, glancing at her left pastern bones and coffin bone. Leaning against it was a framed picture of a family of six, with two adult ponies and four foals. The filly in the center of the photograph, standing on a table in front of a large cake, was clearly the Ministry Mare Pinkie Pie, as I realized with surprise; there was no mistaking that bouncy pink mane. The other fillies and the adult mare had in contrast all gray coats, except for the buck, who was light brown. Is she on this photograph? I wondered, glancing back at the remains. If the Ministry Mare was a filly when they took it, then she must have been one of the other fillies… Was she her sister?

I turned my attention back to the statuette. If it was the same as Fluttershy’s - whose continued silence began to worry me - then would I now have the apparition of Pinkie Pie speaking to me in my mind as well? Well, not right away, it had taken over two weeks for Fluttershy to begin speaking to me directly, before that it felt more like I was “imagining” what she’d say, I thought as I was about to reach for the statuette with my magic. Maybe in a few days-

I cut off as a jolt went through me the moment my magic held the statuette, but that was nothing compared to the shock I felt as a tiny pink mare appeared right before my face.

Hi! she exclaimed loudly, grinning as her voice rang inside my head. I’m Pinkie Pie! Oh my gosh, finally! I was waiting here alone for so long and- OH MY GOSH, FLUTTERSHY!!! I didn’t know it would have been possible, but somehow the apparition became even louder as she said those last four words than before. I grabbed my head in pain as the tiny pony darted to my side, throwing herself at the apparition of Fluttershy and hugging her so tightly I’m sure she would have broke her ribs if she were corporeal. I’VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH!

Fluttershy, at first startled, had quickly smiled, although with some effort due to the tight embrace she was in. I missed you too, Pinkie Pie, she said quietly, pure happiness in her voice as she hugged her back.

As Pinkie Pie began to speak again, thankfully less loudly than before, I sat on the floor beside the bed and placed her statuette in my saddlebag together with Fluttershy’s.

Oh, it’s so great to see you! I’ve been all alone ever since… she cast a glance at the remains, her mood growing somber, before she turned back to Fluttershy, brightening up again. But it was worth waiting here if it meant I could be reunited with you! I wish the others were here too. Do you think this pony will find the others as well? That would be awesome! Oh, and speaking of which, who is she? she cast me a curious glance. Is she a nice pony? Is she fun? Limestone was so grumpy to hang around with, Pinkie Pie added, rolling her eyes. Despite her words, though, I noticed a faint smile on her face; I guessed she must had been fond of the time she had spent with-

Limestone Pie! I exclaimed, recognizing the name from the records in the clinic. So she was your sister, I realized as both apparitions turned to me. Gently, I continued: I’m sorry about her passing, sweetie. I’m sure her soul is now at rest in Heavens.

Although her ears had dropped, Pinkie Pie smiled at me. Thanks. Limestone never really put much faith in… wait, she said after a brief pause, her eyes wide. You can hear us?

Why, yes, sweetie, I- I began to reply, but the tiny pink pony cut me off.

OH MY GOSH, THIS IS AMAZING!!! She screeched inside my head so loudly that, despite knowing that it would have been impossible, a part of me wondered if Burst had heard her. I’ve talked and talked to Limestone, but she never heard me! Can you imagine how frustrating it was? But oh, never mind, this will be great! I can finally talk with somepony! Oh, of course, I am super duper happy that I get to be together with you, Fluttershy, obviously, she added, turning briefly to the tiny pegasus, but I love meeting new ponies! And, you know, talking is an important part of meeting. So… Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie! I know I already said that, but I didn’t know you were listening! So what’s your name? I opened my mouth to reply, but Pinkie Pie wasn’t waiting for an answer. She continued to spout questions, bouncing around my head: Why are you here? Where do you live? What do you do? Do you get along with Fluttershy? Nah, of course you do. What-

S-slow down, Ministry Mare Pinkie Pie, please, I managed to interrupt her, getting overwhelmed by the amount of questions and the volume of her voice.

It didn’t help that my head was swirling with questions of my own. How could Limestone Pie had not heard or seen her? I saw Pinkie Pie immediately as I picked up her statuette, and as for Fluttershy, it only took a few weeks. Limestone clearly had her sister’s statuette for years. Could it be that whatever spell was placed on them, they work only on unicorns? I did see Pinkie after I grabbed the statuette with my magic. I recalled feeling a weird sensation wash over me as I had done that, and similar one when I had picked up Fluttershy’s statuette. I couldn’t help but wonder if there was some way to test this theory...

Oh, sorry, Pinkie Pie replied, pulling me out of my musing as she stopped bouncing in circles around me and hovered before me, giggling. I just got super excited!

Sweetie, I noticed, I thought, smiling a bit awkwardly. I took a deep, calming breath to regain my composure, then replied: To answer your questions, sweetie, my name is Angel-

Angel? she interrupted me, then gasped and.. began to prance around my head again.

You’re an Angel, a white mare,
A strange, hearing-voices-in-her-head mare.
I never met you but you’re my new friend,
And I’m your best friend Pinkie Pie!

I looked, wide eyed, at the pink apparition as it she stood on her hind legs on the end of my muzzle after finishing this random, out of nowhere song. And… was that confetti that suddenly burst around her, or did I just imagine it? I cross eyed at Fluttershy, really confused by this bizarre behaviour, but unfortunately for me all the other tiny pony did (after she stopped giggling quietly and looking at Pinkie Pie’s performance fondly) was giving me an embarrassed smile and a shrug.

That was… lovely, sweetie, I told Pinkie Pie.

Aww, thanks!

Now, for your other questions, sweetie, I began cautiously, hoping that she wouldn’t interrupt me again; it was unnerving; I came here to help find music records of Countess Coloratura, I am currently living in the town of Appleloosa, where I currently work as the town’s doctor, and yes, I believe I get along well with Fluttershy… although I fear we tend to have different opinions regarding matters like morality and justice, I added, casting her a glance. I do like her and enjoy her company, though, despite our differences.

Awesome! Pinkie exclaimed happily… and loudly.

I shook as my brain hurt from that shriek. Sweetie, could you tone down your voice just a tiny bit? I pleaded the pink apparition.

Okay! Pinkie Pie replied enthusiastically, her tone not any lower than before. She must have realized it, as she gasped and covered her mouth. Oops, sorry!

I sighed, wishing there had been some painkillers back in the clinic. Fluttershy? I asked, turning to the tiny pegasus. Most of the time you, well, don’t appear in my head, I don’t see or hear you, I said awkwardly; I really needed to try and see what those statuettes are, I was uncomfortable not being able to speak in a more precise manner. Can you and Pinkie Pie, um, disappear for me and talk just between yourselves for the time being? You could catch up while I’d try to learn more about this Stable, I said, glancing at the terminal in the room.

The entry I read in the clinic had mentioned that Limestone had been the chief of security for some time. I was certain that such a pony had to keep up to date on the Stable’s affairs. Her terminal could explain to me just what had happened here.

The awfully set up system of government and abuse of religion aside.

Unless you could tell me yourself, sweetie, I added, turning my attention to Pinkie Pie.

Who was already gone.

Annoyed, I glanced at Fluttershy, who just giggled nervously before disappearing as well. Just when I could learn something useful from them instead of having morality discussions. Uttering a sigh, I got up to my hooves and trotted to the terminal. Strangely, there wasn’t a password required to gain access to its contents; apparently, it hadn’t been properly turned off. I looked over the list of entries, anxious to see what they information they could hold, then turned towards the door. I perked my ears, but couldn’t hear Burst coming back. He still showed up on my E.F.S., though, the only bar within its reach. Relaxing knowing that I still had some time, and that nothing bad has befallen my companion, I began to read the earliest entry.

Entry #1

Fuck.

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCKSD KFJ RGMJIMKLS

I blinked, surprised. Well, that’s… enlightening, I remarked, moving on to the next one.

Entry #2

Have to write this stupid journal. Doctor’s orders. Supposedly will calm me down, help deal with stuff.

Fuck. Just FUCK! What the hell was I thinking? I should have gone looking for Marble when the alarm went off, not trust her to get to the Stable by herself. Fuck, why did she have to leave the house so early that day? Why didn’t she get in here before they closed the stupid door? Why did I leave her?

I wanted to go out and find her, then drag her flank to the Stable, but they wouldn’t let me. Stupid security ponies, beat up three of them as they began closing the door back then before they subdued me, now they have five guarding the entrance. The temporary Overmare’s orders, they stay closed. Fuck her.

The zebras probably didn’t hit anywhere near us. One of the security guys is, or was I suppose, a soldier, said they had to target big cities and military bases and such. So Marble might be alive. Of course, there’s the radiation, but she could find someplace where there wasn’t any, maybe met some other ponies who didn’t make it in time. I just hope it would be ponies like her, all annoyingly shy and super kind. It could happen.

Pinkie’s a Ministry Mare, she’s definitely safe somewhere. And Maud is the toughest of us; wherever she was when the zebras’ hit, she made it, I know it.

I wish they were here. With me. But if they are all alive and safe, that would be enough. Please be alright.

Entry #3

Got assigned to working as security pony. Well, I do like bossing others around. Might take my mind off things.

Also, the temporary Overmare announced about this whole “elections” idea. Seems stupid, but they won’t make you vote if you don’t want to, so what do I care?

Entry #4

The Princesses’ worshipers are gaining numbers. I mean, sure, there always were a couple ponies here and there who deified them, but now they are calling them “Goddesses” and saying how they continue to look after us, even here. Yeah right. Zebras must had bombed Canterlot and killed both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, they’re dead. Yeah, they say some crap about their “spirits ascending” and what not, but that's just crazy.

But anyway, this one pony, Gemstone, started creating this cult, and is petitioning to the temporary Overmare to allow him use of one of the rooms for his “chapel”. She’ll probably put him off until those elections next year so that the next Overmare and that Stable Eleven Council have to deal with him. Can’t say I blame her, that buck creeps me out.

Entry #5

Somehow that Gemstone convinced the temporary Overmare to let him conduct few “masses” or whatever using the Stable Eleven’s PA System. Great, now I get to hear this sanctimonious shit near every broadcaster. Might go to Pacific Glow and borrow some of her holotapes, if I play some music on my PipBuck and wear headphones maybe I can go through a day without getting annoyed.

Entry #6

Well, it looks like we have a new Overmare and this Council. Dunno who actually represents my block, and don’t really care.

Entry #7

The Council allowed Gemstone, oh sorry, “Father” Gemstone, to open a chapel for his herd. “Father”. I had one Pa, and he was a hundred times the buck Gemstone is. Anypony makes me call him that gets a punch in the muzzle.

Entry #8

More and more ponies join this cult. I think it’s about an eighth of everypony in the Stable by now, actually.

Entry #9

Had to break up a fight today. Between the “believers” and “non believers”. One of the believers spat in my face. Doctor says he should wake up tomorrow.

It wasn’t the only such incident. Recently there had been some heated discussions floating around the Stable, although I didn’t hear anything about fights such as this.

Gemstone had condemned violence (and prayed to Luna and Celestia for forgiveness and peace, like that’s gonna do anything), although I heard from the chief that he’s done that only after he had been told by both the Overmare and the Council.

Entry #10

Well, this is a surprise. Got promoted today. To the chief of security. I knew Chief Constant had health problems, but not serious enough to cause him to retire so early, buck is almost half my age. Hope he gets better soon.

In the meantime, I guess it falls to me to keep everypony from killing each other. Could be fun I suppose.

I was about to start reading the next entry, but then I noticed the date next to it. It has been written a good year after the previous one. Looking over the further entries, I noticed that such long gasps had become a norm to Limestone for several next years. I guess with all her duties as chief of security, she didn’t have time to keep up with writing her journal, I mused. Still, I couldn’t help but frown with disappointment a little. I had been constantly busy in Stable Eight with my duties, and I had no problem keeping track of my journal.

Entry #11

We’re nowhere near the next elections, and ponies are already preparing for them. Some of the candidates that didn’t get selected began banding together. Those parties of theirs already make promises about what they would change and what not. Talk about boring. And pointless, too. No matter what they promise, I bet they will be just like the current crew, bunch of lazy ponies that spend their days scratching their asses.

Granted, one party is a bit different. They’re called the “Adherents of Royal Sisters”, or something like that, and they’re good buddies with the growing church here. Founded by that ass Moon Scrounger. Funny, I recall him to really despise Gemstone when he first started going on about the Goddesses. Guess he hopes to assure the votes of his followers. They will probably grant him another room to be another chapel or give him a bigger access to the PA System in exchange when they win.

Whatever, still not gonna go and vote. Got better things to do.

Entry #12

Well, elections are over. The Citizens of Equestria party got two seats on the Council, Adherents only one, despite the help they got. Seriously, I heard from other guys in Security that every sermon ended with Gemstone telling ponies that they should vote for Adherents candidates. Fortunately, most folks still remember what kind of an ass Moon Scrounger was back on the surface and how he cheated his way to be in charge of workers’ trade union, before everything went to shit. Dumbass. Can’t wait to see him lose the Overmare election. On that note, can a buck even run for that? Or do they change the title to Overstallion? Oh who cares. The remaining two seats were taken by partyless ponies.

In other news, some of the younger ponies in our Stable began meeting together, dunno why; maybe they plan to form their own party already? As long as they cause any trouble I don’t really care.

Entry #13

That Scrounger is craftier than I gave him credit for. Instead of candidating himself for the position of Over-whatever, that ass put somepony else from his party for the election. All hail new Overmare Strict Frame. Yeah right. If the rumors about Moon Scrounger from before the Last Day are true, he probably has some shit on her to blackmail her or something.

Entry #14

The Stable Youths, as some of the teenagers began to call themselves, are starting to become a nuisance. It was all good as long as all they did was attend all the public holiday and events, cheering or booing stuff, but there had been two incidents of them starting a fight. A few more and I’ll have to start some investigation, and I already have a lot of work as it is. Stupid brats. When I was their age I was working my tail off, didn’t have time to start anything.

Hopefully those two incidents were just caused by being cooped up in this Stable for kids who have too much energy for their own good, and not something else. The fact that the other sides of those fights are all comprised of ponies who don’t do the Goddesses’ religion is kinda worrisome.

The Youths are religious, they believe in all that crap Gemstone pours from himself. I wouldn’t mind so much if it wasn’t for those incidents. I hope those are unrelated.

Entry #15

Fuck. Yes.

One of the members of the Stable Eleven Council pitched in an idea about sending an expedition Outside. Out of the Stable. See what became of Equestria.

I could see what happened to my home, find Marble, and Pinkie and Maud.

They still have to vote on it, and then the Overmare just has to sign under it, and we’ll begin preparations. I don’t care if they say I’m too old for something so dangerous, I’m going.

Entry #16

FUCKING STRICT FRAME, MOON SCROUNGER AND GEMSTONE!

She vetoed the project. The expedition Outside won’t launch. No doubt on Moon Scrounger’s orders. Gemstone didn’t want it either, he kept saying how Equestria had fallen to zebras’ evil on his station and how opening the Stable would result in the zebra invaders killing and/or enslaving everypony here. Funny, one would think somebody so devout would want to find the Goddesses he worships. Probably doesn’t want everypony see what bullshit this really is, or to lose control over his little herd if they disperse on the Outside.

Seriously, fuck that bitch and those assholes. I had to wait an entire month for the Council to make the decision, and she fucking vetoes it.

That’s it, I am going to the elections from now on. I won’t let any more of those Adherents fucks decide a thing in my Stable.

Entry #17

Well, got most of the Stable Youth's leadership under arrest. There were too many cases of them harassing ponies or even beating them up to be lenient on them just because they are kids. They even tried to stop some ponies who are declared Citizens of Equestria’s supporters from attending Constant’s funeral a month ago. They claimed he was Stable Eleven’s hero, so he shouldn’t suffer those “scum” at his funeral, or some crap like that. Who do they think they are to decide who can say their final farewells and honor ponies memory?!

Will have to work out what to do with them with the Council and the Overmare. Hopefully we can get it done before the next elections. I don’t like what the polls showed; Adherents have a chance to get a majority. Ponies gave in to the fear propaganda Gemstone spread and they are afraid of opening the Stable. Idiots.

The next entry was, according to the date beside it, from next month. Already suspecting how those elections had turned out, I wasn’t surprised that Limestone had been so anxious that she wrote in her journal again.

Entry #18.

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

The Adherents have four seats on the Council. And the Overmare. Moon Scrounger rules Stable Eleven now. Fucker didn’t even try to run for a seat this time, knew nopony would vote for him. He put all of his most popular ponies from each block as candidates instead, and those idiots thought they would be independant from him after becoming Councilors. Stupid fucking idiots.

So much for the expedition. By the time the next elections come up (and that is assuming ponies will grow the fuck smarter and vote at anypony beside Adherents), I will definitely be too old to go. Fortunately there are a few ponies in security I can trust to go in my place (and who are competent enough not to screw it up), but I wanted to go myself. But still, just having any news about my sisters would be enough. Just gotta hope they won’t blow us all up to Tartarus until then.

Thankfully that’s just my humor, they’re not evil or incompetent, just assholes.

The next entry was made less than two weeks after the previous.

Entry #19

Yeah, I gotta retract that previous statement.

So, the Council changed the law to allow the Overmare to not only pardon a convicted pony as she pleases, but also to order the security to release anypony who’s being held in their custody if there is a suspicion of unnecessity of it and of the criminal procedure overall! Because of it, that stupid bitch ordered the release of all the Stable Youths we had arrested, due to them being still underage. I would say those little brats got sent back to their homes with nothing but a slap on their hooves, but they didn’t even get the fucking slap!

Entry #20

And now they granted Gemstone the full control of the PA System. I am pretty sure that violates several of Stable-Tec directives. And, you know, common sense.

Now the speakers broadcasts his preachings all the time in between recording of the psalms. At least they are sung by the church’s choir and not Gemstone. Can’t imagine how much out of tune his singing must be. Still, makes me want to shoot myself.

Entry #21

So, I got fired today. That’s a first for me, actually.

Well, not “fired” I suppose, but “retired”. Except that I was forced to retire. The Overmare didn’t give me any other option, just said that I had to retire due to my age, and that I “surely deserve some peace and quiet after so many years of faithful service to Stable Eleven”. Yeah, right, and the fact that I so loudly criticized some of the new Council’s projects or refused to have several ponies (most of which belonged to the Citizens of Equestria party or were the partyless previous Councilors) be investigated for no reason (I mean real reason, with a proof of said reason, not some made up crap about possibility of treason or rumors) had nothing to do with this hastened retirement. I’m still years from reaching the retirement age for Celestia’s sake! And that’s besides the fact that I can still kick everypony on security’s flanks!

Wish I could tell the Overmare to shove her offer up her tailhole, but I can’t refuse her. The stupid bitch is still the Overmare. All I could do was argue a bit, then agree and go prepare a list of candidates I would recommend for my place. Doubt anypony I would trust to do this job will get selected by her.

Entry #22

Most of higher ranking security officers also got retired. Those who were younger actually got fired. Don’t like who they put in their place. Some of them are good guys, but they’re not assertive enough to oppose the Overmare’s orders. Not to mention my own replacement. I knew they would probably ignore my recommendation, but this is the epitomy of stupidity. They just put a pony from their party, who never worked a day in security, as its chief.

Am I really the only one here who sees how they are trying to get even more control over this Stable?!

Oh, and also, some of the older Stable Youths got accepted into security. I should have thrown those arrogant, violent brats out of the Stable’s door when I had the chance.

Entry #23

So, after a few years of them gradually changing the educational system, adding some new laws and placing several former Councilors under house arrest while they were being investigated, replacing most high ranking ponies in every part of the Stable’s organization including even maintenance, and outright ignoring every incident of the Stable Youths harassing or attacking pretty much everypony not supporting the Adherents or the church, that shit of a pony Strict Frame gets re-elected. I don’t know whether ponies here are really that stupid, or if there was an election fraud. Considering how much power the Adherents now hold, it wouldn’t be tough, I bet.

But that’s not the worst of it. Or most retarded, depending how you look at it.

Two days ago a new law was passed. Due to the “importance” of the Goddesses Celestia and Luna in everypony’s life, as some claim, it is now considered heretical for a pony to let their heads, hearts, ears and I guess asses to be occupied by music other than one praising the royal sisters, or whatever. Not even gonna bother picking up a damned flyer to copy perfectly their shitty reasoning, the point is, all music other than what’s on the “Celestial Radio” has been banned. Every recording or holotape containing music and songs from before we all got stuck here has been confiscated and destroyed.

I blinked. Oh, this cannot be good… I mused, imagining Jack’s reaction to this information. Although, there was this other station that is still broadcasting music… I guess some must have survived…

This also explained how come Burst was taking such a long time to return. The poor dear was probably throwing around everything in that room searching for recordings that were no longer there. Even as I realized that, the rest of the entry confirmed my assessment:

Pacific Glow is crushed, she owned so many of those. I wish there was something I could do for her. She sorta reminds me of Pinkie, she looks like her and also loves parties, although not so much throwing them.

It’s been awhile since the last time I thought about my sisters. I hope they’re well, or at least, better than I am, and that they don’t have to deal with crap such as this.

Pinkie wouldn’t stand by for how things are down here. She would have tried to do something about it all.

Entry #24

New broadcast appeared out of nowhere. The host calls it “Radio Freedom”. Appropriate, considering. Plays several songs that he somehow managed to hide from security ponies. Can’t really recognize the voice, but I’m pretty sure he’s a buck. I asked Pacific Glow about it after I recognized some of the songs from her collections, she mentioned (very quietly, in case anypony who’s the Council’s lapdog could overhear it) that she had copied some for her friends over the years. I have the feeling that she might suspect who’s responsible for the Radio Freedom, but considering what would happen to him she won’t tell even me.

Probably for the best, really. Even though I would never snitch him out, there wouldn’t be much I could do to help, either. I’m not good with all those technical thingies or even music. I couldn’t even protect him, there are too many security ponies and Stable Youths for me to handle. No, the best protection for him and Radio Freedom would be for him to continue his work in secret. To let everypony hear beautiful songs, reminding us that there are other things to life than stupid praying, especially this twisted praying Gemstone had created. It’s simply inspiring.

I wonder if it’s inspirational enough for something that I had been thinking about for a while now. Gonna visit a few old friends and see.

Entry #25

So, for some time now, some unsavory characters - I believe ponies began to call them Freedom Fighters - had been damaging all the Adherents’ posters they put all around the Stable in preparation for upcoming elections. Tearing them off, or drawing on them. They’ve also wrote several messages on walls here and there, saying that the Adherents were greedy liars, that Gemstone was full of hate and shit, that him and Moon Scrounger were controlling everything, all sorts of things like that. And the strangest thing is, Stable’s “Friendly Pie” observation system didn’t record who did it, not even in the Atrium. As if it was done by a group who understood how they worked, maybe even were members of security or maintenance. Can’t imagine who could have done that.

Of course, the Council, the Overmare, and Adherents overall are looking for the culprits, and already cleaned up most of the graffitis. And the Stable Youths began damaging all the other posters, mostly from the Citizens of Equestria party.

Maybe something more drastic should be done.

Entry #26

I don’t think my sisters would have approved of what I had done, but it had to be done.

Well, Maud maybe, and considering everything you’d hear about Ministry of Morale, maybe Pinkie too, but not Marble.

Entry #27

I would have thought that Moon Scrounger would be secretly glad to be rid of Gemstone, but either he isn’t or he is trying to keep up appearances, either way they are searching for anypony connected to this. They bring in ponies into Security’s wing for questioning under even the weakest excuses. Been taken there already, of course. Those newbies don’t really know how to interrogate anypony, aside from hitting them, they had enough common sense to not try that method with me. Not that I had anything to hide, of course.

Still, those repressions are unnerving. If they continue, something should be done about them. Once and for all, maybe.

Entry #28

Pacific Glow came to me today. At first I thought it was about her getting roughed up by some of those brats, but then she told me that security had just arrested Short Wave. According to her, he was the one responsible for Radio Freedom, having constructed an amateur broadcaster and using it to play the few songs he had on a holotape he managed to hide from security. So, either they had found him out finally, or he’s being held for something else, and might let it slip during questioning. Or they figured that his broadcast’s been on loop the entire time he had been there. Neither sounds good. Considering how much they wanted to shut off his radio station, I don’t even want to think what they’ll do to him.

This has to stop.

I hoped it wouldn’t come to this. I contacted the few guys I trust in the security, they were able to smuggle a few firearms for us. We’ll take them, along with whatever other weapons we can make, and go tomorrow morning to end this. They have “their” holiday tomorrow, they will all be there. We’ll take care of the security ponies first, at least those who take real pleasure in harassing ponies in the service of Adherents. Then we’ll gun them down. The Councilors and party members, the Overmare and Moon Scrounger. The Stable will finally be free of their filth.

After that we’ll free Short Wave and hold another election. Or figure something else, because clearly this didn’t work out as the Stable-Tec had hoped.

I glanced at the skeleton on the bed before opening the last entry.

Entry #29

Well, that escalated quickly.

I don’t even know why things went so wrong. The plan was simple, and it looked like everything went according to plan. Sure, Moon Scrounger and Strict Frame somehow managed to get away from the Atrium, but we got most of his lapdogs. A few ponies got killed in the crossfire (from security’s bullets, for the record, we knew how to shoot), and I thought that it would be all that made me feel like a piece of crap today.

We rescued Short Wave and everypony else being held in the Security, took care of the few remaining lapdogs, and we were about to work out how to open the Overmare’s wing where that bitch Strict Frame hid, when a pony came telling us the Stable Youths were killing everypony back in Living Quarters.

I don’t know if they started with just killing our friends and families or outright anypony who didn’t support the Adherents. Doesn’t matter either way. We tried to stop them and save ponies, but by then the fighting broke out everywhere in the Stable. Stable Youths, us, others. It was hard to tell what was happening at few times. Or most of the time. Everypony’s dead now.

I’m the last one, for now. Got few bullet wounds, lacerations and some other things. I could patch myself together well enough to survive, but what’s the point? I thought about leaving, but I don’t think I deserve that anymore. Even if I were to just die out there, under the open sky. And certainly I don’t deserve to meet Marble again. How could I look her in the eyes after what I did here? What I let happen?

Couldn’t even kill that son of a bitch. Would at least make me feel a little better, maybe. Fucking coward took some pills, by the time I fought my way to his room he was already dead. There was the Overmare’s wing keycard in his room. Dunno if that’s because he was keeping her under control or if they were banging. Thought about using it to go and at least make Strict Frame pay, but at this point I just don’t care. She can leave the Stable, stay, or go fuck herself.

Feeling a bit woozy. Don’t think I’ll have the time to go back to cafeteria and get something to drink and come back before I pass out for good. I want to die here, in my room. Staring at my family picture with my Pinkie. Fucking sappy.

I don’t know where things went wrong. Was I wrong when I decided to take all those drastic actions? Was I wrong to oppose Moon Scrounger so openly when I was still the chief of security? Was it not going to elections all those years? Standing back when Gemstone began to build this hypocritical religious empire? No, it’s neither of those. What I did wrong was coming into this Stable. Should have waited for Marble. Even if we stayed Outside, it would have been better. We would have been together. Fuck.

Hooves a bit heavier. Gotta lie down. Wake up and see my family again.

With a heavy sigh, I turned off the terminal. I’m sure you had, Limestone, I thought, turning back to the skeleton. I couldn’t help but wonder what I would have done differently in her place.

Well, I would have certainly faked this Gemstone character’s death and used him for my experiments for his heresy and abusing the Goddesses’ names, I mused, curious if it would have been that easy. Probably not. What had happened here was just awful.

The question that plagued Limestone in her final moments bothered me. Where did it all had gone wrong? Instead of thinking what I would have done, I tried to put myself in Limestone’s place. Imagine I was an earth pony who had been the chief of security. Would I have found a way to stop the Adherents and Gemstone? Would I even be able to predict just how much of a threat to the Stables citizens they would become? Would I have found a way to prevent all of that without breaking Stable Eleven’s laws?

Or, I thought grimly, was the fault not in Limestone or the ponies that had lived here, but in the system by which they had to abide?

The hoofsteps from outside of the room pulled me out of my musing. Apparently, Burst had given up on searching Pacific Glow’s room. We’ll have to find where Short Wave had hid his broadcast relay, I thought as I waited patiently for him. But how? Even the Stable security ponies couldn’t find it. They certainly had done the obvious thing and searched his room, along with everypony else’s most likely… although, I mused, remembering what I read in Limestone’s journal, there is a chance that Short Wave told them after he was arrested. In that case, there should be some records in the Security’s wing.

My ears perked as Burst finally entered Limestone’s room. As I’ve expected, his expression was full of disappointment and frustration.

“I couldn’t find anything,” he said, grimacing. “I turned the entire room upside down, and didn’t find a single holotape or anything.”

“That’s because they were all confiscated, sweetie.” As swiftly as I could, I told him what I had learned from Limestone’s journal. “It would appear that our only chance to procure those music records you seek is to find Short Wave’s broadcaster,” I finished.

“Do you think security ponies managed to convince him to tell them where he hid it?” Burst asked, sounding uncertain.

I shrugged. “Whether they did or not, it is the only clue we have at the moment, isn’t it sweetie?”

“I suppose. Fine, let’s go to Security’s wing,” Burst said, sighing. As he turned around and began to trot out of the room, I heard him mutter: “Damn, I hope we won’t run into Jack before we get there…”

I was about to call after him, having one more thing I wanted to say, but I hesitated as I began to follow him, and instead turned back to the bed. I looked at the skeleton, all that remained of the pony who had once lived here. Even though her soul had long since left to the Afterlife, I closed my eyes and whispered, hoping she would hear me:

“I do not know what I would have done in your place, sweetie, or how well I would have fared. But you’ve done the best you could with the best intentions in heart. I am sure the Goddesses judged you fairly. Rest in the Afterlife with your sisters, knowing one pony knows you, remembers and understands you.”

My eyes slowly turned from the skeleton to the framed photograph. I wondered which of the three fillies was Limestone.

“Angel”? I heard Burst call for me from the corridor.

“Coming, sweetie!” I called back, then, grabbing the photograph with my magic and putting it in my saddlebags, I followed after him. “I hope you don’t mind, sweetie,” I began as I caught up with him, browsing quickly on my PipBuck through the medical records I downloaded from the doctor’s terminal, “but I hoped we could make one more stop along the way…”

*** *** ***

“So wait, who was this pony again?” Burst asked as we stopped, the room in which Moon Scrounger had lived and died several steps before us.

“Apparently, he was the one really in charge of Stable Eleven, controlling both the Overmare and their Council,” I replied, frowning at the sight that caused us to stop.

“Not just them, by the looks of it,” the earth pony commented, grimacing.

The door leading to the room was surrounded by several skeletons. Two of them were covered in remains of the Stable Security uniforms, but others were not, which coupled with their smaller size indicating that they were members of the Stable Youths.

They died protecting a pony who had committed suicide, I mused, utterly dismayed.

Paying the fools’ remains no mind, I stepped around them and entered the room. I was slightly surprised to see that the skeleton that I assumed was Moon Scrounger’s was still on his bed, without any signs of fractures at that. Given their history, I would have thought that Limestone would have taken out her anger on his body, however pointless it would have been.

Unless one counts stress relieve as pointless, I suppose, I added in an afterthought.

On the floor beside the bed was a small, empty plastic bottle. I lifted it up and checked the label.

“Sleeping pills?” Burst asked over my shoulder.

“Correct, sweetie,” I told him, putting the empty bottle on a nearby desk, right beside the metal card that we came here for. “And here is the keycard to the Overmare’s wing.”

“Wouldn’t checking Security be enough to find if they had learned where the broadcast was coming from?” he asked, then, pointing at my PipBuck, he added: “Which considering that it’s been on the loop for two hundred years seems unlikely, anyway.”

I was not surprised that he was pessimistic. On our way here I turned the broadcaster in my PipBuck on again, curious to see how many songs there were being played. Much to our chagrin, most of the songs we have heard so far on this station we both had already heard on DJ Pon3’s broadcast. Which meant that, even if we would find holotapes containing them, they wouldn’t be worth much. We did hear two songs that neither of us had heard before, however, one of them being the one which chorus was being played when we entered the Stable.

We had no way of knowing if those other songs were Countess Coloratura’s, of course, so not even Burst knew how well Jack was going to take the news, especially if it turned out that it’s all the songs we were going to find that hadn’t already been discovered and broadcasted across the Equestrian Wasteland.

“They would have surely turned it off before everything went to hell,” Burst finished, frowning.

“That is probably true, sweetie,” I replied, nodding graciously in agreement as I followed him out of the room, neither of us paying the remains of Moon Scrounger a second glance. “But you’re forgetting that they had been preparing for some celebration at the time; they might have simply not had enough time to search for it at the location Short Wave had told them about. Regardless, sweetie, this is the only clue we have regarding those records you seek.”

We began trotting through the corridor again, this time in the Atrium’s direction. For a moment I feared that we were going the wrong way, though, as I could see two green bars - Apple Core and Blast - before us. Shouldn’t they’ve had searched through more rooms by now? However, the sign under the ceiling proved it to be the correct direction. I guess they must be very thorough… or they’re having a coitus, I realized, remembering what each of them had said as we parted.

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” I heard Burst exclaim, pulling me back to our conversation. “I don’t wanna know how Jack would react if we’d find anything.”

“And as for the keycard to Overmare’s wing,” I continued, “I desire to visit it for my own purposes, not related to Short Wave.”

And what purposes those would be? I heard a voice that I only began to grow familiar with ask me.

I glanced sideways at the tiny Pinkie Pie as she walked on the thin air beside me, as if trotting along. I was confused as to why she was doing that; Fluttershy was simply hovering right beside her, without beating her wings, just as usual.

“I’m hoping to find some explanation behind this Stable’s governing system,” I began to explain, out loud as I suspected that Burst would be curious as well. “There have to be some orders and directives from Stable-Tech for that temporary Overmare Limestone’s journal had mentioned.”

Why would you want to find them? Pinkie Pie asked, confused.

“I’m curious as to where exactly had Stable-Tech, hm, drawn their inspiration for this idea, as well as just why they had thought it would be a good idea.”

Geesh, the tiny pink pony exclaimed, rolling her eyes. Anypony ever tell you you should be more open to new ideas?

My ears flickered, but otherwise I didn’t let it show how offended I felt by that remark. “You know,” I said instead, casting Burst a meaningful glance, “since it obviously haven’t gone well. Wouldn’t you agree, sweetie?”

Wait, is she ignoring me? Pinkie Pie asked Fluttershy, frowning.

How can one ignore a voice resonating within their mind? I replied to her instead. As Burst nodded in agreement to my question, I continued: I would very much appreciate, sweetie, if you wouldn’t start talking to me out of nowhere when I’m in the middle of a conversation with somepony.

Huh? Why?

Because it’s a tad distracting, sweetie.

The pink apparition snorted. Then let's make this a three-way, silly, she giggled. Well, four-way if Fluttershy decides to join. Tell Bursty “Hi!” from me, would you Angel?

I’m afraid that if I told Bursty- I mean, Burst, that a magical apparition that only I can see and hear told him “hi”, it would lead to some uncomfortable questions.

Oh, you’re no fun, Pinkie Pie snorted again.

I was about to retort, but at that moment Burst, who had been walking in silence and listening to the music my PipBuck broadcasted, spoke up. “So, um,” he began; I quickly shifted my attention back to him, “if you don’t mind me asking, what exactly is between you and Derpy?”

Is he blushing? I wondered; it was difficult to tell in this light.

“Why would you want to know that, sweetie?” I asked, despite already suspecting his reason, and ignoring Pinkie Pie.

Ooooh, so that’s what’s going on, huh? she asked, wiggling her eyebrows and nudging me with her elbow.

In the meantime, Burst did his best to appear casual. “Well, she is a sorta family friend, my parents had traded some stuff with her whenever we’d stopped at New Appleloosa and she was always nice to me and Blast back then. I’m a bit concerned about her. And besides,” he added, slightly uncomfortable, “it is a bit weird. I don’t mean as in wrong,” Burst quickly elaborated, as if afraid that he offended me, “but, you know-”

“No, actually, I don’t know,” I interrupted him gently. “I honestly have no idea why kissing her would seems weird to others, just that it does.”

Wait, Pinkie cut in, tilting her head in confusion, why would ponies think it that it is weird?

Before I could reply her, Fluttershy leaned closer to her and began whispering in her ear.

Grateful to be relieved of answering the pink apparition, I continued my conversation with Burst. “And to answer your question, sweetie,” I said, ignoring the loud ‘Oooh’ that Pinkie had exclaimed as Fluttershy backed away, “I believe we have agreed to be ‘friends that are affectionate from time to time’.”

“Oh, really?”

“Ditzy’s argument that living in two separate towns would make a relationship difficult was very sensible,” I continued, choosing not to comment on the relief I heard in Burst’s voice. It was a bit flattering, though. “Not that we argued about this, mind you. I simply prefer when the nature of a relationship is clearly explained. I’m… not really good on picking that up by myself,” I admitted, slightly embarrassed.

“I see. So, um, you’re not technically together, right?” Burst asked, his cheeks turning a little red.

I hesitated briefly; despite our talk this morning, I wasn’t quite sure if that was what Ditzy had meant. “I’m afraid I would have to check that with Ditzy. Like I said, I’m really not good with relationships.” I paused briefly to glance at Burst. “Were you thinking about asking me out on a date, sweetie?”

The earth pony’s eyes bulged, and now he was definitely blushing. “Um, I, er, I mean…” he stammered, then chuckled uncomfortably. “I mean, I don’t even know if you are into bucks as well,” he said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

I rolled my eyes, and was about to tell him the same thing I had told Ditzy, but just then we both heard a loud scream, not far from us. His discomfort forgotten, Burst reached for his shotgun and began to run forward, towards the source of the scream, only to stop after just a few moments. Considering that I just heard the moans that followed the earlier noise as well, I was not surprised.

Sighing loudly, Burst placed his gun back in the holster on his back. “Wanna go back and take a different corridor leading to the Atrium?” he asked, clearly uncomfortable at the thought of going together with me by the room where his brother and Apple Core were having sex.

I shook my head. “I don’t want to walk around just because they are having coitus. It is something natural, after all,” I added with a smile, then began trotting forward. “I would mostly be concerned about intruding on their privacy.”

Burst snorted as he waited for me before he resumed walking. “Yeah, well, hopefully they remembered to close the door.”

They didn’t, as we found out about a minute later.

“Dude, seriously?” Burst asked as he glared disapprovingly through the open door.

I leaned behind him to look myself. As we had figured out, Blast and Apple Core were on the bed together. Although my slaver companion had been seemingly startled by Burst’s sudden comment, as she tilted her head upwards to look at us upside down, the buck seemed undisturbed to have an audience.

“Hey,” he said, his voice casual despite continuing his thrusts. “You guys wanna join in?”

Burst, taken aback by his brother’s question, made a sound that was a mixture of both snort and groan. I briefly hesitated myself before replying, my mind trying to imagine just how would that work - because while I had read the Zebra Sutra once, the bed in that room was barely big enough for just two ponies - before shaking those thoughts off.

(A part of me blamed the Pinkie Pie apparition for causing them to appear in the first place, as after Blast’s question she giggled and exclaimed: Sounds like a party to me!)

“Forgive me, sweetie,” I replied, smiling, “I don’t make love to ponies I’ve so recently met.”

“Aw, bummer,” Blast replied. Below him, Apple Core seemed a little relieved; I wondered briefly if, despite knowing that her carnal desires were confined to only one gender, I should be offended or not. “What about you little brother? Apple here already told me she would be up for it.”

Now even more stunned by his brother’s question, Burst struggled to speak through his embarrassment. “No, thanks,” he managed to say. “Just hurry up, will you? We have problems with the job, so Jack will already be pissed.”

I left him as he began to quickly explain what we had found out regarding musical records and continued heading to the Atrium, lost in my musing. Having witnesses Jack’s battle proficiency, I could understand Burst’s reluctance to annoy the griffin mercenary, but would he really turn those skills against them?

He doesn’t appear to be the violent type, I thought, remembering how, despite having lost his patience with me a few times already, he never have caused me much harm. Surely, he wouldn’t harm his subordinates in any way due to something they had no control over? Or because they gave in to carnal pleasures? Recalling Jack’s annoyance at Blast earlier, I added in an after thought: Not really, I mean?

Thinking back to that, though, caused my mind to recall Blast’s offer. Although I didn’t have second thoughts about rejecting it, I couldn’t help but feel intrigued at the concept of four ponies sharing such an experience. After all, I did enjoy conducting various experiments. The irony that, around the time I became Stable Eight’s chief of medicine some of my former, less accomplished classmates had held a few orgies, was not lost on me.

Even though I hadn’t felt close to anypony from that group, so I wouldn’t have joined, I added, rolling my eyes. But it would be nice, wouldn’t it? To be together with so many lovers, ponies you could trust with everything…

Oooh, somepony is having naughty thoughts, Pinkie Pie commented, wiggling her eyebrows.

Is it really naughty to share such a wonderful experience with ponies you care about? I countered, shrugging. I wonder…

Um, Angel? Pinkie suddenly said, her eyes wide in alarm. You may wanna stop.

What? I asked, confused, continuing to walk.

I said stop, NOW! Pinkie shouted.

Frowning at the unpleasant racket, I began: Sweetie what are you-

Everything else I was going to think at the pink apparition was lost in the onslaught of pain that erupted in my leg after I had placed it before me and a loud clang sounded throughout the corridor. Letting a painful cry, I looked down at my foreleg to see a pair of metal jaws clamped around it just below my knee. My blood was beginning to stain the sleeve of the lab coat below the wound, and I didn’t need to see the flashing warning on my E.F.S. to know that my metacarpal bones had been fractured.

I tried to warn you, Pinkie said, her ears low as she looked at me with concern.

Oh my goodness, will you be alright? Fluttershy asked, worried.

Of course, I manage to think coherently, despite the great pain I was in. Just…

Clenching my teeth and taking deep breaths, I concentrated as I cast the Anesthetic Spell, limiting the area affected to just my leg. Breathing with relief as the pain had ceased, I looked back as Burst had caught up to me.

“Oh fuck!” he rasped, leaning beside my leg. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you out in a moment! Hang on…” Burst said, moving slightly so that he had more space, then grabbed the two jaws of the trap with his hooves, trying to pry them open.

“Let me help,” I heard behind me.

Surprised, I turned to look as Blast approached. Judging by the state of his penis (which I could clearly see hanging between his legs), he had been still having an intercourse with Apple Core until a few seconds ago. Did he stop because of me? Hm, Apple Core might be angry at me, I mused as I averted my eyes, not wanting him to think that I was staring.

Together, the two brothers managed to open the trap, letting me heave my paralyzed limb out and move away from it. I grimaced in dismay as I examined the damage the bear trap had done, before I waved my horn over the wound, mending the fractured bone, the pierced flesh and the skin.

I could hear the two brothers arguing beside me. “Couldn’t you disarm the traps on your way here?” Burst asked, anger creeping into his voice.

“Oh, how the fuck would I had known you two would be coming back this way?!” Blast countered.

“Then you could have said something after we came here, instead of continuing to screw that-”

“Gentlecolts?” I interrupted them as I finished healing the wound. “There is no need to argue. What’s done is done, and there no permanent harm on my person. Well, aside from my barding,” I amended, looking at dismay at the holes and blood stains.

“Um…” Burst mumbled; when I looked up, I saw him exchanging a glance with his brother. “Okay, well… are you okay?”

I blinked, confused. I wasn’t okay; my breathing and heart rate were irregular due to the adrenaline surge, the sleeve of my barding was ruined, and my leg was still paralyzed. The memory of the pain was also still fresh in my mind, too.

Um, I think he means if your leg is okay, Fluttershy offered shyly.

Oh, right, I realized.

“Yes, sweetie, I’m okay,” I replied Burst, smiling. “I’ve already healed my leg. Just need to reverse the Anesthetic Spell and I’ll be able to continue,” I added as I leaned over my foreleg, my horn already glowing with magic.

“Huh, you weren’t kidding when you’ve said how good you are,” Blast commented.

I was about to thank him for his praise, but just then I heard a disgruntled grunt further away, accompanied by the sound of hoofsteps. As feeling returned to my foreleg, I looked up to see Apple Core approaching.

“Ya better had yar leg cut off for making all ‘at racket,” she growled as she joined us.

Definitely interrupted them, then, I noted in dismay.

“Well, sweetie, I dare say that was almost the case,” I replied, showing her my bloodied leg. “Sadly, it was just fractured.”

“Oh…” she exclaimed, shocked and a little embarrassed. “Um… are ya alright?”

“Of course, I already mended it,” I told her, gently biting my forehoof to see if feeling had completely returned to the leg; reversing the Anesthetic Spell was a bit tricky, even with myself being the one to do so I always preferred to make sure. Feeling the bite, I put my hoof down and put pressure on the leg, then nodded with satisfaction as everything was back to normal. Well, the sleeve aside. Making a mental note to look for some Stable barding and use the PipBuck’s Repair Assist to fix it, I turned back to Apple Core. “Forgive me for interrupting you two, sweetie, but if you are done, perhaps you could come with us?” I asked her and Blast.

“Meh, sure, we can always pick up where we left off later,” Blast replied, shrugging.

With Apple Core nodding as well - despite the grimace on her face and muttering something quietly to herself - we headed to back where we had split off.

*** *** ***

“I really am sorry for interrupting you, sweetie,” I told Apple Core quietly several moments later as I flashed the keycard before the door to Overmare’s wing.

Apple Core glanced at me with confusion as the door opened. “Hm? Oh, that,” she snorted, glancing behind at the two mercenary brothers as they went to check the Security Wing. “Don’t’chya worry ‘bout ‘at. Besides, it was more ‘at ya startled rather than interrupted…”

“What do you mean sweetie?” I asked, confused, but Apple Core was already shaking her head.

“Nevermind. What do ya want t’ find ‘ere again?”

“I want to find the Stable-Tec’s directives for this Stable’s first Overmare. Well, the temporary Overmare,” I amended. “It shouldn’t take long. Why don’t you check the Overmare’s quarters in the meantime? I’m sure there’s something of worth there.”

“Yeah, been plannin’ t’ do just ‘at, wanna see if she had a mini-bar,” Apple Core replied with a smirk and turned to the door leading to a big room.

I, on the other hoof, turned to the door standing opposite of those. As they opened for me, I trotted into the Overmare’s office. As in my Stable, there was a big, crescent desk in the middle of it, with a terminal on it and several monitors on the wall behind. What was not in my Stable, though, was a bunch of bones scattered on the floor and a rope ending in a noose made out of torn sheets by the looks of it tied to the metal beams under the ceiling, .

She must have hung herself, then after she had decomposed enough her skeleton fell off, I realized, slightly confused. Surely, she had some less painful methods of taking her own life?

The two apparitions stayed quiet, just looked on sadly at the remains of Strict Frame, the last Overmare of Stable Eleven. Leaving them to contemplate this at their own pace, I looked at the noose again, then searched for where the skull had fallen.

Based on the direction where it fell and the way the noose is tied… I would say she died looking through the window at the Atrium, I thought, trotting closer to the giant window that took most of the space on the wall of the office. Was she so distraught over what she had helped bring about? Ridiculous, I decided, shaking my head. What good would killing herself have done to the ponies of this Stable?

I looked through the window myself for a few more moments, watching whether Jack and Scope would be coming back. Since they were nowhere to be seen or heard by the corridor leading to the Security Wing, I figured that they must have gone to Maintenance as I had suggested. Briefly, I wondered whether I could turn on the broadcasters from here and use the Stable PA System to let them know that we found the keycard to the Overmare’s Wing (and while I would do that, turn off the loop of the “Celestial Radio”). However, after a few moments I decided that if I’d do that, I would also have to tell him what I had found out about the music records, and that seemed like something that should be said face to face.

Even if everypony seems afraid of doing that, I commented as I rose and hurried towards the terminal. I wanted to get what I came for before I would have to deal with Jack.

Similarly to Limestone’s, this terminal also hadn’t been turned off properly, sparing me from having to hack it. There were a lot of files and entries within it, but at the present moment I was more curious about the directives from Stable-Tec rather than the history of this Stable. (I did, however, begin copying the entire contents of the terminal to my PipBuck.) Ignoring all the various reports and what appeared to be the Overmare’s personal journal, I scrolled down through the files, searching for what I had rightly suspected to be at the bottom: the message from Stable-Tec.

Managing to find it, I hit play and listened:

“Hello!

“I’m Scootaloo, the vice-president of Stable-Tec and founder of Red Racer. If you are hearing this, this means that the Omega-Level Threat Protocols have been enacted and you and all the other ponies accepted into Stable Eleven had been safely sealed inside. It also means that I and billions of others are dead and Equestria has been reduced down to ashes and rubble, but…

“Sorry, didn’t mean for it to come off like that, I’m just sad that it might came to this… and pissed that our current leaders could lead it to this...

“Which brings me up to the point of your Stable. You see, while we here in Stable-Tec build those Stables with the thought of saving the lives of ponies foremost in our minds, that’s not all. We also hope to save ponykind as a whole. If you are hearing this, then you can surely agree that we had let this happen to us. We had caused this. This cannot be repeated. Because of this, your Stable had been selected to participate in a very important social project, which will hopefully prevent ponies for annihilating each other again after Equestria becomes hospitable again, when all the Stables open and you will repopulate and rebuild our destroyed country.

“As you might have realized from my earlier mumble, I am not the biggest fan of Equestria’s leaders. Which is why I have high hopes for your Stable’s social project. You see, unlike how in Equestria we were ruled by the Princesses, here in Stable Eleven ponies will be able to choose who leads them. That’s right. There will be an election held every few years to determine who will be the Overmare (or the Overstallion), similar to how we chose mayors of cities. But that’s not all. The Overmare won’t have the full control over the Stable. Rather, it will mostly be an executive position. Stable Council will be the legislature, and they will be deciding about stuff like laws, the direction in which the Stable’s future will go, stuff like that. The details to all that are in the safe in your office, I won’t bore you with them now, everything is written there more clearly than I could explain. I’d just like to mention that we had based this governing system on the griffins of Griffonstone; ever since the fall of their last king, King Guto, that was how they ruled over themselves, with the Griffin Clan Council and the Arbiter. So, you know, respect different cultures and what not. Celestia knows most of us hadn’t been doing enough of that for some time…

“The first election should, in our opinion, take place about a year after Stable Eleven was sealed. By then ponies should come to terms with what had happened, and gotten to know ponies who would be candidates for positions of Councilors and Overmare. Until then, they need somepony to lead them. Stable-Tec chose you to be that pony. You had been chosen for the position of the temporary Overmare due to your sense of loyalty, duty, and, above all, fairness and honesty. We realize that many ponies wouldn’t kindly step down from such position, or voluntarily give away so much of their power to the Stable Council. We’re sure you will, though, and we are thankful for your integrity. You are, of course, welcome to candidate for either of those positions.

“As with all social projects assigned to our Stables, if at any point you (or your successor) will begin to believe that it’s threatening the lives and safety of ponies entrusted in your care, you are to put a stop to it, and take necessary steps to fix the situation. In all honesty, I just don’t see what could go wrong here, but I just had to make a mention of this.

“So, good luck. Thank you, from all of Equestria.

“...”

“Damn, I wish somepony had thought of this long ago, maybe we wouldn’t be in this shi-”

The recording ended just as I heard several raised voices from down the corridor outside. I perked my ears, recognizing Jack’s voice. Apparently, he and Scope had came back as I listened to the Stable-Tec’s message, and were coming this way. Which was good, because I wanted to speak with him.

Burst had already told him about all musical records being destroyed, by the sound of it, I commented as I rose and walked over to the window again, wanting to look at the tragedy that took place there. I could hear Jack cursing angrily, but nothing that would suggest that he was about to take his anger on anybody, which allowed to me relax a little. I wonder how will he react when I ask him about Griffonstone?

Umm, are you sure that’s wise? Fluttershy asked.

Yeah, it’s not like he is the one who invented this system, Pinkie pointed out. Not to mention that it’s hardly the system’s fault for what happened here.

Of course, sweetie you are right in both statements, I agreed. To Fluttershy, I said: I do not intend to argue with him, I just want to ask him. If he begins to argue, that’s his problem.

Um, I still don’t think that’s wise, Fluttershy offered timidly.

Poor Scootaloo, I thought instead, ignoring the tiny pegasus’ remark. I looked at the skeletons scattered around the Atrium, feeling saddened again. She had such hopes for this Stable. Why couldn’t ponies here make it work?

An angry growl announced Jack’s arrival. “Fucking dammit… I don’t suppose you found a hidden stash of all confiscated musical records and holotapes?” he greeted me as he walked through the door, followed by the other mercenaries.

“I’m sorry, sweetie, but no. Did Burst-” I began, but the griffin cut me off.

“Yes, he told us about this Short Wave pony. Already found his broadcaster back in the Maintenance when we were there,” he said, causing me to glance at him in surprise. The griffin continued as he walked over to me and sat beside me, his companions going over to the Overmare’s desk and looking around it. “Guy converted a janitor closet to a broadcast station by the looks of it. Found some holotapes, but if what Burst told me about the radio broadcast is true, I don’t have high hopes that there will be too many unique songs on them.”

I tried to not show my surprise at how defeated he sounded. “I’m sorry to hear that, sweetie.”

He shrugged. “Oh well,” he sighed, “maybe we’ll continue searching for more stupid songs nobody has heard since the world ended on our way back to Tenpony Tower.”

I sensed it wasn’t the best time to remind him that we had agreed that they would first travel to Appleloosa with us.

“I found the message from Stable-Tec to the first Overmare of this Stable,” I said instead. “Apparently, they based the governing system here on your people’s system.”

Despite sitting a good two steps away from me, I could feel him bristling. “So?”

“It made clear to me why you had defended it back at the Stable’s entrance,” I replied. “Despite how it obviously had failed.”

Jack growled. “Oh, and your principality had done such a better job,” he hissed. “Oh wait, no, you started a war that destroyed the world.”

Knowing his words held some truth, I nodded, remaining calm. “Before that, for the last thousand years under Princess Celestia’s rule, we prospered.” I turned to look at him. “How were things in Griffonstone under Griffon Clan Council’s rule?” I asked, genuinely curious.

If the borderline murderous glare he gave me in reply was of any indication, not as good.

“Um, Jack-” I heard Burst say from behind me.

“Check the safe,” Jack interrupted him without taking his eyes off mine.

“How are things in Griffonstone now?” I asked, taking caution to make sure that there wasn’t anything in my voice that could be interpreted as malice; after all, I was only curious. And wanted to prove a point. “I’ve heard that most griffins now are part of mercenary groups called Talons. Does any griffin still live in Griffonstone?”

I was certain that one of his eyelids twitched a little when I mentioned Talons. However, he didn’t show any other reaction otherwise for a few heartbeats, then finally leaned a bit closer to me.

“And how are ponies, exactly? You’ve seen little of the Wasteland, Doctor. Trust me when I say that both Appleloosas, even your slaver one, are examples of a current few of ponies’ better towns.”

“We were at war,” I pointed out. “You were not, weren’t you? If so, neither side had unleashed any megaspells at you. Why then are so many griffins working as mercenaries in Equestria?” I pressed. “Why have you left the Bloodtalons?”

For an instant, he opened his eyes wide in shock, then leaned even closer, so close that my muzzle and his beak were almost touching. “Tread carefully, Doctor,” he growled quietly. “You’re talking about things you have no idea about. One more question like that and I will slit your throat.”

Despite being quite certain that he meant this threat, I wasn’t scared. Well, too scared. I did see him kill five ponies in a matter of seconds just a few hours ago. But I knew that he wouldn’t harm me unless I bring up the Bloodtalons again, or Talons in general.

… Well, felt that he wouldn’t, more like it.

“How will I have any idea about what I’m talking about if I don’t ask questions?”

I think that for a moment he considered whether or not this question qualified as “question like that”. Fortunately, before he could decide himself, we were interrupted.

“Um, are ya two ‘bout t’ kiss?”

Both of us glanced at the doorway, where Apple Core stood, a bottle of whiskey on the floor below her.

“‘Cause it looks like ya’re ‘bout t’ kiss,” she added, leaning down to grab the bottle in her teeth and taking another swing of it.

“No sweetie, I believe Jack is considering whether or not to slit my throat,” I told her, causing her to choke and drop the bottle.

“W-what?” she asked, somehow managing to catch the bottle with her forehooves, despite still coughing.

“Nevermind,” Jack told her, straightening up. “Help the others look for anything of worth around here.” Apple Core glanced from me and back, afraid and unsure, but I blinked at her reassuringly and turned back to the window. “Me leaving Bloodtalons had nothing to do with democracy,” Jack said in a lowered voice when Apple Core trotted over the a cabinet on the other side of the office. “I don’t even know why you brought it up; or who the hell told you about it, for that matter.”

“Never said I thought it did,” I said as he glared at Blast and Burst. “I brought it up because I am curious… and because you did offend my Goddesses,” I pointed out.

Jack snorted and shook his head. “I’ll admit that democracy has it flaws,” he said, changing the subject. “But never amongst the griffins had anything remotely like this happened,” he added as he pointed at the Atrium behind the window before raising and walking away.

I let Jack leave without bothering him with any more questions, despite having tons of them. I wanted to know more about Jack, about the Talons, the Bloodtalons, about griffins and Griffonstone. But it was clear that I’d have to ask those questions at some other time. And it would be good to find some less irritable person to ask. Or less proficient in the “art” of killing. Preferably both, actually.

“Doctor Angel?” I heard somebody call me. I turned my head to look at Scope. His head was leaning through the doorway; when did he leave the office? I must have lost myself in the conversation with Jack more than I had thought. “There are some medicines in the Overmare’s quarters, can you check them?”

“Of course, sweetie,” I said, raising and trotting towards him.

This short rest I took caused my body to recall just how much I’ve walked today. I was tired. I hoped that I could soon get some real rest.

Maybe I could sleep in Overmare’s quarters? I wondered, feeling sleepy, as I passed Scope and headed towards the quarters-

Um, Angel?

Mindful of what happened last time Pinkie suddenly began to speak, I stopped immediately. What is it sweetie?

Why did that bar suddenly turn red? she asked with dread, pointing at-

My eyes bulging and sleepiness forgot, I stared at the bar on the edge of my E.F.S. One of the bars, one that I was certain a moment ago was green, had turned red.

I turned around and stared at Scope. He was looking at me, his expression unreadable, as he threw something back into the office I just left. For an entire heartbeat, all I could do was stare, overtook by confusion and dread. When I finally snapped, I raced past him, back into the office where the others were, about to shout a warning-

Whatever warning I would have shouted would have been lost in explosion that threw me backwards and caused everything to become black.

Footnote: 50% to next level!

Chapter Eight: Triage

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“This world is full of things that don't go as you wish. The longer you live the more you realise reality is just made of pain, suffering, and emptiness… Listen… In this world, whenever there is light, there are also shadows. As long as the concept of winners exist, there must also be losers. The selfish desire of wanting to maintain peace causes wars and hatred is born to protect love.”

Pain.

The first sensation that I felt as I began to regain my consciousness was pain. Not surprising, I suppose, seeing how the last thing I could remember was an explosion. I was glad to feel it, though; if anything else, it assured me that I was alive. Dying like this would have been, on top of everything else, embarrassing.

I had trouble determining the extent of the damage my body had suffered; the pressure in my head - which suggested a concussion at least - made it difficult for me to concentrate, as did the ringing in my ears, a possible sign of my eardrums being damaged. Despite that, however, I could still perfectly hear two voices, both calling my name.

Angel! Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie yelled again in unison, both tiny apparitions sounding worried and scared.

Calm down, sweeties, I’m fine, I managed to think; a part of me winced, knowing how untrue that statement was. I just… need a moment to focus…

Oh, thank goodness, Fluttershy sighed, then wiped her eyes; despite my state I noticed how wet they were. I was so worried…

We both were, Pinkie Pie agreed, placing a forehoof on my cheek comfortingly. Are you going to be okay?

That was a good question: was I? My body ached all over and the concussion wasn’t helping me with this blind examination, but after a few short breaths I placed a carefully optimistic diagnosis: nothing was broken or punctured. I had been fortunate, and stood far enough from the explosion. If Scope hadn’t called me before he-

I jerked. Scope. He threw that explosive - one of the ones we found on the traps, or maybe a grenade - into the Overmare’s office. Where the other four had still been in.

I willed myself closer back to full consciousness, knowing they will need medical attention. At least they were all alive; when, with some effort, I opened my eyes briefly, my E.F.S. showed me four green bars.

And one red.

Why did Scope do that? Fluttershy asked as I focused on healing my battered body.

Yeah, I thought he was your friend? Pinkie Pie asked, frowning. Or, at least, Burst’s and the rest’s?

I don’t know, I said as my magic began to take effect; already the pressure on my brain had all but dispersed, and the ringing in my ears was dying down. Wincing at the unpleasant feeling as my Healing Spell repaired my eardrums, I added: Although I will know soon enough; you know how inquisitive I am.

Guessing by the concerned look on Pinkie’s face and the worried one on Fluttershy’s, they hadn’t missed the lack of warmth I’d usually associate with such a statement. The Fluttershy apparition, who got to experience some of my more questionable actions, could probably already guess what I intended to do to Scope.

I pushed those thoughts away. I needed to focus on healing the others; I would cast an Anesthetic Spell on Scope and deal with him later. Before I could do so, though, I needed my body to be fully healed, and so I waited patiently as my concussion disappeared, then let the Healing Spell wash over the rest of my body. Now that my brain was free of the pressure that had constricted it, I became aware of the coldness of the floor under me and against my back; apparently the explosion had thrown me against the corridor wall (I suppose this explains the bruise at the back of my head). I couldn’t feel any liquid, though; my assessment about nothing being punctured must have been correct, or at the very least I mustn’t have bled too much. Nor have I peed (I was very glad that I had visited one of the bathrooms briefly during my journey around the Living Quarters with Burst).

Alright, I thought as I finished treating my injuries and began to rise. I opened my eyes; I was right outside the Overmare’s office, and according to my E.F.S., everybody else was inside. Now, I believe the best course of action would be sneak up on Scope and cast the Anesthetic Spell on him. Feel free to correct me if-

BANG!

A cold dread overtook me as I heard the gunshot. For a heartbeat I froze again, just like when I had seen Scope throw his explosive into the office. And just as before, my immediate reaction after I recovered was to run blindly into the room, without even pausing to think.

I gasped as I saw the feathered body of Jack; at that moment, as my brain registered the small, bloodied spot on his head, he was all I could see. I jumped to him, reaching out with my magic. The red glow already enveloped his head by the time I got to him, casting light on…

Seeing Scope so up close, along with the small firearm pointed right at me, caused me to take a step back. The unicorn was staring at me with disturbingly calm eyes, his expression just as I had remembered it being as he threw the explosive: unreadable.

I would say that I was frustrated to find my mind again frozen from the shock and fear, but I was unable to feel frustration at the moment. I stared at Scope with my mouth agape, my jaw moving as if trying to formulate some words, but no sound came from it. By some miracle - probably a deep rooted care for a patient in my care installed - I did manage to not lose concentration on my magic.

Scope raised his gun a bit higher, pointing at my head. He opened his mouth, but instead of speaking he suddenly looked down. I noted satisfaction in his gaze as the glow around Jack’s head slowly dispersed, until it completely disappeared.

“Good,” he said, lowering his gun and turning around.

Whether it was the fact that there was no longer a gun pointed at my face or the fact that the single word he had uttered broke the silence that had seemingly overtaken the world, my stupor had been broken. I stared at Scope, confused by his action. However, I didn’t intend to lose this chance due to that; he had his back turned to me. Narrowing my eyes, I focused and I was about to activate my S.A.T.S., when something in the corner of my eye had caught my attention. As I turned my head towards it, any thought about attacking Scope evaporated.

Apple Core laid there, unconscious, in a pool of her own blood that gradually grew bigger as more of her life fluids escaped her body through the gaping wound in the place where her right foreleg used to be.

A panicked cry escaped my lips as I rushed towards her. The glow around my horn increased as I strained myself, channeling another spell. By the time I reached Apple Core, the red glow enveloped what remained of her shoulder, stopping the bleeding. I quickly looked her over; aside from the most obvious wound, her body bore many burn marks and lacerations. Ignoring the pain I began to experience from pouring so much energy through my horn, I began to cast a Healing Spell.

S-she lost so much blood though, I noted, looking down at my hooves; I was standing in the pool. No, don’t think about that now! First things first, I need to close up her wounds. Already the most serious wounds began to close up; I’d treat the non-life-threatening ones later with healing potions.

And of course, I had to leave the biggest one.

“W-where’s her leg?” I asked out loud, nopony in particular. I began to look around frantically. “I need to stitch it back; Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, help me look, I-”

“Oh, don’t bother,” I heard Scope’s cold voice. I turned around to look at him; the unicorn was standing above Burst, his firearm kept casually by his Telekinesis Spell over him as he talked to me: “If you’re half the doctor you’ve claimed to be, you should have realized that she had lost too much blood already. It won’t be long now before her body will begin to shut down. But I suppose if you insist on helping her, I will speed things up for her.”

“W-what?” I asked, my mind numb from panic.

“I thought she’d bleed to death,” Scope elaborated, shrugging. “Wouldn’t be worth wasting a bullet. But seeing how you stopped the bleeding and now are making such a racket… guess I have to go back there. Give me a moment,” he said as he turned his attention back to Burst.

But I’ve already been only half-listening to him; my eyes had moved from Scope to the earth pony buck. I knew what Scope was about to do, and I wasn’t going to let that happen. As his head turned from me, I lowered my horn, focusing…

Oh no! I realized, my eyes widening with dread.

What?! Pinkie Pie exclaimed, staring at me. What are you waiting for! Get him!

I-I can’t! I can only use so many spells at once! And definitely not a projectile spell like Anesthetic Spell; if I do, I’ll lose my concentration, and… I trailed off as I quickly glanced behind at Apple Core. If she loses any more blood she might die!

Oh no! Fluttershy shrieked, covering her mouth with her forehooves.

Okay, what then? Pinkie Pie inquired, turning to Scope and Burst. He’s about to kill him! You have to do something!

I bit my lip as I watched Scope lining his gun against Burst’s temple; Pinkie Pie was right, I had to do something! But what? Despite all of my intellect, I couldn’t think of any action that would successfully prevent Scope from pulling the trigger, not within that one single second I was given.

As such, all I was resigned to was an action that would almost certainly fail; I yelled and charged at Scope.

My pathetic attempt at an attack did manage to postpone Burst’s death; startled by the commotion, Scope glanced back at me. “You’re kidding,” I heard him say before a swift kick from his hindlegs send me sprawling across the floor.

I yelped from the pain as I grabbed my chest, feeling as if the air had been punched out of my lungs. As I struggled to regain my breath, I almost lost control over my magic. Clenching my teeth as tears formed in the corners of my eyes, I managed to stabilize it somehow, but only barely.

On the plus side, though, I managed to locate Apple Core’s foreleg; the severed limb was lying right beside me. The brief elevation I felt when I noticed that though had quickly dispersed as I realized that I couldn’t exactly reattach it at this moment.

As if to confirm that assessment, Scope loomed over me. “You were kidding, right?” he asked; the gun with which he had already put a bullet through Jack’s brain and almost shot at Burst was now pointing at me. “I was under impression that you’re not stupid, Doctor. Don’t make me change my opinion of you,” he added, the end of the gun tapping my nose.

I trembled, both due to my fear and the disgusting smell that came from the weapon. I tried to look into Scope’s eyes, to say something that would save everybody’s lives, but all I managed to do was open my mouth; no sound came through it.

“Now,” Scope continued calmly, “how about you’ll be a nice little filly and stay here quiet while-”

Whatever else he was going to say was lost as something suddenly bowled into him. As the force of impact drew Scope away from me (and also made him lose his hold on his gun; clattering, it dropped to the floor), I realized that something was Burst. The earth pony must have regained consciousness sometime after Scope’s attention shifted to me and, ignoring the wounds he received from the explosion, attacked. Now he was pinning the struggling unicorn to the floor, holding his shotgun in his mouth and pointing down at his face at point-blank range. Before his tongue pulled the trigger, though, Scope managed to recover enough to grab the shotgun with his magic and pull it out of his face, causing the shot to hit the floor next to this head instead.

I shuddered hearing the much more louder gun fire so close to me; I didn’t even want to think what damage it must have done to Scope’s eardrum. However, despite the obvious pain it must have caused him - along with tinnitus, most likely - Scope managed to retain his hold on the gun. What’s worse, the magical aura spread further up. Burst must have realized it, as he tried to pull away and shake his hold loose, or possibly strike his horn and make him lose concentration. Before he could do either of that, though, Scope delivered a kick into his diaphragm, causing Burst to open his mouth and drop his weapon.

It happened so fast that even if I hadn’t been paralyzed by fear and consumed by channeling my spells I wouldn’t have been able to do anything. All I could do was watch as Burst struggled for breath, while his shotgun, already firmly held by Scope’s telekinetic grasp, turned around. The earth pony tried to get away, but his opponent grabbed the foreleg which was pinning him, forcing him to stay. As the barrel of his own gun pointed at his head, Burst glanced at me.

“Run!”

BLAM!

I stared, agape and wide eyed, as Burst’s head had been turned into red mist, his panicked gaze engraved into my mind.

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no...

As his headless corpse fell to the ground, I finally found it within myself to scramble up from the floor. I paid Scope no mind; I was dimly aware of him heaving the body off of him as he got up, then scoff at me as I sat down next to him. My eyes were glued to the gaping wound on the neck where a head should be. I pressed my trembling hooves around it, not really thinking why.

… No no no no… I… I can’t, I can’t, I can’t… I thought weekly, looking around. Bits and pieces of Burst’s head where splayed around the floor. I felt something warm on my face; was that his blood? Or perhaps a part of his brain? Or maybe the exertion of continuingly channeling magic - a feat that in my current state of mind was possible only due to long years of practice - was finally beginning to manifest itself (the splitting headache would point to that) and I’ve began to sweat? I can’t… I can’t heal this…

BLANG!

I almost jumped as the noise brought me back to reality. When I turned towards it, a part of me wished it hadn’t; Scope was standing over the remains of Blast, whose body was now as headless as his brother. Had he ever stirred into consciousness before Scope murdered him? Or was it better if he didn’t, if he dreamed before his soul ascended into the Afterlife rather than experience the dread of the futility of his action in the face of death?

I didn’t muse over that subject for too long, just like Scope didn’t stay long over Blast’s body. He already turned around and began trotting away, checking the shotgun… as he walked over to the unconscious Apple Core.

No!

Something within me snapped, urging me back to my hooves. I did not care what it would take of me, I would not let him murder another pony!

“What do you think you’re doing, little filly?” Scope asked me as I ran up to stand between him and Apple Core, his eyebrow raised.

That was a very good question that I wished I had an answer ready for: what was I doing, exactly? Aside from trembling as I stood before a murderer with a shotgun that is. I suppose the fact that he stopped to wait for my response did count for something…

I have to think of something. Come on, think! I told myself, willing my brain to work faster to find some way to save us. Seeing Scope up close with his patience quickly fading wasn’t helping me focus, though. I-I need more time to think, calmly!

Oh no! Pinkie Pie’s apparition’s suddenly exclaimed. She pressed her forehooves against her cheeks and continued: If only you had a device that could affect your perception of time so that everything appears to be frozen!

I- I began, only to stop as my eyes widened. Hastily, I activated S.A.T.S., just as Scope brow began to furrow. At once, everything stopped; the murderous unicorn couldn’t move an inch, his brow frozen in half-furrow. Ministry Mare Pinkie Pie, you’re a genius!

I tried very hard to not think about why I hadn’t thought of that myself; while I did have time now, I had more pressing matters to consider first before I could address that.

I am? Pinkie Pie asked, raising her eyebrows. She then blinked and looked around. Oh, look at that, you have a device that can affect your perception of time so that everything appears to be frozen! Neat!

The pressing matters I had to address were also more important than addressing that, too.

Alright, I thought; a part of me wished I could sigh, but if being unable to move at all was the price I had to pay for peaceful time while I considered what to do, I wasn’t going to complain. Now that I don’t have to worry about him losing his patience and simply kicking me out of his way, I can finally think about this calmly; what can I do? Aside from making myself a living shield, which I’m worried I’ve already made myself, I mean.

Are you sure you can’t cast any spell? Pinkie Pie asked me.

Automatically, I tried to shake my head. Realizing I couldn’t do that, I rolled my eyes and replied: Yes, sweetie, I am sure. Well, I amended, not one so different in structure like the Anesthetic Spell. And definitely not when I’m already strained by channeling. What’s worse, I lost a lot of magic already; if I’m not careful, I’m going to suffer a burnout, and I won’t be able to use magic at all for days.

I cringed - or rather, would have cringed if that was possible - at the prospect. Despite having suffered magical burnouts quite possibly more times than anypony else in the history of Stable Eight, I never gotten used to the pain it caused or the feeling of helplessness that came with being unable to use magic.

Pushing the unpleasant memories aside, I resumed thinking about my situation and what I could to remedy it. And I wasn’t the only one: both Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were deep in musing, too. Perhaps between the three of us we could come up with a plan?

Hm… Pinkie hummed, tapping her chin. What about a simpler spell, then? Could you grab something?

You mean use my Telekinesis Spell on something? I asked, frowning thoughtfully.

Yeah! It kinda works like whatever that is, right? the tiny pink pony asked, pointing behind me at Apple Core.

That’s Haemostasis Field Spell, sweetie, and, yes, the two spells have similar form, I replied slowly. I should be able to use it, I think, I practiced something similar in case of emergency and needing to operate on multiple patients at the same time… but I’ve only used it on scalpels and other light equipment when I was so strained, I added as I recalled how I studied to become a doctor. If you meant for me to hit him with something heavy, I’m afraid it won’t work.

Pinkie frowned, then looked around the office. She opened her mouth to speak, but then her head jerked towards something that was on the edge of my vision. Well… I doubt that is much heavier than surgical equipment… she said, pointing at whatever that was and grimacing unpleasantly.

Confused, I tried my best to look at where she was pointing (a feat that wasn’t exactly easy when one’s perception of time had been altered like this), wondering what it could be… and then immediately turned my sight away when I realized that it was the firearm that Scope had dropped when Burst attacked him.

No, I told Pinkie plainly.

Why? she asked, tilting her head in confusion. I mean, I’m not crazy about this idea, too, even if that, that… bad pony deserves it for what he did, but what else could you do?

I don’t care, sweetie, I’m not picking up that gun! I’m a doctor, I make ponies better, not shoot them. Besides, I added more calmly, I think he would notice if I tried to grab it with my magic; the gun is within his view, too.

Duh, you’ll wait for him to pass you to get to Apple Core, Pinkie explained as if that was obvious; maybe it was, and in my anxiousness I didn’t realize it? I mean, how many times did he turn his back to you?

The apparition had a point. But still…

Well, it doesn’t really matter, sweetie. I won’t do it. Help me think of something else-

Um, Angel? I turned my attention to the tiny pegasus, glad to hear her finally offer her contribution. However, my relief quickly faded as she continued: I… I think that… maybe you should consider Pinkie’s idea?

I was positive that under normal circumstances I would have been staring wide-eyed at Fluttershy.

Et tu, Fluttershy? I asked, almost in shock. You, of all ponies, would want me to use that-

No! Fluttershy quickly exclaimed, her eyes wide in terror as she shook her head. I hate the thought of shooting somepony as much as you! B-but… You are the only one there. You have to do something. A-and you don’t have to shoot him, she added, hope in her voice. M-maybe you could, um, intimidate him into leaving? I-I’m sorry! Fluttershy suddenly cried, covering her face in her forehooves. I’m sorry for suggesting that, I just… I just don’t want Scope to shoot Apple Core! I’m sorry we can’t do anything to help you!

My anxiety faded (well, some of it at least) as I watched tears streaming down the apparition’s face from behind her hooves. Pinkie Pie moved to her and pulled her into a hug, brushing her head with hers comfortingly.

It’s alright, Fluttershy, I’m sure everything will be alright, she told her quietly, then turned to me. Angel, you have to stop Scope. if that means using-

No, I interrupted her. I won’t pick up that gun.

Oh for- why?! Pinkie Pie exclaimed; she left Fluttershy and moved closer to me. Killing ponies is bad, I know, and so is threatening them. I also know that you are scared. But you have to stop him!

I know, but… I looked away from her. I won’t.

But Pinkie didn’t let me off the hook that easily; apparently when it came to the subject of friends’ lives being at stake, she could be very serious and very persistent. She floated before me and stood on my snout, glaring me in the eyes.

Why?! she asked. Because you’re scared?!

Because I-

Um, Pinkie? Fluttershy suddenly spoke; she was now behind the other apparition, trying to put a hoof on her shoulder. M-maybe you shouldn’t...

But Pinkie brushed her hoof off and continued to glare at me. Or is it because you place your morals above your friend-

Because I CAN’T!

Both Pinkie and Fluttershy backed away, shocked and confused by my mental mental cry. I looked away from them; if I wasn’t stuck in S.A.T.S., I’m sure there would be moisture in my eyes.

I can’t, I repeated, not looking at them. I just… can’t. Help me think of something else. Anything. Please.

I wanted to turn my head away, too, but I couldn’t due to S.A.T.S. This prolonged stay in this state was beginning to unnerve me; I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe, and I couldn’t even feel my heartbeat, which I knew would have increased a moment ago. The fact that after I would slip out of S.A.T.S. I would have to face a murderer served little to improve my mood; a part of me wondered how long could I stay like this.

A tiny pink head with bright blue eyes that appeared right before my eye pulled me out of my musing. I’m sorry, Pinkie said; with a pang I realized she was crying. I didn’t mean to sound so… mean. I didn’t want to upset you. I’m sorry, she repeated, reaching with her hoof to my face.

As I watched Fluttershy do the same on the other side of my muzzle, her expression even more regretful and compassionate, I slowly felt myself calm down. All is forgiven, sweetie, I told Pinkie, not wanting either of them think that I was mad. Both apparitions smiled with relief; I felt an urge to smile back, but, alas, I still couldn’t. I trust that this matter won’t be brought up again?

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy exchanged a glance. Well, um… Pinkie began, her eyes darting to the side. Of course, we won’t suggest you pick up a gun again, but…

I’m happy to hear that, sweetie, I interrupted her; I turned my gaze to Scope. Now, where were we with the ideas?

Angel? Fluttershy spoke up; I turned my attention to her, a bit grudgingly. If you’d ever want to talk about whatever is bothering you, we’re here for you.

I sighed. Mentally. S.A.T.S. was beginning to upset me...

I doubt that I will, but thank you regardless, sweetie. For your offer and… not pressing. Both of you are inside my head; I continued, then thoughtfully amended: or at least have seemingly unrestricted access to my mind from those statuettes of yours. Regardless, I think it would benefit all of us if we’d find a way for this experience to be a pleasant one, and I’m afraid that includes giving me what little privacy you can offer.

Oh, of course, Fluttershy agreed. We won’t bother you, right Pinkie Pie?

The pink apparition quickly nodded. Yep, Pinkie Promise! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye! she recited suddenly, performing strange motions with her forehooves then sticking a cupcake in her eye-

Was that a cupcake? I asked, perplexed.

Now that that’s over, Pinkie began, ignoring my question; I continued to stare at the remains of the cupcake that were still plastered around her eye, I feel like one of us has to point out that this experience also has to include you surviving this, she said, waving her hoof around Scope.

I don’t think any of us will disagree, sweetie, I replied, eyeing the remaining… frosting, I believe, on Pinkie’s face, before giving up and returning to the problem at hoof; what was I going to do?

To say that I found it irritating that a pony with such a high intellect as me, with my perception of time altered and having two others to help couldn’t think of anything, was possibly an understatement.

What about that spell you used on Cutter? Fluttershy offered after a few moments of silence. Back when he, um, cut you, I mean. You stopped his heart from beating.

You mean Cardiac Arrest Spell, sweetie? I asked, pondering the idea; I wished I could furrow my brow or bit my lip. Well… while that spell’s form isn’t that much different, meaning that theoretically I could use it, it is highly advanced spell. I don’t think I could bear the strain if I were to pour so much more magic through my horn. Heart Attack Spell would be easier to cast, but he will still be able to move with relative ease. When he realizes what I’m doing, I doubt he will continue to see value in keeping me alive when-

I blinked. Or would have if it weren’t for the S.A.T.S. However, I now had far more important thing to think over rather than annoyance at my PipBuck’s spell.

Scope kept me alive, I said slowly; both apparitions perked their ears as they eyed me thoughtfully. He told me to leave the Overmare’s office before he threw that explosive. He still hadn’t killed me. He needs me alive for… something! Why hadn’t I thought of that sooner?

Oooh, you’re right! Pinkie Pie exclaimed, excited. And that means… um, what, exactly? she asked, tilting her head. He can still go after Apple Core, and-

Well, sweetie, I interrupted her, what it means is that I, hm, how does that saying go? ‘Hold all the cards’? He wants something of me; information, possibly.

I paused to ponder what could that be. Was it relevant to what I overheard yesterday? I had suspected that this holotape he received was from Cutter; did he want to know more about him and somehow have figured that I had something to do with his “death”? Or did he want to know more about my Stable? He had seemed very interested in it, both back in New Appleloosa and during our journey here.

But still, why would he turn on everybody?

If that is indeed the case, I continued, then he won’t kill me until he gets what he wants.

But Apple Core- Fluttershy began, glancing at the unconscious mare.

Yes, he could kill her, I agreed. Or threaten to kill her to get what he wants from me, then kill both of us afterwards. After all, I will stop being useful then. I paused, letting the idea that sprang from my realization to form in my head. So for us to not get killed, I will have to… stall him. And that means that all I can do… is talk, I added, feeling nervous.

But that’s good, right? Fluttershy asked, a bit confused. Smiling hopefully, she added: I mean, you are so great at talking with ponies and convincing them to your views and stuff.

Yes, but I’m only so assertive when I don’t have a gun pointed at myself or at my friends, I pointed out, shuddering inwardly. You’ve seen how I froze earlier; it wasn’t that I just couldn’t move, I also couldn’t talk or even think! How am I supposed to talk with Scope like this?

The two apparitions exchanged a worried look. Well, um… Fluttershy began, but as she hesitated, Pinkie Pie began to giggle.

Oh, Angel, don’t you see? Pinkie asked, smiling at me. Of course you can’t talk with Scope like that.

I really hope you’re going somewhere with this, sweetie, I told her, annoyed that she had put it so bluntly.

You can’t talk to him if you freeze from fear, the pink apparition elaborated, rolling her eyes. You’ve got to stand up tall and face your fear! Fear alone can’t hurt you; that pony can. And you yourself have said that you hold all the cards here. You can stop him from hurting you. All you have to stop cowering from fear and laugh at it instead! she added, giggling again.

My brows furrowed. (Only in my mind, of course; I sincerely hoped that in the foreseeable future there won’t be another case that I will have to stay inside of S.A.T.S. for so long as now.) Laugh at fear, huh?

Um, Pinkie, Fluttershy began, I’m not sure if this, um, pep talk, is adequate to this situation…

Whatever else she said later escaped my notice. I stopped listening, drowning in a memory.

~ ~ ~

“You really shouldn’t have done that,” I told the black coated colt, glancing at him with worry. “You could be in serious trouble. A-and you’ve hurt him...”

Snorting, he looked back from where he was leaning against the magic kindergarten classroom’s wall. “Like I care. That bully had it coming. Besides, your dad is gonna fix his face, anyway,” he added, returning to stare at the fake window and illusion of a playground outside.

I winced hearing the hatred in his voice. Also, I remembered reading in one of Daddy’s books that wounds caused by magic weren’t easy to heal. And those burns looked scary, too… I looked around the empty classroom where Miss Funcare have told us to wait until she got back from the clinic, wondering what should I say to him for him to know he did a bad thing; also, whether I should do that. “B-but-”

“He hit you!” he snapped, immediately turning back to me. His ice-blue eyes burned with rage. “All I did was pay him back!”

I winced again and looked away, unable to meet his gaze. “I-I’m sorry,” I said, my ears dropping. Pressing my hoof against my still slightly aching cheek, I added “It’s my fault for trying to break you apart…”

“Ugh,” I heard him groan, then he began in a stern, but a touch gentler voice: “No, it’s that meanie’s fault for not apologizing for calling you names when I told him to and then pushing me.”

“Those were just words,” I muttered quietly, looking down at the patterned carpet.

“Oh for Goddesses’ sake, could you get a little angry?” he exclaimed, trotting closer to me. “They shouldn’t call you names in the first place, none of them. Why can’t you stand up for yourself?” he asked, sitting next to me.

Because they are right, I wanted to reply, but I knew it would only get him mad.

“I couldn’t be brave like you,” I said instead, blushing as I turned to glance at him. “I-I mean, you stood up to both of them, and they are older than us… weren’t you afraid at all?”

“Ha! I laugh at fear,” he proclaimed, pressing his hoof to his chest, “and drop ice cubes down its stable barding. It’s all about acting despite fear and not showing that you are afraid,” he explained further as I gave him questioning stare. (And a little giggle, that part about ice cubes was funny.) “It’s what my Dad has told me, anyway. He said that he does that whenever he has to arrest somepony who might cause trouble.”

“Does what?” I asked, interested.

“Hides his fear,” he replied quietly. “Dad said that everypony gets afraid from time to time, and only stupid ponies don’t. But you can’t show it, especially when you face somepony. Just like in your case,” he added, pointing at me. “Everypony thinks that they can call you names because you are afraid and won’t stand up for yourself. You just have to… um, how did Dad say it?” he muttered to himself as he scratched his chin thoughtfully for a few seconds. “Oh yeah, that one must remember that fear exists only in the mind; fear alone can’t hurt you. Acting because of it can, so you must act despite it, and if you do, everything will turn out alright!” he finished, nodding sagely. “And that’s what bravery is all about. Ah, and also, Dad told me that this way you can intimidate the pony that was trying to intimidate you back very easily,” he added excitedly. “It really unnerves them when you appear calm and stuff. And I bet it would be really easy for you if you’d try.”

I couldn’t help but smile a little. “Oh, I don’t think I would ever could intimidate anypony… or that I would want to, anyway. But wow, your dad sure taught you a lot, huh? No wonder you’re so brave all the time,” I added, blushing a little. As he nodded, I tried to imagine me standing up for myself next time somepony would call me names. However, I was still too worried about our problem to think about anything else for too long. “Do you think we’ll be in much trouble?”

“No,” he replied, snorting, then rolled his eyes. “Well, maybe I will, but not you. And besides, once they realize that bully hit you… I mean, imagine your parents’ reactions. Or even better, your grandmother’s!” he added, smirking. Chuckling, he continued: “Can you even imagine Miss Funcare or anypony else telling her that somebody hit her granddaughter? ‘L-l-l-lady-’” he began to pretend that he was such a pony given this task, but I stopped him by tapping his shoulder lightly.

“Don’t do that, Grandma isn’t scary!” I said, frowning at him with pretense. “And besides… it wasn’t really that painful,” I added, rubbing my cheek again as I looked away.

I winced hearing him groan, then fall back on his back. “I’m pretty sure that’s not the point,” he said, annoyance clear in voice. However, he apparently didn’t want to argue about it any longer; as I glanced at him, I saw that he was lying on the carpet, staring at the ceiling, with an unusually, at least for him, serious (and a bit worried) expression on his face. “Do you think I’ll be in a lot of trouble?” he turned to me, finally betraying some worry over what he did.

I opened my mouth, ready to say “yes”, but I hesitated. I didn’t want to make him feel bad, especially since this was all my fault. “Don’t worry, we’ll explain together to Miss Funcare and everypony else what happened, I’m sure they’ll understand,” I said instead, then, smiling bashfully, I added: “Also, I’m sure that whatever happens, you will stand tall and meet the consequences head on and without fear… Demon.”

He began to smile as I told him his own advice, but then tilted his head in confusion. “Demon?”

“Um, that’s…” I stammered, immediately blushing with embarrassment. “M-miss Funcare let me borrow this book about making friends, a-and in one of the chapters the author wrote about coming up with nicknames for close friends… sorry, it was silly of me, and that name-”

A warm chuckle interrupted me. “Nah, it’s alright, I actually like it,” he said, his blue eyes shining with excitement. “Demon… has a nice ring to it. Aaaand it probably fits me,” he added, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment as he chuckled.

~ ~ ~

Hm, maybe you’re right, Fluttershy, I heard Pinkie Pie say as I slowly pulled myself out of my memories. I glanced at her briefly, only half-interested at that discussion, just in time to see her gasp. Wait, maybe if I sing a song to her…

Um, I don’t think that will help that much… Fluttershy replied uncertainly.

I turned my attention back to Scope while they continued their argument. Demon wouldn’t have been afraid, I thought, feeling my worries slowly disperse. He would stand up to you and wouldn’t show fear… and he would have probably defeated you already by now, I added reluctantly; a part of me couldn’t help but wish that he was there. But while I can’t do that, at least I can do what he had taught me. Just like when I stood on trial and was banished. Just-

I was about to add “just with a gun pointed to my head this time”, but I was interrupted.

Wait, what? Pinkie asked, tilting her head. What are you talking about? Who’s Demon?

Nevermind that now. I-

Well, I do mind a little, seeing how I’ve basically said the same thing about standing up to your fear and you were still very worried, but now that you had some convenient flashback or whatever you are all resolute and stuff, the pink apparition said, pouting.

Forgive me, sweetie, I told her apologetically, a little amused. You did give me a very good advice. Now though, I added to both of them as my words cheered Pinkie up a little, I’ll need you two to remain quiet. I’ll have to be focused on talking with Scope and making sure his attention is on me… all while continuing to channel magic.

Now that my fear was no longer an issue (Alright, maybe it would be more precise to say “not as big of an issue as before”...), I was mostly worried whether I wouldn’t suffer a magic burnout. However, there was nothing I could do about it.

I’m sure you’ll be fine, Fluttershy told me. She gave me a comforting smile and added: We believe in you.

Yeah, you can do it! Pinkie added enthusiastically. Talk him up until his ears fall off!

That could be arranged...

Oh, and we’ll be quiet, don’t worry, she added, noticing my gaze.

Thank you, sweetie. Both of you, I told them. Wishing I could take a calming breath before continuing, I turned off S.A.T.S. Here we go…

The world became alive once again around me. I drew breath immediately and shook a little; I wondered how exactly long had I stayed “frozen in time”.

“Look,” Scope said, his brow now furrowed; I tried to not show how relieved I was to hear an actual voice with my ears, “just sit down and be a nice little filly, and I might leave you alive...”

I felt a little satisfaction as Scope trailed off as I smiled at him. I glanced behind me at Apple Core. “It would appear Apple Core won’t be regaining consciousness anytime soon,” I said, my voice calm, not shaking at all. I turned back to Scope and smirked. “Good; now we can talk without any witnesses, sweetie.”

Uncertainty creeped into Scope’s eyes. Clearly, my sudden change of behaviour must have startled him, as I had expected. To his credit though he quickly masked it.

“Would you look at that, little doctor has some guts in her.”

It cost me a great amount of self-control not to tell him the meaninglessness of that sentence from anatomical point of view.

I covered my mouth and giggled. “I assume this means you have been fooled by my earlier behaviour? Forgive me for the deception, sweetie; I’ve learned that when one appears meek and helpless, they are much less, shall we say, suspicious. But now that we’re alone, I suppose there is little need for it,” I added, smirking.

Scope snorted, clearly amused. “Yeah, alright, if that makes this easier for you.”

He must suspect that I wasn’t acting before, I realized. No matter; the longer I manage to act so convincingly, the more unsettled he will become.

“But since you’re now in a more talkative mood,” Scope continued, raising Bursts’ gun a little, “I happen to have a few questions I’d like you to answer.”

“Oh? And, pray tell, what would happen if I’d decide not to, sweetie?” I asked, smiling calmly as I tilted my head curiously.

“I’ll kill you,” Scope replied, equally calm as he pointed the shotgun at my face.

“No you won’t.”

I had to admit, it was amusing to see his brow furrowed in confusion at my almost casual statement.

“Beg your pardon?” he asked, surprised.

“You obviously spared me from this massacre you’ve committed here,” I replied, shrugging. “I doubt you would have continued to let me live this long if you didn’t consider the answers I could give to your questions to be of high value. So you won’t kill me until I’ll answer them.”

Scope’s eyes narrowed, then, after a second, he smirked. “Well, I guess you are clever after all, Doctor.”

“Of course I am. Now, are you ready to tell me why I should answer your questions, sweetie?” I asked, letting a note of impatience slip into my voice.

“So that I won’t shoot your legs off,” Scope replied, his voice a mixture of poorly hidden exasperation and casualty as the shotgun pointed down at my leg instead.

“Now, that sounds a little better,” I agreed; I hoped that it didn’t show how my heart skipped a bit. “But we’ve already established that you are a murderer; for all I know, you will kill me the moment I answer those questions of yours. I think I would prefer to have my legs shot at, sweetie; you will find that I can deal with a lot of pain before I’ll give away what is keeping me alive. I can always heal my body later,” I added with a shrug.

Please believe me, please believe me, please believe me… not that I would tell him what is keeping me alive, I just don’t want to get shot! I told Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. And from that weapon, too. It’s bad enough that after everything will be over I’ll have to reattach Apple Core’s leg, assuming that there would be enough left of mine, stitching it back after such magical exertion…

I quickly snapped myself out of my musing when I noticed that Scope was still pointing the shotgun at my leg. For several scary seconds, he stood there, staring me in the eyes as if considering whether I spoke truly or not and if he should check. However, when his eyes darted to the side and a smirk began to creep back into his muzzle, he had seemingly thought of something better.

Honestly, I was surprised it took him this long to consider this option.

“I really wouldn’t do that if I were you, sweetie,” I told the unicorn as he took a step to the side.

Scope, who had been about to go around me to get to Apple Core, stopped. “And why is that, Doctor?” he asked, tilting his head slightly, clearly annoyed.

I hesitated for a second before replying, watching him closely. The angle at which he tilted his head… is it so that he could hear me better from his other ear? Did he not take a healing potion after killing Burst? I wondered, noting that the right ear, the one which was closer to me, was the same one by which Burst had fired his gun. Distraught as I had been over the friendly young buck’s death, I didn’t pay attention to anything he had done. Well, if he didn’t, then it would be advantageous, considering our positioning…

I took a step to my right, so that I would once again be right in front of him. “Because the only reason why I hadn’t assured my safety by casting the Anesthetic Spell on you yet is that I have to concentrate on keeping the Haemostasis Field Spell around Apple Core’s wound so she won’t bleed to death. If you were to threaten to kill her if I won’t cooperate and then actually go through with your threat, though… well, sweetie, I would be free to use my magic on somepony else, now wouldn’t I?” I asked, blinking at him innocently.

“You really think I would give you the chance to cast a spell on me?” Scope replied, now more angry than annoyed. “I could shot that slaver of yours and have the gun pointing right at your head before you can blink.”

Having the answer already ready for that, I smiled and lifted my left foreleg, showing him my PipBuck. “I’m sure you’re familiar with Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell, aren’t you sweetie?” I could tell by the subtle twitch of his eyelid that he was indeed familiar with. Not surprising, considering he had known about PipBuck’s E.F.S., too. “It’s one of the spells included in my PipBuck. I’ll activate it the moment you shoot Apple Core; my Anesthetic Spell will hit you before you could turn this gun at me.”

Scope stared at me, cold hatred blazing from his eyes. “Well, aren’t we fucking clever?” he said quietly. He then smiled, dark amusement crossing his features. “Tell me this then, Doctor; what would you do if I’d break your horn?” Scope asked, pointing the shotgun at my glowing horn.

That was a rather terrifying prospect, especially given my situation. However, unfortunately for Scope, by then I’ve began to grow more accustomed to remaining calm under such extreme conditions. Well, on the outside at least. I was able to think clearly, though.

In fact, it was more than just appearing calm. I… found myself liking this disposition of mine. The feeling of being able to talk so calmly with an armed and hostile pony… it made me feel powerful. Even more powerful than I’d feel when talking to my test subjects or performing experiments on them. Oh yes, I liked this sensation. If it hadn’t been for the state of my companions, I might have even enjoyed this situation I was in.

“Hm…” I hummed, looking up as I pondered what would happen in that scenario. “Speaking from experience, and taking into the account the magical strain I’m under while continuingly channeling magic, upon breaking my horn I’d go into shock, lose consciousness and slip into a coma that would last from a day to a week, probably. You have the time to spare, right sweetie?” I asked innocently.

Gauging by the way his eyes narrowed, I’d figured that he did not have that much time to spare hanging out at an empty Stable in the middle of the Wasteland. Which was a huge relief.

“Alright,” Scope slowly replied. “I think this means we’re at an impasse, then. What would you suggest we do to break it, Doctor?” he asked, almost politely as he lowered Burst’s gun a little.

“Oh, I’m so glad you asked, sweetie,” I told him, waving my forehoof. “I was thinking that perhaps you could answer some of my questions first, after which I would spend some time pointing out why it would be in your best interest for me to remain alive. I’m sure if I know more about you I will be able to tell you precisely how useful I could be,” I added, noticing a subtle twitch of his eyebrows. “Of course, after we’d reach a consensus regarding our future cooperation, I would answer your questions; it would be only fair, after all. Wouldn’t you agree, sweetie?”

Although he was clearly unhappy with the direction this situation was going, I did spot a glimmer of interest in Scope’s eyes when I mentioned my usefulness. In my mind, I allowed myself to sigh with relief; it seemed that for now the danger had passed.

“It’s no wonder those dumbass slavers hired you instead of capturing you,” Scope said after a few seconds. “You are quite the smooth-talker.”

Smiling, I was about to thank him for the compliment, but just then I noticed that his eyes had quickly shifted back to Apple Core for a brief second. With my smile turning into a frown, I decided to scold him. “Sweetie, you’re not still considering using Apple Core as a hostage, aren’t you? We’ve already established how pointless that would be.”

Scope’s eyes widened as I spoke; did he think I wouldn’t notice him glancing at her? “To be fair, Doctor, you were the one to establish that, not we,” he pointed out, almost nonchalantly. “You can’t blame me for weighing my options.”

“Forgive me, sweetie, but I don’t see what is it to ‘weigh’. I am sorry excuse for a fighter, true, but with S.A.T.S. even I will hit you with my spell faster than you could attack me or even dodge.”

“Still… it is only an Anesthetic Spell,” Scope replied slowly. “You’ll paralyze me for about an hour or so, and then what would you do? Kill me? I doubt that. You’re still just a stable pony,” he said, coldly. “Fresh out of your Stable. That stunt you pulled on Jack with that raider? How you needed to make sure if your conscience would be clear or whatever?” Scope asked, his eyebrow raised.

“Sweetie,” I spoke up, quickly thinking up an excuse for that situation that was slightly contradicting the personality I was currently displaying, “I think you misunderstood; the purpose of that ‘experiment’ was whether the raiders truly were as terrible as Jack and everybody else portrays them.”

I could have brushed it off by telling him that my opinion of him wasn’t that much different than of raiders, but that would in turn contradict my desire to be useful for him in the future, I thought, knowing that Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie could be slightly confused.

Scope smirked. “Yeah, that would fit this new personality of yours more, wouldn’t it?” he said; I hoped that my face didn’t betray how annoyed I found how close he was to the truth with that speculation. “But that’s not where I was going with it. I was going to bring up how you had Jack kill the raider. How you said that you are a doctor and heal ponies, and not shoot them? How sad you were when mentioning yesterday about those five ponies you had ‘killed’?” The unicorn snorted when saying that. “Being paralyzed for some time isn’t such a scary prospect when you know you will be alright, Doctor. Because you won’t kill me. You are nothing but an innocent stable pony, who…” he trailed off, his eyes widening in confusion and, what I noticed with satisfaction, fear.

As much as I liked that I yet again had gained the upperhoof there, my action hadn’t been caused by my desire for that. No, it was purely accidental. I just couldn’t help myself hearing Scope’s words; I had to laugh.

“‘Innocent’?” I asked after a few seconds, covering my mouth with my hoof as I slowly got my laughter under control. By some miracle I remembered to not take my eyes off Scope; after all, he could always decide to “risk it” and do something to me. “Me? Sweetie, I lost my innocence when I was six,” I told him, now calm, as I took a step closer to him. “Whatever had been left of it was removed completely about half a year ago, I assure you. I am not innocent. Do you want to know what I would do if I’d manage to cast Anesthetic Spell on you, sweetie? You are right, I wouldn’t kill you.” My smiled widened and I opened my eyes wider in excitement, allowing Scope to see the side of me I’d normally reserved for my test subjects. “I would chain you to a table and force a serum into your body that would make you unable to use magic. Next I would… well, probably perform a vivisection on your body, first; I hadn’t exactly checked if radiation on the Outside affected ponies’ organs. Next, I would begin my experiments, by removing those organs to see how well I would be able to keep you alive with magic. I would flay you to see if I can cause a pony to regrow their entire skin. I would cut off your limbs and attach Jack’s in their place, so I can find a way to prevent a body to reject incompatible tissue. I would probably also attempt to inject you with glands of the bloatsprite’s remains that I have in my saddlebag to see if I can replicate their amazing reproduction in a pony, but something like that would require a bit more research before attempting,” I added, giggling. “I could conduct whatever else comes to my mind, but the end result will be the same, sweetie; you would be begging me for the mercy of death through that entire time, but even when my work would be completed… I would deny you,” I told him quietly, narrowing my eyes. “Your anguished cries would be my gift to the souls of those you had send to the Afterlife today.”

There it was; intimidation. It was plain on Scope’s face, even if it didn’t stay on it for long. His eyes had gradually grow wider with fear as I talked and his mouth had dropped slightly, and as I finished he had also taken a step back. Just like Demon had said, it was easy for me, even though back then he would have never imagined just how intimidating I could become.

And now, I hold the advantage here, I thought as I took a step back and let the rush of excitement to subside. I did feel a little pang as I noticed that Scope wasn’t the only one who became scared, though. Pinkie Pie, who had witnessed this side of me for the first time, was staring at me in utter shock, while Fluttershy’s gaze dropped down as she cringed. Both of them could tell that it wasn’t just an act, at least not all of it. Making a mental note to address this after the current crisis was resolved, I smiled at Scope.

“Of course, those who would be useful to me have no reason to fear such fate. There are numerous people out there in the Wasteland who are just a waste of air, after all. They would be far better off serving as test subjects. And you… I think you would be quite useful, sweetie,” I told him, tilting my head as I looked at him with interest.

By then the unicorn had managed to get himself under control. He again stood firmly before me, and his face was a cold mask that betrayed no emotion. Other than a mild amusement, that is. “Ideological differences, huh?” he said, repeating what I had told him to be the reason why I had left Stable Eight. “I have to admit, that makes a lot of sense now. I suppose in this case, we can talk… especially since I believe that my, hm, leader would find use for somepony with your talents,” Scope added, smirking.

Leader? I repeated in my mind. Not an ‘employer’ but ‘leader’... curious…

“Still, is it okay for us to talk? You are already struggling keeping that spell of yours going,” he explained when I gave him questioning look, nodding at Apple Core. “I can see you’re sweating. Wouldn’t want you to disrupt your concentration.”

Is he wondering how long will it take for me to suffer a magical burnout? I wondered, ignoring the few droplets of sweat that had began to trickle slowly down my head some time ago. In that case, it would mean that he still plans to kill me after I give him what he wants… so was that line about leader a lie to ensure I would have a use of him? Oh well, not like it matters at this point… I think...

“Oh, don’t worry about that, sweetie,” I told him, calming down his ‘worries’. “My old mentor had ensured that I would be able to channel spells like those on a patient during an operation without losing my concentration due to any possible distractions.”

I decided to not bring up that he had done so by spitting spitballs at me as I practiced channeling those spells on cadavers during my studies.

“Now then,” I said, smiling at him, “since we have reached consensus, would you kindly answer me the following questions: who are you? Why did you kill everybody? Or attempt to kill,” I added, pointing back at Apple Core. “And who’s this ‘leader’ you’ve mentioned?”

“Reasonable questions, given the situation,” Scope agreed, nodding. He sat down, as if to show that I had nothing to worry from him now; an illusion that failed due to him continuingly holding Burst’s shotgun with his magic. “I suppose you could say that I’m… an operative, of sort. I am a part of certain… group, and as part of my duties to that group I pose as a mercenary to gain information about possible assets or threats. I’ve told you how I’ve explored several Stables before; they are one of the few places a pony could find working technology from before the Last Day. And they could function as perfect bases of operation; that is, assuming, they would be in good enough condition, like this one happens to be.”

“So you killed everybody because you intend to use this Stable as a base?” I asked, my mind reeling as I tried to process all the - somewhat sparse - information he was giving me. “I’m afraid I don’t quite understand why such an act was necessary in this case, sweetie.”

“Really? I would have thought it was obvious; I couldn’t let information about an unexplored Stable spread,” Scope explained. “A week, maybe a month from now this place would be swarming with scavengers if those three made it back to New Appleloosa. Blast especially would get talkative when drinking after a finished job. However…” he added and paused to smirk at me, “I’ll admit that I might have gone for some less drastic solution, for the time being at least, if it weren’t for the circumstances.”

“Circumstances?”

Scope eyed me thoughtfully before speaking: “You weren’t drunk yesterday, weren’t you? When I was talking with that pony. You were eavesdropping.”

Slightly surprised he had figured it out, I found myself blushing in embarrassment for being found out. “I’ll admit, sweetie, I did,” I said, seeing no reason in covering that fact given the current events; not that it would have been convincing with my reaction. “However, I assure you, it wasn’t my intention to eavesdrop. Well, mostly,” I admitted. “It was purely by accident that I had stumbled upon your conversation. Afterwards I pretended to be inebriated because I wasn’t sure how you’d react… and you must admit, sweetie, considering your latest actions I was right to worry.”

Is he upset about it, or is he stalling? I wondered. He could be waiting for me to burnout… He didn’t really appear upset about this matter though (or my comment). In fact, he seemed… amused.

“You puked and fell into your own vomit on purpose?” he asked, his voice a touch mocking.

“I wanted to be convincing,” I explained, frowning. “More importantly, though, could you explain to me what was that about, sweetie? And why did you bring it up now?”

“But of course,” he replied, shrugging. “As I am sure you might have figured it out already, Appleloosa’s previous medic had left that buck a holotape to deliver to me in an event of his death. And as for why have I brought it up; those ‘circumstances’ I had mentioned? They were caused by that holotape. Suffice to say that I have to either report it in to my group or take immediate action; I decided to complete my current objective first though,” he added, nodding behind him at the bodies of the other mercenaries.

So my guess was right… I mused. I wish he would tell me more; why isn’t he, though? I believe he still intends to kill me, but in that case, it shouldn’t matter whether he tells me or not.. shouldn’t it? Hm, I wonder if I should ask him for more details… better not, I decided. I can’t risk irritating him. Perhaps later…

“Your current objective…” I began instead. I paused for a moment, recalling our talk from the day before. “You’ve told me that you joined them about two months ago. And that Jack had some lead about a different job then, and that’s what had made you join them. So your objective couldn’t have been searching for liveable Stables, sweetie.”

A short chuckle escaped Scope. “Damn, Doctor, you really are sharp. You’re right, that wasn’t my objective… I suppose you could call it an underlying directive I was given, to explore Stables when opportunity comes. But my main task had been the griffin,” he explained, nodding behind with his head at Jack.

“Jack?” I asked, confused.

“You remember what Blast had told you and your slaver friend, don’t you? He used to be a Bloodtalon… although I suppose it doesn’t mean much for a pony who had left her Stable only about two weeks ago,” Scope added, smirking.

I frowned as I recalled the brief exchange between Blast and Apple Core. “Apple Core had said that they’re the deadliest mercenary company in the world… and Blast had said that they’re possibly the first ones.”

“Being so new to the Wasteland, you can’t possibly imagine just what ‘the most deadly’ can mean; even if you had seen Jack at work,” he added. “It isn’t just that they are all about as skilled as he was. Their record of completed jobs is perfect; they’ve been around for almost three centuries, and they’ve never failed a task they were hired to do,” Scope said, causing my eyes to slightly widen in surprise and amazement. “Throughout the war and the post-apocalyptic world that followed, they’ve constantly fought. Wherever Bloodtalons are, you can expect bloodshed to follow. About the only good thing about it is that the constant wars and battles would dwindle their numbers; there are only a few dozens of them, currently.”

A few dozen griffins, all as skilled as Jack? That’s a rather unsettling idea…

“They are still a force to be reckoned with, though,” Scope continued. “One that everypony would prefer to avoid. Tribes, armies of raiders and entire contingents of Steel Rangers had learned that the hard way. Fortunately, they’ve been gone from Equestria for almost forty years; they’ve been cooped up in the zebra’s lands, constantly getting hired by one Legion after another for their constant wars over there. Almost forty years without any of them setting a single paw on Equestria’s land… until a little over a year ago, Jack Bloodtalon, son of the Bloodtalons’ leader, appeared.”

Son of their leader? I repeated, surprised. And their family name is the same as the name of their company… I wonder if this is related as to why he had made those comments regarding hereditary positions and nepotism…

“As you can probably imagine, when news of that reached us we were worried. It didn’t ease our worries when we had confirmed that the rest of the Bloodtalons are still in the old Zebra Empire. Higher ups were wondering whether he was sent as a scout for a job, or to make contact with potential customers. If they were hired by Red Eye, for example, that could spell some serious trouble. Seeing how he has most of the Talon companies already on his payroll and that there aren’t many others who could afford them that would probably be the case. As such, I was ordered to find out why is he here, evaluate how much of a threat he poses and eliminate him should I deem it necessary.”

“So you joined his team to do so? Didn’t you say that had happened only two months ago?”

“Originally, I only planned to spy on them; however, that approach yielded little results. Eventually I decided to arrange a ‘meeting’ between us, got myself hired to do the same job as they. I’ve already had an established reputation as a reliable and successive mercenary in the Wasteland, so it wasn’t too difficult. I had hoped that after we’d work together on it and split the reward, they’d invite me to join them. They did, and damn if that wasn’t a successful operation!” Scope uttered a short laugh as he continued. “Not only have I learned that Jack wasn’t affiliated with the other Bloodtalons anymore and eliminated him, but also found a functioning Stable! And an ‘information broker’ in Fillydelphia’s contingent of Steel Rangers, too. It’s a pity we weren’t able to find Stable-Tec’s secret storage facility in Manehattan as well, but then again, even my organization considers its existence to be just a rumor,” he added, shrugging.

“My, that is indeed quite a lot of accomplishments,” I hummed, gracing the buck with a smile as he recounted his tale of betrayal that only deepened my disgust towards him and caused me to think: I am going to enjoy ripping him apart, nerve by nerve… “Why, you’re probably going to get a promotion, sweetie! Or whatever equivalent of that you have in this organization of yours,” I added, taking a mental note of the name he used to describe the ‘group’ he belonged to; an organization implied a lot more power than just a group. “Especially if you add to all of them ‘recruiting a brilliant doctor and a scientist’,” I added, purposely faking modesty as I pressed a hoof to my chest.

I was certain that I spotted something that I didn’t like glimmer in Scope’s eyes briefly. “Right you are, Doctor,” he replied, however, smirking. “I’m sure my superiors will appreciate your talents… if not your modesty.”

“Speaking of your superiors, sweetie,” I began, “you have yet to tell me their name; or the name of your group, for that matter.”

His replied was disappointing to me, despite having already anticipated it: “Oh, come now, Doctor,” Scope said, amused, “there have to be some secrets left between us. Especially,” he added, noticing my disappointed frown, “when I’ve already told you so much and you told me so little.”

“You’re subtly suggesting that now is my turn to answer a few questions of yours, sweetie?” I deduced, smiling. “Well, I suppose that is only fair; very well then! However, we will come back to my questions soon, sweetie; I have a lot more to ask!” I added with excitement.

On the inside, though, I was calmly calculating my situation.

“Of course, Doctor,” Scope replied, even bowing his head graciously as he flashed me a smile. A smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

He’s going to kill me after I answer his questions…

“Now, if you don’t mind,” Scope continued; apparently I hid my realization of his intention well enough for him to not notice, “would you kindly tell me what you know of Black Widow?”

I blinked, surprised by the question. “Black Widow? You’re- Forgive me, sweetie,” I began, regaining my composure, “I’ve expected you to first ask me about-”

“The location of your Stable?” Scope finished for me, raising an eyebrow. There was an arrogant smirk on his muzzle. “Why would I ask about something I already know?”

What? I thought, now utterly surprised.

“Beg your pardon?” I asked, my shock so great that I completely abandoned my calm demeanor.

His smirk grew wider. “Don’t look so surprised, Doctor; the location of each Stable is known to my organization.”

Ah, that explains it, I mused. Still, I suppose it shouldn’t be that surprising; after all, Jack had bought a holotape containing the override password and location of Stable Eleven from… wait a moment...

“Now, I’ll admit, I don’t know the exact location of it, aside that it’s somewhere near Appleloosa and…” Scope continued, then paused to chuckle. “Since it’s been two hundred years, I suppose ponies of your Stable had forgotten where you came from, haven’t you? Consider this my gift to you, then; Stable Eight had been built below a place called Sanctuary, and that’s where your ancestors came from.”

“Oh, I know about that, sweetie,” I told him dismissively, pretending to be calm. “I’ve told you I’ve read the memoirs of the first chief of medicine of my Stable, didn’t I?”

Inwardly, though, I was unsettled, and not just because Scope knew where my old home was. I felt the same thing when Apple Core had brought up this subject shortly before we’d descended into Stable Eleven. Why did I not see any sign of Sanctuary when I left the Stable? Those ruined remains of a mine town couldn’t have been it. Scope says Stable Eight had been built below it… is it atop that hill in which the mine that would become Stable Eight was? But then…

It took a great deal of effort to not physically shake my head as I put off that train of musing for later. After all, I was about to be killed.

“Leaving the matter of my Stable aside; why are you asking me about Black Widow, thought?” I asked. Smirking, I added: “She wouldn’t happen to be related to that holotape you’ve received, wouldn’t she?”

“Yes, she is,” he admitted freely. “I don’t think you need to know as to why for the moment, though.”

“Very well, I’ll trust your judgement sweetie,” I told him, smiling despite my annoyance and disappointment. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you much, though, other what I have heard from Apple Core and the others. You should probably question her after she regains her consciousness. Anyway,” I said, beginning to recount everything I have been told about her and carefully observing Scope’s reactions, “I’ve been told that she had come to Appleloosa about twelve years ago, along with one of their patrols, as a girlfriend of one of the slavers named Eulogy. Back then she used the name ‘Dark Lady’. Around the same time, the previous leader of the slavers, Butcher, had become incapacitated for three months after a fight with some Steel Rangers. Eulogy became a leader in his place, with Black Widow - whom he married at some point - advising him. Eventually she became the de facto leader of Appleloosa’s slavers, and became their leader officially after her husband had been shot by a sniper. Sometime before that she had acquired a zebra ‘bodyguard’ named Khan; she had found him heavily wounded among dead bodies out in the Wasteland. He doesn’t talk at all and obeys her every command, presumably due to the head injury he had suffered.” Pausing, I went over in my head whether there was something I hadn’t mentioned. “I believe that’s all, sweetie.”

Scope nodded, processing everything I’ve told him. He seemingly hadn’t noticed that his reactions to specific informations, however well-masked, have been spotted by me. His eyebrows had slightly twitched, signaling probably that he found the information especially interesting.

“That’s all?” he asked after a while. He sounded a little disappointed. “I would have thought you’d know a bit more… Weren’t you interested just why Black Widow had asked you to kill your predecessor, Cutter?” Scope asked, raising a single eyebrow. “Don’t tell me it was a coincidence that the day after you arrived there the medic of Appleloosa - with whom she had some disagreements - dies and you take his place.”

I couldn’t help myself; I giggled. “Oh, sweetie, I assure you, I had nothing to do with Cutter’s death,” I spoke, truthfully; after all, he wasn’t dead. “I admit though, it was unusually lucky for me that things had turned out this way; for Black Widow too, I imagine. But tell me, sweetie,” I added, noticing that Scope looking at me dubiously, “do you think leaving that holotape to be delivered to you was the only precaution Cutter had taken?”

“What do you mean?”

“If Cutter expected Black Widow was after his life, wouldn’t it make more sense if he had told her ‘If something happens to me, information about you will be revealed’?” I asked; I had been musing over it every now and then after overhearing Scope’s discussion with that buck. The long walk to Stable Eleven gave me plenty of time to think about various things, after all. “Black Widow however didn’t give me, Apple Core or the other two any commands saying we should be on a lookout for somepony with a holotape or anything of that kind. Which implies that she did not know about it. As such, Cutter leaving that holotape for you seems more like a ‘last-ditch effort’ to get back at her. Now, assuming he had valued his life more, wouldn’t it make sense that he’d have told her of another way for him to share information with others about her if something would happen to him? In a way that would promise a much quicker retribution, too? My theory would be that he shared this information - whatever it might be - with his lover, Whip Crack, and asked him to share it with the other slavers if Black Widow would harm him in some way. However, nothing of that sort had happened; there hadn’t been any ‘revolution’ in Appleloosa or fight for power. That is because there wasn’t any connection between Black Widow and what had happened to Cutter; Whip Crack could see that, and so he had no reason to reveal this information and risk getting killed by her zebra bodyguard,” I finished, quite pleased with this theory.

Scope, too, seemed impressed. “You’re quite shrewd, Doctor,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “Though this theory depends on that slaver’s intelligence; if he’s dumb, he could have missed something obvious pointing out to Black Widow’s involvement… or yours.”

“Really, sweetie? I would have thought that it would be the other way around; his lack of wisdom would have led him to jumping into conclusions.”

The unicorn snorted with amusement. “I suppose you have a point.”

“What’s more, sweetie, for what purpose would I lie to you regarding this matter?” I couldn’t help but point out.

Scope nodded absentmindedly, his gaze shifting to Apple Core. “If everything you have told me had come from her, I doubt she would be able to provide me with any additional information… she seemed the talkative type. I think she would have blabbed to you something a bit… juicier. Not that it really matters, what I do know is enough. Why are you saving her, though?” Scope asked, changing the subject. “I’ve begun to believe you aren’t a type of pony who’d care about somepony enough to go to such lengths to save them. You’re obviously straining yourself,” he added, nodding at my horn; which felt like something heavy had been placed on it. The surging energy accumulated in it had begun to increase my horn’s temperature, too. “You’re using up your magic instead of… well, I was going to say ‘using it to take me out’, but considering we had agreed to cooperate it seems redundant. But still, at this rate, you will suffer a burnout. All for a slaver who’s going to die due to the blood loss anyway.”

“I intend to save her,” I told Scope. “As for why am I doing this…”

Telling him that I am doing this because she’s my friend and it’s my duty as a doctor could cause him to doubt whether the personality I am displaying is real or not, I thought as I trailed off for a second. It’s best if I seem heartless; I can’t afford to lose what little advantage I have.

I smiled mischievously and continued: “I still have a use for her. It would be a pity to lose her, especially after all the time I had invested in building our little partnership in Appleloosa. Not to mention that, if your interest in Black Widow suggests you intend to remove her from there, Apple Core could very well be the next leader of slavers. She would be a valuable asset, if properly guided, don’t you agree, sweetie?”

“You continue to impress me, Doctor,” Scope replied, smirking. “Indeed, Appleloosa’s slavers might very soon find themselves leaderless. And yes… controlling them would be useful,” he added thoughtfully. I could tell that he was already planning something; I wondered what. “Although it would be difficult controlling her if we didn’t have means of reaching her easily… so how about you tell me how those portals you’ve mentioned you have in your Stable work?”

Recalling how interested he was back when I had mentioned them in passing to Burst, I wasn’t surprised he’d ask me about them again.

“You’ve said you use them for public transportation,” Scope continued. “That ‘with all the portals in Stable Eight’ it was pointless for you learning Teleportation Spell. Does that mean they are always active in certain places?”

“You have quite a sharp mind yourself, sweetie,” I praised him. “You’ve made a good assumption based on that little bit of information. The portals are in certain places, but they aren’t active; however, it is possible for anypony to open them. There are talismans placed in specific locations throughout the Stable. If one wants to use a portal, they need to power the talisman with their magic. The enchantment imbued into it will react to the magic and open up a portal, activating the talisman on the other one as well. They come in pairs, you see,” I elaborated. “The enchantment on them… I believe it’s a combination of Portal Spell and Targeting Spell. From what I understand, each talisman has a Targeting Spell’s formula set for the other one inscribed into it-”

“In short, they’re connected?” Scope interrupted me, his eyebrow raised again.

“If you want it to be put simply, yes,” I replied, a little miffed about the interruption. “Some ponies also know how to create portals themselves, too, with the Portal Spell. They can open them to whichever place they choose, as long as they know it’s location, but they also can tap into existing Portal Talismans, which from what I heard is easier.”

Scope nodded, biting his lip in concentration. “Most interesting… Such magic would be invaluable to my organization…” He continued to muse over the idea for several seconds until he shook his head. “Alright, Doctor, last question.”

Already? I was sure I grew tense for an instant, despite how well I’ve masked my emotions until then.

“Really?” I asked; somehow, my voice didn’t quiver. “Then by all means, ask; I have many more questions I wanted to ask you sweetie!”

I need a little bit more time…

While I pondered what should I do to gain the time I’d need, Scope narrowed his eyes at me as he asked his question: “How old are you?”

I stared at him, startled.

“What, do you seriously expect me to believe that you became a medical doctor when you were… what, ten?” he asked, looking me up and down. “You’ve said you were their doctor for seven years; I’d give you twenty years at the most based on your looks. So thirteen?”

“Why, thank you sweetie,” I cut in, holding back a giggle.

“So,” Scope continued as if he hadn’t heard me interrupt him, “my theory is, in your Stable you found a way of halting aging, or something. I’ve heard a rumor that the Ministry of Magic experimented with such spell back in the day. Or am I wrong?”

Oh, this would be funnier if I I were nearing the end of my tenure…

Somehow stopping myself from uttering the last remark out loud, I told Scope: “I’m sorry to disappoint you, sweetie, but I’ll be turning only twenty-two this year. Believe it or not, I have become a medical doctor when I was fourteen and a chief of medicine when I was sixteen. Well, closer to seventeen I suppose,” I added in an afterthought, shrugging. “I suppose you could call me a prodigy and a genius, as far as medicine goes at least. I hold the honor of becoming the youngest pony ever in the history of my Stable who acquired an administrative position; though again, it had been partially caused by my mentor’s desire to resume his retirement,” I amended, repeating what I had already told him.

Scope frowned, doubtfully. “You really became a doctor when you were fourteen?”

I allowed myself to giggle this time. “I’ve always wanted to become a doctor, and I’ve been reading medical books since I was a little filly. And after I discovered my cutie mark, I began studying day and night to achieve my degree.”

The unicorn nodded, appearing a little disappointed. Perhaps I should tell him though… would certainly buy me a bit more time to-

The shotgun, still held by Scope’s magic, rose.

“Alright,” Scope began, casually pointing it at me, “I think that’s about all I need to know. Sorry, Doctor; I think you would indeed be a great asset to us. But I’m not dragging some mad scientist across the Wasteland all the way to Stalliongrad.”

Oh, this is just not fair, I thought, frowning inwardly. Activating S.A.T.S., I turned my thoughts to Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Can you believe that double-crossing pony? I was even about to tell him-

Then quickly tell him! Pinkie exclaimed, interrupting me. It will buy you time!

Except he might think that now I am making things up to live a little longer. He might get annoyed and just shoot me. I stopped for a few seconds to think what I could say that would stop him. Hm… yes, this should work…

“You want a moment to pray to your Goddesses?” Scope asked as I turned off S.A.T.S. again. “I think I owe you this much-”

“You’re going to die.”

Scope stopped mid-sentence. He stared at me, actually speechless for a second. “Pardon?” he finally asked, narrowing his eyes at me.

“I’m assuming that the fact the reason why you’re not asking me about Stable Eight’s Security is that you don’t intend to attack my old home?” I asked, raising my eyebrow questioningly. “That you intend to try and negotiate with them instead, so they’d teach you Portal Spell and how to create Portal Talismans?”

“... Go on,” Scope replied, clearly in no mood for a banter after my previous remark.

“There is one small problem with that idea: me. You see, sweetie, I happen to know how Chief Lightbringer, the head of security, thinks. Quite well in fact. And when the door to Stable Eight will begin to open one day - or just somepony will knock on it from the Outside - after two hundred years of it remaining dormant and undisturbed, he’s going to think that I am somehow related to that. Well, actually, everypony will think that,” I amended. “I mean, two hundred years of peace, but weeks or maybe months after I get banished and they start to open? After all, they have no way of knowing that there are groups out here who know of Stables’ locations. They’ll think I told them Stable Eight’s location. But this isn’t the only thing Chief Lightbringer will realize. You see, he knows me quite well, too. He’d know that I wouldn’t just tell somepony the exact location of Stable Eight. Not without some… encouragement,” I added, nodding at the gun that was still pointing at me. “He would also know that it still took some effort on your part, and that I was probably killed afterward. Now, he might have been the one who arrested me, and who had escorted me to the Stable Eight’s door after I was banished, but when he realizes that you have killed me…” I paused for a dramatic effect, staring into Scope’s eyes, “... you will burn.”

Scope stared back into my eyes, not backing down. However, I did notice a flicker of doubt pass him. “So you’re saying that I would need you there alive, is that it?” he finally asked, lowering his gun a little.

I nodded, but just as I was about to tell him how could this work in his favor, I realized that I didn’t have to prolong this for much longer. Finally!

“Well, yes, that was my point,” I told him, smirking. “However, that is assuming that you’d ever go to Stable Eight, but that will never happen. You see,” I added as Scope stared at me with confusion, “when I told you that you’re going to die? I meant today.”

Scope’s brows narrowed, but his annoyance quickly gave way to amusement. “Oh really? How exactly? Because as far as I can tell, the only one who’s going to die now is you,” he said, raising Burst’s shotgun meaningfully.

I giggled. “I rejected death a long time ago, sweetie,” I told him, enjoying the discomfort my demeanor caused him. “You are the one who’ll die because you hadn’t thought of asking me one question.”

“Which is?”

“‘What was my initial speciality when I began studying medicine’,” I told him. As he looked at me with mixture of confusion and annoyance, I elaborated. “Of course, by now I’ve studied all the medical specialities, and I suppose for this particular case I should specify that I mean surgery and not medicine per se, but-”

“Get to the point!” Scope shouted, clearly fed up with me as he pressed the shotgun against my temple.

I looked him straight in the eyes. “Neurology and arcane neurosurgery.”

Scope’s brow furrowed. “What does that have to with-” he began, but then stopped as his eyes slowly grew wider in dreadful suspicion.

To help him grasp the situation faster, I nodded with my head at what was behind him.

Scope actually managed to turn around, Burst’s shotgun raised to fire, before Jack’s sword reached him, but it didn’t save him; it still pierced his throat. As the two of them fell to the floor, one panting with pain and other gurgling with blood, I backed away. The tension that had gripped me was gone, and I sat heavily on the floor, grasping my chest and breathing loudly.

It worked! I thought, more relieved that I could ever recalling being. It worked it worked it worked! I shouted mentally, overjoyed, as Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie hugged each other happily before coming to hug as much of my muzzle as they could.

I didn’t let myself become too relieved; after all, I still needed to keep channeling the Haemostasis Field Spell. However, now that I no longer had to channel the Cerebral Reconstruction Spell and Life Support Spell on Jack, it was easy.

Still, I’ll better reattach her leg back soon, I thought, realizing how much of a toll keeping up both of those spells had taken on me.

As slowly got my breathing under control I looked over at Jack and Scope. The former managed to get off the latter, and was currently staring down at the unicorn with a mixture of disgust, anger and… hurt. Scope was still alive; he even tried to raise himself up, too, but his legs no longer had the strength to do that. So he laid there, gurgling and bleeding out, with a sword still pierced through his throat.

“Back when I said that my mentor had me ensured I would be able to channel spells on patients without getting distracted?” I spoke, not even sure why; I guess I was gloating? “I forgot to mention that he’d have me cast those spells while operating on two patients at the same time. Never really mastered that as he had,” I added, shrugging, “but I did manage to learn how to keep one patient alive while I’d operate on the other.”

I glanced at Jack. The griffin had backed away to the Overmare’s desk, leaning his back against it as he sat down on the floor. He was still eyeing Scope, though I wasn’t sure whether he was doing so out of precaution, or out of anger or grief at his betrayal. However, that wasn’t the reason why I looked at him; it was that he was clutching his head with his talons.

Of course, it wasn’t surprising that he was in pain. What worried me was in how much pain he was; after all, this was the first time I had used Cerebral Reconstruction Spell to heal a bullet wound, not to mention that it was a griffin’s brain, not pony’s.

Theoretically, that spell should have still worked the same, even if my unfamiliarity with griffin’s brain had caused me to pour more magical energy into it. Still, I should make sure he’s alright, but… I trailed off, glancing at Apple Core. The sooner I take care of her the sooner I’ll be free to focus on Jack.

“Try not to move too much, sweetie,” I called out to him. “I’ll take a look at you properly once I’ve seen to Apple Core. Oh, and don’t touch the entry and exit wounds the bullet had left,” I added as I noticed him moving his paw around his head. “I melded your skull after I finished healing your brain and meninges, but I had to omit the skin; I was afraid that Scope would have noticed the glow.”

I thought back to how Scope had lowered his gun when the glow around Jack’s head had dispersed. If he had realized then that the reason behind it was that my magic had seeped into his brain… I trailed off, looking at Scope. His body was still convulsing; with the sword still stuck in his throat, it was taking him longer to bleed out. But it wouldn’t be long now.

Um, Fluttershy spoke up, a little hesitant, shouldn’t you-

I need to take care of Apple Core, I reminded her gently; I knew that Fluttershy had a kinder heart than me. If I had the means, I might have tried to save Scope - even if for different purpose that Fluttershy would have wanted - but in the current situation healing Apple Core took priority. His fate had been sealed the moment he turned on everybody.

More like the moment he allowed you to talk, Pinkie Pie said as I left Scope to die and began to head back to where I’d seen Apple Core’s leg. You were amazing! And a little bit scary, but I suppose that was the point, right? she said, giving me a smile.

I could tell that, while she was happy that my plan had worked, the smile had been a little forced.

“I will be with you shortly, sweetie,” I told the griffin as I passed him.

Jack turned to look at me. His gaze was unfocused, and I could tell that he was confused, but he did nod and stayed where he was. I forced myself to turn away and hurry up.

I found Apple Core’s leg and took a closer look at it. The glow of my horn was bright enough to illuminate it for me. I was relieved to see that, while some tissues were gone from it, it was nothing I wouldn’t be able to heal after I reattach the limb.

I quickly grabbed it with my mouth, not wanting to waste magic on such mundane task, and hurried back to Apple Core. I sat beside her, placed her limb next to her wounded shoulder and turned on my PipBuck’s lamp; I’d need as much light as I could get.

Alright, Disinfection Spell first, I thought, casting it on both Apple Core’s wound and on the leg. After the wound had been cleaned, I took a deep breath, concentrating. Now, the Regenerative Microthreads Spell…

My horn flashed with pain. Casting this spell so soon after having channeled two other spells for a while, with one of them being very advanced and magic-consuming, while continuingly channeling Haemostasis Field Spell, wasn’t the brightest idea. I would have definitely advised anypony else against using it in such conditions. Gritting my teeth, I cast it anyway; it was the only way to reattach Apple Core’s leg. I had no medical equipment, sterile environment, lighting or time necessary to conduct the surgery without magic… not to mention that I would need said magic to continue channeling Haemostasis Field Spell so that Apple Core wouldn’t bleed to death while I operated her, and I was certain I wouldn’t be able to keep it up for as long as that would take. No, this was the only choice I could make.

A thin, almost invisible if it weren’t for its innate glow, thread made out of pure magical energy emerged from the tip of my horn, followed quickly by another, and another, and more after them, all descending upon Apple Core.

I lowered my head closer to the wound that was now surrounded by the microthreads. Thread by thread, stitching it together, I recited the short “song” I came up with after first learning this spell - or rather, it’s ‘reprise’; the original version was about reattaching only a hoof, not entire leg - as I send a few threads to the shattered remains of humerus left in Apple Core’s body. They phased through the bone, after which I sent them the other half of the bone from the limb ripped off by the explosion. The threads phased through it in a similar manner, after which they shot straight up, their ends connecting back to my horn. Bone and artery, watching out for details. More threads connected the artery in the same manner, except it first phased through limb’s end. Vein as well, don’t you know a stitch in time saves lives? As another thread connected itself to the vein, I focused on the muscles. Triceps muscle, brachialis, radial carpal extensor muscle too, don’t forget lateral carpal flexor muscle, Apple Core won’t be thankful for a limp, I hummed to myself, ensuring that every ruptured muscle was connected. Don’t forget some magic in the skin, I added as several shot towards the punctured skin in both Apple Core’s shoulder and severed limb. Carefully, I sewed them into the very edge of the wound, leading them along it before directing them to their respective opposite sides. I allowed myself a satisfied smile before furrowing my brow in concentration again. Piece by piece, nerve by nerve, thread by thread, never stressed…

Unlike the bone, artery or muscles, I couldn’t see Apple Core’s nerves, not without a microscope or some other equipment. However, that was why I first used my spell to connect to everything else. Now I could connect the limb properly, and because of that, the Regenerative Microthreads Spell could find the nerves automatically, based on the spell’s user’s medical and anatomical knowledge.

… and that is the art of the flesh! I finished my chant as the remaining threads shoot down at and began connecting the torn nerves. As soon as they finished, I completed the spell, forcing the threads to back up into my horn. As they connected the limb and Apple Core’s body the threads dispersed, their magical energy seeping into her, perfectly molding everything back in its place.

Well, almost everything; even as red glow of my magic surrounded the wound and merged the ruptured flesh, there were still some lost tissue and burn marks. The humerus, too, while reconnected was still shattered. I quickly remedied that, casting Healing and Bone Mending Spells.

I took a step back as I finally released the Haemostasis Field Spell, looking down at her with satisfaction; aside from a few missing patches of coat and barding, and the huge pool of blood and her pale complexion, she looked good as new!

Right, need to do something about this, I noted as Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie gawked in awe.

Not giving myself time to relax after my prolonged usage of magic, I pulled out the saddlebag Burst had found for me and started to rummage inside of it.

Wow, that was amazing! Pinkie Pie praised me.

It was almost like watching a seamstress instead of a surgeon, Fluttershy added.

Yeah, pity Rarity’s not here, she’d totally dig that thread action! Pinkie said, giggling.

Ministry Mare Rarity had been a dressmaker before becoming the Mare of Ministry of Image, hadn't she? I noted, still searching through the saddlebag. I smiled at the two apparitions. I’m honored that you think she would have such opinion of my Regenerative Microthreads Spell.

“She lost too much blood.”

I perked my ears, surprised that Jack had been observing me; perhaps he was in better shape than I had originally worried? “I know, sweetie,” I told him, not looking up from the saddlebag. “I intend to transfer her my own- ah, there it is!” I exclaimed as I pulled out a surgical tubing. “Should be perfect,” I noted as I looked it over, then set it aside as I prepared empty syringes.

“Do you have the same blood type?” I heard Jack ask as I cast Disinfection Spell on all the equipment I had hastily put together.

“I'm a universal donor; it doesn’t matter what Apple Core’s blood type is,” I told him.

It took me only about a minute to get everything ready. Through all that time, I could feel Jack’s gaze on me, but he didn’t interrupt me further, merely observing me as I used an empty syringe on Apple Core, piercing it into her vein, then, after securing it with bandage, connected it with the surgical tubing and repeated the process with myself. As soon as everything was ready, I began the blood transfusion, casting a spell to ensure that it would circulate properly, then watched as my blood began to flow into my slaver friend.

We’ll have to move her somewhere more comfortable, I noted as I checked her vitals. Her heartbeat had slowed down and her temperature had dropped, but neither was at life-threatening levels; she’d be alright.

I raised my foreleg slightly so that it would be directly above Apple Core and, after making sure everything was connected properly, released my magic. As soon as I stopped using my Telekinesis Spell to hold the surgical tubing, I groaned with relief. Raising my hoof to my horn, I discovered that its temperature was definitely higher than it should be.

A few more spells… unless I take some rest soon. However, I still needed to examine Jack. I’d better not cast any unnecessary spells.

“Jack, sweetie, could you come over here?” I asked; glancing at Apple Core I added, somewhat sheepishly: “I’m afraid I didn’t realize that I won’t be able to ‘be with you shortly’, as I have said.”

The griffin rolled his eyes and rose. While I would have preferred for him to not move until I’d examined him, it did allow me to evaluate his motor coordination. Jack staggered a little as he pawed his way to me around Scope’s dead body. However, it seemed to be mostly caused by the wounds he received due to the explosion. Still, I wanted to be sure; I knew that the bullet had pierced only the frontal lobe of his brain, but due to my unfamiliarity with griffin’s anatomy I wasn't sure whether or not his primary motor cortex had been damaged or not, or how well my spell did heal him.

“Sit before me, sweetie,” I told him, patting the floor directly before me. Jack complied, although he seemed to find the distance to be uncomfortable for his tastes. I ignored that and grabbed his head in my hooves, bringing him down to my eye level. “Sit still. Follow the light of my PipBuck with your eyes. How do you feel?” I asked as I leaned back a little and began to move my left leg before him.

“Like I have the worst headache ever,” he replied wryly. His eyes followed the light without any problem. “Doctor-” Jack began, but I cut him off.

“Close one eye,” I told him. Slightly annoyed, but clearly knowing better than to argue with a medic in his condition, he obeyed. When he closed his eye, I put my right hoof over it and brought my PipBuck closer. As I watched his pupil dilated properly, we repeated the test with his other eye. “Reach out to your beak,” I told him next, continuing to test his voluntarily movement. When he performed that task, I told him to touch, spread his wing, flick his tail, and reach out and touch my shoulder. Jack completed all those test perfectly. “Alright, now I’ll need you to-”

Strong talons gripped my mouth, silencing me.

Well, I guess it’s safe to say that his personality hadn’t suffered any changes due to the injury, I noted, seeing him glaring at me with annoyance and impatience. Pinkie Pie giggled, amused by my remark; even Fluttershy had to cover her muzzle. And his long-term memory, probably…

“Doctor,” Jack spoke; there was an edge to his voice and I could tell that it took some effort from him, but he didn’t slur words, “the last thing I remember is that damn explosion. When I came to, Scope was pointing Burst’s gun at you, your slaver friend was lying in a pool of her own blood, and my two best friends had had their heads blown off. So if you could kindly fill in the blanks, I would very much appreciate it.”

A wave of guilt washed over me as he mentioned Burst and Blast. I closed my eyes as Jack released my muzzle, needing a second regain my composure.

“Of course, sweetie. I wanted to finish examining you first, but it would appear-” I cut myself off, noticing the look Jack gave me. Clearly, he didn’t want to hear another word that wasn’t related to the events after his explosion. “Right. After Scope called me out of the office, he threw some sort of explosive…”

*** *** ***

I dropped down on my haunches, exhausted. Besides me, Jack did the same. We have just finished moving Apple Core to the princess-size bed in the Overmare’s quarters. I wanted her to be comfortable as she recovered. However, moving her had proved to be problematic.

Panting, I glanced at Jack, worried. The rest of the injuries were gone (most of them healed with a healing potion, aside from a few fractured ribs that had required my personal touch) and my examination - after he finally allowed me to conduct it - had revealed that my Cerebral Reconstruction Spell had worked surprisingly well. Jack’s personality, impulse control, attention, language, everything the frontal lobe was responsible for seemed to be unchanged. The only thing I wasn’t sure off was his regulation of emotions and empathy; due to the very recent loss of Burst and Blast and the short time I’ve known him, I wasn’t capable of assessing if the bullet would had affected that. Still, I wouldn’t feel confident he had made a full recovery until I got a chance to perform a Neuroimaging Spell - which I was fairly certain I wasn’t able to at the moment, at least not without any equipment - and until he would spend several days under my observation.

And speaking of full recovery, he still needed to rest, as much as Apple Core in fact. Though healed, his brain and body had been through a very serious trauma; combined with the psychological trauma he had to feel over the deaths of his best friends and Scope’s betrayal… suffice to say that carrying around unconscious mares wasn’t something a doctor should allow him to do.

My initial thought, that I quickly had dismissed, was to transport Apple Core myself. I almost instantly realized though that it would have been impossible; I wasn’t strong enough to carry the much heavier mare to begin with, let alone after having transfused my blood to her and nearly reached the point of magical burnout. And the exhaustion after a day worth of walking, too. The truth was, I needed to rest as much as they needed.

Between the two of us, though, we were somehow able to move Apple Core as soon I transfused to her as much of my blood as I was able to do safely . Fortunately, the Overmare’s quarters were right next to the office, and as I had hoped, the Overmare’s bed was mostly intact.

“Well, that takes care of that,” I said in breaks between panting. “How do you feel, sweetie? Any nausea?”

Jack sighed. “No. And Doctor… I would really appreciate it if you’d wait with bothering me about my physical condition until tomorrow. You’ve already examined me and said I was fine. If I feel bad I’ll tell you, okay?”

“Jack,” I began; the griffin gave me and annoyed glare but I ignored it, “you’ve suffered a very serious injury.”

Jack snorted. Even though he had felt up the ruptured skin on his head the bullet had left before taking a healing potion, he had found it difficult to believe he had actually been shot through the head and lived.

Undaunted, I continued: “The spell I had used to heal you was originally invented in my Stable to aid with the recovery of ponies after removal of brain cancers, tumors, or other similar ailments, not to heal bullet wounds through the head.”

Since the only guns in Stable Eight were magical energy weapons, we’ve never bothered with researching that, as that type of weapon would most likely disintegrate any pony upon shooting them in the head. I did however experimented with that spell a bit before I’ve been banished, of course; which was why I have been able to use it on Jack. Still...

“If it weren’t for the bullet shooting through your brain and hitting only the frontal lobe, as well as my immediate reaction, I doubt I would have been able to save you. And adding to that the fact that you’ve woken up even without my help - I intended to force you awake due to the circumstances - and how you seemingly avoided a decrease of the frontal lobe’s functions, it truly seems miraculous.”

Jack snorted again. “Any other Bloodtalon would claim that it’s because our bodies are made for combat,” he said, sarcasm creeping into his remark.

My brow furrowed a little with interest. I wonder… he indeed seems in remarkable physical condition. I need to find a way to examine him and compare his physiology with an average griffin.

“But there weren’t many documented cases of ponies surviving similar injuries - of objects going through the brain - to begin with,” I continued after a second, taking a mental note of the short interruption. “About the only one that had made its way into my Stable was from almost four centuries ago, so I’m afraid it’s a little ‘outdated’ when it comes to medical knowledge. As such, I am unsure what kind of circumstances could that injury, even if healed so quickly, yield for you, sweetie, especially considering that I am unfamiliar with griffin brains.”

“I get it, okay?!” Jack turned on me, snarling. I almost backed away from surprise, but I managed to stay my ground. “I still find it hard to believe I am alive after being shot in the head, but I get it that I should be under medical observation. Now, will you lay off my tail?”

Confused, I looked at his tail. “But I wasn’t-” As his talons again gripped my muzzle, I realized that he probably didn’t mean that literally. I gave him an apologetic stare and he rolled his eyes, releasing me. “Very well, sweetie. Now, if you’d be so kind to lay down and rest?” I added, pointing at the other side of the bed.

Jack glared at me, but he didn’t protest. “What about you?” he asked as he reluctantly began to walk around the bed. “You’re no better for wear than I am.”

“I’ll stay up a bit to make sure Apple Core’s condition is improving, but after that I will go to sleep too.”

“Close the door to Overmare’s wing at least before you turn in, then,” Jack told me as he unstrapped the scabbard from his back and laid it beside the bed, then got on it and laid down himself, as far away from Apple Core as he could while still being comfortable. “For safety.”

I had my doubts whether it was necessary, but I didn’t voice them, merely nodded and turned my attention to Apple Core. Color had began to return to her face, but I wanted to stay a bit longer with her, just in case.

After about a minute, though, I glanced at Jack again. Our conversation from before came back to me, when I have told him about what had happened. How Scope had shot him with his firearm, then Burst and Blast with Burst’s shotgun. How he had spared me only so I could answer his questions, and how I had stalled him. I didn’t go into too many details regarding that, but I had told Jack that Scope had been ordered by some organization that was apparently based somewhere in Stalliongrad to spy on him.

Do you think he’s blaming himself? I asked Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, unsure.

The two apparitions exchanged a glance. Probably? Pinkie Pie tried, looking at me sadly.

He did say they were his best friends, Fluttershy pointed out.

I looked down at the ground. Jack wasn’t the one to blame for what had happened; I knew that, and so I decided to tell him what weighed heavily on my soul.

“Jack?” I asked softly as I walked around the bed to him, unsure whether the griffin was still asleep.

At first, I thought he was. He laid with his head on one forepaw, in which he held his firearm, and his eyes were closed. However, after two seconds he replied, without opening them, “What?”

I took a deep breath. “It’s my fault Burst and Blast died. I… I could have used my Anesthetic Spell on Scope right away, I even planned to. But when I heard the shot and saw him standing over you, I just panicked and acted on instinct.” My voice quivered a little, but I carried on, afraid he would interrupt me. “Even then I could have still used it, but then I noticed Apple Core and I panicked again. After I began channeling my Haemostasis Field Spell, it was too late, I couldn’t cast the Anesthetic Spell. But I should have done that at the beginning. It’s… just like triage,” I added, my gaze dropping down to the floor. “The process of determining the priority of patients’ treatment based on the severity of their condition. Applied to this situation, priority would have been taking out Scope, and I failed. I…” My shaking hooves rose to my head and I held it, panic and grief finally overtaking me. “T-the first chief of medicine of my Stable, Doctor Hawkeye… h-he had served as a medic in the army during the Great War. I-I read his memoirs and I knew that triage there had been more important than anywhere else, that it was completely different to heal when so close to the fighting or right beside active combat, but I always thought myself capable of staying calm and yet I…” Tears began to stream down my face. “I-I failed, I…”

Talons gently grabbed my muzzle. I raised my gaze to see Jack looking with one eye.

“Don’t do this to yourself,” he said quietly. “You did the best you could. You, me and your slaver friend are all alive because of you. Nobody else would have been able to do what you did. Don’t overthink it,” he added, releasing my muzzle. “The only one guilty of their death is that bastard Scope. The one pulling the trigger is always the one responsible.”

I stared into Jack’s eye, wondering. Wondering if he was right and I shouldn’t feel this guilt. Whether I truly did my best. Whether nobody else would have been able to save the three of us. Whether the one pulling the trigger was the only one responsible.

Whether Jack believed the words he told me and wasn’t blaming himself like I blamed myself.

I wiped the tears out of my eyes. “This won’t happen again,” I told him. “Ever. The next time I’ll find myself in such situation, I will stay calm, analyze everything and take the best course of action.”

Jack snorted, but the edges of his beak curved into a half-smile. “Don’t make promises you might not keep, Doctor.”

I gave him the exact same half-smile. “I’m not,” I told him, gazing into his eye with confidence.

Jack’s eyebrow raised, but he didn’t comment further. His right forepaw again reached for me, but not to clasp my muzzle shut this time. Instead, to my bafflement, he flicked his talon against my nose.

“Go to sleep Angel,” he told me, closing his eye and bringing his forepaw back.

I stayed a few seconds there, massaging my nose out of surprise. I… didn’t expect him to warm up to me, I finally thought, still looking at Jack. Not after I told him-

He doesn’t blame you, Angel, Fluttershy chimed in. He understands that you did your best.

Yeah, and plus, you did save his life, Pinkie pointed out. Kiiiinda hard to not warm up to somepony after that.

I gave them a half-hearted smile in reply. They had a point, but…

You know I didn’t tell him everything, I began as I trotted away from the bed, out of the Overmare’s quarters. Jack wanted me to close the entrance to the wing before going to sleep. Because I cannot, not yet at least. I cannot tell him that there was a chance Scope wouldn’t have tried to kill them all if it weren’t for the holotape. The holotape he got because everypony believes Cutter to be dead.

The two apparitions exchanged a worried and sad glance.

Because of me.

Um, Angel… Fluttershy began after several silent seconds had passed, during which I’ve reached the Overmare’s wing’s door and sealed it. You couldn’t have known-

Doesn’t matter, sweetie, I interrupted her as I began to head back. My actions had started the chain of reactions that led to this.

C’mon, Angel, Pinkie spoke up, sounding as if trying to cheer me up, you’ve heard Jack, you shouldn’t feel guilty.

Guilty? Who’s saying anything about feeling guilty? I asked; despite my question, I smiled at the two apparitions sadly. Well, I do feel guilty, and sad, but that’s not what I meant, what I primarily feel right now.

Then what is it? Fluttershy asked as she and Pinkie looked at me with confusion.

I waited a bit before answering her, mostly because I’ve returned to the Overmare’s quarters just then. I quickly went to check on Apple Core, and when I made sure that her condition was improving, I concentrated. A hiss of pain escaped me as I cast a Sleep Spell on her her; I didn’t want her to regain her consciousness in the middle of the night and wake up me and Jack asking what had happened when we all needed to be resting. Thanks to my spell, though, now she would drift into sleep instead, helping her recover.

Satisfied, I climbed unto the bed, making my way to the big space between her and Jack. Fluttershy, did you, um, ‘see’ - or ‘experience’? I’m not sure which term to use - that dream I had back on the train? I asked her as I laid down. About the Ouroboros telling me that if I’d open the door I must be prepared to walk through them? It wasn’t the first time I had that dream, I continued after Fluttershy nodded. And those words… I actually came up with them, long ago. When you take action, you must be prepared for their consequences. Every action has a reaction, whether it's good or bad. You must be prepared to take responsibility for what you cause. That is why I don’t like taking any action before thinking it through, not if I can help it. But I was hasty; I manipulated Bulk Build to remove Cutter from his seat of power and placed myself in his place, at the same time giving an unfortunate soul closure, punishing the wicked and acquiring a test subject, all while thinking the consequences would only affect Appleloosa. I was wrong, and now I have to take responsibility for it. And I will. I will take responsibility for the deaths of Burst and Blast… as soon when I figure out how, I added as I closed my eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.

~ ~ ~

“Thank you for your book Miss Funcare!” I told the kind, middle-aged mare as I placed the book on her desk. “I’m sorry it took me so long to return it.” I added, embarrassed.

Miss Funcare smiled in mild amusement. “It’s alright, Angel; I hope you enjoyed it and that you’ve learned from it…” she trailed off as her eyes briefly darted around the magic kindergartener’s classroom at all the other foals. “Let me know if you’d like to borrow it again or some other book,” Miss Funcare continued as she returned her attention back to me. “It’s such a pity you can’t access the library until you get your PipBuck. I guess whoever thought up that rule never expected there would be a filly who liked to read as much as you do, huh?”

I giggled as my kindergarten teacher winked at me. I liked her, unlike most ponies she was always kind to me. Despite that, though, I hoped Granny would come to pick me up soon; I knew Miss Funcare couldn’t spend time with just me as she had to take care of every foal in her care. And with Demon being excused from magic kindergarten for the time being, I didn’t have anypony to play with.

I was about to reply to Miss Funcare’s remark, but just then her gazed moved somewhere above and behind me, surprise mixing with pleasure.

“Hello Miss Funcare,” I heard a pony speak behind me. “And I’m guessing you’re Angel?”

I turned around, unfamiliar with the voice… and backed away, startled, as I beheld the older, green-colored filly. “L-lady Emerald Gaze?” I asked, my voice coming out as a squeek.

The midnight green pony with malachite mane and emerald eyes, who was ten years my elder and the daughter of the current Overmare, giggled. “Just Emerald will be enough, Angel; I haven’t even begun the Overmare apprenticeship,” she pointed out, raising her eyebrow at me.

Nodding and blushing from embarrassment, I wondered briefly if I was being ridiculed. After all, everypony knew Emerald was going to be the next Overmare. However, I had more pressing question to consider: namely, why was she talking to me?

As if reading my thoughts, Emerald continued: “Anyway, I’m pleased to meet you. I’m actually here to pick you up;” I’ve already been staring at her, but hearing that made me stare her even harder; “my mom wanted to hear you grandmother’s advice on the… well, something boring to a little filly like you, I’m sure. They’re still discussing that and it doesn’t look like they’re going to finish anytime soon, so your grandmother asked me to take you out of magic kindergarten and keep you company until they’re done.”

Throughout her explanation, I continued to stare at her. I did hear what she said, of course, but my brain had trouble processing it. Not the part about Granny being asked by the Overmare for advice; it happened from time to time. It was the other part that confused me.

M-me? Spend time with the next Overmare?

It seemed that some of my fellow kindergarteners shared the opinion that somepony like me shouldn’t be spending time with somepony like Emerald. I could hear them whispering from the playing area:

“Hey, is that Lady Emerald Gaze?”

“Wow, she’s so pretty! Did you know she’s going to be our next Overmare? My Daddy said so.”

“Duh! But wait, what is she doing with that freak? Is she talking to her?”

“Why would she do that? You think we should go over there?”

Their - admittedly loud - whispers weren’t heard only be me. Emerald had heard them too, if the twitching ear and quick glance in their direction was of any indication. “Oh, I know!” she exclaimed, her voice suddenly louder than before. “How about I show you around the Overmare’s wing?”

I blinked in surprise. “Um…” I mumbled, not sure what to say to such an offer; the other foals’ gawking in shock that I could see in the corner of my eye didn’t help me decide.

As I hesitated, Emerald frowned and looked up past me at Miss Funcare. Her eyebrows quickly raised and she turned back to me. “We have a lot of books there,” she added encouragingly.

That did catch my attention. “Really? W-would it be okay if I read some of them?” I asked hopefully.

“Of course! Now come along Angel,” she said, beginning to turn back. “It was great seeing you again Miss Funcare,” Emerald added to the kindergarten teacher; I noticed her winking at her.

The older mare smiled at her. “Always a pleasure to see one of my old students,” she said, waving with her forehoof, the other one placed on her book.

Did she want to read it? I wondered, noticing that. Oh, I should have given it back earlier!

Making a mental note to apologize to Miss Funcare again later, I picked up my saddlebags and followed after Emerald. The older filly led me through the door and out the corridor leading to - I assumed - the portal talismans.

“So Angel,” she spoke up as we walked, “what kind of books do you like to read?”

“Oh, um…” I stammered, still feeling a little intimidated by her. “W-well, I like to read any book, b-but if I had to pick my favorite kinds… I like to read about medicine. A-and biology overall.”

“Really?” she said, her emerald eyes sparking with interest. “Does that mean you want to be a doctor like your father?”

“Yeah!” I answered immediately with enthusiasm. “I want to be able to make ponies better like Daddy does!”

Emerald smiled at me. “I see; do you also plan to become the chief of medicine after him then?” she asked as we reached the end of the line to the portal talismans; the pony standing before us tried to let us go ahead of him after noticing Emerald, but the green unicorn declined the offer with the wave of her hoof.

“Hm, I think so,” I said thoughtfully. “I’d like to help as many ponies as I can, but I wouldn’t want to take Daddy’s place too soon.”

Emerald giggled. “That’s really thoughtful of you. Well, if you were to become the chief of medicine, it’s good that we’re gonna spend some time together; after all, we would be taking care of everypony together in Stable Eight someday. It would be great if we’d become friends,” she added with a wink.

I smiled at her, a bit of uncertainty in my surprise. Somepony like Emerald wanted to be my friend? For a moment I considered asking her if she truly meant it, but the second after saying that we’ve reached the front of the queue. We stood before a small space; on the walls there were lined several portal talismans, each with their destination written in glowing letters above them. Emerald turned her head to the leftmost one, under the letters “OVERMARE and SECURITY WINGS”.

The unicorn closed her eyes as her horn began to glow, shooting a short beam of magic into the talisman. It began to glow in turn then as its enchantment activated, and, as the glow intensified, it began to spread, opening a tear in space. In the matter of seconds the circle of magic expanded, becoming big enough for two ponies to go through it at ease; inside of it I could see what I assumed to be the corridor separating the Overmare and Security’s wings.

I took a step forward but stopped when I heard a cough. Surprised, I glanced at Emerald, who was holding her hoof against her muzzle. “Are you alright?” I asked.

But the older filly was already smiling at me. “Of course,” she said, then walked through the portal; I quickly jumped after her.

As expected, on the other side we were greeted by the sight of green grass and bushes higher than a pony surrounding us, and the ceiling was replaced by the open sky. Like Granny had told me, the illusion spell placed on the Atrium’s ceiling extended through this corridor. The Atrium itself laid before us, with the grass pathway leading to the Security’s wing on the left and the Overmare’s wing on the right. Without hesitation Emerald turned to the latter, trotting towards the nearby door that blocked the entrance.

I joined her as she pressed the switch to open them, then walked through them into a normal Stable corridor. It was a weird contrast to the one outside; I would have expected it to be ever more pristine and beautiful.

“If we had grass growing from the floor and illusion on the ceiling, we’d have to be constantly visited by the Maintenance and Gardeners,” Emerald answered my unspoken question; apparently it must have showed on my face. I glanced at her in worry, but the green unicorn seemed undisturbed by my borderline insolence. “We have a few plants in our quarters and in my mom’s office, but we can water them ourselves,” she added as she reached the nearby door. Pointing further down the corridor she continued: “That way is the Overmare’s office; I’m afraid I can’t give you the tour of it, it would be better if we didn’t interrupt my mom and your grandmother. But we can hang out here.”

I trotted after her, about to assure her that I didn’t intend to interrupt them, but just then I realized that we’d just entered the private quarters of the Overmare and her family and I began to look around with interest. Their living room was ever bigger than ours! Several shelves adorned the walls, filled with books! Aside from them, there were also a few paintings, portraits and pictures, mostly of the Overmare, her daughter and her late husband, Emerald’s father. In the corners there were some potted plants, some orchid, fern and a fiscus. In the middle of it stood a small table, surrounded by a large couch and two armchairs.

“Make yourself comfortable,” Emerald said as she walked over to the small kitchen in the corner of the room. A small, chest-high wall separated it from the rest of the living room. “Would you like some juice to drink?”

“J-just water will be fine,” I said, jumping shily at the couch.

As Emerald rummaged through the kitchen, I continued to admire the paintings when something suddenly touched me lightly. I turned startled to see a mass of arcana energy that had taken a feline shape. Realizing that it was just a magical construct, I relaxed, and eyed it curiously as I raised a hoof to pet it. Most magical construct created in Stable Eight weren’t this complex; they usually had an oval shape with two limbs that they’d use to carry some stuff and to perform similar task as ordered by their owners. The few constructs that resemble animals, though, had much more advanced enchantments crafted into the talismans that made their core. They not only determined its shape, but also its behaviour, causing them to act like pets from before the war. Indeed, as I petted the lightly blue shape, it responded how according to my books cats would have; by pressing its head against my hoof, then as I moved it along its “spine” it arched its back. A cat would have also purred, but, unfortunately, the magical constructs couldn’t emit any sound.

“I see you’ve met Duchess,” Emerald said, coming back with a tray - oddly - in her mouth. She placed it on the table and passed me a glass of water. “Amazing, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” I agreed wholeheartedly as Duchess bounded past me onto the floor and disappeared into one of the two bedrooms.

“Although it is kinda hard to fall asleep when she’s in your room, constantly glowing,” Emerald joked, sticking her tongue at me. I covered my mouth and giggled. “So, wanna see those books?”

“Um, w-well, actually…” I began, hesitantly. I did want to see them, but… if she really wanted to be my friend, I didn’t want to bore her. “I was thinking that maybe we could do something else. I-I mean, you don’t have to do something I would want to do just because my grandma have asked you to…”

But Emerald was already giggling. “Oh, Angel, I don’t mind, really. It’s nice to have an easy day like this every now and then; Mom always has me studying all the Stable Eight laws and administration and…” she shook her head and sighed.

“Really? But you said you haven’t began your Overmare apprenticeship yet,” I said, confused.

“Yeah, but my mother says it will make it easier for me when I do, so I would feel more confident when I’m helping her with her duties,” the teenage filly replied, shrugging.

I frowned. Something in the way she had said that… was it reluctance?

“But… you do want to become the next Overmare, right?” I asked her, uncertain if I read that note of voice correctly.

“Of course! That being said though…” she trailed off, glancing at the door we’ve came through. As if she had wanted to make sure that they were closed, Emerald turned back to me and told me in a hushed voice, “I’m actually thinking about trying out a few other things first before starting the Overmare apprenticeship. I just need to figure out how to tell my mother about it,” she added, returning to her normal volume.

“R-really?” I asked, trying to process what she just told me. “How come?”

Emerald smiled, somewhat sheepishly, as she replied “Well, I have two reasons for that. The first being that I want to familiarize myself with the duties ponies perform in the Stable so that I can better lead them all when I became the Overmare. The other one, though… I want to make sure that this is what I want, to become the Overmare.”

I shot her a confused stare; hadn’t she just have said that this is what she wants?

The green unicorn continued, growing serious as she went on: “There is a reason why ponies who hold administrative position have so many privileges, Angel; it is because they carry tremendous responsibility to everypony, and the Overmare has the most of them. I’m sure you’ve learned that from your parents and your grandmother. I… I want to make sure that this is what I truly desire before I try to pick up those responsibilities. As the Overmare, it will be my duty to look after the wellbeing of every citizen of Stable Eight and to lead them in the right direction. If it wouldn’t be something I could dedicate myself to completely, I could fail everypony. So I’d like to try my hoof in other duties first to see if something strikes a chord in my soul,” Emerald added, more lightheartedly.

Having been listening attentively to her, I nodded as she finished. “I… I think I understand it. You want what’s best for ponies of Stable Eight, so you want to make sure if you really want the super important position.” As Emerald nodded with a smile, I hesitated, feeling slightly embarrassed. “But, um… i-if you don’t mind me saying, Emerald, I think it already proves you would be a great Overmare. You said yourself that you want to become the Overmare, but you’re willing to put it off until you tried first training for other tasks, which could take years. A-and you’re thinking so much ahead, of how your rule could be affected by how much you’d enjoy your duties, it’s like…” I trailed off, unsure what I meant to say. “It’s like you’re… already looking out for us, in the future.”

“Well,” Emerald giggled, looking back at her flank, “with a cutie mark like that, huh?”

My eyes followed her gaze, at the cutie mark depicting an emerald eye inside a triangle and surrounded by rays of light. The Eye of Providence.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Emerald continued, looking back at me, “I doubt I would discover there is anything I’d want to be more than the Overmare. I just want to make sure. But… thank you for telling me that, Angel,” she said unexpectedly. “You’re the first pony I told this to; I was afraid it would come off as silly or stupid.”

I blushed hearing her thank me. “I-it’s nothing, really.”

“You know, you are quite a smart filly; to be able to understand what I meant so clearly right after hearing it. I wonder…” Emerald mused, looking at me thoughtfully, then smirked and continued: “The ability to understand others is an important part of being a leader; are you sure you wouldn’t want to be an Overmare?”

“M-me?” I blinked, startled. I tried to imagine myself as the Overmare… “Um, no, I don’t think so. I don’t think I would ever be able to lead anypony. Besides, I really want to be a doctor; I would be quite happy to advise you after I’d become the chief of medicine, though,” I added shyly.

“And I would be quite happy to have you as an advisor,” Emerald replied, laughing happily. After a few seconds, though, she suddenly clasped her hooves. “Okay, enough worrying about the future, it’s unhealthy for young fillies like us. What do you usually do to pass the time?”

“Um…” I stammered, taken aback by the change of topic. “Oh! We could play some game I play with Demon- I mean-” I began to clarify who I meant but Emerald was already waving her hoof.

“I’m familiar with the nickname you thought for him that he has taken such a liking to. I gotta say, it really fits him.”

“T-thanks… though it wasn’t what I actually meant. The book where I’ve read that name had been mistranslated from Old Ponish,” I explained when Emerald gave me questioning look. “What I’d meant to call him was ‘Daemon’, which is a benevolent, guiding spirit. I thought of it because he’s always there for me trying to help me,” I added, blushing. “But I suppose Demon really suits him. I’m glad he likes it,” I said with a giggle.

“I see… he must be a really good friend if you think of him so highly.”

He’s my only friend… or at least, was my only friend until today, I thought hopefully.

“So, what games do you usually play with Stable Eight’s number one troublemaker?” Emerald asked.

“Well, my favorite is ‘the doctor’...” I began, only to stop.

I didn’t stop only because of the wide, stunned stare Emerald was giving me (although it was a factor). I’ve stopped also because just then I’ve heard a… giggle. A giggle that hasn’t come from either me or Emerald, but from somewhere in that room.

Emerald’s voice brought my attention back to her and caused me to forget what was clearly my imagination. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” she asked, looking at me oddly.

“My favorite game we play is ‘the doctor’,” I repeated, unsure what was wrong. (I also heard another giggle at that time, but it was quieter, as if muffled; I ignored it this time, thinking it was probably… something else.) “I really like acting like a real doctor, checking out all the body parts with my biology book!”

Despite my enthusiasm, Emerald continued to stare at me in that weird way. “All the- um, did Demon come up with this ‘game’ by any chance?” she asked, frowning.

“Demon? Of course not, he doesn’t like that game,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “I’d always have to play ‘security and robber’ with him before we’d play ‘the doctor’. And he had never let me see his penis and testicles, always crossing his hind legs…” I muttered, upset that my friend didn’t like my game. “Of course, I never forced him into playing this or doing anything else he wouldn’t want, he is my friend after all… so anyway, do you want to play it?” I asked Emerald, full of hope.

The green unicorn, who was still staring at me, facehoofed. “Oh Goddesses, what have I gotten myself into…” I heard her murmur, a mixture of dread and amusement in her voice.

I was about to ask her what she meant, but just then a very loud laugher erupted next to me. I turned towards its source, confused…

“Oh, I can’t!” the pink pony exclaimed, rolling on the ground while holding her side. “This is so funny!”

I blinked. “Pinkie?!”

~ ~ ~

I woke up, startled. Pinkie Pie’ apparition’s laughter continued as I took in the sight of very different Overmare’s private quarters than the one I’ve just been in in my dream.

There are some similarities, though… Did I have that dream because of this? Brilliant Luna, thou art a cruel Princess at times… I thought, looking around… and then with a frown I realized that my E.F.S. showed me only one green - the same shade of green as Emerald’s eyes, as my dream so kindly reminded me - bar.

The spot on the bed next to me was empty and cold. Jack had left, and it was some time ago.

Sure, ignore your doctor, I thought, pouting, then sighed and raised my forehooves to my head, rubbing my eyes. I still had a mild headache after overusing my magic, but the long rest - my PipBuck’s clock informed that it was now morning of the next day - had helped me a lot. What did not help was Pinkie Pie’s continued laughter. I take you enjoyed my dream, sweetie? I asked, resigned.

Pinkie tried her best to answer me in between her bouts of laughter. Yeah… oh, I can’t… Ah, I wish Dashie was here to see that… she said as she rolled in mid air, still holding her sides like she did in my dream.

I looked at her with pretense, but when I noticed that Fluttershy, while blushing, held her hoof against her mouth as she giggled quietly, I lost my composure. I was five! How was I supposed to know that the phrase ‘playing doctor’ is usually used to refer to the foals examining each other’s genitals under the pretenses of playing a game?! I asked them, huffing with annoyance.

My comment caused Pinkie Pie to resume her fit of laughter, but Fluttershy in turn looked at me apologetically. You’re right, sorry Angel. We shouldn’t have-

So, how long did it last? Pinkie asked, interrupting her. You playing with your friend Demon, I mean? And did the two of you ever-

I wonder where Jack had disappeared off to, I thought loudly, ignoring her. He should be resting… I’d better go find him.

Before heading after him, I first checked on Apple Core, who slept on my other side. Her condition had improved since the previous night, as my quick examination had revealed. If it weren’t for my Sleep Spell she would probably be conscious by now.

Leaving her to continue sleeping, I began to make my way out of the Overmare’s wing, searching for Jack. I noticed that I wobbled a little; the events of the previous day had really drained me. I’d better eat something soon, at least, I noted. I paused to touch my horn. Although it would do little to help me recover my magic… and besides that, there is still an issue of me having transfused blood to Apple Core. I sighed; my first expedition into the Wasteland was a massive failure in my eyes.

Suddenly a green bar appeared on my E.F.S., pulling me out of my musing. Frowning, I hurried to meet Jack; I didn’t have to go far. I could already hear him from the entrance to the Overmare’s wing, so I sat down on the floor, deciding to wait for him.

“Hello sweetie,” I told the griffin upon seeing him. Although I tried to be gentle due to his loss, I found it difficult to not show my annoyance at him for leaving the bed. “You shouldn’t be up and about without first checking it with me, you know.”

Jack snorted, but he kept his eyes downcast. “Yeah, I figure,” he replied, sounding very tired.

Further berating died on my lips as I took in his appearance. He was dripping with water, his feathers, pelt and armor all wet, and as I looked closely, I realized that he was covered in mud, his forelegs especially.

“Sweetie, what were you doing?”

*** *** ***

“This could have waited until you’d recover,” I pointed out as we left the tunnel leading to the Stable’s entrance.

I shook as I felt small droplets of rain fall on me. As Jack had told me, throughout the night it has been raining outside, but it appeared to be almost over now. Still, as weak as it was, this was the first time I got to experience rain; intrigued, I looked up at the clouds, letting the drizzle wash over my muzzle.

Interesting sensation, I mused; it was different than using a shower head, more natural. I stayed like that for a few more seconds, my eyes on the clouded sky. I wonder how it is up there…

But as always since I’ve left the my Stable, the earthbound matters took priority, not giving me the time to wonder. As Jack walked past me, I turned my full attention back to him.

“I wanted to do it now,” he replied to my earlier comment as we walked a little further ahead.

I hesitated berating him as we reached the two small holes he had dug during the night. Inside were the remains of Burst and Blast, already dragged by Jack before he went to fetch me.

“Sweetie, you could have at least waited until the rain had passed,” I said, taking my eyes off the headless corpses. “Your body might be in a remarkable good condition after your injury, but digging two graves with just your talons through the night as it rained is about the opposite of what you should be doing - resting.”

It didn’t seem that Jack was listening to me, though; his head was turned up the sky, just like mine had been a moment ago. “Maybe you should have let me die,” he unexpectedly said. The corner of his beak curled into a sad smile as he continued, “Maybe it had been my time? Certainly looks like it…”

I frowned, not sure how to react to that. What could he mean by saying ‘certainly looks like it’? I cleared my throat and spoke up: “Sweetie-”

However, he quickly held up his paw. “Forget it. Help me with… um…” Jack hesitated as he looked down, then turned to me with a troubled expression. “What do you ponies say when you do this?” he asked, pointing at the graves.

I turned to look at them, thoughtful. “I believe funeral rites depend on the environment where a pony lives; I’m afraid I could only tell you how it would have been done in my Stable, sweetie. Burst had mentioned about their parents living in Tenpony Tower,” I spoke up, looking at Jack. “Shouldn’t they-”

But Jack was already shaking his head sadly. “We wouldn’t be able to get their bodies there, not without them rotting… and do you think their parents would have wanted to see them like this?” he asked, pointing at what remained of their necks.

I said nothing to that, merely turned back to them. Their souls have already ascended… but just like mother always said, the funeral isn’t for them, but for their loved ones, to let them say goodbye…

“I can perform the funeral service, if you wish,” I said, glancing at Jack. “But it would be good if you could say something as well; you don’t have to do it out loud. Of course, I’m not a priestess, so-”

“Do it, please,” Jack once again interrupted me.

Nodding my head, I trotted to stand right beside the graves, directly between them. I cast my gaze over their remains as I prepared myself. A memory of Burst’s awkwardness and kindness emerged, along with Blast’s slightly vulgar but good hearted nature. I’m sorry, I thought, deeply saddened that this was all I could for them.

Sighing, I sat down on my haunches, ignoring how dirty I would get because of all the mud, closed my eyes and spread my forelegs as I began to recite the words I heard my mother use many times:

“Just as after day comes night, so must after life come death. But just as the night is illuminated by the light of the Moon, so is death not the dark emptiness we often fear, for the light of our Goddesses guides us to the Afterlife’s rewards. Burst and Blast are already there, knowing peace and happiness unattainable in the mortal life. Let the grief and pain that had gripped our hearts disperse in the knowledge of that, and in the promise that we shall see them again in Heaven one day.” I paused to open my eyes and look at their remains. “Burst, Blast, I haven’t known you for long,” I began, sadness creeping into my already sad voice. “But… I really liked you. Blast, you were a bit lecherous, but you were also thoughtful and showed me care when I was injured. Burst, you were…” my voice broke. It took me a few seconds to find it again, during which tears began to form in the corners of my eyes. “You told me to run, thinking of my safety even in the face of death. You were kind and loyal… I’m sorry we’ll never get a chance to go on a date. By the Goddess Cadance’s grace, may you meet love on the other side. May you both be reunited with your loved ones, whether now or when those yet remain on this mortal world join you. By the Radiant Celestia’s blessing,” I intoned, making circular motion with my right hoof over my heart, “by the Brilliant Luna’s kindness,” I continued, making the same motion on the other side of my chest, “and by the Loving Cadance’s compassion, may you rest in peace and happiness,” I finished, making a bigger circle over my chest then bringing my forehooves together.

I waited a few seconds before turning to Jack. He was standing beside me now, his eyes on his dead friends. “Thank you,” he told me, a single tear streaming down his cheek; or was it water from the drizzle?

“Don’t mention it, sweetie,” I said kindly.

A very loud blowing of the nose inside my mind almost caused me to jump. I turned my attention to the two apparitions, both who were drowning in tears.

S-sorry, Pinkie Pie, who was the one to blow her nose, exclaimed. It’s just so sad…

Fluttershy said nothing, only nodded in agreement, her eyes red from crying.

I know, I replied, feeling my own tears dropping to the ground.

I brushed my eyes and focused back on Jack. “Do you want to say anything before we…” I trailed off uncomfortably and pointed at the nearby pile of ground Jack had made while digging out the graves in the first place.

The griffin remained silent for a while, then finally began to open his beak. He hesitated, but after a second he said “Blast, Burst… you guys were the best. I… I’ll never forget you. I hope we’ll see each other again someday, somehow.” Jack closed his eyes and sighed, dropping his head to the ground. When he opened them after about a minute, he didn’t even look at me. “Alright, let’s just do it.”

I helped him as best I could, but Jack had still done most of the work. Not that he minded, although I wasn’t sure if he had even noticed. His mind seemed focused only on the bodies we buried; before they were completely covered, I heard him mutter “Goodbye guys.”

My weakened state wasn’t the only reason why I hadn’t contributed as much as Jack. Every few moments, as more of their bodies disappeared under the earth, I…

I’m Doctor Angel. Pleased to meet you.

Likewise, darling. Name’s Blast, this is my brother Burst…

I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth, trying to clear my mind.

I’m starting to rethink my opinion regarding your courtesy, I hope you don’t follow your brother’s example when talking with mares.

Um… W-well, I wouldn’t say I do…

I brought my hooves to my head and grasped it.

... even if we run into raiders we can protect you.

I think she’s more worried about us buddy.

Maybe she wouldn’t have if you hadn’t made that lewd suggestion.

I knew that their souls were gone long before this moment. However the more ground we threw at their bodies, the more reality of their deaths hit me. More and more memories of the time we’ve known each other, however short it was, came to me:

And why I can’t cover the hot medic?

Sorry, sorry, just… didn’t peg you for somepony that would keep bugs as pets.

So? That’s not that weird. Doesn’t one of the Hoofington’s Reapers keep radroaches as pets too? I would love to see you laugh to his face about them.

Would you like me to stay with you? There still could be something dangerous around.

… I wouldn’t call you annoying, just… um… unfamiliar with the Wasteland and stuff.

Wow, that’s just… amazing! Your Stable seems like a paradise! Why would you ever leave a place so beautiful?

Wait, your father was the chief of medicine as well? Wow, that’s cool! So you wanted to follow in his hoofsteps?

I… guess that makes sense. Never really thought of it that way.

So, um, you’re not technically together, right?

Um, I, er, I mean… I mean, I don’t even know if you are into bucks as well.

Hey. You guys wanna join in?

Oh fuck! Don’t worry, I’ll get you out in a moment! Hang on…

Let me help.

Huh, you weren’t kidding when you’ve said how good you are.

Run!

I almost collapsed, trying to sort out the memories that whirled in my head and calm myself down. I took a sharp breath, on the verge of breaking down as more tears gathered in my eyes, then took another, more slowly, and another…

They’re gone, I thought, and there is nothing I can do about it. I failed them.

As I got my breathing under control, I felt a paw on my shoulder. I looked up at Jack, who extended his other forepaw to help me up. Calming down, I accepted it, and a few seconds after he got back on my hooves I resumed helping him.

By the time we finished, it had already stopped raining. Breathing heavily, I turned my gaze towards the sky. A part of me expected to see a ray of light, another part a rainbow; I knew from my books that when it rained during the day, a rainbow would naturally appear by itself. But all I saw was a cloud cover, completely obscuring the sky.

“So this is how the world is?” I asked. “Ponies and other beings live and die under clouded sky, never knowing the warmth of the Sun or beauty of the Moon and Stars? They live in hardship and die betrayed, buried in the middle of nowhere, as if their lives had no meaning? Is that what Equestria, what this world has become?”

It took Jack a few seconds before he replied. “Yeah, more or less. Sometimes it’s better, sometimes it’s worse. Everywhere it’s shit, just different kinds of shit. Up there,” he said, nodding at the clouds, “with pegasi, in Tenpony Tower, and in the few cities in Zebra Empire… they’re the closest you’d get to what the world was before the war, and even there it’s shit. And the reason why they can have it good is mostly because of how fucked up the rest of us are. In most of the world… it’s kill or be killed. Wild animals, feral ghouls, raiders, or just people with different goals, they’re all out to get you, and that’s besides wonders such as radiation or even megaspells that are still going. Surviving is a competition, and you either win or lose. Burst and Blast…” he paused briefly, his voice quivering a little, “they didn’t win. Every now and then you’ll meet kind people like them, or maybe not even kind but just fucking decent, but sooner or later they will get killed, even if you try your damn hardest to save them, and it will go on until you yourself get killed… or become a monster.”

I had turned to look at him as he spoke, listening intensively, and when he finished I resumed to gaze at the clouded sky. My brow furrowed as I went over what he said, and what I knew and experienced; the covered sky, the raiders, the way slavers treated slaves, the betrayal and murder.

“No,” I finally said. “I refuse such a reality. I refuse such an Equestria, I refuse such a world, and I most certainly refuse such people!” I stomped my hoof against the ground. “This world… it’s being plagued by a sickness, sickness that twisted all of us! What this world needs… is a doctor.”

I thought back to my dream; not the one I had this night, but the one which I’ve pursued for years. I thought of my goal. I thought of what I’ve just decided. Could I do it? Would I be able to accomplish all three? But even as a sliver of doubt crept into my soul, I saw a bigger picture. A picture in which all the three, not just the first two, were connected, in a triangle with me in the middle.

The Eye of Providence.

Was my dream, that precious memory, a sign from the Goddesses themselves? I wondered, a bit wistfully; it didn't really matter, though. I might have to concentrate on one of the three more than others in the upcoming future, but it won’t matter; accomplishing one will lead to accomplishing all of them!

My resolve reinforced, I continued “I will change this world, ponies, griffins and zebras and everybody else. No more will they live in fear of tomorrow, no more will they die a pointless death!”

No more will they die.

I placed my hoof to my heart. “This I, Angel, doctor of medicine and the mare that will discover the Truth of the world, vow: I will heal this world, starting first with our fallen nation! I will rebuild Equestria, bring peace to ponies and everybody who lives here or will live here, and ensure that elements such as raiders or dishonest murderers have no place in it!”

And then, I added in my thoughts, I will bring about the Everlasting Paradise.

My heart was pumping in my chest. Despite my tiredness, I felt power; power such as the one I had when I stalled Scope. At this moment, I felt more powerful than I ever was!

“That’s all nice,” I heard Jack speak up; truth be told, I had almost forgot he was there. He was staring at me, his expression unreadable, as he continued, “but impossible. You are just a doctor from a Stable; how do you expect to change the world? Strong will and resolve wouldn’t be enough, nor would your knowledge, magic, skill, or whatever else you possess. To change everything… people don’t change. Or rather, they don’t change easily. If you’d truly want to change them, to make them obey the rules of this nation you’d want to rebuild, you’d need them to follow you, to follow your vision. How would you accomplish that?” he asked. “How would you get the people of Equestria to follow you?”

With a pleasant surprise, I realized that he was seriously asking me, and now was looking at me expecting an answer.

I thought it over for a few seconds. He had a valid point; I couldn’t change ponies. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to lock them all up as test subjects for my experiments, nor did I even want to. With all the raiders and other elements about, I had more than enough potential test subjects. Those that commited lesser crimes… yes, they could be stopped, they could be changed, they could be helped. But… they would need guidance. Somepony with a vision.

My dream from last night came to me. Emerald, I thought, saddened, it looks like it will be different for me; for everyone’s sake, I’ll have to take up a position that I don’t truly, completely want.

I turned back to Jack, my anwer ready. “You’re right, I am just a doctor from a Stable. As I am now, nobody will follow me. But… there is one pony I can think of whom others would follow, even of different races. If I want to change this world, that’s who I’ll have to become.”

Jack frowned. “Pony whom others would follow? Who is it?”

I smiled. “The Princess of Equestria.”

The griffin’s beak hanged open as he stared at me, blinking in surprise. I waited patiently for his response to my declaration, curious how he was going to react.

After about ten seconds, Jack finally recovered… and bursted with laughter. My brow slightly furrowed as he slapped his forehead, laughing, but it quickly relaxed. I couldn’t detect any malice in that laughter, and even if there was, I could forgive him; what I declared was hard to believe, after all.

More importantly, I thought, smiling inwardly, it is good to hear him laugh after what he had just been through.

You said it sister! Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing happily.

“That does it!” Jack shouted when he calmed down. He looked at me with a broad smile and pointed a talon at me. “I already suspected this when you began talking, but this confirms it. Unlike most crazy doctors, you don’t have a goddess complex; you have a messiah complex!” he finished, laughing up into the sky again.

I frowned again, more out of confusion rather than offense. Had he said that I have a Goddess complex, it would have been another matter; I wouldn’t stand for insinuating that I’d be so blasphemous. A messiah complex, though…

“My mother had me tested,” I spoke after a while, “so I am not crazy, nor do I suffer any mental disorders. However, if I were to be a Messiah,” I said, extending my hoof to him and smiling, “would you care to be my first Apostle?”

Footnote: Level Up!
New perk: Royal Canterlot Voice (level one) -- You can use your wily charms to influence people. You gain +5 points to Speech and Barter skills.

Chapter Nine: Calm

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“I must digest this information.”

Jack stared a few moments at my extended hoof, then closed his eyes and snorted. “Yeah, I’ll think about it,” he said, turning around and walking back towards the Stable.

Though I had expected such a reply, I couldn’t help but feel a slight disappointment as I retracted my hoof. Jack had seemed to have genuine interest in my vow and my reply. Then again, what I had asked of him wasn’t a small thing.

I suppose “I’ll think about it” is the best I can hope to get from him for now, I mused, smiling as I noticed the edge of his beak curve up into a smile. I got a feeling that, despite his dismissive tone, he had meant it. Do you think he will decide to help me achieve my goal? I asked Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie as I turned and trotted after Jack.

An alarm shot through me as he swayed a little, but almost immediately he shook and resumed walking almost normally. I made a mental note to make him rest more once we got back to the Overmare’s quarters.

Why wouldn’t he? Pinkie replied enthusiastically to my question. I mean, sure, it’s not a small thing to ask, you know, helping to rebuild the world and all, but friends should always help each other achieve their goals and support their dreams!

More importantly, Fluttershy spoke up, a bit hesitant, what you said about rebuilding Equestria and helping the entire world… this is something everypony- I mean, everybody should aspire to do. Not sure about that “becoming a princess” part, but… she added as she trailed off, blushing and smiling sheepishly.

Yeah, when you dream big you dream big sister, Pinkie added, giggling.

Smiling at hearing their remarks regarding my proclamation, I gazed at the back of giffin’s head, pondering what they said. Friends should always help each other achieve their goals and support their dreams… but were we friends? I would have liked us to be friends, but I had little idea as to what Jack thought of it. He had certainly warmed up to me a bit, true…

Maybe if I were to help him first… I pondered. But I know so little of him, I have no idea what he wants… well, I suppose aside from-

“So how exactly would you even go about it?” Jack asked as he turned his head back, pulling me out of my musing. Stopping to wait for me to catch up by the cellar door, he specified “Becoming the Princess of Equestria, I mean?”

Excitement rushed through me as he asked that question. He’s clearly curious… I wonder, how would he react if I told him of my dream? Would he come to share my vision? I considered in the brief time it took me to reach him whether I should tell him about that as well. Hm, no, I don’t think this would be the right time to share this. He’ll need time to process what I’ve already revealed. Besides… I doubt I could tell anypony about it without touching upon the circumstances that led to me leaving Stable Eight. I don’t think Jack would approve of them…

As my mind began to give birth to new ideas, I felt a surge go down my spine; was I really considering telling somebody about my experiments? I had talked about them with Fluttershy’s apparition, of course (and most likely it wouldn’t be long before Pinkie Pie’s turn would come), and while I found this experience quite… pleasant, so to speak, I hadn’t exactly revealed that to her out of my own volition. Furthermore, there was no risk of two apparitions that I could talk with within my mind telling anybody about my experiments.

If I’m really going to do this, I mused, slowing down beside Jack, I’ll have to handle this carefully…

“I am still putting it all together, sweetie,” I began to answer him as we descended together down the cellar door into the corridor leading to Stable Eleven. “In the ideal scenario, I would have been chosen by Princess Luna to succeed her as her rightful heir… Sweetie, I said ideal scenario,” I said with a frown as Jack snorted and rolled his eyes. “Obviously, I don’t intend on waiting for that to happen. After all I’m not Princess Luna’s rightful heir… and I don’t expect her to descend from the Heavens to chose me as the next Princess of Equestria,” I added quickly as Jack deadpanned at me.

Although, as I discover more and more of the Truth of this world… I thought briefly with wonder, before banishing those thoughts and focused on the present moment.

“A far more realistic scenario would be to be elected by the people of Equestria,” I continued as we walked. “However, as I have already mentioned sweetie, I am sceptical of the ideas of democracy… I trust I don’t have to elaborate as to why,” I added as we passed through the Stable Eleven’s door, nodding at the skeletons. “So the system like the one used in this Stable would be out of the question, especially since the position of the ruling Princess of Equestria isn’t a termed office. Furthermore and more importantly, though, I would have to run against somepony if those were to be true elections, and I won’t risk surrendering the fate of Equestria to a pony who could lead it the same direction Stable Eleven’s fate went.”

I expected Jack to disagree with me at this point, but he merely nodded, although with some reluctance. “So you’d intend to rule until you die?” he asked.

“Oh, don’t be silly sweetie,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “I would abdicate as soon as I would accomplish my goal, when Equestria would be rebuilt and the world would be in peace… probably in favor of my apprentice or possibly even my child, if I happen to have one by then. Though I don’t exclude other possibilities, mind you; the Overmare of my Stable, for example, would make a great Princess of Equestria. There could be others I would in time trust to carry on this role.”

“You still haven’t told me how you plan to acquire said role,” Jack pointed out, his voice almost passing for an amused purr.

“I did say that I am still putting said plan together, sweetie,” I reminded him gently, enjoying this talk. I turned my gaze upwards, pondering over it as I continued “I do not like to formulate a plan when I don’t have all the information… or at least when I don’t have a satisfying amount of information. For now, all I can tell you is that I would strive towards finding something between those two scenarios,” I told him, turning my head as I addressed him. Jack was looking at me thoughtfully, as if he too was trying to figure out how I’d become the Princess of Equestria. “If I could somehow cause ponies to want me to become their princess, out of their own choice…” I continued my musing, then sighed. “Though I suppose it would be a lot harder than just becoming an alicorn, as unimaginable as it might be to most ponies…”

I blinked, surprised, as my musing was interrupted by Jack’s chuckle. The griffin had covered his beak with his paw and was shaking his head; realizing that his amusement must have stem off believing my words to be ridiculous, I smiled at him, in what I realized was almost patronizing fashion, and attempted to correct his viewpoint.

“... and most griffins, apparently,” I resumed. “While I realize that it might seem impossible, sweetie, if my theory is correct, it should be possible for a pony, whether they are a unicorn, earth pony, or a pegasus, to ascend and become an alicorn, but…” I slowly trailed off, losing my focus and confidence as my speech didn’t bring about the desired effect. Instead of stopping him from chuckling, Jack’s chuckle had transformed into an outright laughter. Put off by that, I found it difficult to concentrate on what I was going to say. “... but, um, it is of course rather… unusual, and, well, that’s why there have only been… Alright, sweetie, that's enough!” I exclaimed, stopping and stomping my hoof against the floor. “What exactly is so funny?”

Jack needed several more seconds before he could reply. As his laughter toned down, he looked at me and sighed with amusement. “Well, here’s the thing…”

*** *** ***

“Ugh… wha- what happened?” Apple Core moaned as she woke up. “Why do Ah-” she cut off abruptly, her eyes snapping wide open.

I suppose seeing my face hovering right above hers with an annoyed expression wasn’t exactly a comfortable sight.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the alicorns, sweetie?” I asked the slaver mare, forcing myself to speak calmly, mindful of her state.

However, it apparently didn’t bring the desired effect, as as Apple Core continued to stare at me with confusion and slight fear. “Wha- what the hell are ya talkin’ ‘bout?!” she finally asked, her usual strength returning to her voice.

Her expression changed too; now she was glaring at me with annoyance and borderline anger.

I pouted, disappointed with the answer, but when I was about to deliberate on the subject, Jack, who was leaning against the wall of the quarters, spoke: “She probably didn’t know; those things aren’t common around these parts.” I jerked when he uttered the word ‘things’, but didn’t interrupt him. “There isn’t anything of interest for them around the two Appleloosas, as far as I can tell, and the ones serving Red Eye he keeps on a tight leash around Fillydelphia.”

Apple Core blinked at the griffin. “Wait, those things are real?!” she asked, clearly surprised. “Ah thought those guys we’d send t’ Fillydelphia with slaves t’ sell were makin’ those things up!”

I twitched when again the word “things” had been said, but, again, stopped myself from berating anybody. Instead, I sighed, and pressed my forehooves against my face.

Alicorns. There were alicorns in the Wasteland. Not just one, not just two, but multitudes of them, tens at least if not hundreds!

My mind was still reeling from the revelation Jack had bestowed upon me. (Maybe I would have processed it better if he hadn’t been so casual about it!). To learn that there were ponies of the same kind as Goddesses were in their “mortal” life out there in the Wasteland… it was shocking, to say the least. Even more so when Jack had revealed to me that many of them are working together with this Red Eye pony.

“The alicorns serve that megalomaniac?” I had asked, bewildered; how could a pony who ascended into near goddesshood serve a pony who keeps hundreds of ponies as slaves?!

Jack - having had rolled his eyes when I’d called Red Eye megalomaniac, for some reason - replied: “Yeah, though it’s not exactly that they serve him, I think; from what little I have learned it looks more like an alliance. Contrary to what most people think - well, at least out of those who know about them - they were around far longer than Red Eye. Oh, and you’re probably not going to like that,” he had added, shrugging, “but they seem to have a leader… and they address her as Goddess.”

I blinked, trying to process that information. It didn’t help that I could see the shocked expressions of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, who were bewildered by the news almost as much as me.

“I can see why you’d think I wouldn’t like that… but honestly, as blasphemous as it is, I can understand why a leader capable of commanding a host of alicorns would take such a name,” I’d managed to mutter. “But it cannot be either of the Goddesses… right? How do you know that?” I asked, turning to Jack. “Have you seen her?”

“Of course not. We bumped into a wing - that is, a group of three - of those alicorns a few months back, me and… and Burst and Blast,” he had explained, trailing off briefly as he had mentioned his deceased friends. He had also swayed again, but with a grunt he and a quick shake he quickly evened up his walk and continued, as if nothing had happened. “They happened to be one of each; they come in three ‘breeds’ you see,” he had been quick to explain as he noticed my expression shift from the ‘shocked’ part of the confusion to the ‘interested’ part. “Purple, blue and green. The purple ones tend to rely on teleportation, and the blue can make themselves invisible, though both know a few other spells as the wounds we got that day could have attested to. I have no idea what the green ones exactly do, I took her out first.”

I’d nodded, absorbing greedily all the informations he had been revealing to me.

“I think they have some sort of… telepathy,” he had continued, causing my eyes to briefly widen. “I killed the green one out of the other two’s view and without making any sound, and yet they immediately turned on me. Their attacks were also far more coordinated than I’d expected. Oh, and the best was when, after Blast managed to get them with a couple of grenades that caused the purple one to drop out of the building we were fighting on down to a very radiated area below, leaving half of her wing with us, she had teleported soon between us, with all her wounds healed. She even regrew that wing back.”

“Really?” I’d asked, astonished. “Does this mean that they get healed by radiation?! To the point that they can regenerate entire limbs?!”

I need to see one of them… I’d thought to myself as Jack nodded, either just meet it or get one for study…

“Not just heals, it also makes them stronger; the magic beam she fired after getting back broke through the wall. Anyway, after we finally got her again - and made sure that no part of her fell down again - with her last breath she screeched at us that the ‘Goddess will have your entrails!’, or something along those lines,” Jack had said, dropping his tone to match the alicorn’s, apparently. He then shook his head and continued “After that we did our best to stay clear of alicorns; which was a hard thing to do, as around that time they began poking around Manehattan Ruins.”

“I don’t suppose you had brought their corpses to any scientist for an examination?” I’d asked, but soon the little hope I had dispersed as Jack had shook his head.

“I actually had considered it,” he had admitted, “but we were too battered after that to carry any of them; they are bigger than you normal ponies.”

I nodded with understanding; as precious as an alicorn corpse was, it was more important that they got back to a safe place… especially since apparently there were so many more of them for me to examine…

Finding comfort in that thought again back in the present moment, I dropped my hooves off my face as I listened to Jack continue. “And that’s besides the fact that they became widely known to the Wasteland around ten years ago, if not less,” he said, ignoring Apple Core’s earlier question. “Also, DJ Pon3 doesn’t bring them up too often on his broadcast either, as the alicorns rarely run into anybody and he tries to warn about more imminent threats.”

Although I nodded at his explanation, my annoyance at Apple Core for omitting such a crucial piece of information about the Wasteland already having ebbed away, a certain thing he had said caused me to perk my ears. However, before I could question him about it, the mare in question shook. “Wait, why the ‘ell are we talkin’ ‘bout some blasted alicorns? What the fuck happened? Why am Ah in bed, why can’t Ah remember anythin’ an’ why do Ah feel so… woozy?” she asked, bring a forehoof to the side of her head and closing her eyes.

Jack and I exchanged a glance. “There was… an explosion, and you lost consciousness, which is why you don’t remember anything sweetie,” I quietly explained, leaning closer to her. Dropping my ears, I added “Burst and Blast are dead… as well as Scope.”

As Apple Core uttered something that sounded like a mixture of cursing and sighing, I gave Jack a quick glance. I was wondering if he wanted to tell her about the exact circumstances that had led to those three deaths. To my slight surprise, though, I found myself on the receiving end of the same glance; from what I could gather from Jack’s expression, he too wondered if I wanted to tell her.

Neither of us wants to say it, but won’t stop the other if they want to, I realized. I wonder, are his reasons the same as mine…

I was about to ask the two apparitions for their opinion, but Apple Core uttered at that moment a sentence that contained the name of Goddess Celestia, a verb, and genitals. Scowling, I immediately berated her, which only caused her to roll her eyes at me.

Taking a deep breath in order to calm myself and forget about my companion’s profane words, I resumed bringing her up to speed: “You’re feeling ‘woozy’, as you have put it, because you lost a lot of blood; don’t worry, you’re not in any danger anymore,” I added as she looked at me with alarm. “How is your left foreleg? Can you lift it?”

“Um, yeah, sure,” she replied, a little confused. As she lifted her foreleg, I trotted over to the left side of the bed to take a better look at it. Apple Core frowned in the meantime. “It… sorta feels like Ah ‘ave slept on it, or somethin’,” Apple Core added, bending it an waving her hoof a little.

Such sensation was within my expectations, so I wasn’t too worried, especially considering the movement capability she had displayed. “Can you feel this?” I still asked, just to be sure, and poked her foreleg with the tip of my horn. As I felt her foreleg jerk and Apple Core uttered a short grunt of surprise, I knew she did, even before she said so. “Everything is alright then; the nerves have been reconnected properly. You will regain the full feeling in your leg soon, won’t be longer than a couple of days.”

“... okay, seriously, what the fuck happened?” Apple Core asked after a few seconds, looking from me to Jack and back. “What'd ya mean by nerves being ‘reconnected properly’? Why were they not connected?!”

“The explosion tore your leg off, sweetie” I explained calmly; as Apple Core stared at me in shock, her jaw dropping, I quickly added “Don’t worry, I reattached it, perfectly I might add, but that was the reason why you have lost so much blood, which is why you need to rest now.”

“Oh, yeah sure, rest…” Apple Core stammered, her gaze switching from me to her leg, looking over it as she felt it up with her other foreleg, as if wanting to make sure it was really there, or looking for stitches.

“If you are looking for stitches or scars, sweetie, you won’t find any. I used magic to reattach your leg,” I informed her, feeling slightly insulted that she had such little faith in my abilities. As Apple Core turned to me, I gave her what I hoped was reassuring smile. “Sweetie, believe me, you - and your leg - are going to be fine. What’s important right now is that you rest, alright?”

I felt heartened at the sight of Apple Core nodding, and calming down, but Jack had decided that at that moment he had to make us realize our situation.

“There might be a slight problem with that,” Jack spoke up, causing both of us to turn back to him. “You two do realize our situation, right?” When I exchanged a confused look with Apple Core, the griffin sighed. “Doctor, you might have healed us all, but between you two being low on blood and me still recuperating, none of us are in any condition to travel yet. We are half a day away from New Appleloosa, which is the closest town. Our supplies, if rationed, would last for about three days, maybe four; about half of what we had got destroyed in the explosion. I already checked the cafeteria while you were sleeping,” he added, glancing at me. “Overlooking the blown up refrigerator and other signs of somebody’s last stand, whatever is left there has long since gone bad, so all we have are what little we took with us for this maximally two-day long expedition we had planned. Not to mention that the two of you brought less provisions,” he added, rolling his eyes and sighing; despite his remark, he seemed more tired than annoyed.

“That… sounds troubling,” I commented, frowning.

“Wait, why are ya low on blood?” Apple Core asked, interrupting me as I analyzed what Jack had said.

“Hm? Oh, that’s because I had transfused my blood to you, sweetie,” I replied calmly. As her eyes widened again, I added: “You’d lost a lot of it by the time I got to you, if I hadn’t given you mine you would have died.”

“Oh…” Apple Core explained, looking at me oddly… and the actually appeared to be embarrassed. “Um, thanks Angel.”

“Think nothing of it, sweetie,” I told her, smiling at her, but as Jack cleared his throat rather loudly, I turned my attention back to him.

“And of course, there is always a risk that something finds this Stable, a monster or a bunch of raiders; I don’t think I have to point out that we’re in no condition to fight, either. Which is why I don’t find the idea of staying here too entertaining, even if we were to close the entrance; with the luck this expedition had, I wouldn’t be surprised if the raiders would just wait outside until we die of hunger,” he muttered, more to himself than to us as he sighed. “Doctor, how long do you think we should rest before we’d be fit enough to travel?”

A little surprised that he was asking for my opinion, it took me a moment to start thinking it over. I hummed to myself while I did, weighing the distance, the environmental conditions, and possible threats we could encounter, against our state.

“I would be well enough to travel tomorrow, I think, assuming I drink enough liquids and eat properly,” I began, already knowing that if we were to ration our supplies I would probably not eat properly. “As for Apple Core…” I paused as I looked her over, then after a brief hesitation cast a Diagnosis Spell on her, to make sure I was right. “Even under my care, she should stay in bed for three more days at least,” I finally said.

If only I could have reattached her leg immediately, I thought with annoyance, then she could’ve recovered by tomorrow… or at least have been well enough to travel...

“Can ya just heal me up with your magic?” Apple Core asked.

“Sweetie, the body needs time after suffering a great trauma to recover, and there is little magic can do to aid in that, especially magic of a magically exhausted unicorn,” I informed her. “Having your limb torn off for… hm, I think it was ten, twenty minutes? I would have to check… anyway, sweetie, your severed limb had began to deteriorate, even if only so little, so this qualifies as such a trauma. Also, there currently isn’t any spell that just replenishes pony’s lost blood.”

Apple Core rolled her eyes at me. “Ah was just askin’...”

“And you, sweetie,” I added, turning back to Jack and not even bothering to cast the spell on him, “you should rest for a week.”

“Yeah, maybe later,” he replied, rolling his eyes. Ignoring my frown, he continued: “If we wait three days for Apple Core to be fit to travel - not to mention that I doubt she would stand a chance if something would attack us on our way back - we will be out of food and weakened from having to ration them. I would hunt, but as we’ve seen on our way here, there is eerily little wildlife here. Which leaves us with one option: I will go back to New Appleloosa by myself and get help.”

“Oh, that’s absolutely out of the question!” I immediately exclaimed, jumping down from the bed and trotting up to him. “You might be in exceptionally good condition given the injury you received, but you need to recuperate! Don’t think I hadn’t noticed you swaying a little on our way back here, or how you’d grunt-”

Apparently, despite his state, he was still perfectly capable of grabbing my muzzle before I would notice. A fact which caused the apparition of Pinkie Pie to giggle.

“Contrary to what you might think, I am not thrilled with this idea either,” Jack said as he glared at me. “But it’s better than staying here, hoping nothing stumbles upon the Stable, and then make our way through the Wasteland weakened. If I go by myself, that is fly,” he added, spreading his wings to emphasize his point, “I will be able to avoid raiders and wild animals with ease.”

Except if you just pass out in the middle of the flight, I thought, unable to voice this point due to the talons around my muzzle. And then, if the fall doesn’t kill you, literally anything that would be in the area could.

Jack narrowed his eyes at me, as if knowing what I had thought. “After I get to New Appleloosa,” he continued, clearly ignoring my doubts, “I will talk with Ditzy Doo, ask her if she can fly over here with her delivery wagon and pick you two up.”

My ears perked at the mention of Ditzy Doo; I recalled that she “does deliveries”, and even flies as far away as Hoofington, but it hadn’t occurred to me that she would travel together with a wagon, most likely to carry all of the said deliveries. I had to admit, as reluctant as I was to allow Jack to travel by himself already, a big part of me was happy at the prospect of seeing her so soon, and excited at the idea of flying all the way back to New Appleloosa.

“Now, I assume she likes you enough to rush over to save you,” Jack added, releasing my muzzle. I massaged it, wondering whether that was true, but then I remembered how nice and kind she had been throughout the short time we’ve spent together, even before Jack brought it up the next second, “I don’t know her very well, but everybody always tells me how great a pony she is. But even if that wasn't the case, she could scavenge the Stable for whatever she wants, I’m sure there are tons of things here she could use.”

That was actually a very good idea. “I’m happy to hear she would be able to make a profit out of this situation; I would hate to bother her without any compensation for her time,” I said, relieved.

“Ya know,” Apple Core spoke up, looking at me with a raised eyebrow, “some would say ‘at after two hundred years ‘f nopony touchin’ her cooch, she owes ya, like, favors like those for the rest of yar life.”

“Apple Core!” I exclaimed, upset, and glared at her. “That was a very rude thing to say, especially considering she will be saving you too! Assuming we will go along with this plan,” I added, turning back to Jack and ignoring the slaver as she rolled her eyes. However, I couldn’t help myself from glancing back and adding “And we’ve only kissed and cuddled!”

As Apple Core shook with what I assumed was disgust, I grew even more upset. If it wasn’t for Jack staring at me impatiently I would have continued to berete her.

“‘Assuming we will go along with this plan’?” he repeated my words once he had back my full attention. “I already stressed that it’s the best plan we have, what more do you want?”

“Sweetie, what I want is for you to recover,” I replied, frowning. “As you are now, I fear that you will collapse during the flight back to New Appleloosa.”

“I will take it easy, and if I feel like I’m getting weak I'll land and take a breather,” Jack said, rolling his eyes. “I would rest up on the clouds, but I’m sure you’d say that flying so high up would be dangerous, as I might pass out, right?”

I nodded, as I indeed prefered for him to fly closer to the ground, just in case he would fall, but then realized what he had said. “You can stand on clouds?” I asked, surprised and curious.

Jack gave me a stern gaze. “Can we not get off-topic?”

“You’re right, sweetie, forgive me,” I replied immediately, though not without a little disappointment.

Afterwards I fell silent for a few seconds, trying to think if there truly was no better plan for us to get back to New Appleloosa, but I failed to come up with any alternative. We couldn’t count on anypony, even Mousetrap and Nice Catch, to come after us if we were gone for too long, as they didn’t know where we went. (I decided to not point that out to Jack, on account of him being the one who wanted to keep this expedition’s goal a secret.) And as much as I preferred to stay in the Stable until we recovered, Jack was right; even if we were in a condition to travel, we wouldn’t move fast enough to elude anything that could attack us, especially if we were weakened by hunger. And if we were to be attacked…

Burst’s and Blast’s headless corpses flashed before my eyes, making both Fluttershy and Pinkie gasp. Sorry, I thought, not having intended to shock them with those images.

I-It’s okay, Fluttershy whispered, looking at me sadly. She then smiled and added I know you won’t let that happen again.

A brief, small smile appeared on my muzzle hearing that and seeing Pinkie nod in agreement. I then dropped it and looked firmly at Jack.

“Very well, but I have conditions,” I told him. The griffin lifted an eyebrow, as if saying ‘are you serious right now’, but didn’t interrupted me as I continued “You will promise me that you will stay close to the ground and take a break everytime you feel weak or dizzy. After reaching New Appleloosa, informing Ditzy of what happened and asking her to come help us, you will go see Candi, the New Appleloosa’s medic. And lastly…” I trailed off, hesitating. “And lastly… you will allow me to cast the Recovery Acceleration Spell on you.”

This time I managed to get Jack to lift both of his eyebrows. “What kind of spell is that?” he asked (while at the same time Apple Core asked “Cast What's-It-Spell?”).

“It’s a spell that amplifies your body’s natural recovery rate,” I began to explain. “It’s perfect for aiding with post surgery recuperation, but-”

“Then why the fuck hadn’t ya cast this damn spell on all of us already?” Apple Core interrupted me, frowning.

I slightly flinched hearing the accusation in her voice; I was thankful that Jack didn’t seem to be angry with me, as well, only patiently waited for me to explain.

“I haven’t done that for two reasons, sweetie,” I told her, then glanced at Jack as I continued. “The first is the amount of magical energy this spell requires, which, as it provides the energy for your body to recover on top of speeding up said recovery, is a lot. In my current state, I won’t even be able to have you make a complete recovery before I’d burn out,” I confessed, annoyed at my limits.

“I’ve been told that burnout isn’t a pleasant experience for a unicorn, even when overlooking being unable to use magic for some time afterwards” Jack said, crossing his forelegs on his chest. “You’d be willing to go through it?”

I smiled at him. “I don’t mind suffering a magical burnout if it means helping my patient, sweetie. Especially when said patient is set on ignoring his doctor’s recommendation and plans to travel so many miles,” I added, giving him a little pout. Jack rolled his eyes, but in the corner of his beak I noted a slight curve. Heartened a little, I found myself even more regretful of what I had to add. “It is because of the second reason that I am hesitant to cast this spell.”

“Ugh, figures there has to be another catch,” Jack sighed, raising his forepaw to his face and rubbing his eyes. “What is is? It better not make me impotent or anything of that sort,” he added as I opened my mouth.

“Um, well…” I spoke at first, put off by his comment.

It clearly was the wrong way to proceed, as while I hesitated, Jack stared at me with eyes wide with alarm. “Oh for fuck sake,” he exclaimed before I could finish my thought, facepawing. Apple Core snorted with laughter, which she then immediately stifled as the annoyed and angry griffin shot her a glare. “You really should stop making noises near me,” he told in a low growl before turning to me, still with the same glare.

Fortunately, by then I had recovered. “No! Um, well, that is…” Okay, maybe not completely. I shook my head, took a deep breath, and started again: “Nothing of that sort will happen to you now, sweetie. The repeated casting of the Recovery Acceleration Spell, however, causes the body’s natural healing processes to decline. For an average adult pony, the limit of times this spell can be cast is two; anything beyond that… after that, it takes longer for the body to create new cells and scar tissue, white blood cell count drops, so does platelets count, and even worse, eventually such a pony would develop acquired haemophilia, which impairs the body’s ability to make blood clots, required to stop the bleeding. It also disrupts both the heart rate and body’s circulatory system, which could cause-”

Talons once again grabbed my muzzle as I was about to explain why was I hesitant when the subject of impotence was brought up. “Okay, I got it,” Jack told me, his eyes rolled up to the back of his head.

I was a little unhappy that I wasn’t allowed to further explain all the drawbacks the repeated usage of this spell would cause, even though it had probably spared me from answering just why did I know them so well. I’d guessed that even just mentioning the fact that I had invented it would lead them to some unpleasant realizations.

“So it is safe to cast it this once, right?” Jack asked me. As he still held my muzzle, I was reduced to nodding in response. “So seeing how I doubt we would ever find ourselves in a situation when I would have to be back to my top form right away - especially if from the next day forward I’ll be living on the opposite side of the Wasteland from you Doctor, which I am seriously considering at this point - none of those side effects will affect me, and you’ve been basically just wasting our time?”

Despite his last words, he spoke in a calm manner, so when he released my snout I knew it was safe for me to frown at him with annoyance. “I was trying to explain all of the spell’s risks, sweetie, there’s no reason to be borderline rude. But basically, yes,” I added reluctantly. “I am still unfamiliar with the griffins’ physiology - in general; I’m finding myself more curious about your physiology in particular, though - but based on what I’ve observed so far… I would say that you would be fine even after the third time I’d use the Recovery Acceleration Spell on you,” I concluded, recalling how quickly he woke up after I healed his brain and the extent of his mobility afterwards.

“Yeah, hopefully we’ll never know,” Jack remarked, grimacing a little with belittlement, then shook himself. “Okay, let’s do this. Even if I am confident I could make it to New Appleloosa, this way I should make it faster.”

“You’ll still take your time sweetie,” I told him sternly, in a voice that invited no argument.

While indeed Jack hadn’t argued with me, my short experience with dealing with him as my patient - and the eyeroll he had just done - told me that he was quite possibly going to ignore my words. Despite that, I merely sighed and prepared myself to cast the Recovery Acceleration Spell on him, knowing that he was set on flying to New Appleloosa regardless.

“It would help me if you wouldn’t move,” I told him as my horn began to glow with red light, which enveloped him.

Jack accommodated my request, staying perfectly still, save for slowly breathing, as my magic began to sip into his body. I closed my eyes, concentrating; during this first stage, both the spell and I adjusted to the patient’s body. Knowing I couldn’t afford to waste energy, I aided the process. Stepping closer to Jack, I lifted one forehoof to his chest and placed it on his heart, while the other I pressed against his temple. Now physically feeling his heartbeat caused me to complete this stage within seconds. Then, as I felt it “learn” the body’s healing process, I poured more magic into it, accelerating the natural regeneration and providing Jack with the energy to do so. I barely heard Jack’s soft gasp that he quickly stifled; the pressure and heat in my horn from yesterday returned, and it quickly magnified. I clenched my teeth and continued, ignoring the pulsing pain that would only grow worse. Slowly, as I continued to channel the spell, I felt my head lower ever so slightly, inch by inch, and my forehooves grinded against Jack while I poured more energy through my horn… until it was all gone.

The pressure and the heat were gone, and so was the spell. A short jolt of terrible pain passed over me in that instant as my horn stopped working, as if a great amount of accumulated energy had burst all at once and then was gone. It didn’t last longer than a second, but it still made me yelp in pain as - having lost my balance due to the unexpected loss of strain - I staggered backwards, falling.

I didn’t hit the floor, though; Jack reached out faster and held me by my shoulders, stopping me. “You okay?” he asked with worry, holding me gently.

I breathed heavily, exhausted. “Yes, I… I’ll be fine in a moment, sweetie,” I said, trying to catch my breath. “As soon as the room stops spinning,” I added, hoping that a little humor would dispatch whatever worries he might have.

What humor? Pinkie Pie asked, spinning around along with the room while Fluttershy, who managed to stay in relatively same spot, looked at me with worry.

The pain emanating from my horn wasn’t helping, either. “H-how about you, sweetie?” I asked Jack to help distract myself.

As Jack carefully let go of me and began to examine himself, I slowly raised a hoof to my horn and touched it delicately. Immediately, I drew it back; my horn was unpleasantly warm.

Turning my attention back to the griffin, I saw him looking at his forepaws, bending his talons and then stretching them, then throwing a quick punch through the air. “Great Egg, you weren’t kidding,” he finally said, looking at me, both surprised and impressed. “I feel way better than before.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” I told him. My breathing had began to slow down finally, and although my horn still ached terribly, I found myself capable of standing up. I tried to shake my head, but the immediate new wave of pain discouraged me from it. “And how’s your head?”

He lifted a paw to it, pressing it right at the spot where a bullet had entered. “Better, too; only aches a little now,” he confessed.

I frowned; I had hoped that I would have been able to at least make that pain to go away completely. “You’ll be taking a few healing potions with you in case you run into problems, right sweetie? Take one if the pain starts to bother you again,” I instructed him after he nodded. “They should relieve some of it for a time.”

“Alright then,” Jack nodded again, then looked briefly at Apple Core, then back at me. “I think I should make it to New Appleloosa in three hours. I will be taking it slow,” he added with an eye roll as my brow began to furrow.

At the same time, he began to unstrap some of his bags and remove other items he was carrying and laying them on the still intact table, most likely to make the flight even easier for himself by removing excess weight. There were already plenty of items on that table; as I took a better look at them, I realized, with a pang of sadness, that those had belonged to Burst and Blast. Most notable were their weapons, but their saddlebags were there too.

“Ditzy will probably be here two hours after that, I think,” Jack’s voice pulled my attention away from them, “dunno how fast she flies. You two should be fine until then.” By then he had removed most of his equipment, aside from his armor, his weapons, and one pack that was strapped by his waist. Nodding one last time in farewell, he rose, and began to head towards the door when he glanced at me. “Doctor, you mind walking me out?”

*** *** ***

Although my horn was still hurting and I felt exhausted, the pain had subsided, the exhaustion was mostly only magical in nature, and nothing was spinning anymore (even Pinkie), so I didn’t mind walking Jack back past the Stable Eleven’s entrance. With some amusement, I realized that the roles were now reversed; it was I who was swaying a little, while Jack walked normally.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” he asked me again; I was pleased to detect worry in his voice.

“Sweetie, this isn’t the first time I’ve suffered magical burnout,” I told him, hoping to calm his worries. “I will be back to my normal physical condition shortly.”

Jack narrowed his eyes, as if wondering whether I spoke the truth or not, but he seemed to accept my words. “Good. Now, here, take this,” he began, reaching for something in the pack he hadn’t unstrapped earlier, “and I don’t want to hear any of your-”

But by then he had already took out the item out and I saw what it was. “No,” I told him firmly as he held out the gun before me.

He sighed and looked up, as if praying for patience. “I understand and can even respect your reluctance to use firearms - as idiotic as it is - but just take it, in case something happens. It’s one of Burst’s spares, so you can hold it in your mouth.”

Glancing briefly at it, I noted that it indeed had the mouth-held grip with tongue operated trigger, like almost all of the small firearms I’ve seen; the gun belonging to Jack was of different design, allowing him to hold it comfortably in his paws.

“If something happens, then I will deal with it in my own way,” I told him, declining his offer with as much politeness as I could muster when this topic was brought up. “I will not carry a gun.”

Jack stopped. Upset that we had to have this conversation, I stopped too and faced him.

“You would put both yours and Apple Core’s life at risk because of your morals?” he asked me, glaring at me with annoyance bordering on anger. “I could maybe understand just putting yours, but your patient's too?”

I stared back into his eyes, unflinching. “I happen to put great value in my morality,” I told him.

It was true, of course, but at the same time, caring and protecting my patients and friends to the best of my abilities was also a part of my morality. Gazing into Jack’s eyes, I realized that I had no choice but to admit the truth, not if I hoped to retain whatever respect and maybe friendship he had for me.

“But… I never said that my absolute refusal to carry guns was caused solely by my morals,” I confessed.

As Jack narrowed his eyes, I found myself hoping that he would understand. I didn’t want to explain further.

After a few moments of agonizing silence, Jack finally spoke “So… no matter what would happen, you wouldn’t pick up a gun?” he asked.

I closed my eyes and shook my head. “No,” I said, my voice as calm as ever.

Jack stared into my eyes a few more seconds, as if trying to read my thoughts; I hoped he could read from them that I was speaking truly. Finally, he closed his eyes and facepawed, sighing. “I’m gonna go on a limb here and guess that you aren’t exactly skilled in hoof-to-hoof fighting, either, nor with melee weapons, right?” he asked, his voice sounding very tired and annoyed. Actually, it didn’t even sound like a question with that tone, more like he just said it for the sake of saying it. When I replied regardless, with an affirmation to his guess of course, he dropped his paw and looked at me sternly. “So all you can do to defend yourself is magic, and you purposely made yourself unable to use it?!”

Well, when he says it like that, it does sound rather silly of me to do so…

Not wanting to admit to that - even thought I felt my cheeks burn ever so slightly out of embarrassment - I said “I can also talk my way out of problematic situations! That’s how I bested Scope,” I pointed out, feeling a little pride at that.

“No, I ‘bested’ that bastard,” Jack countered. “You distracted him until you healed me; with magic,” he added pointedly.

“Well, sweetie, I still outwitted him,” I replied, a little defensively. “Me, a pony barely out of her Stable, outsmarted a seasoned Wastelander.”

“I know!” he exclaimed, turning to me with exasperated expression; his beak hang open and his eyes were comically widened. I wasn’t sure if he was mocking me, or if he was so bewildered by that. “Honestly, no joke, if there is an Afterlife, first thing I do after I die is to go find that bastard and ridicule him for getting outsmarted by the Wasteland’s dumbest genius!”

I frowned, my mood souring and not because of the very high possibility of being mocked right now. “Sweetie, speaking about your death in the presence of your doctor is rather insensitive, to be honest, even while jesting.”

My griffin patient rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Everybody dies, Doctor, sooner or later,” he said, his eyes rolling up to the back of his head.

I snorted hearing that accursed statement. Not if I have something to say about that…

Keeping those thoughts to myself, I instead added “Furthermore, while I don’t know what kind of Afterlife you believe in or don’t, I assure you, you wouldn’t end up in the same place where Scope’s soul must be now.”

Now it was Jack’s turn to snort, almost exactly the same as I had. I glanced at him curiously, but he quickly shook whatever he thought about off and changed the subject back to our previous topic.

“After we get over this shit, I’m going to teach you some melee combat tricks,” he declared, looking at me in a manner that almost bothered on contempt. “You can’t live in this world if you don’t have some fighting skills, miss ‘I’m gonna be the next Princess of Equestria’. For now take this,” he said, taking out his combat knife out of its sheath, flipping it around in the air and grabbing it by its blade, then leaned it towards me.

Far more comfortable with such weapons - it was basically a bigger, more clumsy version of a scalpel, after all - I grabbed the grip with my mouth and tried a few swings. Judging by Jack’s disappointed stare, I was doing it wrong.

“Adjust your grip,” he told me, and before I could comply to his request - or rather, try to while looking at him questioningly to see if I was doing it right - he reached to my muzzle and maneuvered both my jaw and the knife slightly. “There, hold it like this. And don’t swing it so wildly. Try to aim, best for the throat-”

“Throat, artery, eyes, temple, sutura coronalis, spine, heart, solar plexus?” I cut in after spitting out the knife, smirking a little. “I happen to know vital areas of a pony, sweetie.”

“And have you ever cut or hit such a vital point of a pony who wasn’t on a surgical table?” he asked, smirking in turn. I almost let it slip that yes I had, but considering my test subjects were always strapped to something I figured it wouldn’t count anyway. “Also, forget about trying to stab anybody in the heart or spine, you clearly don’t have enough strength to push it through the barding anybody who could wander in here would wear. And don’t aim at the eyes, you will get only one and just get them pissed,” he snorted as he rose and resumed walking towards the Stable’s entrance; picking up the combat knife I followed after him.

Jack gave me a few more pointers on our way, telling me at which angle I should move my head if I’d want to slash or stab somebody effectively. I did my best to memorize his advice, while at the same time hoping I wouldn’t have to use them. Jack had also, after some thought, given me some leathery straps along with the knife’s sheath that he had combined quickly.

“It will be easier this way for you to take the knife out if you can’t do it with magic,” he explained as I removed my lab coat, so that the straps (and the knife, of course) would be hidden from everybody’s sight. “Although I really hope it won’t come to this; you kinda suck.”

“Well, sweetie,” I began, blushing from the slight offense, “I’m sure if our roles were reversed - though I don't know why I would be teaching you how to perform a surgery - you wouldn’t be exactly…” I slowly trailed off as I noticed Jack’s amusement, realizing that his earlier remark was meant, while truthful, was also playful. Rolling my eyes, I couldn’t help but huff, “Very funny sweetie.”

Jack didn’t say much to that, other than uttering a short chuckle.

“Come to think about it,” he said after we walked for a bit without speaking, “Burst had a ripper in one of his saddlebags; hardly ever used that thing. Still, it is more deadly than a combat knife, so you might wanna grab it. I left it along with most of their stuff back at the Overmare’s quarters. Just try to not kill yourself by turning it on,” he added, looking at me sternly. “If it seems too dangerous for you to use then don’t bother with it at all.”

Nodding, I made a mental note about this ‘ripper’; if it wasn’t a weapon, I might have felt a bit curious and ask what did Jack mean by ‘turning it on’. As it was, however, I had far more interesting thoughts already in my head to bother with rather than another weapon.

We walked in silence for a bit after that, but when we were about to reach the door leading to the cellar and Outside, Jack finally broke it.

“Why didn’t you tell your slaver friend about Scope?” he asked, glancing at me with his eyebrow raised.

I turned to glance as him as well. “I would have thought that it’s quite obvious, sweetie. I’ve told you about what Scope had revealed to me, that he got some holotape from Cutter concerning Black Widow. I don’t think she would have liked to know that I know that there is something she was hiding, something that - as Cutter had believed - could undermine her position and even endanger her life. And If I had told Apple Core the whole truth of what had happened… well, as much as I like her and enjoy her company, she tends to drink a lot,” I said, shaking my head. “I’d prefer not to risk her letting something like this slip.”

“Hmh,” Jack grunted, nodding with approval. “I’ll give you that, you really are clever… which makes the whole ‘getting magical burnout without having other means of defense’ thing even more ridiculous, but I’ll ignore that.”

“Um, thank you sweetie. I think...” I added, unsure if I should treat that as a compliment after all. Curious, I asked: “What about you? You didn’t intervene when I was telling Apple Core.”

The griffin shrugged. “It’s not her business.”

“That… that’s it?” I asked, blinking in surprise; I had expected a bigger reason from him.

Jack glared at me. “Yes, that’s it. I also thought maybe it would be better for you. Maybe I didn’t want to correct you until you explained to me why you kept quiet about that, maybe I wondered what to do about this organization you told me about, maybe I wondered if you spoke the truth, or maybe I don’t want to think about it now!” he finished, his voice becoming more of a growl.

Despite myself, I shook as I became the target for his wrath, however briefly; it didn’t help that there was a slight echo to his growl vibrating through the Stable Entrance.

I lowered my head apologetically, ears dropping. “Forgive me sweetie, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Jack snorted and headed past the door; I quickly fell in step beside him, trying to think of something to say to disperse the foul mood I had brought upon us.

Maybe it would be best to change the subject, I thought as we walked through the tunnel.

“When you were talking about alicorns…” I began hesitantly; when Jack didn’t show any signs of annoyance, I continued “Back when you had explained to me how come Apple Core could not know about them, I mean; you had said that they became known to the Wasteland about ten years ago?”

“Apparently,” he replied, shrugging, not looking at me. “I wasn’t here, as you said Scope had mentioned. But I asked around after coming to Equestria, learning about the biggest factions, raiders’ nests, and wildlife,” I smiled briefly, remembering how I had done pretty much the same after leaving Stable Eight, “and eventually heard about them, too, from a reliable source at that. Also, they started showing up more like nine years ago, I think,” he added in an afterthought.

“Yes, I figure that must have been how you learned about them,” I said, nodding. “However… when you talked about alicorns, sweetie, I… couldn’t help but get the impression that you knew about them.” An unpleasant shiver went down my spine as Jack glanced at me, not saying a word. “I mean, you’ve said how few know of them and how they’ve became known less than a decade ago, but when we talked before, you said that the alicorns had been around for far longer than Red Eye. And also… based on what little I know of your character, sweetie,” I added, turning to look him in the eye, “I don’t believe you would be so quick to kill one of them, without a chance for peaceful resolution, if you hadn’t thought of them as an unreasonable threat.”

Jack snorted and looked away. We reached the cellar door at that moment, and we passed through it in silence, my griffin companion not answering my question.

Guess I’ll have to get him to warm up to me… I thought, a little disappointed.

“What exactly did that bastard tell you about the Bloodtalons?”

I turned to look at him, slightly surprised; I’d began to think that he was going to ignore my question. Instead, I found him having turned towards me, looking at me with both eyes and expecting a reply.

“W-well, sweetie,” I began, slightly unnerved by the intensity of his state, “Scope said that the Bloodtalons are the deadliest mercenary company, that they have completed every job they’ve been hired for, and that they’ve been gone from Equestria for over forty years.”

And that you’re the son of the Bloodtalons’ leader, I mentally added; I wasn’t sure if he would get annoyed if he learned that I knew that.

Jack snorted. “Sounds about right. Indeed, Bloodtalons have completed every task they’ve been hired for, took down every marked target and so on, past those near three hundreds years since their company was founded… at least, that’s how everybody sees it,” he added, making me blink in surprise. “Their… our seniors, however, when they taught me and the rest of our rookery about our history, they’d always say that there was one job we hadn’t completed. One particular target we hadn’t taken down, not personally. All because a few of those alicorns had meddled with our hunt,” he said in a low voice. As I leaned closer, engrossed by the tale, Jack cut it short. “Still, we had chased that bitch all the way into Splendid Valley, so even if those alicorns hadn’t killed her after my great-great-grandfather’s group had retreated, then either one of the other nasty things living there or Taint exposure must have done the job, as she was gone afterwards. So the Bloodtalons still got paid.” He shrugged and added “ And that’s the story of the - most likely - first sighting of those alicorns.”

“I can’t help but feel like you’ve omitted several details of this story, sweetie,” I told him, pouting a little.

Jack chuckled and actually smiled. “Sorry Doctor, but it’s a rather long tale, one I like, so I would prefer to do it justice; I’ll tell it to you later, when we aren't in such a shitty situation.” He glanced at the endless gray of the cloud cover above, then in the direction of New Appleloosa. “At least it stopped raining… stay safe until I get back, okay Doctor?” he asked, turning back to me, and extend his open forepaw to me.

I smiled at the gesture and reached out with my forehoof. “Of course, sweetie- wait,” I said, stopping my hoof and frowning. “Sweetie, you’re supposed to stay in New Appleloosa.” Jack rolled his eyes but didn’t say nothing or moved at all otherwise, which only irritated me further. Stomping, I took a step closer to him. “You’re staying at Candi’s clinic, you’re not in a condition to-”

I stopped abruptly as a talon flicked my nose. Baffled, I stepped back instinctively, while at the same time Jack soared into the air. “See you,” he called back and waved as his wings swiftly carried him away.

Massaging my nose, I watched him fly away, slowly recovering from the shock. I was a little sour that he had brushed me off in such a manner; the tiny pink pony giggling inside my head wasn’t helping.

I’m going to stitch that griffin’s talons together someday.

*** *** ***

Returning to the Overmare’s quarters did not improve my mood.

“What in the name of the Goddesses are you doing, sweetie?” I asked Apple Core, crossed, as she gulped down a bottle of whiskey.

“Drinkin’?” she asked, raising her eyebrow as she made a brief break from the bottle.

“Didn’t it occur to you that consuming alcohol while recovering and being low on blood is a very bad idea?” I asked, frowning.

“Don’chya doctors use alcohol t’ sterilize stuff?” she asked me in turn, making another break.

“What does that even…” I began to argue, but I realized that it was pointless; there was no way I’d get that bottle away from her. Truly, becoming the Princess of Equestria seemed at least plausible in comparison. Sighing, I gave up. “Very well, sweetie, but promise me you won’t drink more than this bottle today.”

Apple Core looked at me with her ‘are ya kiddin’?’ look, but rolled her eyes when she met my stern gaze. “Fine,” she nickered, laying the half-empty bottle at the bedside locker, saving it for later. “As if there’s much else t’ do…”

“Where did you even get that bottle?” I asked, curious, as I walked over to look at it. The label on it read ‘Wild Pegasus’; ironic name, considering that ‘wild’ wasn’t a name that came to my mind regarding the single pegasus I had met so far. “I thought that the bottle you were drinking back before the explosion was destroyed.”

“Yeah, took it from the mini-bar over ‘ere,” Apple Core replied, nodding at the big cabinet under the wall.

I trotted over; most of the furniture had collapsed in time, but there was one closed drawer that seemed to have survived. I reached over and opened, revealing two more bottles of Wild Pegasus (with the free place for the two that Apple Core must had already taken out), a bottle of wine and… drugs. I blinked, surprised at the sight of an almost empty tin of Party-Time Mint-als, a small stash of Dash and even some Buck (and several empty containers of both chems).

Weird, I wouldn’t have assumed that a pony like Strict Frame would use any other drugs than Mint-als, I mused. Guess one shouldn’t judge a pony based on her looks and position… though really, what use did she have for the others? Unless that Moon Scrounger got her addicted to all of them on purpose to control her… or maybe she became addicted before coming to live in Stable Eleven? She was working on a rock farm… And where did she get those from? Did she make them and keep reusing the same bottles and inhalers? And why did she hang herself if she could just overdose?!

Sighing (and a little frustrated at Strict Frame) I closed the mini-bar, deciding whatever that pony, and by extension everypony from Adherents of the Royal Sisters party, had done and why, it was not worth thinking over. Informing Apple Core to not use any of the drugs, just in case (as far as I knew she didn’t even use them on normal days, but better safe than sorry), I trotted over to the table where Jack had dropped most of his (and Burst and Blast’s) equipment, including our food supplies. After looking it over, I picked up some dried up jerky, some potato mash and two cans of beans, then brought the jerky and half of the rest to Apple Core, telling her to eat it.

“Bossy much?” she asked as she dug into the meat.

“They have nutrients that will help you produce new blood cells; I’d prefer, sweetie, if you wouldn’t develop anemia,” I told her as I began to eat my share (not wanting to risk vomiting, I decided to skip the meat this time).

After our meal and a few gulps of water (after which Apple Core had promptly taken another swig out of the Wild Pegasus bottle), I turned my attention to the stuff Jack left on a table. Feeling a little better (my horn didn’t even ache too badly at that point), I decided I needed to find something to do to pass the time, and I remembered Jack mentioning something called a ‘ripper’ to me.

I trotted over to the table and picked the saddlebag that belonged to Blast. His scent was still on it, and I found myself growing sadder. I took a few seconds to take a deep breath and calm down, then continued. Not wanting to rummage inside the bag that could contain guns, I flipped it over and let the contents spill on the table, carefully and slowly. It contained mostly grenades, but after several seconds from within fell out what had to be the ripper Jack had mentioned.

I looked over the knife with a weird mechanism attached to it curiously, specifically the small iron teeth on the edge of the blade and what seemed to be a wire between them. Noticing the lever by the mouth grip, I picked it up with the intention of turning it on, wondering if it would do what I assumed it would (and really, what the name alone implied it would do).

Whoa, heavy! I realized as almost immediately upon picking it up my head swayed to the side. With an effort, I brought my head back, regaining my balance. If Jack were here, he would probably tell me to not bother using this in a fight if I find just lifting it to be this difficult, I noted, rolling my eyes inwardly. Still curious about the weapon’s function, I carefully adjusted the weapon in my mouth so that the lever would be pressed against my teeth, and bit a little harder.

The ripper immediately came to life, activating its mechanism and causing the little teeth to travel along the blade. I gazed at this saw in knife’s form, feeling somewhat fascinated by the simple lethality of this device. And excited about what I could use it for, despite being probably too weak to use it in combat.

“The hell was ‘at?” Apple Core asked me after I turned it off. Putting the ripper into my saddlebag and beginning to remove it, my lab coat and stable barding, I heard her snicker “Was it one of ‘em fancy vibrator thingies?”

I cast my slaver companion a reproachful stare, but being so excited as I was I quickly dropped it. “No, sweetie. Though it does vibrates a little,” I added with a giggle. “Anyway, do you mind if I leave you alone for some time? I will be over at the Overmare’s office, so if you’d need anything you can just shout.”

“Um, sure,” Apple Core replied, watching me in confusion as I finished taking off my clothes, then grabbed the saddlebag and started to trot away. “What the heck are ya goin’ t’ do over ‘er?”

Turning to her by the door, I smiled and said: “Let’s just say I’ll be getting to know somepony a little closer.”

*** *** ***

Well, that was rather uneventful, I noted about an hour later while wiping sweat from my brow, looking over Scope’s remains and turning off my PipBuck’s recording.

It turned out that performing a post-mortem examination without the help of magic - completely - was more difficult than I had anticipated. Suffice to say that my respect for Candi and every other earth pony (as well as pegasus) doctor had grown considerably. Thanks to the ripper I managed to open Scope up relatively easy, true, but the entire procedure proved… messy.

It’s a good thing the water talismans are still working, I noted, taking off the goggles I found in the Maintenance before I started and looking over my bloodied coat. Frowning, I then took off the the provisional mask made of some cloth from my muzzle and left it beside Scope’s corpse, and checked if the samples I took of him were secured. Alright, that would be all. You can open your eyes now Fluttershy, I added with a touch of humor as I began to pack the samples, ripper, and some smaller surgical equipment back to my saddlebags.

The tiny apparition, who was covering her eyes, brought one down to take a peek around. When she realized that I was no longer looking at the remains - which I’d began to believe meant that they couldn’t see it either - she relaxed and dropped both of them.

Forgive me, sweetie, I usually manage to be far more… clean, I told her as Pinkie floated next to her and patted her on the back as she recovered. This ripper can’t exactly cut flesh evenly.

Y-yes, I’ve noticed, Fluttershy said meekly,

Yeah, it was pretty gruesome how all that blood splashed on your face! Pinkie exclaimed, her description causing Fluttershy’s face to become a touch greener and to shake slightly.

Sweetie, I would appreciate if you’d refrain from such comments for the time being, I scolded Pinkie Pie, nodded meaningfully at the tiny pegasus. The obvious concern for Fluttershy aside… I am not sure if I wouldn’t feel if either of you’d vomit inside of my head.

I knew that, whatever exactly they were, they were within those statuettes, of course, but seeing how they’d been able to talk to me in my head… well, I plainly didn’t know how this spell worked! Which was somewhat frustrating, but on the off chance that the spell that had originally bonded them to the statuettes caused them to bond to me now and actually be inside of my head, I’d preferred to avoid having them vomit around my mind.

Oh, right, sorry! Pinkie Pie quickly said, smiling sheepishly at Fluttershy, who smiled in return and waved to show that everything was okay (while still holding her other hoof against her mouth). So, did you find anything interesting? the pink apparition turned to me as I began to make my way out of the office.

Not really, I replied, pouting unhappily. I mean, finding out that his organs were in excellent condition had confirmed my guess, yes, but I’ve already gotten enough proof of that by simply examining his teeth. Rolling my eyes, I added But it’s not like I have anything to do right now, so it’s not like I lost time doing that… Anyway, I will be certain after I’ll examine those samples I took. I wonder what shall Jack think of my hypothesis…

Sighing, I put those thoughts aside for later. Right now I needed to wash away the blood on my coat… and after that take a long, warm bath. I deserved that much at least.

I expected my blood-soaked coat would cause Apple Core a rather panicked reaction, or at least a raised eyebrow and a question. So I was surprised when upon entering the Overmare’s quarters - intending to use the bathroom connected to it - I was met with silence. That is, until two seconds later when said silence was shattered by a snore.

Well, at least she’s resting, I thought, looking at the sleeping mare. I trotted over to quickly check on her. Wish she didn’t rest together with an empty bottle of whiskey under her foreleg, but still...

Sighing after examination, I hung back from the bed, then looked around the room. Different, smaller and abandoned for almost two centuries, yet… still feels familiar, I thought as a wave of nostalgia washed over me, turning my gaze back the sleeping mare. I bit my lip. No wonder I had that dream…

Slowly, my gaze travelled from Apple Core to my PipBuck. The PipBuck that was filled with many recordings I had made over the years. Including ones that recorded events that transpired in a similar room in my Stable. And in others, with the same pony.

Including the one that had began to play by accident two days ago when the train stopped near New Appleloosa.

Angel? Fluttershy question snapped me out of my reminiscing.

As I shook my head slightly, I realized that I had moved my other hoof above my PipBuck and was about to hit play, turning on that recording again. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, then placed my shaking hoof above it, trying to calm down.

That recording… Fluttershy began as I gradually stopped shaking, with Pinkie’s gaze travelling between the two of us in worry. Angel, that voice, wasn’t it the same as…

Since Apple Core is alright and currently very heavily sleeping, I think I can allow myself to take a long warm bath, won’t you agree? I interrupted her, rising up and headed towards the bathroom. I ignored the two apparitions as they exchanged a look between them. Maybe I will even take a short nap… Waking up to find Ditzy leaning over me would make up a bit for the awful things that had transpired since we left New Appleloosa...

I giggled, imagining that scene. Of course, the water would have probably turned cold by then, but surely, I could convince Ditzy to take another warm bath after refilling the water, right?

The bathroom was, as it was to be expected after near two hundred years of negligence, a mess. Full of dirt and rust. However, a quick search allowed me to find a few treasures in the cabinet beside the wide bathtub that more than made up for the bathroom’s state. First was a relatively well-preserved towel (which honestly didn’t account for much, but it was still dry and clean-ish, so I could use it after my bath) and second… was a collection of bath oils!

Finally, some luxury in this Wasteland! I thought, excited at the prospect. Hastily, I removed my saddlebags and left it in the bathroom’s corner, then looked around for some detergents to clean the bathtub so that I could take bath in it… then spotted my blood covered coat. Hm, lying in a bathtub in the water mixed together with Scope’s blood doesn’t seem… Yeah, I’m just not gonna do it, that’s gross even by my standards, I stated flatly, deadpanning at my blood covered leg. I’ll shower quickly first, then clean the bathtub, then take a bath.

*** *** ***

A long, pleasure-filled moan escaped me as I slowly submerged in the hot bubble bath. Ooooh, how I missed this, I thought as I breathed in the aroma of the bath oils I had mixed in to make bubbles.

Closing my eyes, I lay comfortably in the bathtub, listening to the relaxing music I had recorded on my PipBuck back in Stable Eight. I had considered going over to Maintenance again to look for some PipBuck technician’s tools in order to remove it from my leg for the duration of the bath, but ultimately decided against it in favor of listening to some pleasant tunes (and not wanting to bother with it).

Only thing I’m missing right now is some incense, I though, then giggled and added Well, I suppose some company would also be nice…

Company, huh? Pinkie Pie asked, raising an eyebrow. And what are we exactly?

I glanced at the two statuettes, which I had placed in the bathtub’s corner, then back at the two apparitions. Forgive me, sweetie, I should have specified that I meant the kind of company that can offer cuddles, massage or to wash my back, I told her with a smile.

Oh yeah? Pinkie exclaimed, giggling and floating closer with a smirk on her face. I’ll have you know, Missy, that I am great in all of those! Fluttershy, come here for a moment, she turned around as she called the other apparition.

Oh, um, I would rather not… Fluttershy stammered as she backed away from Pinkie Pie, blushing.

C’mon, it will be like one of your spa trips with Rarity!

I giggled as I washed my mane, heartened and amused by the two apparitions’ antics… and a little jealous. As much as I enjoyed their company, I found myself missing a more physical presence. There was Apple Core, of course, but aside from her sleeping very heavily (and loudly; her snoring was part of the reason why I had turned the music up), I doubted I could convince her into taking a bath together, even if I’d have promised it would be purely… what’s the word, platonic?

And this bathtub is easily big enough for one more pony to fit here, too, I thought, saddened, as I submerged my head under the water for several seconds. Hopefully I’ll convince Ditzy into taking a bath with me… But seriously, it is just my luck that I would be stuck here with the one pony who wouldn’t want to take bath together with me, I added with a little bit of annoyance after emerging and shaking my head, then I grabbed a sponge (found an unopened package of them in another cabinet) and began to brush it gently along my body.

After several seconds of washing myself, I noticed that both apparitions were… well, blushing, and trying to look away. I blinked, a bit surprised. Um, sweeties, are you embarrassed? I asked uncertainty. Forgive my confusion, but we are all mares here, there shouldn’t be any reason for anypony to be embarrassed.

Pinkie Pie scratched the back of her head, looking at Fluttershy, who hid her face behind her mane. Well… you are kinda washing yourself in an, um, erotic way... Pinkie explained, giggling sheepishly.

I am? I thought, surprised. I turned my attention to my left hind leg, that I had raised above the water as I washed it. Oh, forgive me, it hasn’t been brought up to my attention… although that would explain… I trailed off before my memories had traveled too far down the memory lane again. Um, how about this then? I asked as I closed my eyes. You can’t see now, right?

Yeah, that’s a bit better. Sorry, Pinkie said sheepishly as I resumed washing myself, now with my eyes closed. I guess we kinda invade on your privacy, huh?

Hm, I suppose so, although it doesn’t really bother me that much. I am more concerned with your comfort… You should have seen how Fluttershy was when Ditzy and I were kissing, I added, giggling softly. As the tiny pegasus blushed and tapped her forehooves together in embarrassment, I frowned slightly and continued I hope you two will at least give me the courtesy of, hm, disappearing when I’m showing affection to others; it can be a bit distracting.

Oh, absolutely-tutely! Pinkie replied immediately, nodding. Then, slightly blushing and looking away, she added Although, we might get, um, curious, from time to time. In a totally respectful way, she added, grinning nervously as her eyes looked everywhere but at me.

Fluttershy’s entire face in turn was covered by a wall of pink mane.

I would have blinked at her in confusion if I weren’t keeping my eyes closed, but I quickly brushed her comment off. I really did not mind the two of them intruding on my private life, as long as they didn’t disrupt it.

However, all those thoughts on the subject, coupled with my earlier longing after physical company and the sponge occasionally brushing along my groin caused certain… ideas to appear in my mind. Ideas that I considered entertaining…

As I raised my right foreleg above the water and began to slowly wash it, I found myself thinking back to how I stumbled upon Blast and Apple Core in the middle of the coitus, and how the sadly deceased stallion had asked both myself and Burst if we wanted to join in. Although it was a bitter memory, it had made me think about what would have happened if I had said yes… (As well as, if knowing that the two of them would be dead within the next hour would actually cause me to say yes? A rather difficult thought to properly muse over...). A smile crossed my muzzle as I brought the sponge lower down the inner side of my thigh…

“Angel, you’ve gotta-”

I blinked as the metallic voice - that had stopped so abruptly - resonated through the bathroom. Turning my head towards the open doorway, I saw a sprite-bot hovering there.

“Watcher?” I asked, surprised by the intrusion, then smiled in greeting as I lowered my hind leg back into the water. “What a pleasant surprise, sweetie.”

For whatever reason, the mysterious hacker of sprite-bots didn’t seem to share my enthusiasm. “Um, I, um… I’m so sorry!” he suddenly exclaimed after he stammered for a while, very loudly. I tiled my head in confusion as a series of loud banging noises erupted from the speaker. Guessing by the sprite-bots erratic movement that followed them - the robot did a half turn and began to fly forward at a higher speed that I had witnessed it moving before, which resulted at it bouncing against the bathroom wall, several times - Watcher must have slammed against whatever controls he was using for steering it. “I didn’t mean to… w-walk in you… y-you know, having a bath!”

Leaning against the bathtub’s edge and supporting myself with my forehooves, I spoke “It’s alright, sweetie, it could have happened to anyypony. Honestly, I probably shouldn’t have left the door open…” I added, blushing from embarrassment, then blinked. “Wait, did I leave the door to Stable Eleven open?!”

“Um, yeah. About that-”

I groaned, facehoofing. How could I forget to close it?! I suppose my frustration with Jack had played a part there… and overall exhaustion and unfamiliarity with this type of situation… Why didn’t the two of you remind me?! I asked, turning to Pinkie and Fluttershy.

I, um, told Pinkie about them… Fluttershy offered meekly.

Yeah, and, um, I thought about pointing it out, but… Pinkie added, smiling sheepishly.

However, I was already not listening to their explanations. Instead, I was pointing my hoof at the sprite-bot. “Sweetie, you are not…” I trailed off as I noticed that at some point Watcher had the robot turn its back from me, meaning that he couldn’t see me through its camera. “Watcher, sweetie, can you turn the sprite-bot around? I can’t talk to you properly this way,” I said, and then waited patiently.

“Um, yeah, sure…” Watcher replied, his metallic voice - on that note, why did I assume it was male voice? I had originally thought so when I first met him, true, but that was because I had at first mistook him for Jack, wasn’t it? - sounding almost abashed. As abashed as a robot’s emotionless voice could be, I suppose…

I waited for the robot to finish turning around before smiling at him. “Thank you sweetie. Now, you are not telling Jack about me leaving the Stable door open,” I told him, pointing my hoof at him. “He already has an opinion of me being the ‘Wasteland’s dumbest genius’, though I hope it was a joke. Whether it was or was not, I do not want to consolidate that opinion!”

“Yeah, no problem, but listen!” Watcher said, floating a bit closer to the bathtub; now that I listened in better, something in the manner of speech made me think of a male rather than female. “I didn’t send this sprite-bot over here to play catch up! A group of almost twenty raiders is coming here!”

“What?!” I exclaimed, shocked, “Here here?!”

“Yes, here here,” Watcher replied. “They were from the same group as those five your group had run into. They didn’t take kindly to finding their friends’ corpses.”

Oh, this cannot be good… I thought, noticing in the corner of my mind’s eye the panicked looks Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were exchanging.

“B-but… it was raining last night, right?” I asked, beyond confused right now. “Surely, the rain must have washed away tracks and all that stuff, right?”

“Well, yes, probably,” Watcher agreed, sounding a little impatient. “But guessing by the leader saying something along the lines of ‘they must have gone to that closed up Stable by the Rock Farms’ they’ve figured where you must have gone. (I skipped several curses he threw in that sentence.) Anyway, you’d better gather the rest of your group and let them know; say that you overheard about them on DJ Pon3 broadcast or something.”

“Why would I need to lie to them?” I asked, confused. But immediately I decided that I had more important things to worry about now. “More importantly, I’m afraid that what you can see is all of my group at the moment.”

“... you’re joking, right?” Watcher asked. When I shook my head, he pressed “You’re telling me that you and that sleeping mare are the only ones here? What happened to the griffin and the other three?”

“Jack flew back to New Appleloosa to get Ditzy to come pick us up in her delivery wagon,” I replied, then my ears dropped. “Burst and Blast are buried outside the Stable. Scope’s remains are decomposing in the Overmare’s office.”

“... oh.” That was all Watcher had to say at first. “I… I’m sorry to hear that. Look, let's focus on keeping you alive until help arrives, then. Go close the door to the Stable; I left it open so that your friends wouldn’t get suspicious…”

But I was already not listening. “Sweetie, wait; if I close the door, won’t it cause the raiders to hang around trying to get in? I mean, they’ll notice the freshly dug ground where we buried Burst and Blast, so they’ll know we’re here.”

Watcher stayed silent for a few seconds. “Yeah, it’s very possible. But don’t worry, there’s no way they’ll get in if you close the door-”

“That’s now what I am concerned about!” I exclaimed, raising above the bathtub and jumping down. Water leaked down from my wet mane, but I ignored it. “Ditzy will be here in… I don’t know, an hour or two! What if those raiders shoot at her!? Jack will probably be with her, but I doubt he could fight off over twenty raiders alone even if he was in peak condition, which he isn’t!”

I was breathing rapidly, panic rising within me. How could I find myself in another crisis so soon?! If I wouldn’t think of something, I would either die or lose several friends, or most likely both! But I couldn’t-

This won’t happen again. Ever. The next time I’ll find myself in such situation, I will stay calm, analyze everything and take the best course of action.

Don’t make promises you might not keep, Doctor.

I’m not.

I blinked, remembering the exchange from last night. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, counted to four, then exhaled.

Just like triage.

As I calmed down, Watcher had continued to speak “I dunno what to do for them, it’s not like I could send a message to a flying wagon, these things weren’t exactly made for high-altitude flight-”

“Watcher?” I interrupted him, gently but decisively. “I need you to tell me…” I paused briefly, thinking of what I’d need to know, “... how much time I have before they’ll arrive, their exact numbers… and how they’re armed.”

I suppose it would be a stretch to ask for their medical history too, I thought, turning around and leaning over the bathtub to grab the statuettes in my mouth, then trotted over to where I left my saddlebags and the towel I had found.

“Wait, do you intend to fight them?” Watcher asked as I began to dry myself, having placed the statuettes of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie safely back inside my saddlebags; somehow, Watcher managed to make the mechanical voice sound bewildered. “You heard that there’s over twenty of them, right?”

“Yes, I did hear you sweetie, but I am left with no choice. I must confront them; I will not put Ditzy’s life at risk,” I told him, firmly.

Watcher fell silent. “They were about an hour by hoof from here last time I checked on them, which was about ten minutes ago,” he finally said as I vigorously brushed my mane. “I’ll check again for the other stuff. Do you know any offensive spells?”

“Doesn’t really matter, sweetie, I can’t use magic at all currently. Magical burnout,” I specified.

I could almost feel his eyes growing wider from behind his controllers. “Weapons?”

“Only melee, and I’m not very experienced with using them. I won’t carry a gun, much less use one,” I told him truthfully.

“You’re… what about your sleeping friend?” Watcher asked, his mechanical voice hiding his panic, if he felt it, rather well.

“I doubt I’ll have managed to wake her up before they arrive, and even if I could, she is in no condition for a fight. She lost her leg, and although I reattached it, she lost a lot of blood; I had to transfuse her some of mine so she wouldn’t die.”

Again, Watcher fell silent. “Okay, let me get this straight,” he finally said several seconds later. “You want to face twenty raiders, alone, with no magic, no weapons and low on blood after a transfusion.” I nodded. “Your griffin friend’s opinion of you being the Wasteland’s dumbest genius seems well earned. You’re going to die.”

I snorted. “Do you know what the symbol on my flank is?” I asked him, leaning a little so he could better see my cutie mark. “It’s the Ouroboros, the symbol of infinity and wholeness, of the infinite cycle of life and death, the creation and destruction. Ever since it appeared on my flank, I’ve known that my destiny is to understand that cycle, to find out the real and absolute Truth of this world.” I trotted closer to the sprite-bot, so that I would stand right before it, staring straight into where I assume its camera was hidden. “I will not die, not here, not today, not ever. Now,” I added, turning around, my still partially wet tail swishing before the sprite-bot, “are you going to help me prepare, sweetie?”

Footnote: 75% to next level!

Author's Notes:

Thanks to Zaleros, guardianxela and Sage Probo for their editing/proofreading, and to TimePrincess for the last check-ups (thanks sweetie ). Also, special thanks for Kkat for creating this wonderful universe of Fallout Equestria^^ And to Somber for creating Project Horizons, which is considered here as much canon as the original FoE^^

Ah, also, I might have already mentioned that I decided that I consider Homelands, Project Horizons' sequel also by Somber to be about as canon, too, but recently I decided to include into the "canon" category Speak (another PH's sequel) by Heartshine as well; was a bit hesitant to do so, but only because it's an on-going story (same with Homelands, was also hesitant because of this), so there could some inconsistencies between our stories further along the line. Buuut I think it will work out... plus I enjoy those stories too much to let that bother me (seriously, look those up, they're great^^) So thanks to Heartshine for Speak too^^

On that note, though, I do intend to acknowledge as many FoE stories as canon, as much as ones is capable off. It's just that those mentioned above are sort of "absolute canon" thing... and I didn't read the others as many times... (still have to finish Murky Number Seven and catch up with Heroes I really need to find the time to sat down to those...)

PS: That scene with Watcher walking in on Angel taking a bath? Fanart artists, do your worst

Chapter Ten: Unlikely Assembly

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“Just because somepony is ladylike doesn't make her weak. In fact, by using her wits, a seemingly defenseless pony can be the one who outsmarts and outshines them all.”

“This is a stupid plan,” Watcher told me, the mechanical, emotionless voice the sprite-bot emitted somehow managing to sound exasperated.

Having already heard his opinion regarding my plan, I didn’t even turn my head to regard the sprite-bot. I did, however, grace him with a reply, “Yes, sweetie, I heard you the first time. However, since you don’t have a better plan, I’m afraid that’s the course I must take.”

I also made a mental note to ask Watcher about his gender after this was over; the thought that I continuously assumed his gender to be male while it could very well be a mare on the proverbial “other side” of the machine speaking to me really bothered me!

“I have a better plan,” Watcher argued, most likely irritated. “It’s the ‘getting back into the Stable and closing the damn door’ plan.”

This time I turned my head towards him as I replied, but doing so had caused a lock of my mane to fall into my eye as a gust of wind suddenly blew. Slightly shaking from cold as it washed over my naked coat, I brushed my mane off and said “I’ve already told you, sweetie, I will not risk the lives of Ditzy and - most likely - Jack.”

“So instead you just put your life not at risk, but at certain death! Or worse!”

“There are a few things I consider worse than death, sweetie,” I responded. “None of which I believe those raiders are capable of.”

“I think you’d reconsider if you’d ever been into any of their camps,” Watcher pointed out. “Which for all we know might happen quite soon!”

I turned away from him, gazing in the direction from where Watcher had told me they would approach. I still couldn’t see them, as they were currently about ten minutes away from us. Having finished my preparations, however, I came outside to wait for them. I had hoped that I could mentally prepare myself by stretching out a little and attempting to meditate, while listening to the gentle whistling of the wind and the songs DJ Pon3 played on his broadcast, which I had tuned to with my PipBuck.

Of course, between the sprite-bot that continued to convey my unknown ally’s misgivings and two apparitions only I could see, one which was shaking with worry and other pacing around nervously, I hadn’t had an opportunity to sit down and attempt to clear my thoughts.

“If you get back inside, they will most likely stay out here try to find a way to get in, yes,” Watcher tried again after a short silence, probably having taken a few breaths to calm himself. “When your friends arrive, they will shoot at them, yes. But it doesn’t mean they’ll even hit them, let alone kill them. Ditzy Doo and that griffin will just fly away and come back after they raiders had left.”

“And you really think they’d leave after they saw with their own eyes somebody trying to reach the Stable?” I countered. “Ditzy’s arrival would be like a confirmation that there is something inside. No, the raiders would stay here, and who knows what would happen then? With myself and Apple Core cut out of the outside world in the Stable, we wouldn’t know. We could stay until our rations would run out and try to leave, only to be captured, or don’t open the Stable door out of fear and starve to death.” I shook my head. “I prefer to do something while I know what is happening. While I possess enough information to act. Furthermore… ”

I trailed off, my gaze searching for the freshly dug grave. The final resting piece of Burst and Blast’s remains was just a few yards away.

“I’ve already lost two ponies because of my…” I began, then hesitated. My fear? My indecision? “My weakness. Burst and Blast would have been alive if only I had acted differently. I will not repeat this mistake and put two more in danger. This time, I will take the best course of action.”

My resolve had seemingly not convinced Watcher to stop trying to dissuade me. “Angel, please-”

“Why are you so concerned about me?” I finally asked, turning back. I tilted my head as I looked at the sprite-bot curiously. “You don’t know me, we’ve met only the day before. Assuming that it could be called a meeting, given the nature of your… approach method,” I said as I decided on the words I wanted to use, waving at the machine before me to emphasize my point. “And yet you seem very determined to help me survive this.”

“Are you complaining?” Watcher asked.

“Of course not, sweetie, I am merely curious,” I quickly assured him, then smiled sadly. “I’m afraid that the concern for me you exhibit is rather… uncharacteristic for a Wastelander.”

A deep sigh emerged from the sprite-bot. “Yeah, tell me about it… Look, I just want to help you because it’s the right thing to do. Do you always need a reason to help somepony?”

“Sweetie, that’s hardly the same,” I waved off his question. “I took an oath to help others when I became a doctor.”

“Huh, I see…” Watcher said, trailing off as if pondering on what I had said. Slightly confused, I raised my eyebrow, which prompted him to resume our conversation. “Hey, wasn’t ‘first do no harm’ part of that oath? Because what you’re planning to do kinda-”

“Oh please, sweetie, my oath extends to sapient beings,” I snorted and rolled my eyes. “I highly doubt that those degenerates, who enjoy bringing pain and suffering to others, qualify as such.”

And besides, I added, my ears dropping, as I turned my gaze away from the sprite-bot, not wanting to risk Watcher seeing my thoughts reflected in my eyes, I’ve already broken that part of my oath.

“I suppose they don’t,” Watcher replied, sounding faintly amused. I was relieved he hadn’t noticed my change in demeanor. Another sigh escaped through the sprite-bot. “I can’t talk you out of it, can’t I?”

“No, you cannot, sweetie.”

“Well… I hope your plan works. If this doesn’t… I’m glad I got to meet you,” Watcher said. “You… really are an interesting pony.”

“Thank you, sweetie, and I’m sure you will continue to find me interesting after this unpleasant ordeal will be over,” I told him, finding it slightly irritating that he apparently held such little faith in my plan and my survival. However, my annoyance vanished immediately as an idea struck me. “But since it you seem convinced that I will be killed,” I began, turning to the sprite-bot and smirking, “how about we make a bet?”

“A bet?” Watcher asked, the very subtle pause between ‘a’ and ‘bet’ suggesting a confusion.

I nodded. “Yes. If my plan fails and I die, you win, and as a reward you’ll get to say that you were right.”

“I fail to see how that’s a reward,” Watcher replied; I had a feeling that he was deadpanning at his monitor at me.

“I find that such if often the case when it comes to being right,” I told him, smiling sadly.

“I mean, even overlooking the fact that I don’t want you to die, I wouldn’t even get to brag about being right to anypony, since nopony else would know about it.”

“Well, I suppose you could brag to raiders about it,” I suggested, actually pondering Watcher’s dilema.

“Yeah, ‘cause that would be a great conversation as they- wait, why the heck are we talking about this?!” As if to emphasize his annoyance and that he considered this part of our conversation over, Watcher made the sprite-bot shake briefly. “And if your plan works? What do you win?”

A smirk returned to my muzzle. “If I win, I want to meet you, face to face.”

The sprite-bot stayed remained silent for a several seconds afterwards, hovering next to me. I stared at it, patiently waiting for Watcher’s answer, curious to how he would react.

“I…” Watcher finally began, only to hesitate.

“Honestly, sweetie?” I spoke, letting a little pretense to slip into my voice. “You expect me to die within the next ten minutes, and you can’t even agree to such a simple request?”

“It’s not a simple request,” Watcher replied defensively. “I don’t exactly meet with other ponies to begin with. But… sure,” he finally said, “if your plan works and you survive, we’ll meet face to face… someday.”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at his either shrewdness or shyness, satisfied with his answer. “Then it’s a date,” I told him simply, turning back again towards the direction the raiders were coming. “Because my plan will work.”

The sprite-bot once again fell silent. I expected a follow-up comment from Watcher, but I was content to finally have some piece.

That being said, I had a feeling that wherever Watcher was (and whoever he - assuming he was a he - was, for that matter), he was currently rolling his eyes at me.

The peaceful moment, however, was brought to a halt, but not by Watcher or the two apparitions (who for once were being content to remain silent), or even by the sudden arrival of the vicious, murdering savages called raiders, but rather by the song played by my PipBuck ending, and instead of being followed by another song as had been the case as we waited beside the Rock Farm’s main office building, but instead by a stallion’s voice.

“Hey everypony, this is your friendly neighborhood DJ Pon3, interrupting the beautiful music of Sapphire Shores to bring you some news!”

Despite that I was about to be in a very dangerous situation within a few minutes, I found myself perking my ears at the sound of DJ Pon3’s voice. I was curious to hear what he had to say, especially since it has been a while since I managed to catch his news report.

That, and I had little other things to do at the moment.

“So, do you all remember how a few weeks ago I told you ‘bout some Stable gal running into slavers right after crawling out of her Stable?”

I blinked. “There was another Stable pony who run into-” I began to say out loud as I turned to the sprite-bot, only to stop and turn abruptly back to my PipBuck as realization hit me the. “Wait, is he talking about me?!” I exclaimed, surprised.

“Well, it turns out mine and whoever else’s prayers either worked amazingly well, or were unnecessary,” DJ Pon3 continued, oblivious to my confusion. “I’ve got a recent report that the said Stable Dweller had been recently sighted in New Appleloosa, in a company of slavers no less. So… what the heck girl? Are you hooking up with slavers? ‘Cause I gotta tell you, that’s some awful company to pick.

“Now, to be fair, guessing by her get-up, the mare seems to be a some sort of doctor, so maybe she’s now the old Appleloosa’s medic. But why would she have come to New Appleloosa then, escorted by slavers? I dunno kids, but if I hear anything interesting about this I’ll keep you posted. In other news...”

The following news escaped my notice as my attention drifted from the PipBuck. “How… I mean, I’ve come to New Appleloosa only two days ago,” I said, turning to the sprite-bot. “How could he possibly know… wait,” I said, a suspicion flickering in my mind. “Are you DJ Pon3, Watcher?”

It would have made sense; how else could DJ Pon3 learn so soon about my arrival in New Appleloosa, if he didn’t have an access to the old Equestria’s secret surveillance robots?

“No, that’s not me,” Watcher replied, however. I still stared at him, unconvinced. “I’m serious! Look, I just made a bet about you dying a moment ago, why the heck would I lie to you now?”

I blinked. “Huh, that’s a valid point,” I admitted, surrendering the argument and dispersing my suspicion. I looked thoughtfully at my PipBuck as DJ Pon3 wrapped up his news report. “Who is he, then? And how does learn about the events transpiring in the Wasteland that he reports about on his broadcast?”

“Dunno, and don’t really care,” Watcher said.

In the meantime, DJ Pon3 had finished, and was now announcing the broadcast return to playing songs. “And now we return to Sapphire Shores, with ‘Get Your Pony On!’”

As music once again began to play out of my PipBuck, another thought struck me. “And wait, did he say that he had talked about me?” I asked, turning to the sprite-bot.

“Yeah, he did. I think I even heard that one, back two weeks ago? What, don’t you listen to his station?”

“Oh, I do, I guess I must have missed that particular news report,” I replied, scratching my chin as I recalled how often I had been listening to DJ Pon3’s broadcast within the few days after leaving Stable Eight. However, noticing that the sprite-bot continued to hover next to me still turned towards me, without Watcher saying anything, which I interpreted as him staring at me. “Sweetie, I’m a busy mare, it’s not that surprising that I had missed some of DJ Pon3’s reports, the one about myself among them.”

“Oh, no, it’s not… I’ve been thinking about something else, actually,” Watcher replied. “About what he said about you and the slavers.”

Ah, that, I thought as I sighed.

“I believe we had established, sweetie, that I am not a fighter,” I told Watcher. “What was I supposed to do when I had stumbled upon a band of slavers exactly? I talked them down, healed their injured and offered my services. They brought me to old Appleloosa, and I managed to become the town’s medic. Thanks to that, I can offer the unfortunate ponies they capture some proper care,” I added, expecting what Watcher could say to that. “Which I wouldn’t be able if I had been forced to join them in shackles, or if I had been killed.”

Watched stayed silent for a few seconds, as if judging my response. Finally, he asked, “How often do you have to say that to yourself?”

Confused, I tilted my head. “To myself? Why would I say this to myself?”

My reply in turn seem to take Watcher aback, guessing by the barely hearable grunt the sprite-bot conveyed. “I…” Watcher began to say after a second, then stopped. “You know, let’s get through this for now,” he started again soon, making the sprite-bot turn towards the direction where the raiders would come from before turning back to me, “we can get back to this discussion later. And speaking of…” he added, turning the sprite-bot again and trailing off.

Following the robot’s gaze, I realized that there were now visible pony silhouettes far in the distance. At the same moment, my E.F.S. kicked in, showing red bars in their direction.

The raiders were here.

Well, almost, I corrected myself as I turned off my PipBuck’s broadcaster, watching as they shapes slowly grew bigger. Guess there’s no escaping…

I almost turned to look in the direction where the cellar door that led to the Stable Eleven was. I resisted, not because I didn’t want to appear weak before Watcher, but because I didn’t want to let doubt creep into my soul.

I can do this, I thought once again, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.

Of course you can! a loud, high-pitched voice resonated within my mind. I glanced at the apparition of Pinkie Pie as she gave me an encouraging smile. We’ve seen how you’ve talked down that meanie Scope, those “raiders” will be nothing compared to him!

Although I was happy to hear the pink apparition’s express her support and faith in me, I couldn’t help but point something out to her, It will be a tad different than with Scope though, sweetie.

Yeah, I know, Pinkie Pie replied, growing a bit somber and more serious. But it doesn’t matter, ‘cause you will make it work! Right Fluttershy? she asked, turning to the other apparition.

The tiny pegasus mare glanced at her friend, then at me. It was plain that she wasn’t looking forward to witnessing what was about to happen (not to mention to what could happen, my gruesome death among those), anymore that she had when I have confronted Scope. However, despite that, the apparition of Fluttershy smiled at me. Angel… I’m sure you will be fine. You might say that Burst and Blast died because of your weakness, but I see inner strength in you that I wish I had possessed. Now, um… go show it to those mean raiders! she ordered, managing to look at me with determination, although it was clear that she was straining to do so.

I smiled back at her. Thank you, sweetie. Both of you, I added, turning to smile at Pinkie Pie. Although, I added, looking back at Fluttershy, I would say that you have plenty of inner strength already.

Fluttershy blushed, but before she could respond or before I could continue my thought, a voice pulled me back to my surroundings.

“Angel?” Watcher asked, the sprite-bot moving slightly to the side.

Did he say my name just because he wanted to catch my attention, or have I made any weird facial expressions while talking with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie? I wondered briefly. Or, Goddesses forbid, have I talked out loud?

“It appears it’s time to start the show,” I said, ignoring my worries. “Will you still help me, sweetie?”

“I wouldn’t have stayed around here so long if I hadn’t planned to,” Watcher replied, the mechanical voice of the sprite-bot making it difficult to tell if my question had offended him. “I will do as you’ve asked.”

“Thank you, sweetie,” I said, rising from my haunches and stretching my legs a little.

“And for the record,” Watcher added, even though the sprite-bot had began to slowly make its way back to hide behind one of the ruined buildings, as I we had agreed he would, “I usually don’t help ponies this much.”

I turned to him, my mouth open… and then hesitated before speaking. I closed my mouth and regarded the sprite-bot, or rather, Watcher. I didn’t know him. I didn’t know anything about him, really. About the only thing I did know, though, was that he was helping me. That he went out of his way to warn me, and then stayed to help me, even if it was in this fashion that posed no risk to him. Watcher claimed that he was doing this because it was the right thing to do, and even if that wasn’t the truth - that there was some ulterior motive behind his actions - or even the whole truth, at this moment, it didn’t matter. If it weren’t for Watcher, I would have been still inside the Stable, probably still taking a bath, oblivious that a bunch of murderous savages were about to enter through the door that I had left open.

My gaze softened. “I’m grateful that you have made an exception for me, darling,” I told him, as warmly as possible.

“... Heh, no problem,” Watcher replied, the sprite-bot emitting noises that sounded like chuckling.

With that final exchange, I offered Watcher one last smile and turned away. I could almost feel the sprite-bot gaze lingering on me for a second as I trotted back towards the door of the main office building, before Watcher finally made the machine fly off to the spot we had agreed upon.

As I had set out, I turned to the two apparitions, warmed by my exchange with Watcher, and thinking of how supportive the two of them have been to me. Especially Fluttershy, who had been with me longer, and whom had seen more of me; despite our difference of opinions, she was still helping me. Well, darlings, I asked them, smiling, shall we?

With both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie replying to me with happy - if somewhat a little confused - smiles, I carried out the plan I had prepared.

As I passed the door - which fortunately had been left open during the evacuation to the Stable two hundred years ago - and the bear trap - the very same that I had walked into yesterday - that I had so carefully brought from the Stable and “rearmed”, then headed for my Stable barding and lab coat I had left on the desk. Ignoring the clothes for now, I grabbed a single little square that I had put on them.

A Party-Time Mint-al.

This was the part of the plan that I probably disliked the most. Not that I was against using chems (in moderation, of course); I was, after all, making bottle caps on the side by selling them to ponies, even if those ponies were slavers. Or that I feared developing an addiction to any chem (As if I would let myself be bound by something of that sort, I couldn’t help but snort mentally.); I knew all the effects drugs had on ponies, so I wouldn’t develop psychological addiction, and as for the physical one, I knew all the treatments to remedy them. My old mentor had made sure of that… along with the effects various drugs had on a pony, for that matter. (That was an… interesting day, to say the least.) No, what I didn’t like was the that the elevated state that came with using this particular drug, the clarity of thought of sharpness of senses, was only achievable after consuming said drug. I disliked the idea of having to rely on them to achieve it, or increase my physical strength and endurance by using Buck, or my reaction time by inhaling Dash.

I wanted to possess all of those without the need to use chems.

I wanted everypony to possess all of those.

I had already experienced the effects of a drug today. I’ve required a little boost to my strength that only Buck could provide me with in order to move what I needed from the Stable, like the bear trap. The effects of Buck had long since left me, and the sensation of how physically weak I truly was even more jarring. I wasn’t looking forward to a similar experience.

Knowing the time was of the essence, though, I didn’t hesitate for a second before consuming the Party-Time Mint-al, then made my way outside. I had reasoned with slavers and first intimidated then bartered with Scope, but now I was about to face an entire herd of ponies who defied logic with their savagery. Although I had planned out what I was going to do and say, and I was confident in myself, I intended to take every advantage I could get to maximise my chances.

Even before I passed the door, I felt the Party-Time Mint-al’s effect take hold; the world became brighter as my senses sharpened, and my thoughts clearer and calmer. I became more focused. I became more confident. And as I trotted towards the approaching raides (whom by now I could hear, courtesy of the drug I just took), I knew that I was going to win that bet with Watcher.

I didn’t have to walk far. I just reached the edge of the ruined barracks when the raiders spotted me. Almost all of them roared with maniacal laughter at my sight, and several broke into gallop. Some raised their weapons, but upon realizing that I was completely unarmed, they lowered them, their grins deepening.

I merely smiled and sat down.

As I expected, my behaviour threw them off. They were used to ponies either running away in terror or shooting at them (though I’d suspect the latter was probably their less favorite). They’ve never seen a pony who upon the sight of raiders would just sit down and wait patiently for them. The ones that ran ahead of the group had slowed down, gazing at me with a mixture of suspicion and confusion. And a promise of violence, that part hadn’t changed. Still, though, they advanced upon me, the ones who had run ahead beginning to encircle me, as if I was a prey and they were the predators.

An allegory that may very well be on point.

Or had been, rather, I commented, smirking in my thoughts.

My eyes darted around at them as they surrounded me. Just as Watcher had told me, there were seventeen stallions and seven mares in the group, twenty four in total. They carried a variety of weapons, from knives and baseball bats to short firearms and battle saddles. They all carried marks of hard life on their bodies, scars poking out from underneath their bardings and missing teeth (and the others having yellow buildup on them, either plaque or tartar), which I noticed thanks to them grinning at me. And their leader…

“Well well, lootit at what we have here boys,” their leader said, grinning. He was a big, grimm looking unicorn stallion with three scars on the left side of his muzzle, one reaching all the way above his brow and most likely being related to the cataract in his left eye. However, I didn’t pay much thought to his medical history, preoccupied with my own survival. He carried a rifle of sorts, but upon seeing how defenseless I was he had strapped it to his back. “A pretty new plaything, all spruced up and ready for some fun,” he added, looking me up and down with a gaze that could be both lustful and hungry, an expressions mirrored by the other raiders.

Well, I got them into talking distance without getting shot, I noted, activating S.A.T.S. for the last-moment mental preparations. Now…

Scope was intelligent, and wanted information from me. Him, I could have intimidated. With raiders, however, Demon’s advice wouldn’t have worked so well. Fear causes ponies to make rash, not thought out decisions (Or make ponies dumb, as most would simply put.), and based on what I’ve heard of raiders, intelligence wasn’t their forte to begin with. If I’d try to intimidate them to gain the upperhoof in our conversation, I would very likely end up being shot by them. Possibly not even on purpose, one raider could just pull a trigger by accident out of fear.

I tried to not think if being killed by raiders by accident would be considered ridiculous in the Wasteland.

No, intimidation wouldn’t work. Fortunately, Demon wasn’t the only one who had given me advices when it comes to conversing with others.

… now is time to put some of Granny’s training to use.

~ ~ ~

I cleared my throat, gazing at my reflexion in the full body mirror and tried again. “Why, hello sweetie,” I said, softening my gaze and flickering my hoof in greeting. “It’s such a pleasure to see you today. May I help you with something?”

A pleased hum sound behind me. “Good, you’ve said it without your voice quivering this time at all, dear.”

Dropping my composure and beaming up happily, I turned around. “Really Granny?” I asked, surprised that I’ve managed to get it right.

The majestic elderly mare that laid comfortably on the couch chuckled warmly. “Yes, my Little Angel, although it would be ideal if you’d notice this yourself. If you want to command ponies attention while talking to them, you need to pay attention to their voices and facial expressions so that you’d know how to best adjust your demeanor and words. Also,” she added, winking at me playfully, “you shouldn’t break your composure just because something went according to your design, or that you were distracted.”

“Oh, right,” I exclaimed, my ears dropping in embarrassment.

My reaction caused Granny to chuckle again, a bit louder. Knowing that this wasn’t a mean-spirited chuckle, I relaxed, and waited patiently for her finish. As I looked at her, her light gray, almost silver coat and her wavy mane that became gray with age even before I had been born (the slight division between darker and lighter gray flocks were all that remained from her original mane colors), I thought once again how lucky I was to have such an amazing pony as my relative. Thinking that I had the genes of the most admired pony in Stable Eight, even if my own were flawed, always filled me with pride. But there was more than that; she was simply the best grandma ever! She was super kind, would almost always spend time with me whenever I wanted to or when Mom was busy, and always had advice for me whenever something was troubling me.

Like now.

A few days ago, we had been asked during our classes who would want to become after we’d graduate. Although most fillies and colts had said that they don’t know yet, I immediately replied when it was my turn that I wanted to be a doctor.

“Oh yeah?” Candy Bell had exclaimed, looking at me with jeer. “And how will you talk with your patients where you can hardly talk to anypony, Whitey?”

My ears had dropped from embarrassment at the remark (and the sneers that followed), but it have gotten me thinking: Candy Bell had a point. There were only about six ponies in the entire Stable that I was able to talk with comfortably. Anytime I would talk with anypony else, even if they weren’t making fun of me or weren’t sneering at me and would just talk to me like to a normal pony, I would get nervous. I would stutter and have troubles looking them into the eyes. But when I would become a doctor, I would not only have to talk with my patients, I would have to tell them what they have to do to get better, prescribe them medicines and spells and make sure they listen to me. How could I do that?

Realizing that I had to find some way to overcome my conversation problems, I had decided to confide in my grandmother the very same day. I hadn’t done it just because I knew how supportive and kind she was, but because I knew she would have some advice for me on this matter. After all, who knew more about speaking to ponies authoritatively than her?

As I explained to Grandma about what was troubling me, she had looked at me with kind understanding. “I see,” she had said as I finished. “It would be indeed a problem for a doctor if she couldn’t talk to her patients.”

I nodded, my ears dropping in shame as I looked down at the floor.

“Darling, there is nothing to feel shame about,” Granny had almost immediately added. Her hoof reached under my chin and lifted my head up so that my ugly red eyes would meet her beautiful green eyes. “Everypony gets nervous from time to time when they talk with somepony. And the way most of them had been treating you it’s no wonder you have those problems more often,” she had added in a lower, grumbly-like voice, glancing at the door leading out of our living quarters with a dismayed frown. I tilted my head in confusion, but before I could say anything Granny continued, “In any case, dear, I believe I have a solution to your dilema.”

Immediately, my ears perked up and I looked at her attentively, curious what she had in mind.

“What we’re going to do, dear, is teach you the art of eloquence, so that you will know how to control the conversation,” Granny had said, smirking. As I looked at her with confusion again, she explained, “Part of being nervous when talking to others comes from being unsure of what the other pony is going to say or do. Therefore, if you know how to captivate their attention darling, what to say to them and how, and how to make them want to do as you ask of them, you’ll no longer feel nervous.”

Tilting my head, I thought over what Granny had just said. “Hmm… I think I understand...” I said slowly. “It’s something like what Demon once told me about, about not showing fear to bullies and trying to intimidate them?”

“Precisely dear, except you won’t be intimidating ponies but learning how to convince them into agreeing with you or doing what you’d ask them to,” Granny had explained. Then booping my nose she added “And unlike your little friend, I will also teach you how to do it. And I don’t mean to brag, darling, but I think everypony in Stable Eight would agree that there’s nopony better than myself when it comes to convincing others. Of course, there is also the fact that I am always right, but…” Granny continued to rumble about the times from long before my birth, but although I listened and nodded politely, I was busy contemplating with excitement Granny’s words.

It was true, nopony in Stable Eight would ever say that Granny wasn’t a… master of eloquence. Or that she wasn’t always right. I had seen many times how everypony would agree to do whatever she asked them to, even the current Overmare. That the conversation she would have with somepony would always go as she’d wanted it to. I might have never really thought that there could be a way that there could be a way for somepony to learn how to control conversation like her, but now that I had been presented with such possibility…

… the thought that I would be able to talk with others like a normal pony, without feeling nervous, had almost overwhelmed me. In that moment I realized that even if I wouldn’t require better social skills in order to make other ponies better as a doctor, I would still want to learn from my grandmother.

So we started our lessons. First Granny wanted me to learn to speak in the same manner as her. That part was easy; with Granny spending time with me almost everyday for all the eight years of my life, I knew how she spoke by heart. Putting all that knowledge into practice, though - even if for now said practice just involved speaking out loud and before a mirror - was a bit harder.

“Let's take a little break, dear,” Granny said, patting the spot on the couch beside her. Nodding obediently, I trotted over and climbed onto the couch, then reached for the glass of water with my magic, feeling a little perched. “You’re doing very well, but I believe it’s time we start practicing on other ponies. Now,” Granny added, holding her hoof up as I looked at her with worry, having almost spilled my water, “when I say other ponies, I mean Demon or Emerald, or your mom. It’s important that we first build your up confidence so that you’ll feel natural and at ease while speaking, darling,” she explained, gazing at me affectionately, “I would not have you start talking with other ponies yet.”

“Oh, I see,” I said, a little embarrassed that I hadn’t figured out what she had meant. “Although… I already feel at ease while speaking in this manner, Grandmother,” I added, smiling shyly. “After all, I’ve heard you speak like this all my life.”

Granny chuckled and brushed my mane. “True, I suppose, although it’s a tad different speaking like somepony than just hearing them. And besides-”

“- it’s important I also learn what to do when I speak, how to stand and what expression I am making, right?” I finished for her, smiling.

“Exactly, my Little Angel. As I’m sure you realize, maintaining your composure while speaking with somepony will be even harder than just remembering how to speak. But I’m sure you will learn how to do that,” Granny added, her confidence filling me with pride. However, before I could thank her for having such faith in me, she sighed, appearing a little downcast. “It is a pity that you aren’t a bit older though; there are some… special manners of speaking that make convincing colts much easier, but I believe we should wait a few years before I teach those to you.”

“Special manners of speaking?” I asked, confused. “What do you mean? And why would they just work on colts?” I added, unsure why they would work on colts and not on fillies.

“Well, I suppose you could say that they would work on fillies too,” Granny admitted. Smirking and uttering a short giggle, she continued, “From my experiences, it usually makes them nervous at least, giving you the advantage in the conversation if you can use that well. However, I’m sure you’d find that colts a bit more… easier to manipulate with this method,” Granny explained, making a circular motion with her forehoof to emphasize her words. “Which is one of the two reasons why I am not going to teach this method now; you are a very smart filly dear, but I want to be sure you are mature enough to not abuse your powers,” she added, her serious demeanor belaying the funny tone with which she said that last word.

I shiver went down my spine at the implication of Granny’s words.

“Of course,” she added, her gaze relaxing, “I’m sure that if you’d ever abuse them, it would have been unintentionally. I know you’d never wish to harm anypony dear,” Granny said, again brushing my mane affectionately.

I nodded fiercely, not even wanting to imagine harming somepony. Still, I couldn’t help but try to figure out what exactly Granny meant, with this method working better on colts and wanting to wait until I was older before telling me about it, and with this method being able to hurt somepony…

“Oh!” I exclaimed, realization hitting me. I pulled away from Granny, excited that I had figured it out despite how vague hints I had been given. “It’s related to sex, isn’t it?”

I was rewarded with a sight that I had never seen before: my grandmother staring at me in utter bewilderment. Her green eyes were wide open and her mouth was half-opened, as if she was speechless. It was such a weird sight that the elevation I had felt mere seconds ago had left me, replaced with confusion and worry. (And a little bit of amusement; if this wasn’t Granny I would have probably laughed.)

As expected of her, though, she quickly recovered. Shaking her head a little, Granny looked at me, a slight furrow on her brow. “Angel, sweetie, where have you heard that word?”

Now it was my eyes’ turn to be wide opened, with my ears immediately dropping. Granny ever called me “sweetie” only when she was upset with me. (Which of course had happened literally only a few times; I was always “dear”, “darling”, or “Little Angel”.)

“Um… I, um, read about it in Daddy’s medical textbooks,” I hesitely began to reply, stammering; all those eloquence lessons went out of the door. “W-well, to be precise, what I’ve read there was about genitals and reproduction in general, but I-I was curious and wanted to know just how exactly foals are made, so I looked up, the um… s-some other books…” I confessed, knowing that I was only digging myself deeper into trouble.

I felt as if Granny’s eyes were drilling into my soul. “What books?” she asked, calm and not angry despite her frown.

“Um… some books from your private library,” I answered, shaking. Upon Granny uttering a groan and raising her forehoof to her face, I felt myself slightly relax, but only slightly; I was probably still in trouble. “I’m sorry, Granny, I know I’m not supposed to borrow any of your books without asking first, but-”

I finally snapped out of my fear and stopped talking, just before I was about to get Demon in trouble too, by mentioning how he had pointed out to me once that since my grandmother always lends me the books I’d ask for so I might as well just borrow them without asking.

Fortunately, Granny hadn’t paid attention to how I had stopped so abruptly, as she spoke a mere second afterwards, “Yes, well, the whole point of that was so that you wouldn’t read those few books you obviously had, so we can pretty much throw that rule out the Stable door now,” she commented, rolling her eyes.

To my relief, she actually sounded more amused than upset… but I still detected a hint of annoyance in her voice. Looking down at my forehooves, I tried to apologize, “I’m really sorry, Granny.”

I heard her sigh and felt her put her hoof gently on top of my head. “It’s alright, Little Angel, I’m not mad. A little disappointed, maybe,” she added as I looked up at her; I cringed hearing her words, but at the same time I noticed that despite what she said, Granny was smirking at me with amusement. “But I can see you know you shouldn’t have read my books without asking, so for the moment I am more worried about you knowing things a filly shouldn’t learn until they are older. Although in all honesty,” Granny amended, rolling her eyes as she sighed again, “considering how curious you are, we all should have expected you would find out about said things sooner. Soo… how much exactly do you know?”

“Oh, about everything!” I replied, unsure if I should still feel sorry or be proud to show off what I knew. And I knew so much that I didn’t even know what to say first! “I know about all kinds of sex and sexual behaviours, oh and that during their estrus cycle, also called heat, mares can get impregnated during the sexual intercours by a stallion resulting in a pregnancy. And that in a few years I will be going through puberty, resulting in changes caused by the hormonal signals my brain will send to my ovaries, resulting in-”

I would have gone on listing all those changes, then probably would have circled back to sex and started listing all those “positions” from the Zebra Sutra, but Granny had decided to press her hoof against my lips.

“Alright, I believe you, you know everything,” she said; Granny looked as if she couldn’t decide whether she should be amused or disturbed. “Way more than a filly your age should... Well, on the plus side, I suppose you’ve spared your mother having ‘the talk’ with you few years from now,” she added, casting her gaze to the side briefly. “Dear, have you told any other foal about what you know?” Granny asked, again looking at me with a slight frown.

“N-no, I hadn’t,” I replied, thankful that it was true. “I only talk with Demon and Emerald about stuff I learn, and Demon was busy training for the Little League, and Emerald was busy with her internship.”

Granny continued to stare at me for a few seconds, making me nervously wonder if she hadn’t believed me, but fortunately she finally relaxed. “Alright, then here’s what we’ll do darling; we wait until your mom comes home so we can talk about when you should have sex and with whom, and you do not talk about any of this to anypony until you’re older. Do you understand?”

Automatically, I nodded, but I couldn’t help but ask: “Not even Demon?”

“Yes,” Granny replied immediately, her brow again slightly furrowing.

My ears dropped; I didn’t like to keep anything from him.

Seeing my reaction, Granny relaxed the very next second and looked at me thoughtfully. “You can talk about this with Emerald, though.”

I brightened up at that thought; the young mare had always supportive of my interest, even if sometimes it looked as if she was disturbed by them, and would always talk with me about them and whatever I had learned.

“She’s a smart filly and had by now learned how inquisitive you are,” Granny continued. “So I’m sure she won’t be too surprised that you know about sex. And talking with a filly closer to your age will help you understand everything better than listening to old mares like me or your mom,” she added, chuckling.

“But why can’t I talk about it with anypony else?” I asked, not really understanding that part.

“Because those are things fillies and colts are supposed to learn when they are older,” Granny replied, giving out a tired sigh. “When you are of age when you go through puberty and start paying attention to other ponies in that way.”

“Well… that’s silly,” I confessed, frowning. “Why does it have to be until then? Especially since puberty doesn’t begin at a specific age, for each pony it starts at their own time.”

Again, Granny appeared to be somewhat amused. “Yes, well, I don’t make the rules.”

I blinked, confused. “Um, but Granny, didn’t you make like half the rules in Stable Eight?”

“But I didn’t make that one, you smart Little Angel,” Granny countered, looking at me with what I recognized to be a fake annoyance.

“Oh, I see,” I replied, still a little confused. However, I abandoned pondering how weird that rule was as I recalled what we had been talking about originally. “Wait; what was this ‘special manner of speaking’ you’ve mentioned, then?”

“Hm? Oh, right, that…” Granny replied, somewhat hesitantly. After a second, though, she shrugged. “I’ve meant speaking seductively, darling. It’s easier to control the conversation if you appeal to their sexuality, make them think you are interested in them. Which is, again, something that you shouldn’t learn until your older. And as I had mentioned, you could easily hurt somepony’s feelings if you… overuse such skills.”

“I see,” I said once again, although this time I wasn’t sure if I understood her. “So… you mean that by speaking seductively one would make them believe that I am sexually interested in them, and therefore they would, um… ‘lower their guard’?” I asked, recalling the phrase Granny had once used to describe. As she nodded, I frowned, then looked down. “But, Granny… why would they be sexually interested in me? I-I mean,” I added, feeling my eyes become a little wet, “look at me, I’m-”

But Granny didn’t let me finish. Once again, she reached with her hoof under my chin to lift my head so that I could look her in the eyes. As I saw those green eyes full of love, I fell silent. “I am looking at you, Angel, everyday,” Granny said, her voice filling me with warmth. “And everytime I see a beautiful young filly, who is going to grow up into a beautiful mare. Your albinism doesn’t make you any less beautiful; me and your parents have kept telling you this for years. It’s about time you start believing us. And when you do, darling,” she added, her hoof moving from under my chin to my mane, brushing a lock of hair gently from my forehead, “trust me, everypony else will finally stop being stupid and see your beauty.”

Although I had heard similar words many times over, what Granny said stirred something in me as I looked into her eyes. Maybe it was the certainty with which she spoke, maybe the more “grown-up” things we had just discussed a moment before had made me look at this differently, or maybe the fact that she had been teaching me eloquence so that I could control conversation whenever I would talk with a pony, not giving them a chance to look down at me because of my albinism. Possible all of the above.

“You… you really think I’m beautiful, Granny?” I asked quietly, hopefully.

Granny smiled. “You are my granddaughter, and my daughter’s daughter. We’re both beautiful mares - well, at least I used to be,” Granny amended, rolling her eyes with a little frown, making me confused again, “ - so there’s no way you wouldn’t be beautiful, now is there?”

Although I had to agree that what Granny was said was logical, I didn’t understand one part. “Well, um, yes, genetically speaking I should have high chances of being beautiful too.” Except for the recessive genes I had inherited that caused my disorder, I thought, but chose to keep that to myself, too concerned about the more important issue. “But, Granny… why did you say you ‘used to be’ beautiful?” I asked, still not understanding it. “You still are beautiful.”

Granny chuckled warmly. “Thank you, dear, but you should tell that to my wrinkles,” she said, shaking her head.

Now I was even more confused. “Why would your wrinkles make you any less beautiful?” I asked, tilting my head.

My question caused Granny to blink and stare at me for a second in surprise, then to smile. She leaned towards me and kissed me on the forehead. “I sometimes forget how special you are, Little Angel,” she sighed as she moved her head back a little so that we could look each other in the eyes again. “Just between you and me? Of all my grandfoals, or all my descendants even, if I had to pick the most beautiful one, it would be you, my Little Angel,” Granny said, smiling.

My jaw dropped in utter surprise. I knew that Granny wouldn’t lie to me, but… even as immense warmth had began to spread through me at such a phrase, my mind argued that I should disagree, after all I had made my genealogical tree for school and I knew there was no way I could be the most beautiful pony of all Granny’s descendants. As if sensing the conflict within me, though, the older mare pulled me into a hug, stopping my train of thoughts.

“You put too much thought into things that are decided by the heart, darling,” she told me, amusement creeping into her voice. Before I could ask what she meant, she broke the hug and looked at me attentively. “Now, since we still have a few hours before your mom gets home, how about I give you those lessons in talking seductively?”

“I… now?” I exclaimed, my earlier thoughts already dispersing out of sheer surprise as Granny’s question took me aback. “But you said that I should be older, and that you’d want to make sure I wouldn’t abuse those skills…”

Granny chuckled warmly. “Yes, well, I’m pretty sure I also said that I am sure you’d never hurt a pony, didn’t I? Besides, I’m not getting any younger here, better not wait,” she added, chuckling again. “So, are you ready?”

Despite my shock, I almost immediately nodded and jumped down from the couch, and stood in attention before Granny, as eager to learn more as always.

“Alright, first of all: eye contact is important, and you should keep your eyes half-lidded, squinting your eyelids like this…”

~ ~ ~

It was amusing that, despite the way everypony else was treating me, I consider those to be better days, I mused as I recalled the memory of my grandmother roundabout way of giving me confidence in myself, feeling a wave of nostalgia wash over as I remained still due to the S.A.T.S. continuously being active. However, that was about to end. With a mental sigh, I deactivated it. If I ever hope to go back to them, I need to make it through this…

With the S.A.T.S. no longer active, my perception of time had returned to normal, making it seem like everything had unfrozen. As the lead raider resumed trotting towards me carefree, his muzzle resumed twisting into even more lustful expression by seconds as his only good eye scrolling up and down my naked body.

And so, I did the only thing I could to ensure my survival and continued relative comfort. I gazed into his eye, keeping my own seductively half-lidded. “Hello there,” I purred, my voice becoming as sweet as honey. The raider leader stopped, taken aback. “My, I must say, I have never seen a stallion as…” I trailed off, letting my gaze sweep over him appraisingly, then, swish an excited swish of my tale, I finished, locking my ruby eyes with his again, “verile as you.”

The raider leader blinked at me in surprise, and he wasn't the only one. Clearly, it didn’t happen often for a mare such as myself to flirt with any of them, especially not when they had come with an intention to kill.

Eventually, though, the scarred raider recovered. His smirk returned as he crossed what little remained of the distance between us. “Ha! It’s refreshing to meet a bitch that knows her place,” he said, stopping beside me and placing his foreleg around my shoulders. “Well, this is your lucky day,” he said, the side of his face with his good eye (the one turned to me now) grinning. “Since you seem like you're itching for some good fun, we will happily oblige you. But first-”

“‘We’?” I interrupted him, making sure to gaze at him not flirtatiously, not with amusement or outrage, but a gentle surprise. “You intend to share me?”

As I’ve predicted, my ideally acted reaction had caused the raider leader to throw his head back and laugh (along with most of the other raiders). He had also squeezed me a little harder, but otherwise he hadn’t hurt me.

“Aw, being prude now, aren’t you?” the raider leader asked me in an almost patronizing manner, lifting his other forehoof to my chin and slightly raising my muzzle; he probably intended to do so forcibly, but I had obediently moved, not letting him use too much strength. “Sorry little bitch, you don’t get to decide who’ll be rutting you silly.”

It took a lot of willpower to not cringe at such crude language. However, I managed to continue to act as I had planned.

Still looking him in the good eye, I again lowered my eyelids seductively as I put my forehoof on his below my chin. “You misunderstood me, handsome,” I told him quietly, though still perfectly audible for all the others, my hoof sensually brushing along his leg. “I do not mind playing with all of you… I am merely surprised you don’t want to keep me for yourself. Then again,” I added, allowing myself to smirk, “I suppose it’s understandable since you haven’t experienced a night with me yet.”

“Oh?” the raider’s leader exclaimed, sounding intrigued. “You’re saying you’re that good in the sheets, huh?”

Uttering a giggle, I looked at him with a mixture of patronizing and sexual admiration. “Do you know how many erogenous zones there are on a pony’s body?” Not waiting for an answer - especially since I wasn’t sure if he knew what ‘erogenous zones’ actually were; by the way his ears had perked though I assumed he had at least he reacted to the ‘ero’ part - I leaned to his ear. “I do. I know each and every erogenous zone of a pony’s body, as well as the most sensual ways to… stimulate them,” I added sultry as I drew back, my hoof slipping from his leg to his neck, caressing it.

The raider stared at me, defocused, as his brain was being stimulated by the signals I was sending into thinking about mating. His grip around my shoulders had loosened, and he was obviously not paying attention to what was around him, so lost he was in the thoughts his mind was conjuring and in my ruby gaze. Had I had a knife with me, I would have probably could have quite easily stab him in the throat, ending the life of a raider viscous enough to survive whatever had left those scars on his face. Alas, I didn’t have any weapon.

Because I wouldn’t need one to end them all.

With the raider’s grip so loose, I easily slipped free from it. “A night with me, alone, would be like an eternity in Heaven,” I told him as I trotted slowly past him while brushing my naked coat against his chest and neck, flickering my tail near his nose and turning my head back to capture him in my seductive gaze again.

I suppressed any thought about actually having a coitus with this repulsive savage. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to not shake with disgust if I thought about it too much.

After several seconds - during which the scarred raider’s penis began to emerge from its sheath - I turned my gaze away, just as his mouth began to open. “But if you intend to share me with others,” I spoke up in a sultry tone, cutting him off before he could even utter a single word, “then that’s your choice.” My eyes scanned the crowd around me. All those raiders were staring at me, almost all with lust in their eyes. I let my eyes linger on a few of them - those that were bigger or more scarred, all that seemed most likely to start act violently - before smiling in the most sultry manner, tilting my head slightly and asking, “Well, who’s first?”

About three bucks jumped the very next seconds towards me, and would have no doubt been joined by more if their leader wouldn’t have gave out an excited yowl. At the sound of his voice those three froze and turned their eyes from me to him. With satisfaction I noted that while they have been startled by the scarred raider, their expressions were more angry than scared.

“Well, looks like we got ourselves a very nice find,” the raider leader said as he trotted over to me. He slapped my flank and chuckled when, despite my composure, I did shudder a little and yelped, which I managed to make sound like a pleased moan. “Oh, you will fit right in baby with that attitude. But before you and I get to know each other a little better-”

“And why exactly do you get to fuck her first?” one of the three raiders that had tried to reach me spoke up unexpectedly, frowning the scarred buck.

The raider’s leader paused to cast him an annoyed deadpanning glare - in which I managed to catch a subtle threat - before continuing, “- we actually came here looking for whoever killed some of our guys a few miles back there. That wouldn’t happen to be you, wouldn’t it?” he asked, his tone jovial, but despite that his good eye glared at me cautious suspicion.

It was tempting to lie and tell him that it had indeed been me who killed their comrades, to see fear once again in the eyes of my adversary, like with Scope. I was curious how he and the others would react; would they laugh and think that I was joking, or would they believe me and I would gain some respect from them? However, the possibility of them killing me in retaliation was far more believable to me, so I didn’t even seriously consider it.

Sighing, I admitted the truth. “I believe they were killed by my companions.”

“Your companions?” the scarred back asked, immediately on alert.

“We were attacked by a group of five ponies, and my companions had killed them,” I continued, ignoring the raider leader as he glanced at few of his raiders and motioned with his head, giving them some sort of signal. The ones he had looked at began to turn and look around, probably on a lookout for anypony who could be near. “Most unfortunate turn of events.”

“I see. And those companions of yours are… where exactly?” he asked, his gaze hardening.

“Hm? Oh,” I exclaimed, as if only now I realized what he was implying, “they’re dead. Those things in the Stable had killed them almost as soon as we’ve began to explore it.”

The scarred raider blinked in surprise, possibly due to my rather balant tone, then relaxed again. “‘Things’, you say?”

“Yes, some weird monsters,” I lied, shaking a little. Based on the opinions regarding Stables circulating in the Equestrian Wasteland that I have heard so far and the conversations Apple Core had with Blast regarding what fate could have befallen Stable Eleven, I was fairly certain the raiders were going to believe this little story. “I didn’t get a good look at them. When they began slaughtering my companions I immediately ran back through the door and closed it.”

“Oh, is that so?” the scarred buck asked, glancing at those few raiders he had ordered to look around. They now had all turned back to him, all shaking their heads. Immediately he brightened up, his hard gaze disappearing as he looked back at me. “Well, since nopony is lying in waiting for us, I guess this means those things did our job for us. Now,” he added, placing his hoof on my back and proceeding to slide it down along my spine, “how about we-”

“Wait, seriously Clawface?!” one of the raiders, a mare, spoke up.

The scarred raider - apparently aptly named Clawface - turned to her with annoyance plain on his face, taking his hoof off me. I hoped that it didn’t show how I’d relaxed when he did so, despite my composure, I grew a little tense as his hoof neared my tail.

“You’re just gonna believe what that little horny bitch says?” the mare continued, her eyes glaring at me with venom before turning back to Clawface. “We should check the Stable to make sure.”

A slight wave of panic went over me, but for the moment I remained silent. I had to see how would things play out first before intervening.

“You want to get killed?” the scarred raider replied, snorting. “Be my guest. It would be funny if your stupidity kills you, like your brother.” Smirking, he glanced at another raider and asked, “Why’d he take the others out, again?”

“He said that the sprite-bot was spying on us,” the raider replied with a grin.

Oh, I exclaimed internally, recalling the raider from yesterday that had apparently noticed Watcher spying on them as a ripple of laughter went through the crowd around me. So she’s the sister of that buck… Hm, come to think of it, this situation is sort of Watcher’s fault… I wonder if that’s the reason why he’s helping me, maybe he feels guilty…

Dispersing the thought for now, I turned my attention to the raider mare, who, oddly, only seemed mildly angried by the remark regarding her brother. “If you’re done comparing me to that idiot,” she began (Huh, so much for sibling’s love amongst the raiders I suppose…), “maybe you fuckers will take the time to notice that you’re all thinking with your dicks right now. This bitch wagged her tail at you and you-”

“Forgive me, sweetie,” I interrupted her.

As entertaining as I found hearing somepony point out how stupid raiders were to be, I couldn’t risk this mare making them see what I was doing. Because of that, I decided to intervene. Fortunately, I was still under the effect of Party-Time Mint-als’ illuminating clarity, and I could easily pick just the right words to get the results I wanted.

Thanks to that, as I tilted my head and looked at her with surprise, I asked, “Are you… jealous?”

The raider mare turned to me, her eyes wide. “What?” she asked after a few seconds, her voice leveled, as if she really wasn’t sure if she had heard me right.

“Why, there’s no need to,” I continued, trotting towards her, but then stopping beside Clawface and turning to him. “I think I can manage to keep two ponies satisfied at the same time… what do you say?” I asked him, nodding my head in the direction of the raider mare without looking at her.

I didn’t have to wait long for her reaction, and even though I had suspected it, I wasn’t quite prepared for the pain that exploded in my chest as she turned around and bucked me with her hind hooves. Uttering a yelp, I fell to the ground, looking at my assailant with a mixture of hurt, fear and confusion.

The mare had turned back around and was slowly advancing on me. “Alright, you little-”

I would never know what “little” thing I was going to be called, as in that moment she was shot several time. Startled by the noise, I looked from the falling bloodied body of the raider mare to Clawface, who was now held his gun with his magic.

Well, that’s a start I suppose… I noted, glancing at the dead raider. Though honestly, I expected him to just hit her for now.

I wasn’t the only one startled, the other raiders were also looking at their leader with surprise. “Boss, you… you killed her,” one of them exclaimed, his eyes wide open.

“Great observation,” Clawface commented as he strapped his weapon on his back again. Upon noticing that more than a few raiders were staring at him, he frowned and growled, “What? I was getting tired of that bitch anyway, and now she dared to hit my newest possession? She should be grateful it was quick and she can now be with her idiot brother,” he added, snorting. Then, turning to me, he began, “Now, how about we-”

“We?”

“Celestia rape me,” Clawface muttered to himself before turning to address the raider who spoke up, “what?!”

Clenching my teeth, I somehow managed to otherwise show no reaction how indignant I felt upon hearing such curse.

Turning my attention back to the conversation at hoof, I watched as one of the raiders walked up from the crowd. “Nothing, boss, just curious if by ‘we’ you mean all of us, or just you and this slut.”

“So what if I do?” Clawface replied, not even bothering to answer the rather obvious question. “You’ll all get a turn with her back at our place. Eventually,” he added, shrugging.

Despite the supposedly casual demeanor with which he had said that, I noticed that his eyes never left the raider that had spoken up. His ears were also perked, indicating that he was on alert in case anypony else were to make any sudden moves.

“What if I don’t want to wait that long?” the raider countered, narrowing his eyes at his leader. “What if none of us want to wait?”

“Then I guess that’s your problem,” Clawface told him, then took a step towards him. The raider’s eyes widened and he took a step back. “And if you’ll want to continue this conversation, you’re going to have a problem the size of a bottle cap in the middle of your forehead,” he added, continuing to walk towards him until he stood before him, his magic enveloping his gun. The next second it was already pointed at a raider, but not the one that he had been threatening, but another one, who was standing behind me. “And so will anypony else who’s gets impatient.”

Glancing at the raider, I realized that he had been reaching for his weapon. However, he quickly gave up on that finding himself at the end of Clawface’s gun’s aim.

Several of the raiders had seemingly gotten the message, as they suddenly appeared to try and look as non-threatening as possible. More than one had sat down and raised their forehooves.

“Hey, it’s cool boss, we don’t mind waiting,” one of them assured him.

“Yeah, have fun,” another one, a mare from the opposite side of the circle, added, smiling nervously.

Clawface nodded with satisfaction at her, but at that moment as he looked away, the raider who had spoken up against him reached with his muzzle for a gun. He aimed it at the scarred raider before anypony could shout out a warning, although in all honesty I doubted anypony would want to even if they could. However, it wasn’t necessary; Clawface’s hoof shot out, hitting the raider’s muzzle hard and forcing the gun out of his mouth. Grimacing angrily, he brought his rifle against him… but didn’t shoot him.

Surprised that I hadn’t rid both myself and the Wasteland of another raider, I turned my gaze at Clawface’s expression, wondering why he hesitated. The scarred buck was staring at his would-be victim thoughtfully, his mouth half-open.

“Wait a moment…” he slowly said, blinking… and then turning towards me. “Was this your plan? To get us all to kill each other so that nopony would rape you?” he asked, waving his gun around as he looked at me with a mixture of disbelief and slight but growing anger.

Despite myself, my eyes slightly widened in surprise as every single raider turned to look at me. Truth be told, I had expected them to figure this out sooner or later, but I had hoped that I would manage to get them to kill several more ponies from among their group. Preferably most of them.

Well, I suppose I still could, but that would involve prolonging this part of my plan by actually having coitus with them, I noted as I quickly considered my chances while the surrounding raiders all turned towards me. Even if I would manage to convince Clawface that it haven’t been my intention to get them to kill each other, I suspected that he might decide to be careful and let the others have their ‘fun’ with me. I preferred to avoid such possibility. Guess it’s time for the second phase then…

Throwing my head back, I uttered a very loud sigh, “Fine,” I said with exasperation, causing the raiders to cringe in surprise because of the volume of my voice. Turning my head back towards Clawface, I smiled and continued, “You saw right through my elaborate plan. I must admit, I hadn’t counted on the pony leading you raiders to be so smart.”

My flattery had mollified some of the anger that have no doubt been stirring inside of the scarred buck, giving me the previous few seconds I needed. Although Clawface smirked and took a step towards me, he still hadn’t hurt me. “Still thinking you can sweet-talk your way out of this, bitch?” he asked, his attitude towards me having grown noticeably colder. “If you were smart, you would have lied and said that you wanted all of us to fuck you. We would have treated you… a little nicer,” he said, uttering a chuckle that was quickly picked up by the other raiders.

“As gracious consideration as that would have been, I don’t really have to bother thinking about it,” I replied, backing away a little despite my confident tone as Clawface continued to advance upon me. I was aware how close behind me the other raiders were standing, though, so I didn’t take any big steps. Just enough to still held some distance between me and their leader. “After all, none of you will ‘fuck me’, as you had put it.”

My words caused another wave of laughter. “Oh really?” Clawface asked, laughing alongside the others as he stopped. His gun had returned to its strappings on his back by then; clearly, he was confident that he could overpower me without it. The few others put away their weapons as well; appearing so weak and defenseless had its perks. “And what is gonna stop us, slut?” the scarred buck asked, his voice dripping with amusement.

“Oh, I am glad you asked, sweetie,” I told him, smiling as I noted that every raider was looking at me and nothing else, then pointed with my hoof. “That thing behind you.”

“Ha!” Clawface exclaimed, looking at me with ridicule. “Do you really think any of us is going to fall for that old-”

He stopped abruptly, his sentence turning into a surprised and alarmed shriek as a red beam shot right past him, then past myself, hitting the raider on my right side behind me as the yelp of pain that followed indicated. Even as Clawface and everypony else began to turn around, the sprite-bot shot another beam of magical energy, hitting the raider on my left.

I didn’t stay to see how many more Watcher would be able to hit. The moment the commotion had began, I’ve whirled around and dashed towards the cellar door. As I did, I was greeted to the sight of the second hit raider erupting with red glow an instant before disintegrating into ash. Like all magical energy weapons, the small gun the sprite-bot had been built with had a small chance to cause such reaction in the hit target. The raider Watcher shot first, for example, had only suffered only a burn mark on the side of his head. It probably hurt a lot and untreated by a professionalist would leave him with a scar, but he would live. The other’s remains were already being scattered as I had raced past him.

I didn’t even grace his ashes with a second thought; behind me were twenty two angry raiders. There was no way the lone sprite-bot would be able to kill them all. Watcher had assured me that all it would take was a one well-aimed shot to destroy it (or several badly-aimed). Which is why we had agreed that he would take action only upon receiving my signal. Watcher had stayed out of sight until he heard me utter that exasperated “fine”, then, having taken advantage of the fact that every raider had eyes only on me he quietly had moved with the sprite-bot around them. Once he positioned it directly opposite from me, Watcher shot the two ponies blocking the way behind me, momentarily disabling them (Well, one of them and killing the other as it had turned out.) and distracting everypony else.

At least a second to recover, another to turn around and grab their weapons, one more to aim and shoot… I got only three seconds at minimum, I calculated as I ran. The plan was that Watcher would get the sprite-bot to hide behind some cover so that I would have a few more seconds, but it was safer to base my plan accounting for the worst odd. Fortunately, it should be enough…

Already as I crossed a mere few yards I heard shots, the raiders trying to destroy the sprite-bot. Amidst them I managed to detect the sound of the machine’s magical laser gun as Watcher returned fire. I took comfort in knowing that my ally continued to buy me time, but the next heartbeat I heard something that - despite being part of the plan - caused my comfort to evaporate.

“Hey, she’s running!” one of the raiders had shout out.

Don’t take comfort, don’t relax, I told myself, running as fast as my legs could carry me, not until this is over. Then-

BLAAM!!!

My brow furrowed at the realization of what that exploding sound that had disrupted my thought process must have meant.

The sprite-bot was destroyed. Watcher was gone. I was alone.

Again, despite everything going according to my plan so far, I felt a cold shimmer of fear take a hold of me. Fortunately, it was different than when Scope had shot Jack. Then fear paralyzed me and caused me to panic. Now, fear served as a great motivator to run faster.

“After her!” I heard Clawface bellow.

I resisted the urge to look behind me, knowing that if I tripped and fell it would be over. Not that looking behind would help me in any way, especially since by then I had skirted behind one of the more intact barracks (at least, the single surviving wall was intact enough to hid me from their line of sight), giving me some measure of safety.

“Find her!” Clawface continued. “But don’t fucking shoot her; I want that little bitch alive!”

Well, there’s another measure of safety, I suppose, I remarked as I hurried towards the Rock Farm’s main office building, heading for the cellar door.

I didn’t feel safe, of course; I could plainly hear the clopping of eighty eight hooves as the raiders rushed after me, spreading so they could maneuver between the ruins of the barracks easily and cover more ground in case I tried to hide.

If I wasn’t running for my life (which despite the relatively short distance had already began to cause me to suffer from dyspnea), I would have probably smirked at the thought of me merely hiding, and out on the Outside no less.

Having reached the entrance to the cellar, I stopped, catching my breath and finally looking behind me. As nerve-wracking as it was to stop, I needed to make sure they knew where I had gone. Only when a raider emerged from around the ruins of another barrack and spotted me, I jumped inside, heading for the Stable.

“Here! I found her!” I heard as I raced through the tunnel towards the Stable’s opened door.

Now, I thought, the last stage of the plan...

*** *** ***

“Boss, but what if what that bitch said about those monsters was true?”

“You think she would have fucking entered the Stable if that was true?” Clawface snorted. “Stupid slut must have thought it was scare us enough to not chase her down here.”

“But-”

A click of a gun. “You can go in like this, or with a bullet in your hoof. Then, if there are ‘monsters’ in there you won’t be able to run.”

“Um, yeah, I think I’m good.”

“Good. Anybody else get scared because of that slut’s ghost story? No? Okay, then spread out! Find that bitch and capture her, alive! We’re going to have fun with her, boys and girls, for a very long time. The one who captures her will get to fuck her first!” he added, as if an afterthought, which was followed by excited stomping and malicious laughter from the other raiders as they ventured deeper into the Stable.

Savages, I remarked, rolling my eyes from my hiding spot as I waited for them sounds of their hooves to grow quieter before making my move.

As I had expected, their leader - along with most of the raiders, despite one or two voicing their hesitation - were determined to capture me after our encounter and the annoyance that I had caused them. The tale of the monsters and the pony skeletons present in the Stable Entrance though caused them to be cautious enough to go in together. After seeing me run away, they expected me to run further into the Stable, attempting to hide away from them.

Well, they got the ‘hide’ part right. However, I hadn’t run too deep into the Stable; I was still at the Entrance. The small side room of the chamber where the machinery that served to open the massive door (which in Stable Eight served as a security post) was the perfect hiding spot, especially if one had enough time to hid inside the cardboard box she had previously dragged there from Maintenance wing (this specific part of my plan had earned me a lot of ridicule from Watcher, and while I didn’t blame him, I had no other cover I could have been able to transport there in such a short time). And I had enough time, thanks to the raiders waiting in the tunnel before the Stable Eleven’s door for them all to gather before following me. I had counted on them to disregard the room, due to it being so close to the entrance, and my assumption had proven correct.

Now, just to wait until they are away… I mused, my forehooves still on my muzzle to stop myself from making any noise, and my ears perked. I realized that I couldn’t hear them as well now, but the change was too sudden for them to be further away. With annoyance, I realized that it must mean the effects of Party Time Mint-al had wore off. It is fortunate that I no longer need to converse with those brutes. I will have to be even more careful though; the decrease of my senses could be distracting if I’m not.

Worse yet, I couldn’t wait too long. It would be better if the raiders were further away, sure, but there was a likely chance that some of them would decide to ignore Clawface’s orders and wait outside, or just that it might be better for somepony to guard the entrance. The latter possibility was almost assured to happen once they explored deeper into the Stable. No, if my plan were to work, I had to act now.

I had to close the Stable, trapping them inside.

Out of all option available to me, this was the only one that ensured success and lack of harm on my person. Or Apple Core’s. Soon after deciding upon this course of action, I had prepared a mixture composed mostly of liquefied Buck and condensed Dash at just the right proportions that had stirred her awake from her alcohol induced slumber long enough for her to make her way up to the main office building (and to carry all of Burst’s and Blast’s belongings Jack had left along with some of his own back in Overmare’s quarters; I assumed the griffin mercenary wouldn’t have been happy about them ending locked up with the raiders). I hadn’t had told her truthfully why though, not wanting to cause her to worry and try to fight or run away, both of which would interfere with my plan. Instead, I had told her that I didn’t want to make Ditzy wait too long after arriving for us to be ready to leave and in her tired, sleepy, low on blood, slightly inebriated and drugged stated that was all the explanation she had needed. Now she was once again sleeping, safely locked further in the main office building.

If I hadn't woken her up, I would have probably had to leave her locked up in the Overmare wing, I remarked, thankful that I hadn’t had to resort to that. Jack would probably figure out a way to take the raiders out before she’d have run out of food, but I doubt she would appreciate that… In any case, I added, snapping myself back to the present moment, I think they are far away now.

I could barely hear them anymore, and some of the red bars had disappeared from my E.F.S. It was the time to act. As quietly as I could, I lifted the cardboard box and crept from under it, trotting into the Stable Eleven’s Entrance and heading for the controls.

The ones inside the Stable.

One couldn’t open the door of a Stable without a specific override code, not even from the inside. However, there was a small chance that it was recorded somewhere within Stable Eleven, most likely in the terminal in the Overmare’s office (which had survived the explosion Scope had caused; Stable-Tec had made those terminals impressively durable), which is why I had closed the Overmare wing after Apple Core and I had left it. Even so, despite that precaution and the doubt I had regarding the raiders ability to operate such technology (If I were a pony that displayed belittling attitude often, I would probably comment on having doubts whether those could operate even a simple switch.), I wasn’t going to allow a possibility for them to escape.

I was going to destroy the door’s control mechanism on the inside of the Stable (or just damage enough for it to be non operational anymore) before closing the door from the outside, and in my mouth I carried something that would help me do it; one of Blast’s grenades that I had left there earlier especially for this moment.

Walking around with an explosive in my mouth, now that is the stupid part of this plan, I commented, rolling my eyes, as I passed next to the passage leading further into the Stable, listening. When I couldn’t hear anypony, I turned back towards the controls. Weird how it didn’t seem to bother Watcher as much as the cardboard box…

Having reached the control mechanism, I carefully placed the grenade on it, using the lever that opened and closed the door as a support. Adjusting it gently with my hooves, I let go of it, but then almost immediately had to adjust it as it slightly quivered, beginning to slide down. It took me a few more seconds, but the apple-like shaped explosive was finally secured. Sighing silently with satisfaction, I turned my head back towards the Stable, where the raiders were.

The second this explodes, they will come back. I will have to be quick, I thought, glancing in the opposite direction, out the Stable door. About two seconds to reach the door, one, maybe two more to start working on the control mechanism… how long does it take for this thing to explode after pulling the pin, again? I wondered, looking at the grenade with an unhappy frown.

However long exactly it was, I was certain that I should be able to at least reach the control mechanism, so I would be shielded from the explosion by the wall of the Stable. I didn’t have to worry about that… and given the distance the raiders had crossed (only a few red bars showed up on my E.F.S. now), there was no way they would be back before I closed the door.

Now or never, I finally decided, taking a deep breath, and leaned towards the grenade. Pressing my forehoof against it so it wouldn’t fall off the lever, I reached with my mouth for the pin, grabbed it with my teeth, then slowly, carefully, pulled it out.

CLICK!

Interesting how loud that sounded to me, but I suppose my ear was right against it. Regardless, hearing that reminded me just how dangerous the thing I was currently touching was. It almost caused me to jerk my hoof away, but I managed to remain calm somehow and take it away slowly so that I wouldn’t cause it to roll down. As soon as I moved my hoof, though, and made sure the grenade stayed in its place, I immediately ran for the door.

Quick quick quick! I thought in panic as I jumped through the exit, then hid myself behind the control mechanism, standing as far away from the door as I could while still operating it. Come on, close-

KaBOOM!

My hooves covered my ears as the noise rang through my body. Even though I knew that it was going to happen, I was still scared by it. And a little deafened, as I realized upon hearing a faint ringing noise in one ear. Still, as I had expected I was out of the explosion’s range and wasn’t wounded. Aside from my ear I suppose, but it should be alright in but a few moments.

Shaking my head, I returned to work. I had no doubt that the raiders were on their way back; the door needed to be closed, and within the next second, a familiar sound of alarm rang out, announcing that the process had began.

Well, that’s that, I noted with satisfaction, glancing through the entrance.

The control mechanism on the inside was destroyed; the console panel, full of cracks and burns, now hung down from it on one cable. Around it were several ruptured ones with sparks arcing around it. Some pieces, the level I used as a support for the grenade among them, laid on the floor around it. But most importantly; as that awful grinding noise emanated as the door began to close, there were no raiders in the chamber.

Looks like I won my bet with Watcher, I commented, turning around and trotting back towards the cellar door. Me, a weak Stable pony, defeated a band of twenty four raiders, with no weapons or magic, just words and a plan. Well, and a little help, I amended. But I was still amazing, wasn’t I? Darlings? I asked after second, surprised by the lack of reply from Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Are you, um, here? Come to think of it, you two were awfully quiet… Is it because I left the statuettes in the main office building? I wondered. Hm, that must be it. Well, I guess I have yet another proof that it’s those statuettes and not that I’m crazy-

“YOU BITCH!”

Startled, I looked back. The door of Stable Eleven were almost closed. Almost. In about the next second, the gap that was still left would be closed, and the mechanism would push the massive door forward, completely locking it. However, for the moment, the gap was still wide enough for a pony to go through it, if they were fast enough.

And right on the other side of the door was Clawface and his raiders.

“Oh…” I exclaimed before snapping out of my shock and began running for my life.

I didn’t wait to see if he would make it through the door; he was running when I had looked at him, he would easily make it. As would one or two other raiders that were closest to him.

Okay, think what you can do! I thought, panicking, as I willed my legs to move faster. I… I could go to the building, the bear trap would get one of them! And… and I left some Buck and Dash there! I remembered as I bursted out of the cellar back unto surface, thinking back to the stash of drugs from the Overmare’s mini-bar. I dashed to the right, running along the side of the building as I headed for the door. Maybe, maybe if I take them I may be able to overpower them… Or-

The rest of my thoughts had escaped me as something swiped my hind legs, causing me to fall forward and sending me rolling across the ground, past the building. I yelped in surprise and pain as I felt as if the rough surface flayed my coat. For a moment I could have sworn that I saw Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, both shouting my name in alarm, but as I came to a stop and was able to somewhat focus, the apparitions were nowhere to be seen or heard.

“You bitch…” I heard a rasping, gasping voice. Still little disoriented after my fall, I shakingly tried to rise, lifting myself on my forelegs, and looked around. When I spotted Clawface standing right beside me, with two more raiders right behind him, my eyes widened in terror and my heart skipped a beat. “You little bitch…” he repeated, all three of them breathing heavily after galloping from however deep in the Stable they had managed to get. “Thought you were clever, didn’t you?”

To say that Clawface’s scarred face, so close to my own, unsettled me, was an understatement. Despite all of my resolve, I had found myself once again frozen with fear, just like with Scope. The raider was seething with fury, glaring at me with his eye as he caught his breath. Slowly, his muzzle twisted into a savage grin, as if the anger was giving way to amusement.

As he stayed silent for a few seconds, I fought desperately to think of something, anything, that would help me right now. However, my thoughts were muddled, whether because of fear or because of the withdrawal after having taken the Party Time Mint-al.

“I…” I managed to say, but as I trailed off, a forehoof hit me right in the muzzle.

Uttering a yelp from the pain, I fell with the strike, landing back on the ground. My face stung where I was hit, and after a moment of desorientation, I realized that I could taste blood.

“What, have nothing to say?” I heard Clawface asked, prompting the two other raiders to chuckle mockingly. I turned my head to look at him as I tried again to rise, licking nervously the wound on lip. Clawface’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, no you don’t,” he said quietly, leaning forward and stomping against my stomach, causing another dosage of pain for me. “You’re going to stay on the ground,” the raider added, moving forward as I groaned. He pressed his hoof against my chest and put his weight on it, turning my groans to yelps. I grabbed it with my forehooves, trying to move it, but I might as well had tried to move a mountain. Lowering his face down, he looked me in the eyes from the close distance and continued, “We’re going to have some fun now, you see. Then, when we’re done, you are going to release the rest of our gang from that fucking Stable. And then,” he added, putting even more pressure on my chest, “we’re going to lay you down right beside the door and close it so it will pulverize your legs. You won’t need them when we get you back to our camp,” he added, smirking maliciously.

His words managed to get through the fear that had engulfed me and the pain. I turned my full attention to him, blinking in surprise after hearing what he intended to do to me… and despite my predicament, I asked a question before I could stop myself, out of simple confusion, “Wait, was that supposed to compel me to open the Stable back for you? Hearing that you plan to use it to pulverize me legs with it?”

Clawface stared at me silently through narrowed eyes, blinking as if not sure if his senses weren’t failing him.

“Because I’m pretty sure that now I will definitely not open it for you,” I continued, frowning. The sheer idiocy of his statement helped me to recover my composure a little, apparently. I decided to not point out that I hadn’t planned to free them anyway and instead added, “Especially since you’re about to rape me, I would rather not get raped by nineteen more of you.”

“Eighteen,” one of the other two raiders spoke up unexpectedly. Both myself and Clawface turned to him (with me lifting my head a little due to my position) as he added, “Flayer got caught by the door when it was closing.”

Clawface looked at him with utter bemusement. “Dude, why the fuck are you-” he began, gesticulating with his free hoof at me and him, before stopping mid sentence, looking up into the clouded sky and shaking his head… and then bringing that hoof down on my face, punching me hard. For a moment, everything became black and silent; I wasn’t sure if I had passed out, but if I did, it couldn’t have lasted more than a second. When I ‘came to’, everypony was still where they were, except now Clawface was also pressing his hoof against my throat, almost choking me. “You know,” he said, glaring at me, “I am very tempted to cut that annoying tongue of your. But I’m not going to do that. Do you want to know why?” He leaned to my ear and as I instinctively closed my eyes out of fear he told me: “Because I want to hear you scream as I shove my dick up your-YAAAAAAAUGH!”

The sudden scream of pain - shouted right into my ear - had caught me by an utter surprise. I stared at Clawface in confusion as he pulled away from me, clutching the good side of his face. Which was smoking.

Now that my lungs and throat weren’t being crushed and I could pay attention to my surroundings, I realized that there was a green bar lighted up on my E.F.S.

Watcher? I wondered, still a little disoriented.

Who else could it be? Especially since it appeared as if Clawface had been just hit by some type of magical energy weapon. It seemed most logical that Watcher had taken control of the closest sprite-bot in the area and flew it back here to check on me. As I heard another raider yell while with the corner of my eye I caught a red flash of magical beam, I turned my head, expecting to see another oval flying machine… and instead seeing a big figure, all covered by a brown robe with a hood slided down on his face even as he fired another shot from its gun.

Is that… the Hooded Figure? I wondered, recalling the short tales I had heard about the mysterious pony. That some were considering it to be a myth, others were scared of it, and others had claimed to have met it. It certainly matches the description…

I was pulled out of my musing rather unpleasantly by the sound of a pony disintegrating; the last shot from the Hooded Figure had caused this to the last remaining raider (the other one having been shot in the throat earlier and was currently dying).

Well, second to last remaining I suppose, I noted, glancing back.

Clawface was still alive, having crawled away from me due to pain as he continued to clutch his face, uttering a lot of curses in a voice full of pain and… panic? Perking my ears, I managed to catch two words among that verbal onslaught of eloquence that explained it all.

“My eye, my fucking eye...”

Grimacing a little at the realization - which caused my battered face to sting a little from stretching my cheeks like that - I tried to move away as far as possible from the raider before he decided to attack blindly. Already, I could see his horn glowing and magic enveloping his rifle; I suspected the only reason why he hadn’t shot back at his assailant yet was that he couldn’t have focused due to the pain. Even now he had troubles drawing his weapon out, giving me more time to try and get up on my hooves.

However, it turned out that I didn’t need too. Before Clawface could even fire, another beam shot out from the Hooded Figure, hitting the raider right at his horn. With a pained shout, his telekinetic spell had imploded, dropping the gun. The raider fell to the ground, moaning and now clutching his horn, where a very ugly burn marked the spot he had been hit. Doing so he revealed the wound he received earlier; the area around his eye had also been burned, and his eye was completely gone.

“Are you alright?” a strange voice, coming from nearby, asked.

Turning my head away from the raider, I realized that in the time I had been looking at Clawface, the Hooded Figure had crossed the distance separating us. The huge stranger now stood right beside me, towering over me. If I hadn’t just been threatened with rape and mutilation, I would probably felt at least a little shiver of fear, talking with a pony so big, who had killed two ponies and grievously wounded another so easily. Not to mention how unsettling it was to talk with somepony without being able to see their face; the shadow of the hood had completely hidden it. However, the fact that this stranger had saved me, coupled with how gentle his weird voice sounded, helped me to remain calm.

“Yes, I am,” I managed to reply, giving up trying to stand up and settling on sitting on my haunches. “Thanks to you, sweetie. You attacked them right where they were… well, thank you,” I finished, suddenly finding myself a little uncomfortable at speaking about what they were about to do.

As if not talking about it would make it seem that it hadn’t almost happened.

The Hooded Figure’s hooded head turned back towards the raider. To my surprise, a low growl escaped from under that hood, making my ears twitch. I hadn’t imagined a pony to sound so… animalistic.

“Give me a second,” the Hooded Figure growled back to me, in a voice that I finally was able to pinpoint as male, then moved towards Clawface.

Frowning, I watched as the massive pony passed me, a little confused as to what he meant. While the Hooded Figure walked, I took the opportunity to look him over, only to realize that the robe truly covered my saviour completely; not even hooves were visible from under it. A little disappointed, I turned my gaze up at the Hooded Figure’s haunches as they moved under the robe-

I blinked. Those weren’t pony’s haunches. With my knowledge regarding a pony’s anatomy, it was easy to spot such thing even through a robe. The haunches were too low, the shoulders were too wide, the withers were a little too high (and I expected that they were only ‘a little’ because their owner was walking around lowering their body, given the way those front legs moved under the robe) … After hearing Blast’s tale about meeting the Hooded Figure, I had thought that maybe it had suffered some mutation, hence the robe. However, I doubted that a mutation could change pony’s anatomy so drastically. Also, the Hooded Figure definitely did not move like a pony, rather, it looked as if somebody trying to imitate how a pony would walk.

Wondering what exact creature my saviour was, I found my gaze once again traveling down, maybe because I hoped that an edge of the robe would draw up a little, giving me some clue. Instead, however, my attention was drawn to what the Hooded Figure had walked through; the ashes one of the raiders had been turned into. Or, more specifically, the prints the mysterious stranger had left on them.

Are they… griffin’s prints? I wondered, tilting my head as I looked over them. They looked a bit similar to Jack’s hind paws, but as I mentally compared them, I realized that those were much leaner, the heel pad (which I only assumed was called such, based on the books I’ve read about anatomy of other creatures like cats) had only three lobes, one on the front and two on the rear, the finger pads were closer together and there were also claw marks next to them. They… look similar to canine paws, I realized, surprised. But that would mean…

I trialled off at the sounds of rapsing shriek. Turning my head, I saw the Hooded figure lifting Clawface up by his throat. To my annoyance, I couldn’t see the forelegs of my saviour from where I was, his body was in my line of sight. However, I was able to tell that he lifted his other leg towards Clawface, placing it just below his throat. The next moment the raider’s shrieks turned into a gut-wrenching scream, a mere heartbeat before the Hooded Figure pulled.

I watched as with a squelching-like noise he pulled out Clawface’s sternum, along with his costal cartilages and anterior ends of the ribs, exposing his lungs. My jaw dropped at the shockingly brutal display as blood splashed around the Hooded Figure. The raider’s body jerked violently, but he quickly began to lose his strength; even his screams faltered. The Hooded Figure wasn’t finished, however. Whether he wanted to kill him in even more gruesome way or simply end his suffering, he brought up his leg to his exposed organs and plunged inside, ripping out Clawface’s heart and dropping it down to the ground, next to the ripped out part of his chest. The Hooded Figure continued to hold Clawface himself by the throat, though, for several more seconds, during which the raider gradually stopped twitching. Finally, he dropped his lifeless body to the ground.

Black Widow had mentioned that some ponies had been found killed in “a gory fashion” sometimes in the area after the Hooded Figure had been seen, I recalled. It would appear those tales weren’t exactly farfetched.

Despite that and the scene I’ve just bore witness to - as well as what I had realized - as the Hooded Figure turned back to me, I hadn’t flinched in fear, not even a little. He had just saved me, and not only that, he asked me if I were okay. Maybe he displayed an unnecessary level of brutality, but I was certain that I had nothing to fear from him.

“Um, sorry about that,” he said, a little hesitantly. As I looked at him questioningly, he turned his hooded head towards Clawface’s remains. “I… I got a little angry there.”

“Oh,” I exclaimed, realizing what he meant. “Don’t worry, sweetie, I don’t mind, he got what he deserved,” I told him, flicking my hoof dismissively. Offering the stranger a little smile, I added, “In fact, I would have probably done worse to him if I had been able to.”

A soft chuckle escaped the Hooded Figure, probably thinking that it was a joke, or rather, a wistful thinking on my part. “Sorry for not giving you the opportunity, then. I-”

“Are you a hellhound?” I asked, cutting him off. It was rude to interrupt somebody, but I was too curious to wait.

The Hooded Figure jerked a little, a motion I interpreted as betraying his surprise (as analyzing his motions was about the only way for me to gage his emotion). “Um…” he stammered as after a moment, clearly hesitant. “W-well… “ Then, as if finally coming to a decision, he lunged himself into the air, raising on his hind legs and standing almost erect. One of his forelegs reached to his head, and as it grabbed the edge of his hood, I noticed finally a paw ended with big, sharp claws. “Yeah.”

With those words, he took off his hood. Now standing even taller, I had to crank up my neck a bit to look at his muzzle. I was surprised by what I saw; almost everything I had heard about the hellhounds portrayed them as bloodthirsty monsters out of the worst nightmare. Yet, the canine face that looked down at me, with a mixture of uncertainty and awkwardness, wasn’t… that. Instead, I beheld a visage that I was sure most ponies would call as “cute”. The Hooded Figure’s muzzle was white, except for the cream-colored spot over his left eye, left half of the frontal bone, left part of sphenoid bone, partially left temporal and left parietal bones, and his left ear. To add to this, both of his ears curled up downwards, giving him almost the look of an adorable puppy.

However, his exact features weren’t exactly what I was interested in; it was gaining the confirmation to my guess. And even though I had suspected this, upon receiving it I gasped excitedly. “That’s amazing! I hadn’t expected to be able to see a hellhound anytime soon, let alone talk with one!” I confessed, raising from the sitting position and intending to trot over to him happily (although probably it would be closer to truth to say ‘prance over to him’), but the moment I stretched my body a jab of pain remained me of the beating I took.

As I uttered as short gasp, the Hooded Figure appeared as if about he was going to lunge towards me, most likely to help, but for whatever reason he hesitated. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked instead, worried.

“A few bruises, I will deal with those later,” I quickly calmed him, remembering that I still had two healing potions left with Apple Core in the main office building, along with most of our belongings. Shaking my head, I focused on the more important matter. Trotting (carefully) towards the Hooded Figure, I continued, “It’s truly pleasure to meet you, sweetie; I mean, besides how you’ve saved me,” I amended, giggling a little awkwardly.

“Um… thanks?” the Hooded Figure replied, looking at me with confusion. “You know, this isn’t exactly the type of reaction I would expect… you know, about me being a hellhound,” he explained, then as if to emphasize his words he raised his forepaws and brandished his claws at me, while at the same time scowling his muzzle, showing off his fangs. “Especially after that,” he added, pointing at Clawface’s remains.

“Oh please, having we’ve already established that I am immensely grateful for your rescue?” I replied, rolling my eyes while giving the hellhound a gracious smile. “I assume you are referring to the opinion hellhounds have among the Wasteland? Well, as I said, I haven’t met any other hellhound before you, and seeing how you have saved me, I don’t believe that opinion applies to you. Or am I wrong?” I asked, tilting my head as I gazed at him.

The Hooded Figure smiled with embarrassment. “I guess not?”

“Splendid!” I exclaimed happily. “Though I am curious as to how exactly did you came to my rescue-”

This time it was him who cut me off. “I came by their camp you see,” he answered quickly; I wondered if he had thought that I was going to accuse him of something nefarious. “There were only two of them there, so after killing them I wondered where all the others might have gone too. Shouldn’t there be more of them?” the Hooded Figure asked, looking around.

“That’s right, but I’ve locked them up in the empty Stable under the building,” I told him, causing the hellhound to turn to me, bewildered. “Do you often break into raider camps or chase after them?” I asked, genuinely curious.

At first, the Hooded Figure didn’t react to my question, still staring at me as he did after I’ve mentioned what I had done to the other raiders. Finally, he shook his head. “No, not really. I kill raiders from time to time, sure, if I come across some as I wander around. I checked their camp because there were only so few of them there, and tracked the others because I was worried they might be attacking some settlement. I hadn’t expect for them to be hunting for a very resourceful and kind pony,” he added, offering me an embarrassed smile.

I smiled hearing his compliments. “Oh, where are my manners,” I exclaimed, suddenly realizing that I hadn’t even introduced myself. Taking a step forward, I extended my right forehoof to him. “I’m Doctor Angel.”

The Hooded Figure’s embarrassment fade from his smile. He leaned down, his right forepaw reaching for my hoof. “Rexio. Nice to-”

BAW!

My eyes widened in shock at the sound and the brief flash of green energy around Rexio, then barely I managed to jump out of his way as he fell forward, his muzzle twisted in pain. I reached for him, but then, remembering what had happened when after Scope shot Jack I first began to tend to the wounded, I looked around, searching for whoever attacked us. Nothing showed up on my E.F.S., almost causing me to swear out of fear and frustration.

Where did that shot came from?! I thought, risking a glance at Rexio. My eyes widened as I saw a giant hole in his robe; the blast had burned through it. However, underneath it I noticed some type of armor that seemed undamaged. Relaxing a little, I took note of the exact spot where he was shot and recalled how he stood. The shot should have come from over there… but there’s nopony there! I remarked in frustration as I look over in that direction.

However, the very next second I did see somepony. Except that wasn’t the attacked; it was Pinkie Pie. I jerked my head in surprise as the pink apparition appeared before me so suddenly, but I didn’t have the time to express my surprise. Before the next beat my heart, she was already gone. In the brief moment I could see her, though, she had pointed with her hoof while looking at me imploringly. After she disappeared, I followed with my gaze in the direction where she had pointed: up.

I looked up in time to get a glimpse of four dark figures, right below the cloud barrier, as they flew out of my field of vision, and one that followed a little further behind. My eyes widened as I realized they were pegasi, and the one in the back waved at me.

“WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR!?” I shouted at the pegasus at the back in exasperation, realizing that this was most likely the one who shot Rexio.

Having found the shooter and assessing that they were no longer a threat, I turned my attention back to the hellhound. I jumped to his side and began to examine him. Despite the armor underneath his robe having apparently absorbed the shot, he had remained lying as he fell, even though it has already been a few seconds. He was alive; my E.F.S. still marked him, and I could see that he was breathing, but something was wrong.

It didn’t take me too long to spot what it was; as he fell, Rexio had really misfortunately smashed the side of his head against a watermelon-sized rock.

Wha- seriously?! I thought, briefly stunned. Of all the places he had to fall on… I shook my head, ending that train of thought. Complaining about this bad stroke of luck wouldn’t help Rexio. Considering the size of his body, his skull should be sturdy enough to not suffer any fractures at the impact, I noted, mentally wincing at the fact that I knew next to nothing about his species’ anatomy. However, he must have at least suffered a concussion… I need to turn him on his back, I decided, trotting around and trying to lift his foreleg and turn his body around.

It was easier said than done. This wasn’t a pony but a hellhound, a much bigger creature. With my weak body, the best I could was to lift him a little by his foreleg. With frustration, I realized that even if I somehow managed to muster enough strength to turn Rexio on his back, I wouldn’t be able to stabilize his head at the same time in order, and without that I could ended up causing it even more harm.

I bit my lip and looked around, trying to think of what I could do. While doing that, my gaze briefly crossed the sky. To my surprise, the pegasus that waved was still there. I turned to look at him and saw him staring at me; from this distance it was hard to tell, but it appeared as if he was staring at me with his head tilted a little, as if confused.

Realizing that this was about the only chance to help Rexio (and still angry at the pegasus for firing at him) I again shouted at him, “WHY ARE YOU HOVERING THERE?! GET OVER HERE AND HELP ME!”

I turned my gaze away from him, focusing on Rexio. I abandoned trying to turn him on his back by myself and instead tried to gently move his head a little. Placing my forehooves under his chin, I lifted it away from the rock. With distress I realized that there was blood splattered on the rock, but there wasn’t much of it, and as I took a closer look at the size of his head, I realized that the blood came only from the cuts on his skin. Pressing my hoof against it gently I examined his skull; as far as I could tell, the bones weren’t fractured.

I would feel more confident if I could use magic to check it, though, I noted, really unhappy about how all of this had to happen while I was unable to use magic. I would probably start berating myself for my lack of foresight, but at that moment something happened that caused my attention to shift; a green bar appeared on my E.F.S. Ask and you shall receive, I thought, glancing up.

Truth be told, I wasn’t certain if the pegasus would fly down; the opinion I held for them them in light of how they closed the skies and abandoned their earthbound brothers and sisters after the Last Day would point out that they wouldn’t care. That, and I realized that I could have asked a bit nicer for help. However, I suspected that the pegasus had appeared to stay only because of his confusion, and probably now only flew down because of curiosity rather than good heart. So as he landed not far from me, my anger at how he fired at Rexio didn’t abate.

I took in the pegasus stallion’s look as he neared; he was clad in black armor that covered him from head to hooves. Only his golden colored underside of his wings was visible, I recognized him as a stallion solely on the size and proportions of his body. Even his tail was covered, ending with a sharp-looking blade. The blade, coupled with the big, orange, oval eyes on the helmet and the respiratory mask covering his muzzle caused me to compare the pegasus look in this armor to an insect. I also took note of the twin magical energy rifles at his sides; based on their capacitors and barrels, I recognized them to be magic plasma weapons.

That explains that green flash, I thought, turning my gaze from the weapons and turning to the pegasus and frowning.

“Well? Don’t just stand there, help me turn him on his back,” I told him, nodding with my head at Rexio’s side.

“Wait, now ‘old on there, Sugarhorn,” the pegasus spoke up, lifting an armor hoof. “Why exactly are ya helpin’ that thing?”

I turned my head to him sharply.

“Shouldn’t ya be happy Ah’ve shot its keister off ‘fore he nixed ya like it did yar friends?” he continued, oblivious to my reaction to his words, as he pointed with his tail at the bodies of raiders.

I stared at him a second longer in silence, during which my eyelid might have twitched. “Sweetie, there are so many things wrong with what you’ve just said,” I finally told him, narrowing my eyes, “and I will quite happily point them all out of for you, but right now I need you to turn him around, carefully, while I hold his head.”

My answer had seemed to confuse the pegasus further, given by he moved his head (Seriously, what’s with today and me talking to people who hide their faces?!). “But Ah-” he began, only to stop as my gaze grew even colder.

Gently, I placed Rexio’s head on the ground and trotted over to the armored pony in silence, my eyes never leaving his behind this orange visor. I stopped when I stood right before him and said. “Help. Me. Turn him over. Or I swear to the Goddesses,” I hissed, my voice dropping; I couldn’t remember myself being this angry at somepony in a long time, “I will stitch those wings of yours to your body.”

Despite the fact that he was armored to the literal teeth and I was not, that he was bigger than me (I had too crank my neck up slightly when I stood before him to look him in the eyes) and definitely more dangerous from the two us, he squirmed under my gaze and words.

“Y-yes ma’am!” he quickly stammered, backing away a little, before running past me towards the hellhound.

Nodding with satisfaction, I trotted after him and took my position beside Rexio’s head. “Remember, do it carefully and slowly,” I instructed the pegasus as I took the hellhound’s head into my forehooves. “He had suffered a concussion after being shot. A healing potion should help, but I can’t administer it with him lying in this position. On three?” I asked, and the pegasus nodded, grabbing the foreleg and lifting himself up into the air. “One, two, three!” I exclaimed and the pegasus pulled, moving Rexio around while I assured that his head would stay relatively in the same position.

Something moved under his robe as we turned him, but I quickly relaxed as the magical energy rifle he had shot the raiders with fell out to the ground. Ignoring it, I focused on keeping Rexio’s head stabilized. Soon, we had the hellhound lying on his back. I opened his mouth my hooves and gently moved it to the side so that his tongue would not block his airway. When it hung out of from between his teeth (which were rather impressive to look upon so up-close, but with some effort of my will I managed to push out thoughts of physical examinations for later), I moved his head upwards again, then sat down and laid it back against my lap to offer my unconcious saviour some comfort.

As I did it, I noticed four more green bars appearing on my E.F.S., but I had ignored them, too occupied with what I was doing. My reluctant assistant had not, thought, as upon noticing the newcomers he muttered, “Oh boy…”

I did glance in their direction as i heard four other armored pegasi land nearby. Aside from the colors of their feathers that were visible on the underside of their wings, they all looked almost identical. “Quick Strike,” the pegasus standing in the front spoke, her voice feminine and annoyed, “could you kindly explain what the hell you are doing?”

The pegasus - Quick Strike, apparently - glanced at me, then at the unconscious hellhound before turning back to her. “Um… Ah’m not exactly sure, Cap’n?”

The other three pegasi snorted with amusement, but their captain didn’t find the situation to be funny. “Start with explaining why you discharged your weapon without permission,” his captain told him, her voice cold.

“Oh, for- that was just one shot, Ma’am! Ah was bored outta mah gourd on this partol, Ah thought Ah would just have some fun target practice and-”

“Excuse me,” I interrupted him, my voice dropping as cold as his captain’s as I turned to him. “Did you just say that you shot him out of boredom?”

“Um…” Quick Strike mumbled, taking a step back from me. “W-well, Ah was also savin’ a cutie while I was at it?”

His amendment did nothing to disperse my growing contempt, quite the opposite.

“Stay out of this, Muck Dweller,” I heard the pegasus captain say, but I ignored her.

Carefully, I lifted Rexio’s head from my lap as I rose, then laid it gently on the ground before turning back to Quick Strike. “Remember how I said that there were many things wrong with what you said?” I asked him, trotting closer to him again, my eyes narrowing. “First, he wasn’t about to kill me, he had just finished saving me from being raped and tortured by those ponies,” I told him, pointing at the dead raiders. Quick Strike glanced at them, then back at Rexio, apparently putting it together what exactly he had done. “Second, do I look like I would be friends with those savages?” I asked, having taken personal offense to that allegation, as I pointed at myself. “And third, he is not a thing!” I added, my voice raising only slightly above the normal volume and yet managing to make the pegasus cringe. “He is by far the kindest creature I had met in person this day, present company included. Now,” said, leaning forward so that my face was inches apart from his helmet-covered muzzle, “start making your amendments to him by bringing me a healing potion from inside of this building. There are two under the desk right after the door,” I told him beginning to turn around.

“W-wait,” Quick Strike began, stammering a little as if finding it difficult to use his voice, “hold on there Sugarhorn, what makes ya think Ah-”

I turned back to him sharply, fed up. “Bring me that healing potion, or I swear, I will rip those guns from your armor and shove them so far up your rectum that no proctologist will ever be able to remove them!” I shouted while advancing upon him, the pegasus backpedaling to avoid me.

I breathed heavily, staring at him as he quaked. After a heartbeat, I blinked, the haze of anger lifting enough to make me realize just what I had said and in what manner. Not to mention how anatomically impossible it was. “Oh,” I exclaimed, my eyes growing wide. “Oh my… Please forgive me, sweetie, everypony,” I added, glancing back at the other pegasi, who were all looking at me from where they stood, “I am usually far more composed than that. It’s just… it’s been long twenty four hours for me,” I confessed, sighing, “and between seeing two of my friends die right in front of me, another being shot in the head and other losing her leg, then being surrounded by over twenty savages who wanted to rape, torture and probably eventually eat me, leading to three of them coming seconds from forcing themselves upon me only to be rescued and then have my rescuer be shot right before me and suffer a concussion… why, I think that all of those experiences had - for the first time in my life - made me absolutely livid,” I finished, turning my head again back to Quick Strike, my gaze hardening and causing the pegasus to cringe again. I held him under my gaze a second longer before closing my eyes and smiling sweetly. “Now, sweetie, why don’t you be a dear and bring me that healing potion?”

“Um…” Quick Strike mumbled, then as I opened my eyes I saw him glance at the other pegasi. “Cap’n?”

“You shoot without thinking, you’ve got to pay for it,” his captain replied, apparently taking my side to my surprise. “Honestly,” she added, snorting, her voice dripping with dismay, “you’re just as bad as my ex at times.”

“Wha- Hey!” Quick Strike exclaimed, walking around me towards the pegasus mare. “Don’tchya compare me t’ that stinkin’ traitor!” he said, his wings spreading and blade-ended tail slashing the air.

The captain didn’t reply, merely glared at him; I got the impression that it was a very cold glare behind those orange lenses.

Quick Strike must have also interpreted it as such, as he had immediately back cowering, his tail tucked between his legs. “A-ah mean, respectfully, Ma’am,” he amended, cringing.

His captain held him under her gaze a moment longer before speaking, “Go bring her that healing potion before she verbally emasculates you even more.”

“Yes Cap’n!” Quick Strike quickly replied, saluting before jumping into the air and flying around the building.

I nodded with satisfaction and turned to the captain briefly. “Thank you, sweetie,” I told her, then returned my attention to Rexio.

In the corner of my eye I noticed the pegasus captain trot over towards me as I again laid Rexio’s head on my lap, leaving her other subordinates to share some laughs and jokes about Quick Strike. “So,” she began, “what exactly-” She cut off as a loud yelp followed by a curse came from the direction of the building’s entrance. “What was that?” the captain asked instead.

“Oh, right, I forgot about the bear trap,” I realized, a little concerned. “I don’t think it should have harmed him through this armor of yours, though… especially since we’re not hearing any follow-up curses or pleads for help,” I added, shrugging.

After a few seconds, during which Quick Strike had indeed remained mostly quiet, the armor clad pegasus turned to me again. “So anyway, what exactly is this… creature?”

I glanced at her. She was observing the unconscious form of Rexio cautiously but thoroughly; even though I couldn’t see her eyes through her visor, I could easily imagine them scanning the hellhound from his jaw to his claws.

Before answering her, I pondered shortly whether I should or not. My initial dislike of the pegasi that lived above the clouds aside, I couldn’t really say that what initialled this encounter warmed me up to them. Still, though, she had ordered her subordinate to do as I asked, and she hadn’t had to do so.

“He’s a member of a species called ‘hellhounds’,” I finally told her.

“So there are more of them?” the captain asked, tilting her head.

“I’ve been told so, yes, although he’s the first hellhound I had met,” I replied, wondering if I should add that, considering what I’ve heard about them, it would be probably better if he was the only one I would meet.

At least, I am fairly certain every other Wastelander would have said.

The pegasi captain’s attention had shifted from me and Rexio to his magical energy rifle that laid on the ground where it fell. “And this is his, Muck Dweller?”

A little surprised, I took the opportunity to check on Rexio’s breathing and pulse again. After a moment, though, I was interrupted by a bit rough nunge on the shoulder. Confused, I turned to the pegasus questioningly.

“I asked you a question,” she said, sounding impatient.

“You did?” I blinked, still confused.. and then I understood. I frowned, my annoyance returning, and replied, “Ah, I see; forgive me, I assumed one of your subordinates was named ‘Muck Dweller’.”

A short snort of laughter escaped one of the other pegasi, but it quickly was muffled as their captain glanced his way. She turned back to me, but before she could say anything the fluttering of wings announced the return of Quick Strike… which in turn prompted more laughing from his teammates as everypony saw the bear trap clinging tightly to his leg.

“How the heck do you step into something like this?” one of them, a mare, asked.

“Oh shut it,” Quick Strike replied, clearly annoyed, as he stopped mid-air next to me. Despite the trap shut around his leg, he managed to hold the healing potion in between his forelegs as he flew. “Here ya are, Sugarhorn.”

I leaned towards it and grabbed it with my mouth. As I prepared to administer the potion - raising his head a little while keeping his muzzle open wide enough for me to maneuver in the potion with just my forehooves and mouth - the pegasus captain commented on her subordinate’s state. “You are just determined to make the report I’ll have to write longer, aren’t you?” she asked, sounding both annoyed and exasperated.

For whatever reason, her question seemed to alarm Quick Strike. “Oh, um, ya’re gonna write ‘bout this in the report Cap’n?”

“I’m not going to cover your ass for being an idiot, Quick Strike,” she told him; I could almost hear her brow furrowing. “But don’t worry,” she added, her voice relaxing a little, “I doubt you’ll receive any serious punishment…”

A little intrigued by their conversation, I glanced at her as she trailed off. To my surprise I saw her looking at Rexio again, but after a second I realized that she was probably observing him in case drinking the healing potion would have caused him to awaken.

She soon turned away from him, back to Quick Strike, who by then had managed to get the bear trap off his leg. “You’re not wounded? Good,” she said when he nodded, then turned to address all of her subordinates. “I think we’ve spent enough time down here already, let's go finish our patrol.”

“Now, wait a moment,” I spoke up before they could as much as spread their wings. Having finished administering the healing potion, I laid the empty bottle away and laid Rexio’s head back as I continued, “I’m afraid I’m going to insist that Quick Strike shall stay here to apologize to Rexio when he wakes up.”

All five pegasi stared at me for several seconds, then they exchanged glances briefly, as if I asked for something ludicrous. “Are you serious?” their captain asked finally.

I frowned. “I was under the impression that you are civilized ponies.” It took some effort to not say ‘somewhat civilized’ - Quick Strike saying he shot Rexio because he was bored put real doubt on how civilized they could be - suspecting that it wouldn’t be well received. “Your subordinate had shot him under false suspicion; I believe an apology is the least a civilized pony should do in such instance.”

My remark clearly didn’t hold much appeal to the pegasus captain. “The Grand Pegasus Enclave doesn’t consort with ponies - or other creatures - that live below the clouds,” she told me. “You should be thankful I humored you and allowed you to order my subordinate around.”

Lying Rexio’s head on the ground again, I rose so that I could stand before her as I replied. Standing straight and looking her right in the eyes, I spoke, “I don’t care what this ‘Enclave’ of yours’ stance on ponies and other creatures is, I am asking him to apologize for what he has done, not this ‘Enclave’.”

The dismissive tone with which I had said ‘Enclave’ must have upset the captain, as she took a few steps towards me. “You should speak with greater respect of our government, Muck Dweller,” she said, her voice cold. “Especially while talking to an Enclave captain.”

I narrowed my eyes at her, about to reply - my annoyance clearly reducing my ability to think reasonably, considering that what I was going to say would quite probably be considered insulting to the heavily armored and armed pony - but a soft whine caught my attention.

“Are ponies always this noisy up close?” Rexio asked weakly, looking up from where he laid to see me.

My argument with the pegasus immediately forgot, I leaned towards him. “How are you feeling? Got a headache, nausea? Memory loss, troubles concentrating?”

“Definitely the first,” Rexio replied, lifting one forepaw to his head and rubbing against it. “Can you lower your voice a bit?”

“Oh, sorry,” I said, blushing from embarrassment; lowering my voice, I added, “You hit your head when you fell, I believe you suffered a concussion. I already made you drink a healing potion, but I would like to examine you to gauge the extent of damage you had received before giving you another one. But before that…” I trailed off as I looked over to Quick Strike and nodded, glaring when he didn’t move.

Cringing, he looked at his captain. The pegasus mare groaned and facehoofed. “Just do it so she shuts the hell up already.”

Quick Strike didn’t exactly look happy with the command, but he nodded and trotted closer nonetheless. Rexio, in the meantime, had begun to try and change his position from lying to sitting; I would have leaned against him for support, but I was fairly certain given his mass that he would just fell over me if he tried to rely on my strength for help. Fortunately, he managed to raise his torso on his own and half-drag half-crawl closer to the wall of the building.

“Um, hi there, partner,” Quick Strike began as Rexio propped his back against the wall. Turning toward the pegasus - who stood about a yard further than most people would while talking with somebody - he looked at him questioningly. “So, Ah was the one who shot ya. Ah’m mighty sorry ‘bout that. Believe me,” he added, giving both me and his captain a side-glance. “Ah wouldn’t ‘ave donnit if Ah hadn’t honestly thought ya were about t’ eat Sugarhorn over ‘ere-”

“What he means is that he shot you because he’s an idiot,” his captain cut in before I could, already having a comment or two regarding that last part of his apology ready. Turning to me the captain said: “There, he apologized, happy?”

Instead of replying, I looked at Rexio. The hellhound seemed rather confused by what was happening; however, before I could start worrying about his state, he raised his forepaw and waved it dismissively. “Ah, I see. No worries, we’re square,” he said, apparently satisfied.

“You sure?” one of the other pegasi asked, amused. “Maybe we should let him shoot Quick Strike so that they’d be even.”

“Hey!”

“Very funny,” their captain commented, her tone devoid of humor. Almost at once the brewing argument between Quick Strike and the others had ended even before it began, the sound of her voice enough to calm them. “Since this ridiculous business is over, we-”

“Captain?” another pegasus, the mare from earlier, spoke up.

“What is it Nova?” the captain all but snapped, apparently nearing the end of her patience.

“Sky wagon at ten o’clock, inbound.”

Her replied confused me, but the pegasi in contrast immediately snapped to attention. As they all turned in one direction, I followed their gaze, and saw a flying shape in the distance; my heart skipped a beat as I realized that it was Ditzy with her wagon, flying to pick us up.

She really came for us, I thought, happy despite having been assured by Jack earlier that she would and myself having come to this conclusion. It was one thing to be told or suspect so, but for it to actually happen…

The Enclave captain’s next words made that happiness evaporate.

“Weapons at the ready,” she said, activating her own battle saddle.

“Yee-HAW!” Quick Strike exclaimed before I processed what was happening, mimicking her. “Finally some hassle!”

“Wha- no!” I snapped, jumping in front of her. “That’s my friend, she came to pick us up from here!”

The captain looked as if she was about to point her twin guns at me, but she hesitated. “‘She’?” she repeated. I nodded, a little confused. “So it’s not… she’s from the down here then? Born on the ground?”

I wasn’t exactly sure where it was going, but at the least she and the others lowered their weapons a little. “Well, I hadn’t asked for her place of birth, but she had been living down here for the past two centuries, so-”

“Past two cent- oh!” the captain interrupted me, only to exclaim. “She’s one of those ghoul things you have down here?”

My eyes widened at the disgust in her tone, but before I could rebuke her Quick Strike spoke up, “Um, what’s a ghoul?”

“Oh for Pete’s sake, do you ever read the mission briefings?” the captain turned on him, lashing her tail in annoyance.

As she began to hastily tell him what a ghoul was, I - having stopped myself from explaining Ditzy’s condition in greater detail - glanced at Rexio. The hellhound was still sitting with his back propped against the wall. He seemed to be glad that the pegasi attention was no longer on him. However, as our eyes locked, he winked at me, then raised his forepaws a little; he held his magical energy weapon in them. Shrugging, he then nodded with his muzzle at the pegasus captain, as if trying to say “We’ll see how this goes.”

Relaxing a little that at least I wasn’t completely at the pegasi’s mercy, I turned my attention back to the approaching wagon. By then Ditzy had crossed enough distance for me to easily make out her body; the ghoul pony flew gracefully through the air while dragging a wagon large enough to easily contains several ponies, probably while still transporting goods and deliveries at the same time.

I smiled and waved to her, ignoring the armor clad pegasi and their remarks regarding her. After all that had happened it was good to see her friendly face. My smile faltered, though, when I noticed that one spot on her wagon was occupied by a griffin. Even if I more or less had expected Jack to not listen to me and come along with Ditzy instead of going to see Candi, I still found myself annoyed at the balant display of ignoring his doctor’s orders.

We’re going to have some words, I decided.

As Ditzy began to descend as she grew near, preparing for a landing, the pegasi had come to a decision of what to do. “Alright, since this crazy unicorn is friends with her you can lower your weapons,” their captain told them; I frowned at her, which she completely ignored. “Be on an alert if she starts to move oddly.”

“She’s not a feral ghoul if that’s what you’re implying,” I told her.

“I could hold her at gunpoint throughout this,” she countered.

“Forgive me, sweetie, but weren’t you leaving?” I asked instead, about fed up with her.

“The Enclave doesn’t look kindly at non-registered sky vehicles of any kind,” she explained, shrugging. “Since we’re already here we have to make sure she understands that above the cloud barrier is off-limits to her. And that she’s not a Dashite, but since you’ve said she’s from before the war…” she trailed off, shrugging again.

That didn’t actually sound bad… at least, not entirely. “And what exactly do you mean by ‘make sure she understands’?”

She turned to look at me. “Look, I’m going to do this civilly, okay? Now lay off,” she said, looking back at the approaching wagon.

I suppose that’s the best I’ll get from her, I thought, not entirely satisfied.

Forcing myself to not think about her and the other four pegasi, I watched as Ditzy landed her wagon nearby, where there was wide enough space between all the ruined barracks. Swiftly, she unstrapped herself from her harness and flew towards me. Smiling, I trotted over to meet her. Soon her squishy forelegs wrapped themselves around me, causing me to utter a yelp from the unexpected pain.

“Oh, right,” I remarked as she pulled away, wincing in pain. “I suppose with all this tension-induced adrenaline I’ve forgotten how beaten up I was.” I pressed my forehoof against my chest and stomach delicately, while with the other I examined my muzzle. “Swollen… do I have a black eye?” I asked Ditzy as my hoof brushed against the upper part of my cheek. The ghoul pony grimaced and nodded, causing me to frown. “Huh, guess there’s a first time for everything… oh, but nevermind that. I’m so happy you came for me, darling,” I exclaimed, pulling her back into a hug, but this time a gentler one.

“Is she seriously hugging it?” I heard one of the pegasi behind me ask, but I ignored them.

Ditzy leaned back and gave them a brief glance, then Rexio, then the dead raiders before finally looking at me questioningly.

“That’s a long story,” I sighed.

“Can’t leave you alone for five minutes.”

I ears twitched and I turned toward the source of the voice, frowning as I looked at Jack who was leaning from Ditzy’s wagon and giving me a deadpan. “First of all, sweetie, you’ve been gone for hours, not ‘five minutes’.” I released Ditzy from my hug and trotted over to the griffin. “And second of all, I believe that’s my line; you were supposed to stay in New Appleloosa in Candi’s clinic,” I told him as I stopped in front of him, “not come with Ditzy here to-”

Talons grabbed my muzzle, forcing me to remain quiet.

“So what is the Enclave doing here?” Jack asked the armored pegasi, utterly ignoring me. “Don’t tell me your propaganda office decided to branch out below and you’re here with the pamphlets about how you’ll one day come down and save everypony? Or are you copying Thunderhead now?”

I was taken aback by Jack’s demeanor; he sounded almost antagonistic towards those pegasi. Whatever the latter he had said meant the pegasi must have taken it as an insult, considering the way their tail swished and how two of them, Quick Strike among them, lined their weapons at him. I didn’t take Jack for one who would insult others for no reason… especially when said others had the number advantage, and were better armored and armed as well.

“How about ya mind yar own business, Kitty?” Quick Strike asked.

In reply, Jack almost casually lifted his other forepaw, which he had held hidden from their view inside the wagon, “And how about I drop this shock grenade between you?” he asked, waving an explosive similar to the one I had used to destroy Stable Eleven’s door control mechanism, except this one had a blue band, one of his talons already hooked into the pin and ready to pull it out.

For whatever reason, the pegasi all cringed uncomfortably. “Oh for the love of…” their captain exclaimed, shaking her head. “We’re not here to fight, griffin, put that thing away. And you two, lower your weapons!” she barked, looking at her subordinates.

This appeared to satisfy Jack, who dropped the paw down. “Disrupts a power armor’s magical matrix,” he explained to me as he released my muzzle finally and jumped out of the wagon, “with it offline they can’t move. One of the rules of being able to fly in Equestrian Wasteland, always have one on you, you never know if they decide to bug you about something.”

I nodded in understanding as I massaged my muzzle, making a mental note of the information.

“So why are you here, exactly?” Jack asked as he walked over to the Enclave ponies, with me quickly following him.

“Because one of my subordinates is an idiot,” the pegasus captain replied, causing Quick Strike to mumble something under his breath, “and this friend of yours is stubborn.”

I cast her an annoyed look, which I quickly had to switch to Jack when he sighed and said: “Yeah, she’s more of an acquaintance, actually. So did you kill those three raiders?”

“No, Rexio did,” I told him before any of the pegasi could reply, pointing at the hellhound in question. As Jack looked at him, Rexio waved his forepaw, a bit shyly. “Then one of the pegasi shot him while they were flying over-”

“Ah already apologized fore that!”

“- causing Rexio to fall and bash his head against a rock, causing him to lose consciousness,” I continued, ignoring Quick Strike. “I couldn’t roll him over on his back on my own so I called him to fly down and help me, then the rest of his squad came down and I demanded that they stay until Rexio regains consciousness so that Quick Strike would apologize to him.”

Jack’s gaze turned from Rexio back to me, then to the pegasus captain. “And you stayed because…” he began and trailed off, motioning with his paw for her to continue.

“Because life hates me, apparently,” the captain replied, moving her head in circular motion a little; I was certain she had just rolled her eyes behind her visor. “But now we’re still here to inform this… pegasus, that according to the Enclave regulations any unregistered sky vehicle, even if it’s just a sky wagon, cannot pass above the cloud barrier without a proper clearance. And since to get the clearance you need to be a citizen,” she added, turning to Ditzy properly, “and since with you being a ghoul there is basically no chance for you to become a citizen, this basically means that you cannot fly it up above the cloud barrier. It would also be advised if you yourself would also not fly above the cloud barrier. You got that?”

Ditzy nodded, rolling her eyes, even her odd one.

“Good. See?” the captain asked me. “Civilly.”

“I wouldn’t exactly say the way you’ve said ‘pegasus’ was civil,” I told her, frowning.

“Yeah, don’t care,” she replied, then turned back to her team. “Alright, enough of this bullshit, let’s get back into the air.”

“Yes Ma’am!” the four of them replied as they spread their wings.

Within less than a second the five of them were already flying away, putting distance between us quickly. Quick Strike rolled in the air and waved back, but other than that they left without any other goodbye.

“Assholes,” Jack commented, shaking his head as he looked at them as they left, then turned back to Rexio. “So, you saved this annoying Doctor? That’s interesting, considering that most hellhounds would have probably tried to eat her.”

“Sweetie, that’s rather rude thing to say,” I told Jack, frowning at him.

“No, he has a point about the other hellhounds,” Rexio spoke up, wincing a little. “Not all of them, mind you, but yeah, most would have killed you.”

“And others would have left you to be killed by the raiders,” Jack added, to which Rexio nodded.

“Oh, I see…” I replied, a little unhappy to see that even Rexio seemed to agree with such views regarding hellhounds.

Ditzy in the meantime had trotted over to Rexio, a bit hesitant but closer than Quick Strike had. As we’ve talked, I noticed her flying over to her wagon and picking up her chalkboard then writing something on it, and now she showed it to the hellhound.

“Oh, no problem,” he replied, blushing a little; I guessed she must have thanked him for saving me. “It was my pleasure. I, um, don’t really get thanked that often when ponies see that it was a hellhound who saved them. The hood,” he answered the question before Ditzy or Jack could ask it, pulling his hood over his head and hiding his muzzle in the shadow of it. Ditzy’s eyes widened at the display and she quickly wrote another message on her chalkboard. “Um, yeah, I suppose I am ‘the Hooded Figure’,” Rexio replied as he pulled his hood back, now even more embarrassed.

“So not only you were helped by about the only friendly hellhound in the entire Wasteland,” Jack began, looking at me, “and forced an entire squad of those dirt-fearing douchebags down to the ground, but also solved one of the local myths?”

“Um… yes, it would appear so, sweetie.”

Jack shoot his head. “I swear by the Egg… I'm gonna get your slaver friend from the Stable,” he said instead, turning away and trotting in the direction of the cellar door. “Miss Ditzy, wanna help me carry our-”

“Wait, sweetie,” I interrupted him, “Apple Core and our belongings are inside the building.”

The griffin turned back to me, his brow raised. “Okay, I’ll bite,” he said after a moment. “Why?”

“Because I needed the Stable to be empty so that I could trap the gang of raiders inside,” I replied. “I’ve managed to get eighteen, so I wouldn’t open the Stable again for… about a month? Depending on how quickly they resolve to cannibalism I suppose,” I added, shrugging.

Ditzy was staring at me, wide-eyed, while Jack frowned, then turned to Rexio, who shrugged. “Their scents and tracks are here,” the hellhound said. “I don’t get how she did it, but it’s true.”

“Oh, I just overemphasized how amazing of a lover I am and pointed out how much more pleasure I would bring them by engaging in coitus with them willingly - and, of course, pretended that I would actually want to - making them reluctant to rape me. Then I began to manipulate then into killing each other, causing them to chase after me recklessly into the Stable after figuring it out while I hid right beside the entrance and closed the door once they were far away enough,” I recounted, flickering my hoof nonchalantly. “Honestly, aside from three raiders managing to get out before the door closed, the toughest part of this ordeal was having to wake up Apple Core and make her come all the way up here.”

All three stared at me in disbelief. “There’s no way this worked,” Rexio finally spoke, turning to others. “Right?”

“Honestly,” Jack replied, sighing, “between her talking a murderous bastard into not killing her long enough for her to finish healing me while keeping another pony from bleeding out, and apparently having whined Enclave ponies into coming down into the ground and apologizing to you, that seems actually plausible.”

While Rexio glanced at him, I turned my attention to Ditzy. The ghoul pony had recovered from her disbelief like the others had, and was now writing on her chalkboard. A moment later, she turned it to me, looking at me questioningly.

“Overemphasized how amazing of a lover I am”?

A giggle escaped me as I read her question. “Oh, well, I had received nothing but praise for my affections in the past,” I amended. “Comes with deep understanding of anatomy. But of course, I only had two lovers in my life, so I wouldn’t evaluate my carnal skills based on opinion of only two ponies… but of course,” I added, my ears dropping horizontally as I leaned closer to Ditzy, gazing into her widening eyes - with both of them looking in my direction actually - through my half-lidden ones, “say a word, darling, and you’ll get to judge me tonight,” I purred, my nose muzzle inches apart from hers.

Ditzy continued to stare at me, speechless, her mouth opening and closing while her wings slightly unfolded. I smirked, pleased with the effect I had on her, and would have leaned even closer to kiss her, if it weren’t for the others.

“Wow, okay, now I’m not that surprised talking to the raiders worked,” Rexio commented; glancing at him with one eye, I saw him staring at me with an eyebrow raised and an awkward smile. “Not to mention how it makes way more sense why you weren’t phased at all by me being a hellhound.”

“Yeah,” Jack added, looking at me with only faint interest. “Kinda wish she had done that earlier, would be fun to see those pegasi puke into their respirators. Anyway, I’m gonna go get Apple Core and our gear,” he added, turning around. “Miss Ditzy, you wanna help me move stuff or are you going to start making out?”

He began to walk away, not waiting for an answer. Ditzy shot him a half-annoyed, half embarrassed glare, then turned to me, smiling apologetically as she pointed at Jack. Understanding that she wanted to help so that we could get out of here sooner, I nodded, and gave her a peck on her lips. She giggled, embarrassed, and flew after the griffin.

“Sooo,” Rexio began awkwardly as the two of them disappeared behind the corner. “You two are…” the hellhound trailed off, gesticulated oddly with his forepaw.

“‘A couple’?” I suggest. “Hm, I believe we had agreed upon being ‘affectionate friends’; I’m a bit unsure as to how this type of relationship works and what it allows… I suppose I figure it out soon,” I added, giggling as I trotted to him.

Rexio gave out an amused chuckle. “Well, good luck with that, Doctor Angel,” he began, putting his forepaws on the ground and helping himself up.

“Please, darling, just Angel is fine,” I told him sweetly, despite the frown that appeared on my face as he began to raise. “After all, you did save my life… but tell me, why are standing up?”

“So that I can start getting on my way,” Rexio replied, shrugging. “You and your friends will be leaving, so there is no point in me hanging out here.”

“What? No darling, that won’t do,” I told him, surprised that he had thought of that. “You will be coming with us.”

“Come again?” he asked, blinking down at me as he got up to his paws.

“Rexio, darling, you suffered a concussion,” I told him. “You must be under a doctor’s observation for at least couple of days to make sure you don’t develop more serious symptoms and that you recover properly.”

The hellhound tilted his head, staring at in me in disbelief again. “Um… okay, so you’d be taking me were exactly? New Appleloosa, judging by the wagon’s scent?” he asked. I nodded, impressed by his sense of smell. “So you want to bring a hellhound into a town full of ponies?”

“Yes,” I replied, frowning. Rexio lifted an eyebrow at me and stared at me silently, letting me realize on my own why that would be problematic. “Oh… well, shouldn’t it be okay if you’d put your hood on and walk on all fours while on the street, right?”

“I suppose…” Rexio replied, alghouth guessing by his tone and expression he wasn’t convinced. “Do you mind if we run this by your friends first?”

I was a little surprised by his question, but since it would reassure him that it was alright I didn’t mind. “But of course. After all, we do have to ask Ditzy first, since it’s her delivery wagon.”

As if speaking about the ghoul pegasus had summoned her, she appeared back from around the corner, carrying several saddle bags and and other items - such as weapons - my own Stable barding, lab coat and saddle bags, the two statuettes poking out from them.

“Thank you, darling,” I told her as she passed them to me, along with a healing potion she also carried.

Hello? Pinkie apparition appeared before me as I drunk the potion, letting it heal my aching body. Can you hear us now? Testing testing, one two three-

Yes, dear, I can hear and see you now, I told both her and Fluttershy, who appeared on the other side of my muzzle. Forgive me, I hadn’t counted on the distance affecting this connection in such way… how was it from your perspective? I asked, curious.

Oh, we could see and hear you all the time, Pinkie replied, shrugging. Just you couldn’t seem to hear us.

We tried reaching you harder, Fluttershy added. We’re not sure if you’d noticed Pinkie when she tried pointing at those pegasi…

I saw her. Thank you, darling, I told Pinkie, at the same time pondering the nature of whatever magic was at play when it came to the statuettes. One more thing to examine, I suppose…

We’re glad that you were okay without our help, Fluttershy said, smiling at me.

Yeah, you were amazing! Pinkie added, grinning.

Thank you. I hope I won’t have to go through something like that again anytime soon; this day was crazy.

I was pulled out of my musing by Apple Core cursing as she appeared, favoring her leg by leaning against Jack for support. She was mumbling something to herself, but immediately stopped as her gaze fell on Rexio.

“Hi,” he said, smiling awkwardly and waving his forepaw.

Apple Core blinked, then turned to me. “Um, am Ah still drunk or on whatever concoction ya gave me earlier, or is there really a hellhound standing over there?”

“He’s here sweetie,” I told her, finding her reaction a little amusing. “Rexio here just saved me from the raiders.”

“Oh, really?” she asked, not sounding convinced, and looked at Rexio with fear. “W-well, hi,” Apple Core said hesitantly, waving at him with her good forehoof, before blinking at turning back to me. “Wait, did ya say ‘raiders’?”

“Speaking of Rexio,” I spoke, ignoring her question and turning to Ditzy, “Ditzy, darling, would you mind if we would bring him along to New Appleloosa? I’d prefer if he would stay under my observation for a couple of days due to his injury, in case he would need medical attention... “ I trailed off, frowning in confusion. “Why are you all staring at me like that?” I asked, looking from Ditzy to Apple Core and Jack, all three of whom were deadpanning at me, only with Ditzy’s being somewhat amused one.

“Ya just wanna give ‘im that ‘physical examination’ thing for yar ‘research’,” Apple Core accused me with Jack nodding in agreement, causing Rexio to look at me with confusion.

“Wha- no I don’t!” I immediately argued, but then amended, “Alright, yes, I would like to take this occasion to familiarize myself with a hellhound’s anatomy of course, but my main concern is Rexio’s health!”

Neither Apple Core nor Jack looked convinced. And neither were Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, the two apparition smirking as they looked at me, although Fluttershy at least covered her mouth with a hoof so I wouldn’t see it. Stomping the ground in annoyance, I turned to Ditzy, expecting her to support me. Instead, I found her holding up her chalkboard so that Rexio could read it.

Careful, she kisses.

Footnote: Level Up!
New perk: Dark Mare -- +10% damage to the opposite sex and unique dialogue options with certain ponies.

Chapter Eleven: Doctor's Home Visits

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“Never judge a book by its cover. Someone may look unusual, or funny, or scary. But you have to look past that and learn who they are inside.”

“Well, I’m off,” I told Ditzy as I stopped beside her counter. “Thank you for the delicious breakfast, darling.”

Ditzy gave me a bright smile in reply, then leaned down to write something on her chalkboard. Do you often eat breakfast so late?

Knowing very well that it was already past noon and having expected such mischievous remarks, I had a response ready. I looked at Ditzy with half-lidded eyes and told her: “Only when somepony keeps me up so late at night, darling. And besides,” I added as Ditzy grinned in embarrassment, “I needed a proper rest to recover after my magical burnout. Now, thanks to it and the restorative potion I made yesterday…” I trailed off and instead demonstrated my returned magical abilities by lifting the ghoul pegasus’s chalkboard with my Telekinesis Spell.

I wouldn’t exactly say that you’ve been resting those past two days, Fluttershy’s apparition pointed out, giving me a weird stare. You’ve been checking on Apple Core and Rexio a lot-

- and cuddling with Ditzy, Pinkie put in, giggling. A lot.

Well, a doctor should be checking in on her patients, I replied Fluttershy, ignoring Pinkie’s remark. As I returned Ditzy her chalkboard, I added: The point is, my magic has returned.

Um, Angel? That’s not the only… Fluttershy began, but I wasn’t finished.

And speaking of checking in on my patients, I really should get going.

“Now I can examine Rexio and Apple Core and ascertain their conditions,” I said out loud, resuming my conversation with Ditzy. While doing so, I used my magic to adjust my saddlebags, they itched a bit against my bare coat (as last night I gave in to Ditzy’s continued demands - and continued remindings of how Rexio was shot for no reason and without warning, with no chance to talk his way out of trouble - and agreed to let her modify my Stable barding a bit today; the adorable ghoul had insisted that she can make it more resistant to damage - and, by extension, offer better protection for me - while still leaving it thin enough for me to wear it under my lab coat). “Yes, I know that both myself and Candi had already assessed that all of them are recovering properly,” I added, noticing the stare the ghoul pegasus was giving me, “but I’d like to make completely sure that’s the case. You know, since tomorrow we’ll be leaving.”

A brief frown crossed Ditzy’s face, but she quickly hid it from me by leaning down to write another message: See you later. Try not to bother Rexio too much this time.

Annoyed at her comment, not just because it reminded me of my unsuccessful attempts from the previous day at convincing the hellhound to allow me to conduct a physical examination on him, but also of her remark back at the Rock Farms the day before, I stared at her. When Ditzy smiled at me with amusement, I realized that she was also thinking back to it, and told her “You know, darling, you are really lucky that I find myself unable to be too upset with those I care about; otherwise,” I told her, beginning to walk past the counter in the direction of the shop’s door, “I would have probably made you sleep on the couch for that remark two days ago.”

I glanced back over my shoulder as I heard her scribbling an answer. My house, and I don’t have a couch, the message on the chalkboard, held by smirking pegasus ghoul, said.

“I would make do,” I told her, amused, my annoyance already forgotten. “In any case, I will be back in a few hours or by nightfall, depending on Rexio’s condition…” I trailed off, feeling Ditzy’s gaze on me, then rolled my eyes with a sigh and added “and whether this time I can convince him to agree for a physical examination. And depending on Jack too, of course,” I added, pouting.

Although after we had arrived at New Appleloosa Jack had agreed to let Candi have a look at him - I might be an excellent medical doctor, but I felt that in this case it would be good to have a second opinion - and let me conduct a few test in order to check if his cognitive functions had been affected, he had utterly ignored my recommendation to rest. Instead, while Candi and I were busy putting a cast on Apple Core’s leg, so that she wouldn’t move it too much, he went to the room he, Burst, Blast and Scope had rented. Jack rummaged through the latter’s things, searching for the holotape he had received (as the murderous unicorn didn’t have it with him in Stable Eleven). Unable to find it, he then began to look for the stallion that had delivered it to Scope, only to learn that he had apparently left town with a trading caravan on the same day that we had journeyed to the Stable. I’d been told later that he waited only to ask where that caravan was heading and to pass a short message to me - which had literally just been “I’ll be back” - before he soared into the sky and chased after them, and hadn’t returned since.

Considering the speed a caravan with brahmin can move, and Jack’s flying speed… he definitely should have caught up with them by now. Why isn’t he back yet?

I pushed away dark thoughts about something happening to him; Jack might be eager to find out more about Scope and what he meant by “circumstances” forcing him to kill them instead of finding a less drastic solution (In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have told Jack about that detail from my talk with Scope.), but in the short time I’ve known him he has proven to be exceptionally skilled, and I felt that whatever the Wasteland could throw at him he would be able to deal with it. No, most likely the caravan had taken a different route than he had expected and he couldn’t find them.

What did worry me, though, was when he would get back. He had promised me that he would come to old Appleloosa - and on our flight back, when Apple Core had brought up the subject of our original reason for coming to New Appleloosa and joining them on their job, Jack had reiterated his promise - which was why we were going back there tomorrow. Black Widow had told us to return as soon as we found some mercenaries, but considering what Apple Core and I had been through we agreed that we’d need to rest. We had told Jack when we’d leave, so considering he had said he’d be back, he would be on time. However, there were some matters I wished to discuss with him before we left; especially since he never promised he’d stay in old Appleloosa.

I won’t be able to talk to him privately on the train, and when we arrive Black Widow will want to talk with him immediately, I thought, once again going over the most likely turn of events tomorrow. Unless he accepts the job, which I doubt, he’ll leave… I guess if he isn’t back in New Appleloosa before we’re supposed to leave, I will have to think of something.

“I don’t suppose you’ve heard about him returning already?” I asked Ditzy, returning my focus to the present moment. When the pegasus ghoul shook her head, I sighed. “Of course not… oh well, nothing I can do about it… though I might cast an Anesthetic Spell on that griffin when I see him…” I murmured, more to myself, but Ditzy managed to hear that and was now scribbling a reply. “Probably a bad idea?” I read when she showed me her chalkboard. I frowned as I was forced to agree. “Yes, you’re probably right. Well, anyway,” I added, giving myself a little shake, “I have two patients who do listen to their doctor to check on; see you later darling,” I said as I opened the shop’s door, waving at the pegasus ghoul who waved back.

So, Pinkie Pie spoke up as I began to make my way through New Appleloosa, you two have seemed to enjoy your company a lot this past day and a half, huh?

Um, yes? I replied, a little confused; was it a question or a statement?

Any chance you think about becoming more than just ‘affectionate friends? Pinkie asked, raising an eyebrow.

Pinkie Pie! Fluttershy exclaimed, looking at the other apparition with reproach. You shouldn’t pry into their relationship.

It’s not about that, Fluttershy, Pinkie replied, raising her forehooves in an effort to calm Fluttershy’s worries. She then frown and asked: Also, they don’t really have any privacy from us anyway, considering we’re always along for the ride with Angel-

Pinkie! Fluttershy began again, her gaze becoming almost stern, but I interjected before this could turn into an argument.

Darlings, please, I told them in a calming tone. Considering this rather peculiar situation, I do not mind a little prying… nor am I really concerned about my privacy, as I have mentioned. The only issue I’d have is the privacy of others, but it’s not like I can warn them about it, I thought, frowning as I tried to imagine how such conversation would go. And to answer your question, Pinkie Pie, whether we’d become more than just affectionate friends is up to Ditzy, though I don’t think she’s looking for a more serious relationship.

Oh, I see, Pinkie Pie replied, then sighed and added, That’s a relief.

I frowned and turned my head to her, ignoring that to other ponies in town such motion would look a little weird. What do you mean by that, darling? I asked, confused.

Well, it’s just… Fluttershy had mentioned to me some of your… past-times, Pinke replied, cringing a little. Fluttershy in turn smiled at me awkwardly as the pink apparition continued, I think Ditzy would be a liiiittle bit uncomfortable with that.

My gaze turned down to the ground as I pondered her words. Ditzy was a very kind mare, surprisingly so considering what her life must have been like. How would she react if she knew I kidnapped ponies and experimented on them, even if they were the ones who didn’t deserve to be considered sapient beings?

It was easy to imagine that bright smile of hers disappear and be replaced by a horrified stare.

You’re right, she wouldn’t, I thought, my ears dropping. And I wouldn’t like to hide that part of me from her…

Emerald eyes flashed before me, full of disappointment.

Well, Fluttershy spoke up, looking at me hopefully, maybe you-

I am not going to stop, sweetie, I interrupted her, already knowing what she’d say. I’ve already told you that. I would rather be alone, single and friendless, if I’d have to.

The two apparitions exchanged a worried glance, clearly upset with my answer. Eager to move on from this subject, I took a deep, calming breath, dispelling my sullen mood, before speaking to them again.

Now, if we could move on from my personal life, I believe you were worried earlier about whether I had rested, darling? I asked Fluttershy.

The pegasus’ apparition looked me with a little pout on her face as I’ve changed the subject, but then decided to give up for now. Yes, I was, she said, sighing. Angel, you might say you’ve rested, and we saw that you did rest physically, but… at the same time you’ve been keeping your thoughts busy.

And trust us, we know, Pinkie Pie put in.

You’ve kept thinking, Fluttershy continued as if Pinkie hadn’t interrupted her, analyzing all that had happened, making more plans… well, I mean, you do that most of the time anyway, but it feels like you’re trying to keep yourself busy. Is something bothering you?

I hesitated before answering her. Was there something bothering me? Oh, without a question, something was always bothering me. But was this time any different? Well, those were rather unusual circumstances I was facing. Was I still unsettled by Burst and Blast’s death? Or…

Well, there might be one or two things that bother me, I confessed. Or three. Well, four, if we count… nevermind, I cut myself off before that train of thought developed too far; it wouldn’t surprise me if by the time I reached Candi’s clinic I’d still not finish counting. The point is, yes, some things might be bothering me.

Would you like to talk about it? Fluttershy asked, looking at me kindly. Or better yet, maybe you could talk about it with Ditzy? I’m sure she’d love to help you by listening to you.

Maybe… but I’m not sure if I want to bother her about my problems.

I closed my eyes, thinking back to how before we had left the Rock Farms - after they’d finally stopped making fun of me for my mishap while conducting a physical examination on Ditzy - we had stood in silence over Burst and Blast’s grave. Rexio had hung back, not wanting to intrude as he hadn’t know them aside from meeting them briefly years ago. Apple Core stood beside us, but she was clearly awkward, as if not used to being in those kind of situations. Jack and myself, who had buried them, had already been through the worst emotions one could feel while standing over a grave and we were just looking down sadly. But Ditzy… Ditzy, who had known them the longest of us (even if she wasn’t as close to them as Jack), who had conducted business with their parents and knew them when they were foals, was gazing at their grave with sadness, her ears dropping down and her head hung low for a good minute. She had eventually given a deep sigh and turned to me, smiling before hugging me, as if wanting to say that she would be fine and that she was glad that I had survived. I hadn’t been sure what to say, so I just hugged her back before releasing her so that we could leave.

Sometime after our return I had finally decided to ask her how was she feeling. The ghoul pegasus had smiled at me sadly before writing a long reply:

I’m sad that they died. I would rather have seen them live for a long time, but it’s part of life, especially in the Wasteland. Rather than be sad, I try to think about how they had played hide-and-seek in my store as foals when their parents and I were trading merchandise. And knocked down more than a few shelves.

I couldn’t help but crack a smile upon reading that last sentence, causing Ditzy to grin happily. She appeared to be dealing with their deaths, so I no longer approached the subject. Ditzy had tried to ask me in turn how I was doing, though, at least I believe so due to the look she had given me afterwards, but as she had leaned down to write another message, a client entered her shop, distracting her. And with myself having more important things to worry about - the conditions of Rexio and Apple Core for one thing, enjoying Ditzy’s company for other - I hadn’t given her an opportunity to ask that question later on.

And perhaps, a part of me didn’t want her to.

Am I embarrassed that she seems to be dealing with their deaths better than I am, despite how short I knew them? I wondered.

Um, Angel? Pinkie Pie spoke up, tilting her head in confusion. You know we can still hear you, right?

I resisted an urge to sigh and roll my eyes; truth be told, I forgot about how I could no longer really “talk” to myself.

It’s okay if their deaths had affected you like that, Fluttershy said before I could reply to Pinkie. I mean, after all, you saw it happen right before you for one thing, and since Ditzy has lived so long she must have already lost a lot of ponies she knew-

They were the eight and ninth pony that I had seen die before me, respectively, I interrupted her, a little hastily.

The latter part of her sentence had upset me.

It should hardly matter whether they died before me or not, I added, doing my best to not think about it.

Fluttershy blinked, surprised by my interruption, but as she opened her mouth to speak Pinkie Pie interrupted her: Um, girls? We stopping here or what? she asked, pointing at the building on my right that I was just about to pass by.

Blinking, I follow her hoof, and realized that it was Candi’s clinic. A little annoyed at myself, I turned to the apparition. Thank you, darling. I took a step towards the door, but then I stopped, hesitating. Can we… can we not talk about all of those things for now? I asked, looking at Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. I will need to focus on Rexio, and I wouldn’t want to get… distracted.

Of course Angel, Fluttershy replied, smiling at me, a little sadly, before she disappeared.

As Pinkie Pie waved and followed suit, I took a deep, relaxing breath, then walked over to the doors and opened them.

“Hello, sweetie,” I greeted Candi as she came into my view; the earth pony in a nurse’s outfit was coming from behind a curtained-off entrance that led to the room for recovering patients. Which was now occupied by my patient. “Were you checking on Rexio? Has something happened?” I asked, only a little worried; if something had happened, I’m sure she would have sent somepony for me.

“Oh, good afternoon Angel. Nah, Ah’ve just brought him some book t’ read earlier and had a lil’ chat t’ pass the time; got a slow day today,” she explained, giggling.

“Ah, I see. Well, it is a relief to see you getting along with my patient; I wouldn’t have imagine it after witnessing your original reaction to what was under his hood,” I added, my happy smile becoming a little mischievous at the memory from two days ago.

Candi shot me a look that was a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment. “Yeah, remember how Ah thought t’would be funny t’ see ya freak out at the sight of a ghoul? Gotta say, Ah hadn’t imagine ya’d throw this back at me with a hellhound.”

“It wasn’t my intention to ‘throw this back at you’, sweetie, as you have phrased it,” I replied, truthfully; it really hadn’t crossed my mind, I had even forgotten about the way she had introduced me to Ditzy. “I wouldn’t have even asked you to let him stay here if the others hadn’t make him reluctant to sleep under the same roof as me,” I added, pouting a little as a memory of the the borderline fear in Rexio’s eyes when Ditzy had told him he could stay at her place.

Candi’s giggle pulled me out of the memory. “Yeah, can’t imagine why. Ya know, it’s really funny t’ think that a big and scary hellhound is scared of ya; even if he ain’t as big or scary-lookin’ as they say hellhounds are,” she added, waving her hoof dismissively. “Yes, Ah know ‘ow Ah reacted when Ah first saw ‘im,” Candi said with a hint of annoyance as I opened my mouth, “but, ya know, when it clicked tha he ain’t gonna eat me, Ah realized he’s more cute than scary. And really sweet t’ talk t’.”

“I’m happy you think so as well,” I replied, smiling. Hopeful, I added, “So do you think it would be possible for him to walk through the town without that hooded robe or…” I trailed off as Candi shook her head even before I could finish my sentence.

“Ah wouldn’t try that; folks ‘round ‘ere might not start shootin’ if we’d ‘splain in time that he’s harmless, but they would still not look kindly at ‘im. Already they’re slightly nervous after seein’ ya brin’ the Hooded Figure into town, we’d better not push our luck and tell ‘em that he’s a hellhound.”

“Oh, I see,” I replied, a little saddened and disappointed. “Are ponies really nervous because of him?” I asked, not having noticed it myself.

“Well, only a lil’. They know both Ditzy and Ah are okay with ‘im, so he can’t be trouble. And they’ve all heard ‘bout how he saved ya from raiders and got hurt ‘cause ‘f that. F’course, a few mothers are makin’ their foals stay at home, but ya know mothers, overprotective and such,” Candi said, rolling her eyes. “The most troublesome were a few curious ponies that tried t’ come in and they a look at ‘im, had t’ shoo them away.”

“Sorry to cause you trouble, sweetie,” I began to apologize, not having realized what effects there could be for bringing Rexio into New Appleloosa, but Candi was already waving off my apologies.

“Oh, don’t worry ‘bout that; after all, he did save mah fellow medic from raiders, lil’ bother ain’t that big of’a price t’ make sure he ain’t hurt,” she said, winking at me. As I smiled back at her, she continued, changing the subject. “Now, since it’s been such a slow day today, Ah figured Ah’ll go get a lunch and maybe a quick drink or two at the Turnpike Tavern. Since ya’re ‘ere, can ya keep an eye on the clinic while ya’re busy with Rexio doin’ Ah-don’t-wanna-know-what?”

I sighed and rolled my eyes. “If you want to know, sweetie-”

“Really don’t,” I heard Candi murmur under her breath, but I chose to ignore it.

“- while I will ask him again if I can physically examine him - and now that I am in much better state of mind due to being less worried about his or my other patients’ conditions I feel I stand a better chance at convincing him - my main reason for being here is to check on him. Also, now that my magic has returned, I should be able to heal him from any lingering ailments that fall might have caused.”

“Pfft, cheatin’ unicorn magic,” Candi snorted, though in an good-humored tone. “So, this means he’ll be completely recovered then?”

“Why, yes, of course. I did heal Jack after he was shot through the head and-” I began, but Candi cut me off.

“Yeah, still not sure if Ah believe ‘at one. But that’s great,” she exclaimed, ignoring the annoyed pout on my face, “Ah was reluctant t’ offer Rexio anythin’ good t’ drink because ‘f ‘is brain injury, but since he’s ‘bout t’ get all better… Rexio, what yar drink of choice?” she called out glancing towards the room where the hellhound was; despite that, she raised her voice only a little.

“Um, beer, I guess?” came a reply from behind the curtains. “Maybe vodka?”

“Okay, will bring ya back some,” Candi replied.

“Was he able to hear everything we said?” I asked, glancing in the room’s direction curiously.

“Oh yeah, he’s got great hearin’. Anyway, will be back soon,” Candi said as she began to trot out of her clinic. “Have fun.”

Waving back at her, I trotted towards the room, passing through the curtains. The room, though comfortably spacious enough for a pony, seemed to be a little cramped with a hellhound inside. Rexio was lying comfortably on a mattress, his head propped up on his foreleg and against the wall behind him, while he held a book before him with the clawed paw from the other foreleg. One of his hind paws was hanging out off the mattress on the floor; it, too, had been made with pony sizes in mind.

The hellhound continued to wear his armor, despite the fact that he could enjoy the safety a town like this could provide. Although all things considering, I probably couldn’t blame him for keeping it on himself; it had saved his life from that Enclave pegasus’ shot, after all. He did remove his robe though, and it now hung from a coat hanger next to the room’s entrance, the hole burned by Quick Strike’s magical plasma weapon already repaired by Ditzy.

“Hi,” Rexio greeted me, putting the book away and putting himself up into a sitting position, leaning with his back against the wall. “So, your magic is back?”

“Indeed, it is, darling,” I confirmed what he had apparently overheard, smiling. “I can now make sure your concussion didn’t have any lingering effects and heal your head completely if it has.”

“Great. I mean, don’t get me wrong,” Rexio quickly added, a little embarrassed, “it was nice to… you know, be able to talk with ponies and sorta hang out - assuming this can be called ‘hanging out’ - but the fact that as soon as some other ponies see me there will be panic outside is making me kiiiinda nervous,” he confessed. “I would prefer not to stay here too long.”

“I… suppose that would put me on edge, too,” I replied, a little upset that the person who had saved my life had to hide his face from ponies and could not stay in the town. “When will you be leaving?”

“Um… probably at night. I mean, it’s the easiest time to sneak out, and even when I hide under my hood it’s better if fewer ponies see me, can’t really blend in all that well…” he explained, grimacing awkwardly.

“I see,” I replied, nodding thoughtfully. Something he had said had piqued my interest, but I was willing to put my questions on hold for the moment. “Anyway, I would like to first use my magic to examine your current condition-”

Rexio held up his paw, interrupting me. “About that, this whole ‘magic thing’; that’s not gonna hurt, right? Or… feel weird?”

“Oh, darling, of course not!” I exclaimed, both surprised and amused by his question. “Why, one would think you’ve never been examined or healed by a unicorn before.”

Rexio blinked, then deadpanned at me and slowly raised one eyebrow. I tilted my head and blinked in turn, confused by his reaction… and then I realized that considering the opinion hellhounds had in the Wasteland, it was very likely he had never been examined or healed by a unicorn before, or any kind of pony for that matter.

“Oh, right,” I murmured, a little embarrassed.

*** *** ***

“And that’s it,” I said about ten minutes later. I rubbed my horn, feeling a little pressure build up in due to using more complex spells so soon after my burnout, but it was nothing alarming. “You are now officially completely recovered, darling.”

“Yeah, I can tell,” Rexio replied gratefully as he scratched his head; he had mentioned that he have been still plagued by small headaches, which I had now cured. “Thanks Angel.”

“It was my pleasure, darling. Not to mention my obligation, too, since you got wounded because of me. However,” I added, just as Rexio was opening his muzzle, probably to argue whether it was my fault or not, “if you do feel grateful, I have an idea about how you could repay me, so to speak. I would be very grateful, darling, if you’d reconsider my request for you to allow me to conduct a physical examination on you.”

Rexio’s expression became one of mild annoyance mixtured with worry and embarrassment. “Yeah…” he began, scratching the back of his head, “about that…”

“Let me make something clear to you, darling,” I interrupted him, finding his reluctance annoying; especially since it was caused by all of those jokes he had heard from Ditzy and Apple Core (though on the side note I had to admit it was heartwarming to see them bond a little). “This examination would be completely non-invasive; I would only use my eyes, hooves and magic to learn more about a hellhounds anatomy. Yes,” I added, rolling my eyes, as he opened his mouth, already knowing what he was about to say, “I know that ‘sticking my tongue into someone’s muzzle’, as Ditzy had so romantically put it, is probably considered as ‘invasive’. Let me assure you, darling, that it was an accident. I had been simply lost in thoughts, and the prolonged absence in my life from partaking in such displays of affection had made me forget about personal boundaries. I assure you, this won’t happen again.”

Fluttershy? Pinkie Pie? I called out to the two apparitions while calmly staring into Rexio uncertain eyes. As they appeared I hesitated before starting, a bit uncomfortably. If I were to… get lost in thought again while examining Rexio, you would be able to snap me out of it before I… forget about personal boundaries again?

Oh, um, of course Angel, Fluttershy replied, glancing at Pinkie Pie who was holding her muzzle and giggling.

“Well…” Rexio began; at the same time Pinkie nodded her head, agreeing with Fluttershy, and both of them disappeared again. “I’ve got to admit, it would help if I didn’t have to worry about that…”

“Oh! This reminds me,” I exclaimed before I could stop myself, our conversation triggering a memory of something that I had wondered about recently, “do you mind if I ask you an unrelated to our discussion question?” As Rexio nodded, I asked, “Are you not sexually attracted to me?”

Though I was fairly certain that it was impossible for hellhound’s eye to bulge out of their eye sockets, for a split second I was certain that’s just what I was witnessing, such a stare Rexio had given me. His jaw, which had hung down, began to move after a moment, and after a few seconds its owner found his voice. “I’m sorry, what?” he asked me, sounding bewildered.

“You see,” I began to explain before he could misinterpret my question (Too late for that, Pinkie Pie remarked as she briefly appeared.), “a few days ago I had stumbled upon a pony and a brahmin kissing, and ever since then I’ve been puzzled by interspecies attraction, as well as how is it viewed in Equestrian Wasteland. Your worry about me kissing you during the physical examination could suggest that you’re not attracted to ponies, although it could be caused by many other reasons, of course, like simple discomfort at the breach of personal space.”

Rexio, who was still staring at me with open mouth and who’s face gradually gained a red hue, began to reply. “Um, yeah, um…” he stammered, then coughed into his paw and cleared his throat. “I, um, h-hadn’t really thought about ponies this way. But, yeah, um, I’m mostly concerned about personal space and such. Can we get back to the earlier subject?” he asked, a little hastily.

“Oh, but of course,” I quickly assured him, then look at him apologetically. “Forgive me for making you uncomfortable, it wasn’t my intention. It’s just…” I added and hesitated, as usual, finding it difficult to admit about my own shortcomings. “I’m not exactly good at picking up social norms. I very often find that my personal views diverge from how the rest of the populace looks at various matters. Such was the case even back at my Stable, and out here in the Wasteland the social norms are even more diverse and, more importantly, unknown to me.” I looked Rexio in the eyes and smile sadly. “It’s becoming apparent to me that in order to survive out here, everybody needs a weapon. Some use their magical energy weapons or claws, some swords and firearms. I can use magic to some degree in order to protect myself, but if I were to pick my weapon of choice, it would be ‘words’. However, if I am unfamiliar with the social norms of my conversationalist, I put myself at a huge disadvantage. Also,” I added, my smile brightening up a little, “I am plainly curious about it as well.”

Rexio had calmed down a bit as he listened to me - his blush had almost completely disappeared - and now nodded with understanding. “I guess that makes sense. Sorry, but I wouldn’t be able to help you, understand how, um, interspecies attraction is viewed; I am not exactly a ‘social guy’. I, um… I guess you look pretty to me,” he added, blushing again and turning his eyes away. “I-I mean, I am not ‘repulsed’ by you, or something like that, or by other ponies, just, well, embarrassed and stuff…”

I waited patiently as the hellhound trailed off, expecting him to pick up from where he left off his sentence. When after several seconds it became clear that he didn’t intend to finish that thought, I smiled and nodded. “I understand; thank you for sharing your view with me, especially considering your discomfort. And thank you for calling me pretty,” I added, uttering a short giggle and causing his blush to become even more apparent.

“Y-yeah, um… s-so how about you, exactly?” Rexio quickly asked. “I-I mean, you said that your views are different from others, and I’ve seen you and Ditzy. How do you exactly, um, see those matters?”

Pleased that he asked me this, I chuckled softly. “I’m afraid that I am a rather peculiar case. Things like species, appearance, gender or medical conditions don’t matter to me. What I value in others are their personality and their actions, and more importantly, their… emotions. Whether they truly care for me,” I elaborated, placing a hoof on my chest and smiling. “For example, you, darling; you saved me from being raped and killed. In my eyes, you are nothing but beautiful,” I added, smiling at him and his continued blush, then rolled his eyes and amended, “Or handsome, if you’d prefer, but I like the word ‘beautiful’ more. Now, all that being said,” I began; this time it was my turn to blush and look away, “about me not caring about species and such… I’ll admit that the fact that you are a member of a species I hadn’t had yet the pleasure of meeting and know so little about makes you a bit… exoctic to me. Yes, I think that would be the best word to describe it,” I said, more to myself, as I nodded. I looked back to Rexio and smiled at him with embarrassment as I noted his baffled expression. “Not in the erotic sense, mind you - well, alright, a little too - but mostly in the sense that I’d wish to know your body better.”

Rexio’s bafflement turned into a deadpan, causing me to blink with confusion for a few seconds.

“I meant in the scientific way, not sexual,” I quickly amended as I realized how my previous sentence must have sounded. As Rexio shook his head and in what I assumed was exasperated amusement, I pouted and dropped my ears. “I’m not making myself look any less weird to you, aren’t I?”

“Nope,” Rexio confirmed, chuckling again. “But… well, you seem a good kind of weird. And what you say explains how the heck you can just come up to a hellhound like me without fear. Most ponies… well,” he started again, looking down uncomfortably, “you’ve seen how Ditzy, Apple Core and Candi reacted when they first saw me. Or that pegasus who shot me,” he added, grimacing, probably recalling the pain he felt when he was shot.

“Come now darling, I’m sure I am not that rare of an exception when it comes to ponies and hellhounds interactions,” I said, frowning. “Have you forgotten that Ditzy had repaired your robe, or that Candi is genuinely enjoying your company?”

“Yeah, after they got to know me,” Rexio pointed out. “Both were reluctant to come near me at first, heck, Candi had almost fainted. And your griffin friend, Jack? I don’t know if you had noticed, but back at the Rock Farms he was favoring his right foreleg while standing near me and had his left shoulder raised a little, so that he could swiftly grab his sword if he needed to. But you… you weren’t afraid at all,” he summed up, shaking his head in disbelief. “That’s really something unusual.”

I graced him with a smile hearing his compliment, but on the inside I was frowning. I thought back to how Jack had acted around Rexio; had he really been prepared to fight him throughout that time? All I could remember was that the griffin mercenary had been calm around him… but perhaps that was precisely because he had been keeping an eye on him, ready for a fight at any moment?

Pulling my mind out of those not-so-happy musings, I turned to Rexio with a curious look. “As unusual as a hellhound saving a pony, as some would claim.”

“Well… I suppose,” Rexio agreed, somewhat uncomfortably.

“Everypony I’ve talked about hellhounds had claimed your kind to be vicious monsters,” I continued, speaking gently so that he would know that’s not my opinion. With an eye roll, I paused to amend, “Or rather, everybody, considering Jack’s words. I don’t want to pry, but I am curious as to why you saved me, and why you apparently travel through ponies’ settlements - or at least close to them - pretending to be a pony. Although actually,” I added, just as Rexio was about to reply, cutting him off accidentally, “I am even more curious why exactly hellhounds are viewed by ponies as such; you’ve said it yourself that most hellhounds would have indeed not helped me,” I said, omitting that, to be precise, he had said that most of them would have killed me. “But you are clearly a sapient, intelligent being, the other hellhounds must be as well. As such, there must be a reason for their… aggressiveness towards ponies.”

Rexio nodded, giving me a troubled look. “There is. You ponies - or your ancestors, to be precise - um… I’m looking for a polite way to say ‘kicked us out of our home’,” he explained after a brief hesitation, causing my gaze to widen in surprise, “but, well…”

“I’m sorry, did you really just say ‘kicked you out of your home’?” I asked, stunned. “Why would ponies have done that?”

“Because you were at war,” Rexio said, his voice and gaze sad. Nodding at his magical energy rifle, which laid on a floor close to the mattress, he continued. “You needed gemstones for the war effort, and Splendid Valley, where my ancestors lived, was full of them. So they were forced to move as you began to mine the valley. And after ponies were done - when they’d dug every gemstone there was in there - they began using our caverns for storing magical waste from the research facility they built in the Splendid Valley, destroying our home. Still, quite a lot of diamond dogs - hellhounds’ ancestors - had returned there, and the exposure to those magical toxins, coupled with the radiation from the bomb the zebras had dropped there on the Last Day eventually turned us into hellhounds; made us faster, tougher, stronger and bigger. Well, most of us, anyway,” he added oddly, shrugging and looking away.

I listened to his tale, shocked. To think that ponies had done that… I had already seen what became of many ponies in this world the war had created, but to think that ponies from before that could have just chased out an entire species from their home… For a moment, as I contemplated it, I could have sworn that in the corner of my eye I saw both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie’s apparitions, both looking away from Rexio in shame.

At the same time, though, I realized that I could understand them. The ponies from those times. They were at war, and they needed those gemstones. From what I knew of Equestria’s geography, the Splendid Valley was within our old country’s borders; by ‘right’, it belonged to ponies. And I could understand building a magical research facility at the site; the empty caverns seemed like the best sort of place to store dangerous and hazardous magical waste.

I opened my mouth, about to ask if they had relocated the diamond dogs to a new home, offered them a new one when they’d first removed them from their old one then poisoned it. But I stopped. If the same had been done to Stable Eight, would it matter to me if I had been offered a new home?

“I’m sorry to hear that, darling,” I finally said, not knowing what else to say, and looked down at the floor.

To my surprise, I heard Rexio chuckle. Looking up I saw him smiling, almost amused. “Heh, it’s okay. I mean, it’s been two hundred years; none of us were alive back then, and, well, I can understand why they did it. My old pack wouldn’t have agreed, though,” he added, his smile giving way to a frown as he looked away. “Or most of the others, probably. They’re wrapped up in their hatred… I just… think it’s stupid,” he summed up, shrugging.

“It indeed seems a touch foalish,” I agreed, adding, “but I don’t think I’m in a position to judge. However, I am glad that your views are so different from your pack. Is that why you left it?” I asked, intrigued. “You’ve said ‘old’. Is that why you wander around the Wasteland?”

Rexio tilted his head, thinking for a second before answering. “Sort of. I… well, I never really… fit in well with my pack,” he explained, clearly reluctantly. “And not just because I have ‘different views’. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have those if it wasn’t for…”

“Wasn’t for’ what, darling?” I gently prompted after he trailed off.

The hellhound looked at me, uncertain, then towards the curtain that covered the room’s entrance. “You… you remember what Candi said when you came? About how I’m not as big as they say hellhounds are? Well, that’s because I’m not,” he said, his ears dropping lower. “I was… I was the runt of my litter, smaller and weaker. If you’d ever see another hellhound you’d know what I mean,” he added when he glanced at me and noticed my look of disbelief. Looking away from me once again, he continued. “I only seem strong to you because you compare me to pony’s strength. Compared to hellhound’s, I am… weak,” Rexio admitted, clearly reluctantly. As I very briefly thought back to how he seemingly effortlessly ripped a pony’s chest open, he snarled, angrily, and reached to the piece of his armor that covered his forelegs and began to unstrap it. “I left my pack because I was tired of being bullied all the time, of being the omega hound.”

As I once again found myself transfixed by his tale, now even more moved than before, I watched as he uncovered his foreleg. My eyes widened as they laid on an U-shaped scar that was just below his paw. I looked up at his muzzle, then back at the scar, realizing that it was a hellhound’s bite mark.

“A memento from one of my brothers, back when we were pups,” Rexio explained, his fangs briefly bared as he glanced at his foreleg. “Got a few more scars from others’ claws under the rest of my armor; the only reason why I don’t have any on my face is because I had quickly learned to cover my head... I guess this treatment is the reason why I tend to help ponies from time to time, rescue them from raiders;” he said as he nodded at me. “I just hate seeing the strong being cruel to the weak… So,” he added, putting some levity into his tone, though clearly forcibly, “if you wanted to learn more about hellhounds’ anatomy or whatever with that physical examination, I’m afraid you picked the wrong specimen.”

I looked into his eyes, not amused at the least by his attempt at turning this into a joke. I gazed into the eyes of the one who had experienced hardship for something that had been beyond his control, but at the same time had been positively affected by it.

Whatever he thinks he might be, ‘wrong’ was certainly not the word I would use.

But my increased admiration for the hellhound wasn’t the only reason why I was so moved by his words. As a sad smile spread on my muzzle, I tilted my head quizzically, deciding that since Rexio had shared such a tale about himself with me, it was only fair that I would do the same.

“What words would you use to describe me, darling?” I asked Rexio; though his answer didn’t really matter, I found that a part of me was curious to hear it.

The hellhound, taken aback by my question, blinked in confusion as I balked slightly away so that he could get a good look over me; I sat down on the floor, my tail wrapped around my hooves, and waited patiently. “Um… I dunno, kind, smart, talkative? Kinda scary?... Pretty?” he added after a second, his cheeks coloring slightly.

Heartened, I offered him a brighter smile, before resuming the sad one as I recounted. “Weirdo. Freak. Defective. Wrong. Those are the words ponies from Stable Eight would have used.” Though I suppose since my trial and banishment several more words have become associated with my person… “Everything is perfect in Stable Eight,” I began to tell Rexio, my voice becoming slightly wistful as I recalled my old home. “Everypony is perfect. If something or somepony isn’t perfect, we use magic to fix it'. We have spells for about everything; we even have a saying, that ‘if something seems impossible, it’s because nopony yet had invented a spell to do it. But… there’s no spell to rewrite a pony’s genetic material in every cell of their body,” I said, lifting my hoof to gaze at the white hair of my coat. “Logically, it should be possible to invent a spell like that, but it would take a lot of research and experiments, neither of which anypony wanted to waste on the Stable’s single pony suffering from albinism: me. Not even my parents… though not out of lack care for me, far from it,” I quickly added, giggling fondly. “No, to my parents it didn’t matter that I was an albino; to them, I’ve always been perfect the way I was. They didn’t even want me to use a Dyeing Spell to make myself appear ‘normal’, a fact that bothered many other ponies. The only alteration they’ve allowed for me to undergo were the ocular arcane surgeries; eyesight is a different matter altogether from looks after all, far more important in life… though seemingly not to all,” I amended, sighing and looking down on the floor. “It didn’t matter that it doesn’t harm anypony, or that I don’t even look that different from other ponies; to most ponies from Stable Eight, I was ‘defective’. The only thing that wasn’t perfect in the entire Stable. The reminder that life itself wasn’t perfect, no matter how idyllic we had made our home to be. I was never mistreated, of course; not by grown ups, that is. But they would look at me with disdain, disgust even. They would whisper unpleasant things about me when I or my parents or grandmother were out of earshot. And their foals would pick up on that; they would know that their parents held some animosity towards this weird white freak with red eyes, and figure that this inclined them to do the same. I was constantly getting picked on and bullied. I only had one friend from among the foals my age; he hadn’t been poisoned into despising me like others due to our parents being best friends. It took me years to make another friend… It really left a mark on my psyche,” I confessed, ashamed. “I… used to think that I was ugly. The only pony in the Stable that was ugly. That I am defective, wrong. It took me even longer than finding another friend, to overcome those shackles I’d put on myself that is. And even now I catch myself sometimes sort of shifting back into that mindset,” I added, chuckling. “When Jack had asked me ‘what Is wrong with you?’ I automatically replied ‘You mean, besides albinism?’, without even thinking.” I shook my head, sighing, then looked up again into Rexio’s eyes. “But that’s no longer what I think. I do acknowledge that my albinism is a disorder, but that doesn’t mean that I am wrong. And neither are you, darling,” I added before leaning closer to him, the corners of my lips curling up into a smiled. “It’s all those who harm us because of our disorders that are wrong. They’re the ones who have problems with them, after all,” I explained, a bit of amusement dripping into my voice.

My slightly humorous remark did get a chuckle out of Rexio. “I guess that’s true, isn’t it?” he asked, still amused.

I nodded, pleased that I’d managed to brighten his mood. “I know that I can’t say that what I have been through is the same as what you have been through, but...” I began to explain, but Rexio was already holding his paw up.

“Words and looks others give you can be more hurtful than physical abuse,” he said. “Trust me, I know that. So we’ve been through pretty much the same. Although your fellow Stable ponies sound dumber if you’d ask me,” he added, his brow furrowing slightly in spite of his light tone. “To treat you like that just because you’re an albino, I mean. Considering in how many colors you ponies come, that’s really stupid.”

“To be precise, I lack colors, so to be fair there is a logic to that,” I remarked, earning a half-exasperated stare in return. Giggling, I continued. “But as I have mentioned, it wasn’t as much as my appearance the cause of me being scorned, but rather just the fact that I had this disorder.”

“That’s even dumber,” Rexio commented, crossing his arms on his chest.

“Perhaps,” I agreed, nodding; after all, I had said that they were all wrong. “I eventually made them see past my disorder, though, so maybe they weren’t all that ‘dumb’, as you had put it. My grandmother helped me learn how to speak like I do now, with eloquence, confidence and assertiveness,” I explained when Rexio raised his eyebrow curiously. “Ponies found it harder to look at me with disdain when I commanded their attention. And after puberty came, well… suffice to say that almost all of my peers found out that they were no longer bothered by my looks,” I finished, giggling shortly. “Others too, of course.”

“I… can imagine,” Rexio stammered, a little uncomfortable again.

As he chuckled nervously and coughed into his paw, I spoke up, “I would say that your pack was ‘dumber’ to scorn you for your size and strength; I know you said that I hadn’t seen what other hellhounds are capable of, but you still effortlessly defeated those three raiders,” I pointed out.

“Yes, well…” Rexio began. “I got them by surprise, so it was easy.”

“But also quite heroic, too,” I added.

Rexio’s face was once again adorned with a blush. “Y-yeah, I suppose… so, um, that physical examination thing? You still wanna do it? Even though I am a runt?”

“But of course, darling! I won’t lie, I will probably have to compare the results from your examination with similar research conducted on another hellhound - and that is assuming I would be able to find another hellhound generous enough to allow themselves to be examined - but that doesn’t change the fact that there is a lot I’d be able to learn from you!” I explained, beginning to get excited a little. “Does that mean you’ll agree to undergo it?”

“Well… I guess us physically disordered and scorned should help each other out, right?” Rexio asked, giving me an awkward grin.

I, in turn, gave him a bright, wide smile. “Oh, that’s wonderful, darling! Please take all of your armor and clothes,” I quickly instructed him, reaching with my magic to my saddle bags and pulling out a notepad Ditzy gave me the other day and a pencil; I intended to make a few rough drafts of his limbs and - with the help of magic - of his muscle structure, then scan them with my PipBuck so they would be saved on it.

“Didn’t know it would include nude drawings,” Rexio said jokingly; I noticed a hint of nervousness in his voice. As he began to unstrap the rest of his armor, he added: “Won’t I need something to cover my… um, you know?”

“Your what?” I asked, a bit confused, then as I looked at Rexio’s embarrassed expression, I realized that his joke - which it appeared that he now regretted starting - was relating to his genitals and privacy. “Oh, don’t be silly, darling, I will need to take a look at your genitals as well. Now excuse me for a moment;” I said, turning away from the hellhound and pressing my PipBuck, beginning a recording; “Audio recording of Doctor Angel, number 2.09. I have encountered a-” I stopped, noticing the stare Rexio was giving me. A little exasperated for the interruption he forced me to make, as well as a little worried, I paused the recording and turned to him. “What is it darling?”

*** *** ***

“Huh, so that’s how those examination ‘f yars are ‘spossed t’ look like, huh?” Candi, who since her return had occasionally peeked every now and then, commented as a few hours later I packed the sketches and notes I’ve made into my saddlebags and Rexio began to put his armor back on. “Not exactly how Ditzy had described it t’ me,” she added, smirking.

I sighed and turned to her. “As I had stressed to Rexio before we started, there had been several circumstances that had caused me to act the way I did,” I told her, pouting a little. “I don’t just kiss everybody I examine.”

“Really? Ah was beginnin’ t’ think that’s yar Stable’s healthcare marketin’ strategy,” Candi commented, prompting an amused snort from Rexio.

“Sorry,” the hellhound said when I glanced at him with pretense.

Sighing again, I shook my head, returning to the mindset I had before I had been interrupted. “Thank you once again for agreeing to the examination, darling,” I told Rexio, smiling at him gratefully. “It was very informative.”

“No problem,” he replied as he sat down on the mattress.

It was a lie, of course; I could tell he was uncomfortable at parts of the physical examination. And it had taken me a long time to convince him to agree to it, after all. But it would have been impolite to point that out.

“I have a few more matters to attend to today,” I said instead, my smile faltering a bit, “so I’m afraid I probably won’t be able to visit you again before you leave.”

“Wait, ya’re leavin’?” Candi interjected. When Rexio nodded, she asked: “When?”

“Tonight.”

“Aw, just when Ah’d gotten used t’ yar company,” Candi replied, frowning a bit. “Though Ah suppose it’s for the best, ya know, considerin’...” she added, trailing off as she gesticulated with her hoof, first at Rexio then back at the door leading out to the town.

“A sad reality, if you’d ask me,” I said while Rexio chuckled in agreement to Candi’s words. “In any case, I would like to take this opportunity to bid my farewell to you, darling,” I told him, stepping closer. “It’s been a pleasure meeting you, and I hope we’ll meet again someday,” I said, extending my forehoof to him.

Rexio smiled and reached to my hoof, a little bashfully, grabing it gently with his paw. “Likewise, Angel.”

I smiled sweetly as he shook my hoof, but I didn’t take it back when he released his hold. “One more thing, darling, now that the physical examination is over and you have no reason to be uncomfortable anymore, I would like to properly thank you,” I said and, before he could react, I trotted closer, pressed my hoof against his chest and rose on my hind legs, using my forehoof as help myself to stand high enough, and reached with my muzzle to his cheek, placing a kiss on it. “Thank you for saving me,” I told him affectionately after I pulled back a bit, gazing into his eyes with gratefulness.

Rexio, blushing fiercely, managed to stammer: “Y-you’re welcome,” in reply.

Smiling, I dropped down to the floor and began to trot away.

“And weird,” Candi added as I passed her on my way out.

“A kiss on a cheek is a proper way to show somebody their appreciation, sweetie,” I told her in return, shrugging a little. “Now if you excuse me, I have to check on Apple Core and see if I can safely remove her cast.”

“Sure, have fun, like ya seem t’ have most ‘f the time,” she replied, giggling with amusement.

Shaking my head, I didn’t bother replying to that, and instead smiled and waved back in farewell as I left her clinic.

*** *** ***

“There,” I said about half an hour later as I finished removing Apple Core’s cast, “all done sweetie.”

I was in Turnpike Tavern, in one of the free rooms it had that Apple Core’s brother had allowed my slaver companions to stay in, to be specific. It was small, with the three mattresses they slept on occupying almost half of the space. (When I saw it for the first time two days ago I found myself even more grateful for Ditzy’s hospitality, being forced to sleep in those conditions, especially since one or more of my companions had some guests overnight if the scent was of any indication, would be a bit uncomfortable for my taste.)

“Finally,” the slightly annoyed mare snorted, as she massaged her now free leg. “Was ‘at really necessary?”

“As I have already told you, it was important that you wouldn’t move your leg too much while it recovers, and considering what I know about…” I hesitated briefly, searching for the best term to use, “... the activities you partake in your free time…”

Apple Core interrupted me with another snort. “Yeah, mah activities are somethin’ t’ be ashamed ‘bout.”

“Oh, sweetie, it wasn’t my intention to shame you,” I quickly assured her, “I was merely attempting to use a socially acceptable term to talk about… wait,” I stopped, frowning as it registered with me what she had said, “were you talking about me and Ditzy?”

Apple Core opened her mouth, probably to deliver another snarky remark, but an exclamation from the other side of the room interrupted her. “Apple Core, please don’t get her started again,” Catch told her, sounding a little exasperated; she and Mousetrap were laying on their mattresses, waiting for us to be done. “If I have to hear another lecture about ghoul ponies having feelings and rights and what not I’m gonna shoot myself.”

I looked at the older slaver with mild annoyance, but chose to not comment; I had indeed spoken about ghouls the other day after a similar remark as now had prompted me. The day before as well, actually. I could understand how somepony could be annoyed at the prospect of listening to such lecture another time.

So instead I resumed examining Apple Core’s leg, moving it and bending it while enveloped by my magic.

“Ah thought ya said ya were ‘all done’,” the slaver mare remarked.

“Final check-up, sweetie,” I replied, a little coldly. “Move your foreleg like this now for a moment.”

Apple Core rolled her eyes as she began to move her foreleg like I was showing her, then turned to the other two slavers while doing so. “Okay, so since mah leg s’right - unless she rips it off or somethin’ out of spite - the plan t’ leave tomorrow is still on.”

“I would never intentionally harm my patients, sweetie,” I sighed, looking up into the ceiling in exasperation.

Apple Core proceeded to ignore me, still speaking with Catch and Mousetrap. “So, will those guys ya found be ready by then?”

Guys? Pinkie’s apparition appeared beside me, asking a question that I myself had right then.

“I’m sorry, sweetie,” I began as the other two slavers nodded in reply, “what do you mean by ‘guys’?”

“A few ponies we convinced to come work for us,” Catch replied. “What, did you think that Mousetrap and I would just get drunk and laid while you two are recovering or were out getting almost killed? We’ve talked with some caravan guards that came to New Appleloosa since then,” she continued, not waiting for my answer, “they're probably not as good your mercenary team was, but we’ve figured getting them would be better than returning with just the griffin. Even if he is a Bloodtalon like you’ve said,” she added, rolling her eyes.

“Ya would doubt that if ya ‘ad seen ‘im in action,” Apple Core told her, but I merely nodded absentmindedly, already analyzing what Catch had said and thinking of the implications.

I had a feeling that they wouldn’t be too good for me. Black Widow had sent me here precisely because of my “diplomatic skills”. She had expected me to be the one to convince mercenaries to come and help with this tribe problem. What were the results that I had accomplished, though? I was fairly certain that the way Black Widow would look at them, it would be that I had almost gotten myself and Apple Core killed, wasted five days, and all I had to show for it were a single griffin. Whom I haven’t even seen for two days and suspected that he wouldn’t take Black Widow’s job offer anyway.

I may end up losing whatever favor I have with her, I realized, feeling uneasy; I suspected that it would complicate my plans if Black Widow became unhappy with me. All the more reason I’d better talk with Jack and convince him to accept the job.

Even if it would mean I still only got one mercenary against Catch and Mousetrap’s… however many “a few” was, I assumed Jack would be far more valuable addition to Appleloosa’s forces. For one thing, I had seen what he’s capable of, and based on Apple Core’s reaction such level of skills was rare in this part of the Wasteland. However, his main advantage over the ponies Catch had mentioned was that he could fly; he would be able to locate this tribe easily and quickly.

Also, I added while the others continued to talk about Jack and how swiftly he killed those five raiders, there’s also the matter of Scope I have to consider… It would be dangerous to tell Black Widow about everything that had happened and what Scope had said, but if my suspicions are correct, just describing how he looked should unsettle her.

I was pulled out of my musing by Catch. “On that note,” she said, turning to me; I wondered briefly on what ‘note’ they’d just been talking about, “are you sure that this apparent Hooded Figure of yours won’t come?”

Oh, that again.

“Yes, I am sure, sweetie,” I replied, rolling my eyes a little due to having to explain this once again. “He prefers to keep to himself and dislikes being around other ponies for too long.”

It was the truth, to some extent, even if his concern about being around ponies was mostly caused by worry that they would discover that he’s a hellhound and causing a panic in turn (and possibly attempt to shoot at him). More importantly, though, I highly doubted that he would agree to help slavers anyway; I considered myself to have a good enough grasp on the morality of others that I figured that a person who rescued a stranger for no ulterior motive wouldn’t help ponies who enslave others. As such, I hadn’t even bother asking him about it.

Even though, to be honest, it would be really nice if I could spend more time with him. Not to mention how helpful he could be to my plans...

“The only reason why he’s staying so long in New Appleloosa as he is because of his injury,” I finished replying to Catch, not wanting to linger on such thoughts for too long.

“What, he’s really that shy?” Mousetrap asked.

“For good reason,” Apple Core muttered, still loud enough for all of us to hear though.

“Oh, so you have seen what he looks like unders that hood too then?” Mousetrap asked her, gazing at her curiously. “So, what, is he some freaky ghoul or just super ugly or what?”

“Um…” Apple Core hesitated, glancing at me, then uttered a tired sigh. “Look, Ah promised ‘er Ah wouldn’t talk about ‘er ‘patient’, and she did save mah life so Ah owe ‘er that much,” she said, a little uncomfortably.

I flashed her a brief smile, happy that she kept her promise; I hoped she would remember it after returning to old Appleloosa as well. I figured that if the word would get around that the Hooded Figure was actually a hellhound, Rexio would find it harder to approach towns than he already did.

Her answer clearly wasn’t to Mousetrap’s liking, though. “You both suck,” she said, pouting.

“More importantly,” Apple Core spoke up, turning to me again, “are ya sure Jack will be back before we leave?”

“He said he would, and he hadn’t given me any reason to doubt his word so far,” I replied calmly, hiding just how bothered I was by this very issue myself. “I am more concerned whether or not he will accept Black Widow’s offer.”

“Why wouldn’t he?” Catch asked, frowning. “If he really is a Bloodtalon, this should be an easy job for him; heck, he could probably take out this tribe himself.”

“And considering that he just lost his entire team he could probably use this job,” Mousetrap added. I glared at her, upset that she would speak so lightly about such matter. “What, too soon?”

My glare lingered on her a second longer, then I turned to Apple Core. “I think I’ll go ask around the town if somepony has seen him today,” I told her, ignoring Mousetrap’s question.

“Suit yarself,” Apple Core replied, shrugging, as if she didn’t care; on the other hoof, it wasn’t her that would disappoint Black Widow if Jack wouldn’t show up. I wondered briefly if she didn’t care if I got into trouble, or simply hadn’t thought about it that much. Or if I was overthinking Black Widow’s possible reaction. “Ah’d rather spend the last hours ‘ere havin’ some fun instead ‘f worryin’ ‘bout stuff Ah can’t do,” she added, getting up from her mattress. Turning to Catch and Mousetrap, she asked “Ya girls comin’ too?”

As the other two slavers voiced their agreements, I began to trot towards the door, pondering if I should join them or not; after all, I could quickly determine whether or not Jack had been seen in New Appleloosa, and although going back to Ditzy earlier than I had planned was a tempting idea, I felt that I owed my companions to spend with them at least some time. Even if most of the activities they’d partake in involve things I don’t often take a part in, such as drinking.

“And speakin’ of havin’ fun,” Apple Core spoke up as I opened the door and held it up for them; glancing at her, I realized that she was speaking to me: “ya better remember that we’re leavin’ tomorrow and don’t stay up too late with tha- I mean, Derpy,” she corrected herself, rolling her eyes and sighing; despite deciding to become nicer to Ditzy and actually trying to, she’d found it to be a bit of a difficult transition.

I still frowned hearing her, though not because of the near slip-up, but due to her comment. “I believe it is I who should be worried about you being late due to the night of debauchery, sweetie,” I pointed out. Before any of them could reply (which I expected would either involve a comment on my and Ditzy’s relationship or an inquiry about what debauchery meant) I added “You don’t have to worry about me, I assure you however Ditzy and I shall spend this night, I don’t intend to be late.”

“Um… good,” Apple Core replied after as a second, a little hesitantly. “Okay, let’s just forget Ah said anythin’, sound good everypony?” she asked, looking from me to the others, who had quickly nodded.

Looking up and shaking my head, I waited for them to leave before letting the door close and following after them down the corridor and down the stairs, leading towards the Turnpike Tavern’s proper.

“Oh, Angel!” Apple Whiskey exclaimed from behind the bar as he noticed me. “Are ya joinin’ them this time? Ya still ‘ave a bottle ‘f our finest on me for savin’ mah sis,” he reminded me, smiling.

“Thank you, sweetie, but maybe some other time,” I replied, a bit sheepishly; it was getting harder to refuse his gratitude. As Apple Core and the others trotted towards a free table, telling their orders to Apple Whiskey in passing, I went to the counter and sat next to him. “I hoped to meet Jack; you haven’t seen him by any chance, have you?”

But Apple Whiskey was already shaking his head even before I finished my question. “Nope, sorry, haven’t seen ‘im today either,” he said, preparing the drinks my companions had ordered. “And considerin’ what ya girls told me ‘bout what happened t’ his pals, well, Ah’ve got a feelin’ when he get’s back he’d come ‘ere to drown his sorrows, so Ah would be the first to know when he’s back.”

“Oh, I see,” I said, frowning; what Apple Whiskey said made sense. I knew that a lot of ponies would often turn to alcohol or drugs or some similar substances when dealing with grief. If Jack hadn’t searched for me and hadn’t come here to drink, then he truly wasn’t back yet. “Well, if he does come, would you be so kind to tell him that I’ve been looking for him, sweetie?”

“Sure. Want me t’ pass anythin’ more?”

“Just tell him that I want to talk with him,” I told him, smiling gratefully. “Thank you, sweetie.”

Nodding him farewell, I turned around, trotting slowly through the tavern and wondering what to do. My gaze fell on the table where Apple Core and the others were, and once again I contemplated joining them for a bit… but then I spotted a familiar elder earth pony sitting close by, the same one who had offered me to teach me hoof-to-hoof combat, or “the sweet science”, as he had called it.

Before I could stop it, I found my thoughts returning to the Stable Eleven’s Overmare’s office. To how I couldn’t do anything to Scope because I was focusing my magic on Jack and Apple Core. If I had known how to fight, I thought, would I have been able to prevent Burst’s and Blast’s deaths?

He’d still have a gun pointed at you, Pinkie Pie pointed out, appearing together with Fluttershy. So I’m not sure how knowing how to punch and kick would help you.

Perhaps… I agreed, pausing before the tavern’s door. But maybe it would help. I won’t know unless I try, won’t I? I asked them as I turned from the door and headed to the older buck.

I guess that makes sense? Pinkie replied as she exchanged a look with Fluttershy.

Oh, I just wish this wasn’t necessary, the other apparition said, appearing a little dispirited at the concept. I don’t like to see ponies fighting. But if that happens again in the future, I would prefer if you survived and that saved others, so I suppose maybe it should be worth a try.

Well, it is always fun to try new things, Pinkie agreed, grinning at me as I stopped beside the earth pony, then together they disappeared.

“Excuse me, sweetie?” I called out to him softly, causing him to look up from his drink.

“Oh, hello lass,” he said in greeting, unfazed by the fact that a mare he had talked only once four days ago had now approached him. “Ready to take me up on my offer?”

“Why, yes I am sweetie,” I told him, slightly unnerved by his surprising directness. “I was just about to ask if that offer is still up.”

“Sure it is, lass,” he replied, waving his hoof dismissively, as if meaning that he considered this matter to be obvious. “You have time now? Great,” he added as I nodded and rose from his table, “let's go outside and see what I can teach you. You see, it's all about getting your whole wee body to snap just like a whip…”

I continued to listen attentively as he continued while I followed him towards the exit, memorizing everything. The matter-off-fact tone of his words and confidence had began affect me, dispersing the remains of my doubt about this idea.

Yes, I thought, I believe that this was definitely a good idea.

*** *** ***

Two sweaty hours later, I wasn’t so sure of that.

Of course, I hadn’t expected that I would be any good when it came to fighting (years of play fighting with Demon as foals had made that very clear to me), but I hadn’t thought that it would be this difficult. My instructor had told me to kick his forehooves with both my fore- and hindhooves, first lightly then gradually to put more strength into them (I was fairly certain there wasn’t much of a difference) as I would “turn my entire body into the kick” (which I was pretty sure I was failing to do), to try and block his own attacks, keeping my eyes constantly on him as he moved around me preparing to strike and when he would strike me (the latter turning out to be particularly difficult), to kick back… Despite the many breaks we’d taken, and the fact that he wasn’t hitting me hard (at least when compared to what my body had suffered at the hooves of Scope and the raider Clawface), I was very exhausted and very bruised.

Or rather, had been bruised; despite my usual reluctance to use magic to heal such insignificant injuries, I quickly found myself unable to focus on the training from the pain and began to heal myself every time we'd take a break.

Strangely, my self-appointed instructor had remained in good spirits throughout this session, even if I myself hadn’t. “So you see what you were doin' wrong then?” he asked me as we came back into the Turnpike Tavern, without a hint of malice.

Does thinking I could actually learn how to fight a pony like Scope and win count? I wondered, a bit bitterly. As we entered the tavern, I looked around to see if my slaver companions were still around, not enjoying the thought of them seeing me in such low spirits, but to my relief they were gone. Also, since I’ve never really tried fighting before, I believe it would have been more appropriate to say “what I’m doing wrong”.

Outloud, though, I hadn’t said any of that, fearing that my gracious instructor would assume that my annoyance was directed at him. “Yes, I believe I do. Thank you very kindly for your time,” I said, feeling truly grateful to the old buck regardless of what I thought regarding my fighting skills (if it could even be called ‘skill’) improvement. I pondered briefly of a way to express my gratitude to him, and even though it wasn’t something I’d usually do, our location had practically forced the idea unto me. “Um, could I buy you a drink, or give you some caps to buy one? It’s the least I could do…”

But the earth pony was already shaking his head. “No, no, no. I could nay take money from ye. It was my very own pleasure to teach what I know.”

“Oh, if you say so…” I replied, a little disappointed that I couldn’t repay him for his efforts. At the same time, though, I was pleased to see that ponies were still capable of being generous to others. “I’m glad to hear you took pleasure in teaching me, sweetie. Especially since, well, in sharp contrast to my years of medical studies I hadn’t proven to be a talented student,” I said, feeling my cheeks burning ever so slightly with embarrassment. “I’m not sure if you hadn’t wasted your efforts on me-”

The buck chuckled warmly, interrupting me, as we’d reached the table at which he sat earlier, waving at Apple Whiskey and motioning to him for another order. “Oh, I would nay say that. Ye think I would bother teachin’ ye if I thought I’d waste my efforts? I first spoke up to ye those few days ago because I can see it,” he explained as I gave him a curious gaze; or rather, began to explain. “You’re a fighter, lass.”

I blinked, surprise. “I… believe the last two hours or so, at least according to my PipBuck, had proven otherwise,” I told him, frowning in confusion as I wondered whether he wasn’t making fun of me.

While the smile on the buck’s muzzle indeed betrayed his amusement, there wasn’t any ridicule in as far as I could tell, and I’ve known ridicule.

“Ye might not have a body of a fighter, lass, but ye have a soul of one. I can see it clearly in yer eyes.”

A soul of a fighter? I pondered his thoughts, now even more confused. Do I really have such a soul? I suppose he meant this metaphorically, as in ‘never give up’... I mean, it’s not like he could actually see my soul, I amended with a bit of amusement.

Yeah, Pinkie Pie agreed, hovering next to my head and holding her muzzle as she giggled. I mean, ponies seeing souls? That’s cray-cray! she added, her giggling increasing in volume.

Um, Pinkie… Fluttershy spoke up from beside her, tapping her shoulder in an effort to gain her attention for some reason and failing.

I was about to ask the pegasus apparition what did she want from Pinkie, but my attention was briefly taken by Apple Whiskey as he brought my fighting instructor his order: a bottle of whiskey.

On the other hoof, I’m beginning to understand how he could assume to see a soul, I commented, recalling that I could smell a faint trace of alcohol in his breath throughout our training.

However, my thoughts quickly left the topic of alcohol and the effects inebriation could have had on my instructor, as I noticed the look Apple Whiskey was giving me. When I turned to him with a question at the tip of my tongue, he immediately nodded at something behind me. I glanced over my shoulder, confused… and then I saw Jack, sitting alone at the table at the back of the bar.

Finally! I thought, overjoyed.

Turning back to Apple Whiskey, I gave him a gracious smile, then turned to my instructor. “Thank you for telling me that, sweetie, I’ll remember that as well as all you taught me, but it’s time for me to leave now,” I told him as Apple Whiskey went back to the counter.

He nodded approvingly. “You take care o' yourself now. And if anyone asks... you just tell 'em that Fightin' Joe taught you how to fight that way.”

Even though I hoped I wouldn’t be forced to display my fighting skill to anypony anytime soon, I replied: “I will, sweetie. Thank you. Goodbye.”

I turned around and trotted over to Jack. The griffin was partially obscured by shadows, but despite that I could make out his empty expression as he stared down at the glass of what - based on the label on the bottle that was next to his forepaw - I assumed to be Wild Pegasus. However, as I approached him, he looked up from his glass, focus returning to his gaze.

“Ah, Doctor,” he said in greeting; an amused grin appeared on his beak as he added “So, did you have any more unlikely encounters since the last time I saw you? Because honestly, after that hellhound and those Enclave assholes, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve become friends with a dragon.”

“No, sweetie, I-” I began to reply, but then paused, staring at him wide-eyed. “Wait, there are dragons in the Wasteland?! I mean, I know about dragons, obviously,” I explained, ignoring that Jack had groaned and facepawed, too absorbed, “I’ve read about them, but I hadn’t even thought about them surviving-”

“For the love of…” Jack’s annoyed growl managed to cut through my wonderment, making me stop. “Yes, dragons survived when ponies and zebra decided to blow up everything two hundred years ago, but I don’t think there are any in the Equestrian Wasteland, that was the point. Now,” he said, his voice losing some of his anger and growing serious, “the bartender had said that you wanted to talk with me?” Jack asked, pointing at the opposite side of the table.

Accepting the invitation - as I made a mental note of what he said about dragons before purging my thoughts of them; I knew only too well how my excitement could annoy Jack - I quickly joined him. “Yes, sweetie, about several things in fact,” I began as I sat down. Then, despite knowing that he’d probably prefer to not talk about it, I asked, “The first of course being your health. Have you had any dizzy spells since you left New Appleloosa two days ago?” Ignoring Jack’s eyeroll, I continued, “Memory lapses?”

“No, nothing of that sort,” Jack replied, giving out a tired sigh. “And would I even know if I had any memory lapse, anyway?”

That’s actually a good point, I noted, frowning.

“That would depend on what how big of a lapse it would be, so to speak,” I said after a brief moment. “For example, if you’d lose your memory of about, say, ten hours, the different time of day would probably make you realize-”

“Oh, by the Egg, nevermind,” Jack interrupted me, annoyed. Not wanting to upset him before I got a chance to convince him to stay in old Appleloosa and help me, I stopped, and watched as he poured himself another drink. “No, I haven’t noticed losing any hours, and I also happen to remember everything that happened in my life so no memory loss either. Now, can we drop that subject? I’m really not in the mood,” he added, almost angrily, as he gulped down from the glass.

I bit my lip, upset at his refusal to talk about his medical condition. To be fair, he appeared to be perfectly fine, and both myself and Candi had examined him, but I would have preferred to check on him again now that some time had passed. Especially since I could use magic again, I would be able to check if there were any damage done to his brain. However, if I continued to push on this matter, he’d probably be less likely to listen to what else I had to say.

I suppose this can wait until we’ll arrive in Appleloosa, I decided unhappily. But if it will turn out that he does require further treatment, I’ll make sure he won’t forget about this!

Resigned, I chose to focus on the reason why he appeared to be so angry. “Does this mean you weren’t able to find this pony that gave Scope that holotape?” I deduced carefully.

Another growl escaped from Jack. “I found that caravan he had left with. Apparently, he vanished the night before from their camp; the pony who was supposed to change him on watch duty couldn’t find him,” he explained as I blinked in surprise. “I spent all this time trying pick up his trail in the area, but the rain must have washed it, assuming there was any to begin with.”

“Assuming?” I repeated, unsure what exactly he was insinuating.

“There are no settlements in the immediate area, other than New Appleloosa. It doesn’t make sense for him to leave the safety of a group and wander alone for days,” Jack explained, then, without looking down he reached to his side and pulled something out. “It’s a radio communicator,” the griffin informed me as he laid the rectangular device on the table; it had a small antenna, a speaker and a few knobs on it. “I found it in Scope’s stuff back in our quarters. It seems to be somewhat modified, which maybe increased its range. If what you said about Scope being part of some organization is true, then he could have used it to contact them and then had them send a unicorn capable of teleporting over long distances or a team that could move stealthily to pick his little informant up. It’s a stretch,” he remarked, his eyes widening as he sighed and waved with his paw in exasperation, “but it’s about the only way I could explain him leaving the caravan so far away from anywhere and leaving no trace,” he finished, taking another swig of his drink.

I looked at the radio communicator as he drank. I couldn’t see signs of those “modifications” he had mentioned, but then again I was completely unfamiliar with how such type of device was supposed to look like. About the only point of reference I had was having seen similar radios in some comics Demon’s used to read when we were foals.

“Those modifications are on the interior,” Jack explained as he figured out what I was looking for on the device. I glanced at him just in time to see him roll his eyes. “I opened it back before I left, on a hunch. Anyway,” he said dismissively as he grabbed it and put it back away, “even if I got it to somebody who’s good with technical gadgets, I doubt it would give me any clue as to what I’m dealing with here and where to look for them, so that’s a dead end. I have no leads. Well,” he amended, giving me an almost a disinterested glare, “aside from what you’ve said about Scope being interested in Black Widow and having mentioned Stalliongrad, that is. Assuming that it’s true of course.”

“I can’t help but notice that the way you said it suggests that you don’t believe what I’ve said is true,” I noted, slightly offended.

Jack snorted. “A guy I thought I could trust shot me in the head, excuse me for having doubts about a mare I met a few days ago,” he said, pouring whiskey to his glass again.

“How about a mare who saved your life?” I couldn’t help but point out, the corner of my mouth curling up into a half-smile.

The griffin chuckled briefly in reply. “I suppose. To be honest, I don’t know what to believe right now,” he explained, shaking his head. He grabbed his glass, about to drink from it, but after a brief hesitation he pushed it away and let go. “What did you want to talk about again?” he asked, sighing.

I waited for a few seconds before replying, studying him. It was clear that Jack was in a very bad place right now. His only lead to the organization that had sent Scope to spy on him and ultimately assassinate him and his friends turned out to be a dead end. He seemed… dejected because of this failure. I could offer him a way out of the place he was in, but would he welcome it?

Well, you certainly can’t just keep to yourself what could help him, Fluttershy pointed out. Turning to look at Jack with sorrow, she added And since I don’t think he would welcome hugs from you at this moment, well…

Then that is the only way to help him, I finished for the apparition as she trailed off. To help both of us.

Taking a deep breath, I began, “About the identity of this group that Scope had been part of. I believe I have a good guess regarding it, and I can offer you the means to find out whether I am right or not. And even if I am wrong,” I added, shrugging, “then we will find out their identity for sure.”

“Oh?” Jack exclaimed, looking at with a mixture of suspicion and amusement. “There’s a ‘we’ now, huh?”

I gazed into his eyes before answering. “There could be,” I told him, calmly and seriously. “Is it hard to believe that I’d like to help you track down this organization that is responsible for the deaths of Burst and Blast? That I harbor the need for revenge and justice as well?” I elaborated as Jack’s brow had slightly raised.

“Considering you knew them for less than a day? Yes, it is,” Jack said, his brow now furrowed.

Still looking into his eyes I replied, “A pony who would let such matter be, who wouldn’t want to avenge her comrades, however briefly she had known them, and who wouldn’t want to bring a dishonest group who would spy while posing as their friends and murder people for just considering them a threat?” I said, my eyes narrowing at the slight anger that crept into my soul as I worded this organization’s despicable actions, then relaxed as I finished my thought. “That pony would have no right to call herself the Princess of Equestria. And I did care for them,” I added, looking away from Jack and down at the table. “As their friend and a doctor, I wish I could have saved them, but all I can do to help is to avenge them.”

Several seconds had passed before Jack snorted. “Again with that messiah complex,” he remarked. “I really can’t tell whether you are that delusional or are you just trying to use me. But fine then,” he said before I could deny either accusation, “let’s leave that for now. What do you think you know about this organization, and how could we learn more?”

“Well,” I began, still a little upset about how he dismissed my objections before I could have even made them, “let me start by telling you about the identity of Scope’s organization. Based on the information I had been able to gather, I suspect that they are called S-”

“Steel Rangers?” Jack asked, one eyebrow raised.

I stared at him, surprised that he knew what I was going to say. “Um, yes, that is my theory. How-”

“It’s literally the first group that comes to mind when Stalliongrad is involved, and that’s where you’ve said Scope had mentioned he’d take you,” Jack explained, shrugging. “Everybody knows that it’s basically the Steel Ranger’s city. Well, at least everybody who lived more than two weeks in the Wasteland I suppose, seeing your reaction,” he amended, looking at me thoughtfully, no doubt noticing my confused and intrigued expression. “You seriously didn't know about that?”

I shook my head. “I only know what little I could read in my Stable about Stalliongrad from before the Last Day,” I confessed. “I have no idea what became of the city afterwards.”

Despite that I was supposed to be currently focused on the task of convincing Jack, I found myself wondering about Stalliongrad. It was only the second time this name had been brought up to my attention, but it was becoming apparent that, by having ties to Scope, I already had an enemy there waiting for me.

If I truly wish to bring this organization to justice, I thought, I will have to go there someday.

Putting such plan-making for a further point in the future, I readjusted my focus on the matter currently at hoof. After hearing my response, Jack’s eyes turned upwards as he uttered a tired sigh, then after a few seconds they returned to me. “A lot of things happened to it afterwards, along with every other part of this country. But currently - and for the last several decades - it’s where the strongest contingent of Steel Rangers are located. And they’re about the only real power over there, really, so if Scope’s organization is really based there the Steel Rangers are the only name that comes to mind. But that’s very unlikely to be the case,” he said, frowning. “Joining my group to spy on us I could understand, but posing as a mercenary for years before that? Sending out unaffiliated with them ponies with secret messages? That doesn’t seem like Steel Rangers’ M.O. at all. Modus operandi,” Jack explained as I gave him a quizzical look.

“Ah, a mode of working,” I said, nodding with understanding.

Jack blinked in brief surprise, but shook it off and moved on. “So yeah, they’re more of ‘recover technology while killing everybody standing between them and it’ kind of ponies. So unless you tell me several good reasons why you’ve assumed them to be connected to Scope, I’m afraid I won’t buy it,” he said, shrugging again and leaning back, looking at me expectantly.

Confident that what I was about to say would make Jack ‘buy it’, as he had said, I cleared my throat and began to list my reasons. “Well then, sweetie, for starters, In the time between you leaving Stable Eleven and the arrival of the raiders, I had been able to conduct a post mortem examination on Scope’s body. I believe you’ll find it interesting to know that his internal organs were all in perfect condition, with no radiation caused alteration whatsoever.” I decided to omit that so far all my knowledge regarding radiation effect on the body was limited to Stable Eight’s pre-war medical textbooks and my examination of Ditzy; I really needed to perform a dissection or vivisection on an average wastelander soon. “It’s clear that he had an access to professional medical care, and what’s more, the excellent state of his teeth points out to a great dental care as well, most likely throughout the majority of his life. I believe that’s an even rarer commodity in the Wasteland, a commodity that only a few groups would have access to; Steel Rangers, from what I’ve heard of them, would seem to be one of such groups. They are a branch of the Equestrian military, are they not?” I asked Jack, tilting my head in an invitation for him to speak. “Or rather, the descendants of the original members?”

“Sort of,” Jack agreed, shrugging. Frowning, he added “That’s a good point about medical care, I’ll give you that, but it doesn’t automatically point out to Steel Rangers. They’re not the only ones with good medical and even dental care. It would be far more likely that Scope have been born in Tenpony, or in some Stable. Or that he’s from Thunderhead, but that would be a long shot,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“Thunderhead?” I repeated the name, curious. Like Stalliongrad, this was the second time I’ve heard that name. “You mentioned it when you were talking with the pegasi; assuming one could call that talking,” I couldn’t help but point out, despite not having high opinion regarding those ponies myself, “it was bordering on antagonizing to be honest.”

“It’s one of the Enclave’s cloud-cities,” Jack replied, his frown turning into a deadpan. “Also, seriously? You’re going to give me the hard time for my attitude towards them? Didn’t they shoot the guy who rescued you from the raiders?”

“I hadn’t forgotten that, sweetie,” I told him, my gaze turning cold very briefly due to the suggestion that I could have. “I assure you, I was very cross with those five. You, however,” I added, gently, “seemed to… already have an opinion regarding this Enclave, an unfavourable one to be precise.”

“You could say that,” Jack snorted as he shook his head. “I suppose the fact that they raided the griffin’s lands for resources after they ran out of them above their clouds could have contributed to that, but really, I just generally don’t like people who’d turn their backs on their species like the Enclave had.”

As I listened to his brief - and, I suspected, largely abridged - explanation behind his attitude towards the Enclave ponies, I found myself nodding in understanding. After all, I, too, despised traitors, and how else should one call the pegasi for abandoning the rest of ponykind for two hundred years?

At the same time, though, I noticed a slight hypocrisy in Jack’s reasoning. I opened my mouth to point it out, but he was already deadpanning at me, having figured out what I was about to say. “Me leaving the Bloodtalons was different, trust me. Besides,” he added, his voice lowered, grabbing his glass away and lifting it to his beak, “I never said that I liked myself, did I?” I blinked and looked at him thought thoughtfully, wondering how worrisome that statement was, as he took a sip from the glass and placed it back on the table. “So, got any more reasons why you suspect that Scope was a Steel Ranger?” he asked, clearly not wanting the conversation to move on to another topic.

Despite that, though, there was something that puzzled me (Well, a lot of this, actually, but I’ll be content with only this one explained for now.). “Yes, but could you first explain to me how could a unicorn like Scope possible come from a pegasus’ ‘cloud-city’?”

Jack, who’s brow began to furrow, probably having expected the question to be related to either Bloodtalons or him, relaxed. “Oh, that… they have a small unicorn population over there,” he explained, waving his paw dismissively. “Descendants from the unicorns who were working in the nearby Shadowbolt Tower when the bombs fell.”

“Shadowbolt Tower?” I repeated questioningly, causing the griffin to groan in annoyance.

“Look, can we please move this conversation along already?” Jack turned to me almost pleadingly. “Because if we have to stop every five seconds for me to explain something about the Wasteland we’ll be sitting here all night.”

Although I disliked the thought of having to wait to for my questions to be answered, I had to agree that he had a point. Convincing Jack that I had the means to learn more about Scope’s organization was more important than knowing a thing or two more about the Wasteland right away. I could wait.

A bit regrettably, I nodded. “Very well. Let us move on to another reason why I suspect that Scope was affiliated with the Steel Rangers; back when he listed all the information he gained after joining your team, he mentioned a Steel Ranger’s ‘information broker’ as he phrased it.” That caused Jack’s gaze to flicker with interest. The griffin scratched his beak thoughtfully as I continued. “Now, I suppose such information would be useful to everybody, that there is somepony from an organization like Steel Rangers who would sell out the kind of information a group like them could possess. However,” I added, frowning as if I tried to remember something, “I seem to recall him saying something about how it would have been better to kill this pony instead of paying-”

“Yes, I remember,” Jack interrupted me; he spoke calmly and wasn’t looking at me, his gaze becoming vacant as he turned it towards the table. “One of the Scribes from Fillydelphia’s contingent of Steel Rangers sells their intel on the side; a friend in one of the Talon companies told me about him. That’s how I got the location of Stable Eleven and the override code… Scope had been irritated by the whole thing, but I assumed it was because of the cost. Indeed, it would make little sense for him to want to kill the buck if he was a part of some organization, unless…” he trailed off, clearly reluctant to finish that sentence.

“Unless he was a part of Steel Rangers himself,” I finished for him. “He would clearly be displeased with the fact that he sells their intel. He probably planned to report him to his superiors after finishing his assignment,” I added, figuring that I didn't have to remind him that Scope’s assignment was him.

Jack nodded, thoughtfully if a bit reluctantly. “Alright, that’s an interesting point, I’ll admit. Got anything else?” he asked, returning his attention to me.

“Well, there is one more reason why I suspect him to be a member of Steel Rangers: his interest in Black Widow. Now, perhaps you’ll find it strangely coincidental, but I already had begun to suspect that Black Widow was somehow affiliated with the Steel Rangers, too. I’ve learned that she joined slavers around the same time they ran into a fight with Steel Rangers,” I continued, ignoring the way in which Jack had raised his eyebrow. “That, coupled with what I overheard Cutter mentioning about having - I quote - ‘shit on her’ - the ‘shit’ that he had apparently explained in greater detail on that holotape he had delivered to Scope - made me consider that there was possibly a connection. Another thing worth noting is that she had named her zebra bodyguard; that’s apparently mute and obeys her every order, Khan; it’s a title of the leader of the Mustang tribe from the time before Equestria was founded. I find it hard to believe that in the Wasteland knowledge regarding history is easily acquirable, unless of course somepony grew up in a Stable like myself, in this Tenpony Tower, or been a part of this pre-war military group. And after what we have been through,” I added in a raised voice when Jack opened his beak to interrupt me, “another piece of the puzzle came into place, one that I am sure you will find to be a quite intriguing coincidence if this isn’t the case. You see,” I said, allowing myself to smirk, “Black Widow’s husband Eulogy, the one who had brought her into old Appleloosa, was killed a few years ago by a sniper’s shot, and the slavers were never able to find the shooter.”

Jack’s eyes slightly widened in comprehension of what I was suggesting; that Scope had been the one to kill Eulogy. It certainly seemed possible, if the Steel Rangers had believed that he was responsible for Black Widow leaving them. Of course, that begged the question as to why they hadn’t killed her that day as well; after all, if Scope had been able to take the shot at Eulogy, surely he must have seen Black Widow as well. And yet the way he had asked me about her in Stable Eleven suggested that he had only now learned of her (or rather, of her significance, he must have heard about Appleloosa’s slavers’ leader).

I wondered if Jack was considering the same things as me as he remained silent for several moments, frowning down at his glass. “Scope wasn’t the only pony with a sniper rifle out there in the Wasteland,” he finally said. “Although it is an interesting coincidence.”

“Assuming that it is a coincidence,” I pointed out.

“You know what’s also an interesting coincidence, assuming that it is a coincidence?” Jack asked, the latter part of his question slightly laced with mocking tone. He raised his forepaw and pointed a single talon at me. “The fact that you seem very eager to convince me that your boss is somehow involved with this.”

Taken aback by his suspicion, I blinked in surprise before answering. “Sweetie, I’ve already told you back in the Stable that Scope asked me about her-”

“Yeah, you told me; exactly my point,” Jack said, staring at me suspiciously. “All that you are saying right now could all be things you made up to make this story of your more believable, all so that I could help you take out Black Widow.”

Gee, paranoid much? Pinkie’s apparition asked sarcastically, crossing her forelegs on her chest.

Though I found myself agreeing with her comment, I hadn’t repeated it outloud. Instead, I looked him in the eyes, my ears dropped. “You think I would try to manipulate you like this, sweetie?”

Jack’s expression very briefly flickered, losing its stern for a heartbeat, but he quickly resumed staring at me coldly. “I don’t know you,” he pointed out, shrugging. “I met you only a few days ago. What I do know is that you have way with words. You can manipulate others to suit your needs. And you want me to trust what you say, without any solid proof?” he asked, raising his eyebrow again.

Though his suspicion was utterly wrong, I could not disapprove of his logic and observation. Jack took note of how I managed to stall Scope long enough to heal him, listened as I explained how I’ve outwitted the raiders, heard how I convinced the Enclave patrol to land and probably figured out how I avoided being enslaved by slavers and became their medic instead. Honestly, I should have expected that he’d think that I was trying to manipulate him.

Uttering a deep sigh, I lowered my gaze. “I suppose I can’t blame you for thinking this way,” I admitted, feeling a little hurt despite agreeing with his deduction. Trying to not dwell on it, I shook myself and looked at Jack again. “Regardless, whether you believe that I am trying to use you or not, or whether you believe what I’ve said to be true or false, you have to admit that Black Widow is the only lead you currently have. Coming to Appleloosa with us and accepting her job offer would allow you to learn for yourself whether I’ve been lying or not.”

Jack’s gaze hardened, then he looked down at his glass. He tapped it a few times with his talon in silence, contemplating. “I might have left the Bloodtalons and I’m not part of any Talon’s group,” he finally said, “but I am still a griffin mercenary. A Talon at heart. Breaking a contract or betraying my employer is against my moral code; not to mention that if word got out about it, I would find it harder to find jobs; who wants to hire a mercenary that has broken a contract? So if I’d take on a contract from Black Widow, I’d have to fulfill it and stay loyal to her. But what you’ve said she wants, to find this tribe that bothers her slavers and help them to fight them…” he trailed off, shaking his head and closing his eyes. “If I take this job from Black Widow, I’d have a paw in their death or enslavement. This tribe might be just a bunch of raiders, but they also might just be a band of normal ponies.” Jack opened his eyes and stared into mine, his gaze cold. “I’ve left the Bloodtalons because I’ve had enough of doing things that would make me lose sleep over. I'll not help the slavers take down this tribe if they aren’t raiders. So what you are asking me,” he continued, leaning back, “is to take a deal that would either force me to do something I’d regret or tarnish my professional reputation. Either way I break my moral code. Now, I would take this chance if I’d be certain that I could learn something about this organization that’s responsible for sending Scope after me and for murdering Blast and Burst. I owe it to those guys. But all I have are your words,” he finished, crossing his forelegs on his chest, “and that’s not enough for me.”

Once again, I found myself unable to disagree with his reasoning. All he had were my words; I could not blame him for not wanting to break his moral code. If anything, I was deeply impressed by his commitment to it. And by his willingness to break it if it meant avenging his friends.

Of course, the former was currently a great obstacle in my plans, and the latter was of no use to me if I couldn’t prove to Jack that I was speaking the truth.

I could still find out on my own about this organization and the connection between Scope and Black Widow, I thought, quickly weighing what little options I had. Preferably finding solid proof in the process. Then it would just be the matter of finding a way to pass this on to Jack. That way we could still avenge Burst and Blast… however, that isn’t the only reason why I want Jack to join me in Appleloosa. I need him if my plans are to succeed.

Jack sipped his drink, observing me attentively; it was as if he was aware of the thoughts raging within my mind, and was now patiently waiting for what I would say. Feeling grateful to him for giving me a chance to convince him, I took a deep, calming breath and closed my eyes, focusing.

I didn’t have any proof. As Jack had said, I had nothing other than my words. If I wanted Jack to come with me, I had to say something that would make him believe that I was saying the truth.

There is… one thing I could say… I thought, biting my lip.

It was a huge risk. A very, very big gamble. And I didn’t like taking gambles; taking an action without having all the information could lead to unpredictable and most likely tragic results. If this didn’t work out the way I hoped…

… this would be the end.

At the same time though, I thought, opening my eyes and regarding Jack, if this course of action does work out for me, I would gain a very valuable ally.

A loyal ally.

I met his gaze, steadying my breath as I laid both of my forehooves in the table. I grasped my left one with the right one in an effort to prevent them from shaking. I couldn’t afford to show fear, not when I was about to say it.

Before opening my mouth, though, I took a quick look around us, to make sure nopony was listening to our conversation. My slaver companions were, of course, still gone, but it wouldn’t do good to me if anypony were to overhear me right now. But I worried unnecessarily; our table was the furthest one from the bar and the ones closest to ours were all empty. None of the other patrons, most of which - aside from a small group playing some card game on the other end of the tavern - were sitting around the bar itself ordering and drinking alcohol, paid us any attention.

Satisfied, I turned back to Jack, and said the words that could spell my death.

“Cutter, the very pony who had made sure that holotape would be delivered to Scope in the event of his death, is alive. I’m keeping him chained up in the Appleloosa’s clinic basement.”

I was rewarded for my confession with the sight of Jack utterly surprised. His beak dropped down and his eyes widened as he stared at me, speechless for several heartbeats.

“Oooookay,” he finally said, somewhat recovered though still looking shocked, “wasn’t expecting that… why are you telling me this?” Jack asked, his brow furrowing.

“Because if I have been lying this whole time, then it would have been very stupid of me to tell you that he’s alive,” I replied, my voice calm. “All you’ll have to do is ask him. I trust that you’d be capable of determining that what’s he’s saying aren’t the words I’ve put on his lips. And I trust that you consider me a smart enough individual to not try and say that I am keeping somepony chained up in my basement if it isn’t the truth. It’s not exactly a subject to joke about. And besides,” I added, a little smirk appearing briefly on my face, “I’m sure you can agree that it was a peculiarly fortunate coincidence for me that the slavers’ medic had ‘died’ right after I arrived in Appleloosa. Taking that into a consideration, it’s not a stretch to imagine that I could very well be keeping him chained up in the clinic’s basement, would it not?”

Jack’s gaze hardened as he regarded me while he mulled over my words. I waited for his reply, paying close attention to my body, that I wasn’t shaking or breathing irregularly. That I wasn’t betraying how nervous I really was right now.

It was with both relief and sorrow that I noticed Jack going through a similar struggle. Though I suspected that he was highly more capable of remaining calm and neutral on the outside, hiding whatever emotions could rage within him, he was currently inebriated. Though his gaze never left me and it never lost any of its intensity, Jack’s face twitched a little, betraying that was conflicted.

It was a relief to know that I wasn’t the only one here struggling. But it was sorrowful to know that I caused him strife.

“And why exactly are you keeping him chained up in your basement?” Jack finally asked, regaining his calm composure.

As I was about to reply, Pinkie Pie’s apparition appeared, worry on her face, then nodded at Jack’s forepaws. Glancing away from his eyes down at the table, I realized that only one of his forepaws was currently on the table; the other was under it.

Rexio’s words came back to me: And your griffin friend, Jack? I don’t know if you had noticed, but back at the Rock Farms he was favoring his right foreleg while standing near me and had his left shoulder raised a little, so that he could swiftly grab his sword if he needed to.

He’s probably reached for his firearm, I realized, saddened. I have grown to like Jack, and was under the impression that - despite his often annoyance at me - he had shared this sentiment. And now he held a paw on his gun, ready to shoot me if I’d give him a reason to. Is this what will happen when others see this part of me, even out here in the Wasteland?

Despite my despondence, I tried to remain optimistic. If this gamble of mine pays off, I should win back his affection.

“Now, that is quite an important question,” I responded to his query, smiling pleasantly at the griffin. “One that I’m afraid I will have to answer after you’d arrived in Appleloosa and finished questioning Cutter. Once that matter is concluded, I will tell you my reasons for keeping him alive and chained in my basement, and once I do,” I added, my voice becoming gentler, “you will have to make a choice.”

Jack’s eyelid twitched. “And what kind of choice would that be, exactly?” he asked, growing more tense.

I uttered a soft giggle, amused at the thought that he had interpreted my words as a threat. “A rather simple choice, I assure you. It’s whether you will accept my reasons or not.” I hesitated, then added “Whether you will let me live or not.”

Despite my composure, I couldn’t stop my hooves from trembling a little; I knew of course when I decided to tell Jack about Cutter that this could very well be the course of action he could take, but somehow saying that he could decide to kill me made it seem all too possible. I quickly tightened my right hoof’s grasp on my left one in an effort to forestall any future shakes.

Looks like he’s noticed though, Pinkie commented as I’ve noticed Jack’s eyes glancing away from mine and focusing on my hooves. Do you think that’s bad?

Well, I had hoped to appear as serene as possible, so that he’d assume that I’m certain that I have a good reason for keeping Cutter chained up, and as such he would give me the benefit of the doubt and be… more open-minded until he hears what I’m about to say.

But wouldn’t opening up to him and showing that you’re worried show that this isn’t a trick? Fluttershy asked. I mean, he could think that you’re so calm because you’re planning to pull some trick if he’d have decided to… you know, she finished uncomfortably, her ears dropping.

Not if he’d think that I’m trying to manipulate his feelings, I replied. Although… I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to show some emotions. Besides, I added as I cast my eyes down at the table, I have a better way of assuring him of his safety.

“Everybody has their reasons for doing the things they do,” I began, keeping my eyes downcast. “No matter how horrible those things may seem. However, I know only too well that not everybody can approve of the reasons behind them. So, when you see Cutter, and hear my explanation… you will either agree with me, or kill me,” I added, looking up again. I allowed myself a soft smile and continued. “I have no illusions that I would be able to prevent you from killing me if you’d chose. You wouldn’t even have to do it, actually; you could just tell the slavers that I’m keeping their previous medic chained up in the basement, and they would do it, or worse. And even if I’d have been able to prevent you from either killing me or telling them, if I’d by some miracle managed to defeat you - which is not my intention to do such in the slightest, I assure you - then the slavers would no doubt note your disappearance. Black Widow already suspects me of having a hoof in Cutter’s demise, the only reason why she hasn’t done anything about it is because it worked in her favor. She won’t do the same if a griffin mercenary, a former Bloodtalon at that, which she had recently hired, disappeared, which is why you have absolutely nothing to fear from me. So… this is my proof to you,” I finished, spreading out my forehooves. “The proof that I’m not lying is my own life, put on the line.”

Jack continued to stare at me, not blinking, for several long heartbeats after I had finished. I waited, patiently, my forelegs still spread to emphasize the honesty to him. I was confident that in but a few seconds, while not exactly calmed by my promise of explanation and resignation to my fate as well as his safety, Jack would agree-

“I won’t be going to Appleloosa with you tomorrow.”

My mouth hung down open due to the sheer surprise; for an instant I was reduced to staring at him like that and blinking, unsure if I had understood him correctly.

“Um…” I began when I finally recovered, thinking rapidly at how I could fix this unexpected effects my words had - which were about the exact opposite of my intentions! - but Jack forestall anything further than that by lifting his paw.

“I won’t be coming now,” he emphasized. “I was going to when I thought I would only show up to reject Black Widow’s offer, but since now it looks like I will be staying there for a while - regardless whether I’ll kill you or not, apparently - I’ll have to first finish this job,” he said as he reached down to a pocket and showed me a holotape with those music records he had recovered from Stable Eleven. “Even if it’s just two new songs…” Jack added, muttering and shaking his head in annoyance as he hid the holotape back. “I’ll fly over to Tenpony Tower and deliver this to the client, then I will come to Appleloosa. Should take me about a week.”

“Oh, I see,” I replied, frowning as I pondered this development.

Black Widow was very possibly going to be disappointed by this, especially since all I had was Jack’s word that he would come to Appleloosa after the week had passed - even if I was very certain that he would - but I suspected that she would still be satisfied to have him working for her even if she’d have to wait a week. With those ponies my companions had gathered, the slaver’s defenses should be increased enough for her to be happy while waiting for Jack so that he could find the this tribe for her.

“I will also see Blast and Burst’s parents,” Jack added, that single sentence shattering my contemplations.

“O-oh, I… I see…” I stammered, completely taken off-guard. I had forgotten about Burst and Blast’s parents, that they had no idea that their sons were dead and were probably expecting them to come see them soon when they would be on their way back to finish the music records hunting job. Ashamed that I hadn’t thought of that, I looked away from Jack and down at the table again. Despite how just minutes ago Jack had said that I had a ‘way with words’, I have found myself at a loss of them now. What should I say to that?

Standard social protocol would dictate to ask if he could pass along my condolences, right?

After a few moments, I rose my head to meet Jack’s gaze, opened my mouth, about to ask him if he could tell something their parents from me… then closed it and looked down again without uttering a word. I had no idea what I wanted to tell their parents. Would condolences from a mare they know nothing about would matter to them? Of a doctor who failed to save their children’s lives?

“What are you going to tell them?” I finally asked, my eyes not leaving the table.

Jack didn’t reply at once. I didn’t need to look up to know that he was gazing at me studiously; I could almost feel his eyes upon me at this point. Was he trying to gauge if this was an act that I was playing in an attempt of manipulating him? That I was pretending to be moved?

“The truth,” he finally replied. “They deserve to know. I will be also mentioning you of course.” This did cause me to look up at him. To my relief, I saw Jack’s expression soften, even if only a little. “They would like to know that Burst died while trying to save you, I think. And that they received a beautiful eulogy before we buried them.”

I nodded in acknowledgement, not even wondering whether it was meant as a compliment or not. “I would like to meet them one day,” I said; a doctor has to inform the family of the deceased of their passing. Though I of course realized that this wasn’t exactly the case, I should talk to them face to face about it.

“Well,” Jack replied, shrugging, “then I guess those reasons you want to explain to me had better be good. Or moderate, I suppose,” he amended, screwing up his face and causing my ears to perk up, hopeful. “I mean, the guy was the slavers’ medic, right? He couldn’t be exactly a decent pony.”

My eyes lit up hearing that, hope swelling in my chest at the thought that not only my gamble would pay off, but also at the thought that perhaps I had found somebody who might understand me… The next moment, though, I had realized what was his line of reasoning, and it caused me to frown in mild annoyance.

“Excuse me, sweetie,” I began, strength returning to my voice, “may I remind you that I am also practically a ‘slavers’ medic’?”

Jack raised a single eyebrow, appearing to be annoyed. “Do you seriously want to go down this conversation after telling me that you are keeping somepony chained up in your basement?”

I opened my mouth to reply… but then I closed it when I realized his point. “I suppose not,” I admitted in surrender, my ears dropping. Jack sighed and shook his head, then raised his forepaw to the side of his head and massaged it. That gesture, most likely betraying his tiredness and annoyance, made me recall his injury. “You know sweetie, since you’ll be going to Tenpony Tower, maybe it would be a good idea to get examined while you’re there? It won’t hurt to get a third opinion,” I added hastily as the griffin graced me with a deadpan, “not to mention that it would be several days from your last check-up.”

Jack once again raised up his paw to interrupt me. He waited a second to make sure I had stopped talking before saying “Do you seriously think that I am not going to have my head checked after the unicorn who had messed around with it with her magic have just admitted to me that she’s a mad scientist?” he asked, an eyebrow raised.

“Wha-” I began, shocked, then quickly stopped as I regained my composure and instead calmly (with my brow furrowed in offense) said “Excuse me, sweetie, but I am not a ‘mad scientist’.”

“So you’re saying when I’ll go to your basement I won’t find Cutter horribly terrified and exhausted after numerous experiments you had conducted on him?” Jack asked, his expression unchanged.

I worked my mouth in silence, trying to think of a response to that. “I wouldn’t say ‘numerous’,” I finally said, almost sullenly, causing Jack to snort dismissively. My gaze dropped down to my forehooves on the table as I made a little circular motion, feeling oddly, almost embarrassed, that he had figured out what I am doing to Cutter; or rather planned to do, as I really hadn’t began conducting any serious experiments. However, there was another emotion I was feeling right now, even stronger one: hurt. “I haven’t done anything to you besides healing your injuries, sweetie,” I told Jack, looking back up at him again. “Nor am I going to.”

“Yeah, well, if the doctors at Tenpony don’t find anything wrong, you will get a few trust points from me,” Jack replied with an almost disinterested shrug. “If they find something, then I guess we’ll see. Regardless, I plan to hear you out; I would lie if I said that I’m not a bit curious just what the fuck are you. Now,” he added in a briskier tone, just as I was about to open my mouth and respond to his last comment, “I believe we’ve talked about everything we need to talk about. So if you wouldn’t mind, I would prefer to drink myself into stupor without the company of a pony that would make me worry if I wake up with all my internal organs still inside.” I honestly had no idea whether that was supposed to be a joke or not; he hadn’t smiled or even smirked, but he sounded almost disinterested with this matter. “I’ll see you in a week Doctor.”

Even though there was nothing in his tone or demeanor that invited any disagreements on the subject of “conclusions” of our talk, I still nodded in accord before standing up from the table. I did so reluctantly, though; I had hoped that we could have talked a bit longer, so that we would part on a bit friendlier terms.

Although considering what I had revealed, this is probably amazingly good terms to part on, I reflected. Not to mention that Jack isn’t exactly the friendliest person ever to begin with… It’s better to not risk upsetting him by attempting to improve our relationship for all of the few seconds before we be apart from each other for a whole week.

But, um, tiny Fluttershy’s voice rang quietly in my mind as I began to make my way around the table, are you sure… She hesitated, then shared a look with Pinkie Pie’s apparition who nodded supportively. Even if it’s unnecessary, isn’t there something you’d want to say?

I stopped dead in my tracks, right after passing Jack. There was… one thing that I wanted to tell Jack, before we met again and he would decide whether he kills me or not.

“Jack?” I began, glancing back at the griffin. He didn’t turn to look at me, but the glass he was raising to his beak had stopped mid-air, indicating that he was listening. “I don’t know if you will believe me or not when I say this, but… I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I destroyed whatever image of me you had in your mind before.”

Jack remained silent for several seconds. “Do you assume I care so much about something like that?” he finally asked, still not looking at me.

I uttered a short chuckle. “You probably don’t,” I admitted; I couldn’t help but wonder if there was some wistfulness in my voice. “But… I’ve lost a chance to tell that to somepony that does,” I added, my ears dropping in regret. “I would rather say it now when I have a chance.”

A sound escaped Jack, a mixture between a sigh and a snort. “Try not to befriend a dragon within the next week,” he said, waving his free paw back at me in farewell.

Slightly amused, I opened my mouth to respond, but then hesitated as a thought occurred to me. “Wait, sweetie,” I began, turning around and taking a step towards him, “are you worried that I would try to feed you to a dragon in case you would decide to kill me, or did you just mean-”

Faster than I could blink, Jack turned back and reached with his forepaw to my muzzle, silencing me. “For the love of…” he began as he glared at me, annoyance mixed with anger - and something else that I couldn’t quite decipher - on his face. “... everything,” he finished after a brief hesitation, “just go already, would you?”

A bit intimidated - although I should have probably gotten used to this by now - I nodded meekly as best I could while he held my muzzle, then when he released it and turned back to his table, I similarly turned away and trotted towards the Turnpike Tavern’s door. As I passed Apple Whiskey while wishing him a good night, I realized that something about this last exchange between myself and Jack was bothering me. I couldn’t tell what, though, as he had acted almost exactly like whenever I had irritated him before. Only when I left the tavern while thinking back to several of my previous conversations with Jack, I have realized what it was.

I would have preferred if he had flickered my muzzle with his talon before turning away.

*** *** ***

I recalled that back when I had returned to the Turnpike Tavern with Fightin’ Joe that the cloud cover above us had began to grow darker; by the time I had finished my talk with Jack and left, night had fallen. It was now completely dark outside, the streets of New Appleloosa being lit by only a few sources of light like my PipBuck, but more importantly, it was empty.

Which suited me just fine as I trotted through the town aimlessly.

I should have been returning to Ditzy, even if I had mentioned that I might be late today she was bound to start worrying at some point. Of course, I also simply wanted to return to her. This was my last night in New Appleloosa after all, at least for the foreseeable future. My last chance to spend a few more moments with her.

And yet, for now, I wished to be alone.

Perhaps I wouldn’t if I had been more used to the idea of being separated from somepony by a large distance - growing up in a Stable you’d never have such a problem - but even as I contemplated the thought, I still found myself reluctant to face another pony just yet. Even the two apparitions had sensed that, and remained silent as I trotted; I could feel their worried gazes on myself, but I ignored them. I was too occupied replaying the entire conversation I’ve had with Jack in my head, which had caused me to be so deeply unsettled.

Which, considering that I could die a week from now because of it, wasn’t really surprising.

Honestly, if I was of a better state of mind right now, I would probably find it amusing that I was more worried about dying then when I was about to face over twenty raiders. That I was worried about dying at all; after all, I was the mare that was going to discover the Truth of the world and understand the infinite cycle of life and death. I wasn’t going to die.

And yet…

I suppose it is only natural for one to be concerned about their life, I decided, turning to the two apparitions for the first time since leaving the tavern.

Finally stopping, I took a look at my surroundings. To my mild surprise, I realized that my aimless trotting had led me to the brahmins’ barn. My thoughts had immediately went to Belle and Anna, the heifers I had met and played with just a few days ago. They were long since gone, having left New Appleloosa around the same time when Jack and I had buried Burst and Blast outside of Stable Eleven. I had missed my chance to examine them, but there were plenty of brahmins still left; even now I could hear them snoring inside, some gently, other not-so-gently. Being as busy as I was since our return, I hadn’t thought about this intriguing species or that I still had to research them, but maybe it was about the time to change that? After all, examining them would not only allow me to learn more about their species, but would also take my mind off Jack and the talk we’ve just had.

So why wasn’t I walking into the barn and planning their physical examinations, and was instead still thinking about Belle and Anna?

They were such sweet little girls, I mused, smile crossing my muzzle as I sat down, resting my back against the barn’s wall and looking up at the clouded sky. There was one slightly brighter spot in the otherwise unending darkness above me; did the moon lie behind it, covered by those cruel clouds? Was Princess Luna watching me? Well, maybe Anna was a bit uncouth, I amended, frowning a little, but honestly, I blame her upbringing for that. And yes, I realize that Belle must had the exact same upbringing as Anna, but clearly she had developed better manners than her. I smiled again as I recalled her. I can’t believe that little heifer talked me into playing with the two of them… it… was nice of her to ask me to play with them, actually. It’s been so long since anypony asked me to play with them…

Angel? Fluttershy’s question pulled me out of my reminiscing. I took my eyes off the brighter part of the cloud cover to look at the two apparitions; both were looking at me with worry. Are you okay?

Why wouldn’t I… I began, but as I turned my head to better address them, I felt something wet run down my cheek. Confused, I raised my hoof to my face and brushed gently against it, then looked what it was; it was a small drop of liquid.

A tear.

Biting my lower lip, I moved my hoof to my welled-up eyes in an effort to smarten myself up.

Angel? Fluttershy tried again, not letting up.

I hesitated before replying, unsure what should I say; finally, I decided upon the truth. I don’t want Jack to kill me, I confessed, wiping away my tears and returning to staring at the covered sky, taking deep breaths in an effort to calm myself.

Oh, Angel, Fluttershy exclaimed, placing a hoof comfortingly on my cheek.

Well, he might not kill you, Pinkie Pie tried instead. I mean, Fluttershy told me about how you two talked and she - you know, Fluttershy - seems okay-ish with this whole ‘experimenting on ponies’ thing. I mean, she hasn’t left , right? Although I suppose we can’t really leave…

You just have to talk honestly with Jack, Fluttershy said, ignoring Pinkie as the other apparition trailed off. I’m sure somebody like him would be more accepting of this part of you than I am, so when you explain to him why you do this, he won’t want to, w-well, k-kill you, the pegasus apparition finished uncomfortably.

Maybe… I replied, unconvinced. I was certain that Jack would have several follow-up questions after hearing my explanations. Some of which would involve the exact circumstances that led to me leaving Stable Eight. Four of the test subjects I had back in Stable Eight had died because of my experiments, I told Fluttershy and Pinkie, my ears dropping. As the two exchanged an uneasy glance, I continued: I’ve killed ponies… even though those four didn’t deserve to be called ponies, honestly. Regardless… once Jack learns this, he might not be as accepting as you think.

… then maybe you shouldn’t tell him that? Pinkie asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly. As Fluttershy looked at her disapprovingly, she exclaimed: Whaaat? Applejack’s not here; besides, it’s not lying if she just doesn’t talk about it, right?

He will ask, I said before Fluttershy could reply. He will figure out that my experiments were the reason why I left my Stable. And Burst or Blast might have mentioned to him what I’ve told them when we met, about how many deaths I have caused. And I do not wish to lie to him.

The two apparitions exchanged a glance again. It’s not just that you do not wish to lie to him, isn’t it? Pinkie asked, a slight smirk appearing on her muzzle. You do not wish to hurt him, either, right? And by that, she added before I could frown and reply that I considered it to be obvious, I mean hurt him by further destroying whatever image of you he had and forcing him to kill you out of fear. Aaaand you don’t want to physically hurt him, too, which is why you’re not even considering fighting back.

Well, yes, I replied, sighing. I do not enjoy the thought of hurting somebody I’ve grown to care about.

If that’s the case, Fluttershy spoke up, looking at me hopefully, maybe you shouldn’t-

But I cut her off. Haven’t we talked about this already today, darling? I asked, deadpaning at her. Fluttershy’s apparition winced, then sighed as I continued. I am not going to stop. Jack will have to accept that this is part of who I am… or stop caring about me, if he does. Or kill me.

Oh please, he does care, Pinkie Pie snorted, rolling her eyes. Why do you think he was so upset about the whole “keeping Cutter chained in the basement” thing?

I suppose… I mused, not entirely convinced. I remained silent for a few more moments, just staring up in the cloud cover; an image of Goddess Luna watching over me appeared unbidden in my mind, of her extending her wings protectively around me as she gazed down lovingly at the scared albino unicorn. I smiled briefly, surprised at what my mind had conjured in an effort to find comfort, then sighed and closed my eyes. Worrying about it won’t change anything. I should remain optimistic until the time comes; after all, I wouldn’t have told Jack about Cutter if I wouldn’t have thought that there was a chance that he would accept this. Considering his stance on who deserves to be called a sapient being and what that entitles them to, he might even agree with my view. Regardless-

“Angel?”

The unexpected voice saying my name right beside me had surprised me so much that I actually jumped off the ground uttering a scared and very unlady-like yelp. Turning towards the source of it as I backed away, I realized that there was a sprite-bot hovering next to me.

“Oh, sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” Watcher said through the robot.

Quickly shaking off my fright, I beamed at the sprite-bot, happy to talk with Watcher. There’s my dragon, I thought before I could help myself, recalling with amusement Jack’s worries. “Don’t worry, darling, it’s my fault for getting so lost in my own thoughts. I’m very pleased to see you again.”

“Heh, likewise. Especially since, you know, the company I had left you with.”

“Ah, yes. As you can see, darling, I have survived that unpleasant encounter,” I told him, smirking. “Which I believe means that I have won this little bet of ours.”

“No it doesn’t,” Watcher replied, much to my confusion.

“Um, beg your pardon?” I asked, losing my composure.

“The bet was that your plan would succeed; I can even playback a recording if you want.”

“No, thank you sweetie, that won’t be necessary, I happen to recall our bet perfectly,” I replied, feeling a little annoyed by his comment.

“Yeah, so, I sent a new sprite-bot over to the Rock Farms as soon as I was able, and found bodies of three more raiders; one killed in particularly brutal fashion I might add. Now, stop me if I’m wrong, but I thought your plan involved getting them all trapped alive in the Stable, wasn’t it?”

I nodded with reluctance, already knowing what Watcher was getting at.

“So the presence of those three bodies means that something went wrong - as I said it would - and those three didn’t get trapped. And since I doubt you are capable of ripping out a pony’s ribcage, I figure that somepony had saved you. For which I am really happy about of course, but it means that neither of us won that bet.”

I stared at the sprite-bot for several seconds before sighing and looking away, up into the covered sky that obscured the moon. “Very well, let’s have it your way darling. After all, you are the one who’s missing out if I cannot meet you face to face.”

“Oh? How come?” Watcher asked; I got the impression that the mechanical voice sounded a little confused.

Smiling, I titled my head a little to look at the sprite-bot. “Why, isn’t it obvious, darling? You’ve saved my life with your warning and help; the very least I could do as a sign of gratitude would be to kiss you on the cheek,” I told him, squinting my eyelids seductively. I gave him a whole second to process my words before I frowned and added “And meeting you would allow me finally to learn what personal pronoun I should use when I’m thinking about you; honestly, it’s been really upsetting me that I might be using the wrong one this whole time!”

“Oh, um…” Watcher stammered, apparently a little put off-track. “I a- um, I’m a guy.”

“Oh, wonderful, that’s what I had initially assumed,” I replied, sighing with a relief.

“Oookay… um, and as for the whole ‘kiss on the cheek’ thing? Yeah, I don’t see it happening even if we would meet,” Watcher replied.

To that I rolled my eyes. “Oh, darling, that would be a strictly platonic kiss, your sexual orientation really shouldn’t-”

“What?!” Watcher interrupted me. “No! I didn’t mean… I meant that you wouldn’t wanna… Ugh!” the sprite-bot emitted a noise that sounded more like a growl. “Look, can we change the subject already?”

“Of course, darling,” I replied, more than a little surprised by his reaction. “Um, forgive me if I had offended you-”

“You didn’t offend me, you just... bemused me,” Watcher replied, sounding a little tired. “More importantly, could you tell me what had happened back there at the Rock Farms?”

I spent the next several minutes recounting the events that had transpired after the raiders had destroyed Watcher’s sprite-bot. I went into great details regarding the parts of my plan that Watcher had the most objections to, claiming that they were ‘stupid’, like the cardboard box. I was less eager to talk about what happened later on, how three raiders had managed to jump through the Stable door before it closed and chased after me; I decided to spare him the details of how Clawface had hit me. Watcher himself had seemed more interested about my savior.

“... so when Clawface had pulled away from me, I looked around, expecting actually to see you darling,” I continued my tale. “But instead I saw him, huge, covered by a robe with a hood slid down over his face-”

“Ah, the Hooded Figure,” Watcher exclaimed, interrupting him. “Yeah, now that makes sense.”

“You know him?” I asked, a little surprised.

“I am called Watcher for a reason you know,” Watcher replied, a brief chuckle escaping through the sprite-bot. “I had seen him from time to time, helping ponies out, though never staying long around them. For good reasons I suppose.”

My eyes widened hearing his comment. “Good reasons, you say?” I repeated slowly, curious just how much did he know.

“Yeah…” Watcher replied and trailed off. The sprite-bot hovered next to me fore several seconds in silence before he finally added “You know he’s a hellhound, huh?”

“Why, yes, I do, I noted his body’s posture and paid attention to the prints he left, then asked him,” I explained, then tilted my head curiously. “How do you-”

“I’ve seen him in a tougher fight a couple months back,” Watcher said before I could even finish my question. “He dealt with them rather quickly after he took off his robe; the raiders just ran away in panic after that,” he explained. “Didn’t even have to help him. I found it interesting that a hellhound was travelling around the Wasteland in disguise, but I hadn’t really had a chance to talk to him.”

My ear twitched slightly as I regarded the sprite-bot, intrigued by what Watcher said. How peculiar, I mused. He had already approached me several times now; how could he have not found any chance to approach Rexio, especially since he was always on his own?

“And, you know, was a bit worried that he would just trash the sprite-bot,” Watcher added with a chuckle, oblivious to my pondering. “So, did you two talk after he rescued you?”

“Why, of course we did, darling,” I replied, wondering why, if he was still interested by Rexio, he hadn’t approached him himself. “We’ve also talked later, after we returned to New Appleloosa. In fact-”

“Wait, hold on,” Watcher interrupted me, “you brought him here? I mean, don’t get me wrong, but most ponies-”

“Yes, I know, they would panic at the sight of a hellhound,” I snickered and rolled my eyes, interrupting Watcher in turn. “I’ve already been told as much. Rexio - which is his name, darling - remained hidden under his robe when we arrived, and hasn’t left Candi’s clinic since. He needed to be under medical observation after I healed the injury the Enclave pony had caused,” I explained.

The sprite-bot hovered next to me in silence for about three seconds. “I’m sorry, did you say ‘Enclave’?” Watcher finally asked. “The hell were they doing down there?!”

I quickly explained the reason behind their presence there as well as what happened afterwards, emphasizing just how irritated I was because of that encounter and the pegasus’s behaviour. When I finished, the sprite-bot emitted a strange noise, which only after a moment I realized was Watcher’s whistle.

“Wow, you sure have a knack for encountering unusual people in the Wasteland, huh?” he commented. “Raiders, hellhound and Enclave patrol, all right after the other.”

Unsure how to interpret it, I shrugged. “Perhaps, though I would need to go through more of such events before I would say whether I have a ‘knack’ for something or not. I will be sure to make notes during my future, shall we say, expeditions in the Wasteland, regarding the unusualness of the people I encounter.”

“Wait, you plan on going back out there?” Watcher asked. “I mean, no offense, you appear to be quite resourceful, even if those three raiders got away from your trap, but I fear a pony like you belongs in the - relative - safety of a town.”

“Your usage of the word ‘relative’ makes me feel so much safer, darling,” I commented, humming with amusement. “As for ‘going back out there’... it’s not that I plan to journey through the Wasteland again,” I said slowly, turning my gaze away from the sprite-bot as I considered my words. Once again, I found my gaze traveling upwards. “As a matter of fact, I would prefer to avoid leaving a town for the foreseeable future; travelling through on a train doesn’t count,” I quickly added, recalling that I would be leaving this town tomorrow. “However, there is always a possibility that circumstances would force me into the Wasteland again. And besides…” I trailed off, hesitating.

There was one additional thing that had bothered me about the events that had transpired on back then, other deaths of Burst and Blast. Well, maybe “bothered” wasn’t the right word to use, or “unsettled”; definitely not “disturbed”, either. “Intrigued” seemed to be closer to the emotion I was feeling, or “puzzled”.

“Back when I was facing those raiders,” I resumed slowly, “and the previous day in the Stable… I was scared, yes, very, especially when Clawface and the other two jumped out of the Stable Eleven. But at the same time… a part of me was enjoying it,” I confessed. “When I commanded their attention and manipulated them into acting just the way I planned, I felt…” I paused briefly, looking down at my forehooves as I raised them before me as I simply said “powerful. And when they chased me… well, I didn’t feel powerful, obviously,” I said, rolling my eyes as I brought my hooves down and resumed looking at the clouds. “I don’t think I felt anything other than fear; I was even having problems coming up with the plan of what to do about them because of my fear. But afterwards, when I thought back to it, I realized that at the same time I felt alive. Facing that imminent danger had made me feel very alive, more so than I’ve felt throughout most of my life. And although it was a horrible experience… a part of me is looking forward to feeling like that again, and it puzzles me,” I admitted, glad for the opportunity to voice my worries.

“A-huh,” Watcher hummed slowly, clearly processing what I have told him. “Well, yeah, I guess feeling like that would have that effect on everypony. And a brush with death like that can have all sorts of effects on ponies. Especially if they’ve spent their entire life in the safety of a Stable and now they were forced into what this world has become. Perhaps... ” Watcher hesitated briefly, then continued, “perhaps you wouldn’t be so bothered by how you’re feeling and would have an easier time settling in the Wasteland’s reality if you’d discover your virtue?”

I blinked and turned to the sprite-bot. “My virtue?” I repeated, confused.

“Yep. Your virtue. I believe that everybody exemplifies some virtue. They are what allows ponies to resist the harshness of the Wasteland. Living in this world, you will bear witness to many terrible things; perhaps, in order to survive, you will even be forced to do terrible things. The Wasteland corrupts ponies like this, taking away from them bit by bit. You’ve seen the ponies who had succumbed to the Wasteland,” Watcher added. “The raiders who attacked you are those ponies. You’d be amazed to find out just how many became like them. But if you find your virtue and live by it, you will find your place in this world and will remain you.”

Tilting my head, I contemplated his words. “Interesting… I’ve always lived by my morals,” I said thoughtfully, “and I always believed that if I would stop adhering to them I would no longer be Angel. But living by your virtue? That’s a new concept to me. What would even be my virtue?” I asked, genuinely curious about it.

“I wouldn't know, not after knowing you for such a short time,” Watcher replied. “I’m afraid that’s something you’d have to figure out on your own. But when you do, let me know; you could say I’ve made a hobby of learning ponies’ virtues.”

“... What a peculiar hobby you have, darling,” I commented, a little surprised. “Though I suppose everybody needs something to pass their time. Very well darling, I will tell you what my virtue is when I realize it,” I told him; considering the help he had given me, it was the least I could do for him. I turned my gaze away up in the direction of the hidden moon again, wondering just what could be my virtue, but I paused as I realized that that I had to make something clear for Watcher. “You have misunderstood me, by the way,” I told him, glancing at the sprite-bot.

“Misunderstood?” Watcher repeated.

“I am not ‘bothered’ by how I feel about that whole confrontation, as you have assumed; I am merely puzzled,” I corrected him. “I am not as much as worried about the way I feel as I am intrigued. You might say that being excited by things like that are the signs that the Wasteland had begun corrupting me, but honestly? It doesn’t feel like this to me. Indeed, rather, ever since I’ve stepped out of my Stable… I’ve felt as if I am becoming more of myself,” I said, a smile spreading slowly on my muzzle as I put into words how I’ve felt about my experience in the Wasteland so far.

I remained like that, a smile on my muzzle and eyes on the clouds above, for several moments. I broke free of my reverie when I realized that Watcher hadn’t said a word. I glanced at the sprite-bot, curious what the pony on the other side was thinking about.

“Angel?” he finally said, before I could ask him why was he was silent.

“Yes darling?”

“... Please find you virtue,” Watcher said, after hesitating for a second.

My brow furrowed, confused by his request, as well as the way he was acting. This change in his behaviour could have only be caused by what I’ve told him, but why? “Why are you asking that of me?”

“Because…” Watcher began, again hesitating. “... you remind me of a pony I met a long time ago. She… she never found her virtue, and she…” Again he paused, this time for longer. Finally, a deep sight could be heard through sprite-bot and Watcher said “I would rather not see the history repeat itself, and I don’t want you to end up like her.”

My confusion had only increased after hearing his reply, as did my curiosity. Already I was opening my mouth to ask him questions, about who this pony I reminded him of was and what had happened to her, but before I could as much utter a sound the sprite-bot had suddenly erupted with the noises of the song they normally transmitted.

All I could do was watch with bemusement as it flew away.

*** *** ***

Watcher’s very cryptic explanation (Or warning, I suppose.) had both unsettled me and annoyed me. Would it had really been a problem for him to explain himself properly? What had that pony who never found her virtue done that had been so terrible? I didn’t even know what exactly had reminded Watcher of her; it had to be what I said about becoming more of myself, but how could that be a bad thing?

Well, you do experiment on ponies, Pinkie pointed out.

Only on those who don’t deserve to be called sapient beings, I countered, annoyed that this was being dragged into this conversation. I hardly doubt that anybody is going to miss raiders and slavers and others like them.

The two apparitions had both sighed and didn’t pursue the topic. I tried to think about what could have alarmed Watcher (as I certainly did not mention to him about my experiments), but I realized that without knowing who was this pony were and what had she done I wouldn’t be able to figure it out. So instead I tried to think about what Watcher had asked of me.

My virtue.

What could my virtue be? Intelligence maybe? Could pursuit of medical knowledge be considered a virtue? Curiosity?

I flicked my tail in irritation as I reached Ditzy’s shop; I’ve been mulling those questions in my head throughout most of the way there, and didn’t come up with any answers. Maybe I should ask Ditzy if she doesn’t happen to have some books about self-realization in her shop? I pondered as I entered, putting an end to my contemplations as I crossed the threshold; I didn’t want to think about it now, or about Watcher’s sudden worry, about who that pony could have been, or even about Jack.

I just wanted to spend time with Ditzy.

The adorable ghoul had already noticed me, and was approaching with a smile.

“Hello darling,” I greeted her as she hugged me, kissing her on the cheek. “I’m sorry for being a bit late. I ran into Jack - finally, I might add - and had a little talk with him,” I said as Ditzy covered her muzzle in amusement due to my remark. “Afterwards, I had a few things to think about, so I took a walk around the town.”

Ditzy shrugged, as if saying that she didn’t mind, then flew back to her counter, picking something up from it before returning to me. It turned out to be my Stable barding, which she promptly gave to me, along with a note.

Here you go, was written on it. I weaved protective lining into it, it will make your barding more resistant to magical energy weapons and radiation.

“Really? That’s impressive, darling,” I told her, lifting the barding up and looking it over. There was little difference I could spot on it, besides that it was slightly heavier now. I turned back to Ditzy and smiled. “Thank you very much.”

She waved her hoof, as if saying that it was nothing, then flew to her counter again, this time bringing back a small parcel, with another note.

And here are are the things you’ve asked about yesterday, the note said. Along with…

I looked at the note, puzzled by the ending, before turning to Ditzy and realizing that she held in her mouth a copy of the Wasteland Survival Guide.

“Oh, thank you so much darling!” I exclaimed happily, pleased to receive both my ‘order’ and the book. “How much for the- Oh, don’t give me that, darling,” I told her, almost sternly, as she began to shake her head. “I am paying for your merchandise and services and that’s that.”

Although Ditzy had tried to continue stubbornly refuse payment, after several more moments I managed to convince her to stop and give me the price. And then give me a bigger one when she scribbled down a sum that was clearly insufficient.

“Pleasure doing business with you, darling,” I told her jokingly when we’ve finally agreed on a price and I handed over to her the bottle caps. “Now…” I purred, leaning closer to her.

Before I could continue, Ditzy held up her hoof, stopping me. I did as she asked, giving her a confused look as she smiled sheepishly and returned once again to her counter, this time bringing only notes.

Before we go eat supper, I wanted to talk, the first one began. I think it would be better if we’d become just friends.

I blinked in surprise, then looked at Ditzy. The ghoul in turn quickly passed me the next note.

Don’t get me wrong, Angel, I really like you, and had a real fun with you. I enjoyed the time we spent together. And even if I don’t mind that I am a ghoul, it was amazing to meet somepony who doesn’t care about it the slightest (aside from wanting to cut me open and examine me).

I gave the ghoul an annoyed look as I finished reading that note. The ghoul chuckled and passed me another one.

You’ve made me feel like I hadn’t felt in a long, long time, and I am grateful for that. But even though I’ve enjoyed your “displays of affection”, I’ve found out that I still prefer stallions. Well, mostly. Sorry.

“Ditzy,” I immediately began as I read the word ‘sorry’, “you have nothing to apologize for.”

The ghoul smiled, appearing a little embarrassed, and passed me the next note.

By “mostly”, I mean that while being with a mare is fun, I would prefer to settle down with a stallion. And considering my age, I should look for somepony to settle down with, and besides that there is also the issue of you living in a different town. Ditzy passed me the final note. I believe that because of that it would be better for both of us to look for ponies in our hometowns, rather than being in a long-distance relationship. Trust me, even before the war they hardly ever worked. I hope I haven't hurt your feelings.

“Of course you haven’t, darling,” I told her, smiling at her pleasantly. Ditzy uttered a small sigh of relief as I continued. “I don’t care about things like problems with long-distance relationships, but if you would prefer for us to just be friends, especially because of the first reason, I really don’t mind. In fact…” I trailed off, hesitating. As Ditzy gave me a quizzical look, I took a deep breath and continued: “In fact, darling, considering what you wrote about still preferring stallions, I worry that I owe you an apology. It was not my intention to seduce you into doing things you wouldn’t want-”

I trailed off as she began to violently shake her head, then looked through her notes until she found the one which said about how much she had enjoyed our time together and pointed at it for me, nodding her head as if to show that she really meant it.

I giggled, relieved by her reaction. “I’m happy that’s not the case. But you see, it’s just… It’s just that I don’t usually act like that. I don’t try to seduce ponies into making love to them. I am really, honestly satisfied to be just your friend if that’s what you want, and I should have been back when we first met instead of prompting you to… well, experiment. I suppose my behaviour was caused by all the recent changes in my life, as well as the fact that…” I trailed off again, my ears dropping as I hesitated. “That it’s been a while,” I finished, unable to keep sadness out of my voice.

Ditzy frowned in confusion, then immediately her expression softened as she looked around for something to write on the back of one of her notes. After finding a pencil, she quickly scribbled a message, then gazed at me sympathetically with her good eye as she passed me the note saying: What happened? Wanna talk about it?

I chuckled despite myself. I didn’t want to talk about it, but I felt like I did owe Ditzy more of an explanation.

“I’ve told you before, I had only two lovers in Stable Eight,” I began. “The first one… he betrayed me, a good few years ago already. And the second one, she…” I hesitated again, bit my lip and turned my head away, unable to look Ditzy in the eyes. “She died.”

LIAR!!!

I winced as the thought exploded in my head like a thunder, causing both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie to cover their ears, then look at me with confusion and worry. I turned away from them as well (as best as I could), unable to deal with their gazes.

A gentle touch against my coat caused me to look back at Ditzy. The pegasus had crossed the distance between us and was now right beside me. She didn’t need a note; “I’m sorry for your loss,” was written all over her face.

I smiled at her. “It’s alright. Well, no, it isn’t,” I corrected myself, uttering a brief, devoid of humor chuckle, “but I’ve had a lot of time to process what had happened.”

Ditzy gave me an unconvinced look, but eventually she smiled and simply hugged me. I hugged my friend back, glad for her company and that she didn’t press for details. When we separated, Ditzy trotted back to her counter, motioning for me to follow her. I went after her, levitating my barding, parcel and new book and placing it on the counter, while the pegasus had picked another note that she hadn’t taken earlier.

Last night?

I looked at Ditzy quizzically after reading the short note, then quickly realized what she meant when I saw her expression. I uttered a short giggle before replying. “Honestly, darling, I think right now I would much rather enjoy a supper and conversation with my friend.” Smirking, I winked and added “Ask me again in an hour.”

Footnote: Level Up!
New perk: Blessed by Luna -- You are a creature of the night, blessed by Princess Luna herself! You gain +2 Intelligence and +2 Perception during the night. These bonuses can temporarily raise your Intelligence and Perception above 10. This perk does not stack with the Touched By Luna trait.
Quest perk: Hellhound Physiology -- You have learned about hellhounds' physiology, as well as how to to exploit their specific weaknesses, and gain a +5 healing when treating one and a +5 damage bonus when attacking one (you can also use your knowledge regarding hellhounds’ physiology for… other purposes).

Chapter Twelve: Misfortune in Appleloosa

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"Great! You're either unimaginably cruel or profoundly insane!"

“As you can tell by the bruises on her throat,” I said, pointing with my hoof, “the cause of death was ashpyxiation. In other words, she was strangled to death.”

“I know what asphyxiation means,” Black Widow replied, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Pretending that I didn’t notice it, I continued, trotting around the mattress where the dead body of beige colored mare laid: “There are also bruises and abrasion surrounding her labia, clearly proving that she had been raped. Now, if you still don’t believe me when I say that I was woken up last night by the sounds of Pillory raping and choking her, I can retrieve a semen sample from her vagina and run a DNA test, but-”

“Are you upset, Doctor?” the slaver leader interrupted me with a question, gazing at me calmly through narrowed eyes.

“I think every respectable medical doctor would be at least a little upset after one of their patients were raped and murdered within their clinic,” I replied, almost equally calm; I was justifiably upset after all.

Black Widow’s expression turned into a deadpan. “Didn’t she try to kill you? Twice, technically?”

“I took an oath to help ponies, regardless of how they feel about me,” I said, shrugging.

The dark unicorn rolled her eyes before returning to the original subject. “It’s not that I don’t believe you, Doctor. It’s just that I find it… odd that, in the short time since your return from New Appleloosa, two ponies have died.”

I suppose to her this past week must indeed seem like a short time, I mused, hiding my anxiety. Mindful of the approaching confrontation with Jack, I had kept myself busy, both to occupy my mind and to prepare for what would come next, assuming the griffin mercenary would even join me. Considering that I might die soon, I should probably share her view, but honestly, looking back at everything I had accomplished during this week I find it quite the opposite, I remarked. Resuming my experiments, securing source of additional food for my test subjects… and of course, procuring additional test subjects, I added as I continued to withstand Black Widow’s suspicious gaze.

“Not to mention how many we’ve lost overall since the day you joined us,” Black Widow continued, unaware of my inner musings. “Cutter and that slave that killed him, Butcher and everypony that was with him, Collar, Barrel Roll and Swagger …”

I tried my best not to frown at the last three names. During my absence, a fight had broken out in Salt Block between the slavers, a mere day before our return. Tensions were high since the discovery of Butcher’s group being killed, and from what I could gather it led to ponies resolving the differences of opinion they had about solving this matter through a brawl. It wasn’t such an uncommon occurrence, as Apple Core had assured me, but with a threat of a war with a tribe hanging over them Black Widow had been very displeased that her slavers were wasting their strength (and bullets) fighting each other. Especially when the town’s only medic was away; although I had prepared several healing potions in case of emergency before leaving, two ponies, Barrel Roll and Swagger, were too critically injured and died before they could be administered.

In all fairness, their deaths could be technically blamed on my absence (even though it had been Black Widow who had sent me to New Appleloosa), as I would have probably been able to save them as the post mortem-examination I conducted on their bodies revealed to me (on the plus side, I was finally able to get my hooves on bodies of earth ponies to thoroughly examine, as neither of them had anypony close who’d bother burying them and had been left in my clinic). Collar, though, was another story. He had simply vanished one night. The last time he had been seen was when he had gone to relieve himself after finishing his shift of guard duty by the town’s borders by the pony who came to replace him at midnight; his disappearance was noticed the following day. Naturally, they’ve sent a few ponies to look for him around Appleloosa, but couldn’t find any trace of him.

Some slavers argued that Collar had probably run away for whatever reason. The smarter ones had pointed out that he hadn’t taken anything beside the stuff he had on him on guard duty, and without any supplies he wouldn’t have travelled far. Some blamed one of the Wasteland’s animals, except those had been a rare sight for some time around this area. Besides, if he had been killed by an animal and eaten, there would have probably been the half-eaten remains somewhere nearby. A lot more popular was a theory that Collar had been kidnapped by the tribe’s scouting party; the slavers’ unease at the thought of enemies coming so close to their town, kidnapping one of them and being unseen had partially led to the fight breaking out the following evening.

Myself, I was more intrigued than unnerved about this mysterious disappearance. Though the most popular theory seemed the most logical one to me, I hoped it was the other, that some mutated animal had done it; I would love if I could examine another specimen of the Equestrian Wasteland’s wildlife. That being said, though, I hadn’t tried to search for it or Collar, figuring that this would have ended up with me sharing Collar’s fate. (Also, between his disappearance and the attack on Butcher’s patrol by tribe ponies, Black Widow had explicitly forbid anypony from leaving the town’s borders by themselves.)

“... and now since you have returned, we’ve lost Manacles because of food poisoning and another slave,” Black Widow continued; if I had indeed frowned, she had ignored it. Shaking her head, she added “Honestly, I don’t think we’ve lost this many ponies and merchandise in years.”

“Sweetie, you can’t possibly believe that it’s my fault all of those misfortunes had befallen you,” I replied, my brow now definitely slightly furrowed. “I can understand why you would suspect that I had something to do with Cutter’s death - as much as this suspicion pains me - seeing how I gained his position as a result of it. But what would I gain from the deaths of all the others?”

“Who said I believe that you have anything to do with them?” Black Widow asked, her voice sounding almost innocent. “I merely said that it’s ‘odd’.” She smirked when I gave her a look that bordered on deadpan. “Trust me, if I’d actually believed such a thing, I would be… less pleasant. Besides, I can’t overlook how useful you had been since joining us. Not only you seem to be a better medic than Cutter, but thanks to you we will soon have a Bloodtalon coming to help us; assuming, of course, that he hadn’t lied to you about coming here.”

“I think I would have been able to tell if he had,” I told her; of course, I knew he would come to Appleloosa, for reasons far more important than a potential job. “I’ve also been told that Talon mercenaries have a reputation for completing their contracts… of course, it was only a verbal agreement and not a proper contract per se, but-”

“I get the picture,” Black Widow cut me off, impatiently. “Any Talon would be a valuable asset, but a Bloodtalon - if he really is one of course - should be easily worth the same as twenty fighters.”

I carefully kept the same expression on my face as the slaver’s leader mentioned her doubts about regarding the identity of Jack. She had brought them up the first time Apple Core and I had told her about it, along with (almost) everything that had happened during our journey. Although the Bloodtalons were easy to recognize by the fact that they apparently all traditionally carried a sword, even if they prefered to use other weapons, Black Widow had pointed out that any griffin could find himself a random sword and pretend to be a Bloodtalon. The fact that his mercenary friend had confirmed Apple Core’s guess hadn’t reassured her that this wasn’t a lie, though our description of the way he had quickly dealt with the five raiders had. In the end, Black Widow had said that if he was really that good, it didn’t matter to her if he was or wasn’t a Bloodtalon.

Of course, I had far better proof that Jack was indeed a Bloodtalon. The testimony of a covert agent of a mysterious organization. However, I hardly could have brought it up, considering that I was certain Black Widow was a member of that organization before joining the slavers. I couldn’t even reveal that Scope was behind the deaths of Burst and Blast, out of fear that she would connect the dots and realize that I know about her more than she would like.

There had been, however, something interesting that I had been able to glean from that conversation. Black Widow hadn’t reacted to Scope’s name, but when Apple Core had in passing described how he had looked… it happened so briefly that I couldn’t be completely sure I hadn’t imagined it (although Pinkie Pie’s apparition had spotted it as well), but for split second Black Widow’s eyes widened. She had resumed her earlier expression within the next heartbeat, though, and hadn’t asked more about Scope, but I could swear that for the rest of the day she had seemed… bothered. Distracted.

She definitely knew him… or at least, she thought she did. It would seem my suspicion was correct, I had thought back then. But how exactly did Cutter learn about her and Scope?

I could have easily learned that since then. Cutter was chained in the clinic’s basement, ready to be interrogated. I had little doubt that I would be able to get from him the information I wanted, but I decided it would be better to wait for Jack. Not only did I want to learn about Black Widow’s connection to Scope together with him, but also I suspected that it wouldn't appear good if I already knew what Cutter was about to say; I feared that Jack would suspect that I had prepared the slavers’ former medic to say what I’d want him to hear.

Oh, that reminds me, I thought in the middle of my musings about Cutter, I better go down the basement and check if there are any changes; it would be really bad if he were to die before Jack gets here. Sure, there are no signs of rejection yet, but-

“And don’t think that I forgot about those raiders,” Black Widow continued, interrupting my train of thoughts. “You really impressed me, and considering our current problems, it’s almost life-saving that we got eleven slaves so easily; well, ten,” she amended, lightly kicking the dead body on the mattress.

Eleven ponies; that’s how many raiders from the eighteen that I had locked within Stable Eleven had survived. When I told Black Widow about them back when we got back, she had decided that it was too good an opportunity to pass on, and sent a group under Apple Core’s command comprising of almost one third of the slavers there were in Appleloosa (currently; the group escorting slaves to Fillydelphia had yet to return) over to the Rock Farms, with the holotape to open the Stable door and orders to capture the raiders. They were three days of travel away, so they’ve only returned the previous day, brining eleven exhausted and malnourished raiders. Apple Core had reported that two of them had died on the way.

Meaning that the other five had died within the Stable before Apple Core and the slavers arrived there.

It was easy enough to figure out what had happened to them. Apple Core had of course sent a few slavers to check the Stable and see if the others weren’t just hiding somewhere, but was a little… squeamish when describing what exactly they had found. Which was something very odd for her. Most of the other slavers had also seemed unsettled by it.

I on the other hoof felt tempted to try and write down the raider’s testimony as to what had happened in between the time I had closed the Stable Eleven’s door and Apple Core had retrieved them; I felt like it would be an interesting study on the subject of cannibalism.

Not that any of them would want to give me any testimony to write down (Well, not willingly at least.), as they made it clear upon seeing me. Several of the raiders who were in better condition than the others had growled and cursed at me angrily, and two even tried to lunge at me. Apparently, they’ve clearly remembered who had locked them in Stable Eleven. Fortunately for myself, the slavers had quickly stopped and subdued them, although one of them (a beige earth pony mare named Thorny Locust) had been shot in order to do so. I had her brought to my clinic after I stopped the bleeding, and after examining the other raiders (thanks to their slaver guards pointing guns at them and making them sit still) three more had joined her (with a few guards assigned to them), as they were in worst condition due to malnourishment. The rest could have been safely locked up in the cages, just giving them food and water and letting them rest would be enough for them to get better.

None of them was in critical condition, fortunately, it was merely the matter of assuring they would eat more nutritious food than the slavers usually give to their captors, and checking if they start to improve. Thorny Locust had been a worse case, as the bullet had remained within her chest, so I needed to operate. Nothing complicated for me of course, but afterwards she needed to stay in my clinic overnight along with the others.

As the night fell, only one slaver, named Pillory remained in my clinic to watch the raiders (as they had their hooves chained, so everypony felt that more than one guard would be unnecessary) and sometime after midnight when I had finally finished making my preparations in the clinic’s spare room, I had heard rattling noises. (Which in itself hadn’t been that strange, Thorny Locust had occasionally been making a ruckus trying to break from her chains, but what alerted me wast that this time the sounds weren’t accompanied by her curses.) I came out of the room to see the sight that I had described to Black Widow, and used my anesthetic spell on Pillory, but I’ve been too late to stop him.

“You’ve really proven to be a valuable member of this town, Doctor,” Black Widow carried on. “Valuable enough that I feel being unpleasant with you just because of things seeming weird would be a waste of everypony’s time and disrespectful.”

“I’m glad to hear that, sweetie,” I replied, smiling. “I am fortunate that this town’s leader is so reasonable and wise.”

A brief smirk crossed Black Widow’s muzzle. “Oh, you have no idea. That being said, though,” she added unexpectedly, rising from the floor and walking away, motioning for me to follow, “I do feel that it is a good opportunity to show you what exactly I can mean by ‘unpleasant’. After all, I do happen to have a pony that needs punishment. Don’t you agree?” she asked me sweetly, looking back over her shoulder.

“There are few things that upset me as much as somepony murdering or raping my patients, let alone both. By all means, sweetie, do punish Pillory,” I said, then brought my hoof to my chin as I joined her, pondering thoughtfully what Black Widow had said. “And I would be lying if I’d say that I’m not curious to see how exactly you intend to punish him, and what you mean by ‘unpleasant’, as you’ve phrased it.”

“Hmph. That morbid curiosity of yours is probably the reason why you fit so well around here,” Black Widow mused out loud, her gaze shifting to the remaining raiders, which were still chained up in the beds in my clinic. “What about those three? Are they well enough to be put together with the others?” she asked as we were about to leave, stopping.

“Well, I have been checking on them through the rest of the night - since I’ve found it hard to fall asleep after witnessing that - and their condition seems to be improving,” I said, glancing at the closest one. “I will check on them again after feeding them and if everything turns alright, they can be moved.”

“Good, I hate posting guards in two separate places,” Black Widow murmured. Looking at the two slavers who were standing guard by the clinic walls, she added: “You two are going to miss how I make an example of Pillory; I trust that you know better and won’t try anything funny with those three?”

“No boss,” one quickly said, while the other shook his head.

Smiling with satisfaction, Black Widow opened the door and trotted outside, with me following. I looked up at the clouded sky, surprised by how dark grey they were today; the only other time I had seen the cloud cover take on such color was back when Jack and I were burying Burst and Blast, and it was raining drizzle then.

Do you think it’s going to rain today as well? I asked in my thoughts.

The two apparitions floated beside my head, staring up in the skies. Dark clouds don’t necessarily mean bad weather, Fluttershy murmured, sounding a bit uncertain.

Even those over there? Pinkie Pie asked, pointing with her hoof into the far distance.

Looking over there, I noticed barely visible line of very dark clouds just over the horizon.

I would imagine that weather works a bit differently with this constant cloud cover above Equestria, I spoke up when Fluttershy didn’t reply, just continued to stare uncertainty at the clouds. Especially since it doesn’t seem like the pegasi control it anymore for their ground-bound brethren. I wish I could have talked with those Enclave ponies a bit longer...

I trailed off, noticing that Fluttershy’s apparition was no longer looking up at the clouds, but down at the ground, her expression sullen. Realizing that it must have saddened her to talk about how the pegasi had apparently completely abandoned other ponies (and seeing the glare Pinkie was giving me, urging me to do something), I was about to try and cheer her up, but at that moment Black Widow spoke up without breaking her stride:

“I assume you’d like to keep her body to examine - or whatever it is you do with them - like Manacles’ and the other two?”

I hummed thoughtfully as I caught up with her again, considering her question. “Yes, I think I would. I’ve learned a lot about earth ponies’ physiology and the physiology of wasteland ponies in general after conducting the autopsy on their bodies, but I believe I could learn some interesting things from examining the body of a raider.”

“I really don’t care why you want those bodies,” Black Widow replied, rolling her eyes up to the clouded sky. “Although come to think about it, if you’re done with them, how come you hadn’t asked anybody to bury them yet?”

If I hadn’t been expecting this question to come up sooner or later, I would have probably felt a cold shiver go through my body. “I’ve already taken care of bodies of Barrel Roll and Swagger,” I replied calmly; I was certain that my tone of voice wasn’t different from the ‘tone’ of thoughts’ I had when discussing weather moments ago with Pinkie and Fluttershy. Noticing the disbelieving stare Black Widow was giving me, I explained “It’s easy to bury bodies when they’ve been examined so thoroughly, it was basically the matter of taking a few bags-”

“I’m sorry I asked,” Black Widow cut off my explanation, seemingly annoyed and a little disturbed.

“As for Manacles, I still have to finish working on him,” I finished my explanation, undeterred.

“Whatever; if you want to keep that slave’s body, it’s going to cost you a hundred caps again; I don’t run a charity here,” she said as we’ve reached our destination; the edge of the crowd of slavers gathered before her house.

The slavers immediately stepped aside to let us pass. You’d think she would be grateful to get ten percent of the usual price for a slave for a dead mare, I noted as we’ve made our way through the crowd.

You do remember that you’re the reason why she won’t be getting the full price for her, right? Pinkie Pie pointed out.

I suppose that’s true…

Wait, Pinkie exclaimed, blinking in confusion, selling ponies is wrong, why am I even discussing this?!

Considering that this particular pony was a raider, I’d argue whether we should call her a pony, but… I replied halfheartedly, my interest quickly fading as I noticed Pillory. The slaver who had raped one of my patients during the night while on “guard duty” was standing before the crowd, flanked by two other slavers and Khan, Black Widow’s obedient zebra guard. The stallion, not much older than me, wasn’t looking too happy about his situation; he was nervous and scared ever since the effects of my spells had worn off and he found himself locked away in one of the cages. Now that he was about to receive punishment from Black Widow, he looked even more scared. The leader of slavers trotted slowly towards him, as if wanting to prolong his terror. This will be interesting, I thought, honestly curious to see how exactly she was intending to punish Pillory for causing the death of one of their slaves.

Not the word I would have used, Pinkie’s apparition commented as I trotted over to stand beside Apple Core, sounding a little dismayed.

Fluttershy in turn looked at me with pretense. Don’t you feel even a bit responsible for what is about to happen to him?

Why should I be? He raped one of my patients; considering that she’s a raider suggests to me that he had likewise raped less dangerous mares in the past, so you cannot even use my own logic of “ponies who gave up the right to be considering sapient being” against me. The fact that his actions happened to be convenient for me is of little consequence. Besides, I added before Fluttershy could raise another argument, I doubt she’s going to have him killed. Or do to him anything else permanent. Not with the threat of this tribe looming over everypony, she needs every gun she can use, I told her as I stopped beside Apple Core and turned to watch Black Widow address everypony.

Apple Core muttered greetings, and then Black Widow began “I’m glad that all of you fine ladies and gentlecolts could have gathered here.” A brief snicker of laughter went through the crowd when they heard her sarcastically call them ‘fine ladies and gentlecolts’. Black Widow smirked and waited a few seconds for the amusement to quiet down. “I’m sure you’ve all heard about what happened; Pillory here,” she nodded at the slaver buck in question, “decided to help himself to one of our newest goods. Which in itself isn’t a crime… but of course that’s only true when said goods aren’t too damaged as a result,” Black Widow said, her voice becoming cold; she narrowed her eyes, losing any pretense of amusement. “When you get too brutal with slaves, our customers might not buy them; why would they pay for somepony that looks like they’re about to drop dead? And that is assuming they’d survive that long; the road to our best customer Red Eye is rather long, and not all the slaves make it at the best of conditions. Which is why I am curious, Pillory,” she turned to address the slaver, “why did you think it would be a good idea to choke that slave?”

Pillory hadn’t replied at once, perhaps finding that stare of everypony gathered focusing on him to be intimidating - he had cringed when the slavers turned their eyes to him - but the slaver guard shoved his shoulder, prompting him to speak. “I, um…” he stammered; his eyes traveled through the crowd, most likely trying to search for some friendly face as he swallowed and tried again, “I was just... trying to make her stop squirming, boss. She, she made it difficult to, you know-”

“Understandable, I suppose,” Black Widow cut him off, quietly, and yet she was heard by everypony. “Though I would question how a chained up mare could have ‘made it difficult’ for a stallion… in the end, though, it doesn’t matter why you choked her,” she said, her cold tone stopping anypony from laughing because of her mockering. “What matters is that you went a bit too far while having fun. Our good Doctor,” Black Widow added, giving me a nod with something that looked akin to respect, “tried to save her - after she knocked Pillory out and got him off the mare - but it was too late. I’ve just been to the clinic to see the body for myself; you don’t need to be a doctor to see what had been the cause of death. She was choked to death. And clearly raped; I applaud you for not trying to deny it, Pillory.” There was absolutely no warmth or respect in her voice when she turned back to him. She resumed addressing the crowd after a second, “She was a healthy mare. With a lot of stamina; even after getting shot yesterday she could still stand, and our Doctor had assured me that she would make a full recovery. She was strong. A little too feisty, but they know how to deal with that in Fillydelphia. She would have fetched a nice price, maybe even two thousand caps. But thanks to Pillory, she’s dead.”

For a brief moment, it looked as if Pillory was about to try and defend himself. He let his opened mouth hang open, though, without any sound coming through it, the instant Black Widow glared at him. It was as if he was paralyzed by fear; it took him several seconds to even close back his mouth. Once he did, Black Widow turned back to the slavers, her expression slightly relaxing.

“Everypony has their needs, I understand that. This is why we are in this business, after all. Ponies have needs that they need other ponies to satisfy, so we provide them with said ponies. I would never try to deny any of you from satisfying your needs or punishing you for it, far from it. To seek satisfaction and pleasure is our Goddesses given right… so long as you don’t cross certain line. A Preacher we’ve caught about two years ago would say that this line begins with another pony, or some shit like that, it was pretty difficult to understand him after we cut off his tongue,” she trailed off a little nonchalantly. The very next heartbeat, though, her cold tone and gaze returned. “However, around here, the line begins with my income, and killing my merchandise crosses that line.”

A sudden chill went through my spine the moment she had said “my”, and I was far from the only one to experience that. She’s certainly a good speaker, I remarked, glancing at the surrounding slavers and noticing how many of them had visibly cringed. She’s able to make all those hardened Wasteland ponies fear her by just talking… though I would assume that they’ve seen her do things that would warrant this fear.

“Of course, this isn’t the first time we had somepony cause a slave’s death around here,” Black Widow continued, her voice becoming almost gentle again. “It happens. Usually, I let ponies get away with a proverbial slap on the hoof. They have the pay full price for the slave they killed, or they get lashed, maybe they get something cut off in worst cases. But we have special circumstances to consider now, don’t we?” Her eyes moved from one slaver to another, as if expecting one of them to answer. When nopony spoke after a few seconds, she answered her question herself, “You all know that some ponies had taken up residence somewhere close by and killed an entire patrol. We don’t know where they are or how many there are, which means we have to send more ponies on our patrols if we want them to return safely while keeping enough here to guard Appleloosa, in case our new neighbors happen to decide to pay us a visit. Even those of you who aren’t aces in math know that this means we can’t send out as many patrols as we usually do and we can’t capture as many slaves as we usually do. Those raiders our Doctor got us practically served on a platter were the first we’ve caught since we sent our last batch to Fillydelphia. Until their chaperones return, we don’t have the numbers to organize more than maybe two patrols at the same time. Which means that right now every single slave matters to us, and Pillory killed one of them.” She paused to glance at the slaver in question and to gather her breath. “Due to those circumstances, I believe a harsher punishment is in order. This also serves as a warning to any idiot who thinks they can get away with being careless with my merchandise like he was. For starters,” Black Widow began, glancing at Pillory again, “in order to ensure I won't lose any more merchandise, until further notice sampling said merchandise is strictly forbidden. That’s right,” she added, no doubt noticing more than a few confused stares she received from the slavers, “until the matter of our neighbors is solved, there will be no more raping our slaves.”

Several unhappy groans escaped from the crowd, all who were cut off the moment Black Widow’s eyes narrowed. A part of me wondered if the reason why such a small amount of slavers who had voiced their displeasure - even if so briefly - was that they feared their leader that much, or was it simply because not all of them raped the ponies they captured and this wasn’t affecting them.

“Those of you who feel wronged by that order can voice their complaints to Pillory,” Black Widow continued after her glare silenced the groans of discontent. “After he's recovered from the punishment he’s about to receive, of course. Just make sure not to kill him,” she added as she trotted towards Pillory. The earth pony looked as if he was about to start shaking as she drew closer to him. “With those problems we’ve been having it would be an idiocy to kill somepony who can fight,” she said as she stood before Pillory, facing him, then turned to glance over her shoulder. “Wouldn’t you agree? So you can relax a bit, Pillory,” Black Widow told him, turning back to him once the slavers around her nodded and murmured in agreement; some semblance of warmth had crept into her voice, “I’m not going to have you killed. Tell me, what do you think I’m going to do to you?”

Now the buck was definitely shaking. His mouth opened, but it took a few seconds for words to come from it. It probably didn’t help him that a few snickers went through the crowd. “I… y-you’re gonna… c-cut something?” he finally asked in terrified voice, clearly recalling what Black Widow had said moments ago.

The leader of Appleloosa looked as if considering his words. “That would seem like the obvious punishment, wouldn’t it? To cut… something,” she said, tilting her head as her her eyes briefly travelled down, suggestively enough for Pillory to raise his hind leg protectively. “Oh relax,” Black Widow snorted, turning around and walking away a bit. “We’re not raiders.”

Pillory sighed with relief, his shaking stopped. “Thank you, boss-”

Black Widow’s sat down on her haunches and clapped her forehooves together.

At once, the two slaver guards that stood on each side of Pillory had swiped his forelegs from under him, causing him to fall down on his face. Before he could as much as grunt in surprise, they placed their hooves on his withers, pinning the front half of his body to the ground.

“W-what the-” Pillory began to say, looking from one to the other and to Black Widow, who still had her back turned to him, while Khan trotted around to get behind him, his-

Why does he have an erection? I wondered, perplexed, as I noticed his clearly erect penis hanging between his hind legs as he stopped behind Pillory. Even as the zebra mounted the slaver I continued to ponder this in confusion: He was just standing over there doing nothing… I don’t think he could have been sexually aroused in any way…

“Hey what the- FUUUUCKGHHHRHRR!!!” Pillory began to say when Khan positioned himself only for his protest to turn into scream as the zebra shoved forward.

And yet the moment Black Widow signaled him to,I continued, lost in my thoughts, he was ready to-

Angel! Pinkie’s mental shout interrupted me. Do you mind?! she asked once she got my attention, the apparition holding a hoof before her eyes and trying to look away from the scene before me. Fluttershy was also trying to block her sight, as pointless as it would be, by covering her face with both of her forehooves.

Oh, right, I thought, remembering that the two see what I am seeing, and turned my head away so that the zebra, the slaver who he was raping and the two holding him down were outside of my field of vision. Sorry, got lost in thoughts… what a disgusting punishment. Though I suppose some would call it a just one.

Turning my eyes away couldn’t stop me from hearing the noises they were making (especially Pillory’s curses and screams), but they were almost drowned by the laughter and jeers other slavers were making watching them.

“Look at that zebra cockslut!”

“Didn’t know your barn door swing that way, Pillory!”

“Take that dick, bitch!”

I really couldn’t tell whether I found the rape or slaver’s commentary on it to be more disgusting right now. Though I absolutely felt no sympathy for Pillory, I found this whole ordeal to be unnecessary. A part of me wondered if a pony in his situation would consider becoming my test subject a preferable option to this violation and humiliation.

“Not a fan of anal, Doctor?”

I almost staggered, taken by surprise by Black Widow’s question. Turning my head to address her (and trying to focus on her and not on the carnal abuse behind her) I realized that sometime after ordering the punishment of Pillory to begin she had trotted up to me. The slaver’s leader was looking me in the eyes, utterly ignoring everypony else; her expression was neutral, she was neither amused nor angry.

“I’m not a ‘fan’, as you have phrased it, of rape in general,” I replied, frowning a little. “Especially since I will be the one who will have to treat Pillory if the skin and lining of his rectum gets torn as a result of this.”

“Really?” Apple Core chimed in with a question, lifting an eyebrow. “Ya would really treat ‘im?”

I shrugged. “Untreated, the wounds in his rectum will most certainly become infected, and he would die.”

A smile crossed Black Widow’s muzzle. “How thoughtful, Doctor. I’m sure Pillory will appreciate your medical care… afterwards, of course. For now,” she added, leaning closer, “I want you to look. I did tell you that I want to show you what I mean by ‘unpleasant’,” she continued when I looked at her with confusion. She then reached to my chin and moved my head slightly to the side, so that I was now looking straight at the rape of Pillory. “I want you to remember what I can do to ponies who wrong me,” Black Widow added before turning around.

Sorry, darlings, I apologised to Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, forcing myself to look upon the disgusting scene. I don’t think it would be wise to disobey her.

Apple Core leaned in to whisper to my ear: “Boss likes t’ make such demonstrations from time t’ time, remind other’s who’s on top and what not. Don’t worry ‘bout it, just stay on ‘er good side and she will leave ya alone.”

Though it didn’t surprise me to learn that, I had my doubts whether Apple Core’s assessment was correct. I knew Black Widow had her suspicions, and I expected that they wouldn’t alleviate any time soon, if ever.

So, Pinkie spoke up, having second thoughts about those experiments of yours? While saying that, the apparition meaningfully nodded at Khan and Pillory

Second thoughts? Hardly, I replied, mentally snorting. I’ve already gone too far, stopping now would be pointless… but I will consider stopping taking any new test subjects for now, I amended. Not that I had any room in the basement for anypony else. No point risking ponies finding out about me.

Resigned, I continued to watch Black Widow’s “justice”, as it was, for quite a while. Khan continued to rape Pillory’s asshole for at least ten minutes - enough for Apple Core murmur something about “needing to reevaluate some things” - slamming his hips against his which he held in his strong forelegs, not letting his hind legs to give in. Pillory had long since stopped trying to resist, and now continued to lay on his chest and staring emptily in front of him, probably doing his best to ignore the jeers of other slavers.

Do you think he wonders if this is how his victim had felt? I couldn’t help but wonder at one point.

It’s not the way to go about to reform somepony, Fluttershy immediately responded, her dismay clear on her muzzle. Not wanting to argue, we fell to silence afterwards, but soon Fluttershy, having a hard time bearing through this, spoke up, Can’t you think of any way of stopping this?

I’m rather certain that interrupting Black Widow’s sentence from being carried out will result in the pony who interrupted it sharing the accused’s fate, I replied. And I don’t really feel like rescuing somepony who had taken advantage of another in the first place.

Fluttershy, though reluctantly, fell silent afterwards, and both she and Pinkie Pie winked out of my vision soon.

Not wanting to focus on the carnal movements he was making, I instead turned my gaze to Khan’s face. I could see the undamaged half of his face from where I was standing; strangely, despite of what he was doing, the expression he bore was the same as always. Empty. Uninterested.

“Walking vegetable”, Black Widow had called him, I recalled the conversation I had with the slaver leader when I first saw Khan. She said that all she has to do was point at something and give an order, and he would attack… and do other things, apparently. But… does he want to? Does this head injury he suffered really made him unable to think for himself? Would he have wanted to rape Pillory if his injury hadn’t left him catatonic?

…

Am I watching the rape of two people?

Finally (as I came to a decision that I was indeed watching rape of two people - from technical, legal point of view at least - as in his state Khan couldn’t very well give his consent to this act), a shudder went over Khan, and shoved with his hips for one final time, ejaculating inside of Pillory’s rectum. As the zebra pulled away - causing his sperm to leak out of the slaver’s asshole - he let go of his hips, letting the hind half of his body to drop down to the ground.

“Well, that was entertaining,” Black Widow spoke up as Pillory had collapsed, not gracing him with as much as a look. Her eyes scanned through the crowd instead, stopping briefly on myself as she continued, “I’m glad that so many of you had taken such joy in it… so much so that you had seemingly forgotten that the same thing will happen to you if you break our new rules,” she added in a cold voice. At once, the few remaining giggles had cased. “Except that you will also be required of cleaning my dear pet zebra afterwards.”

Cleaning? I thought confused. Why would they have to clean him? And with what? There’s no soap or running water anywhere in town… I trailed off as my gaze followed where some of the slavers were looking; at the flaccid penis between Khan’s hind legs. Oh, that’s what she means, I realized after a moment.

“Since Pillory here is our first offender, he won’t have to; only those who had been warned will be additionally punished as such,” Black Widow explained, shrugging. “Anyway, now that we have these unpleasantries out of the way, it’s about time you all returned to your duties.”

And with those words, she turned away and walked towards her house, with Khan obediently following after her. The two slavers who were keeping Pillory still also followed her; Black Widow stopped to exchange a few words with them that I couldn’t overhear, after which the two left and headed towards the tavern.

“Probably told ‘em to order somethin’ on ‘er tab,” Apple Core told me. As I turned to her, I saw her looking at the dispersing crowd. “Geez, talk ‘bout a mood change…”

“I was actually surprised to see how much they enjoyed this display,” I replied; even though I knew that this had served as a warning to me as well (if not especially me), I couldn’t help but be glad that Black Widow had reigned them in.

But Apple Core just shrugged. “Ponies are trash. Anyway, Ah’ve gotta see t’ the guard rotation and shit, Ah’ll see ya later.”

Nodding to her in goodbye, I saw that Pillory, having been left by his guards, had already rose from the ground, and was currently walking away towards one of the the slaver’s common house on shaking legs. “Remind him to see me when he’s ready for medical examination, sweetie,” I told Apple Core.

“Hm?” Following my gaze, the slaver mare quickly rolled her eyes and sighed. “Sure.”

“Preferably sometime in the afternoon,” I added in an afterthought. “I will be taking a nap after I discharge the other raiders from my care.”

Apple Core, who was already leaving, nodded in a sign that she heard me. Hopefully he will come to the clinic in late afternoon, I mused as I began to head towards my clinic, a yawn escaping me. And that that there won’t be any emergencies today.

Though I needed to catch some sleep, I also needed to check on my test subjects.

I wonder if there is some changes in Cutter and Manacles’ state? It’s been over twenty four hours since the operation, there should be some symptoms… also, our-

“What the hell?”

I stopped as the words of the nearby slaver startled me. Looking at him, I realized that he was looking up at the clouds. Following his gaze in confusion, I wondered what could have surprised him so, only to find a strange shape that drew closer.

After a few seconds of staring at it I’d realized that the whole commotion earlier made me forget that I’d been expecting somebody.

A smile spread on my muzzle as the figure I saw against the gray cloud cover became more familiar as it drew closer, only to quickly disappear as I recalled why Jack was coming here. Apprehension filled me; here he was, one who could become either my first real ally, or my executioner.

I was both terrified and excited at the same time.

By then a lot more ponies had noticed the incoming griffin; as I looked about I saw that one or two were reaching for their weapons. Realizing that I needed to act before some idiot shot him, I pushed down my worries and turned to the closest slaver.

“Sweetie, please inform Black Widow that the Bloodtalon I had promised her is about to arrive,” I told him, loud enough for everypony to hear me.

Silence fell around me. Though I wasn’t sure how many had known that a Bloodtalon would be coming to Appleloosa (even if Black Widow hadn’t made this a public knowledge I was certain that Apple Core must have told at least a few while drinking; the entire town would certainly know if Black Widow hadn’t send her to Stable Eleven), they all thought better than to start shooting at him.

The slaver I addressed looked at me with hesitation, then back at the approaching griffin, before nodding and running to Black Widow’s house. The other slavers continued to observe Jack, some keeping their weapons ready. He in turn must have noticed me - my coat was very easy to spot after all - as with the next few seconds he changed his course slightly and was now flying directly towards me.

The slavers - those that were standing close to me - backed away and Jack landed before me. The griffin looked almost exactly the same as when I’ve last saw him, except maybe for some pieces of equipment (there was a rifle now strapped to his back, beside his sword). He regarded me calmly, without either warmth of cold in his gaze.

I smiled in greeting. “Hello sweetie. It is such a pleasure to see you again.”

My greeting broke the mask of indifference Jack decided to wear… but not exactly in the way I hoped for. Instead he looked upwards and sighed, seemingly annoyed. “Hello Doctor. Been well I hope?” he asked in a resigned voice.

“Why yes, sweetie, you could say that. You’re probably-” I began, only to stop mid-sentence.

I wasn’t sure when she appeared, but I’ve just noticed Pinkie’s apparition beside me. She appeared… confused. She was looking from right to left, her ears twitching as if she was looking for something.

What is it darling? I asked her, surprised.

“What are you doing?”

Hearing Jack’s question made me realize that without realizing it I’ve unwittingly copied Pinkie Pie; I’ve looked around while my ears twitched, trying to spot and hear… whatever it is Pinkie had tried to.

Clearing my throat to hide my embarrassment over doing something so strange for seemingly no reason (an embarrassment made even worse under Jack’s questioning, one-eyebrow raised stare), I replied. “Forgive me, sweetie, I thought I’ve heard something. You must be tired after your journey,” I continued, managing to sound natural as I began to turn around. “Why won’t I show you to Black Widow, so you can discuss with her the nature of your employment?”

“No need for that my good doctor,” a familiar voice came from behind me, the last three words dipped with a bit of amusement.

The voice belonged to Black Widow of course; she was coming towards us as I turned to her, accompanied by Khan hastily joined by Apple Core who had run up from the direction of one of the slavers common houses. I backed away respectfully so that she could stand right before Jack, and was about to introduced them when the griffin spoke up:

“You’re the infamous leader of Appleloosa’s slavers, I take?” he asked, not disrespectfully.

“Indeed I am,” the black unicorn replied courtly. “And you’re the griffin mercenary I’ve been hearing about from Apple Core and our doctor, who claims to be a Bloodtalon?”

Jack’s gaze hardened as he glared, first at Apple Core then at myself; while Apple Core slightly cowered under his gaze, I merely tilted my head in mild confusion. “Yes,” he replied after a heartbeat, turning back to Black Widow. “Doesn’t really matter to you if the latter is true or not as long as I’m good at my job, am I right?”

Black Widow smirked. “Indeed it does not. Don’t you ponies have jobs to do?” she asked unexpectedly, her question directed to the small crowd that had began to gather around us.

As if she had given a direct order, the slavers had began to disperse; I took note how some of them were staring at Jack with fear, others with suspicion, and almost all with curiosity.

“Speaking of jobs,” Black Widow continued, “I’ve heard that you’ve agreed to help us with a little problem with been having?”

“More or less,” Jack replied, shrugging. “We hadn’t discussed details as to what exact form my help will take, but I will help you. For a price of course.”

“Then let us discuss those details and the price,” Black Widow said, unfazed. “I’m more or less familiar with standard Talons’ prices… though do they still apply to a griffin unaffiliated with any Talons company?”

Jack once again shrugged. “If you want the job done right, you will consider me a non-union Talon.”

Black Widow chuckled at that. “I think I’m starting to like you. Come with me, we can talk more comfortably within my office,” she said, turning around. “Oh, and Doctor, don’t you have patients waiting for you?” Black Widow asked, glancing at me.

Understanding the not-so-subtle dismissal, I nodded and turned around, walking away towards my clinic. I didn’t look at Jack; I didn’t need to. I knew he and I would soon meet face to face. Probably at night, away from prying eyes.

I wonder if we’ll be able to talk tonight? I mused as I walked. Black Widow will most likely put him to work immediately so he can find this tribe… though I’d imagine Jack will find some excuse to seek me. And he’d figure out that it would be best to conclude our business at night; it would look weird to everypony if I were to disappear from my clinic.

Taking comfort in knowing that I was dealing with somebody quite intelligent, I opened the door to my clinic. The slavers that were guarding the raiders glanced at me. “What was Pillory punishment?” one of them asked curiously.

“Black Widow had Khan rape him in front of everypony,” I told him as I entered.

I was about to add how she had also forbid raping slaves until further notice and how the same fate as Pillory’s would await anypony who ignores the order, but just then I noticed Pinkie’s apparition beside me, her ears twitching again as she looked about.

Darling, what is it? I asked her as the guards commented between themselves about Pillory’s punishment. You’re starting to worry me.

Hmm… Pinkie hummed slowly, looking from left to right again before frowning. Nothing, I guess. Sorry, she added apologetically.

Frowning at the apparition, I closed the door to the clinic… only to jump up, startled by the loud Crack! behind me. Turning around I located the source of it; the upper hinge of the door had broken, causing the door to lean diagonally against its frame.

“What?” I asked out loud, looking at the broken hinge in surprise.

“This shit happens all the time,” one of the guards told me, sounding disinterested. He shrugged as I looked at him questioningly and added: “All those pre-end of the world buildings are half ruined and rotted out. Half a year ago the entire upper floor at one of the common houses collapsed.”

“Oh, I see,” I replied, frowning.

“Forty should be able to repair this,” the other slaver added.

Guess I’d better have a talk with Forty later then, I thought sighing, as I closed the broken door gently as best as it was possible.

*** *** ***

It didn’t take too long to feed the three raider slaves and assess their condition; after a whole day under my care, their condition had improved enough that I was satisfied that they would make a full recovery. Within the next half an hour they’ve been “discharged”, and their guards were taking them to where they were keeping the others.

“Make sure to tell whoever will be guarding them to keep an eye if any of them faints or shows any other signs of growing weak,” I told them as they left my clinic. Pausing to cover my muzzle with a hoof to hide a yawn, I added: “And please ask around to not disturb me for a few hours, unless some emergency comes up.”

“Sure thing doc, have a good nap,” one of them replied, waving back.

“Thank you sweetie,” I replied, moving back to the clinic and carefully closing the door, mindful of the broken hinge.

Shaking my head to stave off my sleepiness, I trotted over to the entrance to the basement. Having been warned by the slavers about the state of the most of the buildings in the Wasteland (Which would have been nice to be informed about earlier.), I opened the door carefully, then examined the hinges; Goddesses know what could happen if those would break.

They look alright, as far as I can tell, I mused, looking at the closely. Don’t you agree? I asked the two apparitions.

I guess, Fluttershy replied, uncertainly; apparently, her expertise regarding door hinges wasn’t better than mine.

Pinkie Pie in turn nodded in reply, clearly not paying attention; the apparition had her forelegs crossed on her chest and her ears were perked up, as if she was looking for something. Again.

What is it this time? I asked her, closing the door and descending down to the basement.

Hm? Oh, nothing, Pinkie replied, sighing. Again. Ugh, it’s stopped being funny! She fumed and disappeared.

Do you know what’s bothering her? I asked Fluttershy, but the tiny pegasus was shaking her head.

I, um, I don’t think even Pinkie knows what’s bothering her, she replied before disappearing as well.

Shaking my head, I pushed my worries regarding the weird behaviour of the apparition to the back of my head. I had more important things to deal with. The Mister Handy robot Janitor was already turning to me, it’s three eyes aligning themselves so that it could see me better.

“Ah, Doctor Angel,” he greeted me.

“Hello Janitor-” I began, but a loud shout interrupted me.

“Is that that bitch!?” a mare screamed from behind one of the closed doors. “You fucker! Get over here you fucking slut!”

“I see our newest patient has regained consciousness?” I asked Janitor, ignoring the shouts; while the basement wasn’t exactly soundproof, it was impossible to hear what was happening inside unless one had their ear pressed against the door, and even then it was difficult to make out.

“Yes, and she’s been very violent since,” the robot replied. “Perhaps she should be sedated?”

“In a moment, first I would like to talk with her. You can go into sleep mode for now, sweetie,” I told him as I trotted around him to reach the door.

“Of course, Ma’am,” Janitor replied, before landing on the floor and becoming silent.

I opened the door to what once was a small storage before I’ve turned it into a cell, like the other two. Now free of any unnecessary objects and furniture, the only thing within was a beige colored mare, chained to the wall.

“Hello, sweetie,” I greeted Thorny Locust. “I’d imagine-”

The chains clinked as the mare tried to lunge at me, without much effect.

“Come over here, you little bitch!” she sneered, trying to force her forelegs free.

“I’m good where I am, thank you,” I replied coldly. “Now, I-”

“I’m gonna use your horn as a dildo when I get my hooves on you, you sneaky pathetic little-”

Fed up, I cast the Anesthetic Spell on her, causing her to drop to the floor in mid-sentence.

“I was hoping we could have a civilized talk, but I guess that was a little too optimistic of me,” I told Thorny Locust, walking over to turn her head so she could see me. “I don’t mind my test subjects voicing their opinion, but interrupting me is just rude, and I have a feeling that you would never let me get a word in edgeways. So until you learn some manners, I’m afraid our conversations will have to look like this, with your immobile body laying on the floor.”

The raider mare couldn’t reply, but her hatred was plain in her eyes.

“Now, as you’ve probably realized, you’re no longer a slave of Appleloosa’s slavers,” I began, taking a step back. “Instead, you’re my test subject now. In case you’re wondering how this came about, I inform you that you are believed to be dead. I happened to have a corpse of similar body build of yours in my clinic, you see, for research purposes; it’s amazing how a few hours of surgery and dye can make somepony look so alike,” I mused, smirking. “It’s especially easy to operate on a corpse, it’s way quicker when I have so little to worry about. Of course, somepony close to you could probably pick up on a difference here and there, but fooling somepony who had seen you once - and you were covered in blood for most of that time, thanks to being shot after attacking me - was very easy. And of course, considering what had happened last night, it was very easy to convince everypony that you were murdered, just had to add few bruises on the corpse of Barrel.” I hesitated, still feeling uneasy about those events. “I… I would like to apologize to you for what happened. It wasn’t my intention for you to be raped, and I hadn’t accounted for such a possibility,” I said, feeling a bit awkward.

The mare continued to stare at me, silently.

I sighed, frustrated with myself. Cases like these make me wish I’d have studied psychology properly, I complained. I’m not trained to deal with traumas like these!

Didn’t you say that you had more… useful fields to study? Fluttershy’s apparition asked, appearing next to me.

Well, yes, medicine, arcane bioengineering, biological hippology and genetics - which was the next degree I had been studying to get - were all more useful to me when I was living in a Stable with four other active doctors, three of which had degrees in psychology and counseling, I replied, frowning at her; her question sounded a bit smarty to me. I could have always directed any patients in need of therapy or counseling to them for proper care. But now I’m here, with all these patients…

I shook my head, sighing again. Even knowing that I wasn’t dealing with a patient anymore but a test subject, one who would be traumatized even more soon, did little to ease my frustration.

“I suppose you don’t really care for my apologies,” I resumed talking to Thorny Locust. “Once you become more familiar with the purpose of you being here, you will probably care even less. But you might take some solace in knowing that the stallion who had raped you had just been raped himself, as well as humiliated in front of every slaver in Appleloosa. If things play out well for me, you might even get to see him again when he becomes another test subject of mine; who knows, maybe I’ll even allow you to get even with him. We’ll have to see,” I said, shrugging. “In the meantime, I suggest you start getting used to your situation, sweetie. For now, I don’t have any sessions scheduled with you, so you can relax; I first need to learn the results of the experiment I conducted on my other two test subjects. This means the soonest we start working together will be tomorrow; try to learn some manners in the meantime,” I told her, walking out of her cell. “Oh,” I exclaimed, looking over my shoulder, “and from now on, you will address me as ‘Mistress’, not ‘little bitch’, or any other colorful name.”

Strangely, as I looked into her eyes while saying that, I could have swore that her rage had given way to amusement; she looked at me as if wanting to mock me. Disinterested in prolonging this “discussion”, though, I closed the door.

Alright, I thought, perking up a little, now to check up on Cutter and Manacles…

Footnote: 25% to next level!

Chapter Thirteen: Revelations

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“Well now I know you’re mad, I just wanted to make sure.”

“Fortunately for you, sweetie, it doesn’t appear that there are any lacerations within your rectum,” I said as I finished examining and cleaning Pillory with my magic. Ignoring the slaver as he murmured something under his breath, I added, “Still, you are quite bruised, so it would be better if you’d drink a healing potion.”

Turning around from Pillory, I trotted away from the mattress where the earth pony had been lying - on his chest with his flank raised so I could properly examine him (a position which had been understandably hard to convince him to assume) - and walked over to my room to retrieve one of the healing potions. Noting that there were only three left, I made a mental note to prepare a new batch and returned to Pillory, who by then had sat down normally.

“Here you are, sweetie,” I told him, placing the healing potion before him. “Now, normally that would be a hundred bottle caps,” I added as he bend down to pick it up with his hooves, “but I’m to charge you only when you are off-duty and I don’t really know if this qualifies as such. I will have to check with Black Widow for-”

Crack!

Shuddering because of the little scare the sudden noise of healing potion shattering on the floor of my clinic gave me, I looked with surprise at Pillory. The slaver himself seemed surprised as well, staring down at the spilled liquid that had been supposed to heal his bruised rectum at his forehooves.

“S-sorry,” he said after a second, stammering a bit. “It slipped from my hooves…”

If I hadn’t walked in on him raping somepony the other night, I probably would have felt sympathy towards him. It was apparent that Pillory was shaken by what he had been through; I was certain that was the reason why the healing potion slipped from his grasp.

Admittedly, though, it probably didn’t help that I’ve mentioned Black Widow’s name… I thought, watching how he still stared at the floor, almost hopelessly.

A sigh escaped me; though I was almost certain that sooner or later he would end up as one of my test subjects, for now I decided to treat him as I would any of my patients.

“It’s alright,” I told him, then looked back to my room; I bit my lip, pondering whether to use one of my remaining healing potions or heal him with my magic. Even if I could make more, it would take a while, and an emergency could always happen. On the other hoof, though, I would need my magic to perform surgery on Cutter and Manacles soon, and if there would be any complications… “I’m sorry, sweetie, I should have just used my magic to heal you,” I finally said, turning back to Pillory. “I’m just still a bit tired; those few hours of rest I had clearly weren’t enough.”

Which isn’t surprising, considering I’ve spent half of them down in my laboratory.

“I had hoped I could afford to avoid using magic until I’d have rested some more,” I finished explaining, sitting beside the mattress. “Could you please turn around again and-”

“Couldn’t you just do it the first time?” Pillory’s quiet growl interrupted me; at the same moment, though, he raised on his haunches and began to assume the position from earlier, sparing me from arguing (or rather, pointing out that I just had explained it).

Concentrating, I swept my magic down his rectum, casting a spell to mend it. Pillory shuddered a little, but didn’t react otherwise. The next few seconds went on in silence as I did my best to finish treating him quickly and to spare him discomfort; as I was close to being done, though, the slaver spoke up again:

“I didn’t mean to kill her.”

I tilted my head to the side to glance at his expression, but Pillory wasn’t looking at me. His head was turned towards the wall as he spoke. His voice sounded reluctant, begrudging; did he want to sound as if he wasn’t making excuses? I didn’t respond in any way. After all, what could I say to that? Instead, I let him talk as I resumed my task (while considering removing him from the list of my potential future test subjects, since it was possible he’d reconsider his life due to those events).

“All I wanted was some little fun, why the hell would I want to kill her? Fucking…” he muttered, shaking his head angrily. “I could have sworn the bitch was still alive after you paralyzed me with that fucking spell of yours.”

“Sorry about that, sweetie,” I finally replied, although without much conviction behind those words. A bit kinder, though, I added, “If it is of any consolation to you, I do consider the punishment you received to have been too excessive.”

After all, by ordering the devoid of free will Khan to rape you Black Widow essentially raped another person, I mused privately. But aside from that, that public shaming was unnecessary. Though I probably shouldn’t tell him that in her place I would have most likely gelded him…

Gee, Pinkie’s voice broke into my thoughts, the pink apparition deadpanning at me, ya think?

… if I didn’t just decide to make him one of my test subjects, I finished the thought, ignoring her.

It looked though that my words weren’t of any consolation to Pillory (despite me leaving out those unspoken details), as the slaver snorted angrily. Frowning a little, I finished healing his rectum, and stepped back.

“Alright, all done.”

“Excessive…” Pillory muttered as he rose from the mattress, shaking his flank as he turned around, the sensation of my magic sweeping through his rectum probably leaving him feeling somewhat itchy. “Consolation?” he asked, almost snarling at me.

I honestly cannot tell if he is asking me to explain what those words mean, I thought, a little baffled.

“Are you feeling alright?” I asked instead, noting how he moved his flank. “Is your rectum-”

“You know,” Pillory interrupted me, taking a step towards me, “since you’re being so sympathetic, why don’t I help you along to understand just how I am feeling?”

“Sweetie, you’re angry and agitated,” I said gently, in an effort to calm him down; despite his words and the look he was giving me, I stayed my ground, unsure if backing away wouldn’t just provoke Pillory. “I’m sure if you take a few deep breaths, you will realize-”

“That I need to do something to take the edge off?” Pillory asked mockingly, interrupting me again, as he crossed the distance between us faster than I’d have expected.

Before I knew it, his forehooves grabbed me by the shoulders and threw me against the mattress. Though my fall was fairly painless thanks to that, the lack of sleep from last night caused me to react slower than I would have liked to; in the few seconds that I could have been readying the Anesthetic Spell, Pillory had jumped onto the mattress and turned me around so I was lying on my back, then pressed his hoof against my chest.

“You do owe me,” he said as he put more weight on his hoof, trying to sound casual, but the anger and lust made his voice sound more like a growl. “Black Widow might have forbidden us from having fun with slaves, but she said nothing about you.”

Within seconds, I found myself in a perilous situation. The pony I had just finished treating was threatening to harm me, and all I knew about him and slavers in general told me that it wouldn’t just end on threats. Dread swept over me as I saw him glowering from above while pinning me down to the mattress, paralyzing me with fear.

Or rather, it would have if this had happened earlier, before my journey to New Appleloosa and subsequent expedition to Stable Eleven. Because of those experiences, I had learned what fear truly was, what it feels like to stare into the face of danger. My current situation was dangerous to be sure, but Pillory couldn’t compare with the cold, emotionless stare Scope had after he murdered Burst and Blast, the wild, hungry for violence looks of twenty four raiders as they surrounded me, the fury of Clawface after I had trapped almost his entire raider gang in the Stable, or the cautious, promising death on a misstep gaze Jack had after I revealed to him that I kept a pony chained up in my basement. No, this slaver buck couldn’t strike the kind of fear into my heart that could paralyze me and render me hopeless.

Instead of panicking, I merely thought to myself: You are so back on the list.

If anything, all that Pillory managed to do was anger me. Now, I don’t get angry often, and even when I do it usually doesn’t last long and said anger isn’t strong; it would be more accurate to say that I became very annoyed and upset. But the thought that this buck, whom I had just finished healing, for free at that, and who wasted a perfectly good healing potion, who had raped one of my patients and whom I had offered words of sympathy, was about to rape me? Oh, it made my hackles rise, to say the least!

As Pillory continued to pin me down, and his free forehoof began to travel down my body, I stared him dead in the eyes and said calmly, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“Oh?” Pillory exclaimed, amused, his hoof still sliding down. “And why’s that?”

I rose my head up so that my face would be closer to his. “Because if you do,” I told him quietly, narrowing my eyes, “the next time you wake up there will be a gaping hole between your hind legs.”

Black Widow wasn’t the only pony capable of intimidating slavers with just her voice and gaze, as Pillory had just learned. His eyes became wide open as he stared down at me, clearly not having expected me to speak with such cold fury, and it was with some satisfaction that I noticed that the hoof on my chest had began to tremble. After a second or two had passed, the weight that was pressing on me had grew lighter, and Pillory looked as if ready to back away.

“Angel?” the voice of Apple Core came from outside of my clinic, followed immediately by the sound of the door being opened… and then partially fall out thanks to the broken hinge, causing the slaver mare to utter a surprise yelp. “What the fuck?!”

“Over here, sweetie, I’ve just finished treating a patient,” I called out; the space in my clinic where I had been examining and then treating Pillory had been shielded from view by two hospital curtains that I pulled out from the spare room. As Apple Core tried to close the broken door, I turned back to Pillory, and once again my expression turned dark and cold. “Get off me before Apple Core kicks your flank,” I hissed, preferring not to be found by her in such situation.

Pillory, probably more worried about his own health rather than avoiding my slight indignity, jumped away from the mattress and wisely backed away. Satisfied, I rose back to standing position, straightened my lab coat and fixed my mane so that I would look like I hadn’t just been thrown against the mattress. As I finished, Apple Core trotted around the curtain and peaked in.

Her expression narrowed immediately as she spotted Pillory. “Oh, it’s you,” she said, walking in. Her face then became amused as she added, mockingly, “Don’t ya have a striped lover t’ see ‘bout now?”

“Apple Core!” I exclaimed, shocked by her words, then frowned at her. “Honestly, I would have thought such a cruel jest at Pillory’s expense was beneath you sweetie.”

But Apple Core wasn’t bothered that I’ve chastened. Glancing at me, she merely shrugged, then turned back to Pillory. “Skedaddle, party buck, Ah’ve got business with ‘er.”

Pillory, his lips pressed so hard against each other in his impotent anger that they formed a very thin line, didn’t bother with any reply. Without a goodbye, he trotted around Apple Core and headed for the exit. As he passed the slaver mare, though, he shot me a quick glance over his shoulder; noticing that I was looking at him, he turned away and hastened his trot.

“And close that stupid door carefully,” Apple Core called after him before addressing me. “The hell happened t’ it, anyway?”

Before replying to her question I decided to chastise her one more time, “I would appreciate sweetie if in the future you’d refrain from antagonizing my patients,” I said, frowning at her. As Apple Core opened her mouth to reply, I answered her, not giving her the opportunity to argue with me, “As for the door, the hinge had simply broken on its own.”

“Oh,” Apple Core exclaimed, and gave the door one last disinterested look as Pillory closed them behind him. “Ya should ask Forty ‘bout repairin’ ‘em.”

“So I’ve been told,” I said calmly. Trotting around her to get to get to my room, I decided to bring up the subject that I expected she wanted to discuss with me. “Now, I assume that by ‘business’ with me you are referring to our little drug operation? I haven't sold any of my products while you were gone, as I had told you before you had left week ago; I would have brought up too much attention to myself and I doubt I would be as successful seller as you seem to be.”

“That’s, um, ain’t what Ah’ve wanted t’ talk with ya ‘bout,” Apple Core interjected, making me look over my withers in mild surprise.

“Really? Pity, I had hoped we could resume our business operation, with all the expenses I’ve began to run out of bottle caps…” I began to say, only to stop as a yawn escaped me. Covering my mouth quickly with a hoof, I apologized, “Forgive me, sweetie, I hadn’t gotten enough sleep.”

“Yeah, Ah figure. ‘Ere,” Apple Core told me, reaching back to her saddle bags and pulling out a bottle of Sparkle-Cola, much to my surprise and delight. “This should help ya wake up.”

“Oh, thank you very kindly sweetie,” I said, accepting the bottle from her, then opening it and taking a sip. The carbonated, carrot flavored beverage began at once to stimulate my body, causing me to feel more rested, even if only by little. And it was quite tasty, too. “Hmm, delightful. It’s not often that you bring me any drinks or food here,” I pointed out, looking at Apple Core curiously. “Usually you insists on me accompanying you to the tavern.”

“Yeah, well…” the earth pony replied, rubbing the back of her head, suddenly very awkward. She sighed and said, “Look, Ah’ve gotta talk with ya. And it looks like it’s about t’ rain in soon and I would like t’ get t’ mah bed dry, so can we leave talkin’ ‘bout drugs and stuff tomorrow?”

I blinked, confused by her behaviour. “Why, yes of course. What do you want to talk about sweetie?”

Now Apple Core seemed even more awkward, and embarrassed to boot. She avoided my gaze, instead looking around the clinic. “W-well um, ya see… Somethin’s been botherin’ me this past week, and today I’ve been thinkin’...”

*** *** ***

“So, could ya, ya know… ya know?” Apple Core asked, no less awkwardly than she had been throughout this entire, few minutes long conversation.

“Well, of course I can,” I replied slowly, frowning thoughtfully. “I’ll need a bit of time to come up with a proper procedure based on available resources… can you wait until tomorrow before we schedule an appointment?”

“Yeah, sure. Ah'll also get some chems from ya to sell to those schmucks.” Apple Core uttered a relaxed sigh. “Thanks Angel.”

I very much wanted to ask her what was she planning to do, but I had no right to ask. Not to mention that I would know soon. Besides, there was something else that I wanted to ask, possibly even more.

“Think nothing of it, sweetie. However, I am still confused about one thing,” I told her, tilting my head a little. “Could you please explain to me what’s a ‘period’, exactly?”

At the same moment I started to form that question, the door to my clinic opened. As we were still standing in the same spot rather than my room, the person who walked in (revealed to be Jack when I glanced in the door’s direction) was able to hear what I said. Guessing by the tired deadpan that immediately formed on his face, it wasn’t something he wanted to hear.

That deadpan disappeared though even quicker than it had appeared, thanks to the broken hinge of my door. Jack’s attention shifted to it as the door began to tilt sideways. As he walked around it to close it carefully, Apple Core, who like me had looked at the door when we heard it open, turned back to me, slightly red on her cheeks.

“How the fuck can’t ya not know what a period is?!” she hissed, annoyed.

“Because Stable ponies don’t have those,” came an answer, not from me but from Jack. Both me and Apple Core turned back to him to see him closing the door and turn back to us. As I blinked in confusion, wondering what could that possible mean, he raised a paw to his eyes and rubbed them. “Look, I’ll explain this shit to her, you can leave if you want.”

“Don’t mind if Ah do,” Apple Core replied at once, quickly trotting in the direction of the door. She stopped after taking a few steps, though, and looked back at me. “What we talked ‘bout stays private, right?” she asked, slightly worried, with a brief glance at Jack.

“Doctor-patient confidentiality, sweetie,” I assured, smiling. “I would never speak about my patients. ‘Whatever, in connection with my professional service, or not in connection with it, I see or hear, in the life of others, which ought not to be spoken of abroad, I will not divulge, as reckoning that all such should be kept secret,’” I recited solemnly a part of my oath, placing a hoof over my heart.

Apple Core raised an eyebrow at that. “A simple ‘yes’ would ‘ave been fine,” she said after a second, although with a smirk.

“As if I would care about whatever health issues you have,” Jack cut in with an annoyed sigh as he walked over to us.

The slaver mare scowled at him, but then quickly shook it off as he turned his head to her and raised his eyebrow (either reminded that she clearly didn’t want him to know, or that she found him scary). She cleared her throat and looked back at me, “Well, anyway, thanks. Ah’ll see ya tomorrow.”

“Goodbye, sweetie,” I told her in turn.

Apple Core began to trot away, but as she was about to reach the door she turned back to Jack. “By the way, boss said that ya’ll ‘ave quarters ready in the barracks.”

“Yeah, she mentioned,” the griffin replied, shrugging. “Believe me, I won’t stay too long here - unless it starts raining - and certainly won’t sleep under the roof of the most annoying pony ever.”

I pouted. “Sweetie, that’s uncalled for-” I began, only to have his talons grab my muzzle and force it close.

To my mild annoyance, Apple Core snorted with laughter. “Oh wow, Ah forgot ‘bout ‘at! When boss was talkin’ with ya ‘bout yar skills, ya should ‘ave opened with how ya can do this.”

“I’ll be sure bring it up next time,” Jack replied without humor, waving her goodbye with his free forepaw as the slaver mare left, closing the door behind her carefully.

Only then did the griffin release my muzzle. “Was that necessary?” I asked as I massaged my muzzle, resuming my pout.

“Yes,” Jack replied snipply. “I got the feeling that Black Widow has her suspicions regarding you, so I would prefer if nobody would think that we’re working together. As far as she knows, I find you utterly annoying and wouldn’t have a problem killing you.”

A cold shiver travelled down my spine as I realized that what he told Black Widow was very likely the truth.

“So it’d be best if more ponies see me interacting with you with reluctance. Although I would probably shut you up anyway,” he added with a shrug, “you talk way to much. Now,” he said, ignoring the stare I gave him, “how about we go see that basement of yours?”

I almost nodded instinctively, partially out of fear as he stared down at me with narrowed eyes, but also because that had been my plan in the first place. I didn’t, though, possibly partially because a part of me was hoping to prolong the time before I’d have to reveal so much about myself and hope he wouldn’t kill me.

But mostly, I didn’t because there was something else I was concerned about.

“No, wait sweetie,” I told him, frowning. “What’s a ‘period’? You said you’d explain it to me.”

Jack’s expression turned into a deadpan. “Are you-” he began after a heartbeat, only to stop and facepaw. “For the love of… alright,” he sighed, sitting down on the floor. “In your Stable, you and every other mare went through heat, I mean, the estrous cycle, right?”

“Of course we do,” I replied, now incredibly confused. Where was he going with this? “Doesn't every mare go through it?”

To my bemusement, Jack shook his head. “Not in the Wasteland. Well, in most cases. As far as I can understand this, sometime throughout the last two hundred years ponies biology adapted to the Wasteland’s conditions. Most mares now go through a monthly cycle rather than a yearly one. It’s called menstrual cycle, and a ‘period’ is specifically what we call the time when…” he hesitated, becoming slightly uncomfortable, “... when a mare bleeds from her vagina, which lasts a couple of days.”

I listened to him, mouth agape, as my mind reeled. Even after he finished, it took me a moment to form a reply. “That’s… incredible!” I finally exclaimed. “I had no idea ponies had adapted that well into the Wasteland in mere two hundred years! I knew about the fact that they can eat meat now, of course, but to modify physiological process… that’s simply incredible!” I almost began to pace around from the excitement. Already I was planning in my head all kinds of tests I would conduct on Thorny Locust and Apple Core if she’d agree, while ignoring the somewhat worried glances the apparitions of Fluttershy and Pinkie were giving me. “It must be because of the decrease of pony population, isn’t it?” I asked Jack, then, not even giving him an second to reply, I looked away and brought my hoof to my muzzle, pondering. “What am I saying, of course it must be it, it would be easier for ponies to repopulate Equestria if they’d be able to become pregnant every month rather than one month out of the year … the lack of sunlight probably contributed as well, after all the estrous cycle is controlled by photoperiodism… that must mean the pegasi mares go through estrous cycle, similarly to mares from Stables, right?” Again, I asked Jack, and again, I didn’t wait for an answer, although this time the griffin managed to open up his beak before I looked away. “Considering that they have an entire civilization up there in the clouds and free access to sunlight… you must tell me more!” I finally decided, trotting closer to Jack. “How long does it exactly last, what are the phases of it, what are the signs-”

My muzzle was again held closed by his paw. Jack glared at me through his narrowed eyes before speaking, “Congratulations, you’ve officially found a conversation more disturbing than the discussion about you having a pony chained in your basement. Until a minute ago, I didn’t think that would be possible. Now, for the love of fucking everything, could we please get on with the latter?” he asked, annoyed, as he released my muzzle.

After briefly massaging my muzzle again, I frowned at the griffin. “First of all, sweetie, I have three ponies chained in my basement now-”

“Why did you feel the need to tell me that?” Jack questioned with a confused and exasperated expression on his face.

“- second of all, menstrual cycle, just like estrous cycle, isn’t disturbing, it’s a natural body process that is essential for reproduction, thirdly,” I began, only to take a step back as Pinkie pointed out to me that Jack’s forepaw twitched; suspecting he was about to silence me again, I decided to skip what I was about to say (about how important it is to a doctor like myself to understand everything about a menstrual cycle) and go straight to what I had been saving for my last point, “y-you want to go to the basement now? It’s only evening, somepony could always come in. It would be better if we wait until the night.”

Jack smirked. “Oh, don’t worry about anybody coming in, I’m sure nobody will bother us.”

I frowned. “What do you-”

KA-BOOOOOOOM!!!

A yelp escaped me and I jumped up as the explosion outside startled me. I looked to the windows of the clinic, where for a brief moment a bright flash had been visible, but there was nothing that I could see outside. It was almost pitch black; the clouds, already dark by the morning, had been growing darker as I slept, and by the time I woke up they were almost pitch black.

The next second I realized I could hear a steady, rhythmical buzz, a very loud one at that. At first, in my disoriented state, I feared that whatever this explosion might have been had damaged my eardrums.

“W-what…” I stammered, turning to Jack… who was chuckling to himself.

“A storm. A real cloudburst, seen it coming this way while I was out patrolling the area earlier.”

A storm. That made sense. Now that I had calmed down by Jack’s relaxed attitude, I realized that the buzz I was hearing was the sound of rain falling upon the roof of my clinic. And the explosion from earlier…

“So that was a thunder?” I asked, curious.

“Yep. I’m a bit surprised that you hadn’t heard any earlier; there hasn’t been any lightning close for an hour or so, but I heard a few when I was on patrol. I didn’t think that I was that far from Appleloosa,” he said dismissively, shrugging.

“Oh, it must have been when I was napping then,” I realized. “Considering how tired I was, it’s not surprising I didn’t hear any… though that one would have certainly-”

KA-BOOOOOOOM!!!

“- woken me up,” I finished after I calmed down by another surprising thunder.

Jack appeared as if he wanted to question why I had been napping, but he probably figured out what could have been the reason related to it, and decided not to ask. “Anyway, it will be like this for a while, so I doubt anypony is going to come and visit you. And if they ask about me, we say that I visited you to pass on thanks from Blast and Burst’s parents for your eulogy, stayed too long talking about them and got stuck because of the storm.” After explaining, he paused for a moment, then in a calmer tone. “They did say thanks, by the way.”

My ears dropped as I recalled the funeral. Looking down at the floor in sadness, I asked, “How did they take the news?”

“About as well as one can expect,” Jack sighed. “Then again, it’s not like death is something rare in the Wasteland, and mercenaries generally don’t live to a ripe old age. They were glad that at least they’d gotten a proper funeral, or at least as proper as possible,” he then added, shaking his head with a slight grimace on his face.

Nodding silently in acknowledgment, I stayed still for a few heartbeats, then I turned around. I didn’t want to talk about the two brothers, their funeral or their parents right now, just as much as Jack clearly didn’t. Dwelling on it all wouldn’t solve anything. Worse, considering what Jack and I were about to talk about, it would be almost insulting. As if I was trying to spark some sympathy in griffin by bringing up his friends and the brief time we’ve all shared.

“Close the door, sweetie, just to be safe,” I asked him, nodding at the entrance, and continued to walk in the direction of the basement’s door.

I grabbed the bottle of Sparkle-Cola Apple Core had brought me. After taking those few sips I left it on one of the beds, forgetting about it as I listened to her. Now I took another sip from it, even though I knew that drinking such beverage wouldn’t calm my nerves, quite the opposite in fact. However, as I had thought about what could transpire down in my basement, I suddenly felt as if a dry lump was stuck in my throat. For the first time in probably ever, I found myself wishing that I was drinking something… stronger.

Well, this will be the moment of truth, I thought, accessing the terminal to open the door. We learn what Cutter knows, and whether what I am doing can be accepted by those living in this world.

You know, the ponies you’ve captured had done pretty nasty things, Pinkie - who had just looked around again, as if looking for something; this had happened so many times since the morning that I had stopped even reacting to that - pointed out, although a bit reluctantly. They were bad ponies.

But does this make it right? Fluttershy asked Pinkie, frowning unhappily.

Would you rather see them continue to harm good ponies? Pinkie countered.

No, of course not! But it doesn’t mean it’s alright for Angel to, to… torture them!

Well… Pinkie said with uncertainty, looking away from the other apparition as she rubbed the back of her head.

A sigh escaped me as they basically recited all the previous arguments all three of us had gotten into this past week. Darlings, I’ll make my case before Jack and let him decide whether it is right or wrong. Not that it won’t be more than just his own opinion, I added, sighing again, but at least we will have the opinion of an average Wastelander. An average Wastelander that is reasonable and adheres to some moral code, to be specific, I specified.

“The door’s closed,” Jack informed me as he walked over to me.

I nodded in silent thanks, my hoof on the door… and I stayed still. Closing my eyes, I took a calming breath. “Can I make a request?” I asked, not looking back at Jack. “If you do decide to kill me… there is a recording on my PipBuck. If I am to die, I think I would like to die listening to it,” I said, splaying my ears against my head. When after a few moments he didn’t reply, I sighed in mild annoyance, rolled my eyes, and looked over my shoulder. “Look sweetie, if you’d be worried that this is some sort of trick, you can first cut off my horn and cut my artery, then let me play it.”

The griffin’s expression was unreadable. “It’s not that,” he replied, shaking his head, then amended, “although now that you’ve mentioned it… I was merely wondering how come you are so certain that I will kill you if I don’t like what I see and hear down there?”

“Because of two reasons,” I told him, turning back to the door and pushing it open. Walking down the stairs, I continued, “Firstly, for admittedly obvious reasons, most people would find my experiments to be… revolting. Even if I could prove that my tests subjects had committed heinous, unforgivable crimes, ponies could still find them to be too cruel. Secondly, you probably already suspect that I am considering conducting my experiments on you, now or in the future, so you might want to kill me for your own safety. Of course,” I told him, stopping by the bottom of stairs as I waited for him to join me in laboratory, “that’s not true, as I only capture those who have committed acts that would strip them of their right to be called sapient beings. Which is something I will do everything in my power to convince you of.”

I perked my ears; the sound of rain, so audible from within the clinic, was gone. The thunders, though, I could still hear, although they were very muted out.

“Everything in your power, huh?” Jack asked as he joined me, raising an eyebrow, then took a look around my laboratory while I drank Sparkle-Cola again and placed the half-empty bottle on the desk. “So this is what a mad scientist’s lair looks like?”

“I’m not mad, sweetie,” I told him, frowning, “my mother had me tested.”

“Yeah, I’ve gotta say, it is unnerving that she had you tested in the first place,” Jack countered with a snort.

I paused for a heartbeat to deadpan at him, then cleared my throat and continued: “And this isn’t a lair, it’s my laboratory.”

“So did you come up with the ‘strip them of their right to be called sapient beings’ excuse before or after I told you that about the raiders?” Jack asked me, not interested in what I’ve said.

“It’s not an excuse, sweetie, but a stance,” I corrected him. “As for when I ‘came up’ with it, before leaving Stable Eight I wouldn’t have used the term ‘sapient beings’ but ‘ponies’. Considering that now I live in the Wasteland with many other sapient species, using the term ‘ponies’ would be… well, racist, to be frank.”

Jack looked at me with a raised eyebrow and opened his beak, as if about to comment on that. After a moment he closed it, considering something in silence, then finally asked, “Even if all your test subjects are ponies?”

“Sweetie, it’s the principle that matters,” I replied calmly, which was met with an unexpected reaction: Jack slammed his paw against his face with an audible sigh. Frowning slightly at the display, I continued, “If I would continue to say ‘done things that had stripped them of their right to be called ponies’, it would suggest that only ponies exhibit sapience required to have morals, which I think you’ll agree is-”

“By the Egg, please stop,” Jack groaned, interrupting me. “You’re not a racist, I got the picture.” Satisfied that he understood that (if a bit upset about the way he said so), I finished my argument. The griffin sighed again and looked at the three doors, figuring out that those were the ‘cells’ in which I kept my test subjects. “So you’ve got a slaver medic - like yourself - here and two slavers?”

“One’s a slaver, the other’s is one of the raiders the slavers had brought in; she was part of the group I’d trapped in Stable Eleven,” I explained, curious why he was asking about it; considering his comment, I suspected we were still on the subject of my test subjects’ morality. “On that note, I’ve only brought her in today, so she might start cursing at us once the sedatives wear off again,” I warned him. “I locked my Mister Handy robot in there with her to apply another dose should she start making a ruckus again. I’ve also locked it in there so you wouldn’t be overly suspicious about its presence,” I quickly added when I noticed how his brow furrowed at the mention of the robot.

Jack glanced suspiciously at the door I’ve pointed at, then turned back to me, “Okay, I suppose I could agree that ponies like those could deserve to be locked up like this. Maybe,” he added, then narrowed his eyes as he continued, “But what about ponies in your Stable?”

Despite expecting that this subject would be brought up, my heart had skipped a bit. This would be the more difficult to explain, as my banishment has made evident.

The griffin pointed at the cells. “This was why you were thrown out, wasn’t it? Experimenting on ponies… Blast told me about the talk you had in that tavern, you know,” Jack added, his eyes becoming as cold as ice when I looked into them. “How you had caused a few deaths of your patients. You were talking about your experiments, weren’t you? How many was that, exactly?”

“Four,” I replied, then a bit reluctantly I began to explain, “and they had been my patients, so-”

“And what exactly had those four done, huh?” Jack asked, sitting down on his haunches and crossing his forelegs on his chest.

There it was. That question, question that I knew he would eventually ask. Question to which there was only one way I could answer. And even though I knew only too well how he could react, that fact had helped me to calm down. Fear had left me as I looked him in the eyes, without any reluctance or hesitation.

“Forgive me, sweetie, I can’t tell you that.”

Jack snorted. “Can’t or won’t?” he asked, sarcasm clear in his voice.

I wasn’t about to indulge him. “Didn’t you hear what I’ve told Apple Core?” I said instead. “I’m not in the liberty to talk about my patients.”

The griffin’s suspiciousness gave way to a surprise, which quickly turned into an annoyance. “Oh you’ve got to be fucking kidding me. You kidnapped, tortured and murdered them, but talking about their secrets is where you draw the line?!”

Despite his outbursts, I continued to regard him calmly. “It doesn’t matter what you say to me, sweetie, I won’t break my oath. I will not reveal anything about my patients.” And with that, to demonstrate that I considered this discussion to be over, I turned away from the angry griffin. However, for the first time in the last half of minute, I hesitated. Whether because my fellow stable dwellers’ sentence still stung or some other reason, I glanced back at Jack and added, “Can we please talk about my test subjects now?”

Jack snorted again, his gaze turning up at the roof. “Fine-” he began to snarl, only to stop abruptly, his eyes slightly widening and looked at me with confusion.

He wasn’t the only one. The two apparitions were also staring at me, having noticed the distinction I had just made. Angel? Fluttershy asked, surprised.

Well, all three of you are more observant than the entirety of my Stable, it would seem, I remarked. Then again, I couldn’t exactly allow myself to imply even this little…

“Are you ready to speak to Cutter?” I asked Jack before he or the apparitions could dwell deeper into the subject.

The griffin was still gazing at me, no longer with annoyance or anger (or disgust), but instead with confusion and surprise. After a few more moments, he finally slowly nodded. “Yeah… how do you feed all three of them?” he asked before I could open the door. When I looked back at him with confusion, he elaborated: “I mean, how the heck do have enough food for three more ponies? Didn’t anybody here got suspicious?”

“Well, the bartender and owner of the Salt Block saloon, Frank Fellow, came to me five days ago with a fever, other signs of cold, and some swelling. It turned out that it was the equine viral arteritis. An equine viral disease transmittable by sexual intercourse,” I explained to Jack. “When I explained that to Frank Fellow, his reaction made it plain that he hadn’t caught it from his marefriend. His marefriend who, according to the rumor circling around Appleloosa, had beaten the last coltfriend who cheated on her to death. Luckily for him, she was away with Apple Core’s group collecting the raiders from Stable Eleven, which meant that I was able to cure him before he could infect her. Of course, treating it isn’t exactly easy, and I stressed out to Frank how many supplies and my magic I would need to spend before bringing up that I had been hoping I could start stockpiling food so I could feed the slaves - as the rations the slavers give them may have caused them to be malnourished - once they capture them. I might have forgotten to mention that I don’t divulge informations about my patients to anybody,” I added, frowning, “considering that Frank Fellow said he would get me food as long as I wouldn’t tell anything about this… I think he believes I’m blackmailing him.” I said, then noticed the deadpan on Jack’s face. “Admittedly, I didn’t correct him, but I had been considering making him my test subject - and I still do - so I feel less inclined to set this misunderstanding right.”

“Wait, why do want to capture a bartender?” Jack asked, frowning in confusion.

“Because he serves brahmin meat,” I replied, shuddering; I could still remember how it tasted when, in my ignorance, I’d tried eating it.

“... and?”

Jack’s bemusement upset and disappointed me. “They’re sapient,” I said, narrowing eyes at him.

The griffin’s eyes again darted upwards. “You know only about one in ten brahmins has a talking head, right?”

“Talking isn’t a sign of sapience, sweetie,” I told him coldly, my face almost twisting into a snarl briefly. Closing my eyes for a second to calm down, I added, “And I happened to meet an adorable heifer whose both heads were perfectly capable of speech and their behaviour-”

Jack’s paw grabbed my muzzle again. “Alright, sorry,” Jack told me briskly, then released me. “You’re right, they’re sapient,” he added more calmly. “But I would like to point out that about a third or a fourth of food vendors in the Wasteland sell their meat; are you going to capture all of them for your experiments?”

“I would consider it in each case,” I replied, having already thought about this matter (and having talked about it with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie). “Depending on some other factors, I might decide to make them my test subjects. However, I expect that in most cases I would resort only to talking with them about brahmin’s sapience. And besides,” I added, shrugging, “when I become the Princess of Equestria, I’ll ban their meat and grant brahmins full citizen rights.”

Jack didn’t reply, instead continued to stare at me silently for several seconds, before pressing his paw against his face, uttering a heavy sigh. I narrowed my eyes at him in mild annoyance as I waited for his comment, but he didn’t make any.

“Anyway,” I continued when I was sure he wasn’t going to say anything about my plans, “I decided to leave Frank Fellow be, as thanks to him I have a steady supply of food for test subjects; and before you ask, I intend to give some to slaves too, though I am reluctant to feed those raiders they’ve captured,” I added, not wanting Jack to think that I’ve lied to Frank. “Besides, considering how many ponies who are worse than him are in Appleloosa, I’m pretty sure I won’t run out of test subjects. And in any case, I believe I have successfully discouraged him from purchasing any brahmin meat in the future,” I said, unable to not smirk at the memory.

Jack uttered another sigh. “Oh please, do tell,” he said.

Although I was almost sure that he was mocking me, I decided to tell him nonetheless. “Frank Fellow had let me take a look at his magazine so we could come to an agreement which of his supplies he would give me and how many. While he wasn’t looking, I poured a concoction I’ve prepared on the brahmin meat; injecting it would cause symptoms similar to food poisoning. On the next day several ponies got sick, and one is believed to be dead by everypony else; he’s now chained over here,” I briefly mentioned, pointing at the other cell. “This whole matter caused everypony to believe that the meat had become unfit for consumption, and Frank Fellow had mentioned to me since then that he’s not going to buy anymore from his contact in New Appleloosa because of this.”

“Okay, that was pretty clever, I will give you that,” Jack commented, sounding a bit reluctant for some reason. “How did you make everypony believe that this one slaver was dead, though?”

“Oh, I just swapped his body for the corpse of another pony which I had conducted a plastic surgery on and dyed to look almost identical to him,” I replied, shrugging.

To that though the griffin had narrowed his eyes at me. “Why did you have a pony’s cor- ugh, you know what, fuck it, I don’t want to know,” he groaned, cowering his face with his paw again. “Let's get back to our business before you sidetrack me into another ridiculous conversation.”

I pouted slightly at his reaction, but saw no point to argue. Taking a deep breath in anticipation of what could transpire afterwards, I opened the door to Cutter’s cell. Almost immediately we were assaulted by very unpleasant odor of urine and excrements. Of course, I had grown used to those smells, but seeing Jack recoil in disgust and cover his nostrils made me realize that perhaps I should look into getting Air Purifier Talismans.

The pony inside was lying beside the opposite wall, huddled and chained to the pipe. With his unkempt and dirty mane and coat he made a really pitiful sight; or would have if I had a reason to pity him. All his ribs were visible under his coat, as only recently I had acquired the means to keep him and the other test subjects fed sufficient enough to prevent such loss in weight. Cutter shook as the door opened, rising his head a little, then turned in surprise to Jack.

“Hello, sweetie,” I spoke quickly, not wanting him to develop any false hope; I wasn’t cruel. (Fine, darling, I’m not that cruel, I amended as Fluttershy gave me a look.) A shudder went through Cutter the moment I spoke, and he turned back to me. “We were hoping to have a chat with you. Would you like to stretch your legs a little?” I asked, figuring that Jack would prefer to talk in the relatively clean air of my laboratory rather than in his cell.

As I used my magic to pick up the keys to his hoofcuffs, I noted to my disappointment that his eyes had darted again to Jack.

“Oh sweetie, don’t do this to yourself,” I told him, saddened that he was apparently considering a possibility of being free. “He’s not going to help you. Not after I tell him about all the foals you let die because… what was the reason you wrote in your notes?” I asked, my sadness evaporating. I entered the cell, my gaze cold, causing Cutter’s eyes to bulge and him try to back away against the wall. “‘Too worthless to save’? ‘Won’t bring enough caps, it would be a waste of supplies’?” I asked, reciting what I read in both his notes and some of Black Widow documents she allowed me to look through when I asked her about Cutter’s previous ‘patients’. “Tell me, Cutter,” I continued, drawing so close that I could very well whisper this to his ear; I made a point for Jack to hear it, though, “do you even remember their names?”

The slaver medic, who was shaking from fear, looked away, unable to meet my gaze. Once his eyes had fixated on the floor, I waited a few more heartbeats before, satisfied that he abandoned any silly notion of hope he might had, I smiled. I raised my hoof to his cheek and gently lifted his head. “I’m sorry, sweetie,” I told him, now that my disgust had abated again feeling saddened. “But you must understand that you won’t leave this place. Especially considering what could happen,” I added, giving a meaningful look at his abdomen. Cutter, following my gaze, gave a tired nod. “Now, will you behave?”

“Yes Mistress,” he said, his voice tired and broken.

Satisfied, I let go of him, used the key to unlock his hoofcuffs, then left his side so he could stand up and walk out of the cell. I knew his condition was good enough to manage that without help. I was more interested at the moment in seeing Jack’s reaction to our little exchange.

Unsurprisingly, I was met with disapproval on the griffin’s face, bordering on disgust. I’d imagined that he had it throughout my entire conversation with Cutter. What did surprise me, though, was that instead of looking at me as he left the cell, his attention was more focused on my test subject, as he began to walked out slowly, dragging his-

“Why is his leg a different color than the rest of him?” Jack asked, his disapproval having gaven way to confusion (along with disgust).

I blinked, then looked over why whiters at Cutter. “Oh, right,” I exclaimed, only now realising how odd the brick colored left foreleg of an otherwise gray colored pony must look like. “Do you remember how the explosion in Stable Eleven had caused Apple Core to lose her leg, and how it was damaged?” I asked Jack as I trotted over to sit next to him. When the griffin nodded, I continued: “Well, it got me thinking, what if the leg had been too damaged for me to heal it after stitching it back? Either I would stitch the wound close, forcing Apple Core to become a cripple, or I could take the leg from one of the three bodies and transplant to her. However, I had no idea if any of them would be a compatible with Apple Core for her body to not reject the leg, I had no means and I wasn’t in a condition to conduct any tests. Which is why shortly after returning I began researching ways to make it possible to transplant body parts regardless if they were compatible or not,” I said, looking at Cutter as he waddled out of the cell. I gave his barely mobile leg a studious look. “I switched his and Manacles legs and cast on each a different variation of the spell we use in Stable Eight to suppress the pony’s immune system so that it wouldn’t reject a transplanted organ. I’ve modified it, of course, in order to work on non compatible ponies, but both of them have started to show signs of rejection. Which I had expected, the chances that either version - I cast a different spell on each of them - would work were only about 1.75%,” I added, shrugging. Seeing another shudder go through Cutter, I smiled sweetly. “Don’t worry, sweetie, I’m going to replace your organs back later tonight; it’s obvious that I have to abort this experiment and try again,” I sighed, unhappy, then frowned, realizing that I forgot to mention something… “Oh, right, and I also swapped their kidneys,” I told Jack, “so I will really need to switch those back.”

The griffin cast me an annoyed stare. “You swapped their kidneys? Didn’t it occurred to you that he might die before I get here?”

“Don’t be silly, sweetie, I’ve been checking on them to ensure that wouldn’t happen,” I replied, a little offended. “As soon as either he or Manacles would start showing signs of rejecting the transplanted organ, I would have scheduled their next surgery. Also, I expected that this would have taken place before you’d arrived,” I admitted, before giving Cutter’s leg another look. “The spell must have worked better than I had anticipated.”

“Fascinating,” Jack snorted. “Can we leave the land of stupid conversations and get on with the reason I’m here?”

I raised my eyebrow to demonstrate my discontent regarding his choice of words, but didn’t argue. “But of course, sweetie,” I merely said, slightly bowing as I ostentatiously presented Cutter to him.

The griffin at first looked up at the ceiling, shaking his head in annoyance, then turned to the unicorn buck. His eyes briefly shifted to Cutter’s transplanted leg, which he favored as he sat down, holding the area where his and Manacles’ flesh met. “What do you know about Scope?” Jack finally asked, his eyes drilling into Cutter’s.

At first, Cutter merely blinked. “S-scope?” he finally repeated, as if unsure if he had heard him right. He cast me a nervous glance before replying: “I, I don’t-”

“Brown unicorn, rusty mane, about forty?” Jack interrupted, getting impatient. “Had a sniper rifle and almost permanent scowl on his face?”

Cutter began to show signs of recognition when Jack had just mentioned his body’s colors, thought. “Oh, him,” he exclaimed, his voice sounding almost excited. “W-what happened? Did, did he kill Black Widow?” Cutter asked, looking from Jack to myself.

A growl from the griffin’s throat brought his full attention back to him. “No,” Jack simply said. I could almost hear him think: He killed my friends; I actually half expected him to say that. “How did you know him?” he asked instead, his tone of voice almost threatening him to dare deviate from his questions.

Cutter must have gotten that message, as he shuddered again and looked as if ready to back away from him. “I… I mean,” he started, working his mouth as he tried to segregate what he wanted to say. “I didn’t know him, I just knew Black Widow was afraid of him, and I remembered seeing him in New Appleloosa a few times.”

Jack frowned, then looked at me. I shrugged, understanding from this babble about as much as he. Deciding that we needed a different approach, I gently touched Cutter’s shoulder to get his attention. The grey unicorn shook as if struck, but he calmed down when he saw me smiling at him.

“Perhaps you should start from the beginning, sweetie?” I suggested. Reaching with my magic, I grabbed my Sparkle-Cola from the desk and offered him a sip. “Why don’t you tell us more about Black Widow?”

Cutter nodded in agreement, his eyes shifting to the beverage. As his magic was suppressed by my spellbane potion and he couldn’t use his transplanted leg very well, I lifted the bottle up to his lips for him. As Cutter drank, I noticed to my surprise that there was less of Sparkle-Cola than I had left it; I didn’t even notice Jack taking a sip. Which considering I had my back turned to him as I talked to Cutter wasn’t really surprising, less so than learning that he liked this beverage.

And yet when I offered him another sip once Cutter had his, he waving his paw and shook his head, his attention focused on the unicorn stallion. Frowning a little in confusion, I shrugged and placed the bottle back on the desk.

Cutter licked his lips several times, trying to savor the taste of the beverage, then took a deep breath and started again. “Okay, the beginning… Back all those years ago, before I, b-became the town’s medic,” he stammered a little, glancing at me, as if fearing I would be upset; considering his time as town’s medic caused death of several foals, among some other things, I could have been, “I was going on the patrols along with the others, I would earn extra caps and keep slavers and slaves alive. I was with Eulogy when he found Black Widow and the others.”

“The others?” Jack, who had began to look annoyed, picked up immediately.

The unicorn nodded. “The Steel Rangers.”

I tried to not look too smug.

I may have failed that to some extent, or maybe Jack was annoyed of just the fact that I was right, because he turned his attention from Cutter to deadpan at me as my test subject continued: “Black Widow - Dark Lady, as she called herself back then; I don’t know what her real name was, we didn’t ask her when we captured them - was one of them. W-well, she was a Scribe, actually. There was another Scribe and one of those actual Steel Rangers.”

“I find it hard to believe that a bunch of slavers could have captured a Steel Ranger, even if it was just one,” Jack said, returning his stare to Cutter.

This time he shook his head. “H-he was without that Power Armor of theirs. They were part of a squad that was sent to some kind of wartime facility, the defenses there killed everypony else and destroyed his Power Armor, including its repair talisman, so he left it behind. The armors of the other Steel Rangers had their locks fused or whatever, I don’t remember. We ran into them when they were making their way back to one of their bases.”

“Okay, that seems more plausible,” Jack conceded, narrowing his eyes. “So what happened next?”

“Raiders happened,” Cutter replied.

“Of course,” Jack commented in a dry voice, his eyes rolling up to look at the ceiling.

“T-there was this group of raiders that had claimed that area recently,” my test subject continued, slightly unnerved again because of the griffin’s interjection. “We’d only run into them on our way back. We tried to barter with them, but it turned messy. We probably wouldn’t have gotten away if Black Widow hadn’t yanked her magical laser pistol from our saddle bags and killed a few of the raiders, seeing them turn into pink ash made the others back off. Afterwards, she had talked the other two into helping us, arguing that the raiders would kill them all. Of course, we didn’t want to give them their guns back at first, what slaver would have done that? We made the other Scribe repair and modify our weapons, and the Steel Ranger gave us a quick ‘real’ training to improve our chances in a fight. But then we realized that the raiders had began to surround us, and just how many there were. We gave them back their guns and tried to break through their line, but that plan failed. We ran again, and then Black Widow suggested that we lure them back into the facility they had been sent to, saying that a lot of its defenses had just been taken offline by them. Hiding back there and turning them on had been our only chance, so we agreed.”

“Smart plan,” Jack nodded appraisaly, rubbing the underside of his beak and frowning.

“Not smart enough,” Cutter said. “Those defenses had killed all the raiders, but most of us still died, some on the way there, others when we got inside, including the other two Steel Rangers. Although I doubt that by then she really cared.” He paused to utter a nervous chuckle. “Never saw something more pathetic than a slave falling for a slaver, but then Eulogy seemed to fall in love with her in return.”

“They really fell in love?” I asked, a little surprised. “I mean, I’ve heard of how Black Widow came to Appleloosa as Eulogy’s marefriend, but when you’ve said how Eulogy had enslaved her I thought-”

“You’d be surprised to learn what kind of emotions can be born while under fire, Doctor,” Jack interrupted me; I couldn’t help but feel that he was taking some relish by explaining something to me. Then he rolled his eyes and added, “Though granted, love is a rather rare one.”

“I-it’s true, Mistress,” Cutter put in reluctantly, looking at me with a little fear. Smiling at him to ensure him that he wouldn’t be punished for correcting my assumption I encouraged him to continue. “They’d started to bond over this whole ordeal, and then later as we recovered in the facility after the battle... I’m not sure when they’d first fucked, but before we hit the road again, Eulogy had told us she wouldn’t be put into shackles again. One daring idiot opposed to that and got killed for it, after that me and the remaining two didn't feel like arguing. Eulogy had then told us to keep quiet about her being a Steel Ranger and this whole nightmare of an adventure to ourselves, as nopony knew how that idiot Butcher or anypony else would react to having an ex-Steel Ranger Scribe in the town. Fortunately for all of us, shortly after we got back Butcher attacked a Steel Ranger patrol - who had probably been looking for Black Widow and her friends - and got wounded so badly that Eulogy took control of the slavers, but I had still kept quiet, figuring that might be useful to blackmail them one day,” he added, a ghost of a grin appearing on his muzzle, which quickly disappeared. “Not that it did me any good…”

“What about the other two slavers who were with you?” I asked, curious what had happened to them; I had a feeling that Cutter was the only pony currently alive who knew about Black Widow’s past, aside from maybe Whip Crack.

“Oh, they died, one a year later, the other… four years later, I think,” Cutter replied, confirming my guess. “And no, they weren’t killed by Black Widow or Eulogy, both died during raids.”

“It did seem that their deaths had been slightly convenient for them, though,” I pointed out.

“M-maybe, Mistress,” the other unicorn said, clearly not enjoying that he had to correct me. “But Eulogy had solidified his position as leader within a few months and Black Widow had gained a reputation for being a very dangerous mare, even if the word had gotten out about his wife’s past, nopony would had cared, like nopony had opposed her when she became the leader after Eulogy’s death. Though granted, that was probably more because of her pet zebra.”

I frowned a little, but nodded at the same time so he wouldn’t think I was displeased with him. I could understand his reasoning, but at the same time, Black Widow had seemed pleased after Cutter’s death. Even Scope had been certain that she had asked me to kill Cutter.

As I mused this over, the interrogation continued. “So Black Widow went from a Steel Ranger Scribe to a slave, then fell in love with her slaver, became his wife, and eventually became the leader of slavers. Fucking Wasteland fairy tale,” Jack sneered, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. “Okay, but when exactly does Scope come into all this? You’ve said that she was afraid of him. How do you know that?”

That knowledge would seem to be a more possible reason as to why Black Widow would want him dead, I surmised thoughtfully, eager to hear his explanation.

Cutter nodded, becoming nervous again. “Yes, she… you see, that facility, it- I, I hadn’t looked around too much, none of us did, we were too busy worrying about the raiders at first and then about recovering from the battle. I didn’t realize what exactly that place had been back during the war.”

An irritated growl escaped Jack. “Is there a point to this?” he asked, causing a shake to go through Cutter again.

“Sweetie, please, a little patience,” I chided him. Offering the stallion a smile, I added, “Let him tell us at his own pace, you’re making him nervous.”

Jack glared at me. “He wouldn’t be so jumpy if you hadn’t tortured him for weeks,” he remarked, but when he turned to Cutter he kept his beak closed, waiting.

Cutter, although he shuddered when I spoke up and again at Jack’s comment, calmed down a bit. He took several deep, calming breaths, and started again.

“That facility… I think it belonged to the Ministry of Arcane Sciences. Black Widow must have taken that thing from there, can’t think of any other place she could have gotten it from.”

“‘Thing’?” I repeated, my ears perking up from curiosity. “What ‘thing’?”

“I… I’m not exactly sure what it is,” Cutter replied, sweating a little; understandably, with his experiences he couldn’t associate my curiosity with anything good for him. “It’s a sort of talisman, a very small one. I didn’t even see her take it from that place, or see it at all for years. But when she had found that zebra and had him brought to me to try and patch him up… she gave me that thing and ordered me to put it in his head.”

“In his head?” I exclaimed, surprised. I looked over at Jack, and was relieved to see that although he hid it better, he too was taken by surprise. “Why would-”

And that’s when it dawned on me.

“That’s why Khan does everything she asks of him!” I shouted out, making Cutter jump up and back away.

“Y-yes, Mistress,” he said, nodding quickly. “After he regained consciousness, Black Widow began ordering him around to test it, and he obeyed silently every order, even though in his condition he shouldn’t be strong enough to get up from bed or move around. He’s been her bodyguard and enforcer ever since.”

Now this was exciting. A talisman that makes others do everything they say… true, the method Black Widow had used it was abhorrent, forcing that - assumably - innocent zebra to be her powerless slave, but if I could get my hooves on it...

Even though I hadn’t known that something of such sort could have been developed in wartime Equestria, I was surprised that I hadn’t figured out that Khan was under magical influence. This made so much sense now, how obedient he was, how quickly he followed her orders… even his biology seemed to obey Black Widow, seeing how quickly he got an erection this morning.

“As sorta interesting and disturbing this is,” Jack spoke up, pulling me out of my musing again, “what exactly does this have to do with Scope?” he asked calmly, keeping his voice under control this time.

“Yes, right. You see, this talisman... “ Cutter began, again pausing. “When I was about to implant it in the zebra’s brain, it sorta… reacted to my magic, I guess.” My ears perked up hearing that. “It… made me see images. Hear sounds... It was sort of like viewing a memory orb, except that it also felt like… I could feel emotions. I think the talisman was supposed to allow to control others telepathically, I don’t know if that was just a prototype or if Black Widow couldn’t figure out how to make it work properly.”

Telepathic? I repeated in my mind, now even more intrigued.

Jack, however, still seemed more interested in learning about Scope than how this talisman worked. “Nevermind what it was supposed to be, what did it show you? Black Widow’s memories?” he prompted Cutter.

“Yes, I think so. I had all those flashes roll through my mind, some of her time in Appleloosa, others from some Steel Ranger bunker or something…” he trailed, his expression troubled as he recalled what must have been a very bizarre event. “It all happened within seconds, although felt longer. Among all those memories, I saw the this brown unicorn - obviously, when he was far younger - talking with a pony clad in similar barding as the ones Steel Ranger Scribes wear, only different color. And… I felt fear when that memory flashed in my head, I’m certain of it.” A small shake went through his body, then he continued, “It stopped after that, though, and I took a moment to collect myself, tried to sort things out. And I realized that I’d seen that buck, a few times when I’d been to New Appleloosa. I kept that in mind, and put that blasted talisman in the zebra’s head more carefully and closed his head. Surprisingly he lived, and then when I saw how easily Black Widow could control him I put two and two together. And then when Eulogy was killed, by a sniper shot to the head, well, it was pretty obvious that he must have done it, right?”

Jack’s eyes briefly flickered to me, no doubt he was recalling how I suggested that very thing to him back in New Appleloosa.

“It would seem like the most logical assumption, sweetie,” I replied to Cutter. As Jack remained silent, I decided to take over the ‘interrogation’. “Did Black Widow know what the talisman made you see?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Cutter said, shaking his head. “At least, she didn’t know. But I am sure she suspected something. I don’t know, maybe I was still jittery after that talisman fucked with my brain, or I gave myself out some other way. So I took some precautions, told W…” His voice broke as he mentioned his coltfriend, but he cleared his throat (with some difficulty) and continued, “told Whip Crack some of what I knew, about how she was a Steel Ranger, and after Eulogy’s death I recorded a message on a holotape to be delivered to this Scope buck in case something happened to me.”

“I see,” I said with a nod, having already suspected as much. I looked over at Jack, who continued to contemplate in silence, then turned back to Cutter. “Well, I think that’s all we wanted to know, sweetie, thank you very much. I’m going to give you back your leg and kidney tonight,” I added, smiling at him. “And here,” I added, turning away and reaching out with my magic to the shelf where I kept my food supply, grabbing a can of cram, “have an extra meal as a reward.”

“T-thank you, Mistress,” he replied, sounding more relieved rather than enthusiastic.

Understanding his reaction, I did not blame him, and instead opened the can. Looking at the lid, though, I got an unpleasant feeling, and removed it completely from the can.

“Wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself by accident, sweetie,” I explained to Cutter as he looked at me with mild confusion while grabbing the opened can with his mouth. Turning away again, not wanting to see his reaction, I reached out for a bottle of water. “And here’s some water for you as well,” I said, placing the bottle within his cell.

Cutter nodded, somewhat reluctantly, turned back to it and walked back in, dragging his transplanted leg after him. Once he entered the cell, I closed to door back… and took a deep breath.

And now comes the hard part, I thought. All the exciting discoveries I have made this day - of a talisman that is supposed to grant telepathic control over somebody, of Black Widow having definitely been a part of Steel Rangers, and of this menstrual cycle that apparently most mares in the Wasteland go through instead of estrous cycle - could be left unexplored by me if the next conversation didn’t go well.

A little nervous, I turned back to Jack. The griffin had continued to sit down, his gaze silently following me. Was he judging me already?

I cleared my throat. “Well, I think we can agree that was very informative conversation,” I began carefully, trotting away from the door and keeping my voice soft; the cell doors weren’t as nearly as good when it came to stifling sounds as the door from to the clinic’s main floor was. “Would you care to discuss it first, sweetie, or would you rather we started with the main reason why you are glaring at me so?”

A snort escaped Jack. He glanced to the ceiling, shaking his head, and asked: “Did you think that I would feel some pity towards that guy and not kill you right away only because he and the other buck will die if you don’t switch their kidneys?” he asked, following my example and keeping his voice quiet; I could almost detect dry amusement in his tone, beneath his annoyance.

“Sweetie, didn’t I already explain that I had originally expected their bodies to reject their transplants earlier and force me to swap their organs back?” I asked, a little exasperated. “In fact, I would have probably done this last night regardless of their conditions, just to avoid this ridiculous accusation, but it so happened that an opportunity to secure another test subject arose, which forced me to focus on that goal all night. I assume you’d prefer to not know what exactly that included?” I added, noticing the increased annoyance on the griffin’s face. As his eyes rolled up to the ceiling, I took the opportunity to continue, “Besides, the fact that they need to have surgery conducted on them certainly doesn’t mean that I have to be the one to conduct them. Cutter certainly seems competent enough to perform an organ transplant, seeing how he had managed that brain surgery on Khan.”

Jack snorted. “So you’re saying he could operate on himself?” he asked, his eyebrow raised.

“Why wouldn’t he?” I asked, frowning in confusion. “It’s just a matter of aligning a mirror at the right angle before starting.”

The griffin mercenary expression turned into a deadpan. “Let’s change the subject,” he said after two seconds of silence. “It would seem that my only way to find out who exactly Scope was, is to get it out of Black Widow, one way or another.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that is your ‘only’ way, sweetie,” I told him, feeling a little confused by his reaction to my words, but I chose not to linger on that. “If you would be able to get a hold of that talisman, you could perhaps use it see her memories, similar to what Cutter had experienced.”

“Except I’m not a unicorn, you are,” he pointed out. Hearing this another, barely veiled suggestion that I was attempting to convince him to spare me caused me to pout, but before I could rebuke it, he continued, “Besides, getting that talisman would involve killing that zebra, Khan or whatever - or kidnapping him somehow so you could take it out - and I don’t really see Black Widow looking kindly to that, so I might as well try to get the information straight from her.”

“A fair assessment, I suppose,” I commented, shrugging.

Silence fell after my words. Jack looked as if expecting I would say more, but I had nothing else to add. After few seconds had passed, the griffin glanced at the cells before finally speaking: “You seemed to take a great deal of pleasure from Cutter’s fear, despite claiming you are of a higher moral ground.”

“I don’t believe I ever claimed that, sweetie,” I corrected him, then informed him, “and as for the way how I interact with my test subjects, I had long since learned that the easiest way to avoid various problems is to make them obedient, and the quickest way to do that leads through fear.” Shrugging, I added, “Though I won’t deny, a part of me takes joy in seeing what my treatment does to them. And why shouldn’t I? Everytime I break a little piece of them, a piece of what makes them such horrible people disappears. Perhaps, if turns of fate are kind to them, they could be in time reintroduced to the society? I am actually curious how the test subjects Stable Eight security had ‘rescued’ have fared in Stable Eight since I’ve been banished,” I confessed.

Jack continued to stare at me impassively. I half expected him to question how many ponies was that, but instead he asked: “You do realize that I find such a thing unsettling, right? Your answer didn’t exactly help your case.”

I wasn’t sure if he meant that reply to be threatening or mocking, but to me it felt like a last drop. Though I had welcomed a momentary respite after hearing Cutter’s tale, I’ve grown tired of the prolonged diversive discussions, and how he seemingly danced around the subject.

(Also, I didn’t know how to reply to Jack’s remark.)

“And I find you delaying the inevitable part of our conversation to be unsettling,” I admitted. As Jack’s expression flickered, I added, “It almost seems to me as if you are more reluctant to engage in what I’ve told you a week ago would take place.”

The griffin’s eyes narrowed at me for a moment, only to relax. “Fine then. But I have last question for you, before we start.” Leaning closer to me, he asked, “What do you want? I don’t mean with them,” he added, before I as much as opened my muzzle, pointing with his talon, “I mean with me. What do you want from me? You said you want to bring justice to Scope’s organization; it apparently involves going after Black Widow. Regardless whether that is indeed true or not, you seem to need my help, and because of that you lured me here at the risk that I kill you. Why then, the hell, everytime I point out a way you could use to ensure that I don’t kill you, you deflect it by saying that there is another way?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at me again in frustration.

I blinked, finding his question - and especially his anger - to be a little surprising. Had I been right earlier, when I said that he was reluctant to decide whether to kill me or not?

He had asked a good question, of course. I indeed disproved every suggestion he had made regarding any precautions I could have taken. Was it merely a matter of my own principles that made me correct him (as I really hadn’t intended for any precautions)?

I didn’t need to see the looks from Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie to realize that it wasn’t the case. It was the same reason why I didn’t prepare any contingency plans.

“Because I don’t want you to spare me because you have to,” I told Jack earnestly. “I want you to spare me because you want to. What do I want from you? I…” I hesitated, suddenly feeling really foolish that I was about to say this to him. I wasn’t sure if he wouldn’t mock me, and I felt that this was something that most people living in the Wasteland would mock me for. But Jack deserved the answer. “I want us to become friends.”

Jack’s eyes briefly widened in what I assumed was surprise (or incredulity), but if it was he quickly masked it. His face resumed its neutral glare, and he didn’t reply otherwise, unless raising an eyebrow while staring in silence counted as a reply. After a heartbeat, though, his eyes rolled up to the ceiling and uttered a sigh, then covered his face with his paw.

“Alright, and what do you want with them? Why do you do those experiments of yours?” he asked, with his free paw pointing at the cell doors. As I took a deep breath in preparation of answering, though, I heard him mutter in a mocking tone under his breath: “He asked, knowing he was going to regret it…”

I paused to pout at him, feeling annoyed by the comment, and a little upset by his lack of reply to my confession. But that was to be expected, after all, so I purged my mind of such distracting thoughts and focused on what I had been planning all week: the speech that would decide my fate.

I jumped on the desk, moving the nearly empty Sparkle-Cola away so I could turn around without the risk of pushing it down to the floor. The noise I made caused Jack to lift his paw from one eye.

“Seriously?” he deadpanned, now cranking his head up a little so he could look me in the eyes now.

Turning to him, I pressed my hoof to my chest. “Sweetie, I am about to tell you something that I haven’t told anypony yet, not even those who were to me the closest, and there is a good chance that I won’t have another opportunity again to do so. I’ve spent a week planning what I am going to say and how I am going to say to you, so I would appreciate if you would let me do it as I had envisioned it.”

Jack began to roll his eyes even before I finished, but he didn’t look as if he was about to argue, so I accepted it as his surrender, and reached with magic to my lab coat. My horn lit up, causing the griffin to immediately tense, but he relaxed as he noted that I was using it to help myself undress.

“And you envisioned that you’re naked while doing so?” Jack asked as I removed my lab coat and laid it on the desk, his voice a mixture of a mocking groan and annoyed growl.

“Yes,” I answered simply, taking off my Stable barding .

There was a reason, of course, why I wanted to be naked, but explaining that would require breaking the form of my speech, so for now Jack had to be satisfied with this simple anwer. When it became clear that he wasn’t going to object - other than by looking up at the ceiling and muttering something incomprehensible while shaking his head - I relaxed. Placing the Stable barding on the lab coat, I stood on the desk, my colorless coat and blood red cutie mark exposed, cleared my throat, took a deep breath, and (with a quick Wish me luck, directed to Fluttershy and Pinkie) began:

“Ever since I was a little filly, I was curious about my father’s work. I’d wanted to know what was he doing that he was almost always returning home late at night. When I finally asked him, he said that he was a doctor. When I asked him what’s a doctor, he replied, ‘A doctor is a pony that makes ponies better.’” I took a little pause, smiling as I recalled those words. It hadn’t escaped my notice that Jack was visibly making an effort to not roll his eyes or show any other sign of annoyance, but I continued to ignore it. “Ever since then, I wanted to be like him. I wanted to help ponies, to take care of them, to cure them. But… I eventually learned that there is one affliction that you cannot cure, one that leaves a wound that never disappears: death,” I said, my voice dropping to a whisper. “Death… is incurable. When a pony dies, that’s it. But that’s not everything, death also harms their loved ones. It leaves wounds in their heart that are impossible to completely heal, ever.

“Eventually, the wound heals, like all wounds do in time. But they leave behind scars. The scars of the heart are impossible to remove with magic like the physical scars. And those scars can open. Maybe you see their picture or a recording, or hear somepony’s laughter, a song, and the wound tears right open again. It will heal again, even faster, but then it will happen again. Even though life gets better, you learn to integrate death into your life, learn to ‘live with it’, you will never be free of the scars death leaves on your heart,” I said, my gaze having moved slowly to the floor in sadness as I talked.

When I looked up, back to Jack’s eyes, I noticed that he was now listening patiently to me, with a knowing look. Of course, he knew what I was talking about. Burst, Blast… how many more loved ones did he lose in this unforgiving world before now?

“So I’ve resolved to never lose a patient,” I resumed. “I began studying all of my father’s textbooks and medical books, wanting to become the best doctor I could be to help everypony in my Stable.” I paused, recalling how oblivious I had been back then. “I studied pony anatomy, every sickness, every known treatment, certain that I would be able to make everypony better. And then, when I was twelve… my grandmother, the former Overmare, the most respected and oldest pony of Stable Eight, passed away. She-” I stopped for a moment, the wound I just spoke of reopening. Closing my eyes, I took another deep breath and resumed, “There had been few deaths in my Stable since I’ve been born, of course. Sickness, accidents... a suicide…” I bit my lip. “But my grandmother was the first pony to die of old age in Stable Eight since I had been born. I… I knew about deaths of old age, of course, most of my aunts and uncles had died this way, but… but I never truly grasped before that this is something that awaits everypony. That death is something that awaits everypony.

“I was already hurting because the death of my grandmother, but when I realized that, I fell into a great despair,” I recalled. How empty I had felt those days… “If death is unavoidable, what’s the point of learning medicine? What had my father dedicated his entire life to? What was the point of living? It all… felt so pointless…

“And so I sat there, trapped by my despair, at my grandmother’s funeral. But then, as I listened to my mother’s service, I heard her commend grandmother’s soul to the Goddesses, Celestia, Luna… and Cadance.” A smile crossed my lips. “Goddess Cadance, the Princess of Love… we revere her in Stable Eight, although less than the Goddesses Celestia and Luna, who move the Sun and the Moon. But at that moment, as I listened to my mother… I realized that I had no idea where Princess Cadance had come from. I mean, of course, nopony knows where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna came from, but they had ruled over Equestria for thousands of years. Princess Cadance only appeared less than a few decades before the start of the war. Where did she come from?

“After the funeral, I went to the library and convinced the librarian to allow me access to all the books about the Goddesses. I read through them, and to my amazement, I learned that Princess Cadance had been born a pegasus, and became an alicorn. She became an alicorn,” I repeated, shaking my head; though so many years had passed, I could still recall my shock that night. “She became like Princesses Celestia and Luna, who had lived for thousands of years. And I realized: it is possible. Death of old age isn’t unavoidable, it is possible to become immortal. It is possible to reject death, to ensure nopony ever loses their loved ones and suffers because of this.

“So, I read more,” I continued, a smile on my muzzle as I looked at Jack with dreamy eyes. “I read more about the Goddesses, hoping to find out more about alicorns, how to become an alicorn. And of course, I couldn’t find anything. But now I knew, there was more, so much more to this world than I had realized. So many, including my mother and grandmother in her final days, had told me that it’s the ultimate, undeniable truth of this world, that everypony dies. But now I knew that it wasn’t true. And if immortality was possible, what else could be? Was my Stable’s saying, about how something seems impossible only because nopony had invented a spell to do it, actually correct?” My smile turned into a smirk, bordering maybe on a grin. I realized that I had raised my voice at some point, but I didn’t care. “I decided I would find out. That night, in Stable Eight's library, I had decided that I would study the real Truth of this world, that I would research everything there is to research, everything there is to discover, and learn everything there is. And then,” I added, looking over at my flank, and made sure to turn so Jack could see it, “my cutie mark had appeared. My cutie mark, the Ouroboros.” A giggle escaped me. “The dragon that devours its own tail, the symbol of infinity and wholeness, of the infinite cycle of life and death, the creation and destruction. As I’d noticed it on my flank, I knew that it was my destiny to understand that cycle. And when I do,” I added, turning back to Jack, smiling again, “I will be able to break it.”

The familiar feeling, the one I had experienced when facing Scope and the raiders had returned. Power. I felt power surging through me as I confessed my desire, my goal, my destiny to Jack.

“I will break the cycle of life and death, and create the Everlasting Paradise. I will banish death forever, and ensure that nopony ever dies or suffers because of the loss of a loved one. You wish to know what I want?” I asked Jack. The griffin had continued to listen in attentive silence, his stoic expression not betraying what he thought through most of my speech. Now, though, both of his eyebrows were raised as my speech was about to reach its end. “I want to create this world I speak of, this Paradise. And I want you to help me,” I added before I could stop myself. Immediately, as I noticed the very slight furrow on Jack’s brow, I realized that what I said could seem a little too arrogant; perhaps the feeling of power clouded my judgment? “Will you help me?” I asked, hoping to rectify that mishap. My voice became calm, losing the excitement in which it basked when talking about my vision. The power - or rather adrenaline - was seeping out of my body, leaving me to face this griffin mercenary as a simple unicorn. Tilting my head, I added, “Or will you cut me down?”

Jack blinked slowly, then again, not speaking a word. I wasn’t sure if he was processing everything I had said, or was he merely waiting to make sure that I had indeed finished. A thought crossed my mind that since he had earlier joked about me being ‘mad’, my speech might had consolidated his opinion.

“So you’re completely bonkers.”

Yeah, you nailed it, Pinkie commented as Jack made his statement. Glancing away, she added through gritted teeth, So did Jack for that matter…

In contrast to the griffin mercenary, both apparitions had been staring at me with wide eyes. However, aside from Pinkie’s comment, they seemed reluctant to engage in discussion with me at the moment, though I had a feeling that they would eventually. Most likely sometime after I ensured that Jack wouldn’t kill me. Possibly before going to sleep.

Pouting at Jack (and at the pink apparition), I asked the griffin, “Is that really what you took from my speech?”

“Did you really say that you plan to turn everybody immortal?” Jack replied with a sarcastic question, one eyebrow raised.

My pout turned into a smirk. “Amusing remark,” I countered, honestly amused by it, “considering it comes from the person who told me about alicorns.”

Jack’s expression flickered, then he frowned. “That… what does that-”

“It proves that I am right,” I interrupted him. “That it is possible. You think those alicorns, whom appeared in great numbers only within the last decade, whom your very own ancestors had made the brief first encounter less than a century ago with a few of them, breed like other ponies? That they are, for the lack of a better word, natural? Considering how long they had remained in seclusion, their population must have been very small back when your ancestors ran into them. Do you have any idea how inbred those alicorns would be if they had bred like other ponies if they had multiplied their numbers so? I would be able to tell you precisely how badly their DNA would be affected by this if I had the precise population figures. No, those alicorns… since they all appeared after the war, I believe their status as alicorns had to be caused by some form of mutation… perhaps something in the Splendid Valley causes it,” I added thoughtfully, having thought this matter over several times during this past week. What Rexio had told me about research facility and magical waste they store in his ancestors’ caverns… I had a suspicion that this waste could be connected to those alicorns. Shaking my head, I resumed speaking with Jack: “I would have to conduct tests on them to be sure, of course. But I sincerely doubt they had been born alicorns.”

Jack’s frown hadn’t disappeared, but at least it looked like he considered my words carefully. “Fair point, I suppose,” he said slowly. Shrugging, he added, “Doesn’t change the fact that you are crazy. And how exactly does switching body parts helps you learn how to make ponies immortal?” the griffin asked, ignoring my pout.

“Well, sweetie, I’d thought that it was obvious,” I began. (“And clearly that’s the problem,” Jack muttered under his breath.) “Even when I eliminate the evolutionary failure of aging, there will be still plenty of ways one may meet their end. You own encounter with those alicorns proved that much. I aim to eliminate death completely,” I reminded him. “Every experiment I have performed served the purpose of extending my knowledge and abilities for that goal, whether it is replacing a lost limb or an organ or finding a cure to a disease. Of course,” I added in an afterthought, glancing at the door of Cutter’s cell, “I would much rather learn how to cause a pony to regrow their limb or organ on their own, as you had said one of those alicorns did, but I have to work with what I have, so to speak.”

Jack snorted, then shook his head. “This paradise of yours will come about by the blood and pain of countless people,” he snarled.

Keeping my head turned toward the cell door, I moved just my eye to glance at Jack, “Are you saying that there aren’t people out there in the Wasteland everybody could do without?”

His eyes narrowed. “And who decides who they could all do without? You, Princess?” he all but sneered as he leaned closer. “By yourself?”

Finally turning my head, I graced him with an honest smile. “Not if you join me.”

Jack’s frown turned into a deadpan, but it only lasted several seconds. Uttering a sigh, he leaned back, covering his face in his paws. “So that offer about becoming your apostle still stands, huh?” he asked, his voice carrying an unexpected tune of nostalgia in it.

“Of course it does, sweetie,” I replied warmly.

The griffin snorted, his face still hidden, but then he fell silent for a few long heartbeats. Finally, he let his paws drop and looked straight at me. “I’m not going to kill you.”

My eyes widened, and they were quickly followed by my smile. I felt as if a very heavy and tight barding had been taken off of me. Before I could express my joy though, Jack reached out and grabbed my muzzle.

“But I’m not joining you, or becoming your apostle or whatever,” he said, his deadpan returning. “All I care about right now is finding out who the hell was Scope working with and making them pay. We can work towards that, for now. What do you say?” Jack asked, releasing my muzzle.

Massaging my muzzle, I watched him carefully. This had been the first time I revealed my goal to somebody, so I hadn’t really had a template of reactions that I could have expected. Based on the morality Jack had exhibited so far I had assumed that it was equally possible that he could kill me or join me, but instead he seemed indifferent, instead focusing on what I had originally ‘lured’ him in with. Justice for Burst and Blast.

And yet…

“What do I say, sweetie?” I finally replied. “I could say a lot of things.” (“Yeah, I bet,” Jack muttered.) “I could say that I can’t help but feel slightly disappointed that you reject my offer a second time. I could speculate on what could you possible mean by ‘for now’. But honestly?” I leaned closer to Jack. “What I want to say to you is… That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say to me?” I asked, looking at him as if he was ludicrous. “I opened up to you, more than I had ever opened to anypony, and this is what you say to me? No,” shaking my head, I sat down, laying my tail wrapped around my legs. “You’re going to give me more.”

I was rewarded with the sight of Jack’s utter bemusement, even though it didn’t last long. His confusion was very quickly replaced by annoyance. “What do you want?” he asked, his brow furrowed.

I simply shrugged. “I want to know what you think of me.”

Jack stared at me for a moment, before seemingly relaxing. “Fine,” he exclaimed, sounding almost happy. “You want to know what I think of you? I think you’re nuts,” the griffin said, and with that, his faked good humor was gone. “I don’t care what kind of tests they did on you in your Stable, they either were shitty tests or they did them before you went crazy. I think you’re delusional and have fantasies of grandeur. I think what you are doing is horrifying,” he added, pointing at the cells… but then he sighed, and his stern expression softened. “But I can’t deny that nobody is going to cry over raiders and slavers. Sure, most people would want them to be simply dead, but I really can’t think of anybody who would complain that at least they aren’t harming anybody this way. Nor that, on paper, that experiment of yours with the legs and kidneys wouldn’t be beneficial for everybody.” Turning to me, he gauged me with his glare before continuing: “I also think that… that you really believe in what you are doing, that you really want to help others. And that you are bizarrely compassionate. The way you treated Ditzy back in New Appleloosa, or what you’ve said about brahmin… honestly, I am considered a tolerant individual, and even so I wonder if I should chalk those up to you being crazy,” he admitted, shaking his head. “But most importantly… I remember how you were when we were burying Blast and Burst.” Jack’s eyes dropped momentarily, his confession clearly bringing up the memories of that lightly raining day. “I don’t believe there was any lie in the pain I saw in you, even though you knew them such a short time… and turned out to be a sociopath,” the griffin added, his voice dropping the almost melancholic tone as he glanced again at the cells. “I also don’t believe you had lied to me today, although Scope’s case had proved that I’m not as perceptive as I would like to think I am. So I am going to trust you,” he added, and, to my amazement and joy, he extended his paw towards me.

He was going to trust me. Me, the mare who had just showed him the darkest side of her. Even if he wasn’t going to join me in my quest to bring about the Everlasting Paradise, to know that there was a somebody who accepted me was enough for me. With a bright smile on my face, I reached out for his paw with my hoof.

Jack grabbed it… and then pulled it, causing me to almost fall down from the desk. I swayed as I was forced to drop my other forehoof against the edge of the desk and push with all three free legs to keep my balance, and realized that my head now was on the same level as Jack’s.

As in the corner of my eye I saw the Sparkle-Cola bottle to drop down behind the desk due to this scuffle, Jack leaned closer to my face, his expression harsh again. “But let me make this clear,” he whispered, his voice dripping with threat. “If you are lying to me, if you ever try to backstab me, and if you ever kidnap somebody who doesn’t deserve it, I will kill you.”

I looked into his eyes. Though at first I naturally felt fear as he pulled me down, now I felt none. I knew none of those were ever going to happen, after all. In fact, as I listened to him, my earlier smile had slowly crept back onto my face.

“Promise?” I asked, causing something resembling a smile as well to appear on Jack’s furrowed expression.

“So are you guys going to check that bottle or…”

The moment the few words of that sentence had sounded I had already jumped into the air while uttering a shriek, my hoof released, and looked frantically to the side towards the source of the unexpected sound.

“Oh right,” Jack exclaimed, his voice irritably calm, as if I hadn’t just jumped a good half a yard into the air, “I forgot to mention: I was sure that you were planning to kill me or something, so I had an old associate tag along.”

A-HAH! Pinkie’s voice rang through my mind as she looked on gleefully at the pony that had appeared out of nowhere beside Jack. I KNEW there was something fishy going on!

I ignored her, too busy staring at this unexpected guest while attempting to resume controlled breathing and to form a coherent thought.

Jack, who had taken upon himself the role of making introductions, pointed his opened upside paw at her. “Angel, Aite. Aite, Angel.”

The mare that sat beside him, apparently - and unusually - named Aite, wasn’t exactly… impressive. She was small, shorter than me and looked thinner as well. I couldn’t be one hundred percent sure though, as she was clad in a strange cloak (with an even stranger clasp, a gemstone) that covered most of her body. I could see her face, though, as she had removed her hood as she so unceremoniously appeared beside us. Her coat was pale gray, and her mane, thought at first glance seemed black, turned out to be a very dark shade of purple as I looked more closely. She was looking at me with amusement with her yellow eyes which-

I blinked, and in the next seconds I was already in front of her, having jumped down from the desk between her and Jack. “Narrow pupils?” I said, examining her eyes from up close. Indeed, I hadn’t been mistaken; her pupils were narrow, like a cat’s. As Aite attempted to move away, I noticed another strange physical trait, which, due to my shock, I had somehow missed until now. “Ears with tufts of hair on the tips?” I said, gently running my hoof alongside her left ear. The mare pushed my hoof away and opened her mouth, allowing me to see another trait. “Fangs?” I exclaimed, using my forehooves to open her muzzle a bit wider to examine four sharp teeth. Aite pushed me away, but now the suspicion arose in my head, and I had to make sure. I used my magic to lift her cloak, revealing more of her body… and the final physical trait I needed. “Leathery wings?!” I exclaimed, grabbing the wing gently and unfolding it. The mare had raised her own hoof, but I already let go of her wing, and instead grabbed her by her shoulders, pulling myself closer to her. “Oh my gosh, you’re a thestral! A bat pony!” I all but shouted, right in her face.

I could scarcely believe it. A bat pony, a species of pony that I practically knew nothing about, was standing right in front of me! There was almost nothing at all about them in all of the books, scrolls, and terminal data within Stable Eight. In fact, most of my Stable - those who were interested in discussing such subjects, that is - didn’t even believe they actually existed as a separate kind of pony! But there she was, right before me!

Aite was staring at me with those eyes of her unique species, wide with surprise mixed with annoyance. “Oh wow, you were not kidding about her,” she said after a second.

“You were spying on her all day and now you- fuck it, whatever,” Jack snorted. “What the hell were you saying about the bottle earlier?”

Ignoring whatever the two of them were talking about, I opened my muzzle, about to bombard the bat pony with questions. Before I could, though, she slapped the hoof that held her by her right shoulder, causing me to let her go out of shock and mild pain.

Ignoring me, Aite turned to Jack. “Well, when you pulled her down to have this filled-with-sexual-tension stare down?” she asked, gesticulating at me with her hoof. I frowned when she had said ‘sexual tension’; I was certain that she was joking (and the annoyed deadpan Jack gave her supported that theory), but her expression hadn’t changed by an inch, she neither smirked nor winked at all. “The Crazy caused the bottle to fall down, and when it hit the floor it made a sound as if there was an empty space underneath it.”

Empty space? I thought, a little confused. Why would there be empty space… oh who cares, I decided, too occupied with observing the bat pony to worry about something like that. Could it be that something is wrong with her hearing?

Jack, on the other hoof, seemed to take interest in this matter. In the corner of my eye I noticed that he turned to look at the desk, in the direction where the bottle had fallen, and frowning. “Bullshit,” he finally said, turning back to Aite.

The bat pony merely shrugged. “Hey, she’s a mad scientist. Shot in the dark, maybe she has a basement?”

A base- I absently repeated in my mind, my gaze fixated on the gemstone clasp of her cloak, but then what she had earlier said registered in my head, Mad scientist?!

“Excuse me, sweetie,” I began, my dismay over that title being used on me pulling me out of my entrancement, “I am not a mad-”

Aite shoved her hoof to cover my muzzle. Though it wasn’t as nearly as effective method as Jack’s, the sheer surprise and her speed caused me to fell silent.

“Hush, Mommy and Daddy are talking,” she said, glancing at me with disinterest, before dropping her hoof.

Before she did, though, I noticed a curious things. There was a talisman on a chain under her neck, right below the gemstone cloak; it appeared as if she wore it like a necklace.

I briefly wondered why she would wear a talisman like a necklace, but I quickly stopped as I heard her remark. I almost bristled inside at this mare, barely - by the looks of it - about ten-fifteen my elder, calling herself my ‘Mommy’, even in such a ridiculous fashion.

“We are in her basement,” Jack pointed out, ignorant that I grew increasingly upset with this associate of his.

The bat pony seemed undisturbed by the cold logic. “Then maybe she has a bunker, or secret tunnel. I know what I’ve heard,” she said, her ears twitching. As Jack rose from the floor and turned back to the desk, walking around it, she added, with a smirk finally appearing on her muzzle, “Also, ‘associate’? Really?” Aite asked, sounding almost teasing.

“Shut up,” Jack sighed, annoyed.

I paid only half attention to their conversation; after all, I knew that I didn’t have a bunker under my laboratory. I was far more interested in the bat pony, and the strange gemstone of her cloak. Leaning closer, I looked it over, almost entranced by it; I became certain that it was enhanced in some way, possible was even the reason why Aite had apparently been invisible this whole time since Jack arrived. My curiosity taking over, I reached out to it with my hoof-

“Augh!” I yelped in pain as Aite slapped it again, this time more painfully.

“Haven’t you been taught to keep your hooves to yourself?” the bat pony asked as I brought my hoof back, an eyebrow raised… and a faint hint of amusement in her voice.

Clutching my hurt hoof, I realized that I hadn’t exactly behaved in the most respectable fashion. Even if this pony belonged to a species that I knew next to nothing about, let alone I had seen before, possessed some very intriguing items on herself, and had been apparently spying on me this whole day wasn’t a reason to act such.

“Forgive me, sweetie,” I apologized, smiling a little sheepishly. “I have never seen such a gemstone before, and I’m afraid my curiosity had gotten the better of me. And of course, I have never seen a bat pony before, and I must admit that I am beyond fascinated with you,” I admitted, my eyes widening as I looked her over. I quickly stopped, though, as I realized that I might had just committed another faux pas. “Or do you prefer to be called thestrals? I must admit that I don’t-”

“Hey Doctor?” Jack called out from behind the desk, interrupting me. “Could you look at this?”

Surprised by his request, with great reluctance I turned away from Aite and trotted around the desk. The bat pony simply jumped on top of the desk with ease to look down on whatever it was Jack wanted me to see.

As joined him, I couldn’t blame him.

The old, ugly and dirty rug that I had assumed the last doctor had brought here after being forced to convert the basement into his cabinet in order to make it more comfortable for him to sit down, had been pulled away by Jack.

Underneath it was a small hatch.

As Jack reached to the handle and pulled it open, it revealed a tunnel, a sort of a pony hole, barely wide enough for somebody of my griffin companion’s frame to fit through, with a ladder built into its side leading down.

I had a secret tunnel leading out of my laboratory.

At first, I found myself speechless, surprised. Both at the tunnel’s presence, as well as the fact that I hadn’t found it myself within those three weeks I had spent there. I only hadn’t began berating myself because I hardly ever dropped any bottles on the spot where I would often sit down (the remaining contents of the bottle were spilled on the rug), or performed any kind of action that could cause to make a distinct enough sound for me to notice that something was wrong.

(Although it had crossed my mind to take the rug out and try to get it cleaned.)

Recovering from my shock, I decided that it was pointless to blame myself for missing this secret tunnel, and instead summed it up with one of my mother’s favorite Stable Eight sayings:

“The night is young and full of wonders.”

Footnote: Level Up!
New perk: Royal Canterlot Voice (level two) -- Your voice grows in power and majesty and carries more volume. It becomes easier for you to influence others. You gain +5 points to Speech and Barter skills. Effects are cumulative with Royal Canterlot Voice level one, which is required in order to take this perk.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to Zaleros, TimePrincess and Sage Probo for their editing/proofreading, and special thanks to Kkat for creating Fallout: Equestria of course, to Somber for Project Horizons and Homelands, and to Heartshine for Speak, which are as canon as the original story here^^

Especially to Hearthshine, as I presented Speak's canon regarding estrus and menstrous cycles. I would normally not go into such detail in this matter, but with Angel being a doctor from a Stable I figured that this is a matter that had to be addressed. Aside from my story being canon to both Project Horizons and Speak (where the former had made heat canon, and the latter made menstrous cycle cannon as well), there is also the fact of this actually making a lot of sense. Besides, those of you who read my other stories, mostly Rebirth of the Damned, had probably noticed that I am not a big fun of the whole "mares going through heat" thing to begin with.

Hope you had fun reading this newest chapter^^

Chapter Fourteen: Decisions in the Dark

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“And how such a large creature can even be possible by natural evolution, or even radiation induced mutation, is beyond me.”

“You seriously hadn’t noticed this?” Jack asked, his eyebrow raised in mild bewilderment.

My cheeks slightly reddened hearing the tone of his voice. “Sweetie, it’s not as if it happens often that I drop something that could land specifically at this spot,” I defended myself. “Admittedly, I could have taken that rug out to clean it, but as you have probably figured out, I’ve been busy,” I added, pointing at the cells holding three ponies.

The griffin continued to stare at me with a lifted eyebrow, but before he could reply Aite spoke up. “You sure are using a lot of words instead of simply saying that you’ve never cleaned this place; aren’t laboratories supposed to be sterile?”

I frowned at the bat pony, annoyed at both her insinuations - which were partially true, a laboratory should be sterile, especially since I operated on my test subjects, but I simply had no means to sterilize it; instead I relied on an excessive use of Disinfection Spell - and at her disinterested tone. Aite wasn’t even looking at me or Jack, instead she was peering down the pony hole, sniffing the air as her ears twitched.

“So this backwater town’s clinic had a secret escape tunnel?” Aite said before I could answer her question. “I mean, in that wartime economy?”

“I believe it was a small hospital,” I replied quickly before she could completely change the subject again. My frown deepened as I saw her wrinkled her nose before backing away from the hole. “And as for-”

“Smell that?” she cut me off, turning to Jack and ignoring me again.

Do you think she’s doing this on purpose? I asked Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, starting to feel frustrated.

While the two apparitions shrugged, I watched Jack bend down the pony hole and take a whiff of the air too, only to retreat with slightly wrinkled beak too. Forgetting about Aite’s attitude, I also leaned closer.

Whatever was down this passage, there was some light source in it; I could see a very faint green glow emanating from somewhere outside the tunnel’s exit. It was a little confusing that neither of them seemed alarmed or even intrigued by it, but instead focused on the smell. And speaking of…

I took a sniff at the air, then blinked and took a deeper one. Now I had a better understanding as to why the scent was coming from the passage, and it was more noteworthy than some strange lightsource. It was faint, but unmistakable for somepony of my profession (or Jack and Aite’s too, I’d imagine): the smell of decay.

“Black Widow mentioned one of her slavers disappearing,” Jack spoke up as I pulled my head out of the pony hole. “Guess we found him.”

Aite frowned. “You think somepony killed him and dragged him there through some other entrance?”

“More likely that some animal killed him and right below us is its nest, given how his disappearance was described to me.”

My ears perked up at that; it was exactly what I had hoped had happened to Collar! Now, if only I could examine this animal...

“I didn’t know there were predators big enough to drag an adult pony into their nest in this part of the Wasteland,” Aite replied, her frown deepening. She then glanced at me thoughtfully, “If Crazy was lying, she could have just used this pony hole as a means of disposing corpses. Seems a more likely option.”

“Excuse me, sweetie, but I didn’t lie,” I told her, my frustration returning. “And could you two please stop talking as if I wasn’t here-”

“Maybe it’s a radigator that had to leave its territory or something?” Jack replied to Aite, interrupting me. I turned my frustrated gaze at him, but he utterly ignored it as he scratched the side of his beak. “Although there isn’t as much as a pond anywhere for about a hundred miles… even the slavers aren’t dumb enough to miss a radigator crawling through their entire neighborhood. Besides, they usually eat the whole pony right away and not store it for later.”

Radigator. I read about this species in Ditzy’s Wasteland Survival Guide. It was a very dangerous reptile that apparently mutated from alligators, and who’s meat was apparently quite tasty. If I wasn’t currently busy being frustrated at my guests for ignoring me, I would most likely be very excited about the prospect (even if it was apparently improbable) of such animal living directly underneath me.

“Hellhound? A small dragon?” Aite tried.

… Well, even frustrated as I was, the prospect of meeting a dragon was enough to excite me. I gasped as I turned to Aite, but Jack’s next words poured cold water on that flame that stirred my inner scientist. “Doubt it, they would definitely notice any flying critter big enough to kill a pony. And hellhounds live in packs. Well, usually,” he amended, finally glancing at me. “If there was a pack underneath us they would have already slaughtered the town. Does your E.F.S. shows you any red bars?”

I stared at Jack a few seconds before replying to him. “I’m sorry, sweetie, are you speaking to me?” I asked, lifting an eyebrow. I raised my hoof to my chest and exclaimed “Forgive me for not realizing it; I was beginning to think that I might be invisible.”

Grandmother might have taught me the importance of always being polite, even to ponies I dislike, but she had also told me that if they were being impolite they deserve a little snarkiness in return.

Jack scowled at me. “Do you want me to lean over this hole and grab your muzzle shut again?”

“Pray tell, however shall I answer your question then?” I countered, narrowing my eyes at him.

Jack looked as if he was about to make good on his threat, but a short snort of laughter from Aite caused him to scowl at her. As the bat pony smirked and covered her mouth, he sighed and looked up into the ceiling.

“I think I’m starting to like you,” Aite told me, winking.

“Oh, um, thank you sweetie,” I stammered in slight surprise, taken aback by the bat pony’s changing attitude.

The griffin muttered something to himself before he looked back at me. “Don’t be snarky, Doctor, we were just assessing a potential threat between two professionals; if we were to let you join in, you would keep getting us sidetrackted - like now - with questions like ‘what’s a radigator?’ and stuff.”

While I would have preferred an apology, I couldn’t fault him for being foremost concerned about our safety. Especially since I had been known to add a lot of inquiries into a conversation in the past. And that I had currently sidetracked us.

“Well, in the future, please keep in mind that mares don’t like to be ignored, sweetie, even during a discussion between ‘professionals’,” I told him, then, before I could stop myself, I added “And I happened to read about radigators in the Wasteland Survival Guide.”

“Actually,” Aite spoke up, causing my attention to turn from deadpanning Jack to her, “I don’t deal with wildlife, so technically Jack is the only ‘professional’ here.”

“You never had to deal with mutated animals in the line of work of a mercenary?” I asked her, a little surprised; even I had seen one hostile animal in the Wasteland, and I’ve been informed about how unusually scarce wildlife was in this area currently.

“Oh, I’m not a mercenary, I’m a bounty hunter,” she replied calmly, now ignoring Jack as he stared at her with annoyance.

“Are you seriously-” he began, but Aite cut him off.

“Well,” she said, raising a forehoof to her mouth and looking up thoughtfully, “I suppose a retired bounty hunter, but still-”

“Aite!” Jack hissed, glaring at her.

As satisfying as it was to watch Jack being frustrated in turn, I decided to dispel his worries. “Sweetie, relax, do you really think I would be this carefree if I could see any hostile lifeform on my Eyes Forward Sparkle? All I can see are your two green bars and three more from my test subjects… well, two green and one red bar, to be precise. And besides,” I added, shrugging, “if there was any animal within the range of my E.F.S., I would have noticed an unaccounted bar, especially a red one, a long time ago; it doesn’t matter if this hatch is open or not.”

“Seriously, it’s like PipBuck 101,” Aite added, shaking her head at Jack disapprovingly.

Jack continued to glare at her silently for several seconds. For a moment I was sure he’d start arguing with her; after all, I couldn’t imagine that PipBucks were common in the zebras’ homeland, where he had spent the majority of his life, and as such it was more than understandable that he wouldn’t know the specifics of PipBucks’ features. Especially considering that even ponies in the Wasteland didn’t seem all that familiar with them.

However, the griffin mercenary had a much better control over himself than I gave him credit for. “Very well then,” he started instead, turning to me as he acknowledged my reply, “Aite and I will scout whatever is below us and deal with it; you get dressed and either begin preparing to swap your test subject’s organs or for the continuation of our talk; we still need to decide about our course of action. Or do whatever, I don’t care right now,” Jack groaned, rubbing the bridge above his beak.

Before I could as much as frown at him and voice my objections to this plan - as I wanted to see this animal before they’d kill it, preferably prevent it - Aite asked, “Why exactly are we going down there? It’s not like whatever it is could come up here.”

“It would make a good escape route if things go south.”

“We can fly?” Aite pointed out, stretching out her wings to emphasize her point.

Jack sighed. “She can’t?” he countered, pointing at me.

“Softie,” Aite said, rolling her eyes. Her comment surprised me enough to not feel offended at once again being talked about as if I wasn’t next to them. Before I could question her about it, though, she jumped right into the pony hole, pulling up her hood at the same time and disappearing from sight. So this cloak turns her invisible, and it’s activated by- was all about I managed to think before her head poked out of the hole, her hood down as she looked right at me. “Out of curiosity, aren’t those E.F.S. bar thingies for friendlies supposed to be yellow?”

“Oh, um,” I began to stammer, a little shaken after the bat pony’s sudden reappearance. Quickly getting a hold of myself, I replied calmly, “I believe this is something that usually depends on the model of a PipBuck, sweetie. Although yes, the default setting for my PipBuck had been to mark friendly lifeforms as yellow; however, I had it custom set to mark them and the entire display on my E.F.S. as emerald green.”

“Oh, cool, it’s a nice color,” Aite said, nodding and giving me a brief smile before putting her hood back on, disappearing again.

Turning to Jack as we were left alone - at least, I assumed such; for all I knew Aite could still be standing with her head poking out of the passage’s entrance - I felt a need to comment on the bat pony. “Your… associate, was it? She seems interesting.”

A tired groan escaped Jack’s beak. “Do me a favor and don’t call her ‘my associate’, okay?” he said, much to my confusion. “I’ll already won’t hear the end of it for calling her that.”

“Well, sweetie, if it’s a reason for a strife, why would you call her that?”

“Because I didn’t know how else to describe her, it’s complicated, and none of your business,” he told me crossly while moving closer to the pony hole. From one of the pockets on his combat armor he took our a small flashlight which he turned on as he began walking down the ladder. “Oh, and Doctor? I might have mentioned this before, but I am really quite patient with your.. antics,” he said, clearly letting me know that he would like to use a different world, probably much harsher one. “With Aite - and everypony else of similar profession, for that matter - you’re risking getting stabbed in the side, so you might want to tone down those annoying things you do.”

I blinked, momentarily at a loss for words; did he really bring somebody to my house who could stab me for annoying them?!

“She’d really stab me?” I asked after a second, recalling that she had just said a minute ago that she was starting to like me.

To my irritation, the griffin shrugged. “Dunno, don’t really know her all that well. But it’s something to keep in mind,” he added, descending further down into the darkness.

“Oh sweetie, that’s very reassuring,” I commented, frowning, then blinked and leaned over the pony hole to added after him “And what did you mean by ‘those annoying things you do’?”

I nickered and swished my tail in annoyance as Jack ignored my question, instead turning away and going deeper into the underground passage. The light from his flashlight quickly disappeared, and soon all I could see was this strange, faint green glow.

That alone is enough of a reason for me to go down there, I remarked, staring at the glow, before turning around and trotting over to where I had dropped my stable barding and lab coat. So, what do you think? I asked Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie as I began to dress.

Well, Pinkie began, she seemed fun! Those comments she had made to you and Jack were really funny! she added, giggling.

And she… Aite seems nice to me. I-I mean, Fluttershy added quickly, looking at me with worry, I know that she had some irritable remarks, but even if she had been trying to poke fun at you, she hadn’t, um… dwelled on them? the tiny pegasus offered, smiling sheepishly. I mean, she didn’t seem to be trying to be mean, I think.

I hummed, neither agreeing or disagreeing of their assessment of Aite. They were both correct (though I would argue about Pinkie’s), but I was less concerned about her attitude than about the fact that I knew nothing about her and I had just revealed before her my dreams and goals. And secrets, though I assumed Jack had already briefed her about my basement.

How many other people do you think he has told? If he told this ‘associate’ he apparently barely knows…

Fluttershy stepped in front of my muzzle. Angel, aren’t you being unfair to Jack? It’s… not like he didn’t have a reason to be worried, she pointed out, glancing at the cells.

I sighed. She was right, of course; didn’t mean this breach of trust bothered me any less.

It’s not just that, I said, shaking my head. I was prepared to share my dream, my goal, finally with somepo- somebody. And now I learn that he had invited another pony, one that I don’t know at all.

The apparitions exchanged a glance. I’m sure Jack hadn’t meant to hurt your feelings, Fluttershy said lamely.

It’s not like until ten minutes ago he knew you wanted to be friends, Pinkie pointed out.

But if you feel hurt, maybe you should talk with Jack about it? Fluttershy suggested.

I fought off the urge to snort. As if I would be able to have a private conversation with Jack while this invisible bat pony prowled around…

I blinked, only now realizing what else it would mean. Oh no, we’ll certainly have a talk about that! I thought, almost angrily, as I trotted towards the secret pony hole, fully dressed.

Um… yay? Fluttershy exclaimed with uncertainty, following me with worry as I stormed after them.

I don’t think she means to talk with Jack about her feelings, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie correctly observed, also watching me with worry. Hey, if we’re in her head, how is it that she can have her own thoughts that we don’t hear?

Ignoring the two apparitions, I climbed down the ladder. Very quickly I realized that the faint green light I saw from upstairs wasn’t even nearly enough to illuminate the space below, so I turned on the light in my PipBuck, then lit up my horn for good measure. As I neared the bottom, I looked around with mild interest around the cavern, my mind too occupied by the additional problems that would stem from Aite’s presence. Reaching the end of the ladder and jumping down on the coarse, rocky surface, I could see that while this place wasn’t big it was big enough for a few ponies to walk shoulder to shoulder and not touch the stone walls. The ceiling of the cave was about three yards above me; I briefly wondered if my flying companions were hovering in the air. The thought of them though made me more focused on the reason why I came down and followed towards the light from Jack’s flashlight some distance away.

The source of the faint green glow though was enough though to stop me in my tracks.

I could see it as I draw closer to Jack, the glow growing closer and slightly brighter, and soon I realized what it was. To my surprise, it was… mushrooms. A small cluster of them grew from a crevice in the rocky wall, and another sprouted further down the passage. I stopped by the luminescent organism, momentarily awed.

The Wasteland is certainly full of wonders, I noted to Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, leaning closer to the mushroom; they even smelled nice. I began to plan to reach for something in my pockets to take a sample for studying its properties, when Pinkie Pie pointed something to me urgently.

A red bar had just appeared within my field of vision.

Forgetting about the luminescent mushrooms, I turned my thoughts back to Jack and Aite. “It’s here!” I hissed quietly while I carefully trotted closer to them.

Jack, who had no doubt had noticed the light from my PipBuck and horn earlier, stopped examining a branch in the tunnel and turned to me calmly, arching his eyebrow questioningly. I pointed with my glowing PipBuck in the direction where I saw the red bar. The griffin slowly floated towards it, his small firearm in one forepaw, flashlight in the other, scanning the area I pointed at.

In the meantime, I focused on the cadaver.

Whatever had killed Collar had certainly not stopped on just killing him. In fact, it was difficult to recognize the half-eater remains as Collar; his body was missing very large chunks of meat. I doubted that even I could pinpoint the cause of death with his body in such a state. Well, not in this environment, with the only light source being my PipBuck and magic, and with the hostile animal prowling just around the corner.

Then maybe I could at least make a quick guess as to what kind of animal had done it? I thought to two apparitions; Pinkie was looking at the corpse with her face taking on a slightly green color, while Fluttershy had her eyes covered. I brought my PipBuck closer to the marks on its flesh. Hm… what kind of animal could have left marks like those? I pondered; even if I was unfamiliar with the majority of Wasteland’s wildlife, I believed that I could make an educated guess.

And as a matter of fact…

Curious, I commented, leaning closer. Those bitemarks… don’t they bear a resemblance to the marks Snuggles and Wigglebutt left on that radhog bacon?

As Fluttershy took a peak from between her hooves, first a timid, brief one, then a longer, more studious one, I tried to think about what little I knew regarding the animals living in the Wasteland. Could it be some… bigger radroach? Given the size of the bitemarks, it would have to be almost the same size as a pony… but then again, there were small differences in the cuts on the body...

Hmm… Fluttershy hummed, surprising me and pulling me out of my musing. I glanced at her curiously, noticing that, while she appeared to be… upset by the state Collar was in (bordering on distressed even maybe), she was staring at the marks the animal had left on his body thoughtfully. They… um, they sorta remind me of-

“There’s nothing here Doctor.”

Jack’s quiet remark made me look up from the corpse and turn back to the griffin. He was floating slowly back towards me, still facing the direction where I could see the red back on my E.F.S.

We’ll continue this discussion in a moment, darling, I quickly told Fluttershy as I trotted to meet Jack. The tiny pegasus just nodded and looked away while rubbing her forehooves absentmindedly.

“You’re sure it shows you that it’s that way?” Jack asked as he landed next to me, his eyes and flashlight still scanning the opposite side of the cavern.

“Yes, sweetie, I’m quite sure,” I replied, looking around. Like Jack said, there didn’t seem to be anything before us besides the cavern’s walls. However, the underground passage seemed to have two more additional branching tunnels (aside from the one we had come from and the one behind us were Collar’s body was). “Perhaps one of those tunnels goes around behind that wall, or further down into a lower level of the cave? My PipBuck would still detect the lifeform if it was close enough, regardless of the obstacles.”

“Great,” Jack sighed, then turned his flashlight from one side of the cavern to the other. “Aite?”

“Yep?” the bat pony asked as she seemingly materialized out of thin air beside us, her hood falling behind her head.

There she is, I mused, her reappearance - especially in this fashion - reminding me why I had come down to them.

Before I could speak though Jack began to ask her less important, though admittedly more immediate questions; I decided to politely wait my turn: “Did you scout those tunnels? Does one of them goes around the wall? Or better yet, did you find whatever it is?” he added with an eye roll.

“No, but that one leads into a wide open Stable,” Aite said, pointing with her hoof over her shoulder.

My eyes went wide as I tried looking deeper into the tunnel Aite was pointing at; however, even with the few clusters of those glowing mushrooms growing out from the walls, the cavern was still too dark to see much outside of the light my magic, PipBuck, and Jack’s flashlight provided.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Jack groaned as he turned his flashlight towards the tunnel; still, we couldn’t see any entrance to a Stable.

“You can see for yourself; the tunnel does turn to the right a few yards from here, which is why you can’t see it. The entrance is right around that corner; I’m guessing one of the Stable’s corridors is behind this wall and the critter is inside,” Aite added, nodding at the wall. “Want me to look for it?”

Jack’s didn’t reply immediately, instead groaning again and rubbing his temples; taking advantage of that, I cleared my throat. “Before you’ll do that, sweetie,” I began, “there is a certain matter I wish to discuss with you.” I could see Jack scowling at me, but Aite glanced at me with mild curiosity. “Earlier, Jack had said that you’ve been observing me the whole day; is that true?”

“Yeah, Jack wanted me to check if you were preparing some trap for him,” Aite replied, shrugging, then blinked. “Oh wait, is this about that guy trying to rape you? Because I would have done something about it if you hadn’t scared him off by yourself.”

“Wait what?!” Jack interjected before I could retort. His brow furrowed as he looked from Aite to me. “Somepony was trying to rape you?”

“Yeah, about ten minutes before you came,” Aite answered for him. Smirking, she added “You should have seen it, she just told him he would wake up castrated and the guy immediately looked like he was about to piss himself.”

The griffin shook his head, scowling. “Slavers… alright, glad you’re okay,” he told me; I couldn’t help but smile a little hearing the sincerity in his voice, “but whatever this is about, we have a more important issue to deal with right now.”

“Relax,” Aite said, rolling her eyes. “If that thing was coming I’d hear it.”

“And I would see its bar move,” I added before turning to the bat pony. “I’m happy to hear you’d have acted in my defense, sweetie, but that is not what I’ve been meaning to talk with you. I’m concerned that you were in my clinic at all, while I was seeing my patients,” I told her, frowning and stomping the ground in frustration. “This basically threws doctor-patients’ confidentiality out the window!”

“Wow, seriously?” Aite deadpanned at me. “Didn’t you already do that by telling Jack about that Frank Fellow buck and how you’re blackmailing him?”

“That is a completely unrelated matter,” I told her, my frown deepening. “First off, the fact that he sells out brahmin’s meat and cheated on his marefriend makes him unfit to be considered a sapient being, which is why I would make him my test subject if I had the opportunity. And second of all, sweetie, I’ve been trying to convince Jack to join me; if we are to work together, we should be honest with each other. Especially since you can understandably have some doubts regarding integrity. This does not, however, give you the right to spy on my patients when I am treating them!”

Aite’s deadpan turned into confusion and then into annoyance. “You know what? This right here is why I’m going to keep calling you Crazy. Not because you’re keeping ponies locked up in your basement and cutting them open and doing ungoddessly things to” she said as she pointed in the tunnel where the ladder leading into my laboratory was. “For that I at least have a template I can refer to for comparison. I do not have one for this! Like, who the fuck would I even tell about your patients?! Nopony knows I’m here aside from you two!”

“You could tell Jack,” I told her, not fazed by her increasing anger; well, for now. “And that’s not the-”

“Like Jack is gonna care that your slaver friend had gotten herself knocked up,” Aite snorted dismissively.

My eyes widened in shock as the bat pony had just blurted that out, but it quickly gave way to dismay that could easily gave way into an outrage. Before I could as much as frown at her, though, Jack had once again joined the conversation.

“Wait, what?!” I closed my eyes and sighed deeply; not only I had allowed - albeit unknowingly - a third party to observe the medical consultation I gave to my patient, but also caused her to tell another person! “Is she talking about Apple Core?”

I turned to Jack. “Sweetie, forgive me, but that’s none of your concern. And you,” I said as I frowned at Aite, “everypony has a right to expect that what she or he talks with their doctor stays between-”

“Is the foal Blast's?”

I stopped mid-sentence. Aite in turn stopped scowling at me; instead she turned to look at Jack. “Oh, shit,” she uttered; clearly, she knew that name well enough.

Turning to Jack as well, I tried to gather my thoughts; when Apple Core had told me that she thought she might be pregnant, I hadn’t considered who could be the father. Only now that Jack had brought it up I realized that there could be a chance that it was Blast’s. Of course, knowing her promiscuity, I had some reservations, but to the griffin mercenary he naturally was the first stallion who came to mind. I should have anticipated that before approaching Aite; this was exactly why I disliked getting angry!

Speaking of the bat pony, she had apparently decided that she did not wish to be a part of this conversation; she quickly put back her hood on her head, disappearing from sight. Considering the way Jack was staring at me, eyes narrowed with a dangerous gleam in them as he awaited an answer, I could not blame her.

I cleared my throat repeated what I’ve said before, except far more calmly now that I realized what he was feeling. “Sweetie, I can understand your worries, but as I’ve already told you, this does not concern you.” Even though now Jack was approaching me, I continued to speak calmly; I knew him well enough to know he was about to grab my muzzle again to say his peace. I would simply address that and then resume where I had left off. “Apple Core is my patient, and as such-”

The strong talons gripped my throat and lifted me into the air before I could react. Shocked and unable to gasp for air, I grabbed the paw that was holding me with my forehooves, trying to escape.

Jack pulled me closer to his face; since my kicking hind legs weren’t connecting with the ground, a part of my mind noted that this meant the griffin must have risen into the air; he wasn’t that much taller than me. “Either you tell me,” he told me, his voice calm and yet seething with anger, “or I get it out of Aite, or I get it out of Apple Core.”

And with those words he released me. I fell down, taking deep, greedy breaths in the breaks between coughs. My throat hurt me so badly right now that I barely noticed the pain of landing on the rocky ground.

“And besides,” I heard Jack speak from above me as I recovered, “I know enough that you might as well tell me, for fuck sake…”

I gave the griffin a side glance while massaging my throat. He was rubbing the side of his head around his temple, his eyes closed. His anger turned into the annoyance I was so familiar with.

It was difficult for me to not snort at that. He and I were going to have words about that… eventually. Right now my main concern was Apple Core; though I doubted that he would treat her in this manner considering the possibility of her being pregnant with his friend’s foal, I couldn’t just let him cause my patient distress. My oath did allow me to reveal information about my patients if they were in danger.

… and besides, he had a point, considering what he knew already I could as well tell him.

“You-” I began, only to pause as another cough shook my throat. I closed my eyes and swallowed, then resumed, “You will not bother Apple Core about this.”

Jack’s expression briefly turned into a deadpan, then he rolled his eyes. “Because this is a negotiation… sure, fine. For now,” he added with a hint of a growl at the end of that sentence.

Frowning, I decided that this was the best I would get from him for now. “Apple Core came to me earlier saying that she thinks she might be pregnant; she asked if I could make sure if she is or isn’t. I told her to come back tomorrow so we can schedule an appointment at an earliest convenience. And as for the identity of a possible father, I didn’t ask as it is none of my business unless-”

“But since you’re so smart - supposedly - you can figure out what are the chances of Blast being the father, can’t you?” Jack interrupted me, the tip of his tail flickering in irritation.

Trying to not get offended by that ‘supposedly’, I frowned and hummed thoughtfully. “Considering Apple Core’s promiscuity and, ugh, her contraception method - if it can even be called such - I would say…” I trailed off, trying to come up with a way to sound as if I wasn’t judgemental; certainly saying that most of the stallions of Appleloosa and some of New Appleloosa could be the father would be too harsh. “That his chances are as good as anypony who had had coitus with Apple Core within the last few weeks. Although…”

I crossed my forelegs on my chest; something was bothering me while I contemplated this matter. I thought back to how I walked in on Apple Core and Blast having sex.

“Back then… soon after Burst and I saw them having intercourse, I walked into a bear trap, and both Burst and Blast came to help me get out of it. When I later tried apologizing to Apple Core about interrupting them…” I blinked in surprise as a realization hit me. “She had said that I had ‘startled’ him... um, if by that she had meant that I startled him just as he was about to pull his penis out of her vagina before ejaculation, then… then his chances of being the father are much bigger than I initially assumed,” I admitted.

Jack stared at me for a few seconds before groaning. “You really are the dumbest genius in the Wasteland, you know that?” I pouted at him, but wasn’t given a chance to reply. “Do you know what she intends to do if she is pregnant?”

“No, I’d prefer to wait until I confirm if she is or not before I’d ask her. Why do you ask?”

“Apple Core doesn’t exactly strike me as somepony who would keep the baby,” Jack replies in a tone that suggested he thought it to be obvious.

“Oh…” I replied, a little confused; I wasn’t sure what exactly he was suggesting. “Well, I’d certainly talk with her about her plans… I’ve noticed that there aren’t adoptions agencies in Equestria anymore, obviously, but I’d imagine her brother or some of her other kin would-”

“Are you…” Jack interrupted me, staring at me agape, then facepawed and hissed “For fuck sake, I meant that she’d ask you for an abortion!”

Fluttershy covered her mouth. A cold shiver went through my spine.

Would she?

I worked my mouth as I slowly recovered and calmed down; fortunately, I had my medical training to draw upon. “If the developing fetus would pose a threat to her life or would be born with impossible to cure defects that would hamper its growth, then I would suggest abortion myself. If she would request an abortion from other reasons, I would attempt to talk with her and suggest other options if necessary and possible. If she’d still want to abort the fetus, I would comply with my patient’s request.” I realized that I wasn’t looking at Jack; immediately I locked eyes with him. “And I fail to see why this is of concern to you.”

The griffin blinked, clearly taken aback. He quickly shrugged it off and hissed, “Her being pregnant with my dead best friend's foal is not enough of a reason to be concerned?! Or that my best friends’ parents had lost both of their children and would lose a grandfoal before it would be even born?!”

“If she is pregnant and if it is Blast’s foal, and its not even a foal right now, it’s just an embryo comprised of few hundred cells that had barely implanted itself into a uterus.”

“So you would just kill it?!” Jack asked, staring at me with disbelief. “Or let Apple Core kill it?! After that whole thing about experimenting on ponies who aren’t sapient beings anymore?!”

“Apple Core is my patient, it would be against my moral compass to decline her a medical procedure.”

Jack stared at me, agape. “Your moral- YOUR FUCKING MORAL COMPASS IS A ROULETTE WHEEL!”

I winced as the griffin shrieked right in my face. For a moment I was sure he was about to choke me again. A part of me knew that now, since I was prepared for that, I could defend myself with magic, and yet…

Angel! I blinked, startled by the even louder shout, then turned to its source; Pinkie Pie was looking at me in alarm, pointing at the red bar on my E.F.S.

It was moving.

“It’s moving,” I told Jack quietly, nodding towards it.

I half expected that the griffin wouldn’t believe me, that he would think that I was looking for an excuse to end the argument. But no, Jack immediately turned around, grabbing his sidearm and flashlight and directing both towards the tunnel Aite had told us led to a Stable.

“This isn’t over,” he growled softly to me before turning his full attention to the tunnel. Moving to stand between myself and the passage, he added, “Is it going this way?”

I frowned. “No, it’s…” I said and trailed off.

What exactly was this animal doing? The red bar was moving, yes, but not in any direction. Rather, it was moving erratically from left to right by a few inches; considering the distance between us, this must have meant that the animal was jumping back and forth, apparently. By why would it-

Pinkie’s widening expression gave me a pause. When she abruptly looked down just as the ground beneath both me and Jack began to shake, I already knew what this meant.

Without thinking, I lunged at Jack, pushing him away. At the same time, the ground under us exploded; a massive, multiple-limbed creature emerged. Looking at it over my shoulder as we fell I managed to see 2 bright points above six smaller ones (assumably, its eyes that reflected the light) over a small pair of pincers (if one could call the size of a hoof as “small”) between a pair of bigger pincers (which were about the size of my head), and a long abdomen that from which an even longer tail rose above… and shot right at me.

I cried out in pain as I felt something pierce my shoulder, almost right in the spot where Jack’s head had been a heartbeat before. I fell on the ground, curling up as I heard the animal hiss, while a warning from my PipBuck flashed before my eyes. Apparently, whatever exactly it did to me it also injected me with venom of some kind. Before I could do as much as worry about how potent the animal’s venom was, my attention was drawn almost immediately to another sound that resonated through the cavern; unlike me, Jack had rolled in the air as he fell, landing on his back and clutching his rifle in his paws, which he now fired at the predator.

BAM-BAM-BAM!!!

Of course, considering that I was laying right next to him, the shooting had nearly deafened me. Trying to ignore the pain in my ears and shoulder, I looked at the creature and activated S.A.T.S.

Everything froze, and I was finally able to get a proper look at the creature attacking us, as well as what exactly was happening. The animal, which at first I had taken for an insect, turned out ot be an arachnid, a scorpion to be specific, if the biology books from Stable Eight were to be believed (though they stated that the biggest species of scorpion was roughly the size of a hoof, so they were clearly outdated to say the least); it moved on four pairs of legs. It was about as big as I was, minus the huge tail that was about as long as the rest of its body and ended with a stinger. Like I observed earlier, aside from eight legs it possessed two additional pairs of limbs, the first smaller one by its mouth, and another, much bigger and ending with massive pincers, which the creature now had raised to cover its cephalothorax from Jack’s shots. I was impressed by the level of intelligence it expressed by doing so. Above its cephalothorax was Aite; in the brief moment between the arachnid’s attack and me activating S.A.T.S. she had landed on top of the creature. In her mouth was the handle of a knife; I could only imagine that the rest of it was plunged through one of the animal’s eyes.

Oh, the poor thing, Fluttershy said, looking at the animal with sorrow.

I would have nodded in agreement if I could. Instead, without giving it much thought, I used S.A.T.S. to line up two Anesthetic Spells, aiming for the head. I was unsure how effective the spell would be, considering the animal’s invertebrate biology combined with its size and the exoskeleton capable of withstanding bullets to some degree. On top of that I had a very low chance of hitting its head, as the PipBuck’s targeting spell informed me, but considering that it was most likely due to the arachnid using its pincers to shield itself, I knew that at the very least I would still hit it (I was right next to it after all, about the only way I could see myself missing such a big target would be if I’d only do it on purpose).

(And on that note, the S.A.T.S. showed me that the chance of me hitting the pincers would be only ninety-five percent; just how in the Goddesses names could there be five percent chance of me missing a target the size of my head that was less than half a yard away?!)

I was actually more worried about hitting Aite, but as I looked at her carefully I noticed how her wings were curved and how she appeared to be crouching on the creature. The bat pony was about to jump away from it, most likely being worried about Jack hitting her accidentally.

Well, here it goes, I mused as I let S.A.T.S. perform its function.

Two spells fired from my horn, one after the other. The first hit the arachnid’s pincers, as I expected. Afterwards, though, it began to lower them; either the Anesthetic Spell had an immediate effect on him, or Jack’s bullets had caused it greater damage than I had anticipated. Or perhaps it was a mixture of both, or merely a stroke of luck. Regardless, though, the second spell passed right above the descending pincer, striking right across the animal's many eyes.

The creature was hit by my spell, but it didn’t just drop down unconscious; as I expected, it would take more than just one direct hit from an Anesthetic Spell on an animal such as it; the spell was invented with ponies in mind, after all. Of course, it would work on mammals and other vertebrates and even small invertebrates like radroaches, but this animal was as big as me, and that’s not counting its tail. My spells did however cause it to hobble backwards, as if it was very confused. Not wanting Jack to scare it into hiding behind its pincers again, I focused, and fired another Anesthetic Spell, hoping to knock it out.

One would say that the Goddesses’ providence had smiled upon us. The spell connected with the arachnid, and it dropped to the ground, motionless. All three of us looked on at it for a few seconds, making sure it wouldn’t attack again, then we collectively let out breaths each of us were holding.

Mine though had quickly turned into a pained squeak as my injury reminded me of itself, along with the poison that was coursing through my body. It felt as if somebody had injected melted wax into my bloodstream!

I grasped my shoulder, sucking the air through my teeth from the pain. A muffled murmur from my right side made me glance at Jack, who was looking at me questioningly, with a mildly worried frown. Realizing he must have asked me something, I pointed at my ear which eardrum he had damaged with his shooting, then tilted the other one.

“Can you heal yourself?” he repeated slowly. “Or do we have to make you antivenom?”

I shook my head, trying to speak through the pain. “No I… I’ll be fine in a moment,” I hissed, then bit my lip.

My answer apparently satisfied Jack, as he nodded, then fell on his back, pressing his paws to his face as he let out a loud groan. “What the hell was a radscorpion doing over here?” he asked, nopony in particular. “We’re thousands of miles from where they can be found.”

So it is a scorpion, I mused briefly, glancing at the animal, before another pulse of pain made me refocus on that. Alright, I can either cure myself with magic, or I can see if my immune system can deal with on its own…

Um, Pinkie began, looking at me questioningly, I’m pretty sure that’s a bad idea. Like, VERY bad idea, she added, giving a meaningful glance in the direction of Collar’s corpse.

Every pony in Stable Eight receives inoculation that improves our immune systems when we are foals, and upon becoming a doctor I had further improved its formula, I informed the apparition. My body should be able to deal with this poison on its own- I trailed off as another spasm of pain took over.

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy exchanged a glance. Um, well… that would be nice, Fluttershy said hesitantly. But, um, if you don’t mind me saying, Angel, if you are wrong, well…

Trying to not take offense at the suggestion, I considered her words. If I was wrong, then I would die. And while I was very confident in my body’s defense system against diseases and toxins, I had enough respect for radiation-induced evolution that created such animal to conclude that very possibly its venom was more adapted to killing ponies than my immune system to preventing being that.

I suppose I’ll test this on my test subjects first, I relented, focusing my magic.

Oh, Fluttershy exclaimed, her ears dropping, yay…

I let my spell wash over me, and slowly the pain disappeared. Finally able to pay attention to what was happening outside of my body, I turned my good ear to listen to the conversation between Jack and Aite.

“Why would it walk all the way here?” Jack asked the bat pony, seemingly in reply to what a part of the discussion I had missed, with a mixture of disinterest and irritation.

“Well, it’s either that, or Crazy or one of the slavers flushed it down the toilet when it was little,” the bat pony remarked calmly, nudging the radscorpion with her hoof. I rolled my eyes while healing my shoulder and eardrum, deciding to wait until I was fully healed before joining the discussion. “Besides, what does it matter? Are you writing a book about Wasteland’s wildlife?”

“It matters in case there are more of them around, which would mean we’d have to be careful of the ground moving underneath us.”

“Oh, fair point,” Aite admitted, then shrugged. “I’m pretty sure if there were more of them somepony would have already noticed them.”

“So they’re not endemic to this region?” I asked, stretching out my healed leg.

“No, the closest concentration of them I can think of is in Hoofington. Ironically,” Jack added oddly, with a glance at Aite.

I hummed thoughtfully as I approached the radscorpion. “A presence of an invasive species would explain why there has been so little wildlife around recently. Even if it’s just one animal, it would alter the ecosystem it's introduced to enough to be noticable, especially with the decrease of the wildlife population due to excessive hunting caused by increased pony population. As for how it could get here, though...” I paused, thinking back to what I’ve read in books. “The most notable invasive species throughout the history had been caused by pony’s intervention.”

Jack snorted. “I sincerely doubt this tribe keeps radscorpions as pets, if that’s what you’re suggesting.”

“Oh, don’t be silly, sweetie, of course I don’t think that,” I told him, a touch irritated. “Why would they let their pet wander off like that and not look for it? No, I think there’s a different explanation,” I added, returning my gaze to the radscorpion (and ignoring the bemused gazes of Jack and Aite). Now that it wasn’t attacking us, I could appreciate how magnificent this animal was. My hoof brushed the tough carapace, admiring its eight (well, seven now, thanks to Aite) eyes and its chelicerae. And those pincers! And tail! “I assume there are some people in the Wasteland who would find radscorpion’s meat tasty?”

“Not just some, it is tasty,” Aite shrugged. “Though omelette from their eggs is even better.”

I nodded… then paused in mid-nod. “Eggs? But… scorpions are viviparous,” I said, confused.

The two stared at me back at me for a second, then Jack looked to the side as if recalling something. “You mean that they’re born alive instead of hatching from the eggs?”

“Yes,” I confirmed, then looked at the radscorpion. “Or at least, they were. Are saying that they are now oviparous?”

“No, we’re saying that they now lay eggs,” Aite replied with an even stare. “Well, either that or the omelettes I ate were wrongly advertised…”

“Yeah, they are oviparous,” Jack interrupted the bat pony, frowning at both of us. “You had a point, Doctor?”

“Huh, what an interesting mutation,” I mused, looking again at the radscorpion. “I can understand the advantages of pony mares becoming fertile every month rather than once a year, but why exactly did this species-”

“Doctor, focus,” Jack growled, interrupting me.

Frowning, I glanced back at him and resumed the earlier subject. “Well, as I was about to say, sweetie, it is possible that some merchants decided to transport a young radscorpion to areas where they don’t live in order to sell them for meat. Now that I know that they are oviparous, though, I would say that they are transported as eggs, and so it happened that one egg hatched and the radscorpion ran away,” I said, looking over the wounds on the animal in question.

The griffin frowned thoughtfully, while Aite shrugged. “They had some radscorpion omelettes in one of the restaurants in Tenpony’s, so I guess it is possible.”

“Yeah… how did you come up with this?” Jack asked.

“Oh, one of the many biology books I’ve read in Stable Eight was this really old one that had described a few cases of invasive species spreading to new areas from a few hundred years before the war.” Satisfied with my examination, I began to channel Healing Spell, mending the radscorpion’s wounds as I continued: “This was the exact same way a species of-”

“The fuck are you doing?”

I blinked, surprised - and a little annoyed - at the interruption. “What do you mean, sweetie?” I asked, looking back at the griffin as the holes left on the radscorpion’s body by bullets and Aite’s knife mended.

My two companions were staring at me, Aite with mild surprise and Jack with growing irritation. “For fuck sake, that thing is still alive isn’t it?” he groaned after a few seconds, deadpanning.

“Well, of course sweetie…” I began, but trailed off as I realized that he was reaching for his gun. As Fluttershy gasped I immediately jumped between him and the radscorpion. “Sweetie, no,” I told him plainly, stomping the ground.

Jack’s face quickly formed the same angered expression as before the radscorpion’s attack. “Get out of the way, idiot, I’m about to lose my patience with you.”

I narrowed my gaze at him. I don’t know if what he had said had irritated me so, or was I just that appalled by his intention to kill the radscorpion, or maybe I was still upset with him for our earlier discussion. Regardless, I felt as if something snapped inside of me. “Funny you should say that, sweetie,” I told him coldly, my horn lighting up, “because my patience is also- augh!” I yelped as a hoof struck me across the horn with enough force to make me lose focus.

At the same moment, Aite’s other hoof struck Jack’s gun, throwing it out of its talons. “Oh would you two quit it already?!” the bat pony asked, for the first time sounding irritated. “If I wanted to deal with stupid drama I would have stayed back home!”

Jack scowled at her, clenching his talons into a fist and unclenching them, while I massaged my horn. “You got the stupid part right,” he told her. “Didn’t you just see her defend and heal a radscorpion?!”

“Look,” she told him, holding up her forelegs in a calming manner, “despite the pile of evidence against her, I think we can agree that she’s not an idiot.”

I frowned at Aite, unsure if I should treat that as a compliment or an insult.

“So maybe before we kill the radscorpion we can ask her why exactly would she want to keep it alive? Who knows, maybe she has a good reason,” the bat pony told Jack, then turned around to face me, motioning for me to speak.

“Um, thank you sweetie,” I began, slightly taken aback. “Well, I was healing it because I intend to study this species, and I can learn more from a living specimen than a dead one. Of course, I intend to take precautions to ensure it wouldn’t harm myself or others by binding it with ropes and leather belts I have in the clinic’s storeroom; I believe it would be enough to tie up its tail, pincers and legs to its body so it couldn’t move them. I have the means to keep it fed and hydrated.” I glanced at Fluttershy’s apparition; she was looking at radscorpion with worry. As if sensing my gaze (or maybe actually just sensing it), the tiny pegasus turned to me and gave me a hopeful smile. “It shouldn’t have to die just because we invaded its nest,” I continued, focusing on Aite and Jack again. “It has the same right to live as we do. And perhaps… perhaps I could tame it and make friends with it?” I added; Fluttershy was almost furiously nodding. “I’ve been getting along with my radroaches, Snuggles and Wigglebutt rather well, they’ve stopped trying to bite me just a few days ago.”

The beaming expression Fluttershy’s apparition had was not shared by my companions… or even Pinkie’s apparition. The tiny pink pony was covering her mouth, clearly holding back a giggle. Jack in turn had facepawed, and was slowly sliding his paw down his beak.

Aite’s expression was the most unique; for the first time she had completely dropped this neutral mask she seemed to constantly wear. Now she was staring at me, mouth agape, one eyebrow raised ludicrously. Her mouth slowly moved mutely, forming a silent comment for my eyes only, which I believe was: “What the fuck…”

She shook her head, then within a split second she adopted that same calm expression as she turned back around to Jack. “See? She has a plan.”

The griffin took off his paw from his face to glare at her. “Are you on Moon Dust right now?” he asked her after a second. “Or are you just fucking with me?”

“No, but you on the other hoof are being emotional right now,” Aite said, pointing at him. Judging by Jack’s scowl, that wasn’t a very diplomatic thing to say to him right now, but the bat pony ignored it and continued, “So I figure I better stop you from doing something you’ll end up regretting later. Especially if there is a chance that I’ll also end up regretting it later, too,” she added; even though I could only see the back of her head, I had the feeling that she had rolled her eyes.

Jack snorted. “I’m not being emotional, and I really can’t think why would I ever regret not killing a radscorpion.”

“If you weren’t, you would realize a couple things. The first being that if we’d tie up the radscorpion like she says it wouldn’t be able to move, so it would be harmless. Meaning there is literally no point in this argument. Another is that you yourself had agreed to work together with her to uncover who was Scope working for; how long do you think she’ll want to work with you if you continue to choke her, threaten her, and kill her pets on top of that?” Aite asked. She glanced at me over her shoulder. “He was kind of an asshole for the last couple of minutes, wasn’t he?”

“Oh, um, I wouldn’t have phrased it quite like that, sweetie,” I replied, then turned my gaze to Jack and frowned. “Though I would say that he had been acting like a brute. There are nicer ways to conduct a conversation sweetie,” I told Jack, the sensation of having his talons grasp my throat still fresh in my memory.

I could have sworn that Jack’s eyelid just twitched.

Aite, seemingly satisfied with my reply, turned back to Jack. “See? The crazy pony who experiments on other ponies is unhappy with you. Maybe we can indulge her more sensible requests so she won’t steal our organs in our sleep?”

Alright, that was enough. “Sweetie, as much as I appreciate your support, I feel that I must stress out that I wouldn’t do something like that to you,” I told Aite, frowning at her.

The bat pony didn’t even turn around to reply. “A, nobody believes you, and B, if you want to keep that oversized insect as a pet that ‘you’ had better been singular and referring to me.”

“It was plural,” I assured Jack before turning back to Aite, “and scorpions aren’t insects, they’re arachnids.”

“Gesundheit.”

Taken aback by Aite’s response, I barely noticed Jack’s sigh as he picked up his gun from the ground and put it back in its hoister. “You realize you just said that keeping a radscorpion as a pet is sensible, right?” he told Aite.

The bat pony pointed at me. “She said she wants to turn everypony immortal about ten minutes ago, this is normal by comparison. Now chop-chop,” she added, clapping her forehooves. “Go get the stuff to tie the radscorpion up before it wakes up.”

Jack’s eyes rolled upwards as he shook his head in resignation, then turned toward the ladder leading to my laboratory.

“And get your act together,” Aite collect back after him. “I’m not foalsitting both of you. You’re welcome,” she added in a normal voice, turning back.

“Oh, yes, thank you very much for your help sweetie,” I immediately thanked her, relieved that the argument (and radscorpion’s death) had been averted. I was about to further express my gratitude - and question why exactly did she help me, as she had been clearly astonished by my ‘plan’ - when what she had said had registered with me. “Excuse me though, what exactly did you mean by ‘foalsitting both of you’?”

“Hm? Oh, well, when Jack and I planned what we’ll do in case he’ll decide we’ll work with you, we decided that I’ll be staying at your side, making sure you’re safe and not going to kill us all. So, you know, foalsit,” she added with a shrug.

My ears pressed backwards flat against my head in mild irritation. “I’m touched that Jack is so worried about my safety, but I can handle myself just fine,” I told her, then added, “And I do not plan to kill either of you.”

“Actually, that jibe was meant to suggest that one of your experiments would go spectacularly bad and you would kill us all by accident.”

That did not improve my mood. “Oh sweetie, now you are just offending my abilities as a scientist.”

Aite just shrugged. “Well it’s only an offense if you prove me wrong. Is that thing going to wake up anytime soon?” she changed the subject, pointing at the radscorpion while she kneeled down.

“Sweetie, that’s not a thing,” I told her; the bat pony didn’t even flicker her ears towards me as she picked up her radscorpion-blood-stained dagger with her mouth and sat down, grasping a piece of cloth and proceeded to wipe it clean. “It’s a living creature, and a marvelous wonder of both natural and radiation-induced evolution at that,” I said, giving the radscorpion a glance; it was a really impressive animal to behold. “And as for your question, I must say that I’m not entirely sure-”

“That’s promising.”

“-how long will my Anesthetic Spell last,” I continued, ignoring the interruption. “It is the first time that I’ve cast it on an animal with such a body structure. However, if the spell was about to wear off, the radscorpion’s body wouldn’t regain full mobility immediately, giving us plenty of warning by attempting to move.” Aite hummed in reply, too busy finished cleaning her dagger to speak. I looked at the weapon with curiosity, then with a surprise when I noticed the silver lining on the handle and that the blade was narrowed in the first third of its length. Before I could comment on it, though, the bat pony hid her dagger away, so instead I decided to return to our earlier topic. “Could you possibly enlighten me as to what did you mean by my experiments going ‘spectacularly bad’?”

Aite rolled her eyes at me. “Literally anything you do with that radscorpion resulting in it breaking free and going on a rampage through your clinic? Possibly after you make it bigger, smarter, more venomous?”

“Please, sweetie, I’ll make sure it won’t be able to break free,” I assured her, confident in what I was saying. “At least, not until I’d befriend it. Though I’ll admit, sweetie, that your suggestions about making it bigger and smarter are interesting…” I hummed thoughtfully as Aite sighed. Ignoring her, I let my gaze wander back to the radscorpion. “I’m not sure that I would be able to induce growth more impressive than the one radiation had caused in this species… It really had an interesting effect on evolution, I must say. Not just on the animals,” I added, nodding to Aite in the direction of the luminescent mushrooms.

“You mean the glowing fungi?” the bat pony asked, letting me know their name. “I suppose they are pretty neat. Some ponies figured out a way to make RadAway and some other medicines using them.”

“Wha- really?!” I exclaimed, amazed.

Aite nodded. “Yeah, don’t ask me how exactly though, I don’t know.”

“Oh that’s alright, sweetie, I’ll figure out how to use them after properly examining them. Thank you very much for bringing this to my attention. Do they have any other properties by chance?”

“Other that they make not bad soup? Not really,” Aite replied, much to my disappointment; although it would be a nice diversity to have soup to eat. “There is another species of mushroom that grows in caves like this, called brain fungus - the name comes from them looking like a brain so you’ll know it when you see it- I think they can be used to make Mintals. Oh, and soup too.”

I nodded, making a mental note of the information. And then made another to make an actual note about what I’ve just learned. I could make a quick recording, but between the radscorpion (who needed an audio recording of its own), the Stable right around the corner, Apple Core’s possible pregnancy and our yet-to-be-planned collaboration, I was fairly certain that I had more important things to focus on.

“Sorry about earlier.”

Surprised, I turned back at the bat pony. Aite was looking with a troubled frown in the direction where Jack had gone.

“If I knew his friend and that slaver mare had banged, I would have kept quiet about her being pregnant,” she elaborated. “Figures he would get emotional over it…”

Sighing, I nodded. “To be fair, sweetie, his reaction was only natural and perfectly understandable, given the circumstances.”

“Not saying it wasn’t,” Aite shrugged, “but it doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a stupid ass reaction. Really rich coming from the guy who takes such pride in being a ‘professional’...” she added with a snort. “But anyway, as I was saying, sorry for blurting it out like that.”

“Well, to be perfectly honest, I too bear responsibility for this little ‘blurt’, as you have said,” I confessed. “I… honestly hadn’t considered the possibility that if Apple Core is pregnant then the father could have been Blast. If I had, I would have tried to approach this topic with you later in private… though to be fair,” I added, pouting a little, “I also hadn’t expected that you would just blurt it out like that.” Aite glanced at me, the corned of her lips curving into a smirk. I rolled my eyes, resisting the urge to comment on her amusement. “So I suppose the blame is on both of us for making mistakes.”

“Talk about a stroke of bad luck, huh?” Aite asked, snorting and shaking her head. “First both of us making such mistakes, then the radscorpion attacking.”

“Quite,” I agreed, then looked at her curiously. “Did you know Blast, sweetie?”

The bat pony shook her head. “I’ve just moved to Tenpony Tower a few weeks ago, I’ve never been to this part of the Wasteland before.”

“Really? Where did you live before then?” I asked, now even more curious. “If I may ask, of course.”

Aite shrugged. “Hoofington. Lived there my whole life.”

“Hoofington?” I repeated, slightly surprised. “That’s quite a long way to travel, isn’t it sweetie? How come you and Jack know each other, then?” I asked as Aite nodded. “I was under the impression that after coming to Equestria from the Zebra Empire a year before Jack had operated mostly in the Manehattan area.”

“He stopped at Hoofington first,” Aite replied, shrugging again. “Stayed there for about a month, then moved here.”

“Oh, I see. That would make sense, considering Hoofington is closer to the zebra lands than central Equestria,” I said, nodding thoughtfully. “So that’s when the two of you met and got to know each other?”

The bat pony smirked. “Yeah, you could say that. I walked into the bar at Flank one night, and there he was, drowning his sorrows. Griffins had never been really common around the Hoof, only recently that Red Eye buck had started sending some to Paradise - and before you ask,” she paused as she began to explain, “it’s just one of the towns there, like Flank for that matter, not any actual Paradise; hate that place, by the way - so I joined him out of curiosity. About half an hour or so later we were in my room.”

“Your room?” I repeated, confused, then a realization came to me as Aite glanced at me, still with a smirk and now also with a raised eyebrow. “Oh! So you two are…” I began, searching for the right word, as I pointed from her to the direction of the ladder - from which stepping sounds emanated, signaling Jack’s return - and back.

“Preeetty sure we’re not whatever you were about to say,” Aite cut in, amused. “Or that we weren’t, rather. But I’ll admit, that month was about as close as I get to normal relationships. Probably which is why I have enough of a soft spot for Jack to do him a solid and come help him with this rather than enjoying my retirement,” she added, her gaze moving from me to the approaching griffin.

“Huh, I see…” I said slowly; Aite’s explanation of the nature of their relationship didn’t really explain too much to me. However, I had more important matters to ask about rather than try to pry into their relationship. “Are cases of interspecies sexual intercourses common in the Wasteland then?”

“Can I walk in on you having a conversation just once today without you asking stupid questions?” Jack exclaimed loudly as he returned, a duffle bag over his shoulder. He was giving me a deadpan as he said that, but he quickly turned to Aite with exasperation and added, “And don’t give me that bullshit, you were getting bored to death at Tenpony.”

His remark made Aite even more amused. “Oh, you wanna talk bullshit? How about we circle back to that ‘old associate’ then?” As Jack groaned and began to rub his temples, she added “I mean, you were pretty quick to jump on the bones of somepony who’s just your ‘old associate’ when we run into each other at Tenpony.”

Jack lifted his paw and glared at her with annoyance. “And you were pretty quick to ambush a younger male in a bar while he’s clearly depressed,” he bit back, a smirk of amusement twisting his beak.

“First time I heard anybody complain,” Aite countered, her tone of voice sounding almost innocently.

“Whatever you say,” Jack replied, shaking his head and putting the duffle bag on the ground. As he started to rummage through it, he uttered under his breath, loudly enough for both of us to hear, “You cougar.”

“Oh please, you’re what, ten years younger than me?” Aite snorted, rolling her eyes.

I listened to this exchange, at first with genuine interest in observing and learning more about their relationship, then with growing concern as their argument became more… heated. “Um,” I spoke up, looking from one to the other, “do you want me to leave the two of you alone, sweeties?”

“No,” Jack replied (while turning to look sternly at Aite who at the same moment said “Yes,” then smirked at him) before returning his attention to the duffle bag. “What I do want you to do is to help put your pet on a muzzle and a leash.”

He threw some of the contents from the bag to my hooves; as I suggested earlier, he had gathered some ropes and leather belts from my storeroom (why there were ropes in there was a bit of a mystery to me; I could understand leather belts, they could be used to subduing hyperactive patients for instance), but also several rolls of duct tape.

“Start with its pincers,” Jack told me, “I’ll try to figure out what to do about its tail, since I figure you won’t let us just cut it off. Aite, you- oh for crying out loud.”

I looked over from above the radscorpion, curious what Aite could have done to annoy Jack… only to see that she was gone.

“Figures,” Jack sighed, shaking his head; he appeared more tired than angry. Turning back to the radscorpion, he grabbed some ropes and walked over around the radscorpion. “Let’s get to it, if we’re really not killing it then I want it bound before whatever your spell did to him wears off.”

“I casted an Anesthesia Spell on it, sweetie, it causes temporary analgesie and paralysis,” I informed him (ignoring the eyeroll he did in reply), then glanced behind at the spot where Aite had been just a moment ago. “How exactly is she doing that? She’s even disappeared from my E.F.S. It’s thanks to that clock, correct?”

“Yeah, it’s called an Invisibility Cloak, or more simply a Stealth Cloak,” Jack replied as he started to work on tying the radscorpion’s tail down to its body so it wouldn’t be able to attack us with it. Hastily I picked up a roll of duct tape and did as he had instructed, not wanting to upset him while he provided me with such interesting information. “They were developed by the zebras and, as you can imagine, used a lot during the war. Unlike those StealthBuck things you ponies came up during that time, they can work pretty much endlessly, and not only make you invisible but also erase your smell and the sounds you make.”

“Really?” I exclaimed, impressed. “How interesting… but how exactly can they work ‘pretty much endlessly’, as you had phrased it, sweetie?”

“I dunno, how can that thing on your leg work endlessly too?” Jack countered with a shrug.

I blinked. “Huh, interesting point,” I agreed, musing the idea. “Of course, this is different, since PipBuck is an arcane device, while that Invisibility Cloak… that gemstone clasp must be the source of its properties, the zebras must have placed enhancements on them to make whoever is wearing the cloaks disappear from sight. Do you think Aite would be willing to allow me to examine it?” I asked Jack, finishing taping one of the radscorpion’s pincers and moving to the next one. “Magical analysis isn’t exactly my field of expertise, but I might be able to learn something.”

“Doubt it, about the only time I saw her without that cloak was when we were having sex,” Jack replied, moving slightly away from the mutated animal to assert his work on the tail, then grabbed it and tried to move it. Apparently he wasn’t quite satisfied, as he grabbed another rope and started to tie it around the radscorpion, lifting the arachnid a bit to move the line underneath it. “Or you know, morning after and stuff.”

“I see…” I said slowly; I very much wanted to ask him - respectfully, of course - about his experience with interspecies sexual intercourse and how it was viewed in the Wasteland, but learning more about those Invisibility Cloaks took priority. For now. “Pity. Do you happen to know where she had gotten that cloak then, sweetie?” I asked, hoping that if Aite wouldn’t allow me to examine hers then maybe I could get my hooves on another Invisibility Cloak.

Unfortunately, Jack shook his head. “No idea. I assumed that she had gotten it from one of the Remnants, but as I learned later their cloaks cease to work after their owner gets killed. Probably one of her early bounties had one and she just took it,” he added with a shrug, tying up the ropes together.

“Remnants?” I repeated quizzically as I used my magic to put a leather belt around the radscorpion’s pincers and tried to buckle it.

Jack leaned over to help me. “A bunch of striped yahoos who didn’t get the memo that the war was over,” he said as he pulled by the end of the belt and fastened the buckle. I looked at him in surprise as he added: “They operate around Hoofington.”

“Really?” I exclaimed, surprised, then hummed thoughtfully. “Well, I suppose that from a technical point of view they are right, if there was never any signed peace agreement of any kind then strictly legally speaking we are still in a state of war. Although I honestly don’t see the point in continuing fighting… who are they exactly fighting?”

“Honestly, about everybody who isn’t them I think,” Jack said, looking at me oddly. Before I could question it, he sighed, rolled his eyes upwards and asked: “I’m probably going to regret asking that, but, considering what you’ve said about the war still technically going on, what exactly would you do about the zebras if you’d rebuild Equestria and become its Princess?”

Ah, that explained his exasperation. “Well, first of all, sweetie, it’s when I rebuild Equestria and become its Princess,” I corrected him, causing him to sigh again. “But regarding your question… hm, I must admit, that’s a delicate matter to consider,” I told him, rubbing my chin as I pondered it. “Obviously, this would be some long term planning, as reconstruction of Equestria would take priority, but nevertheless it is a certain… chapter, shall we say, that should be properly closed. Ideally, after becoming the Princess of Equestria I would hold a peace summit with a leader of the Zebra Empire… Considering what you’ve briefly mentioned, though, I doubt they have any sort of government at the present time?” I asked Jack, turning to him.

The griffin - who actually appeared to regret his question already, judging by his expression - gave a reluctant nod. “No, they never elected a new Caesar after the last one two hundred years ago. Don’t even get me started on that one,” he added, rolling his eyes. “They’ve basically split up into different Legions and have been fighting each other ever since. There are also a few towns that are more or less neutral in all of this.”

I frowned hearing his very brief explanation of the political state of affairs in the Zebra Empire. “I think you’re omitting a lot of details, sweetie.”

“Yes, I am,” Jack admitted, deadpanning, and pointed a talon at me. “Because I would like to get an answer today.”

I pouted, but decided to relent for now. “Very well, but please do tell me about those Remnants then. Do they represent Zebra Empire’s authority in any form? Because if that’s the case, then after rebuilding Equestria I could work through them to establish peace and repair relationships between our two nations.”

Once again, the griffin rolled his eyes. “Well, they are supposedly led by a Legate - basically Caesar’s second-in-command - but considering that they were appointed by the zebras’ Caesar himself, it seems unlikely their leader really is one. I did hear some rumors about him while I was still in the zebralands, almost every zebra there considers him to be a phony using a self-styled empty title.”

“I see…” I mused, feeling slightly disappointed. “Well, it would be easier to make peace and help the zebras if they’d rebuild their nation as well, but I suppose if in the zebralands those Legions are busy fighting themselves, they’d pose no threat to Equestria… though I’d still want to help them,” I added, frowning a little. “As for those Remnants, though, they would have to be dealt with. If they truly believe the war isn’t over and act based on that belief, then they’d pose threat to my subjects. Hopefully my diplomatic skills would be enough to solve this problem.”

“And if they’re not?” Jack asked, an eyebrow raised.

I shrugged. “Then they’d be dealt with another way until they’d be open to negotiations.”

Jack snorted. “Yeah, because that worked wonders for Equestria the first time.”

His remark made me slightly bristle. “I would make it work, then,” I told him, narrowing my gaze. “You asked me what I would do about the zebras, and I gave you my reply. I would seek peace, but I would not stand by and allow harm come to my subjects.”

The griffin grunted, then asked “Okay, so assuming you’d have dealt with those Remnants, what would you do with the other zebras?”

“As I said, as long as they fight among themselves they’d pose no threat to Equestria. I suppose I would try to help them and mend our relations… possibly I could seek those of the Legions that could be convinced that we needed to put the war behind us and work for a better future and offer them aid so that they could choose a Caesar from amongst themselves, and then we’d have peace.”

“I sincerely doubt this could work out that easily,” Jack replied. “Or that a zebra who accepted help from a pony ‘princess’ would be chosen as a Caesar. Hell, you becoming the Princess of Equestria seems possible in comparison,” he added with a snort as he resumed tying up the radscorpion, but not before glancing at me and saying sarcastically, “Just make sure to not blow up the world a second time afterwards, okay?”

“Sweetie, that suggestion, even if said as a joke, is so unrealistic that I won’t even dignify it with a response,” I told pointedly, helping him tie the arachnid’s legs together.

Jack just snorted, but otherwise he didn’t reply. He appeared to be quite happy to be able to work in silence for a few moments. We were soon done with the legs, and Jack returned his attention to the tail again; understandable, considering that the stinger it ended with was possibly the most dangerous part of the animal. I instead looked it over, the beautiful creature bound so tightly it wouldn’t be able to move an inch.

Poor thing, Fluttershy said sadly, on the verge of tears as she looked at it along with me.

“Poor thing,” I agreed, nodding, and leaned over the radscorpion. I pressed my hoof next to its eyes, very gently petting it. “But this is for its own good. If it will not be tamed, then it would continue to hunt ponies, eventually getting itself killed.”

“Or right now,” Jack cut in; I almost staggered in alarm, realizing that I just spoke to Fluttershy out loud. Fortunately, judging by the griffin’s expression, he assumed I had been speaking to him, or just to myself. “Since I was about to kill it if Aite didn’t convince me to let you have this pet. But if this thing breaks out, I will kill it, got it?”

“Oh believe me, sweetie, you have made your stance on the matter quite clear,” I replied, frowning at him.

Jack held my gaze for a few seconds, then he sighed and his expression softened a bit. “Look, sorry, but I consider our lives more important than some oversized insect’s. Yeah, arachnid, shut up,” he added with annoyance as I opened my mouth to correct him. “So if this little experiments of yours doesn’t work out, I’ll have to end it before you get yourself or somebody else killed.”

Sighing, I relented. “I suppose I can respect that,” I told him, turning back to the radscorpion. “Although honestly, I don’t understand why your - or anyone’s in the Wasteland, as it seems - first answer to solving a problem is through murder.”

I was slightly surprised when Jack didn’t reply immediately; rather, as I petted the radscorpion again, a complete silence fell upon us for a few seconds. Just as I noticed Pinkie’s apparition looking in his direction with worry, he finally said, “You really shouldn’t pick up that argument right now considering what we were arguing about before this thing attacked us.”

I let out a “Hm?” as I turned back to him, confused… then I remembered. The anger on his face had helped with that. “That’s not murder,” I told him, a chill spreading down my spine.

Judging by the way his brow furrowed, he misinterpreted my words, but before I could explain, he raised his paw, closing his eyes. “I don’t want to argue about this again now. I… need to think about this calmly. But if Apple Core is pregnant we will get back to it,” he added with a hint of a warning as he sat down, rubbing his temples and leaning against the wall of the cavern.

One discussion I was not looking forward to. Oh well, at least he realized he needs to calm down, I thought, my hoof going to my throat and massaging it idly. I’ll have to learn how to do what Aite had done… and speaking of…

“Where do you think Aite is?” I asked as I turned back to Jack.

The griffin sighed and dropped his forelegs. “Probably scouting the Stable or looking for the exit from this damn cavern, the radscorpion must have dragged that slaver in here through some entrance. Despite the… attitude she displayed by disappearing instead of helping with your pet, she is a veteran bounty hunter; you don’t live too long in this line of work if you don’t learn how to be careful. That, and…” he paused to grimace and cover his eyes with his paw again. “And I honestly doubt anyone would want to listen to our idiotic banter.”

“I wouldn’t call our conversation an ‘idiotic banter’, sweetie,” I told him, frowning.

“Yeah, well, we better wait a bit for her to get back, she’s going to try and spook us by appearing out of nowhere wherever we are so we might as well be sitting down for it.”

“A fair assessment,” I agreed, sitting down beside him. “If you don’t mind me asking, sweetie” I began, ignoring the soft groan the griffin had uttered, “I was wondering, what exactly is the difference between a mercenary like yourself and a bounty hunter like Aite?”

“Basically,” Jack began, shrugging, “a mercenary gets hired to do a job, while a bounty hunter just picks a bounty and collects a reward. Some people place rewards for doing certain things, often killing or capturing certain people, make a notice or something that they place in their town. A bounty hunter then sees it and decides to do it. So you could say that it's a more independant kind of profession, and more competitive one since you wouldn’t be the only one who saw that notice about a reward.”

“Hm, I see… but wait, couldn’t a mercenary also go after such ‘bounties’?” I asked, frowning.

The griffin rolled his eyes. “Yep, did so myself. And a ‘bounty hunter’ could always get hired by somebody, so they’d be doing a ‘mercenary job’. Honestly, there’s not really that big of a difference between the two.”

I had to agree, there really wasn’t… though there was some difference. Just as Jack had said, bounty hunters sounded as more ‘independant’. They could just wait until somebody posted a notice about a bounty that they’d want to collect… assuming, of course, there was a big enough of a selection.

“Are bounties common in the Wasteland?” I asked Jack. “I don’t recall seeing any notices of such kind anywhere in Appleloosa or New Appleloosa.”

“You’d have to look those up in bigger towns. The closest one you’d be able to find bounty notices relatively easy would be Friendship City in Manehattan. But at some point somepony in a smaller town would need something done and would post notices too, it’s just more rare since less ponies live there. And of course,” he added, “there’s always Hoofington.”

“Hoofington?” I repeated, recalling that this was where Aite had come from. “What do you mean?”

Instead of replying, Jack raised an eyebrow and asked, “What would you say are the biggest, most important groups in the Wasteland? You’ve been out here a few weeks now, you should be able to make a guess.”

Slightly put off by the sudden change of subject, I hesitated. “Well… slavers are a group of some importance.” The snort Jack let out had let me know his opinion of their ‘importance’; still, he waved for me to continue, “Obviously, this Red Eye’s group would be one of the biggest.” It had to be; looking through Cutter’s records, I was able to learn that almost all of the slaves through the last couple of years had been sent to Fillydelphia, sold to Red Eye. It was quite an impressive number on its own, and considering he had to have enough ponies to keep an eye on those slaves… “Steel Rangers, too… the Enclave, although they technically don’t live in the Wasteland… and I suppose those alicorns you’ve told me about that work together with Red Eye.”

To think that one so close in form to the Goddesses would stoop to work with such a misguided pony.... let alone multiples of them!

“Sounds about right,” Jack nodded. “We could add to that raiders; even though they aren’t exactly organized, and bigger settlements, like Tenpony or Friendship City, although they don’t pay much attention to anything happening outside their borders. But yeah, that’s around five factions. Now, take that number,” he told me, gesticulating with his paw to emphasize his words, “add a few more, and put them all around a single pre-war city. You’d pretty much get Hoofington. All those different groups, crammed into such small area. A powder keg waiting to explode…” he commented, shaking his head. “But, anyway, with all those different factions living together, there are naturally far more jobs that need to be taken care of, which means more bounties. One of the factions there, called Finders, is neutral between all of their squabbles, so their towns are sort of ‘neutral grounds’, and those other factions conduct their bounties through them. And of course, since the other groups don’t exactly like each other, there is quite a number of jobs that are either about hindering other groups in some way, or straight out assassinating somepony.” The griffin shook his head, then gave me a long, judging look in utter silence before adding: “I think you’d like it there. I could easily see you loving two of those factions, just off the top of my head, and you’d probably be able to get along with most of the others. Heck, considering fricking Gorgon…” he said as he trailed off, shaking his head again.

As I wondered what was that last one supposed to mean, I found myself agreeing with Jack’s assessment; the prospect of living in a place with so many different groups sounded interesting, to say the least, even though I knew next to nothing about them right now. I could just see myself interacting with them, allying with some and using or undermining others, all for the purpose of amassing support for my goal of becoming the Princess of Equestria as well as continuing my experiments! I was curious what those two factions Jack said I’d “love” were like, but as fun as learning about potential future allies and making more long-term political plans, I prefered on focusing on more pressing matters. Like learning more about my current allies.

“Why didn’t you?” I asked Jack curiously. “Aite told me you’ve stayed in Hoofington for only about a month.”

“Too crowded,” Jack replied simply, then, noticing my raised eyebrow, he elaborated “With so many groups already there, starting your own mercenary company would be more difficult than it was worth the effort. There weren’t even any Talon companies there last year, and the one or two that are there now are working for Red Eye. Being on my own would be even harder, since I wanted to make a name for myself.” Jack grimaced and added, “Hell, it would have been harder because of my name; I wasn’t there for a week when I got an invitation to meet with Big Daddy Reaper.”

“Big Daddy Reaper?” I repeated, slightly baffled by the name.

Jack chuckled. “Yeah... believe it or not, that’s not the weirdest name I’ve heard in Hoofington. Anyway, he was curious if Bloodtalons are as good as they say and if so he wanted to offer me to join the Reapers. So I went to Hoofington Dome, met the guy, beat up one of his Reapers in a fight as a demonstration, then politely declined. He was disappointed, but accepted it, so nothing really changed for me. But afterwards, the other factions also became interested in me, and eventually I came to a conclusion that they would continue bothering me - or, try to bother me,” he amended, waving his paw dismissively, “after Big Daddy’s emissary I’d tended to avoid whoever came looking for me - or they would eventually just try to kill me unless I would finally join somebody. So, I left,” he finished, shrugging.

“How come you didn’t want to join any of them?” I asked, tilting my head in confusion. “All those different factions, and none of them-”

“I didn’t leave the Bloodtalons just to chain myself to some other group so easily,” he interrupted me, answering the question before I could properly finish it. He shrugged and added, “And besides, there was also something about Hoofington itself that didn’t really sit well with me.”

“‘Didn’t sit well’?” I repeated, confused. “What do you mean, sweetie?”

“Dunno, maybe all that crap I heard about it in the zebralands had rubbed off on me,” he replied with a snort. Before I could ask him what he meant by that, he added, “Although when I told Aite that I didn’t like it and I would be leaving, she laughed and called me smart, so it can’t be just that nonsense… and speaking of, are you going to be out long?!” he suddenly raised his voice as he turned towards the Stable, addressing - obviously - the bat pony in question. He then fell silent, listening for a reply, then when he didn’t receive one for a few heartbeats he leaned back against the wall and murmured: “Fucking annoying…”

Being abruptly reminded of Aite’s prolonged absence, I felt a pang of worry. “You don’t think she run into any trouble in the Stable, sweetie?” I asked, recalling how I got my leg caught in a bear trap in Stable Eleven.

But Jack snorted dismissively. “For the first few years after she started working as a bounty hunter, the only ponies who know about her existence were the one or two Finders that she would see about her rewards. She’s that stealthy. Trust me, if there is anything down there, they have no idea she’s there too.”

My eyes widened slightly in surprise. “Oh… I was more concerned about traps actually-”

“She can fly,” Jack reminded me.

“Oh, right,” I exclaimed, feeling my cheeks slightly heating up from embarrassment. I hoped Jack couldn’t see it; while it indeed seemed like an embarrassing oversight, I had spent a far longer part of my life surrounded by ponies who couldn’t fly, so I felt that I had been justified in my worries. Still, I was eager to change the subject, and I had many important things I wanted to ask him, so I cleared my throat and began, “Since we’re talking about Aite, sweetie... I don’t mean to pry-”

“I sincerely doubt that,” Jack remarked, turning to me with a deadpan.

As I didn’t hear him tell me to stay quiet, I continued “Do you mind explaining to me the exact nature of your and Aite’s relationship?”

“Yes,” Jack replied, his expression not changing.

“I’m just confused, she had told me that you weren’t exactly in a relationship - the use of past tense was especially intriguing, if I might say - but it seemed to me that she had expressed to still have interest in you.”

Jack let a loud, drawn out sigh, and covered his eyes with his paw again while shaking his head. After a few seconds, he lifted it and glanced at me. “Not that this is any of your business, but it’s not that she still has an interest in me… well, not exactly. Ugh, look, Aite and I weren’t really a couple back in the Hoof,” Jack began to explain, grimacing a little. “Neither one of us wanted a relationship, we just had sex for a couple of weeks and she had let me crash at her place.”

So they were living together for a few weeks and weren’t in a relationship? Pinkie Pie asked, blinking in surprise. Wow, I had no idea the definition of a relationship had changed in two hundred years!

It was hard for me to tell if she had said that sarcastically or not; whatever the case, her remark gave me an idea how to respond to Jack.

“So the two of you were living together for a few weeks, engaging in sexual intercourse and weren’t in a relationship?” I asked Jack, raising an eyebrow sceptically. “I had no idea that the definition of a relationship is different in the Wasteland than in my Stable.”

Jack turned to me with a deadpan. “Sarcasm is unbecoming of you, Doctor. As I said, neither of us wanted a relationship, so we both agreed that our… arrangement was temporary. We did like each other and stuff, so I suppose that, since you apparently are determined to put a label on it,” he added, glancing at me, “you could say we were bang-buddies.”

Well, this did give me some idea as to what was their relationship. “But you aren’t now?” I asked to specify.

Jack rolled his eyes up into the cavern’s ceiling and groaned. “When I got back into Tenpony and run into her, we banged. After we caught up over drinks and stuff, of course. But then after we talked some more about what I’ll do when I get here and Aite offered to come with, well... I have a few rules I try to live by, and one of them is to not have sex with people I work with,” Jack explained. “I also don’t have sex while on a job for that matter, something that I was never able to convince Blast to try too…” he muttered, his gaze losing his focus as he no doubt reminisced about his friend. “Would you believe that guy once screwed our client’s daughter instead of keeping watch? Idiot…” the griffin added, in a warmer tone than his words would suggest he’d use.

I gave him a few more seconds to reminisce as I tried to wrap my head around what he just said. “You don’t have sexual intercourse with people you work with? May I ask why?” Frowning, I elaborated, “I can understand why, in your line of work, you wouldn’t have sex while ‘on duty’, so to speak, but-”

“It affects the group’s dynamic, usually negatively, and if the relationship ends badly it would mean I’d lose a valuable team member,” Jack replied before I could finish. “Or I would be stuck with a team member who resents me. Either way, bad.”

I blinked, surprised. “But… that’s just assuming the relationship would end badly,” I couldn’t help but point out the flaw. “And besides, considering that you and Aite already had a relationship, as non committed as it was, doesn’t it make it a moot point?”

Jack frowned at me with annoyance before replying, “Possibly. Either way, I don’t have sex while working, so even overlooking my past relationship with Aite we would still not do anything while we’re here. Which amuses her,” he added a snort. “Maybe even annoys her a little. So she’s probably going to tease the shit out of me through this entire experience. Especially after that ‘old associate’ crap I said,” Jack groaned as he pressed both of his paws to his face.

“Um…” I began, finding his behaviour a touch odd. “Sweetie, I’m afraid I’m a bit confused.”

Jack shot me an annoyed glare. “Wasteland’s dumbest genius,” he said, earning a glare from me in return, which he ignored. “Even though we weren’t ‘in love’, or any of that stuff, she’s obviously closer to me than just ‘old associate’. She’s my friend, best one now actually, but because of our past and our current… work-oriented relationship, I felt a bit awkward, and sorta panicked a little, so I said-”

“Aww, how cute.”

“Oh for the love of-!” Jack hissed as he turned to the bat pony that appeared beside him (startling me a little in the process).

“The big bad soldier boy, getting all flustered because little old me,” Aite continued to mock him, faking innocence and speaking sweetly while clearly being highly amused. “Oh, and would you look at that, I’m his best friend; that’s just precious!”

“Fuck you,” Jack told her, his gaze turning into a deadpan.

The bat pony just smirked. “Bring it!” she told him playfully, spreading her forelegs and puffing her chest out.

Jack’s deadpan turned into a frown, then he looked at me. “See? This shit right here is a whole other reason why sleeping with somebody you work with is a very bad idea,” he said, pointing at Aite.

His remark got a chuckle out of the bat pony. “Oh, lighten up already, would you?” she said, rolling her eyes at him. She then glanced to the side, at the tied up radscorpion. “Oh neat, you’ve finished tying it up.”

“Yeah, thanks for all your help,” Jack retorted with a snort.

“You are welcome.”

I could hardly blame Jack for letting out a soft growl after Aite’s reply. The griffin took a moment to compose himself before saying, “What did you find out?”

The bat pony shrugged. “Nothing interesting. There’s an exit out of the cavern that way,” she said, pointing further down one of the tunnels. “It has a big dead tree toppled right over it, probably makes it impossible to spot the entrance from the outside. Didn’t check, there’s still a storm outside,” she added, then began pointing around us. “Those tunnels branch off into a few small corridors, each leading to a ladder with a hatch over it, similar to Crazy’s. And as for the Stable, everything in it is dead. Well, except for some radroaches, but I somehow doubt that they are responsible…”

My ears perked up with interest. Do you think this is where Snuggles, Wigglebutt and their friend came from? I asked Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. They could have come out looking for food…

“‘Everything in it is dead’, as in ‘there is nothing there’, or ‘there’s a bunch of dead bodies and/or skeletons’?” Jack asked Aite.

“The latter.”

“Ugh, any idea what killed them all?”

“That’s not really among my skills,” the bat pony replied, shrugging. “But I noticed that practically all of the skeletons had fractured or broken bones. Maybe a big fight had broken out or something?”

“Great, just like Stable Eleven,” Jack commented, snorting.

I also found myself disappointed. To hear that Stable had apparently succumbed to the very same fate, that ponies had descended into madness that compelled them to kill each other… it was saddening, to say the least.

Despite his dismissive words, Jack glanced in the direction of the Stable with uncertainty in his eyes. “So no bullet holes in skulls or anything like that?” he asked, turning to Aite.

“Not that I noticed, but I didn’t really look that closely. Admittedly, it is a little weird that they all just beaten each other up to the death,” Aite said, waving with her hoof, “since at the very least the security had to have some guns, but maybe they were used deeper in the Stable or something and I didn’t look that far.”

“How come?”

“Remember how I said that everything is dead down there? I also meant the lights.” As I blinked in surprise, Aite continued, “Since I can only assume that means the Stable is out of power, I’m guessing that their ventilation system must be offline too, and I didn’t want to risk passing out and suffocating.”

“But that’s impossible,” I began, frowning. “According to what I read in Stable Eight’s Stable-Tec’s notes, each Stable’s spark generator could provide power for the Stable for hundreds of years, and even in the event that something would damage it, the auxiliary spark generator would still keep critical life-support installations and emergency lights working.”

“They probably got both blown up, then,” Aite replied, shrugging. “Everything of value on the level I checked out had been trashed; I even found two utterly destroyed terminals in there.”

Again, I blinked. “Utterly destroyed terminals? But… they’re extremely durable. Stable-Tec had been known to build everything to last for a reason. And you yourself had just said that this Stable’s citizens had all apparently beaten each other to death, sweetie; it’s impossible that they had been able to destroy terminals with their bare hooves.”

“Well, they did, apparently,” Jack said. “I agree that’s a little weird, but a ‘little weird’ is pretty much a standard when dealing with Stables,” he added, making quotation marks with his talons. “But that’s none of our business.”

“None of- excuse me, sweetie?” I asked, frowning. “What do you mean?”

“That we’re not going down there and try to figure it out,” the griffon replied, to my utter bafflement. I opened my mouth to object, but the look he gave me gave me pause. “I don’t know how you forgot, but we still have to discuss how exactly we’ll get about getting information from Black Widow about Scope, you have to replace organs and limbs of those… test subjects of yours,” he added with a slight grimace as he counted on his talons. “Oh, and I assume before we get around doing either of that, you’ll want us to move that radscorpion of yours up into your basement?”

“Well, of course, sweetie, I’ll want to observe him as much as possible, and-” I began, only two be abruptly stopped by Jack as he grabbed my muzzle.

“Yeah, so we really don’t have the time to start exploring this Stable. Yes, we have all night,” he added with an eye roll as Aite opened her mouth, her eyebrow raised, “but considering that there seems to be nothing of value inside and like you’ve said we could suffocate down there, I don’t feel like satisfying my curiosity. You can always check it at a later date - preferably after our business if concluded - since I doubt the Stable will go anywhere. Now,” he said, releasing my muzzle, “before we come up with a way to move this ridiculous pet project of yours, there’s one more thing to discuss. You’ve said that there are other ladders and hatches around in the tunnels?” he asked, turning to Aite.

Although I couldn’t disagree with Jack’s logic, I felt a little disappointed that I wouldn’t get to find out what happened to this Stable right away. Well, maybe “disappointed” wasn’t the right word. Annoyed, rather. Still, I knew Jack had a point, so I begrudgingly made a mental note to explore it at the earliest convenience. Which, admittedly, would be after examining the radscorpion, at the very least.

“Yeah, I figure they must have been built for some more important ponies, like the town’s doctor, so that they could make it to the Stable,” Aite replied to Jack’s question. “I think I heard somewhere that the president of Stable-Tec had a lot of relatives here, too, so-”

“Nepotism,” Jack murmured, casting his gaze up into the cavern’s ceiling and shaking his head.

His comment seemed to amuse Aite. “Doesn’t your family run a big mercenary company? But yeah, seems like it,” she resumed, utterly ignoring the look Jack gave her. “Anyway, I know what you’re thinking, but I can’t tell if one of them leads to Black Widow’s house, I’m too turned around down here.”

Jack looked upwards again, then turned his head in the direction where the ladder leading to my clinic was. “Should be somewhere over there,” he finally said, pointing in another direction.

“Then yes, I think there is one leading to Black Widow’s house. Want me to check it out?”

But the griffin shook his head. “No, I don’t want to walk into this blindly. For all we know she also uses her basement for some unspeakable things,” he added, glancing at me in a manner that, quite honestly, I found a bit offensive. “But it would make our lives easier if we could just use this underground passage to get to her house… something we’ll have to discuss, I guess.” He turned his attention back to the radscorpion as he slowly scratched the side of his beak, then frowned and sighed. “Okay, let’s get this stupid shit over with. Do either of you have any idea how to move the radscorpion back up the ladder?”

Pleased to hear that he still intended to help me with this fascinating creature, I cleared my throat. “Well, sweetie, I’ve been thinking that we should try tying another rope around it and carefully pull it upstairs into my laboratory.”

“I somehow doubt that the three of us will be enough to pull a radscorpion up that ladder, even assuming it will fit through the hatch. Especially considering your… lets say meager strength,” he decided, raising an eyebrow at me as if expecting I would argue. Which didn’t make sense, seeing how he was right. “And considering that Aite will be probably gone again the moment we turn our attention back to her. See?” Jack groaned, as he pointed to the spot where Aite had been sitting a moment ago.

I decided not to say out loud that I had noticed her putting on her hood a second before.

The griffin just shook his head and turned his attention back to the radscorpion. “Alright, let's start attaching longer ropes to it, then I’ll pull while you try to lift it up with your magic, it should help a little. Unless of course you changed your mind and decided that you can do whatever it was you want to do to it down here,” he added, glancing at me with annoyance.

Shaking my head, I replied: “No sweetie, I’m sorry but I’ll need to keep it in a controlled environment to properly study it.”

“Of course,” he said, rolling his eyes.

Without another word, he reached down to the duffle bag he had brought, pulling out a longer piece of rope, and began tying it to the restraints of the radscorpion. I helped him out as best as I could, eager to see the radscorpion safely placed in my laboratory.

I’ll have to move one of the test subjects from his cell, I decided. After acquiring Thorny Locust as my newest test subject I had placed her in my last free cell. True, I still had the room in the clinic that I used as a storage room, but it was too risky to hide the radscorpion there. Hm, I think it would be best if Cutter and Manacles were to share a cell… I will be moving them in order to conduct the surgery, after all, so I might as well move them. I’d better chain them to the opposite ends of the cell once it is done, just to be safe.

I’m sure you know best, Fluttershy’s apparition commented, her voice devoid of emotion as she looked away.

Pinkie frowned, troubled. Well, I’m sure they’d be glad for some company at the very least.

I hoped they couldn’t pick up on the mild annoyance I felt. If I had to have two apparitions in my head - a curious and not at all bad experience - couldn’t they be apparitions of ponies a little more enthusiastic about my research?

“There, all done,” Jack’s words pulled me out of my musing. The griffin was giving the ropes we tied a last checking pull, then nodded satisfied. “Help me pull.”

I eyed the rocky terrain underneath us. “Sweetie, are you sure-”

“The bullets from my rifle barely gotten through this things carapace, I’m sure it can survive being pulled through some rocks,” Jack snorting impatiently. “Can you-”

“Open wide!” Aite exclaimed, suddenly appearing right before Jack.

My eyes opened wide as I watched, bewildered. Aite didn’t just appear before the griffin and shout some nonsense; no, as if to make the situation more surreal, she had pressed her face against his, maneuvering with her lips to kiss him. Jack at first was pushed back, out of sheer surprise I imagine, then his eyes snapped and he pushed her away, coughing.

“The fuck?” he asked, grimacing at Aite, clearly annoyed. “What was that?”

“Buck.” Aite was sitting down, disturbingly calm considering she had just been pushed away after forcibly kissing a very dangerous griffin. Well, disturbingly calm if not for the note of amusement I detected in her rather confusing reply. “I snatched it up from Crazy’s evil lair.”

“It’s not- wait, did you give him Buck, sweetie?” I exclaimed, forgetting about correcting her in light of my realization.

“Yeah, she did,” Jack confirmed for me, still looking at Aite. “Couldn’t you just hand it to me?”

“I know how fussy you can get when it comes to using chems, especially outside of a fight, I figure I would spare us arguing how easier moving the radscorpion would be with you on Buck,” the bat pony replied, rolling her eyes. She then smirked and added, “Also, it was more fun that way.”

“Of course it was. But I’m not fussy, as you said, I just prefer to only use combat drugs when I need to, and this hardly meets my criteria.” His frown deepened and he added, “And mind explaining to me why the fuck did you just pick a pill up from her laboratory and make me swallow it? Who knows what she could have done with it!”

“She had it labeled.”

“I had it labeled,” I interrupted them in a raised voice before either of them could add anything, tired of being ignored again, “because those are the chems I’ll give Apple Core to sell around Appleloosa.”

“You’re really going to be sore about a few pills? You still want to get that thing up that ladder right?”

“While I am thankful for your help and that is indeed a good idea, sweetie, it’s not just that you took them, now I’ll have to adjust my records to account for the missing- wait, did you just say ‘a few’?” I asked, blinking in surprise as her words registered in my brain.

“Well, you never know when you’ll need chems. Or, want them, one or the other,” the bat pony said with nonchalance that made me stomp the ground in irritation.

“You can’t just take my products without even notifying me! Do you know just how much that would mess with my records? And that’s beside the fact how this will affect my income-”

“Oh for the-” Aite exclaimed, shaking her head. “If you’re going to be THAT sore about it I’ll just fucking pay you for them.”

“That’s not the point, sweetie. If you had asked me for them first, I would happily give them to you, and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, then. Are we done?” Aite asked, uttering a tired sigh.

Not satisfied at all, I opened my mouth to retort. Before I could, however, a very annoyed griffin spoke up, “Okay, I’m done. I’m gonna go haul that thing up to your laboratory,” he said, pointing at the radscorpion, then without another word he grabbed the ropes and began to drag the arachnid towards the ladder without looking back at us.

*** *** ***

Letting out a groan, Jack hauled up the radscorpion through the hatch and placed it on the floor of my laboratory, then slumped down beside the desk, breathing heavily as he rested against it.

I rested beside him, I found myself marveling at his physical strength. True, it might have been augmented with the Buck he had taken, but I still hadn’t expected him to be able to pull the radscorpion up the ladder into my laboratory without almost any help. I of course used my Telekinesis Spell and tried my best to at least alleviate some of the animal’s weight, but I wasn’t accustomed to lifting something so heavy, and putting more strain on my horn risked the spell breaking, so I probably hadn’t been of much help.

And as of Aite, she had again disappeared before we started lifting the radscorpion.

“I must say, sweetie, that was quite impressive,” I complimented him.

Unfortunately, my words had seemed to annoy him; probably the physical ordeal - coupled with another of Aite’s disappearances - had left him in irritable mood. “It would have been even easier if you had let me cut off its limbs,” he snorted.

I frowned hearing him bring this up again. Although the radscorpion was roughly the same size as an adult pony, its limbs had caused us some difficulty getting it up through the hatch itself, even after we had tied them tightly to its body. This had caused Jack, after a few frustrating pulls, to suggest that we cut them off. Which of course I had immediately protested, explaining to the griffin that being so unfamiliar with this animal’s anatomy, I wouldn’t be able to reattach its limbs. Jack hadn’t seemed concerned about it, but he did relent, muttering something that he hadn’t wanted to hear me whine about it.

Mindful of how easily irritable the griffin was, and with a little bit of some self-control, I didn’t snap at him but instead politely replied with “Indeed it would have been, sweetie, which is why I am thankful that you had agreed to not do that.”

Jack just snorted again, in a manner that suggested that he knew that wasn’t the response that first came to my mind. Paying him no mind, I got up from the floor, and trotted over to Cutter’s cell. I had decided to use it to hold the radscorpion in; after all, this test subject was already free of his restraints and the most cooperative out of the three, meaning he would just walk over to the other cell when I told him to.

Opening the door, I found him backing away against the wall. “Hello again, sweetie,” I greeted him with a smile. Nodding at his leg, I said “I’m about to start getting ready for your surgery; however, before that, I’m going to need you to move to another cell. Would you be so kind as to walk over to it?” I asked him, moving slightly to the side of the door.

Cutter nodded, shaking a little, and began to trot away from the little corner he had backpedaled into. However, when he got to the door, and saw the bound radscorpion lying on the floor beside the desk, he had almost jumped back into it.

“W-w-what is this?!” he asked in a hoarse voice, his eyes widening in fear as he stared at it.

I placed a hoof his shoulder. Immediately, he cringed under my touch, and looked away from the radscorpion; now it was me he was staring at in panic.

“Sweetie?” I said calmly, then gestured with a nod of my head. “The other cell.”

Cutter’s eyes darted to my hoof, then back to me. “Y-yes, Mistress.”

“So, I’ve got a question.”

I’m beginning to get used to this, I think, I remarked as I calmly turned to regard Aite, who had just now appeared by the stairs leading out of my laboratory. Cutter, in contrast, all but jumped away, nudging against a cabinet in the back of the room and knocking over some of the test tubes and beakers I used when making chems.

The bat pony forgotten, he cast a terrified glance at the shattering glass, then back at me. I just smiled at him reassuringly; though I was understandably irritated, it wasn’t his fault. “It’s alright, sweetie. What is it you want to ask?” I asked as I turned back to Aite.

“And are you gonna keep disappearing every time we could use your help?” Jack added, frowning at her from beside the desk.

“I already helped,” Aite replied dismissively, probably referring to the pill of my Buck she had given him, then turned back to me. “Why does he call you ‘Mistress’?”

“Because I told him to,” I replied, a little confused why she wanted to know that.

Aite blinked, then raised an eyebrow. “You know that makes it sound as if you were doing some S/M stuff down here, right?”

I balked hearing that. “No it doesn’t,” I began to protest, but then hesitated. Considering that I kept them chained up and caused them pain… “Does it?” I asked, glancing at Jack.

The griffin shrugged reluctantly. “A bit,” he said, grimacing.

In the corner of my eye I saw Cutter jerk. When I glanced at him questioningly, he gave a tiny nod.

Yeah, kinda, Pinkie apparition told me, her eyes not meeting mine.

Fluttershy looked away, blushing.

From inside the cell where Thorny Locust was came a short laughter.

“Huh,” I exclaimed slowly, trying to process this. “Well, I guess at the very least this would explain why Candy had kept laughing until I cut out her vocal cords,” I mused out loud, conflicted about what should I do with this revelation. Blankly, I noted that the laughter had stopped, and that Jack and Aite were looking at me with eyebrows raised in surprise. “Although the title they refer to me has nothing to do with anything of that sort, I wouldn’t want to make a wrong impression…”

“She captures ponies for experiments but cares about what they think about what she makes them call her,” Jack said, groaning as he raised his paw to his temple.

“Did you seriously cut out a pony’s vocal cords?” Aite asked instead, sounding carefully curious.

“She was my first test subject, I wasn’t yet experienced in inspiring obedience in them. I sewed them back in once she had learned some manners,” I replied, a touch defensively.

As both Jack and Aite (and Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie) looked at me, appalled, I remembered that Cutter was still waiting. Turning around, I trotted over to Manacles' cell and opened it, motioning for the unicorn to enter it. The earth pony who was chained to a pipe at the end of the small room looked up with empty eyes.

“Manacles, sweetie, you’re going to have a cellmate,” I told him pleasantly as Cutter entered the cell. “You’ll get to enjoy each other’s company as a reward for good behaviour. Cutter, sweetie, please stay over here,” I told the unicorn, pointing at the spot near the door. At the same time, I grabbed a hold of a pair of hoofcuffs from my desk with my magic. As I began to cuff him to the pipe, I added, “I’m going to switch your legs and livers back in a few moments, I just need to take care of one tiny thing first.”

As Cutter nodded meekly, I smiled and turned away, closing the door to their cell behind me. “I thought you were dead?” I heard Manacles ask Cutter in a weak voice before the door closed.

In the short time I had been busy, Aite had moved to stand closer to Jack. Both had been watching me, and when they had my attention again, the bat pony commented “Well, this creepy display had certainly moved you up on my list of mad scientists.”

Uttering a tired sigh, I began - futilely, as I feared - to correct her again. “Sweetie, I am not a mad scientist. I am very calm and collected pony, and contrary to what you seem to think, I am not insane.”

“Yeah, I don’t think either of us buys that,” Aite commented, pointing at herself and Jack. The griffin in question had merely sighed, rolled his eyes, and proceeded to drag the radscorpion into the open cell that Cutter had previously occupied. Aite, in the meantime, had smirked at me and added, “And besides, wouldn’t you agree that an opinion of somepony with more experience on the matter would be the more correct one?”

“Um… well, usually that would be the case, sweetie,” I replied carefully, unsure what she could mean by that. “Why do you ask that?”

Aite chuckled briefly. “Told you I have a ‘list’, didn’t I? You’re about the fourth mad scientist I know. Well, maybe fourth,” she amended as I blinked at her in surprise. “I’m unsure about one… she seems sane, but you have to be pretty fucked up to turn most of your body into a machine.”

Machine? “I… beg your pardon?” I asked, trying to process what her words suggested. Which, given how confusing her words were, wasn’t easy.

“Wait,” Jack spoke up, turning his head to look at her over his withers as he pushed the radscorpion into the cell, “who’s the other two then? I assume one is that ghoul freak that hangs around the Reapers, but I can’t think of anypony else back in the Hoofington.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t have known him, I’ve killed him years ago,” Aite said dismissively. “Some crazy buck was capturing ghouls, when Meatlocker put a bounty on him I found his lair and sneaked in, it turned out that he was trying to turn them into his private army that would obey his every command. Probably would have liked that talisman that is apparently stapled into that zebra’s brain,” she commented, glancing briefly at the cell where Cutter was in, then shrugged. “Anyway, thought I’d be creative so instead of slitting his throat like usual I unlocked the feral ghoul’s cells. Wish I had recorded what happened next, Meatlocker might have paid extra,” she added with an amused snort. Noticing my questioning gaze, she explained before I could ask, “They ate him alive.”

I lifted my eyebrows with interest. “Really? I knew that feral ghouls attack ponies on sight, but I had no idea they do so in order to feed… especially since ghouls don’t need to eat in the first place…”

“As fun as this conversation is,” Jack spoke up, turning away from his task; the radscorpion was safely lying bound within the cell, ready to be examined and observed. The griffin pointed with his talon at the other cell and continued, “you have some job to do, I believe, and you don’t need us for it. Meet us upstairs once you’re done, we’ll discuss how we get what we need from Black Widow. Let’s go Aite,” he added to the bat pony as he trotted over to the stairs.

A little upset that I couldn’t finish my conversation, I nodded reluctantly. “Very well, sweetie. I’ll join you as soon as I can.”

“Don’t work too fast,” Aite told me as she passed by me, smirking and winking. “I’m gonna try and get a quickie out of him.”

“Not gonna happen!” Jack called from up the stairs while I tried to think of a better way to reply.

Aite rolled her eyes and followed after him. “You’re no fun when you’re working, you know that? No wonder we never worked together before…”

… They’re certainly an interesting pair, I commented as the two left my laboratory.

As Fluttershy and Pinkie nodded, I turned my attention to the radscorpion. I couldn’t wait to begin examining it! And trying to tame him, so that it would be friendly enough to release him from all those bindings.

I hope we’ll be able to convince it that we mean no harm, Fluttershy said, looking at the arachnid with pity. Maybe it’ll warm up to you sooner if you give it some food?

It had spent the last few days devouring a pony, I think if I’d try to feed it now it wouldn’t eat, I noted, but my mind was already working on an idea. My gaze traveled from the radscorpion to some of the canned food I had stored down here. I had been working on a special feed for Snuggles and Wigglebut… I remarked, frowning. The special feed had Buck and Mint-als grounded into it at the proportions that I calculated would be ideal for the radroaches. Adjusting the formula for a radscorpion wouldn’t be too hard… I was curious how it would affect the radroaches, but watching how it would affect a radscorpion made me beyond curious. Will have to start working on that after the operation, I said, smiling.

That’s… good? Fluttershy said, frowning. As long as it's safe for the radscorpion.

Of course it will be, I replied, rolling my eyes and I walked over the the arachnid to pet it gently. I wouldn’t want an animal to suffer… did you give some thought to what I had said before? I asked, changing the subject. I had realized that they’ve hadn’t yet told me what they think, and their opinion mattered to me as much as Jack’s, if not more. I needed to know what they thought. About my goal and dream, I mean. To achieve immortality and share it with everybody, ensuring that nobody ever will die?

The two apparitions gave an Oh, of realization, then shared a look. I didn’t really like the troubled expressions on their muzzles.

Well… Pinkie began, it certainly seems like your heart is in the right place?

We can understand why you want to do that, Fluttershy said in turn. You just want to protect ponies. But, um… she began timidly, looking away briefly. Angel… are you sure it would… actually be possible?

Why wouldn’t it be? I asked, smiling. Everything is possible, darlings. You just need to find the right spell, the right method, the right course of action. Weren’t there ponies who thought it would be impossible to heal an entire army when you came up with the idea of megaspells, Fluttershy? I chuckled warmly and looked at her with admiration. But you proved them wrong-

The words died in my… mind, I guess, when I saw Fluttershy. She was staring at me, wide eyed with tears forming in the corners, and mouth hanging open, then promptly closed them and looked down, shaking.

As I watched Pinkie Pie trot over to her and offer her a hug, I began to mentally curse at myself. Being a doctor of medicine, I of course knew about the Ministry of Peace creation, the Mass Healing Megaspell, the first megaspell ever invented. I knew that it had been Ministry Mare Fluttershy who had effectively invented it, and by extension, all the other megaspells.

Just as I knew what the megaspells had done to Equestria.

Fluttershy? I tried speaking to her. The tiny pegasus looked up from Pinkie’s embrace with one blue eye. I’m sorry. I should have known this wouldn’t be a pleasant thing for you to remember. It’s just… that when I think of your creation, I think of the positives. I think about how you tried to protect life, just like me. It’s not your fault that your creation had been so perverted, just like it’s not your fault that the zebras had gotten a hold of it and then used it on Equestria, in such… cowardly, murderous, genocidal manner, no less! I finished, stomping angrily as I thought about all the ponies who had died in the balefire. Fluttershy, too, must have been reminded of it, because now an actual tear appeared in her eye, and she shook again. My anger immediately left me, and I leaned closer, brushing against the apparition’s side gently with my muzzle. What I am trying to say, darling, is that you did what your heart had believed to be right. Nopony can blame you for that, I added, offering her a sad smile as I said those words. Least of all you.

Fluttershy looked up again, and finally gave me a tiny smile and a nod. Happy to see that she had started to recover, I petted the radscorpion one last time, left and closed its cell, and turned to the other one.

Alright, now to switch those organs back…

*** *** ***

When I had asked about Aite’s stealth cloak, Jack had said that the only times he had seen her without it was when or after they had sex. So when after finishing the operation I entered my room and saw her laying on my bed completely naked, save for a round topaz talisman around her neck that I had noticed earlier - in a smouldering manner no less, with her head propped up on one foreleg while the other brushed the mattress delicately, hind legs slightly bent, a leathery wing partially spread and exposing her underbelly while giving Jack, who sat on the other side of the room reading some book, a half-lidded stare - I found myself a little… conflicted.

“I’m sorry, sweetie, but may I ask what are you doing?” I asked as I trotted closer, my eyes trailing along the bat pony’s pale gray body.

Aite didn’t acknowledge me with as much as a glance, her eyes continuing to stare alluringly at Jack. “Trying to tempt him with my feminine wiles,” she replied, her voice seductively dragging the syllables of the last two words.

“Sweetie, I can see that,” I remarked, to busy to roll eyes at her reply. “Let me rephrase the question, then: why are you trying to tempt Jack with your feminine wiles on my bed?”

“Because we’d have to do it somewhere and all the other beds, by the looks and smell of them, you use for your patients?”

I hardly heard her reply, too absorbed by the sight of her cutie mark. It was very pretty, a dark cat depicted in a graceful mid-step. I recalled how effortlessly she had jumped down the passage in my laboratory while at the same time pulling on her hood, then almost the next second reappeared leaning up from the pony hole. Now it made sense, with a cutie mark like that being so agile must have come easy for her.

A soft giggle interrupted my musing. “Well, glad to know I still got it, even if I hit the wrong target,” Aite said with, as I realized when I took my eyes off her cutie mark to look at her face, an amused smirk. “Sorry Cray-Cray, but I’m not into mares; well, unless I’m drunk,” the bat pony amended as I slowly realized what she had thought me staring at her flank had meant; she then glanced at Jack and added, “or if it’s a threesome, I don’t mind extra company then…”

Jack didn’t even look up from his book. “Definitely not gonna happen,” he said, turning over a page.

Aite rolled her yellow eyes and turned back to me, eyebrow raised as she smirked. “Besides, I’m old enough to be your mother, even if you were a buck that would be weird to me.”

Though I should be mostly concerned about correcting this misunderstanding, that remark was so… incorrect, that it irked me. “Sweetie, I’m twenty two,” I informed her, frowning. As Aite’s eyebrows rose slightly in surprise, I added “And as for my mom, she’s-”

“Then I’m old enough to be your cool hot aunt, whatever,” the bat pony interrupted me with an even more incorrect remark. One that was also… more confusing in regards to what we were talking about, actually. The amusement I detected in her tone suggested that she had meant it as a joke. “The point is, I’m not into mares.”

Swishing my tail in irritation, I gave up on correcting the mare, and instead decided to focus on, admittedly, more important matter. “I understood it, sweetie, but it appears I have to correct your mistake. I hadn’t been staring at your flank, though it is quite pleasing to the eye, of course,” I added politely, with a pleasing smile and softer gaze. “I had been admiring your cutie mark, actually. Oh, and just so you know, sweetie;” I added as a thought occurred to me. I leaned closer to her, squinting my eyes seductively, “the last mare I made love to said the same thing.”

Aite’s eyes widened in surprise… and then she grinned. “Damn, that’s impressive! Think your charms could convince this guy to change his mind about having sex at work?” she asked as she sat up and pointed at Jack.

Following her hoof, I saw that the griffin looked up from his book and deadpanned at Aite. “Hm, probably.” Ignoring that Jack turned his deadpan at me, I asked the bat pony, “But as his friend, sweetie, shouldn’t you respect his decision to not engage in sexual intercourse with you? Even if it is a little confusing considering your relation prior to coming here,” I couldn’t help but add.

Now Aite also stared at me with expression almost matching Jack’s, but after a second she broke into a grin again. “Maybe, but it’s fun to annoy him like this.”

Jack let out a groan in response, closing his book and setting it aside. “Okay,” he began, “if the two of you are done talking about stupid shit-”

“Oh, this reminded me,” I quickly interrupted Jack, seizing my chance.

“I guess not,” Jack sighed as I turned to Aite.

“You’ve never answered my question about interspecies sexual relationships,” I reminded her. “Are they common in the Wasteland? And how are they viewed by the general populace?”

Aite, who was clearly taking great pleasure in Jack’s frustration, uttered a short giggle before replying; quickly, I turned on my PipBuck’s recorder, “Well, I wouldn’t say that it’s common, though it’s mostly because there are far more ponies living in the Wasteland than griffins or other species. I don’t think there is any real prejudice in those matters… except for zebras of course,” she amended with an eye roll, “but it’s hard to blame ponies with tons of those wartime posters still hanging around. You know, ‘better wiped than striped’ and such? Plus those zebras in Hoofington don’t really help with the opinion ponies have of them.” Shrugging, she continued, “Of course, most stallions would happily rut anything with a pussy, which is why Blue Destiny is making tons of caps as of late, but if a mare had sex with zebra’s stallion then she would probably be called whore.”

“Blue Destiny?” I asked, confused. “Who’s that?”

“Not who, what,” Aite corrected me. “It’s a brothel town, a few hours of trotting away from Tenpony Tower.”

“A brothel town?” Now I was even more confused. “How can… I mean, is it just courtesans living there, or is it-”

The bat pony seemed amused by my slight bemusement; I could have sworn that I even saw Jack smirking, too. “Nah, from what I’ve been told, it was just a brothel that some prostitutes founded after they banned prostitution in Tenpony’s some decades ago. After a while it gained frequent visits from towns around Manehattan ruins, so eventually traveling merchants would put a little market around it and display their goods, so it’s now sort of a town. But of course,” she added with an almost vicious smirk, glancing at Jack, “if you want to know more about it, you should ask Jack. After all, he had been quite a frequent visitor there.”

“I was there twice, and both times I was there because of work,” Jack countered in neutral tone while I looked at him in surprise; he hadn’t occurred to me as a sort of a person that would engage in such… transactions.

Though if he had been there because of a job he had taken, then it’s not that surprising…

“So you’re saying while you were there you didn't…” Aite trailed off suggestively.

To my returning surprise, Jack rolled his eyes and replied, “I didn’t say that. It’s a nice place with nice mares, if you must know. And how did you know I was there anyway?” he asked, sounding more surprised than annoyed or embarrassed.

“I asked around,” Aite replied with a smirk.

“Of course you did,” Jack remarked with a tired sigh.

“Um, excuse me, sweeties,” I began carefully as they exchange had seemingly ended, “but what exactly does this Blue Destiny town have to do with interspecies sexual relationships?”

It was Jack who replied, “Blue Destiny’s brothelmama has an adopted zebra daughter that she has recently let work at the brothel, and since she’s crazy hot they charge a lot of bottle caps for her services.”

I blinked in surprise. I wasn’t sure what shocked me more, that an owner of a brothel - at least, that’s what I assumed Jack meant by “brothelmama” - of all ponies had adopted a zebra, or that she had allowed her to work in such establishment. Considering what the griffin mercenary had said about her appearance, an immediate suspicion formed in my mind regarding the brothel’s owner motives. I opened my mouth, about to voice it, but then I hesitated; so far, I had only seen how one zebra was being treated by ponies - said zebra being mind controlled and said ponies being slavers - and hadn’t met any prostitutes. Was it right for me to form an opinion regarding the situation that was described? Perhaps that “brothelmama” was just a nice mare that took care of a young zebra, and when said zebra grew up she just… wanted to follow in her adopted mother’s hoofsteps?

Before I could decide whether or not I wanted to comment on it, though, the decision had been made for me; Jack reached out to my muzzle and grabbed it shut. “Okay,” he said to Aite, ignoring me as I tried to pull out of his grasp, “here’s a ‘talking with Wasteland’s dumbest genius 101’ for you; keep your answers simple, don’t add any additional… trivia. Because she then keeps asking more and more questions and we waste an entire night getting offtopic,” he added with a dismayed look at me before releasing my muzzle.

Pouting as I massaged my muzzle, I was even further annoyed as Aite hummed thoughtfully and said, “Yeah, I get what you’re saying. Even annoying you isn’t fun enough to keep this up for too long.”

“I am happy that you can bond over your incomprehensible reluctance to satisfying my curiosity, sweeties,” I told them, a little crossly, deciding to drop the subject of Blue Destiny. Turning to Aite, I asked, “So you were saying that generally speaking interspecies sex is… what’s the word, accepted in the Wasteland?”

“Mostly,” Aite replied, shrugging. “Even if ponies themselves don’t fancy giving it a try, they wouldn’t persecute people for doing it… or at the very least, wouldn’t go out of their way to do that. Of course, there are some who would, places and communities who consider themselves ‘civilized’ and therefore have some… higher standards. But that applies to everything, not just interspecies banging. A doctor at Tenpony’s told me that he had been kicked out of his village for being gay, for example.”

I gasped. “They-”

Talons grasped my muzzle again, before I could give voice to my outrage. “What did I just say?” Jack told Aite, sighing.

“Right, sorry,” Aite replied, waving her hoof apologetically. Frowning at Jack as he released me, I noticed that she smirked at him and turned to me. “You know, Jack here should really be the one answering your question. After all, he had much wider experience in the area of interspecies sex.”

“Really?” I asked, surprised, as Jack deadpanned at the bat pony. “I mean, considering what you’ve said about… the time you’ve spent at this Blue Destiny place, I realized you probably had engaged in intercourse with more members of other species than Aite had, but it hadn’t occurred to me that you could have a... ‘much wider experience’, as she puts it.”

“Great, now she’s gonna talk about my sex life, thanks,” he told Aite, almost pouting at her, before he blinked at looked at me. “Wait, are you recording our conversation?” he asked, pointing at my PipBuck.

“Why, yes I am sweetie. But of course, since we’re about to talk about a little more private subject…” I trailed off as I stopped recording.

“Good,” Jack said, still frowning at me. Sighing, he began, “Look Doctor, as I’m sure you know, having sex is fun, healthy, and helps to relieve stress, so it really shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that I have a ‘wide experience’ when you consider that since coming to Equestrian Wasteland I had seen maybe four female griffins.”

I nodded, of course understanding what he meant about sex being healthy and relieving stress (and being fun). And considering his line of work, it was probably better that he wasn’t stressed out.

Aite, on the other hoof, seemed amused. “Oh, so your ‘wider experience’ starts only after coming to Equestria? Why don’t you tell Cray-Cray about Rice-”

“I thought we’ve agreed not to give her any additional trivia,” Jack interrupted her.

Frowning and looking from one to the other, I began: “What’s a Rice- actually, sweeties, I can ask some other time,” I finished instead as Jack gave me a threatening glare. As he relaxed, I turned to Aite and resumed recording. “Now, you’ve talked about griffins and zebras; what about brahmins?”

“Brahmins?” Aite asked, surprised. “Why would you ask about those- oh wait, I just remembered you talking earlier how you want to grant them ‘full citizens rights’ and shit, nevermind.”

Ignoring her remark, I replied to her unfinished question: “I asked because they are sapient, too, and while I was in New Appleloosa I had walked in on a young colt kissing with one of the heifer’s heads from his parent’s trade caravan, so-”

“Wait, seriously?!” Aire exclaimed, surprised… then snorted in amusement. “Oh wow, and I thought that the old joke about traders and brahmins was completely made up.”

“Old joke?” I repeated, confused.

“That on a longer trade trails lone traders fuck their brahmin.” As I stared in shock, Aite shrugged and continued, “Like I said, I considered it to be made up. Never really heard about a pony and a brahmin having sex, let alone kissing. Colt was probably going through puberty and didn’t quite know how to use his dick yet, so instead went for ‘first base’. I wouldn’t put too much thought into it, since most people view brahmin as animals, even if it does happen then it would count less an interspecies sex but as zoophilia I think.”

Having recovered, I frowned and replied, “It doesn’t matter if they view them as animals, the fact of the matter is that they are sapient.”

“Some of them are,” Jack commented; I glared at him in annoyance, and saw that he had pulled out a small Sparkle-Cola bottle from pocket along his barding.

Ignoring him, I turned back to the bat pony. “Based on how you said you’ve never heard about it and it is viewed as a joke, I assume this means zoophilia and beastiality aren’t as acceptable in the Wasteland’s societies, sweetie?”

“Yeah, you could say that… wait, what’s the difference between the two?” Aite asked, sounding genuinely curious.

“Oh, zoophile is a person who cares for the animal he makes love to; when a person engages in beastiality, they have coitus just for sex, which sadly usually means that they force themselves on the animal.”

Fluttershy’s apparition shooked and looked as if she was ill. Pinkie Pie too had grimaced with dismay. I thought back to Anna and Caps Wrangler; he couldn’t have considered her an animal… couldn’t he?

Aite, though, was looking at me with an even stare. “How the hell do you know stuff like that?” she finally asked after a few seconds had passed.

“I read it in a book of course,” I replied, my surprise at the question taking my thoughts away from the heifer and the colt.

“Who the fuck wrote a book explaining those?!” Aite exclaimed, eyes wide in bewilderment.

“You are getting off-topic again,” Jack remarked in calm annoyance, taking a sip from the Sparkle-Cola.

“Give me a break, that’s a valid question,” Aite replied, frowning, and gestured for him to pass him the bottle, which he reluctantly did. “But yeah, let’s change the subject to something less disgusting please.”

Nodding with understanding, I thought quickly what else could we talk about before Jack would stir the conversation away. There was one more thing that I was curious about…

“Just one more inquiry, please sweetie,” I said just as the griffin opened his beak, earning an annoyed glare in return. “I don’t expect us to have such a conversation in the foreseeable future, which is why I would like to have this question answered now.”

“Why do I doubt that we won’t have such conversation in the foreseeable future?” Jack asked, his tone half-mocking and half-exasperated. As Aite snorted in amusement before taking a sip of Sparkle-Cola, the griffin replied, “Fine, but it’s the last question.”

“How is incest viewed?”

Aite spit out her drink as the question left my lips, then began to cough as she had clearly choked on the liquid. “What kind of…” she tried to ask, only to stop as she coughed again. “Messed up - cough - question is that?!” the bat pony was finally able to ask, her face having taken a slightly reddish hue, most likely a result of all this coughing.

“I believe this to be quite legitimate question to ask, sweetie,” I replied, slightly put off by her reaction; Jack, in contrast, had seemed only dismayed and remained silent. “If I don't know how such controversial topics are viewed I might commit a faux pas, so to speak, while conversing with ponies-”

“Ugh, just stop!” Aite interrupted me, facehoofing. “It’s considered gross! End of subject.”

Raising an eyebrow at her quick dismissal of the subject, I glanced at Jack. The griffin rolled his eyes and added, “Pretty much. I’m sure there are some pathological people who do this but they keep quiet about it to not be persecuted.” Jack paused for a moment, as if hesitating to add anything else, then grimaced and added: "I did hear about some among the zebras' Legions and mercenary companies who believe that they should 'keep their bloodlines pure' and crap like that, but nothing really certain, mostly rumors and very possibly slander. Satisfied?" he asked, his expression almost pleading.

“Hm, yes, I believe I am sweetie, thank you for sharing this information with me,” I replied as I turned off recording, finding myself a little intrigued. I wondered if it was true, or if those rumors were indeed just slander. If incest was viewed so negatively on the outside, then it wouldn’t surprise me if some would try to besmirch others by spreading such lies…

Despite my reply, Jack continued to stare at me, though now with a different expression. Instead of pleading, I saw now a cautious - and somewhat reluctant - curiosity. “Wait… I’m probably going to regret asking this, but how is incest viewed in Stable Eight?”

“Why are we still talking about incest?” Aite mused out loud, looking up into the ceiling and taking another sip of Sparkle-Cola.

Ignoring Aite’s comment, I replied calmly, “It is accepted and tolerated, although the relationship between first- and second-degree relatives would cause some concerns…” I trailed off as I noticed both Jack and Aite staring at me with a mixture of surprise, disbelief, dimsay… and almost alarm. And the apparitions of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie mirrored their expressions perfectly. “What is it, sweeties?”

They exchanged glances before Jack spoke up, “We’re just… processing that you come from a place where they think incest is okay. Although it would sure explain a lot,” the griffin muttered under his breath, causing me to frown.

“Yeah, how exactly did you come up with that?” Aite asked, clearly bothered.

I shrugged before replying simply, “In Stable Eight we believe love to be sacred and that it should not be judged. Only when it’s first- and second-degree relatives there would be concerns about the possible offspring; they would be legally required to consult doctors if they would decide to have a foal and be under constant medical supervision. That being said,” I added as I noticed that I was still receiving weird stares, “such cases didn’t happen often. Within the last two hundred years, there had only been about fourteen relationships between cousins, three between siblings, and none between a parent and a foal, or an aunt or uncle and a nephew or niece.”

“And you know all those numbers because…?” Aite asked, eyebrow raised.

“Because I was Stable Eight’s chief of medicine, we have all those relationships recorded,” I told her.

Aite rolled her eyes, then glanced at me and asked, “So, is your genealogical tree a straight line, or…”

Finding myself confused if I should be flattered or worried by the sudden interest, I shrugged and replied, “No sweetie, none of my ancestors were related, at least as prior to sealing the Stable, I have very little information about family medical history further than that.”

“Well, there goes that theory,” Aite remarked with a snort. “So out of unhealthy curiosity, what about you?”

“I’m assuming that you are asking if I had been in a relationship with a relative of mine? Well, sweetie, it is a fair question to ask as, while you might not realize it, I am related to two hundred and forty-nine ponies in Stable Eight. However, I do not possess any closely related relatives other than my mother. If you are curious about the further relatives, though,” I added, shrugging, “then my last lover had been my half-first cousin thrice removed.”

Aite grimaced a little, though she quickly relaxed. Jack, on the other hoof, blinked in surprise, then slightly raised his paw and moved his talon around as if he was counting. “Okay, I guess that’s not really a close relative…” Aite commented, taking another sip from her drink and relaxing completely. “Sorry about the question, you just… took me a little by surprise there,” she added with a little laugh. “Incest is weird.”

“I suppose I can understand that, sweetie, no harm done,” I replied with a smile, then looked at Jack, who was once again looking at me oddly.

Whatever the griffin had been thinking, though, he had quickly brushed it off as soon as I turned to him. “Okay, I think we had enough of this… sex-related creepy topics session,” he surmised, snorting in clear annoyance. “Can we please, for the love of all things dear in this world, finally talk about what we’re going to do about Black Widow?”

“Why, I thought it’s obvious what we’re going to do, sweetie,” I replied, smiling innocently as Jack glanced at me with annoyance. “We’ll stay the course, so to speak.”

Jack’s eyebrow very slowly lifted, then he turned to Aite, who shrugged. Finally, he gave out a long sight and said: “Fine, go on, what do you mean?”

“Well, obviously, mean that we’ll continue to do what we are supposed to do: I’ll heal patients, and you’ll hunt down the tribe that has attacked slavers. We need to get information out of Black Widow,” I started to explain; a part of me wanted to trot around while doing so, but there wasn’t that much free space in my room, so I settled for jumping unto my bed and sitting down beside Aite. “Information that she won’t give up very easily. I can’t imagine that she would be pleased if her past as a Steel Ranger Scribe became public knowledge. Now, of course,” I added with a little smirk, “I’m sure that I would be able to convince her to tell us all we want to know about Scope, who he really was and what was his connection to the Steel Rangers, but that would require time and, shall we say, special circumstances,” I said, casting meaningful glance downwards, where my laboratory was. “But alas, arranging Black Widow’s disappearance would be more difficult than a regular slaver or a raider slave. There would be all those slavers on guard duty, and her zebra slave that follows her like a shadow. As skilled as the two of you are in the art murder, I doubt that two people would be able to take on the entirety of Appleloosa.”

“You’re not counting yourself?” Aite asked, smirking.

Shaking my head, I told her, “I am not a combatant, I’m afraid. While I can defend myself just fine, I fear that I would be more of a hindrance in an actual fight than help. Which is why I came up with this plan so that we can accomplish our goal.” Turning to Jack, I said: “You’ll continue to look for this tribe, but whenever you find them, you approach them, and convince them to help us. After all, I can’t imagine slavers make for very good neighbours,” I added with a brief giggle. When neither Jack or Aite appeared to be amused by my joke - unlike Pinkie, who gave out an amused snort, while Fluttershy nervously giggled - I resumed: “If they were to attack Appleloosa, everypony’s attention would be on them; well, everypony who would be able and willing to fight, of course. Since I have access to the biggest source of food supply, I could quite easily arrange that most of the slavers wouldn’t be able to take part in the fight,” I said, a smirk appearing on my muzzle on its own as I imagined all the slavers suffering the effects of… whatever I would use on their food, I hadn’t decided yet what it would be. “Of course, there are some slavers that could be persuaded to, shall we say, fight for the right side in this conflict. A lot of them are reasonable, and I’m sure they could be convinced that they would be better off without Black Widow and some of the others. Once the fight would start, we could easily incapacite both Black Widow and Khan - let me stress out that I’ll insist on him being incapacitated and not killed,” I added in a stern tone, “I will not stand for him being harmed while being forced to obey her orders - I’ll remove this talisman from the latter’s head and begin interrogation of the former. In the meantime, Apple Core will take over Appleloosa, I’ll convince her to quit enslaving ponies and the tribe will move in as I’m sure a pre-war town has better conditions than whatever shelter they had arranged for themselves in the Wasteland. This way we’ll not only gain the information we need, but we’ll also free a mind controlled zebra, stop Appleloosa’s slaving operations and turn it into a normal town, and provide an entire tribe of ponies with a safe home. So, what do you think?” I finally asked, beaming at the two.

Jack continued to stare at me with neutral expression, but Aite in turn had her eyebrows raised in quiet surprise. However, it was still the griffin who spoke first, “Okay,” he began, lifting his paw to his head to rub his eyes, “I’ve got to admit, that first part, up to incapacitating Black Widow, is quite good. I mean, am I crazy, or does that sound like a legitimately good plan?” he asked as he turned to Aite.

The bat pony closed her eyes and shrugged. “Don’t look at me, you’re the soldier boy. I’m just an opportunistic assassin,” she proclaimed, almost theatrically, as she straightened up and brought her hoof up to her chest. She then opened her eyes narrowly and said, “I still say you should just let me go in, kill her, and grab her stuff to search for clues. We could be done and gone by breakfast.”

The way Jack sighed told me that they’ve been discussing this for a while when I was down in my laboratory. “Again, as tempting as that is, we can’t risk it killing the only source of information before we know if she wrote or recorded anything useful somewhere. Besides, I’ve already signed a contract with her, now I’ve got to find this tribe for her,” he added, grimacing.

“She hired you to only find the tribe, sweetie?” I asked, surprised. “Not to help her deal with it?”

“No, I told her that first I’d need to know how many of them are and how well armed they are,” the griffin replied with a shrug. “Would need to know the right price. We’re supposed to negotiate a second deal after I find them. Of course, I’d like to get what I really came here for instead. I had been contemplating that after I find them, I would convince her to discuss this with me in private, Aite would knock out that zebra of hers and we would capture her, then waterboard her for information in her house, and lastly kill her and fly away before anybody noticed. I’m not quite sure what we would do about you in that scenario, to be honest,” he admitted. “I’d expect that with Black Widow’s death chaos would erupt here, and I’m not sure if you’d make through it before things would calm down… and you’ve said that you want to help bring Scope’s people to justice, too.” I did not like how close his tone of voice was to mocking. “So we would have to take you with us somehow. Your plan, however, would solve that problem… of course, the second part of it, where you put your slaver friend in charge of Appleloosa and make her stop capturing slaves, is a little bit unrealistic,” he remarked, deadpanning.

“Oh?” I exclaimed, pretending to be surprised. “Why is that, sweetie?”

“Gee, I don’t know…” he snorted, now clearly mocking me. “Maybe because I find it hard to accept that you would be able to convince those slavers to find a different way of living, but let’s gloss over that one for a moment. You’ve heard about Red Eye, right?” It might have been a rhetorical question, but I nodded nonetheless. “And since you have been living here for a while, you must have realized that Appleloosa supplies him with slaves, right?” I nodded again. “So what do you think will happen if his closest and probably the biggest source of slaves ceases to do so?” He didn’t give me a chance to reply. “He will send his army here.”

I wonder if he expects me to be embarrassed about not foreseeing that, or scared at the prospect, I thought idly to the two apparitions.

Staring back into Jack’s eyes, I smiled calmly, and with great satisfaction I said quietly, “Let him.”

Jack blinked in surprise. “Pardon?” he asked after a few seconds, as if thinking he misheard me.

I allowed myself to utter a short giggle. “Do you have any idea, sweetie, how many chemicals I have down in my lab? Or how many I’ve purchased from Ditzy in New Appleloosa, or what they are? Or,” I added, leaning close to him, “do you know that Burst had found for me breathing oxygen talismans in Stable Eleven? I kept them, of course. It will be a little tricky, but with a little magic, I would be able to… modify them. Let Red Eye send his army,” I said calmly, taking great satisfaction in the sight of Jack’s eyes widening in apprehension. “They won’t find themselves a fight. All they’ll find is an empty town, with all of us hiding down in the Stable, while they all die. No word will get back to Red Eye. We’ll instil fear in him and his followers, and this fear will keep them out.” Shrugging, I added, “He might try sending another army until he would succeed, of course, but I don’t expect that he would try more than twice to take over. If not because of fear, then out of practically; losing so many soldiers would have to deplete his forces a bit.”

Again, Jack and Aite stared at me, the griffin with an odd look about him, but it was the bat pony this time who broke the silence. “Holy shit, you’re scary,” she said, though she sounded more impressed than scared to me.

“Yeah, you said it,” Jack agreed, then leaned back and rubbed the side of his beak. Whatever bothered him before was gone, apparently. “Assuming you could actually make this gas bomb or whatever, which I doubt, that could actually work… and even if not, that is still an impressive plan, I’ll give you that. Appleloosa would have some peace from Red Eye for a while after that… and I assume it would ‘flourish under your leadership’?” he asked, eyebrow raised. “Well, under Apple Core’s leadership I suppose, but you would control her from the shadows, I take?”

“I would advise her, sweetie,” I corrected him politely. “I have no desire to lead Appleloosa myself, whether officially or through Apple Core. Let her keep it, I have my eyes set on the throne of Equestria; once I accomplish that, she would be required to swear fealty to me, and I would officially grant her Appleloosa as her ladyship.”

It did not escape my notice that as I spoke, both Jack and Aite rolled their eyes slowly.

“Yeah, so anyway, back to reality,” Jack began, earning a pout for me in return, “as I said, this is a good plan. Before we decide if we’ll go with it or mine, we’ll need more information. And that means recon. Aite,” he said as he turned to the bat pony, “I want you to sneak into her house in the morning. Preferably after she leaves it, but I’m sure you know best. I want to learn about everything she has in there, weapons, terminals, safes. And find out if she has a hatch like our Good Doctor’s in her basement. And if she has a basement,” he added in an afterthought.

“No problem.”

“And above all,” Jack added, raising a single talon warningly, “do not alert her in any way.”

His words amused the bat pony. “Dude, who are you talking to?”

“I know,” he replied with an eyeroll, “but our greatest advantage is that nobody knows about you, other than us. I’m sure Black Widow distrusts me a little, and would definitely not like to see me talking with Angel. The longer this drags out, the more suspicious she will become. So if things go south, you might be our only chance of getting alive out of here. Plus, Angel and I should be able to stay in touch even if I’ll keep my distance, we’ll just need you to pass messages between us.”

Aite raised an eyebrow at that. “World class assassin bounty hunter, reduced to playing dead line? Eh, fine,” she agreed, sighing. “I’ll take a look at her house, then return to Crazy I take?”

“Yes, it’s better if you’d watch her back. As for you, Doctor,” he said, turning to me, “you will try to gauge whether Apple Core would be interested in going against Black Widow and taking over. Just gauge; I don’t trust her, and I don’t want her blabbing about it by accident. Or on purpose,” he added under his breath, eyes darting to the side. Looking back to me, he pointed a talon at me and continued, “And if you want us to consider going with that crazy second part of your plan, you’ll start working on that talisman. Unless you have it ready before we move against Black Widow, we won’t be staying long afterwards.”

I nicked, unhappy with his choice of words. “Just ‘consider’, sweetie?”

The griffin frowned. “Yes, just. Just because I said it’s an impressive plan and it might work, it doesn’t mean we’ll do it. I still like my plan better. But I am keeping an open mind,” he added, crossing his forelegs on his chest. “I have more experience with these sort of things. I suggest you trust that I know what I’m doing.”

Trust him that he knows what he’s doing… I was certainly doubtful of that, after how he had openly doubted that I could modify those talismans. And after he had said he would just consider my idea, one which would free this part of the Wasteland from slavery! But he had a point; he had more experience in those sorts of things… although I wasn’t sure if ‘taking over a town’ was among those things, actually.

Taking a deep, calming breath, I looked into Jack’s eyes and smiled. “Very well, sweetie, I shall defer to your wisdom.”

For whatever reason, my reply had seemed to annoy Jack further instead of calming him down, judging how he deadpanned at me. As Aite leaned over, putting her hoof up to her mouth as if to whisper something - though she had kept the volume of her voice perfectly hearable - I suspected I knew what it meant:

“Mad scientists code for: ‘I’ll go behind your back and do it anyway’.”

I frowned at the bat pony, who smirked in return. “May I remind you, sweetie, that I am not a mad scientist?”

“May I remind you that I have a bigger experience in dealing with mad scientists? You should ‘defer to my wisdom’, as such,” the bat pony declared mockingly, irritating me further.

“I’m afraid your somewhat dubious experience doesn’t apply when you are not dealing with the subject that would meet the criteria of whatever you have experience with, in this case, of mad scientists.”

“Enough!” Jack sighed loudly, stopping Aite just as she was about to reply. “You can continue this stupid argument when I’m not here… and for goodness sake, she’s just trying to mess with you,” he added, flashing me an annoyed glare before clearing his throat and turning to Aite. “Oh, and that reminds me, Aite, do stay out of her basement when she’s working on that talisman, on the very probable chance something goes wrong and she gets herself killed.”

Now I frowned at Jack. “Honestly, sweetie, I find your lack of faith in my abilities disturbing. I’ll have you know that I they teach us in Stable Eight about talisman maintenance and modifications in school.”

I decided that it would probably be best not to add that the precise name of the course was “the basic talisman maintenance and modifications”. After all, how hard could it be to modify an oxygen talisman into producing lethal poison across a wide area? (Admittedly, a little hard, but nothing I couldn’t handle.)

“That’s good to know,” Jack simply replied, dismissively. “Where was I… ah, right. When the two of you stay here, I’ll be searching for this tribe. That shouldn’t take long, but I don’t expect that earning their trust and convincing them to work with us will be that easy, so I might have to pretend to slavers that I’m still looking for them if I decide we go with your plan. Everybody is okay with this?”

“Do we actually get a vote?” Aite immediately asked, earning a deadpan from Jack in return. “Yeah, sure, whatever, I’m okay with this.”

“As I’ve said before, I shall defer to your wisdom, sweetie,” I immediately added, then, as the griffin nodded with satisfaction, “May I ask something?”

Jack groaned and covered his face in his paws. “I swear, if you ask about another perverted sex thing…”

“Oh don’t be silly, sweetie, I realize that your tolerance level for that subject had been already reached,” I told him, finding his reaction a touch annoying. “No, I merely wanted to ask if that, since we’ve entered a partnership with set goals, the ultimate goal bringing Scope’s superiors to justice, perhaps we should also discuss some other matters. Like, say, for instance, agreeing for a physical examination in order to-”

“No thank you,” Jack immediately replied, frowning at me.

Pouting, I asked, “Why not, sweetie? After all, you would be the one benefitting the most if I’d become more familiar with griffin’s anatomy, as I would be able to better treat you should you become injured in the future.”

My perfectly reasonable argument for some reason didn’t convince him. The griffin continued to stare down at me with the same expression and said, “Yeah, no, I’m sure there would be some benefits if I’d agree to that, but I’m gonna say no. Mainly because after hearing how your examination of Ditzy went, I am almost convinced that you’d use it as an excuse to get a hold of my dick.”

I gasped hearing such an outrageous assumption! “Wha- I beg your pardon, sweetie, but I would never take such an advantage of my patient! What happened with Ditzy was… an accident,” I quickly added, the embarrassment of that moment when I had lost focus returning. “One that would not repeat itself. And besides,” I said, adding some cold into my voice as I frowned at Jack, “I’m afraid that after the way you’ve acted down in the tunnels I've lost most of the attraction I might have had towards you. Or to put it simply, I am not physically interested in you in this way at the moment.”

“Oh no, what have I done,” Jack said in a voice devoid of emotion, deadpanning at me, “I so regret it now.”

“You don’t know what you’re missing,” Aite unexpectedly chimed in as I pouted at the griffin, smirking at me. “His dick is great.”

I blinked, her statement baffling me. “It is?” I said, my brain conjuring about a hundred of different possible meanings. Almost on its own, my head moved back towards Jack, looking downwards…

Talons pressed underside of my muzzle and lifted my head up, so that I once again looked into Jack’s eyes. “My eyes are up here,” he said in a flat voice, much to Aite’s amusement.

As I realized just what I had been caught on doing, I pointed at Aite while a blush of embarrassment covered my cheeks. “I only looked down because of what Aite said!” I exclaimed as I pushed his talons away, ignoring the bat pony’s laughter.

“Yeah, whatever,” Jack replied, glancing at the other mare with disapproval, then uttered a long sigh. “Are there any other matters related to our partnership that confuse you, or can we go to sleep already?”

Grateful for the change of topic, I nodded: “Yes sweetie, I- wait, go to sleep?” I asked, confused.

“It’s getting late, there’s nothing to do to pass the time, and I’ll need to get up early to leave and go look for the tribe,” Jack replied, shrugging.

“Meh, I could think of something to do to pass the time,” Aite commented, having calmed down from her bout of laughter. “But yeah, flying over here and then stalking you through the rest of the day was a tad tiresome, I could use a rest.”

“Very well then, I shall hurry up and ask what I want to know, then lead you to your beds. I’m afraid I’ll stay up a few more hours, as I’ll need to monitor Cutter and Manacles, and I wanted to start examining the radscorpion, but I promise I’ll be quiet while walking back to my bed. Now, back to our partnership;” I said, frowning, “what about my patients’ privacy?”

Both of them groaned. “You mean the patients you plan to have either killed in your coup, captured for experiments or bow down to you?” Aite asked as she covered her face with her hoof.

“That doesn’t change the fact that when they come to see me for medical services they are entitled to their privacy,” I replied, then turned to Jack. “You’ve signed a contract with Black Widow saying that you have to only find the tribe because you know you won’t help her capture them and you don’t want to break a contract. Surely, you must understand my insistence on the matter?”

Jack lifted a paw to his head and rubbed his temple with his talons. “I wanted Aite to stick around you in case you’d need protection… but I suppose you can handle yourself if one patient gets violent,” he added with a sigh, then turned to Aite. “I know it would be a pain, but think you could clear out when ponies come over here for medical attention? Maybe hide yourself in that storeroom?” he added, pointing with his talon in the direction where the other room was.

The bat pony rolled her eyes. “I suppose, otherwise she won’t shut up.”

I exhaled deeply, relaxed: “Thank you both, sweeties.”

“Is that all?” Jack asked.

“Hm…” I hummed, thinking what else would I would like to know. I recalled there was something that I wanted to ask Jack about… actually, there was a lot I wanted to ask him, starting with various subjects regarding griffins’ biology and ending on the Bloodtalons, but I could easily tell by now that those weren’t topics he wanted to discuss. However, there was another matter… “Actually, sweetie, there was one thing that I’ve been curious about ever since you’ve brought it up, though I’m afraid it’s not exactly related to our partnership.”

“If this get me a few hours of peace, then fine, ask.”

“Back in Stable Eleven, as you were about to fly to New Appleloosa to ask Ditzy for help, you told me how the Bloodtalons where the first ones to ever see alicorns that exist in this Wasteland” I reminded him. As apprehension dawned on the griffin, I continued. “Of how you were chasing some target and she had gotten away because of them, making it the only job Bloodtalons had never really completed. I asked you for more details, but you’ve told me you’d tell me some other time.” And that it’s a tale that you like. “Since it looks like we won’t be able to spend too much time together in the coming days, I was hoping you could tell it to me now?”

It was interesting to see a pleasantly surprised expression appear on his face, after all the… less than pleasant expressions he had made through this night. “Heh, I suppose I can tell it to you,” he replied, rubbing the side of his face; I could swear he seemed a bit bashful. He leaned back against the wall of my room, crossing his forelegs on his chest. “Get yourself comfortable, it’s going to take a while.”

“Oh wow,” Aite exclaimed, looking from him to me; like myself, she lied down on the bed more comfortably, like Jack had suggested, “he must really like you, he almost never talks about Bloodtalons stuff. So come on,” she added, turning back to him, “tell us how those ‘super mercenaries that never fail’ actually failed once.”

“We didn’t fail,” Jack replied, frowning a little. “We just didn’t get to kill her. But anyway,” he said and paused to clear his throat, “let me begin with… a little background, I suppose. Doctor, you’ve met raiders. What is your opinion of them?”

“Um…” I stammered, taken by surprise by the sudden question. Fidgeting with my PipBuck to turn on recording and to buy myself a little time, I hummed and slowly began, “Well, they are violent, murderous, enjoy causing pain, care only for their pleasure, most aren’t very intelligent, and generally would say that their only useful purpose would be to become my test subjects.”

“Figured as much,” Jack remarked, while Aite snorted.

“Meh, if you think those raiders around here are bad, you should see what those around Hoofington are like. They’re more like rabid animals.”

“But yeah, you pretty much nailed it,” Jack continued, only briefly acknowledging the bat pony’s remark. “They’re violent, and most of them aren’t very intelligent. They’re dangerous, yes, but bigger cities are safe from them as they don’t usually live in big groups. They often fight with each other, so the more of them there are, the harder for them it is to stand together. Most common are groups of five to ten riders, it is very rare for them to form a group bigger than the one you encountered at the Rock Farms. However,” he added, his voice losing it’s dismissive tone and becoming serious, “around eighty years ago, the raiders pretty much held the entire Wasteland under their control, when all of their various gangs had fallen under the rule of one pony: Misery, the Raider Queen.”

“Misery?” I repeated, surprised by such a name, but then her apparent title drew my attention. “The Raider Queen?”

“Yep. She even wore a crown made of barb wire a few times as a joke. Those weren’t the only names under which she had been known, though. The Bloody Queen,” Jack said as he began counting on his talons, “Terror Incarnate, Laughing Carnage, and so on. She became a leader of one of the raiders gangs, then over the years she gradually conquered and assimilated others, and used them to terrorize everybody, every settlement and town in the Wasteland.”

“Wait,” Aite spoke up, raising up on the bed a little, “I think I heard about her. Didn’t she have like a huge harem of stallions?”

Jack deadpanned at her. “Figures that’s the one thing you’d know about her. Misery’s raiders had enslaved many ponies,” he began to explain, turning to me, “and when some of the stallions there had caught her eye, she took them to her palace to please her sexually. The palace no longer exists, Steel Rangers shelled it to the ground after her defeat,” the griffin quickly added as he noticed my ears perk at the word ‘palace’. “Before that though they released everybody that was held there. Apparently, Misery’s harem had counted about a hundred males, and they weren’t just ponies, there were quite a few griffin males from some lesser Talon Companies.”

“Well, can’t blame her for that one,” Aite muttered, then when Jack raised an eyebrow at her, she added, “Oh, you know what I meant. But damn, a hundred males…”

I was also trying to grasp my mind around that number… I mean, how exactly… would she pick one or a few more for one day and then pick again? It seemed a little unrealistic that they would all please her together… Actually, physically impossible, unless they were taking turns, but even then...

“A hundred males held against their will and being forced to please a mare that was likely responsible for the deaths of their friends and families,” Jack pointed out, his comment immediately stopping my musings - and mathematical equations - regarding a hundred and one pony orgy.

“Wanna bet that at least… eighty percent of them were quite happy with the arrangement?” Aite said after a brief pause to decide upon the number.

“Anyway,” Jack resumed his tale, ignoring the bat pony’s question, “Misery’s dark reign lasted somewhere around fifteen years, until finally she had decided to attack one of the last remaining free settlements, Tenpony Tower. All the others were either enslaved or forced to pay tributes. Misery had gathered all her armies, and directed them at Tenpony’s, with the raiders from Manehattan Ruins laying siege while the gangs from across the Wasteland marched to join them. Some people who still remember those times talk about her army counting over ten thousand ponies, but that’s obviously an exaggeration; I doubt there were even that many ponies alive in the Wasteland back then. Bloodtalon elders that told me this story say that there were somewhere between a thousand and two thousand ponies in her army though.”

“Two thousand?” I repeated, becoming engrossed in the tale, even though I more or less knew how it was going to end. “What happened next? Tenpony Tower didn’t fall, obviously, right sweetie?”

Jack shook his head. “No, it did not. The ponies living in Tenpony’s are rich, you see, and when the word got out that raiders were amassing a great army, they all pulled together to hire every single Talon Company in the Wasteland, including Bloodtalons. Actually, had they not hired us, the other griffins probably wouldn't have had the guts to defend them,” he added, snorting. “Even Bloodtalons… our elders would say that in the years before, when a job posed a threat that we would come in direct contact with the Raider Queen herself, we wouldn’t accept it. Steel Rangers had gone even further, though; apparently, they had standing orders to immediately retreat on sight when faced with Misery.”

“Steel Rangers were ordered to run away from her?” I thought back to those posters I had seen, of bulky, armored and heavily armed figures. “Just her?”

“What kind of pony do you think would be able to hold control over so many raiders?” Jack replied with a question. “Misery was the worst of them, most vicious, strongest, and most cunning. She brought fear into the Wasteland for a reason. She was a monster.”

“I would have thought that she controlled the raiders through sex,” Aite chimed in, shrugging.

Jack rolled his eyes. “She probably did. Or at the very least the gang leaders, though since she was quick to kill raiders who displeased her in any way, I would imagine that was… risky. Anyway, where was I… ah yes, they hired all of the Talons, and although we would likely come into direct confrontation with the Raider Queen herself, the Bloodtalon leader at the time, my great-great-grandfather had agreed, after a long conversation between him and the Stable Guardian.”

“Stable Guardian?” I asked, frowning in confusion at the strange name.

“It was a nickname DJ Pon3 gave to a goody four-shoes that came to the Wasteland about a year or so before this shit went down,” Jack replied, shrugging. “His Stable had sent him out to search for a water talisman as theirs began to fail. The Stable Guardian had found it and delivered it back, but afterwards stayed around the Wasteland, playing hero and fighting raiders. Probably figured out they would eventually pose a threat to his Stable, or maybe he was really a good guy and wanted to help everybody.”

So a Stable pony like myself had once tried to help the entire Wasteland? I thought, excited at the revelation. Pity it had been so long ago, he’s probably dead after eighty years-

“Wait, DJ Pon3 had given the Stable Guardian his name?” I exclaimed, confused. “But you’ve said it has been eighty years ago…”

I was distracted by a snicker from Aite. “There is always a DJ Pon3,” she said, smirking. “Has been around for as long as anybody can remember. It’s probably a succession of ponies taking the role one after another.”

“Oh, I see,” I replied, my curiosity sated on the subject. For now. I was a little curious as to why they would take on this name instead of making announcements with their real ones, but I was too captivated by Jack’s tale to worry about that now. “Forgive me for the interruption, sweetie, please continue.”

“The Stable Guardian helped to not only convince Bloodtalons to accept the job - therefore ensuring all the other Talons joined too - but did one better; he flew over - forgot to mention, he was a pegasus,” Jack added quickly, causing me to blink in surprise; I had no idea pegasi had also been accepted into Stables, “- to the Steel Rangers and convinced them to join in the fight, too, pointing out that the Raider Queen and her army would conquer everybody if they all didn’t stand together. The Rangers agreed, and their Manehattan contingent joined forces together with Bloodtalons and came to break the siege around Tenpony, while their other contingents, the biggest one being the one from Stalliongrad, together with other Talons attacked the other raider army before they could join with Misery. It was a battle the likes of which Equestria, if not the entire world, hadn’t seen since the war,” Jack said, his voice becoming almost reminiscent. “Raiders had numbers, but Bloodtalons and Steel Rangers had training and weapons. Sure, some of the raiders had Power Armor they had gotten off of Steel Rangers they had killed over the years, but there were only a few of them. Eventually, the siege was broken, and the raiders had to retreat back to their palace. The Bloodtalons and Steel Rangers had prepared ahead, though; they planted a ton of explosives at the structural points of a few buildings the raiders would have to pass on their way, and caused them to collapse on them. Most of the Raider Queen’s army had been buried by rubble, but she had survived; supposedly, she held the building that would have fallen on her and her private guard with her magic, letting them escape.”

A part of me wanted to interrupt for clarification there, because that seemed highly improbable feat for any unicorn, to hold an entire building with their magic. Fortunately for Jack’s patience, I was too curious to learn what would happen next.

“With her army shattered, the road to her palace cut off - and the palace already being under occupation - Misery led her remaining forces to rendezvous with the rest of the raiders, not knowing they’ve been defeated, too. Stalliongrad's contingent of Steel Rangers had brought tanks and cannons and broke the other raider army.

“Still, that had left Misery alive, so Bloodtalons, along with the Stable Guardian, chased after her. She kept eluding us, though, and with how dangerous she was they were being careful, even in her defeated state. My ancestors and that Stable pegasus eventually chased her into Splendid Valley, and just as we were about to corner her, out of nowhere they were attacked by alicorns. The attack was so unexpected, and the foe so unknown, that they forced them to retreat, and the Raider Queen had escaped. My great-great-grandfather and Stable Guardian tried circling around Splendid Valley to cut Misery off, but she never reappeared, and nobody ever saw her alive. So, they’ve just figured that either those alicorns turned on her, or something else in that Taint riddled place killed her. And that was the end of the Raider Queen,” Jack finished, shrugging.

There was only one word that came to my mind after hearing such a tale. “Amazing,” I simply stated. “It’s truly heartening to know that so many people had united against such a vile foe… even if some of them were paid,” I noted, making both Jack and Aite snort in amusement. “What happened next?”

Jack again shrugged. “There were a few raiders holdouts that the Bloodtalons cleared out, in order to make sure that the Raider Queen wasn’t hiding in any of them. But overall, things began to return to how they were before her. Abandoned settlements were being rebuilt, ponies once enslaved by the raiders returned to what remained of their homes, Talons got paid, and Steel Rangers returned to hoarding technology.”

“So… everybody just… parted ways?” I couldn’t hide disappointment from my voice. “They’d all united against a common enemy, why couldn’t they stay united and start rebuilding Equestria?”

To my surprise, Jack gave out a tired, almost sad sigh. “Because once the fear of the Raider Queen was gone, there was nothing that would hold them together. Well, there could have been,” he amended unexpectedly. “The Stable Guardian. My elders would say how he had preached about unity, about making Wasteland a better place for everybody. It was thanks to him that all of them had come together, and if he had continued to do so, then maybe they would stay united.”

“What happened to him?”

But the griffin shrugged. “Nobody knows. He just… disappeared soon after the raiders’ defeat. Most people just assumed that he had returned to his Stable, or even that he flew above the cloud barrier and joined the Enclave, and a few even said that he was determined to make sure that the Raider Queen was dead and flew into Splendid Valley and died there. Honestly, though, considering the chaos of the years that followed, he could have chosen to live in one of those rebuilding settlements, put on a cloak to hide his wings, and nopony would even notice.”

“It’s amazing how well a good cloak helps with hiding these,” Aite said in confirmation, flexing her leathery wings; as her right wing had almost brushed against me, I had to fight the urge to touch the membrane between the wing’s fingers. “Without seeing them, the few ponies I interacted with in Hoofington would think that my eyes and ears are some form of mutation.”

“Exactly,” Jack said, then turned back to me. “So, there you have it, that’s the entire tale.”

“I can see why you like it,” I replied, smiling as I pressed a button on my PipBuck to stop recording. “Your great-great-grandfather and the rest of Bloodtalons had helped to save Equestria from a tyrant. Even if they got paid to do it,” I added, this time with a little smirk, which the griffin replied in kind.

“Yeah… we might be mercenaries, but getting paid for something like that… it must have felt nice.” He smiled and looked away, then snorted and turned back to me. “Alright, I’ve done my part of the deal, now show us to some beds. Preferably clean ones.”

“But of course, sweetie,” I quickly replied as I got up, stretched a little, and jumped down from a bed. “Follow me.”

As I led Jack and Aite out of my bedroom and into the room that had been converted into a storeroom (listening to the two banter as Aite again made lewd suggestions to the griffin that he quickly dismissed), I thought about his tale, recalling everything he had said. It was truly interesting, and I made a mental note to, at some point, possible after becoming the Princess of Equestria, have a book written detailing the Raider Queen’s reign and the war to stop her. I would love to hear how the Wastelanders had gotten together under a pony from a Stable to vanquish such evil!

One thing, though, bothered me. A thought, one that I had at the beginning of the tale but wasn’t given enough time to properly consider, and now it returned to the forefront of my mind.

Misery, I thought, looking at Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie’s apparitions. What a sad name.

Footnote: 50% to next level!

Chapter Fifteen: Obscured

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“With regret comes a girl…”

Feeling very tired, I finally dragged myself to my room’s door and pulled the knob with my magic, yawning at the thought that I would soon be in my bed…

… the bed that, as I somehow only now had realized, was making an awfully loud squeaking noise, accompanied by moans.

Blinking rapidly and rubbing my eyes to make sure I wasn’t seeing things (and to brush off my drowsiness), I stared silently as Aite bounced on Jack, the griffin lying on his back on my bed. His paws rested on her flanks as she moved, squeezing them while the bat pony steadied herself with both her wings and forehooves that she rested on his chest.

Finally beginning to recover, I cleared my throat and tried to get their attention. “E-excuse me…”

Both turned their eyes to me; did they really just now realize that I’d entered the room? My room, to be specific? However, other than being embarrassed about being found in such a compromising position, both of them looked… quite pleased to see me.

Before I could muster another word, Aite jumped off Jack - giving me a brief glance of the griffin member slipping out of her; unfortunately, I was so perplexed that I couldn’t even think about satisfying my scientific curiosity at the moment - and flew towards me. I took a cautious step back as she landed in front of me, but it didn’t matter; she still reached with her foreleg, grabbed me, and pulled me towards her… towards her lips, specifically,

My eyes widened in surprise, I was so shocked that I offered no resistance as the bat pony’s tongue plunged into my mouth. And… as seconds passed, I realized that I did not want to. Even though this would very likely lead to joining them on my bed, therefore breaking my - admittedly somewhat unofficial - rule of not making love to somepony met so recently, I found that I didn’t mind, not at the moment. And so I very eagerly replied to the kiss in kind once I recovered, my tongue wrestling with hers as I slipped it into her mouth, curiously brushing against her fangs as I leaned into her embrace.

The bat pony finally pulled her head back, letting me catch my breath. Aite gazed at me seductively, her eyes almost glowing. “We’ve been waiting for you,” she half-whispered, half-purred, her voice causing a pleasant tremble to go down my spine.

I wasn’t given a chance to reply (or ask questions, which despite how pleased I found myself with those developments I honestly probably should); the older mare’s grip tightened around my body and I was lifted into the air. Before I could react though, the very short flight had ended. Aite had placed me on top of the bed, with Jack lying right beneath me.

I leaned backwards, so that our faces wouldn’t collide (which resulted in, let's say, something very stiff brushing against my flank). To my slight surprise, I found myself… feeling bashful. Which considering how exotic I considered both Jack and Aite and that I would normally enjoy an opportunity to examine their bodies so closely was rather odd of me. Not to mention that I wasn’t exactly a stranger to an act of copulation, to say the least. In fact, I’ve always rather enjoyed physical contact. Was it just because I wasn’t used to somebody being so… forward? Aite had all but forced herself upon me, and then forced me on top of Jack, so to speak.

Or was it because I wasn’t used to Jack staring at me like this, with desire and… affection?

I shivered as he reached to my face with his paw and brushed my cheek with a gentleness I wouldn’t have expected of him. Staring into his red eyes I leaned against it as he slowly moved it upwards, his talons sinking into my mane and moving me back down. Relaxed by his tenderness, I leaned towards him. Just as the worry about how exactly we should continue entered my mind, we began to kiss, with Jack raising his head a little so that parting my lips with his beak with surprising ease.

Distracted by Jack, I had almost forgotten about Aite. The bat pony must have decided that I had enough time to adapt to the situation and rejoined as on the bed, as the wonderful feeling under my tail had indicated. Breaking mine and Jack’s kiss to utter a moan, I looked back at her, arching my back as she ceased her activity and leaned over, pressing her chest to me as she hugged me and nibbled on the neck. I groaned in pleasure as I felt her long right wing wrap around me, her claw reaching between my hind legs, while she slowly licked the side of my face before brushing her muzzle against my ear and whispered seductively: “Make us whole.”

A giggle escaped me hearing such a weird euphemism to describe the physical act of love. “What?” I asked in amusement, leaning away to look at Aite’s face.

The bat pony smirked and opened her mouth to reply, as I assumed.

“Wake up!”

I balked, surprised by the shout that came out of Aite instead, in Apple Core’s voice no less.

Wait, Apple Core’s?

~ ~ ~

“Wake up!” Apple Core repeated as I opened my eyes, her voice becoming more annoyed.

I looked at the earth pony mare in confusion, the events that I had just been a part of replaying in my mind… and within a few heartbeats I realized that they were a dream. I groaned and propped myself up on my forehoof while with other I brushed my eyes. The real events of what had happened started to come back to me. I had stayed within my laboratory until the early hours of the morning, leaving it just in time to see Jack get ready to leave my clinic (and express his surprise at seeing that I had been up all night) before I went to bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

Did I just have a nocturnal emission? I shifted slightly under the covers to check in a way that Apple Core wouldn’t notice; yes, vaginal wetness, I definitely had a nocturnal emission. Well, minus an orgasm, thanks to Apple Core. That’s a new one.

“I’m up, sweetie, I’m up,” I told her drowsily, trying not to hold that against her. While the dream was quite pleasant, it was just a dream. And at least thanks to her I woke up before either of the two apparitions made their way into it like back in Stable Eleven-

Yeah… Pinkie Pie slowly said as she appeared in my field of vision; the tiny pony was sitting on a tiny couch, holding… a box of popcorn. We could kinda see the whole thing? the pink pony revealed, somewhat bashfully; at least she had the decency to blush.

Oddly enough, I found myself slightly embarrassed about this. Which was weird because I had no problem with the two of them being involuntary witnesses to me and Ditzy making love. I suppose it's because the dream was sort of more… personal?

Letting the matter go for now, I focused on the guest in my room. “To what do I owe the bliss of waking up to your face, sweetie?” I asked her pleasantly, hoping to hide anything that could be considered off in my behavior, like-

Wait, I stopped, blinking, my attention shifting back to Pinkie. Darling, why are you sitting on a couch and eating popcorn?!

Pinkie’s apparition blinked and stopped in mid-chew, then swallowed. What couch and popcorn? she finally asked.

I frowned at her, but at the same moment I had been reminded of a more corporeal presence near me. “Um, what are ya doin’?” Apple Core asked me; glancing at her, I saw her staring at me with a confused expression.

Embarrassed at my lack of focus (and frustrated at what I assumed was Pinkie’s jocularity… I mean, it must have been), I cleared my throat and smiled sheepishly. “Forgive me, sweetie, it would appear that I haven’t quite woken up yet.”

Apple Core raised an eyebrow, then smirked. “Yeah, ya kinda seem a bit… worn out,” she said, looking at me oddly. “Busy night?”

“‘Busy night’?” I repeated, confused. Of course, it had been a busy night for me, but Apple Core couldn’t possibly know about it. “Whatever do you mean by that, sweetie- Sweetie?” I exclaimed in growing confusion; the earth pony mare had leaned closer to me and sniffed my coat. “Not that I mind your sudden tolerance for such close physical contact with myself, but may I ask what had caused it?”

“Ah’m just checkin’ if ya and Jack have been ruttin’,” Apple Core replied with malicious smirk, leaving me aghast. As I tried to figure out the best way to reply, the slaver mare took another sniff of my scent and her smirk somehow widened; no doubt she had detected the smell of arousal caused by my dream. “When some schmuck asked ‘im at Salt Block ‘bout it, he denied it, but ya do kinda smell like-”

“Jack and I haven’t partaken in the physical act of love,” I cut her off, not amused by her insinuation. “What you are smelling is a little bit of vaginal wetness caused by the nocturnal emission I had before you decided to wake me up. You may know it under the name of ‘wet dream’,” I added quickly, noticing her raised eyebrow. “And for the record, that was a rather enjoyable dream, so thank you so much for waking me.” Frowning with dignity at the other mare as she snickered with laughter, I waited for her to calm down before resuming. “I’m assuming that since Jack didn’t come over to also deny your suggestion this means that he already left?”

“‘Already’?” Apple Core, still taking great delight in what I revealed to her, asked. “It’s almost noon.”

My eyes widened in surprise at that. I quickly glanced away to check the time and indeed, my PipBuck’s clock showed that it was already past ten in the morning. “I must have slept through my alarm,” I mused out loud, dismayed. Pulling two practically all-nighters in a row must have been more exhausting than I had expected too. I took a mental note to plan out a better sleeping schedule for myself and stick to it, even if I find another amazing critter to examine… “Oh dear, I hope nopony needed my help?”

Apple Core snorted. “Yeah, Ah kinda doubt that if anypony needed anything they would ‘ave just let ya sleep. But anyway, Jack left in the morning t’ track down that tribe, only stopped by Salt Block t’ ‘ave some breakfast. Guys there were curious about ‘im spendin’ the night with ya,” she added, smirking again. “Jack did say though that it was only because he got stuck ‘ere because of the storm. That was when one of ‘em asked if you two banged.”

“You’d think that ponies in this town would have better conversation topics,” I couldn’t help but cut in, shaking my head disapprovingly. Sighing, I added “If Jack had already said that we hadn’t… banged, as you had so romantically put it, why would you doubt him? After all,” I said with a small smirk as I slowly rose from under the covers, arching my body alluringly, “I’d think that most males of any species would rather lie that they and I had enjoyed carnal activities rather than not, wouldn’t you agree?”

I took her gaze briefly travelling down the curves of my body as a yes. However, as soon as I finished talking, the other mare snickered. “Yeah, well, probably. But aren’t ya curious why didn’t this one try anythin’ and why almost everypony believed ‘im when he said so?”

Well, I knew, of course, Jack had been very clear on this matter last night. But what sort of excuse did he present to the slavers that amused Apple Core so much? I nodded to her to finish her thought, not wanting to reveal anything by saying too much.

The earth pony grinned. “He said that he’d never stick his dick in crazy.”

I felt my mouth drop in shock after hearing that Jack had uttered such a vulgar remark. Hearing Apple Core chuckling at my reaction though had helped me to recover enough to say: “I’m… honestly not sure if I should take a greater offense at his very vulgar choice of words or that he continues to make those false remarks regarding my mental health. Although I should probably be relieved that he doesn’t harbor any fantasies about engaging in coitus with me,” I added with a snort as I crossed my forelegs on my chest, still a little mad about the way he behaved when I refused to divulge information about Apple Core. “I would certainly not make love to such a… vulgar, uncouth brute.”

“Oh yeah?” Apple Core said, sounding amused; glancing at her I noticed that she was once again looking at me with one eyebrow raised. “Who was yar wet dream ‘bout, then?”

I furrowed my brow, but otherwise kept a neutral expression, hiding the pang of embarrassment I felt upon hearing her remark. “If you must know, sweetie, I was about to make love to a rather very sensual mare when you’ve woken me up.”

And the very griffin in question, I added in my mind. I didn’t see any point in admitting to Apple Core that she was right; it would certainly make my stance on the matter seem dubious. And besides, I wasn’t lying to her, I really was about to make love to Aite in that dream. Which admittedly was something that I should analyze, the fact that I had such a dream about a mare that I’ve just met, but one thing at a time.

In any case, regardless of whether Apple Core believed me or not, she seemed satisfied with my answer. “Sure, whatever,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, Ah brought ya somethin’ to eat.” My eyes lifted at the sight of her patting a small paper bag on the desk next to her; I didn’t even realize how hungry I was! Before I could as much grab the bag with my magic, though, I noticed Apple Core’s expression becoming troubled. “So, um… ‘bout what we talked yesterday…”

I nodded at once, forgetting about the food and our earlier discussion. “Close the door, sweetie,” I told her, getting up from my bed. “I’d hate if somebody would walk in like yesterday… or if somepony was listening in,” I added, reminding myself about Aite.

Apple Core didn’t appear to notice anything odd about my comment, as she turned to close the door without as much as giving me a weird look. I quickly glanced around my bedroom, wondering if Aite was here. I hoped that the bat pony remembered that she agreed to not listen in when I’m treating my patients and, if she had been in my room, had already left.

“Alright,” I began once Apple Core closed the door joined me. “First things first; when do you believe the possible impregnation had occurred?”

The earth pony grimaced. “What does it… ugh, Ah guess it was ‘bout a week ago? Or… week and a half?” she added, sounding a little bashful and not meeting my eyes.

It would appear that Jack’s guess had been correct, I noted; of course, I had already agreed that if Apple Core was pregnant then it was most likely that Blast had impregnated her. What did surprise and confuse me though was her reluctance to just say it. Is she simply embarrassed? Well, considering that I had previously pointed out to her just how ineffective her ‘contraceptive method’ is, it wouldn’t be surprising if she was...

Keeping those thoughts to myself for now, outwardly, I released a troubled sigh. “That complicates this matter a bit. I won’t be able to use my magic to detect an embryo at such an early stage of development, not without any proper medical equipment. I’ve checked both the storage room and the basement, but there weren’t even any calibrating talismans or arcanewave gel. Nor were there any pregnancy tests, but they would be out of date anyway. Fortunately, I can break the chemicals I have stored down to their base components and prepare the potion that can detect even the tiniest presence of equine chorionic gonadotropin within blood or urine-”

“Ponish please,” Apple Core interjected, sounding a touch annoyed.

“Of course, sweetie,” I immediately replied, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. Clearing my throat, I resumed: “I can prepare a potion that, after adding it to a sample of your blood or urine, will change the sample’s color if it contains a hormone that is only present in the fluids of pregnant mares.”

“Wouldn’t it be simpler t’ say: it will change the color if the mare is pregnant?” Apple Core asked, deadpanning at me.

“I suppose it would,” I replied, sighing. “In any case, sweetie, I’ve already started to prepare this potion, but it will take me a couple of days to finish it.”

“Oh, Ah see,” the other mare replied, clearly disappointed. “How long?”

“I believe three to five days,” I said, frowning. “I’m sorry, sweetie, but that’s the best I can do with what I have to work with.”

“That’s okay, it’s not as long as Ah would ’ave thought. Ah can deal with not knowin’ for sure ‘til then.” She opened her mouth as if to add something else, but she hesitated, then shook his head. “Okay, well, Ah guess that’s it for now then. Um… ya got chems for me to sell to those schmucks?”

“Yes, of course, sweetie” I replied, a little dismayed that she wanted to change the subject so quickly. I reached with my magic to a drawer, opened it, and took a satchel from it containing the chems that I had prepared. “If you don’t mind though,” I added as I gave the bag to her, “I was hoping we could talk a bit more about-”

“Yeah, Ah bet,” Apple Core interrupted me with a snort, then covered her face with a hoof. “Look, Ah… don’t really wanna talk ‘bout it yet, okay? Or think for that matter. Hopefully yar test will show that Ah won’t ‘ave t’. Ah’ll see ya later,” she said, and with those words and the satchel placed in her saddle bag she trotted towards the door.

“Of course, sweetie,” I quickly said, then added: “In case you are pregnant, though, I have to remind you that you can’t drink any alcohol or partake in any chems, at least until we find out for sure if you are pregnant or not.”

Apple Core, who had stopped to listen to me, appeared to grow more annoyed with each word, but when I finished she sighed and rolled her eyes. “Well, since ya’d probably make a scene if ya caught me drinkin’, Ah won’t. Regardless of what Ah decide,” she muttered under her nose, probably not expecting me to have caught that; she sounded angry.

I bit my lip; I wanted to talk with her in greater detail about her plans, but I couldn’t press her. I’d have to wait until we can conduct our little pregnancy test to discuss this matter with her. And so instead I quietly followed after her out of my bedroom, musing over what to say next.

Well, Jack did want me to check if she would be open to the idea of running the town...

“This matter aside, how have you been, sweetie?” I asked. As the slaver mare glanced at me with an eyebrow raised, I elaborated: “We hadn’t had time to catch up since you’ve returned from your little outing to Stable Eleven. Perhaps we should meet at Salt Block later today?”

“Sorry, Ah’ll be busy tonight,” Apple Core replied. “Black Widow wants to discuss new slave raids and once that griffin returns we’ll start makin’ plans ‘bout this damned tribe.”

“Well, of course she wants to discuss them with you, sweetie, you’re easily the most discerning pony here,” I replied with a little smile, my praise making Apple Core chuckle warmly. “I dare say, she should probably leave planning slave raids to you entirely.”

“Right, make me do all the work,” Apple Core snorted in a good-spirited amusement. “Ah mean, Ah could do it, but the whole point of bein’ second in command is that Ah’m not responsible for everythin’.”

“I would have thought you’d have enjoyed such power,” I countered, acting a little surprised. “When I was the chief of medicine in Stable Eight, I had quickly found that being in charge is quite… satisfying,” I added, dragging the word alluringly.

Apple Core chuckled. “Yeah, Ah guess so… still,” she added briskly, her voice becoming firm, “Black Widow is the boss and she likes havin’ the final say-so in everythin’, so those are just conjectures.”

“But of course,” I replied with a calm smile; it wouldn’t do our task any good if I’d push this subject any further right now. I decided that it would be best to change the subject immediately, as if we were still having a simple conversation and not plotting to take over the town; well, one of us was at least. “Oh, but if you could, sweetie, perhaps you could ask Black Widow if the slavers could be on a lookout for any medical equipment from now on? The underequipped state of this clinic is becoming a real bother,” I said with honest dismay as we reached the door.

“Ah somewhat doubt they would find anythin’ that ‘adn’t been picked by scavengers centuries ago, but Ah can run that by her,” Apple Core replied with an eyeroll. “She would probably want some compensation for an extra effort, though.”

“She is my employer, it should be in her interest for me to have the best equipment possible,” I replied with a frown, then sighed. “But I suppose I can’t really blame her, seeing how rare such finds must be in the Wasteland.”

“Rare is probably the right word,” Apple Core said with a snort. “Anyway, Ah’ll see ya later- Fuckin’ hell!” she cursed angrily as the door which she had just tried to open fell out of one of its hinges, tilting sideways. “Ah’ll tell Forty t’ come over and get this stupid thing fixed for ya.”

“Oh, thank you sweetie, it would be great to have it repaired as soon as possible,” I told her, smiling, as the annoyed mare waved back and left, still cursing at my door under her nose as I carefully closed it.

“You know,” a familiar voice came from behind me suddenly, startling me, “some ponies say that a foal is a blessing and stuff. I don’t think your slaver friend would agree with that stupid old saying,” Aite said from the mattress she laid on, nodding with her head in the direction of the door. Unlike how she was when I had seen her last time - and in my dream - she was once again fully clothed, with her Invisibility Cloak covering practically all of her body besides her head. “She didn’t seem exactly pleased when you left your room.”

Calming down, I turned to the bat pony. “It is her body and life that are being affected,” I pointed out, trotting closer to her. “She is entitled to having a different opinion on this matter. Also, good morning, sweetie,” I told her with a smile.

Aite rolled her yellow eyes. “Morning.”

“I hope you hadn’t been listening when I gave Apple Core medical consultation?” I asked with a slight frown. “You promised that-”

“That I would leave you alone when you are with patients, yes, I remember,” Aite interjected, sounding a touch exasperated. “I did, but I can make a pretty good guess how it went down regardless. Think that when you do a pregnancy test on her and it turns out positive she’ll ask for abortion?” she asked, propping her head on a forehoof.

I ignored the unpleasant shiver that went down my spine. “Sweetie, I don’t feel comfortable discussing my patients,” I told her pointedly, turning away and trotting back towards my bedroom, where Apple Core had left the breakfast she had brought for me. “What she will ask of me as her medical doctor is her business.”

I was aware that as I walked away Aite continued to stare at me with an odd intensity. Maybe it was a bounty hunter thing, or ‘assassin’, as she called herself, thing? Was she studying me or something of the kind? I mean, I could respect that, after all, I would love to study her…

Whatever the reason for it was, she very quickly must have stopped staring at me and took to the air. I say ‘must have’ because with my back turned towards her I hadn’t noticed when she noiselessly flew over until she passed me, landing within my bedroom.

When I entered it myself, I found her sitting on my desk beside the aquarium where Snuggles and Wigglebutt were, chewing on a bit of cram. The bat pony was giving my radroaches a curious glance and after a second she extended her wing and tapped the glass next to them with her claw.

As Snuggles turned its head towards it and examined the aquarium wall around the spot Aite had tapped with its antennae, I observed her wing, measuring it as I recalled my dream, specifically the part where she had hugged me from behind and reached down towards my marehood. Huh, I would have thought my subconsciousness to be more accurate…

“So anyway,” Aite spoke up, breaking me out of my train of thoughts, “while you were sleeping and Jack was out eating breakfast and chatting with the slavers before going out into the Wasteland, I snuck into Black Widow’s house.” Oh now she had my full attention. “Sadly, didn’t find anything interesting, besides an old Steel Ranger’s scribe barding in a safe in her bedroom, confirming Cutter’s story. On a side note, she had quite a number of bottle caps hidden in that safe, too,” she added. “Of course, since she strikes me as a type of pony who counts their caps every night, I didn’t take any, but as soon as Jack gives a green light to take her down I’ll be taking them. I am doing this whole thing pro bono after all,” Aite said just as I was about to ask if it wouldn’t have been more fair to split the caps between the three of us. “There isn’t even any bounty on Black Widow. So those caps will be a bonus.”

I could only shrug in response. True, additional resources would be nice, but that meant less to me than finding out the information about Scope’s organization and taking over Appleloosa from Black Widow.

“As far as I am concerned, sweetie, those bottle caps are already yours,” I replied pleasantly. “Be sure to clear this up with Jack, though I’m sure he’ll agree.”

“Already asked when I reported all of this,” Aite said, then shrugged and added: “He seemed annoyed and said he doesn’t care. In any case,” she added, her attention shifting back to my radroaches as she tapped the glass again, “I didn’t find anything, no notes or diaries. I even looked into her ledgers, but there was nothing besides standard slaver business stuff. She does have a terminal in her bedroom though,” the bat pony said, glancing at me just as my ears perked up. “Of course, it’s password protected, and hacking into those things isn’t exactly my forte, and neither Jack’s. How about you, Cray-cray?”

“Oh, I would say I am quite skilled in this particular area, sweetie,” I replied, ignoring the nickname (even though I found it a more charming one that the plain ‘Crazy’ she also used to call me with). I was too busy considering the possibilities of this discovery. “Do you think she’d have some information we’re searching for?”

“It is possible. But it is also possible that there wouldn’t be anything in there. Which is why Jack is still against the idea of my just slitting her throat and smuggling you into her house to hack the terminal,” Aite said, annoyed, forgetting about Snuggles and Wigglebutt as she turned back to me. “Seriously, we could have already be done… I also found a hatch in her basement, similar to yours,” she added, but at almost at the same time she rolled her eyes and continued, “but it doesn’t do us much good at this point, considering that ponies would notice that you’re absent if we snuck in that way, and at night she’s there with that zebra. So no chance of checking the terminal’s contents without dealing with Black Widow, and we’ll continue with the plan. Meaning I’ll be bored to death,” Aite finished with a loud sigh, laying on the desk and placing her face in her forehooves.

“It would appear so,” I said sympathetically. “I have some books I can let you borrow if you need to find a way to pass the time,” I offered, but the bat pony waved her wing in what I interpreted as dismissive.

Unsure what else could be said at this point, I turned my attention to my breakfast. Inside the small paper bag was a can of beans; ever since I learned about brahmin, I refused to eat any meat until I was certain that it didn’t come from any sapient creature. With how little chance I had to interact on a personal level with the Wasteland’s fauna, though, this meant that I was pretty much resigned to two hundred year old food from cans and such. Not that I actually ate much different before, considering my failed attempts at eating meat…

“Do you want something sweetie?” I asked Aite, showing her the can.

The bat pony raised her head a little to look at me with one eye. “Nah, thanks, already ate.”

I nodded, then looked around the paper bag. Aside from a bottle of water, there was nothing left in it. Sighing, I lamented inwardly about the lack of plates and cutlery, then grabbed a knife from my drawer, opened the can, and proceeded to eat breakfast with just my magic.

As I took the first mouthful of beans, I was acutely aware of Aite watching me, but aside from feeling a little anxious about another pony watching me eat while she wasn’t I couldn’t do much about it. I had offered to share with her and she declined, so I’d best ignore her.

“So,” she unexpectedly spoke up; I glanced at her just as I swallowed, and noticed that she was smirking, “a sensual mare, huh?”

Startled, I turned to her, embarrassed, and struggled to explain… except I was suddenly unable to breathe, let alone speak- GODDESSES I WAS CHOKING!

I attempted to cough onto the floor, hoping to remove the beans that fell into - as I realized in alarm - my trachea, but to no avail. Panic seized me. I tried to reach with my magic, but in my current state of mind I couldn’t remember what was the best way of clearing a pony’s windpipe.

“Oh for crying out loud,” I heard Aite exclaim.

About the last thing I had registered before I realized that I was choking was the bat pony’s amusement turning into confusion. Now though Aite’s remark sounded to me as annoyed; I could be wrong though, I was about to be asphyxiated.

Regardless of how she felt, the bat pony had swiftly jumped down from the desk and swooped down to sit right behind my back. Faster than I could cough, she wrapped her forelegs around my torso and clasped them together right by my diaphragm. Recognizing the Abdominal thrusts, I leaned back slightly and tried to relax as Aite applied pressure with her hooves, compressing my lungs and in the process artificially inducing cough. The bits of beans fell out onto the floor, and I was finally able to breathe.

Taking in air and waiting for my heartbeat to subside down to normal levels, I tried to think of a way to properly thank Aite for saving me from possibly the most ridiculous manner of death that could happen in the Wasteland. However, the bat pony didn’t wait for me to gather my thoughts.

“So,” she spoke up; I turned my head a little to glance back at her, and saw that she was smirking again, “choking aside, is this a good reenactment of your dream?”

I was suddenly made aware that she still had her forelegs wrapped around my torso.

“Um…” I stammered in a un-ladylike manner, feeling my colorless cheeks gaining color and heat. “W-well, sweetie, I, um, suppose it is,” I confessed, then did a double take. “I mean, minus the fact that we’re on the floor and not my bed, and there’s no griffin underneath us…”

Aite blinked, then burst with laughter, falling backwards onto the floor after releasing me. “Damn girl, nice dream,” she managed to say as I slowly recovered.

Still blushing, I cleared my throat (and used magic to heal the damage those beans and the Abdominal thrusts had done). “I hope that you’re not offended sweetie,” I said, trying to be as dignified as I usually was.

“For what?” Aite asked, sitting back up. “For your subconsciousness taking advantage of my looks and charms?”

A pony can appear dignified only for so long.

“Um, w-well, yes,” I admitted, embarrassed.

Aite giggled in response, and leaned over, placing her hoof on my mane and ruffling it. “Geez, relax, Cray-cray, I’m just pulling your tail. I’m gonna take that as a compliment.”

I sighed in relief. “Thank you, sweetie. For that, and saving my life darling,” I added, smiling warmly; even if still a bit sheepishly.

“Meh, don’t sweat it; it was kinda my fault anyway,” she replied, rolling her eyes. Before I could protest - I mean, how could she be at fault for me swallowing food and trying to reply to her remark at the same time - she smirked again and said: “So, that dream? I wanna hear details!”

*** *** ***

“Jack’s running late.”

I looked up from Wasteland Survival Guide that I had been reading by the reception desk (for about the fifth time). Aite had just became visible again beside the nearest window. Throughout this rather uneventful day I had grown somewhat accustomed to her habit of suddenly appearing without a warning, which is why this time I wasn’t even startled.

And it really had been an uneventful day. Aside from Forty coming over to fix my door, the only visitors I had were three ponies seeking medical attention for some minor problems. Besides that, all I had to do today was checking up on the enslaved raiders and meet with Apple Core at Salt Block for dinner. During it she had mentioned in a hushed voice that since we can’t exactly go out drinking later she’d hook up with some buck, leaving my evening free. Which was fine with me, as I had three test subjects and a radscorpion to check upon.

I had just been waiting for the usual time I’d go down to my lab when Aite spoke up. It was the first serious thing I had heard her say all day; all the times she’d appear when nopony was around before, was to offer some sort of amused remark or a joke. Despite that, though, as I looked at her she didn’t seem too alarmed.

“Jack said he’d be back before night,” Aite continued, noticing she had my attention now. “He figured he’d track down this tribe in a few hours, but would pretend to be still searching for them so we’d have a few more days for preparations.”

“Do you think anything bad happened to him, sweetie?” I asked, confused by the lack of worry in her voice.

“Nah, he probably just couldn’t find them,” Aite replied, shrugging. “Which admittedly is a bit alarming, he’s quite good at this sort of thing. Anyway, he said that we don’t have to worry unless he isn’t back before midnight; if that happens it will mean he ran into trouble and I’d have to fly and save his feathered ass.”

“Um, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have feathers around his posterior, sweetie,” I corrected her, confused. “I’d think that out of the two of us you’d be the one to know this.”

“I’m beginning to understand why he calls you ‘Wasteland’s dumbest genius,” Aite said as she glanced at me, then ignoring my pout she turned her attention back to the window. “Jack’s probably fine, though, so that’s redundant. Unfortunately, he insisted that we meet up every night - which I would be all up for if it wasn’t just for work - so we can stay in touch with him and he with you, so I gotta wait and see when he arrives.”

“I see… well, I would keep you company, sweetie, but I’m afraid I’ll have to go check on my test subjects and Pinchy in a moment,” I said, glancing in the direction of the basement door.

“Pinchy?” Aite asked, confused. “What the- oh, you named the radscorpion,” the bat pony said, then snorted with good-humored amusement. “Well, got to give it to you, it fits… not as much as ‘Stabby’ would, though.”

“Oh, I thought about it, sweetie, but that name sounds too… violent,” I replied, grimacing in dismay.

“Meh, fair point. See you later then,” she said with a wave of her hoof, turning back to the window. “Have fun.”

I was about to thank her and head to my laboratory, but I paused, an idea occurring to me. “You know, darling,” I began warmly, “on second thought, since you’ll be stuck looking through this window, perhaps you’d allow me to conduct a physical examination on you in the meantime?”

I was at just the right angle from Aite to see her roll her eyes. “And why do you wanna do that?” she asked in a disinterested tone, without as much as turning to me.

Undaunted by her attitude, I began to explain, excited, “Why, darling, I think that’s obvious! To learn more about bat pony’s biology, to be able to better heal you if you ever get hurt or if you fell ill, not to mention all the other bat ponies I might meet in the future.”

“Yeah, I don’t think you have to worry about that last one,” Aite snorted. “Even I haven’t met another bat pony yet.”

I was fairly certain that my jaw had ‘dropped’. “W-wha- really?” I managed to stammer, bewildered. Regaining some of my composure, I said: “Forgive me, sweetie, but I had assumed that you came from some sort of bat ponies’ hidden enclave that had been established after Nightmare Moon’s banishment?”

Now it was Aite’s turn to be surprised, though clearly to lesser effect than I had been. The bat pony merely turned to me sharply, frown on her face, and stared at me for a second before she shook off her bewilderment. “Um, no, I was born to a normal Wasteland family. My parents were earth ponies,” she explained as I listened attentively, intrigued. Snorting with amusement, she continued: “They thought I was a mutant until a doctor explained to them how genetics worked and they both must have had some ‘bat pony recessive genes’ for me to be born as a bat pony.”

“Interesting…” I mused out loud, nodding.

“If you say so,” Aite replied with a shrug. “Honestly, the fact that both of my parents had some bat pony ancestors a long-ass time ago and that by chance I just got both sets of those genes or whatever from them caused me more annoyance than anything else growing up.”

Oh, I could imagine that. I knew only too well just how a foalhood could be affected by the whims of genetics.

“Also,” Aite adder sharply as I opened my mouth, words of sympathy almost ready on my tongue, “assuming that I come from some ‘bat pony colony’ just because I’m a bat pony? Pretty sure that’s racist.”

I balked at the statement, and it took me a good few seconds to realize that Aite was smirking at me. Realizing that I had just been a victim of a jest, I shook and turned to her with a frown. “Oh, don’t be silly sweetie, that’s not why I had made that assumption. First off,” I began, ignoring her sigh, “considering how there is no mention of bat ponies appearing in the history of Equestria between Nightmare Moon’s banishment and Princess Luna’s return, it makes sense to assume that they’d live in some hidden enclave. Admittedly,” I amended thoughtfully, “there is very little mention of bat ponies afterwards… and second off,” I resumed, shaking off that train of thought before I could lose track of the conversation at hoof, “that pugio you carry all but indicated that-”

“The what that I’m carrying?” Aite interrupted me, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

“Pugio? Your dagger?” I added, a little surprised that she didn’t know what it was called. “A close-quarters weapon used by the Royal Legion and then later by the Royal Guard? They fell out of use of Equestrian military shortly after the great Celestia/Luna rift, and the variant with the blade narrowing in the third of its length like yours appeared only a century before. That, and the fact that pugiones with silver-lined handles - as well as handles of most weapons, actually - were part of Princess Luna’s personal guards equipment, made me hypothesize that the only way that such an old weapon would not only survive, but be in usable condition too was if it had been maintained by the remains of Nightmare Moon army during their self-imposed - I assume; I have little information about this subject of course - exile, until one among their descendants - you, sweetie - had taken it for themselves. But, um,” I amended sheepishly, noticing Aite’s expression, “clearly, I overthought this.”

The bat pony was staring at me, agape, with her eyebrow still raised as it had been a moment ago. No, actually, it rose higher by a few inches. “How the fuck do you know all that shit?” she finally asked, shaking her head a little in bewilderment.

“I read it in a book?” I replied cautiously, surprised at her reaction.

The bat pony facehoofed after hearing my reply, then brought her other forehoof to her face and began to rub her temples. “Okay, against better judgment…” she muttered under her breath before turning back to me, “let’s try that again; how a pony like you, obsessed with medicine and stuff, comes about a book - in a Stable no less - about ancient Equestrian weaponry and decides to read it?”

“Oh,” I exclaimed, now understanding her confusion. “Well, sweetie, it’s quite simple. Indeed, you could say that I am ‘obsessed with medicine’, as I had told Jack the previous night I’ve studied all of my father’s medical books. But I had also enjoyed reading in general, and having learned to read very early I’ve read through all of the books my parents and grandmother would allow me to read. Since I was still too young to borrow books from the library, I asked my friend instead if I could read some of his parents' books, and they had a book called Weapons Through History. Now, even back then I, hm, hadn’t been a big fan of firearms, but I do find that there is certain beauty to white arms, wouldn’t you agree?” I asked, turning to Aite as I had closed my eyes as I recalled my foalhood. To my dismay, she had resumed covering her face with her forehooves, as if regretting having asked me to explain. Clearing my throat, I quickly wrapped up, “As for why such a book found its way to my Stable, among the original residents of Stable Eight was quite a number of war veterans, soldiers who were on leave and-”

“I’m sorry I asked,” Aite interrupted me, apparently having learned enough. Ignoring my dismayed pout, she said: “Well, congrats, you know more about my dagger that I do, I didn’t know all that stuff.”

“Really?” I asked, a little surprised. “If I may ask, sweetie, how did you come about it?”

“A bounty… ugh, was it nine years ago?” she paused for a moment, frowning. “Or maybe it was the other one… I dunno, I would have to check with Bottlecap about this. The point is, there was this bounty, one buck stole a lot of shit from Society ponies and they put a bounty on him. Since they didn’t insist on recovering what he stole I assume he probably also slept with somepony important, but that doesn’t matter. Anyway, I found him, killed him, and found some interesting items on him, this dagger among them. I thought it was pretty, so I kept it, end of the story,” she finished, shrugging.

“Huh, I see,” I mused thoughtfully. I noticed Aite raised an eyebrow at me again, but she quickly rolled her eyes and resumed a neutral expression; whatever had bothered her again mustn’t have been important. “And you were never curious about where this dagger came from? I mean… it belonged to Princess Luna’s personal guard! Historical and, quite possibly, even religious worth aside, for all you know, it could have actually belonged to one of your distant bat pony ancestors!”

“Yeah, what an amazing stroke of luck,” Aite snorted in an odd tone, then shrugged and added “What can I say, I’m more of practical pony I guess. I said that I took it because it’s pretty, but actually it’s far better suited for me than any other dagger I had used.”

“Those, Society ponies, you called them? They really didn’t ask about it? I’d imagine that a pugio of Princess Luna’s personal guard would be quite valuable.”

“Ironically, you’d imagine wrong in usual cases,” the bat pony replied confusingly. “Sure, before the war that thing would probably be priceless, but in the Wasteland ponies hardly can afford things more essential for survival. That being said, those snobs in Society do like to surround themselves with pretty and useless stuff; hence why I said ‘ironically’ earlier. But no, as far as I know, they didn’t ask about it. Maybe that guy stole it from somewhere else… you know, now I am a little pissed that I didn’t know what this dagger was,” she added with an annoyed frown. “I would have sold it to Society or maybe Eggheads and would have been able to retire a year or years earlier. Just my luck,” Aite said, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. Before I could ask her who exactly were those ‘eggheads’ she mentioned, she turned to me, changing the subject. “Whatever. That physical examination you asked about; what exactly would that be about?”

“Oh! I’m glad you’ve asked, darling!” I replied, beaming up and completely forgetting about the pugio. “To put it simply, I would merely examine and record your anatomical features, as well as ask you a few questions regarding your biology and medical history. I would also like if I could take a sample of your blood for further examination in my laboratory. Aside from that it would be completely non-invasive, I assure you.”

Aite had been deadpanning at me since I started talking, and now that I stopped she lifted an eyebrow and asked: “You do know that sounds awfully like an excuse to molest me, right?”

I balked. “Wha- no it doesn’t!” I argued, frowning. “As I had explained to Jack last night, sweetie, what had happened with Ditzy was an accident!”

The bat pony chuckled in response. “Riiiight. So by accident you mean that you fell tongue-first into her mouth, huh?” she asked teasingly. Chuckling again as I struggled to find an appropriate reply, she added “Honestly, Cray-cray, trying to get frisky with a mare my age? Aren’t I a little too old for you?”

“Again, that is not my intention, sweetie,” I repeated, growing both embarrassed and annoyed. “Also, on a side note, I don’t see why exactly the fact that you’re older than me would mean that you and I couldn’t become lovers. My last lover was over two hundred years older than me.”

“One, thanks for proving my point,” Aite countered playfully, As I rolled my eyes, she continued “And two, having a ghoul for a lover is a whole other thing so your argument in this case is redundant.”

I had my doubts whether her statement could be considered true, but then again, this whole argument was weird. So instead I shrugged. “Very well then, sweetie, then how about my former marefriend being ten years older than me? Would you say that she was ‘too old for me’?”

“More like you had been too young for her,” she replied, eyebrow raised. As I frowned, ready to argue, she shrugged. “But meh, it’s not that bad, and it’s not my business. Besides your Stable had clearly some more bizarre things going on in it anyway.”

She was probably referring to our discussion from last night about how incest is viewed in my Stable. Understanding that it was a rather controversial issue to her, I decided against continuing our argument. I was glad that at least she had stopped jesting about me using physical examination as an excuse to molest her. Also-

“So out of curiosity,” Aite piped up unexpectedly, turning back to the window to watch the dark alley of Appleloosa, “how did things end up with your marefriend? I can’t imagine she was thrilled when your Stable discovered your past time activity.”

“She…” I began, only to stammer and hesitate. A familiar coldness swelled within me. Swallowing, I spoke again, “W-why would you want to know that?”

No doubt noticing the change in my demeanor, Aite glanced at me. “Just making small talk to pass the time. Also, I wanted to change the subject from that physical examination stuff.”

Hardly listening, I nodded and replied to her question, “She never learned about… my ‘pastime activities’. About six months before my Stable learned about it…” I trailed off and glanced away, “she died.”

LIAR!!!

The thought exploded in my mind like a thunder, causing both Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy’s apparitions to cover their ears, just like the previous time this had happened. As they looked at me with surprise and concern, I wondered if I’d ever be able to say that without…

“Oh,” I heard Aite exclaim awkwardly; I pulled myself out of my mind’s dark musings into the present moment. “Sorry to hear that. Wouldn’t have pressed if I knew.”

“It’s alright,” I said, smiling sadly. “I had time to… process it. Thank you for your words of sympathy, though, sweetie.”

Aite hummed, then looked through the window again. I was relieved that her attention had left me. Suddenly, I had lost interest in conducting a physical examination. I wanted… needed to leave.

“Since you don’t seem to relish the thought of me conducting a non-invasive research on you right now, sweetie, I’ll return to this issue at a later date. For now I’d better focus on my experiments down in the laboratory,” I said, turning to leave.

The bat pony glanced at me, and after a second shrugged and said: “Sure, will stop by after Jack finally shows himself. See you later.”

I replied in kind as I headed towards my basement. Despite saying that I intended to focus on my experiments, which I had originally planned to, I found my mind blank, unable to focus on any actual thought. The two apparitions had no doubt noticed that, as they exchanged an uneasy look.

Um, Angel? Fluttershy spoke, hesitantly. Are you… alright?

Yeah, you seem really super sad right now, Pinkie Pie added, frowning unhappily.

Maybe you’d wanna talk about-

Not really, I interrupted Fluttershy. I’ve discussed this matter extensively, talking about it more isn’t going to change anything other than making me feel differently, which I don’t even see that happening. Right now, nothing I can actually do can change anything about it…

I trailed off as I looked around. I was now down in my laboratory. My eyes travelled across it, from the beakers in which I was preparing potions and medicines to the three cell doors with three test subjects and a radscorpion. I had experiments to run on them, had to continue examining Pinchy and resume trying to tame him…

I looked down. My right forehoof was resting on the PipBuck on my left foreleg.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. I was about to press a button to play the recording, but I stopped as I glanced at the cell doors. Biting my lip, I instead rose and trotted over to the hatch.

Um, Angel? What are you doing? Pinkie asked, concerned.

Nothing, just… I began, then hesitated; how to actually describe what I was doing? I opened the hatch, and started descending down the ladder, closing the hatch back with my magic. I just… need to listen to a recording…

The two apparitions exchanged yet another worried glance, but I hardly paid them attention. Nor did I pay much attention to the dark cave that I found myself in again. All I cared about was my PipBuck, and as I sat down below the ladder, I extended my foreleg before me and pressed the play button on it.

Coughing.

“I… don’t look too good now, huh?”

*** *** ***

I snapped hearing the hatch opening above me. Almost immediately my hoof shot to the PipBuck, stopping the recording.

Oh thank goodness!

“Angel?” I heard Aite call out at the same time Fluttershy’s apparition had exclaimed her relieve; a little disoriented, I looked up, which did not help my situation as the light from my laboratory hurt my eyes after being down in the darkness. I could still make out the silhouette of the bat pony leaning down from the hatch. “Ah, there you are.”

She jumped down. I scrambled to my hooves, backing away to make room for her (unnecessarily, as she flew down to land next to where I had been sitting), and turned on my PipBuck’s light.

Of course, she asked the obvious question first, “What were you doing down here? Without a light turned on?” Aite added, her eyebrow raised.

I managed a smile while thinking fast about what sort of reason I could have for- Ah, of course! “Why, sweetie, I wanted to explore the Stable of course! As for not turning the light on,” I paused, looking away, in the direction of the closest cluster of glowing fungus, “I just came down a moment ago, and wanted to admire the bioluminescent glow those mushrooms emit before I’d gather some samples from them.”

I took advantage of those few seconds when my face was turned away from Aite while I stared at the glowing fungus to calm down, regain my usual composure, and make sure that my face and demeanor didn’t betray me. Only then did I look back at the bat pony. She was still staring at me with that troubled, bordering on concerned expression, but it was quickly replaced with the unreadable face she usually bore.

“Figures. Was looking for you to tell you that Jack finally crawled back into town.” With a snort of annoyance, she added, “About five minutes before his deadline…”

Jack’s “deadline” was midnight. Have I been down here that long? I wondered while Aite complained about having to stare through the window for so long.

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, both apparitions looking at me with deep worry, nodded. We- we’ve been trying to… to get you to stop… Fluttershy said, while Aite continued to talk about how she had snuck into the toilet at Salt Block to talk with Jack without being spotted (and mentioned having made some mildly lewd suggestions at the time). The tiny pegasus’ eyelids were swollen and bleary, and Pinkie’s weren’t in much better shape; had they been crying this whole time? As if I wasn’t feeling awful already… But you kept just playing the recording back over and over… I don’t think you even heard us...

I… hoped that this wouldn’t happen, I confessed awkwardly. I had to be careful to maintain a normal expression while listening to Aite and politely nodding. I… I used to listen to that recording for hours without stopping, only snapping out of it once I heard a loud noise nearby, and sometimes only after somepony would prod me. I guess voices of ponies that are in my head don’t exactly have the same effect, unfortunately…

“At first he couldn’t find any traces of the tribe at all,” Aite finally began to repeat what Jack had told her. “Which is not surprising, considering the weather last night. Eventually he did find some tracks, though, and began to follow them, but then they broke off at some point. Jack had flown around within a mile radius of where he lost them, but couldn’t find any sign of any settlements.” The bat pony shrugged and added: “He’s gonna try again tomorrow. Until then we have to carry on as planned.”

“You don’t seem too concerned that he cannot find the tribe, sweetie,” I pointed out.

She once again shrugged. “Jack’s going to find them eventually. He said that they might have hidden their settlement, make houses or tents or whatever resemble rocks from afar and stuff. It was getting dark when he started searching the area where the tracks disappeared, if he tries again during daytime he should spot them, and if not, he’s gonna widen his search are. He is good at this sort of thing. Although,” Aite added, frowning a little, “something did seem… off about him, when we’ve discussed it. Probably because of his pride as a professional, though, so I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“If you say so, sweetie,” I said, already losing interest in this matter. I had more on my head right now to think about without worrying about Jack’s part of the plan. I cleared my throat and took a step in the direction of the Stable. “Will you accompany me?” I asked as I paused in mid-step. “Or will you return back to my clinic?”

Truth be told, I would have preferred if she would go back. I wanted to talk with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie in peace, without being constantly mindful of another pony’s presence-

NO!

I almost shook as both apparitions had suddenly appeared right before my face.

You are not staying alone again! Pinkie added sternly.

That’s right! Fluttershy said, then her expression softened and immediately she stammered: I, um, I mean, if you don’t mind that is… we don’t want to sound pushy, it’s just…

“Are you okay?” Aite asked, giving me an odd look.

Clearing my throat, I turned back to her and smiled with embarrassment. “Forgive me, sweetie, I just… realized what a silly thing I was about to do,” I said, giggling. “I was just about to enter an abandoned, ruined Stable! Me, a pony fresh out of her own Stable! Even assuming I could deal with the critters that could possibly live in there, there is also a risk of me trotting into some sort of trap, like I had in Stable Eleven.”

Wow, nice save, Pinkie commented; despite her words, she was still giving me a stern look.

Aite raised her eyebrow at me. “Ooookay…”

“So instead, what I should have said is: would you please accompany me, sweetie? I really want to take a look at the remains you had mentioned, and I would like to learn what had happened to this Stable and its denizens,” I finished, looking at her pleadingly.

The bat pony rolled her eyes. “Well it’s not like I have much to do around here,” she exclaimed, standing up and beginning to trot down the tunnel. “But we’re not going too deep into it. Who knows if that thing won’t just collapse.”

“Very well, sweetie, thank you so much for your company,” I chirped as I began to slowly walk after her. At the same time, I turned to look at the apparitions. Satisfied?

Not really, Pinkie replied, pouting.

Before she could continue the thought, I quickly began to assure them, I’m not going to listen to this recording again. Well, at least not for some time, I amended; I would definitely want to listen to it again at some point later in my life. Stopping by another cluster of glowing fungus and turning away so Aite wouldn’t be able to see my face, I began to collect a sample, buying myself more time in the process. I’ve agreed to your demand because I’m sorry that I had put you two through that. I… I just wanted to hear that again, and I thought that I would be strong enough to stop by myself this time…

I noticed the two exchanging a worried glance as I looked away from them. We understand, Angel, Fluttershy spoke up, floating closer to brush my muzzle reassuringly. But, um… I don’t think you should listen to that recording again… it’s not healthy to do that to yourself.

No, it wasn’t. But Fluttershy was wrong. She and Pinkie didn’t… I would need to listen to that recording again eventually.

I needed to remember.

*** *** ***

The entrance to the Stable was indeed left wide open. The massive steel door had been so rusted over that it was impossible to read the Stable’s number. It was curly at the bottom… maybe it was number six? Or it could be a two-digit number…

I quickly lost interest in trying to figure it out; after all, knowing the Stable’s number wouldn’t tell me much. The broken skeletons by the entrance, though, were much more interesting.

As Aite had described them, they all bore various fractures. A lot were broken, with parts of them either scattered around the Stable’s entrance or simply missing. One remains looked like they had been cut in half- no, not cut. There were no signs of cuts on any bone (on it or any other skeleton, nor were there any bullet holes or any other signs of damage other than blunt force). It looked like… it had been ripped apart?

“Do you think a hellhound could have done it?” I mused out loud to Aite; so far, that had been the only creature I had seen with physical strength required for such a feat.

“Not really my profession to be able to tell such a thing,” she replied, shrugging.

“Hm… but if that would have been a hellhound, then surely there would be claw marks left on at least some of the bones…” I continued the thought, examining another skeleton; there were twelve in total by the entrance. Or, well, what remained of twelve ponies, not all the skeletons were complete so it would be more precise to say nine and three quarters I suppose. “And I would wager that this Stable had met its horrific fate within the first few decades after the Last Day, I’m not sure if the hellhounds had already developed from diamond dogs by then…”

“Oh right, Jack had mentioned that you met a friendly hellhound,” Aite spoke up; if I didn’t know better, I would have assumed that she found my examination to be boring, and wanted to talk about something else. “Did you jump on him too, or were Jack and I special cases?”

“I probably would have, if I hadn’t just been beaten up by raiders,” I admitted. “It was understandably less energetic after what I had been through… and besides, he was wearing a cloak, I didn’t realize he was a hellhound at first.” My gaze travelled from one skeleton to another as I talked, then finally I got up. “I won’t be able to deduce anything more by examining those. Let’s go further, sweetie; perhaps we’ll find something illuminating inside the Overmare’s Office.”

“Fine, but we won’t go anywhere else; I don’t really like this place,” Aite said, glancing around at the rusted and, in some places, dented walls.

As we began to move, I spared a glance at the control panel used for opening the Stable’s door. Or rather, what was left of it. Whatever had killed those ponies had destroyed it, too, right after using it to open the Stable.

“Or maybe the ponies opened it,” I said out loud. “It would appear those twelve ponies were trying to run away right before they were murdered… but that would mean that whatever had done this to them had been with them in the Stable already.”

“Told you it looks like they’d fought with each other,” Aite replied, shrugging.

I hurried over to walk beside her. “I don’t think ponies possess physical strength necessary to cause most of the injuries that would leave such marks on their bones,” I said as I matched her stride.

Aite nodded absentmindedly. “Hm, I know of maybe five that could, but they are rather… how would you say, ‘extraordinary specimens of ponykind’?” she asked with a glance, to which I nodded. While I didn’t exactly know what prompted her to describe those ponies as such, that did sound like something I would say. “So chances of similar ponies being down here were rather low.”

“I think a more plausible cause is that something had either been with them in this Stable all along, or it had dug its way into it from some point. Hellhounds sounds like a perfect suspect based on what I’ve heard about them, but, as I said, there are no claw marks on the bones we’ve seen so far,” I said, pointing with my PipBuck’s light illuminated hoof at another skeleton we were passing; her head had been crushed.

Aite didn’t reply to that, apparently considering the conversation spent. I noticed that while I had focused on the skeletons, she had kept her eyes and ears peeled at any sign of danger, despite occasionally replying to me. I checked my E.F.S.; there weren’t any red bars nearby. the radroaches Aite had mentioned earlier must have moved somewhere deeper into the Stable.

We passed through maintenance wing briefly on our way. A few more skeletons, and what was left of a terminal. Aite hadn’t made it up, only the lower part of the frame, few shards of glass and a bunch of cables were all that had remained of it.

What kind of creature possessed such strength to cause such damage?

“So did you meet those ‘maybe five’ ponies In Hoofington?” I spoke up after a moment of silence; I needed to distract myself from trying to figure out what had done this to those ponies with so little information I had.

Also, I was curious.

“‘Meet’ isn’t the right word,” Aite replied. “I tend to stay hidden from most people, I wouldn’t want to exchange pleasantries with ponies that look like they could kill you with a hug. I mostly learned about them hearing stuff here and there, and occasionally by spying around out of boredom. But yeah, it was in Hoofington, during my bounty hunter days.”

My ears perked at the mention of her profession. “Ah yes, Jack had mentioned briefly how secretive you were during that time.”

The bat pony shrugged. “You survive longer that way.”

“But you were quite a successful bounty hunter, right sweetie?”

“I was able to retire to live in the most luxurious place in the Wasteland before hitting forty, what do you think?” she replied with a smirk. “Oh yes, I was ‘quite successful’. When my early targets were found with cut throats with no trace of their assassin, folks started saying they were being killed by ‘the Hoofington’s Shadow’; you can thank DJ Pon3 for that tacky name,” Aite added with an eyeroll. “Later, when they realized that a bounty hunter was killing them, they just started referring to me as such; most likely because only a few knew my real name. I had both the Reapers and the Zodiacs attempting to recruit me to their stupid clubs. Oh, and I had a twenty five thousand cap bounty placed on my own head, too. It was quite a commercial, I have to admit,” she added nonchalantly as I stared at her.

“You had such a high bounty placed on your head? Why? And what became of it? Obviously nopony collected it,” I noted.

“Well, it did help that almost nopony knew me,” Aite replied with a smirk. “There’s pretty much only one way to get such a high bounty on your head around the Hoof, and it’s to piss off Usury, the leader of slavers in Paradise. Few others would have been able to afford it too, but they either wouldn’t care so much or would send their own after me,” she amended, then continued: “Anyway, a few years ago there was a bounty on one of her slavers. So I’ve tracked him down, found him with few other slavers bringing in ponies to Paradise. I could have waited for them to get there and then kill him when he’d be alone, but I had decided to do ‘my good deed for the month’ then, so that ‘the Goddesses would take me to Everafter after death’ and whatnot.”

My ears twitched; I detected a little scorn in her voice. Apparently, she wasn’t exactly a religious sort.

“I killed all the slavers before they got to Paradise, and released the would-be slaves. Turned out that Usury took it as a declaration of war and put a bounty on my head. Now, ponies knew that the Hoofington’s Shadow was a bounty hunter by then, but very few knew how to find me, so I was relatively safe. But I didn’t want to wait until somepony would get wiser or more talkative, so instead I sneaked to Usury’s bedroom in the middle of the night, woke her up, then calmly explained to her why this bounty was a very bad idea,” Aite said, smirking. “She withdrew it the next day.”

“I see,” I replied, intrigued. “I must say, sweetie, I’m happy that for once a problem was solved through conversation rather than murder. Although I’d imagine it wasn’t exactly a pleasant conversation you had with this Usury,” I noted with a smirk.

“It was pleasant for me.”

“Oh, I have no doubt,” I remarked, giggling. “It must have been interesting for those ponies you freed to be saved by ‘the Hoofington’s Shadow’,” I remarked. “A famous yet very secretive bounty hunter coming to their rescue… and all because a bounty had recently been placed on one of their captors. Truly, you must have been like a Goddesses’ blessing to them.”

Aite snorted.

“I am no one’s ‘blessing’,” she said, wry amusement in her voice. “I later learned that all but one of them had been killed the same day I rescued them.”

“Oh,” I exclaimed, saddened. Now I understood why there was scorn in her voice at her earlier remark. Dismayed that I hadn’t thought better of her, I said all I could say at this point: “May the Goddesses watch over their souls.”

Aite snorted again, though in a lighter tone. “You sound like Priest. You two would get along… well, until he found out about the things you do in your basement.”

“Priest?” I asked, immediately intrigued.

“A stallion from Hoofington, I guess you could say he’s a friend, although we didn’t really hang out much. He’s a fine guy, probably the most decent pony I’ve ever met, but, well, he’s a bit too religious for my liking,” she explained, somewhat awkwardly. Looking away, she added: “He did talk me out of doing something extremely stupid once, though, so I’d check in on him every now and again, asked him if anypony has been bothering them, that sort of stuff.”

“It would be interesting to meet such a pony,” I admitted, curious how he had managed to leave such an impression on Aite. “I’m afraid that my only real experience with deeply religious ponies outside of my Stable was by learning about them in the terminal notes in Stable Eleven,” I remarked, my mood souring. “And that’s if we’d use the term ‘religious’ very loosely, in my opinion.”

“Ah right, Jack told me about it. Think the same thing happened here?” Aite said, pointing before us.

We had entered the Atrium; wanting to take a better look, I lid up my horn and slowly increased its glow.

Just like in Stable Eleven, a fight had clearly broken out here, although there were far less pony remains in this Stable. Which made sense, since they had been holding a celebration in Stable Eleven when Limestone’s revolution had started. And when in Stable Eleven ponies had tried to run away deeper into the Stable, here it seemed that they were running away from the living quarters before they met their end. Their skeletons (the ones that were mostly complete at least) laid with their heads directed in the opposite direction from the door leading to lower levels.

Chairs, benches, lockers, all had been thrown around the Atrium, making it hard to navigate towards the remains or to the entrance to the Overmare’s wing. I trotted carefully to the closest skeleton, but examining it didn’t yield much information; the injuries it sustained matched those on the bones I’ve checked before.

“It’s hard to say, sweetie,” I replied to Aite’s question, cancelling my spell. “This Stable is in much worse shape than Stable Eleven was. It was easy to piece together what had happened with all the terminal entries and posters that were there. But here… all the clues we had so far are just the signs of physical trauma visible on the skeletons and damages to the Stable itself. I believe Jack would be more qualified to deduce what had transpired here.”

Aite opened her mouth to reply, but whatever she had planned to say was drowned out by a horribly loud noise that suddenly came from above us. Instinctively I looked up, and to my numb terror I caught a glimpse of a ceiling light falling down right at me. The very next heartbeat though something collided with me, pushing me out of harm’s way (as well as the air out of my lungs). As an even louder crashing sound momentarily deafened and disoriented me as the ceiling light fell down, I tried to get up from the floor while struggling for breath.

Shaking my head, I looked around, and in the light of my PipBuck’s lamp I saw Aite standing beside me. “So, ready to check the Overmare’s office and go already?” she asked, almost casually, as if she hadn’t just saved my life again. “I would rather get out of here soon.”

“Um... yes, quite understandable, darling,” I stammered a little in reply, raising up and carefully making sure that I wasn’t hurt. “Thank you for saving me again,” I added with a grateful smile.

“Don’t mention it,” the bat pony replied calmly, already turning away.

I hurried after her. This recent brush with death had made me very reluctant to the idea of standing too far from Aite. In fact, if she had decided to leave already, I’d probably follow her without much argument. My interest in learning this Stable’s fate had just been severely diminished.

Fortunately, we hadn’t had any more unlucky accidents on our way to the Overmare’s office. During the short trot we’ve passed a few more skeletons, as expected, as well as several dents and odd scratches along the walls. I gave them a half-curious glances, but paid them little mind; I was certain that the answer to what had transpired in this Stable almost two centuries ago laid in the office before us.

The office that was closed.

“Well, that’s disappointing,” Aite exclaimed while I struggled to not utter a much less polite remark. The bat pony of course didn’t seem as bothered as me, though; she almost sounded bored. “I guess we should have figured that with the power out the door wouldn’t open. Oh well.”

I closed my eyes, took a deep, calming breath, and slowly released it. Yes, we should have. I suppose I subconsciously expected that the door would be left open, but it was a poor excuse for my misjudgment that would have cost me my life if it hadn’t been for Aite. But berating myself wouldn’t lead anywhere.

I looked around the door, wondering what could be done. Nothing tonight obviously, or even in the foreseeable future, but someday. It always bothered me to have a question left unanswered. To get my answer, I would need to get to this office. Fortunately, the fact that it was closed meant that there was a very high chance that it wasn’t damaged as the rest of the Stable. But how to open it… I would have to restore power to the Stable. That would mean a trip down to the reactor level to fix the spark generator, which in turn would mean that I’d have to learn how to repair a spark generator- Wait what?

As my gaze had traveled around the door while I thought, I noticed something strange. The tag above the door. It should read “OVERMARE’S OFFICE”, of course, just like in my own Stable and in Stable Eleven. Even in the state that it currently was in; with all the rust and corrosion covering it, that should be what it said underneath it all.

So why then the only eligible part on the tag read “-VERC--’S --FICE”?

Footnote: 75% to next level!

Chapter Sixteen: Undesired

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"When all the truth does..."
"...is make your heart ache..."
"...sometimes a lie is easier to take."

“And how are you feeling, sweetie?”

“Fuck you!” the chained mare spat angrily.

Sighing, I raised my PipBuck to my mouth. “Test subject 2-3 continues to exhibit hostile behaviour. It is unlikely her aggression is a sign of pain due to the transplanted kidney being rejected by her body, but I cannot rule it out at this stage. I’ll attempt to conduct an examination-”

“Touch me again you fucking bitch and I’ll cut you open!” Thorny Locust shouted, her voice accompanied by the clinking of the hoofcuffs that held her forelegs locked to the pipes as she tried to lunge at me.

Glancing upwards in exasperation, I cast my Diagnosis Spell, ignoring the following threats. Normally when dealing with such an uncooperative test subject I would have cast an Anesthetic Spell first, as the first check-up after surgery didn’t require verbal confirmation of the test subject regarding their state. However, there were a few things that I wanted to talk about with the raider mare. I had hoped that in the few days she had spent in her cell she would learn to become more cooperative, but alas, it hardly seemed so.

Still, a mare can always try, I summarized, finishing up my magical examination.

“Diagnosis Spell revealed that there is no sign of rejection of transplanted organ,” I recorded, ignoring Thorny Locust’s threats, “as expected within just eight hours after surgery. Following check-ups will be required to confirm if the seventh variation of the experimental Organ Compatibility Augmentor Spell had worked as intended. The probability of that is, as with the previous variations, around 8.5 percent,” I said, ending the recording.

“Great, got all your kicks now?” the mare snorted angrily, apparently fed up with my lack of reaction to her threats. She also had finally given up on trying to attack me, as she leaned back against the wall. “Then get the fuck out. Unless you wanna take me up on my offer to suck my clit bitch,” she added mockingly, spreading her hind legs before me

“I think I’m still going to pass on that charming offer, sweetie,” I replied, sitting down before her and keeping my eyes on her face; during her previous ‘proposition’ I had already determined that she was free of any venereal diseases. “But I’ve been hoping I could talk with you for a bit.”

“Oh for fuck sake!” the raider mare groaned, banging her head against the pipe behind her. “You chain me up, cut me open, play with my organs, switch my organs, then heal me up, rinse and repeat, and yet the worst part of it is you talking! Celestia’s flaming tits, just give me a gun, I’ll fucking kill myself already!”

“I’m afraid I’m not going to allow that,” I told her, somehow managing to not cringe at her curse; I had a feeling that if she knew how much it bothered me she would constantly spew such swears. I also decided against pointing out that she’d rather shoot me than herself if she were given a gun; I just figured we both assumed it was obvious. “Now, I wanted to ask you: why did you become a raider?”

This was something I’d become mildly curious about after observing Thorny Locust and the other raiders that were kept in slaves cages. They were ponies who didn’t just kill and torture other ponies, but had basically devoted themselves to such lifestyle. A part of me couldn’t help but wonder, how can a pony end up like that?

Thorny Locust blinked, then tilted her head and frowned at me. “Beeecause I like to kill ponies? Well, people in general,” she amended with an eyeroll, “doesn’t matter to me none what the fucker I’m carving up looks like, I get my fun out of it anyway. Oh, and having my way with cute little mares like you,” the raider added, grinning. “I love hearing them scream and moan and cry. But just mares; I mean, if some buck would be getting train run on him I would watch, but that’s just meh for me. Speaking of, you mind capturing that asshole who fucked me next and get that robot of yours do that anal probe thing to him somewhere where I can see it?”

“But why?” I asked, frowning. I ignored her request; I mean, I suppose I could arrange something like that after what Pillory had tried to do to me, but acquiring new test subjects would have to wait until after I’d gain control of Appleloosa. “Why do you enjoy it? Wouldn’t you rather know the joy of being intimate with somepony who cares for you rather than force yourself on mares? And if you like to kill, why become a raider? There are plenty of mercenaries and bounty hunters in the Wasteland. Why pillage and murder? And why would you enjoy killing in the first place?”

The raider mare opened her mouth with a scorn plastered on her muzzle, but she paused, hesitating. “Well,” she began somberly after a few seconds passed; I leaned closer hopefully, intrigued by the change in her demeanor, “I suppose it’s because of my father. See, we lived in Friendship City, and daddy was a bit of a drinker. One night he got home more hammered than usual, and when mommy had started to bitch about it he beat her senseless, then, well… then he turned to me, with that look in his eyes… you can guess the rest.”

“Merciful Goddesses,” I said, more to myself, taken aback by Thorny Locust’s unexpected confession. “That really happened?”

“NO!” the raider exclaimed, looking at me with bewilderment. “I. LIKE. TO. KILL. TORTURE. AND. RAPE!” she recited, punctuating each word with the shake of the hoofcuffs that bound her. “How are you not getting that?!”

Disappointed and annoyed, I backed away and sat down again, a reproachful remark ready, but before I could say it, a sudden voice resounded through my laboratory. “Hey Crazy, you’re done? Jack’s in the clinic and wants to have a word with you.”

Jack? Didn’t he say that we shouldn’t meet and only pass messages through Aite? I thought, surprised. Even being as early in the morning as it was, somepony could notice... I wondered what caused him to change his mind… could it be that he finally found the tribe?

“I’ll be up in a moment!” I called back, ignoring Thorny Locust as she groaned and bashed the back of her head against the wall, pulling on her hoofcuffs again-

CLANK!

I stared in shock at the broken hoofcuffs, their chains dangling underneath the raider’s hooves. How in the Goddess name did they break?! I examined them before putting them on her, and while I wasn’t an expert I would have been able to notice if there was any rust on them. And those were the same hoofcuffs the slavers used, one would think they would be able to hold a mare…

… a mare that only mere moments ago threatened me and had spent several days being experimented on by me, as it dawned on me. My attention shifted at once to Thorny Locust’s face; she had been staring at her forehooves. Apparently, she was as surprised as I was, which I suspected was the only reason why she hadn’t attacked me yet.

Something she was about to rectify, if the menacing glare she now shot me was of any indication.

I scrambled to my hooves and jumped back in fright as the mare launched at me. Screaming in fear, I activated S.A.T.S.

Well, that’s unfortunate, I summarized, calming down as my perception of time was altered. Now it appeared as if time had been stopped… right as the raider mare, now suspended in the air, was about half a second away from pouncing on top of me. I can line up a shot of Anesthetic Spell thanks to S.A.T.S., I thought, noticing the ninety-nine percent chance of hitting her (why I didn’t have a one hundred percent chance of hitting somepony right before me was beyond my comprehension), but she’ll still collide with me…

My train of thoughts trailed off as when observing the suspended mare, I noticed something that should not be possible: something appearing underneath her. However, my shock quickly turned to bemusement as I realized it was just the apparition of Pinkie Pie, holding a whiteboard that had “RAIDERUS AGRESSIVUS” written on it for whatever reason. As soon as I noticed her, Pinkie smiled somewhat bashfully, waved, and both her and her whiteboard disappeared.

I don’t get it, I thought. More importantly though, I was certain that those two wouldn’t be able to interact with me if I’d leave their statuettes upstairs. I had taken to doing that as of late, as I grew increasingly distracted by their interruptions and abhorring of my experiments. Then again, back at the Rock Farms Pinkie Pie was able to reach me from an even greater distance… oh well, something to think about after this ordeal is over, I suppose...

Resigned to the unpleasant experience, I readied my spell, and released S.A.T.S. Time resumed and everything happened so quickly that before I knew it I was cast backwards as the now immobile raider collided with me, and then we both fell on the floor, with her on top of me.

“Oh shit, are you alright?” I heard Aite ask from nearby.

Grunting in discomfort that bordered on slight pain, and wrinkling my nose from the smell of the raider’s bad teeth, I lifted Thorny Locust’s head a little away from my face to look up. The bat pony had just landed on top of my desk, right beside my earth pony skeletal model, staring at me and the raider in confusion.

“Yes darling, I’m fine, thank you for your concern…” I began, but trailed off as my ears caught the sound of another person rushing down the stairs.

“What the- the hell are you doing?” Jack asked as he entered my laboratory.

“Why, good morning, Jack sweetie, is so nice that you’ve decided to visit me,” I replied, not very eager to admit that I had just been attacked by my own test subject. “Would somebody please help me get her off me? She’s quite heavy,” I added, turning my attention back to Thorny Locust… or more specifically, at her teeth.

I had taken a look at her teeth after she had been brought into my clinic, of course, so I was not surprised now to see her dental cavities. Given what her fate was supposed to be I had refrained from treating her, but now I had an idea…

“Yeah, I’d rather not help you with this,” Jack snorted, “you reap what you sow.”

Rolling my eyes, I called out: “Janitor?”

I heard the sound of the door to the cell of Cutter and Manacles opening. “Yes Doctor Ang- oh goodness, what has happened?” the Mr. Handy robot exclaimed as he left the cell where he had been feeding the test subjects.

“The patient attacked me, can you carry her back to her cell?” I asked sweetly.

“Certainly Doctor!” Janitor replied happily, and soon he hovered over to me, two of his long metallic arms lowering and to grab the raider mare and lifted her off me effortlessly. “Is she sedated?”

“Yes, please place her in her cell sweetie, I’ll secure her in a moment,” I replied, getting up from the floor and shaking myself off. As the robot hurried to obey my command, I turned over at the bat pony and griffin, who were looking at me, one with amusement, the other with annoyance. “Can you believe that the hoofcuffs just broke? Both of them? I mean, honestly, I understand that in the Wasteland you can’t expect items to be as durable as they’d be in civilized places, but I took those hoofcuffs from the slavers, I’d have thought that they’d know their craft.”

“Right, because those slavers strike me as ponies who take care of their equipment,” Aite snorted and rolled her eyes. “Especially considering they put all their slaves in those cages anyway.”

She had a point there; the reason why I was able to get all those hoofcuffs and chains so easily is because the slavers didn’t really use them, and didn’t care when a pair or two or three went missing.

The bat pony spread her wings and flew over the desk before I could admit that she was right. “I’ll keep an eye on the clinic, let you guys know if somepony comes in early,” Aite said as she turned in the air and flew away, pulling her cloak’s hood on her head and disappearing.

Jack glanced after her as she left, then turned his attention back to me. “I don’t particularly care what exactly you do to your test subjects, especially that raider mare, but could you try and not get killed by any of them before our business is concluded?”

“Sweetie, that’s just hurtful,” I retorted, pouting. Turning away and walking towards the last cell, I asked: “Aite mentioned that you wanted to talk about something?”

Before he replied, I opened the cell’s door. Behind them lay the bound radscorpion, unable to move, the half eaten meal I left for it smeared on and around its chelicerae. “Hello Pinchy, I see you enjoyed your meal,” I said cheerfully as I used my magic to clean it. At once Pinchy began to shake aggressively, trying to break through its binds, and its chelicerae clickered. “Oh come now sweetie, there’s no need to be afraid of me,” I tried, speaking softly as Fluttershy had shown me to, trotting closer to him and placing my hoof gently on its head, near its eyes.

The memory from a few days ago came back to me, clear as day. Even though she had seen us tie Pinchy up, Fluttershy’s apparition had still gasped and covered her mouth as she saw through tearing up eyes the radscorpion again, though perhaps the sight of its trashing on the floor trying to free itself was what caused it.

Oh, the poor little thing, the tiny apparition in my head had said, almost sobbing.

Come on, Fluttershy, you know that this is… necessary, Pinkie Pie had tried to cheer her up, even though she also had given Pinchy an unhappy look.

Do you have any idea how best to calm it down? I’d asked, frowning. I don’t feel comfortable getting close to it, let alone trying to befriend it.

Um, I might have an idea or two… Fluttershy had replied slowly. Just.. repeat after me, Angel.

I’d cast her a confused look, but before I could have asked she was already taking a slow step forward. Mindful of what she had asked, I had immediately imitated her, taking a step forward, slowly and carefully, within Pinchy’s field of vision. Step by step, I drew closer to it, despite it continuing to thrash against its bindings. But Fluttershy had ignored that, and so had I, sitting beside the radscorpion and looking down into its multiple eyes affectionately.

“There there,” she had said and I repeated those words, both then and now as my hoof followed her motions, “it’s alright, I’m not going to hurt you.”

CLAP!

Hearing the noise from behind, I glanced back, returning with my thoughts to the present. Jack had pressed his talons against his face and was drawing them slowly down his beak, appearing exasperated.

“Yes, I do,” he said after a few moments, “unless you’re too busy?”

“Don’t be silly, of course I have time for you sweetie,” I replied, but almost immediately my attention shifted back to Pinchy; he was struggling against his restraints with even greater fervor than before; its entire body was practically vibrating. Could it be that since I didn’t have Fluttershy helping me this time I was doing something wrong? “Did you know the radscorpions have a very interesting muscle structure?” I mused out loud, feeling the vibrations through my leg. “And their brain-”

“Focus!” Jack’s sharp yell broke me out of reverie. As I turned back to him - a little annoyed at the interruption - he took a deep breath before continuing, “I wanted to ask how work on that talisman is coming along?”

Of course he had to ask about that. A little upset about him broaching this somewhat touchy subject, I replied a bit more sharply than I intended.

“About as well as your search for the tribe.”

I immediately regretted saying those words, even before Jack’s brow furrowed in irritation. Even though we hadn’t talked with each other, I knew from Aite that despite how easy he expected it would be to find the tribe he still hadn’t been able to locate them. All Jack managed to find of them were their tracks, but apparently they would always end before leading him anywhere close to where they could be hiding. It was, as Aite had told me, a great source of irritation for Jack.

Sighing, I stopped petting the radscorpion and turned my attention completely to him. “Sorry, sweetie, that was uncalled for,” I quickly apologized, then got up and walked out of the cell. “It turns out that overwriting a talisman so that it produces a different gas isn’t as easy as I expected it to be.”

“I thought you said they teach how to do that in your Stable?” Jack replied, letting me pass.

“Yes, but it’s only about basic maintenance and modification of talismans,” I confessed.

“Ah, that explains it.”

Ignoring the comment, I continued, “I did manage to increase the output of breathable oxygen it will produce once activated, but I’ll admit that I am unsure how to proceed further with the talisman… I don’t want to try and modify it blindly out of fear of permanently damaging it. I’m thinking about compensating by using chemicals to just create a poisonous gas and then set the talisman to rather than produce breathable oxygen spread the gas it would be surrounded by instead, but that would create further problems-”

“In other words,” Jack interrupted me, “it can’t be done.”

“Not at the present moment, no,” I nickered, irritated. I sat behind my desk, glancing at the talisman in question, before looking at Jack again. “Why, sweetie, do you need it now?”

Jack frowned, but instead of getting irritated himself he merely shrugged. “No, not really,” he said, relaxing; “after all, it’s your plan that depends on you being able to modify the talisman. If you won’t have it done, we’ll definitely go with my plan.”

Ah yes, his plan, to just get what we want from Black Widow in the confusion of the tribe attack and then leave. How could I forget such a waste of an opportunity to seize control of the town and deliver a permanent blow to the slave trade? Then again, this would go on par with how everybody is so averse towards the institution of slavery and yet apparently nobody tried to do anything about it, with the closest town even trading with them, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised...

“Given that you’d prefer if we’d go with your plan, I would have thought you’d be more focused on modifying the talisman,” Jack continued, raising an eyebrow. “But I see you continuing doing your experiments, giving a radscorpion obedience training, and constructing an earth pony skeleton on your desk.” The griffin paused to look at said skeleton, before turning to me with a deadpan. “Why the hell is there an earth pony skeleton on your desk?”

“Oh, it’s a pet project of mine,” I replied, turning my head to admire the remains I recovered from the Stable below.

I was about to elaborate on the subject, but an annoyed groan made me pause. “Ugh, with you that could be literal…” Jack said, pressing his talons on top of his beak. “Forget I asked. Why are you doing all this shit instead of focusing on the talisman?” he asked, returning to the original topic of discussion.

Pouting a little, I replied “Well, sweetie, in case you haven’t realized, as the medical doctor of Appleloosa, I have quite a lot of duties, and I’ve been rather busy these past few days. First a chair broke under one of the slavers in the saloon, so I had to pull splinters from his flank. Then another twisted his hoof, another got hit by a door and suffered a concussion, another suffered a drug overdose, three developed anemia, and one more had somehow shot himself by accident; ponies are still trying to figure out how that happened. Later a cabinet fell on Frank Fellow when he was doing supplies inventory, forcing me to operate to mend his broken bones and heal the organs said bones had ruptured through. Lastly, just yesterday, the floor collapsed in one of the buildings, crushing the two slavers you saw sleeping in my clinic when you came in. So, between all of those unexpected accidents I had to treat, my usual duties of monitoring the slaves’ health - who are all extremely aggressive patients - preparing chems for my little side business and working on the talisman, I felt a little overworked, so excuse me for needing to do something relaxing,” I added, pointing at the cells with my test subjects inside.

Jack, who’s eyebrows had been steadily rising as I gave him a rundown of recent accidents, resumed his deadpan. “Your definition of relaxing activities is baffling,” he said, then shook his head. “A floor collapsing is not surprising, considering how old and unmaintained these pre-war buildings are, but I gotta admit that it’s a bit weird how many accidents have happened around here lately.”

“Black Widow believes that everypony is a bit jumpy because of the tribe that even a griffin mercenary cannot find, and I’m inclined to agree,” I said, shrugging. “Stress can cause ponies to be less careful and have a cabinet fall on them or get struck by opening doors.”

“True,” Jack agreed, then uttered a low growl. “I don’t get how they hide themselves. The tracks I found recently were definitely fresh, so they have to leave their settlement, even if they mask their tracks when they get close to home. I should have spotted them by now. Or their settlement; I flew all around the radius it should be in, and yet I couldn’t spot anything where tens of ponies could live in.”

“I’m afraid I won’t be of much help, sweetie, I know next to nothing when it comes to tracking.”

“Yeah, I figured, I’m just thinking out loud,” Jack replied, rolling his eyes. “I’m about to suggest to Black Widow that it might be necessary to draw them out, send a small patrol of slavers and hope they’d try to attack again, then I’d follow them to their settlement. Of course, I’m going to tell her that we’ll do either that or try and capture some of them to torture the intel out of them, but seeing how we plan to ally with this tribe I somehow doubt we’ll go with that option,” he added with a little smirk.

“I’m not entirely sure that Black Widow would agree to such a plan that requires her to basically send a few of her ponies to death,” I said, musing Jack’s idea over. “Although she has been growing increasingly upset about this tribe looming over her town.”

Jack snorted. “She’s a businessmare, not a leader. Taking care of this tribe would eliminate problems for her and provide a new source of income, she’ll definitely not mind losing three or four slavers in return. Besides, I’m sure there are some idiots around here she’d rather be rid of.”

“Hm, fair point,” I agreed, not having looked at this from that angle. I rubbed my muzzle in deep pondering and looked up at Jack. “Should I assume that you’re telling me this because you expect this would mean you’ll find the tribe today and we’ll soon have to advance my plans? I can’t think of any other reason why you’d risk exposing our alliance by coming to talk with me openly.”

But Jack waved his paw. “Don’t worry about it, I had my healing potions stolen the other night, anypony asks I came to get new ones from you.”

“Somepony stole your healing potions?!” I repeated, stunned. “Who would do such a thing?”

“Aite,” Jack replied nonchalantly. As I felt my mouth hanging open very unlady-like due to my confusion, the griffin shrugged and explained, “I needed a believable reason to come to your clinic, so it was either that or getting myself wounded. I asked Aite to steal them while everypony was sleeping, and made sure some of the slavers had seen that I had healing potions in my bags so they can confirm that I had indeed been robbed.”

“I see… I must say, sweetie, that’s very clever,” I said, impressed.

“Funny, Aite said it was paranoid,” Jack countered, a hint of amusement in his tone. “But back to your earlier question, that’s indeed why I wanted to talk with you, although I don’t think I will find them today, even if Black Widow agrees to it, as such a plan would require a few days to prepare. However, that’s… that’s not the only reason why I wanted to talk with you,” he said, after a brief moment of hesitation. “I also wanted to discuss a… personal matter with you.”

Surprised by that sudden change, I blinked; it wasn’t like Jack to be so bashful. Or talk about personal matters out of the blue. “By all means, sweetie, go on,” I said after a moment.

Jack sighed. “Aite told me you’re going to learn whether or not Apple Core is pregnant today.”

Oh…

Closing my eyes to remain calm, I laid my forelegs on the desk and prepped my head on my hooves. “I see.”

“Look, before you start, let me say something, okay?” Jack asked. Opening my eyes I saw that he raised his open paw, both in - I assumed - peaceful gesture but also to forestall my arguments. I gave him a tiny nod and let him continue: “I… get that I was out of line back then. I do. I know that this isn’t any of my business. But… Blast was my friend, he and his brother. They were very good friends. I know that if Apple Core is pregnant with Blast’s foal, it wouldn’t bring my friends back, and wouldn’t bring their parents their children. But it would bring them something. You spoke about how death creates a wound in a person’s heart; there are two giant wounds in each of their hearts right now. This foal, if she is pregnant, could help mend those wounds. Apple Core doesn’t want a kid, fine, probably for the best, but it's grandparents would gladly take it in, and it would grow up in Tenpony Tower, literally the best place to live in on this side of the Wasteland. Can you honestly tell me that you’d murder an unborn foal and deprive two grieving parents from a chance to fill the void left in them after their sons died?”

I listened to him in silence. I remained in silence now that he finished, too. I needed a moment to compose myself after his short little speech that had used my own views and hit so close to my heart. The last thing either of us needed was for me to get teary eyed right now.

“Murder is an act of taking one’s life,” I began slowly; since we’ve gotten to this, I could at least correct him. Ignoring Jack’s furrowed brow, I continued: “Life is the sum of experiences and relationships we acquire. This fetus doesn’t have any. I wouldn’t murder it.”

Already I could see anger sparking in Jack’s gray eyes. Something suddenly bothered me about them, but I quickly brushed this sensation off, too occupied at the moment.

“I would be denying it its life.” The anger disappeared, replaced by mild confusion. “You could say that it’s worse. Naturally, somebody could argue that it’s better, considering how full of pain and misery life can be, and that no matter what, it ultimately will always end.” I fought myself to not grind my teeth at those words. “And of course, once one realized that ‘denying life’ can be also applied to the simple act of using anti-conception methods, then we have to consider that abortion is no different from preventing pregnancy in the first place. But I digress. What exactly do you expect me to do? I already plan to talk with her,” I added before Jack could answer that question; it was rhetorical. “If she is indeed pregnant and would ask me for an abortion, I would discuss with her other options. Naturally, I would tell her about Blast’s parents, that they could take it in and raise it. If the issue would be with having to carry a foal through an entire pregnancy, I would ask her about female relatives so I could perform the Surrogacy Spell and transfer the fetus. If she doesn’t have any or they wouldn’t agree, I’m sure I would be able to find somepony compatible enough that would agree to carry the foal… or wouldn’t have a choice in the matter,” I added, glancing at Thorny Locust’s cell. “Though I would really prefer to avoid such options. Test subject or not, there are some things I’d rather not do… But assuming I wouldn’t be able to find anypony compatible,” I continued, shifting my attention back to Jack, “or that Apple Core wouldn’t agree to wait, what do you expect me to do? Disregard my duty as a doctor and deny her my services? Do you seriously think she wouldn’t find some other means to have the foal aborted, that some other doctor wouldn’t do it if she paid them to? Or that she wouldn’t try some way to induce miscarriage, I’m sure she must have heard of some ways or would learn quickly by asking around. Ways that would pose threat to her own health, too. By denying her my services, I would be posing her life in danger.”

I could hear Jack’s talons scratching the floor as he stared back. “You could-”

“-lie to her?” I finished for him, raising an eyebrow. “Say that I performed an abortion on her but actually do nothing? Honestly… medical ethic and morals aside, Apple Core would realize at some point that she’s still pregnant. Are you hoping that she would change her mind because she could feel the foal kicking?” Jack grit his beak and didn’t answer, so I pressed further, “Would you want her to abort the baby when it would already have developed organs and neural system, be capable of feeling pain? Would you like me to draw you how a late-term abortion looks like, or will my words suffice?”

Immediately, I regretted not having the statuettes of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie with me. If I had, maybe they would have stopped me from saying that last part.

Jack’s eyes hardened and a growl escaped his beak. Clearly, my last question was the last straw as far as his patience, that had remained throughout this entire unpleasant conversation, was concerned. He stepped forward and raised his forepaw-

The door to the cellar opened, followed by Aite’s voice: “Hey guys-”

At the same moment, Jack slammed his paw against the desk. “I get-”

Cchhhkk cchhhkk cchhhkk!

I looked away from Jack, forgetting about the small fright he just gave me, in the wake of annoyance that followed as the earth pony skeleton collapsed, the bones falling down around my laboratory.

Just how strongly did he hit my desk? I thought, upset. The skeleton was held together thanks to a simple spell that I’d cast on each joint, connecting the bones so that it could be displayed standing on my desk. The spell was weak, but a simple tremor from hitting the desk shouldn’t have caused it to break apart.

Taking a deep breath, I fought to remain calm. After all, I was partially to blame for this, as I had gone too far with my arguments.

Once I regained some of my composure, I turned my attention back to the griffin. Jack had looked at the still clattering bones in dismay as they rolled around the floor, but he quickly turned away to look at Aite, who was hovering in the air beside him, looking down on him in exasperation that bordered on annoyance.

“You promised you’d behave,” she said, with a little pretence in her voice.

Jack snorted. “Forget that; you wanted something?”

Aite raised an eyebrow, but otherwise didn’t waste a second to reply, “There’s some slaver banging at the clinic’s door and calling your name. Sounds a little nervous!” she added, calling after Jack as he rushed up the stairs.

Worried, I quickly followed, forgetting about our argument - and the mess - for the time being. Aite flew over me as I climbed up the stairs, already disappearing. What could be the reason for somepony to look for Jack so urgently? I hadn’t had much chance to observe much interactions between him and slavers, but I did know that most treated him with borderline fear. It didn’t seem to me like anypony here would dare bang at my door to get him.

Also, I didn’t like the thought of ponies speculating why exactly were we talking behind closed doors.

Oh wow, sure seems like another busy day, right from the get-go, Pinkie Pie commented as she and Fluttershy appeared beside me when I passed through the door, which I made sure to close.

Indeed, darling, I replied, smartening myself up as I trotted after Jack, who was already beside the door and about to open it; indeed, there was a pony on the other side banging at it rather loudly, calling for Jack. If you’d excuse me for a few moments...

The slaver, Cuff, who had been banging on it, almost fell into my clinic beside Jack when he opened the door for him. Towering over him, the griffin kept his face almost neutral, with only berest hint for threat in the furrow of his brow. “Yes?”

Whatever he was here for, Cuff hesitated, no doubt because he found the griffin mercenary more intimidating than usual. I decided that now it was the perfect time to interject myself into this moment, reminding them who’s clinic this was and providing an excuse for why the door was closed. As Cuff gulped loudly, I cleared my throat.

“Good morning, sweetie,” I began nicely, in a hushed voice; the slaver glanced at me absentmindedly. Less pleasantly, I added: “Would you care to explain why you are disturbing my patients?” Cuff’s eyes followed my pointing hoof, directed at the two sleeping slavers; of course, he couldn’t know that thanks to my spells and drugs they would be sleeping for two more hours at least. Nickering, I turned to Jack, “This is exactly why I didn’t want to let you in, sweetie, I knew they’d want to see you about something and make a, a-”

Ruckus! Pinkie Pie suggested when I couldn’t come up with the best word.

Thank you, darling.

“- a ruckus,” I finished, pointing tellingly at Cuffs.

“Oh, bite me,” Jack snorted. “You shouldn’t have locked the door then.”

“And have them just gallop in here?” I exclaimed, outwardly mortified at the suggestion, and inwardly smirking that Jack caught on immediately.

“Nevermind that!” Cuff shouted, finally finding his voice. Ignoring the glare I shot him, he turned to Jack. “You’ve gotta come to Black Widow, she sent me to get you.”

“Why?” Jack replied calmly, raising an eyebrow.

“Because there are griffins from Fillydelphia flying towards us!”

What?! I barely stopped myself from uttering that word out loud.

He said: “because there are griffins from Fillydelphia flying towards us”.

Um, I don’t think she was really asking, Pinkie Pie…

Ignoring the two apparitions, I let my mind race through this sudden development. Why were there griffins from Fillydelphia here now? Cuff was clearly alarmed by this, was Black Widow too? Was there a reason to suspect that they were about to attack? It didn’t look outside as if the slavers were preparing for battle, there was hardly anypony outside…

I could see in the corner of my eye that Jack was also taken by surprise, but he recovered much quicker than I. “Guess I better go then,” he simply said, already walking past Cuff.

Both cautious of and curious about this new development, I was about to go after him. However, to my surprise, Cuff extended his hoof to block my way. “Um, sorry doc, Black Widow specifically said that you have to stay in your clinic until they leave.”

“And why is that, sweetie?” I asked, now confused and surprised.

The slaver’s face became a deadpan. “Because you talk too much and Stern has little patience. If she’s with those griffins you’ll probably end up getting shot.”

I opened my mouth in silent indignation, and before I could respond in any way I saw Jack shrug as he looked back over his withers. “Sounds legit,” he said before he hurried away.

Closing my mouth and nickering in annoyance, I turned to Cuff. “Very well, sweetie, Black Widow can rest assured that I’ll remain here. Please pass along to her my gratitude for being so concerned with my safety.”

Cuff, who was already turning away, rolled his eyes and muttered “Sure,” before chasing after Jack.

I looked around outside of my door, trying to spot the griffins, but they must have already landed somewhere in Appleloosa as the sky underneath the cloud barrier were clear. “So the infamous Stern, the griffin in charge of Red Eye’s forces, has graced this little slaver town,” I mused, recalling what I had heard about her in my time in Appleloosa, as I backed away and closed the door. At once Aite reappeared beside me. “What do you think this could be about, darling?”

Aite frowned a little as she looked through the window. “I had a few run-ins with slavers around the Hoof, but Red Eye’s operations are on a completely different scale. It’s hard to say what they could be doing… this whole thing with the disappearing tribe seems the only reason why they would make such an obviously unexpected visit. Maybe they've attacked them too?” the bat pony suggested. “Still a little weird they would come to talk it out with Black Widow, they should have more than enough forces to take care of this by themselves.”

From all I heard about Red Eye’s slave empire, I had to agree with Aite’s assessment. Why then were they here? What did they want from Black Widow?

“Aren’t you going to listen in on them darling?” I asked Aite.

The bat pony glanced at me. “In a moment,” she said after a second, then turned her head to look at me with both eyes. “Was Jack being an asshole again?”

A little surprised, I hesitated before answering, embarrassment and regret flaring in me at the recollection of our argument. “No, well, not really,” I said uncomfortably. “I believe I pressed my stance on this matter too harshly, using rather unsavory arguments.”

Aite raised an eyebrow, but didn’t ask further, and instead sighed. “Seriously… I told him to let this go. I get that it could be his friend’s kid and he feels indebted to him and his parents, but he shouldn’t meddle into matters he has no possible way of understanding. For crying out loud, not only he’s a male, but his species lays eggs!” she snorted angrily, turning away and rubbing her temple.

A ghost of a smile graced my muzzle at the remark, but I quickly grew serious again. “What about you then? Don’t you have any opinion on this matter?”

AIte once again gave a sidelong glance and remained silent for a few moments. I frowned a little when the silence prolonged up to almost ten seconds, wondering what she was pondering so deeply about in regard to my question. However, the bat pony finally came to some decision; her muzzle twisted into an odd smile.

“Heh, I’m gonna regret it…” she sighed, and much to my bafflement she trotted towards the door.

For a briefest of moments I thought she was going to leave without answering my question, which, considering her behaviour, was at least odd, to say the least, bordering on unsettling and worrisome. But as she reached for the doorknob, she spoke again.

“I just said that Jack shouldn’t meddle into matters he has no possible way of understanding.”

She looked back over her withers, her wing extended so that she could put her hood over her head with her claw as she opened the door.

“If I had an opinion on this matter,” she said with a smirk, “then it would be hypocritical of me, considering that I’m infertile.”

She disappeared.

The door closed, leaving me and two apparitions alone with our shock.

*** *** ***

Hearing the door open, I looked up from the sleeping slaver I had been examining. Upon seeing that there was seemingly nopony behind it, various emotions washed over me. Relief that I was finally about to learn what was happening. Anxiousness about what Red Eye’s griffins were doing here.

Sorrow, regret and shame about what Aite had told me.

“There’s still over an hour left before those two wake up,” I informed her quietly once the door closed again. “We don’t have to worry about them.”

Aite appeared in the middle of the clinic, her eyes on the other slaver as she trotted over to me. “Good. Those griffins are gone now,” she began, turning to me. “Turns out this was indeed about the tribe. They had somehow learned about it; they didn’t want to tell Black Widow how. Stern sent those guys to check if one of their sources of ‘workers’ will be able to deal with this problem on their own.”

I nodded as I listened, flicking my tail in irritation. This was far earlier than I had anticipated to be worrying about Red Eye. If they were to attack this tribe together with Appleloosa’s slavers…

“Fortunately, Black Widow declined their offer,” Aite’s words put a stop to my pessimistic train of thoughts. Sighing with relief, I continued to listen: “She, Jack and Apple Core discussed this with the griffins, but in the end she didn’t want to miss out capturing those tribe ponies herself and selling them to Red Eye; if his forces would help they would just take them. So yay for greed,” she added with a smirk.

“We are indeed fortunate,” I agreed, smiling, then more seriously asked, “What else did they discuss?”

“Nothing really important. Those Talons were surprised to see Jack, a lone griffin; he did that lame ‘non-union Talon’ joke again. Ugh, I hope it won’t become a thing,” Aite added with an eyeroll. “Anyway, they were even more surprised when they learned that he was a Bloodtalon, and openly doubted it until Jack knocked out the one who was most vocal about it before the others could blink. Then they tried to talk him into visiting Fillydelphia once he was done with this job, saying Red Eye would definitely hire him, so Jack told them that he’d think about it and they dropped it.”

I was a little disappointed that I wasn’t there to witness this exchange, especially since by the sound of it Stern hadn’t been among them. I would have liked to see other griffins up close, and Jack displaying his physical prowess was always very interesting to watch. I would have also wanted to see for myself the other griffins’ reaction to meeting a Bloodtalon, see just in what regard do they hold this mercenary company.

“Other than that they just talked about some slave trade stuff briefly,” Aite finished, shrugging. “After they left though Black Widow really hammered Jack down for not finding the tribe yet and told him to find it quickly. Guess she didn’t like that Red Eye started thinking about capturing ponies in her territory. Jack ran by her the idea he had of using a few slavers as bait; she told him she’d start considering who she can do without, and in the meantime he’ll continue searching as he was. And that’s about it,” the bat pony finished, but then added: “Well, other than Jack glaring daggers at Apple Core a few times, but he didn’t do or say anything to her, I’m not even sure she had noticed how he was looking at her.”

All things considered, I supposed I should be happy that he didn’t talk to her about her possible pregnancy, I thought, then immediately felt an unpleasant twinge as I looked at Aite. Even if she had made peace with her infertility - and based on everything I had learned about her in the short time we knew each other I had reasons to believe that was the case - I still felt bad that I had discussed both in front of her and with her the matter of another’s mare pregnancy. Though I doubt she’ll want to talk about it…

“Anyway, Jack’s gone too, went out again to try and find the tribe,” Aite added, shrugging. “Flew after him for a bit so that we could talk away from prying eyes. He told me it doesn’t look like we have to change our plans, provided he finds the tribe soon. Oh, and in regards to Apple Core, Jack told me to tell you to do whatever you think is right.”

My ear twitched. “Whatever I think is right…” I repeated, looking away from Aite. The two apparition looked at me sadly, especially Fluttershy; her ears dropped down, and she quickly shifted her gaze down to her hooves. “Does Jack know about you being infertile?” I asked Aite, not wanting to think about what would be right thing to do in that situation.

The bat pony raised an eyebrow. “It’s not something I share with people. Especially those I meet in a bar and bang within an hour afterwards.”

I frowned a little, hearing such a description. “That was how you met, but now you’re friends, aren’t you?”

“Well, apparently I’m his best friend,” Aite replied, with a faint amusement in her voice. “But even if we are, I see no reason why I’d tell him that.”

“Then why tell me?” I asked, trying to understand what was going through her head. “You’ve known me for a far shorter time than Jack, and yet you told me something deeply personal that you haven’t told him?”

“Damn, you’re annoyingly persistent,” the bat pony said, deadpanning. “I figured I owed you to be honest with this fucking drama since I was the one who babbled to Jack about your slaver friend thinking she’s pregnant. So when you asked me what I think about it, I told you that I can’t have any say on this matter because I cannot understand what she’d be going through. It’s as simple as that.”

“Oh, I see,” I said slowly, glad to have her thought process cleared up for me. However, this was far from the last thing she wanted to talk about with Aite. “Now… if you don’t mind me asking, about you being-”

“I fucking knew you’d make me regret telling you,” Aite interrupted me, still with the same expression. Sighing, she sat down before me. “Look, I appreciate that you are doing… whatever this is,” she said, waving her forehooves back and forth between the two of us. “But I’ve known about this for almost twenty years now. However I felt about it when I found out I have long since gotten over it, okay?”

“I thought as much,” I quickly replied, “though I admit I’m relieved to hear you say that. I… haven’t properly studied psychology, so while I do have some knowledge in this field I’m glad that you don’t need my help. That being said,” I added, “if you ever need to talk I’d be more than happy to.”

“Noted,” Aite said, rolling her eyes.

“Also,” I said and hesitated briefly. “if this whole matter with Apple Core hurt you in any way-”

“Hurt me?” Aite repeated, raising an eyebrow. “Why, just because I can’t get pregnant and she might have and would likely abort it?” The bat pony pressed her forehoof to her chest, right above her heart, and left her mouth open in a mocked expression of hurt, before resuming an normal expression. “Crazy, I’ve seen enough misfortunes in the Wasteland to not get hurt over stupid random-ass accidents like those.”

“I- I see,” I replied, a little unsettled by her words… which, considering everything I’ve heard about the Wasteland, were probably an understatement anyway. “But it doesn’t change the fact that this was something that I shouldn’t have discussed with Jack before you so carelessly… and actually,” I added, frowning at her, “this isn’t something I should be discussing at all, with any of you. This should have remained a private matter between a doctor and her patient.”

“Exactly, my fault. Let it go?”

“In a moment,” I assured her; despite that, the bat pony groaned unhappily. “What I really wanted to ask you is what exactly is the cause of your infertility?”

“Do I look like somepony who would remember all those medical terms?” Aite replied with a question, raising an eyebrow and pointing at herself. “Been years since I got that checked out.”

Although I was a bit disappointed, I wasn’t deterred. “Well, I suppose that’s understandable, but do you think it would be possible for you to contact the medical facility where you got examined to get your medical records? I would examine you myself but I’m afraid my laboratory doesn't have the necessary equipment.”

Aite paused for a moment - during which she looked at me with an expression of both annoyance and bemusement - before replying: “Okay, for starters, there are no medical records, I paid my doctor over at Hoofington triple so she wouldn’t keep notes of anything about my body other than wounds, then I went through her office to make sure she kept her word.”

“Why would you do that?” I interjected, feeling confused.

“Because I didn’t want ponies to know that there’s a bat pony flying around the Hoof,” Aite said slowly, with a slight exasperation in her voice; I had an unpleasant feeling that she was replying to me as if she were to a foal. “The less people knew about me, the better off I was. When I finally needed medical attention after a job - nopony saw me,” she added with a suddenly hardened glare, “one idiot just started to fire randomly after his boss dropped dead, I got hit by few stray bullets by accident - I approached a doctor that I felt most certain wouldn’t gossip or give a fuck about me being a bat pony, and got treated. Later when I grew to trust her more I asked her to check why exactly I can’t have foals. I already knew that I couldn’t a few years by then but let's just say that medical knowledge wasn’t as advanced around where I grew up at… as it was there, so I didn’t have the details you are asking for. Anyway, more importantly, why the hell are you asking?” she changed the subject, staring at me impassively.

Since she has been examined in a proper medical facility, if it was within their possibilities to treat her they would have undoubtedly informed her, I mused, processing all I could from Aite’s short tale. Still, they could only offer her treatment that would be within the level of their medical knowledge… which most likely would mean “within the level of wartime Equestria’s medical knowledge”.

Taking solace in the medical advancements my Stable had made in the last two hundred years, I cleared my throat and replied: “Well, darling, I’m asking because depending on the exact reason for your infertility, it could be possible for me to treat you, as my Stable had researched many methods of assisted reproductive arcane technology over the past two centuries-”

“And why would I want to be treated?”

Aite’s interjection caused me to stop in mid-sentence. No, that wasn’t entirely correct. Rather, it was the calm with which she had said that. The bat pony didn’t show any emotion at the mention of a possible cure to her condition, nor was she showing any sign of annoyance I would have expected from discussing such a delicate topic. Quite honestly, the way she said those words pointed out less to her dismissal of my offer, but that it was an actual question.

“I’m not quite sure how you view those matters, Crazy, but not every mare wants to have a foal,” Aite continued after I didn’t answer her question. “I’ve told you before that I have seen enough misfortune in the Wasteland. I’ve also experienced enough of them in life myself that I would rather not worry about the possibility of bringing another life into this world. If I’d actually want to have a foal I’d have just picked up some random orphan, trust me, there are plenty of those roaming the Wasteland.”

“Of course, I understand,” I quickly retorted as soon as I found my voice, raising my forehooves placatingly. “It was not my intention to imply you’d want to have a foal, darling. However,” I added, dropping my hooves, “it is one thing to not want something, and another to be unable to have it due to… a whim of biology,” I said after a brief hesitation; despite my best attempt, I couldn’t quite mask my contempt for those words. Calmly, I added “Wouldn’t you agree, darling?”

Aite raised an eyebrow. “I suppose,” she said after a second, uttering a brief chuckle. “Didn’t really look at it that way. Still, I don’t have any plans of starting a family, and the closest I had to a normal relationship is with a guy from a different species, so I’d still say that this is redundant. Buuut if it’s going to bother you,” Aite added just as I opened my mouth, “then after this mess if over, if you ever find yourself in Tenpony Tower, I’ll consider getting examined again. If you really know more about helping infertile mares get pregnant than Wasteland medics, then at the very least you’ll be able to show off before the doctors there,” she added, smirking.

“I’d be happy for a chance to help you, even if you don’t think this is something you’ll need,” I said, happy at this prospect. “And as for the medical doctors of Tenpony Tower, I’d be less concerned about ‘showing off’ to them, and more about teaching them about methods unfamiliar to them.”

Aite rolled her eyes, clearly amused by my words. “Right, sure,” she snorted. “Everypony likes to show off when they’re good with something. But whatever,” Aite added before I could respond to that. She rose to her hooves and stretched. “So what’s the plan for the rest of the day?”

I glanced at the sleeping slavers. “Well, once those two wake up I’ll give them their final examinations before discharging them, they can rest in their own beds. After that the day should go as usual, provided we won’t have another calamity. Apple Core will come in the late evening for the pregnancy test, and after that I should be free to work at my laboratory.”

As I drew to the end of that last sentence, Aite yawned. “Cool,” she said afterwards, ignoring the mildly annoyed look I was giving her. “Hey wait, did you cuff that mare that attacked you in the morning?”

“Yes, I went down to my laboratory shortly after you left and took care of her. I also tidied up the mess Jack made,” I added, still upset both with him and myself for that, “and made some other preparations.”

“Ominous,” Aite commented in a disinterested tone before pulling down her hood and disappearing.

*** *** ***

Half a day, two discharges, one slave's check up, one choking accident at the saloon, another twisted hoof and a nap later, I heard the door to the clinic opening. Looking up from the Wasteland Survival Guide I was not surprised to see Apple Core walking in, glancing left and right apprehensively.

Well, the moment of truth, I commented, closing the book. Now we’ll learn if this little conflict was warranted or not.

If she is pregnant, Fluttershy spoke up, appearing beside me and looking at the slaver mare in concern just as I was about to greet her, then if she’d ask for... y-you know, will you do it?

It wasn’t the first time she had brought this up; Jack wasn’t the only one who didn’t want me to perform an abortion on Apple Core, even if he was the far more vocal one.

Apple Core is a reasonable mare, I thought, not answering her question. Even if she asks me, I’m sure that after I’ll present to her all the other options she’ll realise that just because she doesn’t want a foal that doesn’t mean that would be her only option.

“Hello sweetie,” I finally said out loud, trotting around the counter next to the door. “How have you been this day?”

Apple Core uttered a long sigh. “Well, the day started with those griffins from Fillydelphia comin’ t’ talk, so not great. At least that bitch Stern weren’t with ‘em, but still, wasn’t fun bein’ in the same room with ‘em, Jack and Black Widow discussin’ this tribe.” She snorted. “Seein’ how our griffin can’t find ‘em Ah’m startin’ t’ think that they ‘ave already left this part of the Wasteland, but he insists he keeps findin’ fresh tracks.”

I nodded with feigned interest; I knew all that thanks to Jack and Aite.

“Anyway,” Apple Core added, giving herself a shake, “can we get this over with?”

“But of course, follow me,” I said, trotting towards my room.

I had no idea where exactly Aite was right now, but the door to my room had been closed for most of the day, so there was very little chance she was hiding there and therefore it was the only place where we could have some privacy… not that it mattered at this point, seeing how Aite knew very well what Apple Core was here for, but still, keeping the appearances was really helping me right now.

“Make yourself comfortable sweetie,” I told her as I reached with my magic for the prepared vial and an empty syringe, then started to explain: “Now, this is-”

“Keep it simple,” Apple Core interrupted me as she sat down.

Pouting at her for a second, I shook off my annoyance and started again: “Very well; the liquid inside of this vial will react to the hormones in your blood.” I floated the vial before her eyes, ignoring the suggestively raised eyebrow at the word ‘hormones’. Apple Core quickly though focused on the nearly translucent liquid. “I’m going to take a blood sample from you, sweetie, and add it to the vial. If you are pregnant, then the liquid inside will turn blue.”

“And if Ah ain’t?” Apple Core asked.

“Then nothing will happen; it will react only to the specific hormones,” I assured her. I trotted closer, syringe ready. “May I take a blood sample, sweetie? Alternatively, a urine sample would work just as fine.”

“Yeah, now way Ah’m pissin’ int’ this,” Apple Core snorted, nudging the vial away, extending her foreleg before me. “Let’s just get it done.”

Nodding, I made final preparations and plunged the syringe into the vein in Apple Core’s leg with practiced ease, drew a bit of blood, then pulled the needle out, healing the tiny wound immediately with my magic.

“There we go, and now…” I trailed off, opening the vial, inserting the needle into it and pouring Apple Core’s blood.

Guess we’ll finally know, I thought, feeling conflicted.

Normally, back in Stable Eight, this would be a very nervous but at the same time exciting moment. The thought of new life entering our Stable, our world, that in a few moments I would know if the two ponies had indeed created it or not… there were some cases where a foal wasn’t planned, despite everypony being taught the Contraceptive Spell at Sex Education class, but even then, in the paradise of Stable Eight, raising a foal wasn’t seen as something difficult, so cases of abortion were very rare. Of course, it would be another matter if it were to be a second or third foal of a citizen from the lower classes, but that was a different, “bureaucratic” issue. Usually, the parents were anxious to learn whether they were expecting or not, and news of pregnancy was met with happiness.

But here…

“Well?” Apple Core asked, sounding anxious. “Is it changin’ color?”

“It’s going to take a moment,” I replied, shaking the vial so that the liquids would better mix and the reaction would take place.

It’s not changing yet, I mused as seconds dragged on. I guess this means-

It changed color.

I froze, staring at the vial I held in my magic, my long years of practice preventing me from cancelling the spell out of shock, as the liquid inside turned from red to blue.

Silence had fallen upon us for several long seconds, until finally it was interrupted by Apple Core: “Fuck.”

Taking my eyes away from the vial - which, realizing that it had served its purpose, I put away on my desk - I turned to Apple Core as she groaned, pressed her forehoof against her head and slid back against the wall behind her.

Normally, I would have congratulated the pregnant mare. That’s how it has always been for me up to this point. Every expecting mare that I had examined in Stable Eight was happy to hear that she was pregnant. Nervous, yes of course, unsure, conflicted. Some were even shocked, couldn’t react immediately to the news, but eventually smiles would start appearing on their muzzles. But this… this aversion, this... annoyance, was new to me. I stayed silent, unsure what to say, and waited for Apple Core to process this information.

Eventually, though, after the silence prolonged, my medical nature compelled me to inquire about Apple Core’ state. Gently, I asked: “How do you-”

“Can ya take care of it?”

The simple question interrupted me, causing me to fall silent once again. A simple question, and it caused Fluttershy’s apparition to gasp and cover her mouth.

Almost immediately I fell upon my medical training. “Of course I can,” I replied calmly.

You can’t, Fluttershy’s feeble voice reached me, but I ignored it for now, focusing on my patient.

“Great!” Apple Core exclaimed; despite her words, she didn’t sound cheerful. More like… resigned. “So, what do ya do, give me some potion, pill, cast a spell on me? Or will ya have t’ cut me open, cause-”

I raised my hoof to stop her. “It’s a simple matter to abort a fetus at such early stage. However, before we do anything, there are a few things I want to tell you.”

As I expected, my words were met with a groan. “Ah fuckin’ knew it... “ Apple Core murmured as she rolled her eyes. “Look, Ah figure this isn’t somethin’ ya do in yar Stable and stuff, but-”

She froze in mid-sentence, no doubt surprised. I just couldn’t help it, when she had mentioned my Stable, despite the grim nature of our discussion, I had to utter a chuckle.

“Of course we conduct abortions in Stable Eight,” I informed her, not without a hint of sadness in my voice. “I’ll admit they are rare, and personally I haven’t performed any, but there are cases when they are necessary or when the ponies wish so for various reasons. But if I had been informed by my patient that she wishes to have an abortion, then, unless there were medical circumstances demanding such procedure - in which case I would had advised abortion myself anyway - I would have to tell her the same things that I’m going to tell you now.”

Once she recovered, Apple Core resumed her dismayed expression. “Well, this oughta be fun,” she snorted. “So this is the part when ya tell me that Ah can’t do it cause it’s a ‘sin in the eyes of Goddesses’ or some crap?”

Normally, such words would rouse a sliver of anger in me; this was not a normal situation, however. “I am not your mother,and you’re not a foal. I’m not going to tell you what you can’t do” I told her camly, the slight furrowing of my brow the only reaction I showed for her offending tone. “I’m going to tell you what you can do, because I’m your doctor and you’re my patient. Now, I’m assuming you don’t want to raise the foal?”

“Duh,” Apple Core muttered quietly to herself, then louder she added: “Yeah, what ‘bout it? Are ya gonna suggest Ah’d give it away? In case ya missed it, there ain’t any, whaddya called ‘em, orphanages Ah think, ‘round anymore, and none of mah kin would wanna take it either.”

“I would question how you know that without asking, but there is another option I think is more probable and better,” I said before Apple Core could do more than glare at me for for the first part of that sentence. “Am I correct to assume that the father of the foal was Blast?”

Apple Core sighed. “Yeah, probably,” she said, rubbing her temple. “What ‘bout it?”

“Burst had told me that their parents now live in Tenpony Tower. Seeing how this is the most civilized and one of the safest settlements in the Wasteland, I believe it would be the best place to raise a foal, and I’m sure they’d want to take in their grandfoal considering they’ve just lost their sons.”

“Yeah, well, assumin’ that’s actually true, there are several problems with this idea, ” Apple Core snorted. “Number one, slavers ain’t exactly allowed in that darn tower, meanin’ Ah wouldn’t be able t’ give it t’ ‘em. Number two, its far away, so Ah don’t see some two old ponies trottin’ all this way t’ take the little bastard once it’s born. Oh, and number three,” she added, frowning, “Ah don’t wanna carry the thing in me for a whole year!”

Not surprised to hear her say this, I merely corrected her: “Three hundred and thirty to forty five days, not a whole year. But you wouldn’t have to carry the foal through it all,” I continued as she groaned. “Are you familiar with Surrogacy Spell?” Apple Core deadpanned at me. Unfazed, I shrugged and explained: “It's a spell that allows one to transfer a fetus from one mare’s uterus to another’s. Now, the most suitable surrogate would be a close relative-”

“Oh for- Ah don’t ‘ave any mare kin!” Apple Core interrupted me, annoyed and bordering on angry. “No close one at least! And even if ya’d find somepony suitable, how would Ah convince her t’ carry somepony else’s foal in them for almost a year?!”

“I would help you convince her, I’m sure I’d be able to think of something,” I assured her, despite being troubled by her revelation. “Maybe Blast had some female relatives. His mother is probably too old to carry the foal through full pregnancy without any health hazards, but she’s still be an option.”

“Ah’m sure she’d be thrilled t’ give birth t’ her own grandfoal,” Apple Core snorted.

“Also,” I continued, undeterred, “the surrogate doesn’t have to be related, it just increases the chances of the spell working. I’m sure there are mares compatible enough-”

“Are ya volunteerin’?” Apple Core suddenly asked.

I shook my head. “I’m not compatible,” I said before the mare could snort. “I’ve taken a blood sample to check your blood type after we got back from New Appleloosa, remember? The Surrogacy Spell wouldn’t work with me.”

“Then we ‘ave nothin’ to discuss.”

“Apple Core-” I tried, but she cut me off.

“No! Just… Ah don’t wanna deal with this crap!” she exclaimed, then gave a tired sigh. “Ah don’t wanna bother tryin’ t’ find somepony who’d fit or whatever and convince ‘em, all for some folks of a guy I banged. All Ah want is to get this over with, so Ah can go and have a fuckin’ drink already. Can ya do it?” she asked, standing up and trotting closer.

So, this was it. She didn’t care in the slightest about the fetus, nor the parents of her lover. She didn’t care that she didn’t have to end it. She just… wanted to.

I sighed in defeat.

Don’t!

What would you suggest I’d do? I asked Fluttershy, reaching to my lab coat’s pocket. She’s my patient, I can’t deny her a procedure, and even if I would she’d just find some other way to abort the fetus and risk her health in the process.

L-lie to her then!

I blinked. Pinkie Pie stared at Fluttershy in surprise. Beg your pardon darling? I asked, activating S.A.T.S.

You could tell her that it would take time to prepare, um, a spell to… do that, and find a surrogate and transfer the baby to her instead of… killing it.

I knew Fluttershy didn’t like the thought of Apple Core aborting the fetus, she had brought it up several times over the last few days. However, I hadn’t expected her to think of such… borderline devious plan. Pinkie Pie seemed also surprised, but she was looking at Fluttershy more with concern than appallment.

You could tell Apple Core sometime later that the baby was alive, maybe she’d change her mind, Fluttershy continued hopefully. And Jack said that its grandparents would be glad to take care of it.

So just like Jack you want me to lie to my patient and friend? I spoke up slowly. Fluttershy winced, she opened her mouth to argue, but I forestalled her. I don’t like this anymore than you, but this isn’t right.

You… Fluttershy hesitated and looked away... only for her gaze to return to me with a hardness I hadn’t expected from the apparition. You hypocrite! she exclaimed. You do much worse to ponies, saying that they are bad and don’t deserve to be called ponies, but saving the life of a foal is ‘not right’ to you?!

Her words and tone upset me. I held back my anger from Apple Core as she was the one with the medical issue, but the apparition in my head was another matter. Not only would I be breaking medical ethics, but I would also be denying Apple Core a say in the matter, I hissed at Fluttershy. What sort of friend would do that?

Fluttershy’s eyes widened and her mouth opened in shock. With her jaw trembling, she moved it up and down, trying to speak, but as tears welled up in her eyes she turned away, then disappeared.

Guess I won the argument. Interesting how it didn't feel like it.

Pinkie Pie was still looking at where Fluttershy’s apparition was, concern reflected in her eyes. You didn’t have to be so tough on her, she said sadly, turning to me, then she too disappeared before I could respond.

Now that both apparitions were silent, I had no reason to keep S.A.T.S. active, even though after this conversation I didn’t really want to return to the one I was having with Apple Core right away. But it wasn’t like I had much choice in the matter. A few more seconds to steel myself, and I deactivated it.

As I once again began to perceive time at the normal pace, I finally reached with my magic to my pocket, picking up a small medicine bottle from it. “Take the pill inside,” I instructed Apple Core, levitating the bottle before her. “Within a few hours it will cause cramping and bleeding to your uterus to empty it, so I would advise you to take it when you won’t be expected to do much work. Preferably you should rest in bed for several hours after it starts, though the cramping might continue for a day or two. Additional side effects could include tiredness, dizziness, diarrhea, belly ache, vomiting, and mild fever, so you might want me to take a look at you when it starts. Afterwards I will have to confirm that the pregnancy has been terminated, as there is a very small chance that the fetus would survive.”

“Ugh, sounds like fun times,” Apple Core commented, reaching for the bottle. Her eyes widened as I pulled it away. “What, there’s more?”

I hesitated for a second, gathering my thoughts. “This method can work up to thirty-fifth day of pregnancy,” I said, glancing at the bottle. “So you have time to arrange whatever you’ll need for a… sick leave, I suppose. However, since you have so much time left, I want you to promise me something.” I turned back to Apple Core, staring her right in the eyes. “I want you to promise me that you’ll think this over before you use this pill.”

Apple Core snorted and was about to roll her eyes, but before she could I stepped forward, holding her gaze locked with mine.

“Please,” I added earnestly. “I do understand your reasons and reluctance, and the decision ultimately is yours. However, I do not want you to do something that you might regret later.”

The slaver mare frowned, clearly displeased with my request, and uncomfortable under my stare. She held it for a few more moments, when finally, with great reluctance, she looked away. “Fine, Ah promise, Ah’ll think it over.”

I released my breath. “Whatever decision you make, I’ll pray that it is the right one,” I said, levitating the medicine bottle to her.

This time Apple Core did roll her eyes. “Swell, ya do that,” she snorted, hiding the bottle within her barding. “‘Kay, thanks for everythin’, Ah gotta go check on the guards and do some other crap,” Apple Core said as she got up and walked over to the door.

Opening them up for her, I followed after her through my clinic. “Think nothing of it, darling. Perhaps we could meet tomorrow morning for breakfast at Salt Block?” I suggested as we got to the door, hoping it would brighten a mood a little.

Apple Core snorted. “Maybe. See ya,” she said, leaving the clinic and almost slamming the door behind her.

Wincing a little, I stared after her with concern; if it wasn’t that I understood how much she was going through right now, I would probably be offended. As it was, though, I was mostly sad. Apple Core was mad at me. Jack was mad at me. Even the two apparitions inside my own head were mad at me. Was the middle-aged retired bounty hunter assassin really the only one who would talk to me right now?

“Wasn’t there something about ‘doing no harm’ in the medic’s oath?” Aite asked, appearing beside me as if right on cue.

Before I knew it, all the negativity inside me started to boil, and I whirled at her. “Oh, don’t you start now too!” I hissed, venting my frustration. Snarling I repeated her words: “‘Do no harm’. Tell me, what’s the point of promising that? When another pregnant mare would require the foal to be aborted due to a health hazard, is it that much different from Apple Core’s case? I would still have to prioritize the patient’s health. But what if the patient doesn’t agree and ask to save the baby, should I disregard medical ethics and do it anyway, or should I let my patient die? Either way I would be responsible for somepony’s death.” My tail swished behind me angrily as I carried on. “If the zebras’ last Caesar would have required a life-saving surgery, would the doctors who performed it be to blame for the Balefire Armageddon? If a doctor is treating a filly and notices the signs of abuse, tries to report it to security but they cannot prove anything, then when treating her parent shouldn’t she do something about it?!”

I was breathing heavily. The realization made me pause; when have I gotten so worked up? I stopped, closed my eyes, and calmed my breathing. I was glad that the apparitions weren’t speaking to me; I didn’t want to discuss this outburst.

“Forgive me sweetie,” I said after a few seconds, still with closed eyes. “I didn’t mean to snap.”

The bat pony remained quiet, and since I wasn’t looking I couldn’t tell what her reaction to that rant was. When she finally spoke, she hadn’t commented on it, thankfully: “So, what are going to do for the rest of the evening? Seems kinda early to go down to your basement.”

“You’re right,” I said, nodding, and opening my eyes. Aite was calm, almost disinterested in me; if she took offense to my earlier tone, she didn’t show it. I turned to the closest window and looked at the gathering darkness; it would be at least another hour before I would be safe to go down to my laboratory after closing. “I guess I’ll reread the Wasteland Survival Guide again. I need to calm down some more before going down anyway, I’ll need to be precise and careful for what I plan to do.”

“Something to do with your radscorpion?” Aite asked politely.

I raised my eyebrow a little; she normally didn’t show that much interest in my experiments. “No, I think I learned all I can from examining Pinchy. Actually, between all the information I’ve gathered from him, Snuggles, Wigglebutt, the remains of another radroach and of a bloatsprite, I think I came up with the explanation as to their resistance to radiation and possibly even why they mutated into such giant size. I would have to examine some more vertebrates and compare the two subphyla to be sure, but basically, their cells only divide every time they molt, and a tissue-cell is most vulnerable to radiation when it divides, so…” I trailed off, realizing that Aite was yawning (and barely bothering to cover her mouth while doing so). I cleared my throat and smiled awkwardly. “Sorry, darling, got carried away. But no, to answer your question, I’m mostly now focusing on befriending Pinchy. What I’m going to do however-”

“Yeah, good luck with that,” Aite cut me off, yawning a little again. Before I could frown at her, she turned away, walking towards my bedroom. “Since you have time to kill, wouldn’t you rather do something more fun than reading the same book for about a hundredth time?”

“I’ve only read it sixteen times so far,” I corrected her. “But what exactly do you suggest I do?”

Aite glanced over her withers, smirking. “Oh, something we both know you’ve wanted since you first saw me,” she said in a seductive tone, her wing reaching to the brace of her cloak.

I watched in growing confusion as the Aite’s Stealth Cloak slid down from her and fell to the ground, where the bat pony left it, continuing to walk slowly towards my bedroom.

“Be a dear and pick it up,” she added, swishing her tail at me as she proceeded to remove more of her barding.

Finally, it clicked. “Oh!” I exclaimed.

*** *** ***

“Are you sure about this?”

“Wouldn’t have gotten naked and on your bed if I wasn’t.”

“Fair point. So, are you ready?”

“Yep. You don’t have cold hooves, now do you?”

“Of course not.”

“Just checking. Oh, and remember, prostitute rules.”

“Prostitute rules?” I repeated, confused. “What do you mean darling?”

“No kissing on the mouth,” Aite replied with a grin.

Groaning, I shook my head. “I’m starting,” I informed her, then raised my PipBuck to my mouth and pressed record. “Audio recording of Doctor Angel, number 2.26. I’m attempting to examine a subspecies of pony known as a ‘bat pony’ or a ‘thestral’. The patient had asked to remain anonymous, as such her name, age, residence, occupation, marital status and characteristic traits won’t be recorded. Let us begin…”

I quickly went through the checklist, recording only information about her species and gender, and got ready to start the examination.

I took in the sight of the bat pony, glad for the opportunity to see her without her barding and the trust she showed me. The only thing that remained on her as she sat comfortably on my bed was a strange talisman she wore like a pendant. It was clear that, despite having recently retired to the life of luxury in Tenpony Tower, her body remained in great shape. Slim, with no extra fat visible, slick coat… appearances didn’t matter much to me, but I could easily understand why males of even another species and much younger found her desirable.

And of course, there were her wings.

Now that I was finally able to take a good, proper look at them, without her hiding them under her cloak, I found them quite captivating. They were so much different from Ditzy’s wings, and yet-

“Done admiring my body?” Aite’s amused voice interrupted my train of thoughts.

I shook my head a little. “Forgive me, darling. Casting the Diagnosis Spell,” I added louder, casting the spell, enveloping her in red aura.

At first glance, not really surprising, her body wasn’t built much differently than any of the other pony subraces I was familiar with. Her bone structure was lighter, similar to Ditzy’s, and of course her wings were built differently, but that was about it.

As I recorded my findings, I stopped and frowned. My spell showed me something about her throat… no, her vocal cords. And ears. I glanced at the pointy ears with tufts of fur on top, then at her throat… and lastly at the talisman. Taking a closer look, I looked at the pattern inscribed on the gemstone. I wasn’t familiar with it, but…

“Bat ponies seem to speak at a high frequency that other pony subraces aren't capable of hearing,” I said to my PipBuck, causing Aite’s eyes to widen in surprise. “The patient is wearing a talisman that lowers the frequency of her voice.” I paused the recording. “Am I right?”

“Damn you’re good,” Aite replied with a smirk, confirming my guess. “Yeah, normally people wouldn't be able to hear me. Sometimes I take it off in bed if I feel like screaming really loudly,” she added with a suggestive wink, pointing at the talisman around her neck.

“Interesting…” I mused, admiring it. “Wherever did you get such a talisman?”

“Oh come now, Cray-cray, a girl has to keep some secrets,” Aite replied with a giggle. “Isn’t it enough that I’m letting you examine my sensual body?”

I raised my forelegs in surrender. “Forgive me, it’s just sort of professional curiosity for me. This talisman isn’t much different from the Hearing Aid Talismans we once used in my Stable. I was merely curious where in the Wasteland ponies are capable of constructing such things, or where you can find them. But if you wish to keep that a secret, I’ll respect that.”

My thoughts went back to how she told me about a doctor who had explained to her parents that she’s a bat pony and how “genetics worked”; could she have gotten it from this doctor? Surely her foalhood would have been difficult if she couldn’t communicate… And speaking of, what an odd quirk of evolution, for bat ponies to speak in higher frequencies. I couldn’t help but wonder what could have caused it… especially since I knew next to nothing about bat ponies and where they came from. What could cause an entire subspecies of ponies to develop so? At present, the most plausible reason I could come up with was that as their ears became more acute and they grew more apart from other ponies (to the point that even with all my knowledge about pre-war Equestria I hadn’t been sure they actually existed) their vocal cords increased the frequency of the sounds they could create...

The Diagnosis Spell was still active, and it was now bringing my attention to her reproductive organs. Shaking off my musings, I cancelled the spell; Aite had told me she didn’t wish to discuss her infertility, and I was going to respect that (despite how it might bother me to not know). Besides, I would need a more precise spell to learn what exactly was the cause anyway.

I quickly resumed recording, taking notes of her fangs and narrow pupils and the way they dilated. Then finally I moved to her wings. At my request, she moved so I could sit behind her and spread her wings so I could measure them; the distance between each digit, the structure of the small ‘free’ finger, how smooth the skin spread between each finger was…

Brushing the said membrane delicately, admiring how fragile they seemed and yet allowed a pony to fly, I wondered what it would feel like to have a pair of such wings. I tried to imagine myself, basking in the moonlight and spreading two appendages that sprouted from my back-

Almost immediately, an unpleasant shiver went through my back, behind my left shoulder. Stretching my leg to shake the feeling off, I asked: “What does it feel like to have wings?” Clearly, to my imagination they felt awkward...

Aite snorted in amusement. “I dunno, what does it feel like to have a horn? Besides horny,” she added with a wink.

“‘Horny’? I don’t… oh. Amusing,” I admitted once I realized that joke. Uttering a short giggle, I paused the recording and reached to my horn. “I suppose things that seem obvious to us are hard to explain…” I said, brushing it. “It feels like an extension of your head, with which you can channel your thoughts, or will, or maybe imagination to affect the world around you with magic.”

“Hm, curious description,” Aite replied, then glanced at her wings as she flapped them slowly. I turned the recording back on. “I suppose wings feel like another pair of limbs, which sprout from your back. They’re really not that different from legs, except they are trickier to use.” She paused to stand up and with great grace she immediately raised up above the bed, her wings flapping silently as she hovered before me. “Flying is almost instinctual, I assume for pegasi too, but learning how to fly better takes practice, and you need to learn how to move your wings depending on a whole bunch of factors and such,” she said, suddenly turning around her axis in the air before descending back to the bed. “Does that answer your question?”

“I suppose it does, thank you darling,” I replied, finding her explanation interesting. My thoughts went back to my horn, making me recall theories I read in Stable Eight about bat ponies. “Oh, I almost forgot, do bat ponies have some kind of special abilities? Like a unicorn's ability to use magic, pegasi ability to manipulate the weather, or earth ponies' affinity for agriculture, building and engineering?”

To my utter disappointment, Aite shrugged even before I finished speaking. “Nah, not that I’m aware of.”

“Really?” I exclaimed. “So- forgive me, darling, if this comparison seems rude, but does that mean that… you’re just a sort of pegasus with no feathers?”

“Could be for all I know,” Aite replied casually. “Except I don’t think I can manipulate the weather. I can stand on cloud,” she continued as I stared at her, baffled, “but even Jack can do it, too. So I suppose bat ponies are about as useless as earth ponies with their agriculture knack in this Wasteland devoid of sunlight,” she added, sticking her tongue out playfully.

“Oh darling, you are absolutely not ‘useless’,” I quickly assured her. Aite rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. “Forgive me for asking and being so surprised, I just… assumed. In Stable Eight we had preciously little information about bat ponies, most being theories and not actual facts, and there were three main theories regarding their magical abilities. That you don’t have any, that you possess the same abilities as pegasi, and that you possess some sort of ‘Nightmare power’. I myself was always inclined to this third option,” I explained as Aite looked at me with her eyebrows raised. “Hence my surprise.”

“Yeah, well, sorry to disappoint you Cray-cray,” Aite replied, then waved off my assurance that I wasn’t disappointed (even if, admittedly, I was disappointed a little). “Anyway, you’re done?”

“Just a few more notes, and I wanted to make a drawing of your wings,” I replied, grabbing with my magic a clipboard and a pencil.

Aite nodded and allowed me to resume my examination. I quickly recorded some last remarks, and began to make a sketch, including the wing’s skeletal structure.

“So do you want to have foals?”

Taken utterly by surprise, I released the magical hold on both the clipboard and the pencil. “That question came out of nowhere,” I said after a few seconds, grabbing them again.

Aite gave a good humored chuckle. “Right, all day we’ve talked about unwanted pregnancies, infertility, pregnancy tests and abortions, but you’re right, tooootally out of nowhere,” she said in a mocking tone.

Well, she had me there.

I uttered a soft giggle. “Yes, I see your point,” I admitted, then smiled and added: “You heard my speech to Jack, didn’t you? Do you really have to ask how I feel about creating life?”

Aite snorted with laughter. “Yeah, should have figured.”

Returning to my sketch, I elaborated: “I would like to have a foal or a few some day, feel them grow inside of me-” I froze mid-sentence, remembering that I was talking to a mare who-

“If you’re stopping because I can’t have foals, I’m gonna stab you in the thigh,” Aite said, almost singingly.

Understanding the message, I resumed: “Um, feel them grow inside of me, give birth, see them grow, raise them, teach them… I would like that,” I said, smiling dreamingly. Shaking my head a little, I added: “But that’s something for the future. For now, I have too many things to do to think about starting a family. I want to bring my foals to the Everlasting Paradise I’ll create, not this… temporary world we ultimately have to leave,” I snorted.

“You know, most people find living in the Wasteland depressing enough,” Aite pointed out to me in a flat voice; I could still detect the masked amusement. “So I take it you’d ideally have foals after you become the Princess of Equestria?”

“After I make everybody immortal,” I corrected her. “I have so many things to accomplish before that’s possible, I fear I wouldn’t have any time for my foals. I know firsthoof how difficult foalhood can be with parents who have a lot of duties,” I said, reminiscing. “I’ve always loved and admired my parents, and loved spending time with my grandmother as she watched over me for them, but I recall that I had wished I could spend more time with them. I would like to spend as much time with my foals as possible as they’d grow. Being the Princess of Equestria would be demanding for sure, but I wouldn’t have to spend so much time conducting my research anymore once I achieve my dream. And I need to if I don’t want to risk suffering the same fate my grandmother had,” I added in a somber tone. “To see almost all of my foals pass away before me.”

Aite glanced at me. “Oh right, you did mention that your grandmother was the oldest pony in your Stable when she passed,” she recalled after a while. Smiling sympathetically, she added: “Yeah, kinda understanding now why you came up with the whole plan to make everybody immortal.”

I replied with a sad smile, finishing up my drawing.

“But what if you’d get knocked up before you accomplish all of that?” Aite inquired after a while. “I mean, accidents happen.”

“I’m not sure how it would happen, seeing how many anti-conception methods I know. But if it were to happen, in all likelihood I would give birth to it,” I replied honestly, shrugging.

Aite glanced at me again. “So your slaver friend’s decision really must not sit well with you?”

I didn’t reply at first, putting the last finishing touches on the sketch first. “It’s her body and her decision,” I finally said, levitating the clipboard away. “A decision that she might not yet follow through with. As her doctor, I could only advise her.”

“But you didn’t like it,” Aite pointed out.

I sighed. “No, I didn’t. I can understand not wanting to carry the fetus to a full term, especially considering her lifestyle, but she could help me find a surrogate for it, there is still time for that.” I shook my head. “Admittedly, if there is no possible surrogate to find, then it is better to terminate the fetus when it's at an early stage. I can only hope that what she decides to do will be the right choice, but only time will tell.”

Aite nodded sympathetically, turning around to face me. “Don’t worry about Jack,” she said unexpectedly; I had almost forgotten about how he would react. “I’ll talk to him, explain that you did your best to convince her, and that you also don’t like this. And… sorry for him,” Aite added uncomfortably. “He's been through a lot, and after those two died… I think he fell back to the same dark place he was in when I first met him.”

“Dark place?” I repeated, frowning. “What do you mean?”

The bat pony sighed. “When I stumbled upon him in Tenpony, he looked almost exactly like when he was in Flank over a year ago. I told you I met him in a bar there, as he was ‘drowning his sorrows’, right? Well, what I didn’t mention was that he looked like he was a few drinks away from ending it all.” As I looked at her in shock at the realization of what she meant, she smiled sadly. “You’d be surprised how common such a look is around the Hoof. Or Wasteland in general, I suppose. I can only imagine what he had been through in the zebra lands to affect him so much. As much as he likes to call himself a professional mercenary, he is still a person, and a good one at that. So when after everything he got his two friends killed - doesn’t matter if that wasn’t his fault - he probably felt like he should have ended it back then. But later we came here and he found out that at least he could save some legacy of his friend, that something good could have come from their adventures. That’s probably the reason why he was so persistent about this baby.”

I listened to Aite attentively, impressed by her insight to Jack’s mind and agreeing with her guesses. They did seem probable to me. I wondered what exactly happened to him in the zebra lands, when he was still with the Bloodtalons, to affect him so; he said that the various “Legions” there were in constant war with each other. Was that what he had seen, the war?

“Not that suicide thoughts can excuse somebody for trying to validate themselves through somebody else’s problems,” Aite continued, shrugging, “but, you know, wanted to give you some context.”

“I understand; thank you for telling me, darling,” I told her. “I’ll keep what you said in mind if I get into another such argument with Jack. And might I say, he’s lucky to have a friend like you,” I added with a smile.

“Meh, doubt it, but thanks,” she replied, chuckling oddly.

“Oh come now, darling, I think you’re a wonderful person. How many people would approach a stranger in a bar who looks like they are close to-”

“I was mostly curious what a griffin was doing in Hoofington,” Aite interrupted me, waving a hoof dismissively.

“Well, it doesn’t change a fact that you stayed and were able to help him,” I pointed out.

The older mare chuckled in response. “True I suppose… although all I did was get him to my bed. Though I guess this means you could say that sex with bat ponies is therapeutic, huh? You can go ahead and write that down as bat ponies’ ‘power’.”

I snorted in amusement at the ridiculousness of that statement. “Right, darling, of course.”

“No, I’m serious, do it,” Aite argued, although it was clear that she was barely holding back laughter.

Covering my mouth with a hoof, I managed to regain some form of calm composure. “Tell you what, darling,” I began, “if I ever hear of another case of a bat pony engaging in a coitus that could be described as having ‘therapeutic properties’, I will make a note of that in whatever official work I attempt to publish that would contain information about bat ponies.”

“I’ll hold you to your word,” the bat pony retorted to my joke, chuckling at the thought.

*** *** ***

“Hello sweetie,” I said sweetly about an hour later as Thorny Locust regained her consciousness. “I hope you are comfortable.”

Normally, the raider mare would probably growl at me obscenely and try to break free of the cuffs that bound her to the table. However, she was currently unable to move any muscle, nor speak. All she could manage was a gurgle, which was partially obscured by the dental dam that isolated one tooth from the rest of the mouth.

Walking around the table, I made sure that the appliances I was going to need were stacked neatly on my desk. I could do with better lighting, but it would have to do.

“I suppose you think this is a sort of punishment for your actions this morning. Far from it, sweetie. You see, when you attacked me - well, tried to attack me I suppose - I was rather rudely reminded of the very poor condition of your teeth,” I continued, picking up a tiny drill. “Honestly, it’s surprising that you hadn’t complained to me about pain, I’d assume you had earlier coped with it through the use of Med-X or some other painkillers. It’s really fascinating that you were able to eat ponies in Stable Eleven. In any case,” I added, trotting back to her head, “since I prefer my test subjects to be in best possible health, I decided to spare a few hours of my time and graciously provide you with the dental care you so desperately need. I took the liberty of taking a closer look at them while you were still unconscious, you have seventeen cavities. But don’t you worry sweetie, I’ll fix them all right up for you. Three require root canal treatment, but the rest just need fillings. Oh, you’re probably wondering what root canal treatment entails? Well, for starters, a sheet of latex isolates the tooth, prevent saliva from interfering with the dental work and to prevent instruments and materials from being inhaled or swallowed or damaging the mouth” I said, glancing down at the material to make sure it was fastened around the tooth. Satisfied, I showed her the drill. “Next I’ll drill an opening through the crown of your tooth and into the pulp chamber, pour fluid into the canals to kill bacteria, and finally remove the pulp. After that all that is left is to clean and shape the root canals, and then fill and seal them. Sounds simple, right?” Not waiting for a reply, I leaned over the mare. “Alright then, let us begin.”

I activated the drill and carefully placed it right above the tooth, then pressed it against it, starting to make an opening. Another gurgle, this time louder, escaped from Thorny Locust.

“Oh right,” I said, pausing the drill. “As you have no doubt realized, you are under a special kind of paralysis that disables your motor functions, but still leaves you perfectly capable of feeling everything. That part is the punishment for attacking me earlier,” I admitted with a shrug, and returned to my task.

*** *** ***

I barely managed to cover my mouth as I yawned loudly. You know, Pinkie’s apparition spoke up, appearing beside me, normally I’m all up for partying all night long, but…

I did get a few hours of sleep, I pointed out, but quickly sighed in defeat. But I see your point. I should get a few nights of proper rest before I stay up so late again.

Aaactually I was more concerned about what you were doing, but, whatever, Pinkie murmured, pouting.

Suppressing an eye roll, I continued to trot through the streets of barely awake slaver town. Is Fluttershy still mad at me? I asked to change the subject, noticing the other apparition’s absence.

Um… Pinkie Pie hesitated, looking to the side. It’s… I think she’s just upset and doesn’t want to talk to anypony right now.

One of these days I’ll have to figure out how exactly the magic of the statuettes worked. Maybe after Appleloosa would be under Apple Core’s control…

Apple Core.

The thought of her helped me shake off my tiredness. I was hoping to meet up with her for breakfast at Salt Block; I still felt bad about how we parted yesterday, regardless of her decision. With that in mind, I hastened my step.

On my way to the saloon, I passed Black Widow’s house as always. Normally I didn’t pay it much mind, but I noticed as I drew closer the door opening, and to my surprise I saw Jack leaving through them, right after the slavers leader, seemingly finishing up whatever conversation they’ve been having. They were quickly joined by Khan, who followed after them with his usual mindless stare.

“Good morning,” I greeted them as I trotted over.

“Hello,” Black Widow replied politely, stopping. “Did you have another patient that you’re up so early?”

Giggling, I waved my hoof dismissively. “Thankfully not, I merely woke up early and decided I might as well go for breakfast already. But what about you, sweetie?” I asked, turning to Jack. The griffin hadn’t even acknowledged my presence; was this part of the act, or was he too so mad that he decided to ignore me. “Aside from yesterday, I haven’t seen much of you. Have you finally found this bothersome tribe?”

Jack frowned at me, but before he could reply, Black Widow sighed loudly. “Hardly, but we’ve been discussing a new strategy. I believe that’s all you need to know. Now-” she began, turning to Jack, but she paused, looking at something behind me.

My ears twitched, noticing the beat of running hooves. I turned and stepped away as Pillory ran over to us, stopping before Black Widow.

“Boss-” he began, only to stop as he shook upon realizing that Khan was standing nearby. To his credit, he recovered quickly and focused on the slaver leader. “You better come over,” he added, a little short of breath. “We, um, we have a visitor by the entrance.”

A frown once again returned to Jack’s face as he turned to Black Widow. “Why is this place so popular?” he asked, sounding a bit annoyed.

“We do have customers coming here occasionally to buy some slaves, although it has been getting rarer since Red Eye came about,” she told the griffin; despite her words, though, it was clear that she was surprised. “But usually they come with a caravan. I’m sorry, did you say ‘a’ visitor?”

Pillory nodded. “Yeah, it’s one, um.. person,” he replied, strangely awkward all of a sudden.

“A ‘person’?” I spoke up, intrigued by his choice of words. Pillory almost jumped, only now noticing me. Apparently, he still remembered the side of me I allowed him to see in my clinic a few days ago. Narrowing my eyes and smiling, I added: “What a curious way to describe this visitor.”

The slaver shook his head, then turned back to Black Widow. “W-well, I’m not exactly sure what the hell… this visitor is. But this weirdo is unarmed, and wants to talk with you.”

Glancing at Black Widow, I saw that she was just as intrigued as myself. “Well, this day starts interestingly,” she exclaimed, then looked at Jack and I. “Will you two care to join me?”

Immediately she trotted away, leaving no illusion that this wasn’t as much as question as an order. As Pillory and Khan joined her - with the slaver keeping on the other side of his boss from the zebra - Jack and I shared a look; I could tell that he was just as confused as myself. The griffin shrugged, as if trying to say that we’ll just have to deal with this, and followed after Black Widow, with me quickly joining.

It was a short walk to the entrance to the town, and once we got to it and noticed what kind of creature was besides the two guards, I began to understand Pillory’s confusion.

This visitor was a zebra… with red stripes.

I stared in surprise. Somewhere in the back of my mind I recalled once encountering a term “red zebra” in memoirs I’ve read, but I haven’t thought it to be literal. Could it have been referring to a zebra such as this one? A quick glance at Jack didn’t tell me much, but to me he seemed more surprised than confused. Could he have seen such a zebra before?

Turning my attention back to the stranger, I took in the zebra’s other noteworthy features. Unlike Khan, this zebra was a mare, and she-

It’s a trap! Pinkie Pie spoke up, then frowned and giggled. Oh wait, you like stallions too, neeevermind.

Stallions? I repeated, taking a better look at her- him!

Pinkie was right. This zebra was a male. He was so feminine looking that even I hadn’t realized it at first. The long mane with bangs that partially covered his eyes, the slender body, his braided tail with strange colorful adornments that matched the ones on his barding…

This explains Pillory’s reaction, I told Pinkie. He had to speak to him, and realized that the voice didn’t quite sound like a mare’s.

“Well,” Black Widow spoke up; even she had needed a moment to take in his appearance. “Color me surprised. To what do we owe the pleasure, miss-”

Having anticipated her mistake, I was already leaning over to her ear and whispering: “He’s a stallion.”

“-ter…” she added without missing a second, then trailed off, indicating for the strange visitor to introduce himself.

The zebra smirked, while everybody around us looked at Black Widow in surprise, then with even greater at the feminine stallion. Ignoring them, he replied: “Deliverance.”

… I was pretty sure that wasn’t a common zebra name.

“And as for what do you owe this pleasure,” Deliverance continued, in perfect Ponish, and his voice, while melodic, was definitely that of a male, “I suppose you’d have your problems to thank for it, for I am the answer to them.”

“Oh?” Black Widow exclaimed, sounding skeptical and amused at the same time. “You don’t say? And what do you know about my problems?”

The red zebra chuckled shortly, his laugh quite pleasant to hear. “I know that you’ve been haunted by a tribe of ponies. And I know you cannot find where they hide, despite having eyes in the sky,” he added with a nod at Jack. “But with my help, you’ll find their home, the place they call Sanctuary.”

Footnote: Level Up!
New perk: Entomologist -- +50% damage every time you attack a mutated insect (or arachnid!), like the radroach, bloatsprite or radscorpion. Allows the perk Fluttershy’s Apostle to affect insects (and arachnids!).
Quest perk: Thestral Physiology -- You have learned about thestrals’ physiology, as well as how to to exploit their specific weaknesses, and gain a +5 healing when treating one and +5 damage bonus when attacking one (you can also use your knowledge regarding thestrals’ physiology for… other purposes).

Chapter Seventeen: Red, White, and Darkness

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“I assume this is about something important? You're interrupting my research.”

“Sanctuary?! That’s where they’re hiding?!”

In my shock at the revelation, it took me a good few seconds to notice that everybody was staring at me in surprise, and realized that I should have probably not exclaimed the way I had.

Ough, Jackie doesn’t look happy, Pinkie’s apparition commented, pointing at the frowning griffin. I swear I could see a vein pulsing on the side of his head.

I could only imagine how the information that I apparently knew, where the tribe he couldn’t find was hiding, upset him. And I suppose that the fact that I revealed it so blatantly, before Black Widow and all those slavers, only added to his displeasure with me. Already I started to imagine what harsh, scolding words he’d have ready for me when next we would talk.

Still, I would take the burning anger in Jack’s gaze over the cold in Black Widow’s.

Although initially she turned to look at me with eyebrows raised in surprise like everybody, she had quickly recovered. She was staring at me with cold, studious intensity. It was clear that she was trying to work out what exactly I knew, how and why I hadn’t spoken about it before when everypony was on alert regarding the tribe for weeks now.

It unnerved me a little how calm she was while doing so.

This might not turn out too well, I commented, worried. Hopefully she’ll give me a chance to explain that I hadn’t concealed anything on purpose-

“Ya knew where they were hidin’ all this time?!”

I turned my head, surprised to notice that Apple Core had joined us. “Good morning sweetie,” I greeted her automatically.

My reply had seemed to annoy her even more. “Don’t ya change the subject,” she said with a scowl. Jabbing my chest with her hoof, she added “Why didn’tchya say anythin’?”

Gently pushing her leg away, I opened my mouth, already having prepared the beginning of an elaborate explanation, when then a voice spoke up, “Of course she knows about the Sanctuary.”

Upset at being cut off, I looked at Deliverance. The mysterious red zebra was the only one who hadn’t seemed shaken by my earlier exclamation. Rather, he had appeared as if mildly amused by it.

“Judging by the PipBuck on her leg I’m guessing she must have come from the Stable near it,” Deliverance continued, nodding at my leg. “I suspected that such a place had to have one nearby, though I’ll admit I hadn’t expected to run into a pony from it.”

Oooh, he’s good! Pinkie exclaimed.

Ignoring her, I offered the strange zebra a smile. “Why yes, sweetie, I am a descendant of ponies who were staying at Sanctuary before the Last Day. Though I must reiterate my puzzlement at your proclamation, that the tribe that has been eluding this fine community is currently occupying that place. You see, after leaving my Stable-”

“Fuckin’ Goddesses, ya really love the sound of yar voice,” Apple Core interrupted me, her face a perfect deadpan.

“Well, she does have a charming voice,” Deliverance spoke up before I could respond.

Turning to him, I opened my mouth, only to have a hoof pressed against it in a rather rude manner. “Shush,” Apple Core told me sternly, then turned her frown on Deliverance. “Don’t encourage her, ya weird... red zebra… person,” she said, after a brief hesitation; since she hadn’t joined us until after Black Widow specifically - thanks to me - addressed him as ‘mister’, I assumed she wasn’t certain of his gender. “She can go on and on before gettin’ t’ the point as it is.”

“I believe she was just about to do that when you interrupted her,” Deliverance pointed out, a little smirk adoring his muzzle. “‘Get to the point’, that is.”

Apple Core’s frown deepened. Taking her hoof off my muzzle, she opened hers…

“Well.”

… and then immediately shut it as Black Widow spoke up.

“As interesting - and amusing - as this exchange has been, I think we would better take it somewhere private,” the leader of slavers continued as that single ‘well’ had assured her undivided attention from everybody. Despite her words, she didn’t appear amused at all. “You are starting to make a scene, and those ponies do need to work for a living,” she added, nodding at the guards beside Deliverance, as well as a few other slavers who had come to check what the commotion was in the meantime. “Why don’t we move this somewhere private, where we can discuss the matter of this ‘Sanctuary’ place in peace?”

Deliverance nodded in agreement. “That’s all I came here for.”

“Wasn’t asking,” Black Widow told him plainly, her voice neutral, as if declaring something obvious. “Apple Core, Jack, Doctor, I’d like you to come too,” she added, her eyes briefly washing all over us as she turned around and began to head for her house, with Khan immediately starting to follow her. Black Widow paused and looked at her silent slave. “Oh, do make sure our guest finds his way,” she told him, nodding at the other zebra before looking away; at once, Khan turned around and trotted to Deliverance’s side, who eyed him with mild curiosity. “Pillory, you too,” Black Widow added, briefly glancing at the slaver, then, ignoring his unhappy whimper, she turned away.

Understanding very well that I had no choice but to obey - not that I wanted to disobey this order, I wanted to know what Deliverance knew about Sanctuary… and about him, too - I paused only to try and exchange looks with Jack and Apple Core. However, to my surprise, the griffin mercenary didn’t wait to follow after Black Widow, he was already half a step behind her. Apple Core, on the other hoof, briefly looked at me, but turned away and rushed after her leader the second I laid my eyes on her; did she just remember that she was upset with me?

Shrugging to myself, I also started to head to Black Widow’s quarters, mentally preparing for the unavoidable questions - bordering on accusations, probably - that I would have to answer.

*** *** ***

Once we’ve entered the former town hall of Appleloosa, Black Widow wasted no time and headed towards the room she had made into her office straight away. However, once she opened the door leading out of what I assumed had been the lobby, she paused by the entrance.

“Now, Mister Deliverance,” she began, addressing the red zebra that hung at the back of our little ‘convoy’, “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to wait a bit while I discuss this new development with my second in command, the mercenary specifically hired to deal with the issue in question and a medical doctor who apparently lived next door to where said issue lives,” the slaver leader said, her eyes slightly narrowing at me at that last remark.

I guess I at least know now that she is irritated about this, I summarized, doing my best to hide my discomfort.

Deliverance was either doing just the same, excellently or was really not bothered. The red zebra merely shrugged and turned towards the cleanest looking piece of furniture in the lobby. “It’s not a problem, I have time. It’s not my business that’s being affected by this tribe,” he remarked, his voice having no hint of spite or amusement.

Black Widow paused to glare coldly at Deliverance's back with unhidden contempt. “Pillory, stay and keep Mister Deliverance company,” she said after a heartbeat, her eyes still on the red zebra, then wordlessly turned around and walked through the door.

Myself, Jack, Apple Core and Khan of course quickly followed after her, walking deeper into the town hall until a few moments later we reached her office. Black Widow quickly walked around her desk and sat down behind it, motioning to Apple Core to close the door as Khan obediently moved a step beside her.

“Alright,” she said, massaging her temples as we all settled around her desk, “let's start with the easy one first. Doctor, what is this ‘Sanctuary’ place and why am I hearing about it only because of that red striped transgender poster colt?”

I had an answer ready, but I froze momentarily, baffled after hearing such an offensive remark regarding Deliverance. Even Fluttershy’s apparition appeared to stare at Black Widow with her mouth covered, while Pinkie’s apparition looked at her wide eyed and exclaimed: That’s rude!

Not to mention we don’t know if he considers himself a female, I replied, then amended: Or male. He didn’t object to being addressed as ‘mister’, but…

Realizing that I was wasting precious seconds that I could use to disperse Black Widow’s anger instead, I stopped that train of thought and focused. I regained my composure as the two disappeared, and quickly banished any ideas I might have had about correcting the dark mare.

After all, she was a leader of slavers; that remark - correct or not - probably took a very low position on the list of sins she had committed, anyway.

Clearing my throat, I answered Black Widow’s question, “Sanctuary was the name of a sanatorium that was primarily established to help ponies suffering because of the war, usually in the form of various ailments such as Wartime Stress Disorder or Combat Stress Reaction.” As I was met with confused stares, I sighed and added, “A sanatorium is a recreational and medical facility, I suppose you could say it’s a sort of spa resort except with medical services.”

Black Widow smashed her hoof against her desk. “I know what a fucking sanatorium is! You’re telling me there’s an entire resort within walking distance of this shithole?!”

Oh, that’s why they’re shocked…

“Not only that,” Jack interjected, moving a little to the side so he could look straight at me, “but I flew for like twenty miles in every direction of this place. I think I would have noticed the remains of a freaking resort that was big enough that the entire population of a Stable came from its guests without you being incredibly inbred!”

I began to roll my eyes, only to balk at Apple Core’s following comment, “That would explain a lot, actually.”

Regaining my composure, I narrowed my eyes at the slaver. “As I had already informed Jack on a different occasion, sweetie, none of my paternal and maternal ancestors were related to one another,” I told her coldly.

“Ya do know that most folk don’t ‘ave t’ state that repeatedly, right?”

“And regarding what you said, sweetie,” I said as I turned to Jack, ignoring Apple Core, “this is precisely why it hadn’t occurred to me that the tribe could be hiding there; I couldn’t spot any trace of Sanctuary. All I saw after leaving my Stable were remains of what looked to be a mining town. I mean, granted, I didn’t spend too much time there as I noticed smoke over the horizon and I was lured away by the prospect of reaching civilization, but I think I would spot the remains of a giant resort.”

The griffin’s irritation melted away somewhat as he started to ponder this issue. “Then it just proves that this ‘Sanctuary’ is no longer standing. Maybe it had completely fallen apart over the two centuries… no, that doesn’t make sense, if it was big enough to fill out a Stable then it wouldn’t fall apart on its own, and the closest megaspell denotation site is at Fillydelphia.”

“You said ‘a mining town’,” Black Widow spoke up, prepping her elbows against the desk and tapping her forehoofs thoughtfully before her muzzle. “Your Stable was built inside of a mine shaft in one out those steep rocky hills around the Wasteland?” I nodded, causing her to roll her eyes and glare in exasperation. “And I don’t suppose it occured to you to check above the entrance to that mine?”

“I believe I would have noticed any path upwards that could have been used by a crowd of ponies escaping into the Stable.”

Black Widow waved my reply away. “Doesn’t matter anyway. Jack would have spotted it from the air easily then. Not to mention how odd it would be to build a sanatorium atop of a mine… getting back to this topic, why exactly did they build it here!?” Black Widow asked with a frown, a slight shrill in her voice betraying how ludicrous she found this notion.

“As I said, the main purpose of Sanctuary was to help ponies suffering from mental ailments that were caused by the war. I would wager a guess that, as such, its location was chosen precisely because of how remote it was, as it was assumed that the Zebra Empire wouldn’t conduct a strike on such a far away and unimportant area.” Pausing briefly, I added with a slight scorn forming on my muzzle, “I suppose it was mostly to assure the guests that they were safe, though, as most likely ponies had thought that they they wouldn’t attack a strictly civilian target, but as history proved the Zebra Empire was clearly not above that.”

“Yes, we know,” Black Widow snorted, waving her hoof dismissively. “More importantly, can you explain why exactly Equestria bothered creating a sanatorium to cure ponies suffering from stuff like WSD when the Ministry of Peace was already doing a bang up job all over the country by just removing the sick ponies’ memories?”

A sudden reappearance of both apparitions of the Ministry Mares distracted me for a brief second, but I covered my surprise by glancing at Apple Core, who appeared to be confused by Black Widow’s question. Probably most ponies didn’t know exactly how the Ministry of Peace helped ponies suffering from WSD even back then, let alone two hundred years later.

The reactions from Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were more interesting.

The apparition of the Ministry of Peace's Mare looked at Black Widow with her mouth half open, as if taken aback, and brow furrowed as if offended, but at the same time her wings partially unfolded protectively, as if she was trying to hug herself. The apparition of the Ministry of Morale' Mare, on the other hoof, was clearly pouting.

That split second was, unfortunately, all that I could afford for observing them. Taking my attention off of them (and pretending to take it off from Apple Core), I turned back to Black Widow. “Sanctuary was built very late into the war, I think it was opened only a year or two before the Last Day. Coupled with some of the… comments in the memoirs of Stable Eight's first Chief of Medicine regarding Equestria’s mental health care, I assume they came to a conclusion that removing memories of ponies wasn’t, shall we say, healthy in the long term, and decided to use other methods to help ponies recover. Which is probably the reason why Memory Spells weren’t among the spellbooks stored now in Stable Eight’s library,” I couldn’t help but comment. Noticing that Black Widow was already starting to frown, I quickly continued, “More importantly, though, many of Sanctuary’s residents were either still part of the military or worked for the Ministries, and losing big parts of their memories would lead to unpleasant consequences.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” Black Widow snorted, then sighed. “So I’m guessing that mental ailments also affect a unicorn’s magic, which is why this Sanctuary had so many that Stable-Tec could make a Stable made entirely out of unicorns?”

“Well, yes of course, sweetie. Even if a unicorn remained able to function at work, her or his magical abilities could be greatly reduced.”

“So the Ministries opened this sanatorium ‘in order to help the citizens’, but in reality it was mostly used to fix their own workers and Equestria’s more valuable soldiers?” Black Widow summarized, uttering a chuckle. “I’ve got to admit, that’s pretty clever.”

Both apparitions frowned, and I found myself mirroring their expression. While Black Widow was technically right, I didn’t like what she was suggesting; that Sanctuary was created solely for the government's gain. “Ponies who worked for the Ministries and were part of the army were citizens of Equestria as well,” I pointed out, my voice cold with disapproval. “Many of Sanctuary’s residents were veterans, so they were ‘no longer valuable’ as you might say, there were a few from Canterlot’s aristocracy, and most of Stable Eight’s original residents were regular citizens, including my g-” I cut off, realizing that I just heard Jack snort very loudly, and as I turned to him I saw him shaking his head. “I’m sorry sweetie, is there something you found amusing?”

“No, it just… suddenly some things began to make sense,” the griffin replied, chuckling shortly. “Why you act like an aristocrat, or the nepotism-”

“This again?!” I interrupted him, feeling anger raise within me.

“Just admit it, after closing your Stable those nobles managed to get a few executive positions like Head of Security or Medicine and got to secure such positions for their relatives, right?” Jack asked, a rather smarmy smile on his beak. “You did mention that they pick their own successors for those after all.”

I looked at him coldly for a few seconds before replying, “For your information, sweetie, none of those nobles held any administrative position in Stable Eight, and it wasn’t until… four generations later that a descendant of one of them became the Headmare of Education,” I said, pausing only to recall how many generations apart from her ancestor the third Headmare was. “Whatever privileges the aristocracy might have enjoyed in pre-war Equestria had been abolished in Stable Eight during the reign of the First Overmare, so-”

“You guys also heard her use the word ‘reign’ just now, right?” Jack cut in, pointing at me with his talon as he looked from Black Widow to Apple Core.

Not interested in seeing their reaction, I advanced angrily at the griffin. “There was no nepotism in my Stable!” I declared, stomping my hooves angrily.

Jack snorted, not deterred at all. “Right, and the fact that your father had been the Chief of Medicine before you had nothing to do with you being the next one, huh?”

Now it was my turn to snort. “By the time I became the Chief of Medicine of Stable Eight my father had been dead for over a decade, so even as a pony of faith I fail to see how he could have influenced my succession.”

Finally my words had seemed to take him aback and possible break through this idiotic belief of his, but before either could continue our argument, a loud noise caught our attention. Turning towards its source, I saw that it had been Black Widow’s hoof stomping against her desk.

With her head propped against her other hoof, her eyes moved from me to Jack before she spoke, “As entertaining as a fight between an elitist and an anarchist would be to watch-”

“‘Elitist!?” I exclaimed, indignant, at the same time Jack repeated, “‘Anarchist!?”

“- I would rather remind you two that we have some important things to discuss,” Black Widow finished, ignoring us.

“Yeah,” Apple Core spoke up, smirking, “cut it off before ya either try t’ kill each other or start fuckin’.”

I turned my gaze at her, surprised by the remark, then immediately returned to my indignant stare except it was now directed at Apple Core. As she continued to smirk, I glanced at Black Widow (and in the process I noticed in the corner of my eye that Jack was also glaring at the slaver mare), expecting her to be annoyed with the slaver too, but she merely shrugged.

“I really don’t care, but she does have a point,” she said. “I would rather you do neither in my house, so stop it.”

“Humph!” I exclaimed, darting my muzzle upward and away from all of them. “As if I would ever lay with such a crude, uncouth brute.”

“Whatever,” Black Widow retorted. “If we can all get back to the subject; given this new information from our good doctor, I think we can all agree that as unlikely as it is that there is a resort close by or that nobody, not even a griffin mercenary, can find, it is almost certain that the ponies we’ve been searching for are hiding there.”

Jack uttered a groan. “Yeah, seems about right. And although I still don’t understand why I haven't seen anything even remotely resembling a resort, it does fit in with the fact that this tribe of yours couldn’t be found.”

“Exactly,” Black Widow agreed, looking at him thoughtfully. “Which was something our red-striped guest had expected, not to mention that he knew about our troubles at all; I can understand the news of our troubles spreading in New Appleloosa after I sent my little envoy to recruit extra help, but I doubt that it would have spread much further from that town in such a short time.”

“Oh, that; DJ Pon3 brought up that one of your slaver parties got attacked and killed in one of his announcements,” Jack replied dismissively, shrugging. “He probably heard that on the radio and figured it from there.”

I blinked in surprise, and wasn’t the only one. Then again, I recalled how DJ Pon3 knew about me arriving in New Appleloosa merely two days later, so it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that he knew about Butcher’s party being killed.

Black Widow’s surprise also quickly died down, although in her case it was replaced by cold anger. “And how did DJ Pon3 learn about it, perchance?”

“Don’t give me that look, I don’t discuss jobs from my clients - or about-to-be clients in this case - with other people,” Jack replied to her unasked question, not intimidated by her. “Besides, he brought it up on his station before I even got to Tenpony Tower; he referenced it a few times, too. I’m surprised you didn’t already know about it, actually.”

Black Widow snorted, then, without replying to Jack, glanced at me. “Care to do the honors, Doctor?”

I blinked, confused, then I realized what she meant as her eyes down to my PipBuck. “Oh, of course,” I said, raising my leg, turning on the radio and tuning in to DJ Pon3’s frequency.

Immediately, unintelligible static erupted in the room. I cringed at the noise, and turned it off after a few seconds.

“Red Eye has been trying to block DJ Pon3 out of his corner of the Wasteland ever since he popped out, and unfortunately this town is within said corner,” Black Widow explained. “Usually, it would last for only a day or two before he would be back on the air, but this time it’s been over two weeks.”

I nodded absentmindedly, recalling how surprised I had been on the train ride back from New Appleloosa as I tuned in for DJ Pon3’s frequency and very quickly it became replaced by this chatter. After Apple Core gave me the same explanation, I had hoped that whatever Red Eye was doing to block his signal would fail again in a day or so, but so far it hadn’t happened.

Jack uttered a curse. “Shame. I didn’t take you guys for fans of DJ Pon3,” he noted as I turned off my broadcaster, slightly raising eyebrows at Black Widow. “Considering some of the stuff he says about your ‘profession’ and this town.”

“There is no such thing as ‘bad publicity’,” Black Widow remarked dryly. Shrugging, she continued, “More importantly I like to know what happens in the Wasteland, helps to know if places are safe to send slavers in or if the zebras are following up their balefire strikes with an invasion after two hundred years. And speaking of,” she added, bringing her forehooves before her muzzle as she leaned closer, growing serious, “as somebody who lived in what remains of their country, what do you make of our guest?”

Despite being no doubt glad that the conversation had returned to practical matters (as I knew he had to be, after our numerous talks), Jack frowned as he sat down and crossed his forelegs over his chest. “Hard to say. Never expected to see an actual Proditor in the Equestrian Wasteland.”

“Proditor?” I repeated, confused. “Doesn’t that mean ‘traitor’?”

“Ye-” Jack began to nod, only to cut off mid-word and turn to me, narrowing his eyes at me in surprise. “Yes, exactly,” he resumed after a second, shaking his head.

“They were zebra defectors who joined the war on Equestria’s side,” Black Widow replied for him, impatient. Losing interest in Jack’s weird reaction, I listened attentively. “Hence the name. They had altered their stripe colors with talismans or potions. But seeing how that was two hundred years ago, I doubt he was part of that group,” Black Widow finished, looking at Jack expectantly.

“Well, you’re half-right,” the griffin replied. “Yes, the zebras that joined Equestria during the war were called Proditor, but that’s not all there is to them. Actually, this custom of changing their color to red is far older. Ugh, to make this relatively short,” he groaned, scratching the side of his beak, “before the war, Zebrinica was composed of thirteen different tribes. They still are I suppose, but when the war broke out the Empire centralized the power and as result the tribes lost some of the autonomy they had. Anyway, what’s important is that those thirteen tribes were all different from one another about as much as your unicorns and earth ponies were before you all united to create Equestria.”

My ears perked up. Thirteen tribes, all about as unique from one another as unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi had been?! In the time before Equestria those three tribes of ponies used to live in very different societies with different customs. Was that what Jack meant? Or was he referring to some deeper differences, like unicorns’ horns and pegasi’ wings? I never heard of a zebra with wings, but…

“What were-” I began, only to find Jack’s talons gripping my muzzle tightly.

“And this is why I want to keep this relatively short,” Jack explained pointedly to an annoyed Black Widow and an amused Apple Core. “Anyway, those tribes have all different origins in their mythology, live in different areas, and most importantly for the purposes of this conversation, have unique stripe patterns, different traditions, customs and roles in the Empire. Now, a Proditor is a zebra that ‘dissents’ from their tribe, and announces it to the whole world by ‘taking the red’.”

I should have recorded this. Maybe he’ll agree to tell me this in greater detail later on?

“That’s it?” Black Widow in turn asked. While I was fascinated by Jack’s explanation - even though I did find it extremely lacking in detail - she sounded bored. “A cultural statement?”

“It is a very big deal in their homeland,” Jack explained. “Depending on the tribe, Proditor often get death threats or even get killed. While I said it means that getting their stripes color changed to red means that they disagree with their tribe, to most zebras it means more along the lines of them saying ‘fuck you’ to the tribe.”

“Guess he does have balls,” Apple Core commented, snorting in amusement, then shrugged and added, “Or he’s an idiot.”

“So you think Deliverance came from zebra’s homelands?” Black Widow asked, ignoring her second’s remark. “Been a while since I’ve seen a globe, but I’m sure you can confirm for us that’s a long walk just to help slavers with their neighbors problem.”

Jack snorted, finally letting go of my muzzle. As I didn’t want to get it grabbed again, I decided to remain quiet and only listen as I massaged it. “Yeah, unless he would have lived right beside the coast and was able to somehow easily find a boat that would ferry him to Equestria - which I doubt on both accounts - a journey here would take months.”

“Not an easy trip to make, but him coming to Appleloosa specifically aside, he could have made this trip to avoid this persecution you’ve mentioned I suppose… though he seems to me more like a person with a purpose rather than a coward,” Black Widow remarked thoughtfully. Frowning, she asked, “Any chance he’s not from the zebra’s homelands? There are some zebras in Equestria,” she added, pointing at Khan beside her. “And Deliverance doesn’t strike me as a typical zebra’s name.”

“Well,” Jack began, scratching his beak and frowning, “it is a possibility I suppose, but unlikely. I don’t think that a zebra that descended from Equestria’s zebra citizens would know enough about their traditions to know about this custom, let alone know how to brew a potion or make a talisman that could change their color. As for the Remnants in Hoofington, based on what I’ve heard about that lot they would have sent a hit squad after any deserter. The only red-striped equine I’ve seen there was some crazy earth pony mare. And as for his name, I would hazard a guess that he made it up.”

“How come?”

“Because the only other zebra I know of that has a ponish word as a name now works as a prostitute in Blue Destiny,” Jack replied with a roll of his eyes.

“Well,” Apple Core spoke up, “he has an ass for that job. And a face.”

“Maybe it’s a translation of his real name?” I suggested, assuming that Jack wouldn’t silence me if I wouldn’t stray off topic. “He could have decided to introduce himself by a name ponies would understand the meaning of.”

“It would still be weird, regardless,” Jack countered, shrugging. “In any case, it is a strange name to call himself when arriving in a town of slavers.”

“I think the fact that everything about this zebra is strange has already been established,” Black Widow commented. “Anything else you could tell us about him?”

Jack hummed toughfully, scratching his beak. “Well… I’ve never had dealings with any zebra of this tribe, but based on his stripe pattern and those colorful accessories he’s wearing, I would say he’s a Sahaani.”

“Sahaani?” I immediately repeated. “Is that a name of one of the zebra tribes?”

For a second Jack appeared as if considering if he should grab my muzzle shut again - causing me to take a step back - but then he uttered a sigh and explained. “Yes. Except they are supposed to have long, sorta fluffy coats, as their land's permanently frozen, but I suppose he cut his down when he decided to travel to this borderline desert.”

“So, anything special about this tribe?” Black Widow asked.

The griffin shrugged. “Not really. They’re, well, artists. They think everything is beautiful and think the purpose of life is to create art to make the world a better place or some shit like that,” he explained as I listened in fascination; his somewhat disgusted expression suggested he didn’t think much of this tribe. “During the war they primarily served as architects and engineers.”

“Huh, interesting,” Black Widow remarked, frowning. “Do you think that could be how he knows how to find Sanctuary, that he found blueprints of it somewhere and thanks to his architect skills or whatever saw something that explains why you can’t find it?”

“I have no idea,” Jack retorted with a snort. “The fact that he is a Sahaani doesn’t necessarily means that he’s an architect. It would be more definitive if he had any markings or insignia of the White Legion on him, but I didn’t spot anything that would determine he belonged to any of the Legions.” Noticing confused stares he received from everypony - even I knew only what ‘Legions’ were, not anything about specific ones like this ‘White Legion’ - he added, “The Legions are basically big groups of raiders that Zebrinica’s armies had devolved into after the war, each with their own ‘thing’. The White Legion’s thing is that they build very good fortifications and are great engineers. The Bloodtalons have been employed by them a few times, as they aren’t that great fighters otherwise.”

“So he doesn’t have anything that would suggest he was part of any Legion?” Black Widow asked to be sure, then when Jack nodded she sighed. “Pity, would be nice to know for sure if he can fight and how he would fight… I don’t suppose you can make a guess as to why he would know about this Sanctuary?”

“Not a clue,” he replied. “Knowledge of Equestria’s top resorts isn’t something often talked over in the Zebra Empire. My best guess would be that he was scavenging some pre-war ruins and found out about it.”

“And what about you?” Black Widow asked, turning her eyes to me. “Any idea why a zebra would know about it? Those memoirs you’ve mentioned you read say anything about anypony having a pen-pal in the Zebra Empire or something?”

“I don’t recall anything of that sort,” I quickly replied, repressing the feeling of offense I felt at the suggestion that any of my Stable’s original inhabitants could have been so careless as to correspond with anybody in the Zebra Empire during the war. “Nothing comes to my mind other than Jack’s suggestion. Honestly speaking, I was under the impression that most people of the Wasteland weren’t even aware of Sanctuary. Deliverance is the first person I’ve heard mention it since… well, since I left my Stable, basically.”

That was close; I’ve almost mentioned Scope! Wouldn’t look good if I brought up that he and I talked about Sanctuary, however briefly, seeing how according to what Black Widow and Apple Core knew, he had died in the “accidental explosion” in Stable Eleven along with Burst and Blast.

The memory of that did give me pause, though. Scope was the only other person to bring up Sanctuary, knowing about it from his “organization”. Could Deliverance be somehow connected to it?

… No, he shouldn’t be. I already had confirmed with Cutter that Scope was part of the Steel Rangers, and it didn’t seem likely that a group descending from Equestria’s military would welcome a zebra, even if it was a Proditor. Not to mention that Black Widow would have no doubt had heard about him then.

Black Widow, who had lifted an eyebrow at my last sentence, shrugged and said, “Very well, let’s try a different approach: can anybody here figure out why he would come to tell us about Sanctuary?”

“Scavenge?” Jack immediately suggested. “If what the annoying Doctor said is true and there were indeed nobles staying there they could have had some valuables with them. That is assuming they hadn’t taken them into the Stable,” he added, shooting me an uncharacteristically smug look.

I didn’t bother dignifying it with a reply… though mostly because they had indeed brought some jewelry and trinkets.

“Or could be after some other stuff,” Jack continued, turning back to Black Widow and shrugging. “Maybe he’s after whatever is making this resort impossible to find?”

“Huh, interesting thought,” Black Widow hummed, nodding thoughtfully, then sighed. “Oh well, I suppose we won’t know for sure until we ask him. Apple Core,” she said, turning to the slaver mare, “could you please go get him?”

“Sure thing boss,” she replied, already turning towards the door.

“And don’t mention a word about what we talked about,” Black Widow added, causing her to stop. “We’ll compare what he has to say with what our good doctor had said regarding Sanctuary to check if he’s not trying to screw us.”

“Oh, Ah get ya, very clever,” Apple Core said, impressed, and walked through the door.

“Same goes for you, of course,” Black Widow stated, turning her eyes to me and Jack. Actually, mostly to me. “Since obviously we can consider you to be a trusted source of information, Doctor, we’ll be able to check if he’s telling the truth regarding Sanctuary.”

I had to agree with Apple Core; that was indeed a clever tactic. “He didn’t seem concerned when he realized I’m a descendant of Sanctuary’s residents,” I pointed out. “If he was planning to pretend that he knows about it, I would imagine that he would show some signs of nervousness.”

“True,” Black Widow agreed, shrugging. “But it could mean he’s that good at lying, or that he believes he could still fool us; after all, most ponies don’t read memoirs - or make memoirs, for that matter - and don’t know where their great-something-grandparents had lived two hundred years ago. And since you reminded me of your reaction to him bringing up Sanctuary, I’d ask you that you don’t repeat it; if he says anything that would catch your attention, keep quiet and tell us about it later. No point in letting him see how much we know. Now hush,” she said as the sound of returning hoofsteps reached our ears.

A few seconds later Apple Core entered the office, followed by Deliverance and Pillory. The red zebra briefly looked around the room, his brow furrowing slightly as if displeased with the decour, before focusing his gaze on Black Widow. “I assume you finished questioning your Stable friend about Sanctuary?” he asked innocently as he sat down on the floor, right before the desk.

Settling beside Apple Core (with Jack remaining alone on the opposite side of the zebra from us), I turned so that I could observe both him and Black Widow. Pillory, his gaze quickly turning away from me, shuffled to Jack’s side.

The leader of the slavers brushed off Deliverance’ comment with a smile. “Among some other things,” she said. “Now tell me, Mister Deliverance, now that we’re in a more comfortable and private surroundings; why is it that you came to us?”

“I believe I’ve already told you that outside, didn’t I?” he replied with a charming half-smile. “I came because I can help you with your recent problems.”

“Oh, I remember what you said. Could you elaborate, please?”

Deliverance waited a second before replying, his smile widening briefly. “But of course. I’ve already told you where the tribe that attacked your patrol is. I can provide you the exact location of Sanctuary, as well as the means of actually finding it.”

“The way you say it suggests that you don’t believe we can find it without your help,” Black Widow observed.

Deliverance shrugged. “That’s because you can’t. I assume you thought that with a griffin searching from the air you would be able to get their location eventually,” he said, turning his eyes to Jack. “After all, a resort would, shall we say, stand out.”

“Hold on, a resort?” Pillory spoke up, then immediately shut up as Black Widow glanced at him.

“Let alone one the size of Sanctuary,” Deliverance continued, ignoring the interruption. “But the truth is, your mercenary friend wouldn’t be able to notice it even if he had flown right over it; which in all likelihood he probably had.”

“What?” Jack asked, his voice and glare cold.

The calm anger in that single word made the red zebra pause and look at Jack again. “I mean you no offense, Bloodtalon,” he said, retaining his polite demeanor. Jack’s brow furrowed further when the red zebra revealed that he somehow knew who he was. “Truth is, any creature wouldn’t have been able to notice it, regardless of their skills and training.”

“And why is that?” Black Widow asked, still calm, but clearly on the verge of losing patience with the talkative zebra.

Deliverance again paused, turning his head back to Black Widow. Then he chuckled. “This lovely lady told you that the purpose of Sanctuary was to help ponies who’s mental health had suffered due to the war, correct?” he asked, his attention shifting to me.

Or more specifically, to my eyes. A thought occurred to me as his golden gaze locked with mine that perhaps he considered my albinism interesting in light of his own body’s similar coloring. I had to admit that our red and white appearances made quite a match.

His eyes lingered two heartbeats longer on me before he resumed, “I’m sure you will all agree that’s a commendable initiative Equestria had come up with. But you see, there were some concerns regarding this method of dealing with mental alignments. Namely, they believed that, since the war was the root of all of their residents' conditions, the fact that the war was still going on would prolong their treatments, and they had concerns about putting together so many ponies suffering because of said war under one roof.”

I frowned; where was he going with this? Admittedly, it was interesting to hear what the doctors had thought two hundred years ago about their concerns regarding the treatment of their patients, even if it was confusing; part of the reason why those ponies were suffering from WSD and other ailments was that the war was still going. Of course it was going to prolong their treatment! And what exactly would they do about it, anyway?

Black Widow’s eyes narrowed. “Are you about to say that they had done something along the lines of removing their memory of the war during their stay in Sanctuary?”

No, that couldn’t be it. That wouldn’t be different from what the Ministry of Peace had already been doing, I thought, causing Fluttershy’s apparition to wince and look away.

To my confusion - bordering on irritation - though, Deliverance smiled at that. “I suppose one could say ‘something along those lines’,” he replied, then reached to his saddle bags.

Immediately, Jack placed one paw on the holster of his pistol, and behind Black Widow Khan crouched down a little, as if reading to lunge at the other zebra. Deliverance, however, if he had noticed the small commotion, chose to ignore it, and pulled out… a holotape. He dropped it from his mouth unto his hoof and extended it to me.

“Would you kindly?” he asked pointedly as Jack and Khan relaxed.

I glanced at Black Widow, who nodded impatiently. Quickly reaching with my magic, I grabbed the holotape and levitated it over to me, connected it into my PipBuck and hit play.

“Um, hello.”

I felt my mouth open in surprise. I knew that voice. I knew it very well, in fact. It was the same voice I’ve been hearing in my head for the past few weeks now.

“Let me be the first to thank you for joining the Ministry of Peace’s staff at Sanctuary,” the Ministry Mare Fluttershy continued. The timid, pleasant-to-hear voice I was so used to sounded a bit odd on the holotape; clearly, recording a massage for somepony was easier for her than speaking to them directly. She sounded more confident and calm, as if she had rehearsed this speech; which was probably the case. “I’m terribly sorry that I cannot do it in person, but many duties in the Ministry require my attention as well. Because of that I pre-recorded this message with my personal thanks, as well as several pieces of information you will need in your new position. I suppose I should start with the Thought Filter Talisman.”

Thought… Filter Talisman? I tried to look at Fluttershy’s apparition, both she and Pinkie Pie had disappeared at some point, so I contented myself with exchanging glances with everybody else in the room. They appeared about as confused as myself, and they looked at me as if half-expecting I knew something about it… all but one. Black Widow continued to stare intently at the PipBuck at me foreleg, rubbing her chin thoughtfully as she listened, completely uninterested in what I might know about this “Thought Filter Talisman”.

Which was nothing. It was the first time I was hearing about it. I hadn’t seen any mention of such a thing in any of the memoirs I’ve read in Stable Eight. Admittedly though, most of the original dwellers hadn’t left many records of their lives, not even diaries, and this would be something known only to the Sanctuary’s staff, I would imagine.

Quickly, I focused back on the holotape. “Of course, this will be explained to you in greater detail - and far better than I would - on your orientation training when you arrive in Sanctuary by one of the ponies from the Ministry of Arcane Sciences maintaining the talisman. However, it will be important that you have some understanding of it first. The Thought Filter Talisman was created by the Ministry of Arcane Sciences on our request to help with the treatment of ponies in Sanctuary. We asked them for it because we wanted this to be a place that would make ponies feel safe and be able to relax in peace while getting the help they need. The Thought Filter Talisman allows us to do that. It makes everypony within Sanctuary, well, not think about the war.”

What?

“Everypony under the talisman’s effect retains all their memories and knows that it’s still going on, but thanks to this they are able to rest and enjoy their time in Sanctuary. With few exceptions, of course. For the purposes of their treatment, those ponies who require counseling will be given a talisman to wear for the duration of their session that negates the Thought Filter Talisman’s effect on them; the same one you received along with this holotape. As their mental health improves, they will be allowed to wear their talisman’s outside of their therapy sessions, allowing you and the rest of our staff to better monitor the effects of their treatment-”

“Alright, I think we’ve heard enough,” Black Widow spoke up, almost startling me. Somewhat reluctantly, I turned off the recording and ejected the holotape.

To my further annoyance, Deliverance extended his hoof to me again, expectantly. Judging by the amused smirk on his muzzle, he had guessed that I had hoped to listen to its entirety later. Unfortunately, I had no real argument against returning it to him immediately, so I levitated the holotape back to him.

“Wait, Ah still don’t get it,” Apple Core said, giving Black Widow a confused look. “What did any of that bullshit had anythin’ t’ do with-”

“That talisman made the residents of Sanctuary not think about the WAR, Apple Core,” Black Widow replied, rolling her eyes. “Depending on how exactly it works, it would be either difficult or easy to change it to make people not think about other things, like, say, Sanctuary itself. Which is clearly what our neighboring tribe has done upon installing themselves in its ruins.”

Changing the talisman to make everybody not think about Sanctuary… was that why I hadn’t thought about looking for the remains of the resort? Was the tribe already living there by that point? The slavers hadn’t found a trace of them until they attacked one of their patrols over about two weeks later, but it could be possible...

I was about to offer my thoughts on that to everybody else, but I was forstollen by Jack snort. “Cheating unicorn magic,” he commented, crossing his forelegs on his chest, clearly annoyed at the revelation. “So what, I’ve actually seen the damned place but because of that talisman I couldn’t think about it?” Jack asked Deliverance.

The red zebra smirked. “Well, assuming you did fly over it, that is. But yes, I would imagine that is the case,” he continued, ignoring the griffin’s scowl. “If this tribe has indeed modified the talisman to prevent anybody from thinking about Sanctuary, then you have no chance of finding it, even if you’d flown right into it.”

Cursing, Jack turned to me. “Would that even work?”

I frowned before answering, as this was something that I wondered about myself. “Well, to be honest, I am not quite sure myself. The apparent results speak for themselves, and admittedly the fact that they allowed patients to wear talismans nullifying something that would seem no different than erasing their memory-”

“I’m talking about changing the talisman to stop people from thinking about the Sanctuary, not their fucking therapy method,” Jack growled.

“Oh,” I exclaimed, then cleared my throat awkwardly. Of course that would be what he wanted to know, why didn’t I realize that? “Right, well, the answer to that would be: ‘yes of course’. In fact, I would imagine that it must have been a simple matter for this tribe to accomplish.”

“Really?” Jack asked, raising an eyebrow. “I could have sworn I’ve heard that modifying a talisman isn’t exactly easy.”

“What do you-” I began in confusion, only to realize that he was referring to my so far unsuccessful attempts at modifying the breathing oxygen talisman. Frowning, I bit back an annoyed retort, shook my head and began: “I’m not quite sure what are you talking about, sweetie, but you do realize that this isn’t a usual talisman, right?”

“No, but I have a feeling that you’re going to tell us,” Jack replied, rolling his eyes.

I opened my mouth, ready to continue, but then I remembered Black Widow’s warning about revealing too much in front of Deliverance. Quickly, I turned my attention to her, but to my relief she didn’t seem annoyed, quite the opposite. She was listening very attentively to me. Noticing my hesitation, Black Widow nodded, allowing me to continue.

“A normal talisman’s range of effect wouldn’t measure further than a few yards. Most talismans only affect the device they are in or a pony, griffin or zebra that wears them. Moreso, this Thought Filter Talisman clearly can remain active for a long period of time, seeing how the residents of Sanctuary were supposed to be constantly under its influence. Which means,” I summed up, realizing that I was receiving mostly blank or confused stares; only Deliverance was still smirking, and Black Widow had covered her muzzle with her hoof, making it difficult to read her emotions, “that this talisman is a spell framework for a megaspell.”

That did surprise Jack a bit, but he quickly recovered by groaning and covering his face with his paw. “Ponies, zebras, and your fucking megaspells…”

“Wait,” Apple Core spoke up, looking alarmed, “ya’re sayin’ that thing can fuckin’ explode?!”

Somehow, I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “Sweetie, you’re thinking of balefire bombs. They were many kinds of megaspells developed by Equestria, and most of them didn’t ‘explode’, or were even weaponized in any way, like this one.”

“The MoAS was probably planning on doing that, though,” Black Widow commented, surprising me. As I turned to her, she shrugged and added, “Seems to me like they were using Sanctuary as big testing grounds for whatever megaspell they’ve woven into that ‘Thought Filter Talisman’. Maybe if the Zebra Empire didn’t blow everything up a year or two after that sanatorium was built, Equestria would have used it on the battlefield to make zebras to not think about firing their guns. Or breathe.”

That was… an interesting theory. One that didn’t occur to me; I didn’t like the idea of the Ministries using Sanctuary, which was supposed to be a place of healing, as a testing ground…

Were my ancestors test subjects to them? That’s… hard to ima- Why are you looking at me like that? I asked as I realized that both Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were deadpanning at me.

As they soon disappeared without answering me, just sharing a look, I shrugged it off and decided that, if I couldn’t argue with Black Widow’s theory, I could at least correct one aspect of it. “Sweetie, breathing is an involuntary, automatic process. That’s why we still breathe while asleep or unconscious. Even if this spell would be able to make somebody stop thinking about breathing, they would still do it.”

The leader of slavers merely shrugged with disinterest. “I’m sure they would find a way around such a little problem.”

“Fascinating,” Jack cut in, then, with a weird nonchalance, as if not caring about the answer, asked, “How exactly does it mean it would be easy to modify it, again?”

Regardless, I replied, “Normally, a talisman contains magic within its gemstone necessary to work. A talisman that is a spell framework requires magic from outside. Usually it would come from a unicorn, or well, multiple unicorns in this case. However, as I had mentioned, based on that holotape we can assume that it was required for this Thought Filter Talisman to be active all the time. In such a case, it is far more probable that the talisman is connected to some machinery, with the magic being provided by at least two spark generators. It is very likely that on said machinery there is a terminal monitoring the flow of magic, and quite possibly allows a measure of control of the spell, to change what ‘thought’ exactly would be filtered.”

“What an interesting deduction based on so little information,” Deliverance said, his smirk becoming more… alluring. “I can see that your brain matches your beautiful looks.”

Surprised at the praise, I chuckled warmly, “Thank you, sweetie, you’re too kind.”

“You can flirt with each other after this meeting is over,” Black Widow spoke up, annoyed, then turned to Deliverance. “Let’s get back to business. I assume that you have the talisman mentioned on the holotape that negates the effect of that Thought Filter Talisman?”

“It would be rather pointless for me to come here without it, wouldn’t it?” Deliverance replied with a question. When Black Widow raised an eyebrow in an indication that she wanted to hear more, he shrugged and continued, “Yes, I do possess said talisman, and I am prepared to give it to you, along with the exact location of Sanctuary, although I suspect thanks to your charming friend you already have a pretty good idea where it is located,” he added, with a brief glance at me.

“How exactly did you come about its location?” Black Widow asked him. “It strikes me as something hard to find, considering how probably nobody in the Wasteland had ever heard about Sanctuary.”

“Well, nothing is impossible to find if you know what you’re looking for, but I’d admit that I had a bit of luck regarding Sanctuary’s location. I stumbled upon a terminal detailing - among some other information related to the sanatorium - one of your Ministries buying the Supernatural Mountain from the Sunderlands.”

Sunderlands?!

From the brief glance Black Widow gave me I realized she must have noticed my reaction. Cursing myself, I relaxed my perked up ears, and thanked the Goddesses that at least this time I hadn’t exclaimed out loud Deliverance’s words.

The slaver leader’s attention shifted back to the red zebra, dismissing my reaction. “Sunderlands? Do you mean the Sunderland Mining Company?”

Sunderland Mining… what?!

“No, actually, I mean the House of Sunderland, a noble family,” Deliverance continued as I had turned my attention briefly to Black Widow in surprise. “The mountain was apparently their private property. I would assume they owned this mining company? I must admit there are some details of pre-war Equestria that still elude me.” As Black Widow waved his comment off with disinterest, he shrugged and continued, “In any case, it seems pretty obvious that Sanctuary is on the mountain. I had brought a pre-war map of the area, and I believe your beautiful friend can confirm whether her Stable is near the Supernatural Mountain.”

Deliverance’s compliment had barely registered with me. I was still too preoccupied processing the information about the Sunderlands apparently owning - or, well, previously owning I suppose - the mountain under which my Stable had been, as well as having a mining company named after them. However, when Black Widow gave me a meaningful stare while Deliverance walked over to her desk and laid down a map, I pushed those thoughts aside for the time being and trotted closer.

The red zebra flashed me another smile as I joined him; I half expected him to “accidentally” brush against my body, but he didn’t draw closer. Instead, he poked a spot on the map. I looked at the depiction of a mountain (Although it had an odd, flat top; was Supernatural Mountain a mesa? Well, that would make building a giant sanatorium on it a bit easier.) at the spot, with the words “Supernatural Mountain” above it. At the base of a mountain was a small symbol resembling a cave, with the words “Lost Unicorn’s Mine”; it must be where the entrance to Stable Eight was.

To be sure, though, I looked over to where Appleloosa was, then on my PipBuck I switched over to the map there. “Allow me a moment, sweetie,” I said out loud as the map of the surrounding area flashed before my eyes. I had the locations I visited marked on it; there was Appleloosa, New Appleloosa, Stable Eleven… and of course, Stable Eight. I tilted my head so that I could look at Deliverance’s map at the angle I had the map displayed on my E.F.S.

They appeared to match.

“Well?” Black Widow prompted.

I hesitated, considering my options. I didn’t want to reveal the location of my Stable. Even if the slavers had no chance to make it past its security, I was still exposing everypony I knew my whole life to danger. However minimal. Almost non-existent, really; Demon would definitely burn them all if they attacked the Stable, especially if he believed that they got the location out of me by force.

Pushing aside the feeling of guilt at the prospect of deceiving him like that on top of the risk I was exposing my Stable to, I knew I had to confirm Deliverance’s guess about the Supernatural Mountain. First because it could look suspicious if our only lead for the tribe’s location was false, second because Apple Core could confirm that they had found me not far from the mountain, third because lying to Black Widow could have dire consequences, and lastly because it could leave Deliverance in an unpleasant position. I might know next to nothing about him, but I wouldn’t want to create troubles for him; especially since I found him a rather interesting individual.

Also, if everything goes as planned, Appleloosa would no longer be a slaver town, so there went the prospect of danger to my Stable.

“It would appear that our exotic visitor is correct,” I replied. “Stable Eight seems to be located inside this mine, which would mean Sanctuary has to be above it; on the Supernatural Mountain.”

“Ya sure?” Apple Core asked, coming up beside me to look at the map. “None of ‘ose ruined railroads lead up that way. Wouldn’t that mine town or whatever need those?”

Black Widow leaned over to get a better look at the spot on the map. “The mine had probably run out before they built Appleloosa,” she said after a second, shrugging. “Probably why that mining town isn’t even on this map. In any case, we finally got their location.”

“So what exactly are you planning?” Jack spoke up. Nodding at Deliverance, he continued, “Even if he gives us that talisman that negates the Thought-whatever Talisman, it would still be only one.”

“You know, it’s rude to speak about somebody as if they’re not here,” Deliverance retorted; despite his offended words, his voice was amused. He turned to Black Widow. “And I am going to give you that talisman.”

The dark mare nodded, as if satisfied. “Good. And why, if I may ask?”

“Well, so that you can-”

“That’s not what I’m asking and you know that,” Black Widow interrupted him coldly. “What do you get out of this? So far, you hadn’t made a single demand of what you’d want in return.”

Deliverance uttered a giggle. “Oh, does it really matter to you? In one swoop, you’ll remove the threat to your operations, probably capture a lot of new ponies to sell, and, well… I don’t mean to insult this… charming little town, but once you deal with this tribe you will be able to move into a far more grandiose place than this.”

No.

Both Pinkie and Fluttershy looked at me in surprise as I continued to calmly stand before Black Widow’s desk, listening to Deliverance’s reply while fuming on the inside. Hearing his suggestion made me feel as if something inside of me broke.

Angel? Fluttershy spoke up, in her confusion forgetting apparently that she wasn’t speaking to me.

I am not letting slavers live in the place where my ancestors found help and peace, I replied. The place where the greatest pony in Stable Eight's history was born!

The mere thought made bile rise in my throat.

Pinkie Pie tilted her head. Isn’t that kinda hypocritical considering you’ve been living in their town about a month now, healing them and stuff?

Before I could correct her as to why that wasn’t hypocritical, Black Widow replied to Deliverance. We’ll talk about this later, I quickly told her.

“You’re right, and I am thankful to you for this opportunity,” she said, in a tone that held no gratitude in it. “But if I don’t know why you are helping us, I won’t know for sure if you aren’t trying to fuck with us in some way. I’m sure you can understand why that would make me… uncomfortable, don’t you?”

Deliverance remained motionless for several seconds, then finally uttered another giggle. “I can see your albino friend isn’t the only mare who’s intellect matches her beauty.”

“Your flattery is noted, but it’s not going to help you,” Black Widow retorted. “Now, please quit stalling before I start to get suspicious.”

“Of course,” the red zebra said with a chuckle, then sighed. “The short answer is: I’m attempting to get drastically rich. I’d assume you’d want a longer explanation,” he added with a shrug as everybody in the room frowned in confusion. “Sometime ago I had stumbled upon a rumor that during the war, the Last Caesar had decided to hide a piece of our Empire’s treasury in several secret locations, for safety. Whether he was concerned about a possibility of an Equestrian raid on Roam, a megaspell destroying it, pony sympathizers, a coup d’etat, or whatever, I do not know nor do I particularly care,” he said nonchalantly, raising his hoof before his face and examining its frog. “In any case, the location of each of those vaults were known only to a few trusted zebras, with no zebra knowing about more than one. Now, most of them had been apparently found and plundered not long after the war, some by the generals who knew where they were and used their contents to help establish their Legions; your mercenary can go into a greater detail regarding what those are,” Deliverance added with a nod and a smile at Jack, who didn’t return it. “Some were found by other zebras, one apparently by a dragon but I think everybody in Zebrinica would know such a story if it were true, and some were destroyed. However,” he said, raising his voice a little and looking Black Widow in the eyes, “the rumor states that one vault - the biggest one, at that - remains intact and undisturbed to this day.”

“Good for you,” Black Widow said, leaning against her propped foreleg. “And what exactly does it have with what we’ve been talking about?”

“I did say it was a long story,” Deliverance retorted, then quickly continued as the dark mare frowned, “I was able to discover one of the zebras who had known the location of the vault, as well as his fate. He had been a part of a botched operation during the war and supposedly had been taken captive. Since then I’ve been poking around here and there, and while I couldn’t find what exactly became of said zebra, I was able to find which Equestrian unit had encountered him during that operation. From there I learned that all but one had died during their service, and the last one had retired a few months before… well, the end of the war. Now,” he said, smirking, “imagine my confusion when I found out that after leaving the service he had been sent off to some giant, luxurious sanatorium in the middle of nowhere?”

So that was how he had learned about Sanctuary? I thought, both surprised and impressed. Following a trail across two continents to some vault filled with treasure… talk about a bizarre adventure.

Not to mention a lot of walking, Pinkie noted, glancing downward. Following her gaze in confusion, I quickly realized why she mentioned that; his hooves were in suspiciously good condition. I ain’t Rarity, but he almost looks like he got fresh out of an hour-long hooficure to me.

Well, that was a bit too much. Even from this angle and without actually staring I could see some definite abrasions on his hooves, however small. Still though, it didn’t change the fact that they were in better condition than most ponies’ here were, other than mine of course.

Maybe he just takes good care of them? Fluttershy suggested. Zebras do know some amazing potions and poultices.

I suppose you could be right, darling, I remarked, glancing briefly at his saddle bags and wondering what else he was caring inside of them, before returning my attention back to the conversation.

“Guess that explains how you knew about Sanctuary,” Black Widow remarked, echoing my thoughts. “So, you’re doing all of this just on the off chance that somewhere there you will find a clue where this vault is?”

“It is my only lead,” the red zebra replied, then corrected himself, “Well, not the only lead, but my other option would be to scour through Equestria’s military bases with who knows what defenses, hoping to find some record from the interrogation of one prisoner, which would be probably very encrypted. I think I would rather try looking through whatever remained after this pony veteran in Sanctuary first, on the ‘off-chance’, as you put it, that the zebra he defeated and possibly captured revealed something that would lead me to the vault. Although if I am to be honest I did stumble upon some clues in his house that he indeed had known something,” Deliverance added, shrugging. I was starting to get really curious; what could he have found? Terminal entries, military documents, a picture? “But yes, this is why I came to you, told you everything I learned about Sanctuary, and I’m offering you the talisman that will let you find it. All I want in return is that once you conquer this tribe you will allow me to pilfer through Sanctuary, or, more specifically, that veteran’s room to learn what I want.”

Black Widow nodded thoughtfully, all while keeping her eyes on Deliverance. “And why exactly did you come to us, instead of, I don’t know, directly to the Sanctuary?” she finally asked, raising an eyebrow. “If this is all you want, I wouldn’t think those ponies there would mind that you’d snoop around in a room a pony that has been dead for two hundred years.”

“Alas,” Deliverance sighed, “I do not know this tribe. I know nothing about them, aside from the fact that they attacked one of your patrols. For all I know, if I tried to approach them, they would kill me on sight. I don’t mean to sound racist, but ponies tend to… not react friendly to zebras,” he said, his brow raised in slight exasperation. “Which, to be fair, is understandable, and if this was my homeland it would be the other way around, obviously. But it does make it harder to start up a conversation. You, on the other hoof, are fairly known in the Wasteland,” he added, spreading his foreleg slowly. “Both the slavers of Appleloosa, and you yourself, Mrs Black Widow. You are a businessmare. I knew I could make a deal with you.”

I couldn’t fault his logic. Indeed, with slavers, one knew where he stood with. For all we knew about the tribe, they could be as bad as raiders.

The thought of raider-like ponies living in Sanctuary was even more infuriating than my earlier thought about slavers.

Black Widow smirked at Deliverance’s explanation. She waited a few seconds before speaking again, apparently considering something. “What’s the worth of this vault of yours’ contents?” she finally asked.

I couldn’t help but perk my ears in interest, and I wasn’t the only one. Apple Core and Pillory also stared at Deliverance expectantly, and Jack’s narrowed his eyes. Only Khan didn’t react to Black Widow’s question.

I expected the red zebra to be reluctant to reveal any information regarding the treasure’s worth, or at least be nervous after being so blatantly asked about it. However, he remained as calm as ever and merely shrugged. “Enough to set me for life, but not enough that it would be worth the trouble for you to get it back here. I can send you a jewel or two if you want,” he nodded, smirking.

Black Widow snorted in amusement. “Thank you for the offer, but that won’t be necessary. I was merely curious; I find transporting slaves through this part of the Wasteland troublesome enough, I wouldn’t even want to think about doing that with some zebra treasure from across the planet for all I know. You got yourself a deal, Mister Deliverance,” she declared more seriously. “You give us the talisman, and in return, once we deal with the tribe, you can look for the information about your vault to your heart content.”

“I’m pleased to hear that. I’m sure we’ll both find this agreement beneficial.”

“Oh, I’m sure we will. Now, the talisman?” Black Widow said, meaningfully.

Deliverance smiled, then the next second he grunted, as if trying to clear his throat. I was about to ask if he needed help as he brought up a hoof to his muzzle… only to stare dumbfounded as he spat out a talisman.

“Here you go,” the red zebra said, reaching towards Black Widow with his hoof. The leader of slavers stared at it with a similar expression to mine. “What?” Deliverance asked, sounding genuinely surprised. “I didn’t know if you were going to frisk me after I’d arrive.”

Black Widow finally let out a sigh and brought her hoof to her face. “Doctor, can you disinfect it or something?” she asked, rubbing her forehead.

“Oh, of course,” I quickly replied, grabbing the talisman with my magic. As I cast a spell to clean it off Deliverance’s saliva and gastric acid, I took a closer look at it. The talisman was an amethyst cut into an octangular, a little smaller than an eye. “Interesting,” I commented, my gaze tracing along the carved pattern, then I looked at Deliverance. “As are you. It’s not everyday you see somebody who can control their regurgitation with just muscle control.”

As Deliverance chuckled, Apple Core asked “Regur-what?”

“Vomiting,” Black Widow explained before I could, then looked at me. “The talisman, please?”

“What can I say,” the red zebra replied to me as I levitated the talisman over to Black Widow, “I found it a surprisingly useful ability at times.”

As she reached out with her magic, I released my spell. “Interesting,” she hummed, taking a closer look at the talisman, before setting it down at her desk. “Well then, I guess we should start formulating a plan,” she said, looking over to Jack. “Do you think-”

Grumble!

Everybody in the room looked around surprised at the strange sound, searching for its source. It took me a moment to realize that it was coming from me. My stomach, to be more precise.

“Oh my,” I exclaimed, feeling hot from embarrassment. And hungry. “Please forgive me for that borborygmus, everybody, I hadn’t had an opportunity today to eat breakfast.”

Apple Core snickered in amusement, while Black Widow rolled her eyes. “Ah yes, today’s morning was rather eventful. Seeing how we won’t need you right now, you can go to Salt Block and get something to eat.”

Surprised at the sudden dismissal, I hesitated a moment before asking, “Are you sure? I might be of use-”

I stopped as Black Widow raised her hoof. “Yes, I’m sure. Enjoy your meal,” she said firmly.

This time I got the message. I was apparently not needed. Trying to not feel insulted, I nodded and replied, “Thank you, sweetie,” and turned around for the door.

“So as I was about to say…” Black Widow started as I opened the door and walked through it, probably turning to Jack again.

Something brushed against me gently.

I glanced at my side, surprised, but saw nothing. What in Goddesses- Aite! Merciful Goddesses, in all the excitement of today I had forgotten about our invisible friend. Was she waiting outside the door this whole time?

Quickly realizing that staying in the half-open door looking around could either reveal Aite’s presence or annoy Black Widow, I resumed leaving, closing the door carefully behind me. Hopefully, the slaver leader would think of that two second long delay as just my curiosity and not pay it too much mind.

She must have not been around when we got here, I thought as I slowly trotted through Black Widow’s house. Otherwise she would have already been inside. Well, Black Widow, I’m sorry but it looks like I’ll know whatever you’ll be talking about in there, I added, smirking to myself.

You do know she can’t hear you, right? Pinkie asked, raising a single eyebrow.

Baffled, I stopped. O- ff course I do, darling, I was being… well, I was petty, nevermind, I added, rolling my eyes. Heading toward the exit again, I changed the subject: Regardless, it would seem that our plans will have to accelerate. Jack won’t be able to delay informing Black Widow that he found the tribe now.

Do you think this means he will want to go with his plan of capturing Black Widow? I mean, you hadn’t been able modify that oxygen talisman.

I frowned unhappily. It cannot be helped now. I had agreed that I will defer to Jack’s experience and do as he decides.

Wow, Pinkie exclaimed, her eyes widening. I expected you would try to convince him to still help you take over Appleloosa.

That was before I knew that the place where my ancestors came from was at risk of being taken over by slavers. I opened the door and left the house, looking around. Few of the slavers were milling about, with one or two glancing at my direction curiously, probably wanting to know what the mysterious guest wanted to talk about. I smiled at them and began trotting towards the Salt Block. If we try to take over Appleloosa without any means of dealing with Red Eye’s army retaliation because of the slaver business being disrupted, it would be for naught. Not to mention that my plan required convincing the tribe to help us, it would put them - and Sanctuary - at risk, too.

I clenched my teeth as another thought occured to me.

Maybe it’s already at risk? Even if we’d go with Jack’s plan, capture Black Widow, learn what we want to know, kill her and leave, it would still leave Deliverance. Would he go to Red Eye next to try and get to Sanctuary? And even if he wouldn’t, the next time Red Eye sends his emissaries here, they would learn about a red zebra revealing the tribe's location.

About the only image worse than this Red Eye being in Sanctuary was him getting his hooves on that Thought Filter Talisman. Goddesses know what somepony like him would use it for: make his slaves not think that they’re slaves? Something worse? I didn’t even want to consider it at the moment.

Why does Sanctuary matter to you this much? Fluttershy asked, appearing suddenly before me. You didn’t seem to mind living together with slavers, and yet the moment Deliverance suggested they could move from Appleloosa to Sanctuary you were… angry.

And why aren’t you angry? I countered, annoyed by the question. Wasn’t Sanctuary created thanks to you?

Pinkie Pie appeared right beside her. Don’t change the subject, she said, poking my muzzle with her forehoof while giving me a dirty look.

I sighed, and took my eyes off them before anypony on the street would start to wonder why I was making faces at thin air. My ancestors came from there, I reminded them, my eyes on the saloon as I drew closer. Most of them had been suffering because of the war. Lost their friends, families, and health. Thanks to Sanctuary, they got better. It was a place where in that bleak reality they could be happy. It was a place with a Stable underneath that allowed them to live when so many others hadn’t been so fortunate when the Last Day came. So many would meet their significant others, have foals, see them start their own families… all because of Sanctuary. I stopped, a few steps away from the Salt Block, and turned my head in the direction where my Stable, and, by extension, Sanctuary was, so many miles away. A smile crossed my muzzle. Sanctuary is an integral part of everypony from Stable Eight. My mother even told me one of her predecessors had considered declaring it a sacred place, I added, snorting in amusement at the recollection. A charming sentiment, but ultimately she had realized that we worship the Goddesses, not a place where we came from. If anything, Canterlot should have been considered a sacred place, but I digress. The point is, if I would let the likes of Black Widow lay claim to Sanctuary, I would be spitting on the memory of everypony who ever called Stable Eight their home. That will simply not do.

Both apparitions nodded as they listened to my answer. Both seemed happy with it. Especially Fluttershy; her eyes were almost glistering, and I realized she was on the verge of shedding tears of happiness, all because of what I told them how much myself and the entirety of Stable Eight owed to Sanctuary.

There is one more reason why Sanctuary matters to me, I added, emboldened by seeing Fluttershy’s reaction. Turning my gaze back towards the saloon, I resumed trotting. Black Widow can say all she wants about Equestria using it to get their more valuable to the war effort ponies back into working condition, or about it being used as a testing ground for some mind altering megaspell.

I had reached the saloon doors. Placing a hoof against the left one, I pushed it open.

To me, Sanctuary is a testament to Equestria’s love for its subjects and care for their well-being.

*** *** ***

About half an hour later I hummed in content after finishing my meal that consisted of banana puree; as this could be my last day in Appleloosa - or at the very least, the last day of the status quo that had been established so far - I had decided to treat myself to one of the more expansive dishes Frank Fellow had to offer in his saloon. From the vegetarian variety, that is; a few meat dishes were still more expansive (and supposedly tastier), but after learning about the brahmin’s sapience I had decided to put attempts at trying out meat cuisine on hold.

That, and I suspected my stomach would still be not able to hold such meals.

I wonder if they’re still discussing their plans? I thought idly to the two apparitions, sipping my Sparkle-Cola while glancing at the saloon doors. It has been a while already.

Why don’t you go and wait near Black Widow’s house if you wanna know? Pinkie asked, tilting her head.

Because it could look suspicious, I replied, shrugging. Everypony in Appleloosa knows I spend most of my time in my clinic, and when I don’t I’m usually at Salt Block. I don’t hang around the streets of the town. I suppose I could wait around Black Widow’s house under the pretense that I’d wanna talk with Deliverance - which I happen to do, regardless - but I’m not sure how Black Widow would react to that.

Wouldn’t she be too busy preparing an attack on Sanctuary to worry about you talking to him, though? Fluttershy asked, frowning.

I would think so, but… I hesitated, remembering how the conversation in her office had gone. Black Widow is smart and suspicious. She had always suspected that I had something to do with Cutter’s “death”; and by “suspected” I mean “was certain but had no proof and ignored it because it suited her”, of course. And on top of it all, darling, I didn’t like the way she looked at me a few times today… nor did I particularly care for the way she had dismissed me, I added as I gave out an offended snort.

Yeah, that was pretty mean, Pinkie Pie agreed.

In any case, I would prefer to not give her any more reason to distrust me. For now it would be best to just wait for Jack’s instructions, and I won’t receive any until after he and Aite are able to talk away from any prying eyes and ears, so I would assume that he would first need to leave the town. Now, assuming Black Widow would order Jack to fly to Sanctuary right away-

Um, Angel? Pinkie cut in. As I looked at her in surprise - and annoyance at being interrupted - I noticed that the apparition was pointing at the saloon door.

Apple Core just walked in.

Guess this means they had finished planning, I thought as she trotted towards the bar. I wondered about going over to join her, but before I could get up from my table Apple Core had looked around and spotted me. I smiled and waved, and in response she rolled her eyes. Hm, do you think she doesn’t want to talk about their plans, I worried, a little upset, or is this about last night?

As the apparitions exchanged a glance, probably not keen on discussing yesterday (more specifically, Fluttershy being not keen), the slaver mare began to head towards me, with a quick exchange with Frank Fellow over her shoulder, probably ordering something to eat.

“Were ya sittin’ ‘ere all this time waitin’ for me?” she snorted in greeting as she sat beside my table.

“Sweetie, how would I have known you’d come here after you’d finish making plans?” I countered with a question, raising an eyebrow. Pointing at my empty plate with the Sparkle-Cola bottle, I added, “I just finished my breakfast and was about to leave after finishing my drink. But since you’re here, sweetie-”

Apple Core groaned and raised her hoof to stop me mid-sentence. “Black Widow told Jack t’ fly and scout that place, we’ll be makin’ more precise plans after we get some intel on this tribe and just how big that Sanctuary is. ‘Sanctuary’,” she repeated, snorting, “a freakin’ resort for crazy ponies. Ah should ‘ave figured yar ancestors came from some place like that.”

“Excuse me, sweetie,” I spoke up, frowning at her, “but my ancestors and all the other residents of Sanctuary weren’t ‘crazy’. They were ponies who suffered from mental disorders and required help. And not very drastic ones like schizophrenia and other psychoses, ponies suffering from those would have been sent to psychiatric hospitals, so-”

“Yeah, whatever,” the slaver mare replied, cutting off my explanation. Ignoring my pout, she continued, “Anyway, the only reason why this took so long was because Black Widow wanted yar griffin originally t’ just steal that talisman, but he argued that his contract said he was s’pposed t’ just find the tribe for us, and ‘cause of some ‘professional code’ or whatever he called it he couldn’t agree t’ just change the contract, he had t’ finish the job, then they can make a new deal,” Apple Core finished, uttering an exasperated sigh.

I really should applaud Jack for negotiating with Black Widow in a way that he didn’t have to risk his professional integrity… wait, did she call him “my griffin”?!

“Sweetie, Jack isn’t “mine”, as you had phrased it,” I started, once again frowning at her.

Snorting, Apple Core winked at me mockingly. “Sure he ain’t. In any case, he left ‘bout five minutes ago, Ah was sent out to call off all the planned patrols - already did that - and Black Widow stayed t’ talk some more with that red zebra freak. Oh, and she wanted me t’ tell ya that she’ll come by yar clinic later today to pick up her cut of yar business, it’s been a month already.”

“Oh, so it has,” I exclaimed, taken by surprise.

I hadn’t even realized that the day I was supposed to pay Black Widow the ten percent of my income; or rather, the income I gained for my medical services. Our deal didn’t include mine and Apple Core’s little side business. I briefly worried if, in case Black Widow had learned about it, she would demand a ‘cut’ of that income as well, but I quickly dismissed that fear; I had more enough caps left over to pay her for that as well.

“I almost can’t believe it has been a month since I came here,” I mused, sipping my Sparkle-Cola. “Settling here, going to New Appleloosa, exploring that Stable and dealing with raiders… it was quite an eventful month.”

“Yeah, Ah would imagine, compared t’ cozy life in a Stable,” Apple Core added with a chuckle.

A month since I had been banished from my Stable…

As quickly as the thought appeared, I banished it. Between everything that has been happening today I had no time to dwell on that.

The two apparitions manifested again, and judging by their expressions they had a different opinion on this matter. Before they could start arguing about it, though, I turned to Apple Core. “Listen, sweetie, I wanted to talk to you about yesterday-”

Immediately, as I began to say something I had been mulling over in the early morning up until Deliverance had appeared and stirred up, well, everything, Apple Core frowned and rose from the table, ready to leave.

“I owe you an apology.”

Apple Core froze in mid-movement, then slowly returned to her earlier position. “‘Kay, Ah’m listenin’,” she said, sounding suspicious.

Fluttershy gave me a worried look, but I ignored her. Instead, I glanced around if any of the other patrons could eavesdrop, but fortunately Salt Block was nearly empty at this hour, and the table I had sat at was right in the corner of the saloon.

“You are in a difficult situation right now,” I began to explain. “I should have kept in mind that, regardless of what you decide to do, it cannot be an easy decision for you. The last thing I should have done was make it even more difficult for you by attempting to sway you towards doing something that would be more aligned with my own views. I am sorry for that, and I want to assure you that regardless of what you decide-”

I hesitated for a second. I wanted to say that I would be there to help her, as her doctor and a friend, but I knew that there was a very good chance that I would have to leave Appleloosa soon.

“- I won’t think any less of you,” I said, knowing that this, at the very least, was true.

Apple Core continued to stare at me with a frown, finally nodding slowly after a few seconds had passed. “Yeah,” she snorted, “well, thanks for that.”

Happy to that we mended our friendship, I smiled, causing the slaver mare to snort again and roll her eyes. Taking it as a display of her reluctance to dwell on the subject, I rose from the table. “I’m glad that we had this talk, sweetie. Now, if you’d excuse me, I think I should return to my clinic, make sure I counted the bottle caps I owe Black Widow correctly, and perhaps start stockpiling healing potions, considering there might be a battle in the near future.”

“Yeah, sounds about right,” Apple Core replied, almost absentmindedly. Figuring that she simply had a lot on her mind, I began to turn around. “Hey, wait a moment,” she suddenly added awkwardly, making me stop. I shot her a quizzical look. “Can Ah ask ya something?”

Surprise, I sat back at the table. “Of course, sweetie.”

I expected she’d ask me questions regarding pregnancy. Hoped, maybe. Wished? How long exactly did it last, what would be the “unpleasant side” of it…

“It’s clear what Ah wanna do ain’t somethin’ ya would do, right?” Apple Core started, her brow furrowed, clearly referring to abortion. As I opened my muzzle, she rolled her eyes and quickly corrected herself: “Thinkin’ ‘bout doin’. So… why did ya give me that pill?”

I hesitated, surprised to hear such a question. Was she doubting that the pill I gave her would work like I said it would? No, that couldn’t be it; if it was, Apple Core would have just asked plainly about it. She wasn’t exactly a subtle pony.

I looked down at the table, gathering thoughts. “Well,” I slowly replied, looking up, “the law of my Stable states that all abortions are legal on mare’s request, regardless of the reason. As a doctor, I’d have a duty to either help my patient conduct an abortion, or direct her to a doctor that would. Now, I do know that the Wasteland doesn’t operate on the same laws as my Stable, obviously, but I’m sure you can understand why I’d still want to follow the laws I had known all my life. Also, regardless of that, a worry that if I wouldn’t help you you would find a less skilled medical doctor that offer a method of abortion that would put your health in danger would be enough to make me help you,” I added.

Apple Core narrowed her eyes. “Ya know, no offense, but… considerin’ ya must have been banished from that place for some reason, Ah kinda doubt that ya’d follow a law that ya don’t exactly agree with.”

I blinked in surprise, stunned. Was Apple Core smarter than I gave her credit for? Or more observant at least… Shaking my head to recover from the shock before she could take it as an offense, I thought how best to reply.

“I suppose you have a point there,” I began, placing my forehooves in the table and tapping it slowly. “However, you are mistaken. While I dislike the… need for this law, so to speak, I do agree with it. You see…” I paused, recalling what helped me come to terms with one of the less pleasant aspects of being a doctor. “While the law of Stable Eight allows a mare to abort her pregnancy, a long time ago this was a highly disputed matter. Many ponies felt that this law should be limited to, say, cases where the pregnancy posed a threat to mare’s health, or there was a high chance of the foal having defects that would make it impossible for it to survive long after birth. And some, like the previous High Priestess of the Goddesses, had believed abortion should be banned entirely. As High Priestess, it was one of her duties to provide the citizens of Stable Eight with spiritual, emotional and moral support, and she, like many of her predescessors, considered abortion to be ammoral, and was very vocal about it. She had eventually retired from her position before she could gather enough support to press the Overmare to change the law, but she expected her successor to continue ‘the holy fight’, as she called it. Except she didn’t. She dropped the issue completely, and convinced those who had supported her predecessor to do so as well, putting an end to that long dispute.”

I smiled at Apple Core, ignoring completely the fact that she appeared to be getting bored listening to a history lesson about my Stable. I liked this part too much to care.

“That new High Priestess happened to be my mother.” That did cause Apple Core to regain her interest, if the widening eyes were of any indication. “At some point, after learning about this story, I asked her why. How could a mare that taught me about the sanctity and beauty of life could support such laws. It seemed… illogical. And so my mother answered me. She told me that indeed, to her personally abortion is unthinkable. However… pregnancy, giving birth, raising a foal… it all requires sacrifice from a mare. Even when there are no complications, though of course those sacrifices pail in comparison to those of a mother who decided to keep the foal despite genetic defects or risks to her health.”

My thought lingered a moment the words “genetic defects” before I moved on.

“My mother said that every mother is a hero, because they make those sacrifices. However, if a law banning abortion would have come to pass in Stable Eight, then they wouldn’t be heroes anymore. Because sacrifice is heroic only when done out of your own free will.

“Sacrifice done because of a law isn’t heroism. It’s a punishment, a sentence.”

*** *** ***

I returned to my clinic, satisfied with my talk with Apple Core. While I wouldn’t say that what I had told her made her lean towards keeping the foal, it did seem to at least repair our relationship. Also, I got the impression that she was still not completely certain that she wanted to abort it, which meant that there was yet a chance she would change her mind.

That left the problem of whether I would see that or not, but I couldn’t do anything about that until I heard from Aite what Jack's plan was. Perhaps I could maybe use Apple Core’s pregnancy to make him reconsider simply taking what we need from Black Widow and leaving? I would have to talk with Aite about it.

As it has been quite some time since Jack had left - at least, according to Apple Core - I half expected the bat pony to already be in my clinic waiting for me. And indeed, as I drew closer to my house, my E.F.S. showed me two green bars inside. Had Jack sneaked back along with Aite? I opened the door quickly, and spotted a dark mare inside, sitting on one of the empty beds and reading my Wasteland’s Survival Guide.

Except it was Black Widow.

“Oh, hello again, sweetie,” I exclaimed in surprise, closing the door behind me and walking in. The dark unicorn turned her eyes briefly towards me and nodded in response, before returning her attention to my book. Too surprised to find that irritating, I looked at the other green bar; it was Khan, sitting near the clinic counter, and staring blankly at the opposite wall. Walking past him, I turned to Black Widow again: “What are you- oh, that’s right,” I said, recalling part of my conversation at the saloon, “Apple Core had mentioned that you’d be coming by to pick up your part of my income. Forgive my surprise, sweetie, I’ve expected you later. Give me a moment and I’ll bring you your caps.”

“That’s fine,” Black Widow said, waving her hoof dismissively as I trotted past her, towards my room, her eyes still on my book; had she never read it? Well, Ditzy didn’t do business with slavers, so it was possible… “What’s so interesting about Sunderlands?”

I paused, surprised, and glanced back. “Beg your pardon, sweetie?”

Black Widow looked up from my book. “I noticed how your ears all perked up when Deliverance mentioned their name.”

“Oh, that,” I replied, recalling my reaction. “Among the original residents of Stable Eight was Written Sunderland, the younger son of Lord Sunderland. My reaction wasn’t due to the mention of the name, though; it was regarding them apparently once owning the very land above my Stable. I had been under the impression that they were a minor nobility family. I wasn’t aware of them owning any lands, and certainly didn’t know anything about the ‘Sunderland Mining Company’.”

“Well, I didn’t know that company shared a name with a noble family,” Black Widow countered, chuckling briefly. “But I find it surprising that you hadn’t read any of their memoirs or diaries; or that they hadn’t left any, alternatively.”

“Oh, they had,” I assured her, then sighed. “Unfortunately, instead of passing their documents to the library like most ponies had, they kept everything within their quarters. Quarters that were on the lower levels of the Stable, and were flooded about sixty years ago due to an accident when somepony was experimenting with magic. All their documents had been destroyed and they had never made digital copies.”

“What a shame,” Black Widow commented, then shrugged. “If you were curious,” she added, returning her attention to my book, “the Sunderland Mining Company was one of the biggest mining companies two hundred years ago. I think over half of the resources Equestria needed for the war effort - iron, lead, magical gemstones, you name it - came from them.”

“Really?” I exclaimed, surprised and impressed. “I had no idea. Where did you learn that?” I asked, curious. “I’ve seen some billboards advertising various companies when Apple Core and I joined Jack’s team on their job in Stable Eleven, but there was no mention of any mining companies.”

“No surprise there, most of Equestria’s mines - or working mines, I suppose, considering the one where your Stable is - were up north. As for where I learned about it; I read a book or two,” she added with a deadpan. Pointing with her hoof towards my room, afterwards, she said: “And speaking of resources?”

I took the hint and turned around. I pondered her words; while her information about this Sunderland Mining Company was very interesting - I made a mental note to add it into Stable Eight’s archives if I was ever allowed to return - I was more intrigued by what she had said about them being “up north”. Stalliongrad, where Scope came from, was “up north”. It was supposedly the “Steel Ranger’s city”. Was that where Black Widow came from then? Would explain how she knew about the Sunderland Mining Company then, would probably see their name on some billboards, see some newspapers lying around or something… an interesting clue to consider later.

In my room - after glancing at the bed to see if Aite was waiting there; if she was, she was staying invisible - I quickly opened the drawer where I kept my bottle caps. Fortunately, even after I spent so many back in New Appleloosa to buy ingredients to make chems, I still had more than enough to pay Black Widow. The strings of odd accidents that had been happening for some time had certainly helped with that. I’d even have enough to give Black Widow a cut from my little drug operation if she had found about it.

“Here you go,” I declared, placing a small bag of caps beside her on the bed, and levitated a clipboard over to her. As she finally laid down the Wasteland’s Survival Guide, took the caps and glanced over the clipboard, I added, “This is the list of all my patients over the last month and the amount of caps I had charged them. You can cross-reference it with their patient records if you want, though I would prefer you wouldn’t, doctor-patient confidentiality and all, I’m sure you understand sweetie.”

Black Widow shot me a deadpan from above the clipboard, but didn’t comment on that. She finished reading the list, then laid it down on the bed and jiggled the bag briefly before hiding it in some small inner pocket of her dress, apparently satisfied without counting the caps.

“Thank you. Now, there is another reason I came here,” she said, turning to look at me. I blinked in surprise as she continued, “I suppose I owe you an apology.”

And surprise turned into confusion. “An apology? Whatever for sweetie?”

Black Widow sighed. “For all the suggestions that you had something to do with Cutter’s death. I shouldn’t have made such accusations based on nothing more than just a suspicion.”

“Oh,” I exclaimed. Considering everything that had happened today, I hadn’t expected the subject of Cutter’s ‘death’ to be brought up. Or to hear her apologize. “Well-”

“Now I’m sure,” she said, clapping her forehooves.

S.T.A.T.S NOW! Pinkie shouted in my head almost instantly after that.

Having learned to trust the pink apparition’s observations, I activated S.A.T.S. without hesitation. And as my perception of time shifted, making the world appear to freeze, I realized what made Pinkie Pie cry in alarm.

Khan - his bar now red - had started to get up at Black Widow’s signal. Judging by his position, he was about to lunge in my direction.

What’s going on? I thought, my attention shifting from Khan to Black Widow. As Pinkie Pie opened her mouth, I added, She wants him to attack me, obviously, I meant why?

She was talking about being sure that you had something to do with Cutter’s death, the pink apparition pointed out. Do you think this is about that?

That doesn’t make sense! How could she be sure? The only people who know Cutter are Jack and Aite, Apple Core said Jack had already left and Aite… I hesitated; Aite was technically unaccounted for. Could something have happened to her? Maybe she was trapped in Black Widow’s office after Jack left and somehow she was found out? She was using the zebras’ invisibility cloak, maybe Deliverance knows how they work?

As soon as those scenarios played over in my head, I realized that it was still impossible. Aite followed after him; if something would have happened to her to prevent her from meeting up with him outside of Appleloosa, Jack would realize something was wrong and return. Besides, it should be about twenty minutes since Jack had left; even if Aite was captured, I doubt they would be able to make her reveal anything she knew so soon.

As Pinkie nodded thoughtfully, I wondered what else could have provoked this. I recalled the few times Black Widow had looked at me oddly during the conversation in her office; have I somehow betrayed myself?

I don’t think I let out anything that would make her be certain that I was responsible for Cutter’s “death”, I finally thought. And even if I would, why would she attack me over this? She should be glad that he’s gone.

Well, it could be that she doesn’t like the fact that you lied to her, Pinkie Pie pointed out. I mean, some ponies would just make a bunch of new friends and have a tea party with them instead, but I suppose others would resort to physical violence…

I stopped paying attention, contemplating her first sentence. She did have a point; if Black Widow realized that I lied to her and was capable of removing somepony from the town, I couldn’t be trusted, not with a prospect of a battle looming over the slavers.

Still… she admitted that before she had only suspicions about it. What changed?

Maybe nothing changed? Fluttershy unexpectedly spoke up. Glancing briefly at Pinkie, she added: It could be that she’s acting on that suspicion, but thinks that, if they are true, you will reveal yourself?

Oh, I exclaimed, impressed with the suggestion. Yes, I could see that. Black Widow strikes me as a pony who would determine somepony’s guilt before getting the evidence.

Still, kinda silly to do that to the town’s only medic, don’t you think? Pinkie asked, tilting her head in confusion.

I had to agree. Did Black Widow see me as big enough of a threat that she’d decide that she could risk losing the only medic she had?

Did she somehow figure out that Jack and I are working together? I wondered. That seemed unlikely, as both Jack and myself were very careful to not reveal that, avoiding each other and communicating almost only through Aite. I don’t think she had any proof of that… could she be that paranoid?

Is it really paranoia when she’s totally right? Pinkie asked, but I decided to ignore that question.

Thinking this over will do little to improve our current situation, darlings, I thought, trying to think how I could get out of this situation. I focused on Khan, the immediate threat. Judging by the distance between us… I should have more than enough time to cast my Anesthetic Spell on him. Thanks to your warning, darling, I added, turning to Pinkie. A second or two later, and that wouldn't be so certain.

Aww, shucks, it was nothing.

That would leave Black Widow… I mused. Could I immobilize her too? She had been a Steel Ranger, she knew how to fight. Even without her mind controlled bodyguard, she could still be a threat. Khan I could take out thanks to the element of surprise, but afterwards Black Widow could use the bed as a cover and counterattack. Did she have some firearm on her? That would complicate everything even more. And even if I could take her out as well… should I? I suppose if I could immobilize her, I could learn all Jack and I want to know… but I’m not sure if this would be the best course of action. Who knows when he would be back from Sanctuary, I don’t think I could keep the leader of the slavers hidden here without anypony noticing that she was missing for too long.

Maybe you don’t have to fight? Flutterhy suggested. You could talk her down, convince her that she’s being paranoid?

Or at the very least, stall time until Aite gets back here? Pinkie added helpfully.

I would nod if I could. That does seem like the best course of action… except for the fact that I am about to get attacked. Goddesses know if she means for Khan to kill me or render me unconscious. I think… I think it would be best if I would cast Anesthetic Spell on Khan first, then attempt to talk to Black Widow.

Yeah, sounds like the best option, Pinkie Pie agreed, with Fluttershy nodding.

Alright then, here it goes…

I used S.A.T.S. to line up an Anesthetic Spell at Khan. It showed only an eighty percent chance to hit him, but he would be running towards me, so by the time I would finish casting the spell the accuracy would increase.

Just to be sure though, I linked up a second one, in case the first one somehow missed.

Bracing myself, I released S.A.T.S.

Immediately, time returned to normal. I watched as Khan lounged forwards while at the same time I began to cast the spell. Everything was happening so fast now; the zebra grew closer and closer, and crossed half the distance between us when I finally fired the Anesthetic Spell.

Khan jumped to the right, avoiding it.

I would have stared wide eyes if I wasn’t already casting the next spell due to S.A.T.S. Khan however didn’t even slow down; all it took was two bounds to reach and collide with me, just as I fired the next spell. I had no idea where it landed, it happened too fast. All I could tell was that we rolled on the ground, with his foreleg holding my head, and when we stopped he was above me, pinning me down.

I tried to struggle against him, but I might as well have tried to push a wall. I don’t think he even had budged. Panicking, I focused my magic, trying to-

A weight pressed down on my horn.

Instinctively, I stopped casting a spell and tilted my head away, trying to get my horn out of harm’s way. I had limited options, though. Khan’s hoof soon was holding down my horn, and it’s end was pressed against the floor.

“I wouldn’t cast any spells if I were you,” the voice of Black Widow reached me. I couldn’t see her from the position I was forced into; was she still sitting on that bed? “Unless you want to know how much force it requires to break a unicorn’s horn, that is.”

Well, I already knew the force required to break a horn of an average unicorn, so I figured I’d comply with her suggestion.

The four clopping sounds accompanied the four hooves that from my vintage point I saw falling down unto the floor. I watched them move slowly as Black Widow stepped out from behind the bed, looking down at me with cold calm.

“You have good reflexes,” she commented. “You managed to activate your PipBuck’s Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell when I sicked Khan on you, didn’t you? Quite impressive.”

“Why, thank you sweetie,” I replied courtly, a little off-put by her complimenting me right now.

I tried to struggle against Khan’s hold, but it was futile; he immoblized my head with his right forehoof holding my horn, with his left he held both of my forelegs, and his chest was on top of my left wither, pinning my torso to the floor. I could only move my hindlegs and tail basically, and those wouldn’t help me. Resigning myself to the uncomfortable position I was forced into, I stopped struggling.

To say that this was a rather unfortunate turn of events would be probably the biggest understatement I had ever said. Within mere seconds I found myself utterly at Black Widow’s mercy, unable to do anything. The slightest attempt at freeing myself and I would be risking my horn.

At least she hadn’t had Khan kill me, I thought, trying to remain calm. This would mean she either still needs me for something, or this is a mere “show of dominance”. Ugh, so uncivilized... Maybe I can still talk my way out of this?

“May I ask what does this situation pertain to?”

Black Widow smirked. At least I thought she did; it was a bit hard to tell when forced to look up at somebody from this angle. “As I said, now I am certain that you had arranged for Cutter to die. You see, before, I did suspect it, but… honestly, I didn’t think you had the nerve to have somepony killed,” she snorted, and shook her head in amusement. “You were, after all, just a Stable pony.”

I suppose I should be offended by her remark, but I found the thought about just how wrong her statement was, to be too amusing to care.

“But that changed today,” Black Widow continued, “when I noticed how Pillory seemed oddly skittish around you.”

Oh, Luna have mercy on me...

“At first I assumed it was because Khan was near him too, but I grew suspicious. After everybody else left, I asked him if something happened between you too… and he told me all about that threat you made.” Black Widow uttered a short giggle. “It was quite entertaining, actually. However, what I found really interesting just how scared Pillory was from just a threat. Do you know what he said? He said that for a second he felt as if was speaking to a vicious raider.”

… I might make good on that threat just for that comparison.

“Honestly, sweetie?” I snorted, baffled. “Because of one little threat I had made to somepony who had attempted to rape me, you’d think that I would be capable of murder? Or did he forget to mention that detail?”

“Oh, he did,” Black Widow waved her hoof dismissively. “But I wouldn’t have cared even if he did rape you, regardless of this current situation. But no, it wasn’t just that; it was also that tale about how you dealt with the raiders that cornered you and Apple Core at Stable Eleven. I had thought that you’ve made up most of that, but then we’ve brought those raiders in, and, well, I’m sure you remember how one reacted at the mere sight of you. Between that and Pillory, I realized that you are more than capable of having a pony murdered.”

“I would say that’s a bit of a leap in logic,” I countered.

Black Widow shrugged nonchalantly. “Perhaps.”

“In any case, is this belief of yours that I had arranged for Cutter’s death warranted this treatment? You just said that you wouldn’t care if Pillory had raped me, I didn’t know that you held Cutter in such higher esteem than me,” I pointed out, attempting to pout.

“You’re right,” Black Widow replied, much to my confusion. “If it was just about that, you would get away with just a warning to not try anything against me. But you already did.” I felt a cold shiver go travel along my spine. She took a few steps closer and leaned down to my face. “Did you think I’d remain in charge of this shithole for so long if I wasn’t able to spot those who’d conspire against me? Or did you just figure I’d miss that plot you and that griffin had cooked up?”

“Plot?” I exclaimed, shocked. Which I was, but that she had suspected it. I hoped she’d interpret that as shock at the suggestion. “With Jack? Do you really think I would conspire with such brute?”

“Definitely,” Black Widow replied, backing away. “You told Apple Core today that you’ve told Jack once before that you aren’t a product of incest; I’m curious as to when exactly you would have a time to delve into such subject. Considering practically all of your conversations took place with Apple Core present, supposedly, you’d think she’d have known that already. Not to mention by now half of Appleloosa would be telling jokes about your ancestors being related.”

“Slavers’ sense of humor aside,” I began, cursing at myself for that remark I’d made, “Jack had visited me on the day he arrived to pass to me a thank you from his late friends’ parent for giving them an eulogy, and had to stay in my clinic because of the storm.”

“Yes, I’ve heard, except he claimed you two didn’t talk much, only reminiscing about his friends,” Black Widow sighed. “I think starting a conversation about incest would have been innapropriate. Unless he lied about not talking with you for long, which is kind of suspicious, wouldn’t you say?”

I resisted the urge to try and struggle against Khan’s hold. I knew it wouldn’t result in much. “Honestly, sweetie? Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think that you might be suffering from paranoia.”

I half expected she would tell Khan to hurt me for that, but instead the dark mare burst with laughter. “Oh, I probably do. Paranoia had served me well this past couple of years.”

Okay, I’m starting to think she might indeed require mental help. How ironic that the topic of Sanctuary had come up today…

“Ah… but anyway,” Black Widow resumed, calming down, “this isn’t the only instance you lied to me. I really can’t believe you thought I would be fooled into thinking that Foxtrot would die such a random way like an accident within a Stable.”

“Foxtrot?” I repeated, confused. “Who’s that?”

“Oh, right, you said he claimed his name was ‘Scope’,” Black Widow snorted. “Well, it wasn’t.”

Scope. So she did know him. This could be an opportunity to gain some information from her after all.

“Scope? I don’t understand why he would give out a fake name? And- and how would you know that? You never met him.”

She snorted again. “Oh trust me, it was him. Your description fit him too well, and coupled with the fact that he was spying on a Bloodtalon… and on you, actually,” she added, smirking at me. “I guess they’ve finally learned their lesson after ignoring the last Stable Dweller and letting him roam free through the Wasteland.”

“They?” I repeated, inwardly growing excited, despite being held against the floor. “Who’s ‘they’? And who Scope, or Foxtrot really was?”

“Oh no no no, we’re not doing that,” Black Widow said, shaking her head and frowning down at me. “No, between you, Jack, and that red freak, there has been enough exposition thrown around my town today. What we’re doing here? I just wanted to inform you about… well, charges against you, basically. I figured I owed you that much for somehow getting Foxtrot killed for me; I would love to learn how exactly somepony like you had pulled it off, but we can discuss this later I suppose. Oh, and I wanted to learn how much you knew about him; apparently next to nothing, or else you wouldn’t have just asked about who he really was, so thanks for that. I’d assume you promised Jack that information out of me, so he could learn who was responsible for his friends’ deaths? And in return he would help you take over Appleloosa, or something along those lines?”

I stared at her, astonished. She… I hoped to get some information out of her, but instead she got some from me! Ooh, she was sneaky. Even if I did know something, I just confirmed to Black Widow that I didn’t know who Scope had really worked for. And apparently that was good enough for her. And not only that, she had basically figured out our goals!

I closed my agape mouth and swallowed. “Sweetie, this is ridiculous,” I tried. “You are making serious accusations based on some rather flimsy clues and parts of conversations.”

“So you’re going to deny everything, aren’t you Doctor?” Black Widow cut in, shaking her head with pretended sadness. “Well, your choice. But this is happening, regardless if you really had been conspiring against me or not. I no longer have a need for you.”

“Wha- I’m your only medic!” I exclaimed, exasperated.

“And we’re just about to take over a big, luxurious, highly advanced sanatorium resort,” Black Widow pointed out slowly. “Tell me, what are the odds that they had auto-docs there back in the day?”

Auto-docs… machines that could heal ponies and were very easy to operate. I didn’t need to think about the odds of Sanctuary having one of them. I knew they had at least a few.

“Judging by your expression, I would say pretty good.”

Luna cast me away! I needed to get a hold of myself.

“So… what does this mean, exactly?” I asked, managing to speak calmly somehow. “If I am no longer of use to you, are you going to have Khan kill me?”

I didn’t think she would… if she was planning to kill me, she would have done so already… I think.

Black Widow rolled her eyes. “Well, I suppose I misspoke earlier. I do have one more need for you.”

Thank the Goddesses!

“I’m not going to kill you. You’re going to be a very useful hostage to convince that sanctimonious boyfriend of yours to finally play along.”

“My boyfriend?” I repeated, my confusion overpowering fear. “We broke up eight years ago! And he’s still in Stable Eight, I don’t-”

“Merciful Goddesses, I was talking about the griffin,” Black Widow cut me off, deadpanning at me.

“Jack? Oh for- he’s not my boyfriend!” I exclaimed, so enraged by that assumption that I tried to struggle against Khan’s hold again.

Black Widow snorted, annoying me further. “Right, like I’m going to believe that one. Anyway, I’m sure he had mentioned he made a point to have it in our contract that he was supposed to just find the tribe for us? Well, now he won’t have much choice. I will tell him to steal that talisman Deliverance had told us about and help defeat this tribe, or else we’re going to start cutting you up or something.”

“You greatly overestimate the value Jack puts in my well being!” I retorted, not happy at all that my safety depended on his willingness to cooperate with Black Widow. “You are making a big mistake!”

“We’ll see,” Black Widow replied, shrugging.

Calm down, I told myself. I was beginning to panic, and that would not help. Jack will probably figure out a way to free me. And there’s still Aite! Black Widow doesn’t know about her. Keep her talking, she should be back soon!

“And what happens afterwards?” I asked, trying to struggle again; I knew it was pointless, but pretending to panic would lull her into a false sense of security. “If Jack would agree to help you, will you let me go?”

“Of course not, don’t be ridiculous,” Black Widow replied. “The griffin I’ll probably kill, his insistence on not helping us kill those tribals really got on my nerves. I was a little concerned about what it would say about me, killing a mercenary I hired, but fortunately he’s not a Talon, so I could just spread rumors that he tried to fuck with me - which he did, actually - and people, and more importantly, actual Talons, would accept that. And as for you… well,” she added, tilting her head and smiling maliciously, “I more or less promised Pillory to have his way with you as a reward for telling me about that little incident between you two.”

Definitely making good on that threat.

“And that gave me an idea;” Black Widow continued; “what better punishment for trying to fuck with the leader of slavers than letting all of the slavers fuck you?”

Oh, that was just sick reasoning.

“Will do wonders for bucks’ morale,” she added with a snort. “I think a few mares will join, too. I would have to work out the details of how that would work, if we’d just tie you in somewhere, have you on a leash. But really, that can wait. Now,” she said briskly, straightening up a little and pulling away, “I think I entertained myself enough. We can go now to a more secure location. Khan dear, break her horn.

“Wha- wait!” I pleaded, panicking. But even as I said it, I knew it was too late. I braced myself for pain…

… that never came? In fact, the weight on my horn had grown lighter. And I could hear Khan making strange gurgling sounds, and something warm spilled down on me…

I turned my head just in time to see Aite tilt her head, pulling out her blade out of Khan’s throat, a split second before the zebra collapsed on top of me.

Black Widow, who had by then started to head toward the door earlier, had heard the noise her bodyguard had made, and turned around. After what she had put me through it was great satisfaction to see the disbelief on her face.

Beside me, Aite jumped into the air, disappearing. With dying Khan on top of me, I instinctively reached with my magic to stop the bleeding. I almost lost control of the spell when Black Widow screeched and pulled out a magical energy pistol and started to shoot in our general direction, trying to hit the invisible bat pony. I struggled to carefully get out from under Khan, praying to the Goddesses that she wouldn’t hit us.

Fortunately, the dark mare stopped shooting soon. I glanced at her as I pushed Khan off me, ready to take cover. Black Widow was backing away, looking all around her, her weapon ready and her horn glowing brightly. Wait, was she-

A flash of light erupted around her as she disappeared.

“Fucking hell!” Aite exclaimed angrily, appearing beside the spot where Black Widow had been a fraction of a second ago; judging by her position, she had been planning to cut her hind legs’ tendons. “She can teleport?!”

“Apparently,” I offered, as shocked as her. “Where do you think she had gone off to?”

“Town square?” Aite spat, sheathing her blade and flying towards the door. “Cheating unicorn magic! I’m gonna get her before she raises an alarm, you stay here!” she said, putting on her hood and disappearing.

I stared at the opening and closing doors, releasing the air I had no idea I had been holding. Sitting down, I placed a hoof on my chest, trying to calm down. Everything had happened so quickly…

Quiet breathing beside me reminded me Khan was still alive. The blood loss had caused him to lose consciousness, but to be safe I cast Anesthetic Spell on him, then continued to heal his wound.

Whew, that was close, Pinkie Pie commented, both apparitions appearing beside me.

We’re not safe yet, I pointed out, glancing at the door. Aite was convinced Black Widow would raise an alarm. And if that happens…

I paused, thinking. If that happens, what then? Could we somehow defend ourselves against every slaver in Appleloosa? Just the two of us?

Just the two of us? I repeated in my thoughts, glancing down at Khan. Or more specifically, at the huge scar on the side of his head.

Angel? Fluttershy spoke up, sounding worried. What are you thinking about?

About doing something you’d probably rather not see, I assume, darling, I replied. Finishing healing the zebra’s wound, I pulled out the two statuettes from my pockets and placed them on the bed closest to the basement’s entrance.

I opened the door, and called out: “Janitor, sweetie? Can you give me a hoof here?”

*** *** ***

Knock knock knock!

I jumped, startled. Thank the Goddesses I wasn’t operating the ripper right now, I would have probably killed Pinchy!

Annoyed, I looked around for the source of the knocking, until I realized that there was only one pony knocking to get to my basement… and only two entrances.

Making sure my patient was stable, I hurried over to the hatch, and opened it. Aite immediately shot from under it, grabbing me. “C’mon, let’s go!”

“Au!” I slapped her forehooves and backed away. “I need to disinfect you first, hang on.”

“Disi- we don’t have time for-” Aite began, getting out of the secret exit, and paused, looking around. I took that opportunity to cast my Disinfection Spell on her.

The bat pony’s eyes focused on the unconscious Khan, who laid on the table, stopped at the blood and bloodied ripper beside him, then moved to the now open door of the cell where Pinchy laid, similarly unconscious and also free of its bounds, and with a portion of its carapace on its cephalothorax, just behind its eyes, removed, exposing its brain.

“What in fuck’s name…” Aite mumbled, stunned.

“Well, I figured we are in trouble, and could use some additional help,” I began, trotting around her to get back to my patient. “So, I removed this from Khan’s head.”

I grabbed the tiny talisman from the surgic table and levitated it over to Aite. Cutter had been right, it was so tiny, like a droplet of water. If it wasn’t for my magic, I probably would have a hard time finding it in Khan’s skull, even after learning the exact part of the brain where Cutter had placed it. And the pattern inscribed on the circularly cut amethyst required a microscope to see.

Aite looked at the talisman, then at the unconscious zebra, then at the radscorpion. “Whaaa-” she finally mumbled.

“I synchronised the talisman with my magic’s signature, I should be able to use it to control Pinchy once I insert it into its brain. Oh, but I’m not going to control it completely, like Black Widow had Khan; I’ll just use it to make it more friendly. Lowering its aggression should be enough..”

The bat pony shook her head. “How did you- When- I was gone for like- N-nevermind!” she finally shouted, flying to stand between me and the table. “Angel, listen! We need to hurry! Black Widow is gone!”

“Gone?” I repeated, confused. “What do you mean, gone?”

“I flew over the town, searching for her, and when I couldn’t find her, I flew to her house,” Aite explained quickly. “Only that shit Pillory was there, thankfully, so I killed him and searched her bedroom. I got there just in time to see her teleporting away again, without her dress and just some saddlebags. Oh, and of course she took all her caps from her safe, because fuck my luck,” Aite snorted, then shook her head. “Anyway, we need to act before the slavers realize what is happening.”

“Wait, slow down a bit,” I asked her, trying to process all of this new information. Black Widow was gone, instead of ordering the slavers to kill us she chose to run away… and Pillory was dead? Well, there went the plans to have him castrated for comparing me to a raider… Pushing the thought aside, I tried to focus. “Why would Black Widow just run away like that?” I asked, confused. “She could have sent everypony here to get us.”

“I don’t know, have you forgotten that display of her paranoia earlier? Maybe she got scared when she saw an invisible bat pony and thought there are more of us?”

That did sound reasonable… I would definitely be shocked if a stranger would appear out of nowhere while simultaneously slicing the throat of my bodyguard.

“Or could be that without her bodyguard puppet she wasn’t sure she would be safe,” Aite added, shrugging. “Anyway, that’s not important right now, we can talk this over once we meet up with Jack. Right now we have work to do.”

“What do you mean by work?” I asked, trotting around her to resume operation.

“The terminal in Black Widow’s bedroom,” Aite replied, frowning as I leaned over the radscorpion. “We need to check if there is anything important on it quickly. Do you have to do this now?” she hissed, as I readied the talisman.

“I would rather not leave Pinchy with its brain exposed,” I countered, lifting the talisman. “It won’t take long, and I assume we can use a radscorpion’s help.”

“Ugh, fine,” Aite groaned, giving up. Trotting back to the hatch, she added, “Just hurry.”

I lifted the tiny talisman with my magic, and carefully slid it through the hole I cut in the carapace. Now, to say that the arachnid’s brain was vastly different from a mammalian one was a huge understatement, but the exploratory surgery I had conducted on it a few days ago allowed me to familiarize myself with how it was constructed. Khan had the talisman inserted above his brain’s motor cortex; while I had no idea if that had any significance on its affect on him or did it not matter, I decided, since I didn’t intend to force Pinchy to obey me in similar fashion, to insert it above the upper lobe of the top ganglion, which - admittedly, I assumed - acted similarly to the frontal lobe. Casting a spell to secure it, I grabbed the piece of carapace I removed and carefully, still holding the talisman in place with my magic just to be safe, placed it back into its spot, then cast a Healing Spell, mending the radscorpion’s cephalothorax.

I took a step back, casting a Diagnosis Spell, then uttered a sigh of relief. Everything was alright. Now, the really interesting part…

Focusing and closing my eyes, I reached with my magic to the talisman. Of course, I had no idea exactly how it was supposed to work, I could only guess based on what Cutter had told me. And unfortunately, unlike him, the talisman did not react to my magic by making me experience flashes of Black Widow’s memories and thoughts which could have helped me; theorizing what could have been the cause of that accident would have to wait. For now-

A shudder went through me. I felt lines forming around me, enveloping me, then spreading. No, not lines; it felt more like synapses. I felt them build and spread, at first around each other but then mostly followed one direction, reaching far, while others went in ten different directions but much shorter ones, with flesh forming around them all. I felt the cold of the room as the dim light flashed before me-

With a cry, I cancelled the spell, breathing heavily. I sat down on the cold floor, staring at Pinchy. Everything had happened so fast, but for a moment I could swear I was... Was this how the talisman worked?

“Are you okay?” Aite called from beside the hatch, sounding impatient.

I shook myself. “Y-yes, I think so,” I said, breathing slowly to calm down. Perhaps attempting this experiment wasn’t the best idea, considering our predicament. Shaking my head, I decided to stop at that for now. “I don’t think I’ll be certain whether it works or not until Pinchy regains consciousness. We can go to Black Widow’s house now, it should be ready to be woken up by the time we get back,” I added, walking out of Pinchy’s cell and closing the door behind me. Turning to the Mister Handy robot, I asked, “Janitor, sweetie, please look after my patients, I will be right back.”

“What about the zebra?” Aite asked as the robot confirmed his orders. She glanced over Khan’s body. “You sure he won’t wake up anytime soon?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, darling, it will take at least another hour before he wakes up on his own,” I assured her, but after glancing at Khan I decided it’s better to be safe than sorry. I trotted over to my desk and pulled out a pair of hoofcuffs. “But just to be safe,” I added, putting them on Khan’s forehooves. “Janitor, sweetie, in the very unlikely case Khan here wakes up before we get back, please explain that this is just temporary… and if he acts aggressively, please put him under again,” I said, lifting a syringe with an anesthetic and passing it to the robot.

“Of course, Doctor Angel,” Janitor replied, grasping the syringe with the mechanical claws one of his limbs ended with.

Satisfied, I turned to Aite, only to see the bat pony already disappearing down the hatch. I hurried after her, turning my PipBuck’s light as I climbed down the ladder.

“Black Widow’s house is this way,” Aite said as I joined her, nodding further down the tunnel as she took a step forward, beckoning me to follow. To my slight surprise, despite her earlier urgency, she now walked with a casual speed. “So, are you alright?” she asked as I fell in step beside her. I shot her a confused look and she elaborated, “Khan didn’t have the time to hurt your horn before I stabbed his throat?”

“Oh. Yes darling, you were right on time.”

“Sorry for not doing anything earlier,” she said, turning her gaze forward. “I had hoped that if I let that drag on, Black Widow would say something useful. Unfortunately, about all we got from that was Scope’s real name,” Aite added, snorting.

Although her words didn’t sound like a reprimand, they felt so to me anyway. “I should have provoked her better.”

“You were on the floor, pinned down by your horn,” Aite pointed out, deadpanning at me. “I’m pretty sure that means you are excused from not getting intel from your enemy.”

I uttered a short chuckle hearing Aite reassure me. “Thank you darling. So you were in the clinic the whole time?” I asked as we trotted through the dark underground.

“Yeah, when I got back to town after confirming our plans with Jack, I noticed that bitch and her mind-controlled slave heading for your place,” she replied, shrugging. “Obviously, that looked suspicious, so I flew in discreetly when they opened the door.”

Not surprised to hear that she and Jack had left the town together to talk without anypony noticing, I asked, “May I ask what you and Jack had discussed?”

Aite snorted in amusement. “Well, how pissed he was that you hadn’t mentioned Sanctuary at all, for starters,” she said, immediately souring my mood. Ignoring the effect her words had, she continued, “Anyway, the plan was that I continue to stick to you while he goes to Sanctuary, checks out this tribe, he uses this tunnel to get back to your basement - we’ve checked out where it ends outside - and we’d go from there. But now that Black Widow flipped out, that plan goes out the window and we’re going with one of the emergency scenarios.”

“Emergency scenarios?”

“A bunch of back up plans Jack had prepared and made me remember, in case things go south while he’s away.” Aite replied, sighing. “Amazing how many of them start with you being dead.”

I paused mid-step, frowning at the bat pony. “Jack expected me to get murdered by the slavers?” I asked, feeling a little offended.

Aite stopped, her eyes travelling to the side as she pondered my question for a second. “Sure, let’s go with that. As I was saying,” she continued immediately while I stared at her agape, no longer feeling offended just a little, “now we’re dealing with the scenario ‘we can no longer get information out of Black Widow, learn what we can then skip town’. So, the plan is, we go in, you hack into the terminal, get anything useful, then we go back to your clinic, pack your bags, and leave Appleloosa before anypony here realizes that Black Widow is taking an awfully long time in your clinic.”

So it had come to this; I had to leave Appleloosa. Even though I had just been about to be used as a hostage by the town’s leader (and, if her plan would work, became the town’s… was there a word for a slave that everypony rapes?), I still felt a pang of disappointment. I had established a place for myself here, a position of no small power, and a laboratory where I could conduct my experiments in relative peace. (All on my own, too, so Jack could talk all he wants about nepotism, it would be nothing more than slander!) Did I really have to leave?

“Black Widow is gone,” I pointed out, trotting up to join Aite. “If we’d play our next move well-”

Aite turned her head back sharply. “Crazy, no offense, but Jack told me to leave you if you’d be stubborn about trying to take over the town. So you can either come with me to meet up with him and try to change his mind, or you can stay by yourself and try to survive long enough for us to get back for you, and that is assuming we would.”

Again, I found myself agape. “You would leave me here?” I asked in disbelief.

It heartened me a little that she sighed first before replying, “I promised Jack that I would go along with his stupid emergency scenarios, but considering both me and that jerk grew to like you, we would probably come back for you. I wouldn’t be able to guarantee that Jack wouldn’t outright knock you out and drag you from here then, though,” she added sternly as a smile began to form on my muzzle. “In fact, I could probably sooner guarantee the opposite. So for the love of the Goddesses, just do as he says and bitch to him about taking over the town, please?”

Well… perhaps if I talked with Jack face to face I could make him change his mind. And if we’d hurry, maybe we could get back before the slavers notice both myself and Black Widow were gone?

“Very well, darling, I will comply,” I said graciously, causing Aite to roll her eyes and resume walking down the tunnel. Joining her, I asked, “So how will we meet up with Jack? Will we just head for Sanctuary?”

“That’s the plan,” Aite confirmed; we just passed the spot where Pinchy had attacked us. “We figure that even if we’d get close enough for that talisman to affect us, it shouldn’t matter as long as we’re primarily concerned about Jack and not reaching the resort. And speaking of, how exactly did you not see any roads leading up to it from your Stable?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at me.

“I’ve been wondering about that, too,” I admitted, frowning thoughtfully. “I do believe there hadn’t been any roads or passages leading up, and theorized if before the exit from the mine there had been elevator shafts that had collapsed over the two hundred years and I had mistook the rubble for the mine’s walls… Although, now that I've learned about this Thought Filter Talisman, I’ve begun to wonder if the tribe hadn’t already settled in the Sanctuary and activated it. I do not recall thinking about Sanctuary at all after leaving my Stable.”

“Yeah, Jack had thought about that too,” Aite said, frowning. “But wouldn’t it start to affect you before you left your Stable? We figured that unless they just activated it when you left, making that an amazing coincidence, you’d have realized that-”

“No, it wouldn’t affect me in my Stable,” I interrupted her, shaking my head. “The outer walls of Stable Eight had various spells cast on them on the orders of the First Overmare, making it impossible for magic to get in or out of the Stable.”

“Wait, really?” Aite asked, confused. “That’s a bit… over the top.”

“Perhaps,” I agreed carefully. “The reason why my ancestors had done so was to stop ponies from attempting to teleport outside. There had been many arguments about whether we should send some ponies out of the Stable to see what remained of Equestria or not, and the First Overmare…” I paused, feeling uncomfortable sharing this with somepony outside of the Stable. I cleared my throat and diplomatically said, “My grandmother used to say that the First Overmare had been a ‘troubled’ mare. Which my mentor, ever so eloquent, translated to: ‘she was nuts.” I gave Aite a sharp glare as the bat pony snorted with laughter. “I had suspected that her treatment in Sanctuary hadn’t been completed by the time of the Last Day, and now that I had learned about this Thought Filter Talisman… well, imagine suffering from Wartime Stress Disorder, not thinking about the war, and then suddenly you start to think about the war as the zebras detonated balefire bombs and fired balefire missiles all around your country. I think being a little paranoid can be excused in such a scenario, if that had indeed been the case.”

“If?” Aite questioned, raising an eyebrow. “You don’t know? Didn’t you say once that you had access to the medical records of everypony there? I’m a bit surprised you hadn’t peaked in.”

“The medical records of every previous Overmare, with the exception of the retired ones who were still alive, are restricted even to the Chief of Medicine, unless given permission by the current Overmare due to specific circumstances like researching a genetic disease for example,” I explained, sighing. “That law always irritated me. I couldn’t even read the medical records of my own grandmother because of it. I have no idea why it was created.”

Aite snorted. “Isn’t it obvious? To hide the fact that your first Overmare was crazy. Any chance you are related?”

Realizing that Aite had stopped while saying that, I whirled around to look at her sternly. “Sweetie, I don't appreciate such comments regarding the First Overmare of my Stable. My grandmother had always spoken very highly of her.”

The bat pony frowned, puzzled. “How would your grand- oh, who cares. Look,” she said, raising her hoof to tap something metallic next to her. I did a double take when I realized it was a ladder. “We’re below Black Widow’s house. I’ll go in first to make sure the coast is clear.”

With those words, Aite flapped her wings and rose into the air, disappearing from sight. Still upset about her comment, I started to climb after her; my E.F.S. didn’t show me any other bars near us, anyway.

As I crawled through the hatch Aite had left open, I was met with rather unpleasant sight: the basement of Black Widow’s house, while smaller than mine, had several cages inside of it, and the floor was covered in old dried up blood. Was this place used to keep slaves once?

A memory of Black Widow telling me how there were stories of her husband’s predecessor, Butcher, eating the slaves he couldn’t sell when he was in charge of Appleloosa, stirred in the back of my mind, unfortunately.

I hurried after Aite up the stairs.

Passing through the door and finally entering the part of the house that I was somewhat familiar with, I trotted carefully toward the stairs leading upstairs. Even if there was nopony here beside myself and Aite, there was always the possibility that somepony could walk in. I sneaked towards the edge of the corridor where I could see the front door, made sure my E.F.S. couldn’t pick up anypony, then hurried towards the stairs… only to pause when I noticed the bloodied corpse of Pillory at the bottom, his throat slashed open.

As I trotted over to look at it, disappointed, I heard a familiar voice from beside me, “Don’t tell me you feel sorry for the guy who tried to rape you a week ago,” Aite, standing on stairs’ guard rail, said, her eyebrow raised.

I scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous, darling. I merely regret that I lost the chance to make good on my threat.”

Aite shrugged and jumped down to the stairs, turning around and leading upwards. “You can still cut his dick off, you know.”

“What purpose would it serve to remove genitals from a corpse?” I asked as I began to follow after her.

“Um, the creation of the world’s creepiest dildo?” Aite retorted with a question, glancing over her withers and shrugging again. As I stared back, unsure how to respond to that, she rolled her eyes. “It’s a joke. Now come on, nopony’s here but you better start working on that terminal quick.”

I nodded and hurried after her, when a thought occurred to me. “Do you know what became of Deliverance?”

“Black Widow called one slaver to show him to their barracks and find him a place to sleep when Jack was leaving, haven’t seen him since.” Glancing back, she asked, “He’s really a dude?”

“Yes, you can tell if you look closely at his throat, jaw-” I started, only to shake my head. “Nevermind that. What do you think will happen to him after we leave?”

“I don’t particularly care, but I would assume either he makes another deal with whoever next runs this place, or will get blamed for Black Widow being dead thanks to good ol’ racism and then either gets killed or runs away.”

“Shouldn’t we take him with us? Or at the very least, warn him?” I asked, frowning.

“I believe I already said that we’re going with Jack’s emergency scenario to meet up with him first,” Aite replied, sighing. Before I could start making a case against abandoning the red zebra, she added, “And even if I decide to change the plan a bit, Deliverance most likely has at least one slaver keeping an eye on him. Warning him would be difficult and we are in a hurry,” she said, walking into a room with an open door.

Regrettably, I had to agree she had a point as I followed her. Maybe if I talked with Jack…

The train of thought halted in my head as I beheld Black Widow’s bedroom. It was easily the nicest room I had seen in the Wasteland so far. It had a carpet! And the windows had drapes! And there was a huge, heart shaped bed in the middle!

“I can’t help but wonder how she got this bed up in here,” Aite commented, pulling me from my musing. She pointed at the desk by the wall. “There’s the terminal, please try to hack it and see if there's anything interesting on it. I’m gonna check the room to see if I can find anything,” she added, already heading towards an opened wardrobe, where I could see an empty safe at the bottom.

Leaving her to that task, I hurried over to the terminal, turned it on, and obviously saw that it was indeed password protected. Taking a deep breath, I attempted to try and hack it. At first I did so with excitement; aside from the embarrassingly easy to hack terminal that unlocked the door to the clinic’s basement, this was the first time I had the opportunity to test out some the skills I had taught myself in Stable Eight to conceal my actions from security and the rest of the populace. I had considered myself quite good with terminals, and it had been a long time since I had any difficulty hacking into one.

Unfortunately, this time I wasn’t disappointed.

Black Widow had ensured her terminal had a very complicated password. Within less than a minute I was already rebooting it for the fifth time, trying to pick the correct password from the strand of code I tricked the terminal into showing. I shook my head, trying to focus; the noise Aite made as she threw everything not nailed to the ground around the room did not help.

Alright, I thought a few minutes later, then how about…

My eyes stopped on one particular word within the data strand. “Enslavement”. That seemed…

… to be the password, apparently. I snorted, disappointed with Black Widow.

“Got it,” I called out to Aite, who had been about to crawl under the bed.

“Oh, great!” she replied, quickly flying to me. “See anything interesting?”

I hummed instead of replying, looking over the various entries. There were a LOT of them. Most appeared to be related to her business; there was an entry called “shipment records”, “list of clients”, “prices’ categories”...

“I’m just going to download all of it to my PipBuck, darling,” I finally said, extending a cable from the device on my foreleg to the terminal and connecting it. “It will be better to look it all over when we’re safe.”

“Good thinking,” Aite agreed, then with a flap of her wings she did a backflip and landed on the bed, bouncing up from it. “Will it take long?”

“No, just a moment,” I replied, then looked over as the bat pony spread comfortably on the bed. Frowning, I tilted my head to look closer. “Doesn’t this bed seem awfully, well, used, for somepony whose spouse has been dead for years?”

“Yeah, it’s called non-marital sex I believe,” Aite snorted, then got up. “Damn, it’s more comfortable than my bed in Tenpony’s… think there is a chance I could take it with me? It was a joke,” she added quickly when I glanced at her in surprise. “Anyway, since I assume you hadn’t heard any gossip about her banging one of the slavers… do you think she used that mind control talisman to make Khan fuck her?”

The thought had began to occur to me, though Black Widow hadn’t struck me as a pony who would have a coitus with her bodyguard… then again, he was more of a slave than a bodyguard.

“I’m not sure, but it does seem to be the most possible explanation,” I admitted, disgusted.

“Wow that guy didn’t catch any break here,” Aite commented, snorting and shaking her head. “Anyway, you’re done?”

I glanced at the terminal and PipBuck. A few more seconds and… “Yes, all done darling,” I said, disconnecting my PipBuck. “We can leave.”

“Finally. Let’s hurry, I’d imagine you want to pack a ton of crap from your clinic before we leave,” she called out as she was already flying out of the bedroom.

I followed after her, trying to hurry. There was much I needed to take; I already began making a list. Fluttershy and Pinkie’s statuettes, of course, the healing potions and chems I hadn’t given Apple Core yet to sell...

Apple Core. If I couldn’t convince Jack, I would very likely not see her again for a long time. Should I leave a note?

And of course, I needed to decide what to do about Janitor, Pinchy, Khan, and my test subjects. I could have Janitor feed them, but there was enough food in the laboratory to last only for about a week. Should I release them? Well, either way I would have to first switch back their organs, otherwise none of them would live for very long…

“What do you think I should do about my test subjects?” I asked Aite as I climbed down the ladder.

“Slaver, slaver medic, and raider?” Aite asked, stopping in mid-air to turn around and look at me. “Hm, are you asking for a particular method of killing them or-”

“I can’t kill them, they’re my test subjects,” I protested, frowning, causing Aite to groan.

“You create the most ridiculous problems, you know that right, Crazy?” she asked, crossing her forelegs on her chest and flying backwards through the tunnel. “We can’t take them with us and I figure you don’t want to release them. About the only merciful course of action is to kill them. Now, normally mercy isn’t the word I throw around slavers and raiders, but considering what you put them through I figure they’ve suffered enough.”

I swished my tail in irritation. Aite had a point, killing them would technically be more merciful than letting them die due to their organs being rejected or starving to death. That is, if one didn’t happen to consider death an utterly unacceptable option.

As we reached the ladder leading to my laboratory, I was still calculating how quickly I could return everypony their organs. If Aite would agree to prepare my belongings for our escape by herself-

Whack!

The noise, followed by the sound of something heavy falling, startled me out of my ruminations. What was that?! I thought, alarmed, towards its source.

It came from above.

“Aite?” I called out, looking around.

She was nowhere to be seen. Was I so lost in thoughts that I missed her flying up the ladder? And… what was that...

I shook my head, looking at the bars on my E.T.S. There should be seven green bars in total. Three for my test subjects, one for Janitor, one for Khan, one for Pinchy, and one for Aite.

There were six, and one of them had become red.

What in the world had happened? Did the talisman not work properly and Pinchy broke free now that he was not tied up? I quickly climbed the ladder - as quietly as I could - and entered my laboratory, looking around for Aite in alarm. Before I found her, to my horror I spotted Janitor, lying on the floor, with a huge dent in his side. Aite was behind it, also on the floor. I hurried towards her-

Whack!

As the pain erupted in the back of my head, everything turned black.

Footnote: 50% to next level!

Author's Notes:

"Sorry it took a while, next chapter should come up much sooner." - last chapter's author's notes.

Anyway, thanks to TimePrincess, Zaleros, Sage Probo, guardianxela and Bazing for their great work on proofreading/editing^^ And special thanks to Kkat for creating Fallout: Equestria of course, to Somber for Project Horizons and Homelands, and to Heartshine for Speak, which are as canon as the original story here^^ Especially Somber, as the little lore regarding Zebra tribes, Legions, and Proditor was from his works.

Lastly, due to how controversial this matter is, I feel the need to add that I approached the subject of abortion so soon after the last chapter - where I went into great lengths to portray arguments of both sides in good light - because of the events happening in my country (link here).

Chapter Eighteen: Broken

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“Couldn't charm your way out of that one.”

Something was not right.

I couldn’t see. My eyes were open, but there was nothing I could see. No, actually, that wasn’t true. I could see the light. At least I thought so, otherwise there should be darkness around me, instead of this… sort of milky fog, I guess, would be the best way to describe it? And why was…

I must have had a concussion.

Think. What happened? The last thing I remembered was getting hit in the back of my head- well, that would explain the concussion. Where was Aite? I remember seeing her on the floor a second before I was knocked unconscious. Was she nearby?

I tried to move, but my body moved sluggishly… and it didn’t feel right. At least I couldn’t feel any pain, so it seemed I wasn’t injured. With my eyesight useless, I turned to my other senses, and almost immediately a wave of relief washed over me. I could feel somepony breathing nearby! Except the sensation - as well as the feeling of vibrations made by the little spark generator - was muffled, as if I was far away; was I moved after getting knocked unconscious? I had been close to Aite at the time… Was I in one of my cells? And… was there somepony else lying on the floor beside Aite? I could feel…

Wait, feel?

Alright, this was getting ridiculous. I tried getting up again, a sensation of annoyance building up inside of me at my hopelessness and cluelessness regarding this situation. My tail swished angrily behind me as I moved my foreleg to my face- Wait, I can see it! Yes, the moment I tried to move it before me, some shapes had finally registered within my field of vision. Except, something was still wrong with my eyes. My foreleg seemed to resemble pinc- oh.

OH!

Well, that explains why I suddenly had a much wider degree of vision and could see only light and movement. And why my body feels so weird. And why I can feel all those vibrations around me.

Alright, so, apparently, I was in Pinchy’s body. Was it how this talisman was supposed to work? No, that would mean that everytime Black Widow commanded Khan to do something her mind would leave her body and control the zebra like this. As far as I had observed she had always remained lucid when giving him an order. Cutter had theorized that it was only an experimental talisman… maybe it’s a side effect of falling unconscious soon after activating it within a new subject’s brain?

An unpleasant thought occured to me: what if I wasn’t unconscious? What if that hit to the head was fatal? What if my body was lying dead on the floor of my laboratory and my mind had been transferred to the talisman?

No, that can’t be it. I can - or, well, Pinchy can - feel two people outside of this cell breathing. It had to be me and Aite. Perhaps once I regained consciousness my mind would return to my body?

In any case, it would probably be for the best to wake both myself and Aite up before attempting to do anything about my current situation. At least I would be able to do something, and considering that we were about to leave the town, before…

How long had I been unconscious? Had the slavers already realized that Black Widow had left?

… I guess it’s better to find out sooner rather than later.

Awkwardly, I tried to raise Pinchy's eight legs. It felt… really weird, and as I took a step forward I tilted towards one side, but I was moving. I reached forward with pincers to touch the door and make sure I wouldn’t hit Pinchy’s cephalothorax against it; I could feel thanks to vibrations where the door was, but it still unnerved me how I practically couldn’t see anything. Now, the harder part - opening the door. Fortunately, I only closed it and not locked it, so it was just the matter of pushing the handle… which I couldn’t reach with Pinchy’s pincers from the floor level. Alright then, I could either try to maneuver the tail, or break the door. Pinchy’s carapace was very tough, so it would be okay, but…

Come to think of it, where, um, was Pinchy? I mean, this was its body, shouldn’t I… feel it? I-

As if thinking about it stirred it, there it was. A small pressure at the back of my hea- cephalothorax, I mean. No, that wasn’t it; it was at the back of my mind. A struggling pressure, sending out various… if that was a pony, it would have probably been thoughts, but what I could hear from the radscorpion was different; they were… stress, fear, and hunger, and scents good and bad, and…

In hindsight, inserting the talisman into a creature with an unadvanced nervous system straight away instead of a pony who could “think back to me” first might have been a mistake.

Nevertheless, even though time was of the essence, I tried. I tried to focus on this pressure, on those things I was feeling from it. The pressure grew as I concentrated, no, not grew, it became closer-

I stumbled forward, utterly confused. The gray, milky surroundings had disappeared, and so did the vibrations I could feel… and as I regained my composure, I realized I was back in my own body-

No. I was a pony again, but this wasn’t my body.

The place I was in was surrounded by a mass of gray-greenish, pulsing flesh. From the walls amethyst chains descended towards the center, where Pinchy, pierced by those chains, was. They ran through its pincers, its tail, all of its legs, its cephalothorax, just behind its eyes. The bindings we had forced on the radscorpion seemed like a luxury in comparison.

But the most unnerving part was that from the other side of the chains, right where they emerged from the fleshy walls, tiny, barely visible strings descened, towards the other being inside this place.

Me.

I knew now what this was. Well, okay, suspected to be more precise. This was some sort of “visualization” my mind had conjured of the spell of this Mind Control Talisman so that it could process what was happening. There, trapped before me was Pinchy’s mind, bound by the chains of the spell and controlled by the strings that connected to me.

And it could see me.

Pinchy was staring right at me. I don’t know if the radscorpion could feel me or if its eyes were capable of seeing more than just light and movements here… actually, those weren’t its eyes or body, it was just a visualization of its mind so it didn’t really matter. I could see - sense, whatever - Pinchy trying to struggle against its chains, but to no avail; they didn’t even seem to budge.

So… this is how it felt? A being’s mind chained, controlled by strings? Was this what Khan had gone through for years?

Was this what I was putting Pinchy through?

… no.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. This might not be my body inside here, but I still focused as I would to channel magic, and concentrated on the talisman inside Pinchy’s cephalothorax.

A wave of magic washed over me, tearing apart the strings.

“I do not wish to control you, Pinchy,” I told the radscorpion’s mind, walking towards it slowly. “Nor do I wish to hurt you.”

Despite my words, the radscorpion’s attitude towards me didn’t change. In fact, I didn’t think that it even understood me... Yes, of course it didn’t. Pinchy didn’t think in the same manner I, a pony, did. Even if we were talking through our minds, why would he understand words?

“Very well then,” I said, standing before it. Gently, I lifted a hoof and placed it on the radscorpion, closing my eyes and… concentrating.

Feeling.

I’ve recalled the advice Fluttershy had given me when she helped my initial attempts at befriending Pinchy: "Try to find a way to convey your emotions to it, let Pinchy know that you mean it no harm." Well, now I had a perfect way to do just that, so I conveyed my emotions to him. I felt calm, unafraid, standing next to Pinchy. I felt happy. There was no aggression in me, no hunger. No pain.

And I let it feel all of that.

There was a change in the radscorpion. Fear and aggression gave way to confusion. But a confused animal could still attack. I wondered what else I could convey to make Pinchy realize that I wanted to be its… friend.

Thinking back, I remembered how it felt like when I was with Aite, Jack, Ditzy and Apple Core. How I felt when talking with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie’s apparitions. How I felt with-

I stopped immediately, before I could start dwelling on those emotions; Goddesses above know what they would do to a radscorpion.

My sudden halt surprised Pinchy, but I had managed to convey my feelings before that. Aside from its surprise, I could also sense something else from the radscorpion. Or rather, I couldn’t; there was no aggression towards me, and its fear had also abated.

If Pinchy had been a pony, I would've said that it was cautiously optimistic.

Well, I was about to make this radscorpion very optimistic.

Once again, I concentrated, reaching to the talisman. I eyed the chains that bound Pinchy, and with a wave of my horn, I turned them to ash.

Pinchy shook as they disappeared, then moved forward and back, and partially turned around. Confusion once again appeared in the radscorpion, but quickly it understood that it was free, and that I had done that.

It turned to me, and slowly crept forward, nudging me with one pincer. I smiled, and placed a hoof on it, then traced along the appendage gently back towards its cethelotharyx, petting it. And Pinchy didn’t shake me off; in fact, it seemed to enjoy it.

I let the moment last a few more heartbeats, then I remembered what I had been doing before getting here. “Listen, darling, I need your help,” I spoke, more for my benefit than Pinchy’s I suppose; at the same time I tried to convey to it my feelings; my worries for what was happening outside, my concern for my friend. “I need you to smash through the door and check if Aite and myself are alright. Can you do that for me?”

I looked the radscorpion in the eyes; its many, many eyes. Even though it didn’t understand exactly what I meant, it did understand the worry in me, and as it nudged me again with its pincers, I realized it agreed to help.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I smiled at it, “Alright, then let’s get back out there.”

I closed my eyes, recalling the pressure I had concentrated on before. Now, I imagined that I was in that pressure, and reached out, towards Pinchy’s body.

My eyes were now open, the gray light surrounding me and vibrations from the generator’s rumbling and ponies’ breathings emanating around once again. Except this time, I couldn’t move. I wasn’t in control of the radscorpion’s body anymore; Pinchy was.

It took a moment to compose itself, then crawled over to the door. It felt even weirder to be a... a passenger, feeling the body move but not controlling it. However, it quickly proved to be a correct decision to allow that to happen - I mean, besides it being morally right - as Pinchy suddenly rushed forward, hitting the door with both of its pincers with greater strength and speed that I would have been able to muster. In fact, the attack was so quick that I was positive I would have felt nauseous if I was in my own body right now.

Even though we couldn’t see the extent of the damage Pinchy had inflicted on the door, we could feel the dents as they formed. It took a step back on its eight legs, then again surged forward.

BAM!

And again.

BAM!!!

At the third strike, the hinges finally gave, causing the door to finally fall down. Picking up a weird sensation from Pinchy that I assumed was satisfaction, I praised it. That was amazing, darling, you’re so strong, I thought, at the same time conveying my amazement at the strength it displayed. Then, I focused on the nearby two unconscious ponies. Now, could you be so kind and go over to check on them?

I felt his agreement, but before it crawled towards myself and Aite, Pinchy paused and partially turned around. Being able to sense what he was sensing, I realized that now that we were free from its cell, the radscorpion had noticed the vibrations emitted by three other creatures, coming from the remaining two cells. My test subjects.

That left only one creature unaccounted for…

Satisfied that the other three posed no danger, Pinchy scuttled towards the closest of the two bodies. For a very brief moment I worried that it might start eating us, but I quickly reassured myself that I would sense if it was hungry or aggressive. Still, when it stopped beside the unconscious body and raised its pincer to prod it, I realized it might harm either myself or Aite by accident.

Actually, darling, I interrupted Pinchy, would it be alright if I were the one to check on my friend?

My request confused Pinch (probably because it wasn’t as easy to convey emotionally as my earlier pleas), but as it backed away, it hesitated, I took my chance. I moved its pincer, keeping it closed…

Actually, now that I controlled them again, I realized that while this appendage hardly had the same maneuverability as my own, let alone a creature’s like Jack would, it was a rare chance to experience how it felt to “operate”, for the lack of a better word, of an appendage capable of-

A wave of irritation from Pinchy broke me out of my reverie; focusing once again on my task, I moved the pincer closer to the body and pressed against it gently. I was fairly certain I was touching the pony’s back, though it was impossible to feel through the carapace-clad pincer if what I was touching was my lab coat or Aite’s Stealth Cloak. However, if I moved it a bit further… yes, there was an appendage growing from behind her scapula, this was Aite!

Alright, now… how to wake her up?

I would have groaned in frustration if I was able to. Here I was, a doctor of medicine, master surgeon, and highly skilled unicorn, and I was unable to examine a patient, much less help her. Being stuck in a radscorpion’s body meant that I couldn’t do anything besides trying to nudge her and stir her awake. However, considering that this would likely have even less of an effect on my own body - as I wasn’t sure how my consciousness being stuck in Pinchy’s mind would affect me - I was resigned to this course of action.

Carefully, and making sure Pinchy’s pincer was tightly shut, I nudged Aite above her wing, then again. When she still didn’t wake up, I pushed it, more gently but further, then brought the pincer back, repeating this motion and hoping that the bat pony would start waking up before Pinchy’s patience would run out-

I paused. Aite just made a noise! Was she waking up? It was hard to make out what sounds she was making, with radscorpion “hearing” by sensing the vibrations around them…

Suddenly, AIte’s body jerked, the movement registering in Pinchy’s vision. She jumped up into the air and landed further behind, crouching down. Immediately I realized she was readying to attack, and what’s worse Pinchy was beginning to react to her aggressive behaviour. I could sense it feeling endangered, and before I knew it the radscorpion wrestled control over its body from me, raised its pincers threateningly and lowered its tail slightly, readying to shoot the sting towards Aite.

No! Pinchy, it’s okay, she’s a friend! I quickly conveyed, by some miracle managing to remain calm; the last thing we needed right now was Pinchy sensing how alarmed I was. Focusing, I recalled how Aite let me conduct a physical examination on her and we talked, how I felt back then, and conveyed it all right now. A friend, not danger.

The radscorpion hesitated, and thankfully, Aite too hadn’t attacked, she just stayed where she was. Apparently, between my attempts and defusing the situation and the bat pony not making any hostile actions, it was enough to convince Pinchy that she was no threat. It relaxed its tail and lowered its pincers back.

The show of non-aggression must have calmed Aite down too, as I “heard” her say something instead of attacking. Unfortunately, it was difficult to make out words… I think I heard her say my name. In any case…

Pinchy, darling? Would you be so kind to point our friend towards the other body in the room? I asked the radscorpion, imagining my own body lying unconscious a few yards away and passing the image to Pinchy.

I must have started to get a hang of conveying thoughts and emotions to Pinchy; it understood me perfectly. Ignoring Aite, it turned around on its eight legs, towards my body, then turned right back around so it would face the bat pony again.

Shapes once again registered in Pinchy’s vision as Aite flew over it towards where it had pointed, apparently realizing what the radscorpion tried to tell her. Following her - but, as I quickly asked, keeping its distance - Pinchy allowed me to see her bending over the source of soft vibrations, and I felt her shaking said source.

It worried me that I couldn’t feel it. Shouldn’t I feel it? It was my body she was shaking after all. Would Aite be able to wake me up when my mind was in Pinchy? Come now, Angel, think before you start to panic. Hm, would… Luna condemn it, it would be easier to think if Pinchy wouldn’t hook itself against a desk by the feel of it! Calm down… would taking out the Mind Control Talisman out of Pinchy and inserting into my own brain work? Well, even if it would, I somehow doubted that Aite was skilled enough of a surgeon to do that… Maybe Cutter could? He had performed that exact surgery on Khan after all… Oh great, I started to panic! Everything was slowly growing darker… Wait, that didn’t make any sense, why would Pinchy’s vision deteriorate, it’s not like it was having a panic attack.

I paused as I realized that the earlier sensation I felt, of Pinchy catching itself against something, had grown stronger, and now it felt as if something was pulling it forward. And it was still growing stronger! Why wasn’t Pinchy reacting to it? Should it start to crawl backwards and-

~ ~ ~

“Angel! Wake up!” Aite shouted into my ear, causing me to yell in surprise - the yell quickly turning into a pained groan - and I scrambled up from the floor.

Wait, the floor… My eyes widened as I took in the sights that I could see, the green lights of my E.F.S., my laboratory, Aite, and Pinchy behind her, all visible and clear as day! And I could feel the pain in the back of my head, too, but I would remedy that in a moment; for now I just rubbed the sore spot with my hoof, enjoying the sensation of my own body.

“Oh, thank merciful Luna!” I exclaimed, sighing with relief. I raised my other hoof before my eyes, just to be sure; yes, it had my devoid-of-pigment coat on it! “That was certainly an interesting experience, but one I would rather conduct in a more secure environment.”

Calming down, I turned to Aite, feeling a smile of relief spreading on my muzzle. Aite, on the other hoof, looked at me with a mixture of concern and confusion. “Um, sure, I think everypony would love to get knocked out while in a secure environment,” she said after a brief hesitation.

Realizing the misunderstanding, I shook my head. “Oh, not that darling, I meant being inside of Pinchy.”

“Being inside of-” Aite started to repeat, only to freeze. She turned back towards the radscorpion, who continued to stand behind her - although it was starting to get impatient - then back to me. Finally, she closed her mouth and frowned. “Gross.”

Now it was my turn to look at her in confusion… only for a second, before I realized what she must have imagined. “Oh honestly, do all you Wasteland ponies think about is sex? I meant that when I was knocked out unconscious, my mind was transferred through the Mind Control Talisman into Pinchy.”

“Oh wow, really?” Aite asked, sounding surprised and amazed. “I mean… that’s still disturbing I guess- Wait, what the fuck are we doing?!” she exclaimed suddenly, causing both myself and Pinchy to step back from her in surprise; which unfortunately in Pinchy’s case was followed by aggressively clicking its pincers.

As Aite immediately stopped what I assumed was to be an angry rant before it even started and jumped onto my operating table, I quickly began to calm down the radscorpion again. Pinchy, it’s alright, Aite means us no harm, I thought, conveying a relaxing feeling… And blinked in surprise as I realized what I just did. Oh… you can hear me! I stated, noticing- no, feeling that Pinchy was calming. This was amazing! Come over here, darling, please.

“It’s okay, you just startled it,” I told Aite as the radscorpion crawled over to me. Giggling, I petted it gently along its cephalothorax. “I convinced Pinchy that you and I are its friends, it won’t harm you.”

The bat pony, still giving the radscorpion a cautious look, appeared as if about to comment on that, but she shook her head and said “Cool. Can we talk about us being knocked out please?!” she exclaimed, once again raising her voice. “I thought you said Khan wouldn’t wake up for at least an hour!”

I nodded, raising a hoof again to the sore spot on the back of my head. “I did,” I admitted, casting a Healing Spell on myself, then on Aite. “I was certain that I took his size into account when I cast my Anesthetic Spell on him, so even overlooking the amount of blood he lost before, it should have been impossible for him to wake up sooner.” Aite snorted and shook her head, making me feel like I was trying to make an excuse. Embarrassed, I added “I suppose there could be something about zebras’ biology that I am unfamiliar with that had caused this, but I sincerely doubt-”

“Alright, nevermind,” Aite interrupted me, raising her hoof to the back of her own head.

“Does it still hurt?”

“No, it’s fine now, thanks. Fuck… Do you know how long we were knocked out?”

Glancing at the time display on my E.F.S., I replied: “About half an hour.”

“Fucking great,” Aite groaned, raising her forehooves to rub her face. “There goes the plan to just slip away quietly.”

“Um, why is that darling?” I asked, not understanding. “I’m afraid I fail to see why Khan leaving the town prevents us from leaving in the exact same manner.”

“Oh, so you think that’s what he did, went down the hatch and left through the underground tunnel?” Aite countered with a question, her eyebrow raised.

“Why, yes, what else would he do after ambushing us and knocking us unconscious?”

“Well, see, if he hadn’t spent the last couple of years as a walking vegetable I’m sure that’s what he would have done instead of using the front door!” she exclaimed with a frown, pointing behind her at the door leading out of the basement back to my clinic, which only now I realized was open.

“Oh,” I exclaimed, taken by surprise. “W-well, this isn’t the actual ‘front door’, darling, so perhaps he just went upstairs to my clinic and back?”

“Why would he do that?”

“Um… to steal from me?” I tried to guess. “I keep most of my actual medical supplies, like the healing potions, upstairs, down here are just ingredients, unfinished chems, and drugs I use for my experiments, all which I’d imagine Khan would have no use for. Oh, and also I keep my bottle caps there.”

Aite didn’t look convinced. “I kinda doubt it, on account of him being an idiot.”

“That’s not a nice thing to say, considering what he has been through,” I chided her, but the bat pony ignored me.

“If he was smart, he would have taken this,” she said, pointing at the gemstone clasp of her cloak.

I opened my mouth, but couldn’t find a counterargument. Aite had a point, a cloak that makes one invisible is incredibly valuable.

“It’s possible he didn’t know what this cloak does,” I finally said. “Just because it was made by his people doesn’t mean he would recognize it.”

Aite rolled her eyes to that. “Oh whatever. We can easily make sure which way he left by checking out how the town looks.”

“What do you mean?”

“Crazy, he destroyed your robot and knocked you out, and you were the one who so benevolently freed him from a talisman that controlled his mind and from servitude to quite possibly the biggest bitch in the Wasteland. What do you think he’s done to the ponies who worked for said bitch?” Aite asked, raising her eyebrows.

Images of carnage based on descriptions of some more gruesome acts performed by Khan over the years immediately formed in my mind. My worry and dread made Pinchy shift uncomfortably, its confusion conveying to me. I patted the radscorpion calmingly, wondering what I should do.

Aite, in the meantime, continued to curse under her breath. “Blasted, one eyed, cheap-shotting bastard. Just wait until this whole thing is over, I swear I’ll get him for this.”

I didn’t like the viciousness I picked out in her voice. “Darling, while I agree he inconvenienced us and I think I would like to see him again to express my feelings on the matter, I do feel the need to point out that he could have killed us but he didn’t.”

“Hey, I’m not gonna kill him either,” Aite retorted. “I just want to meet up with him, and, well, let’s just say somebody is going to have something shoved down their orifice when that happens,” she finished with a smirk, patting the dagger under her cloak.

I was about to voice my concerns about Khan’s health after such an event would take place, but I decided that this discussion could wait until another time. Shaking my head and sighing, I rose to my hooves. “For that to come to pass I believe it would be necessary to know what exactly had befallen of him after leaving my laboratory. So, if you wouldn’t mind darling, I’d like to go outside.”

Aite raised an eyebrow. “You want to go outside. Where, in all likelihood, either a possibly homicidal zebra that knocked you out moments ago prowls on what we can assume is a murder spree, or a bunch of pissed off slavers that by now must have realized something is going on and might take an issue with you might be?”

“You have quite a pessimistic outlook at the current situation, darling,” I retorted with a frown, “one that I feel like could be exaggerated. But yes,” I admitted, sighing, “I want to go to that outside. You see darling-”

“Okay, stay safe.”

Words of duty and responsibility, the arguments with which I intended to convince Aite to allow me to go, died in my throat. I stared at the older mare agape, stunned, before finally recovering. “I’m… forgive me, darling, weren’t you very adamant about us leaving as soon as possible and without anypony noticing us?” I questioned, confused.

“Yes, but as I’ve pointed out, the situation has changed. Now I’ve got to figure out which of Jack’s emergency scenarios best fits this massive shit-show we've found ourselves in. Strangely, he never anticipated the zebra regaining his faculties and knocking us out cold,” she said, with a glare at me; was she blaming me? I suppose I was partially responsible for our current predicament, but still… “So yeah, you can go outside and see what has happened, just make sure you don’t get yourself killed. I’ll pack some of your things in the meantime,” she added, getting up and shaking off before reaching for her hood.

Still confused by her change of priorities, I hesitated, wanting to ask more questions. I would have liked to know what other emergency scenarios had Jack prepared and help her decide which one we would go along with; it would be nice to have a say in the matter! However, I reminded myself that there could be ponies in need of my help in the town above. Even if they were all slavers and their boss had attacked me, I was still the town medic, I couldn’t just not help if there were some wounded out there.

Especially since I was indirectly responsible if there were.

“Very well, thank you darling,” I said as I watched her put on her hood and disappear… only to appear right away.

“I almost forgot, you’re not thinking about bringing your pet along right?” she asked, pointing at Pinchy. The radscorpion shifted its attention to her, probably drawn by the motion she had made. “Because as dumb as the slavers are, I think they might realize right away something’s off when they see a pony-sized insect follow you around.”

Frowning and looking down at Pinchy, I pondered her question. “Well,” I began, “first of all darling, radscorpions are arachnids, not insects-”

“Oh my Goddesses, so not the point right now.”

“- and second of all, I hadn’t considered taking Pinchy along,” I admitted, ignoring her remark. I raised my hoof to pet the radscorpion while thinking. “However, in case you are right and the slavers would be… upset with me, it might be safer if Pinchy was nearby…”

I trailed off as I concentrated. Pinchy, I’ll have to go outside. I filled my mind with images and sounds of myself leaving and walking outside. Other ponies there might attack me. Images turned into me being surrounded by slavers, talking, them starting to get aggressive and finally lunging at me. Can you leave through this passage, I thought, imagining the radscorpion leave through the hatch, dig through the ground and wait near the surface, until I call for your help? I asked, conveying the images of Pinchy digging upwards and waiting, then myself signaling to attack the aggressive ponies. Please?

Pinchy hesitated, and I picked up something akin to irritation from its mind. However, after a brief moment, I sensed an agreement, and the radscorpion turned and crawled towards the hatch.

“I asked Pinchy to dig through the ground and wait below the surface in case I need its help,” I told Aite, who, while sitting relaxed, watched the radscorpion carefully.

The bat pony raised an eyebrow. “I was thinking something along those lines, but wasn’t sure if you could make it do something that complicated.”

“I didn’t make Pinchy do it, I asked and it agreed,” I corrected her.

“Wasn’t that talisman supposed to control minds?” Aite asked, confused.

“Well, yes, initially, when I was inside of Pinchy’s mind, I had an absolute control over it,” I replied, dismayed. “Once I realized that, though, I managed to, hm, how to best describe it… to decrease the level of control the Mind Control Talisman had over Pinchy, to the point that it just allows me to communicate with it telepathically. Which I must say is a bit tricky, I have to rely on conveying images, sounds, scents and emotions rather than thoughts-”

“Hang on,” Aite interrupted me, raising a hoof, “why did you decrease the talisman’s control or whatever?”

“... Because it was cruel,” I answered, hesitating out of surprise.

Now it was Aite who was surprised. “Cruel? That… okay, you know what, I can’t deal with this, I’m out,” she said, waving her forehooves before covering her head with her hood and disappearing.

Confused - and a little annoyed - at her, I frowned at the spot where she had been, then sighed, rolled my eyes, and turned towards the door. “Oh, and please remember to pack my copy of the Wasteland’s Survival Guide too,” I added, glancing back where I had last seen her.

My eyes darted around the laboratory for a second, wondering where exactly the bat pony was, before deciding that it was pointless and hurried towards the stairs. Maybe it would be better if I’d just grab it myself? I wondered, leaving the basement. Hm, no, the pockets in this lab coat aren’t deep enough for it, could-

Aren’t deep enough for what? Pinkie asked, appearing suddenly right before my muzzle.

Almost taking a stumble, I glanced at the apparition in annoyance. Nevermind that, I replied, hurrying over to the bed where I left both statuettes. I don’t suppose you have seen Khan leaving through this door?

Um, no, Angel, Fluttershy said, appearing beside Pinkie, we, um, can’t exactly ‘see’...

Yeah, those statuettes don’t have eyeballs, duh, Pinkie added, rolling her eyes.

Fair point, darling, I agreed, recalling how everytime the two had commented on something around me it was something that I had seen first; it made sense that they could see only what I could. Were you able to see what had happened to me?

Yeah, it was the same like when you left us to deal with those raiders back at the Rock Farms. Although, Pinkie added, frowning, in contrast, that chapter of your adventures went waaaaay better for you than this one.

Sighing, I nodded. You are absolutely right, I said, grabbing both statuettes and placing them inside my lab coat’s pockets. Out of the two situations when I was deprived of your advice, this is the one I could have really used your help. While I can’t say for certain that having you two would have averted our current problems, I do realize that you would have noticed Khan was waiting for us and warned me about him, Pinkie, and you would have helped me with Pinchy, Fluttershy… or actually, maybe you would have been able to talk to it yourself? I wondered as the thought occurred to me; the way I communicated with Pinchy wasn’t very different from how I talked with the two apparitions. Shaking my head and figuring we could test this theory out once we were safe, I turned around and hurried towards the door. I had expected that I would only be conducting surgery on Khan and Pinchy, so I had left you here to avoid you possibly distracting me by accident, but I should have come to pick you up before I followed after Aite underground. I will not make such a mistake again.

Oh, it’s okay, Angel, you couldn’t have known how things would unravel, Fluttershy replied, smiling kindly. Nopony can predict everything that could happen.

Despite Fluttershy’s kind words, I was still in a sour mood about it. The whole matter of what could or couldn’t be predicted aside, it would have been so simple, to just walk outside of my laboratory for five seconds and grab their statuettes.

Speaking of predicting, Pinkie spoke up, mercifully changing the subject, do you think Mistress of Mischief below was right and things are as bad out there as she says they are?

Well, I replied slowly, stopping in front of the door, I can do something that should give us a vague idea… Pinchy? I called, focusing on the radscorpion.

Nothing happened.

Frowning, I concentrated, trying to reach with my mind towards Pinchy. Why wasn’t it working? I had no trouble connecting to the radscorpion’s mind through the talisman in my laboratory, why couldn’t I… could it be because it was further away now?

I don’t think Pinchy can hear you, Pinkie spoke up after a few heartbeats. I ignored her, trying to think of a way to contact the radscorpion, and barely paid attention to her as she floated up to my horn and knocked against it. Hello, testing testing?

That’s it! I exclaimed, then immediately felt my cheeks burn in embarrassment that I hadn’t thought of that.

Ignoring confused stares from the apparitions, I used my magic, casting the spell that I used to imprint my magical signature on the Mind Control Talisman-

In a flash, I felt my body stretch and vision fail, only for the sensation to pass as quickly as it appeared. An unpleasant scratching at the back of my mind let me know that Pinchy had also felt us connect.

Forgive me, darling, I quickly apologized, calming down so that it would too. Sitting down in case another such flash would happen, I asked Do you know what is happening outside?

It was clear from the confusion I sensed that the radscorpion didn’t understand my question, even when I conjured an image of Appleloosa. However, it did understand that I wanted to know something, and so, after a few seconds, it hesitantly reached out to me; it felt as if its pincers embraced my mind gently and tried to pull it.

Realizing that Pinchy was inviting me to “see” through it, I grabbed those pincers and trotted over.

It was dark, not even shades of gray appeared in Pinchy’s vision. And there was ground all around us; just like I had asked, the radscorpion burrowed through the rock and earth to wait below the surface of Appleloosa’ streets. I was amazed to discover how easy digging was to it, but I quickly focused on the purpose of my “visit”.

Being surrounded by ground and “listening” through the whole body thanks to the vibrations meant that Pinchy could hear creatures moving above it.

Moving, hoof by hoof, stomping, fastly, moving around, standing in a group, four, five hooved creatures, others prowling further away, hard to make out, back in group stomping, somebody going away then back, stomping again… angrily.

Thank you, Pinchy, I told him, pulling myself back, to my body. Shaking my head and readjusting myself to my surroundings, I added Please wait for my signal as we had agreed. The radscorpion gave me the mental equivalent of a nod, and I let it feel my gratitude before turning to Fluttershy and Pinkie. It would appear that there are several ponies standing around talking not far from here, and based on what Pinchy felt they seem to be upset.

Oh wow, neat trick! Pinkie exclaimed, amazed.

Fluttershy, on the other hoof, was worried. Oh, that can’t be good.

It would seem that Aite’s prediction might be correct, I agreed, humming thoughtfully. Not only has something definitely happened, the slavers are clearly angry about it… regardless, I still need to go and check if anypony needs medical help. On the plus side though if this is truly the result of Khan’s actions, I might learn something about him and where he disappeared to while engaging them, I added, thinking about how I could salvage this situation.

The two apparitions didn’t look entirely convinced to this course of action, but as I opened the door they merely said: Be careful.

Walking outside the clinic, I began to search for the group of ponies Pinchy had felt arguing, as well as signs of what could have happened after Khan had left my laboratory. At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Then I noticed the decapitated, half-crushed head of a pony lying in the middle of the street.

Eek! Fluttershy squeaked in my head, covering her eyes.

Ignoring her, I hurried over to the head, wanting to examine it and see who it was. As I got closer, I finally spotted the group of five ponies arguing - and uttered a sigh of relief when I saw that Apple Core was among them - as well as more signs that a struggle had taken place in town. Not far from the head, between two houses, was a headless body. Further along the street were two other corpses, nearby I noticed a limping, downcast pony, there was a pony-sized dent in the wall of a building I passed, when I glanced around I realized there were bullet holes practically everywhere, and most of the windows on the ground floors had had their glass shattered.

And far away, in front of Black Widow’s house (well, former house now, I suppose), was a ripped out door, surrounded by more corpses.

To think a single zebra could cause this much damage to the town, I mused as I leaned over the head, the damage (which I quickly deduced had been caused by an equine hoof) making it difficult to identify the pony beside that it was a unicorn mare. Such brutal strength… he really could have killed both of us with ease…

“Hey!”

The arguing slavers had finally noticed me and stopped whatever their argument was. I tilted my ear in their direction to show I had heard them, but continue to stare at the head, still trying to- Wire Brace! Frank Fellow’s marefriend! Well, at least he doesn’t have to worry about cheating on her, I suppose…

My - possibly morbid - curiosity sated, I finally raised my head and turned around to meet the gazes of the slavers. The five ponies had already reached me and were about to address me; however, a quick glance at them told me that none of them were injured, so I spoke preemptively.

“I’m glad to see so many of you are uninjured, sweeties,” I said, then turned my attention to the limping pony; heads of others poked through the broken windows of the buildings around us. “I’m going to need you to gather all the wounded, those who can walk by themselves can-”

Watch it! Pinkie shouted a warning.

Glancing back to the gathered slavers, I saw that one - Whip Crack; of course it would be Whip Crack - was partially crouching, about to shove against me. Thanks to Pinkie, I had the time to jump out of his way.

“I’m having a very busy day, sweetie,” I began to say coldly as Whip Crack regained his balance, forestalling another attack from him. “I would really rather not waste time on whatever this is about, but since I don’t enjoy being threatened, could you explain what exactly do you think you’re doing?”

“Oh, you better get used to being threatened,” Whip Crack snarled, then pointed around the town. “Can you explain what the fuck had happened here?”

“Seeing how I had spend quite a bit of time unconscious, I was hoping one of you would illuminate me on the events that had transpired in the town,” I retorted, looking from Whip Crack to the other slavers, and stopping pointedly on Apple Core… who for some reason averted my gaze.

“Khan went nuts,” one of the others, Fetters, spoke up. I turned my attention to him; his voice also betrayed that he was angry too, but at least wasn’t as aggressive towards myself like Whip Crack was. “The mute went for Black Widow’s house, killing everypony on his way before we could blink, ripped the door out and walked inside. We could hear him trashing inside as we gathered, only for him to get out after a minute and attack us before running away. And all of that,” he added, leaning uncomfortably close to me, “after leaving your clinic, Doctor.”

Aite’s suspicion about the slavers “taking an issue” with me was proved to be correct. Fortunately, I had thought up a story that could at least give me a few hours of peace from them. And so, ignoring the alarmed thoughts of Pinchy - who was no doubt alerted by the twinge of fear I had felt - I narrowed my eyes at Fetters.

“I happen to understand where Khan’s rampage had started very well, sweetie, thank you,” I told him, placing a hoof on his chest and pushing him away; or at least, trying, I think I only managed to make him move back by an inch or two. “And we can all thank Black Widow for that.”

A snort came from Whip Crack while the rest exchanged confused gazes. “Oh, this ought to be good,” he said, shaking his head in wry amusement.

Ignoring the comment, I addressed the gathered slavers; at the same time noticing that a few more had emerged from wherever they’ve hid or rested to listen to our exchange. “As I am sure some of you had noticed, Black Widow had come together with Khan to my clinic. Obviously, at that point of time everything was alright,” I added, pausing to casually flick my forehoof to better convey calm and confidence. “Khan was still under Black Widow’s control. She had come to my clinic to get her portion of my earnings this month, or so I had thought at the beginning. After giving her her bottle caps, Black Widow had begun to tell me about an idea she had, and because of that I had to cut open Khan’s head and remove the mind control talisman she had Cutter place in his head and used to control him.”

The slavers exchanged confused glances, with one of two muttering “Mind control what?” I knew of course that bringing up something like that might not have been the best decision while trying to alleviate their suspicion of me. It could cause them to think that I was making it, and by extension, everything, up. Fortunately, Whip Crack was there, too, and he knew about the Mind Control Talisman from Cutter. After he would confirm that I was speaking the truth about something so unexpected like that talisman, everypony was going to believe everything else I had said.

“I assume she would have wanted me to implant it within Jack’s brain, if she had been given a chance,” I continued, carefully picking my words. “Unfortunately, not long after I had recovered the talisman, Khan had unexpectedly woken up, and despite the injuries his brain had sustained it turned out that apparently it had been only that talisman that caused his borderline vegetative state. He attacked us, and Black Widow teleported away before he knocked me out. That’s all I know,” I finished, looking from one slaver to another. It was a bit discouraging to see them still gaze at with disbelief and suspicion for now, but I didn’t let it show. “I’m guessing that Khan had gone to Black Widow’s house because he expected she had teleported there, but I’m guessing - since you hadn’t mentioned finding her remains - he hadn’t found her there?”

“No, just Pillory,” Fetters answered, then shook his head. “But do you really expect us to believe this horseshit?! Mind controlling talismans and teleporting?”

“Yeah, since when can Black Widow teleport?” another spoke up, laughing. “She’s been here for like fifteen years and we’ve never seen her do that!”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Clearly, she never had to teleport before. I’m assuming that in all those years she had never found herself under the attack of a big, murder-proficient zebra, hadn’t she?”

“Enough!”

Startled, I look back to Whip Crack. The slaver, whom I had counted to support my story, trotted close to me until he was almost leaning over me.

“We don’t care about your made up stories, Doctor,” Whip Crack said, his muzzle twisted into a snarl. “Do you think we’re stupid and we’d buy whatever you tell us?”

“Wha- what do you mean?” I exclaimed, confused by his accusation; I didn’t even really make anything of that up, everything had happened like I had said, just not in that order! “Why would I-”

“Cutter would have told me if Black Widow would have ever made him do something like put a talisman inside that zebra’s head,” he snorted, making my jaw drop in shock. Smirking, he added “I think something like that would make the news.”

While other slavers snickered in amusement, I continued to stare at him, speechless. I knew Cutter must have told him about the Mind Control Talisman! Admittedly, I couldn’t recall him outright saying he had, but as Whip Crack just said, that would make the news! That didn’t make any sense, unless…

Unless…

As I stared at Whip Crack in disbelief, the slaver’s muzzle briefly twisted into a smirk.

He’s lying! Pinkie Pie exclaimed loudly, pointing accusingly at him.

Yes Pinkie, I noticed, I replied, narrowing my eyes at Whip Crack in utter disgust.

But why would he do that? Fluttershy asked, her ears dropped in worry.

Judging by how he had been talking with Apple Core and the others and how he was first to accuse me, I’d guess he’s trying to establish himself as the new leader of Appleloosa and sees me as a competition… also he never liked me to begin with. Can you believe that?! I snorted angrily in my mind. Their leader is missing and there’s a zebra somewhere near that killed so many of them effortlessly, and he’s focused on such things!

“Pray tell, sweetie,” I told Whip Crack, glaring at him through narrowed eyes and ignoring the other slavers as they chuckled, “if my intention was to lie to you, why wouldn’t I make up a more believable lie?” I snorted and, as Fluttershy and Pinkie stared wide-eyed and began to wave their forelegs, added “Perhaps you and Cutter weren’t as close as you-”

Look out!

Whip Crack’s hoof shot out and hit its mark so quickly that, despite Pinkie’s warning, I couldn’t react before he hit me in the face, making me stumble, and as I tried to shake my head and recover, a much harder strike landed at my side. A yelp of pain escaped my lips as I fell backwards and rolled around on the ground, accompanied by the sound of the slavers' laughter.

Were none of them going to react to their only medic being attacked? It sure appeared as such. As I looked from the ground, I could see ponies (more had joined the group during my exchange with Whip Crack) either laughing or staring down at me with anger mixed with satisfaction. A few did seem mostly confused, looking from me to Whip Crack and others, and Apple Core…

Apple Core still wasn’t looking at me.

I spared a second to stare at her, but as I couldn’t figure out how to gracefully get her attention, I instead turned my gaze back to Whip Crack as I got up from the ground. My flank and the side of my face where he hit me hurt, but I was only bruised, he hadn’t broken any of my bones, I could heal myself later.

The indignity of being treated such hurt me much more.

Angry, especially after noticing the self-satisfied smirk on his face, I almost scowled at him. “Do you always resort to physical violence during your arguments, or does it only happen when you find yourself unable to retort, sweetie?” I asked as I patted my lab coat to dust it off, taking great pleasure in seeing his mood turning sour.

I was about to continue verbally degrading him, but then my attention drew to an object on the ground that laid between us.

The statuettes!

Dread filled me as I stared at them, flanked by apparitions of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Without giving it much thought, I patted my lab coat where the pocket I had kept them was, and of course it was empty. When did- they must have fallen out when Whip Crack had bucked my side and made me tumble across the ground, and I didn’t even notice!

Hastily, I reached with my magic, grabbing the two statuettes and pulling them towards me… only to Whip Crack jump forward and kick them backwards, breaking my hold of them and making the roll even further away.

Hey! Pinkie exclaimed angrily, glaring daggers at the slaver.

“I think you have more important things to worry about than your dolls,” Whip Crack snorted, amusement mixing in his voice with anger. My attention now divided between him and the statuettes, I found my anger dispersing. It barely even registered with me that the slaver advanced on me. “Ever since you got here, we’ve been having nothing but troubles. First Cutter was killed by that slave. Then we lost Butcher and others to this tribe that magically appeared around here right after you came about. Then we got all those stupid accidents around here while that boyfriend of yours somehow couldn’t find this tribe-”

“My boy-” I repeated, interrupting him, the single word distracting me from worry about the statuettes. Anger once again sparked within me hearing the same accusation for the second time today. “Celestia burn me to ashes, Jack is not my boyfriend!”

Whip Crack snorted. “Yeah right. We all saw the way you two look at each other. I hadn’t seen somepony this lustful since that time we kept a preacher next to a cage with a bunch of eight year old unicorn colts!”

Based on the reaction of other slavers, who all burst with laughter, I assumed that this was a very funny joke, but the meaning was completely lost to me. However, I didn’t waste too much thought on it; as I looked around, I realized just how many slavers had now joined us, and how they all began to congregate around me. Starting to feel nervous, I took a step back, only the presence of Pinchy’s mind preventing me from starting to panic.

“And then we had that weird-ass zebra arrive,” Whip Crack resumed, once again advancing on me; I took another step back, “and everything went to shit. I don’t know what kind of plan she - or he or whatever the hell it is - you, and your griffin had thought up, but it clearly couldn’t be a coincidence!”

“Yeah, he’s right!”

“There was an awful lot of accidents for a while-”

“Hey, what happened to that red-striped freak?”

“It was odd that Cutter got killed right after she got here…”

“Do you think there ever was any tribe?”

“What did you do with Black Widow?”

Oh, this doesn’t look good, Fluttershy whispered, looking at slavers through her feathers as she partially covered her face with her wings.

I had to agree, as I backed away again, turning my head each time a new slaver had spoken, trying to spot one friendly face in the crowd. It seemed that Whip Crack managed to stir up everypony against me, as now even the ponies who seemed confused at the beginning were now nodding and adding their own voices.

As I turned my head again, trying to find Apple Core, my gaze stopped at the body of Wire Brace. I remembered how I left the safety of my laboratory out of my sense of duty to those… ponies. To try and help them.

Anger resurfaced within me.

“SILENCE!!!” I shouted, my voice booming with outrage as I stomped the ground. At once, all the slavers ceased their prattling and stared in silent shock. “YOU DARE ACCUSE ME OF BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR MISFORTUNES?! EVER SINCE I CAME TO THIS TOWN I’VE BEEN NOTHING BUT HELPFUL! I TOOK OVER AS YOUR MEDIC WHEN YOU NEEDED A NEW ONE, I TOOK CARE OF YOUR SLAVES, I TRAVELED TO NEW APPLELOOSA AND RISKED MY LIFE TO SECURE YOU ALLIES, I CONVINCED A BLOODTALON TO COME AND HELP YOU, I KEPT TREATING YOU DAY AFTER DAY AFTER EACH IDIOTIC ACCIDENT OR FIGHT YOU HAD, I HELP BLACK WIDOW PINPOINT THE LOCATION OF THE TRIBE THIS VERY MORNING, AND THIS IS THE THANKS I GET?!”

Now it was the slavers' turn to back away, shocked and confused after my outburst. I managed to instill fear in them, but I could see that also some logic had seeped in: several exchanged unsure gazes. They must have been now wondering if I was right, not to mention that they got reminded that I was still the towns’ only medic. Even Whip Crack had realized that the crowd’s general consensus had shifted, as he shot the other slavers glances with hesitation and barely contained nervousness.

I’d almost turned this situation around, all they need is one final push- Apple Core!

“Apple Core?” I said out loud in my normal tone of voice, turning to her. The slaver mare jerked as if surprised and turned to me, with a somewhat troubled expression; was she that worried about me? That’s sweet. “Be a dear and point out to everypony else how much of a help I have been this month, please.”

I might be a more persuasive pony, true, but Apple Core was one of them. She has been to New Appleloosa and Stable Eleven with me, been at our conference at Black Widow’s office this morning, and she knows of almost every incident that had happened this past week that required my help. If she would reiterate to the other slavers how much I had helped them, they would finally leave me alone and let me treat their wounded and maybe finally focus on finding Khan.

“The sooner we clear this ridiculous situation the sooner I can start treating everypony,” I added, looking through the crowd, between everypony’s legs, trying to spot the statuettes-

“No.”

I froze, confused, then slowly lifted my head and turned it towards Apple Core. I was aware of the silence that followed that single word, but I ignored the rest of the slavers. I also ignored Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, who stared at the same mare with shock mirroring my own. I focused solely on her. Apple Core’s face bore an unpleasant scowl as she looked at me, but despite that, for a moment, I hoped I had misheard her.

“Apple Core?”

But I hadn’t.

“Whip Crack’s right, ya were clearly up t’ somethin’ with Khan,” Apple Core said, her jaw shaking a little. “Ah don’t know what that was, but ya fucked up, and could ‘ave gotten all of us killed. And now ya’re askin’ me for help?” She snorted and shook her head. “No. I like ya, but Ah ain’t gonna risk my skin for ya after that stunt.”

Even as Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie covered their mouths and looked at me with worry, even as slavers around me started to chuckle and Whip Crack said something, I still continued to stare at Apple Core. I… I couldn’t believe what just happened. Apple Core just… abandoned me. She had been my first patient on the Outside. I gave her my blood. I gave her the means too…

I thought we were friends.

Pinchy’s presence stirred at the back of my mind, emanating confusion at… at the blankness he felt from me.

…

...

Ha…

Hahaha…

Confusion rippled all around me, from the two apparitions and Pinchy to every slaver, as my silence was broken by a chuckle that quickly turned to soft laughter. I didn’t care. I just… I just wanted to laugh! The epiphany that hit me was just too obvious to not find amusement in it!

A-angel? Fluttershy called out, but I turned a proverbial deaf ear on her.

“He was right,” I finally said, covering my mouth like a proper lady until my laughter subsided. My eyes tore into Apple Core’s as I smiled at her sweetly. “You slavers are indeed just barely a step up from raiders. Very well then,” I added more briskly, sitting down and looking around. I wanted to make sure they all knew my next words were directed to all of them.

I wasn’t afraid of them; a familiar sensation had stirred within me, the same one I had felt when facing Scope and those raiders. Power. I was powerful, and they were not. They were nothing.

Still smiling, I declared: “I have no further need of you.”

I spread my forelegs and scowled.

“May the Nightmare take you all.”

After a second of silence, the worst curse I had heard growing up was met with amused chuckles and jeers from the slavers. I didn’t care. Nor did I care when Whip Crack trotted over and leaned towards me.

“Oh, we’ll teach you about nightmares all right-”

“You are an idiot,” I told him flatly, interrupting him.

Whip Crack frowned, put off, but quickly shook it off and opened his mouth. I had no interest in letting him talk.

“We both know you’ve lied,” I said calmly. “We both know that there indeed was a Mind Control Talisman inside Khan’s head. I understand why you’re lying about it, of course. I would even go as far as applaud your ploy. But that’s not what makes you an idiot.”

Pinchy…

“What makes you an idiot,” I said, as now I leaned closer to him, making him back his face a bit, “is that despite knowing about the Mind Control Talisman, and that the only way I could know about is if I indeed removed it from Khan’s brain…”

… please…

“... you never wondered what I had done with it,” I said, smirking.

… kill them all!

The puzzlement on Whip Crack’s face quickly gave way to shock and fear as hell erupted behind him.

Pinchy emerged from the ground right at the edge of the crowd of slavers, its pincers grabbing the nearest mare and piercing her legs, causing her to cry in pain and fall down. The radscorpion’s sting was ready and it shot down, aiming at her throat.

At that moment, amid the chaos that I’d begun, I activated S.A.T.S.

With everything appearing as frozen in time around me, I calmly looked at the slavers. I had to admit, it was pretty amusing to see their faces frozen in utter terror while seeing Pinchy killing one of them…

Angel?

Yes darling? I asked as the two apparitions manifested before me, concern plain on their faces.

They exchanged a glance before Fluttershy asked: Are you, um... are you okay?

Why wouldn’t I be?

Because the first friend you’ve made since leaving your Stable just turned her back on you? Pinkie Pie replied, her bluntness making Fluttershy’s eyes wide and actually glare at her, while I had to do a double-take. The pink apparition looked from one to the other before frowning. What, you think there’s a time to be subtle about it?

Fluttershy deadpanned (!?) at her before turning to me. Angel- she began again, gently, but I cut her off.

No, darlings, I am not “okay”, I thought, uttering a mental sigh. I’m… hurt. And surrounded by an entire town of utter degenerates. Fortunately, I added coldly, I’m in a rare position to vent some of the frustration I am feeling in relation to that on creatures that certainly deserve it.

Um, Pinkie began, alarmed. Did you just say that you want to fight all of them- it’s an entire town, you just said it’s an entire town!

I have Pinchy to help me-

They have guns!

I would grimace if I could. Of course, I knew Pinkie was right. Even in this state I could calculate the odds of what would happen if I’d stay here. That being said… I didn’t want to run. I couldn’t just turn my tail and run. Not after being humiliated, not after such betrayal. Those slavers were nothing, and they dared to turn on me?! Oh, they all deserve to be chained up in my laboratory alright, now I could see it plainly.

Angel?

Turning my attention to Fluttershy at the sound of her voice, I found her staring with a familiar expression. She bore it every time I had started one of my experiments on my test subjects. No anger, no condemnation, just concern, pleading… and regret.

Why was it that while one apparition seemed - admittingly, rightly so - primarily concerned about my safety, the other was concerned what I would do to the slavers?

Her worry, which couldn’t make me stop from conducting my experiments, this time did give me a pause. Like a drop falling into water and creating ripples, I felt as Fluttershy just caused a similar effect on the cold fury that arose in me. She did not dissipate it, but she did disturb it, long enough for me to calm down and look at the situation more clearly.

They deserved to become my test subjects. But that could wait. My primary concern had to be to get myself, the statuettes and Pinchy out of this spot.

I won’t fight all of them, I thought, turning my attention to the crowd. I’ll take advantage of the situation to incapacitate a few of them, grab your statuettes, and run. With any luck, this commotion drew Aite out and she’s around here somewhere, so we’d have additional help. This should work out.

The two apparitions looked relieved when they heard my plan.

Alright-y then! Pinkie Pie exclaimed cheerfully. Take out those two, she added, pointing at two slavers in front of me, one to each side of Whip Crack, they look like they are about to turn back to you in a moment.

Did they? I looked closer. Hm, one had already taken out his gun, and at the time I activated S.A.T.S. had started to put weight on a foreleg, as if indeed about to turn back to me…

Very well then, thank you for the advice darling, I said, lining up two shots of my Anesthetic Spell. Do you think it will give me enough time to find you?

Actually… Fluttershy began hesitantly, maybe it would be better if you’d just… leave us and run?

Only my surprise at the suggestion prevented me from replying straight away, but after a few seconds I had recovered. Absolutely not!

Well, we are just statuettes, Pinkie Pie pointed out, trying to help Fluttershy’s argument, but I would have none of it.

Yes, just statuettes, that can speak to me in my mind!

I feel like that says more about you than about us.

We would be fine, Fluttershy spoke up. They can’t kill us, or hurt us in any way-

You don’t know that! I retorted. I hadn’t conducted any experiments on your statuettes that could prove such a thing definitely, and I would hazard a guess that the ponies who held them before me would be even less inclined to do them!

Well duh, Pinkie murmured, then added What if Aite were to pick us up? She could swooooop down all invisibly and grab our statuettes when everypony in town is busy chasing you?

That… actually wouldn’t be a bad plan, I replied slowly. However, since it would depend on me being able to communicate with Aite while ‘everypony in town was busy chasing me’ and actually convincing her to pick up what I have a feeling she would also deem as just ‘dolls’, we’ll call it plan B. I’m still going to first try and pick you up.

Oookay, just don’t get yourself killed, Pinkie sighed, crossing her forelegs on her chest.

Fluttershy, after a brief glance at Pinkie Pie, simply said Be safe.

With a mental smile at them, I released S.A.T.S.

Everything started immediately. The sounds of slavers screaming in panic erupted all around me as Pinchy’s sting punctured a mare’s throat, then with an aggressive hiss turned on the next pony.

At the same time, I began casting my S.A.T.S.- guided Anesthetic Spell. Indeed, as Pinkie had predicted, the first slaver I targeted had begun to turn around, raising his weapon at me. I assumed he probably figured he had time to deal with me, being so far away from the radscorpion. However, before he could finish lining up his gun, my spell hit him, paralyzing him. My other target ended up no differently. He too had begun to turn to me, but he didn’t even reach for his weapon. Still, he would have alerted the others, so it was a good suggestion from Pinkie to incapacitate him as well.

As I cast my second spell, over the head of my target and other slavers, I saw Apple Core, running away from the erupting fight with the radscorpion.

Good. I didn’t want her to be killed by Pinchy. I wanted her to have a long life, a good portion of which she would spend learning just how bad an idea it was to turn away from me.

BLAM! BLAM!

PTING!

The sounds of gunfire snapped my attention back to my surroundings. While some of the slavers had taken the clue from Apple Core and ran away as well, a lot stood their ground and opened fire on Pinchy. Fortunately, their weapons must have been much weaker than the rifle Jack had shot at the radscorpion, as I couldn’t spot any bullet wounds on its carapace.

Either that, or they were much less accurate shooters than the griffin mercenary.

After quickly checking that I didn’t have to worry about Pinchy at the moment, I turned my gaze towards the ground. I looked between the legs of slavers, trying to spot the statuettes, which thanks to all the dirt the slavers kicked up running around wasn’t easy. But they had to be nearby, they weren’t thrown away some long distance, just back kicked by-

“Shoot that thing!”

Whip Crack.

The slaver’s attention had shifted at the radscorpion upon its attack, grabbing his own firearm and firing at Pinchy. However, he hadn’t moved too far from me, probably wanting to keep a safe distance from the mutated arachnid (who just now had wounded another slaver that hadn’t kept a safe distance), and also possibly because he didn’t consider me dangerous.

At the sound of Whip Crack’s voice I ceased my search for the statuettes, focusing on him. My anger, previously smothered by Fluttershy, reawakened. It was his fault I was in this situation! He was the one who turned all the slavers against me! It was because of him that I’ve lost my statuettes! It was his fault that Apple Core had abandoned me!

No. I might not make all of them pay just yet, maybe not even him, but I will give him a taste of what awaits him!

Ignoring the alarmed expressions of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, I began to cast a spell. Not an Anesthetic Spell; I wanted him to feel what I’ll do to him. In fact, this wasn’t exactly a spell I was familiar with. I knew, however, how to cast it, as I had learned a variation of it that used to be applied in medicine.

The irony that the only pony on the Outside I had used that weaker variation on, even if it had been just for a show, was Whip Crack’s lover, was not lost upon me.

My horn crackled with arcane energy as I finished charging the spell, unleashing a torrent of electricity that shot towards Whip Crack. He cried out in pain as my magic swiftly reached him, immobilizing the slaver for a heartbeat as I continued to cast the spell; and then he fell to the ground, twitching, as I stopped.

I released my breath, feeling a bit exerted, but pleased. This spell was fantastic to use in combat! Sure, it took more magic to use it than the Anesthetic Spell, but once I got used to the sensation of transforming magical energy into an electric charge it would take less time to cast, and it travelled towards its target much quicker! If I had tried using it on Khan back when he attacked me in the clinic instead, I might have actually hit him.

Of course, the spell’s victim immobilization would be temporary, and he wasn’t seriously wounded. Sure, Whip Crack’s body now bore burn marks where my spell had connected, and he was disoriented from the pain, but it wouldn’t be long before he would get back up. But Luna condemn me if it didn't feel satisfying!

My anger sated for the moment, I turned back to my search. One or two slavers had looked back due to the flashes and noises my spell had produced, but they deemed the attacking radscorpion a more pressing threat. Now, where were-

COVER YOUR EYES AND EARS! Pinkie suddenly exclaimed, appearing right before me.

Confused, I activated S.A.T.S. again. What? Why?

Because, Pinkie began, floating away from my face and pointing behind her, to the right, of that!

Focusing on what she was pointing at, I noticed a small, round metallic object that hadn’t been there just a moment ago. But what was it? It looked familiar- GRENADE!? I shouted mentally, recalling the apple-shaped explosive device I had used to blow up the Stable Eleven’s door control panel.

Panic seized me; did I have the time to get away from it before it would explode? And who in their right mind had dropped it? Every single slaver that was fighting Pinchy would be hurt by the explosion!

Calm down, silly, Pinkie Pie replied while - to my utter bewilderment - giggling, there’s nothing to be afraid of.

Nothing to be afraid of?! I demanded. That isn’t just scary, it’s downright dangerous!

No it isn’t, it’s just a flashbang grenade, the pink apparition said, clearly amused by my reaction. They’re basically like fireworks, if fireworks didn’t have any colors and exploded right next to you, temporarily blinding and deafening you.

Frowning (mentally) at the explanation, I turned my attention back to the explosive. Now that I looked at it better, the grenade was different than the exploding one. Similar to the shock grenade Jack had used to intimidate the Enclave patrol with, it had a colored band going around it, although this one’s was white.

So what you’re saying, darling, I began slowly, is that it doesn’t cause an explosion?

Yep! Well, it does, but it mostly just produces a blinding light and very loud noise, you would have to stand right next to it to actually be physically hurt by the blast.

Oh, I see, I replied, measuring the distance I was from the grenade. A few yards, that should be- wait a moment, darling, I paused, why do you know so much about those flashbang grenades?

I used them instead of firecrackers at a party I threw once. Both myself and Fluttershy stared at Pinkie in utter surprise, causing her to shrug in bewilderment. What? I had to improvise!

I would ask for more details to just… how, but I decided I had more pressing matters to be focusing on. Back to the topic, will I be safe if I just cover my eyes and ears?

Mmm, you’ll probably still hear ringing, it’s VERY loud, Pinkie added, frowning.

Oh no! Fluttershy exclaimed suddenly. Pinchy! Angel, you must tell it to hide underground!

A cold dread went through me at the thought of how a creature with so many eyes that relied on vibrations felt throughout the entire body for hearing would be affected by a flashbang grenade. Yes, darling, I will, thank you for bringing this to my attention. Where do you think the flashbang grenade came from? I asked, wanting to solve that one mystery before I would cancel S.A.T.S.

Hmm… it miiiiight have something to do with the slaver who had his throat cut, Pinkie replied, grimacing as she pointed towards the far side of the crowd.

Unfortunately, that slaver must have been on the edge of my vision as, unable to turn my eyes, I could barely make him out. However, the brief description provided by Pinkie sufficed to make me realize what had happened.

Aite! She must have gotten here after noticing the commotion… But why is she using the flashbang grenade? Does she plan to kill the rest of the slavers after they are blinded? It was a tempting thought, but now that I had calmed down I could analyze the situation better. No, there’s too many of them, I don’t think even with Pinchy and myself helping we would be able to kill all of them before they would recover. Aite would be able to conclude such a situation more accurately than myself, so this couldn’t be her plan. Besides, a lot of them had escaped from the fight, they could come back… and come to think of it, there should have been more slavers than those that had gathered around me earlier, I noted. Were they still hiding around the town? It seemed odd that a singular zebra could inspire such fear… or maybe they’ve all been killed by Khan and their bodies were in another part of the town? In any case, I thought, focusing on present problems, even if we were able to defeat those slavers around us more could surround us afterwards. She must be planning on the two of us escaping.

Now that was an unpleasant thought. Me running all the way to… wherever we would run to, we were supposed to head for Sanctuary to rendezvous with Jack, maybe that was still the plan. I suppose it is the closest haven to Appleloosa… still, it didn’t make the prospect of running all the way to it while pursued by slavers any more appealing. How much time would a flashbang grenade buy us, ten seconds? Well, at least I’d have the time to look for the statuettes...

I hope she knows what she’s doing, I remarked, resigned. To think all of this is because I removed the Mind Control Talisman from Khan’s head… If only I had realized before that those slavers were as bad as raiders, I wouldn’t have felt responsible for the carnage Khan could have caused and came out, only to be accosted by Whip Crack and be blamed for everything bad that had recently befallen Appleloosa!

Pinkie tilted her head as I mentally scoffed in anger. Well, you were responsible for a few of those…

You came out to do your duty as their medic and because you do care for your patients, Fluttershy unexpectedly spoke up as I turned my attention to the pink apparition in mild annoyance. She smiled and continued, Even though Aite had expressed her misgivings, you’ve done what you thought was best. Nopony should be blamed for that, least of all by themselves.

Thank you, Fluttershy, I replied, warmed by her words. Even though I could still see and hear both her and Pinkie, I felt regret that I wasn’t physically holding their statuettes at the moment. I just… I just wish I could have done something that wouldn’t have put all of us in danger.

I’m glad you did, though, Fluttershy retorted, then, as her smile slightly soured, she added I’m glad you’ve let your caring nature shine though. With all those… horrible things you’ve been doing, it could be easy to forget about what makes the real you.

Well, I began to think; even though it was understandable how Fluttershy, of all people, could still have some doubts about me, I found myself slightly put off by her change in demeanor, I suppose it could be. But I already told you, didn’t I? Back in New Appleloosa; I’ve started this journey as Angel, and I intend to finish it as Angel, I said, recalling that argument we had back then.

The heartening memory from the time we were finally able to make a connection despite our different morals began to darken as remembering the conversation had made me remember New Appleloosa, and why - and more importantly, with whom - I was there.

Apple Core, and the slavers.

My attention turning back to the surrounding ponies, I briskly thought And for this journey to continue I’ll have to get out of this bothersome situation. Once I do, I quickly added with a mental smile to the two apparitions as I prepared to cancel S.A.T.S. I’ll make sure you won’t have to fear that you forget who I really am.

I wasn’t speaking about myself forgetting.

The remark, uttered at the exact moment I cancelled S.A.T.S., had almost given me a pause. Almost. As the world around me had seemingly resumed again, I stayed focused on what I had to do. I would ask Fluttershy what she meant later.

PINCHY! I cried mentally, directing my thoughts and fears towards the radscorpion as I covered my ears and closed my eyes shut. UNDERGROUND, NOW!

Pinchy hesitated, briefly, no doubt confused by the panic that I poured into it. I also sent images of darkness and thought back to the tunnels underneath us, though, and it was enough. I heard - no, felt - as Pinchy stopped fighting slavers and buried itself, its body vibrating as it made its way through the ground with the ease I would have crossing through water.

With my ears closed, I couldn’t hear how the slavers reacted to the radscorpion suddenly retreating, but-

PIIIiiiiiiiiiii!!!

Sweet Lustrous Luna, that was loud even with my ears covered! And the “flash” part of the flashbang grenade lightened up the inside of my eyelids bright red! What was Aite think-

“Wh-” escaped my lips as something grabbed me by the barrel and lifted my up into the air. Opening my eyes and looking down I saw it was Aite. “What are you doing?!” I demanded as she carried me through the air away from the crowd-

Oh no.

“Let go of me!” I yelled, trying to free myself from her grasp.

“Ough!” Aite exclaimed in surprise as my struggling caused her to lose attitude. “Calm down Crazy, it’s me!”

“I know!” I replied, staring at the crowd of disoriented, blinded and deafened slavers as yard by yard they got further and further away, searching for the statuettes somewhere on the ground among them. “Turn around, I need to get them back!”

“No idea what you’re on about, but it’s not happening!” Aite retorted, misunderstanding my intentions.

For a split second, I considered using some spell on her that would force her to release me. But as panicked as I was about leaving Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie behind, I knew that even if Aite would let me go I wouldn’t be able to make it back to them and get away before the slavers would recover. Already I could see them turning around, rubbing their eyes and trying to make sense of what had happened.

Don’t worry! I quickly called out to the two apparitions as they floated beside me; already, their images started to disappear as I got further away from the statuettes. I’ll ask her to go back for you as we’ve talked! If she won’t I’ll get you back myself!

Both Fluttershy and Pinkie didn’t seem to be much worried. Oh, I’m just glad she got you away, Fluttershy said, sighing in relief. Don’t worry about us, we can wait.

You won’t have to wait for long, I promise, I thought to them, taking strength from their calm.

Pinkie waved energetically. See you soon! she exclaimed, disappearing.

Fluttershy just smiled. Stay-

She was gone too.

Not for long, I thought, turning my attention to Aite and opening my mouth.

Before I could say a word, though, the bat pony turned sharply. Gasping in surprise at the maneuver, I was unable to speak for the next few heartbeats as Aite flew through a door into a building. An all too familiar building, as I quickly realized when she dropped me unceremoniously on the ground, breathing heavily.

“Goddesses, that was exhausting!” she complained in between breaths, closing the clinic door. Massaging her forelegs, she added “You couldn’t have made that scene anywhere closer?!”

“I hadn’t intended on making a scene, sweetie,” I told her, massaging my flank from the rather unpleasant collision with the floor. “More importantly-”

“‘More importantly’ can wait,” Aite cut me off, jumping up into the air. “Come on, trot and talk, I’ll explain the rest of the plan,” she added as she turned towards the door leading to my laboratory and slowly flew away.

Although annoyed at the dismissal tone of her voice, I quickly fell in step behind her. “So you’ve decided which one of Jack’s emergency scenarios would fit this situation best?” I asked, deciding that hearing out our plan for survival was slightly more important for the moment.

My attention drifted briefly as I felt something poking the edge of my consciousness. For a brief, delusional moment I thought it was Fluttershy and Pinkie, but quickly I realized that it was Pinchy. The radscorpion’s… uncertainty as to what had happened prickled me, demanding an explanation. Unsure how exactly to explain what a flashbang grenade was, I instead relayed that I was safe and we were going underground too (at least, I assumed so), asking it to wait.

Aite’s voice pulled me back to my surroundings. “Nah, I knew straight away,” she explained, much to my surprise. Flying past one of the beds she picked up a duffel bag that was on it and threw it at me, forcing me to stop to catch it with my forelegs. “Your stuff. Anyway, this is what Jack called the ‘fucked up beyond repair but both of you are still alive’ scenario.”

“What a charming name,” I remarked, briefly glancing into the bag - noticing a small sack that chinked a little when touched (most likely because it was filled with my bottle caps), healing potions, cram, a bottle of water, and, most importantly, Burst’s ripper and the Wasteland’s Survival Guide - before hoisting it over myself. “If you knew what-”

“Because the first stage of the scenario was to let you go out and make a scene, then get you out when it inevitably turned bad,” Aite cut me off again, answering the question before I could even finish it. As I stared at her in silent shock, she shrugged and added “I was afraid that if you knew you either wouldn’t comply or wouldn’t be convincing enough.”

“Wouldn’t- convincing enough?!” I stammered, finding myself at the loss of words. As Aite turned around and resumed heading towards my laboratory, I snapped myself out of my confusion and followed after her, my irritation rising. “So you lied to me and sent me out fully expecting me to be murdered by an angry mob?”

“I was pretty honest about that last part from the beginning. Besides, I packed your things in like a minute, then I was right next to you. Oh, and yeah, you had a freaking radscorpion underneath the slavers ready to attack,” Aite added, deadpanning back at me as she opened the door and led us downstairs. “I think you were pretty safe.”

As much as I disliked to admit it, Aite had a point. And I’ve wanted to go check on the town myself. Still...

“And how did you know I would, quote, ‘make a scene’, unquote?” I demanded, finding the assumption somewhat offending.

“It was Jack’s plan,” Aite reminded me, “buuut I believe his explanation would go along the lines of ‘because it’s you’, with a ‘drama queen’ comment thrown somewhere in there.”

Definitely offended.

“And what would you have done if the ‘scene’ wouldn’t have gone ‘bad’?”

Aite snorted. “Oh, it was bound to go bad with me around,” she said, rolling her eyes. Frowning, I opened my mouth to question what she meant, but just as we reached my laboratory Aite landed and turned to me. “Still, I’ve gotta admit, it looked like you’d convince them to fuck off for a moment there. And damn, you’ve got lungs on you!” she added, laughing.

“Um, thank you, sweetie,” I replied, put off by the change in demeanor.

“And that spell! I didn’t know you could shoot lightning out of your horn.”

“Oh, well, I never really used that spell before,” I admitted, starting to feel a little sheepish. “But I knew how to cast it, it’s basically- wait, hold on sweetie,” I finally stopped, recovering from my confusion and frowning. “Why are we discussing this? Shouldn’t we be running? I assumed we were going to my laboratory to leave through the underground tunnel, is this not the other part of this plan?”

“Yes and no,” Aite replied, oddly nonchalant. “It’s a bit more complicated. We’re not running because, as your lack of urgency points out, you can’t see any red bars on your E.F.S. yet, so the slavers aren’t chasing us quite yet. Probably they're still recovering from the flashbang and the fright your pet gave them, and because they hadn’t seen where we’ve escaped. But even they will figure out that the only place you could have run to is the clinic, so they will come and check it. And when they do come here, they would go down to the basement, blowing up the door if they have to, and eventually find the hatch and find the tunnel, so it won’t take long to pick up our trail. I’d say we’d gain somewhere between a ten and twenty minute advantage over them.”

“Then why are we just standing here talking, sweetie?” I asked, not understanding. Indeed, like she had said, I couldn’t see the slavers’ red bars on my E.F.S., but it didn’t change the fact that the sooner we left the longer distance we would put between us and our would-be pursuers.

“Because the other part of the plan will make sure we won’t have anypony chasing us,” Aite replied, then rolled her eyes. “And I’m stalling because I was hoping they would finally get to the clinic, so the presence of their red bars would give you the sense of urgency and not argue pointlessly about this next part. Ugh, I was really hoping they would get here by now,” she groaned, glancing up at the ceiling with a frown.

That really hadn’t put me at ease. “Why would I argue about the next part of the plan?”

Aite turned back to me and stared silently, but before I could prompt her again, she sighed and shrugged. “Because…” she said, reaching behind my desk and pulling out several round objects.

Objects that I realized I had seen before. Black Widow had Apple Core buy several of those in New Appleloosa.

“... we’re gonna blow this place up,” Aite finished, lifting up several mines in her forehooves.

“W-what?!” I exclaimed, aghast.

“We leave those by the door, leave through the tunnel, they come in and blow this clinic up to the cloud cover, preferably killing a lot of them in the process, and convincing everypony that you’re dead,” Aite explained nonchalantly, as if we were talking about something completely normal. “That way we won’t have to worry about any pursuit, and we can wait calmly by the exit from the tunnel for Jack and nightfall to make our escape.”

I was baffled. I had several thoughts swirling in my mind, to the point that I had no idea which to bring up first. My mouth opened and closed silently, as I desperately tried to cling to one thing I could voice. “That… I’m not an expert, sweetie, but I don’t think those mines will be able to cause such an explosion,” I finally brought up after a few heartbeats, pointing at the explosives.

That, of course, was the least of my worries, but raising it would give me the time to work up myself up to what I really wanted to say.

“Excellent point, which is why I am going to line them up from the door to your generators, when somepony enters they will cause a chain of explosions that will blow up said generators, and they will in turn ignite the oxygen you are going to fill this lab with thanks to those talismans,” Aite countered, reaching to my desk and picking up one of the Breathing Oxygen Talismans that I had tried to modify.

I stared at them numbly as Aite put them back. That actually could work. If my laboratory was filled with oxygen then- wait, why was I even entertaining this idea?!

“Sweetie, as much as value creativity, I cannot let you go through with this plan,” I began, narrowing my eyes at the bat pony.

Rolling her eyes, she replied: “If this is about your pets, I already released those radroaches outside when I finished packing you.”

She did what?! I was about to voice my outrage, but after a second I realized that, all things considered, it was probably for the best. Regardless of Aite’s plan, the slavers could kill Snuggles and Wigglebutt just out of spite.

“Thank you, sweetie, for being so considerate,” I said, honestly thankful, “but there are three other lives besides Snuggles and Wigglebutt that I am concerned about.”

Aite let out a groan as I pointed at the cells. “Seriously? You’re going to argue to save the lives of your test subjects?”

“Yes! They are my precious test subjects and I am not about to let them be pointlessly murdered like this!”

“Ugh, who am I kidding, of course you’re arguing about this,” Aite commented, holding up her forehoof to the bridge of her muzzle. “I knew I should have slit their throats after you left… Seriously, why aren’t the slavers here yet?!” she finally exclaimed, looking up at the ceiling again.

I clenched my jaw, annoyed that I was being ignored, but then her last sentence actually gave me an idea. It wasn’t perfect, but it would allow me to save the lives of my test subjects… and I had just the argument that could convince Aite to go along with it.

“You know, sweetie,” I started with a confident smile, “your daring rescue was very well executed. With all the slavers blinded and me leaving no hoofprints in the ground, why, it might have appeared as I vanished into thin air!”

“Oh Goddesses, where are you going with this?” Aite replied as she turned back to me with a deadpan.

“Well-”

“We’re on a clock here, so get to the point.”

Alright then, so much for subtlety.

“Very well. My point is, the slavers are idiots, and might take them a while to check the clinic if they hadn’t seen me enter it. Considering what I had mentioned about Black Widow, they could be thinking that I had teleported away. The slavers might be more concerned with Pinchy, as they saw it both emerge and hide underground, so they could wander off in search of it, and even manage to find the entrance to the underground tunnel. However, if they saw some ponies leave my clinic and tell them that I am inside…” I trailed off, letting Aite’s imagination do the rest.

The bat pony frowned. “You want to release them?”

“Why not? Before, my immediate concern is that they would have alerted the slavers to our escape. However, this way we use it to our advantage, to let them know I am still here so that we can fake my death,” I said, ignoring the prickle of annoyance at the notion that I, of all ponies, had to fake my death. “I admit, I am still upset that I won’t be able to learn the results of my latest experiment, but I prefer that they live through this so I might learn it someday.” As Aite hadn’t changed her expression, I decided to add “Also, sweetie, I’m afraid I’m not going to activate the Breathable Oxygen Talisman until you agree.”

The bat pony groaned and facehoofed. “Is it possible they know about the hatch and tunnel?” she asked, still covering her face. “I remember that mare laughing once about what we were talking about.”

That… was a good question. I frowned as I glanced at her cell. “The other two were in my care for a while by the time we'd discovered the hatch. I know from experience that by then my test subjects no longer register what is happening outside of their cells, so it would be very unlikely that they know. As for Thorny Locust… even if she does know, she won’t be able to talk for several days,” I finally said, turning back to Aite.

“Wonderful,” the bat pony snorted, shaking her head. “Fine. Just... activate the talismans now, we’ll leave as soon as they run.”

“Of course, thank you dar-” I began, but hesitated as Aite began to pull up her hood. A suspicion rose within me. “You’re not planning on killing them after I activate the talismans, right?”

“Yes, because I want to hear you bitch and moan about it while we wait underground,” Aite retorted sarcastically. “No, I just don’t want them to know there is another pony with you, let them tell the slavers that it’s just you.”

With those words she pulled up her hood and disappeared. For a brief moment I considered first releasing my test subjects and only then activating the talismans. It would be a safer option. However… Aite appeared to accept my logic when I told her that the test subjects would bring the slavers to the clinic. There still weren’t any red bars on my E.F.S., meaning this was the only way to ensure they would come here soon. I could trust her to do the smarter thing and let them go.

I trotted around the desk to pick up the keys to their hoofcuffs, grabbing the talismans with my magic as I walked past them, activating them. Immediately, their gemstones lit up and they began humming quietly.

As I picked up the keys, my eyes stopped at the broken body of Janitor. Everything had been happening so quickly, I didn’t even have the time to process its… loss. It was just a robot, true, but it has helped me quite a lot since I’ve repaired and reactivated it. However, thanks to Khan it was far more damaged than it had been when I first found it, with a huge dent right in the middle of its body and several wires sticking out. I doubted I could repair it even if I had the time. I played with the idea of retrieving its memory storage so I could restore it later in a different robot, but I had no idea where I would even start.

Goodbye, I thought lamely, placing my hoof on its body for a moment, then returned my focus on saving those that I could save.

Hurrying back to Thorny Locust’s cell, I opened it and entered. As expected, the raider mare was lying on her back, with her forehooves cuffed to the pipes, breathing heavily through an opened muzzle, her gaze resting on the ceiling. She lifted her head a little at the sound of the opening door, her eyes widening at my sight.

“Hello sweetie,” I began, trotting closer and causing her to twitch. I paused by her head and quickly inspected her now perfect teeth. “Everything appears to be in order. I would advise you to avoid eating solid foods until the pain passes,” I added, bringing the keys to the hoofcuffs and opening them.

Thorny Locust stared at me, focus returning to her eyes, in what I assumed was bewilderment. She didn’t even move her foreleg as I freed it and began working on the next one. Once that one was free too, she brought her forehooves to her chest, massaging them tenderly.

Even though she was weakened by the pain, I did keep in mind that this mare had just attacked me yesterday, so I left the cell immediately after releasing her. As I walked out, I heard her finally respond.

“W-whaaa…?” she gasped, her question turning into a pained moan as she moved her jaw.

“You’re free to go, sweetie,” I told her, smiling pleasantly, then pointed in the direction of the stairs leading to the clinic. “Door is that way.”

I turned around, leaving for the other cell. As I opened the door and saw Cutter and Manacles - both of whom flinched at the sight of me - I heard Thorny Locust get herself up from the floor and trot carefully. When the raider mare poked her head out of her cell and looked around before locking her eyes with mine, I smiled again, then entered the cell dismissively.

The sound of her hurried hoofsteps let me know she took my words to heart and headed for the exit. Knowing that now we were definitely going to run out of time, I quickly released first Manacles, then Cutter, much to the confusion of both.

“What, what are you doing?” Manacles asked, moving further away from me, deeper into the cell.

“What does it look like, sweetie? I’m releasing you all, you are free to go.”

“N-no, it’s a trick, like last time,” Cutter stammered, his eyes widening in fear. “Y-you just want something from us!”

“Sweetie, if you recall, when I asked you to have a talk with me and Jack I had been quite honest from the beginning that you weren’t going to be freed,” I replied, annoyed that he was wasting time. Backtrotting out of their cell, I asked “Why would I lie now?”

The two of them exchanged uncertain glances as I left, then I heard them slowly get up and just like Thorny Locust before, carefully make their way outside. Manacles was first to emerge, and he froze when he saw me standing by the door. I smiled reassuringly, and he swallowed nervously before taking another step towards the stairs.

As I watched him leave, a thought occurred to me. “Oh, and sweetie?” I asked, causing him to flinch and turn sharply to me. “Be a dear and tell those filthy degenerates outside that they will never take me alive, alright?” Manacles nodded nervously, and I giggled happily. “Thank you so much sweetie.”

Manacles made a sound, something between a laugh and a whine, and hurried towards the stairs, hubbling a little. At the same time Cutter emerged from the cell. I raised my hoof to his chest to stop him.

“A moment, sweetie,” I said. Ignoring his wail and twitching, I continued “You have Manacles’ right kidney, Manacles has the right kidney of Thorny Locust - the raider mare I’ve told you about - and she has your right kidney. You might want to get around to switching your organs back before your bodies begin to reject them.”

Cutter began to nod frantically several seconds after I finished talking, then proceeded to follow after Manacles, first slowly, then hobbling as fast as he could. As I watched him go, I had to wonder if anything I had said actually got through to him, but, sadly, at this point there was nothing I could do about it.

As Cutter disappeared behind the door it closed, seemingly on its own. Aite appeared beside them, pulling off her hood. “‘They will never take me alive’?” she quoted questioningly, amused.

I sighed, trotting towards the hatch. “Believe it or not, darling, I read a comic or two as a foal too.” Noticing Aite’s skeptically raised eyebrow, however, I blushed and felt compelled to add “Fine, darling, my friend made me read them.”

That seemed to amuse the bat pony even more. “Seriously, you had-”

As much as I wanted to indulge her, at the moment she began to speak, what we had been waiting for had finally happened.

“Red bar!” I exclaimed, nodding above.

Aite immediately abandoned whatever joke she was trying to make. “Down the hatch, now!” she said, hurrying to set up the mines.

She didn’t need to tell me twice, I was already beside the hatch, opening it with my magic. I hurried down the ladder, moving as fast as I could, but Aite still managed to finish and join me before I reached the bottom.

“Hurry!” she said, closing the hatch as I dropped down the last yard. “We better get as far away as possible!”

Nodding in agreement, I lit up my PipBuck’s light, and after Aite flew away saying “This way!” I ran after her.

After reaching the center of the cavern I spotted Pinchy. The radscorpion was waiting for us as I had asked it to. As quickly as I could without pausing to concentrate I poured into its mind the danger above, similar to the flashbang from earlier but more dangerous, and let it know my panic. For a moment I could swear I saw Pinchy jump a little in fear, but it must have just scurried backwards, then, as we passed the radscorpion it began to borrow itself in the ground.

I noticed Aite turning her head to look at it. “Does this thing move faster under-”

BOOOOM!!!

The explosion, even though stifled by several yards of earth and rock, was still awfully loud, but it was nowhere near as scary as the powerful tremor that threw me to the ground. I was pretty sure I uttered a scared shriek as I covered my ears, huddling into a fetal position, barely aware of a second body pressing against me (but at the same time frightfully aware of the loose dirt falling on top of me) as we waited for the aftershock to stop.

Thankfully, after several seconds, the quaking had stopped. Beside me Aite let out a loud sigh of relief as she got up. “Glad that it worked out without problems for a change,” she said as I joined her, both of us shaking ourselves off.

“‘For a change’?” I repeated, the phrase capturing my interest. I might have also wanted to distract myself from the fright we had. “Have you done such a thing before?”

I could still hear the beating of my heart within my ears as I waited for Aite’s answer. I shook my head and tried to calm down, then looked up at the ceiling. While with the light of my PipBuck I could still see some dirt pour down from it here and there, it seemed to be largely undamaged by the explosion.

The bat pony, who was busy cleaning her ear, shrugged. “Actually, I did help a target fake their death once or twice, but it wasn’t what I had meant. Anyway,” Aite added, changing the subject before I could pursue it further, “better to not push our luck and go wait near the exit.”

I couldn’t agree more. Hastily, I followed after Aite as she led me towards the cavern’s exit, having not explored it myself before. It was further away than I had expected, but after a few minutes, when we made a final turn in the tunnel, I noticed the dim, below-the-cloud-cover daylight at the end of the tunnel in front of us.

Pinchy was already waiting for us at the cavern’s exit. It turned to us on its eight legs and approached me slowly. Pulling my eyes away from the rocky exit and the odd barricade of withered twigs and branches to focus on the radscorpion, I raised my hoof to pet it, only to gasp when I noticed that it was wounded.

“Oh no, darling, you’re hurt!” I exclaimed, looking over Pinchy. The injuries were similar to the ones he had received from Jack after attacking us, only much lighter. Thankfully, my assessment regarding the slavers’ weapons (and/or accuracy) must have been correct. Still, there had been a lot of them, so it was really not a surprise that they’ve managed to wound Pinchy.

“It looks like none of the bullets managed to penetrate your carapace and they are only tangential wounds” I mused, uttering a sigh of relief. I let my Healing Spell wash over Pinchy, and immediately relief and happiness flooded over me from its mind. “Oh, you’re welcome, darling!” I said happily, petting its cephalothorax.

“Adorable,” Aite’s comment brought my attention back to her. The bat pony was sitting down beside the cavern exit, brushing off some remaining dirt from her Invisibility Cloak. “Anyway, now that that’s over,” she began when she noticed I was looking at her, “the last part of the plan, as I might have mentioned, is that we wait for Jack.”

Nodding with understanding, I wondered how she could be so… nonchalant about what had just happened. We just caused a powerful explosion that…

… that destroyed the place I called home for the past month.

Everything had happened so quickly, I hadn’t even had the time to ponder that. I was primarily concerned with our survival and my test subjects, which thankfully I managed to save, but my laboratory… and my clinic… it wasn’t a home, but it was mine, and until today it was a place where I felt safe.

I had been prepared to leave it, to flee this town, but having it destroyed, no, destroying it by my own hoof and horn, was another matter.

A clap right before my face broke me out of my reverie. “You weren’t listening, were you?” Aite asked, sounding a touch annoyed.

“Forgive me, darling,” I apologized. “I was lost in thought.”

The bat pony rolled her eyes. “As I was saying, Jack will notice that your clinic was blown up and will come straight here upon returning to Appleloosa. If he won’t get back by nightfall, however, we will leave by ourselves, and head for Sanctuary. Even if we won’t be able to get there because of that weird talisman of theirs, we could hide in the ruins of that mining town you talked about and wait for Jack there. Got it? Good,” she said when I nodded. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go out and scout the town to see how well our little ploy has worked. You stay here.”

My eyes widened as I realized this was my chance. “Wait! I have a favor to ask of you, darling. While you’re out there, could you find my two statuettes?”

“Your what?” Aite asked, but then answered her own question: “Oh, right, those two statuettes of the Ministry Mares, right?”

“Yes. During that argument with the slavers, things got a little heated for a moment there, and when Whip Crack kicked me the statuettes fell out of my pocket. I would be most grateful if you’d recover them, darling.”

Aite sighed and looked up in exasperation. “Fine, I’ll look for them, but I make no promises.”

“No!” I exclaimed, taking a step forward angrily… only to realize that I was about to vent my frustration on my only hope of reuniting with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Dropping my ears in shame, I took that step back. “Forgive me, darling, I didn’t mean to snap. I just… it is very important for me to get those two statuettes back. Please, Aite, I cannot leave without them.”

The bat pony, whose eyebrows rose up in surprise when I snapped, now titled her head in confusion. I prepared myself for some uncomfortable questions, but to my relief Aite just groaned. “Ugh, fine, I will search for them.”

Happiness washed over me. “Oh, thank you darling!” I exclaimed, lunging forward and embracing the bat pony.

Aite uttered a sigh and patted my back. “You’re welcome, Cray-Cray. Now let go so I can get to it.” As I released her, she began to make her way through the withered branches that hid the entrance, murmuring quietly. “Looking for some memorabillia, I swear… You know,” she added more loudly as she stood outside, turning to look at me, “considering that I’ll do this on top of spending the entire day saving your flank, I would tell you that you’ll owe me medical care for life, except I still don’t trust you to not remove some of my organs.”

I frowned as Aite turned around, but before I could call out that I wouldn’t do that the bat pony glanced behind again.

“Or add some.”

“I wouldn’t do that!” I exclaimed, offended that she would think so, but the bat pony had already turned invisible, clearly uninterested in continuing the discussion.

Annoyed, I turned to Pinchy. “Can you believe that?” I said, huffing as I sat down. The radscorpion’s thoughts became quizzical, but I had no idea how to begin describing this exchange to it. However, there was something else that seemed to bother Pinchy. Closing my eyes, I tried to focus.

Above. Angry creatures. Too many. Can’t hunt. Hide?

That’s what I managed to interpret from its thoughts. Now, how to reply...

I imagined this tunnel, its previous home. Then added slavers inside of it, as Pinchy would see them, gray shapes moving around, making a lot of noises and vibrations with their hooves, searching for us. Night… I conjure an image of blackness and cold, and the feeling of wind to let it know that I didn’t mean darkness of a cavern. Travelling, walking for a long time, to a new… new home. New cavern, new nest.

It seemed that Pinchy understood my reply, as I felt something akin to satisfaction from it. In any way, it left me and scuttled a bit deeper into the tunnel, where it was darker, and settled down. After a few moments I realized that it began to drift to sleep.

Smiling at the magnificent creature, I decided to let it sleep. Considering how tightly it was bound for a week and was released not two hours ago, this was probably the first time it could rest comfortably.

Turning my attention outside, I decided to risk looking around. There were no red bars on my E.F.S., or any bars at all, so as long as I’ll stay alert and not go too far from the entrance, I should be able to hide myself.

Taking a step through the branches and over what remained of the tree’s trunk, I had the unpleasant image in my head of Aite sneaking up behind me thanks to her cloak and scaring me.

Shaking it off my mind, I carefully pushed away some branches to the side to avoid my lab coat getting scratched, and took a good look around.

Outside was a graveyard of dead trees.

Jumping outside of the tunnel, I scanned the remains of what must have been an orchard before the war. Dead stumps, withered husks and toppled over trees littered the nearby hills, aside from the path leading to the tunnel. I vaguely recalled one of the slavers mentioning about getting wood for fires on harsher winters from somewhere nearby. If that was the case and this dead orchard had its resources gradually depleted over the two centuries, then I shudder to think how big it must have been once!

Recalling that piece of trivia brought back Appleloosa to my mind. I turned in its direction, worried if I was too exposed in the open. Fortunately, I realized that the slaver town was further away than I initially expected. Its view was partially obscured by the landforms - which of course made my situation even better - but it appeared that it was almost half a mile away. Relaxing, I took another look at my E.F.S. to make sure nobody was near (aside from Pinchy of course) before I turned my attention back to the dead nature around me.

As I trotted deeper into the orchard, looking among the trees for some better preserved ones, curious if I could identify what species or kind at least it was, my attention drew to the nearest hill. On top of it was a single, lone tree. Just like every other tree, it too hadn’t escaped the ravages of time, but this was a particular case. A lightning bolt - I’d assume, based on illustrations I’ve seen in my books (though it very well could have been a strange Wastelander with too much free time on their hooves) - had stricken it long ago, splitting it almost in two.

The sight of this once mighty, full of life tree, being torn apart like so, its branches spreading apart from each other by time and gravity, grew more and more depressing the longer I looked at it. Despite that, I felt the urge to go to it, my instinct as a medical doctor compelling me to help even though it was long since too late to help this creature. At the same time, though, I was aware how far it was from the cavern, and even I could tell that I would be very exposed on that hill.

It appeared that I had made the right choice, because as I decided against going over to that dead tree, a green bar appeared on my E.F.S. I didn’t need Aite scolding me- wait a moment. Aite was invisible to my PipBuck’s E.F.S. while under her cloak. Unless she took her hood off there was no way it could be her. Was it Jack then? No, that seemed unlikely, it was coming from the direction of Appleloosa… unless he flew first there, noticed the state my clinic was in, and flew right back here?

Even though it was a green bar, just as a precaution, I’ve begun to make my way back to the cavern’s entrance. However, in the time it took me to cross half the distance, I finally spotted the one who the bar represented. Sighing with relief, I sat down and waited.

“My, this is a surprise, darling,” I said after a few moments. Smiling, I added “Hello, Watcher. It’s been a while.”

The sprite-bot hovered before me silently for two seconds before I heard the familiar, mechanical voice. “Hi Angel.”

I tilted my head in surprise, confused by the drawn out reply. Actually, come to think about it, it wasn’t the only confusing thing. What was Watcher doing here?

“May I ask to what do I owe for this unexpected pleasure?” I asked diplomatically, retaining my pleasant demeanor.

This time Watcher was much quicker to reply. “This sprite-bot was flying near Appleloosa when I hacked into it, moments before that big explosion in town. I sent it over to check what had happened, and overheard slavers talking that it was your clinic that blew up.”

“And you’ve come searching for me?” I asked, touched by his sentiment… and a little suspicious. Something didn’t add up- Ah, of course! “That was very sweet of you, darling. But, if I may ask, how did you know I would be here? You headed straight for this…” I trailed off, unsure how to best call this place; orchard? Graveyard? Wood supply?

“This apple orchard, yes,” Watcher finished for me. Oh, so those were apple trees? I glanced quickly at the closest dead trunk, but then the sprite-bot moved a few inches closer, taking my attention once again. “Is it true?”

Confused, I blinked rapidly before replying. “Well, yes darling, my clinic blew up.”

“Not that!” the voice from the sprite-bot exclaimed, quite loudly.

Furrowing my brow, I waited a heartbeat for some further information, but when I didn’t get any, I sighed. “Darling, a lot has happened since this morning, so I’m going to need you to be a little more specific.”

“Is it true you’ve kidnapped ponies and done some things to them?”

Oh.

I regarded the sprite-bot silently, processing the information. Clearly, my test subject must have gotten out of the clinic before it exploded. They didn’t have any outside appearance of being experimented on, so they must have been alive for either Watcher or slavers to come to such a conclusion. That was a relief.

Of course, this meant that somebody I counted among my friends had learned about my experiments in a very unfortunate manner.

Seeing no point in denying it, I answered his question, “Why, yes darling, it’s true.”

I regarded the sprite-bot calmly, curious to Watcher’s reaction. Seconds drew out, with the robot hovering before me. If only I could see his face, to guess what was going through the mind behind it. But I couldn’t, so I was resigned to waiting for the inevitable questions. With the memories of my long discussion with Jack still fresh on my mind, I felt confident that I could make Watcher understand too that-

“We’re done here.”

Wait, what?

I opened my mouth, and at the same time the sprite-bot turned, emitting the familiar upbeat music.

Did he just…

“Watcher?” I called out, bewildered by the abrupt end of the conversation. Rising to my hooves, I followed after the sprite-bot. “Watcher? Come back!” I shouted, breaking my trot into a gallop to overtake the robot. “Watcher, let me explain!” I began as I moved to stand before the sprite-bot, backtrotting as it continued to fly forward, still obeying its original programming. Was Watcher completely gone? No, he had to still see me! “Watcher! Darling, I-”

The music stopped.

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!” the voice from the robot erupted; somehow, I had the feeling that the pony on the other side was much louder than the sprite-bot’s broadcaster volume settings could convey. “DO YOU REMEMBER WHY I ASKED YOU TO FIND YOUR VIRTUE? DO YOU REMEMBER HOW I SAID THAT IT WOULD KEEP YOU FROM GIVING INTO THE WASTELAND? I warned you,” Watcher said, more calmly, while I tried to recover from the fright he gave me and listening attentively, “I told you, I didn’t want to see another pony break like her, but you…”

As Watcher hesitated, I took my window. “Watcher-”

“You came to the Wasteland already broken.”

I frowned, looking at the sprite-bot, unsure what to say to that. “Watcher,” I finally tried again, “I-”

Music again flew from the robot as it floated past me. I could only stare numbly straight ahead.

“Watcher?” I asked, looking behind me.

The sprite-bot moved further ahead.

“Watcher!” I called out, turning around.

He didn’t respond.

Ah like ya, but Ah ain’t gonna risk my skin for ya after that stunt.

This court has seen all the evidence and heard every explanation that you have agreed to provide, and found nothing that could soften the sentence, let alone exonerate you. The verdict has been declared, and you are no longer a citizen of this Stable.

Leave. Now. And don’t ever come back, Angel.

Lightning shot from my horn, striking the sprite-bot. Sparks erupted and the music turned into a disjointed clatter while the robot was held by my magic. When the spell ended, the sprite-bot fell down the ground, bounced, and rolled down, back towards me.

“Listen to me,” I began, trotting towards the robot, “you self-righteous, judgemental coward! How dare you judge me while hiding behind a robot! You believe yourself to be morally superior to me?! Do not make me-”

“Doctor?!”

I paused, mid sentence, and turned my gaze from the sprite-bot below me towards the direction of the voice. My fury evaporated at the sight of six slavers approaching. Forgetting about the sprite-bot, I watched as they approached.

What was going on? Where did they come from? How did I miss six red- no, they weren’t red. Their bars were green, meaning they weren’t hostile. Which, now that I realized that they weren’t coming from the direction of Appleloosa, made sense. They couldn’t have been in town when Whip Crack had roused the other slavers against me, otherwise they would certainly be hostile.

“What are you doing here?” I asked as they approached.

“What are we doing here?” their leader, High Caliber, repeated. “We were trying to track down that crazy zebra when we heard the explosion, what are you doing here? Why the fuck where you shouting at that stupid robot?” he asked, pointing at the sprite-bot.

I tried to ignore one of the other slavers twiddling around his hoof near his head to the others, much to their amusement. “Well,” I began slowly, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation… and failing. “Have you found him?” I asked nervously. “And what exactly had happened?”

“What do you mean, what happened?” one of the others said, grimacing. “Did you miss the dead bodies Khan left before running from the town?”

“Obviously, we didn’t find him,” High Caliber replied, rolling his eyes in exasperation. “Don’t change the subject doctor. What-”

“What the fuck is that thing!?” another slaver screeched, pointing with her hoof somewhere behind me.

I turned around, and realized it spoke volumes of my mental state that I hadn’t guessed who it was. Pinchy. The radscorpion had emerged from the cavern, I didn’t know why, nor did I know why it was walking towards us instead of digging through the ground. Was it not attacking? Did it sense my turmoil through the talisman in its brain and didn’t know what to make of it so it decided to check on me?

Those and other thoughts swirled through my mind as the slavers passed me. Only too late did I realize that they had raised their weapons and aimed them at Pinchy.

“No!” I screamed, casting Lightning Strike Spell on the closest mare before any of them could fire a single shot.

High Caliber whirled around sharply, his gun turning-

BAM----------------!

Pain, worse than I ever felt, erupted in me as fury surged through my body. Clicketing my pincers I rushed forward while I fell to the ground, screaming. Screaming and not hearing anything past the ringing in my ruptured eardrums. My carapace was pierced, and I still held my head, the gray shapes before my eyes giving way to flashes of my E.F.S. warnings that my head had been cripled. I felt my stinger strike one of them as I tried to get up on three wobbly legs, but then my pincer was ripped off. I fell back down to the ground as some new creature appeared, but then a new pain appeared right between my eyes, and all I knew was pain and the ground beneath me.

My head felt like somepony thrusted fire into it. What was going on? I couldn’t hear, my eyes wouldn’t open from the pain. I tried to focus, to cast a healing spell, but the pain was so unbearable.

A weight pushed me down, a hoof, no, two, pressed on my back. I tried to ask what was happening, but I wasn’t sure if I managed to. The weight increased, but then it was gone. I wasn’t relieved, it was nothing compared to the pain that burned in my head.

I tried to think, I had to think. I had to be shot. In the head. I was conscious, so it couldn’t be fatal. I could still move my hooves. I had to…

Somebody rolled me unto my back, then lifted my head up with surprising gentleness. Their hoof felt wrong. When I felt a touch on the side of my muzzle, I fought the pain and opened my eyes.

Jack’s worried face hovered above my own. His beak opened and closed, but no words came- no, I couldn’t hear. I told him, or at least I thought, that my eardrums must have been ruptured. Did I tell him? I couldn’t tell. I asked what happened.

The griffin’s attention turned to the side, he was pointing at something or someone outside of my vision, then waved something away, still holding the back of my head with his other paw. I turned my head a little, wanting to know what he was concerned about…

… and on the ground beside me, I saw the broken remains of my horn.

Footnote: Level Up!
New perk: Royal Canterlot Voice (level three) -- You have the voice of a Princess! You command attention, respect and obedience, and you could deafen a pony if you’d want to! You gain +5 points to Speech and Barter skills. Effects are cumulative with Royal Canterlot Voice level two, which is required in order to take this perk. Now that you mastered the Voice, you gain additional +5 points to Speech and Barter skills!
Quest perk: Lightning Strike (level one) -- You can shoot currents of electricity at your enemies, causing them pain and wounding them. Deals 10% extra damage to robots. You also have a low chance to paralyze living targets and to short-circuit small mechanical targets.

Chapter Nineteen: The Wayward Tribe

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“Well I got most of it right, anyway. Stuff that mattered.”

Broken.

The life I established for myself in Appleloosa was broken. My friendship with Apple Core was broken. My horn was broken.

I was broken.

Watcher had said that he had hoped finding my virtue would prevent me from “giving in to the Wasteland”. That he didn’t want to see another pony break. He said so before the overly dramatic reveal that I supposed was meant to mortify me.

Presumptuous.

I knew I was broken.

I’ve been broken ever since I was six years old.

~ ~ ~

Wait, what happened? And where was I?

When I opened my eyes I found myself lying on my back and within utter darkness. Turning my head around in search of any light - or just anything barely visible, really - didn’t help.

What happened? I once again thought, rolling to my side so I could get up… and discovered I couldn’t.

There was a wall right beside me.

No.

I turned around, bringing my hooves under me. My throat tightened as I felt my head bump against another wall, but it paled in comparison to the dread that overtook me as my back hit another wall.

“NO!” I yelled, shoving my back violently into it, trying to break free. “Let me out!”

I thrashed, punched and bucked against my prison, throwing my body from left to right with as much momentum as I could muster within this limited space, trying to break free. When nothing seemed to do anything, I once again turned to prop my back against the wall, grinding my teeth as I pushed as hard as I could, putting all of my strength into-

CRACK!

With a yelp, I fell backwards, turning around in the air and landing face first into something very cold and wet. The instant chill shook me to the core, suppressing any happiness I should feel about being finally free.

What is going on? I wondered, rising up on my forelegs and shaking my wet and cold muzzle. Trembling from the cold, I looked at the ground to see what I’d landed on. My eyes widened in surprise. Snow?

It was snowing. And there was snow everywhere. Anywhere I looked I saw snow covering everything.

That being said though, there wasn’t much I could see. It was too dark to make out my surroundings. I could see the snow-covered ground for several yards around me, but aside from that I might as well have been surrounded by a dark void. That snowstorm that seemed to pick up around me wasn’t helping.

A gust of wind picked up, making me feel even colder. Trembling, I sat on my haunches and huddled myself with my forelegs. I looked around, trying to make out anything. Maybe if I could locate the-

Shunk!

Crippling pain exploded in my chest. Abandoning any thoughts I had a split-second ago, I looked down in disbelief…

… at the blade protruding from my heart.

Blood was dripping down my chest, marring the snow beneath me. Every breath sent a surge of suffering through me. I could feel blood in my mouth, spilling past my lips.

Shaken, I turned my head, not understanding what was happening, to see a dark shadow standing behind me, their eyes staring back.

I lost my breath.

My head was grabbed and shoved down, into the pool of my own blood. Within, I saw reflected…

Darkness.

~ ~ ~

I groaned as I became conscious of my surroundings. Not from pain, no, of that I was free. Quite the opposite, I was very comfortable (aside from the unpleasant feeling in my stomach and surprisingly dry throat; how long has it been since I’ve eaten and drank?). The bed was warm and clean, it smelled better than my own in...

Appleloosa!

The events from before I passed out came rushing to my mind and I opened my eyes. Disoriented, I rose up from the bed - realizing while doing so that somepony had removed my clothing, leaving me with only my PipBuck and some kind of loose necklace around my neck - and looked around the room I found myself in. Just like the bed, it was in far better condition than my little home in the slaver town. The wallpaper showed small cracks here and there, but it was clean and the few pieces of furniture inside looked as if they were brand new. It was big enough to have another bed inside, a table, and two doors, one of them open and, from what I could see, leading to a lavatory.

My gaze stopped beside the other bed. Around it were some bags and other stuff that I recognized belonged to Jack and Aite. Relief washed over me. At the very least my allies and fellow conspirators hadn’t abandoned me, even if they were currently away.

Or should I have said ‘former fellow conspirators’? I mused. Idly, my hoof reached to my neck so I could examine whatever was hanging around it. I feel that would be more accurate-

I stopped my train of thought when I realized what was among my companions' things, specifically.

Aite’s Invisibility Cloak.

“About the only time I saw her without that cloak was when we were having sex”, Jack’s words echoed in my head. This was concerning. Why would she leave it here? Assuming they weren’t making love in the bathroom- no, the door was ajar, I would be able to hear them. And my E.F.S. wasn’t showing any bars nearby, anyway. Was she forced to leave it here for some reason? And where was ‘here’, exactly?

The answer to that came quickly when I finally looked at what was around my neck.

It was the same talisman as the one Deliverance had brought to Appleloosa.

I guess this must mean this is Sanctuary… and that we’re currently guests of this tribe. I hope, I amended, with a glance at Aite’s cloak. Any excitement I should have felt at the prospect of being at the same place where the ancestors of every Stable Eight citizen had stayed was obscured by worry. What happened after I lost consciousness? The last thing I can recall was Jack holding me...

I trailed off, frowning. Something didn’t feel right, usually when I would dwell into such musings, by now the other two would have- the statuettes!

Fluttershy? Pinkie Pie? I called out, turning my head around, hoping the two apparitions would appear, but they didn’t. I glanced at the night table next to the bed I was in, which had my lab coat folded neatly on top of it and the duffle bag Aite had packed for me beside it (and a bottle of water). So close… if their statuettes are inside, I should be able to hear and see them.

I bit my lip. Aite had flown back to Appleloosa, she was supposed to find the statuettes. Did she… put them in her own bags, or…

Wanting to make sure, I reached with my magic to my bags-

Oh.

The second I tried - and failed - to cast a spell, I remembered what had happened the moment before I passed out. The sight of my own horn lying on the ground beside me, and the splitting headache I had experienced.

At least the pain is gone, I noted, raising my forehoof to the side of my head. Slowly and carefully reaching towards my horn to examine the damage, I thought: Now, how should I go about restoring it? Ugh, the irony that I could heal another unicorn’s horn with little-

I paused, stunned. As my hoof reached the base of my horn, I felt no fractures. In fact, as I moved my hoof up, I seemed as if… my horn wasn’t broken.

That’s… alright, wow, I thought, in my relief uttering a short, happy laugh. I assume this means the tribe must have a skilled unicorn with medical training. No, wait, since this is the Sanctuary-

BANG!

What the- Startled, I looked towards the window, where the sudden sound came from. Frowning, I rose on my forelegs and dropped down from my bed and stumbled. A wave of nausea and weakness washed over me, and the unpleasant feeling in my stomach had reminded me of itself. I must have been lying in that bed for quite a while, possibly a day or two. Shaking myself off as I regained my balance, I ignored the unpleasant sensation and trotted towards the window.

I was met with a great view of the surrounding landscape meeting the cloud cover. Directly in front of me, though, a few stories below, was a big square between two wings of the building I was in. On the left side of the inner yard there was a crescent-shaped hole, while everywhere else the square was marked by stumps of long dead trees. Around it, though, I could see ponies milling about; most of them appeared to be working on patching up and repairing parts of the building surrounding them.

However, I didn’t get a very good look at them, as my attention was quickly drawn to the young colt that was clinging to the window sill.

“Oh my goodness!” I yelled in surprise as I reached with my magic to the window’s lock, and then when nothing happened groaned impatiently and quickly unlocked it with my mouth instead.

Opening the window, I leaned through it and grabbed the colt with my forelegs and pulled him into the room. Or, more specifically, pulled him upwards enough for him to get a better grip and then helped him pull himself into the room.

With my heart pounding loudly in my ears due to my fright, I needed to take a few calming breaths now that the colt was safe before speaking to him. Looking at him, I noticed that he was a young earth pony, his coat light brown and dotted with white spots all over, especially his barrel that appeared to be completely white. I also spotted a cutie mark on his flanks: two horseshoes entwined, forming an outline of a heart, as well as a talisman hanging from his neck, identical to mine.

I also noted that, despite the danger he had been in, he appeared more annoyed than frightened.

“What were you doing out there?” I finally asked the young colt. Taking a quick glance outside, I added “Why were you hanging out of the window on the third floor?”

The colt sighed. “Because my brother is a jerk.”

“Bitch.”

Surprised, I looked back towards the window. Another colt was hanging upside down on the other side, deadpanning at the one inside (despite the talisman hanging down from his neck between his eyes).

I stared at the colt for a moment, too surprised by the bizarre intrusion to address the fact that he was on the other side of the window. “Beg your pardon, sweetie?” I finally asked.

“Oh, not you,” the colt replied, rolling his eyes, “him. Sorry for the confusion.”

Frowning, I was about to retort, but then the colt let go of the window sill and fell down… and immediately turned around his axis mid-air, thanks to the pair of wings sprouting from his back. Surprised, I watched as he floated down to stand beside the other colt, his brother, apparently. Like him, he had a light brown coat dappled with white spots, though unlike him he didn’t have a white colored barrel, but instead the back of his neck, and he had a white blaze on his muzzle. His mane was likewise white, unlike the other whose mane matched the brown half of his coat.

Another difference between the two, aside from one being a pegasus and the other being an earth pony of course, was that despite the former appearing a few years older, he still didn’t have a cutie mark.

“Why are you calling me ‘bitch’?” the younger colt asked with annoyance. “You dropped me!”

“Only because you had that spasm,” the pegasus replied, also annoyed. “Besides, I would have caught you before you hit the ground.”

“Oh, what a relief,” the earth pony snorted in reply. “And it wasn’t a ‘spasm’, jerk, just-”

“Excuse me!” I finally interrupted them, stomping. Having gained their attention, I cleared my throat, or rather tried to. My attempt turned into a fit of coughing. You’d think that as a medical doctor I would know better than to yell a few times when my throat was incredibly dry due to thirst.

“Are you alright?” the pegasus asked, with the earth pony looking at me with concern.

I nodded and waved my hoof reassuringly, then took a step towards the night table beside my bed, grabbed the bottle of water with my forehooves and then awkwardly twisted off the top before taking a few big gulps of the precious liquid.

I should probably get used to drinking and eating in this manner, I mused as I took a pause to breathe before drinking some more. Ugh, the thought of what my old fellow Stable Dwellers would think… they would all call me uncouth!

Finally satisfied and feeling much better, I put the now half-empty bottle back on the night table. “Forgive me, sweeties, I’m afraid I was a little more thirsty than I thought. Now, I have a couple of questions, but first and foremost;” I paused to turn to the pegasus, “did I hear correctly that you lifted your younger brother three floors up into the air?”

The colt’s eyes widened in surprise. “Um,” he began, seemingly taken aback, “yeah, but he would have been fine-”

“Young colt, may I remind you that you dropped him?” I told him sternly.

“Thank you!” the younger brother exclaimed happily.

“That was a very irresponsible thing to do, sweetie. Your brother could have gotten hurt.”

“Again, I would have caught him,” the pegasus colt replied, exasperated. “I didn’t only because he made a noise when he grabbed your window sill, and I hid so you wouldn’t notice that we were spying on you.”

“Spy-” I repeated automatically, stopping mid-word. Frowning, I instead said “I suppose that answers the question I was going to ask next…”

“Smooth,” the younger colt said, deadpanning at his brother.

“Why exactly were you spying on me?” I asked, confused.

The older brother opened his mouth, but the other colt cut in. “Um, our friend-”

“Celerity,” the pegasus cut in.

“Yeah, her, she told us how you freaked out when they put you into the auto-doc and you had to be sedated-”

“I’m sorry, sweetie, hold on a moment,” I interrupted him. “What do you mean by ‘freaked out’?”

“Well, we weren’t there,” the older colt inserted, “we just saw that griffin bring you here all covered in blood. But Celerity was helping out in the clinic and she told us. Apparently you started to thrash about inside the auto-doc and were screaming to be let out.”

“I… I did?” I asked, surprised. “I don’t remember it at all…”

“Celerity said that the auto-doc almost immediately sedated you, something about its safety protocols or whatever,” the younger colt added. Tilting his head, he asked sympathetically. “Are you claustrophobic?”

“No… at least I didn’t think so. Until recently I lived my whole life inside a Stable,” I added thoughtfully, briefly lifting the leg with my PipBuck, “so I would assume I’m not. But then again, there’s a difference between a Stable’s corridors and a very tight space like I imagine an auto-doc must be, and I don’t usually find myself in such places…”

I trailed off, wondering what caused me to have such a reaction… and recalled the beginning of my dream. The fear I felt back when I realized I was imprisoned in a very tight confinement now made me shake. Was I… dreaming that when I was inside the auto-doc? My mind could have conjured that dream based on the stimuli my senses were receiving. Had I started to ‘thrash about’ while still unconscious? I supposed it was possible; I could still recall my dream but not exactly how long it lasted or how long ago it had ended… especially the longer I was awake, the details were already escaping me.

Besides, I still don’t even know how long I was asleep, I mused, turning my attention back to the colts.

The younger one was still looking at me with concern, bless his little heart, and took a step towards me. I smiled reassuringly.

“Oh but nevermind that. I am far more interested in learning what that has to do with you two spying on me,” I said, raising an eyebrow.

As I expected, my question bemused them and caused them to stop worrying about me. “W-well, we wanted to check if you were still sleeping. Sorry Miss, we-”

I giggled. “Relax, sweetie, I was just teasing you,” I said, winking. “I can only imagine the sight of an unknown pony all… how did you phrase it, sweetie, ‘all covered in blood’? I can only imagine how such a sight would have piqued your interest, and I am not yet quite old enough to forget how curious ponies your age can be. In fact, a friend of mine would have done exactly the same thing as you did… well, when he was younger, anyways,” I amended nostalgically. Noticing the younger pony’s frown, I decided to change the topic. “Goodness me! Forgive me, sweeties, it would seem I have completely forgotten my manners. Allow me to correct that and introduce myself properly,” I told the taken aback colts, pressing a hoof to my chest. “I’m Doctor Angel, though you may call me just Angel, sweeties.”

“Um, yeah, Miss Aite told us your name,” the younger colt explained.

“She also told us that you love the sound of your voice,” the older one cut in, snorting with amusement. “Which, wow.”

“Anyway,” the earth pony added with a glance at his brother, “it’s nice to meet you! I’m Steady Pace, and that’s my brother Free Breeze. We’re from the Mustang Tribe.”

… I’m sorry, what?

“The Mu- The pleasure is all mine, Steady Pace and Free Breeze,” I replied a bit hastily, finishing exchanging pleasantries. “Forgive me, sweetie, but did you say ‘Mustang Tribe’? As in, the ancient tribe of earth ponies from Mustangia that had been integrated into Equestria in-”

“Well we’re obviously not the same Mustangs,” Free Breeze exclaimed, rolling his eyes very slowly. “But when our tribe was formed-”

CREAK!

All three of us turned towards the opening door. My lips twisted into a smile as I saw Jack enter, with his talons on the knob, and right behind him Aite-

I shivered.

What in the- I thought as a sudden uneasiness overtook me. I brushed it off, looking at the bat pony again. For a moment, I could have sworn-

My thoughts halted abruptly as I realized that Aite’s wing was bandaged.

“Oh hey, you’re awake!” the bat pony meanwhile greeted me. She passed by Jack - who for whatever reason sighed while looking at the two colts - and trotted towards me. “How do you feel?”

“Brilliant Luna, forget about me darling, what happened to you?” I retorted, immediately leaning to her side and gently touching her wing to examine it.

It wasn’t just bandaged, whoever had treated her had also constricted her wing and tied the bandage around her body so she wouldn’t move it. Just as I had assumed after my physical examination of Ditzy a sling for a wing should look like. Is it broken? I wondered as Aite shivered, despite how lightly I touched her.

“You remember those-” Aite began, but Jack interrupted her.

“What are you two doing here?” he asked, looking at the colts - Free Breeze specifically - sternly.

The young pegasus gave as good as he got. “Funny, last time I checked, this was our home you were staying in.”

Jack groaned and pressed his talons against his eyes. “Yeah, sure. Now beat it.”

“Why, don’t wanna talk in front of us? Keeping some secrets?”

“No, I just don’t like you,” Jack retorted, deadpanning. He then pointed with a talon at me. “And I find her annoying. It’s too early for me to deal with both of you, when I haven’t even eaten yet,” he added, lifting a bag he had brought to the room… which smelled quite delicious. A sharp pain in my stomach reminded me how hungry I was. I hoped I wasn’t drooling. “So I would rather have breakfast in relative peace.”

Free Breeze rolled his eyes. “Geez, drama queen.”

Beside me Aite giggled, then leaned to my ear. “Free Breeze hit Jack from behind when he was about to land in Sanctuary the first time, made him crash into the ground,” she whispered.

“You’re standing right next to me, I can hear you,” Jack said in a flat tone (ignoring Free Breeze, who began to chuckle). “What’s the point of whispering?”

“I wanted to give Cray-cray some context without interrupting your interesting exchange.”

“How considerate,” the griffin retorted, sighing.

Steady Pace nudged his brother as he finished laughing (“Ah, good times.”). “Sorry, Mister Jack, we’ll be leaving.”

“We will?” Free Breeze questioned, raising an eyebrow, but when his brother gave him a stern look he rolled his eyes. “Whatever, we were supposed to have a training session anyway.”

A part of me wanted to object to them leaving, as I had a lot more questions for those two... Mustangs, apparently. And it was rather rude to tell them to leave like that. However, I could tell that there was some reason behind Jack’s request other than just being annoyed by Free Breeze.

Probably.

“I hope we’ll see each other again soon,” I told the two colts. Smiling, I added “Thank you for your visit.”

“Oh, no problem,” Free Breeze replied. “It was fun talking with you. Come on, Pace,” he told his brother, flapping his wings to hover in the air… then turned to Jack. “Remember, I’m watching you.”

Jack sighed. “I’m quivering in fear. Let your father know we’ll go see him sometime after breakfast,” he told the two as they headed for the door.

“We will, Mister Jack,” Steady Pace said, waving, as they left.

I waved back, but a thought occurred to me and I trotted up to the door. “And don’t lift your brother so high up again!” I called after them, as they ran through the long corridor outside (with a very rugged carpet).

“Oh for the love of-” I heard Free Breeze exclaim before Jack closed the door.

“They came in through the window?” he asked, frowning.

I was about to answer his question… until I remembered that he hadn’t even said hello to me.

“Why, hello to you too, sweetie,” I told him in an even voice. “Yes, I feel fine, thank you for asking.”

“By the Egg…” Jack half-groaned, half-growled, and turned around.

Aite giggled again. “Aw, give him a break, Cray-cray,” she said as Jack walked over to the table and placed the bag with food on it. “You should have seen how worried he was after you passed out.”

“Really?” I exclaimed, pleasantly surprised.

Jack let out another groan. “Aite…”

“And how he cradled you to his chest when he flew away towards Sanctuary,” the bat pony continued, grinning at him.

Jack deadpanned at her. “Are you done?” he asked after a few seconds of silence. When Aite shrugged, he turned to me. “I hadn’t asked if you’re okay because the Mustangs put you into an auto-doc and it healed you completely, so by definition you should be okay.”

“To be fair, auto-docs don’t usually leave you in a coma for two days,” Aite argued.

I perked my ears. “Two days?”

“One and a half, actually,” she amended. “It was evening when Jack got you here, you slept through the next day, and now it’s morning.”

“It’s her own fault for freaking out inside the auto-doc, its safety protocols automatically sedate violent patients…”

“Yes, those two colts told me about it,” I interrupted Jack, frowning after hearing again how I ‘freaked out’. “I don’t have any recollection of that…”

I trailed off, thinking back to my dream. Though technically it was a recollection in a way, I saw no reason to mention it.

“It’s no wonder I feel so peckish then,” I said instead, giving the bag on the table a longing glance.

“Luckily for you we took food for three in case you’d woken up today. If you hadn’t we would have had to have their medic hook some IV to you or feed you through a tube… Anyway, eat up, we can talk after breakfast,” Jack said, waving his talons at the table invitingly.

As tempting as that was, I couldn’t just sit down and eat right now. “No, wait a moment sweetie,” I told him, then turned to Aite. “What happened to your wing?”

The bat pony sighed. “After we parted at the tunnel's exit, I got back to you just in time to see you getting attacked by those slavers. I was too far away though when they were about to shoot you again, so I took off my hood and called out to them to distract them. One of those assholes got extremely lucky and shot me right through the bone.”

“Oh my…” I exclaimed, knowing how painful that must have been. “I am so sorry you were wounded so badly because of me.”

Aite waved her hoof nonchalantly, but Jack cut in, “You should be, you were supposed to wait for her inside the tunnel.”

I felt my ears drop as I glanced at the griffin, knowing he was right. If I hadn't left the tunnel, Watcher’s sprite-bot wouldn’t have found me and- Or would it? I recalled thinking how strange it was that Watcher found me after learning that my clinic blew up…

… and about my experiments…

I shook my head, not wanting to think about Watcher right now. I had more immediate problems to deal with.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized to Aite again. “Jack’s right, I-”

“Yeah, you spend as much time as me around him and you will hate it whenever he’s right, trust me,” the bat pony interrupted me, snorting in amusement. Pointing at her bandaged wing, she added “Don’t worry about it, shit happens. That being said, I wouldn’t mind if you’d magic it all better.”

“Uhm, that will be problematic, I’m afraid,” I started, now feeling even worse. I raised my forehoof to my horn and rubbed it gently. “My horn might be healed, but it will take some time for me to be able to cast any spells. It would depend on the extent of damage my nerves have suffered… If I could access the auto-doc’s record of my treatment, I should be... able to... deduce…” I trailed off, realizing that somehow Aite hadn’t used the obvious solution to her problem. “Darling, how come you haven’t used the auto-doc to heal your wing?”

“Oh, you are going to love this one,” Aite snorted. “I went up to it, got inside, had the Mustangs turn on the machine… and it turned out that it didn’t have a ‘bat pony’ setting!”

“What?!” I yelled out in shock. “But… this place was supposed to be for all ponies! How could an auto-doc not be calibrated to treat bat ponies?!”

“My best guess is that my ancestors didn’t get out much,” Aite explained, sighing. “You yourself didn’t know whether bat ponies were real or not, didn’t you?”

I supposed that was true… still, I couldn’t believe that the sanatorium resort built for all ponies could make such a, a… blunder! Maybe those Mustangs who were operating it couldn’t use it properly?

“I hadn’t seen an actual auto-doc outside of Stable Eight textbooks, much less operated one,” I mused slowly, “but perhaps I will be able to do something about it. Maybe if I used its medical scan to record your anatomy…”

“The Mustangs were surprisingly gracious hosts,” Jack spoke up, “but I don’t think they will be very eager to let a stranger fiddle with their only means of magical healing.”

“They don’t have any medically trained unicorns?” I asked, a little surprised.

“No, their medic is an earth pony. Some of their unicorns can possibly do a Healing Spell, but probably nothing beyond first aid stuff,” the griffin explained with a shrug. “Anyway, I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t try to upset the Mustangs.”

“It’s not my intention, sweetie,” I retorted, a little annoyed. “I would of course ask for their permission before attempting to modify the auto-doc’s programming. Don’t you think Aite should have her wings be healed as soon as possible, especially considering how heroically she came to my and Pinchy’s-”

PINCHY!

“What happened to Pinchy?!” I exclaimed, turning to Aite. How could I forget about Pinchy?! Merciful Celestia, I wake up after almost two days and it’s one thing after another… “Is it somewhere outside?”

When Aite didn’t reply immediately, I closed my eyes and concentrated. I reached out as I did before, assuming that would be the fastest way to make sure the radscorpion was alright. I could still remember how easy it was to “slip into” Pinchy’s mind-

Nothing.

I opened my eyes, confused. There was no response from Pinchy’s mind. Why couldn’t I sense it? Was… was it because I couldn’t use magic now? I didn’t have to use any spell to contact Pinchy, but maybe-

“Um, Angel?” Aite interrupted my train of thought. Turning to her, I realized she was looking at me with concern. “Sorry, but Pinchy’s dead.”

...

“W-what?” I stammered, staring at her. “N-no, that’s…”

“I’m sorry, that slaver that shot you killed it,” Aite explained gently. “I couldn’t help it, after I got shot two of those assholes piled up on me.”

I listened to her explanation, trying to wrap my head around it. Pinchy was dead. I… I could still remember how it felt when I was in its body, how alive it felt. And I also could recall what I sensed from its mind, the stress of its situation, the pain, the fear for its life. How, after I freed Pinchy, it agreed to help me once it understood that I wasn’t a threat. Despite how different the radscorpion was from a pony, it was a living being capable of experiencing emotions, however basic they might have been, and determined to continue living.

And now it was dead, because of me.

Behind me I heard Jack sigh. “If you are done with that stupid exchange-”

Turning around, I charged my horn to blast the griffin with Lightning Strike Spell… only for nothing to happen, not even a single spark appearing. No pressure built up in my horn.

Still, my glare was enough for the mercenary to stop talking.

“You are fortunate that I am unable to cast any spells right now, sweetie,” I told him coldly. “Otherwise I would have fried you just now.”

“She’d do it, I’ve seen her,” I heard Aite add from behind me.

Jack glanced at her briefly before turning his attention back to me. “You do realize you’re talking about a radscorpion that tried to kill both of us before you mind controlled it, right?”

“That ‘radscorpion’ was a living being!” I snarled. “And I wasn’t controlling it, Pinchy helped me out of its own free will! And it tried to save me!”

Finally, Jack raised his forelegs in a gesture of capitulation. “Alright, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said what I said. And I’m sorry it- Pinchy is dead. However, we do have important matters to discuss, so if you could sit down to listen I would really appreciate it.”

While that was not nearly good enough of an apology considering what he had said, the fact that Jack had surrendered the argument and apologised in the first place was enough to calm me down. Or, well, calm me down enough to want to listen to what he had to say.

After I asked Aite one more thing.

“In a moment, sweetie,” I told him, turning once again to the bat pony. “There is one more thing I have to ask of you, darling. What happened to my statuettes?”

“Ah crap, I was hoping you’d ask about that later,” Aite muttered, much to my terror. “I mean seriously, you wake up after two days and the first thing you do is go through your stuff?”

“Aite…” I began but couldn’t finish the question, dreading the answer.

But I got it anyway.

“I couldn’t find them,” Aite said, her forehooves raised defensively. “They weren’t where they dropped, one of those assholes must have picked them up. I was about to look for them but I overheard the slavers talking about a patrol looking for Khan. I was afraid they might stumble upon you - and I was right - so I hurried back. Then I got shot and was grounded, so I couldn’t sneak back to Appleloosa.”

I sat down, overwhelmed. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were still in Appleloosa… I promised them I would get them back. Luna cast me down, if only I hadn’t wasted time to hit Whip Crack with a Lightning Strike Spell…

“Hey, cheer up,” I heard Aite say before she put a hoof on my shoulder. When I looked at her she had paused to give a silencing stare to Jack; I could only imagine what kind of face he was making behind me. “Once my wing is better I’ll fly over there and find them for you, okay Cray-cray?”

When I looked at her I was pleasantly surprised to see that she seemed genuine. Relieved, I nodded slowly. What other choice did I have, though, than to rely on Aite’s help? If I went back myself, I would be found out almost immediately. Aite could go in and out of Appleloosa without anypony noticing.

“Thank you,” I told her, squeezing the hoof on my shoulder and smiling. “Though it means that I will be even more insistent that those Mustangs allow me to reprogram their auto-doc.”

“I pity the Mustangs who would need to be convinced by you,” Aite said with a laugh, then patted my shoulder. “Now come on, let's sit down before Jack has an aneurysm.”

While I knew that the probability of suffering an aneurysm out of sheer annoyance was very unlikely, I did find the joke amusing. Jack not so much, judging by the expression his face bore when I turned to him. His head was propped on his forepaw and he was banging the table with the talons of his other paw while he stared silently at us. Trotting over to him, I noticed Aite poked her tongue at him as we sat down.

Sighing, the griffin began, “Now-”

Grumble!

I blushed in embarrassment at the noise my stomach had made (and winced at the unpleasant cramp). Jack once again sighed and covered his eyes with his talons.

“Eat first after all, then,” he said, picking up the bag he’d brought and reaching into it. “We can fill you in after breakfast.”

Well I would have been lying if I’d said I wasn’t in dire need of sustenance. Although the scents coming from the bag had already told me that whatever they had brought would be delicious, I would have gladly eaten whatever food it was right now. I needed to get my strength back in order to… do whatever it was we were going to do now that I’d lost my laboratory, home, and source of income, and our primary lead to finding out about the organization Scope belonged to.

Actually, I wouldn’t have minded learning what we were going to do now before eating- I began to think, only to stop when I saw what was in Jack’s talons.

“Are those carrots?” I asked, bewildered.

They had to be, as unbelievable as it seemed. Long orange roots with green stems and leaves. But what was even more shocking was that they seemed fresh.

“Yeah, apparently this sanatorium wanted to serve their guests food as fresh as possible, so they built a magical hydroponic - or whatever - farm underground,” Jack explained, pulling out more carrots and a salad next. “Enough of that still works for the Mustangs to be self-sustaining.”

Color me impressed… normal food, no pre-war cans or meat of mutated… animals…

A wave of guilt washed over me as this train of thought made me think of Pinchy. What happened to its body? I somehow doubted that Jack or even Aite would have entertained the idea of burying it. Was it eaten by some other Wasteland critter by now? Or had the slavers found it and eaten it? What would I have fed the radscorpion if it was with us?

That question was answered rather quickly when I saw what Jack pulled next.

“The Mustangs captured a lot of radhogs after they moved in here and are trying to domesticate them,” he explained, noticing my curious gaze, as he placed the bacon before himself. “Had to pay them extra to get some bacon but considering everything has gone to shit recently I decided to treat myself before I start thinking about shooting myself.”

“You’re exaggerating,” Aite sighed, pulling her food closer and starting to eat.

“Between the two of you almost dying and our best lead escaping I think ‘gone to shit’ is an apt description,” Jack retorted, snorting, as he bit into his breakfast.

I followed their example, although being reminded of Pinchy soured my appetite. I was still hungry, obviously, as I hadn’t eaten in two days, but I couldn’t enjoy the food knowing the poor creature was dead because of me. I never even got a chance to learn how it got into this part of the Wasteland, maybe I would have been able to experience its memories? But now it was gone…

The absence of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie also hurt. I had gotten so used to their presence, to hearing their voices in my head, seeing their apparitions… even when they wouldn’t speak to me directly or even show themselves to me, I knew they were with me, always within reach if I wished to talk. Thanks to them… I wasn’t alone with my thoughts. I didn’t have to constantly think of new experiments, spells, projects, plans, possibilities to distract myself from-

“So,” I spoke up, noticing that Jack had just swallowed a piece of bacon, “what is it that you wanted to talk about, sweetie?”

The griffin took a gulp from a water bottle before answering, “We wanted to fill you in on what you’ve missed out on, then discuss what we’ll do next.”

“What I’ve ‘missed’?” I repeated. “I have already been informed about a lot of things by both of you and those two colts.”

“Perhaps, but probably not about everything, so to avoid your future annoying questions, I would like to go over everything from the beginning.” Ignoring the stare I shot at him, he pulled out another piece of bacon and ate it quickly, then wiped his talons with a napkin. “So, two days ago, after that weird morning, I flew towards Supernatural Mountain, hoping that thanks to the talisman the Proditor had brought I would be able to find Sanctuary and the tribe that hid there. Obviously, it worked. I saw a huge pre-war complex on top of a flat mountain top.”

“I believe it’s called a ‘mesa’, sweetie,” I couldn’t help but chime in.

Jack sighed and covered his face in his talons. “Yeah, I know,” he said after a second, removing the talons. “Anyway, I started to fly in circles above them, slowly descending, so they’d know that I wasn’t going to attack them. But as Aite had so kindly informed you, that kid snuck up on me and made me crash.”

The bat pony chuckled again. “Damn I wish I could have seen that! Remind me again, how did a colt manage to snuck up on a seasoned mercenary?” she asked in a mocking tone.

Jack glared at her before growling in reply, “I didn’t expect that they would have a pegasus among them, let alone two, so I wasn’t looking up. After I was forced to land,” he continued as he turned to me, pointedly ignoring the giggling bat pony, “I found myself surrounded by ponies pointing guns at me. Naturally, they had seen me flying around the area and heading to and from the direction of Appleloosa, so as you can imagine they weren’t pleased that I found them. I can’t help but wonder if their surprise that I was able to do so is what saved me from being outright killed…

“Anyway, we talked, and I was able to convince them that while I was employed by the slavers to find them, I only took the job to get some information out of their leader. I also mentioned that I was working with a pony who hoped to destroy the slaver’s operations, which got their interest. They allowed me to leave and get in contact with you two so we could try that if that was still possible, and if not they would still benefit from Black Widow being removed. The Mustangs also gave me two more talismans so I could bring you here afterwards… or in case things went south.”

“And so he flew back,” Aite cut in, “just in time to see things go south.”

“More like riding on a train south,” Jack added, causing Aite to roll her eyes. “Noticing the smoke after the explosion of your clinic when I was still far away I headed to the tunnel exit first, and got close enough just in time to see you being attacked by those slavers.”

It was easy to figure out what happened next. Smiling, I said “So then you came heroically to our rescue, for which I have yet to thank you.”

“Nope,” Aite chimed in, much to my confusion. Jack, appearing slightly annoyed, didn’t interrupt her. “I mean, he probably would have, but Deliverance beat him to it by about half a minute.”

“Deliverance?!” I repeated, stunned. “Wha- he was there?!”

“Yep. That red zebra snuck up on the slavers when they were busy holding us down and killed them all. After Jack arrived we decided that he would fly you to Sanctuary while Deliverance helped me patch up my wing as best as it was possible, we hid the bodies in the tunnel, and then we both hurried after you.”

Now that was surprising. Due to everything happening so fast after we’d been knocked out by Khan, I hadn’t given much thought about Deliverance. Apparently he had left Appleloosa sometime after the other zebra’s rampage, and then had come to our rescue. I wondered briefly why he had left - was it just fear of what the already morally corrupt ponies would think of a zebra after another zebra had brutally killed so many of them? Or had he followed after Khan, or Black Widow… or me, maybe - but I was far more surprised about him defeating six slavers by himself. In a matter of seconds, apparently, too.

“How did he do that?” I asked Aite, curious.

To my surprise - and disappointment - the bat pony shrugged. “Dunno, one of those assholes was practically sitting on my head, I couldn’t see anything. Plus I got punched in the head earlier, so my ears were ringing too. I also don’t know where exactly he came from, I’m sure I would have noticed a red effeminate zebra prowling around when I raced to help you. Deliverance has been a real cryptic asshole about both matters. All I know is that the slavers holding me suddenly dropped dead, and when I got up I saw that all the others were dead too, and that the red zebra was standing among them.”

“I don’t suppose you remember anything?” Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

My brow furrowed as I thought back… then stopped and shook my head as the events from before I lost my consciousness flashed before my eyes. “I’m afraid I don’t recall much, let alone regarding what happened to those slavers. After my horn was broken, I was in shock and my mind kept, shall we say, switching between my own body and Pinchy’s, which caused my memories to be further disoriented.”

Jack scowled a little at that brief description, but he shook his head and sighed. “Don’t worry about it, I didn’t expect you to know anything anyway.”

Despite his words, he still seemed displeased. At first I thought he was just disappointed that I couldn’t offer any new information, but after a few seconds, when he looked away towards the window and scratched his beak, I realized he was… concerned.

“Why did you ask?”

“Because I have no clue what exactly he did,” Jack retorted. “The wounds on those slavers… looked weird. I was too concerned about you two to-”

“You were concerned about me?” I interrupted him, pleasantly surprised.

Jack let out a groan, causing Aite to giggle. “Please focus Doctor,” the griffin replied. Ignoring my question, he continued, “I didn’t examine them thoroughly, but their wounds… they weren’t bullet wounds. No burned flesh and no disintegration, so no magical energy weapons. All were open so it was unlikely he had used his bare hooves. My best guess is that he used a melee weapon of some kind, but the wounds seemed too irregular for a blade and a blunt weapon would have to hit them really hard to leave such marks, and he doesn’t look like he would have enough strength for that. And that’s besides the fact that he doesn’t seem to be carrying any weapons in the first place, or that he must have taken out all six of the slavers in a very short time for Aite to not see what was happening.”

That piqued my interest. “How curious… I don’t suppose you could bring me to their remains?”

While the thought of returning to the general area of Appleloosa was loathsome to me, and that specific place in particular made me uncomfortable, after hearing Jack’s explanation I grew even more curious about Deliverance. I was positive that between my knowledge of a pony’s body and Jack’s… knowledge of killing methods we would be able to deduce how he had killed those slavers.

And more importantly, I thought, I could maybe convince Jack to search for the statuettes. We would be so close to the town… maybe Aite could lend him her cloak?

“There’s no point,” Jack replied, killing my hopes and plans in their infancy. Stunned and confused, I continued to listen. “After Aite and the Proditor arrived and I made sure you two would be safe in this room, I flew back to examine the bodies and hide them better, or preferably destroy them. The whole point of blowing up your clinic was to make the slavers think you were dead, and even the idiots left in that town would become suspicious if they found those corpses and your pet radscorpion.”

“So what did you find?” I asked, not understanding why he still didn’t know how Deliverance had killed them if he had gone back to check the bodies more thoroughly.

“Nothing, they were gone.”

… Well, that explained why, I supposed…

“What do you mean ‘gone’?” I asked, my mind buzzing with questions and speculations. One thought came to the forefront and I voiced it, “Did the slavers find them and drag them back to Appleloosa?”

“No, there weren’t any tracks leading towards the town,” Jack replied, shrugging. “Dragging all those bodies would leave very visible marks, even in the dark. But to make sure I snuck into the town and spied on the slavers. I overheard a few wondering what happened to that party, so they had no idea what became of their buddies.”

“What happened then?” I looked from Jack to Aite and back. “Some wild animal ate them?”

“That’s my best guest,” the bat pony said, leaning her head on her forehoof. “But the soldier boy over there isn’t convinced.”

“Do you know how many wild animals I have seen since we came to this part of the Wasteland?” Jack retorted. “I could probably count them with my talons alone. The Mustangs hunted a lot of them down before they settled in Sanctuary, and the rest had run away. Regardless, this animal - or animals - would have to eat six adult ponies and a radscorpion within, what, three hours? Ponies that we have no idea of how they died, if I may remind you.”

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you, I was with the guy the whole time, there’s no way he could have somehow moved all those bodies,” Aite countered, sounding annoyed; I had the feeling that this wasn’t the first time they were having this argument.

“If you had lived in Zebrinica and seen half the shit the zebras there can do, you would have a much wider imagination.”

“Bitch please, in Hoofington we eat weird shit for breakfast.”

“More like snort it.”

“Excuse me!” I raised my voice as Aite was about to retort. Both turned to look at me, frowning at the interruption. “While this exchange is… quite charming, the disappearance of those remains is more dire than you might have realized.” Turning to address Jack, who had raised his eyebrow invitingly for the explanation, I said “Within Pinchy’s cephalothorax was the Mind Control Talisman that Black Widow had used to control Khan.”

But Jack waved his paw, sighing. “Yeah, I know, Aite told me. I was going to retrieve it when I set out, as obviously I didn’t want something like that to fall into the wrong hooves, but there was nothing left of your… Pinchy. The talisman is gone.”

I had to bite my lip to stop myself from uttering a swear. That talisman was a true wonder of pre-war Equestria’s arcane science! It yielded amazing results after transplanting it within the brain of a radscorpion, allowing me to befriend it. The things I could have done by placing it within a pony’s head…

“You were magically linked to it or something, right?” Jack’s question pulled me out of my musing. “Do you think you could… somehow… track it down?”

Well that was an interesting concept. “I’m not quite sure…” I said, rubbing my chin thoughtfully. “I was capable of feeling exactly what Pinchy was feeling regardless of the distance and even moved my consciousness into its body. However, I hadn’t had the opportunity to test the maximum range in which the Mind Control Talisman would still respond to me. I also don’t know if it is still possible to locate the talisman when it isn’t within a host already. Lastly, I believe the Mind Control Talisman works by registering the magical signature of the unicorn that uses it to control somepony, meaning if it’s in possession of another unicorn, it might already respond to a new owner.”

“So no, then,” Jack asserted, rolling his eyes.

“It would appear so, yes. I could try to use the same spell I cast to activate the talisman inside of Pinchy and see if I feel any response, but that would have to wait until my ability to use magic returns.”

“It seems unlikely the talisman would have, hm, ‘registered the magic of another unicorn’,” the griffin pointed out, apparently still musing over my earlier disquisition. “Unless of course those corpses were indeed moved by some intent, and they knew about the Mind Control Talisman…”

“Which after the show Cray-cray put on encompasses that entire shithole of a town,” Aite cut in, having finished eating. “Despite that Whip Crack playing dumb everypony must have figured out that the Mind Control Talisman she spoke about must have been real.”

“True, but they don’t know about the corpses,” Jack reminded her, then frowned. “Any chance the Proditor was still in Appleloosa when our good Doctor made that scene?”

Pouting at the expression ‘made that scene’, I looked at Aite, who shrugged. “I didn’t see him anywhere, but I also didn’t spot him when I flew to help her. Maybe he has a Stealth Cloak too?”

“Wouldn’t surprise me, but then that whole plan of coming to slavers to help get into Sanctuary would seem kind of redundant.”

“You mean more than it already was, seeing how he is now in Sanctuary,” Aite snorted in amusement, then more seriously added, “Anyway, what good would that talisman do for him? You heard Cray-cray, it only works for unicorns.”

“I wouldn’t put it past the zebras to be able to reverse engineer it,” Jack retorted, shrugging. “After all, the talismans were originally their invention.”

As I began to feel a little ignored, I decided to interject and diverge the conversation. “There was one more person who knew about the Mind Control Talisman,” I pointed out, gaining the attention of both of them. “Black Widow. Is it possible that she took it? Do you know what has become of her?”

The griffin sighed and leaned back. “We don't know shit,” he said, raising a paw to rub his temple. “She disappeared without a trace after Aite saw her teleporting away. And yeah, I can see how you’d think she might have something to do with those corpses being gone without any explanation. A unicorn capable of teleportation would certainly be capable of that. However, even assuming Black Widow had somehow found out that you put the Mind Control Talisman inside the radscorpion and wanted to get it back, it makes no sense for her to take the entire body away, not to mention all the other corpses. Unless she was planning to do some unspeakable experiments on them, but that sounds more like your thing.”

I nodded absentmindedly, too busy thinking about Black Widow and the corpses being gone to ponder whether I should take offense to the remark or not (it was correct after all).

“Besides,” I heard Jack continue, “teleporting all of them, even one by one, would take a lot out of a single unicorn-”

“And what about Scope’s organisation?” I interrupted him. “The stallion that delivered the holotape about Black Widow to Scope could have reached - especially considering the manner in which he disappeared from that caravan - them. What if there was information not only about her but also about the Mind Control Talisman on that holotape? If they had sent somepony after Black Widow and they were near Appleloosa when those slavers attacked me and Pinchy , they could have decided to steal the talisman when they got the chance.”

Jack rubbed the side of his beak. “I’m impressed you even thought of that,” he said, his words causing a surprising warm wave to briefly wash over me. “I considered it too. However, I saw no suspicious characters snooping around all those days I’ve been searching for the tribe. Two days ago was no different. And even if we were to assume they possessed means to stay invisible or something along those lines… that would be an incredibly brief window for them to learn about the events that transpired that day and to steal the talisman. Also, taking all those corpses would only be logical for them to do in order to hide the fact they took the Mind Control Talisman specifically. Which is understandable, except,” he added, grimacing, “rather than making all those dead bodies disappear, they would wait in ambush to kill me, since they would know I was their buddy’s last assignment. So no, I don’t think they’d be involved.”

I had to agree, Jack had made some valid points. Even if that mysterious organization had the means to hide the bodies, it certainly seemed more logical for them to kill Jack. Would they have figured out he would come back for them though? Hm, well, both this organization and Jack seemed to know a lot more than me about how all of this… “covert operations” worked, so it wasn’t a stretch to imagine one could anticipate how the other would act, I supposed…

“And what of Deliverance, then?” I asked, deciding that dwelling on the subject of Scope’s organization wouldn’t do us any good right now. Turning to Aite, I asked, “You mentioned that he was in Sanctuary, darling?”

“Yes, the Mustangs gave him a single room on the floor below.”

“But he tried to help the slavers find them,” I said, confused. “Did you not tell them about that?”

“Of course I did,” Jack replied, shrugging. “After we got here, the Mustangs’ leader asked him about it. The Proditor admitted to it, apologized, and gave him the same explanation he gave Black Widow, about not knowing anything about the tribe and being used to ponies being racists and such. And between that and the fact that in the end those plans he made with the slavers didn’t come to fruition, it was apparently enough for Mustangs. They let him stay in Sanctuary, and even allowed him to search for what he wanted. Their only condition was that one of the Mustangs accompany him while he goes through this place, but only because they would like to know more about the ponies who used to live here. At first I thought they just said that to keep up the appearance of trusting him, but after a day of talking to them I think they were being honest,” Jack remarked, eyes turning to the side in mild annoyance. “Anyway, since I myself was technically working for slavers and you were their medic, it’s not like we can really judge him for being an opportunist. I did warn the Mustangs that I have no idea how he killed those slavers, but that doesn’t really have to mean anything.”

I would have argued that the situations were different for both myself and Jack from Deliverance’s, but I had to admit that he did have a point. In any case, the mysterious zebra had saved both my and Aite’s lives, so as far as I was concerned he was more than welcome to stay in Sanctuary. (If the circumstances were different, I would have probably prepared some sort of a welcoming gift.) And if the Mustangs were fine with him…

“Speaking of those ‘Mustangs’, sweetie…” I began, but Jack raised his paw, stopping me.

“They’re not the same Mustangs as the ones you mentioned when we talked in New Appleloosa; I specifically asked them about this--” he said, impressing me. I hadn’t expected him to recall that brief part of our conversation, let alone inquire about it on his own. “so you wouldn’t offend them in some way.”

And just like that I once again found myself annoyed with the griffin. “Me? Sweetie, may I remind you that I am a very diplomatic pony?”

“When we first met you jumped around me and groped almost every part of my body.”

Aite’s snort of amusement distracted me, making it difficult to focus on thinking of a good reply to Jack’s argument in time.

“Anyway,” he resumed, not waiting for me to counter his words; pouting, I decided to let that go for now, “the founder of the tribe picked the name - as well as some of the original Mustangs’ customs - from a history book he found before their tribe was formed.”

Aite, who had finally stopped laughing, chimed in, “I wonder if they wrote down historical names and threw darts at them to pick this one.”

“I didn’t ask that specifically, obviously,” Jack retorted, before turning back to me. “But yeah, like them they are nomads, usually not staying in one place for more than a month or two, their leader is called ‘Khan’ - a bit ironic, considering what happened to you two - and I’m sure there are a bunch more similarities that you’d know more about than I do.”

“Their Khan is actually the father of those two from earlier,” Aite spoke up, surprising me with her revelation. Winking at me, she added, “He’s also quite a hunk.”

Jack deadpanned at her. “He’s married and has two kids, with a third one on the way.”

“He’s still hot, asshole,” the bat pony countered, sticking her tongue at him playfully.

Ignoring Aite’s remark, I recalled Jack’s parting words to the two young ponies. “You told them we would go see their father,” I reminded him, turning to the griffin.

“Yes, Khan told us he’d like to officially greet you in Sanctuary when you wake up,” Jack told me. Shrugging, he added, “Probably wants to get a good measure of you since you're staying with his tribe. All of the Mustangs were awfully curious about us, actually.”

“Can’t really blame them,” Aite pointed out, “since between the three of us - four if we count Deliverance - the griffin mercenary is the most common thing in the Wasteland. These Mustangs are quite a friendly bunch,” she added, turning to me. “At least as far as the Wasteland goes. Not only did they heal you and do what they could for my wing, both for free, they also let us stay with them at least until we recover.”

“That’s very generous of them,” I remarked, pleasantly surprised at the help we’d received from the Mustangs while I was unconscious. “I really must thank the Khan personally for their hospitality.”

“You will get your chance,” Jack assured me, his voice suddenly becoming stern, “but not before we set up some ground rules.”

“Ground rules?” I repeated, confused.

“One of the things these Mustangs apparently have in common with their historical namesake is their love of freedom. They love roaming the Wasteland, not tied to any place or anypony but themselves, and despise slavery. So,” Jack added, pointing a talon at me, “you can imagine what they’d think of you and those experiments of yours.”

Oh, that was just… “Honestly,” I snorted, shaking my head. “How can you compare my experiments to the horrible practices of slavers? May I remind you that while they would enslave everypony and everybody, I only kidnap ponies who had committed acts heinous enough to strip them of their right to be considered sentient beings?”

Jack uttered a sigh and raised his forepaw to the side of his head. “You do remember how this whole mess started right?” he asked, rubbing the side of his temple. “The slavers found out about this tribe because one of their patrols was attacked and killed?”

“Why, yes, of course,” I replied, confused at the sudden change of subject.

“Well, they were transporting back slaves they captured to Appleloosa. The Mustangs freed them and brought them here, offering to let them stay if they wanted to and an escort outside of the immediate slaver territory if not.” Jack dropped his forepaw to the table and looked me straight in the eyes. “One of them was a raider, and they are letting him stay here.”

...

It took me a moment to realize that I was staring at him with my mouth open. I shook my head to recover from the shock and looked at the griffin once again, analyzing his face to see if it betrayed in any way that this was some sort of a jest.

“They didn’t let him have any weapons, obviously,” Jack resumed, his expression remaining the same; this wasn’t some bizarre joke. “And literally every Mustang has been taught how to defend themself, apparently, so if he did try some shit, they would be able to deal with that. But other than that they treat him normally; if somepony hadn’t told me that he was a raider I would have thought that he was just a Mustang who’s an asshole.”

I continued to stare at the griffin in disbelief, and when he finished I finally found my voice: “They just let him walk around here? Are those Mustangs crazy?! He should be locked up at least or-”

“Mustangs don’t do prisons, apparently,” Aite interrupted me. “I got to admit, as stupid as that sounds, gotta admire that they’re not being hypocrites with their love of freedom.”

“Obviously, we also think it’s idiotic to just let a raider walk around freely,” Jack said, staring at me intentily. “But we’re the Mustangs’ guests and if they believe people should have second chances we’re going to respect that. Anyway, the reason why I brought it up, is that your whole argument about only imprisoning and experimenting on ‘evil ponies’ and so on won’t matter to them. So for the love of everything that’s sacred, do not under any circumstances bring up what you did in your basement and why you were kicked out of your Stable.”

While it baffled me that these Mustangs could consider a raider to be a better pony than me, I could clearly see wisdom in Jack’s advice. “You don’t have to worry, sweetie, I do not make a habit of telling ponies about my experiments. In fact, I haven’t revealed that to anypony yet. Willingly,” I amended, glancing at the bat pony.

“I love being invisible,” Aite sighed.

“I don’t think I have to add this,” Jack continued, “but even more importantly you can’t resume your experiments here.”

I actually gasped. “Sweetie, you wound me,” I told him, offended. “I wouldn’t experiment on ponies who took us in and-”

“You literally did just that in Appleloosa.”

I paused to glare at the griffin. “-and healed my horn,” I told him after a few seconds had passed. I could have explained to him why those two cases were different, but honestly, if he wasn’t just trying my patience and really did not understand it then it was his own fault and I had better things to do than educate him. Shrugging and calming down, I added, “And that’s beside the fact that I would first need to establish a new laboratory. You don’t have to worry about the Mustangs, sweetie, you have my word that no harm will come to them from me. Though I do think that should have been obvious.”

Jack raised an eyebrow. “And that raider.”

“I-”

There was no way for me to conduct my experiments without a safe laboratory. And it was very unlikely I would establish one within Sanctuary, especially with Jack breathing down my neck. As for capturing a test subject, something that was already difficult to do in a manner that didn’t arouse any suspicion, the lack of magic would make it virtually impossible. Attempting to do so under those circumstances, even if it was a raider, posed too much danger to myself. I should have no problem agreeing to Jack’s request.

However…

My memories of raiders chasing me down into Stable Eleven, their leader holding me and beating me, and Thorny Locust’s repeated attacks, her insistence that she liked to kill and hurt ponies, all of that came back to me. This place, this wasn’t a settlement of slavers. There were foals here. Could I really allow a raider to remain within this society? Should I not attempt to repay the Mustangs’ help by fixing their mistakes?

I couldn’t tell what was the correct thing to do… what I could tell, though, was that without my magic and with Jack insisting on me dropping this matter, there was almost nothing I could do.

“You have my word that the raider has nothing to fear from me during our stay here,” I finally told Jack.

But when we leave…

The mercenary narrowed his eyes at me, but after a brief moment he nodded, seemingly satisfied.

“And speaking of ‘our stay’,” I said, glad for the opportunity to leave the subject behind, “may I ask how long that would be? And what exactly are we going to do next, sweetie?”

“That’s a bit complicated,” Jack replied, scowling. “Aite can’t exactly move around with her wing broken, so at the very least she will be staying until either you are able to use your magic again or reprogram the auto-doc. As for me… I would like to go and chase after Black Widow, as soon as possible.”

I felt my eyes widen in surprise. “You mean you’d leave us behind?”

Beside me, Aite gasped. “Ah, dragged from my new home to the middle of the Wasteland and left behind…” she wailed, her forehoof pressed to her forehead, in an overdramatic fashion - even for me.

It was even more so for Jack’s tastes. “Right, I leave you behind in a pre-war luxurious resort, I’m a monster,” he retorted in a flat tone, prompting the bat pony to giggle in amusement. Sighing, he turned back to me. “I don’t think I have to remind you that Black Widow was our only lead to Scope’s organization. Or… what did you say she said his real name was?”

“Foxtrot,” Aite replied.

“Thanks. Or rather, Foxtrot’s organisation,” the griffin resumed. “If there is anything good that came out of that mess two days ago, it was that you confirmed that she indeed knows about that bastard and whoever ordered him to spy on me. I appreciate that you tried to learn more from her, Doctor, but unfortunately that didn’t work out. So our only option left is to track her down and ask her again under different circumstances. That is,” he added with a strange tone in his voice, “assuming you still plan on helping me find this organization.”

I blinked in surprise. “Of course I do, sweetie. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because your life situation has drastically changed,” Jack pointed out. “I know you said that you truly want to help bring this organization to justice for murdering Blast and Burst - which, forgive me, is something I still find a bit hard to believe considering how briefly you knew them - but that was before your house went almost literally up in flames. And that’s beside how you were grievously injured; usually near-death experiences make people rethink their life choices. So,” he said, raising his eyebrows, “we’ve been wondering if you wouldn’t start having second thoughts about this.”

“You know Cray-cray,” Aite spoke up, smirking in Jack’s direction,” if I didn’t know better, I would have said that he’s trying to talk you out of helping him take down a murderous secret organization, to settle down at some peaceful settlement as their medic.” She gasped. “Could it be that the sight of your broken and bloodied body made him realize how much he cares about you and doesn’t want you hurt again?!”

Surprised, I turned to Jack. Did it?

The griffin was staring at Aite with an impassive expression. “You done?”

“You’re no fun,” the bat pony retorted, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. She then rose from the table and turned around. “Little fillies room,” she said as she trotted away.

“Thanks for sharing that information,” Jack told her, then shook his head as she did a weird gesture with her good wing before disappearing into the bathroom. “Anyway, Doctor, the chase after this organization would without a doubt be dangerous, and life in the Wasteland is dangerous enough as it is. So I’m not going to blame you if, after coming so close to death, you might have changed your mind. After all, you have options to make a decent living for yourself. Plenty of settlements would be glad to have a new medic come to live among them. Once you and Aite get better we could even get you to them, if you’d like. I figure I owe you that much at least.”

That was a surprisingly generous and thoughtful offer from Jack. Even if Aite’s earlier mocking remark was completely off-point, it was nice to know he was thinking of my well-being. And he was probably right, I could make a good life for myself as a doctor...

A soft giggle escaped my lips. “Honestly, sweetie,” I told Jack, smiling. “Have you forgotten who I am? I am Angel, doctor of medicine, the future Princess of Equestria, and the mare who will discover the Truth of this world, the secrets of life and death and bring about the Everlasting Paradise. Did you think that little scuffle would scare me, make me change my plans?” I uttered a laugh. “What a silly notion! I assure you, sweetie, my resolve is as strong as before.”

“Glad to see that concussion and blood loss haven’t made you lose your mind,” Jack remarked sarcastically, interrupting me. “You could still go about your plans - if you really must - in those other settlements and not help me.”

“Perhaps,” I agreed, “but there are several reasons why I should help you. The first being that I genuinely want to make the ponies responsible for Scope killing Burst and Blast be brought to justice. The second reason is that I had already told you that I will help you, and as the future Princess of Equestria my word is my bond.” I pretended to not notice that Jack rolled his eyes. “Third reason is that as future Princess I have to protect my future subjects from threats, including this organization, so I might as well deal with it now. Fourth reason is that, the further I accomplish my goals, the more attention I will draw to myself, which no doubt would cause this organization to take interest in me. I would rather face them on my own terms rather than wait for their spies to try and assassinate me.”

“Huh, that's a good point, actually,” Jack admitted, scratching his beak.

“And lastly,” I added, measuring the griffin with my eyes and smiling, “despite our… differences, I have grown quite fond of your company, as well as Aite's. I told you in Appleloosa that I would like us to be friends, and I still do. Choking attempts and other vulgar disagreements notwithstanding.” He groaned and raised his talons to his temples. “And friends are supposed to help each other.”

“Well that's… lovely, thanks,” Jack finally offered, clearly straining for an answer. He shook his head and said “Okay then, now that we know that you are still fully on board with this, here’s what Aite and I planned so far. For now, we all stay here. You will go through all the data you downloaded from the terminal. I doubt you’ll find a folder titled ‘My Escape Plan’, but maybe there will be something that could point us in the right direction. When you find some clue, I will fly ahead to confirm if Black Widow went there. If by that time you manage to fix Aite’s wing, we will all go, even though you would slow us down but we will worry about that later. Of course,” he added, “if it takes too long to find anything in that data or you go through everything and we still don’t have any clues, I will just try to track down Black Widow the old fashioned way.”

I frowned, spotting a flow in his plan. “Sweetie, by ‘old fashioned’, you mean-”

“Look for hoofprints or other marks and follow the trail,” Jack replied, raising an eyebrow.

“Forgive me then, but, how exactly do you plan to look for the hoofprints of somepony who teleported away?”

“I don’t, I plan to follow the trail of hoofprints Khan left behind,” Jack said, much to my surprise. He then flicked his paw and amended, “The mute one-eyed zebra you freed from mind control, not the Mustang leader.”

“Yes, I got that sweetie,” I quickly replied, nodding.

“Still, we better get his real name or this shit will get confusing in the long run. Anyway… so, after I realized there was no trace of your radscorpion or those slavers and that the rest of them knew nothing, I spent most of yesterday looking for his tracks. It turns out that after leaving Appleloosa Khan went in a single direction, not taking any turns or seemingly stopping to get his bearings.” Jack shrugged. “Seems to me like he knows where he’s going. I’d imagine that, having been at Black Widow’s side for so many years, he knows where she’d run to, or at least he has a good idea where that would be. And naturally after all those years he would be pretty pissed off; Aite told me that the slavers said he had first barged into her house, so this checks out.”

“I see…” I mused, mentally chastising myself for not thinking of that myself. “Yes, I believe your analysis would be correct. However, may I ask why you haven’t tried to track him down already? Since you're capable of travelling at a much faster pace, I believe you’d have been able to find him by today if he had only about a day's worth of a head start.”

My ears perked up, hearing a sound I had never expected to hear in the Wasteland coming from the bathroom: a toilet flushing!

Jack ignored it, probably having gotten used to it already. “Gee, I don’t know, maybe because that zebra hadn’t exactly shown himself to be willing to cooperate?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “Considering what he had done to the both of you I doubted he would help me, especially since we need Black Widow alive while he probably wants to brutally murder her. Which means I’d have to resort to following him until he leads me to Black Widow and have to work fast so that he won’t kill her and she won’t escape. Or, I could capture and interrogate him, which might be difficult even if we’d assume that now since you pulled that talisman out of his head he actually can speak. I would prefer to do neither and deal with just Black Widow, so it would be best if you could figure out where she ran to with the help of all that data you pulled out of her terminal. Alternatively, in case you can’t and the zebra ends up being our only hope of finding her, I would feel better if I had Aite backing me up. So that's why I’m still here.”

Once again Jack had impressed me with his ability to analyze possible outcomes and prepare a strategy to deal with them. Truly, it was a relief to cooperate with somebody like him.

Even if he could be a bit nicer…

“But aren’t you worried that he’ll find Black Widow while you wait here?”

“I am,” Jack confessed, shrugging. “It all depends on how far away Black Widow managed to run… I don’t think she plans to return to Appleloosa, seeing how she took all her caps with her, which would mean she probably ran very far away. Junction R-7 and Shattered Hoof are out then, it's too close, plus I can’t imagine Black Widow hiding there or Gawd or those raiders letting her in…”

“I’m sorry, sweetie,” I interrupted him, confused. Shattered Hoof Ridge was ‘too close’?! “Did you just say-”

“It’s an old prison, not the place zebras tried to kill your princess,” Jack swiftly replied, brushing off my interjection without so much as looking at me. Resuming his musing - I had a feeling he had been going over this in his head for a while now - he said, “Manehattan’s ruins also lie in the direction Khan seems to be walking, so maybe that’s where she fled to… That being said, she couldn’t be heading for Tenpony Tower, she’s known enough around the Wasteland that she could be recognized there, Steel Rangers wouldn’t take her back… I know there’s a boat that sometimes docks at what remains of the harbor, transporting merchants and other travellers, so that seems like the most logical destination… but still, it’s not enough to just head there with no additional information.”

“In that case,” I said, taking advantage when he seemingly stopped, “it would be best if I got to work right away.”

Raising my PipBuck, I lifted my other hoof to scroll down towards where I had kept the data, but before I could do that I realized that Jack had raised his paw.

“An hour more or an hour less won’t make that much of a difference,” he told me, then nodded at the food on the table; at some point during this debacle I’d stopped eating. “Finish your breakfast, then we’ll go see the Mustangs’ Khan, ask permission to check out the auto-doc, and see if you can use it to fix Aite. You can start going through Black Widow’s stuff after all that. I figure I can wait about two more days; I should still be able to easily catch up with the zebra Khan if you can’t find anything.”

“Oh, I see,” I replied, nodding with understanding. I reached for another delicious vegetable and pulled it closer, then paused. “I’m afraid we will have to add one more activity to that schedule.”

Jack sighed. “Which is?”

“I need to… make myself more presentable,” I told him diplomatically.

The griffin clenched his beak, then lifted an eyebrow. “That better mean you want to take a shower, because if you’re going to put makeup on, I swear-”

“Please, sweetie,” I scoffed, “I have been blessed with celestial beauty, I do not need to put on makeup. I-”

A tap on my back made me jerk. Pausing, I turned back- “BDAH?!”

“Wow, easy there!” Aite exclaimed, surprised, as she raised her forehooves while I tried to get my breathing under control. “Didn’t mean to scare you. Jumpy much?”

“I-I…” I stammered, swallowing. I needed to explain, say anything… “I’m… sorry, s-sweetie, but, you know, I got shot recently,” I offered meekly, pointing at my horn and smiling nervously.

Fortunately, she seemed satisfied. “Ah yeah, that was the first time you were shot, wasn’t it?” Aite said, smiling. Keeping her distance so I could calm down - for which I was grateful for the moment - she walked back over to the table. “Remind me later, we need to celebrate you losing your bullet virginity.”

I giggled nervously, calming down somewhat. Fortunately, Jack also seemed to disregard my reaction, for which I was grateful. I really didn’t want to explain it right now.

Now I realized why earlier when they came back I was afraid at the sight of Aite. When I saw her standing behind me, I remembered.

In my dream, after I was stabbed, when I looked back…

… I could see Aite’s eyes in the darkness.

*** *** ***

This is absurd! I thought for about the twentieth time, glancing at the bat pony beside me. Why would my subconscious think she would kill me?

We were trotting through the corridor outside of our room. After I had hastily finished eating I took a quick shower. Aite and one of the Mustang mares had washed me while I was unconscious (my clothes were similarly washed and even repaired, so now I could proudly display Stable Eight’s barding and lab coat), so I hadn’t had to spend too long in the bathroom.

Unfortunate, really. I would have liked to take a long, relaxing bath, to help calm my nerves.

Fortunately, after that earlier fright, my fear had ebbed away, no doubt thanks to my very rational mind. I knew Aite didn’t want to kill me, not after saving me so many times in Appleloosa. She even promised to look for Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie’s statuettes when her wing was healed! To her, those were just useless pre-war trinkets, and yet she would look for them because I was upset. Honestly, aside from Ditzy, she was by far the kindest pony I’d met in the Wasteland. Merciful Luna, that dream would have made so much more sense if Jack had been the one to kill me!

So no, I wasn’t afraid. I was… disturbed. Annoyed with myself. And as I looked at Aite, nervous and ashamed.

Why would I dream about her stabbing me? Right after everything we had gone through together in Appleloosa no less… Was it just because she had threatened to stab me that one time? Or because she’s an assassin? Had my mind combined the trauma of my last conscious hours with an image of the deadliest person I knew?

Or was it about her being a bat pony? They were believed to be Nightmare Moon’s soldiers, with some of Stable Eight’s history books even having depictions of shadowy thestrals with gleaming yellow eyes fighting other ponies, so maybe my mind used Aite’s likeness as a stand-in for a threat-

Merciful Goddesses, was my subconscious racist?!

I tried to ignore all those unpleasant thoughts - the last one in particular! I was anything but racist! If anything, I would be the opposite of a racist! - and focus on Sanctuary and Aite’s voice. The bat pony was continuing her explanation of how the Mustangs, after they had settled in, discovered that while the sanatorium was remarkably well preserved considering it was abandoned for two hundred years, it was in far from perfect condition.

Most of the water talismans, for example, had corroded, and the pipes were in even worse shape. There were leaks and destroyed walls spread throughout the complex, and the majority of the sanatorium’s other wing had collapsed, probably as a result. The reason why we had to have a room specifically assigned was because there were only a hoofful of rooms with plumbing and heating undamaged by time (for the most part, at least), or that didn’t have any other issues, like holes in the floor or broken windows.

Even as we trotted through the corridor towards the staircase I noticed cracked wallpaper, broken doors, and other marks time had left… not to mention that the carpet we were walking on was full of holes and dirt.

According to my companions, the lower floors were in better condition, and the Mustangs were hard at work repairing Sanctuary (and the additional green bars on my E.F.S. that began to appear when we got closer to the stairs seemed to confirm it). Which would have explained why it seemed like we were the only occupants of this level. We could have stayed on one of the lower floors, but Jack had insisted we all share a room and ours was the only non-single room left.

It’s fortunate that at least the route towards the staircase is undamaged, I mused as we reached it, glancing at the big hole further down the corridor. Well, for me at least, I suppose- I stopped mid-thought, glancing at Aite’s bandaged wing. I felt heat on my cheeks as I realized that I had gotten so used to my companions being able to fly that I briefly forgot how one of them was now also grounded. And all because she tried to help me… I really don’t understand why I would dream about her stabbing me!

…

Are you two going to finally-

I stopped.

Another thing I had gotten used to.

No.

Taken it for granted.

With Jack and Aite glancing back up the stairs at me I couldn’t afford the luxury of burying myself in guilt and regret. I shook my head and resumed walking down. Hopefully they wouldn’t think too much about this, I really did not want to explain myself right now.

Quickly catching up to them, I let them lead on again. As we reached the second floor, I spotted a yellow earth pony mare, standing on a ladder before the stairs leading below. She had a paintbrush in her mouth that must have obscured her vision while she put fresh paint on the wall, as she didn’t even turn towards us. As we were about to pass her on our way to the stairs, I pondered if I should greet her, as it would be a polite thing to do and I didn’t expect either of my companions to-

“You better catch her,” Aite remarked with disinterest suddenly.

Surprised, I glanced at her, and so did Jack and the Mustang mare-

CRACK!

Jumping in fright, I realized that the ladder on which the mare stood had broken. Fortunately Jack recovered almost immediately and dashed towards her, catching her in the air with his forelegs. I sighed in relief.

“You okay?” I heard the griffin ask her as he slowly descended.

The earth pony nodded, clearly in a momentary shock. “Y-yes, I think so-”

SPLUSH!

Aite erupted with laughter almost immediately after the strange sound. Frowning at her in confusion, I looked behind her at the source-

Oh!

Well, it is a bit humorous, I remarked, holding back my own laughter as I stared at Jack’s hindpaw stuck in the can of brown paint the mare had been using.

“Oh for the love of…” Jack cursed angrily, staring at his paw. He then turned his gaze towards me and Aite; I quickly averted my eyes, not wanting to give in to the amusement at the misfortune he experienced while rescuing the mare. Aite had no such qualms, as she continued to laugh, even falling to the floor which resulted in a pained squeak when her wounded wing brushed the floor. “Hope that hurt,” Jack remarked coldly, setting the mare down.

“Augh, it was worth it!” the bat pony responded, shifting on the floor so her wing wasn’t touching the floor.

Shaking my head, I leaned over her to make sure she didn’t damage herself. The wing sling looked alright...

“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry!” I heard the rescued mare exclaim, looking at Jack’s hindleg with sorrow and embarrassment. She looked around her workspace and picked up a piece of cloth. “Here, let me-”

“Thanks, I’d rather do it myself,” Jack interrupted her, though politely (with visible effort). The mare passed him the cloth and he pulled out his paw, now covered in brown paint, and began to clean it. “And no need to apologize, it’s not your fault.”

“Y-yes, well, again, thank you…” the mare said, abashed.

As I assured myself that Aite hadn’t hurt her healing wing, I decided to help the Mustang and draw her attention away from this weird chain of events.

“Are you-” I began with a smile as the mare turned to me-

“BWAH!” the mare suddenly exclaimed, backing away. I looked at her in surprise as the very next second she stopped and shook her head. “S-sorry, I… y-you surprised me. I didn’t know you’d woken up, and I guess I’m a little jumpy,” she explained nervously.

“Oh it’s alright, you had quite a bit of a fright there after all,” I told her with a smile. “Are you alright? Do you need medical attention?”

“Um, no, I think I’m fine. Thank you,” the mare replied, calming down somehow. “I-”

“Son of a-”

Jack’s cursing got our attention. The griffin mercenary was staring at his hindpaw. Despite him trying to clean it with the piece of cloth the mare procured, the blue-gray fur on it now appeared brown.

“At least you got it dry…-ish,” Aite offered, holding back laughter; at some point when I went over to talk to the Mustang mare, the bat pony had gotten herself up from the floor and was now standing beside Jack.

“I’m gonna go back to wash it off, wait for me here,” he snarled back in reply, spreading his wings before jumping into the air.

“Oh, so you can waste time and go wash some paint off,” Aite called out after him, “but Cray-cray can’t put on makeup?”

“Wha- darling, I didn’t want to put makeup on,” I reminded her, confused.

“Not the point,” she told me briskly.

“And more importantly, I don’t need makeup…” I added, but then hesitated. It was the second time one of my companions had brought up makeup. “Or… do I?” I asked uncertainly, looking from Aite to the Mustang mare.

Abashed, the mare raised her forehooves. “No no, you look fine,” she quickly tried to reassure me.

Well, she failed.

“Fine?” I exclaimed. “Sweetie, I look divine. Or at least, I should,” I added, raising my forehoof to my mane and brushing it. I had looked in a mirror after I finished showering of course, but perhaps I was so occupied by thinking about Aite and that stupid dream that I hadn’t paid enough attention to how I looked? Looking back to the mare, I asked, “Where’s the closest mirror?”

“Sweet Goddesses,” I heard Aite exclaim, sounding both amused and exasperated. She trotted over to me, rolling her eyes as she walked. “That’s what she meant. You look like usual. Divine, fabulous, the second coming of Princess Celestia.”

I gasped. “Take that back, that’s blasphemy!” I told her, angry that she implied that I wanted ponies to think that!

I didn't even want to think about how my mother would react if she had heard that.

Aite groaned, then - much to my irritation - turned to the Mustang mare. “You get now why Jack and I call her crazy, right?”

“Sweetie-” I began, ignoring a brief giggle that escaped the mare.

“I did not mean to offend the mighty Goddess!” Aite replied, exasperated. Although I didn’t care much for her tone, I accepted her words. “You look just the regular, non-heretical divine.”

“Thank you darling,” I told her, satisfied.

“Seriously though,” Aite added, deadpanning at me, “you yourself say you have a ‘celestial beauty’ or ‘look divine’; how is that not blasphemous but calling you the ‘second coming of Princess Celestia’ is?”

“There's a big difference between having high self-esteem and claiming to be a Goddess,” I told her plainly.

“And to think Jack called you delusional,” the bat pony remarked, rolling her eyes.

Frowning at her, I glanced at that Mustang mare, hoping she didn’t pay much attention to that comment, but fortunately she was too busy picking up the broken pieces of the ladder.

“Do you need help, sweetie?” I asked her, though privately I hoped she didn’t. Without my magic I would need to use my hooves to help, and I didn’t want to dirty my freshly cleaned lab coat, or, Goddesses forbid, my even more freshly cleaned actual coat.

To my relief, the mare shook her head. “No, thanks, I got it,” she said, putting the remains of the ladder on her back. “I would love to stay and chat, but I need to get a new ladder. I’ll see you around,” she added as she began to carefully go down the stairs.

“See you soon,” I called after her politely, though I was a bit dismayed at how brief our conversation was. She didn’t even introduce herself. “I suppose she has a lot of work left to do,” I mused quietly, looking around; it appeared that only the walls around the staircase had new paint put on them, the rest of the floor still needing to be renovated.

“Yeah, the Mustangs seem determined to make this place hospitable again,” Aite explained, then shrugged. “Dunno why they bother so much, though, it’s already in way better condition than half of settlements in the Wasteland.”

I also found myself questioning the Mustangs’ efforts, although for entirely different reasons. Jack had told me that this tribe led a nomadic lifestyle, never staying in one place for too long. Why then were they putting so much effort into renovation of Sanctuary?

Maybe they just... don’t have much to do? I mused. With the hydroponic farm providing food and the Mind Filter Talisman preventing any threat, they might have had ponies standing idly, so the Khan decided to give them something to do… though he probably didn’t consider possible accidents, I added, glancing at the spot where the ladder had been.

“By the way, darling, how did you know the ladder would break?” I asked Aite. “You warned Jack to catch that mare as if you knew that would happen.”

“Eh, it’s a gift,” the bat pony replied in wry amusement, much to my confusion. “It was bound to happen. I mean, did you even see how old that ladder was?”

“I didn’t get a good look, but you have a point, the ladder would have been over two hundred years old,” I said, frowning. Aite was averting her eyes from me, rubbing her shoulder awkwardly, and her ears were perked up, as if listening for something. “Darling, is everything alright?” I asked, worried.

“Hm? Oh, nothing, just… I can hear more ponies below,” she said, her ears twitching. I nodded, already knowing there must be ponies on the next floor thanks to my E.F.S. “I’m… not exactly good with crowds while, well, being visible. Which sucks, as one of the things on my bucket list is ‘being in an orgy’,” she added briskly. “Not that many ponies have orgies in the Wasteland, mind you, but still…”

I nodded absentmindedly - not really understanding what in the Goddesses’ names a ‘bucket list’ was - before saying, “I was wondering why your Invisibility Cloak was on your bed.”

“The Mustangs’ Khan asked me to not wear it during my stay with his tribe,” she explained. “Said his tribemates would feel uncomfortable with somepony invisibile walking around them. Which, you know, fair enough, and considering how they took us in, healed you up and did what they could for me, I reluctantly agreed to his request. Even if it means that I in turn will feel uncomfortable, I can deal with that… for the time being at least.”

As somepony who had lived with Aite for the past few days, I could understand Khan’s sentiment. Even though I knew she was there to help me and Jack, and usually when we were alone she would show herself, it was still a bit unnerving.

That being said, I hadn’t expected Aite to be uncomfortable with being seen by many ponies. “Oh, I’m sorry for your discomfort, darling. Pardon me, but, does that mean you suffer from agoraphobia?”

“Agora- what?” Aite asked, tilting her head in confusion. “Isn’t that the fear of open spaces or something?”

“Well, no, it’s a more complex condition. A pony with agoraphobia can have a hard time feeling safe in places with crowds of other ponies. Do you feel anxious? Did you have a panic attack or-”

“No, none of that,” Aite waved her hoof dismissively. “I’ve just… gotten used to being invisible most of the time, I guess. Sure, I would turn it off when I'm in a bar or something, but even so I'd usually be in a corner getting drunk. But no, I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me.”

“I’m relieved to hear that,” I told her, then hesitated. Recalling seeing her cloak on the bed made me wonder about something else. “If I may ask, darling… aside from noticing your Invisible Cloak on the bed, I’ve also happened to notice that you and Jack seem to be sharing that bed.”

Aite groaned. “No, Jack-ass sleeps on the floor,” she snorted and shook her head. “He wanted a room with three beds, but there weren’t any free rooms that didn’t have holes or had running water. I offered to share the bed, of course, but he wiggled his way out of that by saying that I needed to rest comfortably because of my wing. Seriously, at this point I think he’s avoiding sex with me just to annoy me.”

“Well, darling, he does have a point about your wing,” I couldn’t help but point out. “As a doctor, I would have advised you against sharing such a narrow bed while your wing is still broken… let alone having sex, it could be a tad uncomfortable.”

“Meh, we would figure something out,” Aite retorted, winking. “Also, I hoped that if we had fucked last night it would have woken you up; I can be quite noisy if I want to be. Or at the very least, we would have given you some fun dreams.”

The giggle from her earlier comment died in my throat as Aite had unwittingly made me recall my actual dream. Suddenly, I found myself very regretful that those two hadn’t slept together; on the off chance that it would indeed have caused me to have another sex dream, I would have very much preferred that.

“Yes, well…” I hesitated, a little nervous. I cleared my throat and tried to giggle. “That was very thoughtful of you, darling.”

Aite’s eyes narrowed. “Are you… oh, you did dream of something, didn’t you?”

Oh, Luna, why?

“Wha- I… I mean,” I stammered, wanting to deny her question but unwilling to lie to her. “W-well I-”

“Oh come on, you told me about your last one. Was it both me and Jack this time too?” Aite asked insistently, trotting closer to me with a grin on her face… before the grin disappeared and she looked over to my side.

“Forgive me,” a familiar voice sounded from behind me, “have I interrupted anything?”

Turning around, I saw Deliverance, further down the corridor, trotting towards us. Surprised at the sight of the feminine, red-striped zebra, it took me a moment to recall Aite mentioning that he was staying in one of the rooms on this floor.

“Just girl talk,” Aite replied to his question, politely, despite her voice losing some of its warmth.

Deliverance’s eyes shifted from the bat pony to me, and as he approached a smile spread on his muzzle.

“Ah, if it isn’t the lovely Doctor!” he exclaimed. “It’s a relief to see you have finally awakened.”

“That’s very kind of you to say, sweetie,” I replied, smiling. “I’ve been told I have you to thank for saving both of our lives.”

Deliverance, finally stopping beside us, chuckled warmly. “Oh, I wouldn’t go that far. While it is true that I indeed dealt with those slavers, your Bloodtalon friend arrived a mere half a minute after me. I am sure he would have saved you himself if I hadn’t.”

“That may be so,” I retorted, “but I’ve spent enough time in the Wasteland and around slavers especially to imagine what they could have done to us in that half a minute. I am thankful that you spared us such an experience.”

“You are most welcome,” Deliverance replied, smiling sadly. “I only wish I had arrived earlier, to save you two before you were so gravely injured, or in time to save the life of that beautiful creature.”

I felt my eyes widen in surprise as the mysterious zebra mentioned Pinchy. I hadn’t expected him to express regret over the radscorpion’s death - it took an argument and a threat for Jack to do so - or to refer to it as ‘beautiful’.

“Please,” Deliverance continued, pressing a forehoof to his chest, “accept my condolences for its death.”

“Oh, sweetie, you are most kind,” I said, touched. “Thank you. Pinchy was truly a beautiful creature and it did not deserve to die. But please, don’t blame yourself for not being able to save it. If anything, the blame for Pinchy’s death is mine.”

Deliverance opened his mouth, but Aite spoke up before he could, “Or you could blame the slavers, you know, the ones who shot him. Crazy idea, right?” she asked, looking from me to the zebra, her eyebrows raised.

While I frowned at her for interrupting us, Deliverance merely chuckled warmly. “I suppose that’s true.”

“So, how does your scavenger hunt go?” the bat pony questioned. “Did you find where that ex-soldier you were looking for was staying?”

“Yes, and no,” the red zebra sighed. “Yes, I have been able to discover in which room he was staying, and no, because that room happens to be in the collapsed wing of this wondrous sanatorium. I have yet to locate where exactly it is now, and if enough of it remains to offer any clue regarding the location of the Last Caesar’s Lost Vault.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that,” I said, disappointed to hear of his misfortune. “I hope you will be able to find something. I would offer my help in return for saving our lives, but alas, my injury left me unable to use magic for some time, and I’m afraid that without my magic I wouldn’t be of much help to you.”

Once again, Deliverance chuckled. “Somehow, I doubt that’s true,” he said with a smile, staring deep into my eyes.

Did it just get warmer here?

“Ugh, great Luna,” I heard Aite snort beside me, “get a room already.”

I turned my head to her and narrowed my eyes, but unfortunately, the bat pony had turned away and trotted towards the stairs, her ears perked, probably listening for Jack’s return.

“I already have a room.”

A jolt went through my spine. I turned back to Deliverance. Did he just… imply what I think he implied?

If he had, his face didn’t show it. He continued to stare into my eyes, smiling warmly. “In any case, I am thankful for your offer,” Deliverance finally said. Suddenly, his forehooves grabbed one of mine and held it up. “If I find myself in need of your help, I will be sure to ask you.”

“Um, that’s great, sweetie,” I managed to say, feeling a little overwhelmed by-

Wait.

What was that? I glanced at my hoof, held by Deliverance. There was something… I could feel it, some small object between our hooves.

I looked up at the red zebra questioningly. Deliverance winked, then raised one forehoof to his lips in a silencing gesture before letting go of my hoof.

“If you ladies would excuse me,” he said, trotting towards the stairs, “I have to resume my search. I’m sure we’ll talk again soon,” he added, casting me one last parting glance.

Confused by the strange behaviour, it took me a second to reply. As Aite waved her good wing in goodbye, I said, “See you soon sweetie.”

Smiling again, Deliverance turned and began descending down the stairs. Finally, I glanced at the underside of my hoof.

I almost gasped.

It was the Mind Control Talisman.

Questions buzzed in my head. Deliverance took it? But how? And when? He was with Aite… was it he who hid the bodies? But how did he know about it, where to search for it, and what it was? And why…

… why did he give it to me?

“Are you alright?”

I turned my head sharply to Aite. The bat pony was still beside the stairs, but instead of looking up she was staring down, probably following Deliverance. One of her ears, though, was perked towards me, and she was probably wondering why I had fallen silent.

Opening my mouth to respond, I suddenly found myself remembering the red zebra pressing his hoof to his lips.

“Of course, darling,” I finally said, slipping the talisman into my lab coat’s inner pocket.

*** *** ***

Jack got back after a few more minutes - which Aite filled with teasing me about, quote, “flirting” with Deliverance, unquote - and as we resumed heading downstairs, I still found myself confused as to why I hadn’t told her about the Mind Control Talisman. Sure, Deliverance had silently asked me to keep it secret, but he couldn’t ask that of me. Yes, he had saved my life, but Aite was my friend. At least, I considered her so. I shouldn’t keep secrets from her, nor from Jack, who was far more invested in the mystery of the talisman disappearing along with the corpses.

And yet I did.

I tried to repress my sense of guilt. This was just temporary. I would keep this a secret for the time being, until I had the opportunity to talk with Deliverance one-to-one and ask why he gave me back the Mind Control Talisman and why he didn’t want anybody else to know that. Until then, to gain his trust, I wouldn’t say a word about it.

… No, still feeling a little guilty about this.

Suppressing a sigh, I glanced at Jack, wondering how he would react if he knew, both that Deliverance had been in the possession of the talisman, and that my first instinct wasn’t to tell them. Considering he had already been suspicious of the strange zebra, I doubted this would improve his opinion of him, even though he gave it back freely. And as for me… well, irritation was probably his default emotion towards me by now.

My eyes fell on his hind paw. Despite having thoroughly washed it, its color still didn’t quite match the rest of his body, which had left him in a pretty irritable mood already. Then Aite had mentioned to him that Deliverance had run into us after he had left, and he shot me an annoyed look when she brought up how we “flirted”, despite me denying it. However, the griffin hadn’t dwelled on the subject. He’d just ended the discussion and led us downstairs to meet the Mustangs’ Khan. Just before he’d started the next flight down, though, Jack had shot me this brief glance…

There was disapproval in his eyes.

Anger swelled up inside of me. Did Jack think I was some naive filly that had fallen for some, some… charismatic rogue? Yes, I did find Deliverance quite charming, it was a nice change of pace considering almost everybody I had met since leaving my Stable. But I was not… smitten with him. And even if that had been the case, since when did I need the griffin’s approval for liking somebody?!

Just you wait, sweetie, I thought, staring at Jack. I’ll find out why Deliverance took the Mind Control Talisman, how, and why he gave it back. Maybe then you will see that I am not some helpless filly that needs the approval of an “experienced Wastelander”- wait, when did we get outside?

I looked around, stunned. We had just passed through the large, open doors of Sanctuary. Was I really so lost in thought that I didn’t realize we had walked through the rest of the sanatorium? Glancing behind, I saw a large circular space, filled with benches and blankets and several ponies loitering around, a few of them eating. And some of them were staring at me and my companions, but considering what Aite had said about Jack being the most usual sight in the Wasteland between us…

That was all I managed to register before Aite’s teasing voice drew my attention, “Still daydreaming?”

I cast her what I hoped was a disapproving stare, then followed after her and Jack. “I assume the Mustangs’ Khan is somewhere around here?” I asked, looking around.

There were several ponies here, too, some patching up holes in the walls from the outside, some doing some other work, and others just sitting down and talking, one or two of them carrying weapons. Again, I realized we were being stared at. I smiled at the closest Mustangs and waved, wondering if they had seen my bloodied and unconscious body.

“Yeah, he usually is somewhere outside in the morning,” Jack replied to my question. “Checking the perimeter, estimating the state of repairs…”

Listening to Jack with one ear, I observed each of the Mustangs. I knew their Khan was Steady Pace and Free Breeze’s father, so I should be able to spot a stallion that resembled them in some way… come to think of it, Jack had mentioned that their tribe had two pegasi. If one of them was Free Breeze, could his father be-

“Oh hey, Cray-cray?” Aite spoke up, disrupting my train of thought. I turned to her, hoping she wasn’t about to tease me again; fortunately, she was pointing upwards, back towards the sanatorium. “You’ll probably love this.”

Frowning, I followed her gaze. “Love wha-”

The banner with the flag of Equestria.

I stared, agape, at the stunning symbol of the old world, flapping gently on the breeze. Slowly backing towards Aite to better see it, my eyes followed the depiction of two Goddesses flying in a circle around the Sun and the Moon, with stars surrounding them. Like the rest of the sanatorium, the banner had been touched by time, but the few holes it had were mostly located on the outskirts, leaving the symbol untarnished.

A tear formed in my eye. I wiped it off, fighting off the urge to stand in a salute.

The banner was fastened to the bottom of the third floor’s balcony; below it,hanging from the railing of the balcony underneath, were two smaller banners, each depicting a pegasus pony in gallop. Or maybe in flight? I wondered, noticing the two spreaded wings. I wasn’t familiar with that symbol, but my attention was too focused on the banner with Equestria’s flag to wonder about it.

“Why was it hung there?” I asked my companions, not turning away from the banner. “It doesn’t exactly seem appropriate for a sanatorium to have such a banner displayed…”

“They were getting ready for a royal visit.”

My ears twitched at the unfamiliar voice from above. Looking up, I saw a pegasus pony flying down towards us and then landing beside Jack.

Aite had referred to him as a “hunk”. While I perhaps wasn’t a very good judge of appearances of others - especially since I didn’t really care about their looks - I could understand why she thought so. The Khan possessed handsome features, with a light brown coat with a white blaze on his muzzle, well toned muscles and a broad chest. My experienced eyes managed to spot a few lines on his face, letting me deduce that he was a few years older than Aite, but despite that he moved with grace and displayed charisma a much younger stallion could envy him for.

His gaze, that briefly rested on me, turned back to the banner. “We found in the terminals that Princess Celestia was supposed to stay here for a few days.”

All thoughts regarding the Mustangs’ leader evaporated from my head. “P-princess Celestia?!” I stammered. “The Goddess?”

“The very same. Unfortunately, two days before her visit the Last Day happened,” the Khan said, sighing sadly. “My tribe doesn't hold any special loyalty towards the old world, but we left the banner as it was, out of respect.”

“I am glad that you did,” I said softly, once again glancing at the banner before turning my full attention to the Khan. “May I ask what exactly those two other banners depict?”

“The symbol of the Mustang Tribe, obviously,” he replied with a chuckle. “We also plan to mount a flag with it on the mast, once we get that up,” he added, glancing back towards where I assumed the destroyed-by-time mast was.

As he turned, I spotted the cutie mark on his flank, which was identical to the Mustang symbol, a pegasus pony in the middle of either flying or running. Did it mean that his special talent was… being their leader? Well that was convenient… or did he magically brand himself? Or… how long ago had these Mustangs been founded? I didn’t recall Jack mentioning that. Perhaps this was the founder of their tribe, and they just took his cutie mark as their symbol?

Beside the Khan, Jack cleared his throat, “So, did you want to meet her when she wakes up to discuss banners and flags or…”

The pegasus looked at him with amusement as the griffin trailed off impatiently. “Trust a Talon to stay focused on practical matters. Doctor Angel,” he said, turning to me, “now that you are awake, let me welcome you to Sanctuary, the current home of the Mustang Tribe. Rest assured that as long as you stay with us you and your companions will be treated as part of the tribe. You are safe here.”

“That is most kind of you,” I replied, a little taken aback by the declaration, despite all that I had already heard about Mustangs from Jack and Aite. “Thank you for your tribe’s hospitality, and especially for the care I have already received,” I added, briefly touching my horn, “Khan… um, please forgive me sweetie, but I’m afraid my friends had omitted to tell me your name,” I said, embarrassed for this diplomatic faux-pas.

The Khan chuckled in amusement. “Oh, right, sorry for the confusion. It’s Khan, actually. I gave up on my original name when I became the leader of the Mustangs,” he explained as I blinked in confusion. “It was the custom of the ancient Mustangs that our founder decided to adopt as well. I guess he never liked his own name,” he added with a chuckle.

“Oh, I see,” I said, finally understanding. “I admit I wasn’t aware that the ancient Mustangs had such a custom… though now it certainly explains some inaccuracies in the books I read…” I muttered quietly before shaking my head. “Please forgive my ignorance, Khan.”

“There’s nothing to forgive, Doctor. Especially considering that unfortunate zebra in Appleloosa I had heard about,” he added, glancing at Jack and Aite. “I’d imagine talking about him and me would get a little confusing.”

“A bit,” Jack admitted with a shrug.

“Regardless,” I spoke up again, “I'm thankful for the help we have received from your tribe, Khan. I was beginning to think that such hospitality and empathy to others didn’t exist in the Wasteland.”

“Sadly, it usually doesn’t. But helping ponies and fighting evil is sort of our family business. And speaking of family,” he added, “I’ve heard you have met my sons. I hope they weren’t too much of a bother?”

“Oh, perish the thought sweetie,” I retorted, waving my hoof.

“Didn’t you say they flew into our room through the window?” Jack asked with a deadpan tone. “On, you know, the third floor?”

“Sweetie, Khan had asked if they were a bother, not if they had endangered themselves,” I told him, then turned to the Mustang. “That being said, yes, they did; I hope Free Breeze doesn’t make a habit of dragging his brother so high up?”

Khan sighed. “You would be surprised. Fortunately he always makes sure his brother is safe, but nevermind that. They shouldn’t have been outside of your room’s window. Funny how they forgot to mention that part. I’ll need to have a talk with them.”

“Um, thank you,” I said uncomfortably. I didn’t mean to get the colts in trouble, but it wasn’t my place to advise Khan how to raise his own sons. Eager to change the topic, I thought back to what he had said earlier. “Oh, may I ask, what did you actually mean by ‘family business’?” I asked, curious.

Khan’s eyebrows rose in surprise, then he smiled. “Just what it sounds like. We don’t actively search for ponies to help or raiders or monsters and such to fight, but when we stumble upon somepony who needs help we do what we can. We have done so since my grandfather founded our tribe, hence the ‘family business’.”

I blinked in surprise, but it was Jack who asked, “Your grandfather?”

I narrowed my eyes at him, recalling his remarks about my Stable and our succession system, and hoping he wasn’t about to offend our hosts.

Strangely though, Khan seemed highly amused by his question.

“Yes, my grandfather,” he said after a few seconds, turning to Jack with a strange gleam in his eyes. “Perhaps you have heard of him, Bloodtalon? Before he took the name of Khan, my grandfather was known throughout the Wasteland as the Stable Guardian.”

Footnote: 10% to next level!

Chapter Twenty: Chronicles of the Heroic Quest

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“I record the knowledge of our ancestors for future generations.”

Once upon a time, in the desolate land of the Equestrian Wasteland, where once Harmony ruled, a twisted, horrid mare reigned instead. Nopony knew where she came from, but everypony knew her name: Misery, the Raider Queen.

Under her leadership, the raiders, ever a menace of the Wasteland, became its rulers. They roamed the land, taking whatever and whoever they wanted. If settlements were fortunate, they would be satisfied with a toll, often a very big one. But often the raiders sought to slake more violent needs, and they would hurt, wound, rape, and murder whoever they came upon.

But none of them could match the cruelty, brutality, or lust of their queen. Misery-

“Hang on.”

I frowned at Aite as she interrupted Cardinal Tale, the Storykeeper of the Mustang Tribe. The enthralling vision around us she had conjured froze.

I still marveled at her spell. She had cast it when she began her tale, and through it, she was able to fill the room with images. No, images didn’t do this spell justice. Visions. Yes, that was a better description. The tribe’s Storykeeper had conjured visions and the room around us disappeared, though I was still able to see Cardinal Tale, as well as Jack, Aite, Khan, and myself in a loose arc facing her.

The spell can’t hide living beings… I’d mused, looking around, fascinated. It’s like the illusion spells in Stable Eight, except this fills out the entire space around the caster, and isn’t just being cast on a specific spot like a ceiling or a wall… Using such a spell to convey a story about the past is quite brilliant!

When the Storykeeper had begun her tale, she had cast a vision of an empty, barren land, which quickly filled up with raiders, ponies covered in blood and wearing armor with spikes and chains, and all armed. At the same time, though, a certain flaw of the spell was revealed; well, maybe “flaw” was too big of a word, more like a shortcoming. The images themselves barely moved. Even when the Storykeeper had shown us raiders attacking a town and killing ponies, or them taking bags full of bottle caps and food, they were standing still or frozen in movement. Maybe the spell was incomplete?

Also, the facial features of the raiders and their victims were obscured by shadows, but perhaps it was tied to how the spell worked? If my guess was correct and she was projecting her memories or thoughts, then if she had been told about those events and not seen them, then she wouldn’t know the faces of the raiders… or her.

She stood on an elevation, looking down on the raiders. Like them, she was clad in rough leathery barding adorned in spikes and chains, though hers was cleaner. Like Jack had mentioned, there was a crown - of sorts; it looked more like a wreath - made out of barbed wire on her head.

That couldn’t be comfortable to wear, I remarked, wondering briefly if the barbed wire hadn’t simply got caught up in her mane and she couldn’t get it out. My eyes trailed down the two pigtails she had braided her pi-

“Why is she pink?” Aite’s question interrupted my train of thought.

As I glanced at Cardinal Tale, I noticed the Storykeeper was just as confused by the question as I was. “Because that’s how she looked?” she replied, her eyebrow raised.

Aite frowned as she looked at the projection of the vibrant pink raider unicorn with dark pink mane. “So you’re telling me that Misery, the Raider Queen, the Terror Incarnate, Laughing Carnage, and whatever else she had been called… was pink?”

“Um, yes?” Cardinal Tale replied, releasing her spell and causing the vision to disperse, making the mostly empty hall around us visible again.

“Wow, I lost so much respect for her,” Aite scoffed, shaking her head in disappointment.

“Why would you hold any respect for a mass murderer?” I questioned, even more surprised about that than this whole problem the bat pony apparently had with the color pink.

“I mean in the sense that I wouldn’t wanna fuck with her if she was still alive,” she retorted, rolling her eyes. “Honestly, how could anybody take her seriously with that pink coat? She looks ridiculous!”

“Well,” Jack said, sounding annoyed, “the fact that she murdered a lot of people-”

“Yeah, guess we know what she was overcompensating for,” Aite interrupted him, snorting. “Seriously, how come nobody shot her dead before she became the Raider Queen?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, not understanding what had that to do with the color of her coat and mane.

“Bright colors are easier to spot,” Jack replied, “meaning they are easier to shoot at. This is why most of you ponies living in the Wasteland now have coats in darker colors, like shades of gray or brown or just straight-up black. Natural selection at its best. Sure, there are still ponies with bright coloring here and there, but considering that raiders spend most of their time getting into firefights it’s really rare to see one such pony among them… or for them to live too long,” he remarked, shrugging.

I nodded thoughtfully, seeing the wisdom in his assessment. I’ve been aware that my own coat was easy to spot after all, but it hadn’t occurred to me how difficult living would be for an average Wastelander who had been born with a bright colored coat and mane. Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen too many ponies like that since leaving my Stable; truly, Jack had said it best.

Natural selection…

“Misery’s survival to the point she had become the ruler of all raiders would be the testament to her skills, then,” I summarized.

“Exactly. Now, can the two of you shut up and not interrupt?” Jack asked, glaring at both me and Aite. “I actually wanna hear the rest of this.”

Aite snorted. “Okay, fanboy,” she replied, rolling her eyes, while I merely turned my attention back to Cardinal Tale, as I was also curious about the story.

In the corner of my eye, I could see Jack staring at the bat pony with annoyance. Meanwhile, the two Mustangs exchanged amused glances, and with a nod from Khan, the Storykeeper cast her spell again. A wave spread from her horn, obscuring the hall in the visions.

The scene had changed. Now we were standing before a sight quite familiar to me: the sealed door of a Stable, though this one with the number “13” written on it.

“It was unto this Wasteland that the Stable Guardian had emerged from the confines of Stable Thirteen,” Cardinal Tale resumed, and as she spoke, the vision of the massive Stable door began to slide open - a bit disjointedly, with the image flickering - revealing a pony standing behind it bathed in light.

So, this was the Stable Guardian…

He was a pegasus, of course, and except for his coat and mane colors - very light yellow coat and golden mane, with tinges of gray, and a white star above his eyes - resembled Khan a lot. Powerfully built with a broad chest and toned muscles, though not as tall. Even their age seemed similar. He was clad in a suit of Stable barding, though one that had been reinforced with leather for better protection… which was somewhat strange, since I would have thought that he would have been sent out with standard Stable security barding.

“The Water Talisman of Stable Thirteen became corrupted and stopped working, dooming everypony inside. And so the Overmare sent out the pony who soon would be known as the Stable Guardian to the Wasteland to search for a replacement, believing his wings would allow him to complete this task swiftly and safely in the unknown world.”

“I recall hearing that he was younger than this,” Jack interrupted this time. “Like, way younger.”

“You are correct,” the Storykeeper replied, once again pausing the vision, “but it was only my direct predecessor that created this spell. This is the youngest he had known our first Khan,” she said, waving her hoof at the Stable Guardian.

So this spell does conjure visions based on the unicorn’s memory, I mused, staring at the Stable Guardian’s face, which unlike the faces of all the previous ponies wasn’t obscured. He appeared to be around the same age as Khan was now… or actually, maybe even a bit older.

“Look who’s interrupting now,” Aite's remark brought me out of my thoughts. Glancing at her, I saw Jack scowl at her, but she ignored him and added, “What’s the difference if he was, I dunno, forty-ish like in this vision or-”

“Sixteen.”

Surprised, I turned to Khan, expecting he would elaborate… even as comprehension of what he had just said dawned on me.

“What?” Aite asked before I could even think of that question, though by her tone she also knew the answer.

Khan smiled and as calmly as before said, “My grandfather was sixteen when he first left his Stable.”

Just sixteen? Great Goddesses…

“What?!” Aite repeated; glancing at her, I saw her looking at Khan with shock. “You’re telling me that the entire Wasteland was saved by a teenager?!”

“Well,” Khan hummed, clearly amused, then nodded at Jack, “a lot of other people helped, like the Bloodtalons. But we’re getting ahead of the tale,” he added, turning to Cardinal Tale.

The Storykeeper cleared her throat (while Aite murmured “Holy shit,” under her breath) and resumed. “The founder of our tribe emerged into the hostile Wasteland, in search of the water talisman.”

The entrance to the Stable disappeared. I had to fight off the urge to jerk as we suddenly found ourselves far above the ground, despite still feeling the floor under my hooves. The vision had changed to show the Stable Guardian flying above the Wasteland.

“However, even with his ability to fly, he couldn’t avoid crossing the raiders in his search.”

The vision shifted again, and once again I could see solid ground beneath my hooves. The Stable Guardian stood before us, his wings spread as he faced a group of three raider ponies. Behind him was a collection of huts; he was protecting a village.

“Having been raised in a Stable meant that the Stable Guardian had never fought in his life. Never had to battle for his very survival. However, at the same time, being raised in a Stable meant that the Stable Guardian was raised on the Old World values of friendship, love, and standing against evil. Despite never fighting before, he faced the raiders when they came to terrorize a settlement and defeated them.”

The vision changed, with the raiders turned around, fleeing from the pegasus.

He... let them run away?

While I commended his decision to not end their lives, letting them just leave meant they could go on to cause more harm to others. That was just… irresponsible. Before I could ask a question as to why he spared them, the scene changed again. Once again we were shown the empty wastes, with the Stable Guardian standing before us.

But he was not alone.

“His good heart and zeal began to inspire others. It wasn’t long before the Stable Guardian found a group of friends who wished to help him in his mission to save his Stable.”

There were four other ponies beside the Stable Guardian, and-

“WHAT IS THAT?!” I exclaimed, rushing closer to the image.

“Oh for the love of…” I heard a griffin groan behind me, but I utterly ignored him, too captivated by the beautiful creature before me.

It was easily twice as big as an average pony. The creature towered over me, standing on four strong legs, each ending with paws roughly the same size as my hooves. It was covered in brown and black fluffy fur. Its canine features brought to my mind Rexio, but this was definitely not a hellhound that had just hunched down to stand on all fours.

This creature had two heads.

“What is this magnificent creature?” I asked more calmly, mesmerized.

“Oh,” I heard Khan exclaim, “that’s-”

“Please don’t,” Jack interrupted him.

Annoyed, I glanced behind me. Jack was deadpanning at the Mustang’s leader, who in turn looked at him with surprise.

“‘Don’t’ what?”

“Don’t over-explain,” Jack answered, then pointed at me. “The good doctor has a habit of exploding with questions at every new bit of information and getting overly excited. Especially when it relates to a creature she had never seen before, as both of us can attest to,” he added, nodding at Aite. The bat pony covered her mouth with a hoof and giggled. “We’d spend a whole day before she would calm down. That’s an orthros,” Jack said, turning to me. “Two-headed dog, they were around even before the war so that’s not a mutation like brahmin, non-sapient, pretty sure they’re almost extinct. Let’s move on,” he said to Cardinal Tale.

“Wait sweetie, you said they existed before the war?” I repeated, turning back to the image. “I’ve never even heard of an animal such as an ‘orthros’! Did the Stable Guardian befriend it? Can you show me some more images of these orthros?” I asked Cardinal Tale- wait no, I had to do this first! “Audio recording of Doctor Angel,” I said to my PipBuck after pressing a button to start recording, “number 3.01. I have learned about a species called ‘orthros’; like the brahmin that evolved from cattle, they seem to be naturally bicepha-uhm!” I grunted in annoyance as talons grasped my muzzle; when had he even walked over?!

“See what I mean?” Jack told the two Mustangs, then turned to me. “Stop wasting everybody’s time, you can do this bit later.”

With those words, he released me. Massaging my muzzle (and ignoring the glare Jack was giving me), I made a mental note to ask Cardinal Tale about the Stable Guardian’s orthros later as I turned off my PipBuck recorder.

The Storykeeper cleared her throat once again and resumed. “And as the Stable Guardian trekked through the Wasteland with his five friends in search of the water talisman, just as he had inspired old world values in them, he too learned something that in the confines of his Stable he never could: how to appreciate freedom.”

I frowned a little, unsure what she could mean by that, but I was more focused on the four ponies standing beside the Stable Guardian and the orthros to think too much about it. Unlike the Stable Guardian, they, like Misery and other raiders before, had their faces obscured. I could think of only one reason why the tribe’s Storykeeper didn’t know what exactly they looked like, and it made me feel anxious about where this part of the story could go.

“And from one in particular,” Cardinal Tale added as the vision shifted, “he learned what love is.”

Now everypony was gone, except for the Stable Guardian and one of the obscured ponies. They stood close, with the pegasus’s wing wrapped around the other’s body, and their foreheads touching. Was this… Khan’s grandmother, then? But, surely, the Storykeeper would have known what she had looked like then, wouldn’t she?

“Eventually, with the help of his friends, the Stable Guardian found the salvation of his Stable.”

The vision shifted, and now the pegasus stood in the center, surrounded by his friends (with the orthros’s tail wagging) as he held aloft a water talisman in his hoof. Ruins of what once was a city, with big toppled buildings, surrounded them.

“But at the same time…”

The vision shifted.

Now all six of them (well, seven if you counted the orthros as two I suppose) had turned outward, looking around them, the Stable Guardian’s eyes widened and wings spread, and both of the orthros’s heads snarling and the fur on the backs of their necks bristled.

“... Misery found them.”

Around them stood raiders, outnumbering them three to one. But worst of all, on top of the remains of a nearby collapsed building, towering a good five yards above the Stable Guardian and his friends, was the Raider Queen.

“Okay,” Aite spoke up; glancing at her, I saw her grimacing as she looked up at the image of Misery. “Screw what I said earlier, she’s still terrifying.”

Turning to Cardinal Tale, I asked (even though I could already deduce the answer), “What happened next?”

“The Raider Queen’s raiders attacked them. Only the Stable Guardian and his faithful orthros managed to escape.” The Storykeeper paused to look at the four friends of the pegasus. “Our first Khan never spoke much about that painful day, nor about his friends, as thinking about them filled him with too much sorrow, but even decades later he would hold a remembrance for them in private.”

They must have really meant a lot to him, I mused sadly, looking at the four shadows, even as they disappeared to give way to a new vision. To mourn their deaths for decades, even though he couldn’t have known them long…

Now once again Cardinal Tale’s spell showed us standing at the entrance to the Stable Guardian’s Stable, except this time he was facing somepony.

“Though distraught, the Stable Guardian still completed his task and returned to his Stable with the Water Talisman. However, as on his way back he mourned the death of his friends and contemplated everything he had seen in the Wasteland with them, the suffering the raiders spread in Misery’s name, he decided he could not return to his family and friends until after he did everything in his power to stop the Raider Queen. But the Overmare didn’t want to hear about it.”

Wait, what?

“It didn’t matter to her how much the ponies on the Outside suffered. While she felt for them, her first duty was to keep the Stable Dwellers she served as Overmare safe. When the Stable Guardian warned her that the raiders would eventually come for the Stable, she dismissed his worries, believing that they would never be able to find them, let alone get inside. Furthermore, though she was sympathetic at first, eventually she got so tired of their argument that the Overmare accused him of seeking revenge for the friends he lost and putting the Stable in danger because of this, and gave him one last chance to make a choice: return inside the Stable, or leave for the Wasteland and be cast out. The Stable Guardian chose the latter.”

Stunned, I stared at the next image, of the Stable Guardian walking away from the closed Stable door; his eyes, though full of determination, had tears formed in their corners.

My thoughts went back to my own exile. This… this was different. Even though both of us were cast out because of our desire to help others, I, a pony who broke Stable laws (however short-sighted they were) in order to do so, was given a fair trial and was judged not solely by my Overmare. But the Stable Guardian, who did nothing wrong besides disagreeing with his Overmare, after he had saved the entire Stable by finding a Water Talisman in the Wasteland, was given an ultimatum to stay or leave forever. And yet… he still chose to leave.

Chose to return to the nightmare outside, to the raider-controlled Wasteland, where his friends died, and gave up on the safety and comfort of a Stable.

As the vision shifted around me, I returned my attention to Cardinal Tale. “And so, the Stable Guardian returned to the Wasteland,” she intoned; her spell now showed the Stable Guardian standing on top of a hill, with the orthros beside him. “Determined to free the Wasteland from Misery, he waged war on her raiders. Though he was alone, the Stable Guardian attacked the raider outposts, cutting the supply lines, freeing captured ponies, and preventing attacks on settlements. To list all of his daring feats would take hours to recount. He singlehoofedly both saved Friendship City from raider attack…”

The vision changed around us as she spoke. My eyes widened at the sight that lay before us, a vast, dark body of water that stretched towards the horizon. Massive ruins, bigger than anything I had seen, surrounded us along the shore, and directly before us on a small island was a giant statue of a pony clad in a toga holding a torch. A partially collapsed bridge connected it to the mainland, with ropes tied in destroyed parts so it was still possible to cross it.

Is that… the Statue of Friendship? I thought, recognizing the landmark from my history books. So Friendship City is located inside of it? I did wonder how a settlement in this harsh and unforgiving Wasteland could be named such…

I turned my gaze from it to the sea, truly wondrous even though it was just an illusion, but the very next heartbeat it disappeared. Suppressing a disappointed groan, I waited as the vision reformed. I wished Cardinal Tale had allowed the image of the sea to last a little while longer; even though there was an Illusion Spell depicting the sea cast on the walls of the swimming pool of Stable Eight, this vision showed not a mere illusion but what the actual sea looked like. Or at least if my understanding of Cardinal Tale’s spell was correct.

Hopefully someday soon I would get a chance to see it for myself and compare how accurate the vision was.

“... and destroyed Raider Park, the biggest fortress of raiders…”

Now we stood on the roof of an old building, below us lying- GREAT CELESTIA! The area that stretched before us was HUGE!

Raider Park was an apt name. There were plenty of dead trees scattered in the large, rectangular space. The borders of Raider Park were walled, both collapsed and still standing pre-war buildings having been converted into massive fortifications.

The sheer size of this place was staggering. It was easily bigger than both Appleloosa and maybe Sanctuary combined! And it was completely under raiders’ control? How in the Goddesses’ names had the Stable Guardian managed to destroy it?

Or maybe the better question was, had he managed to destroy it? I frowned as I scanned the park below. That place looked rather intact for being “destroyed”. There were a lot of buildings, most clearly constructed after the war, made out of random pieces of wood, metal, and other trash, and some pre-war. They were naturally bigger, carved out of brick and stone, resembling castles. On their walls were mostly destroyed sculptures. An itch of irritation passed through me at the thought of raiders dwelling in such structures, but that didn’t upset me as much as the other sights below.

Skeletons.

Now, naturally, most of them were raiders in life. This was their stronghold, after all, and the Stable Guardian had apparently “destroyed” it. It made sense that many had died there (though why nopony had removed them and taken this place for their own was a mystery to me). But even from so far away, I could see skeletons impaled upon spikes. Bones in massive pits. Bones below hanging nooses.

Skeletons tied to what once must have been a carousel.

I could feel my ears drop as I turned my gaze to other playground attractions. And then further, towards a gloomy river, with a bird-shaped boat lying on the rocky shore. This was once a place for families to come with their foals, and the raiders had turned it into… this.

Shaking my sadness off, I was about to turn to Cardinal Tale to ask how exactly the Stable Guardian dealt with this place, but then she resumed, “... he braved the Island of Screams…”

Yes! More sea!

Once again we stood along the shoreline, this time amidst what appeared to be a harbor. There were piers with sunken or, um, beached I believe the term was, ships. I quickly turned my gaze from our immediate surroundings, glanced briefly on the island far off in the distance before gazing at the sea. I did notice though that this - I assumed - “Island of Screams” seemed to be not only further away from the shore than Friendship City but was also bigger, and there weren’t any visible structures on it besides one very tall tower right at its edge. Normally I would probably be intrigued by the building, but right now…

Oh, how I wished, gazing at the slowly moving waves, for the Storykeeper’s spell to be able to emit sounds. I could only imagine how beautiful that music would be!

Within a few moments, though, the vision had disappeared. While slightly disappointed, I turned to Cardinal Tale, curious about what else she would show us.

“... defeated the largest of the dragons that served the Raider Queen, Garble…”

“WHAT?”

It was a relief to hear at least Aite’s exclamation alongside my own; I didn’t particularly like the feeling of being the only person in the room not privy to such extraordinary information. However, all such trivial thoughts evaporated from my mind at the amazing sight that had been conjured before me.

“Is that a dragon’s skull?!” I exclaimed, gazing wide-eyed at the massive skull that loomed over us. It had to be, the sheer size, the number of teeth, and their shape… okay, maybe I didn’t know what was the appropriate size for a dragon’s skull or how many teeth they had or if they really had so many fangs, but-

“Wait, Misery had dragons serving her?” Aite’s question interrupted my momentary daze. When I glanced at her - very briefly, as I was busy taking quick measurements of the skull - the bat pony had turned to Jack. “How come you hadn’t mentioned that?”

“Because it wasn’t important to the story,” Jack replied calmly. Staring at the skull thoughtfully, he continued, “She only had a few under her control, and most of them were barely bigger than a pony. And the biggest one was killed a few months before her fall,” he added, waving his forepaw at the image of the skull.

“How in the Goddesses’ names did Misery control something so gigantic?” I asked, bewildered at the concept. No, the mere thought! “And how did the Stable Guardian kill this dragon?”

“You generally use explosives for something this big,” Jack retorted, shrugging.

My brow furrowed hearing the nonchalance at his voice. While it could be attributed to him already knowing many parts of the story we were being told, I couldn’t help but wonder if it came from him having some experience fighting dragons and other giant creatures.

Questions flared in my brain, both to Jack and Cardinal Tale. How big exactly had this dragon been? (I could make only an educated guess based on the skull’s size.) Exactly how many had Misery had under her control? How exactly had the Stable Guardian killed this Garble? Who was Garble before somehow becoming subjugated by the Raider Queen? Could the Storykeeper show more than just a skull? And those were only my top five questions at the moment!

The vision shifted.

I bit back an anguished cry as the skull disappeared. I needed to know more! But even as I was about to open my mouth and convey my desire in a more civilized manner, I felt Jack’s steely gaze upon me. I knew what it meant.

Calm down Angel, I told myself, taking a deep breath and closing my eyes, this is the Mustangs’ history you are being told. You will be staying here for some time, you will surely have the opportunity to ask your questions and learn more without rudely interrupting the story… and without a griffin mercenary breathing down your neck.

“... and lastly, the most dangerous feat of his life…”

More dangerous than fighting a giant dragon and wiping out a huge fortress of raiders by himself?

“... he infiltrated Misery Palace.”

… Well, sneaking into the home of the mare that controlled said dragon and raiders might have been more dangerous. Definitely enough for me to open my eyes and look at the vision Cardinal Tale had conjured…

… except she hadn’t.

I frowned in confusion at the Storykeeper, who, instead of creating another illusion, appeared to be reaching with her magic to the small table, grabbing one of the few items on it.

“Unfortunately,” Cardinal Tale said, “that place was utterly destroyed. Or fortunately, I suppose. This spell allows me to project places and people I have seen, whether personally or through the visions cast by my predecessor, or even through memory orbs. However, it does not work with places or people I’ve only seen in pictures,” she added, levitating the object she had grabbed over to me.

It was a picture. Instinctively, I tried to take a hold of it with my magic, forgetting that I currently couldn’t use it. With an annoyed sigh, I focused on the picture itself.

Well, I had to admit, the Raider Queen had good taste. The picture - clearly taken before the war - showed a big structure, surrounded by walls that formed a rectangle. A tower marked each corner and the only entrance inside appeared to be a single ornate and fortified gate. Beyond the gate lay a bricked road leading to the round building in the precise center of the rectangle. From it to the walls around it were additional buildings, connected to the middle one, the shape reminding me of the remains of barracks I saw back at the Rock Farms, only made of bricks and much bigger. Each was identical except for the one on the opposite side of the middle from the gate, which was much wider than the others. The way those oblong buildings were arranged gave the entire structure a look resembling a star locked in a rectangle.

I can’t fault the Raider Queen for picking this place to be her palace, I mused, admiring the construction. It was really elegant and unique while at the same time it seems to have been very fortified. What purpose did it serve before the war, though? The architectural style appears to be from the early eighth century of the post-Celestia/Luna rift era, so long before the war…

During my musings, Cardinal Tale had moved the picture closer to Aite so she could get a better look at it. Now it was tilted from me at an angle that allowed me to see the back of the picture, and I realized there were some words scribbled there. Curious, I leaned over.

Fillydelphia Penitentiary

Penitentiary? This was… a prison? I wouldn’t have imagined a prison to be so elegant… Why would-

“So that’s what it looked like,” Jack remarked as he looked at the picture. Glancing at him I saw that his eyes were scanning the structure thoroughly. “Hm, I always imagined this place to be bigger, if the Raider Queen chose this as her residence over Raider Park. But I suppose it’s still pretty formidable, easy to defend…”

“It was not the walls or towers that kept Misery Palace safe,” Cardinal Tale retorted. “Rather, it was the Raider Queen herself, as I’m sure you will soon agree. But also it probably helped that the Fillydelphia Ruins at the time were inhabited almost solely by raiders,” she amended.

“As I’m sure you will soon agree”... I mentally repeated after her, intrigued. I wonder what exactly she could mean… What else is she going to tell us?

“But what’s the big deal about the Stable Guardian sneaking in there?” Aite chimed in. “Yeah, I get it, thousands of raiders and a scary pink unicorn, so obviously it takes some serious balls to go there. But compared to killing a freaking dragon and taking out that huge raider fortress?”

It was Jack who answered her. “Before the Stable Guardian, nobody - except for raiders - who’d entered Misery Palace ever left. Nobody,” he added pointedly, narrowing his eyes at the bat pony. “Nobody even wanted to get near it. It was the darkest, most vile place in the entire Wasteland. The pit of debauchery and suffering in every meaning of those words.”

“Precisely,” Cardinal Tale agreed. “The Stable Guardian took an enormous risk entering that dark place. Especially when you consider that within that year he had caused more losses to the Raider Queen than anypony ever had in the fifteen years of her reign. It’s terrifying to just think about what depraved tortures her sick mind would have come up with if she had caught him. But he faced the horrors of Misery Palace, and because of that he learned of the Raider Queen’s plans to attack Tenpony Tower.”

Once again her horn flared up, and a wave of magic spread from it. The room gave way to the Wasteland, an image of a very tall, mostly intact building amidst ruins like those in the vision of Friendship City, with a pair of monorail tracks running past the tower and through a station built into its side, many stories above the ground. So this is Tenpony Tower, I mused, my interest in the place I had heard so many times described as the bastion of civilization in the Equestrian Wasteland. It was certainly a far more imposing structure than Misery Palace or any of the buildings in the Raider Park. Aside from maybe one side, which was blackened and sagging, and clearly reinforced in the post-war era; could this be from the balefire bomb’s blast? The rest of the building was much more pleasant to look upon, with mostly intact glass windows and some floors featuring balconies that appeared to still be in recreational use. Massive steel walls surrounded the tower, and on the roof, there was a massive radio antenna.

“At that time, Tenpony Tower was about the only settlement fully free of the Raider Queen’s influence,” the Storykeeper continued. “Even the likes of Friendship City paid her a toll, and others had it much worse. Of course, while it was safe behind its walls, Tenpony Tower still suffered because of the raiders, with the merchants and anybody else traveling from and to it being harassed by the raiders. But it was still the only place the Raider Queen couldn’t just stroll over to and make demands, the only place where her shadow couldn’t reach. And the Stable Guardian discovered that that was about to change.

“Most ponies would fall into despair. The raiders held almost the entire Wasteland in their grasp, and their army was much bigger than the combined forces of anybody who would want to stand against them. If the Raider Queen wanted something, she had more than enough numbers to take it. And nobody knew this better than the one who had spent months fighting her. The Stable Guardian also knew that Tenpony Tower wasn’t just a settlement, or even the ‘last bastion of civilization’ as it is called. He knew that this building used to house the Ministry of Arcane Science’s Manehattan hub during the war.”

I’m sorry, what?!

Amazed and excited, I turned my gaze to the image of Tenpony Tower. This was the Ministry of Arcane Science hub? Dear Goddesses… Now I knew I had to go there someday, preferably soon, I was already imagining what magical secrets could be waiting to be found there; did they conduct research there? Experiment with spells and megaspells? What kind of recordings remained there?

“Having befriended some of the residents of Tenpony Tower,” continued Cardinal Tale. It took some effort for me to turn my attention back to her, “DJ Pon3 especially, the Stable Guardian knew that many of the Ministry’s secrets were still hidden within the tower, secrets that could never be allowed to fall into the raiders’ hooves, and least of all their queen’s. But with the Raider Queen’s mind set on conquering it, it seemed that it was only a matter of time for that to happen.

“Except, the Stable Guardian didn’t give up. Quite the opposite, in fact. In the Raider Queen’s plan to attack Tenpony Tower, the Stable Guardian saw a beacon. A beacon that could rally all the still free people of the Wasteland, giving them a chance to free the Wasteland from Misery. For he knew that in order to take Tenpony Tower, she would have to bring a big portion of her forces, meaning if they could defeat them, the raiders’ power would be broken in one battle.”

I knew of course from Jack that after the raider’s defeat the Raider Queen’s control over the Wasteland was broken, but I found myself amazed at the foresight and ingenuity of the Stable Guardian. To learn of such great danger and be able to turn it into a victory for everybody.

“And so he set out to gather allies. First, he contacted the friends he had made during the months he fought the raiders. With DJ Pon3’s help, he was able to convince the leaders of Tenpony Tower of the direness of their situation and to agree to his plan, giving him funds to hire Talon Companies.”

The vision shifted, and now it showed the Stable Guardian again, except now behind him was a unicorn stallion with obscured features. Was this supposed to be DJ Pon3?

“He then turned to John Bloodtalon, son of the leader of Bloodtalons.”

Son of the leader of Bloodtalons? I thought as the vision shifted. Now beside the Stable Guardian and DJ Pon3 stood a grizzled griffin, much older than Jack. Comparing him with the image of a pegasus that I knew had been at the time in his late teens, I wondered if he too was portrayed older than he should be. An eyepatch covered his right eye… and a strange, metallic armor covered his left forepaw and wing. Was he somehow wounded in his forepaw and wing and needed additional protection? I wondered. The rest of his armor resembled the set Jack wore.

And speaking of Jack...

The griffin mercenary was staring at John Bloodtalon intensely. However, his face didn’t bear the calculative frown it usually did rather, he seemed to be smiling. I wondered if this was the first time he was seeing him. If John had lived eighty years ago, even if he was younger than Cardinal Tale’s spell showed, then it was sadly very probable that he had passed away before Jack was born.

“So,” I chimed in, smiling gently at the griffin as I recalled what he had told me and Aite, “if the leader of Bloodtalons at the time was your great-great-grandfather, then John would be your-”

“Great-grandfather, yeah,” Jack interrupted, finishing my sentence. “He was about my age back when all of this went down.” He dropped his smile and turned to Cardinal Tale and Khan. “You said you can create images of people or their images you had seen. I’m guessing your predecessor had shown you him with this spell? But then that would mean he had met your tribe,” he said once the Storykeeper nodded. “How come I never heard of the Mustangs then? I was told by my elders about the Stable Guardian, but all they knew about what had happened to him after the Raider Queen was defeated was that he disappeared.”

“If you’ll let the Storykeeper finish, you will understand why that is,” Khan replied with a calm smile (which I suspected must have annoyed Jack). “But to answer your question, yes, Cardinal Tale’s predecessor met John Bloodtalon. So did I for that matter,” he added, looking at the image. “When the Bloodtalons decided to leave the Equestrian Wasteland and operate from the zebras’ land instead, my grandfather went to meet with your great-grandfather to wish him good fortune and say farewell. I was just a young colt, but he left a strong impression. I assume he’s no longer with us?” Khan asked, turning back to Jack.

“Um, yeah, he passed away some twenty years ago,” he answered, slightly uncomfortably.

“A mercenary passing away instead of getting shot to death?” Aite chimed in, her eyebrows raised in surprise. “Wow, that’s rare.”

“I told you that I learned this story from my elders,” Jack reminded her. “Why are you surprised now?”

“‘Elder’ isn’t very specific, considering the average lifespan of a mercenary. I thought you meant guys in their forties.”

“I am happy to hear he lived such a long life and that it didn’t end in violence,” Khan spoke up, breaking their argument. “Though I am saddened that he died, of course, even if such a long time had passed.”

“Yeah, well, everybody has to go at some point,” Jack retorted, earning a scowl from me.

It’s fortunate that I am planning to make everybody immortal, otherwise granting him immortality might be seen as petty of me.

Pushing his remark out of my mind, I turned to Cardinal Tale. “Since Jack brought it up, there’s one more discrepancy regarding your spell to clear up, sweetie. How come you can show us what Misery looked like? Except for her facial features, I mean,” I amended.

Before answering, the other unicorn turned to Khan. “I don’t think it has ever taken me so long to finish this tale,” she remarked, prompting the pegasus to chuckle. “The raiders erected many statues of their queen across the Wasteland,” she said, turning back to me. “Practically every outpost of theirs had one, as well as most of the settlements that paid a toll to be left alone. After the Raider Queen was defeated and the raiders broke apart, almost all of those statues were destroyed, even those in Raider Park. Our tribe had stumbled upon one, however, that was mostly intact, and even was still covered in paint, except most of the Raider Queen’s head had broken off.”

“So the spell can work with statues but not with pictures?” Aite asked, tilting her head in confusion. As I was thinking this over while listening to Cardinal Tale, I opened my mouth to explain what I theorized, but the bat pony shrugged and added “Meh, seems legit.”

I rolled my eyes at the severe oversimplification, but since the Storykeeper had already pointed out how long it was taking her to finish the tale, I decided to not start this particular debate.

“If there are no more questions,” Cardinal Tale said with an amused smirk before clearing her throat. “Thanks to John Bloodtalon, the Stable Guardian was able to talk with the leader of the Bloodtalons, the most renowned mercenary group in the Wasteland, and convince him to accept the contract from Tenpony Tower to fight the Raider Queen. This encouraged other Talon Companies and lesser mercenary bands who began to follow suit. The Stable Guardian left reaching out to and organizing them to the Bloodtalons and the ponies of Tenpony Tower while he approached his other friend…”

With the wave of her horn, the vision shifted again. Now beside the Stable Guardian, the presumed DJ Pon3, and John Bloodtalon stood a pony straight out of pre-war posters. A big earth pony clad from hoof to head in massive steel armor, with big guns strapped to the pony’s sides.

This was a Steel Ranger.

“... though maybe calling him his friend is going a bit too far,” Cardinal Tale added with a soft chuckle. “Still, even if they never became close, the Stable Guardian had considered Star Paladin SteelHooves to be a reliable ally.”

Star Paladin… SteelHooves? I wasn’t sure if this was this pony’s whole name or if part of it was a title or a rank.

“He helped the Stable Guardian convince his Elder to join this coalition in defense of Tenpony Tower, and through him to convince the Elders of other Steel Ranger contingents. Together with the mercenaries, they began to make war plans, and while the Stable Guardian helped them out, he mainly focused on gathering more allies. For even though the Bloodtalons and the Steel Rangers were the two most powerful groups in the Wasteland after the raiders, they were still vastly outnumbered. However, that wasn’t the only reason why he sought others.

“Earlier, I said that the Stable Guardian had seen the upcoming battle as a banner behind which the free people of the Wasteland could rally to defeat Misery. But he also believed it could become so much more. The Stable Guardian hoped that it could lead to the unification of all the people living in this land, to the rebirth of Equestria. To the return of peace and harmony. To the end of raiders, the end of the Wasteland. And he knew that for that, all the people would need to take a part in the upcoming battle.

“In the Stable Guardian’s mind, the battle for Tenpony Tower was the battle between the Wasteland and Equestria.”

Jack had told me of this, briefly. How the Stable Guardian “preached” about making the Wasteland a better place.

Those brief few words could not give justice to what Cardinal Tale had just told us about the Stable Guardian’s mindset.

That pony was a true visionary.

“So he flew across the Wasteland, visiting every settlement, every tribe, all of the creatures that called this land home. He encouraged them to join in the fight, stressing the importance of this coming conflict, and speaking of the future. Many turned him down, some agreed, but all listened, and even if they wouldn’t take part in this war, hope had stirred in their hearts.

“And those who had agreed, which wasn’t a small number, converged on Tenpony Tower to aid in its defense. Between their coalition and the forces of the Raider Queen, nearly every species living in the Wasteland had its representatives in this conflict fighting for either one or both sides.

“But the Stable Guardian was still restless. He knew the Raider Queen’s power, he knew the size of her forces, he knew of her evil. Though he and his allies mustered an impressive force and had prepared several strategies for the coming battle, he knew that they could still lose. And above all, he knew that Equestria could not be reborn without a final ally.”

Final ally? I repeated in my head, confused by the tone shift in Cardinal Tale’s words.

“And so…”

Her horn flared, and the vision changed. The images of the Stable Guardian, DJ Pon3, John Bloodtalon, and Star Paladin SteelHooves disappeared.

“... he turned his gaze above.”

Now clouds loomed above us.

A snort came from Jack. “You’re joking obviously.”

“Yeah,” Aite unexpectedly spoke up. “I mean, glossing over how those plans of his obviously didn’t pan out, we’re supposed to believe that this clearly smart buck thought those feathered assholes would help? Um, no offense,” she added, glancing at Khan and Jack with slight embarrassment.

While Jack merely rolled his eyes, Khan chuckled warmly. “None taken, though I wish not all pegasi had to be scorned because of the decisions of a few. But I digress,” he added with a shrug and turned to the Storykeeper.

“Knowing that his friends and allies would try to discourage him, the Stable Guardian left to deal with the pegasi without telling them,” Cardinal Tale resumed. “As he ascended above the cloud cover, he felt as if he had gone back in time. Before his eyes was the world as it was before the war, cities and people unmarred by the horrors of the Wasteland below. His arrival in turn caused some small unrest, and the pegasi who saw him fly through the clouds gathered around him in interest. However, as the Stable Guardian expressed his desire to speak to their leaders, he was surrounded by an Enclave patrol who arrested him.”

Memories arose of my own encounter with an Enclave patrol, and what their captain had told Ditzy regarding crossing the cloud cover.

“Since he came to ask for their help, the Stable Guardian didn’t try to fight them and complied. He hoped that by showing he had no hostile intentions he would be allowed to talk with somepony in charge. Still, the war with the Raider Queen would start in a matter of days. It was fortunate then that Senator Rainer, member of the pegasus Low Council, had heard of the pegasus from below the clouds and took interest in him. He met him the same day in the detention cell.”

Low Council? I repeated in my mind, frowning. I guess they are the leaders of the pegasi, like the Stable Council in Stable Eleven… I hope this doesn’t mean they chose them similarly. But does that mean there is also… a High Council?

“The Stable Guardian spoke to him about the reason he came, about the war in the Wasteland and the threat the Raider Queen posed to everybody, including the pegasi. He pleaded with him to help. The Senator took his words seriously but told him that helping the Wasteland wouldn’t be his decision to make. He explained to him how their leadership worked, how the government was chosen by the citizens from the members of the Enclave through voting for the Senate, the Low Council, that created laws and policies, and the High Council that enforced those laws and policies.”

Immediately my mood soured as I got reminded of the democratic system I had encountered in Stable Eleven. The pegasi didn’t just choose their leadership the same way, somehow they found a way to make it even more convoluted!

“The Senator told him that the official policy of the government was to not interfere with the world below, and for that to change and the pegasi to commit any form of help the Senate would have to vote on this. And that in turn would require time. Time that the Stable Guardian didn’t have. However, he refused to return below the clouds without at least trying to. He asked the Senator to allow him to speak before their Senate, believing that if they heard it from him they could be moved to action. Although Rainer was skeptical, he admitted that the youth was passionate and convincing, and his cause was just. He used whatever influence he had to call an emergency session of the Senate and arranged for the Stable Guardian to speak before them.”

Cardinal Tale released her spell. I looked up as the illusion of clouds disappeared; I had been a little disappointed that it was all the Storykeeper had shown us. I would have loved to see the sights the Stable Guardian had seen, the world unmarred by the Wasteland. But of course I understood that with the spell requiring the caster to have seen whatever they wanted to show themselves it would have been impossible.

But why had Cardinal Tale released the spell now? She had continued to channel it through her tale of what happened to the Stable Guardian above the cloud barrier. I looked at her questioningly, and saw that the other unicorn had once again turned to the table where earlier she took the picture of Fillydelphia Penitentiary from. Now she lifted another object with her magic.

A holotape.

“Doctor Angel, would you be so kind?” Cardinal Tale asked as she levitated the holotape over to me, looking meaningfully at my PipBuck.

“Oh, of course,” I stammered a little, lifting my leg.

“What is that?” Jack asked as I worked to connect the holotape to my PipBuck, a task I found unexpectedly difficult without the aid of my magic.

“A recording of the Stable Guardian’s address to the pegasi’s Senate,” Cardinal Tale replied. “As well as their reply.”

The griffin snorted. “Gee, I wonder what they said.”

“Our founder recorded it all for reasons explained in it,” Cardinal Tale continued, ignoring the remark. “Even though things didn't turn out how he had hoped, our tribe holds great value in this relic.”

Of course you do, it’s a recording of the voice of your tribe’s founder, I thought as I finally connected the holotape. Without my magic, I was then left impatiently fumbling at the PipBuck's controls with a hoof as curiosity gnawed at me. How did his voice sound? And what had he told the pegasi’s leaders? Oh, this is so exciting!

I hit play.

Distant whispers emerged from my PipBuck along with a series of weird… short, shuffling-like noises. Was this… what hoofsteps on top of clouds sounded like? I couldn’t tell, and soon they had stopped and were followed by a pony taking a deep breath.

“Thank you, Speaker.”

This was his voice? If the Stable Guardian had left Stable Thirteen when he was sixteen and he’d fought against the raiders for about a year up to this point, then he couldn’t have been more than about seventeen years old when this recording was made. While his voice definitely was pleasant and strong, there was no trace of nervousness or hesitation in it. It was resonating with confidence… as well as something else that I couldn’t quite put my hoof on.

“Thank you all for allowing me to speak here in the Senate. I thank members of the High Council for being here to listen as well. And I thank Senator Rainer for his endorsement that made it possible for me to speak here today. As you all know, despite being a pegasus like everypony here I came from below the clouds. I have been told that I am the first pony not born among you to speak here since the war. Certainly, a lot of things have happened both below and above the clouds within those past one hundred and twenty years, and this short hearing wouldn’t allow me to inform you of everything that has transpired on the ground even if I was able to. But I trust by the time I have finished you will understand what dread tidings bid me come here and speak before you.

“What remains of Equestria below the clouds is called ‘the Equestrian Wasteland’, or just ‘the Wasteland’ for short. However, I wasn’t born there. As you might have guessed by my barding and the PipBuck on my foreleg, I was born in one of the Stables below, to an earth pony father and a unicorn mother. There were no pegasi in the history of my Stable living there. Most would say that this is a genetic accident, some would say that it was the Goddesses' will that I was born a pegasus. My own faith has been… shaken by everything I have seen, but I know if there was some higher purpose behind me being born with these wings, it was to be here today.

“Regardless, I have brought up my upbringing so that you would understand; before about a year ago, the Wasteland had been about as alien to me as it is to you. Moreso, I would say. I had been sent out of my Stable to search for a water talisman as ours began to fail. I did not know what to expect, what was left of our country after the war. All I knew of Equestria came from stories told in my Stable… and between them and what I’ve seen up here, where your cities remain virtually unchanged from those days, it is plain just how much harm has been done to our ground-bound brethren. By the zebras, by themselves, and by you.

A murmur of disapproval could be heard in the recording.

“Please. I did not mean my words as an accusation. I do not judge your ancestors for closing the skies a century ago. They did what they deemed best for the survival of everypony who lived above the clouds. I wasn’t there. Chances are I would have made the same choices they made. But I brought it up because you need to understand what it meant for everybody not so fortunate to be born with wings.

“The land below is barren. Almost nothing grows in the dim light that manages to break through the cloud barrier. Ponies were reduced to eating meat or scavenging pre-war canned goods in order to survive. Water is easier to find, but not clean water. That became more precious than gold was before the war. Most sources of water have become polluted and poison ponies who drink from them. Hunger and thirst are as common a foe as radiation, the magical fallout left by the balefire that scoured our country. Lakes and rivers become irradiated, further poisoning the land. But the radiation doesn’t just kill. Sometimes it mutates ponies and other creatures. Many of the animals that once lived in Equestria have mutated into dangerous monsters that prey on ponies. And even worse, if you can possibly imagine it, is Taint, a mysterious, highly malignant poison that cannot be detected, leaving ponies with the experience of its unfortunate victims as the only defense against encountering it.

“Survival in the Wasteland… is harsh. At times, it even feels as if it has a will of its own. A malicious, evil will, that seeks to infect everything, be it living or not, and twist it into dark mockeries of what they once were.

“That is why many of the ponies living there became raiders. That is what those who turned to crime and violence are called. The Wasteland poisons and twists them until they lose their morality and descend into evil. Some were just bandits that stole in order to survive. Many became murderers who did not care who they killed. And many others became sadistic creatures, worse than radiation-created monsters, and yes, by that I mean that they even eat other ponies. The raiders prey on everypony else, ponies who just focus on surviving and living their lives in peace in their settlements, as much as it is possible in the harshness of the Wasteland.

“However, for an entire century, those ponies had managed. The raiders were a vicious menace, but settlements had still managed to survive and even thrive, as much as it is possible to down there. All those bandits and murderers weren’t organized, each gang looking only after themselves, and usually were preying only on travelers and the smallest of towns. But, that all changed about a decade and half ago, when… when Misery came.”

My eyes widened at the venom the Stable Guardian had poured into that single word. As if he loathed her very name. Knowing that she had killed his friends and lover, it wasn’t a shocking realization, but the brief change in his voice had still surprised me.

“That’s the name of a unicorn mare who gained control of one of those raider groups fifteen years ago. Then, within a few short years, she systematically united every other gang in the Wasteland, becoming the Raider Queen. Under her command, the raiders became the dominant force below the clouds. Settlements were attacked, ponies killed or enslaved, and survivors were forced to pay a tribute regularly, be it food, weapons, or new slaves. Nearly every town in the Wasteland effectively came under the Raider Queen’s thrall. There had been times when the Raider Queen would just stroll into a settlement and have everypony there obey her every whim. Which fortunately has been rare as of late, as for the last decade she hardly left the palace she had fashioned for herself from a pre-war prison.”

I frowned hearing the familiar ruffling noises in between the Stable Guardian’s words. It was the sound Jack’s and Khan’s wings would make while they flew in the air.

“From there she rules over her thousands of raiders, sitting upon a throne THIS high, made entirely out of ponies’ skulls!”

Faint gasps could be heard from my PipBuck as the gathered pegasus senators voiced their shock. While undoubtedly the mere concept of a throne made of skulls was rather… grisly, I couldn’t help but wonder…

How far above the floor had the Stable Guardian flown?

“You might be wondering,” he continued, after a few seconds, as the senators quieted down and he probably landed back on his stand, “how was it possible for this mare to effectively become the ruler of the Wasteland? Surely, if life is so hard below the clouds, if survival is a never-ending battle, ponies and other creatures must know how to fight back? You are right. And they tried fighting back the Raider Queen, just as they had fought back the raiders through that century. You already heard what became of simple settlements, but it wasn’t just them. Talons, the griffin mercenary companies, fought against her, often being paid to do so. Many were eradicated, with some of their former members even ending up as raiders themselves. And the Steel Rangers, descendants of the armed forces of the Equestrian Ministry of Wartime Technologies, clad in power armor like your own soldiers, fought against her. They have been crushed time after time. Now they still resist the raiders, but have standing orders to literally run away if they spot the Raider Queen.

“They do so because she. Is. Powerful. I do not know what your records say about magical abilities of unicorns from before the war, but I assure you, none of them could compare to her. I had heard reports and tales of the Raider Queen crushing Steel Rangers within their power armor, of dampening an explosion of a grenade completely, and of her catching a missile from a rocket launcher and turning it back! I would have thought of those as mere tales, if it weren’t for things I have seen myself. And what I have seen…

“I’m sorry,” he said after a brief pause and a deep breath. “I saw her crush the heads of my friends like it was nothing.”

What?

“I saw her drop a building on top of a single pony. She didn’t need to, she could have killed her in an easier way. But she did that because to her that was easy.”

But that… that was insane! Building aside, for which I couldn’t calculate the energy necessary to move because the Stable Guardian hadn’t specified how big it was anyway, but crushing a pony’s head… Crushing! Not blow away, destroy, cut, burn, but crush! Implying she used a simple Telekinesis Spell’s grip! The amount of force required to crush a… the amount of magical energy required…

Not even Demon was this powerful.

Suddenly the part of Jack’s tale about the Raider Queen holding up a collapsed building with her magic to let her and part of her army escape didn’t seem too improbable. Neither did those tales the Stable Guardian had brought up.

“But her magical power is not what makes her so dangerous.”

Merciful Luna, I had never thought I would be relieved to know a pony was dead, what now?!

“If that was all there was to her, she wouldn’t hold the entire Wasteland under her hoof. She would be nothing more than an extremely dangerous raider unicorn. She wouldn’t be able to control thousands of raiders. All those violent, derranged murderers among them would have usurped her a long time ago. No, what keeps all of them in line, what keeps the entire Wasteland in fear, is her sick, unimaginable cruelty.

“I interrogated many, many raiders over the past couple of months. Each of them, and I mean each and every one with no exception, when we would reach topics that they believed the Raider Queen would be ‘upset’ if they’d talk about, they’d refuse to speak. Instead, they would laugh at me for trying to intimidate them, and spout tales of what she would do to them. Tales that I, even after everything I had seen in the Wasteland, everything done in her name, even after seeing firsthoof what she was capable off, did not believe.

“Until last month, when I infiltrated her palace.

“Now I doubt you will believe me, for one cannot fathom how a pony, or any living, sapient being could devise such atrocities. But I will tell you some of the horrors I have witnessed there nonetheless, for this is what I came here to do, try and make you comprehend what has transpired beneath the clouds.”

I felt a shiver go down my spine. The horror was plain in the Stable Guardian’s voice. Jack had called Misery Palace “the pit of debauchery and suffering in every meaning of those words”. If it truly caused sheer terror in somepony who had spend months in the Wasteland fighting her raiders, then it must have been an apt description.

“There was a doctor named Red Blood, who one day was enslaved by the raiders. Nevertheless, he continued to heal ponies, treating his masters with the same care he had offered his patients. Word of his healing abilities reached the Raider Queen, and she had decided she wanted him among the doctors serving her in her palace. His continued obedience eventually granted him the dubious privilege of becoming her personal medic. And that was when he tried to assassinate the Raider Queen.

“He failed, obviously. The Raider Queen entombed him within one of the chambers in her palace. He was melded into the wall, making any sort of movement impossible save for his jaw, for the Raider Queen allowed him to voice his suffering. She let him retain his eyes and ears, for she wanted him to see and hear. When he was stuck into the wall, most of the coat and skin on his chest, belly and legs remained exposed, because she wanted him to feel. For months at a time, he would be left alone, seeing, hearing, and feeling only darkness, silence, and nothing beside the pain. But then it would change, and for days or even weeks, orgies and other debauchery would take place in this room, making him see, hear, and feel acts that would awaken dark desires in any lonely heart, which he would never partake in again, before he would be left alone again. But that wasn’t all the Raider Queen had done to him. To seal his fate she had his organs cut out and splayed along the walls, mixed with cement among the bricks, so he would see them and know he was this room now. Lastly, she hooked him up to life-supporting machines, ensuring he would remain alive as long as it was medically possible. And he was, for eight years, until last month, when I reprogrammed those machines to pump an overdose of morphine and granted him the death he begged for. Red Blood had told me his story himself.

My tail swished behind me. That was… certainly horrible.

Wouldn’t I have done something similar though?

No, though I could understand that such a betrayal could have hurt and angered Misery, this felt like… an overreaction…

Did this really seem that much different from how I would punish my test subjects?

Angrily, I tried harder to push those thoughts away. It helped that I could focus on the recording.

“Eleven years ago, there was a mercenary company called Hilda’s Talons. They were hired to defend a settlement against the raiders. They defeated the raiders that came to extract a toll from them, and then another attack. Wave after wave of storms came and the Talons still defended the town. Finally, they inflicted the raiders with such losses that the Raider Queen turned her attention to them. She came personally with another force, much bigger than anything they had earlier thrown at the town… and, at the price of many raiders dying, she captured every single one of the Talons alive.

“There were twelve of Hilda’s Talons left by that time. Four of them, the Raider Queen made into raiders. Three males she forced to become part of her harem to please her sexually. Four females she gave to her raiders as slaves to do with as they pleased, with the exception of killing them. But the worst fate awaited their leader, Hilda.

“She tortured her, relentlessly, for months, slowly breaking her mind, day by day, until there was nothing left of the griffin she was. She had been reduced into nothing more than an animal. To this day, she lies beneath the Raider Queen’s hooves when she sits upon her throne like an obedient pet. She lets her pet her on the head, licks her on the hoof, and obeys every command, be it to attack somepony or to let her raiders mount her for her amusement. She no longer remembers who she was, and does not wish to leave the Raider Queen’s palace. I know because I tried talking with her, I begged her to leave with me, but to no avail.

My eyes grew wider and wider as I listened to what became of this Hilda. This… this was evil. Torturing her to the point she lost everything that made her her… I couldn’t imagine doing something more terrible to a person. And what became of her Talons, slaves, raiders, lovers of the one who had caused all of this… If this had been the price of defying the Raider Queen, what fate would have awaited the Stable Guardian if she had captured him?

“But probably the worst fate was that of Wild Carrot, mayor of Reno, and his daughter Bunny. Reno was a town inside a mall and counted a little over fifty citizens. Thirteen years ago, the Raider Queen had sent to his town, like many others, an offer to leave them alone if they paid her a regular tribute. Mayor Wild Carrot had replied that he had no intention of paying the, and I quote, ‘Princess Celestia of cock-wrangling’ a broken cap.”

I stared agape at my PipBuck as several faint snickers followed the Stable Guardian’s words… along with a few not-so-faint snickers from a griffin and a bat pony beside me. I shot both angry looks, but before I could chastise them the tale continued.

“The Raider Queen hadn’t appreciated the insult. Within days, she let loose an army of raiders upon Reno, capturing most of the settlers alive. Then, before the eyes of Wild Carrot, she slaughtered every single one of them, one by one, until only he and his daughter remained alive.

“Then, the Raider Queen gave him a choice.

“He could either watch his daughter be raped by every single raider buck around them… or have sex with her himself, right there and then, in front of all of them.”

… what the f-

“She then continued that they would spend the rest of their lives as her ‘pets’, they would not be harmed and have everything they wished for, provided they have sex every day in front of her raiders. Wild Carrot didn’t really have much choice and picked the latter. I’ve been told that, after the incestuous act was done, the Raider Queen was in such high spirit, that she gave them a chance to regain their freedom. She told Wild Carrot that if he bred his daughter, and produced enough offspring to repopulate the town, she would free them all, return them to Reno and leave them alone.

“Today, they and their nine foals are still part of Misery’s ‘menagerie’, locked within a cage made out of ballistic glass, with Wild Carrot intending to breed their daughters once they reach reproductive age so they can be eventually free of their nightmare.”

Merciful Goddess… this was sick. Just… sick! Why- How does one come up with something so disgusting?! If this was what being ‘insane’ meant?! If so, I sincerely failed to see how others could call me such! I experiment on ponies and would never even consider such depravity!

I wasn’t the only one utterly disgusted. Aite beside me was retching. Or at least pretending to.

“Not that it’s the only ‘breeding’ going on in that cursed place. Sure, there’s an orgy happening at all times somewhere, and Goddesses know what sort of debaucheries take place behind the closed doors of the Raider Queen’s private quarters, but in the dungeons of her prison… The things, the monstrous creatures bred there, the living horrors I pray shall never see the dim light of the Wasteland or taste the air, blasphemes of life created for nothing more than sick curiosity!”

Okay, now that at least was interesting. What kind of “creatures” could he possibly have meant?! Couldn’t he go into details about what Misery had done with them instead of that poor parent and child (even if one had uttered an extremely blasphemous profanity)?

“Those are only a few of the many, many, acts of cruelty the Raider Queen has committed. But… her cruelty, even though it defies any sense, logic or imagination, isn’t what’s the worst about her.”

Isn’t the wors- was that stallion jesting?! What could possibly be worse than… all of that?!

“It is her ability… to draw out evil in others.”

… I’m sorry, what?

“You might have noticed that earlier when I talked about what she had done to the Talons, I hadn’t said: ‘four of them, she had forced to join her raiders’, or ‘four of them, she had made part of her armies’. No, I said ‘four of them, the Raider Queen made into raiders’. And they were far from the only ones. Other Talons, sheriffs, mayors, Steel Rangers, all good people, were subjected to the same fate. Through torture, seduction, manipulation, and through her favorite, arranging scenarios that make others descend into the darkest part of their nature, Misery draws out the evil in them, transforming them into raiders.”

That’s… interesting. I hadn’t earlier when he spoke of those Talons caught on to what he had meant, but now I understood. She made them into raiders and had done so to many others, apparently. I thought back to Thorny Locust; I had tried asking her what made her become a raider, though unfortunately, she had refused to give me an answer other than she liked to kill ponies (and commit some other equally appalling acts). But certainly, she and other raiders must have had reasons for becoming like that. Something that caused them to lose their morality.

And apparently, the Raider Queen, ruler of all raiders, had known her subjects well enough to understand those reasons. A knowledge she used to arrange that exact transformation in others, too.

Did she use some spell to accomplish that? There were spells that could grant control over others, the Mind Control Talisman in my lab coat’s inner pocket being proof of that. Even if this seemed different, as it was not so much “mind control” as… corruption, it was hard to imagine accomplishing something like this without the use of magic.

But the way the Stable Guardian spoke of it…

“Earlier… I spoke about the Wasteland having its own will. That with how much everything tries to break ponies below the clouds, it feels as if there was some design behind it. Some dark will intent on reducing ponies into nothing more than evil savages. If that was true… then Misery had long since embedded herself into it and made that will her own. You would be hard-pressed to find some evil transpiring below the clouds that doesn’t have its origin in her. Her control over the Wasteland is vast and she seems intent on not just using the power this gives her on satisfying her needs, but on spreading evil into others until the entire world becomes just like her.

“Now, as I stand here before you, she musters her forces for the attack on the last bastion of freedom in the Wasteland, the last settlement that is truly free of her control. Tenpony Tower. The Raider Queen is determined to finally crush it under her hoof, and I dare not think what fate she has in store for those who call it home. Ever since I discovered her plans, I have been working tirelessly to save them, gathering forces among all the free people of the Wasteland. We have come together and we are preparing our defenses as we wait for the raiders. With our combined forces and our plans, we can win against the Raider Queen… but if we don’t, then doom awaits the entire Wasteland.

“This is why I came before you. To ask, to beg, in the name of earth ponies and unicorns, in the name of griffins, zebras, hellhounds, and any creature living below the clouds, please, help us! The Enclave possesses greater might at its disposal than the entire Wasteland combined! With your help, our victory against the Raider Queen’s reign of terror would be assured! Please, help us end our suffering, our misery!

“...

“I realize what I am asking of you,” the Stable Guardian continued in a calmer tone after that passionate bout. I could still feel my heart racing. “I do. I am asking you to commit to war, a war that doesn’t concern you, and a war that you would have nothing to gain from. Well, I tell you now, it does concern you. Because if the Wasteland falls under Raider Queen’s evil, then one day, maybe ten years, maybe twenty, but one day, at last, she will come for you.

“You think yourself safe from her and the rest of the Wasteland atop your clouds. I tell you now, you are not. Eventually, the Raider Queen will come for you. Not because she wishes to control everypony and rule over the whole world, but because in her broken mind, nobody is allowed to live a happy life, except for the brainwashed males in her harem and fanatical mares in her Queen’s Guard. Once she subjugates the Wasteland, she will turn her gaze upon you. And whether she uncovers the secrets of the megaspells, finds some abandoned weaponry from the war, or will just plainly crushes the S.P.P. towers one by one, she will come for you.

“And… even if we win, if we defeat the Raider Queen, none of us, whether living below or above the clouds, would be safe for long. It might take another century, but eventually, the Wasteland will give birth to another ‘Misery’, another soul overcome with evil bent on spreading suffering. It is inevitable. The only way to prevent that, to end this cycle of hatred, is to end the Wasteland itself.

End the Wasteland? I mentally repeated, intrigued.

“You may scoff if you want. Certainly, almost all those who live below the clouds scoffed when I told them of my vision. Because how could we ever end the Wasteland? How could we return this irradiated, barren land to the glorious kingdom we all once shared? I do not hold all the answers to that question, I do not know how to get rid of the radiation or Taint. But I do know the most important step we all must take for the Wasteland to be healed. We need to all come together.

“All the settlements, all the free people, and you, who have lived carefree lives. Ponies were meant to live together in Equestria, the pegasi side by side with unicorns and earth ponies. By separating yourselves from them you have suffered as well. Sure, your lives are far better than those who were doomed to living in the Wasteland, but even in the brief time I have spent among you, I could see it. Shortages of food, resources, population control, lack of production… all those problems could be solved if you would open up the skies and connect with our earth-bound brothers and sisters.

“So I ask you again, beg you, in the name of earth ponies and unicorns, for all people who called Equestria home and lived with us in harmony, please, help us! Help us destroy the evil that threatens us all. Help us bring back peace and harmony! Fight with us against the Raider Queen, and tear down the cloud barrier! Help us save Equestria!”

I hoped the Stable Guardian hadn’t expected ovations after bringing his long and passionate speech to the end. I had. And I could only imagine how crestfallen he felt when instead of applause and promises of support he heard the murmuring of the senators, that had started earlier when he brought up rejoining ponies below the clouds, growing louder. If he had, he hadn’t let it be known through the recording, as after his speech all we could hear were the voices of the other pegasi and the earlier noises that I had speculated were hoofsteps on the clouds.

“Thank you very much for your speech, Mister- order!” a different voice - possibly the ‘Speaker’ that the Stable Guardian had thanked at the beginning - called out as the murmurs from the other senators grew louder. “Order! Thank you for your speech. Now, if you could leave the Senate Chamber, we can move on to the next part of the proceedings. You will be summoned once we’ve reached a decision.”

“Sir? If you could follow us,” a different pony spoke up.

Several more hoofsteps later, I heard an odd clicking sound, and the noises from the senators had died down. The Stable Guardian and whoever was escorting him out must have left the Senate Chamber.

“How long do you think they’ll take?” the Stable Guardian asked after a few silent seconds had passed.

The other pegasus remained silent, as if wondering about that himself (or if he should reply at all). “Hard to say,” I finally heard him say. “Normal sessions can take most of the day before they finally start voting on the matter. However, since this is an emergency session, they might vote as soon as they formulate a formal legislative proposal.”

The Stable Guardian let out a long sigh. “Anypony ever told you that your leadership’s decision making process is overcomplicated and convoluted?”

“Well,” a different voice, a younger one (than the other pegasus, not the Stable Guardian) began, “we’re not a small village of savages to make such big decisions on the fly. Besides, I don’t get why you would complain; if you can prepare such amazing speeches you’d fit right in with the senators! Seriously, how long did you work on that?”

“Hm? Oh, I didn’t prepare that speech, I came up with that whole thing on the spot.”

WHAT?!

“WHAT!?” both guard ponies exclaimed in unison, the recording echoing my thoughts. The younger one added, “You’re expecting us to believe you improvised that whole, long-ass passionate speech?”

“No offense fellows, but I don’t particularly care if you believe me or not. But yeah, I did improvise the whole thing.” Chuckling, he added, “I suppose you could call it my ‘Great Improvisation'.”

“Why the hell hadn’t you prepared what you were going to say to them?” the older pegasus asked. “I mean, it clearly worked out for you, that was the best speech I've heard in that damned chamber in years, but considering what you came to ask I’d think you’d have come with the speech ready in your head.”

The Stable Guardian snorted. “Yeah, I thought about it. But… Considering what I came here to ask, I thought that it wouldn’t be right towards you to come recite a prepared speech, however well made. It might seem silly, but the thought of coming with a ready and rehearsed speech sort of… makes me feel as if I would have cheated you, even though I would still speak the truth. I mean… I wanted to reach to your hearts, and for that I needed to speak from my heart, about the Wasteland, about Equestria… and her,” he added, his voice bitter. Sighing, he continued, “had I prepared this speech, then when I’d have talked about the Raider Queen and the things I saw my voice might not have conveyed the pain she had caused.”

Well, I suppose he had made a valid point. His speech had been truly moving because of the emotions he had poured into it. I wondered how much practice he must have had… he had convinced the entire free Wasteland to join the fight against the Raider Queen, so probably a lot…

“Geez, you must really hate that Misery, huh?” the younger pegasus ventured.

“... hatred breeds misery…”

“What was that?” he asked in confusion, probably not having understood what the Stable Guardian had muttered under his breath.

“Nothing, just… something somepony told me once,” the Stable Guardian explained. Uttering a long sigh, he continued, “I despise her. She has caused so much pain in the Wasteland. I should hate her. But… Can I hate her?”

Glancing at Jack and Aite, I saw that they were equally confused as I was.

“I’m fighting her not because I want revenge for what she has done, but to stop her. To bring peace to the Wasteland, to save Equestria. But can I do so with hatred in my heart? Or am I just falling into her trap?”

“... how is trying to defeat her ‘falling into her trap’, exactly? Wait, do you mean that she knows you’re gathering forces and plans to wipe them all out in one strike? That’s why you came to the Enclave for help!”

“No. That’s not what I meant. What I fear is not that she wants to crush everybody who opposes her, but that she wants to crush me.”

“Wow, with that ego you could definitely become a politician buddy.”

“You don’t know her,” the Stable Guardian continued, ignoring the joke. “You don’t know the lengths she would go to to bring forth evil in another pony’s heart. What if… what if all of that had been to just turn me into a raider? What if she hopes that by hating her and her raiders, when I kill them I slowly turn into… You seem about the same age as me,” he suddenly changed his tone, probably turning to the younger of the two pegasi guards. “Tell me, have you killed somepony yet?”

“Um, no, but-” the pegasus began, clearly abashed, but the Stable Guardian interrupted him.

“Well I have. I killed… Goddesses, how many there have been? The Raider Park supposedly had two hundred raiders staying there at all times-”

Great Godde-

“- so… somewhere between three to four hundred? Maybe more?”

… Merciful Goddesses…

“I’ve killed so many… does it matter that they were raiders? That they were a bunch of murderers, rapists, and… whole other things? Does it make me any less of a mass murderer? If I had killed them with hate in my heart, does it make me that much different from them?

All three ponies in the recording fell silent for a few heartbeats. I was sure the two guards probably had no idea what to say to the Stable Guardian’s confession and the question he had been apparently struggling with. I had no idea what I would say. Even though those were raiders, he was clearly haunted by all the death he had caused. Three to four hundred, Merciful Luna… he was only seventeen years old! I was older when I… Those four test subjects that died in Stable Eight had certainly deserved it and it had still upset me, but the Stable Guardian…

“So no, actually,” the Stable Guardian resumed. “I don’t hate the Raider Queen. At least… I hope not. Because if I do hate her, if I hate the raiders, if I just keep killing… then even if she dies, she will win.”

“... I… think you might be…” the older pegasus began hesitantly, then changed his approach. “Son, up here we have ponies soldiers can talk to after going through traumatic events. Perhaps after all this is over you should-”

The Stable Guardian uttered a short laugh, interrupting him. “Yeah, believe it or not we actually have a few below the clouds as well. Ah… pay no heed to what I said. It’s just ramblings of a pony weary of the world.”

“That thing on your leg,” the younger pegasus interjected, possibly wanting to change the subject, “that’s a PipBuck right? Why do you keep glancing at it?”

“Oh, just checking if it’s still recording.”

“Recording?!” the two pegasi guards exclaimed in unison again. The older one then added, “You can't record the Low Council sessions!”

“Yeah, I figured,” the Stable Guardian replied, awfully nonchalant considering he had admitted to breaking their law while asking for their help. “But it’s necessary.”

“Neces- oh, I’m going to enjoy hearing this one…” the elder guard remarked sarcastically.

“... Do you have any idea how much you are hated below the clouds?” the Stable Guardian replied, his voice losing any trace of the good humor that had returned to it briefly. “How many curse you for ignoring them for over a hundred years? Do you have any idea what your ancestors did when they closed the sky?”

“That’s not- it’s not that simple.”

“I understand,” the Stable Guardian said quickly, forestalling an argument. “I really do. But many ponies don’t, or don’t know why you actually abandoned them, and many simply don’t care about your explanations.

“I came here to try and unite the sky and land again. But I worry how ponies below will react when the Enclave suddenly descends upon them; even if they see you fighting the raiders, they could think of you as a new enemy seeking to conquer them.

“Which is why I came up with the idea to record what will be said today. To then broadcast across the Wasteland my plea for help, and the Enclave reply ‘Yes, we will help you! Yes, we will restore Equestria together!’ I believe that when they hear this, me, a pegasus many know and trust, and the Enclave leadership assuring me of their help, they will find it easier to believe that you truly came to our aid.”

The Stable Guardian hadn’t ceased to amaze me. To think that far ahead, to take into consideration the attitude of ponies of the Wasteland towards the Enclave, even as his mind had to be occupied with the Raider Queen… even though I knew he had failed to get their help, I couldn’t help admire how far ahead he’d thought and how prepared he was.

“I… suppose we can’t fault you for making this recording then… and that we don’t have to report this… right?”

“Um, of course, sir,” the younger guard agreed. “But… Why are you recording everything? Don’t you just need to record the senators agreeing to help?”

“Oh, yeah, but, I didn’t know at what point they would say it. I hoped they might right after my speech and didn’t want to miss it. I’ll just have my friend edit the recording before broadcasting it, no need to play all of it to the ponies of the Wasteland.”

“Especially the part about the stuff that Raider Queen is into, I would imagi-”

A strange buzzing noise interrupted the guard.

“Looks like they finished debating and voted. Come on.”

“Finally,” the Stable Guardian groaned, oblivious to what answer awaited him.

Beside me I heard Jack hiss a curse under his breath. I felt like doing the same; the Stable Guardian had been so hopeful…

“That was rather quick, wasn’t it?” I heard the younger of the two guards ask in a hushed tone.

“Well it is an emergency session,” the older guard responded; if he had his doubts about what was about to happen, he hid it well from his voice, “and they heard that this battle he spoke of is happening in just a few days.”

As we listened to them walk back into the Senate Chamber, I glanced at Khan and Cardinal Tale. What exactly was the point of listening to the rest of the recording? Everypony, myself included, knew what the senators’ answers must have been.

It happened as I predicted. Not long after the Stable Guardian took his seat, the Speaker announced the result of the vote. The huge majority of the Senate, with only a few senators voting against or withholding their voice, voted in favor… of not taking part in the conflict below the clouds, then in the second voting they similarly voted to continue the separation from the surface and sustain the cloud barrier.

“Now we- hey, where are you going, Mr-” the Speaker suddenly exclaimed, but was quickly interrupted by a much stronger voice.

“I wish you good fortune in the years to come.”

I blinked, surprised. Within the span of maybe a minute, the Stable Guardian had learned that his entire journey was pointless, that his hope for reuniting ponykind had been crushed… but there was no anger in his voice. No resignation. Of the emotions I had expected to hear, I could detect only sadness in his voice. But even so… his words seemed genuine.

“I have a Wasteland to save,” he added, dismissively.

I expected the recording to end there, but to my surprise it continued.

“Wait!” I heard a distant voice call out.

“Senator Rainer, please take your-”

“Oh, hush!” the senator who had helped the Stable Guardian snorted, now sounding much closer. “Son, this doesn’t mean it’s over,” he said, now speaking to the Stable Guardian. “Give me a few days, a week, I can gather the senators who voted against us, we can set up a committee-”

“I don’t have ‘a few days’, Senator Rainer,” he replied firmly, though not impolitely. “The battle will take place any day now. I need to return to my allies. If we lose, what you decide will not matter, for it will be too late. And if we win, you won’t help us end the Wasteland. I can see it now clearly, even though I couldn’t before. You won’t come below the clouds until it will be too late for all of us.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“If we defeat the Raider Queen without your help, eventually another Misery shall rise in her place,” he said, his voice like a rumbling thunder and brimming with power. “They will become such a grave threat that even the Enclave will fear them. When that day comes, you will descend upon the Wasteland. But beware! For if you do, then you shall do so with fire and death alone, and not with aid to the innocent; in response, a spark shall ignite the Wasteland against you. Rainbows shall split the sky, and sunshine will illuminate you for all to see what you truly are, and your own people shall turn away from you.”

The recording ended, but I still continued to stare at my PipBuck. There was such power, such… conviction in the Stable Guardian’s voice when he had replied to Senator Rainer that even though the recording had finished I couldn’t quite turn myself away.

I wasn’t the only one affected by the Stable Guardian’s words, as Jack and Aite also remained silent for several more moments. I couldn’t even hear them move, only breathing. Finally, the bat pony was first to break free. “Well… that was a… a dramatic way to end that,” she said, struggling to find words. She shook herself and turned to Jack. “But damn, that Enclave, huh?”

“Bunch of cunts,” Jack grunted in agreement, then snorted. “I honestly don’t know how he could expect anything more from them.”

“My grandfather was an optimist,” Khan retorted; though his words seemed as if he was joking, the smile on his muzzle was a sad one. “He always sought to see good in others, as it should be for somepony who opposed a mare that always sought evil in others.”

Sought evil… turned them into raiders… was believing in others truly the answer to the Raider Queen’s unusual ability?

Noticing Cardinal Tale looking at me expectantly, I stopped my musing, focusing on retrieving the holotape and passing it to her. My eyes trailed after it as the other unicorn levitated it back to its resting place, still feeling as if I was bound by the Stable Guardian’s voice…

“What exactly…” I began struggling for words. What was it that had captivated me so? His voice? Or what he had said? Or both… “What did the Stable Guardian mean at the end there? What was that?”

Cardinal Tale glanced very briefly at Khan before replying: “It was the Prophecy of the First Khan.”

I frowned, and at the same time, Jack snorted. “Prophecy? Give me a break…”

“When he spoke to the pegasus senators, the Stable Guardian had bared his soul,” the Storykeeper continued, ignoring the griffin’s remark. “When they gave him their reply, he was so in tune with his very being that his sight pierced through the pleasant masks they wore to see them for what they truly were. Under the guise of civility and moral superiority they were corrupt, caring not for the citizens that elected them to be their leaders, but for the power they held and keeping control over them. Almost all of them, barring Senator Rainer and a few others, were like that; not that different from the raiders.

“But at that moment, the Stable Guardian saw something else as well. He saw the fate that awaited the Enclave. He warned the Senator who had tried to help, for as vile as the Enclave’s leaders turned out to be, he wished no harm to fall on them or their citizens, and hoped that they would change.”

“You… expect me to believe that the Stable Guardian saw the future?” I said slowly, raising an eyebrow in the bafflement of that statement.

“Expect?” Khan interjected. “Hardly. Even my grandfather was skeptical of that; when he would later try to recall this moment, he would say that he felt as if there was a fog over his memories of the thoughts he had. Grandfather could still remember the words he had said in this recording, but could not recall what urged him to say them. However, many among our tribe consider them to be a prophecy foretelling a great conflict. Conflict between the evil born in the Wasteland and the Enclave, during which they would either help us, or rain fire upon all. But then the people of the Wasteland would fight them and defeat the Enclave, finally reuniting all three tribes of ponies.”

His words did little to explain to me what I had heard, far from it. Thoughts whirled in my mind as I tried to piece together a theory…

“Oh please,” Jack snorted again, “there’s no such thing as ‘prophecies’.”

“That’s not true,” I automatically remarked as I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. Without pausing my pondering or turning to either Jack or Khan, I continued, “It had been prophesied that Nightmare Moon would return after a thousand years of her banishment, and she did.”

Everypony had heard that story. Princess Celestia banished her corrupted sister into the Moon. A thousand years later her student, the future Ministry Mare of Arcane Science Twilight Sparkle, had found a prophecy about her return, gathered friends, and together they cleansed Nightmare Moon and turned her back into Princess Luna.

Admittedly, what wasn’t known - or at least, we hadn’t been taught about it in Stable Eight - was where had that prophecy had come from. Could it… could it be possible that what Cardinal Tale had said was true and similar circumstances gave rise to that prophecy?

Could the “Prophecy of the First Khan” be real? Could it be an actual prophecy?

“She has you there,” I heard Aite remark with amusement.

“Of for- assuming that’s actually true, there were alicorns and unicorns involved in that affair, weren’t there? I could accept that they have some time viewing spells or whatever, but the Stable Guardian was a pegasus.”

Jack had a point. There were ways to manipulate time with magic. I knew that, even if such magic wasn’t taught in Stable Eight and was far beyond me to research without some sources. At best I theorized that the S.A.T.S. in my PipBuck was some weak variation of time magic… But could it be possible to use such spells to create prophecies? But even if that was possible, only unicorns - and alicorns, obviously - could cast spells, such magic was…

Magic…

All ponies were magical creatures. While unicorns could cast spells, pegasi could control the weather. Everypony knew that. However, those were just the more… obvious traits of ponies’ magical abilities.

Cardinal Tale had said, “When he spoke to the pegasus senators, the Stable Guardian had bared his soul”... I mused. What an interesting choice of words…

Bared his soul…

“… he was so in tune with his very being that his sight pierced through…”

There was one thought stirring in my mind as I recalled those words. A theory concerning the physical manifestation of a pony’s inner magic, stating that they were, in fact, the portrayal of a pony’s soul.

My gaze shifted towards Khan, stopping at the image on his flank, the image that adorned the Mustangs’ banner.

“He saw the fate that awaited the Enclave.”

What had been the Stable Guardian’s cutie mark?

Jack’s annoyed growl jolted me out of my musings. “Even if that prophecy had been true, what exactly would be this ‘new Misery’ that would supposedly threaten even the Enclave? Red Eye?”

“Personally I would sooner put my caps on the alicorns and their so-called ‘Goddess’,” Khan retorted neutrally, shrugging. “But given how they are working together with Red Eye they might both be. Or it could be neither of them, and the threat the prophecy talks about might yet come.”

“Or not come at all,” Jack snorted.

“That is also possible,” Khan agreed, the corner of his mouth betraying he took some amusement in the griffin’s annoyance.

“Not that watching you defend your challenged worldview isn’t entertaining,” Aite spoke up, looking at Jack mischievously, “but I actually wanted to ask something. If those senators were so corrupted as you say,” the bat pony continued looking at Cardinal Tale, then rolled her eyes and added, “or as you say the Stable Guardian saw them to be - which I’m pretty sure you don’t need magic sight or whatever to see, I mean, the Enclave over Hoofington once tried to hire me to assassinate one of their own for crying out loud, they’re all pretty rotten, but I digress - why the heck did they let him speak in the first place?”

That’s an interesting question, I realized, impressed with Aite for thinking about it first. A slight frown crossed my brow though as I noted her remark about the Enclave from ‘over Hoofington’. Considering how secretive Aite had said she had been, it was surprising to learn that a civilization living above the clouds had somehow managed to contact the bounty hunter to try and hire her.

Turning back to Cardinal Tale I saw her ears drop; for the first time anger crossed her muzzle. Despite the question clearly upsetting her, she answered as calmly as before, “That question remained unanswered for a long time, though our first Khan had his suspicions. However, many decades later we have learned the truth,” she said, nodding at Khan.

“When I was young, me and my brothers sneaked into one of the pegasus cloud cities,” he said, surprising me; I hadn’t known that Khan had brothers that were apparently pegas; hadn’t Jack said earlier there were only two pegasi in the tribe? “We only meant to see what it’s like living there, but while doing so we had also learned why the Enclave let our grandfather speak to their leaders.”

My eyes widened; now there was contempt in Khan’s words.

“Just as the Stable Guardian had recorded his speech and planned to let the Wasteland hear their response after editing it, so had the Enclave. Except they edited his entire address to, instead of a plea for help and unity, be a warning to stay away.”

“What?!” I exclaimed, aghast. “How could they do that?!”

“Very easily, apparently,” Khan retorted, not even trying to hide his disgust. “They broadcast the edited speech to their entire nation in order to keep their citizens scared of the ground and keep them up there where they can control them. And what’s even more insulting, the Enclave made my grandfather into a hero. They made statues of him, for the heroic pegasus born below the clouds for bringing them a warning against the danger and savagery of the ponies there!”

Even after all I heard about the Enclave, I could scarcely believe it. To think of anybody taking that passionate, hopeful plea of that young pony, and turning into a warning, marring it with their greed and lust for power… To think that this was their goal from the beginning, to let him speak and try to convince them to help, not knowing that it was hopeless…

It made me furious.

Was Senator Rainer in on this plan too? He sounded so genuine when he spoke to the Stable Guardian… Maybe he was used by some of the other pegasi in charge there, then?

Beside me Jack cursed. “By the Egg, I forgot how much I despise those massive cunts…”

Hearing his disapproval helped calm me down, oddly enough. It was a relief to know we had similar opinions of such disgusting acts as the one the Enclave had committed.

“Bunch of assholes,” Aite agreed, snorting.

Khan nodded, his anger leaving him. “Needless to say, my brothers and I didn’t stay long -- although we were tempted to cause some mayhem before leaving, blow up the statue of our grandfather, return with the recording of what he had really said that day and play it for anypony who would listen.”

“Why didn’t you?” I asked, curious how could he stand seeing his grandfather be used by the Enclave’s propaganda.

Khan chuckled sadly. “Because we cooled down and realized little would be gained if we did. It wouldn’t change the pegasi. Most would probably not believe us. At best - and I use this term loosely - we would start a revolution that the Enclave would stop by force. Besides,” he added, shrugging, “the prophecy states that the only thing that will change the skies would be a threat greater than the Raider Queen.”

“Oh for the-” Jack snorted before he could stop himself, causing Khan to utter another chuckle.

Prophecy aside, I could see wisdom in Khan’s words. While “mayhem” could have been cathartic in such circumstances, it did seem unlikely they would have been able to change the way the pegasi lived among the clouds. And if they had started a revolution, ponies would have died.

“In any case,” I heard Khan speak again, “the sins of the Enclave, or whether the prophecy is true, are not part of this tale.”

I looked at the Storykeeper just in time to catch her rolling her eyes. “The Stable Guardian returned to the Wasteland, disheartened,” she intoned when she once again had everybody’s attention. “But his will to save Tenpony Tower and defeat the Raider Queen was as strong as ever. Within the few days they had left, he, Bloodtalons, Steel Rangers, and everybody who came together finished their preparations, and waited.”

Her horn glowed, once again summoning the vision of Tenpony Tower.

“The Raider Queen’s army surrounded Tenpony Tower, intending to besiege it. Whether they planned to starve out everybody inside, or would launch an attack after their reinforcements arrived, was unclear. They weren’t given the chance. Once they arrived, the Stable Guardian and his allies attacked.

“The Steel Rangers launched a frontal assault, drawing the attention of the raiders. Their power armor gave them the greatest chance of surviving such a plan. At the same time, all of the Talons faced the few aerial fighters under Raider Queen’s command; with the greatest of her dragons defeated by the Stable Guardian months prior, they quickly gained the upper hoof. But the true purpose of the fight was for snipers to take out the raiders’ commanders, and the Raider Queen too if it would be possible. Thanks to all the information the Stable Guardian had gathered over the months about the enemy forces they were able to identify them among the enemy army. With the skies under the Talons' control and the raiders' main focus still on the Steel Rangers, they managed to kill many of them, including some of their warlords, in rapid succession.

“The Raider Queen inspired great fear in the raiders, and through it she had assured their loyalty. But to control an army of that size required commanders, and with so many suddenly gone, chaos descended upon them. When the Raider Queen realized what was happening, she ordered her army to retreat so that they could regroup.

“It was all according to plan.”

The vision shifted. Tenpony Tower was still visible, but it was now far away in the distance. Cardinal Tale’s spell focused on the ruins of some collapsed skyscrapers, which, if I recalled Jack’s tale…

“The allies of the Stable Guardian had corralled the retreating army towards this place. Before the battle, the Bloodtalons had placed explosives in structural points of those buildings, so that when detonated, they fell upon the raiders. However, while most of the Raider Queen’s army had been buried under the rubble, she herself and part of her forces managed to escape, as she had been able to hold the collapsing building with her magic long enough for them to get away.

“At the same time that battle had taken place,” Cardinal Tale continued, altering her spell again; now we were surrounded by a big, empty space, with a ton of crevices, ravines, and holes marring the ground, “two more had happened. Far towards the west, the second raider army, composed of the raiders from that half of the Wasteland, had been ambushed by the Steel Rangers’ Stalliongrad contingent as they had made their way to join up with the Raider Queen. Though the raiders’ numbers far outnumbered those of the Steel Rangers, they had brought artillery and tanks, and thanks to the Stable Guardian’s information they were able to position them exactly along the way their enemy would take. The second raider army suffered heavy casualties under the bombardament and soon it had scattered upon the Wasteland.

“The other battle took place at Misery Palace.”

The vision shifted, much to my surprise. As Cardinal Tale mentioned Misery Palace, I had assumed we would once again talk about it without the spell conjuring for us the vision of that place. However, this time, the Mustang Storyteller had shown us…

… what became of it.

Jack had told me that “Steel Rangers shelled it to the ground after her defeat”. It might have been an understatement. Nothing remained of the elegant prison I’d seen in the picture. Gone were the walls, the towers, the oblong buildings and the round building in the center. All of that had been reduced to rubble that had been scattered across the plain. In the center was a giant chasm, spreading further beyond.

Those must be the dungeons the Stable Guardian had mentioned, I mused, looking around the vision. I wonder how much of this had been caused by the Steel Rangers and how much by the passage of time…

“The Steel Rangers besieged the palace,” Cardinal Tale intoned. “Although they wished to bombard the cursed prison, the Stable Guardian’s report of the many, many enslaved ponies inside had stayed their hooves and they had stormed the stronghold instead. They were met with fierce resistance; it turned out that the Raider Queen had left a much stronger force to guard her palace than had been expected. What’s worse, when the Steel Rangers had broken through the walls of the prison and began to evacuate those that were kept there, the creatures that the Stable Guardian had spoken about before the pegasi’s Senate attacked them.”

I looked expectantly at her, but to my disappointment nothing suggested that Cardinal Tale was about to alter her spell to show us what those creatures looked like.

“Of course, he had warned the Steel Rangers of them, although he had doubted they would encounter them. However, it looked as if some of the raiders had released them when they realized they were losing the battle. It had proved disastrous, as the monsters had turned upon everybody, raiders, slaves, and Steel Rangers alike. What the Stable Guardian and his allies expected to be an easy victory turned into a dramatic battle. Ultimately, the Steel Rangers won, though at a heavy cost, and they weren’t able to rescue everybody from Misery’s Palace. This is the result of that battle,” Cardinal Tale finished, spreading her foreleg over the vision.

I shot Jack a sharp look. When he had told me the abridged - very abridged, as I had come to realize - version of this story, he had said that the Steel Rangers had released everybody that had been held there. Did he not know the details of the story, or did he lie to me for some purpose?

“Originally,” Cardinal Tale continued, “the Raider Queen had led the survivors of her army towards her palace. However, word must have reached her of its fall, despite Steel Rangers shooting down any messenger her Queen’s Guard had sent, as she changed their direction abruptly. Now they were heading to rendezvous with the other raider army, oblivious to its fate. Along their way they were pursued relentlessly by the Stable Guardian and the Bloodtalons. They used hit-and-run tactics to chip away at the surviving raiders, slowly reducing their numbers further. However, what cemented the defeat of the Raider Queen was her decision to try and lose them in the Old Olneigh.”

The vision had shifted; now we were on the outskirts of an abandoned pre-war town. It was small, but many of its buildings were nearly intact. My eyes blazed with interest when I noticed that one of them was a hospital, but I quickly turned my attention back to Cardinal Tale. She had said that the Raider Queen had “cemented her defeat” by choosing to go into this empty town. I assumed there was some reason why that had turned out to be a bad idea…

“The town was, as it is to this day, inhabited by a very hostile pack of hellhounds.”

Oooooh, yes, I can understand why that decision had been a mistake then, I remarked, recalling how strong Rexio, who called himself a runt, was. How easily he ripped apart that raider…

“Though there were a number of hellhounds fighting on each side in this conflict, those few of this pack that had fought had all been forced to by the Raider Queen. Their pack saw the raiders, as all ponies for that matter, as enemies, and upon seeing them they attacked them. The Stable Guardian and the Bloodtalons took advantage of the situation. As the raiders were distracted by trying to fight their way out of the hellhounds’ den, they were easy targets from the air. And finally, it happened.” Cardinal Tale stood straighter, her voice growing stronger as she announced. “None could say how it happened in the vicious fight, whether a hellhound, griffin, or even if one of the raider ponies caused it, but as the Raider Queen ran from Old Olneigh deeper into Splendid Valley, she left behind her shattered horn.”

My eyes widened as an unpleasant shiver went down my spine. My recent experience resurfaced in my mind, the memory of that pain and shock… for a moment it felt so strong that I worried if I was experiencing a phantom pain!

I probably appeared shaken or otherwise betrayed my discomfort as I felt Aite nudge her shoulder against mine gently and flash me a sympathetic look, while Cardinal Tale paused and glanced at me apologetically. I flashed her a smile so she knew it was alright.

I shook myself off, pushing the memory away and focusing on Misery. If she had been as powerful as the Stable Guardian had said, the loss of her horn must have shook her even more than it had me. And yet she still found the strength to run away from Old Olneigh? I was barely able to stay conscious for a couple of minutes…

“With the Raider Queen unable to use magic, the greatest threat from the band of raiders was gone,” the Storykeeper resumed. She stopped channeling magic and let the vision disperse, apparently not knowing the place where the next moment had happened. “Also, after the slaughter at Old Olneigh, all that was left with her of the remains of her army were a hoofful of raiders, a few of them being mares of her fanatic Queen’s Guard. The Stable Guardian and the Bloodtalons decided to confront them directly. Not far from Old Olneigh, they surrounded the raiders, and he called on the Raider Queen to surrender.”

I frowned a little. Had the Stable Guardian wanted to hold a trial for her? I supposed it would have been useful if he still wanted to attempt to rebuild Equestria even without the Enclave. Unify all those people by showing them they could bring justice instead of vengeance, establish the rule of law…

“Instead of replying to the Stable Guardian, the Raider Queen, with her shattered horn and bleeding from many other wounds, turned to her raiders. ‘Either die to them or die to me,’ she told them.

“Those were her last known words.

“At once, all her raiders launched themselves into battle, firing upon the Bloodtalons and the Stable Guardian. Even in defeat, wounded and powerless, she instilled such fear in them that they’d rather die fighting her enemies than face her wrath. But while many fell before the Bloodtalons, not all shared their fate. Because moments after the brief exchange between the Stable Guardian and the Raider Queen, they all came under the attack of strange creatures. They were alicorns, like Princess Celestia and Princess Luna of old, but different, hostile and unreasonable. Their appearance startled the Bloodtalons and forced them into defense as the alicorns assaulted them with their magical abilities. In the commotion, the Raider Queen and her few still living raiders slipped away… never to be seen again.

“The Stable Guardian and the Bloodtalons tried to give chase, but the alicorns proved relentless, attacking them until they finally flew away from Splendid Valley. When they returned looking for the trail of the Raider Queen, the alicorns were waiting for them, and forced them to retreat again. When they flew around Splendid Valley, trying to cut her off, they couldn't find her. In the years to come, the Bloodtalons and Steel Rangers kept in touch with all the doctors in the Wasteland capable of restoring a unicorn horn, but none had seen the Raider Queen. Eventually, everybody came to the same conclusion: whether it was the alicorns, hellhounds, some other unnatural creature that dwelled in Splendid Valley, or the Taint, she had met her fate there. The dreaded unicorn, the Raider Queen, was no more.”

Already knowing this thanks to Jack, I nodded absentmindedly, more interested in what happened to the Stable Guardian. How did he go from trying to unite everybody in the Wasteland and rebuild Equestria to founding a tribe?

“With her gone and almost all of her warlords dead, the armies of the Raider Queen disbanded,” Cardinal Tale continued instead, to my slight irritation. “The surviving raiders scattered across the Wasteland and split into small groups; it would be many years before they would become a threat to anybody but travelers and small caravans. The surviving griffins who had been turned into raiders by the Raider Queen formed their own Talon Company.” Beside me, Jack snorted with contempt, but didn’t interrupt the tale. “The hellhounds returned to their packs. The dragons fled, hiding in deep caverns of Equestria, falling into deep slumber. It took some time, but at last, it seemed as if peace had finally come to the Wasteland, even if for a short time.

“The Stable Guardian took part in the initial hunt for the Raider Queen,” she finally said, “but although he wanted to bring her to justice, after she had disappeared he had quickly found himself distracted.” Her horn glowed again. Strangely, she brought back the vision of the ruins of Misery Palace. “The fate of those rescued from this vile place concerned him greatly. Many of them were the brainwashed males from the Raider Queen’s harem. Others were simple slaves that served her, and many more were those who had angered her in one manner or the other and were being relentlessly tortured. One thing they all had in common was that none of them was capable of living on their own. All had been broken by the Raider Queen in that accursed palace. At the Stable Guardian’s request, the ponies of Tenpony Tower took them in, and their therapists worked tirelessly to help them.”

There really are therapists in the Wasteland?! I thought as Cardinal Tale stopped channeling her spell again. Or were back then at least, I suppose… It was awfully nice of the ponies living in Tenpony Tower to take all of those misfortunate people in, although it would have probably been awkward to deny a request made by the pony who had saved them.

“Next, the Stable Guardian set out to find those who might have fled from the palace during the battle; he knew none of them would be raiders, for they defended the Raider Queen’s seat of power to the last breath. Quickly, word reached him of a small group of escaping ponies. He chased after them… and before his eyes was his lost love.”

Lost- wait, lost what?! I thought in confused alarm, staring at the Storykeeper.

Her voice was somber as she spoke. “Though the Stable Guardian had believed all his friends had died the day he first fought the Raider Queen, it had turned out that one of them, the one he had fallen in love with, had survived. The Raider Queen had decided to keep her alive; for what nefarious purpose, nobody shall ever know. But she had not only spared her, but also ensured she was well cared for, and no harm came to her. Perhaps she intended to capture the Stable Guardian alive and to break him by watching his mate suffer? Or… for both him and his mate to see their foal be raised to be a raider? For what the Stable Guardian hadn’t known,” Cardinal Tale added even as the thought came to my mind, “was that at the time of her supposed death, when she had been captured, his lover was pregnant.”

I felt my mouth hang open in a very unladylike manner.

“But it had been a year since that day, and at the moment he found her again, she had gone into labor. She bore him a daughter, winged as he, proving beyond any doubt who the father of the foal was. But the joy the Stable Guardian felt would not last long,” she added sadly. “There had been complications with the birth, and they were out in the middle of the Wasteland, with no doctor for hundreds of miles. She died in his forelegs, asking him to take care of their daughter.”

My ears dropped. What a horrible twist of fate for somepony so righteous! To have the love they thought dead returned to them, only to be taken so soon!

I could see Aite beside me frown, too, and even heard her mutter very softly, “And I thought I was bad luck…” Thankfully it seemed only I heard that remark; I didn’t think Khan would appreciate a comment that, depending on what the bat pony had meant, could suggest that his grandfather had brought this upon his grandmother.

“Once the Stable Guardian had recovered from the shock, cradling his daughter he finally took a close look at those who had been traveling with his love,” Cardinal Tale said, her horn flaring up again.

I looked on in surprise as images of six ponies appeared, their faces visible. All were old, older than the Stable Guardian. My gaze passed over the four stallions and focused on the two mares. Both were clad in crude barding with spikes, and their muzzles were twisted in matching scowls.

Are- Were they…?

“Four of them were males from the Raider Queen’s harem,” Cardinal Tale began, “who had felt sympathy towards his love and helped her get away when the fighting began, but the other two, much to the Stable Guardian’s confusion, were members of the Queen’s Guard, the Raider Queen’s fanatic bodyguards. The two explained, all while scowling at him, that the last order they’d received from their queen was to make sure her prized prisoner and her baby remained safe. This was why, when the palace was attacked and the Steel Rangers broke through their defenses, those two had taken the pregnant mare away. And this was the reason why they hadn’t attacked the Stable Guardian, the one responsible for the defeat of their queen. As much as they hated him for it, they knew the foal would be safer with him, and so they couldn’t attack him or else they would be breaking the Raider Queen’s order.”

I was beginning to see why the Stable Guardian had called the Queen’s Guard’s mares ‘fanatic’. How could one be so loyal to somepony that, in order to fulfill their order, they had to trust the one who had defeated them? Have they really had no minds of their own? I mean, obviously I was glad that the Stable Guardian and his foal had been together, but those raiders just perplexed me.

“Listening to them, the Stable Guardian slowly began to realize just how much danger the foal would be in. He had made many enemies in the Wasteland during that last year. The Raider Queen might have been gone and her armies disbanded, but the raiders still prowled around. Who’s to say one or two bands wouldn’t want to seek vengeance against him? What’s worse, not all of the Raider Queen’s warlords had been accounted for. The Stable Guardian also knew that he couldn’t be sure that the Enclave didn’t count him among their enemies now, for he could always return and open their people’s eyes to their lies. Holding his daughter, he felt beset by enemies on all sides. He knew he could deal with that in his efforts to restore Equestria, but he dared not risk his daughter’s safety.

“With a heavy heart, he returned to his Stable.”

Frowning, I watched as Cardinal Tale once again conjured the vision of the Stable Guardian’s Stable’s entrance. Once again, he stood before the open door, in which the shadowy figure stood.

“Standing before his Overmare, he explained to her what had happened. He pleaded for help, that if he was still banished from the Stable, to at least take his daughter in, knowing she would be much safer there than in the Wasteland with him.”

Before I could express my amazement at the sacrifice the Stable Guardian was prepared to make, to be forever separated from his daughter if it meant her safety, Cardinal Tale scowled.

“The Overmare said no.”

Perhaps I should have expected that, knowing I was standing near the son of the filly in question, but I still felt myself growing angry at that Overmare.

“She had condemned the Stable Guardian for disobeying her, condemned him for choosing the Wasteland over his Stable, and condemned him for fathering a child out of wedlock. She then said that her Stable wasn’t a place for bastards.

“Then, the Stable Guardian snapped.”

“About freakin’ time…” Aite murmured, prompting Jack to hush her.

“Passing his daughter to one of the Queen’s Guard to hold, he lunged at the Overmare, grabbed her by the horn and lifted her into the air, twisting her head painfully and raising his hoof to strike her. But as he held her, his anger slowly gave way to loathing. Dropping her to the ground, he pierced her with his gaze. As with the pegasus senators before, he could see her now for what she truly was. He told her that her words were venom, and her teachings poison. The Stable Guardian said that true good didn’t come from blind adherence to impossibly high and pure standards, but from turning one’s sadness into kindness, from showing compassion to others no matter who they are, from standing up against injustice but only condemning the acts, not the ponies who had done them. He spoke of the Goddesses, of Celestia and Luna, who were worshiped outside of his Stable as well, and said that they would have never wanted them to be like the Overmare, that they would have never wanted them to live their lives according to some strict doctrine but would have wanted them to be happy instead. And lastly, he told the Overmare that she was right in one thing: that this was no place for his daughter. He wanted her to be safe from evil, and he now saw that his Stable’s core was rotten with it. With those words, he left his Stable for the third and final time, never to return.”

Never to return… Would I have been able to do that? My circumstances were vastly different, but… I would be lying if I said I hadn’t hoped to return to Stable Eight at some point.

“The confrontation between the Stable Guardian and the Overmare had drawn attention from the Stable Dwellers. Many had gathered near the entrance when they had heard that their friend had returned, and bore witness to what had transpired. They passed it to others, and many realized that what he had said about the Overmare and the way they lived was true. Within a day, a few of the braver ones had left the Stable as well and followed after the Stable Guardian.

“They found him not far from the Stable, wondering what to do. He was surprised as they approached him, and listened to them as they said they wished to live free of the Overmare’s oppressive rules, even if it meant living in the Wasteland.

“The Stable Guardian looked at them, then at the two raider mares and the former slaves, then at his daughter. Finding strength in her happy gaze, he decided. If they all agreed, he would lead them, show them how to survive in the Wasteland, and they would do so together. All of them, Stable Dwellers, raiders, slaves, and Wastelanders alike. They would form a tribe, a family, and would look after each other, and anybody who needed help, never turning a blind eye to the suffering of others.

Cardinal Tale’s horn glowed again, summoning images of a small group of ponies, all old in the vision though young at the time when this tale had taken place.

“Wishing to balance the oppressive lives the Stable Dwellers had known and the reckless freedom the raiders craved, the Stable Guardian, inspired by a pre-war history book he had found during his travels, The Wild Free Ponies: a History of the Mustangs, named their tribe Mustangs. They would forever be free, not bound to any place but to each other and following the example of their leader who always sought to help others. He took up the name of Khan, wishing to bury the past behind him, just as he would offer to anypony wishing to join their tribe in the years to come, whether they were a trader, a Steel Ranger, a slave, or a raider. That was the way we would live, from then on to this day and further into the future.”

The vision dispersed, leaving behind only the image of the Stable Guardian for a heartbeat longer. Then it too was gone, but Cardinal Tale’s attention was still on the spot where it had been. It was where the small table with several artifacts stood, along with one that had been clearly visible through all this time we had talked, ever since we walked in here.

As the long tale had come to the end, I gazed at the barding of the Stable Guardian, identical to how it looked in the vision, displayed on a tailor’s dummy, with his PipBuck on its outstretched leg.

Footnote: 20% to next level!

Fallout: Equestria - Infinite Potential

by Borsuq

Prologue

Chapter One: The Original Sin

Chapter Two: Settling In

Chapter Three: Angel Lust

Chapter Four: Sightseeing

Chapter Five: The Morality of Angel

Chapter Six: Wasteland's Ideologies

Chapter Seven: Political Clash

Chapter Eight: Triage

Chapter Nine: Calm

Chapter Ten: Unlikely Assembly

Chapter Eleven: Doctor's Home Visits

Chapter Twelve: Misfortune in Appleloosa

Chapter Thirteen: Revelations

Chapter Fourteen: Decisions in the Dark

Chapter Fifteen: Obscured

Chapter Sixteen: Undesired

Chapter Seventeen: Red, White, and Darkness

Chapter Eighteen: Broken

Chapter Nineteen: The Wayward Tribe

Chapter Twenty: Chronicles of the Heroic Quest